"A big week"

Written May 20

Elder Egbert and I had a big week this week! We worked hard, put up some big numbers, and have a lot of people that are very close and excited for baptism. Our lessons have been going smoothly and we do well as a companionship. I have felt the Spirit shake me to the core many times while bearing my testimony. The church is still young here so we have been very busy fortifying the branch and its members as well as doing some finding for new members.

This week I went on exchanges with one of the Zone leaders. He is a Brazilian and doesn´t speak very much english. It forced me to speak spanish (the only language we have in common) the whole day and my spanish improved so much! Many think that he is from the states because he has an accent. People were calling us gringos (which is a daily thing) even though he is from Brazil.. pretty funny.

People here really like my blue eyes and "blonde" hair. I´ve even been told that I look like I should be in the movies. Also, in church yesterday after reading a section in gospel principles, I was told that I was a very special person and have the voice of an angel... haha. Good stuff.

Speaking of voices... yesterday a man in church sang a solo and he had one of the most magnificent voices I have ever heard! He never had a chance to show the world his talent because he was born here.. it´s so sad. I´ve always wondered how many angelic voices there are in the world that will never be discoverd or that haven´t been discovered just because of cultural walls. I just found one yesterday.

Again, speaking of voices, it seems like the only english things that kids know how to say here are "hello" and "---- you"... I´m sure they don´t mean any harm when saying the latter, though. It´s just something they know and when they see two americans walking by they have to show off their english. Honestly, people really love us here and there aren´t any problems with missionaries getting robbed here in Tupungato.

This week I had my first asado! An asado is like a cookout but they cook the meat on a wood-burning, brick grill. The meat here is fantastic and it was some of the best steak I have ever head. While on the topic of food I´ll mention something kind of interesting... people eat cough drops for candy here. They aren´t called cough drops, though... it´s just candy.

Last night I had a very spiritual experience that I can talk about. We were having ward council and Elder Egbert was not able to attend because he had a district leader meeting; it was up to me to speak on behalf of the missionary work in our branch here. I was able to understand almost everything and able to express myself in ways that I wanted to when asked about the missionary work. When it was over I was filled with warmth and wonder... I am in another country, understanding what is going on, and speaking another language well enough for my ideas to be understood. The Lord is truly helping me and the gift of tongues has never been more real to me.

Thank you for your prayers and I am praying for you back home. I´m doing splendidly down here so don´t worry ´bout a thing.

Love,

Elder Rainock

Elder Egbert and I at my first district meeting:

A vineyard we walked through to get to an appointment:

My first asado: