Second Week in Patagonia

14-Feb-2011


sooo..MORE Info, haha mostly about life in Belgrano Sur! That´s my
area and the district is Rio Gallegos. It seriously is another world
here. I feel like we´ve time traveled from the industrious BS AS (BuenoS AireS) to
the rural South. Seriously the people here have everything a little
more old-time except the houses that we´ve visited where they´ve got a
huge plasma tv going on in there.
Not many of the roads are paved. I have suffered this week with VERY
sore legs from getting used to walking on rocks, pebbles and dirt. I
have conformed to the fact that yes, there will always be pebbles in
my shoe. I have lost the patience to be stopping to shake out my shoes
every 20 feet so I will walk with the dirt and rocks inside, thank you
very much. They are my friends, they are my friends, they are my
friends.
haha Ok, I´m crazy, I know, but you all love me anyway.
I did hear from Hna peña, just a quick message passed through I don´t
know how many elders so it wasn´t long and it wasn´t about her foot. I
imagine she is still out and about walking to and fro training her new
daughter and crying and loving it all. haha she is a very, amorosa (loving) haha english is failing me. I haven´t
spoken more than 2 english words in a week! Hna Salas is very good at
pronunciation but is working on the understanding so my spanish is
going to get extra great and a little Chileno might get in there too..


Hna Peña said that she is happy, she will be sending a couple things I
left and she says THANK YOU!!! For the package! She got hers now I´ll
be waiting for mine! THANK YOU! And I think mom DID send the baby BofM
because Hna Peña almost died saying how cute it was. haha


Hna Salas is from Chillán, Chile and is a great missionary! I love her
and we prepared and executed our first baptism without trainers this
weekend! We talked about how we felt like toddling little chicks,
barely hatched and getting thrown out into the world on our own but
President Gulbrandsen helped us learn a big lesson: the Lord prepares
the Called and we were called to serve here in Belgrano. I learned
that if I don´t have faith in ME, the Lord can´t use me and the
talents with which He has blessed me because I am unwilling to grow.
But guess what? I learned! I love Hna Salas, the branch and Rio
Gallegos!


Oh my goodness Dad, thank you for the info about the temp differences.
I thought I was crazy but yes, this does feel like home and Alaska.
Although it is VERY windy! It was really comfortable for a few days
with the sun (though the ozone is almost non-existent down here so let
me tell you, we were ROASTING) and very little wind. Then, Saturday
rolled around with wind and threatening rainclouds. Then it started to
rain. hahaha By no means is it Buenos Aires rain where one minute
there´s nothing and the next minute the road is a river. haha the rain
here is like a baby sneezing. Well, Hna Salas assured me it does rain
harder than that but not often. But in the morning when I am studying
after a nice shower, I FREEZE. I am used to sitting and feeling the
humid heat seep into my body. Here the heat is sucked out and I start
out my study just fine but end up putting on my scarf, two sweaters
and socks. Then today, the wind is super cold and I studied with my
coat on too. hahaha i feel so ridiculous but the heater will be on
from now on. All is well.


Anywho, with all the intense weather changes, I have taken care to
drink a lot of water, take vitamins and make sure I´m not too cold for
too long. The last thing I need is to get sick right now!


Ooo....all that talk about the doughnuts and sweet rolls and burgers
made me hungry! No fast food here! Unless you count empanadas and all
kinds of pizza.....
LOVE YOU ALL!


Very fast overview of this week---lots of walking, learning names, new
streets, district meeting with a companionship on the phone because
they are 5 hours away driving, a BAPTISM and so much help from the
Lord!


I am grateful to be here and am loving it every minute. I sleep the
minute my head hits the pillow except for the nights Hna Salas and I
talk more about the work we need to do the next day. She helps me be
SUPER obedient to the schedule and we are always on task! She´s a
super star! I love her and I love the small branch. About 20-30 active
members and about 80+ inactives! It is very sad but most of them are
inactive because they were offended. Even our previous Ward mission
leader went inactive because of offense taken. New ward mission leader
is a ........hmm. he´s a special case. More next week!


Love your sister missionary
Hna González!