Hola!!!

I forgot my notes this week, so I can´t really tell you the rest of what happened, but I did say that I would share some of my thoughts and feelings.

First of all, though, I did want to talk about my companion. Hermana Hermosa is amazing. She listens and sees the best in everyone. She has a lot of patience with people, but doesn´t like to be in one place for very long or not doing anything. One thing that I am learning from her is the attitude of urgency. She has a wonderful capacity to love and I am very happy to be with her. I´m not sure what it is, but I feel with her, I can truly be myself and I have worth. It´s not to say that with my other companions it wasn´t that way, but Hermana Hermosa seems to have this gift. We are helping one another with the languages and working hard. We also, finally, have a clean house, and I feel great.

The rededication. Hermana Alfaro and I were in the front right section as you came in from the stadium. Nobody saw us, so we must have missed the cameras. Everything was absolutely wondeful. My favorite dance called zapateos. It was the one where all the men danced with their boots. I loved every minute of it. In the meeting with President Eyring (not the rededication) we were in the front row. I never got to enter or see the temple, but it´s ok. I have a feeling that I will have that opportunity one day.

It was wonderful to hear the talks of each apostle. As always, I especially loved the talk of President Eyring. I remembered that President Erying had told the story of his first time calling a missionary about years ago in the General Priesthood Session. Dad came home and told us all about it. Two things called my attention. One was that he asked: ¨All I´m going to get is that little touch of a feeling?¨ A lot of us feel that way. I know that I do often. I remember what one of my bishops said to me. (I believe that it was Bishop Stankosky, but I´m not 100% sure anymore) I was worried because I didn´t think that I felt the Spirit and I struggled every day with that. (I still do sometimes) and he gave me an example. He lightly tapped my foot and asked: ¨Do you notice that? If I keep doing it, you may begin to grow accustomed and not listen.¨ I´ve remembered that after 8 years and will continue to do so. The Spirit doesn´t talk loud and can go unnoticed especially if we become complacent. President Eyring then said something I don´t believe that I will ever forget : ¨I hope I don´t fail.¨ How many times are we afraid to act on a prompting, because we aren´t sure where it came from? How many times are we overly preoccupied and don´t listen to the prompting when it comes? How often to we feel inadequate with the task ahead of us? A scripture that has often gone through my head this week is Ether 12:27: ¨And if men come unto Me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before Me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in Me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.¨ As we go to the Lord, we find those things that are weaknesses and He can fix them. We should not be discouraged with our weakness, we can rejoice because it gives us another opportunity to draw closer to the Lord. When we say: ¨That´s just how I am.¨ is when we have the problem. The wonderful thing about being a child of God is that we are always changing and growing. The Lord invites us to come unto Him so that He can make us into the person He knows we can be. Our weaknesses can be our strengths. Yes, often we feel inadequate. Yes, often we want to give up. The thing is what we choose to do in times like these. President Eyring had said to himself several times: ¨I hope I don´t fail.¨ Yet, look at where he is and what he is doing.

 

Faith is an action word. I started understanding that during a talk in Women´s Conference in Provo. Waiting upon the Lord is also an action. We feel as if faith is nothing more than believing and waiting is nothing more than sitting quietly and patiently. It´s much more than that. Faith gives us power and desire to do the will of the Lord. It was by faith that the pioneers endured all that they had to endure. It was by faith that Jesus healed the people. It was by faith that Nephi led his family is the wilderness. Abraham was obedient to all the commandments as he waited upon the Lord for his promised son. The people of Alma prayed with faith in their hearts as they waited upon the Lord to deliver them from bondage. President Gulbrandsen has often talked of these subjects. We have to have faith of power if we are to baptize and speak in the name of the Lord.

 

It appears my time is up again. I love you all sooooo much and pray for you every day. I know that you all are doing your best. I, too, can see your progress through your letters. You are growing and changing just as I am and I am very proud of all of you.

