Memories of Venado Tuerto

While Eric is spending most of the day today traveling on buses to his new area of Feliciano (La Paz zone), I thought I would post the rest of the pictures that he was able to email to us yesterday.

The house that Eric helped to build, shown in an earlier stage when they had finished putting up the support beams. Eric says that the day they put on the roof and finished the house, he did not take any pictures.

At the Church Farm, enjoying the hospitality of the Lamoreaux's. Although Elders Wilkinson and Carrillo are not in the same branch, the Lamoreaux's were happy to include them in the visit to the farm.

Eric playing with a handcart at the farm. The farm is sometimes used to re-enact the Pioneer Trek made across the US by the early Mormon Pioneers in the 1800's. The re-enactment is an activity that is typically participated in by the youth of the church.

Four elders pulling a handcart. Elders Hanson, Petersen, Wilkinson and Carrillo

View of the backyard from Eric's penche

Another view of the backyard from the penche. I think this was probably taken while standing on the roof.

Looking the other direction in the backyard, once again probably taken from the roof. You can see a clothesline with a few clothespins on it, as people do not have dryers in Argentina.

The four housemates in their matching soccer jerseys

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Transfers!

Eric and Elder Petersen at the baptism of Stela and Matias

At the baptism of Stela Moralez and son Matias

Hey family!!!

I'm busy trying to send you some pictures so that means I'll have less time to write. Well, I'll go ahead and tell you what you've been wondering...

Transfers!!

I'm going to....La Paz!

The zone is La Paz and my specific area is called Feliciano. La Paz is a new zone that's only been open a short time, and from what I hear it is very different than Venado Tuerto. Venado is a very poor but authentic Argentine area, whereas I hear that La Paz is more touristy, so I'm very excited to see for myself. Also, I'm going to have a Latin comp!!! And we'll be in a 2-man penche, so I am very excited although a little nervous to be by myself with someone who doesn't speak a word of English!! It'll be awesome, though. My new comp's name is Elder Rojas and he's from Peru. Next week I'll be able to tell you more about everything. (Mom's note: Eric will be leaving for his new area tomorrow.)

Now I'll just get right to the best part of it all. Our baptisms!!! The baptisms went perfect, and it was the coolest experience of my life. Stela had asked if I could be the one to baptize her, it made me so happy. The service was very spiritual and ran smoothly. Stela's other two kids are going to be baptized next Saturday, too!!! They couldn't be baptized this week because there's a rule that you have to attend church twice before you can be baptized, and since her other two kids missed a Sunday, that means they have to be at church this Sunday, and then they can be baptized the next Saturday. I am really sad that I won't be here to baptize them like I thought I would, but the important thing is that they make their covenants with Heavenly Father and get baptized, so I am still happy about that. We had also had a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with them on Monday. We watched "The Testament" and had facturas (something like donuts) and sodas, it was way bomb!!! They're going to stay strong in the church, and Hermana Stela has a strong testimony already!! I'm sad that both Elder Petersen and I are leaving, I hope the two new missionaries who come here will take good care of them. I'm sure they will.

Oh, and Elder Petersen is going to be a zone leader in Rosario West!

Last week we were on the stats list for the mission, being in the top 5 companionships with highest number of contacts, people in church, and most people programmed! Also we got the Standards last week and this week. Of course, the main thing is to bring people to Christ, but if you work for the Standards, that is the best way to achieve that.

I'm out of time, but I wrote down your questions and will answer them next week. Ooooh, and your early April Fool's joke got me good, ha ha!!! (Mom's note: My April Fool's joke was that I told him we found out Marisa was going to have triplets!)

Just know that I love you all and am excited for this new transfer.
Love you all,
Eric

P.S. During the time I was writing this, I got to talk to Elder Rojas on the phone for a minute, and he seems like a way cool and nice guy.

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I love my mission!

Eric with Elder Petersen, enjoying lunch at a
zone conference*

Hola a day late! Sorry this is a day later than usual. Yesterday was an Argentine holiday and so everything was closed. We could not find a single internet cafe open anywhere! But it's okay, because I am writing now, although I'm going to hurry so that we can get back to work. (Mom's note: I looked up the holiday, which is called Dia de la Memoria, which translated is Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice. It is the anniversary of the coup d'etat that started the dictatorial rule of the Proceso in 1976.)

