Pics pics and more pics

So yesterday we were out contacting and after talking to some people about prophets who were fixing car in the street...

I had a realization.

Missionaries are pretty much stalkers.

We ask you where you live

We ask for the address so we can come find you

Then we ask for your number so we can call you if we cant find you

We plan specific times and places to meet with you

Write down everything that happened with you on a sheet of paper

We plan our whole day around our mettings with you

And we plan our whole day and week so we can come find you...

And teach you.

About the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

I can see why people think we are crazy.

We are

But I  like it!

So this week I spent most of my time in Bahia Blanca for tramites ( something about visas and signing papers and taking fingerprints and other crap) 

AND LOOKIE WHO I FOUND!

HERMANA AHLMER!

and Elder Schiess but we are in the same zone so we see each other all the time anyways haha

We missed Hermana Timm! We were so close to having the MTC gang back together!

It was so good to see her love her! We talked the entire time we had tramites and it felt so good to catch up. She is seriously one of my best friends in la mision!

And also after we left and said goodbye, I had one of those moments on the bus where you just feel so inadequate and so hard on yourself, but then I found the sweetest little note she had put in my bag when I wasnt looking.

The little Sneak!

She is the best person en el mundo!

The little note completely turned my day around. 

And after I saw how much a little note changed Claudia last week and how good I felt after the little note Hermana Ahlmer left me, I have a firm testimony of leaving sweet notes behind for people!

So if there is someone you love or someone who needs to feel loved...

Write them a note!

Kay this is seriously all of my letter this week.

I was going to send more pictures buuuut.

No tiempo para nada!

Just know that my mission has already been a blessing in my life.

My trainer is serisously the best. After being away from her for a couple of days made me realize how AMAZING she is. Well I already knew that, but I am so darn lucky that she is companion!

Cirilo still wants to be baptized and is doing everything he can to make it happen! So we are going to keep working on that til he can jump in that water!

Les Amo Mucho!

​

I feel like the fog is lifting

You guys you guys you guys!!! 

I feel like the fog is lifting... I´m understanding people!

Sort of ha!

They don´t sound like babbling monkeys to me anymore.

I can pick out all the words they´re saying

They´re so many words I have no idea what freak means yet haha.

But get this Last week Hermana Nomellini and I were getting interviewed by our Zone leader and while she was getting interviewed (for like 40 minutes) I had an ENTIRE convo in español with Elder Passos. He´s from Brazil and doesn´t know a word in English. I never felt so proud of myself.

My spanish is still kaka (I found out that kaka literally means poop by the way) but...

I am getting there!

Also... Another thing that has been on my mind is this:

PIZZA.

Nadie (no one) makes pizza like 

AMERICA

Now eat some pizza for me!

Also.

So you know how we say like "wow" in english? Well all Latinos say "fuuuu" and everytime I think they´re going to drop the f bomb but they don´t

I just felt like it was worth mentioning

So there´s that

Real life Roberto!

So big news! I have an actual real lyyyyfe investigator named Roberto!

He is our favorite person ever!

We found him by knocking on doors (who would have thought that actually works) in the rain after our cita with someone else fell through and he immediately peeked his head out the door, cracked some joke that I didn´t understand but laughed hysterically anyways, and we´ve been friends ever since.

He is seriously the happiest man on earth. Imagine a jolly grandpa that wears old Italian hats and just laughs like santa and talks FOREVER and should be in a Spanish Hallmark movie.

That´s Roberto.

Honestly though he is the hardest person to teach because he freaking talks soooooooo much. Hermana Nomellini tries so hard to have him focus on profets and then he starts talking about his tortuga (turtle) outside.

I have never seen anyone change subjects so quickly and easily.

I could learn from him.

Also Hermana Nomellini and I can´t decide if he is half drunk when we´re with him...

Don´t worry it´s fine!

Vamos a cantar!

So every cita we had with Roberto he would all of a sudden stop midsentence point at me and tells me to "sing!"

Uhhhhh sorry buddy.

My parents spent all their talent money for dance.

For some reason people here think I´m good singer because I can´t talk???

I think its because I´m blond. 

They think I´m Shakira probably.

But Hermana Nomellini had this brillant idea to take our himnarios (hymn books) and sing a few songs to Roberto and this little Elderly couple we had citas with that day.

