Right now it is misting outside and had been misting/raining for the last three days. When it rains, a ton of water leaks under the front door of the apartment and floods everything. This morning I jumped off the top bunk (where i sleep) and there was about 1cm of water all over. The worst is that all the water is sure to convert into mold everywhere in a few hours. It's okay though we hardly time at all in the pinch.
Today we went to the Cathedral of La Plata. (I took lots of cool pics, but the computer seems to think my camera is a virus and won't let me download any pictures.) It's so so cool and big. Supposedly it is the biggest cathedral in South America. It's kind of strange though because I think the typical Cathedral experience is that of being in a really old old building. Not so in La Plata. They just finished constructing it in 2007. Kind of new, but way way cool. I went with all the Elders in my district. As we walked into the cathedral, some Elders started whistling and singing "The First Vision". I felt really embarrassed and ashamed and tried to get away from them as fast as possible with another Elder, Elder Smoot, who felt the same. Elder Smoot is one of my best buddies in the mission. I lived with him for 3 months in Longchamps when we lived in a four man pinch. He reminds me of Josh so so much. He and I are the two Elders who have been robbed the most in the whole mission. (Me-8 Smoot-6) He lives in the Uinta Mountains in Utah. He said he lives 50 minutes away from the closest town and didn't have friends, besides his parents until he was 15. I invited Smoot to live with Matt and Rick and Kyle and I some day. Hopefully it work out.
This Sunday, the two biggest soccer teams in Argentina, Boca and River, played for the first time in more than two years. When Boca and River play, it is called the Super Classic. There are lots of games that are considered Classics, but only Boca vs. River is the Super Classic. There isn't real a comparison in United States sports. It's like the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the NBA championship all in one. It was wild. We had lots of appointments planned during the game, but none of the people would even open their doors, not even the members or the bishop. Noooo one. And there was no one in the streets except for when a goal was scored. We could always tell when one of the teams scored a goal because all the people would come out of their houses, scream bad words for a little bit, shoot a gun in the air, or dance, and then go back in their houses to watch the rest of the game. After the game was even worse. The game ended up in a tie and all of the fans of both teams came out of their houses to fight. There were fights everywhere in between groups of Boca and River fans. Hundreds of people were injured in the actual stadium after the game because they had a huge rock fight after it finished. Not kidding. Wild. We didn't accomplish really anything for about 4 hours on Sunday, but it was super memorable and funny anyways.
We have been teaching a 11 year old kid named Guillermo (Geeshayermoe) for the past few weeks. One day we were walking down the street and a barefoot, really dirty, and little kid starting shouting at us. He went over to talk to him and he asked us when we were going to come over to his house to show him a movie about God. We set up a appointment for the next day. We went to his house and it was kind of a sad experience. Guillermos parents are both mas o menos drug addicts with about 10 kids. Guillermo is the youngest of all of the kids and his parent just don't really pay him much attention, so he just kind of runs around in the streets all day doing whatever he wants. He never wears shoes, not because he doesn't have them, but he doesn't like shoes. The bottom of his feet are totally leathery. hahahah He is totally funny and mature for his age. He think that whatever we say is the coolest thing he has ever heard and always drops his jaw out of surprise while we teach. I have never laughed so hard in the process of teaching anyone before. (Except Antonio-the crazy guy in Solano who punched me in the crotch at church) We have been taking Guillermo to church for the past few weeks, and we had it planned that he would be baptized this last Saturday. But, we passed by Guillermos house this Wednesday and Guillermos Mom came running out of the house bawling hysterically, gave me a huge hug and bawled into my chest while talking really fast and not really making sense. Eventually we got it out of her that two of her daughters had been abducted the previous night. The two daughters (13 and 14 years old) had gone to the street corner to smoke cigarettes at 1 in the morning and never came back. Both of the girls were/are really crazy and are always hanging out with men who were way older than them and that did lots of bad things. This week we spent lots of hours walking around with Guillermo and hanging up fliers. It's kind of normal for young girls to disappear here. It's kind of in style for teenage girls to run away with boys for a few days. That's where I personally think and hope the girls are. We will keep on looking and praying for the girls. We were a little sad that Guillermo wont be able to progress and be baptized for a while, but a lot more sad about the missing girls.
We are also teaching a man named Alberto right now. Alberto is about 50 years old. He has a disease where he can't grow any hair at all; not on his head, nor eyebrows, nor eyelashes, or anywhere. Alberto is one of the best people I have ever met. He is so so friendly and eccentric and loving. He is the kind of person that you have lots of energy and motivation to go and do good things after you talk with him. We found him because his Mom invited us into her house one day and he was there. (Grandmas always always invite us into their houses and just want us to be their grandchildren for a few hours.) He is a very happy person. He has an awesome family, a way good job (owns a mechanics shop), and not a lot of problems. It's a different experience teaching him. Up till this point in my mission, I have mainly taught and had success with people who have a lot of problems and need help in their lives. I have had much less success with the people who are already happy and don't have many needs. Alberto is happy and doesn't have a lot of needs, but loves the gospel also. The experience had been totally different with him and I don't really know why. He said the other day, "I feel like what you guys are teaching me is the missing piece of my life that I never knew was missing." I guess that is how it is. The gospel is for all people happy, sad, fat, and skinny.
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