NEWS FROM ARGENTINA FINALLY!!!

It is a good thing his email came today or I just might have hopped on a plane and flown to Argentina to check on him!!  Not really, but I WAS dying to hear from him!!  I think he had four emails waiting for him from me when he logged in today, only because I didn't know when I might hear from him this first week he was there and I didn't want to miss him.  Every time I thought of something else to ask him I wrote a new email (Taylor did a very good job of answering most of my questions by the way).  I will only send one per week from now on!!

As a mom, it was difficult to have one of my sons gone through the holidays.  (I should probably get used to it as this was just the first of many.  Sigh!)  As I read Taylor's letter today though, such a feeling of peace and calm came over me.  What a way for him to be starting this new year!  He is where he is supposed to be!!

 jaja hola madre,

 

sunday was good. it was a fast sunday. well, i am in a small town or pueblito. its called general cerri. it is just outside of the city of bahia blanca. well, the sieste is in full motion in cerri. its hard because its super hot right now and everything just shuts down during the siesta. so during 2-5 noone answers door, and the weather is incredibly hot. the dogs here are many but they know not to mess with the people. so i met some investigators this week, noone of which i can remember their names, found some investigators while contacting, and tried new food. we mostly are working on reactivating menos activos and trying to baptize their children. we are doing a lot of tracting and visiting old investigators as well. we have a couple of investigators right now and its going alright i guess. my companion is elder cox. he is from nauvoo, illinois. he has about 1 year and 2 months here in the mission. he is a great comp and he has taught me a lot already. two nights ago for new years eve, we went to stay the night with our district leader at his house. we sat around and talked about the mission, argetnina and my background and how i am a greenie missionary. my district leader is elder george. he is pretty cool, from wyoming.

 

i met the president and all the office missionaries and the assistants. they all are pretty cool. the food actually isnt that bad here. i have had empenadas, milonesa and asado. today, we went to centro (i think that is in bahia blanca) and went to a restaurant that is a buffet. it was pretty good. i had asado, pollo, and other goodies. they also had crepes and dulce de leche ice cream. i was in heaven. we met about 8 other missionaries at the restaraunt and they all are pretty cool. we had a blast. i almost bought a sweet argie belt (argie = argentine) and a jersey for a futbol team. but i chicken out. everything is pretty cheap here. last night i spent the night at the district leaders house again and we slept on the roof because it is so hot here sometimes. it felt great to sleep outside. o, my first night here i got eaten alive by the bugs. so now i am covered with bumps on my arms. and they itch like crazy.

 

so i found out when i got here that coke, pepsi and anything with caffeine is against the rules. that changed in the mission a couple months ago. so i cant have any caffeine drinks which means no coke! but o well, i can live without it. they have other drinks that i can use. we are not allowed to drink the matte, an herbal drink that everyone likes. its wierd to be here. its not like the mtc, people ride around on mopeds and motorcycles. lots of people dont wear shirts. i can barely understand castellano. so who knows what i should do? but i am learning and people have told me i speak well, like i have been speaking castellano for a while. i dont know what they are talking about, i thought i was talking like all missionaries who come out of the mtc, like they dont know what they are saying. but o well. we have had a meal at a members house about once everyday or so. so i am living off that one meal and snacking at our house. our house is pretty small but its not bad. i will send a video with a tour of my house soon! i dont have much time left, i have to send a letter to the president. love you mom! thanks for everything. i will write the boys next time, i forgot my address book and dont have their addresses with me. ¡chao!

con amor, elder jones