12-27-2011

Christmas Eve Dinner

Fernanda being Hermana Hunt

After the wedding of Mirta and Miguel

Our Christmas Tree Leaf

Miguel's Baptism (See any resemblance?)

Feliz Navidad y Año Nuevo!

It was an awesome week!  We had another baptism... I sent a few pictures.  That is my 4th baptism now here in the mission and in this area--Lavalle in Posadas, Misiones.  We also have 1 or 2 more coming up in a few weeks.  We are having a lot of success and things are going great!  How was Christmas for everyone? I hope it was great! Mine was so awesome... we just had dinner with a couple of members and then went home early, lit candles and incense, and wrote in our journals and reflected on Christ. :)  We also might have stolen a giant palm tree leaf from the church and turned it into a Christmas tree....... see pictures. :)  Sorry I don´t have a whole lot to write this week!  It was another busy but awesome week!  I am loving my mission so much, and it´s starting to scare me how fast time is flying.  Who knows... maybe I will be home by Christmas next year!  We will see if I end up going home a transfer early for school or not.  It´s so weird to think about though... I will be hitting my 6 month mark in a few weeks and then the transfer will come, and I might be leaving here.  I love change but I kind of hope I stay because I really love this area and all the people here and my companion!  I can´t imagine leaving right now.. I am too attached to the people here!  I guess we will see what the Lord wants for me. :) I hope you were all able to take time and put Christ first this Christmas... I was able to focus on him so much more.  I was thinking this week about how we can strengthen our relationship with Christ and really feel him in our lives more.  Something that hit me a lot was that really we just need to recognize Him.  He is there... he is helping us, giving us comfort, strength, guidance, whether we notice it or not.  So how do we feel that relationship with Him?  We recognize it.  We recognize his hand in our lives and all he is doing to help us change and learn and grow and improve.  I have a testimony of Him, that I know that He lives.  That He knows us very personally and has given every minute of his life for us, for me, for you.  And it is through Him that we are able to overcome our weaknesses, improve, and become better people.  And with that comes happiness.  A lot of times we have to make sacrifices to follow the commandments or follow what God wants for us, but a sacrifice is giving up something for something better.  Many times we complain when we have to sacrifice because we don´t realize that we are not just giving up something we want, but we are GAINING something so much better.  Just like Christ did when he sacrificed every minute of his life for us, so that we could live in happiness and return to Him.  When we sacrifice to live God´s way, we will gain eternal life and a joy and happiness in this life that is so deep and so much more than what the world can give us, that it is worth every minute of pain and sacrifice we have to make to receive it.  I know this is the right way to live and this is what God wants for us, and I am able to see this everyday when I watch the families we are teaching and how the gospel completely changes their lives around.  I love you all so much and am so grateful for your support and love!! Have a fabulous new year! :)

--Love Hermanita Hunt

12-19-2011

Mabel's Baptism

Whewwww what a week!  We witnessed a big miracle this week.  MABEL GOT MARRIED AND BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (that was mostly for Hermana Payne because really no one else will really understand... haha, I hope you´re reading this hermanita!!) So wow.  A lot happened, but mostly we spent Tuesday-Saturday planning, preparing, and carrying out a wedding and baptism for Mabel.  How 2 gringas who don´t speak spanish did it, I have no idea.  I guess the Lord´s hand just might be in this work or something. :)  But seriously... we did a LOT of work.  Mabel has been working with missionaries for a year and a half now, and we have been with her for about 3 months or so I think.  She´s pregnant so right now her emotions are all over the place, haha, and last week I was really down and starting to lose faith in her because she told us that she would be baptized ´some day´.. which meant not this Saturday which is when we had the date.  I told her we were going to announce it in church anyway and see how she felt with more time throughout the week.  So we announced it, but she was still kinda up and down.  The zone leaders came with us for a lesson with her on Tuesday and everything went really well and something changed in her.  We set the date for Saturday for sure, and the wedding too.  It was such a miracle... her husband was there and everything was up in the air because they didn´t know if they could get their bloodwork done in time because he had to work.  So he was inside and we were getting ready to leave with things in the air still, and he called out from inside and said ´Mañana.  Mañana en la tarde´ (tomorrow, tomorrow in the evening).  He just called it out... and I got a rush through my body and felt the spirit so strongly, and we knew he was talking about getting his blood work done.  He came out and said ´puedo hacerlo mañana en la tarde´.  We all kind of just sat there in awe.  I don´t know if he went in and called his boss, or if he knew already that he could do it but he didn´t really want to work with us or what, but something changed and he came out, and we all just got huge smiles on our faces.  Bueno... so after that we had to find witnesses and go and get the papers for everyone to sign and get all the documents copies and everything, not to mention planning a wedding party for them and the baptism... whew! We were smoked.  We worked super hard all weekend, but it was ALL so worth it.  I have NEVER seen Mabel or her family so happy before!  This week they changed so much because she made the firm decision to be baptized.  She was more ready than I have ever seen her and more sure than ever.  And it all went through smoothly! One of the happiest days of my mission so far!  Armín her husband will be baptized too with time.  It´s funny because he is always inside watching tv or whatever, but she told us that he is always listening from inside.  He kind of acts embarrassed or like he´s too cool to talk to us, hahaha, but we know it is really touching him too and he knows it´s true.  Mabel told us that he invited some of his friends to the wedding and were telling them that because of this gospel they have seen big changes in their family.  It was all so sweet! Sooo... that´s the exciting news this week!! It was incredible. :)  We also have a baptism this week for Miguel.  He and Mirta are getting married Thursday and he will be baptized Friday.  We are having a lot of success and all I can do is thank Heavenly Father for everything he is doing to bless us!  Bueno... now for the funnies of the week!

AWKWARDS INCOMODOS Y CHISTOSOS

• I hardly ever use my glasses when we´re walking around, which is usually fine except for when we´re waiting for the bus at night and I can´t tell that I´m trying to flag down a truck instead of a bus. How embarrassing. haha
• during our awesome and spiritual lesson with Mabel and the zone leaders, Mabel´s daughter Yeni finds a dead toad outside their house and starts throwing it around above our heads. Ohhhh Argentina :)
• so we´re at the wedding and we were already starting late (which is normal) and a lady had just had a seizure and we were still waiting for people so the stress was rising.  My comp and I were outside talking and she was stressed out so I was trying to calm her down and then we both get calm and start being all cheesy and hugging because we are so happy that Mabel´s getting baptized and everything.  No one else was around, and just then, Armín mabel´s husband walks up. Bahahah. It was soooo awkward.  We couldn´t even find the words to say in Spanish, we were just like ´uhhhh..... yeah...... vamos al dentro ahora!...´ hahaha
• of course, in the most busy weeks our cell phone runs out of credit.  So we´re in the church making phone calls when the relief society president runs in and seriously throws her baby in my lap.  She said really quick ´un ratito no mas!´ or something about how it would just be for a second and then she ran off before I could even tell her that we aren´t allowed to hold babies as missionaries. Hahaha so we´re sitting there in the office, just me and hermana green, alone, and I have a baby in my lap. Wowwwwww. Super funny.
• going to the libreria every day, sometimes twice a day, to make copies and buy stuff for the wedding and baptism.  All of the workers there now know us pretty well :)
• for some reason it is really popular right now to say the F word in Argentina... I think it´s from a song.  The funny/sad thing is that NOBODY knows what it means.  We had 2 different teens in the ward ask us ´what does ´what the ----´ mean?´ and we were both shocked and freaked out and told them to never say it.  It´s definitely weird seeing that phrase come out of the mouths of church members!  We are now trying to spread the word that they should NEVER say that phrase
• we had our ward christmas party this week that started at 7:00.  What time did it actually start? 10:00. Not. Kidding.  They served the food 3 hours late. Bahaha! AMO Argentina

