Nothing too crazy has happened lately but I felt that an update was due to all of you. Thing's are going well, the last week hasn't been too eventful but has been encouraging nonetheless. We've spent a fair amount of days inside due to rain and even gone out in the rain on some other days. In Argentina it's widely expect that people don't do anything when it's raining due to the fact that it can be hard to dry off in the winter. We've had the boys over for ping-pong, Enrique and Dario came over for Bible study on Tuesday night and we have hung out with the older guys several times. We've also been going to the kids houses to get their parents signature and to make sure which kids are coming to camp. So far Enrique and Dario are coming for sure and Junior and Dani are possibilities that we won't know if they're coming or not till thursday. The camp starts this thursday and goes through Sunday evening. Pray that whichever kids come with us are treated well by the other kids at the camp and that our boys can see God working in them. Continue to pray that Guri might be able to come last minute. We've been experiencing some spiritual resistance lately, Satan doesn't want to let us make any progress with Guri or any of the other boys. Small tihngs have continuously coming up that are keeping us from getting together with any of our contacts. Pray that we overcome it.
I can't believe I've only got 2 and a half weeks here left, it's going to be tough leaving all these kids and the guys we play soccer with. I feel like I've known them for an incredibly long time and they've told me that we're good friends and they want to have me come back sometime. They'd also like me to not leave at all but that'd be difficult. I thank God for my time with them though and I hope I'm used as a boost to the relationships that the missionaries here have with them.

Ok so I just had to say that my trip this last week was amazing. More than amazing, one of those "I don't really have words to describe it" things. I was blown away and got to see the most amazing thing that God has created. The trip wasn't too bad, about 15 hours on a nice bus. It was colder in the mornings but warmed up and was beautiful. We eve got to see some odd wildlife on the hike through the rainforest to the falls! I'll just put some pics up to show you all because that'll be better than more words!

Photos: left to right top photo: enrique, me, guri and his little brother enzo (sons of marcelo) and one other kid who was new last night and I can't remember his name... Llama? Doh that's not it.

Middle photo: me and Javier, the two Javi. (all the locals call me Javi, it's easier than Zach which is pronounced like Sak here)

Bottom Photo left to right: Marcelo, Marcos, a different Marcelo and Rich. Playing Truco alllll night. There were two other guys as well.

Alright this week has been busy and then not-busy in spurts all over. I am doing nothing for a day then I'm doing everything for 2 days it feels like. Ha just a little crazy. First, on Sunday the 4th, I got to go to the McCaman's (another set of missionaries closer to Buenos Aires and have been here for years) Argentine church. We there on Sunday morning because Rich was going to speak. It was one of the coolest things here yet. I was overwhelmed by their kindness and openess even though I didn't expect anything else. Their passion for God was amazing. Overall I was so appreciative because the locals (about 30, maybe 40 including children) took time to talk to me and were patient with my lack of Spanish fluency. Before we all sat in a circle and prayed for those who weren't there this week and then Rich talked about our identity in Christ. We even had Spanish worship which I was able to sing about half of the songs with them by reading from their hymn book.

After church that morning all the GBIM missionaries in the BA region got together for a 4th of July cookout. We had burgers and hotdogs and sat around and relaxed. We even had some delicious Apple Pie! Thankfully all the rain held off until the next day. Then on Wednesday we had pingpong with the kids, things went well with that. Thursday was crazy though, I got up at 7:30 after not getting to bed till 12:30 and then spent the morning taking a bus to the train station, the train to the outskirts of BA and the subway to an Immigration office with Brian. He had to check on some paperwork for his family. Normally by bus or car the trip takes 50min or so. That day it took 2 and a half hours, an hour and a half in the office, then another 2 and a half back. Was pretty tiring. I then took a break, went to Spanish class with Ozzie and then played soccer. Soccer went really well, I scored 4 of our first 5 goals and it was alot of fun that night. When we were finished though they decided they wanted to play Truco, which is an Argentine card game that I cannot fathom the rules for. They came to my apartment around 11:30 and left around 4:15 that morning. The kids and I played alot of pingpong. I'm pretty exhausted but it was a great night and was great connecting with the guys. Marcos even invited us to an Asado at his house so we're definitely making connections.

