South American style Thanksgiving...

Hey Everyone,

I am grateful that Elder Slade is my new companion, He is so awesome and he helps me so much! 

Blood sausage I can´t describe the taste of it, but upper intestine really does taste like chicken, really greasy chicken! Haha!

I loved the package that you sent to me, mom and dad. Thank you soooooo much!  I love all of the ties and all of the other things that were in it. That package delivery service that you used was really fast! I haven´t had much time to mess around with the things that you sent to me in it, but I am glad I can have a little Christmas here in Argentina! I am still looking for some new boots to buy for myself from you, but to be honest I don´t even get time on p-day to go look for any. I just have to work and write to you guys at the same time because there is no rest for the financial secretary.  I have had to do more this week than I could have possibly imagined. I went and bought some new mattresses with Elder Afane and I have to go buy a bunch of other stuff like air- conditioners for the mission soon, too. This week was just really busy, like I said. I feel like death because I have also been sick and I also feel like that if I mess up with anything, there is money on the line. My trainer that was here in the office, Elder Allen went to serve his last transfer in another part of the mission so I am on my own here now. There is just not enough time in the day to do all that needs to be done. 

I am glad that you had the Elders over for lunch last Sunday. G and his dad, our investigators, are awesome and they are progressing well. We have another investigator that is progressing a lot too! We have met a lot of good people in our area. I think we could have some baptisms very soon!  As a mission, we are going to do something for the “Light of the World” thing, but I don´t really know what it is that we are doing for it yet. I watched the Face-to-Face Broadcast last Sunday via satellite, and it was really good.

This P-day couldn’t really be called a p-day, today, we have two lessons today and then we have a lot of stuff to do in the office this morning. I have receipts and money all over my desk from the aftermath of the Multizona conference in Corrientes. The only good thing that has happened is that I got to practice driving behind the church a little bit to prepare for my Argentina Driver’s License test tomorrow!  I have to take a 6-hour driving class tomorrow and then take a test to get my license to drive here, and everything is all in Spanish! Pray for me to pass!!! It is with a manual transmission too! We also had to have our blood drawn yesterday for it,  because they have to have an official document with our blood type on it.

I am glad that you got to go to dinner with Elder Ashby’s mom and dad and that you are friends with them. Elder Ashby is awesome! He is one of the best missionaries in this mission. I am for sure going to hang out with him after the mission. I have had awesome companions and they all have taught me a lot.

I am glad that your Thanksgiving went well, we had an Asado at a members house on Monday for ours.

Well, I love you all! Thanks for all the love and support!

Chau,

Elder Nate Pendleton

Lunch at a member's house to help us celebrate Thanksgiving... 

this was on Monday, I think... 

 Member of the church cooking the Asado, and my new companion Elder Slade...

Argentina Asado (Barbeque) ...

 Our yummy Asado, and I even ate the tongue of the pig at the end... Haha!

Elder Allen, myself and Elder Slade...

New experiences like eating upper intestine and blood sausage...

Resistencia is cool, but it is kind of like a less flashy Las Vegas mixed with Portland. There are a lot of hipsters here and it is a super artsy city. It is cool but there are a lot of troubling things that happen here, too, Formosa was way more chill. I smell marijuana in the streets everyday here and the whole Argentina “kissing people on the cheeks” in greeting, is a way bigger cultural thing here, so I have been kissed on the cheeks a few times already, Haha. When they sneak attack your companion with the greeting, you can´t deny them, because it would be rude, so you kinda just have to let them kiss you on each cheek.

The ward we are in is in the middle of the city so there are not a ton of members, but the members we do have, are super awesome people. I don´t teach Gospel Doctrine on Sunday’s anymore like I did in Formosa. The people in the city of Resistencia are a little more closed off than those in Formosa.

G, is doing well. I am almost certain he will be baptized. The other two that we have been teaching are a work in progress, especially just trying to find them to teach.

(I asked him to tell me a little bit about some of the Elder’s he is serving with there in the office and to tell me a little bit about their personalities)

Elder Lloyd is a little ball of energy and a good friend. He is super short but super strong! He has done gymnastics and he can do that thing where you hold your body sideways on a pole. It is called “Flagpoling.” I actually kind of knew him before the mission from Track and Field because he did the Pole Vault.

Elder Afane is super awesome and crazy funny too! Haha. He is always making jokes and is happy. He is a good friend!

