2 Weeks in Argentina and the World Cup

oh man where to start?

So the mundial...or i guess, the world cup. it started on friday with a game between mexico and someone like nigeria or something. argentina wasn´t even playing and they closed down the schools. we were nervous for the next day when argentina would play because eveyone would be watching the game and we didnt want them to get mad at us. we were right about mostly everything except that everyone was really nice that day. maybe they were all drunk or something but we got a ton of contacts that day. everyone we saw was wearing an argentina jersey and we knew when they scored because fireworks went off everywhere and the neighborhood we were in just exploded with noise. we saw some of the replays at a members house when we stopped by for lunch and argentina should have won like 5 0. the other teams goalie made some excellent saves. now that i think about it, i think argentina was playing nigeria but i´m not sure. the US tied with england or as its called here inglaterra but apparently it´s only because their goalie made a mistake and practically gave us a goal, haha. everyone here is in the soccer mood, everone plays soccer in the streets and the other games are always playing on tvs.

i´m getting more accustomed to the food here and i have to tell you, dulce de leche here is one of the best things i´ve ever had. it´s like a carmel spread that they put on everything and it´s exactly what it´s name says, it´s candy of milk. it really doesn´t have that much milk in it and it doesn´t bother my allergy so i´ve been eating a lot of it. i mix it in my oatmeal in the morning, i put it on bread, on apples, on everything, it´s so good.

speaking about food, i remembered some stuff i would like in a package. first, macaroni and cheese in a box like the kraft kind. also, some candy bars like twix, snickers, that good stuff. also, i might need you to send some more ibruprofen and tums, i´m not sure if i can get them here. i haven´t checked but if i can, they´re probably expensive.

but some stories for the week. we went to an investigators house on wednesday night and taught the first lesson and about joseph smith. then we found out that they are from what they call, the "universal church." they say that every religion is correct becuase they all have the same goal, to get to heavenly father again. so when we explained joseph smith and asked them what they thought, they said that they believed all of that. so then my comp asked them why they werent baptized in our church to which they said they didnt need to and that they were already saved. we tried to explain proper authority to them but they wouldnt accept any of it. they said¨"la PALABRA es la autoridad" or "the word is the authority". they think that anyone with the bible has authority to baptize and work ordinances. it absolutely ridiculous. they say they believe joseph smith was a prophet but they don´t know anything that he said and if they did, they would know that this is the only true church on the earth. it was really frustrating and my companion kind of started arguing with them, so much so that we missed our bus back to our apartment and to walk home would take about 2 hours...and it was already 9 at night. but we know we´re being looked after because the first car we tried to hitch a ride from happened to be a less active member who was going to our part of town. it was awesome.

we have some good investigators though. cirilo is one of them. he is from paraguay and is so nice. his house he made himself and is about six feet by six feet in area. whenever we come by to teach, he wipes down our chairs and lays out rags on the seats for us. no one else in argentina would do that. he came to church yesterday and he said he liked it a lot. we keep asking him if he´s read and he always says there isn´t enough light in his apartment, but i think he just can´t read and is embarassed by it so he won´t tell us. i really hope we can get him baptized.

oh here´s a good story. so on saturday, we were knocking houses in this one barrio (neighborhood) and it was about 800 so already dark (the sun goes down around 630 here). we were going to stop by an investigator´s house and then these two boys ran up to us asking for a folleta, or pamphlet thing. we asked them why and then they started being dumb asking for marijuana and stuff. then like six more boys ran up and all we about 10 or 11 years old and they started mocking and making fun of us. then one tried to kick my comp in the area so we started to walk away. one then asked where we were from and when we said the US, they started chanting "argentina! argentina!" and started throwing rocks at us! at first they were just pebbles but then one about the size of a golf ball hit elder whitaker in the side of the head. he almost lost it and turned around to get mad at them and they all scattered. he was so mad the rest of the night but again we were protected. only one rock hit us and it hardly left a mark on my comp´s head. he just has a little bump there. it´s just crazy that little kids have nothing better to do than harass the missionaries. but at least now we can identify with the scripture, where missionaries are mocked, and hit, and stoned for the sake of truth.

i think that´s about all that´s happened. i´m starting to understand more and people say my spanish is really good for how long i´ve been here. thanks for all the emails, i loved all of them. wish me luck with my investigators! I love everyone of you so much!

love, elder newey