Hola!!!!

So it´s been a long interesting week. This is a great area and a great ward, but for now we are working the streets. Hermana Velazquez is more excited about it than I am, but she helps me a lot. I am willing and able to do anything the Lord has asked me to do. Living the law of consecration is a lot harder than I thought it would be. It´s not just being a mindless robot who does whatever it´s told. Living the law of consecration is something you have to choose every moment of every day. If we were to be mindless robots, we would be choosing Satan´s plan. To live God´s law, we need to choose to give Our Heavenly Father our heart, might, mind, and strength. Sometimes that´s not the easiest thing to do, but it is the wisest and the only way to true happiness. I would encourage all to look up the talk called ¨The Fourth Missionary¨. It is a wonderful talk and I feel that it applies to just more than missionaries.

We are both pretty much better from sicknesses and nobody got pink eye. We were both very happy about that. So the open house for the church will take place the first week in june and the missionary activity will take place the first weekend in may. I´m sad to miss both of the activities, but happy that people seem excited for them. No I am not legal, the paperwork took too much time and I couldn´t finish it because of some complications. The church will pay a fee so that I can leave the country.

I did not get the package still. We had interviews this last thursday. I get my mail my last day, so I believe that it will be there. I just hope that I can open it before I leave. Thank you soooo much for sending it.

We haven´t heard too much about the pope. There are signs everywhere, but people actually talking to us about the pope hasn´t really happened. I´m a little surprised.

I asked for the sweet and sour pork recipe for a member. We might make it ourselves next week, but I have to figure out if corn starch and canned pineapples exist here. I would love to eat it though. The vegetables are pretty fresh here, so it gives a good taste.

We had our general stake conference this last weekend and it was really uplifting. Elder Nelson was one of the speakers. They talked a lot about the family and about salvation and revelation. I will have to show all my notes from the mission to everyone because I don´t have enough time to write everything. Maria Elena came to the conference. She has had a rough life. I don´t know if she will get to baptism with us, but I sure will trying my hardest to do the Lord´s will in her life.

Well, it´s time to head out. I love you all soooo much. Keep safe, keep cool. Enjoy today, it´s the only time you have.

Love

Hermana Alvey

Hola!!!!

So it´s been interesting. ^_^ We just got permission today to write friends with emails. I´ve already sent a couple. I promise that I won´t spend a lot of time writing friends. You all are more important.

So we are both sick because the weather changed so fast. I have a sinus infection and my companion has a cold. I am praying that both of us don´t lose our voices. That would be rough. We also visited a family who turns out to have pink eye. LOL I promise that I won´t get that. We are still on the search for investigators. There are a few new ones and I am excited to see what happens. There is one investigator who is from Peru. She recently moved here with her sister about 2 months ago. Her first husband left her with three young children and then she moved in with her second husband. They have a son together but never got married. Her new husband is also not divorced. Her children are members and her sister is a less active member. Her neice just got to the MTC this last week. We aren´t really sure what´s going to happen, but we are going to trust in the Lord and see what to do. 

We have interviews this next week for our zone and I get to do paperwork twice to be legally here in argentina again. It´s ok, I get to visit capital. It´s extremely busy and I prefer provincia, but at least There are interesting things there. The weather has been pretty nippy these last couple days. Today it´s pretty nice, but we shall see how the rest of the week goes. President likes to put on the A/C for the elders in their suits, so you learn to bring a heavy jacket to meetings with President. We´ll see how it goes with our illnesses.

This last sunday there was a family at church who hadn´t gone since before I got here. I was so excited to see them, and happy. There are some really good families here. We are still working hard with the members to help them share the gospel and have the faith that God is preparing people in their lives. That is probably the hardest thing. Many say that everyone knows they are mormons. Others say that they share the gospel but everyone turns them down. It´s true that most people know that we are members of the church, but because we never invite, they never receive the blessings God has for them. Yes, it´s true that even though we share the Gospel, a lot of people will say no. There is a principle in the Gospel that will touch their hearts. You just have to find it. You can also look for more people to know and then share the Gospel. Don´t forget that a lot depends on your faith. Remember what Moroni said in Ether 12: It was because of faith that Ammon, Aaron, Nephi, Lehi, and many others wrought great changes among their brethren. Sometimes our friends are touched by the Spirit, because we lack faith. Faith makes a huge difference in the person receiving the Gospel and the person sharing the Gospel.

