Opposition in All Things

Just as we were getting in the groove, picking up steam, and starting to see some good outcomes, along comes Mr. Opposition to mix things up and slow things down.  He showed up in the form of sickness.

The weather has definitely become cooler at night and during the day.  The good news with colder temperatures is we haven't had to use bug spray or had mosquito bites for weeks now.  Hurrah! 

We've been a bit challenged to stay warm enough, however.  We've bought some sweaters and warmer clothes to help us get by,   We've got a heater in our bedroom so we spend a lot of time in there and just yesterday we bought an electric heater for the living area so life should be getting better.  The cold also gives me an excuse to bake a bit more as having the oven on for an extended period of time helps heat our apartment.  I made a mean batch of snickerdoodles for the missionaries just before transfers as a going away treat.  Made the mistake of not taking a photo before putting them out.  We had one elder in our district, Elder Niu, who is going home.

 The two districts in Venado Tuerto.  Notice my new mustard colored sweater that is helping me to stay warm.  Elder Niu is the first elder on the right in the back, behind Elder Rhoades.
Back row: Elders Galindo, Allen, Rios, Navarro, Sovereign, Fuentes, Nerey, Niu  Front row:  Hnas Salmon, Condie, Rhoades, Elder Rhoades

You can see they are all bundled up in coats and/or sweaters trying to stay warm.  Back Row:  Elders Cantaro, Smith, Fugal, Raven  Front Row:  Hernandez, Backus, Margaria, Verdejo, Hna. Rhoades

Elder Rhoades came down sick first.  He was actually sick at this district meeting.  He got a priesthood blessing and went back to bed.  Luckily he was only down Tuesday through Thursday.  While he was fighting the cold bug, I used the down time to get caught up on a number of things we just haven't had time to do.

I was able to print out some piano material.  My goal was to start piano lessons June 1, but with having been confined to the house, it may take another week before it is up and running.

I was able to read through a lot of trek material that we've been sent.  The well is deep with information so I'm sure I've only skimmed the surface, but I'm further along than before.

And I've been catching up on our mission blog.  This is the third post since being confined to the house.  I do have one more project that needs my attention.  I told Dave I need to get that done, because then maybe I'll get better.

Yep, you guessed it.  As soon as Dave felt better on Friday, I woke up with a very sore throat.  I could hardly swallow and it just progressed from there.  I've spent the whole week in bed and am still fighting to get well enough to go out.  Today is the first day all week, my head has been clear and I feel like I have the energy to be up and doing and have it last longer than a few hours.

But here's the good news about that.  Dave is so much ahead with his Spanish abilities on this mission than he was when we went to Cuzco, Peru that he has been able to go out on his own and take care of the most important appointments we had set up so the work hasn't come to a screeching halt, only a slow down.

This shows how the city is divided up between the branches.  Branch 3 is the section at the top of the map.  Branch 1 is the middle left section.  Branch 2 is the middle right section. And Branch San Martin is at the bottom of the map.  The photo cut off a lot of that branch area, it really has a lot more area than what appears on this photo.  Same with the Branch 3 at the top of the map.

AND... the miracles have not ceased!  We have two amazing stories to report this week.

The first one came at the tail end of Elder Rhoades illness.  He woke up Friday morning and informed me that he had received revelation during the night regarding the young 18 year-old son of the Alvarez family we had visited.  The one that had basically run away from home.  Dave told me that during the night he knew that the boy would return home and the impression he got was that we needed to be sure to talk to the family about receiving him home with love and kindness like in the prodigal son parable.  However, before we even had a chance to get back in touch with them, we were contacted by the the mother with the news that her son had come home and all was well.  Wow, was that revelation quick in coming to pass.

The Venado Tuerto prodigal son

Dave followed up and went out for a visit on Saturday night to meet the son in person and start to build a relationship with him to see if we can have a good influence on him and help him make better choices.  Dave had to go alone as I was really sick by then.  The district was holding a youth fireside on Sunday and we wanted to make sure both Alvarez boys attended that fireside.  The topic?  Dating and Sexual Relationship standards for LDS youth.  A perfect reminder for this 18 year old boy to hear.  Dave attended the youth fireside as well.  He said it was very well done.  Hopefully the Holy Ghost was doing his job that night and hopefully this boy was listening!

District Youth fireside on dating

The second miracle comes because of our sickness.  When Dave first got sick, we headed to the pharmacy to see if we could find the Argentine equivalent of a decongestant/flu med.  We went to a pharmacy we typically don't go to much.  I talked Dave into going there rather than our normal one that he likes to patronize.  While we were in there, a lady came in and overhead us talking and mentioned that she had a sister in Utah, of all places, that was coming down for a visit and would be here on Sunday and she could bring us anything we needed.  It's that Argentinian hospitality coming into play here.  We found out she is an in-active member of the church.  We got her name and number and later that day told texted her that we would like her sister to bring us some things.

Here is what we had delivered to us.  Real US medicine and TWO bottles of mapleine.  I was a happy camper for the medicines and Dave was a happy camper for the mapleine.  We have our 1.5 supply of maple syrup now.  We can eat pancakes whenever we want now.

But when we picked up these items and visited with the sister and her husband at her in-active sister's house.  We learned that the 20 year old nephew of our Santa Claus, who was sitting right in the room with us, is an in-active member as well.  In fact he is one of the names on our YM member list that we are trying to locate.  We also got the name of another sister of hers that her whole family has gone in-active and their address.  So even while we are sick and can't leave the house much, we've been able to see the hand of the Lord leading and guiding us to his children that he wants to reach out to and let them know he is aware of them and hasn't forgotten them through us his servants. 

There always seems to be surprises around the corner when you are on the Lord's errand.  We just need to put our shoulder to the wheel and push along and watch what happens.  Oh, and not get sick.

Spiritual Thought for the Week:  Alma 26:27  ...the Lord comforted us, and said:  Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.
D & C 98:3 ...all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory, saith the Lord.