Hola!

Hola!  I feel like there is so much I can write and SO many stories already! I feel like I'm adjusting I suppose, getting use to this different lifestyle, although I miss Utah. Utah is insanely awesome.
Definitely a ton of things that are different. I need to clarify a couple things first. I realized I didn't say much about my companion...she's awesome! She's 22, from Southern Cali, we get along real well, and she is patient with me learning spanish....so that's super great! Also...our area is Villa Lugano, but we are NOT working in the Villas here because of stuff that happened a few months ago. That's left up to the Elders...poor things. So I just needed to clarify :)

I experienced my first Argentina rainstorm!! It was insane! I LOVED it though, because it cooled us down...it´s insanely hot and humid here. The rain came down so hard, it was awesome! 

I feel like an alien here, for many reasons. Saying hi to everyone and waving is kinda weird here. But that´s what missionaries do right? Talk to everyone? I say hi to everyone I pass, because in Utah that´s not weird! But most the time they death glare me, or just keep walking. One person was like ¨uhh do I know you?¨ Shesh! My bad. And I guess I need to tone down the waves too. Also...my companion has dark reddish brown hair, and I´m blonde...so anyone without dark hair is considered blonde here, and people are really wierd about it. People ask me if I´m from los estados unidos or from russia. Then the questions rage! Also with the last name Carter...people ask if I´m related to Jimmy Carter. (what?!) Or people ask if I´m the wonder woman...I didn´t actually get what they were referring to until yesterday. So if they said oh you´re the wonderful woman, I was soooo confused and was like uhmmm yeah that´s me! Turns out she is the actress for wonder woman. How do people know these things?! 

I see a lot of saddness here. Garbage all over the streets, graffiti EVERYWHERE, people don´t talk to eachother and are quite bitter when we talk to them, a lot of rough people, a lot of homeless people, a lot of dumpster diving, etc. I saw an old man eating mushy leftovers off the ground and my heart was aching for him! I feel so bad when I see stuff like that. 

The food here is different than what people made it seem like. It´s really good though! Beef is actually expensive now, so chicken is what we eat most of.....wahooooooo!!!! I have terrible gage reflexes and I don´t like desserts.....I wasnt a pastry fan in the U.S. and I´m definitely not here. I was offered cheesecake at someone´s house and I was super excited for it...my first bite I felt like I couldn´t even get it down my throat...but I´m trying hard to appear that I´m loving every bit of it. Everyone gets excited about dessert...and I´m like yayyyy can´t wait DX 

Partying is a huge thing here. Whenever we have our planning time at night, there´s hard rock or rap blasting outside...try to have the spirit in a meeting or pray with that...ha. I´ve learned to fall asleep in the heat, humidity, and the mega bass and people yelling outside. Weird thing is, everytime I wake up in the night, even at 5am, the music is still going. Why wonder people aren´t up and starting their days until way late! 

Since I feel like I can´t share and express as much as I would like to, or it just takes me a while to do it in spanish, I have been praying lately a lot of have the spirit in the lessons. That even though I can´t speak very well, that I hope they can at least feel something. Right after I prayed for that, we had a lunch with some members. They were drilling me with questions and wanted me to bear my testimony, share my first experience in the temple, how the mission has helped me, and why I´m here...I felt like I was just throwing out words...I didn´t feel like I was even making sense, just throwing out randomness. Somehow, I was making sense though...my companion started crying, the parents started crying, and I´m a sympathy crier so naturally I had to tear up too lol. But I´m like hey, it´s working! They told me I have a very special spirit about me, and the dad kept saying if he´d look in my eyes he´d get emotional. Kinda interesting, but it taught me a lot. The Lord is always by our side and He will help us when we need it. I prayed to get something across to them and hoping I could contribute with my terrible spanish, and He helped me accomplish that. 

Another really cool thing I want to share. Even though I´m on the other side of the world, things are completely different here, and I´m far away from those I love right now....there´s something that is practically the same here - church. I love Sundays and I love going to church here because it reminds me of home! The way the members act, the organization of it, and the way I feel is all the same. I sure do miss my home ward. Just shows that unlike a lot of religions, we can go anywhere around the world and our church will be the same. 

We went to San Fernando to have a meeting with the President and all the new missionaries that came with me and their trainers. I saw my old district and old companion so that was super fun! People are already a lot tanner, have cool experiences already and sadly, have stories of being robbed in the Villas.....already...so crazy.

I love you all! Thanks again for your support. I´ll probably say that every week because it´s a huge deal to me! I won´t be able to send pics every week. My camera came with the wrong cord...bummer. So if I can´t find a cord to buy, then I will just be posting pics when I email at a certain place that has other missionaries because typically other missionaries have the same cord. Hopefully most of the time I will be around someone that has a cord. I have a picture of THE FATTEST DOG EVER, I really want to send. Anyway....hope you all have a wonderful week! Love you tons! 

