"hey you expire before these cookies".

Hola to all! Dad I hope you had a good Father´s Day. And the rest of you had a good week.  We surely had a long week with a ton of walking. Yes, it is transfer time, and yes Hna. Knowlton and I are staying together for one more transfer. Which means next transfer I could potentially stay and die here or maybe get moved. But we have six weeks so I´m not going to think about that right now.  

As you all know, the World Cup started. Now this is great for everyone . . .well, everyone except for the missionaries. . .b/c you all know how hard it is to work here in the city. Well now it is even harder, because they really don't want to take the time to listen to us or open the door. ha oh que bueno! [that's nice] We have little schedules of the games to know when they will be (all the prelims are at 1, 4, and 7 here and when there is a game on it is worse than the holidays, there is literally NO one in the street. We could stand in the street and not see one living soul. They are all inside watching the games or sleeping in between them (haha or that is what I think since the games are on during their siesta).  But what can you do. It is cool, all the Arg pride down here everything is decorated in blue and white. And they even set up a huge screen in the plaza with the cathedral so that anyone could watch the matches. haha it reminded me of when I was in Europe with the Lamberts, for the Euro cup, I went with Teri and Tori to watch a game on their big screen in a park. haha 

But yea this week was super hard and exhausting, we are still working with this one investigator, who everyone thinks is a member.  So we are just going to keep working with him and have determined to change something in this area this transfer b/c they have not had a baptism in like more than a year. . . but they haven't had ´Snowlton´ in the area very long, so we are going to hit them like a snowball. haha I am just hoping my shoes and my backpack hold out a little longer.

 

Anywho fun facts that I thought I would add:  

1. I have perfected my guacamole. . .I think we have had it like 4 or 5 times in the last 6 weeks.

2. They have a verb for ´to google´ - googlear

3. My hair has grown a little bit longer. yes . . 

4. Hna Knowlton said that since I have 12 weeks left (one training) my ´American training´ starts today. . .oh dear. 

5. The title. . .we found some delicious cookies and she looked at the expiration date 12 of Nov. and that was the first thing she said. ha thanks comp. Love ya too!

Anywho, hope your life is going well and you are enjoying the weather b/c it is really starting to get super cold down here. bah!

Love ya tonz, chau!

Hna Snow

Ups, Downs, and All Arounds.

Hola mis queridos!! [Hello my dear]

Firstly I have a declaration. After 10 months of serving in Argentina, I am officially legal to be here...for the next 3 months until I leave, haha made my day! 

Anyway, this week was just a crazy one. To explain the declaration above, we went to Buenos Aires for my papers on Thursday and stayed the night in Banfield to then go and do them for Hna Knowlton on Friday. It was quite the adventure, and finally I was able to tour the city for a little bit, we drove around looking at the HUGE buildings and then went into a cathedral that was just gorgeous! But didn't look like a cathedral from the outside (I'll send pix next week) it looked more like a Greek temple. But we saw a guy restoring the tile mosaic floor, holy guacamole, they put in EVERY tile, one by one. But it was incredible. With a lady reciting a catholic prayer , that was a little weird, but it was cool at the same time. 

We have this investigator, that is drving us crazy!! Why? b/c he is super ready to dive into the font, but keeps telling us that he wants to finish reading the BOM first or that he hasn't gotten an answer yet, but he has gone to church like 6 times dressed in a suit, tie, white shirt and everything. He goes to institute, and every time someone meets him they are shocked when they find out that he is not a member, which he basically is, the font is waiting, he just has to take this little leap of faith and say yes! He has all the support from the members, but in all honesty we think that he is scared of something still, we just have to find out what it is to help him work it out, trust his Father in Heaven and just jump. 