Elder Slade is super nice and spiritual. He is such a good missionary and he really shows his love for the people here.

Elder Allen as I said is nice, his personality is a little harder to explain but we get along fine.

Elder Pedernera is awesome and he has been a good friend since I served on splits with him in Curuzú Cautia.

  For P-Day we went and played a game that is like tennis but with different rules and a smaller court. It is called Paddle. Then we went to the KTM Motorcycle Store and there were super fast bullet bikes and really awesome KTM touring adventure motorcycles. I am starting to really like motorcycles since I have been here.

 Today we ate at a place called the Parillón! It is an “all you can eat” Asado (barbeque) with a lot of other food and ice cream and stuff. It is like a “Sizzler” but with the Argentine Asado, I even ate upper intestine and blood sausage, Haha! They use every part of the cow for food down here! The Parillon had super cool décor, the chairs were made of wood with super awesome leather straight from a cow, and they had a ton of cool gaucho (Argentina cowboy) stuff. They just cut the slabs of meat right in front of you and it is super good. 

   

It isn´t super hot yet here like it is in Formosa. They said that the package you sent me is here and that I have to go pick it up! I am going to do that today!

 I bought some sweet metal signs from this place. One is a DAKAR Rally sign and the other is a RUTA 40 Argentina sign. That is the road that goes from the top of Argentina all the way to the bottom. It is the road you would need to drive if you wanted to get to Patagonia, it is super cool. Can you send me a waffle recipe? We found a waffle maker!  

Sorry, I really didn´t take many pictures this week. Also, I cut my hair again if you didn´t notice already, Haha. I can´t find anyone here that can cut my hair right, so I just have my companions cut it all off, Haha. I don´t even care about it anymore.

 Well, I love you all and miss you and thanks for everything!

Chau,

Elder Nate Pendleton

Office Elders - Myself, Elder Slade, Elder Pedernera and Elder Afane

Elder Pedernera's Birthday - 

Elder Slade, Elder Pedernera, President Patania, myself and Elder Afane

 Eating at Parillion...

 Selfie with Elder's Afane and Pedernera... 

Thanks, Elder Slade for sharing a couple of these photos!

Getting settled in...

Hey Everyone,

         My mission has changed a lot and working in the office is really different. To be honest, you learn a lot of things you would never think you would learn on a mission. I am super busy. We don´t have time to study or exercise or even eat dinner, sometimes. Sometimes we have to be in the office super early. I talk to President a lot and I have a lot of responsibilities. I have to make sure we have money in the office. I pay missionaries everyday for certain things. I have to buy materials to proselyte and pretty much every other job in the office depends upon me, to give them the money they need to do their jobs. I can´t believe how much money is spent in one mission! I have to go to banks, pay rents for missionaries, replace lost debit cards, solve financial problems, plan all the meals for all the multizonas and any other event that is held here in Resistencia. I deal with Swiss medical cards and make sure all the missionaries have them, I keep track of the Mission President’s expenses, I have to call so many people and solve legal situations and I have to use Excel to keep it all organized. I have to put all the receipts and all the payments where they go in my office perfectly, then we go out to do missionary work in our area in the afternoon. We set a few baptism dates with some people this week named A, and G, and M. They are awesome! We are hoping for a lot of baptisms. We always have stuff to do and there are perks to being in the office, but I miss just being out in the campo (field).

         Resistencia is cool and there are sculptures everywhere. There is a lot more to do and see here. I am also getting an Argentine drivers license soon, so that will be sweet!!!

         With all the new missionaries coming into the mission this week, I was really busy doing interviews with the missionaries that were leaving and also with the missionaries coming in. We also had to plan meals and go to meetings and make sure all the missionaries got paid the exact amount that they needed before they headed out to their assignments, there is just a never-ending list of things to do and problems to be solved. I get so many calls a day from missionaries that need help and that have questions about money.

         This p-day, I don´t know what we will go see and do. My job in the office is similar to what you have to do, mom. I use the printer so much here, that it is crazy. I am glad that you got all of the report cards printed and all of your jobs at work taken care of.  Heavenly father does bless us with the help we need, when we need it.

         In the mall down here, there is a Mcdonalds that we ate at. It was really good, and it was nice to taste a little bit of America! Thank you for sending me a package for Christmas and for my birthday, I can´t wait to get it!

