Santiago, June 16, 2014

Hello Family!

Happy father's day dad and grandpas! I hope you had a great one! Here it was nuts. No one was working, which I guess is good because it's Sunday and the Sabbath, but there weren't any taxis or buses to get around, which makes proselyting a pain. On top of that, Argentina played in the world cup. I've never seen the streets so deserted. Not even during the siesta. Everyone was watching the game. The members even came to the chapel to watch it. Kinda nuts.

I did exchanges with Elder Williams this week! It was really fun being with a super greenie. He made me feel really old. He has 2 months on the mission. When I told him I had 20, he said "Wow! You're like, on your deathbed!" It still hasn't hit me yet. I prefer it like that. I still have plenty of time to keep doing what I'm doing! During the exchanges we did a service project where we took apart a car. That was pretty dang fun. It was all old and rusty. We spent all morning taking out screws and such.

The Book of Mormon is great! We contacted a lady super evangelist. She didn't want anything to do with us. She said that the missionaries had already come by, that she'd listened, and that she wasn't interested - it's the same thing that her church taught and she didn't want to change. We pulled out a Book of Mormon and started testifying. She let us in, and commited to read it. I love the Book of Mormon!

I did a baptismal interview this week. The kid was named Leandro, was around 17, had a haricut with everything long on top and shaved on the sides, and dyed purple, and an earring. He was super converted. We started and I asked if he'd been able to go to church. He said that he'd never wanted to go, but his sister took him to the stake conference, and from there he knew that the church was true and wanted to be baptized. He had a testimony of every principle, and at the end when I asked if he had questions, he asked how long he had to wait to get the priesthood to be able to baptize his friends. Judging by appearances doesn't always work very well. He's gonna be an awesome missionary!

I met the old branch president here. It's interesting how people leave the church for little things. He said that he'd never imagined how someone so firm in their testimony could leave until it happened to him. He's the oldest member in Santiago, and left because they didn't give a recommend to his son when he didn't pass the interview, and because after helping the branch so much, other leadership came that hasn't been quite as involved. It's sad. there are so many people that let stupid little social things get in between them and their relationship con God.

I ate a monster factura (pastry?) this week! I'm now kicking myself that I didn't take a picture. It had creme, chocolate, jam, and dulce le

leche, and it was giant. I guess I'll have to buy another one since I didn't snap a pic.

Ledis got baptized! She's Oscar's mom, Oscar that got baptized a couple weeks ago. She has epilepsy, and the members have fallen in love with her. Sister Barreto, the relief society president shared her testimony on how they got to know each other. She was always worried about her 12-year-old daugher, that was always hanging around boys. Then her daughter told her she couldn't complain if she never met the boy. So she met Oscar. He came to church. Then she met his mom. She came to church. She shared her testimony about how missionary opportunities can come from the most unexpected places, and how we should work together with the missionaries so that we can recognize those opportunites. It was a really special spirit there. And to make things even better, our font finally worked! With hot water!

Anyway, to finish off, we had transfers. I'm now with Elder Ceron, from Vera Cruz, Mexico. It'll be a great transfer! I haven't slept much. The fun part about being a zone leader is that you get to be there in the terminal all night making sure that everyone gets on the right bus at the right time. I feel very blessed that no one missed their bus!

Anyway, that was the week! I hope you all have a great one!

Landon