Week 14 - El Bolsón

*How is the communication between you and your comp going? 

good! Better! 

*Did you color your hair to avoid lice? 

No. Its fine. She is doing the treatment and I don't have it... yet! 

*Do you still have plutorutous?

And yes. Every day between 7:30 and 8! 

*How is the Spanish going? 

I think good!

*How are your shin splints doing? 

I don't have them anymore! And I can run in the mornings now without troubles!

*What's the weather like? 

Cold. Rainy.

*Do you do fun stuff on your p-days?

Not really. I need to plan more fun stuff but idk what fun stuff there is in Bolson! 

I decorated a planner for the first time!

Okay, this week feels like it was all Lucas and Silvina! We had their civil wedding on Wednesday, their wedding party of Friday that the ward was so nice to throw! The ward decorated it all and brought all the food! Lucas's family doesn't really support his decision in any of this (they didn't go to the baptism) and Silvina's family doesn't have a lot, so the ward threw it all together! It was so nice! 

  

 

  

 

Then on Saturday we had the baptism of Lucas! Lucas was so happy! And there was hardly room in the room for the baptismal font for everyone! It was great! I love that he has been so supported by the ward!

  

  

 

 In El Bolsón:

I got the birthday box you send through that Argentina company!

 The outside of our pension.  We live in the upper left:

  
Oh and If i eat an egg for breakfast almost every day, will I get hepatitis? Hermana Ovando says I will. 

Still looking for how we can get investigators to church. They read and they pray, but they don't go to church because its a half hour walk and its cold and they have little little kids. We have done everything. We have born testimony. We've committed them. We've had member go to their houses and try to pick them up and they end up being asleep. We've gone to their house before church with pancakes and paid for the taxi to church and they just don't go. 

That's my main concern with them. Its so hard! 

And I don't have time! I love you guys!

Week 13 - El Bolsón and a birthday!

I had a great birthday!

Investigators.... they wont go to church. because they all have babies, buses rarely run on Sundays and taxis are expensive and its too cold to take a 30 minute walk with their babies. Its a struggle.

Hermana Ovando has expressed that she does not like to talk. Sometimes I can get her to talk to me and we talk about investigators and laugh. It's a good time.

I sing all the time! And people are tone deaf here so they think I'm crazy! haha!

What the pension bathroom looks like.

Also, I found a ton of animal teeth in the street this week. Dont worry... Im sending pictures haha I hope they load in time!!!!

 

Also, we took pictures in preparation for Lucas and Silvina's wedding this week! We used the one I'm hopefully sending you for the invitations. I can't believe they're getting married this week! And Lucas's baptism is this Saturday!

Lucas and Silvina

Okay, so two families made me cakes for my birthday! Hermana Zuniga asked me when my birthday was when I first got here and she signed up for lunch on my birthday and we had a huge cake and empanadas! She also told the entire Relief Society, so I got cake the day before that from the Garrido family as well! These people are so wonderful and nice! I cant believe Hermana Zuniga remembered and she remembered I LOVE empanadas! The pictures with the family is the familia Garrido, the others are Zuniga family. 

Also, That morning, the elders wanted us to pass by the church. we thought maybe the mail had gotten there, but we found a letter to go to the chapel and they had an alfajor ( mini cake) and a quote from President Monson in English for me! And they popped out and sang happy birthday in English! It was so nice! 

That night, Hermana Ovando stopped at some hole in the wall kiosk and we got pizza to celebrate my birthday because we had a had a ton of cake that day! 

Birthday cake from Familia Zuniga!

Birthday treat from the elders.

Birthday dinner!

Birthday pizza!

 

Comp selfie

Familia Garrido

Okay, so we have one investigator who we met in the street and she said, we can come by her house anytime but no politics and no religion. haha We went by anyways one day and she totally let us share a message and she offered the prayer at the end! I get along with her super well! Shes in her 50s or 60s but is super athletic and active. I think shes one of my spirit friends (I've seen that smile somewhere before.... Ive heard your voice before... it seems we've... talked... like this before HAHAA) But seriously! I love her! She still says no politics or religion, but always brings it up and invites us to come back another time every time haha she's hilarious!