One thing you guys could be praying for this week is for a kid named Javier. He's older than the boys we work with, 18, and by that age here kids have been involved in some pretty heavy stuff for several years. He smokes and has been drunk more times than not when I've visited the Villa and he was there. Kids at that age in the Villa's are pretty rough. Javier has started to play pingpong and soccer with us and is talking to us about different things we do. It's been neat to see him connect, especially because I'm closer to his age. Next week I'll be taking a trip to northern Argentina starting either late monday afternoon or early Tuesday morning, and will return either thursday afternoon or friday morning. Pray for safety and I'll update you all when I get back! Much love to all of you guys!

The pictures above are of the Plaza de San Martin and this huge tree there that I wish I could build a tree-house in!

Uhm so I'm not quite sure what to say this time, nothing huge has developed recently, just alot of small things I suppose. So this might make no sense at all but I'll do my best to put everything together! Ozzie, the man I'm taking Spainish lessons with every tuesday and thursday, has become rather fond of me. He misses talking in English from when he lived in Miami so half the time we're 'learning' Spanish he's going on and on about how he loves the US. However I am still learning and its a good time while I'm there.

The last week has been different because the Dunlevy's are headed back to the states as of yesterday. So we've been winding some things down to help them get ready to leave. The Bible study Rich ended up having with Guri, Enrique and Dario went really well! One of the things the missionaries here often start with is the 7 signs of John. This is because most of them don't know what Christ is really like and focus more on Saints and Mary here as a part of tradition and only know Christ as a helpless baby or a cruxified man. So to show his miracles and what he's like is vital. The boys were really receptive and said they're definitely coming back.

Today I was given the task of figuring out the public transportation system here in La Plata. I took a bus to the train station, found out where the routes for the other north, south and east buses were and spent the day downtown. It was pretty crazy figuring it all out but after one test run it went smoothly.

Lastly I'm gonna talk some soccer. Tonight I scored the winning goal in the game we played so the older guys had a toast to my 'super goal' they called it. It was pretty lucky. However last weekend Argentina beat Mexico in the World Cup to make it to the Quarter-finals. When they scored people set off fireworks and when they won everyone came out of their houses and started driving around honking horns and waving flags and singing. I waved a flag from the roof of our apartment and sang along, people loved it. Lastly I got to go into Buenos Aires again on Monday with the Elledges. We went to Plaza de San Martin and spent some time there and on a shopping street called Florida. At the Plaza (mostly a large park) they have set up an area with a huge movie theater sized TV for watching the Argentina games together with many other fans. I'm gonna try to make it there to watch their next game this saturday... against Germany. I'm gonna have to be quiet if Germany happen to win but either way it's gonna be a great game!

Pray this week could be lastly for Guri because his Mom is opening up to us for the first time and might allow him to come to the camp if God stirs that in her! Also pray that the rest of my support comes in for this trip! Thanks for everything again and I'm praying for you all as well!

The last few days haven't been too busy so far. We had the boys all over for ping-pong again on Wednesday night, which was alot of fun. Then we played soccer and had another asado with steak and sausage last night. It was good to sit around and talk (or try to) with all the guys. The best part is that Guri, one of the boys I've been asking prayer for, has been asking alot of questions to one of the missionaries. Rich explained to him why we're here and that we're not there to force the Bible on anyone or anything. Guri asked Rich to do a Bible study with him now though and Dario and Enrique might come as well! Keep praying cause it's awesome and God is working. Also Marcelo, one of the father's we have alot of contact with, invited us over to his house for an asado this weekend! This is a huge honor because it means he values our friendship enough to have us over with his local friends. Tonight I'm supposed to be helping teach the kids english and the ABC's song.

Also please pray for my understanding, I am starting spanish lessons with a local Argentine named Ozzie who lived in Miami for 20 years. He's quite the character as his last job was a professional tango dancer. Thankfully he's very easygoing and has me talk to his wife and nephew often. Things are great!

