April 6th letter

"What a week! I can't even begin to tell you...but I guess I have to if I'm going to get this letter sent. I guess I'll start with a scripture. 2 Nefi 2:11...look it up and you will understand my week. Literally an opposition in all things this week....Of course, through opposition we are refined and finished, but it is through the struggling (and more importantly how we react to opposition) that we achieve it. As the verse indicates, we learn to better appreciate the blessings that we receive. I'm experiencing this right now, luckily I'm starting to see the blessings, but must admit that it is very hard to laugh sometimes. General conference really helped. It was absolutely amazing. I've been looking forward to it for about 6 months now, and I wasn't disappointed. I'm soo thankful to have a prophet and apostles. I felt that a constant theme was hope and being calm in the face of adversity, and as I have already mentioned, I need it right now....

Right now we are teaching some really cool people. We found a couple called Noemi and Jacinto. They are a little older and have a twenty ear old daughter with cancer, a ten year old daughter that is virtually blind, and he was recently in a car crash and can barely use one half of his body. They came to conference, Saturday afternoon and loved it. They keep telling us that they feel something special and that they never accept people to come into their house, they say that we are the first preachers they have let in. So they are sincere and intent and are waiting for an answer. We set a baptismal date with them for the 25th, and I know they can make it.

Another family consists of 7 kids and a single mom. The oldest son does not live with them, and we have only taught the mom and 15 year old kid. they both work in the harvest. (if I haven't told you yet, Concordia is a big time citrus town.)...So 1 of every 7 people work in the harvest. Jonathan (15)  has since the age of 12. He and his brother Sergio came to Saturday morning conference. They accepted a baptismal date in the first lesson. The are awesome, but have their fair share of trials to deal with as well. I know the gospel is a gospel of transformation and can change their lives, as long as they let it happen. "

April 1st letter and pictures, too

"We got back last night around midnight from a special conference in Rosario with the President and the assistants and stuff. It was just our zone, so 8 companionships. It was amazing. I love conferences, and this one was better because it was in more of a one on one environment...The mission home is sooooo nice. It's basically a mansion. We had lots of training and the stress of the conference was on unity and love. I learned a lot. We played a bunch of team building games...it was a blast."...

"Me and my comp are doing quite well. It's always a little different at the beginning of a new transfer with a new comp, but we are working out the little differences and starting to work together a lot better. Something I really like about him is the way he teaches. Up to now I have had comps that like to talk....a lot. And so their teaching style means they talk for a long time. Elder Arro teaches in much shorter segments, which is how I prefer it, and is also the suggestion of the PMG...so I'm enjoying that. I'm also learning a lot of argentine words. It's still hard adjusting to all spanish, but it's getting easier."

Elder Rau on his 20th Birthday! He said it was pretty much like any other day but at least he got a cake! 

Elder Rau's new companion - Elder Arro, with a cotton candy mustache.