And yes, I know Hilary Owen! She's a sweet heart! I never was too close with her, but I agree, she is definitely a great catch for any man! Ja ja! Hope she doesn't read this and take that in a weird way. Ja ja! Oh well! I love being an awkward missionary.
Well, I don't think I'm going to have time to write Kevy this week, but how in the world did Mango get out?! That's ridiculous! Ja ja! I can't believe she was in the drawer. Carly, thanks for freaking out and making the situation even scarier for Kevy. PS, Car, I have been asked out quite a few times here. I even have a seven year old tell me she loves me. In English too! That's how much she loves me! Good thing we pass by her house everyday . . . woo . . . She's always holding onto me and trying to hold my hand and when I'm sitting in a chair, she'll climbs up behind me and kisses my back. Yeah, her name is Lady. She has a freckle right at the tip of her nose! Ja ja! I'll figure out how to get a picture someday. I think I'll buy a port device for the computadora and put my memory card in it! Anyway, miss you Car and Kevy! Aubree, Camille, Bri, and Jacey, thanks for your letters! I just barely got them and they were dated back in Sept 29th or so! Ja ja! I'll try to respond. Not sure how to mail here.
Well, enough of all that! My week was up and down. This Sunday was Mother's Day in Argentina. No Mom, I didn't get the opportunity to call. But, everyone was either gone, throwing a party, or too busy to listen to us this week. El Dia de La Mamá is a lot more of a big deal down her than in the US. However, we found a lot of new investigators and took out more baptismal dates! We just can't find anyone for second visits! ja ja! The commitment level here is about . . . none. Jaja! It's ok; It just makes us be very persistent! PMG says to visit fechas every day, but we can only find them once a week here. So lots of fechas fall through and sometimes they get baptized super fast! Anyway, I don't have my journal with me so I won't be able to write a lot about each person.
I want to write about Milta, though. We taught this lady last night and it was the prime example of how the Spirit takes control of a lesson and it ceases to be our lesson, but becomes His. Milta was a reference from Yanina. We went by her house but couldn't figure out where the address was (happens a lot, the addresses are used by the same houses at times, they skip by huge bunches of numbers and are all out of order.) So, we asked these two ladies outside if they knew a Milta. And lo and behold, one of them was Milta!! Yay! She let us in because we told her about Yanina and she thinks she's a great person. So, the lesson started very awkwardly. She was a little skeptic of us, didn't quite understand everything, and then she would look at us with a blank stare after we asked a question. Eventually, she started taking a lot more interest in the lesson and was very questioning. She was such a skeptic! She didn't want t believe anything it seemed! She doubted the structure of the church, the modern prophet, Thomas S. Monson and the church. But when we kept answering her questions with exactness and testimonies, she changed. She was softened. She started to accept everything . She wanted to know all about the church meetings and how to get the chapel and everything. Finally, after she had accepted all our challenges and we answered all her questions, we asked her to say the closing prayer. She decided to. During the prayer, the impression came to my mind to say my own prayer in my heart to have her start crying. I have no idea why! But, I quickly asked the Lord in my mind and heart to let this lady, Milta, feel the Spirit in her heart and touch her to start crying. Right as she said amen, she began to cry. She sat there with tears and her hands in her face to catch them. We stayed quiet for what seemed about ten minutes. Eventually she began to control her tears. We told here all we want to do is help her and that if there is any concern or need, we'll do all we can to meet that. She wouldn't tell us why she was crying, but said in time she would. We went outside with her to find her son Facu. She went to him, and they walked back to us. The first thing Facu (six years old) said to me was, "¡Mi mamá me dijo que ustedes son buena gente!" (My mom told me that you (plural) are very good people!) Then, Milta asked us if we would be returning again soon. Of course! Ja ja! Anyway, she is scheduled to be baptized on the 29th of Nov. and she felt the Spirit. I know that. The greatest part of being a missionary is that you have front row seats to watch the miracles of the Lord and watch people change their lives. There is nothing sweeter than to witness that change of heart and the desire to return to our Heavenly Father. I know He loves us so much! If we could see the Plan of Salvation from His eyes, then we would do everything in our power to bring His children, our brothers and sisters, back to His presence. We, as missionaries and members, need to imagine everyone we see dressed in white, preparing to enter the temple and the presence of our Father. It changes your outlook of life. When you can do this, everything else doesn't matter. Your worries and concerns are worth less, far less, than the salvation of your brothers and sisters.
Well, I'll bring this back to my week now. Avellaneda, my zone, has twice the number of baptism dates and baptisms than any other zone right now! I have the most amazing zone leaders and they are pushing to make a miracle happen. The mission goal for baptisms this year is to have 120. My zone believes and wants to have 80 by the end of the year. We're on track right now. We have to take three baptismal dates every week and our zone needs to baptize forty each month. We have 66 baptismal fechas right now. We can do it! Miracles happen when you put your faith in the Lord! Anyway, President Stapley is REALLY happy with our zone. He had us come to the mission home today for a pday party! Free food and everything! I love Argentine steak. Then, we got to play fútbol all we wanted! Yeah! Ja ja! I love it! Right before we left, President told us how proud he is of us, but we still aren't doing enough! He wants to double everything this next month! He says if we do this, the other zones will start picking up the slack and we'll be baptizing a ton! I love President Stapley! He's so funny. Well, right before I left, Sister Stapley knew I liked avocados, so she pointed out that this GIANT tree had avocados growing on it and if I could hit one with a ball, I could have one. I threw a basketball up about 40 feet and got me the fattest avocado of my life!!! It's bigger than my hand! Ok, on the key board, if you put the avocado on it, it'll measure from "A" to the start of the "enter" button! Fwah! Gotta love it. In two days it'll be perfect ripeness and I'm going to be eating some dang good avocado!
Well, some weird things that happened this week was that I discovered breast feeding is totally socially acceptable here. Anywhere. . . I saw a lady on the bus, ladies in the front yards of their houses, and even in the middle of a lesson!!! This lady, Celeste, wow, we were teaching her and all of the sudden, as I was telling the Restoration story of J.S., she just whipped out one of the girls and started giving her baby boy a little snack! It took ALL concentration to keep talking and not just freak out! Weirdest experience of my life! Ja ja! Oh my heart!
Well, I've spent long enough on the computer, gotta go! Thanks for all the letters/emails! I look forward to them so much. P.S. I got a little teary eyed reading my parents letters this week. Thank you so much. PS, in the field there is a lot more time for writing. Don't feel bad for long emails. I have plenty of time. Well, I love you so much! Thanks for all you do, including running a 5k for me! That touched me a lot, believe it or not. Miss you all!
Till next week,
Elder Blake William Cowan
(or how the Argentine's try o spell it, "Bleík Gulliermo Cowán")
PS, Kevy, the language isn't Spanish. It's Castillano! They believe that it is a different language her because it's so distinct. They use different word and sounds. ja ja! Such a prideful country . . .
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