Hermana Churchill

ATTENTION FRIENDS AND FAMILY! : A message from your beloved missionary`s companions.... :)

2010-12-11T00:10:00.000-08:00

Dearest Family and Friends:

For the last 18 months your beloved daughter, grandaughter, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, squirrel, and friend has been serving Heavenly Father and His children as a missionary and representative of Jesus Christ in Argentina – a land VERY far away and VERY distinct from that she was used to. As her companions, we spend a LOT of time with her, and have seen her change and adapt to the circumstances here, which she has done very well.... maybe TOO well. That being said, as you now prepare for her exciting homecoming, we wanted to take a minute to warn you ahead of time about a few of the changes so you don`t get worried later on.

While living in Argentina, there are many things that Hermana Churchill had NEVER before done or experiences. First off, in the home:

She`s never had such poor table manners, so don`t be surprised when she eats everything with a large spoon, wipes her mouth with her hand, and wipes her hand on her skirt. Please forgive her beforehand if you ever catch her sneaking unwanted food into napkins on her lap, plastic-lined coat pockets, or to the dog while you`re not looking.
She`ll probably eat a ton at lunch and barely touch her dinner. Speaking of eating a ton, she`s never before had to eat so much to the point of making her sick, so please... if she starts to look queezy, remind her that it`s OK not to finish everything and that she won`t offend you, even if you did make it with love and spend your hard-earned money.
She`s never had such a confusing diet. For the last 18 months she`s eaten everything from cow brains, heart and tongue and bloody pig intestines to hot dogs, ketchup and french fries on top of pizza. Every meal has been deep-fried in cow-fat or drenched in oil and salt, with a loaf of bread on the side. The most ironic part of it all is that dessert is always the healthiest part of the meal! So please just keep it simple... make sure to have the pantry and fridge stocked with lots of sugar cerals, fruit snacks, clean produce, peanut butter, cheddar cheese, bagels, wheat bread, fresh skim milk (not powdered or expired!), clean lunch meat, maple syrup (not from concentrate), tortilla chips and salsa, etc.
She`s never had every article of clothing become “hand-wash only” so don`t be surprised when every sink in the house is full. Just remind her where the washing machine is and how to use it.
She`s never had to sleep in a mummy sleeping bag for a year and a half, so please have lots of clean, comfy blankets and pillows ready, and hide anything with a zipper! She`s also never had to rely on a rooster to wake her up, so if she sleeps in late, and then runs around frantically trying to get ready for personal/comp study and the day`s work, kindly calm her down and show her how to use an alarm clock.
She`s never celebrated so many random holidays yet still had to work, so try not to kill her when on Christmas day she wants to exercise, shower, eat breakfast and study all before opening presents at 10 AM.
She`s never had so many weird quirks and habits. If she claps to get people to answer the door, wears her flip-flops in the shower, kills bugs with her bare hands, refuses to drink water from the tap, or scolds you for walking around barefoot, just remember: patience is a virtue, and she will eventually adapt.

SPECIAL NOTE: If she spends HOURS playing with the garbage disposal, trash compactor, electric drill, lawm mower, electric stove, toaster, water dispensor, pencil sharpener, blender, or other at-home gadgets, do not be alarmed... It`s totally normal. Also, when she starts sweeping the carpet with a broom, remind her that you do have a vaccuum that will only take 10 minutes instead of an hour.

The next thing you`ll have to be careful about is taking her out into civilized society. Just be patient and try not to get too embarrassed, because just like in the home, there are a LOT of other things she`s never done before living in Argentina, such as:

She`s never realized how much she loves QFC, Safeway, Albertsons, Smith`s Macey`s, or Fred Meyer`s until now, so don`t be surprised when you take her to a grocery store for the first time and she acts like a child at a petting zoo, running from aisle to aisle and saying “Wow! Look at this!” If she starts talking to herself, don`t worry – she`s doing one of two things: 1) Praying and giving thanks, or 2) Trying to figure out how many pesos are in a dollar and how many kilos are in a pound, and how in the world to convert the measurements from all her Argentine recipes.
She`s never had to use so many buses or trains, so don`t be surprised when she`s frantically looking for coins in the couch cushions and asking people for 10 ¢ in the street. Remind her that you DO have a car and that she doesn`t need to scrounge for coins anymore. After a year and a half, though, it might be smart to first take her to a parking lot for a test drive before letting her loose.
She`s never gone so long without being alone, so she`ll probably follow you around everywhere you go and freak out when you`re not withing “sight and sound” of her. You might want to start now to master the technique of just “smiling and nodding” so that when she randomly starts speaking in Spanish or constantly talks about the mission and Argentina in “Caste-yankee” (aka Spanglish), you`ll be prepared.
She`s never kissed so many people, nor had so many men attempt to kiss her before serving a mission. Don`t be surprised when upon entering a room she immediately goes around and starts giving everyone kisses on the cheek, and then gives another round as she leaves. Oh and boys... if she kisses you, don`t take it personally... it does not mean that she`s in love with you!
She`s never been so excited to hear a song in English, so don`t be surprised when a hit from the 80`s comes on and she starts singing at the top of her lungs. Just hope you`re not in a crowd.
She`s never felt like such a celebrity just for having blond, curly hair and blue eyes, nor has she ever gotten so many cat calls, so don`t be surprised when she gives you the death stare just for saying “Hi”
She`s never worked so hard on the “Day of Rest”, so don`t be surprised when Sunday comes around and she`s ready to go pick up investigators at 7:30 AM, has an extra sacrament talk on hand and has read every lesson in advance “por las dudas”. When she responds to an invitation to pray or to read a scripture to the class with a look of complete panic, it`s probably because she has forgotten how to pray in English and/or has brought her Spanigh set to Sunday School.

As you can see, MANY things have changed while Hermana Churchill has been serving a mission. The biggest change, however, is the change that has taken place in herself. Before serving the mission, she had never had such as incredible, unforgetable experience. She`s never worked so hard, cried so much, smiled so often, or loved so deeply as now. She`s never been so converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ or been so desirous to share it with everyone around her. The last 18 months have been the best of her life, and have truly changed who she is for the better. She`s never before realized how incredibly blessed she is to have amazing family and friends who support her and love her so much, and would like to thank them for every e-mail, letter, package, and prayer. She`s never had so many people she can call “family”, as that truly is what the Argentine people are for her, and she will be eternally grateful for the short time she`s been given to spend with them, and for the friendships and memories shared with each and every one of them.

Well, that`s the best help we can give you. As her companions, we hope that these warnings and tips of advice will come in handy in the final preparations and first few months with Hermana Churchill. It`s hard to believe how fast the time has passed, but the inconceivable has become reality, and believe it or not....

Hermana Deverall Churchill is coming home!!!!!!

Pictures from this week!

2010-12-11T00:04:00.000-08:00

1. Gaston`s baptism

2. The water heater that caused so much commotion!

3. Happy 18 months! . Do you like my floor collection? At least i was set to go! :)

4. This is me on the floor on sunday. My back froze up and i was trying to get it out, but it wasnt possible cuz it hurt so bad. Don`t worry though.... i`m actually dying of laughter on the floor... why it made me laugh and not cry i`m not sure, but oh well. Asi es.

You`ll NEVER imagine all the belebrations this week for....

2010-12-10T23:51:00.000-08:00

MY 18 MONTH MARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Believe it or not, I officially hit 18 months in the mission?! Isn`t that insane?! I guess the next two weeks are vacation, no? SIKE! I`m super stoked I get 2 EXTRA weeks to work like crazy! :) Boy did we celebrate like CRAZY though.

So, my 18 month day started out super tranquilo. (PS:... 18 months feels more like your birthday than anything). My AWESOME companion made me pancakes with bananas and dulce de leche, and we studied and went out to work. We had lunch at our Bishop`s house, and then started doing all the preparations for GASTON`S BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOO HOO! Then the baptism started, and that`s where all the fun began....

When we got to the chapel, it was an hour before the baptism, and the font was filling. The only problem is that it was ICE cold, because the ward mission leader forgot to turn on the water heater. We got that figured out, and after that everything started pretty smoothly. We were really happy because a lot of members showed up to support Gaston, which is what we were really worried about because he has NO ONE - family or friend - who are supportive of him in getting baptised, so he was there alone. Our ward really pulled through though, and the meeting went super well. The talks were amazing and really showed Gaston that he`s part of a bigger family now, and what an amazing, important decision he was making. Then, AS SOON AS our ward mission leader announced that we would now be passing on to the most important part of the meeting, Gaston`s baptism, someone someone looked behind and saw that the water heater had CAUGHT ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!! At first it seemed like just a little thing, so as one person tried to put that out, someone else tried to open the baptismal font door.... but it was jammed shut. So more people went to help, and meanwhile the fire kept getting bigger and bigger, so one of the moms freaked out and rushed all the kids out of the room (which is probably good, since its a gas heater), which threw everything into chaos. Carlos grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall, but luckily just as they were going to spray the heater they were able to put the fire out with a towel. The Carlos went and helped with the still jammed door, and was able to open that as well, thank goodness. By that time, though, the whole room was filled with smoke and a lot of nerves, and poor litte gaston was even MORE nervous than he was to start out with.

They were still going to move right onto the baptism, but we called a TIME OUT, had everyone sit down, and sang a hymn together. I love music, and how it invites the spirit in any situation!! After the hymn everyone felt a lot calmer, and we were able to move onto the baptism, which was beautiful, we did a special talk and sang a duet during the intermision, and the rest of the night went super smoothly.

But.... that`s not the end of the fun! (sorry, i know this is long!)

After the baptism Carlos invited us and Gaston over to his house for dinner, just because he didnt want gaston to have to go home after the baptism..... Carlos is SUCH A CAPO!!!!!!!!!!! :) It was way nice, but I had started feeling REALLY sick to my stomach. We called a remis (taxi) to go home, and by the time we got in our pension i was dying. I still wanted to plan, though, so we planned on our beds while i layed down because i was in so much pain. We ended up cutting our planning session short, though, cuz i ran to the bathroom... and... well... you get the picture. I spent the rest of the night alone in my room super sick, running back and forth from the bathroom, without sleeping cuz i was in so much pain (my poor cmpanion gets really sick anytime anyone else is sick, so she slept on the floor in the kitchen).

Sunday morning i got up at 6:30 and was determined to go to church for Gaston`s confirmation, but my comp didnt think i would make it since it was hard for me to even stand up, so she called pres to see if she could go to church with someone else. When he found out what happened the night before, he prohibited me from leaving the pension ( :( bummer.), but gave my comp permission, so she went and said the conf. was wonderful, and Gaston was SUPER happy!!

SO those were the big celebrations this week! Today i`m feeling a lot better, and finally ate something besides jello, gatorade and crackers, so life is good! It was a crazy, mixed up week with lots of twists and turns, but that`s just what makes life exciting, right? :)

Well, I hope all of you have an amazing thanksgiving holiday. Eat lots of pavo for me, k? I love you all so much. I`m SO grateful for this time I have to be serving as a missionary in this marvelous work, and I`m grateful for my amazing friends and family who have been there every step of the way. I`m a pretty lucky girl! So thank you. Les quiero muchisimo.... mas que se pueden imaginar.

Un beso grande,

Hermana Churchill

PICTURE:

1. This is what happens after 18 months of walking!

Catholics, evangelical pastors, and Baha´I?! What a mix! :)

2010-12-10T23:46:00.000-08:00

You guys are never gonna believe what just happened to us.... we went grocery shopping, and they were playing CHRISTMAS MUSIC in ENGLISH!!! :) You have no idea what big news this is.... they never play christmas music here! Not even at Christmas time! We were so happy that we FROZE in the lunch meat isle and just listened in silence until the song was over :) haha

ANYWAYS.... Hows things going back home?? This week here was just kind of funny and mixed up... but GREAT! :) We found a ton of new investigators this week, which was way cool! Saturday alone we found 10, so we were super happy! Anyways, here are a couple of the random stories:

1. We found a lady from IRAN! That was a new experience. She was from the Baha´I religion (which I´ve never heard of), and had to escape from her country to be able to practice it. Interesting, huh? She was way cool though, and walking into her house was like walking into another country!

2. We also found an Evangelical Pastor! A lady and her husband, who own their own church right next to their house. They received us super well, and (in the end) even agreed to pray about the restoration. That was also a first!

Pretty cool huh? The biggest news of the week, though, is that GASTON IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!! I think I´m even more excited just because he´s SOOOO CAPO, and has an amazing testimony of the church! We did his pre-interview this week, and I couldn´t believe my ears... it was by far the most spiritual lesson I´ve had. In every single question he showed a sincere love and conviction for the gospel, and in the end told us that he KNEW that this was the only true church .... that he could feel it! The hard part is that his whole family is catholic, and have been saying a LOT of bad things about the church, but he defends it and says that he wants to be baptized anyways. He`s great!!! That takes a LOT of strength! Actually, Dad... it reminded me of you, and how you were the only member in your family. If you don`t mind, it`d be awesome if you could write him a little note of encouragement on email that I can translate and give to him next week after his baptism.

Welp, that´s about all for now! The work keeps rolling along smoothly, and we´re having a blast here in Burzaco! :) I hope everything is going wonderfully back home. Be happy, and don`t get so trunky, k? :)

Love ya!

Hermana Churchill

PICTURES:

1. In Argentina, every piece of clothingn becomes "hand wash only" :)

2. Language study in the chapel while waiting for our cita to arrive :)

HOT HOT HOT... tamales?

2010-12-10T23:43:00.001-08:00

It`s really starting to burn up down here.... and I LOVE it! It`s actually been a mix of sun, rain, tornado-ish, windy, hailing weather, so it`s been kinda funky. Right before the BIGGEST storm this week, we found a man and his mother, and they let us in their house on the first visit. RIGHT before we were going to leave, it started POORING... I`m talkin fire-hose pooring... so they insisted on us staying. We said we had to keep working, and that we would be ok, so then they changed and insisted that we take their umbrella. Yal know how stubborn I am, though, so I assured them we would be totally fine, and the mother said " ¡Sé que ustedes son ángeles, pero aún los ángeles tienen alas y no se puede mojarlas!" (I know that you are angels, but even angels have wings and you can`t let them get wet!). :) haha. SO that was the cute moment of the week :)

We had a LOT of fun with the packages of hot tamales that my AMAZING long-distance visiting teacher sent me. The people here HATE spicy things, so hot tamales kill them, but we decided to use them and apply them to the gospel. We talked about why it is that God gives us trials, and how it is that we can overcome them, and read in Doctrine and Covenants 121 about how trials are really only short moments, and in the end we will overcome them and be blessed. Then we would give a hot tamale to each person and tell them that this was their trial - that they had to suck on the hot tamale, and have faith that once the overcome their trial they will receive the blessings (which is the sweet part inside the hot tamale). It was a blast, and really helped a lot of our investigators and less-active members to realize why it is that we have trials, and that we will always be able to make it through if we trust in the Lord.

Sunday was also a SUPER special day for me! Raul, one of my converts from Banfield 2 (my first area) came to sacrament meeting in Burzaco! What made it even better, is that it was fast and testimony meeting, so he got up and shared a BEAUTIFUL testimony, which made me cry seeing how incredibly strong and dedicated he is to the gospel...... and i don`t cry ever! :) It was absolutely amazing, and I felt like the happiest person in the world! In my agenda I simply wrote " I have been blessed " cuz that`s how I really feel... blessed that I have this opportunity to meet so many amazing people and share the gospel - the biggest blessing that i have in my life - with them. There really is no greater joy than helping someone else receive the gospel and follow in the straight and narrow - whether it be your friends or your own family members or complete strangers. I LOVE THIS WORK!!!

Alright, I gotta get going!!! But I love you all so so so much!!! Be good. Be happy. Smile TONS!

Besos y abrazos,

Hermana Churchill

Pics!

2010-12-10T23:36:00.000-08:00

1. Machete weed-wacking in the jungle ( aka behind a member`s house) with carlos!

2. Cleaning the capilla!

3. Crawling out the window when our door broke!

Happy Halloween!

2010-12-10T23:31:00.000-08:00

Geez! It was a VERY interesting week this week!!! There were a TON of little, weird things that made working hard each day:

- Wednesday - Argentina Census. We had to stay in our pensions until like 4 pm because Argentina did a census and no one was allowed to leave their houses until someone came by to census them. So I guess now I`m counted in the Argentina population! :)

- Also on Wednesday, the ex-president (and current president`s husband) of Argentina, Kirschner, died, meaning there were 3 more days of feriado and a TON of news

- Thursday/Friday - It rained, and rained, and rained some more.... Always a missionary`s FAVORITE climate to work in! Haha. It was kinda nice though, since it`s starting to feel like summer here! The only downer is EVERYONE sleeps all day here when it rains, and there`s never anyone in the street!

- Thursday - Our front door broke right when we were leaving to work, so we spent probably about an hour trying to fix it, and eventually just climbed out the window so that we could work!

- Saturday - we had a huge ward farewell for an elder here, which was super fun! It was super weird seeing so many Americans though! (17 people from his fam came, and that wasn`t even all that came to Argentina!)

BUT!!!!

Now the good part. At the beginning of this week we put some AWESOME goals for this week and were super stoked to reach them, but then ALLL of these things started happening, making it super difficult! It was really a bummer, but even so we were DETERMINED to find a family! (That was our biggest goal). Anyways, Saturday we cancelled our lunch appointment so that we could have more time to work, said a LOT of prayers, and head out on the hunt for a family! I had my comp tell me, while looking at the map the night before, where she felt like we needed to go, so she picked 2 specific blocks that she had never visited but felt we needed to go. I realized that RIGHT there was a lady who just the week before we had said hi to, who recognized me from the Blood drive we did a couple weeks ago! (She was a nurse there). So we decided to stop by her house to see if we could share with her. When we got there, before we could even tell her why we were there, her AND her husband came out and told us to come in right away (.... that doesn`t usually happen so easily!). Then, we went in and sat down, and they brought their 3 sons out to meet us as well!

Long story (a little) shorter, we ended up chatting with them and they invited us to stay for lunch, and we were able to share a Book of Mormon with them and had a great lesson, and they invited us to come back any time we want to share more, before we could even ask! It was so wonderful! SO WE FOUND OUR FAMILY!!! :) It was amazing. They`re such an awesome family, too! It`s kinda weird, cuz I think it`s one of the nicest houses I`ve been in in my whole mission, and is one of these families that would usually intimidate you because they`re very successful, well-educated, and VERY catholic (they teach catecismo), and know a TON about the bible, but even so were completely open to receiving us and learning and "experimenting" (aka reading and praying about the BOM) simply because the mom had gotten such a great impression of the church when we went to do the stake service project donating blood!

Man was it a great way to finish the week! I love how the Lord ALWAYS, always, always blesses us when we endure! :) It`s like sunshine after the rain! :) So... when it feels like everything just keeps going wrong... KEEP GOING, and don`t give up!!! The blessings are on their way!!!!!!!!! :)

I love you all tons and tons and tons! :)

xo, Hermana Churchill

PICS:

1. Check out our AWESOME Piñas! :) .... This is how we do Halloween in Argentina! :)

2. Close up :)

I`m SO happy! :) Let`s just say.... the mission rocks! :)

2010-12-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

¡¡¡HOLA!!!

¿Cómo andan todos por allá? I hope everything`s going super well back home! Things have gone SOOOO great this week, and basically... I just LOVE my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My goodness!!! Everyone makes fun of me and asks if I`m trunky ALL THE TIME since this is my last transfer, but I really am not at ALL. I`ll admit, it kinda surprises me, but the mission just seems like it`s gonna go on forever and I`m gonna stay here forever. There`s just so much to do, that it`s impossible to think it`ll all change someday! I guess reality just hasn`t hit yet.... but it`s better that way :) Man... I love the mission so much!

Well things are going SUPER super well here in Burzaco!!! Hermana Smith and I get along SOOOOO well!!! It`s basically a party and a half EVERY DAY! :) We´ve had an amazing first week in our area together, and you can already see a difference in the work! We have some awesome investigators right now, and have a couple baptisms coming up in the next few weeks! On Wednesday I got to teach in a 3-some for the first time, and it was AMAZING! We found a few people who while talking with them you can tell that they`ve just been waiting to receive the gospel, and are already progressing really well!

Saturday we ended up doing service AGAIN all day! We finished cutting the "jungle" behind one of the recent converts´ house in our ward, and this time Carlos came to help us as well (which rocks, since he`s a gardener... he definitely showed us up with the machete). He`s such a capo! He`s always the first to volunteer to give service, and is always willing to help wherever he`s needed! By the end our hands were covered with blisters and cuts, but we had a blast! Afterwards we had a huge cleaning activity in the capilla with the whole ward. We missed out on the asado afterwards, but found cotton candy on the way to an awesome lesson with Carlos` family! :)

Anyways, that`s about all for this week. It was pretty tranquilo, but amazing all at the same time :). I hope all of you are loving life and focusing on the blessings rather than the burdens. Life is too wonderful to waste complaining... it`s just not worth it... it`s A LOT more fun to laugh and smile and enjoy life! Plus... even the rough moments prove for great stories later on! So, just remember to SMILE and be happy, no matter what gets thrown at ya! :)

I love you all so much! Cuídense mucho. ¡Un beso grande!

xo, Hermana Churchill

PICTURES! :) I`m really spoiling yal lately.... :)

2010-12-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

1. CHICOS! ... I love Argentina...

2. Mate.... Ya gotta teach em young!

3. BOCA! Carlos and his kids, Hna Aravena´s last day

TRANSFERS! .... and in the hospital AGAIN?! ... ;)

2010-12-10T23:17:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, today is the first day of my last transfer.... WEIRD. It`s ok, though, cuz it really doesn`t feel like it. I`m just super excited to work like crazy and tear it up this transfer!! President called me and was considering leaving my companion with me for a FOURTH transfer, but we decided it`d be better for her to have a change and a new area. Plus, she`s doing SO SO SO much better now! I`m super happy. But guess where she`s going.... OLMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!! You won`t believe how much Olmos is growing! They`re now putting 4 Hermanas there because it`s had so much success! I love Olmos. I just can`t get over it! It`s super funny too, cuz last night she started naming off people I had talked about in Olmos, and already knows the whole ward!! :) Oh she`s going to love it! It was hard to say bye to her today. I really am so grateful I got to be her companion. There were so many times that seemed impossible to overcome and I got so tired sometimes with all that went on, but I`m so grateful I got to be here to help her out, and I know that I am a MUCH better person for having known her.

