So, here's the latest news from So. America (just the highlights of today's email):
...Anyway yesterday we went to their (new members) house for lunch and guess what I ate... seriously just guess... kidney, intestines, and ribs. Yeah it was pretty interesting. Ha ha so awesome. I didn´t dare ask what animal it was from and tried not to inspect the kidney too much. I did glance at it and it reminded me of my days in the anatomy lab, as did the intestines... It´s really hard to eat body parts when you know what their function is... Ha ha luckily I got them down and it didn´t make me sick! I have pictures but cannot figure out how to download them on this computer... man I struggle. After dinner my comp went to the bathroom which is like the worst for me because the families feel obligated to talk to me and I can't understand or make small talk... Then suddenly Hector pulled out his computer and played "Listen to Your Heart".... I have never been so happy to hear American music in my whole life. I instantly started laughing and they made me try to translate it for them to help me practice my castellano. It was HILARIOUS!!!! Seriously like the best thing. I think I forgot to mention that they love 80's music here.... the cheesier the better. I´ve heard Tracy Chapman, Bryan Adams, Greece... I love it when we are walking down the street and suddenly I understand the words to something.. It's the best.
The little saying that I say 15 times a day is "erre con erre guitarra. erre con erre barril. erre con erre rueda. las ruedas del ferro carril." I am pretty sure that I have no idea what that means but it is helping me with my r's so that´s what I say as I walk down the street! I am sure that I sound crazy but it´s fine :)
We had Zone Conference this week which was cool. We went by train to a town about an hour away. It was nice to have a little break. It was funny because I was the only new American missionary so my mission President would stop in the middle of his speech and in front of everyone ask me if I understood. How embarrassing for me but mostly I thought it was funny.
So, like every person who has ever had to learn a new language, she is struggling a little (a lot?) with understanding and speaking. It's so good for her though. I know that it'll get better for her really soon. She has such a good attitude and is enjoying all the craziness of being in a new place and learning a new language.
My Dad called me this morning at 7 a.m. to tell me that Jordan was online. She sends an email when she gets online to see we're online and we message back and forth. So, I got to 'chat' a little with her and that was super cool. She ended our little chat with p.s. Fanta here is amazing. I know you're jealous! :) -- she is so right. I am super jealous! Orange Fanta in any other country is like liquid heaven. YUM! Everywhere in the whole wide world, except the US of A, they make it with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup and it is so delicious!
Hopefully, she will figure out the picture thing real fast so we can actually SEE what's going on! Stay posted!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Hna Scanlon's First 'Real' Email
¡Hola Mi Familia!
¿Que tal? How are you doing? Thanks for all the emails that you sent me! It was great to hear news from home. Mom I laughed when you said that you couldn´t wait to go home and take a nap with your heated blanket because it is soooo hot here! My companion and I basically die in the calle every day because I feel like I am melting! ahhh! Argentina is so great! My area in called Las Heras and is in the countryside of Argentina, about an hour and a half outside of BA. The people here are really kind and there is like no crime so if is super safe. Probably the safest area I will be in. Here you are a slave to the weather because hardly anyone has air conditioning or insulation. For example, yesterday we went to church which is in an old house and there are about 50 members, most of which are from one family. The church was basically like an oven, it was so funny, because everyone was dying. Also another little tid bit about Argentines, they are AWFUL at singing... like seriously so bad... it´s pretty funny.
Here in LH as I said it is really hot. On my first day it rained a ton... there were waves in the street because there was so much water in them... it was hilarious. My comp is awesome and let me wear her rainboots. She said I could just have them so I will either just take those or get some later cuz her´s are a little big for me! I have a pic of me with my first day outfit and other pictures from this week but I can´t figure out how to download them on this computer.... sorry Cali!
Another Argentine fact, none of them have teeth. I have never appreciated or taken such good care of my teeth in my life. It is crazy. Also pretty much everything you hear about Argentina/Sur America is true... most of all the people here are super kind, especially the members. For lunch this week some members even made me tacos (torillas don´t exist here so we had to make them from scratch) to help me feel more at home. I have basically had the same two meals since I got here, pizza and bolsa. The pizza here is kinda the same but the tomato sauce isn´t as much or as flavorful and the cheese is like a paste.. it´s kinda weird. Also they love to put hard boiled eggs on everything. We have our big meal in the afternoon around 1ish and then just work the rest of the day until 9. It kind makes for a long hot afternoon and usually I feel kind sick while tracting but it´s alright! They also LOVE tang here. Like so much... I have had it for every meal. The bread and fruit here are super good and way cheap. It´s weird because all the packaged food is really expensive, especially if it is an american brand, and all the fresh fruit and bread is cheap and really good!
