Well, How’s it
going?
It’s been
another great week in Adrogué! It’s starting to get warmer already, and while
there is sometimes a chilly wind in the air, we can already tell that Summer is
on its way!
Office
life is still fun and keeps us busy. There is always a project that has to be
done, or an errand that has to be run, but I enjoy it! We distributed supplies
to 4 zones this week, and started a big mission wide map project.
As far as
teaching, we have continued teaching the Bustamantes, and began teaching the
sister of Andrea, a recent convert in the ward. So we are gaining momentum. My
companion, Elder Evans and I get a long well. He’s the first companion I’ve had
here in Argentina
that has helped me be obedient and helped me work hard. We are on the brink of
having a lot of success in this area. With only 3 working hours a day, it’s
hard to tell, but we are trying hard and we may have found a family to teach.
We plan on teaching them a lesson on Wednesday so we’ll have to see if they
really want to listen or not. We also got a referral from that family on
Thursday, and they plan on coming with us to teach!
Thursday
night we had dinner at the Ward Mission Leader’s house, and he has 4 return
missionary sons. They were all there and for the first time in my entire
mission, our Ward Mission Leader said that I didn’t have a lot of time left on
my mission. To make things worse, all of his sons agreed! Usually when I think
of the END, it’s a far distant thing. Now I know my perspective is off, and the
END is still a long distant thing, but like I told Megan, I don’t want to be
like the penguins in the movie “Madagascar”. They work so hard to get to Antarctica
and when they finally get there they realize that there is nothing! I want to make
sure that I use the remaining time on my mission well.
As far as
the other news goes, I already heard about Robin Williams. I’m pretty sad about
it. He was one of my favorites, and he made some of my favorite movies. It’s
sad that he went like that too. Everyone in Argentina knows American Actors, so
it’s no surprise that I heard about it. I also heard that the country of Argentina is
bankrupt--which can’t be good. Inflation is already out of control. We bought a
90 peso pizza today that two weeks ago was only 85, and 2 months ago was only
80. Bus fares are rising as well as little snack foods. It is just going out of the roof. It hits us
hard because we don’t get lunches with members, and so we buy everything. Our
monthly allotment of money can’t keep up with the inflation either, so that
can make it fun. Dollars are very good
and valuable on the street, but the country is trying to control it, so trading
with the bank or taking money off the card is about 8:1, while on the street
you can find up to 11:1.
The
country in general is amazing. I would never live here permanently, but I love
it for now! Food is good, culture is fun, & soccer is fun. People are generally discouraged with the
economy and the lack of jobs, but they are good people. That makes missionary
work here a little difficult right now.
It is not just because we are in the office, but in general throughout
the mission. We are baptizing people, but nobody is staying long because they
are discouraged. We’re still working
hard to keep the church growing.
I hope
Allie enjoys her 15th birthday.
Just don’t buy her a car, that
would be cold.....
The
spiritual thought of the week is about forgiveness, but more focused on the
forgiveness of others. I have thought a lot about the parable that our Savior
gives about the king and his servants. One of his servants owes him an
unpayable debt, but in an act of mercy, the king forgives the servant his debt,
and sends him on his way. We would think that the servant, grateful for the
mercy shown to him, would be more merciful to others, but as the parable goes,
he goes straight to a fellow servant, and demands that his fellow servant pays
him a very small debt. When his fellow servant can’t come up with the money, he
is sent to prison until he can pay off the insignificant debt. The king hearing
this is angered, and wondered how can
one who received so much mercy show so little? It’s the same with our lives. We
have received forgiveness for an unpayable debt that each of us owe. We could
not be saved with sin, which all of us have, but our Father, through his mercy
sent our Savior, to help us return to him through repentance. How can we,
receivers of such mercy, then turn and hold grudges with our friends, or even
our enemies? Anything that they do against us is only a small offence compared
to the eternal debt we are in to our Father in Heaven. So the lesson that I
have learned this week is that I need to just forgive others just as our Savior
has forgiven me.
I learned
today that I am exactly where my Father in Heaven wants me to be, both
physically, and spiritually. In the past, I have always thought that I had to
be a perfect missionary from the start, but I wasn’t, so it was hard on me.
Over the past few months, I’ve been able
to improve on the things that I can such as make goals for teaching, follow the
rules better, keep my appearance and
pench cleaner, and other things like that. I’ve always tried my hardest in
everything, and because of that, I am improving which is what He expects of me.
It makes me feel good to know that.
Thanks
for all of your support! I love you all!
Have a
good week!
Elder
Chipman
