So this is pretty sad, I totally forgot about Thanksgiving until Thursday night and I was like hey wait a minute!!! So no I didn't do anything at all for thanksgiving... just worked, and we didn't really eat very much on Thursday either because our lunch appt. bailed on us!! But that's OK, it was a good week anyways!! I´m so excited about the news that Sister Richins gave birth to a healthy baby, that makes me soo happy... the Richins are such wonderful people and deserve all the blessings in the world!! Give her a hug for me when you see her please and say congrats!!
Hermana Riquelme is certain Brock was in her ward, because she remembered him having a birthday on may 5th and that he has a little sister much younger than him and all this other stuff... but I'm excited to get a letter from Brock that would be awesome!! Bro Neal has written me a few times!
I love getting letters!!
Oh and also don´t forget this, my p-day next week is on Tuesday because it is transfers, and whenever there are transfers p-day is on Tuesday!! I don´t think either one of us will be transferred though!!
I think it is so funny that everyone loves my letters so much, I feel like they aren't very good and very spastic, but whatever!!
So apparently I slept talked again last week, and my comp was like yeah every time it's in English, its so weird! I was like um remember how English is my first language and I don't speak Spanish very well... she was like well all my other comps slept talked in Spanish, I was like yeah and all of them were either native Spanish speakers or had been out over a year... but whatever, she doesn't understand that I´m learning Spanish because they other day she made a comment like wow you've been here a month and you can't understand everything yet... that was a good confidence booster, but oh well its mostly just her I can't understand anymore!
Oh and so a member the other day said I was getting smaller every time she sees me... I have been losing a lot of weight I think... none of my clothes fit anymore... like my shirts mostly just hang on me... I might have to buy new clothes soon... hopefully not though!
Oh and I jinxed the weather last week, it has been so stinking hot here... I'm not sure in Fahrenheit, but it was 36 degrees centigrade (editor's note: that's 96.8º F) yesterday at noon, so who knows later on in the day!! All I know is I almost died of heat!! But don't worry we had a great day yesterday, only one appt fell threw and that was OK because we didn't have time cause we had gotten lost earlier that day!! One of the less active members, the one that went crazy after she was baptized came to church on Sunday... it was so awesome, she has been too sick before and everyone was so happy to see her, one of the members started crying during the closing prayer when she thanked the Lord for Milta being able to come!! It was so touching! Also José has stopped smoking, and will hopefully be baptized this weekend, but if we don´t see him today than prob not till the 13th because next weekend is stake conference!! Oh and Antuan is amazing!! We watched The Testaments with her and she loved it... at the end she was like oh I think this is so wonderful I'm going to cry! And when it showed Christ saying ye are the other sheep I talked about she was like oh yeah I've always wondered who he was talking about in the Bible! It was amazing, she also said she loves church, she feels so good when she goes, and she also told us she has stopped going out with her friends dancing and stuff and asked if there was anyone in the church she could be friends with, because she wanted to do the right things!! She also makes sure to go and buy everything she will need sat night so she won´t have to do it on Sunday, and we haven't even taught her about keeping the sabbath day holy... she is truly amazing!! Also our investigator Silvia, is so much happier every time we see her... it makes me so happy! And When we first started teaching her she didn't understand anything, but now she is understanding almost everything!! Its amazing to see the way the spirit works in people, I love it!!
So we had another weird street experience the other day... we were walking to the bus stop and this lady stopped us and said, "Hey I want you to teach my son, I'm a member but haven´t gone to church in 10 years, and I want my son to be a member." Well, I got all excited and we asked how old he was and he is only 6... so he can´t be baptized for another 2 years. But hopefully we can help this lady come back to church!!
This week has been a pretty good week, I´m loving being a missionary, I love Argentina and the people here! Every so often I will surprise myself when I start talking, but it's not a fluent thing yet... not even close. But every so often I will say something and wonder where it came from!!
Welp I hope all is well with everyone back home, I love getting mail so please keep it coming.
Welp, Love you all,
Hermana Gosnell
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Investigators, travelling conditions and birds
Oh that is so sad about Brother Kidman and Sister Lowe, I loved them both! Brother Kidman was my Sunday School teacher when I was younger and Sister Lowe, well she was just so sweet and caring! I actually thought about her the other day! I'm so sad for them both, but I'm glad that Brother Kidman got to see his wife baptized before he died!! So I'm really shocked about the gas prices... that is so crazy!! So I'm glad that Noelle is still doing well with her pregnancy, that makes me happy... every morning and night I pray that she and her baby will stay healthy... and for Amber too.
