Anahi and Gustavooo

I just want to report a couple of super great miracles that I have seen this week! First of all, we had a lesson with Anahi and Gustavo, and we invited them to be baptized this Saturday, instead of the 14th, and to live the law of chastity for one week before they are able to be married. they accepted and are now members of the church. Anahi is staying with her mom this week and Gustavo in his own house. They are truly converted, because they didn't have any doubts or problems, but they just want to keep all of the commandments that they can. I feel too blessed to know them and have learned a lot from their faith and obedience. I cant even begin to explain the changes I have felt and seen in Anahi and Gustavo, and to have seen them be baptized this weekend and to start to live the law of chastity, makes me want to die from too much happiness. It's like having kids, I think. Because we have helped them from the beginning and see so many changes and accomplishments from them. And they were finally baptized!!! Then, on Sunday, they shared their testimonies in the sacrament meeting and it was seriously amazing to see their changes. Ahhh love them too much.

Also, this week, we have been studying the talk Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ  by Gene R. Cook and I am amazed at all of the little and BIG things that come from faith. I already knew that, but when I read it again and started to think about all of the things that come from a little bit of faith, I know that the Lord blesses us immensely with everything that we need. So, we put it into practice right after the zone training... while looking at the calendar in the zone training, i had an overwhelming feeling that on march 21, Rosa Pichun would be baptized. We prayed as a zone and I had tears in my eyes, just knowing that she would be baptized. After much time of waiting (since about 1986...) she has wanted to be baptized, but for the lack of being married and having somewhere else to go, she hasn't been able to, or maybe hasn't shown enough faith in the Lord... We went to her house right away after the training and we explained what we had felt. We invited her to think about it and think about the sacrifice that she would have to make. She explained that she had received a job offer to watch and take care of a neighbor from 9Pm until 7Am every day of the week. Which would mean that she wouldn't be sleeping in her house, and wouldn't be breaking the law of chastity. It was another testimony to me that the Lord really blesses us when we put ALL of our faith in HIM. Not in others, or ourselves, but in Him. So, she came to church very ready to keep her committments and be baptized in two weeks. I am so happy to be here right now. 

Everything is going well with Hermana Soto and I. I continue learning from her wisdom and testimony. She is super funny and we are becoming best friends. I am so graetful for the opportunity I have to train her. I have learned more from her I think, than her from me. what a blessing the Lord has given me to be with her in the beginning of her super successful journey. I invite you guys to read the talk "Faith in The Lord Jesus Christ" by Gene R. Cook this week and try to apply your faith in ALL things, at ALL times. 

Keep being good! Love you so much, hope you are all having a super awesome and happy week. 

xoxo

Hermana Terryyyyy

What???

same door, all of the days. Valeria.... we about to drop yaaaa!

My arm is tired from Knocking.......=]

just.. i can't even say it because it was terrible. but thanks to my super companion, we spent two hours oiling, brushing and picking through my hair. shout out to my mom for sending me a comb in the mtc and shout out to hna Soto for doing so much work and helping me. (:

Come unto Christ, Come unto him

Okay, I think that I am semi-embarrassed that I like efy music.. but it's all that I have got to listen to.. that or the hymns. so give me a break. haha that is what the title is, if you're interested, look it uuppp! (;

This week has been pretty great, tranquilo, but we have worked hard. Here are some great things that happened: we had a "charla franca" with an investigator family while teaching lesson 3 and it turned out super great! ( a charla franca translates into a frank chat.. basically it means that we lay down the law and tell the investigator that they need to get their crap together, or we can't continue teaching because it is a waste of our time. that is a really direct way to put it... haha) we put a baptismal date with the 4 of them that aren't members. It was a really powerful lesson. We had a family night with our Anahi and Gustavo about the atonement and they really like to learn about how they can continue to be an example and making changes. If you have seen The District, more specifically the lesson with German about the law of chastity, that is basically how Gustavo is. He is trying SO HARD to follow all the rules and he basically doesn't talk to anyone all day, just to avoid saying something bad... haha he is is such a champion. I seriously love them... and we are counting down, only two more weeks!!! Please keep them in their prayers, they are making huge changes in their lives.

We gave a Book of Mormon to Silvana, an evangelical investigator, this week that we had written our testimonies in. She is really evangelical, but is so nice and always receives us in her house, the only worry we have is that she just wants to be friends. We are working on sharing more and helping her understand what we do and that the best thing we have to offer her is the gospel.Her husband is a freaking member.. but he is kinda cray cray. hah. 

