Elder Ren Spencer Porter: A wonderful week (week 15 & 16)

Hi everyone!

This past week (or should is say these past two weeks, because my lds mail account wasn't working so I couldn't email my mom. This caused much distress! Sorry mom!) have been something!!!

I had to do some paper work this week to get half way legal here.....which was super awesome. I had no idea what was going on or what exactly I was filling out and I wanted to photograph everything to ask someone what it meant, but had I whipped out my camera, i probably would have been robbed haha so I decided not to.

I also bought a pair of really nice unused dress pants for three bucks this week. My comp is super jealous haha.

Also one of our future investigators had a baby. I say future because we haven't been able to teach her yet because she had her baby on the day of our cita (appointment) which was super rude. Just kidding.

I tried BLOOD sausage this week and it was HORRIBLE!!! I feel like puking just thinking about it.
On the language front....
I still can't really understand anyone and they can't understand me. I'm getting to that point of learning a language where its just plain embarrassing and NOT funny, but I'm hoping this will motivate me to work even harder so I don't have to say "no intiendo" fifty million times a day.

Also last week me and ELder Schoonover did a food challenge that called "toddy titan" where you have to eat 3 packets of toddys (a cookie brand here in argentina, Its SUPER GOOD, definitely something that the word of wisdom would chastise against because we can't stop eating them!) and you have to do it in 20 minutes. #teenageboysdodumbthings!! OH man it was so hard and I couldn't do it. It was definitely a humbling experience for myself. My comp was able to do it though and it totally destroyed his digestive system for rest of the week. Poor guy. So maybe it's a good thing I wasn't able to do it. Haha

BLEACH:
I've realized how awesome bleach is here! You can use bleach to get a stain out of your shirt after a pasta lunch or you can use bleach to get rid of mold on your wall or my personal favorite....use bleach to clean the water you're about to pour down your gullet!!! Very useful stuff! I love the expressions on peoples face when i pull out a little container of bleach and put a drop in my water right before I drink it haha its awesome!!

Something I really liked about this week was how hard it was. We had a lot of citas (appointments) and they were all over the place it was really hard and stressful. But I learned an important lesson on how to be more charitable this week. After a long day of heat, thirst, and hunger it's hard to find the motivation or patience for some things. But I've tried to just wring out that tiny ounce of effort to change my mind or find that last reserve of love and share it with those around me even though I might have wanted to keep it for myself. I've been trying to imagine people we contact or people I see with a smile, because when I first look at someone I almost immediately think "oh geez this person is not going to want to hear our message" but then we start talking with them and I do see them smile and they change into a whole new person! and then I start to see them as God might see them and its amazing!!!

I Also saw something REALLY COOL yesterday. My comp and I were running around after sacrament trying set up appointments and I saw my first baptized investigator, Franko, in a suit, holding two trays of bread to go clean them, after having helped pass the sacrament. I just stopped dead in my tracks and thought "Oh my Gosh. A month ago this kid, this brother of mine, that I found while just asking him for directions, was just living life and playing soccer and now he is a servant of the Lord with the priesthood of God and is on the straight and narrow path back to our Heavenly Father" And Oh my gosh, my mind was blown that I had helped do this!!!!!
I love this work down here it is amazing and awesome and I am so glad to be part of it.

Se´ que este obra es verdad y poderoso. Se´que Dios nos ama mucho y E´l guiado este iglesia. Se´ que voy a vivir con mi familia para siempre y que Dios quiere que ayudarnos con nuestro pruebas si Se pidimos for este ayuda.

Love you guys!!!
elder porter

P-day. Me, elder Rojas, Elder schoonover, Elder Oakes

Also p-day, with the locals trying to teach us futbol (soccer). My investigator, Gerardo, is on the far left standing up (with bright green shoes) He asked me to baptize him. Can't wait!!!