¡Navidad, Navidad! (to the tune of Jingle Bells)‏

Dear Family,

I love being a missionary. I love seeing people show their faith. I love my Savior and I am so grateful for his Atonement. I know that He was "born that man no more may die." I know that the Lord loves you all and that the Atonement is something very personal for each of us. I invite you to think of Him this Christmas season and think of a gift that you can give to Him. I feel so much love for my Redeemer, for my brothers and sisters here in Argentina, and so much responsibility to share this message to all those who will hear it. What an important message that we have to share! As I learn about and experiment more of what Christ really did for me it makes me wonder how my Heavenly Father possibly could have sent me here to be His mouthpiece--to preach las buenas nuevas of the gospel. Wow. But I know that I am not alone. He is helping me every step of the way. I really am seeing things in a whole knew light and through small miracles and learning experiences every day, my life really has been changed. Hna Alvey gave me this quote the other day that very much describes what the mission (and life in general) is like: 

"When you get to the end of all the light you know and it´s time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly." -Edward Teller

May you all have a very merry Christmas and focus on the most important things. :) The Lord loves you and so do I!

La hermanita Hill

Sopresa!!!!

Hey family!

How are you? Well, you´re never going to believe it but I bid farewell to Tigre today! Yup, I will be spending the remainder of my days in URQUIZA! Back in cap-i-tal! It was a big surprise and I was super sad to leave Hermana Hualpa and Tigre...she is my only comp that I was only with for one transfer. And Tigre was the only area I was in for less than six months...I feel so unsettled! Haha I´m actually really excited to work my buns off here in Urquiza. I will get to know one more area and get to know more of the awesome peeps here. I love getting into new areas because it´s like a whole new slate and a whole new batch of people who are waiting for this wonderful message of the gospel. So my new companion is Hermana Alvey. She is from Las Vegas and is so great. There area actually four of us hermanas here... we will be with Hermana Kapp and Hermana Sperry, but Hermana Sperry is in the south right now and won´t be coming up until Wednesday so the three of us will be working together for right now. Hermana Kapp is from Mapelton, Utah and Hermana Sperry is also from Utah (Spanish Fork?) and they both went to BYU. Hermana Sperry will be leaving with me to start school as well. So, yeah, lots of craziness! I will be practicing my english with three American comps, that´s for sure :) In Tigre we were seeing a lot of miracles and I am excited to hear about what happens there and see the branch continue to grow. I love this work and am super pumped to see even more miracles here in Urquiza. Love you all a bazillion!

Hermanita Hill

Familia Quispe.  Lucy and Carlos are recent converts and help us a ton.
And Carlos is preparing to serve a mission!

We got to see Milsiades before his baptism at the
stake conference!  Future missionary.

With my new compies!  Hermana Kapp and Hermana Alvey :)

Little White Dress

So much goodness this week! Check it ouuuut.

Romina showing Astrid the font before her baptism <3

With all the fam :)

Romina with her dad, Miguel, and her sister, Astrid.
He reminds me of dad kind of sometimes because
he only has girls and he loves em a lot!

Okay here´s the story of Romina. She goes to church with her friend, Rosita, who is a recent convert. We taught her and she had always wanted to be baptized, but her parents never gave her permission. Last week we felt we should go visit her and talk to her parents again. Also near the area, we had a reference that we needed to contact. We felt that we should go contact the reference first--and it turns out the address didn´t exist. We felt that we should knock all the doors on the block we were at because maybe someone there was prepared. Everyone ended up rejecting us, so we decided to head on over to Romina. Her parents weren´t home because they work a lot, and that was part of the problem of never being able to get permission in the first place. But after teaching her, when we were about to leave, her dad showed up. We began to talk to him and at first he tried to avoid us, but we were persistent and at the end of the conversation, he realized that the best thing he could do for his daughter is to allow her to be baptized. He said he would talk to his wife, which he did, and they gave her permission! On the day of her interview, we brought her baptismal dress to try on. When she came out all dressed in white, her dad gave her a bug hug and just started weeping. It was such a special moment that I will never forget! I love how the spirit softens people´s hearts and always guides us to where we need to be. 

