9 Dec 2008
Dear Family,
It sounds like everyone is doing well now. I´m doing fairly well too. I have been improving a bit in my work as a missionary and I always feel better with good work. Right now, I´m actually in Moron, a city near Villa Amelia. My companion and I decided to come out here for our P-day because he especially wants to go shopping for some new clothes and ítems. We have hardly anything in Villa Amelia, so it is nice to have such a good bus system to get us out here.
I spent the first part of the morning (after studies of course) replying to letters from Sarah Lemmon and Elder Bryan Rees. Elder Rees was my home teacher at BYU and is at the MTC now preparing to go to Poland. It was great to hear from him. One of his major questions was whether the field is like the MTC or not and I basically told him not at all. The MTC is a school like environment in which we are used to and thrive, whereas the mission field is much more like real life. He had been reading the blogs that you have been keeping for me befote he left for the MTC and received strength from them, so thank you for helping him. I also received the package yesterday. We found a small fake christmas tree in our apartment, so I put it together and put the package under the tree to wait for Christmas. My companion is surprised that I´m going to wait until Christmas to open it.
A bit about Christmas. I have the opportunity to call home on the 25th. At what time is a good time for you? I can´t promise anything. We have transfers the 22nd, and my companion isn´t sure whether he will stay or not, so it might be difficult to plan now. But give me the times you are available and I´ll give more information in the coming weeks. I believe we are three hours apart.
There is one thing I´ve decided I kind of want for Christmas as well. I´d like another pair of shoes to work in. I´m in Moron today where I can get another pair, so I might use the credit card to take out some money in order to buy a pair. As a missionary, it is nice to have a pair of shoes to keep nice for zone conferences, interviews, and the temple. So, I´ve only really been working in one pair of shoes. But they are wearing through fairly quickly. We do a ton of walking on rough surfaces, dirt roads littered with rocks, gravel, bricks, and other items. I can already see a shiny metal piece in the center of the sole of these shoes. Also, the day that it poured, these shoes got soaked and I had to work in my other pair of shoes a few days. They too got a little moist. So, a third pair would be really nice. Sorry I didn´t ask permision last week. I didn´t know we were going to come to Moron today. And as a side note, I iron my shirts now! Water, with its high heat index, works miracles! I learned to spray my shirts with water before I ironed them. They still aren´t perfect, but are a ton better. And yes, my pants are starting to get a little tight. Soy flaco todavía, pero estoy ganando peso.
We decided to have the baptism last Saturday. So, Benjamin Vera is now a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Hmo. Vera, his father, asked us as we were leaving from a lesson with Benjamin Wednesday why we were treating him so much like an investigator. He was born under the convenant and is part of an active family. He had a point, so we decided to push the baptism up a week. It went really well. He had to be baptized twice because his feet flew up the first time, but there is nothing wrong with that. My companion said that baptism was one of the most tranquil and smooth baptisms he had seen. Things worked out well. We also had a non-member family member come, which was great. They asked me to give my testimony about my baptism, so I prepared something for that. Then when Hno. Carabajal, the ward mission leader, arrived, he told me I had the talk on baptism. So, I stumbled through a 5 min. talk about the covenants and my testimony of baptism. I had to change it to teach more about the baptism than I had prepared. I don´t remember too much about my baptism (I should have written it down as I had been counseled to do). What I do remember was that the water was warm and I told Dad I wanted to be baptized again someday. I didn´t know about baptisms for the dead at the time. I remember more my confirmation. I remember a force entering into me and a warm sensation in my chest. I had a testimony of the Holy Ghost in that moment at 8 yrs. old.
I haven´t been asking to put something on my facebook in a while. We heard an anouncement from the first presidency at church yesterday about www.mormon.org. I looked at it a little bit before my mission and a little at the MTC and it is a great site. So, Jessica, could you put a link to that on my facebook in the about me section and also in the status.
I want to wish you the best with introducing Aaron to the gospel. It is a great opportunity for you especially if he decides for himself to truely seek. The church needs as many strong and dedicated priesthood leaders as possible. Dedication only comes through a testimony and testimony only comes through truly seeking for it. I learned that for myself in gaining my testimony. You can´t compel him to seek diligently, but I know that if he decides to he will find and know. As he seeks through reading and praying, he will find and bring to you all greater joy and happiness. It is a great opportunity.
I´m sorry I haven´t sent pictures home yet. I have the ability, but it is very difficult and slow. I only have an hour with the computer, so if I send photos home, it means that I won´t really have time to write a letter to you all. But a picture can describe things a lot better than my limited ability with words, so I´ll try to send some next time. I should probably purchase a SD to USB converter today in order to do it to connect it to the computer. It isn´t advised to have the camera out and visible (I haven´t had any problems, but we still have to be careful. I don´t wear my metal watch from home, but a watch that I bought here in Argentina for 5 pesos. It is a really fake watch, but doesn´t look too bad and it functions. It died once because I accidentally did laundrey with it on, but after 2 days of drying, it was resurrected). So, I think I might try to do that next week. I don´t take a ton of pictures. And I only really have my camera for special occassions and in the pensión (apartment) so I don´t have pictures to show what a lot of where I am and what I´m doing.
You too have permission to send pictures. I can receive pictures by email. And as a special request, could you send a picture of the family by mail at least every 6 months. Jessica and Jonathan are still growing up and I´d like to see them as they grow up and change. And I don´t want to be entirely blown away at Jessica´s beauty, or Jonathan´s height and fortitude when I get back.
It is really weird being a little bit tan. I´m still really, really pale compared to everyone around me, even compared to other Norteamericano missionaries, but my skin is darkening a bit. I look at the back of my hand and htis is what I think, “My hand looks dirty.” I don´t mean that I think that with other people, I´m just not accustomed to my hand being darker. I wonder what I´ll be like after a full summer out in the sun.
Well, I give you my love my family. I am so grateful for all of the prayers (and for the package). My testimony of this gospel is growing although it was strong when I left. I know that through the simple acts of daily prayer and scripture study and weekly church attendence we can receive the strength of the Holy Ghost to fulfill any commandment that the Lord has given us. I am gaining a stronger testimony of those basic principles, the primary principles. I also know that Jesus is the living Christ, the head of His Church, and Savior of the World for all those who repent and come unto him. I love Him. That, more than anything else, is important to remember.
Love,
Elder Drake Ranquist
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