Lead and I will follow

Okay... I know this will be the worst weekly report ever... because it will be completely random. But I’ve just got a lot of good stories to tell. So listen up.

Lightning Bug: This Tuesday I was on intercambios and we basically got rejected all day long. BUT we had a dinner appointment that night, so we had something to look forward to. Well, it gets dark really early here now, so about 7 we were walking around trying to do contacts in the pitch black darkness of Argentina. We passed by a large black field and I saw a light flicker off in the distance. Then again. So I told my companion and we ran out into the field to discover what it was. He could not see anything and was tripping all over the uneven ground. But because of my colorblindness... I see really well in the dark. Long story short. I caught it (when it was not light-up). It was the coolest catch I’ve ever done. It involved me jumping off a hill and snatching it out of the air way above my head... good times.

I received my packages this week!!! So all of you who have sent me packages... thank you. I finally got them. And Meghan, I love that music. We have been listening to it non-stop in the pinch. And people around here love the Japanese candy. Not to mention... Nasty homemade root beer never tasted so good! And the letters where just what I needed. Thank you all so much. I’d give you a hug, but with the way things travel around here... you won’t get it until I get home anyway... so just wait.

Update on "grandpa" or the guy who looks like an older me. We went over to his house to talk to him this week and he explained to us a few problems he was having. And so we set an appointment up to come back. When he was explaining his problems a thought entered my mind... you see: Last week an angel sent me an e-mail. This beloved Child of God sent me the "Message from the First Presidency" in English. It struck me as something to share with this family. So we returned and read it together in Spanish. His wife started to chock up and Hermano Huarte (my twin) really stopped and listened. It was amazing to see the Power of our first presidency at work within the lives of these my dear friends. And all I can say is thank you to my angel, the first presidency and God.

Every once in a while I go through the list of ex-investigators and pull out a few names of people that look like we might be able to teach them. Some papers say "Left on vacation, go back in 3 months-2004". So we swing by and the people who were once ready for baptism had completely forgotten about the Book of Mormon. I had a name in my lists that was kind of out of the way. But this week I just decided to go. They reason for dropping him was as follows, "drunk-2006". So we swung by looking for his house (we didn’t have the exact address). So I clapped a house and a man comes out with long hair and a scruffy beard. I said, "Hi we`re looking for someone... is this *address XYZ*"... Yup... "Do you know Mario"... Yup... "Are you Mario"... Yup. So we come over and he pulls out some chairs. The man was basically dead drunk but he still wanted to listen to us (when we left, my companion and I both agreed that he was the smartest drunk man we`d ever met). He pulls out a Book of Mormon in a white case with pictures of Jesus all over it. Right on the top it says in English, "Please Baptize Me!!!". We opened up the book and he read a chapter to us. Afterwards he says... I need to change. So we take out a baptismal date right there and then... The next day we come back and the man had not only shaved but got rid of all his alcohol and cigarettes. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom and he committed to follow it. So hopefully in 2 weeks we will baptize him. Lead and I will follow, right.

We are also teaching a girl named Mikaela. She is wonderful and we should be taking out a fecha with her soon as well.

Also, a nice mother of one of our recent converts told us she wanted to get baptized. We taught the member about temples and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. During the lesson, this lady told us she really wanted to be baptized. Then she came to the ward activity and church the day after. We had invited her there... but she then came all on her own... without her daughter. She reminds me a lot of my Grandma. Full of energy and always improving herself. I am really looking forward to teaching her (she is just afraid of Water... we`ll see how that goes).

Well, I’ve got more... but not more time. It is fun working here with my companion. We both drag each other around all the time and we really get the work done. We get rejected 10 times more and walk 10 times farther.... but we have about 20 times the success. I love it here and really feel like I’m making a difference. I’m so glad to know that I’ve got everyone of you behind me supporting me. It is great to have people to rely on when times are hard. Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to pray.

All my love,

Tommy

PS This weekend is conference. The wonderful thing about that is that I’ll know exactly where you all are during that time. And you`ll all know where I will be. So... see you at conference.