Hola familia,
So, here I am. In the big city. How lucky can a girl get? To be thinking she was going to be sent to a backwards, frozen tundra and instead be sent to the Capitol! Not even the province of Buenos Aires but the capitol itself. I passed the President´s house on the way to my apartment. Apparently it includes a golf course. I didn´t actually get to see the house because the fence/area is about 5 blocks but that´s okay. Our taxi-man was very proud. I know this because my companion told me, not because I understood what he was saying.
So, my companion. Her name is Hermana Jones, she is from Seattle Washington. The oldest in her family, she´s been out for a full year. She served in Usuaya (aka, the end of the world in the Tierra Del Fuego, the tip tip) and I´m her only child. So we get to learn a lot together. I get to learn how to interact with people, and she gets to learn how to train. As far as children go, I´m pretty sure I´m one of the easiest children she´ll ever get. I never complain, and I accept whatever she plans to do for the day. Part of that, however, is that I don´t know the people she´s talking about, or their needs, or what to teach them. Maybe I´ll do that once. During planning one day say we should go teach someone else when she offers up a name. Hmmm, the possibilities. But don´t worry, it´s not a prank. That´s beneath the dignity of a missionary. :)
Argentina is fun. It´s just coming into winter, so it´s starting to get cold (weird, I´ve never had cold before). I´m not bundled up in my parka yet, but I´m pretty sure my face would not hold a smile if I went out in a short sleeved shirt. So sweaters and my light jacket it is. Well, I wear a light jacket. The people here are starting to bundle up in their heavy jackets/3 sweaters and their delightful fleece pants. I´ve never seen fleece pants before, and it´s a good thing I´ve seen them now, because apparently the U.S. was missing out on a huge fashion statement. Dani - I want you to get that going while I´m gone. Fleece pants, and ¡jolin! We´re changing America!
The people are really nice. There is actually quite a mix of people here. Many are from Peru, Columbia and Bolivia. Don´t think I´ve met a Chilean yet, but that´s not too surprising. But overall, the food is great, the people are great. And everyone is very nice. Plus, the food is excellent. Like, really. Excellent. And the members always serve the missionaries these gi-normous plates. It´s borderline ridiculous. We were at the Familia Wesby´s house on Friday and trying to say no to a second helping of anything pretty much falls on deaf ears. Which is funny, beacuse they pretty much are deaf. It´s this couple, they´re probably, I don´t know, 60? 70? The espousa is so deaf! It´s hilarious. Half the time she doesn´t understand her husband. After everything he says: ¿Cómo? ¿Cómo?? Don´t worry, I didn´t laugh in front of her. I remember how to be tactful. They had a delicious dessert called English Soup....because the husband is from Englad. And you can tell too, not just because he´s about as white as I am, but whenever he stands, he´s very proper and holds his hands behind his back. Very high-class. I felt special.
All in all, I think I´m going to like it here. For a big city. It could be worse. If I were in a big city by me-onesie that would be no bueno. But since I have a companion that knows where to go and what to do, it´s not bad. Very dirty, like I told you guys yesterday. It´s like New York or Washington D.C. Cigarette butts lining the streets, buses and train stations. I want you to know though. If I had a cell phone with picture taking capabilities.....man! I would be rocking the awkward couple photo contest. That´s all I´m saying.
Oh, real quick, a couple of things I´ve learned. Well, actually, I had a couple of light bulb moments, in the CCM but that´s beside the point. One was do you remember in the movie the Best two years when Kirby Heybourne tells his companion ¨That´s not the language they taught me in the MTC?¨ I get that line now. I understand why it´s so funny. It´s not that the MTC taught them the wrong language, it´s, despite being taught the language they go into the field and don´t understand because the people are talking so fast/there are so many different dialects! I get it!! Haha, that movie line is so much funnier now. Don´t worry, the MTC taught me the correct language, they even got the dialect right with saying ¨shuh¨ for all double l´s.
What was the other thing.... I forget. That´s not important. The important thing is that I´m not dead. And the church is true. Everything else can wait.
To answer some questions, DearElders are sent to the mission home, and then we get them....eventually. I don´t think it´s a weekly thing, but whenever we get in contact with the mission offices we probably get them. The same with packages. I´ve heard different responses on the package thing. And my answer is...I have no idea. It would probably be better to e-mail President Gulbrandson and ask him directly, or the Secretary who´s e-mail I sent you. Sorry I can´t be of more help. You should e-mail the President and then tell him that Aunt Deryn and Uncle Doug have seen his picture on the back of the yellow pages. I´m planning on doing it if I ever remember. My biggest problem is if I´m ever around him it will probably be beacuse we´re doing something of missionary importance and so I´ll forget everything else.
Welp, love you tons. It was great talking to you Mom and Dad, Ethan, Fae-babe and Beez (via phone). Ethan, keep your shirt on. Work that farmer´s tan. I´m glad everything is going well. Alright, thie e-mail is a ridiculous length. My companion and I are going to go grocery shopping (love food) and then go get Subway (yes, now that I am authentically in a different country I´m going to go eat American food. But it´s okay, because in reality I haven´t eaten American food in 2 months. The CCM doesn´t count, I don´t know what type of food it is, but it isn´t American. It´s a class of it´s own).
-Hermana Reed
Also, if family and friends want to start e-mailing me (carlee.reed@myldsmail.net) instead of deareldering me that´s fine. There isn´t a set time limit in this mission other than, don´t spend a ridiculous amount of time. So I can read e-mails now. And that´s probably a better idea since I don´t know when I´ll be getting any of the dearelders.
Note: She is not supposed to email back anyone but her immediate family, but she can receive emails from them.
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