The baptism of Talia

The family and the missionaries at Talia's baptism

Eric with Talia right before the baptism. This was when she was so nervous and afraid that she couldn't even look at the camera.

Axel and Talia (and perhaps another sibling?)

Eric with Talia after the baptism. She looks very happy here!

Hey everyone, what's up!!!

I'm excited to be writing again, and definitely excited right now because Marisa should be having her baby right now!!! I thought she would have had it already, but the suspense continues, I guess. From what you have told me, Marisa is in the hospital right this minute and ready to have the baby any minute, I can't believe it!!! Tell Marisa I love her and that I am sure that all will go well!! Hopefully I can hear word from you guys before I have to get off the computer about the baby! Well, just know that I love you and am there with the rest of the family, even though I'm here in Argentina.

A LOT has happened this week, I'll try and tell you a bit about all of it, but first I want to tell you about the BAPTISM! This past Saturday we had the baptism of Talia!!! She's the sister of Rocio and is like 14 years old. She's way cool, but way timid! She and Axel were supposed to be baptised this past Saturday, but basically what happened, well, I can't say it basically, I'll just start from the beginning..........

Obviously we've been working with this family for a while. They're all good people, but like most people, they have their problems to work out. Rocio really wants to be baptised and comes to church weekly and pays attention more than anyone, even me, ha ha. She's awesome and loves the church, but she has some things she needs to take care of before we can baptise her. She's working towards it, but still isn't ready. Talia and Axel are the youngsters. So all three kids wanted to be baptised, but Rocio can't yet, and Talia was TERRIFIED of the baptism, and therefore at one point told us she was too scared to go through with it. We talked with her and the family for about an hour, just getting her to trust us because she was so scared. Finally she felt brave enough to go through with it, and she had her baptism interview and passed it, and said she wanted me to do her baptism. Axel was going to be baptised too, and he got interviewed also, and my comp was going to baptise him. At this point, everyone in the whole family was no longer scared about the baptism and could hardly wait another day for the baptism to take place! Well, the next day the mom sends us a message that they can't go through with the baptism after all. What happened is the father of Axel heard about the baptism and was very upset. The father doesn't live with the family, but he provides all the money, food, etc. and he hates ALL RELIGIONS! He said if Axel was baptised, he won't give them any more money or food! So, thus being the case, Axel couldn't be baptised. So Talia was really nervous to be the only one baptised.

So it was finally time for the baptism, and a former sister missionary had filled the font and everything was ready. So we went to our separate areas to change for the baptism. I've never seen anyone as scared as Talia, she was soooooo nervous! You can tell even in some of the pictures where she wouldn't look at the camera or drop her arms to her sides. It took her a little while of pacing around the font nervously before she slowly and cautiously entered the font. I was already in there and seeing her fear, just told her to hold on to my hand as hard as she wants to, and I would help her. Ha ha, maybe that was a mistake, because when I told her that, she seized my arm and didn't let go, almost breaking my arm with the force, good thing she's so little! Anyway, then I said that awesome powerful baptism prayer and then baptised her. She even screamed a little as she entered the water, but she was submerged and baptised perfectly! After that, we changed and she came out in dry clothes and for the first time since we entered the church, she gave me a big old happy smile and a high five, hence you can see in the picture taken after the baptism she is smiling! She was really happy after the baptism and is glad she did it!!

Well, we had a good cake made by the former sister missionary, and we had some pritty (my favorite soda drink down here). The next day my comp confirmed Talia in church, she was also very nervous to do that (just be in front of people) but she did an awesome job. Okay, telling all that took longer than I planned, but those are the basics, let me know if you have questions.

I received some letters, so thanks for the letters, I got some dearelders and the missionary book from Dad, woohoo! I already had time to read the book you sent me and really like it, and I might even read it again now.

Congrats Dad, on winning the longest drive at the ward golf tournament!

I got to go and do divisions with Elder Calvert, from my MTC district, and it was awesome doing divisions with him, to be able to work together, actually out in the mission field, actually speaking Spanish, and actually teaching REAL PEOPLE, just as we had dreamed about in the MTC. It was cool to see the progress we each have made and just laugh and talk with an old buddy.

