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
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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
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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
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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

Chachi's baptism

At Chachi's baptism

Elders Bowcutt and Jones, Chachi (Abril) and Eric

Chachi with family members

Chachi with family members

Hey everyone!! I hope everyone is doing great!!!! We're doing great here!! Well, the first news of course, is the baptism news!! As you've seen by now from the photos, we had a great baptism and confirmation. The baptism was held with me, Elder Jones and Elder Bowcutt, and the confirmation was held with Elder Godoy and I. Both were fabulous. Confused? I'll start from the top.

So Wednesday we were out doing divisions, so we could have the baptism interview for Chachi (which we did), when I received a phone call and it was from the offices looking for my comp, and they told me he's going to be working in the offices for the next 9 months as financiero. So then they called my comp in the area he was working in. We were all very excited. Financieros always have to start 3 weeks early to receive their training, so he was told that we had to leave early next morning. So the next day, Thursday, we headed to the mission home early where I was supposed to receive my mini. (A "mini" is a local youth who serves a mini mission for a few weeks when there is an opening in the mission.) We arrived at the mission home and my comp started working with the financiero and starting his training. I was told to stay and wait for my new comp, the mini, so I just hung out there for a long time, but it was fun because Elder Larson and I talked a lot. (Elder Larson was the first missionary Eric trained, who currently works in the office.)

Finally, they found out that they still didn't have a mini for me, so they sent me back to San Nicolas solo to meet up with the zone leaders. So I got back with the zone leaders, slept, and in the morning we headed off to Ramallo. Now we're at Friday morning. So Friday we got things ready for the baptism. We got everyone invited again (you need to invite again or people forget), we filled the font, etc. and visited some people that I needed to visit. Also I gave a blessing to Alejandro, one of the Zapata kids, which I will explain later.

So anyway, the baptism came around and we had possibly the best most spiritual service ever. At the service, the parents came, brother, grandparents and some other various members and family. It was a good turnout, not too big and not too small. So we started the service off doing the normal stuff. Then after singing the hymn that Chachi had chosen, and praying, we had a discurso (talk) by Danni, who used to be a missionary. It was a good talk. After that Elder Jones talked about the Holy Ghost. Then after that us three elders and Danni got together and we did a musical number which is the same one I did in Pergamino. We sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer, but to the music of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. We sang the first verse together, and then for the second and third verses, they hummed it while I acted out Joseph Smith receiving the First Vision, and then we got together for verse 4 and sang together. The spirit was so strong during the musical number and we performed it flawlessly. What's so amazing is we didn't even practice it, I just told them what to do and we did it without practice. It was really cool.

After that, we went to the baptism font and I baptized Chachi. She had a very complicated name, but I was able to say it with no mistakes, and the ordinance went perfectly. After that we had a short testimony meeting and many shared their testimonies, and everyone felt the spirit way strong. Then we finished and had refreshments and went back. It was a great baptism, and everyone was super happy. Now we need to keep working on getting her parents married.

Then us three elders celebrated with pizza. After that we slept. In the morning, I was informed that my mini was at the mission home, and that he would arrive at 12 in Ramallo! So I told the assistant on the phone to BE SURE and tell him to come to the terminal in Villa Ramallo, not Pueblo Ramallo. He said sure, but then he had to leave the mission home, and so he told the financiero to relay this information on and basically the financiero forgot, so my mini never got the news. So....what happened is after waiting around from like 12-2 in the bus terminal, I get a message from Angel, who is an investigator and friend of the Rios family, saying that there's a lost elder in Pueblo. I told her to tell my mini to stay there in Pueblo, and we went and got him. So after that whole fiasco, we got back to Ramallo with my mini and the zone leaders headed off for their area.

