DONT CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA-WHAT MY MISSION TAUGHT ME

THIS IS BEAUTIFUL BRISA .  SHE WAS BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY!  WOOHOO!  WE HAVE THREE MORE BAPTISMS ON SUNDAY.  WE ARE BEYOND BLESSED. 

 We had a baptism this week with this little cutie.  We did her hair extra special for her.

 DONT CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA.  THE TRUTH IS I'LL NEVER REALLY LEAVE YOU.

Before my mission I took a Book of Mormon class at BYU. One day we were studying in 3 Nephi 17 and verse 7 was literally jumping out of the page at me. It was screaming out to my mind! 
¨¨Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered. or that are deaf, of that afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I WILL HEAL THEM, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.¨¨

My little 19 year old heart was SO EXCITED to come to Argentina and find these sick and hurting people. I think in my head I was really picturing literal SICK people who had all these physical problems. You know, starving, weak and so sick ;) But little did I know that our sweet Heavenly Father gave me an entire 18 months in Argentina to really understand what Jesus really meant when he said to bring all these people to him. And guess what? The answer is so profound and so simple. I think what Jesus was trying to say was that we are all suffering from some form of sickness. :) But he gives us a promise: If we come unto him.. HE WILL HEAL US.

 Isn't that the best offer? As a missionary Ive had so many experiences that have brought me right to my knees and every time the personal feeling of  Jesus came to me and made something beautiful out of my pain and trials. THAT IS HEALING. I came to the mission thinking that I would be able to help bring OTHER people for Jesus to heal,

But the most beautiful, most rewarding feeling to know is that JESUS HEALED HERMANA TERRY as well. He healed that little girl with her crazy nervous anxiety and self doubts, he healed that girl with all kinds of different brokeness and weakness and SHE WILL FOREVER BE CHANGED.

THROUGHOUT MY WHOLE MISSION IVE SEEN THE POWER that God has in our lives. I love the scripture in

 John 14:18: I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you. 

 HE WILL ALWAYS COME TO US AND HE IS THE ONE THAT INFLUENCES US TO CHANGE. IT IS HIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND MERCY THAT CAPTURES OUR HEARTS and when we SEE HIS HAND in our lives we will forever be changed. THIS IS THE MEANING THAT IS PURPOSED UPON THE WHOLE EARTH! THAT HIS HAND IS STRETCHED OUT UPON ALL NATIONS! I testify that Gods beloved son, Jesus Christ IS OUR SAVIOR OF THE WORLD AND OUR BEST FRIEND. 

HE HAS WALKED WITH ME FROM THE DIRT ROADS OF LIMA ZARATE TO THE BUSY STREETS OF BUENOS AIRES, HE´S GIVEN ME THE ENERGY TO KEEP GOING IN THE HOT PROVINCIAS OF ARGENTINA AND HES HELD MY HAND AND SURROUNDED ME WITH ANGELS IN THE DARK NIGHTS OF LA BOCA. HES THE VOICE THAT WHISPERS TO ME EVERY DAY,  I LOVE YOU MARIE. HES THE ONE WHO LED ME TO ANALIA,  WANDA, LUDMILA, FACUNDO, DAMIAN, JUAN, ERICA, ANTONIO, EDWIN, BRUNO, NORBERTO, JULIO AND BRISA. Hes the one who prepared me in the premortal life AND this life to come to Argentina and fulfill his purpose: TO HEAL AND TO BE HEALED.

I TESTIFY THAT HIS LOVE LIVES IN EVERY INCH OF THE WORLD, BUT MAYBE MOST IN ARGENTINA. IVE SEEN IT FOR 18 MONTHS. I just wanna end by saying, DONT CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA!! Nah chiste:) I truly love my Argentine friends. Les amo con todo mi corazon. Theyve left a huge impact on my life. Estoy tan agradecida por los miembros y por mis compañeras. Siento un amor gigante por mis conversos. :) 

I know God gives us missions to find only 1 convert and this is ourselves. I know for a fact that this mission will help me throughout my whole life. When I am a mother and have 12 kids.. I hope I can weave my moments in THIS MISSION of  Argentina into their lives and they will be influenced to COME UNTO CHRIST. All of the success on my mission will depend on how I can teach my own posterity about it and who they become as a result. :) I have given it my all in Argentina. Nos vemos. :)

I received a quote at the beginning of my mission.  It has guided my every day.  I hit the Argentine floor with two feet running.  And to the best of my abilities, I have run as fast and as hard as I can for eighteen months.  It has been the BEST RUN OF MY LIFE!