Oh and you had snow... that is so crazy!! Well I think people have been praying for me to live through this hot weather because the past few days have actually been pretty chilly, I wore a sweater on Saturday and Sunday I had a sweater with me, but it fell off my bag somewhere, and when we went back to look for it, it was gone... so I was a bit sad about that, but oh well! I would like an umbrella to keep the raining bugs off that would be nice! Also my hymns made easy book, and if its possible Noelle has a book her mom made about learning to play the hymns, if I could get that that would be great to!! Also the recipe for banana bread and root beer, and well any other seasonal recipe... I'm missing that stuff just a little!!
Okay now for may past week, every night I write a few things that happened during the day, and then that's what Ii write from... so here is my past week:
First I don't think I've ever mentioned this, there are a lot of horse drawn carriages here... that is how people get around... now cars and bikes are much much more common... but still horse drawn carriages are seen a lot everyday!! Also I bought a water filter water bottle... I must say that is my life saver here... you can put whatever water in it and drink it straight from the bottle... I love it!! We ran into a less active member the other day and my comp mentioned I was from North America and she said really... she doesn't look like it... haha my comp then said, but when she talks you can tell!! Also if you want to compare what Tigre looks like to something in the states, the closest comparison is Florida... it looks a lot lot like Florida!! And feels like it to, because it is so dang hot!! So we have a little bitty gas stove, it makes me nervous to use... so my comp does all the cooking... I feel like the first time I use it I will burn down the whole building! But we got an announcement at our last zone conference that we all should be getting microwaves soon... which I'm way way excited about!! So the other day we contacted a family of 6 kids, who apparently attended church for 3 years, but never got baptized... that was 7 years ago... so we are teaching them now... their kids are CRAZY!! the youngest kept trying to steal my bag and water bottle... and when he wasn't doing that he was throwing rocks at my comp... very hard to teach in that situation!!
Oh and we had a lesson with a recent convert, right after she was baptized she went crazy... like running around the streets at night, she had to be hospitalized and stuff... she is a really sweet lady, and such a strong person, she has been through so much in her life, and she can't go to church because she has to stay at home... but she reads the Book of Mormon and the lesson manual for Relief Society... when we sang I am a Child of God she started crying, it was so very touching!! Oh and last week we taught this lady named Rosa, she is crazy... she was like I don't like commitments from anyone... and she told us she didn't want to learn anymore, but then invited us in anyways, and then invited us back for this week... she cracks me up!!
Ok a funny story from last week, we got home that night and I went into the kitchen to get some water and as I was filling my water bottle I heard a rustle from the shelf near the ceiling, I looked up and there were 2 pigeons there!!! I did a little yelp because I was startled to see two pigeons in my kitchen, and my comp thought I just saw a bug so she comes in and is like what? I was like there are 2 pigeons in our kitchen, we had left our window open during the day, and they came in to sleep on our shelf... so we showed them out, one flew right out the window, and the other one is pretty stupid and flew into the closed part and fell on the ground... got up to fly out again, and hit the window again... finally the third time the dumb thing flew out... it was really really funny!!
Oh so I love the food here, and the members cook so well, but it stresses me out so much to eat there... because they serve me enough food to last me a year, and I can't eat it all and then they are like oh you don't like my cooking, and get mad at me, and it is just so stressful... hopefully I will figure out a way to get around that!! Oh yeah before I forget, in Spanish to say to give birth is dar luz, which directly translated is To give light... I really like that!! Also just another random fact... I've been on my mission for 3 whole months now!!
So Jose, one of our investigators is really progressing, he says he can go days without smoking and not feel bad... we taught him about the law of fasting and committed him to do it, he said he will!! Oh we have 2 new members in our branch, one is a young couple, the girl served a mission in the LA temple... she seems really sweet, and the other is from Peru she moved here few weeks ago, and couldn't find the church then one of the people she lives with saw us walking down the street and said, I think missionaries from your church are on the street, so she ran outside and started yelling for us, I was like hey is someone yelling hermanas, so we turned around and she came over to us and was like hey I'm trying to find the church... haha she is so awesome!!
