After getting dropped off at the Salt Lake City airport, I met up with Elders Isom, Kofford, and Pauni. It was fun to reconnect since our time in the MTC. We also got to meet other missionaries who had been visa waiting in other missions, including Ventura, CA, where my family was living.
Altogether, I took 3 flights and 3 bus rides to get to Bahia Blanca. When we did arrive at the office, we had a brief meeting with the mission leaders, then walked up the street to the office elders house to sleep. The sisters went with the mission president and his wife back to their house.
One of the strongest memories I have from these first few days, is how dehydrated I felt! Everywhere we went for food, they served us chocolate milk, juice, or soda. Some places, like the mission office, had some watercoolers throughout the building, but the were mostly empty. We were warned do not drink the tap water.
As we had our mission orientation the next day, we learned more about the rules and how to access our money for food, rent, and utilities. The majority was shared in Spanish, which was an important reminder to keep practicing. To some extent, I think I was overly optimistic with my abilities to understand the language, so when it came for questions, I had none.
I was informed my first assignment would be in Viedma, with Elder Funes. The Elders spoke about him the way people in Provo had about my last companion. “He’s great! You’ll learn so much and he’s very funny.”
As we all parted for our different areas, I learned that mine was nearly as far south as you could go in the mission. Because the bus ride would be several hours, they booked an evening ride. I was partnered temporarily with an Elder from Australia who would be serving in an area next to mine. He was brand new and never had a chance to visa wait.
When we got on our bus, we were given strict instructions of which stop to get off, and what time we would arrive. I don’t think I looked too concerned, but the Elders were, so they told the bus driver too. “Make sure they get to Viedma!”
Well, the ride was pretty uneventful. They had some Adam Sandler movie playing, but we just talked or napped through it. I had been watching the clock closely. We were about 5 minutes early from our expected arrival, and were pulling into a bus terminal. I assumed we were early to the station, so Elder Watts and I got off. Just then, the bus driver stopped us. “Chicos! Where are you going?! You’re not in Viedma yet!” He said this all in Spanish, but I got the message. Whoops! So, we got back on, traveled another 5 minutes, and arrived to the correct terminal. I still get anxiety thinking of everything that could have gone wrong if we got off in the town next to Viedma. We had no phone, it was past 11 PM, and it was the middle of winter. No thanks!
Dandigold 