Deck The Halls!

December 15, 2014

Hola Hola Hola!!!

Okay, so last week was a good week. We worked a full!! It was the last week to find people that will be able to get baptized the month so that we can reach our mission goal of the year. Friday morning, we had a testimony meeting with our zone where we shared the baptisms and miracles we have seen in the mission. It was such an inspiring meeting! It’s amazing to see how much the hand of the Lord is in the work! It truly is His work! 

Yesterday, Carlos went to church and so did Jonny. I was teaching Jonny with Hermana Cipriano when we first got here, but due to some things of his past, he wasn’t able to get baptized until December. Today he has his special baptismal interview and 3:00, in the middle of P-Day, and I’m just hoping and praying for the absolute best. If he passes it he’ll be able to be baptized this Sunday. I’m praying for miracles!!!!! He really is so so great. All he wants is a new start and to change is life. Its crazy the love I develop for these investigators. Without a doubt it’s a small part of the love of God that I feel for them. I think that’s one of my favorite parts of the mission. It’s being able to meet someone, and already feel such a great love for them. It is in those moments, that I can feel the Lord work through me. Just one of the many reasons that we need to be worthy so that the Lord can work through us. It’s an incredible experience. 

Last Monday, La Familia Gutierrez invited us over to help decorate the tree and their apartment. Here in Argentina, December 8th is a holiday and it’s the day where si o si everyone decorates their houses and trees. You don’t do it before or after, ON December 8th. That being said, there still isn’t as much Christmas Spirit as I wish there would be. Oh well. The Family Home Evening we had with them last Monday was super fun! :)

Yesterday was the Primary Program! And guess what?? I was the pianist! It was so much fun jaja! They gave me a little homemade yellow headband so that I would match all the little primary girls in the program. I had a lot of fun going to the practices and then accompanying them. They are so cute. And now I know quite a few primary songs in Castellano!! :) 

Hey!! I totally forgot to tell y’all, but a couple weeks ago I ate an OTTER EMPANADA!! Que loco, no??? It was not as bad as I thought it would be. The taste was like a mix of meat and fish. It was super weird. Even though it wasn’t too bad, it’s not something that I would request more of. So yeah, I’m enjoying trying new stuff. There’s a family in our apartment building that always gives us new things to try. It’s pretty funny. :)

So basically that’s it for this week. Carlos and Jonny are going to be baptized this Sunday, so PLEASE keep them in your prayers so that this miracle can come to pass!! Sería de 10!! :) Well, I love you all and I hope you are enjoying your White Christmas! Oh how I wish I could have a White Christmas jaja! Remember, when we love the way the Savior does, miracles happen. And of course, Stay Anxiously Engaged!! :)

xoxo,

Hermana Van 

El es la Dadiva----He is the Gift!

December 8, 2014

Hola mis queridos!!

Well, I’m just going to start of with one of my favorite things about this last week. (Many of you have already told me that I need to go and watch it, so I’m glad most of you have seen it) Yep, that’s right, its the new video the Church has launched called Él es la Dádiva! Or, for you English speakers, jaja, He is the Gift. :) Oh how I LOVE this video!!!! It is absolutely beautiful! I just cry when I see it. It’s a huge program the Church is doing. We have been given cards to pass out to the people to give out each day to the members and other people we find. It’s so we can share this Gift we have been given with others. The Church is really emphasizing finding through the members and through this program. So, for that, PLEASE help your missionaries out. The MEMBERS´ duty is to FIND, and the MISSIONARIES´ duty is to TEACH them and bring them to BAPTISM. We need to remember in this Christmas time the GIFT we have been given and we need to SHARE that GIFT with EVERYONE! #COMPARTELADADIVA! I know that as you share the gospel you will come to know a joy that you never before have experienced. You will be blessed more than you could ever imagine and you will become more and more excited to share what you know is the truth. Your desire to share will increase and your testimony will become more firmly built on the rock of our Redeemer. 

