Just keep going!

Familia y Amigos,

Lately Hermana Freeman and I have been working really hard, but haven't had a ton of success. This passed week we decided to work on being more grateful. We did this so that we can at least notice the little things that are going right...among the big things that are going wrong. I have learned SO much! We have recognized many little blessings and tender mercies, and by doing so we have recieved even more.

Earlier this week on Thursday, we had four citas (appointments) in the morning. We were so excited! All of them were on pretty much completely different sides of town, but we didn't care! We were still thrilled to have such a promising morning! But then,

every

single

cita

fell

through.

Every one! We were crushed! Why couldn't the Lord bless us with just one appointment when we had been so diligent and so obedient? I don't know. But the spirit helped me learn an important lesson when I was reading in the Book of Mormon later on that day. I read in Alma 21, which is about Alma the younger, the sons of Mosiah, and the missions that they served. Chapter 21 is mostly about Aaron, and I learned so much from his example. He went alone to teach the gospel to this group of people who was really wicked. He was rejected, mocked, and later cast into prison. But I noticed one re-occurring thing throughout all of his trials and troubles as a missionary. He kept going! He always kept going, and eventually the Lord blessed the people and there was much success. :) I don't know how far out that day is for me, but until then I just gotta keep going!

Since then things have improved. We have an investigator that is PROGRESSING! Finally! I can't tell you how happy and grateful I am. It's a neat story how we found her too. One morning we were out working and we saw this cute little girl with crazy curly hair, sitting out on the front porch step. I thought maybe she was in time-out or something. We asked her if her mom was home and she mumbled something that we couldn't understand. We then kept on walking, but right when we were about to turn the corner she yelled "¡Chicas! ¡Chicas!" and motioned for us to come back. We did, and her mom let us right in!

Her name is "Y". She has three daughters: 5, 3 (the one that was on the step), and 1. She is a single mom and has been through a lot. She came to church yesterday, and I know that was only the Lord's doing. There is no way that we could have gotten her there by ourselves! The youngest had cried all night long, so she hadn't slept at all. Yet when we went to pick her up she was still willing to go to church and got ready in 10 minutes! With three little girls! That's a miracle right there. She later told us that she has never let in any other missionaries before. Jehovah's Witnesses come by a lot, but she said she will only talk to them outside. She said, "I don't know why I let you in, I don't know why I went to church, because that's so unlike me!" Yet we know why. It's the spirit! It's really fun to see it working in her. She accepted a baptismal date, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to teach her more about the gospel and the love of her Heavenly Father.

Hope all is well at home!

¡Chow! ¡Chow!

-Hermana Vawdrey

Nothing is possible WITHOUT the Lord

¡Hola Hola!

I just completed my second transfer in Argentina! It went so fast, I can hardly believe it. Hermana Freeman and I are still companions, which I am very grateful for. She is a great missionary. Things are still up in the air with Hermana Chento (who is waiting for her Visa). She could possibly leave for Mexico mid-transfer if all goes well...which means that I'd be in a trio with Hermana Arancibia and Hermana Freeman. We'll see, time will tell! Since Presidente made the change that we will be in our areas for 6-9 months, there weren't a lot of changes. We have a new district leader now since Elder Wells has finished his two years of service. We're really sad to have Elder Wells go, yet we're excited for change. :) Our district now only includes the four of us hermanas here in Pigué, and two elders in Suarez, a neighboring city. It's smaller, but we won't have to travel as much and lose working time. Whoo!

This week has been another learning experience--as always. :) I know nothing is impossible with the Lord, but I am learning that nothing is possible without the Lord! This is the reason why we have challenges and struggles, because they help us remember how much we need to rely on Him for support, advice, and comfort. He wants us to lean on Him for strength! (Proverbs 3:5)

We met a woman this week named "P". It was about 100 degrees that day...plus humidity. (Yeah, feel free to gasp now. We're cooking.) But anyway, first we knocked her neighbor's door who is an ex-investigator. There was no answer. We almost turned around to keep going the other way, but I had a thought to try the next door. "P" had been swimming out in the backyard with her family, but she answered the door and was really friendly and willing to listen to our message. Thank goodness I listened to that prompting to try knocking one more door! She has a basic Catholic background and seems really prepared to learn more about the plan the Lord has for her. We're hoping we can set up a baptismal date with her when we see her tomorrow.

