September 5, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

First things first. The pictures. There are pictures of the baptism of Roberta and Norma!!! It was so great! They were baptized on Friday, and they will be confirmed this coming Sunday! We had Distric Conference this Sunday so they couldn´t be confirmed. But Friday went so well!! The biggest bummer is that our font takes three and a half hours to fill. And we have to be at the church while it is filling, so thats a bummer. But not a problem compared to the blessings of baptism!!! It went great, and they were both so happy to be getting baptized! They were so cute trying to get everything ready!

District Conference went really well. We did have to travel to Viedma, so that limited the members of our branch that were able to go. But even with that we had about 20 people go. Including Norma, Roberta, and Cristian! Who, is going to be baptised this Saturday! At five thirty! AHHH!!! We are so excited! It is going to be so awesome! Elder Arnold (from the 70) was at the conference, and gave a very very powerful talk that helped NOrma and Roberta feel secure in their decisions, and helped Cristian bite the bullet and give us a day and time for his baptism!  It is going to be really great!

Also, there are pictures of today. Ice Cream Monday. We decided that we are only missionaries once, and while you are a missionary you can get away with mildly ridiculous things. We did it. We bought a kilo of ice cream each. Four flavors. I got creama oreo (vanilla with dulce de leche, and oreo pieces in it), super chocolate (chocolate ice cream with pieces of white chocolate chips and dulce de leche), tirimisu made with malta (AKA no coffee), and coconut! It was delicious. We ate our lunch while watching one of the church movies that we have in the church. I don´t remember what the movie is called but it is about the book of mormon and talks about Parley P Pratt and someone from Italy and their experiences with the BOok of Mormon. It was very nice. Unfortuanantly we couldn´t finish our ice cream! How embarrassing!!!! But we ate a good amount of it, and now we have a treat for later this week. Hehe....

Thank you so much for sending so many pictures!!! It was so good to see you all again. Zac is tall!!!! How does he compare you to Mom and Dad? And Summer is almost identical to Holly! Everyone is changing!!! It was cool to see Hol Bol in her uniform! Guess what she´s a cheerleader! Can you believe it? SHe´s been talking about this since before she could walk!

It is good to hear that everyone is doing well! How did Zac´s tests go? I am praying for him!!!

Ahh!! Haha. At least the cars are keeping you entertained and on your toes! Can you imagine life without this excitment in your life? Calm and not stressed about the cars, who wants that? Better to have something to keep you occupied. I hope that sububran gets fixed this week! What is Dad using in the meantime? You said he went to get Holly, with what car did he go?

Tell the Salows I say hi! And give Corinne a kiss for me! I have her picture up in my apartment! I just love that family and that little girl! How did Jons trip to see his girls to? How are Lucy and Gage? Are they doing alright? They are also in my prayers. And tell the Evans congrats for me! I am sure that they have just about the cutest baby! How is the ward doing? My letter to the primary is in the mail and should hopefully get there in the next week or so. Maybe a week and a half.

Transfers have come and gone and I am still with Hermana Salas! I am excited to have another transfer with her! It will be so much fun to work with her. Things have been a little rough with our investigators. With the exception of Norma, Roberta, and Cristian, no one has really been progressing, and we have had some difficulty finding new investigators. If any of you ex-missionaries have advice, I would love to hear it!! We know there are more people who are ready to hear and accept the gospel, we just don´t know where they are! I am grateful for the chance that I have to spend more time in SAO and give this wonderful little branch my best so that they can have a church building!

We are certainly in spring. One day it is a little warm and uncomfortable with me coat, and the next day it is just as cold as it was a month ago. While yes, I am a little excited to have warmer weather, everyone always talks about how horrible the summers are, so I kind of want it to stay cold. Thank goodness I will only be here for one summer!!!

I am glad to hear that things are going well!! I am praying for you and I love you! Thanks again for the pictures! I love you!!!

Corinne

Pictures

The first one is me wondering where the ocean is. In SAO we only have a little inlet, so when the tide is out, there ísn´t any water.

The second: Yay! There really IS an ocean!

The third and fourth: Hermana Salas and I while we were waiting for Cristian and Noelia and Noelia´s family.

The fifth: Hermana Salas, Cristian, Meilan, (the daughter of Noelia, she has 5 years) and me!

The next couple, Our lunch today!

The next couple, in our church. Okay, it looks a lot bigger than it actually is. But seriously, you can see every chair that we have. Not a lot of chairs. And keep in mind, our chapel is a garage. So it may look big in the picture. But its not that big.

The last two, our church´s backyard! Which is perfect for our cute little green baptisimal font! Yup, that green thing that looks like an odd shaped swimming pool is our baptisimal font! And, we will be using it this week! Holla!!!

 

I think that's all for this week, I´ll send more pictures next week!

 

Oh, can you tell in my writing that my English and Spanish grammar are starting to mix? I am trying to avoid that, but I don´t know if its working. Its worse when I am writing in my journal. I don´t know why. Haha.

August 29, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

 

I am so glad to hear that you survived the first week of the school year! The good news is that a school year is less than a regular year so you officially have less that 50 weeks left. Haha, comforting isn´t it. But speaking of regular years, I will probably be home in about a year from now! Isn´t that crazy!

 

I´m glad to hear that everything is going well, and that it looks like this school year will be a better one. I am also glad to hear that you are feeling better Mom!!!

 

This week wasn´t too exciting. And no, we didn´t end up having Christians baptism. He has decided that he does want to get baptized! Yay! But, his mom is out of town, and it is important to him that his mom be there, which we understand. She´s been gone for about a month, and a lot of changes have taken place while she has been gone. We think that she gets home next week, and we are also hoping that we will be able to have his baptism next week. He is progressing really really well, it is amazing how quickly one can learn and grow in such a short period of time!

 

How ever, this week we are going to have two baptisms! Norma, the mom, and Roberta, the daughter. Roberta has ten years, and Norma has about 35. I can´t remember...that's embarrassing. They are also progressing really well. At first they were hesitant about the whole baptism thing, but now when someone asks how they feel as it is getting closer they both say that they feel happy and excited. Oh, how they are growing!! It is so exciting! And our branch has been really great about everything. All three of our progressing investigators have friends in the branch, who talk with them regularly. It really is a vital part of the conversion process.

