Some Quick Information

Hey! So I have about 45 minutes more of pday. Here is a quick note since time is short this week.

Different Pday. Right now, there are like three companionships without anywhere to live, just like my situation at the beginning of the mission. So I try to end that as soon as possible. Elder Camacho is great, and we work together a lot to make the mission better. Today, we went to Centro to pay a contract and set stuff up for three new apartments. That way the missionaries can move into their respective areas a day sooner. A small sacrifice on our part might make a big difference for some companionships this week. Plus we got to tour Centro a litle bit after since it is pday!!

Cultural Note. Many Argentine cities contain at least one Villa (Vee--sha). Villas serve as small living areas for people usually living on the outskirts of town. With little resources and tough economic situations, these villages have the most humble circumstances and situations in Argentina--the most humble I´ve ever seen in my life. My first area of service in Santa Fe contained a really large villa, covering about 1/4 of our assigned area. As missionaries, we must always follow saftey precautions and venture into these areas only during the middle of the day. Great people and sometimes even a handful of members of the church live in these areas. We had lunch with a member who lived really close to the villa in my first area, and the little home consisted of a bed, small fridge, and a toilet, which formed one small room with a little door and covering for the bathroom. Seeing these people and having these experiences as a new missionary changed my perspective of life in general. The simple blessing of a bed or running water provides us some daily necessities that often go for granted. Most of the houses consist of one room supported by sheets of metal stuck together with mud. Almost every area in the mission has at least a small villa. Even here in the heart of Rosario, there is a small one in our area. Since we only work in the evening, we avoid it completely for saftey reasons. I have seen it from the distance, and it has made me appreciate the simple things in life. In Santa Fe, I had the opportunity to teach about 20 lessons in the villa, and it really makes you feel grateful for simple blessings. All these people have is bread to eat and little tanks of water. All in all, count your many blessings. I read a quote the other day that goes as follows: "If you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for the day before, how much would you have?"

I hope we can all appreciate the simple things in life. I would like to challenge all of you to not use your hot water one morning, just to see the difference a simple water heater makes in our daily lives :).

Baptism/Service. As a quick summary, we have a baptism with a great investigator this Saturday. Elder Benson and I found him, and then Elder Hull and I have been teaching him for the last seven weeks or so :). We also did some service and are helping some people build onto their house!!

Like always, thanks for the support, and I hope everyone has a great week!

Hasta la próxima semana.

Elder Jones