At Chachi's baptism
Elders Bowcutt and Jones, Chachi (Abril) and Eric
Chachi with family members 
Chachi with family membersSo Wednesday we were out doing divisions, so we could have the baptism interview for Chachi (which we did), when I received a phone call and it was from the offices looking for my comp, and they told me he's going to be working in the offices for the next 9 months as financiero. So then they called my comp in the area he was working in. We were all very excited. Financieros always have to start 3 weeks early to receive their training, so he was told that we had to leave early next morning. So the next day, Thursday, we headed to the mission home early where I was supposed to receive my mini. (A "mini" is a local youth who serves a mini mission for a few weeks when there is an opening in the mission.) We arrived at the mission home and my comp started working with the financiero and starting his training. I was told to stay and wait for my new comp, the mini, so I just hung out there for a long time, but it was fun because Elder Larson and I talked a lot. (Elder Larson was the first missionary Eric trained, who currently works in the office.)
Finally, they found out that they still didn't have a mini for me, so they sent me back to San Nicolas solo to meet up with the zone leaders. So I got back with the zone leaders, slept, and in the morning we headed off to Ramallo. Now we're at Friday morning. So Friday we got things ready for the baptism. We got everyone invited again (you need to invite again or people forget), we filled the font, etc. and visited some people that I needed to visit. Also I gave a blessing to Alejandro, one of the Zapata kids, which I will explain later.
So anyway, the baptism came around and we had possibly the best most spiritual service ever. At the service, the parents came, brother, grandparents and some other various members and family. It was a good turnout, not too big and not too small. So we started the service off doing the normal stuff. Then after singing the hymn that Chachi had chosen, and praying, we had a discurso (talk) by Danni, who used to be a missionary. It was a good talk. After that Elder Jones talked about the Holy Ghost. Then after that us three elders and Danni got together and we did a musical number which is the same one I did in Pergamino. We sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer, but to the music of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. We sang the first verse together, and then for the second and third verses, they hummed it while I acted out Joseph Smith receiving the First Vision, and then we got together for verse 4 and sang together. The spirit was so strong during the musical number and we performed it flawlessly. What's so amazing is we didn't even practice it, I just told them what to do and we did it without practice. It was really cool.
After that, we went to the baptism font and I baptized Chachi. She had a very complicated name, but I was able to say it with no mistakes, and the ordinance went perfectly. After that we had a short testimony meeting and many shared their testimonies, and everyone felt the spirit way strong. Then we finished and had refreshments and went back. It was a great baptism, and everyone was super happy. Now we need to keep working on getting her parents married.
Then us three elders celebrated with pizza. After that we slept. In the morning, I was informed that my mini was at the mission home, and that he would arrive at 12 in Ramallo! So I told the assistant on the phone to BE SURE and tell him to come to the terminal in Villa Ramallo, not Pueblo Ramallo. He said sure, but then he had to leave the mission home, and so he told the financiero to relay this information on and basically the financiero forgot, so my mini never got the news. So....what happened is after waiting around from like 12-2 in the bus terminal, I get a message from Angel, who is an investigator and friend of the Rios family, saying that there's a lost elder in Pueblo. I told her to tell my mini to stay there in Pueblo, and we went and got him. So after that whole fiasco, we got back to Ramallo with my mini and the zone leaders headed off for their area.
Then me and my new comp had a great evening, visiting a few people and found some new ones, too. That same night (Saturday night) we also visited the familia Rios who we haven't been able to visit for a long time, and they were so excited that they insisted on making us homeade pizza!! Jorge, a friend of their family and a coworker, and Angel also came by, and everyone was so excited and wanted to celebrate. Anyway, we didn't have time to stay and eat so they just gave us the bowl of sauce which she home made, the pizza dough and cheese and meat, and then they took us back to the pench in the truck so we could be back at 9:30. In the pench we put the pizza together, cooked it and ate the BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD. The sauce was truly amazing. The cheese, meat and pizza dough were pretty standard stuff, but the homeade sauce was incredible. We each had our own pizza and I ate it all and also some of my comp's!