Well first I wanna say thanks to the family, I hope everyone is continuing to do well, and that David has a successful trip to Brazil. Sounds waaaay fun, and I hope everyone else is safe with their daily activities.

I have some really exciting news!! We're going to have two baptisms on Saturday!!!!! They are Hermana Estella and her 10-year-old son Matias. They are such awesome people and it has been great teaching them the lessons. I will tell you more about them and the baptism next week when I write to you!!!!!

Another exciting thing that happened this week is that we helped to build a house! From about 9 in the morning until like 2, we started and finished the entire roof. The week before, we had put up the support beams and put in the bricks in between, and this week we did all the cement and finalizing work. It's an experience I'll probably never forget, it was really funny. I'll tell you how it all works. They had already laid out the bricks, so what we did was the roof. We laid support beams all across the roof and put bricks all in between the beams. It's hard to do because you can't really put your weight on the support beams, believe it or not, because even though they're the support for the roof, they're very fragile, ha ha. After that we laid down metal grate type things so we could walk on the roof safely, because with the grates, our weight was dispersed over several beams instead of just one. Yes, Argentine houses are pretty fragile, but the funny thing is they think Argentine brick houses are better than wood houses in the States. Anyway, then we started laying the cement!! We made the cement by throwing in sand, rocks, water and cement mix all into a cement mixer (it's like a spinning cauldron) and it all gets mixed together. Then once it's mixed, it gets dumped out into a big trough. We then filled buckets with the cement from the trough and passed the buckets in a line (there were like 10 people all working there, along with us) up to the people on the roof while the people on the roof dumped and spread the cement, and then threw down the buckets. (They literally just chucked them down, if you didn't watch out you'd get hit.) And we just continued the process over and over. We were moving very fast, always catching, throwing, filling buckets, while another crew of about 2 or 3 was always making more cement. We didn't take any breaks, but they had lots of doble colas for everyone to keep drinking (their brand of generic Coke). After the cement was all laid and done, we left, which was another adventure!

We left with the guys from the branch, who are all really good friends, so they were making jokes and having fun the whole time, and as we were leaving they were all playing bumper cars with their cars. The guy who had cooked us the frogs a few weeks ago gave us a ride, and it was really funny to see how they all drive here. He had to hot-wire his car to start it, and Argentines bump cars around a lot! For example, when people parallel park their cars, they always leave their car in neutral, so that way when there's not enough room and another car needs to get in to park, they just "bump" the car so it rolls until it hits the car in front of it, so that way there's more space. It's funny to see people parking because they're always rolling around the other cars so they can squeeze in. But they also just bump cars for fun, and it was really funny (and crazy!) to see the Branch President, First Counselor and the frog guy all hitting each other with their cars the whole time we were driving back, ha ha!

After that everyone met at a member's house and had an awesome asado!!! (barbecue) It was my first legit asado, and it was sooooooooooo good!!! They brought out a huge grill and threw on tons and tons of meat and cooked it up, and ate the meat with bread (their "pan" here is really good), sauces and of course always the coke. It was tons of fun!!!

The seasons are changing, and it's cooling down a lot. Daytime is still very hot, but mornings and evenings are quite cool, making it not so fun to get breakfast anymore, ha ha. (Mom's note: their kitchen is outside.) It's funny to think that you're going into summer now and heating up, as we're cooling down. I can't wait to see what an Argentine winter is like.

Dad, since you suggested it a few weeks ago, I have been trying to read aloud more in Spanish, which I think is helping me with the language, so thanks for the advice.

Next week is transfers, so my P-day will be on Tuesday. Elder Petersen will probably be transferred, but I will probably stay here. I love my area and would like to stay. I am hoping I get a Latin comp because I think it would really help me with the language!!

