BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS!!

Hola querida familia mia,

Welp...I haven't had any time to read your emails...I'll probably do that during district meeting...hahaha just kidding that's a joke but I'll get around to it real soon:) I hope you all had a great week! Mine started off pretty rough, but it ended on a high note!

This week we did divisions on Tuesday with Hermana Kuhn...it was really fun and brought back lots of MTC memories. I mentioned last week that I had a little bit of a cold..well Tuesday I had a sore throat, but even still Hermana Kuhn and I stayed up until 1:00AM talking...Hermana Garavito was the smart one and was sleeping soundly at 9:45PM. It was Tuesday night that the zone leaders did a big conference call with all of us and told us we were going to Ushuaia!! Anyway...Wednesday I was super sleepy..but it was worth it! Haha.

I got to watch the Argentina game on Wednesday since it was during lunch...ya buddy. They didn't play super well...but the Messi goal in the last minute was pretty legit...as they say in Argentina...it was a "golazooo!!" Haha...crazy Argentines. I also heard the US tied with Portugal? Sweet...I only saw the first few minutes and the national anthem. Anyway...

Mom...my zone leader Elder Soto says hi. He's sitting next to me asking me if I told you yet...so there you have it. He's from Chile...I think they might actually be crazier than the Argentines.

On Friday night I went to bed with a fever and upset stomach and a massive headache. I woke up only a little bit better Saturday morning but we left and worked and I felt better as the day went on...on Saturday night I had to give a talk at a baptism the Elders had...when did they ask me? At 10:30 the morning of...go team. It went really well though...I talked about the Holy Ghost at the baptism of a 10 year old girl named Milagros. Her parents are taking the lessons and are planning on getting baptized too I think. She's sooo cute though...she came up afterwards and gave me a great big hug and thanked me...she also told me she is planning on being a missionary when I asked. Little Argentina kids are ADORABLE! Just a little bit before the baptism I started feeling feverish again and through the rest of the night didn't feel super good and Sunday morning I woke up worse! What?! Well. Church was really good..we ate lunch in the pension and I tried to sleep a little bit but I still didn't feel great when I got up. We worked the afternoon normal but at 7:30PM I couldn't do it anymore and so we finished the lesson we were in and went back to the pension a little bit early. My companion called the Elders and they came over to give me a blessing...the first half in Spanish, and the second half in English. It was a really sweet blessing. I couldn't fall asleep that night but luckily when we woke up at 3:30AM to be in the church early to go to Ushuaia I felt better with only a little bit of a headache and a small sore throat...thank heavens I didnt' have a fever! The bus ride to Ushuaia was really long and really hot...we were in a little shuttle thing that we rented that took all 15 missionaries.

When we got to Ushuaia we met up with the Ushuaia zone in the chapel and we walked to the big boat that took us in the direction of antartica...we were closer to antarctica than we were to Buenos Aires. We boarded and sat in tables inside until we got going. Once we were moving they gave us permission to go out on the deck...it was freeeezing..but so worth it. We saw a ton of sea lions that swam right alongside the boat and then we stopped in front of a little island that was swarming with sea lions..they smell really bad and they walk really funny..but it was super cool..we were really close! Then we went a little bit farther to another island and we got to get off the boat and take a short hike up to the top where we took some cool pictures. Then last but not least we went to the lighthouse...."El Faro" It was....really small and kind of disappointing. It was still an awesome trip and an awesome tour..but everyone talks about the lighthouse like it's super cool and exciting...but we just went right on past it on the boat...stopped for like two minutes to take some pictures from the boat and then went back. The sea lions were wayy cooler..haha. We went back to chapel after finishing the tour to eat some lunch all together and then since it was only like 2:00PM and we didn't have anything else planned we played soccer and basketball in the chapel. It was really fun but after a little while Elder Tarwater and Elder Lamb and Elder Spackman got bored and asked if we wanted to go with them to go look around the city. We happily agreed and went to walk around the centro area. We did a little bit of shopping even though I didn't buy anything and then we had to be back in the church at 5:00PM so that we could take the shuttle home at 5:30PM. It was a really fun and tiring day...it was a really long day! But I loved it...although I think I'm good if I never serve in Ushuaia...it's a great place to visit but I don't think I'm up to living there for 4 months... gonna pass on that. OH...but the weird thing? It's wayyy colder in Rio Grande...I'm not sure why...but it is. Menos mal? There wasn't snow there. The bus ride home was super fun...Hermana Kuhn and I sat next to eachother and Elder Lamb and Elder Tarwater were behind us...we talked the whole time mostly about how much we love the united states and what we've learned so far in the mission...I've learned a lot, che. Sometimes I don't even realize it until I stop to think about it...you know the song from Pocahontas "...you think the only people who are people are the people who look and think like you...but if you walk the footsteps of a stranger you'll learn things you never knew you never knew..." True that. Welp...to wrap that all up...when we got back to the church at about 8:30PM we went for ice cream.... yummmmm. It was the perfect way to end the day. We had a great time celebrating the mission's birthday! :)

