... and some more! :)

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! :)

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!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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)

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!

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

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 :)

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!

Life is WONDERFUL!

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 :) :) :)

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...