The look on Roberto´s face was priceless when we told him "vamos a cantar" (we´re going to sing) Like a little kid at Christmas.

And then Hermana Nomellini told him that he had to sing to us first ha!

And then he acted all embarrassed and bashful and was all like "No no I couldn´t"

AND THEN

He started singing.

Like he was in a Latino Opera.

No chiste (joke)

I can now say that on my mission, my companion and I got serenaded by our investigator.

He was actually really good. He was so into it. Watch an opera and see how animated how they are when they sing. 

That was Roberto haha.

We sang "Soy un hijo de Dios" (I am a child of God) and it was super cool.

Roberto was mad that we didn´t harmonize

So after our cita with Roberto we went to la familia Toledo. 

This cute little Elderly couple that I LOVE.

We sang like 4 songs to them haha.

The prob was...

I´ve been getting over getting sick so sometimes my throat gets sticky.

Like Hermana Nomellini asked me to say the opening prayer, I opened my mouth to start, breathed in wrong and started coughing.

For like 20 seconds while these people had their arms reverntly folded and heads bowed waiting to pray.

Way to invite the Spirit Hermana Davidson!

Hermana Nomellini tried so hard not to laugh.

haha

anyways

My throat was sticky and I had a frog in my throat the ENTIRE time we sang.

In between verses I would wheeze and clear my throat.

IT WAS BAD you guys!

And then they absolutely loved my voice for some reason.

"Ella canta muy fuerte!" 

(She sings very strong!)

And then the cute little husband asked me to sing a solo...

I pretended that I didn´t understand him

Which I probably didn´t have to pretend at all haha

UN MILAGRO!

This week I feel like I saw an actual miracle!!!

So Hermana Nomellini and her companion before me (Hermana Thomas) had this investigator named Claudia. 

She this this cute little middle aged lady. She is single Mom and works 2 jobs.

Ella es la mejor! Such a great lady!

But since I´ve been here (has it alread been FIVE weeks???) we could not find her. We would make citas with her but then she had work, or something came up with us, she wasn´t home, or Roberto talked for too long idk.

But everytime we walked over to her house I always had a feeling we wouldn´t have a cita with her.

We both felt like we were losing her which was sad, because she was progressing so much.

But then...

The other day we had cita with her and I just KNEW we were going to teach her that day. 

Hermana Thomas didn´t have a chance to say goodbye to Claudia and so she wrote a note for her.

Hermana Nomellini always forgot to bring it with us but this time was the only time she thought to bring it.

We come to Claudia´s house and we knock on the door and one of her daughter´s answers the door like usual and tells us she´s at work.

And then Claudia pulled in at that moment.

So we walk in and sit at the table.

Now all of this Hermana Nomellini told me after because I have hard time understanding and there was the cutest puppy walking around so of course I was spending more time oogling at the dog than listening to the convo haha

But Claudia walked in and said "I can´t do this anymore. I stopped studying the book of Mormon. I don´t have time to go to church. I have work. I have my girls to take care of. It´s just gotten so hard. I´m done."

Hermana Nomellini was speechless and close to tears.

But then she remembered that she had the note from Hermana Thomas

So Hermana Nomellini said nothing but "Well Hermana Thomas wrote this to you before you left"

Claudia spent the longest time reading the note and then she looked at Hermana Nomellini and I, told us that she hated us, grabbed her book of Mormon and sat down and asked us to keep teaching her.

It was the coolest experience. 

It was so amazing how just one little note changed her completely. And she was so ready to learn. We talked about the word of wisdom and she has problems with smoking and she wants to quit.

We told her that we could take a box of cigarettes and fill them with rolled up scriptures to help her.

She was so down.

It´s soo cool to me how the Spirit works in small and simple ways.

That little note saved everything!

So everything here is good. We have to go through a process in order for Cirilo to be baptized. He is very frustrated right now and the whole situation got messy.

I hope you all will keep him in your prayers! He needs them!

I hope all of you are well and enjoying summer.

Go boating.

Go to the beach.

Go camping.

Eat pizza.

And donuts (I tried the closest thing they have to donuts here... just NOT the same)

Meanwhile I´ll keep running around Argentina talking about Jesus and eating Alfajores...

I love being a missionary!

Y tambien, I know I promised pictures buuut...

I forgot my freaking camera!

My bad.

Quotes of the Week

"Every day is a Sunday when you´re a missionary." - Hermana Nomellini

"HECK SI!" - me

(guy at a candy store in Punta Magotas when we were with the other sisters in their area)

guy to me and Hermana Nomellini: "Where are you from?"

Us: "the states"

guy: "what are you doing here?"

Us: "We are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You know the chapel with the big white steeple down the street? That´s us. We invite you to church this Sunday at 9:30."

guy: "Are you two going to be there?"

Us: "No we go to a different church. But those two sisters will be there."

guy: "Well then I´m not going"

haha

"What the heck? While you guys are getting hit on we get asked if we´re nuns!" - Hermana Jensen

Everyone to me: "You are very white. You are probably the whitest person I´ve ever seen."

Thanks I know.

(out contacting and we find this guy)

guy: "You´re not from here are you? Where are you from?

Hmna Nomellini: "The states."

Guy: "fuuuuu. what are you doing all the way over here?"

hmna Nomellini: "To share a message with you that God loves you"

Guy:...............

Guy: "You came all the way from the States just to tell me that?"

hmna: "well no, there´s more to it than that."

guy: "oh"

Elder Passos: "Hermana you are very tall. You´re even taller than me."

Me: "Yeah I´m pretty tall here. In the states I was about average, sometimes shorter."

Elder Passos: "Nooo way"

Me: "Yeah. And I have brothers that are taller than Elder Schiess"

Elder Passos: "NO WAY. They must be really good at American Football too!"

... Hear that bros? Better live up to the stereotype and sign up for football this fall ha!

Les Quiero Mucho!

Happy Holidays???

Happy 2 month anniversary today! How is it already been 2 months?? I feel like I've only been on the mission for 3 days and 17 years at the same time! So much happens in such little time here.

Esta loco.

Zone Conference

It feels like Christmas here. I know I already said that but I am serious. On Monday and Tuesday we spent all our time in Mar Del Plata for our P-days and zone conference. We went to one of the malls (which are wayyy nice by the way. They had toilet paper in the bathrooms) and I felt like I should be buying everyone gifts for Christmas.

Zone conference was amazing. We had this super bomb lunch of chicken and potatoes and I almost cried with happiness because I haven't eaten such good food since before I left on the mission. 

MTC food was... yeah.

I didn't understand a word of anything but I loved it!

Mar Del Plata is super bomb. I would love to come back and vacation there in the super time. Except I have NEVER been stared at so much in my life. Not even in Miramar which isn't a touristy place like Mar Del Plata. Hermana Nomellini and I ate lunch at this little shop and we laughed as we watched as literally everyone walking passed would just stop and stare at us like we were in a zoo.

Blonde hair + blue eye probs.

JULY 9

So the 9th of July is the Independence day of Argentina. And we spent almost our entire day with the ward at an activity to celebrate. Honestly, both Hermana Nomellini and I felt like it was more like Thanksgiving than anything else. 

We ate this soup that I still have no idea how to pronounce. It was the first time I tried traditional Argentine food since I cant eat meals with the members. But when I let my soup settle for a little bit a saw the oil separate and there was like a half inch of oil sitting on top... I am grateful I cant eat with the members. 

I enjoyed it though but I didn't think it was something out of this world.

Alfahores are a different story haha

And we also helped make Tortas Fritas! (fried cakes)

​I promise I do something with my hair most days!

Argentines LOOOOVE bread. 

Bread is life here.

for breakfast they eat bread with tea

for lunch they have pasta with more bread

for desert they have fried bread with sugar

for dinner they have mate or tea with crackers

...

or bread

To the Beach

I'm (almost) living my dream! I live right next to the beach! Every morning Hermana Nomellini and I go running to the beach it has brought me so much happiness in my life. She is the best running buddy. We are going to run a marathon together in the future.... I'm serious!

This morning was so cool! We woke up to this really thick fog that had rolled in during the night. And since it was P-day we hung out longer than usual at the beach and watching the sunrise above the ocean and fog is just pure magic. I wish I had my camera. Also we had three dogs follow us on our run. Feels like Lake Point ha!

Playa pics

Doesn't it look so warm and like you want to jump right in???

NO

But we LOVE it! 

Also just take a moment to appreciate this... 

This mural is just so Argentine. 

I just had to.

Expect more pics like this to come!

