December 26, 2011

We got to talk to Jordan on Christmas.  He was so happy and hilarious to talk to.  We kept hearing big bang noises in the background.  He said the sound was guns being shot off and fireworks...no big deal. 

This week was so good and fun. Christmas here is a little different. The day when the people really celebrate is the 24th, and then they spend the 25th to just rest from their night of festivities and eat lots of food. On the 24th we went to the familia Cordobas house to eat (the family who just got baptized). They made as an asado of chorizo (pretty much bratwurst) and chicken that was real nice (I included a picture). When we got there Norma, the mom of the family, came up to me really worried, and told me that the night before had had a dream that we came and ate at her house and left really late and gotten killed by a group of five men. She then went on to tell us how gross and mangled our dead bodies had looked in her dream. My companion and I just nodded and laughed nervously. She then came to the conclusion that the dream was a prophecy and that we couldn't leave her house that night and would have to sleep at her house. We then spent the next 30 minutes or so trying to convince her that we would not be able to spend the night in her house. She was so adamant that we not leave her house and got a little bit mad when we told her that we couldn't. Oh well... One of the members came and picked us up from the Cordoba house at around 9:00 and dropped us off at the pinch. We listened to some Christmas music for a while, sang a few Christmas hymns with the other two Elders and then went to bed.

I woke up at around 11:55 that night and it sounded like 15 people were shouting in my ears. Most of you know how I am when I am woken up from a deep slumber. I had no idea what was going on and was so confused about whether I was awake or not, why I was awake, why it was so loud everywhere,  just confused. I opened the window to see what was happening and it looked like day outside there was so much light. In every direction around me there were fireworks going off. Not the little United States ones, but the ones that they shoot off at a big fireworks show. Except they were being shot off by drunk Argentine guachos and not by pyrotechnicians and everyone everywhere was shooting them off. It was sweet, like nothing I have ever ever seen in my life. I went up on the roof with Elder Rivera and watched the fireworks for about a half hour until they slowed down. To talk to each other, we had to shout, even thought we were right next to each other. My ears just recently stopped ringing.

On the 25th, I went to church, talked with you guys, when back to the pinch, played indoor soccer with the other elders, broke 4 lights playing indoor soccer, ate pasta, sang Christmas songs and went to sleep. Very simple, but real good.

This week Elder Jolley and I had a really weird/good experience. We were teaching one of our investigators, Silvia, and we were in the process of taking out a baptismal date when a man came out of her house and started shouting (in a really bad Latin accent), "Helloo liars! Helloo liars!" We were kind of surprised and didn't know what to do, so we just smiled and waved. The man came up to us and got in my face and started to tell me how we are liars and how we steal peoples money and children and souls and how we were going to hell. I, after a while, started to get irritated and got ready to tell him to go away. But before I could say that, Elder Jolley got up and said, as best as he could in his beginning Spanish, "I know the church is true and I'm really sorry if we did anything to offend you." I was blown away and let Elder Jolley talk. He began to calm the guy down and act unnaturally loving towards the shouting man. He eventually calmed down, but kept on calling us liars and left the house. After we finished talking with Sylvia, we left the house and were walking down the street when I heard a motorcycle coming really fast behind us and stop really suddenly right behind us. To my surprise, it was the guy who had just been shouting at us. I thought to myself, "Oh man, he came back to fight again, probably with a gun." But, he just asked us if we could talk and began to tell us how sorry he was and how he needed to repent of what he had done and that we could come and talk with his sister and him whenever he wanted. He tried to hide our surprise, thanked him, and kept on walking. Afterwards, we were just blown away and laughed.  The lesson is that you will ALWAYS win an argument if you are nice and loving. If I had told him to go away, it would have just gotten worse and he probably would have stabbed one of us. Thank goodness for Elder Jolley and his love and patience. All is well. Life is good. Love and miss you all.