Monday, February 29, 2016

"hot jam" (February 29, 2016)

so my companion is basically the funniest person ive met! shes always coming up with great one liners and anytime we see something funny we play caption that and she comes up with hilarious "memes" hahaha-for example- one time we saw a shirt that said "cool girls dont die" after a slight pause my compy said "um...motivation..?" hahaha so that explaions the caption. we were eating pb and rice cakes and she just said hot jam out of nowhere. haha
some pretty buildings here. in downtown!
so first week in parque urquiza down! our area is CENTRO. they have recently divided the area and we get the half that is all shopping basically so its basically really hard to find new people to teach. but we do have 1 investigator who is great!
melani has 17 years. she lives with her mom and her gma is visiting from peru! her gma has been a member for years and is super faithful but her mom has been inactive for 23 years so melani has never been to church. the sisters found her about 2 weeks ago but it has been hard to find her. well this past week we were able to teach her 3 times! she now has a baptismal date for the 26 of march. right before her gma goes back to peru. they are wonderful and she and her mom have already been to church 3 times! now they are reading and praying as a family everyday! we will pass by tonight and have a family home evening with them tonight! melani said her first prayer in public in church during young womens!!
celebrating my (gluten free) bday
my first lesson with them was pretty great. we spoke about faith and receiving answers. melani said she thought she didnt have enough faith to receive her answer..so we briefly taught how faith was simply knowing that god existed and that he loves us...we asked melani if she believed that and she said yes, well then you have faith! we invited her gma and mom to share their testimonies on faith her gma shared a beautiful testitmony on faith, and then her mom, even though she had been inactive for 23 years she bore a powerful testimony on faith and how she knows she needs to act with the faith she has to follow the commandments to get back to the prescence of God. i got chills in that moment. in the end of the lesson we kneeled and we taught melani how to pray. it has actually been a while since ive been able to hear an investigator pray for the first time. its one of the best moments of being a missionary. the spirit was so strong and we all were just so happy. im thankful i was able to share that moment with these daughters of God. :)

nightly planning sesh..with chocolate milk,
crochet and our planning glasses :) 
other than that its hard to find news so we have a very small teaching pool haha but we are being creative to find ways to find people. were going to "pull out all the stops" and just do everything we can to find news and have #noregretz haha our area is one of the prettiest in the mission becuase it is straight up downtown. we have the monument of the flag so i think next pday we are going to head over there. and just enjoy the shopping on pdays of course haha

well for my spiritual thought..we had to give a lesson in district meeting about finding faith to find news. during my studies while i was preparing i looked up stories of the missionaries of the book of mormon. i read about alma and amulek, nephi and lehi, abinadi, samuel the lamanite and enoc.(pearl of great price) and how each of them showed great faith, diligence, obedience, valience, and creativity. for example, after they kicked abidani out he dressed up as someone else and returned two years to preach until he was discovered again. haha well what really impressioned me was the story of enoc. he was "but a young lad" (at 65 years haha) anyways, when he was called of god to preach the gospel he expressed his fears and concerns, the Lord comforted him and blessed him with the spirit and spiritual strength. during his ministry, the people rejected him but with time they began to fear him for the power of the word of god which was in him. when he spoke they would tremble by the power of God. in time a few began to believe on his words and were converted by the spirit. they established zion and were lifted up to be with God. so i think it was pretty wonderful that He had the spirit so strong that the spirit that he carried with him was able to testify with such power and conviction that these people converted into life long faithful members. :) i just thought that was a cool story. 
bucket shower! its actually very water
efficient and not too bad! 
well love you all! have a wonderful week and make an extra effort to read the scriptures this week and have MEANINGFUL scripture study everyday.
xoxoxo
hna sanders





"one week of gluten free *check* " (February 23, 2016)