Then me and my new comp had a great evening, visiting a few people and found some new ones, too. That same night (Saturday night) we also visited the familia Rios who we haven't been able to visit for a long time, and they were so excited that they insisted on making us homeade pizza!! Jorge, a friend of their family and a coworker, and Angel also came by, and everyone was so excited and wanted to celebrate. Anyway, we didn't have time to stay and eat so they just gave us the bowl of sauce which she home made, the pizza dough and cheese and meat, and then they took us back to the pench in the truck so we could be back at 9:30. In the pench we put the pizza together, cooked it and ate the BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD. The sauce was truly amazing. The cheese, meat and pizza dough were pretty standard stuff, but the homeade sauce was incredible. We each had our own pizza and I ate it all and also some of my comp's!

So it was great, and the next day the familia Rios came to church and even invited Jorge to come, and he came!!! It was great since they haven't been to church in like forever and they really liked it and were glad to be back. We had a huge assistance (attendance) with many less actives that came back yesterday, it was awesome!!

Of course the best part about Sunday was the confirmation. The good news is that the confirmation was great and the parents came to church. The bad news is that the parents came late and missed the confirmation itself. Oh well. The grandpa did the confirmation (which really isn't the grandpa, and the dad isn't really the dad, because like I explained her real dad abandoned her as a newborn.) The grandpa had been inactive when Elder Page and I first got here, and we helped him reactivate so it was cool to see him do the confirmation, which he did fabulously.

Whew, so much to write. Well, it was all good. By the way, before I forget, last week after finishing my ciber sesh (session) and waiting for Elder Faldmo who would always take like 3 hours, I found Ximena, a member here, and she is going to contact you with the pictures of the dance last week that she took with my camera. So hopefully you saw the pictures cause she took most of the pictures of the dance.

Well, I'll tell you about my new comp now. His name is Elder Godoy. He's from La Paz, Entre Rios (close to Feliciano.) He's 18 and was baptized May 14th of this year. He's a great guy and we get along great. Although this is definitely a HUGE CHANGE and it's definitely NOTHING LIKE TRAINING, like you'd think. I feel more like an MTC teacher of special children. My comp is super cool and I love him, although he's a typical villero (person from the poorest area) so there's lots of things he doesn't know. Because he was baptized recently, he really doesn't know too much about the gospel. He also struggles with speaking and went to a special school to help him speak, and also because he has some academic challenges. I think it's really cool that he's doing the mini mission, and he says he wants to do a real mission, which I hope they let him, because it'd be great for him. It's really funny because I always have to explain things to him that I never thought I'd have to explain. Some funny examples follow: brushing your teeth, controlling acne (can you believe I of all people have to teach that, ha ha), learning how to find books in the scriptures, helping him pray correctly, helping him learn to read better, etc. He dropped out of school young. He's really dedicated and practices reading every day now. I enjoy it a lot, I just hope I can do a good enough job to really help him. P.S., I'm going to need more acne cream!

Anyway, I'm a little concerned about money because I have to pay for everything, because he has nothing. Meals, travels, etc. and I barely have enough for me! So we'll see what happens. Either way, it's great to be with him because he's just a great missionary, because he has a great heart. I think his childlikeness just helps me love him even more. I never thought I'd be teaching these many different things, but hey, I'm learning from him too!!

Please keep the Zapata boy in your prayers. Alejandro, the boy that's like 9 or 10, has tuberculosis!!!! I know that can be fatal so please keep him in your prayers. They get his study results on Tuesday, so then they'll know which medicines to treat him with. I'm going to call the mission doctor to make sure that he agrees with what the Argentine doctor says.

Yes, the Argentines are just like the Spaniards about the root beer. They all hated it, saying it has a horrible flavor and yes, they too said it tasted like medicine, but it's the thought that counts anyway, right? So it was great they got to try it.

I'll let you know next week of some of the things I want to visit when you come. So far some things I want to see apart from people are: Boca and River Stadiums, Flag Monument and Justice Building in front, Rosario Central Soccer Stadium.

I'll hurry and answer a few last questions: I had no idea it's the 9/11 anniversary, we didn't hear anything about it here. I got a postcard from Holly and Scott from Newport. For stuff to bring for people, the Argentines all want just a simple American dollar bill cause it brings good luck, so that'd be a good gift but of course that's just one idea.

