Canuelas

So this week was amazing!  This week I was in Canuelas with my temporary comp Hermana Menezes and we help out the Hermanas McBride and Dias. 

So to start off, Canuelas is…. CAMPO (I think that is country in English.)  It is the most removed area of the Hermanas, a few hours in taxi.  But it is super cute.  The branch is small, but has 4 missionaries.  The one bad thing, okay so there is more than one bad thing, but more than anything the water tastes like salt and not just a little like salt but A LOT and because it is in el campo there are lots of trees and grass in the fields with lots of cows and just basically lots of humidity.  It was a super hot, super humid week.

As for my temporary comp.  Well my comp Hermana Abate Daga has been having some knee problems and some other things going on and all but Sunday in the afternoon the assistants called to tell us she would be spending the week in Adrogue to go to medical appointments and such and that Hermana Menezes would be my traveling companion.  And it turned out to be fantastic!  Hermana Menezes is from Brasil and is a working machine and really loves the work and the Lord.  We had ton of success in Canuelas.  We found 13 new investigators and 5 accepted baptismal dates and we just worked our tails off, even though it was an inferno outside.  

One day we worked in the morning and when we got back to the apartment for lunch we ate in about 5 minutes and then used the rest of the hour of lunch to take a nap.  When the alarm went off we got up to study Spanish but Hermana Menezes and I literally couldn’t!  I was dizzy and couldn’t stay awake and she had her head in her hands just trying to focus on her Book of Mormon study but we just couldn’t do it.  Finally I asked Hermana McBride for the health binder, and it told us we had heat exhaustion and it said to take a cold shower and cool down.  And wow did that help :).  After studies we were getting ready to head back outside to the inferno and it was super funny cuz we were all doing whatever we could to stall going outside again;  applying and reapplying sunscreen, applying off for the mosquitos, sweeping the floor, trying to find pass along cards, filling and refilling our water bottles, changing our shoes…. finally we all realized we were stalling and laughed about it and then headed out into the oven.  I believe this week I reached a shade of tan that I had never reached before.  

Working with the Hermanas McBride and Dias was a treat too!  Hermana McBride is from the East Coast and Hermana Dias is from Brasil too.  Kinda funny cuz none of us has Spanish as our native language!  

Working in the country had its special challenges too! For one thing the reunion de distrito was an hour train ride away!! But the train ride was beautiful!! Open fields with cows and have I mentioned before that the clouds here in Argentina are different and beautiful!  I think because we are at the bottom of the world they so pretty but for real... GORGEOUS!! :) an so the district meeting went good and all right .... until the last prayer was a little too long and we missed the bus back to Cañuelas so we had to wait 2 hours in the train station..... country probs :)

Also I had a fun biking experience this week. We had to take a train to lunch right….and the train only passes every hour or so... so we took it with the other Hermanas and they had the bikes but no problem right, so we went to lunch in this little house and it had to be more than a hundred degrees inside, to try to cool it off they sprayed the tin roof with water but it didn’t help much, I think it just added more humidity. 

And bueno, after lunch we were pushing it for time cuz the train passes on a schedule and we had a long way to travel to the station... so we decided to use the bikes.... I rode on the part between the handles and the seat of a mans bike side saddle while Hna Dias was peddling and we made it halfway there before..... you guessed it..... CRRRAAASSSSHHH!!! :) But we didn’t get hurt, we just fell over on the dirt road and we were all sweaty from the lunch so the dirt stuck to us and wasn’t too lovely but bueno... we still had a train to make so we climbed back on the bikes and finished the journey. (After we went and took a shower :) ) 

Mostly it was just super funny! We just sat there laughing on the dirt ground for a good minute!! :) I don’t know how we didn’t get hurt!! :) I am pretty sure we have protecting angels that have to work over time to keep us safe and sound :) 

So yeah basically that was my week in Cañuelas! I love the mission and I love the gospel. How amazing is it that people can change and repent.  Anyone, no matter what they have done can change and be clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I have seen so much change in my mission, from investigators, less actives, missionaries and in myself. I am so grateful to my Savior JesuCristo. I love Him and love serving Him! 

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Hermana Walker