July 28, 2008








Querido familia,

It´s been a good and interesting week. It started out with my companion receiving his Death Call. Your "death call" is when the mission home calls you about 3 months before you go home and they ask you the nearest airport to your house and your parents´email address and some other stuff for when you go home. And my comp couldn´t believe it when he got his death call. He wanted to go home a few weeks early to be home for his sister´s wedding, but the mission decided to send him home a full transfer early, which is weird, and kinda stinks.


Something funny that happened this week was someone tried to burn us by shooting fire from an aeresol can and a lighter under their door at our feet. That was pretty weird. Don´t worry though we weren´t standing close enough for it to touch us. They just ended up burning their floor.


Also yesterday I gave my first talk in church in Argentina. It was one of those talks that you find out you´re giving about 5 minutes before you give it. I tried to tell a joke when I started the talk. But it didn´t work. Haha I don´t know if they didn´t understand the joke or they didn´t understand my accent, but I at least got a couple sympathy laughs from the back. Anyways, that was humbling. I´m really trying to work on my spanish. I´m reading the Book of Mormon out loud, that´s my game plan right now to work on the accent.


In other news, we had a lot of success finding new people this week. One thing we do in our mission is we try to "program" people as soon as we can, a lot of times when we first meet them. Program means we commit them to be baptized on a certain date, usually about 4 weeks out, if they have come to know that it´s true by then of course. It just depends on if they actually complete their commitments to read and pray and everything.


But we have a weekly mission newsletter and part of it shows the areas that led in baptisms, programados, personas en la capilla, etc. for the week. And this week my comp and I led in programados for the mission with 21! Yeah! haha. Well it´s a start, now we just have to turn that into baptisms. I hope the moving is going well and it´s not too stressful.






Thanks for sending me some email this week Mom. Thanks for Michael´s address, I wrote him a letter last week but couldn´t send it so I´ll send it tomorrow now that I have his address. And yes I mailed Max a letter, he should be getting it soon I would think, maybe this week? I usually start writing around 10:30am here. That´s usually about when I write I think, mas o menos.


And thanks for getting all those letters to Lauren. I kept wondering if you had gotten that box of letters I don´t think you ever told me. Haha and about being District Leader in the MTC, I was only District Leader for the second half that I was there, and I didn´t say anything cuz it´s really not a big deal in the MTC. And I was afraid you would go tell people how great that was cuz that would be kinda embarrassing. I don´t think it´s really a big deal in the mission field either actually. Haha so feel free to put your socks back on. (Editor's note: I told him I found a letter from the MTC Mission President who had congratulated him for being made District Leader and that I was sure he was knocking everyone's socks off for being such a stud muffin.)


Also I actually did have thoughts of Kamas Utah when I realized it was pioneer day. And that´s really neat that the ladies in the ward had a dinner for you! That´s so exciting that Will and Adam are coming home soon. That would be so fun to be there to see them come home!


Ok well I´ll probably only be on for maybe 20 more minutes so if you catch me then great!, but if not have a great week and I´ll talk to you next week hopefully. I love you! P.S. if Lauren is coming over there today then be sure to tell her I love her and give her a big hug for me!!!

Love,
Elder Boice

(Editor's note: Cooper must have gotten to the cyber cafe an hour early today because by the time Lauren and I got to my computer he had already written and left. DANG!)

July 21, 2008

Well it´s been another good week in Argentina. We had interviews with the Mission President this week. So that was good. It´s fun to be able to talk one on one with someone who will probably end up in the Quorum of the Seventy or something.

It seemed like this week was slow-going for some reason. But we did have some real success. We taught some good lessons to good investigators, and got a good investigator to come to church yesterday. He showed up holding a pack of cigarrettes so we´ll have to work on that, haha.

He´s a really funny guy though just because he has a pretty typical life for a guy his age living here. He´s 30, lives with his parents, doesn´t really do anything, just mostly wanders around and plays soccer. My comp always asks him, "¿Como está el dia? ¿Dando vueltas por la calle?" He´s a great listener though and he´s always really into it when we teach him.

We´ve actually got some good investigators now that we´re teaching, so that makes things a lot more fun. I´m trying to think of something interesting that happened during the week. All that really comes to mind is cleaning our shower a few days ago. We have a bucket shower, which is basically a bucket attached to the wall that fills up with water and has a heat coil inside to heat up the water. And then a little spout/shower head thing that you turn and the water comes out.Ours has been leaking really bad,(by the time the water is heated up a fourth of it is gone), so a couple days ago we decided to fix it.