ANYWAYS, my new comp is awesome as well! Her name is Hermana Smith, and she`s from Riverton, Utah! President told me he was thinking about putting me with an hermana they`ve been having a few problems with, but then thought "No, it`s Hermana Churchill`s last transfer, and she deserves a break" .... so he gave me Hna Smith! She`s so awesome! She has about a year in the mish, and is always happy and upbeat! So... this is gonna be a party!! :)

Oh.. and about the hospital.... NO... DONT WORRY... it wasn`t for me! :) We had a kinda crazy weekend though. Saturday morning President called me and told me there was an hermana in the hospital, and that he needed us to go and pick her up/ do a companion exchange so that I could take her companion to the mission home to bathe and eat. So all day Saturday we did that, (which was actually super nice spending time with President and Hermana Stapley.... I LOVE them! They are both such amazing people!!!!!! I feel so lucky to be in this mission and have them for our mission President) then we ran back to our area for a service activity chopping grass with machetes, then ran to ANOTHER activity cleaning the capilla, ran home and bathed, and went back to the hospital. I stayed the whole night in the hospital while my comp and the other hermana went to the mission home to sleep.

The sad part was Sunday we didn`t go to our ward.... and I actually didn`t go to church at all! That`s a first for me in the mission! :) SOOOOO many good things happened in our ward, though. 1) the primary kids sang. I was supposed to play the piano for them but wasn`t there so they did it acapella. 2) Carlos received the priesthood!!! 3) A contact we had done came to church for the first time and was looking for us and... well, a bunch more stuff that I don`t even remember! We were happy to hear so many good things went on though! And it was nice to do so much service in one weekend :) :) Plus, the hermana who was in the hospital is all better now, so we`re all good! :)

Anyways, that`s the update of life in Argie!!! I love my mission and my life so much. I always feel like I have SOOOOO much more to learn and improve on, but everyday is a new to repent and start over new, and I`m so grateful for this time I`ve been trusted with to serve the Lord. There is nothing that can make a person happier in this life than knowing and applying the gospel. It`s the best thing I can imagine and possibly ask for! I LOVE IT!!! :)

... And I love all of you. Cuídense mucho ¡Un abrazo GRANDISIMO!

xo, Hermana Churchill

...random... but hey... they`re pics!

2010-12-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

1/2. Homemade tortillas!

3. My " Happy 16 months and 14 days" present from Hna Aravena :)

SNOW IN ARGENTINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-10T23:06:00.000-08:00

1. Defrosting the freezer

2. EXITO!!!!

3. LOOK! It finally snowed in Argentina!!!!!!!!!!!!!! haha... looks like my comp doesn`t like snow as much. I was excited... :)

I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-10T23:05:00.000-08:00

M SOOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, I know I talk about Olmos WAY too much, especially since I`m not there anymore, but so many awesome things happened there in these last 2 weeks! I`ll try to explain the most concisely that i can (and i already explained parts in past emails), but here we go:

1. Ezequiel (Fernando) is on a mini missioN!!! I`m SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy! Some pretty scary things happened with him in the last few months making me really worried, but he went to general conference and one of the zone leaders told him they were looking for a mini missionary for a few weeks. Ezequiel`s DREAM is to be a missionary, so he said yes and was super excited!!!! The missionaries talked with the bishop, though, and were worried he wouldn`t be able to. But Bishop had an interview with him, and came out glowing, and said that when he went into the interview he was ready to tell him no, but that he got the STONGEST impression from the Spirit that he needed to go. SO... Ezequiel went home and packed, and the next day he was a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) I`m so happy! It`s blessing his family so much as well. His dad came to see him get set apart, and said that ìn the church he felt a peace stronger than anything he`s ever felt in his life. Plus, Cecilia, who is Ezequiel`s sister and the very first person we talked to when we moved to Olmos, came to church yesterday for the first time!

2. The Molina family - I don`t know if you remember, but in Los Hornos we found a family of like 200 people in one block that always called us " las Barbies" (it`s a mom, her 15 kids, and all her kids are grown and have 6-10 kids each practically). WELL... we had a lot of awesome experiences with them, but when we did a whitewash with the elders they slowly stopped listening to the charlas. WELL ... apparently the missionaries in Olmos were doing contacts and felt strongly that they needed to go down a particular street. They knocked a door and a little 10 yr old girl came out and invited them in. ANyways.... long story short, now they`re teaching this family, and the dad is Jose Molina. Turns out he was separated when we were teaching him (he was the most interested, and even almost got baptized 3 years ago) and lived with his mom in Los Hornos, but his gf and their 8 kids lived in Olmos. Apparently, in the last 6 months they got back together, got MARRIED, and his wife is MORMON!¨She got baptized when she was 12, was super active until 16, and then got together with Jose and stopped going. ANyways, now the ENTIRE family is receiving the charlas and progressing SUPER well!

3. Another one of our investigators, Jon, decided to get baptized, and in his confirmation was told twice that he would be a missionary. He"s 17 almost 18, and would be such an awesome missionary!!!!!!!!!

Ok, ok.... thats enough for now. But isn``t that AWESOME?! I know its kinda random that this week`s email is all about Olmos, but I just found out all of this and had to share! :) Burzaco is doing awesome as well! We have a baptism coming up this week or the next, so we`re excited! I love seeing people grow in the gospel! It`s AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love my mission and I love the people here so much! :) Life is wonderful! Enjoy every minute of it, ok? :)

Smile TONS!

xo, Hermana Churchill

I love Argentina..

2010-12-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

1. 36 books of mormon, 20 blocks = good workout :)

2. Sandwiches de miga.... the best invention ever! You know how kids always want you to cut the crust off? Well here ALL the sandwiches are without crust!!! :)

3. Lots of work! This is my area. Almost all of the active members are on the elders` side of the area. We went through the list and marked all of the families, and it turns out that on our side there are 80 families in total and only 5 active! Man we got a lot to do!

CONFERENCE! :)

2010-12-10T22:58:00.000-08:00

Wasn`t conference AWESOME?! Man, I can never get enough! It always makes me so sad when conference is over!

I had a really neat experience in conference I wanted to share with yal. Usually, when we have conference all the "gringo" missionaries (from the states) go to a different room so we can watch it in English. But this Saturday we went and there was NO ONE there to open the office (Our stake center has the mission offices attached to it, so we get to watch upstairs in the offices), and I called and an Elder told me that President said we couldn`t watch in English and had to stay with our investigators. I was super frustrated, because although I understand everything in Spanish, it`s just not the same... It`s like Preach my gospel says, that the gospel should be preached to people in their own language, because in that way you are able to feel the spirit more, and le llega mas.

Anyways, I was super bummed but went to watch in Spanish with my comp and our inv. I was kinda in a bad mood, so although I listened I didn`t write down a single thing in my notes. To make it worse, Elders Holland and Uchtdorf both spoke in the first session, making me even more bummed that I couldn`t watch in English. But then I realized how dumb I was being, and realized that even though it was in a different language I could still perfectly understand the language of the spirit.

In the middle of Elder Uchtdorf`s talk I started trying to listen more to the spirit rather that the spanish translation, and had a such a sweet, powerful experience. I could feel the truthfulness of the gospel, and started writing the thoughts and impressions that came into my mind. This is what I wrote:

" So many people attack the church and give so many reasons as to why the church isn`t true. But say what they say, there is not a single person in this world who could make me doubt that this is the church of Jesus Christ that He established. I know that it is true and I will never, ever deny it. This is His church. I will follow Him and dedicate my life to Him so that I can return to live with Him and my family forever. "

Even though it was something so small and simple, I cannot even explain what an amazing experience this was for me! Not only did it strengthen my testimony of the church and this marvelous work, but also taught me how crucial it is that we constantly listen to the Holy Ghost. I know that as we do so we will be taught and guided in everything we do.

Later on we did get to watch the other 3 sessions in English, and it turned out it was only a mistake, that President didn`t say we couldn`t watch it. I loved all of the sessions, and was able to learn so much from every speaker, but out of all of them this first session turned out to be my favorite, thanks to this wonderful lesson I was taught. I LOVE this gospel! The church is PERFECT! I know President Monson and all of the other leaders of the church are literally called of God.

I love you all. :) More than you know.

xo, Hermana Churchill

Romans 1:16

PICS

1. Conference in English with our capo zone! :)

2. ... And this is why I bought rubber boots.... :)

Little miracles... :)

2010-12-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

HI FAMILY!!

So I have some cool stories for yal this week! We had zone conference last Wednesday, which was awesome! It`s kinda sad now cuz we only have zone conference every 2 transfers, but it`s all good. It was really inspiring. One of the things we talked about a lot was being obedient to have the spirit, and to be bold. SO... before I tell you my cool story, here`s a quote I really like about having the spirit...

As the challenges around us increase, we must commit to do more to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Casual prayer won’t be enough. Reading a few verses of the scripture won’t be enough. Doing the minimum of what the Lord asks of us won’t be enough. Hoping that we will have the Atonement work in our lives and that we will perhaps sometimes feel the influence of the Holy Ghost won’t be enough. And one great burst of effort won’t be enough.

Only a steady, ever-increasing effort will allow the Lord to take us to higher ground. I know what some of you are tempted to think: “I’ll have to be careful not to set the bar for myself too high. I wouldn’t want to fail and be disappointed.”

You can set the bar higher for yourself to get more power of faith to pray for the gift of the Holy Ghost. You can set it higher for yourself to have the scriptures opened so that you will come to know the Savior’s voice. You can set it higher for yourself to be obedient in the things He asks of you. And you can set the bar higher in your expectation for peace in this life and your hope, even your assurance of eternal life in the world to come. You can set your expectations for yourself a little higher and then a little higher, with confidence that a loving Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son will send you the Holy Ghost and lift you higher and higher, toward Them.

There will be some private things that you need to repent of. There will be some things you need to begin to do that you haven’t been doing. The Holy Ghost will tell you what those are and tell you all things that you must do. And I have every confidence you will not be overwhelmed, that Heavenly Father and the Savior will lift you up, and the Holy Ghost will be your companion in a more constant and powerful way.

I`ve been thinking about this a lot this week, cuz things have been a little down since the whole depression thing with my comp, although she is doing MUCH much better! Even so, I was kinda frustrated because I really wanted to find new investigators who would progress and really desire to receive the gospel, and especially a family. So, to help us have the spirit more, we put a principle I learned in the MTC in practice, of "little miracles", which is when a cita or a plan fodges you, you have to talk to the first person you see.

So... now the good part! Sunday we went to visit a family, but they weren`t home. We looked around to find someone to talk to, but the only person outside was a little 7-year old boy. We decided to go over anyways, and asked him to call his parents. His Dad came out and started talking with us, and was pretty nice, and even said he would accept a folleto. But, it didn`t feel like enough... So I asked if we could meet his wife. She came out, started talking with us, and pretty quick invited us in to explain the folleto! Turns out they`re a family of TEN (and only one is less than 8 years old), and they`re all adventists, and had heard a LOT of crazy weird lies about the church. We were able to clear everything up, though, and they were super receptive! The whole family came to listen, which was AWESOME! Even so, they all seemed pretty devout to their church.

But later, the dad left to take his 4 daughters to an activity in the church, and we stayed with the mom. She started telling us a ton about their life and how they joined their church, but that her husband and her didn`t go much because they dont like it, and that her husband had been looking for a new church. Then she said "And wherever he goes, I`ll be right by him, to support him", and followed by saying "So, if you invite us we`ll come to your church for sure!"

?!?... This is seriously a missionary`s dream.... Family of ten, parents MARRIED, with a car so they can actually go to church, who received us and let us in their house the first visit, and ASKED to come to church!

:) SO that was our "Little miracle" for the week. Life is wonderful, I LOVE the mission, and ... yeah. Sorry this is a little long, but I just had to share!! :)

I love you all so much. Thank you for EVERYTHING you do and who you are. I feel so blessed to have the family and friends that I have. You are all examples for me in so many ways!

Have a WONDERFUL week, and smile tons!

Besos,

Hermana Churchill

More pics... Blood drive... Mormon helping hands! :)

2010-12-10T13:44:00.000-08:00

BLOOD DRIVE! :)

PICTURES! :)

2010-12-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

1. ALmuerzo with the Ochoa family. They`re WONDERFUL, and always willing to sacrifice anything and everything for missionary work and the missionaries. (They joined the church 4 years ago)

2. Bienvenidos a Argentina! :)

Livin n lovin every second! :) ... 16 months?!

2010-12-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

Hey fam!

Well.... believe it or not, today I hit "16 months" ! ... weird, huh? The time is completely escaping from me! I`ve even started having scary/weird dreams about it all. Once, a big hummer was chasing me and i kept running and running and running away, and when it finally caught me and put me inside, mom and dad were driving, and they took me home, where there was a big party with lots of friends, and i kept trying to escape and run away. haha.... weird, huh? :) But anyways, I still have plenty of time, and I`m enjoying ever second of it! :)

Burzaco is wonderful! This week was a huge turn around in my comp, and you could feel the difference in the work! We had a lot of fun experiences. One was with Juan, a man in a kiosko who we started doing a contact with. We started talking to him and he said "Actually.. where is your church? I`ve been looking for a new church because mine burned down a few weeks ago".... ?! What a great conversion story that`ll be.... :) He`s super nice and loves having charlas with us, so we`re excited. Plus, turns out he`s the brother-in-law of one of our families of investigators. Small world :)

This week I read a scripture that I really wanted to share with all of you:

17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

19 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even anhundred fold, yea, more.

(Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-19)

I LOVE this scripture! Each of us know so little about Heavenly Fathèr`s plan for us, yet we can feel safe and confident knowing that we are in His hands and that he will protect us, take care of us, and watch over us. Many times trials and tribulations will come, but we must remember to BE OF GOOD CHEER. I truly believe that every trial is a blessing. Many times it`s difficult to understand how our trials are blesing when passing through them, but once was have overcome the trial, when looking back we can ALWAYS find someone way in which we grew or learned, and thus progressed, thanks to that trial. Heavenly Father has COUNTLESS blessings waiting for each and every one of us, which he gives us every day! So, be sure to "Count your many blessings" today, and accept all the twists and turns that come in life with joy and thanksgiving! :)

I love you all so much! Be good, and as always... smile! :) Life`s too short to worry.

xo, Hermana Churchill

pics :)

2010-12-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

1 . Welcome to Burzaco!

2. Learning to make facturas with Bishop! It was awesome, and about 10 investigators came!

3. Rain, rain, go away!

Transfers!!.... or not?

2010-12-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hi Fam!

Well... good news.... CARLOS GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn`t be happier! I don`t know how it`s even possible, but it seems like every time I`m more and more amazed and more and more happy about the people we`re meeting who accept the gospel. Carlos is one of my new favorites, just because every single detail of his story of getting to this point has been amazing! He is so incredibly happy, and all of us are always awestruck and can`t believe that all of this really happened. We always laugh about how at first he didn`t want to receive us and would hide from us, and now it`s the COMPLETE opposite. I absolutely LOVE how much the gospel changes people`s lives! Carlos was a mess before, and now he`s always smiling and happy! I LOVE the gospel!!! :)

In other news... it`s official... I`m only going to have 3 areas in my whole mission and 6 companions.... weird, huh? I say that cuz today was transfers, and believe it or not, me and Hermana Aravena are staying together for a 3rd transfer!! That NEVER happened before with President Asay, but I guess President Stapley is mixing things up a lil. So... cheers to another round in Burzaco! :) We`re excited, though, and ready to hit the pavement! .... or.... dirt roads.... :)

Well, times up and I gotta get to work! I love you all and pray for you often. Just like in the mission, there are 5 simple steps to having success in life... Be passionate about what you do, be happy, be obedient, work hard, and help those around you... and I guarantee you`ll find success in life! :) Les mando un abrazo MUY fuerte de aqui en Argentina a todos!

xo, Hermana Churchill

... and some more! :)

2010-12-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

1. My crazy zone

2. The only dog I`ve ever held here in Argentina.... and it took me about 2 months to get the guts up to do it! :)

3. More black faces?! Ummm.... :). Flia Crespo, I love them! The husband isn`t a member, but I`ve never seen someone who supports his wife so much! It`s awesome.

More pics! :)

2010-12-10T13:10:00.000-08:00

Pictures:

1. Like my umbrella? :) Last week "Santa Rosa" came to town, a huge week-long rain storm. And this was the damage....

2. I don`t know if you can read the sign, but it says that the van is for sale... any takers?

3. Don`t you love the boots? YUCK. But hey... ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right?

Let the rain fall down!

2010-12-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

Hi family!!!!

Thanks for being so patient :) We just got done with our zone activity (a couple pics to follow). The highlight was definitely watching President Stapley and Elder Jones from the offices in white shirts and ties beat the assistants in a game of 2-on-2. :) I love being in the zone with the offices! :)

Well, this is the last week of this transfer! These last 2 transfers have been some of the most difficult of my mission, but I`ve learned SO much and am sincerely grateful for every single day. My poor companion has been struggling, and we`re pretty sure she has clinical depression, so we`re trying to figure a whole bunch of stuff out with that. It`s been really emotionally trying on me, too, since we`re so close as companions and friends. She`s a wonderful girl with such a big heart and has taught me SO much. It`s like Melanie said when I left on the mission, that sometimes the mission is more about serving your companion than anyone else, so now I`m learning patience and unconditional love. It`s been rough, but I truly believe I`m a better person now than I was before. Aren`t trials WONDERFUL?! :)

Carlos and his family is still doing wonderfully. He passed his pre-interview to get baptized, and is going to have his baptismal interview tomorrow, so we`re getting super excited! I can`t even explain how happy I am for him. It`s absolutely incredible how much the gospel changes lives. The other day we made a whole bunch of notes of scriptures and quotes and taped them all over to help him stop smoking. Later when he saw it he called us crying, and shared the sweetest testimony of how he knew that all of this was true. He kept saying how "weird" he felt, but that he`s never felt like that before, so happy... haha... I LOVE it when people first starting feeling the spirit and have no idea what`s going on :)

So, life is wonderful. I`m sure I`ve probably said it a million times, but i LOVE the quote from Brigham Young: "we are the happiest people when we have what are called trials, for then the blessings of the Lord are poured more abundantly upon the faithful"... so.... bring on the trials! :)

I love you all tons and tons! Be good, and enjoy this life... there are no second chances at life, so love the life you`ve been given! :) It can be everything you want it to be if you just make it that way, so make it a wonderful one! :)

Un besote

Hermana Churchill

Pictures:

1. I FINALLY got to climb a tree! ... kind of....

2/3 .. Pday today!
2. President Stapley and Elder Jones playing 2 on 2 with the assistants... my President is so capo!
3. ASADO! :)

SUNSHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

Hey kids!

That`s right.... it`s FINALLY starting to warm up here! People think I`m a happy person now, but wait til they see me once it`s finally NOT winter!!! :) Man I love it!

As always, the work is going wonderfully! Carlos and his entire family came to church yesterday and LOVED it! You have no idea how much I love this family! They`re doing so well! Carlos is still trying to quit smoking, but he`s already improved a ton, and will hopefully be baptized in the next 2 weeks. One sad thing is that Lucas, who`s 12, really wants to get baptized but his mom won`t let him, and her and her bf always talk bad about the mormons to the kids... its really sad... but even so they`re tough and come to church anyways! :)

Saturday we had a near disaster. It was the stake president`s son`s baptism, and they had asked the missionaries to be there because there were going to be non-members at the baptism. We stopped by, but didn`t want to stay because the Elders were already there, so we were going to go out and work. We even escaped and went to the bus stop, but while we waited I felt bad and felt like we needed to stay. So we went back in, and about 10 minutes later we found out why we needed to stay. Remember Graciela and Mariana who got baptized? We`re teaching her sister who has 11 kids, but its one of those situations that kills you to be in because its SO bad in their house, they have no rules, no hygiene, no education, nothing to eat, they dont bathe for 2 weeks to a month... its bad. Anyways, after the baptism started, 7 of the kids (ages 5-12) came into the baptism, (they escaped from their house and came in bus without their mom because there was also a primary activity that day) so we spent the next 1 ½ hours babysitting all of them and trying to keep the baptism under control. It turned out alright in the end, but was so stressful in the moment!

Aside from that, the week was pretty tranquilo. We got to see the new Preach my Gospel videos, which I actually really enjoyed! I LOVE missionary work! I`m learning more and more everyday that no matter what situation you`re in, you can ALWAYS be happy! It`s funny cuz my comp is super stubborn and doesn`t like to do a lot of things, but I guess that`s why we`re comps, cuz I`m just as stubborn and dont let her give in or give up. I`m learning a TON from her and am loving this time together, she`s really a wonderful girl!

Anyways, I`m gonna leave it at that. I hope you enjoy the pics! :) Have a wonderful week and remember to smile TONS! :)

besitos,

Hermana Churchi

This week in pictures: Continued (part 2)

2010-12-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

1. Tuesday - Paola, Thiago and Joaquin, a cute lil family in our ward

2. Thursday - 4 other Hermanas came and stayed in our pension cuz they had to do documents in capital friday morning, so we had a slumber party :)

3. Sunday... ASADO with Hno Paez! He`s super inactive cuz of a lot of drama that happened in this ward, and we`re working a ton to get him back to church, but he loves the missionaries and now makes us an asado almost every week! :) yumm.

