Baptisms! - March 26, 2012

Still loves puppies!!!! (Little Jackson)



Cathedral in San Luis





Martinez Familia

Hello aLL!!

Things are getting rolling here in San Luis!! The weather is turning into spring and it is perfect weather to go into the streets and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ! We had some small miracles and big miracles this week. 

There was a family we were working with in San Juan that I got super close with the mom, Ana. They got baptized this weekend!!! I was so happy I cried with joy!! This was the first baptism I have had of someone I loved so much that I couldnt be there. It was sad for a second because I missed it by 1 week but I realized it didn't matter because they finally did it! The Lord´s timing is not our timing but I am soooo happy I could have a big part in participating in such a super family. Three more souls in the path to live with our Heavenly Father! 

There was a family that the missionaries had been working with for years. The dad knew he needed to be baptized but wanted complete preparation before, a firm testimony before he made the decision. Well 12 years of testimony worked. His wife is a return missionary and his 11 year old daughter got baptized in the spring (October). Well, the missionaries lost patience and had dropped him (or stopped seeing him as an investigator because he was not progressing) but Hna Farris and I stopped by anyways this Monday. He said that he saw a mormon message on LDS.org about President Hinkley´s last testimony and he knew deep down that he was a prophet. He then prayed for forgiveness all day long and got his answer to be baptized! He was 100 percent sure and said he wanted to do it this weekend! So this Saturday between conference sessions, Ruben will be baptized. The whole ward was so excited because he has been going to church for a long time and basically was a member. Miracle no? I felt like I did nothing to earn such a sweet experience but everything happens for a reason, I´m not complaining! Amazing timing the Lord set things up so we ran into him! 

Besides Ruben, we got some amazing references this week. Hermana Farris and I worked super hard and got 23 references from members etc and within those references found a lot of great families we are looking forward to meeting them this week in our appointments! Lots to do!

Well, not much time. DON´T FORGET THE AMAZING WEEKEND WE HAVE COMING UP! GO LISTEN TO THE PROPHET´S VOICE!!! I am pumped for conference!! The church is true!!! Love every second of it!!!

Hola from San Luis!! - March 20, 2012

Hola from San Luis Argentina!!! I absolutely love it here!! It reminds me of San Rafael, small good town people. The first day I got here I thought of it as a mix of Silver City NM, Mexico, and Ecuador if there is such thing. It has hills like Silver City and mountains in the background and the houses are similar to what I remember Ecuador feeling like. My companion is awesome, very good missionary for the time she has in the mission. Like I said before, she was my athletic trainer at Weber and knows a lot of the same people I do like Karlee and Ali and Abby. We live with Hermana John (who reminds me a ton of Erin and who I lived with in San Rafael before) and Hermana Shampiama (from Peru). Hermana Shampiama is teaching me how to cook Peruvian food :)

President Avila came yesterday to interview us. He is such an amazing leader. He said I am doing great and try not to run my companions to the ground haha. Just kidding, he just said that he knows I have lots of energy for the work and wants me to finish strong like that. 

The ward here is AMAZING!! It is like a ward in the US. Like 120 people! It is one of the biggest and best wards in the mission. We share it with the zone leaders (Elder Roche from California and Elder Allen from Salmon, Idaho) who are awesome Elders. This Sunday we even had and Argentine BBQ or ¨ asado¨ with them and the bishop and his family after church. It was a great way to start off the transfer haha! 

We have a few investigators but will have to find a lot more here soon. It is ok, there is tons of potential here. We found a family yesterday who look like they live in Africa literally because they all are so skinny from hunger. The dad was abandoned as a child and has had a terribly rough life getting jobs, loosing them, trying to keep his cute family alive. He is married and his wife does all she can too to keep the 3 kiddos happy and healthy. They have a Book of Mormon from old missionaries years ago and it seems they are ready to accept. Life is hard, but the gospel makes it worth living. 



Hna Farris, Hermana John and Shampiama. Hna Shapiama taught me how to make my favorite Ecuadorian dish- ¨ Arroz con Pollo¨ and then we ate it on our balcony!




Dana. 18years old. Similar story to Flavia. She hadn't been to church in years and we worked wit her a ton. We asked her to do divisions with us and now she goes every week to church and just got called as teacher for the gospel principles class!! I was so proud of her!!




 The Familia Benegas. Super fun family who has 11 kids (all not there for the pic) They fed us a lot athough they had nothing and we spent New Years eve with them




Flavia. 16 years old. We worked a ton with her getting her active. I insisted that every week she did divisions with us. I think it worked :) Now she goes to seminary every day!!




Familia Duran. The dad just got baptized and we got all the family to come back to church in our ward




Familia Polo. Our neighbors in front who take care of us and rent us the apartment




Hermana Call and I our last night with our Argentine jerseys.




Our small room! We live in downtown San Luis and it is a nice apartment but very noisy haha



The zone in San Juan!

 Some pics of San Luis!

Our chapel on Mariano Moreno. Good memories.

