The highlight of this week was a lesson we taught to Marta, Miriam, and Miriam´s daughters Dahiana, Ramona, and Mariana. We taught the Restoration and I felt impressed to use lots of examples and pictures to help them understand. We taught the importance of baptism, then asked them if they had questions. Mariana asked what a person had to wear to be baptized! We answered a few more questions, but Dahiana still hadn´t asked anything and looked like she had a question. She was too shy to speak up right away, but we kept waiting and listening and then she burst out "When can I be baptized?" The Spirit was really strong in that moment. She and her sister Mariana accepted the challenge to be baptized in three weeks, on August 13. Ramona accepted the challenge to pray to decide if she wants to get baptized too!
On Sunday Dahiana, Mariana, and Ramona came to church. Ramona said she prayed and didn´t get an answer, but that she wants to keep praying. She really liked church. I feel so lucky to be able to teach those three girls. My worry is that they won´t be able to stay active without their mom. We´re going to keep working with Marta and Miriam so that they can get baptized too and so that the girls will have plenty of support. They slept in and didn´t come to church, but they really like when we teach them.
The sister we prayed with, Teresa, had to have her toe amputated afterall. I was worried that she would be angry and depressed, but she said she felt at peace about the operation and that now she feels much better. She trusts that God let happen what was best for her and knows that he is looking out for her. Her faith is a real example to me.
Hna. Navarro and I are really worried that our future converts won´t stay active because there isn´t much fellowshipping in the ward and half the recent converts are inactive, so we are planning efforts to help the members participate in missionary work and fellowship each other more. Tonight we are teaching a family home evening to an active family about how to share the gospel with their friends through service. We also want to have a young singles FHE with some of the recent converts and inactive members who are young single adults. If the ward is stronger, more people will get baptized and stay active.
Hna. Navarro are still struggling a little in our efforts to stick to the schedule, but we are improving and will keep trying. One of our strong points is that we can talk really openly about the things we want to improve and we are really united. I love our companionship! I really hope President Carter gives me one more transfer here.
Yesterday we had to go to the capital so Hna Navarro could vote in the mandatory elections! We arrived 5 minutes before the polls closed-- stressful! It was kind of fun because we got to take two trains and the subway, which I had never taken in Argentina, but mostly it was just boring--4 and a half hours of traveling standing up just to put a paper in a box.
Sorry this letter is so short, I´m out of time. I´m glad you all had a good time with the extended fam and that Dad and the YM got back safely-- what an adventure! Thinking of those tamales made my mouth water-- I really miss Mexican food. I love you! Make sure Ben reads his email cause I sent him one. I´m looking forward to reading all your talks.
Love,
Hermana Clark
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Hey there, July 25, 2011
Last week Hna Navarro and I improved a lot in a lot of things. We´ve been working to be more obedient to the mission schedule. We started jogging in the mornings so we can wake up better. And now we start our personal study by singing a hymn together, so we are motivated to be ready to start studying on time. We´re committed to continue improving and supporting each other to be more obedient. We taught more lessons and found more new investigators too. I´m excited to see the changes we can make this week.
The biggest miracle of our week was that Marta, Miriam, Miriam´s daughters Daiana and Mariana, and Olga, came to sacrament meeting. On Saturday Marta and Miriam agreed to let us pick them up for church. It helped that Marta had already told Miriam that she felt peace during our lesson with her last week. I think they also agreed to come because we tried hard to resolve their doubts and questions instead of sticking to what we had planned to teach. That same day we taught Olga and she said she felt well enough (she´s had a cold) to come to sacrament meeting.
On Sunday we picked up Marta, Miriam, Daiana and Mariana and were able to arrive just a few minutes late to the first hour of meetings. It was really inspiring to see Marta and Miriam exercise their faith by coming to church. Olga showed up for sacrament meeting. I felt so happy to see so many of my investigators where the Lord wanted them to be-- in the chapel. It´s been over 5 months since I´ve seen 5 investigators in sacrament meeting! I want to work hard so that they can come to church again and so that more of our investigators can come to church!
Another big miracle of the week was visiting and praying for Hna Teresa, a convert of 3 years. She hasn´t been able to come to church for a while because she is in a wheel chair because she lost a leg because of her diabetes and she has an ulcer on one of the toes of her remaining foot. The doctors said her toe would have to be amputated. But she received a blessing for the sick from the second counselor and the next day the doctor said they would wait the weekend to operate because her toe was improving. When we went to visit her, we were impressed by her faith that she wouldn´t need the operation, in spite of the pain she was still in. I said a prayer with her that the pain would be less, that her toe would heal, and that she could sleep the whole night. I remember being surprised at the confidence I felt that the prayer would be answered. The next day when we stopped by to visit Hna Teresa said the pain was gone-- her foot just stings and itches, which is a sign that it´s healing. She said that she had slept without being woken by the pain! She will find out from the doctor today if she needs to have the toe amputated, but we´re all hoping for the best. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers when we pray with faith.
Love,Ellis
The biggest miracle of our week was that Marta, Miriam, Miriam´s daughters Daiana and Mariana, and Olga, came to sacrament meeting. On Saturday Marta and Miriam agreed to let us pick them up for church. It helped that Marta had already told Miriam that she felt peace during our lesson with her last week. I think they also agreed to come because we tried hard to resolve their doubts and questions instead of sticking to what we had planned to teach. That same day we taught Olga and she said she felt well enough (she´s had a cold) to come to sacrament meeting.
On Sunday we picked up Marta, Miriam, Daiana and Mariana and were able to arrive just a few minutes late to the first hour of meetings. It was really inspiring to see Marta and Miriam exercise their faith by coming to church. Olga showed up for sacrament meeting. I felt so happy to see so many of my investigators where the Lord wanted them to be-- in the chapel. It´s been over 5 months since I´ve seen 5 investigators in sacrament meeting! I want to work hard so that they can come to church again and so that more of our investigators can come to church!