         Yeah, I was told by Elder Slade that I was sort of related to him through my Uncle Mark, so that is sweet! Elder Slade is awesome! He is such a good missionary and he is a super nice dude. We get along really well. Things are going fine with us here in the mission, it is just hard sometimes trying to feel like a real missionary being in the office and everything.

         I will write to Cowley Tuia today! That’s great that he is now on his mission to Guatemala,

          I am grateful for the gift that God has given me to push through hard things.  This week was just all work, work, work.  There is not much time to do anything, especially while I am still in training, I feel so slow on the computer, I sometimes hate it. Everyday, I think about what dad says often, “IF TECHNOLOGY DOESN´T LET YOU DOWN ONCE A DAY, YOU ARE NOT REALLY LIVING!” Haha! Elder Allen really teaches me a lot about my job here in the office and is working hard to get me trained before he goes home. It is just non-stop computer action all the time.

 Well, anyway, I love you all and miss you and I hope all is well back home. 

Chau!

Love,

Elder Nate Pendleton

Mission office mission crew...                                      (Photo courtesy of Elder Afane)

 P-day, last week, eating at a McDonalds in the mall...  (Photo courtesy of Elder Slade)

 P-Day, great food!

(Photo courtesy of Elder Slade)

View of the city, out of my apartment window...

Exploring Resistencia...

Transferred to Resistencia and hard work in the mission office...

Hey Everyone,

I just reached 3 Nephi chapter 11 again in the Book of Mormon, where Jesus comes to the Americas. It is my favorite part of the Book of Mormon. As for the missionary work, we set a date for a baptism with this guy named Facundo. I hope that all goes well with that.

Well, I seriously need to learn more Spanish, I am trying to learn more Spanish, because you kind of have to, working in the mission office. I have to talk with all of the other missionaries in the mission, with President Patania (who is from Buenos Aires, and a native of Argentina), and with the other Latino office elders.

My new companion´s name is, Elder Colby Trevor Allen, he is nice!  He is getting ready to go home from the mission and so he is training me for my job here in the mission office.

Our apartment is on the third floor of a building, deep in the city of Resistencia. The view of the city from the apartment building is really nice. I will take a picture of it and send it soon. I like Resistencia, but the people here aren´t as warm, like they were in Formosa.

My area is right in the main part of the city. The big plaza in the center of the city is also part of my area. The area is Ward 1 or Barrio 1. I live with Elder Lloyd and Elder Slade, too. So it’s the four of us in the little apartment we live in. The big city is cool, but I miss going out and seeing the cows and animals in Curuzú, eventually, I will get back out to campo.

My job in the office is pretty hard, and it is the most stressful one in the office because everything the other elders do in the office, requires money to do, so I am always doing something. My daily schedule is office work from 9 am-5pm and missionary work from 5pm-9pm. Pretty simple,  Haha.

Every day I have to make payments for the mission, keep track of all money that has been spent. There is a ridiculous amount of stuff that I do everyday, like going to banks and replacing lost debit cards for missionaries, printing things and typing things, going to the store with the Mission President to buy food for the Multizonas (Zone Conferences) ect…There is so much more I do but it is too hard to explain here. We also have a lot of meetings with President Patania. We usually share a scripture before we go out to work.

I use the computer a lot here and my soon to be companion, has a Smartphone for the work that he has to do in the office. We use a lot more technology here. I am literally working a full-time job and doing missionary work, it is sometimes tiring. I literally make the mission function. It is hard and crazy and I hope I will be good enough at it before Elder Allen leaves. I also do a lot of things with President Patanía, personally, it is an interesting change from the missionary work I was doing before.

 (The holiday of Halloween was this week in the United States so he commented on that.)

Max (my nephew) was sooo cute in his “Batman" costume, and Monte’s Halloween costume for work, looked great! I pretty much had the lamest Halloween ever, but that is fine. No me importa. (I don’t care.)

I am glad that Cole got his mission papers in, I can´t wait to see where he will be called to. I can´t believe Tori McFarland and Endia Hill are almost done and home from their missions!!! That is awesome!

I love you and miss you all and I can´t wait to see you all again!

Chau,

Elder Pendleton

Working with my new companion - Elder Colby Allen

Writing home on P-Day last week... (we are now allowed to wear regular clothes on P-Day!)

The mission office elders getting ready to go out for P-Day...

    

Elder Slade and I getting ready to ride a motorcycle, not really, Haha!

Last week's P-day...