Washington D.C. and Figs!

Sorry I didn't post last week, I was in Washington D.C.! I went with a group of school friends to an environmental convention called Powershift. It was really neat, 12,000 students (mainly college) met at the Washington D.C. convention center to listen to speeches by proffesional environmentalists and congressmen, to discuss environmental issues, and suggest ways to improve the environment in their hometowns.
Anyway, now to Drake...

24 Feb 2009

Querida Familia,

This week has been a bit bitter-sweet. That´s how it seems like a lot of life is. We are happy for one reason and sad for another. But before I get too much into the past week, there are a few questions to ask.
First of all, I received a letter from Adam Leonhardt a little over a month ago (he wrote it back in November), but haven´t had a chance to respond to it until today. I wrote the letter, and when I looked for the return address, it wasn´t there. So, in order to send the letter, I need the address, so could you send that to me?
Next, I was talking with one of the members of our ward and she has Danish heritage. Her maiden name is Abligaard. Mom, do we have any relation? I have no clue.
Oh, I think next week, I´ll probably take out about 200 pesos from the bank. First of all, I´ve been having to buy some new socks. These socks aren´t worn out yet, but after 4 months of being washed by hand, they´ve lost all their color. They are either more white or red than black. To maintain my appearance, I´ve had to buy some new ones. Also, I bought a little adapter so that I could put my camera chip into the USB port of a computer. I borrowed the adapter from my companions in Villa Amelia, but my companions here in Castillo don´t have one, so I decided to buy it myself. I´m also planning on buying more sun protector and vitamins. Their about 40 pesos each, which is quite expensive. I decided that Mom would rather me not go without those things (even though most missionaries do). I still have some money left over from what you gave me before I came and I feel that I manage the money I receive pretty well, but I just like to be sure.
Just another sidenote. Last week, I tried a fig for the first time. I´ve always read about them in the Bible, but I´ve never really known what it is. To be honest, I imagined little tumbleweeds growing on the trees. But I knew they could be eaten as well, so I didn´t know what to think. Now I´ve learned that they are a fruit and are very sweet. I believe that in most of the representations of the tree of life, from Lehi´s dream, the fruit is a fig. There are various types, but these were growing on a tree of a member´s house and are purple. You don´t eat it straight, you open it up and eat the insides, which look really interesting. It is like a whole bunch of red, juicy, strings from the outside pointing inward. I´m definitely eating them again if I have the chance. And now I have a better understanding of the Bible and some of its stories.
Now for the news of the week. We had another baptism! I had the honor of baptizing Asunción de Dolores Medina and my companion baptized Roxana Gutierrez. They were so happy. Lola (the name Dolores goes by) is an elderly lady and I think she has great-grandchildren (the generations here in Argentina are a little shorter due to many of the problems with the law of chastity). She is extremely faithful. After teaching her the law of tithing, the next time we came by, she had two pesos in the envelope and was asking us how she pays her tithing exactly.
Roxana was extremely happy as well. She overcame her addiction of cigarettes and really feels the change and happiness of the Gospel. We´re having some problems with her two daughters Florencia and Karen (remember to pronounce it in Spanish). They are 13 and laugh at everything. They keep switching back and forth whether they want to get baptized or not. They´ve been going to church regularly and are ready. But they keep switching between “Yes, we´ll get baptized” and “No, we want to wait more.” It is a little tiring as we keep trying to animate them. But during the baptismal service of Roxana and Lola I couldn´t stop smiling. I felt really happy for them.
Now for the sad part. Maxi, one of the best investigators I´ve seen, wasn´t able to get baptized. Just as is promised in the scriptures, as soon as someone finds the truth, Satan works all the much harder to prevent them from receiving its blessings. A few times an Evangelical woman passed by trying to convince him of the “evils” of Mormonism. When he said that he was getting baptized and that he had already sent out the invitations, she said “You are making a contract with the devil and trying to bring others down with you.” But he stood strong against these attacks. But then, thursday night, the night just before his baptismal interview one of his female friends popped out of nowhere and decided to live with him. He hasn´t seen her for more than two years and was living with another man, but was thrown out of that house. So, she decided to live with Maxi. So, he wasn´t able to get baptized and now feels really disheartened. He feels ashamed and doesn´t want to come to church. He doesn´t want to get baptized now because he´s afraid he´ll just make another mistake. And also, he doesn´t know how to nicely get rid of this lady. I wasn´t there for his interview, I was on divisions, but my companion recounted that he said the devil sent her. This is really sad, but it came with other consequences. Maxi was the support of his neighbor Osorio who was in the process of quitting drinking wine. But with the problem and the desanimo (I can´t remember this word in english, disheartening...depression...gah, I know it but, oh discourgement is the word!) of Maxi, he feels that there are too many restrictions, doesn´t want to continue fighting his addiction and is back to drinking a ton of wine. So, we have our work cut out for us to help them more, to not give up, and pray sincerely for the Lord´s help in this situation.
Another event occurred that was really sad. If there is one thing that pains me more than anything else is when the parents of children say they are thinking of seperating. Yes, this is one of the options to comply with the law of chastity, but so much better it is to get married and save the family. We as missionaries learn that the family really is the most important part of life, the secret of happiness. And when we hear of the destruction of it, it pains us. We went to one family where the mother and children are baptized (when the mother was living seperated from the father, but now are back together again). In order for the father to get baptized, he needs to get married and commit to not drinking again. They are in the process of getting married, but they need to talk with a lawyer first about a paper and he isn´t available until March. But when we went this Sunday, the Silvia was really frustrated and was seriously wanting to seperate from Walter. We stayed and listened for about an hour, hour and a half. After helping them calm down a little and teaching of the importance of the family, the need of having family goals (like we have goals as companionships), and the role of the father in the family, they both changed a little, felt more love the one for the other, and put in their hearts that they wanted to change for the benefit of the family. In the end, Walter gave the prayer on our knees and afterwards, we missionaries always have the habit of hugging after the prayers (we always greet other missionaries with a hug, not a handshake). So, that is what they did. It was beautiful to see. I hope that they´ll be able to maintain what they felt that night in order to work for a happy family.
Ok, I´m out of time again. But I want to express my love and my gratitude for having such a wonderful family. Thank you for everything you´ve done to help us be happy.

Love,
Elder Drake Ranquist