Weekly Letter

¡Hola!

Well, I hope this letter finds all in good health. Thank you for sending the card. I will let you know as soon as I receive it. My password to my bank account should be found on the Google Docs Document that I sent to you and Dad before I left, because, I can´t remember my bank account password now, cause I never use it. Don´t worry about not getting me the package as soon as you wanted to. Ahkunamatata. You can get it off to me when you find everything. Copies of the CD´s or no, it doesn´t matter. I would prefer copies because I want to keep the discs when I get home. Don´t fret if you can´t put a lot into my personal account, because at this point, I´m not doing a lot of purchasing. If I do make a purchase, it´s just something else I have to haul around when I get transfered.

Oh, have I got a story for you. On Wednesday, I thought I would be nice and take my companion out for dinner. We got something called "churipan". It´s a sausage on bread with a seasoning called "chimichurri". It´s absolutely delicious. Well, we ate and went back to the apartment to sleep. In the middle of the night, I am sick as a dog, throwing up and diahrrea, at the same time. The trashcan on the lap technique. I was confined to my bed for 3 days with a case of food poisoning. Bad case I might add. I am still on medications for it. But, I am feeling a lot better now, and we´re going to get back to work this week. That´s what I get for being nice haha.

I really hope that you didn´t get rid of anything of mine haha. I know you didn´t...

Ah well. The language. The language is actually going very well. At this point, I can understand the majority of what it said. I never thought that in my life, I would ever understand a different language. Now, the challenge I face is being able to speak better. I can speak, but it´s very...slow. I just need to practice more, and it really depends on the conversation. Every subject, like English, has it´s own set of vocabulary. So, if I want to talk about how to fix a car, or about piano and musical terms, that´s all different vocab. Good thing I get a half an hour to study the language everyday.

I know a great way to lose weight. Walk about 12 miles per day in the boiling hot weather with a humidity level of at least 80%, don´t eat food that contains high fructose corn syrup (that doesn´t exist here, even the soda contains pure sugar that is still more healthy than corn syrup), and when you eat, only eat rice and hamburger patties. It works. It´s worked for me so far haha. I´m down to 100 kilos now, whoo!

Gavin, get...your...project...done. Just do it. I know you´re busy, but when you have the smallest amount of free time, work on it. I know it´s tough, but I delayed my project for like 9 months. Worst mistake ever. Just get it done buddy. That car is waiting for you... By the way I love Cheers, because everybody knows your name. Hey Gav, if you could, could you put "My name is Lincoln" on the mix CD as well? I love that song.

Paige, just dress really classy when you go to the job fair. You will be asked questions about your profession by people who actually do your profession. Don´t be afraid to talk to people. You´ll be answering questions all day to professionals, representatives from colleges, and passers by who are interested to see what´s going on. My adviceis just don´t hold anything back. Be assertive (SP?) and don´t have any fear to talk. Get to know people and be open to those who want to get to know you. BE FUN AND INTERESTING!!!! Haha

I´m going to end with a story. My companion and I were going to visit this teenager who we talked with on the street about the Book of Mormon. We went to his house and clapped outside the gate. He came out and as soon as he saw us, he had a look on his face that he really didn´t want to talk to us. He opened the gate and we started to talk. He informed us that he took the flyer about the Book of Mormon and researched it on the internet. He found a lot of history vs. the Book of Mormon evidence that states that: historically, the Book of Mormon can´t be true. The people that Christopher Colombus found weren´t of the nature of the people talked about in the Book of Mormon. He said it just didn´t fit together and there wasn´t any logical way to believe that the Book of Mormon is, in fact, genuine scripture. At that moment, a little voice inside of me urged me to open my mouth. I opened my mouth and started to speak. I spoke about that gifts of the Spirit. "Cristian" I said, "do you believe that God can answer your prayers if you ask in faith?". He told me of course he could. I continued, "Is it logical that Jesus Christ turned water into wine at the marriage in Cana, or that he fed 5000 people with a few fishes and a few loaves of bread? That he made the blind to see and the deaf to hear? And took upon him all the sins of the world that we could live with him again?". He answered no. "The why do you believe it?" I asked. He said, "Because I have faith that it happened." At that moment, I could almost literally see then light bulb flash on in his mind. I said "That´s why I know that this book is the word of God". He told us, "I don´t know what to think. I´m really confused as to what it going through my mind right now." I knew that the Holy Ghost was testifying of the truthfulness of what we shared. We´ll see if he does anything with what he felt, but he knows what was there, and we were fortunate enough to experience that marvelous event. I know this Gospel is true. I will be honest. When I left for the Mission, I did not have a testimony of this Gospel. I went to Church because you went to church. I had never received that witness of the Spirit. When I entered the MTC, I had serious thoughts of turning back, because I was surrounded by missionaries who had burning testimonies and unwaivering witnesses that this church was true. And I had nothing. I was reading in the Book of Mormon one day and I started to cry. My teacher, Brother Puterbaugh, asked what was wrong and I asked to talk to him. He pulled me aside in a room and we talked. I started to tell him that I was afraid to go out into the field and preach the Book of Mormon, Faith, and the Holy Ghost because I would be preaching doctrine that I didn´t actually know was true. He asked me, have you ever read the Book of Mormon? Cover to cover, every page, every word, every article of grammar. I told him no. I had read a lot of the Book of Mormon in my life, probably enough to say that I had read it, but cover to cover, I had not. He said the only way to gain faith is to take that first step in the lessons. To read and pray. At that moment, I was the investigator. We spoke for about an hour and a half. We both left the room crying. After that, I started the Book of Mormon, finished it, and prayed afterward. I received nothing. I read the promise of Moroni in Moroni 10:3-5 and prayed with ´sincere heart and real intent, having faith in Christ´. The feeling I received in my heart was a feeling I had never felt before. It felt as if something was being poured into my body and I didn´t have room to hold it all. But it was a good feeling. I will always be grateful for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And especially for Brother Puterbaugh, who made me see what I needed to do. I know that we are all priveleged to feel the Holy Ghost´s influence when we follow the path of Christ in our lives. I close this message with an expression of love. I love you all so much and I look forward to that day when we will again be reunited. I say these things humbly, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Garrett Brighton Rook

Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste

La mejor misión de todo el mundo

March 14, weekly letter

Hey Everybody!

Glad to have gotten your letter last week. I always enjoy them. I´m glad to hear about the move, and that it went well.

I have heard about the disaster in Japan. I did see some of the footage on TV here. Although we aren´t supposed to watch TV, we catch glimpses of it in the member´s homes. Terrible. I saw the footage Dad was talking about. A 30 foot wave, swallowing the cars as they tried to drive away to safety. I think it is truly the signs of the times. Disasters in divers places. Turns out the tidal wave hit parts of Mexico and Chile as well.

I don´t remember Sister Skogen, but I read the short little article on Spokesman Review about the case. It´s really sad. I couldn´t live with myself if I did something like that. But, at the same time, who does that? A little boy wets his pants and you push him up against a wall? Poor kid. I couldn´t imagine. But, he is now enjoying all the blessings of Celestial Glory with Our Father in Heaven.

Just send the card in the box with my other stuff. Or, you can send it in an envelope to the address that I provided a few letters back. Even if the card doesn´t show up to me, nobody will be able to use it. Just send the card and a short note, tri-folded, so nobody will notice that there is a card inside the envelope.

Well, we end another week in Argentina, and I am getting over a herendous cold. We did divisions on Tuesday, and we were out working all day, in the sun. We returned to the apartment and I didn´t feel so good. I woke up the next morning and I was as sick as a dog! So, we spent about two days in the apartment while I rested. But now, I feel a lot better.

We´ve had a lot of rain this week, and because of that, the temperature is about in the 65-70 degree range. I am loving it! The days are perfect right now!

On Saturday, in an effort to find new investigators and get to know the members, I am going to be teaching English as a Second Language to the members of our ward. We got the authorization from the Mission President the other day.

I was reading in the Ensign and I found an article that you guys would like to read. It´s from 2007, a talk by President Monson while he was in the First Presidency. It´s called "The Gift of Compassion" and it´s so good. It definitely makes somebody want to serve somebody else. The other is especially for Gavin. Both of the links follow:

The Gift of Compassion

Missionary Health Preparation

I´m afraid I don´t have any pictures this week, because the battery died on my camera as I hooked it up to the computer in the Internet Café today. I forgot to charge the battery last night. So, next week.

Sorry this letter is a little short, but I´m afraid I don´t have much to talk about this week, given that I was in the apartment for 2 and a half days. Send everybody my love in the ward. I love you so much and I look forward to the day when we will be reunited again.

¡Hasta semana que viene!

(Until next week)

Elder Garrett Brighton Rook

Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste

La mejor misión de todo el mundo

P.S. Some other things you might want to include in the box:

Concerning the CD´s: Just send the actual CDs. It doesn´t matter. If you want to send copies you can, but I can always buy new ones when I get back. But, the mix CD that Gavin is making I do want, because it contains music from other CD´s that I do not have. And make that three copies of my CD. One for me, another for the president, and the other for the offices. I want the box ASAP because I´m getting tired of the CDs that the mission has. Haha, but seriously there is no rush. :-)

New Polish from Bass: Two sponges, one of oil and the other of black polish. If it´s possible of course. Mine are dried up.

Letter 3/7/11

¡Hola!

Well, another week passes in Argentina. Please, don´t cry for me...haha. I´m glad to hear that the move is going well. I do wish I could be home with you helping, but I don´t miss hauling that piano around for sure. Some houskeeping first...

Yes Mom, I do have a card from the mission that I use to buy food and other miscellaneous things that are necesary for my survival. I get about $550.00 ARG every month (about $136.60 US). So, I´m doing okay, although things are a little tight this month, because we had to pay a little bit for travel back and forth to the main mission office, because it was transfer week this week. And, by the way, I didn´t get transfered. I´m still in my first area. After this transfer, I will have been in Moreno for a total of 4 1/2 months. Whew! Long time. And there is still a possibility that I will be here for another transfer afterwards, making it a total of 6 months in the same area.

To answer Dad´s question; my comp and I are doing great. He´s a little annoying sometimes, but he´s pretty cool. He´s from a city called Mendoza, here in Argentina. We´re working hard and we reel in about 10-15 new investigators every week. That´s the norm in this mission. If you´re bored, then you need to get out of the apartment and look for people, because there are people to be found. My daily schedule follows (with the exception of sundays and days when we have district meeting or weekly planning):

6:30AM - Rise and excersize

7:00AM - Eat breakfast and shower

8:00AM - Personal Study

9:00AM - Companionship Study

10:00AM - Language Study

10:30AM - Leave the apartment to begin proselyting

1:00PM - Lunch (usually with a member)

2:00PM - Resume proselyting

9:00PM - Return to the apartment and plan for the next day (and other miscellaneous things such as journal, a little something to eat etc.)

10:30PM - Go to sleep to start it all over again the next day

I did hear from Daniel the other day, and he is doing well. I wrote him last P-Day, because before my email had problems sending to his address.

Argentina is definitely a place to keep on your toes. The other day, it was political compaign day, and we had to go to a meeting in the Stake Center, about 2-3 miles away. And we had to walk, of course. We had to walk through the main square in Moreno, where all the speeches were going to take place. There was a crowd of a couple thousand people, all super buzzed to cheer for their favorite political nominee. There was some fights going on and a little bit of minor rioting. And we had to walk right through it. Plus there were all kinds of teenage girls that were whispering to me as I passed all kinds of sexual euphimisms in Argentine Spanish. The girls here all hope to go to the United States with a nice american husband. I am reminded everyday that I am living in a completely different world. To add to that, the next day; we were walking down the main street in Moreno, and a bus clipped the back of car, but stopped immediately. There was about 4 teenagers in the car. The driver (a female) got out of the car and started screaming at the bus driver, using certain choice words. The other 3 (all males) grabbed an item from the car and started banging on the bus. Then, one of the teenagers went back into the car and grabbed a tire iron and started banging on the windsheild. The bus driver left his seat and bolted to the back of the bus. The window exploded all over the street. As soon as the teens found out that they had done some damage, they all got back into the car and drove off. The bus driver got back in his seat and drove away in the bus (which was full of passangers by the way) and left a pile of glass in the middle of the street. And the world kept turnin´. No police report, no lawsuit, no nothin´. There is little police in the city of Moreno, and the police that are here are grossly underequipped.

Paige, that´s pretty cool about Mr. Wood. He´s a total stud and he was one of my favorite teachers in High School, along with Mr. Kracht. Send them both my salutations and tell them that I say hi. It would be cool to take the car to the scool next week, but I´m sure the family could use your help as well. But, it´s your decision.

Gavin, you look like a total stud! Glasses seriously make you look older. You´re going to be kissing all kinds of girls in no time with those bad boys! Haha, when it happens let me know. How´s the funding for Seattle going? If you are short at all, please feel free to use some of my CD funds to make up the difference, and when you start working, you can replace them over time. Because you need to go Seattle, it will be an experience that you´ll remember for a long time. But, it would be cool if you could raise the funds yourself too, haha.

Bueno, necesito irme ahora. Pero, me encantó recebiendo su carta esta semana. Por favor, envieme otra carta en la semana que viene. Más, hay otras notas que siguen.

Su hermano y hijo en Cristo,

Elder Garrett Brighton Rook

Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste

La mejor misión en todo del mundo

P.S. The photos I sent are the zone after transfers with all of our "200" shirts on, since we accomplished the mission goal. The second is just me in my shirt in the apartment. As you can see, I´ve lost quite a bit.