 If any of MY YOUNGER FRIENDS are thinking about serving a mission, I INVITE you to get down on your knees and have a chat with God and I promise you, you will receive an answer. :) Have the courage to honor the answer you get.

Scripture: Galatians 2:26:

Christ liveth in me: AND THE LIFE WHICH I NOW LIVE IN THE FLESH I LIVE BY THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD, who loved me and gave himself for me.¨¨

Always remember, no matter what your mission of  the moment is, if your tired, discouraged, or just out of hope, stand up, brush yourself off and CARRY ON CARRY ON CARRY ON!!!!!!!! 

p.s. If you ever wonder if you can take the magic of the mission home with you, have a listen to this song. Someone shared it with me and Ive been  bawling all week. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbtqBnUT8f0

Final Rewards

WOW this was such an emotional week. :) God really is just blessing me like crazy and my heart cant take it!! HAHA I told my comp i was feeling nervous cause I honestly cant thank God ENOUGH for HOW MUCH he has given me!!

OKay first of all this week we had divisiones with the hermanas de.... JUNCAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW  I had no idea how much has happened since I left! ERIKA IS ON FIRE!!!! Shes sharing her testimony with everyone! The hermanas told me she goes through filters with everyone she meets.. like are you married? would you like to be baptized? Can we help you stop smoking? AHH shes a true miracle. A little girl in a troubled situation who was truly reborn and came to life. Im just so grateful I got to help her come unto Christ and to see that shes helping others as well! AND REMEMBER ANTONIO.  Hes going out with the missionaries and is giving a ton of referencias! One of the referencias he gave to the hermanas in Juncal.. is gonna get baptized!!! I have a strong testimony that we will never ever realize the impact we make on other people. Wow. Im just too grateful. Also Norberto received his priesthood and is planning on going to the temple and do baptisms for his family. :)) What greater love can a hermana feel than all these people thriving?  There is nothing like it.

 OKay so Julio was a  miracle. GUYS HE STOPED SMOKING ON THURSDAY. He had sooo many temptations but he resisted! WOW and yesterday he was baptized!!! THE SPIRIT HIT ME SO STRONG. It was sooo quiet and it told me that I came back to La Boca for this sweet little 75 year old man. WOw. What an amazing experience. The members are amazed by him cause he gives SUCH PROFOUND COMMENTS!! Ahhh. I love this old man with all my heart. I have kind of thing in the mission where I only like to baptize VIEJITOS!!  HAHAHAHA. #oldmenarethebesttt. #morethanonepreexistantargentinegrandpa

I read a scripture in 3 Nephi and Jesus was saying that God made a covenant with his people and JESUS came to bless them (us.) Isnt that such a refreshing  feeling. HE DIDNT COME to judge or condemn us!! HE CAME TO BLESS US AND KISS US AND TELL US OVER AND OVER THAT WE ARE PRECIOUS CHILDREN OF GOD. And you know what? Im gonna say the same thing about Argentina. I came to bless people. I came to love. I came with an open mind and a heart ready to learn about these people of Argentina. I didnt come to judge nor to ruin peoples faith with harshness and condemning language. I came to help build their faith. I came as a representative of Jesus Christ and as a representative of our Savior of the world.. I BETTER DO exactly what he would do. LOVE. LOVE THE PEOPLE. If you want to be like Jesus, you are always lifting people up, with your actions, and your words  Amen. 

bueno peeps. the mission has asked me to send pictures of all my baptisms and my testimony for my farewell. QUE TRONKY. haha gotta goooo. :) LOVE YOU ALL! UNTIL NEXT TIME!!! ONE LAST EMAIL NEXT TIME PEOPLE.  I CANT BELIEVE ITS REALLY ENDING!

CARRY ON CARRY ON CARRY ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

love, hermana terry:)

CHERRY! I'VE MISSED YOU!

