Today marks two months in Argentina, and yesterday was 4 months in the mission field. If it hasn´t been said enough, I´ll repeat it for you, time flies!
This week, I had my first true sloppy joe since my arrival. That´s what you get when you have somebody who has spent years as a grandma in Utah. We are so very grateful for the Larsons in our branch. I think I mentioned before that they are the Senior Missionary Couple here in Paso de los Libres. We have been very blessed to have lunch appointments everyday here. I´m lucky, so they tell me. Literally, the weeks leading up to my arrival here, the missionaries cooked nearly everyday for themselves. Unfortunately, my belt is not so lucky...
Spring has officially come here in the southern Hemisphere. How was it celebrated? ...By a big party in the center of the city of course! The people here, (and Latin America as a whole) are very funny people. They find every single opportunity to have a party. Oh, the creativity with their holidays! The center of the city is not in our area, though. We work in the suburbs (barrios). So, whenever something big is going on in the city, the neighborhoods are legitimate ghost towns. ..The eerie feeling included.
I mentioned something about being in Gaucho country, right? Well, I´ll elaborate a little...
You know you are coming to a house of a gaucho if there is a little red flag raised somewhere on the property. It´s not uncommon to have someone ride by you on a horse. It´s not uncommon to have a random, stray horse walk on past you; fences are not exactly a regular, habitual thing. A gaucho wardrobe consists of: bombachas (the pants), faja (the belt), their hat (I need to learn the name...) and the ever-so-faithful, alpargatas (the shoes...they look the exact same as the shoe brand, TOMS).
Today, I played my second racket sport since being here. Tennis (the first being Padle). We have a dirt/clay court right next to our apartment. It was nice doing something out of the ordinary. My proudest moment came when I did a legitimate, French Open slide for a return on a volley: I think it would have even made Rafael Nadal proud.
This week I read in Alma, yet again. Alma 32 is such a good chapter that I won´t even tell you much about it. You need to read it for yourself (...preferably from verse 26 on)! I also read the article, ¨Our Refined Heavenly Home,¨ by Elder Douglas L. Callister. It´s an amazing article on basically everything in our lives--from thoughts, to actions, to entertainment. If you have a chance, read it! One of my favorite lines is his quote from Ben Jonson, ¨Language most shows a man. Speak that I may see thee.¨ Be careful with what you say. People will know a lot by how you speak.
Love ya bunches,
Elder McMurray
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