How’s everything going? I’m just sitting at a gas station on this hot cloudy day. It’s a two day holiday here so there is an activity at the church today. We are going to eat some good meat and play some soccer - it’s going to be fun. Apparently the holiday is to celebrate summer and a day to remind everyone to have fun. So there’s going to be a lot of people at home today but at the same time, they will probably all be drunk! We also heard that they throw water on people who walk in the street today, so we are pretty much really big targets for that ha-ha! At least it's hot, though! We will see what happens.
This week was a pretty good week. We worked really hard, but it was one of those weeks where you just give everything you’ve got and work so hard but then you don’t have any obvious success. It's nothing to get down about and it’s something to learn and grow from but my comp and I just want some baptisms!! They will come though.
We had a stake fireside last night and President Gulbrandsen was there. He talked about members, converts, and investigators and on the subjects of baptism and the Book of Mormon. It was really good. He also did a slide show of a bunch of the baptisms in our zone. There were a lot of pictures of me with our converts in Vucetich, which gave me a really peaceful feeling. The spirit was really strong. The Branch President from Vucetich and his wife were also there and I got to talk to them as well, which was way cool. I love seeing people from my first area!
We actually went to the fireside with Pablo and the members he knows. He said he liked it but didn’t say much else about it. It seems like he tries to be difficult with us but he is 15 so what can you expect? We had a lesson with him afterward and asked him where he was at and how he felt about the Book of Mormon and the Church. He said he thinks they are true but still isn’t quite sure. So after talking to him for awhile and discussing his doubts, we explained that from what we have seen and heard from him, he’s already received an answer but doesn’t yet recognize it. We explained how we don’t always have some huge, out of the ordinary experience and how to feel and recognize the spirit. He seemed to understand and you could see the change on his face. People sometimes try to make it more complicated than it is. We invited him again to keep reading and praying to really know if the things he feels are his answer. So another week to wait and see what happens with him. We also went by David’s this past week and talked to his sister about him going to church yesterday. His mom is never there and she doesn’t want him to go by himself. We told her we’d go to the house and walk with him to church, and she said that would be fine. So Sunday morning we went to the house, the door was open, and everything looked good. We clapped our hands. He came out and told us he had been sick that night and wouldn’t be able to go! We finally had a really good opportunity and he ended up getting sick! Talk about bad luck. But we are hoping to find his mom either today or tomorrow since there’s no work and to set up the baptism for next Sunday. Wish us luck!
Our mission also had a fast this weekend. President had us read a talk by Elder Bednar about the spirit from last conference. We fasted for the desire to have the spirit, to know how to better obey the commandments and to invite and be worthy of the spirit. It went really well. I had a great spiritual experience while reading and studying the talk. We continue to progress and we can feel some baptisms coming soon. The members are still doing better and they have enough confidence in us that we have lunch appointments with them everyday this week!! Woo hoo! I don’t think that’s ever happened before, ha-ha. Well I love you all tons and am thankful for all you do. Have an awesome week.
Con amor,
Elder Ludwig
Note from Mom: Two weeks prior to Lent, the Argentina tradition of El Carnaval del Pais is celebrated, much in the same tradition as Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnivale in Venice and Rio de Janiero. In Buenos Aires, each neighborhood celebrates Carnaval with street musicians, or murgas, and artists.
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