Amy's Adventures in Argentina!: HAPPY NEW YEARRRR!!

Hola Querida Familia!!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas because I sure did!! It was sooo good to see your lovely faces last week! It made me soo happy. The bad news is that it made me miss you...but it's okay. Things are back to normal now :)

So, Christmas Eve. After talking with you we went to the chapel and hung out with the Elders. We played games, talked, sang some songs, and filled each other in on how our families were doing. It was a lot of fun. At 8:00PM we went to the radio with some ward members and sang...yep...on the RADIO. No big deal or anything...It was pretty sweet. Hahaha...Hermano Chemin knows EVERYONE. After, we went to the house of the Chemin Family. Gustavo Parra (ward member - 27 years old ish) and his mom (inactive) were there as well. We started out by painting our nails with the Mayor girls. I was THRILLED as I'm sure you can imagine. My poor finger nails have been completely neglected for the last 3 months. Welp, then we decided to let the boys join us and we played some card games...uno and chancho...which is pretty much spoons Argentina style...in other words...it's crazy :) Hahaha...it was such a fun night. At 11:00PM we ate asado. DELICIOUS. At midnight we drank something I'm not sure what (sounds sketchy...but it was non-alcoholic I promise) and then we went outside and the whole town of Rawson erupted with fireworks. IT WAS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. Sign me up for Christmas in Argentina every year. Seriously, fireworks lit up the sky in every direction I looked. After watching the fireworks for a bit, we went inside and sang some Christmas hymns. It was really neat. Then, get this, the Mayor family car wouldn't start...soo we called a taxi. 45-60 minute wait. Well, it was already 12:30AM. So, we walked back to our pension with an army of people. The whole Mayor family including some aunts and cousins, and the Parra Family. We sang Christmas hymns the whole way. We got back safely to our apartment and went to bed quite exhausted, but very very happy!! Sleeping in until 8:30AM was the BEST EVER! I think it's safe to say that's the latest I've ever slept in on Christmas morning...

Christmas day, we went to the church at 10:00AM and hung out with the Elders all morning. Ping-pong tournament...don't worry Matthew...I didn't let you down. I DOMINATED. :) Then we had TIM TAM SLAMS. Courtesy of the Heath Family. So yummy. Thank you so much for the package again!! I have very much enjoyed my favorite chocolates :) At around 2:00PM we went to the Chemin's house in Playa and had lunch...wanna know what we ate? Lamb. Yep. LAMB. Two of them. Apparently it's tradition here. I tried not to freak out and only half succeeded. Good thing the only ones that noticed were the Elders. They thought it was hilarious and kept asking me if I wanted more right when Hermano Chemin was coming around with the plate of lamb just loud enough for him to hear and throw some more on my plate. I was ready to strangle all of 'em...but I didn't. They think they're soooo funny. Hahaha. Welp. After eating the Chemin family got into a huge water fight which started outside and eventually came inside. Yep...inside the house. Buckets of water. The hose. No big deal. The six of us missionaries hid in the corner watching and laughing...most of all dying to participate. It was hilarious. Everyone was SOAKED by the time they were finished. So was the floor in the house. Good thing Argentines don't believe in carpet. Then they had karaoke and dancing. Such fun traditions. It was an awesome day. A very Merry Christmas in Rawson Argentina :)

This week we had a district meeting with our zone leaders present. It was soo good. I admire our zone leaders so much. They talked about the importance of BEING missionaries, not just doing what missionaries do. They shared thoughts about how we can really love and feel what we're doing all day every day. Then Elder Elliz asked us about our experiences in the mission so far, and what our goals are for 2014. It was a really cool meeting. I love being a missionary. I've got loads to learn still, but it's coming. Slow and steady:)

This week we had 3 investigators come to church! Wahooooo! It was such a blessing. It's seriously the hardest thing to get people to wake up in the mornings. Mostly because people go to bed at 3AM, wake up at 11:00...and then take a siesta after lunch until 5:00PM. Crazy Argentines :) Haha...we're working on it. It's forming the habit. That's all.

We still don't know where we're going to spend New Years, but I think we're going to Trelew on New Years day to spend it with the zone. That's still two days away. We've got time :)

Welp, I hope you all have a very happy new year!! Remember to set goals!! :):):) Thank you so much for the pictures and the emails!! I don't have time to respond to all of them today, but I will next week I promise!! I love you all so much and I'm so incredibly thankful for your support and love. It makes all the difference because there are missionaries whose families don't agree with their decisions to serve missions. I can't imagine how hard that would be. I love you all and the church is true!!

Have a blessed week!

Forever and always,

Hermana Heath