Bueno... I think that´s about it!  Seriously this week was awesome.  Stressful and busy but awesome.  I can´t believe Hermana Green and I already have 4 p-days together.  The time is going by WAY too fast!!  But we saw miracles this week, and I am so happy!! Seriously Mabel´s family is changed and I am so proud of her for making the decision.  I saw a huge change in her this week, and a lot of people sacrificed to help make it happen.  Armín was so cute when we was signing the papers... mabel was asking him if he wanted to practice more.  I guess he had been practicing all week, because he gets really nervous and his hand shakes a lot and I don´t think he can read or write very well.  When we went to finalize the date and time for the wedding Yeni was with us and she started jumping up and down yelling ´se casa se casa se casa se casa!!!!!!!!´ .... she was really really excited that they were getting married. :)  I am so grateful for this opportunity to be here and share the gospel with these people, and watch their lives and their families change!

Hope you all have a fabulous Christmas!  And I hope everyone is remembering Christ and all that he has done for us... the real meaning of Christmas, the miracle that we CAN change, we CAN improve and receive the strength we need to move forward and receive this pure joy that comes only from Him and his gospel.

I love you all!!! FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!

--Hermanita Hunt

12-12-2011

Hola hola!

Ok, it´s going to be short today because I don´t have much time but this week has been kind of a roller coaster.  Great nonetheless!  A few points from the week...

• Tuesday-zone conference with Elder Foster and another elder from the 70 who´s name I can´t pronounce/spell.  We had an awesome meeting, and then at the end they told us they were going to our apartments to check our area books.  Lucky us, we had Hermana Jaurez with us who´s area is centro which is where we were, and our area is close so we just hop in the car with Elder Foster and another stake leader, no big deal, and we drive to Hermana Jaurez´s pension, which was perfectly clean and her area book was perfectly organized.  So she had been staying with us, and I knew that our apartment was a MESS, so this whole time my heart is just pounding pounding thinking ´oh my gosh oh my gosh, a 70 is going to come to our apartment, and it is a mess, and our area book is not super clean either´... there I am freaking out.  Luckily, they checked hers and just said ´looks good! thanks hermanas! see ya!´ and left. WHEW did I learn my lesson.  I´ve never been so nervous/embarrassed in my life... we got so lucky! Never again will I leave our pension messy... haha
• hermana jaurez has been with us and it has been quite the fun week.  Lots of laughter and fun... one example being at night when we were about to plan and my comp was waiting for me so she goes ´get on the floor!!´  so we can pray and then hermana jaurez in the cutest little latina accent says ´hay una cancion de Britney que dice (there´s a song by Britney that says) ¨Git me on da flouurr¨... este esta mal?? (is this bad?)´ bahahaha. we got a good laugh
• Thursday it poured rain, and we didn´t have umbrellas, so we basically got to go swimming without entering into a swimming pool. We. Were. Soaked. ...see pictures.

Ok I know a lot more happened this week but I can´t remember in this moment and I don´t really have time to think about it, haha.  But all is well here in good old Argentina! I am loving the mission.  It is not easy and there are definitely ups and downs all the time... I love the investigators and members, even though sometimes they are like roller coasters. haha.  But I am learning a lot about how Heavenly Father feels about us when we make good and bad choices, for how we feel with the choices of our investigators.  We want so badly for them to be happy and have this gospel and we know what they need to do to get it, but they still have their agency.  So all we can do is love them and do the best we can to help them!  The mission is the best place in the world.  Love you all! Thanks for all your love and support!!

--Hermana Hunt

 

No, it's not hair! It's Argentine Mud!

Lunch!

New Companion

A common site in Argy Land-Poor Doggy

Hermana Green and Juarez

 

12-05-2011

Hola familia y amigos!

Como estan? Bueno... this week was a week of change!  I got a new companion Wednesday night and my old companion Hermana Payne headed home Thursday! How crazy! So my new companion´s name is Hermana Green, she´s from Washington and she is cool!  She is a convert and has been through a lot for the church... she got kicked out of the house when she was 17 for investigating the church and since then she´s lived with friends and other families, and now she´s here!  Her testimony is really strong and it is a great strength to the investigators.  However... I speak more spanish than her! Ahhh! Haha so this week I have had to do a lot of big girl things... such as carry all of the conversations and lessons, plan what we do each day and get us to all of the places, and talk to people on the phone! (Hermana Payne I know you are just dying right now... bahah. Hna. Green has not touched the phone since she´s been here!)  Bueno.. things have been good though! I have realized that I actually do speak spanish.. kind of. Enough to do everything we need to do at least.  And Hna. Green understands better than me I think so we balance each other out.  It´s going to be a transfer of learning and growing!  It will be great though!  A few funny things from the week...

• we were in a meeting with our ward missionary leader and his assistant and I was telling them how old someone was and I said ´ella tiene diez y cuatro años´  ..... yeah. diez y cuatro.  for those of you who can count in spanish, you know that it´s catorse, not diez y cuatro. Bahaha.  One of the hermanos thought it was so funny he had to write it down to remember. Awesome. 
• last night I was trying to call a member to see if they could do a noche de hogar with us and I got the number from some ward paper.  So I talked to a guy first and asked if I could talk to hermana caballero and he hands the phone to his wife and I talk to her and we like plan this noche de hogar (family home evening) and she talked like she knew who I was talking about and everything and she said to call her the next day, so then I talk to the husband again and he tells me he has no idea who the familia caballero is and their name is something totally different and I ask him if they are members of our church and he says something like I was a member of some church... or something. Yeah. Turns out it wasn´t the right family, or the right number. What the heck...? hahah we were all like ´wait... what just happened?´ So now there is some random lady planning on us coming to her house tonight to teach about prophets with an investigator.... oops! :)
• the kid sitting next to me in the cyber right now listening to music and singing out loud.  Love listening to these latinas sing... :) bahaha

Yeah that´s all I can think of for now! Sorry it´s a short week, but lots of pictures are coming! I´m sure my emails with be getting shorter and shorter with time, haha.  Last night though I did have a dream that I was home and I just remember talking to my friends and saying ´that was the fastest year and a half of my life! It went by soooo fast!´and it´s true... I can´t believe how fast the time is flying and any minute now I´m going to be home saying ´whoa... what just happened the last year and a half?!´ haha. 