 

Other than that, this week was a lot of knocking doors. And a lot of people saying no. Or saying yes, and then saying no. Or saying yes, and then not being at home when we had appointments. So not much progress by way of finding new people to teach. And (if all goes well) we will have the only three investigators that we have baptized. Which is both good and bad. But when we got to SAO we started with no investigators, and we are going to have three baptisms. We know that there are more people in SAO who are waiting for us to find them. And find them we will!!!

 

Today was nice. We went and got all of the things that we needed for the next week. Speaking of which, SAO is expensive, everything here costs more than it did in Punta Alta. But Hermana Salas and I have developed a taste for ice cream. Surprise surprise, I know. Today we went and got hot dogs (which were giant!!!) and ice cream for lunch. And next week she really really really wants to get a kilo of ice cream for lunch. (Yes, a kilo. Yes that means two pounds). And you want to know the sad thing. I am actually considering it. I don´t know that I would have even given that a second thought at home. No way, are you kidding me, two pounds of ice cream? But now I am hearing Brian Reagan in the back of my mind "1/2 cup of ice cream ?! That's like two spoonfuls!" Oh how things can change during the mission!

 

Well you should all know that I am doing much better than last week. We still didn´t have the success that we are working for, but I know that we will be rewarded for the work that we are doing. We are obedient, and we will be blessed for that. And yes, that does mean that I am exercising in the morning. I still dont´like it that much, but I´m now used to it. It took longer than I wanted to be used to it, but then, I didn´t really exercise in the MTC so its my own fault. Haha...I am feeling much better this week. Things are going to change here in San Antonio Oeste! This branch is ready to grow and flourish, and Hermana Salas and I are ready to help it get there!

 

Transfers are this week, crazy huh? We are already in week 6. There is the chance that Hermana Salas or I could be transfered but we both think that we are going to stay here. Also coming up this week is district meeting tomorrow. When ever we have district meeting we have a 3 hour wait after for the bus to take us back to SAO, and tomorrow we are going to what all the elders say is the best place for facturas (Argentine pastries). So we´ll see if they are in fact, the best. Also, we will be going back to Viedma this weekend for District Conference, and Elder Arnold will be there. He is our Area Authority, and I am really excited to see what is going to happen. And, all three of our future baptisms will be going! It should be a good week, another week that is going to fly by.

 

Well, I think that's about it. I´m gonna try to get some pictures sent!

I love you!!!

 

Corinne

 

August 22, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

 

Good news, no dog bites yet...this week! Hermana Salas and I were just walking on the sidewalk and out of no where I had a dog biting my leg! I don´t think it was a stray, but who knows? It could have been. I wouldn´t really consider it "attacking" while I was mildly freaking out wondering what was going on Hermana Salas chased it away. And I am glad that I can check that off my list of things to do!!!

 

And da da da!!!!! We have water again!!! And it lasted for longer than three days this time! We are clean, and our shower lengths have increased exponentially!

 

President and Hermana Detlefsen are Argentine, they have 6 children, 5 girls and 1 boy. Their two youngest daughters live here in Bahia with them, they have a daughter and a son who are studying at the university in Cordoba and two daughters who are married, also living in Cordoba.

 

There are a couple of missionary terms I will explain now. When someone is training they are the "madre" or "padre" and the new missionary is the "hija" or "hijo" aka mom and dad, and daughter and son. The second companion is the step mom or step dad. And when someone goes home from their mission they are "dying." I "killed" Hermana Durham, and chances are that I am going to "kill" Hermana Salas as well.

 

When we got home from Zone Conference at 2:30 in the morning we took a taxi back to our apartment. It isn´t very smart to walk the streets at night, two girls, with a suitcase. It appears that we have things that people would want to steal. Although really all we had were PJ´s, and a bunch of church materials. So we took a taxi, it was a million times faster and it meant that we got to sleep sooner!!!

 

Cool, so the pictures! The first one is a little place we found here in San Antonio Oeste! When the tide is in it actually looks like we have a little bit of ocean here! So when the tide was in, we took pictures to prove that sometimes there is water!

 

Then there are a couple from the activity we had on Saturday. Okay, so I told you that Argentine´s have a lot a lot of holidays, right? Well in August there is Childrens Day. But I dare you to find out when it actually is. No one knows. Everyone celebrates differently, and basically all month there are parties going on. They should just call it Childrens Month!!! Haha. But we had a church activity for Dia del Niño! It was really fun. Hermana Salas and I helped Noelia, one of the members that we have become good friends with, come up with games to play. There is a picture of us helping getting everything ready in the kitchen, and a picture of us with our faces painted. And I think that is all from that day. It was really fun and we had a good turn out! If only we could get that many people to Church on Sunday....

 

The other pictures are from today! We got to go to Las Grutas with Noelia, her husband Ezekiel, and their five year old daughter Meilan. It was really cool! The Grutas are about 20 mintues from SAO, and technically they are in our branch boundaries, but for now President Detlefsen wants us to work in SAO only so we don´t waste time travelling from SAO to the Grutas. But he did say that we could go on Pday if we wanted too. So we did! Its still winter time so the town wasn´t very busy, but it was really pretty and it was fun to go to the beach for a little bit! Especially since we probably won´t be able to go in the summer.

 

Tonight we are going to have a FHE with Christian, and we are going to find out if he is going to be baptized this week or no. He is having a little bit of trouble saying yes. He says that he is going to be baptized, he just feels like he needs more time. We are not quite sure what is going to happen. He has a testimony and everything, he just needs to bite the bullet and do it! However, at this point it is all in his hands. We have taught him everything he needs to know, we have done everything that we can do, it is all up to him at this point.

 

On one hand that is really nice, but on the other hand its kind of frustrating. It is nice to know that we don´t have to do anything else that we have completed our assignment with him, he is prepared, he really is. But on the other hand I kind of wish there was something I could do to help him make the decision. Or make it for him. But that would be taking away his agency. And I can´t do that. Even if it might be easier. Haha.

 

 

I hope that everything goes well today in your first day of school, tomorrow in your first day of school, moving into your new apartment, and getting both cars fixed!

