La obra

Hello again! I honestly feel like yesterday was Pday.. and I think that's the first time I can actually say that since the MTC. Time is starting to go by a lot quicker..

But anyway. Rita didn't end up getting baptized yesterday :( We met with her and she said she just isn't ready yet.. That she's "not going to lie" and doesnt know if she wants to keep the law of chastity.. I just don't understand. There is literally no reason for her to not accept it. She's not married, doesn't have a partner.. she just doesn't want to keep it "just in case" someone comes along.. hahahaha

BUT her son Damian is getting baptized next Sunday :) He went to church alone yesterday, as we couldnt go by to get him and none of his family went with him. He's so ready. He´s the uncle of Lucia, the 11 year old girl we baptized a while ago. We´re working with that family little by little :)

Dana. Let me just talk about how much I love her and how proud I am of her for like the bajillionth time. But fau. She told us this week that she was walking somewhere for about an hour or so and she was alone.. And she was just "talking to God". That she prayed and just told her about how she feels, what's happening, what she needs help with, and all that. It's amazing how much she's changed. She also gave her first talk yesterday and is going to the temple for the first time tomorrow :) I love her SO much. 

Yesterday in our meeting with our ward mission leader, I was thinking about how when I got to Escobar, I didnt understand a single word he said. Like.. literally nothing. And now I understand almost everything. I really do undertsand 90% of what everyone says. My problem now is speaking. 

The other day we were outside Dana´s house and I saw her neighbor sitting outside, as she normally is, and I felt like I needed to talk to her. I ignored it and made excuses like "no she's smoking she won't want anything to do with us" and things like that. But I kept feeling like I needed to talk to her. Finally I sucked it up and went over there. We talked, and she accepted a baptisimal date! She said her life has been super hard and she doesn't know who to go to for support... Good thing we have the answer :) She didnt come to church yesterday, but we´re not giving up :)

Other than that life is normal here. It's HOT. I got my first sunburn. It's hard when its 101 degrees, you're out of water, no one is in the street due to the fact that it's a million degrees, and if you happen to find someone, they either want nothing to do with you or just want to hit on you. 

But we keep pushing. Because its not about us. It's the Lord´s work and we´re here to find His children and help them return to Him. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich 

My Zone

Augustine

Tranfers!!!!!

Hello from... Escobar! Im here for my 3rd transfer! But this time with my new companion, Hermana Vallejos from Chile!!! This transfer is going to be awesome :)

Right now we´re currently teaching someone named Rita and her son, Damian. Rita has a little problem with accepting the law of chastity... shes supposed to be baptized this sunday.. but I guess we´ll see if she decides to accept it. She has no reason to have a problem with it as she doesnt have a husband or partner, she just said she doesnt know. Hahaha oh well.

We also found a woman named Marisa who accepted baptism in the first contact. We taught her twice and then she didnt show up to church and we havent been able to find her or get in contact with her. So we´ll figure out this week if we drop her or not. 

CATALINO AND MARTHA (Rios family) ARE GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!! Catalino came with us to a lesson with Rita but wasn't able to bear his testimony about the law of chastity because he isnt living it. After he told us he felt like the lesson was for him, and the next day he FINALLY went to start working on his divorce. Guess what? If your converts are getting sealed while youre still in the mission you can go :)))) If Martha gets baptized any time before March I'll be able to go!!!!!

This week I got the best surprise. I got a call from the assistants, or at least who I thought were the assistants, and when I answerd, it was Hermano Figueroa, my teacher from the MTC, who was back visiting the mission! It was so so so awesome to be able to talk to him for a little bit :)

Other than that the mission is good. Working hard in the killer sun. But its so awesome to be able to see the change in these peoples lives. To have the opportunity to see them how God sees them, as His children with divine potential. I think one of my favorite things to teach is the Plan of Salvation. To teach everyone that there is a purpose in this life and there´s more after, and how we can acheive it. I have learned so much while teaching and every single investigator I have taught has taught me something. It's incredible and I'm so thankful for it.

