Wow, I´ve got another week under my belt. It´s been crazy and fun. I hope you guys are doing great, and thanks for all of the letters! Grandma Schank, I did receive yours. Thanks! The mail is definitely slow here and finally gets to my pench about once every two weeks. It´s great to hear about everything going on back home and at BYU. Sometimes I forget how far away Rosario is from the states :). Also, I´m trying to find the balance between small bullets and details. There is so much to say cuz a thousand things happen every week, but at the same time I could just talk about one thing for the entire email. haha. I´ll do my best. This week I´ll just share mis momentos favoritos de la semana pasada (my favorite moments from the past week) and also some random stuff if there´s time. I´m trying to send photos again this week. Hopefully the computer doesn´t freeze. Anyways, here we go:
1) Trip to Rosario. The offices in the Mission home manage all of the legal documents and passport stuff for all of the missionaries. The needed me and two other missionaries to come down to Rosario to do paperwork. It was an awesome trip. I went on exchanges with my companion and went with the other two elders to the terminal. The terminal is basically a huge bus station that´s kinda designed like an airport. They have gates and everything! Anyways, we rode on a double-decker bus from Sante Fe to Rosario. We were on the second floor and in the first row. So it felt like we were riding in the driver seat. We had a great time, both during the three hour bus ride to the mission home, and later in the city of Rosario during the next day. We went to different governmental buildings with one of the assistants, where they took fingerprints, updated photos, and did a few other things. I didn´t understand it all since everything was in spanish, but the assistant to the president helped us. Overall, we just really enjoyed ourselves, and it was fun to take a break from the normal routine of proselyting and teaching. The assistent said that I´ll probably have to go back down to renew my visa stuff when I hit my one-year mark. We´ll see what happens :),
2) Computer Repair! One of the member families in my ward is the cocentino family. They have five kids, love the church, and have been a great help to me and my companion, Elder Birky. Some of them have gone to teaching appointments with us before, which really helps. Anyways, one night we were visiting them and they mentioned that they had gotten a computer virus. The dad, hermano Cocentino, uses the computer everyday for his job. (He uses software to fix cell phones and other technological devices.) They had know idea what to do, and basically said that they couldn´t afford to get a new computer at the moment. I´m obviously not a computer genius. You guys already know that :). I still offered to help. None of their windows nor the start menu would come up when they started the computer. To be honest, I don´t even remember everything that happened. I used control alt delete to pull that small window up and then was able to launch the internet after clicking different links and exploring a bit. Then on the internet, I downloaded a free antiviral software. There were thousands to choose from. The computer needed some serious time to download the software bc their internet connection was really bad that night. So we had to leave but promised to come back the next day. That night we prayed for assistance b/c we really wanted to help this family out, especially since they had offered their hand to us so many times. I worked with it a bit the next day, and I really believe a miracle passed: The free antiviral software that I downloaded deleted the effects of the virus, brought all of the windows back, and the computer functions like normal now! I was so grateful, and the cocentinos were extremely excited. So they didn´t have to take it to a computer shop to get repaired or buy a new one. That simple software that I downloaded erased the whole virus. I don´t think it was just a lucky coincidence cuz I could probably never do something like that again, especially with the severity of their virus and my minimal computer knowledge. Great experience :).
3) How we get around. Our area is pretty darn big, but we don´t have bikes. We go almost everywhere on foot. Sometimes we take the city bus because it´s really cheap, but we can´t afford to use it everyday. Just to give you an idea, it takes 30 minutes to walk to our chapel from our pench, and about 50 minutes to walk from one side of our area to the other side´s limit. So we walk, walk, walk, and walk! haha
4) Ward Mission Leader and Members.. We meet with our ward mission leader, Marcelo, once a week. We go over all of our most important investigadores and plan a bit. He is really cool, about 22, and is trying to get on a mission himself. The members help us SO MUCH. We have a lunch appt everyday, which helps us get to know them. Also, we teach about 5 lessons a week with a member present. They help us out a ton.
5) I don´t know my exact address, but I live right by the intersection of Mateo and French. You should be able to find it on google maps, Dad! :) And yes, we are still living in the kitchen with the four other elders. It kinda stinks. I´ve lived out of suitcases since I got here. haha. Oh well, it´s all just part of the experience. I only have one table to work on and my bed is by the fridge next to my suitcases haha. I think we are going to move this week or next. The lawyer is working on a contract with the offices. For right now, we are still looking and taking pictures of different appartements to send to the offices through email. Thanks for all of your support and letters.
I gotta go. Love you guys. Chao!!!!!!!
Elder Jones
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