To end I just want to say how grateful I am to have such a fantastic family. With your support and love and help and all the good times. To have a family in the church is such a blessing and to be experiencing all of this here it has made me beyond grateful for all that I have back home. We had a lesson with some menos activos [less actives]. She is a single mom with 3 kids, 2 teens and a 4 yr old. They are a great family, but they are going thru some really rough times, she feels her kids aren't doing there part, and to see this family go from relatively active to stop going and to see her have her strong faith and testimony too in this moment to when we just happen to be there, throw her hands up and say I don't care anymore, I don't see the point, was heartbreaking. And I may or may not have almost cried a couple times listening to all of this. It was rough to watch and hear how Satan can put one toe in and a bomb could go off. I am, not going to lie, it was kinda super awkward to just be sitting there while she was talking to her kids in a strong voice trying to help them see what was going on. But it opened my eyes and made me think of just how good we have it. Yes it is still hard and Satan attacks us in different ways, but with these 2 chicos,[boys] in this ward there are not many young men for a support system.  Whereas most of our friends are members.  It was hard to see one of the was that Satan attacks the family, I just kept thinking I have it good.  Yes it is hard and yes we still have to fight, but we have friends and support in the church, here the members are few and far between.  We talked to her after this whole thing happened and she just broke down crying, with not knowing what more to do to help her kids, not knowing if she can do this alone anymore.  It was just heartbreaking.  I am so grateful for this gospel, for the blessings that come from it, and for all the support and love that I have from all of you.  I don't know or want to know what this world would be like without all that we have been blessed with from our Father in Heaven!!!!

Thanks for EVERYTHING!!! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Con mucho cariño. [with much dear]

Hna Snow

"Yea!! I got the Holy Spirit, its a good train . . you should get on it"

Hola, so I realized last week after finishing that I forgot to tell you about the doc appt. . . oops sorry. pero, it went well, we talked with him and the counselor Pres Vitali about what all happened and my eating habits and such, he basically told me that everything that happened was thanks to the little friend that I had inside me and to stress. Ha go figure right, I think it was the after results of all the stress and anxiety of Dolores. Great huh? Yea, not really but this was the first line that came to my head (a quote but not from a Disney movie) was "I once had a cousin Izzy who just keeled over one day mid mango, stress, its a killer sir." hehe first one who can name that movie gets to pat themselves on the back b/c there is not much I can do from here. . .sorry. But anyway, he put me on a medication for 3 days taking a pill 2 a day every 12 hours, and that was it. It was like a mini bomb med, to clean out my system, and for now I am still going to keep taking the multivitamin just in case, haha.  So as of now I am eating regular and besides the fact of always being tired from working and walking all day everyday, I have energy which is fabulous after a rather long time of not. 

Okay now to explain a little about the title . . hehe this was such a great day. One morning in comp study, Hna Knowlton shared something very interesting out of the book "member missionary work and finding the elective God" a book that I have seen in Deseret book.  Well she read about something called ¨References from the Lord¨ for finding new people. . so we tried it the other day and the results we're crazy cool! What ya do is first pray for inspiracion and guidance, then you both study the map for a little while.  Then, how we did it was one person called out about 10 streets and the other wrote them,  then from that list separately we both chose 3 to 5. Here is where the ref from the Lord and the spirit come in, from the Separate  lists you compare to see which streets are the same. . this was the cool part. She chose 5, I chose 3, we had 2 in common. Hna Knowlton looked at me and said I took stats that is not possible, ha but everything is possible with the Lord. We were a little giddy after that so with our faith and hope we went searching. . sadly the results were not what we were hoping for, but it was a good faith and testimony builder of the help and guide of the Lord to try and find those that he is preparing. We did find a menos activa at one of the doors we knocked, and another one we passed, both stopped, paused and turned back, I said num 2 stood out to me, lets knock, Hna K said the exact same thing. . . so we rang num 2 a lady opened the door, we introduced ourselves and then she said thanks but no and shut the door with a little force.  Okay have a nice day. We were a little bummed about that one, but hey maybe the Lord was testing us and preparing us for something that is coming. . .guess we will have to wait and see. 

But I know that the Lord is preparing the heart of someone, we just have to be patient and "keep swimming" until we find them. 

I hope you all have a terrific week! Talk to ya lata! 

Hna snow

Q & A

Q: Are you taking any medication for the parasite?

A: Yea, sorry about that I forgot to tell you about the doc apt oops. I took a 2 pills for 3 days med and that was it. It was kinda like a mini bomb that cleaned out my system. I have still been taking Centrum Vitamins and haven't had problems since.

Q: How was the artichoke? Do they have Mayo in ARG?

A: Not Costco but for Arg it was pretty good. And yes and it is better than the states.

Q: Are you regaining some of your lost weight?

A: I think so, I haven't weighed myself in a little bit. I will have to see. 

Q: Do they get snow in ARG? Or just bitter cold?

A: Yea only in the mountains that they share with Chile. Here it will just get bitter cold. 

Q: Do you still like being in LaPlata?

A:  Yea, it is hard, but we have a good branch and s..l..o..w..l..y but surely we are starting to see some progress. 

Q: Do you think you’d like to return to ARG to visit again soon?

A:  ABSOLUTELY

 

Q: What food do you miss most from home?

A:  Hires food. Tortilla chips, chocolate chip cookies, real american BBQ among other things

Q: Are you able to shower each day? 

A:  Yes, finally. 

Q: Do you still sleep in your sleeping bag with the sheet?

A: Yes, and the liner helps a ton with the cold weather! It is a genius idea. 

PIX FOR KIX

We didn't have lunch one day so we had a Mexican Fiesta! 

haha complete with tacos, guacamole y the only chips we could find (they don't believe in tortilla chips)

Here was the tiny artichoke, and ya know it wasn't that bad, it wasn't Costco, but it was pretty good.

Our activity today...Republica de los niños- its like a quarter of the size of every other park. 

A mini Disneyland. Like it makes Lego Land look good. 

But it was entertaining and good to get out and do something.

 Here is a mini of what the main part of the park looks like.

The joys of serving in a big city. . . ha 

Hola to all!

This week was a really great week full of adventures. Here is a little of how my week went:

Lunes: P-day was a blast perusing the little shops and buying a ton of food. hehe but unfortunately we received some bad news while working. The investigator that went to church for the first time text us and said thanks for everything but our life is complicated right now and we don't have a lot of time, and we aren't all that much interested in learning more´´. . .um, yea it was a hard blow. We sat down for a little while trying to figure out what to say back when Hna. Knowlton smiled and quoted Ice Age with a mission twist . "There goes our last ´investigator´". Which made us both smile. We stopped by to figure out why and talk face to face. They said with all that they have going on and the fact that they are very Catholic it is not a good time. Okay, it was hard for both of us and the first real rejection for Hna. Knowlton. 

Martes:  We had an amazing Zone conference that focused on how to work with Preach my Gospel and how to use it more effectively in every aspect of missionary work.  With a challenge/study plan starting for 25 weeks starting June 1st to study every chapter in depth...remember how I didn't want a count down...ha well I will only get to about week 14.

Miércoles:  We had exchanges with Hna Tolman staying in La Plata with Hna Knowlton and me going to her area that is right above our area, so it is like the suburbs of La Plata. Here is where the title comes in, this week it rained for about 2 days straight and we just happen to have exchanges. So we walked and walked in the down pour and the fabric on the outside is great because the water just beads up...but in this storm we couldn't figure out why or how the inside was getting so wet. . .well, turns out there are bunch of little tiny holes that we only found when held up to the light...haha but other than that it is a great umbrella. :)

Jueves:  We switched back from intercambios [exchanges], went to our lunch appt. then went to work...what was great was that our plans to have a member accompany us actually worked out. The plan for who we were going to visit, not so much but she gave us a reference and we ended up finding and teaching the referral and having another lesson. 

Viernes: A day of FREEZINGNESS! no joke, it was bitter cold, we didn't have one lesson and just ended up walking around all day trying to find people. we tried contacting and got a couple doors shut on us when we said that we were missionaries for the church of Jesus Cristo. . but we laughed and sang and quoted Disney movies and tried to stay positive while enduring the cold. 

Sábado:  We did have a couple of good lessons with an investigator and menos activos [less actives] and had a little bit of service helping a member get some meds from the farmacia [pharmacy].

 

Domingo:  We rocked it with the spirit! It was a great day! Warmest day of the week I think. And we  found an old investigator, the best part of this was we had heard a lot about him but hadn't found him yet. . .so when the door opened and a man with a great beard and a light blue sweater with a little town and a rainbow stood before us we knew it was going to be good. But turns out he is not that interested. Sad day Hna. Knowlton did ask him quite an inspired ? thou, "do you believe that the true church is on the earth today"? Bam! it definitely made him think. Then we had another amazing lesson with the one prog investigator that we have, I think we will be able to see him get baptized. We just have to work with the spirit and him little by little. 

