7-30-13 Formosa, Argentina

Google Earth shot of where Reinna lives...She hasn't sent other pics, so I have to improvise!

Sounds like you are crazy busy! And having tons of fun of course! Yep the weather here is starting to go back to normal and so far it has been like the perfect temperature, but people keep telling us horror stories about the summer, in Formosa it gets to be 50 degrees Celsius...now i don't know the exact temperature that would be in fahrenheit but i know that is crazy crazy hot! Yep I went to send my memory card yesterday with the pictures from the baptism and my area but they wouldn'}t let me send it in a normal envelope so i am gonna try sending it in a small package. oh yesterday when i was in Resistencia I got your package and a bunch of letters!!!!!!!! Thank you all so much!!!! I must say i loved all the maria stickers stuck to the package:) 

So my companion and I...I don't think I told you but we are the only two gringas who are companions in our entire mission! Yesterday was the conference for all the new missionaries and most of them have major struggles with their companions and one that came with me cried everyday for the first 3 weeks and still cries because she was put in her second white wash in two transfers and her companion is brand new also. I haven't cried at all, not in Wisconsin and not here...I think i am just a freak. But we have a lot of potential in our area and we are starting to see our hard work pay off, because oh yea me and my companion are obedient and we teach more lessons than any other companionship in our zone:) Every week has been getting a little better too. We have had a lot of stuff fall through though like our baptism this last week, but it was so last minute. We literally taught her everything in a week because she wanted to be baptised on a specific day. but...it didn't work out.

The language is coming. Every other day people tell me my Spanish sucks and then the other days they tell me how good i am doing so i don't really know, but i can communicate with people and i help in lessons as much as i can. It's tough because I am also learning still, so I listen a ton, but this week is the 11th week of my training so pretty much I am supposed to start running the show and next week is my final week of training! Its crazy! I am trying to think of anything exciting that has happened but really my companion and i just work hard every day. We teach in different spots with different people and different lessons, but in general it is pretty much the same. Well there are tons of funny things in between too :) But I will write you in a couple hours, we have to go eat lunch and then go to a district meeting and then we can come back and i will let you know what else has been going on, but i love you soooooo much! Thank you so much for all that you have done for me! talk to you later!!!!

Hermana Quick

July 22, 2013 Formosa, Argentina

whoa! So i don´t know what is up with today but i have a awful computer and it is super hard to read. i ate alligator this past week!!!!! Yep and now i know how to fry my up some empanadas. They are so good but of course to finish up my meal i went to drink some fanta and after i was bringing the cup down from my mouth there was a huuuuuge mosquito that probably had west Nile all over it in my cup!!!! it was sick!!! Oh and yesterday the water went out in our apartment so we couldn´t shower and it was Sunday so we couldn´t buy water and our water reserve is way outdated. yea this morning we had to take a bus to the pension of some other sisters and shower and brush our teeth and stuff oh yeah and go to the bathroom! It is cold here right now, just like you said, but it isn´t that bad. I am not hating it but i miss the heat a little. It kinda just feels like camping all the time because if it is cold out side it is cold inside and you never escape it. It is cold at night but for some reason it hasn´t been bothering me. I am so glad i brought the clothes that i did though. I was gonna try sending you some pics today but this computer is absolutely awful so i will put my memory card in my envelope tomorrow so that will be sent your way...i am a little scared to send it because I would be so sad if something happened to it, but this computer thing hasn´t been working. So it sounds like life there has been busy but awesome!

Okay I still haven´t read all my emails so I am gonna send this your way, but nope there are 3 more Sundays here and we are teaching some people who are so ready to be baptized and I am excited for these next few weeks. I don´t know my address but it is on puchini and jaquin de los santos on the corner. I don´t know if i will be training next transfer but i will be going to a new missionary training next Monday so i don´t know when i am gonna email you, but i am excited to see what is up! Hey i am gonna read moms email real fast, love you!!!!!!!!

Hermana Quick

oh crocodile kinda has a fishy taste but then kinda a chicken taste too...it is good though!