Anyway, love you all,
Eric

Eric at the soccer tournament he wrote about last week

Eric helped with preparations before the church dance, "La Gran Baile Ramallo"



All of the pictures below were taken by a church member, Ximena. Because the dance started at 10:00 pm, I think the missionaries had to leave before it began.

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Two church activities

Hey family!!! I hope everybody's doing great!! We had an awesome week. Well, the first thing to mention is that we're going to have a baptism this Friday! Woo hoo! It's the girl Abril, although everyone calls her Chachi, that's going to be baptized. (It seems like almost everyone in this country has a nickname known by everybody, not just family or friends.) We're super excited and today I called up President Cansinos and he said he'd love to accompany us to our appointment tonight with her at 7, so it'll be cool for her to get to know the branch president well. The whole family is excited, because lots of them are members, except for her adopted mom who wants to be baptized too, but can't because they aren't married. Just the same, though, she's very supportive of Chachi's baptism and is very excited. We're trying to cram in all the lessons now to have her ready, but we're not too worried for a girl her age that has a good family and friend support in the church. She's almost or possibly by now has finished reading 2 Nephi (yesterday she had finished chapter 31) in the Book of Mormon, so it's really cool to see how much she loves to read. She's a really smart girl and has a bright future ahead of her. I'll be sure and take lots of photos for you guys.

This week we also had 2 super successful and fun activities. Don't worry, I took plenty of photos at both activities; however I lent my camera to a member to take some photos so she could put them on her computer and then pass the camera back to me, but she still hasn't given it back and I can't get a hold of her, so sorry but I don't have the camera this week to send photos. Next week there will be tons, though!

Well, the first activity was a stake dance here in Ramallo! It was Friday night and it turned out really good. They did a fabulous job decorating (we helped a little but the members did the majority) and the church looked like a little "boliche mormon" which is like a Mormon dance club, and it looked really good! Tons of less active people went, and also some non members. Actually, more less actives went than actives, so it was cool to see so many new faces at the dance. The dance was in the sacrament meeting room and they had a little bar set up with "shots" of juice and things like that. All the juice was homeade by us. We made orange juice by squeezing out the juice of at least 9999999 oranges, or it seemed like that, and they also made a cool banana and orange mix after we left. Of course we didn't dance and we couldn't stay because we had to get back to the pench in time. They had empanadas and lots of cool things there, and it was very successful. The music was pretty good, too! So it was a great activity.

Then the next day, we had our soccer tournament that we had set up in Ramallo. It turned out great and about 30 people showed up. It was a good mix of about 15 kids and 15 adults so we had some great games! The Rios family showed up too, and I was super happy to see them and they were super happy to see me too. I gave Juan the dollar (for luck) and a letter I wrote them. The soccer tournament was great. Again, more less actives showed up than actives! The main teams were me, my companion, Juan and his two friends. One of them came with his girlfriend and played in alpargatas (like slippers!) and just destroyed everybody, and the other friend also just rolled up casually in pants, but he was the best goalie I've ever seen. It was a great team, but the other team was also very good. We definitely had the two best players, but the other team had 5 strong players, so they beat us 2-1, and then after that we just went around playing mixed up teams for fun. My comp and I were definitely the weak links on the team, but we still had lots of fun with it.

After that we played ping pong, while the kids just played and did whatever stuff. It was all really cool, and everyone enjoyed it.

That's great that you'll be able to come and pick me up!! It sounds super exciting and don't worry, everything you guys are planning sounds fine with me. I'm a deprived missionary remember, we're easily entertainable!!! I'm excited to be able to visit people in my old areas and to see Iguazu Falls. We have an investigator named France who's there right now! He's taking photos for us cause I told him I might go there after the mission. He accepted a baptism date for the 24th, so we'll work with him and see how it goes. He's going to send me his photos and tell me the good places to go and all that!

So the travel details sound great! It'll be good to have time to think and plan out where to go. The great thing is most of my areas are really pretty close. It feels like some areas are really far away because we have to take slow buses which make like 500 stops, but in a car I think everything's pretty close. The top areas I want to visit so far are this area (Ramallo), Rosario, Santa Fe, and Venado Tuerto (in that order of importance), although I want to go to more areas too, if there's time.

