You Are the Moon (in Pellegrini)

Greetings, gringos!

I wanted to mention something I heard in the devotional with Elder Renlund that I thought was funny (also, pictures from that event are attached, finally). Sister Renlund said that during her mission she wouldn't give the men the time of day. Then she corrected herself and said she would give them the time of day, but not a date. I thought it was hilarious.

Anyway, there is not much to say about this week, because we were traveling back from San Rafael and then for the rest of the days we were mostly just cleaning the area book, which took huge heaping loads of time. And yet, even so, we have so little time that it's almost hilarious to me. Oh, but one interesting thing happened this week: we knocked on a door and waited for a long time, then when someone finally came out it was an old, big man, one eye a milky white (in short, very imposing), who came out in a rage and yelled at us to leave because we were "Mormones" (even though we're not), and there was only one God. Elder Avila started saying, "Sí, hay solo uno Dios, y Él vive," but he would have none of that, and he looked like he was about to hit him. We left, thanking him for his time (to which he spat, obviously), but overall it was a great experience. Honestly, I'm not disheartened by that. One thing I've come to know very powerfully is that, if there really is a God of justice in this universe, everything will be dealt with in perfect rectitude, eventually; thus, I need not worry about anything that anyone else does wrong, because everything will be paid back exactly, every last penny of every debt, in one way or another. I have come to take a lot of comfort in that.

I've found two things now that I like in the Gospel better in Spanish than in English. The first is that we can be cleansed from sin through the Atonement of Christ; in Spanish, it says, "podemos ser limpios...", and that is so much more powerful than the English, because "ser" refers to the nature of things, and thus we aren't just becoming clean temporarily, we are becoming clean, accepting cleanliness into our nature. The other thing I like is what it says in Moroni 10:5, that we can know the truth of all things. In Spanish, that verse says "podréis conocer la verdad de todas las cosas", and "conocer" means "to know", but in a more familiar way, like you know a person, or know a map. Thus, the meaning of that verse is not that we can just know the facts of truth, it's a promise that we can know the truth inside and out, like a friend. I like those so much more than the ambiguity of English.

I want to end my short letter with a song. It's called "You Are the Moon" by The Hush Sound, and it talks about how beautiful people really are, though they don't see it. It starts with the Moon rising from the horizon and seeing its reflection on the ocean, broken and scattered by waves. It says: "All the light that you possess is skewed by lakes and seas; the shattered surface, so imperfect, is all that you believe. I will bring a mirror so silver, so exact, so precise and so pristine, a perfect pane of glass. I will set the mirror up to face the blackened sky; you will see your beauty every moment that you rise." And thus it concludes. I just want to remind you all that God is trying to show you all how beautiful you are by showing you our Brother, Jesus Christ, as an example of what we are. If we really are children of God, en serio, then we are so much more beautiful than we can even comprehend. This is my witness to you all today, and I mean it with all my heart.

Thank you all for your support to me in the forms of letters, encouragement, kindness, etc.; it means the world, especially now that I'm on the other side of the world. Dios esté con ustedes.

Con amor de Argentina,

Elder Hill

Fotos:

Élder Prosser (un asistente del Presidente) y yo

(de izquierda a derecha) Yo, Élder Thornton, Élder Vazquez, Élder Kummer, en San Rafael

Este hielo es muy interesante

Bienvenidos a Argentina, freaking GRINGO! (First few days in Argentina)

Friends, Romans, Countrymen,

By the way, I discovered that some Spanish-speakers actually do use the word "freaking", my companion being among them. I find that really funny.

This past week has been a complete mess. I took flights from Mexico to Lima, then to Buenos Aires, then to Mendoza, and I had such a headache after all that. It was a total of 27 hours en route, with about 13 of those hours being physically in the air. With no sleep. That was really rough. But we arrived and had dinner with President Panzacchi and his wife, then slept in a hotel for the night. The next day was orientation and we received our companions. My companion is Elder Avila; he's from ECUADOR, Dad! He also talks naturally slowly, so I can understand him all the time except when he uses words I don't know, which is getting rarer, now. We spent the night with the missionaries who work in the mission offices. I slept with a pillow that someone put a shirt on as a pillowcase. The other elderes called it a wacha, which is slang for an illegitimately-born girl (from what I'm told). So, uh... yeah.

