it's DECEMBER?

Hola Familia!!

I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!! I thought about you all day and I'll tell you, I had no idea what homesickness was until Thursday. BUT, I'm doing good. I only lost it for a second in the morning while my companion was showering and I wished myself a very happy argentine thanksgiving. I LOVED the pictures!! Thank you so much. I'm so glad you sent the one of dad standing on the chair because I thought about you around the time I knew you would be eating and I pictured dad standing on the chair saying something about spillers and non-spillers. Hahahaa. Glad it was a fun week for everyone!!

Shall I tell you about my thanksgiving dinner? Pasta. Ya, not the traditional turkey and potatoes, but it was good. It was also the biggest thanksgiving dinner I've ever eaten. We had hard-boiled eggs first and then some weird breaded sandwich thing...and then the pasta. The only problem was that I was almost full and the Hermana who fed us lunch, bless her heart, stacked my plate like 3 inches high with pasta. I don't know if you remember, but pasta is not my favorite to begin with. While it was good, it was a little much for me. I was greatly wishing at that moment that I was sitting at home in the non-spillers section of the house with all of you!! But, this week we had transfers...this Thanksgiving I'm thankful that I get to spend six more weeks in Rawson with Hermana Cortes and the Elders! Our district isn't gonna change (with the exception of the new missionary coming in place of mini missionary Elder Dominguez. Elder Elliz will be training).

Anyway, this week was better. Hermana Cortes' birthday was so fun! Hermano Chemin fed us lunch, but Hermana Cortes didn't know that we were going there. He had called us that morning saying he couldn't make it. The Elders and I planned a suprise party for her! We had cake and everything. It was awesome and she was really happy. In addition, I sang her every birthday song I know, including Taylor Swift's "22" since she turned 22 years old. Good times. It was a fun day.

Today is Elder Verges' birthday so we're gonna party some more. SO MUCH CAKE THIS WEEK. But, it's so good...so I won't complain. We're gonna celebrate in the church since it's pday and we don't have lunch with members today. We'll find something to do...Rawson is tiny, though, so we're gonna have to be creative! Maybe we'll go to the beach. It's in the area of the Elders so Hermana Cortes and I have yet to see it. It's only 15 minutes away by bus.

So, in Argentina when we eat at the members houses it's kind of a rule that they have to serve dessert. It's inpolite to not give us something sweet...so, usually they make ensalada fruta...I don't remember if I've told you about it but it's basically just a bunch of fruit cut up in some juice...yes, it's soup not salad, but it's to die for. Anyway, two days in a row this week they gave us ICE CREAM! My companion said that she's never been served ice cream at lunch before. The ice cream here is SO good. It's definitely no cold stone, but it's really good. It's different than ours...not better, not worse, just different. Anyway, on Saturday they served us a BIG bowl of ice cream, then when we had finished they asked if we wanted more. To be polite you always say yes, plus, it was delicious. Anyway, I agreed to eat "a little bit more." She apparently doesn't know what "un poquito" means because the second bowl was bigger than the first. But I'll be honest, I wasn't complaining. Two massive bowls of neopolitan ice cream. DE-LI-CIOUS.

Also, this week in Argentina the older kids finished school for the summer. Weird right? It's December...it's winter...it's supposed to be cold! Well, not in Argentina. Anyway, the students finished school and the evidence is in the streets. In the United States we save all our homework and have a big bonfire at the end of the year right? Well, in Argentina, they save every single paper, rip them to shreds, and at the end of the year throw it all out on the streets. PAPER EVERYWHERE. Kinda cool, but really unfortunate for the people who have to clean it up. Hahaha:)

We're teaching an Hermana named Soledad. She's awesome. She has a real desire to follow Jesus Christ and strengthen her relationship with God. She's praying and we gave her a Book of Mormon yesterday. We've got an appointment with her on Tuesday:) Fingers crossed!

I can't believe that it's December. It's sooo hot. This last week there's been next to no wind. But, I'm not gonna complain, because the few days we've had that have been really cold are wayyy worse than the days that are really hot....however, it's not going to be a white Christmas here in Rawson:) Haha. The good news? I have the best tan I've had in YEARS. The bad news? I have the most hideous tan lines on my feet and wrist and neck. Nasty. Hahaha..oh well, what can you do?

