Abby Lynn

Ok!! Hello family and friends! My first week in Argentina. Well I don´t even know where to start. It is soooooooo different here. It's AMAZING, but different. We have more time out here in the field for emailing, but were going to play soccer with our district in a few minutes, so again I am rushed!! Ok to start: on our way down here I got on the plane from Atlanta to Argentina (right after I talked to you all) and I couldn't understand ANYTHING... I started to freak out...a little bit....ok a lot. And then I remembered something I had read in Preach My Gospel which was -don't give into discouragement- I then thought why not give into it...I'm allowed to be scared and sad once in a while and then I remembered the next sentence that says -because it is giving into Satan- the words I'm sure were better placed and everything, but that's the jest so I decided to tune out the incomprehensible language and remain calm. I did and since then I have only started to freak out like twice!! Ha-ha but freak out in a good way, and I have realized that when I'm feeling the overwhelming or everything, once we start talking to people and the spirit gets really strong none of that matters. The bugs, the sweat the Spanish...everything. The only that that matters right then is those people and the spirit

 So many crazy things have happened this week...first of all my companions name is Hermana Gillum she is from St George. She´s amazing we love each other. She looks like Selina Gomez but prettier! Were both have a lot in common, we have fun! She goes home in 2 transfers. Ok so were in San Ignacio (look it up n Google maps...don't freak out mom, we have two tall locked gates to get to our house...were safe, promise) but it is kinda ghetto. Ok really ghetto. But the people are SO nice and SOO HUMBLE. I think that's my favorite thing about Argentina is that no one cares what you look like or who you are or what your wearing. They are so humble. every time I try to say anything they look at my companion to clarify ha-ha to me I sound just like them but I guess my accent is really bad!! Ha-ha oh well... all in good time. I can understand ALOT more then I could the first few days, but still it's not a lot.

In church yesterday the teacher told a story of one of the church leaders when she was growing up who was very very very strong in the church has no fallen away and she went to his house for the first time in a long time and the daughter answered, so she asked the little girl if her parents were there and if she could talk to them and she daughter said they weren't home. so she started asking the little girl what she knows about god and everything and the little girl didn't know anything (she is 9 years old) she was so sad that this family who was once so strong had completely fallen away. So anyway, after church Hna Gillum and I decided to go visit them. They got us Tang to drink (because they are stuck in the late 80´s early 90´s here in Argentina) and we started talking, I didn't say much because I couldn't understand much, but the spirit was so strong, almost stronger then I have ever felt it before in my life and then I bore testimony of what Hna Gillum had been saying and stuttered out some other words in my broken Spanish, and then they started to cry. They said my words were so strong and they committed to come back to church. We're going to commit that little girl to baptism tonight! It was my favorite thing that´s happened. I will never forget that experience! Its little things like that that makes all the negative things not matter.

Ok so crazy story. Were opening a new area. They havn´t had missionary here in years. Plus hna gillum is training me, plus the area is HUGE HUGE HUGE. So finally after days of walking miles they told us we can get bikes. So we wake up excited, get ready do our studies and head for the bank to get the money out... well that bank didn't have money in the ATM so we have to go all the way downtown to Centro. so we do we get there it takes 30 minutes then we get money out and start looking for a bike store to buy helmets and lights etc. because where the bikes are that were going to buy (the store by our house) they don't have helmets and stuff. So we look for another 45 minutes finally find it...its closed for Siesta. Get annoyed go get lunch and get back on the bus to go to our town to buy the bikes. We get back after another 30 minutes go to the bike store. It's also closed for siesta. get annoyed, decided to go contact referrals, thought a lesson go back get the bikes get the helmets at another store get on a our way. It took alllll day. so we laugh it off and go contact for a little bit have to go home, get lost going home because our area is HUGE, get home decorate our bikes with Jesus stickers so that they don't get stolen..Literally Jesus is ALL OVER these bikes. We call them our CristoCruisers, anyway then we went to sleep. The next morning we wake up have an amazing day planed because we were behind from yesterday because the bikes took so long. Get out and start working, get lost. Ask these people where we are find out where in the ghetto way outside our area like 15 little old ladies tell us to get out of there because we stick out especially me and its super dangerous. So we FINALLY get back in our area, but still in the dangerous ghetto and then..............MY BIKE BREAKS. so we pull over and all the people are walking and driving by yelling RUBIO RUBIO (which his like blonde blonde) so we are super scared. We call our district leaders...no answer call our zone leaders no answer. Finally call the other elders in our area they answer and say they are sending their Cop friend that they are with. So he finally gets there in this little red car and is taking his time putting our bikes in it and then the plan was to take us home drop of our bikes then we will walk. We ask how his day is going and he said -good I'm baptizing my daughter today- we are all excited for him and ask what time he is doing it and he says -4- I look at my watch and ITS 4:20.... We start freaking out telling his he needs to go we can walk with our bikes he says No like 100 times and insists he takes us home. Why did the elders send him?? Of all people! Ha-ha. So finally... (We get lost again.) We get home and he goes to the baptism and we get annoyed of our bikes and had a crazy crazy 2 days. My companion said get used to it. The mission is full of them. Ha-ha I was so stressed. (Dad spell check and change words so that that all goes together I don't have time thanks!)