 

I sure love you!!!

 

Corinne

                Hermana Orton and Michele

Hermana Durham, Herman Orton and Michele

                       Zone Conference

           Hermana Orton and Hermana Salas

August 15, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

 

I am glad to hear that everything is going so great! Okay, first things first, a run down of the pictures. I don't remember which ones I picked or in which order...There is one of a bunch of Hermanas, this is all the Hermanas at Zone Conference, Hnas Freeman and Collette (my Punta Alta Hermanas) with thier¨hijas¨, and Hna Salas and I. Unfortunately it was the only picture we actually got to take at zone conference. There is also one of me washing my hair outside in our patio area. That's right folks, we still have no water with which to bathe!! So we are washing our hair outside where there is warm water, and then quickly quickly showering with the freezing FREEZING water! There is also a giant wagon here in SAO. Don't ask me why, I don't know. But we went to go take pictures with it! And why you may ask are our head cut of in one? It is because a very nice, but very drunk man took it for us. Then when he walked away we took more, with our faces. Ha ha.

 

Okay, your questions. There isn't as much mud anymore. It has been a pretty warm dry week. We´ll see if that sticks around or not, we are starting to get to spring and so the weather is going to be a little crazy for a while. I only wear my boots when its raining. Christian is doing great! He is progressing and looks like everything will turn out for his baptism for the 27th. And, the highlight of the week (drum roll please) Norma and Roberta came to church yesterday! We are so excited! She is really quiet, but from what we know about her, we think that she liked it, Roberta has been before, and she really really enjoys it. We are hoping that things will be able to continue and that they will be baptized September 3!!!

 

Okay, now the week! This week flew by. We were only able to work for a couple of hours on Tuesday before we went back to the house, ate lunch and went to the terminal to catch our bus. We were really nervous about being late, and we still hadn´t heard from the elders where we would be staying the night, and our phone stopped working!! Our bus turned out to be an hour late, but during the ride, the phone worked long enough that we could figure out where we were staying! We made it into Bahia about 11 at night, and President and Hermana Detlefsen picked us up and took us to their house. I love staying the night with them, it is so fun to be in a family setting for a little while, and Pres and Hermana are so great!

 

Wednesday we had a really great zone conference, where I got to meet the hijas of Hermanas Collette and Freeman, and I had a great surprise! Michelle was there! Michelle is a member of Barrio Atlantida, and she is a really good friend. The Punta Alta Hermanas invited her and it was really fun to be able to talk to her and see her again! The conference went really well! After the conference, the elders went to go buy our tickets for out return trip, and we found out that we wouldn't be leaving until eight thirty. Which meant that we wouldn´t be getting home until two thirty am. Talk about gross. So we went to work in one of the areas of the elders until it was time to catch our bus.

 

Thursday as always we had planning, so that took up a good chunk of time, and then the next thing we knew, the week was gone! And now we are halfway through this transfer! How crazy is that? How fast three weeks can fly! I am really enjoying my time here in SAO! Herman Salas is pretty great! I am learning alot! Oh, the really cool thing about Zone Conference is that I understood things! And I was able to participate! All in Spanish! And, some of the elders were dumb and were speaking in English, even though Hermana Salas was there (it is really bad manners to do that), and I was able to speak in Spanish anyways! I can communicate in another language! That being said, I have a long way to go until I am fluent, but I can communicate! I will take every small victory I can!

 

Also, I got bit by a dog this week. Don´t worry, it didnt´t break skin or anything, but I have a really cool bruise. Needless to say, I am scared of the dogs now. Everyone tells me not to be scared because dogs can tell when you are scared, but I don´t know. I wasn't scared before and I got bit, and now I am scared of them and they are staying away. How crazy this mixed up world is! But seriously, dont´worry. I am fine.

 

Love you!!!

 

Corinne

 

August 8, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

In all honesty the ¨ocean¨ isn´t really ocean. San Antonio Oeste is a little peninsula (sp?), and we have little tiny beaches, but when I think beach, I think Oregon Coast, and so far these have not compared. If I am still here in the summer, we´ll see if they get any better. SAO isn´t very big, it is long, but not very wide. It only runs about six or seven blocks in centro, where we live. So on either side of our apartment about four block is the ocean. And again I stress ¨ocean¨. I have noticed it being a little colder, but not too bad. I have had a couple of nights that I have been a little cold, but nothing I haven´t experienced in our house!! (For those of you who don't know, my dad runs about 10 warmer than I do, so when we have air conditioning on, it  is FREEZING!) I haven´t purchased a sleeping bag, and I don't think that I am going too. I haven´t really needed one yet, and to get one for the very end of winter only to have to haul it around till next winter really doesn't seem worth it to me. How ever, I am thinking about getting a new suitcase. I have two small ones and a big one, and I can have two big ones and one small one. Moving just showed me how much I don't want to worry about space. And I have a lot of books. A lot a lot of books. And I have gotten a couple things already, and there just isn´t space! We´ll see what happens though.

I will never have heat like we have it in the USA. We have little radiators. This apartment is a little bigger and we have two. You don´t need to worry about me being warm, it is cold and windy, and this week, rainy outside, but inside I am warm! I still don´t have very many cooking appliances. But, this apartment has a hand mixer!!! Such luxury! I dont´even know what to do! In fact, I haven´´t used it yet. I forgot until right now that we have one!!!  I am not quite sure when tourist season starts. I am going to guess end of November ish. If I am remembering correctly that is when school gets out for the summer. It sure is going to be odd to have an uncomfortably warm Christmas!

There was a funny thing that happened this week. It has been raining a lot, and that means a lot a LOT of mud. Everywhere. And sometimes it can be deceiving. For instance, you are walking to a cita (lesson).And you are doing great, so far you haven't gotten any mud on you, it is a record! And then the next thing you know, you are stuck. And your companion right next to you is NOT stuck. And you are wondering, we are less than five feet away. How am I stuck and she not? And I was good and stuck. Mud completely covered my feet. We had one of the YW with us and I had to have her and Hermana Salas help me out. How embarrassing!!!

