Dec.21

Can you believe christmas is in a couple of days??? i cant!!! oh man time flows by so fast here and the heat is on! summer will be official the 22! oh i was dying the other day... but then the next day it poured like no other! there were tiny frogs all over the place... i guess they come out because of the humidity is so strong after it rains! and today we had our christmas activity with the whole mission! it was so much fun! we got to listen to the testimonies of the elders and hermanas leaving then we watched the christmas fireside in castillano.. then after that everyone had prepared a navidad skit! ours was about four elders who were not in the christmas mood so some of us came out at first and named off that they needed happiness, peace, and some other good stuff then the rest of the zone came out and ya it was pretty fun!
im so excited to talk to you all!! i cant wait! and yes i kept some of the presents to open on the day! so thank you very much! sorry this letter is so short but i dont have much time today to write to you! i love you all and have a wonderful christmas! what a great time to be serving the lord with the most greatest gift we have! the restored gospel! our heavenly father truly radiates his love through every little thing we have. what a wonderful life we have with a family strong in the gospel! and sealed for all eternity.. i love you all and ill talk to you in a couple of days! Chaosito!!!!

Tenga un Buen Semana!!!

Hola familia! once again this week has been crazy! haha with the language the people!! everything! My birthday came and went here.. it was pretty fun! That day we didn’t really have that many lessons. No one was home but at the end of the night we went to visit a family that have two daughters who are interested in the church! The father had made dinner and cake for my birthday! It was so fun and nice of them! They made this thin meat called milonesa! which is just basically deepfried and then with potatoes and egg salad. Then the cake was chocolate!! oh my favorite!hhahaha. I forgot about that mom til you mentioned it in your last email! It was very fun to be with this family and so nice of them!
I had my first zone conference this Tuesday as well with the president and his wife! It was all day long and we had milonesa ... seriously we eat it at least 4 times a week.. haha. im not complaining! They talked about how we can improve in some areas and new goals for the mission. I really enjoyed it! Our baptism on Saturday was amazing! I love baptisms especially these three children who we´ve been working with from the beginning of our time here! The spirit was so strong every time one of them was immersed in water. Then they received the gift of the holy ghost on Sunday. An elder who had taught them once before us (one of my zone leaders) was the one to baptize them! I cut the hair of all three of them before!
Oh and every week we have like a newspaper type of thing for the missionaries of buenos aires west and every week they do a spotlight on one couple and their success so this week it was ours! I will forward it to you! its all in spanish... i wrote it first in english.. then tried to in castillano then hna roy corrected some of it as well!
Every Sunday we have a crazy busy day with meetings and making sure our investigators show up and all that good stuff. When the people say hi to each other they love to give kisses on the sides of the cheeks.. so you have to watch out for those old ladies who love to have their bright pink lipstick! I learned that though after many kisses on the cheek and one of the men from the bishopric asked if I had something on my cheek. haha
oh and I will be getting to call you either on the 24th or the 25th from our chapel!
Tomorrow I have an interview with the president - exciting! The language is coming along slowly... I guess right now Im just learning to be patient with myself its not all going to come at once!
Oh and did I tell you we are hoping to have 2 other baptisms on the 26th of this month. The couple Estela and Walter!
and yes mom the skirt is perfect for here! nice and cool for the heat of the day! i have a great tan line from my watch already.. The other day I was telling Hermana Roy something and she was like that is a malo chiste meaning a bad joke and then she asked how to say bad joke in english. then today she called something else a bad joke but instead of joke she said yoke! haha... it made me think thats probably what I sound like to these people! haha.. Today I went on a short exchange with another hermana to the capital for some pictures and some information on being here. We got to catch up with the elders I had traveled with here! It was fun talking to them and hearing all their stories they already have from one week here! Ut made me feel much better they were having some of the same struggles I was with the language and the people. Cause it is hard. I didnt realize how it would be! But it was comforting to know I wasnt the only one struggling. It shouldnt be easy. Cause the most amazing blessings in our lives are the ones we have to work the hardest for! Hermana roy has so much patience for me! haha... sometimes she has to repeat a couple of times of what she says to me cause she has such a heavy accent.. its been fun! We laugh together about some little thing everyday. i love you all and be good!

Happy 22nd Birthday to Saren!!!

