Growing Missionary

18 Nov 08

Querido familia,

¿Cómo andan ustedes? I´m sorry to hear about the problems and sicknesses you have had over the past week. I´m glad your check rides went fine and that Jonathan could participate in the road show. And I hope that you all start feeling better. That your bodies can have the energy necessary to do the things necessary in life. One quote that I agree with from one of the apostles is that a mission is more like real life than anything. When I ask “¿Cómo anda?” to some of the members, their answer at times is “luchando,” meaning fighting. Life is a fight, a struggle. That is why one of the greatest promises in the scriptures (Alma 40) is that after this life, the righteous will live in a state of rest. But for the time being, we must endure, or persevere to the end. (En Castellano, es “perseverar hasta el fin”). That the sicknesses and fatigue that we receive are obstacles to be overcome so that we can be blessed even more.


This week has been good. My new companion, Elder Spendlove has a lot of leader qualities and I´m grateful that he wants to be obedient and diligent. The reason that I thought he was a native at first is because he does have some Spanish heritage. His great grandmother is from Spain, and I think grandparents from Mexico. He loves to play the “where do you think I´m from?” game with the people because it is a compliment to him when they don´t guess the obvious Utah. He speaks Castellano a ton better than me and is pretty fluid, although I still hear grammatical mistakes often. I hope I learn to speak fluidly soon. I´m still really choppy (I´m choppy in speech in English too) and slow, so it makes it harder for them to understand me, but I can understand them a lot better! So that I can hear the words that I don´t know and note them. Back to my companion. He has 17 months on the mission, so he knows what he is doing and how to teach.

It has been a little difficult for us this week because I really don´t know the area that well. Without the map that I made, we wouldn´t have been able to plan really anything. A lot of the major teaching of people happened while I was on splits, so I didn´t really have a good idea of who was who and their needs. So, we passed by a lot of people to figure out their growth in the church, what they needed, and how we could help them. I think he now knows the area as well, if not better than me now after just a week. I have a terrible memory and am not very good with directions I´ve learned. And the bussing system still confuses me. There aren´t maps showing the bus routes, so you have to figure it out by watching and by asking.

We are working a lot with inactive members because they are also often a great resource to find new investigators. The retention in the ward here isn´t the greatest and we are probably going to start hosting activities on Thursday nights to increase the unity in the ward. They don´t have youth activities but once or twice a month and they don´t really do home teaching and visiting teaching, so there is little to hold the ward together other than large family relationships. So, we hope that activities will help bring them together and help them introduce the Gospel to their friends and family.

Some of the people that we worked with the past couple days actually dwell in other areas. One investigator who had recently moved from Peru, family has been members for 5 years, but he never was baptized, randomly showed up at church on Sunday. He lives in the area of Rivadavia, of Elder Born and Elder Alvarez, and has a lot of potential. Going to church shows real commitment and is that hardest thing for investigators to do. We also had some great contact with the brother of Juan (the boy I baptized) who lives in Moron. It started out just talking about why we are here on a mission, to an explanation about the church. My companion pretty much taught the entire first lesson using the 13 articles of faith. He was really curious and attentive and will probably contact the missionaries when he sees them. I have learned that help from the members really is the best way for people to accept the Gospel.

Relations so far with my companion are doing well. We have a difficult time talking at times. I´m not a talker and we sometimes have difficulty finding common ground. He studied international economics and is really interested in politics (a staunch republican). I don´t really have any interest in politics. But, he is obedient, so I don´t get upset with him on the cause the he is making me be disobedient. I hope that I´ll get over my speech barriers and learn how to just chat with someone and make someone feel comfortable. And of course learn Castellano better. I don´t speak in English with others, so they have to be fairly patient with me if they want to understand the point I try to get across.

I think I might be gaining weight a little, but I don´t know for sure. I don´t think that I really eat too healthily. We don´t get very many vegetables to eat. We eat with members every day (but P-day) and get a lot of pasta and milenesa (chicken sandwich pretty much). It is a rule in the mission to eat three fruits a day, so we do get that. And I take a vitamin every morning too. I also snack on pan negro, wheat bread a good amount. I don´t care too much for taste when I snack on things, I like snacks that can help fill my stomach and give me the lasting energy I need. The meat here really is pretty good, especially the chorizo, or their sausage. The family Pareira (who are preparing for the temple in a few months) have osados (essentially BBQs) for us on occasion. Also, we get a ton of pizza and ice cream on Sundays with the family Valle. They have practically family reunions that are really busy and have a lot of commotion every Sunday where we go eat.

I don´t really have much time left now, so I want to give you my love. I am not yet the missionary I want to become, but I know that with the help of the Lord, I will be. I have to develop some talents yet that I am lacking. So, pray for me that I´ll be able to open my voice and declare loudly the restoration of the gospel. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really is the only church that has the fullness of the Gospel, that has a prophet who speaks cara a cara, face to face with Christ, and is the only church that has the authority of God. Everyone needs to learn and understand this. It is vital. And I know the Lord is preparing the way for people to learn it in small and simple means.
I say this with love for all,
Elder Drake Ranquist