Anyway... I am so grateful I am here, there is nowhere else I would rather be.  I am learning so many things that I know I couldn´t have learned any other way.  This week I have been thinking a lot about our role in our own lives.  So many people (especially here!) think that we are just in God´s hands and he will do with us what he wants.  But that defeats the whole purpose of the plan and agency.  It´s so funny here... people always say the phrase ´si Dios quiere!´ which means ´if God wants!´.  They say it in response to everything... ´awesome we´ll see you tomorrow then!´ ´si Dios quiere!´.... ´great so we´ll call you tomorrow and then we´ll be at your house by 7´ ´si Dios quiere!´ haha.  It is so sad!  So many people have such an attitude that they can just sit in their chairs, and God will do with their lives what he wants.  But what would be the point of that?  We are here to take control of our own lives, to live the commandments and do what God asks of us.  We are in charge of ourselves and we have all power over Satan if we really want.  We have our agency. So my challenge for the week is to be proactive!  My companion used to always say ´if we want something in our lives to change, we have to change something´.  Don´t wait for God, don´t wait for something to change.  You are in charge of your life and if you want something to change.. go out and make it happen!  ´Pray like it´s all up to God, but act like it´s all up to you´.  And with that, God will direct your path and show you where to go... but you are the one that has to put forth the effort and action to get there.

Thank you all for your constant love and support!  I can´t thank you all enough. LES QUIERO! :) ciao-cito!

Austina and Yenni

CTR Rings

Familia Betancur

--Hermanita Hunt

11-27-2011

Hola familia y amigos!

Sorry this week is going to be super short!  New from the week:

• we had a baptism! :) unfortunately the other 2 fell through... they weren´t able to get their documents to get married in time.  But they will be happening this next month!  We have a couple planned for Christmas eve, so it´s going to be a ´white Christmas´ :).  We baptized Agustina, she is 10 and adorable!  Her mom is Mabel who is going to get married and baptized probably next week.  The miracle was that her dad Armin showed up to the baptism.  He is always nice to us but doesn´t want anything to do with the church.  He told us he couldn´t come to the baptism because he had to go to centro (lame excuse!) but he showed up!  We were so excited we had to take a picture of him in the entrance of the church, haha.  Mabel was really happy he came and it looked like he had a good time... we are thinking he will come around sometime. :) I have pictures but this computer doesn´t have a flash drive portal so I´ll have to send them next week!  But it was a great week!
• my companion leaves tomorrow! So crazy!! So I will be getting a new companion tomorrow and will most likely be staying in this area.  I would only leave if they decided to do a whitewash, which is pretty unlikely.  So I have been writing down a lot... all of the people we need to visit, which buses take you where, etc.  I am stressing out a little bit but I´m sure I´ll be fine!  I´m excited for the change and excited to see who my new comp. will be.  I´m sure this next transfer is going to be a huge learning experience!

That´s about it for this week!  Sorry I don´t have much time... but if I´m able to send pictures next week I´ll be sending a lot.  Since my comp. is leaving we have been taking tons of pictures with all of our investigators and the members and such.  I can´t believe I have 5 months in the mission... I am almost at my 6 month mark, which is CRAZY! Mission time is SO weird!  Bueno... I hope all is well at home and you are all enjoying the cold and the snow!  We are getting a lot of moisture here too... only it´s hot instead of cold, haha.  This past week has been super hot and SUPER humid... I am getting use to constantly being wet.  I am also getting used to always feeling like bugs are crawling on me. (half of the time they really are, and the other half I think my body is just tricking me into thinking they are because I´m so used to it now, hahah).  LES QUEIRO! muchas gracias por su apoyo constante!

--Hermanita Hunt

11-21-2011

Hola familia!

Dang! I am so sad the email from last week didn´t work! I spent FOREVER typing it out and it was filled with awesome stories! I don´t have a whole lot of time to write today so I´m gonna make it short:

Stories from last week:

• waking up at 3am with a cockroach on my face. not. kidding.
• having a rat enter into our pension from underneath our closed door (don´t forget we´re in Argentina).  We spent an hour trying to chase it out.  It was in our oven and then ran into our room and climbed up our curtain and hid on the top of our window (it´s really ghetto and is covered by this wood thing so we couldn´t see it).  So we spent forreveerrrr searching our room for it, standing on our beds and hitting things with our broom and mop waiting for it to jump out hahah.  Finally we moved everything out of the room and built a barricade in the kitchen so it couldn´t go in the oven again.  I finally hit the wood slab about the window and it jumped down and of course we freaked out and were screaming and jumping and it ran in the kitchen, through the barricade, and into the oven again!  Finally we got it out and got it to run outside.  It was quite the adventure!
• we were in relief society and the counselor was talking and she was looking right at me and then she stopped and just looked at me so I thought she asked me a question.  I heard the word ´visitantes´ so I went on to introduce our visitors for that week... Mabel and Ramona, both of which have been in RS like 5 times before.  She looked really confused and my companion starts laughing and there was an awkward pause, and she went on talking.   Turns out she was asking who did their visiting teaching this month..... bahaha.  It´s ok, someday I will learn to understand Spanish....
• the baptism de Lorena!! So awesome. My first baptism!  She is 16 and it was a miracle that her ¨dad¨ was there... he has been pretty cold with us and doesn´t want to get married to her mom, but we had a family night with him for the first time and he just broke down and started crying and told us that he knew he needed to change but he felt so low.  He told us he just couldn´t enter into a church.  Anyway... we invited him to the baptism but he had to work and was going to try and get off early.  It was 7 and we were all waiting around and then at 7:30 he walked in!  It was so awesome and the baptism was great.  We have 3 more this week but we´re waiting on marriage documents so we´re hoping and praying they will happen!

This week

AWKWARDS, INCOMODOS, Y CHISTOSOS

• people trying to pronounce my last name. Hahaha. NO ONE can say it.  Sometimes it´s oont, art, hart, haunt, aun, haun, and who knows what else! 
• all of the names they call people here... all of the sweet ladies use ´mi reina, mi cielo, mi amor´ etc. (my queen, my heaven, my love) and the best is the husbands and wives when they yell to each other ´gordita!´ or ´viejo!´ which means fat and old... hahahah. People are just so darn honest here.

AWESOMES

• the 3 people we have getting baptized this week are awesome!  Miguel has been smoking for 12 years I think and has known the church for 13 and has been through many sets of missionaries, and now he feels like he is finally ready to change and be baptized.  Within a couple of weeks he went from smoking 40 cigarettes a day to smoking none!  Mabel and Augustina are also getting baptized this week.  I got to take pictures of their family the other day and they are adorable! I´ll try and send a few
• Just a thought for the week!  We´re always using different stories and analogies and such to help people understand the principals of the gospel.  One we have been using lately is how living the gospel is like having kids (not that either of us have experience or anything!).  But yes it´s a big decision, and it´s hard.  It´s constant work and lots of ups and downs, but it is always worth it.  I am learning so much that anything in life that is worth anything takes work.  It is work... but that´s what we´re here to do, is work and change ourselves to be like Christ.  And it´s hard, it´s not easy... but the joy and deep happiness that we recieve from it is ALWAYS worth it, because it´s everlasting.

That´s all for this week!  My companion goes home in a week and I will get a new companion and most likely stay in my same area.  Too bad you didn´t get my email from last week because my stories were so much better :) you would have all been laughing your heads off if you knew all of the little details hahah but hopefully the ones I wrote today will explain enough the pictures I sent last week.  They don´t celebrate Thanksgiving here but my comp. and I will probably do something small for it since she´s from Utah.  We almost forgot it was this week!  But have a great week and a fabulous thanksgiving!! :) besitos! ciao!

--Hermana Hunt

Cockroach on my face when I woke up!

1st Baptism

MTC Districk

Mauro, Facundo, Fernanda

11-07-2011

Yes, we wear these hats!

Sleeping on the floor before conference

Hola todos!