Mate celestial!

2010-12-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

ok... i`ll explain.... So here in Argentina they drink a TON of mate, but as missionaries we`re not allowed to drink it, for a variety of reasons. So, instead, it`s a mission tradition to make "mate celestial", which is shredded coconut as the "yerba", milk instead of water, and sugar or chocolate powder. So, for my "one year in argentina" we decided to celebrate and try it :)

This week in pictures... part 1

2010-12-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

This week in pictures!! ...

1. FHE with Carlos` family... I LOVE this family!! We also took out a fecha with Carlos, and he`s getting baptized in 2 weeks! :) I`m so excited!

2. District meeting... it was 2 of the elders` birthdays, so we made rosquittas and chilean empanadas... SOOOO yummy! :)

3. Do you like the birthday present we made? haha.

.... oh dont you worry... the week isn`t over yet....

other fun pics :)

2010-12-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

1. Fernando (Ezequiel) came up from Olmos last transfer meeting!! :) He`s SO capo! I dont know if i told yal, but he baptized 3 of his nephews and goes out every day with the missionaries now! :) Ìt`s crazy how much he`s changed since he found the gospel!

2. Me and my comp and our "hijitas"

3. Paez family, celebrating Hna Aravena`s bday. They spoil us a ton!

Do you believe in miracles? :) :) :)

2010-12-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

Alright, alright, I`ve had enough fun with the pics, so now i`m gonna write yal a real email, but a quick one cuz im almost out of time!

This week was tranquilo... TOO tranquilo. I`ll admit, it was actually a little rough cuz my comp is still struggling with obedience things, and pulling her along is really starting to wear on me. She`s amazing though and we get along super great, but... there`s always things to work on. Anyways, Last night i was really bummed out cuz it was a pretty bummer week with datos and such, and i just felt TIRED!! BUT.... just like always promised, the Lord blesses us in our trials... and he blessed me BIG TIME last night...

I got a call from Hna Rindlesbach who`s still in Olmos, and she told me that Guillermo... hold up... rewing... Guillermo is the investigator who went to church for 10 years but could never get baptized cuz he wasnt married and his "pareja" didnt want to get married. 2 of his daughters were baptized, but then one of them got pregnant when she was 16 and the whole family stopped coming to church for 2 years. When we came to Olmos, Bishop gave us the reference of Guillermo, to see if maybe we could get him to come back to church. We started teaching the family, and about a month later they came to General Conference, and afterwards started coming every week, and Guillermo started paying his tithing!

Anyways, I was super sad leaving them in Olmos, especially because the missionaries stopped going to visit them because they thought he would never get baptized. BUT... Hna Bach called and said that he showed up at church and said "Bishop, I`m gonna need 2 witnesses cuz there`s been an accident" Bishop was worried and said "what happened?!" and Guillermo said "I`m getting married on Friday"

SOOOO.... Guillermo is getting married this friday, and baptized on SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have no idea how incredibly happy I am. He is so amazing and has such a strong testimony, and now after waiting 13 years he`s finally going to be able to be baptized!!!! :) :) :) :) Miracles do happen!

Anyways, that`s my cool story for the week. Also, Carlos is getting baptized in 2 weeks, so we`re STOKED!

It`s funny how when everything seems to be going wrong, Heavenly Father throws in some blessings to make life WONDERFUL! :) So, next time you`re down, don``t you worry.... the blessings are on their way!

I love my life, I love this work, and I love my Heavenly Father. :) Smile tons this week!

xo, Hermana Churchy

Life is WONDERFUL!

2010-10-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hey fam!

Well, I don`t have much time, but basically.... well... life is wonderful!! :)

Carlos, the guy who I told yal about who hid from us and never progressed, is AMAZING! We had a million super great lessons with his family this week, and he came to church on Sunday! His son, Lucas, is only 12 but is so cute, cuz now every night he says his prayers, and when he told us about it he said "It`s true what you told me that God answers your prayers. You can feel it. It`s like a peace, a tranquility. When I pray I know God is listening. I feel so calm... almost TOO calm!" ..... ANd this is a 12 year old saying this!! Man... I love this family!

ANyways, sorry so short this week, but just remember that I love you all tons and tons! Be good. There are no second chances at life, so live the one you`ve been given well. Be good, and always reach out to lift those around you. When we serve others, we are the hands of God, those that he sends to answer the prayers of those who have fallen.

TONS of kisses from here in Argie! :)

Love, Hermana Churchill

Pic: Today we went to Avellaneda to visit a family I LOVE, and during pday found STARBUCKS! I couldn`t believe it! And, even better, it was right after we found WALMART! It was an all-american day! :)

Dressed in white :) :) :)

2010-10-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

First off..... CONGRATULATIONS MEL!!!!! For those of you who don`t know... I`m an auntie! again :)

Well... this week we accomplished the impossible!! :) haha, ok maybe not impossible, but we had three AWESOME baptisms! It`s been a bit of a struggle for a few different reasons, but Mariana (9), Graciela (40-) and Eduardo (43) all got baptised on Saturday!! YAY!!! It was awesome, too, cuz usually in this ward no one goes to the baptisms, but we had 50-60 people there, and had to move the service to the chapel because there were so many people!!! It was so wonderful!!

The next day was almost a disaster, but ended up ok. On Saturday night we received transfer calls (me and Hna Aravena are staying together here in Burzaco), and after we went to bed another area called us like 5 times, so i just hung up every time cuz we were SO tired! But then at 6:30 in the morning when the alarm went off on Sunday, I though it was them calling again, so i hung up.... and we kept sleeping until 8:30!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!! (church starts at 9:30) LUCKILY our landlord came and knocked on our door to see if we wanted a ride to church (we live behind a member`s house). On top of it all, we had to be in the house of Graciela and Mariana at 8:30 to go to church with them, and it takes 25 minutes to walk to their house. So we got ready super quick and booked it to their house, and... in the end everything turned out ok :) It was scary though!

That`s about all there is to tell though. It`s been an awesome transfer here in Burzaco, and we`re excited to have an even better transfer this time!

Well, I`ll leave it at that for now... enjoy the pics! :) Love you all tons!

Besitos,

Hermana CHUCHI!

1. Baptism

2. Celebrating my "1 year in Argentina" with Hna Aravena :) ... Mate pics soon to come...

ok, ok... these are the last pics!

2010-10-24T09:16:00.001-07:00

1. Hna Aravena`s bday! Don`t ask why we`re eating cake on the floor...

2. Me n Hna Bach, our last day together!

... and some MORE!

2010-09-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

1. Me n Hna Aravena celebrating my "1 year in Argentina". Later I`ll send pics celebrating with mate celestial :)

2. Playing with candles when the power went out... we had to do something to keep us from dying from the cold!

...and more pics...

2010-09-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

1. Teaching my comp how to bowl :)

2. I forgot my name tag so i got to be an Elder for the day :) (pic w/ E´Herrera, one of my 2 district leaders)

PICTURES!:)

2010-09-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

1. Mariana, Graciela, Eduardo, Roso, and Daiana`s baptism! :)

2. My awesome district! We have the pensioneros and the assistants in our district... i love it! :)

Lovin´ every minute! :)

2010-09-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

This week was WONDERFUL, and it`s just gonna keep getting better! But of course it had its challenges as well... but ni importa!

It`s funny how the Lord blesses you... We had a few lil problems this week because my comp has a REALLY hard time being obedient with the schedule and getting up on time, which made life really frustrating for me cuz I wanted to work and couldn`t! But, even though it seemed like the week was going to be TERRIBLE with datos because we lost so much time, somehow it ended up being one of the best weeks this transfer! It seems impossible, but I know it was the Lord blessing me for being obedient and working, and teaching me patience with my comp who`s been struggling a bit. She`s starting to participate a lot more, though, and even took out 3 fechas this week! YAY! PS... it`s really funny every Sunday to report our datos to our District Leaders, cuz they cant believe we`re Hermanas and have such good datos... haha... sad, huh? At least we`re making them work a lil bit :)

Thursday night we were asked to give talks in sacrament meeting 3 days later (that`s the mission for ya... at least it wasn`t the day before or 10 minutes before like they sometimes ask), and it went super well. It was based on Elder Hales` talk about our duty from last conference... i loved it! Read it again... it has so many wonderful insights. I applied the same talk to us in general as members, and focused on how when we are examples, listen and love the people we`re around, and don`t have fear of sharing the gospel, missionary work comes naturally. It is SUCH an amazing talk from Elder Hales.. i love it! But I`ll leave it at that, and let yal read it in the ensign.

Well, thats about all for this week. Eduardo, Graciela, and Mariana (and maybe Brisa) are getting baptized on Saturday, so I should have some good news next week! :) I love you all TONS and TONS! Thanks for all the support and prayers!

Besitos,

Hermana Churchill

BRRRRRR!!!

2010-09-12T09:54:00.001-07:00

Hey fam!

I`m FREEEEEEZING!!!! urgg.... winter is not my fav! But what can ya do. To make it even better, last night we had no power... meaning no heat, no light, nothing! Hopefully it`ll get fixed today. So we spent the night bundled up with tons of clothes, hats and gloves, and using candles to light the apartment. Let me just say, waking up in bed and being able to see your breathe because it`s so cold isnt necessarily my idea of fun. But those are the little moments that you just have to laugh at and enjoy! Hay que reir de la vida, no hacer que la vida se ríe de vos. It`s so true too! People waste so much time being mad or in a bad mood... it`s so much better to just go with the flow, accept whatever gets thrown at you, and make the best of it! .... and to be HAPPY! :)

A lot of things have gone on this week, but most of all I`m WAY happy about some updates I just got on Olmos... Remember Cristina, one of the 4 batisms we had the day before I left Olmos? Well, also right before I left we met tons of her grandkids who live close by, and they were all SO excited to come to church and LOVED the baptism.... and now I just found out that 8 of them have baptismal dates!!! YAY!!!! :) I`m so excited!!! The blessings just keep coming and coming! :) It makes me so happy to see families growing in the gospel! :)

This week Eduardo had his baptismal interview and passed! We were a little worried, cuz he has a VERY rocky past, but he`s changed so much to be baptized and is so excited! So next week we should be having 3 baptisms. The other 2 are Mariana and Brisa, who are 9 and 11. Their mom wants to get baptized, too, but still has to get married. Sunday, though, we didn`t think they were going to come to church, but in the middle of sacrament meeting Mariana and Brisa both showed up all by themselves!! (and the capilla is like 40 blocks away, so they came in bus!). I love little miracles like that, that just make the whole week a million times better.

Other than that, life is good. I just found out my comp has the same homesick, "i want to go home" problems like my comp i trained had, but hey... i convinced her to stay in the mish, so I`m sure this one will be a piece of cake too! :) In other news, next week I hit my "1 year in Argentina" mark! Yay! Crazy how fast time flies, no? We already decided that we`re gonna celebrate lots since I didn`t get to do anything for my 1 year mark. :) I promise pics next time :)

I love you all! Really really :) Be good, and just be happy! :)

Besitos,

Hermana Churchy

Quedamos afuerra... stinkin Germany!

2010-09-12T09:53:00.001-07:00

Even though the ENTIRE country of Argentina is depressed cuz we got booted out of the world cup, the work keeps moving forward! :) Luckily this last game everyone had permission to do weekly planning instead of having to go out to work, because it`s absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to work here during soccer games! Not a SINGLE person is in the street, NO ONE works, and... if its a school day they even cancel classes so that everyone can watch the game! It`s crazy!

Anyways, this week was way good. It was Hna Aravena`s birthday, meaning we ate A LOT all week...pizza, cake, asado (yumm), lechòn, chorizo, tartas, milanesas.... I don`t think I`ll ever be hungry again in my life! Even better is that it was all with families who are less active, but starting (or about to start) coming back to church, so we had a lot of really nice lessons with them. It KILLS me to see families who fall away from the church, because you really can tell that they`re missing something, but then to see them come back to me is just as great as seeing someone get baptized, because they`re able to renew those same covenants which will eventually allow them to live with the Heavenly Father, which is really the most important goal we can have!

Alright, well there`s not too much more to report this week. Eduardo has a baptismal interview on Tuesday, and we now have 4 baptismal fechas! (YAY!!! since when i got here there were 0). The work really is moving forward! This really is the work of God! There is nothing more important or that will bring more happiness than to participate in this great work! I hope everyone back home are being great missionaries, and always seeking opportunities to help this great work move forward, be it with your friends, at work, or even in your own family!! :) It`s the best way to be happy!!! :)

I love you all tons and tons!!! :) Be good and smile tons! :)

xo, Hermana Dev

Goodbye Olmos.... :`(

2010-09-12T09:52:00.001-07:00

Hey fam!

Man, this week has been wonderful! It was really hard and we worked a ton, but it all paid off on Saturday and Sunday when Marilù, Braian, Ezequiel, and Cristina got baptized and confirmed!! J I think I already shared with yal their stories, but it`s been amazing teaching them and we`ve been able to see SO many miracles! Marilù and Braian we met about 3 weeks ago, and Cristina and Ezaquiel we started teaching only about 11 days before they got baptized!! They are all SOOO happy, too, now that they`re part of the church!

The Baptism was amazing! We had about 15 investigators there, and a ton of members! Also, Marilù told us a while before that she wanted to make a cake for her baptism, but then Friday night we went over for a lesson, and not only was she making a 3-tier cake, but also chipa, pasta frola, mini pizza`s AND mini alfajores! ... a TON of food!! We couldn`t believe it! Especially because they`re a VERY humble little family in the villa and live in a tiny wood house with very little money. But, she was so excited that she wanted to serve everyone by cooking for them. So, after the baptism we had a big party with everyone, and everyone LOVED it! Now the new investigators who came want to listen and come to church too because they loved the baptism so much!

In other news, Sunday was also a VERY sad day.... probably one of the saddest in my life. I finally realize why people always say they just want to go back to the mission.... it`s because of the amazing people you meet there and the friendships you make. We got transfer calls on Saturday, and I`m now in Burzaco, which is close to Banfield where I started, close to Capital. My comp is Hermana Aravena from Chile, who only has a transfer here, but she`s way cute! I`m sure it`ll be really fun, but it was also SO sad leaving! It was really sweet what everyone had to say. What killed me most was seeing other people cry. One girl I love her I couldn`t even look at on Sunday cuz everytime I did she started crying. It broke my heart so much! And then when I said bye to my bishop and his wife it was even worse. They are SUCH amazing people, I can`t even describe it! It was cute right before I left, cuz bishop accompanied us outside, and started crying and telling me how grateful he was, and then said “I know you guys can`t give hugs, but...” And gave me a huge HUG! My bishop! That was a new one for me in the mission. I didn`t know what to do at first, but I thought, hey... President can hug us to say godbye, so bishop can too. Haha. It was so sweet though. I could not stop crying after I left. That``s the only thing I don`t like about the mission, is having to say goodbye to people you love so much, knowing that you probably won`t get to see them again. BUT... life goes on, and I know that someday I`ll see them again!

Anyways, today was transfer meeting and our last one with President Asay. President Stapley, the new one, gets here in about a week. A lot of my converts and investiators from Banfield came to say hi, so I was way happy. It helped a little to cheer me up after leaving Olmos. Also, I got my TRUNKY PAPERS today! WEIRD! (trunky papers are the papers you have to fill out about flight plans and going home, that they give to you 5-6 months before you go home).

Alright, that`s about it. I better get going. But I love you all! The work of the Lord is absolutely AMAZING, and every one of us is so incredibly lucky that we can all participate in it! Be happy and serve those around you... there`s someone waiting specifically for you! J

Les quiero muchisimo!

Hermana Churchill

more pics!

2010-09-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

1. Cristina and Ezequiel
2. Hot chocolate and bread with marilu and braian :)
3. Making little alfajores with braian for the baptism!

trunky papers, my amazing bishop and his fam

2010-09-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

1. me and hna fox with our trunky papers :(
2. My AMAZING bishop in Olmos! Their family is seriously like family to me now! It was so sad saying goodbye.
3. The sunset as i rode away from bishop`s house on my last day in olmos. i love the sunsets here!

2010-09-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

1. MUD!!... this street was so bad that i literally had to carry my bike cuz you couldn`t even roll it along !

2. OLMOS = straight up CAMPO! (country). I LOVE love love bikes though !

Bikes!

2010-09-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

1. MUD!!... this street was so bad that i literally had to carry my bike cuz you couldn`t even roll it along !

2. OLMOS = straight up CAMPO! (country). I LOVE love love bikes though !

¡Feliz cumpleAÑO a mi! 1 year!!!

2010-09-12T09:20:00.001-07:00

Hey fam y amigos!

Yep, it`s true... i`m OLD now! Egh.. yuck... i don`t like that word... but I now have more than a year in the mish! Pretty crazy how fast time flies, eh?

This week ROCKED!!! Ok... well.. some of our numbers weren`t the best, but our big goal was to get people in sacrament meeting, and thanks to some awesome members who did divisions with us in the morning to go look for people, we had EIGHT!! YAY!!! We were way happy. We`ve had a lot more people progressing lately, but sacrament is always hard to get, so we really made that a focus. It`s so wonderful to see that hard work really does pay off!

Claudio also finally got confirmed (the one who got baptized but had some problems afterward). It was actually really cool, because we got to church RIGHT when it started, and saw Claudio with his aunt and uncle who are members (but inactive), so we were way happy. Then, afterward I went up and thanked his aunt and uncle for bringing him to the capilla (sometimes its hard for him to come), and they said "Oh no, we didn`t bring him, he brought us!" Que capo, eh? :)

We also are finding tons of people who are way prepared! This week, we went to teach a girl named Andrea, who`s 18 and the gf of one of our inactive members. When we went she told us that her little sister Celeste (16) had found a book of mormon in her house, and started reading it by herself, and when she saw that we were visiting Andrea asked her if she could listen too. Then we went another day and taught both of them, and she`s AMAZING!!! When we asked her what she wanted most in her life, she said she wanted to "clean her soul" and be clean from her sins. And she`s only 16!! It was way cool. SO, we have big hopes :)

Anyways, that`s the update for the week! Life is wonderful as always! Of course it`s filled with challenges and hard times, but that just makes it so much better! If not, we`d never learn anything.

Be happy. Smile lots. Be good. I love you all tons and tons!!! :)

Hermana Churchill

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

2010-09-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

No, I`m not coming home yet... that`s still a ways away. But, by "mission accomplished" I mean our goal here in Olmos. In January when President sent me here to open the area, the goal was to divide our ward into 2 wards because it covered such a large area, but they needed more members and activity or else they wouldn`t be able to divide it. So, we went to work! And now, just yesterday, our Stake President came and announced the division!! YAY!!! It`s pretty cool to be here the whole time, and to be able to see the division. It was sad to say bye to half the members, but exciting to see the church grow at the same time!

In other news, my tooth isn`t black anymore!!!! YAY!!! haha how sad. I`m still not ALL done, and have to travel 6 hours once a week for 3 more weeks up to Lomas, but I`m so happy! It`s so relieving getting it fixed!

We had a rockin experience yesterday. We have a really high baptismal goal this transfer, and we have some awesome people who are going to get baptized in the next few weeks, but we haven`t been able to get our goal, so we`ve been praying a LOT, especially since we`re already half way throught the transfer. Then yesterday, we had a little time without citas so we went to contact a reference we had gotten from an investigator of ours. We found her and her son, and started teaching her about the restoration and baptism. She told us she had listened a little to the missionaries before but never got baptized cuz she didnt want to change her life. We taught a lot about baptism and authority, and at the end of the charla she asked "So, if I want to get baptized, what do I have to do?" We explained and took out fechas (baptismal dates) with her and her son right there in the first charla, and they`re both already super excited to come to church and prepare to get baptized! :) Just shows that Heavenly Father really does answer prayers when we do our part and put our trust in him.

Man was it a good Sunday! That all happened, we had 8 investigators in sacrament meeting, and later at night we had a special devotional to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of building the chapel in Olmos, and 7 more investigators came! YAY! I love life! There`s good days and bad days, but ya just gotta keep smiling and working, and everything works out great!

Anyways, I love you all tons, and I`ll talk to you next week! Chau for now! Be good and smile tons!

xo, Hermana Dev

PICTURES!!!!

2010-09-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

1. 1. Waiting to go to the island… 3 de Abril! J 2. BIKES!!!!! 3. Camilo´s baptism! 4. Thanks for the package mommy!! J5. Raul, me and hna fox at transfers meeting… now she´s in Banfield 2 where I was before! 6. Visiting Hna Bach´s family on Monday when we got to stay in Banfield! They were super sweet.

what the... 1 year?! che!

2010-09-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

HOLA!!!! :)

Yep... it´s true.... believe it or not I hit ONE YEAR IN THE MISSION this Thursday! :) :) Pretty crazy, eh?

It´s been an awesome week here in Olmos! Things are already getting a lot better! Last transfer had a lot of challenges, which really kicked us emotionally (even though the work went really well last transfer and we finished strong), but this transfer we´re pumped and WAY excited cuz it´s gonna be amazing!! We finally have a ton of people who are progressing and (hopefully) will get baptized this transfer! Can I just say Olmos is by far the best area there is?? It´s AMAZING! Our bishop is one of the best people I´ve ever met in my life, the members go out of their way to do anything they can for us (like Sunday when we didnt have lunch so 2 different people from the RS brought us lunch), the recent converts are super strong and help us tons in visitas, and.... ugh! I can´t even explain it! I´m so in love with this ward!

Well, we had some fun experiences this last week. We have a member (Maria Soledad) who just got baptized in December who´s 18, and always comes out with us. On Thursday she came with us, but our plans fell, so we asked her if she knew anyone we could visit. So she took us to her friend Rosa´s house, where we had an awesome lesson, and found both her and her sister. Her parents were busy inside, and while we were there some friends of their´s came over, but we only got to say hi and they went inside too.

