Week 56 (April 27, 2014 Parque Chacabuco, Argentina)

Since Hermana Syphus can't receive packages because of postal restrictions right now in Argentina, we decided that we'd let many of her friends and family know that her bday is on May 1 and for them to hopefully send her a simple birthday wish.  We were so pleased at the response.  She had over 50 emails from family and friends and was in awe at the kind wishes. 


MOM!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow I was not expecting to open my email and see this!!!!!!!!!!!! We are emailing late today and I won´t even have time to reply to all of them let alone read all of them!!!! :( Our zone leaders birthday is today and so we had a get together at the church with our zone and that is why I am emailing late. LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND THANK YOU!!!! IF I DON¨T GET TO EMAIL EVERYONE BACK GIVE EVERYONE A HUGE THANK YOU FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You really have no idea how happy I feel right now!!!!!!!!!! I was expecting maybe 10 emails but not 50!! Man I really am so blessed.

Should I try to reply to all of them? haha :) And how did all these random people know it was birthday?

Love you too mom!! And HOLY COW!!! I have read some of the emails and these people did so much!! The chamberlains drew me pictures!!! Ok That email that I sent thanking people was not enough. I will do something better next week even though you have already sent it. Man I am just so thankful. Please tell everyone again that I love them and that they are the best. Best birthday surprise ever :) 

Dearest Family and Friends,

How are all of you doing? I hope you had a great week and have felt the Spirit in your hearts and homes. It is such a great blessing that we have to have the gospel in our lives. I just love entering the homes of members because the spirit is already there and I love feeling the spirit with families, it makes it that much better :) I read something very interesting and powerful this week in the spanish book of mormon. There is a mini dictionary in the back of the book of mormon and one day I was reading the difference between the heart and the mind because I was studying the Holy Ghost and was lead to that. It says in the libro de mormon that through the heart, we receive feelings, and through the mind, we receive thoughts. Most of the things I learn are really obvious haha but i really thought about what it said and love it so much. This is why in we learn that we should listen and learn with our minds AND hearts because when we feel something, it is much more powerful than when we think something. Feelings can stay with us forever and thoughts can go away after a few days. At least that is how it is for me ha. I know that when we listen with our hearts, the Spirit can help us learn and remember much more and that we will be able to have a greater understanding and a more eternal perspective. I love what the Spirit can teach us!!

This has been a great week and I feel very blessed to be in this area with my companion. She is wonderful and is teaching me so much! She is helping me have more confidence in myself which is what I have been trying to learn my entire mission! I am truly thankful for each companion that I have had and I know that the Lord is blessing me with eternal friends and sisters. We do not have many investigators as of right now and that has been the difficult thing, but the ones we have are great and are truly ready to receive and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives!

Bueno, Roberto Antonio Soliz Rocha was baptized on Sunday and Yoselin was confirmed :) :) :) Now there are three members of the church in this great family and I am so so happy. Now they can all support each other in enduring to the end! It was a huge blessing and miracle that Roberto was baptized because just a few weeks ago he did not feel ready. But with the help of a great recent convert and the spirit, he has felt the need to be baptized and now has made this sacred covenant with God! Each time we went to his house to teach him, Yoselin, and Alejandra, we would ask him how he was doing and he said each time that he was getting more and more excited and really felt ready. He wants to serve a mission like his sister Yoselin and we are just feel so blessed. Sometimes I feel unworthy of the great blessings we are receiving from God, but I sure am grateful for them and am trying to do my best so that I can be worthy of each one. Heavenly Father is a God of mercy and I know that He is the one blessing this area. The Rocha family is one of the greatest families I have known on my mission and I love them so much. Mon and Dad we have to come back to argentina and visit this family!! I want to be here so badly when they go through the temple!! :) Yoselin and Alejandra are both doing great as well :) OH!! I have great news!! So Yoselin used to work on Sundays and had Mondays off. We were really worried about that because she wants to prepare for a mission and really needs to keep this commandment to help her testimony grow. Well one day we got to their house to teach and she just had a huge smile on her face and told us that she had switched her day off to Sunday and that she would be working on Mondays!!! SHE is the one that though of it and did it all on her own! We didn´t even suggest it! Man that just made me so happy. It is simple things like this that happen that help me know when a person is truly converted to Christ. I love that so much, it brings me the greatest happiness ever :) So now she can come every Sunday! And this past Sunday Rob and Yoselin and Alejandra brought THREE of their cousins to church with them!! Two of them don´t live here but are here during the week going to school and we have permission to teach them and baptize them here! So we are working on that! And then they have another cousin that lives with his girlfriend and has two kids. He is so awesome but isn´t married! But really like church on Sunday and wants to come back! So we are going to start teaching him this week and see what happens! :) I love having the opportunity of knowing and teaching this family and I know that it has been through the help of God that it has been possible. The mom really likes it all but she is not married and her husband is super nice but doesn´t want to go to church or listen. Yoselin really wants her mom to be baptized and so do we of course. We will see what we can do with that. :)