Another big miracle of the week was visiting and praying for Hna Teresa, a convert of 3 years. She hasn´t been able to come to church for a while because she is in a wheel chair because she lost a leg because of her diabetes and she has an ulcer on one of the toes of her remaining foot. The doctors said her toe would have to be amputated. But she received a blessing for the sick from the second counselor and the next day the doctor said they would wait the weekend to operate because her toe was improving. When we went to visit her, we were impressed by her faith that she wouldn´t need the operation, in spite of the pain she was still in. I said a prayer with her that the pain would be less, that her toe would heal, and that she could sleep the whole night. I remember being surprised at the confidence I felt that the prayer would be answered. The next day when we stopped by to visit Hna Teresa said the pain was gone-- her foot just stings and itches, which is a sign that it´s healing. She said that she had slept without being woken by the pain! She will find out from the doctor today if she needs to have the toe amputated, but we´re all hoping for the best. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers when we pray with faith.
Love,Ellis
1 year in the mission, July 18, 2011
Last week was an extra spiritual week for me, and an important one, because I passed my one year mark in the mission.
Hermana Navarro is a wonderful companion. We´re able to talk really openly and we´ve become very good friends in the last two weeks. She always tells me about all the good things she sees in my teaching. She really loves people and has a strong desire to share the gospel. I´m really lucky to be serving with her. This week, our companionship studies have been really great. We´ve shared a lot of insights and learned a lot together.
The two themes of my (our) week have been improving in diligence and charity. I realized that diligence is more than just consistently working hard, it´s also consistently trying to be efficient and effective. The second part kills me. I have a lot of blocks, as Katie would say, against being efficient, decisive, organized, etc. But I´ve been realizing in the last few weeks lots of things I can do to be more efficient and I´m slowly starting to apply them. I have a LONG way to go, but I feel positive about it.
But a stronger focus on charity has defined this week for me. On Tuesday night I prayed to have more charity for our investigators. When I woke up Wednesday morning I felt during my personal prayer a real increase in my love for the investigators, especially for one investigator that I was having trouble relating to. I shared what I felt with Hna. Navarro, and we had some really neat insights together about how important charity is in missionary work. The rest of the week, as I tried to feel and express love for all the people we found and taught, I saw results. The investigators and less active members and our street contacts responded better and understood better and were more willing to accept commitments. Hna. Navarro and I talked about it during our personal study and talked about how Christ taught with love, not by trying to convince people by force of argument or by “dropping the cane” on people´s faults. We read Section 121 together and came to the conclusion that the advice about not trying to recognize unrighteous dominion with the priesthood also applies to us—the power of our teaching won´t come from our authority as set apart missionaries, but from persuasion, gentleness, and love.
I saw this principle in action with Marta, a reference from another investigator that we contacted on Thursday (my 1 year mark!). She was standing outside her house listening to loud music and didn´t look very approachable. But we went up to talk to her anyway with Hna. Gauna, a sister from the ward who was accompanying us. At first she didn´t want to hear anything. She told us that she had lost two children and that she had been to lots of different churches but that none of them had touched her heart. We could have given up right then, but I decided that I would try to show her more charity. I told her that I knew that Heavenly Father loved her and wanted her to be happy and that he had a plan to help her do that. Her expression changed and she accepted the Plan of Salvation pamphlet we gave her. We told her we would come by again to visit her and she said that was ok!
The next day we went to visit Marta again. I was nervous, but I tried my best to be friendly and keep showing love for her. When we sat down to teach, the Spirit took over completely. We started explaining to her the Plan of Salvation and eternal families. I started to explain to her how Christ overcame sin and death for us, which would otherwise separate us from Heavenly Father and our families. I opened my Book of Mormon and found a scripture in Alma 12 about resurrection that I hadn´t read for weeks or months and hadn´t understood particularly well. I began to read it aloud for Marta and as I spoke to explain it the Spirit helped me understand and explain with a clarity that surprised me. I felt like I was teaching myself—as the words came out of my mouth I simultaneously understood the doctrine I was teaching—that sin causes death and that Christ´s sinless life gave him the power to rise from the dead and allow us to be resurrected too. I immediately, without thinking almost, opened to Alma 7 and read right through from the part about Christ suffering our pains to the part that says he will erase our transgressions and Alma´s invitation to be baptized unto repentance. I challenged Marta right then and there to be baptized so she could receive a remission of her sins and be with her children again after this life. Marta paused, then said she would need to think about it and agreed to pray to find out if the church was true. I told her I was so sure that God would tell her yes that I wanted to set a goal for her baptism. Marta accepted the goal of being baptized on the 30th if she receives an answer. We invited her to offer the closing prayer, but instead of praying out loud, she began to pray silently. At first we were uncomfortable, but then we started to pray silently too. About 15 minutes later, Marta finished her prayer. She had a look of peace on her face and told us she felt “bien”. That lesson was an experience I will never forget. I´ve never felt the Spirit so strongly.
There´s one more experience I´d like to share with you about last week. The same afternoon we taught Marta, but before the lesson, we saw a teenage boy sitting on the ground at the bus stop. I felt like we should go talk to him. I told him we had a message to share and then told him that his Heavenly Father had a plan to help him achieve success in his life and reach his potential. We learned that the boy´s name was Nico. He said he was 18 and he said he didn´t really believe in anything, and his family didn´t either. He didn´t want us to come visit him because his family wouldn´t be interested. I was trying to think about how to explain to him how the gospel could help him personally, and I felt strongly to talk to him about young men in the church. It didn´t seem to have anything to do with anything. But I listened and told him that there were young men in the church doing important things with their lives. I told him “My brother, who is 19, just a little older than you, is going to serve a mission like I´m doing. He´s going to Brazil. And it´s going to be difficult because he will be in a foreign country and doesn´t speak Portuguese yet, but I know he can do it because God will be helping him. I know you can do important and difficult things in your life too with God´s help.” I almost challenged him right then and there to serve a mission, but I chickened out. And Nico told us that he has friends who have served missions in the church—he already knew what a mission was! And then Hna. Navarro testified to him about how serving missions and going to church helped her brothers. It was incredible. I realized that Heavenly Father really wanted Nico to serve a mission, and he wasn´t even a member yet. I had the very strong impression that Nico needs to serve a mission. We left him a pamphlet with the church´s address. I really hope he comes someday, or that we can find him again and teach him.