*So do they forward the mail to you or do they bring it to you?

They forward the mail to the bus station and we pick it up on Mondays... if the office sends us the bolsa full of mail.

*What is a bolsa?

Its a bag. Its a big green bag full of the stuff we need! And we send requests and reimbursements through a bolsa to them. Yep! They know the missionaries. We're the only ones with the big green bag and other people have to show cards and pay and stuff for their big packages. Its only for packages that you have to go to the terminal for. It's a bit hard to explain haha Idk if any of that made sense.

Our favorite things about Sari from our letter to her:

What I like about you....
Dad - She is talented in SO.MANY. ways and she is willing to serve the Lord with her time.
Mom - She's willful, strong, and funny.  She gets me.
Daniel - She's everyone's best friend.  She's very protective and there when I her.
Jeaux - She's funny and great at socializing.
Matthew - She's so friendly

You know how to dance.  Up, down, all around, talk about sweet romance. Yeahhhhh.

Week 12 - El Bolsón

So how are things?! 

Good! I feel the spirit with me, finally! 

Do you clap at doors? 

yes. all the time. 

How do people hear you when it's cold?  

The houses and windows arent very good, so they hear haha 

I heard there are a lot of wild dogs in Argentina.  Are there in your area?  Do they have fleas?

I wouldn't say wild because almost all of them have their designated house... or area of domain. But they are very very dirty and they are not trained not to bark or not to jump on people so I hate dogs here. I try not to touch them but I have a funny story about that this week! An investigator handed me her puppy because my companion was like, oh a gringo! they love dogs! Give the puppy to her! And I was like oh... gross haha and pet it and put it down. It was super lathargic and I didn't understand what was wrong with it! Puppys have energy! During the lesson that followed, it puked all over the wood next to the califactor! Then..... it ATE THE PUKE! and came over to me and chewed on my dress and my gloves. After that appointment we went to the nearest member's house and washed myself as well as I could discreetly  Oh... that was so terrible. Ill let you know when I start showing signs of worms. 

How do you wash your clothes?  

We have a washer. It take almost 3 hours per load though. 

Where do they dry?

On a rack next to the heaters in our pension. 

When are your first transfers?

They were today! We found out on Saturday. Elder McCarlie is going home (finished his mission) and Hermana Ovando and I are staying. We get transferred a lot with this President and he loves doing whitewashes for no bad reason.

How is the language going?

Slowly but surely. I understand a ton and I can teach lessons pretty fairly and when I have an idea I can can communicate it clealry depending on what it is! 

Do you still crash right to sleep each night?

yes. Thank goodness! 

This Saturday we had a ward activity! It was for their independence day (9 de julio). Their tradition is to have locro and apparently Bishop makes the best locro in the world. When we got to the activity, I cant even describe it. There were about 200 people and the tables were as close as they could be to each other and we still had to move in every desk from every class room and the ping pong table and chairs lining the walls for the people! I was expecting all of us to file out to the kitchen for food, but the missionaries ( ME!!!!) ended up grabbing big 5 gallon buckets full of locro (kind of like what you put on rice for gumbo, but more white beans, better meat and no rice. Its more concentrated with food than the soupy stuff in Louisiana) and went around with ladles and served the people! Everyone brought their owns utensils and everything. We just served them. People ate and talked and some people brought thermoses of hot water and their mate (pronounces mah-te... kind of) to drink and we had bands and shows and dances and everything. It was awesome! Also, we all (not me...) sang the national anthem of Argentina  It was a fun experience! And the locro was really good! I asked how to make it and they said, if you can find it, put it in. haha Anyways. 

Today, we helped Lucas and Silvina more with their papers for their wedding!  I'm so excited for them! We are organizing a little get together in the church after his baptism for their wedding and everything. 

