23 November 2015

Fua! I can´t believe it´s the last week of the transfer already! I cannot believe I´ve been here that long. So this email might be long, so... deal with it..

Let me start by telling you what happened this week. 

Tuesday morning we decided to pass by the house of a friend of some young women who has been to church a bunch to try to set a baptisimal date. I guess some elders had tried a while ago but her mom wanted nothing to do with the church. But we went anyway and not only did her mom say yes, but asked if her other daughter could be baptized too! So Alma and Lucia are set to be baptized on Sunday :)

Then that night we went to the house of our investigator, Luisanna. Background: She is SO ready and so excited to be baptized. Her dad is hesitant but it letting her decide, however, lets us know every time that he has HIS religion and wont change. And insists on being present for every meeting. Si we went by tuesday night with Morena and Nahir, two girls from the family we baptized my frist week. And her dad let us have it. For like 30 minutes. We sat there while he practically yelled at us about how kind he was to let us into his house but doesnt appreciate what we´re teaching his daughter. How Joseph Smith never existed, and how our religion is the EXACT same as every other religion. Morena then bore her testimony, and at 12 years old, it was one of the most powerful testimonies I´ve ever heard. We tried to explain how our church is unique but his heart and eyes are closed. Luisanna cried and told her dad how bad she wants to be baptized. He still doesnt agree, but is letting her. And then we proceeded to teach as if nothing happened. 

Next thing: Dana. I dont think I ever really told you about her. Dana is incredible. The day we stumbled upon her house, she wasnt outside. We were talking to her mom and nephew. Her mom wanted nothing to do with the church, but we gave a pass along card with a picture of Christ on it to her nephew, and he ran it inside. Less than a minute later Dana came running out asking if she could have her own, and then straight up told us she wants to learn more. She has changed so so so much. Before it was rare to see her in something modest. And now its (not as) rare. The day we taught her the Word of Wisdom, she stopped smoking completely. On Friday she told us that she feels that since shes been baptized, temptations are so much stronger, she fights with her mom all the time, and feels completely alone. But she is so strong and has the strongest testimony, and God knows it. But so does Satan. And he is doing everything he can to stop her from progressing. But she is the perfect example of someone who was prepared by the Lord beforehand. 

So that´s about the majority of what happened this week. Oh except here, you greet others by kissing cheeks, and to some people its a big deal. Which is why, due to a misunderstanding, Dana´s mom told me God was going to punish me for not greeting her properly. She was mad. So that was fun- 

The mission. I cant honestly say I love it. I wish I could. I wish I could tell you all how it´s the best experience and I never want to come home, but that would be a lie. There are times where I would rather be anywhere else. Times where I dont want to work, dont want to wake up that early, times where the last thing I want to do it talk to someone. But then there are moments where I´m sitting in a lesson and hear an investigator share their testimony for the first time, os when I´m walking down the street and am overcome with happiness and love for Argentina or times where I can literally see God working with us as He, through other people, leads us directly to the people who are ready.. and I wouldnt want to be anywhere else. In those moments I do love it. 

I love and miss you all!

Until next week. 

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

Pictures! 

1. Dana´s nephew, Benjamin :)

2. I took this picture because my mom specifically told me not to touch the dogs. Opps. (This picture never made it through in her email.)

16 November 2015

Hey again! This week was packed full! So lets see. 

In our district meetin on Tuesday we made some goals to find people to reach our goal of baptisms this year. My comp and I decided to try and find a family to teach. Which is hard because 99% of the parents here arent actually married, and they cant be baptized unless they´re no longer living together or get married. So that´s hard. So my comp and I started a fast, to find a family ready for our message. So we went to work, and ran into a lady and her son. We gave them a mini lesson of the restoration on the street, and invited them to be baptized. They accepted, so we went through out "filters", like if she´s legally married, things like that. She said the is legally married to her husband, and then we asked how many kids they have. And guess how many? 12. 12 KIDS!!!!!!!!!!! My comp and I literally started crying on the street. Hahahaha So we asked for her number and address, and guess what? They live ONE BLOCK outside of our area, in the Elders areas.. Of course. So that night when we were doing verifications over the phone we told our district leaders and the elders in our ward about finding the family. The were freaking out when we told them there were 12 kids, and then when we said they lived in the Elders area they started screaming over the phone.  Literally not even 10 seconds after hanging up verifications, the Elders called us and I aswered and the first thing they said was "WHERE DO THEY LIVE" So we hung up. Haha but no we went to find them and try to teach them together with the Elders. We agreed that they can have 6 and we can have 6... No but really I think we´re leaving them for the Elders. Anyway the point that whole story was that the Lord is aware and is working with us. We fasted to find a family that is ready for our message and we did! We just found them for the Elders instead. Next time we fast we need to be a little more specific of where the family lives :)

But we did find a girl and her brother who accepted baptism and came to church, so they´re scheduled to be baptized on the 29th!

Dana, who was baptized last week was confirmed yesterday. She said she felt the spirit so strong. She´s so awesome. I wish I could expres my love for her. She is a perfect example of someone who the Lord prepared beforehand and was just waiting for us to come to her. 

