week one

what up? WOW what a week it has been. i have just been crazy crazy busy the CCM is just full of class and eating class and eating haha but its way fun i get to play soccer with the latinos everyday for an hour im the only white boy that plays but its all good they know i can hang with em all the latinos are awesome guys. i think i already said this in my letter but i dont know if you guys got it haha. so yea i forgot to include in my letter besides my companions/district i have 2 elders, elder miranda y elder alvael in my room elder miranda is from panama and is a way awesome guy he reads the scriptures to me in english every night and i help him out he wants to speak english way bad and i read to him in spanish cause i want to learn spanish way bad he is also serving in uruguay monntevideo oeste so hopefully i will see him down the road. elder alvael is from chile and thinks he is some type of gangster and is all tough we have push up contests every night and he is just good fun there is also this other elder, elder bravo, who is from peru im his favorite gringo he tells me and we always mess around with each other in soccer, having nutmeg contests and see who can score the most goals its great fun. my teachers, hermano catala is awesome served his mission in texas and speaks phenomenial english for learning it on his mission he is a way cool guy. than hermana gansó is my morning teacher she is way cool too speaks alright english we have to help her with it but its all good. the food here is pure authentic tell carter and cam i actually had a paraguayian cake of some sort for lunch today and it was no bueno so wish them luck with that food haha my body has so far not taking a very good liking to the food of south america me and my companions have to make frequent bathroom stops in between classes. so yea the spanish is coming along great i can already pray, bare my testimony and teach some simple lessons all in spanish pretty exciting stuff. my testimony has already grown so much i can constantly feel the spirit with me throughout my day. i definately have learned humility. something that really struck me this week especially in zone conference is that. i am just a 19 year old kid from utah who has done absolutely nothing with my life yet i am literally NOTHING and yet the lord is trusting me to bring his children back to him through this great missionary work. wow what an honor and privilage that is the work is hard but im just getting the chills thinking about serving out in the field the MTC is a lot of memorizing and doctrine and stuff but i know i must put forth the work now so that i can be the best missionary possible. ryan i have discovered something better than naps on our couches downstairs. missionary naps oh my gosh (tracy morgan) sunday naps are absolutely unbelievable here at the CCM. but how is everything going back at home? its weird this has been a fast yet slow week it feels like i have been gone for at least 3 months but its only been a week but this week has flown by. oh pick up story so we land in argentina none of us know how to speak english so we get picked up by this sketchy guy looked like he was part of the mafia with his hair slicked back and a very nice suit on and just has a sign that says la iglesia de jesucristo de los santos de ultimios dias so we go with him he takes us to this sketchy van and has us throw our stuff in it. sketchy. we walk away from the van as it goes peeling off into the distance so were thinking great their goes our stuff meanwhile he takes us clear on the otherside of the airport and takes us to his car takes us to this building and tells us to wait in the car for a while while a bunch of other guys in cars behind us get out. tight. we wait there thinkin what is goin on but it was all good he than took us to the CCM where our stuff was waiting. anyways thats all i can think of writing as of now. you guys are awesome. i love what im doing here. the church is true. i love you all. pray for the people in uruguay.

-elder barton