Easter In Argentina

Hey family,

Hey how is everybody doing? Once again it’s so good to hear from you all! It’s incredible how far away we are yet how close we can feel. Ya know guys I feel like sometimes we fall into routines and we don’t find Joy in the Journey. One thing I learned in my last area was that attitude is everything. I’ve probably said that 50 times. But it’s so true! When we have faith in God we naturally have a positive attitude.  Lately I have been trying to find joy in the journey in everything. Starting with personal studies and ending with saying my prayers at night. This week went really well. Maipu is a great area. Ready for some Cordoba Mormon facts? In the 1950s the first chapel was built in Cordoba, Neighborhood Villa Belgrano. The second was built in 1964 Neighborhood Maipu. It’s the second oldest in Cordoba! 5 years ago they chose 2 sites for the temple. 1 was the Villa Belgrano site and the other was a big site in front of the only Wal-Mart on the west side of Capital. They ended up choosing the Villa Belgrano site due to the surrounding neighborhoods. So they took down the Villa Belgrano Chapel and started the temple.  So Maipu is the oldest chapel standing in Cordoba. All the other wards, branches, and districts have branched off from this ward. So with all that said, I was expecting a big strong ward.... Let’s just say that she’s not in her Glory Days. There are 400 members but only 50 or so attend church. Everyone is kind of just waiting on other people. The bishop is a good guy. He is a little bit older but has a strong testimony.

I really like Maipu though. It has a little bit of everything. The chapel is in a really rich neighborhood. My first day I told Elder Acton that we need to get in one of the houses before the transfer ends. Then later that day we were buying something in the supermarket and this guy named Oscar started talking to us in English. He was in the army. He asked why all missionaries are called Elder. We told him and then kept talking. He invited us to his house the next day. He lives in a huge brick house 2 blocks from the church. He owns a radio station and wants to interview us. I’ll keep you posted. I think more than anything he invited us in to be nice and speak a little English.  After explaining the Book of Mormon he was way interested. We are going by this week. 

OK I’ll answer a few of moms Questions ;). I haven’t gotten the contacts yet, but its been confirmed that I will get them this week. We get the bolsa Wednesday. Thanks for worrying mom :). When I got here there were only 2 investigadores, so we have been finding a ton. We are teaching this 1 family named the Quiroga family. They are so awesome! Right off the bat we hit it off and I can tell they really like us. What a blessing. Sometimes the transition of missionaries can be tough. They have 3 kids. They are married, and they are just amazing. The mom and kids have gone to church. The Dad wants to go but is having tons of opposition. They had all committed to go this week and then Saturday night they had a pretty bad fight. This guy Satan never gets tired! So they didn’t go and yesterday we went and they said they are getting separated. I know they wont, they just need to learn how to solve their problems. God is helping them get stronger. I love them so much though. For Easter she made us homemade Easter eggs out of chocolate. That’s the big thing here - big chocolate Easter eggs and lots and lots of wine. Yeah baby. There is an awesome sister that makes sure we have food. She’s really great. Ok guys if you saw the apartment I’m living in you would die. I tried to send a picture but the computer won’t let me. It’s way sweet! Its gotta be one of the best in the mission. We live above members who aren’t active. They are way cool though, well technically I haven’t met them because they are in Chile but they left us tons of food to make. I am really loving being with Elder Acton. He is great. We totally would have hung out in High School. He loves basketball too. This week has been great. Its weird because everyone asks is we are brothers... He is probably about 6’ 2” but he is blond. I guess we look alike.  1 year before the mission his parents got a divorce and it was really tough. Everyone stopped going to church but him. He is really a cool guy. 

Well Guys I think that’s about it. I want you to know that I love you all so much and am so happy to be part of this family. I don’t know what I’d do without you all. I hope you enjoy conference and have a great week. 

Love Elder Watts