Hello all!
Well, this is officially my first email on my first real Preparation Day in the mission field. We get to leave our area a good amount on preparation day, seeing as.... there really isn´t anything to do in our area. We´re currently downtown in a Cyber Cafe writing out our emails. I really don´t know how long we get to email, I´m still really new and lost with this whole thing. It´s kind of crazy. Where to start... where to start...
Well, we flew into Buenos Aires and went through the Temple Session in English - cause it was like all Elderes. You know what my flight schedule was like - it was pretty smooth sailing, except for the last flight was really really cramped. And, oh, padre, I was able to make it mostly awake through the temple session, I did doze off a little bit at the beginning, but otherwise I was good.
My mission president seems like he is a really nice guy, doesn´t speak any English, but seems like a really nice guy. We see him once a transfer, when he comes to zone conferences. Zone conferences here are more like province conferences. There is no such thing as mission conference, because the Elderes are all so spread out, that it would take a couple of days to get everyone in the same place to have a conference. Speaking of that, we just had zone conference yesterday. Elder Zivic of the area presidency came and talked to us. The conference went from 9 to 2, and they fed us, but... the downside we had to take a city bus an hour to get there. It was really good, I was able to see and talk to Elders Mohlman and Fleming for a little bit. There were 4 zones there. It was all done in castellano (spanish) so that was a little bit hard, but I was able to make out enough to know the gist of what the conference was about. The president also spoke to us, his big thing is- I work hard every day, so you all need to work hard everyday. That´s pretty much it, it was really fun.
Side note - two words I´ll use alot: pension, the word here for apartment; and cita - the word for appointment.
So.. my area specifically is in the middle west section of Posadas, the poorer part. If one were to look at a map of Posadas, (which you should) my area on the north boundary is Alte Brown avenue, to the east is Zapiola avenue, so the south is Luis Quaranta avenue, and to the West is the airport. It´s a massive area, there are parts that have never been tracted. But, I really like it.
We live in a pension about 15 minutes outside our area with the zone leaders - Elders Bohne and Hormuzabal. My companion is the District leader. Our district has 8, four Elders and four Hermanas(sisters). Elder Rohde - my companion is from Washington. He is down to his final month in the mission, but as of yet isn´t trunky. He´s been in the area for one transfer before me, no two. I´m going to be in this area a while, seeing as he is leaving, and, President del Castillo likes to leave people where they are at for 6-8 months on average. So, I´m excited.
Side note 2: our zone area, Posadas II, is pretty much all the area from the river to the southern boundary of my area, the other zone here has the outlying areas.
Anyway, that´s my area. My rama(branch) is growing pretty nicely they tell me. There were 92 in church on Sunday, which, if that keeps up they will make it a ward. So that´s really exciting, I´d love to be here when that happens. As for the people I´ve met as of yet. We have a baptism coming up on Saturday for 3 people. Gabriel, Valeria, and Mariano, the children of a lady who is just getting active. I didn´t start the teaching, but I´ll have taught them three times by their baptism, so I feel I´ll have at least been a part of it. We have about three families that are currently progressing, and a bunch of others we need to follow up on. We also over the last couple of days have made a bunch of promising contacts that will hopefully lead somewhere. We shall see.
Clapping houses is an interesting experience, you stand at the edge of the yard and clap until someone comes out and decides whether or not to shake your hand or not. Most of our lessons happen outside as well. I love it, teaching proved to be harder that I thought it would be, but I really like it. It's so different to be teaching real people whose lives you may be helping to change.
This isn´t to say that I haven´t had a fair share of rejections already as well--the finger wave to go away and other things. But, I stilll love it. I´ve learned so much the past five days here. I learned that my castellano was terrible, ;) and that I have a massive amount to still learn about the gospel. But I´m learning, and will learn continually. Part of our learning here is the program called Treasure up the Word. It has certain requirements to do for every lesson, and when completed we get a certificate!!! haha But, really, I do think it´s pretty cool.
You asked how much of the language I was understanding. I understand a fair amount, well, depending on the person. Some people speak so fast that I can´t understand hardly any, others are easier. But, that will come with time. The bigger problem for me, is I can understand sometimes what is going on, I just have no clue what to say back, or how to say what I want to say. By the time I do, the moment has gone. Haha, something else that will come with more time and more effort. I´m really excited for the day when I can understand the majority of what people say to me. :) Or, be able to reply to it.
Church on Sunday was pretty good, our branch is good sized enough to where we could just listen and participate and not have to actually teach anything. So it was nice just to observe what was going on. It happened to be the branch conference. The main theme was the importance of getting to the temple, and going as often as possible. The branch organizes trips to the temple in Paraguay every few months, they rent a bus and all that stuff. That´s about it for the ward so far, I´ll know more next week I´m sure.
So, as for the rest of Preparation Day, every week the ZLs plan it out. Some days, like today are more relaxed and we don´t have any set plan except for playing futbol (soccer). Others, like I think next week, we take a trip to like a touristy place, or sometime this or next transfer we will probably be going to the Jesuit ruins. We´ll see. I´m still a bit lost as to everything that goes on, but... fear not, I learn fast.
What other questions... oh yes, my luggage arrived perfectly fine. Customs was easy.. they just waived us through if we said we didn´t have anything illegal. :) Which, we didn´t.
Ah, one last thing, weather. It´s winter... and its like perfect temperature wise. I've only been really hot like once. It´s been raining the last couple of days, and probably will again today. When it rains.. it rains. The umbrella saves my life. Also, since most of the streets in my area are mud, or don´t have good drains, the boots are also a wonderful addition. They will be well used. Another thing my trainer has taught me. Pick a couple of pants to get trashed. A couple of pair that will just get muddy all the time, and dirty. So... I did. Haha, on and for laundry. There is a sister in the ward that does all but our garments. Those we hand wash. :)
Well, that is mostly all. We have an hour, and I´ve been here a while. I should be able to send some pictures next week, of the pension and stuff. Oh! The pension is pretty nice, well, ok. Haha, but its alright. I should probably get going. Feel free to tell anyone they are free to send me emails. I can reply to them, if I have time. Also, I can write back. But email is the best way. Even pouch takes some time to get here. So.. I like email for the most part. :) I think that is all.
con mucho amor
Elder Matthew
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