I wanted to ask you about the sending things home that you mentioned. I am planning on giving away lots of my stuff, so I should have lots of extra space in my suitcases. So I don't think I'll need to mail anything home. Let me know what you think about that.

I wanted to tell you about the root beer mix you had sent me. I've already used it up, I made a ton (all) of it a few days ago, to gift it to all the members and people, so Argentines will know the taste of root beer! So thanks for that, it was great!

Well, I really am enjoying it here and I just love all the people of this area. I better get off, but I love you all very much, and hope the best for you!

Love,
Eric

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The last zone conference

Zone Conference August 26, 2011

Shrines for Gaucho Gil are common (He is the Argentine Robin Hood)

Hey family!!! How is everyone!!

Firstly, I'll let you know, I got my package!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was very excited to get it, and I love all the contents. I'm already using the shoes which I think help with my toe problem (?) because the soles are much tougher and thicker. I'm saving the taco packets to make with some cool investigators and all the candies I've already eaten with some investigators and my comp. Thanks also for the money, which saved me from poorness! I used the 20 dollars to buy a member girl who turned 6 a really cool princess beauty kit, and then with the change we've been able to travel to get around in our area! We're out of money but should get more money Wednesday. So thanks a ton for the package and the money, it's all great stuff. I also got many dearelders, including an update from Nana and Papa, letters from you, and Jared's letters. They were great and I enjoyed them all.

By the way, I don't know about other countries but here in Argentina they don't say que andas, they say como andas. There's also a very slangy phrase meaning like, what's up, that's not used that often but that's que ondas. That way you'll be able to sound very Argentine when you come!

We had a good zone conference, although unfortunately the dying missionaries (missionaries who are ending their mission) don't get to give their final testimony like they used to, but that's okay. This rule was changed by Elder Aidukaitis, and it's sad, but I'm sure he has his reasons.

The people are doing good here. Unfortunately, that girl we were talking about, her parents aren't married! That's super sad but okay because we're going to get them married! We had a family home evening with them Saturday that was really good, and then I found out Sunday evening that they aren't married and that's why he doesn't want to come to church. That is such a huge problem here, most people just don't get married and so it makes the work harder because it is so hard to get married here. It is expensive and there is a long waiting list, because it has to be done by the government. We're going to teach them tomorrow, though, and we'll help them out.

The Rios mom is still doing good. She makes homeade bread now and sells it door to door, which is cool. Unfortunately, my companion had a disagreement with the Rios family, so we aren't passing by as much, which makes me really sad. They've called me a couple of times and we talk by phone, and they say they're doing good.

Yesterday there was a huge kid's day celebration! Apparently they haven't gotten enough celebrating these past few weeks, so yesterday they had huge parties in the parks and it was cool, although we didn't participate.

Tell Marisa and Maya happy birthday and send my love to everyone! It sounds like they had a great birthday. Anyway, I better get off, I'm out of time, but I love you all very much and am doing great here!!!

Love,
Eric

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Holidays

Hey family, how is everyone!! I hope everyone is doing great and enjoying their changing lives! I'm glad to see the pictures of a great birthday for Holly, and also to see the pictures of the new house.

Thanks also for sending me the flight plans, although since you guys are coming down here I guess it really doesn't matter. Thanks for offering to come and pick me up, I think it's a great idea. As far as where to come I believe you can come directly to the mission home, from what I've heard. Most likely you'd fly into Buenos Aires and take a bus to Rosario and from there take a taxi to get to the mission.

I couldn't write yesterday because it was a holiday here and everything was closed. It was the memorial of Jose de San Martin, but it is celebrated pretty much the same as Kids Day, which was last week. Kids Day Celebration was Saturday and Sunday, the biggest celebration being Sunday. All holidays in this country are always moved to the weekends or Monday. For Kids Day, they give small gifts, and lots of chocolate. The government even gets involved and hires those big blow-up things for kids to play in, and buys LOTS OF CHOCOLATE AND CAKE to give out to all kids. On Saturday, the government had their little stands everywhere giving out free cake and chocolate, and then Sunday the park was filled (as it always is) with the big blow-up things and foosball and whatnot, but this day was from private companies.