Hope all is going well! Les amo!

Brittni in a dress she received for Christmas

Brittni finally received her Christmas package!

Brittni with the plate Jordan made her
(complete with investigator and CTR ring)

Well it sounds like back at home every one is getting engaged and married!! Whoo!

• Addie and Calvin, congrats! Hope your day was great. 
• SHAY BAUGH! Shay Baugh...how great. Congratulations! :)
• Rachel Cook--I'm so happy for you and your engagement. Congrats!
• Danielle West! Whoo-wee! Congrats.
• Lynzi Carson! Yay! Congrats to you too!

-Hermana Vawdrey

The New Year

¡Feliz año nuevo!

It's been quite the week, so much happened! We experienced heart break, an Argentine wedding, the gift of tongues, fireworks, a baptism, and the challenge of trying to fall asleep when it's 85 degrees!

We had a hard start this week because V decided that she doesn't want to be baptized. :`(  ...which means her kids can't get baptized either because they have to be at least 12 years old, or have at least one parent that is a member.) The day before her baptism she said that she decided that the church is too demanding because she doesn't want to take out her earrings. We were heartbroken. A piece of metal! A piece of metal is holding her back from her Salvation and from more blessings than she can even imagine! It was so hard to see her throw it all away. I know one day she'll come around though. She'll remember what she's missing. We're going to go by sometime in the near future to see if we can "rescue" her again and help her re-kindle her faith. Don't worry Mom, I'm doing everything I can do be strong for her. Faith is the first ingredient for miracles.

J y P have been members for awhile, and this week they got married! We were thrilled for them. Now we are going to help prepare them to go to the temple so that they can be together for eternity!!

Las familias pueden ser eternas!

This week I had a constant prayer in my heart that I would have more opportunities to share my testimony with people. The other day we were teaching a woman and the coolest thing happened! I understood pretty much every word she said! (That doesn't happen very often. I normally only understand parts and have to piece everything together to try to figure out what was said.) But I understood everything! We were teaching her about the importance of the Book of Mormon. At one point I opened my mouth to bear my testimony and I just kept talking and teaching for quite awhile. It was so incredible because I realized that was the Gift of Tongues in that exact moment. I had all of these thoughts and things put into my mind that I should say. I said so many things that I didn't even know I knew how to say! She had lots of interest and said she will come to church. :)

We had a baptism here in Pigué yesterday! His name is Juan--he's an investigator of Hermana Chento and Hermana Arancibia. He's 58 and gave up drinking to join the church! He is the sweetest old man.

Felicidades, Juan!

New Year's Eve here is a bigger deal than Christmas! We spent part of the evening with B--a single woman in the branch. We celebrated by singing our favorite hymns and by drinking "wine" (grape jugo with soda water.) Later on we watched Pigué's firework show from on top of our roof!

I still can't believe it's already 2012. 2011 went by so fast! However, I'm excited for the new year. I've made lots of goals, and I am looking forward to being a full-time missionary for the Lord for an entire year straight! :)

For those of you that haven't made New Year's resolutions yet...be sure to do so! It's an opportunity to set goals and test your faith in the Lord! (Ether 12:27, Matthew 11: 28-30)

Mormon 9: 21:
"Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubthing NOTHING, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him, and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth."

That promise includes you!!

Love you all :)
-Hermana Vawdrey

Here are some pictures from Christmas 2011:

Hermanas Vawdrey y Freeman

Hermana Vawdrey with her MTC companions

The District

Singing carols at a senior citizen center

Brittni had to reject several "tips"

Brittni has a gift for anyone interested!