Well, it´s time to head out. I love you all sooooo much. I´ll talk with you soon. Take care.

Love

Hermana Alvey

Hola!!!

So another week has come and gone and the work moves on. We are working hard in helping the members fulfill their calling of being missionaries. We have about 20 future references and are looking to turn each one of those into a progressing investigator. The ultimate goal is to help them reach the temple, but they cannot get to the temple if they are not first baptized and remain faithful. Everything has a beginning and for exaltation, it´s baptism. But how do we baptize? We first must find those who are prepared to receive the Gospel. How do we find those prepared to receive the Gospel? How are they prepared? Alma teaches us that: ¨For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.¨ (Alma13:24) Who are these angels, then? The guide to the scriptures lets us know that angels are not just heavenly messangers, but also righteous men and women on earth who follow the impresions of the Spirit. The Lord is sending every member as a ministering angel, not only to serve and help but also to share and testify. They are also the ones who introduce their friends to the authorized representatives who can help them reach baptism. A bishop cannot authorize a baptism of someone older than 8 years old. A stake president cannot authorize a baptism of someone older than 8 years old. The only person with that authority is the mission president over the area. Though many good people have wonderful intentions, their friends will not receive the necessary ordinances, until they are presented to the people with the authority and correct keys. They will not receive exaltation. Who will prepare your loved ones if you don´t do it? The angels on the other side of the veil can only go so far. Another thing that I have come to understand more fully is the importance of commitments and invitations. Our friends and family see how happy we are. They see that we are different. A lot of them want to be truly happy, but believe that it is out of their reach. When they see that we are happy, they still believe that it is something unattainable for them. If we do not invite them, they may never know that they can truly be happy. They don´t know what to do to find faith and increase it. Each person has a divine potential inside waiting to shine and grow, but they do not have direction or nurishment and don´t know where to find it. Out of all the people in the world and in all the history of the world, we are an extremely small percentage of people with the fulness of the Gospel in our lives. Why is that? It is because we promised, we made a covenant with our Heavenly Father, that we would bring the Gospel to those around us. They trusted in us, that we would go and find them and never give up on them. We can´t let them or our Heavenly Father down.

This wednesday, we are planning to talk about the missionary activity and see if it is something that will function in Villa Urquiza. I am very excited and hope to be here if they do it. Hermana Velazquez is a wonderful companion and missionary. She is doing well here and she will help this area flourish even more. We need to get to work now so I will talk with all of you again soon. I love you all to the ends of the earth and beyond.

Love

Hermana Alvey

So Here is the March 4th email.  Getting lazy now that we're coming to the end ^_^

Hola!!!

So another week has come and gone in the mission and life is interesting. Everyone here has given me a warm welcome back to Villa Urquiza and I know that the work will move forward here. Hermana Velazquez was a visa waiter so she arrived in the middle of the transfer. This means that her training was thrown off so we finished it this weekend and now she is a fully trained missionary. She is excited for the work and to be 100% obedient. We are finally seeing some progress with the members and receiving referrals. There are so many wonderful members in our ward. They just need help sharing the Gospel. We need them as much as they need us and their friends and family need the both of us. We are excited to work even closer together.

I brought up the suggestion about doing a missionary activity here and our ward mission leader loved it. We will be talking about it on wednesday to see if it´s something that would be good for the ward. It has been an interesting thing to me that not everything works in all areas. I would think that great missionary activities should work in at least the same stake, but it doesn´t. I feel like it will be good here, though, so we will see what happens.

I´m glad that nobody was hurt in the accident and that things are going well in the ward. I just want all of you to know that I love you all sooooo much and pray for your safety and health each night. I know that you are in the Lord´s hands and He will help you in the way that you need most. Don´t worry, the Lord knows what He´s doing.

