Week 11

Well this week is un poco loco. But I am still doing really good. This is my week:

Tuesday

I had to actually cook for the first time today in a long time. I had eggs and pancakes made from scratch. And I was really wishing for some peanut butter and syrup but I made do with dulce de leche. I had a district meeting and I had to talk about our investigators and give a spiritual thought in Spanish.

Wednesday

There was a world wide missionary broadcast today. I still don't understand much, but it sounded pretty good. Elder Dobson received a package for Christmas today that was in the mail for 2 months.

Thursday 

There was weekly planning today but we still got a lot of work done. One of our investigators is still very much on track for his baptism on the 11 of February. For lunch I had 17 empanadas and a huge bowl of jello with bananas and I was so full I felt like puking the rest of the day. But the afternoon was really good I can defiantly see the Lords hand in our work here. There are so many little miracles that happen.

Friday

I went on splits with E Dobson today. So we were proselyting in his area today and that was really fun. Elder Dobson is an amazing missionary. We had service in the morning and E Mejia was killing some huge wasps and he sprayed a bunch of bug spray in a hole in the wall and lit it on fire and exploded out a chunk of the wall.

Saturday

Today was crazyyyyyyyyyyy. I don't remember much of what happened in the morning but to give a brief summary in the night my companion wrecked his bike and we had to go to the hospital because he separated his shoulder from his clavicle. So no more bikes until he leaves.

Sunday

We had 4 investigators come to church today and that was super awesome . We couldn't do much because of E. Barbozas shoulder but we checked out a possible new house and that looked really cool. 

Well I can't send pictures because the computer is being sucky.  This work here is wonderful and I know that God loves every one of his children and there are so many people just waiting out there to have the opportunity to accept it. I know that this church is true and that there is so much happiness and peace in sharing and receiving the gospel.

Love you all so much

Elder Black

Week 10

So I swear that  Argentina is literally a reenactment of the studio C 2 guys on a scooter movie. I have seen one with 5 people on it. This has been really good and for those of you who didn't know my birthday was on Sunday and it was a little strange to be turning 19. Oh well now for my week.

Tuesday

I went on splits with E Mejia and we had 2 members come with us but then we had the problem that we only had 3 bikes for 4 people but we made it work out in the end.

Wednesday

So I had kidneys for lunch today and they were not very appealing. They were chewy and had a weird texture and taste but I ate them all. We taught 6 lessons today and I felt like I spoke a lot in most of the lessons besides the one where I knew exactly nothing of what was being said for a complete hour.

Thursday 

Weekly planning....... yep this still isn't very fun but I made it through unscathed today. We have one investigator who is progressing really well he reads a lot in the scriptures. We spent a lot of our day today contacting new people which I am really bad at but it actually went well today.

Friday

We had to take E Barbozas bike to the shop today because he really screwed it up. Needed a new front derailleur. Then we had a service project where we cut grass with machetes which was pretty fun but what took 4 people 2 hours to do could have been done with in 30 minutes with a weed whacker. We had the most colorful meal of the mission today and E Barboza broke his newly fixed bike again, which is strange because I ride my bike a lot harder than he does and I haven't broken anything yet.

Saturday

Elders Mejias and Dobson both ate really hot peppers today and had to drink an entire blender full of banana milkshake each. We had a crazy good morning with 3 lessons before 3 but then in the afternoon almost all of our appointments fell though and we ended up riding around the entirety of our area, Also I had what are supposedly the best empanadas in Salta and I ate like 15 of them.

Sunday 

Well it was my first birthday in the field and I got water ballooned by the other elders and I opened my presents from the MTC. We had one investigator come to church and 2 really awesome lessons in the afternoon. I also ate an entire bag of yummy cookies for lunch, so all in all it was a pretty good birthday. 

Well I just want to end by bearing my testimony that this church is true and that there is some real power in the Book of Mormon and if you read a little bit each day you will be able to see the blessings in your life.

Love everyone lots and miss you all so much,

Elder Black 

And now for some pictures

Happy Birthday!

Egg and flouring on my birthday by my roommates.

Week 9

Hola Todos,

So I can't send photos today because my computer is being stupid but oh well I had a couple of good ones that I will have to send next week. Actually I have one but that is it. 

It has been really hot here and I just got finished with a soccer game and an asado (BBQ) fiesta with a bunch of other missionaries and youth from the ward. I also got super sun burnt so now I have really red arms. Alright now for my week

Monday

I had my strangest food today....Octopus. It actually wasn't awful it just wasn't super great. Also one of the Elders in my pension adopted a pet bird.

Tuesday

Zone Conference with Pres. Chaparo, which was alright but I didn't understand much of what was said. That took up most of the day and the mission president told me I need to teach more in my lessons.

Wednesday

We rode around a lot on bikes today. We had to fix one of them with a new rear cassette and I bought a spoke wrench cause all the wheels suck. We spent a lot of the morning looking for a new house because we have to move out and then for lunch we had one of the spiciest meals yet.

Thursday

I ate some deep fried cheese bombs called Empanandas con queso. They are freaking delicious. Another day of weekly planning, but in the night we had three really good lessons and got 3 new baptism dates.

Friday

Correlation was tonight and I think it went well but once again I didn't understand very much so we could have been getting told off and I wouldn't know. I found a simplified Hymn book which is really nice but it is in Spanish and it is hard to find the songs I want. I cooked some pancakes for some members today and they were really good especially with dulce de leche. Then we had some service afterwards and the member had a double bass that he let me play.