Milsiades

 Okay this kid is so awesome. On Saturday the zone leaders called to pass us a reference of a boy from Paraguay who came up to them on the street asking them where the church is. He said he was from Tigre, so we ended up calling him and inviting him to a baptism that night. He went and he told us about how he had been investigating the church for a long time in Paraguay, but was never baptized because his friends who weren´t members were always telling him that he shouldn´t. Until one day, one of his friends who is a member told him that he need to ask God if these things are true and if he should be baptized. He received his answer and decided he should. Then he moved to Argentina, so he didn´t have the opportunity. He has been here for six months, and never knew where the church was, until he saw the Elders on the street and asked them. And now he is preparing to be baptized this weekend! And he wants to be a missionary!!! And then....we found out he lives out of our area. So it will be other missionaries who will baptize him.....NOOOOO! Haha...but we are really happy that he will be getting baptized and that we got to see this miracle!

Thanks so much for the AWESOME PACKAGE! We are super
excited about our regalitos and Hna Hualpa wants me to tell you gracias!
I have the best family.  Es la verdad.

Hey.

Last Pday we went to Parque de la Costa.
The Lagoon of Tigre.

She's so cute!

Whoever said missionaries can't divertirse?

Hello Family!

Last week has been full of prayer, fasting, running, hard work, and miracles. Yesterday was the baptism of Maria Laura :) She is the mom of two girls who were baptized last year. They were baptized with their grandma and always went to church with her, but the grandma moved, and since then, they haven´t gone to church. We went to visit them to see how we could help and began teaching Maria Laura. They have been going to church together as a family and she made the decision to be baptized! Have you ever noticed how the gospel is perfect for families? Also yesterday was the primary program and her little girls got to sing and say their little one-liners. We`re really helping the primary to grow here in Tigre! We´ve got a whole bunch of future leaders here. It´s crazy how kids really are more of an example to their parents than the other way around sometimes. It´s always saying in the scriptures how we need to become like little children...Mosíah 3:19, 3 Nephi 11:38, Mateo 19:17...(or maybe it was 17:19). There is a lot we can learn from these little people, as I´m sure you are seeing from being with Easton! Thanks for being so great! Love you LOTS!

Oh also I was going to tell you that a girl who I was teaching in Almagro, Aylen (I send a picture of her once) got baptized! And now she´s sharing the gospel with the whole world! Did I also tell you that Victor´s son, Alex got baptized? It´s so awesome to see that when we plant little seeds they actually are harvested sometimes!!! 

Hermana Hill

P.S. A girl in the stake, Rocio Rios got called to Cordoba also! She leaves December 13, as well as Hna Hualpa´s friend. When does Karina leave? Also Hna Hualpa wants to see a picture of Karina if you could send one. 

Bautismo de Maria Laura!  (spot the Daniel)

Love these guys!

Ezequiel.  Nuff said.

surfin' USA

Querida Familia!

I heard the song surfin USA the other day and almost started doing that dance that we made up when we were little....you know the one...."wearing their baggies....bushy bushy blonde hair-do..." But that´s so beside the point :)

I totally didn´t realize that it´s Thanksgiving this week! Feliz día de acción de gracias! It sounds better in english, doesn´t it? Well I don´t have a lot of time, and I´ll tell you why. Because today is kind of like a super short pday. Because apparently tomorrow the whole country of Argentina is doing...manifestaciónes. Manifestations? I don´t know what it would be in english. But, you know all that political hubub. So we´re not allowed to leave our apartment all day tomorrow. Dang it! Hate to lose a day of work when there is always SO MUCH TO DO in the obra del Señor. But, así es. So today is just internet and compras and back to work! But, hey, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, how about I send you a classic list of things I am grateful for (in no particular order):

-the gospel and everything to do with it

-my family

-the Book of Mormon

-the Bible

-Argentine food

-Argentine ice cream

-Dulce de leche

-Alfajores

-Jugitos

-the ability to exercise (for obvious reasons...see above)

-health

-the sky in Tigre

-rivers

-cute little kids

-el don de lenguas

-my companion, Hna Hualpa, and every companion I have had on the mission.

-the Spirit

-kioscos

-my friends

-those small moments when you know that the person that you are talking to feels the love of Christ

-uplifting music

-seeing people progress

-seeing people happy

-seeing families that love each other

-laughter

-letters

-three straight hours of studies every morning

-knowledge that I have a Savior who loves me and wants to help me and see me succeed and live with Him again

-knowledge that I can live with my family forever and can help others achieve the same

-temples

-hearing people pray for the first time

-the opportunity to repent and be better every day

-ofertas!

