I have fallen in love with everything about Argentina!

My boots are pretty worn out!

This is our zone ready to baptize!

We have had an interesting week.  I think that everyweek in the mission has something different.  Some weeks I feel that we just knock doors ALL day and at the end of the week, I don´t have too much to tell.  And other weeks, I have so much to say!  This week had a lot of ups and downs, but in the mission, the ups outweigh the downs so much that you don´t really think about the downs to much.  We saw a few miracles this week that were great.  Yesterday we had a lesson with Oscar and Nilda, our golden investigators.  Oscar started to tell us, "Saturday night, I was thinking about paying tithing because it´s not so much about the money as it is about our faith and I was going to ask you how to pay it."  Luckily they showed up at church and it was the main topic of everything.  THEY LOVED IT!  It´s so weird to see how sometimes as members we complain about tithing or the commandments, but they really saw them has blessings that they were losing, and they were really excited to pay.  THEY ARE NOT EVEN MEMBERS!  It´s just so interesting to see how differently we all view the commandments.  We also got our hands on a Book of Mormon on CD (thanks to the Elders in our Rama).  It´s so great because Oscar can´t read or write so now he can listen to build up his knowledge and confidence!

So we left that lesson feeling really really great!  And then, we were headed home and we felt like we should knock a door.  So we knocked it.  Out comes a man who really didn´t look interested, but we talked to him and then he explained something really interesting.  He said that he had just moved from a different province of Argentina and he was listening to the elders in the other mission, but wanted to keep listening.  He was going to church there and really enjoyed it.  He was praying to be able to find out how to get connected again.  THEN WE SHOWED UP!  Yeah, God is the best!  Then he began to explain more saying that with his job, he leaves during the week and is ONLY in his house Saturday and Sunday.  So it´s really not a coincidence that one of the only doors that we knocked was him on a sunday night (which is normally the worst time for tracting).  

I know that God has his hand in everything that we do, and I am so glad to be a missionary and be able to feel it so strongly.  I cannot believe that my time is almost up.  I have fallen in love with everything about argentina, the people, the language, the food, and the traditions.  I know that this work is the work of God and that we serve where we serve because it´s what we need.  I know that Jesus Christ is my big brother who loves me so much that he´s willing to help me through anything.  This is the church of Jesus Christ and I love it so much!  I am going to miss everything about this place!  

Well, I might write next week... I don´t know.

Love you all so much!

Messing around.

Even the people here love Justin Beiber!

They gave me a pet snail:)

This is us doing service!

Playing around on the mission.

I now have a very strong testimony about fasting!

It snowed!

We made treats.

So that you all have an idea of how we feel here, it is soooo cold!  The other day, Hermana Boyce started to scream during our studies.  I thought she was having a heart attack or something, but no she just had looked out the window and saw snow.  IT SNOWED.  It never snows here. So it was a miracle, and it made us really really happy!  So that was a pretty exciting thing that happened this week!

We had interviews this morning and I am pretty sure this ciber is going to close pretty soon, but I will try to write as much as I can before we need to go.  I don´t know if I have explained the siesta, but EVERYTHING closes at about 1:00 and stays closed to about 5:00.. everyday.  It´s great, but when you are trying to preach people the gospel, it´s a little bit harder.  But anyway, this week. SO MANY MIRACLES!

The other week, our Zone Leaders decided to invite us to do a group fast where each companionship chooses a day in the week so that for two weeks, someone is always fasting!  So I now have a very strong testimony about fasting.  We started our fast last monday night and ended tuesday night.  Wednesday, we went to visit Oscar and Nilda.  We entered and he began to tell us about a dream that he had had the night before about the church and that he really felt that it was the true church.  He was actually dreaming about what seems to be the temple, but when he woke up he told everything to his wife, Nilda.  Nilda asked him what he thinks it means and why it happened.  All he said was that, "The hermanas must have prayed really hard last night for us to receive an answer."  Little did they know, we fasted for them!  It was pretty remarkable.  I am sure that I cannot accurately explain myself, but that was what happened and it was a really beautiful experience.  He still has some doubts about things so they cannot be baptized quite yet, but we are trying to help them to resolve all of their doubts.  So we are still praying for them and trying to help them.  We have also been finding a bunch of people to teach so you can say that everything is going really well here in Argentina!  I love it here so much!

Well that´s great, I love you all, but more importantly, God loves you all!

Being a missionary is the best!

Messing around with my companion and Matius.

 

What a week, seriously!  It flew by so fast.  Yesterday was día del amigo so that was cool.  Argentina does a bunch of random holidays just for commercial reasons I think, but they´re fun little breaks.  To celebrate, we had to speak in church.  That was a lot of fun... they always call the missionaries because they know that we are going to be in town.  We actually got there and we had to teach the classes, too.  So it was pretty much a day with the missionaries!  And the elders got off the hook with everything.  But this week was really great.  We went to Necochea to help out the missionaries find people and stuff.  It´s not our area, but we could still be instruments in God´s hands.  

