Elder Russell Allphin: A Nice Mutton Lettuce And Tomato Sandwich

Wud umph, familyz?

How’s it all going? Glad to hear all is well and yes, high five Kevin! How cool is that of him? What a good boy, that kid. Radiohead is playing in the cyber right now and it only seems fitting that it is a tribute to him—awesome! I really do love hearing from you guys and that you all had a good week.

We had almost the same week, well, besides a few things. I got to give a talk this week. I gave it on “our baptismal covenants” which was, oddly enough, my farewell talk. So yes, I got to use that "close to, roundabout, or nearby" story. People loved it and a few wanted copies of it.

We almost had to teach YW´s yesterday—well, kinda. I told you that Jujuy was celebrating 50 years of Mormony goodness in its boundaries. Yesterday they had a big activity at the stake center in which like, no joke, 1,200 people showed up to attend this event which included a documentary about the area with stories about when the church was just starting here. They had the original members of Jujuy come to share their stories. They also had a choir of us missionaries and we sang The Spirit of God with all 4 verses in Spanish but then choruses 2 and 4 in English. Idk why we did the 2 choruses in English. It was kinda like saying "hey Argentina, happy celebration of Argentine pride, have some English!" It was fun though. They also had the classrooms decked out to represent the different organizations of the church and the missionaries were each put in charge of a different room. We got the YW´s organization and we thought they wanted us to explain to all the people about the organizations. Here’s the thing: Adams sister and his mom all worked in YW´s, I have 3 sisters that did YW´s and a Mom who works in YW´s but we hadn’t the slightest clue what to say. We were in a panic saying, "Just make something up like ‘the young women's organization was formed in 1825 by General Custer’ or something!" We were saved when we found out that we didn’t have to explain anything—we just had to guard the rooms.

It was a really fun event. President Levrino and his wife were there along with a bunch of members from Aeroparque so I got to see all of them: David ***** (the first time I went on divisions I went with him. What a good, good kid), Bishop Sardinas, Hermana Lopez (the first house I ever went into in the mission and taught was her house. She reminds me a lot of sister Otterstrom; she is soo, soo, very nice. She said she almost gave me a hug when she saw me) and a lot more including turtle man’s wife. Luckily I avoided her. What a scare though. It was so nice to see everyone.

In food news: We went to Debbie’s house and her mom was there and she had some meat on the table. She asked if I wanted something to eat and I was super hungry so I said “yes”. I had some of this meat and, as I was eating it, I said "Ok this tastes like somebody cooked it in a microwave for 4 hours, hid it under the fridge for about 5 or 6 months, gave it to the dogs but the dogs didn’t want it so, after leaving in an old shoe for a few weeks, it ended up on my plate and I’m eating it." Yes, that is what lamb tasted like. I was highly disappointed. Lamb chops always looked so tasty on TV. I was able to eat my portion and pull it off smoothly—success! I also just barely read in an email that a parcel came for me that cost 120 pesos so I presume it’s my birthday package. Dope, I’m stoked to get it. Anyways, onto other stories.

Remember Bruno? That I guy that we taught once and totally forgot about and then one night I had an impression that we should visit him? Well, I’m so super grateful for that impression because we are having a lot of success with him. He came to church yesterday and he is a really good guy; really humble and so nice. A little socially awkward but a super good guy. He´s 22 and he has a little boy who’s about 4. We are hoping to have him baptized pretty soon, I do hope. We are kinda in a baptism drought as of now but we have faith he´ll get in the water. Keep praying for him! Well family guides, I do think is about time for:

?Questions¿

Do you have another pair of Eccos?

Yes!

Do you have any package requests?

As of now, not really. Maybe tootsie pops and like, tootsie roll candies but, other than that, I can’t think of anything at the moment.

What city in Kansas is your comp from? Are his parents picking him up or anything?

Salina. And no, he just got his travel plans. He’s gonna fly into Wichita or something.

How’s the humidity?

Pretty good. Luckily we’re in the drier part of Jujuy so not much humidity.

How are your penchmates doing?

Good good. They are doing fine and we’re all getting along most swimmingly.

Do you know where Zulauf is serving? How about Mo?

Zulauf is in Tucumán with Elder Huston and I think Mo is in Salta now.

Do you have a favorite concept/principle you like to teach?

The 10 commandments, word of wisdom, lesson 1—pretty much all of the above. I really do love teaching the commandments, though.

Is your Spanish pretty bueno these days?

I hope so. There are times when I can’t say something I want to say or can’t understand something but, for the most part, it’s on a survivable level.

Have you had your suit dry cleaned since you’ve been there?

Nope....I have hunted high and low and have not seen one single dry cleaners but the hunt continues.

Is your comp staying motivated?

Yes, for the most part . It’s hard for him to be focus because he just wants to go home sooooo bad but for the most part he’s doing good.

What’s the best quick snack in Argentina?

Oreo alfahores and this soda called “Pritty Limon”. I loved it so much until one day I was drinking it and came to a realization: It’s just Mountain Dew. Its good but it’s the same thing as Mountain Dew. Kind of a white trash bummer. But I’ll still take it.

Well Fams, I best be peacin' out. I’ll leave you with a few fotos of my adventures at the activity last night: Touching the ark with my giant suit (seriously the suit feels really big now) stealing the golden plates, hanging out with David, and my lunch today (milanesa sandwich with Sprite and an alfahore). I’m so glad to hear from you guys. Thanks so much for your letters and thoughts and for your prayers. I’m so thankful for prayer because it just really works. Although some prayers always aren’t answered right away you can always see through time when they are being answered or have been answered. I’m so grateful for that. I’m so thankful for you guys. Keep on keepin' on. Happy first day of school to all and remember I love you all so much, it´s all good!

Con Amor,

Russ

P.S. Speaking of Richard Heaton, tell Brother Sandberg when he sees him to say I said thanks for the MTC talks, they were great and I really appreciated them!