¡BUENAS! How is every one on the Northern Hemisphere? Warm? We've had some pretty warm days lately with plenty of sun, which has been quite nice. And makes more people want to talk to us. The sun really does do a lot more than just give light to all the earth. I'm always grateful for those joyful rays that fall every once in a while ´round here during the winter.
Also, arguably the biggest news of the week (potentially bigger than the Olympics starting) Pokémon Go! finally arrived to Argentina, and the country is ablaze with the burning desire to catch them all. Elder McCollum and I were laughing the other day, because a member told us that there are Pokémon in side the gates of the church, and that same day we saw a few people driving and walking up to the church with their phones at the ready. We were hoping to have some extra visitors in church this Sunday looking for some legendaries, but were disappointed. Either way, I'll take any excuse to have more youth see the church and maybe be curious about why Pokémon like gathering there so much. Haha. I feel like I'm missing some sort of revolution here with this app.
Fun story! So, Elder McCollum and I were walking around looking for an address this Tuesday, and I suddenly found my self blinded by pain in my head as I simultaneously realised that I had run in to a canasto. So, a canasto is basically an Argentine trashcan. Here, people don't have big trashcans that you roll out on to the street, the have these baskets that they build in front of their houses and through trash in to. It's kind of nice, really. However, some people decide to make their canastos by attaching their baskets to a tree. So I hit a canasto attached to a tree. And you know how when you hit your head, you automatically do that thing where you lift your hand up to where you were hit and then look at it to see if you're bleeding, but usually you're not actually bleeding, it's just instinctual? Well, I did that, and turns out I was actually bleeding. Quite profusely. So I immediately like bent over so as not to drip blood all over my clothes and hobbled my way over to the closest house across the street (dripping blood like every step I took) where two kids were playing. I say to the kids, "Hey, call your dad", and the kid was like "What happened to you?!" and I say again, "Call your dad!". So his dad comes out, looks at me form across his yard, exclaims "OH." and then turns around and runs back in to his house and grabs toilet paper and water. Long story short, we stopped the bleeding, and it turned in to a great opportunity to share the Gospel! We had a good chat, and then we went back to the pench, me trying to be as inconspicuous as possible with my bloodied hand on the way back. Elder McCollum and I joked afterwards that maybe we should start maiming our selves more often in order to make it easier to preach the Gospel to people.
Seriously though, it really turned in to an edifying experience, and was a good testimony of how many of His children the Lord is preparing to hear His good news. Elder McCollum and I have been really focusing on getting members of the Church involved here in sharing this joyous message, and I can't stress enough how important it is that we are as charitable as we can be in sharing our knowledge and love for the Saviour with all who are put in our path. Elder Bednar has told us that while we as missionaries have the responsibility to teach the Gospel, the members of Christ's church have the responsibility to find those who are ready to receive it. That we may always remember the grand joy that we can find in sharing this grand joy we have is and always will be my desire for all. I love my family dearly, and am grateful for the examples of missionary work I've had since being a child in them. I love all of you dearly, and am grateful for your support and prayers always.
Siempre Suyo,
Elder McDonald