Argentina : Villa Lugano

Holá!!!!
Well.....I´m here, crazy! I don´t even know where to begin! Probably just start with the plane ride...first plane ride, so that was pretty eventful. Unfortunately I couldn´t sleep on the plane, and it was a super long ride, but it was cool to look out the window. Most people on the plane were spanish speakers, and I didn´t even understand half the instructions that were given, but we´re here in safety! I was feeling pretty nauseous the last part of the plane ride because of the meals they gave us...some of the worst things I´ve had!

As we were landing, Argentina looked sooooooooo green and beautiful! There were SO many trees and I could see the city far out there. I could see only dirt roads and trees, so that´s kind of what I expected my area to be like. I was SO wrong haha. When we got into the airport, the employees didn´t speak english, so getting through the whole process was difficult...they kept asking for my address, and I´m like I DON´T KNOW WHERE I LIVE! I had know clue what was going on. The mission president, his wife, and the APs picked us up and we got on a bus to take a tour of Congreso (super super busy city, they said it looks like a European style New York City...I´d say that´s about true). I was so hot and humid I felt like I couldn´t breathe, but I´m use to it now (not saying I like the heat!) We saw some cool sites and saw the beautiful Buenos Aires temple! We went to the Argentina MTC to pick of 16 spanish speaking missionaries. After that we went to the mission President´s house. The streets in that area are like pebble/stone roads, with tons of trees, so I was thinking that maybe that would be like the area I´ll be in. I was wrong again. We had empanadas at his house.....dinner with the spanish speaking missionaries was...interesting. All of their accents were different because of the different origins. So between me and the 3 other hermanas from the U.S., we probably seemed super wierd because of how tired we were (hadn´t slept in days), looked gross, and our spanish was terrible! The spanish  speaking hermanas were nice of course, but it was interesting trying to converse. We had some time to chill while missionaries were being interviewsed, and me and the 3 U.S. hermanas FELL ASLEEP SITTING UP! haha......i think the pres wife said she was going to send you a pic of it or something haha. I didn´t meet my new companion until like 10pm and we had an hour long ride to get to our area. Her name is Hermana Carrasco, she´s from Cali! The taxi driver was lost when he was taking us back and we didn´t know how to get anywhere of course....police wanted to talk to him...I still have no idea what was going on. They were shining flashlights in my window and I was so confused, but too tired to ask about it. But, we made it safely! Our pension (apartment) was extremely hot, but I fell asleep once I hit the bed. Funny thing....our bed is a children´s bunk bed, it looks like the model beds at the stores that aren´t full size just because they´´re for models. It´s made out of thin wood panels and I sure hope my companion doesn´t fall on me! At first I thought our pension was super ghetto, but my companion said it´s actually one of the nicer ones she´s stayed in, and I´m use to it now.

The spanish here is SO different than back at the MTC. Not use to all the sh sounds. Castellano is different. I feel confident to walk up and talk to people on the streets, but I can only get so far in the conversation until I get lost and my companion has to finish it off for me. Learning a language definitely takes a lot of patience...that´s something I´ll have to deal with! I can definitely say...I can´t wait until I´m fluent in spanish....that would help a bunch haha. The area we´re in is.........WAY different than anywhere in Utah lol. It´s called Villa Lugano. It´s not provincia (farm land) and it´s not in capital, it´s about in between. My companion says it´s a lot like the outskirts of L.A. but with differentt style houses and eveything´s in spanish. I´ve never been to the outskirts of L.A., but if it´s mega ghetto, than I´d say it´s pretty accurate.

We´ve been working a lot with a man named Jorge. Not going to give all the details but he´s 40, lost a baby, his daughter was murdered, his wife took the other kids, and he lives with his bros right now in a concrete/metal house. Rough life :/ He doesn´t want us to go in the house because it´s not safe, and honestly, I didn´t want to go in anyway. He wants to get baptized, but there´s some things that need to be fixed first. We told him we would pick him up for church, and when we went to get him he wasn´t there. We went back again, he wasn´t there. So in church, one of the speakers wasn´t there, so they asked my companion and I to speak. She wanted to go get a talk, and on the way back we decided to go try to get Jorge again....and he was in the streets....ever so surprised to see us. Not really. We ended up dragging him there anyway, he was smoking the whole walk there, but he came! When I spoke in sacrament (if you could even call it a talk haha) he was just sitting in the back smiling. After church, he said ¨Thank you so much for coming back for me, when can you come teach again¨. He feels really good about the church and that´s where he´s finding happiness right now. Super cool. There´s a lot missing, but that´s the general idea :)

I found out I have really bad gag reflexes....but I try to play it cool. I feel like I can´t swallow certain foods because they´re so nasty, but my companion says my taste buds will change...I hope not. They do have some great food though!! I think it´s the pasties that aren´t too great for me. Ah well! The members are really really really great, I love going to their houses. And the kids LOVE missionaries. 

