About rodents, houses and Tandil

5/25/2015- 

[Last week Kate asked her Dad to identify an animal. This is the rest of the conversation:]
Dad: Off the top of my head, I'd say you ran into a Capybara - an animal that looks like it was born in Chernobyl as the love child of a Beaver and a Rabbit... You're on the southern end of it's range in South America. Here's a photo:

From the internet

Kate: Yes, yes, yes you IDed my new best friend!!! Woo-hooo!!!! I'm gonna try to find him again and take a picture. Capybara... I thought those were the stuff of legends. Speaking of stuff of legends, I learned something new here in Argentina- parrots really can talk! I though that was myth, but i've run into a few that talk for real. MY WHOLE LIFE IS A LIE!!!!!

[After hearing that our family is moving to Calgary, and I'm spending time house-hunting:]  As for houses, one thing I've learned is that we as people really don't need big houses. The people's houses here are so humble and people are so ok with that. My compa saw a picture inside our house on facebook the other day in the house of a member, and she couldn't believe it was our house. She thought it was a hotel or something. What's more important is that we have time with dad. I've seen a lot of families destroyed because they don't have enough time with their fathers. Please, please, please do not let us move into a nice big house at the cost of more time for dad out of the house. It's not worth it!!! Focus on the people of the family- close to dad's work, a good school and por favor CLOSE TO THE CHURCH!!! Another thing I've seen in the mission is that people who move to a house far away from the church are really, really susceptible to the natural man, and go inactive!! PLEASE DON'T LET US GIVE IN TO THE NATURAL MAN!!!!!! 

[After hearing that her siblings are applying to private schools with names like "Strathcona-Tweedsmuir:]  I love the picture of the schools!! Who names these things?!?! Stuffy British men! Tell Ben and CC that everyone in Argentina has to use uniforms- and a lot of the uniforms are labcoats! Anything is better than labcoats!

I can't send pictures this week, because i'm struggling with my camera, but i promise i'll send some stories this week, and stories with pictures next week!

[In response to the following by her father:

I want you to introduce ten codes into your mission. You know - 10-4, 10-20, etc. I challenge you start with these: (A) 10-10 (meaning: that guy is so cute (hence the "10", as in "perfect 10) he has to get baptized, (B) 10-666 (meaning: this discussion is going to a dark place. Investigator may be possessed).

I miss you so much "I've had all I can stands. I can't stands no more!" To quote one of my childhood comic heroes - Popeye the Sailor. I'm 99% sure that I'll be coming to visit you next week - incognito, of course (ie as an investigator named "Mauricio Fidele"). I imagined in my mind's eye what you and your companion might say to each other as you walked away from our discussion:

You: "Something seemed really, really odd about that guy."
Your compa: "Was it his video-game style plumber's pants, fake mustache, and goofy painter's hat?"
You: "No..."
Your compa: "Was it the way he teared-up when he saw you and wanted to hug you before we left?"
You: "No... That happens all the time."
Your compa: "Was it when he blurted 'Kate - your mother and I miss you desperately! For the love of all that is sacred, please come home now!!!'?"
You: "No... Not a big deal. I know what it was! It was his sketchy Iberian-Spanish accent! - I've heard that somewhere before. The case is closed!"]

Oh, you always crack me up!!! It's a little dangerous, because i'm in a public cyber- that's where people go to use computers from the 80s with internet.

Tandil is.. well, it's Tandil. It's not a pueblo, it's a city, but a small city. And half of the city is ridiculously rich and the other half really poor. Everyone is always working. Always. The people are kinda closed off. It's hard to get to know people. But when people do let us in, they are our new best friends. We're really struggling to find people. Talking to people in the calle and knocking doors is basically worthless. We have to talk to 20 personas to find 1 trucha investigador. We've started working more with the members. There's a kid, Santiago, who is 16 who's already prepping for his mission. He gave us a reference the other day, and he's one of the best investigators we've had in my whole time here. We're trying to work with the menos activos too, and this is actually a gold mine. The Elderes in Rama 2 already had 2 baptisms of kids of menos activos and the other Elderes had 1 but now he lives in our rama. The rama is struggling a little bit because we're on the edge of becoming a barrio and everyone is waiting to act, and I don't know if we're going to become a barrio if people don't start acting. We're doing all we can to help the rama, but it's not easy. I hope the estaca comes quickly!!!

Well, that's the news for this week. Thanks for your tips! I'll keep you posted on the progress of Tandil 2!!

Love,
Hermana Long