Wow... what an awesome week!  We got to travel to Resistencia over the weekend to hear Elder Christofferson speak along with Elder Foster and Elder Jensen from the 70.  It was super awesome!  Not to mention we are working with some great people that are very near baptism... one of which will be baptized this week!  My first one! :)  Exciting.  Here are a few things from the week...

AWKWARDS INCOMODOS Y CHISTOSOS

• walking in the street and having a lady call out from her house to tell me that my skirt was tucked up underneath my backpack.  Yeah.... that wasn´t embarrassing at all. 
• 12 hermanas, tons of heat/humidity, 1 apartment, 2 beds, and 1 fan.  What a night! Haha.  We had 6 companionships sleeping in the same pension Friday night before the conference.  Most of us slept in the tile floor with a blanket beneath us.  It really was tons of fun!  We all got up early in the morning to get ready (since there was one bathroom we wanted to make sure we all had time) and then it rained on us and we ended up taking a bus and walking through the rain to the conference.  So much for doing our hair and shining our shoes! Haha
• the culture here is so funny sometimes... we called for 3 remis´ (taxis) the night before the conference to pick us up the next morning since the church was far.  They never arrived so one of the hermanas called them and they said that they didn´t have very many workers that morning because of the rain.   Sometimes transportation here is so unreliable. Well, really all the time. It´s so great.

AWESOMES

• first of all... investigators.  Lorena is 16 she is getting baptized this Saturday.  She is super awesome!  We were having a charla (¨chat¨) with her and her mom Ramona and their neighbor Natalia who is 14 the other day and we were talking about Lorena´s baptism, and Natalia who is super sweet and quiet just blurts out ¨yo quiero bautizarme tambian!¨ (I want to get baptized too!) so we are planning for her too but we have to talk to her parents first.  Ramona also will be baptized but she has to get married first so she´s working with her marido on that one... with time, with time!  We are also working with a guy named Miguel, he is the marido of a member.  He is very addicted to cigarrettes but he is so awesome and we are working with him to get baptized the 26th so we´re trying to help him quit smoking.  He is really on board and is willing to break through any walls that he needs to.  They have to get married first and last night he told us he was born in Buenos Aires, which means someone has to take out his papers there and send them here which could either take weeks or which will cost a ton to send overnight.  He was like ´lets do it! I´m calling my mom tomorrow to go get my papers´ haha.  He is so great and we have had a lot of fun working with them and their family!  We had a family night with them the other night, I will try and send pictures from it next week if I have time
• 2nd... the conference this week!  There were so many good things that I learned but I don´t have time to write them all.  One thing that I really liked though was Elder Jensen talked about covenants and how we follow the rules and are precise because we have made covenants with God, not because they are rules.  It´s really cool to think of it that way and recognize the responsibility we have because of the covenants we have chosen to make, like baptismal for example.  Not because they are silly rules, but because we really are doing our best and trying hard to follow Christ and live a higher law

Ok I don´t have time to write more but I hope all is well there in the states and you are all enjoying the cold while we are enjoying the heat! (too bad you can´t hear the sarcasm when I say that haha)

Besitos! CIAO! Cuidense!

--Hermana Hunt

10-31-2011

Hola todos!
Bueno... not a ton has happened this week and I seriously can´t believe it´s already Monday again, this week FLEW by!  I heard time only gets faster as the mission goes on.  Scary!!  I don´t really have lists for this week (sorry!) but just a few items of bussssinesssssss!

• So I keep forgetting to tell everyone this, but this weekend we have a conference with the whole mission in Resistencia.  Aaaaand Elder Cristofferson from the 12 just may or may not be coming!! :) Along with I think 4 others from the 70.  How awesome right?!! This is the first time in 12 years that someone from the 12 has come to our mission, and will for sure be the only time we have a meeting with the whole mission.  So we are all pretty excited about that!  We will be travelling to Resistencia Friday and the conference is Saturday
• I don´t know if I said this before but my companion goes home in a month!  So we only have about 4 weeks left together.. so crazy!  I am both excited and nervous for the change..  but asi es! Vamos a ver! I´m sure everything will be great!
• My companion´s dad just opened a restuarant in Provo by the mall (south provo) called Big Al´s BBQ so you all have to go there!  Just sayin´...
• So there are a lot of icky men here in Argentina and we always get hit on while walking in the streets.  Just a few funny little experiences.. it´s funny because they try to use the one or 2 phrases they know in english haha, the other day one of them was like ´do you speak english?´and my companion said ´nope, sorry!´ as we walked away.  Wait a minute... pretty sure that just gave away that we spoke english, hahah.  Also a neighbor of one of our investigators asked us if someone joined our church if they could marry us... hahah.  Oh the guys here..... so subtle, so smooth, so great...
• Another thing that is funny about the city I´m in is the gitanos! (gypsies) they are all over and they are legit!  We have asked a bunch of people about them because we kept seeing them and they all dress in long skirts and dresses and they really do rob people.  They don´t have jobs but they buy and sell cars and con people, and then con people into giving them money for things.  We always make sure we stear clear of them, haha
• This week we started focusing in baptisms more.  We have a good 5 or 6 people that want to be baptized and could definitely get baptized soon, besides the fact that all of them have to get married first haha.  So we are working with that right now, but we had 8 people at church yesterday and everyone is progressing really well!  So we are hoping to help a few get prepared and baptized before my companion goes home

I think that´s about it!  This week seriously flew by, it is so crazy!  I almost have 4 months in the mission.  I feel like I just got here!!  Pero asi es!  La vida de la mision.  No pictures this week but I´ll send more next week if we take some.  Thanks everyone for your support! Les quiero y les amo mucho.  Besos! Ciao-cito!

--Hermanita Hunt

10-24-2011

Sleeping in the kitchen after the flood

Milanesa, fideos, y alfajores

Recent converts

Whew! What a week!! This week was definitely an interesting one.  But before I go into that... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LOVELY MADRE!!! :) I won´t announce how old she is.... because everyone knows she hasn´t hit 40 yet. :) Hope it is a great one madre mio! Also felicitaciones mom and dad on your anniversary! Sheesha you guys are old! :)  Jk jk... ok, so this week´s going to be a little bit different. Tiempo por historia!

Bueno... it all started Tuesday when our zone leaders called us and told us we had to go to this building TODAY and get this paper signed and stamped for this lady who wanted to get married Friday and baptized Saturday.  It was supposed to take a couple hours, so we went after our district meeting and they told us they couldn´t do it that day and they could only do it the next day.  So we left with lots of time to spare and decided to go visit Ramona (one of our progressing investigators who is CAPISSIMA).  We went to see her and we taught her the law of chastity.  We were really worried to teach it to her because she has a baptismal date and wants to get baptized but she´s not married and her marido (spouse-ish that she´s not married to but lives with) drinks a lot so we didn´t know how she would take it.  After we talked about it we asked if they had thought about marriage and she said ´actually... I couldn´t sleep last night, and I was lying awake thinking about that, and I asked him if he wanted to marry me, and he said yes!´ and our mouths just dropped open.  We were like ´wait... was he asleep? was he drunk?´ haha and she told us he was awake and he was clean!  So crazy... so we were all super excited, and told her to talk to him more about it to make sure he wasn´t just saying that and that he really meant it.

