After all of this waiting and anticipation, I finally have a Latino companion! And he is eighteen years old! What is this!?! A Columbian named Elder Bohorquez. Seriously, in this past week, have never spoken so much Spanish compared to how little I did before. He speaks barely any English at all, which is actually great for me. What's ever better is that we can communicate! We tell each other stories about this we did before our missions and our family and our friends. he's a great guy and a wonderful missionary. He's exactly like I was when I got here (forever ago, right?), in that he knows the doctrine, he just needs to learn how to teach according to people's needs (the hardest and most important thing a missionary can learn how to do). But he is already becoming fantastic. We get along very well for a Gringo and a Columbian! Already, I have developed a great love for him.
Although proselyting was mildly okay this past weekend, we didn't see a great deal of success. We tried visiting Miriam again (without having set up an appointment) but only her kids were home, so we told them to tell her that we stopped by. (This was our last day in Banfield, Buenos Aires.) But I WILL spend the rest of this letter describing Argentina to the best of my abilities!
1) You don't knock on doors. Most house have buzzers (like doorbells), but if not, then you clap outside their gate (almost all houses have gates out front). Initially, this makes a missionary from the United States a bit ridiculous, but we eventually get used to it.
2) Traffic laws are NOT implemented by any sort of authority. This is most evident from the things I have witnessed while riding in the bus out to our area, or walking on the road and seeing up close just how insane Argentina drivers are. They are the most impatient drivers. It doesn't help that there are no road signs outside of highways and gigantic cities. Nor are the lines that divide the lanes in the road. Anywhere! Cars do whatever they want to. Like flying. True story.
3) There is a variety of ways to vend, or to sell things. In larger areas with more people, some have specific portions of their houses set up as little fruit markets (mostly fruit; sometimes cheap toys). There are also pickup trucks whose beds are filled with anything from squash to sun dresses. In almost any area, you'll find a kiosco (or multiple) that is basically the equivalent to a small gas station without the gas part. So just a station, I guess. Those fruit markets are everywhere, though.
4) Fifty percent of men do not wear shirts. And it doesn't matter how much they weigh, if you catch my drift. They'll be proud to show off their bodies. Self-confidence is not an issue for these gentlemen.
5) Something that would perspectively be classified as a rich area in Argentina would just scrape by as lower-middle class in America. These people simply don't have what we do. America is SO MUCH cleaner. There are plenty of houses just made of cement (or bricks, if they're lucky) and the windows and doors just have cloth draped over them instead of actual doors and windows. Also, there are piles of trash. Everywhere. Not just tiny piles, I'm saying that this trash has been collecting and building for so many years with dirt and mud that it has been turned into a super trash pile that no mere mortal man could remove. It would take the work of a superhero. Or a very dedicated sidekick. The piles are around three to four feet tall and eight to fifteen feet in diameter. That's big and gross. I don't care who you are.
That is just a little bit of insight as to what the magical land of Argentina is like. At first glance, I thought everything was pretty similar to America. That's false. It is so very different. What I have written, or even what I could have written will never do justice to what this place is actually like. But I do love it here. I love talking to the people. I love it all! Keep me in your prayers as I do the same for you. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else besides my mission right now. I love you all and encourage you to pray and find missionary opportunities!! I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.
LOVE,
Elder Plautz
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