Feb 24, 2010

hey family, how is everything going, everything is going fantastic with me, this last week has been pretty good, so today has been pretty good, really lazy style but not bad at all. we stayed the nigh again in necochea with the other elders. and the plan was to have an asado but the the other two that were supposed to come didn't until later. so we saved it for the lunch. but we met up at the zls house and played monopoly. i think i would have won, but we didn't have time to finish. and that's all we have been doing today, it was raining a little bit earlier so we didn't go out. its been getting colder here, just finishing up the summer and into the fall now, its kinda sad, al well. its about time. so this last week has gone y really fast. alot of random meetings with people. so Thursday just the usual, the district meeting, so they came to our chapel. we had a little success with our investigator marcelo. he came to most of church, for the gospel principles class and for most of sacrament meeting, but then he had to leave in the middle to go buy some food before all the stores closed for siesta. so hopefully we can progress more with him. then on Saturday it started to rain, and we decided to go out anyways for this lunch appointment, they live about 8 blocks away and we got soaked on the way it was pretty funny. that's one thing that's picking up is the lunch appts. my comp is pretty good at them. hes a bit of a smooth talker with the members. lol some elders call him "el buscador" or the finder. i think it rings true. but i like it, we get to eat more. and i get to save more money. that's another thing, i have done really well with my money this time around, we have a week left and i still have 150, so i think ill be fine. now i just have to keep it up. the other day we played soccer with some youth in the area, that was fun. i find that I'm not really up to par but if i just muscle it a little then i can hold my own. the other day i made some corn bread, it was actually decent, i was proud. I'm getting better at cooking. now if only Spanish grammar was as easy. so yesterday we had the ward council meeting, that was the most insanely boring thing ever, Argentines talk and talk and talk, they don't know when to stop, it went or about 2 hours. pretty ridiculous. so the other day i had one of the "everything annoys me" moments, that kinda sucked. i think it was the headache i had. but it was all good after lunch. well that's all i have to say today. love you all. ill try to bring my journal next week so i can give you more details. i love you all

2.17.10

hey fam, so this last week has been really fast. it was crazy. sorry about the last letter, i really thought i had sent it, i guess not. well ill give you the rundown of it, not a whole lote happened, probably the most exciting is that on sunday it rained insanely hard, so bad that there was about a 8 inch river flowing in the street that we needed to cross. lol that was a lot of fun. we had to cross it so we took our shoes off and crossed barefoot. that and i got the package that you sent, thanks so much for all the stuff, it was really awesome, i still havent finished off all the candy. ive had a lot of fun playing with those little rc cars, i still need to make a race tack, but i'll save that for sunday. so this last week like i said went by really fast, so we had our zone conference and the mish pres came. so it had started and four elders come in late, ive ever seen him so ticked, he chewed them out and told them that you do what it takes to get to meetings on time. i don't enjoy these meetings so much, they are about 8 hours long and with small breaks and only a light snack. then we fnally gota hold of one of our investigators this last week, so we sat and talked to him for a while and drank mate, he pretty much told us his life story, its so hard to stay focused to it all. lol. but he is a really friendly person, he wants us to come back, i think mostly because he doesnt have many friends. so he might come to church this next sunday, we´ll see. that on friday we went to loberia to do a baptismal interview for some elders in our zone, so we are at the bus station waiting for them to come, we were leaving together because we just finished mission conference the day be fore and they staye in necochea, well so were waiting in the station, and they arrive just as the bus leaves, so we had to take a taxi to loberia, it was pretty expensive, about 80 pesos for the four of us, and the guy drove really slow, so about an hour and a half later we get there, we go to the chapel, wait and hour and a half for the investigators, do the interviews and then the baptism, the little kids were actually really excited to be baptized. then we leave late that night and get back around 11:30. then yesterday i made everything to have cafe rio burritos with some other elders, they turned out really well, but you cant find cilantro here for nothing, i swear it doesnt exist. then we had them last night, they were really good. most of them liked it, except the mexi beaner elder, hes a pretty picky douche, he didnt want to pay me for his, so i dont think ill make them stuff again, but the rest enjoyed them. so we did all this at the necochea house, and to answer you mom its where the necochea elders live. and we stayed the night there, and we played monopoly till 2, or thats when i was bankrupt, i think they played until six, lol. then today we went to centro and walked around and looked at stuff, and played some arcade games, ate some lunch, then we came back here. abnd that would wrap up the week. hope you al enjoy it, love you all

