Dear Family and Friends,
I am loving my mission in Argentina and feel so grateful to have the opportunity to serve a mission. At times I feel like I need to take a huge break because it is difficult but then I remember that I have been blessed with so much in my life and that I not only want to give this time to the Lord but NEED to give this time to the Lord. I know that when much is given to me, much is required and I try to remember that when things get hard. And I have found a solution to when it is hard to keep going. The solution is to keep going! Becasue I have found that when I do this I am blessed with strength and am so happy! I also think about something that I read in a talk by Elder Holland I think it was; that of course a mission is going to be hard because we are trying to save souls and help them to have eternal salvation! Eternal salvation requires work and effort and is not easy. In the same talk he also says that missions are sometimes difficult and it should be that way because it was NEVER easy for the Savior of the world and he was completely perfect. So yes, I need to be challenged and tried and go through hard times in order to understand a tiny tiny part of what the Savior went through.
WE HAD ANOTHER BAPTISM THIS PAST WEEK!!!!! Rocio Gomez :) She is 14 years old and her family is LDS but they went through a time where they were not active and that was when Rocio was 8 and so she didn´t get baptized then. But we have taught her and of course she was so ready to be baptized. She was baptized on Saturday the 17th and it was a beautful service. When she came out of the water we asked her how she felt and she started crying and said that she felt so happy that she wanted to cry. I felt the spirit so srtongly when she said this and my companion and I and Rocio all cried together for a few seconds haha :) It really was wonderful though and I am so thankful to have witnessed another one of God´s children enter into the waters of baptism and start their journey to eternal life. So we witnessed an AMAZING miracle when we were trying to prepare for her baptism and I it is going to seem unreal but I promise that it happened! I have never experienced a miracle like this before! I have seen many miracles on my mission with people and them changing and things like that but never with objects haha okay I will explain because that didn´t really make sense. SO, we needed to fill the font with water and it takes like 2 hours to fill so we got to the church early to start filling it. The fonts here are not as functional as the ones in Utah and you can´t just turn a handle and water appears. It is much different. So we got the water going and after about one hour the water turned off and we couldn´t turn it back on! The font was not even half way full at that point. We prayed in our hearts and vocally and had so much to do still before the baptism and had no idea what to do about the water except pray for a miracle. I specifically prayed that when we opened the doors to the font, that the font would be filled with water and Hna. Herrera prayed for the same thing I am sure. We had no other choice at that point! Well an hour goes by and the baptism is about to start and so we check the water...AND THE FONT WAS FULL OF WATER!!!! It is wierd to explain this experience through email because of how amazing and powerful it was. It was so incredible and I just don´t even know how to describe how I felt in that moment and how grateful I was to Heavenly Father for this amazing miracle. Wow. I feel like these things only happen in the scriptures and that is why it is wierd to explain through email because it is such a sacred thing. I know that God always provides a way and that miracles DO happen. What a beautiful experience that night was for us. I will never forget it and I am in awe still at what happened.
I better go and know I haven´t included much about the week but it was a great one! I love you all so much and am so thankful for your love and continual support!
Love,
Hermana Syphus :)
Me, Rocio Gomez and my comp. Hermana Herrera
Rocio at her baptism
Hermana Herrera and me
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Dear Mom :) some little things to say as usual before I start my other email:
Please tell Kambree HAPPY BIRTHDAY for me and that I love her so much and think pray about her often. I stinkin´miss that girl and our laughing moments with each other haha :) I hope she has a great day!
I will email Dad for his birthday next week! But here is message for him: Dad I really want you to come here so you can try this meat!! Holy cow you and Shaun would be in heaven haha! Honestly it is so good and I really want to send you some but of course that would not work haha. Also, yesterday in church we talked about families and the bishop who was teaching the lesson said that parents need to love their children as much as they can now because some day those kids will grow into teenagers and will not want to give their parents hugs and kisses and such. And let me tell you dad, I was completely opposed to this and just thought in my head that I would be the happiest girl ever if I could just have a hug from you in that moment!!! I will always want to give hugs to my dad and receive them from you as well. I don´t know why but I really just miss your hugs and I love you so much. I am so blessed to have you for a father.
Tell Kari and Rob that I am so happy they enjoyed their trip and that they are so lucky! And that I love them dearly.
Tell the Bennetts that if I was not on my mission, I would definitely be babysitting their kids haha :) And as much I would love to babysit them, it would be very hard to leave this place and my mission because I am loving it so much haha :) I love that family so much and am praying for them and their sweet boys in Haiti. Thaks for the update on them and keep them comming :)
Your new calling!!! Oh my goodness you will be so great at that mom and I am so happy that you are loving it! You are a power house and so is dad and oh my goondess I am so blessed.
I can´t believe the summer is already over for the kids! WOW that went by fast! Joel Kambree and Kendyl have a special place in my heart and I love them so much and hope they are all doing well. It is so sad to see people like you said with the standards they have. I am so thankful to be a missionary and help people realize that they are children of God and that He wants the best for them and they don´t need to show off their bodies and things like that in order to get attention. I am thankful to have siblings that are such great examples and that have high standards like they do. It is crazy here and I am seeing things that I never thought I would see. It is difficult but I am learning so much and know that all will be well.
That is so neat about the new temple movie! I am excited to see it :) Oh what a special holy place the temple is. I want to go so badly and havent since the MTC and it had been hard. It is a blessing to be in the house of the Lord and feel the special spirit there that cannot be felt anywhere else! And that is so great about the names you found! MOm you are so incredible and I don´t know why you are not translated yet but I am sure glad you are still here to raise me haha.
Thanks for the news about sweet Devon. He emailed me and I haven´t had the chance to email him back but really want to. I am glad he is well and that he has grown so much. I wish I could have heard his talk. It is amazing how the Lord can change people in such a short amount of time. I hope that when I get home you will be able to see a change in me because I know there are lots of things that I need to change. I often worry that I am going to be the same person and that people will wonder why I didn´t grow on my mission! And I know that if i think that then I will come true and so I am trying not to think that but I will tell you what my mind is driving me nuts and it is hard for me! I need to have more faith!
Were Shaun and Erik ever APs? Do Shaun and Erik have girlfriends? Thaks so much for the pics of Kortnie!!! Oh ya and a bird pooped on me the other day and it was hilarious. Okay not really it was actually discusting but once again very funny now that I look back at it haha.
Oh how I wish I could tell you everything that is happening and all the little things and experiences that are talking place. I am doing great and loving this time in my life! Love you so much mom and thanks for everything!!!
Love, Hermana Kate :)
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