Feeling Like A Real Missionary

Thankfully, they did not have us proselyte our first saturday here. We would not have been ready. But this last Saturday, we did! It was so great. I finally feel like I am a missionary. We had a lot of pamphlets and a couple Book of Mormons to hand out. It was actually kind of frustrating at first. No one wanted to listen to us. Finally, a store owner named Marisela let us talk to her for a while. We gave her a pamphlet about the Gospel and talked to her about her family, then we bore testimony of Jesus Christ. She pretty much said, "Yeah, that´s all great, but I already know all this." Then I tried to tell her about the Book of Mormon. I don´t remember much of what I said except "It´s my favorite book!´ Spanish is still a struggle for all of us. Some people around here are impossible to understand. Nevertheless, she agreed to read it! I was so excited. We´ll stop by next week to see how she´s coming. Our Spanish is not quite good enough to teach someone through all the lessons, but we can refer her to the nearby missionaries. That is mostly what we do: practice meeting people, testifying, and then referring.

We also met another awesome guy. He was an Evangelical preacher named Luis. He was the first person who came and talked to us. He seemed very happy that we had chosen to serve Jesus Christ, but I think we may have unintentionally told him our parents made us. Oh well. We talked about doctrinal things, and he went on about how the justice of God will come upon the US. We declined to comment on that. Somehow we got onto the subject of singing (like I said, I understand more than either of my companions and I can still only get the general idea), and I had decided to bring my hymnbook. So I told him we could sing for him, and he invited us into his house. He had a drum set and guitars, all of which Elder Brown played with him. He introduced to his family and we sang "¡Grande Eres Tú!" with him. That´s the Spanish version of "How Great Thou Art." Such a great experience. He told us we are welcome back any time.

Not every Evangical preacher is as nice as him. We had a few other old guys who just talked to us for 20 or 30 minutes about what they believed/why we are wrong. It might have made me mad if I had understood it, but I sure couldn´t. We talked to a few other people, and next week we´ll stop by some stores and by some candy or something else. Everyone loves "alfajors," (pronounced alfahors) which are pretty much big Oreos. There´s actually seven of us in the district. And it sounds like we are getting a lot more guys in the next two rounds of missionaries (they come and go every three weeks). One of those is Jace Bayles, a guy I met at BYU, so I´m excited for that. I will miss the Elders who leave. One of my favorite people is Elder Paredes, a 25-year-old P.E. teacher from Santiago. He has a tattoo on his arm because he only converted two or three years ago, but he is just an awesome, happy guy. We´re pretty close. Our teachers are also great. Hermana Aponte teaches us in the morning. She is really quiet and reminds me of Elise Osorio. Then Hermano Baez is our evening teacher. They are both locals and recently returned missionaries.

Being a district leader is stressful. I have to enforce the rules, even when I don´t understand them, which often garners complaints. I have to pass on "suggestions" between missionaries and from the teachers and the President. I do really like President Openshaw. Overall, life is great here. I´m tired a lot, but that´s just how life goes. I am so grateful to have everything I need. Honestly I feel so prepared. Everything is packed right where I need it, and I haven´t missed much. Thanks so much, Mom!

There is one thing that I now know I should have brought: American stamps. Would it be possible for you to send those? The easiest way is through the SLC Pouch: POUCH Argentina MTC PO Box 30150 Salt Lake City, Utah 84150-0150 There is an Argentina address, but that is probably easier. You can send envelopes and padded envelopes, I believe. Apparently there´s not a chance of packages getting through customs and to me without someone taking everything, so don´t try that. Also, I forgot the Guarani joke about laughing, do you still have that email? One more thing I should mention. David L. Beck and Russell T. Osguthorpe were traveling around South America, so they came to one of our Sunday meetings. That was pretty cool to meet them.

It is great to be part of such a wonderful work.

Love you all! Elder Wesley Morgan