Life in Argentina

November 25, 2013

So i dont remember but i feel like i didnt write much last week. Honestly the days are so weird. like pday is more of just a random day where you do laundry and write stuff. and then you go back to work, like it never even happened. 

so we were in a members house last week talking. oh!! thats what it was. everything cool that happens is on the monday right after i email. and then by the next week i forget! so i started writing stuff down. sorry for the tangent, anyway, they had the tv on. and one, no i wasnt watching it, technically i was looking, but to really watch you have to hear right?? and those werent words leaving that thing... but the entire country or argentina has banned Justin Bieber!!! hahahaha apparently he came here, they paid a ton, sang three songs, felt sick or something, puked on their flag and swept it off the stage, then left, like the whole deal was a disaster or something like that. how funny is that though. and i think they banned his music but... that could be totally wrong as well. for sure he as a person and his people are no longer allowed in the country. HA!!!

so we had a huge sisters conference last week. and our sisters we just got were supposed to go. they left at like seven AM, and never got there..... so we had to start combing the city. went to their pench, nothing. well then we finally got the call they found them. out side of the mission. they got the wrong bus and went way out there. hahaha too fun.they were super embarrassed and i of course didnt waste the chance to poke some buttons. they get lost a lot... =)

so yesterday we had our invs come. everyone calls them the abuelitos. or little grandparents. hahaha but yeah. anyway, we walked clear out in the sticks for no reason cause we told these people we would come pick em up, as in walk near them, to church. well of course they werent there. when we found them they were just visiting. no one is ever in the house they own i swear!!! but on the way back this dog started following us. and continued for like 2 miles till the church. that was at 9 in the morning. we walked out at 4 in the afternoon and he was still there!!! sleeping in the street. as we (the last ones out) walked away i gave a little chirp whistle, he jumped up and followed us home!! hahaha then i went in to get my camera to take a pic of scooter, just like that, gone. i whistled, nothing, as we were walking into the house we looked back and there he was!! haha too funny. some of these strays are really cool. a lot of boxers and german sheperds, the germans scare me.... they wait in the bushes next to the fence and when youre not expecting it just freak out and bark. oh my gosh so scary. 

there are AC units that people have, just covering the whole sidewalk at head level.... just a matter of time. i was scratching my head and railed my hand cause it was sunny and was looking down, so one close call already.... 

so imma probably buy clippers and take my chances. my hair... oh goodness.. coulda done better blind folded, left handed, with a weed whacker. haha its so bad. but oh you should see the weed whackers here. they dont mess around. like two joysticks, straps, ha legit. 

but thats about all i got this week. i am on exchange right now with elder sisk from springville, its so fun. we are basically business partners now. we played golf together in high school and just talked about that and people from home. ha so fun. 

hope all is well. doing great. 

oh and he said he is 100 percent on packages. just sometimes they take like 4 months but he said he gets em so thats good. 

enjoy much turkey!!!

talk to you in december!!!

Elder Whitaker

so nothing really happened this week...

November 18, 2013

so nothing really happened this week. 

we had a super awkward district meeting. our senior couple goes to their house every weekend and didnt come back in time so it was just us and the new hermanas. oh i have stories about them.... but yeah. cause in the old districts. when you gave a training on somehting. it coulda been anyone. well now its basically, heres what you are doing wrong. so fix it. yeah just awkward. but i played the hymns and nailed it!!! the first was with one hand so only half nailed it... but the last was hope of israel.

the hermanas basically just steal our people haha. we split our area and gave them the safe parts, well turns out that two of our investigators dont live in the houses where we keep finding em. so now instead of having five invs at church we just had two and they had three with out doing anything hahaha it was just a funny story. but yeah every cool person we find i just start assuming they live in the hermanas area hahaha fun stuff.

uh... we are the secretaries in our branch. and the second counselor. its fun, not really, just math to do. oh. so we did that yesterday and the senior couple decided to go to Rosario, to their house, which they werent going to. well when they got there, the hermana like, as i understood, had a huge drop in blood pressure and her heart stopped. but they got her to the hospital and all is well. crazy. if they hadnt have gone she might not have had the required care. i have been in our hospital here... its sketchy. haha

but Julio y Rosa came!!! we are teaching and finding every member of that family. i feel so bad. her brother is basically getting robbed by his church. and is like sick  cause of all the stress they are bringing to his life. but yeah. julio and rosa are the parents. and they came to church again and their daughter!!!! they can all be baptized on the 30. julio and rosa are so pumped. they are funny. rosa i think had a stroke a while back. but when you try to get her to talk, she just squints, grabs her head and oh my gosh, i just cant explain it but its too funny. i love them, they are so funny. 

but we are trying to find new people. i am worried we are on the elevator and not the escalator... i will explain that later like next week. im outta time. but yeah. all is well. the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. 

oh and one last thing i forgot to tell you. our rule in this mission is that the Elders are not to physically dunk anyone.... sad huh. our mission motto is fruit that stays. and they want the members to have those experiences and build the relationships with invs. which i get but its just sad too... but all we do is for the good of the person. so thats what matters. 

i love this gospel and guess what. The scriptures are such a blast!!! so fun. i have started to read the doctrine and covenants. its a blast. just finding new things and attributes of people and of the father. but i am just having too much fun. 

love you all too much. 

adios mis cariños.

Elder Whitaker

Culture Shock

The title tells you all. 

this whole last week was a bunch of just weirdness. but i am getting used to it and things are looking up. this week flew by. we are now just a normal companionship, the other got transferred. they do transfers in the bus station in rosario, you just get there and go. which is kinda cool i think. 

Contacting is fun. especially when all they do is reapeatedly tell you that they know everything that is holy or religious haha. or that god is great but religions arent and they are all of the devil. ha met that guy in a bus station. 

uh, we had zone conference this saturday. Oh if you want to tell Mrs. Anderson from the high school, she is a counselor. her nephew is here. he is my zone leader and i played golf with him a few times in high school. its nice at least having some one down here that i know. but yeah that meeting was really good. taught me a lot of what i needed. just give your mission to the lord and say what he wants you to. i read today in helaman 13 and 14 about samuel the lamanite how he got booted out of the city. well he was told to go back and teach what came to him. not teach this and this then say that. he even had to climb a wall!! the scriptures are just too fun. 

so we had investigators at church yesterday!!! that was the best. my companion went out to pick them up with a member, so i stayed at church. i wasnt sure if they would come but they did!!! apparently they had gotten up at 6 and gotten ready and everything because they didnt want to miss us. they are the cutest people ever. they are about 85 and just say si si si to everything. even questions. but then we learned its cause they have some health thing. but they understand us, just cant really speak too well. i love them so much. Julio is too funny. he made his first joke yesterday. hahaha he said yeah the lord has given me strength, im still handsome. haha hes funny. 

we are learning the language fast. its either learn it or be completely left to my own thoughts, and i can only be with myself for so long. hahaha but yeah i am doing great. everything is doing well. we gotta go buy some stuff. i decided to buy clippers and just figure out how to cut my own hair.... haha i will let you know how terrible that goes. it going well is not even an option...

and i found my card reader so there will be pictures today!!! yeah!!!  but dont worry. i am getting my tan on now and am determined to leave this place with only stage two skin cancer. haha

les amo

Elder Whitaker

well more next week 

love you all so much. thanks for writing. its always a blast to hear from all of you. 

loves!!!!

Elder Whitaker