Well, I'm sorry to disillusion everyone to the lies and falsehoods of our friend Dora the Explorer, but you have been deceived all your lives-- here in Uruguay, "adios" is a greeting! Basically another way to say hi--go figure. :)
Well, the Uruguay, Montevideo mission is happy to announce.... (drum roll, please...) I can now email everyone! What fun. I also have an hour on the computers. Please continue sending longer letters (everyone but my mom, that is, who now has license to resume lengthy email-writing :) to the other email address, but I can briefly respond online with much less delay than waiting for mail both ways.
I couldn't decide what to name this week's letter-- I was torn between "If at first you don't succeed, fry, fry again," "Sideways rain and the word as a seed," and "Nancy." Mostly the first two though.
But I will explain the titles so you don't think that I've gone entirely crazy or that my sense of humor has been reduced to such poor puns. Here in Uruguay, whenever it rains, people make a treat called "tortas fritas." They're like what we think of as scones (or Indian frybread? can't remember if that's the same thing) at home. Anyway, just dough fried in "grease" (really cow fat, but you try not to think about that because they're delicious), really. They're great, and it helps take people's minds off the less than pleasant weather.
Because it rains A LOT here. Both in terms of quantity and frecuency. In a matter of minutes, the sky can go from cloudless blue to pouring, drenching, cold downpours, and then back again to look innocent as if it never did anything at all. Not to worry though--Elder Griffin assures me that in the winter (coming up in a month or two now--weird backward climates!) things are much less bipolar--because instead of raining on and off, there's just a predictable, constant drizzle or more of water from the heavens. :) The wind is weird here too, and is often strong enough to blow the rain straight to the side. It looks hilarious to see everyone hold their umbrellas at ninety degree angles to their bodies, but it's what must be done to keep the head dry. The rest of you just ends up getting wet--it's some thing we call "si o si" ("yes or yes")--that is, nonoptional, unavoidable. Like how everyone and their dog owns at least one dog. :) that's si o si.
We've still not seen much success with investigators, but some less active members are returning little by little and the members are trying hard to get us references and help out. One lady, Brenda, seems to know everyone in this town of thousands of people--even in the very distant outskirts of our area, when we ask people what they know about our church, they know that their friend Brenda is a member (her son, the only return missionary within a several kilometer radius, looks like a giant Latino Elvis, if you can imagine that). Another sister, a recent convert named Luisa who cooks incredibly well, is also very ready and willing to invite those she knows. But despite our pestering, we have yet to see an investigator join us in our Sunday meetings.
We keep praying and fasting and hoping though, faithful that the Lord has put us here in little Varela for a reason. As with all of us, even though we may not see the fruits of our labors right away, God's ways are higher than our own, and He sees the distant scene, the eternal perspective of what our meager efforts here may yield weeks and months and years down the road. As we continue to be good examples for others and give them opportunities to have positive interactions with members of the Church, they will grow to accept further knowledge of our Gospel message. We are always sowing seeds in the hearts of those around us--hopefully for good. Not every seed will fall on barren ground. Good will be accomplished. But the hour of the harvest may be yet a little way off in the distance. Everything has its time and its season.
May all of you continue to be wonderful examples and sowers of the Good Word of God,
Elder Hansen.
Oops-- P.S.! I got mail!!! Aunt Julie and Aunt Debbi, Grandma Hansen, the Elder Hansen 2.0 (aka Spencer) update, et cetera--thank you so much for your words of encouragement! Be patient, the answers to your questions are in the works and will be arriving in the next few weeks. Or by a quick email if you'd rather, because I suppose that's possible now.
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