Hola!

Well here´s some news........ I got transferred. I will tell you that I was hoping for Montevideo or somewhere more south of Salto for the heat but I got a great Christmas gift this year! haha Estoy en Rivera. There is only one department that is hotter than Rivera. I am up by Brazil. Literally. I am going to go shopping today in Brazil. Apparently it is cheaper to go there because as foreigners we get better prices. I dont really understand but yeah... It is going to be my first time in Brazil! How exciting no?

So I am in Rivera, Uruguay. I moved on Sunday night and hung out in a bus terminal for 4 hours in Paysandu and then took a 5 hour ride to Rivera. Man was I beautiful that morning! My companion's name is Hermana Valverde and she is from Ecuador. I actually know her from before. When my first companion and I went to Montevideo to go to the doctor we spent the rest of the time with Hermana Valverde and her companion when they were working in Montevideo. We had lunch with them and it was fun! So when I found out she was my companion I was pretty happy. The only real problem is that she speaks english as well. Every single one of my companions have been english speakers. No wonder my spanish is not very good. No that is just an excuse, my spanish is getting better though. Oh and we have a house instead of an apartment. That is a little weird. 

So Christmas was interesting. Christmas Eve was a little boring. They dont really do much for parties here except eat and drink and chat. So we were invited to 2 houses for Christmas Eve and so we went to the first one and they werent really started yet so we said we would come back.We went next door to the other party. That wasnt awkward at all. We just sat there and ate some empanadas. And talked a little. My companion painted her fingernails and then we decided to go back to the first one. When we got back the party wasnt that much better. We helped make sandwiches and talked a bit. Hermana Fereira de De Sousa is a hout. She has so much personality and sass that just ebing around her is fun. She was my mother here. When I was sick one day she took care of me. I slept on her couch for the whole day. She brags that her food was what made me better.....I dont know about that. :)

We stayed up and make orange julius.Or we tried. Our blender wasnt very good so we tried to crush the ice but it pretty much just melted. So it was kind of a milk orange drink.:) Then we sat out on our balcony and wached the fireworks. Then went to bed. In the morning we had PRESENTS!

I was so blessed this week to get 2 boxes from my family. ALL intact. I opened them with my companion Hermana Christensen and took pictures. I have so osososooso many pictures. I loved all of them. They are so sweet. I LOVE MY FAMILY. Me amo mi familia! Then after our special morning we went to lunch. Our missionary mom here. Hermana Silvia made us Christmas Lunch. Then I got to skype my family at around 2 my time. It was so great to see them all. We talked for about an hour and then we had to say goodbye. Not going to lie. I cried a little bit to see them go. But I know that what I am doing is good and right and my family is going to be blessed. Hermana Silvia wanted to sing Families can be together forever for our families. It was sweet and I know that my family is sealed together forever. What a blessing!

Well I was kind of sad to leave Salto Cerro. We had some good times there. The last two changes I was ready to leave but in this last one I didnt want to go. I dont know how much good I did there but I hope I touched someones heart and made their life a little brighter. 

I also got to do something kind of cool. My aunt Heather served her mission here 30 years ago , I think. She gave me some names of people that she worked with that she wanted me to look up and report on. So my last week in salto there was one of the people that was on the border of my area. Really not in my area but it was acrross the street so we went and visited her. She is so strong in the church. She didnt understand us very well but I could see from her house and her eyes that she loved the Lord and was doing her best. I took pictures and I am going to send them to my aunt. It is great how the gospel can change someones life forever. 

Today is the 31st and the last day of the year. Which means Resolutions! What resolutions have you made this year? I am going to be more obedient and happy. Maybe these go hand in hand? hahaha

Well I have much to learn about Rivera Chico 1 (nuestra area) so wish me luck!

Peace and Blessings,

Hermana Krista Beatie

pictures

Christmas morning with my FREAKING SQUIRREL NECKLACE!

Merry Christmas!   

I get to talk to my family in 2 days!

Today we watched two movies. Real movies. Haha we saw Monsters University and Remember the Titans. A Christmas from our Mission President but they werent very Christmassy... Haha We watched Monsters University with subtitles in english so that was good but Remember the titans we didnt. It was hard to understand because it was about football and they were yellling alot. Which makes it a bit difficult to understand. It is all good. After we finished watching them at the stake center we walked out on the street and it was like....Oh yeah we are in Uruguay. We forgot for a couple hours.

 On Christmas we are going to be working like normal. Maybe we will go visit some members and see if any of our investigators want to talk to us. Apparently there is a lot of drinking on Christmas and people stay up late and eat at midnight a big bbq. We are allowed to stay out on christmas eve until 10:30pm. We have plans to visit 2 families in the evening and spend a couple of hours with them.

We made Christmas cookies the other day. They are pretty good. There are pictures. Not my best picture but I thought I would share anyway. Hna Christensen is really into decorating for Christmas and that is good but it doesnt really feel like Christmas here. It is both a good thing and a bad thing.

This week we had 1 investigator that came to church. He came to all primary but left after the sacrament. arrhhg. We didnt used to have a primary but now it is doing good! I am so happy for our ward. The ward went to the temple in Montevideo the capital this weekend and I think it was really good for them. They had 3 sealings of couples and I hope that it brings the ward closer. One of our recent converts went. She is 12 and it was her first time but I think it went well. She was a little tired whenthey got back. The next day for church she didnt come because she had to work with her grandma at her store thing. I was kind of sad, I was hoping that she would be much more committed to the gospel now but I think it was a good experience and maybe they have a little more unity in the ward. Also on Sunday one of the young women opened her mission call. She is going to Mexico!!! She is pretty awesome so I am so excited for her. There is also a reurned missionary in our ward and they are friends. I think they should get married but apparently "he has a girlfriend". hahaha I am so thankful to have a temple here that members can go to and share in the blessings. I wish I could have gone. We didnt know we could have gone until afterwards but maybe next time. 

What are your christmas traditions? People ask sometimes and I would like to know what other people do. 

Here they have these little trees if they have one at all and the fireworks are big. The kids really like those. They dont have any presents under the tree. I gave a gift to one of my girls and she waited 3 days before she opened it. I guess it is not normal to have presents under the tree. 

Well I am doing well, I just need to pray for my investigators more. They dont want to progress, really. Oh well we will keep working. 