The next day we were on the complete opposite side of our area, and we had about half an hour extra before a cita, so we decided to clap some doors (yes, clap. There´s no such thing as knocking in Argie). We started going, and talked to a few people, but nothing great. Then, we clapped a door and were waiting, and I looked behind me and saw a little house a little down the road and said "I wanna go to that one!" But, seeing as we had just clapped a door, we had to wait to see if someone would come. After a few seconds I got impatient and said "let´s go!" SO we rode over to the other house I had seen and clapped. A woman came out right away, and was super amable (nice) with us! We started talking, and she said "weren´t you two in the quintas (crop fields) yesterday?" Turns out that she was the friend of Rosa´s parents we had just met the day before! We shared a folleto with her (Teresa) of the plan of salvation and she LOVED it! She kept saying how priveledged we were to have this knowledge and to be on this path. Later that week we went back and had one of the best lessons I´ve ever had. Just like everyone else here in Olmos, she has to get married to get baptized, but we´ll get her there! It´s really neat seeing how the Lord leads us to those who are prepared to receive the gospel.

So... life is good! We should have some awesome updates this transfer! I´m gonna get going so I can send some pics. I love you all tons and tons!!! Take care and be good.

Besitos,

Hermana Dev

BEST EXPERIENCE EVER!!!!!!

2010-09-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

We had the most INCREDIBLE experience this week!!!!! By far one of the best I´ve ever had in my mission!!!

Alright... so I gotta back track a lil. Remember the Gaspari family? They´re the members who we went to EVERY week, who the parents have just started coming back to church, but the kids no, but we´ve gotten to be super good friends with the daughter and have worked with her a lot. WELL:... this family LOVES the missionaries and always tells us about their missionaries who baptized them. They were baptized in 1979. The sad thing, though, is that in 1986.... 24 years ago... they lost contact with their missionary and are always super sad they cant talk to her anymore.

WELL.... one day we were talking about the missionary, and I offered to write down the name and send it to my parents to look up in the yellow pages or something. But then when they showed me the last letter they had from her, I noticed that she was from Genola, UT, a tiny town where my sister-in-law Dani´s mom´s family is from. So I thought "hmm.... maybe I should just ask Dani if maybe her grandparents would know her from their stake or something." So I sent Dani an email and told her about everything and the name (rosalee davis), and she wrote me back right away and said "No way! That´s my AUNT!!" Well... turns out this missionary was the wife of Dani´s uncle, and although they had separated since then she was still able to get me her new address super easily. Then, I decided it would be even more fun to call her with them! So... here´s the good part...

We decided to surprise the family. They already knew we were getting the address for them, and even just that news made them cry. But, we had a cita set up last Thursday, so before we bought a phone card, and when we got there we told them that the "activity" of the night was going to be calling Rosalee! Everyone started crying they were SO excited! After waiting 26 years, they were finally going to get to talk to their missionary! We called, and apparently Rosalee´s daughter had told her that day that we were going to call, and she said "I´ve been waiting for HOURS for your call and I´m already crying! I can´t believe you´re calling from Argentina!" I told her she wasn´t the only one, and that I had some people waiting to talk to her. I then handed the phone over, and for the next hour the whole family talked and cried, and I translated when they couldn´t understand. It was SOOO incredible!!!

Afterwards the mom just kept hugging me and crying, saying how she would be eternally grateful for reconnecting them. I´m just so happy and thrilled that I could help. I already knew that I was supposed to be here in Olmos for a reason, but this just confirms that I´m supposed to be here, and I was called of God to be in this place at this time. I am so incredibly grateful for this experience. It also showed me how incredibly important it is that missionaries keep in contact with their converts and other people from their missions. So... if yal haven´t talked to people who you introduced the gospel to for a while... CALL THEM! You mean the world to them! Literally.

Anyways, that´s my happy experience for the week! Hope you enjoyed :) I love this work. I love my mission. I LOVE the gospel! There is absolutely nothing else that could bring so much happiness! Life is wonderful. So... smile and enjoy it! :)

Love you all!

xo, Hermana Dev

PICTURES! YAY!

2010-09-12T08:49:00.001-07:00

1. Happy bday to me :)

2. Conference!! Noelia, a member from our ward, gave me this ring (& we both have the same bday!)

3. Happy Birthday Jesus! (Hna Bach got hungry... hence the partially eaten cake... ) (ma... this is for you :) aren´t you proud? )

yay! happy birthday for me! :)

2010-09-12T08:47:00.001-07:00

AHH!!! NO TIME!! K... get ready for the quickest letter ever.... :)

HAPPY CONFERENCE/ EASTER!!! Wasn´t it amazing?! I hope you all got to watch it and enjoyed it!! I sure did. It´s amazing how inspired the speakers are each year. I LOVED how focused it was on family! Honestly, for a little bit I was thinking "Heavenly Father, I still have 7 months left... dont make me think about this stuff yet!" haha. no no no... it was amazing! I always say the thing I learn most here is how to raise a family (and who not to marry.... :) ), so conference only added to the many lessons!

My birthday was good too! Thanks for all the sweet birthday notes! Some members said "oh how sad, you have conference on your birthday so you can´t just relax." But really.... it was the BEST birthday present ever!!!! :) ANd, luckily we had investigators there so we got to stay and watch! YAY! Now we have to wait another 6 months though.... bummer....

SO this week has been a crazy rollercoaster of emotions! There was some very tough days, but we finished strong! My comp is wonderful. It was hard at first cuz she missed her other area, but now its great and we´re learning a ton from each other! It was actually one of the best weeks we´ve had... we did 2 divisions and found 18 new investigators, and 2 new fechas!! YAY!!! It was so wonderful! The Bustamante family came with us to conference too, which is the first time in 2 years!! (they´re the ones from Peru who went to church for 10 years but never got baptized).

Anyways, sorry this is short and sweet, but we gotta get to work!! I hope you all have a WONDERFUL week, and put those things you learned in conference in action! Overall, just be good, love lots, and serve those around you. It´s the 3 step plan to happiness! :) haha. Anyways... love you tons!! Chaucito!!

Besitos!

Hermana Dev

"The Hills" : Discontinued :(

2010-09-12T08:46:00.001-07:00

Yep... that´s right... "The Hills" are no longer the hills. Sad, eh? Today we had transfers, and Hermana Hill went to Montegrande, and I now have a new companion. It was really sad... we both cried... but I´m sure it will be GREAT with my new comp too! Her name is Hermana Rindlesbach, and she´s from Holiday, Utah (SLC area). The mission has been a little rough for her, but by the end of this transfer she´s going to LOOOOOVE it! :) hehe... i have my ways.... :) She rocks though, so I´m positive we´ll have a blast with tons of success!

This week has been a little bit of an emotional rollercoaseter with everything going on, but all in all life is great.... as always :) We had an AWESOME baptism this week!!!!! Yrene and Carlos, 2 people we found the first week we came here, as well as Claudio, a 16 year old "capo" who came to church all by himself (who we´ve been teaching like CRAZY!) all got baptized on Saturday! It was a blast. I can´t wait to send pictures! About 40 people came to the baptism... man our ward is amazing! We have A LOT of work to do now, since that was the only fecha in Olmos (when we switched with the Elders we gave them ALL of our investigators who had baptismal dates, and here there was only 1), but there are some INCREDIBLE families we´re teaching right now, so I´m really excited for what´s going to happen this transfer!

Lately I´ve been reflecting a lot on the mission and everything... I think that means that I´m old. ;) But really, I´m so grateful for this time I have here to share my testimony with others and to serve the Lord 24/7. The mission really makes you realize how imperfect you are and how many weaknesses you really have, but it´s been an amazing learning experience, that constantly inspires me to want to be a better person. When you think about life and everything that goes on, you start to realize what´s really important. People always think we´re SO deprived because of all the "rules" of things we can´t do, but you realize that watching television or listening to the radio or ... drinking mate.... really aren´t that important! :) Anyways, if any of this rambling makes sense... the reason I say it is simply that I hope you will all make the best of the time you have. Focus on what´s really important like strengthing you testimony and family, rather than the things that only distract and waste our time. I never knew how precious time really was until I came here. Cherish it.

I love you! Smile EXTRA big this week.... after all its General Conference, my birthday AND Easter! Party time! :) Be good!

xo, Hermana Dev

The party just NEVER ends!!!! :) :)

2010-09-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! Sorry this is so late. We changed our p-day this week so we could go to the zoo! It was pretty darn exciting. But! Now I{m going to try to do the best I can to remember what we did in the last 2 weeks :)

1. On Wednesday we went to eat lunch with our bishop, but decided to show up an hour early in jeans to paint their house! We had a wonderful time, and later he made us an Asado....yummmm... in which i tried morsilla finally! (Blood sausage... yuck.). We´ll hope that´s the first and the last time I have to eat that :) Our bishop and his family are amazing!! They have barely anything but would literally give you everything.

2. We´re having a baptism this Saturday!! A big one too! Claudio, who´s 16 and came to church on his own, is getting baptized, as well as Carlos and Yrene, the mom and son of the family we found the first week we came to Olmos (when we were in Los Hornos). And, a little girl Gisell is probably getting baptized too, who´s Dad just got baptized in Decemeber. So fun!! We´ve been working like CRAZY with Claudio, because before the Elders were teaching him but barely ever could go, so he still needed a lot of the charlas. He just had his interview on Tuesday, though, and he´s good to go! :) I´m way excited!!!

How do I even explain the rest of the week... basically I´m IN LOVE with Olmos! It´s been tough because without bikes (still) we walk a TON and can´t get as much done as we would like, but at the same time we´ve had so many awesome charlas and have gotten to meet so many incredible families. I can´t believe how blessed I´ve been to meet so many AMAZING people here and see the change the gospel makes in their lives. It makes you realize that the hard times and challenges and trials really don´t matter at all... because there´s always something that makes it all worth it! So... hang in there... tough it out... and just BE HAPPY!! :) :) There´s nothing better :)

I love you all TONS!! :) be good. smile lots.

Besos!

Hermana Dev

P.s... GENERAL CONFERENCE IS NEXT WEEK!!!! YAY!!! On my birthday too.... what a sweet birthday present!! :) I have a favor to ask though... that each of you invite someone (or more than one person... even better!) to come with you to conference. I promise it´ll be great and they´ll love it!! They just need an invitation to come... and you´re the one to give it to them :) Anyways, that´s all I want for my bday :) Let me know how it goes!! Love ya! Chau!

Pictures!!

2010-09-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

1. :)

2. Mom... dad.... i´m really sorry.... i finally gave in and bought some new shoes.... could you loan me 4 bucks? ;) haha. These are our shoes we bought for the mud (when it rains here ALL the streets flood and get crazy muddy)

3... and these are our shoes after the day of rain....

4. "The field is white, already to harvest!"

Beach pictures!! :)

2010-09-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

1. The beach! :) Ok... really this is the river... but still way cool...

2. On our way to the beach we found this sign...

3. Just hangin around...

4. Hermanas :) This is on the boat ride we took to get to the beach

MORE PICTURES!? This week... the zoo and St. Patty´s Day!

2010-09-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

1. GREEN EGGS AND HAM sor st. Patrick´s day!! :) I knew you would be proud mom.... :)

2. After the zoo we found cotton candy! You have NO idea how excited i was :)

3. Playing around in the Lion Den at the zoo!

Flood pictures!!

2010-09-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here´s the pics from the flood!

1. Trying to catch the water... but as you can see, we got SOAKED cuz it was coming so fast. That´´s our garbage can we´re using, since there was nothing else!

2. SOAKED!

3. This is the problem... it was raining tons too, but later we found out the canes were plugged so our roof turned into a swimming pool. But, of course "The Hills" would have their own private pool :)

4. After 3 hours of catching water... VERY happy and tired!

Love you! :)

2010-04-23T16:10:00.001-07:00

Hi Fam and amigitos!

First off... sorry this is later than usual! We had a CRAZY day today! Our zone all went to an island to play soccer on a beach there. It was AMAZING! It´s like a deserted little island with just a few houses and camp sites on it, but it´s huge. We got there and found out the path leading to the beach was flooded, so we got to go wading barefoot! :) It was a blast. Anyways, coming back we took the wrong bus and ended up traveling for 3 hours instead of 1.5. Not so great. But! All in all it was still a great day! And I FINALLY got to see the beach!!

We had a fun little week here in Olmos.... Here´s a few highlights:

1. Flavia, a member who hasn´t gone to church in 6 years that we´ve been working lots with, came out with us to go teach people this week! It was AWESOME!! She was so excited to go.

2. Familia Bustamante - This is the family from Peru that we met that I told yal about, who had gone to church for like 10 years and the dad had even given a talk. On Saurday they made us Lomo Saltado since they knew I loved Peru, and we had an amazing lesson. The dad started crying in the middle of the lesson because he wants to get baptized so bad, but in order to do so they have to get married and she doesn´t want to. It´s kind of a hard situation, but I´m positive everything will work out. Seeing his testimony and his desire to do what is right really touched me though, because I think many times we take for granted what we have.

3. Santa Rosa - Now that we switched areas, this is the only part of Olmos that´s a little shady and has villa. But we finally got to go there this week and had a blast! We were trying to look for a member´s house, so we knocked on a door to ask where they lived. The man came out and said "You´re mormons? I didn´t know that there are woman Elders". Turns out this house had a few family members that got baptised 5 years ago. Then NO JOKE like 20 other people came outside from the block (since they all know each other or are family) and just stood around us and stared while we talked. Kinda awkward at first, but it was great in the end because we got to teach a ton of them! I LOVE how receptive and kind the people here are!

Other than that, life has been crazy busy but wonderful all at the same time. :) But that´s how I like it. I hope all of you are taking the time to enjoy the blessings you have each day. Most importantly, that you realize the blessing it is to have family. Today we found out one of our members passed away who was rather young, leaving 6 kids (the youngest of which is 10) without a mom. It was completely unexpected. It makes you realize how precious our time here is, and how much we need to cherish every moment we have. So... make sure to tell those close to you that you love them, and then, even more importantly, show it. That way you can be sure not to have any regrets.

I love you all tons and am very grateful to have such great friends and family who support me in everything I do, including this great mission. I pray for you daily, and hope the absolute best. Be good... please? :)

xo,

Hermana Devee

Welcome to " The Hills" Mansion!

2010-04-23T16:09:00.001-07:00

Man oh man is life GREAT!

We moved this week to our new pension.... our 4th move in 2 months! So now in 2 short months I trained, we opened a new area, and now we´re doing a "white wash"! CRAZY! Our new pension is AMAZING though.... almost too amazing. We get lost in it, and can´t hear each other. I think we´re so used to having to be SO close now because our last pension was smaller than a hotel room, that anytime I´m in the kitchen or something alone, I get super lonely and go to find Hermana Hill :) haha I love my comp! We are having so much fun together, and every day she´s loving the mission more and more. It´s great! Our pension is above Don Pedro´s Ferretería, and literally around the corner from the capilla, AND right in front of the bus stop. It´s SOO nice to be able to walk home at night and not have to look behind you every 10 seconds :). So no worries, we´re VERY safe!

We had some rocking experiences this week too. Moving was a pain, but we still got to find two really great families. One of them was like the 3rd contact we did here. We met Elisa, who was actually just visiting in her parents´ house, and had a great little chat and set up a cita go to her house the next week. The next day, though, we were walking in the same area and felt like we needed to go stop by. So we did and got to meet her parents, and it turns out that just a few days before the big change the Elders had contacted that house, too, and had set up a cita with the dad. Not only all this, but 30 years ago they were taking the missionary discussions too! It´s true that if you follow the Spirit it will show you exactly where you need to go.

The other family is the família Bustamante, who I already LOVE!!! They moved here from Peru 10 years ago and started coming to church, and have gone every week until they changed the wards a few years ago. The dad, who´s not even baptized, has even given talks in sarament meeting! They have an amazing family. Luckily, our Bishop is friends with them so he knew where they lived and took us to meet them. We already have a cita with them for Saturday, and they´re making us Lomo Saltado too... mmmm... :) haha. I´m way excited for their family though!

Well... time´s up. It always goes by so fast! I hope you all know how much I love you and am so grateful for all the support and letters! I´m a lucky girl. Stay strong and be good. Smile TONS, and go out of your way to do something nice for someone in need. You´ll find that you too will be happier by doing so! Les prometo :) Les quiero. Cuidense

xo, Hermana Churchill

The party just NEVER ends here in Olmos!! .... 4th pension in 2 months!

2010-04-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

WOW!! I FINALLY have a p-day and get to email you guys! This is the first time in 3 weeks that we´ve had a real p-day because of the flood and moving, and we almost didn´t get p-day again this week because we´re MOVING AGAIN!!! Ay, ay, ay! But this time we´re excited. Sad to leave, but excited too!

K, so here´s the deal (now i can tell you since we´re not going to be here anymore... :). When we came to this area to open it, everyone was really worried cuz for some reason we had ALL of the villa in our ward (and the only areas where the elders get robbed), but the Elders´ area was way more tranquilo. (chill). It wasn´t too bad though.... we just made sure to stay away from those areas at night time, and walk very quickly if we thought something was going to happen. And... I LOVE our area!!!! It´s like my dream come true!! THe people are absolutely amazing here!

Well, not only was our area a little dangerous, but then we moved from the hermana´s pension to our new pension which wasn´t in the best area either. EVERYTHING around it is great, except our little street! We live in a tiny little apartment, and in our building there´s about 10 apartments in total, and we havent seen a single woman who lives there. Then, to make matters worse, they´re doing a lot of construction on our street, and at night there´s not a lot of light, and there´s ALWAYS tons of men who are always making cat calls (which is nothing new in Argentina, but when there´s SO MANY right where you live, its not so great). Not so great for Hermanas I guess. But... Dont you worry!!! The people who take care of the pensions found a brand new pension in Olmos that´s SUPER safe and right next to the capilla, so tomorrow we´´re moving there and the ELders are coming here to our pension. Poor kids. They´re the ones who picked out this pension and now they dont even get to live there.

So... that´s the deal now. We´re SUPER sad to leave our area because we´ve met so many amazing people, but it´ll be better this way. Plus, at least we´ll still be in the campo (country) and not in the city. Oh... and we´re gonna have bikes.... YESSSSSS!!!!! I´m so excited!

One other good thing, too, is that President is letting us keep a few investigators to come and visit, since we´re all still in the same ward. We´re WAY excited, because we´ve been finding some amazing people lately!! I think i might have mentioned it before, but this week we found a GINORMOUS family! THe Molina family basically owns Los Hornos. They are 15 kids who are all grown up now and all live super close to each other, and all have like 4-10 kids each of their own. Its INSANE! They invited us to a birthday party so we stopped by to say hi and meet the rest of the family, and there´s like 200 in total! :) I LOVE IT! Even better, this week we found out about half of them have already listened to the missionaries, and one of them, Jose, was even going to get baptised a few years ago! :) So... we´re really excited to see what happens with them!

Anyways, I´ve chatted enough. Sorry... there´s just so many exciting things going on, and i havent even said half of it! No worries... next week I´ll share even more! Hehe... hope yal made it to the end of this :) The work is going GREAT here in Argie though. It´s neat to see how Heavenly Father prepares people to receive the gospel. All it takes is for us to open our mouths and share it with others! So... Be bold, get some guts, and talk to those you love! It´s the best thing we can possibly do for them, introducing them to something that brings more happiness than anything else in this world.

I love you all tons!! Be good and smile lots!! Thanks for all the love and support!! :)

Besitos!

Hermana Dev

GOOD MORNING FROM ARGIE!!!

2010-04-23T16:07:00.001-07:00

Man oh man... sorry I´m writing this a day late, but yesterday was absolutely crazy! But... good news.... WE FINALLY GOT OUR VERY OWN PENSION!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! No more sleeping on mattresses on the floor, or studying on the floor. This morning we about died while studying because we were SO HAPPY having a desk! The mission really teaches you to appreciate the small things in life.

Our pension is really funny though.... it´s TINY... all one room, with a tiny little kitchen nook, a desk, our closet, and our bed all together, and a little shower. Its super nice though! We took pictures to send but can´t find anything right now, so I´ll send it next week! Now we just need gas and a window that locks, and we´re set! I am finally getting the true mission experience of cold showers though. I couldn´t even do what allen did to heat water on the stove, cuz the stove doesn´t work either! Maybe tomorrow I´ll go out front and rub some sticks together and make a fire or something. :)

Anyways, things are going good here. We had transfers yesterday, too, and "The Hills" (me and hermana hill) get to stay together again! Yay! Oh... good news too... She´s doing great and finally decided she´s staying in the mission! Wew, was that a tough one! But I get to keep her, whoo hoo! Transfers was fun, and a bunch of my investigators and recent converts came to the chapel to see me, so I was super happy! Pablo (member) and Tatiana (his gf) came to visit and introduce me to Uma, their baby girl who was born a week ago, and they told me they´re getting married and she´s getting baptized! :) :) :) :) :) :) That right there is why I love the mission! Seeing people take the steps necessary to have an eternal family and to return to live with Heavenly Father and be HAPPY:.. that´s what its all about! :)

Anways, that´s all for now... I love you all tons! Be HAPPY... there´s nothin better! Smile lots, be good... and all that other good stuff!!

Besitos!

Hermana Devee

:) Sonríen! :)

2010-04-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys!!!

So you know this country song... "And it´s a great day to be alive... i know the sun´s still shinin when I close my eyes...there are hard times in the mission world, but why can´t every day be just this good?!"

hehe... that´s our theme song for right now :) Life is wonderful, as always! This last week... honestly.... was a little stressful.... my comp is still very homesick, and i got really stomach sick the whole week, but it´s still WONDERFUL! :)

This week we worked a lot with the members who are less active, and had alot of amazing experiences with them. Then, on Sunday we had a blast! Not only did all the less active members that we visited come to church, but also Renzo (who´s 11 and is an "investigator" because he´s still not baptised) got up and bore his testimony for the first time in his life! Ok... back track... i have a little story to tell you...

