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)