Welp...I know you're all dying to
know just exactly where in this very large world I am...but I'm gonna
make you wait until the end of my letter! Don't read ahead...that's
cheatinggg! :) First of all...I haven't had any time to read your emails
because as you guessed, yesterday I was traveling all dayyy...any
guesses?!
Okay...so this week was super long and suuuuper tiring. On P-day I don't remember what we did...but Tuesday started out great with an awesome district meeting. Oh wait...on Monday we went to Ushuaia duh...haha...so Tuesday
after writing to you we had our last district meeting of the transfer.
Elder Spackman talked about the importance of BECOMING a missionary. It
was awesome. Best district leader, for reals. Then on Wednesday
we had to do our grocery shopping in the morning...and for lunch...we
were with the Elders and the familia Meretta...it just happens to be
that Argentina played Nigeria that day in the world cup. It was a fun
game! We all took our Argentina jerseys:) VAMOS ARGENTINA!! Haha...after
we had to plan a mission activity we did with the youth on Saturday. It was like a mini alma academy.
On Friday we helped Elder Tarwater and Elder Gutierrez clean the chapel and the baptismal font in preparation for their baptism on Saturday...turns
out the genius that built the chapel made the drains higher than the
baptismal font...so when it rains a lot the water from the bathrooms
doesn't really drain very quickly...so guess where that water fill up?
Yep..the baptismal font. The baptism last week that the Elders had was
definitely in sewer water. Sick. Haha...the good news? We cleaned it out
really well and even resorted to using buckets to scoop the water out
of the drains outside so that Ivan could get baptized in nice clean
water:) Only in Argentina...I'm telling you.
Saturday was a big dayyy! We were in the chapel all day with the Elders. The youth activity started at 10:00AM.
We had a "companionship study" together and talked about our objective
as missionaries and then we did divisions. I went with two of the YW and
my companion with two others and we did contacts and visited some
investigators. We came back to the church for lunch...pizza! And then we
finished the activity with a testimony meeting except everyone had to
share their experiences. We finished by sharing our testimonies about
the mission. It was a really fun activity. It ended at about 4:00PM. From there we did the last minute stuff for the baptism which started at 6:00PM.
Ivan...an awesome investigator and now member of the
church got baptized in three weeks. He has a super strong testimony of
the church and the restoration. He is one of the people that God has
prepared! It was a great way to end the transfer! I got roped into
leading the music...the only problem? The first hymn was one I had never
ever heard ever in my life...even worse? They don't have pianos let
alone someone to play one if it was there...so I just had to start
singing random notes...menos mal that the members seemed to know it
pretty well. All the missionaries were sitting in the back and every
single one of them was laughing at me and the awkward music leading.
What a joke. The things I do as a missionary. Never again. Haha...
Sooo...here it is my dear friends and family. After the baptism Saturday
night we all got together in one of the tiny rooms of the church and
they told us the transfers. Elder Tarwater is going to Trelew Norte!
Elder Lamb is going to Comodoro along with Elder Spackman!! Hermana
Salazar is going BACK to Rio Gallegos! (Que pucha mas grande! Hahaa)
Elder Galindo is going to Puerto Madryn...Hermana Lachos (the luckiest
of us all) is going to RAWSON! And Hermana Heath? She's going to CALETA
OLIVIA!! :) Sooo...there you have it...I'm in Caleta Olivia right
now...about an hour south of Comodoro. It's super different from both
Rawson and Rio Grande...it actually looks like a decent sized city and
it's got HILLS! I got here at 7:00AM...exactly 23 hours after I left Rio Grande. Saturday night I was up until about 3:30AM writing letters to the members and getting all packed and ready to go. Sunday
morning came around really early...church was good...I gave my
testimony along with Elder Tarwater...it was like a mini farewell..ther
rest of the day we spent visiting members and investigators...all of
which gave us food and treats...I was soo full and every time we left a
house I started crying...I'm gonna miss these amazing people soo much!
We got back to the pension at almost 10:00PM and I still had lots of packing to do. I ended up just going to bed at 1:30AM and woke up at 4:30 to finish. I was too tired to stay up. Monday morning we had to be at the terminal at 7:30AM...our bus left just after 8:00AM.
