October 31, 2011- Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

Happy Halloween! And no, they dont´ celebrate Halloween here. We thought it might be kind of funny to switch name tags and take some pictures for Halloween, but we forgot. So that was not really that funny. And about the only thing we almost did for Halloween. We did make Lemon Bars today. So that was pretty cool. I dont´know why but they have hands down been the most popular thing that I have made in Argentina. And the most requested. I am making them about twice a month for one thing or another.

I am particularly happy to hear about the baptizm! Seriously, I almost cried. Okay, I did cry a little. One of the biggest blessings of my life is knowing that the family I love so much is accepting the Gospel and making covenants with our Father in Heaven.

This week was really good. Day by day it seemed really long. My new companion, Hermana McWhorter was working for a transfer in the St George Visitor's Center, and th really was a whole other world. It has been a little bit of an adjustment for her. Things were a lot easier in St George. But overall she really is doing great! We have different views on a couple of things, but we are becoming fast friends, and we are starting to teach really really well together! Sometimes I get a little antsy to see what will happen with us, we are really different, but every time I have a worry like that she says something about how she can see us hanging out after the mission, and that helps me feel a lot better. Just helps me knwo taht I am not crazy to think that we are doing okay.

We had a really successful week! We were able to meet a lot of our goals, and we have high expectations for this transfer. I am sure that we are going to be able to reach them. We were able to go to district meeting, and that was really fun. We have a new district leader, Elder Griffin, and he is really great. It was fun to see the Elders, a couple of us have been in the same district for a while now, so it alwsays fun to check up on thier investigators and see how they are doing.

To answer a few of your questions, we are now 4 hermanas, and we are all living together in the same apartment. The dynamics are a little different than they were in Punta Alta, but things are still going great. We do all go to the same branch. And, we had a monumental achievement yesterday. Hermana McWhorter and I had 4 investigators in the church!!! Our normal attendance is 20 in our little branch, but yesterday we had 30 people! It was so great!  We have high hopes to get the attendance up here. We are starting to look for a new place to meet, since the house we are renting right now will most likely be sold, so we are hoping that we will be able to get a little bit bigger of a house to fit our growing branch. 

Oh, I still have not recieved the last package. I want to say I am more sad that it looks like I may not be getting the flea collars, and that is true. But I am also sad that I won´t be getting the conference candy. I was really looking forward to that. We´ll see if it comes though. Sometimes things are just weird and long. 

Okay, my companions name is Hermana McWhorter (and for your facebook stalking purposes Mom, her first name is Courtney). Haha. She is from Arkansas, and she is really great. Her birthday is March 26, and she is a year younger than I am. There are sometimes that it is just obvious that we are supposed to be companions. She was waiting for her visa for a while, so she was serving in St George. Which is really nice, because she has some teaching experience and everything, but the cultures are just so different. That has been a little hard on her, she had just gotten used to one thing, and now just about everything is different. But she is adapting great. She is a little hard on herself, so one of my goals is to help her see just how great she really is doing. I hope that I can do that well. 

Oh, by the way, I am very jealous of the fact that Zac got to go to a Jacks Mannequin concert and that Holly and Kami went to SYTYCD. 

In terms of health things still seem to be going well. I continue to have headaches at times, but they aren´t nearly as consistant or as strong as they used to be. I have also lost 8 pounds since I have been in the field. So thats kinda cool. Oh, something that you never thought would happen. I am running in the mornings. Hermana McWhorter and I are running 20 minutes every day. So for about 20 minutes a day I want to die, but it only lasts 20 minutes. And supposedly in a couple of days I will be feeling a lot better, and I will be able to tell a difference. So we´re going to test that theory and see if it is really true. 

I think that is about it in terms of news. Don´t forget to keep the recent converts in our ward a main topic in Ward Council. This is the time that will make or break their activity in the church. They need you now more than ever.

I keep you all constantly in my prayers, and I love you!!!

Corinne