Week #10 ~On the right Tract!

Hello Family,

I am doing great. Just had a Alfajore, one of my new favorite things!  It is like a cookie/moon-pie/peanut butter thing.  My comp and I are actually getting along way better this week.  I decided that I was just going to be what ever he wanted me to be and try to be his favorite companion.   I just am finishing my laundry in the cyber.  It takes a long time but it’s nice to have clean cloths to wear.  You all should be grateful and enjoy your washer and dryer this week as you are all spoiled in the USA to have running water and washers and dryers.  

My house address is 2556 Cerrito is my house address we are the top floor with a balcony! My Spanish is coming along. The MTC didn’t help me much and all the accent here change about 60 percent of the words sounds, but luckily  both Mexican and Argentina can understand it.  I will get there, I am studying very hard and praying very hard to speak better. I just read my Spanish book and follow right behind my companion all day. We had a good storm a few days ago and didn’t have power but it turned on today so now we are warm again!

In the morning it’s a bout 50 but in the afternoon warms to about 80 so pretty big change.  It sucks to run when it’s so cold.  We run along the river every morning. 

I have never wanted American food so bad! I didn’t realize how much I love it.

My comp loves Oreos he spends like half of his money on them but they taste so weird!  

This morning I had eggs with rice and tonight… I am thinking of making rice with eggs! Because of that, I  have lost a good amount of weight and my grey suit is a little more roomie then before I work out for about a hour when we get home also. 

Here is my week in review…

Monday-

We had a sleepover with some elders from one of our areas for zone conference and they bought stuff to make pizza!! I was never that excited to have pizza in my life! It wasn’t very big, but it was different then eggs so I loved it! We had three new contacts made that morning and we taught a lesson in a door way for one of them! It was really cool, but I felt bad cause we couldn’t go inside because it was a single mother. 

Tuesday-

We had meetings with the Mission President. He is a very funny man and we get along great!  We had zone conference and it lasted about half of the day. We had to walk about 2 miles to get the stake center, but we saw the President and his wife and they told everybody to bring fruits.  They made us fruit parfaits and yogurt. The whole time was very hard to follow because they he talks very fast and uses a lot of words that I don’t know yet but, I was actually able to understand quite a bit of it!  Later that day we had a lesson with a little boy that we are baptizing this Saturday. His name is Ezikel and he is 9, he is the only member in his family but he has attended church with his neighbors and his best friend for atlas a year. 

Wednesday-

Not a lot happened on Wednesday we made 7 new contacts in the morning and then after the siesta visited members and less actives, or the ones that were home. 

Thursday- 

We were very far from our home tracting in the morning and this little boy runs up to me and my comp and he is like 5 or 6.   I have no idea but he has a lollipop in his hands and he is holding it from the sucker side not the stick so he has crazy colored and super sticky hands and he stretched out his arm and wanted to shake our hands then he tries to look at my tie! I was trying to step back and avoid these sugar cover hands! Then he took my comps Book of Mormon and ran away.. quite strange.

Friday-

The Hermanas in our district decided to have chalk art of the plan de salvation in the central of their area. They invited us to come and explain it to people who passed by. We left at 9 and got there at ten or so and after they finished there chalk design which was pretty extravagant and very vibrant it started to rain!!! It was so funny and sad all at the same time! but luckily it didn’t ruin the whole thing!

Saturday.

We went a young girls house to interview her for baptism for our zone leaders. Then later that night when to her baptism. It was really cool and different then what I am use to. The cloths looked like a big sheet and had a white rope tied around the waist. My comp and I sat at the piano bench cause he played the piano and then they started the session like the talks and stuff, I just sat there and pretend to play along because I ways already up there. Some of the people in attendance told me how good I was at the piano! After the baptism all of the youth surrounded me and my companion cause they loved talking to us they say we are so different! I feel so tall in this country I was probably a good 6 or seven inches taller then any man in that whole chapel. 

