frreaking potatoe

Dear Family,

Hello from another week in the mission. It is slowly turning into fall which Iabsolutely love but apparently that comes with more rain which i could easilydo without.  The work seems to be going slow because almost all of theinvestigators were dropped before I came so we´ve been doing a lot offinding.  Along with that my poor companion has been dying of who knowswhat due to the change in clima and I've been doing what I can to stay healthyand strong to keep working. :)

As I'm sure many of you know, the big news here in Argentina has everything todo with the new pope. It really shouldnt be such a big deal because there arevery few Catholics who actually go to misa but the Argentinepride is unbeatable. I only know what I have heard but apparently he is a veryhumble man and didnt want to travel in the fancy pope car so all the peoplejust love him. On Wednesday night cars drove up and down the streetshonking and celebrating.  As we contacted we got a lot of looks that said"what are you girls, ..stupid??" "I was bornand baptized Catholic, my parents raised me Catholic, and now the pope is fromArgentina so I am going to die Catholic."  ...It's said loudly andthen they walk away.   Haha, all I can do is smile and testify of thetruth. I feel so grateful every single day for the knowledge that I have andfor the desires I have to grow and learn more. 

On Friday we had a show de talentos in the capilla.  Ha it was prettyfunny.  About a month ago they had another one but i guess the lights werecut so this was part II.  We had a good turn out and I am going to send avideo of what we as missionaries did. :) 

Thats about it for this week. :)

Con Cariño,
Hna. Morgan


CONNORRR!!!  Have a wonderful Birthday on Wednesday!!!!  I feel likeit was just a week ago approximately that we were listening to Fun. in your carin the garage. ha. you are like the little brother I never had. :)  loveyouu

my birthday

 el bautismo de dana :)

birthday week. :)

Family!!!

Ha, so we had an awesome week.  Maybe it was so exciting because it was so different. ..well, everything is different here but let me explain.

Part of our district is a small town about 2 hours away called Feliciano.  Suuuper tranquilo.  Anyways, on Friday there was a big festival there.  Kind of like a swap meet/state fair with a TON of asado.  The Elders that are up there right now were super stoked for us all to be able to go so after contemplating a lot we gave up our pday last Monday (with the exception of ciber) to spend Friday at the festival.  As it is the beginning of the month we also had zone mtg. and other things to take care of so Friday was all booked and ready to go.  

But first things first.  My birthday. :)  Unfortunalty I dont have any videos of how Argentine's celebrate because I don't know any members well enough which was a downside of swithcing areas a week before my cumple.  We got facturas for breakfast and ate them en El Puerto and watched boats creep by up river (dad, you know where its at).. Super tanqui and lindo.  Afterwards we got ready and studied and... had a normal day of work which was weird.  Weird in that I kept forgetting it was my birthday but my comp did a good job of reminding me every now and again.  One of the other things I wanted to do was take the bus around the town to get a better idea of how everything is laid out etc.  There are 2 bus lines here and I dont know if I told you but we rode #1 last week so I felt complete and more oriented afterwards.  At 9 we had plans with the district to get pizza and eat it in the plaza. (we had ice cream for my comps bday)  Pizza here is different but the rotisseria that we went to had pineapple pizza so I was in heaven.  I special ordered a combo of pineapple, jamón, and rúcula.  Super rico.  And to finish of the night.... my comp and I got ice cream because I cant help myself.  The heladeria here is pretty good.  it doesnt compare to all the ones we found in Esperanza because its more expensive here but their Banana Split is delicious.  

Wednesday was Zone Conference and we had to travel to Paraná by 9am.  Wonderful thing about La Paz, there aren´t colectivos every hour like in Santa Fe so we got to get up at 3:30 to cath our bus which left at 4:15.  We got in at about 7:30 and went to the hnas pench in Paraná.  There were about 8 of us but by that point and they had made pancakes which was super cute. The Zone Conference was really good.  My old Zole Leader is Assistant now so maybe I was biased theyve been focusing on The Expiación and Repentace which is something that we all need every single day. By the time we finished the only bus left was going to leave at 9 minus 20 so we didnt get back to la paz until around 11.  

Thursday was weekly planning which always takes a ton of time.  On the bright side on Thursdays we have lunch with Flia. Jurijuria who own a giant kiosko and panaderia next to the plaza España (dad) which is in front of the hospital (dad).  Anyways, they always cooksuper rico and everything is just so homey because well, they are rather well off. 

Friday came and once again we got on the bus.  We got to sleep in this time though.  ..until 4.  Colectivo left out at 4:50 but was actually an hour late so we could have slept (in).  I was so excited for this festival but supuestamente there would be all sorts of leather goods and Argentine souvies -- mates, alpargatas, bombachas, ponchos, you name it.  Problem is (or was) that in Argentina nothing starts early.  Fairs and festivals and events start around 8 or 9 and go until 3 or 4 in the morning.  I dont know why the elders from Feliciano didnt know or tell us that because it was a total bummer. there were a few stands set up so we did get to buy a few odds and ends but nothing like there was inside.  We had to leave at 8:30 and even though the doors were supposed to open at 8 they didnt open until 8:45.  ..or so we were told.  O well.   Zone Meeting was god though.  Once again, nothing like my old zone.  Numbers here are a lot lower.  My comp goes on abot how contacting doesnt work here and other (i dont want to say excuses but) excuses for why datos are what they are but I´m refusing to accept it.  Despite all the traveling we doubled almost all of our numbers this week.  There is stilla ton to do here though.  Im excited.