The other day we were a bit sad because we thought about how after the baptism of Roberto, we wouldn´t really have anyone to work with because we were trying to find investigators. So we left the house that morning with the faith that we were not going to return home until someone accepted a date to be baptized. We usually have a member with us but this day for a few hours we were not able to have one. We were trying to contact a reference but we were not sure exactly where they lived. We were walking down the street that we thought lived this person, and while we were walking we passed the door of a young man that Hermana Lobo and I talked to once. This young man accepted a date the first time we talked to him but when we went on sunday to take him to church, he wasn´t there and we could never get a hold of him so we had to drop him. But this day with my new comp, we had actually had him as a plan b to visit if we had time. So when we passed his door, we thought why not. His family was just returning home from a vacation when we got to the door and they were unpacking the car. Brian (the young mans name) came up to us and we started talking to him. In the end, he again accepted a date to be baptized and told us that he wanted to come to church on sunday! It was really amazing how everything worked out so perfectly and how Heavenly Father put him in our path at the exact time we needed it! I feel like Heavenly Father has been preparing Brian and that he will be baptized. He came to church on Sunday and love it!! :) We will be seeing him tomorrow!! Even better is that he is 18 and doesn´t need permission from his parents to be baptized! Haha but we are hoping that his whole family will have the desire to learn! I know that when we are in need of something and that when we seek it diligently and faithfully and prayerfully, Heavenly Father answers this prayer and helps us to see and feel His love.

I know that this life really is the time for us to prepare to meet God and tha He has given us everything that we need to do it. I am so thankful for my family and friends and for the people that I am knowing and loving here on my mission. I know that God lives and that His Son is our hope and happiness. Thank you all so much for everything. I love you all and hope that you will always find happiness through the Gospel! LOVE YOU!!

Con Amor, Hermana Syphus :)

 Roberto's Baptism April 26, 2014 and Hermana Matamoros

Rocha Family

Week 55 (April 22, 2014 Parque Chacabuco, Argentina)

Hiya Mom and Dad! :)

I hope you are enjoying your time in Missouri! That is so neat that you were able to go and enjoy a few days together with friends! I bet the kids have missed you though! I know I would!

So as you both know, transfers were today and I am staying in Chacabuco!!! :) But Hermana Lobo left! :( She is going to a place about 4 hours from here called San Pedro and will probably finish her mission there. She did not want to go there because it is super cold in the winter and pure country and far away from everything (or so i hear)! I am here in Chacabuco still and I have a new companion! Her name is Hermana Matamoros and she is from Honduras :) She only had 7 MONTHS on her mission and was called to be a sister training leader! That is so incredible! I am so excited to work with her! Each companion has something so important and special to teach me and I know that the Lord is the one who puts us together. I have come to love every one of my companions and i know that I will learn so much from Hermana Matamoros! She is 24 and has 2 other siblings. Her mom is a bit less active and her dad was killed 4 years ago. She is amazing and I can tell that she is such a strong person and has a stong testimony. I guess i will training her how to be a sister training leader which is a bit scary considering i still don´t really know what i am doing haha. It is like the blind leading the blind! I am just grateful that i can rely on God and do my best and know that everything will work out. I am super nervous once again and feel like I have a great responsibility and don´t want to mess up. It is kinda hard sometimes because areas of the leaders should be example areas for the other missionaries. This area is a bit hard but last transfer we saw so many miracles and were able to see God´s hand. I hope that this transfer will be that same and that all will work out how Heavenly Father wants it to. :) And guess what!?!? Hermana Jensen is a sister training leader now too!!!! And she is companions with Hermana Vivas, my mom and first companion here on my mission in Argentina!! I am so happy for her and they will have so much success together!! Hermana Vivas is know for baptizing lots and is super amazing and just a wonderful missionary and Hermana Jensen will be so happy with her!! :)