Then that night we were going to an appointment and we stopped to visit the familia Rotela.. Fabian and Matias are still progressing but can´t do anything about it because the mom still doesn´t want to get married and won´t give matias permission to get baptized.  Anyway, we were stopping by and Fabian told us he had a friend who is in trouble and needs the gospel (so awesome.. not even a member yet and already doing missionary work!) so he asked us to go visit him that night.  We told him we probably wouldn´t have time but we would stop by this week.  After our appointment we were walking past their house again and this guy (who´s name is Jorge) was there so we met him and talked to him.  He is an alcoholic and it is really bad... he is super super depressed and has destroyed his family, and was talking suicide a lot.  Fabian was really worried about him... we told him we might not have time to stop by the next day but we could Friday and Fabian asked if we could get someone from the church to go visit him then... after he said that we realized it was pretty urgent, so we told him we would make sure to stop by the next day.  We ended up talking to him for a bit and singing him a hymn and then we were past curfew so we had to leave. 

The next morning we wake up with water on our floor in the bathroom.  We didn´t know what was wrong but something was leaking, so we told our dueño and he had some guys come and try and fix it.  During this, we got a call saying we have to run to the terminal to pick up a missionary that doesn´t have a companion (it was transfer day).  She is Hermana Nava she´s from Mexico and has 7 sisters serving missions right now!! She is capissima. She was waiting for a mini missionary (an hermana from the area that can serve a mini mission for just 1 transfer... we have a lot of those in our mission) so she was with us and we were a trio for that day.  So we went and picked her up, and came back to them still trying to fix our bathroom.  They left so we left to get lunch and came back and ate, and then left for the day. We went back to that building to get the marriage thing and they told us we had the wrong number, so we waited and tried calling everyone we could and nobody answered.  We ended up calling and waiting for about 2 hours trying to get it finished (because it was urgent we had to do it asap) and it ended up that we just left and didn´t finish it. 

So we go back to the pension to find that our bathroom and room is completely flooded. Completely!  Hermana Nava also reallllly really had to use the bathroom, haha. So the guys came back to fix it and they worked on the toilet while we mopped up our room for about 2 hours.  Poor Hermana Nava... hahaha

After that we went out to see Jorge again and we brought 2 priesthood holders to give him a blessing.  When we get to the house of the familia rotela, we see Jorge sitting there, completely WASTED.  They decided to give him the blessing anyway, so we went to his house and talked to his mom for awhile and they gave him the blessing.  It was so sad... he is really messed up.  He was just sobbing and calling out to us ´ayudame, ayudame´.  When we were leaving, I went to shake his hand and he started pulling me in and it was so awkward and I didn´t know what to do hahaha and my comp was like ´cuidado cuidado!´ so I turned my head to he couldn´t kiss me (since everyone does the kisses on the cheek thing) and we end up just hugging kind of really awkwardly hahaha.  The same thing happened with hermana payne and hermana nava, and it was pretty hilarious seeing them try and dodge him, haha.

So we come home that night and everything is fine and we´re climbing into bed, when the toilet breaks again, only this time it is squirting water.  We went to talk to our dueño and he came up with us and our room was already flooded worse than it had been before. Sheesh!  We spent a good hour and a half cleaning it up again and finally went to bed around midnight.  Since there were 3 of us though, someone had to sleep on the floor on a mattress, but since our floor was flooded we had to put the mattress in the kitchen.  Hermana Nava was dead tired so I offered to let her sleep in my bed, and I slept on the floor of the kitchen. Haha :) capa.

The next morning we woke up at 5 to send Hermana Nava off.  Then later the other missionaries called us again about the marriage paper.  They needed it right then.  So we stopped in the middle of planning and ran to the building, got it taken care of, then ran to the terminal to send it off.  It took a good 3 hours or so.  Then we ran out of credit on our phone so we couldn´t call any of our investigators to tell them our change of plans for the day.  Also the zone leaders called us again to tell us we had to go back to the terminal that night to pick up another missionary-Hermana Juarez who is also waiting for a mini.  Also we met with Ramona again and she started crying in our lesson and told us that she thinks her marido is into drugs and that he has cheated on her and that he told her he doesn´t want to get married now and also her daughter told her she doesn´t want to finish school. WHEW!  Monton de emociones.  It was really sad, and Sunday we ended up having someone give her a blessing.

SO.... now, we have Hermana Juarez with us and we are a trio until they find a mini for her, we have a toilet that is somewhat fixed (it still leaks a little bit sometimes), we have a drunk that we are working with, I have now recieved my first hug in the mission, and.... yep!  Whew.  LONG WEEK. Hahaha.  It was awesome though!  Way fun, and I learned a lot.  Ohhh the drama of missionary work!

Ok, so now that I am out of time and I just wrote a million pages of a story.... I better go.  Haha.  But I hope all is well! Thank you thank you thank you everyone who wrote me this week and sent pictures!!! I am going to write back next week because I am out of time but seriously all of your letters and pictures made my week!  Check out the pictures this week to get a visual of the happenings of this week.. haha.  I am so grateful to be here serving in Argentina and I know there is no other place I should be.  I hope you are all helping out in your wards to do missionary work because the best missionary work is done through members (and that´s a statistic!).  Thanks for your constant support! :) Besos! Ciao-ciao!

--Hermana Hunt

Dinner!  Roasted Pig

Our Landlord

A smashed mosquito!

10-17-2011

group email:

Well, I am now starting the first week of my 2nd transfer here in Argentina!  So crazy how fast the time flies!!  Feliz Dia de la Madre to all of you who are mothers!! They had their mother´s day here yesterday which was pretty fun.  Things are going great!  I don´t have a whole lot to say this week (or a whole lot of time as usual) but here are a few things...

AWKWARDS INCOMODOS Y CHISTOSOS

• being told by someone almost everyday that this neighborhood is dangerous... :S haha! (don´t worry mom and dad, we are always in by 9 so we are never out during the dangerous times!)
• ummmm........ yep that´s about it!  I swear I had more funny things that happened this week but my mind is drawing a blank.  just know that I have awesome awkwards moments throughout every day with the language especially... I think they just happen so often that I am getting used to them now and not recognizing them.

AWESOMES

• this week we had interviews with President Heyman.  He and his wife are amazing!! Such awesome people!  We were the last hermanas to have our interviews so we got to go get lunch with President Heyman and his wife!  They bought us pizza and we went to a bench on the coast of the river to eat.  It was beautiful, hot, and the pizza was sooooo yummy :).  Afterwards we ran and got ice cream with the other 2 hermanas before heading back to our area! what a fun day!

• the people we are working with right now... so awesome!  Ramona and Lorena are progressing well and Ramona told us the other day that she really feels like this is the true church and wants to continue moving forward.  She has felt a lot that the Book of Mormon is true too.  We are working with them a lot and they are seriously incredible! Unfortunately her marido (husband except not really) is iffy still and wouldn´t let her go to the RS broadcast this last weekend (they rebroadcasted it here so we were going to take her to it).  We also met this lady Priscila this week who is absolutely hilarious and is interested.  Her marido also wouldn´t let her go to church though.  But she invited us to dinner this week (which is super rare because we never eat dinner and no one really eats dinner here) so hopefully things will change!