The pench this week is holding strong, doing good after all the repairs we did last time! Our next door neighbors got robbed, but everything on our part is good.

We've got tons of awesome investigators right now, I don't have time to tell you about all of them, but I'll tell you about one because it's pretty funny. On Tuesday or Wednesday, we were working in an area, and we contacted a home where we talked with some women outside in their yard for a few minutes. Three days later we passed by them again, and they're all investigators now. Anyway, as we had been teaching the women, out of the corner of my eye I saw a man in his front yard and thought we should talk to him, but after the discussion with the women, forgot about him and we headed back on the long journey to the bus stop to go back to Rincon. (We were out in La Guardia, also part of our work area, because our area is huge.) Well, we had been walking about 5 minutes when we noticed someone was awkwardly following us. If we were cars, he would have been in my "blind spot", and he would neither pass us nor slow down, just hanging there awkwardly. My first thought is that this guy is planning on robbing us, because he was close and closing in, but very awkwardly. So finally I just stopped and turned and looked at him and gave him a big HOLA!!!! (hello) He didn't really expect that and looked a little startled but said hola, and then asked us if we teach the word of God. When I heard that, my next thought was Oh, another guy who wants to Bible bash and drop some cane on the missionaries (give them a hard time.) That's what I was thinking but of course I didn't say it, so I nicely said yes, and then he told us he was interested in hearing us, and that he was chasing us cause he wanted us to teach him!!!!! Well, we walked back with him to his house and taught him!!! I've never had anyone chase after me because they wanted me to teach them before!!! It was cool, we had a really good lesson, and he accepted to be baptised in the future after everything, but then he didn't go to church on Sunday. :(

Right now we're here in the ciber just chillin', and we hung out at Elder Calvert's pench for a bit this morning, too.

Don't worry about my health, I am fine, I think I am maybe just vomiting from the chorizo here, which is kind of like a sausage. I only mentioned it in last week's email because I never used to have blood in my mouth when I vomited before the mission, so I thought it was weird, but don't worry about it, it is not a big deal, I am fine.

The Sunday School classes are going good, our class is for the new conversos so it's really cool, because well, who knows better how to teach these people than missionaries?

Anyway, this is a great area, it was a little colder this week but still not terrible. There are lots of fishermen here and we often pass by little stands with guys selling freshly caught fish.

I'm all out of time, so I've got to go, and I've already written the president. I can't believe the baby didn't come while I was writing all this, I was hoping to hear news, but I guess I'll hear the news next week!

I love you very much and thank you very much for EVERYTHING! Really, everything you do and then all the things you don't even know that you do. I love you all very much, and wish you luck and send my prayers that all will go well with the labor!!

Love you so much!
Eric

___________________________________________

A week of pench repairs and sickness

Panoramic view of the pench
(click on the picture to see it larger)

Inside the pench, with his comp sitting at his desk. The empty chair is in front of Eric's desk. It's nice to see where Eric spends a couple of hours each day studying.

This is probably either the backyard or the side yard. I can see the sink (beside the green tank) where they would handwash the clothes if they didn't have someone doing it for them.

Hey family, how is everyone? Sounds like a lot happened this week, I assume at this point you're all on the edge of your seats waiting for the baby to come. I am too!!! I'm glad to hear that everything is fine still, especially after what happened with the dog! (Mom's note: a large dog chasing a frisbee ran straight into Marisa at the park and knocked her down.) David and Marisa look like parents already from the pictures, I can tell they're ready! I guess the next time we write, Maya will already be here, I can hardly believe it!

Well, here in Argentina things are going good. I finally went to the doctor (ear specialist) and it turns out I don't have allergies, but mucus in my ears!!! When I first got to Argentina, I had that sickness and the mucus in my ears is still left over from that old sickness! So I'm taking stuff right now to help with that, and already it's a lot better, I can hear much better. The pills are called Acemuk, it's a dissolvable pill I put in water and then drink twice daily, and so I'll be taking those for another week or so. I also got a shot in the rear end, ha ha, to help with the mucus. The shot was called something like cleoteroud retard, definitely that is not spelled right, but it's something like that. So don't worry about me, the ears are getting better. Oh, and that's why I had to take out some personal money, to pay for the doctor visit and the medicines.