There was also a ¨funny¨ thing that happened this week. Remember how in Punta Alta we were without electricity for 4 days? Yeah. Well I now have something that can up that. We have been without water in our shower since Wednesday. Yup. Almost a whole week. And why do you ask that we have water everywhere else in our bathroom and apartment except the shower. I will tell you. For some odd reason there wasn´t any hot water coming out of the shower on Wednesday. So we called the landlord and he came and looked at it. And in good old fashioned Argentine style, he started taking things apart, and then announced that he could not fix it so we were going to have to call someone and have them fix it. So we told him that we had and investigator who fixes things like that. So Christian agreed to come over that night. Christian told us and the landlord, that he would be able to fix it, but that he needed a part and the stores were closed. Not a big deal. We could go without showers for a two days. Well long story short, he couldn´t find the part. Nor could he put back together the shower. I don´t know why. But he is coming over tonight with the part and we are going to be clean!!! I am so excited! Its like coming home from Girls Camp! (minus the smoke smell).

By way of news about our investigators, Christian is on the road to baptism! His date is for August 27 and he is getting really excited! He is reading and praying, and has started to have family prayer when his sons stay with him. (He is 33 years old, divorced, has two sons Rodrigo 9, and Maxi 12, who live with him every other week). So far he has yet to have any problems with anything of what we´ve been teaching, which has been refreshing. Although, I am waiting for something to come up. No problems with the law of chastity, we´ll see how the Word of Wisdom goes.

We also have a mother Norma and her daughter Roberta! They didn't come to church yesterday, so we are going to have to change their baptism date, but they both want to get baptized and I am sure that it will happen!!!

We have continued to find this week. Oh, last Tuesday we went to Viedma for District Meeting. It is two hours each way! Because of the distance we only go every other week, instead of each week. But I like my new district, they are a group of good elders! This week we have zone conference, so tomorrow at four Hermana Salas and I will get back on a bus and head to Bahia Blanca. I´ll try to get a picture, the only good thing about riding the collectivos to Viedma and Bahia is 1) they are double deckers and I am just enough of a child to enjoy that and 2) they are ¨semi cama¨, which means they recline very nicely and we can sleep a little bit. So we´ll leave tomorrow, have district meeting on Wednesday, and we´ll either come home on Wednesday night or Thursday, we still aren´t sure. I am not very excited to be leaving our investigators for that long, but those that are progressing will be having members check up on them and make sure that they are doing well!!!

I will let you know if I get the contacts. If you sent the prescription as well, I don't think there will be any problems.  Is Zac really taller than Kami (don't tell him that she told me he was). I am glad to hear that the doctor and you feel like you are making progress!!

I am doing very well with Hermana Salas, I really have been impressed with how much Spanish I already know! That being said, I still have leaps and bounds to learn, and sometimes it is overwhelming how far from fluent I am, but we haven´t had any problems with communication! Such a miracle!!!

I love you!!!

Corinne
 

August 1, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom and Dad!

 

I will do my best to answer all of your questions. I got the phone call while I was at a members home on Friday. I was told that I would be leaving to San Antonio Oeste, and that Hermana Salas would be my companion. I really wanted to talk to Elder Garcia about that in English, so I asked if I could call back when we were done with lunch with the Familia Martinez. He said yes, and I did my best not to cry my way through the end of lunch. Later he told me again that I was leaving, I was kind of hoping it was a joke, and that I would be opening the area for Hermanas with the Hermana Salas. Apparently everyone wants to go to Rio Negro, the province that I am now in, and I was supposed to be really excited. I really really love Punta Alta, and I was very very sad to be leaving.

 

Hermana Durham and I left Punta Alta Sunday evening, and we spent the night at Pres´s house. I got up very, very early (around 4:45) and it was off to the terminal by 5:30. Then it was an anxious hour of waiting to see if Hermana Salas´s bus was going to make it on time. It was really funny, most of the missionaries at the terminal were Americans and we are supposed to speak in Spanish all the time, and some of them were speaking English to me because they could tell that I was very, very nervous, and I was too nervous to talk back to them in English, probably for the better. Hermana Salas´s bus made it just in time. We ran from her bus to ours and as soon as we were loaded up, we took off! We had a 5 ish hour ride and then we made it to SAO!

 

And when we got here, no one was here. I thought I was going to cry. But we called the Branch President and he came right over and helped us out. And I think I told you this last week, but we had 3 hermanas from RS cleaning our apartment. And I think I have told you about the rest of that day.

 

So this week. Wow. What a week. We have a lot of work cut out for us that is for sure. I am pretty sure that we have identified the members that are used to having missionaries as their best friends, and we have made it very clear (but in a very nice, polite way), that we are here to work. So far they seem pretty supportive of our decision. Surprised, but supportive. It also seems as if there were some members who were getting frustrated with the Elders, and they are very excited to have the Hermanas here! I am hoping that as we meet the rest of the members that this trend continues.

 

We have also learned that there are some people who have some problems with the Church because of the former elders actions. So my plea to you, especially those who are preparing to serve missions is to think about your actions at all times. People are always watching, and what you are doing may change the way they will think about the church. Someone elses salvation may change because of what you are doing. Please be careful! Follow the rules! They are there for a reason!

 

Okay. That being said, we really did have a great week. Hermana Salas is awesome! She is a native Argentine, and she is from Salta. We are the same age, she will turn 23 December 23. She has 16 months on the mission, and chances are that I will ¨kill¨ her too. But she is anything but trunky. I am learning so much! We are going to have an amazing transfer. I am feeling a little more confidant with my Spanish and teaching abilities, so that is great. This week, was a week of finding. When we got here we had 0 investigators. (Is that how you spell investigators in English? Some words in English are hard!) But we now have 20. Most of whom have a baptismal date. Obviously some of them are not going to happen, that is just how it goes, but we have high hopes for a few of them. I am not sure what the elders before us were doing, but we certainly have a lot of hope for our area.

 

Next week I will send pictures. Our church building has been converted from a house! It is so teeny tiny! And super cute. We had 20 people at church on yesterday. I think we have about 80 on our records. We have a lot of work to do! Church was good. Hermana Salas and I had to speak, and good news! I didn´t spend the whole time reading from my paper!!! Improvement!!! Can you believe it?! I might actually be able to speak Spanish by the end of my mission!! Its a good thing I have another year to go, because I am going to need the time! 

