hermana mannewitz : Argentina

May 8, 2017

Hola from Argentina! I can’t believe I am actually here in Argentina serving a mission. Literally every morning I wake up and ask myself “wait, where am I?” It’s the best! I love being a missionary.

Salta:

· I am currently serving in Limache Salta Deste and I love it. The members are great and there is a lot of work to be done.

· My trainer is Hermana Norman and I love her already! She is from Utah so she speaks English (woohoo). She has been in the mission for 11 months so she is an expert! Im so excited to share the next 3 months with her.

· There are dogs everywhere! EVERYWHERE! Big dogs, little dogs – every breed you can imagine. And they don’t have homes. They just wander around everywhere. The past three nights there has been a dog that barks so loud at 2 am for a solid hour. Pretty sure my companion is about to kill this dog.

· If you know me, you know that I like all food except peas. Well, lucky me, there has been peas in every meal so far J

· People are crazy drivers! I don’t know if they have laws for the road but if they do, no one follows them. And there are so many motorcycles and they are fearless. They whip around corners and drive in between cars. It’s crazy.

· My area is actually super nice. We have warm water which is such a big blessing! The houses are pretty poor but the people do a good job keeping them mostly clean – like they wash their driveway on a daily basis. It’s weird.

· Whoever said I would fit in is wrong. I stick out so much! One boy asked me if I was from China! Jajaja

· So much food!! Everyone knows that I love to eat but seriously, they give us so much food and I try to eat all of it to be nice but I always feel like I’m gonna throw up after. Esta bien.

· Still getting used to the culture of the women – every time you see them we kiss on the cheek and give a hug. I like my personal space so this is taking some getting used to.

· After 35 hours of travel and lots of preparing in the MTC, I really am so grateful to be here.

Chistosos (funny things)

· You know how I said people on motorcycles are crazy? Well we saw a lady BREASTFEEDING her baby and DRIVING a motorcycle! Yup! Okay!

· Since I am brand new here, all the members kindly give me a hard time. During almuerzo with a family, the lady went to the fridge to get dessert and brought me back a hard-boiled egg. Being nice, I said “Oh Thank You” and then everyone laughed and I was v. confused.

· Hermana Norman and I were visiting this old lady and she couldn’t stop staring at me because I’m so white (Hermana Norman has darker skin and darker hair). She kept touching my face and saying “Que Rubia.” How blonde. Thanks! Another old lady told me that I looked like a kitten and then tickled under my neck. Cool. J

· A man opened the door in a bathroom towel.

· Hermana Norman y I were trying to find people we could talk to and we started talking to this man and he said, “I am the devil and I am God. And God is black.” Okay byeeee

· We were talking with another lady and when we said we were from the United States, she said very angrily “USA is the WORST!”

Milagros (miracles)

· On one of my first days here, we were casually walking in the street and I found 500 pesos. My companion said that was a lot of money and I trust her so YAY! Tender mercy from the Lord.

· After being rejected again, I was feeling a little discouraged and then a cute little yellow butterfly flew by. This was such a great blessing for me. It reminded me of my sweet friend Erin. I know she is looking out for me in Argentina.

· The Medina Family is the best! We have dinner with them every Friday and they are like my mission family already. Their house is so clean which of course is my favorite. Hermano Medina has this painting van car thing and he is so kind to pick up our investigators for church. One of our investigators is in a wheelchair so we just sit in the back with her and we pick up everyone we see on the way to church. I think I counted 13 people in the car on Sunday.

· I bore my testimony in Spanish at church and the people could understand me I think! They said I am doing really good for only being here for a couple of days.

· Not gonna lie. The mission is hard! Especially when you are learning a new language. Sometimes I feel invisible because I don’t talk and struggle to listen but I am learning more and more each day.

Anyway, I find a lot of comfort in this scriptrure:

“Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” I Corinthians 2:9

The only way to win is to lose. Lose yourself in the Lord’s work and you will win beyond your wildest imaginations (okay now I just sound like Napolean Dynamite. Sorry ‘bout it)

Thank you so much for the love and support! Keep the prayers coming – I need them now more than ever before. LOVE YOU ALL!

Hermana Mannewitz