Lessons From Fabian

It has been a wonderful week in Padua, with a few highlights in between that I want to tell you about.  This Sunday is the baptism of little Fabian, and he is soooo excited, it's the cutest thing ever!  We pass by about every other day to teach him more, and he and his little sis Valentina now wait at the window for us to walk up to gate, and a clamor of shouts and squeals sound from inside the house.  The other day we taught the Restoration and watched the movie of the First Vision.  I watch that movie all the time, but there are certain times when it just hits me how amazing and real it is.  This was one of those times, and as the movie ended, there was a tangible spirit in the room.  Even the little 2 year old twins were silent.  I looked at Fabian and asked him, "How do you feel right now?" He paused and looked up the ceiling as he always does before he answers a question, and then said very slowly, "I feel . . . I feel the way I think I'll feel when I go to heaven." It was one of those incredibly beautiful moments that make the mission what it is.  

Good Things Ahead

I gave you a litte update on Andres and Clotilde.  We have a lesson with Andres tomorrow, it's been a while since he was on vacation.  But I'm excited to put into practice all these things I've learned and have been sharing with you about being bold and letting people know what's up.  We'll see how it goes!  I didn't let you know yesterday about a little boy that we just started teaching whose parents are members and are just starting to come back to church after years of inactivity.  They are the most adorable little Peruana famliy, and I'm so excited to teach little kids again!  Time to pull out the games and plan of salvation map again!  Actually, I just recently used the plan of salvation map with Andres and Gabi after telling them that they were getting way too deep and way too off track and needed to learn the basics that our little four year olds learn in primary.  I told them to stop talking, look at the pictures, and pay attention to their feelings. And for the first time since teaching them, they sat and really listened as we talked, and the spirit rushed into the room. Amazing how everything comes into focus when we go back to the basics. The beautiful, simple basics.

Anways, I'm happy and loving life here in Padua.  President just implemented some new goals for the mission and for each companionship to help us work better with the members, and I have gained a huge testimony of following his counsel, yet again!  In zone conference, he gave us a training on how to work with the members, and I have to admit, I sat back and was a little bit like, "yeah, yeah we've been told this a million times." But then when I went out and actually DID what President counseled us, following his directions exactly in our visits with the members, I saw miracles happen!  The members are AMAZING here in Padua, and it's as though they caught this new vision and excitement for missionary work this week. They have been giving us references, and I'm so excited to start teaching the friends and family of the the members.

The brand new little apartment next to ours is still empty and sad, waiting for the promised hermanas. It is going to be absolute CRAZINESS when all of these little visa waiters get here.  Like I told you, the number of new missionaries will outweigh the experienced missionaries.  But it's going to be such an exciting time for the mission and sooo much fun! We're also really excited because Elder Cook is coming to speak to all of the missionaries in Buenos Aires.  Good things ahead, in Buenos Aires and in Highland, Utah.  :)

Amazing Week in Padua

It's a beautiful afternoon here in Padua.  One of those days where everything just goes right, when you have a spring in your step, when everyone on the busy streets is happily licking away at ice cream cones, when the Spanish just rolls off your tongue without any stuttering. :) Those are always great days.  

We just got done with a zone activity where we watched 17 Miracles and ate empandas. Wow, that movie sure is a tear jerker, I'm still trying to get back into the real world as I write this email.  So amazing what those faithful saints did just to follow the will of the Lord, and it's so incredibly inspiring to see how the Lord blessed them for their faith.  It made sassy Argentines and sore backs seem like nothin.  I know that with faith in the Lord we can do all things and see miraculous things in our lives and in the lives of others!

Speaking of miraculous things, we have had a pretty amazing week.  It's been tough in some ways seeing as it's Hermana Johnson's last week in the mission, which is a crazy roller coaster emotional experience for any missionary.  Lots of goodbyes, lots of tears, lots walks down the memory lanes of the mission with her. :)  She is such an amazing companion and I'm gonna miss her a ton.  We've had some tough experiences but even more wonderful experiences in our one little transfer together, and when two people experience such highs and such lows together, they're bound to be friends for life. :)  It's the beautiful thing about companions.         

