EXITO!

Hola!!

 I still LOVE this place. What makes the culture easier to adjust to are the people and how receptive they are. It´s amazing how prepared these people are. We´re starting a Clase de Ingles that we´re gonna teach every Wednesday night!! I´m super excited!! Tomorrow morning at our Reunion de Distrito, we´re going to ask the Elders how they´ve had success with their English classes in the past. Apparently, English class is a great way to find new investigators, because there are a ton of people here who want to learn English!!

There was one experience that we had a few days ago that I´d like to share. So, we were teaching this family about la Ley de Castidad (Law of Chastity) and Hermana Parrish was leading the discussion (as can be expected because I still don´t know Spanish) And the whole family was completely into this discussion. They have this little chicita who couldn´t have been more than 5 years old. She was restless as the lesson went on. I caught her eye and told her to come sit on the seat next to me. She was so excited, and she hopped onto the chair and started swinging her legs with this huge grin on her face!!! As I was sitting there, I was thinking of ways I could preoccupy her so she wouldn´t cause any mischief. A thought came to mind, and I pulled out a folleto of Jesus Christ, the picture that we all know and love, and I gave it to her. Generally, when I hand out a folleto with a picture of Christ, the person will take it and not give it a second glance. But this little girl held it so gently in her hands, making sure to only touch the corners. She just stared at it for the longest time. Then I told her (in Spanish) "That´s Jesus Christ. He´s your friend, and he loves you very much." She stared at the photo again for a few moments, and finally said in her little voice ¨He lives in heaven." That moment, as simple as it was, really struck me. That little girl, no older than 5, knows her Savior. Even though she´s not old enough to understand, she knows Him and she recognizes Him. The feeling that the Spirit brought me just from witnessing her quiet contemplation of the picture was amazing. And it helped a lot with my struggles this week as well, including the knowledge that my grandpa would pass away. It helps because I know that Papa John lives in heaven too. I just really love this gospel and all the happiness that it´s bringing to the people I meet, and in turn, how happy it´s making me. This mission is hard, but it´s amazing, and I´m so happy that I have the chance to be here and do the Lord´s work!!

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

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Felices Pascua!!!

Happy Easter!! Yesterday, that is. It´s been a great week!! Had my first baptism on Saturday, J____C____!!! I felt so happy seeing him go under the water!!! He was so happy after!! And he´s a very shy guy who doesn´t smile a lot. But to see that sincere smile light up on his face was amazing!! And he was confirmed yesterday at church! And.... we got 6 investigadores to church too!!! We have two more baptisms lined up for not this week, but the next. A____, who´s a 13 year old girl and SUCH a doll, and her little brother D_____ who is 9 and adorable. And after that, we have 7 dates for the next two months!!! I don´t even believe it. It seems like we´re making good progress with this family we found last week-- the M______´s. Their oldest daughter, N______, who´s in her early 20´s, can only be taught on weekends. She loves when we come to teach. She even wants to come to our house sometime soon!!! You can just see the light in her eyes when we teach. Funny story though, we were teaching their family about the importance of prophets one day, and at the end of the lesson, we asked Hermano M______ to offer the prayer. As he prayed, he went: thank you for sending these two prophets to teach us today... Needless to say, we´re gonna have to explain a bit more about prophets next time...

Some more random facts about Argentina....  We had to drive to the capital today for DNA papers and such, and I thought we were gonna die 7 LANES OF TRAFFIC ON EITHER SIDE WHAT. There is no such thing as speed limits. The city is amazing!!! I felt like I was driving through a mixture of New York and Europe-- it was so cool!! As we were looking out across a river with a port and boats and such, we saw some more land, and we asked our driver what it was. That´s Uruguay!! He said. What. So I saw Uruguay today. Checked off a part of my bucketlist I didn´t think I had. 

My bathroom is way nice!

Anyways, things here are going fantastic!!! I love it, and I love the people, and my Spanish is okayish hahaha. I love you all so much!!

Con amor, 

Hermana Edwards

Buenos Aires Oeste Mission Blog: open chapel in parque san martin

Buenos Aires Oeste Mission Blog: open chapel in parque san martin: In many areas of the mission we have had an “Open Chapel” experience. The chapel is open on a Saturday and/or a Sunday for people to come an...

I'm here!

SOOO, here I am!!! Beautiful Argentina!!! I can´t even believe it!! It´s crazy!! We hopped off the plane at LAX (just kidding) in Buenos Aires, and suddenly--HUMIDITY. What. It was SO HOT and it was raining and it was difficult to breathe, but somehow I loved it ALREADY!!!! Just the people and the language and the green everywhere--it´s amazing!!

We met President Carter and his wife at the airport, and they´re wonderful!!! We have a really good system here, and our mission is SUPER successful!!! There are 180 Elders and 70 Hermanas in our mission. Last month we had 188 baptisms!!!! Crazy!!!

Anyways, first thing we did was take a bus to this beautiful park, where we held a small devotional by a fallen tree. This place was were the Marvin J. Ballard came and dedicated South America for missionary work!!! That´s right!! Missionary work for the ENTIRE continent began in Buenos Aires!!!

