I have approximately 15 minutes this morning to tell
you about my entire week since we´re running late this morning. We´re
heading into the city of Trelew in about 40 minutes to spend the day
with our zone and celebrate our zone leader Elder Holland´s birthday. It
should be a fun day...but don´t worry we´ll be back out on the streets
by 6:00pm sharp!
So, I´m not gonna go through each individual day because one, it will take too long, and two, I can´t remember the days...haha.
I
don't remember if I told you anything about the mission leader here in
Rawson. His name is Hermano Chemin. He and his wife are AMAZING! We got
to eat lunch with them yesterday because the family that was supposed to
feed us was out of town. Hermano Chemin has been a member for several
years and has an awesome testimony of the gospel. He's so supportive and
has confidence in me. He's kind and loving...like a giant teddy bear.
He takes such good care of us and always tells us to call him whenever
we need something - a ride to an appointment, food, etc. He's my dad in
the mission. Imagine the best dad in the whole wide world (I'll give you
a hint: he's about 5'10"...dark hair...light eyes...if I remember
correctly he's a chiropractor? he has 4 awesome kids and a
son-in-law...ringing any bells?). Anyway, picture him, and Hermano Chemin
is almost that great.
Ohhhh...here's a funny story for ya...got to the
mission home in Comodoro, tried to use my converter...NOTHING. My
converter is officially no use to me here in Argentina. Nothing will
turn on with it...I think the fuse is messed up or something because my
things will turn on with other converters. Basically, I bought a new
blow dryer and stuff for my hair here, and then I just charge my camera
each week at the internet cafe. I can plug it into the computers and it
charges without me having to turn it on so I should be fine:)
Oh, Dad...my pension is on the street and in Rawson. That's as much as I can get you. The addresses here
are pretty much non-existent. People give directions by saying "keep
going for two more streets, then turn right, at the casino turn left,
then go up the hill and there's a bad dog on the right side of the road
and I live over there in that area." Awesome. So...street contacting
pretty much helps us none because no one knows their actual addresses or
the names of streets.
Some more good times from this week....let's start with FOOD. So, in Argentina, they eat lunch at 1:30PM
and then they don't eat again until breakfast. But, that one meal is
GIGANTIC. The members feed us everyday and I cannot eat as much as they
want me to. I pretty much dread going to lunch everyday. On Wednesday
we ate with a part member family and the mom, bless her heart, just
kept giving me more and more...as soon as we left we went back to the
pension and I threw it all up. Good times. After I felt fine but my
desire to never eat again was pretty high. Anyway, I have had pretty
much no appetite since I got to Argentina...which is really bad because
like I said, these people feed us SO much. The thing that drives me the
most nuts is that they eat a healthy amount of food while I´m expected
to eat enough for all of Argentina and half of China. Yesterday I could
only eat 6 small ravioli things at lunch after fasting since 1:30pm
the day before. I don't know what it is but I'm never ever hungry. I
don't want to offend anyone because the food is great, but I just can't
eat that much.
Sooo...wanna hear why we're running late this
morning? Although my district leader just told me I still have 20
minutes...it's still a good story. 6:30AM...alarm
goes off just like every other morning for the last two months. My
companion jumps up and starts the washing machine (I use that term VERY
loosely.) which already has all of her clothes in and is ready to go and
then goes into the kitchen. I roll onto my knees and begin my morning
prayer. About halfway through, I was suddenly kneeling in a puddle of
water. I turned around to see water GUSHING from the washer. I quickly
called my companion, but by the time she got the water stopped our
pension was flooded. Booyah. She accidentally let the tube that drains the
washer lay on the ground. Good thing people don't believe in carpet in
Argentina, but still, there was water EVERYWHERE. It was not the best
morning. I luckily got my suitcases off the ground and onto my bed
before they got wet, but my companion was not so lucky (as her things
were closer to the washer). The good news is the floor is really clean.
The bad news is everything is still VERY wet and I didn't get to wash my
clothes...hopefully tonight I'll have time. So, when we finally got
enough of our pension free of water, we sat down to study, and what did I
do? I ate the ice cream sandwich dad sent me when I was at the MTC.
Weirdest thing ever, but pretty good:) Haha...don't even get me started
on all the joys of our pension. Haha...the kitchen floods every time we
shower, but that's easy to fix because we just let the water run out the
front door...still obnoxious though. The floor is NEVER EVER DRY.
So, apparently Halloween was this last week. I completely forgot until like 8:00 that night when I saw a few people in costumes. So, no mom, people don't celebrate Halloween here:)
Last Monday was sooo fun. After emailing our families, the six
missionaries in our zone went to the chapel where the Elders made us
lunch which was surprisingly really good. After lunch we played soccer
with a few ward members...I think there were about 10 of us in total.
Unfortunately for me, I was playing with all Argentines. Not my best
plan. I am ashamed to say I didn't help my team much, but it was really
fun anyway. Actually, I did score one goal now that I think about it.
When we played basketball, it was a different story. Being one of the
few who actually knows the rules to basketball, it was a lot of fun.
Ohhh and on Saturday
we visited with the lady who owns our pension. She and her
granddaughters were at the house...they're MASSIVE One Direction fans.
Let's just say we became fast friends:) They're so cute and nearly DIED
when they heard I went to the One Direction concert. Too funny.
Last night, Hermana Cortes and I were walking back
to our pension and we saw a lady pushing her car along the road while
her husband sat inside steering. (why he was in and she was pushing...I
don't know) but we helped her push the car until we found someone
willing to jump it. The cars here are so tiny and funny looking and
they're surprisingly light, so we were running down the street with a
car...good times.
I LOVE SUNDAYS! Yesterday I had to bear my testimony
in church along with my companion and the new Elder that came. It was
way cool and like I've mentioned before, the ward members here are
AMAZING!! I never wanna leave:)
Anyway, that's all I can think of as of now. I'm out
of time and am realizing that this is the most scattered letter ever,
but hopefully you enjoyed it anyway:) I love Argentina. I love the
culture. Love the people. Language is still hard, but I love it too.
Love the dogs. The milk tastes funny, but it's not awful. They have a
dessert here called ensalada fruta (fruit salad) except it's a lie
because it's really a soup...something liquid with some fruit in it.
Crazy Argentines:) Haha..I love it!
I love you all and I think about you all the time. I
show people pictures of you when they ask...which is A LOT.
Haha...anyway, I hope you're all well:) Thanks for the prayers and
support!!
Forever and Always!
Hermana Heath
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