Belgrano asado, feeding goats, rain storms

10-22-08

Okay, so transfers have come and gone and left me here for 6 weeks more. Maybe I´ll finish the mission here. I´m thinking that I should probably ask for my membership papers and start a family here. Maybe I´ll start looking for a job and a house. Haha. I´m to be here another transfer because we are going to have at least 5 baptisms in November and that will make up for the 7 ½ months that I´ll be here.

Last week the branch had a mother´s day activity. 60 people came to activity including 13 investigators. Our investigator Ramon came and started helping right away. He cut wood for the Asado and even helped cook. He is awesome. In the photo he is on the left of Moratto. The two are good buddies.

The other day after the classes of piano, etc… we passed by these two kids that were fishing in the “sanja” (a ditch where all sorts of liquids flow). The one on the right took out an eel. Right when we were about to take the picture of the eel on the wire it fell off and the kid on the left picked it up for the photo. GROSS!

We didn´t have such a good turn out this past Sunday because of the district conference that was held. All of the branches came and the Duarte family from Bella Vista was there. They brought me a gift and a lemon pie. They too thought that I was for sure out of here. We took pictures and ate a little bit of the pie after the meeting. When all was finished, we went to the house of Pres. Ponce of the branch in centro to eat hamburgers. He recently opened up a hamburger service in his house (this is nothing new). While we were there eating I had to feed his goat thing. It kept making noise so that we would feed it. DARREN, the woman in the middle of this picture next to Olga dressed in white is Vicky Duarte. She is a return missionary. She put herself in the middle of the picture and got all ready for the picture so I could send it to you. She´s 26 and likes long walks on the beach, milanesa, mate, making desserts, giving gifts, and teaching institute. Don´t think that I forgot your mail bride. Haha. The sister on the far end wants Dad to find a rich old guy for her. I promised that Dad would. I love this family.

Things are going well here in Belgrano. My comp and I have started an exercise routine. My comp goes out on the roof and jumps his jump rope while I do push ups and use my ab roller. Maybe one day I will make my way out there to jump a few ropes.

The sisters in centro had a baptism last night and we went because our investigator was going to go. Alejandro our investigator came so we didn´t waste a trip and a night. On the way home from the baptism it began to rain like crazy. We were completely soaked from head to toe. My shoes had tons of water in them and you can see the reason why from the picture below. All in all it was a nice night.

That is all of the action from the past week. We will see what this upcoming week has in store for Belgrano. Thank you all for you support and keep on praying for me. Love you all and I await the mysterious package for Christmas. Adios

Elder Hunsaker

Week of October 12th

I'm going to start out this letter by telling you all that this week has been a very very slow one. We have found lots of new investigators which is good. We had 3 people in church this past Sunday. We were going to have seven people in total but two weren't home in the morning when we passed by and two didn't come because they were up until 4am in the morning the night before.

We also have 6 people with baptismal dates pending. Ramon Montiel is the only one that still has his for sure. The only thing holding him back is that we need to marry him to his lady friend Augustina Pereyra. We have been teaching them both with their granddaughter and daughter. The Escobar family also has a date for their baptism and we just need to take the alcohol from the hands of the dad. He barely drinks so it shouldn't be all too difficult to stop the tiny habit. He seems fairly willing but a little lazy. We also need them to come to church.

Today we played fútbol or better yet, I watched everyone else play fútbol. Our investigator Alejandro came to play. We are teaching him and his daughter Carla. His wife doesn't want anything to do with us as of now. She is a “seminary” teacher in the Catholic Church. He will soon have a baptismal date if we can get him to church sometime soon.

This Sunday we have the district conference for Goya and Pres. Del Castillo will be coming. This is what happened 6 months ago on the weekend of Mothers day when I called home. This means that I have been here for a very very very long time. I really hope that I'm not here when I call home for Christmas. This time around Elder Civic of the area presidency won't be here. At least I don't think he'll be coming.

This next week, we have transfers. Two of the people in the zone are going home. The parents of elder Vincent have received a few calls from different people. He told me that someone called from Vegas and I'm guessing that that someone is mom and dad. His parents said that they would be bringing things down for people. I'm excited that I won´t have to wait three years to get something.

We had the fumigation guy come and go yesterday. In his goings my washcloth disappeared. I'm not 100% sure that it made it´s way into his hands or not. We´ll see if it shows up magically. I don't know why he would take a washcloth but hey, why not? Yesterday it rained “gatos y perros” (cats and dogs). It just wouldn't stop raining. Because of the fumigation we had to be out of the house during the siesta so we decided that being in the rain wasn't the best of ideas. We spent the time fixing a computer for Hna. Perez. She gave us chocolate milk and crackers. Time well spent!