July 15, 2013 Formosa, Argentina

I have been taking way more pictures!!!! Just so you know, we are also gonna stop by the correo (post office)  to send our letters so i will get those to you! but guess what!!!!!! I had my first baptism!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy i was fighting back tears because it was seriously a battle to get him in the water, but he now has the priesthood and he will probably get a calling on Sunday. I am so happy for him. 

I was so excited to hear about hna crawley! She made it back to her mission after surgery! I have kept in contact with most of the people from the mtc and Wisconsin and everyone has been doing great but not everyone is in their originally assigned missions yet. Dang dad you are a driving fool! Thanks for having connelly write me, I love hearing about what he is up to, is he going to sell in Texas? so my fingers are really tired because my keyboard is super sticky so i am going extra slow today. Oh! I got a letter from Abril and you and grandma quick, i couldn´t believe it when she was talking about moving but i am super excited for them! yay! 

So this week has been crazy. Our leaders said we probably had more lessons than any other companionship in the mission because we were pumping 'em out trying to find those prepared people, it was exhausting, we had divisions again on Tuesday and that was pretty good, i don´t know i will write more details in a letter, but i came back Wednesday and we did work, we found out the next day though that the poorer part of our area turns into a jungle! like there are hut shack and things that seem to go on forever! we hadn´t spent much time there because we don´t have address for anyone and we are only allowed to be there until the sun goes down and then it gets sketchy, but it is super cool! next Monday we are gonna eat alligator with a family out there and they are gonna teach us how to prepare it too and armadillo! yeah we are so stoked! We met a guy from Miami the other day so that was really surprising and then some random chipa man stopped us and tried talking to us in English and before he left he said may the force be with you! Ya it made our day. Oh i had a fever like i got pretty sick this week too and my companion was freakin us both out by talking about west nile crap, but she wanted me to stay home and just go on divisions with some members but  i refused! Tylenol kept me alive and we did a ton of work, but i thought i was gonna die at the moment, i am back to normal now. O i am gonna send this love you soooooo much!!!!!

Hermana Quick

Well i don´t think you are online but i love you and the family so much i just can´t describe it! I missed you all a lot this sunday but i am so glad that i am having these experiences here, but i pray for you all everyday! I am doing great, and i am learning so much more every day, oh and i hope you all are reading your scriptures every day! If you don´t satan can getcha, our baptism almost didn´t happen only because our investigator didn´t read for 2 days, and then that night he did and he was fine again but the book of mormon is so powerful and the blessing we can receive from just reading is amazing not to mention it's a commandment, but it is amazing. I love you all so much! Oh i got a letter from Austi too!!!!!! written on her favorite notepad with her favorite pen and it made my day, thanks! I hope you are having a great summer! good luck in your softball tournament! I hope mom´s business is hopping! Love you!

Hermana Quick

July 8, 2013 Formosa, Argentina

Dad i wish i could tell you how much your emails mean to me! They just make me so happy! I am so glad that this last week was so awesome! It sounds like you were the cemetery man!   I am so glad everyone is doing great! I am so glad that mom went! She wasn´t hurting too bad traveling, right? Oh we made flan yesterday but it was from a box! dulce de leche flavored, yeah i eat a ton of dulce de leche like my companion has a major sweet tooth and it is rubbing off. So this week was really hot and then it was super sad, it started raining in morning and there was only 10 people at church! It was fast and testimony meeting and all the members there bore their testimony, i didn´t because we ran out of time, but three of us missionaries didn´t but then i had to direct the music. Oh i am with the same companion! Which i am really glad because we have a legit baptism this weekend! This will be my first baptism of my mission! Oh but my companion and i are the only sister companions in formosa (actually i think in our whole mission) who didn´t have a change. Every companionship here changed even the elders in our zone except one and us. We have divisions this week and i am super nervous because this i am the companion who is staying and my comp is going to a different area. it will be me and another white girl well she has been here a transfer longer than me and she served a transfer in the states Spanish speaking, but i am still nervous because i am gonna have to be in charge...i know though that the lord will help me every step of the way because this is people's salvation. The Spanish is still coming, slowly but surely. I am not super confident and some days are better than others but i know that eventually i will get there. Oh! on the fourth we were in a zone conference and elder Zeballos and his wife came. But during their talks there were fireworks going off outside! It was some saint thing, but it was during the day so i don´t know what the point of fireworks is during the day. me and three other hermanas sang mas cerca dios de ti and it was good. i am so tired of singing! So far it has been a musical number a transfer, but whatever, it isn´t hard it is just time consuming. i don´t wanna practice that if we could be finding some prepared people instead. Okay i am gonna send this real quick and then write my president. then i will be back! Love you sooo much!

