Monday, June 29, 2015

una semana de locuras!

Hola familia!

my companion`s computer isn`t working, so i`m going to let her use
this one, so it`s just gonna be a quick email.

so this week was great! we had our zone activity this friday, which
consisted of a morning where all the missionaries in the zone (18
missionaries, including the senior couple) in different parts of the
area knocking doors and talking to people on the street, then we ate
lunch and prepared the chapel for the talent show we would have that
night, then we went for a couple hours to do another finding activity
in the plaza. we asked people to write on the whiteboards, and finish
the sentance. "because he lives..." i can be with my family forever.
stuff like that. it went really well! and it was really fun. then we
had our talent show. and lots of members came and participated, and we
even had some investigators there too! it went over really well.

oh, just kidding. my comp`s comp is working now, so it`s all good.
chill out everyone.

A really special experience happened yesterday. We were walking home
after a great visit with a new investigator, and this soccer ball
comes flying out in the street. so i go after it and return it to the
family who was playing soccer in their yard, a couple kids and their
grandpa. I felt like i should talk to them, so we start up a
conversation, and it turns out basically their whole family are
members, but havn`t been to church in ten years or so. we started
sharing the regular stuff like how we would like to help them
strengthen their faith in christ, and how we have to continue
following god`s plan for us and endure to the end, and then i get this
feeling that i should talk about my family. Well that`s easy! i love
talking about you guys. :) i shared about how i come from a big
family, with lots of girls, and a couple brothers. and then i
mentioned how jorge and alicia are adopted from ecuador. I went on to
explain how we all dressed in white and were sealed together in the
temple, and shared how beautiful the experience was. then the question
came to mind. "did you ever have the opportunity to go to the temple?"
he said no. so we started talking about temples and how blessed we are
to have them here on earth and be able to make those special covenants
inside both for ourselves and our ancestors. and his heart really
opened! he started talking about how it says in the bible the work we
have to do in the temples and those things, and in the end we shared a
family history pamphlet with him, and he told us we could come back
another night. It was so great! I love miracles like that.

Well, not a whole lot more happened this week because when we weren`t
planning for the activity, or activity-ing, we were cleaning up. so we
didn`t meet with as many people as we would have liked. but the
activity went really well! for reals. it was great.

Oh! and for the activity we finally bought a chord for the keyboard!
so yesterday i played the piano in sacrament meeting! the only thing
is that one of the keys doesn`t work. guess which one? just take a
wild guess. yep, middle c. I dare you to try and play "I stand all
amazed" without middle C and make it sound good. anyway, so it was
fun.

Welp, i guess that`s everything. you guys are the best! thanks for
everything! have a great week!

hermana cannon

p.s. sorry, the camera`s not connecting today. :(

Fwd: Foto

Hey family! The senior couple in our zone took a picture of our Valle
de Uco finding activity, so I thought I`d forward it along. Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Nada Nada Empanada

Dear Framily: 

We had another meeting yesterday, sorry I forgot to tell you! But next week everything´s back to normal again, I promise. :) 

Well this week started out pretty slow. I did intercambios with the other hermanas in the ward, Hermana Sahleen from Idaho (boise I think? or near there...) which was great, cuz she´s pretty great. Then thursday and friday we spent basically all day planning for the talent show we´ll have this friday, and making seven million empanadas for the father´s day activity we had this friday. It was super fun. And right around the three millionth empanada, Hermana Cannon became a professional empanada maker, so don´t you worry kids. We´ll be emanada-ing it up for years to come. 

Other than that, not a whole lot happened. One thing really special is that one day we had two church tours planned with different investigators, and before they called and canceled (sob) we were preparing the chapel, and practicing how to give the tour. Hermana Matamoros hasn´t ever given one before, so she was practicing with me acting as investigator. The first thing you do when you get to the door is take them to the picture of Jesus Christ, and talk about how our savior is the center of everything we do. Before she even got a phrase out, she started tearing up. You guessed it. That familiar special feeling. Never fails. It was really sweet, because even though we were just practicing, the gospel is always true, and the spirit always testifies of that.  