Everyone stares at me. Men women children dogs...everyone, because I'm blonde. And then when I talk they just stare for a second and then look to my companion for help ha-ha. She has gotten called Latino like 3 or 4 times because compared to me she does look Latino, but she said she has never gotten that before this week ha-ha. Glad I'm good for something. Everyone knows how to say Hello and 1 2 3 4 5 in English so when I walk by people they will randomly just say 1 2 3 4 5 because it's like the only thing they know in English ha-ha it's so weird. But hilarious because I don't even know they are speaking English because of their accents and then my companion will ask if I heard that ha-ha... people here are the best. There is a guy in our ward who speaks perfect English I love talking to him. I can actually have a real conversation with someone. He actually knew one of my argentine teachers from the MTC, small world.  And then another guy speaks a tiny tiny bit so when he says things at first ill think YES I UNDERSTOOD THAT WHOLE SENTANCE IN SPANISH and then I realize it was English with a Spanish accent ha-ha.

After the first day here my feet were so beat up. I took pictures. They were disgusting ha-ha bloody blistered everything but 3000 miles later my shoes are finally broken in and I'm good to go! The food is good. ESPECIALLY the fruit. OMG the fruit is unreal. The bananas taste fake they are so strong. The only complaint I have is a member fed us dinner and they don't take the bones out of the food so there are hundreds of little bones in the chicken and all over the plate of food. I was holding back puke the whole time and I kept getting them in my mouth ha-ha it was awful. my companion looked at me and smiled as she took like 3 bones out of her mouth like she had done it 1000 times, made her eyes a little wide suggesting -get used to it- and I did my best! There are hundreds of wilds dogs here. It's the saddest thing ever. They are all diseased and sick and starving. Its sooo sad. They have these sad eyes and when they look at me I want to start balling. So instead of balling, I found a solution!! Every night I take some bread out of the freezer to thaw and then I bring it in a bad and when I see a realllly sick or realllly hungry one I give it bread. it's all I can do right now for them, it's so sad everyone beats them and is mean to them...literally hundreds of them everywhere!! Tons of spiritual things have happened tons of hilarious things have happened but I don't have time!! Just know that I am doing well and I love you all!  I feel your prayers every day, they keep me going! Thanks for everything xoxo

HALIE!!!!!! I JUST GOT ALL OF YOUR LETTERS THIS WEEK! I am so sorry! You probably thought I was so mean for not replying to you! They were being sent to my mission not to me at the MTC. So I had no idea until the day I got here. I'm so sorry! I love them they made me so happy and they were the first thing I got to see right when I got here to Argentina. Reminded me of home and made me feel really good. Thanks for making me happy and not homesick!! I miss you a ton too and love you like crazy!

Love, hna Marchant

 (below is a pix of the greater Buenos Aires area-note San Ignacio where Abby is).