My dearest family,

HAPPY MARCH! Did you guys know that twelve years yesterday I WAS BAPTIZED BY THE BEST MAN IN THE WORLD?!! :) Ahh what a sweet day:)

WOWZERS. SHOUTOUT TO EMMA BOO FRANCES FOR GETTING ACCEPTED TO BYU. HOLLA. :)

SOOO many amazing miracles this week. Gods really blessing me and Hermana Espinosa and I dont know whyyy! So many things we dont deserve!

So i have a little story for you guys about a little old man named.. JULIO. Do you guys remember Julio?? WE FOUND HIM before with Hermana Gonzalez.. and never got baptized because he couldnt quit smoking and drinking. WELL guess what ladies and gentlemen... we found Julio AND guess what he says to me... ¨¨CHERRY!!!! IVE MISSED YOU!!¨¨ and this cute little old man started to cry. He told me he really loved me like I was his granddaughter. I cry to because I love him like a grandaughter. He told me I was the only person that was nice to him. Ahh mi amor. Oh my gosh guys. It was such a healing real  moment. I came back to La Boca for him. I told him I loved him and that we were gonna do everything we can do help him quit smoking (HE STOPPED DRINKING ALL BY HIMSELF. STUD.) Guess what? When we first visited him he had been smoking 20 cigs a day. guess how much he smoked the next day? 5. and the next? ONLY 2!!!! AHHHHHH. PLEASE PRAY FOR JULIO! WERE PLANNING HIS BAPTISM THIS SUNDAY!!! :)

okay.. also were planning a baptism for Gabriel.. ya the 21 yr old. HE HAS CHANGED SO MUCH. He used to be a punk and not listen to us.. but now hes asking questions like.. what do i need to do if i wanna serve a mission. Working with gabriel has been a roller coaster. but God put an image in my mind of Gabriel as a missionary. and we both feel very strong we need to keep going with him. Ahh please pray for this kid. I feel strongly I would like him to be ok before I leave.

OKAY so yesterday we went to visit the familia Gonzalez. Brisa (9 years old. Shes an angel:)) answers the door and we start talking with her. She loves church! She told me she feels a tingly feeling when she sings in primary. :) mi amor. The rest of her siblings and her mom.. are a little harder to work with cause theyre all so busy doing other things. So please pray for the mom and her brothers to LISTEN to us and follow the example of their little sister, :) Lautaro.. is one that were teaching and he is 15 years old. we asked Brisa where he was and she told us that he was in the Plaza. This is something I didnt fully understand about Lautaro. Do you know why he didnt come to church yesterday? Because he was out ALL NIGHT in the streets. DO YOU KNOW WHAT happens on the streets of LA boca late at night?? YA DONT WANNA KNOW!!!!!  Next thing I know.. we were walking to the Plaza where Lautaro was supposed to be. There was a moment where I felt a lot of fear. Last night LA boca had a big soccer game and the streets were CROWDED with drunk men. My heart ached to know the fact that this little boy, Lautaro, was lost in the plaza, most likely smoking, doing drugs or drinking. Where was Lautaro? Where on earth could this boy be? We were calling his name almost desperate to find this young boy. I literally felt like his mom. But the truth is, his mom could care less. His whole family judges him and tells him hes a bad kid. I felt so much love for that boy. 2 little missionaries searching  just to make sure this boy is safe. It really made me realize that GOD LOVES US.. and he watches over his children .My heart ached to know that Lautaro was lost at the Plaza.. doing a lot of things.. but I also had this confidence that God was gonna protect him and that everything was gonna be alright. Did you know Lautaro stayed up LATE at night reading the book of mormon? Hes just screaming for help.. but doesnt know where to find it. His life is scary and difficult, and he turned to the Book of Mormon in a dark night for peace.  This is powerful stuff people.

I can honestly say Im so in love with my investigators. All we want is to help them.  Not everyone on earth has as loving of an earthly father as I have, but those who dont, learn a whole new life and understanding of what real love is, as they discover this all loving, all healing Heavenly Father who is so desirous of a personal loving relationship with them.   AHH HERE goes for another week in the work!!! :) WOOHOO I LOVE THE MISSION!

love,

CHERRY. haha. CARRY ON CARRY ON CARRY ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE FAT LADY HAS NOT SUNG YET!!!!!!

