February 24 2014

hello!

I´m glad you made it back from Cali, and that everything went so well. It sounds like it was such a nice service. One day we will see him again!

A highlight of the week was our historical ward activity... "un desayuno americano". We (us 4 missionaries from the states) cooked pancakes, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, fresh OJ...it was all quite a hit. They first thought we were crazy, but they ate it. Funny thing is they ate hardly anything...their stomachs are just used to mate and crackers in the morning! It was even complete with dulce de leche and peanut butter. 

A miracle was our investigador Christina who came to church yesterday! She first met the missionaries more than a year ago...in fact she contacted THEM. She knows either our church or testigos de jeovah is true. The thing is she NEVER goes to church...but she finally came. I can see how much satan is working on her....probably because when she is baptized she will become general relief society president or something. We also found a new person, Theresa. She is actually 80...but i never would have guessed it! She listened so good....unlike any other lady i have ever met here. We contacted a ton this week too. The mission goal is to have 500 baptisms in the next 2 and a half months. You have to remember that we are in rosario, argentina......not mexico. So this normally would sound ridiculous...it's more like the mission goal for a whole year. But already we have seen so many miracles. Many are called, but few are chosen. God is preparing many of his children right now. We have been trying what's called a harvest blessing....you basically go to someone's house, tell them you are here to leave a blessing and are representives of Jesus Christ, go say a prayer, they feel the spirit, and then go back to teach them. I´m learning to be bold. And more than that to just open my mouth and trust in the spirit. Truth is i love contacting...I never would have said that a year ago. jaja.

Last week we went to Walmart as a district. We are almost all from the states. And everyone had to stock up on peanut butter and hot sauce. I just hope america isn´t going through the inflation that argentina is...oh wow, missionaries shouldn´t have to worry about the economy, but things are rapidly changing here. 

We had the classic contacting in rain missionary experience. We had planned to knock doors...and it was pouring. So we still knocked doors. Didn´t find one sympathetic person. The weather just affects people SO much here! But we tried. jaja. People just thought we were crazy probably. Unfortunately lots of time people think we are begging for food and money when we knock doors....so we are trying to make our presence known everywhere. 

I still haven´t warmed up to cockroaches. I was washing the dishes of a member, when i noticed one floating in the sink. I tried ignoring it. It was dead. But then the sink filled up and it disappeared into the murky depths. I also noticed a dead one hanging from the wall next to me. Mom, you would be proud, I don´t even scream or react. It´s tolerance no más. I just couldn´t bring myselft to actually touch it. As for the mosquitos....I think i have bites on top of bites. We got stuck talking to a person while we were standing in a patch of tall weeds. Bad idea. We were literally attacked by them....i couldn´t stand still, it felt like we talked forever as I was trying to just give the lady a picture of jesus and end the contact..jaja. Maybe she just didn´t notice our ants in the pants dance. This week we also had marriage proposals, we ate the yummiest crepes that a member made. 

Good job on band, Ethan!

attached is the pic of us missionaries in costanera. Also, happy late bday landon...i didn´t have my camera last time. 

Love you all!

hermana andrews

Desayuno

Happy fiesta nacional de mate....yes this is a real event

Dear family,

I´m so sad to hear about grandpa. At least we know that he has lived quite the life. I´m praying for all of you, and most importantly for grandma. Love you all!

I have really seen this week how the gospel of Jesus Crist changes lives, not just now, but for the eternity. This is the comfort that we receive despite trials. I saw a huge miracle this week. It had been a rough time. Nothing we seemed to be doing in our area was working. I feel like I should be at the point of the mission being better than any moment before, but we just felt stuck and like there was no progress or results. I then found out that my investigador from Colón, Sulma, was baptized!! Months ago we contacted her and her family one Sunday as they were walking down the street....me and hna cruz taught her, but there were so many roadblocks, as she isn´t married and didn´t every want to marry her drunk husband. Well I don´t know everything that took place between when I left and now, but she was just married and baptized, and hopefully now the rest of her children and husband will be baptized to form an eternal family!! This was just a little evidence from God that things happen in his time, we don´t always know what the results will be. Today I got an email from investigador in my first area too, it was so good to hear from her!

Our ward here sure seems to be going through everything. A member, Esther, died, our grandma Maria was in the hospital.....We called Esther one day to set an appointment, the lady said Esther had died. I was skeptical of this, because we had just recently passed by, and her family doesn´t really like the church anyways. Well it later was confirmed that this less active member really had died from a sudden heartattack...we passed by one morning and she wasn´t there, as soon as she came home she passed away. It was so sudden. Life really is short. The good news is that several less actives we are working with went to church yesterday!

Other things this week is I went to Paraná for divisions, my dislike for dogs grew even more as I was peed on right through the fence as we were contacting a lady, my comp said she is always entertained by my sleep talking in spanish (I´m doomed for life). This week our ward activity is an american breakfast...the members think we are crazy, but they are just going to learn to love pancakes and scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. 

Sounds like you had a good vday! I think we ate some pizza or cereal or something. Mom, you could have frozen mine:) And happy bday landon! Yesterday I knew exactly what you would be eating! jaja. As for ethan....I think he is turning into sterling. Watch his sleeping habits. 

Thanks for the updates. Let me know how the trip to Cali goes. Cuidense!

Love, hermana andrews

p.s. Mom i just received one of your dear elders from November! jaja. It must have made a detour to india or something. 

p.p.s. I didn´t receive dad's letter

happy olympics

Happy olympics! Truth is I had no idea they were even going on.... maybe the people in argentina don't even know they exist? It´s all about the World Cup here....June baby!

Well to start off with the questions mom....

Yes mom, no robbings this week. 

Everyone does besos here. Women and women, but also men and men. I love it. It´s so much better than the handshake. Except us of course only beso women. There´s always the creeper men who try to sneak one in on us. No one hugs though. Just us american hermanas. 

And trek...yep it does exist here! In fact the youth are going this week, it´s in Cordoba. But the lucky ducks get a swimming pool, real toilets, and a nice little camping spot. 

It wouldn't be a letter without the weather update. Right now it´s pourrrring. This morning we were sitting there studying, when my comp looked over and realized her bed was soaking wet. jajaja. Our roof leaked. So then we taped little plastic grocery bags hanging from the ceiling to catch water, and buckets on the floor. It´s quite the site. This week I also experienced the lovely humidity, more than any other week here. I felt like a man walking around wet constantly. I think I will move to Arizona. 

As for the baptism we were going to have Saturday, it was sadly canceled. Rocio had to move back to Tucuman weeks early....so she wasn´t baptized here. Super bittersweet. But...she will be baptized there. As for other investigadores, it was a tough week for finding people. A lot of our time was occupied with service, going to Rosario, and so many other little things that came up. I don´t even know what a normal week would be anymore. We did get a reference from the mission office. It´s a man named Flavio, he talked to someone from Uraguay on FB about the book of mormon. Flavio is a professor, has studied the indio culture and religions of argentina, and written 5 books. We gave him a BoM, he gave us a copy of his book. We had no idea what to expect going in, but it was very different as he doesn´t have the christian background and beliefs of God and Cristo. I felt more like  I was teaching someone from china. 

I had 2 of the most entertaining service projects. We went to cut the grass of our little old member grandma, maria. (That in itself took convincing, as she wanted the elders to do it...they assured her that hermanas are capable also) She didn´t have a rake to clean the grass up, so gave us a squeegy that´s used to clean the floor. So i squeegied the grass. And she told us that we needed to cut the grass by hand around all her flowers. And then I used the broom to sweep her dirt. There was a plywood table that needed to be cut in half, the elders were then given little kitchen knives (like we use for steak)...let´s just say it took a while. Hey, you use what tools there are. Another day I learned how to use a machete as we pulled out weeds from another members house. She basically had a jungle outside. (And then an elder lost his keys...)

People here always keep it entertaining. We were talking to Zunilda (75 year old) about a challenge we had given her to write down names of people who could listen to the gospel, and then pray every day for them. As i was asking her about each of the names, she explained it´s her grandson, her son, her brother (´"he´s dead"), her husband ("he´s dead")....jaja oops I guess we didn´t explain good enough it's for LIVING people to listen to the missionaries. We keep walking into streets where the testigos de jehova are contacting...ugh. They do their best to even avoid eye contact with us. We just make sure to go back and contact the same streets after. 

I was thinking and studying a lot about repentence this week. As a missionary, we have to repent more than ever. Really in life the way that we progress and become more like Christ is through repentence....to change our desires and thoughts and intentions. This is super important for alll members. Our ward here is realllly struggling...there are few members, and more menos activos than ever. The repentence every day and every week help us be converted. And here´s a little quote that I read today....

"Character is demostrated by looking and reaching outward when the natural and instinctive response is to be self absorbed and turn inward." -Elder Bednar.

This week we also took a little trip to Rosario to do visa stuff. And slept in the mission house with A\C....(i may have even slept with 2 blankets....). 

Well thank you for all the letters. Seriously. I´m glad everyone has not died in the cold yet. (well, except maybe sterling). 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDON!!!! wooohooo!

And happy valentines day! I will just have to survive without my cinnamon hearts. 

Keep on keeping on, the decisions you make every day really do determine where you will be tomorrow.

Love you all. 

Hermana Andrews

happy groundhog day....happy bday heidi!

We are already in febuary.

And ethan is driving?..... I will hold off all the learner permit jokes, but seriously parents, maybe consider that again. He was barely a teenager just yesterday. 

Not a lot of letter worthy things happened this week. We had transfers, the four of us stayed in this ward. Right now things are a little rough in the ward, as half the members are on vacation, the bishop is now living in brasil, and people seem to be dropping to the less active list on a weekly basis. One tactic we are trying is to become the most annoying people possible, anyone who isn´t going to church will be getting LOTS of visits from the missionaries throughout the week. Until they come. 

As for our investigador, Rocio, she is getting baptized this week! Well, maybe. She had a date and everything, but yesterday we found out she is moving back to Tucuman sooner rather than later. As in like 2 days after her baptismo. So now it´s a matter of if she is getting baptized here, or will wait to be baptized there. She really is prepared, I´m happy that this is the decision she wants to make. She was even going to go on Trek here. 

People at home joke about eating like pioneers, or having nothing in the fridge. Well this week we experienced it. jaja. We have really been forced to practice a budget, as neither me or my comp have had our debit card, due to being robbed. We have learned to be creative, eating rice, pasta, rice, tortas fritas, and crackers. Hello carbs. Good thing we walk a lot. But don´t worry mom, finally we will be going grocery shopping this week. I guess this could be classified as just one of those experiences of the mission. 

Well i hope everything else is going good. That´s great you had stake conference. 

And i hope you ate some superbowl food for me?!.....

Love you all!

Hermana andrews

 3 And not only so, but we glory in ^atribulations  also: knowing that^btribulation  worketh ^cpatience ;

 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
 5 And ^ahope  maketh not ashamed; because the ^blove  of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Romans 5

p.s. we were at a members house yesterday and their whole back patio is coverered with a ceiling of grapes. Dad would have been enthralled. They were delicioush.