Queridos amigos y familia,
¡FELIZ AÑO! 2013 is already here! I can't believe it. Family, it was SO fun to be able to see and talk to all of you on Christmas. I feel so blessed to call you my family. You Vawdreys do incredible things! I'm glad to hear that things are going well and that you had a nice Christmas.
I too had a good Christmas. It was a little bit sad in the beginning, like I told you on Christmas, because we received Emergency Transfers. Hermana Gallegos and I were heartbroken that we were getting separated because we truly had become best friends. We were only together for 2 weeks, but they were some of my favorite 2 weeks of my mission. Emergency transfers don't happen that often, but there is always a reason. The mission president knows what he is doing because he is guided by the inspiration of the Lord. I don't know details of why there were emergency transfers, but it really doesn't matter. It feels right! My new companion's name is Hermana Andrea Rodriguez from URUGUAY! She joined the church along with her parents and her brother about 10 years ago. She loves missionary work, and served many mini missions before she actually left on her mission. She has a beautiful testimony and I am excited to serve with her.
Ooh! Good news, we moved this week! We now live in our area! You have no idea how much of a relief it is. Now we can actually work until 9pm, and we don't have to pay money to travel to and from our area each day. Our new place is really nice, and quite roomy! We're really excited about it. It's a big building that actually used to be a hotel. We live on the seventh floor, so we have a neat view of the city. The only draw back is that we have a clothes washer, but no place to hook it up to the water. haha We're hoping to get that fixed this week. But other than that we're excited about the change.
Bad news. I found a lice bug in my hair this week. It was dead...but still. Merry Christmas? Umm...no. Mom, stop worrying! I used the lice kit you sent me and it worked like a charm. I'm fine. Happy and lice free! Hermana Carson had lice a while ago, and we're thinking that maybe with the move some of the lice got spread around. Okay. That's disgusting... Here's a question for you, why did God create lice? ha I know there is always a purpose for everything, but for lice I don't have the answer.
Other bad news. I had a whole bunch of pictures I was about to send you and the computer erased my memory card. :( Next week I guess. Dad, I had the picture for you to crop in the family picture...but I guess I'll try to send it again next week.
Guess what?! "I", the lady I told you about last week, she went to church yesterday! We were absolutely thrilled. She loved it too. She wasn't feeling well after church because of some health problems she has, so we arranged for her to have a blessing. It was such a neat experience. The spirit was so strong!
Good news! The church is true! I have absolutely no doubt. I am grateful to be able to devote myself full time to share the miraculous message with my brothers and sisters in Argentina. :) Thank you to ALL of you for you love, support, prayers, and encouragement. And here's a shout out to all of you who have contributed financially for Brian and me to serve missions. Thank you so much! I am humbled to be blessed by your desire to help edify the kingdom of God on the Earth.
I hope you all have a very happy new year! I love you all!
Un besito,
-Hermana Vawdrey
December 31, 2012
December 25, 2012
Merry Christmas!!
Queridos Amigos y familia,
Merry Christmas EVE! I hope you're all well, and I hope you're all enjoying the joy of the Christmas season. Here in Argentina it's a little bit different. Today we woke up to a HUGE rain storm. We were literally wading through rivers as we crossed the streets to do our grocery shopping. I have to say that this is definitely a first to have a rainy Christmas Eve!
This past week was a really fun one filled with service, christmas carols, and lots of testifying of my Savior, Jesus Christ. First of all, we had our Mission Christmas activity on Tuesday. It was a really neat day. We went to the main park in Centro and also to a disabilities hospital to sing Christmas carols. It was so awesome, 150ish missionaries singing. The spirit was so strong! My favorite was a guy that played his air guitar when we sang Silent Night. :)
Later on that day we had lunch, a talent show, and a little devotional with Presidente Parreño. Hermana Newton and I did a little clogging dance for the talent show! Gosh, it was so fun! We just threw a little acapella dance together from some of the few steps that we both remembered. And Mom and Dad! I got your letters! Thank you so much. It was such a great surprise! At the end of the day on Tuesday, Presidente and his wife told us they all had a little gift for each one of us, and it ended being those letters! It was so great to open a little bit of "home". Thank you!
Yesterday we had a really neat experience. Hermana Gallegos and I went out to work after lunch, and we both thought: we better go by and see our investigator "I". Thank goodness we followed that spiritual prompting because when we went to go see her, we could tell that she was feeling a little down. We went into her house and started chatting. She told us that earlier that day she was coming home from work, and she had just received her Christmas bonus. She was all excited thinking about the things she could do with her children for Christmas with that extra money. But when she got off the bus two men came up to her and stole her laptop, and all of the money she had just received.
I could feel her sadness and pain as she told me this story. This poor woman has gone through many hard things, but she still had a smile on her face! "Chicas, If I told you I had a fridge full of food for tomorrow I would be lying, but I have faith in God that somehow we'll be okay." :) We talked about the comfort we can receive through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and later sang some Christmas carols. It was such a neat experience. The Lord has been preparing "I", and unfortunately like Joseph Smith once said, "Sometimes the Lord needs to bring us low before he can lift us higher."
I have a very strong testimony of that principle. A lot of times hard things happen and we wonder why it has to happen to us. Why do I have to worry about this right now? What did I do wrong? Why can't I just learn this lesson some other way? It's because the Lord knows us better that we know ourselves. We just need to trust Him that even if we may be walking through a big thunderstorm right now, there is a beautiful, warm and calm sunny day just around the corner.
I hope all of you choose to have a Merry Christmas this year. Things may not go as planned, or it may not be completely ideal...yet the real reason why we have Christmas is because of Jesus Christ. He was born, He died, and now He LIVES! Like one of my favorite hymns says, "Yo sé que vive mi Señor!" (I know that my Redeemer Lives!) May you all feel the joy of Christ in your hearts this Christmas!
I LOVE YOU!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
Merry Christmas EVE! I hope you're all well, and I hope you're all enjoying the joy of the Christmas season. Here in Argentina it's a little bit different. Today we woke up to a HUGE rain storm. We were literally wading through rivers as we crossed the streets to do our grocery shopping. I have to say that this is definitely a first to have a rainy Christmas Eve!
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| Merry Christmas from Argentina! |
This past week was a really fun one filled with service, christmas carols, and lots of testifying of my Savior, Jesus Christ. First of all, we had our Mission Christmas activity on Tuesday. It was a really neat day. We went to the main park in Centro and also to a disabilities hospital to sing Christmas carols. It was so awesome, 150ish missionaries singing. The spirit was so strong! My favorite was a guy that played his air guitar when we sang Silent Night. :)
Later on that day we had lunch, a talent show, and a little devotional with Presidente Parreño. Hermana Newton and I did a little clogging dance for the talent show! Gosh, it was so fun! We just threw a little acapella dance together from some of the few steps that we both remembered. And Mom and Dad! I got your letters! Thank you so much. It was such a great surprise! At the end of the day on Tuesday, Presidente and his wife told us they all had a little gift for each one of us, and it ended being those letters! It was so great to open a little bit of "home". Thank you!
Yesterday we had a really neat experience. Hermana Gallegos and I went out to work after lunch, and we both thought: we better go by and see our investigator "I". Thank goodness we followed that spiritual prompting because when we went to go see her, we could tell that she was feeling a little down. We went into her house and started chatting. She told us that earlier that day she was coming home from work, and she had just received her Christmas bonus. She was all excited thinking about the things she could do with her children for Christmas with that extra money. But when she got off the bus two men came up to her and stole her laptop, and all of the money she had just received.
I could feel her sadness and pain as she told me this story. This poor woman has gone through many hard things, but she still had a smile on her face! "Chicas, If I told you I had a fridge full of food for tomorrow I would be lying, but I have faith in God that somehow we'll be okay." :) We talked about the comfort we can receive through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and later sang some Christmas carols. It was such a neat experience. The Lord has been preparing "I", and unfortunately like Joseph Smith once said, "Sometimes the Lord needs to bring us low before he can lift us higher."
I have a very strong testimony of that principle. A lot of times hard things happen and we wonder why it has to happen to us. Why do I have to worry about this right now? What did I do wrong? Why can't I just learn this lesson some other way? It's because the Lord knows us better that we know ourselves. We just need to trust Him that even if we may be walking through a big thunderstorm right now, there is a beautiful, warm and calm sunny day just around the corner.
I hope all of you choose to have a Merry Christmas this year. Things may not go as planned, or it may not be completely ideal...yet the real reason why we have Christmas is because of Jesus Christ. He was born, He died, and now He LIVES! Like one of my favorite hymns says, "Yo sé que vive mi Señor!" (I know that my Redeemer Lives!) May you all feel the joy of Christ in your hearts this Christmas!
I LOVE YOU!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
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| Serving at the disabilities hospital |
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| Las Hermanas de Bahia Blanca |
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| Las Hermanas con Papa Noel |
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| Elder Hall - He was in my MTC district |
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| Feliz Navidad! |
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| Our District |
December 17, 2012
It's all because of Christ
Hello Hello!
Oh gosh, I'm so excited right now! I get to talk to you all so soon!! Christmas is coming! I am SO grateful for whoever it was that invented Skype! I'll be talking to you in just a week! Tomorrow we have our big christmas activity as a mission. As part of it we are going to sing christmas carols at one of the main parks in Centro and also in a hospital. It'll be a neat experience.