Renzo is an example for all of us. His family has been members since forever, but quit coming to church about 20 years ago, so he´s never gone. We decided to go and meet them, though, and while everyone went out to play in the swimming pool Renzo stayed in to study the Book of Mormon. Then, during the week his brother found him in the kitchen reading, and tried talking to him, but he said "shh, i have to read these chapters the hermanas left me" and read everything! THEN... to top it all off, his family wont take him to church, so instead he comes over to his aunt´s house every Saturday and asks if they´ll take him the next day to church. Talk about an amazing kid! I think we can all learn from him. Not everything is easy or handed to us in life. We shouldn´t shy away from grand opportunities simply because they take a little sacrifice. In the end, they all pay off.

Alright.... sadly I´m out of time, but hey... I think this is the record for the shortest email i´ve ever written :) hehe.... oops. ANyways... enjoy the pics, be good, and smile tons!

xo, Hermana CHurchill

PICS:
1. In front of the cathedral in La Plata
2. This is where we LIVE... sleep, study, eat, plan, everything. Cute huh ? Someday we´ll have a pension of our own.... some day....

?!??!?...?!?!....?!. <-- That´s how life goes sometimes. :) But isn´t it wonderful?? :)

2010-03-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hi fam! Well.... I´m a little drained this week, but doing great still! This last week added about 5 years to my life, I think. But, all went well and Ramon got baptised on Saturday!! It was great! He´s been investigating the church on and off for about 3 years, but finally got baptised on Saturday, and is loving it! Sunday was great too, because we got to give talks! It wasn´t just on missionary work, though... the WHOLE sacrament meeting was about SISTER MISSIONARY WORK! It was awesome. Me and hna Hill gave talks and 4 RM sisters shared their testimonies... it was amazing! Alright, so this week was pretty entertaining... here´s just 3 of the reasons: 1) SPIDERS - Last night while doing laundry on our porch behind the pension, I noticed a huge spider chillin on its web in the garden (of weeds) that we have... the only thing is it was HUGE! And weird too.... i really want to find out what kind it is. All i know is it was silver with fangs. So, we decided to catch it in a bucket. It almost got away, but we caught it, and took lots of pictures. While out there, though, someone closed the sliding glass door so it wouldnt get in the pension, and it Locked....meaning we were locked out... all 4 of us! Luckily we didnt lock the front door, so we climbed over the big wall and got in. But man was it a close call! 2) PIGEONS - We have a family that we´re teaching right now who is great, and is planning on getting baptised in a couple weeks. We went on Tuesday and they told us that the pigeon Camilo had got away (yep... a stray pigeon he brought homefrom the park to be his pet), and that he was devastated. While we were teaching them, though, in flew the pigeon! They were all amazed and kept saying it was because we were there, and that it was sent from God. The only thing is that this pigeon creeps us out! Then, the next cita we had on Thursday, the pigeon had left again, and while we were talking Camilo ran in with the pigeon and said (in spanish) " Look! He came back! He came back!" So now they always say the pigeon is sent from God. ...We just smile.... 3) EX-CONS? - One day we saw the brother of one of our investigators, so we stopped to say hi. As we were talking with them, more and more friends kept showing up, so we kept teaching more and more of them and giving out more and more folletos. I don´t know if you remember, but here in Olmos they have both the women´s and the men´s prison. We found out while talking to them that one was an ex con who never believed in Godbut "found God while he was in prison". Mom.... it made me laugh cuz it reminded me of you GLS rap CD since the artist who made it did the same thing. :) So... we decided... man, wouldn´t that be perfect... everyone only knows Olmos for the prisons, so now we´re going to have a baptism of ex¡cons! Don´t you worry.... we´re safe... it was just a funny moment. Anyways... those are our stories for the week that basically describe how random and twisted our week was. But hey... that´s what makes the mission so exciting... you never know what to expect! ANd just as soon as you think you´ve seen the weirdest, something else happens that always beats it :) I love you all. The church is true... no doubt about it! There is nothing better or that brings more happiness than following Christ and being obedient in all things. Les prometo. Smile tons, and go out of your way to help someone who is in need this week.

Un besito grande! Hermana Churchill

BRRRR!!!! .... haha.... SIKE! :)

2010-03-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! How´s life in the cold, icy states? ha.... so weird.... we´re MELTING down here! But... good news... we got a fan! Still no pension though. They already have it all picked out and everything, BUT.... just to our luck... the place that does the contracts is on vacation right now... just like the rest of Argentina. So... we´re still sleeping on our mattresses on the floor, and being very creative with eating (since we have one knife and one bowl in the pension for 4 people), and shower schedules for 4 hermanas in the morning. But heck... life is great! I´m still completely in LOVE with my area, and it just keeps getting better and better! Well... 2 things that really stood out to me this week were 1) how to be a good member, and 2) how awesome the gospel is! Haha... dont worry ... i´ll explain :) So the first... Our ward is amazing here! In the 3 weeks we´ve been here, we´ve only eaten lunch in the pension ONCE, cuz every day members feed us! Its awesome! It´s funny though, cuz here even all of our investigators ask us to stay for lunch. The people here are so amazing. SO many have basically nothing, but always are offering us stuff. It shows you wants really important in this life. Another cool thing about our ward.... here´s an example... one day we got a phone call from an hermano who said " Hermanas, i have about 6 references of full families for you guys to visit, can you come over and get them?" FAA!!! This ward never ceases to amaze me! I have definitely learned, in MANY ways, how to be a good member. 2) Ok... the 2nd thing I love is that i really dont have to do ANYTHING here! Ok... thats a lie... i do have to work... but my FAVORITE thing about being a missionary for the true gospel and the true church of Jesus CHrist, is that I don´t have to convince ANYONE of ANYTHING! It´s awesome! Not a single person has to listen to me! All a person has to do to know if it´s really true what we claim, is to read the Book of Mormon... even a tiny part.... and PRAY... and they´ll know! Never has anything so great been so easy! So... that´s my invitation this week, to just do the experiment and see what happens. It´s so easy. If you have a sincere heart and real intent, you´ll feel and know it´s true... every single part! And if you´re already a member, DO IT AGAIN! It never hurts to ask. I promise that every time you do this experiment, yoúr testimony will be strengthened I love you all tons and I LOVE hearing from you! Thanks for the support! It has been an insane 3 weeks here with everything going on, but I´m loving every second of it (minus the marriage proposals... but thats a story for another day :) ! Be good and smile tons! Besos, Hermana Churchill

Olmos.... AKA Heaven!

2010-01-18T12:26:00.000-08:00

Alright, now that things have calmed down a smidge I can explain to yal how my new area is! Olmos is just outside of La Plata, which is the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, but it´s NOTHING like the city. Everything is campo, villa, or almost villa. (uhh... country, ghetto, or almost ghetto). But I am seriously IN LOVE! Our members are amazing here too.... they´re WAY excited to have Hermanas, so EVERY day we eat with members, and every day they give us lots of references! I love it! We´re already seeing tons of progress in the area. Before, because it was so far away, the Elders almost NEVER came to this area, so it´s basically completely new. Everyone is SOOO nice here too. It´s not like the city where everyone has money and lives in houses with big fences in front and intercom´s you have to talk into. Rather, everyone´s always chillin outside drinking mate, and LOVE talking to you, even if they have no interest in the church. It´s so amazing!

SOO.... I have some sweet updates from Banfield too!! DO you remember Raul, the bald guy who got baptised in November, who´s the best member ever??? WELL.... before I left he started passing the sacrament and gave the prayer in church, and would come to citas we had. Well... this week he´s going to receive the Melchizadek Priesthood, and he´s giving a talk in church, and in 3 weeks he´s going to be the one who baptizes Ariel!!! (my other favorite.... the guy from Noche de Luz). I am SOOOO happy.... you have no idea! It is amazing to see the changes the gospel brings to people´s lives. If ever single person I meet from now on slams the door in my face, it wouldn´t even matter, because now I understand why I´m here on a mission and why this work is so important.

It´s true what Elder Brent H. Nielson said in conference, that " the is no greater work, there is no greater call than teaching ´all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And that doesn´t mean just being full-time missionaries. Every single person has the same opportunity and responsibility to share the gospel, whether it be with their family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, whoever! By doing so we give the best service we can offer to those around us, because there truly is nothing that will bring more happiness in this world than having the gospel in our lives. I love the poem quoted in Pres. Monson´s talk in October:

I have wept in the night

For the shortness of sight

That to somebody´s need made me blind;

But I never have yet

Felt a tinge of regret

For being a little too kind.

As the wife of a prophet once said, we should never surpress a kind thought. So please, take full advantage of the calling we all have to share the gospel. By doing so we can show those around us that we truly love them.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week, and keep smiling!

xo, Hermana Devee

ROLLERCOASTER week! But still tearin it up! :)

2010-01-11T12:33:00.000-08:00

Man do I have some stories for yal! ....

So Tuesday morning I got to meet my new companion who I´m training, Hermana Hill. (hehe... pretty sweet huh? My companion´s name is half of my name!) She´s way sweet! While at the mission home, however, I still had no idea where we were going to live, and apparently the stake president wasnt able to find a pension for us, so we were going to have to live with a member for a little while. Seeing as Olmos is 2 hours away from the mission home, and we would have to travel in bus and train with ALL of our suitcases, AND we didn´t know where to go, President arranged for the Assistants to drive us down. BUT.... when they called to find out where to go, we found out that it wasn´t an apartment we were going to live in, it was a room in the house. SOOO... we went on a little road trip with the Assistants to see how it was and make sure it was ok

Well... I wont go into too many details, but that night we had a fun night sleeping with the infestation of spiders and cockroaches in the walls and right above our heads in the bed, and on our thin, worn-out mattresses in a pool of sweat since it was one of the hottest days here, and we had no fan. It was a hard, hard night. I think we slept about 2 hours. We also ended up not even showering the next morning because the bathroom door couldnt shut, which is awkward when you´re living in someone else´s house. Luckily the members are AMAZING who we were living with, making it more manageable, but with being a missionary and all it was tough.

ANYWAYS.... no worries... the next day when President found out he got us moved right away. Now we´re living in the Hermana´s pension in the area next to ours, and its WONDERFUL!!! I always joke these problems happened to help me transition from living in the "castle" apartment of the hermanas in Banfield to whatever new apartment i get. Its super fun living with 4 hermanas too. (that NEVER happens in our mission). And our area is PHENOMENAL!!!! I absolutely LOVE it!! I cant even explain. It´s ALL campo and villa... meaning very very humble people. We found a TON of new investigators, and were even able to set 3 baptismal dates with a family we just found, and they ALL came to church on Sunday!! WHOO HOO!!!

Anyways, I´ll tell ya more next week, I´m all out of time. We are DEFINITELY having a party here in our new area though!!!! It´s WONDERFUL!!!

I love you lots!! SMILE tons, and remember... anything is possible with a little faith!

love, hermana dev

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Training AND opening an area?! .... WHAT?!?!?!?!

2010-01-10T16:09:00.001-08:00

HOLY COW!!!! Today was transfers, and I can´t believe what´s happening!

So... here´s the story.... Saturday night at about 10 pm our district leader called to let us know what trasfers were gonna be. Now... I´ve already been in Banfield 2 for 4 transfers, which is usually the most, but seeing as Hermana Turley left 2 weeks ago and my mini companion only has 2 weeks in this area, I was positive I was going to stay.

ANYWAYS... When transfers come, you can guarantee the first thing they tell you is a joke, cuz they always like to tease. SO.... our district leader said¨"alright... for transfers.... Hermana Taquichiri and Hermana Churchill are staying together in Banfield 2!" I don´t know why I believed him, but I thought "really?! This means i´m gonna be here for 9 months!" cuz i would have to stay ANOTHER transfer since taquichiri is only a mini and is only staying this transfer.

BUT.... then he told us it was a joke and said "ok, ok... i´ll tell you the truth. Hermana Taquichiri is staying in Banfield and Hermana Fox is coming to be her companion. And Hermana CHurchill is going to OLMOS in Villa Elvira to open an area, and for her companion.... she´s TRAINING!"

Ok.... now when he said this i was SURE it was a joke, for many reasons.... 1) Hermana Taquichiri only has 2 weeks in this area, and barely knows it. 2) EVERYONE in the mission knows me and hermana Fox are best friends and want to be companions, so i thought he was just teasing that she was coming and i was going. And 3) Opening an area AND training are two huge things, so I was POSITIVE president wouldn´t have a missionary do both at the same time because it would be CRAZY, especially since I only have 4 transfers in the mission.

After i spent 5 minutes trying to get Elder Riquez to tell me the truth, until i finally realized that he wasnt joking.... meaning that

I´M OPENING AN AREA AND TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy CRAZY!

I am SOOOO stoked though.... I can´t even tell you! I was way sad because I´m going to miss Ariel and Miriam´s baptisms, which i promised i´d be here for, and Tatiana is having her baby in February, which I´ll miss too. BUT... I am SOOOO excited for my new assignment!! Today I get to stay in my pension here in Banfield 2 with Hermana Fox and Taquichiri, and tomorrow morning I go to the mission home to meet my "nuevita"!! (new companion).

Olmos is close to La Plata, which is the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, but is about 2 hours away from where I am now. How in the world we´re gonna make it with ALL our suitcases for both me and my comp in train and bus i dont know, but I´m sure it´´ll work out. All i really now about the area right now is that there´s a prison there, and that I get VILLA!!! YAY!! haha.. hermanas never get areas with villa (villas are ghettos ... but WAY more ghetto than what we think of ghetto) so I´m excited. We´re going to be sharing the ward with two other elders, and as of right now... we dont have an apartment. But I guess we´re living with members until we find one. SO... we´ll see how that goes.

ANYWAYS:... that´s my exciting news for now!! It was COMPLETELY unexpected, but I´m pumped and ready to go!!!! I´m sure I´ll have some great stories for you next week!

Well.... I hope everything is going great!! Thanks for the pictures and letters. Send me lots!! I LOVE seeing everything that went on back home!! Oh... side note... mom and mel... i still havent gotten the packages but i DO know they´re in argentina and coming soon! whoo hoo!! :) haha. I hope you all had a WONDERFUL time with CHristmas and New Year´s. Love you all tons and tons!!!

Un beso GRANDE!

Hermana Devee :)

P.S.... I´ll be home for Christmas :) hehe

Run, run as fast as you can..... what a week!!

2010-01-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

If i ever thought the mission was stressful before.... now it´s reached a whole other level! :) But man does it feel good! haha... I am so my mother´s child... the more stressed and hectic the better! It just means you´re getting things done, right? :)

First off.... Christmas in Argentina... man was that a new experience! I felt bad because Christmas Eve was P-Day (and Hermana Taquichiri´s first ever) so we were going to go play with everyone, but there was a huge storm and everything got flooded, so we ended up sitting in the pension. I felt bad cuz for H Taquichiri Christmas Eve is the big celebration day. SO... to make it better we made empanadas and pulled out our matresses to sleep under the Christmas tree (my family always sleeps under the tree the night we put it up. We were a little late doing it this year, but it was still fun!). After talking to my family (which I LOVED) we went to bed, only to be woken up a short while later at 12 AM to BOMBS going off outside! In Argentina, that´s basically what fireworks are! It sounded like we were in the middle of a war or something! It was fun to watch so many fireworks going off though, since we live on the 11th floor and can see everything!

Then Christmas day we spent with the zone in interviews with president and later lunch in the mission home.... not a bad deal :) It was WAY fun, and almost felt like something a normal family would do :)

Oh.... in other news.... Noche de Luz was AWEEEEESOOOOMMEE!!!!! It seriously was phenomenal!!! We had 8 performances over a 3 week period, and traveled all over the mission! Adrogue, Banfield, La Plata, Longchamps, Avellaneda, Montegrande, Florencio Varela, and Quilmes. Every chapel was PACKED, some of them even overflowing into the hallways! It was great! And the best part... they predicted that over half were investigators! There have already been SO many amazing stories that have resulted from this program, with many more to come I´m sure! I´m so grateful I got to participate in it!

Alright.... well... my time is all up and i better get to work! I love you all tons! Challenge of the week.... WATCH President Holland´s talk from the October conference on LDS.org.... it rocks! I promise it´´ll be worth the time!

Love you tons!

Hermana Churchill

Pics - 1) Noche de Luz... instruments! This night, Elder Barton from the north mission came down to see the program and happened to have his cello, so he played prelude with us!. 2) Sleeping under the christmas tree on christmas eve :). 3) Christmas day with hermana taquichiri in the mission home.

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!! .... and a flood? What?!

2010-01-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

AHH! SOryy!! Did this not get sent last week?! My bad... here ya go..

Sorry this is so long.... we´re gonna have to do topics so it´s easier to follow... :)

FLOOD?

Merry Christmas!! Yep... that´s right.... we had ANOTHER flood! Today is Christmas Eve, and we woke up this morning to a HUGE thunder and lightning storm, and ALL of the streets were completely flooded.... even more than last time! What a way to start the christmas festivities eh? I decided it´s God´s way of keeping people from blowing up stuff and getting as drunk tonight.

Christmas in Argentina

Oh yeah... i better explain how Christmas is here so that makes sense. It´s just a TAD different. Ok no... it´s really different. Here La Nochebuena... aka Christmas Eve, is the big day. Everyone gets together with family and eats tons all night. Then they have a countdown to midnight, and everyone goes out into the street and starts yelling, singing, dancing, and lighting off fireworks (that appear more like mini bombs), and shooting guns in the air at midnight. Also, they open all the presents and things like that at midnight too. SOOO.... we´ll see if i get any sleep tonight :) ha. Oh... not to mention... everyone gets super drunk, so sadly enough Christmas and Christmas eve are some of the most dangerous days here. It´s all good though.... no worries... we have to be back in the pension at 6:00 pm both days, AND new years and new years eve too, so we´ll be safe.

TRAINING? Saying goodbye to the Turlster....

Anyways... this was an AWESOME week!! .... Besides the fact that Hermana Turley left me :(. She went home a little bit before the transfer ends to get ready for school and be with the fam. The only problem is that because of that now I have a "mini missionary" who i´m training, so it´s been a little stressful this week! It was hard to say bye to Hermana Turley, cuz she´s AMAZING and we got along SO well! I love that girl! But... I´ll see here in 11 months so it´s ok :) My new comp´s name is Hermana Taquichiri, and she´s from Burzaco here in Buenos Aires. (the mini missionaries are members of missionary age who serve for only a few weeks or a transfer when we need extra missionaries). She´s way cute, and we´re having fun! It´s a little hard cuz she´s never been in the MTC or had an training, but now she´s gonna be a pro! She´s awesome though... she´s learning really fast and is always willing to listen and try new things!

ARIEL & RAUL .... the capos of the capos

So... cool Ariel and Raul update.... they ROCK!!! On Sunday Raul gave the opening prayer in sacrament meeting AND passed the sacrament for the first time! I felt like such a mom because he was really nervous, and WE were nervous cuz no one explained it well, and didnt have time to cuz the meeting already started. But he did great, so i was proud! :) THEN... after church on Sunday Ariel and Raul both went to a YSA fireside.... on their own! Crazy cool eh? Raul is the best missionary too... he sat with Ariel the whole time, introduced him to other members, and even took him home afterwards!

Then, to make it even better, on Tuesday Raul came to a cita we had with Ariel, and we were able to take out a baptismal date with him! But, what makes me happier than anything is that we didnt have to try to convince him or explain why or anything... he wanted to be baptised, and is WAY excited. Sometimes people are really hesitant and precautious, but he´s not at all! It was funny too, because he put it in his cell phone, and then wrote in his to do list "arrepentirse" ... o sea... "REPENT" :) I can´t even explain how happy I am and how much fun we´re having here. Life as a missionary ROCKS! There are so many people that I´ve met that I´ll never forget, who are friends i´ll have forever because of this mission . So... lets just say I´m in love with life! :)

*** DO THIS!! .... Pretty Please? :) ***

Alright... as usual I´ve written WAY too much.... I always wondered why missionaries send such long letters, but now I understand. A quick spiritual though of the day for yal though, is actually an invitation:

Read the lyrics of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" - p. 29 in the hymn book, or look it up on LDS.org. But REALLY pay attention to the lyrics this time. I was reading it this morning and was amazed. What amazed me, though, is that this man did so many acts of service for the man who was suffering, but after each one HE always was served in some way or received something even better in return. That´s EXACTLY how I feel as a missionary. Lots of times people say how great they think it is that we sacrifice so much time and leave behind our family and schooling and jobs, but really... i kinda feel like i´m cheating the system or something, because although every day is filled with tons of service, I feel like I receive WAAAAAAAY more blessings that what I give. It´s amazing! Can I just say LIFE IS WONDERFUL! :)

Anyways... that´s the challenge.... read all 7 verses of that song, and then read Matthew 25:31-40, and let me know how it goes! And, most importantly, don´t forget to put it into action! There´s always someone around us who needs a helping hand... we just have to look around. So please.... all I want for Christmas is for everyone to find a way to serve those around them. I promise if you do then you will feel the same unsurmountable happiness I´ve felt. :)

I love you all, and wish you the merriest Christmas yet! :)

Un besito grande! :)

Hermana Devee Churchill

COOLEST story EVER!!

2010-01-10T15:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok.... I know.... I say that a lot... but this really is an AWESOME story about an experience we had last week!

Alright.... so do you remember how I told yal about how an investigator we had just met 2 days before Noche de Luz in Banfield showed up there? Well... his name is Ariel, and I HAVE to tell you the whole story now!

K... So Friday we were walking down a quiet little street, and out of the corner of my eye I could see a guy walking in the middle of the street and getting closer to us. So... just as a normal precaution, we crossed the street. As soon as we crossed though, we heard someone say... in english... "Do you two speak English?" So we stopped and turned around, and started talking to him. Apparently, he´s been studying English in college so he speaks pretty well. Anyways... we gave him an invitation to Noche de Luz, wrote down his address, and went on our way.