This week was so amazing! I don´t even know where to start. I never know where to start. I never remember what I tell you and what I don´t tell you and if I have already told you something haha.

Ususally when we do exchanges we do them for only 24 hours. Exchanges are when one of goes to the area of an Hermana to work with her for 24 hours and the companion of this hermana comes to our area to work. We have to do them each week to see how the hermanas are doing and all that jazz. I am always nervous to do exchanges because sometimes I feel like I don´t help the hermanas like Heavenly Father wants me to, but i am learning to trust in Him more and rely on the Spirit to know what to do. I am really starting to like doing them and it has been very rewarding in many aspects. I learn so much from the hermanas and can really feel so much love for them and i love it so much! It is hard because I still don´t know what I am doing half the time, but I love it :) So anyway, the exchanges are usually 24 hours but we have permission from Pres. to do them for longer if certain sisters need it. There is a pair of hermanas that we wanted to do exchanges with for 3 days because of some things that are happening with them in their area and as a compship. After praying about it, we decided that I would stay in our area and that Hermana Lobo would go to the other area. I was nervous like always because even though I had been in this area five weeks, i am still learning it and it is always easier when you have your companion with you to help ha. The hermana that came here with me was having some difficulties and i really wanted to help her feel the joy that being a missionary and working hard in God´s work can bring! I know that God answers prayers and that He wants us to succeed! I know that He provides a way for us to accomplish our goals and righteous desires and that He is a God of mercy! I realized these things more during these three days because I was praying that everything would work out and that we would be guided and directed and that Hermana Hemi would feel happy and successful with the help of the Spirit. We saw many miracles in these three days and I learned so much from Hermana Hemi! I don´t think I have laughed so hard in my entire mission either! I wanted to help her feel happy and lift her spirits, but she helped ME feel more happy and lifted my spirit so much! She is from New Zeland and has an accent by the way! :) But now her family lives in Austrailia! I can´t wait to tell you more about her and our experiences together! Anyway, these three days we worked super hard and there were times when we had already scheduled to do our visits with a specific member but when we went to meet the member, they never showed up. That happened a few times but each time it did, Heavenly Father helped us think of someone different and each time we were able to have a member come with us in our visits! Lots of little tender mercies like this one were seen and i know that Heavenly Father was helping us each day. During this exchange we went to go see Yoselin (sister of Alejandra that was recently baptized) because she was preparing to be baptized on Sunday and we needed to teach her the rest of the lessons. One night we were talking about her baptism and she tols us that she knew that the church was true and that Jose Smith was a prophet but that she felt like something was missing and didn´t know ifSunday she would be ready. We then talked about the Spirit and how he speaks to us with a still small voice. She told us that maybe she was expecting a huge answer to know if she needed to be baptized and that maybe it wasn´t going to come like that. So that night we commited her to pray and to read the book of mormon and pay attention to her feelings and thoughts and to remember how the spirit talks to us. The next day we passed by her work (she was making chocolate easter eggs and didn´t have a lot of time) just to have daily contact with her. We asked her about how she felt about her baptism on Sunday and she said "I feel good and want to be baptized this Sunday." She told us that she felt ready and that she knew it was true!! :) I really wish you could know this amazing family. They are going to be such strong members of Christ´s church. I get emotional thinking about how the Gospel has blessed their lives and how blessed I have been to know them and help them know the correct path. Yoselin was baptized on Sunday and once again it was a bit of a struggle but it worked out like always! She works on Sundays usually and had someone that was going to work for her (this was sat. night) but when we went to her house Sunday morning to go to church with her, Alejandra, and Roberto, she was still working and Alejandra told us that no one could cover her because all the family was going to Moreno (2 hours away). So we went to the bakery to see what we could do and in the end, Alejandra stayed to work for her sister so that she could come to church and have her baptism. Alejandra was able to close at 1 and make it just in time her sister´s baptism :) Alejandra and Yoselin are two of the greatest women I know here on my mission. We have had so many great experiences with them and it really has been so amazing seeing their progress and their faith in the Lord and His Atonement. Yoselin wants to serve a mission and help people come to know about this church and that it has been restored to the earth throught Joseph Smith. She has a strong testimony of him. Oh I forget to tell you! It was so amazing! We taught the law of chastity and the word of wisdom on Monday a week ago and found out the Yoselin drank coffee eeryday and that it was hard for her to not have her coffee. But after talking about the word of wisdom she said " i know that this is a commandment from God and if it is a commandment, I need to obey it." And since then, she has not had one cup or sip of coffee! AW!! I love being a missionary and seeing these miracles!! :) Alejandra told us that she too would have liked to serve a mission like her sister but can´t because she is going to have her baby. We talked about missionary work and how she can be a great member missionary and that got her really excited. She wants to come with us on out visits and when we asked her what she could do to help with missionary work she said "i can tell people by telling my experience and how this church has helped me and changed me and can give my testimony to them." Then she told us that even though she would have liked to serve a mission, she knows that it is a great blessing to have a son so that she can teach him the gospel and help him have the truth!! :) :) I am so happy! We felt the Spirit so strongly in this lesson. We were also with Roberto and he accepted a baptismal date for this Sunday the 27th! The member that came with us really helped him. We found out that he didn´t want to be baptized because he was afraid to go astray after baptism. It was so powerful because Alejandra, his sister, told him of how she felt the same way before baptism but finally realized that she needed to act and endure to the end but couldn´t until she was baptized. So she just decided to do it and feels like a new person after receiving the Holy Ghost. Oh my goodness it was just such a powerful lesson with them and i will never forget it. So now we are working with Roberto so that he can be baptized this Sunday. We hope all goes well! Yesterday we went over to their house and helped them with the clothes that their mom sews and they made rice with milk and tortas fritas with dulce de leche! Then we watched a few mormon messages and once again felt a sweet spirit with them! Last night they came to say goodbye to Hermana Lobo and were crying because she was leaving. I hope that the will still allow me and my new comp in their home without Hermana Lobo :/ she will be missed! But I feel like they are becoming converted to Christ and that they will continue to progress! We are so grateful and excited to see waht happens with this family!

Well I have to go. This email is super long with lots of detail so sorry about that :/ sometimes i don´t realize how much i am writing. Love you so much mom and dad and thanks for everything!! I am very happy and will always be as long as i am serving God in His work. I know this is true and that the gospel brings happiness! I know that the Holy Ghost touches the hearts of God´s children and brings them to the truth! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! Have a great week!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Syphus

Yoselin's baptism April 20, 2014

Rocha Family

Week 54 (April 14, 2014 Parque Chacabuco, Argentina)

Hey Mom and Dad!! :) Thanks so much for your emails!! Man reading about our yard and doing weeds honestly makes me want to go out and do weeds!! I think that will be one of the things that I will do first when I get home! I am going to get up early and do weeds and just enjoy the DV air and atmosphere and peace and quiet and will love it so much! Haha :) So save some weeds for me!! :) Your vacation sounds like a lot of fun!! Enjoy it lots!! NEXT WEEK ARE TRANSFERS SO I WILL WRITE ON TUESDAY :) I really hope I can stay in Chacabucu! This area is a bit more difficult than the areas I have had but I love it so much and the ward continues to amaze me! I really liked that little Ward News tidbit that you added mom! Wish I could comment on it all! Just one thing though, Ashley is getting married!?! That is so crazy? How old is she? I have forgotten a lot of things being out here on my mission ha. Congrats to Kambree and Kendyl!! :) They are such strong girls and such great examples!! I have THE BEST BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE WORLD!! Not to mention the BEST PARENTS! :)

