Tuesday, January 18, 2011

¡Hasta Luego Wilde!

Dear family and friends,

The time has finally come to say goodbye to Wilde y I must admit I am sad to be leaving! At the same time I am very excited to be going to my new area "El Cruce" (Cruz Varela) in the Stake of Quilmes with my new companion Elder Castro Peña from Cordoba, Argentina! How lucky to have 3 Argentine companions in a row! He is the only member in his family y was baptized almost 2 years ago. Seems like a GREAT missionary y has the same time in the mission as Elder Alvarez. Also speaks quite a bit of english so it will be fun to practice y help him with that! Also looking forward to an AWESOME new district. We will be 4 companionships total including the Zone Leaders... fun fun! Apparently the pension in our area has some problems (hole in the roof... no water) but we will be moving to a new pension sometime this week. Looks like I wont even get to do much unpacking today! Bummer!

It has been a good last week here in Wilde. We have had some pretty crazy weather y a couple disappointments, but overall it went really well. Monday night was my last Noche de Hogar with the Familia Romero... y they ended up not even being there! bummer! Tuesday we had our last district meeting y took a Zone Picture. That night we had a cita with a member family that is passing through some tough times. The mom y 3 daughters left the house and have been living with one of her sisters in Avellaneda for the last month or so y wont even talk to the father. The father isnt great healthwise y is out of work y his son Facundo (17) cant find work either. His other daughter Pamela (20) who is also living with him is the only one who has a job, but just recently started working again after a break for the holidays y wont have money for several weeks. He told us they had nothing y that they hadnt eaten anything but mate cocido for 2 days, y that they didnt even have gas anymore to run the stove. My companion y I were suprised that the ward hadnt done anything, because he had come to us before telling us his problems and we told him that there isnt much we can do as missionaries to offer temporal help. After leaving my companion and I talked about the situation y decided to help a little bit and at least give them a days worth of good sustaining food... rice, floud to make tortas fritas, etc. It felt good to be able to help them but at the same time it is a complicated situation y after talking with some ward leaders realized that maybe its better to let them "learn how to fish instead of just giving them the fish when they want it." Apparently the Hermano has a bit of a history but hopefully we were able to help in some way.

Friday we had a Ward Activity y had several investigators come with us (Soledad y familia, Adan, etc.). It was a great opportunity for them to see that in the church we do fun things too and are normal people! There was food (pizza) y we watched Toy Story 3 outside on a projector. (It was sure fun setting up the projector and everything.) Earlier in the day there was some rain y wind but that evening was PERFECT to be outside y enjoy the nice summer air. It even was nice and COOL with a fresh breeze once the sun went down.

Saturday night we got the transfer call around 1130 y I spent most of the evening organizing my things to make it easier to pack the next day. Church went great on Sunday. Marcos came with Soledad y kids for the 2nd time in a row! I am sure going to miss them! The meetings all went great. Elder Alvarez taught a great class on Sacrifice in Priesthood y we had a great lesson about Jesus Christs role as our Savior in principles of the gospel. Sacrament meeting was very interesting with several changes in the bishopric y elders quorum presidency... several changes that I think will make a BIG difference in the work in Wilde for the better! Very grateful to meet so many great people here y learn from their examples y for the opportunity I have had as well to share my testimony y the happiness the gospel has brought in my life! Took LOTS of pictures with everyone at church and made several visits in the afternoon to say goodbye. Sad to leave but hope to see everyone here in Wilde again before going home... and if not there is always facebook. :)

Anyways, it is time for me to finally leave Wilde, we spent the afternoon here because it wasnt worth it to haul my luggage around all day when we have to pass through here to get to my new area anyways. Looking forward to hearing from you all next week y cant wait to tell you all about my new area!

les amo
Elder Ian Wheelhouse

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