"Esperanza has now claimed me for her own...the dogs at least!" (August 26, 2014)

got back from the meeting and hma 

carlsons bike broke so we hopped on mine, 

i sat on the bar in the front and we 

rode to our citas! hahaha

so hmm this week. what a week! i feel like i say that every week but holy camoly this transfer flewww by. we start new onestomorrow. still here with hma carlson so ya! :)

imma start by talking bout da investigatores!! 

we found a new one this week her name is gabriel and is soo awesome! she loves her family and wants unity in her family so we will be applying every principle back to families and jesus christ, because really families are eternal and can have unity and a strong foundation with the gospel. so yeaH SHE is awesome!

lucila! she is still progressing and has very strong desires to be baptized. this week we only saw her 2x and taught dia de reposo and just like a pass by, she is stressed with school and friends but we told her she needs to be an example. shes 13 and her friends are beginning to make bad desicions but we told her that she can resist the temptation when she stays close to god. so yeah this week we will try to teach her whole family.! :)

jose! he is just a man of miracles. so he is still going so strong woth the whole smoking thing and will probably cut all the cigarettes out on this saturday! we moved his date to the 20 of september because sometimes the guy he cares for tries to kill himself so he needs to make sure hes okay before he comes to church but yeah! he is so awesome and shared the gospel with the guy. jose also talked about it with his family and everyone has told him it must be something good because he has changed so much. it is such a miracle and is so wonderful to see how powerful the love of god is and how it changes lives. this gospel truly can change lives! 

i will wait to tell you about the other inv because they arent progressing too much and we barely see people more than 1 a week besides these ones but we are finding alot of people and weve been very specific in our prayers to find a family of 5 who is married. and the lord is totally guiding us. we just got to keep being diligent and worthy to know where to go and such so yeah! its pretty great!

this is the trash system here haha

a weird experience...

earlier this week we were visiting a less active. she was getting really exciting..in a bad way and as she was telling us how she is now catholic, she collapsed and had a drop siezure, we were outside so we knocked on the door, her daughter came and we carried her inside her house (if you could call it a house) we gave her perfume and everything, i checked her pulse and it was so rapid but she was breathing, we put a cold cloth and about 5 minutes later she woke up...it was really scary and we didnt know much of what to do, we thought she just died..it was so scary! but shes okay. but i gotta say, ive seen some poor house but this was probably the most poor house i had been in. there were holes in the brick walls, and the doors were pieces of tin held in place by shovels. the floor was uneven dirt and the roof was old wood. they had 3 chairs for the 5 people that lived there, im just describing a little, parents, it was really heartbreaking to see. the daughter who was helping her mom wake up was also making lunch and preparing her kids for school, it was so crazy to see and really was a moment i dont think i will forget. usually im comfortable in poor houses but it was so hard to see this one. we are so lucky and blessed to have what we have in the states. i took so much for granted before but never again. really we are blessed beyond measure. 

so funny!!!!

this isnt funny for me but it was fun for hma carlson and im sure you will enjoy it too. we were tracting one day when i felt something warm on my leg, it was a really hot day so at first i didnt think much about it, and then it kept going so i looked down. and well needless to say i am now marked territory of a scrwny dirty dog. yep. i was peed on. but dont worry about me, i still respect myself and have my dignity and will never let that happen again. 

spiritual!

so this week for sunday we had a stake conference in santa fe! two elders from the 70 spoke and also pres zanni and his wife. it was great! i want to share what elder zanni spoke on. he gave an analogy that is so awesome! it is called la Guia Para Salvacion. (GPS.) so use your imagination. we are in a car driving towards our salvacion. in order to get there safely we have many things to help us. our car is the church. we have the lines in the road to make sure we dont cross over the line into the oncoming traffic. the commandments. we have our seatbelt, the security the gospel gives us. we have the steering wheel, our agency, and we choose where we are going to go. and lastly we have our gps. the holy ghost. it is one of the clearest tools we have to help us arrive at salvation in safety. i love moroni 10:5, and by the spirit you shall know the truth of all things. the spirit will tell us what we need to do, or go in order to receive eternal life. this is the goal and we should always live worthy of this gift that is given to us! 

tambien here is a few scriptures i found while doing a study on valience (my new favorite word) ezra 10:4; 2 timothy 1:7-9; dyc 3:7, 30:11, 136:7.

never be afriad of man (or woman) we have the lord with us and he will support us when we live for his cause! i hope everyone has a wonderful week! un gran braso para todos!!!

xoxoxo

hermana sanders

last weeks special pday, playing padle 

a grapefruit!

missed our bus back from district meeting. look at my legs!! so clear woohoo!!!!!!!!

taking model pix while waiting for a member to accompany us to a lesson! lol

bread and soda. my two biggest nonos before the mission haha 

eating ice cream, my flavors, chocolate with rocher, and a white chocolate cheesecake

helmets and heat

us with emilse!

the 4 from esperanza! 

elder ferney, he knows the green family and says hi!

before... 