 

I am glad to hear that things are going well. Oh, Kami asked which pair of shoes are falling apart and I forgot to tell her. One of my black pairs. I am only using one at a time in hopes that I can make them last a little longer. We´ll see. I might be asking for another pair of shoes for Christmas.... 

 

SAO is sort of surrounded by sea, but its the little baby kind that doesn't actually count as ocean.

 

Also, I was going to ask that you bring up Pedro Ortega, and Christy Powell at the next ward council. I am worried about them. Are they coming to church? If not, does someone know why? Do they have good visiting and home teaches that always do their visits? Do they have callings? Do they have friends? I don´t know how things work in Utah with recent converts, but now the ward has the responsibility to make sure that they are being fellow shipped. So many times recent converts get forgotten and right now they are so vulnerable. 

 

How is your medicine treating you? Are you doing alright? How is Dad? I hope that you are all doing great! I am praying for you all the time! And guess what, tomorrow marks five months in the mission, can you believe that that much time has passed?!?!?! Sometimes it feels like forever, but other times it really does feel like I have only just gotten to Argentina!!!

 

I love you!

 

Corinne

July 25, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

Are you ready for this? The picture that you are looking at right now is a picture of me and my new companion! In my new area! Ahh!!! It has been a crazy week. We knew that transfers were coming, but we thought (and everyone else thought might I add), that I would be staying in Punta Alta! I was very VERY comfortable with that idea, and I was only a little nervous for my new companion, but I figured that everything would be okay since I was going to be in an area that I knew and with people that I knew. We had a crazy week! Hermana Durham and I came up with a plan of what we were going to do different days so that the weekend wasn't too crazy and so we could still teach all week long. Well, nothing really went according to plan! However, we did have really really great days! We were able to sacar two fechas with investigators that we were concerned about, and it was great! We also found a couple of new investigators, it really was a good week. However, in terms of helping Hna Durham get ready to go home, not much was made by way of progress.

And then the big day arrived. Transfers. I was nervous, but really not too bad, and I was confidant enough to answer the phone when we were in a members house. And what did I hear? ¨Hermana Orton, usted se va a San Antonio Oeste¨ Which means, Hna Orton, you are going to San Antonio West. And my reaction? I started to cry. No joke. Not a ton, but a little bit none the less. And we were in the middle of lunch so I had to ask if we could call back after lunch. Which we did. I don't really remember much of what was said after the phone call though. I was in a mild state of shock. For a couple of reasons. One, I was leaving Punta Alta, two, I was going to San Antonio Oeste, which for those of you who haven't looked it up yet, is in the very very southern tip of our mission, it is actually in a different province- Rio Negro. And, they also said my new companion was Hna Salas. A latina. So needless to say I was a little scared. Then later I found out that I had good reason to be scared. Are you ready for this? Hna Salas and I are opening this area for Hermanas. In the eleven years that there have been missionaries here, there have never been hermanas. Talk about intimidating.

So we´re here. In San Antonion Oeste. And this is what we learned before we got here. That the elders that were here before left in the middle of the transfer because they were having some problems with the members. That the members are great. That the branch here only has 2 active priesthood holders. That it is a tourist town and that come summer time it is going to be pretty busy. That a lot of elders and a couple of hermanas really want to come to the viedma area. That because of the lack of priesthood, they really relied on the elders and that we shouldn't be surprised if the members here told us to tell our mission president to send the elders back.

This is what we´ve learned since we´ve gotten here. That part of the problems with the members is that they babied the elders a little. They would make them all three meals, and the elders would just be in their houses for hours on end for no apparent reason. And they let them! Also, we heard that one of the elders had little to no desire to work, so they just weren´t leaving the apartment or anyting like that. Among other things, but I´m not going to lie, I didn´t understand everything that was said.

But, when we got here, there were three hermanas from the branch cleaning our apartment and telling us how elders are a disaster and that they were going to make sure that we had a clean apartment to live in. We also met our branch president who picked us up from the terminal and he seems really great. So so far, so good! And Herman Salas is great. I was really worried about what I considered to be our language barrier, but so far it hasn´t been too bad. I heard alot of things about how latins will get really offended if you speak any English, etc. Which I understand because they cant understand a thing. But so far Hna Salas has been great. We had to talk to one of the elders in the office, and she had to run to the bathroom, but before she did, she told me that she is hoping to work on her English since I am her first yankee companion since her trainer. She asked me to speak in English to Elder Garcia to she can hear some English and try to understand. I don't know at this point how much she knows, but she really does seem very great, and I know it will be difficult to have a Latin companion, but I am grateful to have the experience to grow. Please pray for me these next couple of weeks, I am a little worried about how things are going to go! But I know that they will turn out well!!

I love you!!!

Corinne

PS I am so happy to hear that your levels are going down!!!

July 18, 2011 - Lettter

Dear Mom and Dad,

This week was really good!!! There was one minor setback, and that is that I had my first real melt down in the field. I don't really know what happened, but on Tuesday, Hermana Durham and I were in the house of the Famila Martinez, (Michelle was with us), and I had had a mildly emotional day, just feeling insecure about my speaking habilitéis and all that. And then Hno Martinez asked me to say the prayer, and I Could hardly get it out I since yup, you guessed it, I was starting to cry. I think I scared everyone there. I have been really good about keeping my emotions under control. And then I cried about the whole way home. Thank goodness it is just two blocks away. And then I cried for the rest of the night. How embarrassing!!!! But, its been about a week since the “incident” and no one has really mentioned it, so we can all put it behind us. That is great!

But, there is great news!!!! We have electricity!!! We finally got electricity on Thursday afternoon! It is a really complicated story. Basically, they didn't have record that one of the church buildings had paid their electricity, and somehow our apartment was linked to that building, even though it is Bahía! So our electricity got cut last Monday, we went and tried to get it reconnected, but all they could do for us was print a bill. Which was a LOT of money so we couldn´t pay. We then had to take said bill with us to Bahía on Tuesday when we went for district meeting, where we left it with the office elders. Then the nice man who is in charge of the church buildings came to pick up the bill in the afternoon. However, we must keep in mind that I am in Argentina, and in Argentina things close for the siesta. And some of them don't open up again after the siesta. One of those establishments is the electricity company. So he couldn't get everything figured out on Tuesday. And, he couldn't do it on Wednesday, get this, because it was day of the electricity worker. Yup,that's a thing. So the electricity company was closed, naturally. So he was able to go (finally) on Thursday so we could have electricity!! And just in time for Friday!!!