I hope you enjoy your week! And your weather. haha

Love you all!!

Hna Nieve

 1. Duct tape, who knew...this is what you do when you have a really really cold pension and no heat

...you find a sleeping bag and block the really big window.

2. Yup, it is an artichoke. My food life is complete. Just have to cook it and try it now. 

I will let you know how it is later. 

I don't remember if I sent the map of our area or not so here it is.

Yup, I made an Oreo malt, it wasn't the same b/c the milk here is weird but it was still pretty good

self explanatory!

[Those who know Dani well, knows she LOVES Cheese Cake]

Trivia Question- num 2

What happens when you put 2 north Americans together as comps?

Anyways, I hope you all had a great week. I can't believe that it has been a week since we talked for Mother's Day! But it was great to see you All and talk to you.  Sounds like you are all having adventures and stuff...with the warm weather. Here the last few days have been SUPER cold! Neither of us have been here for the dead of winter yet, as I was only here for the last little bit in August, so we will see how this goes.  

This transfer I made a little personal goal to find a miracle in each day. And I write it down in my agenda. This week we had some really good moments, we had our bad ones but we are not going to talk about those today.  A few this week were: we found a couple inactivos that actually let us in and teach/talk to them.  They were really receptive and sweet and told us that the missionaries would visit them a lot and then they just stopped one day. hmm que triste [sad]. So we will be picking up and hoping that they will find that desire to go to church again, one day, planting seeds, right dad? 

Another little one, as we were crossing a street with a lot of water in the gutter we had to wait for a few cars to pass and everyone of them splashed us, it was great, but the last one a taxi driver slowed down and went thru slowly, saying out his window that he wasn't going to get us wet.  How nice, we thanked him and continued on our way.

One more: we went to visit a hermana and as we were waiting for her to come down (she lives in a tall building in central) and let us in, another lady came and rang for someone else.  We started chatting with her, she told us that she was going thru some really hard times, we gave her the plan of salvacion pamphlet and she basically asked us to come visit her, giving us her address and number (and for once we finally found someone that lives in our area). We were a little more than excited, but what was cool is that the member was watching from inside the door (she is sick and she didn't want to let the cold in) and she told us later of what an example that we are talking to all.  It made us realize that one of the strongest things that we have is our example, and that everyone is watching. 

Also we brought a new investigator to church yesterday and the members were almost shocked to see this. hehe yup example is everything, and to add to it, we both have been studying a lot about that with Alma and Ammon and the sons of Mosíah. It is pretty great. One member showed us a video clip that she found on fb its called "commercial Thai" it is about 3 min. It is short sweet and a perfect example of how the small and simple things can change the lives of many. It is a Thai commercial with English subtitles and Spanish sub with them. But it is amazing.  

Remember that blessing that dad gave me in Idaho. Well I have this little journal that I have been meaning to write those kinds of things and my notes from conference in and such. Well as I started writing what date it was I looked up at my clock and just happened to see the date:  May 17, um yea the day you came up was May 17 of 2013...it was a little weird that I finally started putting things together in this notebook, starting with this particular thing, exactly one year later. Crazy huh? Oh the mysteries of life. 

Anyway to answer the trivia ? mentioned above.  

A: We have way too much fun quoting Disney movies, working and laughing.  Everyday is an adventure and we are having a blast and a half working together and trying to figure out new and fun ways to change this area.  We were riding the bus one day and (I really have NO idea why or how I remembered this line) a line from Harry Potter popped into my head that is really great to describe the work of a mission:  "You´re going to suffer, but you´re going to be happy about it" Ronald Weasley. Oh, how true it is and we both died when I said it. Sometimes it is really hard and we suffer a little, but ya know we are super happy b/c we have the truth and we are here trying to save our brothers and sisters. 

I challenge all of you to find the little miracles in everyday, it will change your perspective on life a ton. 

Have a great week!

Hna Snow

********

Title of this letter "please don't cry letter...I saw it and almost cried.

From: Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission
Date: Thu, May 15, 2014 at 3:38 PM
Subject: please don´t cry letter

Many thanks for your service in our mission and all that you continue to do. The time has come, however, to collect information for your flight home. I have three questions for you:

1)  At which airport do you need to arrive in to have your family meet you?  The Church’s policy does not allow for a missionary to arrive home without a family member present. Someone must be there to meet you.

