Nov 16 Letter

Mis Queridos,

What can I say about this week? Well, it started out with a really crazy experience with a taxi driver on the way to choir practice and Hermana Shumway forgetting her shoes in the car. She walked around for an hour in the chapel behind the mission home in a dress and tennishoes. That was fun. We could have taken that as a prediction for the week, but the week we had, without more explanation…let’s just say, apart from getting eaten alive by bugs, we were ON FIRE!
Monday night was a little crazy with all the people we had to see, but it was a good night and we learned a lot. Tuesday morning at 10:45, we left the apartment for our 12 o’clock appointment. Not really, because walking, we would get there in like half an hour, but we like talking to EVERYONE on the way. We did just that and because of it, we were running a little behind the hour to get to the appointment. We were passing a woman outside her house sweeping, and I almost didn’t talk to her. Just wait until you hear the whole story and you will be so ridiculously relieved that I did! She was more than happy to let us right in and teach her and her family. Her name is Mabel Basualdo and she’s married and has 5 kids all over the age of 8…the youngest is 8. The kids are Fabricio (19), Bettiana (18), Shirley (15), Favian (14), and Fernando (8). The first time we taught them, we taught Mabel, Bettiana, Shirley and Favian about the Book of Mormon. Bettiana was very excited to begin her reading in it and always has a big bright smile when we go by. The second time we taught them, the dad (Sergio) was there and we taught the Restoration. We invited them to be baptized, but Sergio said he needs more time to learn more about what we teach. The third time, we taught Fabricio and everyone else except Sergio. We read 3 Nephi 11 with them and oh my heck it was so awesome. We extended the baptismal commitment and Fabricio, Bettiana, and Fernando all accepted. Bettiana for SURE will be getting baptized on December 5 and if we play our cards right, so will Favian. They’re the only two that stayed for all of the meetings yesterday. After sacrament meeting, Bettiana told my companion that she thought about things and she’s going to be baptized in the church. We were WAY more than excited about that. After Relief Society yesterday, she made sure to tell all of the hermanas goodbye. She’s so awesome! Anyway, we taught them pretty much every day this week and Sergio likes what we teach and that we come by all the time, he works a lot and like Brenton, can only have one Sunday a month off from work. However, his birthday is this week and he said he may be able to come to church this coming Sunday, so we’re hoping and praying for that.
We’ve been working a lot with one of our recent converts, Diego Alvarez. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned him in my letters, but he is AMAZING! The other day, Sergio had questions about the word of wisdom. Diego simply told him HIS story, HIS experiences with it and bore his testimony about it. Then he said, “God’s given us our bodies as a gift and His spirit is meant to dwell there, and if we do those kinds of things, it’s defiling the Spirit of God. What would you do?” Diego started smoking when he was 10. He’s 18 now and he’s on fire! He’s a counsellor in the young men’s presidency and is always willing to help us when we need a member for an appointment. He’s helped a TON with the familia Basualdo. He’s so great!
We had a really good experience with another of our investigators, Yamila, who doesn’t have family support with her decision to investigate the church. We began to give a summary of the Plan of Salvation and somehow got on the subject of her not being very permitted to listen to us. I told her, “Yamila, sometimes, we can make righteous deals with God. You can tell him, ‘Heavenly Father, I love what I am being taught, I believe the Book of Mormon is true and I want to be baptized. I’m willing to do what it takes so that I can get baptized, so please soften my family’s heart so that I can get baptized.’ You can do that. The Lord WANTS you to get baptized!” My companion then asked her how she felt about the Book of Mormon, or if she had a testimony about it. Yamila said she has prayed a lot about it, but has never really received an answer. We knelt down right then and there with her and prayed about the Book of Mormon. Guess what? Now she knows it’s true! WOOHOO!
It’s interesting the concept of prayer, isn’t it? I have learned from the mission that with prayer, when we want something, we should never EVER say, “Heavenly Father, I will do this if you do this” or “Heavenly Father, I’m willing to do this when this happens in my life.” Rather we should say, “Father, I’m willing to do all I can so that I will be worthy of the blessings you have for me.” Or be worthy of the specific blessing you want. That’s why, when we want something, we should always work our hardest for it and be obedient and diligent, and if it doesn’t happen, well, at least we know we’re worthy of it when it does come, right?
My companion told me something the other day that meant a lot to me. She said, “Hermana, it’s really really weird to me that I don’t expect perfection from myself anymore. All my life I felt like it was wrong to laugh if I made a mistake, or that I was doing something horribly wrong if things weren’t happening. But with you, I’ve learned that if I give my best, it’s good enough. If I’m sincerely trying to do all I can to do what the Lord wants and nothing happens, it doesn’t matter because I gave my best and I should be happy with that. It’s okay to laugh at the mistakes we make.” Don’t worry, we know it’s not okay ALL of the time to do that, but generally speaking…That meant a lot to me. She would beat herself up really bad when we were first together. She thought she was the worst missionary for the longest time and finally I just had to put my foot down and say, “WOULDJA JUST STOP THAT?” She’s come a long way and she’s a lot happier now with herself, so I feel really good about that.
I have somewhat to say now to my two youngest sisters:
Linsey: DON’T BE STRESSED ABOUT COLLEGE! What you need to do is pick 3 or 4 of YOUR top choice of school and pray about which of those 3 or 4 is the best choice. You could even pick less if you want. But it will be easier for you to receive an answer if you pick your top choice and take those to the Lord. Pray about each one individually and in a place you know you will not be interrupted. Pay close attention to your feelings okay? Don’t worry, Heavenly Father wants you to make the right decision, but He also wants you to be happy. Pick where you want to go and then pray okay? If you don’t feel good about any of the schools you have chosen, start the process over again. However, there are cases where we feel good about all of the things we are praying about, they are all good choices and Heavenly Father is telling us we can choose for ourselves. In that case, take the one you pick and pray about it. Don’t worry, you will get an answer and it will be right for you. Good luck! I love you! Let me know if I can help you k?
Audrey: I read a really really good article today about patriarchal blessings. I don’t know if you are thinking about getting yours or if you already have, but you should read the article because it will help you a TON! It’s in the Ensign or Liahona, can’t remember which one, of August 2009. Mom told me about the conversation you were having with your friend at school. Don’t tell her that what she’s being taught is wrong, but help her think. Ask questions like, “If all we had to do was accept Jesus Christ in our lives and that’s it, do you think it would have been necessary that he suffered for our sins?” It’s true that God loves us no matter what we do, but He has eternal blessings waiting for us and if we don’t follow His commandments, we will never receive them, thus we will never be eternally happy.
I must go now, I love you all and I hope you have all had an amazing week! Weird how we’re already halfway through November. We feel like we’re in July here. We’re getting used to sweating 24 hours of the day. I LOVE ARGENTINA! Talk to you soon! LOTS OF HUGS AND KISSES FOR EVERYONE!!!!!

Hermana Shumway