"The quest for Oreos" (July 28, 2015)

yay for anohter week here in the opposite end of the world althought seriously it doenst see, like im so far away...weird. haha well this week we began to see sparks of success! we werent able to see mery (the inv from the dominacan republic) but we did contact some referencias that were great and we did find some new families to teach!

first, family oviedo. a reference from a 15 year old member. her boy toy and family. we just contacted them but idk, i think theres alotof prmise. 

while we were looking for an old inv, we found a lady named cintia and her two sons. theyre evangelistas buttttttt when we talked about the restoration she looked at us like ¨man, i knew this already" it was so cool! 

and finally, we were looking for an inactive member, and when we knocked on the door, a girl answered, i started by saying, is there an eva that lives here, and she responded to me in english and said no she hasnt lived here since february! and we started to speak in english, she invited us in and we got to know her a bit. we taught a bit about how god is real and he knows her and loves her (she grew up catholic but did everything because of obligation) and she said she always knew god and had a realtionship with him but never had the time to research religion. we said well thats why we were led to your door, to help you research and find the truth. so we have an appt with her this thursday. her name in gisela!

well other than that we did alot of teaching to less active, capacitando familias to teach the lessons, and looking for our inv but not being able to find them. haha! mas que eso, no mucho.

oh!!!!!! wait. on tuesday we had an activity for all the hermanas! we had a lesson from hna zanni and then we did yoga, ate chorizo and hung out. it was a special pday. i got to see hna shotwell and it was literally the best.

transfers this week...hna valencia and i stay together!!! woohoo! i love this area seriously and i love my compy. my little peruvian <3

okay funny.....this week we ran out of money becuase of al the traveling we had to do so we didnt have money to buy a ton of food. well on thursday we were craving oreos...like crazyyyyyy and we had 50 pesos (we thought) on our card. well we went to carrefour a spuermarket like walmart. we went and grabbed a bag of oreos, our mouths salivating for the prospect of the oreos. whe the chica ran our card, it said insufficient funds...we had her try two more times but the same thing happened. we were so confused because we knw we had 50! well we went back into the store and bought a less expensive thing of oreos....the same thing happened! so without our oreos we left carrefour. the next day we were in the house of the martin family and we told them what happened. one of the sons left and came bach with two bags of oreos for the two of us! and she gave us milanesa for dinner. i almost cried becuase of the love the members have for us in order to go and buy two chicas oreos! theyre the best.

spiritual. this week the song wide enough by david osmond has been stuck in my head. on of the things he says is "is there room enough in his love for me" in 3 nephi 9:14, christ says that is arms of mercy are extnded to everyone who comes to him. so yes there is plenty of room in his for every one of us as long as we come back to him. and like the father of the prodigal son, when he sees us coming, he will run to us and meet us to give us a big hug and kiss. i cant wait for the day when i can hug my heavenly father when i come back to him. i hope we all can remember this and never feel like we cant make it back to him. we can. he loves us and is waiting for us to come back to him. his arms are extended and ready to recieve us. :)

i love you all soooo much. have a great week!

love hermana sanders

"Feliz dia del amigo" (July 20, 2015)

pday!

wow! this week flew by! its a good sign of now im finally getting used to being a missonary again! on monday after i wrote you guys, we had special pday with the zone. we just played games and took random pictures! i have some friends from my old zones here so its fun to see them again. well here to talk about an investiagtor! her name in mery, she is 15 years old and her family moved here from the dominican republic! she is an old inv butwe are trying to work with her again. her older sister just moved here to live with them and she has more potential than mery, shes 18 and has a little girl but the girl lives with her father in DR...were not sure of the full story but were going to talk about families and how the restortation blesses families! 

at church on sunday, it was branch conference and we had 71 people at church! alot of the less actives we visit made it! it was great! so basically we were working with a ton of less actives. but this week we are going to put a little more focus on finding people to teach because as of right now we only have 2 inv...and they are sisters which is great but we just need more people to teach and well, we know there are more poeple here who need the gospel!

one thing we are doing that is cool though is teaching 3 families the 5 lessons and helping them to be able to teach the new member lessons!

fun fact, in the winter, every person you visit as a missionary, either member or not, gives you hot chocolate...and let me tell you these argentines know how to make up some bomb hot chocolate!

well ffam bam thats about it for this week.

funny! hna valencia and i were the first to arrive for district meeting so we set up the room and put baby chairs for the elders to sit haha...also one of the games from pday was an egg toss, i was wearing my jeans and when it was my turn to catch the egg is cracked alllllll over my pants hahaha also idk if i said this last week but when we were visiting less active sisters...they are both like 100 years old, i was saying the closing prayer and i meant to say "por favor bendice a las que moran aqui con el espiritu" (bless those who live here with the spirit) but i said "bendice a las que mueran aqiu" which means bless those who die here....hahahahahaaha que verguenza but they didnt hear because theyre so old haha but i died and so did my comp!

