What time is it, SUMMERTIME!

Dear friends and fam:

That´s right my friends, it´s summer. Which is weird. Kinda like this shirt I found in a store today. A little backward, but I guess it makes sense if you´re not from the states.

Also weird because we´re singing in the stake christmas choir, (wahoo!) so although we have christmas songs in our heads all the time, it doesn´t feel like christmas at all. Maybe as it gets closer...nah. I don´t think so. It´ll probably feel more like Christmas on April 6th, which I guess works out just as well.

Let´s see, what´s to tell this week. I guess I have some good news, and bad news. The good news is, Mauricio accepted a fecha! Baptism on December 13th! And then the bad news is, we went yesterday to pick him up for church and he wasn´t there. He also wasn´t there on Thursday when we came for another cita. He told us his friend´s mom had an accident, so we´re hoping that 1) his friend´s mom is okay, and 2) that he´s not lying about his friend´s mom. So we´re a little worried about him, and really hoping that he just had a bad week, and doesn´t want to drop us. We´ll see this week when we go visit him again.

More good news, we´re recieving tons more help from our mission leader and ward missionaries, and they´re becoming tons more involved and excited to be involved in missionary work. We´ve been going out a lot with the ward missionaries, and they´ve started giving us ideas for activities, for people to visit, introducing us to their friends, it´s great. And it´s spreading to the ward too! We´ve been recieving referrals, had families ask us to help them have Noche de Hogar, and we have lunches with members the entire month, and then some. Seeing all of these changes makes the first little while of trudging, pushing, and pulling through washing the area all worth it. Almost. ;)

Uh...what else happened. I guess other than that this week was pretty normal.

I guess I´ll end with a little spanish. Este semana empezé a leer los cuatro evangelios. Para una misionera, son caramelos. jaja. Estoy toda via en Matéo, pero he aprendido muchisimo de nuestro salvador, sus atributos, y su ejemplo. Algo interesante que encontré es cuantos veces Jesucristo dice a sus apostoles, "poco fe" o tiene que explicar los paraboles a ellos, o la razón por que pasó este o eso. Y pensé, ¿por que jesucristo llamó a estes hombres? Hay muchas personas en ese tiempo con más fe, mas entendimiento, ¿por que? Eso es una de las preguntas que estoy buscando en mis estudios, pero eso es lo que aprendí hasta ahora. Ni la fe ni entendimiento viene del hombre. No viene de milagros. No viene de un llamamiento o posisión. El fe viene solamente de jesucristo, y solo el fe en jesucristo tiene valor. Por eso, Dios llama los debiles, los con poco fe, poco entendimiento. Por que en el fin, no importa donde empezó. Todos tiene el poder de tener la misma fe, entendimiento, y poder de jesucristo, si podemos poner todo nuestro confianza en el. Se que eso es asi, y se que con jesucristo, y solo con jesucristo, podemos llegar a vivir con Dios y nuestros familias para siempre. Se que si seguimos jesucristo y su ejemplo, confiando en el y usando el poder de su expiacion, vamos a tener su imagen en vuestro rostro, y llegar a los cielos de Dios. Se eso con todo mi corazon, y lo comparto en el nombre de nuestro santo salvador y redentor jesucristo, Amen. 

Hermana Cannon

p.s. The other pictures are our district, and the Ozan family, some less actives we visit.

Investigatored in the Work

Mis Queridos! 

Hola todos! If I had a picture of an alligator I would put it under the title. Cuz then there´s the pun with the invested and investigators, and then there would be a gator and it would be basically hilarious. But, alas, if there´s one thing Argentina is lacking it´s gators. So you know. Pucha. 

Asi que, bueno. (most common phrase ever here) Miracle week! I love miracle weeks. This week we went, for the millionth time to Paula´s house. We´re always in the area, so we knock on her door a lot. A few times we were pretty sure she peeked at us through the curtains, and decided not to open the door, and any other time, she just never answered. So when Hna Tirado wanted to knock again, I have to say my faith level was below zero. As I´m sure you guessed, not only did she open the door, she let us in to talk with her! She said she would come to church yesterday, which she didn´t, but regardless, we have an appointment with her this week, so we´re really excited about that. Turns out her daughter is baptised too, which is great. 

