Photos of San Ignacio and more

Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:55:12

The past week has flown by. We've found a couple of new families and hope that they follow through with the commitments. All is well here in Santa Clara. I have 3 piano students at the moment. I believe there will be more tonight. It has been raining here the last couple of days. Because of the rain the weather has been exceptionally cool. San Ignacio was awesome! I hope you enjoy the photos. I don´t have much time today for emails. So this one is short sorry. Mom I didn't receive the weekly letter. I received one that I sent while in the MTC. Hope everyone is doing well. I love you all.

Con Amor,
-Elder Hunsaker

P.S. Still can´t understand people completely. haha.

Photos:

A: Near the shore of the river that separates Paraguay and Argentina.

B: Yes father I am taking the pills.

C-J: San Ignacio

D

E

F: Me and Elder Patterson

G

H

I

J

Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008

Dear Fam., Friends, Anybody.
Ok, so i have some big news.....I have two baptisms coming up on the 9th of Feb. Pamela(21) and her brother David(12) accepted the date and hopefully they will continue to go to church so they can be baptized. For dad`s needs. We have purified water that is delivered every Wednesday. So that should answer the pump question also. No have not taken the pills. I will start tomorrow but if they make me sick i wont be using them further. Yesterday in the sky there was a huge halo around the sun and my comp and i thought it was the second coming. The ice cream here is pretty tasty. i just thought you would like to know. Every Wednesday night at 6 my comp teaches English and i teach piano. The last two times people have not attended. Hope to have a good turn out tonight. San Ignacio has been postponed until next week so that we have more money in case there are cool things to buy there. We found 5 new investigators yesterday so i am pretty happy about that. The goal for the mission is to find and baptize one family( father, mother, kid(s)) every two transfers. They struggle to have worthy males in the wards and branches. It rained the other day and i sunk my foot into about 5 inches of mud and completely covered my shoe. They language is moving along i can understand some people. Love you all and hope all is well. By the way you can send more than just 4 packages a year. Some day i would love to have some peanut butter and other tasty food from the states. I know the message that we as missionaries carry is a message perfectly suited for whomever we meet. I can bring peace to those that have had a loved one pass away. It can bring direction to all that are lost. I know that it brings joy into families that truly care for one another. Because what other church has the authority to seal families together for time and for all eternity. I know this is the church of Jesus Christ. I love this gospel and the joy it brings. I love you all. Until next week.
-Elder Hunsaker

Photos:
Last night we had a birthday party for Elder Dickinson. He turned 21 and we celebrated with brownies, ice cream and a game of go fish. I bought a bag of Trix to give me a piece of home. haha. They were delicious. I was able to get some shots of the rainbow halo around the sun. In the birthday shot from left to right: E. Patterson, E. Fletcher, E. Dickinson, and me. E. Fletcher and Dickinson are our zone leaders. The elder in that one picture that I sent before is my comp when he had a really bad headache.

Nothing like a bag of TRIX to remind me of home!

Halo around the sun

E. Patterson, E. Fletcher, E. Dickinson, and me. E. Fletcher and Dickinson are our zone leaders.

Elder Dickinson's 21st Birthday party

Address for letters and packages

Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008
Ok, so it's been one hot week. We've been teaching a young lady for the past week and she came to church this past Sunday. Yesterday we gave her the baptismal commitment and she said she will except once she has prayed about it and feels it's right. So pretty much she is going to be baptized. Last p-day I bought my first soccer jersey. It is super comfy. I am in the Santa Clara branch here. The only rule for the internet is that we can only email through myldsmail. The address for letters and packages is:

Av. Rivadavia 323
Resistencia, Chaco 3500
Argentina

Yesterday we did service in the morning. We constructed a bamboo shower house for a woman in our branch who was showering in the open. haha. We had to chop down the bamboo shoots with machetes. I'll take pictures of it and send them next week. I finally experienced a little bit of rain here but it didn't last very long. We also met a family of 7 and we taught them the 1st lesson we will be returning this Saturday to follow up and continue teaching. They were really receptive. There are only like four things that people eat here. Pizza, Hamburgers, Milonesa, and Empanadas. There isn't much variety here. You can have plain milonesa or you can have sandwich de milonesa. Oh and they like to put eggs and mayo on everything. We have siesta from 12:30-4:00. Our president allows us to sleep if we finish eating and writing in our journals early. Next week for pday my zone is going to the ruins of san ignacio. That should be really fun. I love you all and I'll talk to you next week.

Elder Hunsaker

Elder Patterson trying to relieve his headache. Also an inside view of our apartment.

No comments were given regarding this picture. All I can say is GROSS! We'll have to add "stay alive and healthy" in our prayers from here on out. Too bad Darren's pest control can't be of service in Argentina.

The nice comfy soccer jersey I purchased during my last p-day.

