Letter 1/31/2010

Hey Eveybody!

How are you! Its so good to hear from you every week, you can´t believe it. Although its been a good week this week, and for that I am grateful. I´m glad to start hearing good news from you guys finally! Congratulations on the happenings with Dad´s job. I hope everything works out with that, although I´m sure it will :-)

Personally, Mom, I think that you should go back and finish school. Liz is right, you spent way too much time, took too many tests, and shed too many tears for your time at school to go to the dogs. Just go back and finish! :-)

I seriously don´t want to hear another word about how bad your winter is. Why don´t you just come down here to Argentina for a week or two, then you will be first in line at the Airport to return to a winter in the states. The other day, it was 40 degrees celsius with a humidity level of 85 percent. Now, 40 degrees celsius roughly converts to 104 degrees farenheit. We are in long pants, thick shoes, and ties, carrying Book of Mormons and other miscellaneous stuff. I would give my right foot for it to be below 32 degrees right now.

Concerning your blessing with the job, God blesses us in our time of our most dire of need. Yesterday, I finished Jesus the Christ after only a two and a half week read. The book is incredible. But I noticed some things that applied to your situation. In the Bible, Jesus only performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand after Philip stated his concern that they only had four barley loaves and two fishes. But, Jesus rebuked him saying "Where is your faith?". Jesus caught Peter as the deep was about to claim him when he walked on the water toward Jesus, and was rebuked in the same manner "Oh ye of little faith, when did ye doubt?" The Brother of Jared only saw the miracle with the toaching of the 16 stones after he had thought and pondered and knew that there was nothing in his power that he could do to light the barges in their journey across the ocean. But, he had faith, knowing that God was all-powerful, and he relied on his power to bring forth a miracle. We must have faith that our Heavenly Father is able to do anything, save we have a little faith.

I am still writing Daniel weekly, and he´s doing great now. We just sent some emails back and forth and talked about it. But, now he´s doing awesome.

Concerning the situation with my comp, he just let all of the rules go. He started listening to music, not from the church, both aloud and with headphones, a big no-no. He started to sleep in and other things. So, I called my District Leader, who called the ZL´s who called the Assistants, who set an appointment for us to meet with the Mission President the next day. Turns out that my comp said that he didn´t feel like he could have a good time on his mission and follow the rules at the same time, so he wanted to go home. So, we went and met with the Mission President the next morning. He interviewed us individually first. When it was my turn, after my comp, the President said that my companion wanted to stay on his mission after talking to him. He asked if there were any problems that I had that my companion didn´t mention. Turns out that my comp had mentioned everything he had done and was completely honest. Nothing I said was unknown to the President. Then he brought us both in. He pretty much told my comp to be more obedient and told me that I should be concerned with pleasing three people in this order: The Lord, my Mission President (he said with a smile), and my companion. If your companion is disobedient, don´t be afraid of him getting mad at you just because you would feel bad if he did. He told me to keep doing what I´m doing and to follow the rules exactly. Then we left and went back to work.

Then the next couple of days followed and we started to see things happen. We started to meet better people who had a sincere interest in what we have to say. We had four investigators in church on sunday, all of which enjoyed it thouroughly. And...WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BAPTISM NEXT SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the investigators that came to church is a friend of one of the youth in our ward. He had heard all of the lessons, but never really wanted to get Baptized until now. We are going to be talking to him this week to finalize everything and make sure that we´re all good to go. Plus, my companion and I are on way better terms now. He´s still a little stingy, but that´s how he was when I first met him, but we laugh and smile and teach great lessons. Since our interview with the President, we have seen a shift in our work, that I hope will continue until the end of this transfer.

I don´t have much else to write this week, but I will let you know how everything goes next week. I pray for you all daily, and my heart is full that you are now enjoying the blessings of heaven because of your faithfulness. Never forget to give thanks for everything you have. Well, I have to go now, but I bed thee farewell until next week. Have a good week and you´ll here from me soon. Love you all!

With Love,

Elder Garrett Brighton Rook

Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste

La mejor misión en todo el mundo

"The best mission in the whole world"

1/17/2011

Hey Everybody!

Congrats to Tom and Erin! Has a been a year already for them? Congrats to Aunt Justine and Uncle Blaine! Isn´t that where they wanted to go when they applied the first time? That is really too bad about what happened to Capt. Dick Winters. Before I left, I read a little bit about him. Truly sad that he is gone. Its too bad that a generation of good men are starting to pass away. After they´re gone, who do we have left that are truly honorable men? Anyway, my weekly happenings follow.