This week I have been thinking a lot about how blessed I have been to grow up in the situation that I grew up in.  It is so crazy here... it is SO rare to find a family that is put together and funcioning.  Nobody is married but everyone lives together and has kids and a family.  None of the husbands and wives love each other... basically they live together because they need food and shelter for their kids, and the husbands treat the wives so poorly and basically control their lives.  It is the saddest situation.  Many of the women are raped and it is normal, or they have kids when they are 13 or 14 or 15.  They also start living with each other when they´re around 16.  Such a different culture.  President Heyman told my companion that when he served here it was rare to find a couple NOT married.  It is incredible to see how the world is changing and the powers that Satan has.  I´m so glad to be serving here where the gospel has the opportunity to completely change the situation of these people´s lives.  They are incredible people and deserve to be happy and excel in life, not just push through it trying to survive.  Anyway... I hope all is well at home!  Is it getting cold yet?  It´s just getting hotter hear and I heard that in the summer sometimes it gets up to 50 grados which is somewhere near 125 or 130 degrees F!! I am going to die!! Haha.. hopefully not!  Anyway... all is well and I am loving my mission! I´m learning SO much everyday.  About the gospel, about people, and life, and work, and everything and I know that this experience is going to change me forever.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here and for the blessing I have of the gospel in my life... I know without a doubt that it is the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am so incredibly grateful for it!  Have a fabulous week! Ciaocito!

--Hermana Hunt

Socks, on our laundry line!



 

10-11-2011

Buenos Dias todo!
Ok... 10 minutes to write quickly.  This week was awesome!  Probably my favorite so far since I´ve been here in Argentina.  First some awkwards...


AWKWARDS, INCOMODOS, Y CHISTOSOS

• don´t know if I have written this one yet but it happens often... we greet the women here with the 2 kisses on the cheeks ya know.  What is awkward is when you miss the cheek.... not kidding... hahah
• this happened last week but I forgot to write about it.  My clothes! gah!  Something happens everyday and I´m afraid I am already going to have to buy a whole new wardrobe.  All within a couple of days, one of my skirts caught on something sharp and totally ripped right in the front (don´t worry I hand sewed and it just looks great!), and I spilled super glue on a brown skirt, and I couldn´t get it out with soap so I just colored over it with black sharpie and now there is black sharpie and a big white stain around it... hahaha.  It is so bad I have to wear the skirt backwards so it´s on my backside instead of the frront.  Also like 3 of my shirts have bleached streaks from sitting in the sun in the washing bucket, and others have color bleeding stains from sitting in the buckets together.  So great.. :) my clothes are a little messy.. but... it´s all good! :)
• I had more that I can´t remember right now...  sorry! I´ll write them next week if I remember.

AWESOMES

• our investigators, so awesome! We are working with some great people right now that are progressing well.  We had 2 investigator families and to other investigators in church on Sunday... a total of 9 or 10 people, which is awesome! Usually it´s hard just getting one or two people there!  One family is so awesome.. I talked about them last week, the mom is Ramona and her daugther Lorena, they have been coming to church and we have been meeting with them a lot.  They have been reading the book of mormon (even though Ramona can´t read) and Ramona has been including her whole family.  Her son Agu is 6 and I think I am in love with him, he is the cutest little kid in the world!! They are such an awesome family.  Except of course they aren´t married and her spouse hasn´t been interested in meeting with us yet.  But I think slowly it is coming and eventually he will be open to it, and hopefully open to marriage so they can be baptized.  Last night we had a noche de hogar (family night) with them and another member family (la Familia Marquez) and we watched The Testaments.  It was so awesome... we all felt the spirit and a few tears may have been shed-by Ramona and Lorena too.  We shared our testimonies after and Ramona really feels good about this and like it´s right.  It was an awesome night :).  We are also working with a 25 year old named Gaston. It´s interesting working with guys around our age... we always have to be careful and pay attention to what their motives are, haha.  We´re not entirely sure about him, but we think he is a good guy and is sincere.. he´s just a little different.  Anyway.. he is progessing as well and came to church and really liked it, her is really friendly and met a lot of people.  He will probably be baptized!

The language is coming... I still can´t communicate and understand super well but I know it will come with work and time!  But the people always tell me I speak really well and pronunciate really well.  The other day a member told me I pronunciate better than they do, hahaha.  I don´t feel like that though I feel like I am always stumbling on my words!  But it´s ok... I know the Lord is helping me!  I have also been playing the piano in church every week... trying to sight-read the songs has been an adventure haha. The people are so funny here, they freak out when they find out that I can play because it is so rare here.  They also freak out when they see my eyes because NO ONE here has blue eyes.  At least once a day I hear something like ´ah! sus ojos! celestes!!´ haha.  So great.... :).  Anyway, everything is going well and I am loving it!  Thanks for all of your constant support!  Feel free to send letters :) I love hearing from everyone and getting updates on everyone´s lives!  Tengan una buena semana! Ciaocito!

--Hermana Hunt

10-03-2011

Hola hola!
¿Como estan todo?  I am now in my 4th week here in Argentina!  Holy moly!! Loco, no? That means that I have hit 3 months in the mission (this Wednesday), which means I am 1/6th of the way done!  So weird... it feels like I have been here forever but at the same the weeks go by so fast.  Time is flying!  How has the weather been in Utah?  Cold or warm still?  We had a good rain storm the other day, but other than that it has been pretty hot!  Last week it was 36 grados (I have heard that is around 96 ish in Farhenheit but really I have no idea haha) and the humidity is crazy!  I have decided I will just be content with constantly being wet, haha.  It constantly feels like when you have just gotten out of the shower and you are still wet and the humidity is in the bathroom and everything... haha, it´s great!  Also great that our pension doesn´t have air conditioning and we have 2 fans but only one plug in our room so we have to share one during the night.  It´s really not too bad though!  In January I have heard it is unbearable though... so vamos a ver!  I´m sure I can handle it!  Ohala que si.  Anyway... here are my highlights for the week!

AWKWARDS, INCOMODOS, Y CHISTES

• having to ask to use people´s bathrooms all the time.  The other day I used a member´s bathroom but the light didn´t work... so I had to use my camera as a light to find where the toilet was, toilet paper, and trash can.  Also great is when the toilets don´t flush, or it looks like they should flush but you can´t find anywhere to flush it so you just leave it... bahaha
• the owner or whatever of our pension lives right by us and he is so sweet he always checks on us and stuff.  But the people here are just so funny about health!  If they have the tiniest cold, they can´t go out or do anything.  And they are always like ´oh you have to drink so much water!´ etc. and they go on and on about how we need to be healthy, as they use their bathrooms without toilet paper and sinks and walk around bare foot on the dirt... hahah.  Anyway... the owner guy came up to give us the bill or whatever for the month and he asked us if we have been getting up and exercising in the morning.  Every morning we usually go over to the church and go inside and exercise in the gym, but I guess other missionaries have ran around the basketball court before and he hadn´t seen us do that so he was concerned.  He then went on to tell me specifically that I need to be running and exercising everyday, and then he asked me how much I weighed. Bahaha! LOVE how honest the people are here in Argentina... love it.
• as usual, we had many great experiences with people talking this week.  The other day we clapped at the fence of a part-member family just to say hi and keep walking, but the non-member dad who is super friendly insisted on us coming in.  He showed us this painting he did (which was really good!) and then he went on and on and on and on for I think 30 or 40 minutes, without us getting a word in. Hahaha!  Talking about painting and what he was doing to fix up his house and his job and how we need to be healthy and drink water and wear sombreros in the summer and then about drumline and all the things his kids do that they have to keep up with and everything... haha.  We walked away just shaking our heads and laughing.  Some people here are just so great.  They are such great people, they are so so nice and friendly.... but BOY do they know how to talk
• a few random/fun facts about Argentina/my area: 
• the people here are obsessed with snow white.  I have no idea why!  I haven´t seen any other princesses... it is so random, but tons of people have like these little creepy figurines of snow white and the seven dwarfs in their yards.  It is so random!
• to sell cars here they don´t put for sell signs on them, they just park them somewhere and put a jug of water on top and that means that they are for sell
• basically no one here is married... but most of them have been together for 10 years plus and they have kids together... many of them have full families with 5 or 7 kids but still aren´t married, and refuse to get married still, even though they know they will never part or anything
• also everyone here is either Catholic or Evangelist.  The Evangelists are very very dedicated to their congregations and their preachers and are very active, and then none of the Catholics are active or ever go to church but they are catholic through and through and will never change.  It´s funny though because we talk about the Bible and basic Christian beliefs and they don´t really know anything... when we ask who Christ is for them they all say ´mi salvador´ and we say ´but specifically for you, what is the meaning of Christ in your life´ and then they end up saying I don´t know.. haha.  It is pretty funny and crazy how strong the Catholic tradition is, but how far from religion so many of the people are
• another funny thing... how they are so funny about health, but their teeth... oh boy!  I think I have only seen a couple people with a full set of teeth.  Most people are missing 4 or 5 or more teeth.  Of course we love them nonetheless :) and we know to not judge them by their looks.  They are the sweetest people in the world!

