We set up a call on FreeConference.com so Drew could talk to his siblings, nieces and nephews scattered about the country as well as Mom and Dad on Christmas. He had purchased an inexpensive international calling card in Argentina and called us from a phone at the church. Everything worked beautifully - we were even able to record the call! The hour seemed to last only fifteen minutes and our call ended fairly abruptly when Elder Jimenez let Drew know that time was up and we needed to free up the line so his parents could call at their appointed time.
Shortly after hanging up, I listened to a news story. The journalist was interviewing one of many thousands of American troops far away from their homes this Christmas. The young commanding officer said, "We are fine. We are busy. We are involved and focused on our task and its purpose. We are self-less." That was the same attitude and impression we got from our son, even though he and his companion had not been invited to anyone's home for a Christmas meal nor had there been any branch or mission gatherings or activities.
The fireworks woke them up at midnight on Christmas Eve. They went out on their little apartment balcony and could see the whole sky lit up over the city. Most of the celebrations took place then. The city was pretty quiet and the Elders a little bored on Christmas Day.
We asked Drew tons of questions - these are a few things we learned during our phone call: When asked how he liked the 85 degree Christmas weather, Drew said, "It's only 85?" He said it's REALLY hot, feels like it's in the 100's because of the humidity and they are always soaked. He's only been in one building - a grocery story - that had A/C. The area he's in is extremely impoverished. Most of the roads aren't paved and the homes are very small and broken down. Many of the residents are immigrant Paraguayans but jobs are also getting harder to find in Argentina. The people are kind and very good to the missionaries. Because it's such a poor area, services are limited. There are only two places in their municipality (which includes part of Moreno - the other part's in Cam's mission) where you can mail letters. It's very hard to find time to mail letters home. You can't simply buy a roll of stamps but have to wait in a very long, time-consuming line for international postage each time. It's the same with the only two banks serving the area. There's usually only a couple of the A.T.M.s working and you have to wait for a very long time for a turn. Their apartment is in a commercial area over a shop so they don't really have neighbors. They take a bus each day into their assigned area and from there they walk and walk and walk. The lining in his shoes is starting to break down. He often feels exhausted and worn out but says the best part of being a missionary is helping people. His branch has had the highest Sunday attendance in the whole mission this past year but isn't a full ward yet due to lack of priesthood holders. Many of the leadership positions are unfilled, they hold fewer Sunday leadership meetings than we do and Branch Presidents are often called from other areas and have to travel a long ways to attend meetings. The BAN mission was about the only S. American mission to meet the goal to double baptisms from last year. But it still has one of the lowest numbers of baptisms. That's because the boundaries include the down-town, business and federal districts of the city. Many of the contacts made by their missionaries end up being referrals to neighboring missions.
Drew is a Boca-Juniors soccer fan! He and his comp don't tour B.A. or get together with other missionaries to play soccer, etc. on their P-Day. Missionaries have not been allowed to leave their area except for training meetings this past year and the increased focus has helped them to accomplish their goals. Their branch doesn't have organized Mutual, but there is a group that meets once a week at the church to play soccer. Drew hasn't joined in that since it's not held on his P-Day. His morning routine includes 30 minutes of exercise. He sometimes runs in place or does sit-ups and push-ups but the apt. is too small for weight training, etc. He says his clothes still fit him the same but thinks he's lost a little muscle - especially in his quads. Drew and Elder Jimenez also spend about 30 minutes each morning in language study. It is hoped that Spanish speaking missionaries will learn to speak a little English while the foreign missionaries learn Spanish from their companions. All of his companions so far have also been the youngest kid in their families. The missionaries don't have a siesta time after lunch and they are back in their apartments by nine each night. They have 2-3 lunch (main meal) invitations each week. The meal they are fed most often is milanesa. If they cook in their apartment, it's usually grilled meat with diced jalapenos on top, wrapped in a tortilla. When asked about the weird pizza with french fries or hard-boiled eggs he said, "Oh, it's so good!". Argentine pizza doesn't have a red tomato sauce like ours. He also really likes the hamburgers you can buy with eggs on top. He likes the food there but when asked what American food he misses most he said, "Pretty much all of it!". He said he really doesn't need anything at all from home but loves getting packages no matter what's inside and of course loves getting letters. He seemed to be concerned about how much it costs us to mail him things. He got the Twelve Days of Christmas package we sent and he'll probably get any other packages or letters mailed later at his zone meeting next Wednesday.
Drew thought it was cool that Shep (another PVHS baseball player) was called to the BAW mission. The funniest part of the phone call was having to figure out what Drew was trying to explain to us and guessing which English word he was having a hard time remembering!
Drew gave Elder Garrett his camera's memory card to send when he got back to the U.S. so we are anxiously checking the mail. It was great to hear Drew's voice; but it made us miss him even more. Eighteen more months feels like forever. And the best part? . . . was Drew telling us that he was HAPPY! - LL
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