-the funny moments when I say things in spanish that don´t make any sense...yeah, still happens :)

-un montón de cosas más....there is just no time.

I am so grateful for all you do for me and for this time I have in the mission! I want to use every single second I have in the way the Lord would have me do. I love you all a ton!!

Hermanita Hill

Ofertas!!!

Queridísimo Familia!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for going through all the trouble of signing up for my classes! I´m sure they will just be great. I remember that is was such a pain in the neck waiting until midnight and then the website being all slow and not being able to get into certain classes haha..so seriously thanks so much for all you sacrifice to help out your little helpless hijita over here in Argentina. On Sunday, in fact, we had a lesson about sacrifice. Thank you for your selflessness. I love my parents! Congrats to Karina! I´m so excited to have a cuzzie who will be serving in the same country. My companion has a friend who will be serving in Cordoba and is coming in December. Her name is Hermana Meneses so that would be cool if they were compies! Cade and Kaylee, send me pics of your apartment! How great that you will be living so close! How are all the sissys? Hannah told me that I would be getting a letter from you guys once a week...what happened to that??

On Sunday we had the opportunity to give talks in church. I actually kind of like giving talks even if the ward probably still doesn´t understand half of what I say...maybe that´s a blessing :) Of course we talked about missionary work. We are just a little branch here in Tigre, but I have such a desire to see this branch become a ward. It´s fun to see when the members share with their friends. In my talk, I told about how a couple weeks ago we asked Ariadna, a ten year old in our branch, who she wanted to invite to church. She said she has a friend named Brisa who she wanted to invite. We went with her to her friend´s house, but shedidn´t want to come out and talk to us. We left, but on the way, she said she had another friend who she could invite, Milagros. We went to her house and she was very excited to receive the invitation and last Sunday, she went to church with Ariadna and her family. The truth is that when we share the gospel, we will get rejected a lot. But Ariadna was an example of not feeling down or having fear to keep sharing. I know that this applies in all aspects of our life, and it´s something that I have been learning here in the mission. Man, sometimes I wish I could just start the mission over, knowing what I know now. But I know that the learning and growing will never stop. I have learned so much that will apply throughout my entire life. I am grateful that the Lord allows us to see our weaknesses and help us realize how we can change to know Him better and become more like Him. We had quite the opportunity the other day to talk to a pastor of another church. He said all sorts of things to us, but we were able to testify to him of what we know. I am so grateful to be a member of this church and to be able to testify at all times and in all things and in all places.

"Hermanos, ¿no hemos de seguir adelante en una causa tan grande? Avanzad, en vez de retroceder. ¡Valor, hermanos; e id adelante, adelante a la victoria! ¡Regocíjense vuestros corazones y llenaos de alegría! ¡Prorrumpa la tierra en canto! ¡Alcen los muertos himnos de alabanza eterna al Rey Emanuel que, antes de existir el mundo, decretó lo que nos habilitaría para redimirlos de su prisión; porque los presos quedarán libres (D&C 128:22)!

Love you all bunches! Qué sigan adelante :)

Hermana Hill

P.S. What´s the deal with this 666 chip thing? Everyone keeps asking me about it and I just keep telling them that I have no idea haha. Sounds pretty iffy!

This is the Tigre train station and behind it is where we live!

Would you think less of me if I told you we ate this entire pizza...?

Bebe.

Juan!  The son of our investigator, Pablo :).

Bienvenidos!

Bring on the HEAT!

Dearest Familia,

Well summer has begun and it's hotter than a pistol and we're not quite sure we'll survive for when summer REALLY starts but I think we can handle it because we're workin for the Lord! Hermana Hualpa and I are super pumped to be working here in Tigre and are finding a bunch of new investigators. Mom, I was actually with Hermana Rentería as long as all of my other companions. I've been really lucky to have every single one of my companions for two transfers--12 weeks! And yes, Hna Hualpa will most likely "kill" me. Nooooooooo!!!!!! Did I tell you that Hna Shelley and I got to be companions for an evening? She is training this transfer, so while she was waiting for her companion to get here, she stayed with us for a night and came to our appointments with us. We always knew we would be comps again! It sounds like you all are doing well and having a lot of fun! And happy birthday to Cade!!!! Hope it was super divertido!

