September 17, 2012

Hola everyone!

Okay this computer isn´t much better than the last one haha. Every single word I´m typing is underlined in red! It's annoying. And the space bar doesn´t work. So sorry if there are words together. I´m trying haha :) (And I'm fixing them!) I can´t believe how fast this week has gone! I remember running about two miles to the other elders' pension and back to the terminal to barely catch the bus just like it was yesterday haha. Yeah that was a fun p-day. That's why I sounded rushed at the end to get to the bus terminal. It doesn´t help when your companion is a marathon runner! He can just go and go and I am dead after like 5 minutes. What happened to me?? :(  I used to run 90 minutes straight. Oh well, I´ll get back into it. Hopefully. Anyway, this week I had to make a list of things to mention in my email that I keep forgetting!!! So I´ll just start with that.

So, the first day here in Justo Daract, (haha three weeks ago) we ate at Presidente Alaniz´s house,and when I told them I played futbol, they were shocked haha. And then I asked what their favorite team was and they said BOCA. That's the biggest team down here in Argentina. Might have to get one of their jerseys too! But then I told them that Messi is my favorite player. And Hna Alaniz told me (this was my first day, remember. I´m not sure I fully understood her) that her brother is married to a Messi. And it's the same Messi and Lionel Messi. She hasn´t met him obviously, but she is basically related to him. How crazy is that?!?!  So that was pretty cool.

Alright next thing. What is my blood type?? I still have NO idea what type I am. And I don´t know if you want to send that confidentially or anything, I just want to know since Elder Day told me he´s given blood down here before. So yeah I would need to know.

Okay yes, I have a blanket, and it serves me well. I took it from the apartment in Albuquerque, so I do have at least one blanket. And every pension has TONS of extra blankets. So you don´t need to worry about spending a bunch of money sending one down here. Plus it's spring, and it's already really really hot, so I probably won´t need one for awhile anyway haha :) I´m SO glad I get two summers down here.... not. It's way hotter down here than back home. I should be good for now. If that changes, I will let you know.

Okay this isn´t me begging for you to spend a lot of money and send me a package, but I do have a list of things I wouldn´t mind getting, whether for Christmas or whatever. PEANUT BUTTER!!! Haha of course. It stinks down here. Elder Day makes his own peanut butter and it's pretty good, but it's just not the same as the Skippy or Jif back home. And I don´t know why I left my jar in Albuquerque! It doesn´t perish. Dang. I regret that haha. But yeah, peanut butter would be great!GRRRRRRRRR I hate this keyboard. I´m inventingthe worl´ds newest longestwordsin thisemail. (That's what the whole e-mail looked lke before I fixed it!)  Anyway, that's a main one. And maybe like Reese´s or Nutter Butters, just normal American candy haha. But yeah. And this is a weird one, but duct tape would be great too. For everything. It's 35 pesos here and they give you a roll about 1/4 inch thick. Not anywhere close to the what, 2 inches they give you there? So yeah, that would be helfpful. Other than that, whatever you desire to send. Pictures, letters, you decide. Those are my only wishes at the moment :)

Okay so Saturday was the first day I officially had empanadas down here! They were the normal beef onion and pepper ones. They were super good. They were only as big as the small ones we ordered for Mother's Day. And while we were eating those, Julian was telling us about his mission in Bolivia. Apparently there is this town there called Orura or Oruro. And in the giant Catholic church, they have all the saints and holy people on one side, and then on the other, they have like this mine shaft thing that goes underground, and down at the bottom is a giant dragon-looking Satan. It's the creepiest thing I´ve ever heard of. Apparently down there they worship Satan as the god of the underworld pretty much. Like Hades. And then they worship God too. That was really interesting. But yeah, that sounded pretty intense. And also this town has a Carnival with dancing and drinking and all the works about everyday. So I don´t know how they got any work done down there haha. It's weird how different Bolivia sounds from where I am right now. But I guess Argentina isn´t that 3rd world as the other smaller countries. It was cool to talk about his experiences though.

So, on to the news! Yesterday we had a baptism! Marian was baptized finally, and it was really good. I got my first baptism pictures on my mission. It was really spiritual too. It's fun to not have a real font too. We set up a metal frame with a tarp in it haha. It really does feel like a different country. It was fun! We hope to have two more this weekend. I´ll update you on that next week! But it was really good. We made brownies and Hna Giordano made a cake thing, so thankfully we had a lot of brownies leftover :)  We ate those all last night though. They lasted about ten minutes after everyone left. Sad huh. But it was a miracle since the two girls, Brenda and Marian, the one who got baptized, think they own EVERYTHING: they don´t have manners or boundaries. They take something and we literally have to chase them down to get it back. It's the most annoying thing ever! The people down here just don´t really have manners like that. But it's all good, she got baptized, so hopefully she just learns more and more and things will work out.

