Amy's Adventures in Argentina!: HAPPY 2014!!

Hola Family!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you had a very enjoyable New Years! Can you believe it's 2014 already? I can't either. CRAZY how fast the time goes by... this week I'm gonna reach my 4 month mark. Say what?!

So, this week. Where to begin. How about Monday? Well, actually that's a bad idea because I can't remember what happened on Monday. So, I'll just start telling stories as they come to mind.

New Years Eve...welp, it started out GREAT! We had study time and then district meeting where Elder Elliz talked about the dogs in Argentina. He said, (all in Spanish of course!) "Yesterday a dog was following my companion and me around our area, and I thought to myself, we're just like the dogs. We follow people around with great big smiles on our faces, visit the same houses over and over again just to get rejected and stare through the window while the people inside go on with their lives. Why do we do this? Because we love them and we're always loyal." Huh. What a cool analogy...and unfortunately extremely accurate. The number of rejections usually exceeds the number of lessons by far. Anyway, after district meeting we had lunch with a family who has 9 kids. Party? Nope, chaos. Complete chaos...but I loved it...hahahaha. We went around and visited a few less actives because they're the only people that will let us into their houses on New Years Eve, and then we ran into Natalia on the street. She told us that she needs some time and is too stressed with everything going on right now to be able to think about getting baptized at this moment. We still see her and she's very very friendly, but at the moment we're just friends. Sooo, that definitely put a damper on the evening.

We visited the Pranes family that night and chatted with them for awhile. All 8 of them were there. I LOVE their family. So special. They're one of the first families I met here in Rawson. They're awesome. Then we went to Soledad and Carlos' house for the rest of the night. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it was pouring rain. Like...POURING. So, we ran really fast:) We spent the night talking and laughing with Carlos and Soledad and then we ate asado. At midnight the fireworks started...there were even more than there were for Christmas Eve. It was sooo cool. We got home a little before 1:00AM and then went to bed quickly. I was soooo tired. Oh, I forgot to mention that they gave us beer. Hahaha...you gotta remember that only Soledad is a member of the church, and her parents were there as well. It's currently chillin' in our fridge. The good news is that it's non alcoholic...but I'm still not sure if we're allowed to drink it...hmmm.

New Years Day started out with me waking up at 5:30AM to throw up everything that was in my stomach. Awesome. I couldn't really sleep much after that. Then, the Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on our door. Fabulous. Now they know where we live! Pucha. At noon we went with the Elders to Trelew. We played games with all the missionaries there and ate some pollo and tacos. Yumm. Then we all started singing songs. Disney (hilarious... remember that the mayority of my zone is Hispanic and barely speaks English). My personal favorite was when we sang Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up." Elder Holland tried to get Celine Dion's "My Heart will go on" but that ship was sunk before it reached the harbor. Too funny. Being a missionary is the best. No joke.

Ohhh... I don't remember if I told you, but last week we visited a friend of Hermano Chemin and she told me that I speak better Spanish than my companion. Hahaha...her Colombian tone throws the people here. She sings so much when she talks. But like SO MUCH. It's hard for the people to understand lots of times...it's hard for ME to understand lots of the time. Good times though.

So, Haydee, an investigador, got her car set on fire by a bomb on New Years Eve. Yep, some idiot teenagers threw a bomb into her car. It's still sitting in front of her house completely burned. So sad. She's doing good though! Yesterday we visited her and she let us help her pick peaches from her tree in the backyard! Then she gave us some to keep:) Delicious. I never knew how much I liked peaches until now. It's the main dessert here. Peaches and cream...and it's divine.

This week was freezing!! I don't know who stole the sun, but I'd really like it back. BRUTAL. Thank heavens I only have one winter here in Argentina because I wouldn't make it for two...I'm not even sure I'll make it for one... and with my luck I'll be down in Ushuaia. Pray for me people.

So, funniest story of the week? After visiting a family one night, we left the lesson a little late and it was 9:05PM...so what did we do? We started sprinting for the pension. It's about a 15 minute walk, but we ran home in 5 minutes... we made good time ya? Well, I hope it was worth it because we looked like freaks. Complete crazies. A "blonde" North American running through the streets with a big bag of books and pamphlets. Any reputation I had was lost in those 5 minutes. Awesome. We got home quick though...and that was the point. Trying to be obedient. Points for effort?

Welp, that's all that comes to mind at the moment. WAIT! Noooo....yesterday guess who came to church?! The Familia PRANES!! The mom didn't come and the oldest son didn't come...but the dad and Diego and Marcelo with the three sisters Jimena, Gabi, and Micaela. I was sooo happy. We've been visiting them every week since day one here in Rawson and we're finally seeing the results! Jimena is 22 years old and stayed active while her family wasn't. The mom, Juana, has been coming to church pretty regularly since we started the visits, but the dad and the boys were angry and offended and haven't wanted to come back. I guess they changed their minds. They set a goal to be sealed in the temple...they're willing to do whatever it takes... starting with coming to church!! We're gonna keep visiting them...in fact we have an appointment on Tuesday night. But I was so excited I was trying my best not to squeal. AHHHH!!

Welp, that's all for now folks. I hope you're all doing well. Back in school? That's too bad, but hey...you're half way there! Keep up the good work!! Love you all forever and always and I think about you often! Have a blessed week!

Chaus!!

Hermana Heath