And we finally met with Janet and Diego again! God is really looking out for them, because the day we were able to find them both together, we "just so happened" to be with a member, Hermana Vargas. They shared with us that they had both talked and prayed about their decision as to the law of chastity, but still hadn´t been able to make one. Janet wants to get married, but something´s holding Diego back. It was great because Hermana Matamoros and I started re-teaching the concept and helping him understand the importance of keeping the law of chastity, but nothing was getting to him. We think he´s a little timid and scared, and probably felt a little pressured too. Having Hermana Vargas there with us was a huge blessing, because she imediately became friends with both Janet and Diego, and when she talked to them, they really listened and understood. She was able to give them some great advice and council about marriage, and bear testimony of the blessings she had seen in her own marriage, although her husband is less active. It was so crucial to have her there, because honestly, I know next to nothing about marriage, and she was really able to relate to them and help them understand what it really means for them, and for God. I know it was no coincidence that the only two times we were able to find both Janet and Diego were when we had a member with us, and I can truly testify of the importance of members in missionary work! 

Hey, all you members, you´re so important! Missionary work is much less effective when it´s just the missionaries. We need you! There are so many of your friends, neighbors, acquaintances that need you. And most of all, God needs you. You can befriend and touch the hearts of people in a way the missionaries can´t do, and it´s so important in the progression of new members to have someone "normal" there in the lesson, who they can relate to. Just be your normal selves with your normal testimonies, because that´s what makes you so extraordinary!  

Also this week we had a surprise Word of Wisdom lesson. We´re working with a less active who has a smoking addiction, and this week we were planning on talking about the love that God has for her, and the importance she has as a daughter of God, because she also has depression. But as we started to give the lesson, it didn´t really feel right. This happens a lot actually. The stupor of taught, I like to call it. (actually I´ve never called it that, I just made it up right now. hah. pun.)  You start teaching, but you kind of forget everything, and the words don´t come, and you forget your spanish, and you feel like no one is listening to you. And that´s when you just kind of stop, and listen for the lesson that the holy ghost wants you to teach. And it just so happens, that the spirit wanted us to help her with her smoking problem. We talked with her, and helped her set some goals, and it went over really well! We´re excited to keep working with her. 

Anyway, that´s about it for this week. The gospel is true. Taste it. Love it. Share it. 

Love you all! Have a great week! 

Hermana Cannon

p.s. some pictures of empanada making, me and my comp in mendoza for the meeting, and the picture of us at the all you can eat restaurant in mendoza. Funny story. Chao! 

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Surprise!

Dear Family: 

No, the Tupungato internet didn´t shut down, I didn´t forget to write you, and I wasn´t kidnapped. No interesting storries of the sort to tell you. Just that yesterday we had a zone conference which means P-day Teusday. No worries. It´s weird, and has kind of thrown off the whole week, but it´s all cool. 

So great about the vacation! Thanks for all the photos! Glad you had tons of fun! I´m currently freezing here in my coat and boots in the internet cafe and checking out all your sunny beach photos I think raised the temperature in the room a couple degrees, so thanks for that! :) 

Whell, this week. Not a whole ton happened I guess. The best part was that we were able to finally find Janet again! Janet is our investigator who has a baptisimal date. (which we have to change, but the point is that she´s getting there!) We´ve been trying to find her boyfriend Diego and her together for FOREVER and last monday we were driving around with the Bustamantes (a member couple in the branch) trying to find their uncle to teach him, but he wasn´t home. Neither was anyone else we had plans to meet with. But walking and driving around, we bumped into Janet, Diego, and their son Newel on the street! So we walked to their house, and were able to meet with them both! I was basically partying inside the whole walk to their house. But I was also super nervous becuase we wanted to talk to them about the law of chastity. But it went really well! I´m always nervous that the couples will get mad and kick us out of their house, but the reality is that "wickedness never was happiness". Everyone has the light of christ, and knows what´s right and wrong, even if they chose to deny it. And really, they´re a super young couple, and the best thing that can help them out is the gospel of jesus christ in their home, and in their lives. And that´s what we talked to them about. How they can better follow jesus christ, keep the commandments, and have the gospel in their lives, including the healing power of the atonement. 