Saturday

We taught a new investigator that had a peacock for a pet. That was interesting. The other elders in our ward had a baptismal service that we brought an investigator to and I had to play piano for. Afterwards we went out for ice cream and I rode on the handle bars of E Mejia's bike for a while.

Sunday

I succeeded in not playing the piano because we were late to church because we were trying to pick up investigators and none of them were home which is really sad. I went on splits with E Mejia and we had one lesson with 13 niños which was really cool  and my companion wrecked his bike while on splits so I didn't get to see it and of course he wasn't wearing a helmet but I think he will be just fine.

Well that is it for now I love and miss everyone lots

Elder Black

The 13 ninos.

Week 8

Wow that is crazy I haven't seen most of you for 2 months. I want to say I love you all lots and I am sorry for some of my sad replies but 1 hour isn't near long enough to write. So far I haven't eaten anything that I don't like besides the desserts. Jello and fruit doesn't count as a dessert. And now for my week.

Monday

After emails I went to a members house and we talked about missions and stuff because we want him to go on a mission but he is pretty reluctant, but he came teaching with us and he was really good so I think he should just go for it.

Tuesday

So I wrote my journal entry by the back light of my camera because from what I can figure out in my broken Spanish is that someone forgot to pay the bill. This also means that we have no AC and it is really hot in the house. I had to do some more bike work today to get another rear shifter working. I had some Argentinian Pizza that was actually pretty good. It was basically a thick flat bread with salsa cheese and meat. I was wishing for my mountain bike today because there are some cool places to ride.

Wednesday

I went on  a run today with E Dobon which was  NICE RELIEF. i  ALSO HAD MY FIRST DISTRICT MEETING TODAY WHICH WAS NICE. bUT IN THE AFTERNOON ALL OF oooopppps cap lock. my appointments fell through so we contacted most of the day. I also had my first empanada which was freaking yummy.

Thursday 

I am happy to say that I am writing this but actual light. Because we got power back. I decided weekly planning sucks and I hate sitting for hours on end. I gave my first spiritual thought today and it went alright. One investigator gave my companion a crocodile skull that is pretty cool as well.

Friday

I am still tired most of the day but we had some pretty good success at tracking today so that was good.

Saturday

We had service this morning and I saw 8 different sizes of ants, 2 scorpions, a huge snail the size of half my palm a lot of slugs and a cicada the size of my fist.

Sunday

It was another long day church at 9, and we left early to pick up investigators who didn't even end up coming to church. And then I some how got roped into playing the piano which is very very bad.

Monday 

I rode in a gondola and it was awesome and I bought 7 lbs of frosted corn flakes for 6 American dollars.

Love you all lots and miss you

Elder Black

My companion and I

Salta

My desk space

Gondola Ride

Salta

Week 7

 Hola, first I would like to apologize if I don't reply to everyone's letters. I had over 25 emails when I logged on. Alright so this is how my week went

Tuesday and Wednesday....a 2 day special

I combined these day because I never really slept much during this time. By the time I went to bed on wed. I had slept for only about 4 of the 38 I had been awake. I took 3 planes, 3 trains, 4 buses, and 5 airports. The immigration office was really hard because they were trying to ask me stuff in Spanish and I had no idea what to do or say. It really hit me that I was in Argentina when the "stop" signs said Pare rather than Stop. I had dinner at the mission presidents house and it was really good. All the food so far has been really good.

Thursday

I started the day out with visa paper work and Argentinian doughnuts. Then I sat around and waited for my train. I got a native from Peru but he speaks English really well. His name is Elder Barbosa and he is really nice. There are a whole bunch of green hill around where I live. I was assigned to the Salta Mitrie 1 area. I am going to get so fat though I swear every single person whose house we visit tries to feed me multiple plates of food. My Spanish isn't very good and about all I am good for in the lessons is talking about my self and bearing my testimony

Friday

I found out that I am in a biking area but the bikes never get used because they are literal trash. Hopefully I will be able to at least make them sort of rideable I think that is why I was sent to Salta  to fixes these awful bikes. This morning we had a service project where we helped clean a person's attic. Then I had three lessons fall through but we contacted a new investigator and she started crying while we were teaching her.

Saturday

I fixed one bike in the morning...well as good as it will get. We had weekly planning which went well. I decided that I am terrible at remembering Spanish names. I ate some more great food. The food is really good here. The people are super nice and I love it here. For example we missed the bus and it was getting late but some bus driver stopped and gave us a free ride to where we needed to go. It was new years eve and everyone started launching fireworks and we went up to our balcony and watched them all go off.

Sunday

My first time at church in Argentina and they had me talk about my self and bear my testimony. There are 2 other elders in our house named Elder Mejia and Elder Dobson. I went on splits with Elder Mejia to a members house who went to BYU Idaho and wanted to practice English with me.

Well I just have to say that I am having a wonderful experience so far. I love and miss you all and I want everyone to know that I know this church is true and that God has a plan and a purpose for everyone.

LOVE YOU MISS YOU 

Elder Black

MTC friend

MTC friend

Temple in Buenos Aires

Salta

Last plane I flew on

MTC friends

Book mark that one of the members made for me.

New Years

The other Elders I am living with.

Salta