July 18, 2010

hey-
its me again.... how goes it?? anyway ready for the real breakdown?? well here it goes, i am supposed to tell you the good and the bad so get ready for it, this has been quite the adventure in only one week. the bad isnt bad it is all a wonderful experience, just very very very different than i ever expected, i guess that is the point though because i really didnt know what to expect haha. my first impression walking into my house was, wow i have no idea how this is going to work. our house is about the size of our old living room and it is supposably the nicest of all the missionaries houses in this zone. its hard to describe other than what you would presume as an abandoned house back home, that would be about it. i will definitely take plenty of pictures. there is no such thing as heating or air conditioning so many people have fire places, we dont but its all good. the zone leaders brought me extra blankets the first night luckily, and even with them it is freezing. i wear two pairs of pants, socks, slippers, a long sleeve shirt, two sweaters and gloves to bed and completely cover my body and would curl up in a ball like a baby. my companion and i were at a members house the other night and saw that he had a bolsa or a hot water bottle in the kitchen and frantically searched for them the rest of the night before we went in. we found them, bought four, and i dont think i have ever been so greatful for a two dollar hot water bottle before, i sleep like a baby now. so anyway wow i just have to laugh every morning becasue this is such an amazing crazy experience. i wake up to a rooster every morning at about 5 and think of poppy, im guessing you used to do the same in your farm days. My first couple times showering was with buckets because our shower didnt work which was really interesting. i got my first real shower yesterday..... yummmm never did i ever think i would appreciate a shower so much either. my shampoo is frozen in the bottles and in between washing my hair and such i have to turn off the water so i dont use all the water at once, i am so greatful to have just enough hot water to take a nice shower every few days hahaha oh boy what an awesome adventure. we have to hand wash our clothes as well which will be interesting, havent done it yet because i had to go to Montevideo today with the rest of the new missionaries for a dr appt for my temporary Uruguay residency, it was wonderful to see my old comp and all the elders from my old district, i miss them a ton. anyway i want to fill you with some more fun facts to give you a visual. the people are wonderful here, i love them so much, Heavenly Father couldnt have put me in a more loving atmosphere. thats not to say that some people arent totally raunchy, but the wonderful people that we encounter makes up for the not so nice ones. i know i am totally skipping around but i am just spilling my thoughts as they come to me. Most people just walk everywhere like us, but some have motorcycles and it is crazy, it is reallly common to see a family of five on a motorcycle at once, dad driving, mom on back and three kids in the middle. scary. the food here is awesome thus far, good news, i havent gained any weight haha. we dont really eat dinner because we are out working through dinner. usually members will feed us lunch at their houses or bring it to our house. the members of the church here are wonderful too. everyone greets eachother and says goodbye with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, we can only do this with the women but it is so fun and really makes me feel so loved even when i dont understand a thing that is going on.

ahhhhhhh i have so much to tell you but dont have a ton of time!! well i will tell you a little something from tonight at a lesson we were just barely at. we dont have a ton of people to teach right now so we are looking for them but there is a sweet woman named andrea and her three kids that we teach. their kids remind me of my murdock girlies, all about the same age and i just soak up the time i have with them. they love playing with all of my stuff and always say " usted tiene muchas lindas cosas de Estados Unidos!!" they think all of my things are so cool like my electronic dictionary and my striped umbrella. thier house is like all others, cement and completely run down, i really had no idea people could live like this but they are the most wonderful humble people ever. they never complain of what they lack or about money. they appreciate every little thing. i gave them each a quarter from the states and they were in awe. anyway so Andrea was baptised a bit ago and had a chance a few days ago to go to the temple with the ward for a temple visit. there is no way to describe the change in her countenance from when we taught her last a few days ago to now. she was talking about how much new peace and happiness she felt in her life from this visit and was so excited to go again. she was 100 times more excited and attentive in our lesson tonight than she has ever been. her oldest daughter alexandra is 9 and wants to follow the example of the Savior and be baptised but is afraid of water... cute huh... so we taught her the story of David and Galliath and how she can overcome her own personal Galliath´s through Christ. Man oh man i love them. anyway i could talk for hours and have so much more to tell but it is my comps turn to write. i love you to the moon and back a million times!! look forward to hearing from you soon! Love- Jess