Well, uh, wow. ha ha! That's usually all
I can say about the mission. It probably shouldn't shock me now, but
Heavenly Father truly answers prayers and knows us all WAY too well and
gives us exactly what we need. So you are all probably wondering what
happened with transfers and who my new companion is. Well, I still don't
know. . . I have to go get him tomorrow fresh to the mission field!!!
That's right! I'm training again! I'm SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!! You have no
idea! I was writing president last week and I felt prompted to ask for
another chance at training based on the fact that the new missionaries
bring such a beautiful spirit with them and I will be blessed and the
branch too. So, I don't even think President got around to reading them,
but he called me as a trainer again! Currently, I'm with Elder Lem
(who trained Elder Carlson) and Elder (who was in my first district
when I got here). They're both training and are both district leaders
too. It's really fun being with them! We'll be in Banfield tomorrow to
get our hijos! SO much fun!
Anyway, let's talk a bit about the last week with
Elder Narvaez in Chascomús. So, it was a tough week getting him out of
bed and getting him to go out and work, but we did get to visit a few
families throughout the week. One of the most important visits we had
was with Laura and her sons, Matias and Cristian. We took out baptism
dates with the kids and challenged Laura to go back to church and they
all accepted. They didn't make it to church, though, this past week. We'll
have to figure out why this next week. Luckily, it is winter break now
and we'll be able to visit a lot of youth this week. Matias is ten and
Cristian is eight. They're very smart, though!
Alright, mission accomplished. Chascomús Branch
asistance [attendance] yesterday: 33!!!!! YEAH!!! We made the goal of thirty! And
passed it!! I was so happy! We even had four investigators show up!
Tito, Ariel, (the mom of the Hermana Paola), and her brother, Cristian.
We found the first two at a family night with the Ferreyra family and we
played Uno with them and challenged them to come to church. It was great!
And the other two are another story. . .
So, Paola is the really cool Hermana in the branch
that talks in a radio show and cuts our hair. She has been helping a lot
in the missionary work and is trying so hard to be a good member! She
was baptized about a year ago by the assistant, Elder Guzman, who used to
be my zone leader in Avellaneda. She's preparing to go to the temple
and everything right now! She's way cool! Anyway, she sends us a text
Saturday morning saying that her brother who is 22/23 is having severe
spiritual problems. So after reading that, apparently, Elder Narvaez had
dreamed about casting out a demon or something like that the night
before (not sure how accurate that is) but he was all worried about it
and I was getting worried about him getting too involved in this like
President had warned me. Anyway, we went to go see him and it was
something different. I honestly don't know what it was, but this poor kid
was having serious problems. He couldn't look at the light and couldn't
stare at us in the eyes. He was so weak that he couldn't even get out of
bed. When we walked into the room, there was an odd presence there that
almost felt like my asthma had come back. Something seemed to be holding
my lungs down a bit. When we talked with him he explained to us about how
this all started about three months ago and he was being spoken and
visited by someone. I don't want to go into all the specifics, but this
kid had some type of black magic thing going on. So my companion and I
gave him a blessing to be able to rest and to be calm. After that, he
got better and the presence left the room. Later in the day, about an
hour later, Paola called us and told us to go back because it was
happening again, so we canceled our plans and went. There we found
Cristian again with more energy, but he was having a melt down and
crying to his mom and sister. Then we called the branch president and he
said he would come immediately. President Cignoli talked to him with us
about how we, having bodies and being sons of God, have more power than
anything and that Cristian has more control and power than this thing
that has him right now. We decided to fast together for Cristian and
give him a special blessing after sacrament meeting to cast out anything
unclean from his body. And he came to church, was really jumpy and
nervous and then we gave him a blessing afterwards. He seemed a bit
better and then he was up and out. Yesterday night, Paola sent us a
message saying that Cristian was better and working again and laughing
with his friends. So, it was perfect! There were a lot of other things
that happened in this experience, but I feel restrained to tell the
entire experience. The Lord knows best. Anyway, that was my exorcism
type story of the mission and I hope there is never another one in my
whole life!
Well, that was my crazy story of the week! Ha ha!
But yesterday we left Chascomús at about 3:30 and got to La Plata at
about 5:30. We went out to work with the zone leaders of that zone and
had fun with some hard working companions. Then, we had fun that night
with SIX MISSIONARIES in one pench. That means disaster. We broke a bed, a
mini plastic table, and other things. It was a mess!!! Elder Wheeler
from Colombia is a monster and Elder Watt from Cali is crazy and then
throw in Elder Neal (from the MTC, remember?) and me into the picture and
it became a giant wrestling match and it was super fun! ha ha! We still
got to bed, though, eventually. I get to go there again on Thursday
night before my leadership meeting. :) ha ha! Don't worry, we'll be
better. Maybe. :)
Today, we got on the train and we started to sing
hymns! We sang for almost an hour straight!!!! Then we would do mini
sermons and pass out pamphlets and it was super fun! There were about
twenty missionaries all on the train with us. Anyway, we got to the
transfer meeting and I watched my trainer, Elder Veragara's, last
testimony! He is on his way home to Chile now. I'm going to miss that
guy! He was always so much fun! And now I'm just chilling about, waiting
for my hijo tomorrow.
Well, Mom, after your traveling story, I want you to
imagine doing that in Argentina where robbing is a daily thing. We go
through that every transfer! :) Dragging suit cases through Argentina on
trains, buses, and walking and always trying to watch everything from
getting robbed. Crazy, huh? You'll see once you get her in about a year.
. . wow almost a year. I turn one year in this month and transfer!
Crazy!!! Kevin said something like 11 or 12 days! I don't even know.
Well, pray for my new companion! I hope he's
prepared for some good jokes! JK! No, but I hope he is a hard worker
with a huge testimony of the work! It'll be really fun! I love you all!
Thanks for your continual emails! Take care!
Love,
Elder Blake W. Cowan
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