In the church, they also gave out little gift bags, although we didn't get any. David's a really funny guy, and enjoyed making fun of all the adults that did get the gift bags (which as he pointed out conveniently fell into the hands of the leaders.) It was a good day. No fireworks that day, also no asados except the asados that people do just because. We saw the Rios kids on Saturday, which was cool, as they went hunting in the plaza with their slingshots.

I should get my package this Friday for the zone conference in Pergamino. By the way, Elder Larson (my first son) is secretary now! It's cool because that's a good job and not just a job where they put the lazy missionaries.

We found a cool girl who's the daughter of a less active. She's super cute and fun and wants to be baptized, so we're working with her parents right now, trying to get them to come back. We thought the dad might come to church this week, but he didn't. Surprisingly of all the less active people we taught this past week, the people we least expected came, and the people we most expected didn't. For example, one guy, Jose came to church who I thought would be in jail (when we met him, he told us he was leaving the house to do a murder.) We of course taught him and helped him, gave him a blessing, and invited him to church and he came!!! I almost fell out of my chair when he walked in. Anyway, so it's cool to see random people start going to church again. It's super hard to get people to church right now, because it's been VERY COLD and even many active people struggle getting out of bed. That's because most people here have a house with no insulation or heater, and it is FREEZING COLD inside their houses.

I keep trying to download pictures but this computer won't do it. I'll keep trying.

Everyone's doing good here. We're just enjoying Ramallo and everything. Anyway, I better go, but I love you all!!!

Eric

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Staying!

Hey family!! How is everyone!! I hope everybody's doing great!

Well, I guess I'll let you know what you've all been waiting to hear!! Transfers!! We're both staying!! So....I think I'm going to die here. (Die is a missionary slang term which means ending your mission.) Wow!! It's crazy because all the members when I first got here told me I was going to die here, and it's looking like it might come true. I think it would be weird to put me in a new area for just one transfer after this, especially since this mission president just wants to keep everything the same it seems, so it's very likely that I'm dying here! Wow! Anyway, all transfers are revelation, so I'm excited for this.

Our investigators are doing good but nobody's really going to church, is the only problem!! We've found lots of cool people though, so I think we should have good success this transfer. At least our assistence (attendance) has gone up as we've helped less actives come back, but we would like to see some investigators show up!!!

Regarding the new house, that's great news how it is coming along. I understand a little about Argentine house construction, but American homes still confuse me as they're much much more complicated. If I was home, I'd definitely offer myself as a volunteer to help build your new home, but I'll stick to Argentine homes for now.

I still haven't gotten my package with the shoes unfortunately, but there's an elder coming here to San Nicolas from Rosario, so I'm going to call him and see if he can pick up my package and bring it for tomorrow. We got a package from Elder Page's grandmother recently, so we'll have to try and send that out to him sometime!

That's exciting that you got the flight plans for me coming home, do you mind sending me that email just to see what it looks like? I've thought a lot about the whole trip thing, and to be honest, I am okay with whatever works out best! I think I would most like to come home, be set apart, see the family, and then from there make a trip back down to Argentina all together to visit, and maybe even see Brazil, too, I don't know. However, if that is not possible, I'd love you guys to come down directly to pick me up, and it would be great for you guys to see this place and I know you both really want to.

Marisa and David, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy hearing about and seeing all the pictures of Maya. I carry with me a photo album and one of the pictures in there is a picture of you with Maya. Everybody here is excited when they see the picture of Maya and are amazed at her beauty. They all tell me that she looks like "one of those babies on the TV commercials." So you have a beautiful, famous baby.

Happy Birthday, Holly! I hope you have a great party and enjoy the time with the family. And I'm really glad that you had your anniversary last week. That's so great that you're married and sealed in the temple. In the MTC I often sat in on temple sealings and I really enjoyed them. It's such a great blessing to be sealed in the temple and it gives you such a capacity for potential!!!!! I´m excited you're going to study in St George, I hope you enjoy that also.