 

Love

Hermana Alvey

So I found a little bit more time. I wanted to tell you about Hermana Hermosa. She is from Formosa, Argentina and is amazing. She really lives up to her last name. She is one of 12 children. (I thought our family was big. One of her uncles has 16 children o.o) She is really excited to learn english. ¨It´s a rule in our mission that the north americans have to learn spanish and the South Americans have to learn english. If you don´t help your companions with the language, you don´t love them.¨ This was revelation revealed to President Gulbrandsen for our mission specifically. This way, all of the missionaries have better opportunities for work. I am very grateful for your counsel and I am still working hard on my spanish. Hermana Hermosa corrects me every day and I am trying to use more vocabulary. We are working together. 

She is very obedient and I am happy to say that we are keeping the schedule and working hard. We have not seen any fruits of our labors yet. We have done a lot of walking this week, because nobody wanted to receive us. Saturday we walked our entire area from 2pm to 9pm. We aren´t discouraged, though. We know that the Lord is accepting our sacrifices.

So a couple interesting facts. She shares my birthday and follows the pattern of my companions. My first companion leaves today, my second leaves the transfer after, my third the transfer after, and now my fourth the transfer after. I can´t believe it. She leaves in January, but it so focused. I hope I am like her when I reach that point in my mission. Well, it looks like my time is really up this time.

Keep your heads up. Remember that tomorrow there will be sun. I still find hope and comfort in the talk of Elder Wirthlin ¨Sunday will come.¨ I love you all and will talk with you soon.

Remember that General Conference is in 3 weeks.

Love

Jessica

 

Hola!!!

So another week has gone by here in Rio Gallegos, and I know that you are all waiting to hear about the temple experience. ^_^ I will start from the beginning.

So Hermana Alfaro was packing until 1am and we woke up at 5 am to be at the airport at 7:30am. We arrive and the plane is delayed until 11:30am. It´s a 3 hr flight and we have to be at the chapel in Buenos Aires at 2:30pm. We were a little bit worried. The other missionaries told us that President Gulbrandsen was Very worried. We take a combi (like a mini bus) directly to where we are going to have the meeting with President Eyring with all the luggage and everything. We drop off the luggage inside the chapel and President Gulbrandsen texted the zone leaders to have us come out and meet with the mission so we can all enter together. The three missions were Buenos Aires North, West, and South. The West Mission was hosting. When we arrived, the elders directed us to drop off our stuff and join with our mission, as well, but the President of the West Mission (who goes to church often in Vicente López so I knew him pretty well) directed us to follow him instead. The elders tried to tell him what President Gulbrandsen wanted, but he said, ¨No, follow me and I´ll take the consequences.¨ So we follow him and he asks us where we want to sit. Of course we said, where ever he had planned, and he put me and Hermana Alfaro in the front center row of the chapel and the elders in the front of where the elders would sit. (The hermanas would be in the front seperated from the elders of their zone). That was one of the greatest blessings. We were five feet from President Eyring, Elder Ballard, Elder Christofferson, and Elder Williams (of the Seventy). I will try and give you the points of their talks that called my attention, because I don´t have time to tell you everything.

Elder Christofferson:

The prophet calls the missionaries, but the apostle gives the specific call. During the calling of a missionary, the Spirit is perfectly clear and they become very familiar with the missionary. The Lord knows us perfectly and will send us where he needs us. We need to understand the importance and sacredness of our calling. We received this call from a prophet of the Lord to go to all the earth and preach the Gospel. It is such a sacred calling that we have to be guided by the Spirit, and you will receive this revelation through prayer. You have the same calling as the apostles and are companions with them. As missionaries we are giving them the opportunity to enter into the Kingdom of God and nobody else in all the area can do that. We are offering the key which is baptism unto repentance. Baptism without repentance is nothing, just as repentance without baptism is nothing. You cannot preach without preaching repentance and the message of repentance is Jesus Christ. There is no repentance without Jesus Christ and there is no way to return to our Father without Jesus Christ. You cannot have one without the other. As you teach these principles, you will teach with the Spirit and if you teach any other way, you are not teaching by the Spirit, or the words of God. ¨I testify that you have the authority. You have been touched by the hand of God and given the authority. Everything you do and are needs to testify of your sacred calling.¨

Elder Ballard:

He spoke of his grandfather Melvin J. Ballard. Elder Melvin J Ballard was having a hard time in his call as a mission president of the western states mission, especially to the lamanites in the indian reservations. As he prayed this night, he received a vision in a dream. He stood in a corridor and was told that there was someone special waiting to speak with him. As he entered he saw the most glorious man he had ever seen or would ever see. His clothing was a glorious white and his countance shone with glory. The man descended from His throne and embraced Elder Ballard. Elder Ballard fell to his knees and there saw the marks in the feet of his Savior. Elder Ballard later wrote: Ïf I lived 4 score years, I would give all I had to have that experience again to be in the prescence of the Lord.¨ He was later called to dedicate South America for the preaching of the Gospel. There were only 4 known members in all of South America. They were immigrants from Germany. One of Elder Ballard´s companions also spoke german and the other spoke spanish. The first missionary testimonies in all of south america were given in German translated into english and then translated into spanish for the rest to hear. Elder Ballard spent 9 months handing our pamphlets and talking in the streets with people just like we are doing now almost 100 years later. ¨You are a miracle. You are fulfilling an apostolic prophecy given in 1926. Do not allow yourself to get discouraged. Do not let Satan confuse you about your purpose. Build your companionship like the first missionaries. Go forward with courage. Testify, call, be witnesses. The church is still young here and the future is unlimited. The power of God is here, you have it, you have been blessed, you have a great bleesing and opportunity. May you feel the power.¨

President Eyring:

(By the way, he´s very tall.) ¨The Lord is in your life. If I succeed tonight, you will know that He lives and loves you.¨ Many say they know God lives, but do they live that way? The first time that President Eyring called a missionary, his senior companion was Elder Scott. There wasn´t hardly any information. (He asked us to tell all future missionaries: ¨Send in a picture with your application. It´s very important. I won´t tell you what kind of photos some missionaries send in.¨) ¨The Lord knows you. You all know it, but as a member of the Twelve Apostles, you have to really believe it as you believe the sun will rise.¨ He received just a tiny little feeling about what area of the world. Then he asked for all the missions in the area that needed missionaries. One place stood out just slightly and he sent the missionary there. Another picture, another slight feeling, another mission, another slight feeling. This went on for a while. Finally he turned to Elder Scoot and asked: ¨I´m going to send this person in the name of the Lord, to who knows what kind of place far from their family with who knows what kind of experiences, and all I´m going to get is that little feeling?¨ Elder Scott turned to him and said: ¨Yes¨. It´s going to be like that every time. President Eyring would often say to himself: ¨I hope I don´t fail.¨ (Even an apostle of the Lord feels that way.) Follow every little feeling. ¨Don´t you ever think that it was a mistake that you are here (in your area of your mission). Don´t ever think that. He called you.¨ ¨Smile, this is a glorious work. You will only do it well if you look happy. Who will follow you if you don´t look happy? The best way you will testify of the Savior is with a smile. Show them that they, too, can be happy. Let your light shine in your eyes.¨ ¨Look for the Lord in your life. You´ve had evidence that the Atonement has worked in your life. Even when it´s hard, do I have to be happy? Yes. When you really know the Savior, you really know Heavenly Father, you really know the Holy Ghost.¨ ¨Glorious happiness is ahead of you, be faithful, be humble, be obedient. The elect will recognize you and what you are offering. Offer your joyful experiences.¨

I believe that I will write more of the counsel given to us next week, but for now this is ok.

Saturday, we arrived at the Stadium Independiente at about 3pm. We were there until 10:30 pm and what an experience. We first thought that all was completely unorganized, and we had no idea what we were doing. We knew that we needed to enter and sing Called to Serve Him, but more than that we had now idea (and remember that there were about 650 missionaries to organize). It all turned out well in the end. President Eyring, Elder Ballard, Elder Christofferson, and Elder Williams entered and received a gift (as well as their wives). It was a big red poncho. We are sitting there listening to the introduction and we see them putting their ponchos on over their suits. The camera didn´t show it, but we were laughing because we could see them. The dances were beautiful and so much fun. As we entered I felt such pride and joy to be a part of it all.

I´ve run out of time so I will have to share my thoughts and the rest of my experiences next week. I love you all soooo much. Stay well and happy. Remember what a prophet of the Lord said? ¨Smile, even when it´s hard.¨

Love

Hermana Alvey

Hola!!!!

