#blessings, #hashtags and decisions.....

Sometimes I wonder what my facebook and twitter posts would be like if

I could use them on my mission. Probably something like this:

You know you have the best zone in the world when the elders create a
rap to Justin Bieber´s "Confident" #missionBAO #prime #focused

OR

Painted my nails for the first time in forever (Frozen) Finally feel
like a girl again. #theyarepink #iknowthatyouwerewondering #libresoy
#libresoyisletitgoinspanishifyouwerewondering #yourewelcome

OR

One of the best feelings in the world is after a baptism, when you ask
them how they feel, and their answer is always the same. They always
say they feel like a weight has been lifted off of them, and that they
feel clean and warm. #beingamissionaryisthebestthingintheentireworld
#becauseofHim

This week was crazy in the sense that the weather changed a bajillion
times. At first, the week was pretty normal!! It was nice and warm,
and there weren´t too many mosquitos. AND THEN I jinxed myself and the
weather became a BLAZING FLAME OF DEATH. I almost died it was so hot
and humid. That was when the people told me that "Oh!! Today´s
beautiful in comparison to what´s waiting for you in the Summer!!"
What. That was Thursday. Today is freezing with crazy hurricane winds.
But now, I cherish every single second of the cold while I can (and
I´ll admit I have been playing the Christmas music a little too often)

We´ve been adjusting to not having Hermana Bangerter around (as of
right now she´s sitting in a college classroom trying to adapt to the
real world--poor thing) and it´s been a little rough, but we´re
getting through!!! My mind is especially focused on the work now that
I have to lead the area, and I´m memorizing things faster than ever.
The Lord has been blessing us and we´ve seen so many miracles this
week.

We saw J_______ get baptized on Saturday. She was confirmed yesterday.
Miracles every single moment.

One of the things that I learned from Hermana Bangerter that I will
remember the most is "disfrutar cada momento." Enjoy every moment. As
she neared the end of her mission, she was a shining example of this.
Every single moment was precious to her. It´s something that I need to
remember. Sometimes I get caught up in the everyday, and sometimes
monotonous, schedule of missionary life, and I don´t realize how
blessed I really am to be here. How blessed I am to LIVE even. Every
moment is precious. But only if we live our life in the way the Lord
wants us to. So I´ve made the decision NOW to be more happy. To be
happy and love it even when it´s hard. It is a decision after all.

Con amor,
Hermana Edwards

Hunger Games, Goals and Perfection

Hello!

I´m going to start out by saying that our water sometimes doesn´t work
in our apartment, so we´ll boil a pot of water in the morning or at
night and that is how we shower. Real life Hunger Games.

This week was good!!! Now that we have our own personal goals, we´ve
been really focusing on retaining our recent converts, and
reactivating the 300 less actives in our branch. I love that we can
determine our own goals now, and follow through with them. I feel more
fulfilled each and every day.

We just found out that our convert from last month, R______, is
preparing to serve a mission!!! He´s so excited!!! And we couldn´t be
more excited for him:) Even though we aren´t seeing as many baptisms,
we´re still seeing miracles every single day.

Hermana Bangerter ends her mission this week. It´s so strange to me,
because I remember exactly the day that I met her in the transfer
meeting when President Carter left. She still had two months to go.
TIME FLIES. I got my mission call almost 10 months ago. It´s
incredible. When I compare myself to the person I was when I first got
out on the field, the difference is astounding. I still have the same
personality, the same interests. But now I can actually speak the
language comfortably (sometimes there are embarassing moments....)
and I feel much stronger in my relationship with Jesus Christ and our
Heavenly Father. I can´t wait to see what 1 more year will bring:)

One of the things I love to teach the most is that there is growth and
progression in every stage of life. There is always something new that
we can learn and apply to our lives. And eventually, we´ll have the
capacity to understand fully what perfection is, through our Savior
and Redeemer. I love this gospel so much:)

