The last email

This is a picture Eric sent last week, taken on Sunday after the confirmations

Hey everyone, how are you all!!!

I won't be able to send you any pictures this week, because last week after I sent you those photos, my camera card picked up a virus from the computer I was using, and this virus made it impossible for me to take or see my photos. I took it to some camera genius guy, who determined that he could fix it and was willing to get to work. But since I was an American, he would charge me 50 pesos. So I decided not to do it that way. It all worked out in the end, and I was able to save my photos and my camera card, but it was quite a process! But now I don't want to risk getting another virus, and I've seen that this computer has lots of bad stuff and other viruses in it. So I figure, why risk it now.

I'll let you know a little about the week. We had a great week. It's very fun here and we have great people here. As I think I mentioned, Elder Birch has been sick and has gotten everyone else sick, although it's not too bad. We've all felt a little weak but good enough to work. Finally on Sunday, I just got slammed by the sickness, I felt soooooo sick and everything in my body hurt and I was sooooooo tired. We went to church, of course, and I felt soooooo bad the whole day, and the hardest part was that there were tons of less actives and two investigators that wanted to talk to us the whole time and I had to act happy and excited. On top of it, the kids all demanded that I throw them in the air, something they all love and I can't resist, so it was a very very tiring Sunday, but good.

We had a pench asado that night although I couldn't taste a whole lot, but I could taste it a little. It was a really good asado! Elder Santa Ana and I bought all the stuff and it came to almost 300 pesos! We ate costilla, the typical asado meat which I forgot what it's called (something like marucha) and chicken. It was really good, my favorite is probably the costilla which is rib, so we bought lots of that. Anyway, so it was fun even though I was a little sick.

Despite that, during the week we worked really hard and we were super blessed. We had an assistance of 55 people in church (supposedly the average was 25 according to Santa Ana and the members) so we were happy. On top of it, EVERY SINGLE less active person we visited came to church, a total of about 20 people, and two investigators came who we had programmed during the week. Among the 20 people less active that we visited, one family we couldn't even teach, we just passed by a lot during the week and invited them, although they didn't want to let us in. But they surprised us and showed up in church! So it's a cool last Sunday to have in the mission, although I guess in reality I'll still have one last Sunday here in Argentina, specifically in Ramallo.

Today for Pday we played soccer as a zone, and I just played two games so I wouldn't get sick again (I definitely don't want to be sick when I see you guys!!) by too much effort and stress. It was super fun though, and I played really good and feel good about the way I played. After that we ordered pizza and burgers and then came to ciber.

We seem to order food a lot, although we also cook a lot as a pench. I learned to cook a few things here and since no one else in the pench knows how to do much cooking yet, they all ask me to cook and they enjoy the few Argentine meals I prepare. I'll have to make some for you!!

It's crazy to think that I will be seeing you guys this week. I truly cannot comprehend this. I can explain it with words, but I really just can't grasp the concept that my mission will be ending!! I think everyone else is more anxious than me, I just feel super relaxed about it all for that exact reason, that I just can't comprehend it. It's crazy!!! Oh well, I'm just excited to have a few more days working here in a truly golden area, which has soo much potential, and some really great members!!!!!

I guess I will be seeing you soon then, as they say here "nos vemos" (but it sounds more like "no vemos" cause they drop their s's but you guys will hear that soon enough!) I love you guys very much. Thanks for offering to come down here and for always supporting me. I've really appreciated it all! Also, thanks to everyone for reading, commenting and supporting me through letters, prayers, whatever it may be. I've felt great help, thanks to all. Love you all.

Love,
Eric
_______________________________________

New area and baptisms

Baptism of Beatriz (the mom), Antonella, and Camilla (the youngest)

Eric with his new companion, Elder Santa Ana

After the baptisms, including Elder Smart (right) who is a roommate in Eric's apartment

Hey family, how is everyone!!! Well, if you've seen the photos you've probably realized something is different already. To give you an idea, I'm writing you from the same computer I wrote you from about a year ago. Yes, I'm in Pergamino again!!! And yes, this is my new area! However, I am not serving in the Ameghino area this time, but in Castelli, and living in the same pench where the hermanas lived when I was their district leader, the same pench we had to throw demons out of. Also, I'm with a new comp. His name is Elder Santa Ana.