Well..this week is transfers. I'm pretty sure that I won't be staying here in Rio Grande, so I'll give you the heads up now...Monday morning the bus leaves here at 8:00AM...if I get transfered I don't know if I'll be able to write to you next Monday cause I'll be traveling...so if you don't get an email monday morning at the usual time, you'll be getting one later in the afternoon or Tuesday:)

Well family...thanks for all your love, support, and prayers! I can feel it everyday here in Argentina! I love love love being a missionary. It's the best in the world! I know that God loves us soo much and he blesses us when we try our best. I'm learning in the mission that God never asks for more than we can give, but he also never expects less than our best. Keep being excellent people!

Hugs and kisses from the bottom of the worlddd! :)

Hermana Heath

Awww man...I just finished the family email and looked out window....it's snowing. Puchaaaa.

sea lions...

Hello....USHUAIA?!

Well family...I've got exactly five minutes so this is gonna be short and sweet. On July 1st we celebrate the year mark of the Comodoro Rivadavia Mission. To celebrate Presidente Rogers sent us to Ushuaia to visit the lighthouse at the end of the world!! So..yes...this morning we left Rio Grande at 5:00AM and we just got to the chapel in Ushuaia. I'll take lots of pictures and tomorrow when we're back in Rio Grande we'll have normal email time:) President Rogers is sooo great. He is sending the entire mission to see something cool in the country...the mission doesn't have funds for that so he spends his own money. He always tells us he wants to make sure we see the cool sights in Argentina!!

Have a great week! Love you all and I'll tell you all about it tomorrow! :)

Hermana Heath

VAMOS ARGENTINA!!

Hola mi queridisima familia,

Did you have a good week? This week FLIED by for me. I don't know where the days are going! It's so crazy to think that I'm living at the bottom of the world freezing my tail off every single day...why the heck am I so happy all the time? The mission has a weird affect on me. Sounds like Kim did great at her dance recital. Wish I could have been there! Thanks for the pictuers! And I loved seeing Amanda and Malia tambien! They're soo cute:) Oh my heck. Growing up soo fast. And...it sounds like Father's day was enjoyable! Mine was too here in Argentina:)

This week was NUTS! With the world cup starting, Argentines have officially reached a whole new level of CRAZY. Argentina is one of the countries that is most obsessed with soccer...right up there is Brazil too. Thanks for the world cup updates. I've seen bits and pieces of the games...every Argentine has the TV turned on day and night to the world cup. They're constantly playing Messi commercials and talking about who's gonna win and who's gonna lose. Anyway...yesterday was the big day...Argentina vs Bosnia. At 5:00PM the the entire country of Argentina went into a national shutdown. You think that's a joke..but no. Everyone left their places of work and went to their homes or their friends house to watch the game. Rio Grande was a ghost town after 6:30PM and no one was gonna open the door. Luckily we had a devotional with the temple president of Buenos Aires which I'll write more about later. Anyway..we saw about the last ten minutes of the game and definitely Messi's goal re-run. At 9:30 as we were walking to the pension it was nuts! Everyone was in the streets...every car honking...people hanging out of the windows with blow horns...a million Argentine flags and everyone and their dog (literally the dogs too) decked out in Argentine jerseys, scarves, hats...everyone had their faces painted...it was nuts. I've never seen anything like it...and it was only the first game! I can't even imagine what it will be like if Argentina keeps winning!

