... and some MORE!

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...

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!:)

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! :)

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!!!

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!

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.... :`(

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