End of Week 2

To all,

 

Two weeks have officially been completed.  Things are getting a lot easier now that I understand the way things work and now that I'm getting into a routine.  My companion, Elder Jones, and I are both doing wonderfully and have continued to build our relationship together and with God.

 

Each week, our zone here at the MTC does something that they call the "zone challenge."  Original, right?  Anyway, the zone challenge is when two companionships get together for a forty-five minute teaching workshop.  We take turns acting the part of investigators and teaching each other.  Our first time through didn't go so well, but we're starting our next wave tonight and feel a little more confident in our ability to get to know the investigators a little and start teaching according to their needs.  We also finished teaching Franco, who is now our other teacher, Hermano Robinson (hermano means "brother" in Spanish). 

 

In this last week we've picked up two new investigators. Tati (short for Santiago), and Macarena, and yes it's pronounced like the song and dance.  Tati is 21 and living with his LDS grandfather who asked us to come and begin to meet with him.  He loves guitar (Dad, he's your kind of guy) and he loves both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  He's got a great spirit and a willingness to learn, though he's not all that enthused.  He listens to our halting Spanish and acts interested, but we know that he felt the Spirit at least once during our last lesson.  Macarena is a little tougher.   Her friend Maria is LDS and they both go to UVU.  Macarena both studies and teaches Spanish, though I didn't exactly catch where (I think at an elementary school?).  She was a kind enough to let us in, but she spoke really quickly and we had to ask her to repeat herself a few times.  But we were able to get across that we were missionaries and shared our testimonies about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.  She asked a few questions of the two of us as well that helped us to guide our message.  By the way, both of our "investigators" are our classroom teachers who've served missions to Argentina; one went to Cordoba, the other to Mendoza.

 

While the language is still hard, it's slowly becoming a little easier to articulate and share messages as we study words and grammar.  We've begun to help each other a little more fully to develop our plans to study both by ourselves and as a companionship.  Things still are a little hard sometimes, especially when we miscommunicate with each other, but we're beginning to really get a feel for one another and how our minds work.  We still hit our bumps and potholes, but it's getting easier to steer around them.

 

I have found that it's easier to send messages like this when I have questions to answer, so send me some.  I'd love to hear from y'all. (Yes, I just said that)

 

Serving faithfully,

Elder Matthew Dewsnup

 

Shout outs:

 

Meg:  Thanks for the letter you sent.  It really meant a lot for you to share your feelings and thoughts about the conference talks and I usually get your messages the same day you send 'em.  My favorite talk was probably Elder Holland's, but then I also liked the one from the young women's leader on raising daughters.

 

Mom and Dad:  Happy anniversary five days late!  I can only send things on Thursdays, so I hope you get the card I sent soon!  And Happy Birthday Mom!!