This week, we had a miracle with a wonderful lady named Irma. We stopped by the house of a lady who was a street contact, and she told us that she didn't have time to listen to us and that she wasn't really interested, but that her mom, Irma, was going through a really hard time because the grandma (Irma's mom) had just passed away, and the daughter thought that it would be really good if we could go visit her.  She gave us Irma's address and we went on our way.  As we turned the corner, a little old lady walked past us and we said hi to her like we do to everyone.  She slowed down and looked at us, we slowed down and looked at her, and it was one of those freaky moments where our intuition (aka the Holy Ghost) knows better than we do.  "Excuse me," said Hna. Johnson. "Is your name Irma?"  Talk about creepy! Haha jk, it was actually a really cool experience, and as we explained who we were, Irma began to tell us her experience, and she broke down and cried right there on the street corner.  We set up an appointment to go talk with her a few days later.  When we went, we taught about repentance and the gift of Jesus Christ's Atonement (Irma's anguish over her mom isn't that she won't see her again.  It's that she believes she didn't care for her the way she should have while she was in her last years, and she has feelings of overwhelming guilt.) It was so wonderful to be able to testify to her about the peace and relief from guilt that the Atonement of Christ brings to our hearts.  Irma came to church on Sunday, and is now preparing for baptism in May!

The other Padua folk are still doing great.  Well, Gabriel isn't progressing very much, but we are still teaching Andres in all his intellectual confusing-ness, Clotilde with her slow but steady race towards the finish line, and Matias has been crazy with basketball tournaments, so we haven't been able to teach him this week.  

Hna. Johnson and I have talked about how this transfer has been a little bit of the refiners fire for us, mostly because we feel that we are constantly doing our best to learn and improve, contstantly trying to trust in the Lord and do this work with all our hearts, and helping our investigators progress towards baptism is proving to be a real challenge!  But I know He has great things in store for these people and for me, and I have learned some lessons this transfer that have really changed me.  I would say the greatest lesson has been that of humility. :) 

This week I have also learned alot about the power that Jesus Christ has to turn our weaknesses into strengths.  One of my greatest weaknesses on the mission I would say has been a lack of boldness in my teaching.  As we help these wonderful people begin the process of repentance, we are expected to be devastated when they don't complete with commitments and call them to repentance.  But too often I sit down at the table, ask the question, "So were you able to read in the Book of Mormon?" receive a negative, and tend to say something like, "It's okay, buddy! Just try harder next time!" Okay it's not quite like that, but I'm definitely trying to become a bolder, more loving teacher, who corrects my investigators and calls them to action because I love them. 

As I've worked on it this week, I've seen that investigators react in the opposite way that I feared they would react.  Instead of getting mad and telling us to never come back, they are eager to do better and do these small simple things that are going go bring them so much happiness.  

Mom asked about a typical P Day, so here it is. :)  Wake up, clean the apartment, make our usual banana pancake breakfast while the other showers, do our usual morning studies, read letters and open packages!, head out into the busy morning (wearing our proselyting clothes and name tags just like any other day), typically go to the cyber to email, go to the little market to buy milk and flour and jam (the new staples of my pancake diet), go to different little shops to get things done (the watch shop to fix my watch, the meat shop to buy milanesa to make for lunch, the fruit and veggie shop, the office supplies shop). I think I told you in one of my very first emails that my favorite thing about Argentina is all it's little shops! Then we usually head back home, I do more cleaning :), we write letters and so on.  Not terribly exciting to be honest!  

People of Padua

It has been another wonderful week here in beautiful Padua, and I've got alot of updates on all the wonderful/crazy/hilarious people that we are teaching right now.  We're still going strong here with beautiful warm weather and just dreading the moment when the freezing wet winds will come our way but hey, just like Mom always says, the church will still be true. :)  And we'll just push through the rainy months and keep working with all our might to find Heavenly Father's children here in Padua who desperately need the gospel. 

So update number one, Andres.  He is soooo cool and so going to get baptized. :)  Okay, so he's got a while to go, but honestly this guy is the best.  I think I told you last time about all his credentials as a Bible scholar and what not.  So we had a lesson about prophets and the apostasy, and it was really hard for him to take it all in. For him, to hear someone tell him that the authority of God was taken from the earth and that the men who tutored him all his life don't possess that authority kind of rubs the wrong way.  Plus, he has this idea that the church is just another U.S. institution sticking it's nose in other countries' business where they're not really needed or wanted.  

And yet, through all these doubts and theories of his, he is miraculously progressing!  Two young girls that are WAY less educated than him sit across from him and say in very simple Spanish yet VERY directly, "Andres, we know these things are true.  Tonight, will you read this chapter of the Book of Mormon, and pray to ask God if it's true?"  He sits there for a moment, thinking, and then just says, "Si" with a smile that says "Man, how did they do that? Why did I just agree to that?" But he's keeping his committments, reading and praying, and that's the important thing, because the minute that we start to ACT for ourselves is the minute that we start receiving answers and developing our own testimony.  I have a feeling it's going to be a long journey with Andres, but I am so excited to see how Heavenly Father answers his prayers.

Clotilde. . .  she is so wonderful, and yes Mom, you guys would be BEST friends! You are so similar in a lot of little ways.  One being your meticulously clean homes that are always warm and smell nice like flowers or warm spices. That's a tad bit unusual for Argentines. :) Clotilde is sooo ridiculously close to baptism, it's not even funny.  Teaching her, I've learned alot about patience and ALOT about "teaching people, not lessons," a principle we learn in the MTC.  My black and white approach to life just doesn't work in teaching Clotilde, and as we've changed our approach and thought about whatClotilde needs instead of how we want to teach, we've seen miracles. We go piece by piece, answering each of her doubts with love and testimony, and I've seen her heart open even more and the lights go on. Keep praying for Clotilde. :)

The other day we were walking along in the "cheto" part of town (cheto is the Argetine word for ritsy) when a man pulled over and yelled from his car in English,  "Hey! Are you guys Mormon?! Are you American?!" We smiled and called back in the affirmative, and he pulled over to a side street to jump out of the car and shake our hands. He had the weirdest New York/Latin accent, and we learned that he spent the first 18 years of his life in Florida with his Argentine parents, but lives here now. And he is obsessed with the U.S. and the beach.  His name is Gabriel (when he's in Argentina. His "American name" is Joseph) and he is SUCH a character! Long story short, we've started teaching him, he came to church on Sunday and really liked, so we're going to keep teaching. It's kind of like teaching a 9 year old boy, but we'll see what happens!

The future elders are awesome.  Well, we've actually only been able to teach one of them alot, his name is Matias.  He's 17 years old, and he's just an adorable, shy litte basketball jock who wants to learn more about Jesus.  We teach him outside because his parents are never home, but we met the mom and she's super nice, so we're going to try teaching her as well.  Neither of his parents are very religious, but Mati started going to a little Evangelical church by himself when he was about nine. He's quiet and shy, exactly the way I imagine Cam being around two sister missionaries, :) but he lights up when we talk about simple principles like prayer and being able to talk with Heavenly Father.  He's super busy with basketball, so our next goal is helping him get to church. 

Happy Autumn Days

It has been a glorious week here in Padua with warm, autumn days, crunchy leaves and soooo many incredible people that we have taught and met.  

Clotilde continues to progress and continues to blow me away with her understanding and her amazing questions.  She came to church yesterday, sat down in Gospel Principles, and took careful notes in her manual (which, may I remind you, she's read all the way through).  After the class, which was about priesthood authority, she went up to the teacher and began asking him question after question.  But the thing I love about Clotilde is that she never tries to argue or "bash."  She just wants to understand. She is so, so close to baptism.  Just waiting for that confirmation to tip the scale between confirmations and doubts. We are praying in every moment that she will receive "the answer" and that we as her missionaries will know what to teach and what to do.  

Solange and Silvia are sadly not progressing very well.  We just passed too many days without being able to have contanct with them, and I think sneaky little Satan takes that time to implant little lies like, "I don't have enough time for this."  I still love them so much, and we haven't given up completely, but it's going to take some time to get back in their home and reinfuse the spirit into their lives.  

