changes

Well, first thing you should all know is that I recieved a FLASH yesterday. Flashes are where a change happens that is NOT during the normal transfers. Yes, the normal six week change should be this week anway, but this transfer is a 7 weeker due to MTC changes. Anyway, JUST this morning I recieved a new companion, Elder Siale! He is a super cool Tongan man from Arizona. He just finished his training, just like Elder Cortes had when I got him. And he speaks English haha so that´s a fun change. We now have a four yankee pench! I´ve only known him right now for a few hours, but he seems SUPER awesome and likes Star Wars and told me like 3 times that he likes to work hard. I think we´ll be buddies.

Well, me and Elder Cortes sure did end with a BANG (a baptism). Exequil got baptized. His service was quick, like 45 minutes, but SO awesome. His wife, Milagros, is right on his tail, we´re just letting her take her time with quitting smoking. I am really gonna miss Elder Cortes. What a capo. He is an incredible missionary. Can´t wait to see what he does más adelante. He baptized AND confirmed Exequil because they are such good buds. Me and Elder Siale are gonna have our hands full with literally EIGHT more people to be baptized!

Thursday we went to the ¨casamiento¨ (wedding) of Walter and Graciela! It was really.....unromantic. Just a government office, and they sat at a table and said ¨I accept¨ and then that was it. I did throw rice at someone for the first time...They are incredible people, and so ready to accept the gospel. We met his brother who is getting his mission call in like a week.

That was our week! Stoked for the days ahead.

love Elder Wilcox

Pic: Exiquil´s baptism <3
Pic: BrenDawg look! I´m cooking!

The Pursuit of Happiness

This week I learned is that my back bike tire is nothing but an invention of the devil himself to flick muddy water onto my nice white shirt. And some other things as well...

I think I´ve forgotten to mention some things that really make General Rodriguez A the best area. We have the biggest, most prepared pool of investigators I have EVER seen. Exequil and Milagros, who I think I have mentioned before, and incredible. President Robertson (mission pres) came to sacrament mtg last week, and Exequil, an INVESTIGATOR, got up to bare his testimony! He just gave the coolest testimony about this church and how it is changing his life and can´t wait to get baptized. I just sat there with my mouth hanging open like, ¨What???¨ It was also cool for our President to see that. They are getting baptized this saturday.

Also, the other Elders had a 4 baptism on saturday. But not just 4 people....2 couples! Like a FAMILY. Really it was the best baptism ever. I got to bare testimony there, and play piano as well. President and his wife also came to that baptism! There is just SO MUCH happening in the work here. We have another couple, Walter and Graciela, who literally came up to us in church and wanted to get baptized. We have been teaching them, but they already know literally everything. Their conversion process has been a long one, we are just the lucky ones to see the ¨end¨ (baptism), which really of course is the beginning. Haha the FIRST lesson we had with them they asked about getting endowed and serving a senior mission and stuff. We were wayyy surprised and were trying to keep up with all that, like ¨slow down! Let´s talk about lesson 1 first.¨

Tonight we are having a NDH (FHE) with alllll of these new couples and investigators. Like 9 people and their kids in total. That is a LOT. Last night in the pench, we were seriously just marveling at how much this is a blessed area. Sorry fam, but I´m not even remotely trunky! There´s WAY too much to do, and it´s way too fun doing it.

Today (p-day) we are in Lujan, a bigger city in the zone, and we stopped and saw the ¨Basilica¨, a HUGE catholic cathedral temple thingy. It was amazing. It is SO TALL, and beautiful, with gargoyles and stuff. Inside is some really incredible architectiture and Gregorian type music and stuff. This city and cathedral is really catholic and European. Might remind you of ¨Angels and Demons¨ or ¨The Da Vinci Code¨ or something like that. I took a heel click picture for my buddy Elder Chase Jensen :)

Also, stopped by MCDONALDS. It was GREAT. First taste of even remotely American food in 8 months, but I guess not that much because I spent some time in Cali. But that Big Mac tasted like sweet American justice, and the fries like freedom and liberty for all! And the McFlurry was drizzled with the pursuit of happiness. It was pretty self-evident that all McDonald´s are created equal.

Oh, there´s something I must do: Happy birthday to my BrenDawg! I love you. Something that Sister Bednar said at the mtg really touched me. She said as a mom, you just want to be a ¨fly on the wall¨ and watch your missionary. That was cool, because I don´t think there´s been a week without my mom telling me she wants to be a fly on the wall. I love you BrenDawg, happy 25th!