Love,
Ellis
Hermana Navarro is a wonderful companion. We´re able to talk really openly and we´ve become very good friends in the last two weeks. She always tells me about all the good things she sees in my teaching. She really loves people and has a strong desire to share the gospel. I´m really lucky to be serving with her. This week, our companionship studies have been really great. We´ve shared a lot of insights and learned a lot together.
The two themes of my (our) week have been improving in diligence and charity. I realized that diligence is more than just consistently working hard, it´s also consistently trying to be efficient and effective. The second part kills me. I have a lot of blocks, as Katie would say, against being efficient, decisive, organized, etc. But I´ve been realizing in the last few weeks lots of things I can do to be more efficient and I´m slowly starting to apply them. I have a LONG way to go, but I feel positive about it.
But a stronger focus on charity has defined this week for me. On Tuesday night I prayed to have more charity for our investigators. When I woke up Wednesday morning I felt during my personal prayer a real increase in my love for the investigators, especially for one investigator that I was having trouble relating to. I shared what I felt with Hna. Navarro, and we had some really neat insights together about how important charity is in missionary work. The rest of the week, as I tried to feel and express love for all the people we found and taught, I saw results. The investigators and less active members and our street contacts responded better and understood better and were more willing to accept commitments. Hna. Navarro and I talked about it during our personal study and talked about how Christ taught with love, not by trying to convince people by force of argument or by “dropping the cane” on people´s faults. We read Section 121 together and came to the conclusion that the advice about not trying to recognize unrighteous dominion with the priesthood also applies to us—the power of our teaching won´t come from our authority as set apart missionaries, but from persuasion, gentleness, and love.
I saw this principle in action with Marta, a reference from another investigator that we contacted on Thursday (my 1 year mark!). She was standing outside her house listening to loud music and didn´t look very approachable. But we went up to talk to her anyway with Hna. Gauna, a sister from the ward who was accompanying us. At first she didn´t want to hear anything. She told us that she had lost two children and that she had been to lots of different churches but that none of them had touched her heart. We could have given up right then, but I decided that I would try to show her more charity. I told her that I knew that Heavenly Father loved her and wanted her to be happy and that he had a plan to help her do that. Her expression changed and she accepted the Plan of Salvation pamphlet we gave her. We told her we would come by again to visit her and she said that was ok!
The next day we went to visit Marta again. I was nervous, but I tried my best to be friendly and keep showing love for her. When we sat down to teach, the Spirit took over completely. We started explaining to her the Plan of Salvation and eternal families. I started to explain to her how Christ overcame sin and death for us, which would otherwise separate us from Heavenly Father and our families. I opened my Book of Mormon and found a scripture in Alma 12 about resurrection that I hadn´t read for weeks or months and hadn´t understood particularly well. I began to read it aloud for Marta and as I spoke to explain it the Spirit helped me understand and explain with a clarity that surprised me. I felt like I was teaching myself—as the words came out of my mouth I simultaneously understood the doctrine I was teaching—that sin causes death and that Christ´s sinless life gave him the power to rise from the dead and allow us to be resurrected too. I immediately, without thinking almost, opened to Alma 7 and read right through from the part about Christ suffering our pains to the part that says he will erase our transgressions and Alma´s invitation to be baptized unto repentance. I challenged Marta right then and there to be baptized so she could receive a remission of her sins and be with her children again after this life. Marta paused, then said she would need to think about it and agreed to pray to find out if the church was true. I told her I was so sure that God would tell her yes that I wanted to set a goal for her baptism. Marta accepted the goal of being baptized on the 30th if she receives an answer. We invited her to offer the closing prayer, but instead of praying out loud, she began to pray silently. At first we were uncomfortable, but then we started to pray silently too. About 15 minutes later, Marta finished her prayer. She had a look of peace on her face and told us she felt “bien”. That lesson was an experience I will never forget. I´ve never felt the Spirit so strongly.
There´s one more experience I´d like to share with you about last week. The same afternoon we taught Marta, but before the lesson, we saw a teenage boy sitting on the ground at the bus stop. I felt like we should go talk to him. I told him we had a message to share and then told him that his Heavenly Father had a plan to help him achieve success in his life and reach his potential. We learned that the boy´s name was Nico. He said he was 18 and he said he didn´t really believe in anything, and his family didn´t either. He didn´t want us to come visit him because his family wouldn´t be interested. I was trying to think about how to explain to him how the gospel could help him personally, and I felt strongly to talk to him about young men in the church. It didn´t seem to have anything to do with anything. But I listened and told him that there were young men in the church doing important things with their lives. I told him “My brother, who is 19, just a little older than you, is going to serve a mission like I´m doing. He´s going to Brazil. And it´s going to be difficult because he will be in a foreign country and doesn´t speak Portuguese yet, but I know he can do it because God will be helping him. I know you can do important and difficult things in your life too with God´s help.” I almost challenged him right then and there to serve a mission, but I chickened out. And Nico told us that he has friends who have served missions in the church—he already knew what a mission was! And then Hna. Navarro testified to him about how serving missions and going to church helped her brothers. It was incredible. I realized that Heavenly Father really wanted Nico to serve a mission, and he wasn´t even a member yet. I had the very strong impression that Nico needs to serve a mission. We left him a pamphlet with the church´s address. I really hope he comes someday, or that we can find him again and teach him.