This week was absolutely incredible. I don't even know where to start. We saw so many miracles. I was able to talk to so many people that the Lord has been preparing to receive us. I am so excited to be companions with Hermana Gallegos. She is an incredible missionary and I am grateful everyday to be able to testify with her each day. She's a stinkin' spaz! So goofy! haha We have a lot in common, we laugh all day long, and we are united. She wants to learn English, so we practice random phrases when we're walking in the street. Her favorites are: "I am Sister Gallegos!" and "I am Hoppy!" (happy) :) She's practicing so that she can talk to you on Christmas.
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| Hna Gallegos y yo con una joven mujer |
Okay. Remember forever ago when we felt prompted to teach a part member family about family history work? The oldest daughter J was really interested and starting doing it! Then she moved to Buenos Aires for school. Bummer. We thought that was the last time we would see her. Well, this past Saturday we ate lunch with her family and she was there! She has been reading the Book of Mormon, has been going to institute, and was receiving the lessons from the missionaries in Buenos Aires. She had a baptismal interview and everything, but still had some questions and doubts and so nothing happened after that. We are really excited because Hermana Gallegos' conversions story is really similar to J's (because Hermana Gallegos was very very Evangelico before and had many doubts.) She was able to share some of her experiences with J and it really seemed to help her. We both feel like she is close to understanding and receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we are really grateful that the Lord trusts us to help her.
On Saturday we had another activity with the youth in Bahía Blanca. A young woman came with Hermana Gallegos and me, and she was able to see many of the neat experiences that we have as missionaries. She contacted in the park with us, we found some new investigators, and she was able to be there when we were talking to J. So cool! She told us afterward that she really wants to serve a mission. Not all of her family are members, but she said she feels like the Lord will be able to help them accept the gospel through her service.The Youth are so awesome! She's only 16! That same night we had our ward christmas party. It was a great turn out. And one of the investigators that we found that morning went to the activity! We were so excited to see her there.
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| Actividad del barrio |
The gospel works magic. It changes hearts. It changes misery to joy. And it's all because of Christ. I know he lives! How wonderful that we have this Christmas season to celebrate the miracle of Jesus Christ.
Family and friends, I love you all! Have a great week!
-Hermana Vawdrey
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| El Centro |
December 10, 2012
Transfers!
Queridos Amigos,'
This past week was a big week. I've got a lot to write! The biggest news of the week is that we got transfer calls! Hermana Carson was called to serve in Mar del Plata, Barrio Centro. I am so excited for her. We ended the transfer really great because we had so much success together. I feel like we accomplished and we learned together everything that the Lord needed us to. It's been a great ride!
I was assigned to stay in this great area and my new companion's name: Hermana Gallegos! For you Americanos, her last name is pronounced: "Guy-eh-gos". She's so awesome! I'm super excited to be her companion. She's my first Latina companion! She's from Santiago, Chile. She looks like a princess!! I'm serious. She came from Castéx, where she was serving with Hermana Newton. (Remember her?! My "hija"! Hermana Newton and I were companions in Puerto.) Hermana Gallegos has been on her mission about 8ish months and seems like an incredible missionary. She's the only member in her family! They are all very Evangelico. She joined the Church about 3 years ago and has an incredible love for the work. I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for us.
Hermana Squire is now with Hermana Gomez! YES! She's so great! She's Hermana Jensen's hija. I lived with Hermana Gomez in Puerto for 3 weeks until my transfer here, so I'm excited to be able to live with her again and learn from her example and love of the gospel.
I received good news the other day. When Hermana Newton and I were in Puerto, we were working a lot with some recent converts who had started to go inactive: R and P. We decided to get them excited about reading the Book of Mormon all the way through. Well I heard that just this past Fast Sunday, R bore his testimony and talked about how he's reading the Book of Mormon, and he bore testimony about how much he loves the Book of Mormon. Not only that, but he is now active! BOOM BABY! The Book of Mormon is so cool. So cool! The Book of Mormon is truly the key to conversion. I love how there is an endless list of people who's lives have been changed by reading the Book of Mormon. It's only because it's true!
Okay...other news. Last week was crazy so I didn't really have time to explain. Since Elders can now leave on their missions when they are 18, and girls can leave when they are 19 years old, they have changed the MTC a little bit. Missionaries won't be there as long now to accomodate all of the missionaries. With this change, it affected all of the dates of when transfers end. Originally I was going to finish my mission on March 5th, now I will be finishing on March 26th. Sorry Mom. You gotta wait 3 extra weeks. I had the choice to go home a transfer early, but that would put me at going home about a month and a half early--which I don't want to do. I was called to serve a mission for 18 months, and I want to help the Lord with His work. :) I know that like it says in Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, save he revealeth, his secrets unto his servents the prophets." This change of transfers was made through revelation. This change is what the Lord wants. I know He needs me to help His children for a little bit longer, and I am willing to do it! Just like the family motto, right? I will GO AND DO what the Lord hath commandeth! (1 Nephi 3:7)
Family, I love you! Thank you for supporting me on my mission. This gospel is incredible. It's true. And I am so grateful to be called to share it with my brothers in sisters in Argentina. I hope you all have a great week! CHAMO!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
Other thoughts:
This past week was a big week. I've got a lot to write! The biggest news of the week is that we got transfer calls! Hermana Carson was called to serve in Mar del Plata, Barrio Centro. I am so excited for her. We ended the transfer really great because we had so much success together. I feel like we accomplished and we learned together everything that the Lord needed us to. It's been a great ride!
I was assigned to stay in this great area and my new companion's name: Hermana Gallegos! For you Americanos, her last name is pronounced: "Guy-eh-gos". She's so awesome! I'm super excited to be her companion. She's my first Latina companion! She's from Santiago, Chile. She looks like a princess!! I'm serious. She came from Castéx, where she was serving with Hermana Newton. (Remember her?! My "hija"! Hermana Newton and I were companions in Puerto.) Hermana Gallegos has been on her mission about 8ish months and seems like an incredible missionary. She's the only member in her family! They are all very Evangelico. She joined the Church about 3 years ago and has an incredible love for the work. I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for us.
Hermana Squire is now with Hermana Gomez! YES! She's so great! She's Hermana Jensen's hija. I lived with Hermana Gomez in Puerto for 3 weeks until my transfer here, so I'm excited to be able to live with her again and learn from her example and love of the gospel.
I received good news the other day. When Hermana Newton and I were in Puerto, we were working a lot with some recent converts who had started to go inactive: R and P. We decided to get them excited about reading the Book of Mormon all the way through. Well I heard that just this past Fast Sunday, R bore his testimony and talked about how he's reading the Book of Mormon, and he bore testimony about how much he loves the Book of Mormon. Not only that, but he is now active! BOOM BABY! The Book of Mormon is so cool. So cool! The Book of Mormon is truly the key to conversion. I love how there is an endless list of people who's lives have been changed by reading the Book of Mormon. It's only because it's true!
Okay...other news. Last week was crazy so I didn't really have time to explain. Since Elders can now leave on their missions when they are 18, and girls can leave when they are 19 years old, they have changed the MTC a little bit. Missionaries won't be there as long now to accomodate all of the missionaries. With this change, it affected all of the dates of when transfers end. Originally I was going to finish my mission on March 5th, now I will be finishing on March 26th. Sorry Mom. You gotta wait 3 extra weeks. I had the choice to go home a transfer early, but that would put me at going home about a month and a half early--which I don't want to do. I was called to serve a mission for 18 months, and I want to help the Lord with His work. :) I know that like it says in Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, save he revealeth, his secrets unto his servents the prophets." This change of transfers was made through revelation. This change is what the Lord wants. I know He needs me to help His children for a little bit longer, and I am willing to do it! Just like the family motto, right? I will GO AND DO what the Lord hath commandeth! (1 Nephi 3:7)
Family, I love you! Thank you for supporting me on my mission. This gospel is incredible. It's true. And I am so grateful to be called to share it with my brothers in sisters in Argentina. I hope you all have a great week! CHAMO!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
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| A cute girl that got baptized in Barrio Arias |
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| Check out these pancakes! |
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| Hermana Gallegos! |
Other thoughts:
- Argentines think they have to eat hard boiled eggs with EVERYTHING! On hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, tacos, etc.
- I'm realizing that I am now brainwashed into thinking that I have to eat everything with a fork and a knife. Ha!
- Paul and Lindsey--I know this is super belated, but congrats on being able to move! I'm excited for you! Love you!
- Devin Kelm--I was thinkin'about you the other day. Hope you're well!
December 4, 2012
Jo Jo Jo!!!
Hi Family! Hello Friends!
We're already in the last week of the transfer! Hermana Carson has been here in Barrio Pueyrredón for 7 MONTHS now, so we're excited to see if there will be some big changes. Five Hermanas will finish their missions this transfer, and only three new Hermanas are coming, so it'll be interesting to see what changes the Lord wants to make en la Misión Bahía Blanca.
This week was fantastic. The Lord is really taking care of us. He knows our efforts. I know if we do our part...if we make up our mind of what we want to accomplish, he will always do His part! This is one of the biggest lessons that I learned this week. The Lord loves us, and He wants what we want. And if it's a good thing, He will help us accomplish it!
I can't remember if I already told you, but lately we have started teaching the lessons to a menos activo named M. She got baptized in another area about 20 years ago, and then went really in-active. She later moved to Bahía Blanca and recently decided that she wants to come back to the church and be an active member. The other day we taught her the Plan of Salvation, and it was so fun to watch her mind just spinning as she applied the doctrine to her life. She is working on quitting smoking, and on her own she came up with a plan to quit by involving scripture study in the Book of Mormon every morning! YES! I wanted to cry. The Book of Mormon heals our souls when we look for help, and she is starting to understand that. Then later on that week she told us that she feels bad because she has to work on Sundays--which means she can't go to church. Well this week she decided to quit her job because she wants to keep the commandments by going to church. She later told us that the next day she found a new job where she wouldn't have to work Sundays. YEAH!!
