We have a freaking water heater!!

Avellaneda is a city that is on the other side of the river from Reconquista. About twenty years ago there were missionaries here and it was a pretty big branch. It was closed (I am not sure if it was for something a missionary did or not enough missionaries) and it was only recently opened again about a year ago. It was when I went to Fontana it was opened. The center of the city is very urban but the edges start to become more rural. There is a lot of stuff here in Avellaneda but the problem is that we don`t have a branch here so we have to travel to Reconquista to go to church. There has been a lot of talk about getting a place here to start a branch because the majority of the members in the Reconquista branch are from Avellaneda. My comp doesn`t want that to happen though because he doesn`t want to have to be a branch president. I don`t know if it will happen or not but it would definitely help Avellaneda a lot. It is difficult for a lot of people to save up 8 pesos a person who are going to church. It is 4 pesos each direction to take the pantera (the bus). Plus everything here in Avellaneda is really expensive. I have to pay probably about 25% more on everything that I buy here than what I would pay in Resistencia plus we don`t have members to give us lunches or to wash our clothes. It makes money a lot tighter but we will see how it goes. The weather is cold everywhere at this time of year. But this is the coldest part of our mission because it is the farthest south. This last week it has gotten really cold like it was last year. I just have been glad that it has only gotten cold recently.

My new companion is cool. He is from Honduras and has thirteen months in the mish. He was a zone leader in Resistencia before he came here. He speaks English almost perfectly, even better than Santoro. He really likes Futbol, movies, music, and girls, haha He knows Brayden and served in the same mission as him. He told me that Brayden was his zone leader and that while he was there he broke his leg playing soccer.

Our apartment is pretty nice! It is a little small and no we don`t have a heater. We have asked for a heater and all the things that we are missing but the money won`t arrive until about Friday. We do have a freaking water heater though! I love it! I have been able to take good showers for the first time on my mission since California. It also makes washing the dishes a lot easier. You only have to light the pilot and turn it to the heat and it works! It is great! Once we have all the stuff for our apartment it will be very nice, just lacking a little on space.

I am planning on eating my ¾ ice cream when I get my money for the month. We are tight right now but the money should come either tomorrow or soon... haha but we both want to go to gridos and they have a sale right now so we will buy a lot of ice cream and it will be delicious.

We will probably be online around this time every pday. We print the emails in the morning and write after we go and do stuff. These two pdays we have met up with the zone and played some sports. Last week we played ping pong and Ultimate Frisbee and this week we played volleyball and Ping Pong. I wanted to play some Ultimate but we were at the closer church and it doesn`t have a big field like the other one.

I think that just about every pday we will have activities. It is the funnest thing to do. But I think that next week me and the other two elders that are here from Avellaneda will be going to a port that is around here. My comp and the zone leaders will be traveling to Resistencia for the leader council.

This area is a lot a lot nicer place but beyond the port that we are probably going to see next week I don`t think that there is much sightseeing to do. I don`t know for sure though. Oh, and I don`t know why but my pictures aren`t working right now so I will have to figure out what is going on then I will be able to send them all.

We have a few investigators now. We are mostly working with four of them. Eduardo who is the son of one of the members here and he almost got baptized before but he wasn`t living the law of chastity so he couldn`t get baptized. Now he is so we brought him to church this last week and we will be getting him ready as soon as possible. We have to girls who are sisters of some members. Their names are Beti and Leonela. They are both really cool and excited to learn about the gospel. The biggest problem is that we were told that leonela smokes a lot. I will have to tell you about them more later I gtg, cya and love you all lots!