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

"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

Our District

A bunch of missionaries at General Conference

Celebrating Hermana Squire's birthday a week later with lunch at "Big Six."
Thanks Mom and Dad Squire!

Zona Bahia Blanca - Octubre 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?!

Cute Hermana Squire's 22nd birthday and 8th Mission Month is today!
We celebrated with all the decorations her mom sent. Thanks Momma Squire!!

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!!

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

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!

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

I saw Hermana Baker today! She is now serving in Pigue!

Our surprise visit from Hermana Orton, who is on her way home to Provo!
Hermanas Squire, Orton, Israelson, Baker, me, and Carson

Hermana Squire ordered more placas--this is what she received!

"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.

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

"¿Se bautica? ¡Se bautizó!"

Family and Friends,

This week ended up being really busy because we had a baptism! His name is J. He's 22 years old. He first heard about los mormones because his girlfriend is a mormon. They started dating and he learned more and more about it. He read the whole Book of Mormon awhile ago and shortly after started going to church with his girlfriend and her family. My first Sunday here we talked to him a little bit because he had already met with the missionaries once. He told us that he wants to get baptized! All right!

It ended up being a little bit crazy trying to teach him everything before his baptism, but he is super eager and willing to learn more about the gospel. It's so awesome! I feel so privileged to be able to teach him and learn from his desire to be obedient.

The baptism itself was a little bit interesting. I think absolutely everything possible that could go wrong--went wrong. Before the baptism started our district leader was supposed to meet us at the church to bring the pants J would used to get baptized. The baptism itself was supposed to start at 7:00. At 7:00, J, the members, his girlfriend and her family were all there...but the elders still hadn't shown up, and neither had the bishop. And the bishop was the one who was going to baptize him! Ah! Then our mission president shows up!! We were stressing out. The elders were on their way, but stuck on a bus, and the bishop had written the time down wrong and thought it started at 8:00. Oh my...by this time Presidente had to leave, but it was still fun to see him. :)

Anyway, to make a long story short, everyone finally gets there and we start the meeting. After the talk everyone goes to the font and we realize that no one has the key to open the doors in front of the font so everyone can watch! AHH! We share the church building with the other ward, and I guess the other elders have the keys. They have always been there for the baptisms in the past, so it never occurred to anyone that we didn't have the key. Hermana Carson and I were totally stressed out, and felt so humiliated. We started making calls to see if someone could bring the key and then we realize that it's quiet and that there aren't so many people out in the hall. Then we heard a bishop's voice say "en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen," followed by a loud splash. Everyone ended up going in through the bathroom to watch. Oh my. What a baptism to remember. hahaha I hope to never experience one like that again. But what matters is that it happened. He still got baptized!! And he was so happy. :) Bishop said before he got baptized he was super quiet and nervous, but right after "nunca dejó de hablar!" (he wouldn't stop talking!) He just kept saying things like he was so happy and he felt so good and he never wanted to leave the water!

I love seeing that change in people. That's what the gospel does. Even if we have to witness it from the bathroom door. :) I love you all!

-Hermana Vawdrey

Conferencia con Elder Vinas

Another "P"

Friends and Family,

A LOT happened this week. The big news is that we had emergency transfers. One of the Hermanas in Bahía Blanca had to go home to have surgery on her foot, so I got transfered to Bahía Blanca--Barrio Pueyrredón.  So I've now served in: Pigüé... Puerto... Pueyrredón...ha that's a lot of P's!

The beginning of this week was awesome! We had tons of lessons, found a lot of new investigators, and we were able to witness many miracles by watching people's hearts change. On Thursday we were at home doing our weekly planning when our zone leaders called us and told me that I was being transfered. I was instructed to go to the bus terminal immediately to buy a ticket and leave as soon as I could that night. To be completely honest, that moment was awful. I just started crying because I had thought that I had at least three more weeks left in Puerto to finish the transfer. Yet amidst all the tears and the emotions, Nefi's words kept coming to my mind: "Iré y haré lo que el Señor ha mandado" (I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded...) Hermana Newton and I took a taxi to the terminal right after that to buy the ticket, and as reality sunk in, the Lord helped reassure me that it really was time to go. I had done my part and now he needs me somewhere else.

All day long that day (Thursday) it was pouring rain. The day ended up being complete chaos with all the citas (appointments), trying to see my converts and friends one last time, packing, etc. Then right when we were about to get in a taxi to go to the terminal, the asistentes called us and said the freeway was closed because of all the rain, and the bus wouldn't be leaving that night. After all that?! ha It's funny now..but in that moment it wasn't so funny.

First thing in the morning on Friday we headed to the terminal to change my bus ticket. We ended up having to wait a couple hours for a bus to leave though because the road were totally flooded (see picture.) It was absolutely crazy! Water was still covering the entire road for some part of the drive. When you looked out the window it looked like we were driving through a lake! It was definitely a tender mercy that we arrived to Bahía safely, because the roads were still dangerous because of all the water. I arrived late Friday night with enough time to unpack and get all settled.

My new companion is Hermana Ashley Carson. She's 22, from Midvale, UT, and has been on her mission for about 9 months. Right now we're actually living with two other Hermanas: Hermana Marie Israelsen y Hermana Cydnee Squires. (Mom, I believe you're friends with Hermana Squire's mom on Missionary Mom) There were some complications in their area so they will be living in our apartment until the end of the transfer.

