How do you eat Calamari with a smile?

‎Monday‎, ‎July‎ ‎21‎, ‎2014 ‎1‎:‎50‎ ‎pm

Hola Family! 

Glad you made it home from your trip. Sounds and looks like you all had a blast! This week was a good one, first off, the title, this was the lunch we had at Inka this week...as she brought it out Hna. Knowlton said that is either onion rings or calamari and I don't think they have onion rings here. . . so yea we ate calamari. What you do is combine every bite with a little bit of everything on your plate and with the promise of french fries, ice cream or alfajores after you just eat and eat and eat until it is gone.  But I can now say that I have eaten something super strange on my mission. ha but never again. Trying to cut that rubbery substance was just too much for me. And you all know how I am not a fan of sea food or anything of the sort. But here you just have to put a smile on, try not to cry and eat what they give you. 

Chance or coincidence don't exist: A couple cool stories from this week, we went searching for old investigators and in-actives.  

Last week we found an old inv and as we got talking she said that she had never before talked to or listened to missionaries and she didn't know how we knew her name and address (which we had on a form in the pension meaning that someone had found and talked to her before. . .right?) well we went by again a few days ago b/c she agreed to let us come back, they were busy but we left them with an explanation and pamphlets of the plan of salvation.  I don't know if it is true or not that they have never talked to the missionaries before but we found them and hopefully something good will come of it. 

Story number 2: looking for in-actives, we found one who is baptized but his family isn't. We went by a few times and never found anyone. A couple weeks ago we finally talked to him and then this past week again and were able to leave him with a thought. But what was cool, the night before when we were planning, I was planning to go for other menos activos and then another direction, but stopped and had the feeling to go by his house.  So we went and found him sitting outside his house very distraught for the situation that he has found himself in. We shared a scripture about how Christ knows all that we are going thru and that he is the one that we can turn to when we need help and guidance.  After we left I turned back and he had gone inside. I don't know how long he had been sitting out there, but I had the thought that it probably wasn't that long. I told Hna K my thoughts during planning the night before and how I was going to plan to go to another house but changed.  If we would have gone for the other route we wouldn't have found him sitting outside. Also I'm thinking if we would have went a few min. later we wouldn't have found him either. Was it chance that we found him? I think not. Oh the spirit is SO cool!!! 

Transfers are coming up again in a week, we have NO idea what will happen, so I will let you know what happens next week. 

Have a fantabulous week! Love you all. 

Hna Snow

we went to the museum of La Plata today . .this is the evolution of man and of missionary

Hna. Knowlton and I with the bones. :)

So close we could taste it.

Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 3:49 am

Hola to all! I hope you all enjoyed Mundial (the World Cup), but as you all know sadly Argentina didn't win. . we came so stinkin close, but what can you do? It has been quite the ride being here while they have been in Mundial. During games the streets of the City of La Plata are completely empty. That we could walk down the middle and not have to worry about getting hit. But once they scored a goal the city would erupt in what they call "the sacred scream or yell" or in Spanish "el grito sagrado" and the city would come to life again.  And it was so cool to have them in the finals, and we were super excited until we got a text from our district leader saying that on Sunday we had to be in the pension before the game started at 4 and stay there the rest of the day. . .yea both of us almost cried, they wouldn't even let us go to a members house. Yea we know it was for our safety as missionaries, but we were not very happy.. .and less when we didn't hear the "Grito Sagrado", and found out that they lost. Sad day. But hey at least we made it to the finals right? 

Anyway, when they played Wednesday aka their independence day, we were supposed to have a ward activity but they ended up canceling it for the game. . haha oh I LOVE this country. Luckily we were able to get a couple lessons in before lunch b/c with the game at five we weren't going to and didn't find anyone. They were all not home or preparing to watch the game in their jerseys and all. Even the older people, we tried contacting an old inv that has like 10 dogs and she opened the door and said that she couldn't have us b/c she was getting ready to watch the game, haha I say again I LOVE  this country!!  

One of our lessons was with an inv of Hna Medina and her old comp. We finally got in to talk to her again, last time she shared with us that she is having a hard time in her life and that she wants to find happiness in this life and not just for eternity. We left her with a scripture talking about eternal happiness and when we came back she had read that and then finished the chapter.  She told us that it helped her and it was what she needed to hear. y sí! that is the power of the Book of Mormon at work! We were supposed to have a lesson with her today but she canceled this morning. We are going to teach her how thru the atonement and Christ she can find the happiness that she is looking for now and that it can last forever.  She loves reading and has found the scriptures we have left helpful. I think if we could just get her to church she could be golden! Only she literally has no time, with it being their winter break (I know right, weird winter break in July) and she will be gone for 2 weeks for work, but I think it will really help her a lot to at least experience it once.  

Saturday it rained and it rained and it rained and I think my rain boots have holes. haha when it rains here it POURS! Last year the city flooded, like not just a little like, 4 to 5 feet of water in the houses flood.  The drainage system here is just great and definitely makes for some really interesting days of work. It really just rains without stopping, to the point that even with our rain jackets, rain boots, and umbrellas, we still ended up back in the pension just soaked to the skin. Luckily I have learned to keep all my books in a plastic bag since La Costa, because our backpacks were soaked through. haha oh the adventures of the mission! They are fantastic. 

Oh and mom, Romario still doesn't have a date. The bishop told us to back off a little, but the funny thing is, Romario refers to himself as a member,.  haha not yet buddy, still missing a tiny detail. 

Well I hope you all enjoy your summer. We are having a blast with the bipolar weather down here. Talk to ya next week. Looks like you three (mom, dad, and McKayla) are having fun on your trip. Dad I bet you were in heaven visiting the birth place of golf. hehe 

love you all!!!

Hna Snow

Pix for Kix

the streets of Argentina when they play in the world cup. this was on wed, the 9th (aka Argentina's independence day) so it was a double whammy for us as missionaries. 

when it rains it pours. We enjoyed the rain 

and I just thought this was a cool pix of the water off Hna Knowltons umbrella. 

the view from my bedroom window, you can see the catedral better without the leaves

7+7=14

Mon, Jul 7, 2014 12:46 pm

Hola to you and you and you and you . . .haha. Well, this week was an interesting one filled with celebrations, the world cup, lots of wind and water, and finding a new investigator. 

Anywho, as for the trivia ? . .did anyone guess how long it has been? . . well the answer is D. Both B &C it has been 3 years since the last convert baptism. . . . . . . .. yea we have some work to do. But we are still praying that Romario will find his answer soon or make the decision and take that leap of faith and get baptized. For now we have just kind of let him be and have the young adults and leaders from the ward work with him.

We contacted a reference from a member from another ward the other day who seemed interested. We sat talking to her for a bit and then she asked a question that every missionary waits for, "Why are there so many churches in the world?" What a great question let us tell you the answer, and we taught her the restoration and about why there are so many churches in the world. It was the first time that we have actually taught one of the first lessons in awhile and it felt fantastic!  Then when we finished that lesson she had another great ?... it was basically what happens after we die, . . um let us leave you this pamphlet to read and we can come back and explain this great plan that our Father in Heaven has for us. Yea it was pretty fantastic!! A great missionary moment I would have to say. 

4th of July:  What happens with 2 American comps on the 4th of July? You party, eat cheeseburgers, and sing I am proud to be an American really quietly so no one hears you. Then you eat ice cream while it is Freezing cold outside but you don't really care b/c it is the 4th of July. haha 

Also with this whole world cup thing it is almost impossible to work, especially now that Argentina is in the semis. YAY!! It was sad to see America go but we were a little scared to be here if they played Argentina b/c if they would have stayed they would be playing them on there independence day July 9th . .and we would be staying in the pension for a week. haha but it has been fun watching and living the prideful craziness of this country as they make there way to finals. We'll just have to see what happens. Oh ps mom what did you think of the idea I had for the Christmas card foto? I think it is pretty clever if I do say so myself. 

Anyway I hope you are all enjoying summer as we are getting close to the dead of winter (still super weird to think about). Have a fantastic week! talk to you later.

