My mother so kindly berated me for not informing people about being sick. I will now explain why I didn't... because if I don't, this week will make no sense to anyone. I have no clue what it is called in the states... here it is called Gripe A. I believe back at home it is called Swine Flu or something like that. It has gotten big down here. People have been dying down here because of that. No one I know... but people in the city I'm living in. I BELIEVE... not sure, but believe we got sick with this sickness. We all had the symptoms and everything, all 4 of us. And I did not want to worry people with this because it passed... I'm not going to die. AND I'm sure people would have told us to stay inside... which we just can’t do. You`d understand if you were a missionary. Staying inside is not an answer, even if you are sick or dying. Sorry... not going to happen. Here it is being called an epidemic. Okay... so THAT is the reason I did not tell anyone. I don't want people freaking out about poor little Tommy... because I'm fine. OKAY!!!! Good.
Well, so what happened is that because everyone is sick... no one really wants us to come in. Also, there was a mandate sent out saying that Berisso (the city in which I live) is not allowed to have meetings of any kind. Schools, clubs, Churches… Everything has been shut down. If anyone knows the Articles of Faith... they´d know we follow the law. That, above other things, means that we did not have church Sunday. But, God`s church cannot be stopped... so we as missionaries went to the house of every member and gave them the sacrament. Let me tell you... it was a long day with rain and all sorts of horrible things. But it was also one of the best days of my mission. Going house to house giving the sacrament to people is a blessing rarely heard of.
Well, that isn't even the biggest event of the week. On Saturday we had a baptism of Jorge Alegre. It was amazingly wonderful. As a church we normally give the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sundays, during the sacrament meetings. But this week we had no sacrament meeting so we had the opportunity to do it right after the baptismal service. It was amazing. We spent all day boiling water in the church`s kitchen and dumping it into the font because the water wasn't warm. And something in the font tinted the water greenish. And all of these things were working against us, but it turned out to be one of the smoothest baptisms I’ve seen here. Very wonderful.
Anyway... I had a million things to tell you all... but I grabbed the wrong agenda. Let us think...
This Monday the power went out in Berisso. We ended up doing contacts in the pitch black and teaching people in their homes under candle light. I really felt like the old school missionaries who taught like that. Houses here have not progressed and are much like what they were back in the era of Joseph Smith. It was an experience I won’t soon forget.
It has been really weird weather here. Raining hard one day and then the next is like summer. Then the next is like we stepped into Antarctica.
I’ve been teaching my companions how to fence in any free 10 seconds we have.
We also had interviews this week... we learned a lot. It is amazing how much we learn now adays. There are so many techniques out there at our disposal. The President also thought about sending me home... but then didn't (just kidding).
I'm sorry... it was the biggest week of my life. SURELY the longest. And I forgot my agenda and don't have anything to tell anyone. My apologies.
Oh, I hope everyone got that e-mail our mission sent out to us concerning the packages. I have not received anything yet except a few things from my mother... letters, photos and ties... para que sepa. I’ve heard that a lot of things are on their way... but I didn't receive anything. I’m a patient man though. I’m sure it`ll come. I have faith. Something cool though that I’ve seen people do is: Write "Dios sabe todo y Dios vea todo." on the side of the box. It means "God knows all and God sees all". It seems to help it so that people don’t rob from the packages. Um, I guess that is all. I hope the photos I’m sending make it to you. I’m sending one from my roof of our yard and one of Jorge... I’ll try to get some of my face... but no promises. I will send one of my shoe (that I have since fixed).
Well, I love you all. I hope everyone is doing well and not dying of the gripe. Let me know if there is anything you want or need from me. I have the answer to everything... or at least the means to find an answer (whether it is the right answer or not... we`ll see).
All my love,
Tommy
No comments:
Post a Comment