¡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
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