Saying Good-bye to Hermana Squire

Me and Hermana Squire

Me, Hermana Squire and Margarita right before her baptism!

What an interesting week that it has been!  Hermana Squire´s last day was yesterday and so we have just been running around trying to visit everyone that she wanted to say goodbye to.  We had a lot of good laughs her last couple days, and the very day that she left, we had a baptism!  Yes, Margarita was baptized!  It was amazing.  She was so excited!  She wore her skirt and her cute shoes because it was her special day!  The service was really special.  We had a lot of members there, and everyone was so welcoming and supportive of her decision to be baptized.  It really was such a great day!  After the baptism and saying goodbye to everyone, Hermana Squire and I just sat in our apartment putting all of the last stuff together.  We had to be home, but her bus didn´t leave until 2:00 in the morning.  So we just sat on the ground and told stories!  I am going to miss her a lot because she really was such a good example for me, and we got along really well!  We said goodbye at the terminal, and I was really sad.  But I am sure that she is really excited to see her family and friends!  The people here really do love her so much, and it´s going to be a little interesting this transfer.

The things that happened this week..  I feel like a lot happened this week, but at the same, this last week was probably the fastest week of my entire life.  And definitely the fastest week of my entire mission.  It´s already P day again.  Wow, time really does fly.  It´s weird to think that in like two weeks.. I will have 6 months in the mission.  My time with Hermana Squire went a little faster than I would have liked, but the mission is full of change so it´s all good.  For all of you that know Cydnee (weird calling her that, even though sometimes it would slip in the pension), I want you to know how great she is and how highly I think of her!  That´s all, give her all my love back in the states.  Someone has got to tell her that the CYBER MAN DIDN´T EVEN RECOGNIZE ME WHEN I WALKED IN! 

The work here.  We are currently working with two different couples, and they are all the sweetest people that I have ever met!  One of them came to church, and the other one I am sure will come next week.  Well, all is great in the lovely city of Toay!

So I guess that I should talk about my new companion, and what´s going on in Toay.  So my new companion is named Hermana Tovar, and she is from El Salvador.  She loves to practice her english because her dream to is to go to BYU one day.  She is really cute and just a bundle of joy.  Luckily I knew her before we became companions so it´s not like I am living with a total stranger.  She likes the Beatles and American music so I am sure that we will get along just fine.  All in all, I am really nervous for this transfer, but I know that we are going to have fun and have some success!  The people of Toay are really nice so I am really not too worried.  We will see how it goes.  I just can´t believe how fast this transfer zipped by! 

ARE WE GOING SKIING OR PREACHING THE GOSPEL?

This is the question that Hermana Squire and I ask ourselves every morning, and I am not using any sarcasm there.  Currently, I am wearing 7 layers, scarf, beanie, gloves, boots, and the rest of the whole winter get up.  But guess what?  I am still cold.  So I hope you are all enjoying the weather there because it´s not like that everywhere in the world.  Which is actually really weird because a couple days ago it was really warm, and that was a pretty funny day.

Hermana Squire's bloody nose.

Hermana Squire and I were walking out of the apartment to an appointment.  Then Hermana Squire stops, and just says, "uh... Hermana.  My nose is bleeding."  I looked over and it was bleeding bad!  We both just kind of stopped because we didn´t know what to do.  We didn´t really just want to show up at someone´s house to say, "Hello, we are missionaries who want to share with you a message that will bring your family a lot of happiness and unity..  and yes, my companion is probably getting blood on your floor."  Needless to say, we just didn´t know what to do.  But then we decided to just knock a random door because we didn´t have tissues or anything, and I think it would be a little inappropriate to use the Book of Mormon.  So we knocked on a random door, and this lady answered.  It was during the siesta so it wasn´t really a surprise when she came to the door half asleep and probably a little irritated.  We asked for a tissue or paper or something and then she just, without saying anything, handed us some tissues and closed to the door.  Real exciting, I know.  How productive that day was!