This week, we met the coolest guy named Andres.  Mixture between Cam and Zach Meinzer, if you can try to imagine that. Mostly just because he's trendy, LOVES photography, and LOVES triathalons! We met him when we were down in some obscure corner of our area where we never go, but we went to contact a referral that ended up being a fake address. So we decided to knock a few doors, and the first door we knocked on was Andres.  He's kind of a Peter Pan.  Middle-aged, single man that has this awesome job doing modern architecture and pursuing all the hobbies in the world, but still hasn't felt the fulfilling joy that families and the gospel bring.  He served a mission for his Evangelist church as a kid and knows the Bible frontwards and backwards, but there's something about him that's just looking for "more." To be honest, we've only taught him once, so I might be getting you all excited for nothing. But I have a good feeling about it so we'll see!

We've seem to hit a new trend of teaching young men, or future Elders, as we like to say.  I love teaching youth because they're just so frank and open, just like young Joseph Smith.  I'll get you the update on them next time.

I am loving being here in Padua, and loving more than ever being a missionary.  It's funny how every transfer brings challenges that are SO different from the last, but every challenge is like it's custom-prepared to help me change my weaknesses to strengths. Heavenly Father is so involved in this work and is preparing wonderful things for very special people in Padua.  I love this gospel with all my heart, and I know that it is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! 

Patience and Answered Prayers

How is everyone in springy Utah??  It sounds like you're all doing great.  Conference was definitely an amazing time to recharge and get pumped to continue in the Lord's work!  Although I have to admit that I was downright exhausted last night after two solid days of charging around helping our investigators get to conference and then thinking during all the talks, "What is Jose thinking/feeling right now?" or "Is Clotilde going to receive the answer that she's been praying for for months?" It puts a different spin on General Conference when you're in the shoes of your investigators, listening to the words of a living day prophet for the first time in your life. 


As I told President in my letter this morning, this week has without a doubt been one of the most challenging and one of the most fulfilling weeks of my mission! Isn't it funny how those two often go together? I came into Padua just in time to witness a wonderful baptism, but then as often is the case in missionary work, it was like, "Soooo, now what?" We had pretty much zero progressing investigators (meaning that they're working towards baptism) and after leaving an abundance of investigators and support in San Justo, I felt a little overwhelmed starting from ground zero.  But we got to work. And worked . . . and worked . . . and worked.  We went to visit old investigators that were in the area book, visited members, talked to absolutely everyone in the streets, in colectivos, in the stores, and tried to stay worthy and open to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost.  And boy, did Heavenly Father come through.  I know that Heavenly Father hears our prayers and always, always answers, even though we sometimes have to wait. The waiting part is what I learned about this week.  I had to pass through some rough moments, kneeling by my bed at night crying because I was just so tired and didn't know if He was even listening, but I never should have doubed that He was there.He loves us so very much. It's just that sometimes has to let us press through the chill of adversity so that we can really rejoice in the warmth of the blessings. 

He loves us so very much. It's just that sometimes has to let us press through the chill of adversity so that we can really rejoice in the warmth of the blessings.One of our coolest experiences came on Sunday, after a week of craziness. On Sunday morning, our prayers were answered and Heavenly Father rewarded us for our patience. One of the many appointments that we had made during the week actually came through, and not only that, but it was a lesson with a mom and a daughter who's husband had died just one month ago. We were able to share the hope and light of the gospel with them, invite them to be baptized, and commit them to coming to hear the words of the prophet that afternoon. When I called the daughter in the afternoon to confirm the plans, she answered the phone with an energy that was completely opposite to the timid, depressive girl we had talked to in the morning. She said, "Hermana! I don't know what's going on, but I feel so good! I could eat a real meal for the first time in a month, and I had energy to clean the house." After a month of searching in psychologists' offices and persciptions for the cure that she so needed, the gospel of Jesus Christ brought her the remedy that her broken spirit really needed. They came to conference, loved it, and are  preparing for baptism.

Goodbyes and Hellos

Padua is a lot more countryish than San Justo (definitely doesn't qualify as "campo" by any means, but alot more dirt roads and grassy areas than in San Justo.) And my favorite part is the ginormous, beautiful parks where all the little boys come to play soccer and all the families know each other (and the missionaries.) I discovered that having a WalMart was a rare blessing that exists in only one area in the whole mission, so that'll be a change as well, but I'll survive. :)  The ward is really great.  A lot more experienced and "aged" than dear little San Justo who was always struggling to catch the signal from Salt Lake and follow the manual.  That being said, the ward here doesn't "need" the missionaries quite as much as San Justo needs us, and we all like to be needed, so that was kind of a sad little change.  San Justo was my second family, but just like Mom said, I know that I will come to love these people here just as much.  On the bright side,  the wonderful hermanas here are just as faithful about giving the missionaries lunch. :)

I  was blessed to come into the area just as they had two baptisms!  Carlos, a young, cheeky guy who the hermanas found on the street and Estella, a 50 year-old mom gone fashion diva both got baptized on Saturday and it was beautiful to see how Heavenly Father is working and bringing this beautiful gospel to His children in ALL parts of His vineyard. I know he has many precious souls prepared in the beautiful streets of Padua for Hermana Johnson and I to teach.

Oh my goodness! I forgot to tell you about Hermana Johnson!  Wow, she is soooo wonderful.  Tiny, blonde little mouse who told me that she was super shy for a good part of her mission but has come such a long way and is a little firecracker now.  This is her last transfer in the mission, but it is going to be one to remember! To describe her I would say: humble and kind, amazing cook (so much for learning to cook on the mission.  All my companions do it for me!), and she loves Anne of Green Gables.  Heavenly Father puts kindred spirits together on the mission too. 

So that's the new area, full of exciting new possibilities and tons to learn I'm sure.  

I had the best "farewell" from San Justo that any missionary has ever experienced, without doubt.  I already knew that I would be leaving San Justo because Pres told me in my interview.  And I wanted to keep it quiet, but my blessed Hermana Bird told everyone we talked to, so I shed a lot of tears, shook alot of hands, and gave alot of besos on Sunday after the baptism.  My little heart ached all Sunday, but at least I felt that I had been able to say goodbye to alot of my dear ones.  But then Hermano Efrain kept insisting and insisting that we have a lesson with Marco on Tuesday night before I left on Wednesday morning.  We told him that we had to keep mission rules and couldn't just have a party and he kept saying, "yeah yeah yeah, I understand. Let's just have one last lesson like we always had."  So Tuesday night, we went to the chapel for our usual lessons with Marco.  We waited outside with Efrain, and then Marco walked in the gate with a ton of bags and we were like, "what's going on?"  Efrain told us to follow him, and we went inside to the Relief Society room where members and investigators were all waiting to surprise us!  The bishopric was setting up mounds of food, and everyone was coming up to give me besos and gifts!  I was so overwhelmed, so embarrassed, but at the same time ridiculously happy.  Hermano Efrain had organized the whole thing on Facebook, and my dear familia Velazquez was even there, with all of my favorite hermanas and members!  It was a little over the top, with speeches by Marco and Diego, Bishop and Hermano Cordero, but it was all very sweet and something that my little heart very much appreciated.  I love those people with all my heart and will never forget them!  Being a missionary is the greatest thing in the world.

His Work Moves Forward

Brisa gets baptized this Saturday.  We are working closely with the members to do FHE with families in the ward and she is SOO excited.  I will send pictures for sure!

I think I mentioned an awesome family of 8 that we found outside their house drinking in the sun and their matte the other week. They've gone on vacation until February, but we have such a good feeling about them and I pray for them all the time, that they will be able to receive the gospel and find the strength and faith to move forward in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Their name is the Rodriquez family.  I'll let you know what happens with them.  

And the same faithful trek moves onward with Rosi, Ruben, and another young girl named Candela who is so wonderful. Her mom is a less active member who hasn't been to church since she was 16, but she totally supports Candela taking the lessons and learning more, and Candela comes to church every Sunday (which is a huge deal for little Argentine girls who love to sleep even more than their parents) and she loves it! Heavenly Father is leading us to wonderful people every day, and every day I find myself improving with the language, with my work ethic, with my ability to teach clearly, and with my faith.  It is such an awesome experience being here with Hna. Bird because I really feel myself stretching and growing, and I feel Heavenly Father's help and support through it all.  

