¡Hola!
Like you all said it is hard for me to believe that another week has gone by as well! Mission life is going really well! This morning I found out why we live above a morgue (sp?).... As my comp and I were on our way to do internet I saw that it was open for business and said, "oh crap someone died" (yes it was said with a very American accent... cali I know you know what I am talking about... yeah probably not the most appropriate missionary vocabulary but remember that I am still striving to be better every day. Yes I said it in english because that is a sentence that my comp has learned :). As we rounded the corner the family of the deceased was standing there and one of their friends is an old investigator, and we contacted them and told them about life after death and are going to visit our investigator later this week. My point is that the church knew what they were doing when they had us live where we do. :)
Argentinisms
So I thought I would share with you my favorite spanish word... oñda. I am not sure if they use it everywhere or just in argentina but it´s like energy or a connection. For example if you want to know if something works you ask if it has oñda or if two people like each other then there´s oñda... ha ha anyway it´s used for everything but it´s something that I have learned to love. Another Argentine piece of culture... because I am in the country people ride around on horses quite a bit and they wear these french hats... like the ones that painters wear... and it is so funny to me. I´ll take a picture one of these days so you can all enjoy it with me. Another thing... when people can´t understand you (yes this happens to me quite a bit!) they ask if you are speaking chinese! Just like in the states! I thought that was pretty funny. Also there are quite a few chinese people here and my comp thought she was pretty funny when we walked by them and she looked at me like I should understand what they were saying.... I was a little concerned for a minute until I realized they were speaking chinese... not funny. Here in Las Heras there is a store that I loved walking by because I thought it was a pet store because all I could understand from the signs were the names of animals like turtle etc... this week I realized it´s a carniceria {butcher shop}.... yeah I don´t really like to walk by there anymore. Argentines are really funny and it´s definitely a different way of life. Debit cards having really made it down here yet and there are only two ATMs for all of Las Heras so the line is always super long. Ha ha this week they ran out of money until this wednesday. Usually this wouldn´t matter to us but it´s the beginning of the month so we don´t have any money either! Luckily there is one grocery store that takes debit cards so we can at least eat! :)
This week was really amazing in missionary work too! Guillermo is going to get baptized 26 of March! Remember he´s the one that had a change of heart from me using his bathroom. He still talks about that and I still don´t really understand.... He came to church on sunday for the first time and bore his testimony! i couldn´t tell what he was saying but I was hoping that is wasn´t anything inappropriate so I kept looking at my comps face to make sure it was ok. It went great though. He´s so funny. No one can pronounce Scanlon down here so he calls me Escanlone or Schanlon. It´s pretty funny. I laugh every time and just say "muy bien" to however he says it!
This week we had a mini zone conference and I got to see Hna Tucker! I was so excited! It was so great to see her. We had to travel like 3 hours by train to get to the meeting but it was so worth it. President Benton talked and the assistants and our zone leaders. Mostly it´s great to just know that we are not alone but all working together. Plus talking to others about their spanish and struggles etc helps a lot too! On the train I was reading a talk by Elder Scott from last conference that is SOOOO good. My favorite quote is "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day". That is one thing that I´ve thought about a lot as a missionary... consistency. It´s hard to always want to be an example of the believers and to always want to talk to everyone so on and so forth but that is what we are all called to do. When Elder Holland came to the MTC he talked about how we are called to be missionaries for the rest of our lives. I think I shared this before but it is also something I think about a lot. He related the story of Peter and how he was called to cast away his nets and feed his sheep. That is what we are all asked to do every day as well. As I´ve been here I have noticed how much members make a difference in missionary work... basically that they make all the difference. So this is my challenge to you all.... find ways to help the missionaries. I was thinking about how many families or people I know that were converted by the missionaries at home and who stayed active... it wasn´t many. But it can be if we will all be missionaries forever.
I was reading Alma 37:6-7 this morning and I liked it a lot. Remember that by SMALL and SIMPLE things are great things brought to pass. We all need to do the little things in our lives to be disciples of Christ, then can we have His spirit always to be with us and work miracles among the children of men.
Ha ha alright I will get off my soapbox now... :) Just a little food for thought for you all :) I love you all tons. Spanish is coming along and know that I am doing well and although I miss you tons I wouldn´t want to be anywhere else in the world doing anything else :)
Give Grandma Fern a hug for me for her birthday.
Kyle and Carolyn congrats.... you should probably name the baby jordan since even if it does end of being a boy the name would still work :)
Thanks for all your love and support.
Think about you often, pray for you always and love you forever!
Hna Scanlon
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