German! German! Get the German!

So, as everybody knows, Argentina lost to Germany, and lost badly. Which is kind of sad because it would have been cool to be in Argentina and have Argentina win the World Cup, but things happen, and one of the things that happened is that Argentina lost the World Cup. We were getting things organized for the baptism and leaving one neighborhood when some people started to say some really not nice things to me/about me. There´s been a few different groups of people that have been pretty unhappy about the game. It´s kind of funny in one sense, the same people that always bother me for being American, decided to change their minds and decide that I was German, just so they could have someone to take their anger out on. No one really did anything until last night, someone threw a rock at me, which bounced and hit me in the leg. It was kind of funny, you can tell they don´t play much baseball. ;) But everything is alright. In a few more days everyone will have forgotten it all. The majority of the people accept that it is only a game, so they really don´t say much. They just joke around with me.

Oh and before I forget. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!! I´m kind of sad, I really didn´t get a chance to celebrate it well, being that I´m in Argentina, and I didn´t have any fireworks, or American flags or anything of the sort. Haha, but that´s ok.

And before I move on to anything else, to answer Mom´s recent questions that she just sent me. Yes, my companion years ago got the tattoos. It´s a different Elder than I thought it would be, he´s only been a member for 5 months. Haha. It´s definitely been an adventure. He was evangelical before becoming Mormon. The best part about him is his desire to learn. He wants to know everything he can about the gospel as well as be the best missionary that he can be. We get along well, it´s kind of sad that we are only going to be together for two weeks; until the 14th of July. That´s when transfers are. These last few days I´ve really had to step up and take on alot more of the teaching and contacting while he gets more of a feel for the mission. Honestly, it kind of feels a little bit like training.

Yeah, interviews were last week. They were fine, short, he told me I was doing a good job and to just keep moving forward. So, I´m taking his advice and just keeping doing what I´m doing. :) And, I have no idea if I´ll train again. I´d love to, but we´ll see. Our baptism last week was really cool. Everything went as planned. Luis got baptized, and his brother was able to baptize him. :) It was really cool to see it. He´s a member of the family that I baptized part of my first month in this area. Afterward we had refreshments of course. :)

From this past week, other than the World Cup and baptism, there were really only two major events. One, being that we finally reactivated a member that had been attending an evangelical church for years. She came to church and paid her tithing and is extremely dedicated again. Her son, just last night, came in and told us that he wants to be worthy of God´s love again. They´re an amazing family, and are another testimony to me that blessings come, and of the power of Priesthood blessings. She was losing her vision when she came to the branch president´s house to ask for a blessing from us and him. Needless to say, she sees perfectly now.

The other event is the perseverance of our branch president. I think I already told everyone that he is badly injured. Years ago he was electrocuted, which left his nervous system and skin damaged for life. He can't feel hardly anything on his skin. And every small cut turns into a huge gaping wound. His current one on his leg, covers almost all of his calf. But then Saturday night, he got a nail stuck in his foot, and due to the lack of feeling in his skin it stayed there almost a full day before he noticed. He had planned to make visits with us last night, and we tried to convince him to just go home and rest. And he told us that´s what the devil would want him to do, and left with us anyway. It was pretty cool.

Oh, and Mom, the shower, I think it´s safe, the well water... I hope so, I shower with it everyday and use it to wash clothes, and the well is right next to the bathroom. But really, don´t worry about it. :) I´m healthy and clean. :) I´ve also gotta say, the trip to Southern Utah sounds way fun. We´re gonna have to go there when I get back, too. Kind of strange about the passport though... And I had to laugh at Dad telling me that he lost the battle to go see Toy Story 3 instead of the Zion movie. Hahahaha. :) Don´t worry Dad, I would have gone to the movie about Zions with you. ;) I would also have to agree with Mom that it is a little bit scary that Michael has his driver´s license now... I just hope he doesn´t get any tickets. ;)

I do keep teaching Sunday School. The lesson on Psalms was a bit interesting... in my class they got in a debate over whether or not the modern hymn book should be considered scripture or no. And if yes, why are there songs from other churches in it. I just let them at it, and then continued with the lesson. I have to be honest though, I hadn´t really ever given much thought to Psalms before this lesson; it´s a pretty sweet book! :)

Moving on, Pday. We´re going to the jungle next week. Last week we played soccer, and this week we are going to be playing soccer again. A couple of other zones are coming and we are going to go play with them.

Haha this week we started teaching a couple that, is from Germany, lived in Brazil and now is in Argentina. The hard part isn´t that they don´t accept the message, it´s that their accent is really, really hard to understand. Haha.

hmm... I think that´s about it for my week. I love and miss you all. Time goes by way fast, until next week!!
love,
Matthew

PS - Michael, stay away from girls, they are trouble. And Dad, I laughed alot at the Dear John story. I´m in the process of translating it for my companion and other elders. Haha