I have been learning a lot about diligence and faith and we have been praying and fasting to find those who the Lord is preparing. We are looking for FAMILIES who are prepared. Practically no one here is married, which makes things tricky. But we KNOW that there are people waiting for this message and through our sacrifices and diligence and faith, come their opportunities. More and more I am realizing how important it is to rely on the Lord and the spirit, and not on my own strength or knowledge. Thank you for your prayers, I love you all a ton and I gotta go!

Hermana Hill

Hermana Hualpa about to be attacked
 by a bruja!

Summer has begun!  (Ignore the pansa)

It's asado and its happy to see you :)

Ghosties for Halloween!

Some cute cards that some little girls found out of the
trash on the street and gave to us. Haha que tierno!

Switch it, change it, rearrange it!

Hullooooo!

Today we had traslados! I am still in Tigre! Suprise suprise :) I´m super pumped to still be here. Hermana Rentería se fue! Guess where???? By birthplace! Zárate II! I´m so excited for her and gave her the rundown of the area, the people, the bikes, etc. She´s gonna love it. I am here with Hermana Hualpa...she´s super awesome! She´s from Peru but lived in Chile most of her life. Mom, I´m with a Chilean! Woo woo! 

Thanks a million for the package! It was the best!

I don´t have time!

Here are some pics!

Hermanita Hill

P.S. Hannah, I heard that one ring tone you had that sounds like ducks the other day and it made me laugh a lot

P.P.S. Mom, the other day we walked past some men that were doing construction and they all started singing "Vamos a la Iglesia" to the tune to "vamos a la playa" haha don´t worry, we ignored them but it was pretty funny and it made me think of how you used to sing that song all the time!

Don't worry, dad, we are drinking lots of milk!

Thanks for the cute headbands!

El Distrito

Bring on the rain!

Dear Family,

Easton´s party sounds like a hoooot! Hope you saved me some torta de bigote! It´s a lot of fun hearing about all your experiences! Keep em comin :)

It´s been going good here! Super rainy but así es la misión! I´m just soakin in every moment (literally :))

Not a lot of time but enjoy some pics and I will see you next week!

Love, 

Su hermanita favorita 

Besitoooos!!!

Familia Moyano!  Last pday she cut my hair.

I LOVE THEM!

Did I ever tell you there is a street named after my birthday?

Tell them you'll never, EVER go along!

Dear Family!

So much exciting news in one email! Thank you for always keeping me posted on what´s going on in the motherland. Tell Easton happy birthday and give him a big huge beso for me, will ya? It boggles my mind that this kid is one year old and I still haven´t met him yet! The best things come to those who wait...amiright? Well, no time. Here are some pics!

Julieta got baptized! Her grandpa, Sergio, baptized her. Her mom, Gisela, is a less active member. As her daughter was baptized, she felt the spirit very strongly and tears came to her eyes. I love the spirit. Maria de los Angeles is her aunt...which is funny because she´s like her same age. She´s super awesome and loves going to church with her niece and sharing the gospel with all of her friends. Jeramías is Juli´s brother and he´s so cute. On the day of her baptism he just cried and cried saying "me quiero bautizar!" (I want to get baptized!) Finally, his grandpa gave him a tithing slip and told him it was his baptismal paper. He stopped crying after that and took the slip around with him everywhere he went!

Familia Luna!  I love them!

Well I was going to send you a bunch more pictures but the computer is being SOOO  SLOWWWW and you know how that gets. 

Jacob 5:72 :) (Doesn´t just apply to the mission, you know!)

I love you and sorry this was so short!

Hermana Hill

Ask the missionaries! They can help you!

FAMILY!!!