...and after of the ice box i cleaned yes. for cleaning day.

"Attitude is everything (my motto for lyfe)" (August 19, 2014)

** Jessica said that yesterday was a holiday and the cyber cafes were closed. The cyber cafe she used today didn't allow her to attach pictures...so sad!**

crazy crazy week....not really but this is the week! so monday we had another special pday! we played a thing called padle which is like tennis but smaller and more fun! i was paired up with the zone leader and we dominated and won undefeated!!!!! haha and afterwards we got ice cream and had the zone meeting. it was a fun day!

tuesday-nothing worth mentioning

wedensday- nothing again just contacting

thursday- the mission president came to esperanza to have interviews with us! and let me just say he is the craziest most inspired man i have ever known! we had 4 interviews 1 each and then he talked to all of us. he basically gave us the recipe of being a successful missionary. his vision for the mission is to have 1 baptism every week every companionship. and with faith, diligence, patience and work! we can do it! after a wonderful little workshop, he bore his testimony. he is so sincere and heartfelt in everything! he blew our minds with all of this, and then he just left! the spirit of the room was so strong and there is no doubt in anyones mind, he is inspired holy crap! haha

friday- after having this awesome pump up to work! both hermana carlson and i got awfully sick. body aches, chills, heat flashes, sore throat and lack of an appetite. we got meds and stayed in the whole day just sleeping and studying.

saturday- still awfully sick and not able to work again. had a lesson in the morning and then returned home exhausted. did nothing hma carlson cried and yeahhhhhh

sunday-we get to church, hma carlson is better but im getting worse, almost didnt make it through church but we did because we asked for priesthood blessings. so after church we got blessings. hma carlson for comfort and me for my health. well i was blessed to be healthy and i felt the power of the priesthood in my body. i felt stronger. we went home took a nap and worked in the night. and now its as if i never was sick. it is so real the priesthood and such heavenly power. im so grateful that god has restored this power on the earth and that we have it to the blessing of us and our families!!! such a gift!

parents. in my blessing for health he said strength in my bones and muscles so that i could perform the duties that are required of me to complete the mission. cool yeah! also for peace and happiness.

so i can testify of the power of the priesthood! stories of signifigance! on tuesday we had a lesson with our 13 yr old investigator lucila. her mom is the lady that callled a remis(type of taxi) for me when i first got here ya know? well we had a lesson with her that was awesome! we were just talking. she really has a desire to be baptized in the right church.  lucila wants to find the right church and when she does she will be baptized. she told us she knows we are representatives of jesus christ and that we have been placed in her path to present his words to her. she knows it is true and she just needs the permission of her parents! so lets pray that a miracle happens!

so jose!!!! the guy who is older, is very scary looking but super sweet? well he has a baptismal date and we had such a miracle with him! after the last lesson with him we felt really hopeful that things would happen with him. well we went to him last night with a couple and their son to teach him the word of wisdom. when we first got there, he had put on nicer clothes, combed his hair and put on cologne! we started talking to him and he was saying since he has been reading the book of mormon he has had more energy, smoked less and now has desires to live his life! also that he had told his family about the church and they were interested! the family came and he connected so well with the dad. we presented the word of wisdom. the guy who was with us had to quit smoking to be baptized and he shared his experience. after we made a plan with him to quit smoking and he belñieves it is possible. he is coming to the activities now to know the members and will come to stake conference in santa fe this weekend! such a miracle!

so funny!!!! this week we were proposed too! by an atheist whom after we bore testimonies to and he said he would pray to find out if god exists haha and ugh, we were in a lesson with a member and a reference. her drunk cousin pulled up a chair next to me and stared at me and saying im such a muñeca (doll) over and over, that he didnt know girls could look like me and then he asked me to pinch him if this was real life....i didnt hah and as we were leaving he tried to kiss me! but i was like "solo el mano solo el mano!!" and so he kissed my hand. he called after us calling us angels and asking if he could wash our feet. hahaha so thats that.

