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

Windsday

Mi Querida Familia! 

Hey! This week was pretty crazy. First of all, there was a crazy wind storm on Friday that the Argentine´s call Sonda. Basically, it´s just a hot wind. But it was pretty scary, there was dust and dirt everywhere, and lots of trees and branches fell everywhere. We´re okay, and everything´s fine. Luckily we were inside visiting with a less active for the worst parts, and walked home when it had mostly settled down and all the ruin was left everywhere. Pretty exciting.

Also this week I had my fist divisiones! One morning we had to go to el centro to pick up some invitations for an activity coming up, but we had citas fijas, so we asked if two girls in the ward, Lis and Aileen would go on splits with us, Aileen with me to visit with an investigator, and Lis with Hna Tirado to pick up the invitations. Basically I was nervous out of my mind. My first lesson without Hermana Tirado! I kind of freaked out all morning, and prayed lots and lots. We were teaching Mariela, our only progressing investigator. She´s been reading the Book of Mormon, and ALMOST accepted a fecha for baptism. She doesn´t quite feel ready yet, and is kind of still deciding whether she wants to be baptised into this church, or the evangelical church. So the morning´s lesson was on the priesthood, and it went fabulously! It helps that Mariela likes to talk, and also that she always has lots of questions, which makes the lessoning easier. The lesson went very well, and Aileen was able to talk about the temple, and how this church has the authority to seal us as families even after death, which was something Mariela seemed to like a lot. Well hey, me too. :) 

On the other hand, we´ve had a lot of investigators drop us recently, which is always fun. And our new goal as a zone is to focus on finding new investigators. So Hna Tirado and I have been praying every day to find new investigators, and though we find new people, most of them turn out to not really be interested in inviting us in. It´s kind of a bummer, and sometimes I wish people would just tell us no rather than giving us their address and waiting till we come to visit so they can pretend not to be home. But at times it´s a better option than getting doors slammed in your face, which as of now I´ve only experienced once. So you know, ups and downs. 

Regardless, on thursday we were walking down a street and this little girl who we see sometimes on the bus named Valentina comes up to us. She grabs my hand and literally pulls us to her house a few houses down. Well, we took it as a sign, and knocked on the door. A young girl answered, and said she would get her mom, and after a while of waiting we figured her mom probably wasn´t coming. So we told Valentina, "Creemos que su mami es ocupado, vamos a regresar mas tarde, si?" She just kind of looks at us. "Espere." She says. We couldn´t say no to the little 5 year old, so we waited a little more. Her mom did eventually come out, invited us in, and we taught her and her 13 year old daughter. Valentina was there as well, giving us water and playing with our nametags, mostly just distracting everyone. But the mother, Marcela, said we could come back again. New Investigators! 

That same day we also met with another family, the mother named Norma, who we also were able to have a lesson with her and two of her grandsons, who said we could come back another time. New Investigators! 

As I´ve learned on the mission, sometimes you´ll have weeks where no one lets you in, all your investigators drop you, and no one comes to church. Then other weeks it´ll seem like everyone invites you into their home for lessons, service, almuerzos, and everything else. And it´s interesting because the weeks like this one, where we´re able to see those miracles, to meet the people who´s hearts God has prepared for us is a really sweet experience, and those weeks are the best. But the other weeks are the weeks when I learn the most. I have to practice keeping a good attitude when we´ve walked more miles than we´ve taught lessons. I have a chance to find the millions of little, less obvious blessings when it´s seems that there are none. And  most of all, I have a chance to feel just the tiniest bit of what the Savior felt, and rely completely on His strength, becuase it´s only in those times when I truly realize that I can´t do this work alone. 

Thanks for your prayers and support! I really wanted to send photos, but the computer, once again, is being dumb and won´t recognize the card. :P 

Love you all! 

Hermana Cannon

Successful Missionaries

My Beloved Loved Ones: 

Haaaaaaaaaaappy Monday! As my companion always says, "Lunes otra vez. Siempre es Lunes." Course, she also says that for Viernes, Domingo, and Jueves, so, you know. 

Whew. This week. This week was a little discouraging, as we had most of our investigators drop us. The Rodrigues Family, the family who invited us into their home to pray? They´ve been awefully "busy" lately, so we haven´t visited with them in a long time. Hna Tirado says that happens a lot with people. We come to them when times are hard, and show them the strength and guidance that the gospel can bring into their life. But then once they come out of the hard times, they forget the importance of the gospel, and drop us. 

We also had to drop Maria, the sister who knew basically everything about the bible. After our first lesson with her, although at first we were excited that Hna Tirado had been able to answer all her doctrinal questions, we realized that in reality, we hadn´t felt much of the spirit at all during the lesson. So for the next lesson, we taught about the Book of Mormon and the power of the Holy Ghost. The whole time Maria kept trying to change the subject and bring up different interesting doctrines, and we kept trying to bring the lesson back to the Book of Mormon. We soon found out she really didn´t want anything to do with the Book of Mormon, nor with the church. We left her with a Libro de Mormon in the end, she left us with one of her little doctrinal comic booklet thingies, and we parted ways. 

In a way it was a bummer, but both Hna Tirado and I felt a lot better about the lesson having focused on the spirit and in truly helping her understand that as missonaries, we aren´t here to discuss the difficult, nit picky doctrines found in the crevises of the bible, but the small and simple truths of the gospel. Because it´s those things that help us on the path to return to Heavenly Father. As we´re reminded every year in General Conference, most of the numbered lists given to us by the speakers include prayer, scripture study, and chruch attendance. And it´s not that there´s nothing else to talk about, it´s that it really is those simple things that help us the most. 

And in conclusion, I want to share my testimony that I know that that is true. You would think it would be tiring, going into home after home, preaching these same simple truths, the primary answers over and over. But for some reason, it´s not. It´s actually quite amazing, to see each person come to the same conclusion. In Predicad mi Evagelio, it says, no matter the needs or problems, the Savior, and His teachings, or the Gospel, will help. And it´s such a testimony to me to be able to teach each less active, each investigator, that if they will only apply Christ´s teachings in their life, the small and simple things, no matter what has passed, or what will come, everything will be alright. 

Thanks for all the prayers! love you all! 

Hermana Cannon

p.s. Oh, I forgot to explain one of the pictures of last week´s email. It´s your favorite sign dad! Slow children at play! The only thing is that in spanish it doesn´t have a double meaning, becuase it would have to be Ninos Dispacios Jugando rather than Despacio, Ninos Jugando. All the same, it was exciting. :)