How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard

Welp. I can´t believe it. Time has flown so fast. I never thought I´d ever come to my last week on the mission field. But here it is! 

There aren´t words sufficient to describe the feelings I have. I´m sad/happy. Sad to leave behind all of these wonderful people, all of the relationships and the spiritually uplifting lifestyle of a missionary, but so happy because I can see all of you again, start my life at home. I´m SO eternally grateful for my mission. Not a day will pass by that I won´t think about it. I have learned so much, have changed so much, and I have come to know my Lord and Savior. I have never felt more sure in all of my life of the truth of this Gospel. It is SO true! How could I possibly deny something so pure and so beautiful!!! Our Heavenly Father loves us SO much. He has given us so much. Every day of my life I want to give back even just a little bit to Him, for all He´s done for us. I´m so grateful for my wonderful family, and the knowledge I have that I can be with them forever! I´m so grateful that I was able to help other families come to this knowledge, to take the steps and enter the gate into eternal life. It will forever be a blessing to me. The Lord has helped me so much along the way, and I know that he´ll continue helping and loving us forever. We are His children. That will never change. No matter what changes in the world, no matter how much our lives have changed, God will always be God, and He will always love us. I know that this is true. And I am so grateful for these truths. And I will never cease to proclaim them.

I love you all so much!!! I´ll see you so so soon!!!:)

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

 Baptism of S____ and E______!!!

 Packing up!

Cyber cat hahaha!

Doubts, Peace and the Gospel…..

Short little story for the week:

This week was wonderful, we found some great new investigators who have great potential!!! One we found has a lot of doubts, but we committed him to read a pamphlet, and he said, "I`ll read this. And who knows, out of all the religions I`ve talked to, none of them have given me such a feeling of peace as yours has. You`re so happy. I want what you have. Maybe this will be the answer that I`ve been looking for for so long." It was so wonderful to know that we were able to help this man feel even a small amount of the influence the gospel can have on his life! I love this work so much!!! 

Only two weeks left, I`m so excited to see you all so soon!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

 Zone meeting!!

 I made my dress into a skirt. Skills.

 District Meeting!

Sub sandwiches yay!

Testimonies, lessons and strength

This week was remarkable!!!

We´ve been working a lot with our investigator O___. She was a miracle to find! We received her and her family as a reference from the Offices a couple weeks ago. We went, and made a return appointment with her daughter. We came back a few days later, and we soon found out that her two twin daughters have been members for about 5 years, and that her former husband was a member as well. A few years ago, they were all very active, including O___, even though she wasn´t a member. During this time, she even paid her tithing!! The only reason she couldn´t be baptized was because she wasn´t married. The whole family became inactive when her husband fell ill with cancer and passed away, about two years ago. We´ve found them again, thanks to this miraculous reference, and have begun teaching again. She came to church these past three Sundays without fail, and we finally had our second lesson with her and her daughters on Friday (we couldn´t before because O___ was very sick) Hermana Wiborny and I testified of the truth of the Restoration, of Joseph Smith, and of the Book of Mormon, in one of the most powerful, spiritual lessons I have ever participated in in all my 17 months. As we invited her to be baptized, I felt the Spirit testifying, not only to her, but to me that these things are true. The words I spoke weren´t mine, but they were the words of the Spirit. I knew, and know, what I spoke is true. It was such a remarkable feeling, one that I can´t possibly forget. We left the lesson on a spiritual high, and Hermana Wiborny gave me a big hug out of excitement for what had just happened, the sweetheart!! It was amazing, the power of the Spirit. We were so aided by the powers of heaven in that lesson. My testimony has been so altered during the length of my mission, but never lessoned. Always strenghtened. I know that it´s true!!! I can never deny it. And we´re so excited to see the progress of O___ and many more to come. 

Yesterday was my last fast Sunday on the field. A member of the Seventy came, we´re not sure why, but it was really cool!!! I bore my testimony for what will be probably one of the last times as a missionary in public. It´s so strange to think that this month I´ll be back in Kaysville! Such a strange feeling. I´m so grateful to know that I have a wonderful family that loves me, there in the United States, and one here in Argentina. I love the mission!!! I know that I have to enjoy every single minute, because before I know it, it´ll be done. But I´m very excited to see every one of you so soon!!! I know that Heavenly Father loves us all so much!!! I´ve felt that love, and I know it.