So this week we have another baptism date for JULIA! Yaaaaaaas!!!

We didn't know when she would ask to be baptized but we had a lesson with her one day and I could tell from the beginning that she had received her answer to be baptized. She was acting so happy and her eyes were just so full of light.

Its so cool to me how much the gospel changes lives. Every time we have a lesson and the spirit is just so strong in the room we are sitting in where there is mold growing on the walls, the door is falling off its hinges and the floor is made out of dirt and I just cant help but think "wow, this is sacred ground here" because the gospel is being taught to those ready to receive it. Milagros I tell ya, milagros.

So we are just focusing on getting Cirilo and Julia ready for their baptisms. We have a bunch of stuff to do and we are always kept busy. 

Im understanding the language better and better everyday. I just need to be patient with myself. 

But honestly there is no other place I would rather be than in Argentina!

Con Amor,

Hermana Davidson

Quotes of the Week

Me: "Ahhhhh why is my leg so itchy?"

*pulls up my legging*

Me: "GAAAAASP" *in horror*

Hermana Nomellini: "Girl, you need to shave."

Don't worry guys I shaved for the first time in over three weeks today!

I'm winning!

Elders in our District

Elder Way: "Whoa, que capo!"

Elder Schiess: "What does capo mean?"

Elder Way acting like Elder Schiess just swore: "We don't say that word"

Elder Schiess: "But you just said it!"

The Freaking Most Freezing 4th of July of Mi Vida

So first off before I forget...

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS

MAMA!

And Lady America... Have fun having fireworks and pool parties while I freeze mi freaking nalgas off and waiting for a Christmas package because it feels like Christmas here.

But there is mud here instead of snow and dogs instead of reindeer.

We have a mini christmas tree on our table and we´re going to celebrate Christmas on the 25 of July :)

Soy Incomoda

I knew the moment I became a missionary I would become the single most awkward thing that ever walked the face of the planet. Because, ya know... Missionaries

But.

Never have I ever felt more awkward because there is a language barrier and so I just smile a lot and say "si, si" a whole lot haha.

It´s not as exactly bad as it sounds. A lot of the other missionaries here tell me that I speak really well for being so new in the field. But the problem is, I can speak but it´s sooo hard to understand the natives here. Especially when they are missing all but 4 of their teeth. Which is more common then not.

So I´ll say something to them in Spanish and they´re like "Oh, ella entiende!" (Oh, she understands) and then they speak to me faster than I can run for a donut and then I stare at them blankly and ask "Uh, como?" 

And then they laugh and say "Oh, no entiende nada!" (Oh she doesn´t understnad at all)

This is the story of my life.

Or I say something and they stare at me, and then they turn to Hermana Nomellini and ask what I said and then she says the exact same thing I said and then they´re like ooohhhh.

Pero, esta bien. I think it´s funny.

It´s Super Chill Here... Literally

So one thing that´s different here is like the attitude of life they have... They´re chill here, (and it´s so cold!) and they just kind of don´t care about anything. They kind of don´t work for a better life because necessaties are given to them. They just do what they want like they don´t have to work or go to school because the governor provides money for them. Also the governor gives a lot of money to girls in their teen years who get pregnant so there are a lot of girls here who are only a year younger than me but they have like 3 kids and live in shacks. It´s kind of heartbreaking.

But other than that the things they do here are so funny and careless and would never fly in the Estados Unidos.

Like fitting five people on one moto.

Letting your horse roam the neighborhood.

It´s normal to have five dogs follow you into the bus terminal.

Letting your 5 year old play with a steak knife and poke his sister with it.

And then watch as she takes scissors and chases him around the table with it

Or if your 2 year old is being distracting during a lesson, give him an axe to go play with alone with his 1 year old sister outside...

This is not a drill people! These things have actually happened!

And the traffic laws don´t mean anything...

There is a reason the missionaries don´t get cars here, and I have a feeling it´s not our fault...

I´ll just leave it at that.

I Love the People!

But really the people are so loving here and they´re sooo cute. They just love to talk and talk and talk and talk and drink mate and try to feed you bread, cookies, and alfahores. They all love me for blue eyes and blonde here haha. I get called linda, bonita, hermose, princessa on a daily basis haha.