the hnas are my comp, form peru, the dark taller one is from brazil
and the other one is from chile! haha so cool i love being the only yankee lol

spiritual! today i studied alot about the plan of salvation. first of all i know that we truly did have a close relationship with our heavenly father in the pre mortal existance. we spoke with him, hung out with him, and laughed with him just as we do with our earthly father. because he loves us he sent us here to gain experience and to mature into who he needs us to be. while we are here though we have our agency or ability to choose for ourselves, good or evil. in the end, we are going to answer for our own lives and our own sins that havent been taken care of. all im suggesting is that we choose today the path that God wants for us. there are two choices, 100 percent obedience, or not. we cant return to live with him if it isnt 100 percent. so put 100 percent of yourslef in the gospel. dedicate your self to him so you can return to him. 2 Nephi 2: 22-28

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. congrats on joe for getting married!! so exciting. also can someone please tell me where rachel is going for her mission?? thanks

love 

me! hna sandersszz

(July 13, 2015)

okay welllll this week was mas o menos!! i got sick!ª go figure. it was like a cold but super bad. the humidity affected my lungs pretty bad. i couldnt breathe well and had the cough from hell. so we mainly stayed in the apart because it was so cold and every time i left it got worse!

Jessica and Valencia with Martin family
for Family Home Evening.

but when i did go out it was great! i freaking love the members here. there is this one family , the martins. theyre converted like 10 years ago i think the have 5 kids from 17 years to 5. anyway they are like our family here in venado tuerto! but seriously every family seems to be so great! the martins brought lunch to the apart on Saturday becuase i couldnt leave! so sweet! we had a family home evening with them on monday. hna valencia shared a story about a girl who went inactive and when she came back had to deal with her consequences. how hard it was to come back but also the strength she received as she did come back! it touched every ones hearts and we were all crying. but after we played the funnest game and i suggest everyone play this in one family home evening. its called the tower. so you have a plastic bottle, could be like a normal sized water bottle. and a box of matches, or even toothpicks. you have to lay them on the bottle and build your tower but if you place a stick and it falls, someone has to draw on your face with lipstic! hahaha i have pics. its so fun. 

we mostly met with less actives and spoke about the importance of the sabbath day so thats good! oh! hha so rememebr how i was in pergamino? well now the sister training leaders are there. we had divisions on Thursday and valencia and i had to go there. hahah i was so nervous about the cckroaches but it was like a whole new apart. so clean luckily! i was with the nurse of the mission who is so great and we went and visited some more less actives but then we had dinner with one of the families i knew...they remembered me and were very happy to see me! they said they were sad when i left! haha it made me feel alot better. 

1. Sign from Pergamino STL's "Hi beautiful...make me milk!"2. Friendly prank from Pergamino STL's3. Hna. Valencia, Pergamino STL's, and Jessica

okay spiritual!!! i want to talk about prayer! here is something i wrote during studies. we have a grand divine potencial as children of God. as his sons and daughters, he will never leave us to be lonely. he will always be there to give us guidance, comfort, and love. he will answer our prayers and administer to our needs if they are righteous. okay and here are some scriptures. dyc 8:10. dyc 19:28. pray vocally! it might feel weird at first but after you start, you will rally feel as if you are having a conversation with our father in heaven.

IM HEALTHY NOW so this week ill have more things to write hahaha just know hna valencia is the best cook of my life haha except for you mom. ;) and i will have many funny videos to put on facebook when i get home. haha okay love you with all my heart everyone. keep in touch! 

loveeeeee hna sanders 2.0

"say shama shama. (Se llama llama???)" (July 6, 2015)

Jessica and Hermana V. at their apartment in Venado Tuerto

the subject is in reference to me talking about llamas. hahaha

WHAT A WEEK. my goodness. soooo for 

ya´ll who dont know, i was on my way to newport to visit a friend on wednesday when i get a call from my dad saying i needed to turn around because they called and said i could go back to the mission and my president wanted mye to leave that nihgt....so in shock, i turned around came home packed and then left thursday morning! sooooo

here i am! after like 30 hours or so of travel i made it to rosario and was able to visit my aunt monica who lives right close to the mission home! we spoke and she ordered pizzas and so we stayed for dinner! 

