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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!