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.

Hey Everybody!

I´m so glad to get your letters every week! Keep ´em coming! I attached some more pictures for you to look at. The first is Elder Hart and I. He got transferred to another area today, like 3 hours away. We got to be really good friends these past 12 weeks. He says that he wants me to play at his wedding in Las Vegas after the mission. Transfers are sad :-( The other is our Zone before transfers.

Some housekeeping first. As far as I know, I don´t have any problems with my VISA to remain in Argentina. If I did, the mission would let me know. But, as of now, I haven´t heard anything. If there were any problems, I would be going to the Miami Florida Mission, that´s where all of the missionaries go if there VISA fails until they come back to Argentina. Take your time with the CDs, theres no rush. And yes, I can buy gel down here, so I´ll do that. I gave Gavin the run down about the other CD that I wanted (a mix CD with various tracks on it). Gavin knows how to do it all. He´s a capo (stud). I´m glad you had fun at Beauty and the Beast. I know Alex very well, and he is no Tenor, as much as he wants to be. I sent Karenna a congratulations letter about her wedding and I haven´t heard back...weird haha. Man, I miss Sonic Cherry Lemonades like really bad. I could use one of those right now. I looked at the pictures of the ward building, sad. Although, with the flooding, it´s still better than our ward building. We have an infestation of hormigas (ants). At any given moment, there are hundreds of thousands of ants. Gross. I´ll be fine in the winter time. No missionaries here have sleeping bags. I bought the coat the other day, and I do have to admit, I look pretty classy in it. It´s a long trench style coat. Pretty güapo (handsome).

Well, I´m definitely living it up here in Argentina. This morning, before my shower, I killed a cucaracha in the bathroom, a good 2 inches long. Oh haha, I´m writing in Spanish. Cucaracha is cockroach. It was huge! And it screamed as it tried to run away from me. They crawl in through the shower drains, and no matter their size, they can fit into any space imaginable. Kind of nasty, but these experiences will be told for a long time.

Our Mission had a goal of 200 Baptisms at the beginning of transfers. We got the data this morning, since this morning was end of transfer. The mission ended the transfer with 201 baptisms. Talk about close call, if I´d ever seen one. But, we all get T-Shirts now with our names and the amount of baptisms we did. I get one that says Elder Rook with a big "3" on it.

That´s cool that you saw Jesse. He´d make a Mormon. Haha

Send my love to Paige, I didn´t have time to write a response to her email today. But I will write her directly next week. Enjoy the pictures and I´ll write next week.

I love ya all and I´ll talk to you next week

Su hijo, y hermano en Cristo

Elder Garrett Brighton Rook

Misión Buenos Aires Oeste

Letter 2/21/11

Hey!

Well, it was a great week this week. We had three baptisms on
Saturday! Pictures are attached! It was a great day of which I will
never forget. The time for the Baptism came around and we went to the
church to get everything preped and ready. The Assistants to the
President (Elder Palacios y Elder Aguirre, both from Chile) called and
they said that they were going to attend the Baptism to help us with
whatevery we needed. We bought some cookies and juice for everybody
that was going to show up. We went to the house of the family to pick
up the three girls who were going to get baptized and the Mom told us
that she wasn´t going to go because she didn´t feel good. She´s kind
of a headcase. So, we were pretty sad about that, but we had to
continue on with the baptism. So we, the Assistants and me and my
companion, all headed back the the church with the girls and their
older and younger sisters. We showed up to the church and cleaned a
little bit while people were coming. Then, we all dressed in white and
went outside for pictures. Thus you see the pictures attached. I
baptized two of the girls, Roxana (13) and Florencia (11) (far left
and far right). The other girl is Andrea (9). The feeling I had was
nothing I had ever felt before, saying that I was commisioned by Jesus
Christ, the Spirit was so incredibly strong, I couldn´t believe it.
Afterward, Elder Aguirre told me "Bienvenido a la misión" (Welcome to
the Mission). I look forward to other days like that.
Congratulations on the move. I hope it goes smoothly. Toss the
posters, except the James Bond, I like that one a lot, and I think it
would look good in my college dorm room Haha. And yes Mom, the time is
flying by, it seriously feels like I´ve been a missionary for like a
month. Sorry,but I do have to say that If you guys move to Florida, I think I´m going to stay in Post Falls to go to school. Maybe Gavin could live
with me after he gets home from his mission! That would be so cool!
Well, I would have you send some of my soundtracks down, but I kind of
want to keep them after the mission. You could make copies on iTunes
and burn them onto discs and send them to me that way, with the
exception of the Green Mile Soundtrack because it has other various
tunes on it. Like Band of Brothers, and you can send me my Mozart
Collection box set that I think I put in the cupboard with your CDs.
Gavin knows how to burn CDs. If you could, I would LOVE to have the
Mormon Tabernacle Showtime as well. I bet Brass Plates has it. It´s
like Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings songs from movies, and we can
listen to it, because its MOTAB, and 22 Greatest Hits if they have it
too. I don´t know what it is, but I´m starting to love them! Juice
packets would be great too! And my CD of course, because I´m going to
give it to President and his Wife. Just send it to the Mission Office
because my area doesn´t have an address. I get mail and packages every
week on Tuesday from the Office. And if you could find the Meet Joe
Black soundtrack somewhere that would be awesome! But if not it´s
okay. Hastings might have it. Oh and my EFY CD! Ship the package with
a flat rate box from the Post Office in Post Falls, next to Hollywood
(or what used to be). You can ship up to forty pounds for like $40
internationally. Oh, also a little thing I wanted to address. My Debit
Card is going to expire in March of this year. I was withdrawling some
money to buy a coat and noticed the experation date. I need a new
card! Don´t worry though, I already withdrew the funds to buy a coat,
so I´ll be okay for a while. But, anyway I think that´s all I wanted
to address. The address I sent last week is for letters only, but I
think you have the pachage address already, There is one correction I
need to make to the address and I will give it in a post script at the
end of this letter.
I love you all and I pray for you daily. I am so happy for the
success that you are now experiencing. And I thank God everyday for
that.

