Why Wait?
Another great week here in Argentina! Please let me know how you are doing and what’s going on at home!🙏🙏
So Yanina didn’t get married and baptized again because her soon-to-be husband couldn’t get work off but today we got her presented and now on Friday she will get married and either that day or Saturday she will be baptized🙏 please keep her and the whole situation in her prayers because she could get baptized right now but just needs to show up on time with her husband and cousin as a witness on Friday and she’s done.
We kept being in the sketchy neighborhoods at night this past week (they all are and we are careful, Mom) and there were some nutty interactions. One night there was some Catholic Virgin parade where they walked with a drum and a virgin statue around this neighborhood. They all kept staring at us and you could feel their judgement for being one of those “Mormones” walking around at the same time. Another night this random drunk dude stopped in the middle of the street and followed us for a good 30 seconds while repeating everything we said.
This rich lady in our branch had us move a bunch of furniture in the apartment building she owns and at one point we walked into her apartment and holy nuts that was the nicest place I have seen here in Argentina to date. It was definitely not clean but if it was it would be sooooo nice.
I picked up a cat and it either pooped on me or had just licked itself so when I put it down there was a bunch of nasty green stuff on me that smelled horrible so we walked 45 minutes back home so I could shower again and change my clothes.
The mission had us get the flu vaccine because a bunch of people and missionaries have been getting the flu recently. I woke up today and I’m pretty sure it just straight up gave me the flu because I feel horrible.
Carlos and his pareja finally had their baby after like almost 10 months😭 so we are going to try and get them married and baptized very soon🤞🤞🤞
Yesterday we had an amazing lesson with the husband of a convert. The husband has never really wanted to listen to the missionaries but we got invited over for lunch, mostly because I told the wife I wanna talk to him. We had an asado with the family and before sharing a scripture I was looking at these 2 verses that talk about how Christ was the plan since before Adam and felt like sharing them but decided to just share Alma 37:6-7🤪 which is just the “small and simple things” verses. I asked before sharing if any of the family had a question, especially the husband, him not being a member. He said no so I just ended up sharing my scripture and then after talking about it a bit randomly both him and his wife, the convert, ask about Adam and Eve (little do they know I’m grossly informed on the Fall). We ended up teaching the first half of the Plan of Salvation and the entire time the spirit was so strong and the husband was super engaged the whole time just being like, and these are words from his mouth, “Why don’t the Catholics teach this? This makes so much sense! The way I was taught wasn’t right.” Also, those 2 verses I was looking at perfectly fit into his question. Gotta love the Spirit. We are hoping to, with patience, teach this husband and help him join his wife and 2 of his 3 kids in the church.
Almost put Irma on baptismal date, but she will get baptized this month. Mark my words.
Saw a bunch of drunk Bolivians in character costumes driving around on the tops of trucks to promote the circus here.
My mom is better than your mom.
Spiritual Thought:
One theme I keep seeing in the mission is the fear or how people can’t commit to change. Whether it be baptism or marriage, people fear how change can affect them or that they need to do a million things before they can even put a date on when these things can happen. I’ve talked to a few members here who are young but feel like they need to graduate college, find a job, buy a house, and find a long term career before they can even start thinking about marriage. There’s people we are teaching that think they need to become scholars in the scriptures and everything about the church before even putting a date on baptism. It is frustrating to see because we as missionaries know these things are good for people and THEY know its good for them, but they just don’t wanna commit. I love this part of D&C 60: 13
“Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known.”
If you know something is good, why not commit or at least take the first steps in doing so, whether it be baptism, marriage, repentance, work, study, or whatever it may be, I promise it’ll be worth it.
Love you all! Please email me! mwcurtis@missionary.org
With love,
— Élder Curtis