Well that was one of the funny things that happened this week, but there were quite a few.  We had an awesome lesson with the cutest couple ever!  They have been living together for... a really long time.  They are both divorced, but didn´t want to get married because of inheritance issues; however, she is a lawyer so I am sure that she will be able to work something out.  They are absolutely the sweetest, and their house is sooo nice.  Like so nice that I think their might be carpet in there somewhere!  Who knows, though.  And they absolutely love Hermana Squire!  I am kind of more of the silent, awkward type in most situations, but it´s okay because she is great enough to cover up my slack.  Really, I am going to miss her when she leaves... in a week!  Anyway, this couple loves her and so we are going to have lunch with them this week before she goes!

And Margarita is still doing really well!  She has been really sick this whole week, and she told us that she couldn´t go outside at all in the cold, but she really wanted to come to Sacrament Meeting yesterday!  It takes a while for her to learn, but she is the MOST willing person that I have ever met!  She came to Sacrament yesterday, and she LOVES it.  I have never met anyone who enjoys the spirit there so much.  Last night we taught her the Word of Wisdom, and it takes her a while to learn things so we weren´t really sure at what was going to happen.  The last time we were there we teaching, she told us that she used to smoke.  We asked her if she had any in the house that might be a temptation.. she gave them to us, and we crushed them up and threw them away.  (Also, cigarette boxes having all of these pictures of people who are dying from smoking too much and a number to quit smoking.. I need to get a picture of a cigarette box because it tries to disuase people from smoking).  But anyway, we taught the Word of Wisdom and said, "Do you think you´ll have a problem with any of these substances?"  Just tea, but she only drinks Herbal Tea anyway!  It was great because she gave up everything else a long time ago.  As long as the people here can drink their Mate, they seem pretty happy.  She is so prepared it´s crazy!

This week we also had interviews with President Parreño.  He really is the best!  He only speaks spanish so that´s a little bit different.  He really just wants to make sure that I have the best mission that I can, and he really does care.  I thought that it would be really hard for me to accept another mission president because President Winn from the Utah Salt Lake City Mission was unbelievably awesome!  Well, they are just different, and I know that there are things that I needed to learn from both!  It really is amazing how fast I started to love them here! 

Also, I talked about the crazy driving, but there´s so much more.  I am pretty sure that it´s a game to see how many people you can fit on a motorcycle.  Children on laps.. yeah, it´s totally normal.  Even children standing on the front seats of moving cars.  Do me a favor and buckle up your children! 

The City of Santa Rosa

Margarita

Hermana Squire and I with the Bishop's Family

Where to even begin?  Sometimes it´s really hard to even know what to say because so much happens every week.  And yet, it´s always difficult to think of the things to write. 

This week, we met some new people.  One of them is named Margarita.  To put it simply, she´s just pretty awesome.  She is 67 years old, and was a former investigator.  At the time, she wasn´

Also, we are being infested with bugs.  We were walking down the street a couple days ago, and some flew right into my eye.  I am sure that Hermana Squire thought that I was having a seizure because I thought that I was, too.  We are having a lot of fun here, just trying to live up Hermana Squire´s last days!  Because after she leaves, I am going to have to take over the great city of Toay, La Pampa.  And being that I am pretty much deaf, it´s going to be pretty interesting.  But really, you can ask Hermana Squire when she gets home if I am deaf.  It´s bad in english, so you can only imagine how bad it is in Spanish.  I am getting really good at asking, "What?"... which my district leader really appreciates.  At least Hermana Squire and I think it´s funny.

Well, greetings from Argentina and letters would be nice now that I know that I am staying in this mission for good. Love and miss you all! 

t interested.  We decided to stop by to see if she maybe wanted to start taking the lessons again.  She saw us, and just smiled from the window.  She welcomed into her house, and was so grateful that she was there.  A lot had happened in her life since the missionaries first taught her, and now she is totally ready.  We asked her if she wanted to be baptized, and before we even finished asking, she just said yes.  At the end of the first lesson with her, we asked her if she would pray to know if these things are true.  She may or may not have just started praying right then and there.  That part was actually pretty funny, but really!  She is so willing!  She came to church with us this Sunday and said that she felt a peace that she was looking for.  It was pretty funny because the second time that she went over there, she pulled out her Book of Mormon and started to explain that she hadn´t read the passage that we had left her.  At first, I was a little bummed because reading the book is how you find out that it´s true!  But then she began to explain how instead she started from he beginning.  She read all of the introductions, the testimonies, and a couple chapters in 1 Nephi.  We aren´t exactly sure how much she really understands, but she knows that it will bless her life, and she told me on Sunday that this is going to change her whole life!  Woot woot!  So that was pretty exciting this week!

