ThE AdVeNtuREs of A GReeN-EyeD GiRL: Word of the Week: "me duele la garganta" ("my throat hurts")

Hello from HOT Argentina. Today is a sweltering 38 degrees Celsius...makes for sweaty days and not a lot of great sleep at night. It's been quite the eventful week and a turning point in my mission. This past Friday, I passed the half way mark in my mission...I now have about 8-9 months left as a missionary in Argentina. It seems like every transfer just goes by faster and faster! On Wednesday, I said goodbye to my area in Mayor Drummond and went into the mission offices to meet my new companion straight from the MTC in Provo! Eek! Hermana Anderson is from Cardston, Canada and is basically my twin. We keep joking that we need to start a list of all our similarities. She is a lot of fun and is very anxious and excited to work and be a great missionary. It's really refreshing to have a hard working companion, but overwhelming right now as I'm the sole speaker in every setting. I'm really being stretched, and discovering that if I'm not careful, I will lose my voice talking as much as I am right now! The Lord is truly blessing me and I have seen my comprehension and abilities take a huge leap in just the past few days! Sunday night, after a long and stressful week starting to whitewash our new area, we went to a beautiful park next to our apartment and did some contacting. Hna. Anderson stopped and talked with an older couple, who weren't interested in listening to our message, but were nice and invited us to sit down and talk with them. So, we sat down and chatted about EVERYTHING for about 15-20 minutes. We talked about Bill Gates, Obama, Argentine taxes, the water shortage here, tourist locations, Kirk Douglas (with cancer???). It was such a fun experience for me and a great opportunity for Hna. Anderson to practice listening to Spanish and learning to adjust to the accent here. It was such a tender mercy from the Lord, after a stressful week, to have a small glance into how far I've come in the past 9 months (in Spanish and as a missionary/person). Wednesday, I went to the offices and met Hna. Anderson. Then she, Hna. Richins and her "newbie", and I took a 4 hour bus ride to San Rafael. We got back around 8 pm, so we dropped off our suitcases in the apartment and went to get ice cream (true initiation into the Mendoza mission). Thursday we had a zone meeting and then went and started working in our new area. I've never worked in this part of San Rafael and the missionaries before us left it in rough shape. So...we are starting from scratch. I'm not sure what I'm doing in any regards...but...the Lord seems to think I've got what it takes. (Thank goodness someone does! :) We taught a woman with our zone leaders who is receiving cancer treatments right now and has a baptismal date for the 12th of February. She came to church with us this week, and though nervous, seemed to enjoyed it. We found and taught a really interesting woman named Elia. We didn't realize, but she was taught by missionaries about a year ago. It was a fabulously spiritually lesson and felt led by the Lord to say every word. It was a FABULOUS experience. Both Hna. Anderson and I left the lesson emotionally and spiritually drained, but eager to have more lessons like that! We set a baptismal date with Elia for the end of February and are anxious to visit her again and see her progress. Sunday was a CRAZY day as we hurried to an investigator's house to help her get to church for the first time. We had three investigators in church...all with baptismal dates! In sacrament meeting, Hna. Anderson and I had the opportunity of sharing our testimonies with the small ward. It's amazing how much richer and meaningful my testimony seems now that I say it in Spanish. Sharing my testimony always fills me with peace and happiness. Surprise! After sacrament meeting, we quickly discovered that our teacher for our Gospel Principle class didn't come to church...so Hermana Pelton to the rescue...I have never had to teach a Gospel Principles lesson and talk straight for nearly an hour in Spanish...I made it through and it ended up--thanks to the Lord--the lesson I felt like our investigators really needed. It was stressful and my throat hurt really bad afterword, but somehow I made it through! :) Today, for P-day, we laid low because it is REALLY hot today and there are some storms rolling in right now. We did go and get ice cream that was delicious! we discovered a laundry mat in our area and are excited to use it in the near future! Thanks for all the prayers and letters! I've got the best cheerleading team there is! I love you all...stay cool ;) ¡Chau! Hermana Pelton