The weather is really weird now. It has been unbelievably hot some days, and rainy other days. On Sunday, we were walking to a lunch appointment and it started to sprinkle a little bit. Then the thunder hit like a bomb it was so loud. It was still sprinkling a little bit and then it stopped for about 30 seconds. I heard a sound like a freight train crashing through the trees and it started to downpour. There are not words to describe the amount on water that was falling from the sky. It was as if somebody had turned a bucket over and let the water flow on Moreno. Within seconds...seconds...my companion and I were soaked to the bone. We showed up to our lunch appointment and they had towels ready for us. It was absolutely incredible.

We had transfer meeting today, and I am staying in Moreno with my same companion for another transfer. This will be my companion´s 3rd transfer in Moreno and his second with me. So, he will be leaving next transfer, which means I will probably stay in Moreno for another 2 transfers after he leaves. By the way, a transfer is 6 weeks :-). So, Moreno will be my home for another 4 and a half months. Transfer meeting was awesome. I am now the official pianist for the mission :-)

We are teaching this woman and her 18 year old daughter the lessons and they seem so receptive! We invited them to come to church on Thursday, along with another 5 people. Sunday showed up and turned out that zero of our investigators showed. Its really frustrating. I´m not angry, I´m sad. If they only knew what we knew, they would show up to church early. But, we keep trying, and we keep praying. It says in our mission letter that we are called to find the elect. We need to have faith that the Lord will and has prepared his elect to be baptized and become saints of this church.

I did exchanges with an Elder in our Zone on Friday. My companion went to a city called Marílo to have lunch with a family that he baptized a while back. I got to stay in Moreno and work with Elder Hart. He is seriously the funniest guy I have ever met in my entire life! We had so much fun and got so much work done that day! It was a great day.

Nothing much to report this week, it was pretty slow. But hopefully it will be more eventful next week, because the time goes by faster when you´re working hard, and this week has been really slow.

¡Les amo tan mucho! Les extraño y estoy muy feliz para eschuchar de ustedes cada semana. Estoy muy animado por su carta proxima semana y yo espero que todas las cosas sean buenas con ustedes. Salud, seguridad, y suerte con todas las cosas. Yo oro para ustedes cada día y noche. Sé que nuestro Padres Celestial les ama tan mucho y quiere que estén feliz en sus vidas. Tenga fe en Él, y les bendicirá con muchas bendiciones, más que ustedes pueden recibir. Tengo un testimonio de este Evangelio y sé que es verdadero. ¡Todas las cosas son posibles con Dios! ¡Tenga fe!

Su hijo, hermano, y amigo en Cristo,

Élder Garrett Brighton Rook

Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste

Mayonnaise on Everything

Garrett writes us and lets us know that the people of Argentina love mayonnaise! They put it on everything here. The picture shows a meal with rice, chicken and mayonnaise squirted on top. It doesn't sound too appetizing to me, but Garrett said that it is really good, and he enjoys it.

The homes in which the people live are very humble. In some of the homes Garrett can't even stand up straight in them. Course the people look a lot smaller than Garrett, he is 6' 2"

By the looks of the pictures Garrett studies hard with all his study books, and the picture of him looks as if his companion caught him off guard.

Letter January 10th 2011

¡Hola! ¡Buen Día!

