A new companion, Elder Reynolds

Querido familia,                     27 de Mayo 2013

So this Monday our cell phone was cut and Elder Rivera and I had no idea what was going on. We tried going to the chapel to use the phone, but there was no answer from any of the other Elders in our zone (we tried calling three other companionship's multiple times each).

The next day, we still had the same problem, so we went to a cabina (a place where you can rent a telephone for an overly exaggerated price for every minute) in order to see if we could get a connection to someone. None of the Elders answered again, so we tried calling President Heyman and he didn't answer either. So we then called his wife and luckily she did answer. We explained what was going on and she told us that she would pass the phone to her husband. So we spoke with President Heyman and he explained that all the cell phones in the mission are being replaced and that everyone has new phones and new numbers (which explains why we couldn't contact anyone).

The real problem was that that Tuesday night was the last day of the transfer and that we had no idea if we were going or staying. President Heyman said that he was aware of that issue and that our branch presidents had already been informed of the changes that would take place. So we went to the chapel in order to call our branch president and he said that no one talked to him and he hadn't heard any news about  transfers. So we went back to the apartment thinking that we weren't going anywhere and that Elder Rivera and I would be together another six weeks.

Well, we thought that until there was a knock at the door at ten twenty at night when Brother Omar showed up at our apartment with his wife. He said that some Elders from the the other area were calling him trying to get a hold of us. So we called them back on Brother Omar's phone to find out what was happening. Our zone leader then informed us that Elder Rivera was going to be transferred to a city called Apostoles in Misiones. He then told me that I was going to be staying in Mercedes, but to train a new missionary.

So we left at three o'clock the next morning to go to another city called Corrientes where we parted ways. He had to stay there in the bus terminal and I had to continue onward to the city of Resistencia. 

Once I got there, I and the other Elders who would be training were given a brief presentation from the assistants to the president and then we waited as all the new missionaries started making their way into the room. President Heyman then started to read off all the new companionship's and it just so happened that I was named second to last. Talk about suspense.. 

My new companion is Elder Reynolds from California and he also had some time in Texas before coming to Argentina, but not nearly as much. He already speaks Spanish really well due to the fact that he had a companion from Ecuador during his time in Texas that really helped him out. He is a really nice guy and is just super excited to be here. He lacks a little bit of boldness sometimes, but that's alright; we'll work on that. He seemed kind of worried when a guy asked us if his baptism didn't count in the Catholic church, so I went ahead and answered that question.

Right now we've actually been finding a ton of new people to teach and I've been learning a lot of ways that I can improve my own teaching skills as I help Elder Reynolds with his. So it seems like a pretty good deal; I teach him how to be a super cool missionary and I become even better myself.

I had so much more that I wanted to say, but I'm already out of time., but I guess I can tell more stories in just eleven months. I have no idea where the last month went.

os amo,

Elder Burt 

-- 

Elder Joshua Burt

Argentina Resistencia Mission
Entre Rios 435
HP3500AKE Resistencia
Resistencia
Chaco
Argentina

[Mission Office]