Hermana Quick

Sorry i would love to exchange emails but i can´t...I need way more than an hour to email everyone! I will email you first next Monday :) Have so much fun at the Burg! They have awesome lazer tag in town and next door is a good burger place if you are feeling crazy! Also remind mom to keep her eyes closed while swimming in the Great Salt Lake! I love you all so much! I feel so much more pumped for my week knowing that you are all doing so great :) love you!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and the gospel is true!

Hermana Quick

July 1, 2013 Formosa, Argentin

So i printed your emails off earlier and then read them when my
companion and i were traveling back to our area but i feel really bad
that you were so worried about me! Last week wasn´t that bad it is
just hard because normally if something happened and i was upset about
it i would talk to one of you all, but here i have my companion and
that isn't the same:) yeah it is just hard at times, but i
hope you know that i am happy and i do love it here! I will try my
best not to vent, and on the Spanish front i know that one day i will
get it and so the hope is definitely still alive, but my experience
sounds very different from dad´s. (yeah, she actually understands the language at times I bet) 
 I am learning tons though and i am
getting better, but progress is slow and there is a ton of pressure
because there are so many new sisters coming in and i am told that i
will be training if not this week (transfers are Wednesday) then i
will probably be training the next transfer. yeah...scary. i know the
Lord would help me and i would be alright, but let's face it, it would
be a little nuts. Mom, you mentioned in your email about dad writing
down the words he didn´t know and then studying them. I actually have
not been doing that. I try to write down words i don´t know but my
companion learned her Spanish by just listening and when i ask her
questions she can´t really explain why or what it means exactly she
just knows it works. Yeah that is frustrating to me, but i do
understand a ton. i feel like i know most of the vocab, there are some
things like medical vocab that i really don´t know but i understand
the general gist of it. the hard part is speaking, and speaking well.
i haven´t gotten to the point where i can respond well or quickly
because i am translating and it takes a while for me to figure out
what words they used exactly, but its weird because i know what they
said most of the time. I don´t know i feel like in the next couple
months it will click, but for now it is just crazy nerve racking. I
gave the spiritual thought yesterday in our consejo de barrio and i
got so nervous that yeah it was super short and i kinda just rambled,
but they were nice about it. But that's the hard part not being nervous
and being confident. My companion is always trying to help me be more
confident, but its a struggle. And she is a really outgoing person and
kinda loud so i feel like there is a ton of pressure to be way more
crazy and outgoing. I mean i have no problem trying to talk to people
i am just more calm about it and less animated in my actions. I hope
that's alright because i don´t know. Any way that was all the
unimportant stuff. Today we had choir practice. Like for real i am in
another musical number!!!!! WE have another zone conference and my
companion and i and two other sisters and singing. Who would have
known my mission would have been a mini musical performance, but its
alright it is kinda fun. Oh the weather warmed up! Which was nice but
i was really actually getting used to the cold, like it would have
been more fun if it had been raining like it did the first day but it
was like walking through a mister all the time. It has been fun
though. Oh! I got two letters from you dad!!!!! I was pretty excited i
am not gonna lie! Hey i think you can do some sort of dear elder thing
too because i got a dearelder.com from a girl from my ward in Wisconsin.
So this past week we had 4 people at church and we had a lot of
success and it really came down to...drum roll...the members!!!! We
had so much more help this week and it was amazing! We have one
investigator who really wants to be baptized too and he is like
already prepping for it, the only problem is that he kinda wants to
marry my companion:)...yeah we have a definite snake problem here! It
has been alright though because he has a ton of support form the ward
so we know when we leave he will be alright. Yep the work of salvation
i think that was the name of that missionary conference thing the
other day was so awesome! Well i watched it in Spanish so peoples
voices were not the same but it was really awesome! I am trying to
think of something that happened last week that was exciting but i am
super tired and nothing is coming to mind...I am gonna send this your
way and then keep pondering because i did have more to say..I love you
all sooo much! I can feel your prayers and your love every day! I am
so glad that everyone there is happy and that everyone has such
awesome testimonies! I am excited to here about your trip to Utah!!!!!
You are gonna have to tell Austianna hi for me because i don´t hear
from that girl anymore, but enjoy her while you can!!!! :) I love you
all so much and i just want to assure you that i am doing great!
Everyday has its challenges but i know that those challenges are
helping me become a better person and well i know that i am slowly
gathering the lord's flock and that is something to feel good about
siempre! I love you all!