We got Elder Ritchie to rip it off the wall cuz he played football. Haha ok we didnt just rip it off we unscrewed it. But when I started to turn it sideways to reach the screw that holds it to the wall, all this nasty brown and black water and stuff came pouring out of the top. Pretty gross. So first my comp cleaned out the bucket and scraped out some of the rust. Then I tightened the shower head where it was leaking and put some sealing stuff around it. Now it´s good as new!Lol well I just thought that was funny because now we know why the shower water always smells so bad. I guess we have been cleaning off with the dirtiest water we have.

I´m not really sure what else to say for this week. Haha I know! I can give some motivational words to Cal, Brad, and Bo for why a mission is so awesome. Especially in South America! There are many great reasons:

1.You never have to load and unload the dishwasher (cuz you don´t have one).

2.You don´t have to learn how to use a clothes washer or dryer! (cuz we don´t have that either).

3.You get to choose whatever you want to eat, all the time! (cuz you get to make it). Actually all that stuff is way fun. Haha maybe it wouldn´t be so fun if I was living down here permanently.

Oh and Mom in one of the DearElders I recently got from you you said that it must be really pretty down here since I´m right on a river. You´re such a joker Mom. Haha jk. Well, I haven´t really seen much of the river here because my area doesn´t touch it. But I´m pretty sure on Google earth the river would look kind of a brownish yellow color. I don´t think I would eat a fish here to save my life.I should take some pictures of the little streams and rivers in my area though. They´re all completely filled with garbage and sewage. I need to just take a picture though because when I say filled I really mean it, it´s everywhere. I always think about how beautiful this country would be about 100 or 200 years ago, before all the industrialization and commercialization got to it.

I´m sure there are beautiful areas all over Argentina. But from what I´ve heard Rosario is the armpit of Argentina. Maybe that´s why the Argentine consul at the MTC forgot to mention Rosario.Well that´s about it for today. I´m out of ideas of what to write about for now.

Oh but for Mom, Lauren says not to forget to tell you that you are amazing, which is true! And I hope your hand starts to feel better Mom, sorry about that. (Editor's note: I broke my hand a year ago and fell on it AGAIN 2 days ago...I'm such a klutz.)

For Dad, I hope your new job is going well. And good luck with moving and everything. I know it´s got to be stressful. But you´ll be in my prayers.

For Calvin, keep up the good work, congrats on all the scholarships and being an adult now, haha. And I can´t wait to find out where you´re gonna be living and what classes you take and everything at BYU.

For Brad, I´m sure you´re having fun playing videogames and everything, have a fun summer! In Las Vegas...hehe. We moved to Carlsbad in the summer before my 8th grade year. And I thought it was way fun starting over at a different school and everything. I missed my old friends but it was fun and I was glad we moved. Remember there´s a reason for everything.

For Bo, thanks for writing me a letter! It sounds like you have been having fun at Legoland and everything. I´m always suprised at how well you write. I hope you have a fun summer too! They go by faster the older you get so enjoy it!

Mom I´ve been waiting to see if you are at your computer, but I guess not. Don´t worry I know you´re super busy. But one thing I wanted to ask is can you please tell me Michael Montgomery´s address? I don´t have it written down anywhere with me. Thanks!
Love you all

Love,

Elder Boice

Argentine Independence Day

July 14, 2008

Yay! I got to talk to Cooper LIVE via email again this week! It makes him feel so close and I get questions answered! Below he explains this crazy picture of the fire in his house! (I thought it was another one of his camera tricks, but it's not!) Here are a few of his comments, as well as a general letter to everyone:

Querido familia,

¿Como anda? (How's it going?) So how was the last week? Ridiculously busy (for mom and dad) and ridiculously filled with screens (Cal, Brad, and Bo)? Haha

It´s p-day and I´m typing away at the computer again. I got a few emails from you from last week so I´ll answer those questions and then send this email in case you´re at your computer.

1. That picture of me with the fire in my pinch wasn´t a joke haha. It was super cold so we would burn alcohol in a pan in our room to heat it up fast. I thought it was funny so I took a few pictures of it. It actually works super well though

2. No I don´t need a sleeping bag. Elder Squires is on the other side of Argentina up by the mountains where it´s really cold. For some reason it´s actually really warm here now, even though it´s the middle of winter. Kinda weird. We´re all wearing short sleeves today actually.

Well, the last week here was good. And guess what? Some news that I´m really excited about, is that the Zone leaders went to a conference thing in the mission home a few days ago, and they picked up our mail. So they gave it to me about an hour ago and right now I have a big pile of "Dear Elders" from Mom and Lauren sitting in front of me, and even one actual letter! Thanks! I´ll open them later though since we don´t have too much time here to write.

