Breathe, that's the key, keep breathing. -Gimli (April 28, 2014)

#there is a ton of work to do!!

Man oh man what a crazy last week. So I'm just gonna start when I arrived here in Argentina because it's too hard to remember anything else! haha

So my trainer is AMERICANA literally thank 

With my trainer, Hermana Moberly

the lord so much because it is such a blessing to have her. Her name is Hermana Moberly from Simi Valley, California! She's been here in Argentina 3 months and before she was waiting for her visa in Texas Houston South or something. I love her so much! And we get along wonderfully. We live like queens in a charming apartment located in the central part of our area. BTW ("by the way") I'm in SUNCHALES. I love it so much. It's pretty big, not like Buenos Aires but it's still pretty big. So the ward here is actually a branch...consisting of 8 members and we have 3 priesthood but one just got out of jail so it's just the branch president and the senior couples male part...hahaha. I said that super weird. So this became an area 4 months ago after being closed for 15 years so there is a ton of work to do!! So that's that. My first day here. We did our studies and unpacked cleaned and tracted for a little bit. It was good. The next day while contacting we passed the radio station of Sunchales. The radio host was just walking out so I nudged Moberly and we contacted him. HE INVITED US OVER THE NEXT DAY TO SPEAK ON THE RADIO. Apparently 15 years ago missionaries would speak weekly so how crazy! We went there and Moberly spoke about the Restoration. They asked us about bfs and all that and that was it. The senior couple came and took pics. Haha I forwarded them to you. That night we were going to a lesson when we were stopped in the street by someone who had heard us on the radio and recognized the name tags! We got two new investigators who are totally willing to listen to us...also they had a LDM ("Libro de Mormon")from 15 years ago and have been waiting.

we will see what happens. :) The next day we taught a few more lessons and I extended the baptismal invitation to 2 investigators. One accepted with a date and the other one said she knows it's true but she isn't sure yet.. blah blah blah haha. But it's promising. The next day, I think I'm on Friday haha I placed my first book of mormon to a contact/new investigator. So there is a lot of work to do and there are people ready and waiting who we just need to find. We are putting alot of stress on contacting since we (at the beginning of the week) had 4 inv-stigators. Since I've come weve grown that to 8! The average contacting per week before was 50, but from wed-sun we had 98. The most Moberly had ever had.! On Sunday we had 16 people there. 6 members, ten contacts/ investigadors, etc. The most ever at church. I bore my testimony and shared my favorite scripture. It was wonderful>!!! I freaking love it here. Moberly's past comps were really difficult and didn't really want to work so now that we both want to work and be obedient, the work here is going to explode! We know what we have to do on our part and we have the faith that with exact obedience and diligence, boldness, and love for the people of Sunchales we will be able to expand the Lord's church and do what we are here to do!

The Bug Bite 

So the spanish is coming along. People are always suprised when I say I've been in Arg. for 6 days. The first day in Arg. I got a bug bite on my lip. The next morning it swelled up to the size of an almond!!! Ahhh then I had another one on my tummy that was massive. I've counted 29 on my thighs alone, 16 on my back, at least 30 on my arms...yeah I'm being eaten alive here....but it's okay. And yes I use bug spray. I'm not in a jungle. There is not a single mountain in the whole mission haha and there is one stop light in our area...about half the roads are paved and the other half is dirt. We don't get fed ever by members so are on our own. When I got here Moberly was broke and so we've been living off rice, pasta and the granola you gave me since I've came. haha but we got money and shopped today so were set. I honestly love the people here so much and we have a goal to contact 140 people, get 10 new investigators, and set 1 baptism date for every 2 lessons we teach. I know if we are diligent we will do it!!!!

Well the sub-subject line is Gimli when he's running behind Legolas and Aragorn in pursuit of the orcs with Merry and Pipin. I quote this one because the task ahead is daunting and seems impossible but just keep on running head on and just remember to breathe.

This morning I read in D. & C. 128. I want you all to read vs. 17, 18, 19, 22-24. It's all about the importance of family history work and the promised blessings we have from it. I am so happy I'm here and I love it more and more everyday!