Mosiah 16:9

Love from Elder Wilcox

Pics from the Basilica and McDonalds :)
Pics from.....cold morning shenanigans.....and hot afternoon shenanigans (poor Edgardo is drunk in this pic, needs to quit)

The Little Things

Ey chorros,

Ain´t got much time today, but wanted to express my appreciation for the existence of oreos in Argentina! And other things...

This week something CHANGED for me personally. I grew this week, mucho mucho. In my love for my companion. I let the things GO that were bugging me .I realized I didn´t like being annoyed inside for so long. It was treacherous for the work. So I simply let it go. I dont know, I´m still not perfect. But I brought some stuff up in inventory and it worked! Not every day that happens. For example, I was like ¨yeah, you literally put your feet on mine during studies and I don´t like that that much.¨ Then we both started laughing. Laughed for awhile. I´m gonna miss this guy when he´s gone! I´m technically an ¨older¨ missionary, but he is so much better than me on SO many levels.

One small miracle: we were contacting with absolutely nothing happening, so we said a little prayer. Immediately the first guy we clapped his house and he let us in. After a great lesson with him, we were like ¨well that worked pretty well.¨ We said another prayer of gratitude, then found another guy. Both named Gaston by the way. Anway we taught like 4 AWESOME lessons back to back, by the power of prayer! I want to be spiritually strong, like six pack strong! I´ll get there one day.

Love you all, have a wonderful week!

Elder Wilcox

Both pics right there in our little room, Elder Cortes y yo, and one he got during planning (candid).

The Cold never bothered me anyway (Feb 29 letter)

It´s funny that I write that subject line while I am dying in the heat right now. BUT earlier this week, we had a rainstorm, and for about 48 hours afterwards it was PERFECT weather. It even got cool enough for me to sleep with a blanket over me! Winter will come, one day. The Lord provides.

Well, what another week of miracles miracles miracles. Sometimes I have to chastise myself for thinking so negatively when there is so much good happening.

Funny thing happened yesterday at church. We were at the gate greeting people. Some women came in, and a middle aged man came walking right behind them. Turns out he was just a non-member walking past (I thought he was a member) , but I held my hand out and said ¨Hey Brother (Ey Hermano)¨ he kept walking but gave me a weird look and said ¨Hermano??¨ My mind froze from embarrasment, and when that happens the spanish starts to slip away and the english reserves kick in. I just said, ¨Yeah, you´re my brother.¨ He stood still for about 5 seconds, shrugged his shoulders and said, ¨I didn´t know.¨ Ha we had a good laugh over that.

Argentina has a lot of good qualities, but they still haven´t figured out how to control litter. Here in General Rodriguez the litter is especially bad. And they pile it up on street corners, and then burn it at the end of the day. It looks like you´re in a war zone when we are riding home and the end of the day.

Yesterday also in church, we had SO many people come to church! That is so rewarding. I did divisions this week with a pench mate, Elder Mattinson from Boston. We taught a woman named Florencia that lives in their area, but initially Elder Campos and I had contacted her. Anyway, she came to church with her husband! Kinda out of the blue too. And COMPLETELY out of the blue was three people that are new in town. The branch president introduced us. They were at the special meeting with Elder Bednar, and now want to get baptized. MIRACLES.

Also, the meeting with Elder Bednar was SO GOOD. It was in Capital, the actual city part of Buenos Aires becuase all four of the Buenos Aires missions were there. I saw some old buddies from the MTC, that was cool. Bednar and his wife were very patient. They have to say everything one sentence at a time, and then it is translated by the guy standing next to them. I was pretty impressed, he translates at the speed of light...and Elder Bednar did not ¨dumb down¨ his vocabulary at all. But we also had FOUR of the area Seventy there, I think all of whom have spoken recently at conference. Elder Texiera, Gonzalez, and others(cant remember names). We had some question and answer time. Funny because there were white kids talking to Bednar in Spanish, and then the translator talked to him. That Spanish life :)

Overall a great week. Love you all! May you all have success and peace this week.

Elder Wilcox

Pic: played some futbol at the church this morning! Naturally I lose.
Pic: did service for a member this week! Lesson learned: dirt turns to mud when there´s rain, therefore very hard to shovel.