2-28-12

Dearest Family,

YES..................................... Enrique Segundo Cisterna Miran was baptized this Sunday, February 27, 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was such an amazing experience. He is truly one prepared by the Lord. Everything we taught him, he accepted readily and with excitement. For example, when we taught the word of wisdom, he told us that he didn´t know that it was wrong to drink and that same day he threw out all the beer in his house and hasn´t had a drink since. So great! The super awesome thing is that he is Fuegino... (born here) and so he seriously knows EVERYONE and we feel so strongly that he is going to do great things in sharing the gospel with others. It´s so wonderful. The baptismal service was really well attended... practically our whole branch, and it was a really spiritual experience. President and Hermana Gulbrandsen were even there, which was so neat. It is always just an amazing experience to get a front row seat to these miracles from the Lord. I know that He made this happen and we were able to be the instruments in His hands. Wow. So powerful. Hermana Gonzalez and I are just so happy. We know that this is going to be an amazing transfer. 

We had the MOST amazing week! President and Hermana Gulbrandsen were here for 3 full days because of district conference, which is so abnormal. They are usually running in and out and we just get them for 3 hours or less. But we had them 3 DAYS!!! I learned SO much. We have been focusing a lot lately on gaining the Lord´s vision. I am going to stop making excuses. I KNOW that the field is white ALREADY to harvest. It doesn´t matter the area, the people, the size of the branch, etc. What does matter is that we have the vision of the Lord. That we make our will be swallowed up in His. That His will becomes our will. That we CHOOSE to do so because we LOVE him. This idea of vision is so important. Think about it... EVERY important moment has started with a vision. Nephi had a vision that his father had before starting out to the promised land. The First Vision opened this the dispensation of the fullness of times. etc. I could go on and on. Vision is very important. I know that I need to make sure that my vision is completely centered in the work, that I have the vision of the field all ready, right here, right now. There are people just waiting. There are people who are so ready to be baptized. We just have to find them. President talked about how a marvelous work and a wonder is here... we do the WORK and the Lord does the MARVELOUS. I am here to work and work and work, FULLY relying on the guidance of the Spirit. The Lord knows where these people are. We could just go about knocking doors, talking to people in the street, etc. but really, we just have to ask the Lord. And we HAVE to ask for referrals. That is how we are going to have success. The prepared know the prepared. We are working especially with the 555 and recent converts to find new people. So awesome. 

So... how to get this vision? We can follow the example of Nephi in 1 Nephi 11. 

1. Desire to have the vision
2. Believe that you can receive it
3. Reflect (maybe ponder... reflexionar...)
4. ASK
5. Share with others

I LOVE that. We really can have the vision of the Lord. And... what is so great is that Nephi COULD have just listened to his dad, Lehi... the PROPHET: But, by going directly to the source and learning for himself, getting the vision himself, he learned and gained so much more. He had an understanding. He understood. We have to do the same. The Lord wants to give us His vision. We just have to ask. 

Our investigators are doing great! We have EIGHT in church this weekend!!! (between the adult session and the morning general session). AMAZING! I love that things are really picking up as we stop making excuses, catch the vision, and get to work. 

I love the gospel. I love my Savior. I know He lives. I know that this is His TRUE Church! I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. I know that we have prophets on the earth today. I know that as we live worthily, we will all make it back to live with Heavenly Father as a family. 

I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Shelley


pictures: Enrique's baptism
                Winter has arrived in Ushuaia!

2-20-12

Dear Family,

I CANNOT believe that I am about to tell you this.........................

I am STILL in Ushuaia and STILL with Hermana Gonzalez!!! That was the least expected thing ever! I am still in shock! haha. I was slowly getting things organized throughout the week so that it would be easier to pack, but then I didn´t even have to! haha. We are still here! I am so very exited and we are going to see so many miracles this transfer! I just know it!!! At the end of this transfer, I will have been in ONE area for 6 months! That is so great! I even hope for more... whatever the Lord wants.

