This week was a rather eventful week with natural disasters. So we had a viento zonda on Tuesday that was pretty strong. A zonda is basically hot wind that comes from Chili the stirs up the dust. We got pretty dirty haha We got back to the pench covered head to toe in in dirt! A few trees fell but we were never in any real danger but it just kinda complicated things haha Then on Wednesday we had a series of small earthquakes that originated in Chili. I don’t know if you all heard about it but it was a pretty big deal. It was an 8.3-sized earthquake in chili that caused a tsunami. Well the movements hear were not that strong but there were several, and they lasted a long time. Hence, there was utter panic in San Juan for the whole night and that is all everyone has been talking about for the whole week.
On Wednesday we were on exchanges and I was with Hna Díaz =) Well we were walking in the street at about twilight, walking and talking, not paying much attention to anything when suddenly a man dressed in just at towel ran into the middle of the street right in front of us and just stood there staring at us. I thought that he was drunk but then after about 30 seconds he yelled at us frantically that it is an earthquake. We stopped for a second and sure enough the ground was shaking. Well we both just basically said "wow that is pretty cool" and then kept walking which made the man realize that he was overreacting a little bit and that he was half naked and so he ran back into his house embarrassed. Hahaha we laughed about that for a long while. I then decided that we should go visit one of our investigators who lives close to where we were to make sure that she was alright (because she is kind of a nervous wreck). So we went and she was super freaked out. It was a strange but funny experience to be in her house, singing hymns to calm her down with her every once in a while running out in the middle of the street brushing her hair frantically (her nervous habit) when there were other smaller aftereffect earthquakes. We were both super calm and everyone around us was super freaked out. More than anything it was a cool experience!
Another funny story is that the terminal her in San Juan is full of crazy, drunk, homeless people. So we met in the terminal to do our exchanges and the 1st day there was a lady pulling out her hair and eating it!! She basically had no hair left poor thing. Well the next day Hna Diaz and I we waiting for the other sisters to get there when an old, very drunk man came up to me and told me that I was the San Juan sun queen (a beauty pageant that they have in San Juan). He then sat down next to us and kept talking to us about how I was the sun queen and that he was an artist and wanted to draw by perfect face. He then asked if I wanted his coat and then tried to speak to me in "English." Well luckily that is when the other sisters arrived and saved us. But now they all call me the sun queen hahha. Perks of being a gringa in Argentina! jaja
Well this we received a call on Monday night from a brother from the other stake with a reference for us. He told us that his boss wanted to investigate the church and that he would be waiting for us at 4pm the next day! So we went and he was in his house waiting for us. His name is Amador and he is a super rich, famous bicyclist who is currently super depressed over the loss of his wife about 3 years ago. Well we were able to return Friday to teach him and he even came to the church this Sunday! I am not sure if he is truly interested in our message or just the social aspect of the church but he is willing to listen and he is now reading the Book of Mormon. We hope that we will be able to help him find the peace that he needs through the gospel.
Another small miracle is that we found Yanina! Our investigator Yanina has been m.i.a ever since her brother tried to commit suicide over 2 weeks ago. We ran into her in the street the other day, and she truly seemed happy to see us. She was actually on the other side of the street and she came running over to greet us. She said that everything is going ok with her brother and her family and that the Book of Mormon has really helped her get through this hard time. We have been unable to have a lesson with her yet but to just see her and to know that she is not avoiding us and that she is reading the Book of Mormon brought us a lot of comfort.
Well we are working hard despite the craziness of this week and we are on the brink of seeing lots of miracles and progress!
On Wednesday we were on exchanges and I was with Hna Díaz =) Well we were walking in the street at about twilight, walking and talking, not paying much attention to anything when suddenly a man dressed in just at towel ran into the middle of the street right in front of us and just stood there staring at us. I thought that he was drunk but then after about 30 seconds he yelled at us frantically that it is an earthquake. We stopped for a second and sure enough the ground was shaking. Well we both just basically said "wow that is pretty cool" and then kept walking which made the man realize that he was overreacting a little bit and that he was half naked and so he ran back into his house embarrassed. Hahaha we laughed about that for a long while. I then decided that we should go visit one of our investigators who lives close to where we were to make sure that she was alright (because she is kind of a nervous wreck). So we went and she was super freaked out. It was a strange but funny experience to be in her house, singing hymns to calm her down with her every once in a while running out in the middle of the street brushing her hair frantically (her nervous habit) when there were other smaller aftereffect earthquakes. We were both super calm and everyone around us was super freaked out. More than anything it was a cool experience!
Another funny story is that the terminal her in San Juan is full of crazy, drunk, homeless people. So we met in the terminal to do our exchanges and the 1st day there was a lady pulling out her hair and eating it!! She basically had no hair left poor thing. Well the next day Hna Diaz and I we waiting for the other sisters to get there when an old, very drunk man came up to me and told me that I was the San Juan sun queen (a beauty pageant that they have in San Juan). He then sat down next to us and kept talking to us about how I was the sun queen and that he was an artist and wanted to draw by perfect face. He then asked if I wanted his coat and then tried to speak to me in "English." Well luckily that is when the other sisters arrived and saved us. But now they all call me the sun queen hahha. Perks of being a gringa in Argentina! jaja
Well this we received a call on Monday night from a brother from the other stake with a reference for us. He told us that his boss wanted to investigate the church and that he would be waiting for us at 4pm the next day! So we went and he was in his house waiting for us. His name is Amador and he is a super rich, famous bicyclist who is currently super depressed over the loss of his wife about 3 years ago. Well we were able to return Friday to teach him and he even came to the church this Sunday! I am not sure if he is truly interested in our message or just the social aspect of the church but he is willing to listen and he is now reading the Book of Mormon. We hope that we will be able to help him find the peace that he needs through the gospel.
Another small miracle is that we found Yanina! Our investigator Yanina has been m.i.a ever since her brother tried to commit suicide over 2 weeks ago. We ran into her in the street the other day, and she truly seemed happy to see us. She was actually on the other side of the street and she came running over to greet us. She said that everything is going ok with her brother and her family and that the Book of Mormon has really helped her get through this hard time. We have been unable to have a lesson with her yet but to just see her and to know that she is not avoiding us and that she is reading the Book of Mormon brought us a lot of comfort.
Well we are working hard despite the craziness of this week and we are on the brink of seeing lots of miracles and progress!