August 4, 2009

Dear Family,
Hey how´s it all going??? So ya mom you were right, we had a zone conference yesterday so i didnt write or read any email. Thanks for gettng one set out. That is so sad that those dogs arent there anymore. That is what is weird about email and having delayed contact with people. Haha i read emily´s email and said that they put collars on and the next letter mom says they are gone. I sure hope they come back. They sound pretty cool. So ya i am pretty sure i will only be here for another 4 weeks. It is really rare for a missionary to be in one are for 5 transfers. I think i would die if that happened. I am already kinda getting sick of some of the drama in this ward i just want to leave it. Mainly the drama is the bishop but hey what can i do with that. Just hopefully i will leave this area. But i had a dream that i wouldnt. I had a dream that i am going to stay and train in this area but that would be terrible. I would be way tired of the area and have to work the hardest i can to get the newbie in shape. But i dont want that to happen and i dont think it will. That is awesome that a bear tried to get into the cabin. I am just interested to get the letter from grandma. I like the weird stories that happen. So the only thing i can think of right now for my christmas package would be maple syrup abstract so i can make syrup or a recipe easy that you have and maybe like ranch packages so i can make that. I am getting bored of eating the same thing for breakfast. Cereal!!!!!Eggs!!!!!!toast!!!! so i am trying other stuff , i am going to make pancakes and try making some type of syrup i am not sure how yet but i will just experiment. I eat all the crazy argentine food experiements i thought i might try too. But for right now i cant think of anything.
Hey something crazy. The next time i write i will have 11 months in the mission. Isnt that crazy?? I almost have a year. It is pretty sad though. Because all the missionaries that are good freinds now will be leaving in a couple of months. The latin friends i am sure i will never see again and alot of the gringos too. But that is a part of the mission life.
So yesterday we had a little zone confernce. It was a lot smaller because on the 18th of august we have a big zone confernce with elder bowen from the seventy. He is the president of the south american south area. So i am pretty excited about that. He is coming to help us teach better, new techiques and new stuff. I am way excited. Ha ha and we get to travel to mendoza and i love to travel to mendoza because it is a two hour bus ride and it is way confortable. We are going to be in one double decker bus with 30 missionaries from san juan. It will be fun.
But yesterday i had my interview with president lindahl and it was way short it felt like. It was like 7 minutes but it just felt short. He is such an awesome person that you want to be with him for more time but he just doesnt have time. So it was a good interview he always makes me feel good. The assisants gave a class and it was awesome. They talked about obedience and also we did practices. We did practices that will help us out. For example, people here have bars inbetween the sidewalk and the house. So when you clap they just peak out the door and tell you if they want to listen or no. So what we do is act like we cant hear them so they have to come up to us and shake our hands. Ha ha we tried it last night and we got into the house. It worked pretty well. Also when you knock a door just to put you foot in the door and say ´permiso¨ permission and walk in. To show a little bit of faith and just walk in the house. They told us to be carefull when we do it. Like dont be stupid and do it with a big man that looks mad. Ha ha. But i am going to try. Also i am going to try to talk to a whole bus. I am way scared to do it. I dont know why, i shoulnt be but i am. I iwll do it though. Sometime. So that was the meeting yesterday. It was way good.

So to make the day more fun i have been just doing weird things. Esspecially if it is a house with an intercom and i cant see there face and they cant see mine. Last night we knock a house and i asked the lady if we could go in and bless her house. She gave the lame excuse that she couldnt because her throat hurts so i asked if she wants ablessing. She said no, i am catholic. I say ya, well do you want a blessing. She said no i am catholic. So i told her you know lady the blessings work for catholic people too and just left. My comp starting laughting. Or another thing. If i know someone is lying to me and just say to my comp they are lying in english and we go on. He gets mad at me because he thinks everyone understands english but i just do it becasue it confuses the person who is lying to me. I dont like it when people lie to my face. So i just play with them like that. It is fun i guess. I am trying to be fun with my comp. It gets pretty quiet sometimes. We just dont have the same personalities. 4 more weeks. I can do it. But i love him. He has his good things. I am helping him with the language and so are the members that that is good.

So we went to visit juana last night and she is doing good. She is awesome. She was out of town for a month so it was good to see her again. She had fun she was in La Rioja. Another province.
Today we played ping pong. I am getting pretty good. I beat everyone except for one chileno. He always wins. One day i will beat him. Ha ha i just dont have time to practice. Oh well.
Well that was about my week. We are hoping for a better one. We have openened our mouth 280 times in the last two weeks and we are going for another 140 this week. I like talking with people in the streets. Well i hope all of you have a good week and are all safe. I love you all. Les amo mucho. Cuídense mucho y hasta la semana que viene.
Elder blake austin smith