Chad switching to Spanish in his letters home

Mother’s Note:

Rebecca called us this evening on her layover in Miami.  She has an all night flight direct to Buenos Aires Argentina, arriving at 6:30 am Tuesday Oct. 29.  She will be on a big 777 jet and I can’t believe she is leaving the country.  I have enjoyed having her in the Washington DC South Mission, mail was easy and she was still on American soil.  She sounded upbeat, has not felt sick or anxious, and she sounded full of confidence.  She shared her testimony in Spanish, and it brought tears to my eyes listening to her.  She is amazing and so prepared for serving in Argentina.  I just love being a missionary mom.   

Chad’s letters are increasingly in Spanish, and I have put the translation in parenthesis.  I love that the locals tell him he has an Argentine accent.  I take all the credit… helping him in High School when he was studying for Spanish class.  (For friends following this blog… I served a mission in Argentina Bahia Blanca 24 years ago)   He also sent a few pictures this time which we will post. 

Dear Family,

¡¡¡Happy Birthday Lauren!!!  I wish you the very best.  Feliz Cumpleanos! 

This week has been crazy.  We found another house and already moved in.  It is in a really pretty area. Because it is far from most of our appointments, we will be using colectivos mas (buses more).  Por ejemplo, para llegar a la casa del obispo, necesitamos caminar 1 hora, o pagar colectivo.  (For example, to arrive at the bishop’s house, we need to walk an hour or pay a bus).  Colectivo (bus) is a taxi that has a route, they are really cheap.  For about 80 American cents, you can get to most places, and also there are buses that we can take for 60 cents.  Ahora adelante, hay solamente elderes en nuestro barrio (From now on, there are only elders in our Ward)  Un Elder en nuestra casa es de Bahia Blanca, Argentina. Se llama Elder Medina (One elder in our house is from Bahia Blanca, his name is Elder Medina)  He is from the city Bahia, Blanca.  He is a first generation member of the church, so you probably haven’t met his family, but who knows, maybe you contacted his grandma.  

I think the fields in the picture there are mostaza, which I think is mustard.  From Chillan to Yungay, there were fields and fields of pretty mustard crops.  

We have a baptism scheduled for this Saturday, but I don’t know if she has completely given up smoking, so we are going to see.

Love you all more than the number of Canadian geese in Boise’s Ann Morrison Park.

Elder Withers