I have a testimony of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. I know they are true. I have been studying the book of mormon in spanish every day. I know that it is from God for us in our day. I make sure that I read at least a verse every day. I challenge each and everyone of you to make it a goal to not go a day without reading the book of mormon. If you dont know what it is than we can talk.... :) 

I know that Christmas is when we remember our Savior. He died for us so that we might live. Remember Him at this time. His Birth. 

Love,

Krista

photos of me walking down the road, me and Guadelupe (recent convert) I am wearing a moto helmet. and me and our cookies. 

Hello Amigos y Familia,

It has been a little hot here. I dont know how we are going to survive it when it gets hotter. I hear that this is ony the beginning. Our electricity is broken in our room so we had to change rooms so we could sleep with the fan on. We are also being eaten by mosquitos :) For some reason our blood is just soo sweet :)

Our Mission President said that we are not going to be in one area for more than two changes now (except for training). Which means that I am most probably moving in 3 weeks. I am excited but I am going to miss a lot of the friends that we have made here.

Our investigators are not really progressing except for Marcelo. He is a 8 or 9 year old boy who comes to church with his cousin who is a member. We visited him twice now. Our lessons have been a little long and they (we have been teaching his brother as well) get a little restless. We need to work on making them fit for children and only the important stuff. His brother Ramiro was at first really interested and he and his brother came to church every sunday without their parents and this was before we met them. We heard from their mother that the kids at school had been mean to him and called him a huevo. I am not sure exactly what that means but he seems to be avoiding us a little bit. We are sad because there is not much we can do to help. Except pray I guess.

Last week we thought we had a new investigator. We were really excited to go teach them but we didnt have a lot of time and they just had so many stories to tell and things to say. Either people dont say much or they just want to talk forever. I know they have faith but it is hard to teach when they dont want to listen. The other day we had divisions and my companion talked with this one man who is menos activo and she told me that he talked the whole time and it was frustrating. We went to go see him and this time we decided we were going to take charge of the visit right away. It kind of worked. We did get to teach about the book of mormon but he did get off topic a bit but we were good about bringing it back after a while. He said that he is going to start reading so that is good right? 

It is so different here, there is no cold weather or festive hot drinks. The other day we were talking to a group of boys and asked them why we celebrate Christmas, they didnt know. It was so sad! They thought it was to spend time with their familiies and have presents and have peace. I was so glad that we got to share that it was a celebration of the birth of our Savior. 

We have a problem with the young women. They are having a hard time feeling comfortable at church because there are some young women that are not very nice and a little judgemental. They dont want to come to church or activities because they think that they have to be like these 2 young women to be a good member of the church. I dont know what to do. If you are reading this letter, please be accepting of everyone that comes to church, it is hard sometimes and it is even harder when the people there are judgemental or unkind. Lets make the church a place of peace and friendship!

For my spanish, I think it has improved but I would really like a spanish only companion next time. Hna Christensen and I speak english most the time and I think that both of our spanish has gotten worse. Oh there was a baptism this weekend at the church for a member's son. It was great, very well done. We gave the L1.1 (the prayer) while they were getting changed after the baptism. There were quite a lot of people and I got a little nervous. I didnt do very well, but we did feel the spirit. It was a great time. 

Love,
Hna Beatie

Pictures are of our Christmas tree :) Credit goes to Hermana Christensen. And our hats!! I wasnt a hat person before but people seem to really like our hats! Score :)

The other one is of me and one of the recent converts in our area. Her name is Yuliana, she is sweet but not very good at getting up in for church haha 

Dear Family and Friends of Mine!

I am happy to write to you on this very rainy day in Salto, Uruguay. I was actually kind of hoping to change areas this transfer but I am here at least for another 6 weeks! I know that this assignment is from God so I am going to be okay and I have a new companion Hermana Christiansen. I havent met her yet but I hope she is awesome. Although I am staying I will have a new companion and my companion (Hermana Nielson) from the ccm is being transferred to salto and is going to be companions with Hermana Petien. I missed Hermana Nielson so I am happy that I will get to see her again. I guess I would have been sad too if I was transfered out of Salto right when Hmna Nielson was transfered here. haha.

I had some setbacks this week. We had temporary companions from the young women in Obelisco for a day. It was nice of them to come. I was a little overwhelmed to be in charge of what we were going to teach and where to go but that went alright. The problem was that my spanish is not very good. I have been working on it and Hna Gordillo and I make an effort to speak only spanish outside the house. I thought it was getting better and I felt more confident about speaking. I think that my companion for the day was trying to be helpful but she would repeat what I would say in better spanish to the members or investigators and I felt a little sad. The worst part was when she would joke about how she couldnt understand anything with some of the members. I felt so tired and useless. I cant really argue with her or anything so I just smiled and prayed that the day would be over soon. That morning at church we had given talks in sacrament meeting, mine was about the atonement and hna gordillos about the love of God. When hermana gordillo told people that she was leaving and that I was staying and Hermana Christiansen was coming, they were all like "I hope she can speak better spanish because we cant understand Hna Beatie at all" Well isn't that a nice compliment. My language problems are a weakness for me and kind of tender. I just felt like everytime someone would ask about Hna Christiansens spanish or laugh about how they couldnt understand me I felt like they were stabbing me in the back. I know what I need to do but it sure is hard huh? It is easy to teach others about forgiveness but it is another thing to have to do it yourself when your heart hurts. Well I am working on it and I hope to love this people once more. 

Everyday I have a better or at least different experience. Sunday night we took a bus to Montevideo which is 6 hours away. Hna Gordillo needed to visit the doctor there. We arrived on Monday morning and we thought we were going to be able to go to the temple but it turns out it was closed. I also loved being in montevideo! I am a city girl at heart so I loved it. We worked with the sisters in Flores and they were really nice to us. I was a little tired but the more people we talked to the more I felt the spirit and that we were helping people. 

The work here in Salto is slow and has some progress but in other places a decrease. We have this fairly new investigator Marcos. He doesnt have muscles in his legs and he is in his bed most to all the time. He is really honest and is progressing so well. Usually at the beginning of the lesson we ask our investigators who they want to say the opening prayer, he always says that he wants to say it! He has a wonderful heart and a great desire to learn and accept the doctrine but his body is weak.Sometimes I wish he could just change bodies. There is this idea that God doesnt have a body, he is only a spirit. He did have a problem one time with the fact that heavenly father is a man with flesh and bones and not just a spirit. I wasnt there for the next lesson because I was sick (I think the combinaiton of rain, not much sleep and stress and working hard was too much for my body and I was down for a day) but Hna Gordillo said that they taught him and he had a really spiritual experience about Heavenly Father. 