We continue hoping for those baptisms and things are looking brighter. I hope that things are nice and bright back home. Love you all and we´ll talk next week.

Elder Hunsaker

PS I don't know who to vote for. I haven´t the slightest clue who half of these people are. If you can tell me by next week I can decide on something and send my ballot with the sister that is going home to AZ. If not, I will just pray and see how things go.

Week of October 5th

I´d like to thank everyone for sending emails this week. I received a good amount. THANKS! I think I´ll go ahead and answer the most important question from mom. Some Reese´s pieces and Sour Patch kids would be wonderful in a package from home.

General conference was amazing. I really enjoyed the talk by Richard G. Scott during the priesthood session. I played conference bingo with Elder Vincent and Hermana Recinos in our little English room. I bought gum drops to play the game. A few kids joined us in the room and drew some ties and the face of the prophet with the papers mom sent me. I tried to color the tie of President Eyring but it was far too difficult so I gave the crayons and the paper to Tomi the grandkid of Hna. Perez. He was intrigued with how many colors I have in my scripture marking pencil. The amount of children in the room grew until there were more children than gum drops in my bag. That is when I decided to shew a few of them out with English words like, “go to your mom” or “shew fly don´t bother me”. It did the trick and saved the gum drops - well, most of them.

Today is the birthday of my companion and he is 21 years old now or in Spanish, he has 21 years. We went to eat at a restaurant for his bday. He is happy now.

Today has been pretty chilly. We stopped by the shop of Pres. Pintos and took some photos of his little mannequin. I thought it would be funny to place Elder Vincent´s head above the mannequin. When we started taking these pictures Pres. Pintos and his wife couldn´t stop laughing and they even brought a little girl mannequin to place beside him. Before anyone makes the joke, I am not the little girl mannequin that the president brought. Thank you my extremely sarcastic family for putting two and two together.

We want more people to attend our classes of piano, guitar, and English so we made invitations to the classes. We took these photos in hopes that someone would take interest in coming to the classes. I only have the pictures that we used and not the invite. I´m hoping that with this new and improved advertising scheme, we will have an increase of 50 percent in attendance. It is really simple to have a 50 percent increase when only 2 people come. I hope you enjoy the passionate piano player, the guitarist with his face melting solo, and the genius eNgLiSh teacher.

The investigator pool is at a decent level. We are always searching for more. We still have the same old troubles of getting the people into the church building. We have quite a few investigators that are understanding and I have the hope that they will come to church sometime soon.

I am healthy and doing fine. My language skills have improved with my Latino companion. I´ve learned a few sayings that are truly Argentine. Unfortunately I can´t say them in other places because they would be much much worse. Languages are very interesting. The other day I said something stupid to our branch president because I didn´t exactly understand what his wife said. I just laughed it off like Elder Wirthlin said to do. His talk was another favorite.

I love you all and hope that all is well and that none of you work/worked for AIG or whatever other bank that close. The people of Goya could always use some prayers to help humble themselves. Les amo mucho. Chau

Elder Hunsaker

Fun, fun and work, work

I think I´ll start this letter of with answers to the large amount of questions. YES, I have finally recieved my debit card. Packages have to come to me in conference or interviews. If it is a normal letter it will come every p-day from the office. YES, we eat soup down here and the bread is really good. We eat everything with bread. I knew a lady that ate empanadas with bread. I´m sure there are a few people that eat bread with bread. The ice cream store has about 20 flavors. I´ll make a list of them and send it next week. As for the probiotics....I haven´t taken them for a little while and I´ve never felt better.

The zone conference was a little bit different this time around. It was much shorter and I learned a lot more. We went to walmart before it started so I was able to pick up a few skittles. I also found some ramen noodles. We took the famous cumbi ride again.

I tried filming a little bit but my camera told me in the end that there was an error. I lost the video that I took of the trip. We had our meal in the cumbi on the way home. Mom, the elder and sister on the right are from Peru. Elder Patton was there and so was Elder Martinez. It was fun to see them again.

Last Thursday we had the annual service project.

We helped clean up a kindergarten school house. We fixed walkways and cleared off the plants from the fences. We also found a snake that was minding his own business when we started to rip away his home.

I found this clown inside and it reminds me of Happy Gilmore. I thought I´d take a picture with it.

Everyone had those ridiculous vests on. AMAR ES SERVIR(To love is to serve). The heat has returned, as if you couldn´t tell from the sweat on my face. We had a whole days worth of rain this past Monday. I was nice except for all the mud everywhere.