This week we also went and met with a reference from the hermanas in Barrio 1, Mauricio. Usually the references we get from other people don´t turn out so well, or don´t even exist. But God wanted us to meet with this guy, because everything worked wonderfully. Mauricio was home, and so was his brother. It also so happened that Hermana Mohamet, one of the ward missionaries, was with us, so we were able to enter the home. We sat and talked with them, explaining a bit about what we do as missionaries, and what the gospel can do for them in their lives, and they listened to attentively. I don´t remember how it came up, but Mauricio´s brother, shirtless, and finishing off a cigarette and throwing it in the fireplace, gets up from his chair, goes to the cabinet, and pulls out a Libro de Mormon. He sits back down, and begins to dust it off with his torn handkerchief. Folded in the pages were two pamphlets, and a passalong card. Pretty sure that image is one I´m never going to forget. Watching him so carefully dust off this sacred book that a pair of elders had long ago given him, and pamphlets from lessons they´ve taught... wow. They never got to see him baptised, nor even perhaps gain a testimony or read the book. And maybe I won´t either. But they planted the seed. And now we´re digging out the weeds, and nourishing the ground. It´s all part of the work, no matter how long it takes, how many hours spent bent over in the sun. And maybe they´re tree of faith isn´t growing straight, or very strong at the moment, but it´s there. And in time, if they let it, it can grow, and bring the fruits of the gospel in their life. And as long as I can do something to help them, to teach them, to comfort them, whether it be a prayer, a lesson, a scripture, I´ll do it. Because that to me is worth it. 

We were also able to meet with another former investigator. Remember Telma? Lives across the street from a Hermana Miriam? She wants to meet with us again! Actually, it was really sweet. Recently the family who lives across the street has been going through a lot of hard stuff. Their dad has some drinking problems, and I think they´re both out of work. But when we met with Hermana Miriam and Telma, Telma shared how although they were going through a lot, they somehow continue on, unified as a family. She said she never hears them yelling or fighting, and often sees them outside sipping mate together. Although Miriam says they fight a lot, haha, the point is the same. It was because of this family that she wants to hear more about the gospel. A testimony to me that it´s true what they say. Teaching by example is real. People see the way we live, they see the changes that the gospel makes in our lives, even if they don´t realize it immediately. 

And that´s the message I´d like to leave with you all. This church is true. It doesn´t make us perfect, by any means. At least not in this live. But it brings real changes. I´ve seen it in me, in my family, and in the lives of so many others. Christ lives, and he loves us. And if we follow his example and apply his teachings, we can not only become like him, but help and inspire others to do the same. 

Love you all! 

Hermana Cannon

P.s. It´s extremely hot, so sometimes Hermana Tirado likes to wet her feet in the sekia. (Not sure how to spell that word. But that´s what it is.) Also, the family across from Telma has puppies! 

Week of Weeks

Mis Queridos:

This week some stuff happened, but all I really remember is anticipating the meeting with D Todd Christopherson, and then reading over my notes a million times after the meeting with D Todd Christopherson.

So, I guess I´ll tell you about the meeting with D Todd Christopherson, eh?

Wow. It was so cool, not only to be there with an apostle, so close, listening to him talk directly to us, (the entire mission was there!) but after he walked in and sat down, the mission president told us that D Todd Christopherson wanted to shake the hand of every missionary. And he did! We all lined up and got to shake his hand! He asked everyone their name, and where their from. And when I told him I was from Lindon he said "Lindon! I used to live there when I was a boy." So neat. Also it turns out he served in Northern Argentina back when there were only two missions, North and South. And he served under Richard G Scott as his Mission President.

Also, the day before we traveled to Mendoza for the meeting, we get a call from the Asistentes. "Hermana Cannon, remember the song you and three other new missionaries sang at the capacitacion? President Goates would like you to sing it again for D Todd Christopherson. Esta dispuesta?" So, not only did we sing for the entire mission of 245 missionaries, but also for an apostle of the lord, a member of the 70, and their wives. I can´t really believe it happened. We sang La Oracion del Profeta to the tune of Come thou Fount. Sigh. So great.

