Ramos Mejia- Week #57

Elder Zivic is in the other room....

Season’s greetings to you and your kin, (line from Elder Sabey)

Well, this week has been busy, to say the least. I guess when you are an office elder getting ready for a General Authority to come tour your mission, more is expected of you. Let’s just say that all six of us, blatantly broke mission rules last night, and we were all working in the office until about 12:30 at night. I remember at BYU I would go to sleep sometimes at like 3 or 4, and be fine…Let’s just say I was dozing off while walking last night. A missionary is not built to be up past 10:30. It actually was pretty funny, because everyone was just losing their minds from the stress and being tired. My question is, if we knew he was coming three months ago, why are we having to work down to the wire? Then I thought about it, and it always works out like that…no matter how much preparation you have, it always seems like the night before you are pulling the all-nighter to make sure everything is perfect. So everyone had little projects to do, and mine was to obtain all the materials that would be needed for the meetings, such as microphones and keys to the audio room, and all that jazz. So I called Church HQ down here in Buenos Aires to get all the stuff like last week, and they kept telling me they would come to deliver it to us, well long story short, it never happened, and up until 11:00 last night I still didn’t have the stuff I needed. I thought Elder Woodmansee was going to kill me with lasers coming from his bloodshot eyes! I finally got a hold of the stake president and we got someone over here to open the secretary’s office. Also, Mom, about the being in a nicer area comment: Yeah, this place is definitely safer than my other areas. The roads are paved here…but it is still considered a “slum” of Buenos Aires in some parts. Also, President lives about 40 minutes away in a nice part of the Capitol, which is in the North mission. But everything worked out, and Elder Zivic is next door in the chapel! He seems like a pretty laid back man. We haven’t had our interviews with him, but it will be sometime within the next two days. The details might have to be in next week’s email.

So tell the Grandmothers that I miss them, and miss hearing from them. Tell Grandma Wilma that I obviously do not look down on her letters for grammatical errors; ha I am not sure why she would think that. She helped in the process of raising me…so it is pretty much impossible to look down on her, because what I am is a product of her and my family’s teaching, so if I looked down on her, I would technically be looking down on myself. I love my family for what it is, even if we warsh clothing. Also, I haven’t heard from either of them since my birthday, which is just entirely too long to go without grandma love. I know Grandma Sherry is a little under the weather, to put it lightly, with the cancer treatments, so I won’t demand a letter, but just let them know I am thinking about them.

So about the Elder that got deported, he is in Los Angeles, and is supposed to come back whenever he gets his passport. So who knows? That is great you got to see everyone in Livingston. Do I know the girl Sant is dating? Also, Moriah’s wedding announcement said she was getting married in June, so why is she just having an open house…or is that how they usually do it…I have no idea. Wish I could have had a corn dog with you, Dad! Also, I will be home next summer for the county fair, and I definitely will need some Park County corn dogs…they were so good. That Education week stuff sounds cool. Well, you could buy a Wii…or add to my car fund! I will let you be the judge of which is more important in the eternal perspective…keep in mind that usually girls like guys with nice cars more than guys that sit and play Nintendo, so this will probably effect whether or not the Gilmore name lives on through me. I still feel pressure about being the only male Gilmore of all the grandchildren…I better have a son. Elder Brook´s package got sent back because, although I go to mail every week, I only go to the huge mail place in Capitál every two weeks, and wouldn’t you know it, it was closed for pig flu, and I didn’t get back in time. Also, they have downsized all the missions to only two cars. So we are kind of hurting. President uses one, and then we all now have to plan for the rest of the things to do with one car. Why don’t they just take one of the 90 cars in the Hollywood mission? We don’t even have bikes here, because they would get stolen…they are probably going to take our shoes next…no just kidding, just takes a little extra planning, which is good. It can only make us better.

So, something pretty fun that happened this week: Sunday night we were invited over to the mission home by President and Hermana Benton for dinner. Steak…corn on the cob…and baked potatoes. I almost felt like I was being disobedient by eating it, because that just doesn’t happen here. It was kind of like a little family night. We ate, and were then told that it was Benton family tradition to tell gross stories right after eating…I love them. So it wasn’t like we all went around telling our own story, but it was funny. President asked about my toe operation, which has pretty much healed by the way, so that was a fun little story to tell. I just have to tell you though, I could not stop laughing when President and Hermana went off. They started talking about how they can’t really take gross situations, which sparked the story when their cat had kittens, and President was feeling sick, but Hermana wasn’t affected, and actually was eating a BLT the whole time. So President then says, “Yeah, I just couldn’t handle it. The same thing happened with our first child.” Hahaha, so that sparked the story of the birth of their four children…yeah…it was hilarious. It wasn’t inappropriate or anything, just really funny how they both told the story. So then we turned it over to a more spiritual note. We sang a few hymns together, and then sat down for a little forum discussion. Topic: Agency. I was way excited because I am actually studying agency right now, and I have for a good while, so it was perfect for me. President really helped us understand a few things.

First we kind of talked about how when people say free agency, it isn’t correct. Someone had to pay, and then from that the discussion went to how we lose our agency, when we don’t use it wisely. The obvious example being when we sin, or get into an addiction, we gradually lose our agency. We all looked up scriptures and talked a little more about it. I really liked something that President said though. He said, “As you make right choices, it is easier the next time to make a right choice. As you make wrong choices, it is easier the next time to make a wrong choice.” So I have to keep making right choices. Every choice we make either moves us closer to God, or farther away. There are no detours. We have to ask ourselves before we make a decision, big or small, is this moving me closer to Heavenly Father? Is this really what He wants me to do, or am I doing it for me? If there is one thing I have learned here, it is that I don’t know what is best for me, nor do you, neither does anyone else. Heavenly Father knows what is best for us, because he can see the “big picture”. So we better stick close to Him, and do what He would have us do, not what we think we want to do. I noticed that I make a lot of decisions that probably don’t move me closer to Him, nor is it what He expects of me, but I am learning, and loving the journey. I realized this is the first time I have ever been on a mission, or been 20…and I have no idea what I am doing. This is the first time I have ever had to make decisions like this, or live like I am living. I use my agency, and some stuff works, and some doesn’t. All I can do is keep doing the best I can, and rely on the Spirit to guide me and instruct me on how to use my agency wisely. Then, as I learn more, it will be easier to heed the voice of the Spirit, and make the right decision. Bah…I have a long way to go. Good thing I have so much time to learn it. So that was my week. A little busy, but I still learned something, and had a pretty good time. I just finished talking to Elder Zivic who told me about the time he and his wife went snowmobiling in Wyoming. I almost forgot that he, as a General Authority, is in Salt Lake at least twice a year for General Conference. He speaks in English, too, but lives right here in Haedo, which is in the stake I am serving in. Cool stuff.

So, that’s all for now. I am grateful for all your support, and hope the summer is going well for everyone. It is still freezing down here…sometimes. I am grateful for this opportunity the Lord is giving me to grow. I thought before the mission I was a pretty good guy wouldn’t need to change very much, but it has been crazy to see just how much I have learned. Guess I wasn’t all that, ha. I’ll tell you who was though! Christ. I have grown closer to Him than in any other time, and am learning more and more from Him on a daily basis. I believe in Christ, He stands supreme! From Him I´ll gain, my fondest dream; And while I strive through grief and pain, His voice is heard: “Ye shall obtain.”

Elder Gilmore

P.S. Sister Pollock did end up giving me a hug, but it was a half hug, and pretty sneaky. I don’t think anyone saw it.