My dear, beloved family:)

WOW. WHY did this week go by so fast? I dont understand why time is flying now when I need every last precious second! 

OK.. well we are seeing sooo many miracles in our area. Hermana Espinosa always says: 

¨THE MISSION IS ALL ABOUT RECOGNIZING THE MIRACLES THAT GOD PUTS IN OUR EVERY DAY LIVES.¨

 The little miracles that lead us to finding the escogidos and its what I call. FINDING GRACE. ONE DAY this morning I woke up with the words sooo clear in my mind: WHERE THE IS LOVE YOU WILL HAVE MIRACLES. I realized right then that I needed to be grateful for everything that God has blessed us with and reaallllyyyy try to focus on our beloved investigators. My only job for the next couple of weeks is to help people feel the Saviors love.  Cause isnt that how we are converted? Its that BIG SMACK OF LOVE that God gives to us and we get that sinking feeling in our hearts when we finally realize.. WOW. WE HAVE A GOD OF PERFECT PIERCING HEALING LOVE. HES BEEN THERE WITH ME THE WHOLE TIME!! I JUST NEEDED TO OPEN MY EYES AND REALIZE IT!! And then through his generous loving grace he allows us to grow and allows us to make decisions that lead us up to baptism.

 

 Id like to give a big shoutout to our three almost 4 investigadores that our progresando.

 

 Jose- peruvian capo that is a married dad to 4 kids. Ive never met anyone SO interested in the Book of Mormon!! MIRACLE NUMBER 1! JOSE IS SO OBSESSED WITH THE BOOK OF MORMON!! and now theres.......

 

 Lautaro and Brisa- they are two kids from a family that we are working on. HERMANA TERRY DID YOU JUST SAY FAMILY?!! YES I DID. A single mom with four kids. The mom and her other kids all felt sick Sunday when we passed for them.. BUT GUESS WHAT. LAUTARO WHO IS 15 AND WHO DRINKS AND SMOKES AND BASICALLY LIVES EN LA CALLE CAME TO CHURCH. MIRACLE NUMBER 2!!

 

 And our lovely miracle NUMBER 3 named Gabriel.  Theres something that keeps giving us this faith and love to keep going with him. He is our miracle because he finally opened up the Book of Mormon and READ. But read like 5 chapters!! Hes gonna be an amazing convert.
 

ITS AMAZING WHAT LOVE CAN DO. LOVE BRINGS MIRACLES. LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING. JUST TAKE MY WORD FOR IT BELOVED FAMILY.  YOU DONT HAVE TO SERVE A FULL TIME MISSION  TO ARGENTINA TO KNOW WHAT I KNOW.  LOVE CHANGES ANY AND EVERYTHING.
 

So I realize I am slowly ripping out my heart for the next month as I prepare to leave my beloved Argentina.  I am going to sing at the top of my lungs "Dont cry for me Argentina" as I go to the airport.  Im typing out the poem mom wrote for me to remember at the end of my mission.  Its my heart savoring every last day.

Walk a little more slowly, as you take your final walks
Tape record conversations in your mind, as you have your final talks,
Close your eyes when the wind hits your hair
and remember the smells and the feel of the air.
Pray for your friends, and speak love unrestrained
As much as youve given, theres much more youve gained
You saw Gods children, you know the truth about grace,
you saw it in every Argentine, and when the sun kissed your face.

Dont cry for me Argentina, the truth is I'll never leave you
All through these teaching days, this mission experience
Gods kept his promise, theres been no distance.
Dont cry for me Argentina, the truth is Ill never leave you
Ill leave my heart in the sun, Ill leave my song in the air, and you will feel me
And feel that God cares.......Argentina, I wont leave you.  My hearts stays with you.

alright here i go with my in love list:

i love hermana dafne espinosa with all of my heart.

 i love la boca.

 i love the members that make me stop breathing from laughing so hard.

 i love pure arentines that have the most amazing beautiful accent.

 i love talking like a porteña.

 i actually love eating pasta and bread every day although not the best diet

. I love waking up in the morning and hearing the busy taxis and collectivos in the city.

 i love milenaesa. i love facturas.

 i love being able to go to church and seeing all these faces that i knew in the premortal life.

 i love that as im writing this  God put Isnt she lovely on the radio in the kiosco.

