Mother Knows Best

December 7, 2015

2 MONTHS!! Wahoo!! Can you believe I've been gone for 2 months already?! Because I can't! Time is flying by my friends! And the best news is that there are only 2 more P-Days until I get to see all your beautiful faces for NAVIDAD!!  Oh I'm so excited! 

Well this week was hot and cold and rainy and cloudy and very very windy.  Glad that Argentina weather is just as bipolar as good old Utah.  Reminds me lots of home!  However, I am super tired of putting on sunscreen and then having it be super cloudy and cold, or wearing a sweater or jacket on a hot day and then having to lug it around. Haha - make up your mind Argentina!!

This is completely classic Argentina campo!  Lots of wheat fields.
(Con my filtered water bottle too haha)

Okay so funny story about that.  One night as we were leaving the house, Hna Palma told me to grab a jacket, but I was being all stubborn and didn't want to carry it around if I didn't need it.  So I didn't bring one - because I'm a tough missionary you know, I don't get cold right?  Wrong.   Haha it ended up being freezing cold that night and I regretted my decision lots.  I later admitted to my companion that she was right, and she started singing "Mother Knows Best" from the Disney movie Tangled.  Hahaha oh boy!  Too funny!  Glad I've got a mission mom to look out for me... next time I should probably listen to her though... ;) 

On Thursdays we have time for service, so we can go help out members, menos activos, or investigators for a couple hours.  This week we met up with the Hermanas in the bordering area- called Hospital.  We were painting a less active member's new apartment. We had a great time and the house looked great.  (Well, as great as it could look with 4 inexperienced missionaries painting it.)  Hna Palma and I needed to leave a bit earlier than the other Hermanas because we had an appointment to get to.  As we were saying goodbye, Hermana Recio was standing on a chair and had her paint brush and can in her hand...you can probably see where this is going.  When I gave her a hug, she slipped and paint went EVERYWHERE. RED PAINT.  Hahaha I was the lucky recipient of some of that paint on my shirt, shoes and arm and the rest went all over the ground.  It was hilarious!  Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me then but we took a picture when we got back to the house.  If you need a laugh today, just think of me riding on public transportation through Bahia Blanca with this lovely red spot on my shirt... :( But don't worry the paint came out! 

I HATE the color red...

My companion thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing about the situation.  The best though was that night at our appointment, we were having a family home evening with a less active family and Hna Palma totally knocked over her cup of juice soda and that went everywhere too!  Haha we struggle a little bit to say the least!  Good thing I've got someone clumsy like me as my companion!

On Friday we had a Noche de Hogar (FHE) with our ward!  Honestly Barrio Villa Floresta is the BEST!  The members are awesome!  Granted, I still don't know what half of them are saying to me, but I love them none the less. For the entertainment, the youth and ward mission leader put together a little band (complete with a piano, two guitars, box for drumming, two singers, harmonica, and some weird accordion type thing).  The band sang a couple songs in Spanish and then the entire ward joined in on one.  No idea what they were singing about, but it was very entertaining! Then an announcement was made that everyone would sing a song in English as a welcome for me to their ward... AWWW :)  They gave the most heartfelt (and off-key) version of Coldplay's song "The Scientist".  It was awesome! I so wish I could send ya'll videos!!  Be excited to see them in 16 months!  It was great to hear music from the real world, let me tell you! It made me miss music from home a bit, but don't worry, I've got all the MOTAB and EFY music I could possibly want to keep me entertained ‘til I get home ;)

Well things are a little rough in the teaching department right now.  We don't really have many progressing investigators and due to the largeness of our area (is that even a word?) 

The poor feet of a missionary in Villa Floresta

It is really hard to plan when we will be able to visit people.  Luckily, we've got a great ward that is willing to help us and gives us lots of references!

This week I felt a lot more comfortable with the language in our lessons and they seemed to go much better - small victories my friends! A really great quote I heard in the MTC that has really helped me stay positive this week is, "God has a perfect plan for His imperfect children.  This is the good news you carry to the world."  We are not expected to be perfect, just to try our best and share this message of hope with everyone! 

I can't express enough my love and gratitude for you all!  Thanks for the uplifting emails and prayers every week.  They are really felt and needed.  Love and miss you all!  Enjoy all that Utah snow for me! 

Hasta luego y con mucho amor, 

Hermana Bartholomew 

Sunset of the week