So it was great, and the next day the familia Rios came to church and even invited Jorge to come, and he came!!! It was great since they haven't been to church in like forever and they really liked it and were glad to be back. We had a huge assistance (attendance) with many less actives that came back yesterday, it was awesome!!
Of course the best part about Sunday was the confirmation. The good news is that the confirmation was great and the parents came to church. The bad news is that the parents came late and missed the confirmation itself. Oh well. The grandpa did the confirmation (which really isn't the grandpa, and the dad isn't really the dad, because like I explained her real dad abandoned her as a newborn.) The grandpa had been inactive when Elder Page and I first got here, and we helped him reactivate so it was cool to see him do the confirmation, which he did fabulously.
Whew, so much to write. Well, it was all good. By the way, before I forget, last week after finishing my ciber sesh (session) and waiting for Elder Faldmo who would always take like 3 hours, I found Ximena, a member here, and she is going to contact you with the pictures of the dance last week that she took with my camera. So hopefully you saw the pictures cause she took most of the pictures of the dance.
Well, I'll tell you about my new comp now. His name is Elder Godoy. He's from La Paz, Entre Rios (close to Feliciano.) He's 18 and was baptized May 14th of this year. He's a great guy and we get along great. Although this is definitely a HUGE CHANGE and it's definitely NOTHING LIKE TRAINING, like you'd think. I feel more like an MTC teacher of special children. My comp is super cool and I love him, although he's a typical villero (person from the poorest area) so there's lots of things he doesn't know. Because he was baptized recently, he really doesn't know too much about the gospel. He also struggles with speaking and went to a special school to help him speak, and also because he has some academic challenges. I think it's really cool that he's doing the mini mission, and he says he wants to do a real mission, which I hope they let him, because it'd be great for him. It's really funny because I always have to explain things to him that I never thought I'd have to explain. Some funny examples follow: brushing your teeth, controlling acne (can you believe I of all people have to teach that, ha ha), learning how to find books in the scriptures, helping him pray correctly, helping him learn to read better, etc. He dropped out of school young. He's really dedicated and practices reading every day now. I enjoy it a lot, I just hope I can do a good enough job to really help him. P.S., I'm going to need more acne cream!
Anyway, I'm a little concerned about money because I have to pay for everything, because he has nothing. Meals, travels, etc. and I barely have enough for me! So we'll see what happens. Either way, it's great to be with him because he's just a great missionary, because he has a great heart. I think his childlikeness just helps me love him even more. I never thought I'd be teaching these many different things, but hey, I'm learning from him too!!
Please keep the Zapata boy in your prayers. Alejandro, the boy that's like 9 or 10, has tuberculosis!!!! I know that can be fatal so please keep him in your prayers. They get his study results on Tuesday, so then they'll know which medicines to treat him with. I'm going to call the mission doctor to make sure that he agrees with what the Argentine doctor says.
Yes, the Argentines are just like the Spaniards about the root beer. They all hated it, saying it has a horrible flavor and yes, they too said it tasted like medicine, but it's the thought that counts anyway, right? So it was great they got to try it.
I'll let you know next week of some of the things I want to visit when you come. So far some things I want to see apart from people are: Boca and River Stadiums, Flag Monument and Justice Building in front, Rosario Central Soccer Stadium.
I'll hurry and answer a few last questions: I had no idea it's the 9/11 anniversary, we didn't hear anything about it here. I got a postcard from Holly and Scott from Newport. For stuff to bring for people, the Argentines all want just a simple American dollar bill cause it brings good luck, so that'd be a good gift but of course that's just one idea.
Anyway, love you all,
Eric
Eric at the soccer tournament he wrote about last week
Eric helped with preparations before the church dance, "La Gran Baile Ramallo"All of the pictures below were taken by a church member, Ximena. Because the dance started at 10:00 pm, I think the missionaries had to leave before it began.
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