The Lord knows us. He knows our needs. He knows our desires. If we want to keep his commandments, if we want to understand his gospel, we only need to show him through our actions that we want it. (Sergio! Hola!! :) Sé que está leyendo esta carta) Then he ALWAYS helps us do it. He ALWAYS keeps his word. We just have to do our part.
Ah! Remember J?! The guy that got baptized in September? Well he's preparing to get married...AND he's preparing to receive the sacrament. I couldn't be happier. And he's looking forward to going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead! I'm so excited for him!
MOM! I got your first Christmas package! THANK YOU! I love it! I already opened up one of the 12 Days of Christmas gifts because I was just too excited. You're so creative, Mom. Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into it. Like you said, I would assume that the second package arrived to Argentina, hopefully it's just not stuck in customs. I'm hoping I'll get it on Wednesday.
Bahaha I almost died laughing today. We went to the grocery store (how do you spell that?!) and all of these Christmas decorations were up. Then we looked up at the ceiling and there were a bunch of signs that said: "Jo" Jo Jo Jo Jo Jo Jo Jo! haha Let me explain...in Spanish the J has a sound like the H in English, so: Ho ho ho! Like Santa! haha I feel like I can't explain that very well. Hopefully that makes sense. But I like to think that Argentina was really just cheering for JO JO JO Jordan for getting baptized! :) ha Lame joke, I know.
Family. I love you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for loving the Savior and the gospel. I hope you are well. Have a great week!
-Britt
Random pictures:
We're already in the last week of the transfer! Hermana Carson has been here in Barrio Pueyrredón for 7 MONTHS now, so we're excited to see if there will be some big changes. Five Hermanas will finish their missions this transfer, and only three new Hermanas are coming, so it'll be interesting to see what changes the Lord wants to make en la Misión Bahía Blanca.
This week was fantastic. The Lord is really taking care of us. He knows our efforts. I know if we do our part...if we make up our mind of what we want to accomplish, he will always do His part! This is one of the biggest lessons that I learned this week. The Lord loves us, and He wants what we want. And if it's a good thing, He will help us accomplish it!
I can't remember if I already told you, but lately we have started teaching the lessons to a menos activo named M. She got baptized in another area about 20 years ago, and then went really in-active. She later moved to Bahía Blanca and recently decided that she wants to come back to the church and be an active member. The other day we taught her the Plan of Salvation, and it was so fun to watch her mind just spinning as she applied the doctrine to her life. She is working on quitting smoking, and on her own she came up with a plan to quit by involving scripture study in the Book of Mormon every morning! YES! I wanted to cry. The Book of Mormon heals our souls when we look for help, and she is starting to understand that. Then later on that week she told us that she feels bad because she has to work on Sundays--which means she can't go to church. Well this week she decided to quit her job because she wants to keep the commandments by going to church. She later told us that the next day she found a new job where she wouldn't have to work Sundays. YEAH!!
The Lord knows us. He knows our needs. He knows our desires. If we want to keep his commandments, if we want to understand his gospel, we only need to show him through our actions that we want it. (Sergio! Hola!! :) Sé que está leyendo esta carta) Then he ALWAYS helps us do it. He ALWAYS keeps his word. We just have to do our part.
Ah! Remember J?! The guy that got baptized in September? Well he's preparing to get married...AND he's preparing to receive the sacrament. I couldn't be happier. And he's looking forward to going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead! I'm so excited for him!
MOM! I got your first Christmas package! THANK YOU! I love it! I already opened up one of the 12 Days of Christmas gifts because I was just too excited. You're so creative, Mom. Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into it. Like you said, I would assume that the second package arrived to Argentina, hopefully it's just not stuck in customs. I'm hoping I'll get it on Wednesday.
Bahaha I almost died laughing today. We went to the grocery store (how do you spell that?!) and all of these Christmas decorations were up. Then we looked up at the ceiling and there were a bunch of signs that said: "Jo" Jo Jo Jo Jo Jo Jo Jo! haha Let me explain...in Spanish the J has a sound like the H in English, so: Ho ho ho! Like Santa! haha I feel like I can't explain that very well. Hopefully that makes sense. But I like to think that Argentina was really just cheering for JO JO JO Jordan for getting baptized! :) ha Lame joke, I know.
Family. I love you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for loving the Savior and the gospel. I hope you are well. Have a great week!
-Britt
Random pictures:
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| Argentina still uses these old-fashioned keys! |
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| Got a surprise visit from Hnas Jensen and Gomez today. Love them! |
November 26, 2012
I love...
Hello Hello!
Happy Holidays! Ha! How weird is that? Thanksgiving has past, which makes it truly Christmas season. There are Christmas trees all over the place here at the stores in Centro, and I still can't grasp my head around the fact that Christmas really is coming because it's so stinkin' hot outside! But that also makes me happy because that means that in less than I month I get to talk to all of you!
Jordan! I hope you have a super special day this weekend when you get baptized. I am so proud of you! I'll be thinking of you and I hope, like mom said, that you picture Jesus smiling at you when you get baptized. :) By getting baptized you walk into the door that leads to the Celestial Kingdom! After Jesus Christ got baptized Heavenly Father said that he was "well pleased," and I know that Heavenly Father is really proud of you too for following Jesus Christ's example.
Well as you can see from our pictures, even though we were far away from home we still celebrated Thanksgiving. On Thursday we had weekly planning, and we were all able to make some yummy burritos together to celebrate. We even made the traditional placemats by tracing our hands to make turkeys, and we wrote on them the things we are grateful for. I feel like by being a missionary I have really learned what things I am grateful for. The Lord has given me so much and I am so grateful to be able to dedicate myself to Him 24/7 to try to give back a little bit for all that He has given me.
This week we saw many miracles, as usual. We had a Family Home Evening with some recent converts: R and F. We all shared our favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon and I was blown away at how strong their testimonies are for just being members for 7 months. It was so neat to be able to hear them talk about the changes that they have seen in their lives since they have joined in the church. And it's true! The gospel only brings GOOD changes! Sometimes they are hard changes, but they are always good.
With the air of Thanksgiving it made me think about how much I love Argentina. I LOVE Argentina!
I love being a missionary. I love the challenge to constantly keep going, to keep the faith, and to trust in the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And I do it because I know it's true! I know this church is true. These truths and the doctrines of Christ are being etched upon my soul. And even though the journey is sometimes difficult, I've never been happier.
Family, friends, abuelitos, etc..... les quiero!
-Hermana Vawdrey
Happy Holidays! Ha! How weird is that? Thanksgiving has past, which makes it truly Christmas season. There are Christmas trees all over the place here at the stores in Centro, and I still can't grasp my head around the fact that Christmas really is coming because it's so stinkin' hot outside! But that also makes me happy because that means that in less than I month I get to talk to all of you!
Jordan! I hope you have a super special day this weekend when you get baptized. I am so proud of you! I'll be thinking of you and I hope, like mom said, that you picture Jesus smiling at you when you get baptized. :) By getting baptized you walk into the door that leads to the Celestial Kingdom! After Jesus Christ got baptized Heavenly Father said that he was "well pleased," and I know that Heavenly Father is really proud of you too for following Jesus Christ's example.
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Well as you can see from our pictures, even though we were far away from home we still celebrated Thanksgiving. On Thursday we had weekly planning, and we were all able to make some yummy burritos together to celebrate. We even made the traditional placemats by tracing our hands to make turkeys, and we wrote on them the things we are grateful for. I feel like by being a missionary I have really learned what things I am grateful for. The Lord has given me so much and I am so grateful to be able to dedicate myself to Him 24/7 to try to give back a little bit for all that He has given me.
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| I'm thankful for... |
This week we saw many miracles, as usual. We had a Family Home Evening with some recent converts: R and F. We all shared our favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon and I was blown away at how strong their testimonies are for just being members for 7 months. It was so neat to be able to hear them talk about the changes that they have seen in their lives since they have joined in the church. And it's true! The gospel only brings GOOD changes! Sometimes they are hard changes, but they are always good.
With the air of Thanksgiving it made me think about how much I love Argentina. I LOVE Argentina!
- I love these people.
- I love this language.
- I love the culture.
- I love the funny quirks and "backwards social norms."
- I love the obnoxious business men that get on the buses and say the same thing over and over again for 5 minutes straight to try to convince you to buy something.
- I love the flame throwers that go into the street when the light is red to try to earn some money.
- I love the silly cow bell music Argentines listen to all the time.
- I just love it all.
I love being a missionary. I love the challenge to constantly keep going, to keep the faith, and to trust in the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And I do it because I know it's true! I know this church is true. These truths and the doctrines of Christ are being etched upon my soul. And even though the journey is sometimes difficult, I've never been happier.
Family, friends, abuelitos, etc..... les quiero!
-Hermana Vawdrey
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| Hermana Squire |
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| Hermana Carson |
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| Hermana Batista |
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| Mi Distrito |
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| Thanksgiving burritos! |
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| Las Hermanas en el Dia de Gracia |
November 19, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving!
Family and Friends,
So like...hey! How are you!?!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I can't believe the holidays are already here. It's crazy! No we won't be celebrating Thanksgiving here in Argentina, but I'll be thinking of you!
We had a great week! Let's see...we walked a lot, taught a lot, prayed a lot, traveled a lot, testified a lot, and had lot of success! We found several new investigators and each of them have their own unique story. It will never stop to being a thrill when people let us in to their house to share a message. The message of the Restoration truly is a treasure that cannot be bought, but it has an eternal reward. It's neat to see it working in people's eyes when we teach them, and even more when we see the change in their lives as they keep their committments.
One day this week V called us (the one who just got baptized) and said her leg was really hurting her. She has problems with her sciatic nerve and she has to get injections often. Her doctor went on vacation this past week so she wasn't able to have any pain reliever. When the pain was really bad she called us, and we went over and saw her. The next say she called us and said the pain was still really bad, but she had just prayed and she was in bed reading her Book of Mormon. The cutie! She told us she knew that if she did what was right the Lord would take the pain away. :) I love seeing her testimony grow!
Other fun news:
Family and friends, in honor of Thanksgiving I want to say THANK YOU to all of you for the impact you have made on my life. I love you all so much and am so greatful for your examples. And I'm grateful to my Savior that I can be an instrument in his hands for this time. The gospel is true!
¡Les quiero mucho!
-Hermana Vawdrey
So like...hey! How are you!?!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I can't believe the holidays are already here. It's crazy! No we won't be celebrating Thanksgiving here in Argentina, but I'll be thinking of you!
We had a great week! Let's see...we walked a lot, taught a lot, prayed a lot, traveled a lot, testified a lot, and had lot of success! We found several new investigators and each of them have their own unique story. It will never stop to being a thrill when people let us in to their house to share a message. The message of the Restoration truly is a treasure that cannot be bought, but it has an eternal reward. It's neat to see it working in people's eyes when we teach them, and even more when we see the change in their lives as they keep their committments.
One day this week V called us (the one who just got baptized) and said her leg was really hurting her. She has problems with her sciatic nerve and she has to get injections often. Her doctor went on vacation this past week so she wasn't able to have any pain reliever. When the pain was really bad she called us, and we went over and saw her. The next say she called us and said the pain was still really bad, but she had just prayed and she was in bed reading her Book of Mormon. The cutie! She told us she knew that if she did what was right the Lord would take the pain away. :) I love seeing her testimony grow!
Other fun news:
- We have a new place to move into! Now we just need to wait for some head guy in Buenos Aires to sign the contract. We'll see how long that takes... In the meantime we're content with living with the other Hermanas in Villa Mitre, so we'll have to wait and see how soon this move will actually happen.
- We found a woman named Belén this past week! YEAH! I was so excited to find someone else who has my name. She has two kids and we're hoping we can help them get to church this Sunday.
- One of our biggest successes this week was that FOUR less active members we've been working with went to church! It's been months and even years for some of them! Woot!
- Ah! I had my 15 month cumple mes this past week. That's freaky... I'm one of the "viejas" (older sisters) in the mission now!
- Jordan! You get baptized SO soon! I am so excited for you! I went to a baptism for an 8-year-old little girl named B, and it made me think of you because that is going to be you soon!
- Taylor Judd! I know it may shock you, but your song "Everything Changed" made it all the way to Argentina! Good job! I love it. You've got some talent. I'm living in the same house with Cydnee Squire who went to Lone Peak, and also on Heritage Tours. She has that song on her ipod. It came on the other day and we realized we both know you! Small world. Hope you are well!
- JACK! Congrats on your mission call to Brazil! NO WAY! I'm so excited for you! Bummed I won't see you for another 2 years, but it's so worth it. :) Good luck with all the mission prep! Study Preach My Gospel and go to the temple as much as you can before you leave!
Family and friends, in honor of Thanksgiving I want to say THANK YOU to all of you for the impact you have made on my life. I love you all so much and am so greatful for your examples. And I'm grateful to my Savior that I can be an instrument in his hands for this time. The gospel is true!
¡Les quiero mucho!
-Hermana Vawdrey
November 12, 2012
Moving on...
Hellooooo Familia!!
How are y'all? Asì que...Obama, eh? That's all everyone here wants to talk about right now. haha Anytime anyone finds out that we're from The States they're like..."oh! El Presidente Obama!" haha But hey, it starts a conversation! And if we're really sly we can turn the conversation back to the gospel. :)
This week absolutely flew by. Seriously, I don't get it. All of a sudden it was Saturday night, and here I am already writing you! Crazy. This week we had a couple of extraordinary things that happened. On Tuesday we were in our ward mission leaders' house having our ward mission meeting. He informed us that it was 89 degrees in his house. Dandy. SO HOT! And that's in the shade sitting next to a fan! The next day was so windy that the wind cut out all of the electricity in the neighborhood for a couple hours. Then about an hour later we had the biggest rain storm I have EVER experienced. Luckily we were inside doing our weekly planning when it happened, but the rain drops were about the size of a nickle, and it hailed too! Later on when we left the house we were wading through puddles in the street that were one foot deep! Thank goodness I had my jelly shoes on, so it didn't matter. But wow! Argentines always talk about how every time it's really hot that means a big rain storm is coming. Well....now I believe them!
The other big news is that we are moving! Surprise surprise! To make a long story short, we've been having several problems with our neighbor. A few days ago we heard from a member that someone called into a radio station and somehow they announced our address to everyone in Bahìa Blanca! For those of you that don't know, it's a rule that we're not allowed to publicize our address for our own protection and safety. So! Just to be safe we are in the process of moving to a new place and at the moment we are living in Barrio Villa Mitre with Hermanas Squire and Batista again! (But this time in a MUCH bigger place.) Hermana McWhorter and Hermana Marin also live there. It's kind of a bummer to have to bus over to our area everyday, but the change in temporary and we are excited to be able to have some time to live with the hermanas. It's always refreshing to feed off of each other's excitement for missionary work. :)
Hey Ang! Guess what! We're teaching an investigator right now that's named Angi! She's super cool and from the Dominican Republic! She's reading the Book of Mormon, plans to come to church on Sunday and is progressing pretty well! Keep her in your prayers.
Cute Hermana Carson celebrated her year mark on her mission this past week! That's a long time! I'm proud of her. She does incredible things.
Family, I love you! Keep doing what you're doing. Keep Go-ing and Do-ing. :) Hope you have a great week! Chamo!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
How are y'all? Asì que...Obama, eh? That's all everyone here wants to talk about right now. haha Anytime anyone finds out that we're from The States they're like..."oh! El Presidente Obama!" haha But hey, it starts a conversation! And if we're really sly we can turn the conversation back to the gospel. :)
This week absolutely flew by. Seriously, I don't get it. All of a sudden it was Saturday night, and here I am already writing you! Crazy. This week we had a couple of extraordinary things that happened. On Tuesday we were in our ward mission leaders' house having our ward mission meeting. He informed us that it was 89 degrees in his house. Dandy. SO HOT! And that's in the shade sitting next to a fan! The next day was so windy that the wind cut out all of the electricity in the neighborhood for a couple hours. Then about an hour later we had the biggest rain storm I have EVER experienced. Luckily we were inside doing our weekly planning when it happened, but the rain drops were about the size of a nickle, and it hailed too! Later on when we left the house we were wading through puddles in the street that were one foot deep! Thank goodness I had my jelly shoes on, so it didn't matter. But wow! Argentines always talk about how every time it's really hot that means a big rain storm is coming. Well....now I believe them!
The other big news is that we are moving! Surprise surprise! To make a long story short, we've been having several problems with our neighbor. A few days ago we heard from a member that someone called into a radio station and somehow they announced our address to everyone in Bahìa Blanca! For those of you that don't know, it's a rule that we're not allowed to publicize our address for our own protection and safety. So! Just to be safe we are in the process of moving to a new place and at the moment we are living in Barrio Villa Mitre with Hermanas Squire and Batista again! (But this time in a MUCH bigger place.) Hermana McWhorter and Hermana Marin also live there. It's kind of a bummer to have to bus over to our area everyday, but the change in temporary and we are excited to be able to have some time to live with the hermanas. It's always refreshing to feed off of each other's excitement for missionary work. :)
Hey Ang! Guess what! We're teaching an investigator right now that's named Angi! She's super cool and from the Dominican Republic! She's reading the Book of Mormon, plans to come to church on Sunday and is progressing pretty well! Keep her in your prayers.
Cute Hermana Carson celebrated her year mark on her mission this past week! That's a long time! I'm proud of her. She does incredible things.
Family, I love you! Keep doing what you're doing. Keep Go-ing and Do-ing. :) Hope you have a great week! Chamo!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
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| Pte Detlefsen's mother-in-law. She has so much energy. Love her! |
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| Another photo from V's baptism |
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| El Distrito |
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| Feliz cumpleanos, Hna Carson! |
November 6, 2012
Esfuerzos
Family,
Here we are starting another week! And another month! We had a great week here in Bahìa Blanca. It is starting to get HOT. We sleep with the window open at night already and pray that the full heat of summer will wait to come for another month.
This past week we had "esfuerzos" in each of the areas in our district. Our district leader, Elder Galan, really wants each of us to be able to achieve the goal to have one baptism for every companionship in the month of November. In order to accomplish this we took two hours out of each day this past week to work in each other's areas to help find new investigators. It was a really neat experience being able to serve the other missionaries in our district. Knowing that we only had 2 hours, we went and worked really hard! It really strengthened our unity, and it helped us realize that we should view missionary work as an "esfuerzo" every day! Every day we should work just as hard as we did for those two hours in each other´s areas.
