How would you describe your pain? uh....two enthusiastic thumbs up!

I´m actually not in that much pain. But I was just trying to think about how to describe my week/all the experiences that I´ve been going through lately. And.....there isn´t a single word that can truly justify all the experiences that I´ve had. I need probably a thousand. Which is probably for the better.

So, my new area is ridiculously big. I counted, and we took a grand total of 40ish (okay, I lost count) Collectivos this week. To show the difference, we probably took 40 ish collectivos in an entire transfer in Nunez. It´s Grand. Welcome to the Grand Mision Buenos Aires Norte. But that also means that there is a lot of work to be done. And there is a lot of work. We actually had to drop quite a few investigators because they weren´t progressing. Which means I got a lot of time to practice talking to people. Score, the good news is that I´m more comfortable doing it. Something about being forced to step up to the plate and learning I actually had the ability all along. Now that I´m Senior Companion I feel more responsibility to initiate conversations, where we´re going and what not. And mostly, I just don´t have time to be scared.

Of the investigators that we have, one is the 9 year old daughter of the Relief Society President and her reactivating husband. The husband is currently working on getting the priesthood, when he does in October, he wants to baptize his daughter right away. As far as investigators go, that one I´m willing to take. I´m excited for the family and that they are working together to become an eternal family.

Others include the grandma of the Bishop - very catholic, loves to chat. And a security God who is from Peru and moved to Argentina because he felt that God had a purpose for him. A couple weeks after moving, he met the missionaries. I don´t know why he had to move to Argentina to encounter the church, but he is very nice and I´m excited to teach him.

Some fun side notes include - one banker asked me if I was from Brazil (because of my accent). That made me feel pretty good about myself. Oh, and things I´ve learned about South American companions - they don´t really get sarcasm. So I have to be careful. How do I know this? Well, Okay, I´ll tell you.

So, the first day we´re driving to the pension, right? Right. And the President of Argentina lives in Vicinte Lopez, with a huge fence, it´s like the size of a football field, her property. So, when my companion points this out, naturally I ask, "Oh, so have you knocked on her door?" Valid question right? She lives in the area, we´re here to share with everyone. Her response: "No, there´s a fence around her home. We can´t actually reach the door." "....*facepalm* oh, what was I thinking?" She didn´t get it. Hermana Campos who was with us for a day didn´t get it either. So, now I´m trying to work on not being as sarcastic.

Oh, rapido, Mom, Dad, could you tell me a bit about the areas that you served in? People keep living/serving in those areas and when I mention that you too served there they keep asking for areas and I have to reply with "...uh, Lima....." Or "....LA, I don´t know!" And then I feel bad.

I wish I had more stories for you. But this week was a bit of a let down. Very normal. We got lost a couple of times. We´ve had a few tiffs over the new companionship. Differences in teaching styles and time management. So that´s fun to try to learn. But, like I told my zone leaders, no ones died yet, so I can´t be doing that bad right? Right!!

Love you lots,

Hermana Reed