Letter from Feb 4th, 2010

hello again, so all is well here. so to start out with what i did today. so i slept in, then we went and bought some food for the week, then its started to rain but we had slready decided to go play soccer. so we went and rented out a field. the astroturf one, but its outside so we were soaked. even though it was really fun. so we did that for a while, then we went to a place called planet burger, and of course bought some burgers, it was really good, then we went back to the house and changed, then we went back to necochea because there was a meeting for the leaders, so we did mini splits and i went with elder hampshire, he has one transfer less than i do and so it was two gringo greenies put together and so we visited a family in his area. the are less active but really awesome people, they are trying to activate them again. so we do that and meet up at the chapel again, then we go back to the house and 2 other elders came with and we cooked some pizzas. then it was late so they left to the necochea house. so as or the week went so on thursday i call an older couple to confirm lunch and the sister picks up and she started crying and i have a hard time understanding her and so i just told her we would come by. so it turns out it was just a little tension between her and her husband, so we talked ¡ with her, or moe like she talked our ears off, lol she talks alot, then after atleast an hour and a half we left and we went to district meeting, so we walked there in he insane heat. then later that day we went to the zl´s to ie a baptismal interview to their investigator. then we took the bus home. then friday my bday i woke up and made us a giant breakfast, crepes and hash browns and fried eggs, it turned out really well and i filled myself up. so then in the afternoon i had to remake my tortillas for the taco night, they were all stuck together, then it started to rain hard so we didnt go out, what an awesome present, lolthen we had tacos with the other elders, they were really ood and i used my herdez salsa. then on sat we went to the chapel to make calendersfor family nights and for lunches, then we went by our old investigator yanina, she was being a little bit stubborn about the church, so we talked with her for a while. then we left to make some more rounds, but no one was home. the we made pizzas, so delicious. then came lazy sundays, so a church i tried to get the members to sign up for family nights, i dont think any were too excited, guess ill have to work harder. then monday we went to the bank and there was a huge line, so we went and dropped a plastic container at a members house, then came back to get some money out, but the thin was drained of big bills, so me and my comp took out 300 each and it all came out in tens, so we went back and took some fun pics with all the money. then later that day we went to a reference, he lived all the way out on the edge of town, it took about 30 minutes to get there and then we taught him the first lesson, then we walked back, at that time it was really dark. then on tuesday we went to a meeting with the pres and the wards couple missionaries, then we talked about an activity that we will do on thursday. then later that night we had an asado at the necochea house and we were there most of the night. and that makes up my week, hope you enjoy :)

Letter from 1.27.10

hello again, thanks for ll the birthday wishes, ill be sure to make myself a cake or something, maybe some crepes for breakfast. haha, i actually made some today they turned out really well, pretty delicious. so today not a whole lot happened, first our zl called and said hey lets go to the lighthouse, normally its closed but i guess he was sure it was open, so we walked there, about the distance from our house to bingham, so it took us about 30 mins and we get there and everyhting is closed down, so i call him nd hes like aight well lets go to your chapel and play soccer, so were like ok, so we start walking and the other elders see us and are like hey you want a ride. i guess they didnt getthe message it was closed, so we took a taxi back. ahh sometimes i hate the leaders. well atleast i didnt waste any money. so this last week my comp left, it was really weird, so we spent some lazy time just with him packing, then we made our rounds to the members that he wanted to see. so on sunday we went to the cuello family and we had lunch with them, it was really good, we had some tartas, its like a pie thats fille with meats and veggies, then we had some ice cream and then some cake, i think its one of the best lunches ive had so far. then we went to the bus terminal and saw them off. then the next morning at 430 i went to pick up my comp, his name is elder rodriguez and he is from uruguay. he look like he is about 30, lol. hes actually about 26, on of the late bloomers, but he is nice and we actually work, atleast for now, well see a little further on the road. so a funny story when i was with Aquino is one day when we left the house we forgot the keys to the gate, so we get home and he asks me if i have the keys, normally he has them, so i give him a boost and he hops the gate. so later that day we went to buy some food and we come back and we had forgotten the keys again, so same routine, lol. what are the odds of twice in one day, man were stupid, lol. well thats about all i can think of right now. i have a couple more things id like to learn how to make, some sweet and sour chicken would be fun. also some choclate chip cookies. those were two things i thought about this week, well thanks for all your love and support, love you all elder seegrist