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHESπŸ‘‘
in the argentine ortho
im so happy to hear from you all! love you all and miss you all so much!
so first, sorry for not being able to write a letter last week. just in the mission life of hna sanders its normal for my days to be crazy haha well last monday in the morning my permanent retainer broke while eating an apple! so we had to rush to san nicolas early to get into an ortho so i didnt have much time to email! later that night the tummy doctor told me that im basically celiac so now we have to do more studies so thats what is going on in the life of me now. haha✌
oh and i got transferred! i had to say goodbye to hna lopez! im so happy i was able to finish her training! we became super good friends these past few weeks! im going to miss her alot! and now im in my last area! its called parque urquiza. its in downtown rosario so its the first time ill be in a city city in my mission! ive always had simple areas super safe and calm but its so exciting to be in a big city! so different so ill definitely be able to learn A TON. im with an hermana named hna ritchie! shes from michigan. im finishing training her so thats fun! i love training! she speaks spanish super well so thats AWESOME! im super excited to be in this area! itll be my first ward! like real ward haha 120 people come to church and all the callings are filled so im excited for sunday! 
i dont have too much to write for this week because i just started here but in terms of the people from ramallo all the new people we found are progressing! hna lopez and her new companion should defitnitely be able to see some success there! im going to miss it! it was a beautiful area and the pension was so big and pretty! haha the apartment here is nice too but it doesnt have windows, there are bats in the walls, and we shower with a bucket...ill send a pic next week. hahaha but my bed and pillow are super comfy!! 
its super hard to find new people to teach here because no one really lives here haha but last night we were contacting and we spoke to a chica, she was our age and in the end she gave us her direction to visit her! well we looked up the street and it doesnt exist! haha but it doesnt matter there are other people we will find to teach!
so for my spiritual thought...my last sunday in ramallo was great! before church started pte gianeli (the branch pres) invited us into his office. he thanked me for my work there saying how grateful he was. maybe i wasnt able to see much success but he told me i helped change the attitude of the branch and the reactivating a family was very important. he then asked me to give a 15 min talk hahahahaha so i spoke about endure to the end. 
the most important part of the gospel of jesus christ is endure to the end. this means we keep our covenants and move forward always with faith, repenting, and being guided by the holy spirit. i shared 2 tim 2:3 "thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of jesus christ" this is one of my favorites. enduring, or persevering to the end means we will face trials and tests, temptations of every kind in our lives but we endure them. we are attacked every day but as long as we stay strong in the faith, keeping the commandments, honoring our covenants and moving forward, we will make it to the end when we will return to the presence of our loving heavenly father.
the next email will be more detailed becuase ill have more to write! but thats about it for today. thank you for all your prayers. i love you all so much!!
xoxoxo
hna sanders
My friend Hna. Kraft, we played make-up with
pink lipstick haha! with my  birthday pkg
last time at the beach in ramallo
making cookies with flia leguizamon
Received my birthday package ON my actual birthday!
(Feb. 22) Miracle!! (Mom sent it Jan 15
)
saying bye to fam tevez 
Things we have to do to turn on Argentine ovens

Monday, February 8, 2016

"the week of finding news" (February 8, 2016)

doing ciber in the capilla. with my sisters!
yay we could work this week!
so this week was actually pretty great! we were able to do many wonderful things and actually work.
we found about 20 new investigators this week and spoke to more than 70 people in the street. in our mission right now my president want each missionary to speak to 10 people everyday. 20 each companionship so we have been doing that this past week. and really weve found so many wonderful people who have real questions. we will go back to visit them this week and if the progress ill mention them next week!
so monday was great
tuesday we had district meeting. well there is this elder in my district that loves to sings and has a great bass voice. hes from texas. is trainer is my district leader and during the meeting my district leader says "and now we will hear a musical number from elder magby and hna sanders. nearer my god to thee." i had no flipping idea so we stood up, and some of the other elders took out their cameras and recorded. it wouldve been fine but elder magby picked a note too high! so when it was my turn to sing i had to use my choir voice! it was fine but i was lacking air because i was nervous! i havent sung in front of people for so long!! and as a duet was just weird but whatever it was funny i guess! 
wednesday we went to san nicolas and stayed with the hnas. we did divisions with them becuase i had a doctors appt. the doc thinks im celiac but it could be just inflamation or something..idk but ill let you know next week. but it was fun! one of the hnas is hna kraft. shes just starting out but shes already a great missionary!
thursday we get back to our area and we decide to just contact people. we found 3 couples who are married!!! (never happens) haha and other people who are great!
friday we also found many new people
saturday the same thing but we missed the bus on our way to corealtion meeting and had to take a taxi. oops! 

sunday....oof. well this last week the relief society president decided to go inactive and the whole hour of relief society was spent gossiping about her. we felt really uncomfortable. one less active who is reactivating was there and her face was just blank and annoyed the whole time. haha and an investigator from the elders was their and just kept staring at us haha and well about half way through i was getting really uncomfortable and well we all know i cant hide my emotions really well so i just was looking out the window so no one saw my face. i was just like that until i felt "someone has to have the courage to say this isnt right" so i took a deep breath, put on a smile and rose my hand high. i just said clearly and loud so everyone could hear "we shouldnt speak about other people here. we come to church to learn how we can follow christ so we should only talk about Him and how we can walk in His ways. gossiping isnt how we draw closer to him. so let us focus on him and his love." well the last ten minutes was spent talking about the parable of the lost sheep. some mentioned a few more comments but whatever. one thing ive learned is never fear to say the things that the spirit tells you to say. sometimes the truth is hard to hear but it is necessary. :)
my old-battle wounded bag
so that was my week in a nutshell. it felt wonderful to be back on my feet and be able to walk well! the bugs are insane here but its okay. im so flipping happy. my companion also is growing so much. its been a wonderful time being with her and being able to see all her growth in this short time and see how she has taught me and how ive become better because of her! 
also i got  a new bag to proselite (sp?) my old one got so messed up haha but the new one i got is exactly the same hahaha but it looks newer and isnt destroyed!