Bueno! This week has been a bit crazy! We had a zone conference with the President and we focused on "Crecimiento Real" I think that translates into something like Real Growth. We have really been trying to focus on that as a mission because here in South America there are lots of baptisms but not a lot of retention. We know that if we have real growth, the converts will stay active members of the church and will become converted to Christ and follow Him throughout there lives and this is what we are trying to implement better here in this mission! There is a phrase that we always say "Bautizar mas y mejor" or baptize more and better! We talked about the many ways that there are to baptize better but one of the things that we talked about the most was teaching better in order to baptize better. Teaching with the Spirit is so essential and without it, we can still the doctrine but it will not help the person we are teaching and they will not be able to feel that these things are true! I am still learning everyday how to teach better and with the Spirit and I still have such a long way to go, but being a missionary has helped me so much know how I can teach people in a way that Christ would teach and for that I am so grateful!! Preach My Gospel is such an amazing tool and has helped so much to know how to teach better and with the Spirit! Hermana Lobo and I are trying to help the members in our ward become more familiar with this book because we usually always have members that accompany us in our lessons and they are so excited to help in the work of salvation and our bishop has asked us to help the members understand what missionaries do and how they can help the investigators and the people that we are teaching. And Preach My Gospel is something that we know will help them have a better understanding of missionary work! :)

We have an investigator named Maria and don´t remember if I have mentioned her yet but she is so amazing! We contacted her on the street a few weeks back and she told us something so amazing! She is from Peru and has been in Argentina for a year. She came here just to visit but ended up liking it and stayed and has been here a year and here children are still in Peru. She is separated from her husband and all her children are grown up. While she was in Peru she changed a lot of things in her life and received a lot of help from a church that she was going to. She decided that she wanted to be baptized in this church because of the changes that she had made and so she went to the preacher one day and asked him if she could be baptized before she left to Argentina. He looked at her and told her that he was happy for the decision that she had made but that she maybe needed to wait and ask the Lord more if she needed to be baptized at that time. He told her that the Lord would tell her what she needed to do and if she needed to be baptized in that church. She told us that she felt that needed to come to Argentina and think about it a bit more. Well since she has been here she has been looking for a church and has not been able to feel comfortable in any of them. She is a very religious person and is very dependent on God. When we talked to her on the street the other day she was so happy and told us this whole story. She said that she wanted to come to church to see how it was. She has not been able to attend on Sunday because of her work but we were able to have a tour with her in the church and she felt very good there and when we showed her the baptismal font and explained baptism she told us that she felt that maybe God wanted her to wait so that she could be baptized in this church! We have seen many miracles with Maria and it has been amazing to see how the Lord puts His prepared children in our paths! She accepted to be baptized but of course wants to know more and is excited to learn! Her work schedule is making it a bit hard though because she always is working and we can´t always meet with her when we want to but we are going to make it work so that she can follow Christ like she wants and needs to! I know that God is merciful and we give Him the credit and glory for all that has happened and I am so grateful to be able to experience these miracles! Maria is prepared and I love her so much and hope that everything will work out so that she can finally come to church this Sunday!

