Week 60 (May 26, 2014 Parque Chacabuco, Argentina)

:) :) Picturing you in my head just gives me joy and makes me smile. Man i just miss you so much mom. Thanks for the email, made my day like always :) I have very little time today so I hope I can get everything in! We went to the temple of Buenos Aires today!! I can´t believe I forgot to tell you the last three weeks! We knew three weeks ago I think and I didn´t say anything! But it was wonderful like always! Man I miss the temple and I miss going every week. I told dad in the email I sent to him that I miss going to the temple and that I know that I have a different purpose right now now which I love but I still miss it :) But it is all the work of salvation and it all helps God and His purpose which is to have ALL of His children receive eternal life. We went this morning and I learned many wonderful things but what I remember most was that I just felt so happy. SO SO happy. I am happy serving everyday in my mission, but in the temple it was just the best. I am sure you know what I mean. It was fun to see old companions, the pres and his wife, and the other missionaries :) So that is why I don´t have much time. This day goes by wicked fast.

Before I forget, next week i will be writing on Tuesday because it is transfers again. Why is this going by so fast? I also told dad that it was really hard to leave my family in Utah to come on my mission, but that it will be even more hard I think to leave my family here in Argentina. I love them and I love being a missionary. I am so excited for my cousins and for Joel to serve. They will love it so much. It is hard, but it is the only opportunity to serve God with all your time and energy and heart because that is what we are dedicated to do. And it is a great feeling. I don´t want to regret any of it. I hope i stay here in Chacabuco with my companion. She is great and I don´t know how much she likes me, but i sure love her.  I need to serve her more I think, I need to be better in lots of ways! You are my great example on how to love people mom! :) Thank you!

Man tell Joel congrats for me and give him a great big hug and kiss too please :) i am glad Kylie and Greg got packed up alright. I hope the time passes fast so that they can come back. How was Jordy´s talk and what did he talk on? Does he seem different or the same? That would be fun to know if you have time :)

I wrote Silvina back haha. She is a hoot. She is a great person and i love her to death.  She is the one in El Talar that helped me lots when i needed things I sent a pic with her and I. Her name is silvina orce. She is a great member and helped me so much! I'm glad that she has my email. She might write lots and I will write her when I have time for sure but prob not every week.

Well i have about 10 minutes to write about the week so I will write about the biggest things that happened. We had interviews with President on Wednesday and they went very well. But during my interview Pres asks me if he can spend the afternoon with my comp and i and go with us to our visits and all that jazz. Of course I wasn´t going to say no even though I was afraid to say yes haha. So that day we ended interviews and went to the members house for lunch and went to the church again to meet with pres and the member that was to accompany us that day. They arrived and it was raining (the past few days we have gotten pretty wet, lots of adventures!) :) We went to visit Brian who was just baptized and confirmed and his mom was there and hadn´t gone to work because it was raining. So that was the first miracle. Brian has a brother named Kevin that we had never met before, just talked to on the phone. Every time we asked Brain if his brother wanted to listen he told us that he wouldn´t be interested and that he was super shy. But this day we asked again and he said the same thing. We asked if Kevin was there at home and he said yes. We tried to invite him but the mom said he was studying. We tried and tried but nothing. So we taught Brian with his mom there as well and just as we were finishing Kevin enters the room!! The mom needed to leave at this point and Kevin was going to go with her but we asked him to stay and tried to gain confidence and Pres helped us lots and the Lord as well, and he ended up staying. We taught him the first lesson and the book of mormon and invited him to be baptized and he said yes. It really was a miracle. He is 16 and needed permission from his mom. Well his mom had left but right when we needed her she returned! God really had this all planned out because Kevin is prepared and ready! We talked with the mom and she said that if Kevin felt ready and had the desire, he could be baptized!! :) He has the date for the 8th of June and he came to church on Sunday with Brian and loved it so much! I don´t know why we never had met him before because he is ready! I think Satan knew that too and didn´t want us to talk with him and lots of things happened to impede us. But finally we were able to and with the help of the Spirit, Kevin felt something and accepted to be baptized and follow Christ´s example. i am so grateful for what the Lord is doing for us. i know that it is not me because i really couldn´t do it. The Lord is blessing us and giving us His strength and I know that His Atonement is real. i am grateful for this time that I have to experience His Atonement more each day and to realize that it is Him that makes it all possible. 