A Lot of Walking and Knocking (well, clapping) at Doors with a Lot of Rejection

First off, Hermana Squire is absolutely fantastic!  President wants to make sure that she doesn't get trunky.  Which I think that´s pretty funny because then she gets put with someone from her home ward.  Yeah, it´s all a little interesting how everything works out like that.  We have been doing pretty well this week, despite the ongoing sicknesses.  Although, we do manage to have some fun still! 

There are a lot of awesome people that live here!  The other day, we got a referral from the missionaries in Santa Rosa that talked to this man who was interested.   So we stopped by the house, and we start talking to this guy.  He seemed really interested and told us to come back at 5:30.  So at 5:30, we went back to the house and knocked on the door.  A younger guy answered the door, and told us that his dad is only home from 1:00-4:00.  We were just like, "Okay, obviously he doesn't have any interest, but just wanted to be nice to us."  We shrugged our shoulders and left.  The next day, we were in our apartment about to go out and work, and I just started craving an Alfajor.  Alfajores are absolutely delicious (FYI).  So we left, and walked into the closest store, and we saw the guy.  He was just like "Hey, how come you never came over... Do you have time now?"  We looked at our planners to realize that our plans were to go tracting in the freezing cold rain.  Needless to say, it was pretty easy to change our plans.  We taught him, and his family, and it was pretty awesome.  Even though they don´t speak Spanish too well.  They are from Bolivia and speak one of the indigenous languages there.  We really don´t know completely what will happen, but we will find out. 

It´s a lot of walking and knocking (well, clapping) at doors with a lot of rejection, but that´s okay!  It´s all still pretty great!

Being in a different country, there are A LOT of things that are different!

Hermana Vawdrey and Hermana Squire

 I made a list of a few things:

1) My Mission President doesn't speak English. This makes it really difficult because there is a slight gap in everything because I really don´t understand very well still. 

2) Sometimes the water and power just randomly start working.  Sometimes that happens right when I want to take a shower.  Anyway, the other day the water wasn't working so I had to boil some water on the stove and use it to take a sponge bath.  It was a lot of fun.

This is how we have to cook a cake - because the gas on the oven won't stay on.

3) The driving. I know I already mentioned it, but it´s bad.  The city that I am in is a lot smaller than anywhere else so it´s not as bad here, but in Bahia it is awful.  Our AP may or may not have almost killed all of us. 

4) Rats live in our ceiling and we have a lot of fun listening to them at night. 

5) Dogs.  They are everywhere, so if I come back with Rabies, don´t judge me.

6) We aren't allowed to drink the water here at all. 

7)  There is NO carpet here.  Literally, none anywhere.  So please just lay on your carpet and enjoy it.

Hermana Squire sick, laying on the hard floor.

8)  The food here is amazing!  Empenadas and Milanesa.. it´s all super amazing.

Well yeah, this was an interesting week because we were actually sick for the majority of it.  But it was pretty funny because as soon as we were feeling better to go out and work, we got a call from the zone leaders saying that we had to get on a bus to go to Bahia Blanca that night.

So it was exciting.  We left at about 11:00 at night, got to Bahia at 4:00 in the morning, went to a random house to sleep for an hour, and then stood in a line so that the missionaries could renew their visas.  Then, later that night, we got on a bus back to Santa Rosa.  On the bus, they played to movie Planet of the Apes super loud.  So now I can say that I saw Planet of the Apes on my mission. 

Other than that, we are feeling a lot better now, so I am sure that we will get a lot of work done this week.

Us with our makeshift back packs to carry groceries.

If you guys want to write me/send me your wedding invitations, please do. 

Hermana Squire with Mishy Mishy.

Mishy Mishy after he showed back up at our apartment.