Love,
Ellis
Monday, July 11, 2011
A New Transfer with Hermana Navarro
Dear Mom and Dad,
Reactions to your emails: Dad, you are climbing a lot of mountains lately. Will someone please explain to Alta that she has a long lost godsister in Argentina? I can't believe that Ben is going to Brazil in less than a month! Could you remind me of the exact date? I'm going to try to send a package with the on-a-mission hat and some Argentine goodies for everyone, but I have no idea if it will arrive on time. You might have to forward Ben's portion of the package to him. How is the visa going? Maybe I'll just send Ben a separate package straight to Brasil. You'll need to send me his address though. Elder Clark! aaaaaah! That's so weird!
Quick overview of the week because I have once again malgastar-ed my email time (this time writing an unnecessarily well-composed email to president Carter)
* I let Hna. Azcurra (another missionary) cut my hair on Tuesday. It turned out nice.
* My new companion is Hermana Navarro. She is from Parque Chacabuco en capital, waiting for her visa to go to the Venezuela, Caracas mission. Because she is so close to home, she knows some people here in the ward. The Relief Society president is the sister of her best friend, and she swears she's danced with one of the bishop's sons at a stake dance. It's kind of funny. On Saturday we went to Hermana Mariana Zanzi's house for lunch and her sister and some friends were visiting-- all the best friends of my companion. Poor Hna. Navarro. She was happy to see them of course, but it must have been weird.
* Hna. Navarro and I are already really good friends. We teach really well together and are having a lot of fun.
* I called Reina on the phone and she told me that she and Esmeralda don't want to keep listening to the lessons anymore. Reina says she doesn't feel comfortable in church and that she's prayed to know a million times and feels nothing, zero, nothing. Bummer. I'm sure they will get baptized someday, but I was hoping it would be while I'm here.
* Gabriela, our miracle "I want to hear the lessons and get baptized" investigator, didn't show up to be taught in the chapel and wouldn't answer her phone. I still don't know what's up.
* Julieta, a new-ish investigator (17 years old) came to church for the first time. The young women were really nice to her, which made me happy.
* Olga got a really bad cold and couldn't come to church, but was really happy to receive a Book of Mormon.
* A son and his father showed up at church yesterday with some questions for a school report. Hermano Zanzi (amazing MTC teacher) talked to the father and taught him practically all of lesson one (the Restoration) in about 5 minutes and he was so impressed that he said we could go visit his family and teach them. I'm super excited about it!
* Well, that{s it. sorry I don't have time to write more. Thanks a bunch for your e-mails. I love you!
* Love, Ellis
Reactions to your emails: Dad, you are climbing a lot of mountains lately. Will someone please explain to Alta that she has a long lost godsister in Argentina? I can't believe that Ben is going to Brazil in less than a month! Could you remind me of the exact date? I'm going to try to send a package with the on-a-mission hat and some Argentine goodies for everyone, but I have no idea if it will arrive on time. You might have to forward Ben's portion of the package to him. How is the visa going? Maybe I'll just send Ben a separate package straight to Brasil. You'll need to send me his address though. Elder Clark! aaaaaah! That's so weird!
Quick overview of the week because I have once again malgastar-ed my email time (this time writing an unnecessarily well-composed email to president Carter)
* I let Hna. Azcurra (another missionary) cut my hair on Tuesday. It turned out nice.
* My new companion is Hermana Navarro. She is from Parque Chacabuco en capital, waiting for her visa to go to the Venezuela, Caracas mission. Because she is so close to home, she knows some people here in the ward. The Relief Society president is the sister of her best friend, and she swears she's danced with one of the bishop's sons at a stake dance. It's kind of funny. On Saturday we went to Hermana Mariana Zanzi's house for lunch and her sister and some friends were visiting-- all the best friends of my companion. Poor Hna. Navarro. She was happy to see them of course, but it must have been weird.
* Hna. Navarro and I are already really good friends. We teach really well together and are having a lot of fun.
* I called Reina on the phone and she told me that she and Esmeralda don't want to keep listening to the lessons anymore. Reina says she doesn't feel comfortable in church and that she's prayed to know a million times and feels nothing, zero, nothing. Bummer. I'm sure they will get baptized someday, but I was hoping it would be while I'm here.
* Gabriela, our miracle "I want to hear the lessons and get baptized" investigator, didn't show up to be taught in the chapel and wouldn't answer her phone. I still don't know what's up.
* Julieta, a new-ish investigator (17 years old) came to church for the first time. The young women were really nice to her, which made me happy.
* Olga got a really bad cold and couldn't come to church, but was really happy to receive a Book of Mormon.
* A son and his father showed up at church yesterday with some questions for a school report. Hermano Zanzi (amazing MTC teacher) talked to the father and taught him practically all of lesson one (the Restoration) in about 5 minutes and he was so impressed that he said we could go visit his family and teach them. I'm super excited about it!
* Well, that{s it. sorry I don't have time to write more. Thanks a bunch for your e-mails. I love you!
* Love, Ellis
Monday, July 4, 2011
Saying Goodbye to Hermana Centurion
Dear Mom and Dad,
As always, the alarm sounds at 6:30. Hermana Centurión and I groggily drag ourselves out of our beds and kneel, one on each side of our our space heater, to pray together for the last time. We spend the morning talking, writing letters to each other and the members, and eating one last breakfast of malta and what has to be the tenth loaf of banana bread we´ve made this transfer. When Hna. C finishes packing and I finish getting ready, we leave the pension to order a taxi. One more time I`m losing a companion, and though we keep making jokes as usual as the driver loads the suitcase in the taxi and we drive off, I feel a little glum. I´m staring vacantly at the shiny bald pate of the driver in front of me contemplating how much I´ll miss Hna. C when the radio begins to play "I´m too sexy." "I´m too sexy for my car, too sexy by far. . ." I can´t help laughing-- inside, because Hna. C and the driver don´t understand the lyrics.