THEN... 2 days later on Sunday he showed up to Noche de Luz! Just from the short little visit we had in the street! So we chatted a little more and set up an appointment for us to go over on Tuesday. And NOW is when it gets really cool!

On Tuesday morning we were about to leave the pension when we got a phone call from the Buenos Aires MTC. They told us that "Ariel", and investigator of ours, had called because he wanted to let us know he wasn´t going to be there for the cita, and wanted to give us a new phone number. So we called him and set up the cita for a few hours later. When we went, though, he told us that he had gone on the internet, looked up the LDS website, started chatting with missionaries in the UTAH MTC... in english.... and told them, so they gave him the Argentina MTC phone number which he called.... and all of this JUST so that he wouldn´t fodge our cita we had! You gotta understand.... usually people wont even call US, let alone go through ALL that work to tell us! So we were amazed!!

Then, we had an amazing cita... he understood everything REALLY well and asked us a ton of good questions. At the end, we had marked a part of the Book of Mormon to read and were about to ask him to come to church, when he said "Hey, I had another question.... is it ok if I come to your church on Sunday?" .... ?!?!?!??!?! Sweet huh? A lot of times getting people to come to church is like pulling teeth, but we didn´t even have to try! He asked US to come!!! And at the end of the cita he said the prayer, which is another awesome thing that a lot of people dont like doing.

ANyways.... basically.... Ariel is the CAPO of the capos! :) (capo = cool.... but better than cool :)) . Oh... and.,... a few days later we met his mom and found out she already got baptized and LOVES the church, she just stopped going because she couldnt stop smoking and moved. So... I should have some fun updates for you with their family!

And... thats my amazing story. Sorry its a lil long. But it was awesome!

Oh... ONE more awesome thing.... Raul was a reference from the MTC missionaries here when they got to come to our area to do tracting, so when he got baptised President Asay and his wife brought a picture of the baptism to the MTC. But... last week the MTC called us again and told us that they´re going to make a big print of the picture to frame and put on the wall in the MTC in Argentina. So we´ll be famous! :) haha

Alright... WELL... I hope you are all happy and LOVING the Christmas season! I´m just trying to not get burned in the INCREDIBLY hot weather we´ve been having ;) haha.. not to rub it in or anything :)

I love you all! Be good, smile lots, and eat lots of yummy Christmas candy for me! :)

xo, Hermana Churchill

PICS!

1. We live in a way nice pension, and this is the Christmas tree they put up downstairs, so at least it feels a LITTLE like Christmas! :)

2. District Christmas picture :) Precious. Oh yeah... hence the matching outfits for both... we decided to take a "family christmas pic" with our district this day :)

3. Noche de Luz in Florencio Varela.... these are the 2 cutest girls EVER!! :) And it´s the mini versions of Hermana Turley and Hermana Churchill :)

Noche de Luz! ... performing for Elder Zivic of the seventy!! :)

2009-12-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

That´s right.... Noche de Luz is officially in FULL SWING!!! Which basically means life is crazier than ever... but that´s just how i like it! :)

We had our first performance on Saturday night in Florencio Varela, and it went GREAT!!! Everyone was SO excited! That day was absolutely nuts though. We were trying to get as much done as possible early because we had to leave at 2:30 to catch the train. We had an awesome experience though! We have a new investigator who´s name is Ana, who has four cute little kids. We met her when we did a contact with her mom Ester outside of their house. ANyways... after we first met them and returned for the next cita they weren´t there, so we were kinda worried that they weren´t really interested. On Saturday we went back though, and when we showed up Ana was looking out the window in the front of the house, and looked like she was about to leave, so we figured they wouldnt let us in. When she opened the door and asked if she was waiting for her kids or something, she said " no, no, no... we were waiting for you two to come!" and rushed us into the house. We then had an AMAZING lesson with their family. It´s amazing how the Holy Ghost accompanies us to the houses we go to, because all the time people comment on the peace and feeling they have when we´re in their house, but really it has NOTHING to do with us... we´re just the intermedio to bring the spirit there. Man! Can i just say I LOVE missionary work!! It´s incredible!

Alright... so... Saturday´s performance of Noche de Luz went great, and then they told us that the next day (when we had NdL in Banfield... my stake center)... that ELDER ZIVIC OF THE QUORUM OF THE SEVENTY WAS COMING WITH HIS WHOLE FAMILY!!! Man... if that doesn´t make ya a lil nervous performing I don´t know what will! Before the performance started when we were practicing EVERYTHING went wrong too! We had problems with the screen, Elder Baggaley´s trumpet got dropped and the bell bent, the chapel was almost impossible to fit everything in, and a bunch of other things. BUT:... in the end a lot of prayers were answered because the program went GREAT!!!! :) Everyone performed well, and we had a bunch of investigators show up too, including a guy who we had just done a contact in the street with 2 days before! :) It is SO amazing to get to participate in this, and share my testimony with people all over Buenos Aires through music! We still have 6 more performancse in the next two weeks, so I´m sure I´ll have lots more good stories to share! I just can´t wait til we get to record it in a few weeks... then i´ll be able to send the DVD and CD of it home to you guys! : )

ANyways, I love you tons and miss you lots, but at the same time I absolutely love life!! :) It´s amazing. I wish you all well, and I´ll talk to you in a few weeks! :)

Besitos!

Hermana Churchill

Life is a PARTY! :)

2009-11-30T12:48:00.000-08:00

Holy exciting times in Argentina!

First off, with all the excitement of Raul´s baptism I forgot to tell yal that we just had transfers. It´s funny because before I wanted to leave Banfield 2, or "Beverly Hills" as everyone calls it... but then I got Hermana Turley, and didn´t want to change so we could stay together! Well.... transfers came, and we stayed!!! YAY!!! It´s pretty crazy though, because Hermana Turley is leaving early right before Christmas, so I´m going to have a "mini-missionary" for 2 weeks (kinda like mini training) and then I have to stay ANOTHER transfer in Banfield 2... meaning - por lo menos - I´m going to be here in Banfield for 5 TRANSFERS!! (o sea... 7.5 months) Pretty crazy. Definitely did not expect that!

This week was way exciting too! Thanksgiving was pretty tranquilo (calm). Mom... you´d be proud of me... we had district meeting on Thanksgiving day, so I made 2 pies for the zone. There was no way I could go from making 40 pies last year to none this year, so I made sure to at least make a few! :) Me and hermana Turley also had fun making gum-drop turkeys... the pictures are to follow... :)

In other happenings, right now it´s crazy weather season in Argie, and this weekend we had a HUGE huge storm! I thought I knew what rain was, but I didnñt know anything! Sunday morning it started raining like CRAZY! I´m talking... you go outside and you feel like buckets of water are pouring down on you! It was fun watching it from the pension, because we´re 11 floors up and could see all the flooded streets that literally looked like rivers! Then we went downstairs and found out our street was flooded too!!! This is totally normal in other areas, but we live right in the center of the city where that never happens! Anyways... when we got to church finally at 9:40 there were only 9 people there (church starts at 9:30). Luckily more showed up later, but boy was it a fun day! Being a missionary is hard when it rains so much because no one lets you in and you´re soaked all day with mud-covered shoes, and just end up walking tons... but I liked it! :) Makes for some AMAZING puddle jumping!

This week our Noche de Luz performances start!!! YAY! :) For the next 3 weekends we´re going to be performing Friday, Saturday, and SUnday in all the different zones in our mission! I´´m way excited. It´s turned out really good. We have a choir of 10 sister missionaries and 10 elders, a flute, a violin, and a trumpet. AND... last minute Hermana Fitch decided she wanted me to sing in an octet too! So... I´m excited :) This is going to be a CRAZY hectic, but very fun few weeks! :)

Alright... well... time to get back to work. Ok... not quite... but I gotta bounce! :) Here´s an awesome quote for yal before I go..

" There is no greater blessing, no greater joy and happiness than comes to us from relieving the distress of others."

- J. Reuben Clark

I love you all! Find a way to help those around you this week! Even though it may not seem like it, everyone is in need of some sort of help. Be good, smile lots!

Besitos!

Hermana Churchill

PICTURES!!

1. CANDY TURKEYS!! missionary style :) I´m the yellow one, Hna Turley is the red one

2. Pie time! We made apple and banana, and our other hermanas made peach cobbler! Yumm.

3. hehe... we had a little too much fun with the candy turkeys... this is the baptismal photo we took of our turkey family... mommy, daddy and baby! :) "la pila bautismal" = the baptimal font

4. SOrry its dark, but this was our street on Sunday morning. It was 9:00 in the morning but looked like it was 9 at night! So much fun though!

5. Ice cream day :)

"Sister smiles" - RAUL GOT BAPTISED!! (**This is the real one!)

2009-11-30T12:36:00.000-08:00

Ok... so I have to tell yal the best story ever!!

I can´t remember if I already told you about Raul, but... let´s just say... I am SOO happy!! The first time we met Raul he accepted a Book of Mormon from us, but basically said "Alright I´ll take it, but I hope you know I´m going to have a LOT of hard questions that no one has ever been able to answer, including all my previous pastors"... so... we were a little worried since bible bashing is not our idea of fun, but agreed and said we´d be happy to answer all his questions. And, sure enough... the next time we came he had some pretty tough questions. Funny thing is, though, that the answers were ALL in the Book of Mormon, and ended up being pretty easy to answer. Nonetheless, he was really hard-headed for the first few weeks we met with him.

After a while, though, Raul started to realize that every single thing we taught him was what he had always thought was the truth before, and that the Book of Mormon really was written by prophets who were called of God. We would ALWAYS ask him to pray specifically about it to get an answer, but he always just brushed it aside and said he knew it was a book from God. FINALLY, one day we asked him AGAIN, and he rolled his eyes and said " yeees, chicas.... i did it.... and you were right" and told us all about the experience he had :) We were so happy! The charlas just kept getting better and better from there. Also, he came to church every week, and in 2 weeks read the WHOLE book of mormon, the whole Principles of the Gospel book (i havent even read all that!), and asked us for a triple so he could read more! It was AMAZING!! Usually you have to hastle people to come to church!

Anyways, the date we had scheduled for his baptism came and he still wasn´t prepared because he needed to quit smoking and also just be more sure of it. He´s smoked a full pack every single day for 38 years, so quiting was going to be hard. BUT.... this man is amazing! When he puts his mind to something, he´ll do it!

Anyways... long story short(er), he quit smoking in a week, and set his own baptismal date because he wanted to do it! Funny thing too... he´s a PE teacher, and hasn´t worn anything but sweats and tshits in 25 years.... not even to a wedding or ANYTHING! One day we talked about this and why we dress nicely for church, and the night before his baptism he surprised us when he said "I have something to show you" and brought out black dress pants, a nice button up shirt, and a brand new tie!! He had bought it all for church! We were so excited.

So... Saturday he got baptised!!! It was so special. We´ve had baptisms before, but I was so happy this day, just because I knew the HUUUUGE change Raul had made in his life, and the person he has become. The entire service he couldn´t stop smiling, and when he came out of the water he had the BIGGEST grin and a big thumbs up!

Anyways, that´s my story for the week. I wish I could tell you even more, but it would take HOURS!! I am so grateful that I had the priveledge of meeting Raul and being able to share the gospel with him. The gospel really does change lives. I know this is the work of the Lord, and that we are all a part of it. I love my Heavenly Father, and I hope to be the best person I can be so that I can please him.

I love you! Be good, smile lots!

xo, Hermana Churchill

PICTURES!! YAY!!

1. Raul always calls me... in english.... "Sister SMiles" and always teases me for smiling so much. Every time we come to his house he always has a bag of cookies or alfajores waiting for us, and this week he was so excited because he found these cookies for me (sonrisas = smiles)

2. The mission leader filled up the font and there was a whole bunch of dust and stuff, so we had to try to clean it out SUPER quick before the service started!! (Hermana Turley and Vanina just said i was looking for an excuse to go swiming... :)

3. RAUL´S BAPTISM!! :) Hermana Asay (President´s wife) even got to sneak out of a stake conference to come!

6 MONTHS..... WHAT?! And... ELDER BEDNAR IN ARGIE!!

2009-11-30T12:35:00.001-08:00

First off, today´s my 6 month mark! CRAZY! It´s pretty funny, because at the beginning of the mish it seemed to drag a little, but now it seems like I just left yesterday!!! And yet, I´m already 1/3 of the way through my mission. This is gonna fly, I can already tell!

In other news... Yesterday we had an AMAZING devotional with Elder Bednar. Last week I was told that I was going to play the flute during the program, but they took out the musical numbers last minute... bummer. So, I didn´t play for Elder Bednar. But I also saved myself a whole lot of nervousness! (... is that even a word in English?...)

Anyways, the devotional was absolutely amazing. It was with all 3 of the Buenos Aires missions, and we got to sit right in front of an apostle of the Lord and listen to him speak and answer questions for 3 hours. I think I learned more in those 3 hours than I have in my whole entire life! Elder Snow and his wife were also there, so we got to listen to some amazing messages from them as well. I wish that I could tell you everything I learned yesterday, but even I can´t write it all down. The most amazing part to me, however, wasn´t the words he said or what he told us. Rather it was how the Spirit was able to answer the questions. You have to understand, the whole time he had missionaries just ask questions and he answered them. But, even with 3 hours, he obviously didnñt have time to answer 600 missionaries´ questions. But... that didn´t even matter. I came with questions, some questions I forgot I even had, and although he didn´t specifically answer one of my questions, I left knowing the answer to every one of them because of the spirit there. It´s an amazing thing. Do whatever you can in your life to find that same spirit! Your entire life will change when you realize the unlimited love Heavenly Father has for you.

One specific part that I did like was when Elder Bednar talked about discouragement. A missionary had asked what he does as an apostle whenever he gets discouraged, and he replied in the most simple way, yet it really clicked with me. He said that if he is ever discouraged it is because he is worried about himself. The same goes for us. If we are ever discouraged, it is because we are worried about ourselves. If we quit worrying about ourselves then we won´t be discouraged! It´s that simple. I´ve definitely seen this in the mission, which is why I keep the quote from President Hinckley right above my desk - "Forget yourself and go to work". If you do this I promise you will be happier than ever before!!

Finally, I like the quote Elder Snow shared with us, which he always kept above his own bed on his mission...

"I don´t want to sit at the setting sun and hate myself for what I´ve done"

Think about that a little. I know that all of you are ABSOLUTELY amazing!! I love you and can´t wait to hear from you! Be good, smile tons, and help someone out this week! Love you tons and tons!!

Besitos,

Hermana Devee :)

NUNS?? Wait... what is it that i´m supposed to be again??... :)

2009-11-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

Ok... anyone who knows me knows that there´s no possible way I could let a holiday go by without celebrating! So, of course it being Halloween, even though it´s barely even recognized here in South America, we HAD to dress up! I have to admit though, this was probably my favorite Halloween costume EVER. Mostly just because there´s good reasoning behind it. As missionaries, a lot of times people think we´re nuns, especially when they find out we can´t date or go dancing or any of that. SOO.... we decided to be just that for Halloween! :) Of course we didnt go out in public in our outfits, but we did have a blast surprising all the missionaries in our zone at district meeting by greeting them at the door as nuns with candy :) Hope you enjoy the pics!

ANyways... this week was great, but I´m especially excited for next week, because ... (drum roll)... ELDER BEDNAR is coming!!! YAY!!! So I should have some good stories for yal! Oh... speaking of.... My Pday next week is Friday instead of Monday, so you´ll have to wait a little bit to get my weekly letter.

This week was pretty good. It´s funny how much the actions and choices of others can affect you personally. We have 3 people who need to get confirmed, and we have been working SOOO hard to make it happen, but there seems to be SOMETHING that always happens. This week we ran around like crazy again on Sunday, and finally made it to church with one of the 3, but when we ran in the sacrament had already started, which usually means no confirmation. Luckily, though, he still got to be confirmed. So.. YAY!! Good things happen when you work hard!

Honestly, though, its been a huge test of patience, because a lot of times even if you do work super hard things might still not turn out how you want. But.. that´s life. You just got to roll with the punches, and remember that God knows everything, so there´s probably a good reason things don´t always turn out as we want.

Speaking of... my thought this week is short and sweet... its a talk from Elder Wirthlinñs talk in 2007 that I love:

"Do you love the Lord? Spend time with him, Meditate on His words. Take His yoke upon you. Seek to understand and obey, because "this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments¨. When we love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden. Obedience becomes a delight. When we love the Lord, we seek less for things that benefit us and turn our hearts toward things that will bless and uplift others."

I love you all. Go out and find a way to uplift those around you!

Love you tons!!
Hermana Dev

Pictures:

1. NUNS :)
2. Our Halloween in the mission! We got DRENCHED! This is the day we pushed the remis
3 and 4: A member gave us lunch but we had no where to eat, so we had to firgure out how to light the argentine stove in the church and then eat on cardboard boxes :)

HUGE rainstorm, water up to our knees, and pushing a car in skirts! Could it get any better?? :)

2009-11-03T07:22:00.001-08:00

HOLY CRAZY WEEK!!!!! .... But man was it a good one!! Im sorry this is long, but it´s DEFINITELY worth the time to read it!!! :) :) :) First off, Friday was one of those days that just makes you feel good! We had a couple in our ward give us a reference of the wife´s mom, and tell us that they never give this to the missionaries, but they really like us and trust us so they want us to go visit her. It´s wonderful when people WANT to give you references, instead of begging for them :) Then we had a lesson with Miriam, who we´ve been teaching for 2 months now, but hasn´t ever got an answer as to whether she should get baptised. In the lesson she told us that she had prayed about it and got an answer and wants to get baptised!!! YAYYY!!!!!!! We were SOOO excited!!! :) So... that was the good day... then came Saturday.... Story time :) We started the day out by visiting one of our investigators and meeting his wife, but it turned into more of a marriage counseling session. It was really sad to see how couples treat each other sometimes, but by the end of the lesson everyone was more happy and content. As much as I dont want to be a marriage counselor, I´m really excited to go back and visit with this couple, because i KNOW the gospel is going to change their lives completely. It´s the best marriage therapy you can possibly find, and best of all... it´s free! So... that started our day. Then we went back to the pension to eat lunch, and got ready to go out with TONS of Books of Mormon and folletos (pamphlets), because Saturdays are always the BEST days! It was a little overcast, but didnt seem like it would rain, so we left our umbrellas. BOY WAS THAT A MISTAKE!!!! It started POURING rain.... and im not talking just a nice heavy rainshower... I´m talkin buckets of water falling down on us!!!! We were SOAKED from head to toe, right down to the bone! :) What made it even worse is no one wanted to let us in, or come outside because of the storm, so we were stuck wandering the streets trying to think of SOMETHING to do! *** side note... there´s a story in ´´Preach My Gospel´´ about a taxi driver in Mexico who´s driving in the middle of a rain storm and sees two young men walking, completely soaked, so he pulls over and tells them to get in, that he´ll take them wherever they´re going for free. The story ends up that these missionaries got to share the gospel with this cab driver and later he and his family all found what they were searchjing for... the gospel... and were baptised.**** Ok... now you know the PMG story... so while we were walking along we sais ´´man, where´s our taxi driver to save us from the rain?!´´ just joking around. That´s when we came to a big intersection that was completely flooded with water. On the other side was a car pulled over and a guy trying to push it from the door. As soon as I saw him i wanted to go help push, even though it was surrounded by water, and luckily my companion was completely in agreement! SO we ran over and told him we would help. He tried to politely refuse because he didn´t want girls to help him, saying that we would just get wet, to which we looked at ourselves, looked at each other, and just laughed (at this point there was no possible way to get MORE wet!) Instead of listening, we just jumped behind the car and started pushing. Then 3 women got out of the car and started yelling at the driver, saying they would just walk the rest of the way. So... with water almost all the way up to our knees, in skirts and backpacks, we pushed the car for about 2 blocks while running, and it finally started!!! Then the guy pulled over and told us to get in, that he would take us wherever we were going. At this point we were only a block away, so we nicely said no. He insisted, so instead we told him that it would make us even more happier if he would accept a folleto (pamphlet) from us. That only made the experience even funnier when, while still pooring rain, we pulled out a folleto and tried writing on it. Wet paper and wet pens dont make a good combination :) Anyways... that was our awesome rain story. It wasnt until later when we realized that he was a Remis driver (a remis is basically an argentine taxi), and that we really did get our taxi just like in ´´Preach my Gospel´´!!! We spent the rest of the time on the way home jumping in puddles and making up rain songs to help keep our spirits up. The BEST part of all of this, though, is that even though this potentially could have been the worst, most MISERABLE day, I think it was one of the best I´ve had in the mission, just because we were so HAPPY being out there as missionaries and being able to help other people, that all we could do was laugh! :) ANYWAYS.... I know this is RIDICULOUSLY long so I´ll get going. Maybe its missionary syndrome or something, because missionaries always write such long emails! Anyways... for those of you who made it to the end, I hope you enjoyed the stories :) It just proves that you can ALWAYS, ALWAYS be happy, no matter what the circumstances are or what the world throws at you! So.. go out and find something nice to do for someone else! I LOVE YOU ALL TONS AND TONS!!!! Thank you so so much for all the sweet messages and support! xo, Hermana Devee :)

´´ They walked... and walked... and walked... and walked.... ´´

2009-10-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

Man are our feet getting a beating!! This week we have been running like crazy!! Literally :) We started Noche de Luz practices and have had to cram in everything else so tight, but somehow we´re still getting everything done! It´s funny though... I thought my life was SO hectic and busy before the mission, but now.... it´s just a more organized version of busy :) Funny moment of the week... we had stake conference this week, and 2 of our investigators came with us to the church, one of which was Raul, the man with the broken arm who has a baptismal date in 2 weeks. Anyways... we were sitting in conference and they started to do the sustainings, so we were explaining what it was and how by raising our arm to the square we show that we will support the people who are being called to each position , and so on. Anyways... when we explained this in the middle of it all he raised his hand and said ´´well, can i do it for you too? I want to support the two of you too because you´re angels.´´ :) It was nice of him. We explained quickly so he put his hand done, but it was pretty funny. Gotta love the little moments that make you smile :) This week I´ve really thought a lot just about how incredibly happy I am, and for SO many reasons. First off, I love my mission. Being able to serve people all day, every day is a dream come true, and brings more happiness than imaginable. People always talk to us about how terrible it must be not watch movies, listen to the radio, or even talk to our family more than a single email each week, but really.... I wouldn´t have it any other way right now. I don´t even notice those things. The quote from.. President Benson I think... about how when we put things in order in our lives and put God first, then all other things will fall into place or drop out of our lives completely... is so true! When you really focus on what´´s most important, all the trivial, meaningless things don´t even matter. I´ve also realized how much I LOVE studying. Have you ever realized how many amazing books and talks there are, that tell us EXACTLY what we need to do to be happy? Yet somehow we still are too busy to read them and apply them to our lives. I know that´s how I was at least. There´s one book in particular I´m talking abuot... yep, how´d you guess it... the Book of Mormon! It´s AMAZING!!!!!!!! By far the coolest book ever!!! :) But it´s SOOO much more than just a book too! It´s literally the answer to every question, the crutch we need for every trial we face, and the boost of energy we need just to get through the day! Speaking of the Book of Mormon, we started a new goal as a mission this week, to start over and read the entire Book of Mormon this transfer. BUT... not just read it. Rather, we´re reading it and marking a vertical line in the column of each part that applies specifically to us at this point in our lives. I really like this challenge, because at different times in our lives there are different parts that apply to us. SOOOOO... I want to invite each one of you to do the same challenge with me!!! A transfer is a long time... 6 weeks... so it´s not terribly hard. Only about 15 pages each day and you´ll be good. But instead of marking it like you normally would, ONLY go through and mark the parts that apply specifically to you. I promise that you will find the help or the answers that you are searching for, no matter what it is! Put it to the test, and ´´experiment upon the word´´!!! :) Les prometo muchas bendiciones!! :) Anyways.. I better get going. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures!! Sorry this email is kinda long.. I´´ll be better next week :) I love you all tons!! Have a wonderful Halloween!!!! ANd send me lots of pictures :) I´m sure I´ll have some good ones for yal next week. But... our costume is a secret... you´ll just have to wait and see :) BESITOS! Hermana Devee

Talk about the perfect companionship!!! ... and pictures finally !!!