My trainer is so great! She is an american which is good because then she can translate stuff for me but it´s hard because it is so much easier for us to speak in english. I am going to kill her... ha ha a little missionary talk humor... meaning that after this transfer she is going home. Which is also kind weird cuz she talks about the states a lot which reminds me that I feel like I am never going home... but I know that it will all come too soon! I spend a lot of my day walking around the streets practicing my spanish. She is really good at the language so she helps me a ton. I can already see how much I have improved but I still have very far to go! I still don´t understand most of what people say to me so hopefully that will come with time. Any study ideas etc from learning a language that any or you have would be really appreciated. Right now I spend a lot of time praying!!! I have to do 20 contacts every day which is really helpful and I have already gotten better and less awkward at doing those. I worry that I won´t learn it but hopefully I will! We don´t have tons of investigators because there are 4 Hnas in this area and my comp gave them all of her old investigators so we have basically had to start from the beginning. I did challenge a lady named Alice to be baptized and she accepted so hopefully that will go through. Since we don´t have very many investigators we spend all of our time in the street which makes for a long day but it is good still. Basically the most frustrating part for me right now is the language because I feel like a small child just following my comp around but I know that I need to just take it one day at at time and hopefully that the language will come... ha ha I know that it will it just seems impossible right now!
Ok now I am going to answer the rest of Cali´s questions from her email for the benefit of all... The houses here are crazy... Cleanliness is not a big thing here.. for anyone. There aren´t really good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods, just nice houses and then next door will be one that is falling apart. Also no one gets married here, they just live together and have like 5 kids. The women just call men their marido... or in other words their man. I can´t even count the number of times I´ve been asked if I have a boyfriend. It´s apparently a big thing here. We walk all the time unless we are going into the city or to district meeting... I have yet to do either of those things but I guess that we will take a train to do that which is right in front of our pench¨....short for pension.. which is what we call our apt. There are lots of bugs here but not in our apt luckily... but I have seen cochroaches... in the kitchen of a place we were eating and at the church... but really there aren´t as many bugs as i would have thought. There are lots of mesquitos so i have been eaten alive but it´s been good! It´s not really humid here which surprised me but just really hot. It´s nice to sit here and write you because it is air conditioned. The stores here are kinda strange. They have grocery stores that have things like milk and meat and shampoo. But if you want fruit you go to a different store and if you want bread you go to another store. It´s kinda cool.
Mail works like this. You send everything to the mission offices and then i get it once a week at district meeting which is on tuesday. My comp said that her family sends letters through normal mail so I am not sure if pouch is better or not... it´s probably cheaper though. It´s pretty expensive to send letters here... like two dollars american which is like enough to buy a pair of shoes here! But it´s worth it! i guess it takes longer to get stuff to the states from here then to get stuff here from the states. So i sent you a letter today but i am not sure when you will get it!
ok so hopefully you feel now like you are here with me. I am struggling with the language but know that I am so happy and so gratefully that I am here! I love this work and all that I am doing! Pray for me to learn spanish/castellano... really that is my biggest struggle as a missionary but I know that with the Lord all things are possible. My biggest worry was that I would feel alone but i never have. My comp is great and I can feel Heavenly Father's love every day!!!
I love you all! Thanks for everything!
Love you tons! I will send pictures next week!
Hermana Scanlon
¿Que tal? How are you doing? Thanks for all the emails that you sent me! It was great to hear news from home. Mom I laughed when you said that you couldn´t wait to go home and take a nap with your heated blanket because it is soooo hot here! My companion and I basically die in the calle every day because I feel like I am melting! ahhh! Argentina is so great! My area in called Las Heras and is in the countryside of Argentina, about an hour and a half outside of BA. The people here are really kind and there is like no crime so if is super safe. Probably the safest area I will be in. Here you are a slave to the weather because hardly anyone has air conditioning or insulation. For example, yesterday we went to church which is in an old house and there are about 50 members, most of which are from one family. The church was basically like an oven, it was so funny, because everyone was dying. Also another little tid bit about Argentines, they are AWFUL at singing... like seriously so bad... it´s pretty funny.
Here in LH as I said it is really hot. On my first day it rained a ton... there were waves in the street because there was so much water in them... it was hilarious. My comp is awesome and let me wear her rainboots. She said I could just have them so I will either just take those or get some later cuz her´s are a little big for me! I have a pic of me with my first day outfit and other pictures from this week but I can´t figure out how to download them on this computer.... sorry Cali!