Well that is all that I have time for :( Sorry for making it short. But that experience really was such a miracle and thanks to President and his presence, we were able to have a great day ha :)

Love you so much mom and thanks for all you do! Tell everyone hi for me and that I love them, just like always. You are my angel and my example! Thank you! Love you so so much! Hugs and kisses

Love, Hermana Syphus 

Week 59 (May 19, 2014 Parque Chacbuco, Argentina)

Dearest Mother,

Great email from you like always thanks so much! I could really just read and read all day about what is going on at home! I love it so much! I DIDN¨T EVEN REALIZE SUMMER WAS COMING FOR THE KIDS! That is so weird! I completely forgot that school ended in May. Actually I don´t think I forgot, I just didn´t even think about it. Man that is so crazy! How are the kids doing? Are they excited for Summer? I am so happy for little Joely Oley :) He is so great and part of me wishes I could be there for his graduation on Thursday but I will get to see pictures which is almost just as great :) I was just thinking the other day that this year for our family is SO CRAZY!!! There are like 50 things happening and they are all huge!! Kari and Kylie are pregnant and are going to have their babes, Shaun got married, Erik WILL get married (I am crossing my fingers for that one ;) ), Joel graduates high school and leaves for his mission to the Phillipines (I still haven´t figured out how to spell that), and I am sure many other great things are just awaiting us. Our family Christmas card this year will be fun haha!! :) I am really so grateful to have such a wonderful family. I LOVE telling the new people we meet about my family and showing them the picture of all of us in front of the red barn in dv. Even though they all always tell me that my sisters are all gorgeous and that I look bigger now hahaha, I still love showing them and telling them about you all. It makes me so happy to know that through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the truths that have been restored to modern day prophets of God, my family can enter the Celestial Kingdom and live together forever. My mission has helped me so much to understand more the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I thought I understood it before my mission because it seems so simple. And it is, but now it means so much more to me. Repentance means so much more to me and I love teaching it to those who are seeking it and who are seeking change in their lives through a better way, or the way of Christ. I know that Christ has redeemed us and saved us from physical and spiritual death and that His Atonement is the way to Him.

Just a few random things that I wanted to tell you haha. I am happy to say that I have put your recipes to practice here in Argentina :) I have banana bread three times I think and lemon bars this last week and both have been a hit. When we talk to the zone leaders to give an account of our week and we ask them if there is anything we can do for them, they tell us to make banana bread from Hermana Syphus´ mom haha. They love it! To make it more yummy I put dulce de leche on top and it was pretty good. Of course not like yours or grandmas but it is banana bread. It has been fun making things from home the last few weeks :) I have really enjoyed it :) The lemon bars turned out ok but were a little toasty on the bottom. We took some to the Familia Rocha and Roberto wanted to eat the whole pan. So tell the Leavitts that the people here in Chacabuco love her lemon bars!!! :)

For the best news of the week, Brian and Cristian we confirmed on Sunday!! :) And now they are members of Christ´s church! Brian is the only member in his family and will be a great example to them. He has some good friends in the ward so that will be a good help for him. We are trying to get to know his parents and have a good relationship with them so that we can start teaching them as well :) He has a brother that is really shy and is 17 and we are hoping to get to know him better this week as well. Cristian or Papito as we call him, is doing well. Sunday when we went to pick him up to walk to the church he was still sleeping, little bum. We woke him up and got to the church on time thank goodness. He is so cute. Whenever we asked him throughout the week what he was going to receive on Sunday he would say my baptism of fire haha. He is great and has three great siblings to help him stay strong!! Alejandra and Yoselin are as great as ever. Such amazing converts. I love them so much. They both received callings to be ward missionaries and are coming to the meetings and everything. I think I told you last week but Roberto received the priesthood the last Sunday and that same sunday baptized his brother Cristian. Such a special experience! This family really was sent and prepared by God and I know that the Gospel is changing their lives for the better. i feel so blessed to be a part of it. Roberto is excited to come with us during the day to visit our people. Alejandra and Yoselin also accompany us when they have time. Yoselin and Roberto are preparing to serve missions!! :) I am just so happy and I love this so much :)

We met Marcos this week. He is a cousin of the Rocha family and is 14 years old. He just moved here last week from Bolivia and will be staying here. His mom left when he was a baby and his dad is not a very good father figure. He has gone through so much. We were able to talk to him the other day about Christ and he said that he wants to know him more. He accepted to be baptized but is under age so we have to receive permission from his legal guardian who is his aunt or Alejandra´s mom´s sister. She is pretty against the church and we have been praying lots so that she will accept. We will see this week how it goes! But Marcos  really is ready and I know the Gospel will give him hope and peace! I hope it all works out!