Jessica and cousin Monica...finally we got to meet!

it was so nice. when i finally arrived in my area the next day (saturday) we went to a members house for an asado and ice cream!!!! then we had to return to the apartment at 5. there was a big game for argentine soccer and pres. zanni didnt want to hermanas outside, so i had a nice long time to unpack!! while i was unpacking i discovered i forgot sheets and tights for the cold! hahaha so im going to having to buy sheet (15 dollars) and tights which shouldnt be too expensive. but i guess this is what happens when you have to pack like a mad woman! haha ah whatever. sooooo

sunday!! we have the best branch of 70 people. really it shouldbe a ward but the stake is just a district so it cant be a ward. haha but its so fun! the members are so funny and welcoming. thankfully my spanish is coming back super light speed fast! it helps having a latina companion and all we speak is spanish! i already think in spanish again! im getting lots of help. (cue pointer finger signaling upwards with smirk) haha

in terms of investigators...we have about 0. haha but were going to find them! 

the mission is very different but it runs more smoothly and i see why he changed so many things i freaking love it! welllll it was a mildly short week

oh! so the memebers feed us everyday here hahahso im gonna get fat. but we only bought healthy foods and i havent had one piece of chocolate yet! i know that once i have one itll be harder to resist hahaha

okay so funny moment ! my subject line...so hna (Hermana/sister) valencia and i were talking about animal...practivcing spanish, and i said llama (shama) thats how its pronounced. she laughed at me and i said what? its called llama right? but it spanish it sounded like K? se shama shama verdad?  and we laughed so hard just because it sounded hilarious! so now its a joke. i freaking love this area, and my companion and the memebrs here its insane! in terms of spiritual things here is just a thought.

we cannot do and live this life alone. yes we are strong but we need the savior to help us and to give us the strength to continue on. we cant do what is required of us. no way! without the help of the lord. so just remember that. we are weak but we are made strong in christ. we are nothing but with christ we are everything. i love you guys and im so happy and thankful im back here.

con mucho amor

hermana sanders 2.0

Oscar (friend of Monica), Monica, me, and Monica's son, Benjamin. 

with Hermana Valencia (from Peru) at my cousin Monica's house in Rosario

Back Again...

Off she goes...

"Navidad.mormon.org" (December 1, 2014)

SHARE IT. 

the church has a special program called, he is the gift. or el es la dadiva. it really is just a cute little video that makes us remember the true meaning of CHRISTmas. ,) well its a huge deal here as missionrys. its a missionary oppurtunity as weel for every single member. so all you have to do as members or as believers in christ is go on the site, and share it for facebook, twitter, insta, pinterest, redit, everywhere you can think of. #sharethegift. i love it. 

so this week we started this inicitice thing, basically instead of going from door to door to talk about the restoration we will be solamente testificando de cristo y su nacimiento y la expiacion! estamos emocionadas! welp! 

this week

http://www.mormon.org/Christmas

................

bugs

cockroahes

mold

heat

then super freezing for no reason

RAIN

tornados

investigators dropping us

crzy weather

geting sick again because my comp likes to sleep with the window open when its freezing (but its ok bcuz i do too but it was a little too cold)

these are a few of my favorite things.....

haha so yeha. my keyboard doesnt work realy well so gforive the typing errors more than usual.

we contacted alot this week.

but hey! we got to have counsil meeting por fin! we got a mission plan for the ward and talked about many good things. we finally re gaining the trust of the ward. bishop said that the hnas will have a harder time because the past few havent worked really. (which is relfected in the state of the area book and the uncleanliness of the apart) kind of disppointing but now we are here improving thing all at the same time because there is no time to just do one thing at a time, nope. mutitasking, thts why we are women. haha

so yeh. we are all super excited about this new program,. it is from the first presidency so we know it is so inspired. we will enter in more houses and spread this message and christmas spirit much more this way. but everyone has a part to play in this. WE NEED YOU TO SHARE THIS WEBSITE ON EVERY SOCIAL NETWORK YOU HAVE. share share share. what is a better christmjas gift then tht of helping omeone acercarse a cristo. i know he came to save ys, not to judge us. he loved each and everyone of us so lets show him our love by sharuing this love.- :) i love you all! and dont forget the bugs`pray!

funny!

on fridady it decided to storm. we were teaching n hombre outside of his house when all of a sudden the winds kicked up. the strongest ive felt in my life. rocks were flying and other things i dont know, well we told the guy we needed to go and find shelter. so we started running towards the church. i was thinking of esmeralda from hunchback yelling "sanctuary" haha but yeah, on oyur wy we ran into an inv, we went into her house to teach her and hopefully pass the wind strm, well as we finished teaching her, the rain and lighting storm began. so as its pouring, we are running, with lightning and thunder. we couldnt see really well and after a little bit realized we ran way pst the church, so we had to get back...haha wellwe were SOAKED! it awsas insane! hasha we waited for a ittle bit and then went home and changed into wterproof things. haha

spiritual!