 I love the little messages God sends me. 

I love running home to our pension to be home by 9 punto.

 I love being obedient.

 I love listening to our investigadores.

 i love looking at the big famous city of buenos aires and see so many people and then pass by a window and see in the reflection that i have a placa on that says: HERMANA TERRY: LA IGLESIA DE JESUCRISTO DE LOS SANTOS DE LOS ULTIMOS DIAS.

 I love realizing that even though we have a million people who live here.. and even though Im a litte girl who only has 20 years old.. THAT I GOTTA BIG TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST AND THEYHAVE HEARD ME ROAR AND I HAVE GIVEN MY HEART TO THESE PEOPLE.

 

 I LOVE YOUR ARGENTINA. Be ready for these next few weeks.. HERMANA TERRY IS NOT DONE YET PEEPS. :)

IT IS NOT OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS AND SHES NOT SINGING TILL MARCH 25TH!

love, hermana terryble:)

THERE CAN BE MIRACLES WHEN YOU BELIEVE:)
CARRY ON CARRY ON CARRY ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be on time or Wait? Always Wait!

 My new Companion.  Folks, she is my soul sister.  We are just made to work together!

Dear Beloved family,

Life is going so good in LA BOCA! I have a story for ya! Last Monday we were so pumped to look for new investigators. We started being multidimensional and started sharing everyone WITH THE MEMBERS. :) . OKay so we found this chico named Gabriel. Hes 21. Gabriel has a baaaad attitude about life. But for some reason... I really feel a tender love for the kid. I see a lot of me in him! We invited him to church and didnt think much about it..

But Sunday comes around and somehow Heavenly Father helped me remember I needed to make an effort for him. SO I went with a member.. The fabulous Maria Stigliano and we went to find this kid Gabriel and bring him to church. Well we get there and its already 9:30.. and church starts a 9:30. I started getting nervous.. because I DID not wanna miss the sacrament. It really the one moment of the week I wait for.  I was panicking.  I prayed LIKE CRAZY and asked WHAT should I do?... LEAVE HIM and go to sacrament or WAIT for him. And a little answer floated into my head and said something like this. ¨¨He is my child. He is my son. WAIT for him. Marie always wait for my precious children.  Its so much more important than time limits.¨¨ SO.. we waited. We missed sacrament. But for the first time in my life.. I didnt feel bad? I did what GOD told me to do. We were able to bring a child of God to church. Gabriel accepted a date! And guess when it is... March 1.  Ahh pray for Gabriel. HE NEEDS A LOT OF LOVE.

Yesterday was really special. It was fun seeing all my old friends. They were all like... WHY ARE YOU BACK?! Is it because all of the other areas got sick of you??! haha:) Anyways yesterday we went to visit to recent converts that I had met back in June. Their names are Mica and Marianela. The brother of Mari died about a week ago. It was realllly hard on them. But they came to church yesterday cause they wanted to see me!! So we went to visit them after church. Guys.. we had the MOST INCREDIBLE VISIT. The spirit was sooo strong. I told them that I REALLY felt like GOD had prepared them before to be baptized and have a knowledge of HIS PLAN. Now that her brother has passed away, they are puting this knowledge to the test. I TESTIFIED that God knows his two little daughters in La Boca and maybe that was the reason why I came back. Was to help them REALIZE and make sure that they know and remember who they are and they know the purpose of life, and the reassurance that there is life after death. It was honestly one of the most heartbreaking things to see Marienela cry about her brother.. But what was amazing.. was the spirit that was in that room. IT WAS SO QUIET AND SO PEACEFUL.. NO ONE COULD EVEN MOVE. When one of us would talk it felt like pure power from God. It was one of those moments where I realized.. GOD really does watch out for his children and the spirit can heal all wounds.  WOW. I wish you guys couldve been there. I love these two precious daughters of God. Please pray for them by name, Mica and Marianela.

