Hola!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hope your holiday is wonderful. Thanksgiving is a holiday of the US so it doesn´t exist here in Argentina. There are a couple of shops that have some Christmas stuff out, but nothing like in the states. Things here are pretty quiet (unless there´s a soccer game). If I remember right from last year, there really isn´t too much celebration as far as the commercialization goes. I do miss the lights, music, and Christmas movies. But I am hoping for a ¨white Christmas¨. We´ll see what happens. We are working with a family of an inactive member from another ward. They´re separated, but the family still wants to live with us. Her name is Yolanda and her kids are Fabrisio (17) and Luciana (13). They are excited to learn more and we pray that they will feel the desire to be baptized.

So a little more about my companion and area. Hermana Vargas really likes fruits and vegetables. Also, in Guatemala, they eat a lot of beans and rice and lentils. So when we make lunch, it´s usually rice and vegetables, or beans and vegetables. It´s good, and I really like it with lemon. I have not really had many opportunities this transfer to use recipes, and there isn´t really time to receive recipes either. I´m really kind of sad about that. I´m hoping to receive a couple recipes this Friday. There is an activity in Relief Society about international food. Three sisters in the ward are going to cook foods native to their countries, give us the recipes, and let us try it. They are from Venezuela, Uruguay, and Peru. I love Peruvian food. I was talking with Hermana Curbelo and she said that there is a bread store close to Grandma Alvey´s house that sells facturas. It´s a pastery here in Argentina. If you can find it, I would recommend trying some facturas (there are different types).

The ward is pretty nice. We have an average attendance of about 120 people. They are from pretty much everywhere: Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, China (yes china), Brazil, etc. We just got a new ward mission leader yesterday as well. They just moved back to Argentina after graduating from BYU Provo. They are really nice and very missionary oriented. We are so excited to see how the work progresses in this ward. The ward´s schedule is first the classes and then sacrament meeting. We are the only ward in our building so it´s nice.

So today isn´t really going to be P-day for us here in Capital. Tomorrow is going to be P-day and we can´t leave the house all day. There is going to be a political protest tomorrow so we can´t leave for protection. It´s the kind of protest that closes down practically the entire city and can be very violent. So president called us yesterday and told us.

I wanted to share something I learned a couple days ago during my studies that I feel you might find interesting. This is the result of the Spirit and how President Gulbrandsen teaches us to think.

Genesis 24: Missionary Work
vs. 1-4 His leader directed him to where he needed to go to find people to baptize
vs. 5 ¨What if they do´t want to listen or reject me?¨
vs. 7 The Lord is preparing people to be baptized through His angels.
vs. 8 ¨If they reject you, it´s okay; you did your part.¨
vs. 9 He accepted the commitment or made a covenant
vs. 10 The Lord has given us the best to prepare us
vs. 11 He went to where he would most likely find
vs. 12 He prayed to find.
vs. 13-14 He prayed to recognize
vs. 15 Before he finished praying, the answer to his prayer arrived.
vs. 16 The investigator almost left before he talked with her.
vs. 17 He rean before he lost he contact.
vs. 18-21 He did his part and God fulfilled His promise
vs. 22 She was baptized
vs. 23 He asked for references and also if he could contact them immediately
vs. 24-25 He received the references and contacted them
vs. 27 Thanked God for his blessings
vs. 28 She hurried to share the Gospel and invited her family to listen as well.
vs 29-31 They were prepared to receive the missionaries
vs 33 Don´t waste time. Invite the Spirit and start teaching as soon as possible
vs. 34-41; 48 Share your testimony and purpose.
vs. 42-47 ¨You are the answer to our prayers.¨(President Gulbrandsen teaches us to let the people know that we are praying for them.)
vs. 49 Do they have interest to learn and be baptized? If not, keep looking for the people who are prepared.
vs. 50-53 They were converted and baptized
vs. 54 He returned and reported and moved on. (We need to always be looking for those prepared to be baptized and never wait)
vs. 58 The new convert didn´t wait to receive the blessings of the temple
vs. 60 The new convert received many blessings

A little long, but I was so happy when I wrote down this revelation.

We also had Zone Conference with President Gulbrandsen, but I have run out of time. I will write about that next time. I love you all soooo much. Happy Holidays!

Love
Hermana Alvey

Hola!!

