World Cup and missionary work

It is World Cup Time!  I’m sure you are wondering how that can tie in with a missionary blog, but it is easy: I’d like to share with you how we are dealing with this issue.

First, it is amazing to see the effect the games have on life as we know it.  Businesses shut down, school is let out, and traffic is non-existent.  President Warne and I were in Santiago running some errands at the time of one of the games.  Many people had their faces painted, and many had noise makers.  Even the people in the booths that line the sidewalk had TVs.  When the first goal was scored, the cheering could be heard everywhere. 

However, back to relating this post to missionaries.  It is pointless to try and proselyte during a game.  We don’t want to offend people by trying to teach them when they are so focused on their TV.  We needed a productive activity for them as they stayed in their apartments.  Since this is a World Cup, you can be sure that mission presidents in many countries have had this same dilemma.  During the first game, they updated their area books, a record of past, present, and future investigators and their addresses.  During the second game, they were supposed to go out and work earlier in the day during study time and then use game hours to study.  The third game is during preparation day so they will be able to have a normal P-Day. 

After the second game, when Chile won over Spain, we were driving to and around San Fernando.  It was remarkable to see people waving flags, even along the highway.  In the plaza, people were driving around the square, honking and again waving flags.  Chile will have at least one more game, so we will have another assignment.  I am going for time to deep clean apartments—always a worthwhile goal! 

the plaza in San Fernando