Almost one month in the field!

Dear Family,

Time to report for the week! Woo hoo!

Everything is great - no more baptisms unfortunately. We´re really trying to get to this boy Damian. He´s a good kid, he´s 10yrs old, but he doesn´t like church because it interrupts his soccer time. I understand him liking soccer, but it´s like it´s only three hours once a week. His grandma is a member and she always goes, but yeah, it´s kind of frustrating. I love the kid very much and I want him to find the happiness I´ve found, but we´re working with him. We have a "soft commitment" for the 21st of November to baptize him, but we´ll see if it holds out or not.
We´re teaching quite a bit here, and yes, it is hot outside! Today and for the past few days it´s actually been kind of cool, but it definitely heats up at times. I´m sure I´m in for more hot days here. For contacting...it´s a lot different than at the MTC!! Most people don´t want to listen, EVERYONE is "busy" and "works", and yeah - we basically just go up to people, introduce ourselves and testify of the message of the Restoration and how it can bless their lives. Sometimes people are interested, and other times not, and with some people it´s nearly impossible to get to meet with them. We´re trying and we have hopes for people, but yeah! It´s hard to explain over email, that´s for sure.
I definitely love the work! It´s difficult, that´s for sure - it´s physically difficult at times, but more so it´s a mental difficulty, with the language, getting doors slammed in my face (I had that happen for the first time last week- first door slam), people just completely rejecting the glad tidings of great joy, and yeah. I feel bad that people reject this stuff, because it´s the truth and man, they could be so much happier if they would accept it and just listen. Oh, and if they would pray and do their reading assignments...that´s been a problem. We´ll leave them with commitments, but most people either just read a little bit or not do anything at all. We´re trying, though. We definitely worked harder this week than past weeks, and we´re seeing improvements! Yay! We were a little low on contacts for this week, but higher than every other previous week and we´ll continue to boost those up. Missionary work rocks!
I haven´t been robbed yet! That´s the good news. But if I do, who cares, right? There have been times when we´ve had to walk really fast because we could tell that a pack of up-to-no-good guys/youngsters were kind of following us, but other than that nothing bad. It´s mostly because people can tell I´m from the United States...they´ll yell at me and start asking me questions, but we just say that we gotta go and walk fast! But yep, nothing too scary! Hopefully nothing scary ever happens right?
I had a good morning this morning - bought myself a jacket (70pesos, like 30 American dollars) and a sweet adapter that can use any type of camera card, so I don´t have to carry my camera with me to send pictures :) yay! Because I don´t want to get robbed - there´s been a couple of not dangerous, but kind of like "run away" experiences here that I´ve had. There´s a bunch of kids who are up to no good here, and I have to watch out for them. I guess this is a little more dangerous of a mission, but at least it´s not dangerous like Chicago right?
Sending information or packages- it goes to this address (the mission home):
La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días (or Iglesia S.U.D.)
Elder Gary Jordan Nuttall
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste
C.C. 92
1702 Ciudadela
Buenos Aires, Argentina
I talked to my District leader, and he got a package with medicine, pills, a bunch of other stuff, and yeah it was only $50 for his mom to send it. Maybe she went through BYU bookstore? I don’t know. BUT...If it´s possible, please send more meds (claritin) and deodorant with the hymn book- that´d be great. Let me know what you decide.
So there´s Nutella here!! Woo hoo! I´m totally buying some either today or tomorrow - it´s kind of expensive, but at least it´ll give me something else to eat besides cereal.
Some other details about the work...we don´t usually knock on a lot of doors. To be honest, we´ve probably knocked… (which here it´s actually clapping - crazy huh? They don´t knock doors like in the US, it´s always clapping or at times they´ll have a doorbell and we can use that, but mostly clapping) two houses in total, so yeah...not too much of that. And for clapping, we just stand outside the person´s house and clap like ten times or something, and then if they´re home they´ll answer! It´s pretty interesting :).
The members are great! And I love the Bishop! He´s a great guy, along with all the members. His daughter is learning the piano - she´s only been playing a month, and now I´m starting to give "mini lessons" to his daughter every Sunday after church. Cool huh? My music theory and lessons with Ron and Jay are paying off! She can´t read music very well, so we´re working on that for starters. The hard part is that I have to do it in Spanish! Yikes! Sometimes it´s hard enough in English, but in Spanish?!? But it´s working. She is happy and learning (her name is Tamara). Her goal is to get good enough that she can play piano for the ward when the missionaries can´t, so yeah. I think it´s pretty awesome that I´m able to implement my talents and everything I learned at BYU out here on the mission! It´s pretty great, and I´m sure thankful for the great instruction I´ve received from Ron and Jay. Thanks you two! Your great mentorship is paying off!
Speaking of which, there´s some pretty sick music here...it´s fun to listen to while I´m walking along the streets. There’s lots of music with congas and bongos, and lots of tango. The music is cool here! And the people here think it´s cool that I know how to play the bongos and congas - thanks again Ron and Jay!
Well, I think that´s about it for now! This work is amazing - I sure love it. Even when people completely throw it back in my face, I´m just grateful that I have it in my life, that my family has it, and that because we have everything we need we have the opportunity to have happiness and joy in this life and the ability to live forever as a family in the next life, with our Father and Jesus Christ too. What a sweet message! This is what makes me wonder why people wouldn´t embrace such a message! I feel sad for them, but it is their choice. I´m doing my best to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that will appeal to them, and with the Spirit. I´m trying to testify more of the truths I know, and my desire for them to know it as well. This church is the church of Jesus Christ, the one and only on the face of the Earth. We are truly blessed to have this knowledge - it is something we should all be grateful for.
I love you all family! Thanks for all your great letters - I love reading about everything you´re doing! Thanks for all your love and support, and I hope you all have a great week! I love you so much! Talk to you in a week!!
Love,
Elder Nuttall