My trainer is the best there ever was. Never have I witnessed a more genuine and loving person in a time of need than Elder Petersen. We get along super well, which basically means that he ignores my quirks and loves the heck out of me. My respect for him skyrocketed when we went to a lady´s house to introduce her to the gospel, and she immediately broke into tears for a personal reason that I won´t share and said that she didn´t know if God existed anymore. Immediately, he testified that God is there and he loves us, and that the message that we bring as servants of Christ can help her to be happy and have peace in her life. She wants to hear more, and I have been able to think of nothing more than what we are going to say and do beforehand, so that the spirit may be present to touch her soul and give her comfort. Please, pray for María whenever possible, for she is in a dire time of spiritual need and growth.
Córdoba is wonderful. The food is delicious, and even the sodas beat those in America. I cannot even begin to describe how humbled I am to be here and to receive food from these destitute people free of charge. They give all that they have, and you really have to be obstinate in telling them to keep some of it for themselves. To be honest, I had some food that I really didn´t like the other day, but I pounded it like there was no tomorrow. The family insisted, and kept throwing stuff on our plate, and I ate as much as I could as fast as I could and thanked them profusely, though not after unknowingly insulting the food due to the use of a new word that my compañero gave me and told me to use. Luckily, the family knew in advance that it was a joke, and they play it on all of the new missionaries. Really, of all jokes that could be played, that one is one that I approve of and is all in good spirit and jest. No hard feelings. I actually got him back a little bit right after by using the same word that he gave me to describe the food in order to describe his joke, and he turned a little red. Again, there are no hard feelings here, and we are one as a companionship.
I am getting a little sick, but they say that it goes away in a few months so I should be fine.
The journey here was epic beyond belief. We went from SLC to Chicago to Atlanta to Buenos Aires to another Airport in Buenos Aires by bus and to Córdoba. Overall, more than 8000 miles. The sketchiness began after leaving the Chicago airport and having to take a round about route due to weather. Our layover was supposed to be an hour, but turned into ten minutes-- to sprint through a gigantic airport only to get there with the plane´s gate already shut. Rejected from entry, we walked all the way back to the ticket counter and were called back to the plane, so we ran as fast as we could for the second time to the plane and came on looking like we had recently showered in our "pristine" suits. Then, after thanking the captain profusely and flying for ten hours, we went through customs and met up with a man named Romano. He photocopied our passports and told us to ride with this lady to the next airport. I still don´t know her name, and she didn´t say a word the whole ride. When we arrived, we unloaded our stuff and were instructed to wait for Javier briefly as she departed for another appointment. Javier came and helped us get our tickets and whatnot, so we got here okay. We saw Boca in the airport, which is the equivalent of seeing the Lakers, and were actually filmed walking with them for a bit just out of sheer circumstance, and it was cool being around celebrities, even though we had no idea who they were.
The spirit is extraordinarily strong here when we are obedient, and we can shape up a little bit, as every missionary can. We will continue to preach the word, and we invite all to come unto Christ
Godspeed,
Elder Lindsey
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