Glad to hear you're all getting ready for Christmas! I'm getting excited to skype with you!! By the way, you need to figure out how we're gonna skype. I wanna be able to see youuu! We come to the internet cafe like always to skype. I'll let you know when I know more about Christmas:)

Welp, I think I've gotta finish here pretty soon. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Despite all the hard days, I'm so happy. My companion gets discouraged a lot which is hard for me, and I often wonder why I'm so happy when she's upset, and I think it has a lot to do with the prayers of family and friends. I know that I have a huge support system all around me and it makes such a big difference!! Plus, I'm not here to be sad...and knowing that makes it a lot easier to let little things go and respect the agency of others. As long as I'm trying my best, it's okay. I can't force someone into the baptismal font or make someone gain a testimony.  I was studying 2 Nefi 31 this morning during personal study. I LOVE that chapter. It's so straightforward with what we have to do. Have faith, repent, get baptized, receive the holy ghost, and endure to the end. At the end of the chapter it says that there is no other way. Only through Jesus Christ can we inherit the kingdom of God. I love personal study. It's the best.

Well, I've gotta go. We're gonna go celebrate with Elder Verges! :) PARTY TIME!! Hahaha:) Here in argentina, party time is always an adventure. With Elder Pinkston who leaves for home today everyone got sprayed with soap. Yes, everyone, including me. SOAP. The ward members came into the room with bottles of spray soap and started spraying everyone and everything. INSIDE THE HOUSE. Crazy Argentines. Hahaha but I love it. I love these people...so maybe I'm crazy too? All signs point to yes:)

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!! You're in my thoughts and prayers every day!! Only 23 days til we get to skype!! I don't know about you but I'm counting down!

Forever and always,

Hermana Heath

Hermana...what's your last name?

HOLAS!!

Como andan?! So, first off, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE EMAILS THIS WEEK! I LOOOOVE HEARING FROM YOU! I hope you're all doing well. I pray for you every single day and I think about you all the time...while still keeping my focus on my calling here in Argentina, of course:)

I have so much to tell you about this week. It was a really hard week, but so many funny and good things came from it!!

So, like I said, this week was another rough one. We had three investigators tell us that they didn't want us to come back. So sad, but I have faith that one day they will be ready to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and I hope that we were able to prepare them a little bit for that day. They are wonderful people. After losing those three investigators, the number of lessons we taught dropped like crazy. This week was lots of walking around...talking to people on the street...knocking a few doors...rarely entering a house...all in the blazing hot sun...with absolutely no wind. The good news? We found three new future investigators this week through our efforts...two of them (sisters) are awesome and we put a baptismal date during the first lesson and they both accepted! Unfortunately, we haven't been able to meet with them since because the daughter of one of them is really sick and they've been in the hospital. They're not sure what's wrong. We have a lesson with them tomorrow though planned.

The other lady we found in a super sketchy district in Rawson. There's lots of drinking that goes on there...and this week we had our first REAL encounter with some drunk men! Wahooo. Not really...the thing about the people here is that they're obsessed with the United States...and when they see the green eyes (dead give away since EVERYONE here has brown eyes), they become obsessed with ME. The two drunk men were no different. They wanted to talk about basketball and kept telling me how pretty I was. Unfortunately, we couldn't just leave because we were talking to the lady whose husband is in prison and is having a really hard time and wants to listen to our message. I'll be honest...I was freaked out. I decided I don't much like drunk men. Hahahaha.

Last P-day we went to Trelew and played with all the missionaries. It was so fun. We mostly played volleyball. It's so nice to have a break and enjoy a fun day with the missionaries. Last Friday night we had a ward talent show!! So much fun. I, however, got roped into doing a skit with the missionaries. I was a fairy. I'll tell you, I did not sign up for this part of being a missionary. Hahaha...still don't like acting. Not one bit. It wasn't too bad though. The members are soo kind. So are the other missionaries:)

So, on Saturday, we visited a lady who is not a member of the church. She isn't open to listen to the missionaries, but we helped her weed her yard. Well, it was more like demolish. The weeds and grass were at least a foot high, and so we were mostly taking everything out...Argentina style. In other words, we used KITCHEN KNIVES. Let's just say that weed wacking took on a whole new meaning for me this week. Crazy Argentines! Holy nutso...I've never in my life seen anything like it. Hahaha...Hermana Delfina Carcamo was there helping too. Let me tell you about her. She is 85 years old. Has no teeth. Is absolutely adorable. Anyway, she was bent over for a solid hour and thirty minutes wacking at the weeds and pulling them out without taking a single break to stand up. Woah. Don't forget she's 85 YEARS OLD! HAhaha...my companion and I were very impressed.

This week is transfers...;( Sad day. Elder Dominguez (the mini missionary from Rio Gallegos - further south in Argentina) leaves tonight. He's so great. We'll miss him for sure. I think our district leader, Elder Elliz, will probably leave too. Who knows!  Oh, and we didn't end up starting classes of English this week. Next week for sure though!!