 Eating Alfajores (Argentine cookie filled with Dulce de Leche)

  About packages! Yeah you can still send packages but it's a lot more expensive. No fed ex or UPS, it has to be through the normal mail and you have to pay for extra postage for the tax idk ("I don't know"). Thanks for sending the letters I look forward to reading them. I love you all!!!!

xoxoxoxox

Hermana Sanders III

Buenos Aires Temple

Misioneros Llegaron Bien... She's there. (April 24, 2014)

We've been waiting for word of Jessica's arrival and it finally came! She will write on Mondays from now on. Enjoy the picture!

Más fotos...

Jessica is still settling in to her new surroundings in Argentina. We can't wait to hear from her on her P-day. Until then, here are some pictures to tide us over:

Here is one of our teachers, stallings. He talks so fast but hes laughing in this pic.

still looking fabulous when im sick doe, right lol jk

cousin pics (and the next one, too)

An unexpected journey continues... (April 16, 2014)

Well it is only appropriate, last Pday here at the CCM (MTC in spanish)WOOHOOOOOO! So like Bilbo Baggins I am going on an unexpected journey to ARGENTINA. Not unexpected in regards to like the last 7 months or so, but before, it was totally unexpected. I will be faced with obstacles that I've never imagined and I realize I am so not fit for this great journey I am faced with, but "the courage of hobbits never cease to amaze." The Lord is my courage and so little ol' me will be in Argentina. Holy crap I am so excited! Whereas most would be so nervous they're throwing up but I am nothing but excited. I understand that challenges will come, but the Lord is with me and I know that with Him and His help I will not, I cannot fail. He will not let me. :)

 

Moving on, this last week has literally flown by and I really can barely believe all that has happened. But I'm doing my best, haha. So first off my skin is improving. The antibiotics have been really helping but they made me sick. On Saturday I needed to see a doc because I was like nauseas and throwing up kind of sick. But the MTC clinic was closed. So I had to go to urgent care. HAHAHAHAH! So I went there and they just told me get on an antibiotic and I'll be fine. So I did and now I'm fine haha. I prayed sooo hard to feel better and honestly that had to help with how fast I recovered. Funny story that happened Sunday-Monday: this one girl in our zone named Hermana #1 (name concealed for privacy),on Sunday night she had 5 creampuffs. I mean like normal sized not the Costco bite sized. Everyone was mad and she had an "intervention" haha! On Monday at lunch she had 6 more! I was cheering her on and telling her to go for it, and have just one more! haha. Then at dinner, everyone was disgusted at her but here I am totally persuading her to eat 4 more so it would be 15 creampuffs in less than 24 hours. I would go and get them for her and everything. And she did it! I was totally pressuring her into it and after all that, all the girls in the zone compared to me the devil for tempting Hermana #1. I was just aiding her in her goal...which was her goal because I had pressured her into it hahaha! Honestly the only reason I "motivated" her into it was so that I could have something funny to write about because it has been sooo boring up in here. So yesterday we had a special devotional. Shotwell made me sing in the choir with her.  Before we sang I was giving her tips on how to sing properly. We were laughing when all of a sudden she started to cry (this is in public mind you). I asked her why she was crying and she said, "it's just because I'm really gonna miss you" and then I started to cry. We have really become so close and we are so thankful to have each other. It's amazing how close we are and not just cuz we've gone through so much but because we are basically kindred spirits. We just click and I'm really gonna miss her.

Hermana Sanders and Hermana Shotwell, kindred spirits.

 Anyways, back to the devo. Guess who spoke!! Neil A. Anderson!! He really just taught that the most important thing to remember while on the mission is to keep things simple. The doctrine of Christ is simple and powerful in it's simplicity. The Lord rejoices in plainess, so we should teach the same way. He had people voluntarily share their favorite sermon of Christ from the Book of Mormon. People shared King Benjamin in Mosiah, Jesus in 3 Nephi and others. But my favorite is probably Abinadi in Mosiah 15-16. Abinadi is chained and being tried for death. And even though he is in this perilous situation, he teaches. He is standing up and preaching of what is most important in life to remember. Later in the Book of Mormon, Alma the Younger is writing his son Shiblon who is being persecuted for what he believes in, while serving a mission. In Alma 38 verse 2, he says those who endure to the end are blessed. We will face much opposition as we live the gospel and as we stand up for what we believe and defend our faith (Jeffrey R. Holland conf. talk), but as we endure we will be blessed. It was a good devo!

