Elder Andrew Smart: Another Week in the Ghetto

Sent May 23rd

So this week has been full of surprises.

First theres a guy named Pedro that called us and wanted us to go visit him. He prayed, then found a pamphlet from the missionaries with their number, then called us. It turns out he's a member. He was baptized in Berlin like 2 weeks before i got there. He had abandoned his family there and left, because of some problems he was having. I don't know. I had always heard really ugly things about him from the people in Berlin, but looking at him, and really getting to know him, all i could see was a broken man who missed his family a ton. it has been like a year and a half since he had seen his kids and wife. But it was pretty incredible, because every Sunday i would pass by his families house and take them to church. He didn't know this at all. But when i told him that i knew them and took them to church, he just broke out in tears, and told us that he knew that calling us was an answer to his prayers. It definitely was the spirit we all felt there. the Lord’s hand was seen.

There is a street where nobody lives in the middle of my area, because the gangs came by and sent out flyers telling everyone that if they weren't out of their houses by the end of the week, that they were going to kill them. So that’s a problem. Everyone left.

But good news. I made a couch with a member of our ward. Super cool. we made the skeleton, and then put all the foam, springs and fabric on it it was pretty cool. We are going to make stools for our house next pday, because we don't even have chairs in our house. its going to be dope.

Oh ya i finally had sopa de mondongo. For the first time in my mission. I thought i was going to make it through without having to eat it. It’s cow-intestine soup cooked in lime-juice or something.

it wasn't that bad.