2009-10-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

HELLO FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!! This week has been AMAZING!!! First off, my new companion Hermana Turley....I absolutely LOVE her!!! Funny thing too... We were talking one day, and I asked her where she lived in Provo before her mission, and it was Carriage Cove, the same place I lived!!! We talked more and realized she lived in my same ward, and even with my same exact roomates Mindy and Allie, before she left (which... i moved into Carriage Cove 4 days after she left!! Craziness!). SO.... this means we know all the same people and have a ton of the same friends!! Even funnier is that we´ve discovered we are super alike and even have the same exact missionary shoes and clothes. Pretty funny! haha. Needless to say.... I am LOVING this new companionship I´m in! :) So... for those of you in CC... yes, i finally met Kaylee Turley, and now she´s my comp! :) To make it even better, we had a ROCKING week this week! We taught more lessons than we´ve ever done in this area, set a baptismal date with Sonia, a woman we´re teaching in Escalada, got Raul to come to church just by showing up at his house, AND.. best of all... found a family that has 13 KIDS!!!!!! We met them while knocking doors, and not only did they invite us in to talk, but later we found out that 10 years ago they were listening to the missionary charlas!! (aka discussions). Pretty cool huh?!?! So... we´ll see what we can get going this time. Apparently they weren´t prepared to receive the gospel 10 years ago, but maybe this is their time! We´ll just have to wait and see... So I have a SUPER cool thought for yal this week! It comes from a lesson in the Argentina MTC and 1 Corinthians 9:26¨ ´´I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air´´ One of the hermanas explained that in boxing, when a boxer goes to hit and misses, it wastes 7 times more energy than if he had hit his target. We can apply this in our own lives, in that when we don´t go straight for the goal or target we have, we´re like one that ´´beateth the air´´... simply wasting energy and time. Instead, everything we do should be things that are centered on our target. I really like this analogy because I know how easy it is to get distracted. (Honestly... my attention span is worse than that of a 5 year old!) Really, though, we need to make goals of what we want to do and how, and then focus all of our efforts upon that. Then we won´t waste energy on the things that dont matter. So... think about what´s most important to you in your life, and how you can focus on that to achieve your goals. Thank you a TON for the support and love!! I can´´t even start to explain how happy I am right now!!! I love you all tons and tons!! xo, Hermana Dev PICTURES!! FINALLY!!! 1. Angel´s baptism2. Cookies for hermana reyes´ 1 year! 3. Pizza Hot :) Argentina´s Pizza Hut4. Marta and Diego´s baptism!!! I LOVE this picture!!! They´re my favorite :) Sorry no pics of me and Hna Turley yet... they´ll come soon though!

TRANSFERS!!!! WHOO HOOOOOO!!!!

2009-10-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

Alright... so i have 10 minutes to email yal, so this is gonna be short!!! Man was today crazy....

First off, it was transfers meeting! Saturday night we found out Hermana Reyes, my companion, was leaving, and now I´m with Hermana Turley who´s from Conneticut. Two gringas!! Whoo hoo!! SHe´s SUPER cute and I already love her! She and I are both in Noche de Luz together, and this week we start practices... about 5 hours a week! Crazy eh? But so much fun too! I also got to play ´´My shepherd will supply my need´´ ... the mo-tab one... on the flute with 2 elders on violin and piano and 4 elders singing... it was amazing!!

Alright... so this week was super fun! I got to do intercambios (exchanges) again with Hermana Strasser, which I loved! We even got to go to the villa (ghetto,... but WAY more ghetto that any US ghetto :) and taught a lot of lessons to the people I met last time. And of course we had a little fun too :) Funny moment of the week was when we were walking along and.. you know how tennis shoes on telephone wires means thats where drug-dealers live, but its small so its kinda hush hush? Well... we were walking along and I looked up and I saw this... but not just one pair... literally like 30 pairs of tennis shoes on this one wire!!! Guess it´s not such a secret here :)

Then on Friday we got to do another radio show!!!! Hermana Reyes recorded it, so hopefully sometime I´ll be able to send it to yal so you can listen. It was really neat though, being able to share my testimony with so many people!

Aside from all that, this week has been pretty tranquilo. It´s starting to get hot here, thank goodness! I´m sick of the cold! With everything going on back home and here in the mission, though, I´ve really come to realize how blessed we are in our lives. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who I know is always watching over us.

Anyways, I love you all and pray for you every single day!!! Take care, be safe, smile TONS!!! And go and do something nice for someone else today!

Con Carino,

Hermana Devee

I´m famous now!! :) Radio show and a baptism... could it get better?

2009-10-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok.... so maybe not quite famous, but this week we got to be on a RADIO SHOW!!!! It was pretty sweet! One day me & my comp were walking down the street and we saw a little sign for a radio station, so we decided to stop and ask if they would announce General Conference for us. In the end, they asked us if we just wanted to have our own show, and gave us a WHOLE HOUR to talk about whatever the heck we wanted!!! So... Friday we went with 4 other elders from our zone, and got to talk all about the Restoration of the church, the Book of Mormon, conference, and listen to MoTab! Pretty sweet huh???? Afterwards they offered to have us back again, so this Friday we´re probably going to do it again!! It´s an AM station, but you can also listen to it on the interenet at www.radioindependencia.com.ar from 12pm-1pm on Friday (that´s Argentine time... I think that´s like 8 am Seattle time, or something like that).

Speaking of conference... wasn´t it AMAZING????? I LOVED it! I can´t even explain how wonderful it was! This week was absolutely exhausting, since we had the radio show and were working a ton to invite people to conference, and we had to prepare a baptism for Sunday. Whoof! Even so, Friday night I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve... I could not sleep! I woke up so many times, and when it finally hit 6:30am, I jumped out of bed!! haha. It was a wonderful weekend though. It´s funny because a lot of people think going to all 4 sessions is so much time, but I wish there were more!!!

Oh... yeah... skipped a little detail... ANGEL GOT BAPTISED ON SUNDAY!!!!! WHOOO-HOOOOO!!!!! Angel is the guy who showed up at church and beasically said ¨Hi I want to be baptised, what do i need to do? ¨ :) Wonderful, wonderful! So, we had the baptismal service in between the sessions (a little tricky since that left the whole chapel without running water for people to wash their hands). All went well though. One fun part, too, was the talk from Maxi, a pre-missionary in our ward, who HATES public speaking and gets super nervous. We asked him to give one of the talks, and he DID NOT want to do it. But... the night before, we went to his house and had a super fun lesson about how to give a talk... Hna Reyes helped him write it and I taught him how to present it... that was fun. Anyways, when he got up to give his talk he surprised us by memorizing the whole thing!!!! He did great!!

Anyways.... that´s pretty much my fun for the week.... Radio show, General Conference, and a baptism!!! Not a bad week :)

Well I hope life is wonderful back home, and hope to hear from you all soon! SMILE LOTS!!! Jesus loves you :) .... and I do too!!

Besitos!

Hermana Devee

(no subject)

2009-09-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

What a week, what a week!!! I think it was a little more hectic and crazy back home than it was here, but I´m glad to hear everyone is safe and still alive! :)

Anyways... Only 2 weeks left until tranfers!!!! Yay!!! I love transfers time... and not only because all the missionaries in the mission go to Burger King together... :) Last week we had interviews with President Asay, and he said there´s a good chance I might be changing companions. Of course we still don´t know, but it´s exciting just because I love changes!!

Well the mission is great. Time is SO weird here, because some days seem SO long, and then before you know it the week is already over! I´ve already been here for over 4 months... crazy! And it´s only going to go faster since we´re going to start practicing for noche de luz soon. Our area is doing great though!! This week we found 17 new investigators!!! Pretty sweet, since thats about as many as our area had each transfer (6 weeks) before. We´re loving it, and just trying to push forward and work hard.

Wanna hear something exciting?? This week is GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!! Party time! Party time!!! Man, I am so stinking excited!!! It almost feels like Christmas!! With it being conference week, though, I have a VERY, VERY, VERY important challenge for every one of you!!!! Find someone... a friend, coworker, neighbor, ANYONE, and bring them with you to one of the sessions of conference!!!!!! You have no idea what a difference it will make!!! We were talking, and a lot of missionaries said that every single investigator who has gone to conference wanted to be baptised. Why?? BECAUSE THEY GOT TO HEAR A PROPHET OF THE LORD SPEAK!!!! What could be better?! This is an opportunity for every single person to listen to an actual prophet, who has been called of God to speak in his name, talk to US! So... that´s my challenge. If you´re a member... invite someone! If you´re not, talk to someone you know who is LDS and make the arrangements to go Saturday or Sunday!! You will NEVER EVER regret it, I promise!!!! If there is any question you have or any problem you´re facing, take it to conference and i PROMISE you´ll get an answer!!

I love you all. Be safe, don´t sleep while driving, and as always... SMILE tons!!! :)

Besitos,

Hermana Churchill

Life is WONDERFUL :)

2009-09-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

Buenos Dias a todos!!!!

Man is it a beautiful day in Argie land! We had a great week this last week, and are getting ready to have another great one! First off... CONGRATULATIONS AARON AND YUKA!!!!! :) :) :) I´m a new auntie! ... again :) YAY!!! Sukai is GORGEOUS and I´m so excited to meet her!! ... in ... a year. haha. And Beanie Bear... you look gorgeous too!! Keep that smile going.

Anyways.... Yesterday we had 2 BAPTISMS!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!! Marta - the mom of Marcela, Daniela, and Leo - and her other hijo Diego got both got baptised yesterday, and man was it wonderful!!! I know I´ve probably told you about them tons, but even so I love talking about them because they´re the perfect example of how wonderful the gospel is and how much peace and happiness it brings to people´s lives!! We met this family my 2nd week of the mission. Apparently other missionaries had gone by before, but never had taught them. When we passed by, we were talking in the gate when the mom came out, skinny as a stick and in tiny clothes with her hair crazy, and told us if we were going to talk we had to come inside so the neighbors didn´t get mad. We were kinda thrown off and didn´t know what to do, but ended up having an awesome lesson with there family, and have been teaching them ever since. At the beginning Marta was a mess... and she says so herself! She´s had a TON of hard things happen to her and her family, and has gone through things I can´t even imagine. When we met her she was always depressed and sick, and always had something to complain about. Now, though, she´s ALWAYS smiling, and is always out and about talking to neighbors and playing with her kids. I LOVE going to their house, because in every lesson it´s a fight for who gets to choose the hymn and who GETS to say the prayer :)

Plus, this week Marcela (17) went out with us for her first time to teach other people, and it was amazing! She ALWAYS wants to share her testimony, and always wants to help other people. She even says that she wants to serve her own mission, as does her little brother Leo. They´re SOOO wonderful. Basically... I´m in love with this family!! :) It´s true.

Anyways... I gotta head out. Today we had a district asado (AKA amazing BBQ... but way better than a BBQ) so I´m all out of time. The big thing that I´ve realized this week is how wonderful studying is!!! There is so much to learn about and grow! So, I just want to encourage all of you to take the time to study the scriptures this week. Not just read them, but actually STUDY them. You´ll be amazed at what you´ll learn and how much happier you will be.

MILLIONS of kisses to all of you!! Love you all tons and tons!!

Con cariño,

Hermana Churchill

AKA Devee :)

Argie time!! :)

2009-09-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am BEAT! But man does it feel good :)

SOO.... today was WONDERFUL! Sorry about the delay in the email, but this week our p-day was switched to Tuesday because we got to go to the temple!! WHOOOO HOOOOO!!! Sadly, though, it was my first and last time going to the Buenos Aires temple, because they´re closing it for 2 years in November to do rennovations :( sad day. But at least I got to go, and boy was it wonderful!!! :) So, this is my temple shout out to everyone... whatever it takes, BE WORTHY to go to the temple!! If you´re not right now, then get worthy!! If you are, then make time to go!! The temple is a PHENOMENAL place, and the feelings and thoughts you have while inside are better than anything else imaginable. If you don´t know what the temple is... well.... let me know... I´ll fill you in :)

(Oh... PS... while at the temple... Josh McDaniel, one of the Hermanas from Lanus said she was talking to you a few weeks ago and said hi to me for you :) It was awesome! And Allen... while walking back from the temple I met your ¨hijo¨.. pretty funny... i dont remember his last name but it starts with an M... he says hi! )

So.. this has been a pretty mixed up week. Wednesday I spent the day in Capital doing paperwork for my visa... not so exciting... but we did get to have a sleep over with Hermana Fox (my MTC comp who i LOVE) and another hermana... and Thursday we had zone conference... yay! Zone conference is always amazing, but this one was especially fun because I got to play the flute with another Elder playing the violin and another on the piano. I am SO happy I get to play!! We also got to talk about all the awesome experiences we´ve been having, and the crazy number of miracles we´ve seen! Before our ward was pretty cold to missionary work and not interested, and finding people to teach was difficult. Now, though, we´ve been finding tons of people who want to learn more about the gospel, and the ward is starting to see it and get excited!! Yay!

So.. thought of the week is from the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon. Can I just say that I love Alma the younger? Anyways... He´s talking about the experience he had with repentance and how wonderful it is to be forgiven of his sins. Sorry I dont have the english scripture, but I LOVE Alma 36:21... ¨No podia haber cosa tan intensa ni tan amarga como mis dolores. Si, hijo mio, y tambien te digo que por otra parte no puede haber cosa tan intensa y dulce como lo fue mi gozo. ¨Or... basically he says there is nothing as intense or bitter as the pain he felt, but also there is nothing as intense and sweet as was his joy when he repented. It´s SO true to. So many people suffer because of things they have done in the past and the guilt the feel. Imagine, though, that if they repent the joy they feel is just as intense, if not greater!! We are SOO incredibly blessed to have the atonement and the opportunity to repent of ALL of our sins! Our brother Jesus Christ suffered for us so that he could help us. All we have to do is turn to him and he will take off the burden and we can be HAPPY again!!! :) There is nothing sweeter!!!

Well... I love you all more than you can even imagine!!! I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve. I´ve only been gone four months, but I am already amazed at the difference this has made in my life, and will be eternally grateful for the chance I´ve had to serve in this amazing work!! Thank you so much for all the prayers and support!! :) Les quiero

Con carino,

Hermana Dev :)

PS.... BYU updates? Anyone? :) :) :)

RISE AND SHOUT!!! :)

2009-09-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

Ok... so there´s lots to shout and sing about here in Argie... but the subject of this email is definitely a tribute to BYU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE BEAT OKLAHOMA!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOO HOOO!!!! Man you have no idea how happy I was to hear that!!! President Asay let my zone leader know who passed on the message to me! I can´t even explain how happy I was!!!! I spent like 30 minutes dancing around in our pension singing the cougar fight song :) Trying to explain to my companion who is from Chile why I was so happy and what BYU beating Oklahoma means in the world of college football and why it was such a big deal to me didn´t really work very well, but she was nice enough to listen and let me sing anyways :) MAN! I am so happy!!! Sad that I have to miss two college football seasons, but... I guess it´s worth it ;) haha. Any BYU updates would be more than welcome :) I mean.... .what?

ANYWAYS:... on to more missionary-like matters.... :) We had a pretty sweet week, and a pretty disappointing one at the same time. BUT! It´s all good. It was an awesome week because we found 16 new people to teach... YAY! It was also disappointing because Marcela, Daniela, and Leo didn´t show up to church... and neither did anyone else of our investigators ¨:( It´s all good though.... we went to their house later and found out the night before they had a ton of family stuff happen... and... in the end it was legit they didnt come. It was such an awesome lesson too, because the sister-in-law was there and Marcela, who just got baptised last week, shared her testimony and even helped us teach part of the lesson. It was wonderful!!!!

Even so, moral of the story.... For every good thing that happens there will always be something that happens to oppose it. That´s just how Satan works., and as the scriptures say, there is ¨opposition in all things ¨. So... even when hard times come just push through it!!! Just wait... a miracle is on it´s way! You just have to look for it!

Well... sorry this is short this week but I´m nearly out of time. Thank you SOOOOOOOOO much to those of you who have sent me letters!!! You have no idea how wonderful it is!!! And yes, I´m writting every single one of you back... it just takes a little while since I dont get letters for nearly a month and then it takes 2 weeks to send them too. So... patience :) But MUCHISIMAS gracias!!

I love you all more than you know!!!! :) SMile lots, be good, go and do something good for someone else.

Besitos,

Hermana Churchill

YAY FOR BAPTISMS!!!!! .... Great way to end my first transfer!

2009-09-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

Well hola yal!

Life is great here in good old Argentina!! This week we had an awesome time, especially Sunday! First, we had 5 investigators at church on Sunday! Oh... one of which is named Angel, who showed up at church last Sunday asking how he could get baptised.... talk about a dream come true! :) He´s awesome though

After church we had a BAPTISM!!! YAY!!!!! Marcela (17), Leo (8), and Daniela (11) all got baptised today, and their mom Marta and other brother Diego are getting baptised in 2 weeks!! It was so wonderful. You have to understand.... this family lives in some of the worst of circumstances, and when we first met them the mom was super sick, always in bed and angry at the world too. Now, though, you can literally see a change in her eyes, and she`s always happy and smiling, and LOVES talking about the gospel! I`m so excited for their family!!! Marcela is a total future missionary too, and we already have plans for her to go out with us to teach their neighbors. WHOO HOO!! Party time in Argie!

Oh... also... I was way excited for this baptism since it was my first here, but then I also found out that this is the first baptism in this area since like February! Not to mention we also have 13 other investigators getting ready to be baptised too in the next few months... so it`s AMAZING because our ward is starting to change and are starting to get excited about missionary work. Miracles really do happen.... just gotta have a little faith!

Let´s see... other news... Today is the last day of my first transfer! (6 weeks). Turns out me & Hermana Reyes are staying together though, so we`re getting ready to work extra hard this coming transfer!

So... thought of the week... here`s a quote from President Hinckley that I love (i hope i havent already shared it... but if so... no worries... its still wonderful)

`Rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope that you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass.`

Each and every one of you are AMAZING with so many talents and abilities. Develop them and use them to help those around you. Every day miracles are happening, you just have to look for them to recognize them.

I love you all! Know that you`re always in my prayers and I wish the best for each of you!

Besitos,

Hermana Churchill

Livin the life!!!

2009-09-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

Hola, Hola, Hola!!!!

Man... this has yet again been a great week! We have had some awesome lessons, and have met some amazing people!!!! - Remember the mad wife who ended up giving permission for her daughter to be baptized? Well we went back Saturday and I had my first Argentine Asado.... HOLY COW!!!! It was amazing!! Chicken, beef, chorizo, (luckily no ¨mystery meat¨) ... that they spent 5 hours making! But man was it good!

Stories of the week:

- Humberto and Norma (the family of 12) - we went back to their house and taught them about the plan of salvation. The best part, though, was that when we got there the whole family was watching TV together, so they all ended up staying for the lesson, including Humberto (the dad) who usually makes excuses to go and do other things. We had talked with Norma the week before and found out that they aren´t married, but they´ve been together for 23 years and have 10 kids together. So, while talking about the Plan of Salvation we also started talking about Marriage and why it is so important, and extended a commitment to them to get married!! In the FIRST lesson we´ve had with Humberto! :) They´re great though... i´m not too worried. The BEST, BEST part of the lesson, though, was at the end when we asked Humberto if he would give the closing prayer. He wasn´t too excited about it, but we showed him in the Book of Mormon where we had writen the steps to prayer and told him he could use that, so he agreed to do it. When he said the prayer he simply thanked heavenly father for his family and for never abandoning them, and then was silent. All of us sat with our heads bowed waiting for what he would say next, but he was silent. After a while, he simply closed in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen, and then sat with the Book of Mormon in his hands just staring at it. This was SUCH a simple, small moment, but everyone in the room could feel the spirit so strongly!