 I just have to brag about my companion. She is seriously soooo fun. Shes soo so nice to me!! Its the best to have a comp who really cares about me and bonus we can speak English for the first time in seventeen months! We work like gold together! Im sooooo blessed to have Hermana Espinsoa. Shes going to do amazing things on this mission. It rips me apart to think I will be leaving it next month, but oh what beautiful reassurance that it is being left in the hands of this sweet angel and so many like her.  I swear that girl has a gift with people. SHE TALKS TO EVERYONE. EVERYONE! I swear we give away like 100 invitaions a day. By the end of this year all of Argentina is gonna know who this chica really is. SPREAD THE GOSPEL LIKE ESPINOSA LO HACE. YAA.
:)

loves!! Work with me this last month of my mission and lets all do somthing miraculous in the next forty days.  I DARE YOU!  LOVE YOU GUYS!  Carry On!

MY FINAL TRANSFER

HELLO FAM!!!!!!!!!!!! Im kind of freaking out right now. GOD DECIDED TO PUT ME PUT ME BACK IN LA BOCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CRIED SO HARD LAST NIGHT BECAUSE MY HEART TRULY BELONGS IN LA BOCA!!!!!! Im realllllyyyyy gonna miss Tigre. Im thankful for that sweet little branch and for all the sweet people I was able to teach. Bruno, Edwin and Norberto... You will be missed:):) 

Pero.. MAN... LA BOCA?!!! THIS NEVER HAPPENS IN THE MISSION. WHEN YOURE DONE WITH AN AREA.... YOURE DONE. NO MORE GOING BACK. YA ESTA.

Its just so amazing because ILL NEVER FORGET the sweet words I heard in my mind when I was praying for this next transfer. God had told me that he had a very special place and a very special companion prepared for me. :)

MY COMP ES UN AMOR! HERMANA ESPINOZA from MEXICO CITY, MEXICO!!!! Ahhh shes just so chill and so amazing and speaks in English. WHAT? Did I just say english? YA THATS RIGHT FOLKS. MY WHOLE MISSION IVE HAD LATINA COMPS THAT DONT SPEAK ENGLISH.. AND POR FIN GOD BLESSED ME WITH ONE THAT DOES! hahahaha but id rather talk in spanish cause ive forgotten alllll my english. :):)

SOOO tons of  CRAZY things have happened this week. But I just wanted to share something awesome that happened this Sunday. :) My sweet mother, Hermana Quintana had her farewell along with 42 other missionaries on Sunday. Its a crazy time in our mission because sooo many people are going home! But Hermana Quintana wanted me to sing in her farewell:) So I had the opportunity to sing Joseph Smiths first prayer.  THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE AT THE FAREWELL. I thought I was gonna die. But I reallly prayed and asked Heavenly Father if i could sing Joseph Smiths experience with these people and really tell it with all my heart.:) When I sang it .. it felt more like I was bearing my testimony. THis song is beautiful because it really captures everything what Jospeph Smith was going through. Im so happy I had the opportunity to sing to my Argentine friends about the restoration of this church and the testimony Ive gained on this mission. THIS STORY SCREAMS TO US THAT GOD IS NOT A SILENT GOD AND HE REALLY DOES ANSWER OUR PRAYERS. Joseph Smith tenia 14 anos. Nada peeps. Era un jovencito. But God loved this little boy so much and he loved allll of his children so much that he gave us his SON and his true church. Im thankful for this humble boy and for his sincerity and for his desire to hear from God.  I really hope we can remember him and know that we can talk to God about anything and we can ask him anything and he will answer our prayers. :)

I feel so so so grateful God put me in the best area for my last transfer. I KNOW there are people in La Boca that are waiting for me and Hermana Espinoza. Ahh I honestly couldnt be happier. Today is a good day. :) 

love you all!!!

LOVE,HERMANA TERRY   CARRY ON CARRY ON CARRY ON!!!!

Hold on! He will come.

Buen dia familia!!

So I went to EFY this week. haha isnt that so sad! My first time at efy and Im on the mission:)YOU NEED PACK YOUR BAGS AND SIGN UP FOR EFY NOW cause it will change your life. Bueno.. President asked me to share my testimony on the age change and how I got my answer to serve a mission. QUE EMOCION! Ill never forget the feelings I felt when President Monson announced the age change. That day changed a lot of our lives. I shared my testimony about how God had a better plan for me and that was to serve a mission. I TESTIFIED that GOD IS PREPARING PEOPLE IN THE WORLD TO HEAR THE SWEET MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL FROM OUR MOUTHS, AND FROM OUR UNIQUE PERSONALITIES.  WHAT I WASNT EXPECTING TO SAY at the end of my testimony was that I told all of the WOMEN who were in the room to say a prayer and ASK BOLDLY God if they should serve a mission. It was so interesting because I felt sooo strong that WE NEED MORE WOMEN MISSIONARIES.

