A Month in the Field

     Well, it's almost been a month in the field. So that's about 3 months in the mission. It's really something else to think that I can actually talk with people in Spanish after only 3 months. I feel like it's a huge blessing for me. Because I seriously couldn't have done that without the help of the Lord. Even on my way over here, I talked with the taxi driver and told him who I was and gave him a bit of what we teach and such. Then I got his address and phone number so I could refer him to the missionaries in his area. It's nice to be able to do things and actually feel like a missionary. Because at first, when I couldn't understand much of anything, let alone respond, I really felt like my companion's shadow. But now I can do a lot more, which is really nice. I still have to practice a ton, of course. More moments then not, I can`t really say what I want to say, but I'll get there in time.

     So I got 32 letters this week!! It was pretty crazy. That's almost unheard of in the world of missionaries. Well, alright, so 31 were DearElders, which is totally fine. The thing is that they were all from Chris Logsdon, which is also totally cool too. The problem is that 30 of them were random numbers and letters that Chris added just to fill up space and see if I would get them. And sure enough, the Church sent them all to me. So that was pretty fun. I was handed a huge stack of DearElders and the Zone Leader just said, "I'm pretty sure they all just say the same thing."

     Okay, so another funny story. Most missionaries have those moments when they say something that they really shouldn't have said so loud. So I now have one of those moments. The story goes something like this:

     I was walking down the street and Elder Olivares and I happened upon 2 missionaries who were Jehova's Witnesses. So we kinda made a few jokes under our breath about apostasy and all was just swell. Except Elder Olivares made a comment that both of the missionaries were Peruvian. I responded, "Yeah, they don't have Gringo missionaries! Apostasy! " (Yeah, hilarious, right? Oh, the fun of missionary jokes... But being a Gringo is always a big deal and they all make jokes about us, so it actually makes sense and is funny, I promise) Elder Olivares laughed and we realized that the Lady who was walking a ways in front of me heard what I'd said. And we just kinda said sorry and walked away a little faster. 

      So yeah, that's my story of the week.

     As for missionary work, Laura (our only baptism so far) finally got confirmed (3 weeks later). She actually made it to church on time and we got it all set up. So that was pretty exciting. But we also needed Rodrigo to come to Church so he could be baptised (they need to go to church 2 times before they can be baptised), but he didn't show up. He was there ready to go, and the members knocked on his door, but Rodrigo's Dad wouldn't let him go. I guess he got angry and really doesn't want him to get baptized. But Rodrigo's mom does want Rodrigo to be baptized, so he's going to be once his dad leaves again (his dad doesn't usually live with him, he's only here for a few weeks). But life will go forward for us.

Other than that, all is swell. Hope everyone is in the Christmas Spirit these days!

Until next week,

Elder Seth