Apparently here at Christmas time the attendance at church goes down because people have parties and stuff. Our President asked us to think of ways that we can help. I guess I want to help by sharing the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior and the reason why he is our Savior. The atonement is the most wonderful event in the World!  Also I will share the promise to help people be focused on helping their friends come to know about the gospel. The promise from Elder Ballard from the last conference. He says"We are not asking everyone to do everything. We are simply asking all members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will reach out to just “one” between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the Savior." I love that last line, what a wonderful gift for Jesus Christ at His birthday. I invite you all to look up the talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard entitled Put your Trust in the Lord. 

Peace and Blessings to you and your family,

Hermana Beatie

Photos: Mi companera Hna Gordillo y Yo

Dear Friends and Family,

So I realize that I have been thinking rather negatively lately and I need to be more positive, so this is my positive letter.

I am in a ward with hermanas and elders and this last saturday we were planning to have a water balloon fight for the noche de hogar del barrio. I was really excited to plan it because it has been really hot and I wanted to do an activity that people would want to come to and have fun. Well the last week it rained most of the week and was cloudy. We prayed that the weather would change and we would have good weather for the activity and that people would come. We even made invitations and gave them to investigators and members. Well Saturday came and it rained in the morning but by evening it still was cloudy and drizzly. We were kind of sad because we worked on spreading the news and promoting this activity and we thought no one would come. It started out small but by the time we started the mtg there was a good group. Hermana Gordillo had a great idea to share the mormon message about service from President Monson and then do a service project together: cleaning the church. We didnt know how it was going to go but we did it. People didnt leave! Not everyone helped a lot but they all stayed. At the end we took a picture and had food. We had so many people that we needed more food, the elders went and bought one of those fake pizzas. Anyway this experience helped me to recognize that people want to serve and sometimes they need a little push. I used to get frustrated with my mom in her calling because she would always ask people to do things that I knew they didnt really want to. It is amazing to me to hear that they all are thankful for the opportunity to serve afterwards but sometimes they need to be helped to serve. I am thankful for Hermana Gordillo and this great opportunity to serve, I know that the water balloon fight would have been fun but there is no better way to bring people together than service. I hope we continue to have better weather and so can have the fight this saturday.

Hermana Gordillo makes this cake in the microwave in 8 minutes, it is good but it is always a little dry. So we didnt have anyone to eat lunch with this week so we decided to have cake for lunch. I wanted to try to make it with a smashed banana inside and bananas on the top with dulce de leche. It was heaven! We just so happened to have a senior couple missionaries come to our apartment to do cleaning checks and we shared it with them. It was great and they loved it and wanted to the recipe.

We teach this one less active woman whose name is Laura. Laura is sweet and old and has trouble hearing. During our lessons we have to speak really loud in her one ear that works to have her understand. She is sweet but loves to talk as well so it is kind of hard to have a lesson. I dont know what is wrong with me but everytime someone talks to her really loud I start laughing. I am able to laugh without making much sound but it probably isnt very reverant. Anyway I take it as a blessing to be able to have a good laugh :) Just thinking about it makes me smile. haha

Yesterday at church was so good, we had 92 people in the chapel for sacrament meeting. After the sacrament some people left but overall they stayed. I was so happy. We also had one of the families that is less active and we have been teaching came to church with their family to have their new baby blessed. I think one of the reasons people were on their best behaviors was because we had company. I wish we could be like that every week. Not everything is better but this last week the spirit was definitely there.

We have had some troubles with one of our investigators. She is 15 and was our one investigator with a baptismal date and progressing. This week she and her mom and 3 siblings left and moved to another place in town. It was all sudden people have different stories about what happened or what is the truth. It is hard to know what to do or say. We had really come to love their family and the rest of the family is still here and a little hurt by their actions. There are some accusations of her father and her having a relationship and that is why he is in jail. We are trying to just show how the gospel of Jesus Christ can help everyone. We are also sad that she is not in our area anymore. We were trying to help her have a testimony of the gospel and not just be friends with us so I am not sure if she will continue searching for the truth. One thing that breaks my heart is that her little sister that is with them, she was my first baptism here. She is sweet and diligent when others in her family are not. They left so quickly that Yennifer, little sister, didnt take her book of mormon. I know that it would help so much in this time of dificulty but she doesnt have it.

Every morning we study and it goes by so quickly. I wish we could do more in less time. We have good intentions to practice the lessons but it takes me a long time to figure out what I want to say. We are getting better, though, I think at asking inspired questions. We have been giving the restoration lesson to all of our recent converts and less active people and it is really good. Alot of times people dont remember simple things like what a prophet is or what the priesthood is. I guess after you dont go to church for a while you start to lose the knowledge that you gain. I am glad for the opportunity to share the restoration.
.
Love,
Krista

ps. these pictures are of my apartment. when I first got here I thought that it was terrible and a ghetto apartment. Then we have people say that it is so nice. I really dont know. Maybe I will send the picture of the bathroon next week! Be excited :)

Dear Family and Friends
This week has flown by. I need to write more in my journal so that I remember the things that happen each week. CONFERENCE! It was amazing. I especially loved Saturday's sessions, and we got it in english so I could understand it. They had it in the sacrament room with like three projectors but the north american missionaries were all in this little room with this tiny tv. But it was in english!! Yay!

One interesting experience, Hermana Gordillo wanted to go to the rebroadcast of the relief society session saturday morning at 11. We were walking and she was pretty sure we would catch our bus then we saw it pass by up ahead and we couldn't reach it. Hermana Gordillo wanted to run after it but, I didnt think we would be doing much walking because of the conference and so I had worn some shoes that have a centimeter of a heel so they are a bit wobbly which is weird because they should be more sturdy. Anyway I was like I am going to die if we run after that bus so we sat at the bus stop and Hrma Gordillo called people and thought about what to do. Finally she decided to get a taxi. My desire to see that session was not as strong as hers so I was pretty much just following. The taxi took us to the stake center and no one was there. Literally all the gates were locked and not one woman in Salto came for the rebroadcast. Hermana Gordillo couldn't believe it and so she called people to make sure that we were at the right place at the right time. We were, but no one was there to open the church or turn it on. I guess she called the zone leaders and they called someone to go and turn it on. So we were the only ones in the chapel/gym watching the relief society session. I understood some but it was hard for me to remember and put together ideas of what they were talking about.