Ohh! The other day we received a really big compliment. We had Stake Conference and a young man from another ward came up to talk to us. He said, "Hey, thanks for having that family night with that family the other week." At first it took a second to figure out what he was talking about. Then we remembered the familia that we taught. They invited us over for lunch one Sunday and we felt prompted to teach them about Family History work. It seemed really weird at first because we normally focus on the Restoration or the Plan of Salvation. For some background information: the dad is the only member, his wife is super Catholic, and they have three kids. Missionaries have worked with this family before, but since the mom is so Catholic, they aren't progressing as investigators.
Yet as we continued talking to this young man he told us that he talked to the oldest daughter the other night. He helped her set up an account on familysearch.org and she is doing a ton of family history work. She is also planning to travel to go visit her grandma to get more information about her family history! AND! She's reading the Book of Mormon and wants to learn more about the Church. She hasn't told anyone about it yet other than this guy because she knows her mom won't be too thrilled, so she wants to know for sure whether she wants to get baptized and then she'll contact us.
Wow. WOW! That was a neat paycheck for us to hear that we really must have been following the Spirit when we chose to teach that family about family history because it really impacted her!
Some other fun news was that since this Sunday was Stake Conference I got to see the members from Pigüè! It made me so happy to see them again! And it was really fun because I could see how much I have progressed. I can actually speak Spanish now! haha
Well family, I love you. Thank you for all you do! I hope you have a wonderful week, y nos vemos el Lunes que viene!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
Here we are starting another week! And another month! We had a great week here in Bahìa Blanca. It is starting to get HOT. We sleep with the window open at night already and pray that the full heat of summer will wait to come for another month.
This past week we had "esfuerzos" in each of the areas in our district. Our district leader, Elder Galan, really wants each of us to be able to achieve the goal to have one baptism for every companionship in the month of November. In order to accomplish this we took two hours out of each day this past week to work in each other's areas to help find new investigators. It was a really neat experience being able to serve the other missionaries in our district. Knowing that we only had 2 hours, we went and worked really hard! It really strengthened our unity, and it helped us realize that we should view missionary work as an "esfuerzo" every day! Every day we should work just as hard as we did for those two hours in each other´s areas.
Ohh! The other day we received a really big compliment. We had Stake Conference and a young man from another ward came up to talk to us. He said, "Hey, thanks for having that family night with that family the other week." At first it took a second to figure out what he was talking about. Then we remembered the familia that we taught. They invited us over for lunch one Sunday and we felt prompted to teach them about Family History work. It seemed really weird at first because we normally focus on the Restoration or the Plan of Salvation. For some background information: the dad is the only member, his wife is super Catholic, and they have three kids. Missionaries have worked with this family before, but since the mom is so Catholic, they aren't progressing as investigators.
Yet as we continued talking to this young man he told us that he talked to the oldest daughter the other night. He helped her set up an account on familysearch.org and she is doing a ton of family history work. She is also planning to travel to go visit her grandma to get more information about her family history! AND! She's reading the Book of Mormon and wants to learn more about the Church. She hasn't told anyone about it yet other than this guy because she knows her mom won't be too thrilled, so she wants to know for sure whether she wants to get baptized and then she'll contact us.
Wow. WOW! That was a neat paycheck for us to hear that we really must have been following the Spirit when we chose to teach that family about family history because it really impacted her!
Some other fun news was that since this Sunday was Stake Conference I got to see the members from Pigüè! It made me so happy to see them again! And it was really fun because I could see how much I have progressed. I can actually speak Spanish now! haha
Well family, I love you. Thank you for all you do! I hope you have a wonderful week, y nos vemos el Lunes que viene!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
October 29, 2012
I cannot say the smallest part which I feel
Familia y Amigitos,
I feel like Alma did in the Book of Mormon when he said: "I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." This past week was by far one of the best weeks I have had during my mission. So many miracles happened and I don't think it´s possible to love being a missionary more than I do right now in this moment.
Earlier this week we had divisions again. Hermana Carson went to Barrio Villa Floresta, and Hermana McWhorter came here to be with me in Barrio Pueyrredón. Hermana McWhorter and I were so excited to be companions again, because we were companions in the MTC! We were only companions back then for two days because she moved up to the advanced class. We laugh now because even though we were able to be companions again...once again it was only for two days! Yet. They were two days of miracles!
It all started last Monday right after we left Internet. V, an X-investigator, called us and told us that we were welcome to come by her house whenever. On Tuesday when I was with Hermana McWhorter, we decided to drop by. For those of you that don't remember, she's the one that almost got baptized last month. Due to a couple heath problems she wasn't feeling well the day of her baptism and we had to cancel it all the day of.
Well, on Tuesday we went by her house and she was a completely different person! We asked her how she is doing with her prayers and if she's been reading in the Book of Mormon. She responded and said that she prays every day and she is now in Mosiah chapter 15 in the Book of Mormon! She also read up to chapter 7 in the Principles of the Gospel book. ...Umm...what?! Incredible. She told us how that last time when she was going to get baptized she had a lot of pain in her spine and in her leg. Hermana Carson told her that she could pray to ask God to take the pain away. V told us, "But I didn't believe her. I didn't have the faith. But this morning I woke up with a lot of pain in my leg and I decided to try it. I asked God to take away the pain, and He DID! It left! Before I didn't have the faith, but now I do. I know that God answers prayers and I know that I need to use my faith and get baptized."
It was all such a miracle. We started asking her when she would like to get baptized, and she basically said as soon as possible. This past Saturday an 8-year-old girl in the ward also got baptized, so there was already a baptismal service planned. We were able to plan everything for that day and V got baptized 4 days later.
"I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." It was such a beautiful baptismal service. It was absolutely perfect. There weren't any hiccups or missing keys..it was absolutely perfect. The spirit was so strong and V was so happy! When she got out of the water she told us, "This is the best afternoon I have ever had in my life. I am so happy!"
I truly got to watch the conversion of V. It took a little while for her to be ready, but when her time came the Lord put everything into place. I feel so grateful that He trusts me to be his servant and His hands in this part of the world. I feel so privileged to help these people reach the waters of baptism and have a restoration of their spirit.
I know this church is true. I know it is the only true church on this Earth. It's Jesus Christ's church, and it's absolutely perfect.
I hope you are all well, happy and healthy! Les quiero!
-Hermana Vawdrey
Other updates:
I feel like Alma did in the Book of Mormon when he said: "I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." This past week was by far one of the best weeks I have had during my mission. So many miracles happened and I don't think it´s possible to love being a missionary more than I do right now in this moment.
Earlier this week we had divisions again. Hermana Carson went to Barrio Villa Floresta, and Hermana McWhorter came here to be with me in Barrio Pueyrredón. Hermana McWhorter and I were so excited to be companions again, because we were companions in the MTC! We were only companions back then for two days because she moved up to the advanced class. We laugh now because even though we were able to be companions again...once again it was only for two days! Yet. They were two days of miracles!
It all started last Monday right after we left Internet. V, an X-investigator, called us and told us that we were welcome to come by her house whenever. On Tuesday when I was with Hermana McWhorter, we decided to drop by. For those of you that don't remember, she's the one that almost got baptized last month. Due to a couple heath problems she wasn't feeling well the day of her baptism and we had to cancel it all the day of.
Well, on Tuesday we went by her house and she was a completely different person! We asked her how she is doing with her prayers and if she's been reading in the Book of Mormon. She responded and said that she prays every day and she is now in Mosiah chapter 15 in the Book of Mormon! She also read up to chapter 7 in the Principles of the Gospel book. ...Umm...what?! Incredible. She told us how that last time when she was going to get baptized she had a lot of pain in her spine and in her leg. Hermana Carson told her that she could pray to ask God to take the pain away. V told us, "But I didn't believe her. I didn't have the faith. But this morning I woke up with a lot of pain in my leg and I decided to try it. I asked God to take away the pain, and He DID! It left! Before I didn't have the faith, but now I do. I know that God answers prayers and I know that I need to use my faith and get baptized."
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| Hermana McWhorter, V y Yo |
"I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." It was such a beautiful baptismal service. It was absolutely perfect. There weren't any hiccups or missing keys..it was absolutely perfect. The spirit was so strong and V was so happy! When she got out of the water she told us, "This is the best afternoon I have ever had in my life. I am so happy!"
I truly got to watch the conversion of V. It took a little while for her to be ready, but when her time came the Lord put everything into place. I feel so grateful that He trusts me to be his servant and His hands in this part of the world. I feel so privileged to help these people reach the waters of baptism and have a restoration of their spirit.
I know this church is true. I know it is the only true church on this Earth. It's Jesus Christ's church, and it's absolutely perfect.
I hope you are all well, happy and healthy! Les quiero!
-Hermana Vawdrey
Other updates:
- We received transfer calls, and Hermana Carson and I will be staying together for another transfer. We were a little surprised, but the Lord knows what He's doing. Obviously there are still things that He needs us to do together.
- Hermana Squire and Hermana Batista moved out of our house and into their own. Our little apartment feels sooooooooooo big now. We miss them GREATLY, but we're glad to have a little bit more space.
- I finished the Libro de Mormón for the second time in my mission!!
- Our elevator plays old 80's ballads. haha Mom and Dad, it makes me think or you every time because it's basically like our own personal FM 100 in Argentina! Woot!
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| V! |
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| Two baptisms this past week! |
October 22, 2012
Mickey Ds!
Hey Fam,
ALOHA! I mean...hola. :) Here we are again, another week! Weird. It's also the last week of the transfer already. Hermana Carson and I are feeling that she is going to get transfered, but we`ll find out for sure this weekend.