2 Weeks in Argentina

Hello my familia!!! so another week in argentine land with delicious food crazy people and a lot of rain! oh im loving every moment of it! so many stories this week! so we have been preparing three kids for baptism on hestons birthday with all the discussions... basically hna roy, from nicaragua, teaches the lessons.... or ill say something and she´ll translate it.. but its all good! im able to understand the people a little more! and the bishop (obispo) in our ward complemented on my testimony during sacrament that im sounding better! this sunday we had six investigators come to church!! how amazing is that... three of them were the children and then a family came as well that we´ve been teaching! it was amazing. oh and some inactive members as well that we´ve been visiting! i could have shouted for joy when i saw them show up! I truly just grow to love these people instantly! I love them all... even if they own 5 to 6 pets they keep in their homes and just have hard lives.
there is a couple walter and estela who are amazing people. Walter has some kind of sickness where his right arm and right leg dont work at all so Estela does everything. She works to take care of their kids cleans and takes care of her beloved husband. We taught them the plan of salvation last week and Estela broke down crying saying she tries her hardest in this life to do her best and how she is so overwhelmed. My heart just ached for this strong woman who does everything for her family. Walter started crying as well and we comforted them with some scriptures and our testimonies. We are preparing them for 26th of this month for baptism. We told them to pray about it! How amazing it is that the lord truly prepares these people to hear the gospel... a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
Hermana roy has been a riot getting to know! ... we have a pretty nice apartment with good beds and everything you need. We even have a balcony! we scarcely cook for ourselves! i actually cooked for the first time today some eggs! haha. We usually eat a little breakfast to tide us over til lunch and then we eat at a members house! We eat like three meals there and then when we´re done for the day we just have a little snack before bed. We walk everywhere we go! and sometimes take the bus (collectivo) and no i dont wash my own clothes we take them to a cleaning store and they clean them for us.. basically everything we need is right here! We live in castelar and are in the ituzaingo 4th ward.. we have some other elders in the 1st ward who are our district leaders and we meet with them every Tuesday! Tomorrow we´re meeting with some other zones and I'm supposed to bear my testimony... I'm a little bit nervous but who cares they were all at the point I'm at right now! My mission president is great! he´s so short and so is his wife but he´s so boisterous and full of power!
The other day i almost got bit by a dog! Nasty perros. They are all possessed by the devil. You wouldnt believe how many strays there are around here... especially on the outskirts of town! Saturdays and Sundays are the days that they blast their castillano music. it makes me want to dance.. haha.. but now im a missionary. Its discouraging at times with the language when I dont understand what is going on or how to express myself or even to help them! But I know through time it will come. I just need to open my mouth and put more effort into it! Know that I love you all and sounds like you are all doing great! I count my many blessings everday... all of you, the way we were raised, with goodly parents who want the best for us, in a clean loving environment, with food always on the table. haha we are so rich with things that are eternal and everlasting. remember what counts! our families. People come and go in this life but families are forever. They will love you always. This world is harsh and so are moments in it that we have. Thats why we have families to lean on them for support and comfort. I love you all! have a wonderful week!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Saren has arrived in Argentina!