2)  Are your parents coming to pick you up from our mission? This information is very important in order to plan transportation.  Plans to pick you up should be authorized with Pres. Thurgood beforehand.  You´ll have to talk to him yourself to get authorization.

3)  I need the correct and updated email of your family.  We need to send your flight itinerary home, and in order to do that we need a correct email address.

We need your answers next Monday at the very latest.  We can’t make any arrangements until we have the necessary information.  If there are problems let me know so we can work things out .

Thanks for your help, and keep on being awesome!

Hermana Dance

Secretaria

Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Sur

FYI - Hna. Snow's release date is Sept. 8, 2014. 

lets not talk about how much time i don't have left. okay?

Hola to all!! It was great talking...and seeing you all yesterday. Mom, Happy mothers day (again). Thanks for all that you have taught me and shown me and have done for me in my life. You really have been such a great influence to me and I tell you that those things have helped me, especially here in the mish and with everything that has happened, it has helped me be strong and keep pushing thru.  

Shay Happy birthday (still cant believe you are 20, holy Guacamole!!!)  But I have to say it was a little weird talking in English. haha like I told you I think Hna Knowlton and I were made comps so that I could practice speaking English to get ready to talk to you guys. But yes, I loved the Ashtyn comments, "We haven´t seen you in a while" and "okay see you in a minute". Oh that girl. haha and you are all getting so big! I can't believe it.

So my comp and I get along great. This week we have been on a roll. Minus the fact that we are always quoting Disney and occasionally Brian Regan (b/c that is what happens when you have two Americans as comps, one with three months in and one with 4 months to go...yea, it is always a party) we laugh, we sing, we speak Spanglish. It is great. But really we are scary a like, she will say something that she loves to do or likes and I just shake my head and smile...besides a few things our minds really function the same way. It's kinda creepy actually pero bueno. haha we both have a desire to flip this area on its head.  Which we have been seeing a bit of this week.  We have been finding and teaching people that with the Hna Medina we either didn't find or only talked to through speaker.  We have a few new investigators and have found and had lessons with some of the menos activos.  So I am really excited about this transfer. La Plata hasn´t seen what Snowlton can do just yet! 

As we were having our comp inventory on Friday after weekly planning Hna Knowlton told me a little story. So the day of transfers Hna Medina set the alarm on the phone for 5 am so that she could get up and finish packing. Well I forgot to turn it off...so Tues morning it went off at 5 am, I was dead asleep and it took me a little while to figure out what was going on. Meanwhile Hna Knowlton, got up used the bathroom and started working out, since it is dark here until about 7:30, she thought it was the alarm to get up, I told her that it was only 5. Then she said yes another hour and a half to sleep. haha well in this little story telling moment, she told me her thoughts. "I heard the alarm, I got up and after I came back into the room, I thought that's weird that she is still in bed, they told me that she was an obedient missionary. Then you were all, its only 5:00 am."  haha when she told me this story we both got a good laugh. And just goes to show there are always to sides and explanations to a story, so don't go drawing conclusions or judging books by their covers. It is always good to talk to people, b/c you never know what you might find out.

Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts that have come my way, they have helped me stay positive and keep going. This time really is way too short to waste. We have to give it our all and then a little bit more. 

I hope you all have a Fantabulous week and always remember to "Just keep swimming"

Con cariño, [fondly]

Hna snow

PIX FOR KIX

my new comp...

we found subway, well it wasn't that hard, it is right next to the internet cafe

and of course we had to make it...guacamole!!

 the during

the after 

 I don't know if you can tell but this is fish. . . 

and here is our tiny little fridge. . haha

Happy mothers day! 

the whole clan

[fun having Todd, Lisa, Dalen, Shellie, Ashtyn & Dax here]

the fotos to match the before - see previous blog 

 the new family foto

[includes Cyndi Hutch Dani's BFF]

What 6 weeks gone...again?

