Prosolatismo!

So this week was great! Last saturday was definitely the biggest thing that happened. So here at the CCM, every Saturday (starting on your third week) is set aside for prosolatismo (prosoleiting (haha not sure if my english translations helped there)). Pretty much, We all climb on a bus, are driven to a neighborhood in Argentina, then begin walking up to people on the streets and talking about the gosple. It was hard! but wonderful. Haha, until that moment I hadnt realized how little spanish I know. One of the first guys we walked up and talked to, was trying to shovel some grass with two others (probably to make room for something else. Well, after doing landscaping for a couple of months this summer, I convinced myself "Hey, Im not too bad with a shouvel (yah, my spanish is skyrocketing right now, but its not helping my english at all), lets go ask if we can help them. Yah......... Haha we walked up and said (let us help you). Man, it was impressive how fast that guy talked. I have no clue what he was saying, but he kept smiling and shaking our hands while calling us "amigos!" We took it as a good sign, but still had no clue what he was trying to tell us. In the end we got the message that he wasnt interested, and we gave our farewells. thats pretty much how it went the whole day. A bunch of people there were super nice, and loved the pass-along cards that had the picture of Jesus on the front. It was a good saturday.

Some of the other missionaries came away with some pretty incredible stories of miracles when they had reached their low of discouragement (we got rejected a lot). Two of my friends in my district had a pretty great one. They had been out for hours and had only had about 7 contacts. as a result hey sat on a curb to rest for a couple minutes. Discouraged, hot, and unhappy, they felt beet. almost immediately a car pulled up and this elderly couple hopped out and started talking to them. Elder Gomez and Johnson quickly found out that the couple were temple workers. As they talked, the husband pulled out a bunch of bread, agentinian sausage, and a liter of coke. They said it was exactly what they needed. God was watching over them as he is all of us. After they received their gift of conversation and food. Within half an hour, they had 8 more contacts. Both of them attest it to have been a true miracle.

So last week on Tuesday, all the americans and latinos from the last group left for el campo (the mission field). For two days, there were litterally less than 30 missionaries in the CCM. Pretty crazy right. We had an all out district on district (there were only two districts left) fútbol game. It was pretty intense:) Last Thursday all the new Latinos and Americans arrived. Elder Mitchell and I now share a room with 6 new amazing latinos. They are wonderful and hilarious. Oh and Elder Castro (one of the Latinos) taught me to say "Soy un Latino de Chincha Perú" (Im a Latino from Chincha (a place in Peru known for their dark skin (im pretty white)) Peru). We in turn taught him to say (Im from Idaho, and swag, and whats up player (that one is pretty hilarious to hear him say). One of the greatest things about all of them is how much they help me in spanish. Some nights, Ill sit down with Elder Castro and he'll pretend to be an investigator, and just help me out with spanish. Haha, the only problem is that he speaks very little english, so I have no clue what he is saying at times. The gift of tongues is real though. My spanish is getting so much better. I can truly feel the lord magnifying my efforts. For example, I just finished memorizing D&C 4.... In Spanish..... and i did it in just a couple hours. The spirit is here, and its wonderful. Sometimes people in our district get down, and feel like rubbish. However, every time this happens, a different person stands up and brings them back. It is truly amazing to witness this again and again. I know this gospel is true.

Hope you all have an incredible week.

Love,

Elder Eliason

P.S. We had a investigator lesson in english this week. It was a one time thing to help us see where we can be once we gain the language. That was the best lesson Elder Mitchell and I have ever taught. It was so spiritual, and went better than we could ever have planned. How? We stopped worrying about the language and focused on the spirit. The spirit works miracles. Keep it with you, and your life will be infinitely blessed.