I love you all so much! 

Have a great week and.. Happy 20th birthday to my best friend Elle today, and happy 14th birthday to my beautiful sister tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

 

Damian

Dana and Noelia

Escobar and....Tigre?

Hello again! This week it has been so humid and hot that when you breath you are literally breathing in water. So that´s fun. 

So this week was good! We did divisions with other Hermanas and I got to go to Tigre for a little bit. Tigre is awesome and Hermana Vasquez is an awesome missionary. I always learn so much from divisions. :)

Anyway. 

Pablo. 

Dang. Pablo broke my heart yesterday. We went to visit him and earlier this week he has a girlfriend who is a pretty bad influence and he grows drugs. So.. yeah. We went to figure out for suer whether or not he wants to change. So we got there and I just straight up asked him if he was ready and willing to give up everything. And he looked at me and just said "no". In that moment my heart literally broke. So all we did was testify. We shared scriptures and just promised him that if he changed he would be blessed with so much more happiness than he has ever felt. We then taught him the plan of salvation. He told us his goal is to "get to the celestial kingdom", but "not right now". Ouch. So he's no longer going to be baptized but we´re going to continues to visit him once every one or two weeks and hopefully the disire will come. 

Isabel. She completely stopped smoking!!!! Miracle. But. She didn't come to church yesterday. We went by to take her with us and she said no because for the first time in forever her daughter and husband showed up and she doesnt want to lose them again. I mean, understandable but I also know that if she showed her faith and went to church God will bless her. So now her baptism date was pushed back. 

Also. Rita. She´s a miracle. She had always refused to talk to us. Remember Lucia? The little girl we baptized a couple weeks ago? Its her grandma. She accepted a baptismal date and came to church yesterday. She´s awesome. 

As for everything else, it's good. It's hard. It's the mission. There are ups and downs. But what I've been thinking about lately is how the mission changes everything. All of my thoughts are about others. All of my actions are for the benefit of others. When I'm sad, it's because someone doesnt want to accept our message. When I'm happy, it's because someone has chosen to walk the path back to God. I would never get the chance to experience this if I didn't serve. And there are sad times and there are happy times, but everything and every feeling I have is gospel related and I love that. :)

I hope you are all enjoying your cold weather and your new year! 

Ill talk to you soon :)

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

PS. Next week are transfers! :) :) :)

Picture: This is what happens when you let two missionaries into an apple store. ;)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This was a busy week filled with many emotions. 

First.. It was Christmas! On Christmas Eve we had an activity as a mission and it was awesome. I love being with all the missionaries. We sang, watched some talks, ate, had a gift exhange, and watched the videos each zone made for christmas. 

Then on Christmas day I got to skype my family! It was awesome. And so so so hard. I told myself I wasnt going to cry but as soon as I saw their faces I lost it. But it was good to talk to them. 

Then we went back to work! Noelia was confirmed this week, so that was awesome. 

Pablo. Man he is awesome. We decided we should teaching him the word of wisdom, and we kinda knew we would have a problem with it. As expected, he told us he smokes. Which would be fine, except he told us he doesnt really have a desire to stop. Well. Dang. But we´re going to keep working with him, hopefully he´ll start feeling the desire. But the lesson we had with him was awesome. In the beginning I wasnt understanding anything. So I said a little prayer for help to understand and help him. And immidiately after I started understanding and we had a 30 minute conversations back and forth. The spirit was so strong. It was awesome.

We also found a woman named Isabel who has had the HARDEST life. Seriously. Shes literally never been happy. And shes going to be baptzied on the 10th :)

But I was thinking the other day. I feel like Ive been kind of a downer in my emails, always talking about how hard it is. So first Im sorry for that,

But hey, this has been the hardest thing ive ever down spiritually and emotionally. But its so so so so worth it. I cannot imagine my testimony without the mission. Of course I would still have it, but my testimony has grown more in these 4 months that it could ever have in my whole life if I was home. Ive gotten to see the atonement and love of Christ work and change people. Ive been put in situations where everything depends on my faith. Ive been given the opportunity to grow in ways I couldnt have without the mission. Im so thankful for this opportunity. 

