Temple Open House

Dear Family,

Well, here goes another letter. I swear I was just here about two days ago writing. This past week went by all too fast! I can't believe how the time goes on the mission. This past week was the first week of the temple open house and I was blessed enough to go twice this past week! And holy cow . . . It's amazing! It is HUGE!!!! It made Mesa look like a McDonald's play ground! ha ha! I was surprised by the immense size of it! I'll send some pictures. So that was basically the theme of this week.

Starting with Monday night, we were blessed to find two more candidates for baptism. The brother of Alejandra, Luis and his wife, Constanza are now taking the lessons and want to learn a lot! We only were able to do a quick overview of the Restoration with them but Luis is pretty determined to become closer to God and they just had a baby girl only two weeks previously! Her name is Kiera. She's adorable!!! But anyway, we did a rough overview of the Restoration with them and they liked it a lot! They just need to start reading and praying. That same night we saw Gabriel and he said that Alejandra was sick from her pregnancy. But he said that he had been reading and loves the Book of Mormon and wants us to give him a few days to read more! So we gave him till Friday. Unfortunately, the past two or three times we have gone by to teach them, they have been sleeping, working, or not there. We haven't been able to teach them this past week. I REALLY want to find them this week! They need more spiritual food! ha ha!

Continuing on, Tuesday was an odd district meeting. The hermanas weren't there because they were at the temple open house working and so it was only the elders of Dolores and us. It was also a review meeting over one of the principles of PMG so it was kind of short. Afterward, we went to the pench of the elders and we all helped make lunch and then played cards for a while till our bus came and it was time for the elders to go out and work. It was great bonding time and super fun! At night, we tried to go find a few new investigators but nobody was home. We ended up going to Adrian's house late and spending time with his son, Jonathon, trying to convince him to go to the open house with us on Wednesday. He didn't budge. Then Adrian and Paola showed up accompanied by Ezekiel, the one kid who had gotten drunk the last time we went there. Anyway, we talked a lot about what we do in temples and why they are important and I shared my personal conversion story with them. It was great! Adrian was listening to every word and he always has such a desire to learn more about it. When I began to talk about the idea of eternal families. Ezekiel, whose sister has recently passed away, ripped out some paper and started to take notes on what I was saying. He decided that he wanted to come with us to the temple on Wednesday! Perfect.

So, Wednesday morning, Adrian went to pick up Paola and the others and came to get us last of all. They came late and I was dying wanting to get going! I was waiting by the window and going crazy with excitement! I couldn't wait to go! ha ha! Well, they finally came and we headed out on the journey. On the way, we saw an accident. A truck driver had fallen asleep and rolled his truck off the road. He wasn't hurt at all, but the whole truck was smashed and upside down. Unfortunately, the Argentine people are very disrespectful of things and in a matter of minutes, the people had scrambled onto the scene and started to take whatever they could manage to load into their trucks or in their hands. Everything was gone in a matter of minutes. And the poor driver still shocked couldn't do anything. It was so sad and I wanted to go out and help the man, but I couldn't. Anyway, we kept driving and stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. We didn't eat anything, but we sat and talked with Adrian for a while as he talked about how the problem of Argentina is the people and the corruptness of the government. Back in the car we headed off to the temple. After about a two hour drive of lots of laughs and fun stories, we made it. I will always remember Paola when she saw the angel Moroni for the first time in her life. She had never been to the temple before. She saw the temple and began to cry.

We got lost trying to figure out how to get off the freeway for a while, but then we got into the parking lot and we got out to start our adventure. Paola cried the whole time. When we watched the preview video of the temple and the explanation of the ordinances. Adrian and Ezekiel were sitting next to me and they were locked into the video! After the video, we got our guides and started our way onto the tour. The guide was this sweet older man. He bore his testimony throughout the whole visit. It was amazing. Paola was having such an amazing experience and it showed. Everyone kept asking me if she was an investigator and they were really happy to see her have such a great experience. For me, the best part was when we walked into the celestial room and there was such a feeling of peace. We weren't rushed on our tour so we were able to sit and enjoy the spirit of the temple. The last room we visited was the sealing room. There, we paused for a moment and the guide bore the sweetest testimony of the sealing power and of his family and wife. He had each person look into the mirrors to see the infinite amount of images and explained that the plan of our Heavenly Father is like that. Eternal. At that moment, Ezekiel felt the spirit and he began to try and hold back his tears.

After the tour, we went to the commentary tent were they were able to talk to many missionaries and fill out cards and get a few refreshments. I found myself there with President and Sister Gulbrandsen, the mission president of the north mission, and we talked all about their mission so far and about our families. It was super fun to see some people from back home! I tried to get a picture with them but they had already left to lunch by the time I had my camera. I had a great talk with Paola and with Adrian in the tent about the temple and they both could feel the spirit so much! Outside with Ezekiel, I was able to talk to him about baptism and about his sister and how she's waiting for him to go and do her work. It really hit him. Now, we need to sit him down and help him understand a bit more and to put his life in order. Too bad he lives in my FIRST AREA!!! He is from the area of Tomás Flores!!! I was kicking myself because I know exactly where he worked and everything! I don't know if you remember, but back in Tomás Flores, we were on the bus one day when all these kids came from behind a magazine rack and boarded onto the bus for free. Well, Ezekiel runs that magazine booth! He remembered when that happened too! ha ha! Crazy. I wish I could go teach him there too and not only when he is here in Chascomús to work during the week. Anyway, the whole temple experience was amazing! We had a blast and everyone who went felt the spirit!

Thursday and Friday, we taught a few families about the temple. They were kind of average days. On Saturday we went to the temple with the ward and it was PACKED! And raining! It wasn't near as special this time but it was fun to be with the branch and to bring Pte. Cignoli's little sister with us and teach her about the temple. She's 12 and isn't a member. We'll see what happens with her.

On Sunday, we were a grand total of 29. Went down again. . . I had to teach the elders quorum and give a talk and unfortunately, my companion was throwing up all the day before and he felt terrible. After church, we stayed in the pench and we weren't able to work. I read a lot of Jesus the Christ, watched a worldwide leadership broadcast dvd that I found cleaning the other day, and I did the datos and announcements till bed time. I was pretty bored, though, after a while.

My comp feels a lot better now and we are excited to be in our area and ready to work! I really want to teach our baptism fechas and to find new people this week. We are going to focus a lot on the goals this week. I'm super excited to work this week! 

Well, I honestly loved all the letters and emails that I got this week. RJ finally has his mission call and Dallin is really close to his! Whew!! ha ha! I am so happy! I can't wait to talk to RJ in Spanish!! It'll be super fun! I'm going to be away from him for a long long time, though! We'll be overlapping badly! Also, I loved hearing from Trevor and Kevin. I'm still waiting for Justin though. I'm sorry about all the misfortunes that happened this past week though! I hope things get better! I'm praying for you.

Well, I better get going. Time's up. I miss you all even though I don't want to finish the mission! I am sad that I'm coming up on my 13th month in just two weeks! I just wish the time would slow down! Les amo a todos!!! Cuídense mucho! Chow!

Love,

Elder Blake W. Cowan