The chouffers(? I have no idea how to spell that..haha..) on that bus
company are kind of creeps sometimes so President Rogers told the zone
leaders that the Hermanas had to si o si sit in a window seat next to an
Elder. I was super bumbed at first but Elder Tarwater ended up being my
bus buddy so it turned out great. We talked for a while and then he
reached for his backpack and pulled out a book...and not just any book,
people...he pulled out the one and only children's book, "You are
Special." Wanna know what makes it even better? It was a SPANISH copy.
Yes friends...Elder Tarwater and I read "Tu Eres Especial" on the bus.
It was sooo fun! We took turns reading pages. Best bus ride EVER! Haha.
It made me soo happy. We passed the Magellan Strait which was cool...I
hung out the whole day with Elder Tarwater and Elder Spackman since they
were the only other English speakers with me:) We got to Gallegos at
about 5:30PM.
An Hermano came with a big bus and took us and our suitcases to the
church in centro and we played volleyball for a couple of hours before
heading back to the terminal. This time Elder Tarwater got on a
different bus...I'm gonna miss that kid. We had soo much fun together in
Rio Grande. I was soo tempted to accidently board that one and go visit
Rawson for just a day..haha:) But..I controlled myself and waited for
my bus which left at 9:30PM.
I sat next to Elder Spackman...we talked for a while until he was
falling asleep...then I had to catch up on my journal writing since I
had not written since Friday...pucha. I hate playing catch up...but it was worth it. At about 12:00AM I was super tired but I couldn't fall asleep due to the bumpiness of the ride. We finally got to Caleta Olivia at 7:00AM...I
ended up only being able to sleep for about 4 hours...but not straight.
So...for those of you counting...I'm running on a whoppin' total of 10
hours of sleep these last three days...I'm super super tired and it
showed today during lunch while watching the Argentina game...I couldn't
keep my eyes open! :) I'm super excited to sleep tonight...but we have
to wake up early to take one of the Hermana's to the terminal at 6:00AM...she's
training and has to go to comodoro to pick up her companion. It's gonna
be super hard to get out of beddd. Oh well..that's mission life I
suppose.
Man..it's sooo hard saying goodbye to people you
love. It's definitely without a doubt my very least favorite part of the
mission. It's brutal. I didn't think I would cry that much leaving Rio
Grande...but it caught me by surprise. I was super sad to go. I hope one
day I can go back to Rio Grande and Rawson. When we were in Gallegos
Hermana Lachos and Hermana Salazar saw a member they had met while they
served there before...they were all so excited and it killed me!! I
wanted soo bad to see someone I knew in Rawson. One day maybeee:) The
mission is hard, che.
Okay...so my new companion is Hermana Rasmussen.
She's got two transfers here in Argentina so she just finished her
training...wanna know who trained her?! HERMANA HUNDLEY! Hermana Hundley
went to Comodoro. Anyway...my comp is from Utah and she's super cute.
We're gonna get along just fine! I'm excited to work with her:)
My pension here is super nice..again. Yaa buddy. I'm
gonna miss Rio Grande soo much though...it's the best ever!! ...besides
Rawson:) Haha...I'm super excited to be here though! Today I'm walking
around with just my light coat on and I'm not even cold! HALELUJAH!
Currently Argentines everywhere are in the streets celebrating their win
agains Switzerland. What an awful game they played, though. I can hear
the cars beeping and the people chanting and singing...definitely
drunk..haha:) Crazy Argentines. The states are playing right now...I
hope they win cause I honestly think they'll beat Argentina if they play
each other on Saturday:) GO AMERICA! :)
Welp...my time is up for the day! Thanks for your
pacience...I've been super excited to let ya'll know where I'm at!! I'll
read your letters tonight when we get back to the pension! Thanks for
all your love and support! I love you all sooo much:) Until next
time....oh...and happy July! ...month seven of 2014 already...use your
time wisely people cause it's reeeeeal short.
Chau chauuu! :)
Hermana Heath
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