Well my life is definitely a lot different now. haha But i am here in Argentina. My area I'm assigned too is called Fontanegro but the city is called Fontana. It is right next to Resistencia. The mission office is in the center of Resistencia and I am about a 15 minute bus ride to the mission office. So we had our flight situation which was fun. For the flight from Atlanta to Buenos Aires I sat in the middle in the middle so that wasnt too fun cause it was a 10 hour flight and I only got like an hour and a half hours of sleep. And like I said there were 2 missionaries that threw their trac cell phones away while getting off and that looks pretty suspisious when 2 americans dressed in white shirts and ties are thowing cell phones away so all us missionaries got swarmed withArgentinan airport officials and they all took our passports so that we wouldnt leave. And it took a while to explain to them who we were and why those elders were throwing cell phones away. But it turned out okay.
Then when I boarded my plane to resistencia I sat next to a guy named Maurio who lived in Argentina and i talked to him the whole flight. He owned like 20 ice cream shops around Argentina. I shared with him what I was doing in Argentina and we just talked about what we believed. He was Evangelic and at the end of my flight I got his address and name and gave it to the office elders to use as a refrence to who ever is serving in his area. Then after us missionaries got off the flight we meet President and Sister Franco and they took us to the mission office. We ate empanadas and then stayed in a hotel that night. Wedneeday we all got interviewed by Presdient Franco but it was only like a 6 minute thing. But he is super nice and cool. I got my tainer, his name is Elder Butler. He has been out for a year and is from Utah. So I am glad i got an american trainer. But he is cool and we get along. He is 19 and graduated same year as me. Idk what else to say he is pretty normal so thats good haha. 
Anyways my area like i said is just on the outskirts of the city of Resistencia. But Elder Butler said that this mission is the poorest part of Argentina. And I have definitely seen that. Its like you see pictures of poor places all the time but its a whole different thing to be walking the streets and see it in person. The church in my area is alright. We have a branch and on Suday there were 30ish people there. But the members are awesome... at least I think so I cant understand them or really anyone so I just go off of what I think and what Elder Bulter tells me. But I have been fed lunch everyday I've been here except last Thursday. The food is different but its good. Its nothing really too crazy, just meat and potatoes and Pomela which is gratefruit. And I am going to have to get use to that juice cause thats all we drink. But its a little different than the gratefruit in America. Its yellow and doesnt taste as bad cause Im not a fan of grapefruit. But today we are in the city cause we had to go to the misision office to get rent for the month and then we ate at Subway. Funny story. I was eatting lunch there and of course I got a coke with my sandwich (my first coke here) and when we were leavng I went and refilled it up and got a lid and as I was leaving the lady from subway started yelling at me. And I just stared at her cause I had no idea what she said and Elder Butler was at the door waiting for me. So I didnt now what to say so I just said "esta bein, buenos dias" (Im good, have a good day) and left. The subway lady just rolled her eyes at me and went back to work. I was so confused but elder butler told me just a little bit ago that she said I only bought one drink and that I needed to pay for refilling my drink. So I thought that was funny. Oops! 
But yeah we pretty much walk everywhere and we use the bus as well. My shoes are fine. I will probably polish them today. My warts are fine. Today is the first day I started to apply the medicine the doctor gave me. The people in my area.... or just argentinans are weird. I dont really understand them yet. Some I can tell are really nice. But we will have lessons with some people and I have no idea what is being said but it always seems like they are uninterested just by looking at their facial expressions and then after ward Elder Butler will be like " well that went great" and go on to say the things they said and I am always surprised cause I just have no idea whats going on. Thats honestly the hardest part and biggest trail for me right now. That I cant contirbute really anything and cant understand people. I just dont know how I will be able to be an effective missionary when I cant really do anything. But I just remind myself that this is my first week in the field. I cant wait until I can communicate and understand the people and not feel like the language is such a burden. Its hard to imagine that being a reality now but I know that there are other missionaries who are probably worse off than me and that eventually this will pass cause I am definitely not the first missionary to go through this and that I wont be the last either.
The weather is actually pretty nice right now. Its nice and sunny and not very humid. But my companion tells me that the heat will suck so cant wait for that. You can send mail to the mission office. Thats the way to do it. But I cant use pouch to send mail to you guys. But you can still send pouch to me. But send then letters or envelop packages to the mission office. Thats the best place for that. But like I said earlier I am serving in Fontana.I dont have a specific address but the main street in the town is Av. Alvear. Idk if that will help. But our church is on the street. I got to see a little bit of the Olympics on sunday for like 10 minutes when we went to lunch at a part member familys house. The TV had it on while they were finishing cooking. I got to see a little bit of mens vollyball and a little bit of gymnastics. So that was cool to see that. I didnt even know that it had started. They dont really care too much for the olympics here. Oh and its a rule that I cant play soccer... so wont be doing that really. But anyway I'll go. It was so nice hearing from you all. I hope you guys are doing great. I think of you guys a lot. Have a great week! Adios
Elder Keicher
No comments:
Post a Comment