So... thought of the week... this week the subject of adversity has come up a lot, and while studying i came across a quote from President Brigham Young which I love...

¨We are the happiest people when we have what are called trials, for then the Spirit of God is more abundantly bestowed upon the faithful¨

I don´t know about yal, but the first thought that that comes to me when I´m faced with a trial is usually not about how happy I am. What a great perspective this is to have, though, because if we really have faith, and recognize that every trial we pass through will help us become better and progress, then we can have this same view ... To know that during our trials our savior Jesus Christ will never abandon us, and will never leave our side. WHat a comfort it is to know that we will never be alone! I´ll admit... being thousands of miles away from all of my family and friends is difficult at times, but at least I´m never alone, and I can still always be happy!!! I know this is where I´m supposed to be right now, and I´m so grateful for this opportunity Heavenly Father has given me to share the gospel with others!

I love you all and wish you the best. Take some time this week to forget about yourself and the millions of trials and hardships you may be facing, and do something nice for someone else to help lift them up. I promise it will help ease the burden you feel as well.

Besitos a todos!

Hna Devee

Pictures!

2009-09-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been running behind on posts. Our family just moved to California and we've been pretty busy for the last few weeks. Hope you enjoy these pictures of Hermana Churchill!

1. mission president week in the MTC! This was the sign in the parking lot.... pretty sweet :)

2. Me & Hna Fox´s awesome collection of food :) Yummy yummy. I SO wish i had some of these things right now! :)

3. Playing in the laundy room the day our last time doing laundry before we left the MTC!

4. Remember the day that English died? This was the funeral service we had for it. It was a sad, sad day!

5. WHOO HOO!!!! PERU!!!!

6. The view from the roof of our apartment building!

Sorry everyone that I'm so behind! I just moved to California and have been so busy moving in. Enjoy these pictures of Devee.

BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!! :) :) :)

2009-09-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

Holy WONDERFUL week in Argentina!!

Man... this week has been CRAZY with many crazy moments.... I had a man attack me with a hug and proceed to ask me if we could be friends and if i loved him and if we could eat lunch and chat together (he was a little... different). Kinda weirded out... my companion just sat and stared. Egh. We taught a family who started out with the wife telling us very... strongly.. that her church is the only right one... but ended up in her giving permission for her daughter to be baptised and them inviting us to have an asado with them. Crazy. And.... i dont even know. I million very interesting things happened this week.

The BEST though... was Sunday! Its a VERY long story, but because of some crazy happenings we ended up having 6 investigators at church (this whole transfer we´ve only had 1), found a family of TWELVE PEOPLE, and found 8 new investigators... alll in one day!! It was AMAZING!!!!!!!! The most miraculous was this family. On Saturday an appointment fell through and we were way bummed, but we decided to go back to the chapel and study language there while we waited for our next appointment. That day it turns out the MTC missionaries were proselyting in our area, and when we were in the chapel some of the hermanas ran up to us, telling us they were SOO happy they found us and that they had a reference for us of an awesome family. Sunday we went and met them... the family of 12... and found out that they had been being taught by missionaries a LONG time before, but the missionaries just stopped coming. (most likely because this house doesnt have an address so when the missionaries changed they didnt know where to find them). Anywaysl... long story short.... we got to teach them about Joseph SMith and the restoration, and they accepted invitations to be baptised!!! This family is SOOO amazing!!! There are 10 kids and they all live together, and are SO SO SO prepared!!! Its funny to me though how all of this worked out.... if we hadnt have listened to the various impressions we received throughout the day and if this apt hadnt fallen through, this all never would have happened and again they would have had to wait. Moral of the story: You never know what Heavenly Father´s plans are. Even when things go wrong, remember he is in charge and is ALWAYS watching over you!

Quote of the week is from Elder Dallin H Oaks:

¨Drive and determination are what lead to extraordinary success, not natural ability.¨

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this quote, because its so true!! I believe is a person puts their mind to something and wants to succeed and is willing to work for it, they can accomplish anything!!! So many times, though, people make excuses for themselves or for others. Don´t do this!!!!! There´s a quote from Pres. Kimball I love when he talks about how any excuse, no matter how valid, will always hurt the person. So don´t make excuses!! Even if you´re right!! Instead.... move forward. Try to make the best of what you have, and always push yourself to become better! This is when we find success and when we truly are happy. ¨If you think you can or you think you can´t, you´re right.¨(Henry Ford... i think....)

I love you all!!!!! I hope all is wonderful. Smile TONS:... it will do miracles for you! I am loving being a missionary and a part of this great work. I pray for all of you and hope that life is everything you could dream of and more!!

Besitos,

Hermana Dev

¨Count your blessings, not your worries!¨

2009-08-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Party time in Argie!

This week was quite an interesting one! It started out a little bit rocky but quickly improved! We set a goal as a district to find 15 new investigators per companionship, which is really high for our area. The goal usually is 6/week, and that is even a bit hard at times. Even so, we decided to accept the challenge, and set a minimum goal of 10, and the ideal of 15. It´s amazing what Heavenly Father does for you when you set goals and make plans and ask for his help in achieving it, because we were able to find 11 new investigators this week! YAY!¨:) Yeah, its not 15, but its still double what we´ve ever done in this area! Our district all together found 43, which is awesome! Half of what the whole zone found. AND... the investigators that we found are so wonderful! I´m in love already :) ...

Funniest finding moment this week was when we went to an appointment we had set with one of our investigators, Rosa. She wasn´t there, so we decided to go across the street to a house we had contacted 2 weeks before. When we knocked on the door we could hear Aerosmith music playing SUPER loud, so we figured they were busy and wouldn´t want to talk. When they answered the door, however, The dad Robinson came and invited us in immediately! He started introducing us to everyone there, and brought us drinks and food right away. After talking to the people there a little, we found out that the next day was Robinson´s birthday, and they had begun ¨celebrating¨ a little early. Ay, ay, ay! We started thinking it would be best to just leave because we probably wouldnt get much accomplished, they only wanted more company and were intrigued by a rubia who spoke English (the dad kept telling his daughters he wanted me to teach them English). When we were about ready to give up, Robinson and his two daughters, Rocio (10) and Jeraldin (4) came and sat with us and were talking to us, and Rocio said ¨Is it ok that i read the pamphlet you left my uncle?´¨ We were super surprised because she seemed so young, but then she continued to ask us questions about the book of mormon and the church. We explained what the Book of Mormon was to her and her dad, and explained to Robinson that we wanted to give him a copy to read. Then Rocio asked us if she could read it too! Throughout the whole visit Rocio would say things that completely surprised us, and was so excited to read and to learn! So... what started out as a rocky visit turned into an awesome experience!

Aside from that... life is good. I´m sure there´s a million other things i have to tell you, but my mind is so fried i can´t even think! Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOO much to those of you who have written me emails!!! :) I absolutely LOVE hearing from home! It makes me so incredibly happy.... you have no idea!! :)

Thought of the week comes from a little sign that was in the house of a member we visited .... ¨El secreto de la felicidad no esta en hacer lo que se quiere, sino en querer siempre lo que se hace¨ or... in english... The secret to happiness isn´t in doing what you want, but rather in wanting always what you do. So.... enjoy life!! Sometimes things don´t work out exactly the way we want, but if we learn to love the things we have to do then we will truly be happy! Stop waiting and wishing and hoping.... instead GO and do something with your life!! Nephi said ¨I will go and do¨ not ¨I will sit and stew¨ !! Enjoy life!!! Smile lots, and help bring sunshine into the lives of those around you!!

Love you all tons and tons!!!! :)

Besitos,

Hna Churchill!

HACE FRIO!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

FAMILIA! AMIGOS!

¿¿¿Como estan todos??? Espero que todos esten bien! Man has this week been an interesting one!! We FINALLY got a heater! YAY!!! Before we were studying in the morning with scarves, gloves, lots of blankets, and lots of socks, and were STILL freezing because we didn´t have a heater... but now, life is great. I´ve also become a professional at toasting bread in a frying pan. You would think that because I know how to cook so much (i mean, honestly, i was even a caterer!) that I would be able to toast bread, but when you dont have butter or a toaster and all you have to use is an ancient missionary frying pan with who knows what burnt onto it, it´s a little difficult! I finally mastered it though, and I´m the best toast-maker ever now! :)
Other cool happenings of Argentina...
- I´ve learned how to clap doors quite well... it takes practice to clap loud enough for everyone to hear! Oh... for those of you who dont know... in Argentina we cant knock on doors because there´s always little gates, so instead we clap. Pretty cool!
- I´ve learned that if you´re going to eat an orange, get ready to spit... they have 20-30 seeds in every orange, no joke! Makes you grateful for genetically engineered food!
- The more clothes the better! It is SO cold here!! And being outside all day makes it even worse! Plus, even when we´re inside, most people don´t have heaters. It´s kinda funny to be teaching a lesson to a family and being able to see your breath... when you´re inside! One day I wore thermals, running spandex, 2 pairs of tights, socks (under the tights so you couldn´t see), two skirts, 2 sweaters, and my big coat, and was STILL cold! It´s all good though... I´m getting used to icicle hands :)
- I get to eat dulce de leche anytime i want! Funny thing though... its not as amazing now as it was before, just because they use it in everything here!
- I never realized how grateful I was for peanut butter!

Ok, ok... enough of all that. As far as the week goes, we started teaching an awesome family!! They live in the tiniest little house in part of our area thats ¨la villa¨. We´re teaching the mom, Marta, her daughters Marcela (17) and Daniela (12) and Leo (8). I LOOOOOVE them!! The first time we went to teach them they had read everything we left them and were so excited to talk to us! They accepted baptismal dates in the first lesson, and always talk about how excited they are! It´s cute too because the mom always calls me ¨La angelita¨and every time we come the younger kids run in saying ¨la angelita esta aca!¨... or ... the little angel is here! :) They are all so sweet. When she first called me this it reminded me of the talk that Elder Holland gave us at the MTC, when at the end he said ´´welcome to the work of angels. To your family and those who are praying for you, you are angels, and especially to the investigators you are going to teach´´. For me, many times I feel insufficient and overwhelmed, but I am so grateful to be a part of this work, and to be able to help my Heavenly Father in bringing the gospel to other people.

I hope life is wonderful for all of you back home!! :) Do me a favor this week, and take some time to serve someone else. Even if it´s just by writing a nice note or making treats for a friend. This little things that take so little effort from us can make such a big difference to the person who receives this service. When we serve others, that is when we are most like Jesus Christ, and when we are the most happiest in this life. I love you all. I love this gospel. I know without a doubt that all of the blessings and happiness I have in this life are because I have the gospel, which gives me hope and strength. This is why I want to share it with others. This is why I am here. I want more than anything for other people to be able to have the same happiness that I have in my life.

I love you all MUCHISIMO! Les quiero.

Besos!
Hermana CHurchill

AKA Devee!

Devee's in Argentina!

2009-07-23T11:30:00.001-07:00

Dear Churchill Family,

It is a great pleasure to notify you that your daughter has arrived safely to the great mission Argentina Buenos Aires South. She is in a very good area with an excellent Trainer, Hermana Reyes . Although we have known her for a very short time we love her already. She will be great!

Sincerely,

President and Sister Asay

ARGENTINA HERE I COME!!!! ... I hope

2009-07-16T09:37:00.002-07:00

SOOO... So far so good.. I got my flight plans and I'm leaving on Monday morning at 5 AM to go to ARGENTINA!!!!! YAY!!!!! It's about time! :) The whole "i hope" part though.... Apparently all the elders in my district just got visa delays and found out they probably wont leave for 2 more weeks... and they're all going to Argentina too. From what I hear if you're in Buenos Aires, though, you don't need a visa... so I think I'm safe... we'll find out soon enough though! So... Cross your fingers and pray hard that I'll get to go! :) PS have yal heard that Argentina is now the capital of the swine flu? Buenos Aires, specifically. Pretty sweet huh?! haha. Don't worry, I promise I won't die.
>
> SOOO... anyways, travel plans... I leave a 5 AM on monday... our flight leaves at 8 AM ... and we get into Buenos Aires, Argentina at 8 AM on Tuesday. Translation: it's going to be a very long day! It was gonna be a big party because we were going to have 30 missionaries all on the same flights, but now we'll probably only have 8. Oh well. We have 2 lay overs.. one in LA and one in PERU!!! YAY!!! Ok... I know it's silly to get excited because I don't actually get to leave the airport, but I'm still SOOOO stinkin excited to be in Peru again! :)
>
> This week has been pretty good, but time is starting to slow down ever since we got our travel plans! It should pick up pretty quick though because we're teaching 15x in the TEC... meaning NO study time pretty much... just class and teaching. I'm excited!! I can't wait til I get to teach and find all day, everyday!
>
> We've had some really good speakers this week! Last Tuesday Elder Angel Abrea of the seventy came and talked to us, on Sunday Margaret D. Nadauld (YW general president) spoke to us in Relief Society, and President Clegg (who set me apart) spoke on Sunday. Today we're hoping for a really good devotional since it's our last! Kind of silly to say since all of them are wonderful. I'm super excited though because we're singing "Blessings"... AKA "Come thou fount" in choir for the devo. AMAZING. I absolutely love this song! The spirit is SUPER strong when we sing it together!
>
> Here's a quick thought for yal today: It's from Music and the Spoken Word from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. During the program some of the commentary really stood out to me. It basically said:
>
> "Stop. Look around and realize how much you have been given and blessed with. Instead of thinking of what you can buy and be happy, think of what you already have that is sufficient to accomplish this. SLOW DOWN & ENJOY all the beauty around us that God has given us."
>
> We are SOOOO incredibly blessed... every single one of us! Look outside. Look at your families and friends and the people who you care about the most in your life. All of these are blessings. I'm probably not the best person to talk about slowing down... after all, I'm my mother's daughter... but it's definitely good advice I'm trying to use. When we slow down and realize all we have we are instantly happier. This goes along with a quote from Henry Ford I really like too:
>
> "Don't find fault, find a remedy. Anybody can complain"
>
> I hope all of you are happy and loving life & living it to the fullest! Never waste a single day.
>
> I love you all!
>
> xo, Hermana CHurchill
>
> AKA Devee!

I ESCAPED AGAIN!!! .....

2009-07-16T09:37:00.001-07:00

Only meaning that once again i had to go to another appointment, which i DO NOT like!! It's all good though. This time it was pretty interesting... for the last week my front tooth has been killing me so finally my companions convinced me to go see the dentist, and its a good thing I did! It turns out that... well... long story. When i was 12 years old I face-planted on a concrete ramp and broke my front tooth. Apparently when that happened it blocked off the blood supply, so my tooth is dead now! Guacala. SOOO.... I have to get a root canal. On Monday they drilled a hold in my tooth and scraped out the inside, and i have to go back on Friday to get it filled. Crazy huh?! The craziest part is that right now I'm double insured medically but I have no dental insurance, so we were going to have to pay for it out of pocket and I was supposed to call home to tell them how much it would cost. The dentist just started doing the procedure, so I asked how much it costs and that I needed to check with my dad.... knowing that these things are usually $300-500, but he said "well.. for you... it'll only cost 2 or 3 pesos." Later he told me that he wanted to do it for me completely FREE!!!! Crazy huh>?!> I was so grateful!! (and my parents too I'm sure!). Oh the blessings of being a missionary! :) Oh.... and I still got to call home and talk to my mommy to let them know what was going on! (Sorry to those of you who were at home.... I tried calling there first! Now for the next 18 months you'll always answer the phone :)
>
> ANYWAYS>.... aside from that I've been good. I only have 13 DAYS left in the MTC!!!!!!!! crazy huh>? I should be getting my flight plans this thursday, and I leave a week from Monday! I'm so excited!!! I'm definitely ready to go.
>
> Oh... PS>... Happy 4th of July!! They treated us good here at the MTC! We got out of class early and went and watched a program they made all about the reformers and how they made it possible for the church to be restored. Pretty cool. Then we got to go outside and watch the stadium of fire fireworks until 11 PM! Pretty rebelious eh? haha. Don't worry.... President Smith gave us permission! It made me a little homesick being away from all my family and friends, but it's all good. It's just a good thing that not every day is a holiday, or else I'd really be in trouble!
>
> Soo.... no big AMAZING stories or cool quotes for yal this week, but what I've realized the most this week is that whenever anything goes wrong or doesn't happen like you want it to, instead of pouting and getting depressed, just make the best of it! Heavenly Father always knows exactly where you are and knows far better than you what is best for you. So... roll with the punches. Make the best of every situation, no matter how bad it seems to be at that time. And through everything, NEVER forget to smile. Even if you have to fake it, smiling ALWAYS helps you feel better!!
>
> I love you all. Be good.
>
> Besos! Hermanita Churchill
>
> AKA Devee!

More Pictures

2009-07-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

Fort time!! Do you like that I'm wearing pearls & sweats? :)

This was by far the best night of sleep that I've had!

Me & Hna Fox both have the same alarm clock & everyone thinks that they're cell phones. It's helping me cope with losing mine.

Half of our district. E Robinson, E Haas, E Petersen, Me, Hna Fox, Hna Wise, Hna Fair. Hna Fair went to the Dominican Republic MTC & Elder Haas went home (sad), but now we have 2 more sisters & 2 more elders too!

Swimming anyone? :) Don't worry...I didn't actually do it.

Hna Fair (she left for Puerto Rico), Hna Fox & me

Playing at the temple in the rain

PARTY TIME IN THE MTC!@!!!

2009-07-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!!!
>
> This week has been absolutely crazy in the MTC! .... Crazy cool that it. It was the new mission president seminar this week, meaning all weekend members of the first presidency and quorum of the 12 were here, as well as tons of mission presidents! It was so neat! So here are the cool happeninngs of this week:
>
> 1. I finally have seen what heaven is like! .... Because all these people are here the cafeteria gets blocked off and we can only use half of it, so everything is a little different. Because of it though, they put all the cereal on one side together. Now you gotta understand... these are big huge cereal dispensers, and there were TWENTY of them, all different kinds, all along one wall! On Wednesday when we walked in and i saw this i was SOO excited. I looked up and thought "man... now this is heaven!" :)
>
> 2. Ok... now real stuff. Before the devotional on Friday we had choir practice and then went back to our classroom to get ready for devo. I have an obsession with brushing my teeth a million times each day, so I convinced my companions (who always make fun of me) to go to the bathroom with me. When we got there, there were 2 other sister missionaries waiting and a woman who looked like a mission president's wife. We started talking to her and asked what mission she was going to and she said "Oh I'm not. I'm sister Beck, the Relief Society President". At first this didnt really register... and she went into the bathroom. We finally realized this was sister Beck,... as in RS president of the WHOLE church!! SO later we saw her again and she gave us hugs before she left :) It was pretty random, but pretty cool
>
> 3. Then ,.... Devo... OHHH MYYY GOOOOOODNESS!!!!! :) Elder Holland spoke at devotional and it was phenomenal! Not only was Elder Holland there, but also on the stand was Elder Bednar, Scott, Perry, Cook, Anderson, Christoferson AND Oaks. It was SOOOOO coool! We sang Joseph Smith's first prayer and it was absolutely incredibly! I didn't know a choir with 200-300 people and only 2 hours of practice could sound that good! Maybe it's the whole 100% obedience thing.... people actually listen to what the conductor tells em to do :)
>
> 4. The next day we had a big combined sacrament meeting... the biggest one I've ever seen! There were 600 missionaries, and so we had about 50 Elders blessing & passing the sacrament, which was set up on 4 long tables. It was really cool! At sacrament a couple members of the district presidency talked to us, and I REALLY liked a story that one of them shared with us, so I'll share it with you... in a little bit :)
>
> 5. For Relief Society on Sunday, Sister Wendy W. Nelson, wife of Elder Nelson, spoke to us!! She is an amazing example to all women... she has her ph.d. and has accomplished a ton in life. One thought she shared that I loved was that we should ask ourselves "What am i willing to commit to the Lord, that from this moment on I will never do - or never do again - NOT EVEN ONCE?" Think about that for a lil bit...
>
> Sooooo.... those are the highlights of the week. Oh... another cool thing... if yal have never visited mormon.org GO THERE!!! Its a cool website. If you visit the teachings part and watch the video clips, you hear a ton of cool stories from real people. Just a though.
>
> OH!! So... the story I was gonna share.... Pres. was talking about a time when he and his son went night scuba diving to certify. He had put too much weight in his weight belt though, so when he came to the surface he was REALLY struggling to stay afloat, and the water was super choppy and keep beating against him while the weight kept pulling him down. His son saw him and swam over and said "Here dad, lean on me and I'll swim you to shore" so he did, got to shore, adjusted the weight, and then went out and had the most amazing dive of his life.
> He compared this story to the savior and said "Sometimes if you're carry8ing too much weight it takes all your energy just to stay afloat because the weight is pulling you down. The savior is off to the side & he says "Lean on me. I'll help you take off some of that weight & then you can go out and have the best experience of your life"
>
> Don't forget... you're never alone!!! The savior is always there to help take off some of the weight.... he wants to help us as much as he can.
>
> Be good. Never quit trying. Smile lots.
>
> I love you all! :)
>
> Hermanita Dev

PICTURES!

2009-06-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

PICTURES! Captions by Hermana Churchill.

These are all the sisters from my zone...we have tons! Still saucy as always. :)

My district w/our first teacher before she quit to get married.

I miss Wilson's :(

Most of my zone!

Oops...I accidentally hit Elder Riches in the face when we played volleyball. My bad!

Argentina here I come! (with her comp, Hermana Fox)

The hermanas of my district!