Well, this week we had some interesting things happen. On Thursday we heard that the elders of Nueva Pompeya were going to move into our apartment with us. They were the ones that used to be here last transfer but left at the beginning of this transfer when we got two more in Chacabuco. The place they were living in was really small and there were four elders there, so they moved in with us; six elders in a bigger apartment. Elder Jimenez and Elder Hallett moved in Thursday afternoon. Now the entire district is in the same apartment. It has been crazy. There isn´t a whole lot of space anymore and there is a lot more of people to talk to / things to do while we are all home at night. It´s been a lot of fun.
On Saturday we did service for a member that lives in the villa and we moved a bunch of dirt up some stairs. It was pretty tiring and I still have a blister on my hand from it. But I got some pictures of the villa that I am sending so you can see more of what it is like.
On Sunday we had Stake Conference. It was really good. The mission president and his wife came and spoke at the meeting. Sister Gulbransen is really fun to watch speak spanish, it makes me feel a lot better about myself. She doesn´t really know any spanish, but she is trying really hard to talk anyway which is awesome. After church we went to an investigators house; José and Inese. They were the ones we found that were going to get married but never did. We found out that Inese has debt and José doesn´t want to marry her and inherit the debt. And José told us that he resells stolen items in order to make more money. We were pretty shocked by that. It seems they still have a few things to fix before they get baptized, but they believe the church is true. That´s good.
On Monday I went on exchanges with Elder Jimenez (the district leader). He is going home tomorrow and yesterday was his last full day in the mission field. He did a great job and didn´t slack off at all. We worked hard all day and taught quite a few people. He is a really good teacher and a really fun guy; even though I don´t always understand his Mexican accent. It´s sad to see him go. And also weird to think that someone can actually go home. I never would have thought that was possible. It feels like I´ll be on the mission forever, but that is a good thing. I´m loving it.
O yeah. One awesome story. We were walking through the villa on Wednesday when we heard something fall and break right behind us. At the same time I felt something hit my leg. I looked behind me and saw a broken egg on the ground and egg yoke on my pants. ¡Someone threw an egg at us! That was pretty funny. We are pretty sure it was one of the drug dealers. But a member saw it and talked to the person and took care of the problem. I never expected to have an egg thrown at me on the mission. Crazy stuff happens in Villa 1-11-14.
Well, that is all of my adventures for this week. I´ll have more to tell next week, I promise. Toon in next time, same place, slightly different time. Have a great week everyone!
Hasta Luego,
Elder Gardner
Here is Doug's answer to my questions about how transfers happen and what his new area is like:
Well, my prediction was half-way right. I left Parque Chacabuco, but Elder Ludwig is not district leader. I am currently in Escobar, about an hour and a half north of the city Buenos Aires. So I am out of the city.
Well, at 10:15 last night we got a call telling me I was leaving. We went to bed at 10:30, at 6:30 woke up, packed, and left at 10:15. We all went to the mission offices (about an hour away) and there met up with our new companions. From there I went to Escobar and Elder Ludwig went back to Chacabuco with his new comp. I have no idea what the area is like, we just got here about a half hour ago. It is a smaller city and our area is a suburb of the city. So it is very different from the capital were I have been. My comp is Elder Merrill from Idaho. He is the district leader. I don´t know a whole lot else, but he seems really cool. We should get alone great and work hard together.
Here is what Doug said about the taking the pictures:
We did service for a member family in the villa. We moved a big pile of dirt up two flights of stairs (they are adding another floor to the house). I shoveled the dirt into buckets and the other three took them up the stairs. I felt comfortable taking my camera since we were in normal clothes. I tried to get some pics of what it is like in the villa. You can´t really tell what it is like from the pictures, but it is better than nothing.
Doug and Elder Ludwig with Elder Jimenez and Elder Hallet
Doug and Elder Amasio in our matching jerseys (he paid 50 for it; Doug only paid 40; he wins)
Elder Jimenez with his arroz chaufa and hat that a member gave him. That arroz is sooo good!
Doug on top of the roof with the villa in the background.
The view from the roof of the house. You can´t really see a whole lot because there are houses all around. Practically every window is a different family.
Another view from the roof.
Drinking soda after the service, a favorite Argentine pastime.
The ground view of a typical manzana (alleyway). This is one is bigger than some of the others, but this is what it is like.
A door. There are two really, the one on the left and one on the right.
The inside of the members hose, you can´t see a whole lot in this picture, but you can see some.
Elder Amasio moving the dirt.
Yo y Elder Ludwig. We pretend like we can play the guitar sometimes; but the only one who can is Elder Amasio
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