AWESOMES

• well, clearly the most awesome thing of the week was CONFERENCIA GENERAL!! Ah... I am so sad it´s over! We got to watch all 4 sessions in our stake center, and in English which was even better! We planned on having about 10 investigators there, but of course all of them fell through last minute and we only had 3.  It´s ok though... one of them is a lady named Ramona who we found this week.  When we first started talking to her she broke down in tears about how much she misses her dad and how it´s been really rough for her family because her husband drinks a lot a lot.  Her 16 year old daughter also broke down in tears.  They are really interested and we are working with them a lot.  Her oldest daughter is 16 and she is only 30... you can do the math!  Anyway... so conference.  I loved all of the talks, but my favorites were Uchtdorf´s, Carl B. Cook´s, Hales´, and Randall K. Bennett´s.  The first 3 talked a lot about trials and pushing through them... how the Lord is always watching out for us and is always aware of us.  I have such a testimony of this and of walking forward in faith, or ´waiting on the Lord´ like Elder Hales talked about.  So many times we don´t feel the connection with our Father in Heaven, even if we are trying.  Sometimes we want to change but we don´t have the desire to do the work with a positive attitude.  Sometimes all we can do is walk forward in faith and continue to do what´s right until we feel that connection again or until the trial has passed.  I loved the story Elder Cook told about seeing President Monson in the elevator and he said to him ´Remember... it´s better to look up!´ we can´t forget that we always have a loving Heavenly Father watching out for us and a loving Savior who is always there to help us out of our trials.  I also really loved Randall K. Bennett´s talk about choices and how much they affect us.  I am learning more and more the importance of obedience and how really it is black and white... we can either choose eternal life, or the world.  There is no way to successfully choose both.  My companion and I have talked a lot about choices in little things, like what music to listen to or movies to watch or activities to do or whatever, and how it is much easier to make the decision ahead of time to always choose ´eternal life´in those situations, instead of thinking about them over and over in indecision.  If we make the decision ahead of time, we can make the choice without even thinking about it and then move on.  It is black and white, and all of our little decisions determine which side we are on.

Well well, that is it for this week!  How awesome is it that we having a living Prophet today? Wow... I have sure gained a testimony of how important it is to have a prophet, and that President Monson truly is a prophet of God.  We are so lucky, and should cherish his words and the words of the apostles, because they are the words of God just like the scriptures.  We have modern day revelation, and we are so blessed to have it!  I hope we can take advantage of it and not take it for granted.  Thanks for all of your constant prayers and support!  Feel free to write anytime! :)  Have a fabulous semana!

--Hermana Hunt

P.s. ok I keep forgetting to put my address here!  I am finally going to put it.  Haha.  There´s a different one that I gave out to a couple of people that is wrong... you can still send stuff there but I think this one is more correct and letters will arrive quicker with this one.  The address is:

Hermana Linsey Hunt
Mision Argentina Resistencia

Entre Rios 435
3500 Resistencia
Chaco - Argentina
(I don´t know if you have to put Argentina Resistencia Mission but por que no?  Also... I believe it is 98 cents to send a letter...?  So like 3 stamps?  And it takes about 2-3 weeks to get to me and 2-3 weeks for a letter to reach the US from here)

9-26-2011

Hola hola everyone!

Mi listas para la semana....

AWKARDS, INCOMODOS, Y CHISTOSOS

• ladies nursing in public. everywhere.  I especially feel bad for the elders!
• the other day we were in a lesson with a really ´catholic´lady (that meaning they have always had the catholic tradition but never have gone to church... but they would never in their lives think that it would be possible for something else to be true.  basically that is everyone here! haha) and the first thing she says is ´pero no obligaciones... porque nosotros somos catolicos!´ and we were like oh.. ok then. haha.  So we talked a little bit about the first lesson and usually we extend the ´would you´baptismal commitment which is basically if the Lord answers your prayers and you feel that this is right, would you be baptized.  So we weren´t thinking we should do that because she didn´t really receive the lesson so well and we knew we wouldn´t be going back to her, but my companion looked and me and kinda gave me ´the look´... so I totally took that as a sign that I should give the commitment.  So I start saying it ´a medida que el Senor contesta...´ and I see out of the corner of my eye my companion shaking her head like ´don´t do it don´t do it!!´ so halfway through I totally switch it around and try and change it to say something like if the Lord answers your prayers and you feel like this is good, would you be interested in learning more and having us come back? or something like that... hahaha.  Anyway... it totally did not work and made no sense, and she was so confused, and I had to try so hard to not laugh.  I tried to save it... but it just didn´t work!  So many great things happen while teaching...
• another time we were giving a first lesson and my comp was in the middle of a sentence and then out of nowhere this dog walks up and it´s face and eye is all bloody and it was all scraggly and missing hair and stuff (seriously.. so freaky looking) and in the middle of her sentence she goes right into ´oh su perro!!!´hahahah.  I think you had to be there, but seriously the whole situation was so funny.  I kept laughing and had to try and disguise it as coughing because I felt bad, but seriously the dog was so freaky looking and ugly and my companion and everything... it was just so great.