After that we went to the President´s house for lunch, and that was great!!! We met the assistents and had another devotional, and that night I stayed with 7 other girls in a little apartment near the mission office. The next day we were shipped to the transfer meeting. It was 11 Elders and I, and they call us Refuerzos (reinforcements) for the Pastores (Shephards---the ones going home) Then we were put into companionships and areas. I was so nervous!!! What if I got a mean companion, or one who didn´t do any work ever??? They put up the information on slides, and I was paired with.... Hermana Parrish in Libertad, Merlo!!! And let me just tell you, she´s AMAZING!!! Before she became a trainer, she was a Sister Training Leader, and she´s such an amazing worker!!! And she´s from Utah!! GRINGA PODER!!! Right after transfer meeting, we were bused to our pench, which is actually super nice compared to the one I stayed in the night before!!! Apparently, according to Hma Parrish, the pench used to be full to the BRIM of cockroaches, and none of the previous Hermanas would do anything about it!!! Hermana Parrish called the offices and they fumigated it for them. No bugs at all, luckily!! But on the first day, I got TONS of mosquito bites, so that´ll be interesting to deal with in the summer!!

We eat Milanesa almost everyday, and we only eat two meals!!! Everyone has siesta after lunch, and they don´t eat the rest of the day!! We usually eat with the members, and the food is fantastic!!! 

The people here think I´m Argentine, but as soon as I open my mouth, they change their mind hahahahhaha. A girl in Young Womens in our ward said that I don´t have the face of another country, and that I look like I´m from here!!  

We already have a baptism set for this week!!! His name is J________, and he´s CAPO!!! (cool) We went to his house yesterday to get him for church (we walk everywhere and sometimes take the bus to the big city) and we brought leche y muffins con dulce de leche! It was a very filling breakfast:) J_________ is getting baptised this Saturday!!!! He´s such a cute little guy, and he´s super shy. But we love him!! Can´t wait till he becomes a member!!!!

We have 10 other Fechas (baptismal dates) set for the next two months!!! CRAZY!!! One of the families we met on Saturday, and the daughter was so prepared to learn the gospel. The mom and dad were into it to. President tells us: if you have the dad, you have the family. And the dad was tearing up as we taught!!! All I can really offer so far is my testimony (Castellano man... it´s so hard to follow) but it seems to work!!! 

Today, we were on the train, going back to Merlo from Ramos, and I saw a woman in her 20s crying. I felt the impression in my heart to say something to Hma Parrish. I knew that we needed to comfort her. I was super reluctant. I didn´t know if it´d be okay to intervene in whatever was going on in her life. But the impression came again. So finally I leaned over to Hma Parrish and said: that woman behind you is really upset. And so Hma Parrish (really she´s wonderful ahhhh love her) started talking to her and comforting her!!! I tried to fill in with Spanish (it wasn´t great hahah but I tried!!) And we got off the train with her and onto a bus and TOTALLY TAUGHT A LESSON prayer and all ON THE BUS!!! It was awesome!! We got her info and found out she lives nearby!!! Amazing stuff!!

Anyways, I love it here, and I´ve come to know that the MTC is NOTHING like the field. The field is SO much better. A lot more difficult and tiring, but so much more rewarding!!!! I love it, and I love serving the Lord!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

First days in Buenos Aires

Thanks to her Mission President and his wife, we have updated pictures of Hermana Edwards arriving in Buenos Aires! Click here to view her Missions' amazing blog and see the work that is happening in Argentina!

 In front of the Buenos Aires Temple, Tuesday April 8, 2014

2nd day on the 'job' and they don't even look jet lagged!

 So here is a pic of us after we performed "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" for the new arrivals devotional. Elder Bisping, Elder Smith, Hermana Baker and I!

Voy en una aventura!

Only a few more days to go!!! We have our travel plans and we´re already starting to pack!! We leave Monday morning! And we have our Departure Devotional on Friday! It´s so exciting!

This past week has been great!!! Ever since that whole escapade with the guy going around Provo and getting into girls´ rooms, the Elders have been walking us to our apartments every night. And I have been sleeping with a Martinelli bottle on my desk. No one mess. 

Apparently, according to Hermana Baker, I´ve been sleep talking. Not only that, I´ve been sleep talking in SPANISH. What. The language is already infiltrating my subconscious.

SO, as some of you may have heard already, David Archuleta came to the MTC on Sunday. He just barely got home from his mission in Chile a week ago. So here´s how it went down. We were sitting, waiting for the devotional to begin, when DAVID ARCHULETA walks out and sits down!! Turns out, David, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Organist, Richard Elliot, were giving a musical devotional!!! It was the BEST thing ever. We listened to Richard Elliot first, who played a variety of songs. He played a rendition of "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet" that he wrote after Gordon B. Hinckley passed away. And then he played a song only using his feet on the pedals!!! It was crazy! We all gave him a standing ovation. Then David Archuleta came up, and began to bear his testimony. He told us he had just given his homecoming talk that morning, and that there was no place he'd rather be right off his mission than at the MTC with us. He told us about some of his experiences, and then he told us about the amazing work we were preparing to do, and how many lives we will have the opportunity to impact. There have been few other times I have felt the Spirit so strong. Then he sang "Be Still My Soul" It was the most beautiful thing. And he sang a variety of other songs, accompanied by Richard Elliot, and sang some verses in Spanish!!! Last, he sang "Hark All Ye Nations," and for the last verse, we joined in!! We sang with him!!!!!! After this amazing devotional, we went up to the stand. David came by, and shook our hands!! He said as he shook my hand "You'll do so great!!" It was such an amazing experience!!! One I'll definitely never forget. 

-our faces after meeting David Archuleta-

Also, I saw one of the Elders from the District at the bookstore yesterday. He's practically famous at the MTC, so that was cool!!!

We've been saying goodbye to teachers and leaders and friends. It's hard to say goodbye, but it's exciting to know that, by next Tuesday, I'll be out and serving the Lord!!! Argentina here I come!!!:D

-My Zone, Provo Temple-

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards