Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Yup!

It was a good week! We had the doctor on Tuesday and got the ok to go out and work more. We rest a couple hours in the afternoon but work in the morning and late afternoon all night. We had to start almost all over but it went well. Many people we couldnt find again but we had alot of success of finding others. Well as you can see i got my haircut by a member in my ward. I figured what is the worst that can happen...Well it really made me think when he started to cry while cutting my hair..Oh, and it was all with scissors too... Well it didnt turn out too bad, a little short but im ok with it. Afterwards I got up on his roof and put new tin down and fixed the rest of it. Besides that not a whole lot happened. The cold has started to come in which i like. There is now light in all my area and everything is mostly back to normal. Oh, we did have transfers and president decided to keep us together which i think will be good. I did some reading the other day and find a scripture i really liked. D&C 6:29-31. In these it pretty much describes why we should have no fear to share the gospel. Usually we say the worst they can do is say no but the truth is the worst they can do is kill us. I doubt that will to ever to many of us but its a reassurance (sp) that as long as we share it we are blessed if they say yes or no. It was a little boost for me. I often didnt like clapping houses but where can i go wrong if im sharing what i should and how i should. Love, Elder Martino

Monday, April 16, 2012

Lots of Rest .....



Well, I have been in the pench almost all day everyday. We did go to
the doctor last Tuesday and find out his shoulder is completely broken
and not just fractured. Cool part was they sent us two and the three
assistants walking through the hospital which was fun to look at all
the faces but it got really old after waiting 4 hours for the doctor
then meeting with him for less then 5 minutes.

Well Wednesday we had a member who told me he would go out with me
while my comp stayed with a member. Well, we got to his house and he
wasn't feeling well..cool, back to the pench. Thursday a member did go
with me from 3 to 5 before we had to open up his store and it actually
went very well. Friday, no one could help us. Saturday I got to go out
again from 3-6 which was great. I went with Hermano Villalba, an
elderly man in my ward, who surprisingly walks a good pace and helped
alot. We had a couple interesting lessons, one more then the others.
Its another elderly man that we had a baptismal date for this coming
Saturday. I will say he pulled every surprise out of the book i could
think of. Turns out after telling us over and over he had quit
drinking that he hadn't. He said that he always likes to have a little
glass of wine when he eats...I'm not too sure it is only a little as
the man is swaying back and forth but hey. That was surprise one i
tried to confront and teach. Problem two was when his 40 year old son
stares at me from the hallway for a couple minutes then starts asking
me what i wanted because the dog wouldn't stop barking. Well, all i
want is to talk with your father and you also if your interested. He
didn't like that too much and asked again what i wanted because the dog
from outside wouldn't stop barking. Well i said, ¨I really don't want
anything more then to talk with your dad. The dog probably wont stop
barking because he wants to play with someone.¨ He then walked away
and left us to talk. Now for the best problem. One I have not come
across yet. The last time we talked to him was about baptism and he
really liked the idea of being baptized like Jesus so you know what he
did? He went to a different church and did don't get himself
baptized...That one threw me way off guard and we talked about it a
little but he started to cry about other stuff that was happening in
life so we left it for another time.

Sunday we had stake conference and my comp and I had dates! Sort of...
We picked up an elderly woman who we have been teaching that was
excited to come with us. Then we stopped by to pick up some inactive
young men who said they would go with us but they weren't there,
instead their grandma walked out and wanted to come with us. We had to
take a taxi and then a bus to get there but it went very well. Mom, I
don't think you will ever in your life want to take a taxi here.

It was a slower week but this week we should find out what will be
happening with my comp and I.

Love

Elder Martino

Monday, April 9, 2012

My Third Companion

We got completely worked over this week. The week was going well, very
well until Wednesday night. We were with an innactive family at about
730 and it started to rain/hail. At 8 we had an appointment with a
lady that i didnt want to miss. The rain stopped for a second and it
seemed it would be a good time to run to the next cita before it
started again. We didnt make it. When you are in the street and it
sounds louder then a stadium full of Boca or River fans coming
straight at you, its nevver good. We were running in the middle of the
street for the darkness and everything else til it got bad. Tin
roofing started to fly everywhere from peoples roofs. Flew int he air
and cut almost every power line with ease. At this point we are about
5 blocks from anyone we know. We are sprinting along side the houses.
Everything is flooded and at this point im not a big fan of walking in
the rain. Samye, you said I have a third companion. I dont think you
know how true it is. I didnt hear a voice or a thing. My comp is
running about 10 feet in front of me and my body stops. I dont know
how but i stopped. A spliot second later i hear a loud crack and a
large tree falls in front of me and breaks through a brick wall. My
comp looked back and couldnt see me so came around the tree and just
saw me dazed for a second. We keep running and a man lets us in his
store for a second. When it all passed we went outside. Every cable
line was cut and most of them were live. Tin roofing and trees are
everywhereand the streets are flooded in a foot of water. This was
definately an experience i wont forget and i definately feel someone,
my third companion, had saved me.