I love you all so much!!! See you soon!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

Paperwork, diligence and doing what's right…..

This week was great!!! We went to Buenos Aires for paperwork (so I can leave the country without a problem) and it was beautiful! The last time I went was about a year ago, and even so, so many things have changed!

Our investigators, S____ and O___, both went to church yesterday and they loved it!! They both should be (hopefully) baptized this month, based off of their progress. O___ is a miracle actually!!! Her twin daughters are both members, and she used to go to church with them a few years ago. She wasn`t even baptized, but she STILL paid her tithing!! What an example! But about a year ago, her husband passed away, and the whole family became inactive. But we`ve established contact again, and we have so much faith that things will work out for the better for this sweet mother and her daughters!! 

Lately, we`ve been seeing the fruits of working diligently, and it`s something that I really want to strive to use after my mission too. To work hard even though I don`t think I can anymore, and especially when I don`t want to. Because it`s right, even if it`s hard. The Gospel, to some, appears hard to live. It is. We are required to do much, because we have been given much. But once we start truly living the Gospel and loving it, that is when the windows of heaven open up and allows us to see the blessings that come from it. That`s when we begin to see the fruits of our labors. Sometimes as I`m walking through the streets, I become discouraged by the lack of success or by how tired I am. But then I think of the reason why I`m here and why I`m doing this, and it guides me along the way. But that doesn`t mean it becomes perfectly easy. It just gives me that additional faith and courage to keep going. Life is the same. We live the Gospel, not just because we understand everything, not just for all of the blessings we`ll recieve, but because it is the right thing to do. Even if we doubt. Heavenly Father promises us great blessings when we act without necesity of perfect understanding.  "Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves 

without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in 

otherwords, blessed is he that believeth in the word of Godand is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, 

without being brought to know the word, or even 

compelled to know, before they will believe." Alma 32:16

I know that this is true. With all my heart. This is why I`m here. To serve God. And because I know that it`s right. 

I love you all so much!!! See you in a few weeks!!

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

Busy, emotional week and new pics!!!

It`s so soon!!!! It`s actually only 34 days after today!!!!! I got to help in the office all day on tuesday and we slept over with all the new sisters!!! I led them  to do contacts in the streets with the assistants, and I got to bear my testimony at the end, probably for one of the last times!!! We have a baptism coming up, maybe this or the next week, of the little girl S____!!!! Maybe my last:( But I hope not!!! I bawled all day at the transfer meeting, and I had to direct the music in front of the whole mission, and we sang our mission hymn (I`ll Find You there My Friend) and then we sang Called to Serve and I was BAWLING oh my gosh it`s already hard and I still have a month left. A lot of goodbyes. A lot of people I won`t see again. It`s so hard!!!

Next week we hit the 20 days mark!!!!! WHAT.- Well 28, but still!!!! So soon!!!! I love you so so much!!! Tell everyone I love them too!!! I`ll see you soon:)<3

 All of my hijas together for the last time!!!!

Me and Hermana Wiborney 

Reunion de Zona!!!!!

-Madelyn

Nostalgia, transfers and learning….

This week has brought me a feeling of such nostalgia. 

I´m officially in the last transfer of my mission. Only six weeks left!!! What!!! Who knew that time would go so fast!! This time last year, I was in Chivilcoy. I had just recently been flashed away from Libertad, my first area (which we pass every week to go to District Meeting). That was such a difficult time for me!! I thought I would never overcome it. But now I can see how much I´ve grown from such a difficult change. Just about a week or two ago, my companion, Hermana Dayes, was flashed transfered in a very similar way like I was. It was such a hard goodbye!!! But something I could relate to. Now a year later, and I only have 40 plus days left!!! Where did the time go?? I still feel like I have so much more to learn, so much more to do!!! 

My new companion is Hermana Wiborny, from Frankfurt, Germany!!!! She´s so awesome!! She just came about 2 weeks ago!!! We´ve seen so many miracles already!!! Our recent convert, F_______, recieved the priesthood yesterday and was ordained a Priest!!! He´s preparing to enter the temple and do baptisms in about a month:) We have another possible baptism planned for the end of this month, a little girl named S______!!! We´re so excited and I´ll be sure to keep you updated!!! 