Without a doubt I can say I'm glad I'm here serving a mission. I've really come to know that this church is the true church of Jesus Christ, and I love my mission because I know what I'm teaching is true. If I didn't know what I was teaching was true, I imagine I would hate this. I'm away from my family, I work hard all day, many people reject and yell at us, we get paid nothing and actually have to spend our own and our family's money to be here, and the living accomodations in Argentina are quite lame compared to the States. Yet, despite all that, there's no place I'd rather be than right here. The truth is that I wouldn't be here still unless I knew this is true. And because I know it's true, I'm sacrificing many things, but I'm having fun because it feels good to be able to share this knowledge with those who are willing to listen and want to accept the gospel into their lives. I miss you all very much, but I love my mission, and I am so glad to be here.

Well, I'm all out of time. I want you all to know I love you very much, and hope the best for you every day!!

Love,
Eric


* Thank you to Elder Petersen's family for sharing the lunch-time picture!

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Visit to the farm was awesome

Eric holding the Rosario banner in the Mission Home at last week's special zone conference

Eric with Elder Bryce at the special zone conference

Eric in front of the mission home in Rosario. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see decorative iron bars on the main floor windows and doors.

The grounds of the mission home

Hey everybody,

It's really late in the day here, so I have just 20 minutes to write you. We went up to the agricultural farm today with the senior (couple) missionaries and just barely got back! It was a great day. They picked us up at 10:00 a.m. and we all drove out to their house, where they tempted us to use their webcam to talk to our families, ha ha!! We aren't allowed to, of course, but it was nice of them to offer.

For lunch, we had the most American meal I've had since I've been in Argentina. I love the United States!!! I love South America, too, but it was just so great to have an American meal, of a good roast with mashed potatoes, jello, chocolate-chip-cookies and rolls! The couple was so nice, and it was so fun to just eat American food while talking English! I love having Argentina meals, too, but it was so good to get a taste of food from back home.

They drove us around the farms, not all of course, because the church owns thousands of acres down here. The church owns so much land down here in Argentina, it's quite unbelievable. Another surprising thing is how few people work the farms, at least for much of the year. There's two office guys, and two farmers, and two more who work in the factory with the silos. This is possible because the church's farm is set up very well. They have great technology, and run it sooo efficiently.

Congratulations to Marisa and David! I'm glad I'm on the computer late enough in the day to hear the results of the ultrasound, because I have been on the edge of my seat. That is so great that they are having a girl!!! Woo hoo!

Also, congrats to Darbi and Devyn on their competition, wish I could have seen it.

Family Home Evenings here are cool. We had one yesterday and another the day before. The first one was awesome, we watched the new Joseph Smith movie (somehow Elder Celis got a copy and Elder Petersen copied his.) Then we had a quick lesson and a very spiritual testimony meeting and the family had bought us sodas and cookies! It was great and I think they're all going to be baptized someday. The spirit was very strong the whole time, and the mom was crying because she felt it. The only problem is her ex-husband showed up and was mad at us because he had to wait outside for us to finish the movie, because he didn't want to be a part of it. (Many male Argentines hate all churches.)

The next day we had Family Home Evening with the familia Rios, who live in a metal one-room house. The lesson went great, the kids are already baptized, and the parents want to be, but they can't because the husband is an illegal citizen. I would love to get some ideas of simple, fun games we can play with the families, so feel free to send me any that you can think of.

We didn't have the Daylight Savings Time change here, although it probably wouldn't really matter one way or another. All I know is Argentines usually show up to anything an hour or two late anyway, ha ha.

School just started for the kids here. It was supposed to start a week or two ago, but all the teachers went on strike, but now it is finally started. The kids go for four hours a day, either from 8 to 12, or in the evening. The siesta is still going strong here, and doesn't stop just because the kids went back to school. Venado Tuerto is fairly small, so the siesta is HUGE here. In the actual city of Rosario, it hardly exists, but here, everyone takes the siesta. I know that Dad said that in Spain he found the siesta to be the best time to work, and maybe that would be true in a bigger city here in Argentina, too, if everyone went home just for lunch and then went back out to work. But here in Venado Tuerto, everyone SLEEPS after lunch from 2 until 5 or 6, and they get mad if we try to contact them during those times, so it's hard to work during the siesta. President Villalba has told us to try to get all our appointments set up during the siesta, so we don't have to disturb anyone who isn't expecting us.