This week was absolutely incredible! I don't really even understand what or how it happened, but we found at least one investigator almost every day this week! And we found a family!! I'm speechless and feel so overwhelmingly grateful that the Lord has helped us find these people that are willing to listen. We had many very powerful lessons this week when the spirit was very strong. At the end of the very day we were absolutely exhausted. FATIGUED! Yet I believe it was because we gave absolutely everything to the Lord, and He has been blessing us so much for it.
We started teaching a recent convert's daughter. We originally went to teach her mom one of the recent convert lessons, but she ended up being there too. When we got there she told us, "I want to get baptized! I know that I need to. I live with my dad in another town, but when I come to live with my mom for Christmas break I want to get baptized." Hermana Carson and I both looked at each other and were like "Uhhh....what? Did she really just say that?!" Awesome. She is such a sweetheart, and we are really excited to teach her.
Yesterday was Mother's Day here in Argentina. And I tell you what, Mom, it made me miss you and love you! I am so lucky! You are a wonderful mom! May the whole world know it!! I hope you know that I am one of your greatest fans, and I can't wait to come home and hang out with you in a couple months.
Other Random news:
All right, my time is up. Family, I love you! Have a great week!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
ALOHA! I mean...hola. :) Here we are again, another week! Weird. It's also the last week of the transfer already. Hermana Carson and I are feeling that she is going to get transfered, but we`ll find out for sure this weekend.
This week was absolutely incredible! I don't really even understand what or how it happened, but we found at least one investigator almost every day this week! And we found a family!! I'm speechless and feel so overwhelmingly grateful that the Lord has helped us find these people that are willing to listen. We had many very powerful lessons this week when the spirit was very strong. At the end of the very day we were absolutely exhausted. FATIGUED! Yet I believe it was because we gave absolutely everything to the Lord, and He has been blessing us so much for it.
We started teaching a recent convert's daughter. We originally went to teach her mom one of the recent convert lessons, but she ended up being there too. When we got there she told us, "I want to get baptized! I know that I need to. I live with my dad in another town, but when I come to live with my mom for Christmas break I want to get baptized." Hermana Carson and I both looked at each other and were like "Uhhh....what? Did she really just say that?!" Awesome. She is such a sweetheart, and we are really excited to teach her.
Yesterday was Mother's Day here in Argentina. And I tell you what, Mom, it made me miss you and love you! I am so lucky! You are a wonderful mom! May the whole world know it!! I hope you know that I am one of your greatest fans, and I can't wait to come home and hang out with you in a couple months.
Other Random news:
- I cut my hair! Don't worry, Dad, it's just a trim!
- We ate at McDonalds ("Mac Donalds") as a district today :)
- Hermana Squire and Hermana Batista may be moving to their own house this week. We'll miss them SO much, but it'll be nice to have a little bit more room in our little casita!
All right, my time is up. Family, I love you! Have a great week!!
-Hermana Vawdrey
October 15, 2012
RESPONSIBILITY!
FAMILIAAA!!!
Hola from Argentina! Thank you so much for your letters. They all made me especially happy today, I'm not really sure why. :) I am so blessed! You are the greatest family anyone could ever ask for!
This past week was a little different than most weeks because we spent most of it preparing for a multi-ward activity we had. Some of the Elders in our district had the idea to have a little show/play to act out some of the stories in the Book of Mormon. During the week we all met up at the church and painted the back drops, made costumes out of the random clothes we had in our apartments, and set up the cultural hall to look like Book of Mormon times. Wow, it turned out so great! It was a great success. I attached several pictures.
I love the Book of Mormon. I always have, but on my mission I have gained an even greater, even DEEPER love for it. I know it is true. I know every verse is written for our benefit, and it is simply up for us to accept the invitation to use it to apply and improve our lives.
So I was studying my Patriarchal Blessing the other day. It never ceases to blow me away how much potential every child of God has. He sent us here with strengths...and weaknesses igual, so that we can learn and grow and reach our full potential. But what stood out the most to me was the word RESPONSIBILITY. It shows up twice in my patriarchal blessing, and I don't think I will read it again without that word standing out to me. The Lord has given us so much, but in return He expects us to do our part. He has more blessings for us than we can even imagine, yet we need to show that we want them. We need to be faithful, diligent, and obedient and He will give them to us! It's like the principle of tithing: We pay Him 10%, but really He is paying us 90%.
I love my Heavenly Father. I know I am a daughter of God, and I am greatful to be one of His full-time missionaries.
I love all you hooligins back at home! Have a great week!
-Hermana Vawdrey
Hola from Argentina! Thank you so much for your letters. They all made me especially happy today, I'm not really sure why. :) I am so blessed! You are the greatest family anyone could ever ask for!
This past week was a little different than most weeks because we spent most of it preparing for a multi-ward activity we had. Some of the Elders in our district had the idea to have a little show/play to act out some of the stories in the Book of Mormon. During the week we all met up at the church and painted the back drops, made costumes out of the random clothes we had in our apartments, and set up the cultural hall to look like Book of Mormon times. Wow, it turned out so great! It was a great success. I attached several pictures.
I love the Book of Mormon. I always have, but on my mission I have gained an even greater, even DEEPER love for it. I know it is true. I know every verse is written for our benefit, and it is simply up for us to accept the invitation to use it to apply and improve our lives.
So I was studying my Patriarchal Blessing the other day. It never ceases to blow me away how much potential every child of God has. He sent us here with strengths...and weaknesses igual, so that we can learn and grow and reach our full potential. But what stood out the most to me was the word RESPONSIBILITY. It shows up twice in my patriarchal blessing, and I don't think I will read it again without that word standing out to me. The Lord has given us so much, but in return He expects us to do our part. He has more blessings for us than we can even imagine, yet we need to show that we want them. We need to be faithful, diligent, and obedient and He will give them to us! It's like the principle of tithing: We pay Him 10%, but really He is paying us 90%.
I love my Heavenly Father. I know I am a daughter of God, and I am greatful to be one of His full-time missionaries.
I love all you hooligins back at home! Have a great week!
-Hermana Vawdrey
October 8, 2012
"Ask the missionaries...they can help you!"
Family and Friends,
We had a good week. Barrio Pueyrredón is a good place to work. A hard place to work, and I can see it molding me into the potential that the Lord has for me as his daughter. Unfortunately, I also believe that Barrio Pueyrredón is "Miscommunication City." About every other day we run in to a situation with the ward members where they had someone be in charge of doing something...yet they never told the said person that they were in charge. Bah. I've never been so grateful for all of the Crucial Conversations training that I had while working at VitalSmarts. Here's a shout out to all of you at VitalSmarts!! Thanks for all that you do. You really are changing the world!
Wasn't conference just awesome! I always leave thinking "this conference is the BEST conference there ever was!" Yet I think that's just because all of the talks are directed by divine revelation so that we can hear exactly what we need to hear. :) I feel so blessed that the Lord loves us so much to give us such a wonderful opportunity to have General Conference every six months.
On Saturday we actually ended up watching General Conference in Spanish because there was a problem with the satellite. At first I was a little bummed because I wasn't able to hear the actual voices of the prophet and apostles. But it was so cool to see how my Spanish has improved! I listened to 4 hours of meetings in another language and I still understood! I am so grateful that I get to serve Spanish-speaking. I love this language. It's beautiful.
There were so many great conference talks! I think my favorites were Elders Uchtdorf, Bednar, Nelson, and Holland. Wow, does Elder Holland have a gift of teaching and speaking, or what?! I love how he leaves you speechless when he finishes his talk. "Do you love the Lord?" ¡Qué pregunta! (What a question!) Or how about the new age for missionaries! We were freakin'out!! The youth these days really are an incredible generation. And they are ready to leave and serve the Lord earlier now! I am so excited for the amount of church growth that we will be able to see now.
One of my favorite moments however was during Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk. "Ask the missionaries...they can help you." To be completely honest, that talk was a little bit intimidating to think of all of the questions that people have, and the responsibility I have to help them. Yet I feel so privileged that I am called and commissioned to be a representative of Jesus Christ. I feel His presence every day and I can sense Him qualifying me to do His work. I am on His errand, and it is such a wonderful privilege.
I love this gospel. I know it's true. I'm a Mormon. I know it. I live it. And I love it.
-Hermana Vawdrey
We had a good week. Barrio Pueyrredón is a good place to work. A hard place to work, and I can see it molding me into the potential that the Lord has for me as his daughter. Unfortunately, I also believe that Barrio Pueyrredón is "Miscommunication City." About every other day we run in to a situation with the ward members where they had someone be in charge of doing something...yet they never told the said person that they were in charge. Bah. I've never been so grateful for all of the Crucial Conversations training that I had while working at VitalSmarts. Here's a shout out to all of you at VitalSmarts!! Thanks for all that you do. You really are changing the world!
Wasn't conference just awesome! I always leave thinking "this conference is the BEST conference there ever was!" Yet I think that's just because all of the talks are directed by divine revelation so that we can hear exactly what we need to hear. :) I feel so blessed that the Lord loves us so much to give us such a wonderful opportunity to have General Conference every six months.
On Saturday we actually ended up watching General Conference in Spanish because there was a problem with the satellite. At first I was a little bummed because I wasn't able to hear the actual voices of the prophet and apostles. But it was so cool to see how my Spanish has improved! I listened to 4 hours of meetings in another language and I still understood! I am so grateful that I get to serve Spanish-speaking. I love this language. It's beautiful.
