9/2/13 - First Week in Argentina

9/2/13

yoooo whats good in the hood!!!

im LOVING THIS!!!! its by far the hardest thing ive ever done but i love it. its meggga awesome

o man has this week beeeeeen crayyyyy!!!! let me tell you one thing... I DONT KNOW JACK SQUAT ABOUT SPANISH!!!

These argentines are just jibber jabbering away and i have NO EARTHLY CLUE WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON... i simply smile and say ´´no entiendo´´ which means i dont understand :)

quick story.....

so we´re teaching this lesson to this really poor family.... there are like 6 kids in this tiny little cement house that is really dirty.... so were teaching them about god because they dont believe in god. all of a sudden i look over and this 15 year old girl whips out her ´´blank´´ to start breastfeeding her child!!!!! HOLY FREAK!!! i look over and she is breastfeeding her child right in front of me!!!! my eyes got about as big as the moon and i acted like i didnt see nothing!! it was nuts!!! haha so we just continued teaching the lesson like nothing had happened and she just keep doing her business... yeah since then i have seen it like 4 more times... a little different then in the states i guess :)

so ill start with a quick little story that i wrote in my journal... its a little deep i guess so dont make fun... im trying find my inner soul out here on the mission and sound smart and sophisticated with my words. hahah nahhh just kidding im the same dumby as when i left 7 weeks ago or however long its been

August 26th

im sitting on the plane right now and we are flying out of salt lake to georgia. i just realized that im actually leaving everything ive ever known for 2 years. i look out the window and were flying over draper. i started to cry a little bit realizing that this is really it. im actually doing this. not tears of sadness but tears of joy. my journey of a great mission has just begun. im realizing that this is the last time ill see home for a really long time. i know that this will be hard and at times i will feel that its unbearable. im listening to the song ´´be still my soul´´ by byu choir girl solo on my ipod. this song has really touched my heart. this mission will be hard but as i go through hard times i know the lord will be right by my side going through them with me. i feel comforted. ´´be still my soul, the lord is by my side´´. i dont feel nervous or scared because he will be with me every step of the way. i love this gospel and i feel so grateful to have the opportunity to share it for these next two years. ive left everything i have ever known. ive left the only people that i have ever loved. but i have left it for the lord. i have left all these things to serve my savior and to do the things of which he has asked me to do. argentina is my home for the next two years and i know it will become a part of me for the rest of my life. my preaching and dedicaton to the lord will change lives through this gospel. this gospel will change the people of argentinas lives as it changes my own life.

haha i bet some of you who are reading this are thinking ´´gayyyyy´´ hahah well those are some of my thoughts.... i would encourage anybody who is reading this that is having a hard day to go listen to that song and thing about what the atonement really means and what our savior is willing to do for us... and when we are going through those hard days the lord is right there by our side pressing forward with us.

ANYWAYSSSS..... this week has been cray!!!!

well what do you know i have a companion that doesnt speak any english!!!!! hahaha so i havent really talked to anybody in a week... mega awesome right????? hahah ooo man its difficult sometimes because i cant really communicate at all...

my comp is from brazil and speaks portugese and spanish and no english.. he is 23 years old and a convert to the church when he was 18.... he is incredible. an amazing missionary. some of the missionaries i talked to said hes one of the best in the mission..

so i really am grateful i got someone who doesnt speak any english because i have really been forced to learn the language and always talk in spanish obviously.

the area that we are in is called el cruce.

i have heard its a little bit less than average on the poverty scale of the areas that we will be serving in... haha i walked into our pension (apartment) and was a little bit grossed out... haha but its all good i guess i dont mind out toilet having poop stains and yellow crap everywhere :) haha seriously its all good!

so i bet that the areas that parker and taylor served in were a lot worse than mine... its really not that bad. but dont get me wrong i have never seen areas like this in my life... probably half of the streets are dirt in the neighborhoods and there is trash everywhere... its sweet!!!!

haha so for the past 6 days i just walk around with a big ol grin on my face not knowing what the heck is going on!! people start to talk to me and i dont know anything. its awesome when you know they are making fun of you but you dont know what they are saying.. haha its sweet.

we walk a lot... and i like that because we never walked or did much activity in the mtc.

I LOVE THE FOOD!!

haha ive eaten some things that anybody but me would think are weird... haha so im getting there with the food... its still real scary though.

everytime we go to a house to eat i just pray to the lord that i can do it... please please please just feed me meat!! and thats what they have done!! ive eaten meat and potatoes for every meal at the members house!

delicious :)

a member knew two words in english.... those words are ¨F you¨

hahaha so he kept saying that to me not really knowing what he was saying.... it was hilarious!!

well i can already feel the love that i have for these people that we are teaching... right now its really hard because i just want to know what is happening and be able to talk and understand... but i cant. in time it will come. its hard to have patience! haha i just want to be my dumb self and joke around with them and have fun with them but right now i cant.

i cant wait for the day when i can actually speak spanish and really be able to love these people... o man that will be sooooooo sweet!!! then the fun will really begin.. haha o man its awesome out here.

i cant really take very many pictures because... well... i might not have a camera anymore if I take it with me everywhere... DONT WORRY MOM!! Haha youve just gotta be street smart around here. its not dangerous and ill be good!!

welll let er buck right???? i hope i gave enough info and some stories.. emailing is crayyyy because i dont have a lot of time and i want to write everybody back... if i dont write you back im sorry but i really appreciated your letters!!!

hope all is well at home!

pray for my freakin head to understand this language!! haha and pray for the people that need to hear about this gospel

i hope there is a lot of dunking (baptisms) going on in the world with all the missionaries!!!

see ya in a bit!
smell ya later

-Elder Meeshers (thats how they say my name)