How are you? I am well—I feel a bit more energized and rested this week (thank you for the prayers!). I also started making a list of things to tell you this week, to enlarge my memory!
Guillermo was baptized! He finished reading the Book of Mormon this week, and he brought friends to his baptism. He even came alone to church the week before, which he didn't usually do. He's doing very well. His baptism was also super-well organized—we had the interview finished a week and a half before the baptism, and then we coordinated with the Ward mission leader (Marcos) such that we really only had to show up at the baptism.
We finally found another investigator this week, Daniel. He had been living in the house of our Ward mission leader for a few months, went to another province (disappeared) for a few weeks, and now he's back. After inviting him to Guillermo's baptism, we invited him to be baptized with the phrase, "So, Daniel, when are we going to have your baptism?" He seems to be all right, but needs to get married to his live-in girl friend, and we'll be visiting him this week to help him out. He's presently living with his sister, who is also a member of the church, so we believe that he's in good hands.
Also, winter started this week! The day was marked by a cold, misty, showering rain, which is apparently rather common here but we've only experienced it on one day so far. Apparently, it snows rather often in La Rioja, thus, in about a month we can be expecting a few centimetres to stay on the ground for a few days.
We had a mysterious thing happen this week: we got back to the apartment to find a bag on the doorstep. Further examination revealed the bag to be filled with... copies of the Book of Mormon, assorted invitations to church activities in 2004, a few other church books, and a church agenda from 2003. We found that the materials belonged to the Ward Mission leader of the time, and so... now we need to pass by his house and see what happened! We're hoping that he moved away and the family is giving us his extra things, but we don't know!
Also, a good line from this week: "My job is not to push you into the chapel—I'm a regular young man just like you!" We're trying to be a bit more bold and efficient in explaining our purpose as missionaries! In a talk that Elder Holland gave while I was at the MTC, he told us (roughly): 'My wife has an Avon lady who's more persistent than you are!, and she's only selling mascara!' Thus, we're trying to be more effective in teaching right away when we meet someone, and in helping them make effective commitments.
Thank you for your letters! I'm glad to hear that all are doing well, and look forward to hearing from you in the coming week!
Love,
Elder Schlachter
P.S. I've attached a few photos —technical challenges with the computers here are making it hard to send them the usual way!
P.S.S. Also, Kammy did send me her address last week, so her letter has been sent.