Yesterday for lunch we had an ASADA. I don't know if I've told you about asadas in Argentina, but it's basically a barbecue...with like 5 or 6 courses of meat and NOTHING else. So, a meal of all meat. Yesterday we had some mashed potatoes to go with it, but very few. Oh, and they always drink soda here. I'm not sure I like it. But, oh well, they do it so they don't drink from the tap. I guess that's a good thing for us:)

So, funniest story of the week? Here goes. You're gonna need your scriptures. Woah...I'm totally a missionary, huh? HAhahaha. Anyway, our district leader calls us every night to see how our day went and to make sure we're okay. Sweet, right? Anyway, one of the nights this week, Elder Elliz told me to read Mormon 8:3 before going to bed. I happily agreed, excited to know what it said. As I was getting into bed that night, I pulled out my Spanish scriptures and read it (Go ahead and read the scripture). A little freaked out, I pulled out my English scriptures to make sure I understood. Yes, I had understood perfectly. What the? Confused and a little bit sad, I went to bed. The next night when Elder Elliz called to see how we were, I asked why on earth he would tell me to read that scripture before going to bed. Trigger the nightmares in 3..2..1 right? Well, after talking a little bit more, we realized that the scripture he meant to tell me was MORONI 8:3. I read Mormon 8:3 to him over the phone and he DIED laughing. Then we read Moroni 8:3 over the phone together. He still claims that he said Moroni the first time, but it's not true. I know what I heard. Hahaha...anyway...it made for a good laugh. :)

So, several people have asked how or if the people ever say my last name. Well, they do. Or at least they try:) Sometimes it's Hermana Heat. Other times it's Hermana Hit. I've also heard Hermana Heert. And sometimes Hermana Hate. It's very possible that I'll forget my own last name before the end of the mission. Hahaha. Too funny. It's always fun to listen to people try and see what they come up with:)

To answer a few questions: Mom...nope, no recollection at all of Señora Dantes, although I'm sure she's great! I'm sure she's great! hahaha...and Andrew Seegmiller? Is he my age? I don't think so but I'm not positive...

Also, you asked about the toilets. They're quite a sight. In Argentina we can't flush toilet paper because it clogs the toilets. I saw my first toilet with a flush handle a few weeks ago and thought I was in heaven. The others you have to pull the little thingy on the inside. It's always an adventure for me trying to figure out how to flush each toilet since they're all a little bit different. Hahaha...the joys of third world countries! Nahh, it's not too bad though. At least we HAVE toilets. I'm not complaining:)

Matthew (aka Mr. Smarty Pants). I hope you know that you are exactly the kid that I hated in my calculus class. Who get's 100% on a calculus test? ESPECIALLY chapter 4?! Wait until chapter 9 comes...it's a beast as well. But way to go, bud!! I wish I could say that I'm surprised, but I'm not. You've always done really well in school.

Kimberly! Haha...personal history. It's a beast. Better get started!! I hope you're doing well and enjoying school and TDT! I think about you all the time and wish I could be at your performances!! You'll have to make sure mom videos some so I can watch them when I get home!!

Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic week and a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!  At first, when I was thinking about all of you gathered together eating loads of yummy food...I was a little bit sad and just a tiny bit homesick, but then I laughed at myself and realized that every day is Thanksgiving in Argentina if we judge it by the amount of food we're expected to eat at lunch! Hahaha...sigh. If only that was a joke. Well, I love you all soo much. Give everyone hugs for me this weekend! President Rogers birthday is this Thursday....haha...that was random, but we'll probably call him and wish him a happy birthday (and thanksgiving:)) Oh, and Hermana Cortes says thank you for the birthday wishes!

I love you forever and always!!

Chau chau!!

Hermana Heath

Patience is a Virtue

Hola Familia!!

I loved hearing about how you're all doing! I don't know why but it made me super happy today. Maybe because I've thought about you a LOT this week. I was so excited to hear about Justin's baptism!! That's awesome. Often times when I babysat the McDonald's he was playing with Steven. He's a good kid. That's so cool that you got to baptize him, dad!! You are such a great example for the young men in our ward. They all admire and look up to you so much..as do I!! Glad to hear Kimberly is doing well in TDT and school. Matthew, chapter 4 is a beast. I remember well. Good luck, bud!! You can do it! Emily...well, I've never written a 30 page paper...but I assume it's less than enjoyable. I hope you're enjoying school. You're getting pretty close to finals aren't you? Just a few weeks away if I remember correctly? How many games does Craig have left? Still cheering from Argentina:) Good luck this week!