And why was Friday important you might ask. Well because on Friday President and Hermana Detlefsen came to our apartment to do an inspection and interviews. So we spent Thursday night, (with electricity!!!) and Friday morning frantically cleaning! And I am thrilled to report that I think that now our apartment is cleaner than it has been in years!!! I was really nervous for interviews, because this time instead of doing first, one with the companionship, and then a little bit one on one, they were only one on one, and I was feeling very insecure. But it went really really well!!! Although we did learn that we will be getting a lot of new hermanas in the next 3 transfers, which is great because our misión is growing, but it also means that I have about a 95-100% chance of training by October. Talk about the biggest heart attack of my life so far. I have a lot to learn before I can train!!!

And on Sunday I gave a talk! It actually went pretty well, I was surprised. I didn't speak for very long, but that is okay! I think what I said, I said okay. And, I even felt the spirit when I was speaking! Which did not happen last time I gave a talk. I only felt terror. I still have miles and miles to go until I will sound like I know what in the World I am talking about, but I think that people at least understood what I was trying to say. So that was nice.

I did get your Packaged mom! Thank you so much! I think I ate the tootsie rolls in about a day. And that was rationing them. Also, we really liked the flag lanterns. The elders were there when I opened it, and they really really wanted one, so I gave one to them and the other one is hanging up in our apartment! And, I love the stickers!!! Also, for those of you who are interested in my attempts to bake in Argentina, last week we made a squash cake. We wanted to make pumpkin cake, but 1) everything was closed because of the siesta, and we hadn't really seen pumpkin for a while anyways. And 2) we already had squash and it was already cooked. So we made pumpkin cake but with squash. And it actually turned out quite well!! I have been impressed with my ability to adapt. 6 months ago I never would have considered putting squash into a cake. And, look at me now. Baking in a soup pot and putting squash in cake. Look how I'm growing. Ha ha.

This week we have transfers, and I am a little nervous!! I know that a change is coming since Hna Durham is leaving. And we know that there will be a lot of changes in preparation for all of the new missionaries. AHHH!!! This is the sort of intense that I do NOT like. Oh well. Such is the life, right?

Well I love you a lot!! I`ll let you know what happens!!!

Corinne

July 13, 2011 - Letter

Dear Family!

How are you?  I hope that you are all doing well and that by now you have gotten my Fathers Day package!  

Things here are going great!  I have high hopes that this week we will be able to find new investigators!  Now that Damien has been baptized our schedule is wide open. :)

I just wanted to tell you a couple of random things about Argentina that somehow I always forget to tell you.

#1 - In Argentina, if you say our last name without the "n", it's a swear word.  So, I have to be super careful to say all of the letters in our last name.  And, all the members who say my last name are very, very careful.  It's super funny.

#2- Here in Argentina they don't put salt on popcorn.  No, no, they put sugar on popcorn.  And yes, I do like kettle corn but the popcorn here is not good.  Dad, you would be appalled!

#3- After years and years of not like ranch, I actually miss ranch.  That's right folks, there is no ranch here in Argentina.  Instead, they drench salad in oil which, if you ask me, completely defeats the purpose of salad!  I mean, the oil is literally dripping off the lettuce. It is really gross.

#4 -  I have shown people our family pictures, not a surprise.  And, of course, everyone is very generous with their remarks, that all the siblings look similar, we're all really pretty (except for Zac who is handsome of course).  But, mom and dad, I have especially good news for you!  Every time, without fail, when people see the picture of the whole family, they comment on how young you are!  And mom, they think you should be a model. So, even though you've been married for 23 years, you no longer have any children in elementary school and 2 of your children have graduated from high school, you are still young!  Isn't that great?!

#5- Are you ready for this?  In Argentina, for women, I am on the tall side!  First time ever!  It's so funny, and I certainly am not used to it!  But, it just throws me, even more every time we go to the mission office (which is at the same chapel we have district meeting in) and all the office elders are 6 foot plus  I feel extra tiny.  It is a weird thing to be on the taller end of things.

#6- There are dogs everywhere.  Everywhere.  A lot of them are stray, too, which is really sad.  However, it has just help firm my conviction that when I have my own house I don't really want a dog.  They are dirty and gross and I have little to no desire to worry about having the waste of an animal anywhere on my property.

#7- Mom, you'd probably have a heart attack with the way people drive here.  it's a mild heart attack every time we go in Remiz (taxi) or collectivo (bus).  At times it also makes crossing the street a little nerve wracking.  but, I've gotten pretty good at doing ti here.  It really isn't too difficult.  95% of the roads here are one way streets.

#9- My makeup here, I found out is 90 pesos, which translates to $22ish dollars.  So, if possible, I'm going to ask you to send some every now and then.  Also, maybe some hot chocolate.

Okay, so these are some pictures from the baptism!  They are a weird, small size since, well, this is Argentina.  but, here you go!

Do you have any questions for me?  I hope my letters are sufficient.  I never feel as if I have enough time to tell you what I want you to know. So, this is a letter with some of the random catch up.  

I hope you know that I know that this church is true.  When life gets hard, it means that we are doing the right thing and Satan is trying to get us to stop.  Even though at times it might be easier to give up - don't let him win!  One day soon, he will fail, and all he ever worked for will fail, and everything we work for and believe in will win!  This God's church and this is His work.

I love you all so much!  I miss you and I pray for you everyday!

Love, 

Corinne

P.S.  Dad and Zac - you should read "God Helps the Faithful Priesthood Holder" by President Eyring and "An High Priest of Good Things to Come" by Elder Holland.  I have recently read them and they were excellent!

