Argentina update number 1:
After about 30 something hours of traveling, I finally made it safe and sound to Argentina! I am now in my first area called, Dorrego, which is in the city Guaymallèn, right outside of Mendoza. We´re right in the city which I love! But it´s definitely not anything like an American city.. but I´ll get to that later. My companion is Hermana Dote. She is from Chile and she has been out on her mission for 6 weeks. So I´m basically training/still a Sister Training Leader over 7 hermanas who all live two hours away from us.Luckily, the Lord equips the called, so I know I can do it! Hermana Dote is so sweet and she is teaching me so much! She´s helping me adjust to the South American life. :)
Everything here is well.. different. But I´m adjusting well! Nothing is anywhere close to or similar to anything American. Except I guess.. me. The cars are all brands I´ve seen in America, but I´ve never seen them before. There are HUGE dogs that walk around on the streets, in stores, and almost in your house. Oh yeah, and they all hate me. Any other person can walk past them tranquilos, but when I walk past any dog they start to growl and bark and everyone can tell I´m the American because I´m the one who runs away screaming. Ok not really, I´m working on it. We have a Walmart! Definitely NOT American. We went shopping earlier today and I didn´t recognize any of the food and didn´t understand what anything said, so I broke down crying because I thought I was going to starve. My poor companion didn´t know what to do. ha. Yay for crying in Walmart! Don´t worry though, I bought some good food and I´m not going to starve. I was relived to find Trix cereal, Dinoaur chicken nuggets, and Lay´s chips. :) The sun here burns like the infierno, I get nose bleeds at least once a day, and sometimes I think, where am I and why am I here? ha. Sorry, that was super negative.. but none of that stuff even matters because I´M IN LOVE WITH ARGENTINA!
All of the things that are uncomfortable and different, don´t even matter when at the end of the day we get home and think about the miracles that we have seen. They are many. :) I actually love walking everywhere because there are so many fun people outside that we get to meet! Our ward here is incredible! All of our investigators here are referrals from members! No joke. We have three baptisms planned for this month and they are all pretty sure to go through! All three of them got sick this weekend and couldn´t come to church.. Satan.. but with much prayer and hard work, I know they will be ready for the end of this month! Please pray for Rosa, Jose, and Jorge! They are all amazing!
I love the streets here! They are all lined with green trees and all the houses are different fun colors! The food that the members make is incredible! We have lunch with members at like 2 every day and that starts off the siesta. We actually don´t have a lot of problems during the siesta! There a lot of people here that don´t do siesta and we find a lot of people and teach most of our investigators during the siesta. So that´s good! Cold showers are actually the best! Although I don´t ever feel like I get dry because it´s super humid here. ha. They say it is like 40 degrees.. I don´t know how hot that is.. Yesterday we had the coolest storm! Like the monsoons at home! In the middle of Sacrament Meeting, it started pouring rain, with super loud thunder and awesome lightning that lit up the sky! It lasted for about 15 minutes and then it was scorching the rest of the day. Yay for summer!
Some funnies of the week:
So there are these guys that make a living off of washing your windows while you are waiting at a stoplight. The assistants were driving us and our luggage to our apartment the other day and we got stuck at a light, and they kept telling the guys that they didn´t want their windows to be washed, but they did it anyways (it wasn´t very good either) the light turned green and the Elder´s didn´t have enough time to grab some money for them, so we took off and they spit in the back of the truck on all of our luggage. Yay.
I´ve been kissed by an old man on the cheek already. twice. yikes. You gotta be fast with the handshake.
I´m adjusting. Slowly but surely. My mission president is amazing and I really love the mission here! It is a lot different, but I know I have a lot to learn here as well! I know the Lord gives us challenges specific to our needs and that we can overcome anything if we trust in Him. It takes a lot of humility, which I am definitely feeling, but once you give everything to Him, you get the strength you need to do His will. I know He called me here to Mendoza for a purpose, and I am going to try my hardest to fulfil that purpose. With His help, I will become the missionary He wants me to be.
Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers! I say that every week, but I really mean it! I need em! I love you and hope that everything is going well at home! You are always in my prayers and I know that the Lord is watching out for all of you!
Remember that trials won´t last forever and if we just endure with faith, we will come out with the benefit. :)
Love love love,
Hermana McKenna Lawrence