Love you all so much!!! See you in 43 days!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

New Companion and pics!

The oldest sisters in the mish!!! Next week I'll be the oldest!

 How we spent 4th of july, in the dark cuz there was no electricity, also, argentina lost the american cup to chile:( COME ON ARGENTINA GET YOURSELF TOGETHER

 

My new companion Hermana Wiborny from Germany!!

President and Hermana Robertson!

Saying goodbye To Hermana Dayes!

"It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ´s Atonement shines."

Hello!!! Sorry I´ve neglected writing for awhile...so much has happened lately!! I don´t even know where to start!!! I have less than 8 weeks left!!! I´ve already recieved my flight itinerary. I´ll be home in the morning on August 25th!!! I can´t even believe how fast time has gone by!!! I have so little time left, but I feel like I still have so much to learn!!!!

I would have to say these past few transfers have been some of the most challenging for me. Considering all of the stress of what happened with our investigator I___, and the ever looming prospect of having to end my missionary service have taken it´s toll on me. But these transfers have been among those I have learned the most from. 

We still haven´t been able to find I___. As his cellphone was robbed, and as he´s working almost every day an hour away in Buenos Aires, it´s become very difficult to find him. We´ve left notes in the hopes that we can have at least some means of contact. We´ll see how that goes. It´s frustrating because we know how prepared he was!!!! All he needs is to be baptized. I´ve never had such difficulty in getting someone baptized before. But we know that God has His reasoning for everything, and he has a plan for I___. 

Our wonderful investigator, F________ (he´s 19 too) was baptized on Friday (the day I completed 16 months on the mission!!!) Just a few months ago, he wanted nothing to do with baptism. But about a month ago, the Bishop from the other ward came up to us and gave us the reference. He´s good friends with a few of the ward members who are serving missions now. We spoke to him, and he mentioned that he was a lot more interested in taking the lessons. We met with him and set a baptismal date. Everything fell into place wonderfully, and his whole family had the opportunity to participate! So many members came! We put on a short video about the Restoration, and his family was enthralled! We´re going to start making the effort to teach them too and hold a family home evening. F________ is already preparing to recieve the Aaronic Priesthood and enter the temple, already has some names prepared that he wants to put into Family Search, and has shown significant interest in serving a mission!!! He is such a wonderful example to us!!

The only downside is that yesterday, he wasn´t confirmed. It rained and thundered all day, flooding many of the streets and causing many to stay in their homes. Literally only half of the members came. But we trust that Heavenly Father, in His infinite wisdom, has a plan. And that perhaps in the confirmation next week, more people will be able to come to support him, including his family. 

We´ve seen so many miracles this transfer!!!!

 We found a less active woman walking on the street. We saw her walking, and felt impressed to speak with her. We soon discovered that she is a less active member who hasn´t gone to a single sacrament meeting in 20 years. We visited her, explained the importance of going to church and invited her. She shared a moving testimony with us of her faith in this church, and she came!!! The first time in two decades!!! It was a wonderful experience to see her interact with all of the members and remember all of the wonderful times she had had. Retention truly is bringing these people to a remembrance of the things they already know!! And by doing so we can easily gain the trust of the members. Many members told us afterward "thank you for doing the work we should´ve done long ago" and now we know that the members feel more encouraged to actively help us in this work!! The Spirit was a vital part in this miracle!! It was wonderful! She came again yesterday, and has promised that she will never fault another Sunday again. 

Such miracles, but rough spots too. But due to those hard times, I´ve learned so much!!! It´s rough for a missionary when well laid out plans don´t go well. I would say that is probably what I´ve learned the most this past transfer. That there is only so much that we can control. Sometimes it´s hard for us to remember that others have their own free agency to act or do as they choose. Sometimes it´s hard for us to understand why bad things happen, ever after all we can do. Something that I´ve been trying to apply is to go forward with faith no matter the outcome or circumstance. I´ve learned that, if the worst possible outcome is something that the Savior can help us to overcome, that we should keep moving forward without fear. Sometimes the day-to-day stressors of life keep building up until we just can´t take it anymore. But with positivity, and a higher understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can push on without such oppressing fear for outcomes that are unexpected or unhoped for. I´m convinced that if everyone completely understood and applied the Atonement to their lives, there would be no need to stress, fear, or mourn. As Elder Holland so powerfully has stated, "It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ´s Atonement shines." Another quote from a General Authority also helps me through, it states "You are doing the best you can, and that best results in good to yourself and to others. Do not nag yourself with a sense of failure. Get on your knees and ask for the blessings of the Lord, then stand on your feet and do what you are asked to do." 

I know that this is true!!! I love you all!!! See you in a few weeks!!!!:)

Con amor, 

Hermana Edwards

Baptism of F_______!

Temple trip pics and reunion pics!

 The Elders that came with me from the MTC!

 A circus!!!

 A giant coke can hahah!!!

 Me and Hermana Frogget!!!

Miracles and Transfer meeting!!!

Hii!!!!! I had a HORRID cold this week (dad infected me from afar) and my throat was hurting but I´m getting better now. We saw so many miracles!!! I___ should be getting baptized this weekend (if everything goes as planned) please pray that it does!!! We also had two other investigators at church that we are focusing on!! We also succesfully reactivated a woman who was inactive for 20 YEARS LITERALLY: Everyone was so happy to see her!!! We´re glad we could gain the members trust in that way:) Transfers were this week too and we got to go (only cuz I´m an STL and we had a meeting after) and i saw all my comps!!! hermana frogget and kent are senior companions now!!! I´m so proud of them!!! Hermana Frogget in Chivilcoy (I know right!?!?) and Kent in Hurlingham!!! I am officially the second oldest sister in the whole mission!!!! Crazy!!!

 Hna Frogget and Hna Dayes!

 Four oldest Hermanas in the mish!

 Transfers!

We shall call him Wilford.

A week of miracles!

This week was considerably better than the last!!! We found I____, our investigator who went missing. We thought it was family interferance, but turns out that there was a family emergency. One of his close loved ones passed away over the weekend, so he left without warning, leaving his cell phone at home. He recently returned. We are so sad to hear that he had to face such a loss, but we know that everything works in the Lord´s timing. He still wants to be baptized, which is such a miracle!! We also found another young man (also 19 years old) who has been investigating the church for some time! He is friends with some missionaries who are out on their missions now, and we have an appointment to meet with him on Wednesday!!! We are so excited for all of these miracles happening!! I love teaching so much!! It´s so fulfilling and wonderful!! We have a good amount of progressing investigators, and we are so excited for this new transfer, because Hermana Dayes and I are STAYING TOGETHER WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Great week:)

Con amor, 

Hermana Edwards

Pretty picture outside of our apartment!!!!!

Prayer, dust pans and shaved heads…..

This week was a rough one. We prepared everything for I____´s baptism. We went to fill the font, and there wasn´t any hot water AT ALL, so we heated some hot water on the church stove and filled it that way. The drain to the font doesn´t work either, and bugs and dirt built up in the space of time that the font wasn´t drained, so we manually cleaned it out, sporting our rain boots and hiking up our skirts and using dust pans to clean it out. Something I´ll definitely NEVER forget hahahaha. The Elders eventually showed up and somehow figured out how to turn on the hot water. So we fill the font and clean the church and have everything prepared down to the speakers and food. We went to bring him to his baptism and HE WASN´T THERE. No one knew where he was. We tried finding him, going to his family and asking and calling but we couldn´t find him. So we canceled the baptism, with the hopes that it could happen at the end of this week. At this moment we still can´t find him, and his family has no idea where he is either. We are so worried. We continue praying and hoping for the best. The work is hard, but it is always so worth it.

I decided, to lighten up the situation, to add a few of my would-be twitter posts for the week if I had a twitter here.....

That moment when people think that all Mormon´s shave their heads and then tell us that we´re the only ones who don´t do so #please #tellmemoreaboutwhatibelieve

Sometimes you and your companion have to manually clean out a baptismal font with a dust pan #mishlife #thishappenseveryday #notreally #butmostofthetime 

I love you so so much everyone!!! See you in 3 months!!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

Baptism, Temple Dedication and The Atonement

This week was so amazing!!! Primarily because of our progressing investigator, He´s to be baptized this Saturday! He is so shockingly prepared. it is such a miracle and we are so excited to see him enter the waters of baptism! This week, no investigators could come to church due to the Temple Dedication of the Córdoba temple, but he came with us to watch the Cultural Event. He was so upset when it ended, he wanted it to continue so bad! The lessons are always so filled with the spirit. We´ll send pics for next week!!

