It's official. The temperatures have dropped below zero. I should say, the temperatures have dropped WELL below zero...and we have no car...and it is so much fun!!!
Wednesday our Mission President called and told us not to leave the apartment unless we had a lesson, and a mode of transportation. Well we did have a lesson that morning at 9 so we, using our mode of transportation--our legs--walked a mile and a half to this lesson, which wasn't too bad, except it was -18 degrees outside. As we walked, the condensation from our breathes would freeze on our eyelashes... enough said...
The lesson was with the same guy, Albert, who has a lot of questions about deep doctrine. We're working on helping him build the basics and so hopefully we will be able to help him more this week. It was absolutely insane during the lesson though, as we were teaching him about the Book of Mormon and I felt really strongly to promise him that if he read the Book of Mormon, and prayed to know if it is true, he would know that it is true. So we promised him that and the spirit was super strong, so much so that I knew that our promise was true. It sounds average, promising what every missionary promises ever, but something I've realized is that nothing is average. Albert is his own unique soul and has real potential to recieve Salvation. It was so cool, even just for me, to see someone as Christ sees them, even for just a moment; it was truly life changing.
Thursday we woke up to some fresh snow. Like 6 inches of it. We still don't have a car at this point and the sidewalk that we walk on in order to get to the main prostelying area (which also happens to be a pretty heavily walked sidewalk) is completely covered. It's only about two miles long, so we shoveled the whole thing. Yea, we started with coats, scarves, hats, and gloves; and finished with white shirts and ties. It was a lot of work!
It was awesome, we were able to do a great service for a lot of people who use that sidewalk a lot and we slept really well that night.
Friday was our first day with the car and consequently the day we got slapped with a $250 ticket. We got lunch at Panda, parking in a normal stall, and in order to turn around, we had to pull into the only available place--a handicapped parking stall. Cars passed and we waited (in the reverse gear) for a chance to pull out. Well before we could do that, a cop showed up and gave us a ticket. As missionaries, we have to share the ticket price, so about $84 each. But don't worry, we have evidence and are building a case in our defense. We're going to fight this (maybe my debate skills will come in handy?). I'll keep you posted.
Saturday was the Christmas party for the Spanish branch. We spent the day trying to get people to come and we saw some miracles! I've started to see that miracles really come in the form of "coincidences", for example, we have this Potential Investigator named Sofy who we have not been able to contact for a while; but for some reason, we felt prompted to stop by and invite her. As soon as we got there, they invited us right in and she began saying that she was just praying to know which church she should join, which one was correct and that for some reason, whenever she has that prayer, Mormon missionaries show up. It is so cool to be an answer to some bodies prayer!
Sunday was so cold. Like, -38 degrees cold; and so what do we decide to do? On the way home, we had a competition who could stick their hand out the window the longest. Elder Hale got 45 seconds, I got 30 seconds, and Elder Vasquez got 18. I gave up because it literally hurt! Like real pain!
Let me explain a little bit what this weather is like: you can take a pot of boiling water in the air and it will turn into snow immediately, I kid you not, it works!
Best wishes this Christmas season! I'm so glad for this opportunity that I have to serve here in the North Pole--I mean Chicago! It is so amazing to gain such a greater perspective on the great gift our Savior is, but no matter how much knowledge or insight you gain for yourself, it never ever compares to the feeling you get of helping someone else gain that insight. Remember that Christ gave his all and our Heavenly Father continues to bless us. The only thing we have to give him is our will, and when we offer that to our Father, he blesses us and those around us in more ways that we can count.
Merry Christmas y feliz navidad!
Elder Arkoudas
Sorry, some of these pictures are from last week.
We kind of look like the Russian mafia.
Elder Vasquez was sick and we were bored...so we made a boy band.
-18 degrees outside.
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