Hey there Familia!!!!!
Wow what a great week!! We did a lot and really got some work done!!
Well I hope you enjoy the pics, hopefully you receive them all. I actually didn't see any pictures that you sent. I also sent a package containing a DVD last Tuesday and so you should be getting it this week sometime. Oh, and yes, I received the Greenie package on the first day. haha It was awesome and I loved the treats and I'm using the pen and pencil as well. But anyways, these were all taken today and I've had another great Pday!! We went and played soccer again today and so I have some pics, we went over and met up with the elders at Juncal which is the adjacent area right next to ours. Oh, and I scored two goals today and that was exciting and I got a lot of time playing keeper.
Wow, where to begin... well let's start off with that we set 3 baptismal dates with 3 people this last week!! Haha, and they aren't even the ones that I've told you about before. Well, we start off with Romero, Gladys and Leandra. They are a family that just showed up to the chapel last Sunday and we set up an appointment with them. They have a son, Fernando, who was baptized last year and I guess that he had a good impact on his family. So they found a church close to them and I guess that Gladys has already been to church before. So we taught Gladys (Mom) and Leandra (Daughter, probably in her 20's) on Friday night and we taught them the Plan of Salvation because they had a ton of questions about that subject. Romero, the Dad, wasn't able to make it because of work; that's going to be a challenge for us with him because he works a lot. Anyways, both Gladys and Leandra accepted baptism for the 18th and 19th of February. Then Gladys came this Sunday which is actually her second straight week, so I'm most confident with her in keeping her date. Her date is for the 18th because she has had 3 attendances, and so since Leandra didn't come this last week because she said that she needed to study for school, we moved her date back for the 19th. We haven't had a time to teach Romero yet so we will see with him. Then on Saturday night we were teaching this man Gian. We have taught him many times with his family as well. He is living with his wife, who is Brigit, but is long in-active. But this time we were inspired to teach him the first lesson about the Restoration and so that went really great. I was able to give the first vision experience memorized, so that was a good thing for me. Then we challenged him to be baptized and he accepted. Now here was the big surprise, we told him that he needed to be married before he was going to be baptized. He was like oh wait I forgot to tell you, now we had been 4 or 5 times since I've been here and so we knew that they weren't married but we still felt like we should challenge him this time. So he was like oh wait... me and Brigit are getting baptized on the 16th of Feb. We were both like what!! and you didn't tell us? haha Our transfer ends on the 19th so right before!! What a blessing for us, and he seemed pretty excited as well, and they also have one daughter. So they actually went out of town this last Sunday but he has enough attendances to be baptized anyways. We still want him to be coming to church consistently before we go through with the baptism. But still we weren't expecting it to happen that fast!!
Bueno, besides that we had a small drop in lessons taught this last week but we have 3 more dates then we had last week. It's hard because we also had a lot of investigators, recent converts, less actives and members cancel on us this week and so we were scrambling around for a part of the week. Oh, I forgot to finish my last email, on Tuesday, Alex's birthday, I went on exchanges with another elder from Villa Crespo, an area in our district. He stayed with me in my area after we had a District meeting, and then he stayed the night. So Elder Secretan helped really plan a good schedule for me on that day and I had to be the navigator for the other elder in downtown Buenos Aires. It's amazing how well I knew the area in just two weeks of being here. Then with Jessica, we actually haven't talked with her or Mirta, but we are now focusing more on Romero and his family and than Gian and Brigit. But Richard and Alex both came to church this last week which was really good for them. We also had this other investigator come with her sister, her name is Lilia.
Mission life is, well, different haha, but I'm quickly adjusting to it. I'm reading more from Jesus the Christ during breakfast time and then I also read Our Heritage and a little bit of Our Search for Happiness. They have been feeding us really good here and I haven't had to worry for my health yet. haha Don't worry I'm in one of the safest areas in my mission and I'll be just fine. Haha I can handle myself and I'm quickly learning the tricks and trades of being a missionary.
This last week we had a huge meeting with all of the ZL's and DL's and all of the missionaries that have been here under 12 weeks. It was held at the church in San Fernando and so I had to travel for an hour and a half in total and I took the train for 45 min. It was a long meeting for like 5 hours haha and we had a great meeting. We talked about how we could be a better missionary. We have another one again this next week on Wednesday. I was able to see everyone from the trip down here and they are all doing really good. I'm actually really lucky to be in the same district as someone that was in my MTC district, Elder Stocking. His companion, Elder Rose, is really good friends with Elder Secretan, MTC buddies as well, and they are in Juncal. They share the same chapel as us and so we get to see them a lot and I'm actually emailing with them right now. :)
So to try and answer some of the questions. We have our laundry done at a place that is a couple blocks away. She is actually an old investigator, but she has the lowest price so we go to her and she's friendly with us. All of the clothes are all working out and I'm really glad for all of the hard work that you put in for me in preparing me for my mission. I'm also not going to be eating at Wendy's everyday haha, but it was a district treat because no one else had had that for their entire mission and it just opened up in our area. It's weird because some things down here are super expensive while other things are really cheap so I'm learning every week how to budget, but thanks for the thought. :) Since I have the big meeting this Wednesday I should receive any mail that has been sent, so I'm waiting for Grandpa's letter.
