Ramos Mejia- Week #53

Tribute to the King

Hey all,

Well, just last week I thought all was well, my mission was going great, I felt like I was more focused than ever, and shock hit me like a cinderblock to the back of the head. MICHAEL IS DEAD!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I found out on Thursday. We found this awesome guy while clapping houses, and he invited us in, only for me to walk straight into the house and see on the television the words “murió Michael” and clips of him singing…I kept in the initial shock, and we taught the lesson and went back outside, and I was like, “Elder Sabey, I have pressing news for you. Don’t be alarmed, but something serious has happened.” He asked me to proceed, and I shed a tear and told him the news…he was equally devastated. Anyway, when I first found out a panic ran through my head, because I just knew I was missing out on some great pop culture history…but I got over it quickly. It has been fun though, because in Argentina, if somebody wants to listen to music, they blast it so it can be heard in the street, seriously everybody does it, it is like a culture thing, but usually it is reggaeton or cumbia or some kind of Spanish music…but not this week baby. I say “Beat It” to the Spanish music, and keep blasting Michael Jackson. “Don’t stop til you get enough!” “I want to rock with you!” Good stuff…classics…but seriously, it has been interesting teaching lessons when the neighbor is just cranking Thriller so that the whole world will hear it. We have gotten a few comments on our inherent “head bobbing” that we can’t help doing while we are in houses. You know me; I just cannot help spontaneously breaking out into dance, even if it is for two seconds, so it is really hard to keep my composure with all this going on. We were in this house and we walked out to the sound of “Billie Jean” and something took over my body, and I couldn’t help just kind of doing a little move while going down the stairs and out the gate. Next thing I know we hear a “Look at the Americans dancing to Michael Jackson!” I then felt bad and had to repent…I am supposed to be a representative of the Church of Jesus Christ. Michael just has that effect on me. It is just way too easy to dance to…abc…easy as…123…I can’t believe I am missing out on all the tribute material going on…tape it! ha

So one last Michael Jackson story of the week and I will move on. On Sunday, which for some reason was better than usual this week, my Sacrament experience was really special. I know special is a stupid word to use there, but I really can’t think of another one. So either I am progressing spiritually, or they put something in the water, but it was just great. So we had lunch with a sweet young couple on Sunday afternoon. The husband’s name is Walter…yeah!...and I forgot the wife’s name, but they are recently married and look like they are just loving the married life. They are two really funny people, and we were laughing almost the whole lunch. She is expecting their first child so they are really excited. Good strong members, he is a returned missionary. Well, we walk in, and go into the dining room, and I look over and see three large candles that kind of made a pyramid, and at the top, the 20 year anniversary edition of the Michael Jackson Thriller Album…I about choked, and said, “Sister Richart, did you really do this!?!” She just kind of laughed, and Walter comes into the room with incense, head bowed, and hands it to me to light the candles…I didn’t know if it was against our religion to do so , but his father is in the stake presidency…so I paid my last respects, lit the candles, and we sat down to eat. She told us that she has been glued to the TV because MTV and VH1 are just playing non-stop M.J. videos…dang…oh well.

In missionary news this week, Elder Sabey and I were interviewed here in the offices by four high school girls. They came to the door on Saturday morning, and said they are writing something up for their school and wanted to speak with a representative…that’s us. So they interviewed us for like 2 hours…we literally taught something from every lesson, and gave them commitments for all of them, and gave them all copies of the Book of Mormon, and pamphlets, and article of faith cards, and everything we have…I am the material man, so I can do that sort of thing. They talked to us a lot about Mary, and if we believed she was a virgin, and why we don’t pray to her, then wanted to know about the history of the church, if we worship Joseph Smith, why we are on missions if we are only 20, if priests can get married in our church, etc. It was actually really fun, and we got them interested in the message to the point where they stopped asking us questions on their sheets of paper, and started asking us what they really wanted to know. Also, they took a picture with us, so that will probably end up somewhere on the internet…

So that is all the time I have this week, usually I could write more, but we got a call from President this morning, and he reserved a 1:30 tee time to go golfing…so looks like I will spend P-Day with President Benton, probably picking up tips on how to become a billionaire…temporally, and spiritually…we all have picked golfing nicknames, and mine is Ronnie Blake (my Lufkin Texas high school tennis coach! Love that guy!) so I will send pictures, also it is freezing outside, so I will probably get pig flu. Maybe Michael had pig flu. The King of Pop is gone…also, we have had lengthy discussions about his successor, and the final consensus gives it to Justin Timberlake. JT! Elder Sabey and Woodmansee wanted to crown him right away, but I am not quite ready to say goodbye to MJ (not to be confused with Michael Jordan, another prominent MJ) so Justin, I love you, but Mike is still the King for now, at least until the mourning process is over. Alright, sorry I wasted this whole email talking about Michael Jackson…

I will end talking about the gospel. The Church is true, and Resurrection is a universal gift…mj…Doesn´t matter if you´re black or white, Sean

P.S. did you catch the Michael Jackson song reference in my signoff? Also, I got a wedding announcement from my MTC teacher, Sister Engebretsen! I love her new last name…if she keeps her maiden name as a middle name, she will be Jenna Engebretsen Mangleson…I am not sure there is a more beautiful name known to man. Congrats to her!