Anyways. I love you guys! You're amazing! and Jesus loves you too :) 

Hermana Sant

 

  

 

 The following are pictures from the 9th of July celebration - Argentina's birthday!

 

And what is this "locro"?  Here is a recipe from Saveur:

Ingredients:

2 cups dried, broken hominy

1 cup dried lima beans

1 cup dried chickpeas

³⁄₄ cup olive oil

1 ¹⁄₂ tsp. sweet paprika

¹⁄₂ tsp. crushed red chile flakes

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. veal shoulder, cut into 1" pieces

1 lb. pork shoulder, cut into 1" pieces

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

10 oz. cured chorizo, cut into ¹⁄₂" slices

1 large yellow onion, minced

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. dried oregano

¹⁄₂ tsp. ground cumin

1 bay leaf

1 small acorn squash, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cup finely chopped scallions

Rinse hominy under running water until water runs clear; place in a bowl with limas and chickpeas. Cover with water, and soak at least 8 hours or overnight; drain. Whisk ¹⁄₂ cup oil, paprika, chile flakes, and ¹⁄₄ of the garlic in a bowl; set sauce aside. Heat remaining oil in an 8-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Season veal and pork with salt and pepper; working in batches, add to pan, and cook, turning, until browned all over, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add chorizo; cook until fat renders, about 2 minutes. Add remaining garlic and onion; cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add tomato paste, oregano, cumin, and bay leaf; cook for 2 minutes. Return meat to pan with hominy, beans, chickpeas, squash, and 10 cups water; boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until hominy and beans are tender, about 2 hours. Stir in juice; season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls; drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle with scallions.  Serves 12.

Also, thanks to a random missionary who also served in Sari's mission and who had a blob, I was able to steal a picture of the chapel in El Bolsón from the internet:

I know!  How spectacular is that?!

Week 11 - El Bolsón

Okay, I don't have much time, but lets do this! We finally tried another Internet place for today and I can send pictures! YAY!

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO! And MOM!!! Letters are coming in the mail! wellllll... they will be. I'm working on it haha 

Okay, have you guys seen that be still my soul music video on the church website? wow. What a powerful message. 

I have time, so I'll tell you about yesterday. I got a headache on Saturday morning and it has not gone away! I'm freaking out! It was worse on Saturday and now its just a little bit of pain, enough to know its there. But yesterday, we were walking and I just couldn't swallow and I couldn't have my eyes focus on anything and I just broke out into tears. I didn't even know I was stressed or emotionally upset until this happened! I had no idea what was happening. It was like I had no control over my body! I sat down on a rock and my poor companion was like, "Do you want a blessing? What can I do!?" and I was like yeah a blessing would be good. We walked back to the church, me still crying slowly, not hiccup sobbing, and the elders met us there. Elder McCarlie gave me a blessing and I didn't feel better right away but I had stopped crying by the time we got to the investigator's house. I knew I had something emotionally upset with me before I started crying and that it was hindering the work but I didn't know it was that bad! I feel a ton better now! God is taking care of me in exactly the way I need. Everyone says the first six months are the hardest part, so I just have to get through this first part and everything will seem normal to me! And I just have to focus on the people. not me and my language or inadequacies. only the people and how I can help them in my own way. Anyways, that's my sad story of the week! Its all good though! 

The fire sirens here are like the sirens that go of in the movies about World War 2 before everyone gets bombed and dies. The first time I heard them, I was like... this is how it ends! hahaha But its just letting the fire department know there's an emergency of some sort! 

Lucas and Silvina had their baby blessed this Sunday! It was so sweet! The bishopbric were the people who did it. And Lucas's mom came to watch! I hope it opened her heart a little bit more to the church! 

Also, remember those "naturalist" believers? Well, we haven't been able to teach them for like three weeks because Matias always comes outside and says Analia is sick. We tried one more time this week in the morning and Analia came out and said we can come teach them every Thursday at 11! Its so excited! And such a miracle that we finally got in touch with them again! I learned a lot this week! Its been fun and good. 

