Replacing Elder Gilmore!

3 Feb 2009

Dear Family,

I´m not sure if I´ll have time to read the letters that you sent because I went through that big change that I warned you about and I want to make sure I can write all that I want. And I got two copies of the letter you sent last week Dad, but the letter for this week is a bit of a mess. It is like it took the begginning, put it at the end, cut out a bit of the middle. No sé que pasó. I don´t know what happened. Ok, I fixed it. There are problems with the internet site, no más.

I am now in my second area on my mission. I have left my birthplace, Villa Amelia, and am now in Rafael Castillo 1, which might sound vaguely familiar to you. I am the replacement of Sean Gilmore. He has been here for six months. He left for another zone, I don´t remember which, but I find it amazing that I followed him here. So, if you have been keeping up with his blog, you know a lot more than me about this area and my companion Elder Gonzalez of Chile. I guess if there are people reading both his and mine, I will continue the story of this area.

First to talk about Villa Amelia. There really isn´t that much to say actually. We had some problems with Natividad. She is accusing one of the church leaders of doing something he shouldn´t and we aren´t sure who to believe. At first we thought she had a misunderstanding, but after talking around a little Sunday, her story lines up a little better. Now we´re not sure what happened. I´m kind of glad that I don´t have to deal with all the problems that have happened and are going on in the ward of Villa Amelia. I understand better why they had to make such an odd boundary change in order to pull in a bishop from another ward. I hope that all goes well.

Since E´Spendlove and I knew that one of us were going, we made several visits to the people we wanted to say goodbye to Sunday and yesterday. I took pictures with several of the families, so I will try to send them next week. Although, many of the pictures are missing people because noone wanted to be home for me to say goodbye to. It was like a curse. Griselda is in the hospital. Hmo. Salvador wasn´t home. Most of the Pereira family were at the pool. And the store where Carolina Sosa works was closed. We did a lesson with an elderly couple that have a lot of interest in the church. E´Peterson and I found them during divisions and she knew the church in Santa Fe, Argentina. She is a widow living together with another elderly man, who also has a lot of interest. There is the obstacle that they need to get married, and if they do, she loses her pension from the government. So it will be a sacrifice, but if there is one thing that I´ve learned in my life here on Earth is that if we sacrifice for the Lord, He blesses us abundantly. So, I hope all goes well with them with E´Spendlove and his new companion. I forget his name, but he is from Chile and entered at the same time as I did.

I will try to explain what little I know about Castillo 1. First, it is in the stake of Catán, but in the part that is really close to Castelar, the stake I came from. Catán is known as the “heart” of the mission, because it is in the center, I believe. If I take the train that is here in Castillo, the next stop is Merlo Gomez, which is one of the limits of Villa Amelia. The next station is really close to the chapel of Villa Amelia. So, I´m not too far away. In comparison with Villa Amelia, this area is really small. It is about a third of the size. We only have to use colectivos, being translated buses, for district meetings and zone conferences. So, I don´t have to spend $150 or more pesos in travel every month. That will be a blessing. Another blessing is that there is a laundromat here! I don´t have to spend all of my free time hand washing my laundery! We live in a pensión that is really close to the train station, less than a block. There are four of us, which is good because I think my companions will always need someone else to talk with during the nights because of how little I talk. It isn´t the greatest, but it is better than my first pensión. Luckily, we have Air Conditioning for the central room where we all sleep. Of the other elders, one is from Paraguay and the other from Utah. The other north american just came back from campo and so is new to the area as well.

From what I hear, the missionary work is going really well in this area. My companion and E´Gilmore gave a brief message during the Transfer Meeting about how they used oragami to interest some of the kids and help get their parents to start investigating. They had 9 investigators in sacrament meeting. 9! That is amazing. I feel blessed if there is one! So, we are going to be working really hard to help all those coming to church receive a lasting conversion.

E´Gonzalez seems like an excellent Elder to me. I think that we´ll get along well and that we´ll do great work together. Today, while making purchases and walking around, he has been doing contacts with people, which most elders don´t do on P-days. I need to really improve on making contacts. Every missionary should do 10 every day and it is really hard for me. But I think I´ll overcome that barrier. I don´t know too much about my companion yet, but he is really nice. It sounds like he really got along with E´Gilmore (who predicted that I would come here by the way). But, I´m almost the complete opposite of E´Gilmore, so we´ll see. I doubt we´ll have problems, I just hope that we can form a friendship, which I didn´t have with my past too companions.

I will let you know more as I live through and learn more. I printed out your letters and will read them when I get back to the pensión. I hope all is going well and that the your work with Aaron is going well too. I´m grateful for this opportunity to grow more and serve my Lord. I hope that His Spirit will always be with you to guide and comfort.

Love,
Elder Drake Ranquist