Con amor,
Hermana Edwards

Sleepover's, leadership, and the Atonement

This week was pretty dang eventful. We had Zone Meeting on Tuesday. We
hold Zone meetings once a transfer. Since we´re in campo and
everything is SO far away, all of the hermana´s in our zone came and
stayed the night in our apartment the night before. It was like a
giant sleepover (except for the fact that they all arrived at
different times in the middle of the night)

Our mission rules have changed completely. Before, we had key
indicators and percentages. We had to get this si o si, every single
week: 8 new investigators, 8 lessons with members, 7 other lessons, 8
references recieved, 10 references contacted, and 70 contacts in the
streets. But now we set our own goals every single week according to
the specific needs of our area, and try our best to complete them.
Some HUGE changes, and I´m sure we´ll be seeing more with time. Right
after Zone Meeting, we did DIVISIONS. I have never done divisions my
ENTIRE mission, so it was a bit daunting. Hermana Bangerter went with
one of the Sister Training Leaders to Junin, and Hermana Sosa and I
were to stay behind and work in Chivilcoy with our other Sister
Training Leader, Hermana Ramos (who is also from El Salvador) I HAD TO
LEAD THE AREA. It was like being the senior companion for a day. And
now I truly understand what it´s like to be a missionary completely
focused on the work and nothing else, because I had to take us
EVERYWHERE, I had to make all of the calls and confirm all of our
lessons and write all the progression forms and everything. I did this
stuff before, but I always had a senior companion to fall back to for
help if I didn´t know what to do. But it was a fantastic learning
experience! I learned to have more self confidence in myself, as a
missionary and as a person in general.

I only have a week and a half left until Hermana Bangerter goes home
(when I will also bawl like a baby cuz she´s one of my best friends in
the entire world) and I´ll start leading this area with Hermana Sosa.
But now I have more faith and trust in myself, and also in the Lord.

The only rough thing about this whole situation was traveling in the
middle of the night on the Nightbus for 2 hours to Junin to pick
Hermana Bangerter up, and then sleeping on the floor of their
apartment for an hour, and traveling 2 hours back only to arrive home
an hour before 6:30am when we would have to wake up to start the day.
I´m still recuperating. MISSION LIFE IS THE BOMB.

I wanted to share a quote from the 2012 General Conference talk by
Jeffrey R. Holland (my relative yo) entitled "The Laborers in the
Vineyard."

"...however late you think you are, however many chances you think you
have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents
you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God
you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled
beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink
lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines."

The Atonement is real. I knew it before, but now I truly KNOW. I have
seen it work miracles with people who were so deep in despair, and
just as it seemed as if there was no turning back, the light of the
atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ shines in and rescues them. I´ve
seen it work miracles in the lives of others. In my life too. And I´m
so grateful for this opportunity that I have to share the message of
this blessing to these people. I love you all so much!!

Con amor,
Hermana Edwards

Steadfast and Immovable

This week was one of the hardest weeks so far.

It started out on Tuesday, where it RAINED LIKE A FOOL ALL DAY LONG. We had those giant rain pancho things on, but it didn´t do much by the end of the day. TURNS OUT that now I have gripe (a cold) and a gnarly eye infection. I was stuck in bed for a good day, and we couldn´t finish our key indicators. No one would recieve us. Slammed doors in our faces, time after time (good song) FREEZING cold. And we weren´t the only ones. The WHOLE mission struggled this week. The weather has been a killer. Then, yesterday morning, we got a call from the assistants. Since the last flash transfer I was a part of, I´ve learned to dread calls from the assistants. BUT it turned out to be good news!!!! We received a new companion!!! Now we´re a trio-at least until Hermana Bangerter leaves in a couple weeks:( - with Hermana Sosa!!! (her first name is G_____ and I love it) She´s 25, and has been on her mission for 13 months!!! And she´s from EL SALVADOR!!! Now I´ve finally broken the chain of having only companions from Utah. She´s a sweetheart, and we´re so excited to get to know her more!!! 

