MTC Week 7

DEAR EVERYONE THAT I LOVE VERY DEARLY,

This week went by so fast! I can hardly remember it really. The Spanish is coming along but apparently, like everything else in life, you have to work very hard to get good at something. My district was kind of half expecting that we could sit back and it would just come. And that, of course, is very wrong. But we are now speaking Spanish all day long (or at least attempting). The hardest part at this point is my incredibly limited vocabulary. I know the rules and verb tenses and conjugations but putting it all together is really hard. I talk to the natives on my floor all the time though, which is super fun. The other night we were trading tongue twisters and it was hilarious.

Anyway, nope Mom they haven't called me in for my immunization yet but a lot of others in my district have gone in for theirs already so mine should be soon! If I don't receive a notice soon, I'll go and ask someone about it. As for luggage, no worries, I'll make sure it all weighs under 50 lbs. because there is a scale on my floor of the residence hall just for that. And calling cards? Spaced it. Sorry!! You might just want to send me one anyway!

I plan to buy Dr. Pepper at the airport. It will be the best day of my life. I'm not sure how other missionaries manage to get it but I don't care at this point. If I don't have any more flights in Argentina, I MAY just have to buy like six DPs in Dallas and bring them with me. After I go through security, of course.

Hosting is the best thing ever though!! (and I get to host again tomorrow) We are the missionaries waiting on the curb for the new missionaries. We take their bags and welcome them and their family to the best place on earth. And once they say their goodbyes, we escort them all over to get everything! First they go to the main building for their tag, ID card, etc. And after that we take them around to their residence hall, the bookstore for all their language books, scriptures, etc which are in bags, and then drop them off at their class. It was a weird experience being on the receiving end of the curb drop off, but at the same time I loved it because it renewed my excitement to see their faces as they took this new step in their life. After all, I'VE BEEN HERE FOREVER. Pero me voy a Argentina en dos semanas! And I am very excited. Today we met with the Argentine Consul and signed some stuff. He also talked to us and opened it up for any questions we had. He described, quite openly (which surprised me), the flaws in his country such as the constant power outages, the horrible police forces and lack of enforcement of the law, and the terrible mail system (which he flat out advised not to use). He said he wanted to prepare us for the major shock we were going to go through upon entering a country that is not the US. BUT once again I am very excited! He loves Argentina (and has lived in California for just over two years) and all of us were just about ready to board the plane right then and there.

What was great about the meeting though, is that some of the missionaries I became friends with my first couple weeks here have been serving in the Salt Lake City Mission (one of them) and they came back because they are also waiting for VISA's! It was amazing to see the growth they have made in the time out there! The three of them combined have had 6 baptisms. It was inspiring. They'll be heading to Argentina at the same time as me: May 2.

And what do I learn, mom? Everything! We learn how to teach investigators using the Spirit as our guide. We learn how the gospel can apply to ANYONE'S life and that if we use the Spirit, we can bring the message that those people need to hear from us. I've learned so much about my role as a missionary and that through faithful obedience I can be blessed and become a tool in the Lord's hands! I read the scriptures constantly and know them so much more now. It is amazing how they can apply to any situation and I can receive answers to any question I have through them. As for specific things I've learned, I can hardly say because it's so gradual.

Mom, Hermana Aguilar said she talked to you but she's already gone! Thank you for doing that for me. I don't know what Easter will be like, I'm sure we'll just have a MTC Conference with the Presidency (who I love) and the cafeteria will make some attempt at a nice meal.....Haha.

Dad thanks for the letter in Spanish! Please keep sending them that way. However, Dearelder makes all the accented letters turn into question marks. I still understood it though! Thankfully, I'll be heading to Argentina on time! And will then be eating good food.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who wrote me, I really appreciate it! I miss and love you all!

And that's all until next week! I'm surprised I had so much to say!

-Elder Ryan David Garrison