When we arrive in Ramos, we are greeted by Hna. C´s mom, who thanks me enthusiastically for watching out for her daughter. The cultural hall is crawling with elders and hermanas, and at any given moment 30 different people are shaking hands or exchanging hugs. I locate my zone leader, Elder Gutierrez who informs me that I´m training again. I´m not surprised--the gossip said as much, and just in case I came prepared with stuff to spend the night. The surprise is that Elder Gutierrez explains that I will stay TWO more transfers in Hurlingham instead of one-- it´s the new policy about training from the new mission president, President Carter. So I´ll have 7 1/2 months total in Hurlingham when I leave. I feel ok about that. Hurlingham has been a tough area for me, but I don´t want to leave until I see more success here. And I feel really involved in the ward´s efforts to improve-- I can´t just leave in the middle of that.
After we take several more photos, it´s finally time to say goodbye to Hna. Centurión. Her mother hugs me goodbye first and hugs me a long time. I hug back, and my eyes are moist. Her hug makes me think of yours, Mom, and saying goodbye to her and to Hna. C feels sort of like having to say goodbye to my family all over again. Hna. C and I hug what must be 5 or 6 times before I finally let her get into the taxi. We got to be such good friends. I´m going to miss her so much.
And so begins another transfer in Hurlingham. This time I´m spending the night in Ramos with Hermana Azcurra and HNA. SCHNEIDER (old companions reunited!), who are also training! Hermanas Reales and Yingling will be staying over too, because tomorrow they are opening a new area-- Libertad B. (It´s a really humble area near Merlo. I hope I get transferred there someday!) So we´ll be have a 5 hermana sleepover! Fun.
Well, I´m almost out of time, but here is the quick run down of what happened last week:
* President Benton and Hermana Benton flew home on Wednesday! We will sure miss them. President Carter arrived on Wednesday too with his wife and teenage daughter, but I haven´t met them yet.
* Two of our investigators, Sonia and Ester, pretty much told us they aren´t interested in being taught anymore. I found out over the phone, two fatal calls in 5 minutes. It was rough, because Sonia had church attendance and could get baptized any week, and Ester had a baptismal date. I feel like I took it pretty well though. I keep praying that someday they´ll be baptized, but if they´re not ready right now, that means Heavenly Father has other people prepared for us to teach.
* Like Julieta-- a 16 year old invesigator we found this week. She wanted to skip school to come to mutual (she takes evening classes). I felt conflicted, but told her not to skip school-- I know too many people here who never finished. She said she wanted to come to church on Sunday though. She didn´t make it to church yesterday because she stayed the night with her sister, but we´ll keep trying as long as she keeps seeming interested.
* Reina broke her arm this week and is in some pain. I´m worried for her because now she won´t be able to work, and she needs her income. On the bright side, Esmeralda came to mutual again on Thursday. She seemed really happy to see us when we stopped by to pick her up. She seems to really like mutual.
* Oh, I forgot to tell you, but I got Dad´s package and the envelope with the birthday photos two weeks ago-- oops! Thanks a lot. I use the thermometer keychain every morning to see how cold it is. I had fun with the baloons too.This morning it was 2 degrees celsius-- chilly! I loved Dan´s birthday story. It looks like he had a lot of fun. He looks so much more grown up now.
* On Thursday we consoled ourselves over the loss of Ester and Sonia by exploring a tiny corner of the area I´d never been to before, separated from the rest of the area by a highway. It´s super humble. We set about 5 return appointments, so I think we´ll have some investigators there soon. It was way fun!
* Evelyn was confirmed on Sunday! Her uncle Marcos confirmed her and gave a really nice blessing. He blessed her that through her example her family would come back to church. I am so proud of Evelyn, and of Marcos for coming back to church! Iara, Evelyn´s aunt, came to church for the third time. It looks like she is going to stay active! She is a really neat girl.
* We taught the priesthood/relief society lesson about charity and missionary work. It went amazingly well. Everyone participated with comments and seemed really willing to try to improve and participate more. We committed them to try "the Kindness Journal" for a week (THANK YOU, KISI!)-- pray everyday for inspiration to know who they can serve, and record their experiences and give us a copy next week.
* Olga came to church! We met her in the street a week ago, Saturday we taught her for the first time and she said she would come to church. I only half believed her-- everyone says they´ll come to church. But she came! She got there before we did and stayed for all 3 meetings. She said that the gospel principles class answered a lot of her doubts and she seemed to enjoy the other meetings too. She says she will come to the two ward activities this week.(TWO IN ONE WEEK! The ward is really getting its game on!) I think she is going to get baptized! She is a really awesome 71 year old lady who lives with three dogs and a parrot that imitates EXACTLY, with uncanny perfection, the crying of a two year old baby. She´s lost practically her whole family, so I think she will really love it when we teach her about eternal families.
* To finish off a great Sunday, we had a miracle. After sacrament meeting, the phone in the bishop´s office rang and it was for me-- weird! I thought maybe someone had died and Dad was calling to tell me or something crazy. But when I answered, Gabriela introduced herself. She told me she wants to recieve the lessons in the chapel and that she wants to be baptized! She got hit by a bus the day before her baptism in Moreno, about 5 years ago, and lost contact with the church during her long recovery. But now it seems like she is ready to try again. We set an appointment for Wednesday. She is so excited to be baptized! I can´t wait to meet her! HOW CRAZY IS THIS!!!!???
Well, that´s the news of the week. I´ll keep you posted with news of my new hijita-- rumor has it that she´s argentine, and waiting for a visa in a different mission. I´ll find out tomorrow. I love you so much and miss you like crazy. Keep writing!
Love,
Ellis
P.S. HAPPY JULY 4!