I want you all to know that I love you and pray for you!!!!

Eric

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All is well

Eric did not send any pictures this week, so I am posting these pictures that Eric's previous companion, Elder Page, had taken.

Ship on the river in Ramallo

Harvesting soybeans

Argentine pizza, with ham, red peppers and green olives

Hello family!!! It's great to be able to write another day and to tell you about my past week. I enjoy hearing about everybody's plans. That's very exciting that Holly and Scott are going to St. George to study, and that David is doing great with his job. As for your new house, I can't believe how fast it seems to me that it will be built.

Today's been pretty good so far, even though, or maybe because of, our losing our pet bird today. Like I've mentioned before, Tony is 100% my comp's bird, so he feeds it, cleans up after it, etc. I believe he's been feeding it eggs and chicken legs (raw) and he says that Tony really likes the eggs. Well, it turns out today, or possibly late yesterday, he escaped from the new habitat Elder Faldmo built for him. It's too bad but we're happy because if he escaped, it means he can fly now and is probably ready to be on his own again, a free bird.

Shortly after that, the power company came and shut our power off. It's too bad that the one area where we don't have money to pay the electric bill is the one area where the company is on top of it and actually cut the power. I've come to live in penches where the electricity hasn't been paid in years! Of course, those were only in the big cities where things are out of hand, but here in Ramallo, everything's well taken care of. Being in the Buenos Aires province, it has money, unlike for example the Santa Fe province, so it's clean, organized, and on top of things (well, at least more on top of things.) Well, it's been a month since we paid the bill, and it turns out here, that a month's the limit!! We're trying to get a hold of some more money, because for some reason our electricity bill was 900 pesos! (about $217. in US dollars.) Neither of us have close to that. We don't know why it was so expensive this month, either. So we'll be like camping without electricity for a few days, which should be pretty fun. I don't really mind too bad, although my comp says he can't live another minute without it, so we should get it fixed soon, don't worry.

Anyway, after that for Pday my comp and I went over to the church and just kicked the football (soccer ball) around and loved playing in our cleats. They're great and make soccer a whole new sport almost! After playing some soccer, we came straight here, so it's been a fun day.

This week in church was good, too. We had about 70 people in church, 5 of which weren't members. Oh, how I love baby blessings!! Well, it was in big part due to our efforts, too, having reactivated a family of 7 that came this Sunday, and other families too, but there were a few other families that came just for the blessing. We talked to them so we hope we can keep being in contact with them and they can continue coming!

I got two slingshots this week. The Rios kid, Juan, made me the first one, and then President Cansion's son Ezekial saw it and so he decided to make me one too, so I ended up with two. They've since broken, but I fixed them so they're good again. They throw really far and could definitely do some damage if misused, but for now it's just fun to have. Pictures to come, as soon as we get power I'll charge my camera and send some pics, or maybe I'll just charge it at someone's house, so look for pics next week.

My official release date still seems to be a mystery. In my interview with President Guiliani, he looked at his agenda, and he asked me if I'd like to go home the week before or after, because of that conference. (Eric was originally scheduled to be released on November 8, which now has to be changed because of a special conference which the mission presidents must attend.) I told him after, because I wanted to hit two years as a missionary and nothing less. He then asked me when I started, to which I replied November 4th. After that he looked at his big agenda again and said that actually he would be in the mission home until the 5th, and so he could release me the 4th and leave early morning of the 5th. I told him that's fine, I would be okay with either the 5th or the 15th, so we'll see how things go.

I just hope I can get my package before then! Yes, I still haven't gotten the package you sent through the Kradolfers!!! The zone leaders went in to the mission home last week, but the office elders forgot to bring the package to them, probably because it's a not a normal package through the mail and in a weird type of packaging, so they maybe didn't recognize it. So I'm out of luck for now. Maybe for transfers I'll get it.

I had my doctor's appointment scheduled for a few days ago, but as is typical here, when I went there, the secretary informed me that the doctor wasn't going to make it in that day, so all the patients for that day will just have to come back another day next week.