I hope all is well with you, and this letter finds you in good health, both of body and mind. Little Spanish tip, don´t say "Buenos Dias" for "Good Morning". The proper term is "Buen Día". When you say Buenos Dias, you sound like a gringo.
Nothing much to report this week. We asked two people to be baptized on the 29th of this month. They accepted, but they didn´t show up to church yesterday. Its not that hard to step onto a bus and go to church. I swear the excuses that people make not to do something are ridiculous. But, we tried our best, and we´re going to keep trying with them. They openly admitted that they felt something when we arrived, but they said they were too tired to some to church that morning. Ughhh...
Its been uncomfortably hot here lately. We had a morning where we had the biggest rainstorm I have ever seen! There was almost two inches of water in the streets! The temperature dropped to like 70 something degrees. But noon rolled around and the clouds dispersed. By one o´clock; there wasn´t a cloud in the sky and the sun beat down on us like nothing else. The temperature rose to about 90 something degrees with a humidity level through the roof. Hottest day of my life. Even my companion, from Colombia, was sweating.
My feet are 150% better. The completely healed after about a week. There is zero evidence that I was ever bitten. And the mosquitos that carry whats called "Dengue Fever" only bite during the day. So, I´m okay. I haven´t been sick yet. The mosquitos that carry dengue fever are big and black and nasty. But, the President´s wife told me that they haven´t had a problem with missionaries and dengue fever.
I hope you found the references interesting. Máte is everywhere! Its ridiculous. People will sit on there porch and drink máte for hours everyday. Maybe that's the reason why nobody works here. The people are so incredibly lazy. But, it makes it nice sometimes, because we can find an entire family anytime of the day in their house. When spelling "Máte" you have to be careful of where the accent is in the word (over the "a"). The infinitive verb "Matar" is "To kill". Maté, with the accent over the "e" is "I killed".
The Catholic Church of the Virgin of Luján is the dominant religion here. Supposedly, its the location where the Virgin Mary appeared after her death. But its named after a Virgin Saint of that city. People call it "La Capital de la Fe" around here (Capital of the Faith), so whenever somebody says that, we know they are referring to Luján.
Morcilla is a kind of blood sausage thats really common here. We had it on Christmas and New Years. Its really gooey like a pudding. Think of it as a combination of refried beans, ground beef, and oil. Thats what it feels like in your mouth. Not too bad.
Fútbol is the dominant sport around here. There are a lot of kids who play in the streets with there bare feet. Although I have not touched a soccer ball yet.
Asado is pretty much the best food I have ever had in my entire life. Its Argentine Barbecue. But I´m sure that Dad read the entire page about Asado and probaly searched some more about it haha. It delicious.
So, its official. I have lost a total of almost 10 pounds since being out here in Argentina. We are encouraged to drink at least 3 liters of water a day. And I´m walking almost 12 miles daily. My pants that I bought from Bass don´t fit as well as they used to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever

Facts in Argentina

Garrett just sent us some links. They are facts about Argentina.
Kind of interesting!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morcilla
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luj%C3%A1n,_Buenos_Aires_Province
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asado
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina_national_football_team

Another Week in Moreno

How are you all? I hope you all had a great New Years in the States, because it was kind of boring here. But, the fireworks were pretty cool. Anyway, quite a week to report. I hope you are reading this before you see the pictures. Because there is a story behind every one the them. Tuesday was District Meeting and about once every three weeks, they have whats called ´diviciones´ or exchanges. I went to Paso Del Rey with my District Leader. We walked and walked and walked, but didn´t seem to have much success. I wasn´t feeling good in the meantime. So, we ended our day and went back to the apartment. I was still pretty sick and I felt really dehydrated. So, I laid down in bed and tried to go to sleep. I was awakened and rushed to the bathroom and threw up. Felt 100% better after that and wasn´t sick after that. So, the Elders in Paso Del Rey sleep outside because there is no air conditioning in their apartment. So, we crashed outside on their balcony. My companion wore no bug spray that night, because he told me he had never worn bug spray in their area. So, I though it was okay not to wear any. Not a good idea. My face was okay and untouched. But my hands and especially my feet were covered with hundreds of mosquito bites. I called the Mission President´s Wife, because she handles all the medical in the mission, to let her know what happened in case I got sick. She didn´t seem too worried and said to keep her informed. I haven´t been sick and I don´t think I will, but it hurt really bad, especially when it came to walking.
Thursday was a normal day, except it was the hottest day I can remember here. Even the natives were sweating.
Friday was New Years Eve, and we had a feast with a member family. So...much...food. We had everything that people talk about in Argentina. Asado, chancho, chinchulin, morcilla, and all other kinds of food. We went back the the apartment and watched fireworks afterward.
New Years Day was an absolute joke. We walked all over and had no success whatsoever. We could´ve stayed in bed and had the exact same success as we did. We went to our lunch appointment and they bailed, they weren´t even at their house when we showed up. There was nobody on the street. The busiest streets in Moreno were absolutely dead. Not a soul.
On Sunday, after Church, we walked some more and taught a few people. While we were walking; we passed this fence and there were some dogs barking at us, no big deal. Then this one dog came from the street and started to snarl at us. We just ignored it and kept walking. He´ll go away. The stupid dog came up and bit me in the ankle! And kept snarling. I bent down as if to pick up a rock and he ran off. That´s what you do if a dog won´t leave you alone. Even if there isn´t a rock, just bend down as if to pick one up and the dog will run off. I am seriously starting to hate dogs after being here. I am seriously considering not having a dog when I get back.