Mi ultima semana en Palermo....?‏

Hi friends and fam! This week went by incredibly fast. A lot happened in a
short time so I'm just going to bullet point it all for ya.

- Monday we went to visit Sofia and her mom, Rosa, who we dropped as a
progressing investigator the week before. But this time the bishop asked to
come with us. I'm sure I've mentioned it before but the bishop in the ward
has SO MUCH POWER when he speaks. You just want to hear more and more and
more. And so that's what happened. He talked. Rosa listened. Rosa has been
saying that she hasn't gotten an answer for about 2 weeks now. But the
bishop was forward and said "I think you´ve gotten an answer and you know
that this church is true" And she just goes "...yep" and by the end of this
hour long lesson the spirit was so strong that we invited her to be
baptized again and she accepted!! So Rosa will be baptized this coming
Sunday :) Pray for her!

-During that lesson with the bishop, he wanted to share a scripture in the
bible, so he looked at us and asked us to open to it. I kinda just started
at him like "... uh.." And he goes "you dont have the bible?" and he took
my continued stare as a no and goes "What. I've never heard of missionaries
without the bible. This must be a different church" I mean I would totally
carry it around if it didn't way a million pounds. So advice to all you
missionaries out there, if the bishop wants to accompany you, make sure you
have the bible.

-Friday we got to go to San Fernando for like the millionth time this week
thanks for have to get my comapnions DNI. But this time we got to go to
meet the new mission president. We had to be there at 7:15, which called
for a wake up call at 4:45, and being on the train at 5:30. I was sick the
night before so this resulted in a morning of pounding headaches and
throwing up every 30 minutes. It was super fun. But the new president and
his family are super awesome. It's super different without President Ayre,
but when he walked in I just felt good. I know that he was called of God to
be here with us at this time.

-Jose Antonio has been coming to church for 3 weeks now. If you don't
remember, he´s the one we had to stop visiting because of some feelings he
expressed. But he got up to share his testimony yesterday and said that he
had stopped coming to church for a while and didn't feel any different. That
he felt the same as he had before finding the church. But, had had many
feelings or desires to go to church or read, but never acted on them. He
said one day he was cleaning his room and found a paper with a scripture on
it. It was 2 Nephi 31:19-20.(look it up) And then right after recieved a
message saying something about hoping to see him at church the next day.
That message was one that we sent. I remember that week feeling so strongly
that we needed to send him a message inviting him to church. I had felt it
all week but something kept me from doing it until Saturday night. When he
shared that I just felt so strongly that God works in amazing ways. Putting
the idea in our heads to send even a message can bring someone back to
church.

A member of our bishopric shared something yesterday that I really liked.
He said "If we´re bad, He wants us to be *good*. If we´re good, He wants us
to be* better*. And if we´re better, he wants us to strive for* excellency*"
There´s always something we can work on. We´re never going to be perfect in
this life, but we can always keep trying.

Also, shout out to my dad who was called to be bishop yesterday! And to my
mom who helped him get there. Love you!

Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Prestwich

Pictures

1. Buenos Aires

2. I chopped my hair off

3. mi hijita

4.  Representing the USA without trying to offend

5.  New Pres!

6.  Camanitoooo

Goodbye President :(

This has been a weird and sad week here in La Gran Misión Buenos Aires Norte. President Ayre and his family go home tomorrow. I AM SO SAD. On Thursday we went to San Fernando, where the mission offices are with the mission to here President and his family talk one more time. It was so sad but also so happy. They gave some great advice and we all sang the mission song together and it was super bittersweet. I remember finding out that President would go home when I was halfway through my mission, and I remember thinking that that moment would never come but, here it is. President Smith gets here tomorrow, along with his wife, and two of his 8 kids. 

This week all in all was weird. We weren't in the area that much again thanks to many trips to San Fernando to get my comps identification, meetings with President, and activities. Yesterday we got to go to San Fernando again with Sofia and Rosana to see a devotional about the Restoration for people who are investigating the church or those who have recently baptized. But we could only go IF we came with one of the two. So we practically begged Sofia, as it was our last opportunity to see President before he goes home tomorrow. She agreed because she loves us. It was super cool.

Also, the happiest thing ever happened yesterday. When we got to the church in San Fernando, I walked in and was attacked by none other than.... DANA. My convert from Escobar!! It was the best thing ever to see her, and her sister, Micaela, who finally was committed to baptism! I was just so happy yesterday :)

This week we had a lesson with Sofia and her mom, who had committed to be baptized on July 3rd. We get there and had one of the most spiritual lessons that I have had on my mission. But her mom just refuses to see the difference in our church and all the others, even though we´ve explained the resoration like a million times. It's honestly really frustrating. At least, I felt frustrated. We ended up talking about her date for the 3rd and she said she wasn't ready, and as hard as it was, we knew she shouldn't be baptized without a real testimony. So we tried to set another date for the 17th of July, and she wouldn't say yes. So we got there with an investigator, and left without one. It was super hard. But we just have to trust in the Lord. When we decide that investigators are no longer "progressing", I think it requires a lot of faith. Trust in the Lord that we´re going to leave them in His hands and continue working.

But on the bright side, MAR IS GETTING MARRIED. She´s marrying Elías, the member that brought her to church in September, and then they´re getting sealed in May. I'm so happy :)

We havent had a ton of time to study this week, thanks to leaving super early in the mornings for meetings and such. But yesterday, at the fireside, one of the people invited us to close our eyes and sincerly ask God if the church and the Book of Mormon are true. It was more for the investigators, but I decided to do it. And as I did, I was overcome with such an incredible feeling of peace. Not really telling me "yes", but more, reassuring me that I already know. I don't have a single doubt. I love this gospel. I love the Book of Mormon. I love my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to be serving in this part of His vineyard, and with His children here in Argentina. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he really did see God and Jesus Christ. That he was called of God, and he resotred the church and the priesthood, and this is the only church on earth that has the athority of God. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

1. Familia Ayre 

2. Dana and Micaela! 

Nunca se que poner‏

Hi friends and fam! 

This week has gone by SO fast. I´m in a weird point in my mission where I can't remember what happened at the beginning of the week because so many things happen.. So you´re just gonna get the update of what happened this weekend. 

The biggest thing: Sofia was baptized! It was so amazing to watch her enter into the water. I don't know what it is about this area but people just show up to church WAY prepared. Sofia told us the other day that she watched all 8 HOURS of conference.. Just because she wanted to. She´s re elegida. But as usual, it was way stressful. We combined our baptism with the other ward in our building. Our ward doesn't have its own baptisimal clothing, so we asked the elders to get it for us from their ward. They gave it to us an hour before the baptism, and of course it didn't fit, so they had to take a taxi and literally run to their apartment to get all the clothes they had there. And meanwhile, they found more clothes in the church.. Poor elders. But eventually it happened. Even though she had to be baptized in water that you practically had to break the ice off the top it was so cold thanks to the elders who forgot to fill up the font so they had to do it with cold water. Just... Elders. 

Another thing from this week that was way copado, we were teaching Sofia, and her mom was listening as usual, and we started talking about baptism. We asked her mom if she wanted to be baptized and she said "not yet" and we asked why and she explained, and we worked with the spirit committed her to be baptized on July 3rd! Although she left the baptism a little upset with the wait and the cold water so we´ll see if we still have a set date with her. Pray for Rosa! 

Another interesting thing that happened. Here in Argentina, they really don't like it when you buy things for like 18 pesos.. They want it to be an even 20. So normally they offer you like a little candy for 2 pesos. This happened the other day when we were also trying to catch a bus and when it was offered I said yes really fast and paid and ran. I realized later in the day that I had it. It was one of those chocolate covered cherries.. with a little twist. As I ate it I realized it was filled with alcohol.. This resulted in me spitting it out in the street becuase let me tell you it was disgusting. And thats the story of how I had alcohol for the first time. (And it just so happened to be on my mission)

President and Hermana Ayre leave in like a week. On Saturday we got together as a zone to make a video for them of things we´ve learned from them during their time here. I love them so much. Its going to be so weird and different when the new President gets her, but I guess thats life! ha.. 