So, like I mentioned before, the temple president from Buenos Aires came to Rio Grande to talk to the members. At 4:30PM there was a session for un-endowed members and at 6:00PM a session for endowed members. We got to go to both! It was super cool. I love the temple soo much and I can't wait to go to the temple in Buenos Aires:)

So...the freezing weather in Rio Grande has caught up with me. I'm officially sick with a cold and sore throat. Pucha. It's all good though. I'm taking my airborn and vitamins faithfully:) It could be worse...I'm just praying that I don't lose my voice! Today we're going over to Maria and Marcelo's with Elder Tarwater and Elder Gutierrez for lunch...empanadas! Yahoo...I made homemade ice cream that we're gonna take for dessert. Yummmm. Yesterday one of the Elders investigators asked me if Elder Tarwater and I are related. Apparently we look alike and talk with the same accent. Haha. Couldn't stop laughing about that one. Everyone here thinks that every gringo looks exactly like the next one.

So...yesterday...Father's day...I thought about you alll day! I could picture you all sitting there eating dinner, playing some games...you know...the normal...I didn't picture you all sitting there watching the world cup though. That's new.. Haha...but anyway... I started to miss home a bit and since we walked a lot and my comp and I weren't talking, I striked up a conversation with Heavenly Father as I often do in those situations. I wished him a Happy Father's Day and told him a couple of good jokes I've learned in the last couple weeks and told him to send you all lots of hugs and kisses. We had a grand old time and I felt better afterwards:) We are soo blessed knowing that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that we can talk to him anytime and anywhere. It's true...I know he listens to us. I can feel it every time we talk!

Okay...I'm out of time for the day! Enjoy your warm weather cause it's freeeeezing here! Have a great week! I love you all sooo much! :) Keep up the good work and be excellent to each other! Hugs for everyone from the bottom of the world! VAMOS ARGENTINA!! :) I think they play again on Saturday...yahooo!

Hermana Heath

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Hey Fam,

This week was the looooongest week of my life. Last night as I was getting in to bed at 10:30PM I was sooo relieved...that was until the zone leaders called us and said they wanted to do a conference call with the entire zone. It ended up being 11:00PM when we finally hung up and got to sleep:)

First off...DAD! I'm almost positive that next Sunday is Fathers day...and if it's not this is gonna be really awkward...but it's Fathers day in Argentina...then again we'd be insane to trust Argentina's calendar cause they're all CRAZY. Anyway...I hope you have the best fathers day EVER! I love you soo much! Thanks for all your love and support. It really does mean the world to me! :) You're the BEST!

Second...Matthew! What a cool week for you! I loved loved loved going to the temple for the first time! It's the best! I miss the temple so much. People always say that...but I didn't really understand what they meant...it's pretty...peaceful...special and all that but there's something about it that makes you feel like you're at home. I didn't recognize that until I realized that I'm homesick for the temple! :) Go lots of times before you leave! And in the mission you'll get to go right? Is the Houston Temple within the boundaries of the mission?