So let's see.... where to start. Ok I think I got it, uhm about a week ago or so I began to get pretty sick. Like Migraines worse than I've had in a long, long time... they came and went, and then I also developed a stomach bug of sorts. This lasted for about 5 days into a missions retreat. Thank goodness I'm better now so thank all of you for your prayers! Once again the pics are out of order so from reverse time period, starting at the bottom up we've got: the place where we stayed for the retreat, a late night risk tournament, dancing in Boca, famous bridge in BA and a whole lot of meat at a fantastic place we ate.

So yeah this last week was a Missions retreat to a real nice quiet place on the other side of Buenos Aires. It was large and I saw more grass in that one yard than I've seen in the 3 weeks I've been here. It was the 3 missionary families in the La Plata team I'm working with (Elledges, Dunlevy's and Gorniks) and then two older missions couples who have live and worked in Argentina for a very long time. We were able to have alot of down time, which included watching the Argentina world cup game (awesome game it was) and play some games. The adults had a session or two each day where they asked the two older and more experienced couples questions and just fellowshipped. During that time I was responsible for entertaining the children. This included playing tag, acting like gorillas, throwing frisbees, traveling to outer space, coloring and crafting, dancing and being taken to jail multiple times by superheroes. Thankfully I had some assistance from the sister of Jil Elledge, who is here on vacation for several weeks.

On friday most the families were tired and went home but I went with the Elledges to Boca. Boca is a section of BA that is known for being colorful and artsy and also a focal point to some good Argentine dancing. Afterwards we met with the Baileys at their house in BA for some downtime and then went out for supper. We got to see a sweet bridge in BA, walk around alittle of downtown and, you guessed it, eat steak. By this time I was pretty wiped out from taking care of little kids all week and pretty ravenously hungry since it was 11:30 at night and I had last eaten lunch at 12:30 taht afternoon. Thankfully the place did not dissapoint with yet again some delicious meat in unlimited quantities. I also tried intenstines for the first time. It wasn't too bad actually. I then collapsed when we went home and all that.

So all in all there were some great times, great food, I'm healthy again and I got to hang out with the boys again today and even met some new ones. Please pray for Dario, Enrique, Guri and Jonathan as today we talked to their parents about attending camp with us in a few weeks. It would be a huge step for the boys and a great opportunity for them. Especially pray for Guri as his mother is isn't a fan of us, the Mormon's down here have a large presence and are against us. They have been talking to Guri's mother alot lately. Thanks again for all your prayers! If you have any prayer requests just message me!

Buenos Aires and the Elledges

Above are some pictures of: The argentine minsitry of defense building, some of the main streets in the center of Buenos Aires, Me and Rich out to eat (best steak ever!) and the 'Pink House' of the Argentine President. Apparently they loaded in reverse order, so the pictures are the Defense Ministry building last and the 'Pink House' first.

So the last few days I've got to spend alot of time with the kids from tha Villa again. It's been awesome. Last night especially was kool because we went to play soccer, and although we ended up not being able to play because our time got moved to thurday night, I was able to talk to the kids and Marcelo for quite a while with a little bit more Spanish vocabulary. Last night we also had 'escuele apoyar' which is like an after school help get together. Which more or less is us just talking and playing ping-pong.

The 3rd missionary family got back from their little vacation from northern Argentina on late Tuesday night. Their names are Rich and Jil Elledge and so far they have been incredibly encouraging and helpful. They had me over for dinner the last two nights and I got to spend the day with Rich. We took a bus this morning to Buenos Aires to get some money from the missions fund for their bills and one or two other errands. The city is just huge. That's the only way I can describe it. I saw a few things, including their 'white house' for their president. Which is actually completely pink. Then we went to a resturant that translates as 'the palace of the french fries.' Sounds cheesy right? It's not, a very very fancy place with the best steak I've ever had. It was only about $15 each for the steak, fries, bread, salad and juice. Pretty crazy but yeah I think I'm definitely going to go back there. We came home after that.

I'm psyched for this weekend because we're playing soccer the next two nights, hanging out with the kids in the mornings, and then Saturday we get to go to one of the kids houses to watch the first Argentina World Cup game. We're also going to have an asada, like a backyard steak grilling. Please pray for Enrique, Guri and Dario. They are 3 of the boys we work with alot and have asked them to come to a Missionary Bible camp for kids sort of deal in a few weeks. This could be a great opportunity for them to really accept Christ.