Sorry that I couldn´t email yesterday. I was still in Buenos Aires. We just got back at about 2:30am this morning. What a trip. So, yes, we did have transfers and as you can tell, I got the pictures to work. My new companion is Hermana Hermosa. She is amazing and so sweet. She has 14 months in the mission. She has only had 2 US companions. She wants to work really hard. She is from Argentina and loves the mission. She was companions with Hermana Alfaro at one point. I´m really excited to work with her and she is really excited to be here. Yesterday we had transfers and I went and picked up her stuff in Vicente López. It was so good to be there again. Everyone seems to be doing great.

We stayed in Tigre with Hermana Renteria and Hermana Hill until monday.

I know that you are all dying to hear about this last weekend. The thing is, with sending all the photos and the slow internet, I used up all my time. I am sooooo sorry. It will have to be next week that I tell you more about the temple. It was an amazing experience, though. I was 5 ft from President Eyring, Elder Ballard, and Elder Christofferson because I was in the first row of the chapel. It was so exciting. Don´t worry, I took really good notes. We weren´t allowed to take photos of the events, but I´m hoping they are going to release the video. I know that there is a pamphlet in lds.org.ar

I love you all sooo much. I´m really sorry that this email is so short.

I´ll talk to you later

Love
Hermana Alvey

Hermanas Hermosa & Alvey

Hanging in Tigre during Temple dedication
Back row:  Hermanas Alvey & Alfaro
Front row:  Hermanas Renteria & Hill

Hola!!!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

So it looks like there won´t be any photos this week either. The internet isn´t working very well, so the photos aren´t loading.
We received a call saturday evening saying that we will be leaving for Buenos Aires thursday!! We are so excited. We, also, received a letter from President Gulbrandsen today saying that we really are going to be part of the Cultural Event saturday as well. What a time to be a missionary in Buenos Aires. We aren´t allowed to tell anyone, though. My companion is having a hard time with the good byes. She´s been here for about six months and is trying to get everyone´s information. We don´t know where we will be staying or when we will be leaving thursday, but we should be receiving that information tuesday in District Meeting. Yes, we are going to have transfers a week early because we are all going to be together (and to save money). We shall see what happens up north.

We haven´t been able to find anyone to teach or baptize (but you can probably guess why). We are trying to work with the Branch on cleaning up the Directory. We feel as if we are going to find through the less actives. We are starting this week and we hope, as well, that it will strengthen our relationship with the members. When the two Branches joined, a lot of records were lost, and others were erased by members. It is going to be a big task, but we are up to it. The leaders have a lot of confidence in us and we are excited to see the branch grow into a ward. That is the goal. On average, we have about 80 people in church. The goal is to have an average of 130. We can do it.

I wish that I had more positive things to say. I wish that I had more to tell, as well. I´m sorry. I can share what I have studied and learned this week from the scriptures.

Like you, President Gulbrandsen has been focusing on revelation. It is a wonderful gift that we have. The spanish guide has a quote from Joseph Smith. He said that you cannot receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelation. It´s impossible to have one without the other. I really thought about that and what Mom said about Nephi and that we can have the same experiences. I have often thought to myself, that only the little miracles or little revelations are for me. I´m not prepared or worthy to receive big revelation (for example the promise we received from President Arnold). The same quote keeps coming to my mind. ¨If you believe that you can´t, you´re right. If you believe you can, you´re right.¨ It really is that way. The reason that the Brother of Jared received his revelation, was because he had complete trust and faith in his Lord. He knew that all things were possible with God and that God had given him a task and would provide a way to accomplish it after everything he had done. I don´t think he ever thought that he would receive the knowledge that he did, but I do believe that he knew with all his heart and soul that all things were possible. It´s the same with revelation. I keep going back to my favorite scripture: 1 Nephi 15:11. How many times has the Lord told us that He will open the windows of Heaven and answer our prayers if we believe, keep the commandments, and are faithful? It´s true that often the answer comes in a form that we do not expect, or in the time we want, but that doesn´t mean that it excludes miracles. Yes, we need to look for the daily miracles and tender mercies. Just don´t forget the potential that you have and how great your faith really is.

I have to go, but I want to tell you all that I love you. I pray every day for you and hope the best. I will talk with you soon.

Love
Hermana Alvey