Baptism pictures

Hermana Orton, Damien, Facundo, Hermana Durham

Obispo Rojo and Damien

Hermana Orton and Damien

Sylvia, Bety, Damien, Hermana Durham, Hermana Orton, Facundo

July 11, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom,

Well, this week really wasn´t that great of a week. We just didn´t have much success, and it was just plain difficult. But that’s how it goes sometimes, and Hermana Durham and I are ready to have a really great week!

There were two things of interest that happened this week though. One of them really really funny. Hermana Durham and I were on our way to a cita, and randomly this guys stops us on the street and shakes our hands. He looked a little familiar, but really, a lot of people here look familiar and I have absolutely no idea who they are. Anyways, we shake this mans hand, and he gets really mad that we don`t beso him. We explain to him that we don´t have any personal problems with him, but as missionaries we aren`t supposed to beso the opposite gender, simply for precaution. We talk to this man for 15 minutes. During the course of this discussion, he tells us that we should change religions because we aren’t allowed to beso him. He didn’t care about any of the other men. Just him. It was really funny. We told him that not being able to beso men for 18 months isn’t a good reason to change religions, but he just wasn’t having any of it. Finally, we said goodbye, and Hermana Durham reminded me that we had taught him and his wife a month ago, and that while kind, they are kind of a crazy old couple. I wish I could paint the picture better, but there you go.

The other things is not so funny. We are without electricity. Somehow. It is a very complicated story. A chapel in Bahia for some reason hasn’t paid their last two electricity bills. Somehow, our apartment here in Punta Alta is connected to that building? And so when we got homw this morning from the grocery store, we didn’t have any electricity. After a good deal of time on the phone and going to the office, we learned that we are not going to have electricity until the bills are paid in full. After another couple of hours trying to find who is in charge of paying the bills. We finally tracked him down and we are going to talk to him in person tomorrow when we go to Bahia. We were hoping that tomorrow we would have electricity again, after he got everything figured out, but then we learned that tomorrow is the Day of the Electricity Worker, so they are going to be closed. So we will be without electricity until Wednesday. A little unfortunate, but a couple of weeks ago we started a food/emergency storage, and in that storage, we have candles!!! So we at least wont be without all light!

The weather the last couple of days has been great! About a week ago, we thought we were going to freeze, but now things are good. It was 70 degrees today. Almost perfect!!! No, we don’t have central heating. We have a little radiator in the kitchen and then space heaters for our rooms. But we can only fun one space heater at a time or the fuse blows, so we usually just all hang out together. It works out pretty well.

I am praying for you all! Especially those of you who are having problems with your knees!!! Are you getting excited for school to start? Its coming up soon, isn’t it? About a month away. I love you!!!

Corinne

July 4, 2011 - Letter

So this week really wasnt that exciting of a week. I actually spent the entire walk over here trying to figure out what I was going to tell you! And, I only really could think of a couple of things.

First, I still haven’t been feeling that great. Some days are great, I have little or no problems, but other days, my head simply wasn’t doing any better. And, I was starting to get a cold, as we are headed into the most frigid part of the year here. So finally, on Tuesday I decided to ask for a blessing after district meeting. Elder Garcia, my district leader anointed the oil, and Elder Bills, his comp. gave me the blessing. It was very nice. He said that it was the right thing for me to do, to be on the mission. And I haven’t been questioning that at all, but it was nice to hear again all the same. It was comforting to hear. I don’t feel like my Spanish has been progressing as much as I want it to, so those words were great to hear. He also told me that I would be healed, and that I would be able to do the work that I was sent here to do. That was a relief more than anything, I was so tired of being sick, and feeling that I wasn’t able to work to the best of my ability and that I was stopping Hermana Durham from doing her work as well.

On Wednesday, I woke up feeling worse, which was the opposite of what I was hoping to feel. The only good news about that was that Hermana Freeman was also feeling sick, so we did divisions. Hermana Durham went with Hermana Collette to their area, and Hermana Freeman and I went to the two citas we had and then we went back home to not be in the cold and to rest so we could try to get better.

Thursday was Hermana Durhams birthday! And Michelle, who is great, planned a surprise birthday party for her at the church. And, for how cold it was outside, a decent amount of people showed up! It was great! We had a lot of fun, and I forgot to bring my camera…I will send some pictures of that later. My bad. But we did have a really fun time. We even had a couple of less actives who haven’t been in the church for a very very long time come so they could celebrate her birthday. That was also really cool.

Friday and Saturday passed by without any real exciting-ness. We had a couple of really good lessons, but they all said that they wouldn’t be able to come to church on Sunday, so that was a little disappointing. But overall, things are going well. We need to find more people to teach, but I have a feeling that I will be saying that every week. It is also getting a little harder to contact people. Before it wasn’t too bad because there were people on the street we could talk to. But now it is all cold and stuff outside, so there is no one on the street. I would say for a good forty, forty five percent of the day we are the only ones outside. And the cold is the excuse that most people give us for not wanting to talk to us, and its like, yes, I know it is cold outside. I am standing in it. You however, are inside, and we could, just maybe talk inside, where it is not (as quite) cold. But that is okay! We are going to find the people who are prepared for the gospel! They are just waiting for us!

Sunday was good. I really enjoy fast Sundays. I don’t know if it is a tender mercy or if I am just tougher on the mission, but so far fast Sundays really haven’t been that difficult. It may been that we fast from lunch to lunch, since we don’t have dinners with people, but the hardest part is explaining to a less active member that we are fasting, the investigators we have told have been really understanding. We didn’t get a chance to teach very much yesterday, which is a bit of a bummer, but it all in all it was a good day!

I am so exciting for you to go to girls camp!  Mom, are you freaking out yet? I hope everything goes well! I am sure that it is, girls camp is always a great experience! Tell all the girls I say hi and that I am thinking of them! Oh, also, I read the Power of the Priesthood by President Packer, and I think that everyone should reread it here soon. It is really really great!

I hope you are having a great fourth of July and I love you!!!