There were so many great conference talks! I think my favorites were Elders Uchtdorf, Bednar, Nelson, and Holland. Wow, does Elder Holland have a gift of teaching and speaking, or what?! I love how he leaves you speechless when he finishes his talk. "Do you love the Lord?" ¡Qué pregunta! (What a question!) Or how about the new age for missionaries! We were freakin'out!! The youth these days really are an incredible generation. And they are ready to leave and serve the Lord earlier now! I am so excited for the amount of church growth that we will be able to see now.
One of my favorite moments however was during Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk. "Ask the missionaries...they can help you." To be completely honest, that talk was a little bit intimidating to think of all of the questions that people have, and the responsibility I have to help them. Yet I feel so privileged that I am called and commissioned to be a representative of Jesus Christ. I feel His presence every day and I can sense Him qualifying me to do His work. I am on His errand, and it is such a wonderful privilege.
I love this gospel. I know it's true. I'm a Mormon. I know it. I live it. And I love it.
-Hermana Vawdrey
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| Our District |
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| A bunch of missionaries at General Conference |
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| Celebrating Hermana Squire's birthday a week later with lunch at "Big Six." Thanks Mom and Dad Squire! |
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| Zona Bahia Blanca - Octubre 2012 |
October 2, 2012
Virtue
Umm...what? It's October? When did that happen?! That's just weird.
Today has been a great day. We're starting a new month, a new week, and we have the chance to start over and be better than we were before. This morning we had a Zone Conference with Presidente Parreño, and it was so awesome! We all left very inspired and so excited to get back to our areas to work. He told us that so far this year we have had over 700 baptisms in our mission, but we have the goal to reach 1,000 by the end of the year! It's very reachable, but it will also require us to give everything that we have to the Lord so that he can qualify us to receive the blessings.
Speaking of baptisms…we almost had one on Saturday. V! She has a lot of health problems, bipolar depression being one of them :( and was too sick to get out of bed to go to her baptism. When all of the members still showed up it was unfortunate to tell them that the baptism wouldn't be happening, but I was so humbled by how they handled it. They were all so supportive and understanding. Since everyone was there, we decided to still eat all of the desserts together to have a little activity together. Cute Hermano Ortiz (Counselor in the bishopric) said a prayer on the food and specifically asked the Lord what they could do as a ward to help V. It was so sweet! I was really humbled by his example to be patient and to continue looking for ways to serve. :)
I kinda feel like I'm going through the refiner's fire right now. But it's good. I am learning so much, and the little miracles and the tender mercies that happen each day are even bigger than they used to be because I have to work harder for them. Recently I've been studying a lot in Preach My Gospel about the Christlike attributes. It's crazy to me how closely related they are. Not only that, but when you work on one, you find yourself working on another as well. :) It's cool how that works.
This week I picked to work on virtue, and I absolutely loved it! It's more than just a pretty word, the new young women's value, or an aspiration of the kind of person you want to become one day. It's your character! It's who you are or who you aren't. It's who you are on the inside--that part that most people can't see. It's what you do or what you choose not to do...especially when no on is watching.
For example: Are you the kind of person that really cleans your room when your mom tells you to? Or, do you shove everything under the bed or in the closet so it can´t be seen?
Virtue is the key to obtaining the true gift of the Atonement. If we really garnish our thoughts with virtue, the Holy Ghost will be our constant companion. With virtue we will have the courage and strength to overcome even our greatest feared challenges.
I love this church. It is my purpose, my life, and my passion. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I know He lives.
I hope all is well! I´ll be thinking of you all during General Conference!
Les amo!
-Hermana “Patri” I mean...Hermana “Barbie” I mean...Hermana Vawdrey
Hahahaha Who knew "Vawdrey" would be such a hard name to pronounce for Latinos?!
Today has been a great day. We're starting a new month, a new week, and we have the chance to start over and be better than we were before. This morning we had a Zone Conference with Presidente Parreño, and it was so awesome! We all left very inspired and so excited to get back to our areas to work. He told us that so far this year we have had over 700 baptisms in our mission, but we have the goal to reach 1,000 by the end of the year! It's very reachable, but it will also require us to give everything that we have to the Lord so that he can qualify us to receive the blessings.
Speaking of baptisms…we almost had one on Saturday. V! She has a lot of health problems, bipolar depression being one of them :( and was too sick to get out of bed to go to her baptism. When all of the members still showed up it was unfortunate to tell them that the baptism wouldn't be happening, but I was so humbled by how they handled it. They were all so supportive and understanding. Since everyone was there, we decided to still eat all of the desserts together to have a little activity together. Cute Hermano Ortiz (Counselor in the bishopric) said a prayer on the food and specifically asked the Lord what they could do as a ward to help V. It was so sweet! I was really humbled by his example to be patient and to continue looking for ways to serve. :)
I kinda feel like I'm going through the refiner's fire right now. But it's good. I am learning so much, and the little miracles and the tender mercies that happen each day are even bigger than they used to be because I have to work harder for them. Recently I've been studying a lot in Preach My Gospel about the Christlike attributes. It's crazy to me how closely related they are. Not only that, but when you work on one, you find yourself working on another as well. :) It's cool how that works.
This week I picked to work on virtue, and I absolutely loved it! It's more than just a pretty word, the new young women's value, or an aspiration of the kind of person you want to become one day. It's your character! It's who you are or who you aren't. It's who you are on the inside--that part that most people can't see. It's what you do or what you choose not to do...especially when no on is watching.
For example: Are you the kind of person that really cleans your room when your mom tells you to? Or, do you shove everything under the bed or in the closet so it can´t be seen?
Virtue is the key to obtaining the true gift of the Atonement. If we really garnish our thoughts with virtue, the Holy Ghost will be our constant companion. With virtue we will have the courage and strength to overcome even our greatest feared challenges.
I love this church. It is my purpose, my life, and my passion. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I know He lives.
I hope all is well! I´ll be thinking of you all during General Conference!
Les amo!
-Hermana “Patri” I mean...Hermana “Barbie” I mean...Hermana Vawdrey
Hahahaha Who knew "Vawdrey" would be such a hard name to pronounce for Latinos?!
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| Cute Hermana Squire's 22nd birthday and 8th Mission Month is today! We celebrated with all the decorations her mom sent. Thanks Momma Squire!! |
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| Hermanas Baker y McWhorter. I got to see them at Zone Conference today! It was the first time we've been together since last December!! |
September 24, 2012
A number with no name...
FAMILIA!
The big news of the week is that we are now living with a LATINA! Hermana Cydnee Squire is training a cute Hermana from Panama City! Her name is Hermana Doralys Batista. She's a convert, the only member in her family, and is already a killer missionary. (Mom and Dad Squire, if you're reading this: your daughter is an INCREDIBLE trainer! She is working many miracles and I feel honored to be able to live with her and learn from her example.)
To be completely honest, there were a lot of ups and downs this week, but the ups always seemed to make the downs seem like they never happened. :) We're still working with V a lot to help prepare her for her baptism, and she is really making strides. We're working hard to help her make friends with the members in the ward, and it has been so neat to be able to watch the ward members reach out to help and serve her.
Our area Barrio Pueyrredón is HUGE and sometimes I almost feel like we lose time walking from one end to the other between all of our appointments. But it is always so neat to see how many people the Lord places in our paths on the way there. There is ALWAYS someone on the way to every cita that seems to have been prepared down to the second to be able to talk to us. Lately I feel like I have been able to recognize those people that are more prepared just from the first few seconds of their first impression. I love those moments because I know that through the help of the spirit I am helping the Lord strengthen his church in this part of the world.
One day this week we were working hard trying to find new investigators. It had been a long day of rejection when we finally decided to go by an old ex-investigator. We arrived at her house and realized it was an apartment complex...and we didn't have her apartment number so that we could ring her door! There just happened to be a sign on the wall that listed all the last names of all the people in the complex, but her name wasn't there. We then noticed that two spaces on the board didn't have a name. Then we had the idea to try the two numbers that had no name to see if that is where she lived. We picked one number and pushed the button. A woman's voice came on the speaker, so we asked for MR. She said, "Yeah, that's me!" We were shocked! It was one of those moments when we realized just how much the Lord must need for us to go see her. We told her we were the missionaries and she had us come in right away! YEAH! The shock has still never worn off when people let us in their homes. I love it. :)
We went in and taught her a lesson, and she told us how she never was able to go to church so the missionaries stopped coming by. But then she explained how she really wants to, and we arranged to go with her the next day to have a little tour of the church. It went so well! She felt the spirit, and we were able to teach a little lesson to her in the sacrament room. She accepted a baptismal date and we are so excited for her! She'll need to get married, but we can already tell that she is more prepared to change her life to follow the example of Christ.
Okay, one last thing. I love the Prophet Joseph Smith. I am always so amazed by the life that he lived, and my love and respect for him never stops growing! Hermana Carson and I realized the other day just how powerful of an experience he had in the Sacred Grove. We were talking about how strong the spirit always is when we teach the first vision, and then we realized that during our entire missions, NEVER has their been an interruption when we quote the words of Joseph Smith's experience. Yeah, sometimes there are little distractions just before or just after, but NEVER during. It's like Satan has no power over the truthfulness of his experience. I love it! If that's not proof of the Restoration, I don't know what is!
Family, I love you. Thank you for all that you do. Thank your for your love for the Savior and for supporting me during my mission. I hope all is well, and I'll be looking forward to your letters next Monday to be able to hear from you. :)
¡Besito!