I repeat.... I have no idea what pictures I'm sending! I'm just sending as many as I can! 

Love, Hermana Sant

 (We also received a bunch of pictures of random scriptures in Spanish!  Haha!)

Week 10 - El Bolsón

Okay, so on Tuesday, I woke up and I felt super miserable and I was like, Oh, figures. I hiked a bit yesterday, so I just continued on like normal. I took my temperature and it said 88, but I didn’t remember what I fever was so I ignored it haha We walked to Barrio Esperanza (like a 25 minute walk). After almuerzo with a member, I felt like I was going to throw up the whole thing. I couldn’t really see straight or walk straight. So, we thought maybe if I sit down for a bit I’ll feel better. We stopped at a member’s house, the Zuniga’s, and talked for a while until I signaled Hermana Ovando that I was not going to feel better. We walked back to the pension slowly and Hermana Ovando was texting Hermana Casariego (president’s wife) the whole way. When we got there I took a Tylenol, took my temperature and it was 38.5* C (a small fever…. I think. Its in Celsius!!!!) My pulse was pounding and super fast so I fell asleep (the kind of in and out of it asleep) for about an hour. I woke up and remembered we had a for sure appointment with some contacts we had met the day before in half an hour. I was determined to go! So, I got up and the whole way there, I was dizzy and miserable. As soon as we clapped at their fence, I felt better. We had a great lesson with Allie, Alberto and their son! They can’t read, but their son can and we have met with them again since and they are great! It was a little miracle that I felt well enough to teach them with my normal energy. When we left and got back to the pension, I felt miserable again, but that’s okay because I felt better the next day!

Also, I went on exchanges with Hermana Braithwaite this week. She is a gringa and leaves for home in two weeks. I was able to actually talk for the first time in a month! I forgot what it was like to speak English haha I learned a ton from her and I have a new perspective on the mission now. I definitely needed that little exchange so that I could talk to someone about how they learned the language and got used to things. It was great!

Oh yeah! Lucas and Silvina are getting married! Lucas has been an investigator for like half of a year and the only thing he's ever needed to do is get married and now they went to the court house and started filling out the paperwork for it today! They are going to be officially married on July 20^th! I'm so happy for them and their kid!

Mom's questions and my answers:

How often do you see your mission president? 

Once every transfer. I saw him this week for a conference. I don't have interviews until next transfer. 

How often do you see your zone leaders?  

I see them once a month for zone conference. 

How often do you see your AP's? 

Once every transfer with president. 

Do you go to separate stores to buy your groceries and household items? 

We can for specific stuff of different qualities, but we have a miniature Walmart style store right around the corner from our house called La Anonima. I just go there unless I need paper or writing supplies. 

Are you warm enough?  

Yes and no. In the nights and mornings I'm freezing, sometimes even in the pension, but when we are hiking up the mountain every day to see people, no. I get hot then but I still wear several pairs of tights (fleece lined). 

Does the city have electric lights on the streets? 

Yes. We are not allowed to travel on the unlit ones after dark. Which is difficult because some people live on those streets and are only in their houses after dark! 

What kind of cars do most people have there? 

They either have one from the fifties or one that's maybe 5 years ago quality or they don't have one. This is a really poor area. There are families that live in houses little house on the prairie style, no joke. Four walls mad of wood. A fire to keep them warm. All 8 people or more with the mattresses stacked in the corner.So if you have a car you're considered wealthy. 

That’s all for this week! Love you all!

And the pictures are taking more than an hours to load one! So I don't know how I can send any!

Week 9 - El Bolsón

Okay, the Internet is moving slower than snails up in here... and by that I mean I waited half an hour for this to load ... but we’lll see what I can do. Probably no pictures this week.

Okay, today we hiked part of Piltri! It was fun! We spent about 3 hours hiking up and some amount of time going down. Luckily, the sister of one of the members with us picked us up and drove us down the mountain. 

