Eric Hanson: Loving Las Delicias

Thank you to Elder Anderson's family for sharing this picture of Elders Calvert, Anderson and Hanson in the terminal in Rosario. As zone leaders, Eric and his companion Elder Calvert stay in the terminal all day on transfer day to assist the other missionaries as they arrive and leave and make their different bus connections with their luggage, etc. The advantage is they get to see many old friends!

Hey family!!! How is everyone!!!

This spacebar on my computer is pretty bad, so some words might be misspaced and messed up. (Mom's note: I have made the necessary corrections so we can read his letter.) Anyway, I'm having a great time out here in the great city of Rosario. I'm really enjoying the new area as well as all the other changes that came with this transfer.

Firstly, I love the new pench. This is probably the best pench in the whole mission. Also, we have a big area and a great ward. We've got an amazing zone with great people in it.

First I'll explain about the pench. We have the craziest but best land lady ever. EVERY DAY (without fail) she cleans our pench, washes our clothes, makes us dinner, washes our dishes, and refills stuff we're low on, like toilet paper, sodas and alfajors. She is definitely a little bit crazy (I'd guess you'd have to be crazy to do all those things for free) but I don't mind. It's a very clean pench, and the perfect two-man pench. On top of it all, we've got air conditioning in the bedroom, couldn't ask for more! It's also awesome being with Elder Calvert, and we enjoy working together.

I randomly got an eye infection (bacterial) this week, but have been taking drops since, and my eyes are fine, so in case you're wondering why I'm wearing my glasses instead of contacts in the pictures, that's why. Oh, you are going to kill me, but this computer isn't loading my photos, so I'm going to have to try next week from a different ciber.

Anyway, today's been an awesome Pday. As zone leaders, we can go anywhere in the zone. Today we went to the Flag Monument, the Peatonal which is like the outside mall in Rosario, and then we ate with some other people at Las Tinajas, the buffet. Now we're writing to our families and sending our reports etc. to the President, and then will take a colectivo (bus) back to the pench, about a 20 or 30 minute ride, and then we will go back to work.

Being zone leader really isn't too much different, except it is more of everything. More stress, more work, more fun, and a little more of everything! I like it and enjoy it, and I'm definitely excited for mission conference in the mission home.

Like I said, I really enjoy the area. It's a big area and I love that. I also love being in a big city with lots of stores to buy food, etc. and being part of a big zone. We're working hard to try and find some cool people and get some baptisms, and I expect we'll be able to do it, because we have found some great investigators that we hope will progress. We don't really have any dirt roads in our area (from what I've seen so far) although we have plenty of villa (slums) and ghetto homes, but everything's paved. We have lots of cops on horses around here and things like that.

I'm enjoying the area and the easy life of our pench. I haven't cleaned anything or made any food. I haven't even hung up a shirt, because the landlady automatically does that!!!! I'll try not to get too spoiled, I hope I can stay here at least one more transfer. Either way, it's really nice. Tomorrow for the first time we'll have a zone meeting and I'll get to meet everyone in the zone, and not just talk on the phone to them. Our zone's pretty hardworking, although like every zone, it has a pair or two of lazy companionships, but overall it's really good. This Wednesday we're going to have interviews with President Villalba, which I always like.

Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have any more time to write, but I have to send in all these dats and reports and other things, and my computer time is going fast. Regarding the mailing thing, I'm not sure how you can send me packages now, and no one else knows how to do it with the new rules, either. So I'm going to have to ask at a post office about how to send it. From what I've heard, you can send to the mission home if there's no fees, but I don't even know which type of packages have fees and which ones don't because the post office never does it the same way twice. I will find out all that for you ASAP.

Lots of photos to come next week for sure, of the pench and the area, etc. I've got to go, but just know that I love you all very much and wish the best for everyone.

Love,
Eric

Since Eric was not able to send any pictures this week, I went on the internet and found a few photos that show his new area and the places he visited on his Pday.