Saturday I had my first baptism in La Paz.  It was a little 9 yr old girl whose parents are inactive hence her not getting baptized at 8 but here grandfather is the branch president so she comes every week.  She has so much energy and it was so fun getting to finish up the lessons with her and knowing the she will have access to the gospel and solid examples of faith and endurance even if her parents have fallen away a little bit.  The other branch here in La Paz also had a baptism of an 8 yr old so they had everything planned down to the pizza and cake afterwards.  What was refreshing? having a real baptismal font.  Blue water, no bugs, no holes or leaks....  ahhh. :)

And that brings us to Sunday.  I´ve gotten used to sitting and listening every Sunday.  Participating in the classes and (in the case of Esperanza) cringing at some of the things that were said but yesterday I was suprised and had to give a discurso on the fly.  fetch.  After almost a year in the mission I had yet to have to give a talk that I hadnt planned out for at least a week.  Anyways, it actually turned out really well.  Bishop Dixon would be proud because I didn´t use any notes.  Cameron told me before the mission that every 6 months or so I would notice a difference in my Spanish... its true.  Giving the talk and contacting and teaching and everything that I do here is so much easier than it once was. I know its not me.  I may be learning more Spanish or more about the gospel but more than anything im learning about how the Spirit works with me. I love this gospel and know that it is true.  Christ lives and this is truley his church. :)

I love you all,

Hna. Morgan

O! ha, p.s.  This week I was asked if I was from Spain. Also, someone else told me they thought I was from Mexico.  Así que my accent isnt quite as yankee as it once was.  :)  Maybe by the time I leave I will be from Agentina. Ha, I love this country.

Hola from La Pazz!!!

It is maybe just the weirdest thing being in a new area when I was in Esperanza for so long. It doesn't seem real... like, a long vacation or something. But I have been so excited all week, still am. The rama acá tiene sus problemas tambien pero there are a good 5 families that have awesome testimonies, cumplir con su llamamiento, and give references.. Everything. However, I can´t let that disillusion me because there are about 9 more pages of inactives that still desperately need our help. Ha, I just feel like from where I came from... every branch and/or ward has well, HOPE. (enjoy that as much as I did)

The city is split into two branches (even though it seems smaller than Esperanza.) The Zone Leaders (Las Termas) and and our branch (La Paz) la cual tiene 4 misioneros. We share the branch with the district leader and his companion and its honestly a lot of fun how were able to work with the members, especially the youth. The branch just has so much potential and I know without a doubt that there are so many people here waiting to receive the gospel.

My companion is great. Shes been here for 3 transfers now and came from a bigger city in Entre Rios (the province) where the branch wasnt quite as disfuncitonal but I have to just ignore her lack of hope for the people here because, as stated, I'm just excited. She is from Salt Lake City but like myself has only had Latin companions so we speak Spanish 24/7. The only downer is that I dont have a Latina to correct me if I say things wrong and I pray that I won't pick up bad habits gramatically or more of a yankee accent.

As for excercising... it is not something that my companion is the least bit interested in doing. I have convinced her to come running with me at least once a week and as for the rest... I will be struggling. Getting up and to it is always so much easier when your companion has the same goal. O! ha, and the pench?? hm... lol. She has gone on about how she loves it (they just moved recently) but.. ya, I feel like I have moved backwards. Lol. It's not that it's too bad but seeing as it's very likely that I will be here in winter, I just know that I am going to freeze. No ac, no heat, no closet, we shower with a cup and a bucket (because the hot water is broken), and its just old. I will say though that it's not as bad as my first pench so... maybe I just can't complain. La Paz is a tourist town because of Las Termas (natural hotspring) and so everything is pricey and.. no great. Really the whole city reminds me of San Diego or Monterrey. Older, kind of dreary, but (perk) 3 mintute walk from the water (Rio Parana -- which I´m told is the 2nd biggest river in the world. puede ser) But ya, we pay 1600 pesos/ month for our pench now and the brand new apt. with heat and gas and hot water and mirror was only 1500/ month. Like I said, bit of a downer.

Pero bueno, other than that I am still just catching on to everything. I´m gonna try to send some pictures now but more on La Paz next week. :)

Con Cariño,
Hna. Morgan (who almost has 22)


p.s. Thank you all so much for the birthday wishesss!!! (Mom, Dad, Mikey, Squid, Nana, Nene, Ryles, McKenna, Lexi, Nikki, Devyn, Liz, Chan, Tracie (p.p.s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU TOOOOO), and Aunt Carolyn and family, and..anyone else I missed) I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow and eat something yummy like lots of ice cream in celebration. My comps bday was actually on Sat. Funny story how neither of us were going to say anything because of transfer stress etc but, mire! haha it all worked out. igual, creo que va a ser un dia normal. Im ok with it. I love this work. I love being a missionary. and I know this Church is true. :)