Toe Surgery

Family,

Well, as I'm sure you're all wondering, yes, I had my toe surgery today. I will try to send pictures. It contains graphic images =P It was all relatively painless. He numbed my toe. That part actually hurt worse than him ripping out the toenail. (; So now I'll finally be able to walk normally. FINALLY after almost half a year. The piano playing is going amaaazingly well. Better than I ever even dreamed it could. They've given me all the hymns from now until may, and I practice them for half an hour every other day. It's literally not possible for me to learn hymns I've never played before in such a short amount of time every week. I guess the gift of languages isn't only applicable for languages you speak (: I'm so glad I get to use my talents to help the ward out. We also had two baptisms this week, which was also awesome. I'm becoming a lot better at doing another thing as well: Being happy. I truly believe that for some people (especially me), being happy is a skill that must be developed and practiced. I'm getting a lot better at it. I'm starting, just barely starting, to find joy in the journey. Well, I want to try and send some pics with the little time I have left. We got home super late today. Till next week! Love you all!

nevermind. Can't do it on this computer. =/ Have to wait till next week.

New Ward Pianist

Family,

Well how was conference? Freaking awesome right???!!! I was looking for everyone in the crowd, and I THOUGHT I saw Lisa and Taylor sitting next to each other. Don't know if it actually was, but it really looked like it... =P My first of three general conferences in Argentina was awesome. Me and all the other Yankee (that's what they call people from the U.S. here. But they pronounce it: Shang-Kee) missionaries got to go into another room and watch it in english! I got a lot of awesome revelation, and our investigators loved it too. I'm still tired from it though. Conference is draining! Well, I'm still doing pretty good. Me and elder peralta are still getting along really well. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, but actually really cold at night. Did you all hear about what happened in a city here called La Plata ( which means "Silver")? Well it rained REALLY hard at the beginning of last week and they got completely flooded. 51 people died and a lot more are homeless. So our stake brought a bunch of donations to our building during conference to send down there. Me and a bunch of other missionaries went there this morning to help them load it all onto a truck. It was pretty cool. Oh, and I have an ingrown toenail again. I'm not actually sure if it ever got better at all, it just stopped hurting so I didn't pay attention to it. Now it's hard to walk again. Looks like I'll have to get it operated on. =S Sorry I haven't sent any pictures in a while. I've been kinda lazy about it =P I'll have a bunch for next week. Thank you for all your love, prayers, and support on my behalf. I love you all!

And I forgot to mention that I am now the official ward pianist. How cool it that??!! I completely failed last Sunday trying to play hymns I've never played before. But I'm practicing (; 

New Area...New Companion

Family,

Thanks so much for all the pictures!!! I loved them. I'm glad you all had such a good Easter and that my street-confrontation story gave dad something to talk about to fill time =P As you all know, yes, I am now in Loma Grande, one neighborhood away from  Rivadavia. I'm seriously like right next door haha. Looking at a map, the area is west of rivadavia. The neighborhood in between Loma Grande and Rivadavia is called Altos de Merlo. There's a big air force base that splits the area in two. Some of the main streets are Chocano, Bettinotti, La Ruta 200, Albeniz. Maybe that'll help you find it. I LOVE this area already! It's quite a bit smaller than Rivadavia so it's a lot easier to get around. The house we live in is awesome. It's HUGE compared to the last one. It's seriously like living in a mansion. And the church is only two blocks down the road, which is really lucky. Elder Peralta is also awesome. He's from Las Vegas. His parents are from Mexico so he speaks perfect English and Spanish. He's a goofball, but we get along great. we also work/teach very well together. AAAND............. I GOT THE BIRTHDAY PACKAGE!!!! FIIINAALLLY! It only took two whole months... =P Thanks so much for everything you sent me. I'm super jealous that you all actually get to GO to general conference. That's so cool!!! I still remember when I went. That for me was one of those life-altering experiences. Well, just so you know, I am doing very well. Oh, just so you know, the church just changed the policy on emails. We can now email whoever we want, as long as it's not a female living within the mission bounds. Well, I'll be seeing you all in about a month from now. That's right, it's almost MOTHER'S DAY!!! Can you even believe that??? Have a good week everyone (((:

Easter Bunny ;)

Transfers

Haircuts for Everyone!

Hello family,

Well, this week was pretty good. At the first part of the week I had my interview with President Carter. It went really well for me. We talked a lot about "finding joy in the journey," and how I want to enjoy my mission more. He also talked to me about becoming senior companion this coming transfer. He wouldn't tell me if I'm leaving or if I'm staying in Rivadavia, so we'll see what happens. It's about a 50-50 chance of me staying or going. Yesterday we had stake conference, which was really fun. We had an entire bus come to take our ward down to the stake center. The meeting itself was especially for Argentina, broadcast from salt lake. It was pretty cool. Russel M. Nelson gave his talk in Spanish! Ha it was kinda funny. Well other than that, nothing else really exciting or interesting happened this week. I'll try to send some pictures, but I don't know how well it'll work on this computer. Talk to you next week!

cutting elder sturgell's hair.
I've been cuttin everyone's hair lately! =P

more cool wall art

cutting sergio's hair >=)

Not toooo bad.
It looks a LOT better when it's combed than it does in the picture. 