Our pench is like most of Argentina, we don't really have an address, but we live on the corner of Constituyentes and Gamboa (that might be spelled wrong).

This past week a lot of stuff happened. Our stove broke, and then the hot water heater, among other things. Before that it was the electricity! We had to do a lot of fixups, and it seems like we spent most of the week at the doctor's office (my comp had some health issues with his ears, too) or else with the electrician, plumber and the guys who fix the gas, but half the time they never showed up when they were supposed to. Finally we got it all fixed up and we got a new electric type of water heater that is attached with a new shower head.

By the way, I wanted to ask you something that's not a big deal, just a question. I'm wondering if there's some disease or sickness that prohibits people from eating certain foods or something. Blood always rushes to my mouth and then I have to throw up, and it usually lasts a while. I apologize if my letter is weird or doesn't make sense, I'm still a little dizzy and a bit out of it, because I didn't get any sleep last night (throwing up.) Don't worry about it, I'm doing fine and all, I'm just thinking that I'm throwing up more than normal, and maybe I should do something about this. It's probably just really bad luck, but let me know what you think. Don't worry about it, though, I'm still doing fine and am happy, that stuff doesn't really get my spirit down, so don't let it get yours down! (Mom's note: after I got over my feelings of panic, I realized that the medication Eric is taking is probably making his stomach very sensitive, and so food is less likely to agree with him. And there is probably just some food that is commonly eaten in Argentina that upsets his stomach even under normal conditions.)

Anyway, the weather here has been getting hot, we leave with just our white shirts now mostly. It's crazy that it's so hot here, I don't know what's up, but I like it! So it's weird cause right now we both have hot weather at the same time, when we should be opposites! This week it has been harder to work because of all the problems, the adversary was surely working hard against us, but my comp and I still worked as hard as we could.

Ha ha, I loved seeing all those action shots you sent me, they're great pics. Marisa and David sent me a picture with David wearing an Argentina shirt, I couldn't believe it! Anyway, I love you all very much and thank you for all you do. I already have to go, sorry I didn't get to write too much. Oh and by the way, don't put all that sickness and medical stuff on the blog, because it would just make people worry. (I have made an executive decision and decided to leave in all the medical stuff for anyone who would like to include Eric and his speedy recovery in their prayers.)

I love you all, and I send my prayers and best wishes your way!

Love,
Eric

Looking up towards the corner of the ceiling to admire the new electric hot water heater (the round white thing) and the new shower head. (When I see that electrical outlet in the shower, I am reminded that this is definitely Argentina and not the USA!)

_______________________________________________

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

___________________________________________

Hola from Rincon!

Eric with church members in Yapeyu/San Agustin

With Elder Hernandez, who was in his zone. It looks as if this picture was taken in the morning while Eric was getting ready to put on his tie. (Sometimes other elders come from different areas and stay at the pench overnight to be there in time for an early-morning zone meeting.)

With Elder Kaipelea

With young friends in Yapeyu/San Agustin

Hey family,

What's up?! Another week has blown by for me here, and I'd imagine the same for you guys. I loved seeing the photos you sent me and everything. I am sending you some, but my camera battery just died so unfortunately, those are all I'll be able to send this week, but next week I should be able to send you many more. The fotos are all from the area I just left.

Well, I'll get right to explaining all about my new awesome area. My new area is Rincon as you already know. It's really only about 30 minutes away from my last area by taxi, but seems far away because it is across the huge river and has its own river. In fact, that's how I got to my new area, I just took a taxi!!!! Anyway, do you remember in my last area how I mentioned there was a Wal-mart that we went to, well my new area is on the other side (east) of Walmart.