After that though, we figure it out so Hermana Gordillo and Hermana Jordan listened to the sessions in spanish and hermana coral and I listened to them in english with the other english speaking elders. It was a very spiritually uplifting experience. The last talk of that session from Elder Uchdorf I think, was really powerful about how the people in the church are not perfect and why people leave the church. Sometimes I worry and have questions about stuff in the church and one thing he said was to "stay a little bit longer". It kind of takes the stress off and helps me relax. I just need to take one day at a time.

Update on the family Suarez, their daughter Yennifer was baptized last week. Their mom is back and forth, being accepting of the doctrine and the other day doesnt want to have anything to do with it. One thing that hurt me was we went and visited them and Ingrid, the mom, started off about how I offended them and how I was really rude. I didnt understand at first but I finally caught on that I was in trouble. This last week for english class, Stefani Suarez was supposed to come before to the chapel and we were going to teach her lesson there so we could have more time. She wasnt there and so Hermana Gordillo told me to call her. I did. I thought she said that she was on her way, apparently she asked when our next discussion with her would be and she wouldnt be able to come. I said o si ciao and hung up the phone. She didnt come and I was a little confused but thought something came up or whatever. So in our meeting with them her mom went on to tell all the ways I had offended her family. I felt so terrible. I had no intention of hurting their feelings at all, my actions were I thought, motivated by love, but they did not take it that way. I apologized for everything and Ingrid started crying and said she was sorry too. I felt a little offended that they would use my lack in the language to attack me. I am careful now around them because I feel like they are trying to find ways to attack my language or actions. I am tired of it. I am trying to forgive them and I think I have a little bit but I am a little wounded. The other thing I did to offend them was I took a pen from Daiana and closed her hymnal during the lesson and that was disrespectful to Ingrid. I just wanted Daiana to pay attention. I continue forward but I dont have the same feeling of love when I enter their home.

There is another Hermana in our zone, Hermana Coral that is my friend. We get along pretty well so on pdays and stuff we hang out. I love being around her. She is actually leaving today for Montevideo but I hope someday to be companions with her. Oh the atm machine ate my debit card that for the mission. I wanted to figure out how much money I had on it and I put in my pin and it gave me a receipt with the amount on it and then warned me not to share my pin and wouldnt give me back my card. We have had a fun time calling the financiers and trying to figure out what to do. I know it will work out but for the mean time it is a little annoying.

One lesson that we have been doing is the one with the rocks and the jar and sand. If you dont know this one ask someone. It is about priorities and building your life on the rock of the gospel. When you put the sand into the jar first and then try to fit in the rocks the rocks fall and dont all fit. This represents a life of stress and unhappiness for your spirit. BUT if you put in your rocks first and then the sand. Everything fits. When we place our lives on Jesus Christ and place those things with importance the things that we want to do and the things that are good to do we can do as well. Before my mission I loved to watch tv. I didnt have much time to read my scriptures because I didnt have enough time. I noticed that the nights I decided to read and pray before watching tv, I had enough time for both. I know that if each of you will build your life on the important things the other things will fall into place. 

Other than that we walk, we talk, we plan, we pray, we read, and we invite. This is our day in a nutshell. I am thankful for your love. I pray for you and I need your prayers as well. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the church that Jesus Christ established during his life on earth and it has been restored in these days. I invite you, as well as everyone in Salto :), to learn more about the gospel. Gospel means Good News. IT is good news, news that we can live with God again through our covenants or promises. Vamos Arriba!
Love,
Hermana Beatie

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a good week. My heart is feeling lighter today and my relationship with my companion is getting better. More on that later. So the big news is that one of our investigators Yennifer Suarez was baptized last Saturday. It was my first time and her first time:) So I wanted it to be special. She is nine years old and is a tiny thing. We were a little worried that she wasnt ready to make this big commitment. Her father is a less active member that doesnt want anything to do with the church but he is okay with us teaching his children. And before I got here one of Yennifer's sisters Daiana was baptized. We try to teach the whole family and we are concentrating on Stefani (15) and their mom Ingrid. They are not very good at keeping their commitments and it is a little frustrating but Yennifer was praying and reading. She had been waiting for an answer to her prayer and it took some time but she finally got it!! Yay! One of the problems is that she is young and her family doesnt always do what they should but we want her to be a leader and a light. So we got everything ready for the baptism. It wasnt the most perfect baptism but I think it was good. Her mom and sisters came to support her. I really wanted to make it special and so I paid for us to have icecream after the baptism. Apparently the missionaries are responsible for refreshments after the activities. So we had to get the icecream and they dont have freezers or refrigerators at the church so it was a little melty but it was good. After the baptism I was scooping the icecream into cups when Hma Gordillo told me to that we needed to go invite her father, Miguel to come in. So we ran outside with sticky hands :) He was standing in the middle of the streeet on the divider thing. Cars here stop to let you walk across the street but he kept waving them forward. I realized he wasnt coming and so I crossed the street. I told him that we had icecream for Yennifer. Hma Gordillo asked him if he wanted to come. He said si. I was like oh okay great!. I kept looking behind me as he followed us into the church to make sure he didnt run away. This was the first time we have ever met him or seen him. He is not interested in coming to church but it was amazing that he was able to come and support his daughter in her desire to follow Jesus Christ. The whole family was happy, I think they realize that together is the best way. I was so happy to have them all there. We invited them all to see Yennifer be confirmed in church the next day, but Ingrid and Miguel said they wouldnt be there. Sad. Sunday morning, Stefani, Daiana and Yennifer came and so that was good. Right after she was confirmed I saw her go and give hugs to people in the front row. Hmm who was it. I looked and it was her mom and dad, they had COME! Then we had the sacrament and it was a little awkward because Miguel got up and left during the sacrament. I am not sure why but I want to help their family be strong and be one. After the sacrament their whole family got up and left and it broke my heart. We didnt know if Yennifers baptism was a good idea but we had faith and we felt like there were miracles and then they left. My heart was shattered. I love them, I prayed and read my scriptures to try to find comfort. I felt like we had done everything and everyone has there agency. It was not my fault. That made me feel a little better. And then the sisters came back into the chapel. YAYAAY! I know the Lord listens to our prayers and gives us tender mercies everyday. 

