Week number 2 in Santa Clara‏

Hey!

So, here I am week two in my new area and we are working really hard. I am so tired some days that I don´t know what to do with myself. But it´s alright. :) To start with, President gave me permission to be able to go and see my convert family!!! (A family he baptized his first week in Argentina.) So, I think that I am going to go visit them next week, say hi, and have a party and all of that fun stuff. It made me really happy to get that news. Moving on... what fun details from the area do I have to tell.... Oh! So, there is something strange about my new area. Goya, where I came from is a really flat place. There aren´t really any sort of hills, and here in Misiones, it´s a jungle... so it´s all hills. It helps as a part of the whole tiring me out factor, but, I´ll get used to it again here quickly.

Other fun notes, we live really close to the zone leaders, like 2 blocks. So every morning we go to the chapel and play soccer together for our exercise. That makes the day a little bit more interesting and happy. The other fun thing that I got to do this last week was go to Jardin America. The city that´s a ways away in our zone, for splits. It´s a city that I can truly say is in the middle of the jungle. There are these massive spiders everywhere, poisonous. The next time I go, I will send pictures. :) It´s also absolutely full of hills, which, again, made me tired. Other fun notes, Friday morning the J-Dubs clapped our house while we were studying. When I left the house they noticed that I was a Mormon missionary and gave me a little flier and left. I was kind of sad. I was gonna let them in to talk to us for a little while. Teach them a few things. Haha, but no, that would be prideful, and wouldn´t really work that well. I´d lose the spirit and then everything would just fall apart from there.

And to explain quickly, this Pday we aren´t doing anything that special. The zone leaders are working on planning a special trip for the zone somewhere. And if we get lots of baptisms we may be able to go to Iguazu. We´ll see what happens. This Pday we are sending emails, eating lunch, and playing soccer in what looks to a very muddy and wet soccer field. I´m excited!!!!

Yesterday we got to have a few investigators in the chapel. So yes, we are going to have 2 baptisms this Saturday!! It´s been almost two months since my last one so I am really excited. It´s a mom and her daughter. The Dad is already a member who is getting more active again. Yesterday I got to teach gospel doctrine again. About Joseph and that fun stuff. I landed myself that calling in the branch, (as well as being in the Presidency) I will be teaching it every week. Who would have thought that father and son, on different continents would be teaching the same stuff every week, and have the same calling. The thing that makes it good is they finally gave me the manual to teach. That will make my life a little bit easier. I also learned it can be a little bit awkward to teach a bunch of adults about sexual sins... But hey, not much I can do about it. Last night we also went out making visits with President Lopez and were able to put 6 more baptismal dates!!!! If all goes well, and with the Lord´s help we are going to have 6 baptisms in April. What better month to have baptisms than the month of my birthday!!


So, mom you asked about the investigators. They are doing really well. The branch actually had a few more people last week. And the question about sharing, I asked it too. We do the sacrament meeting together. The idea is that in a couple of months the branch can get back up on it´s feet and will be able to function normally again. One of the big problems is that so few people come. There isn´t anyone to take care of the kids that end up coming. So, they also go with the ward. But our goal is in a couple of months to be able to separate again, be our own branch!!!

So, in short, I am working hard, tired, happy, and healthy. And yes, it´s for safety reasons that there are a few neighborhoods we just really shouldn´t be going in at night. But, don´t worry about me. The Lord has promised that his angels will be around us always. I trust in that promise as long as I don´t try/do/say anything stupid. The other nice thing is that in my area as well there are a lot of really nice people. So it´s fun to talk to them. People here are alot more willing to let you in to talk. There isn´t as much idolatry as there was in Goya. And I feel that I am having more success. But, success isn´t measured in numbers.....

Anyway, I gotta run, time´s up!!
con mucho amor,
Matthew