This has been a pretty fun week. I have some fun random tidbits to share, and then some cool experiences. I will share the tidbits first though:
Last P-day, after leaving the ciber I had the desire to make apple pie (now that we have a little more time on P-days) and so I did. :) It came out super tasty. (I made two, and then shared with some other Elders. They confirmed that it was, in fact, tasty.)
Another fun thing is that we have a residential gecko in our apartment. Last week my companion called me over to point him out on the wall so that I could see him, and he was very tiny. He ran off pretty quick though and I'm not sure where he got off to, but after eating lunch one day in our pench, I looked up and saw him chilling on the ceiling close to our AC. I grabbed a picture to share. He makes me happy.
Walking down the street on Wednesday we passed a house that had a car parked out front playing loud music, with some people sitting out in front of their house drinking mate. (Nothing unusual). I was beyond surprised and super excited though because I recognized the music of the song though I couldn't hear the words. I didn't think it could be, but as we got closer I confirmed that it was the song I thought it was, one that I know very well in English, but had never ever before heard in spanish or imagined that I might hear in spanish, much less in Argentina: They were listening to "Country Roads" by John Denver. For those that don't know, the song sings about West Virginia, a place that I lived for a good chunk of my life and it's pretty much the theme song of the state; you hear it all the time there, but not all that much outside of West Virginia. It put me super content though to hear it.
One of the other interesting things that we saw on Wednesday too though was a satanic temple. It had a giant plaque saying african religion (because it's a nicer way to say it; those religions originated there). It had a giant pyramid though on top of two tall pillars, with two black stone statues in front of them. One had a man with a bow that had a dead wild cat slung across his shoulders (the religion in question is known for a lot of animal sacrifices while playing african drums) , and the other was a man holding a baton with a smaller man pegged to it. It also had a lot of black ceramic tiles around the door depicting a bunch of other crazy things that I didn't take enough time to make out. It was also flying two flags up top. One was the argentine flag, and the other was a deep maroon color that I don't even want to know how it was died. We got away from there pretty quick though, but it defenitely stands as a testament to me that there does exist a god, because there is no way that that satan could exist if there did not also exist a god. On friday then as we were heading back to our apartment at 8:30 at night (in a different area) we heard loud drums as we passed by a certain house on the block we were walking down. My comp looked at me and asked "Is that?..." and I just looked at him and said "Yup" and kept walking. It's kind of weird that it didn't freak me out or the concept isn't abnormal to me anymore like the first time I heard about it when I was new here, but I guess that comes with the time that I have already in Argentina.
Another fun anecdote is that it once again rained a lot on Saturday. We were close to the chapel right as it started to pour (only about 5 minutes away) and so we bee-lined it there but pretty much as soon as we got inside the downpour stopped and went to a light drizzle. My shoes were once again already soaked though, and so that was that haha. My comp that same day though had bought what must be the worlds biggest umbrella. I attached a picture, but he couldn't even open it in the hall of our apartment without it touching both walls. He ought to stay nice and dry from now on...
Cool stories though for the week:
First of all, we had 3 investigators in church on Sunday, which was super awesome. Esteban went for the 4th time (and also already wants to pay tithing despite not even being a member yet), Diego went for the 5th time (and is asking the members too now for help to get his wife to go to church with him so she can see the blessings as well), and then a member brought a friend that is interested in the gospel for the first time, which makes the three that were there. It was super awesome and all the meetings were also super good and so it turned out phenomenal.
Another super cool experience was that Kevin passed the sacrament for the first time this sunday, and it just so happened that he passed it to me and my companion. It was the first time that I was able to take the sacrament from one of my converts, but it was a super awesome experience and something that I am never going to forget. We have also been able to help Nico out a lot recently and he almost went to church this last sunday but I gave him an extra triple that I had (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price all combined in one book) with a personal note for him written inside hoping that it would be the small push he really needed to come back (he has been right there for a few weeks now) and after recieving it he said that sí o sí (yes or yes, an argentine expression) he is going to come this next week. I hope so, as he is really awesome but it is really cool to be able to help people my age too.
After church we then visited Diego and his daughter was also there, as well as a friend of his wife who had a lot of questions about who we were and what we did, as well as certain questions about what happens after this life. We answered them, teaching her a little in the process, and explained the Book of Mormon, leaving her one that she was very excited to read. We are going to talk to Diego again the next time that we visit him to see how she is doing with it so that we can maybe visit and teach her as well. After we finished that though, his wife's friend left (as well as his daughter) but his wife and him stayed and we watched the 20 minute video of the Restoration. We haven't been able to teach his wife all that much but he has been sharing a lot with her. While watching the movie though, she was more intently focused on the TV than a small kid focuses on a computer screen. It was super awesome, and if we are able to get her to go to church as well, it will be a lot easier to help the both of them get married and baptized as well.
Other than that, there isn't all that much new this week, so I hope that all goes well for everyone!
Love,
Elder McCollum
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