This last week was pretty good. We had an awesome miracle happen. Last Monday we had just left the apartment to go to the internet place where we write when we ran into an investigator we had taught last transfer. He was a reference from a member, but when we had taught him the restoration and invited him to church he told us he worked on Sundays and there was no way he’d be able to go. He walks dogs for a living because he had a couple accidents and now is right hand and right leg doesn’t work very well. So after that first lesson we stopped going, and we continued looking for others. So when we ran into him last Monday he asked us why we hadn’t visited him in a while. We apologized and said we would stop by. So Thursday morning during weekly planning we were thinking about people we could invited the stake conference we had last weekend. We decided to call Carlos and invite him. He once again told us that he couldn’t go Sunday, but that we should stop by Saturday. We told him that we couldn’t go Saturday because we had Conference. He got super excited and said he wanted to go. So he went to Stake Conference Saturday night and he absolutely loved it. At the end, before we could say anything he was like "Well, I gotta go, but I’ll see you guys tomorrow. It starts at 10:00am in the chapel right?" So we were stoked! When we got to church at 9:30 the next morning he was already there sitting down waiting for it to start! He’s so awesome! We put a baptismal date for the 21^st  of December! I’m so stoked!! He just so happens to do his dog walking before 9 and after 12 Sunday so he can now go to church! I don’t know when that changed, but hey I’m stoked! Jaja! :)

This last week we had divisions. I was with Hermana Zendejas (she’s from Nebraska) and it was the funnest day ever. I seriously love her so so much. She’s going home this transfer, so I’m going to miss her a whole lot. In the morning after our studies I was like "Ya know, sometimes I just have the greatest urge to cut my hair, but I don’t want to because I hear horror stories about people cutting their hair here." And she was like "I can give ya a trim. Someone in the mission taught me a really easy way to do it." And I was like, "Okay, sounds good to me, let’s do it." So yeah, she cut my hair. It’s pretty much the same length. There’s a little more to the story, but that’s the gist of it. It was pretty much hilarious. So it looks like I should be good for the rest of the mission with my hair jaja. 

Speaking of the rest of my mission, this week I hit my half way mark in the mission. I’m kind of freaking out. The other day I was thinking about how in one month I’ll have 9 months, single digits, and I just about started crying because it was such a sad thought to me. I love the mission. I can’t believe my time in Argentina is already half over. It was literally gone by so quickly. What a privilege it is to be a servant of the Lord here in Argentina. I really do have to make every moment count!

Well, I think I’ve rambled enough for this email. I hope you are all enjoying the snow! I love the snow for Christmas, so it’s been a rough switch having it be in like the 90s with horrible humidity. Oh well, such is life in Argentina jaja. Love you and pray for you everyday!! Have fun at all the Christmas parties!! Remember, when we love the way the Savior does, miracles happen! And of course, Stay Anxiously Engaged!! :)

xoxo,

Hermana Van 

Just a Normal Week Here in Argentina!

Hola!!

Well, Daniela got confirmed yesterday so that´s super great!! :) Saturday night it rained soooooo much and we didn't have coats or umbrellas because it came out of know where. So we sat there thinking who the heck would receive us right now with all the rain...um no one. So we ended up calling Daniela and we went to her house and taught her for the second time that day since we had already visited her in the morning jaja. We were desperate. 

I hope y´all had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving! :) Or en Castellano... Día de Accion de Gracias. :) Basically spending Thanksgiving in another country is just no fun at all. We had a mix up with our lunch so we ended up going to a restaurant that a member owns because he gives us free lunch. It was quite a bummer. Eating "Thanksgiving Dinner" in a restaurant But hey what can ya do when you´re in a different country for an American holiday? Jaja.

I´ve been kinda sick this last week. So that´s been a smidge rough, but hey what can ya do? I had a bit of a fever for a few days, and my throat and head have been hurting a lot. Yesterday after church we had to stay for some meetings and I felt like I was going to faint because my head was turning so much. And then I felt like I was going to faint again during lunch so I ended up going back to the apartment around 6:30 since my head was hurting me all day. After resting a lot I´m quite better so that´s good. :) 

Well, there´s not much going on here, just the usual. The missionary life is just truckin´ along just fine. I wish I had more to tell y´all, but if I keep writing I would just be rambling soo...I should probably get going. I love you all so much and pray for you all the time! Thanks for all you do! Remember, when we love the way the Savior does, miracles happen! And of course, Stay Anxiously Engaged!! :)

xoxo,

Hermana Van