Miguel Vilte and family are doing well. It´s been a while since we saw them... But they really like us. Belyn also, has been very difficult to get ahold of. She works every day! I can imagine that i´ve been on your mind this whole week, and the story just got a little more interesting...
First of all, I need you to see if you can find Lectures on Faith. It´s a book that Joseph Smith wrote for the School of the Prophets.. Want that! Haha, also, what are good things to eat at night, right before bed that won´t just stick in your stomach? Found that recipe for buttermilk syrup from Bro. Dennis yet? Well, Rita Marqueo, don´t know if I´ve talked about her before, but she´s pretty much a member, just isn´t baptized. She knows the BoM is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet and... EVERYTHING! Only problem is she has a boyfriend. He´s terrible. Drinks, smokes, is never at the house, doesn´t do anything good for Rita and her son, Ismael, and is very dishonest. We had a lesson with them the other day, in where I told Juan this: Rita wants to be baptized, and we want this opportunity for her as well. The problem is she can´t be baptized until she´s married, or you´re gone. I need you to make a decision, Juan. And I left it at that. He hasn´t shown up at the house since, but I know he hasn´t left for good yet.
Manuel is gone. We´ve left him for good. After his failed baptism, which was a very... interesting experience for a very new missionary, we went to visit him one more time. He said that he would get baptized when he wanted to, when it was warmer. Ha, he´s not ready. We said we´ll return in the summer, and the very next day I saw him with a bunch of old guys, drunk on a street corner. :/ Remember Diego? Well we passed by him and he´s accepting the chats again. We had a dinner with him on Saturday night to gain his confidence. I made American Omelettes, something none of them had ever had in their lives!! Eggs, chicken, onions, g. pepper, cheese, and a little touch of Argentina... ChimiChurri. Haha, they were delicious, and he loved them! We also made some homemade brownies with whipped cream and choc. sauce. It was a very fun night.
Hernan and Maria, I hope I´ve told you about them... E. Smoot, the Pres. Assistant and I visited them when we were doing divisions. They accepted a date for the 24 of July to be baptized. We passed by them, and they absolutely love us. Such a beautiful family. Problem, they´re not married. We need to ask them to get married. They´re really good friends of Juan and Patricia Manz, some of the most strong members in the Branch. They´re so close to getting baptized... But their family is visiting for the first bday of their daughter, and they don´t want us to come over for 3 weeks while family is there!! We´ll see about that... Heh! We had a Pollo Al Disco as a Branch on Saturday for lunch. Everyone in the Branch came, and we had Hernan and Maria, Horacio and his kids, and a few other people there who aren´t members. It was such a fun experience! After the DELICIOUS Pollo Al Disco (Chicken) They had a talent show and asked if I would play something. I decided to play ¨Breathe¨ by Greg Maroney, everyone loved it. Ha, it´s so hard to keep up with my piano songs!! There´s never time to play, never. It´s kind of sad.
German, the stud of the earth, he served his mission in Argentina Neuquen too, 4 yrs. ago. Anyway, he finally has a gfriend. She is visiting from Misiones, a province way North in Argentina, and she´s living in his house... Ah, jeez. I know he´s not doing anything bad, it´s just interesting for me to see him doing that. We had lunch with them yesterday and had a lesson with her. She´s not a member of the church, but came to Sacrament meeting with German and loved it. We´re going to baptize her, but if she´s living with German right now, we need to marry them first. We have a family home evening with them tonight, and I´m going to ask him what his plans are... Proposal??
Now on to the interesting stuff... E. Rojas. Where to begin? I´m at the end of my rope with him. I keep asking myself how I´m going to survive 9 more weeks with him... There´s no way that I´ll be leaving Esquel at the end of 2 transfers, so I know I´m with him for another. We´ve been having some pretty interesting fights lately. The subject of which has been the supposed ´faults´ that I have and he has. Faults of me: I ate an empanada in the street, which isn´t ¨sacred¨as he put it. I walk with purpose, like a missionary should.... I can´t even remember a lot of the things he tried to load on me, they were ridiculous. New things for him, he sleeps in every morning till about 7-7:30, HE HAS A LAP TOP (I will not give on this one, it is unacceptable) He walks behind me in the streets, all the time. I don´t get it. I stop suddenly every now and then and he´ll bump into the back of me. I walk at a pace that has purpose, not running like he puts it. i know he can keep up, he just chooses not to. The biggest thing: We were walking down the street and i saw a family. I went up to contact them and began walking along side them, talking about our message. When I finished the contact, I looked back to see where E. Rojas was. He had stopped and was waiting where I began the contact, about a block away. This infuriated me. We´re supposed to be ¨companions¨ , no? How can this guy have 1 year and 6 months in the mission? His example is terrible, but he does not admit anything.
But let me tell you also, that I know I have a lot to work on. i´ve been trying very hard to develop Christlike Attributes this week, Humility, Patience, CHARITY. And I do well for a little while, and then fall again. When he does things like that, I fall. And that is not alright for me. I should set the example. No importance, time had in the mission field, I can set the higher example. I´m trying, but I have a lot to improve. I have been burying myself in the scriptures, and Liahona´s. Especially the May 2011 Gen. Conf. edition. I drink in the words in those talks.... I´ve learned so much. I encourage you all to get a copy of the Liahona and read it!! Mark it!! The talks in there are from God, I know it with all my heart.
My situation hasn´t improved with E. Rojas, then. It has stayed the same, if not worse. What I am thinking though, is how we can possibly bring people to Christ if we ourselves are not acting as such? It is IMPOSSIBLE! I´m done complaining about the situation. I´m stuck with him for now, and I´m going to conquer. Job 23:10, If I can endure it well, I shall come forth as gold. What a cool scripture, yeah? I am growing a ton out here. More and more, I´m finding this mission being everything I´ve needed my entire life. It´s teaching me things I never thought I´d know. I have such a testimony of the church. I have such a testimony of the BoM. Even though i have a companion that is... different... I will not let that stop me from Coming forth as gold, and showing my Savior that I am a dedicated, hard working, servant. Whenever I think of home, I smile, and it spurs me onward. You guys give me such strength in the face of adversity, which is a lot. Believe me, the things that have happened to me so far are... Challenging. The only place I know where to turn to is Christ, My Savior. I have such a testimony of the Savior and His love for each and every one of us. More than anything, I know the BoM is true. I love each and every one of you. I have learned that the love I have for you all is... incredible. Every single aunt, uncle, cousin, grandma, grandpa, brother, sister, mom and dad... You all mean the world to me. I think of you all often, and you all give me strength. I humbly wait for anyone willing to write me a letter. Hearing from home always brings a smile to my face, and it´s such a blessing. It helps me to continue pushing forward.
I want you all to know that I´m alright. I´ve grown more than you can imagine on this mission, and it´s shaping me in ways I never thought possible. Please pray for me and keep me in your thoughts and hearts, I need it all. Through all the trial and adversity, there is One who knows me. His love is all encompassing. I love you all so much, I know I keep saying it, but it´s because it´s true. I will not let you all down. I´m here to work, to be a servant of my Heavenly Father. Ah, I´ve learned so much, and the more I think about it, this mission is more for me than anything else. This mission means everything to me. Even with all the struggles and trials, hardships and adversity, I am in love with this work. I will Return with Honor. I carry the name of my family well.
Love you all, I pray for you all. E. Cuthbert is fine, just Savior needy. just like all of us.
E. Cuthbert
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