Ahoy hoy!
I survived and I’m doing great! I’m writing this at a really crappy keyboard that has a bad spacebar so if some words are connected together, that’s why.
The flight to Atlanta to Buenos Aries was long but I made it and customs was nothing; we just had to fill out this little sheet. Then we got on a van to go to another airport and flew to Salta. I met Pres. and Sis. Lavrino there and, since there was not enough room in the bus, I rode with them. It was nice but they pretty much don’t speak a lick of English so it was awkward but they are very, very nice.
We then got to the mission office and had some juice and empanadas and just kinda waited there for awhile. Then we went to the president’s house to eat and had empanadas and steak (you can cut the steak here with a spoon...it’s pretty cool)! Then I met my papi (trainer). His name is Elder Joseph Rasmussen. He is from Pocatello Idaho and he has been out a year and is just about the best. He is really funny and nice and is a big Sufjan Stevens fan and a huge Tim and Eric fan and is the coolest ever! We get along great. Revelation is real stuff because I was afraid of getting some scary, stickler trainer but it was quite the opposite--he is pretty much the best!
That night I slept in a pench (apartment) with about 17 other elders in a big living room where I slept on a broken couch in the un-airconditioned heat...it was miserable and I didn’t get a lot of sleep. The next day we went to get some paper work done and then we went back to the mission office for some training. Then we went on a bus (and on the bus I got to talk to Mo Jennings on a cell phone) to my new area for 6 weeks: San Salvador de Jujuy--and it is AWESOME!
I got to the pench and got settled in and I sleep on the top bunk of a bunk bed that has about the same stability as the one from the movie Step Brothers but it’s nice. The next day we woke up and got the essentials. The best snack to have here is a dulce de leche sandwich and a cold bottle of Tang. I drink a whole big thing of Tang/water everyday so I’m doing good on drinking water. After that (and pretty much every day after that) we teach and it is fun!
This is a list of things I’ve done so far starting from Thursday to Sunday:
- Invited 7 people to be baptized (they all said “yes”)
- Ate an unhealthy amount of empanadas (cause you have to)
- Made contacts
- Gave an anointing oil blessing to a lady named Rosa
- Lead the music in sacrament meeting
- Gave my testimony in sacrament meeting
- Stepped in dog poop
- Ate empanadas at nighttime on a roof
This place is awesome! It’s super poor but the people are really humble here. When we were doing contacts I met this lady named Paula and when I met her I just go this overwhelming feeling of sadness for her. Like, it was amazing, I just wanted to cry when I met her cause I just got this overwhelming feeling of sadness and wanting the best for her. She accepted our invitation to teach her and her family so tonight we are going to teach her. I’m really excited for that. It’s strange, like I really feel that I'm at home here. I don't feel worried or bad or anything. Sure, It’s about a bajillion degrees outside and the language is hard (and a million other reasons) but I really feel like I've been here for months, it’s a really great feeling.
Thanks so much for all your prayers and fasting, I know it blessed me. It was soooooooo nice to hear you guys the other day. I miss you guys a lot but I know it’s all good, that whatever happens, it’s all good. I love you guys so much and I hope everything is going great.
Well, I best be heading out. This cyber (cybercafé) I’m at (which is pronounced sea-bur) is really hot and is full of people playing Call of Duty on the computers. Next week I'll bring my card reader and send some pics. I hope I covered all your questions, sorry if I didn’t and, again, sorry about the keyboards here (they are nuts; it’s hard to spell stuff here) If you have any more questions please ask.
Well, I love you guys so much and I just want you to know I'm safe and sound and having a great time. I love you, it’s all good!
Con amor,
Russ
p.s. here are some crazy things about Jujuy:
- Good news— I saw a dog today....or maybe, no exaggeration, 150+ dogs. Seriously, they are everywhere.
- The life of a speaker here is probably about 2 days. There seems to be no volume limit here so everyone blasts their music. Like our neighbors blast Nirvana from time to time so that is enjoyable, ha-ha.
- Liquid yogurt is awesome!
- I cake myself with sunscreen every day but, alas, here it is inevitable to get sun burnt. I didn’t get burnt bad (like that Vampire Weekend sunburn) but you do get a little burnt. I’m ok, though, and still put on a ton of sunscreen.
- I braved the water and got some “potty stomach” and had a cold for a little while (possibly from the jet lag) but I'm better now.
- The bathrooms here are nuts. Next to the toilets....we have bidets!
- Our pench is nice! it has air-conditioning in the sleeping room and it’s heavenly, I’ll send some pics of it next week.
- The members are really nice. The bishop is really nice.
- You always hear people on the street yelling things in English at us like "hello" "1234!" It’s really funny.
- And overall this place is really awesome and I know it’s were I'm supposed to be, it really is all good!
:)
No comments:
Post a Comment