wow, didn´t see that coming...

Hello dearest family,

I hope you are all well. I am doing just great here in URQUIZA. That´s right, not Vicente Lopez, Urquiza. Well it is a bit of a long story and I´ll get to it in a minute. First things first. This week was just full of suprises. We had a zone conference on Wednesday that was just great. We all learn so much and just come away from them with a new enegery to work, work, work. My companion is fabulous like I have previously said, but she really is great. She is learning and growing everyday and so am I. Oh and on Thursday we had our weekly planning session where we plan for the whole week, who we are going to see, when we are going to stop by this persons house, what we are going to teach etc..., so this week was something different. President Gulbrandsen had all of us in the whole mission on a conference call at the same time so we all planned together. It was pretty cool that he can talk to all of us at the same time no matter where we are, even the people in the south.
Okay okay, so that is how the week went up ´til Thursday. Friday morning I got a phone call from one of the assistents saying that something had happened in Urquiza and that we (my companion and I were being transfered.) What? Okay when...now. What? Well okay so we packed our bags and were ready to go about at 12.30. So we called the mission office to find out the direction an dhow to get there. Well Elder Denton said that, they didn´t have the keys they were with Sister Gulbrandsen in Escobar. Well for those of you who don´t know, Escobar is far, very far from me. So we thought it would be aboutu 2 hours until the keys got there. Well we called at 4.30 and still no new news. Turns out the keys didn´t get to the mission office until 9 something and we got them at about 10.30. So it was a very unproductive day. All day in our apartment. It was goood for my companion though because she has just been dying to mark her scriptures. So she had plenty of time to do it:) Okay so Saturday morning we left lovely Vicente Lopez 2, my area. I say minie, because it really feels that way as in that we had 1 investigator when we got there and had to figure everything out by ourselves, there was no one to show us around.
Well, here we go again. The hermanas that were in Urquiza are being transferred one to Vicente Lopez to be in a trio and the other to Caballitos. So once again opening an area. Well, not exactly, there is at least an area book and list of investigators. That is a major plus. So Saturday we got here and then we found out that Hermana Gillum was coming back to this area to be with us for a few days. She is great, she´s from St. George. She only had one week here, so it´s all pretty new to her too, but at least she knows the investigators. So we are all really excited for this week and the opportunity to start from a clean slate, literally. The ward is really great here. It reminds me a lot of our ward at home. It is now where near the same size, but all the members are really friendly and loving. Okay so I think that is pretty much all that happened with me this week, pretty dull, huh. :)

Okay to answer your questions mom, 1.YES. I can wear what every color I want. The sky is the limit, well okay still need to be classy, but patterns and colors are VERY welcome. It is one of the new rules that I didn´t know when I left. So something with flowers is just fine. Think of the Aleta that you know and don´t worry too much about the rules. Chances are that what ever you buy will be just fine, since my tastes aren´t really extreme. I think the size will be okay. To tell you the truth I have no idea what size I wear, you may want to go with one size smaller, no idea in a shirt. A skirt thought maybe 1 size smaller. Don´t worry though, I eat, I get fed, I just do A LOT of walking, it is the only way to learn my way around the area.
2. no I am fine on the memory card.
3. Can´t think of anything that i need in a package..... whatever. It is like Christmas every time, never know what will be in there, it´s pretty fun. Oh, but could you send me a white sauce recipe, I attempted to make some the other day but failed miserably. Well it was okay and I ate it, but definitely needs improving.
4. I think there are actually 20 sisters now in the mission, not 18. There were 3 in the south that you didn´t see. 1 got cropped out of the photo. Hermana Olsen and Sandoval were talking and didn´t come in time for the photo, I think, either that or they were in another room.
Okay I think that was all of the questions. Thank you so much for the emails this week, mom, dad, aunt Janie, and Brother Bingham. They were great to read and I love hearing from all of you at home. Brother Bingham, THAT IS GREAT. I do remember her and she is super nice. I guess you just never know the impact you can have on people.
Okay I´ve got to get going, you know how it is. Oh and Happy belated b-day Jaime, 25 on the 25th pretty cool.