I love Rincon, it's an awesome area. Rincon is also like a pueblo (small town) and is surrounded by campo (countryside) and lots of rivers but is not too far outside the city, so it has the benefits of a pueblo, as in it's peaceful, safe, etc. and it also has the benefits of the city, like we can still take transportation to get to stores and McDonald's and Walmart in Santa Fe. Rincon, although small, is really spread out, and we have to take the bus a lot, because our area is HUGE. It's awesome though, all of Rincon is sand. The streets and plazas and everything are sandy, just like we're at the beach. I really like it, this whole city is just like a beach town. I'm sure Holly would love it here. Also, the weather's very nice despite that it's winter. In the mornings and evenings it's very cold, but during the day, I usually only wear my suit jacket and sometimes even that can be too much! It seems like spring here, it's crazy.

Like all of Argentina, there's lots of dogs and birds, but as a general rule, the dogs are much nicer here. Our pench is nice, not the nicest or anything, but it's fine. It's a two-man pench, so it's a lot more quiet. In the pench I have a huge study table which is nice, and a bed that looks like a fat person slept on it in the same position for years, because there's a dramatic dip where I lay my back, and my legs are higher up.

It is really nice to have all of Rincon to work in. We have some cool investigators that I hope to see baptized. One guy is pretty emotional all the time, and it seems like he is always upset about something, but even though he was supposed to work last Sunday, he came to church and really liked it. Our church is pretty nice. We have a nice building and a bishop that shows up. Also we have counselors that show up. Probably the best member of all is this one guy who was actually excommunicated but recently came back. He's an awesome guy and is almost like a missionary, always sharing the gospel with people and helping people and giving us the names of people to teach. He's the one who guided us to the emotional guy.

My comp's name is Elder Boudreau, as you already know, ha ha, that's so funny about knowing his mom on missionary moms. He's a great guy and loves to work. He's a good workhorse and is nice to all.

A member washes our clothes, and she does it in just one or two days! She's an inactive member, so hopefully we can work with her a little.

Don't worry about me, I'm doing fine, and don't worry because I won't have problems getting the allergy stuff you told me about unless they don't have it in Argentina. Prescriptions don't really exist here, EVERYTHING is over the counter, including many drugs that I'm sure are illegal in the States. I'll look for the stuff you said to get, and try to get some. I might have to take out a little money, but I'll only take out what I need. I always check the balance before taking out money, so I'd never take out more money than the card has. And yes, I am changing my contacts and using new toothbrushes regularly.

We just went to McDonald's to eat, and when we are done here at the ciber, we are going to Walmart to buy our food for the week. That part makes me feel like I'm in the States!

President Villalba does the transfers, and we don't have any say in where we are assigned. Every week we write to the President about how the work is going with our area, and in this email we can ask to be transferred to other areas, or stay or whatever, but in the end it's his decision, and he's going to put you where he puts you. As President Villalba puts it, he can't do whatever he wants to either, it's all the Lord's decision and he just follows the inspiration. I love moving around and seeing different areas, and there are lots of other elders who move around a lot too, although there are some elders who seem to stay in areas for a long time. Whitewashes happen all the time here, because there are usually lots of transfers. (A whitewash is when both missionaries in an area are transferred, and the two new missionaries to the area rely on the previous elders' notes and instructions to find the families they were working with.)

I am so sorry to hear about Uncle Roland. He will be missed. My prayers are especially with Aunt Lisa right now, and I hope the services go well and the family can all be together for them.

I want you all to know I love you and miss you all, but will continue forward with the work here in Argentina!

Love,
Eric

Mom's note: I found the following pictures on the internet which show some views of Rincon, Eric's new area.

The city of Santa Fe in the distance,
as viewed from Rincon

The central plaza in Rincon

Street scene

The campo around Rincon

On the shores of the Rio Colastine, Rincon

________________________________________________

Transfers!

More pictures from Diego's baptism last week: Eric, Diego, Elder Herold

Diego with his family

Hey family,

What's up! I'm doing great here, this keyboard is messed up and has lots of weird symbols and keeps typing the wrong things, but I'll try and make do. (Mom's note: I am correcting all the crazy typos and symbols so you can read his message.) Anyway, today is the day before transfers and we still don't know what the transfers are!!! Hopefully I'll find out while I'm writing this email, but as of right now, I have no idea. I like this area and would like to stay, but since there's always a lot of moving around in this mission, I could very well be moving again. This is a good area and the members are great. We are working with some great investigators here who are progressing.The members all love us, we have meals every day, and they always tell us to call if we don't have any meals scheduled and they said they'll give us more!