This morning during service, after we finished all we needed to do, the people who are in charge (BYU students) play a game with us. Today we had a competition that was who could balance the most tp(toilet paper) on one hand for the longest. Shotwell won haha! But that's the kind of things we do here. Also today we finally get a new district. 4 sisters and 4 elders. Hermana Shotwell and I have already discussed pranks we will do for them hahaha. Nothing mean, just nice funny ones.

So yes, we got our travel plans!!!! I will be leaving SLC on Monday. Departing flight at 9 am then we land in Georgia for a 5 hour layover. I will call you then! (I'm getting a calling card from the bookstore for that). Then after that, straight to Buenos Aires!! I'm not sure how were gonna get to Rosario but well figure that out when we get there. There is a native in my travel group so at least we will have one person who can speak to people haha. Also for the travel group, it's Shotwell and I, and 5 elders so we will be safe and protected by them. :)

 

So to end the email, I'm sorry I didn't have too many funny stories, it was a boring week just focused on espanol. But I did read in Romans 8. It is an amazing chapter and I love it, but the best is the last few verses, 35-39. I hope everyone will read these. In a nutshell, God's love for us is unconditional and eternal. There is nothing that we can do, or go through that will take that away from us. Through Christ, we are strengthened and we can conquer anyhing that is thrown at us. Any mistakes we make, or trials that are thrown to us, we can overcome all because Christ overcame the World. This Easter I hope everyone can remember this: "For God so loved the World that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". Christ lived and died. He overcame death and lived again. Through him, we will be able to live again in perfect harmony with our families and with God, Forever. This is the greatest gift we could ever ask for.

I trust in the Lord with all my heart and I know that all will be well. I AM SO EXCITED FOR ARGENTINA I CANT EVEN SAY!

I LOVE YOU GUYS SOO MUCH

I HOPE ALL IS WELL AND YOU GUYS HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER

loveeeeeeeeee

Hermana Sanders III

"But you're part of this world.... aren't you?" (April 9, 2014)

Doing service this morning

Almost nearing the end of the MTC experience, it's almost over, only one more P_day left!! So this week, has been insane!! We have gotten so many new and hard investigators and had General Conference and we leave in 11 days!! We are gonna get our travel plans either tomorrow or Friday so I am just soo stoked!!! Okay so mom here are your answers. I got the box. So perfect and wonderful!! The necklace is beautiful. I wore it yesterday and you will get pics. So the long, 3 quarter length shirts I'm referring too...pretty much anything just loose fitting and breathable. No collar but if there are buttons, esta bien! My skin these last two days have made leaps of improvement. I just got the cell salts today so please can you send me the directions again in a dear elder by tomorrow cuz I don't have a printer in the classroom! Hermana Shotwell's ankle is totally fine. It was just a stressed tendon or something and she is totally good now.

So! Chronological order. I played a joke on my district on Thursday night! One sister had left her clothes on the laundry and she didn't have any clothes after her shower. So her companions dropped her off at Shotwell's and my apt. and they went to get it. The sister was just sitting on our couch and the comps came back and said they got it, they didn't see the sister, so I played it as if she had never come in the first place, they thought she went to the other district's apt. They left and we hid the sister in our walk in closet. They came back freaking out she wasn't there and I was still playing as if I didn't know.  Then the other district comes out in their pj's and they all go around the block to look for her!! hahaha so meanwhile, Shotwell, the sister, and I are cracking up in the apt. The other districts come back and are freaking out. I held it together for like 4 minutes and then they said, "you have her don't you!!!" I burst out laughing and yeah it was so funny!

On Friday EMILY CAME. Literaly was the highlight of my week. I was just getting out of a lesson and I cut it short (it was with the teachers) and grabbed Shotwell. We practically run over and I see her in the hallway and my heart just leapt into my throat I was so excited. I cried for the first time since being in the MTC. We talked a little and all and just enjoyed being with eachother. It was really hard saying goodbye but I'm so excited for her and I can't wait to hear about her dating machine experiences. Emily; it is true, dating is how most of my meals were paid while I was up at school. ;) I love you so much and you are so beautiful. You better keep me updated !!!!

