Truth is really the only weapon we have

This week has been a rather long one. I would like to make a few corrections about my previous e-mail that seem to have been misunderstood. First of all... I know I said that the transfers were not that exciting and I want to clarify that I meant the changes... not the fact that I was staying in Villa Zula with Elder Kushlan. As a matter of fact, I love being in Villa Zula and cannot think of a better person then Elder Kushlan to work with. We are the perfect team. We compliment the faults of the other person... so together we are a powerful force of bringing the gospel to the good people of Villa Zula.

I would also like to clarify one other thing... um, we do not have bikes anymore. I know I wrote that we bought them. But after discovering a few problems with having bikes in Argentina... we have reverted back to the good old walking method. Sorry to disappoint.

Well, now on to our extremely odd week. We had transfers last Monday... which means we did not get that day of rest. So all week we`ve been dragging our feet. It is hard giving up the one day of rest we have for an 8 hour bus/train ride across half of Argentina. So, I'm sorry to say that Monday and Tuesday were not that effective. By Wednesday we had picked up our game again and taken off. We found a lovely lady named Elvira who accepted our message warmly and we have a return visit to talk to her whole family. Actually, I would like to point out a funny side note. My companion keeps on calling us "Villa Zula- the finders of women". We can’t seem to get any man in our area interested in our message. So we have a huge long list of ladies we visit. Which is hard because we can’t enter their houses when they are alone (fortunately you don't have to enter the house to teach them). We`ve found that most people in our area are single women with kids. We`ve also found out that of the ones that are not single... all their husbands work away from Villa Zula. This makes things particularly hard. That is one reason it is SO IMPORTANT for the members to help out the missionaries.

Anyway, we have been going out trying to literally talk with everyone. I think that I’ve never talked to as many people in my life. We end up getting rejected a lot. But if we can actually share something with the person before they shoo us off we can normally come back. In our agendas there are pages for contacts. In this last week we have already filled up half the pages. We still have 5 more weeks to go. We have been doing so much walking and talking that I finally busted through the side of one of my shoes (Don't worry... I’ve already fixed it up). There should be a picture of that. We ended up finding 4 people this week who all have great starts and real interest in the gospel.


Good Story:
We have a couple that we are teaching who are not married... but she is pregnant. They are reading and praying... And this week we read the Family Proclamation with them. We dropped the cane on them for doing what they were doing when they knew it wasn`t good. The good young sir understood and accepted the fact that changes needed to be made. But the young lass was a little harder to get the message though to. My reason for telling you this story is because it was a wonderful experience for me. When we have the opportunity to preach the truth... the spirit often testifies back how true the things we are teaching are. This particular time I felt the truth rushing out of us and hitting the investigators hard. It really doesn’t matter how hard hearted they are or how much they don’t want to change or how much fear they are... the Spirit still has power to testify. Which is wonderful, because two 20 year old kids don’t know all THAT much about the Law of Chastity. We really don’t know all THAT much about marriage or eternal relationships. It is moments like that when the Truth is really the only weapon we have (the SWORD of Truth).

Not much else has happened. The weather is chilly at night and super hot during the day. We speak a lot of Spanish in the pench with our Latin friend Elder Vargas. My white watch died. We hear about a plague in the states all the time... what is up with that?

So... I’ll be calling home on Sunday. If you are wondering when... I would be too. I’m guessing about 3-4 again. But I’m not sure. I’m not sure when church is. Actually... probably later. I’m not sure at all. There is a 4 hour time difference. So if we call when we get back to the pench at 8... it`ll be 4 at home. But there are 4 of us and we have about an hour each. So... I don’t know when we`ll call. I’ll probably call home in the morning to tell you all when I’ll be calling home. Don’t worry. One way or another... I’ll call home this Mother`s Day. Sorry that things are not so sure... but hey, life isn’t sure.

Well... I would now like to turn the time over to questions or requests. I NEVER get many questions (except for you... and you know how you are). A lot of people ask "How are you" or "How was your week"... well. I promise Ill answer both of those each week. Any other questions? Actually... I have this WONDERFUL camera and LOTS of space for photos... I just don’t know what to take photos of. Any requests? What part of Argentina would you like to see?

I love you all! Hasta Lunes,

Elder T

PS This Labor Day we realized that EVERYONE in the world was not working... EXCEPT US! It was good for the work... but rather a drag. HAHA