Oompa Loompa ball

14 July 2009

Dear Family,

I don´t have too much to write this week either, so I will try to send some photos.

It is really weird to think that I´m nearing the halfway mark of my mission. I entered the MTC on July 30th and that is approaching rapidly. Nearly all of the Elders say that the second half of the mission passes more rapidly than the first half. I think it will come and go. Parts have been really quick, others have been really slow. Right now I´m in a slow part (having 9 of our 10 appointments fall through on Saturday, three of which we passed by with a member). But, next week it will all pick up.

Why will things pick up next week? It is nearly certain that I´ll be in another area next week. My time here in Castillo is coming to a close. It will be sad to go, but I do need a change. This area is fairly small to begin with and as the months go by, it feels smaller and smaller. It is hard to work diligently when you already recognize all of the people who have rejected you several times. I have no clue to what part of Buenos Aires I will go. It would be really funny if I went to Altos de Merlo, where Elder Gilmore was. I´d be following in his footsteps.

Yesterday went really well because we did “super-divisions” where every Elder in the entire zone did divisions with another Elder in the zone. I went to Lafarrere 2, one of the old areas of Elder Spendlove, with Elder Ariola. We didn´t have lunch supplied by a member, but he can cook really well. It felt good to be working in another area, calling different people to repentance and to come unto Christ. I felt a little more bold and energetic. It felt good. It is easier to do that with people that you don´t know because after calling the same people to change 3 or 4 times and you don´t see any progress, you begin to lose faith that doing it another time will help. Elder Rivas had a great time because he was with his old companion Elder Volkert (who is also going home next week).

Today we had our zone activity. Depending on what we did yesterday during divisions, we gained points. Elder Singleton, one of our Zone Leaders, is going home next week, so he decided to auction off all the stuff he won´t take home. With the points that I earned with Elder Ariola, I gained a cap and a bunch of other junk. Then we played oompa-loompa ball, where we play basketball, using the rules of ultimate Frisbee, but with a football. Meaning, we throw the football to one another, but can´t run with the ball. The aim of the game is to make the football into the basketball goal. It was really fun and wore me out. It is always fun completely surprising others by showing them that yes, I the nerd, can play sports.

I´m glad that you all enjoyed your trips and had a time to relax. I hope that I will find you all well next week when I tell you about my change and my predictions about what the next 4-6 months of my mission will be like. And I hope that you liked the photos (yes, I say photos now instead of pictures because of the Spanish word fotographía, or foto for short). I know I will witness great miracles anywhere I go to serve the Lord.

With love,
Elder Drake Ranquist