Another cousin of the Rocha´s, Carlos, continues to come to church with his two kids and is just the best. He knows the church is true and knows the book of mormon is true but is not married and lives with his mujer. we have talked about marriage with him and we met his wife the other day and are meeting with them both together tomorrow! He wants to be baptized and get married but not sure when. But tomorrow we will see! I will for sure keep you updated on him. I think we will see great miracles with this family. Carlos is one great person. He is reading the book of mormon like crazy and loves it so much and understands it really well. The Rocha family is helping us find God´s elect! :)

I think that is it for the week. Of course there is always much more to say and comment on but I think I included the most important news :) Today we went to the President´s house for pday with our zone and another zone and had burgers and played games. It was a lot of fun! That is why I wrote a little late. I wish I could write every little miracle that we see. God is really blessing us with His tender mercies and I know that He is here with us. Even though I can´t tell all of them, know that He is providing us with miracles everyday and showing us His love and concern and I am so grateful. i know He lives and loves us and that this is His way and the only way to happiness! Thank you so much for all you do. Heavenly Father has blessed me with the best family and friends and I love you all so so much! Thank you mom for your time, thoughts, prayers, love, concern, and for everything. Man I wanted to write lots of other things but we have to go. I love commenting on your emails. Tell Jordy I give him a big hello and a big hug and a big welcome home!! Tell their whole family hello for me. Wish Kylie and Greg happy traveling and good luck and tell them I love them so much! I wanted to write personal emails but today didn´t work. Tell Kam that I know she will be a great support for Jake and that I love her as well. Actually just tell everyone that I love them all so stinking much. That would be better haha. And of course, let my Dear Daddy know that I love him so much and still miss his hugs. Last night I dreamed that he was whistling to me and it was the sweetest thing ever. Love you mom and talk to you next week!! Oh yes! I forgot to say that I am very happy and very good! Oh and the weather here is cold! It is getting chilly and July and August are the coldest months! We will see how it goes! :) Love you.

Hermana Syphus :)

Week 58 (May 12, 2014 Parque Chacbuco, Argentina)

(Email from Katelyn 5/12/2014  Not much info since she spoke with us on Mother's day for 75 min.) 

​Dear Family,​

It was such a great blessing to be able to talk with all of you. It seemed super short and I wanted to talk longer

 ​ but tell everyone

 I am grateful for the time I had. I hope that no feelings were hurt because I didn´t give much attention to Kylie and Kendyl or dad either. I hope everyone knows that I love

​them ​

so much and miss you all. I really hope that you had such a great day yesterday Mom.

I know that I am being very blessed and that Heavenly Father is helping me to have all these wonderful experiences and meet all these wonderful people. I need to serve more faithfully. Sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough for all the blessings that we are receiving and I need to work harder. we have been very blessed these last two transfers with miracle baptisms and now we are in a bit of a dry spot because we literally have one investigator right now and he is great but is not married and lives with his girlfriend. So I am kinda worried about that. The l

 ​eader

s keep telling us that we are doing so good and that we are an example for the zone and things like that but I don´t like when they say that because now we really don´t have much and things might start slowing down. But hopefully that is not the case. We have faith that we are going to continue seeing miracles and that this area will continue to grow! I need to have more faith in that! But you know what I mean? When someone tells you that you are so good and that great things are happening, it is in that moment when it seems to stop just because someone said something. I know it is not us doing the work though, we are just helping Heavenly Father and he is providing the miracles and the growth. So I hope it continues. The liders also told us that it is because we are being obedient that we are seeing growth here in our area and I know that is true to some point, but I also don´t like when they say that because there are tons of missionaries that are being obedient and are not having baptisms and it doesn´t mean that they are being disobedient! I remember in Congreso Hermana Herrera and I were trying so hard for so long and doing everything yet we didnt see baptisms that transfer. So it just depends. Well there is my little tangent on that. Haha sorry some of the things I say don´t really matter. I just like to let you know how I think and feel at times. Thanks for listening Mom ha :) 

​

OK mom I am getting off now. I wan´t able to write many people but next week I will do better. Love you so much and have a great week! 

 Baptism of Brian, a cousin of the Rocha Family

 Brian and Cristian Baptism day

 Cristian's older brother Roberto was able to baptize him

District leader, Elder Martinez, baptized Brian

Week 57 (May 5, 2014 Parque Chacabuco, Argentina)

Dearest Parents :)

This email will be pretty short but I will try to get everything in that happened this week! :) We went on exchanges again and I was able to go to Parque Patricios with Hermana Rogerson. She is such a great missionary and helped me remember how to teach simply and with the Holy Ghost. I love exchanges so much because I learn things from the other Hermanas that Heavenly Father needs me to learn in order to become a better missionary and person! When I was with her we taught a man that has been taught by the missionaries for a long time now and can´t get baptized because he can´t stop smoking. Well we met with him and he told us that he had not been smoking for three days and that he had never done that before. Hermana Rogerson was very happy and we were able to say a prayer with him thanking Heavenly Father for his help. This was a neat experience that I had with Hermana Rogerson :)