Okay. GENERAL CONFERENCE.

I forgot my notes so this is gonna be from memory. How lucky were we this past weekend to watch conference. It was the first time I was able to stay awake throughout all 4 sessions!! So west campus bussed over to main so all the MTC missionaries could watch conference together! We had a homeroom where we stashed all the food we have gotten from packages and such and it was fun. Personally my favorite talk was Jeffrey R. Holland. His passion is probably my favorite thing about him. It is so real and so genuine and you can feel him and feel his same urgency as he was telling us to defend our faith. It reminded me alot of D&C 27 :15-18 where it talks alot of the Armor of God. As Latter day Saints, and even as a people who believe in God and Jesus Christ, much more is being asked of us. The world is going further and further away and we must remain steady. I remember countless times throughout high school and even junior high where I would have to stick up for my faith. Even though my personal faith wasn't that strong, I felt the urgency and duty to stand up for it. We have something special and when people talk down about it, and try to flip our truths into lies, we must be willing to stand up for it. Wear the Armor of God and remain steadfast in him. (in a footnote somewhere it says steadfast is "walking with God") Other than that I really loved Anderson's talk especially when he said if the church standards clash with your political standards, you have some reconsidering to do. He didn't say it like that but it is so true. We must ONLY affiliate ourselves with clubs and parties that uphold what we believe in. It is another part of defending our religion and defending God when we affilliate with upstanding groups that have their views in line with the Church's. So overall to me, the message of Conference was your obedience is showing your Love of God, and defending your faith and never falter in that; Wear the Armor of God. This is why my subject line is what it is. It is when Merry is pleading with the Ents to join in the fight for Middle Earth. They are part of that world. But we are all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we are all in this together. No matter how shy or softspoken you are, now is the time to suit up and fight for and stand up for what you believe in.

We also saw the Womens Conference and I bawled at the little movie. It had no words and reminded me alot about that one scene from UP. Haha Shotwell was laughing at me so much and I was laughing at me too, but honestly, that video showed what I want in my life, a Temple Marriage for time and all eternity, a happy and eternal family, and just to live my life in righteousness always staying steadfast in my faith. It was beautiful.

Okay so time for another funny story. In between sessions of conference we would hold a 15 min. devo(tional) and then we made friends with the branch next door. My cousin (?) Elder (Isaac) Sanders from Kentucky was in there and we are so alike it is insane. We played "MTC Idol" and Sanders and I did a cousin rendition of the Primary song "A Child's Prayer". It was beautiful and moved everyone to tears (because we were all laughing so hard). Dad you have to find out if we are related. I gave Emily the names of his parents.  But it would be super cool so find out and then send me a dear elder because not only do we act the same but we look like we could be brother and sister. Also the other hermanas and elders think we would be a hilarious comedy skit hahaha.

This one Elder who is going to serve in Korea...okay so he sat near my comp and I at a devo and then the next time I see him at conf., he's like "I have a gift for you", it was a note, of vocab in korean. The words were things like, Hello, I love you, What's up. Then he said my name, then his name, then he gave me his first name, email and in korean he wrote "important". hahahaha so that was awkward. He's an awkward kid from Idaho so that explains it.

Okay so in a lesson yesterday, we had a suprise investigator, the one we had, cancelled so we just got a random one. It was this guy, he had a tragic story and had forgotten God. He never prays and wasn't willing to pray and we were 10 minutes over, and getting into dinner time, but we weren't going to leave until we committed him to prayer. I got really into it and just looked at him straight in the eye and pointed to him saying "At first when you pray, you might not feel God, or feel like anyone is listening to you, but I KNOW that the more you pray, and the more you listen, you WILL feel God. You Will feel his presence and you will not feel alone. You will be comforted and on your way to being happy. I know this because I used to never pray but I started to one day when I was the lowest I had ever been. The more I prayed, I felt God's love and I testify that God lives. And God hears and listens. So, will you pray everyday this week?" He said yes.