 

Until next week. The church is true. Miracles exist. I am the luckiest person in the world to be able to put on the Lord´s name everyday and serve his children here in beautiful Argentina!!

to SAN LUIS!!!!!!!!! - March 12, 2012

Well, transfer calls came today. I am sad and happy at the same time. San Juan has been a great and very challenging place and I am leaving about 6 people that are ready to be baptized in the hands of Hna Call and Hna Haskell (from Utah, 7 months on the mission) who will come to fill in for me. The ward is called Pringles and is in San Luis downtown. My new companion will be Hna Farris (who came in at the same time as HNa Call). She actually worked as an athletic trainer at Weber! She remembers me but I don't remember her but still cool. I am pretty excited to go to San Luis so now I will get to see all 3 provinces in the mission. I probably will ¨die¨there but I am more pumped than any other time in my mission to find people. I leave here Wednesday morning and it should be about a 4hr bus ride. There are 4 hermanas there which I am SO excited for. Being a social creature, the 4 apartment places are what I love. I love being together with the hermanas from all over the world, you learn more.

I knew I was being transferred because I had to give a talk this Sunday. That happened my last week in San Rafael too. Not planned. The bishop ran up to me about 10 minutes before sacrament meeting and said that the speakers didnt show up and the Stake President (who is amazing, future 70 for sure) was coming to speak and it would be me and him. Awesome. So I gave about a 15 minutes improv talk about my personal study that say and it didn't turn out half bad (about Ether). I was exhausted though afterwards because the microphone is broken, we don´t have air conditioning in the chapel, and we did the music as always. So I directed the music, gave my talk yelling so the old people could hear, and sweating my face off, and then played the closing song. All in good fun. The members left for a temple trip (15hr bus ride to Chile) so I wont get to say bye to most of them so I am pretty bummed. But, I left on a pretty good note so I am not too sad.

We have a dinner tonight with Lily and Bogdan. I am soooooo sad to leave them. I guess maybe I did the first part and someone else will get to say they baptized professional volleyball players. I have no doubt I will keep in contact with them though. 

So, until next week. I have got to go pack and run around saying bye to everyone!! Love you all!! The CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 



1) second pair of shoes that has broken. good thing mom sent me more




2) Maria (11) and Maite (10) who are dying to get baptized but Dad says no until they are older :(



3) 4) We took some pics next to a Catholic school

5) My best friend in San Juan, Mirta Cornejo. She is going to leave on a mission soon and does visits with us about 2x a week

6) Hna Call and Mirta thought I didnt have the guts to play against 20 argentine kids to get them to listen to a lesson. I did it. They learned that I never back down from a challenge.



7) Although poor Cristina got changed wards the week after her baptism, she is doing AMAZING!! The ward members there take great care of her and she hasnt missed a week since! 



 

-- 
Hermana Emily Thatcher

Misión Argentina Mendoza

Baptism in a wheelchair....yes, it is possible! - March 5, 2012

Family and Friends.

You think baptizing a 83 yr old woman is impossible? Heavenly Father doesnt think so. We did the baptism IN the wheelchair IN the font. A mission new? Probably. The whole ward helped out and it was a total success. She got confirmed yesterday and bore her testimony. He bishop was a champ and did the baptism for us. The ward loved it. Ines Morales is in the door on the path to heaven! 

Transfers are next week. I have NO idea what is going to happen. Lily and Bogdan (the volleybally players) are doing amazing and I would hate to leave them but we will see. 

The church is true. I love the mission and they might have to push me on the plane while I am kicking and screaming. Until then, I will keep working with all my heart might mind and strength.

 

 

Pictures and fun in the sun in SAN JUAN‏ - February 20, 2012

Hello Family and Friends!!

Sorry so long without an update. Yes, I am alive haha. Hermana Call and I are doing well. Just steady hard work. We are teaching lots of people right now and trying to hurry and get them to church etc because here in Argentina school starts Feb 28th which means it will be more complicated. I am actually happy that school is starting because there have been so many people coming and going for vacations that is has been hard. Plus, after a week of terrible humidity and heat, we have had rain and overcast. Hna Call almost cried with joy. She is from Pocatello and loves the cold and has been dying poor thing but now she is happy. 

We have a baptism planned for this weekend. One day we were walking home to the pension and we saw a private geriatric home. I paused for a second to say hi to the old ladies through the gate and there was a man visiting what it looked like his mother. He called us over surprisingly and told us he was a member and asked when the Sunday meetings were. He said he wanted to go and take his mother because she is dying from cancer and she wanted to go to find God before she passes away. Well, they have both been going to church and she wants to get baptized. Although about every other sweet old lady in the geriatric is senile, she is thankfully completely sane but just has lots of physical limitations. So we go to the geriatric home a few times a week and lets just say it is my smile and laugh for they day. We teach Inez and then say hi to the rest who are lonely and they cry when we leave because they think we are their family now. I never thought this was part of the mission but I love it. We will see how we can get her baptized! Crazy no? All in San Rafael we baptized kids and here so far more the ones on the other side of the hill haha. All amazing children of God!

Hope you like the pictures. One day it was like 115 with humidity and I was sun burnt from the previous day so we went out in sunglasses and hats at 1pm to survive. It was fun!

The Lord is always waiting for us to rise up and live they way He knows we can. Lots of the youth in the ward went to Argentina´s first EFY las week and had life changing experiences. They came back and shared with me their pictures and I have been thinking a lot about the theme. It almost made me cry to see these poor kids who have nothing and struggle so much to stay strong in the gospel come back so happy realizing there are more youth like them out there.  “Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations” (D&C 115:5).  I invite us all so to the same. 

Love you all,

Hna Thatcher

 

***DISCLAIMER***** We can't figure a way to rotate these pictures on Emily's Blog. Sorry they are sideways.