Mmm, "homemade" lasagna :)

CHRISTmas

!Feliz Navidad!

Hermana Vawdrey con el Pte Detlefsen y su esposa

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas! My Christmas here in Argentina was a lot different than normal,  yet it was one that I will never forget. I'm sure it will forever be one of my favorites. This Christmas season has been really special for me because I have really reflected on the true meaning of CHRISTmas. Christ! (Alma 7: 7-13, Luke 2) What we really celebrate is that we have a Savior! Sadly, "V" and her kids didn't get baptized on Christmas, but we're not giving up on her yet! You don't need a special day like Christmas to have a baptism, because baptism will make any day special!

This past week we had a lot of fun things going on for the holidays. On Tuesday we had our "Super P-Day" in Bahía Blanca with half of the missionaries from our mission. It was really neat to all be in one place together. In the evening we had a talent show and a devotional with President Detlefsen. It was so good! My district did a musical number to the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". We all got Rudolph noses and played the song with glass bottles. Unfortunately, I didn't get a very good video of it, but it was really really funny. :)

A District of "Rudolphs"

Our rama had an activity this past week to go to rest homes to sing Christmas carols. We had a great turn-out from the branch, and the old people really liked it. There was this cute old man that kept trying to get us to take 2 pesos (worth about 50 cents) because he was so grateful that we came!

The best by far though was getting to talk to FAMILY! It was so great to see every one's faces again on Skype, and I'm so glad that it worked out for me to talk to Brian too.

Skype - one of the greatest Internet inventions!

But now it's back to missionary work, and I love it so much!!

¡Hasta la semana que viene!
-Hermana Vawdrey

Cardboard and Tin Foil

!Feliz Navidad!

Ohh Christmas is in the air, it's great. It turns out that "V" didn't get baptized on Saturday because she didn't feel quite ready. Long story...But! It worked out for the better, because now she and her three kids will all get baptized together on Christmas! We are so excited for them because there is no better gift you can give Christ to celebrate Christmas other than to follow his example and enter into the waters of baptism. :)

Since Vanesa is a single mom, they don't have much. Every time we go to their house I am reminded of how blessed we are. Four of her five kids sleep in one room, and only two of them have beds. The others just have matresses on the floor. Since money is tight they weren't able to get a Christmas tree this year, and since they are being so obedient to prepare for baptism, we decided we wanted to give them a Christmas tree. They have this little pine tree in their back yard, so we looked through our apartment to find things we could turn into ornaments to turn their little tree into a Christmas tree. We cut out shapes out of card board and covered them with tin foil. Hermana Freeman's mom sent her glow in the dark stars in a package recently, so we put string on them to turn them into ornaments too.

The decorations were so simple, yet "V" and her kids were so thrilled to have them. Once we started decorating the tree they really got in to the spirit of Christmas and got some old decorations out from their closet and started decorating all of their bushes and even the light pole in the back yard! It's amazing that all it took to bring the spirit of Christmas was the memory of Christ and some tin foil covered cardboard.

Yo sé que vive mi Señor. Jesucristo es mi Salvador y Redentor.

Suyo,

-Hermana Vawdrey

Eternal Investigator

¡Hola mis buenisimos amigos y familia!

We are really starting to have success in Pigué, it's exciting! It's interesting to see that on the days that we're almost exactly obedient, we almost get nuevos investigadores. The Lord is not kidding when he gives us rules to follow! As a companionship, Hermana Freeman and I are learning a lot. She is so awesome. Especially with having two latina sisters in the apartment, it's interesting to see different approaches and different priorities in missionary work. Yet it never does any good to compare yourself, you simply have to do your best for the Lord and he will bless you for your diligence.

The Cuatro Pigue Hermanas

So we have this investigator who has always been the "eternal" investigator. She wants to get baptized, yet she's living with her boyfriend and he doesn't want to be married. (Argentines are really weird about putting off marriage because divorce is really expensive. To avoid that they just live together for years and years without ever getting married. It doesn't make sense to me. You'd have so much more security knowing that you're married!) A few weeks ago we explained the Law of Chastity to her and told her that it is a requirement for baptism. She understood perfectly, but she wants baptism to be a family thing and told us she'll just wait until her boyfriend is ready to get married. Ughhh! If she only had any idea what she was putting off!

Earlier this week the new hermanas just happened to knock her door and had a lesson with her. And to make a long story short, she now has a fecha for December 25th to be baptized!! Hermana Freeman and I, along with this eternal investigator and the other hermanas, we had a group fast this week to help soften her boyfriend's heart so that he will be willing to get married, so that she can get baptized on the 25th. When we talked to her on Thursday she hadn't told her boyfriend anything yet about how she needed to get married so soon for baptism, yet on his own he'd payed the payment for their engagement rings! We are so excited for her.

"V" y su hija get baptized this Saturday! We are soo excited.

Here are some pictures, with love, from Pigué!

Our Christmas tree!

How do you like our ornaments?

The Four Amigas!

The clouds are SO beautiful here!

Cars are so tiny here!

Hope all is well at home!

-Hermana Vawdrey

The Lord is STILL a God of Miracles

The Lord put me through a whirlwind of learning this week. I had challenges. I had struggles. (Don't we all?) But I saw blessings and I saw miracles. I know that Lord is a God of miracles and they still happen now as they did in old Bible times. Miracles are a response to faith. "They were never wrought without prayer, felt need and faith." (Bible Dictionary -- Miracles) If we have the faith to allow a miracle to occur, and if we reach for the Savior's help, He will reach back, and He will lift and bless us with miracles.

One day this week Hermana Freeman and I were out contacting and were about to head back to our apartment, when we felt like we should knock this little house on the corner. It was about 8:45pm, it was getting dark, and this house had all its windows open and all the lights inside appeared to be on. We knocked--nothing. We knocked again--nothing. At this point I was confused why it seemed so obvious that someone was home and that they wouldn't answer. But for some reason I wasn't ready to give up yet. We knocked again--nothing! As we turned around to head back home, there was this man walking towards us with a huge grin on his face. It turns out that he lives there, and he said that he'd go in and ask his wife if she was interested. The next second she was there and told us to come in. We taught them about the Restoration, and the Spirit was incredibly powerful. They both accepted a baptismal date, and then the wife said the closing prayer! There is something so powerful about those simple, heart-felt first prayers. It's incredible! In it she promised the Lord that they would be baptized! YES! I think I was grinning the whole way home after that. :)

Two more hermanas arrived here in Pigué on Wednesday night. Both Latinas! Hermana Arancibia is from Chile. She goes home in March, so this will most likely be her last area. She is really bubbly and energetic, and surprisingly knows quite a bit of English. Her favorite phrases are: "Let's bounce," "freakin'" haha, and she is always trying to say "Vawdrey" correctly. Hermana Chento is from La Plata, Argentina. It's just a little bit north of our mission boundaries. She was actually called to Mexico on her mission, but is waiting for her Visa. For this reason we have no idea how long she will be here, but we'll keep her! She is awesome! She speaks sooooooooooooooooooooooo stinkin' fast, it's not even funny. However, I am grateful because it's like I have never-ending language study when we're in the apartment! ha

Pigué celebrated its 127th birthday this past weekend. It was basically their 4th of July, you could say. They have a tradition of making un omelette gigante. And by gigante I mean HUGE! They used 15,000 eggs! They had all the shells piled up in a pile...We used the big celebration for missionary work! Lots of people set up stands in this big park to sell stuff. They had a rule that we weren't allowed to teach or proselyte, so we set up a stand and handed out pamphlets. We're hoping that we will be able to have success from those that read them.

The world's largest omelette!

Other random things:

• Hermana Freeman got pooped on by a bird this week when we walked under a tree.

• An investigator farted during a prayer yesterday. hahaha I swear the Spirit was the only thing that kept me from laughing.

• Our rama (branch) has a goal to be a ward either by the end of 2012 or by Enero (January) 2013!! Whoo!

I'm soo sorry, but the USB port doesn't work on this computer so I'm not able to send pictures this week. I'll be sure to get a different computer next week though. I'll be sure to send pictures of the new hermanas, our christmas tree, etc.

Hope you all are doing well!

¡Chow!
-Hermana Vawdrey

The month of Baptism

¡Hola Hola!

We had both district meeting and TRI-Zone conference this week. It was so good, I loved it. Basically our Presidente has a lot of faith in us. He has a goal for our mission to get 1,000 baptisms for the year 2011. It's never been done before, but we're only about 250 away. That means that each companionship needs to get about 3 during the month of December. We set a goal for six. It's scary because that's kind of a big number, but we are feeling very confident that we can achieve it, and the field is getting whiter and whiter each week. :) Besides, our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ and be BAPTIZED!

My district and our Thanksgiving treats: pumpkin pie, brownies, & jello cake

Our Pumpin Pie--it turned out pretty good!
(I'm not a pumpin pie fan though. ha!)

Hermanas Baker, McWhorter y yo at Conferencia de Zonas
(my companeras at the MTC)

Our little capilla (chapel)! So tiny!

Our Relief Society Room :)

While we were in Bahía for the conferences, we did some divisions with other hermanas in Bahía. I got a chance to work with another Hermana for a few hours, and it was interesting to see a different view point and style of doing everything. We have the same rules and same purpose, yet everyone has their own way of doing things! It was kinda fun! What did I learn from it? I like my companion, and I like my area. haha

We had a neat experience while teaching on divisions though. Hermana Alston wanted to contact these two teenage girls in the street...which I normally wouldn't have done because they are always grumpy and don't care when they are with their friends. Well, the girl's little sister was there and they told her to go get their mom who turned out to live just down the street. We then went to talk to her mom, Claudia, who was smoking, grumpy, and quite rude. But then all of a sudden she told us to come in! It was awesome! I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden she was willing to be taught. :) The lesson went great, and by the end after the prayer she got emotional because she was starting to realize that the gospel is what was missing in her and her family's life. It was so awesome! I'm just bummed because I won't get to teach her again!

As for investigators, our teaching pool is growing, which we are really excited about. We had to re-set "V" and her kids' baptismal date, but they are still doing great. I love the gospel. I know it's true. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet, and we have evidence of it that we can hold in our hands and read! The Book of Mormon!

Get a free copy of the Book of Mormon by clicking here! Do it!!

Have a great week, everyone!

-Hermana Vawdrey


Grandma Rodgers: Happy 70th birthday! Hope it was great. Also, I received your letter this week. Thank you!

Jessica Dewsnup: Happy birthday!

Spring Hollow Ward: I received your package this week. Thank you so much!! I LOVED it! Thanks for all the prayers and support.

Keep your commandment seatbelts on!

¡Hola!

So BIG news. We heard from our mission president last week that there are some new changes for our area. Missionaries are now to only have 2-3 areas for their entire mission...which means that we will serve in each area for 6-9 months! (He said generally 9 months.) That means that I could be here in Pigüé until April or possibly even July! Crazy, eh? I think it's great though; our investigators and the members need the stability. Not only that, but we will now be able to set long term goals. President said this will make us work harder when our area isn't a "dream area" because we won't have frequent transfers to look forward to.

As for an update for the week, two of "V's" kids now have a fecha (baptismal date)! It has been so fun to teach them. Kids absorb absolutely everything we teach, and it is really fun to watch. Ever since we had a family home evening with them, they love to sing primary songs or hymns...even though they can't carry a tune to save their lives. :)  We taught "V" the Word of Wisdom earlier this week. We explained to her why she needs to stop smoking, and she didn't doubt for a second! Gosh she's awesome. We're now working on helping her have the faith she needs to realize she can do it.

This week I've learned to realize how much of a blessing the commandments are for us. Sometimes they appear to be thick straps holding us back...but really they are protecting us from falling off a dangerous cliff of unhappiness and sin. Yeah, some of the commandments may be hard to follow, but the Lord only gave them to us because He loves us and he wants to be safe. He would never give us commandments that are impossible, neither would He ask of us to do something that is hard if it wasn't worth it. Sometimes we need to struggle for awhile to learn a lesson, but He is there every step of the way. Commandments give us an opportunity to show our faith and our love for the Lord, so why should we hesitate to obey! So, keep your commandment seatbelts on! You will never go anywhere where you won't need them.

Well everybody, Happy Thanksgiving! It's weird to think that it's already that time of year because it's about 78 degrees right now. Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here in Argentina either, so I won't be eating turkey. But we have zone conference on Thanksgiving and we're going to try to make a pumpkin pie! We'll see how that works out with Argentine ingredients...haha

Love you all!

-Hermana Vawdrey

In the strength of the Lord

Hola!

¿Cómo andan? It's been a great week! We traveled a lot because we had our district meeting in Bahía Blanca, and then we had conferencia de estaca también (Stake Conference also) en Bahía Blanca. We had about 40 people from our rama (branch) that attended conferencia de estaca. It was great! Fuimos muy animadas. (We were very excited.) Our rama got a double-decker bus so that everyone would have a way to get there. It was about a two-hour bus ride, but it was a great opportunity to get to know the members and to strengthen los menos activos (the less active).

Presidente Detlefsen y su esposa (and his wife) spoke at conferencia and did a great job. They are very inspiring.

Adriana and Jorge Detlefsen

Conferencia de estaca was good. I understood parts. Words, really...haha but my castellano is still improving bit by bit each day.

This week we got our oven, washer, and toilet fixed by some hermanos en la rama. FINALLY! Half of our bathroom is no longer covered in a puddle, and we don't have to wash our clothes by hand any more. :) We are verrry grateful. Ohh, the little things. I'm learning very quickly how spoiled we are in the United States.

This week after district meeting, we had what we call an esfuerzo (literal translation: strengthening) here in Pigué. That's when other missionaries come to work in a certain area to help the missionaries get more references and find more investigators. It went well. We are very grateful for their efforts because we have several more potential investigators. Whoo!

It took us several weeks to learn, but street contacting and knocking on doors doesn't bring much success here in Pigué. We have now been focusing on the menos activos (less actives) and other references we get from the members and it is working a lot better. By doing so we were able to get 7 menos activos to church that haven't been for years!!

"V" (name withheld), our favorite investigator, is still doing great. Since she and her boyfriend are separated, she decided to look for a job this week. She found one the first day! She realized that was a blessing from the Lord, and that is only a small thing the Lord has blessed her with lately. :) We visited her and her kids the other day and she said they had been praying together as a family! We didn´t even tell her to do that! The gospel is such an incredible thing because once people learn a principle the Holy Ghost will always help guide them to know what other things they can do to bring more happiness into their lives. :)

In my study this week I really liked the scripture in Words of Mormon 1:14
"And in the strength of the Lord they did contend against their enemies, until they had slain many thousands of the Lamanites. And it came to pass that they did contend against the Lamanites until they had driven them out of all the lands of their inheritance."

How cool is that? Many THOUSANDS! That is a big number. We too can slay that many thousands of Satan's temptations. The Lord is perfect and His whole plan is simply so that we can become perfect too. Do everything in the strength of the Lord. Start with a prayer to invite the strength, end your day with a prayer of gratitude, and the amount of success and blessings you will receive will be more than you could ever imagine.

I love you all!
Chow!

-Hermana Vawdrey