AWESOMES

• so every night I have been hearing these groups of drums in random places and I kept wondering what it was... I was picturing like some type of ritual like people dancing around a fire or something, hahah.  Finally I asked someone and he told me that all of the schools have groups and they compete, and it is like a big thing here. How sick is that!!  He told me that they practice every night from 8 pm til 4 in the morning... for real!  I thought I was dedicated in high school!! I mean.. maybe I heard him wrong, but I swear that´s what he said, and I wouldn´t be surprised because we seriously hear them all night.  But it´s so awesome... they are full on drumlines.  I haven´t actually seen them yet but I see people carrying their drums around all the time, and they are really torn apart... all my drummer friends in Utah would die if they saw them, haha, but they actually really sound pretty decent and their lines are pretty clean! I talked to another member and all her sisters do percussion... so awesome!! It´s called ´escuela dosamba´ and then they also have ´banda musica´ which is just normal band... and all of them have big competitions between each other every year.  So awesome!!
• ok just a quick experience for the week that actually happened today. We were having lunch with some members and of course as usual I am lost in the conversation and also worrying about getting the food down at the same time (this lady is a really good cook but she just doesn´t cook with foods I like..., today I had to swallow down a salad and this egg thing and other stuff that I had no clue what it was. . . .  I feel so bad... but I really do try to eat it all!).  So another lady was there and she was down I guess something was wrong but I had no idea what was going on.  Anyway... so I shared a scripture, and it was Alma 7:11 and 12 about how Christ suffered pains and afflictions so he would know how we feel.  I had her read it... and as she started she started to cry.  I guess it really touched her and she really needed it at that time.  I have no idea why I chose that scripture... I just saw it and I happened to read it earlier so I knew what scripture it was, and then I just randomly asked her to read it.  Turns out she has cancer! Wow.  When you are doing what´s right, the spirit works with you and guides you!

Ok I hope everyone has a fabulous week and watches conference!  Les amo! CIAO!

-Hermana Hunt

9-19-2011

Hola hola todos!

¿Como estan todos? Life is great here in good old Posadas Argentina!  Hey if anyone has the Liahona for this month, there are some articles from people in my stake here!  One girl.. Valeria, wrote about her testimony of the Book of Mormon and it has her picture and their family´s picture.  They are in my ward, we had lunch with them today.  Anyway... it has been super rainy the past couple days, which means lots of mud.  The other day I didn´t use an umbrella and I only used my raincoat, and I came home completely soaked.  Luckily it hasn´t been super hot though! (it was pretty hot the other day and I was already dying... voy a morir este verano!!)  here are mis listas para la semana!

 AWKWARDS, INCOMODOS, Y CHISTOSOS

·         so to great people here we do the 2 kisses on the cheek thing ya know (with the women only, not the men).  What is awkward is when you miss just a little bit.... seriously... it happens.

·         when you are sitting in a lesson and the lady starts talking.  30 minutes later, you realize she is still talking (not even exaggerating), and you realize that you have NO idea what she is saying.  Finally my companion has to cut her off and tell her we have to leave.  This happened like 3 times in one day... hahaha.  One of the ladies was talking about her experience with the dead and how she saw her dead aunt and she had a body and stuff...... who knows.  Something like that.  I don´t think we will be going back to her house, haha

·         like I just said, the people here know how to TALK. WOW!  You can ask them a question and they will go on forever until you cut them off.  The other day we told about the first vision and my companion asked ´so what was the question Joseph Smith had for God?´ this guys goes on to say ´well for example.. the Catholics have their virgin Mary, and the mormons have their joseph smith´and all this stuff.. and we just sit there and smile and nod our heads, and 10 minutes later she asks again and says ´uh huh, but so what was Joseph Smith´s question?  Do you remember?´and he starts again saying the same thing... hahaha.  Sometimes the people here just don´t understand us

·         again about the talking.... my favorite thing to do here in Argentina.  During lessons, the people go off talking, (this is after I explain to them I have only been here a week and don´t understand very much) and they will look me right in the eyes and I just sit there and patiently watch them as they talk... and they are very very animated when they talk, and it´s so funny because everything they say is going right over my head, usually I catch maybe one or two words, so I just sit and watch them talk and watch their emotions and I try really hard to give them my full attention and try and figure out what they´re saying but seriously it´s really hard to do that for 20 minutes straight so when they finally finish what they´re saying I just kinda nod my head and smile and saying something like ´wow´ or ´que bueno!´ or something. Hahahah.  I mean this is funny, but what´s really funny is that this seriously happens every day, all the time, like, 24/7.  At least they are entertaining to watch!

·         once again the bathrooms here. Bahaha.  Sometimes we are tracting and I really have to go, so we stop at a member´s house.  I am getting used to using bathrooms that don´t have any sinks or soap, that don´t flush, and that don´t have toilet paper. I think I am going to be in shock to see a regular clean toilet when I get back to the u.s.!

AWESOMES

·         well with investigators this week we don´t have too many awesomes... it was actually a pretty sad week.  Our investigator that was supposed to be baptized ended up not getting baptized because his mom won´t let him yet, and our other investigator that we were working hard with decided she didn´t like church and she wouldn´t keep her committments so we won´t be going back to teach her.  :( we prayed really hard for both of them this week and also fasted for both of them.  BUT all is well :) and what was awesome is that we are trying to really work with the Familia Rotela especially the mom Amelia... this is Matias´ family.. the one who was going to get baptized.  We are trying to help Amelia see that the church really is such a blessing and help her feel more comfortable with us.  Anyway... his week was Matias´ birthday so we brought him a cake and celebrated!  We are pretty sure they didn´t celebrate or do anything, and they don´t have money for a cake, so they were really excited when we brought it over.  Things like this happen all the time here and my comp and I just talk about how spoiled and blessed we have been, and how these people really have nothing.  They live such simple lives... just trying to make it.  What a humbling experience.  One of the pictures I sent is me with the Familia Rotela.. me in the bottom, Fatima and Teresita and then Amelia, and behind them are the 2 boys German and Angel, and then in the back is Favian the dad and Matias in the very back.  They are such an awesome family!!

·         the other awesome thing this week was all of the chats my comp and I had.  During our companion study we always start talking about something we can do better and end up just going off about life and the atonement and the gospel and our testimonies and all of the things we are so so grateful for.  I am really learning a lot about myself and learning to improve myself and really give my will to the Lord and become everything I can become.  I am really starting to understand what exactly that means and how to do it, and even though it is so hard, I just know that it is so right.  So my comp. and I are working hard to improve ourselves and be better missionaries.  Already in just these 2 and 1/2 short months I have learned so much about myself, life, and the gospel and really what our potential is and what our purpose is here in this life, and I know it is preparing me for when I get home from my mission and live the rest of my life in the gospel.  This gospel is sooo so real.  I think we all have doubts sometimes, about little things... but I have been thinking about that and how really everything is about faith. Sometimes we don´t have the desire to do something and we just have to step forward in faith and keep doing what´s right until we gain the desire, and gain the testimony.  And then we experience a happiness that we didn´t even know existed. 

Anyway... life is great here on the mish! I am loving it.  It´s hard... definitely.  It tests me in areas I wouldn´t think.  But it´s so good and so worth it!  My comp is awesome!  And even though I get a full-day workout running after her all day because she walks so dang fast, we get along really well! haha. (no seriously though... I mean, I know I´m not a fast walker, but I walk fast with her, and sometimes I still have to run to keep up with her! I guess it´s good for me!).  Everything is going well and I am so so happy and grateful to be here!  Hope all is well at home!  Keep in touch everyone! 

--Hermana Hunt 

P.s. 2 random things... Alex Casey who I went to high school with is one of my zone leaders!  and then my companion´s companion in the MTC Hermana Jones is in Buenos Aires North and she is training Rachel Hill right now!  Small world!!

 P.s.s. Happy Birthday to Prez!! Make sure you all give her hugs and kisses for me :)

 P.s.s.s. I forgot to bring my address again!  But it´s the Argentina one that I have sent before only there is a ´435 Entre Rios´ in there as well

 Ciaociao!