I better end the email now...we´re sweating because I swear we´re sitting in a sauna! There´s already been some cool experiences here, I´m still adjusting though. I miss you all, but all is well! I´m having a good time. Hope you all are doing great! I love you! Have a fantastic week!! :D

Also..I have some pictures, there´s a few that aren´t from my area, but heré´s some I want to share! LOVE YOU! 

These pics are from Congreso (not where I'm staying, but still cool!) :)

Congreso

Congreso

Kitchen

Our bed!

Some of my area

Tons of graffiti and some towers in my area...

Tons of towers like this, and their elevators kinda freak me out. There's so many people that live in them!

Dear Family,

We are thrilled to report that your daughter, Sister Carter, has finally arrived safely in her mission here in Buenos Aires.  She was picked up at the airport, and after a brief tour of Buenos Aires was brought to the mission home for a luncheon, followed by an interview with the President.  You should expect to hear from your missionary on her next P-day, which will be on Monday, February 16.  Thank you for your prayers and support.

Presidente y Hermana Ayre

President & Hermans Ayre

Buenos Aires Temple

Casa Rosada

Parque

Last week at the MTC!

Hola everyone! 

Crazy....my last week at the MTC, I head out into the real world Monday 6am. Getting close! Flight leaves at 11am and lands in Georgia at 4:50, 3 hour layover, then will be in Buenos Aires at 8am Tuesday morning. 15 hour flight (without the layover)....geez! That's quite the flight for someone who has never been, should be interesting. Even going in a car down the street the other day to get fingerprints down made me instantly carsick haha...it's been awhile I guess. There are 14 amigos I'm traveling with, so that'll be good, quite a few of us. 

We got another district, so that was fun :) Only get to know them for a short time since we're leaving, but they're super awesome! 

Something I forgot to mention last week. We have skype lessons with church members from different countries. Last week we taught a lady from Costa Rica, she was breastfeeding her baby during the lesson, but it was cool because we actually understood her. This week's skype lesson was really cool though. We taught a member from Mexico named Francisco. It was the best lesson ever! This lessons was different for many reasons. For the first time, I was able to talk and teach without having to focus so hard on the language. I was able to feel the spirit as I was speaking so that made it a lot more powerful. He told us that we had great spanish, that he could understand us clearly, and that we were ready for the field. That really meant a lot to me because I feel like missionaries get overwhelmed and hard on themselves because we are fed with so much to do! What a nice man! I could tell the spirit was so strong. He started tearing up during the lesson and was wiping tears as we were talking. Hermana Yancey and I were glowing when we left the room, it all just felt really great and I can't wait for more experiences like that. 

Hermana Yancey (my companion) got pretty sick and was told she had to stay in bed, it was sad and seemed pretty bad. She got a priesthood blessing that night, and the next morning she was completely fine. Another hermana was bedridden for 2 days, and after she got a priesthood blessing, she was completely fine the next morning. Shows that power that comes from the priesthood. I thought that was so amazing. 

This week my companion and I were trying to boost moral since people are seeming to get overwhelmed. I noticed some people getting a little down, so we have learned a lot about charity. That's the Christlike attribute me and Hermana Yancey wanted to work on. We try to be extra positive and I found that we are always talking about what we're excited about, rather than the negative. Just saying things like, I'm pumped for choir helps a ton! The MTC is super happy, like freaky happy...just everyone is extremely happy. But also, we can all get overwhelmed at times, so we've learned the importance of keeping a good mindset! 

This Sunday we are going to test out MTC West campus (they look like huge white igloo domes, it's kinda weird and I have no idea what to expect). But we're having sacrament there. Our district (8 of us) is singing a musical number since we're leaving the next day. At first we were going to sing the medley "Sisters in Zion and Army of Helaman" which is really pretty and was sang at my farewell. But the Elders didn't like their parts...boo...so we are singing "I Need Thee Every Hour" in english and espanol. It's purrrrdy. It's pretty powerful when we're all practicing and singing :) 

Well.....my new Pday will be on Monday, so it'll be a little while until ya'll hear from me. I love you all and hope you all have a great week :D 

Hasta luego!

Sorry, I didn't take a lot of pictures this week. These are most of the Hermana's we are just missing a trio.

And the other pic is me doing my morning bar sit ups....jk....just messing around on the pull up bar.