This week has been the best and the most stressful, yet the most incredible. It is truly difficult to put it into words. But I'm going to make an attempt. I met up with plenty of missionaries in the Atlanta airport and I attempted to talk to several people to try to give my copy of the Book of Mormon away, but nobody took! I was able to give plenty of passalong cards away, though. The plan ride to Argentina was long. I'll tell you: I have never spent such a long time in an airplane. But seeing where we were flying on the little screens on the airplane was surreal. "How are we actually flying over South America," I would continually ask myself. After we landed, we met up with several other missionaries in the Buenos Aires airport. All of us (minus the one sister who already spoke Spanish) felt like fishes out of water. Nobody spoke english. In America, no matter where you are, there's always at least one person who speaks English. Guess what: in Argentina, there are NONE! Well, that´s probably an exaggeration, but for serious, I couldn't believe it.
The CCM (Centro Captivación Misional) is right next to the Argentina Buenos Aires Temple and let me tell you: it is quite the sight. Not the CCM. The temple. The CCM hold probably about eighty people max and there are about fifty people here right now. I understand that in districts in the Provo MTC, it´s rare that tow people might be going to the same mission. This is not the case here. Minus the one guy who is going to Paraguay, my whole district (consisting of seven people) is going to the Uruguay Montevideo Mission. The CCM President used to be the President of the Chile Rancagua Mission (President Openshaw). President Openshaw interviews all of the new missionaries when they arrive, so I got interviewed and the next day he called me to be my district´s District Leader. I have had several opportunities to teach and learn from my district. I was assigned two companions: Elder Pointer and Elder Parker. They are both pretty easy to get along with, but Elder Parker´s and my personalities kind of clash because of my desire to be exactly obedient. He is still a great guy, thought. He´s from Louisianna and has a deep southern accent. I always said that one reason I wanted to be fluent in Spanish is because I would be able to speak with a thick souther accent and finally know what it truly sounds like. That dream came true before I was fluent; listening to him speak Spanish is a treat for anyone that hears it!
In one week, I have learned as much Spanish as I did in a year and a half of high school. I know that the gift of tongues is real. I have experienced it on a daily basis. Being in the CCM is very difficult. In one week you already feel like you´ve been here for a year. The older Elders say that the first week is the longest and I hope that that's true. I have to be here for nine. There are at least twenty times during the day when the stress of learning becomes so hard that we just say "forget it; there's no way I can learn a foreign language." We just want to quit and go to sleep, or go home. But then we get to teach. The investigators aren't real, they're the teachers, but all of the teachers served missions around here and have recently returned. They pretend to be investigators that they have taught. We try to teach as much as we can in Spanish, so it takes a lot of preparation, but to testify and make promises in this language has brought me some of the most joy I have ever felt. I know that the Lord will find a way for me to learn this language. One of my teachers said that my district shows real promise. He said we learned in four days what took the last Gringos (Americans) three weeks. Our faith in the Lord is strong and I credit my ability to learn quickly to Him. Yes, there are times when I ask myself "why did I ever even THINK that I wanted to go foreign" but the Lord softens my heart and calms me down.
We get to go through the temple every Preparation day, so I did a session and it was in Español! I understood about a quarter of it. But by the end, I felt all of the stresses of the week melt away. The Lord has truly blessed me with patience and diligence this week.
Talking with the Latinos is the easiest way to learn the lauguage, so I never miss an opportunity. They are patient and willing to help us learn. They all call me Superman! I love you all and pray that you have a wonderful week. Yo se qué la iglesia de Jesucristo de Santos de los Últimos Días es verdadero.
LOVE,
Elder Plautz