Are you confused yet? I'll now explain what happened. It's a very long story, someday I'll have to explain it all with details, but basically this is what happened. Wednesday night we got a call, and I'm being emergency transferred to replace Elder ____ in Castelli, Pergamino. President informed me that something had happened, and that Elder ____ could not stay there and that he will no longer be comp mayor (senior companion) even though he's only got like 3 transfers left. I don't know what happened, no one is supposed to talk about it, but for whatever reason, he had to be taken out of there immediately and so they did a switch with me and him. So he is now with Elder Perez, and I'm now with Elder ____'s old comp, Elder Santa Ana. Well, late Thursday night I got in to Pergamino. I'm living in a 4 man pench with Elder Smart, Birch, my comp and me. Elder Smart went to Brighton High School and was one year behind me. We never knew each other in school, although we both had seen the other.

It was hard to be suddenly taken out of my area like that, with so little time left, and what's worse is I didn't have time to say good-bye to anyone!! I suppose I'd be quite upset, but it's really a blessing that I'll be able to say good-bye to everyone with you guys when you come.

So I got here Thursday night, and we worked all day Friday preparing for 3 baptisms, a family of a mom with her two girls, cause she's separated from her boyfriend. My comp is fairly new in the mission and doesn't know how to do these things, but he's very open and together we put together a very good baptism. We swung by on Friday and I got to know the family, and they really are a great family. I also did magic tricks for them which I really enjoyed because when I was with Elder Perez, he didn't like me to do them, because he thinks they are devilish. The family loved the tricks and were truly amazed, my comp was too. They really are a good family and have great testimonies.

I baptized the mom, and my comp baptized the two daughters. It was a great service and we all sung my standard baptism song, hymn 14 The Prayer of the Prophet to the tune of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, with the first vision. It was very spiritual and many tears were shed. It was a great service and many members contributed food and cakes. The confirmation also was great. I confirmed Camilla, my comp confirmed Antonella, and the Bishop confirmed Beatriz (which is actually her middle name because she doesn't like her first name, Olga.)

So I'm happy to be here, we have lots of fun and it's a fun pench too, because they're all great guys. By the way, yes, I took out the 100 dollars that you saw, sorry but I had no money whatsoever for travel to get here or anywhere. I really hate taking out personal money like this, but traveling is a necessity. I hope to get my mission money soon, although last time I talked to Elder Faldmo (the finance person) he said that he doesn't know how to do reimbursals, and he's trying to learn it now, but it may take a while! We'll see what happens.

Today we also had a great Pday, we played soccer in the stake center (Ameghino church) and it was super fun. It's a pretty cool day, too, and all cloudy and rainy which made it really nice. I played pretty good again and we had a lot of fun.

We have a good ward here, it's pretty small although according to my comp we had record assistance this past Sunday of like 40, so that's good that it's improving. We have one sister though, who is incredible!! She is Hermana Jorge, and she has had incredible experiences in the church. The biggest experiences she's had is that she was the official corrector and finalizer of Jesus the Christ, Preach My Gospel, and most of the Teachings of the Prophets, in Spanish! That means that she was the last person to look at the translation of all those books, make the final changes, and send it off for mass printing. WOW!! That's cool! She's such a smart old lady and has had so much experience. I was scared when she asked for a health blessing later!! How can I give a health blessing to someone like that, someone who's worked with the Apostles and Prophets personally!

Well, you probably have lots of questions about this change. Anything more I can tell you when you come. Next week will be my last time writing you!! It sounds crazy to think about!! I can't believe it!! I'm super excited and have been blessed my whole mission, and here I am in a great new area to finish in. Yes, these have been the best two years. I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this for it's not my intention. My opinion is, is that these mission years are the best two years of your life, and that if they're not, then you're doing something wrong. If you do things like you should they will be the best two years ever. Now, OJO! (Watch out!) Don't think that means you won't have horrible days among those two years. I'm speaking of the overall 2 years, because you will have some of the WORST days or weeks of your life too in these two years probably. But as a total, yes, these are the best two years.

Anyway, thanks for sending me the homecoming talk topic, it sounds like a good topic.

Well, I love you all very much, and hope the best for you. Enjoy your little condo.

Love,
Eric
_________________________________________

Happy Argentine Mother's Day!

Eric gets a hug from President Arnold

Eric with his two "sons"

Eric with Elder Strate

Eric said they went by the dinosaur museum one Pday, but it was closed so they couldn't go in.

Hey family!! How are you!! It's great to be able to write again.