Anyway, the next morning, we departed in the morning on a colectivo (which is the local word for "autobus", which in English is exactly what it looks like) for a couple of hours. We stopped in Tunuyàn for a few hours, then proceeded on to Pellegrini, which is my new area in a city called Alvear. So it took the entirety of four days for me to get to my area from Mexico. That was WAY longer than I had expected. But I'm here now, so I'm okay. (Well, I'm not there right now, but I'll get to that.)

Elder Avila is a wonderful trainer! He is so energetic en la obra misional, and I am learning a lot from him. Especially the fact that he speaks no significant amount of English helps me, because it has made my ability to communicate explode so much faster than it did at the CCM. Seriously, now that I'm in the real world, I truly believe that the Mexico CCM is not Mexico, but instead just a section of the US that happens to be in the middle of Mexico City. We were babied. Perhaps that's what we needed, but it was still nothing like Pellegrini. Elder Avila has been a great help, and I'm so glad I have him as my companion.

As for the area, our section of Alvear is mostly more rural, but there are more city-like areas in the central parts of the city. Surrounding our pensiòn (which is our apartment) are more rural parts, with dirt roads and very small, spread-out houses. Neither of us had ever been in Pellegrini before, so basically all of our time thus far has been spent getting to know the area, which is difficult because it's really big and we have no map. And the capilla (sorry, chapel) is about fifteen minutes away by car. Which we don't have. And I still don't know the way, anyway. We also don't know the addresses of any members, and wouldn't be able to find them if we DID have the addresses. It's very frustrating. We live right behind the house of the branch president, but he doesn't have a map, either. This will be a rough transfer, I think, but I'm still excited!

Granted, I also still have no idea what many of the people here are saying whenever they try to talk to me. Especially because most of what they say to me are questions, which are so much harder to understand than normal conversation, because every part of the sentence is important, whereas in conversation I can often get a general idea of the meaning.

This past Sunday I shared my testimony in Sacrament meeting, talking about how the reason I'm here, a gringo in the center of Argentina, is to share the gospel I know to be true. I felt the Spirit so strongly while saying it, and it made me happy. It also seemed to touch the 25 or so members in the branch. I have actually been told multiple times by various people that my Spanish is very good, and that lifts my spirits. Granted, it's probably like in English, where someone can say something recognizable and we praise them as perfect. I think I am actually decently good at it, though, at least considering my huge lack of experience. I can honestly say that the gift of tongues has been with me ever since I got to Argentina, because I have been able to speak sufficiently. It's the gift of interpretation of tongues that I'm seeking most right now, because all those people weren't joking when they said that Argentine Spanish is the fastest there is. And they leave out half the letters. That's not helpful.

Okay, I don't have much time left, so I'll make the rest of this brief. We traveled back to Mendoza on Sunday evening and then went to the conference the next afternoon with Elder Renlund. We got to take a picture with him, as a group, and even individually, as we shook his hand! I don't know where those pictures are right now, but I'll keep y'all posted on that. Anyway, I am now in San Rafael with Elder Vazquez on splits because Elder Avila needed to stay an extra day for some meeting. Oh, did I mention that he is both the district leader AND the zone leader? He's insane. And awesome. So I'm here for my first P-day, and having a weird time because I have no idea what's going on half the time because Elder Vazquez is an Argentine so I can't understand him, either. But I'm alive and surviving.

Regarding the calls each week, we have been told that they are in addition to our email time, so these emails will not cease. I believe those will be allowed starting next week.

Regarding Jacob's talk on the miracles, I learned a lot of really awesome stuff about those, especially the one about the woman touching His robe, in the book Jesus the Christ. I highly recommend it; it's a wonderful read. Jacob, I think you would love it as I do. It's so simple and concise.

I don't have any pictures to share this time around because my camera is in Mendoza with Elder Avila due to a miscommunication, along with basically everything I brought for this conference trip except my books. Hey, at least I can read the Book of Mormon in Spanish; who needs clean clothes, anyway? (But Elder Vazquez offered me some of his clothing to use while I'm here, so I'll be okay.)

I'm officially out of time, so I'll stop here.

Con amor, de Argentina,

Elder Hill