Wednesday, May 20, 2015

My Birthday!

well.. to start off, I would like to thank my cool mom.. and probably aunt amy, for the brilliant idea of sending a selfie station for my birthday, it was a super success. haha the elders said they haven't had so much fun since like... ever. it was a hoot. thanks thanks thanks! you guys are so clever and cool (:

This week has been great. It passed by super fast, but Hermana Narvaez and I worked every last minute.. she was not ready to finish. ha she is such a great missionary. I was able to learn a lot from her. And now i am here with hermana miller from canada and she is already so great, i am excited. 

It was a successful week and we continue working with M'len and Tomas. An investigator we found by contacting and a less active. They are SO  prepared. it was a miracle and blessing to find them. 

okay.. no more time. but love you guys.. more details to come next week!

xoxo
hERMANA tERRY




high quality technology‏

Wellp, i am just going to let you guys know that, like all the other missionaries on earth, I had a great time chit chatting with the fam yesterdayyy! haha felt like I was right back in the 801... except for the fact that I wasn't. sooo.... (: Once again, happy mothers day maaaaam and I hope that I was entertaining enough for the next 7 months (;

What a week. the truth is, monday rolls around and I have such a hard time remembering what we have done in the week. But, here are some exitos that we saw this week... We have been contacting a fuul! We have like 10 to 15 new names and addresses almost every day, the hardest part is getting back to them, and following up. Well, the hard part about this area is actually finding people over again. I have noticed that people here are really busy or don't make time for religion. It has been interesting to see, but I am excited to keep meeting new people. We put three new baptismal dates. Which now makes a total of 3. Sadly, all of our other investigators aren't progressing. I have realized that it is way more important to have quality over quantity. I am trying to focus more on that, and following the spirit to decide if someone would really be committed and willing to make sacred covenants with God. Looks like we need to keep trying.. ha. The members are way more excited about helping in the missionary work, there must be something in the water because I have no idea what changed, but we are seeing changes and I am super excited to start involving more people in our lessons and activities. We have helped reactivate the Reyes family, and they are SO solid. It has been a pleasure workign with them and they are able to attend the temple dedication this week! Wahoo! A huge step of success right there, so that put a big smile on my face (: And we have also been able to find less actives through contacting, so that has been interesting to see how God puts in the right place at the right time. 
I have gained a big testimony of not giving up on someone, on being really consistent in someones life because I know that we as humans learn through repetition, and when we hear or do something many times, it begins to stick. So I am learning to keep working with all of the people that accept us or not, so that they know we love them and that they are important (: We had a cool experience with a lady in the street this week. she was like pretty angry with us, and told us that she didn't believe in God and said lots of bad words that I didn't fully understand, but it was pretty crazy. We offered to help her clean up her leaves and she told us no. (Side story, 10 minutes before contacting this lady, we talked to a different lady who wasn't really interested but was looking for someone to clean her house and what not, so we wrote down her datos and told her we would pass them on if someone was looking.) then she told us that she would believe in God if we could get her a job. Hermana Narvaez and I seriously looked at each other and laughed. we told the woman about the job literally around the corner. the sweeping lady got a little more fired up. okay, then she says, I'll believe in your God when he helps me clean up these leaves. Hermana Narvaez and I get closer to help pick up leaves, explaining that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, called to serve others. She got mad again.. but as we started to listen to the spirit, we were able to testify of the plan of salvation and the answers to our prayers we had received, and that she could also get rid of all the pain and hurt she felt for losing her loved ones. Her face started to change, and she began to listen instead of spit nasty words. We left her with plan of salvation pamphlet, hugged it out and left her with the spirit. It was a pretty magical, spiritual moment... i Love being a missionary for little moments like that (: 
hey kids, have a great week. its also my birthday on sunday, so mail is a recommended gift (; if you're feeling up to it. But thanks so so much for all the love that I have already received. CAPOS!!!
xoxo
Hermana Terry



ust some real good blurry love from Hna Farrow and I


j
Marta, Martin and Flopi.. the best (:

busy busy!

this week has been full of fun and crazy things! I was finally back in my area to work after almost two weeks of intercambios, and felt totally lost. We started our REAL intercambios and they have been super great so far. First of all, I worked with Hermana Vasquez and learned a lot from her. It was a fun day because we were able to work together and really follow the spirit. She also showed me where some less actives and antiguo investigadores live, because she served in the same area about a year ago with my trainer! small world... Next, I worked with Hermana Packard and she is so sweet. It was also super fun working with here and seeing her example. She shared with me that her and her companion are working a lot on exact obedience and they are seeing a ton of miracles in their area. I definitely learned more from her than her from me. I have gotten really excited about being able to do intercambios because I am learning so much. it is such a blessing. 
I also did some reflecting on some of my weaker moments in my life and in my mission when I wasn't always trying to be really obedient. But I was just going along, trying to be a better person and being really relaxed. I have noticed that even if Im not seeing a TON of miracles, i just feel way better about my life. I feel so much better about my testimony and my progress. I have noticed that in my life before the mission, and during! So that has really motivated me to work harder and be better. 

We are seeing some pretty cool things in our area right now. We contact just about EVERY door and talking with EVERY person, searching for someone who really wants to progress and it has been pretty interesting. this week, we put 4 new fechas and now we are just trying to get in on the return appointments. It is hard to find people here who want to give us a minute of their time because they are all just so busy.. but i am not giving up because I know that these people will be ready!

this week, we met a couple who had only ever talked with the missionaries before, and they just opened their doors right up and we shared the atonement and the gospel of jesus christ with them, it was killer and they totally accepted a baptismal date! the only hard part here in neuquen is finding people again... city life, man. hah.. crazyy! 

but hey, life is good! we are just moving right along and trying to keep up on the work! I hope you all have a super fantastic week and do your home/visiting teaching... we never know who needs a little love and a visit! so get out there and do it! (:

can't wait to chit chat on sundaayyyy!

xoxo
Hermana Terry







those last two pictures are from thursday.. we totally had a movie premier of "meet the mormons" here in neuquen in the theaters! free.. and in spanish. it was SO  cool. seriously, so fun! it was such a good movie! and after seeing it, we did some surveys and a few people straight up said, wow, i want to be part of this church and are now meeting with the missionaries!! perfect mmissionary movie. share it with someone for real.

also, elder arnaudin.. so capo.



AND. THIS. i could have fallen to the floor when i was just walking along the street, normal missionary life. out of the corner of my eyes I saw pull up bars and sweaty bodies doing burpees... i wanted to cry. CrossFit Pica... haha so awesome. I wish with all of my heart that I could go, but it does make me happy to know that it exists here in the 'Tina (:(:(:(:




best ice cream that ever happened. home made. thank you hermano hugo barros. 

also, just a fun lunchy-poo with all the misios (: 

weirdest week of my mission



this week has been very interesting and different, but I have enjoyed being with hermana Huaman and also hermana Hansen. We have been in divisions for a week due to some issues with a new missionary.... he he I have missed my area, but I have really enjoyed being in Centro, there is always someone to talk to and this week I have really learned and appreciated to recognize the holy ghost. We have to be super sensitive on who we need to talk to and who is even more prepared to receive a baptismal invitation. I want to share two experiences we had yesterday with finding people. We were walking along, and there wasn't anyone in the street, but a girl passed with her headphones while we were contacting a house. we almost turned away, but hermana hansen said lets go! and we went to go talk to her. she was SO sweet and her pareja also was super cool. they were very interested and accepted baptismal dates. it was so spiritual and cool. Then, we were in the last hour and we felt like we needed to go up to a street that was a little bit far, but we went anyways. we contacted a house and a young man came out. we were able to share the restoration with him in a shortened form and he was so excited about it. we invited him to be baptized and he replied "Obvio!!! haha it was so cool. We are always seeing so many miracles and people that are prepared. 

also this week, in chile, a volcano exploded and the wind brought the ash to neuquen. so we were inside for two days, trying not to die. and it was fun because hermana hansen and i just hung out in the chapel and looked up conference and mormon.org. hahah so crazy. 
and hermano hugo made some seriously freaking good ice cream this week that i could have eaten all by myself. so there's that. dulce de leche with bon o bon and walnuts. woowwww. riquisimo. and also here is a good photo from the river. the elders were trying to be subtle and photo bomb us.. but theyre just crazy. haha it is fine (: 
love you guys so much. thanks for all the support. the mission is seriously the best, i can't even handle how much i love it. i love being able to see a change in peoples eyes when they listen to our testimonies of the restoration of the gospel. challenge this week: PRAY to receive inspiration on who needs to hear about the restoration. FOLLOW the spirit and SHARE a  message with someone about the restoration. it is a magical experience (: so freaking awesome! 

xoxo 
Hermana Terry


so peeved about these dumb people that wouldn't move from the sign. they just chilled.. so elder lyman started to talk to them. thanks elder lyman. hahah nice photo right?



all of the ceniza in the air! it wasnt just an overcast day, straight up volcano ash. crazy right? no worries, we are all good and safe. haha just recovering from dusty lungs (;

found pics on Instagram

I was up one night looking at some pics on Instagram, Michael was out of town, and I was missing him and Kylee.
All of a sudden I see these pictures!



This is an old area for Kylee, but she was working with this little girl and her family, with not much success.  But I saw these and it totally made my night.  How great pictures, phones, and Instagram can all be.  It was very cool to see her.  I am grateful for technology.

Just wanted to share these pictures.