Sunday- 

They asked me and my comp to come and attend the young women’s class and when we went in the teacher said now Elder Vance will talk to us about the importance of eternal marriage. I was complete caught me off guard. But the worst part was that they are all talking English in school and they asked if I would talk in English about it so they can work on there language skills. After church there was this crazy man and he comes from far away, he came to our chapel because he had heard there was english speaking missionary’s and he wants to show off his skill to us.  He is in college learning to me a professor in inglish and he is terrible at English. He says he has 3 semesters left!!!! I feel sorry for his future students.  Have you read Our Heritage or Our Search for Happiness or Jesus the Christ?  I want you all to get them and read them, they are so great!

I have to go, my time is out.  

Love you all,

Elder Vance

ALFAJORE Yummy!

My comp & I  tracting

On the right Tract!

Chalking The Plan of Salvation 

Week #9 ~Unplugged

Hola Familia!, 

This week was great! We had so many contacts! We had so many this morning and it was a blast!   Missionary work is fun when people want to listen to you!  I can speak and understand a little, but they have very thick accents.  

My companion has been out for 1 year during for the first 7 months he did not want to be here, so he did not study a bit.  He just let his trainer do all the work.  He thinks I am crazy for studying so much. We have been asked to do one Spanish lesson from our book a day, I have been trying to do at least 3 a day to help me to understand what people are saying.   But I really want to be the best missionary I can be.  

We now have a super market that we can go to! It’s called the Chino or the China it is run by a Chinese family so its called the Chino. The only problem is that we cant buy meat from them even though they have the cheapest prices. The reason behind that is they unplug their freezers and fridge at night! Crazy. It was semana de nino here this week and lots of places were having child oriented events and it was really cool. 

It is starting to get warmer, but it is still cold in the morning.  I have a ward here in Olivarri.  The members are very kind, we have 6 young men.  The members let their kids run wild, they run around during sacrament playing cops and robbers and do not care about the noise or distraction.  It is awesome!  

The other day we walked about 45 minutes to a ward members house.  It is a single father with 3 small girls.  I was so moved by how little they had and how much they loved each other and us.  They live in a shed made from broken cement and rusted scrap metal.  He lost his job about 2 weeks ago, his wife who is an alcoholic left him and her girls when she learned the news of his job loss.  The man was so happy with a big smile on his face when we visited him.  He offered us his share of dinner because he thought we looked hungry and because we were servants of the Lord.  Their meal for the day consisted of 5 eggs for the whole family.  We did not take it of course!  We offered to do some service for him because we are missionaries and love to do service.  He said no but sent us to a family that was having a hard time and needed our help more than him.  Can you believe his generosity!  

I love Argentina, I love the food, I love the members and I love the Gospel.  Last night I could not sleep so I read Our Heritage and Or Search for Happiness, yes 2 books it was a long night, but a successful night.  I am currently in the process of reading Jesus The Christ, yes dad I need a dictionary to understand it.  I really love the Gospel and studying the words that will change my life and others.  

I love you all and have to go.  I will try to send some pictures tomorrow from our ward house.  I cannot find a post office, so keeping my promise to you mom of in hand written letter a week, I have taken a picture of my letter.  I love you!

Love, Elder Vance

I lost my tie clip!

My important laundry!

Typical road we walk!

Week #8~ Hotdog Stir-Fry!

Hello All,

This week was very similar to last week.  It is about 67 degrees, warmest its been yet! I am in short sleeve shirt and its amazing.   This week we did a lot of walking and door to door.  When I say a lot I mean all day every day. I added up how far we walked on Saturday and it was about 21 km. So about 13 + miles in a day.   We have a very large area to get to. This week we were able to eat with the bishop and we had his favorite Argentina dish stir-fry hotdogs.  It was different but still good. We have a lot of contacts but also a lot of people that are almost offended that we want to tell them about our beliefs.  It is very interesting.