Gotta run, but I will send more pictures and updates next week!  Love you all so much!

Lessons From Roberto

It has been an INCREDIBLE week here in San Justo, one of those weeks where you just keep thinking, "What did we do to receive so many blessings? Do we really deserve this?"  I really feel the reality of what it says in Jacob 5 where "Lord of the vineyard went to work with His laborers." I have felt Him working alongside us this week, guiding us to the the right street at the right time to find that awesome family, strengthening us when we are tempted to get discouraged, and showering us with his spirit. 

This transfer has already been a totally different experience for me in a lot of ways, the main one being that I'm no longer the baby girl!  I feel the responsibility of directing the area, making many of the decisions, and making sure that we're in the right place at the right moment and that we take good care of our investigators.  As we were walking along yesterday afternoon, I jokingly turned to Hna. Bird and said, "Okay senior comp, it's your turn to make the decision." and she said, "No way, I'm loving being the junior companion!"  But seriously, our companionship is so great because there literally is none of that, we are just the greatest TEAM working together to do Heavenly Father's work.

So here's some of the great things that have been going on this week:

Hna. Bird really is the greatest.  The first fews days were kind of quiet and "official" as they always are when you get with your new companion.  But we became great friends super quick and are always laughing about something.  She reminds me ALOT of Hayley (my dearest roomie) with her kind of "serious" outward appearance, who's actually one of the funniest people ever underneath the intimidating face.  It's so interesting to me how two companions can be so different (she and Hna. Castillo are SO different in so many ways) and yet both can be so amazing and  so loveable.  The goal is for us to stay 3 more transfers in San Justo together until Hna. Bird goes home (I don't think it's going to fly with President because I'm getting kind of old in this area). But seriously, we both have this wonderful, exciting feeling within that the two of us were meant to do incredible things here in San Justo together.  

And serioulsy, Heavnly Father has great things in store for us.  This weekend we have the baptism of little 8 year old Brisa, the daughter of Stella, a recent convert from August.  Stella is kind of like another 8 year old in a 35 year olds body, and she has really struggled to stay active, but we absolutely adore them and they are two of my dearest friends. Preparing Brisa for her baptism has been an incredible experience for Stella and it's really helped her get active in the church again.  And Brisa is just the cutest thing!  She always has to help her mom say the closing prayer at the end of our lessons, it's funny how kids just grasp onto gospel principles so much faster than the adults sometimes.  "Of course we should talk to Heavenly Father! It's not hard mom!"

We're also still really working with Rosi, Jesus' little sister.  She is just SO ready, and she knows the church is true. I think she just got scared off by the stake youth activity that she went to.  So pray for Ros and for us that we will be able to teach with the Spirit to touch her heart.  We're also working with Ruben, the guy that's in Berta's baptism pic.  He is THEE greatest, and the most loveable little Argentine ever, and he too knows that the church is true.  But Ruben has intense fear of this little thing we call commitment. And yes, Heavenly Father is a God of commitments and the Church of Jesus Christ is a church of commitment.  So we're taking baby steps with him kind of like they do on "What about Bob." Seriously, he kind of reminds me of Bob!

Super cool experience.  On Saturday, we went to the huge main park in San Justo where people are just swarming everywhere, listening to the bands, shopping in the little craft fairs because we wanted to invite alot of people to church.  Hna. Bird went down one side of the sidewalk, handing out cards, and I went down the other, but I had this little problem in that I kept getting stopped by little grandpas who would sit me down and want to tell me their whole life story.  And you know me, I could sit in a park listening to Argentine grandpas all day, so I was definitely behind on doing my part of the "contacts."  Side note about contacts: we invite 100s of people to church every week and I've never know any one to actully come. But Sunday morning, we were sitting in gospel principles with our little class full of investigators, and the Bishop knocked on the window. We went out, and he said "Theirs a man here looking for you guys." We went out to the lobby and there was sweet little Roberto, one of the grandpas I had been talking with the day before!  He was covered in sweat from walking 45 blocks in the blazing 10:30 sun, but it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. He came to all the classes and Sacrament, and when I asked him how he had liked it at the end, his eyes filled with tears and he just said, "Gracias, gracias.  Te agradezco." Obviously little Roberto was really needing the light and peace that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings, and he found it in the bright little San Justo chapel. 

A Fresh, New Start

New Years was absolutely wonderful, Hna. Castillo and I went to spend the night with the Hermanas in Ramos Mejia, and a Peruvian hermano in their ward had prepared the HUGEST meal I've ever seen for us to eat in our apartment.  We had a great time together, and then it was kind of magical to wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of low thunder starting up and then growing to a roar as the fireworks went off in every direction, echoing among the sky scraper type buildings in Ramos Mejia.  These people were doing fireworks in tiny narrow streets between thirty story buildings! Super crazy, but super cool to watch. New Years day was absolutely dead in San Justo, but we went to lunch with the bishop and all of his extended family to have some DELICIOUS asado, empanadas, and the Argentine works.

Then the dreaded Tuesday night came, we got the call that said Hna. Castillo would be leaving, bravely handled it for about three and a half minutes, and then burst into tears.  But Wednesday we got up ready to take on the new adventures.  Our investigator friend Angel, drove us in his taxi to the offices, we had the amazing transfer meeting which is always bursting with energy and nervousness, and I got my new companion, Hna. Bird!  She has a lot more time than me on the mission, but we basically are sisters (in appearance as you noted Mom) and in alot of other things.  She is super fun and nice, I'm really excited for this transfer.  She's from Thousand Oaks, CA. It's a little bit wierd being with a North American companion, and I refuse to speak English with her when we're walking along because I'm so scared of losing my Castillano!

Hna. Castillo was called to be one of the traveling sisters, and then it just so happend that their first assigned area was San Justo!  Super wierd to be there with her AND our new companions, and kind of frustrating when we were planning for the following day, and she had to act like she knew absolutely nothing about San Justo, so I was left to plan for two days and for different companionships all on my own as the three of them watched me struggle a little. But enough of complaining, it was one of the best experiences ever as I learned from one of the greatest missionaries I've ever known, Hna. Waite. I'm beyond excited to apply some of the things that she has taught me, and I'm filled with this energy and desire to bring Heavenly Father's children to Him.  Hna. Bird has been in companionships where she got really accustomed to not having very much success, and it will be a great learning experience helping her realize that there is success and there are precious souls ready to receive the gospel in EVERY area.  

We found a TON of wonderful people to teach this past week.  The other day we were walking along and saw the most adorable little family all spiffied up waiting for the colectivo to come to go out for a day at the park.  We stopped and talked to them, and as I testified to them that our message would bless their family, the little mom kind of teared up.  We set up an appointment and went to visit them yesterday.  And WOW, are they prepared.  The dad, Jonny loves God but has stopped going to church after trying with many different Evangelical churches because he couldn't seem to find a church that was his idea of what the church of Jesus Christ should be.  Both of them are really excited about their new little family, (they have one little one year old named Juaquin), and are planning to get married really soon.  The mom, Jorgelina, is so sweet and kind, and they just listened to our message with shining eyes.  As you can imagine, we came away from the lesson walking on air, and I know that Heavenly Father prepared them and led us to them at just that moment. We never would have found them knocking on doors because they live on the third floor of an apartment complex.  Heavenly Father truly is guiding this incredible work.  

Jesus is doing amazing and is getting ready to start his mission papers! Woohoo!! And Mom, you also asked about what we do in church.  Funny enough, we went to help in the primary for the first time yesterday, and it was the funniest times.  We were in charge of Sharing Time, and when I got up to talk about "I am a Child of God" I asked 7 year old Facundo, "So Facu, do you think us who are here right now are the only ones who are children of God? Are your friends children of God?" And he shrugged his shoulders and said in his adorable Argentine accent, "I'm pretty sure they are. But I don't know, I'll have to ask them." We all chuckled, but I was touched by the image of Facu asking his friends if they are children of God and then sharing with them the beautiful truth that YES, they are most definitely children of God.  THAT is why I'm here, to help people know that and feel of His love.  And I love it so much!

I love you all, and hope you have an amazing week as you start this fresh new year full of amazing blessings and opportunities that Heavenly Father has in store for us!