Eighty Two Weeks

Hello Everyone!

This has been a pretty easy-going week. We have a new schedule of when we are in the mission offices, and so that has been interesting getting used to it but now that we are doing so it has allowed us to spend some more time in our area. As such, this week we have been finding lots of new people to visit and teach and have met some really awesome people that we plan on going back to visit as well. 

One really cool thing that happened though, is that the security guard that sits in a little booth on the corner of the block the church is on (his name is Cristian) started sharing the gospel with a friend, despite the fact he's not even a member. He tends to be a little of a goofball, but at some point in the past some missionaries had given him a Book of Mormon (with a guide of how to pray written in the front to help people who don't know how to say more than just a recited prayer) and it had sat in his booth for a long time. As far as I knew, he wasn't really interested in the church, but the other day he asked my companions for another Book of Mormon, with the same guide written in the front to give to a female friend that he has. He had explained it to her as a good book with things to help you written in it, and the guide on how to pray was especially helpful. With that, she wanted a copy to read for herself and thus we got to where we are at now. They gave him the copy and hes going to be giving it to her here in the next couple of days when he sees her, but we´ll see what comes of it. It was really cool for me though to see how someone that wasn't even a member of the church was able to see how beneficial the Book of Mormon could be in someones life and shared it just like that with someone else because "It´s a good book."

Other than that, there isn´t all that much new for this week. Last Sunday we didn't have lunch with a member, and so Elder Cespedes (from Argentina) taught us three Yankees (the rest of the companionship) how to make empanadas. They were completely homemade, including the dough, and they turned out nice and tasty. I enjoyed them. Photos will be included. 

I hope you all have a great week though and love you all!

Love,

Elder McCollum

Photos:

1921 - A pretty cool quote in spanish we saw grafittied on a wall. "They won't pass into history those who speculate, but rather those who most play (take action)."

1925 - Us making empandas. It involves rolling the dough into a disc, scooping stuff onto it, then folding it in half and crimping the edges by folding it to seal it shut.

1926 - Making empanadas.

1932 - We visited a member whose son is into real world sword fighting (and has traveled to Russia and Spain to participate in tournaments for it). My comp took advantage of his sword being there to grab a picture.

1937 - Our district (as of right now - next week it is going to change :/ )