I´ve heard a lot of stuff about the states and how we have some huge financial problem. I´d really like to know a little more about that. I really can´t trust what the news decides to show down here. I hope everyone still has a job. I love you all and hope to hear from more of you.

CHAU!

Elder Hunsaker

P.s. Presidente del Castillo absolutely cannot say my name. It is hilarious when he wants to ask me a question in zone conference.

Testimony of the Prophet, Joseph Smith

Well I sat down at the computer and found that emails are a little bit sketchy today. I haven´t received anything from mom and that is an interesting thing because she always writes. Maybe this is one of those taking for granted lessons. So I guess this is a big THANK YOU to everyone that writes me. Please don´t stop. haha.

My companion and I are getting along great. My Spanish has improved even more. He is from San Fernando, Buenos Aires. His dad lives there and his mom lives in Tarrasa (Barcelona, Spain). He was baptized when he was 14 and is the only member of his family. He is a really good elder.

Zone conference is coming up this next week and it will be another fun trip to Corrientes. I really enjoy the trips in cumbi and colectivo.

There really isn't anything new and amazing here in Belgrano. We found a really great family the other day. The dad is awesome. He has a large bag filled with material from the Jehovah Witnesses. He is really accepting and has gone through a lot in his life.

I've come to realize that I´m happiest when I´m teaching people that want to listen. People that really are confused and want more light in their lives. We call them los escogidos (the chosen or prepared). Heavenly Father works with his children before we even meet them. I know God loves each and every one of us.

I've been studying in Doctrine and Covenants lately and it has really strengthened my testimony of José Smith(Joseph Smith). I know without a doubt that from the time of Christ and his apostles until 1820 there really hadn't been a prophet called and set apart from God. I've come to realize that Joseph Smith has brought forth so many "good fruits". I know and I testify that God has restored his church through Joseph Smith (Yo sé y testifico que Dios ha restuarado su iglesia por medio de José Smith). This church is true in whatever language that we speak. The doctrine of the church comes from God and this doctrine is not a changing doctrine. It is eternal and and it was taught in the beginning to Adam the first man and prophet. Christ still directs his church through his prophet and that is why this church is true. I love you all and hope that the spirit will testify with me of these things.

I love you all and hope to hear from soon. Chau!

Elder Hunsaker

Trees - From Cotton to Family History

Well this week has flown by and I don´t know where it went. We got our list of members down to 212 and we fixed a bunch of addresses. We started the first part of our activity last night and filled out a few family trees with the members that came. We have seen an increase in help from the members. I think the majority of the members like us.

Transfers are coming up this following week. We will know what is going down on Tuesday night. I think that Elder Patton and I will be here for another transfer. Maybe President del Castillo will realize that my comp has been here for 6 months. I am rather confident in that Elder Patton will make sure President knows exactly how long he´s been here when we see him this Friday for interviews.

We went to see the “capilla del diablo”(the devils chapel) with our buddy Pedro the remis(taxi) driver. He really likes us. Too bad he lives in the area of the zone leaders and they will be the ones teaching him and his family. The chapel was a little less than what I had imagined but it was still fun to see it and hang with Pedro.

I still haven´t recieved anything in the mail. If it is here it should be coming with President. If it hasn´t arrived or is lost I will have to wait until zone conference. Hopefully there aren´t any problems with the items sent.

Saturday night we were walking down our sort of main street and a woman stopped her moto and motioned us over. We went and she asked if we were mormons. We told her yes and then she said she had recieved a pamphlet from some missionaries a little while back and would like to have the book of mormon. We gave her the book and set up and took her address. It was nice to be asked instead of asking. I am thankful for this little miracle. Can´t wait to teach her and her family.

I had divisions with Elder Vicent(our new zone leader) yesterday. We did service in the morning for an older woman. We moved a bunch of plants and removed a couple of things from her backyard. I tried to be nice to her dog and it tried to bite me. This thing is ridiculous. Just look at it. ONE EYE, YIKES!

I think that this should be the father and sons spot for 2010. These are cabins in Bella Vista. They are right next to the beach and are really wonderful. Maybe we should plan a family reunion here.

Brother Moratto had this bird last week when we went and ate. I don´t know what it is called but my companion sure likes it. Just look at his face. Haha.

The branch in centro had another talent show. I believe they are all “talented” out. Maybe they should do a night of family history. Hmmmm, Sounds like a pretty good idea.

Last pday I learned that cotton grows on trees. This tree has these huge pods that dry up, break open, and leave cotton every where. Kinda looks like corn.

That is about all that has happened this week. I love you all and hope you enjoy the photos of last pday playing futbol and this weeks visit to the chapel and whatever else. Chau

Elder Hunsaker