42: The Big Rosary

Hola de Rosario!

 

 

Yeah, they sent me to the big city. I'm serving in the Belgrano ward here and we share the ward with some cool elders! We are still the Tech leaders for the mission so that's really fun too.

 

 

Rosario is different. A lot bigger and a lot more dangerous. If you know me, you know I'm more of a small town kind of person so I am a little out of my element here, but that's ok because I'm always down for an adventure.

 

 

This week started with a 4:30am bus ride into Rosario and meeting my new comp, Hna Baldauf (who happens to be my favorite person ever). Our pension hasn't had missionaries in it since the beginning of the pandemic, so it had NOTHING haha. We had to make a lot of trips to the store to stock up. But it's a super big pension with empanadas down the street, so I am not complaining. 

 

 

Our very first day, the elders told us that they had set up a visit with a super inactive lady who wants to come to church again. They said she lived in a sketch area so don't go at night. Well we went in the middle of the day, plenty of sun and people out. But we still felt so unsafe. I didn't really know why; it didn't "look" like a dangerous area and the people didn't "look ''. When we got to the members house she told us about how someone had just jumped her 14 year old son the day before, right in front of her house, with a machete, at 1pm in the afternoon. So maybe we just avoid that area from now on.

 

 

Other than that, it's not so bad. It's nothing like Venado Tuerto, and I can't take my phone out in the streets because that's just asking to get robbed haha. Everybody we visit warns us about where to not walk, what hours to be inside, what we should do if someone gives us trouble, and then asks us if we've been assaulted yet. So I'm basically just waiting for it to happen at this point.

 

 

Our area has a lot of potential, but seems to be moving rather slow. We tried to meet a lot of people this week but between getting Hna Baldauf up to speed with Facebook, moving to the new area, trying to get to know the members... we didn't find a ton of new people. The members are super awesome though and willing to accompany us to our lessons!!

 

 

Yesterday I got the opportunity to go back to Venado Tuerto for Julian and Bruno's baptism. It was such a good experience!! When the kids saw me get out of the taxi, they all came running and gave me the biggest group hug of my life. They didn't leave my side for the rest of the evening, asking me when I was coming back and telling me all the commandments they learned. Julian and Bruno's baptism was super sweet and I know that God is so proud of them for being baptized.

 

 

Saying goodbye to my little familia loca was the hardest thing I've done on my mission. Kids were crying, I was crying, the parents were crying. Julian told me Bruno had to go behind the chapel to cry because he didn't want to look less manly, which made me laugh and cry harder at the same time. I told Brian (the dad who has a lot of struggles) that God loves him and I told Georgina (the mom) that her family deserves to be together forever. I think getting in the taxi to go back to Rosario was heartbreaking for just about everybody involved.

 

 

But I am so glad I went. I know that God loves the Smolares family and that baptism will bless their family for eternity. And I'm pretty lucky that I got to be there to watch their family grow and change as they learned the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think that's one of the biggest pieces of evidence I've seen that this church is true: the change that comes to people as they accept and live the restored gospel.

 

 

So here's to 8 more months of helping people make that change!!

 

 

Con amor,

Hna Thrasher

 

 

PICS!!

1. a 4:00am taxi selfie

2. meet my new comp HAHA

3. pretty sunrise outside our bedroom window

4. this is what trying to understand Isaiah looks like... and I don't think I even understood it fully

5. Julian y Brunoooooo :')