Also, Roberto Antonio Soliz Rocha was confirmed on Sunday! :) I can´t remember if i mentioned this last week but we were able to find a shirt and tie for him and he looked so nice! His confirmation was very beautiful. I love listening to the blessing when they are receiving the Holy Ghost. The hermano that confirmed him in the prayer blessed him to be a light to his family and friends and to serve a mission in the near future. Roberto and Yoselin both really want to serve missions and we are working on helping them with that! We talked about the priesthood the other day and Roberto is preparing to receive it hopefully this week! :)

We are teaching a young man named Brian and he is 18 years old. Yesterday he came to church and has now been two times and loves it! He was able to stay this time for the baptism that the elders had and this week we are going to be passing by almost everyday to help him prepare for his baptism this Sunday hopefully! Also, Cristian or German is the little brother of Roberto and Yoselin and Alejandra and he should be getting baptized this week as well if all goes well!

I don´t have lots of time left to share about my birthday but it was a great day!! :) We we on exchanges from Wednesday to Thursday so I was with a different Hermana on the morning of my birthday. But when we were getting to know each other the day before, she asked me when my birthday was and I told her that it was actually the next day haha. In the morning she made me a sign and gave me some ice cream that they had! It was such a nice surprise!! Then I got home and my comp had made some signs as well! We had a normal day and did our visits and had weekly planning (every thursday) and it was great! But we were able to each lunch with one of my favorite families and she made a cake for me! I will send more pics next week and talk about it better! Then at the end of the day we went to the Rocha´s house and they had made a cake, pizza, asado, and everything! It was so great and so special!! I loved completing 21 years on my mission! It was really a great day thanks so the people here and my friends and family at home as well! Mom I was not able to write anyone at all a thank you. I am not sure if I will ever have time for that :( Sorry for the short email. I can explain more about my bday next email if you want but it really was just a normal missionary day with a fun little fiesta at the end of the day! I think just being a missionary for my birthday is the best thing ever so it was very enjoyable!! :)

Love you both so much and let everyone know I love them and tell them hi! Hope to have a better email next week! Thanks for EVERYTHING!!

Con Amor, Hermana Syphus

 Birthday cake made by the Rocha family

 Ayelin Rocha and the card she made me for my birthday.  

It was a drawing of their family, us and her dogs.  So cute!

 My birthday party given by the Rocha family

 Home made pizzas too!

 Questions from mom:

So Alejandra was baptized on April 13 and her sister, Yoselin the week after....right?  Any idea what their last names are for your chart?

Yoselin was baptized on April 20 and Alejandra was baptized on Abril 6 but confirmed Abril 13 :) And their full names are: Alejandra Soliz Rocha, and Yoselin Rosario Soliz 

Any luck with getting your pics to download on the computer?  If not, we can  wait to see everything when you get home.

I think it will work, it just depends on the computer. But time is usually the problem. My comps always seem to be able to send pics and I don´t know what my problem is with time. I want to fix it though. My actually, right now my camera is not working :( I brought it to the Rocha´s house on Thurday for my birthday and my comp had it in her hand and acidentally dropped it on the ground and the lens went crookerd so it wont take pics now. Luckily the night was ending and we got pics taken but we have to fix it somehow. I sure hope it will be ok! I still have 5 months and I need to take pictures!! :/

How has your tummy been since that one night a couple of weeks ago?  I hope you are well.  I wanted to ask last week, but not having a computer for a whole week was AWFUL!!!  I'm definitely spoiled!

Haha :) It is a lot better and was better in a few days :) Thanks for asking me mom

How is your luggage holding out?  I need to get some for Joel and wanted to make sure yours was doing alright before I ordered the same kind for him.  We took Shaun's with us to Branson and his is a piece of junk.  The wheels didn't roll right and we had to carry it most of the time.

Man that really stinks :/ My luggage is doing great!!! :) It is still really good intact and everything and there seems to be no problems :) Roberto told me that he is going to come with me to the US in my luggage when I leave for home haha. I told him that I would have one with him, one with alfajores and dulce de leche, and the other with my missionary memories haha.

For your blog, I need pics of Alejandra and Yoselin and Roberto for their baptisms as well as Hernan and Evelyn...but like I said, it can wait until you get home if you can't get it to work.

Man I haven´t seny pics of the Rocha familia yet?! How bad am I!! You guys need to see them! I am sorry for my sending pictures problem! I will try to send them today! 

AND...any idea about your call home for Mother's Day in 2 weeks?  Just needed to know if it will be a skype again or a call so I can get Erik's expertise on the Skype :)  Can't wait!!!

SUNDAY but we don´t know where yet! :)