Wow the sports news really isn't any news right now haha, but I hope that BYU can pick it up and it's great that they've won so much already, and also remember that Tyler Haws will be there next season and so we should be on the rise once again, and I hope that Jimmer can find his rhythm soon, oh well. Have Tanner email me soon with more about sports and stuff. I'm glad that everything at home is doing really great especially with all the basketball and mom's new job. I'm excited for you and keep on telling me how that all goes. I will fast for Dad's job this Sunday and I know that everything will work out. Spanish is slowly coming and now my biggest hurdle right now is understanding what they are saying with their different accents.
Well, I just want to bear testimony that I know the Church is true and I know that the Lord really loves us so much and we just have to ask for the blessings that He's already willing to give us. Have a great week and I love you all!!!
Love,
Elder Pittard
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
We reached our goal of 13 lessons taught with members
Wow, there's so much that has happened this last week and I don't know if I can remember everything that happened.
Let's see if I can remember all of your questions. haha Hmm, money wise, yeah so far I've been good and they give us around $750 pesos a month, which I think right now that's a little less than $200 American dollars. It's different down here because they use the same symbol that we do for dollar signs and so everything always looks like it's in American dollars, like all the ads for the new McD's say that their big mac is only $14 haha, which is actually cheaper than most places. We just ate at Wendy's earlier today. We went bowling with our district and that was really fun and they actually had a size 47 for me haha or a 13 in the US. :) Oh and it's also really weird but really the only music they listen to down here is American music and it's amazing the influence that America has down here--all the shops on the side of the streets and there are two really big malls just in our tiny area. There is one in the area known as Abasto, or something like that, and it's really nice but it's right next to where all of the poorer people live, the houses are all so small down here but they still find room to fit a satellite tv and a computer and dvd player, it's because it's just what they see all around them and it's easily accessible. That stuff is nice but I would first spend it all on stuff that I need like a decent mattress and an actual stove. The standard of living is just really different down here and that's something that I need to get accustomed to.
Then after we got done bowling, I think it might be the only one in the area, haha then we took the subway which is actually really expensive right now. It used to be 1.10 pesos for one ride but in one night it switched to 2.50 a ride, so the government is different down here and the police aren't the best. So we had Wendy's, which is a special treat for everyone, because our district hasn't had Wendy's for a long time, haha. The line was super long and the combo for the double baconator, which is the only bacon in Argentina haha, was $42 pesos. (we figured that was about $11) but it was totally worth it and it tasted really good, but the frosty didn't taste like a frosty, most things down here don't taste the same but I'm adjusting just fine :). Carrying money isn't a problem where I'm at. It's not encouraged but I could without having any problems and same with my camera, but everywhere else outside of our district, which is basically all of the capital area, you would need to watch what you carried. Actually, in the villas around here we couldn't either, but I've only ever been on the outskirts like 4 or 5 times. But I'm excited because we are going in on Wednesday and trying to find some contacts that we received. Yeah, our apartment is pretty safe but we still keep them in a hidden place, but I should be fine.
Alright, so language wise I'm definitely improving but it's on a weekly basis and Elder Secreten said that it took him a couple months, but I'm hoping that since we had a better foundation at the MTC because of the new program that started a couple of months before I got there, that I can adjust quicker. But yeah, they still are speaking really fast and the accent is sometimes hard to pick out, but Elder Secreten said that he just woke up one day and he could understand. haha So I'm anxiously awaiting that day.
Um I actually have only cooked eggs once so far and have just eaten whatever I have bought just around the corner at the supermercado. I've had frosted flakes and fruit loops and cocoa puffs so far and they definitely don't have the same quality as the American kind but I'm loving it. I've taken a bunch of pictures and only a couple of the streets because I haven't had that much of an opportunity outside the pension, but I plan on burning a disc soon and sending that soon. I don't have any way to send some pictures so you'll just have to wait for a couple of more weeks. Food and weather wise... hmm well all that I can say is that it's hot and humid everyday down here and I'm getting used to it but I still have to sleep with the fan on all night and I'm sweating a ton. I'm drinking a lot of Tang and water whenever I can. I bring a little bottle of water while we are walking around and fill it up at the church. I have a big 1.5L bottle that I use for my Tang packets and those save me every night because I love the flavor. Then sometimes the members offer us something to drink and I've drunk everything from pink grapefruit juice, homemade peach juice and water from an old vodka container haha. The members down here are super nice and they love giving food and drink to us and we readily accept because we are walking all day in the sun and heat. My feet are just starting to get used to all of the walking and I'm really glad that I have the cushioned socks because I don't even recognize the heat after 20 min of walking. Umm... I don't actually use the sunscreen, I haven't been burnt yet and I don't think that we are ever in the sun long enough for it to affect us. (all of the tall buildings and trees everywhere, you saw that, basically all of the pictures that I have from the street you've probably already seen from the Google pictures haha.) I don't carry snacks around because they would just melt and I'm using the little side bag that they gave us, just big enough to hold my Book of Mormon, a spare Book of Mormon and a couple of pamphlets and my little water bottle. And after we have a lunch we don't have any dinners with members here because they don't even eat dinner here until after 9:30 pm, so we usually just snack at night as much as we can. The food has been good and the weirdest thing that I've eaten is some sort of spinach pie and we ate that in the villa the other day and we had some Sprite mixed with some wierd herbal tea goo, I guess it was alright haha, but I ate it all.
Ok, so some spiritual things from last week. We reached our goal of 13 lessons taught with members present and we taught an additional 8, so a good total of 21. We were happy since lessons are hard to come by down here, especially when we only had a couple with someone that wasn't a member instead of a recent convert or menos activos. Though we are confident that the Lord is helping build our faith and patience. We taught an older lady that is catholic last week. Her name is Mirta and the lesson was going great until we reached the part about the correct authority that wasn't passed down through Peter. She didn't agree with that but luckily she accepted to read the LdM (Libro de Mormon) and pray about it. We weren't able to meet with Jessica this past week, but we were told that she was reading a little so that was good. Then we actually had an investigator attend church with us this last week, though we had to go get her an hour after church started, it was still good. Alright, so a little bit more about my church, it starts at 9:30 in the morning and starts with the 3rd hour first ending with sacrament meeting. We have priesthood in a smaller room downstairs, oh yeah it's two stories and I guess that it was redone a couple of years ago and it's really nice. It has a soccer court in the back surrounded by a lot of tall walls and it's surrounded by a bunch of taller buildings. It reminds me of NYC except not on the corner of a street. Then we have Sunday school downstairs as well and then we go upstairs to have sacrament meeting. Funny thing, each of the two wards have their own microphone so they bring it to the meeting and hook it up to the stand. We had Hermana Gladys come to church and she's a part of a family that is part-member, her son around 25 yrs old, joined the church last year and so we are going to go over and teach the rest of the family because they have shown some interest and Hermana Gladys already has 2 asitencias to the capilla. So we just need 3 attendances for her to be baptized. Yesterday we visited 2 recent converts that didn't come to church again today. Richard and Alex, we taught them the importance of church attendance, especially for the sacrament meeting. 9 in the morning is hard for a lot of Argentines because their culture is one that stays up late every night and gets up later. So if you're not motivated then you easily sleep in.
We had a couple of times this last week where we went one place for one reason but ended up helping someone else out and finding some older investigators that we couldn't find in their houses. We just happened to meet them on the street and that's usually when we were just walking around with no sure plans at that time. I've been really safe here and I always look when crossing streets. So hopefully I've answered everything and I just love you all so much!!!
I've got to run and I can't wait for the cards and letters. Oh, and thanks for the package again Mom, it has really helped. Happy birthday Alex and have a great week.!!!
Love,Elder Pittard
Let's see if I can remember all of your questions. haha Hmm, money wise, yeah so far I've been good and they give us around $750 pesos a month, which I think right now that's a little less than $200 American dollars. It's different down here because they use the same symbol that we do for dollar signs and so everything always looks like it's in American dollars, like all the ads for the new McD's say that their big mac is only $14 haha, which is actually cheaper than most places. We just ate at Wendy's earlier today. We went bowling with our district and that was really fun and they actually had a size 47 for me haha or a 13 in the US. :) Oh and it's also really weird but really the only music they listen to down here is American music and it's amazing the influence that America has down here--all the shops on the side of the streets and there are two really big malls just in our tiny area. There is one in the area known as Abasto, or something like that, and it's really nice but it's right next to where all of the poorer people live, the houses are all so small down here but they still find room to fit a satellite tv and a computer and dvd player, it's because it's just what they see all around them and it's easily accessible. That stuff is nice but I would first spend it all on stuff that I need like a decent mattress and an actual stove. The standard of living is just really different down here and that's something that I need to get accustomed to.
Then after we got done bowling, I think it might be the only one in the area, haha then we took the subway which is actually really expensive right now. It used to be 1.10 pesos for one ride but in one night it switched to 2.50 a ride, so the government is different down here and the police aren't the best. So we had Wendy's, which is a special treat for everyone, because our district hasn't had Wendy's for a long time, haha. The line was super long and the combo for the double baconator, which is the only bacon in Argentina haha, was $42 pesos. (we figured that was about $11) but it was totally worth it and it tasted really good, but the frosty didn't taste like a frosty, most things down here don't taste the same but I'm adjusting just fine :). Carrying money isn't a problem where I'm at. It's not encouraged but I could without having any problems and same with my camera, but everywhere else outside of our district, which is basically all of the capital area, you would need to watch what you carried. Actually, in the villas around here we couldn't either, but I've only ever been on the outskirts like 4 or 5 times. But I'm excited because we are going in on Wednesday and trying to find some contacts that we received. Yeah, our apartment is pretty safe but we still keep them in a hidden place, but I should be fine.
Alright, so language wise I'm definitely improving but it's on a weekly basis and Elder Secreten said that it took him a couple months, but I'm hoping that since we had a better foundation at the MTC because of the new program that started a couple of months before I got there, that I can adjust quicker. But yeah, they still are speaking really fast and the accent is sometimes hard to pick out, but Elder Secreten said that he just woke up one day and he could understand. haha So I'm anxiously awaiting that day.
Um I actually have only cooked eggs once so far and have just eaten whatever I have bought just around the corner at the supermercado. I've had frosted flakes and fruit loops and cocoa puffs so far and they definitely don't have the same quality as the American kind but I'm loving it. I've taken a bunch of pictures and only a couple of the streets because I haven't had that much of an opportunity outside the pension, but I plan on burning a disc soon and sending that soon. I don't have any way to send some pictures so you'll just have to wait for a couple of more weeks. Food and weather wise... hmm well all that I can say is that it's hot and humid everyday down here and I'm getting used to it but I still have to sleep with the fan on all night and I'm sweating a ton. I'm drinking a lot of Tang and water whenever I can. I bring a little bottle of water while we are walking around and fill it up at the church. I have a big 1.5L bottle that I use for my Tang packets and those save me every night because I love the flavor. Then sometimes the members offer us something to drink and I've drunk everything from pink grapefruit juice, homemade peach juice and water from an old vodka container haha. The members down here are super nice and they love giving food and drink to us and we readily accept because we are walking all day in the sun and heat. My feet are just starting to get used to all of the walking and I'm really glad that I have the cushioned socks because I don't even recognize the heat after 20 min of walking. Umm... I don't actually use the sunscreen, I haven't been burnt yet and I don't think that we are ever in the sun long enough for it to affect us. (all of the tall buildings and trees everywhere, you saw that, basically all of the pictures that I have from the street you've probably already seen from the Google pictures haha.) I don't carry snacks around because they would just melt and I'm using the little side bag that they gave us, just big enough to hold my Book of Mormon, a spare Book of Mormon and a couple of pamphlets and my little water bottle. And after we have a lunch we don't have any dinners with members here because they don't even eat dinner here until after 9:30 pm, so we usually just snack at night as much as we can. The food has been good and the weirdest thing that I've eaten is some sort of spinach pie and we ate that in the villa the other day and we had some Sprite mixed with some wierd herbal tea goo, I guess it was alright haha, but I ate it all.
Ok, so some spiritual things from last week. We reached our goal of 13 lessons taught with members present and we taught an additional 8, so a good total of 21. We were happy since lessons are hard to come by down here, especially when we only had a couple with someone that wasn't a member instead of a recent convert or menos activos. Though we are confident that the Lord is helping build our faith and patience. We taught an older lady that is catholic last week. Her name is Mirta and the lesson was going great until we reached the part about the correct authority that wasn't passed down through Peter. She didn't agree with that but luckily she accepted to read the LdM (Libro de Mormon) and pray about it. We weren't able to meet with Jessica this past week, but we were told that she was reading a little so that was good. Then we actually had an investigator attend church with us this last week, though we had to go get her an hour after church started, it was still good. Alright, so a little bit more about my church, it starts at 9:30 in the morning and starts with the 3rd hour first ending with sacrament meeting. We have priesthood in a smaller room downstairs, oh yeah it's two stories and I guess that it was redone a couple of years ago and it's really nice. It has a soccer court in the back surrounded by a lot of tall walls and it's surrounded by a bunch of taller buildings. It reminds me of NYC except not on the corner of a street. Then we have Sunday school downstairs as well and then we go upstairs to have sacrament meeting. Funny thing, each of the two wards have their own microphone so they bring it to the meeting and hook it up to the stand. We had Hermana Gladys come to church and she's a part of a family that is part-member, her son around 25 yrs old, joined the church last year and so we are going to go over and teach the rest of the family because they have shown some interest and Hermana Gladys already has 2 asitencias to the capilla. So we just need 3 attendances for her to be baptized. Yesterday we visited 2 recent converts that didn't come to church again today. Richard and Alex, we taught them the importance of church attendance, especially for the sacrament meeting. 9 in the morning is hard for a lot of Argentines because their culture is one that stays up late every night and gets up later. So if you're not motivated then you easily sleep in.
We had a couple of times this last week where we went one place for one reason but ended up helping someone else out and finding some older investigators that we couldn't find in their houses. We just happened to meet them on the street and that's usually when we were just walking around with no sure plans at that time. I've been really safe here and I always look when crossing streets. So hopefully I've answered everything and I just love you all so much!!!
I've got to run and I can't wait for the cards and letters. Oh, and thanks for the package again Mom, it has really helped. Happy birthday Alex and have a great week.!!!
Love,Elder Pittard
Monday, January 16, 2012
Hello from the great country of Argentina
Well, I made it. haha Wow, so much has happened on both of our sides of the world. I'm glad that Tanner is doing great and that Alex is also starting. Woohoo Don't worry about the record, hey look at me. ;) haha and good job Braden. Thanks for all of your notes. I really felt all of your love. The Lord is truly watching over us and it will all work out in the end.
So my side of the story…after I was done talking with you I basically had a small dinner and then boarded the plane around 8:00pm ET. We had a 3 row plane and it was really nice, I actually got to sit in the emergency exit and have more leg room. We started off and had dinner, they started playing a movie but I did other things. Don't worry about me, but I only had 1-2 hours of decent sleep that night. The tv was on all night and sleeping in a shirt and tie wasn't very easy. We landed around 8:00am Argentina time and wow, what a culture shock. We went through the passport check area, oh and we had 35 missionaries on my plane, all going somewhere in Argentina. Then we got all of our bags and passed through customs and there was President and Sister Gulbrandsen and the AP's. They took all of us on a smaller bus thing and we all got to know each other better. We had a 45 minute ride to the mission home and we also passed by the temple on the way over. Then at their house we received our mission packet and took the pictures. Then we ate empanadas and took a group picture. Then we met our new companions. My new comp is Elder Secreten who has been out a year and is from Pleasant Grove. He's a really good elder and I have loved being with him. Then I learned that I was going to my area, which is Palermo. It is right in the downtown part of Buenos Aires! My apartment is on the fourth floor. The ride over was crazy because we had to ride for another 40 minutes in a smaller car and the drivers here don't have that many rules, the only thing they seem to follow is the red light green light, thankfully. haha My apartment is really tiny, like most houses here in the city and I'm on the top bunk, again haha. We have a tiny kitchen and a tiny bathroom with the sanitary, (not sure what this means) It's going to be alright.
I'm loving it here and it has definitely been a culture shock. There are so many crazy things that happen here that I would have to take another 2 emails to tell you all of it. Remember when we were walking the streets of NYC? That's me every day except less people, a different language and I'm in missionary attire. Our ward is a good sized one with around 70 active members that all live in this downtown area. First, our zone is basically the capital area, so everyone in the zone is either in the downtown area or the area called the villa, or the poorest spot or the ghetto basically. It's really cool, cause Elder Stocking from my MTC district is in my same district here and me and him are good friends and we were the only two I guess to be in the same district or zone from all of the new missionaries.
So about my area mission wise. We actually don't have any new investigators or progressing ones either. Our mission focuses a ton on teaching lessons with members, so our mission goal is that every companionship will teach 20 a week, if we do that we will have more baptisms. We had 11 this last week, which Elder Secreten said that was actually really good for this area. We have to solely depend on the members for references because street contacting is almost a waste of time here. Palermo is the richest of the whole capital area and also one of the most prideful, though we have faith that the Lord is preparing someone for us. So basically this last week we had all of our lessons with recent converts or less active members or part member families.
As soon as we first arrived in my area we went straight to work. That night we walked out to our tiny sliver of our area that is a villa and taught a part member family about reading the Book of Mormon. Walking out there, Elder Secreten had to put his phone in his sock, but that is the only area that we actually have any chance of being robbed. Since my area is really nice and wealthier we don't have to ever really worry about that. The villa is a sad place, actually. Almost everywhere we have been the standard of living is so poor from where our apartment is located. It's sad that everyone has a dish on their house that they've made out of an old train car (sounds like they live in old train cars??) Only in the villa though. Everywhere else we have to walk through the door and everyone has a tv, some have one or two computers and everything else is dirty and small. (not quite sure what he was meaning there) Not used to that haha. Some apartments though are nicer and they are bigger and have real furniture.
I have met a lot of people and I'm slowly starting to pick up the language. I still can't understand anyone because of the accents here, there's a huge Italian influence here and so imagine an Italian talking like an Italian but speaking as fast as you possibly can in Spanish. Then you have the Latino influence which is they slur every word possible and say it under their breath. haha It'll take some time getting used to. Speaking wise, that will also come.
Oh, while I'm thinking about it, you know the crazy drivers and motorcyclists here, so crossing the street is the most exciting thing that happens every day. Haha Don't worry I'll always look one way, because there are very few roads that are two way. Oh and even the bigger roads, one road we have to cross I counted 12 lanes all going one way so that was pretty cool. Luckily I don't see very many homeless people here but the graffiti is everywhere and we have to watch where we are looking sometimes. I guess it's like that in every city. It's amazing how much of an American influence there is here. There's a McDonald's and a Burger King, and a Wendy's just opened up in the district. haha Everything tastes different here and I'll just have to get used to it, but it tastes really good. Oh and I´m only using the water bottle as much as I can, but I still have the other water too, which actually isn't that bad and doesn't taste that bad especially since I can add some Tang powder to it. :)
We actually taught one real lesson to a woman named Jessica and we taught her lesson one. She said yes to baptism but works every Sunday and wouldn't commit to a date, so we will see where that goes. We've been teaching these new converts, Jose, Richard and Alex. They love trying to speak some English with me. Haha I guess that's what I sound like to them. :) Today for p-day we went to an indoor soccer place and played some soccer with the members, or the youth there. We played on a tiny concrete court. That was fun to get some energy out. There's not too much we can do otherwise for exercise because of our small living quarters. Showers are fun because we don't have a shower curtain and the water goes everywhere and we don’t have a hot shower. I've had either frosted flakes or fruit loops for breakfast every day. The milk tastes good here and yes, it's in a bag. I've been surviving off the snacks that you sent me for the flight. :) I've also started the LdM again and I'm in 1st Nephi still. :) Church was great and I was asked to give my testimony in sacrament meeting. The Church is still the same here and we meet in a building kind of like the one in NYC just right off the street and it looks really nice compared to all of the other ones.
Well , I love you lots and please let me know everything that goes on. Also, I haven't had a chance to write any letters yet so sorry to those that are waiting, I'll try to write them when I get a chance. I've got to go but just know that the Church is true here in hot, sweaty Argentina, haha, and I'm loving it. Oh and I can't really see the stars at night, maybe one day. Haha Oh, I love my mission president and his wife and the interview went really well. And riding the bus is also fun because once again they like to go fast on the downtown streets. I don't know if there is a speed limit. Oh and I don't know when I'll send pictures, I want to take more before I use another disc.
Good luck with everything!!!
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
So my side of the story…after I was done talking with you I basically had a small dinner and then boarded the plane around 8:00pm ET. We had a 3 row plane and it was really nice, I actually got to sit in the emergency exit and have more leg room. We started off and had dinner, they started playing a movie but I did other things. Don't worry about me, but I only had 1-2 hours of decent sleep that night. The tv was on all night and sleeping in a shirt and tie wasn't very easy. We landed around 8:00am Argentina time and wow, what a culture shock. We went through the passport check area, oh and we had 35 missionaries on my plane, all going somewhere in Argentina. Then we got all of our bags and passed through customs and there was President and Sister Gulbrandsen and the AP's. They took all of us on a smaller bus thing and we all got to know each other better. We had a 45 minute ride to the mission home and we also passed by the temple on the way over. Then at their house we received our mission packet and took the pictures. Then we ate empanadas and took a group picture. Then we met our new companions. My new comp is Elder Secreten who has been out a year and is from Pleasant Grove. He's a really good elder and I have loved being with him. Then I learned that I was going to my area, which is Palermo. It is right in the downtown part of Buenos Aires! My apartment is on the fourth floor. The ride over was crazy because we had to ride for another 40 minutes in a smaller car and the drivers here don't have that many rules, the only thing they seem to follow is the red light green light, thankfully. haha My apartment is really tiny, like most houses here in the city and I'm on the top bunk, again haha. We have a tiny kitchen and a tiny bathroom with the sanitary, (not sure what this means) It's going to be alright.
I'm loving it here and it has definitely been a culture shock. There are so many crazy things that happen here that I would have to take another 2 emails to tell you all of it. Remember when we were walking the streets of NYC? That's me every day except less people, a different language and I'm in missionary attire. Our ward is a good sized one with around 70 active members that all live in this downtown area. First, our zone is basically the capital area, so everyone in the zone is either in the downtown area or the area called the villa, or the poorest spot or the ghetto basically. It's really cool, cause Elder Stocking from my MTC district is in my same district here and me and him are good friends and we were the only two I guess to be in the same district or zone from all of the new missionaries.
So about my area mission wise. We actually don't have any new investigators or progressing ones either. Our mission focuses a ton on teaching lessons with members, so our mission goal is that every companionship will teach 20 a week, if we do that we will have more baptisms. We had 11 this last week, which Elder Secreten said that was actually really good for this area. We have to solely depend on the members for references because street contacting is almost a waste of time here. Palermo is the richest of the whole capital area and also one of the most prideful, though we have faith that the Lord is preparing someone for us. So basically this last week we had all of our lessons with recent converts or less active members or part member families.
As soon as we first arrived in my area we went straight to work. That night we walked out to our tiny sliver of our area that is a villa and taught a part member family about reading the Book of Mormon. Walking out there, Elder Secreten had to put his phone in his sock, but that is the only area that we actually have any chance of being robbed. Since my area is really nice and wealthier we don't have to ever really worry about that. The villa is a sad place, actually. Almost everywhere we have been the standard of living is so poor from where our apartment is located. It's sad that everyone has a dish on their house that they've made out of an old train car (sounds like they live in old train cars??) Only in the villa though. Everywhere else we have to walk through the door and everyone has a tv, some have one or two computers and everything else is dirty and small. (not quite sure what he was meaning there) Not used to that haha. Some apartments though are nicer and they are bigger and have real furniture.
I have met a lot of people and I'm slowly starting to pick up the language. I still can't understand anyone because of the accents here, there's a huge Italian influence here and so imagine an Italian talking like an Italian but speaking as fast as you possibly can in Spanish. Then you have the Latino influence which is they slur every word possible and say it under their breath. haha It'll take some time getting used to. Speaking wise, that will also come.
Oh, while I'm thinking about it, you know the crazy drivers and motorcyclists here, so crossing the street is the most exciting thing that happens every day. Haha Don't worry I'll always look one way, because there are very few roads that are two way. Oh and even the bigger roads, one road we have to cross I counted 12 lanes all going one way so that was pretty cool. Luckily I don't see very many homeless people here but the graffiti is everywhere and we have to watch where we are looking sometimes. I guess it's like that in every city. It's amazing how much of an American influence there is here. There's a McDonald's and a Burger King, and a Wendy's just opened up in the district. haha Everything tastes different here and I'll just have to get used to it, but it tastes really good. Oh and I´m only using the water bottle as much as I can, but I still have the other water too, which actually isn't that bad and doesn't taste that bad especially since I can add some Tang powder to it. :)
We actually taught one real lesson to a woman named Jessica and we taught her lesson one. She said yes to baptism but works every Sunday and wouldn't commit to a date, so we will see where that goes. We've been teaching these new converts, Jose, Richard and Alex. They love trying to speak some English with me. Haha I guess that's what I sound like to them. :) Today for p-day we went to an indoor soccer place and played some soccer with the members, or the youth there. We played on a tiny concrete court. That was fun to get some energy out. There's not too much we can do otherwise for exercise because of our small living quarters. Showers are fun because we don't have a shower curtain and the water goes everywhere and we don’t have a hot shower. I've had either frosted flakes or fruit loops for breakfast every day. The milk tastes good here and yes, it's in a bag. I've been surviving off the snacks that you sent me for the flight. :) I've also started the LdM again and I'm in 1st Nephi still. :) Church was great and I was asked to give my testimony in sacrament meeting. The Church is still the same here and we meet in a building kind of like the one in NYC just right off the street and it looks really nice compared to all of the other ones.
Well , I love you lots and please let me know everything that goes on. Also, I haven't had a chance to write any letters yet so sorry to those that are waiting, I'll try to write them when I get a chance. I've got to go but just know that the Church is true here in hot, sweaty Argentina, haha, and I'm loving it. Oh and I can't really see the stars at night, maybe one day. Haha Oh, I love my mission president and his wife and the interview went really well. And riding the bus is also fun because once again they like to go fast on the downtown streets. I don't know if there is a speed limit. Oh and I don't know when I'll send pictures, I want to take more before I use another disc.
Good luck with everything!!!
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Elder Pittard has arrived in Buenos Aires!!
We received a short email from Ryan's mission president (President and Sister Gulbrandsen) this morning letting us know that Elder Pittard had arrived, and they included this picture. I thought it was fun that he chose to wear his light blue tie...the color of Argentina's flag. :)
What a fun 24 hours we had. It started at 6:30am Monday morning when we all drove over to the freeway overpass near our home to watch for the MTC buses. It was 17 degrees outside...some of us stood outside and watched, and others chose to wait in the heated car. :) In Ryan's last email he had mentioned that they were meeting at the MTC travel office at 6am and then would take a shuttle up to the airport. I wasn't sure if he was referring to the MTC buses that I thought the missionaries always rode up to the airport, or if they were actually going to ride in a smaller shuttle bus. Just a minute or two after we got out to watch at the overpass, we did see a smaller white shuttle bus drive by....but we weren't sure if that had been him or not, so we decided to wait for some buses to drive by. A couple minutes before 7am we did see two large buses drive by within a couple minutes of each other...and wondered if that had been Ryan. :) (Later while talking to him on the phone we found out that his group of 16 missionaries did in fact ride to the airport in a smaller shuttle bus and it was white...so maybe the shuttle we saw was Ryan's) ?? :) Anyways...it was fun to say that we were thinking of him and that we did go out and watch for him.
Ryan was able to call us during his 4 hour layover in Atlanta. I made sure we had everyone home from school in time to talk to Ryan. To say it was fun to talk to him is an understatement! It was great hearing his voice and being able to talk to him and have him answer all our questions (we had made a long list). We were all gathered around the table in the family room--we had the phone on speaker phone and I even had the video camera right next to the phone to record the entire conversation. (and that turned out great...it's been fun to listen to it again)
We turned on a flight tracker on the computer and had fun watching his flight while we made dinner. Ryan mentioned that all 16 missionaries in his traveling group (14 elders and 2 sisters) were all going to the Buenos Aires North mission. Wow!
We all thought it would be fun to have an Argentina dinner. I googled some recipes. We barbecued (yes, Cary went outside and cooked beef tenderloin on the barbecue in 20 degree weather), I made chimichurri sauce to go with the meat, and the kids helped me make empanadas. We also had salad and bread. It was a yummy meal!
I realized later that I too had worn Argentina colors that day. I hadn't even thought about that when I got dressed that morning!
We kept our eyes on Ryan....
and this is where he was when I decided to go to bed
The email we received from the mission president told us that, "We all ate lunch together here in the mission home and this afternoon he will be meeting his trainer and arriving in his area of work. Your son will be communicating with you on his preparation day."
So now we wait until next Monday.....
Monday, January 2, 2012
Well, I guess I'm going to Argentina :)
Hey there!!!
I got my travel plans and that was the most exciting thing that happened this last week. :) We got them last Thursday after lunch. Alright, so I meet up at the travel office at 6 am next Monday the 9th. I have to be all packed and ready by then. Then we take our shuttle up to the SLC airport, oh and we have 16 missionaries in our group with 13 elders and 3 sisters. I know all of the elders because their classroom was right down the hallway and most of them are either going to BAN or Neuquen. So we will have a bigger sized travel group so we will be a sight to see. haha :) We leave SLC around 9:47am and we are flying to Atlanta. We will have a 4 hr and 20 min layover because our next flight won't leave until 7:50pm ET or 5:50pm MT. I will call home from the Atlanta airport. Atlanta will be fun because I can call and have many missionary oppurtunities, haha. A group that big will definitely draw attention. :) Can't wait. I'm excited to actually get to share it with real people, and maybe I'll get to practice a little in English before I get to all Spanish haha. Our plane leaves ATL around 7:50pm ET or 5:50pm MT and we will fly all night for 12 hrs and 5 min till we land around 7:55am ET or 5:55am MT in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 10th :) Haha so I'm super excited to get going and I'm going to be loving having this opportunity to be a missionary. 15hrs and 45mins is the longest flight time that I've ever had, but it will be worth it. They have advised us not to give out BoM's at the SLC airport just because they say that they have closets full of BoM's that get left behind by people. :) So all my luggage will work out, and it will be a long 23 and a half hours of travel time, time left the Provo MTC and the time when I land in BA :) Oh and I'm not the travel leader because I have a P last name, it's by alphabetical order, just so you know. ;)
Thanks for the emails I loved them and thanks so much for the New Year's gifts and party things. haha My whole district loved the sparkling cider and we had a great time, and all before 10:30 too. :) I have a busy week this next week, especially Wednesday. I'm hosting again, so maybe I'll see Hyrum or maybe even JJ Tenney. It was fun last week and it'll be fun again this week. :) Then that night, me and Elder DeFriez were asked to be an example to big groups of new elders and sisters on how to begin teaching. It's part of the first day orientation where all of the new missionaries come and for 3hrs watch and answer questions of "investigators" and we will have to start teaching some of them--in English too. :) It should be fun. No I haven't heard any honking, sorry. :) Oh and how many minutes are on the calling card, is it unlimited, what's all the cost's surrounding it? Thanks. Let me know asap. haha And I won't be emailing you until Monday the 16th, but I'm excited to call in a week. :)
Ok I'm almost out of time because I spent a few extra minutes reading your emails, so here's a quick summary of this last week. :) Thursday I taught 4 different lessons which was the most that I've ever had in a single day and I realized that is how it's done in the field, so I'm excited to get there. We first taught a sub, who was acting like he was disinterested the whole lesson, then we taught a quick short lesson in TRC to some sister missionaries and then a full 20 minute discussion with a member/teacher on the importance and special thing that we have in prayer, the direct communication with God. :) Then we taught Alexandra about some of the commandments and helped her progress towards her baptism date this next Saturday. :) And then yesterday was Fast Sunday and I gave a great testimony in Spanish during sacrament meeting. :) It was fun to think that I didn't need to think that much when speaking, it's improving bit by bit every day. Then we had a great fireside where the director of all of the International MTC's spoke to us and told us about all of the other 14 MTC's and some awesome stories of elders and sisters that had made sacrifices to be on their mission. One guy from the Philippines was 7'8"!!! haha, but I guess one of the most humblest elders too. Then another sister who didn't have enough money, nor her parents, and so she went and played her violin on Temple Square with a sign saying need money for my mission, and after a couple of weeks had enough to go. :) It was cool to hear those and I realized how lucky I am to have you as parents and thanks to everyone that has helped me in my mission effort. :) Then we watched the Jose Smith movie again last night and it just rekindled my testimony of him even more. :)
Alright, to answer your questions... Braxton's mom (Elder DeFriez) sent us matching Argentina ties for Christmas, so that was a really nice gift and a totally unexpected one.
I'm super glad that BYU won and I guess the word got around fast cause I knew that night who had won. :)
Keep me updated and let me know about when to call next Monday. :)
Love You!!!
Elder Ryan Pittard
I got my travel plans and that was the most exciting thing that happened this last week. :) We got them last Thursday after lunch. Alright, so I meet up at the travel office at 6 am next Monday the 9th. I have to be all packed and ready by then. Then we take our shuttle up to the SLC airport, oh and we have 16 missionaries in our group with 13 elders and 3 sisters. I know all of the elders because their classroom was right down the hallway and most of them are either going to BAN or Neuquen. So we will have a bigger sized travel group so we will be a sight to see. haha :) We leave SLC around 9:47am and we are flying to Atlanta. We will have a 4 hr and 20 min layover because our next flight won't leave until 7:50pm ET or 5:50pm MT. I will call home from the Atlanta airport. Atlanta will be fun because I can call and have many missionary oppurtunities, haha. A group that big will definitely draw attention. :) Can't wait. I'm excited to actually get to share it with real people, and maybe I'll get to practice a little in English before I get to all Spanish haha. Our plane leaves ATL around 7:50pm ET or 5:50pm MT and we will fly all night for 12 hrs and 5 min till we land around 7:55am ET or 5:55am MT in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 10th :) Haha so I'm super excited to get going and I'm going to be loving having this opportunity to be a missionary. 15hrs and 45mins is the longest flight time that I've ever had, but it will be worth it. They have advised us not to give out BoM's at the SLC airport just because they say that they have closets full of BoM's that get left behind by people. :) So all my luggage will work out, and it will be a long 23 and a half hours of travel time, time left the Provo MTC and the time when I land in BA :) Oh and I'm not the travel leader because I have a P last name, it's by alphabetical order, just so you know. ;)
Thanks for the emails I loved them and thanks so much for the New Year's gifts and party things. haha My whole district loved the sparkling cider and we had a great time, and all before 10:30 too. :) I have a busy week this next week, especially Wednesday. I'm hosting again, so maybe I'll see Hyrum or maybe even JJ Tenney. It was fun last week and it'll be fun again this week. :) Then that night, me and Elder DeFriez were asked to be an example to big groups of new elders and sisters on how to begin teaching. It's part of the first day orientation where all of the new missionaries come and for 3hrs watch and answer questions of "investigators" and we will have to start teaching some of them--in English too. :) It should be fun. No I haven't heard any honking, sorry. :) Oh and how many minutes are on the calling card, is it unlimited, what's all the cost's surrounding it? Thanks. Let me know asap. haha And I won't be emailing you until Monday the 16th, but I'm excited to call in a week. :)
Ok I'm almost out of time because I spent a few extra minutes reading your emails, so here's a quick summary of this last week. :) Thursday I taught 4 different lessons which was the most that I've ever had in a single day and I realized that is how it's done in the field, so I'm excited to get there. We first taught a sub, who was acting like he was disinterested the whole lesson, then we taught a quick short lesson in TRC to some sister missionaries and then a full 20 minute discussion with a member/teacher on the importance and special thing that we have in prayer, the direct communication with God. :) Then we taught Alexandra about some of the commandments and helped her progress towards her baptism date this next Saturday. :) And then yesterday was Fast Sunday and I gave a great testimony in Spanish during sacrament meeting. :) It was fun to think that I didn't need to think that much when speaking, it's improving bit by bit every day. Then we had a great fireside where the director of all of the International MTC's spoke to us and told us about all of the other 14 MTC's and some awesome stories of elders and sisters that had made sacrifices to be on their mission. One guy from the Philippines was 7'8"!!! haha, but I guess one of the most humblest elders too. Then another sister who didn't have enough money, nor her parents, and so she went and played her violin on Temple Square with a sign saying need money for my mission, and after a couple of weeks had enough to go. :) It was cool to hear those and I realized how lucky I am to have you as parents and thanks to everyone that has helped me in my mission effort. :) Then we watched the Jose Smith movie again last night and it just rekindled my testimony of him even more. :)
Alright, to answer your questions... Braxton's mom (Elder DeFriez) sent us matching Argentina ties for Christmas, so that was a really nice gift and a totally unexpected one.
But, here's the thing, he's the youngest of 6, and he has 5 older sisters. So he's the first missionary in their family because his parents were converts. Elder Wood is a great elder and our DL, but I wouldn't say that I'm super close to anybody, we are just like a family and we all get along together. That other picture was on a self timer and we had like 4 at the same time going so no one was sure where to look, and so no one's pics turned out haha we were having fun. That was like our first week too.
Oh and I actually had my Spanish scriptures and Spanish hymnbook engraved here at the MTC for very cheap.
I'm super glad that BYU won and I guess the word got around fast cause I knew that night who had won. :)
Keep me updated and let me know about when to call next Monday. :)
Love You!!!
Elder Ryan Pittard
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)