As always, the alarm sounds at 6:30. Hermana Centurión and I groggily drag ourselves out of our beds and kneel, one on each side of our our space heater, to pray together for the last time. We spend the morning talking, writing letters to each other and the members, and eating one last breakfast of malta and what has to be the tenth loaf of banana bread we´ve made this transfer. When Hna. C finishes packing and I finish getting ready, we leave the pension to order a taxi. One more time I`m losing a companion, and though we keep making jokes as usual as the driver loads the suitcase in the taxi and we drive off, I feel a little glum. I´m staring vacantly at the shiny bald pate of the driver in front of me contemplating how much I´ll miss Hna. C when the radio begins to play "I´m too sexy." "I´m too sexy for my car, too sexy by far. . ." I can´t help laughing-- inside, because Hna. C and the driver don´t understand the lyrics.
When we arrive in Ramos, we are greeted by Hna. C´s mom, who thanks me enthusiastically for watching out for her daughter. The cultural hall is crawling with elders and hermanas, and at any given moment 30 different people are shaking hands or exchanging hugs. I locate my zone leader, Elder Gutierrez who informs me that I´m training again. I´m not surprised--the gossip said as much, and just in case I came prepared with stuff to spend the night. The surprise is that Elder Gutierrez explains that I will stay TWO more transfers in Hurlingham instead of one-- it´s the new policy about training from the new mission president, President Carter. So I´ll have 7 1/2 months total in Hurlingham when I leave. I feel ok about that. Hurlingham has been a tough area for me, but I don´t want to leave until I see more success here. And I feel really involved in the ward´s efforts to improve-- I can´t just leave in the middle of that.
After we take several more photos, it´s finally time to say goodbye to Hna. Centurión. Her mother hugs me goodbye first and hugs me a long time. I hug back, and my eyes are moist. Her hug makes me think of yours, Mom, and saying goodbye to her and to Hna. C feels sort of like having to say goodbye to my family all over again. Hna. C and I hug what must be 5 or 6 times before I finally let her get into the taxi. We got to be such good friends. I´m going to miss her so much.
And so begins another transfer in Hurlingham. This time I´m spending the night in Ramos with Hermana Azcurra and HNA. SCHNEIDER (old companions reunited!), who are also training! Hermanas Reales and Yingling will be staying over too, because tomorrow they are opening a new area-- Libertad B. (It´s a really humble area near Merlo. I hope I get transferred there someday!) So we´ll be have a 5 hermana sleepover! Fun.
Well, I´m almost out of time, but here is the quick run down of what happened last week:
* President Benton and Hermana Benton flew home on Wednesday! We will sure miss them. President Carter arrived on Wednesday too with his wife and teenage daughter, but I haven´t met them yet.
* Two of our investigators, Sonia and Ester, pretty much told us they aren´t interested in being taught anymore. I found out over the phone, two fatal calls in 5 minutes. It was rough, because Sonia had church attendance and could get baptized any week, and Ester had a baptismal date. I feel like I took it pretty well though. I keep praying that someday they´ll be baptized, but if they´re not ready right now, that means Heavenly Father has other people prepared for us to teach.
* Like Julieta-- a 16 year old invesigator we found this week. She wanted to skip school to come to mutual (she takes evening classes). I felt conflicted, but told her not to skip school-- I know too many people here who never finished. She said she wanted to come to church on Sunday though. She didn´t make it to church yesterday because she stayed the night with her sister, but we´ll keep trying as long as she keeps seeming interested.
* Reina broke her arm this week and is in some pain. I´m worried for her because now she won´t be able to work, and she needs her income. On the bright side, Esmeralda came to mutual again on Thursday. She seemed really happy to see us when we stopped by to pick her up. She seems to really like mutual.
* Oh, I forgot to tell you, but I got Dad´s package and the envelope with the birthday photos two weeks ago-- oops! Thanks a lot. I use the thermometer keychain every morning to see how cold it is. I had fun with the baloons too.This morning it was 2 degrees celsius-- chilly! I loved Dan´s birthday story. It looks like he had a lot of fun. He looks so much more grown up now.
* On Thursday we consoled ourselves over the loss of Ester and Sonia by exploring a tiny corner of the area I´d never been to before, separated from the rest of the area by a highway. It´s super humble. We set about 5 return appointments, so I think we´ll have some investigators there soon. It was way fun!
* Evelyn was confirmed on Sunday! Her uncle Marcos confirmed her and gave a really nice blessing. He blessed her that through her example her family would come back to church. I am so proud of Evelyn, and of Marcos for coming back to church! Iara, Evelyn´s aunt, came to church for the third time. It looks like she is going to stay active! She is a really neat girl.
* We taught the priesthood/relief society lesson about charity and missionary work. It went amazingly well. Everyone participated with comments and seemed really willing to try to improve and participate more. We committed them to try "the Kindness Journal" for a week (THANK YOU, KISI!)-- pray everyday for inspiration to know who they can serve, and record their experiences and give us a copy next week.
* Olga came to church! We met her in the street a week ago, Saturday we taught her for the first time and she said she would come to church. I only half believed her-- everyone says they´ll come to church. But she came! She got there before we did and stayed for all 3 meetings. She said that the gospel principles class answered a lot of her doubts and she seemed to enjoy the other meetings too. She says she will come to the two ward activities this week.(TWO IN ONE WEEK! The ward is really getting its game on!) I think she is going to get baptized! She is a really awesome 71 year old lady who lives with three dogs and a parrot that imitates EXACTLY, with uncanny perfection, the crying of a two year old baby. She´s lost practically her whole family, so I think she will really love it when we teach her about eternal families.
