10/16/11

lol well the water.. yeah it makes us sick, but it´s already happened, so we just drink it now. we try to avoid it as much as possible.  my stomach will not be the same again lol i can´t assure that. but it´s fine, all part of the experience. food is great! it´s so good. i love it. it´s not too different, but still very different. it´s all fresh, and they don´t flavor it with much so it´s good and you can taste the flavors of the real food instead of just what you put on it. like potatoes? they´re pretty darn good with out so much ranch and bacon bits smothering them lol. 
so we only see our misison pres for interviews that´s all. we have interviews this week i think. 

elder mcgary and i get along well. we´re both opening up a lot more. we´ll be together for at least 12 weeks for the training program. and this is his last area. so i´m his last companion. he leaves the beginning of january. 
yeah we just sleep in the sleeping bag. it´s hot though so i just use the sheet. there are bugs, but not an outrageous amount. i assume as it continues to warm up there will be a lot more. it´s not bad right now though. the other day was super hot. and it´s not even dead summer, with the humidity yet lol. whoo it´ll be hot. 
i´m glad you guys are going to kc!! i´m jealous. i miss everyone supder duper much. like crazy. 

i´m doing well. still trying to work out how to do emails and stuff. sorry this one isn´t too much informative. i´ll be better next week.
there´s lots of rain, adn mud a lot. and things are going pretty well. the work is hard, people are great.  
i love and miss you guys so much!!! i´ll be a lot better next week, promise :)

love!

elder gardner

10/10

Rhet hasn't been receiving the dear elder letters since he has been in Argentina, hopefully they will catch up soon.  So feel free to send him emails at rhet.gardner@myldsmail.net in the meantime.  Things are going well with his companion.  He is a little shy, but Rhet says he has been a bit too but is breaking out and talking a lot more and having more discussions.  They teach together well.  He has had problems with blisters and all of the walking, but finally is starting to feel better.  His spanish is improving, he says it's still hard to understand people, but it's getting better.  He says his apartment is good and the food is great.  They have crackers or grab something quick for breakfast and they usually eat lunch with a member, and usually don't eat dinner due to being busy or still being full from a big lunch.  He says that's common to not eat dinner.  They get served potatoes with boiled eggs and mayonnaise a lot.  They have a baptism scheduled for the 22nd and he is excited.  A problem they run into a lot is people living together, so it is something they have to work on with a lot of people.  He says it takes about a month and a lot of money to get married there, so a lot of people aren't married.  They had a fun pday.  About 6 of the missionaries made tacos, about 48 for the 6 of them and they were good.  

He seems to be doing well!  All missionaries love hearing from friends and family, feel free to write him at rhet.gardner@myldsmail.net.

1st email from Argentina 10-3-11

The flight to Argentina was long, but was good.  He actually answered questions from the flight attendants for about an hour and a half.  When he met his missionary president at the airport, they immediately gave him a pamphlet and told him to hand it out before they left.  His first area is San Francisco.  It's a pretty big area and is closer to La Plata than Buenos Aires.  He said there is a lot of walking, but they do get to take the bus too.  He said the people are awesome and the members are amazing.  The members do their laundry and feed them Wednesday through Sunday for lunch (they don't eat breakfast or dinner there).  He got to go to Florencio Valera and watch conference and loved it.  There are baptisms planned from the missionaries there before them and he is happy to be able to participate.  The food is good, pizza all the time.  Also empanadas and milanesa which is just like really flattened out fried steak.  They also drink a lot of tang.  But it comes in hundreds of flavors.  When he asks for water, he gets tang.  :)  His spanish (castellano) is coming along.  It was really hard his first day, but he is improving.  THe hardest part is understanding others, but he is getting better.  

He arrived safely!

Although we haven't heard from Rhet yet, we have heard from his mission president that he arrived safely.  He will be serving in San Francisco, Argentina (North of Buenos Aires) with Elder McGary as his companion.  Here's a picture of all those who traveled with him and his mission president and wife.  Hoping to hear from him today.  I'll let you know.