I enjoyed hearing how you guys are trying to be missionaries and answer people's questions. I think it's so cool that you can always be a missionary and help people your whole life. Here in Argentina, most people's questions or concerns are 1. Tithing (probably due to the obscene amounts of churches here which sole purpose is to make money), 2. A specific true church (the general belief here is that all churches are true, and that a specific church is not necessary for salvation, which of course is directly opposed to their main religion, Catholicism, but they don't even know that) and 3. Word of Wisdom. And the list could go on, but those are the major concerns. It's okay for people to have questions, doubts and concerns, as many people once doubtful, later become strong members of the church and faithful followers of Christ. I wish that people with serious doubts could just accompany me around (or any pair of missionaries) to see the miracles and hear the testimonies, both from the missionaries and from the people's conversion when they realize this is the only true church for them, and if that is, then it's the only true church for all.

Anyway, I better get off. I love you all very much!

Eric

P.S. Happy Anniversary Holly and Scott

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Cold weather and a pet hawk

Elder Faldmo on the streets of Ramallo

A bug on a stick...

Eric did not tell us who this child is, but it might be Santiago, who along with his uncle is one of the new investigators

This dog is on the outside looking in. Eric says there are dogs everywhere.

This picture of Elder Boon and Elder Laws was taken in the mission home

Tony Hawk, a new pet

Hey everyone! I hope everyone is doing great and having a great week! It seems like you have all been very busy, and that's there's lots of changes since I left! Hopefully I can find and recognize you all when I get home!! By the way, happy birthday to Nana!

I received the one dollar bills you sent in the "Lengthen Your Stride" card, and some more letters and dearelders. Thanks for those, they were great. In regards to the package being delivered through the Kradolfers, I called the offices today and they let me know it's arrived at the mission home now! Luckily, the zone leaders will be going in to the mission home on Wednesday and will pick it up for me. I'm of course very excited to get it.

This past week the weather has been crazy. We've had awesome short sleeve summer weather until suddenly, when it radically changed on Saturday. Since then it has been freezing, the coldest it's been yet!

So this week's been pretty good, regarding the branch, it's doing pretty good. We managed to get two investigators to church this week, and two inactive families to come. So we're happy that they came. The two investigators that came are great, but one is waiting on marriage, and the other is a kid whose parents don't want to come, so neither one of them is likely to get baptized anytime soon. The investigators that we most hoped to see didn't come. But it has been so cold and Argentines don't like to get up in the mornings when it is cold. We just want to see more people in church.

So, I think it was last Friday, the Rios kids shot a hawk out of the air, but didn't kill it. They tied it up to keep it as a pet. My comp really wanted it and asked for it, and they gave it to him, so since then we've had a hawk in the pench, caged inside our old trash bin. Today my comp turned the outside room thing we have into a bird habitat by nailing up screens so it can't escape, so it's no longer inside which will be nice. He named it Tony, so it could be Tony Hawk. (a famous professional skateboarder) It's been pretty cool, not many people can say they have a hawk as a pet. It's still scared of us, of course, but it's been quiet and hasn't made a sound since we've had it.

On Sunday we went to Barrio Sur, Elder Law's area, to do divisions with him and Elder Boon, and then we spent the night last night having a sleepover in the church because it was too far to get back (to the pench) in time. We slept on some wrestling mat style pads and used blankets. In our small room, we had two little gas heaters so we stayed pretty warm. It was really fun and we had a little time to just hang out in the church and watch some Mormon messages and talked and then today we played some soccer. It was a good Pday.

To answer some questions, the Rios mom is doing good but she still has to give up some things and she just isn't ready, but we'll keep working with her. And don't worry, our area's very safe and there's no danger here.

I'll have to get off now, because I'm trying to send Elder Page some pictures he took for himself with my camera, since I got a really fast computer today that's uploading and sending them good.

Love you all very much,
Eric

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A great week!

President and Hermana Guiliani

The birthday party for Gustavo's little son. Gustavo is a church member in the ward in Ramallo.

