By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
As I was serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, My companion and i were walking the dusty roads of Paraná, Argentina. We were following our daily routine in the blazing heat of September, talking to the local people while we walked to our assigned appointment. Here we were, 2 boys at the age of 18 in a foreign country, trying to speak Spanish, in white shirts and ties while it’s 90 degrees outside, makes a good cover story, haha. Everybody always looking at us wondering who we were, but it made it easier for us to strike a conversation with them. Sometimes it can be frightening but the message we carried was priceless. We knew it would make them happy. After visiting the woman we had fixed an appointment with and having been sadly disappointed by a no answer from the door, we began walking down new roads to find new people. After having gone down a few slim alley ways, we finally decided to continue down a discontinued road. Where the pavement ended we saw some houses further down on a dirt path. We were intrigued to explore. The houses were made of mud and tin, many poor farmers with their families lived here and those are the kind of people we live talking to. With frustration we quickly realized it was the siesta, and everybody was sleeping or eating and didn’t want to talk to us. We pressed on and found a river, we crossed and to our surprise a whole new neighborhood we didn’t even know existed. Being so excited, we ran and talked to as many people as we could. The time came to go, so we started back the way we came, but an unexpected surprise awaited. Walking across the field before the river, 3 kids came running up behind us. We were going to let them pass as we stopped until we realized they were coming after us. We started running but I was too late, they grabbed my companion and I. They took our backpacks, wallets, and all we had In our pockets, but this escalated worse than a normal robbery. 1 of the kids pulls out a knife and stabs my companion twice, but after a miraculous occurrence of no injury, they told him to leave. I was then attacked by the other 2 who were robbing my companion. After being punched and kicked in the eye, they finally left. My companion came and got me and we left. Walking down the streets with a black eye, bloody face, and torn clothed wasn’t expected, but I guess nothing is on a mission. Every day you never know what to expect.