Third...the world cup! Well...the mundial as they call it here in Argentina starts on Thursdsay. I've got the entire schedule taped into the back of my agenda and in the notes seccion of every day I've got the most important games written in! Haha...we're supposedly gonna work normal missionary hours but I wouldn't be surprised if President gives us study time when Argentina plays. The members here told us that with the other mission president the missionaries weren't allowed to leave the pension when Argentina played because people party in the streets afterwards and everyone's drunk...it's apparently worse when they lose cause everyone's angry. We'll say! President Rogers told us to be careful and not to go to areas where there are large groups of people gathered together. I think the big teams are Brazil, Spain, Germany, Portugal, and Argentina should do pretty well...they've got lots of really good players...some of the top in the world! I bought myself a Messi jersey this week:) yahoo! Go ARGENTINA! (Nobody tell Craig but Brazil is gonna lose after the first round...haha) 

Sooo...anyone want some good stories?! Well...first off...the husband of an investigator told us the other day, "Did you know you walk faster than the colectivo?! I saw you guys walking the other day as I was getting on the colectivo...you were headed in the direction of the grocery store...the same place I was going. By the time the bus got there you guys were already two streets past the store." I'll have you know that we beat the colectivo for 6 streets. Haha...apparently we move faster than public transportation. It gave us a good laugh.

Next story...last week some drunk guy in the Anonima (grocery story) started singing us a love song. Super awkward. Everyone was staring at us...we just tried to hurry and leave. Haha.

So...do you wanna know what's retarded? P-days here in Rio Grande are super boring...wanna know why? From Tuesday until Sunday...it doesn't rain...but every monday morning at 3:00AM without fail it starts raining...no biggie we can still play futbol with water...the problem is the rain very quickly turns to ice...which makes it pretty impossible to play and a little bit dangerous. Last week we played anyway...all of us took turns slipping and falling. One time though I fell straight onto my back and got the wind knocked out of me. Hahaha...it was soo funny...it didn't hurt me at all but the Elders thought I was paralyzed for sure...despite the fact that I was moving. Haha...good times. We probably shouldn't play on the ice...but then we're stuck inside the chapel for 6 hours doing nothing. Pucha. I'm not a big fan of the weather in Rio Grande.

This week we started English classes. Elder Tarwater and I are teaching them...it was a lot of fun...even though we are definitely not qualified! Haha. Then Saturday night the whole city didn't have light or water. Good times. Luckily the light in our pension came back after about 30 minutes. We had to light candles because it was pitch black. With the sun going down at 5:15PM and the street lights not working...at 9:30PM it's reallly dark. Haha. It was a weird experience. This week we had weather 10 degrees below zero. It's been really really cold...and apparently it's still just barely getting started. Someone get me off of this freaking island! Haha..actually though last week it snowed in Gallegos. Counting my blessings.

Ohhh....this week...or last week I think it was I finished Doctrine and Covenants. I love the promeses it has! In the Bible I'm reading in Samuel. And in the New Testament in Luke. I really really like the Book of Mormon. Haha:) It' definitely my favorite!

Okay family...I think that's it for this week. Today we're having a "zone" p-day. The zone leaders planned it and supposedly we're gonna have a lot of fun...I'm pretty sure we're gonna play get to know you games. Whoopee? Haha...we'll see...the good news though is that we're gonna eat homemade ice cream made by the one and only Hermana Heath. We've got neapolitan...chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. It's gonna be delicious:)

Haha...anyway...have a great week! I love you all sooo much! I thought a lot about you this week and missed you too! It's been a really long time since I've seen you...like 9 months! Crazy. Welp...hang in there friends...only nine more months to go! It's already been 6 months since Christmas...the time goes flying! Hugs and kisses from Rio Grandeee! :)

Hermana Heath

yeah..remember all the ice we were cleaning off the court?

there was a lot..30 minutes of sweeping easy.

Happy JUNE!

Hola Familia,

Can you believe it's June already?! I can't...where did the time go?! I swear we JUST celebrated Christmas and New Years. Welp...I realized this week that Matthew's graduation means that it's SUMMER. You're officially out of school...well I guess that only applies to Kimberly and Matthew. Em and Craig have a couple weeks to go still:) Haha. I hope you enjoyed Matthew's graduation! Going through the temple will be awesome! I wish I was gonna be there! Soo cool.