To answer the question about how the people who live in the shacks without doors can have bars on their windows (since I said everyone has bars on their windows here)...well, everyone but the really poor people have bars on their windows. But the houses that are so poor that they don't even have doors, well, they're just out of luck and get robbed a lot. But frankly, most of those families don't have much to steal anyway. It is still sad, though.

Someone asked me if I am dreaming in Spanish by now. I sleep so deeply that I don't remember having any dreams at all, but Elder Petersen tells me I've been talking in my sleep in Spanish a lot.

It's time that we have to go out and work now. I love you and thank you for everything!

Love you all!!
Eric

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The special zone conference was a blast!

Some of the elders at the special zone conference. The "new" Elder Carrillo is on the back row, far left. Elder Wilkinson is front row, second from left. Although the sun is shining on Eric and Elder Petersen, I am sure you can recognize them both, front row, fourth and fifth from the left.

Recognition for the two baptisms in February by President Villalba

A close-up of the card Eric is holding in the above picture

Hey, how is everyone!!! Glad to hear from you and that you're all doing good.

Mom, I'm glad you received the email from the Lamoreaux's!! They're an awesome senior couple, and we loved talking to them, mostly because they are Americans, ha ha. After we met them in church and talked in English for a while, we got to ride home in their Chevrolet Trailblazer, with air conditioning, working doors, and a suspension (just a couple of things that don't exist in an Argentine car) which was awesome. I felt like I was back in America!!! They promised us lunch, which we're very excited about, and they even wanted us to come over to their home last Sunday and email our families!!! It was quite a temptation but of course we told them we can only email our family on P-day. They're awesome people, though.

The special zone conference was probably the funnest thing I have done on my mission so far. We took the 4:00 a.m. bus on Wednesday morning so we could be at the Mission Home in Rosario by 8:00 when it started. (It's a 3 1/2 hour ride.) It was really fun, although one of the Argentines on the bus kept swearing at us in really bad English. A lot of people here don't like that we are from the States, because they think that all Americans are greedy people, and are mad because we don't share our money. I only tell you that so you can understand what it's like here. We get yelled at a lot, and asked for money daily (I rarely understand when people yell at us as they drive by though, because they're speaking really fast and I don't know the "bad" words.) But there are also the Argentines who LOVE us because we're from the States, and they give us lots of food and drinks when we pass by, and just want to talk to us. The only problem is, they don't want to hear the gospel, they just want to talk with Americans. Anyway, it's a fun mix of being loved and hated.

When we got to Rosario, we took a taxi to the mission home, in which we all thought we were gonna die about a hundred times, because the driving in the cities is the craziest thing you have ever seen! We got there safe, though, and played games like Capture the Flag (the mission home has a huge backyard) and sports and had an awesome lunch, and we watched the movie "Hoosiers" in Spanish. We had lots of good tallers (workshops) as well, and had a very spiritual testimony meeting that night. There was another zone there with ours. I took two showers that night, because of how awesome it was. Here is a prime example of how I've already become somewhat Argentine. When I first got to Argentina and came to the mission home, I thought the showers were dirty and kinda lame. But after having showered out of an ice cold bucket, or dumping water from a pot on my head, the mission home showers were a dream. This is why I took two, and then two more the next day. Also, my comp Elder Petersen spent one hour in his shower, ha ha. I noticed while in the mission home that the older elders have already become more Argentine, because of living with Latins and living in this culture...after a while you get used to it. So anyway, the special zone conference was the bomb, and we ate really good the whole time. We didn't get home until 11:30 p.m. on Thursday night.

Also, we got the Standards this past week, even though we couldn't work the two days because of the special zone conference!!!!! Also, we got on the list of the top 5 companionships with the most contacts in the mission!!!

On Monday, Elder Wilkinson ended up having to go the hospital, and now he has to stay in the penche for a week or more because he has pneumonia. Don't worry about me, though, because I am fine, I just have a small nagging cough and still a little bit of clogged ears, but otherwise I am in great health.