well this week i was just feeling so much gratitude to be able to be here. i love walking all day in the crazy hot heat of argentina. speaking spanish and meeting all kinds of people who need spiritual help. 
this morning i focused my study on the story of christ and his atonement. i read in matthew mark luke and john. but one thing that ive never noticed before is in luke
 54 ¶Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off. 55 And when they had kindled fire ithe midst of the halland were set down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 But certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, Thiman was also with him. 57 Anhe denied him, saying, Womanknow him not. 58 And after little while another saw him, and said,Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, am not. 59 And about the space oone hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of truth this fellow also was withim: for he is Galilean. 6And Peter said, Man, know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.
 61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
62 And Peter went out, and wepbitterly.
after he denies Him the 3rd time the lord looks on him. just imagine what kind of look and emotion the lord was feeling. the only apostle who followed him yet who denied ever knowing him. would it be a look of betrayel, of annoyance or the "i told you so" look...no. i imagine the savior just looked at him with a longful sadness. pain and love for peter. but peter knowing this probably just felt awful. knowing he had fulfilled this prophecy. not being able to have done better and because of the disappointment he wept bitterly. i thought about how i want the savior to look at me. i want to be bold and tell everyone that i know Him. that He is my King and my Savior. i do not want to shrink at opposition but stand up to it so that when the lord looks down on me he smiles with the smile of a longtime friend who is happy to know i love him. 
if we make mistakes and dont always say the things we should or do the things we should, think about what happened next with peter. He cries, repents, gets over it and then leads the church and is persecuted until the end of his life. so when we mess up we should just repent quickly and do our best to make up for what we couldnt do. Christ will help us on our journey to true discipleship. just trust in Him. 
well thats my thoughts for this week. love you all!
xoxoxo
hna sanders
 
the half of a large spider friend. weve found like 10 of these...
all different colors but normally about half the size of my palm. #argentinesummer


Friday, February 5, 2016

"Spiders!? Why couldn't it have been 'follow the butterflies!'" (February 1, 2016)


what a week! im so thankful for the members here in ramallo. at the beginning is was a little iffy but we now have a great relationship with the members here. and let me tell you why!
sickday funday
the week started out fine. i was still getting over a sickness but on tuesday i got super strong pains where my appendix is. we ran to the hospital. we have a member named monica tevez (recently reactivated) to come with us. and she helped us. turns out it wasnt appendicitis so we slept well. i woke up with the same pains and well long story short and after 3 ultra sounds, two blood samples a trip to rosario to be with hna zanni etc, i still didnt have appendicitis but my intestines are so swollen they cant see anything else besides random fluids hanging out in my tummy. on wednesday im going to see a gastrointerologist. so i was sick again this week in bed until yesturday. πŸ™ƒ naturally all of the members found out what had happened and on sunday everyone was asking me if i was okay. they prayed for me especifically to be able to finish my mission. an investigador of the elders whos getting baptized this month made me cupcakes!! and another family gave me cookies for celiacs and other chocolates! so that was really nice! soon we will know whats really wrong with me but until then i have to watch my diet super carefully. im pretty sure i lost like 5 pounds this week just becuase i wasnt able to eat hahaha
goodies from the good
members in ramallo
my companion during this whole time has been wonderful and patient and understanding. weve become pretty close in these last weeks and im super grateful for her!! 

well needless to say we didnt have much time to work but we found a new family!! theyre evangelist. a father (walter) and his daughter (valentina). we had an hour long conversation on the restoration. they had tons of questions and we were able to have a wonderful talk with them. they promised to read the book of mormon and seemed pretty excited to do it! other than that, when we could work we mainly tried to find new people to teach and visited less actives.
so that was my week! the second week sick was pretty rough in terms of trying to stay focused and all and i got pretty frustrated. its just times like these you have to change your perspective and come to terms with the facts. accept what is happening and be patient and have faith.
relaxing with face masks
i strengthened my love for the book of mormon this week. honestly each time i was getting too frustrated i opened up the book and started to read and it made me feel so much better. the power of the word of god really can help you feel better. people here say all the time they only read the book of mormon and bible when they feel peace. i say no! you have to read the book of mormon and bible in all the times of our lives especially when we feel awful and angry. why? because it has the power to plant a change in our hearts to help us come closer to christ!! so read the scriptures in every moment. los buenos y malos! the good and the bad!! 

okay so the title is that because we were studying one day and i looked up and saw a HUGE spider on the wall right next to hna lopzs head! i gasped and stood up and just pointed saying "puh puh...ar ar araΓ±a!!!" and she flipped out! then we both remembered harry potter #2 when ron says "why couldnt it have been follow the butterflies" hahahaha

well my spiitual thought this week is helaman 5:9-11
9 O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea,remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.
10 And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah;for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.
11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.
i just love these so much and it made me feel loved to know god provided a way for me to return to him and be saved which is repentance. i hope you like these too. πŸ˜Š
well thats it for the week. hopefully ill more to write about the work and not just my own problems haha. well i love you so much!! 
xoxoxo
hna sanders

all the mosquitos in the night