tucuman! ( to-coo-mon)

Hola family!

This was an interesting week. And a little crazy, Centro is huge! The map doesn't look like it, but it is. It's hot and stormy here, and always humid so I'm usually a little damp. It's weird because it is the complete opposite then where I was, it was like getting culture shock for what I'm used to. But it wasn't hard living in El Carmen with out a lot of kinds of food and weird laundry machines and not many cars, but here its like living in down town San Jose, but a lot less shiny with a few more random dogs. It makes the work interesting.

So another thing I learned is that it gets super humid right before it rains here, then we have sweet lightning storms and then its hotter the next day. And I've been told the street floods all crazy so I will need to find boots, but I can do that here. But really I need to find insoles. I'm not sure why
I never did.

So I thought we walked a lot in my last area but that was nothing. It takes us 30 min to get to the barrios, which are little houses on the out skirts of town, but we are there alot. And then more walking around town. It's wearing on my feet after a week, so I'm going to search for insoles, and if you find some there that are good for me, let me know before you go out and buy them. I'm not sure if I can find them here, but I want to look.

There are 4 of us hermanas in the same house which is another big change. It was easier to focus with just the 2 of us. At first it was hard to only be able to talk to one person, like have real conversations, but now there are 4 of us and 3 are from the states. Don't know if grandma knows one of them, she seems to know everyone. But she is from Twin Falls, Hermana Waters, (first name Lark, has 11 kids her her fam) and the other is my old comp Hna Hilton from the MTC.

Hey did you get the pic from the bishop here? We ate at his house the other day.

My comp is cool. We get along well. It's weird learning how to teach together, but it works. And the communication isn't horrible - she understands me and I usually get what she is saying. If I come back saying random phrases they will be from her, haha.

The ward here is awesome! It was hard in my last area, I felt like the church depended on the missionaries because it's still a newer branch and there were alot of inactive/ less active. I'm sure there are here, too, (there are tons everywhere) but there are enough people in the ward to keep it strong. And the bishop and mission leader are great. They help us and we have regular meetings and it's like its supposed to be - we work together. And here the bishop meets with us after church to ask about our main investigators and see how he can help and then we se if we can help him with people in the ward. I love it!

We had a baptism Saturday but it was kinda given to us. It was a girl who lives in our area but took lessons in the area that her mom lives so the elders taught her, but the bishop said she had to be with the ward she lived in and thats us. Hahaha. So they taught her everying and we baptised her.

And there is another lady here, Neli, who really wants to get baptized. She had had all the lessons and her husband was recently baptized, but she has to not smoke for a month and either quit her job or work it out that she can come Sundays. It's sad cuz she really wants to be baptised just needs these things, I didn't get to see the big change in her, but Hna Da Silva says she used to smoke 2 packs a day and they had been slowly lessening it up till now. So far she has gone 5 days with out smoking. Well we talk to her later today, but its cool to see her happy when she tells us she hasn't smoked.

And then there is one other lady Patricia. She was given a book of mormon 5 years ago by a friend and has friends who have told her about it, it took her a while but she already knows its true. This is good for me to see how people can come around later in life. That the work I'm doing now can effect future generations.

Guess what we did today?! Haha we moved apartments, wohoo ya not fun, ok kinda, we made the elders help but it was kinda crazy. But I didn't like it cuz it made me not feel like a missionary, it was too normal.

That's another thing here - its normal. We hear music al the time and there are huge department stores. It's weird, it trips me out to think I'm preaching the gospel in a place like this. In El Carmen it was different and I was so out of the world that it was easy to remember that I'm a missionary, espically cuz I was one of the only white/ blone people, but here I blend in. Ok, not completely but I'm not as noticable as a missionary. Just different. It was good for me to start where I did. The work is always an adventure.

Its still hard, but my favorite times are when I'm preaching the gospel, when I get to bear my testimony or teach a lesson, I feel the spirit and remember my purpose. Its awesome. Haha its just geting the nerve to stop people on the street to talk to them - thats not my favorite. But it needs to be done, and miracles happen, espically when we trust in our father in heaven. Right now my favorite verse in the Book of Mormon is 2 Nephi 8:12 ( i think) and the verses before it about Christ. It's my inspiration to not fear man and the answers I get, or doors shut in the face - Christ is all Ineed to put my trust and fear in.

Its fun to hear about the fam, crazy that the kids are all getting big. Its crazy that I'm in Argentina and I talk to people in Spanish, and its crazy how short this life is, it really is just a probationary state. We are here to learn and grow and be tested but it really isn't very long, and we will be blessed in the end. Our father in heaven doesn't promise us that it wil get easier but we will have happiness, peace and joy, and the life eternal, that's all we need.

I love you all, thanks you from your love. Laura sorry I missed your b-day I'll make it up when I get home :)