You asked about a typical Sunday, so I'll give a brief explanation of how Sundays at our church go down. First, they're way different throughout Argentina. Some churches are just in somebody's house, and some are very nice. Our church is VERY nice. It was built about 4 years ago, so it's very pretty. The outside is much prettier than our church back home. The inside, however, is...well...Argentine. No air conditioning, just a bunch of fans. Also, unlike the States, there aren't decorations, because they'd get stolen. For example, even the microphone, they use it on the pulpit, it is removable, and every Sunday after Sacrament Meeting, the branch president takes it off and goes and locks it in a drawer. Also, the mics don't really work. It is really hard to hear what the people are saying because the microphones are so bad. Ha ha, last week Elder Petersen couldn't hear very well and in the middle of someone saying a prayer, he said "Amen" very loudly!!! Everything is bolted down. You'll never see couches, or decorative flower pots in an Argentine church. The outside, however, is fantastic. Lots of beautiful trees, palm trees, a nice field to play soccer, etc. Also, all churches are surrounded by a prison-like fence, and all windows have bars (as does every Argentine home.) Sacrament meeting is pretty typical, except that the people aren't quite as reverent during the meeting here.

The culture here is very interesting, and the city Rosario has the most Italian influence of anywhere in South America, and it's VERY noticeable. There are many people here who are pure Italian, but speaking Spanish. They still talk in the sing-songy Italian way, and the people use hand gestures that are Italian as well. It's a lot of fun, most of the people here are awesome and way nice.

I am out of time now, just want you all to know that I love you, that the work is going great, and that we're having a lot of fun! I am so glad for the opportunity to be a missionary and to teach people the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks for all your support and everything that you do!

Love,
Eric

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Letter from the Lamoreaux's

We received this email from an LDS couple in Argentina who met Eric in church on Sunday.

Dear Hansons:

I thought you might enjoy a report on your son. My wife and I are assigned to Venado Tuerto as Agricultural Church-Service Missionaries. The Church has Agricultural Investment Farms in Argentina & Brazil. Near Venado Tuerto the Church has 15,000 acres of premium corn, soybean & wheat farms. If all goes well we will have Elder Peterson and your son out on P-day to see the farms and have a good roast beef dinner.

Your son is healthy, happy and doing a super job. He is just the kind of Elder we would want our grandson's to be. Rest easy; they are doing well.

Regards, Bob & Pam Lamoreaux


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Everything is going great

Hey family!!!

I am writing this week on Tuesday instead of Wednesday because something came up. Tomorrow we have a special zone conference (which only happens once a year, if at all) and we got it by surprise because of all our success!!! They didn't tell us until last Friday, and by then it was too late to tell you about my P-day change. Anyway, we're going early tomorrow morning by bus to the Mission Home in Rosario. We'll be there two days so we'll be sleeping in the mission home one night! No one knows what a special zone conference is like exactly, since no one in my penche has had one, but we hear they're awesome!!

To answer your question, no, I knew nothing about the earthquakes until we went over to a member's house who talked about it. So maybe if we had been awake we would have felt the rumbling, but we were all asleep and felt nothing. We also don't really know anything about it even now. (Mom's note: They have no TV or radio.) We have some Chilean elders who are from Concepcion and they have not even heard anything yet as to whether their families are okay or not. (All of the Chilean missionaries are called to serve in Argentina, and the Argentina missionaries are called to serve in Chile.) The day of the incident, I heard that none of the Chilean elders worked. But they have no way to contact their families, so it is very hard for them right now.

Yesterday I got to work with Elder Medina on divisions. He's our new zone leader (Elder Koch was transferred) and he's Chilean. He was very worried, but he worked awesome nevertheless!! It was my first time with a Latin who speaks zero English! It was really fun, though! He's a really good and smart worker. We worked in our area for all yesterday, and I had to lead him around to all the places, because he's never been to our area. It was fun, and we had huge success.