We had a fantastic Sunday this week... we had 5 investigators at church and almost 6, but Ana Maria showed up only for Relief Society... and we had 7 kids there from investigators!! Antuane is absolutely amazing, and has accepted a baptismal date of 13 dec, along with her son... he is really excited about it... and she says she loves church and she can't describe it but all she wants to do is read the Book of Mormon... it is great!! Also we have another amazing investigator, German... pronounced Herman, he is 26 and came last week with a member, and came again this week... he has 4 brothers, and we taught 3 of them this last week, they are all pretty fun, and German is just amazing, I'm sure he will be baptized!!
All in all we had a pretty amazing week, a lot of lessons and a lot of work... but these people are so good! I can't wait to start seeing progress and baptisms!! But for now, my time is up... I love you all and hope you have a great week... and don't forget to write me... I only heard from mom this week!!!
Love ya'll!!
Hermana Gosnell
Oh and you had snow... that is so crazy!! Well I think people have been praying for me to live through this hot weather because the past few days have actually been pretty chilly, I wore a sweater on Saturday and Sunday I had a sweater with me, but it fell off my bag somewhere, and when we went back to look for it, it was gone... so I was a bit sad about that, but oh well! I would like an umbrella to keep the raining bugs off that would be nice! Also my hymns made easy book, and if its possible Noelle has a book her mom made about learning to play the hymns, if I could get that that would be great to!! Also the recipe for banana bread and root beer, and well any other seasonal recipe... I'm missing that stuff just a little!!
Okay now for may past week, every night I write a few things that happened during the day, and then that's what Ii write from... so here is my past week:
First I don't think I've ever mentioned this, there are a lot of horse drawn carriages here... that is how people get around... now cars and bikes are much much more common... but still horse drawn carriages are seen a lot everyday!! Also I bought a water filter water bottle... I must say that is my life saver here... you can put whatever water in it and drink it straight from the bottle... I love it!! We ran into a less active member the other day and my comp mentioned I was from North America and she said really... she doesn't look like it... haha my comp then said, but when she talks you can tell!! Also if you want to compare what Tigre looks like to something in the states, the closest comparison is Florida... it looks a lot lot like Florida!! And feels like it to, because it is so dang hot!! So we have a little bitty gas stove, it makes me nervous to use... so my comp does all the cooking... I feel like the first time I use it I will burn down the whole building! But we got an announcement at our last zone conference that we all should be getting microwaves soon... which I'm way way excited about!! So the other day we contacted a family of 6 kids, who apparently attended church for 3 years, but never got baptized... that was 7 years ago... so we are teaching them now... their kids are CRAZY!! the youngest kept trying to steal my bag and water bottle... and when he wasn't doing that he was throwing rocks at my comp... very hard to teach in that situation!!
Oh and we had a lesson with a recent convert, right after she was baptized she went crazy... like running around the streets at night, she had to be hospitalized and stuff... she is a really sweet lady, and such a strong person, she has been through so much in her life, and she can't go to church because she has to stay at home... but she reads the Book of Mormon and the lesson manual for Relief Society... when we sang I am a Child of God she started crying, it was so very touching!! Oh and last week we taught this lady named Rosa, she is crazy... she was like I don't like commitments from anyone... and she told us she didn't want to learn anymore, but then invited us in anyways, and then invited us back for this week... she cracks me up!!
Ok a funny story from last week, we got home that night and I went into the kitchen to get some water and as I was filling my water bottle I heard a rustle from the shelf near the ceiling, I looked up and there were 2 pigeons there!!! I did a little yelp because I was startled to see two pigeons in my kitchen, and my comp thought I just saw a bug so she comes in and is like what? I was like there are 2 pigeons in our kitchen, we had left our window open during the day, and they came in to sleep on our shelf... so we showed them out, one flew right out the window, and the other one is pretty stupid and flew into the closed part and fell on the ground... got up to fly out again, and hit the window again... finally the third time the dumb thing flew out... it was really really funny!!
Oh so I love the food here, and the members cook so well, but it stresses me out so much to eat there... because they serve me enough food to last me a year, and I can't eat it all and then they are like oh you don't like my cooking, and get mad at me, and it is just so stressful... hopefully I will figure out a way to get around that!! Oh yeah before I forget, in Spanish to say to give birth is dar luz, which directly translated is To give light... I really like that!! Also just another random fact... I've been on my mission for 3 whole months now!!