We had a HUGE ward activity on Saturday and it was a great success!!! In our ward, we have people from like 10 different countries with the missionaries and so every year they have an international gourmet where the members cook something from their country and bring it to the church and tons of people come!! Each country has a stand with decorations and the food and there were even a few dances from the different countries! I have pics but my camera is not working with the comp again! My comp is from Mexico so we made tacos and they were a hit! It was super fun and super successful! The people but the food and the money goes to  the youth for their trips and things throughout the year. Alejandra and her sister Yoselin came and they really enjoyed it! Yoselin was the first that we met from the this family when we first got to this area 6 weeks ago but she couldn´t come to church because of her work but we visited her family and as you know, Alejandra was recently baptized and confirmed on Sunday! But Yoselin has really been showing a lot more interest and has been joining us in the lessons with Alejandra when she is home and we have noticed that she has felt something different. We talked to her at the activity and asked if there was any way that she could come to church to see the confirmation of Alejandra. She said that maybe she could if her aunt worked for her and if she brought her aunts kids to church. We told her that of course that would be okay! She has been thinking this whole time that she couldn´t bring them to church and that has been the only thing stopping her! If only we would have asked sooner! Well yesterday she came to church! And after church we asked her how it went and said that she loved it! We invited her to baptized this coming Sunday ( because she already has two times at church and needs three) and she said that she would if she feels ready!!! :) The spirit has really touched her heart and we have not really done anything! She has been the one that has been reading the book of Mormon and that has been feeling the spirit and is prepared to be baptized! She told us that she feels that the book of Mormon is true and that Joseph smith is a prophet but has not prayed about it yet and told us that she needed to so that she could know from God even though she is pretty sure already! We are going to be visiting her this week lots to help her prepare and hopefully this coming week she will be baptized!! Heavenly Father has really been blessing us and I love being a part of His work and I love being a missionary!! :)

I love you all SO MUCH and am so thankful for all of you!! I know that Christ´s Atonement is real and that it changes us in so many ways. I know that by reading and studying the word of God, we can recognize the spirit more in our lives and understand Christ´s doctrine better. Christ lives and families can be together forever  through this perfect plan!! I am so grateful for my family and friends and that I can live with them forever! Hope you all have a great week and a great Easter Sunday!!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Syphus 

So mom and dad this is just for you but guess what happened this week? For some odd reason I got really sick Thursday night. I was feeling really yucky in my tummy during planning at night and went to bed feeling like I needed to throw up but couldn´t. Well during the night I was in the bathroom throwing up and had diarrhea (don´t know how to spell that) and it was all night! I think I slept about an hour is all because I was just throwing up all night and it was really bad. I still don´t know what happened or if I ate something bad but it was sure weird. I haven´t thrown up in a long time and so it was a really weird thing for me! The next day I was still pretty bad but didn´t throw up only had diarrhea. We stayed home and I rested and got better and a great family in the ward Familia Ignacio, bought the medications that the doctor told me I needed and brought us some food as well. They took great care of me! I didn´t eat all that day but I took the meds and the next day I was all better! I know that Heavenly Father answered our prayers because this week was pretty rough with finding investigators and we needed to have people at church in order to have exchanges this week with the hermanas and we needed to leave the house to work and God help me feel better and we were able to leave and work! I felt pretty bad for a bit but now I am completely better so no worries!! :) :)

Oh I wanted to write Niko but ran out of time!! I am going to print and read his email! I hope he is doing well! If you get to him tell him that I am thinking about him and praying for him and know that he is doing great things!! :) The CCM is hard but is the best place ever!! 

Week 53 (April 7, 2014 Parque Chacabuco, Argentina)

Dearest Family and Friends,
The week after conference always seems like such an uplifting one! All of the things that we have recently learned and felt are in our hearts and minds and our desires to improve and become better are more apparent. I am grateful for all I was able to learn from general conference and for the things I was able to feel from the Spirit. It is always so hard when conference ends, but also great because we now have the opportunity to apply the things that we have learned and continue preparing our hearts for the next conference! In preach my gospel it says that when we feel the spirit, we are feeling a little piece of what eternal life with God and Jesus Christ and our families feels like. And that we experience a part of the joy that we will feel in this life. I was able to feel this during conference and it helped my spirits so much. I know that God speaks to us through His servants and that when we are following them, we are following God.

I felt strongly the great blessing that we have to have the Gospel in our lives. I was thinking about our investigator Alejandra that was with us as we were sitting there listening to conference and that she has lived 20 years without the knowledge of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I thought of how hard that would be and that we are so blessed to have this knowledge and to have been able to live it and receive the blessings from it throughout our lives. I am so grateful that Alejandra now has this opportunity and that she can know experience these blessings and have the joy that the Gospel brings!

