I made it! After an immensly long series of flights, layovers, and van-rides, I’m now in the town of Tartagal. On Friday, we landed at the airport in Salta, where the Mission President and his wife picked us up. We went to the mission office for a couple hours to meet our trainers and eat some food, then embarked on the final leg of our respective trips to the areas that we will live in for the next couple of months. My van ride was 7 hours through the Argentine countryside to Tartagal, ~30 miles south of the border with Bolivia.
My companion is Elder Gibbs from Grace, Idaho. He’s been on his mission for just over a year. We live in a small apartment with two Chilean elders who speak about as much English as I do Spanish. It makes for a fun atmosphere in the mornings and evenings when we are all home. No missionaries have worked in this area for a while, but there is a lot of interest in the church so we’ve been super busy teaching lessons and making connections with active members.
The economy here is pretty bad, so theft and robbery is everywhere. Because of this, only my companion takes his phone with us during the day, mine stays in our pension(apartment) during the day. I probably won’t have a ton of pictures, but I’ll do my best to have at least of couple of good ones every week.
My Spanish is sub-par at best right now. I have really seen the Lord’s hand as I’ve been able to understand and contribute parts to our lessons and meetings. I know that it is beyond my abilities with Spanish and that the Lord is not letting my shortcomings with the language interfere with the needs of people who need His gospel in their lives. I know that God and Jesus Christ know your shortcomings and struggles and are waiting to help you when you turn towards them.
Thank you all for your love and support. Have a great week,
Elder Warren Hansen