On Thursday night we got a message from the assistants that we were going to go to the temple as a mission on Friday! So at 4 in the morning we woke up to head to the temple! It was the most amazing thing. President said he felt that we all needed to come to help us personally and figure our how to help our investigators. It was a much needed chance to relax and think. And the temple here is BEAUTIFUL. And everything being in Spanish was so cool. 

This week I´ve been studying attributes of Christ. Preach my Gospel has a way to study so I´ve been using that. I´ve focused a lot on charity and love. And it´s made me think about the people here. These people are so so so incredibly humble. Most of them literally have nothing. But they give us everything they have. Whether its a glass of water or lunch, we are well taken care of. The people here are prefect examples of charity. Read Moroni 7:46.

Also, though it´s only been 4 weeks, I´ve learned a lot. Never in my life have I ever had to rely only on the Lord. I´ve never been so alone that the only person I had to talk to was God. God asks us to trust Him and then places us in these stuations that just break us. And for me, He is practically breaking me to the core. But He does this so that he can build us back up into what He needs us to be. I was told by a sister of a missionary here that we are a lot like the bread in the parable with the bread and fish. We are being broken into pieces, but for a reason. To help others. Christ and God are breaking us so that they can give us to others. So that we can be the Lords hands here on the earth in this work. The mission is a mountain. But I get to climb this mountain side by side, shoulder to shoulder with the Savior. It´s incredible. And It´s not easy. I dont think it will every be "easy". But it will be worth it. 

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! 

Love,

Hermana Prestwich 

Elegidos‏

Hello again! This week was packed full. But due to limited time, I´ll just write the higlights. :) 

This week we went to do service at a members house. What did we do? Mow the lawn... WITH SHOVELS. We literally just wacked at the grass until it was kinda cut.. To be honest I´m still not sure what we did. But the member appreciated it! 

So this week we were meeting with an investigator of ours, Dana, and during the lesson my comp asked me to share something and right as I opened my mouth, Dana said that she doesnt like how my comp tells me to do everything. She thinks its rude and she doesnt like it. I tried to explain to her that as my trainer, she has to or else I will never speak and will never learn. It all spiraled out of control and we left with both my comp and dana in tears. So my comp and I talked later about it all, and as we were talking we got a message from Dana. She said how sorry she was and she didnt mean to offend us. And that she was going to pray and sincerly use the atonement that night, which is a miracle because Dana never actually prays.. What is cool about this is we noticed how God was using our weaknesses to bring someone closer to Christ. Though we suffered a little and our faults were pointed out, it helped someone else realize what was important, and realize the gospel is the key.

So then yesterday Dana got BAPTIZED. It was the coolest thing to watch her step into the font. The love I have for her is unreal, even if I can never understand what she´s saying. 

This week we had a lot of meetings and such. The goal of this mission is to work through and with the members. We need to have every lesson we teach be with a member present. Not saying that always happens, but we try. We have a huge goal of baptisms by the end of the year so we will be working super hard to find the "elegidos" this week. 

Time is up so I have to go! Ill try to add pictures later if we get back on, but if not, until next week! 

Love you all!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

Dana

Argentina... I have a feeling I´m not in the US anymore...‏

The culture shock is still so real. Every day something happens that suprises me.. So.. what even is Argentina?

Argentina: Where the car in front of you isn´t going fast enough, so you simply run into it. Where it's weird to see a dog ON a leash. Where old men hitting on you is normal. Where the yogurt is so liquidy (is that a word?) that they drink it. Where there are diapers everywhere in the street (AND DOGS EAT THEM). And where I am living for the next 16 months. WHERE AM I?!

This week was a little bit better. The homesickness is still way real. And I know it won't get better anytime soon.. and I'm not really sure what to do about that so oh well. But there are times where I'm reminded of a bird I saw one time driving in OR and I get homesick.. like what? Bleh.

So this week... Pres. Gonzales of the Seventy came to speak to our mission but it was all in spanish so I couldn´t tell you what he said. Then after I found out I´m related to an Elder Phair here! From family on my moms side, his dad is Greg Phair and his grandpa is Gary.. Small world! 

Then we had stake conference on Sunday.. and also my first baptisms! Aylen, Nahir, Morena and Valentina were baptized. It was so awesome. Also my comp and I sang at there baptism.. and those of you who know me really well know that I DON'T SING so you can imagine how that was. I made no-bake cookies for the baptism and the two american elders in my ward said they made them so homesick because they're their favoroite cookies. And all the members asked for the recipe hahaha 

Thats pretty much it. Spanish is getting a little better. I can understand more but still can't speak haha. The food here is SO GOOD so expect me to come home with 50 extra pounds. 

I miss you all. This is super hard. It´s already easily the hardest thing I´ve ever done in my life. But I know its where Im supposed to be even if I don´t want it. But I trust God.. so here I am..

I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

Aylen, Nahir, Morena and Valentina

Elder Ben Phair (in the middle)--Son of Mom's cousin

Fotos de sus hijas‏

Email from her Mission President received Sunday, November 1st:

Hoy hay muchos bautismos de la familia Rios. Sus hijas son increíbles. Muchas gracias por prestarlos. Los amo. 
David Ayre
Buenos Aires Norte

"Today there are many baptisms from the Rios family. Your daughters are incredible.  Thank you for lending them. I love them.  President Ayre"

And this was sent on the same day from Hermana Sanchez's mother.