Lots of Love,
Aleta

hello, from me....

Dear family,
Wow what a week. I can´t ´believe it is over. Well I´m sure learning a lot. Thank you very much for all of the emails! Mom, I´m sorry it is still so cold there, sounds like about the same kind of weather we have here. Actually the Autumn here is very similar to home. Aunt Janie, sounds like you are in for some good eatn´ in the fall with all those veggies! Matt C. yes I did get your email, thank you so much. It is great to hear from you. I can´t believe you´ve been home for two months already. Give a thanks to brother Herman for the great letter. Dad, sounds like you had fun at the poetry thing, keep up the good work.

Well I´m sure you all have just been bursting to know who is my new companion........... her name is Hermana Vargas, she is from Guatemala. It was pretty interesting last week. We got a phone call last Monday, saying that we didn´t have to pick up our companions on Tuesday, because all of the North Americans flights had been cancelled. Then about 5 min. later another call saying that I didn´t have to go, but hermana Keele yes. because she was training a Latin. Then about 2 min. later another call saying that I need to go too, that we should just forget the other calls and proceed as normal because we were training Latins and the Elders had called all of the trainers at first and then realized that there were some of us who did need to come. Well long story short, I met her and she is great- Oh and that Volcano's and their ash, really make life interesting around here.

Okay as for my week....Well here I am in Vicente Lopez and trying my best to be everything the Lord needs and wants me to be. I am humbled everyday at the challenges before me and trust in the lord to see me through them. I know that I am doing his work and pray that he will continue to guide me in everything I do.
My companion is amazing. I think she is the one training me. Hermana Vargas is just bursting with energy. She wants nothing more than to go out and baptize all of Martinez and Vicente Lopez. The other day I said that we could knock a few of the doors on the street where we had an appointment. She was actually excited about. She said that she had been wanting to do it. Well it helped me some, since knocking doors is not my favorite thing in the world to do and not the easiest either. She did great. We also have been passing by for a few former investigators and seeing if they have any interest. The majority said no, and we scheduled a few appointments. One of them Carmen, said come on in. So Hermana Vargas had her first opportunity to put a baptismal date yesterday. She did great, a little nervous, but she followed the spirit and I know that the practices that we do every morning really helped her know what to do. I really love the extra hour of companion study, when I was new it felt like we never had enough time to practice, most of my kinks I had to work out in actual lessons. Don´t worry I´m still working on that, I am far from perfect, but I trust in the Lord and I think the best thing about practices is not that we are learning how to teach the material, but that we are learning how to listen to the spirit and teach the things that he brings to our remembrance. This is why it is so important to study every morning so that we will have the needs of our investigators fresh in our minds while practicing and teaching.
Hermana Vargas is an amazing missionary. I am doing everything possible to help her become the kind of missionary that the lord needs. President Gulbransden once told me that using inspired questions to teach, isn´t only for the investigators, it is for every facet of our lives. I am really finding that to be true. By asking my companion the needed questions, I think she is learning so much more than I could ever teach her.
I am really looking forward to this time that we have together and I am grateful for this opportunity responsibility that the Lord has entrusted in me.

Love you all tons!
Aleta

gulp.......‏

Dear Family,
I hope everyone is well. I hope the weather is warming up for you. I really can´t believe that it is half way through June already, que loco! So as for news here, I went to the farewell for my trainer last night, Hermana Romo, she leaves today to go home. Well I think she leaves tonight. There are a lot of flights that have been cancelled due to the ash and things from the volcano in Chile. There were a few missionaries who are going home today that were serving in the south, and the airport down there had been closed all week so those poor missionaries had to travel by bus....50 hours, but they made it here.