We were walking on a dirt road and we saw a house.. we walked passed and we felt we needed to knock it.  It pretty much had a giant river blocking it so we had to get a little wet to get there, but crossed the puddle and knocked the door.  Out came a lady that didn´t seem really interesting and she was evangélica so we didn´t think that she was going to listen to a word that we had to say.  But she seemed really intent, and then in the end, she opened up and told us that her nephew had died the day before.  Wow, how great is God.  That he sent us the DAY AFTER to give her some comfort.  We could share some scriptures with her and help her to feel some peace.  That´s the best part of the mission.  That everyday, you can meet different people with different difficulties and concerns.

Seriously, being a missionary is the best!  As for Oscar and Nilda, Satan is sending everything he has at them because he knows they have a lot of potential.  They came to church with us yesterday, but are having a lot of problems, so I will update you on them in the next week.  They really are so golden!  

Well, don´t get trunky, but I miss you guys :)

See you in 3! 

Yesterday was Dia Del Amigo.  Aka Friend Day - so we had an asado:)

Horse leg on the ground, what?  Yeah, we don't know.

It was another crazy week with the World Cup!

Necochea

Necochea Zone

It was a really good week!  It was another crazy week with the world cup.  It´s really interesting because we are walking in the streeets and there is NOBODY.  And all of a sudden, you can just hear screams at the exact same time from EVERY house.  All the families are just huddled up inside around the tv with a bunch of blue and white make up!  It´s absolutely the best, I absolutely love it.  The only downside was that yesterday, nobody talked to us after the game because everyone fell into a small depresion. But as for the work, it was and awesome week!

Nilda and Oscar are still the best and they are learning so much everyday.  They absolutely love us and they talk about us like we are their little angels.  It´s really cute because Oscar is 67 years old, but gets really emotional when he talks about the answers that he has received in the last little bit.  It´s the best!

Last monday, we were walking in the street and all of our plans fell through.  (shocker), but then Hermana Boyce says, "we should go visit Gisela."  Bueno, we listened and went.  She is a less active member with a huge testimony!  We show up and start talking to her.  She has a friend so we feel a little bad that she has company and we could tell that he´s a little shy.  But then, he starts asking us a bunch of questions and we start teaching him.  He´s 24 years old and was involved with a lot of things.  He´s just trying to change his life and he feels so good with us.  The elders were teaching him 3 years ago, but then he left on vacations and never saw them again.  Seriously, it´s really interesting that we are where God wants us to be.  I love that part of the work because it really does CHANGE LIVES!  Anyway, we headed to the church, and he was already there!  (that doesn´t happen much)  Every 20 seconds he said, "Wow, I absolutely love this.  I feel so good here."  

This is the best part about missionary work.  It´s being able to be an instrument and know that what you are doing is correct.  It´s a time in my life that I will never be able to repeat so we are trying to live up every second!  Man, we absolutely love it.  The church is true I have absolutely no doubts about it!

Love and miss you all!

 

Our District traveling.

Pancakes Sunday morning.  (My companion is pro at making pancakes.)

Sitting in the middle of the street during the World Cup when NOBODY WAS IN THE STREET!

Our best friend, Morena, with her Argentina make up after the game.

Necochea.

 

Root for Argentina this Wednesday!

 

People going crazy in the street after Argentina won their game on Tuesday.

 

Living it up in the rain!

It looks like I am ducking, but that's just me in the street.

This week had so many miracles.  First off, world cup.  Oh yeah, it´s getting pretty crazy down here because we are now in the top 4!  Woot woot.  I am so lucky to be here to see how it is in other countries because we really don´t do anything for the world cup up there... so yeah, we are going to change that.  But it´s great because we always know what´s going on because people have it on their teles, radios, restaurants, and in the street.  We know when there is a goal because we can hear GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL in all of the street.  It really is so great to see how it is.  So yeah, that´s the world cup for now.  (Messi is the best.. regardless of what other people say (yeah, I am talking to you, Simon)).  But there was also awesome stuff with the work.

The other day we were walking talking to people during the the afternoon and there was a man, we decided to talk to him.  We didn´t think much of it, but we were in the area so we decided to pass by his house a few days later.  When we arrived, he told us that we had also talked to his wife in the street a few days before that.  He then began to tear up and tell us that he had been feeling like he needed to join a church.  His wife then explained that he had said a prayer to God to help him know WHICH of all the churches was the church that they needed to join.  A few days after that, we talked to his wife in the street, and a few days after that, we talked to him.  He got really emotional because he really felt that God was watching out for him.  We told him that we would return saturday night to talk to them and explain what we do in church.  Saturday it rained and stormed so much, but we went anyway.  They were so blown away by our dedication that they said, "We want to be a part of a church that has that kind of dedication. We will go to church tomorrow."  Sunday morning it was the worst storm ever!  We went to their house, and before touching the door bell, they saw us and left the house ready to go!  It was incredible!  They absolutely loved it!  Seriously, when people are willing, God provides the way.

I love being a missionary so much!  We really can feel that God speaks directly through us, we just have to be willing to listen.  

Love you all!  :)

(Root for Argentina this Wednesday)

 

Pancho stand!  Delicious hot dogs!

 

The Circus . . . that we can't actually go to.

God looks out for each and every one of us!

Making a Gingerbread House in style!

A random girl that we helped carry her groceries home . . . now she is in love with us!

The Zone

 

This week has been so cold.  We are trying to do fun things to help us have a lot of excitement to work because it´s been pretty miserable outside.  We decided it´s more like christmas weather so we decided to celebrate christmas!  It was also the last week of transfers, but pretty much my whole district stayed so we are all really content!  Tres arroyos is far from everything so our district is pretty close.  They are pretty much the best!  So miracles and other stuff.

I realized that God looks out for each and everyone of us!  There is a member that moved from Branch 2 to Branch 1 that was relief society presidente, but when she moved, she stopped going to church.  So we have been looking for her forever, but nobody knows where she lived.  We were randomly walking the other day and we said, "hey, let´s go down this street."  We were in the middle of nowhere walking in the dirt and then we hear, "HERMANAS!"  They seemed to know who we were so we thought that we had talked to them or at least my companion because she has been here longer.  We start walking towards them and Hermana Boyce asks me, "Do you know who they are?"  "Nope, you?"  "Nope."  Talking to them, we realized that it was this same lady that we had been looking for for 6 weeks!  And the other hermanas 6 weeks before I arrived!  It´s interesting that God put us on that road at that exact time.  It´s interesting because we felt like we were lost, but we were really where God wanted us in that moment.  That´s pretty much how everything works.  We feel lost and confused and in the end we realized that it was the plan all along.  So that was our little miracle this week.  (Well, a lot more, but I have no time. )

As for the world cup.  Yes, it is CRAZY!  We pretty much always know what´s happening with the games because it´s in all of the houses, restaurants, gas stations, or the radio outside.  (or through the wall of our apartment from the neighbors)  But I am so glad that we are here during this time!  

Love you all, see you all super soon!  But don´t get trunky ya´ll.

 

Christmas in June!

We made snow!

My Gingerbread House

My gift from my companion.

 

There are always funny things that happen with motorcycles because everyone has one!

 

Argentina in the World Cup.

 

The Sisters in the Zone.

 

 

The Zone.

So Argentina is still going crazy here with the world cup!  The kids are in the street with their jersies pretending to be Messi (a player that everyone adores here).  And they scream a lot.  But it´s really fun for us because it´s just everywhere and it´s what everyone likes to talk about to.  So yeah, that´s what´s happening.  We had some pretty cool experiences.  It´s starting to get really cold and the other day we were walking around to see if we could talk to people in the street.  There was NOBODY!  We saw a motorcycle coming our way, and I say in my head, "maybe we can talk to them" (really sarcastically) and then the motorcyle falls apart in front of our eyes and pulls to a stop.  Turns out there was a just a little part that came off and so they couldn´t drive anymore.  It´s funny because we ended up talking to them for a good while while they were waiting for their friends to come help them.  God answers our prayers in really funny ways sometimes.  But we found two awesome people from that experience.  But there are always funny things that happen with motorcycles because everyone has one.  Sometimes you just see a family of six (yes, I have seen that) on one motor scooter running to the store to get some groceries.  It´s really ridiculous and really dangerous!  But we always see some funny things with them.  

Oh, the other day, we were eating some meat with some people and they ask us, "Do you like it?"  "Yeah, what is it?"  "Horse." So it turns out that yesterday we ate some good horse meat.  So now, I have eaten the neighbor´s pony.

This week has some ups and downs.  On Monday we traveled to Necochea to stay there until wednesday for a zone meeting.  We got there and Hermana Rodriquez was there!  She got transferred to our zone and it was great because we lived together when I was in Bahía Blanca.  She updated me with some news about my previous area.  Turns out that Teresa, one of my converts, passed away in March.  She had cancer and was suffering a lot, so when she told me I was a bit relieved, but it´s still really sad. 

But that was my week, thanks so much for the emails!  Love you all!

 

Mario Graffiti.

Flag Day.

My companion playing with a dog in the street.