There is still no power in most of our area except acouple streets by
our pench. We made it back that night and were out helping people pull
trees off power lines and off there houses. A man lent us a hatchet
for the next day to use.

Thursday morning we leave in service clothes and walk the streets
looking for help. We fixed the roofing tiles of a member then moved
on. There is a big plaza in our area that we walked by. 75% of the
trees are down. We see a corner house with what seemed 5 grandmas
watching as an eleven year old kid is trying to cut this massive tree.
We offer our help and well long story short my comp fell saving
another dude from killing himself with a chainsaw and broke his
shoulder. The rest of the day was in the hospital which was full of
people. 7 people ended up dying in the storm. No one here has ever
seen a storm that strong.

Since then we have been in the apartment. Tommorow we have an
appointment in the hospital and most likely he will end up going home.
We has 3 months left and my guess is it will take at least 6 weeks to
heal. I might go into a triple, get a mini missionary, or work with
members. Im not a big fan of this past week but at least i am alive.

Apart from the the bad of this week a couple good or interesting
things happened. We found 2 great families, i saw and pet a 200lb
rotweiler(its not a lie either), and i have fixed about every little
thing in my pench i can find. Also funny story. So in Argentina there
are always trucks driving by with microphones selling fruits and
veggies. Well we are walking the other day and see a kid that is
drugged out of his mind. He is riding his bike and announcing fruits
and veggies through his athsma inhaler...Its sad but at the same time
hilarious.

Well its been a long but quick week. At nights there are riots in the
streets yelling. Still no electricity in half my area or water. Oh and
this is for you mom. My patience has gotten alot better i think. I
cook, clean, and do everything else for my comp now. I even have to
dress the kid.(except the garments).

Love, Elder Martino

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

End of the Week was good!




This week was filled with alot of walking, rejection, returning, more
rejection, and bad news. The work this week was a little more
difficult than usual. We did have alot of good service this week which
was good but that was about it. Mostly all of our lessons fell through
or if they did happen they weren't what I was hoping.

Monday we started off good. We had two good lessons one of which was
with our relief society president and second counselor in the ward and
there family. This lesson did have a positive outcome. They asked us
if we could help out with a couple things and we had feedback from
others it was a good noche de hogar. That is a good promising sign for
us that the members are gaining more trust in us.


Wednesday was interviews with President. It was early on in the
transfer but they went great. Its always good to talk to him and it
was good to thank him for a couple things. Afterwards we walked to the
other end of our area for lunch who had forgotten about us so we did
what any hungry man here would do, we bought choripan in the street.
Don't get me wrong, it was pretty yummy but we definitely wont be going
back to that guy. Made the rest of the day super great!! That night we
went to visit a member in the villa who wanted to visit with us. Turns
out we found out their oven and stove was leaking gas. First we fixed
that, then the freezer, then some electrical problems. Not the best to
walk through the villa at night but super cool part is the member gave
me one of his old sport coats that didn't fit him anymore! Pictures to
come another day.

Through out the rest of the week we lost alot of lessons but kept
going. A couple interesting family home evenings that didn't pan out
how i expected but that's how it goes. As we talked to a member Friday
something he said stood out to me. ¨Those who don't live to serve don't
serve to live.¨Kind of interesting no?

Conference was wonderful except for that fact that every person who
promised they would come, take a guess, did not come. Well this is
what i say. These two days were days for me and if they didn't want to
share it with me then tomatela! Sorry a little selfish and rude, but
this conference was something i was really looking forward to and it
was amazing. Turns out the church is allowed to sing one of my
favorite hymns again which was a nice surprise. Some of the talks that
really stood out to me where Paul E. Koelliker, Henry B. Eyring,
Jeffrey R. Holland (like always), Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Russell M Nelson
(¨Could an explosion in a print shop produce a dictionary?¨),
President Monson, M Russell Ballard, David F Evans, and Neil L
Anderson.

I would like everyone to look back at what David F Evans said.
Something to the fact of missionaries like getting letters. Tangible
letters that they can touch, read, and take with them. :)

I know i gave yall a challenge for conference and i hope you all did
it. I did do it but i apologize but it is not something i will share.
I did get an answer and i know you could have as well.

Little funny story for the week. I did a full house contact this week
with a parrot this week almost. I clapped and heard hola so i started
to talk. Turns out it was the parrot right there that i had invited to
listen to us. My companion was laughing pretty hard.

Love, Elder Martino