I am just so full of joy! I feel like conference was just quite the gift from above. When I heard the news about the new age requirement for missionaries, the first person that came to my mind was little Kenners! I remember that you had the desire to serve, and I wondered what you thought at that moment. I kept saying to my companion, "I hope my sister emails me and tells me what she thinks about all this!" And lo and behold, I get an email from you. I am so happy that you are preparing to serve! I just want to tell you how grateful I have been to be a missionary in this short time (it really seems SOOOO short). I have learned so many incredible things that have blessed my life. I have had the craziest moments of my life, the saddest ones, the ones where you feel the most helpless and inadecuate. I have had moments where I have felt so much love toward a child of our Heavenly Father and have felt that I would do anything to help them be happy. I have met people that have tried my patience, who have completely rejected the message of hope that I have brought just for them. I have seen families and lives that have been ruined by bad decisions. Many of them don´t want to change, or don´t believe that they can. That´s the part that breaks your heart. So then you ask, why do I love my mission so much? The answer is: because there are those chosen people that DO change!  There are people that have waited their whole life for someone to come up to them and tell them that we have something for them that will bring them more joy than they have ever imagined...and they actually believe you! And they make the necessary tweaks...tweeks? in their life to achieve the happiness that is promised to those who obey the commandments. They start the process of conversion, that Elder Bednar spoke about. This conversion is hard for them, as it is for us all, and sometimes they fall. Sometimes as a missionary you find those people who have fallen, people who had so much joy when the missionaries taught them for the first time and had lost that feeling that they had once felt at the beginning of that process. And then you help them remember. And they come back. As a missionary, as you help those in this roller coaster ride of conversion, you become even more converted yourself. You learn small lessons every day that your Heavenly Father has carefully prepared for you, just as you carefully prepare lessons for your investigators. You realize how much He must love you, considering how much you love these people that you are here to help and serve. The mission is not a walk in the park, it´s more like the dirty dash (hahaha...I saw those pictures, they were pretty funny). It´s full of obstacles and lots of hard work (and lots of fun, too, of course :)) But the feeling of satisfaction is one of a kind! I know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us and that He will show us the roads we should take in our lives to achieve true happiness and best help our brothers and sisters. I also learned a really big lesson as I made the decision-- that many times He lets us choose between a lot of good things. McKenna, I know that as you continue to pray and fast, (Omni 1:26 <3) He will guide you and you will know the course you should take. I love you a ton and know you will be an amazing servant of the Lord no matter where you go or what you decide! 

That goes for my other little sissys too, that are getting so BIG. (As in, old. I don´t think you´re fat.)

Dad, I´m so glad you mentioned that song Brightly Beams our Father´s Mercy. When we watched conference we only got to watch half of the first session in english, so I listened to the vast majority in spanish. It was still awesome though! But anyway, about that song...it really stuck out to me when Pres. Packer talked about it and this morning I read the words to it (in spanish) and was thinking about the significance and Hna Rentería and I sang it together for our hymn of the day. And then I get your email, and you also talked about it! Inspiración! It really is a goodie...goody?

Welp....longest email of my life. I was going to tell you about some other talks I really liked and some stuff that I learned but, time´s a tickin and there is food to buy and clothes to wash. But hey, no time to rest when you´ve got stuff to do!....that was deep. 

I luff you.

Hermanita Hill

Subway: comé rico y sano

Dear Family,

We just ate a terriyaki chicken sandwich from Subway. They have subways here if you were wondering :) Okay to answer your questions before I forget: I have no idea what holiday they were celebrating last Monday...they have a random holiday like every week. It was actually a new one that they just invented I think, but I forgot to ask what it was. Oh and just to warn you the 15th is also a holiday so just in case you don´t get an email that day, don´t worry! About the flooding, I guess a few times a year, depending on the year, they get SUPER bad flooding because they get these big, nasty winds that blow all the water from La Plata into Tigre. Did you know that Tigre was once a giant river? So yeah we´re talkin lots of water, like waist high in some areas....let´s just say I learned a whole knew meaning for the phrase "gird up your loins." They said it has been worse in years past but they´re working on the drainage system. So that´s good. They said it might happen again, you just never know. On Sundy, Zamira was baptized! She is so cute and SO smart. She is such a fast learner and says the cutest prayers. I love teaching this family because every time we pray, they say "Vamos a hacer amen!" And they all get all excited and fold their arms. And then sometimes Daniel, who is five, says the prayer and he clasps his hands in front of his face and he just rambles and asks for the most random things in his prayers, but they are so full of heart haha. I thought little kids praying in english was cute, but that was until I heard Daniel pray. Cuteness to the maximum! Well that´s the summary for the week. I´m so pumped for General Conference. I think this time we´ll be able to watch it in english, which is always pretty nice. I love making goals and looking for how I can become better as I listen to the talks. I encourage you all to do so, to take a little time to evaluate the ole life and see how Heavenly Father´s servants   can answer our questions, and help us achieve our deepest desires. I love you all a billion and am glad to hear you are doing well. I am so grateful for you. En serio.

Hermana Hiiiiilllll.

Adrian and Zamira!

Love them all!

