January 5, 2009

(Editor's note: Above is a picture of the Christmas stockings that Lauren sent to Cooper and his companion. Cooper said his companion couldn't believe that Lauren would do such a nice thing for him. He kept asking "Are you sure this stocking isn't from your mom?" Way to go Lauren!

The other picture is of the Argentine Santa Clause who runs through the town throwing out candy on Christmas Eve. The children run outside to chase him while the parents set out the presents inside the houses....clever distraction, eh?) Now for Cooper's letter this week:

Hey Family,

I know I know I just wrote last Thursday, so it´s only been a few days. But P-day was all wierd during the holiday season. So I´m writing again. Yay! And well…not too much has happened in the last 3 or so days, sooo…..Church was good on Sunday, testimony meeting.

I guess yesterday was good, we found some really cool people. We knocked a door (clapped our hands in front of it since they don't have door bells), and a kid (about 17) came out and invited us in. That was wierd cuz we hadn´t even introduced ourselves yet. But we went in and talked to him and his Grandma, and we found out the Grandmom´s mother had died about a month ago, and she wanted to know where she is. So we shared The Plan of Salvation and then we ended up sharing the restoration quickly and then also the Word of Wisdom and I think something else. They just had a lot of questions haha. Oh yeah they wanted to know about María, if we believe in her, or all the Santos (saints). I got to the point where I finally decided that when teaching, it´s just better to be straight forward and tell them that those are all false beliefs, that theres nothing in the Bible that even hints at worshipping Maria or all the Saints. As long long as you do it with love it goes over fine haha.

Oh here´s something interesting to talk about. Down here there are little idols of random Virgens or santos all over the place. But I think the pope probably has to aprove someone being a Santo. So it´s kind of funny cuz there´s a Santo down here that´s kind of like the rebel Santo, because he hasn´t been aproved so he´s technically not a real Santo. But his name is Gauchito Gil. There´s idols and pictures of him all over the place but most of it is in the villa, or more ghetto area. He was supposedly kind of like a Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. And then they say he got caught and crucified, I think is how the story goes.But he´s basically a Villero Santo. Or a gangster´s santo. The more tattoos and stuff you have the more likely you are to worship this rebel santo. Oh and Gauchito Gil literally means “little dumb gaucho/cowboy”. I don´t mean to laugh at their beliefs, I just thought it was interesting. A random culture class on Argentina.

I don´t know what else to say. We´re staying busy, the work is going well. We´re getting people to go to church but there´s a lot more we need to get to go. But it´s really cool watching the change that happens in people.Oh yeah and my comp from Canada is a really good teacher. I have to learn from him for sure. He´s one of those people who can start talking and just keep going and going. I´m not saying that´s good teaching in itself but he is a good teacher and for me talking and talking is one of those things I´m not so good at haha.

I can´t remember if I´ve said anything about him. His parents are from Ecuador and El Salvador. I´m trying to send pictures right now and he´s in one of them so you´ll get to see a picture.Alright well I´m gonna wrap this up and write a letter to the president. Hopefully all these pictures I´m trying to send make it. I love you all,
Love,

Elder Boice