The apartment is teeeeeny. Seriously. Maybe it's better if I don't send pictures. haha But it works. We've got what we need. Pueyrredón definitely has a different feel to it. The people seem to be a little bit more well off...well, some of them. They're more sophisticated, yet they seem to be more laid back. They're not as uptight as they are in Mar del Plata. It feels safer here, and it's cleaner! There's not dog poo every 2 feet! YEAH! There's concrete everywhere and lots of tall buildings. We live on the 11th floor of a building. It's fun to look down and see everyone running around. :)

All right, not much time left, but I think that's the gist of what's been going on down her in Argentina. I hope all is well at home! I love you!!

-Hermana Vawdrey

Other highlight:
In my last lesson with O he started bearing his testimony about the Atonement. It was absolutely INCREDIBLE! There aren't even words to express the joy I felt to know he just gets it! He is doing so great. He is so strong.

Funny story:
First of all, Argentina is so trucho. Today we cut up a bunch of vegetables to cook in the oven. When we went to go turn on the oven it wouldn't light! We ended up knocking on our neighbor's door and asked to use her oven. She was super sweet and was willing to help us out, but then her oven wasn't working well either! The knob that turns the gas on wouldn't stay pushed in, so she propped up a broom against the wall and balanced another wood stick on it to push the gas knob in. ha I can't really put it into words, but it was so funny!

And in case you're wondering, the veggies were delicious.

Pictures:

An incredible family we've been teaching in Puerto

My last lesson with O

The famous Sergio C...he came to see me on my last night in Puerto :)

At the terminal: Hnas Newton, Gomez, y Jensen

Hermana Juli Jensen--one of my best friends!

View of the road from my bus window...can barely see yellow lines!

My new companion: Hermana Carson

12 months down, 6 more to go!

Hola!

It's been such a busy week. I was dying for a P-day! Thanks for all of your letters and the pictures. It's so fun to see everyone growing up! Mom, guess what! I got your package finally! Thank you! And thanks for the lice kit! haha Hopefully I won't need to use it, but it feels good to be prepared!

This week we had a multi-zone conference because Elder Viñas, of the 70 came. It was a great conference. It was centered a lot on the topic of the Atonement, and I learned so much. It's always incredible to all be in one room with about 150ish missionaries. The spirit was so strong, and it was incredible to think that we are all here to use the Lord's Atonement to spread the gospel all over the world.

The Buenos Aires Temple open house was this week, and many of our recent converts, menos activos, and even investigators were able to go! It was a HUGE blessing to many prayers and fasts. It's been so neat to see the change in countenence of these people as they have come back from the temple. O went! S also went (our "eternigator" ha he better get baptized soon, speaking of....) But it was just a great week to focus on the blessings of the temple and help everyone get ready to go. Unfortunately we weren't able to go, and I can't wait to actually go through the temple again. It's been so long.

Spring is officially coming! And I think people seemed to be a lot more smiley in the street today because of it. :) I'm ready for it.

I celebrated my one year mark on my mission this week. (And I finished reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish to celebrate!!!) But one year? Oh my. I can't believe that. I feel like I've done so much and nothing at all at the same time. It's weird how time makes you feel that way. We had a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) planned the night of my "cumple mes" and the other Hermanas turned it into a surprise party for me. I was TOTALLY surprised. :) They're really thoughtful. They had decorated the house all up with balloons and a sign that said "Feliz 1er Añito" haha I loved it.

Anyway, I hope all is well on the home front. You're in my prayers! Love you all!

-Hermana Vawdrey

P-U-erto!

Family!!

 

Hey! It was so great to hear from you all today. I´m glad to hear you're all living up the last part of summer. I can't believe that it's already time for school to start. And that Tyler and Angi are both going to high school? What?! Sometimes I forget in the real world that everyone and everything keeps on going. haha

 

It's been a good week again here in P-U-erto. Full of stinky smells, funny people, and other awesome experiences. We found a lot of new investigators this weekend, which was so great. Hermana Newton ("Wñutom" as an investigator has on his phone with his list of contacts. ...Argentines freak out when they see our last names full of weird consants) and I have been reflecting a lot on how much our area has changed and grown since we first started serving as companions. When she first got here we had pretty much no investigators, it was the middle of winter, and no one wanted to open up their door to talk to us. But now here we are after working super hard for a whole transfer, our work is finally paying off! It takes so long to plan for all of our investigators for weekly planning that I think we both secretly dread it. haha How awful. But it´s true. And I'm so humbled to see how much the Lord has blessed us after our long and cold trial of faith of working with everything we had for a whole transfer. He knew that the reward would be so much more rewarding if we had to work really hard for it, and I am super grateful for that.

 

With the Buenos Aires temple opening up soon, we passed out flyers about it one day and got a bunch of really good contacts and references. My favorite was when I went up and talked to a lady and gave her a paper, and she was like, "Mire chica, I can't. I don´t have time to talk to you. I have to walk my dog because it's been inside and so it hasn't peed all night long. " hahahaha Thanks, Lady.

 

Oh yeah! Big change! Hermana Jensen is training a latina! Her name is Hermana Gomez, from Buenos Aires. She's 28, very sophisticated and particular. She's a brand new missionary, and it's been really fun to learn from her new "greenie" attitude and perspective.

 

This week was really great because I finally feel like my Castellano is to the point where it doesn't hold me back from what I want to say. I still may not say everything gramatically correct, but I can finally teach using the analogies and examples that I have wanted to use for months! We´ve been teaching a lot of young kids lately too, which has been really fun. It's made me grateful for all the experience and practice I've had with younger kids since I'm the youngest sibling. It's crazy how even to the smallest detail, the Lord has been preparing me for my mission all off my life.

 

All right, time is short. I hope everyone is good and happy! I love you all! Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

-Hermana Vawdrey