This week has been good, especially with the visit of President Arnold!! He, his wife, and the mission president and his wife all gave great talks, with President Arnold of course taking up most of the time. We had it in the HUGE Rosario chapel Wednesday morning. I enjoyed his talk, focused mostly on obedience. It was a good talk. All the talks were given in Spanish, even by President Arnold and his wife who clearly are new to the language. President Arnold did an alright job although he had a pretty thick accent. I used to find it easier to hear Americans speaking Spanish with their accents, but now I find it easier to hear just a normal Argentine speak. He didn't do anything wild or make any big changes, but it was a good motivational talk.

Sorry I had to take out more money. The worst part is I may have to take out more. Money goes very quickly here, with all the expenses and travels, etc. Transportation is really expensive but we have to do it of course. If the mission would send me the money like it should, I wouldn't have to do this. The mission is currently indebted to me over 1000 pesos. I have been waiting a long time. I'm not the only one, of course, but apparently the financiero Elder Faldmo keeps forgetting to send off reimbursals, which is his main job! Oh well, perhaps someday I'll get it, if not I'll have to take out more personal money!

Today was good, we played soccer, but my comp doesn't play, he doesn't like to do stuff. I played exceptionally well, although we lost anyway. It was really fun, and sorry I forgot to take pictures. It was probably the last time to play with other missionaries for Pday, too! It was fun, though, we completely destroyed the soccer ball, and then headed back to Ramallo where we ran into the Rios familia who were coming back from their Mother's Day trip in Santa Fe. By the way, Happy Mothers Day from Argentina! It was this past Sunday! They were happy to see us, and they are still active and coming to church, except for this past Sunday when they went on a trip. But we'll have to see about getting the mom baptised. We'll keep working and try and help them.

Glad to hear about the progress of the house building, and no, I don't mind one bit about living in some condo until it's ready. In fact, I'm sure it will be an improvement. If it has hot water, it will be a luxury! So yes, I'm excited to come home to a condo and I like the sound of it being so close to the temple. That also means I'll be able to get to know the downtown area more, which is an area fairly unknown to me.

That's great news about David, Marisa, Scott, Holly, Grandma and Grandpa. I'm so glad that they're all doing good in their personal things. Thanks for all the advice and stuff. I better get off now, just know I love you all, and hope the best!!!

Love,
Eric
___________________________________________

Last interview with mission president

Hey everyone!!! I hope everyone's doing good!!

We're doing good here in Ramallo. This week, along with everyone else, we had our interviews with the President, which I'm pretty sure was my last interview because most elders that have gone home told me later that they didn't get another "last" interview in this mission home, so I believe I had my last interview with my mission president! It was a good interview.

Don't worry, I haven't become trunky in the slightest. In fact, I think it's been quite the opposite, the longer I've been in the mission, the more I forget about you guys, except of course on Pdays!!! (sorry) Well, that doesn't mean that I don't love you, it simply means that I've trained myself to not think of home and that has become a habit at this point. It'll be hard to leave, but of course I'm excited to come home and see everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's Pday has been pretty slow as today was my comp's decision of what to do. He just likes to stay in the pench all day and do nothing, so it's pretty boring for me, but oh well, he likes it. We get along really good and I like it with him, although I think it's good that he's my comp now and not earlier in the mission, when I understood less about patience and love.

As far as the shopping when you guys come to pick me up, I think we'll be able to do BOTH. So, I want to do the shopping with my mission friends on the 4th (the ending missionaries are allowed a few hours to shop for souvenirs on the last day) and then the 5th, that Saturday, I'd like to do a little bit with you guys and show you some other cool stuff in Rosario. Then on Sunday I'd like to go to Ramallo where we can attend church in the Ramallo branch and you guys (well, mom at least) will experience her first church session in 100% CASTELLANO!! As far as the last dinner thing, I have no idea how it'll work, so seeing as this is an Argentine dinner and I'm in Argentina, I'll answer you as any Argentine would, "si te digo te miento." (If I tell you it would be a lie.) I'll try and find out.

Well, I guess that's about it, nothing too exciting happened this week. Next Pday we're going to San Nicolas to play soccer, and this Wednesday we're going to have the conference with Elder Arnold which should be really cool!!!!!!!!!

Love you all very much!!!!!!!!
Eric

Enjoyed General Conference

Eric with Elder Perez

Hey family, how is everyone!! All is well here, here being Rosario right now. We had a good Pday but unfortunately I feel pretty sick now and am struggling to think at all due to a bad headache, so I apologize that this will be short.

We had a good week and are working well together. I especially enjoyed the General Conference that I could watch! (We only got to see some of Priesthood and Sunday's conference, though.) We all heard some really good talks. My favorite talk was definitely President Monson's Priesthood talk. He's always been one of my favorite speakers and his talk was incredible. It was very motivating for me.