Speaking of princess, we have this family who have been investigators for like a year and a half. All they´re kids have been baptized but the parents have been waiting for a divorce from a different marriage so they can get married and be baptized. But they´re basically members, so we call them dry members haha.

Anyways, they have the cutest little boy and he reminds me of Elijah so my heart just melts everytime I see him. He loves sharing his toys with me and grabbing my face and kissing my cheeks haha. He prays before he eats anything and guys there is just nothing cuter than listening to little kids speak spanish. And he does this thing where he calls all the girls in the room "princesas" and bows to them like a prince. Ugh, my favorite person!

There are so many great people here. We went on splits the other day in Punta Magotas with the other Hermanas in our zone and I went with Hermana Child from Farmington (by the way, I´m pretty sure that she is neighbor´s with my cousin Bryce...) to visit this recent convert. He´s 82 and gold I tell you, gold. He built his own house, but then found this 18 year old boy and 17 year old girl with a baby and so he gave up his own house for them to live in. And then he lived in a little shack (it´s the middle of winter here too!) And now he´s building himself another house. He was adorable and reminded me a lot of my Grandpa Penrod.

And I love going to church and to members houses. The Spirit feels the same to me there and it is such a huge comfort because I feel like I´m living in a totally different world. It´s nice to know you can feel Heavenly Father´s love wherever you go :)

Werk, werk, werk

I´m still getting used to the work, but I love it! We have about 7 investigators right now which I super grateful for because everyone else in our zone have close to none. I love looking into their eyes when they´re feeling the spirit for the first time and they´re understanding everything we´re talking about. They´re eyes literally twinkle. I think that is my favorite part of the work is seeing their eyes twinkle and they look so happy and at peace. The spirit does amazing things. There have been like two or three times where I´m bearing my testimony about something (because that´s all I can do ha) and I walk away not even knowing what I said but they understood me perfectly. 

"Es el espiritu!" - Hermana Nomellini.

Right now we have two baptisms scheduled. One of them I´m skeptical about because we only taught him one lesson and haven´t been able to find him since...

But the next one is a cool story. Cirilo has been having lessons with the missionaries since long before I was here buut idk. His daughter, Narea, was baptized like a week before I got here and he was scheduled to be baptized with her but idk. Hermana Nomellini told me that he was a Testigo Jehovah (Jehovah Witness) and kind of arguing with them so they kind of stopped teaching for a while. And then Julia, his wife (she´s taking lessons too and has a strong testimony she´s just waiting to recieve an answer if she should be baptized) told us that he wanted to keep having lessons.

So the other night we had another lesson and Hermana Nomellini invited him to be baptized. He didn´t really give us a straight answer  because he just wanted to be sure. So she told him to pray about.

And then he and his family came to church yesterday which really shocked us because 

1. It was freezing cold and raining and not even the most faithful members came

2. They live super far away, they´re dirt poor and don´t own a car

3... We just didn´t know where we were with him

BUT THEN

He asked Hermana Nomellini to be baptized!!! 

And then he beared his testimony during sacrament meeting about faith and it was beautiful.

That is the miracle for the week you guys!

So that´s pretty much all I have time for to write. Don´t worry about me. My trainer is super dedicated and patient with me. I love her. 

I see improvement in the language everyday, both in speaking and understanding.

The only thing you have to worry about is all the Alfahores I eat in a week... It´s like cookies stuffed into a mini cake with dulce de leche layered in between. So good. I´ll send you a box for Christmas of all the ones I collect from the members. If I don´t eat them all haha.

Quotes of the Week

(Me telling someone where I am from)

Me: "Soy de los Estados"

Native: "¿Que parte?"

Me: "... Utah"

Native: "Ohhhh la facotoria"

Cada vez.

If you are missionary and you are from Utah or Idaho, you are from the factory. Idk.

(Hermana Nomellini telling our ward mission leader about one of our investigators but I thought she was talking about me)

Hermana Nomellini: "Ella entiende muy bien." She understood very well. 

Me: "Ahhh usted es amable" Ahhhh you are nice.

Hermana Nomellini gives me a confused look: "¿Por que?" why?

Me: "oh"

Elder Schiess and I are still in the same zone (yay!) and now our new zone has picked up on some of the things we say:

"So entonces" enonces means so. so we are saying so so.

"Pues" pues doesn´t exisit in Argentina but it was like the number 1 word we used at the MTC so at our first district meeting we were saying "pues" all the time and everyone else were super confused haha. 

