Forgive This Title (2 more photos)

2 more photos.  This email was originally sent on July 27

Forgive This Title

[This email was sent July 27] 

Dear Family: 

Wow! This week felt like a month! So much happened! Where to even begin? 

First of all, thanks for the prayers and faith! I feel good as new! I can talk and sing, and the only remains of my cold is a little bit of a sore throat in the mornings. Wahoo! The bad news is that my companion came down with a cold. :( It´s not too bad, and we´re just hoping it doesn´t get worse. Some prayers for her would be great as well. :) 

So, it seems like forever since I´ve told you all about the investigators here, huh? Okay, here we go. 

Remember I told you about Janet and Diego? Well the sad thing is that one day we went to their house, and Janet´s mom answered the door, Gladys. she told us they weren´t home and we´d have to come back another day. Being the good missionaries we are, we took the opportunity to talk to Gladys instead. She didn´t want us to go in, so we showed her the video of "gracias a que el vive" that I had recorded on my camera, and talked with her about it. She was really touched, and asked that we come to her house a few streets down and teach her more. The sad thing is that while we were sharing the video, Hna Matamoros saw Diego and Janet inside, hiding from us. :( So, for now, they´re not ready. The good news is that we´ve continued teaching Gladys, and she´s progressing! We left a pamphlet for her to read, and she read it. Also, the first time we invited her to pray, she recited the catholic prayer, "Padre Nuestro". And yesterday when we visited, she offered to say the opening prayer, and she did it perfectly! Pretty exciting. 

We also are teaching a new investigator named Daniel. His girlfriend Cyntia is a less active, and Cyntia´s brother is the branch mission leader here in Tupungato. We met Daniel first because he came to church with his girlfriend and their three kids. (we´ll be talking later about Law of Chastity. a popular lesson plan here in...the world). In gospel principles class the topic was baptism, and Cynthia was able to bear a powerful testimony to him of baptism. That week we went to visit them in their house, and he told us that he really enjoyed the meeting, and had the desire to be baptised! WAHOO! We invited him to be baptised in August, and that´s when he shared about his cigarrette addiction. He´s been smoking for fifteen years, and has tried to stop many times. He shared his love for his family and kids and his desire to be a better example for them. So basically he doesn´t want to commit to baptism because he knows he needs to quit smoking first, and he knows it will take some time. So we´re going to be helping him with that, and more than anything help him know how Christ can help him, so he can quit smoking and be baptized. Exciting changes coming up! 

Well, those are a few people we´re working with. Oh, this week we had an activity in the church, a Locro. Locro is a soup they make here in Argentina, and it was my first time trying it. Therés a foto, you can kind of see it there. From what they explained and what I tasted it has corn, beans, pork, and pig skin. It was actually super good! Just that the pig skin basically tasted like eating straight fat, so that´s exciting. 

Also a few pictures of me and hermana dutra, me and some members in the ward with their crochet and mate, and the snow in the mountains. I´m still hoping and praying for snow down here, but I think it´s just gonna stay up there in the cordillera. :( Oh well. 

Have a great week! Love you all! 

Hermana Cannon

Prayers Answered

Hey Family! 

This week was interesting. This transfer with hermana Dutra we`ve been really trying to be more straightforward with our investigators and sort through them to find the ones who are really "de oro" and those who just want to hear "algo bonito" every once in a while. It`s been a little hard for me to stop visiting so many people. But the reality is that although most of them have lots of potential, they were all only able to meet with us once a week or once every two weeks. And it`s understandable with their studdies or work, and the fact that maybe they`re not even at home very much, but the reality is that to really make the necessary changes in their life to be able to be baptized, it all starts with the little things. Reading the scriptures, praying, and coming to church. And really, life will always be busy, and if they`re not willing to make time for those important things now, they won`t leave time for these necessary things after baptism either. 

Also turns out that this week we met with a lot more less actives than we did investigators. Which was great as well, and we had some really good lessons. 

Yesterday the mission president and his wife came to our branch! It was kind of a surprise to walk into relief society and see Hermana Goates sitting there flipping through her ipad. "Sorpresa!" It was funny. They`re super great, I love them. 

Also yesterday I had a really neat experience. So I play the piano--I say piano con cariño, really it`s a dinky keyboard--every sacrament meeting, and it`s just kind of shoved in the corner at the front of the room where the only plug is, right? It`s also super quiet, even at full volume, but I guess the important thing is that the corister can hear the tune at least, and kind of tug everyone else along to follow him. Anyway, so we do the opening hymns, and announcements, and then move to the Sacrament. The little deacon passes the sacrament to all the sacerdocio on the stand in the correct order and everything, then passes to the corister and the speakers, and then gets off the stand to help out the other deacons who are passing to the congregation. Or in otherwards, he skipped me! I kind of started to panic a little bit. I didn`t really know what to do, and I was going through all the options. Wave and try and get the attention of the deacons, or run to the back of the room to catch him as he passes to the last ones, stand up to the pulpit and announce that I`ve been missed or, just not take the sacrament. Anyway, as they finish and walk to the preists before the prayer on the water, I get the attention of the corister, "A mi no me dieron!" Then he motions to the bishop, and in the end send a deacon over. As we continue on through the meeting, I started to ponder. When was the last time I missed the sacrament? And I realized that there have been very few times in my life where I had. Even the days when I had to work I would attend the early church meeting to at least partake of the sacrament. And I was just filled with such a peace and gratitude for this sacred ordinance. I thought of all the less actives we had visited this week, and how much they were missing! It seems like something so small, but really, it`s so special and so necessary to make the weekly effort to repent, to be a little better, to renew the covenants we`ve made, to remember who Christ is and what He did for us personally. 

I`m so grateful to have had the gospel be a part of my life for all of my life, and so grateful for the things I`ve learned on this journey of the mission, and life in general, and so grateful for the little oportunities God gives us to keep changing and repenting so that someday we can live with Him again. I`m so grateful to be able to share my testimony with everyone and everyone I can, so that they too can feel and have what I have. 

Thanks for all your letters and love! Have a great week! 

Hermana Cannon

p.s. We went to Mansano again, but this time, look what we found! SNOW!!! Definitely a prayer answered. And for the record, it was incredible packing snow. Perfectly wet and thick. Sigh. Just made me miss my utah snow all the more! 

The Adventures of Hermana Mute

Dear Family: 

Well, goodbye my hondureña, hello brasilera! I was sad to see Hermana Matamoros go, but that`s just how things go on the mission. Things are always changing! 

Speaking of changes, the weather has been changing lots, and I got sick again. :( Just got a bad sore throat. I called the mission nurse just to ask if she had any suggestions, and she sent me to the doctor. The doctor took a look, and said nothing out of the ordinary. Just keep drinking lemon tea, citrus juice, and ibuprofen. Sooooo that`s what I`ve been doing! Mostly I don`t want it to stick around long, so I`ve been doing everything possible to get better. And it`s been working! I can talk again, at least there`s that. :)

So anyway, we stayed inside for a few days to try and get me better, and also because I couldn`t talk, so teaching lessons wasn`t really an option. The good news is that Hermana Dutra`s mom is deaf, so her first language is sign language! The bad news is that it`s neither my first nor second, so we just reverted to using the whiteboard. Because she`s new to the area I had to tell her about all the members and investigators so we could do our weekly planning, so that explains the photo. "Weekly planning for mutes". It was fun haha. 

Hermana Dutra is great, although it`s been a little challenging, just with the language. I`m used to having companions with spanish as their first language, who kind of make up for the spanish that I don`t know. But with hermana Dutra, she`s still learning the language just as much as I am, so we`ve pulled out our dictionaries again, and use a lot of sound effects and hand motions to explain things. I think I probably will learn sign language by the end of this transfer! :) 

Well, that`s about it for this week. This coming week I should have a little more to say, in hopes that we`ll be able to leave the pench a little more often. :) 

have a great week! 

Hermana Cannon

Let it snow, let it snow, let it...rain.

3rd picture

Let it snow, let it snow, let it...rain.

Hola Familia! 

Whel, this week was quite interesting. First of all, CAMBIOS!!!!!! We`ve got changes here in Tupungato! Actually, every single companionship changed here in the Zona Valle de Uco. Crazy! My hijita Hermana Matamoros is going to Balloffet, San Rafael! My birthplace! I`m so excited. I`ll be revising my old agendas and finding tons of names and tips for her. I`m so excited! And what happens with yours truly? I`ll be staying here in Tupungato, with Hermana Dutra! I don`t know if I`ve shared any pictures or anything about her, but we both started in San Rafael together, and then both went to Quaymallèn, and then both became sister training leaders. Basically, we`ve always been together the whole mission, just never companions. I couldn`t believe it when they told me what was happening. Mi Brasilera Favorita!!!! I`m so excited. 