Corinne

June 28, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom,
I am going to apologize right off the bat if my grammer is bad, but I had a very VERY interesting weekend and I want to give you as much detail as possible! It started with Saturday.
In our wonderful ward Atlantida, we are without a ward mission leader, so Hermana Durham and I had a lot to do. We started the morning with a quick lesson with one of our investigators, Alan, because we really wanted him to come to the baptism, which he ended up not being able to do. But oh well. We then went to lunch with the family Martinez, and found out that they were unable to feed us that day. So we ran like crazy to the store to get something to make. So we got lunch done in a whirlwind, and then ran to make the program for the baptism. Which, as it turns out is really hard to do in Spanish!!! So that took about an hour and a half, a good hour longer than we were planning on. And by this point, we were in the middle of the siesta, so nothing was open where we could make copies! We finally found a place, and then hightailed it to the church! We got there just in time to get everything set up before people started to come. And then the miracle, people came! We had a good 20 people there! It was so great! We had a really really great service, and I sang at this one as well. Which may have been a bit of a mistake, I have had a lot more requests to sing now. And that was Saturday. But the more intersting part comes on Sunday.
Sunday started out pretty normal. We went to relief society and everything, no problems. And I sang in Sunday School per request of the teacher. And then sacrament meeting. I dont know if I have said before, but Damian has a very difficult time paying attention, especially in sacrament. He is very disruptive, and he likes to hit his brother all the time. This sacrament was the worst. And, right as he was about to get confirmed, a dog somehow made it into the chapel. So there was a good 5-10 minute period of time where everyone was chasing this dog around, thrying to get it out. So finally this dog gets out and Damian recieves the Holy Ghost. But then he started running around the chapel and misbehaving. It was unpleasant. And Hemrana Durham and I spent most of the time chasing him around and trying to get him to behave, because his mother didnt come to church. But the kicker is what happens after church.
All of the primary children here run around all the time, so we didnt think much of it when he ran off after church. But after a while, we simply could not find him. He had run part way down the block and found a part empty spray paint can and had spray painted his name on the side of a wall. Someone who was driving by called the police and that is how was found him. Surrounded by 2 police men and some of the ward members. It was...interesting. So we then spent the next half our talking to the police, the bishop, his mother on the phone, and the land owner. Thankfully, no charges were pressed, but how is that for a first confirmation on the mission story?! Talk about an experience I never thought I would have!!! Haha. Everything turned out okay, it just shows how much his family needs the gospel in their lives!!!
I am already out of time, I am sorry, but I did also send some pictures! I love you all so much!!!
Love,
Corinne

June 21, 2011 - Letter

Dear Mom!

I am doing well. I am sorry that I couldn't email yesterday. Yesterday was a holiday here (the day of the flag I believe), and every single ceber we went to was completely full, and after looking for a while, we had to give up because we had a FHE we had to get to. So instead we are emailing today!!! Your questions first, my headaches are okay. Nothing really exciting to report in that area. I cannot remember what medicine I am taking, and I forgot to bring it with me, I knew you were going to ask! That being said, if you could get some more ibuprofen to send at some point, that would be great, it is ridiculously ridiculously expensive here. President is doing okay as far as I know, we haven't heard anything else, so I am assuming he is alright. But you know what happens when you assume.... And yes! Damian's baptism is still on for this Saturday! We are so excited!!!

Happy Fathers Day Dad! I hope you are feeling better and that you had a great day! I was thinking about you! I love you Dad, thank you so much for all that you have always done for me. I know I don't give you enough credit for all that you do. Thank you so much for the support that you have never failed to give me. It means more than you know. I love you!

This week was pretty good! We had a goal to find 15 new investigators, and we found 10, so we have high hopes to be able to reach our goal this week! We didn't get to teach as many lessons as we wanted, but things are slowly and surely getting better.
On Tuesday we went to district meeting, and as always had a really good time. The elders in our district are really funny, so we laugh a lot. It nice because it makes our practices more relaxed. I always get really tense and embarrassed, but the elders help me feel relaxed, which is really nice. We also had a meeting with our obispo. He is really is great. We don't have a ward mission leader, but obispo is really great about meeting with us every week and making sure that the members are helping us out.

On Wednesday morning we did weekly planning, and got some more things in order for the baptism. Without a ward mission leader, we have a lot to do! We also visited a bunch of people and had a FHE with a less active member named Andrea. Her husband is now an investigator, but he wont be able to get baptised for a while because they aren't married. And they want to get married, but they cant. They are both in the military, and she has just recently had their second child, so she hasn't been able to finish some school thing with the military, and if you are both in the military, if you want to get married, you have to both be finished with the school, or it is against the law to get married. So we are doing our best to help them see the need for the gospel so they still have the desire to go to church even if they cant have callings for a while etc...

On Thursday we went back to Bahia because I need to get my DNI. I don't actually know what it stands for, but our visas are only good for one year, and then after that we have to get residency. The DNI is the document that gives us residency, and the sooner you get it the easier it is to renew when it is actually essential to have it. So we went to go get it, and it turned out that we couldn't get it. We left super early in the morning and everything, but they set up this new system that the office elders didn't know about, so we will have to go back in a few weeks.

Friday was a busy day, we had appointments set up all day. We got five lessons in, and found 2 new investigators. We also got to pass by a couple investigators, and set up appointments with future investigators.

On Saturday we found 6 new investigators! It was great! We went to go visit an ex investigator and see if she had any interest, and not only did she have interest, but so did her husband, and their 4 friends that were there! Ah! It was so great! We have more lessons set up with them and I really hope that things go well for them! WE also had a lesson with Damian, and I love that little boy, but sometimes he is so difficult to teach! He has an attention span of a gnat!

On Sunday we had a really good sacrament meeting! They had the primary children sing and since our ward is so tiny, they had all the dads come sit right in front of the stand and listen and it was super cute! We also went to visit the bishop and his family. They are so great.  I am going to try to get a picture with them at the baptism so you can see them. They do so much for the ward, and I think they really needed our visit. They live in such humble circumstances, but are so happy and do so much for the ward. I would love to be like them when I grow up.

Miracle of the Week: Even though my Spanish is severally lacking, the members are still understanding what I am saying. I am finally starting to feel as if I belong here, not just the tag a long of Hermana Durham. And, the kids like me. I don't know why, or how, since I really don't understand what they are saying, but somehow I can still mildly communicate with the children. I love it! It is great!!!

Well, that is about it for this week! I love you so much!! I am praying for you!!!

Corinne