Okay, so, yesterday, we walked to Hermana Paula’s house so that we could make sure that she went to church in the morning and she has a car, so we were not worried about the time to get back to the church. We left the apartment at 8:30 and got there at about 9:20. She wasn’t home! So we called a family whose son-in-law we haven’t been able to teach for the past couple weeks (they had to move into the elder’s area for a little while because their house isn’t warm enough for their 1 month old baby). We asked when the bus came around and where it picked them up for church. They said they'd meet us and go with us. Pablo and Silvina (our investigators) were with them! So we all went to church together. It was such a miracle and it was great to have that experience out of the bit of discouragement about not being able to see Paula. Pablo and Silvina have such strong testimonies! I love that family. 

Also, my spiritual thought for the week: 1 Ne 15:8-9 

"8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us."

Part of faith is believing in ourselves. We cannot have miracles happen in our lives if we say, God doesn’t do that for me. We have to believe that god loves us enough to bless us. The reason why Laman and Lemuel never received their testimonies or the answers about the tree of life was because they did not believe in themselves enough to ask God. 

Love, Hermana Sant

From Tif:  Since Sari Hermana Sant couldn't send pictures, or even a decent email (I suffer!)  I thought that I would look up this Piltri and see what it's all about.  Here is what I learned, thanks to Google.

Guarding the Valley of El Bolson is the "Piltri," as locals call it. It hides the sun until after 10am and receives the last rays of the day.  (Swoon.)

In El Bolsón, the Piltriquitrón is always the reference point. It's name is hard to pronounce. In Mapuche it means “hanging from the clouds” and you can see why in this stolen picture:

Which led me down a rabbit hole of who are the Mapuche?  You can wiki it here (interesting stuff!), but basically they are the indigenous people of Patagonia and Chile who were conquer by stronger invaders.

Week 8 - El Bolsón

Hola! Last Monday night, I was feeling a little discouraged and was praying a ton to know what to do and where to go and that I could speak the language when I needed to. Then Hermana Ovando and I went to a house that we were referred to by some previous missionaries that never got to visit them. It turned out to be a super cute family. Analia, Matias and a little 1 and a half year old named Leon (yes like lion in Spanish). Matias has 3 little dreds springing out of the back of his head and they had om signs, mandalas, and such all over their house.  They let us in and we played with Leon and talked for a little bit and then started discussing the gospel. They said that they did not believe in God. They believe in the "natural." We still started sharing the first lesson of the restoration and when we talked about the first vision, the spirit was incredibly strong. When we completed the first vision Analia said through tears in her eyes that she felt a warmth in her heart that was welling up and it was good. This really strengthened my testimony that the gospel is really restored and the spiritual power that comes from talking about it can change lives. 

Also, the members here are amazing! They have such strong faith and are so generous! I have loved going to lunch with a different family each day. The food is really good. Yesterday, one member just brought our lunch to the church because she lives far away and we ate it at our pension. It was a huge quiche and chicken with a certain cut that I forgot the name of right now. And bread and granola bars. Its enough to feed us for a week haha. 

Oh and Rachel asked what I eat: I eat hot chocolate and toast for breakfast each day and then I have maybe an orange or banana at night when I get home. Lunch is HUGE so I am rarely hungry when I get back to the pension. 

Also, the mountains are gorgeous here. 

Oh! And there are legitimate hippies all over the place! There's always carts lining the streets with people with dreads and tie die selling their home-made crocheted shorts and mate cups. I love it! 

I had a two hour bus ride this week to Bariloche for a big zone meeting... and by big I mean with all 6 companionships in our zone. I learned a ton! We had a fun activity with bobbing for apples and everything. Also, I had more empenadas and a churro full of dulce de leche. I love the amount of dulce de leche they have here. They put it on or in literally everything. Want a piece of bread? Put some carmelized milk on that baby! Want a banana? Dulce de leche it! Buy a croissant? There's a dulce de leche surprise inside waiting for you!  

Also! I learned I eat my feelings. Panderias on every corner are not good for my figure. 

Love, Hermana Sant

Pictures of the pension and mountains: