Last Zone Meeting

Hellooo everyone!

Time is flying. It's already Monday! What?! Mom! I received your Valentine's Day package. Thank you! That was quite the package! Hermana Rodriguez and I were really excited.

We had a really great week, and once again we witnessed many miracles. On Tuesday we had a Zone Meeting, and since it was the last zone meeting of the transfer, all of the missionaries that finish their missions at the end of the transfer were asked to bear their testimonies. That was such an incredible experience. There are six of us in our zone that finish their missions this transfer. The spirit was incredibly strong and it was neat to see how converted we have all become as a result of trying to invite people to come unto Christ. (Hello, run-on sentences! Sorry. That's how they speak here in Argentina.) It truly was a moment I will never forget. It was neat to reflect on the progress that we have made in every aspect of our lives. One Elder talked about how we go home as different people. It's true. I'm still Brittni Vawdrey. But, I'm not the same person I was when I came on my mission. But I'm the new and improved! And as horribly sad as it is that our full-time mission is coming to an end, our missions don't end. As members of the Church we are missionaries every day of our lives. It's just time to change the location. The Lord needs us to be in other places, doing other things so that we can continue to help Him bring all of His children unto Christ.

Another day this week we had quite the adventure because there was another big storm. It didn't rain much, but the wind was out of control! Which isn't that pleasant when you have to walk around in a skirt all day. haha. Because of the wind it ended up cutting out the lights! We got to our apartment one night and had to plan by candle night. :) It was funny because the lights came back on at about 10:25, and we go to bed at 10:30. So we had 5 minutes of light before we had to turn it out again. :)  But it was a good experience to realize just how blessed we are to have light and electricity. For example, instead of taking the elevator we had to hike all of the windy stairs. God has a funny sense of humor sometimes to help us remember just how blessed we are, right?

We found several great new investigators this week. And N came to church! It was such a miracle! I wish I had time to tell you all the details. I just have to say that when we give the Lord our hearts, when we do absolutely everything in our power, He does the rest. :)

I know the gospel has been restored. We have the fullness of the gospel on the earth today, and it will never be taken away again! I love my Savior. I know He lives. I know the Lord hears and answers every prayer. We are children of God and we have so much divine potential that we can't even comprehend it. Only because the Lord loves us, and wants us and trusts in us to accomplish great things. So. Keep doing those great things that you're doing. You're making the Lord proud!

Family, I love you! I hope you have a great week! Les quiero mucho!
-Hermana Vawdrey

As a request from the Mama, here are some fun facts/quirks about Argentina:

• People here in Barrio Pueyrredón love Backstreet Boys. And AC/DC. ha Dad, it makes me think of random times driving in "Gus" when we would listen to AC/DC on the way to the boy's sports games. Good times!

• Floppy hair! Oh my. I've never seen so many loose, floppy ponytails in my life! And it's always right on top of their head! ha I get a kick out of it.

• Umm Fashion, (because I naturally notice that) saggy crotch pants are every where. "Pantalones feos" is what I call them. They're so ugly I got a pair because they'll be fun to use for some costume parties in the future.

• Argentines LOVE stickers! They put them on everything. Phones, computers, cars, wallets, etc.

• Pan. Argentines cannot live one day without eating their pan (bread)/ They eat bread every day. And it's funny because when it's served they almost never put it on their plate, it always goes on the table.

• They are so direct! If you look fat, have a bad hair day, etc. they tell you! It's like Grandpa Jon. hahah No filter. ;)

But I love these people. I want you to know that.

Brian Edwards! HELLO!! I got your letter! How great to hear from you. :) I meant to write to you quite a while ago, but I figured you had moved already from the previous apartment address. I hope you're enjoying your internship-trip thing in New York!

Hermana Rodriguez and me

Thanks for sending new socks, Mom. This is what I was wearing!

So pretty before it rains. The sky is huge here without mountains.

His way is perfect!

¡Hola Familia mía y amigos!

It sounds like you all had a fun week. I'm glad to hear that all is well back at home. Here in Argentina I'm doing good too. :) This past week our mission president challenged us to have a "semana celestial," or a celestial week to strive to be the best we can be, the most obedient, diligent, faithful possible. It was a really neat experience. Yet again, we saw so many miracles. For sure Satan was trying his best to discourage us with the heat and the "never-ending siesta," but as we endured to the end each and everyday we were able to see the Lord's hand in our lives. Sometimes the miracles didn't come until the very end of the day, but Hermana Rodriguez and I had some really neat experiences. Have I ever told you that I love being a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Well...I do.

The beautiful little girl we baptized last week

One of the cute members we've been focusing on lately had a neat experience. She was living with her mom and her son, but her mom is really against the church and would try to do anything possible to create distractions when she tried to study the scriptures or pray. Finally she decided that she wanted to move and find her own place to live so that she could have a place where the Holy Ghost could dwell. We taught her earlier in the week about prayer and how you should always pray to counsel with the Lord before you do anything. (Alma 37:37) A few days later she sent us a text message saying that she prayed to the Lord for His help, and through a big miracle was able to find a new place to move to! It makes me smile so big to see her growing so much spiritually. I can see in her countenance now just how much more she confides in the Lord. It's a beautiful thing.

This cute little abuelito (grandpa) got baptized this weekend en el Barrio Villa Serra de los Élderes Adkin y Whiteman. He's 76 years old, and a 77 year old member baptized him. :) Poor grandpa can hardly walk, and he can't bend his knees very well so it made it hard for him to get baptized. I think they had to try 7 times to get it right! At first he didn't go completely under the water because he didn't bend his knees. Then he finally did, but the cute old member baptizing him mixed up the words of the prayer. I was sitting next to an investigator at the time. She was super worried about this poor old man that had to keep trying to get baptized. But the spirit helped me teach a profound lesson as I was explaining to her that baptism is a very sacred thing. It's a covenant that we make with our Father in Heaven. It is the door to enter into His presence. And His house is a house of order! You can't just go through the motions, get part of it right, and expect to go in. It has to all be perfect. He is perfect, and His way is perfect!

Elder Atkin, Member, Convert, Elder Whiteman

I was also humbled this week by the example of one of the members here in Barrio Pueyrredón. Presidente Detlefsen's mother-in-law has been really really sick and was hospitalized. A medication she was prescribed to take had some really bad side effects, and after time her stomach was all perforated and infection had spread through out her entire body. She's in her seventies. The poor thing! She was in a medically-induced coma for about a week so that the medics could control the infection and help her body heal. This past week she was making lots of progress so they took out the breathing tube and everything and now she's on bed rest. Her calling in the ward is to make the calendar for the missionaries so that they can eat with the members. They said the second day that she was out of her coma she was already worrying about the missionaries and how she hadn't been magnifying her calling for a week. That woman is a die hard example of someone who wants to serve the Lord. She is always focused serving others. Now don't worry, we've been fine. We just filled up the calendar ourselves while she was in the hospital, but it was so sweet to hear how quickly she remembered her responsablity to serve the missionaries. :)

All right, I'm out of time. But I hope you know that I love you all and hope this letter finds you well :)

-Hermana Vawdrey

Juli J! I got your dearelder! It made my day. Thank you! I can't wait to be your friend in the real world. Don't worry, I'm working hard, but I'll be home soon. Hope you're enjoying institute! Love you Hern.

Sergio: Recibí su carta también! ¡Gracias! Espero que disfrutara sus vacaciones y que todo esté bien. Mi buena amiga la Hermana Squire está ahora en Barrio Puerto. Cuídela para mi, bueno? Mande saludos a su hija y la famlia Greco!

ESTEFANIA HENRIK!! Felicidades por su llamamiento misional! Estas nocitias me pusieron re contenta :) Será una misionera de diez!!

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.

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

Hermana Squire

Hermana Carson 

Hermana Batista

Mi Distrito 

Thanksgiving burritos!

Las Hermanas en el Dia de Gracia 

Hola from ARGENTINA!

¡Familia y Amigos!

¡HOLA FROM ARGENTINA! Yes, I did arrive safely. Family, I´m sorry you never got an email from my mission president. I´m not sure what happened there...he took a picture of our travel group and all of us with our new companions, so I´m not sure what happened. But, I am doing great! I love Argentina!

