Cambios (Changes)

Practically everything has changed in the mission as far as key indicators go and the expectations we´re expected to live up to. Hermana Campos is really great, though, and she´s been able to help keep me going. She keeps up with everything and is so willing to learn and do what we need to do. I think it´s even more incredible because the called her the Saturday before transfers and on Wednesday she was sitting in the transfer meeting ready to go. She dropped everything to serve the Lord for these six weeks. We don´t get any extra study time or anything like that so it´s a little more difficult to train her, but she´s taking everything really well and working to adapt.

Hermana Campos is from Moreno (a stake in the mission). When they need minis they call young single adults from the stakes in the mission to serve. She hasn´t decided if she wants to serve a mission yet or not. I´m hoping this experience will help her decide and get a little bit of perspective of what a mission is really like.

It was a tough week for the both of us. We´ve both felt really discouraged and homesick this week. Hermana Campos got sick after church again and so we weren´t able to do a lot of work yesterday. We left for a couple of hours and visited the appointments we had made for the evening. None of them were home except the last one. The hour we spent with la familia Mosqueda has given us the motivation and excitement that we were lacking the whole rest of the week. I´m pretty sure it was a lesson every missionary dreams of. They were so full of questions and soaking up every word we said. They checked for understanding every few minutes to make sure they understood the concepts of apostasy, dispensations, and the Restoration. We talked about the Priesthood and how it is so necessary in everything we do in the Church. They even asked us about tithing and what we do with it. They didn´t say they would pay it yet, but they aren´t against it. Alicia, the mom, even asked what she would have to do if she wanted to be baptized. We are so excited to continue teaching them and be a part of their conversion experience.

Guido came to church yesterday all by himself. The ward mission leader didn´t show up to teach the Gospel Principles class so I got to teach the lesson. Guido had asked us during Sacrament Meeting why we take the Sacrament every week. I taught the third lesson - The Gospel of Jesus Christ - and we focused on the importance of the ordinances we perform in the Church (baptism, confirmation, the sacrament). It went well, I think. We invited Guido to be baptized. He didn´t accept right then, but he knows know how important it is and that we´re going to keep inviting him to find out for himself if the things we teach are true. I hadn´t read the lesson beforehand and so I just taught what I felt Guido needed. I checked after church to see what the lesson would have been and it was about the Sacrament. I don´t think there is such a thing as coincidences in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. :)

I´ve got to go. I´m out of time. I love you all!

Erin

From Buenos Aires June 11, 2012

It turns out I´m not training a new missionary, but a mini missionary (only one sister missionary received her visa to come to Argentina). My new companion, Hermana Campos, will only be in the mission until the end of this transfer. She is really great. It´s a little different than training a new missionary because the new missionaries have had time in the MTC to practice teaching and become familiar with Preach My Gospel. Hermana Campos has never read PMG or received any kind of training, but she doesn´t let that discourage her. She is studying in PMG and teaching with me. She is putting forth the effort to contact and teach on her own. It´s incredible. She´s an example to me in many things and I´m sure I´m going to learn a lot from her in the next 5 weeks. My Spanish kind of diminished a little with Hermana Olson (we spoke in English way too much) and I´m sure I´ll be able to learn a lot from Hermana Campos as far as Spanish goes. She barely speaks a word of English and so I have to try a lot harder to make sure she understands what I´m trying to say. In our language study this morning I taught her about the alphabet. It was a lot of fun to try and help her pronounce the names and sounds of each letter.

We had an investigator come to church yesterday. His name is Guido and he´s 77. He´s been Jehova´s Witness for about two years and was pentacostal (I don´t know how it´s spelled in English) before that. He likes to read a lot, but doesn´t retain much. Teaching him is a lot like it was with Ramón. We´ve spent the last few times trying to help him pray. He´s not used to actually talking to God and didn´t understand that you don´t have to plan out what you´re going to pray, but just say what´s in your heart and comes to your mind. There´s that scripture that says, "it shall be given you what you pray." I´ve been able to experience that in my personal prayers. It´s pretty amazing.

I found out on Wednesday that my first convert, Rubén, has received the Melchizedek priesthood and that he is the second counselor in the young men´s presidency in Libertad. His first assignment is to organize boy scouts in the ward. I was so excited to hear that. Yuli will be giving a talk in sacramente meeting at the end of the month, too. I´m so proud of her and her progress in the Gospel.

I´m out of time. I love you all so much!

Erin

More changes

We found out last night that Hermana Olson is being transferred today and that I'll be training. I really don´t feel ready and I don´t want Hermana Olson to go, but I´m at peace because I know it´s what God wants me to be doing. It´s what I need to make my mission the sacred experience it should be. I´m sure I´ll be praying a lot longer and harder than I ever have and working so hard. I want this new missionary to have the best few months in the field that she can have, mainly because I know they're the hardest.

I am so grateful for the time I had with Hermana Olson. I learned so much from her in these last 6 weeks and I really feel like I have made a really special friend. She helped me realize who I want to be as a missionary and what I need to do to be it. She is such a great listener, and such a loyal friend. I know myself better because of her and I want to be a better missionary and disciple of Christ as a result of my time with her. She is wonderful.

I´m out of time, but I wanted to tell you how much I love you all and appreciate all of your prayers. They are part of what sustains me throughout each and every day.


Love,
Erin