Random guy on the bus to an Hermana in my zone: "Linda" cute/pretty

Hermana Jensen: ¨"Ugh feo" ugly.

They have trucks that sell food in Punta Magotas and they drive around the neighborhood with a megahone saying "bananas, manzanas, etc" which sounds like a creepy darth vader speaking in spanish. One of them saw Hermana Child and I and said: "HOLA LINDAS CHICAS"

Me and Hermana Child: "Well, now the whole neighborhood knows where we are. Hopefully the Elders heard it too so they can save us..."

... I´m half joking half kidding haha.

HAVE THE BEST FOURTH OF JULY EVERYBODY!!!

The Freaking Most Freezing 4th of July of Mi Vida

So first off before I forget...

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS

MAMA!

And Lady America... Have fun having fireworks and pool parties while I freeze mi freaking nalgas off and waiting for a Christmas package because it feels like Christmas here.

But there is mud here instead of snow and dogs instead of reindeer.

We have a mini christmas tree on our table and we´re going to celebrate Christmas on the 25 of July :)

Soy Incomoda

I knew the moment I became a missionary I would become the single most awkward thing that ever walked the face of the planet. Because, ya know... Missionaries

But.

Never have I ever felt more awkward because there is a language barrier and so I just smile a lot and say "si, si" a whole lot haha.

It´s not as exactly bad as it sounds. A lot of the other missionaries here tell me that I speak really well for being so new in the field. But the problem is, I can speak but it´s sooo hard to understand the natives here. Especially when they are missing all but 4 of their teeth. Which is more common then not.

So I´ll say something to them in Spanish and they´re like "Oh, ella entiende!" (Oh, she understands) and then they speak to me faster than I can run for a donut and then I stare at them blankly and ask "Uh, como?" 

And then they laugh and say "Oh, no entiende nada!" (Oh she doesn´t understnad at all)

This is the story of my life.

Or I say something and they stare at me, and then they turn to Hermana Nomellini and ask what I said and then she says the exact same thing I said and then they´re like ooohhhh.

Pero, esta bien. I think it´s funny.

It´s Super Chill Here... Literally

So one thing that´s different here is like the attitude of life they have... They´re chill here, (and it´s so cold!) and they just kind of don´t care about anything. They kind of don´t work for a better life because necessaties are given to them. They just do what they want like they don´t have to work or go to school because the governor provides money for them. Also the governor gives a lot of money to girls in their teen years who get pregnant so there are a lot of girls here who are only a year younger than me but they have like 3 kids and live in shacks. It´s kind of heartbreaking.

But other than that the things they do here are so funny and careless and would never fly in the Estados Unidos.

Like fitting five people on one moto.

Letting your horse roam the neighborhood.

It´s normal to have five dogs follow you into the bus terminal.

Letting your 5 year old play with a steak knife and poke his sister with it.

And then watch as she takes scissors and chases him around the table with it

Or if your 2 year old is being distracting during a lesson, give him an axe to go play with alone with his 1 year old sister outside...

This is not a drill people! These things have actually happened!

And the traffic laws don´t mean anything...

There is a reason the missionaries don´t get cars here, and I have a feeling it´s not our fault...

I´ll just leave it at that.

I Love the People!

But really the people are so loving here and they´re sooo cute. They just love to talk and talk and talk and talk and drink mate and try to feed you bread, cookies, and alfahores. They all love me for blue eyes and blonde here haha. I get called linda, bonita, hermose, princessa on a daily basis haha.

Speaking of princess, we have this family who have been investigators for like a year and a half. All they´re kids have been baptized but the parents have been waiting for a divorce from a different marriage so they can get married and be baptized. But they´re basically members, so we call them dry members haha.

Anyways, they have the cutest little boy and he reminds me of Elijah so my heart just melts everytime I see him. He loves sharing his toys with me and grabbing my face and kissing my cheeks haha. He prays before he eats anything and guys there is just nothing cuter than listening to little kids speak spanish. And he does this thing where he calls all the girls in the room "princesas" and bows to them like a prince. Ugh, my favorite person!