So Jose, one of our investigators is really progressing, he says he can go days without smoking and not feel bad... we taught him about the law of fasting and committed him to do it, he said he will!! Oh we have 2 new members in our branch, one is a young couple, the girl served a mission in the LA temple... she seems really sweet, and the other is from Peru she moved here few weeks ago, and couldn't find the church then one of the people she lives with saw us walking down the street and said, I think missionaries from your church are on the street, so she ran outside and started yelling for us, I was like hey is someone yelling hermanas, so we turned around and she came over to us and was like hey I'm trying to find the church... haha she is so awesome!!
We had a fantastic Sunday this week... we had 5 investigators at church and almost 6, but Ana Maria showed up only for Relief Society... and we had 7 kids there from investigators!! Antuane is absolutely amazing, and has accepted a baptismal date of 13 dec, along with her son... he is really excited about it... and she says she loves church and she can't describe it but all she wants to do is read the Book of Mormon... it is great!! Also we have another amazing investigator, German... pronounced Herman, he is 26 and came last week with a member, and came again this week... he has 4 brothers, and we taught 3 of them this last week, they are all pretty fun, and German is just amazing, I'm sure he will be baptized!!
All in all we had a pretty amazing week, a lot of lessons and a lot of work... but these people are so good! I can't wait to start seeing progress and baptisms!! But for now, my time is up... I love you all and hope you have a great week... and don't forget to write me... I only heard from mom this week!!!
Love ya'll!!
Hermana Gosnell
Thursday, November 13, 2008
from the mission presidents wife
Dear Family,
Finally I am able to send you a photo of Hermana Gosnell. She is wonderful! She is growing and already developing into a powerful missionary. Her Spanish is impressive also. Thank you for your support!
With love,
Sister Argyle
Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission
Finally I am able to send you a photo of Hermana Gosnell. She is wonderful! She is growing and already developing into a powerful missionary. Her Spanish is impressive also. Thank you for your support!
With love,
Sister Argyle
Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission
Noelle, Laundry, Answers, and Ants
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NOELLE IS PREGNANTÂ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (editor's note: Michelle, the word is embarazada ;^)
Ok I'm done screaming... well ok maybe not, I will be screaming for the next 7 months, I absolutely can´t believe this miracle, it is just unbelievable!!! I'm so excited, I def started to tear up, I was able to hold in the tears though!! But this isn´t my doing, these miracles our fam has been experiencing isn´t because of me, it is because of the faithfulness of our whole family, and most importantly because of the Lord, I have nothing to do with it!! Ok so, I'm not sure what you should do about the camera, Next pday I'm going to look at cameras and then e-mail you what I think... So wait till next week, also I only get letters and packages every 6 weeks at zone conferences, >I just had one last week, so maybe next zone conference I will get it!!
Ok so remember how I'm doing my laundry by hand??? Crazy huh, I don´t really like it, but I´m going to take it to get done every other week or so, just to make sure its clean, but I have to wash my garments all the time by hand!! Oh and I´m going to be coming back a completely diff person, I am going to be way dark, b/c I already am way dark, also I'm going to be able to read maps... crazy huh_ And I will be walking everywhere!!
So here in Argentina I've found the true mark of poverty is not having a flat screen tv... yeah almost everyone has one!!
Here are some questions >I needed to respond to... I live in Tigre right next to the train station overlooking the river, it is gorgeous here, all the missionaries are jealous of us because of how beautiful it is!! We live in the twin towers and they are basically the only tall buildings near us, it is very safe we have to be buzzed in and out of the building, no one has keys there are always guards waiting to buzz us in and out! The food is great, I absolutely love milanesa, it is so good!! I don´t really know peoples work schedules, I imagine it is when they have work, they work when they don´t, they sit around and drink mate! And what i did for Halloween, I preached the gospel, they don´t celebrate Halloween in Argentina, so yup that is all I can think of as far as questions... If you have anymore ask away!!
Ok so last week a million big huge yucky flying ant bugs were falling out of the sky, when I asked my comp about it she just said yeah it does that when it rains... well it never rained that day... but luckily the bugs only fell in the morning and we were in zone conference all day!!
So Zone conference was very stressful, all in spanish and we had to do practices and of course people like to pick on me bc i don´t speak spanish! The Ap, I don´t think I like him very much, because I just finished doing a practice and he came over and said do it again, and stood there staring at me the whole time, I almost started crying... he didn´t do that with anyone else!! But other than that it was good, my mission president is AWESOME!! The food was disgusting, little bitty vegetable filled tartas, it was so gross and I was starving, but oh well whatever!!