I wanted to ask you to verify something. This is the only time I will mention anything, because it is not something I want to think about, but want you to be sure of if you haven´t already thought about it. My first sunday will be fast and testimony meeting. Will that be my homecoming? or will bishop wait until the next sunday? Can you invite Brother Orr, too? and Amanda Blake? and Breeanna? All my letters will get there too late to give them any forewarning. I know that you will let everyone else know so I won´t name them.

I love you all sooo much. Stay happy. I will talk with you again soon.

Love

Hermana Alvey

Hola!!!

So another week has come and gone with a lot of surprises. First of all, transfers. I was transfered back to Villa Urquiza and am with Hermana Velazquez. She was the one that Hermana Renteria did the second part of her training (or as we call it: her stepmom). Hermana Peralta goes home tomorrow. Hermana Renteria is going to be receiving a new missionary tomorrow when they arrive. There are still only two of us here in Villa Urquiza, and the weather is beautiful right now.

The week was a wonderful one. There was a wonderful missionary activity this last wednesday. All the returned missionaries (didn´t matter what year they served) brought things to display and share from their missions. Most of them had served within the last 10-15 years, but there was one of the counselors to the bishop who served about 20-30 years ago (I don´t remember). It was really cool to see all the different epics. A lot of them brought food from the different places which just made for an interesting time. There was a lot of sharing, reminiscing and the Spirit was really strong. Everyone felt motivated to share the Gospel especially after the special musical number. It was rendition of ¨I´ll go where you want me to go¨, ¨We´ll bring the world it´s truth¨, and ¨Called to serve Him.¨ I believe that it was by Janice Kapp Perry. It was really good and the Spirit was so strong. I look forward to doing something like that one day. There weren´t any non members, but had they been there, it would have touched there hearts. There were a lot of Institute youth there and I think that they are more excited now to go on a mission. I´m sending some photos from the activity. Belgrano has a great mission leader. He is from Brazil, but works for the church so he has traveled some with his wife and daughter. He knows Portuguese, Spanish, and , because of serving in Provo, english. He works hard for the work and looks to God for inspiration.

I am happy to be back in Villa Urquiza. I was very surprised but the Lord only needed me for a week in Belgrano. That´s ok, because He knows better. It will be interesting to see how this transfer goes. I will actually be finishing the last week of training of Hermana Velazquez. So I´m technically her 4th ¨mom¨. I don´t think anyone in our mission has that record.

We were so excited to hear about the 58 new missions. One of them, the Argentina Rivadavia mission, is actually the south of our mission. Rio Gallegos, Tierra Del Fuego, and all of that will be it´s own mission. I was one of the last sisters in Rio Gallegos, before it becomes it´s own mission in July. We were all so surprised by that. It´s an amazing time to be a missionary. I hope that all who can, take the opportunity to do so.

Well, there isn´t too much more to tell, so I´ll say goodbye for now. I love you all sooooo much. Stay cool and don´t forget the basics.

Love

Hermana Alvey

new companion Hermana Velazquez

Hola!!

So I have a surprise for all of you. We have transfers this coming sunday, but President received some revelations. I am no longer in Villa Urquiza with Hermana Peralta. I am in Belgrano (not Belgrano Sur) the next area over with... you´ll never guess.... Hermana Renteria!! We are pretty excited; unsure of what is going on and what the Lord has planned, but excited nonetheless.

We were actually doing intercambios (divisions) and at 10:30pm the night before we were to switch back, the asistants called us and said that we were staying that way. We were so surprised, and of course a little sad to leave our companions. We are pretty sure that we are not staying together, because we both end at the same time so that would leave Belgrano completely open.

I just got here, so I´m not sure what to talk about. It used to be an elder´s area 2 transfers ago, so Hermana Renteria and Hermana Hermosa opened it up for hermanas. The area 70 is in my area as well as the stake president. Most of the ward seems to be returned missionaries, several of which served in the states.