So a little about my week. July 9th was Argentine Independence Day. So our ward had an activity (that they had us, the only 2 Americans, plan). We had a locro, which the Argentines are very proud of because it´s only in Argentina. It was a big pot of stew that has some vegetables, meat, and lots of pig skin. P.S. the pig skin still has hairs on it. (no offense to the Argentines but I think there´s a reason why the locro never left Argentina). It actually wasn´t too bad. It tasted good but I just didn´t eat the pig skin part. I did try it though. So we ate that and then played some soccer. Ta Da! Argentine dia de independencia! How was the 4th of July at home?

We found some really good people to teach this last week and I´m really excited to go back and teach them all again. We were able to give out a lot more Libros de Mormon. The work is speeding up for us in our area. :) Oh also another funny thing that happened yesterday. I realized I´m starting to get accustomed to Argentina. We were walking home and a lady was outside her house sweeping the grass in front of her house, and I didn´t think anything of it at all. Then my companion mentioned it and I thought, "Oh yeah! That´s really weird isn´t it!" haha If you´re lucky enough you might even catch someone sweeping their tree. They sweep everything here.

Oh and I wanted to ask a favor. I don´t know when the next time is that you´re planning on sending a package to me, or actually even just a letter. But when you do, could you send me some pictures of the family. I only have that one little one in the alarm clock you gave me. And it would be fun to have a couple small ones to carry around so I can show members and people we teach. Oh and I´m not going to mail anything home until I have the new address. I wanted to send home that DVD I made full of pictures last week but I wasn´t able to. So I´m gonna wait until I have the new address so I can be sure it gets to you.

Oh where are you looking at houses in Las Vegas? cuz theres an elder here in our pinch from Henderson which is really close I guess.

No we´re not allowed to drink mate. I think just for disease related reasons because they pass they mate cup around and everyone uses the same straw. You see mate everywhere here. (Editor's note: I asked him if he had tasted the famous national drink of Argentina called Mate. It's kind of like an herbal tea. I had friends who served their missions in Argentina and they had me taste it because they loved it....yuk!)

Alright well that´s all for this week. And tell Max I got his letter and I´m working on writing him but it´s way hard to write real letters cuz we only get about an hour or two one day a week!I´ll write again next week.

Love you all!
Elder Boice

Live Email Chat with Coop!

July 8, 2008

Today was awesome because I happened to be sitting at my computer when Cooper's email came in! We were able to chat back and forth live, which was so much fun. As soon as I would send him a question I'd just sit at my desk and stare at the screen, anxiously waiting for a reply. It was great! He sent the 2 pictures above of where he lives - his "pension." He looks so sad in the picture of him pointing to his empty mailbox, so I asked if we could mail letters directly to his house, but he said no. I guess that mailbox is going to stay empty then.

Here are some of the things he wrote when I asked him the following questions:

1. What is your companion's name?

2. What is your new Mission President's name?

3. What is your snail mail address?

4. Where do you type your emails each week?

5. Do you have someone that does your laundry?

6. How is the food there?

7. Do you have someone to cook for you or do you cook for yourself?

8. Have you had any dinner appointments yet? How often?

9. Do you live in that house with just your companion or are there other missionaries there too?

10. Who are the missionaries in your district? The missionary moms love it when they find out each other's kids are serving together.

11. Do you walk everywhere or are you on bikes?

12. Have you guys done the "Pancarta" thing in the street? Do you guys call it that?

13. Do you guys say "Chao" or "Adios"?

14. How many discussions are there in the series?

Buen Dia familia,

I´ll start out by answering the questions you asked me in the last couple emails you sent me. I live with 3 other Elders in our pinch. We say pinch just as an easier way of saying ¨pension¨.

My companion, Elder Clegg, is from California as well. Actually only about 30 minutes away from us I think, I forget the name of the town though oops. I also live with Elder Ritchie (from Las Vegas) and Elder Hollan (from South Dakota). All great Elders. My comp said yesterday that our District, which is just 4 of us, is one of the best he´s seen on his mission. Everyone is being obedient which is great, and we´re doing well.

And about mail. I think for sending letters I´d rather you just send in pouch mail, because even if it gets straight to my pinch, if I got transferred before it got there I would probably never see it. Oh, ok nevermind I just asked my companion and he said you´re not allowed to send things straight to our address. Sorry!