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 I didnt finish my letter but I should probably go. I accidently sent it. Oh well. The first two are from the baptism and the last one is from our first Ward Family Home evening. It was really fun. This last week fhe wasnt as big but I think we had fun and felt the spirit. 

Love,

Hermana Beatie

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a rainy last couple of days. The weather is so weird. For a week we had super hot weather, and no airconditioning so we had to open the windows to get a breeze. At night it was not much fun because I have a hard time sleeping when I am hot. Then a storm blew in and it rained so much. It has been consistent rain since Wednesday. I love storms so I was excited but it is starting to dull because we have to be out all day in the rain. I like rainy days when you can cuddle up in a blanket and play games with your family not when we have to brave the storms. Also alot of people dont come out of their houses when it rains and they sleep alot, so we have trouble working with them. Every night Hermana Gordillo and I say 3-6 things that were tender mercies for us that day. Sometimes it is hard and sometiems it is easy but we can always find them. The Lord does love us. 

My list for this week

1. Storms!

2. Held a frog today, I wish I had a picture but my camera is out of battery :(

3. One of our contacts last week did not live in our area but we gave her address to the elders and they are teaching her and she came to church!!! That is a big accomplishment!

4. I had to drink this malta stuff. It is like mormon coffee. Gross. I only drank half a cup and then my companion was nice enough to drink the rest. 

5. We eat almost everyday for lunch at members houses, but sometimes we eat at our apartment when the appointment falls through. I actually really like it. It makes it feel like home. 

6. I have been in some interesting bathrooms, I dont want to say they are the worst n the world because I have not seen all of them in the world but yeah.

7. We sing a hymn in every lesson, it is actually really cool and the people dont really think it is super weird. One cool experience was with Hope of Isreal in spanish is Juventud de Israel or Youth of Israel. I had never realized that song was about youth. Maybe I was oblivious but I was able to share with a 9 year old girl named Yuliana that la esperanza es en la juventud. It is true, the next generation is where the hope is that we will pull people out of the darkness.

8. More and more I feel like I am fighting a war against the evils of the world. Not that I dont have my problems with disobedience but the things we teach can change their lives, only if they DO them. 

9. For service every week there is this huge mountain of dirt that we are moving. It is hard work but it is good. The elders help and we make a little more progress each week.

10. It is weird that people can tell I am from the united states, a lot of the people here look like they could be from the united states but I dont look like I could be from here. It is interesting, sometimes it is fun but sometimes people are annoying and I am not willing to put up with them :) Oh well. 

11. My spanish is getting better every week, I hope.

12. There are so many inactive members of the church here. We have over 1000 people in our ward boundaries and less than 100 come to church. It is so frustating. We now spend the majority our time working with them. My companion says that it is like when they get baptized they get put into a bag that has so many holes that they slip out. We are working on plugging the holes and fortifying our ward. 

My testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has expanded so much. I think I understand a little more how Jesus felt when I was like I dont want to go to church or read my scriptures today. He was probably saying, you know what is good for you so why wont you do it? I find so much joy though when people do come or they have read. The culture here is that they believe in Jesus Christ but that belief doesnt cause them to do anything different. People dont really like them to change but our message is one of change. Repentance requires us to change. I am learning that as I am changing my life and helping others change their lives as well. Also don't please dont let a week go by that you dont help the missionaries in some way. You dont have to be scared to have to missionaries over and have them teach your friends. Just tell your friends that you care about them and this is something that makes you happy and invite them. We can only invite as Jesus does. He cannot make us do anything, read, pray or attend church, He can only invite like it says in Alma 5.

I love you all and I am chugging forward,

Krista

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you all for your sincere and loving letters. I have loved Reading them and laughing and smiling. There are a lot of things I have to adjust to here and it has been hard. One thing I have found more and more is that my love for the scriptures has increased. When I am tired, hungry, impatient I can find alot of comfort in the book of mormon. One thing that is difficult is that my companion loves to give super super long prayers, like 20-30 min long prayers. on our knees. I am not used to that, and it hurts my knees. She is nice but she doesnt like to change things that she does. There are good times so I am working with her to love the good times.

My list for Salto (My área, Cerro 1)

1. There are so many motorcycles/dirtbikes here. Everyone drives them. The old grandmas and the 7 year olds. Apparently it is cheaper than a car. I went from only seeing motorcyles with men and serioius bikers to everyone. It is a Little different.

2. Alot of things are broken in our apartment (the bathroom mirror, the toilet flushing knob, window, most of the lightbulbs. Also the my companion and her past companion did not clean much or very thourougly so it is kind of gross. Like moldy shower curtain Gross

3. My comapnion is a perfectionist and that is a Little trying sometimes. She wants to help me so much though, it is a Little frustrating.

4. Finally had a meal I didnt like. Like a meat pie with olives and onions and stuff. But I ate it all. Then Hermana Silvia asked me if I liked peaches and I said "Los siento, no) She gave me an orange, but Hermana Gordillo said she may have been ofended. I dont know, she asked me if I liked it.

5. Realizing that you cant translate straight into spanish from english, some things just are not said the way they are in spanish. Oh it is also really great that they want me to learn spanish but language study each day is always the first thing to go.

6. I have learned not to judge a house by the outside. Most of the houses here look like nothing but they are actually prettier on the inside.

7. There are alot of innactive members here in Salto. Like all of them. We go looking for new investigators and find out that they are actually members already but have fallen away. I studied at BYU Family Science and I just see how and why these families have so many problems. We want to help them. All the families want peace and happiness but they are not willing to do anything to have that peace and happiness. They are not willing to pray with their families and teach them the góspel or come to church.

8. One inactive man we went to visit was this big black man that was really scary. He and his mom. Apparently he was baptized but I am not sure how converted he was to the góspel. He smoked 3 cigarettes while we were there. And he kept quoting scriptures about Satan. I dont really know. It was weird. That was a weird day.

9. It was cold for a couple days when I got here but it has warmed up considerably. And the locals say this is nothing and it goes until March or may. I dont know if I will survive. AHHH. I am sweating buckets.