This week has been one giant test of patience. Okay, so I think that's how you spell patience but I'm not sure...pacience...patients...patience...oh well. You get the picture. This week we had hardly any lessons, and even fewer lessons with members. We walked around a lot without finding people. There were still, however, lots of little miracles along the way!! We found a girl, Leonela, who is really interested in our message. We gave her a pamphlet the first time we met her (through an inactive ward member) and she read it, prayed, felt good, and has lots and lots of questions. She's Catholic but says that she doesn't know why. We have a lesson with her this upcoming week. She's great and we're praying really hard for her!

This week Elder Acuña and Elder Verges had two baptisms. Mario and Gabriel. They are friends that the Elders taught. Maybe...25ish years old. Elder Verges asked me to play the piano so I did prelude and we sang Nearer My God to Thee and Choose the Right for the opening and closing songs. Earlier that afternoon, Hermana Cortes and I made cookies...wait for it...but not just any cookies. We made North American cookies. The cookies here in Argentina are wayyy different. No one makes cookies from scratch, so it was like Christmas for all the Argentines. So funny. Everyone was obsessed. They weren't even that good because the brown sugar here is super sketchy and you can only buy baking soda in pharmacies here. What the?! Also, no chocolate chips, so we used "rocklets" which are basically m&m's but the Argentine version. Good times. It was really fun though. We had to cook them in the church since we don't have a kitchen. Oh, and the oven? You can't set it at a certain temperature because it's a fire underneath the boards so baking them was quite the adventure. Anyway, the baptism was great. It's days like those that make all the hard times worth it. Even though it wasn't a baptism of someone we have been teaching, we're all working together in the same work. We're all on the same team striving for one goal, and that is to bring Heavenly Father's children back to His presence. Such a special day:)

It is so hot here. Holy nutso. It's definitely warmer than 70 degrees, but I never know for sure because everything is in celsius. So frustrating. I'm starting to get the hang of it...but really, fahrenheit is so much easier. It makes so much more sense. Anyway, we all know that there's no central heating in Argentina...well...the same applies for air conditioning. Non-existent. So we're pretty much hot all the time. I've got nabby tan lines on my feet from my grandma shoes...like really bad. Oh well, what can ya do? But really, I'm glad it's warm and not cold:) It's still super windy, so that helps us to not die everyday.

This week was the first experience with bugs...to be more specific...BED BUGS! yayyy. I've got several bites on my legs from bedbugs...and I'm using my spray...but I'm probably gonna have to find something here as well that will help. Sweet.

This last week on Tuesday we had zone conference with President and Sister Rogers. Trelew North and Trelew South were there...which means Hermana Kuhn!! It was sooo good to see her. We sat next to each other and tried to be reverent:) But the zone conference was amazing. President Rogers is so great...plus he's got a cackle that just might be able to beat Jilene Mecham. PRICELESS. Never gets old. Hermana Rogers is so sweet and takes really good care of the Hermanas:) I absolutely ADORE her.

And now...I know the only thing you really want to hear about is the PENGUINS!! On Thursday morning President Rogers took all the missionaries in Trelew to see the penguins in Punta Tombo. It was about a 2 hour drive, but President Rogers said that he wants to make sure that we get to see the sites while we're here since lots of us won't be able to come back to our missions. Anyway, all the Hermanas drove in the car with President and his wife. The Elders all had to take a bus. Hahahaha. Let's just say that buses here are worse than the white roller coaster at Lagoon. So bumpy. Anyway, we went through a visitors center and then went to see the penguins. All of them are Magellan penguins, and there are hundreds...probably thousands of penguins everywhere you look. We had marked trails that we had to stay on, but there were penguins within 5 feet of us at times. Plus, they can walk wherever so they would walk across the trail (kind of like the bufalo in Yellowstone!! DREAM COME TRUE. you all know how much I love it when we have to stop the car for the bufalo...this time it was for the penguins:)) Anyway, they were everywhere with their nests. We saw lots of eggs and when we finally got to the ocean, there were lots chillin' on the beach or playing in the water. It was sooo pretty there. I got lots and lots of pictures, but it was a moment that I really wanted to share with my family. It's absolutely beautiful there:) Anyway, it was awesome. We ate lunch at a restaurant, and then we got back in the car and enjoyed a nice siesta:) Every single missionary was passed out, in our car and in the bus of Elders. Too funny...okay so I know that last week I mentioned 101 Dalmatians...but I have to reference it again. You know the scene where all the puppies go to the barn and drink the milk and then the next scene is the parents looking at all the sleeping puppies? Yep, that was us with President and Sister Rogers. Hahaha.

