December 5, 2011  Tartagal  Argentina

Hi!

This week was pretty crazy! We went out pretty far Monday night to talk to a family and we got there and there was lightning off in the distances and falling clouds too! It looked really nasty but we weren’t too worried cause it looked far away... you can see where this is going... anyways we left to go to another house and there was this weird black cloud that was on the ground that got thinner in the air! We had no idea what it was but now we know. When we got to a house 5 minutes later it looked way closer but there was still no wind... the family looked a little more worried but we told them we were fine and we could still come in. We teach them outside like almost every other family. During the first prayer the wind hit like nothing I have seen before! It was full of sand and dirt (that black cloud we saw!) and we decided to get out of there. We left running as fast as we could and we got about 6 blocks or so to the highway we had to cross and it started dumping rain like I have never seen before! We crossed and got under an overhang to put our books in a plastic bag and this guy invited us in. We had a nice conversation but he was not interested at all. When the rain slowed down he was anxious for us to leave. It was really nice of him anyways. It only rained for half the time it rained on Saturday but when we got to the main street again, it was completely covered! There were lots of kids swimming and floating down the street where we crossed ha-ha. It was about a foot deep and our feet were already wet from all the other streets so we just kept going. People were looking at us like we were crazy but it was kind of fun!

Wednesday we had to go to Aguaray to bring all of the stuff from the missionaries’ old house there to our house because they closed the area. We left here in an old pickup with a flatbed and sides on it at 2:30. It took us about 40 minutes to get there. We got right on it and took everything outside while the driver took the beds apart. He was really nice and willing to help. When he was done we had to put the stuff in and we could see another one of those dark weird clouds on the way... we got it all in quick and then left. We turned at the first block and got blasted with sand and wind. The windows didn’t go up on the truck so that was out of the question. The next block we stopped and the driver  got out and walked around the truck... we had a flat tire... we changed the tire but it took awhile because his jacks were tiny and he had to lift one then the other then the other and so on, ha-ha. 

We got it on and he said he wanted it fixed before leaving that town in case we got another one. I was all for it! That ended up taking a long time though. We were lucky enough to not have rain until we were on the highway and even then it was only a little bit. We got back, unloaded it all and got to the church for an appointment we had at 730. When I showered to leave for the appointment, my hair was full of sand! It was like I had been covered in sand at the beach. 

Last night on our way out after a meeting at the church we got hit again with rain. We got soaked again! It’s really kind of fun because it’s not as hot but it might get old after a while. Ha-ha One pair of shoes is always just getting dry for the next rainstorm ha-ha. 

The 11 year old boy (Franco) who we baptized recently keeps inviting friends to his house when we come and it’s really been great. It’s tricky to keep the attention of different personalities at the same time. It’s something we have been thinking about as a companionship a little and how we can do better. It’s tricky but do-able. This next week should be a little better without the extra distractions of coordinating the trip to Aguaray.

I have to get going though! Thank you for the emails! I love you all! Amazing that it’s already Christmas again!

Love Alex