The main theme of the meeting was John 8:29, and being sure to do always those things that please God. "I don´t always acheive that," he says. Oh, in spanish too, no gringo accent. He talked about the importance of always knowing the will of God and doing it. He also talked a lot about the importance of the Book of Mormon. He said, being a lawyer, if he was in court and the issue was whether or not the chruch was true, he would lay the Book of Mormon on the table and say, here´s the proof. And it´s true. How important to remember that, as missionaries, as members, because here we have the proof, the testimony, the word of God. Are we using it?

His wife also shared in spanish, and english both, switching back and forth. I love what Sister Christopherson shared, which was the story of 2 Kings 4:1-7. She talked of the great sacrifices that God asks of us, and how when we have something to give, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem, we give it with all our hearts, and God will consecrate it for our good. She also said something else I love, "God is generous to those with faith in Him. He has all that we need, and more than we need, and He will give what we are prepared to recieve."

I think my favorite part of the entire meeting was being able to hear his testimony. Just seeing him standing there, bearing witness of Christ, just after I had shook his hand and looked in his eyes, and seeing him stand there, bearing testimony that without a doubt Christ lives. I know that he is an apostle of the Lord, called by the Lord to this work. And I´m so grateful to have had the opportunity to see him face to face. What a great reunion. And I add my testimony to his, that if we strive to always do the things that please God, someday we will be able to stand before God face to face and give a good report. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Hermana Cannon

La Mejor Noche Del Año

Here´s some photos of the actividad, and our barra de hiero. Woot! 

Three Months and Three More to Come

Che! Amigos y Familia! 

Che is an expression everyone uses here. It´s kind of a mix between "hey" and "dude". It´s like, "hey, you!" Anyway. There´s your castellano (kas-teh-SHA-no) lesson for the day. ;) 

So this week is traslados! Both me and my companion are staying, and in fact our whole district is staying just how it is. So we´ve got us, two north american elders Elder Connoly and Elder Lawrence (a newbie who flew down the same time as me), and the other sisters Hermana Aguilar from Peru, and Hermana Dutra from Brazil. They´re all great, and we´re all excited to be sticking around a little longer. Hermana Tirado especially didn´t want to leave. She dies (goes home) in January, so she´s really hoping to finish out here in Balloffet, and I think she probably will. If all continues the same, we´ll both stick around for Christmas and New Year and I´ll get to kill off my first compañera y mamita! haha 

So this week we had our activity! We called it La Mejor Noche del Año. (I know, we´re incredibly creative) Basically we made a sweet obstacle course with rope that everyone had to follow blindfolded. We had the bishop, the elders quorom president, and hermana Jenni (a pregnant sister due in december, like Jenna! woot!) blow whistles, throw pillows, and bang on pots and pans to scare everyone on the way. Eventually the rope lead to the tree of life where everyone would find the fruit/candy.

It went really well! I mean, we started 45 minutes late when people finally started showing up, but once it actually got going, everyone really enjoyed it, and had a good time. We were kind of bummed that no less actives or investigators showed up, but at the end we gave everyone a paper apple and had them write names of people who they knew who were lost "en el camino" and they would like us to visit. So we got a bunch of referrals! It was like Christmas. 

Speaking of holidays, Halloween! To answer the FAQ of the week, no. Argentines do not celebrate halloween. We passed one house that had little paper ghosts and pumpkins in the window, and a couple kioskos that had little Feliz Halloween signs, and that´s it. In fact, we were standing in line at the grocery store and this lady in front of us was explaining to her kid, a little angrily, about how halloween is just something that the norte americanos made up and that we argentines don´t celebrate it. So that was fun haha. However, Hna Tirado and I did dress up for a minute as eachother (aka switched placas) and took some halloween pictures. Just for you. ;) 

Welp, I guess that´s all for now.

Ooh! I almost forgot! D Todd Christopherson is coming this saturday! So all the missionaries in the Mission are going to travel to Mendoza central to listen to him. We´ve known for a while, and we´re all really looking forward to it. I kept forgetting to tell you. This week! Aah! Does anyone know where he served on his mission? Cuz I´m thinking he probably speaks spanish. He was the one that started his talk with "Buenos Dias!" haha. 

Anyway, the work moves onward. This chruch is true, and I know it. 

Love you all! 

Hermana Cannon