(By the way, when Stacey refers to "heaven on Salinas" she is talking about her 'memory foam' mattress back in Riverton!)
Thanks again for tuning in, tomorrow she will have been out for 100 days--only 448 more, but then whose counting haha!
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August 12, 2008
Hola,
Sister Benton was so sweet to call you for me. I was just suddenly really worried that you were less than ok with what went down with my kidney stone and all... I couldńt bear the thought that you might be sad or worried or feeling alone and so I called her. She said she'd love to check on you and I felt so much better.
I did not get anything from Daddy or you actually... the thing is we didn't get mail yesterday like normal because tomorrow is zone conference, so we'll get mail tomorrow which may or may not have dearelder mail for me. I LOVE hearing from everybody, and especially the words from Daddy because he served a mission so I feel like he understands maybe a little bit better what I'm going through... not to say that you don't, but you know, it' always great to get advice from someone who's had a similar experience. I really relish in getting messages from both of you through dearelder and hope that it isn't a pain or anything. I love them so much... it's like heaven to read your words and feel close to you.
In fact, every time I see a sign for the church... like on the chapel, I hear in my mind Daddy saying, "La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos do los Ultimos Dias," the way I used to ask him and he'd say it really fast and all. Who would have ever thought that one day I'd be the one saying that all the time!
It has been raining here in Buenos Aires. The first day I was caught without my umbrella, rain coat, or boots. We saught refuge under a covering and waited for it to lighten up a bit then kept on working. My hair went curly, but I like it!
The second time I was a little more prepared. I had my umbrella - just the little one, not the really good one... I didńt want to use it... - and my rain coat. It poured! I wished I had been wearing my boots because instantly there were puddles flooding 5-6 feet into the street on both sides meaning 5-6 feet towards the center of the road where the cars drive. I have no idea why when we left the apartment it didn't dawn on me to put them on. But it wasn't too bad because again we saught refuge and were well covered by my umbrella. And we took good pictures so you'll see those soon !
The funny thing is my companion ran out in the rain when I was hiding carefully under the umbrella and I told her to come back because I didńt want a sick companion and she said she wouldńt get sick and then the next morning (today) I woke up with a sore throat!
Before I forget, people here keep asking me about wards and stakes in Utah. How many people are on the list in your ward? How many are active? How many are in attendance in church on an average Sunday? How many wards are in a stake? People really want to know how many blocks are in a ward boundary... I guessed like 4 or 5 but told them Íd find out. Can you give me the low down about wards and numbers in ̈la fabricä that's what people say when I tell them I'm from SLC, Utah - I think it translates about the same ... ̈the 'fabric' meaning... where all the missionaries or LDS people come from.
Here is a little story for you:
So yesterday before the awful rain storm, I lost my coin purse with about $10 (in pesos, not US money... from here on out Íll just always use pesos as default and Íll specify if I mean US money) It fell out of my coat pocket... which I wasńt wearing, because it was hot and I just had it draped over my scripture bag which is on my shoulder... we were walking back to the apartment and I literally cannot believe that I did not hear it fall to the ground because I had tons of change in it that would obviously make a sound... I was sad because I really liked the little coin purse... I bought it my first p-day here and it made me happy. We retraced our steps after lunch when I noticed it was gone and of course we didńt find it. I tried to have a good attitude and say that maybe we had to go back and retrace our steps because we were going to find some family on the way that would get baptized but we didńt pass like a single person the entire time we walked back to where I know I last had it and all... lame. I lost my money and my change purse and we spent time looking for it. But I really cańt complain, if I had lost a glove, now that would be tragic, because good gloves here would cost way more than 10 pesos. Or my camera... can you imagine if I lost that. It is a hard chore to keep track of my gloves, my scarf, my coat, my scripture bag, my agenda, my 2 wallets, my camera, my chapstick... everywhere we go.
But Íll live and Íll buy another coin purse, hopefully right after email.
I had my first split in Argentina. I went to"campo" which means the country... where we couldńt even drink the water and so we had to buy water for the day. I really enjoyed myself there because this area called "Las Heras" is like a fourth the size of my area. I liked it because it just felt so much more manageable and possible. I could actually feel comfortable there because they use the grid system and numbers and my area is more skeewampus (spelling ?) and oh... I want to serve there super bad, except for the fact that you have to buy water, and one more thing... therés no chapel. The "church" is a room. There is a sign on the door and it fits about 30 people, which means there are obviously not that many members. Another difficulty about this area is that you have to have your baptisms in another city... you have to take a train there... I cańt even imagine having the stress of making sure my baptisms made it to the train and then to wherever there is a font! I really enjoyed the split because I was with a sister from the states, who went to BYU, we had a ton in common and even though wére not supposed to, we broke down and spoke English a little bit. It just does a lot of good to the soul to be able to speak without restraint and without having to think about everything and KNOW that you will be perfectly understood.
