Argentina!

Elder Rau left the MTC last monday for Argentina! He was traveling with several other Elders. They flew from SLC to LA then to Lima then to Buenos Aires and then took a bus down to Rosario. It was a long day! I got to talk to him on the phone while he was at the Airport. It was so much fun! He sounds GREAT! And his Spanish skills really impressed me. I recorded him and will put those clips on here soon.

My parents got an Email from his mission president letting them know that he got there safely and we got a family email from him yesterday. It sounds like he is in high spirits! Here is a part of his letter:

"My trainer is Elder Brooks. We are getting along great and have been getting a lot of work done. We have one of the biggest areas in the mission, so we do alot of walking. I am currently in the city of Paraná, specifically in an area called cinco esquinas. Average attendance in our ward is about 35. There are so many inactive members in the area, I guess mostly because they don´t like the leadership of the ward. Obviously, our priority is finding people to bring unto Christ, but we are going to be doing alot of reactivating in this area.... I´m so excited to be down here and able to share the gospel and my testimony with these people. They need it so bad. I have the oportunity to introduce them to the gospel and thier lives are going to be so much better because of it. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ can and will change their lives."

Here are a few pictures of his apartment or "pench" as the missionaries call it - short for pencion (with an accent over the o). It looks pretty shabby but I imagine it's nice for the area he's in. What a great life experience! :)