The Temple Dedication was beautiful. President Uchtdorf and Elder Christofferson came and spoke. President Uchtdorf is HYSTERICAL and I love it when he tries to speak Spanish with his German accent. He gave the dedicatory prayer and it was remarkable to be there and here all of the blessings that the Lord has in store for the people of Argentina! It was wonderful to remember, as he said, this day of dedication, and to remember to REdedicate ourselves as members.  It´s easy to live life, avoiding the bad, but not really doing much good. It´s easy to justify all of the bad we´re not doing as good enough, and not ever going the extra mile to help someone or to be better. It´s so wonderful to know that, no matter how deep we dig ourselves into this rut, there is nothing so deep or so dark in comparison to the brightness of the light of Christ´s Atonement. We can choose now to be better and act upon this impression!!! It´s so amazing, how the gospel can change us and mold us into better, more perfected people. Perfection isn´t achievable here, but the Lord has given us the tools that we need to become more perfect every single day, and someday achieve godly perfection! We should never settle for anything but the best. Heavenly Father wants the very best for all of us. I love listening to the words of the Apostles. I know that they are men called of God!

I love you all so much!! 13 weeks left till I can see you all!!

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

My Mom insists on pics every week. Please excuse my HUMID HAIR.

Leaders meeting and cooler weather!

Our week was fantastic!!!! We had the leaders meeting.  We found a wonderful family of like 5 kids that went to church yesterday and almost got baptised but didn`t because they moved away and lost contact with the church!!! It was awesome!!!!!! We`re so excited!!!!! I have a really bad cold today too:( I woke up in the middle of the night like 3 times SNEEZING what. It`s getting REALLY cold lately. REALLY. Better than the heat though, so I`m not complaining. 

Did you guys see the Avengers??? People here are saying it was great!!!!!

I love you so much!!! See you soon!!!:)<3

Leaders Meeting!

I love my companion!

Ryan started the fire…..

The week of insanity…...

This week was insanity. So, we got the transfer call on Sunday telling Hermana Kent and I that we don`t have changes! Phew!!! Yay for not having to pack/stress for once!! Well, we go on our merry way, and Tuesday (the day before transfers) we get another call: "PSYCH, Hermana Kent`s leaving!!! Pack up your bags!!" So we spend a stress heavy day packing, organizing and saying goodbye. When the ever-needed sleep came, we got a call at about midnight. It was an unknown number. I was disoriented and startled so I cut it off. Then it rang again. I cut it off AGAIN. This went on about 7 or 8 times until I finally girded up my loins and answered the phone. It was the AP (assistant to the president) I had just cut off the AP 158 times. He told me that I would have to be at the offices the next day early, because I WOULD BE TRAINING. WHAT. Soooooo, turns out that, on top of my STL responsibilities, I`m ALSO training! Her name is Hermana Dayes, from Arizona!!! She`s wonderful!!! She`s darling and so ready and willing to work!! We`re so excited to work together!!! I love her to death!! 

Me and Hermana Dayes this week!

So all in all, this week was wonderful! Yesterday was a pretty big day too!!! I hit 14 months on the mission field. Only 4 (much to soon) more months to go!! My parents completed their 21st year anniversary! I`m so thankkful for them and their righteous examples to me and for teaching me the importance of the Gospel and family values!! There are no doubts in my mind I have the best parents in the world. Also, a year ago yesterday, my sweet Papa John passed away. I remember getting the email and the call from the Mission President. That was probably the most difficult time of my mission. A lot of opposition and changes happen while you`re away from home. Not always for the better. But I live with the certainty that the Lord blesses His faithful children. In His setting, in His time, and in His way. I`ve seen such evidence of that. Just looking back at where my life was a year ago with hardly 2 months on the mission! So many changes!!! But now I`m seeing the changes for the better, and I am so grateful for that. There is nothing more beautiful than living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I love you all!!

Con amor, 

Hermana Edwards