Los Partidos de Futbol

Dear Family,

Thank you for the nice letters that you sent me for my birthday. I enjoyed them as I ate breakfast. I also saved the Gardetto´s to open up that day too. So, thank you for all of your thoughts and well wishes.

This week was full of its ups and downs. One of the things that gives us hope is that on Monday, we found a lady named Eugenia. She is the daughter of an inactive member and the neice of another with whom the ward is working. She is a bucket full of problems, but the gospel is helping her a lot. She was separated from her husband about 8 months ago and has had a ton of governmental problems with regards to her children. Right now, her two kids live one day in the house of the Dad and the next day with their Mom. With all the problems, Eugenia lost 20 kilos (50 lbs. I think) within 2 months and had a 14 day stretch without sleeping.

So, basically, when we got there she really needed someone to just listen to her. I´ve learned that I can calmly and patiently listen to someone´s problems, but that isn´t always what we want as missionaries because we are always running against the clock. The next time we went, we had a member to accompany us and she prayed at the end of the lesson and she said that she felt like something entered into her. She felt peace and aliviated (I couldn´t remember how to say "Ella sintió una paz y un alivio" in english).

In the next visit, we decided we wanted to do something fun for her and her children. She said that she hadn´t smiled in about 2 years, so we decided "We´re going to make them all laugh and smile" (while teaching an important lesson of course). So, we did what we call in the mission "Señor Huevo" (Mr. Egg). Where we have a hard egg that we want to put in a bottle. So he needs faith in Jesus Christ (so he gets on top), repentence (he falls and cracks and we take off the shell), baptism (we put the egg in water), and the Holy Ghost or baptism by fire. To do "baptism by fire" we do the physics trick or putting alcohol in the bottle, a match, there is a flame that reduces the pressure within the bottle, we put the egg on top, and the bottle sucks it in. It was really fun and they really enjoyed it. She smiled and laughed.

But, there was a problem with the dad the next day because he didn´t react well when his excited children told him that we "baptized eggs with fire." He already thought incorrect things about "the Mormons" and now probably thinks that we are doing some kind of witchcraft. But, Eugenia is getting better and we are going to keep helping her. We´ll see what this next week brings for her.

This past month, the entire nation has been into the World Cup. It is crazy here. The Soccer World Cup, which happens every four years, is 5 times bigger here than the Super Bowl. When the game starts, you her a bunch of fire works. And everything is deserted. There aren´t any open businesses because everyone is inside watching. And trying to preach during a game is worse than trying to preach during the siesta. Not even the strongest members would listen to us (ok, I´m not sure if they would or not, but it is very probable that they wouldn´t). Every time there is a goal for Argentina, there are more fireworks and everyone runs outside to blast horns and make noises with pots and pans. And when Argentina wins, a lot more fireworks and noise. A lot of people get in their cars and drive around honking their horns. It is really quite exciting and I´d like to participate in watching with them (which is something coming from me to say that I want to watch a soccer game). But, we go back to our pench for more study time. Last tuesday we had our district meeting in the afternoon instead of the morning. When we tried to get back to San Justo, the game had just ended and a bunch of high school students had flooded a major road blocking traffic. Argentina has won the past 4 games and I think they´ve now made it to the final four. The next game is Saturday. So, we´ll see if Argentina comes out champions.

My birthday went well because we did divisions with the young men to go visit some investigators. And in the evening there was a ward activity that our ward mission leader put together. It wasn´t nearly as successful as the last activity and I´m afraid it scared off one of our investigators that was present, but it was alright. At the end, when the members found out that it was my birthday, they put a candle on the cake brought for refreshments and sang "Que lo cumple feliz" and "Happy Birthday."

And Yesterday, Alejandro, the Dad of a recent convert finally came to church. He has become more and more interested in the gospel as we have taught him the past month. He only stayed for priesthood meeting because he had to go do something at 11 (I think he had to go watch Germany play England in soccer), but he wouldn´t tell us what. And he said he wanted come next week with more time.

I know the Lord blesses us daily and that we have hundreds if not and infinite amount of things to be grateful for. I know that he will keep blessing our family through our trials and tribulations. (I´ll admit that some of the problems you have gone through has helped me teach others with more power about how to face difficulties in life). I love you and keep praying for you.

Love,
Elder Drake Ranquist