Also, Hermana Soto and I were talking about all of the changes we have seen in the ward since we started working together and we decided that we had activated many families and people and we have had a baptism. So far, we have helped la familia Parra (7 people), la familia Barraza (5people), Luis, Rocio and Irma Huenul (son, daughter & wife of Rene, our recent convert), and we helped a recent convert get back to church after a tough trial during the holidays. We feel like we are doing a lot of good work... and honestly, the reason that I know we are seeing so many miracles is because we are using the book of mormon like we never have before. We read it in all of the lessons, we give homeworks assignments to read during the week, and we are making sure that everyone KNOWS that it is an inspired book from God and that it holds the evidence to everything we say. It has helped so much. (: I invite you guys to really read the book of mormon... READ IT. READ IT WITH ALL THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART AND MIND. I promise that you will feel closer to God and strengthen your testimony of the truth. 

also, just us, always trying to find Valeria.. get home Valeria!!!

just the freaking cutest baby of the earth. Aihan. (I-an) soo darling. love him

8 months?

There are a few things I would like to share from this week. One is a lesson that we had with an investigator family. We had something planned, but it ended up that there were some extra famiy members there, and so we changed our book of mormon lesson plan.  thanks to the amazing cards we are using right now (mormon.org/questions), we had a super cool lesson. We put all of the cards on the table, they chose the one they liked most,  and we let them share a little bit about what they thought the answer to the question was. Then, we found a scripture for every question they had. They all agreed that they answers were helpful, and the spirit was so strong. The coolest part was that the 4 girls in the lesson were all different ages, all different experiences and everyone felt the spirit. They all said that it helped them a lot to get rid of their doubts and have more hope in the future.

Also, this week I prayed very specifically before reading The Book of Mormon and almost instantly, I found an answer to my prayer. This week, I have definitely gotten to know my book of Mormon better and my testimony is constantly strengthened. I can't even handle how freaking cool The Book of Mormon is. GO READ IT NOW! and pray about something specifically, you will find an answer. i promise (:

Also, we had a super great activity with our bishop on saturday morning in the plaza. we did a encuesta ( i dont know that word in english, sorry... look it up), it went really well and we got 34 references in an hour! we are really excited to find all of these people again and help them accept the gospel.the gospel is the coolest thing ever.

oh, also, fun fact. I started my family history work this week.. haha in a little book called My Family... go do it. it is fun (:

well, be good, homies. keep it reaalll and eat your vegetables (:

xoxo

Hermana Terry

I am really tan.. but I have a farmers tan.. hahaha 

hna soto and marcela... good times in the bathroom, thanks for the picture Alma. haha

Super Awesome........

So this week, we had a super awesome noche de hogar with our investigators, lead by hermana soto about love and how to show real, christ like love. it was super awesome, and very spiritual, everyone was crying. Moments like that help me keep moving forward, and help me stay motivated.I honestly love Anahi and Gustavo and their family so much, I just die of happiness everytime we can be with them. They are definitely family to me. 

Also, we had another family night about prayer with a less active and her son and two of her friends. It was fun and the little boy who is 6 years old, always says his prayers. when we followed up, he said that one morning, he was getting ready to leave, but then realized that he didn't say his prayers, so he ran back to his room to start his day right. I am constantly amazed at the faith of young children. their examples help me grow so much. Obviously there's a reason why we need to become more like young children (mosiah 3:19)

Also, we had a baptism on saturday!  Renècito. He is soo great. He is an older man, almost all of his famiy are members, except one son. And literally I am freaked ouuuttt by how much they remind me of The Schmauch famiy. There are 7 kids and I can choose each one of their kids to be one of the schmauchs.. it is freaky.. in a good way. (:

I can't even begin to explain the change I have seen in his attitude. Everything about him has changed since I met him. I LOVE seeing how the gospel changes peoples lives. Now, his prayers are so much more sincere and specific. he has more desires to share his thoughts, and even though he is suffering from parkinsons disease, every time he sees us, it's like he forgets about his struggles and has a huge smile on his face. he is a really great man and I am super thankful to my Heavenly Father for preparing him for this step. I honestly feel like it wasn't even our baptism because he was so ready. There have been missionaries visiting him for like... AGES... but for some reason, when we asked him to be baptized on the 16th of January, he said yes, and I knew that he would be baptized. More than anything, because we had the faith to do EVERYTHING to help him keep progressing. It has been a very great month helping him prepare for baptism.

Next on the list: Anahi and Gustavo. They finally have a date to be married, the 13th of March and then their baptisms are scheduled for the 14th of March. KEEP THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS!! They need it for sure, because they are so young and have a lot of trials, but I know that they were prepared way before we even got there. 

Thanks for all of the prayers and support, seriously you guys rock my world. The mission is the best. The challenge this week: if you have ANY doubt about the gospel, even if it is the tiniest thing, be humble, get on your knees and ask your Heavenly Father about it. then, ACT. Search the scriptures and be diligent. I can promise you that you will find the answer, just like I have in all these months.

<3

xoxo

hermana Terry

ps... i will try to send photos later.. sorry homies!

