Elder Sirrine arrives in Comodoro Rivadavia

Dear family,

I made it to Argentina safe and sound.  Turns out there is an airport in Comodoro Rivadavia, so I have now spent 36-hours on planes and busses to get to my mission home in Argentina. We ended-up flying from Buenos Aires down to Comodoro instead of a long bus ride, but I will probably take a bus to my first area. I met a couple of Elders serving in Comodoro and I think this will be a good mission.

I met President Rogers and think he is an awesome guy. I like him a lot and think he is a great president. I think that the Spanish accent in Argentina is really cool. They speak with more of an Italian twist. It’ll be fun to learn it. I am so tired right now. I apparently can’t sleep on a plane so in the last 36 hours I have slept for about 7. I am just ready to sleep while writing this letter. The good part about being down here is that I realize how much Spanish that I can actually understand and it’s pretty cool.

President Rogers speaks Spanish well and he actually served his mission here in Comodoro and other areas. I learned from him that there were some Sirrines living by him in Lindon, Utah. Are we related to them at all? That would be really cool to know. I need to sleep a lot more or find out how to stay awake on less sleep better. The schedule for missionaries gives us 8 hours of sleep and I don’t think that will be enough. I’ll figure out how to do it though, it shouldn’t be too hard.

I think that I am less homesick now that I am in Argentina then I was in the MTC. It’s probably because Argentina is a rather poor country and a lot of the neighborhoods here look like they have been bombed. It’s definitely going to be interesting when I get to my first area and start walking around the city. I learned today that most of the cities and the people in my mission are along the coast. Some do go farther inland towards the mountains but not a lot. It’ll be way cool to see the different areas.

So have fun at home and I will try to do the same down here. I’ll email on P-day and send some photos I have taken. Love you all.
Love Michael

Elder Sirrine with President and Hermana Rogers

Elder Sirrine with President Rogers and his wife
and all the new Elders and Hermanas for this transfer.

On Friday, October 25th Elder Sirrine was able to call his family from the Dallas, Fort Worth airport as he waited for his flight to Buenos Aires. The kids had some question and Michael answered as follows:


How was the MTC?

o   It was awesome but I am ready to go to Argentina. My district was fun. I love these guys. It is pretty amazing that we can get so close in just 6 weeks. My best friend here at MTC is my companion, Elder Tingey (who is related to the general authority Elder Tingey). It feels pretty much like a family.

o   Brother Haugh (sp?)was my favorite teacher. I had 12 different teachers during my time here at MTC for a variety of reasons. Our district was the orphaned district – we had several really good teachers.

o   The best decision I made here at the MTC was to join the choir. We got to sing every devotional which I loved. I liked the choir director and how he shared with us background information regarding the hymns we sang. It helped me get a deeper appreciation for the hymns.

o   I feel pretty prepared as I leave the MTC.

·         Who will travel with you to Argentina? There 20 elders and sisters that went to the airport together. On the flight from Dallas there are six elders that are going to the Comodoro Rivadavida mission.
·         What was your most fun experience in MTC?

o   The most fun experience was when we were a little board and a lot of elders tied their sheets together to make a “sheet” sled. Being pulled on the sheet sled down the hall was really fun. I also enjoyed our activity last P day when I delayed the exposure when taking pictures. To draw with the light was pretty awesome.

·         What was the best experience in the MTC?

o   I loved the devotionals that we had on Tuesdays and Sundays. A question I had was answered at each and every one. The best one that we had was the fireside we had the last Sunday where Elder Robins of the 70^th talked about making connections – that investigators or less active members are not just numbers. He shared an experience where a missionary and an investigator played pool. The investigator said if I make this shot (which was an impossible shot) he would attend church. The Elder said a prayer and miraculously the ball went in.

·         What are you most looking forward to as you leave the MTC?

o   I am looking forward to being around people again. I look forward to talk Spanish and not just being around missionaries but some variety.

·         What was your most spiritual experience so far?

o   Elder Tingey and I were invited to share our testimony with one of the new groups that came to the MTC. While I shared my testimony, I felt that I was given words to say. Afterwards everyone came up to me and thanked me for my testimony and message and how this had meant a lot to them. I knew that I had the spirit with me and that I was given the words to say.

·         Best meal?

o   It was actually the fried chicken we had at the Dallas airport. I loved it.

·         I have used all the ties and the grey suit is my favorite. My bags – one was 47 and one was 49 pounds.