Tutuca

Hullo!

First and foremost, Happy Birthday Kenners! (tomorrow) You share the same birthday as Hna Gonzalez. Lucky! I hope you have fun being old and stuff! I just remembered that I forgot to guess where April will go on her mission. I guess Africa. I hope I win! Oh and to answer your question, familia Bua is a less active family in our ward. They have like 11 kids. They´re an Argentine version of the Robins :) And, yes, it´s funny because Hna Vargas and I are really similar. She is a smiiidge shorter than me and is Guatemalan but other than that....twins. Down to our matching dimples haha.

Last week, we decided to use the ward list to find new investigators. Hermana Vargas saw a name on the list of a family who lives close to our house. We went and there was an older lady, Delfina, sitting outside of the house with two little girls. At first it seemed like she didn´t want anything to do with us but we got talking and found out that all her kids and a lot of her grandkids are members, but she isn´t. The two girls, Betsábe and Naira were her great grandkids. They live with their mom, Micaela, who is a member, in the house next door. We got talking to her (Micaela) and she said she has no belief in God anymore because three years ago her husband died in a motorcycle accident and she feels that it is unjust. She said she sees people on the streets doing terrible things and don´t receive any punishment, but the people who are trying to live good lives are the ones who suffer. My heart ached for her. We testified to her about the Plan of Salvation, and about prayer. She said she doesn´t even want to try to pray. At the end of the lesson we invited them to church. In the morning, we went to pick them up at 9, and no one answered. I said to Hna Vargas jokingly, maybe they already left....in my dreams. We ended up going to church without anyone and were all sad not to have any investigators. When we walked in, we saw Delfina, Naira, and Betsábe sitting there talking to some members in the ward. They told us they got there at 8:30! They said they left early to make sure they got there on time....church starts at 9:30. And Delfina even had her bag full of crackers and goodies for her great grandkids. It was so great. I am excited to keep teaching them and helping them learn more! And I know through their example Micaela will see a change in her life and want to return.

Well we´re going to go to the río now to write some letters. Chaoooo. LOVE YOU.

Hermana Hill

ps could you post that quote on my blog by CS Lewis? Thank you for finding it! It´s one of my favs

Also could you send me the homemade brownie recipe? :):):):):)

Elder Tome (Elders Quorum President) helping me out
with my flat tire.

Noche de Hogar with the ladies...Luisa, Monica, Mabel, Susana

Hna Vargas made a rica torta

One of Rachel's Favorite Quotes by C.S. Lewis

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you know that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seen to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on a extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being make into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." C.S Lewis, Mere Christianity

Asombro me da

Fumeeleeuh y Uhmeegos,

Greetings from Zárate! Thank you for the emails. Mom, I can´t picture
you not being YW Pres haha. You were the perfect lady for the job, and
I know that you will learn a lot from those crazy 9 year olds :)
Kaylee, yes it is summer here and it´s a hot one! When spring starts
to begin for you, it will be fall for us. Wheird. Dad, I feel the need
to tell you that Karl Malone and Brian Russell (is that his name?)
were in my dream the other night. It´s because a member of our ward,
Gonzalo, was telling me how he was a huge Karl Malone fan.
So....yeah.....

What a wonderful weekend it was. Mabel was able to be baptized and is
so happy. And so is her family. It´s amazing to see the happiness the
gospel can bring. Mabel has been investigating for years and years,
but told us she was finally able to open her heart. She has had many
tragedies in her life but she never fully let herself receive the
gospel of Jesus Christ until now. This experience confirms to me that
the spirit is able to bring the message "unto the heart" but it is the
choice of each person to let it enter "into the heart." This time
around, she was able to do just that and I feel so grateful that I was
able to be here when her change of heart took place. Through faith,
repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the
end, lives are changed. I have been learning more and more about the
Atonement and how the purpose of the Atonement is so that we are able
to be changed. I have been reading a talk called "His Grace is
Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox. Please read it! (And also if someone could
find it in Spanish and email it to me, I would highly appreciate it
:)) Jesus Christ gave us this marvelous gift so we would have
motivation to put our faith in him and let him change us into
something better. We all have weaknesses, temptations, faults, but,
sabe que? They are for our good! We need to know that we have short
comings so we have the need to look for the Lord. Ether 12:27 has come
to be one of my favorite scriptures. There is also a scripture that I
discovered this morning in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (I think?). I have a
message that I feel I need to share with you all: Don´t get
discouraged if you mess up. You can come back. It will be hard, and
grueling, and there will probably be some tears, but by overcoming
these obstacles, you will become strong and know how much you need the
Savior in your life.

Asombro me da el amor que me da Jesús.
Confuso estoy por su gracia y por su luz,
y tiemblo al ver que por mí Él Su vida dio;
por mí, tan indigno, Su sangre Él derramó.
Cuán asombroso es que por amarme así muriera Él por me.
Cuán asombroso es lo que dio por me.

The Lord loves each one of you! It hurts Him when we don´t come unto
Him and use His Atonement in our lives. But he will always be there
with waiting for you to come into "the arms of his love."

I love you all!

Hermana Hill

P.S. I would like to hear what you all did with those little BOMs I sent you!


P.P.S. I forgot that I was going to tell you a little bit more about the
baptism. So it all went super smoothly, which is rare because usually
there is a ton of adversity before a baptism. After the baptism,
Hermana Vargas asked me if the font was turned off. I went to check,
and everything appeared to be good to go. The next morning, we were
about to leave to pick up investigators to go to church when we
received a call from the Elders Quorom President. He said that he was
in the church for a meeting and there was water in the chapel :S He
said it was all cleaned up but asked us if we had turned the font off
the night before......oooooops I guess one of the dials wasn´t turned
off all the way and I didn´t realize it. Luckily it was only a small
amount and it didn´t reach the bishop´s office, which has carpet....
There is always something exciting happening here in the mission!

Mabel and her brother, Antonio

La Flia Bua, cutest kids ever

Fishing my casco out of the sanja for the second time! No puedo creerlo.

For our noche de hogar Maxi taught us how to make palomitas.
I'll have to teach you all sometime!

Mi linda companera

Suenos

Dear family,

Okay first off.....HALEY LOVELAND!!!! CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, Roseville, California?! Who would´ve thought??? Okay wow. And JENNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow so much news in one little email. I am so happy for my dear friends! I know that your lives are going in a lovely direction and that the Lord is so happy with your righteous decisions :) (Am I sounding like a mom?) But really. I am so happy for you both and I will write you more in a letter that will hopefully get to you by next year haha.

Guess what?!?!!? You´ll never guess. Okay I´ll tell you. I get to stay in Zárate!!!!!!!! Hermana Vargas and I are here for another transfer and are happy as can be. We have made a ton of goals and plans so we can do all we can to leave this ward better than we found it. I know that I am in this little city in Argentina for a reason and that with the help of the Lord I am finding it out. I am learning so much here. For example: how to ride a bike (I´ve only crashed like 6 times in total... :P) (wow I think that´s the first time I´ve typed the sticky-tongue-out face on my mission...), how to forget how to speak English and at the same time not know Spanish, how to not care that I´m always sweating, how to find my way home after riding through endless fields in the middle of nowhere, how to hand wash my clothes, how to teach people how to pray, how to listen ever so closely in order to hear the spirit, how to talk to complete strangers in a foreign language about the buenas nuevas that I have brought with me, how to counsel with the Lord, how to love these people so stinkin much. And all this in six months. But, wow, do I still have a lot to learn.

