Ramos Mejia- Week #60

Family Vacation

Hey

Well, like you said, today is month number 14 for me. Exactly one year ago I stepped off a plane and set foot in Argentina. A lot has happened since then, and it is weird to think that I have more time in the country then I have left in it. I will miss it when I leave, good thing it isn’t for a while. Didn’t end up going to the temple today. We are going next week I guess, I got confused. Kind of a bummer, because I was gearing up for it. There are rumors that it is going to close in October, so this might be one of the last times I can go for ten months…I am actually surprised how depressed I am about that. We take it for granted being so close to temples in the states, and having multiple within driving distances.

This week was great. We are really humming along in the work. We have a lot of great investigators. We ended up teaching Elvira and her son, Gabriel. So you know how we just met her on Sunday, well she gave us her address to pass by with the member and everything, and we went by. It was a huge apartment complex, and we buzzed in 2A, which is the address we had, only to hear an angry man answer. We asked for Elvira or Gabriel, and he said that they had moved, and then hung up on us…we had just seen her on Sunday! How could they have moved! He wouldn’t answer again, because I buzzed a few more times, and he wasn’t having it. So we left, a little deflated, because she was so ready to hear the gospel. We didn’t have her phone number or anything. However, the Lord gave us a second chance. It wasn’t an hour later that we got a call from Brother Salas, the former stake president, and our gospel doctrine teacher, who is quite possibly the most amazing member I have met. Also, he speaks perfect English. So I picked up the phone, and he says (in English) “Hey, where are you? Elvira has been calling me wanting to know where you are. She is waiting for you. I think you should go over, she is really prepared.” He had given her his phone number on Sunday in case she had any questions…that is a member with his priorities straight. He helps investigators feel comfortable. So he gave us her phone number and we called her. She lived in 12A, not 2A! How embarrassing! Haha, they sound similar in Spanish. So we ran back and found her, and her son, whom we taught. They are soooooo ready to hear this message. I have never seen anything like this. The son is 19 and just had a smile on his face the whole time. He told us that he had stopped smoking, drinking, and messing around with his girlfriend BY HIMSELF, so that he could be closer to God...uh…ok…wanna get baptized maybe? They both have made up their minds to be baptized, but they went on vacation to another province for two weeks, but get this, Elvira already had looked up the address to the church building closest to them there. Golden! We are basically just waiting for them to get back. Also, Elias’ parents are giving their permission for him to be baptized, too, so we have a date with him for the 29th. He really needs support, because he changes his mind a lot, but he set this date by himself, so we will see what we can do to help him along the way. Germán dodged us again, so we didn’t see him all week. He doesn’t have a cell phone, so it is kind of hard to pin down where he is.

So today I was writing some letters, and one was to Alex Greaves…yay…but anyway, this story isn’t about her. I wrote in one part about being “dead serious”, and the memory popped into my head of Brett in his room at BYU saying in a slow serious voice, “I am deathly serious…” I could not stop laughing, because he would say it and like start doing his fake laugh, which actually makes him laugh, so it turns into a real laugh. Deathly Serious…just one of those things that are only funny to a few people. Sorry I hate when people do that, but I don’t remember many things that happened this week to tell you about. I heard a country song the other day and remembered just how much I liked the genre. It was that song, “the good stuff” I don’t even know who sings it, but it was a great little moment. Also we scored some Gladys Knight singing primary songs and hymns, and making it all gospel-like, which is just a picker-upper. Also, the internet isn’t working, so I can’t get back on to read any questions you had for the week.

President and Hermana Benton went on a trip out to the campo for a District Conference, because there isn’t a stake out there yet. It was kind of funny on Saturday they were all getting ready to head out in the van, packing everything up, and making sure they had everything. The assistants were going with them, and we were helping load everything into the van. It was so strange; it felt like getting ready for a family vacation or road-trip. Elder Sabey and I kind of laughed talking about how it always is the same sequence of events on family trips. You set a time to wake up, but only Dad wakes up at that time. You think you did everything the night before so that you only had to load up the car in the morning, but somehow there are a million things you forgot to do when morning rolls around. Dad has people on a strict schedule, telling us how much time is left before the car is rolling out of the driveway. You never leave on time. Dad is honking the horn yelling that we are 20 minutes behind schedule and we are never going to make it on time, while Mom is in the house still packing a cooler or something. She yells out the door, “Oh we forgot something; we have to stop by the grocery store.” Dad either rolls his eyes, or mutters how there is no time to do that. The kids have pillows and blankets in the car, no matter what time of day it is, or how hot it is, because the trip goes faster when you are asleep, and sometimes the air conditioner gets cold. Mom wakes up two times just to say she needs a bathroom, and the kids are out cold the whole trip, or playing gameboy Pokemon. Dad takes advantage and listens to some talk radio show about politics or sports. If the kids do happen to wake up, he sits through a backstreet boy CD about five times, until they fall asleep again. When they are out, his show is over and he drives in silence. The air conditioner breaks in the middle of a desert, and you shove the blankets in the trunk, and drive 80 mph down the highway with windows down. You arrive where you are going, and if there is family waiting for you they ask how the trip was. Mom always answers, “Oh it wasn’t bad at all.” Dad doesn’t answer. His bloodshot eyes are answer enough. He just starts unloading the car and wants to sleep, but the kids were asleep all day, so they want to do something, so Dad takes them out for a burger and a shake. And that…is the perfect family vacation. Aren’t dads great? At least mine is. I hope I am like him with my kids.

Sean