"some pretty exciting news"

written Jan 6th

I´ve got some pretty exciting news for you guys today. I´ll get to that in a minute. 

This week we had a nice dinner at President Ávila´s house on New Years Eve. It was a little more laid back than the Christmas Eve dinner. The setting was just as nice but instead of have multiple courses for the meals we just had the table full of appetizer like foods. It was delicious as expected and we finished the night off by playing a game a charades. We acted out stories and figures from the scriptures :) 

I did one exchange this week in Godoy Cruz with the elders I was living with last transfer. It was only for one day because I had to return to the offices on Friday for the leadership meeting of the mission. Friday is when it all went down.. 

One of the zone leaders finished up his mission last week with my companion Elder Sorenson. As of Friday, President Ávila still hadn´t called a new zone leader. The assistants were asking President all day thursday as they were finishing up their planning for the council so they would know whom to welcome.

Finally, friday came around and the council had started. They asked one more time before giving the announcements and President Ávila pointed at me. I didn´t really hear what they had asked so I figured I must be wrong when the thoughts of being a zone leader started going through my head. But sure enough.. they announced for me to go take my place next to my new companion, Elder Burga. He is from Peru and finishes his mission next tuesday... haha! I am sending two missionaries home in one transfer! On top of that I only have a week to get to know my area and learn the responsibilities of a zone leader while not even having been a district leader yet!! Needless to say I am a bit stressed right now but I am definitely looking forward to the new opportunity. I love challenges and opportunities to grow and this will certainly be one. 

Right now I am in Villa Mercedes in the province of San Luis. I am waaaaay out there. The farthest zone away from the mission home. 

My first day we had a baptism of a man named Sergio. He is a great guy and you can tell he has had to make a lot of changes in his life to now be where he is. I had to opportunity to confirm him on sunday. My first two impressions of the ward are outstanding! All of the meetings started on time, the members are fulfilling their callings, members were quick to greet me and any other newcomers, and the testimony meeting was powerful. San Luis is definitely a people ready for a temple. They will be going to the Córdoba temple when it is finished being built since it is the closest one. 

Villa Mercedes is a beautiful place. It is actually green here! And the people are a lot different, I haven´t been able to pick out what it is yet but they are different. 

Right now I have to go finish preparing for our (and my first) zone meeting tomorrow. Hope all is well back home!

- Elder Rainock

"I may have had one of the best Christmas days of my life"

written Dec 30th

I had a wonderful Christmas here in Argentina! All of us elders in the office had dinner with President Ávila and his family on Christmas Eve. His house was decorated very nicely and the spirit in his house made me feel at home.

The evening started out with a family home evening style lesson on the Savior's birth and went into His life. It was very uplifting and President Ávila invited me and another elder, Elder Rabanales from Guatamala, to share our testimonies of the Savior. 

Afterwards we had a multiple course meal that Hermana Ávila and her children had prepared for us. The food and desserts all hit the spot! When the meal was over we attempted playing mafia but everyone was tired and no one really knew how to play... so we ended up just having a good laugh.

The night really put me into the Christmas spirit and I felt enriched and whole after leaving their house because of it. Those feelings lasted through Christmas day (as well as the wonderful chat I had with my family on skype) and I realized something very important when I went to bed that night..

On Christmas night I reflected a bit on what a normal Christmas is like in the states... 

1. More reflections on the Savior and His life (some families may do special devotionals)

2. The family gathered together

3. Christmas music

4. Multiple delicious meals and leftovers (I miss eggnog)

5. Presents

6. Christmas lights

7. Football

... just to name a few of the things that came to mind right away. I then realized that this Christmas I was just as happy as I have ever been without a majority of those things. The only things I had were my thoughts dedicated towards the Savior and my family (over skype). With those simple things I may have had one of the best Christmas days of my life. It majorly put into perspective for me the importance of the other trivial things we now associate with Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I love all of those other things and will continue involve them in the future with Christmas, but I realized that Christmas can really be fulfilling with so little. 

On Thursday we took a trip up to a northern province in the mission called San Juan. It's the first time I have stepped foot out of the province of Mendoza since being on my mission. It was nice to go somewhere new and see a different culture of people. The people in San Juan are known for being very open and friendly. I got to see if it was all that everyone cracked it up to be and it surely was. The people there, in general, are very open, kind, and respectful. They also have a very funny accent. I spent a couple of good days up there and I am now hoping to make it up there myself one day :) 

Well, today is Monday and I am without a companion. He boarded a plane this morning to head back home after serving his two years faithfully. I learned a lot from Elder Sorenson and I am happy to see him animated to see his family and move on to the next steps in life. I am still not 100% positive about what is going to happen to me but I'll let you all know next week. 

Love you all and my prayers for you as well as you start your new year!

- Elder Rainock

Us singing the national anthem at the Christmas party. I am right above the picture of the American flag on the ipad :)

My second companion, Elder Quadros, and I at the Christmas party together.

after packing up the track with all the decorations and stuff from the party

Some reindeer cookies that Hermana Ashby (the mission nurse) made for us for the dinner.

after the Christmas dinner at President's house

"there is no shame in sitting on Santa´s lap"

written Dec 23rd

I caught a bit of the Christmas spirit this week as a choir that we prepared went out and sang at two public events. It was nice and many people stopped and gathered around as we and the other groups performed. It was my first experience of singing in a choir with voice parts and I really loved it.  Although Christmas isn´t the same here (it´s hot outside, not really any Christmas music, no decorations) I still feel like it´s Christmas. 

Aside from the choir concerts we also had the mission Christmas parties this last week. There were two parties; half of the mission came to one and the other half came to the other. I got to go to both :) In the mornings we went out in normal clothes and played sports (choice of soccer, football, basketball, volleyball, frisbee, ping pong) and before lunch we changed back into dress clothes. 

Lunch was some nice meat with rice and lots of delicious desserts with icecream. After lunch we did skits and got a little visit from the North Pole. I made sure to get a good picture expressing all of my joy. Actually, I just did that to break the ice a little because all of the elders were timid in taking a picture with santa. So I made sure everyone knew there is no shame in sitting on Santa´s lap and taking a picture with him. 

At the end of the week we did a 3 day exchange with some elders here in Godoy Cruz so that we could stay close and sing in the concerts. We met with an awesome family that hasn´t been to church in a long time and their daughters haven´t been baptized. We decided to take advantage of the season and focus a lot on the Savior, who he is, why he is important, and so on. We read from and gave them a copy of The Living Christ as a gift and they loved it. They came to church on sunday for the Primary program and their children participated! It was great seeing them there and seeing our efforts not going to waste. 

It´s great helping others come unto Christ (or come back to Christ) and seeing how it changes them. It´s a beautiful season and I hope we all take a some time to reflect on Him and His life. Take some time out of your day and click around on some of the videos found on the home page of LDS.org. It will make your day a little brighter, give the season a little more meaning, and help us become a little better. http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng

Merry Christmas, and God bless us, everyone! 

- Elder Rainock