18 of us "North Americans" as they call us here met in Atlanta to fly to Buenos Aires. Total there are 80 missionaries here, 23 of whom are North Americans here and the others are all Latinos from all over South and Central America. The first two days were really unorganized because all but a few people know English so nobody told us what to do or where to go because they didn{t know how. But then they gave us a schedule and we have since gotten in a pretty good routine.
My companion is Hermana Manner. She is from Rexburg, Idaho and went to BYU for a year. We get along really well and she is really focused and hardworking. My district has 8 people, 4 elders and 4 sisters. They are great it is fun to talk with them. It is funny when we are trying to speak Spanish and we made terrible mistakes. haha whenever we talk to the Latinos a lot of they time they make faces or just stare because we are such beginners. But they are really good about helping us out because they know we are trying. During a lesson one of the Hermanas in my district said that Jesus was her Man instead of Jesus is my brother. There were other funny mistakes but I can}t remember them!
We have class about 12 hours a day and our two teachers actually know English pretty well, but have strong accents. They are both really funny and they make class enjoyable. One of them had a really hard time saying McBride and it was really funny! A lot of the Latios have trouble with it. Anyway,
The first few days were really hard and it is still frustrating when you work so hard to memorize phrases and words in Spanish and then the next time you review them, you can hardly remember. I am always pretty tired and have had a hard time concentrating sometimes, but my companion is really good at getting me back to work. I can pray in Spanish and I have the Missionary Purpose memorized and lots of vocabulary. Beginning the second day and every day since, my companion and I have been preparing and teaching a lesson in Spanish to our teacher who acts as an investigator. All the studying is not so bad because the meals and physical activity everyday break it up. My companion and I win a lot of ping pong and have fun playing volleyball too. Whenever we win a point in ping pong, the elders watching always scream and make a big deal about it since we are Hermanas. It is really funny. This helps us get to know the elders and now they are more friendly at meals and we have gotten to know a lot of them better. The cafeteria only holds 40 people and there is just one option for each meal, then a small salad bar, bread, and fruit. The food is definitely Argentine or at least I am not familiar with the combinations of food they cook. It is usually pretty tasty though.
We have tiny little rooms that each have three bunk beds,tiny closets, and ONE bathroom! One bathroom for 6 girls is really hard especially when we only have 45 minutes in the morning and an hour at night to shower. My companion and I have 4 Latino roommates who are so funny and nice. They are all from different places: Peru, Mexica, Columbia, and Argentina. At first it was awkward because of the language barrier, but as we started learning Spanish, we can understand a lot more what they say. Two of them know a little English and can understand us pretty well so that helps. Talking to them at night before bed has been one of my favorite parts. It is funny to teach them songs and phrases in English and they do the same for us in Spanish.
The Buenos Aires Temple is very close to the MTC and I can see it right out of the window! This morning, we all got to go in and it was really beautiful. Everything that was said was in Spanish though so I didn}t understand very much, but it was still a cool experience!
This is a great place and I feel blessed to be here. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am in Argentina because I feel so comfortable here.
Hermana McBride
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