March 19, 2018- 31 weeks down
short letter! hi mommy whats up!
yeah this week was better... way different... i feel like I’m in a different country or something... completely different from Ushuaia in so many ways
Bus ride wasn’t fun.. but it was nice to be able to sit and sleep and do nothing for 30 hours haha, nice break from the usual insane missionary life. but it was long, and i basically didn’t eat for 2 days and only slept 3 hours at a time at the most.. but i arrived in one piece!
My new companion is from Utah, but is Samoan. Hermana Lapuaho. she has 1 year in the mission, but i feel like she has less time than me. shes super sweet and i know ill learn a lot from her. we have a ton of deseos to go and work.
My area is called playa union, rawson, trelew. its a tiny beach town in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. ok imagine this. the mojave desert, but next to the ocean. and a tiny little beach town plopped right in the middle of it. one road that leads to a town thats a little bigger called Rawson, and THATS IT. MOM THERES NOTHING HERE. i looked around, and it looks like the mojave desert. and feels like it too. crazy winds, heat, dirt. you walk outside for two seconds and are covered head to toe in dirt.
oh and we opened my area in a whitewash. which means that there have not been missionaries in playa union for several months, cause presidente closed it. but he reopened it, put us two here to see if the area has potential to progress, and if not, he might close it again. Its insane. But i like it. its super different. we are 5 seconds from the ocean, which is neat. and there is not a hill or mound or mountain in sight. i dont think they exist here haha.
so glad that grandpa is improving. wow roadshow looked like it turned out amazing! watched the videos, couldn’t really hear much, but loved the pictures and the outfits and everything, looks super awesome. hope they had a blast.
loved the pics you sent.
you have a renter in the guest house? cool! I didn’t know that
ohhh poor ginny. she’s better though? yikes
so fun that you are gonna head up to Randolph! Send pics! Should be super awesome.
wow thats right, its almost general conference and easter! what the heck where is the time going. i now have more than 7 months! and Brigitte is a missionary ahhhhh! So cool!!!!
Loved your story about the hermanas in trader joes.... how lucky they are! i miss trader joes!
We did our shopping for food today. had to walk 20 minutes to the store, shopped, and my comp is so skimpy with money its not even funny, then dragged our bags the 20ish minutes back to the house. and the wind was so bad that it almost blew us away- literally, if you want to know what my area is like. think of the mojave desert where we go quad riding. its the same !!!! hahaha
Presidente salerno called me two nights ago. he wanted to talk and see how i was, clear up some things about the situation in Ushuaia, and tell me that i have his 100 percent confidence and support, that i was in the right about everything i did, that he loved me and is super super proud of me and i have his trust. and hermana borba told me in her last interview with presidente that he mentioned me by name as a future leader in the mission, which makes me happy.
oh yeah, hermana borba! on my trip up north, i ran into borba in Rio Gallegos, and we passed an hour together chatting! I was so happy to see her, an old face that i loved that i actually cried haha. Thats how happy i was to see someone who loved me.
i really miss you guys! i love you. I keep thinking that each week brings me a little closer to being home. I focus in the mission, and its hard hard brutal work. lots of pressure, responsibility, and we are alone out here in this little town, with the closest missionaries like 30 minutes away by bus. I’m a little lonely, but learning a lot.
I’m in a ward again! but its small, like 70 people maybe. But they like to work, the leaders are absolutely amazing, and i feel like I’m back in church again. the members are so kind and actually talk to us and we have lunches. i told everyone i cant eat gluten. so they think I’m celiac. cause the word gluten free or intolerant apparently doesn’t exist here. so I’m known as the celiac missionary now. but whatever, i haven’t eaten gluten in a week, and the stores here have tons more gluten free options, so its all good.
i think my hair and skin hate this area, cause i feel nasty all the time.
oh and when we arrived to our pension, it was abandoned cause no one has used it in months, and DISGUSTING: like you cant even imagine. we cleaned for 1 day straight and its better but it wasn’t even livable beforehand. oh gosh it was awful while we were cleaning the bathroom my poor comp was dry heaving haha.
well, ask some questions! what else are you wondering, do you want to know? Love you guys more than i can say
ames