Oh, do you know what? Next week...well Saturday...I am teaching English!! My companion signed me up. I never agreed...and I'm not sure how I feel about it seeing as I don't know the grammar rules of English...but we'll see what happens. One hour on Saturdays from now on. I guess it'll be fun? 

I got to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting yesterday about missionary work along with Hermana Cortes and Elder Verges. Terrifying, but it went well. The members here are so incredibly supportive. They are so loving and kind...especially toward the Hermanas. They all call me "hermanita" and they call us "las estrellas" (the stars) because it's been so long since they've had sister missionaries. I think the Elders secretly resent us a little bit for it:) hahaha jokes jokes, but really. Everyone in the ward jumps at any chance to do something to help the Hermanas. These people are wonderful. Also, you should know that every day at lunch with the members they pray for you. It always makes me want to cry. It's hard being away from home and away from our families, and they know that. They always pray for your safety, well-being, and happiness. It's the sweetest thing. I think the members here pray for you more than I do!! Well...probably not..but they do pray for you a lot:)

I was a little bit sad to hear that Bugs died....(Hercules is the little one) but I must say it was about time. I hope you said something kind before flushing him down the toilet.

Mom, you were wondering about Hermana Cortes. She's awesome. She's from Colombia. She's 21 years old (turns 22 on November 27th). She is the only member of her family. She was introduced to the church at age 17, but had to wait until she was 18 to baptize because her parents wouldn't give her permission. She helps me so much. She's really sweet, but just like all the women here, she has a very strong personality and is not afraid to ask favors or say what she thinks. Luckily, she seems to like me so we get along just fine:)

Anyway, I hope you're all doing really well! I love you so much. Thank you for all your prayers and your support. It means the world to me!! Today we're going to Trelew to play with all the missionaries. Should be fun...and Hermana Kuhn will be there! She is doing really well.

Have a fantastic week!!

I love you forever and always!!

Hermana Heath

Si Dios Quiere....

Hola Familia!!

Que tal?! I can´t believe I´ve been in Argentina for ...2 weeks? is it 3? is it 18 months? I don´t know. I have yet to figure out where the time is going...

Glad to hear the Craig meister-meister Craig is still doing well in hockey. How´s TDT for Kimberly? And Matthew...school...council...tenis? Hope you´re all doing well. Sounds like Em is keeping busy...when is Thanksgiving? Hope everyone had a good halloween!!

So...starting with last monday. We went to Trelew to celebrate Elder Holland´s birthday. Empanadas and pizza (although do not be deceived...it´s not really pizza.) Apparently it´s a custom in Argentina to crack eggs on the head of the birthday person and then shower them with flour when they´re least expecting it. Hilarious, yes. But there´s no chance that I´m going to let anyone know when my birthday is:) Anyway...it was a really fun day. At 6:00pm we were back out on the streets!

Throughout the week we taught several lessons with members and contacted tons of people. But people in Argentina are very strong. They make decisions and they stick to it. Religion is no different. It´s hard to get people to listen to us, but if we can get them to let us into their home, it´s usually pretty successful. We have a few investigators. Since we´re both new to the area we´re starting from scratch so it´s really hard, but we´re getting there. I´ll let you know more about the people when things move a little farther. We´ve been working a lot with inactive members and trying to bring them back. Our goal as a mission is to qualify for a Temple to be built in Patagonia. We had two inactive families return to church yesterday which was AWESOME. There are two kids, Brisita, who is the granddaughter of the lady who owns the pension Marlen Mirantes, whose parents are members but she is not. She has a baptismal date set for the 7th of December, and another boy Giuliano has a baptismal date set for the 14th of December. Most likely neither will actually be baptized on those dates because despite the desire the kids have to be baptized, the parents have to be in agreeance. As of right now, they´re not. We´ll see. Fingers crossed. Lots of prayers:)

On Thursday was Hermano Chemin´s birthday!! He turned 59 years old. That night all of the missionaries in our district surprised him with a cake and card. His whole family was at his house celebrating. Hermano Chemin has the most amazing family. They are all wonderful. Only two of his kids are active in the church, but they´re all soo great. Love them.

One day this week we ate lunch with a family who had a son that served in Brazil Sao Paulo North. He returned home almost a year ago and he knows Tyler Ostlund. His name is...Rodrigo(??) Velazquez. Not sure on the first name...we don´t usually use them very often except with children.