The sad thing is that we haven´t been able to meet with them since. :( So we don´t know how things are going. I think that´s the greatest challenge of missionary work. Because when we´re in the home of the investigators, and we´re worthy and teaching with the spirit, they can feel that the message is true, and know what they need to do to apply it. But when we leave, the adversary steps right in and does everything to take away that feeling, to keep them from completing their commitments, and anything else that can help them feel the spirit. And they don´t have the special promise and constant companionship of the holy spirit, because they haven´t yet made that baptisimal covenant, so they´re just that much more distanced from his influence. Sigh. It´s frustrating. 

BUT not impossible. We just have to work a little harder, pray a little more, and find them at home so we can teach them more often. Das jus how it goes. 

So anyway, that´s what´s been on my mind lately. Because it´s not just a problem for Janet and Diego, we´ve been experiencing the same thing with all our investigators. I can truly testify that the gospel is the one true way, and that these are the last days, because Satan´s sure doing all he can to keep this work from moving forward. 

The good thing is that we know who wins in the end. It doesn´t matter what the score is, how far we fall, or how many battles we lose. Because with Jesus Christ, "we are more than conquerors". It´s a beautiful work! A perfect gospel. A loving Heavenly Father. A challenge and a trial, but the reward is priceless. And if that´s not enough, the blessings are strewn along the way. I know this is the true one true church of God on earth. And although God always stands by us, the difference comes in whether or not we turn our back to Him. And things always go better when we keep Him in our sight. 

Love you all! 

Hermana Cannon

p.s. Some pictures of p-day on the tennis court, a beautiful sunrise from the bus to mendoza, and a district selfie. :)

Monday, June 8, 2015

Fotos

Can´t believe I forgot! :)

Hermana cannon

Little bit from Argentina

Dear Family:

Hello again! Another email from the Argentine Hermana, and her week in Tupungato!

Actually, it´s kind of funny because I was only in Tupungato half the week. We had to go to Mendoza for the capacitacion for my little hijita who´s still in training, and then we stayed the night for the Counsil meeting the next day with all the Zone and Sister Training Leaders. It was really great! I love meetings. Everything except the part about sitting inside all day and listening to people talk. ...but the rest...the rest is great.

Nah, I´m actually super excited about being sister training leader, becuase the leaders here in mission mendoza are super great, and I always learn lots from their examples and ideas. Also, Presidente Goates es la mejor presidente del mundo de la mejor misiĆ³n del mundo, asi que...es genial!

So...that was great. Mendoza and all. As for Tupungato, things are coming along! We still haven´t been able to meet with any of our progressing investigators, nor the ones with a baptisimal date, so that´s a little frustrating. Just a testimony that the adversary doesn´t want these people to convert to the gospel, which means they must be great future members of the Church of Jesus Christ. We just have to help them to realize that. Which means we have to be able to find them. So...I guess prayers in that regard would be appreciated. Much thanks.

On a better note, Hermana Matamoros and I yesterday learned a great lesson about teaching the father, or man of the family. A while ago Hermana Goates talked to us about the importance of focusing on future preisthood holders, and we sort of had been trying to do that, but lately we made the goal to not teach families with fathers, unless the father is present. Let me tell you, it´s hard to do! Because the father is always working or busy, and also the moms are just so much easier to teach, and so much more receptive!

So yesterday we met with a few Old Investigators. (or however you would translate that missionary term "Antiguos Investigadores"...anyone?) And after talking with the mom and daughter for a while, we invited her to invite her husband to listen too, who was working outside. At first she was like, no. He doesn´t like this stuff. But we kept insisting, and said it would just be a few minutes, that we could sing a hymn and pray. After a while, she finally sent her daughter to get him. We sang Soy un Hijo de Dios, and talked about how we´re all part of the family of god, and the importance of learning about the Gospel together with the whole family, focusing all the teaching on the Father, asking him questions, and directing everything to Him. We did the same thing later that night with the father of our recent convert. And the result was astounding. There was such a different feeling in the lesson. There was a strong presence there, and the teaching seemed to have more foundation, just having the man of the house present. And the spirit was so strong! Although at first the father of both families hadn´t shown much interest in us or the message, both were able to see the responsibility they had in heading their family in learning about Jesus Christ, and were able to see the blessings in doing so.

I love this work!

Hope you have a great week, all! And enjoy your California Summer Vacay!

Hermana Cannon