That is something I'm having a hard time with here because Íll say something to my companion and Íll translate it exactly how I want the message to be conveyed and Íll say it with the tone I want, but because of the cultural difference and possibly the language difference... it just isńt received right. For this reason is was great to be with an English speaker for 24 blissful hours, plus she helped me out a ton with my Spanish because finally I could ask "how do you say this" and get an answer. That is something people dońt realize about having a native speaker... yes it's great because you can mimic them a lot, but in this case at least... she can almost never answer a question or tell me how to say what I want to say... and it's not her fault, but it is just a language gap.
So, I know you already know this, but we had a baptismal service on Saturday and then they were confirmed in church on Sunday. Azucena Rodriguez is a single mom with 4 kids... who may someday come around and listen to us, but as of yet doesn’t really let us teach them. Shs is great though. The other is Rolando Destito who is in his 30s, and is dating a RM who is also in her 30s. He is so awesome and is way more on top of things - meaning I dońt worry about him making his way to church on Sunday, because he has a car, and he goes, he even went in Cordovan when he was out of town... we just dońt have to worry about him, Azucena though... it is still like you have to really push her to get her to come to all 3 hours of church, and wear a dress. Rolando though, hés more comfortable, commenting, praying of his own volition and all. Azucena wońt pray in front of us... it is so hard because the people here just for the most part are too embarrassed to pray, they dońt know how, we teach them, they still wońt do it in front of us, who knows how to conquer that. Anyways, 2 baptisms and also the daughter of the bishop was baptized.
Ready for this... 110 people came! Which is like a way huge number. It was great. But therés more... this part though is sad... remember the situation about the water here... yeah, well I dońt know why or what happened because I was in Las Heras when my companion came to the chapel to fill the font and all, but all I know is the water was more like lukewarm than warm. The little daughter of the bishop started crying before her baptism because she stepped into the cold water. Our 2 baptisms were more adult about it... because they actually are adults, but Azucena had to be baptized twice because shés afraid of water and the coldness made her tense up even more and she didńt go all the way under. It was pretty sad that the bishop's daughter started crying at her own baptism. I felt horrible, especially when the Bishop told us the water was ̈heladö which means ice cream.
Oh, also right before the baptism... that was the day that I was in Las Heras, and me and Sister Greenland missed the train back to my area for the baptism, so we had to talk a remis and pay $45 pesos instead of $1.05. We missed the train because we were visiting a less active older lady. She was crying because she has cancer and family problems and we sat there talking with her as I watched the hands on my watch indicate that the train would leave in 4 minutes. We couldńt just leave... she was crying. Anyway, we took a remis, caught the second train in Merlo and made it to Castelar in plenty of time for the baptism, but with significantly less dinero!
These past few days everybody has been breaking down in tears and telling us about their trials, work problems, poverty and family problems. It is so hard because a lot of the time I dońt know what they are upset about... my vocabulary does not really cover people cheating on each other, or the details of dying of cancer, or the process of getting a legal marriage certificate in this country so that they can be baptized. I just have to sit there and listen. Luckily my companion understands and can answer, but it is frustrating to watch people cry and not really be able to do much but be there for them. I feel like I have such a handle on the language until someone starts talking to me....imagine that!! :)
After the zone activity we all went to an all you can eat restaurant for $24 pesos each (8 dollars) It was super fun. 14 elders and 2 sisters. It was cool to have free reign on different food. And the ice cream here is great. I ate too much and regret it right now, but how often do we get to all go eat together in a restaurant as a zone in the center of Merlo? Exactly, not very often. So I had fun. It reminded me of family trips to Vegas and I wished that I could zap you there to enjoy it with me.
I love you so very much and I want you to know I think about you and pray for you every single day.
I miss you tons, but I know that wéll be together again someday and that it will be as though we were never apart! That's the beauty of family... we are close even when we have to be far away.
I love you more than a hot bath followed by a nap on 'heaven' in Salinas...
Con Carino, (with affection)
Hermana Jensen
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