There are so many great people here. We went on splits the other day in Punta Magotas with the other Hermanas in our zone and I went with Hermana Child from Farmington (by the way, I´m pretty sure that she is neighbor´s with my cousin Bryce...) to visit this recent convert. He´s 82 and gold I tell you, gold. He built his own house, but then found this 18 year old boy and 17 year old girl with a baby and so he gave up his own house for them to live in. And then he lived in a little shack (it´s the middle of winter here too!) And now he´s building himself another house. He was adorable and reminded me a lot of my Grandpa Penrod.

And I love going to church and to members houses. The Spirit feels the same to me there and it is such a huge comfort because I feel like I´m living in a totally different world. It´s nice to know you can feel Heavenly Father´s love wherever you go :)

Werk, werk, werk

I´m still getting used to the work, but I love it! We have about 7 investigators right now which I super grateful for because everyone else in our zone have close to none. I love looking into their eyes when they´re feeling the spirit for the first time and they´re understanding everything we´re talking about. They´re eyes literally twinkle. I think that is my favorite part of the work is seeing their eyes twinkle and they look so happy and at peace. The spirit does amazing things. There have been like two or three times where I´m bearing my testimony about something (because that´s all I can do ha) and I walk away not even knowing what I said but they understood me perfectly. 

"Es el espiritu!" - Hermana Nomellini.

Right now we have two baptisms scheduled. One of them I´m skeptical about because we only taught him one lesson and haven´t been able to find him since...

But the next one is a cool story. Cirilo has been having lessons with the missionaries since long before I was here buut idk. His daughter, Narea, was baptized like a week before I got here and he was scheduled to be baptized with her but idk. Hermana Nomellini told me that he was a Testigo Jehovah (Jehovah Witness) and kind of arguing with them so they kind of stopped teaching for a while. And then Julia, his wife (she´s taking lessons too and has a strong testimony she´s just waiting to recieve an answer if she should be baptized) told us that he wanted to keep having lessons.

So the other night we had another lesson and Hermana Nomellini invited him to be baptized. He didn´t really give us a straight answer  because he just wanted to be sure. So she told him to pray about.

And then he and his family came to church yesterday which really shocked us because 

1. It was freezing cold and raining and not even the most faithful members came

2. They live super far away, they´re dirt poor and don´t own a car

3... We just didn´t know where we were with him

BUT THEN

He asked Hermana Nomellini to be baptized!!! 

And then he beared his testimony during sacrament meeting about faith and it was beautiful.

That is the miracle for the week you guys!

So that´s pretty much all I have time for to write. Don´t worry about me. My trainer is super dedicated and patient with me. I love her. 

I see improvement in the language everyday, both in speaking and understanding.

The only thing you have to worry about is all the Alfahores I eat in a week... It´s like cookies stuffed into a mini cake with dulce de leche layered in between. So good. I´ll send you a box for Christmas of all the ones I collect from the members. If I don´t eat them all haha.

Quotes of the Week

(Me telling someone where I am from)

Me: "Soy de los Estados"

Native: "¿Que parte?"

Me: "... Utah"

Native: "Ohhhh la facotoria"

Cada vez.

If you are missionary and you are from Utah or Idaho, you are from the factory. Idk.

(Hermana Nomellini telling our ward mission leader about one of our investigators but I thought she was talking about me)

Hermana Nomellini: "Ella entiende muy bien." She understood very well. 

Me: "Ahhh usted es amable" Ahhhh you are nice.

Hermana Nomellini gives me a confused look: "¿Por que?" why?

Me: "oh"

Elder Schiess and I are still in the same zone (yay!) and now our new zone has picked up on some of the things we say:

"So entonces" enonces means so. so we are saying so so.

"Pues" pues doesn´t exisit in Argentina but it was like the number 1 word we used at the MTC so at our first district meeting we were saying "pues" all the time and everyone else were super confused haha. 

Random guy on the bus to an Hermana in my zone: "Linda" cute/pretty

Hermana Jensen: ¨"Ugh feo" ugly.

They have trucks that sell food in Punta Magotas and they drive around the neighborhood with a megahone saying "bananas, manzanas, etc" which sounds like a creepy darth vader speaking in spanish. One of them saw Hermana Child and I and said: "HOLA LINDAS CHICAS"

Me and Hermana Child: "Well, now the whole neighborhood knows where we are. Hopefully the Elders heard it too so they can save us..."

... I´m half joking half kidding haha.

HAVE THE BEST FOURTH OF JULY EVERYBODY!!!