So it´s been a fun little week. Friday was a very rainy day. I realized, this day, that I had forgotten how much it really rains here. We left to wish a member happy birthday and it was just sprinkling. We then went to a supermarket to buy something for breakfast, and when we left, there was a fast moving river in the street. We couldn´t believe it. We were very unprepared. I remembered enough to bring an umbrella, but that didn´t do anything for our feet. The amount of rain and the slight wind that there was completely drenched us from top to bottom. When we arrived at our lunch appointment, the member kindly let us borrow her clothes and she put our clothes in a spinner to take out as much water as possible. The idea of this machine is like the device you put lettuce in and crank with your hands to air dry it. About a liter of water left the clothes of Hermana Vargas. I was wearing my button up shirt and jean-like skirt so not a lot of water left from my clothes. It was really fun. We got drenched again, of course, but all in all it was a good day.

So we made Ñoquis (a type of pasta made out of potatoes) with the elders and we just barely got here to do internet. P-day ends at six so I´m really trying to type fast here.

Yes, with the change in climate between here and Rio Gallegos, I finally got sick. Today I woke up with a chest cold. I´m hoping that it´s a 24 hour bug because my chest and throat hurt.

Another thing that was nice this week was a surprise birthday party/ FHE for a recent convert named Romina. She just turned twelve and is so excited to do baptisms for the dead. She is absolutely adorable and was just baptized 6 months ago. She is the only member in her family but is very faithful. The family where we had family home evening had forgotten, and also didn´t even know that it was her birthday. In 15 minutes (without her knowing) they had made a cake and wrapped up a present to give her. It was amazing. I don´t know how they did it. They have such big hearts.

I´m very excited for all who a working to go on a mission. It is a once in a life time opportunity. There is so much that you learn and do, but never forget the sacredness of your calling. This is the Lord´s time and resources. When you sign that letter saying that you accept the calling, you covenant with the Lord that you will consecrate everything to Him: your mind,  your heart, your will, your time, everything. In return, you grow and change more than you can imagine. You are better prepared to face life and be better mothers and fathers, husbands and wives. You learn who you really are and the hidden talents that the Lord has blessed you with. You learn how to develop more talents and rely on His Spirit. You learn how to receive revelation and grow spiritually. Your families are blessed more than you can imagine. There will be difficult times, but you will still be happy just as Alma, Ammon, and Nephi. Honestly pray for charity every day. Keep a journal every day. Look for the small everyday blessings. Pray for the vision of your area. Pray that the Lord will mold you to be who He wants and knows that you can be.

I´m sorry that I can´t answer all your questions. I appreciate so much your testimonies and questions. I promise to answer all next week. I love you all sooooo much.

Love

Hermana Alvey

 

Hola!!!

So it´s my first week in the North and it´s hot. Hermana Vargas is amazing. She´s from Guatemala and is 23 years old. (Her birthday is December 12). She returns home December 10th. She has two sisters and all of them are converts.  She loves being here on the mission. She is very intelligent and loves to learn. She is very nice and supportive. She´s a good listener and has many wonderful ideas. Something she told me recently that when a missionary ends, they and their companion get to do a session in the temple. Can you imagine? We get to do a session in the temple in a month!!

We are starting from the beginning. We haven´t had any investigators until yesterday and we are very excited to help this area move forward; to receive the vision the Lord has for this area and His children. The ward here (yes it is a ward) has an attendance of about 130 people. Something that might interest you is that there is a family that used to live in Las Vegas for a few years. The father was on the High Counsel for a while. They remember Aunt Gai the most because she´s always in the library, but they remember the rest of the family, too. They are Family Curbello, the wife and all the children have red, red hair.

So I didn´t know that this computer in on a timer, so I have even less time to write now.

We have been doing a lot of walking, but it´s nice to finally take a bus once in a while. We live in one apartment with other sister missionaries of the ward: Hermana Kapp (from Utah) and Hermana Lobos (from Chile). The apartment is new, for us anyway, and very clean. it´s a nice change to have working doors. Nobody in this mission has a car except for the assistants and President Gulbrandsen. Hermana Vargas´ hija, Hermana Lind, replaced me in Rio Gallegos and I replaced her here in Villa Urquiza. The mosquitos have not bothered me yet. I´m hoping that my body has adjusted to Argentina and they don´t want to eat me anymore. We´ll see what happens.

Well, I hope to have more to write the week to come. With Elder Alvey, I highly recommend reading James 2: 17-26 and ponder on it. I have learned a lot from my studies today of these scriptures.

I love you all sooooooo much.
Talk to you soon.

Love
Hermana Alvey

leaving Rio Gallegos
L-R Hna Hermosa, Hna Alvey & Hna Lind

In Villa Urquiza  Hnas Vargas & Alvey