Mate

Today was an incredible day. This morning we met up with the missionaries and talked to them about the projects that we will be doing in Abundancia. They are all from America. I think they were quite shocked to see American girls!!

We then went to the grocery store to buy food. It was kind of hard for Kirsten and I to find any food that was recognizable. We ended up buying peanut butter, jelly, bread, crackers and some fruit. Food here is pretty cheap. I got a half a watermelon for one dollar! If any of you know my obsession with watermelon I was one happy camper when I found that. We were wandering around the store trying to look for things when one of the missionaries came and helped us! Thank goodness. By the end of the shopping trip somehow they convinced Kirsten and I to buy Mate. It kind of looks like weed, but apparently it is totally okay to drink. Kirsten and I are going to try it a little later today. Wish us luck!

After the grocery store we went and visited the community that Mariano lives in. It was so sad to see the way people live. After we found Mariano's home his wife told us that he would return home from work around seven p.m. Mariano will be helping us set up the projects that we will be doing in Abundancia. We went back to the hotel and rested for a while. At seven we went to Mariano's home for Family Home Evening. It was an amazing experience. Although I could not really understand what was going on I knew these were very righteous people. Mariano's wife made us some chocolate pudding with bananas and some pizza. It was SO good! We sat out until it became too dark for us to see each other. We are now back at the hotel. Tomorrow we set out for Abundancia. We will debate with the chief of village in order to try and implement our projects. Brother Shaw says they always say yes to whatever we want to do, but we have to debate in order for the chief to feel like he has some power over us.

Here are pictures from Mariano's town:

All of the little kids just roam around. It is sooo cute! 

Typical homes 

After the grocery store we went and visited the community that Mariano lives in. It was so sad to see the way people live. After we found Mariano's home his wife told us that he would return home from work around seven p.m. Mariano will be helping us set up the projects that we will be doing in Abundancia. We went back to the hotel and rested for a while. At seven we went to Mariano's home for Family Home Evening. It was an amazing experience. Although I could not really understand what was going on I knew these were very righteous people. Mariano's wife made us some chocolate pudding with bananas and some pizza. It was SO good! We sat out until it became too dark for us to see each other. We are now back at the hotel. Tomorrow we set out for Abundancia. We will debate with the chief of village in order to try and implement our projects. Brother Shaw says they always say yes to whatever we want to do, but we have to debate in order for the chief to feel like he has some power over us.