10. I want to wish my lovely sister Angela a very Happy Birthday. I know this is after her birthday but I am thinking about her. I love you.

11. My companion is fairly new, she has been on her misión for 3 months. Sometimes, I dont agree with what she wants to do or how she does things. And even though we both speak english, she is by no means a native english speaker and sometimes when I am explaining something she doesnt understand. I can tell by what she says after I finish. I dont think I have ever had a friend that was from a different culture/language and it is difficult. Communication.

I think that is the end of my list. We are working with a couple investigators that are progressing so that is exciting. Carlos needs to get divorced so he can get married to the woman that he is with before he can be baptized. Aparently that takes a long time here. But he wants to and is really ready. Two sisters we are teaching are not very diligent in their learning about the góspel. We found a family that we are going to teach as well. I dont know how receptive they will be. The father is an inactive member but the rest of the family has never Heard about it. They are going through some financial difficluties.

On sunday, my second. I guess they didnt have enough speakers so they asked the missionaires to speak. At first they said just two, so my comapnin and one of the elders. But then they said they wanted us all to speak for 5 min each. I was like "Are you kidding me" I have talks that I have written but they were at home because I had no notice in advance. So I am trying to find a scripture and I chose Alma 32 about the seed which is the góspel. Later in the chapter it talks about the result of the seed. It mentions that we  need to have faith, patience and diligence to nourish the seed. I know that a lot of people have faith and maybe patience. But how many have diligence. Nosotros necesitamos tener diligencia. Yo se esta dificile pero El Senor pedir nos hacer dificile cosas. Como mi mensaje en extrajero país en mi segundo domingo. Pero este es posible. Yo testificar. En el nombre de Jesucristo. Amen

But then my comapnion took up all the time. so no I didnt give it but I was confident and happy with what I prepared. Which was a big step for me.

I will finish with my testimony that I know the Lord lives and He has promised to help me do all the things I need to here.

Love you all,

Krista

My picture

1. my district at the ccm. I love them. They were my brothers!

2. My companion in the ccm. Hermana Nielson. Looking back I love her more and more.

3. My comapnion now, Hermana Gordillo. She is from Guatemala and loves oatmeal.

More pictures next week!

Buenos Dias mi Familia y mi Amigos,

 

My dad told me in an email that I had written spanish words in my email, so I decided to add a couple more. Today we are getting a new group of Norte Americans and I am excited to see how much I have learned since my first day here. The elders in my district want to play a little trick on them and not speak any english to them on their first day. Haha I don't think it will actually work because they are way too nice :)

 

Different things about my week

1. Feeling much better, I received a priesthood blessing from my district leader, Elder Billings and I have graudally been feeling better every day.

2. Last Saturday after proselytismo one of our elders found out that his father had died, we had a little testimony meeting in our district. It was pretty awesome. TODAS PERSONAS were crying. It was at the beginning of my cold so I used so many tissues that it was so gross. Crying plus running nose equals a whole box of tissues gone.

3. I really look forward every week to going to the temple. At first I thought it was a little odd what they do there, more and more I appreciate the calmness and quietness of that experience.

4. My hair has been super gross. Greasy. The water here, I guess is different from home. My hair did not react well. For the last 4 weeks I have tried everything. Finally on sunday, I mentioned it in relief society and Hma Openshaw (President's wife) said that she would give me some baby shampoo and it would fix it. YAY! It is such a small thing but I am happy to have clean hair.

5. Pretty much everyday I play pingpong during actividad fisca. Yesterday I was playing with Elder Hilton and we were playing around the world pingpong where you spin after you hit. I spun right into the huge metal trashcan. I have a nice colored bruise on my arm now. Our elders think that my companion abuses me. Hehe.

6. The elders in my district (Alma distrito) tease me alot, they act like my brothers :) I love them alot. They are teenage boys and sometimes I just shake my head.

7.  Katrina asked what we eat here at the CCM. We eat alot of meat. It is alright. Sometimes it is annoying that they give us it on the bone. There is like no meat on it sometimes and all fat. We have french fries sometimes. Every morning we have cereal. Every single morning. I don't love cereal that much. I do like their lentil soup stuff. I did not like the fish or the mushy cornbread lasagne. We eat alot of fruit. It is really good. Everyday they have bread. I really like it when they put cheese and chicken in the lettuce. After lunch every day it is our job to clean the comedor. It is kind of annoying that the cooks always give me less than the elders. I am hungry too. Sometimes I don't eat it all but sometimes I wish I had more.

8. My companion and I are good. I felt like she wasn't giving her opinion and I felt like I decided everything. I hate deciding everything. We talked about it in companionship inventory and she has gotten better at in her words "not being a doormat".

 

Our last weeks proselytismo was so  sososososo much better. We went back to the same area from before. This time we were much more relaxed. We met so many old ladies that gave us hugs and kisses. Here they do the greetings with a kiss on the cheek. We even got into someone's house. I asked to use their bathroom. It was these two older sisters. They weren't interested in the church. I think they had had lessons before because they knew a little about us. They said we prayed alot. I thought that was kind of funny. Anyway they live in this little house and they sew for a living. It was so nice to see something familiar. I am from a family of seamstresses. Unfortunately I didn't know the words for the sewing stuff. I hear stories about how I need to bring toilet paper with me because alot of houses don't have it, well I was happy to say that the bathroom was very well equipped. Although I couldn't find the flush until I realized it was a pulley thing in the hole in the wall. We met some people that were really nice to us and that always makes us happy. We met 3 people that wanted us to come back another time and talk to them about our message. We give their names and addresses to the missionaries assigned to their area and they go and teach them. One woman said that when we knocked on her door, we knocked on her heart. My heart just about broke. I can't say alot in spanish but I said "Puede embraso" or Can I hug? She unlocked her gate and we gave her big hugs. I felt really good to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. There are many people in this world that are lonely and need a hug. One last experience. Towards the end of our time on the outside. I really wanted to go to a store and buy some food. Real Argentinan food. So we went into this little grocery store. It was so much fun. We bought this chocolate. Delicious. Anyway but while we were standing in line at the one register, in front of us was this little boy about 4 or 5 and his grandpa. It was so adorable. The grandpa was bending down because his grandson wanted a hug. I just smiled. Grandpa wanted him to say hello to us and give us kisses on the cheek. He was so shy. :) I just wanted to eat him up he was so cute. Anyway I told him who we were and he really didn't understand that we spoke pretty small amount of spanish. He kept talking and telling us stuff. I really have no idea what he said. I nodded and said si alot. I got the feeling that he was interested in religion and so we handed him a pamphlet and he seemed really excited about it. It was the best feeling. Okay proselyting story over :)

 

This sunday or the next sunday I will give a talk in church in spanish. I am kind of nervous but I have already started writing it. It is about repentance. Buenos Suerte!