I love speaking in front of people.especially in Spanish. Hey future husband..if youre out there somewhere and  reading this... lets serve a mission in South America together someday OK? . thanksbye.

 This whole transfer weve been working with the members to find eligidos por medio de ellos.  We havent seen the fruit from our labors.. But this week we did!!! You guys know Ale:) Bueno! Ale has a sobrina that is 12 years old. Her name is Melina. I have almost 4 months here in Tigre and Ive seen this little girl on her bike every day since Ive been here. She invited us in her house and taught her and her mom about the plan of salvation because her 14 year old son just passed away. :( It was one of the most spiritual lessons I have had The mom is not quite ready because she still feels mad at God for taking her son. But were gonna keep working with her! MELINA her daughter.. asked us if she could be baptized. She was so happy cause she told us she feels like she needs to change and be better. Mi amor. Little 12 year old girl who literally RAN to ALe´s house to tell him that shes gonna get baptized. And then she ran to the her friends and told the whole world shes gonna get baptized. :) It was seriously the sweetest thing. I honestly feel bad I had never talked to her before. But Im happy that God trusts us with his children. It makes me s happy that as we strive to work more with the members... we can bring their whole family to the waters of baptism. I know that Ale´s sister and his sobrina will be baptized and will return to their beloved family member someday.:):):)Eternal families are the reason I came here.  Gracias Dios.

You know what I love? Listening to people and really trying to understand them. I love that everyone has their own story. I think thats the biggest most rewarding thing we have as missionaries, and that is the gift of listening. And when we listen, we will know exactly what to say. We know how the gospel can be applied in their lives. We know, BECAUSE WEVE LIVED IT. As a missionary Ive realized that God has truly given us the opportunity to really feeeeeeel the pains of the people we meet. Its 100% necessary. Our Savior, Jesus Christ knows our pains perfectly thats why he has perfect empathy and as representatives of Jesucristo, God gives us the tiniest slice of what Jesus felt. Yesterday we talked to a man who has been having suicidal thoughts. Guys, this man is SO successful. He has everything going for him, and yet he feels so inadequate. He cant forgive himself. for his life mistakes.  He cant love himself.. He just started crying in front of us. Ive never seen a grown man cry so hard in my life. It was the saddest thing. Me and HM really tried to comprehend this mans pain. At the end of this visit ,he told us that last night he was standing in the middle of the railroad.. waiting for the train, he heard the words come into his head.. ¨¨"ITS ALL JUST A PROCESS"¨¨ Now he is trying hard to trust in our loving Heavenly Father who put these words in his head. I testify with all my heart that OUR LIFE IS A PROCESS. All I could tell this man was, WAIT! WAIT ON THE LORD!! I PROMISE HE WILL COME. HE WILL NOT LEAVE US COMFORTLESS HE WILL COME TO US!! Everyone has different timing in their process.. BUT I KNOW in the end.. everything is fair and that Gods grace covers ALL.  This man has so much worth. He is a son of God. And God has not forgotten him. We have to trust that it will get better. So many times in our lives we feel like we need to fix it all at once.. but its a PROCESS. And when we feel like God has abandoned us, we need to remember that our own Savior, Jesus Christ felt the same way while he was on the cross and said,¨¨My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?¨¨I know that we all need to go through this feeling in our lives IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE ATONEMENT. HIS LOVE AND HIS GRACE CAN BRIGHTEN THE MOST DARKEST PATCHES OF OUR LIVES. ONCE AGAIN I TESTIFY THAT GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE US COMFORTLESS.. HE WILL COME TO US -- IN HIS OWN TIME.  But I promise you, form the bottom of this little missionary heart, HE IS COMING TO YOU! 

:):) love you!! have a good week!!

HAPPY GROUDNHOG DAY,

love,hermana terryble :)  CARRY ON CARRY ON CARRY ON!!!!!!!