The mission continues to move forward. I can't believe its already almost the end of June. June started yesterday. Time is starting to fly by. I have (or its most likely) that I have only 3 more weeks here in Palermo. I feel like I´ve been here FOREVER. I have been stressed for 5 months straight. This area has been hard but so worth it. I was able to share my testimony yesterday in church and I just looked out at everyone and realized just how much I love every one of them. I absolutely love the mission. I've been thinking a lot about how my mission has been. I know I say it's been hard, and it has. But looking back I don't remember the days where we walked for 9 hours while eveyone rejected us, or the days where everything went wrong. But I remember the days where I saw miracles, or the moments where I have been the happiest I've ever been, and I'm just so thankful for this opportunity to serve. I wouldnt change anything that has happened because every single experience has helped me work on becoming the person that God needs me to be. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich 

I cant upload pictures on this computer.. Sorry! Next week! :) 

1.  Sofia's baptism

2.  Twins

3.  Sefies

I don't have any cool phrase for this‏...

¡Hola!

This week went by freaky fast. And I can't remember a ton that happened so let me just give some highlights. 

-On Thursday I reached 9 months in my mission! I'm halfway done! Part of me feels like I've been out here for an eternity and I have a whole other eternity to go, but the other half of me feels like I got here like 5 weeks ago and I'll be home when I open my eyes tomorrow. I've officially reached the top of the "mission mountain" as my president says, and now I will begin falling down the mountain at a scary speed. Ojala. 

-On Friday we had our last zone conference with President before he goes home. He leaves in about 2-3 weeks. I think President has had his "last zone conference" like 6 times, but this was officially it! And it was 7 hours long. It went by so fast though. It was so good and I just love my president and the assistants so much. They are so very in tune with the Spirit and every conference is just so powerful. I can't believe he´s going home! The new President could change everything...

-And the most important thing, we found someone! Her name is Sofia, and shes 16. Her friend brought her to church, and she accepted a baptisimal date. She´s set to be baptized this coming Sunday! She is so awesome. She read and prayed the first night and sent us a message saying she received an answer, and then yesterday when we were meeting with her she told us she had a dream where there were a lot of different paths and all of them seemed wrong and she didn't know which one to take. Then Christ appeared and led her down one and at the end, she arrived at the church. (I dont know what it is about Argentines but they all have dreams like this). She's just super cute and fun and I'm super happy. 

This week my companion shared something with me that really stuck out. She read a scripture that says that if we truley repent, we´ll be shown the mysteries of God. I've read the scripture before and when I think of mysteries I think of heaven and all the secret stuff that I don't know yet. But my comp said she sees it as the mysteries of the Book of Mormon and prayer and those types of things. At first I didn't really get it. And then I thought about it and thought that through prayer and the Book of Mormon we can receive revelation, But we only can receive this revelation if we're worthy of it, and we can only be worthy through repentance. I don't know, I just thought it was cool. 

Also, this Sunday is Fathers Day! (right? At least it is here..) So just giving a shout out to the best dad out there, mine. For supporting me in literally everything and knowing exactly what to say in every moment. For always making fun of me and therefore making me tough, and for being the best example. And shout out to my mom as well who made a good decision in marrying my dad, and to them both, who recently had their anniversary number 24! For being the best examples and in showing my how a good marraige should be. I love you! 

Happy Fathers Day!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich 

1. Carlitos (He´s seriously my favorite)

2. All, one of my favorite members here. 

1. The zone at one of our stops in our Buenos Aires tour! 

2. The mission fed us all mcdonalds after our zone conference. gotta eat healthy right? 

3. Jose Luis and Angela :) 

June 6, 2016

Hi friends and fam!

I dont have a ton to say this week, sadly.. 

Andres was confirmed yesterday! It was such a cool blessing and such a rewarding experience. Also yesterday, Jose Luis, blessed the sacrament for the first time. To see how far he has come is amazing. From meeting him and watching his testimony grow and being with him every step of the way. To watch someone grow in the gospel is an amazing experience. 

On Friday we did divisions and I went to La Boca with Hermana Sanchez. It was awesome to take a break from Palermo, as much as I love it. And I slept the best that I have since I left home. It was so fun and I got back to Palermo super motivated and that day was awesome. And then the two days following that weew less than awesome. Our members bailed on us. We called literally every member in the ward to do visits with us but none said yes. We didn't reach our goals and felt awful. I think it's interesting, when you finally start to feel motivated and start to see success, that's when Satan starts working even harder. I'm a little tired of everything falling through to be honest. But oh well, hay que seguir adelante. 

On Thursday we had a zone meeting. I think it was supposed to be about how to work with and achieve the vision of our mission, but they ended up calling us all to repentance. Our leaders were all like "if you get home at night and haven't reached your daily goals, you should feel really bad, and you need to repent" basically. (okay not basically, that's actually like word for word what they said) And at first I think everyone was kinda shocked. Because at least for my whole time in the mission, numbers have been important, but not everything. Numbers are a way to motivate us, but they don't define us as a missionary. But ellos bajaron la caña and made us all feel like sinners. Hahahahah jokes. Kinda. But once we got over the shock of how forward they were with us, and humbled ourselves a bit, and actually started to listen to what they were saying, it was actually way awesome, and I think can apply to everyone, not only missionaries. The need for repentance is incredible. Nobody is perfect. But the greatest thing is that God knows that! He know´s we´re not, and never will be perfect, at least here on the earth. And for that, He gave us His Son. Christ suffered for us so that we can repent! So that we can try a little harder each day. So that we can be a little better. Each night we´re given the opportunity to repent and try again the next day, and every Sunday as we take the sacrament, it's like a mini-baptism, and we get to start over. I've never come to really appreciate the sacrament until my mission. Or really understood it.  But this week I´ve been studying repentence, and will continue to study it this week. And I challenge you all to find your favorite scripture on repentance and share it with me :)

The cool thing though is what when we promise to try our best, God promises to bless us. And He will fulfil those promises. My zone leader said this week "God has to fulfill His promises. Because if He didnt, He wouldnt be God." I just really liked that. 

Love you all, hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

1. My compppp

2.  I ate cow stomach this week. 

Probably going to die in Argentina

Hi everyone!

Yes, I'm staying in Palermo with mi hijita, Hermana Ruiz! I'm stoked to stay with her but don't ask me if im excited to stay in Palermo. I mean I love this area but I have no idea what to do here for 6 more weeks. But when it comes to the point where its time for me to leave, it's going to break my heart. 

This was a weird week. I honestly don't have much to say when it comes to la obra misional... Just that Andres FINALLY got baptized on Thursday! After a TON of drama and confusion, he was finally baptized and it was the sweetest thing. I love that kid and that family. 

Then on Friday we got to travel for an hour to get shots for Gripe A. It was only a little uncomfortable with everyone together because the elders basically had to take off their shirts and the sisters had to show a little more skin than should be allowed in the mission, but in the end everyone had their lives saved and no ones going to die. There were only a couple missionaries who were terrified of shots (which honestly was a little funny. And sad).

Then that day after getting shots, we were given this liquid to put on all of our proselyting clothes to prefent dengue. After asking what it was, they told us it was venom. And if it gets on you, it will eat your skin. I was in the offices when all this stuff arrived to the mission and I watched President smack his hand to his head and say to himself "Im giving venom to a bunch of missionaries... What am I thinking".  We´re probably all going to die here. So yesteray we had to go take all of our clothes to the church where we hung them outside and sprayed venom. We only looked a little stupid dragging a suitcase around Buenos Aires but hey, it happens. We also had nothing to protect our eyes, so that explains my ridiculous outfit (see below). And then the elders who for some reason have no common sense when it come to saftey (see below.. again). Yesterday was supposed to be a normal day for working but we had to spend time cleaning the apartment for transfers, and then had to so the stuff with our clothes, so we had one appointment that lasted about 20 minutes. 

My attitude about the mission has changed so much. Honestly there are days (or weeks) where I would rather be anywhere else. And then there are moments that show me just how lucky I am to be here. I am so incredibly happy. It's hard and it breaks you little by little, but it is the biggest blessing. Seeing the little blessings that the Lord leaves us throughout the day just show me that He really is watching out for us. When we´re frustrated or don't know where to go and he puts someone who´s super kind in our path, or giving us a family in the ward that makes us feel like we´re at home, or having a super cool or spiritual interaction with someone, or even the moments where I'm crying from laughing so hard with my companion.. I just can't imagine my life without the mission. It has shown and taught me so much. I love the mission.

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

1. Saftey first

2. Oh elders. 

3. Andres! 

4. President y Herman Ayre



5.  Oregon!

Sorry in advance for this email....

I'm gonna start off apologizing. I really try to be honest in my emails, and honestly, this was one of the hardest weeks in my mission. And if you asked me why, I probably couldn't tell you. 

This week we finished up the teaching of Andres. Our 10 year old investigator. He is the sweetest kid, and his family is the most amazing. I honestly have never loved a family so much so fast. He is so funny. He tries so hard to remember what we teach, but he just can't really do it. For example.. we taught about tithing the other day. Literally RIGHT after we finished teaching we go, "okay, Andres, what is ´tithing´?" and he goes "um... God?" ....yep. But he had his baptisimal interview and passed. The elders came to his house to do the interview and as we were finishing up, we were talking about how his dad was going to baptize him, and his mom goes, "we can't find his records. We don't know if his dad is a member" We kinda just stared at her, wondering why she waited until the night before to tell us. So we called one of the members of the bishopric. He was heading home from the temple, and decided to yell at us for not knowing before hand and a lot of other stuff that didn't make any sense, and hung up on us. Not sure what happened in the temple to put him in that mood but. Either way, whether his dad is a member or not, it has nothing to do with the baptism of Andres. It was like the last thing we needed on top of a hard week. 

Anyway, Sunday. Mar was confirmed! It was so cool to watch her and to think that 4 weeks ago she was unhappy and had no idea what to do in her life. And then to watch her be comfirmed as a member of the church was amazing. 

The member of the bishopric came up to us at church and said they found the records of his dad, but we´re still going to postpone the baptism. And then decided to continue to blame us for the confusion and then to stab the knife even farther, say "I know your purpose is to baptize, but you´re not doing your job well enough. Why do you think Jose Antonio isn't coming to church anymore". That was kinda like the last thing I needed to her, especially because he doesn't actually know the situation. 

But ANYWAY. I'm done complaining I think. So Andres will be baptized this Thursday. We´re going to figure out how to improve the communication between our leaders, and just try to make this week a better one. 

Yesterday, we were super discouraged. Our plans fell through for like the millionth time that week, and we just were pretty much exhausted. So we prayed, literally said "look, we honestly dont want to work anymore, but we´re going to. So please help us" and God led us to a less active/convert who hasn't accepted the missionaries in about half a year. We walked in, and about 10 minutes later her brother, another less active, and two friends, one a less active and one a non member, walked in. Her brother I had only met once, but he quickly became one of my favorite people her in Palermo. But we just talked, go to know each other, and shared a scripture. Then shared testimonies and that lesson was one of the most spiritual lessons I have had in my mission. 

Then we walked and walked and walked and got home probably the most tired I have been on my mission. 

It's interesting to look back at what happened at the end of the day or the end of the week. This week was one of the hardest, but we worked hard and reached most of our goals. When we were ready to give up, God blessed us with the lesson we needed to keep us going. It's just little ways that God blesses us that really shows He´s aware and is helping us. 

I'm a little bit exhausted, and have been somewhat really homesick this week. I don't really miss my family or home that much, so I guess homesick might have been the wrong word. But it was really hard to focus on the work. I'm not sure why. 

But let's see. Today really isn't P-day. We´re getting 2 hours to write emails and then we have to work. Our p-day is swtiched to wednesday because it's a holiday here. The scariest thing that happened this week.. We saw a couple people fighting in the street. I have seen fights at school and stuff, but nothing like this. They were just covered in blood and we had to walk right by them. It was probably the first time I was actually scared in the mission. And even scarier when one of the guys tried to run away and ended up running right towards us (and scarier that he made eye contact with me as he was charging us). It's probably nothing as there are elders here who have seen people kill other people, but for capital, I was terrified. 

Anyway, this is about all I have to say. Again, sorry that it was boring and I complained, but, that's life. 

Love you all!

Love,

Hermana Prestwich

Andres and his little sister Maria :)