 

I have a testimony that Joseph Smith Jr. talked to God the Father and Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I learn more and more about how it can solve life's problems. I know that I am here for a reason and there are people that I need to influence and people that I need to learn something from. Sometimes I think about what the person next to me will learn from me and it makes me want to be a better person. I love my family and I know that even if I die on the mean streets of Buenos Aires I will be with them forever. They are my life and my joy. I have had to ask for miracles this past couple weeks and it is amazing how the Lord provides. He will give you what you need. I know it. I was sick when we had to go out and talk to people. I thought no one will want to talk to me because I am gross and everyone  will stay far away. I had no problems. I blew my nose a couple times but the Lord worked a miracle in my life. My intentions were pure, I wanted to share the true gospel and He provided a way for me to do that. I love you all and can't wait to hear from you.

 

Con Amor,

Hma. Beatie

(Krista)

Hola! Family and Friends,

I am proud to announce that I know more spanish now than I ever have in my entire life. It took me a while to get going but I am feeling more comfortable in the spanish language.

Exciting random things from the past week

1. Bottle of shampoo fell on our toilet and cracked the toilet seat cover.

2. My blankets fall off my top bunk bed almost every single night so I wake up cold.

3. Going through the temple in spanish is very strange

4. My district is the best and all the elders have this strange obsession with this shack they can see through our window. Apparently it is a grill but the elders swear they catch dogs and cook them up.

5. My new roommates desperately want to teach me spanish but it is a little frustrating when they repeat the same word that I do not know over and over again. I still don't know what it means even after the 10th time. It is better now, we had a little talk.

6. We now have 6 girls to one bathroom so if you want in you have to be fast and a little stubborn.

7. The strangest elder here has a little crush on me and it is a little weird.

8. We have really good talks, devotions and firesides. They are all pretty much the same thing but they call them different things.

9.On sunday we have a movie every night, it is usually something like Joseph Smith prophet of the restoration or a talk or something. We really like it because it is a movie and it is in english!!

10. The elders got in a little trouble because they were wrestling at night and one elder in my district got a concussion. Another elder in my district two days ago got his finger kind of pulled off, super gross. He had to go to the hospital. It was kind of exciting for the rest of us.

11. During Actividad fisica hma Nielson and I were throwing a football back and forth. She doesnt like as she calls it "american football" but I convinced her to practice. I threw so hard with such strength that when she tried to catch it her finger got jammed.

12. We have 2 teachers Hmo. De Oliviera and Hmo. Krasnoselsky. One in the morning and one in the afternoon/evening

So this week. On the saturday after I wrote last week we went proselyting on the mean streets of Buenos Aires. It wasn't my favorite thing but I think every week we will get better. I wish I had had a companion that was older and knew what to do and could speak the language. Here we are with about 2 weeks of language study our by ourselves trying to get people to talk to us. We had one kind of funny experience. We had this lunch that the ccm had given us and so we were looking for a place to sit and eat. There was no park or any tables so we sat on these steps next to the sidewalk. Little did we know that it was a bus stop, so people started hanging out next to us. This guy sat down near us and asked us how we were or something. So we are trying to communicate but it is not working very well. You get used to how your teachers talk and I am sure they talk slow for us so I really had little idea of what he was saying. I asked him if he believed in Jesucristo and pointed to a cross tattoo he had on his hand/arm. He proceeded to pull up his shirt and nodded emphatically pointing to a lovely mural of Jesus Christ on his chest. I was so happy that we understood each other that I was like si si si Jesucristo. We gave him a pamphlet but he had to get on the bus so we didn't get to talk to him much. That day we handed out 4 pamphlets and knocked on almost every single door in our area. The people are mostly nice but most of them did not want to talk to us unfortunately. There were so many dogs....I really don't even know. Luckily all the ones that are wild running in the street are good and don't pay us any attention. The ones behind fences though are are kind of scary. When we got on the bus the elders that were there had not had any luck and so I felt a little better until we got to the next stop to pick up some elders and some of them had taugh 3 lessons and placed 4 book of mormons. I was also tired, really tired. I am not super excited to go out again but I am resolved to talk to more people that walk past me.

I am sick with a sore throat and a bit of a cough. Hermana Openshaw is never around!! We are supposed to talk to her when we are sick but she is always so busy.

I love you all and I do have a testimony that Jesus Christ's gospel is on this earth. It was restored to Joseph Smith Jr so that we could have all the blessings of living by God's commands. The Book of Mormon is a testament of Jesus Christ and His visit to His people in America. He loves all His children and wants them all to "Come unto Him".

Love you all,

Krista Beatie

Dear Friends and Family,

I put off writing the update of my mission until I had answered all my letters. That may not have been a good idea, now I only have 8 minutes to update you on the last week in Buenos Aires. This may actually be good because it will be short haha.

 

One of the first things I learned on the airplane was that it is Buenos Ahhhrrreess. With a rolled r.

 

So the latinos only stay here for 2 weeks and then they enter their mission field. So on tuesday the missionaries left and we lost our 2 roommates. We loved them so it was kind of sad but we know that they are doing good. They gave us gifts of pudding and yogurt haha. One hermana wrote me a note in spanish and hopefully my spanish will improve enough to be able to read it. We got 4 more roommates last night and so it was a little crazy with everyone trying to put their stuff away and get ready for bed. I planned on taking a shower last night but it was so crazy that when the bathroom was empty and we went to wash our faces a hermana was like can I use the bathroom. Uhhh yeah I guess hold on a minute haha. Well all is good here. we had a bit of a scare when there was like 20 planes/helicopters flying overhead. Is there a war we don't know about. I know the Lord will take care of my family while I am away so I don't worry about that too much.

 

Next week I will write this letter first haha.