I am feeling great I exercise a lot cause it’s the only thing I can

still do well! hahah My comp is good, he speaks pretty good he has been out a year and is 9 days older then me!  I am trying to learn to love him.  I am trying to learn how the savior has unconditional love for everyone, it’s amazing!  You keep asking how I am doing, Really, I am good!   I brought so much that I am living very good!

I want to buy a rugby ball cause it’s huge. The cost is  like 50 us dollars insane!

its dia de nino, so it took forever to find a cyber to email you thats why its so late.   

We eat a lot of eggs or reading and I read a lot from the  Spanish BOM.     I learn the most from the BOM in Spanish more then I am learn Spanish books that I was sent out here with.  

There are lots of big brisdges here and I have a video of me playing on one. They are all over the area.   

I have to go but I love you all and I’ll  see you next Monday! I sent dad a great video look at it!

Love Elder Vance 

Week #7 ~I have survived!

Hello Family,

        

       I have survived being in a foreign country for a week! I have never seen so many dogs in my life! I am currently in Olavarrì, it is north of Bahia Blanca. We had to take a bus over night and two cabs to get there. I am learning so much here and Argentina is so different then I thought it would be! I did not learn this language in the CCM. My companion is really cool his name is Elder Siverston he is from CEDAR City, Utah. We receive about 1500 pesos a month for food and everything else—about 100 us dollars.

The region I am in is very poor and we are not allowed to eat with members because they feed us more food then they eat themselves. We eat eggs and rice for every meal. We have 4 investigators right now but its hard everyone here really doesn’t like Mormons, the last missionaries were annoying I heard and made a lot of the people not like them.

We have a great apartment and its in the tallest building in the city! We are on the top floor so its nicknames is the penthouse and it is only three stories tall. We have running water which is nice. We have about 8 min of hot water and our washer is a big bucket that has a blender thing in the bottom that spins it around then we just hang it up. I drink from a 5 gal jug that we get delivered from the mission office.

I can tell you all about the area next week we are both new here, sorry mom.  I am emailing from a little kiosk in the downtown. We are going to the mail center after this and after I send my photos from the church so I will hopefully know more. I run along the river every day! We live north of the river it’s the big three of four story building.

But I am trying to learn, it’s very difficult they all talk so fast and have a super thick accent which is very different from what we have been taught. I got to bare my testimony this fast-Sunday and it sounded like when a mother tells their little child what to say at the pulpit. 

I am glad I brought so much with me, there are no cloths stores in about 50 miles. Everyone takes a bus to the city south of us to get things they need, there are street vendors for all the food we buy. I also didn’t realize how far you walk out here. It’s about 10 miles a day just going to all the investigators houses. But it gives me a lot of time to pick apart my señor comps brains about this strange language I am expected to learn. I under stand probably one out of every 30 words, so not at all its very crazy here and super stressful.

I am probably the biggest person in the city, the closest person to me is about 5’8”. It’s funny when we go to that market I am only seeing the top of peoples heads. We aren’t allowed to have bags because its looks like we have stuff that can be stolen. I have to wear my suit everyday it’s a new rule so I wear the same one everyday.

-Love Elder Vance

My Comp and I

View from my flat

View from my window

Week #6 ~Argentina....I have arrived!

Hellooo! 
I am alive and in Argentina! 
The president is letting us email just to say that we are here. I had another flight
from Buenos Aries to Bahia Blanca, so no long BUS ride! We are here
at the mission home and about to be assigned to our first area.
Super exciting!
My P- day is Monday!

It’s very cold here, we slept outside in a canopy thing 

my first night.  They did not have beds anywhere for us and it got to 

down to 28 degrees, muy triste.  Every one was very cold.  I was all toasty 

cause I packed enough stuff for a excursion to the Artic.  The mission 

President is very nice and super cool I feel like we will work together very well. 

We are not allowed to carry any bags with us when we are proselyting cause there are so much theft lately. I already gave out a Book of Mormon on the flight down. love you and I will contact you again on Monday. I Love You and am safe!

Look for my letters!! 

- Elder Vance