February 27, 2017

So today is the first day of a new transfer... I am staying in my area and getting a new companion! It is super sad because this last transfer was super great but it is what it is. Life as a chess-piece haha. But this next transfer is going to be super great too! My new companion I get tomorrow is from Georgia and is super great!

Monday- ehh

Tuesday-  At about six in the evening a huge storm hit! It was seriously like a hurricane with super strong rain and wind! My companion and I were outside... in the street.... and yes, we got soaked... super soaked. So yeah for about two hours we were just walking in the street trying to get stuff done while getting pounded by this storm.

Wednesday-Sunday So yeah the rest of the week was the hottest week of my mission. Every day we were just destroyed by the sun but also my worst enemy... humidity haha. I am currently exhausted because we haven't been able to sleep well due to the fact our fan broke early in the week. So yeah we just suffer sweating ourselves to sleep every night. It has been so great.... but all is well, we should be getting a new fan tomorrow. 

I know this church is true. I know that God loves us and blesses each one of us with weaknesses and strengths for a reason. He has a divine plan, a perfect plan. Despair can turn into hope if as we look to our savior and remember that thanks to him, everything will work out in the end.

I hope everyone has a great week and enjoys the cold weather!

February 20, 2017

I don't know why, but I have absolutely no desire or motivation to write this big weekly email this week so I apologize haha.

But things are going pretty well! This week was super crazy because we were in a trio for about 3 days. On Monday one of the elders we live with got a phone call and was flashed to a new area, and his replacement came that very night and he fell on his bike because it was dark and there was a huge rainstorm. So yeah... he got hurt...like really bad.... that experience was full of stress, phone calls, blood, pain, and yeah...gross stuff... So he went to the hospital and we were in a trio since that Monday night till Friday. The trio was actually pretty fun haha. We went out to dinner on valentines day;)

Well so I hope everyone has a great week! Take care!

February 13, 2017

So it was a pretty decent week!

Monday- We went to the world famous Lujan Zoo!!!! And oh boy it was truly unforgettable haha. They basically just drug all the animals and the let you touch them. It was super fun but morally it felt pretty wrong...haha

Tuesday-  Today we did some traveling and went to this small town we had never been to before that is at the edge of our area! It is a super great place that has a lot of potential! My companion and I are definitely going to start working there and see if it gives us any good results. The only down part is it is a super pretty place that looks exactly like the pacific northwest so it makes my companion and I pretty homesick if we are there for too long haha. 

Wednesday- So a few weeks back my companion and I started to work with these two sisters that are 18 and 20 years old. They were so awesome! They were seriously progressing and understanding so well we couldn't believe it.... So our last lesson with them they started to ask about what rules we had as missionaries and we mentioned that we weren't allowed to go out with girls and party and stuff like that.... Yeah so today we tried to set up an appointment with them and they totally dropped us... It was a big bummer. Its good they dropped us if they didn't have sincere desires but just so depressing because they were progressing so well and we didn't see it coming. It is so frustrating when stuff like that happens. Pretty rough day.

Thursday- I learned something today- never go to a Chinese buffet in Argentina. never ever.

Friday- Today we had so many problems with our bikes it was ridiculous. At night, because our bikes were both broken and the wheels wouldn't turn, we had to carry them through the city for an hour to get back to our apartment. Story of my life haha

Saturday- We found a great family contacting in the morning! And then in the night we had another cooking lesson from our buddy Jorge in the train cart!

Sunday- Rain. Rain. Rain

Well I hope everyone is doing well and has a great week!

Valentines' Day Love

Only in Argentina...

Yes, that is a real lion...

February 6, 2017

It was a pretty decent week! Things were really dificult this week in terms of finding more people to teach and work with but besides that things went well!!

Monday- Man so mondays keep being pretty weird haha. Emailing has just become such a rollercoaster, getting emails and updates from elder and sister missionaries I have served with that now are all home. Emailing with them back and forth doesnt even feel like real life haha.

Tuesday- Today rained so hard it was crazy!!! There was even a tornado in a town close by so thats pretty cool!

Wednesday- A LOT of rejection in the morning when we were contacting.... Then my companion and I made a mexican salsa for an invesitgator we went to go eat with. Argentines just dont eat anything spicy. So yeah we basically destroyed the mouth of our investigator haha. We used this special bolivian pepper called Locoto.

Thursday-So in the morning we were traveling quite a bit because we all had interviews with our mission president. Then in the afternoon we made several visits. One of the appointments we went to was pretty awkward because right when we got there our investigator broke up with her boyfriend...SO yeah we had to play Dr. Phil for a little bit haha... Sadly that wasn't the first time that that has happened in my mission.

Friday- So I have been teaching my companion and the elders I live with the key to getting more food. I swear if you just treat girl missionaries kindly and make them feel important and respected they will never dissappoint. We had a meeting tonight with all us missionaries and the sister missionaries made me nachos:)

Saturday-So tonight was unforgettable! There is this inactive member that lives in an old abandoned train cart in our area. He is a super great guy and everyone knows him haha. But he has been struggling a lot with smoking and drinking the past few years... but anyway we have been working with him and he has stopped drinking and smoking! And tonight he taught us how to make canalones! which are basically just argentine enchiladas

Sunday- Pretty exhausting day. We were fasting and on top of that it was so windy! Riding our bikes was ridiculously dificult but we had so much traveling to do so we had to use them. I came back to our apartment at night compelety drained.

Well so I hope everyone has a great week!

I will send pictures of our gourment dinner from Friday!;)

Elder Townsend

January 30, 2017

So I don't have much time to email today but I am alive and doing well here in Lujan!

This week has been super crazy. We have done so much traveling and have had a ton of changes going on. I don't know if everyone has heard but huge changes were made for missionaries all over the world in regards with our daily schedules and how we report information. The changes are great and I am excited to see how they help us work more effectively.

So this week we found some great investigators and had several great lessons!

Being a missionary is the best! But life riding a bike not so much haha

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Townsend