...so on Friday night there was a night of traditions that the missionaries were in charge of. It was like a great big family night with the ward. So, we, the missionaries of Rawson, got to DANCE!! Elder Verges and Elder Elliz (both from Argentina) taught us Argentine Folklore. Oh dear. As Kimberly would say, bless my heart. The struggles. It´s the easiest thing in the world, and yet so hard. The Elders were very patient with the Hermanas. They´re great. The activity was really fun and I have lots of pictures and videos, but I can´t send them :(

SI DIOS QUIERE...if God wants. This is the phrase I´ve heard more than any other since arriving in Argentina. Will you pray? si dios quiere. Will you read this chapter in the Book of Mormon? si dios quiere. Will you attend church this Sunday with us? Si dios quiere. Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized? Si dios quiere. Oi. Haha...the Spanish culture is very layed back compared to ours. Everything is uncertain. For example, will you go to church this Sunday? Si dios quiere. Maybe, maybe not. If I wake up then sure, but my cat might die so then I wouldn´t be able to make it. Oh, and there´s always a chance that my great aunt from Norway will pay my family a surprise visit that morning. Si dios quiere.

I´m eating better, but still not great. Yesterday after church (which is my favorite part of the week) we ate lunch with the Chemin Family. Once a month we eat with their family as a district. So it was all 6 missionaries plus Hermano and Hermana Chemin and their Son Gustavo and his wife Fernanda plus a baby girl. It was my first asada. In Argentina, people eat lots and lots of meat. An asada is essentially a huge barbecue...with LOTS of meat. Like...four or five courses of meat. It´s all really good, but eating meat sparingly is completely LOST on the Argentine people. Yowsers. Anyway, we ate lots and lots of meat yesterday with some potatoes and salad. The potatoes had hard-boiled eggs mixed in. Have I mentioned that they also put eggs on EVERYTHING? potatoes, salad, pizza, etc. Weird...

Welp, I can´t think of anything else at the moment. I try to remember the week but it´s really all a big blur. Oh, today we don´t get pday (besides email time) because we´re going to Punta Tombo on Thursday to see the penguins! We´re going with our zone (Trelew Sur) and Hermana Kuhn´s zone (Trelew Norte). I´m sooo excited!! I´ll take lots and lots of pictures!! :) Ah. I love Argentina. I never want to leave Rawson. Ever.

To answer some questions...

-yes, Trelew is a bigger city than Rawson. There´s more to do. More people. Rawson is very...I don´t want to say ghetto...but well ya.
-Yes, Hermano Chemin picked us up from the bus stop along with the zone leaders.

-do we meet in a church building? yes, indeed we do. In this part of Argentina we are lucky enough to have an actual church and a ward here. Farther south there are only districts and branches. We have probably around 200 members, but active only 80-90. One ward in Rawson. The stake extends into Trelew...and one or two other small towns like Rawson.

-no problems with dogs yet. they´re generally not vicious. just like to bark a lot. especially at night. sometimes I feel like I´m living in the movie 101 Dalmatians...especially that one scene in the night when all the dogs everywhere are barking? welcome to my life.

-yes, the houses here are small. like candy bars. we live in regular size candy bars...Bill Gates lives in a super size candy bar...and Argentines live in fun size candy bars.

Love you all!! I think about you every day and you´re always in my prayers. Keep being excellent people. As a companionship we made a little board called miracles in Rawson. Each night we come up with a miracle we witnessed during the day. There is always at least one!! God is good.

Anyway...I´ve gotta go, but it´s been a real slice. Come back next week at the same time to hear more about Amy´s Argentine Adventures. Okay, okay...my mind got stuck on 101 Dalmatians and that part where Horace and Jasper are watching that show on TV and it ends and it says something  like that... hahaha:)

CIAO!
Forever and Always,
Hermana Heath

Crazy and Wonderful First week in Rawson!

Hola Familia!!

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

First Impressions...

Hola Familia!!

Sooo...I was sooo sad when my battery died on the plane!! We ended up waiting for an hour to take off!! We could have had sooo much more time. Oh well. So, as you know, my last few days at the MTC were awesome. My district sang in church, we packed lots, talked with each other lots, studied...(not as much as we should have but still lots), we took lots of pictures, said goodbye, cried a bit, and then got on the plane!! All those goodbyes were apparently for nothing because when we got to Argentina all the missionaries from our district but 2 were in that big meeting we had in the area office. So...we had a round two of goodbyes. Awesome. We didn't fly to Comodoro until 7:30PM on Thursday night. President and Sister Rogers were on our flight. They were coming back from a mission president conference. As I mentioned in the letter, Hermana Kuhn and I stayed at the mission home on Thursday and Friday nights...which is like a 5 star hotel (just a small version) ...so it wasn't until Saturday night that I got a little taste of what the next 18 months is going to look like.