As for Gloria and Mateo, we didn´t get a single visit with them this last week. They always have something going on. Although Saturday we stopped by Mateo's, and he was blasting music, singing at the top of his lungs, dancing by himself, and as we were leaving he was getting in the shower, so we´re pretty sure he was wasted :/  That's what happens when the missionaries only have two hours of contact and Satan has the rest of the hours in the week to work on people. Blah. Hopefully we can still figure things out. I mean it was pretty funny to hear him singing so loud, so out of tune, but that lasted about 20 seconds and then we were just frustrated and disappointed. Así es. :/

Well no one came and checked out apartments, I guess they just told us that to get us to clean them. Haha it worked I guess. We had to take another bus to Villa for the interviews. So yeah, we basically spent all of Thursday in Villa again. Blah. But when we got back we did get the interview for Marian done, so that all worked out. It wasn´t a waste of a day. My Spanish was a little better I felt, but I didn´t have to do much of the talking, so I don´t think he really noticed anything haha and my interview was the shortest one, just because Elder Day said everything already. Oh well,eventually I´ll be able to have a converstaion with him! It was good though. Last night the people at the baptism were asking me how long I had in the mission, and I said 4 months. Then they asked about how long I´d been in the field, and I said 2 months. And they asked about here in Justo Daract, and I said 3 weeks. Then they asked where I was before. So I told them in New Mexico speaking English haha and they wouldn´t believe me. Apparently after my prayer they were thinking I´d been here for at least half a year, because my Castillano was really good? So that was uplifting for sure. Everyone keeps saying my Spanish is good, but I feel like I can´t speak at all, because I don´t know how to just speak it yet. There are days it makes sense, and the next day is an off day. Yesterday was an off day too. But it's nice to be complimented and encouraged, because it does get me down a little sometimes. Anyway, the people are really nice down here. In the branch anyway.

I´m glad you're feeling better Mom. I can´t say I know what it feels like, but I have to be honest, I have the exact opposite feeling of the full, heavy stomach thing. I´m usually pretty hungy haha since I haven´t adapted to the eating schedule. Eat a big lunch at 1. Then don´t eat again until like 9. It's rough. Oh well, it's probably good I´m not eating so much. I´ll count my blessings.

Oh man, we have been lucky until now. No American music so far, but now it's Taylor Swift. It's distracting!!!! I´m supposed to be in a different country haha oh well. Sorry, I thought maybe if I mentioned it it wouldn´t be so distracting.

So Kate's coach still being weird??? What is up with that! And I´m glad Nathan doesn´t let the losses get to him. My freshman year was exactly the same way haha, we didn´t do so well. But then next year we won districts. Not sure what happened. Just keep on pushing through! It'll be a good experience, if nothing else. It´ll build character! Haha now I just sound like strict parents :P

Yeah the re-dedication was a broadcast, we had to go to Villa Mercedes. Man I´m glad we get reimbursed for our bus fares. That's like 200 pesos gone just from the buses. And Carrefour saves our lives for sure. It's so much cheaper than any place here in town. Except they have an American aisle, and there´s like snackpacks of Skittles for 28 pesos, or Goldfish for 35. And I gave in. They only lasted 3 days too :/  Oh yeah, you should send some Goldfish too :)  But yeah, Carrefour is the biggest store besides the Walmart in Mendoza, and we think there´s a Walmart in San Luis too. But neither are close! So we are good with Carrefour. I was wondering why Carrefour sounded so familiar the first time. (I reminded him we went to a Carrefour in France when we visited his grandparents on a mission there. ) Guess that's why!

Well I have my camera to send pictures, but these computers don´t even have usb plug-ins. So sorry, you´ll have to wait a little while longer! Just be looking for the letters I sent finally on Wednesday. I sent one to mi familia, Kelly, and the Torres family in New Mexico. Oh yeah, and Mom, if Richard ever sent you those pictures and things, you should forward these to him as well. He would like that. Thank you!

Well I should get going, Thanks for the updates on home, and hopefully we have more baptisms to report next week, and more good lessons! I hope so too. Que les vaya bien, y que dios les bendiga (Go well and God bless)!  Haha we hear those phrases so much from people who are trying to be nice but slam the door in our faces. It's fun. I love you all, and hope things are going good in all aspects of life. And if they aren´t, remember there´s always a way to make it better, through prayer, reading the scriptures, going to church, and trying to sincerely make a change to whatever isn´t going well. Christ is our Savior, and he went through all that we did, so don´t just ignore that or ignore Him! Ask for help. Some things only He can help us overcome, I know that with all my heart, He´s done it for me. Don´t take Him or His Atonement for granted! It changes lives, I´ve seen it happen even in my few 2 months on a mission. It's a privilege to be a part of such a great miracle. You can be too! Part of your own miracle. All you have to do is sincerely try to change, and do it with His help. Keep doing what's right!  ¡Haz lo Justo!

Chau (spelled a lot less cool than I thought :/ ),

Elder Tyson David Gibbons