I love you and I´ll see you soon!

Elder Garrett Brighton Rook
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste

P.S. Address:

Elder Garrett Rook
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste
C.C. 92
1702 Ciudadela
Buenos Aires, Argentina

P.S.S. I was looking at the pictures that you sent like two weeks ago,
and I was fat! I´ve lost a ton of weight since I´ve been here. you´ll
see in the pictures.

Letter 2/14/11

¡Hola!

Thanks for writing once again. I always appreciate your letters.
This week has been Awesome! I love my new companion! He´s an awesome
guy and he loves to work. His name is José Martin Morales, and he is
from Mendoza, Argentina. He reported to the Argentine MTC on October
7, 2010. We have the same time in the Mission, almost 5 months. 5
Months?! That´s crazy isn´t it? Already?
Congrats with all of the items that
you´ll be receiving for the house. Count your many blessings. I got a
haircut today with about 7 other missionaries (including my
companiion), and it looks awesome! The guy who was in the barbershop
(the guy cutting hair) asked if one of his staff could take a picture
with all of the missionaries that got haircuts. Its a great picture.
If my district leader can send it to me, I´ll send it to you next
week. My haircut was 10 pesos, aproximately $2.50 en los estados. I
love the exchange rate here, it´s wonderful.
LOST is a good show isn´t it? But I think Prison Break is better
though. More action, same with 24. Prison Break rules! I used to watch
it with Adam, when I didn´t have a life before the mission.
Oh man! Papa Murphy´s! I´m like super jealous right now, because
generally; the pizza here sucks! Its not like American pizza. They
like to use something called "aceituna", which is a green olive. I´m
actually starting to like it. Because it´s on everything.
Hey Dad, next time you go to Nate´s, send him my salutations.
Tell him I miss his food.
Well, my comp and I are working liking crazy. Turns out, that my
companion before, Elder Cortes, did nothing in the Area Book, or the
companionship before us. So, we have no information on investigators
for the past four transfers (6 months). So, that´s our project for the
next couple of weeks. It takes forever to catch up on the Area Book if
it´s way behind. We need to make a teaching record for every
investigator that has been taught two or more lessons, even if they
didn´t progress, so the elders that come in later can find them again
to verify if they are interested later. Fun stuff.
So......WE´RE GOING TO HAVE A BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY!!! We found
an inactive Mom with three daughters who aren´t baptized. The Mom
wants to come back to church and her daughters want to get baptized.
I´m going to baptize two of them. Obedience brings blessings. As a
companionship, we made a goal to be exactly obedient to all of the
rules of the mission. As soon as we made that commetment, we started
to see the blessings. We started to find good people to start taking
the lessons and commiting to be baptized. We commit somebody to be
baptized in the first lesson here in this mission. It´s kind of
strang, I know, but it lets our inestigators know why we are there,
and wha our purpose is as missionaries. And it the Spirit is there,
there is no reason to be nervous or hesitant.
I love you all and I will write you next week with more info on
what happened on Saturday, and photos as well. Keep the letters
coming, I appreciate them!

With love,

Elder Garrett Brighton Rook
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste
La mejor misión en todo del mundo

P.S. When you send the dots, could you send a CD as well? The staff in
the offices want one so they can make copies for the missionaries.

P.S.S My address for letters follows, in case anybody in the ward
wants to send me a letter:

Elder Garrett Brighton Rook
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste
C.C. 92
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Letter 2/7/2011

Hola mi familia,

Well, I am so glad to hear all of the good things that are happening to you guys finally! I give thanks to the Lord for all of the success that you have received and I pray that even more comes your way. Grandman emailed me about Paige going to BSU? If University of Idaho didn´t have the piano program that they did, I would think about going to BSU myself. Its a great school and their pragrams are outstanding compared to other schools in the state. Plus, Paige would be close to all of the "Rookites" down in the Boise area. Its a great option that I would give some serious thought and consideration. It makes my heart leap when I hear about Dad´s job. I almost cried when I read the letter saying that he got a job, and it makes me feel even happier when I hear about his success in that job. It almost makes me want to come home and party with you...almost haha. Congratulations on the house! I´ve been in their house because I used to home teach them with Stoker, and its a nice place. I would live there sin problemas (without problems). Just a thought, I have been reading the New Testament lately, and all of your emails are like the Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Every one talks about the same situation, but with either less or more information. Like Dad expounded on the conversation with Will, and Mom didn´t. I thought it was funny. Dad, have fun with the excema. Just cream it up and it won´t bother you much. Within five days of living down here, there was no sign that I even had it. I have been excema-free for almost three months. (By the way Dad, "Greetings" is "Saludo" o "Buenas"). When it comes to government or social uneasiness, there isn´t much down here. Most people seem to be content with Presidenta Kirchner right now. But, our problems are dogs (big, mean and scary ones), and drunks (at 10:00 in the morning). The alcohol consumtion down here is astounding, and people wonder why nobody wants to work or has any money. The weather is starting to be a little more tame now. Its still hot (between 75 and 85 with humidity), but nothing compared to a few weeks ago. We had a Carbon Monoxide scare in our apartment last week. The detector woke us up at around 2:00 in the morning and we had to open every window in the apartment to let it vent out. But within five minutes, the detector tunred off and we were able to go back to sleep. By the way, tell that loser gavin to start sending me emails. I hear from everybody else in the family except for him haha

Well, I´m writing this letter after quite a couple of melancholy days. I suspected my comp to be having some flirting problems with an investigator that we are teaching. My District Leader, Elder Bush, wasn´t paying attention to where his area boundaries were and showed up at her house 10 minutes before we were supposed to get there! When we arrived, she was talking to Elder Bush and his companion, and I did a little exchange with Elder Bush because he had some questions for me. After a half an hour we returned to her house. After the Elders left, the flirtations were quite evident, like sitting close so their arms could touch or she would brush his hand when she sat down and stuff like that. That night, I got a call from the Assistants and they wanted to talk to my companion. After the phonecall, my companion threw the phone down on the desk and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The Assistants called me back and said that the President wanted to meet with us on Sunday (yesterday). After a meeting with the President for about an hour, the President decided to do whats called a "flash". A "flash" is an early transfer where one companion leaves early from his area because of certain problems. Turns out, this wasn´t the first time that my companion has been flashed out. So, I get a new companion in approximately 2 hours. I´m glad this episode with my comp is over. Plus, since yesterday, he has treated me like utter garbage, so unfortunately, I´m not sad to see him go. My new companion is a Latino and only has one more transfer in the mission than I do. So, we´re going to be a couple of youngens in my area for the next three weeks until next transfer.

But, that´s pretty much it for my week. I will be writing again next week about what is happening now. Oh! Our baptism didn´t happen. Turned out that our investigator of 17 years has a mother who is very strongly against the church and didn´t give him authorization to get baptized. So, we have to wait until May for that baptism to happen. But he still comes to church and everything, so the interest and desire are definitely there. He´s already going to have a really strong testimony by the time he´s baptized.

I pray for you all everyday and I hope that all goes well with you. Keep writing, because I love your letters.

I´ll send some pictures when I have my camera with me and when I take some more :-/ I´ll take my camera to District Meeting tomorrow and take pictures of some of the other Elders. I´ll send them to you next week on Monday.

I love you all!

(¡Les amo todo!)

Sinceremente,

Elder Garrett Brighton Rook

Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste

La mejor misión del todo el mundo