We were assigned companions and areas on Saturday afternoon and then Saturday night we took a five hour bus ride to....TRELEW!! My first area is Trelew South, specifically Rawson, and my companion is Hermana Cortes from Colombia. She's amazing!! She doesn't speak English, which is equally frustrating when I don't know the word in Spanish as it is helpful for learning. But we're going to get along really well and work really hard. I'm excited. Anyway, my pension is tinyyy! Probably 5 of them could fit in our house in Orem. Don´t even get me started on the toilet or shower. Let's just say I´m reallyyy grateful for the flip flops I have:) It´s really not terrible, just very different from home. It works though and it´s not like we spend tons of time chillin´ in our apartment anyway:) Sooo...we got in around midnight and went straight to bed. We met our zone leaders and the mission leader and his wife from our ward. They´re amazing!!

Sunday morning church is at 9:30AM. The members here are incredible. So friendly and so strong in the church. We start with Relief Society, then Gospel Doctrine, then Sacrament Meeting. I could feel the Spirit so strongly as I tried to catch everything that was being taught. I´ve never felt the Spirit so strongly in church. These people truly know what it means to have the gospel in their lives. It was so cool. And, Sacrament Meeting? Primary Program. Everyone knows that this meeting is my FAVORITE of the entire year. OH. MY. HECK. Just a heads up, I might never come home. The kids were soo cute and they sang so well! It´s such a different culture...but I love it!! Everyone was so welcoming and so kind about speaking a little slower than normal for me:) I can understand about 85% of everything people say if I´m really paying attention, and when someone´s talking directly to me about 95%.

So, the first night in the mission home, I was talking to President Rogers while Hermana Kuhn was in the shower and he told me that he takes really good care of the Hermanas and so do the Elders in the mission. He was right. There are 6 missionaries in my district here in Trelew, 4 Elders and my companion and me. They came over yesterday morning and brought us breakfast since we hadn´t had time to shop for food...still haven´t now that I think about it...and they walked to Church with us so we wouldn´t get lost. They call us every night to see if we need anything. They brought us to the cybert (internet cafe) this morning to talk to you. They´re great. Only downside...they are all also natives...so in case you don´t understand what that means...I´m the ONLY one in my district who speaks English!! Wohoooo. But really it´s the best. I have learned soo much. It looks like I´ll be in Trelew until after Christmas (12 weeks for training, and then most likely I´ll be a trainer. FREAKY. I´m hoping for at least one more transfer before I have to train...fingers crossed.)  Anyway, dad, I´m still working on my address. I have no idea where we are most of the time, but I´ll try to have my address by next week.

Sooo...Sunday after church Hermana Cortes and I ate at the home of the Family Nievas. They are an extended family living together and are a part-member family. It was so cool. We ate lots and lots of MEAT. We shared a message about service and the Savior and then we visited the Mayor family. They´re an awesome member family who is very involved with the missionaries. It´s a custom in Argentina (and South America) that whenever someone comes to your home you have to serve them some sort of food. I never want to take people´s food, but it´s rude not to. Anyway, in Argentina like I told you before, dinner doesn´t exist. Lunch is at 1:30ish and then no one eats again until breakfast. Weird, right? I guess they do eat whenever someone comes to their house, but not much, only a few crackers and juice or something. I don´t understand. Anyway, after we visited with the Mayor family, Belen, their 19 year old daughter, came out with us and we knocked on some doors of some menos actives. We spent time with the Family Reyes. The mom is the only one that is active. The father hasn´t been to church in 10 years. He says he knows what he needs to do, but he´s not humble and that it´s hard to always live the gospel and do everything he´s supposed to. He doesn´t always have the desire. The kids are all grown and making their own decisions and followed the path their dad chose. We talked about the Atonement and how it can help us change and overcome the natural man and invited him to church and he said he would see. Hopefully he shows up next Sunday with his wife but I wouldn´t be super surprised if he doesn´t. Fingers crossed.

After visiting them we went to choir practice and then we visited Hermano Cortez with the four Elders from our district. He´s not active and has a problem with the way the church is run in some parts of South America. It´s really sad. He seems to think that because the gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect, that the church is perfect. Obviously we still make mistakes, but he doesn´t seem to be able to accept that. We´ll keep trying:) The Elders walked us home and then we got ready for bed. First experience with the shower. Here we go. So, the shower is a little square (about 3ft x 3ft) but there can only be about 2 inches of water at the bottom before it flows out of the shower....the drain is EXTREMELY slow. So to shower and wash your hair, you have to turn the shower on for a few minutes and get wet, then turn it off while you shampoo. Turn it back on and rinse it out and then turn it off again. Then repeat the process with conditioner....get the picture? You always have to be watching to make sure you don´t flood the apartment. Fun times. Yay!!

