Monday, December 30, 2013

Transfers . What? It has been 6 weeks!

Today is transfers. But before I talk about that...we had a baptism this past week of Leila, the little 9 year old chica [girl] that was always ready and excited to go to church with us. The baptism was awesome and she was just so cute and happy. But I think the best part was that her whole family was there to support her in this decision, minus her dad who was working. But it was so cool to see so many people there for her.  Woo, this church is true! 

As mentioned before, today is transfers, we got calls late Saturday night.  Hna Acha is opening up a new area with Hna Rodriguez from Pinamar, and I...drum roll...am staying in Dolores with a new Sister that I will be training. Oh dear haha I´m going to be a mom. haha yay my first hija [daughter] in the mission. We will have to see how this transfer goes.  But time is passing rapidly, with the new year, then with me being in ARG for almost 5 months...then the next (in like a week and a half) I hit 10 months I still don´t know how that happened. But oh well, I have to enjoy it while I can. 

Sorry don't have much time today [emailing from Banfield as it is transfer day]. I hope you all had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year!  Love you all! 
 
Hna Snow
 
 
9 year old Leila with her family minus her dad who had to work

Best Christmas Ever!

Wed., December 25, 2013
11:05 am MST


Got to Skype with Dani from her Branch President's home. We talked for a good hour and a half. She kept wiping her face as she was sweating in the 100+ degree temps. Homes are nicer in Dolores but no one has A/C. Brad thought he'd cool her down a bit by opening the blinds and showing her the white snowy backyard and the mountains which she misses just as much as she misses her family. Didn't work but she definitely enjoyed the view. She looks great - lost quite a bit of weight. Has tan lines. Usually wears her hair pulled back. Due to the humidity it is out of control. She said she can handle the heat - she just HATES the humidity.







Monday, December 23, 2013

Q & A

Q: Does your area cover more than just Dolores?
A: No, because Dolores is in the middle of nowhere and we only cover half. The elders cover the other half. 
[as in E. Carlson]

 
Q: Are you keeping track of your total # of Baptisms?
A: Of course. I write the name and date of each person.


Q: Are you keeping contact information of ARG friends so you can keep in touch after your mission?
A: Of course again. Those that I become close to I write them a letter with my emails and face book
(fb only if I really really like them haha jk)


Q: Are you writing more detail in your journal than you are in your emails?
A: Yes, I am. Sorry about that but since coming here for some reason it is always an anxious time when emailing b/c there is so much I want to say I have to pick and choose-

 
Q: How many friends/family are you emailing on each P-Day?
A: Depends, on how many I receive. But the over all email I send to you all, Cyndi, Sister Davis and whoever else I feel like sending it to that week. haha

 
Q: Read about a horrible storm on Elder Carlson’s blog - you didn’t mention it - were you in same area?
A: Not sure which storm he mentioned. what was the date, we have had a couple storms. But there was a horrible storm when we were in Olmos/ La Plata for zone things a couple weeks ago.

 
Q: How are you adjusting to the humidity?
A: It is different. The heat I can handle but in this moment the humidity is killing me. And we don´t have a fan in our pension...yea.
 
PIX FOR KIX
 

 
1. We got to have lunch today in casa de la mision, with....Zona La Costa!!! Yep, I got to see my dear zone again. That was like a Christmas gift in and of itself. haha
 
2. I got your package and was able to give Hna. Blanco the recommend cover. She sends much much thanks!!! Thanks for everything and now we know it takes about a month to get here. 

Feliz Navidad, Feliz Año Nuevo, y happy siesta [Merry Christmas Happy New Year and Happy Siesta]

I love the holiday season. But it is going to be a little different, seeing how there is no snow and it is deathly hot with humidity. Oh how great right? But nevertheless the work must go on.  Although with the siesta time in the afternoon there is quite literally no one in the street. And when we try to knock on doors, most the time no one answers, but those few times when they do...watch out because here the siesta is a sacred thing and they always look like they are going to hurt someone. So with that and everyone spending the holidays in La Costa the work is slow and will probably be like this until after the new year...Yay :)

Today we got to travel to the mission home to have hamburgers with the zone and the zone from La Costa! Needless to say I was super excited to see my amigos [friends] from the coast.  It was a lot of travel. Waking up at 4 am to be ready to bike about 20 or so minutes to the terminal to catch the bus at 5:45 for a three hour trip to La Plata, to catch a train for an hour and a half to Banfield. Yea, there is no easy way to travel to anywhere from Dolores, haha.
 
Luckily the Mission home is only a couple blocks from the train station. But the hamburgers were super good, with watermelon, how delicious!! And it was like a Christmas gift in and of itself to see my friends from La Costa.  

Hna Blanco told me some rather great news. So remember the family Gomez? - .....Well...Hna y Hno Gomez [Sister & Brother Gomez] have set a date to get married for the 13 of January!!!!! I almost screamed of joy when she told me this. And I am still beyond happy when I think about it. What better gift/news to receive than to have a great family make their way to become an eternal family forever. 
 
And through her [Hna Blanco], a few of them were able to send me letters including pix. I got one from Antonela, the first one to be baptized in the family (by Elder Day) with a pix at her baptism. The next was Alexis the youngest of them and the second to last child of the family to be baptized also with a pix of us at the baptism. The last letter was from Joana, the last of the kids to be baptized and the oldest child. With reading all of the letters I was happy and almost cried to hear about how well they are doing. But what really got me was that Joana has set a goal to go on a mission. In her words (in English) ¨to be a missionary like you guys¨  oh my heart melted. It is incredible the influence that we have on everyone. Whether we realize it or not, people notice us, it is a huge privilege to be able to influence them for good as reps of Jesus Christ.  

In Dolores, we have great investigators, with one chica [girl] Laila, that is going to be baptized this week. I think I have mentioned her before, and she is super excited that she received permission from her dad to be baptized. She is always ready and excited to go to church, even with walking 30 min in the heat to get there. And this past week her older sister who is less active joined us.  

This work is real and the miracles and blessings are real. The sad thing is that sometimes people don´t realize the simplicity of the work that needs to be done to receive those blessings.
 
I hope you all remember the True meaning of Christmas and get to share that with all your loved ones. Christ came to this Earth for one purpose, the purpose to give us all a shot to live again with him and our Father in heaven with our families.  May you always remember the sacrifice of our older Brother Jesus Christ and I hope that you all simply have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Con Much Cariño [with much love],
Hermana Nieve [Sister Snow]

Monday, December 16, 2013

Once there was a Snow(wo)man . .

Primer [First], it does not feel like Christmas. Sad but true. Probably porque no hay nieve [because there is no snow]...pero, como un hombre (o mujer) de nieve [but as a man or woman of snow] I feel like I am melting...porque [because] it is all of 36-38 grados [degrees] (98-102 degrees +humidity...woo) 

As for la obra misional [missionary work]. One day we went hunting for nuevos investigadores cuando encontramos una familia, [new researchers when we find a family] well los chicos were afuera [the boys were outside]. We talked to them and asked if we could come back en un otro momento [at a time], they said Sunday. So yesterday we went back and found uno de las hijas en esta familia [one of the daughters in this family]. She allowed us to share the message of the restoration with her and she listened with pure intent and interest. It was amazing. We weren´t even distracted by the heat or anything.

Again as I gave the first vision, looking into her wide eyes she had that spark of interest in them. Ahhh, it was so cool.  After sharing and explaining the work of Profeta José Smith [Prophet Joseph Smith] we asked her how she felt and what she thought about it, her response ¨rado¨(strange). haha I liked that response. Most people just say good. But you could tell that something had sparked in her and she had that eagerness to find out more. We gave her un Libro de Mormón [a Book of Mormon] and asked her to read the intro that would explain a bit more about the Libro and José smith [book and Joseph Smith] then to pray about the message and what she read.  

As we were leaving, I asked if there was a number we could reach her at. She said she didn't have a phone at the moment entonces [then] no number to reach her. When just then her sister popped out of the cocina [Kitchen] (we thought we were the only ones in the house...surprise) and offered her number.  Little did we know that she had been listening the whole time. How cool, right?  We took her number, gave her the folleto of La restauración y un Libro de Mormón with lo mismo [brochure of  the Restoration and a Book of Mormon with the same] reading assignment. Wow, we left happy that is for sure.  

It is definitely those times that make the times of waiting and trying to find those who are ready to hear this mensaje [message] totally worth it. When you find them that have that spark inside and are truly prepared to listen.

This gospel is amazing, and it is great to be able to be here sharing it with all we can. Even through the hard times. But hey, the Lord said it would be worth it. He didn´t say it would be easy.  In the words of Elder Holland ¨Salvation is not a cheap and easy experience.¨

Happy Holidays to all. Les espero que pueden disfrutar a todos!! 
Les Quiero un montón. [I hope you can enjoy all. I want to a lot]
 
Hermana Nieve [Sister Snow]

Monday, December 9, 2013

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

Hola to all, 
This weekend we had a baptism of a sister who has had about 2 or 3 fechas para bautismal [baptismal dates] in the past. But this time she finally did it! I guess she has a real fear of water. As she was walking into the font she was shaking and really nervous. And ironically the hno had to perform the ordinance twice, b/c her feet popped out.  After the first one she almost walked out of the font saying that she can´t do that again. But after calming her down telling her to breathe and to bend her knees, she was able to calm herself down enough to do it again. The second time it worked, oh the poor señora was shaking so much when she came out of the font, but She Did it!!!! It was a great service and it just goes to show with faith and confidence in the Lord we can face our fears. And her poor son who was sitting in the front row, was super scared and nervous for his mom.  How cute? You could really tell a difference in her after she came out of the font, she had a special light about her. And after her confirmation (her son up there with her :) )  she had that glow and smile about her that only comes from being cleansed of sin and starting a new life.  

I always love Fast and testimony meeting, especially with los chicos, [the boys] they are adorable!  We had a few go up and bear their testimonies. They are really the sweetest most innocent testimonies, reminding us that we are all children of our Heavenly Father and that this is the true church.  We really have the true way to be happy for now and for eternity.  

Entonces, [Then] thus the title (one b/c I love Disney and two b/c its true), with a little faith trust and pixie dust (oh the spirit)...we can accomplish those things that are hard and overcome our fears. Sometimes we have to walk blindly into the dark and have the faith that someone is there to lead us or catch us if we fall.  

I hope you all are getting in the Christmas Spirit and enjoying the season, it is a little weird menos [less] the snow and all. Pero Bueno [But well].

Have a great week! 
Hna Snow

 Baptism of Angela




PIX FOR KIX...




The Zone
[I believe E. Carlson is back row 3rd from left]

Q & A
Q: What do you miss the most?
A: the, fam, bbq, and the mountains

Q: Are things getting better with your companion?
A: very little by little

Q: Can you keep in touch with Hna. Blanco regarding the Gomez Families progress?
A: not really, we can only have communication for things with the mission, so I don´t think I can ask her about that sadly. 

Q: So did you officially meet Elder Carlson?
A: yes, he is in my district and in this area/ward with us
 
Q: If yes to above question, who connected the dots first?
A: me, but he said something about it first 

Q: Do you get to drink pop?
A: yes, b/c we are not supposed to drink the water

Q: What’s your favorite ARG food?
A: all of it...pastas and empanadas [pies]. But seriously all of it is good. 

Q: Do they have Avocados or Artichokes?
A: avocados yes, artichokes no idea, I haven't seen them yet






Monday, December 2, 2013

Q & A

Q: What is your companions name?
A: Hna Acha. She is 20.
 
Q: Where is she from?
A: Bolivia
 
Q: Do you get along okay?
A: Yes and no. Yes, we get along, but this area has no organization and I always feel like there is a bit of tension and not much spirit and I think she has multiple personality disorder...she tends to talk out loud to herself and such.
 
Q: What is your new apartment like?
A: Really old. It is the old house of our bishop. It is big, but honestly disgusting. Last week we tried cleaning it the best we could but I don't know what else to do without taking a torch to it. At least we have a nice and cleanish bathroom.
 
Q: How do you get around?
A: Bicis [Bikes] there are no collectivos [?] in Dolores. It is either bici [bikes], caminando [walking] or auto.
 
Q: Is your language getting better?
A: Yes. It has gotten better. It helps having native companions.
 
Q: How big is the district there?
A: We have 8 people in our district and 18 in our zone.  We are the only sisters minus the senior couple in our district.
 
Q: How’s the weather inland?
A: Hot. With a bit of humidity.
 
Q: What about the wild life, ie, bugs, animals, etc.
A: Luckily I have not seen any large spiders yet. But we have a lot of frogs and mosquitos (I have a total of 20 or so bites) and there are a lot of horses everywhere and still dogs and the usual.
 
Q: How often do you have district meetings as missionaries?
A: Every week on Tuesday.
 
Q: Have you been able to see any sights in your new area?  And what are they?
A: No b/c there are none. Dolores is literally in the middle of nowhere. 
 
Q: Would you still like some quotes?
A: Yes please, when you can. Thanks.

Hola personas [people]

The weeks are just going by way too fast now and I realized I will hit 9 months next week. Personally I'm not a fan...I don't want to be half way done with my mission. That is just crazy.  I am starting to get to know the area of Dolores a bit better now and the people.  We have a couple of good investigators.  One is named Ruben, and everytime we teach him it is a theatrical show. He is very into using his hands to demonstrate things and he has a lot of good deep questions. And he is one that talks really really fast. haha but he has a testimony and attends church. There is just a few things that he needs to get over before he gets baptized. Which he has set a date for the 5th of Jan. haha he is a riot. The other is a family we came across trying to find someone else.  We started out teaching the dad but ended up focusing on the son more - he is 12 years old and knows a lot about the Catholic church. He has a ton of ??'s and wants to learn more. It is pretty great.

And a funny thing, we are studying the teachings of Lorenzo Snow. I get the ? a lot of are you related to Pres. Snow?  Sadly no not Lorenzo. haha

Well until next time.

Hna Snow