December 2, 2013

¡Vamoarriba Uruguay! ¡Soy Celeste!

  So a few weeks ago I bought a baseball cap that finally decided between the two rival soccer teams here, Peñarol and Nacional-- soy Manya, that is Peñarol.   I was very pleased to hear fireworks  and uncontrolled screaming when we won a key game this week .  The culture here is so crazy  :)

 I also ate ostrich egg this week!!  It's really good--I thought it tasted a little more rich and flavorful than from the chicken, and it is the equivalent of about a dozen eggs!   That was fun too.  Now that I've checked that, capibara, blood sausage, hairy pig skin,  tripe (cow intestines), and a few other  foods unique to the Uruguay, I can confidently say  there's little left here I haven't tasted :)

  Unfortunately, though, Sandra 's leg problems worsened and she was in the hospital having surgery all weekend; then, Hilaria's husband told her he didn't want her visiting other churches.  We weren't able to have any progressing investigators in church for the fourth week in a row... But thankfully, my companion and  I get along so well that it has been fairly easy to keep one another in good spirits and work hard looking for other prepared people as well  as helping those we've found to resolve their difficulties.  With the additional support from the branch's members lately, we're sure to find someone soon   who is prepared to be baptized.

   I know there are opportunities to serve all around us--the branch helped a member of our area with the bridge in front of her house so she would be able to leave and attend church in her wheelchair, and she came!  Sometimes the only thing standing in the way of a person's spiritual progress is a temporal challenge that can be solved with an act of service.  I want to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ, who "went about doing good" in all of His earthly ministry.

I love you,

 Elder Hansen