I also enjoyed many of the other 70's talks, including the 70 who talked about the Book of Mormon. (although it seemed like everyone mentioned the Book of Mormon in their talk!) He explained the book was either from the devil or from God, and went on explaining more reasons why the book was from God. I really enjoy the strong straightforward and bold talks like those and Monson's. I of course loved all of Monson's talks, and enjoyed his moving talk at the close of the Sunday night session, motivating us all, letting us know, "We're all in this together"...or was the prophet quoting Red from the Red Green show? Ha ha ha.

Anyway, I'll answer the questions quickly and then I'm going to put my head down and rest.

Elder Godoy got back safely although I had to pay for all our many travel expenses including a couple hundred peso ticket to La Paz, and MUCH MORE! So yes, that's why I took out the money, it's a good thing I brought my card just in case.

I got your card that has the quote from my missionary placque. Alejandro's good. Rios mom is good. We played soccer today, I played really well, although that's why I feel sick (any physical thing lately makes me sick.) We're in Rosario because my comp has to do some visa stuff.

Thanks for everything.
Love,
Eric

Staying for last transfer!

View of the river

Girl with baby chick in Ramallo

Eric's foot with a blister. He sent this photo to ask what it was, because he didn't think it could be a blister in that location of his foot.

Hey everyone!! Well, transfers are in and it turns out that I'm staying!!! I was okay with either staying or going, so I'm happy. My new comp will be Elder Rivera. I never could've imagined when I got here like 7 months ago that this would be my dying area! But here I am!!

Well, it'll be cool to continue working here. I've seen great progress here and we'll see more. Last week we once again got 7 investigators to church (3rd highest in the mission) so we expect some baptisms in the future!

So yes, to answer your question, my mini comp goes back to his home now to sell cleaning supplies! He loved the mission from what he's told me daily and what I've seen. It's been a great learning experience for him, and me too as well. He wants to do a mission as soon as he's 19, which is soon, although I heard that it's a requirement now for all missionaries to finish high school before they can do a mission. I haven't had this confirmed but have heard it from a couple of people, which would mean that my comp couldn't do a mission as he's quite far from completing high school. We'll see how things turn out.

I got your package a few days ago!! It arrived at the church, and the members that were at the church at the time (it arrived on a weekday) informed me immediately of its arrival and at night we picked it up, and of course all the members wanted me to open it up there. So I opened it and shared about half my candy, the other half went to my comp and various other people. I got a bite of the candy bars they shared with me. It was good though and everyone loved it, me too!!!! So thanks for sending it. P.S. yesterday I used two of the taco mix packets making tacos for the Rios family, and they brought two non-member friends, woo hoo! It was really fun and I laughed harder last night than I have this whole time in Ramallo. Anyway, it was good, we had the Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) in the church where I made the tacos, yes, they were delicious! The topic was on Christ, reading the Living Christ and then certain articles.

HOLD ON!!! HOLD THE PHONE!!!! Apparently new transfers have arrived, they do that sometimes and make some changes. Okay, I will still be staying here but instead of being with Elder Rivera, I will be with Elder Perez! Well, I would rather have been with Elder Rivera, but I'm simply going to do what the Lord needs, which is all that really matters. So it should be a GREAT TRANSFER!

By the way, I stopped taking those pills for my ears because I ran out and I kind of forgot and now it's been about 4 days since I haven't taken any. I don't think I'll buy more though anyway, seeing as they weren't really doing much, unless you think I should. My ears still are clogged as always here.

Today I'm going to see how Alejandro is doing (tuberculosis), for now I just know that he's doing good! As far as how he got the disease, they don't know. They suspect someone in school. Okay, I will use caution.

The new juntado lady I told you about got dropped like a hot potato. After passing by several more times, and her saying she couldn't attend us, I asked to speak to the husband, who unhappily came to the door and our fears were confirmed. She is one of the many women in this country who can't be baptized or listen to the missionaries due to their husband. Anyway, this happens so much to us you wouldn't believe it. Her next door neighbor also dropped us the same day for a similar reason. It happens. Well, despite all the droppings (there were more, believe me!) it doesn't really matter because there are plenty of good ones out there too!!!!

Hence we got many people in church, although about 4 can't be baptized because they're juntado and have husbands that don't want to know anything about marriage or the church, although they do allow their wives to go to church!