Ok so apparently Argentina is mullet and rattail central... who knew?? My comp is great, but she is a bit of a me monster sometimes, I will start to say something and she will be like oh yeah but I'm this way, and she will start talking and not stop... but whatever that means I only have to listen to spansih!!
All our investigators are from Peru, Peruvians are amazing people!! So prepared by the Lord, one of them Antuane, is amazing!! She read all of 3 Nephi 1 and understood it all!! she came to church and her mom and her son are ready to be baptized but she feels like she needs a little more time to study, I really hope we can get her to commit to baptism!! Then we have another investigator who committed to baptism, she is the single mother of 4 who is 23 and has almost nothing... I´m not really sure she understands, she has the understanding of a child, but she is so great... I really hope we can get her to church!! We´ve been having a lot of menos actives coming to church... which is so awesome! Oh and apparently my comp says before I came they tried contacting Antuane a million times and never could, the first time was my like 2nd day here!! So cool huh??
Oh so apparently I've been talking in my sleep, something I haven´t done in a while... its only happened twice, I feel so bad... but what can I do??
Ok so it is still amazingly hot here... but I love it, I love the work my comp and the people! I´m understanding a lot more spanish but I´m having a hard time speaking it!! I had to bear my testimony 2 Sundays in a row, this last week everyone said I did so good and they felt the spirit really strong, I almost got my comp to cry, but I was reading what to say, so I don´t think I really did that great, but our investigator Antuane said she loved it!! So that's all that matters!!
That is all I have this week about the work, keep the letters coming i love it... oh wait today we had a reunion de bellotas, all the new missionaries, it was at the mission house, it was really good great food, a lot of fun... my mission president is truly amazing!! I´m so lucky to have him as my president!!
Welp that's all I have for now, I love everyone of you and love the letters keep them coming!!
Love,
Hermana Gosnell
!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (editor's note: Michelle, the word is embarazada ;^)
Ok I'm done screaming... well ok maybe not, I will be screaming for the next 7 months, I absolutely can´t believe this miracle, it is just unbelievable!!! I'm so excited, I def started to tear up, I was able to hold in the tears though!! But this isn´t my doing, these miracles our fam has been experiencing isn´t because of me, it is because of the faithfulness of our whole family, and most importantly because of the Lord, I have nothing to do with it!! Ok so, I'm not sure what you should do about the camera, Next pday I'm going to look at cameras and then e-mail you what I think... So wait till next week, also I only get letters and packages every 6 weeks at zone conferences, >I just had one last week, so maybe next zone conference I will get it!!
Ok so remember how I'm doing my laundry by hand??? Crazy huh, I don´t really like it, but I´m going to take it to get done every other week or so, just to make sure its clean, but I have to wash my garments all the time by hand!! Oh and I´m going to be coming back a completely diff person, I am going to be way dark, b/c I already am way dark, also I'm going to be able to read maps... crazy huh_ And I will be walking everywhere!!
So here in Argentina I've found the true mark of poverty is not having a flat screen tv... yeah almost everyone has one!!
Here are some questions >I needed to respond to... I live in Tigre right next to the train station overlooking the river, it is gorgeous here, all the missionaries are jealous of us because of how beautiful it is!! We live in the twin towers and they are basically the only tall buildings near us, it is very safe we have to be buzzed in and out of the building, no one has keys there are always guards waiting to buzz us in and out! The food is great, I absolutely love milanesa, it is so good!! I don´t really know peoples work schedules, I imagine it is when they have work, they work when they don´t, they sit around and drink mate! And what i did for Halloween, I preached the gospel, they don´t celebrate Halloween in Argentina, so yup that is all I can think of as far as questions... If you have anymore ask away!!
Ok so last week a million big huge yucky flying ant bugs were falling out of the sky, when I asked my comp about it she just said yeah it does that when it rains... well it never rained that day... but luckily the bugs only fell in the morning and we were in zone conference all day!!
So Zone conference was very stressful, all in spanish and we had to do practices and of course people like to pick on me bc i don´t speak spanish! The Ap, I don´t think I like him very much, because I just finished doing a practice and he came over and said do it again, and stood there staring at me the whole time, I almost started crying... he didn´t do that with anyone else!! But other than that it was good, my mission president is AWESOME!! The food was disgusting, little bitty vegetable filled tartas, it was so gross and I was starving, but oh well whatever!!
Ok so apparently Argentina is mullet and rattail central... who knew?? My comp is great, but she is a bit of a me monster sometimes, I will start to say something and she will be like oh yeah but I'm this way, and she will start talking and not stop... but whatever that means I only have to listen to spansih!!
All our investigators are from Peru, Peruvians are amazing people!! So prepared by the Lord, one of them Antuane, is amazing!! She read all of 3 Nephi 1 and understood it all!! she came to church and her mom and her son are ready to be baptized but she feels like she needs a little more time to study, I really hope we can get her to commit to baptism!! Then we have another investigator who committed to baptism, she is the single mother of 4 who is 23 and has almost nothing... I´m not really sure she understands, she has the understanding of a child, but she is so great... I really hope we can get her to church!! We´ve been having a lot of menos actives coming to church... which is so awesome! Oh and apparently my comp says before I came they tried contacting Antuane a million times and never could, the first time was my like 2nd day here!! So cool huh??
Oh so apparently I've been talking in my sleep, something I haven´t done in a while... its only happened twice, I feel so bad... but what can I do??
Ok so it is still amazingly hot here... but I love it, I love the work my comp and the people! I´m understanding a lot more spanish but I´m having a hard time speaking it!! I had to bear my testimony 2 Sundays in a row, this last week everyone said I did so good and they felt the spirit really strong, I almost got my comp to cry, but I was reading what to say, so I don´t think I really did that great, but our investigator Antuane said she loved it!! So that's all that matters!!
That is all I have this week about the work, keep the letters coming i love it... oh wait today we had a reunion de bellotas, all the new missionaries, it was at the mission house, it was really good great food, a lot of fun... my mission president is truly amazing!! I´m so lucky to have him as my president!!
Welp that's all I have for now, I love everyone of you and love the letters keep them coming!!
Love,
Hermana Gosnell
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
I´m glad you sent me an e-mail to tell me who won, I was wondering if I would get it or not? A ton of people here have been saying oh Tuesday is a big day for you North Americans huh? HAHA I'm just glad its finally over... hopefully the US won't be in complete ruins when I get home, but oh well things have to get worse before they can get better!!
So Argentina is... HOTTTTTTTTTT And the worst part is it isn't even summer yet!!! The hottest part of the year is in December and January, and it doesn't rain or have any wind where I am, and the locals tell us that Tigre is the hottest part of our whole mission!! Great to hear I will be here for all of summer huh? I'm told its usual to stay in your first area for 6 months, I'm not sure how true that is, but that is what happened to Hna Riquelme, so who knows!! At least her first area was Ushuaia!! I wish!! Don´t get me wrong, I love Tigre, it is gorgeous here! If I wasn't out on the streets walking a million miles a day at breakneck speed (because that's the only way Hna Riquelme walks) I would really love it here.... but what am I saying I do love it here, I love the people here too!! We got a couple of new investigators this last week, we have a old one, José who is amazing, he tells all his friends about the church and his family is now asking if they can come to, he just needs to stop smoking!! One of our new investigators is Antuane and she is so awesome, we taught her and she was so interested, she is from Peru and has 2 kids and lives with her mom. She tried coming to church on Sunday but there was a mix up with her neighbor as to who had the keys that day, and her neighbor left, and she was stuck locked into her yard until her neighbor came home... that sounds weird huh? It is hard to describe but sometimes there are several houses behind one fence, and the fence is kind of like the front door, we don´t go up to peoples doors even if the fence is open, we stand at the fence and clap. So hopefully next week she will be able to come, we are teaching her the second lesson tomorrow! We have another investigator, who is in great temporal and spiritual need. Her name is Silvia, and she is 23 and has 4 kids!!!! She lives in a house right behind her mom's and her mom's house is not much more than a glorified tree house, actually I've seen nicer tree houses!! It is basically 4 things of plywood on stilts!! Silvia's is a bit nicer, it is 4 pieces of tin on stilts! Just one room with a bunk bed with little bitty mattresses for her and her 4 kids!! The day before we came to teach her her little bitty stove thing caught on fire and if she hadn't stopped it it would have burned down her whole house! I feel so bad for her, all these people I wish I could help and bring them out of poverty, but I just remind myself that the message I´m bringing them is so much better than the temporal things they need!! She took the lesson well, her little sister was there for most of it, we gave them both a Book of Mormon, all though Silvia says she has a hard time reading because she doesn't have much schooling, and their mom can't read at all! We are going back to teach them Saturday. Hopefully the will read together the Book of Mormon, because I know that can help them out so much!! Another family we went and talked to is a less active family, they don't have any power anymore, and a lot of things are going downhill, I mentioned to my companion that they just needed to start going back to church, she said they did and that's when things went from bad to worse, so they stopped!! Apparently that happens a lot here!! I guess its hard to see the end when everything is going so badly right in that moment! The less active members here amaze me!! We go to visit them and some have their scriptures and Liahonas out on the table like they were just reading them, they just don't go to church!!! I don´t really understand it! My comp was telling me the previous branch president was the president when most of our less actives were baptized and active, but then they called a new president, and there is nothing wrong with him, but the reason they had to call a new one was because the old on went inactive, and apparently half the branch with him! I have no idea what happened! But there is this family, the Pechor family, they are so great!! They are less active, apparently they get very easily offended, but they crack me up I love visiting them,well the came to church this past Sunday!! I was so happy about that! Maybe things will start getting better with our less actives!!
Well that's about how the work goes here, I´m hot and tired every day, and by the time it is time for bed I fall in and sleep hard! I get to finally meet my mission president tomorrow! I hear he is awesome, I can´t wait to meet him! Welp I gotta run, I will talk to you all next week!!
Hermana Gosnell
Ok so a few things I forgot in my first e-mail to everyone! Last week I tried empanadas for the first time, they were good until a few hours later when I got really sick in the middle of the lesson... yeah my best lesson was spent on the toilet... the lady was really sweet but I was so uncomfortable because her bathroom was a little bitty hole in the wall with a curtain for a door, but the curtain didn´t cover the whole door frame!! Yeah def not what I'm used to!! There was something else really important I wanted to write but I can't remember.
Our branch president is so rich, we ate at his house on Sunday and it is a really really nice house! Like even in the states it would be really really nice!! And today for p-day we went to a place called Puerta de Frutas. Try to look it up, it was really nice! Oh and Elder Foye, we were just a really close district, I'm supposed to be on his, and I'm apparently on another one of my elders e-mailing lists as well!! I need you to add elder Lytle, but I don´t have his e-mail on hand so I will give it to you next week! I love you, but I'm running out of time, so I will write more next week!!!
So apparently my mission presidents wife told my companion I'm on a diet and I'm not allowed to eat pizza or ice cream or anything like that ever!! Which don't get me wrong, yes I'm on a diet, but that doesn't mean I can't eat anything ever! Argentina from what I hear has the best ice cream in the world, I wanted to at least try some! I told my comp that I can have it, but just
not everyday or even very often... but she told me that apparently that first meal you eat after they pick you up at the airport is really good with ice cream and all, well all they gave me was a little bitty salad and that's all! Hna Riquelme was really surprised that was all they gave me! It makes me a little sad, but whatever I guess being fat will always have things like this!! That's all!!
So Argentina is... HOTTTTTTTTTT And the worst part is it isn't even summer yet!!! The hottest part of the year is in December and January, and it doesn't rain or have any wind where I am, and the locals tell us that Tigre is the hottest part of our whole mission!! Great to hear I will be here for all of summer huh? I'm told its usual to stay in your first area for 6 months, I'm not sure how true that is, but that is what happened to Hna Riquelme, so who knows!! At least her first area was Ushuaia!! I wish!! Don´t get me wrong, I love Tigre, it is gorgeous here! If I wasn't out on the streets walking a million miles a day at breakneck speed (because that's the only way Hna Riquelme walks) I would really love it here.... but what am I saying I do love it here, I love the people here too!! We got a couple of new investigators this last week, we have a old one, José who is amazing, he tells all his friends about the church and his family is now asking if they can come to, he just needs to stop smoking!! One of our new investigators is Antuane and she is so awesome, we taught her and she was so interested, she is from Peru and has 2 kids and lives with her mom. She tried coming to church on Sunday but there was a mix up with her neighbor as to who had the keys that day, and her neighbor left, and she was stuck locked into her yard until her neighbor came home... that sounds weird huh? It is hard to describe but sometimes there are several houses behind one fence, and the fence is kind of like the front door, we don´t go up to peoples doors even if the fence is open, we stand at the fence and clap. So hopefully next week she will be able to come, we are teaching her the second lesson tomorrow! We have another investigator, who is in great temporal and spiritual need. Her name is Silvia, and she is 23 and has 4 kids!!!! She lives in a house right behind her mom's and her mom's house is not much more than a glorified tree house, actually I've seen nicer tree houses!! It is basically 4 things of plywood on stilts!! Silvia's is a bit nicer, it is 4 pieces of tin on stilts! Just one room with a bunk bed with little bitty mattresses for her and her 4 kids!! The day before we came to teach her her little bitty stove thing caught on fire and if she hadn't stopped it it would have burned down her whole house! I feel so bad for her, all these people I wish I could help and bring them out of poverty, but I just remind myself that the message I´m bringing them is so much better than the temporal things they need!! She took the lesson well, her little sister was there for most of it, we gave them both a Book of Mormon, all though Silvia says she has a hard time reading because she doesn't have much schooling, and their mom