Well, I know you have been worrying about my health. Last Thursday I got very sick, I think because we played soccer intensely for like 3 hours straight on Pday (Wednesday) and with me being a little sick all of this time, it just aggravated the sickness. Hermana Villalba said (on the phone) that she thought I had the "gripe" or the flu, so I picked up some pills and took them all for the flu, although I don't think that's what I had. So Friday and Saturday I had to stay in the penche. I went back to working Saturday evening, though. The two days in the penche helped me a lot, though. I feel really good right now, and as long as I use the ear drops and a nose spray, my ears are clear! I feel good, and my cough is tiny now. I cough only a few times a day now, and when I do cough, I no longer cough up mucus. (sorry to be gross but I don't know how else to explain it.) So my health is doing good, you have nothing to worry about!

By the way, I want to wish Linzey a Happy Birthday now! so.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINZEY!!! I wish I could be with all of you when you celebrate all these birthdays, but of course, I will be doing the Lord's work here in Argentina. I hope everyone has a lot of fun, and that Linzey gets a chance to relax a little from all her travels.

I can't wait to hear if Marisa's baby is going to be a boy or a girl! Either would be cool...although I'm definitely rootin' for a boy!!

This past transfer, Elder Carrillo from Colombia left and....a new Elder Carrillo from the States came here to take his place!!! So our penche has all North Americans in it this transfer. You can't really say we're "Americans" here, because technically all the Argentines are Americans too, because they live in South America. If you say you're American, they get really confused, because they all call themselves Americans too. They refer to us as the people from Los Estados, meaning the States.

No, we don't really do any sight-seeing here on our P-day, because after we do our zone activity (when we play soccer or volleyball), do our shopping and do email, we don't have much more time, so we go back to the penche and then leave to go back to working again. We probably could sight-see for a very short time, although there is really nothing touristy in our area, ha ha.

Anyway, our typical food in our penche is like this. Every morning we have a bowl of cereal called zanaritus. It has only 2 ingredients, flour and sugar. It's very cheap, though, and that's why we eat it. For lunch we'll usually have noodles or rice with a melanesa, or noodles or rice with some chopped meat, or mashed potatoes with a little meat. Or sometimes we have chicken patties with bread. Once in a great while, we'll order pizza or empanadas. Dinner is just more of the same. I don't mind eating similar every day, we're eating pretty good.

Although we are not allowed to take our cameras with us for safety reasons, on the last P-day of an area, if you or your companion is going to be transferred, we can walk through our area and take pictures, so soon I'll do that. And also, this computer doesn't have any connections to plug my card in, so sorry but I can't send any pics today.

I'm glad you asked about Argentine sleep habits, because you're going to get a good laugh, but trust me, this is the truth. Argentines are very lazy, most of them sleep in until around 11, then go back to sleep around 2 until like 5 or 6. They stay up late, though, it's not even considered "noches" (evening) until like after 8 or 9. EVERYTHING is closed from 1 until 6 for the siesta, and everything opens late in the morning, the earliest for anything being around 9ish. It's funny because we'll talk to the clerks at the store, and they'll be telling us how they work so hard, saying, "oh, I have a 12 hour shift today." But then we ask about their breaks. They all take like a 2 hour breakfast break, 6 hour siesta break, and a 2 hour dinner break, so a 12 hour shift is really like working less than 4 hours. Everyone here thinks they work hard all the time. I'm exaggerating a little, but not much!!! They sit outside their house drinking mate all day, and whenever we try and talk they always say they're too busy and are working. It's pretty funny.

No, I don't really know the life expectancy of this area, but as I told you before, they mature very early here. I haven't seen very many old people, but there are some.

We got our mail because the zone leaders had to go to the Mission Home. I got all of your dearelder letters, thanks so much for them!!! I also got your camera card with the pics, it was great! I got all Dad's inspirational stories and letters, so thanks for that, I always love getting them. And I also got some dearelders from Aunt Lisa which were awesome. Also, I got a letter from Ben Driggs telling me all about what's been going on down home in our neighborhood.

I just finished the Book of Mormon in English and now I am going to start over again in Spanish.

Whew, I have been multitasking while writing this, just finished writing President Villalba (we write him every week, and send in our reports, etc.) I write to him all in Spanish.

I'm out of time now, so I'll tell you more next week. I love you all and thank you for all the letters and support!

Love,
Eric

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