Well, I hope you're all doing well! I love you all so much and I loved talking to you last week!! I'm doing well despite the culture shock. Everything is still very new. Milk comes in bags. What the?! Dogs are EVERYWHERE. Oh...I do have to tell you, that the music here is great. I know, I know, we're not supposed to listen, but when it's playing on the bus or the streets there's not much you can do. Anyway, they listen to a lot of the American music but only the good stuff. The very first song I heard in Argentina was John Lennon "Stand By Me" then a few songs later was Michael Jackson "Bad" then a few songs later was Queen. We even had some Rolling Stones...haha.. Matthew you'd like the music down here:) only the classics:)

Well, I gotta go! Love you all and talk to you next week! Hopefully I'll have some good stories and I just realized that this whole letter I've been using the accent mark on the keyboard for all of the apostrophes. I hope they come through on your computer. :)

Love you all forever and always!!

Hermana Heath

Welcome to Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina!

Querido Familia,

Como le va?  How's it going?!  I am officially in ARGENTINA!!  (...comodoro rivadavia to be exact...)  I'll be honest, the getting here was long and extremely tiring, but it was worth it!!  So, as you know, we flew from SLC to Dallas to Buenos Aires (24 hours of travel) then we got on a bus and drove to the area office in Buenos Aires for a quick information devotional...mostly visa stuff.  Then we ate some lunch, went back to the airport and waited for our flight to comodoro which left at 6:55PM.  About 2.5 hours later we landed in comodoro and then took a shuttle to one of the senior couples home (the Carters) and had some Argentine sandwiches.  Yum.  Then, because not all the Hermanas could fit in their home for the next two days, Hermana Kuhn and I went with President and Sister Rogers back to the mission home.  The Rogers were on our flight to comodoro.  They were coming back from a mission presidents seminar.  They are wonderful!  It was so fun talking to them last night.  Unfortunately, by the time we left the Carter's home it was after 11:00PM and when we got to the mission home it was nearly 11:20PM.  Only one shower in the home meant we didn't get to bed until 1:00AM.  I'll be honest, 6:30AM came really early!

Anyway, today (Friday) we are doing some training with all the new missionaries, and then I think tomorrow we'll meet our companions and head to our areas.

So, first impressions of Argentina?  18 months is going to go WAY too fast.  It reminds me a lot of Costa Rica.  Driving is a little bit nuts...stop signs are more of a suggestion, and lanes are pretty much nonexistent.  SO MANY DOGS!  Also a few cats. The dogs are so cute :)   The people are really friendly.  All the Hermanas give kisses on the cheek.  Everyone is polite and the kids are so cute.  We drove past the Buenos Aires Temple yesterday.  BEAUTIFUL.  I wish we could go!!!  Soccer is everywhere!  It's gonna be so cool to be down here during the World Cup!  Everything I see reminds me I'm in South America.  (...well except for Walmart & McDonalds...)  The mission home is pretty close to the coast, so we got to see the ocean.  It's not humid down where we are...and oh man are we down.  On our flight from Dallas to Buenos Aires we each had TV's in front of our chair and I watched the flight path as we slowly flew over Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, LIMA (I thought about Corbin:)), Chile, and then finally Argentina.  Basically we flew straight down for 10ish hours.  Then we flew another two and I couldn't help but think that I had been lied to my whole life...I was sure we were going to fly right off the end of the earth.  When I finally accepted that we wouldn't, the next thought to come into my mind as I was stepping off the plane was that I am UPSIDE-DOWN.  Weird.  I am at the bottom of the earth...and did I mention UPSIDE DOWN?!  Woah.  As we were flying from Buenos Aires (a big city) all signs of civilization slowly started to disappear...that's when I realized how far down we were going.  The sunset was beautiful from the plane though.  There was a deep dark red line across the horizon, and then it slowly got lighter higher up.  AHH!  I'm so excited to be here!  Like I said, 18 months is going to go by way too fast...I can just tell.  The castellano is different to listen to...but not as bad as I thought.  It's the "vos" form that's throwing me off.  When Hermano Rios told us that the "tu" form doesn't exist in Argentina, it was like that time in Algebra 2 where I learned about the unit circle exactly ten minutes before the test.  Good times.  I'll get it though!

Welp, I hope you're all doing well!  I was sad when the phone battery died yesterday, but it was so good talking to you!  I love you sooo much.  Thank you for your support and prayers.

I LOVE YOU FOREVER AND ALWAYS!!

Hermana Heath

Hermana Heath with President and Sister Rogers

 

New Comodoro Rivadavia missionaries