this week i just want all of you to visit this site and SHRE IT. discover, accept, share. descubrir,recibir,compartir. i know god so loved us so he sent his son. this christmas season let us show our apprecian of this gift by the way we live and our love for fellow men. love you all!!!!!!!!!!

muah!

hermana sanders

dad- we get fed 3 times a week but soon more becuause th members are beginning to like us more, haha the bishop invited us over for an asado. we get along great my comp. she is still a very new missionary but hay que tener paciencia. haha but really shes so awesome if anything im a hard comp for her cuz im a lot more strict than her trainer. she didnt know alot of rules so its  little weir but im not mean about it so yeah haha

mom-didnt see monica but probaby soon. probably tonight we will go to the lombardos to give the email of gma but we will this week for sure! i love them so muh. that is probs another reason the ward likes us...haha we see the zone liders almost everday which is really fun. and about the weding stuff, it totes doesnt make me sad, quite the contrary!!! im so excited. this weding dress seacrh will take years knowing emily. send pic! keep them coming hahaha. i love you guiys so much! alo! i recieved all the letters and cddss and love from you guys! thanks so much! lñove the pic! totes miss reagan haha but so cute! keep it coming. also the janice kapp perry cds are good and all but super cxheesy missionary hahahaaaaaaaaa so yeah but im super excited abouit the fmily xmas cd. all the girls love it too!"! :) anywys! i love you all tons! :) muah!!!

"Bugs." (November 24, 2014)

is there anything else to say about this week? 

bugs

anyways. so pergamino. its nice. my area is the center and center of everything. its smack dab center of the city and we have all the shopping, tourist sites and ya...completely different than my last areas. but its super pretty, definitly cooler, and we have a real church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my companion is of las vegas has 20 years and speaks almost perfectly. she took 4 years of spanish haha. im the senior comp again here cuz she just started in july 16 so is pretty new. is so awesome and fun and we get along great. the first few days i was a little stressed because of the new area and having to lead it, but also there were alot of things that need fixing here so i got some work cut out for me. so the apartment....

spider in the lovely apt here in pergamino....

im so lucky ive been in 2 nice apt so i am not going to complain too bad but....its infested by cockroaches, there is mold all over, and theres just all these intersting bugs everywhere. but yeah. since ive been here we are now in the process of looking for a new apt and hopefully will be able to move out soon. if not i am asking for 2 days to do a good cleaning because the hmas who lived here before did nothing it seems. its gross. so thats good....not haha

the ward. 56 people came to church. apparently we havent had ward council in years but this sunday we organized it and will have it thursday. theres ton of disunity but i think hma bowler and i will be able to really turn things around here. we are in the same ward as the zone leaders so together we can really help this barrio work.

as far as inv go we really just have 1 progressing right now. her name is joana and this week we programmed her. shes young and has many good questions. but we are going to just do a good sweep of inv and start really from scratch. its almost like a white wash even though bowler has been here for 2 transfers but its what this area needs. haha

we share the apt with 2 other girls. hna haynes from idaho (who was in esperanza with me for a little bit) and hna valencia from peru! so its fun. 

the girls haha

umm yeah. so we went to visit the patriarch. we were visiting and said a little background about me. i said how gma is from here and served a mission. the patriarch said, do you live in san fernando valley? i said yes, and he said is your grandparents names nydia and bill? i said yes. he said. gma and him were set apart as missionaries the same day and then later in 1980, him and his wife visited them and received their endowments and were sealed in the LA temple. they remembered of my mom haha so i just kind of cried a little becuase it was so special. they have a pic of them with my gma in their living room :) it was so special.!! 

the lombardes...friends of gma and gpa rasmussen :)

so funny. the hermanas found a huge bug of some kind and brought home. we named it pucameni like in the ldm. haha well then we had a foto shoot with it of course and yeah. we kept it but it died the next day. haha

the city of Pergamino!

spiritual. job 19:33-35 i think....i love these verses. i hope we can all be closer to our savior and depend on him. he is our redeemer and as long as we look to him in times of trouble, he will life us up so we can overcome all. 

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

besitos!

hermana sanders

dad. i get fed 4 times a week. its fun having a ward but tons of work to do here. love ya

mom. 

the secretary and his comp are visiting with monica. hna bowler will have tramites soon and we will arrange a time through them where i can come and visit her. its totally gonna happen within the next few days i think :) moberly is home.haha love you tons!

pucameni...pour mascot for the day. found it in the street haha it died the day after

saying bye to esperanza...

saying bye to shell

with rogelio....crazy old man hahaha gave me a hug 

when i left and he was crying haha pobre

bye to lucila