Daniel, Marcos, and Zamira cantando

Hamaca

Dear Family,

So sorry for not emailing yesterday! It was a holiday and everywhere was closed so we got permission to write today. I´m still alive and kickin, don´t worry :) Not a lot of time,as always, but just wanted to give you a few updates. Cristina got baptized! It was beautiful. Adrian was actually a less active member but started going back to church, got married, baptized his wife, and next Sunday Cristina´s daughter, Zamira, is going to get baptized because she turned eight yesterday. And they are preparing to get sealed in the temple in a year. Doesn´t get much better than that! I´m so going to be there for their sealing, sí o sí. What else has happened...oh yeah we had some pretty sick flooding of the river! That was fun. And a lot of other stuff that there´s no time to write about.To answer your question, yeah, I´m thinkin that I´m going to spend the rest of my time here, which is really weird to think about so I try not to :) You really never know though, anything can happen. Man I never want to leave, I love Tigre so much! It sounds like the temple dedication in BC was awesome! That´s so cool that temples are being dedicated left and right. Well Iove you all a ton and I know that living the gospel of Jesus Christ is the right way to live. It is more and more evident to me every day of my mission. Thank you all for everything, I love you un montón!

Love, 

Hermana Hill

P.S. Could you send me a new debit card? mine got warped somehow and the ATMs don´t accept it so I can´t get cash out :(

We had interviews with Pres. and he told me that they are planning on sending all the missionaries that need to go back to school home on the 31st of December just to give you a heads up.

Nahuel!

Chillin' with the sisters on Pday...Hna Shelley just got
transferred to my zone!

Cristina!

Going to the registro civil and we´re gonna get ma-a-arried!

Fam!

Not a lot of time, but I´ve got some good news! A little better than the BYU game probably....(good thing I wasn´t there watching that, eh? I know I´m here on a mission for a reason! haha) Well, here it is: Adrian and Cristina got married! It was lovely and they are just progressing so much and Cristina and Zamira (Christina´s daughter) are super excited for their baptisms. Also, Nahuel got baptized! And his family is preparing to follow his example. It was a great week and I love you!

Oh and p.s. we had transfers but I am staying! With Hermana Rentería! We´re super stoked.

The district

The happy couple!

Bienvenidos al...cielo.

Dearest family whom I love so much,

What an AMAZING week. I´m so glad you were able to see some of the highlights of the cultural event that was here. We were able to be there and participate and even marched out on the field singing "Called to Serve" Well, in spanish of course. It was just incredible. Leonardo and his grandma went and they are already super excited for him to go on a mission and being there really impacted them and helped them see the importance of missionary work. I love them. The day before, on Friday, we went to a special fireside with Elder Christofferson, Elder Ballard, and President Eyring with all the missionaries serving in Buenos Aires. They are incredible. I know they are men of God and I learned so much and I heard them speak. Many of the words they spoke were just what I needed to hear. President Eyring is just the smiley-est man ever! The whole time he just had a big grin on his face and you just know he loves working for the Lord. On Sunday we had the rededication. There were three sessions and in the one we went to President Eyring wasn´t on the program but was prompted to bear his testimony. He talked about how what an incredible experience and amazing opportunity that we have to be a part of this event in Argentina, but said that the most important memory we can keep with us are those moments when we have felt the love of the Savior. The most valuble thing we have is our testimony of Jesus Christ. We must think about the moment when we will see Him after this life. Will we not only recognize him, but also truly love Him? My head is just full of all the thoughts that have come into my mind this last week and thinking about how I can better teach and serve the people around me. I love being here. I love you all a ton. 

¡Hasta luegito!

Hermana Hill

Put a smile on your face, make the world a better place

Hey Heeeeyyyy!

Thanks for your letters! I´m glad you´re having fun! I love you! (ps what is my subject line from? I can´t remember)

So...don´t have time to write but this week we sent our mission president the miracles we have seen through the temple open house, so let me just forward that right on to you all :)

Miracles of the Temple:

Leonardo y Lucia

Leonardo (11) lives with his grandmother, Lucia. They started receiving the missionary lessons in the middle of August. We were helping them to prepare for baptism, but Lucia was hesident to accept a baptismal date and give permission for Leonardo to be baptized because she believed that they needed to prepare themselves for at least a year. They attended church and enjoyed it, but still had the same mindset. When Tigre went to the temple together as a branch, they both went out of curiosity. Leonardo was impacted by the baptismal font, and left the temple wanting to be baptized for his grandpa, Lucia´s husband, in the temple. He knew that he would first need to be baptized in order to also be baptized for his grandpa. After hearing his desire, Lucia allowed him to be baptized. Although there was much adversity leading up to that special day, Leonardo was baptized on September 1st, and confirmed the next day. He will be able to see the rededication of the temple on the ninth. Lucia is also preparing for her baptism on September 16th, and even bore her testimony and shared her gratitude over the pulpit on the day of Leonardo`s confirmation. She told of an experience that she had with her daughter, Ines, (Leonardo`s mom) fourteen years ago. Ines had talked to missionaries and wanted to go to church, but Lucia, because of her strong catholic background, did not let her go. Lucia recognizes now that she should have helped Ines to become a member of a church and has even more of a dedication to help Leonardo be a strong member. She knows they are pioneers that will help their family not only in the future, but also in the past, through the blessings of the temple.

Cristina y Adrian:

Adrian, a less active member, took Cristina, his girlfriend, and her three children to the temple open house. Cristina is investigating the church and will be baptized on September 23rd. They will be getting married on September 14th, and are preparing to go to the temple a year after Cristina´s baptism to be sealed as an eternal family. 


Milagros:

Milagros (13) is an investigator who went with us to the temple open house with her cousin, Mailen (13), who is a recent convert. She mentioned that in the sealing room, as she looked in the reflection of the two mirrors, she saw her mom, who died when she was young. She now has desired to be baptized for her in the temple.

We are very excited to participate in the temple rededication and the events leading up to it. I love being a missionary, and even more at this amazing time in Argentina. We have seen the blessings, as well as the adversity that comes with something of this magnitude, but we couldn´t be more grateful to be here!

I love you all a ton, thanks for your love and support!

Hna Cerro

P.S. Dad, my companion totally saw Scott Bacula. In person. I told her that you look like him. Or maybe he looks like you...

We lost electricity for a while.  Our friend, Jorge,
showing us the source of the problem.

Leonardo y Federico!  Que fuertes.

With his grandma, Lucia :).

¿Sabés? ¿Viste? ¡Che!‏

Hey familia!

As always thanks for your emails! I love hearing about your adventures all the way up there in the fábrica. (I told you about how they call Utah the factory of Mormons, right?) Sorry I´m never good at responding to everything, but to answer some of your questions, Hna Rentería has mexican blood but she had never learned Spanish before. She has been here like two transfers less than I have. And she´s a capa! It´s a lot of fun having an American companion again. I´m starting to re-learn english! We´re just trabajar-ing a full and not caring if we don´t have sleep, electricity, or sanity :) Did I answer all the questions? Let me know if there was something else haha.

Wow, it been a roller coaster ride this last little while! We have been super busy--I think the busiest I have been on the mish, but it`s awesome. We were at the temple Monday, Tuesday, and Friday last week and it has been such a great experience. It makes for a lot of traveling and craziness but vale la pena because it´s amazing the miracles that have happened and are happening! I love walking through the tour with the people who have never entered the temple before...especially the investigators. They are just so amazed and looking at their faces, you can just see that they are feeling something that they have never felt before. I know that God is preparing more and more hearts to receive the gospel at this special time in Argentina. I also know that the adversary doesn´t like it very much and he is also doing all that he can to not get people to receive the blessings of the gospel. We live in a time where we really have to commit ourselves. I have seen many people who are not fully committed fall away and I have also seen people who are very committed push past some of the hardest adversity that I could ever imagine and cling to their testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember a quote that President Gulbrandsen sent us once by George Q. Cannon: “Every foundation stone that is laid for a Temple, and every Temple completed according to the order the Lord has revealed for his holy Priesthood, lessens the power of Satan on the earth, and increases the power of God and Godliness” I find comfort in reading this because I know that if we keep our sights on the temple and on eternity, we will be okay. Well, we won´t only be okay, but we will have exaltation, which is a little bit better than just okay :) Satan is mean, but we can beat em! I love this people a ton and really do want the best for them. I´ve only been here like three weeks but I already feel like they`re my little children that I need to take care of haha. I guess that´s what being a missionary does to ya...

Well, have I ever told you that I love you and am SOOOOOO infinitely grateful for you? Well I am. I really can´t say it enough. I LOVE MY FAMILY. That´s all.

Hermanita Hill

We went to the temple with our cute 13 year old friends :)
Milagros, Ariana, and Mailen

I just really love this place.

This is for dad.