spiritual! as if you dont get enough of this at church im gonna talk about member missionary work. while i was sick i was studying and i kept on coming back to the fact that, we are members and it is our duty to do missionary work. we are told time and time again that every member is a missionary. well this is so true. full time missionarys dedicate 100 percent of their time to the work but members should dedicate all the time they can to do the work. "the missionaries are there to help the members with their missionary work, not vise versa" i love in d and c 123 v. 7-12, it says it is our duty to preach even though we will be rejected! it still is our duty. and v 13-14. we should spend as much time in our lives as we can to serving with the missionaries. i challenge everyone who reads this to call the missionaries in your ward and arrange a time with them where you can go out with them. even if it is just tracting. ask if there are inv to visit yourself, or less actives that need friendshipping. in the end these are our brothers and sisters and nothing..i mean nothing is more important than this., not sewing or going on a run. if you have 1 hr or 5 spend it helping build up gods kingdom on earth. and you will receive so many blessings you can even believe it! i know because i have. i am happier, and i have a purpose that is clear. i learn everyday and am constantly humbled and strengthened. i know all of us can and should do this. i love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!!!!

xoxoxo

hermana sanders

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox muah! hugs and yeahhh chao!

"Clowns, dogs, and torta" (August 11, 2014)

pues pues pues.

so este semana! fue un otro semana y no se cuando cosas van a empezar para nosotros pero todo estan en el tiempo del Señor. :)

so ill start with monday, we had another pday special with our district. they came to esperanza and we played at a beautiful park called leoncita. so that was fun, ill send a pic of it but it was fun, we returned to work the next day! well so this week.

we had an awesome lesson with vetiana about the plan of salvacion. before we even started the lesson she told us about a child she lost before birth. well we taught the lesson putting a stress on children are saved in christ and how she will see her baby again. the spirit was way strong and at the end of the lesson we invited her to baptism. without hesitating she said no, we asked her if she believed what we were teaching and she said yes but she will not get baptized because she is catholic. we asked if she would pray and she said no, so then she asked us if we had to stop coming by, and we looked at each other and then at her and said, well yeah if you arent even going to ask god we shouldnt stop by here all the time, it was sad and she started to cry, she said she believed but couldnt get baptized, we said that it was really sad for us too but we have a purpose while we are here and we cant spend time where we wont be fulfilling that purpose. it was said but so necesary, we still will pass by and say hi but just to see if shes reading and stuff. oph! and her mom is now meeting with the missionaries from the other area and so if she gets baptized vetiana should right? haha well we will see. it is always important to be a purpose minded missionary. even if you have to drop people you got to remind them of your purpose so they can have an understanding better of why you are there. well on a happier note!

a member that reminds me of abuela,
she comes out with us on lessons and rides her tricycle!

we had an awesome lesson with this guy jose (pocho) he is a scary looking man but is very sweet! we taught him the 1st lesson with a member named noris and it went really well. he received everything great and even accepted a fecha!!! he has a desire to know the truth and he seems really solid. so we will see what happens with that. we had another lesson with monica! it went okay, she didnt read so we read 3 nefi 11 1-14 with her and gave her the rest of the chp to read. she is better and will be able to start walking around soon enough so yeah! other than that we had some appt. but they all fell through and we contacted alot and talked alot of lessons at the door. pres zanni post the comps and the number of lessons they taught this week on the weekly letter so this week we had 25 lessons in total. each week we are getting better and hopefully we will be able to improve that number as well but also, hopefully we will be able to find news!!! well thats about the updates for this week!

funny

we were out walking and this guy on his bike just rode slow by us and said ooohhh divinasssss so slow and creepily, and he rode away, we started laughing and we said well thats a new one. hahaha well hmm we started saying the same things this week like saying the same things at the same time haha #compunity. haaahaha

when peoples beloved cats die, they skin it and
hang the fur, how special right? haha

spiritual! 

so this week i studied a little on integrity. well two days on it. and my understanding got wider and yeah...so we all know integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking. well in personal progress, integrity #3 or 4 i think, it has you look up all these examples of people having integrity. we read about esther and daniel, job, and others. in job i think 7:1-6 (no es seguro) he says he will die with his integrity. he knows God lives and loves him and despite all he is going through he will never deny that knowledge. having integrity is more than just telling the truth, it is standing up for it as well. i love joseph smiths example of integrity. he received the vision of god and jesus christ, followed the commands from them, restored the truth on the earth, and brought forth the book of mormon. until his death he never denied or wavered in his conviction of what he had seen. i hope we can all be like this and live to defend and stand for what we know is the truth. i know that as we do this we will be blessed with more convixtion and comfort from god that we are doing what is right and being faithful and true in our tesimonies.

hope you all have a wonderful week and i love you all!!!

oh and shout out to my dad. HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLD GUY ;)

xoxoxo

hermana sanders

special pday!

 haha a kid alan and his new puppy

eating like a latina, rice with eggs and mayo!

ASADO 

how the gauchos take care of their trash, they dig a hole and burn it.

talent show! one hermana dressed up as a clown and sang a song 

a kid dressed up as a dog and did dog tricks hahaha

Sunday night fun!

face masks!!!

