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