Villa Madero
This week was SUPER interesting and VERY draining. We spent the week in the area of Villa Madero with the Hermanas Escalante and Gove. And we didn’t have a single normal day in our whole week there. I think the best way to recount the week is just to go day by day.
So… Monday. The day started out normal. We bought groceries, wrote our families, had nachos for lunch. I wrote letters home and then at about 4:00 as normal we were in our taxi headed to our area for the week. When we got to the apartment of the Hermanas it was a mess. Because, bueno, their rental contract expired Tuesday and they had to move out last minute and were packing up all their things. So basically we helped them pack their entire apartment in bags and boxes.
Tuesday. Well in the morning we got ready as normal but we had a problem with breakfast - all the dishes were all packed up. So on the way to the district meeting we bought dulce de leche filled chocolate covered churros, one of my favorite treats! In this part of the mission the train system isn’t as developed and the trains only pass every hour. And the only way to know what time the train is gonna pass is with the app… which we don’t have, so sometimes we don’t have too wait long for the train and sometimes we have to wait an hour. This time we waited an hour, but we ate our churros on the swings in the park so I couldn’t complain too much. After the district meeting, we took the train back to Villa Madero and bought a few Argentine style crazy subs for lunch and the Elders came with the truck and we started the LONG task of MOVING! It lasted for hours with many trips and lots of distractions along the way and honestly it was more than a little exhausting. After a missionary correlation meeting to end the day (and another train ride of half an hour to our temporary home) we started the project of organizing how 6 sister missionaries were going to share 1 apartment and 1 bathroom. It was a very long, exhausting day and we all collapsed in bed at the end of the day.
Wednesday: The morning was normal, after once again taking the train, we found a new investigator and he accepted a baptismal date. For lunch the family of members gave us a sack lunch to eat in our apartment… but we didn’t have an apartment, not even keys to the borrowed one… so we had brought plates in our backpacks and we ate spaghetti in the plaza with spoons. Let me just tell you spaghetti should not be eaten with spoons! My face was a mess! :) After lunch Hermana Menezes, my companion, had a doctors appointment far, far away so we made the 2 hour journey in bus to her appointment and then made the 2 hour journey back after. Even though we weren’t working outside it made us super tired - something about traveling does that. We got back to the apartment and studied to finish the day.
Thursday: We had the little problem of a little national strike on ALL trains and buses. SO the only way to get from our temporary pench to Villa Madero was to walk and walk and walk and walk the 45 minutes there… by the end of the day oh how my feet were swollen and how my legs hurt. It was another day also of pasta in the park - this time at least with forks. We also had a lesson with a man who was Argentine to say the least - he could talk all day long if you let him, but he wants to get baptized and come to Church even though it is hard for him cuz he is in a wheelchair.
Friday: In the morning we made a quick run to the Distribution Center for some needed supplies and then had a day full of scheduling conflicts. Our ‘lunch’ was at 3 in the afternoon and we had an appointment at that time. So I went with Hemana Gove to the capilla (chapel) for their appointment and when that was over we needed a way to get to our super far away lunch fast to make it to our other appointments in the afternoon. And we happened to see the Elders who are in charge of the apartments truck and well we rang the doorbell of the pench they were fixing and asked them for a quick ride and they were pals enough to help us out. After a bit of lunch and a lesson it was time to head home. With ice cream in hand.
Saturday: After a normal morning and a semi-normal afternoon (I taught a lesson to Hermana Escalante’s uncle and aunt and cousin) we took to heart a recent General Conference address by Yoon Huan Choi of the Seventy. He talked about how we need to look up, not around, and that when it rains we need to Look Up, Open our Mouths, and DRINK IT! And when it poured on us Saturday that is exactly what we did. We embraced that we didn’t have umbrellas and just danced in the rain! And then “quickly” (as quickly as you can with a 30 minute train ride :) made our way home to warm up and dry off.
And that moment helped me learn something. When we are exhausted and tired and frustrated and just about nothing goes our way, it is so much better to be positive and just enjoy it. Even though SUNDAY: we were all practically falling asleep in Church we were so tired, I learned a lot in the meetings and felt the Spirit. And in the baptismal service the Elders held after Church, the Spirit was strong and lots of members gave us references of their neighbors. My week, my mission, my life, the world is terrible or beautiful depending on how I CHOOSE to see it. SO despite the train, and the rain and the drama, and the yawns, or maybe even because of all that, this last week was great. Full of experiences and laughs I’ll never forget! And I can’t wait to see what the next week holds. :)
-Hermana Walker
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