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| Ivan got baptized! |
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| I finally got ice cream! |
Hello,
This week has been insane...I had 3 intercambio´s this week. A intercambio is where I go and live with another Elder in my zone for 1 day and 1 night. It is like a spiritual sleepover....haha. It was super fun, but also extremely tiring. One of the days, I was with the Finance manager for the mission, so I balanced the mission´s receipts and payments for a day. My accounting classes finally came in handy!
This last Saturday I had my second Baptism!! The convert´s name is Ivan Gomez. He is 22 years old, and he used to play professional Rugby for the Uruguay national team. He is like 5´10, but seriously one of the most ripped guys I have ever met. When he shook my hand, he nearly broke it in half. Haha. He has been being taught for about a month now, and the gospel has completely changed his life. He was a pretty rough dude before. He has a few tattoos, he rides a motorcycle, and he had a pretty foul mouth. The gospel has literally changed his life. He is attending church every Sunday, reading the Book of Mormon, and he wants to get married to his girlfriend in the temple, and best of all, he wants to live with his future family forever. Man, this gospel is truly amazing. His conversion goes to show, that no matter how far off track you are, the gospel can always help you get back on track.
As for the baptism that we were supposed to have next week, it fell through.....The kid is named Benjamin Machado. His parents are divorced, and we reactivated him and his Dad. Unfortunately, he cannot be baptized, because his Mother won´t let him-. The parents are divorced, so she has half custody...I am super bummed about that, because he was really excited to be baptized. Hopefully he can convince his mother to change her mind. Other than that, the work is going great. It is extremely hard, but I am having an amazing time. I am trying to give my all.
I figured I would tell you a few things about Uruguay that you probably did not know. First off, the people are extremely blunt. They call each other nicknames, that would be offensive any other place. For example, a Mother or Father would refer to their son or daughter as ¨This fat one¨. Or another example, is that we were describing a person to a member, and they asked if it was the fat short man that wears the little glasses.....accurate description...but kinda rude. Haha. I laugh to myself whenever I hear stuff like that. Also, it is custom to touch cheeks and kiss the air, or kiss the people on the cheek here. Everyone does it. The missionaries can do it with men, but not with girls. So when girls try to kiss us on the cheek, we shake their hand....I have had many awkward situations because of that....Or sometimes, I will hug a old man, and he will like half kiss my cheek....man is that awkward.....Haha.
Anyways, here is my quote of this week. I put my quotes on my planner, and look at it all the time. I live by a different quote every week.
¨If opportunity doesn´t knock, build a door¨.-Milton Berle
Love you all,
Elder Vanderlinden
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