Birthdays and Hospital Trips

This past week was pretty great. On Monday after writing to you all, I decided that I was kind of bored of playing futbol every P-day, so my hijito and I went to José C. Paz to hang out with the zone leaders, Elder Hankins and Elder Vidal. I've come to be pretty good friends with them, because I have gone on exchanges with Elder Hankins and I went on an exchange with Elder Vidal when I was in Constitución and he was in La Boca. We went to the Coto, which is one of the biggest supermarkets here. In José C. Paz the Coto has a bowling alley and a bunch of pool tables, so we had a lot of fun. I told them before we started that I only went bowling maybe two times a year before the mission, but then I had a lot of luck and they ended up telling me I was lying... haha. I bowled a turkey (3 strikes in a row) and got a couple other strikes as well. We then played pool and I was humbled quite a bit as I don't really know how to play. We then took a few fotos on some couches, but Elder Hankins was the only one who had a camera, so I can't send you a foto. It was probably the funnest P-day I've had in the mission.

On Tuesday we woke up, exercised, my companion showered, and I got in the shower. As I was in the shower my companion went out back to wash a few of his shirts. As I left the shower, my companion called my name, and as I checked out the window I saw that he was bleeding quite profusely from his head, and his hands and arms were covered in blood. He had dropped a shirt on the ground, bent down to pick it up, and when he stood up smacked his head against this metal box where the water heater is. I made some quick calls to President, who didn't answer, the zone leaders to let them know, and then to a member to take us to the hospital. We just threw on some futbol jerseys and shorts because we didn't have time to tie ties, and headed out to the hospital. I then had to leave my companion at the hospital and return to the pension to search for his identification that we hadn't thought to bring. In the end, they just glued up his head because the cut was long but not very deep, but he had a really bad headache for a few days. It was quite the adventure.

This week it rained quite a bit, and my companion was pretty shocked when he asked me what we were going to do and I said that we were going to go out and work anyway. It was pretty funny.

We had a pretty awesome Zone Conference with President and the Assistants this week, and we learned a lot about faith. The Lord is able to do anything if we will but have faith in Him, however, we have to act. Everytime we push ourselves just a little bit further than we think we can go, the Lord will always bless us. We talked about and watched an awesome video of Lionel Messi, who was told he was too small to play futbol and wasn't good enough to play in Argentina. He never gave up and decided to go to Spain and they decided that he could play, and is now the best futbol player in the world. This life isn't about "winning the race", but getting up each time we fall and trying again. "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." I testify that if we will keep trying even when we think we've lost, the Lord will always bless us.

Stylin' with my companion

Yesterday was my birthday. We had an asado with Beto and overall I was gifted 4 birthday cakes, from the Irigoyen family, the Gomez family, Adrian and Fani, and Beto. It was pretty awesome... but we'll probably be eating cake for a couple weeks. My companion told everyone that I turned 23 and they believed him... then I told them I just turned 19 and everyone was shocked... oh well. It's kind of weird just barely turning 19... and already being out on the mission 10 months. I am so grateful to be here.

 

EE.UU. is the Spanish way to write U.S.A... also they call me batman...​

 

The World Cup started this past week, and it's pretty much impossible to enter a house where the people aren't watching it. Last night was pretty fun... Argentina played against Bosnia, and there wasn't a single soul in the street besides us. However, we could always tell when Argentina scored, because Pablo Nogués would erupt with everyone screaming "GOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!" We yelled it with them haha.

Love,

Elder John William Garrett