Also all of that was in spanish. Not perfect but I slipped in 2 english words in the whole thing. So that is my testimony of prayer.

Okay, so this week was alot of fun and I bet you're wondering how my spanish is, well Holman, my teacher, says that mine is better than his 2 months into the mission. So it's coming along :)

matching workout outfits

I'm studying the Plan of Salvation right now in PMG ("Preach My Gospel", the second lesson) I love the Plan of Salvation and I invite all of you to study more about it and ponder it. Study it simply before going into deep stuff but yeah it's great.

Parents: I need those yoga pants, those shirts, and haha I need rain boots. Just plain dark colored boots. Some chocolate and granola would be nice too :)

Also tell Tyler I'm excited for him and love him!! (Piwo, for getting into Ballet West again this summer!)

And Special Shoutout to Kelsey for her Bday!!! I love you Kelsey and I wish you the best of 18s. Stay in school ;) i love you and think about you everyday!! Hope all is well and love you again!!!

Wonderful to hear about Evan.

Read 2 Nephi 9:7 and Mos 3:11. We have been discussing Who all was Jesus the Savior for, and thought these were interesting. I think He is the Savior for all who falls under Adams transgression which would be those who have lived and died on this earth. Okay, well thats all I got. I love you all and hope to hear from you all!!!!!!!!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Hermana Sanders III

P.S. One of the sisters in the district had never seen Lord of the Rings so I have been acting it out for her over the past couple of days. I impress myself everyday with how obsessed I had become #humility hahaha

Sister Reunion (April 7, 2014)

Thankfully, when siblings overlap missions, the MTC will allow a quick visit once the first one comes home.

MTC Fun

the big map on main. pointing to Rosario. 

My dream p day 

... and we got lollipops at the doctors when we went for Hermana Shotwell's ankle. I'm making a funny face because idk

                             

                             it snowed. I look happy in this pic but idk why. i hate snow.

                 

      and this one i really liked my outfit and you can see that we have a balcony in my class hahaha

just lounging around with a lollipop from Hermana Shotwell's mum

the district 

the late night snack 

He's here... (April 2, 2014)

Jeremiah 16:14-16, Hebrews 11, and 12:1-2

The subject line is a reference to when Frodo says "he's here" at the battle of Gosgiliath referring to the Witch King. I'm using it in reference to my bug bite. It has returned in a different spot but it's big and infected again. I went to the doc and he says it might actually be a follicle infection. So i have more antibiotics and yeah. Also in my elbows my eczema has been so bad. But apparently now it's Psoriasis, yay...at least it's treated the same I just need Eucerine and all that jazz. So to answer your questions first, for the visa? They are doing month to month visas which means all Argentina missionaries go straight to Argentina. No more visa waiters. Only for Brazil but apparently they stopped calling people there unless they are natives. Yikes also the food hasn't gotten any better and my weight hasn't gotten any lighter. but I workout everyday and use all my gym time. Hermana Shotwell and I do the elliptical then weights and then volleyball with our friends from other zones. It's really fun we have about an hour and a half to do that. So emily wrote a "dear elder" in all spanish and I understood most of it besides the matrimony part so please have her expalin that in english hahaha!

Valencia to Rosario hahaha

Also, shout out to grandma and grandpa for writing me a "dear elder"! Let them know I use that chapstick everyday and I think about them too!! It's a nice little reminder everytime my lips are chapped, which is everyday in the dry abyss of Provo. haha