Family,

 

This has been another really good week. We had another awesome baptism Saturday of Mayra (11) and Marlen (16). They're both the sweetest little girls! You'll be getting lots of pictures today (: I confirmed Marlen on Sunday and also gave a 20 minute talk that I was asked to give 9:00 Saturday night. Don't know how I pulled that off...  oh, yes I do. Divine help (; I also played lead kindly light at the baptism on my penny whistle. Everyone loved it. ALL I hear about right now is the new Argentine pope! The only way I see that it's affected anyone's lives is that they talk about it all the time =P Nope, still no  birthday package. Just have to keep waiting, I guess. I'm really glad you all liked my story. That's one of those life-changing experiences that only serving a mission can give you. Well, I'm gonna keep this short, cause I've got a lot of pics to send. Till next week! I love you all!

food that one of the sisters in the ward made for us.
American food: fried chicken and french fries (:

We had a pancake party (:
And yes, we made the pancakes. From scratch.

Strike a pose...

kevin, the son of one of our recent converts

yup. it's that time of year! Finally!
After going through two summers in a row, it's a welcome relief.

jewish food. It was actually pretty good.
there's a sister in the ward that always makes us interesting food.
She made us middle eastern food the other day, which was also pretty good.

Mayra and Marlen

When the oven doesn't work, we improvise (:

Testify!

Hello family,

This has been another good week. We had the baptism this Saturday of Kevin, the son of one of our recent converts. It turned out extremely well. I even played piano for the whole thing haha. I also got to do divisions with Elder Sturgell again this week. We had a pretty interesting experience. As we were walking down the road, a group of three guys started a conversation with us by asking how many kilometers a day we walk. The conversation went on, and they asked what church we represent. I said, the church of Jesus Christ, or otherwise known as the Mormons. Then one of them said, "You know, I've always wondered where that name comes from." So, obviously, we thought, awesome! They want to know about us! So, we started explaining the book of Mormon and where it comes from. Then the guy suddenly starts attacking the book of Mormon and denying it as scripture because it "isn't the bible." Elder Sturgell tried and tried to explain how it actually is scripture, even by using scripture. He asked the guy if he'd ever read the book, and he said no. Then I said, being a little worked up at this point (the guys were being arrogant jerks about the whole thing), "Then you don't know!! If you've never read it, you can't know what it is." The guy had no response for me. But, the conversation went on, the guys continuing to deny the church and the bom, and I just got angry. So, wanting to put my emotion to good use, I said, with all the conviction, power, confidence, and authority that I've ever said it, "It's true! And I KNOW It's true!" That effectively ended the conversation, and we both went our ways. I was shaking all over, from both anger and from what I just said. I've never born my testimony in such a way before. It proved to me just how strong my testimony really is. It is unbreakable. So, just thought you'd like to hear that story (: unfortunately, I can't sent pics from this computer (it's kinda ancient), so you'll have to wait till next week. I love you all! Oh and I still haven't gotten my package. ): Till next week!

my new friend

Happy 20th Birthday!!!!

Family,

Haha thank you so much for the pictures! I miss sloppy joes a ton! I hope you ate a whole bunch for me. And snuck lots of ice cream out of the freezer. Hah, It's crazy the things you forget about.... Anyways, my birthday here was awesome. This ward is amazing. They made me feel like I was celebrating my birthday with my own family. I was sung happy birthday to, and given an total of THREE birthday cakes!!! Isn't that awesome? I still haven't gotten your package yet, but I did get some gifts from the ward. I got a bamboo flute from a sister and a wall clock set in detailed leather from one of our recent converts, Elizabeth. I also got a book of mormon in a native language from Paraguay called Guarani. My first of two birthdays in the mission went very well. (: Staples closed???!!! That's crazy. Wow she's getting her patriarchal blessing? That's wonderful (: That will be a great help to her. I know mine has been for me. When I sometimes feel like I'm not worth very much, it helps me see the potential God sees in me and the plans He has for me. It's been awesome to see some of the things it says being fulfilled right before my eyes. For example, the Gift of Languages. I haven't quite made it to being fluent (yet), but I am completely conversant. I can understand just about 85-90% of what people say, even in normal on-the-street conversations. There were a handful of members in the ward I just could NOT understand when I first got here. Now, I can understand everything they say. It's truly a miracle. We have a bunch of awesome baptisms coming up in the next few weeks. We're pretty excited. (: I also taught Elder Dressler how to play army of helaman this morning on the penny whistle. Hah. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, and I love you all! 

The cake Yoana Coronel made for me!! 

The lady behind me (Marcela) smashed my face into the cake. Haha

The cake the Sotelo family made for me (((:

This is Roxy. She bought the flute for me (: