From Argentina With Love

So a lot has been going on here. I was really happy with this week. My new comp really doesn't know Spanish very well but I am very sure that we all went through that. lol It's very interesting to be with her when I am still learning the language. I now have to really study hard to learn something new. I find myself wanting to revert to the old Spanish when I am with her. lol. (the broken everything in the infinitive form never conjugated). It's really fun because we laugh a lot! So I guess her trainer was a little rough on her and she never got to teach nor have the phone. (well nothing really)

So all this week I let her start the lessons, have the phone and do all the fun paperwork. She loved it! lol I was happy for her and we set a goal that we could only talk in spanish in the streets and in the house she could have a break. This next week, she will ask someone to be baptized. It's really fun to be with a new person because they have all the confidence in you and are wanting to do everything all at once.

When we had our planning session, I put our numbers down and she just laughed. She said there wasn't any way that we could do this. I have been in this area and I have never been close to getting these numbers. She also has not had one baptism in 3 months. This area is a little slow right now and she thinks that this area can't change and that she will never have success. Well, this week was amazing! We met all the goals I put and above and every day she just laughed and said that she couldn't believe we taught so much. She never though it was possible. lol Every night, she went straight to bed after planning. lol She has been really really tired, but it was amazing. So, we got a call from our zone leaders and said that we blew out all the numbers in the whole state of Jujuy. lol I just laughed and said he needed to tell my comp. When she got on the phone and heard the news, she started screaming and jumping up and down. Then, after all the happy things were over, she fell asleep in 5 min. This morning, she woke up and asked if this week was going to be like last week because her body was screaming at her. lol It was really funny and we all just started laughing.. (PS: all four of us hermanas sleep in the same room with bunk beds. The other two hermanas are great and am so glad I get to live with them and get to know them. We are all gringas in this pension.)

I loved this week! We worked really hard and now my comp really believes everything I say and is so pumped to get working and get her first baptism. lol I love it! I love the mission so much. All of the little joys I get out of it are incomparable to everything else. There truly is no time like now. lol

One investigator that we have is addicted to drugs, smoking and, drinking. My comp has been teaching him for 3 months and nothing has changed. This week my new comp & I met with him and we began to talk. One thing my comp didn't know is that his daughter just passed away. That came out during our talk. Evidently, when he was visiting her in Bolivia during a holiday called Dia de niños, (Kids' day) an accident happened and his daughter died. It was a sad story that he told us, but it allowed us to talk about his goals and were he wanted to go after this life. We taught him about how families can be together forever and that in order to receive these blessings we must be obedient to the commandments. We read him the scripture from 2 Nephi 2:27 and how we are free to choose our own happiness,or our own destruction. At the end of the lesson, he was asking a ton of questions of how he could change and how could he start and if it was possible to live with his girl again. We developed goals for him to quit the drugs and alcohol cold and to only smoke 15 cigarettes rather than 20 a day. We also set up appts every day with him to have an activity with people and to give him a little boost. This whole week, he completed all of his goals and now we are going to cut his smoking down to 15 every day. He accepted to be baptized and so we are hoping that he will be able to keep up with his goals to be baptized. We will be meeting with him every day to help him out. We will always have an activity at the church with a few members to help give some support since we can't go to his house.

This area is great and I know I am going to love it. I think I will be here for a while since my comp has been here for 3 months. I am thinking I will be here for 4 to 6 months, then one more area before I think I will be home. It's sad to be thinking that, but I think that is reality.

Well, I have to get going, but I will talk to you later.

Love,
Amanda