can't read at all! We are going back to teach them Saturday. Hopefully the will read together the Book of Mormon, because I know that can help them out so much!! Another family we went and talked to is a less active family, they don't have any power anymore, and a lot of things are going downhill, I mentioned to my companion that they just needed to start going back to church, she said they did and that's when things went from bad to worse, so they stopped!! Apparently that happens a lot here!! I guess its hard to see the end when everything is going so badly right in that moment! The less active members here amaze me!! We go to visit them and some have their scriptures and Liahonas out on the table like they were just reading them, they just don't go to church!!! I don´t really understand it! My comp was telling me the previous branch president was the president when most of our less actives were baptized and active, but then they called a new president, and there is nothing wrong with him, but the reason they had to call a new one was because the old on went inactive, and apparently half the branch with him! I have no idea what happened! But there is this family, the Pechor family, they are so great!! They are less active, apparently they get very easily offended, but they crack me up I love visiting them,well the came to church this past Sunday!! I was so happy about that! Maybe things will start getting better with our less actives!!
Well that's about how the work goes here, I´m hot and tired every day, and by the time it is time for bed I fall in and sleep hard! I get to finally meet my mission president tomorrow! I hear he is awesome, I can´t wait to meet him! Welp I gotta run, I will talk to you all next week!!
Hermana Gosnell
Ok so a few things I forgot in my first e-mail to everyone! Last week I tried empanadas for the first time, they were good until a few hours later when I got really sick in the middle of the lesson... yeah my best lesson was spent on the toilet... the lady was really sweet but I was so uncomfortable because her bathroom was a little bitty hole in the wall with a curtain for a door, but the curtain didn´t cover the whole door frame!! Yeah def not what I'm used to!! There was something else really important I wanted to write but I can't remember.
Our branch president is so rich, we ate at his house on Sunday and it is a really really nice house! Like even in the states it would be really really nice!! And today for p-day we went to a place called Puerta de Frutas. Try to look it up, it was really nice! Oh and Elder Foye, we were just a really close district, I'm supposed to be on his, and I'm apparently on another one of my elders e-mailing lists as well!! I need you to add elder Lytle, but I don´t have his e-mail on hand so I will give it to you next week! I love you, but I'm running out of time, so I will write more next week!!!
So apparently my mission presidents wife told my companion I'm on a diet and I'm not allowed to eat pizza or ice cream or anything like that ever!! Which don't get me wrong, yes I'm on a diet, but that doesn't mean I can't eat anything ever! Argentina from what I hear has the best ice cream in the world, I wanted to at least try some! I told my comp that I can have it, but just
not everyday or even very often... but she told me that apparently that first meal you eat after they pick you up at the airport is really good with ice cream and all, well all they gave me was a little bitty salad and that's all! Hna Riquelme was really surprised that was all they gave me! It makes me a little sad, but whatever I guess being fat will always have things like this!! That's all!!
I got this e-mail from Michelle
I got this e-mail from Michelle. Anyone who has had to learn a foreign language on their mission understands the challenges here. I am sure that Michelle would appreciate our prayers on her behalf to learn Spanish, as well as plenty of letters of support and encouragement.
Hey so I'm finally here, and it is hotter than hot and not even summer!! So I need you to tell me everything about your first 3 months, how the heck did you learn the language and survive until you did... my comp isn't used to dealing with someone who doesn't know the language and it is pretty uncomfortable!! Anyway sorry this is rushed but please I need help!! Oh and how the heck did you survive summer????? Other than that, I love it here, the people are great!!!!
Hey so I'm finally here, and it is hotter than hot and not even summer!! So I need you to tell me everything about your first 3 months, how the heck did you learn the language and survive until you did... my comp isn't used to dealing with someone who doesn't know the language and it is pretty uncomfortable!! Anyway sorry this is rushed but please I need help!! Oh and how the heck did you survive summer????? Other than that, I love it here, the people are great!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