Things we find

I would absolutely love to talk more about our sweet recent convert E____, the 66 year old man with a hip replacement who walks forever in the morning to get to church. He went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead the other week. Now we tell him that he has newly baptized friends on the other side of the veil that he´ll have the chance to meet one day. I wish I could capture his smile when we tell him that. He´s the first member to church every week. He sets up all of the sacrament meeting chairs. He has the Aaronic Priesthood too. He´s been a member for a month now, and has already made such an impact on the church. On me too. He is such an example to me of what it takes to truly be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works. We went to visit him the other day, in his humble little home (which he built himself. Such a capo) and he brought out for us una tarta de membrilla (a pie) He said "I knew you were coming, so I went to the Panaderia and bought this for you!" This man has practically no money to his name, and he thought to buy us a nice pie. I can´t get over how remarkable this man is. So let´s all go and try to be steadfast and selfless like E____. Let´s go about our days with a heart full of service and an eye single to the glory of God. Maybe then we can find the same happiness that E____ has. He has nothing, but in reality, he has everything.

Con amor,
Hermana Edwards

Lightning, Survivor and the Savior

Hola!!! This week has been a little low on the crazy-things radar. The weather has been pretty crazy. It went from freezing cold pouring rain flooding in the streets to the point where I wanted to die, to beautiful clear skies and dry air. And this week it´s supposedly supposed to snow, which hasn´t happened since 2005. So we´ll see. Also we have massive lightning storms. I´ve never seen lighting this amazing before. Everyone says that the weather has never been so extreme before. They´ve had their hottest summer this year, and now their coldest winter, and the mosquitos have never been so bad, and the lightning has never been so apparent. CRAZY. I don´t ever want to hear anyone in Utah complain about how bipolar the weather is there again, because this definately tops the charts in indecisive weather.

Last week our hot water stopped working, so we boiled water to take showers. Missionary life is the BEST life. Really though. Remember that time I ate a cow thyroid? Well THIS week in Survivor I ate pig intestine in sausage form. I didn´t know until after just what I had eaten, which I am eternally grateful for. Also I learned how to really eat chicken off the bone. I have still committed to never eat blood sausage.

I´ve learned a lot this week just how powerful personal revelation is. If you haven´t read your Patriarchal Blessing lately, then I ask you to go and take a good 30 minutes and study it quietly by yourself. Take notes. Find scriptures. Write down promises you have been given, and ones that haven´t come yet. Write down what the Lord would have you do to receive these blessings and live it. I´ve been doing it lately these past few days in my personal study time, and it has been some of the most enlightening moments of my week. I´ve learned so much more about myself and about my relationship with Heavenly Father. And during the Sacrament this Sunday, take time to think about your relationship with the Savior instead of worrying about anything else that is going on. The rumors of wars and the contentions and all of the problems happining in the world right now--forget about it for a moment and dwell upon the fact that you have a Savior who loves you and died for you. Sometimes I forget just how amazing that is.

You guys are wonderful!!! I´d love to hear from you!!:)

Con amor,

Hermana Edwards

MUNDIAL y NUESTRO PRESIDENTE DE MISION

This week was probably the most eventful week of my mission yet. Last Monday, we got an email from Pres. Robertson that said, if we started working at 3 on Monday instead of 6, we were allowed to watch the semi-finals between Argentina and the Netherlands onWednesday. So Hma Bangerter and I were like "HECK YA" and we cut our p-day short and found a member to watch the game with. I will tell you one thing, I was definitely more into the game than half of the people in Argentina. AND THEN WE WON!!!! SUDDEN DEATH. All of a sudden I love soccer. The celebration was HUGE (ALSO, Wednesday was Argentina´s Independence Day: 9 de Julio, so it was 10x more intense). We had to take a remis (taxi) home and stayed there for the rest of the night. We could hear all the horns and the people who had congregated in the giant plaza celebrating. It was SOO loud. We partied it up all night, missionary style. And we listened all night long as children and young-uns chanted "¡VAMOS ARGENTINA!" all night long in the streets. It was amazing. 