So on to my week. On Thursday night Hermana Shotwell and I felt impressed to hold a district gathering. We were going to just have a 15 minute hang out sesh but i got the impression to have every girl go around and say one sentence of what we love about each other. It was really awesome and sweet. Hermana Shotwell got words like, graceful, thoughtful, caring, and I got words like, unconventional, courageous, fearless, and carefree but cares so much...which shouldn't make sense but it totally does.Haha, but it was so nice the girls loved it. on FridayHermana #1 and #2 (names have been comcealed for privacy) spent the day at main because Hermana #1 ended up deciding to go home. So she left at 5:00 pm Friday. It was sad but kind of a relief for Hermana Shotwell and I because everyday was another breakdown with her. It is good though she went home so she can focus on getting mentally stable and emotionally ready for the mission demands. We've only had two more breakdowns this week one from #2  and one from #3 ! So that is an improvement. Haha. I love them so much and I'm so happy things are getting better for them both. Hermana #4  became the new STL which is good but she is having a power trip right now and it's pretty frustrating. Hermana Shotwell and I just let her do her thing in class but then we kinda go our separate ways for gym and food. We make sure they are all okay and we do spend time with them all but it's just frustrating and I'm really really working on my patience and love for them. Sometimes it's difficult but most of the times it's good, it's just been hard dealing with them these past two days.. haha sooooo yeah! Oh! we made an agreement with our teachers that we will speak as much spanish throughout the whole day as we can as long as they give us a doctrinal lesson every night at 8 in english. Haha so that has been great. We learned awesome things about Joseph Smith and we all gained larger testimonies of him as a prophet because of it. I invite you all to reread Joseph Smith History and really decide for yourself that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God. I could tell cool stories but I'll save those for later. They're all in my journal. Oh! during one of our TRC lessons, I shared and recited the first vision in spanish! It was so great and using the words of the prophet brought the spirit in so much!

 

So this next part dad will appreciate so much. Guess who spoke at our devotional on Sunday?? Richard Elliot!! (for those of you who don't know, Richard Elliot is my Dad's favorite Mormom Tabernacle organist) He spoke and then played the organ and each song he played had a story behind it. Did you know he is a convert and that he served his mission in the...wait for it... ARGENTINA ROSARIO mission?? So cool. Wellll after he spoke and played, none other than David Archuleta, who just returned from his mission on Wedensday, spoke , bore his testimony and sang for us. It was such a special devo.(tional). One song he sang was "be still my soul". The line, "sorrow forget, loves purest joys restored" hit me like a brick wall. That is exactly what the Atonement can do for us. It allows us to forget about all the bad things in life that get us down and then it brings to us joy unimaginable! During the devo. I thought alot about dad and I actually got teaarry for the first time since being on the mission.

Okay so funny story of the week...it's not really a story but Shotwell and I do crazy things together alot. This week we have discovered that alot of missionaries don't even get back to their apartments till 10:00. Hah! So what we do is turn off all the lights and peek out the window and watch all the elders go back to their apartment and we see which ones are flirting with the sisters hahaha! It's actually really creepy but we find alot of entertainment out of it. The MTC is making us creepers!! hahahaha

General Conference is this weekend and I wouldnt be a missionary without telling all ya'll at home to watch it. Put yourself back in time when there weren't tv's, radios, nothing. And go back even farther to when there weren't even prophets on the earth. How lucky and blessed we are to have the conference right at our fingertips. The words spoken are revelation and direct guidance for us and it is so important that we engage ourselves in this conference!! I'm gonna try my best to not fall asleep to but I think the fact I'll be in a dress and a hard chair will help. If that's what it takes you should do that too and put on your church clothes to be able to pay more attention. No blankets, no pillows. Those are satans tools to keep us from paying attention!! hahaha well either way I really hope you all watch conference and enjoy it.

Scriptures for this week. Read Jeremiah 16:14-16 and apply the first verses to latter day saints and member missionary work (thought of you mom and what an amazing example you are of this)

and read Hebrews 11, and 12:1-2

Things hit me with spiritual bricks when I read them and I hope you can read these and ponder them and apply what you get out of them in your life.

To all the members "missionary work defines your relationship with God." -President Eyring. Missionary work needs the members.

please send pictures of the family and friends 

Mom- send Emily up with my black yoga pants with blue tie dye waist band. Also maybe one or two long sleeve shirts and if she wants to give me any mission clothes that would be cool too.

I'll send home things I won't need in Argentina so don't worry about space. Also thanks for editing the emails, I don't think about that when I type.

Oh they extended Hermana Shotwell's and my calling a whole week as zone leaders

okay! Well I think that is all. Pictures coming your way! Sorry I didn't get too many this week. I kept on forgetting my camera. That won't happen again.

Well, I'm pretty sure that's that!

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOO SOOO SOOOOOOOO MUCH

 Love- Hermana Sanders III