I do have an interesting story, though. So the pump has been broken for the baptismal font since December and Nuñez (the other area next to us who shares the same building) had had a baptism, so the water has been in there for about 2 1/2 months, then they finally got it working and they let out the water. The problem was that all the mold went to the bottom and they didn´t clean it for a couple weeks, so the mold stuck and grew. It was pretty gross as you can see in the photo with Hermana Renteria. It was interesting cleaning it. I sometimes joke about when the pump breaks. I would tell my companion: ¨This is why we baptize weekly, so the pump doesn´t break and the font stays clean.¨ Our goal as a mission is to baptize weekly. Not for the numbers, but it´s just like President Hinckley said: ¨We can double the numbers of baptisms. I´m not being unreasonable. We can have both quantity and quality.¨ The Lord is preparing in all the world in every area. There are ministering angels in all parts, both seen and unseen. The Lord is working hard, we need to as well.

Well, our time is up. I love you all sooo much. I hope you saw the video of the rededication. It was an amazing experience. If you haven´t seen it, still, here is the link. http://countrywebsites.lds.org/ar/ or just lds.org.ar

I will talk with you soon. Don´t forget to pray for missionary experiences.

Love

Hermana Alvey

Bye Hermana Peralta

Hermana Peralta liked doing my hair

Hermana Renteria cleaning the baptismal font

Hello new companion Hermana Renteria

email from 2-11-13

Hola!!!

Congratulations Mom in your calling and Dad in your skills competition!!

How is everyone going? Things here are moving along. The other week, we were approached by Susanna and her family. They are the ones that live in the take in building and live on the 12th floor. For those who don´t know or remember what a take in building is, it´s a building that isn´t finished and people live there for a lower price. There is not an elevator, so we climb 12 floors everyday. It´s a good work out. We are working hard with them. They didn´t go to church again this sunday, because they slept in. We did everything we knew how to to help them: daily contact, reminding them every appointment, doing practices, asking ¨what if¨ questions, and have as many members as possible involved. They still didn´t go to church. We stood knocking for a good 20 minutes. We identified some reasons as to why they didn´t come and we are going to work on them this week.

Other than this family, we don´t have any investigators. The search still goes on. I can´t help but encourage and invite all who read this to pray for a missionary experience. If it´s because of fear or timidness, you can pray for courage and strength to accomplish it.  Moroni 7:33 says¨ And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.¨ Now some might think to themselves: ¨It´s easy for you, you´re a missionary.¨ The thing that has been the hardest for me to do in the mission is the thing I need to do every moment of every day: opening my mouth. Few know the kind of struggles and experiences I have had to go through to become who I am today. I have come to know the scriptures and my Savior in a way I never knew possible. I have felt His love as well as my Father´s love; not only for myself but for all of His children. I have gone into the depths of despair and have seen His hand in every part of my life. We cannot feel joy if we do not know what sorrow is. That is what Adam and Eve came to understand. Is it hard? Yes. Is is possible? Absolutely. Is it Heavenly Father´s will? Definitely. He wants His children to come home. The only way for them to come home is through ordinances. The first is baptism, the second is the sacrament, the priesthood (if you are male), and then the ordinances of the temple. Heavenly Father has told us His plan and Christ has shown us the way. Not only has He shown us the way, He is the only one that makes it possible. We often don´t completely understand or apply the Atonement. We know that He suffered for our sins. We know that He took upon Himself our pains and our sorrows. Yet how often do we really apply that. The Atonement means that we are never alone. There is someone who understands our hardships and heartaches. There is someone with the power to comfort us spiritually and emotionally. As we have our own experiences with the Atonement we will want to share that joy and freedom with those closest to us. Alma and his friends understood that. They had tasted the sweetness that comes from repenting and feeling the love of God in their lives. As our testimonies grow from our own spiritual experiences, we gain the desire and testimony necessary to share the Gospel. We do not need a lot of knowledge. That is not what converts people. I believe President Brigham Young´s experience helps us understand that. President Brigham Young (1801–77) said he knew the gospel was true when he “saw a man without eloquence, or talents for public speaking, who could only say, ‘I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the Lord.’” President Young said when he heard that humble testimony, “The Holy Ghost proceeding from that individual illuminate[d] my understanding, and light, glory, and immortality [were] before me.” It is the Holy Ghost that touches hearts and converts people, and He will only do so as you bear a sincere testimony.

The Gospel is a joyous thing. God wants us to be happy, not just for the moment with temporal joys and indulgences, but genuinely happy. Remember that His work and His glory is to bring to pass the inmortality and eternal life of man. Eternal life is when we come to know our Heavenly Father and what our relationship is to Him. Don´t forget the bascis: obedience is the first law under heaven; ¨Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.¨; search, ponder, and pray; and finally go to church. The Lord does not ask us to be perfect to go to His home. He asks that we do our best. The healthy don´t need a physician. We don´t need Christ if we are perfect, but we are not perfect and we do need Christ. That is His entire purpose, go to Him. Let Him heal you. It´s hard when someone offends you at church, but you aren´t there for them. You need the sacrament; you need the Holy Ghost. You can only receive those two things as you attend church every sunday. Satan´s most effective lie is that you can wait until next time, or tomorrow; that you can be casual. It is a lie. Four months ago, we heard a prophet of the Lord call on the younger generation to step forward and become missionaries to spread the Gospel to all the earth. The Lord is quickening His work and we can either be a part of it or fall behind. There isn´t much time. ¨It´s getting late¨ (Elder Holland General Conference April 2012). This is the time for men to prepare to meet God. He will never ask us at the final judgement: ¨What did others do to you? or What happened to you?¨, but ¨What did you do for others and What choices did you make?¨.

In 8 weeks our mission will receive 81 new missionaries. There are about 200 missionaries in our mission and, on average, we normally receive 10  new missionaries every transfer. I imagine that it is the same in just about every mission now. As members and missionaries, we need to be prepared to receive them and forward the work according to the vision that Heavenly Father has for each area. It is not a short range vision. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands is rolling forward and covering the whole earth.

As missionaries, we have very little time to write. I try to follow the Spirit to know what you need to hear. I know that I am not perfect, but I pray that the words I do feel to write will touch your hearts. You are all wonderful and amazing people and I love you soooo much. Keep moving forward. It´s possible and it´s worth it.

Love

Hermana Alvey

Hola!!!!!!!!!

So another week has come and gone. We are dying of heat one minute and the next it´s freezing, but that is a normal week here in Buenos Aires. We are searching for the people the Lord has prepared and it is a dilligent search. We are working hard together and it has been a wonderful experience. Hermana Peralta has been through a lot in her life because of health reasons and actually has a prostetic in her right hip, yet she still goes forward. We are absolutely exhausted, but we are in the Lord´s work and He will take care of us if we do our part.

We are trying to find those who are prepared by the Lord and in turn are walking a lot. We know that the Lord is preparing people and that we need to do our part. It is a struggle when you aren´t teaching. The cycle is to teach when you find and find when you teach. Getting that cycle going is a little harder to do sometimes. We aren´t discouraged and we are trying every day to do better. I still remember what President Gulbrandsen told me when I first started the mission. You can´t be a missionary and be happy if you aren´t doing missionary things. I can finally say that I want to be here. Yes, there are things that I still long for at home (washing machines, sunday naps, etc), but I am no longer tempted by them and I know that they will be there when I get back. It´s a long struggle and it´s getting late (as Elder Holland says). I know that this is the Lord´s work and there is much to do.

I´m not really sure what else to talk about. We are expecting about 30 new missionaries this coming transfer and we normally receive about 10. It´s going to be fun. We are excited to see what happens in the mission. I went on intercambios with Hermana Renteria. We have practically been together in one form or another for our entire mission. I often think to myself about Mom and Dad with their companions 30-40 years later and what it will be like for me and my companions. We have all grown and changed so much. There are inside jokes and stories that only we know. 

Well, I wish that I could say, I had things to talk about, but it´s been very quiet and nothing you haven´t heard before. I guess no news is good news. I am very happy to see all the progress you all are making. I pray that you will continue moving forward, firm in the faith. Keep your chin up and never give up.

I love you.

Hermana Alvey

Hola!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

So there isn´t really too much to tell about this week. I got a nice sunburn. ^_^ We were sad about Americo, because his wife said that he couldn´t meet with us anymore or she would leave with his daughter. We always try to include the entire family, but we can´t obligate anyone. We feel good, because we did all that we could and the ultimate choice was theirs. We don´t have investigators right now, but we are looking forward to see what happens because the members are starting to talk with their friends. The youth just got back from EFY so they are all excited to share the Gospel. We are happy to work with them.

