12 October 2009

Hey everybody,

I learned a new word today in English, palatable. It means “doesn’t taste gross anymore.”

To answer Mom’s question - “how did I get from Buenos Aires to Montevideo?” – we flew. It was about a 45 minutes flight. We got off the plane basically in the runway, took a bus/trolley 150 yards to the door of the airport, and got our luggage like 5 minutes later. I don’t know how they do it so fast. David’s theory of decoy luggage doesn’t apply in Uruguay I guess.

And mom’s other question. I have the Liahonas for the past 2 conferences in Spanish. I don’t really know how I got them or where they came from, so maybe eventually I’ll get the magazine for this conference. But I am excited to read the articules and compare them to the notes I took watching it.

So this Sunday rained all morning. It was kind of sad, because we were hoping for 6 investigators to come. But I can’t blame them for not coming while it was raining, because there were lots of members that didn’t come either. That makes me sad. Commandments are commandments whether it’s raining or not. But I’m not the judge.

So I really love being a missionary. And I love that the members love the missionaries. And I love that the members show their love by giving us food. I love the food here. This week my companion and I are going to cook tuko and ravioli. I’m sure you can find out what tuko is on the internet or from Brad. It’s like a meat sauce with finely chopped vegetables. Muy rico.

And the work is progressing. I’m developing my patience. The mission goal is a baptism each week. We’re working as hard as we can, but we don’t have a baptism each week. After we do all we can, the Lord will do the rest. I’m excited for the email that will tell you about when the Lord does the rest.

Oh, and here’s some math for Steven. The last conference Ensign has all the numbers you need. Imagine if every missionary companionship had a baptism every week in the year. Tell me how many new members we’d have in one year, and the percent of growth we’d have in one year. It’s amazing.

But thanks for everything. And I love you all.

Elder Jeffrey Bryan Whitaker Beckstrand