More Pictures - Beunos Aires temple, Santa Clara (first area)

The national flag of Argentina dates from 1812. It is a triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands colored light blue, white and light blue. In 1818, a yellow Sun of May was added to the center. The full flag featuring the sun is called the Official Ceremonial Flag (Spanish: Bandera Oficial de Ceremonia). The flag without the sun is considered the Ornamental Flag (Spanish: Bandera de Ornato).

Buenos Aires Argentina Temple
Official website for the temple: http://www.lds.org/temples/main/0,11204,1912-1-75-0,00.html

The Buenos Aires Argentina Temple is the 39th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church leaders announced plans to build a temple in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, in April 1980. Three years later, ground was broken and the site was dedicated by Bruce R. McConkie. After the building's completion an open house was held December 17–24, 1985. Because of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple's location, visitors traveling from the airport to downtown Buenos Aires drive right past the temple.

President Thomas S. Monson presided over the temple dedication on January 17, 1986. The Buenos Aires Argentina Temple has a total of 11,980 square feet, four ordinance rooms, and three sealing rooms.

First area: Santa Clara, Near Capital city, Posadas, Misiones Province

First apartment in Santa Clara

Thank goodness for fans. The subtropical climate has no dry season, which makes Misiones one of the most humid provinces in Argentina.

The Misiones plateau includes a part of Brazil across the border. The rocks contain significant quantities of iron which forms a part of the soil, giving it a reddish color.

Two years of red dirt! Good luck with your laundry, elder!

Oh yeah, the bugs are out and they are fierce! Make sure to wear your water sandals when taking a shower. Yuck!

The Greenie Stage Begins

Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 19:49:02
Okay so this will be short because I don,t have much time this week. My p days are on Wednesdays. My trainer is Elder Patterson from Orem, Utah. He's a good elder. He goes home in 3 months so I have to keep him from getting trunky. The weather is ridiculously hot and humid here. Inside my mission there are 5 states Formosa, Chaco, Corrientes, Santa Fe, and Misiones. I am in Misiones in a suburb called Santa Clara on the outskirts of the big city Posadas. The dirt in Misiones is that red dirt that we thought I'd have. My apt. is called a pensión (pench for short) it is small. There should be pictures attached. My ears are starting to separate the words when people speak but i still don't understand all the words the use. My area is supposedly one of the tougher ones for baptisms. My comp and I clapped a house two days ago and got a new investigator to teach. We taught the first lesson and we are going back this Friday. It is really fun talking and getting to know these people. The dish that people serve most is milonesa which is just breaded chick or steak. It is simply all right. I drink about 2 liters of water each day. I can't wait to understand what people are saying. It was nice to talk to most of the fam. I love you all. Talk to you next Miércoles/Wednesday (there is your spanish word for the week).
Love, Elder Hunsaker

Tricia's additions from wikipedia:
Misiones is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north and east, and Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest.

Population:
There are 965,522 people living in Misiones. Majority of the residents of Misiones are descendants of immigrants. Unlike many regions of Argentina where the immigrants came through Buenos Aries, most of the immigrants that settled in Misiones came through Southern Brazil. The ethnic groups that settled in Misiones are Italians, Germans, Spaniards, Poles, Ukrainians, French, Swiss, Russians, Swedes, Danes, Arabs, and Japanese.

Economy:
The major contribution to the province's economy comes from the jungle, particularly tourism and logging. The principal exploited trees are the Paraná pine, Guatambú, Cedar, Petiribí, Incense, Cane water-pipe, Anchico, Eucalyptus and Gueycá. Another source of income is the cultivation of yerba mate, tea and, in minor amounts, tobacco, sugar cane, rice and coffee. Cattle production is rare.

Its illiteracy rate is 8.6%.

Elder Hunsaker is finally in Resistencia!

Matt arrived in Argentina yesterday at 10 AM their time. Resistencia is five hours different than PST. All of the happenings described here are after that time frame. The temperature in Resistencia today was 95 degrees 85 percent humidity. His flight to Chile took 12 hours. That is why he doesn't want to do it any time soon. MOM

Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 19:32:32 +0000
I´m finally in Resistencia and boy is it hot and humid. I've been at the mission home all day and things are great here. Total travel time to Resistencia was 26 hours in plane or bus plus another 9-10 spent sitting and waiting. The drivers here are psycho. Everyone is really nice here. My Spanish to a decent leap once i spoke with a few native missionaries. I hope that my first area is in Eldorado, Misiones which is where the Iguazu Falls are located. I have pictures at the Buenos Aires Temple. I saw some parrots fly out of the trees there it was so cool. I´m glad i don´t have to make that whole trip for another two years. My mission president is really cool. I've eaten a bunch of different things so far. It is fairly clean here in Resistencia. I get to meet my trainer in the morning. Love you all. Love -Elder Hunsaker

Pictures in the MTC and on airplane ride

Entering the MTC - Melissa, Christiana, Tanner, Faith, Mom and Dad

Our MTC Classroom - Feliz Navidad



MTC District - The Standard of Truth



Flight to Argentina or Chile?



Goodbye America, I'll see you in two years!