I really wish that there was more to tell. I couldn´t write yesterday because we had a meeting with one of the seventy, Elder Wilhelm of the 7th quorum of the seventy. It was an amazing experience and we have much to repent of. I love repenting, because it means that the Lord is teaching me and purifying me. I have a long way to go and everything helps. Hermana Peralta is so kind and I´m sad that she goes home in four weeks. She is determined and patient and has had to pass through many hardships. I am very grateful to be her companion. We will have a lot of adventures together. I wish that I could chat longer, but we have to get moving.

I love you all sooooo much and that you are doing good. Thank you for all the support and love and prayers. I pray for you everyday. Keep moving forward and never give up.

Love

Hermana Alvey

Hola!!!

Happy Birthday Anthony!!! (Sorry, I know that it´s a day late)

So the changes have come. I don´t remember if I told you about Hermana Peralta. I went on divisions with her last week in Nuñez. She is wonderful and I loved being with her. She goes home at the end of this transfer. She is from Cordoba, Argentina. She works hard and loves learning about everything. It was an interesting change. We still have the entire area of Villa Urquiza so we will still be working in a large area. Hermana Peralta was with Hermana Binks in Nuñez and Hermana Binks just went home now. We all thought that Hermana Peralta was going to stay there, so we were very surprised with the changes. That is just one example of the surprising changes. We did not receive any new hermanas this transfer, but we are expecting about 30 new missionaries in the next one. We will see how many are hermanas.

So, we are teaching a wonderful person named Americo. Hermana Kapp had the feeling one day to talk with some youth that were playing on their front porch during a birthday party. They looked for an adult (that would actually leave) and out came Americo. He started talking with us and actually was intrigued and listened. We went back and he had read a little bit in the Book of Mormon. Every time we pass by, he likes offering the first prayer and then letting us know what caught his attention from his reading. He is a wonderful person and we love teaching him. He is so excited and so open. We are praying that his wife will let them get married so that he can get baptized. 

So, about the photos. The first one is of me saying goodbye to Hermana Kapp. The second is of me and Hermana Peralta when we arrived at the apartment. Which reminds me. Hermana Kapp had been quoting ¨A Knight´s Tale¨ all week and it sounds hilarious. So if you want to see a movie let me know how it goes.

I love you all soooooo much. I feel your prayers every day and I pray for you every day. I know that you are in the Lord´s hands.

Love

Hermana Alvey

Goodbye Hermana Kapp

Hello Hermana Peralta

Hola!!!

Things here are moving forward. We actually had a pretty good week. Today we received an interesting conference call from President Gulbrandsen. Turns out that a member of the Seventy is going to do a mission tour with him in two weeks and President said that we couldn´t get on the internet today until we thoroughly cleaned house. We had already mopped and cleaned just before we received the call, so we thought that it wouldn´t take too long. It took 4 hours to finish cleaning everything. Now, I want to explain something before you all fall over laughing. We have had many sisters go home recently and there are always things left behind. We decided to take the time to go through all the stuff left behind and the places that we hadn´t touched in a while (under the bed, cupboards, etc). It was very satisfying, but we don´t really have that much time for other things, now. A talk came to mind as I was cleaning that made me think. I hope you like it: July Liahona 2012 ¨Unspotted From the World¨ by Julie Thompson.

The weather is always playing games. Sometimes, it´s hot, sometimes it´s hot and humid, and sometimes it rains (which really means, it pours). The mosquitos are finding us in the night, especially, so, although I use everything everyone has sent me (and then some), I still find myself eaten alive. ^_^ Hermana Kapp is just as bad off as I am. We only pray that the time of the mosquitos ends soon or that we go back down south. I doubt that we would go back down, neither of us have enough time left to go down. 

As far as investigators go, we don´t have any that are really progressing. We are looking for new ways to find . We know that working with the members is the best way to find and help them remain faithful. We have prayed and received counsel from all of our leaders and the Lord. We are putting into action, this week the revelations that have come and we are hopeful in the Lord.