Okay, the low down, so we got the test results and they came back negative. Yea a lot of help, huh. But when Hna. Mansilla called the doctor, he recognized the name and turns out yea I have a parasite. Turns out it is a parasite with a personality as it runs in cycles. haha go figure. And talking to the nurse of the mission she said that when your body is malnourished it starts getting rid of the unnecessary things...like hair, I guess it is the first thing to go. So that explains that. She also told me that when (or if) we can get rid of this thing inside me, my hair will grow back in time. Wahoo, best news I have heard, right? So with everything that has happened in the last 6 weeks we finally have some answers! 

Anywho, transfers were today. Getting calls Sat. night.  Hna. Medina was transferred to an area that is not the city called San Vicente. Honestly, I was freaking out the last couple days, with all that has happened with my health and all I didn't feel like I knew the area and much less how to get around very well having about a week and a half to 2 weeks without leaving the pension...yea it was bad. But ya know the great thing about this Gospel and our Father in Heaven, He helps out a lot. A lot of the testimonies yesterday were on having faith and trusting in our Father. Something I needed to hear, cuz after church I felt a peace and calming, and a reassurance that I can do this. And walking around visiting members yesterday I realized that I know more than I thought I did. Granted yea I am still learning and the city still gives me a headache. But at least I can get us to the pension, the church for meetings and the church for our district/zone meetings and some members houses...the rest not sure. pero bueno. [but good]

  

My comp...drum roll, her name is Hna. Knowlton (we are Snowlton) haha she is from Utah. My first gringa!!! haha she is from a small town called Fruit Heights 19 and just finished being trained...other drum roll please...by la [the] Hna. Blanco. haha yea I am comps with the daughter of Hna Blanco. haha it is great, it was great to finally see her after about 6 months! 

But after this last transfer, I can't wait to see what Heavenly father has in store for me this transfer. And thinking about it in every area I have only had 6 weeks to learn the basics of the area...aye, and with this one less time. So we will see how this goes, but luckily la Hna. Knowlton likes the city, a lot so it should be good. And it should be a fun transfer. And I will let you know how my Spanish is after these 6 weeks. haha it has been weird, this week I have spoken a lot more English than I have in a while and honestly I didn't like it very much...I don't know what I am going to do when I get home. I guess we will find out. 

Anywho, I hope you all have a great week! And I will let you know the status of my health next week. Thanks tonz and bunches for all of your prayers, I can feel them working. 

Chau! Hna Snow

so la Hna. Andreasen left for good today...I know right 6 weeks. But apparently her knees are still super bad and pres didn't know. So he sent her home and she has to get double knee surgery...pobrecita. 

Poor girl. So we said hello and goodbye. But at least we were in the same zone for a whole transfer, right? And she will be going to Dixie State so we will be able to see her.

My hair after 6 weeks...yea. I know.
The weight for now is starting to come back. 

Hna. Andreasen said I didn't look dead anymore, so that is a good thing.

Look who I found at transfer meeting? [Hna. Blanco]

Top pix is Hna. Farnsworth, I found her my first week here and now she is going home, crazy huh.

Q & A

Q: When will you be able to Skype on Sunday? 

Our church is at 1 pm and dad has to speak as you know.

A: yes, we have found a place to chat.  Our church ends at 12:30, so I'm thinking that we can talk after our church and before yours with the time diff.

Q: What type of medication are you taking.  We would like the name of it if possible.

A: Right now I am not on meds, but we are going to meet with the med this week to see how I am doing actually eating food and go from there.

Q: Have you noticed any difference with your diet and/or your medication?

A:  No, I am just happy to be off a diet for now

Q: We have had other people, such as Kip and Bishop tell us of different parasites, which are countless.  Kip said he was told to drink a liter of coke every month to clean out his system.  We were wondering if that would help you to maybe do that once a week or so?  Maybe you could ask about that?

A: I have no idea honestly

Q: Has your companion been supportive and understanding?

A: yes, the poor girl. she was a huge help and had a ton of patience with me. 

Q: Do you make sure you wash your hands regularly, especially when preparing food and using the bathroom?

A: yes of course, I even have hand sanitizer in my backpack

Q: Do you wear sandals when you shower?

A:  yes

Q: We are still planning on coming down to pick you up.  Are there things we need to do to let your Mission know before we come?  Hopefully it still works for us to come down there?

A: I don't know, I would email pres to ask him if there is anything you need to do for that.