I felt a stronger desire to share what I know with more of God´s children because they need to know of Christ´s Gospel in order to return to Him! I love being a missionary and sharing these truths with everyone! There are many things that I need to improve in order to to be a greater instrument in the Lord´s hands and for that i am grateful for the Atonement of Christ which makes progression and improvement possible. I am grateful to be a member of this Church and for your examples of how to live it and love it. Thank you!
I really enjoyed Elder Nelson´s talk and how he talked about Jesus Christ and His Atonement and how it is something that we will always be able to depend on and use. I also really enjoyed the talk by Elder Packer I think it was on obedience and that when we love God, we are obedient. I thought about that for a while and realized that i need to be more obedient to love God more and love God more to be more obedient. It was a great conference!
Alejandra was baptized on Sunday after the first session of conference!! Once again, it was a process getting everything ready but in the end everything worked out and it was a beautiful service! I have really learned on my mission that no matter how prepared someone is to be baptized and confirmed a member of this church, Satan will always try to make something happen so that they cannot be baptized. But when we work hard and show Him our faith and diligence, His grace makes it all possible! The members and elders in our ward helped so much to make it a great day for Alejandra and the Spirit was felt in her service. I know that she felt the Spirit as well and that she will continue to progress and develop her testimony of Jesus Christ. She was so prepared and so ready and I know that she will teach her son that she is pregnant with the same principles that she has learned, and that he too will receive the blessings of the Gospel! Also, Alejandra´s sister came to her baptism and we feel that she too felt the Spirit. As far as I know, she was baptized in another church and has really changed her life for the better and is now trying to be closer to God and Jesus Christ. She was baptized but of course did not receive the gift of the holy ghost and we explained this to her and she was very pensive about it. Tonight we are going over to their house and will teach the Holy Ghost and she will be there so we are hoping that she will accept it and feel the Spirit telling her it is true! Mom, Alejandra´s full name is Maria Alejandra Solis Rocha :)
And just for fun, this week we ate with the Stake Presidents family (Catalas). The wife is Chinese and so we had chinese food. I had sushi for the first time in my life and tofu as well. It wasn´t too bad of an experience but I will never do it again if I can help it haha.
Thanks so much for all you are doing and for helping God´s work where you are. I know that this is Christ´s church and that he is directing it. We can feel Him walking with us and I know that through the power and influence of the spirit, each person can come to know that this is only way to God. Love you all so much and hope you have a great week! :)
Con Amor, 
Hermana Syphus 

Alejandra's baptism April 6, 2014  

Hermana Lobo , Me, Alejandra and Yoselin 

She also emailed this little tidbit:
I missed quite a bit of conference because it was raining on Saturday and caused some problems. We missed all of Hollands talk :( I love my mission, but one thing I will be happy to have at home is conference without missing the talks! As a missionary, we also need to bring our investigators to the sessions if they can and so that also takes some time. We ate lunch at members house right before conference on Sunday and here is starts at 1 and 5 and we ate at 11. So we were rushing out in order to get our investigators. We ended up being like 30 minutes late to the conference and got there as Pres. Uchtdorf was finishing his talk. So I didn´t get to hear that one either :( It is really hard for me to miss conference and I was pretty bummed but hopefully the ensign will come and that we will get it so that we can read it. Although, this mission doesn´t allowed much of liahona and ensign reading because we should only be reading the book of mormon, bible, and preach my gospel. I think I told you that before but not sure. We shouldn´t even be reading our missionary library books. But anyway, what I saw of conference was amazing as usual! Kendyl is sure amazing! What a special girl. Also, I watched all of conference in spanish this time and I was able to understand it without a problem! I was super surprised but very happy! They told us that the chapel here in Chacabuco was going to have it in english but they ended up not having it and we didn´t have time to travel to another chapel so we stayed and watched it in spanish and it was just fine! I did miss hearing the sweet voices of the prophet and apostles though. It is just not the same in spanish. But the spirit was felt and that is all that matters. The music was amazing as usual! Man i realized how much I am missing music! It was so nice to hear and enjoy and it was just a wonderful weekend like you said!