So now my p days are on mondays here!!! exciting!!! and i have a new address but i dont know what it is... i´ll get it to you all next week. sorry! but oh my goodness this is sooooo crazy im here!!! i dont know if you got my letter yet but i have a companion hermana roy who is from niceragua? i dont know how to spell it.... she doesnt know that much english so we have our own spanglish to understand and translate for me... hahha i have to laugh at times cause this is so crazy. but over just the days im here im able to understand the jist of the conversations we have with others... sometimes i just think oh they´re going to break in to english (like the teachers at the mtc) haha but no they dont... its sometimes frustrating but it will come over time. i just have to be patient. this place is crazy and i didnt realize how much walking we would be doing.... im going to be working off pounds down here! and sweat it off too and yes i have sunscreen i´ll put it on! ... it has rained ever other day here... and when i say rain its more like a down pour! on sunday we couldnt even walk in the streets cause they were like rivers. the bus we were on was having a hard time driving through it! i love it.... we were walking down this road with all these small house barking dogs at every house the rain pouring and here we are in our missionary attire and umbrellas. i was thinking to myself this is so legit! haha... nothing compared to the movies!!! oh the food here is to die for!! they have flan a yummy desert, their icecream is delish.... mhmm. i just actually had some. and the people oh i love them all with my heart even if i dont know them or cant understand them 80 percent of the time.
our first lesson was on friday with a new convert named angelica. she lived in this little old house with her daughter and her granchildren. it was exciting! cause i am able to explain through my slow spanish(castillano they call it down here) my part and my testimony!
then on saturday we taught this awesome family about the plan of salvation. we started with a song i know my redeemer lives and it was amazing how strong the spirit i could feel at the beginning of the song! they had really good questions about what happens to those who dont have a chance to hear about the restoration because the father explained they were so lucky to have us there in his house explaining to them about the plan our heavenly father has for us. i also bore my testimony about how i would see my great grandma again. the father knew a little bit of english so he asked me if i truly believed this... and i said no i dont believe i know! i cant tell you how blessed i feel walking these streets and thinking here are these people needing this message i have for them! and they dont even know. my second day here, really the first we went out to preach, hermana roy was surprised i did so many contacts, meaning talking to people in the streets or on the collectivo (the bus). but really i would just smile and ask how they were doing and talk about the rain if it was raining that day! then hermana would say the rest mostly... hhaha. so ya its been funny. yesterday we taught these three children who want to be baptized!!! so we set a date for them on the 12th of december!! hestons birthday!! they´re names are leandro, andrea, and nazarena. they are around jake maisie and hestons age. oh and they´re house was a poor poor sight. i´ve never seen anyone in anything place like this. but they are great! we are teaching them tonight more about the importance of reading and praying im excited to go and teach them again! its amazing the love you just grow instantly.
oh my flight was great too! i didnt get any sleep cause i was talking with the elders who are in the same mission as i am. they were awesome taking care of me every second. haha.
the ward we are working with is great! i might be playing the piano next sunday for them cause they really dont have anyone to play in sacrament. there is about 50 to 60 members! oh and on saturday night we went to this dance performance they had for the stake. these ballet dancers! haha.. we had some investigators that came along with us too! their names were angelica and migaela. they are about maisie´s age... very cute girls!!
there is another hermana that serves in my same zone who does hair as well! her name is hermana scott and she is from new hampshire! she was telling me it took her like a month to get the language and everything they were saying so just keep praying for me. its coming along good i just need to be patient. we ate at a members house yesterday and they told me i was sounding good for it being my first week here! all the people whether members or investigators are really understandable and very nice about it!
there hasnt been any different animals here... but we did see tons and tons of little frogs after it rained on saturday! they were probably the size of a dime. good stuff! well it sounds like all of you are doing great i love you all and just remember to count your many many MANY blessings we have. i dont know if i am helping all these people with my broken down spanish or if this is really for me cause it has been an awakening that there is so much more to this life then what i imagined. i was just thinking that this morning when i was reading my scriptures. how all those great prophetic missionary scriptures come alive when you are actually in the work!i love it! i hope you are all doing great! have a great week and do your best to choose the right!i love you all so very much!

Hello my favorite family en el mundo!!!!!!!!!
so as you know i only have like three days left here!!! agggggggghhh!!! how exciting! im excited to get down there in the good old argentina! so the next time i email you it will be when i'm there!!! fun!
there's really not much to say about this week... it went super fast! we have been all lucky to get pumped from the teachers cause there's three of them that served in our missions! rosario, buenos aires south, and buenos aires west ( which is the BEST!) yep... so im excited. the teacher that went to my mission was talking about how humid it gets down there especially after it rains. he said he would wear his coat in the morning and then within a few seconds it would clear up and be way hot. i have two other elders that are going to be assigned to me for our flight down there. i guess we're the only three going to BAW! hopefully all the stuff you sent me will fit in my bags... haha.
oh and today we ate in the temple cafeteria... and it was divine.. i guess i didnt realize how bad the food is here sometimes... but its all good!
oh and thank shaun zimmerman for me! he sent such a great letter to me this week! it got me all excited to meet up with hermana lopez... hopefully! if i do see her i will definitley give her a major hug for him! and for how fun she is! and thank you for all your letters my crazy fam! i love you all so very much.. know that you are always in my prayers. i always am comforted knowing the lord is watching over each and everyone of you. you have all helped me get to this point in my life and have always encouraged me to do better. thank you. im so happy we are sealed for eternity! im so excited to bring such a glad tiding to those argentine people! we had a meeting awhile ago explaining that the people in argentina are italians who speak spanish, who dress like their english and act like their french! haha so it will be interesting!
ill give you my testimony in spanish kinda.. haha:
yo se que la iglesia de jesucristo es verdadero. yo se que el libro de mormon es la palabra de dios. yo se las familias pueden estar juntos para eternidad porque jesucristo murio por nosotros. dios nos ama. somos sus hijos. El quiere nosotros regresar otro vez. jesucristo he preparado un camino para nostros. pongamos sus mano y camino con tuyo. en el numbre de jesucristo amen.
there ya go!! know the church is true and to always have a testimony on your lips! as elder holland would say! love you all and ill talk to you on monday!!! yay!!!!!!