I'll try uploading some pictures while I am waiting for the transfer email to arrive. Once it arrives, I'll know what's happening with everyone. If I am getting transferred, I'll pack up today, and tomorrow I'll go to the bus terminal where I'll probably see many more missionaries, and then I'll take a bus to my new area, where my new comp will be waiting in the terminal of that specific city. If I don't get transferred and I stay, then I just stay and don't have to do any packing up or anything.

Ha ha, right as I was reading your email about how you talked with my comp's mom, he was reading his email from his mom, and was quite shocked when his mom told him she talked to you. It's never happened to him before, where mom's are in touch, and he thought it was quite funny. He's happy about it though and is still laughing over it.

Diego is doing awesome!! I think he's come by the church almost every day this week, just because he likes to pass by and come to every little activity we have or just to see what's going on. He's a taxi driver so he's always out driving, and whenever he sees us walking, he swerves wildly out of traffic and comes over and stops and talks to us for a little bit. It's cool cause he just stops to talk to us and hang out for a bit. Yesterday we watched the Joseph Smith movie, the short one, with him, and he loved it and afterward he wanted to watch the Testaments with us!! We didn't have time, so we just watched the last 15 minutes and then he asked us to give his whole family a blessing of comfort. We all got pretty emotional at the end of the Testaments when Christ comes and heals the main guy, and then we got ready and gave blessings to the whole family. It was an awesome experience and Diego was super happy.

Here is a perfect example of how the gospel brings happiness to people and their families. Before, Diego was a good guy, but he was the typical Argentine husband/dad, who is very dominant and the wife has little say, and the dads usually hit their kids if they are acting up. But now he is so much more patient and loving with his whole family, and he hasn't even yelled at his kids once while we are there, he is just so much better now with his whole family. He's awesome to his wife, and they are going to be married soon. So yes, he's a way cool guy, and he's going to receive the priesthood this Sunday and be made a priest!

You asked about my eyes and my contacts, and they are doing good. I am actually on Day 10 of not taking them out, because I've been out of solution, but today I'm going to get some. I'll be honest, though, my only concern is my ears, which are still clogged and ring all day, some days worse and some days better. The sudafed and other things only helped a little while I was taking it. Don't worry, I'll be fine, I just wonder if there is anything that I can do. (Mom's note: I called a doctor in Utah who thinks it sounds like allergies since Eric has had this problem since arriving in Argentina in January, so I will be sending Eric some allergy pills to try. We had thought his ears were fine since he hasn't mentioned it in a long time.)

I am going to start writing my mission president right now, (we do it every week) and hopefully by then we will get the transfer list so I know what I am doing. Also, I wanted to say that I hope Nana had a very happy birthday!

Hey, it arrived, I just found out I'm leaving and going to the zone Santa Fe in the area Rincon. I'm going to have a new comp named Elder Boudreau. Anyway, I will go now because it will be a busy day, I love you and will tell you all about my new area next week.

Love you,
Ciao (they say that all the time here)
Eric

Statue in a park in Esperanza

Park in Esperanza

Building in Esperanza

____________________________________________________

Diego's baptism

Eric with Diego at his baptism

Diego with his wife and kids

Hey family!!! What's up dawg!!!

A lot of the Argentine church members greet me by saying, "What's up dawg?" because they watch American movies and learn funny phrases like that, ha ha.

Well the first thing I want to mention is Diego's baptism, of course. HUGE SUCCESS!!! I'm uploading photos now of the baptism but it's going very slow. I was a little nervous if he'd be able to get baptized or not. I wasn't doubting his desires, but his worthiness. Diego's such a cool guy that he let us know when we taught him repentance that he needed to fix some things up in his life to be more in harmony with the gospel. Well, he had repented long ago, but we weren't sure how long he had to wait, or if he could be baptized this Saturday. He had his official and final interview with the stake president on Saturday, right before the baptism!! The stake president couldn't come to our church building so we had to go to a different building, which was pretty good, though, because they had hot water at their church, unlike our church building which is out of gas so we couldn't heat water. Well, the president said he was ready for baptism, so we went ahead with the baptism! Diego's family came (because of the change of location, we were also a little worried about them coming), but it all worked out. His friend in the church baptized him (a young man) so that was really cool for both of them. So he was baptised on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday.