I love you all and I hope you had a great Chistmas and have a Happy New Year!!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

McFlurries in the rain...why not?

A Week of Milagros‏

Hola! 

I dont have a lot of time to write today, since it isnt really our Pday. 

But anyway. This week was awesome. We did divisions for a couple days which really helped our companionship. I was with an American sister here in Escobar for a couple days and my comp was in Tigre. 

So. Remember Dana? The girl that was baptized about 6 weeks ago that I always talk about? Yeah well when we first started teaching her, we were also teaching her sister, Noelia. And to be honest, she was tough. She was rude to us, and never really wanted to listen. We had dropped her as our investigator because she didnt want to commit to the Word of Wisdom. Then these past couple of weeks shes been expressing interest, and one day we took a leap of faith and invited her to read the Book of Mormon. She did and the next day she told us she felt like the Book of Mormon was "speaking directly to her". So we starting teaching her slowly, and then took another leap of faith and invited her to be baptized... and... she accepted!!! So we started teaching her again and when we got the the word of wisdom part we were super nervous... but she said she would live it without a problem. There were so many complications when it came time for her baptism. She really had to show her faith and desire to follow God, but she did and she was baptized yesterday! She´s amazing. 

Then another miracle. 

This week, with the help of God, we found an investigator named Pablo. Just the way we found him was a miracle. We knocked at his house and waited for like 10 minutes. No one came out so we left. Well we were almost at the end of the street when we heard someone whistle. We turned around and He was standing in the street. We went to talk to him. His parents are members but he was never baptized. Hes super spiritual and open to new ideas. He came with us the next day to our ward christmas party and everyone was SO nice to him. A lot of people knew his family and just made him feel so comfortable. Then he came to church with us the next day and stayed for our baptisms. He´s awesome. And this ward is INCREDIBLE. Ive never been so thankful for members in my life. They were amazing examples to me of welcoming a new face. Something I know I could have done better at and something I want to continue to work on when Im home. Today we´re going to set a date for him to be baptized. Yesterday he kinda hinted that he wanted to be baptized, becuase he asked us "so, people can be baptized at any age?" and then proceeded to say "and is there an age limit to serve a mission?" like... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The mission. Highs and lows. But its awesome.

And this week is CHRISTMAS. I get to skype my family!!!!! 

I love all of you so much and Im so thankful for your support and letters to me. I hope you all have a wonderful week and Christmas as we remember the birth of the Savior. 

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

14 December 2015

Well hola once again! Theres not much to report this week, sadly. 

This week we found some people interested, who then became uninterested within the same week. So that was a little discouraging. But we found a boy of 11 years old who is super ready! His mom told us that when we found him he went home and asked so many questions and told her he really wants to learn more. His name is Bryan :)

We did divisions this week with some ward members. Dana and Aylen and I worked in La Chechela meeting with less actives and street contacting. It was fun even though a majority of the time I didnt know what people wer saying. 

On Sunday we had a Christmas devotional. A choir of missionaries sang and it was forr our stake. So all the missionaries around Escobar and all the members and investigators and pretty much everyone was invited. It was awesome. Like a mini music and the spoken word. Then after I got the chance to talk with my mission president. My companion and I have really been struggling. For some reason we cant seem to work together. So I talked with my president, and let me just say that he is literally one of the greatest people I have ever met and ever will meet. 

