Word of the week: Llegar (to arrive)

Alright... I have lots to write about!

Monday morning we left the MTC and got to the airport with enough time to grab a Quiznos sandwich (yay for something other than cafeteria food!) and call home. It was so nice talking to family! It was so surreal--like I hadn´t been gone at all, but at the same time like I hadn´t talked to family in years!!!! I wish we had more time to chat and catch up because I felt like we barely started talking when they started to load the plane. It was wonderful nonetheless!

The flight to Dallas was definitely uneventful. I did sit next to a man who served his mission 20 years ago or so in Argentina, so we talked a bit about that. When we landed in Dallas it was near 100 degrees and was MUGGY! We got the the gate for our connecting flight with just enough time to go to the bathroom and talk to the large group of teenagers headed to Buenos Aires on a mission trip for 9 days. I started talking to them and asking them about why they were going and then introduced us! It was fun and I could tell they thought they were so cool going to Argentina for 9 days...then we told them we´d be there for 18-24 months...the enthusiam on their faces drained really fast! :) Anyway, the flight to Buenos Aires wasn´t full, so I ended up sitting in a window seat by myself!!!! It was fabulous. In front of me was a Jewish man and another woman who only spoke Spanish. At one point the man turned around, pointed to my plaque and gave me the thumbs up. We started talking after the plane took off and I got to bear my testimony to him in Spanish and talk to him about his beliefs. It was AMAZING! It was cool to see my broken Spanish touch someone. He looked at me and told me that he´d never met anyone like me and that he believes that every person we meet has a message from God specifically for us (ie: God answers our prayers through other people). He just looked at me and said, "maybe I´m the one that´s supposed to hear your message." It was cool to just talk to him and try out Spanish. It was ever cooler to see the spirit touch him as he complimented my Spanish and my beliefs.

We landed in Buenos Aires early in the morning. While I got a little sleep on the plane, it hardly counted for anything, so I was exhausted. All of our baggage arrived and we got through customs before meeting with 2 very attractive Italian looking men (Karrie you would love this culture! You always greet people with a kiss on the right cheek---as sister missionaries, we only greet woman this way, but everyone kisses here...you should think about moving here, wink wink)

Anyway, we waited in the airport for probably an hour while this man ran around with our passports and other documents doing who knows what. We then took a van to the MTC in Buenos Aires (the temple is undergoing MAJOR renovations, so we weren´t able to do a session or even walk around the grounds). We picked up one elder there (from Chile) and then drove for about an hour to the domestic airport on the other side of the city. I slept...At the airport we met another "guide" who spoke only spanish and shuffled us through this packed airport--with all our luggage--to get us plane tickets to Mendoza. Again, we waited for an hour as he bustled around the airport sorting all these things out. We sat and waited for about 3 hours before our flight. I slept at the table in the food court area as did the other 2 elders heading to Mendoza. Our guide reappeared at one point with empanadas and soda for us. It was amazing!!!!! oh man. so good. everyone was watching the game on the tv screens, but I was too exhausted to care and too overwhelmed to do anything but sleep...so that I did....on my backback...in the airport.

We almost missed our flight to Mendoza because our guide accidently told us the wrong gate. When we went to the gate they told us we were in the wrong place. We hurried to a tv monitor to figure out where we needed to be just as i heard them say my name (in a very thick spanish accent) for the last boarding call. we made it just fine and got all settled in for our last leg of the journey. the flight was only 2 hours or so. when we landed and got our luggage, the Lindahls and the three assistants met us and gathered our things. Hermana Richins and I rode with the Lindahls into Mendoza to their home. I was completely shocked. I was not prepared at all for what I was getting myself into. the city was dingy, most of the roads aren't paved, there are dirty dogs running around, the houses are cement blocks with paint chipping off, there is garbage everywhere blowing through the streets...it's just gross...i'm not gonna lie. I knew I wasn't headed to a 5 star hotel and a well developed nation, but Buenos Aires was green and more built up and more like a city. Mendoza really felt like I'd been dropped in the middle of nowhere. I feel as though no one could ever find me here....it's so remote. I think I was more just overwhelmed by it all, but it was definitely not what I was expecting. The Lindahl's apartment is beautiful and they had a delicious meal prepared for us. After dinner the assistants drove us to the mission office a few blocks away where Hermana Richins and I spent the night. The next morning we woke up very early to go to a national identification office of sorts (like a DOL) to get ou "documents" as they are called here (a mix between a passport and a drivers license). We had to wait for probably 3 hours and then we had to wait for them the fill out the paperwork by hand and get our finger prints. We got back to the mission home 5 hours later or so, got the brief orientation, met with the president, then met our trainers. My trainer is Hermana Sybrowski from Provo and this is her last transfer. I´m the first gringa she´s trained, so she was pretty excited. (Note: her father is a seventy so she´s lived all over!!! super cool!) Our area is in San Luis (Ammpya), which is a 4-hour bus ride outside of Mendoza. I´m gonna try and attach some pictures. We live with Hermana Richins and her trainer (hermana Hunt). the other sisters serve in another ward/the neighboring area.

we´ve done a LOT of walking...it´s cold here, so we really have to bundle up. everything i own is covered in a thick layer of dust, smoke, and the smell of mate. Church yesterday was fine, overwhelming, but fine. I think of Rob every day I walk outside our apartment as I strain to try and pick out even just a few words I can understand. I´ve been able to teach part of the first lesson and it´s going alright, but my inability to speak is really emotionally, spiritually, and physically draining. i have never been so absolutely exhausted in my entire life. i don´t know how I´m going to make it another 16 months.The area we are working right now is really poor (we´re outside San Luis more in the "country") and there aren´t a ton of people. they are delicious bakeries and ice cream places though, so I have just been drowning my sorrowed in baked goods and desserts. :)

My trainer keeps telling me that this isn´t the hard transfer, it´s the next one when my companion will be latin and doesn´t speak english....great!

I´m trying really hard to stay positive. today was nice because we got to take a LONG (and much needed) nap and now we are in the "city" walking around and looking at all the shops and kinda being tourists. today´s been fun, but honestly I´m dreading the next few days of awkward lessons and discomfort. yay for being a missionary!

Love you all....i hope i live to see another p day

Hermana Pelton

ps--friends and extended family can email me through you mom. if they send you something, you can forward it to me here at this address.

packages and mail comes every 6 weeks when we go back to the mission home for transfers. hermana sybrowski says the small packages and letters her mom sends come about every 2-3 weeks. she just sends things under $5-$7 value (on the customs form) and she´s had no problems.