Transfers are this coming sunday and we have six more sisters leaving: Hermana Quispe, Hermana Hermosa, Hermana Malhue, Hermana Lobos, Hermana Shelley, and Hermana Binks. We shall see how many come in this transfer. It´s going to be exciting. The transfer after, we are going to receive an amazing amount. I can´t believe how young they are all going to be. I can´t believe how old I am. Hermana Kapp did a calculation and in mission life, she is 79 years old and I am 86 years old. ^_^ It´s such a funny way to think about things. But I promise that I am not trunky. I am more focused now than ever before on my mission. I have been able to meditate on how far I have come in the mission and far I have to go. We are working hard and doing the best that we can for the areas that we are in. We do not know how things will go this transfer. Hermana Kapp has 4 transfers here aka 6 months. The thing is, I will have only had 3 weeks to learn her side of the area. It could be that there only remains two of us, or it could be that we receive two more. They could be completely new or have time in the mission. The Lord could even take both of us out and put in elders. On top of the fact, they are cutting this next transfer by 1 week. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Well, we have to be on our way in an hour and we still have to buy food. So I´ll talk to all of you later. I love you all soooo much. 

Love

Hermana Alvey

Hola!!!

So another week has gone by and we are working the entire area. Hermana Kapp is such a sweet heart. I love working with her. She has so much love and humility. She loves to help others and only wants to please her Heavenly Father. She is from Utah and is studying psychology in BYU Provo and is the oldest of 5 girls. She has a lot of love and a lot of dilligence. I´m excited to see what happens these next two weeks together. I don´t know how she cooks, yet, but we sure like to talk.

Well, it´s been a week of miracles and difficulties. As I told all of you last week. We had the amazing miracle of Yolanda´s baptism and confirmation. She is amazing and very prepared. Her daughter, Luciana, is amazingly prepared as well. There was a ward baptism saturday and they both loved it. I asked Luciana how she felt about her baptism and she said: ¨I feel faith. I have the ganas (or drive) to be baptized.¨ She was so happy and we were so excited for her. Sunday, they hadn´t arrived to church so we went to go pick them up. We get there and knock for a while. Finally, Yolanda answered and we were able to get in. She tried to tell us that We asked her to try and wake up Luciana so that Luciana could make her own decision. Norma woke up and came out. She tried to force us to leave and leave the family alone. She got mad when we tried to talk with Yolanda and Luciana. Yolanda got upset at the entire situation and left to enter the bedroom while we stayed out in the living room. Norma continued and finally, when we felt the Spirit telling us that we had done everything we could, we left. We went back later that night and Yolanda said that we couldn´t come back and that she wasn´t going to church again. She said that she couldn´t stand the contention in the home. She also said that she wouldn´t leave God, but she couldn´t go to church now. You can imagine how broken our hearts were and are. It´s rough, especially when things were going so wonderfully. We don´t know what will happen, but we feel that everything will be ok. We don´t know when or how, but we have the Lord´s promise that it will be ok. It has been a great test of faith, prayer, dedication, patience, and charity.

The members are working wonderfully with us and we are seeing the missionary spirit come to life in this ward. We are looking to find a way to help them share with their friends. I often wonder how to help people listen and feel the doctrine of Christ. We teach and sometimes they seem to listen and other times they don´t. There are a lot of things that we know, but fail to do as human beings. I knew that I was supposed to share the gospel to others. I thought being an example was enough. I have come to realize that that is a wonderful and necessary way to share the Gospel, but without an invitation, or more action, they will not know where to go. I think of Lehi´s dream. Had he not called out to others to come, it is very unlikely that they would have found the iron rod or even known about the tree. It´s true that some would have found the way by accident, but there are many others who are prepared and are only waiting to know where to go. I have come to live the scriptures and truly understand, at a deeper level, what they mean. One of my favorite examples is James 2:17-19. ¨17 Even so ^afaith, if it hath not ^bworks, is dead, being alone.

 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my ^afaith by my ^bworks.

 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the ^adevils also ^bbelieve, and tremble.¨ I have come to realized that I need to be different than the devils. I can´t simply say that I have faith: it´s not enough. I have to act.

I love all of you sooooo much and wish you all the best. Stay happy, stay safe, and stay warm. Talk with you soon.

Love

Hermana Alvey