Hna Snow

pix for kix

1. this is GENIUS!! a roll within a roll. 

2. Where do all the people go when a game is on?  

Why they go to plaza Moreno to watch it on the big screen . . . 

Happy fourth of July!

our outfits and of course we had to celebrate with ice cream

and they just happen to give us red white and blue spoons. haha it was the best. 

p day adventures!

we found legit doughnuts. . and they were delicious!

Trivia question #3

Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 8:57 am

This week it is multiple choice 

How long has it been since La Plata had its last investigator baptism?

A. 6 months

B. 1 year 

C. 2 years 

D. Both B and C.

Let me know the answer next week and I will give the winner an alfajor when I get home. 

Well this week was long and tiring and went by way too fast. (the days seem to like to do that the closer I get to going home...) We did a lot of walking and not much teaching. There was one day that we had where it took all we had not to just sit down on the curb and just cry. So we said a prayer to hopefully find someone and to keep our spirits up and we kept going. . all week. The funny thing is, even Presidente knows how hard the work in La Plata is. Great thanks Pres. for the challenge. We will see what we can do, and Hna. Knowlton and I are here for a reason right? y si, we are going to baptize Romario (one day).

 

Aye, aye, aye, he is so ready. He has even told us that he has not found anything wrong or bad with the church. The people sometimes, but that is b/c we are all human, but with the church no. Funny huh? That is b/C the church is perfect and is being lead by Christ. One day, one day he will be baptized, and yes mom, I hope it is before I leave.  

We had interviews with Presidente this week, you all will be happy to know that he said that they won't let me extend... (sad day) but it is a new rule of the Area Presidency, they want the missionaries to go home and "take the next step" in life. . haha aka: get married. hehe so there is that.  He also told me that this would be my last interview in the field as the next one will be my exit interview, such a sad thing to think about. So I have decided not to and just keep working hard until that day comes.

Saturday we had a ward activity having to do with family history. Members signed up to do a booth telling about their ancestors, there was one from Italy, Germany, Spain and Uruguay. And a couple others. They brought old artifacts and had a time to share stories with us. Then there was a demonstration of Peruvian dancing and an Italian folk dance, and of course we finished the night out with some very delicious food that they all made from each place, (yes dad they had sauerkraut but just with hot dogs) it was one of the funnest activities I have been to in a while, and we had a pretty good turn out. 

Lastly, since we both had a crappy Christmas and it is freezing cold here, we have decided to have a Christmas in July. And this time with decorations, we even found a "Christmas tree in a box" in our closet and a string of paper ornaments. Now we just have to try and figure out how to buy a gift to surprise one another with always having to be together 24/7. . hehe we will see how this works.

Anywho, I hope you are all having a great time in the warm weather. We are just trying to figure out how we are going to survive July. Cuz apparently it will get even colder next month. So I may or may not be coming home a snowman . . . 

well, until next time, Chau for now.

Hna Snow 

Q & A

 Q: Did you talk to Pres. Thurgood about extending your mission?

A: yea he said that they aren't allowing it anymore, the first Pres. of the area made a rule, they want missionaries to "take the next step in life" so I will be coming home on my scheduled date. 

Q: Have you eaten Alfajores? Sounds yummy according to Bp. Pace.

A: no mother only everyday for breakfast. . .hah jk. of course and i will be bringing lots home for you guys, don't worry

Q: Anything you’d like mentioned at G. Tolman’s funeral? Todd & Sandra are doing the life sketch…stories, thoughts.

A: not much, I guess that it was good that I got to see her one last time when you guys came up to see me. Something like that. You can add detail of what you remember 

Q: Did you get email I sent with G. Tolman’s Obit? They will be recording it for all of us who missed it. Also, are putting together a video of her life - pix.

A: yep I got it. thanks that is cool

Q: Did you get a baptism date out of Romario yet?

A: nope not yet. 

pix for kix

last week we FINALLY visited the Cathedral!!!!!!!!!!! and yes I was in heaven. 

foto of the cultural activity 

Christmas in July