Weekly update 1.21.2010

hey family, how is everything? nothing much new with me, just enjoying my time in the mission. so ill start with what i did today, so last night we went over to the other elders apartment and we stayed there, i guess the plan was to go to the beach for he sunrise again, but no one woke up. then we met up with all the elders in at the center and we played some Frisbee for a little bit. then we went to the river out in Costa Bonita, just a little bit outside of quequen, and me, my comp and another elder wanted to fish so we put some string on a pole with a hook and bait. no luck but it was still fun. then the other elders ditched us so we left and that wraps up my day. it was really fun but it seemed very short. so i gave a talk on Sunday, just the usual short Jason classic but i thought it went well. it was on repentance, so i got up there and told the young men to stop with the maaaaasturbation, and for the girls to stop watching Disney channel and stop reading romance fantasy novels. then i sat down lol just kidding, but it would have been funny. for me at least. but me and my comp were joking about it and it reminded me of dad. hey so i was thinking if you guys ever wanted me to send anything to you guys, if so let me know and ill find some stuff. well i have some pictures to send you but I'm not able to send them form this computer so ill try from another, if not ill pass by later this week, but they're mostly from the river where we went today. well I'm sure looking forward to my transfers this coming Sunday, ill finally get a new comp. i hope he has a little bit more desire to work, i really just want to get a baptism before i leave. at our current pace it wont happen for a while. but its only one more week. its weird to think that I've been here that long, I'm just glad that the time has gone by so fast. well i really don't have a whole lot to say this week, ill try have more next week, maybe i bring my journal again with everything I've done. well i love you all, hope you're all doing well, have an awesome week, elder Seegrist
oh and to help you out a little stuff with ideas for meals, i can get any pasta thinkable for cheap, that and rice, basic fruits and veggies, theyre not insanely cheap but i can make it work, the only things that are a little bit more are meats, there about right in the middle. not expensive but not something where i can eat a nice steak everyday, lol.that and eggs are cheap, so really about any bread or rice based foods will be best, for salads they dont have dressings down here, i would have to make them, hey also how do you make tortillas, i had a giant craving for tacos last night and im thinking about eating some tonight or sometime this week, also i cant find too many hot peppers, just real basic, like bell peppers and stuff. also some simple sauces that i can put on rice and stuff like that, also how do you make chili? that sounds really good, so really its not a whole lot different than home as for prices, but thanks for helping i really appreciate it

If anyone wants to post recipes, I will send them to Jason. I know he will appreciate anything!

Jan 20th, 2010

For some reason it wont let me paste Jason's letter on the same post as his pictures. So here are the pictures from the letter above.

These are pictures from last week

Hey look I am Bonafide, that was the indoor soccer place.

Then the zone at the "cacadas" haha that's about it.

Jan 13, 2009

hello family again, so this week has gone by super fast i cant even believe it. its good though. i hope the rest is just as fast. so to start out ill tel you what i did today. so we woke up at six and went to the beach to watch the sun come up. that was really cool, ive never seen the ocean so calm. then i made a sand castle and blew it up ioth my fireworks, that was the best. if only it was bigger. then we met up with all the other elders and we rented this indoor soccer field and played for a couple hours, that was really fun, im definitely improving. but it sure does drain you. then we went to go buy some food at toledo, its like the walmart down here.so athis last week has been good, just enjoying the time here. no real succes with anyone, we invited our investiator marcelo to church so we went and got him, atleast we have someone to teach, i dont know idf he will progress much but i sure hope so. then on monday we had lucnh with the branch presidents family, i dont think they like me very much, but they atleast fed me, so i shared the spiritual thought, i gave an experience that i had with an elder in my district in the mtc, he could be a real douche bag sometimes, then earlier that day i read the scriptures and it just so happened that i read the one that talks about loving your enemies and pray for them, and one time i was really offended by him, i brushed it off and continued on despising him, i guess heavenly father had a lesson for me to learn, so in class the instructor did an activity to write somethin nice about an elder in our district, so we all pulled names and it just so happens that i pulled his. its been to this day one of the hardest things that ive ever done, i really didnt want to do it, but then i remembered that scripture. so after that i had done it i felt so much better inside, i didnt have that spirit of contention and the feelin passed, i was still a little wary of saying anything around him but it turned out well for me. so nothing insanely big but i can also say that it follows with you get what you pray for, that week i was asking the lord to help make me a better person, so the lesson is that if you ask to be a better person the lord does it by giving you situations where you have to choose to be the better person. so another story, right as we were walking away from the lunch this guy came up to us and wanted us to drop by his house sometime this week, even if things never work out it made me happy just to hear someone say that. something very small but it made such a big difference to know that there really are friendly people out there, it was a small thing but it made my day. well thats all of my cheesy stories. keep me updated with jordan, i sure hope he hasnt suffered to much eye damage, what do the docters say about it? will he have problems with his sight? anything else new with the family? maybe send me some pictures of family stuff. oh and mom can you send me a recipe for making biscuits, i have an idea for empanadas that i want to try. oh and also for a gravy to go with it. i have been wanting biscuits and gravy for a while. well i love you all be safe, you cant have all the fun now. elder seegrist