Maxi received the priesthood yesterday. Increíble. This Sunday he is going to pass the sacrament and I couldn´t be more thrilled that I get to be here to witness it. We are teaching two sisters, Mabel and Monica, who are sisters of a member in our ward. He is always talking to them about the church and inviting them to read the Book of Mormon and go to church. Mabel has investigated for quite a while and been to church many times. She told us that she knows the Book of Mormon is true, but always had a fear of being baptized because she didn´t think she would be able to complete with the responsibilities that come with being a member. Monica has never been to church before but knows a little from her brother. Recently, their other sister took her own life and it has been devastating for the family. Last week we had the opportunity to teach them both about the Plan of Salvation. They both are reading, and asking questions, and praying and, wow, it´s amazing. This tragedy in their lives has really made them sensitive to the spirit and want to search and find answers and have some sort of anchor in their lives. The gospel is their anchor. We are going to continue to teach them and help them to see that they can have the opportunity to see their sister again. We have taught them about the work that is done in temples. In our last lesson with Mabel, she told us about a dream she had. Hermana Vargas and I came to her house, but there was someone else who came behind us, wearing a hood. She asked us who she was, but we didn´t respond. The person took off their hood and said "yo soy." It was her sister and she came for help. It is amazing to me that we not only can bring the gospel to people on earth, but also on the other side of the veil.

Well I just love you to pieces. Congratulations on the blessing of Easton :) Don´t forget to send me pictures. Aw, what a cute eternal family you are.

LOVE YOU

Hermana Hill

P.S.
GUESS WHAT?! Hna Vargas just informed me that I slept, sleep, slep talked....talked in my sleep....last night. IN SPANISH! woot.

Ohhhh noooo!

Hna Coronel and Hna Franco helping us out with our bosque in our backyard.
(Hna Jones, can you believe our bosque?!)

Celebrating 6 meses! (The bottle has Madagascar 2 and says "Fiesta para los  ninos :) )

I debated whether or not to send this picture, but I have a feeling a lot
of people will appreciate it.  We went to the end of the earth the other day.
(Hna. Jones, we went to Calle 60!!!!  Wayyy off the map.  Then we couldn't
even find the house we were looking for)

Gotta love this kid!

Luisa y Mabel

DOSMILDOS

Dear Family,

 

HI! Thanks for the pictures, you are the cutest little nativity ever! I also loved the one of Camri doing sit ups. I´m glad my missionary service is blessing you with a nice big tv and entertainment center :) It sounds like you have had quite the lovely holiday season. I´m glad you were able to spend so much time with the family. Way to go on your scripture reading every day! 100%!!!!! You can do it. I promise that you will see so many blessings. Dad, you´re, right, new years is overrated but the good thing about starting a new year is making new METAS!!!....uh, goals. I have been thinking a lot about the goals I want to make for this year. It is the only year that I get to be a missionary every day of the year. Isn´t that cool? On the 6th I will complete six years in the mission. Hahah...months. No puedo creerlo. There are still so many things I want to do better to be able to help people come unto Christ. I know that we need to make goals, pray for help, and then WORK. I think all the time about the potential we have as children of God. Working and praying and changing is hard. It takes a lot of energy. I think about the story of Enos how he had to "wrestle" with the Lord. I don´t know if you have heard the quote by....the guy who wrote the Narnia books....about how the Lord changes us into a mansion. If not, look it up. (and send it to me :)) This week has been challenging, but I know that the Lord has a grand design that we can´t see. We have had some difficulties, but at the same time I can see that we are learning and growing...and I am learning to have more charity, patience, and faith. The only way we can learn is through experience. On Sunday Hna Vargas gave an awesome talk about humility and how it is the only way we can learn. A member of the stake presidency also spoke about gratitude and always looking for the good, even in trials. He shared a scripture that I LOVE.

 

D&C 78:17-18

 

Sorry my thoughts are scattered, we don´t have a lot of time. But I hope you all can make some goals this new year. 2012!!!! Woo! Oh I just remembered his name. C.S. Lewis :)

 

Things are going well here! Hna Gonzalez left but Hna Vargas and I are plugging along and meeting a lot of new people! We have transfers this Sunday. Ah, I don´t know where I am gonig to go but all I know is that if I leave Zárate I´m going to miss it so much. I will keep you posted. I love you alllllll!!!!!!!!!

Su hermanita

 

I found Quaker Oatmeal Squares! Expensive, but worth it.

Easton! Pahaha.

Yeah...