I also played soccer for the first time in my life with my zone and scored the first goal ;)

Ive been thinking a lot this week about Christ, since its Christmas time and all. And just why He was sent to earth. He came for us. To help us. Its also caused me to reflect on my relationship with Him. There is someone who knows exactly what Im feeling all the time, and He's just waiting to help me. Since being on my mission I have come to realize this. I have the ability, as we all do, to access the power of the atonement and ask for help. And He's waiting. He loves us more than we can imagine and loves us perfectly. And we can try to repay Him by following Him and trying to be like Him. Its not easy, but we will be so blessed and will see the happiness that comes from trying to be like Him. I'm so incredibly thankful for my Savior and His sacrifce. 

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

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

7 November 2015

Well, hello again!

Time is so weird in the mission. They days go by SO SLOW sometimes, and then im sitting here writing again and I feel like it has been 2 hours since I last sent an email.. Pretty sure that made absolutely no sense but forming complete english sentences is slowly starting to be a problem for me. 

Speaking of Spanish.. Its alright! There are days where I dont understand anything, and many times where people dont understand me so that sucks. But its getting better. Ive already had dreams in Spanish, and my journal entries have randome words that I for some reason wrote in Spanish. Same with my prayers, as I sometimes randomly switch to spanish.. thats good, right? :)

As for this week, not a ton happened. The mission has united as we´re all trying super hard to reach our goal for this year.. and we have 4 weeks to do so. So we set a goal as a zone, and are trying hard to reach it. And its been tough. 

This week we found a kid who is 10 years old. We gave a quick lesson of the restoration to him and his mom and then invited him to be baptized. His mom said maybe and when she looked at him he said yes. When she asked if he was sure, his eyes got wide and he said "yes! I want to be clean". My heart exploded. 

We also found a girl through a member, whos 25 and has 3 kids, and an abusive boyfriend, and all live in a house smaller than an average garage.. we just talked to her for about an hour with the member, and it was great. She said she felt the spirit, and the only time her kids were screaming was during the prayer. Shes incredible.

Bad news. We had to drop both of these investigators this week. Everytime we went to visit the little boy he "wasnt there" and Patricia, the 25 year old, said it wasnt her time. 

Also, our baptism last week, Lucia, couldnt go to church on sunday, and didnt recieve the holy ghost. Its hard because shes only 11, and her parents arent members. We´re not allowed to bring kids underage to the chapel without a parent. So we´re heavily relying on her non member parents to bring her every week.. 

Our baptism for next Sunday is again pushed back until the 20th. I feel like its never going to happen. Her baptism has been in the works since before I got here. 

Thats pretty much it for this week.. No one wanted to listen to us, and ever time we have a good feeling about someone, it fell through or they didnt want anything. 

But our favorite family, the rios family, is doing so well. We had a couple really spiritual lessons with them this week. They are literally m family here in Escobar. I dont know what I would do without them. 

On Saturday as 9:30, my comp and I really wanted ice cream.. and since we cant leave our apartment after 9, we called our amazing ward mission leader.. and so at 10 at night he and his wife brought us ice cream.. Hes the best :)

I was reading "Our Search for Happiness", a book by M. Russel Ballard and found a quote I really liked. It says "If you really concentrate on trying to walk the way He walked - loving, caring, serving, and obeying each step of the way - one day you´ll look up and discover that His path has led you directly to the throne of God."

Isnt that what we all want? To live with God again? Thats what God and Christ want too, and They have prepared a way for us to do so. God sent His Beloved Son into the world to teach us and show us the way directly back to Him. We only need to follow. And sometimes its so hard, trust me. I know. But I know it will be so worth it. On the mission I get the chance to walk a VERY small part of the path Christ walked. And it is so incredible. Every day we get rejected. Every day we´re exhausted. But on the mission I have the Savior walking beside me and in front of me. I get to have a relationship with Him that I would never get anywhere else. And I know the only way back to Him is to walk how He walked. In this Christmas season, we should all try to remember why Christ was sent to this earth, and be thankful. God gave us the most amazing gift in the world, His Son, so that we may return to His awaiting arms. 

Thats about it for this week. Sorry not much happened! I love you all and hope you have a great week!! 

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

Eating Arrepas with Dana



Escobar!