Halloween was this week, and it was quite different from the
States. Here, people set out pictures of all of their deceased ancestors on a
table and decorate it with all kinds of fruit and other decorations to
celebrate "Día de los muertos," or day of the dead. There were a few
kids going around asking for candy, but very few in costumes, and I'm pretty
sure most people didn't have candy to give them because it isn't a really big
tradition here as it is in the States.
Carmen is doing great. We set up a "noche de
hogar" (family night) with her and an hermana in the ward one night, and
that day we went by to remind her about it and we saw through her window that
she was studying her Book of Mormon. Que capa.
Luis is doing well, but he's having some struggles giving up
cigarettes. When we visit him he expresses the desire to quit and he knows he
should, and he let us take two packs from him two days this past week. It was
kind of weird because we didn't want to throw away the pack outside for fear
that some people might see some Mormons with cigarettes, so we went to the
nearby chapel to dispose of them in a more private place... but it was weird
walking around with a pack of cigarettes in my pocket. He's such a great guy
and he's trying hard. As of now he hasn't smoked since Friday, so we're hopeful
that things are looking up, and he has been buying bread instead of cigarettes.
Turns out you can buy 1 kilo of bread for the same price as a pack of cigs, so
he had quite a bit of bread when we stopped by yesterday.
Through a referral of a member, we found a great family this
past week, the family Guillermo. There's Danny (father), Jessica (mother),
Bryan (16), Axel (13), and Bruce (3). They are from Peru, and I'm not really
sure why they have American names, I'll have to ask them. We haven't actually
met the mother yet, because she hasn't been around for our lessons. The others
are really receptive though and ask us questions and understand what we teach.
They accepted baptismal dates, and Danny and Axel attended church on Sunday.
Bryan was sick, but he said he is going to come with the rest of the family
this next week. It's cool to see that this family really has been prepared to
receive our message and when we try our best and work hard we can find these
people. The only snag is that Danny and Jessica aren't married, but Danny told
us that they'll get married soon, so we're hopeful that that happens. That
seems to be the case with most people here, they have just been living together
for forever, but to be baptized they either need to separate or get married in
order to obey the law of chastity. Just a different culture I guess.
Sunday we attended the "despedidas" in San
Fernando. It's a meeting where all the elders who are going home share their
testimonies, and pretty much all the elders in the mission go, but we have to
bring an investigator or recent convert. A lot of members go to the meeting as
well. Elder Cruz and I went and brought Indio's two boys, and the mom of
Hermana Rosa Rojas, who is also an investigator. Two boys, Matias Chavez and Edu
Moron from the ward also came, and it was a lot of fun to spend time with them
and practice my Spanish and realize that I can communciate more than I think I
can.
Today was transfers. I'm still in Constitución with Elder
Cruz, which isn't really a surprise because I'm still in my training for
another transfer. Elder Cutipa left for another area to go be a District
Leader, so I'll miss him. Elder Buxton is getting a new companion today to
train, but they're still in San Fernando so I haven't met him yet. This week we
had lunch with the Chavez family like every week, and we ate hígado. Liver. It
was honestly the most disgusting thing that I've ever eaten, but I just ate it
all and told the hermano that it was really good. I don't really have a choice
anyway, because I have to eat the lunch because we don't eat dinner and usually
don't eat breakfast either. Oh well.
Overall everything is going great, I'm healthy and happy and
safe. The church is true and there is power in studying the scriptures. I've
noticed that my testimony has grown the most during my time in the mission when
I am studying the scriptures and when I am serving others. It's through the
simple things that we are able to strengthen our testimonies, and I testify to
that.
Love,
Elder Garrett (Argentina)
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