Diego is really an awesome guy, you'll notice from the pictures that he has a lot of tattoos on his arms and neck. They're the names of his kids, but the thing that's really cool is that he has an appointment with a guy to have them removed!!! We didn't even mention to him that he should remove his tattoos, he just told us he wanted to have them removed because he understood that his body is a temple of God and he wants to become more like Christ. Probably the greatest joy that I got from this whole thing is when we invited him to repent and then saw him go through the repentance process. The baptism was great, of course, and it's a necessary step to complete the repentance, but the work he did before the baptism was the best. Just to see the weight of his previous transgressions lifted from him was a miracle. It's something he'd felt bad about for quite some time and I can tell this man is truly happy now and doesn't have feelings of guilt or shame anymore.

Anyway, it was just a really good baptism. We did his baptism at the church with 6 other baptisms in our zone, so our zone had 7 baptisms, which is A LOT for one zone in our mission! It was a great service with lots of people.

So now you will be able to see the picture of Diego and his wife and kids, he is a really funny guy. I don't know what I have and haven't mentioned about him before, so just ask me if you have any more questions about Diego or whatever. I'm also sending you a picture of him and his wife in front of the temple, (most likely he means in front of a picture of the temple, since the temple is 4 hours away) which is where they plan to go in about a year from August, after they get married this August. (It takes time here to get a marriage date. Also, even though they're not officially married, everyone just uses the words wife and husband.) (Unfortunately we did not receive the husband-wife-temple picture.)

The weather here has been pretty nice today and the last couple of days, although of course very cold in the mornings, and it has been very cold all day long before that. Today was P-day and we got here together in the morning as a zone in Esperanza, and we played futbol. After that we had some good Grido ice cream and we got to watch a movie, because of how our zone had so many baptisms. We watched Disney's Princess and the Frog in English, woo hoo. It really wasn't that great, but being as deprived as we are, we were like criminals just out of prison, laughing at every stupid thing, and so we all really enjoyed it, myself included.

Regarding peanut butter, yes, you can get it here, but only in one place, WALMART, the favorite store of all Americans. It's true that peanut butter doesn't really exist here, nobody knows why that is, that's why you'll only find it at Walmart. We recently showed peanut butter to a member who has a panaderia (factura/alfajor shop) (bakery), and he said he's going to start making peanut butter alfajores for us and call them "THE YANKEE." Ha ha, yes, people sometimes call us Yankees, although it's pronounced more like "shonkees."

I enjoyed seeing the photos of everyone, they're always nice to see, and Marisa and David look content in their new apartment and look like they're ready for kids!!! It still shocks me to see my sister expecting a baby, maybe someday I'll fully believe it.

Regarding the package you mentioned, no, I did not receive that one with the candy and stuff you described. Like you said, I would assume it's just slower or maybe the office elders forgot it. I should get it sooner or later, although as of now, we will ONLY get packages every 3 months. Even when zone leaders go to the mission home, they can only bring back letters, but packages they can't bring because it would be hard to carry them all, and also because we have to pay for them all. We pay according to the value declared on the box. Thank you for being smart and declaring the value of all my packages low, I only have to pay 10, 20 or 30 pesos to get mine, nothing bad. One of the hermanas received a 90 peso package, and so have some other missionaries here, because many parents don't know how the system works. We have to use personal money to pay for packages, and that's sacred money, ha ha!!

Well, I better finish up, I am having trouble uploading photos because this ciber (cybercafe) is so slow, I've never been in a ciber so slow. It's a huge ciber and there's tons of kids all playing World of Warcraft (a computer game) and so that's making the internet VERY SLOW. I love you all and hope the best. Remember to "SEGUIR ADELANTE" (press forward) always and enjoy the journey.

