What an awesome week!

Eric with his comp Elder Boudreau

Santa Fe Zone Conference August 12, 2010

MTC buddy Elder Calvert with Eric at zone conference

So THIS is how they get their converts! LOL (This picture was taken in Eric's previous area of Yapeyu/San Agustin.)

I think this little boy loves it when the missionaries come to his house. This child (who is also in the previous picture and was in another picture with his brother that Eric had sent last week) is part of a family that they reactivated in Yapeyu/San Agustin.

Eric did not give an explanation for this picture, but it was taken today (August 16) and the road looks like sand, so it was probably taken in Rincon.

Hey family, hopefully your week was of ten points (that's how they say it here, "de diez puntos"!!) Anyway, it looks like everybody is happy and well from the many awesome photos I got! Firstly, tell Kegan hi for me, I'm glad to hear he is there and everyone is visiting and having fun!

This last week was awesome for us. Not only did we get the Standards (only 6 other companionships got them out of the whole mission) but we also got the record for the most programados (people with a baptism date!) So we were really happy, but yeah, we obviously don't work for dats (numbers) or fame, but it's nice when you work your hardest the whole week and there is a little recognition.

We're teaching a great family right now that I hope can be baptised. Rocio, who is the oldest sibling in the family, should be baptised this Saturday, and her brother and sister the following week. Of course, nothing is certain, except for one thing, and that is that Rocio has a testimony. Her younger siblings are really just kind of following. When her younger siblings said they hadn't received an answer to their prayers about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, Rocio yelled, "It's because you didn't pray with faith!" So hopefully they will gain a testimony and be baptised in the future.

Unfortunately, we were hoping to baptise Omar this week, but that won't happen because he didn't go to church. Omar is great, but he is really struggling emotionally. His wife and kids had left him and he is very sad. He wants to be baptised so badly and has been working to give up smoking, but he gets depressed so it is hard for him. We've had about 6 visits with him, and he knows this church is true, and he always shows up for our appointments because he says it is the only time during the day that he feels good. He's always happy when he's with us, but he gets sad when he is alone. He has come a long way, he used to be doing terrible, but is doing much better than how he was before. But I don't know what happened this past Sunday because he didn't come to church and he didn't answer his phone. Hopefully he's still doing good.

We had our zone conference this past week and it was good. I really liked it, but I think that package you told me you sent a long time ago must have gotten stolen, because I didn't have any packages. :( And the other one you sent wasn't here, either. Maybe we just need more Mary stickers, ha ha. Anyway, thanks for the packages even if they don't get here. Maybe someday I'll get a happy surprise. But it will be 3 more months before we can receive packages again. But don't worry, your weekly emails are more important to me anyway.

This ward is pretty good, this past week we had like 50 people attending, because we have reactivated a couple of them, so it's growing. I haven't had to give a talk yet here, however we are the Sunday School teachers. But I actually like that job, because I like teaching people gospel things, and furthermore, a lot of the members don't have a strong gospel background so it's good to teach them what they need to know, and not have to worry about the lesson getting off-topic about how Messi is doing. (Messi is an Argentine soccer player.) Don't get me wrong, the Argentines are great, but the church is young here, unlike in Utah, and so some of the teachers are still learning the basic doctrines themselves.

So yeah, good church, and REALLY GOOD MEMBERS! We eat with members almost every day (and not on P-days of course) and they are all good cooks! Good meals, and on top of that, we have many awesome members willing to help us.

Rincon is a very good area, I love it. It's so clean, and the air is so nice, we're surrounded by water on what is basically an island and it is all sand, like I mentioned before.

Tell Marisa that I love her and wish her luck and hope the baby comes soon! And David too, of course.

Also as a note, you remember Diego from my old area, he received the priesthood, woo hoo.

I bought some allergy meds but I pretty much did exactly what you told me not to, that is buy the CHEAP STUFF! I'm a missionary, c'mon, what did you expect? We never have money! The medicine didn't do anything, but I'm going to buy the stuff you said in the email if I can find it here, and will let you know how it works next week. Oh, and since I didn't get either of the packages, I am out of acne meds until November now.

Anyway, I love you all and thank you all for everything that you do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep enjoying your summer!
Love,
Eric

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