 

I have a testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ, I know that this is the true gospel. I know because I get a warm comforting feeling in my chest when I think and pray about it.

 

People are yellling wrap it up.

so love you all,

Krista

Maybe photos next week and I know I said that last week but it did not happen this week :)

Hola Family and Friends!

I am here in Argentina but other than the latinos in the hallway it feels like BYU. We pretty much stay in the same room most of the day or on the CCM grounds. It is great that the Buenos Aires Temple is right next to the CCM. CCM stands for something something misionary. It means Missinary Training Center in spanish. As you can tell my spanish is fantastica! It has been both a long week and a really short one. In Atlanta Georgia I met up with 1 sister and 6 elders that were going to the ccm, then we got more elders and more. By the time our flight was delayed 2 hours we had over 30 missionaries on the flight to Argentina. It was really cool! There was this flight attendant that was going to be on our flight that was waiting with us and he was super nice. The hermana that I met orginially is actually my companion now. We were seated next to each other on the flight and kind of became temporary companions before we were officially companions. Anyway one of our flight attendants, he was very interested and helpful in helping us learn spanish. My companion's name is Hermana Nielson and she is a theatre, Harry Potter nerd, and very enthusiastic about many things. It is easy for a couple of days but sometimes I want to be far from her. We are usually good and like to be around each other alright.

So we got to Argentina at like 10 o'clock in the morning of the next day. I was worried they would make us go straight to class and I would be so exhausted. Luckily the day we got here was our P day so it was a little more laid back. I wanted to send pictures of my first day but we are actually not supposed to have pictures yet apparently so I better send them next week. They don't want us taking pictures all the time and want us focused on the work. It is pretty cold here. When we got here we were like oh it is not bad like 50ish degrees but at night and in the morning it can be pretty chilly. There isn't much room for storage so we had to take out stuff that we need for 6 weeks and put the rest in a storage container outside. Luckily I took out my purple coat and my red sweater.

So we are in a room with one other companionship. Herman Niera and Hermana Burgos. They are both from South America and are only here for two weeks. We will miss them alot when we leave. Hma Niera speaks pretty good english so she helps us translate to Hma Burgos. Conincidentally Hma Nielson and I both took french, not spanish, in high school so we were kind of in the same boat. She has been picking it up better than I have but I am getting there. There were a day or two when I was so frustrated, I felt like my memory was failing me. I would learn something and within 5 minutes I had forgotten it. This is a little different from school and it is taking some getting used to.

When I thought about going on a mission. I didn't really think about the CCM. I thought about being in the streets automatically knowing how to speak spanish and teaching the gospel. Well that didn't happen. It is going to be long and hard to be able to speak or even communicate in any way with true spanish speakers. We went the the distribution center yesterday and some guy was tallking to me and I had absolutely no idea what he was saying. I just nodded and said si si. Sometimes that is what you've got to do.

We wake up at 6:30. Breakfast at 7:15. personal study at 8. companion study at 9. the rest of the schedule is a little different depending on the day.

Within like the second day we had to teach a lesson to a (fake) investigator. It was really really hard. We thought we would be able to speak english most of the time but no. We had to communicate in spanish. I feel like everyone else has had at least some training in spanish and I am out here with no education and no memorization skills.

In our district we have 10 elders and Hma Nielson and I. We have no air conditioning in our room and so when it is hot we have to turn on the fan and the fan goes so fast that my papers blow away. For the first couple days (3 I think) we had 6 teachers. Districts are supposed to have 2 teachers, one in the morning and one at night but both of our teachers took off days of work. It was really confusing and disjointed to have so many different teaching styles. We are all new missionaries and we had no idea what we were supposed to be doing half the time. The first day of our schedule Hma Nielson and I thought we were having personal and companionship study in our rooms. It wasn't until almost 10 oclock that someone came to get us. We had already missed half of a lesson and we were really confused.

Fun things about the CCM

1. Smart but kind of intimidating Mission President, his wife is intimidating as well.

2. toilet seat in our bathroom won't stay up when using the toilet and it falls on your back. I find this very annoying.

3. Cold here, but no snow.

4. One of my teachers Hermano Krasnoselsky is kind of attractive (Don't worry I am not going to be distracted :))

5. Good District and District Leader. Our DL really is great about including us hermanas when there are so many elders.

6. I kind of lost my mind. forgetting and losing everything. I am slowly coming back to normal and finding things that I lost.

7. Strange corduroy bedcovers. I do not understand.

8. There are only about 20ish sisers here. There are 2 schedules so we don't see them alot.

9. Food is good most days. I don't like that they put egg in the pizza. weird. had some brazillian food that was good. I try to eat healthy.

10. Nestor is our investigator and we have to focus all of our learning and study on him.

11. I kind of feel too cute sometimes. I am trying to tone it down a bit so that I am not a distraction. Hrma Oppenshaw (our Mission President's wife) gave a lesson on sunday about how we need to be holy women. We shouldnt be flirtatious or wearing tight clothes and gold and tons of makeup. I kind of felt uncomfortable because I had put on my best for church but maybe it was too much. Anyway its all good.

12. Sundays are mostly in english. the only part that is in spanish are the hymns (I don't think they have english hymnals) and the talks.

13. We spend 8ish hours in the same room every day studying. It is a little long. We are supposed to use as much spanish as we can at all times. Some latinos speak a little english but most of them don't know any. It can get confusing. I try to ask them how to say things alot.

14. Starting last sunday, every sunday we have to write a talk in spanish about the assigned topic and during sacrament mtg we find out who is giving their talks. It is a little nerve racking. Last week was about esperanza. translate that.

I feel like I am getting in to the swing of things and I am excited for our next week. I was really sad to leave my family but once I got here I felt like I had something to do. Some of the elders here are straight out of high school and I think they are really sad to be away from their families.

I do have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is my Savior and I am happy to be helping Him in His work. I have read the Book of Mormon and I know that it is truly from God. During our devotional on wednesday (yesterday) we had a lesson on how we have to have faith. I guess I never realized that faith is an action word. We have to trust in the Lord. I realized that I was trying to do all the studying by myself but that is not how I will learn spanish. If I trust the Lord and the spanish words that I do know, I will learn so much faster. I feel much better after learning that. It took a little pressure off my shoulders.

Please don't forget to pray for me because I have many mountains to climb. :)

Love,

Hermana Beatie