Anyway, so how was this week? Pretty crazy. I`m sending some pictures from last p-day and the snow that we found. Also, there`s a picture of me with a bunch of clouds behind me. That`s what Zonda looks like before it passes through. Zonda, which is basically just lots and lots of wind and dust and trees falling and the like. But we heard from the members that after Zonda comes through, the next couple days it always rains or snows. So we were all rooting for snow, cuz I really want to see some Argentine snowflakes...  buuuuuuuuuuut, rain won. :( Still fun, but well, rain. :( 

This week we finished off our Tres a La Vez en Cada Pueblo activities. The activities we`ve been doing in each area with the Talent Show and Gracias a que Èl Vive. This week we did two back to back, and everyone stayed overnight in appartments of other missionaries. Hermana Matamoros and I stayed with the senior couple, which was great. Elder and Sister Maseda. They`re so great. I felt like I was staying over at my grandparent`s house. So grandmas and grandpas, I was thinking of all you guys this week! :)

Let`s see...what else can I tell you about. Ah. When we were in Tunuyan, doing the Gracias a Que El Vive whiteboard activity, some girls stopped by to write something on the board. We asked if she had met with the missionaries before, and she said yes. For ten years. I kept talking to her, because I was so intrigued, and she told me her story. She said that her birthday was in three days, and she was going to turn 18, so she could get baptized at the end of the year. Because her parents are really closed and really didn`t want her to take the lessons or get baptized. She said they wouldn`t let her go to chruch either, so instead she had just been reading the book of mormon and the liahonas. She had also been to EFY, and had helped out the missionaries a lot, and helped two of their investigators get baptized. I wanted to cry, I was so inspired. I took a picture with her, because I want to always remember her example. When she left I just had this overwhelming feeling of how blessed I was, and how easy I had it sometimes. Anyway, I just was really touched by her example, and her undying faith and perseverance. An example to everyone. Her name is Tamara if you want to send some prayers her way.

Welp, I guess that`s about it for this week. Thanks for tuning in! Love you all! 

Hermana Cannon

Just a little slow

Mis Queridos: 

Hey! Iiiiiiiiiiiit`s pday! Today we went to Manzano, which is just like a camping place up in the mountains. We went with all the missionaries in the district, our misson leader and one of the ward missionaries, cooked up some asado, hiked a little bit, and threw a ball around. It was super great. But the best part is that there was SNOW! ...okay so just like a tiny bit by the side of the creek, and it was kind of more like just ice, but we had fun throwing it around. And I can die happy now, cuz I`ve been really wanting to see snow here in Argentina. I miss my Utah snow. So, anyway it was great. I took some pictures, but forgot my camera cord, and although my comp sent me some pictures, I still haven`t gotten the email, so we`ll see if I can send or not. Yay pdays! 

So, there`s this thing that happens when you`re a sister training leader called responsibilities. (I have no idea if I spelled the right. please don`t judge. English isn`t a thing for me these days. ...make that months.) Anyway, so I don`t really have a lot to do as sister training leader, but it just so happens that this week we had our Mission Counsil meeting in Mendoza on Tuesday, so we traveled last monday night, and didn`t get back to work until wednesday afternoon because we also had our district meeting. But Wednesday I had to do exchanges with the Hermanas in Tunuyan until thursday when I got back with my companion and we did our weekly planning, which with the travel time it took from Tunuyan, we didn`t leave the appartment at all that day. Then friday we had our Tres a La Ves en Cordon de Plata activity (remember the activity we had in Tupungato the other week? we did the same thing in another area, Cordon, and we`re going to do it in the other two areas, Tunuyan and Consulta this week. Good fun! And lots of good new investigators and member participation too. Manso.) So anyway, then saturday there was the soccer tournament with Argentina and Chile so we couldn`t leave the appartment after 4:30. 

Anyway, I guess you get the picture. Moral of the story is, even though I was doing lots of things, I wasn`t really in my area, which is a bummer. But, I was talking with the zone leaders about it today, who were feeling the same way, and we came to the conclusion that a lot of the work that we do, we do so that the other missionaries can spend their time not worrying about those things, and working in their areas. And it`s true! Somtimes it`s little discouraging because I kind of just want a regular day with a regular schedule, and regular investigator visits. BUT, it`s all good. I`ve made a goal this week to really take advantage of the little things I can do to share the gospel, even when I`m not in my own area, or when I`m traveling or things like that. For example, this week I talked to a lady on the bus, and another lady cleaning in front of her store, and I`ve found that it`s those little things, where I can share a little of my testimony with people that make me feel a little more like a regular missionary. 

So, sorry I don`t have much news about our investigators or less actives or anything. But that`s just kind of how this week went. 

Thanks for tuning in! haha Love you all! Have a great week! 

Hermana Cannon