The Elders and Hermanas that arrived with me to Bahía Blanca (with our Mission President and his wife)

It turns out that our flight from Atlanta to Buenos Aires was pretty much a miracle flight. A volcano erupted in Chile a few days previous, so all flights to Buenos Aires had been canceled. Our flight was the first one that was allowed to go. I guess the Lord really needs us in Argentina right now! :) The traveling itself was crazy. (Family, I was sad our phone call ended unexpectedly! What a rip! I was sad too that we didn´t get to have a real good-bye or a chance to bear my testimony in Español...but I just got word that for Christmas I am allowed to SKYPE! How awesome will that be? I´m already looking forward to it. :)

Okay, so the flight to Buenos Aires was ridiculously long. I didn´t really sleep much because I was so excited that I was finally going to Argentina! And those planes are never comfortable anyway... But, I lucked out and got to have a window seat.  My favorite was when we flew over Jamaica :) It popped out of nowhere and was just covered in lights. It was really cool to see from above. Anyway... so we landed safely in Buenos Aires, and we all got through customs without any problems. All of our luggage arrived too, so we were pretty excited. There was a man waiting for us as we were leaving the airport to help us with our next travels. We loaded up all our luggage into a van with windows covered up with cardboard (Awesome?) and then rode a bus to another airport where we would catch a plane to Bahía Blanca. We arrived at that airport and the travel guy helped us all get tickets. The only problem was that we barely missed our flight so we had another four hour layover. Uh! When we arrived at the airport in Bahía Blanca, our mission president, his wife, his daughter and the two zone leaders were waiting for us. They took us to the mission home, fed us dinner, and then gave us a place to stay for the night. (The hermanas stayed at Mission President´s house, and the elders stayed at a house down the street.) The only problem was that we didn´t have any of our stuff! It was all in that van on the way to Bahía Blanca! Ha. So we had to wear the same pair of clothes for 3 days! No bueno. The sweet mission president´s wife spoiled us though and got us a new pair of garments and let us shower and get all cleaned up. Finally!

The next day (Wednesday) we got our new companions and area assignments. My companion´s name is Hermana Freeman. She is from Arizona, is the second of 6 kids, and has been in Argentina for a year now. We get along great and I am excited to serve with her. She is a hard worker and I have already learned a lot from her.

Hermanas Vawdrey y Freeman

My area is called Pigüé (pronounced peeg-way). It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! There are a lot of trees and parks, and the people are wonderful. Our apartment is on the top floor of the highest building in the city haha (Dad, It´s on Casey Ave if you want to try to find it on Google maps or whatever)

Inside our apartment

Our kitchen

When I first got to Argentina, everything felt very "baby" (as Kate Norma Beckstrand would say). You see LOTS of little cars and lots of old trucks. I love it! Nothing is any bigger than it needs to be. Most houses are only one story, and everything is very simple. Most of the streets here in Pigüé are cobblestone. :)

I´m definitely not in Kansas anymore. Or Utah, or the United States for that matter! But I love Argentina!! I absolutely love the people...just not how fast they speak. haha I think they speak 1,000 miles per hour. Actually, probably 5,000 miles per hour :) I don´t understand much, but each day I make improvement. Pigüé has about 15,000 people. Our mission president refers to Pigüé as 15,000 potential baptisms. :) Our weekly mission standard is one baptism a week! I am really excited about that. It will take a lot of hard work, but the people are very ready for the gospel. We are the first hermanas to serve here in 20 years! I´m honored for the opportunity to serve here. The area is small. There is a small branch in Pigüé, but the members are strong, and we have many potential investigators. It will take a while to get going since we are going in "blind" (both of us are new to this area). My favorite though is our view from the balcony in our apartment. Since we are on the tenth floor we can pretty much see all of Pigüé! :) Every time I look out there I think of all the people that need the gospel. I can´t wait to give it to them!

View from apartment

 

View from apartment

View from apartment

 

View from apartment

Well my time is short. I´m so sorry. We have an hour on the computers every Monday from 5-6. Email is probably the best form of communication, but it´s only for immediate family...then it takes up my email time too. :s But other than that the pouch mail and dearelder.com is a great way to send mail. (Only dearelder has a 2 week delay. I guess that´s the price I pay for being in another country!) Packages are expensive to pick up I guess, but if they are 4lbs or less you avoid the extra fee.

I hope all is well! The church is true! It´s true in Argentina, in the United States, and everywhere else!

Mucho amor,

Hermana Vawdrey