December 29 Letter

Dear Family,
Hello!!!! Oh it's been a really crazy week! There's so much for me to get used to! For example, family, I am so sorry I forgot to tell you some things about the culture when I talked to you on Thursday! When we knock doors, we ring the bell, knock on the door, or if there is no bell and it's a gated house, we clap! The clap must be loud so as to carry the sound all the way to the house! It is soooooo strange! When we knock on the doors, we stand far away from the door. Maybe 7-10 feet, depending on the design of the front porch, if there is a front porch. I am not really a big fan of street contacting or knocking on doors because the streets here are SOOOOO loud all the time (unless we're in the campo-for those of you who don't know what that is, it's the grassy farm looking areas outside the city). It's so distracting. I love talking to the people, getting to know them a little and seeing what I can catch from what they say. I think I am getting a little better at understanding. Anyway, the people that live in Buenos Aires have a VERY strong Italian way of speaking Spanish. It's so funny to listen to! I love this area, Rio Cuarto is awesome, but it is SO big! I love the members and the people that we're working with as far as baptism goes. There is SOOO much work to do still. We are starting to work with the members right now so they can help us because knocking doors and street contacts are not very effective. Or so I have been told. A lot of the time I wish I had my teachers from the MTC with me so they could tell me what to do in certain situations. Like yesterday, we ran into a whole bunch of crazy Catholics (and I saw a truck like mine!!!! I was so excited!!!). OH that was so funny! One of them was talking about the numbers in the Bible, how they're always significant to the trinity. God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. He went off FOREVER! My companion finally said, well, we'd love to stay and chat but we have appointments we have to get to. Which was a big fat lie, but this guy was KUH-RAY-UH-ZAY! We are also asked A LOT if we're Jehova's Witnesses. To which, we obviously reply no, and to which response they look relieved, but they still don't want to listen. Anyway, I am learning more of how to listen to the spirit, slowly, but it's coming. It's really hard sometimes. I'm getting more comfortable with speaking to people I see. I'm not as nervous anymore. With the help of the Holy Ghost, Preach My Gospel and my companion, I think, what are you so afraid of? If they don't accept, they're not the ones that are ready yet to hear this message. That gives me more confidence. I still try to think of really good ways I could get their attention so they will want to listen. I try to think of the things they need to know that separate us from the rest of the churches out there. It really is NOT that easy, but I'm learning. Family, remember when I told you my hair is SUPER curly here? Remember when I had really short hair on the hairline, left side of my forehead because of my ATV accident? Those hairs are growing out and remember how Superman has that perfect curl that always stays perfect even under water?? Well, when my hair gets super curly I have that Superman curl! It is amazing! It makes me laugh so hard! Sorry, that was a crazy tangent. An hermano in Bimaco (Bee-maw-koh), another area next to ours, says hello and sends his salud to the family. Which reminds me, when we ate with their family yesterday, I ate the neck of a chicken. Yep, the neck of a chicken. It was so weird. It wasn't bad, but still, it would have been better if my companion hadn't answered me when I asked her what I was eating. Some of the words they use here are SOOO weird! Let me give you an example: '¿De donde sos vos?' That means where are you from instead of '¿De donde eres tu?' or '¿De donde es usted?' I have never spoken to anyone in vos and it's so weird sometimes. I really really like it though! It's so cool and I'm getting way better at the accent. There is an elder in my zone from Bountiful and he has a super cool Argentine accent! I always think 'I want that accent!' When I hear him talk! Speaking of elders, my district leader, Elder Guthrie is auditioning for So You Think You Can dance in 2010!!!!!! That makes him the coolest person alive. I don't care what anyone says! He took dance classes from Benji's dad!!! He's way cool and SUPER funny. Of course, I don't know if he's a good dancer because we're on a mission, and that's not allowed, but still, that makes him the coolest person alive! I think I better wrap this up, it's probably the longest e-mail EVER! Family and friends, thank you so much for everything. I am becoming more and more grateful for the things I've been taught my whole life and within the past couple months. Mom and Dad, thank you for not making me a girly girl and not able to handle the dirtiness here and being the examples of hard work and relying on the Lord that you have always been. To my teachers, hermano Adams, ¿Como sos vos? =) To all of you, thank you for putting up with me and helping me learn to rely on the Lord and on the spirit. Helping me to learn that my love for the gospel and the influence of the Holy Ghost are the ONLY things that influence people to love it as well. I'm SO SO grateful. Thinking about the missionary that my parents expect me to be, the missionary my teachers told me they think I would be and most importantly, the missionary I know Heavenly Father can make out of me is what helps me every day. I love you all thank you so much! Have a wonderful week!
Love,Hermana Shumway