Last thing I wanted to ask you is if there is some way we could arrange it to assist (attend) church the Sunday we arrive in Salt Lake City. I noticed that we'd be arriving around 3 I believe, (although maybe I'm wrong) but I just remember it being late afternoon, and I was really hoping to assist church that day. I've now gone at least 2 straight years without missing church (and however long I went before the mission) and I'd like to keep that record going! Anyway, I understand that plane tickets can't be changed easily, so just do whatever works for you, I just thought I'd throw that out there, in case there's a way to fix it easily.

CONGRATULATIONS to Marisa and David!!! That's great that a new baby is on the way!! This baby I'll be able to know from it's birth!!

Well, send my greetings to all!! I love you all very much!!

Love,
Eric

Stake Conference

Eric with Elder Godoy

A picture of another dead rodent, sure to delight any mother of a missionary

Hey everyone!! I hope everyone's doing great!! I'm excited to hear about the progress of the house and the family!

First of all, tell Holly and Scott congratulations on being ward missionaries! They'll be awesome!! I would love to have ward missionaries like them! Here in Ramallo, our current ward mission leader is 80 years old and has many health problems which prohibit him from walking much or really doing anything. He's a great guy and would help us more if he could because he likes the missionary work, but he just can't do much due to his condition. So that's great that Holly and Scott get to be the ward missionaries. They'll see the joy of teaching people!!!

Regarding my comp, he's doing great! He's really enjoying the mission and is learning so much. I understand more every day why he went to a special school, the biggest reason being that it's hard for him to learn things, even things that never change and that he does repeatedly. Nevertheless, he's learning a lot, and thankfully I've learned in my mission how to teach the doctrines of the church very simply so that a child can understand. I definitely could do it a lot better and will continue to work towards being a simpler and more effective teacher, but it's all going good. I've helped my comp understand some of the basic lessons of the church. We're going to keep working on lesson one, so he understands well the importance of everything. He's improving amazingly fast at reading. He already reads twice as fast as he used to, so that's really cool! He's a very teachable person, which helps and he has a big desire to serve and work hard.

He's great too, because he gets up daily at 6:30 without problems and does all the other hard things perfectly. He's a good elder and has a good heart. The church sent me some money so he can have food, travel, etc. so we'll be good! He came here with pretty much just the clothes on his back, and his only shoes are the woven type you'd expect to see an Indian wearing. (I think by Indian he is referring to the indigenous people of Argentina who were there before the Italians, Spaniards and Germans came.) They look respectable though, because here in Argentina they can be used as dress shoes, too. He'll be able to go to the dentist after the mission, the 28th for him, and get his teeth fixed since it's free for him.

Alejandro (the child with tuberculosis) is doing good and they caught it early so they'll be able to treat it well. He's doing a treatment for 6 months and I'll have to ask again now that they might know about what it's called, but I feel good about the treatment because it's a specialist from Buenos Aires that's handling this, instead of just the local Ramallo doctor. So he'll be just fine! I just hope the pills don't cost a lot because I know how poor that family is!

As far as where I'll be ending my mission, it's true that staying another transfer would be a long time in this area, but it definitely has happened before with other missionaries. My comp is a mini and can't stay, so if I go for sure it'll be a whitewash, which happens all the time here, but I don't think they'd put me in a new area for one transfer. It could happen, but it's more likely that I stay here and finish in Ramallo. Whatever happens, I don't care, I'll take whatever thing they throw at me! We're working super good here in Ramallo, so I haven't gotten sick of this area at all.

Yesterday we found a super elect lady that's already read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and knows it's true. She has a testimony stronger than many members! Anyway, we found lots of people but she's the coolest one, but of course she's juntado and isn't married but said she wants to and will talk to her husband. (That'll be the hard part.)

We had stake conference this past weekend and it was amazing. We also enjoyed hearing the talk of President Giuliani and his wife, who came to talk. Anyway, they were super good and we also heard the testimony of two young men who were about to leave on their missions. One's going to Brazil and the other to Chile. It was a good conference and we all enjoyed it a lot. The church also rented a bus to take everyone which was cool, although we missed it in the morning because apparently it left super early so the kids could prepare for their musical number! We made it just fine though, because we took the city bus, it's sad we had to pay though. It was a good stake conference, and everyone enjoyed it.

To answer your questions, yes, many people have chickens as pets. All kinds of animals serve as pets here, and sometimes food for the family. Basically in Argentina, it doesn't require ANYTHING special to start your own: fruit shop, kiosko, clothing store, anything store, farm, etc. You just decide to do it so you do it. So many people just start things whenever they feel like it.

Well, we're doing good here, thanks for everything. I'm going to continue helping my comp email (it's his first time using a computer.)

Love,
Eric