Another cake at the party

The birthday party was held at the church, which is the building you see in the background

This is the cheese packet mix from a box of macaroni and cheese that I had sent in a package to Eric. (I sent only the packet, since they have noodles in Argentina.) I had written the cooking instructions on the other side of the packet, and the message in red letters is the warning from the customs office.

A dog in the bus terminal in San Nicolas.

Hey family!!! I hope everyone is doing great!!! We're doing great here, I think I finally got over that stomach flu thing.

Well first, we had a great week! To start, we had interviews with the new mission president, President Guiliani, which is pronounced in Castellano like Jew-lee-oni. I really enjoyed the interview and really like the new mission president. He's a very loving guy and I really enjoyed our little chat.

It was also great because of course we ate at McDonald's, since we were there in Rosario.

The most exciting part of all was that I got a package!!! I finally got that package you have been asking about, the padded envelope! Thank you very much for it!! I took pictures of it, and of various other things, but my camera's not uploading for some reason, don't worry though, because I asked my comp to send the pictures he took. It was great to get a package, especially so unexpected, because it was sent so long ago I just figured it was another lost one I'd never see. After enjoying my package for a few minutes, I think I figured out why it took so long to get here!! As I was looking at each item carefully, I read the instructions you wrote on the macaroni and cheese mix packets, which p.s., we're going to make for lunch today. Anyway, as I was reading the instructions, I looked on the back of one of the packets and written in angry Spanish letters, it said, "Next time you send something like this, we're keeping it in customs!" So we can assume they don't like mac and cheese.

Thanks for the tie, as well. It's a great choice and I've gotten good remarks on it. I've already eaten all the candy.

Anyway, my health has gotten better, but I still have had clogged ears the whole time I've been here, which makes it harder to hear. I went to the doctor during the time when I was with Elder Boon doing divisions. The doctor's visit consisted of the doctor trying and failing to speak English, and looking in my ear with that little tool all doctors have. After looking in there, he explained there's nothing wrong in the ear itself, and so the problem lies in the canal between the ear and nose, but that a number of things could cause blockage in there. He decided that putting a tuning fork on the top of my head would determine what's causing the blockage. So after hitting the fork, he put it on my head and asked where I heard it. I felt it on the side of the worst clogged ear and told him that. So then he said, "I don't know what the heck you have." So he wants me to go back in for tests in a week or two. He did say that allergies were a possible cause, but we can't be certain until the tests, according to him. Anyway, at least I have an appointment for the tests and the good news is, it is free because as he says, we're "boys with big hearts and boys with *the Word*." He apparently respects us as missionaries enough to give us free visits, although he was less than excited to learn more about what we have to teach, because we tried and he wasn't interested.

One highlight of the week was our English class. We only had 3 people come this week, but it was cool because one is now an investigator and the other is an inactive. It was a guy named Fakundo who's pretty cool. We passed by his house Friday morning and for the first time taught him with a family member who is a 10-year-old kid, who was also at the class. The kid's name is Santiago, and like all little kids, fell in love with us missionaries. We had a great chat with them, getting to know them and doing magic tricks, and afterwards a friend of Fakundo came over who had a good Mormon friend before and was very happy to see us, although a little hesitant to hear what we wanted to teach him at first. But he asked us some questions about life on other planets, and started to get excited when we answered him by explaining about how our church believes there are other planets with life, etc. So he got really interested because he has always felt that there is even though most of his friends disagree with him. So he ended up happily listening to our lesson and promised to read and pray and everything, and then went off to work.

The next day there was the birthday party of a little boy that was held at the church. It was the son of Gustavo, who is a member. It was a huge party, of course, because Argentines go all out on birthdays and parties, with those blow up bouncy things and everything, so it was cool. It was a very expensive party. It's amazing to us that they spent so much, considering that there are days that the family doesn't eat because they're so poor!!! Us, as the awesome missionaries that we are, took advantage of the party by going there and we got to meet and know lots of their non member friends. We found and taught tons of people there, and found some cool people who might become investigators. We also played some ping pong. So all in all it was pretty good.

Thanks for sending me those recipes, I'm going to print it out and give it to the lady for her to use.

Well, I got to get off now, but I love you all very much!!

Eric

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