Hermana Quick

...yep i have had a canolie thingy i think, but
i haven´t gotten all the food names down yet and i really do need to
learn how to cook some of it because it is really good! honestly it
doesn't make my stomach feel that awesome but it tastes good! Yep it
would be an adventure to train and i wouldn´t mind but i know it would
be stressful. I like getting the snail mail, but if you wanna mention
it to mom or connelly... or austi for that matter! Yea i would write
you again today in a letter so hopefully i will remember a good story
before then, but i love you so much and i hope you all have a
fantastic fourth of July!!!!!! Think of me a little bit alright, but
then just go have some crazy good fun :) Oh could you check up on
Abril for me and make sure she is doing alright, i haven´t heard from
her in a while. Love you soooo much!

Hermana Quick

June 24, 2013 Formosa, Argentina

So everything you just wrote in Spanish about the mail and stuff, yeah i don´t know what you meant. We get mail here every two weeks but i haven´t received anything yet and yep send it to the office. We get our letters at our zone conferences and district meetings. We will get mail tomorrow so maybe i will be able to read one of your letters then. 

But anyway this week has been cold! It has rained all week and in our apartment is usually low 60s and one night it was 58 so yeah it was chilly but i think i am getting used to it now because it wasn´t as bad yesterday but our first night there was a lot of shivering going on and not so much sleeping! But our first day of rain here... the streets literally became rivers! like it was pouring and within 30 minutes our boots were filled with water and when we would have to cross the the other side of the street we would get water in our boots because the water flowing down the streets was higher than our boots were tall. Yeah and i washed some of my socks and my clothing the other day but i cannot seem to get them dry because it is so wet and cold out. I don´t know how some people survive the rain though because the water literally flows into their houses and they have to come home to make sure it is still standing when they get back. Those are in the poorer areas but still! It breaks my heart when i see that people live in houses made of random things and they cook everything over a fire and yeah it is like camping but all the time! Yep i know my spanish is improving but it is so slow its painful! I am working on it though. Oh! yesterday my back started spasming. I must have pinched a nerve or something, so i couldn't move, i called the doctor and now i am on some sketchy argentinian muscle relaxer so hopefully that gets better. life is great as long as i don´t sit super long and really even then it is just tight and uncomfortable  Yep but just so you know the message i share with people and the commitment i extend are actually eternal, i wish people would realize that! The decisions we make now will affect us in the future, but people don´t wanna change because it is work. I love the people though and I love my mission i still get really frustrated at times because i feel like every other day i can understand people and there is some pressure to learn spanish because there are so many new sisters coming in that i will have to train soon and well that is just scary! Anyway life here is great! The dogs are still awful and i kinda wanna kill them all but other than that i kinda like walking in the mud and though i am not that great at it yet, i like teaching, well i pretty much just testify. I love you all so much and i pray for you all the time and yep i miss you, but i know this is where i am meant to be and i have so much to learn here. I hope everyone is doing great! Is Austi still alive? I love you all sooo much!

So i am doing good here and stuff but could the family all send me a motivational or inpirational thought, or their testimonies? I will take more pictures in return :) Love you