Another Argentine fact, none of them have teeth. I have never appreciated or taken such good care of my teeth in my life. It is crazy. Also pretty much everything you hear about Argentina/Sur America is true... most of all the people here are super kind, especially the members. For lunch this week some members even made me tacos (torillas don´t exist here so we had to make them from scratch) to help me feel more at home. I have basically had the same two meals since I got here, pizza and bolsa. The pizza here is kinda the same but the tomato sauce isn´t as much or as flavorful and the cheese is like a paste.. it´s kinda weird. Also they love to put hard boiled eggs on everything. We have our big meal in the afternoon around 1ish and then just work the rest of the day until 9. It kind makes for a long hot afternoon and usually I feel kind sick while tracting but it´s alright! They also LOVE tang here. Like so much... I have had it for every meal. The bread and fruit here are super good and way cheap. It´s weird because all the packaged food is really expensive, especially if it is an american brand, and all the fresh fruit and bread is cheap and really good!
My trainer is so great! She is an american which is good because then she can translate stuff for me but it´s hard because it is so much easier for us to speak in english. I am going to kill her... ha ha a little missionary talk humor... meaning that after this transfer she is going home. Which is also kind weird cuz she talks about the states a lot which reminds me that I feel like I am never going home... but I know that it will all come too soon! I spend a lot of my day walking around the streets practicing my spanish. She is really good at the language so she helps me a ton. I can already see how much I have improved but I still have very far to go! I still don´t understand most of what people say to me so hopefully that will come with time. Any study ideas etc from learning a language that any or you have would be really appreciated. Right now I spend a lot of time praying!!! I have to do 20 contacts every day which is really helpful and I have already gotten better and less awkward at doing those. I worry that I won´t learn it but hopefully I will! We don´t have tons of investigators because there are 4 Hnas in this area and my comp gave them all of her old investigators so we have basically had to start from the beginning. I did challenge a lady named Alice to be baptized and she accepted so hopefully that will go through. Since we don´t have very many investigators we spend all of our time in the street which makes for a long day but it is good still. Basically the most frustrating part for me right now is the language because I feel like a small child just following my comp around but I know that I need to just take it one day at at time and hopefully that the language will come... ha ha I know that it will it just seems impossible right now!
Ok now I am going to answer the rest of Cali´s questions from her email for the benefit of all... The houses here are crazy... Cleanliness is not a big thing here.. for anyone. There aren´t really good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods, just nice houses and then next door will be one that is falling apart. Also no one gets married here, they just live together and have like 5 kids. The women just call men their marido... or in other words their man. I can´t even count the number of times I´ve been asked if I have a boyfriend. It´s apparently a big thing here. We walk all the time unless we are going into the city or to district meeting... I have yet to do either of those things but I guess that we will take a train to do that which is right in front of our pench¨....short for pension.. which is what we call our apt. There are lots of bugs here but not in our apt luckily... but I have seen cochroaches... in the kitchen of a place we were eating and at the church... but really there aren´t as many bugs as i would have thought. There are lots of mesquitos so i have been eaten alive but it´s been good! It´s not really humid here which surprised me but just really hot. It´s nice to sit here and write you because it is air conditioned. The stores here are kinda strange. They have grocery stores that have things like milk and meat and shampoo. But if you want fruit you go to a different store and if you want bread you go to another store. It´s kinda cool.
Mail works like this. You send everything to the mission offices and then i get it once a week at district meeting which is on tuesday. My comp said that her family sends letters through normal mail so I am not sure if pouch is better or not... it´s probably cheaper though. It´s pretty expensive to send letters here... like two dollars american which is like enough to buy a pair of shoes here! But it´s worth it! i guess it takes longer to get stuff to the states from here then to get stuff here from the states. So i sent you a letter today but i am not sure when you will get it!
ok so hopefully you feel now like you are here with me. I am struggling with the language but know that I am so happy and so gratefully that I am here! I love this work and all that I am doing! Pray for me to learn spanish/castellano... really that is my biggest struggle as a missionary but I know that with the Lord all things are possible. My biggest worry was that I would feel alone but i never have. My comp is great and I can feel Heavenly Father's love every day!!!
I love you all! Thanks for everything!
Love you tons! I will send pictures next week!
Hermana Scanlon
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Arrival to Argentina
She's there - safe and sound! We got the following email from her today:
Hola Mi Familia!