-Hermana Vawdrey
Ps. I'm sorry if this letter is full of typos. My mind is working in Spanglish, and the email on this computer is formatted to be in Spanish so it thinks every work is spelled wrong anyway...ha
The big news of the week is that we are now living with a LATINA! Hermana Cydnee Squire is training a cute Hermana from Panama City! Her name is Hermana Doralys Batista. She's a convert, the only member in her family, and is already a killer missionary. (Mom and Dad Squire, if you're reading this: your daughter is an INCREDIBLE trainer! She is working many miracles and I feel honored to be able to live with her and learn from her example.)
To be completely honest, there were a lot of ups and downs this week, but the ups always seemed to make the downs seem like they never happened. :) We're still working with V a lot to help prepare her for her baptism, and she is really making strides. We're working hard to help her make friends with the members in the ward, and it has been so neat to be able to watch the ward members reach out to help and serve her.
Our area Barrio Pueyrredón is HUGE and sometimes I almost feel like we lose time walking from one end to the other between all of our appointments. But it is always so neat to see how many people the Lord places in our paths on the way there. There is ALWAYS someone on the way to every cita that seems to have been prepared down to the second to be able to talk to us. Lately I feel like I have been able to recognize those people that are more prepared just from the first few seconds of their first impression. I love those moments because I know that through the help of the spirit I am helping the Lord strengthen his church in this part of the world.
One day this week we were working hard trying to find new investigators. It had been a long day of rejection when we finally decided to go by an old ex-investigator. We arrived at her house and realized it was an apartment complex...and we didn't have her apartment number so that we could ring her door! There just happened to be a sign on the wall that listed all the last names of all the people in the complex, but her name wasn't there. We then noticed that two spaces on the board didn't have a name. Then we had the idea to try the two numbers that had no name to see if that is where she lived. We picked one number and pushed the button. A woman's voice came on the speaker, so we asked for MR. She said, "Yeah, that's me!" We were shocked! It was one of those moments when we realized just how much the Lord must need for us to go see her. We told her we were the missionaries and she had us come in right away! YEAH! The shock has still never worn off when people let us in their homes. I love it. :)
We went in and taught her a lesson, and she told us how she never was able to go to church so the missionaries stopped coming by. But then she explained how she really wants to, and we arranged to go with her the next day to have a little tour of the church. It went so well! She felt the spirit, and we were able to teach a little lesson to her in the sacrament room. She accepted a baptismal date and we are so excited for her! She'll need to get married, but we can already tell that she is more prepared to change her life to follow the example of Christ.
Okay, one last thing. I love the Prophet Joseph Smith. I am always so amazed by the life that he lived, and my love and respect for him never stops growing! Hermana Carson and I realized the other day just how powerful of an experience he had in the Sacred Grove. We were talking about how strong the spirit always is when we teach the first vision, and then we realized that during our entire missions, NEVER has their been an interruption when we quote the words of Joseph Smith's experience. Yeah, sometimes there are little distractions just before or just after, but NEVER during. It's like Satan has no power over the truthfulness of his experience. I love it! If that's not proof of the Restoration, I don't know what is!
Family, I love you. Thank you for all that you do. Thank your for your love for the Savior and for supporting me during my mission. I hope all is well, and I'll be looking forward to your letters next Monday to be able to hear from you. :)
¡Besito!
-Hermana Vawdrey
Ps. I'm sorry if this letter is full of typos. My mind is working in Spanglish, and the email on this computer is formatted to be in Spanish so it thinks every work is spelled wrong anyway...ha
September 17, 2012
Staying in Bahía Blanca
Hellooo!!
So we received transfer calls this week! I will be staying in Pueyrredón with Hermana Carson for at least another 6 weeks. I´m excited to stay in Pueyrredón because this area has so much potential! Things are really starting to pick up here, and I am really excited to keep working with some of our investigators.
We have an investigator that is close to getting baptized. The poor thing is a 50-year-old widow, and has a lot of health struggles, so we´re working a lot with her to understand the healing power of the Atonement.
I love teaching the gospel! Can I just pause and say that? I LOVE teaching the gospel. I love it more and more as I teach it, and I love it the more and more I learn about it.
This week we did divisions with some of the other hermanas in Bahía Blanca. I went with Hermana Andrea Rodriguez from Uruguay! She is such a neat girl! We worked together for about two days, and I learned so much from her. She is a convert, served 5 MINI MISSONS before leaving on her mission, and she has a killer testimony. It was interesting to work with her and see a latin way of approaching missionary work, how to contact people in the streets, etc. Divisions are definitely inspired because it gives you a chance to morph more of your approach to work with another, and it comes out even better than before!
It was so incredible....increíble, digo...how many miracles happened just in the 2 days we worked together. It was a testimony building experience for me that the Lord knew that we could randomly be together for those 2 days, and so He prepared many people to put into our paths. Life is so much better and runs so much more smoothly when we just let the Lord be in charge, right?
Mmm...I just swatted a mosquito. They are absolutely EVERYWHERE! I´m wearing a lovely "layer" of mosquito bites all over my body. Spring is definitely here, and the change of seasons and the arrival of humidity has brought all of the mosquitos along with it. It´s been so nice lately, however! I went a whole week without needing my coat! I´m definitely excited about that.
Hermana Orton goes home tomorrow, and I send a little package with her to give to you. Mom and Dad she´ll probably be calling you soon. But just so you know, "it´s coming!!" I love you all! Have a great week!
-Hermana Vawdrey
So we received transfer calls this week! I will be staying in Pueyrredón with Hermana Carson for at least another 6 weeks. I´m excited to stay in Pueyrredón because this area has so much potential! Things are really starting to pick up here, and I am really excited to keep working with some of our investigators.
We have an investigator that is close to getting baptized. The poor thing is a 50-year-old widow, and has a lot of health struggles, so we´re working a lot with her to understand the healing power of the Atonement.
I love teaching the gospel! Can I just pause and say that? I LOVE teaching the gospel. I love it more and more as I teach it, and I love it the more and more I learn about it.
This week we did divisions with some of the other hermanas in Bahía Blanca. I went with Hermana Andrea Rodriguez from Uruguay! She is such a neat girl! We worked together for about two days, and I learned so much from her. She is a convert, served 5 MINI MISSONS before leaving on her mission, and she has a killer testimony. It was interesting to work with her and see a latin way of approaching missionary work, how to contact people in the streets, etc. Divisions are definitely inspired because it gives you a chance to morph more of your approach to work with another, and it comes out even better than before!
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| Hermana Rodriguez y yo |
It was so incredible....increíble, digo...how many miracles happened just in the 2 days we worked together. It was a testimony building experience for me that the Lord knew that we could randomly be together for those 2 days, and so He prepared many people to put into our paths. Life is so much better and runs so much more smoothly when we just let the Lord be in charge, right?
Mmm...I just swatted a mosquito. They are absolutely EVERYWHERE! I´m wearing a lovely "layer" of mosquito bites all over my body. Spring is definitely here, and the change of seasons and the arrival of humidity has brought all of the mosquitos along with it. It´s been so nice lately, however! I went a whole week without needing my coat! I´m definitely excited about that.
Hermana Orton goes home tomorrow, and I send a little package with her to give to you. Mom and Dad she´ll probably be calling you soon. But just so you know, "it´s coming!!" I love you all! Have a great week!
-Hermana Vawdrey
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| I saw Hermana Baker today! She is now serving in Pigue! |
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| Our surprise visit from Hermana Orton, who is on her way home to Provo! Hermanas Squire, Orton, Israelson, Baker, me, and Carson |
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| Hermana Squire ordered more placas--this is what she received! |
September 10, 2012
"When we dedicate these structures, we dedicate our selves."
Hello Hello!
I can't believe it's already been another week! I know I probably say that just about every week, but really...I can't believe it! It was another busy week, and another week llena llena llena, full of miracles. :)
On Saturday we had an activity with all of the youth in one of the wards in Bahía Blanca. We had an activity to give the youth an opportunity to see what it's like to be a missionary for a day. We started the day out at the church first thing in the morning to have personal study and companionship study. Then we all broke out into divisions and went to work in our areas. Hermana Carson and I went with this cute girl named GS. It was really fun to see her excitement and her eagerness to share the gospel. It was a fun experience for all of us to explain how we do different things in missionary work, and how easy it is to share your testimony with others. After the day we all met back at the church and had a testimony meeting. It was so great to hear the testimonies of these youth...future missionaries! The youth are so strong and so valiant! No wonder the Lord asks all of his young men to serve missions, they work miracles!
Yesterday however was by far the highlight of the week. It was the re-dedication of the Buenos Aires temple! It was so awesome!! On Saturday night they had a big celebration and all of the youth danced some folk dances that are characteristic of Argentina. Then Sunday was the actual re-dedication. President Henry B. Eyring, M. Russell Ballard and D. Todd Christofferson were all there. It was so neat to be able to experience a temple re-dedication in another language!! I loved it so much. They talked a lot about how as members of the church we always have desires to be better, to be more obedient, to be more united as a family, etc., and there is no other place to do that than in the temple. The temple is where we learn how to be more humble and submissive like children. I loved what President Henry B. Eyring said specifically: "When we dedicate these temples and structures, we dedicate ourselves." We dedicate ourselves to do the Lord's work here on the earth.
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| Buenos Aires Argentina Temple |
As as missionary I know that I am dedicated to do the Lord's work. I am dedicated to serve the people in Argentina so that they can one day enjoy all of the blessings and covenants that we make in the temple. I am so grateful to serve in Argentina. I love this people so much! They are descendents of the people in the Book of Mormon, and I know the righteous are being led to the truth...I just have to help them find and recognize it.
I love you all! Watch some BYU football for me, and make sure you make some time this week to enjoy the temple!
-Hermana Vawdrey
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