Lauren told me in a DearElder letter that she got accepted into the China program. Isn´t that cooL! I got 2 DearElder letters. I thought both were from you but when I opened them I saw that some were from Lauren and I even got one from Matt, so that was fun. And nope you´re the only one that writes to me at my email address. Oh and by the way, my last letter that I sent to Lauren I sent to her home address because I´m pretty sure the semester ends like in a week or something. So I´m just gonna keep writing to her home adress until I get another address to write to. And I won´t recieve any mail from her for another 6 weeks. So when she has a new address she wants me to mail to, it would be faster if she told you and had you email it to me. So if you could let her know I´d really appreciate it :)

And yep transfers are every 6 weeks. Our transfers are tomorrow actually. But I´m going to be staying here in Paraná for the next transfer. I don´t think there´s many changes since we just got our new mission president.

Thanks for all those pictures you sent me! Looks like Calvin had a good graduation haha and it looks like Bo had a fun birthday. P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Calvin!!! (in a few days...)!!! Umm I´m not really sure if I should send a Birthday card in case you´ve moved before it gets there. But I will, so I hope you don´t move within the next 2 weeks!

Thanks for selling that computer and putting the money in my account Mom. I actually withdrew 400 pesos the last couple weeks I´ve been here. It´s a little over 100 american dollars. Don´t worry though I haven´t spent it I´ve just bought a few small souvenirs and thought it would be good to have extra money on hand. And I didn´t buy the wedding ring in Baltimore; a different Elder did and it was only about 20 dollars haha

And I can´t believe you´re actually moving now! So weird!!! I hope this buyer actually goes through though. I bet that built everyone´s testimony of the power of the fast. He he

I´m actually writing this in between sending other little emails to you Mom. Just so you know. I´ll try to answer all those questions you asked me. Lets see. My new mission president is Presidente Villalba. We type our emails at a cyber. It´s just a little internet cafe kind of deal. We can take our laundry to the lavanderia but we wash all our garments by hand.

The food is good and I´m learning how to be a good cook because my comp is a pretty good cook. Yay! We cook our own food. We´ve had one dinner appointment since we´ve been here. Except people don't really eat dinner here, so we have lunch appointments. And did I ever mention that we can´t really do anything from about 12:30 to 4:30 because of the siesta? We also walk everywhere here. I guess they used to have bikes but it was too dangerous, apparently they got stolen a lot.

I don´t think they have pancarta here. There are street vendors selling stuff depending where you are though. Does a pancarta sell sweet little bread treats or something? And we teach 3 lessons and then there are 2 more for after they are baptized. Ok I think that covers all those questions you asked.

So this last Friday we had a Zone Conference. We met the new president and he is great. We also got mail. ya! I got a few DearElders so that was fun. Thanks to everyone that sent one! I didn't get the ones you said Dad and everyone sent though so I´ll probably get those next zone conference.

We had zone conference on the 4th of July, and it took almost all day. But it was a great day, because afterwards we were able to give out a Libro de Mormon which is tough here and we found a couple really good investigators. Then at night we all gathered around in our room and listened to the Star Spangled Banner on my ipod and put our hands over our hearts, looking at a little american flag that someone had pasted on the wall for some reason.

Oh and I have kind of a funny story. The other night it rained really hard. And my comp slipped and got a bunch of mud on him. Then as I was still laughing about it a car drove by us and I got drenched by a puddle of water on the side of the road. The story is funnier if you´ve been to Argentina, cuz then you would know that it wasn´t water that goes down the side of the roads....(they don´t have underground sewage here).

It´s been a good week though and we´ve found some people to teach that I´m pretty excited about. On the other hand yesterday was the first time we had a door slammed on us before we could even get a word out. I don´t think that happens too often, haha.

We did a pancarta when I was here the first couple days in the mission home in Rosario. I bought an Argentine soccer jersey today as a souvenir for this area. I think I´ll probably get one thing in each area I serve in. We usually make noodles and sauce or pizzas sometimes. Also chicken, beef, rice. I like the food here.

Alright, I have to go now, but it was great talking to you!!! Tell Lauren thank you for the DearElders for me. And if you could tell her about the address thing I would appreciate it too so that I can find out her new address faster.

Alright talk to you next week! Next week P day will be on monday like normal. I love you mom! ttyl We say "Chao" here, but it's really funny when the Argentine women say the really long Adioooooooooooosssssss. I love you all! I hope your next week goes well. Suerte!

Love,

Elder Boice

Deep Thinkers

Here's a cute picture Cooper sent me this week. He says he's sending more pictures soon. YAY!

I'm assuming this is his companion in the picture, but I don't actually know that for sure! Looks like the two of them are real deep thinkers...