Chicas de cascos!!! (August 8, 2014)

(Translation:"Girls with helmets!!!") 

so what to say this week.

compyyy 

i get why emails get shorter as missionaries have more time in the mission...haha but lets see what happened this week,

so we havent been able to see a couple of our inv. for a couple of weeks which is really sad but we did have a really good week. hma carlson and i broke the ice this week and are teaching in such unity, we just needed to trust eachother in the lessons more so weve been teaching much better and much more! what a blessing. :)

we have this one inv. named vetiana. she is hilarious and fun and has strong faith in god. but she is catholic, as is argentina, but we will still met with her for a few more times. everytime we go over she has a new friend so we meet alot of people haha well on friday we had a lesson and her daughter, friend, and her friends daughter was there. we taught a breif lessoin on how god is our loving heavenly father and how he has called profets. it was well received but after, we invited them to come to classes of english that we teach every friday, and they came! the daughters that is! so i think we will see them again and hope that well be able to teach them! the older one is 13 and is really receptive to the things we teach and the other one is 11 and so sweet! hahahmm

of dad, this is for you, we met a couple named adriana and marcelo. they are about 50 and so fun and energetic. they are kinda catholic but are willing to learn and change with faith :) well we were talking to them and getting to know them and come to find out that she is super intersted in family history and wants to learn how to use family search...and this is the moment that i regret not learning it at home haha but we will figure it out with her and yeah! her daughter is 25 and is studying to be an english teacher so we had a lesson with her in english also on friday! we will meet with her every week to help her with english and teach her the lessons hahaha her mom also is a baker and they want to have us for dinner and make tartas and churros for us!! haha

cardinal outside my window during studies

hmm una mas, we had a member lesson with a reference from the member yesterday. her name is monica, shes 35 and had a really bad accident and is bed ridden for 3 months, she has 5 kids and is single, well we met with her yesterday and it was a really powerful lesson. she is really receptive and seems like she is looking for more in her life. we talked about how much god loves and helps us with everything, at the end we sang "sweet hour of prayer". the spirit was really strong so we will see what happens with her, please pray that she will get better though por favor.

so to wrap up this week, we found a few cool new investigators and had really awesome lessons as a companionship.- 

funny! we were going door to door and found a j.w. she had been preaching for 16 years and just stopped because she is really old. well part of their rules is that they dont accept pictures of christ and they cant accept gifts. idk why....well we talked about the religion a little and how when we die we will have perfect bodies resurected, and it was cool, well we gave her a pass along card of jesus christ and we even gave her a BOOK OF MORMON. she will probably read it but right after that we walked across the street, knocked on the door and the guy who answered looked at us and said..no not interested, and then he double looked and said oh wait....what who are you? so we introduced oursleves. he apologized for being rude and said i just thought you were testigos...but youre not so ill listen...hahahaha oh and last night, so we have these neighbors who are catholic and are soooo sweet. they always tell us if we need anything, we have another family with them, so last night we needed flour for cookies and we went over there to ask for some, well they invited us in and ended up feeding us dinner and gave us milanesa a la pizza, and puree de papa! so wonderful, and they gave us a whole thing of flour and chocolte! jaja so -

pday last week!

spiritual-

this week will be alot more simple than last week, haha so today i decided i wanted to start personal progress again. it gives me something really productive to better my studies haha and it is an amazing program and ill do the 10 hour projects when i get home and get another medallion!! haha so i started with my favorite value, individual worth. really simply, we are all sons and daughters of god, and like our parents on this earth god loves us so much and we mean so much to him, each and every one of us. d y c 18:10. if ever we feel alone or that we dont mean very much to him, shut that idea out of your mind because he never forgets about us, he is always there and we just need to invite him into our lives. (the picture of christ at the door with no handle) well its a simple message but it means everything. and we have everything, the earth, our family and friends, and everything, because HE LOVES US. i really felt his love this week especially in my studies and i know that we can feel so close to him when we read the book of mormon, the words of the profets and our patriarchial blessing. we are of infinite worth to him. never forget that.

well!!!!!!! that is my week. i love you all so much and thank you for all that you do for me and my family. i feel the love!!!!!!! shoutout to grandma nydia for being a family history beast! i hope we can all follow her example and help in the work that we are here on earth in this day to do! muah!!

xoxoxo

hermana sanders

saying bye to hma haynes, there were emergency transfers

playing in a park during siesta

my first cake i made in this new oven.... hahahahaha

PERITOS!!!!!!! taaaannnnnn linda jaja

un chico de una familia menos activo 

no words for this picture

my board for the lesosn on the spirit! jaja

sleepover with cookies i made that didnt turn out like the cake!! 

 ps, the subject lines is what chicos yell at us at least 6 times aday. :)