* To finish off a great Sunday, we had a miracle. After sacrament meeting, the phone in the bishop´s office rang and it was for me-- weird! I thought maybe someone had died and Dad was calling to tell me or something crazy. But when I answered, Gabriela introduced herself. She told me she wants to recieve the lessons in the chapel and that she wants to be baptized! She got hit by a bus the day before her baptism in Moreno, about 5 years ago, and lost contact with the church during her long recovery. But now it seems like she is ready to try again. We set an appointment for Wednesday. She is so excited to be baptized! I can´t wait to meet her! HOW CRAZY IS THIS!!!!???
Well, that´s the news of the week. I´ll keep you posted with news of my new hijita-- rumor has it that she´s argentine, and waiting for a visa in a different mission. I´ll find out tomorrow. I love you so much and miss you like crazy. Keep writing!
Love,
Ellis
P.S. HAPPY JULY 4!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
My Birthday and Evelyn's Baptism
Dear Mom and Dad,
Here´s a summary of my birthday:
I woke up and opened my package from you-- It was fantastic! I love the sweater and I´ve been basking in grape-nuts heaven all week and munching on the clif bars and sipping the hotchocolate-- yum! Then Hna. Centurión and I made my birthday cake to bring to district meeting: chocolate cake with peaches and dulce de leche in the middle, covered with chocolate whipped cream On top I wrote in Nesquick: 4 EVER, which is one of the mission themes this transfer-- achieve 200 baptisms in the mission for the fourth transfer in a row. When we put the candles in later, I used 22, but put them in the shape of 200. So, 200 4 EVER for the mission and happy 22 years old for me! In district meeting Elder Garcia started introducing his lesson, but turned it into a surprise introduction of my birthday! Everyone sang to me and all the missionaries in my district gave me an alfajor-- that´s a lot of alfajores. After the lesson, the other district in our zone (who meets in the other side of the stake center and is normally forbidden by new mission rules to associate with us) came over to sing to me again and watch me blow out the candles. Then we shared the cake. We finished it off in a flash, and my zone leaders licked the pan clean-- elders. :)
I had a great day and felt super confident, especially when contacting people in the street. I had a grin wider than the Mississippi and was asking questions like crazy. We visited Celeste and Elvira, who had bought chocolate cookies especially for my birthday, taught a great lesson to one of Celeste´s friends, and taught Evelyn and her mom.
At the end of the day we passed by the house of the Herrera family because Hna. Herrera had offered to give us dinner in tupperwares to take back to the pench. When we got there and Hna. Herrera opened the door, her two little kids, Micaela and Sebastián were waiting for me with a big birthday cake and birthday cards they made themselves. I was so touched. They sang to me and lit a candle on the cake for me to blow out and ordered me to make wishes. Best birthday ever!
I finished off my birthday eating Hna. Herrera´s mashed potatoes and milanesa in the pench and planning the next day like usual. I opened the letters you and Grandma sent me when I realized they were birthday cards. I loved the baby pictures of me on the cards. Genius!
Well, here is what happened this week/what´s going on with the investigators:
* Lucila and Enzo are proving very difficult to get a hold off and missed the last two Sundays of church, so they won´t be getting baptized this transfer. I´m not giving up on them though. I´m just going to be patient and give them the time they need. A 6 week transfer, after all, is a completely artificial constraint that often (unfortunately) has little to do with the rate of progress of a person towards accepting the gospel through baptism.
* We´ve been struggling with low lesson numbers all transfer and I´m not sure what to do about it. Low lesson numbers=fewer new investigators=lack of investigators progressing= fewer baptisms, so it´s a big deal. So far though I´ve avoided serious frustration or discouragement about it. I´m going to pray for help and keep working on it until it gets better.
* One of our investigators was praying to know if the church is true and unfortuitously opened her Bible exactly in Galations chapter 1--"why have you forgotten so quickly the gospel that was preached to you and accepted others who came preaching strange gospels?" or something like that. As a firm believer in revelation by letting your Bible fall open (works great if you´re looking for a spiritual pick me up, but isn´t a very responsible way of trying to verify eternal truths) she took that as an answer that she should stick with her current church. Depressing. But, we have an appointment with her tomorrow in which I will try to explain that the apostle Paul preached that sermon BEFORE the Great Apostasy.
* This week we met the mission standard of 140 contacts per week! We contacted 144 people! I´m very proud of us.
* EVELYN GOT BAPTIZED! The baptism of Evelyn was fantastic! Both sides of her family are inactive, but her uncle Marcos reactivated himself to be able to baptize her, and her aunt Iara has come to church two Sundays in a row! For her baptism, a bunch of her family from both sides came to sacrament meeting and attended the baptism! The stake president came and expressed his love to both sides of her family and told them how glad he was to see them. The ward welcomed them warmly, and now some of Evelyn´s family are thinking of coming to church more often, especially her mom! Evelyn is such a sweet, powerful example to her whole family and I know her baptism is going to work a miracle for them.
* We had 4 investigators in sacrament meeting! Reina and Esmeralda, two of my favorite investigators who sort of stopped progressing this transfer, agreed to let us pick them up for church! We ate breakfast with them in their house (banana bread made by Hna. Centurión of course! but this time we used our new cake pan since our improvised glass plate turned into baking dish shattered the last time we used it when we took it straight from the oven and put it on our cold marble counter) and took a taxi to the church. They even stayed for the baptism! And counting Evelyn and her stepfather (future investigator, woho!), that made 4 investigators in the meeting, my record here in Hurlingham! I was super happy!
* Quote of the week:
* Evelyn as she opened a Book of Mormon that we wrapped to give to her: "Oh, let it be the Book of Mormon, please! . . .YES! I´ve got a Book of Mormon, I´ve got a Book of Mormon! (she sang this part accompanied by a little dance she made up while holding her book). This kid is INCREDIBLE.
Well, that´s all I´ve got time for. I love you! Have an excellent week!
Love,
Ellis
Here´s a summary of my birthday:
I woke up and opened my package from you-- It was fantastic! I love the sweater and I´ve been basking in grape-nuts heaven all week and munching on the clif bars and sipping the hotchocolate-- yum! Then Hna. Centurión and I made my birthday cake to bring to district meeting: chocolate cake with peaches and dulce de leche in the middle, covered with chocolate whipped cream On top I wrote in Nesquick: 4 EVER, which is one of the mission themes this transfer-- achieve 200 baptisms in the mission for the fourth transfer in a row. When we put the candles in later, I used 22, but put them in the shape of 200. So, 200 4 EVER for the mission and happy 22 years old for me! In district meeting Elder Garcia started introducing his lesson, but turned it into a surprise introduction of my birthday! Everyone sang to me and all the missionaries in my district gave me an alfajor-- that´s a lot of alfajores. After the lesson, the other district in our zone (who meets in the other side of the stake center and is normally forbidden by new mission rules to associate with us) came over to sing to me again and watch me blow out the candles. Then we shared the cake. We finished it off in a flash, and my zone leaders licked the pan clean-- elders. :)
I had a great day and felt super confident, especially when contacting people in the street. I had a grin wider than the Mississippi and was asking questions like crazy. We visited Celeste and Elvira, who had bought chocolate cookies especially for my birthday, taught a great lesson to one of Celeste´s friends, and taught Evelyn and her mom.
At the end of the day we passed by the house of the Herrera family because Hna. Herrera had offered to give us dinner in tupperwares to take back to the pench. When we got there and Hna. Herrera opened the door, her two little kids, Micaela and Sebastián were waiting for me with a big birthday cake and birthday cards they made themselves. I was so touched. They sang to me and lit a candle on the cake for me to blow out and ordered me to make wishes. Best birthday ever!
I finished off my birthday eating Hna. Herrera´s mashed potatoes and milanesa in the pench and planning the next day like usual. I opened the letters you and Grandma sent me when I realized they were birthday cards. I loved the baby pictures of me on the cards. Genius!
Well, here is what happened this week/what´s going on with the investigators:
* Lucila and Enzo are proving very difficult to get a hold off and missed the last two Sundays of church, so they won´t be getting baptized this transfer. I´m not giving up on them though. I´m just going to be patient and give them the time they need. A 6 week transfer, after all, is a completely artificial constraint that often (unfortunately) has little to do with the rate of progress of a person towards accepting the gospel through baptism.
* We´ve been struggling with low lesson numbers all transfer and I´m not sure what to do about it. Low lesson numbers=fewer new investigators=lack of investigators progressing= fewer baptisms, so it´s a big deal. So far though I´ve avoided serious frustration or discouragement about it. I´m going to pray for help and keep working on it until it gets better.
* One of our investigators was praying to know if the church is true and unfortuitously opened her Bible exactly in Galations chapter 1--"why have you forgotten so quickly the gospel that was preached to you and accepted others who came preaching strange gospels?" or something like that. As a firm believer in revelation by letting your Bible fall open (works great if you´re looking for a spiritual pick me up, but isn´t a very responsible way of trying to verify eternal truths) she took that as an answer that she should stick with her current church. Depressing. But, we have an appointment with her tomorrow in which I will try to explain that the apostle Paul preached that sermon BEFORE the Great Apostasy.
* This week we met the mission standard of 140 contacts per week! We contacted 144 people! I´m very proud of us.
* EVELYN GOT BAPTIZED! The baptism of Evelyn was fantastic! Both sides of her family are inactive, but her uncle Marcos reactivated himself to be able to baptize her, and her aunt Iara has come to church two Sundays in a row! For her baptism, a bunch of her family from both sides came to sacrament meeting and attended the baptism! The stake president came and expressed his love to both sides of her family and told them how glad he was to see them. The ward welcomed them warmly, and now some of Evelyn´s family are thinking of coming to church more often, especially her mom! Evelyn is such a sweet, powerful example to her whole family and I know her baptism is going to work a miracle for them.
* We had 4 investigators in sacrament meeting! Reina and Esmeralda, two of my favorite investigators who sort of stopped progressing this transfer, agreed to let us pick them up for church! We ate breakfast with them in their house (banana bread made by Hna. Centurión of course! but this time we used our new cake pan since our improvised glass plate turned into baking dish shattered the last time we used it when we took it straight from the oven and put it on our cold marble counter) and took a taxi to the church. They even stayed for the baptism! And counting Evelyn and her stepfather (future investigator, woho!), that made 4 investigators in the meeting, my record here in Hurlingham! I was super happy!
* Quote of the week:
* Evelyn as she opened a Book of Mormon that we wrapped to give to her: "Oh, let it be the Book of Mormon, please! . . .YES! I´ve got a Book of Mormon, I´ve got a Book of Mormon! (she sang this part accompanied by a little dance she made up while holding her book). This kid is INCREDIBLE.
Well, that´s all I´ve got time for. I love you! Have an excellent week!
Love,
Ellis
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Flag Day in Argentina, with no Internet Access
Dear Mom and Dad,
Yesterday was Flag Day in Argentina, so all the internet places were
closed. I'm sorry! I was really bummed I didn't have time to tell
you all about my birthday. It was so great! I loved your package and
all the missionaries and members were super nice to me and I had TWO
birthday cakes! And we are having a baptism this weekend, a little
miracle named Evelyn. I'll write more next week. Thank you so much for your
wonderful letters and emails and for making my birthday amazing!
Love,
Ellis
Yesterday was Flag Day in Argentina, so all the internet places were
closed. I'm sorry! I was really bummed I didn't have time to tell
you all about my birthday. It was so great! I loved your package and
all the missionaries and members were super nice to me and I had TWO
birthday cakes! And we are having a baptism this weekend, a little
miracle named Evelyn. I'll write more next week. Thank you so much for your
wonderful letters and emails and for making my birthday amazing!
Love,
Ellis
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