Letter from Goya - 17 October 2011

"Dogs and Mothers Day"

Dear family and friends,

Today I celebrate two months in my mission and the last P-day of my first transfer. Hna. Da Silva and I are pretty sure we are going to stay together but just in case we have been taking more pictures and today we decided to celebrate our first transfer together by buying lunch and eating it at this nice, peaceful park by the Parana River (“La Costanera”) and then going to eat ice cream.  It has been a long time since I last ate ice cream and it was delicious!

I was a little disappointed that the bathrooms in this ice cream shop would discriminate against women with 2 legs, but I just pretended I only had one leg like the woman in the sign and no one even noticed my fib.

I will let you know next week whether or not I am still here and whether or not I have a new companion. I´m hoping we will keep going strong here in Goya for at least one more transfer but I am prepared for anything.

Dogs

There are millions of dogs here in Goya. Many stray dogs and just as many not-stray dogs. Earlier this week it seemed that every single dog in the entire city wanted to attack us. At first we thought maybe it was my bright red dress that was inspiring such canine hatred (we were also wary of taking our usual shortcut through a cow pasture on this day, for fear that the bull would also attack me)—but the next day we realized it must be something else because I wore a much more subdued palette and they still pursued us. I am not sure what it was, but it seems to have passed and now we are only barked at and chased after a few times a day rather than constantly. 

With so many dogs we often come across some very interesting mixes. I am thinking about sending you a picture of my “dog of the week.” This week I came across a dog that actually made me laugh out loud because of its haircut. I hope you enjoy it the way i did. (picture pending)

Mother´s Day

This Sunday was mother´s day in Argentina and to celebrate we had a special activity to honor all the mothers this past Friday. It was a lot of work. The Relief Society President of the branch here planned the food but Hna. Da Silva and I planned everything else. We planned a spiritual thought using the scriptures in proverbs about virtuous women and talked about what it means to be a virtuous mother using examples from these scriptures. We also planned games –charades (loosely mother-themed. You knows words like “mother earth” and “Eve” and “Mary mother of Jesus” and “cradle), a game to quiz everyone´s knowledge of their own mother (her most prized possession, her favorite singer, her anniversary, etc) and finally we made a giant scavenger hunt (“the hunt for the lost diaper!” it was Hna. Da Silva´s idea and it ended up being pretty cute). At the beginning we announced that there was a lost diaper somewhere in the chapel and the first team to follow the clues, find it and bring it back to us would win a prize. We also baked a cake. And decorated the chapel. And helped another sister to make cards and little fake flowers to give to every mother.

Then we went to try to pick up investigators and walk with them to the chapel. When we went to look for Lujan, both of her adult daughters and all of the grandchildren were ready to come to the activity. It was quite a sight to see us parading through the streets (it is probably over two miles to the chapel) with an entourage of 9 small children. In the end, although we were exhausted, it was well worth the effort. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.

Losing Myself

Well, that´s all from me this week. I better go. At the end of my first transfer I am feeling much more comfortable with missionary work and with being a missionary. I have had times of homesickness or times where I have felt overwhelmed, but as I have prayed and studied the scriptures and asked for my Heavenly Father´s help I have been strengthened and I have found a lot of joy and meaning in my work here—even in small moments. I have especially tried to focus on forgetting myself and to focus all my thoughts and energies on the people I am serving here. In my spare time I have been writing people notes or planning creative ways to serve or help the people here (rather than writing letters or thinking about home) It really works!

Mark 8:35 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”

Love from Argentina,

 Hna. Brooke Parker