Well, we start a new transfer today.......don´t worry I´m not going anywhere. My companion Hermana Salas went to Campana, it is far and more country, she´s pretty excited. As for me...gulp.....voy a entrenar!!!!!!!!! ( I´m going to train) I am kind of excited about it, and really nervous. I don´t think I know nearly enough Spanish, well I know a lot, but make a lot of mistakes too. It should be interesting. Hermana Keele is going to train too. So we are still living together, so at least we´ll be able to help each other out. I have no idea who my new companion is, she doesn´t come until tomorrow, so for today Hermana Keele and I are comps. It is kind of funny, the same day that my trainer leaves, I train.

As for this week I´m not sure what to tell you, oh wait... what am I saying this week was crazy. I can´t believe I almost forgot to tell you. Sheesh. So Tuesday morning President Gulbrandsen called and said that one of the Hermanas in Almagro had appendicitis and was in the hospital. He asked if Hermana Cariola could go to Almagro and the three of us would be in a trio. Well later on in the evening, he called again and asked if I could go to the hospital and spend the night with her. So Tuesday night I slept on an air mattress on the floor of her hospital room, it was pretty comfy. Then we came back to the mission home thinking that she would stay there for a few days to recuperated, but it is under construction so all of the bed rooms on the bottom floor are unusable. Well, she can´t go up stairs, so out the door and off to our apartment. Then everyday one of the three of us had to stay home so she would have some one to help her do things. It was quite an adventure. It made for a very fun week, a little out of the normal, but fun. Oh and to add to the fun, we didn´t have power last night so my poor companion had to pack her bags by flashlight. It´s a good thing that our cell phones have flashlights :)

Okay I can´t think of too much more. Know that I love and miss you all. Keep me and my companion in your prayers. I´ll give you a good update on how it goes next week.

Lots of love,
Aleta

Che escuchen!‏

Hola querida familia!
Hey it´s me again. I can´t believe how fast this week flew by, let alone this transfer. Next week is transfers. IT is kind of sad. This is the last week that Heremana Romo (my trainer) has in the mission. We are going to do all that is possible to go to the farewell next Sunday. The trainer of my companion goes home too, so we have double the reason to try and go. Well apparently many of you have seen our act at the ward talent show. I hope you like it. It was really fun and everyone liked it. I think the favorite part was when I hold up the life size cardboard cut out and when we use the flags. Well you asked for the words so here you go. Although it doesn´t have the same ring to it in English. ¨hey listen, we are here, Vicente Lopez 123, we crossed the sea for you, to serve. chorus :Called to serve and the salvation can guide and your friends we can find. oooooooooo, Don´t care how long it is, or where or why, we are going to find them I can see, the chosen are of ten. (de diez is a phrase like the best, or an A. it comes from the grading system here, a 10 is the best you can achieve, so then de 10 is something really great, the best.) chorus: Hermana Salas, hermana Bray, Hermana Keele and Cariola too. we are going to find them I can see, the chosen are of ten. Your kindness, gifts we will receive , with joy we will do your will and where you send me i will go. chorus... ooooooooooooo!!
Okay, wow, I kept trying to type the song in Spanish, which wouldn´t help you much. This translation stuff is difficult. So now my brain hurts, but don´t worry we are going bowling today so I don´t need to think to much:) hahaha.
Okay so thank you so much for the emails! Brother Bingham that deer is so cute! My companion thought that it was mine and that I have a pet deer at home. It was rather funny. Jack thank you for the email and the update, what part of town do you live in? Oh and yeah I guess it´s okay, for now, to borrow her, and when I get back I´d be happy to share :) She is pretty awesome. Okay Dad, sounds like you had a great day. I am glad that everything is okay with Calista, I guess there is never a dull moment huh? Mom your letter was great as always. Thanks for the updates. It is amazing how fast we can know things now a days with the Internet and technology. That talent show was just on Saturday. I think there should be another video out there of the actual event, not just the practice. Well things are going really well here and I love you all. I have got to run.
I ´ll try and right more about my investigators and all that next week!
Lots of Love,
Aleta