I'm glad you got my letters! I hope you enjoyed them:) I tried to make them all about the same length...I kind of anticipated that someone would think I loved them more because I wrote them a longer letter. Haha...I had a good time writing you all. It makes me happy...but it takes AGES. I wrote letters every night for two weeks straight in my spare time...a few lines here a few lines there...haha. Missionaries are busy people..who knew!

Welp...this week was a good one. Well...it started out bad. Last week while playing futbol Elder Tarwater kicked the ball right into my face. What a punk. It wasn't a hard kick and it didn't hurt so it was all good...but he didn't need to know that. I gave him a hard time about it and made him feel a little bit bad and then forgave him. Mostly because he started singing that song...is it Phil Collins that sings "What do I gotta do to make you love me?" I don't remember...but it was hilarious. Hahaha. From there things went uphill. We had an awesome district meeting on Tuesday. My district leader is Elder Spackman from Provo. He's such a hard worker and a great leader. He was in the MTC with me so we have the same time in the mission. I love love love district meetings:) We have another one tomorrow. My companion and I have to teach about the christlike attributes charity and love from preach my gospel. It should be good.

This week I gave myself another haircut. My hair is getting blonder...people say it's the water...but I'm not cool with it. Pray for me, people. I dont' want to be bloooonde. This week was super cold...with lots of rain in the mornings and fog at night. The other day we could hardly see a thing! It gets dark here at about 5:20PM and the sun comes up at about 9:35AM. It's crazy! The people tell us the shortest day the sun will go down just before 5:00 and come up a little after 10:00. Sometimes during studies I feel like it's the middle of the night cause when we look out the window it's pitch black!

This week on Friday morning we had to wake up early and be at the migrations office (20 minute walk from the pension) at 8:30. We got there and had to wait for the Elders...like always. Hermana Garavito walked across the street to go look at the beach. When the Elders finally showed up we waited outside while they talked with the people inside...the good news?! I have a DNI! In other words...until the end of my mission I'm legal!! The bad news..the card is in Comodoro. It's basically like a drivers license. If anyone tries to kick me out of the country or when I have to cross the border all I have to do is show my card that says I'm a legal resident of argentina. It only took 9 months to get it! haha:) But the zone leaders travel to comodoro this week I think so they'll bring it back with them.

OH. My pension is haunted. The other night I woke up in the middle of the night and a light in the kitchen that doesn't work was on. That light has never every worked in the three months I've been here. Sketchy. Anyway...I rolled over and kept sleeping with my face to the wall. I was not down to get out of bed...haha. In the morning it was still on...my companion and I were both super confused and freaked out. It took us 20 minutes and a prayer to build up the courage to leave the bedroom and check it out. We turned off the light and then tried turning it back on...nothing. The light doesn't work. How it turned on in the  middle of the night I have no idea. FREAKY.

Sooo....on Friday night we were in charge of a branch activity. You all know that I'm not a creative person...my companion isn't either...and unfortunately the Elders are even worse at coming up with ideas than we are. Luckily we have an hermana in the ward who is AWESOME and helped us out. We ended up playing pictionary. Both the Elders and us had investigators there and several branch members showed up. It was actually a lot of fun:) My team definitely won! Yahoooo:) We had lunch on Saturday with Maria and Marcelo...wanna know what we ate?! LASAGNA. Life made. It's been waaayyyy too long. Hahaha.. well...I think that's it for the week. 20 minutes outside of the city rio grande (at Cabo Domingo) there's snow...I don't think it will make it to where we are though...apparently it hasn't in a few years...I'm not sure why...but I'm not complaining either:)

Welp...I hope ya'll have an awesome week! I love you and I think about you every single day! You're always in my thoughts and prayers!  The church is true people. I have no doubt. The gospel truly does make us better people. Every day in the mission I see people come closer to Christ and change a little bit for the better...they don't all choose to get baptized...but as they grow closer to Him, I get to see the changes and the light start to appear in their lives. What a blessing!! :) I think it's Alma 26 in the first couple of verses that talks about the biggest blessing God gives us is that we can be instruments in his hands. There couldn't be anything more true!

I love youu!

Hermana Heath