July 19, 2010 Muddy and Well Fed

Church this week was kind of funny because all week Elder Nelson was talking about how many members are in our branch, and then it rained on Sunday so only 16 members showed up. Elder Nelson played the piano while I conducted. It was actually very spiritual because everyone who was there wanted to be there, so you could feel the spirit very strongly. My pants and shoes however are still very muddy from walking around that day. There is an actually church building that we go to and the bathroom has toilet paper. The members that I have met so far are awesome and have fed us everyday of the week, except for Mondays. So far I have eaten pasta twice, both times with really good carne. I have eaten empenadas twice, once at the president´s house and once at a member´s house which was delicious because they were fried. I had flan, Pasta Frola which is basically a membrillo pie, malta which is a drink like coffee (it´s not) but it tastes like toffee kind of. I also ate Polenta con Tuco, which is best described as orange grits (possibly corn flower) with chili and cheese.

Argentina is nice, but I´m not in capital, I´m in a city that is a suburb. There are a ton of dogs everywhere, almost as many as the people. They are just trotting along and sleeping on the sidewalks and so I usually say hello to them. There are all kinds. It is pretty tough right now because I can hardly understand anyone except my trainer, but he understands perfectly and I can usually feel the spirit pretty strongly. Our apartment is an adventure too, and one day we came back and didn´t have electricity all night and morning = it was freezing cold in the morning. All the people are friendly too. I absolutely love the food. And we have eaten a lot of bread. I apologize for my grammar and spelling because I´m trying to always think in Castillano but it´s tiring and to write in English is now difficult sometimes as well.

The mission life is hard, but I know I´m here for a reason and that Heavenly Father didn´t send me here to fail, and so that gives me hope that I can become the kind of missionary that I want to be. Thanks for your love and support and yes, it is easier to write emails so I don´t know how I am going to write letters, because I don´t know what to do and my companion doesn´t write them. But love you and write you again next week.