I made it! I am officially in my first area. My trainer´s name is Hermana Daniels from Utah and we are in the campo! We had to drive like an hour and a half to a small town where our area is with two other sisters in´t showered or really slept since I left the states but things are really good. The language is alright. I can understand some things so I feel that is at least a plus. We had a great day at the mission home where they took good care of us and we had some training and food. It was so nice to eat fresh food. Argentina feels a lot like the states. To answer Cali´s question no I have not been whistled at yet! :) This spanish keyboard is kind of hard to use though. My p-days are mondays so the next time that you hear from me will be then.
I just wanted to let you know that I am healthy and happy! The gospel is true and I am excited to share it. We are on our way to our first progressing investigators house!
Love you!
Hna Scanlon
oh also i contacted and bore testimony to our cab driver... it was pretty good!
Hola Mi Familia!
I made it! I am officially in my first area. My trainer´s name is Hermana Daniels from Utah and we are in the campo! We had to drive like an hour and a half to a small town where our area is with two other sisters in´t showered or really slept since I left the states but things are really good. The language is alright. I can understand some things so I feel that is at least a plus. We had a great day at the mission home where they took good care of us and we had some training and food. It was so nice to eat fresh food. Argentina feels a lot like the states. To answer Cali´s question no I have not been whistled at yet! :) This spanish keyboard is kind of hard to use though. My p-days are mondays so the next time that you hear from me will be then.
I just wanted to let you know that I am healthy and happy! The gospel is true and I am excited to share it. We are on our way to our first progressing investigators house!
Love you!
Hna Scanlon
oh also i contacted and bore testimony to our cab driver... it was pretty good!
(Jo with her cute MTC companera Hermana Svedin)
We've all thought about her like a million times the past couple of days and are glad to know that she's arrived safely and is ready to get to work. She called from the airport in Salt Lake. The Utah siblings debated hanging out at the airport to try to run into her, but we decided against it - since the Church discourages it and all. (It would have been so cool to see her though). She called Mom and Dad and they put her on speaker phone with cell phones laying around, so we all got to hear her and she sounds great. She's worried about the language, but it will come fast now that she has to speak and understand what people are saying to her.
We are so proud of her and are very excited for this new adventure!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Misc MTC Pix
Jordan sent me her memory card, so I got all of the pictures she has taken thus far at the MTC. I have no idea who anyone is, but here's what she's been up to the past couple of months:
Dork Dots!!!
Giving Service
The 'tent' - the light coming under the door bothered her at night and kept her awake, so she got creative and made herself a tent.
Rainy Sunday afternoon walk
Cafe Rio contraband
Christmas Morning 2010
Thursday, January 6, 2011
We Finally Got Pictures!
So, this blog is slow going because we have had a serious picture drought. The ones on this post are pictures that were mailed to my parents, copied and emailed to me, so the quality is poor, but at least they're pictures of Jordan as a missionary. The first we've seen! So, she is still in the MTC and really enjoying it. She sends letters and emails every week and she is doing great. Very excited/anxious/nervous to leave for Argentina in just a few days. My how time flies!
This pic is showing her package slips on Christmas Eve. She's been pretty spoiled. So much, in fact, that the other missionaries get jealous. The missionaries in her district laugh at her for every package she gets. I think we're all just making up for the lack of communication when other sibs/friends were on missions. Plus, sending stuff to the MTC is way cheaper than sending stuff to Argentina. I feel a mail drought coming on! (Bethany sent me an email the other day asking me where I was when she was on a mission. Where was I when I was on a mission???)
So, I send packages (yes, packages plural. I am her favorite person right now) to her through the UPS store down the street from the MTC. Jordan loves, loves Cafe Rio, so it was my goal to get it to her. I knew it was banned at the MTC. Yeah, specifically Cafe Rio can't be sent to the MTC. I planned to box up her favorite sweet pork salad and smuggle it to the MTC. Well, I got it on a lunch break from work and didn't have time to find a box and get it all together, so I carried the Cafe Rio bag into the UPS store and thought the lady behind the counter was going to scream at me. As soon as I cleared the front door, she shook her head and said, "Absolutely not!" So, I pretty much turned around and walked back out. She called me back in and said we could try it, but that if the mail guys at the MTC smelled it, they would immediately throw it away. So, the secret to getting contraband Cafe Rio into the MTC is to order it unassembled, make sure all the containers are sealed super tight, tie the plastic bag tight and put it in a big box with lots of styrofoam peanuts. Oh, and sending it on a big mail day doesn't hurt either. Like the day before Christmas. So many packages are delivered that they don't have time to sniff out every one. Here is Jordan and her companion enjoying the pork salad. She said she got it late at night the day I sent it and put it by her window to keep it cold then ate it the next day. It's her own dang fault if she got sick! (But well worth it, I'm sure).
This is her MTC district.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)