Alma Fuerte – December 17, 2012

Hello Christmas Family,

Just a short one again this week. Things are great here in Argentina. Hot and great.

I am sending a few photos and some explanations:

One of the biggest perks about having a companion whose family lives just a few blocks away, is that we get to visit them all the time and all of a sudden I feel like I have all these new aunts and uncles and cousins and nieces and nephews. Last Monday we spent the afternoon with her family and her adorable 6 month old twin nephews were in town and I am now best friends with baby Alejandro. He and his mom and brother live in a tiny town far away, but they come to Formosa a few times a months for treatments for little Ale´s club feet.

Yesterday was the best day for two reasons. Reason 1: We had TONS of investigators in church (6). We went to go get a couple of them and then we took the bus and it just kept stopping and MORE members and investigators would get on and by the time we all got off at the plaza a few blocks away from the chapel there were over 10 of us.

Reason 2: We found an adorable abandoned puppy on the side of the road and we SAVED her. Hna. Luna named her Alma and we carried her around with us in Hna. Luna´s sombrero all afternoon. We wanted so bad to keep her, but we did the second best thing... we gave her to one of the families in the branch that we visit often so we can see her almost every day. They loved her right away and we know they will take good care of her.

The last photo is very recent, taken just one hour ago in a store down the street. SAXOPHONE SANTA!

Merry Christmas! I don´t know exactly when I´ll be calling but you should send me all the phone numbers you have (home phone, all of the family cell phones, etc.) I will probably have more details when I write on the 24th, but I am sure we will communicate.

Love,

Hna Parker

AC AC AC! – December 10, 2012

Just a short email this week--we don´t have a lot of time. ...But I will make up for the length by sending pictures!

If all goes well, today we will have a new air conditioner for our bedroom! We have to go see if they sent the money though, and then go and buy it. I am so happy! After taking a quick poll of ALL the sister missionaries in the province of Formosa (there are like 10 companionships) I found out we were the only ones without AC. Anyways, this will be remedied soon. It has been soooo hot, and our one fan is so pathetic that I literally have not been able to sleep many nights and instead just lie in agony all night tossing and turning in my own sweat. Okay, haha. That was dramatic. It is not that bad. But AC will be a welcome improvement.

Besides the extreme heat, everything is going well here in Formosa with Hermana Luna. She was originally supposed to stay with me until this Wednesday, when we have transfers. But it looks like we are short on sisters and she will likely stay with me for my entire next transfer. It is weird serving with someone who lives here in Formosa (just a few blocks from our apartment) and is not a set-apart missionary. She lives so close by that we are always stopping by her house to drop off dirty clothes for her mom to wash, or to eat lunch or dinner (whenever we don´t have anyone in the branch to feed us). It is sort of like having a second home and a second mom. It is definitely a different feeling.

We have had several investigators disappear or drop out on us this week. We had been teaching one woman, Olga, and her two daughters and they were preparing to be baptized this month. However, we have a requirement in our mission that investigators must attend church at least 3 times to be baptized. This week was CRUCIAL if they wanted to be baptized on the 22nd. Well, this Friday they just flat-out disappeared on us and we still aren´t sure where they went. And they have no cell phone for us to call to see what´s up.

A few notes to accompany the photos I am sending.

1. The miracle of the umbrella! We found a perfectly good big blue umbrella in the trash just before a surprise mid-day storm hit. 2. These days ice cream and sun hats are a MUST. 3. Meeting a sheep.

A few notes to close:

Birthday: Mom! I received my birthday package several weeks ago, I am not sure if I told you. THANK YOU. The clothes are perfect. Also I got my birthday card from Ashley this week and it is the best card I have ever received. I loved it. :)

Mail: I sent out a package of letters over a month ago but for some reason it was returned to me and I am just now sending them out again. So if some of you get letters that say "happy thanksgiving!" in January, that is why.

Christmas: I still don´t know how Christmas phone calling will go. Everything is crazy and confusing with the sudden change of mission president. But I will let you know as soon as I know something.

That´s it!

Ciao,

Hermana Parker