AFTER WE WON WEDNESDAY!!! This is how we do it.

So Sunday came around, the big finale. We couldn´t watch it cuz, ya know, it´s Sunday. EVERYONE was so pumped. Argentine flags and Messi jerseys and EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine. We had to be in our house at 3pm, and for the rest of the day. It was SO crazy. Fùtbol literally is a religion to Argentines. So we waited for the tell-tale sound of cheering.... and it never came:( Argentina lost 1-0 against Germany, the last few minutes of over-time. And now, people are pretty depressed (including me) BUT LIFE GOES ON. And, it was absolutely AMAZING to be in this wonderful country while such a monumental event took place. And they still got 2nd!! That´s awesome!!! I keep loving this country more and more everyday. 

My district

WONDERTWIN POWER: ACTIVATE!

Friday, the zones of Chivilcoy Norte y Sur met together, and we had a big reunion where we met Presidente Robertson and his darling family. They have two boys, 9 and 15 years old, and a girl who´s 17, and the rest of their children are grown up and have families. They are amazing. The love they have for the missionaries is just so palpable. We each had interviews with president. He told me how excited he was to get to know me this next year y pico, and about all his plans. I´m so excited!!! He´s changing a bunch!!! A lot we don´t know about yet, but over the next month or so, we´ll see his plans take form.

I have seen, especially this week, just how real the gift of tongues is. An amazing friend of mine has told me about the power and importance of testifying. That, when I´m not exactly sure what to say, that when the language barrier is so thick that I feel like I know nothing, to testify. And I´ve been trying to heed his advice. And it´s been working!!! I´m so grateful for the Spirit. I know know, that in reality, the gift of tongues isn´t having the ability to speak another language. It´s being able to speak the language of the Spirit. The church is true!!! I know it, and I challenge you, if you aren´t sure about the truth, to find out for yourself. Truly seek with sincerty of heart. You will find an answer.

Con amor,
Hermana Edwards

La Iglesia mayor

4th of July meal! BBQ chicken and fruit salad!

Faceplanting, thyroids and The Savior

SO this week has been pretty uneventful except for the fact that I hit a parked truck with my bike and almost faceplanted it. Good times. ALSO, we had quite a delicacy at our dear chef friend´s house on Thursday. She cooked for us some type of cow thyroid. It looked like tongue. I tried a bit of it. It was squishy. And now I feel like I´ve accomplished my "try something crazy on the mission" goal. Never again. BUT she makes awesome tortas and that´s all that really matters:)

This Friday, la zona de Chivilcoy Norte gets to meet President Robertson!! We´re SO excited!!! We can already tell from his letters that he is a man inspired of God. We´re excited to see what type of things he´ll implicate these next 3 years:)

Something that Hermana Bangerter said to me the first day we met has been on my mind lately. As we watched as each and every one of the missionaries in this mission went up and said goodbye to President Carter for the last time, she leaned over to me and said "Now just imagine how it´s going to be when we see Christ again." That struck me so hard. The Spirit filled me with warmth and I couldn´t contain the tears. I´ve never truly pictured, until that day, what it will be like when we meet our Savior and Redeemer once more. How it will feel to be in the presence of the One who truly knows us better than we even know ourselves. To hear for ourselves His words of His love for us. I could never imagine or conjure up a happier moment in my mind.

So, I give you all a challenge, to really think of the words in the Children´s Songbook "If the Savior Stood Beside Me." Ask yourself: would I really be living the way I am now, if He were here? I know I would change a lot. There is so much I need to work on. The thing that is SO important to remember is meticulous obedience. That has helped me so so much being out here, and I know that it will forever change my life. I love this work so much!! I learn so much every week, and I´ve never felt more fulfilled in all my life.

I love you all!!!

Con amor, 

Hermana Edwards