Till next week,
Love,
Eric
_____________________________________________

Loving my mission

Picture from the park in Esperanza that Eric visited last week

This statue in the park is called "Club del Encuentro de Abuelos" which means Grandparents Club meeting. The man is holding a cup of mate, although it looks as though the straw has mostly broken off.

Another view of the park in Esperanza

A huge spider, "at least 6 inches across." It looks like it is probably at the top of a doorway. Thanks to Elder Eldred's family for sharing this photo.

Hey family, how's it going?!?!

Well, as usual, it's only been a week but a lot has happened. Firstly and the best part, is that we will have a baptism this Saturday! His name is Diego and he's a stud. He's in his early 20's and is a taxi driver. When we first met and talked to him, he loved the spirit he felt with us. He's a great guy and has now been to church 3 times in a row already. He has kids with his wife Maria, who is a member, but was inactive but is now going back to church. They're not married, but now have a marriage date for sometime in August!!! In case you're wondering, they are currently living in separate homes for the last little while until they can get married, so that Diego can get baptized. It's not a problem for them, they are getting along great and looking forward to Diego's baptism, and then their marriage. They're very faithful people, especially because they've experienced a lot.

At the beginning of the transfer, when we first met Diego, he was investigating lots of churches and had many doubts about each one. We answered all of his doubts perfectly and he understood what the church of Christ should be like, and he'd be really interested in the church until Pastor Bob from another church would roll around and tell him something else. I asked him how he felt in the other churches, to which he responded, "I didn't feel anything, except in yours, that's why I stopped going to the other churches." So we then answered any and all of his questions so that he understands the gospel perfectly in his head, and more important, we helped him recognize the spirit he feels when he reads the Book of Mormon and goes to church, and he understands what the spirit means.

For the past couple of weeks, he's told us he knows this church is true, and so Sunday night we programmed him to be baptized this Saturday. Here is how it happened: we had our appointment with him set for this coming Thursday, because while in church, he had told us that it was the only day possible, which would mean he couldn't be baptised this Saturday, but the next one (because we still need to teach Lesson 3 and 4.) Then after church, when we were in our pench, I felt the Spirit strongly letting me know that Diego was ready and he couldn't wait one more week for salvation, so I called him Sunday after church and said "Look, I know you just told me the only day you have time this week is Thursday, but we need to teach you now." He said okay, so we went to his wife's sister's house (Diego was there) taught him lesson 2, and then programmed him to be baptized this Saturday. I love the answer he gave me when I asked him to follow the example of Christ and be baptized. He responded, "Yeah, of course, and I was just about to ask you if I could be baptized this Saturday." I can honestly say that in all my mission, I've never had a baptism candidate so strong. He reads a chapter in the Book of Mormon every morning and every evening always, and then he does his prayers, and goes to church even if it rains, and goes to EVERY ACTIVITY THAT WE'VE HAD. He's a sweet guy and is going to be a great member. Anyway, so that's Diego, I'll probably tell you more about him next week after the baptism.

Aside from Diego, the work is advancing very well!!! It appears like we'll only have one baptism this transfer, but I wouldn't feel bad if I had zero baptisms. This transfer we've reactivated and kept active more families than I can count on my fingers and toes. (To reactivate someone means to find a member of the church who has stopped attending church for a period of time, and then help them go back to attending faithfully.) One lady we helped to reactivate told us we saved her life and her family. Every time we pass by her she gives us a box of alfajores (cookies) or facturas (donuts), and tells us thanks, so that's a plus, too! (She owns a kiosco.) She asked the branch president for a calling (volunteer job) so she can remain focused and involved in the church. Aside from that, we've helped many people out and the church is growing good here.

We had our interviews with President Villalba a few days ago (so now my next one won't be for another 3 months!) and it went good. Also, whenever we have zone meetings with the President, we also get one other thing....PACKAGES!!! Yes!!!! So I got my packages. I was so excited!!! I got two sweet packages, including the package from you guys with the candy, Called to Serve CD and World Cup Soccer game kit!!! I love it!!! Thanks Mom and Dad, Marisa and Holly and Scott and David! It was a great package and we enjoyed the candy very much and have been listening to the cd. I also got the package with the book from Dad, the Leadership Advice by Coach Wooden, which teaches people how to be successful in activities, sports, leadership, etc. (It helped me win the church ping pong tournament, I'll get to that later.) I've already read a lot of it and love it. I also got dearelders from Mom and Aunt Stacey, so thank you both for writing me! I loved all the letters and packages I got and am using them still, they're so great! I've already been applying some of the things learned from Dad's books, and of course both my comp and I have enjoyed all the candy!!

Well, the work's going good here, and I love our church here, especially the branch. I'm glad you asked me if I have given any talks in this area yet, because just yesterday, I gave a talk! I know you're probably surprised, well so was I when the branch president asked me 5 minutes before sacrament meeting started, if I would give a 15 minute talk!!!! I don't know why it's always me, I'm still junior comp, but I'm okay with with it!! Regardless, the president always asks me to do the fill in stuff, like improvise lessons in Sunday School, or preside in meetings, etc. Missionaries are just the ultimate backup, fill in, and do whatever, when someone fails, but it's great. Well, despite the lack of prep time, I gave a good talk. I received spiritual help and it went great. I decided to talk about the Holy Ghost, because just last transfer I had given a talk about that, so I gave my talk in a similar fashion. It was very easy, although I had been nervous when the president first asked me. I've been focusing on calling people to repentance a little bit more, so at the end of my talk, I read one of my new personal favorite scriptures 1 John 1:7-9, which says "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I like that because we all make mistakes and need to repent daily. So it all went well, although hopefully the next time one of us needs to give a last-minute talk he'll ask my comp to do it, although knowing my luck it'll just be me again. Equally (actually), I was very happy to give the talk, because after the first minute or so, the spirit calmed me down, and helped me, so much so, that I was happy to be up there and ended up actually talking for 20 minutes. Anyway, I am thinking that I should probably go to church with an emergency talk prepared always for when I get called on randomly.

Members have been treating us really good, too. We eat with them almost every day, usually pasta and chicken now that it's cold. The weather has really turned bitter cold here now. When it rains, everyone runs back and stays in their homes, not going to church or anywhere else. They just stay in their homes and make torta frita. (I looked it up online, and it is some sort of a fried biscuit.) This last Sunday it rained, (hence why the majority of people, including the sacrament meeting speakers, didn't show up.) It actually didn't even rain, it just looked like it was going to, which to Argentines qualifies as a downpour. It's a little frustrating at times, we'll ask investigators something like, "Will you go to church tomorrow", and they'll respond, "LOOK, the clouds look a little dark, so I'm going to sleep in!" Yes, it's Argentina, but I still love the people even though they all think they will melt or die if they are out in the rain. And despite the rain, Diego still went to church!!!

As an attempt to get more investigators to church, there is ping pong daily from 6 to 9 at night. My comp and I rarely go, in fact we've only gone twice and for about an hour each time, but the last time we went was Friday, after our English class. This time it was a big ping pong tournament and I won it, using some of Coach Wooden's advice and pure skill, ha ha, and also a 50 peso paddle from Walmart!!!! It was really close and intense, I don't know how I won, but just got lucky I guess.

No, I haven't seen cockroaches in this pench, but we have something much worse. We have spiders the size of plates! Really, they are the size of animals. The last spider I found in the pench, I was scared to even smack it with my shoe because the spider was so big, that I didn't think the shoe could kill it!!! Well, the shoe didn't, and the spider took off and went under the fridge!!! So it's still in our pench..................Anyway, great pench still although not a fan of the huge spiders, but they keep to themselves mostly.

The golf tournament Dad mentioned sounded really fun, I wish I could've gone, but will be there to play in a couple of years! Hope Holly and Scott enjoy the beach, and that everyone will enjoy doing whatever they are doing!

I love you all very much, and appreciate all you do for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm loving my mission and trying to do the best I can here, and with the Lord's help I've been able to help a few people!!! Loving the zone, pench, everything that's going down here, and of course, you guys!!

Love,
Eric
_____________________________________________