Renecito didn't like to take pictures, but I promise that he was happy (:

okay, Alma technically wasn't our baptism, but we taught her everything. She is Renes granddaughter.. cutest (:

It's been a pretty great week (nacho voice...)

this week has been pretty great. something awesome that has happened is that we had two family nights about the atonement, capacitacion de zona, a tsunami in Centro, and lots of lessons with our investigators. It has been a week of many trials, but even more blessings. I am learning to be more consagrated, and make more sacrifices. Every day I realize that the time is passing so fast, and I almost have 8 months in the mission... but I want to make sure that the next 10 months are really worth it, so I am trying to animate myself and use the animation of my companion to keep me going (: "los que no vinieron al redil" is SERIOUSLY WORKING! It is amazing. We have been working hard with 3 different families in the ward, trying to visit them at least once per week, two times if possible... and call them, pass by to say hi and just make sure they know that we love them. This week, ALL THREE FAMILIES CAME TO CHURCH! Our attendance in the sacrament meeting went from 45 to 94 in two weeks. I literally couldn't believe my eyes. I gave a talk and when I got up to see all of the members, I almost passed out because I haven't seen such a big congregation in all of my mission. It was SO. COOOL. I feel extremely blessed, I know that my Heavenly Father is really watching out for me and making sure that we are taken care of. Our investigators that have baptismal dates are making lots of changes... something really exciting is that Anahi and Gustavo finally got their date to get married! It is for March 13th.. it's a lot later than we had hoped, but we are going to keep working and praying that we can change it to a date that is sooner. I am very excited to see all the changes.

also, i want to share what President Lovell shared with us this week, because Ihave been studying A LOT about forgiveness and repentence:

"Throughout the mission there are hundreds beginning to return to participate in Sunday meetings. It is amazing how the spirit is melting the hearts of those. But it is one thing to feel the spirit and otherwise to maintain the spirit as part of their daily lives. I invite you to think about the needs of every member of the church. All we need to do things that help us to keep the spirit every moment of every day. Everything begins with repentance.

Repentance has to be more consistent in family and personal prayers to Heavenly Father. Repentance includes taking time each day to study the Book of Mormon and enjoy the words of the prophets and their testimony of redemption through the Savior. Repentance includes being obedient to the commandments of God to receive the blessings promised to the faithful. Repentance includes the act of making covenants with the Lord through priesthood restored. Repentance involves doing service to build your next as to build the kingdom of God to serve the living through callings and assignments and the dead through family history." (sorry if the english is weird, it was translated from spanish (: )

Remember that our testimonies start with the basics...  

LOVE YOU GUYS, ENJOY YOUR WEEEEEEK!!!

xoxo

hermana terry

just the cutest Valentina... she was in the hospital for a week after getting burned... pobre...

she took that pic of me (:

Holla........

well, this week didn't go as planned! But, if I have learned something in the mission, it's that sometimes, things work out better unplanned. ha ha, it was a crazy week, but that is only expected here in Argentina! Overall, I felt tired and happy from all the work we did and from everything that I have learned. Mostly I love working hard all week and seeing good fruits on Sunday. It makes me SO happy. 
We did intercambios on Tuesday, and it ended up being 3 of us, with Hermana Cornejo. It was fun, and I love changing plans to make things work better, and especially learn from other missionaries. I just love becoming better and working hard. 
Something that surprised me is that this week was very hard and challenging. We had lots of trials, lots of cancelled appointments, lots of upset menos activos and investigators and lots of walking. And every time that I have a trial, I thank my Heavenly Father because I know that I am becoming stronger. I know that I am refining myself through the strength that Heavenly Father gives me. 
The zone conference this week was SO great.I loved it and I am planning on applying a lot of what I learned throughout my mission. I know that we will see lots of success with these new tactics and focusing on inspired questions. 
This week, we had 3 investigators at church and 2 less active families that we have been visiting regularly. GOOD FRUITS! 

Can I get a "HOLLLA" for Anahi, Gustavo and René? René has a baptismal date for the 14th and Anahi and Gustavo for the 21st. EEEP! Keep them in your prayers, especially René. 

Also, challenge for the week: forgive someone who has offended you, hurt your feelings or anything else. Like our best example, our older brother and Savior forgave ALL, even in His last moments in His mortal existence. Luke 23:34... It is HARD. And I know, because I don't like to ask for forgiveness... #sostubborn. but I heard some good counsel this week... if you don't like to ask for forgiveness, don't do anything mean! haha.. simple right? (:

Keep on keepin' on!

funny moment: shared my testimony yesterday and quoted that scripture in spanish.. but instead of saying "forgive them, for they know not what they do"... I said "forgive them because for they don't do what they know"... hi, still learning. hahaha 

enjoy your weeks, be happy!!

xoxo

Hermana Mama Ky Terry

also, lets talk about cerro michacheo... it's tiiinyy and it is a serious tourist attraction here in Zapala. but legend says that if you climb all the way to the top, some day you'll return to Zapala... I wouldn't even be mad. (: so much wind, pretty sure I almost blew off the top though.

THANKS FOR THE SKIRT MOM. it's kind of like a grandma.. but it's got pockets and it's comfy, so I'm about it. hahah