August 30, 2010 Making Contacts

Castellano is coming along, I can understand more of what people say and can even converse with them. There are times when I know they struggle to understand what I´m saying but that is only when I am not teaching. One thing that I have noticed is that when I am talking with the spirit I know how to say the words better. It´s funny, at night in my personal prayers I still pray in English, but some words just naturally come out in Castellano. Here we call that Casteyanki (Yanki is what they call us norteamericano). I also learned that I need to do contacting in the street. One day last week I just decided to go out to try and do 5 contacts on my own. I managed to get four that day which is a record for me and even though I didn´t get to my personal goal the whole rest of the day I felt so much better than I have in a while about the mission and my work I´m doing. When I first got here to Grand Bourg I had a thought that I need to do contacts, and since that day that I did I realized that if I want to enjoy my mission that is something I need to do right now,. no matter how much it costs me to do it. I love receiving personal revelation.

Another story, this time about why members need to be involved in the missionary effort. On Sunday we didn´t have any investigators in the chapel, so during gospel doctrines class (sacrament is third hour) we decided to go out and look for some people. We went with the branch mission leader and knocked at a house but they didn´t answer so we headed towards another less active family. On the way the member with us suggested we go to an inactive family he knew but we didn´t so we did. We knocked and a lady answered. She said that it was strange but today she just woke up earlier than usual and it could be for a reason. Of course we knew why she woke up earlier than usual this Sunday and thus brought her to church with us. She enjoyed it and it seems like she might start coming back more regularly. That wouldn´t have happened if the member wasn´t with us because neither Elder Nelson nor I knew about that family. Que copado es revelación personal. And before I go one more story.

Wednesday we had family home evening with a family and for dessert guess what we had........Smore´s! Yup, a while back Elder Nelson asked his family for smore´s stuff and mac & cheese, so last week we enjoyed smore´s in Argentina. It was cool because they liked them and told us that when missionaries from the states share food, it is usually tacos or brownies. Smore´s, que copado.

Anyways, I must be off so please send further questions later. Chao!

Con Amor, Elder Arrowchis