So yeah things have been nuts this last
week. I will answer your questions.
It took 2 hours from McAllen to Dallas, a 3 hour layover, 10
and a half hours from Dallas to Buenos Aires. We got there and had to wait for
other missionaries to arrive that were going to Salta also. We waited for about
3 hours. It took all day Monday and Tuesday morning to get there. We went
around to some places and then had to take a flight from Buenos Aires to Salta...2 more hours. It was crazy. There was a giant group of about 20-30 missionaries
running [through] the airport because the plane was going to leave soon. We got to Salta
late.
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| Coming off plane in Salta. Greeted by Presidente Lavrino. |
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| On bus at Salta airport headed to ? |
We did a few things and stayed at a tiny hotel and slept. Wednesday we did
stuff at the church all day.
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| Alec with Presidente and Sister Lavrino |
At about 8 pm we got our new companions. My
companions name is Elder Morena and he is from Peru. He is awesome. I like him
a lot.
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| Alec and Elder Morena |
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| Alec and Elder Morena |
[All the pictures above were posted on Sister Lavrino's face book Wednesday morning, October 9]
At 9 or 9:30 we were at the bus waiting to go to our areas. We were on the
bus all night. We arrived at our apartment at about 8 in the morning on Thursday. Super tired. But now I am still getting situated a bit and all.
But in Dallas
there were a ton of missionaries. Landon did show up. I just got off the
phone with you and got up and turned around when he was walking up. I just saw
missionaries then took a double take and we recognized each other at the same
time. It was super cool. He does look different. [Editor's Note: Landon (Elder Cobb) is from our Stake and was temporarily serving in California while waiting for his visa to Buenos Aires South Mission. It was fun to know he and Alec were on the same flight together to Argentina].
So my area is called "Frias." It is the last area
in the mission. Very bottom. From what my companion tells me it gets super hot
here too.I already miss the United States. Things are really different here, but I still like it. I already miss peanut butter and for some reason maple syrup.
The language is also different. People use the sound
"shh" for all the words that have double L and double R, on y´s, and
depending on the person they use it on almost all r´s double or not. It helps
that I have learned some Spanish in the other mission.
It did rain on Friday and Saturday. It rained a lot. Like
some of the streets were completely flooded and we could not cross. There were
a lot of kids playing in it and sometimes adults would walk through it and it
would be up to their knees. At one point some kids grabbed big rocks and made a
path for us to cross. I didnt use my boots. I used the
rockport waterproof shoes. They worked good.
[General] Conference was awesome. Missionary work is something absolutely great. Missionaries do have lots of success but if it comes through the members also there is so much more success that comes. A missionary's job is to help someone get through the gate of baptism. We are the only ones that hold those keys in the entire world. With members and missionaries together more people are able to go through. The members also help with the period after entering into the gate. The enduring to the end part. This is something I learned through Pres. Trayner. The gate and everything is in 2 Nephi 31. It is something super important and awesome.
I think that it was Elder Ballard in conference that gave a
promise. He said that if you talk to and share the gospel with the people you
know millions will come to know of the truth. That is paraphrasing but it is
something real. I encourage you to look for that talk. I think it was him but
anyways to think of something that you guys can do. Even with the entire
family.
Well I got to go. I will send some pictures. I love you guys
a lot. I will see you next week. I love you!
Elder Dawson