We are doing so great! We have a baptism this coming week... Enrique!!! He is super great! We took him to a baptism this weekend and he LOVED it! He told us that he felt that he was coming home. This Sunday, we found out that he knows about half of the branch! Wow! Seriously, someone finally invited him and now he is getting baptized! All it takes is one invitation. He has been aware of the church almost his whole life and has a ton of friends in the church, but was never invited. Finally, Lorena Dominguez passed us the reference and he is golden! It´s so great. The Lord is seriously preparing His children for this amazing thing. I know that the Lord has been preparing Enrique and that it is now his time. We have district conference this weekend (stake conference but smaller), so we will have the baptism right after the conference and we will have a ton of support for Enrique. President and Hermana Gulbrandsen will also be here, so that is really exciting! We are looking forward to it. Also, our font has hot water again, so we don´t even have to go to the other building! Huge blessings all around! 

It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cold!!! For some reason, the computer isn´t loading my pics from today, but it is SNOWING as we speak!!! Crazy!!! 

Our investigators are doing great! We have people coming back into town, our members are really catching the vision, and we are just all around loving life. We have really been working on gaining the Lord´s vision for this area, and we know that He wants many baptisms. We are striving to work hand in hand with the branch because the members are seriously the key. With a friend to stand by their side, the investigators really do progress so much more. When the members catch the desire to do missionary work and have that fire inside of them, the work explodes. We have been very blessed this last week and know that this will be a very successful transfer and we rely 100% on the Lord, stay 200% focused, and do EVERYTHING that we can and then watch to see the hand of the Lord. I love the work! How great is our call! 

I have to run... we are going to go do our shopping for the week and then go visit Enrique and Hermana Zapata tonight. We are loving being here, loving the work, loving the area, loving the people, loving the cold (I´m working on that one... haha), and most importantly loving the Lord. I know that this is HIS church! We have the only true church in all the earth. WE have to be the ones to open our mouths. We have friends and family just waiting for us. Think for a minute of EVERYONE you know who are not members of the church. Make a whole list of literally every person. Then say a prayer and ask the Lord to tell you which of all these people is ready to receive the gospel. I promise you that you will feel at least one. Circle the names that you feel. Maybe many. Then DO IT!!! Open your mouth! Invite them to church, to a FHE, to Easter Pageant when it comes, to listen to the missionaries, to read the Book of Mormon, to read the Family Proclamation. ANYTHING! They will feel the power of the truth. The Lord is preparing people. The field is white NOW.... already to be harvested! I know you can! Tell them that you love them and that BECAUSE you love them, you want them to know what you have. I want to hear of all the success you have with this. 

I know that we have the truth. I know that Jesus lives. I know that He leads and guides this church through a Prophet. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that we are an eternal family. I know that we have a duty to do missionary work. I know that we can become more like the Savior every day. 

I love you all and pray for you daily!

ALL my love,

Hermana Shelley 

2-13-12

Dearest Family,

Yes, the dog is still alive! haha. I think that we will be okay. We went yesterday, and he seemed fine. We will pass by tonight on the way to our appointments to make sure. haha. 

This week was AMAZING!!! The biggest miracle of the week was that we had 5 investigators in church! This is the most we´ve had in a long time! It was so great and things are really starting to pick back up. We have been working really hard, people are coming back into town, and the Lord has worked His miracles like always. I know that the baptisms will start back up soon. The good thing is that the whole zone is getting back up. We went through a hard time here in Ushuaia, but we are doing well and everything is picking up! I think that it might be just in time for me to leave (this week is the last week of the transfer... no idea where these 6 weeks have gone), but I really hope not... I would love to stay here in Ushuaia, but I know that I will go where the Lord calls and that is what matters! 


Also another miracle from this Sunday was that Karen went all by herself! I am not sure why Danisa, David, and the grandparents couldn´t go, she didn´t say, but she came in by herself and told us that she knew it was so very important! I was so proud and almost cried. I love that she is truly experiencing conversion. She could have easily stayed home, but she came by herself, understanding the importance of renewing her covenants through the sacrament. Wow. I was so proud of her.

We worked like crazy this week, and we met some really great people!

Enrique is really progressing! He went to church this week and loved it! Even stayed for all 3 hours, which is not normal for the first time! He is doing great, reading, and really starting to gain a testimony. It´s super awesome! He is an older man who lives alone with his father and recently lost his mother. He lives a great life with really high standards. He is a good man.

Franco is progressing. We are SOOOO sad because he didn´t go to church yesterday, so he won´t be able to be baptized this week, but the next week. When his friend went to get us for church, the car was gone and no one was home. We couldn´t get a hold of him all day. When we went by, only the aunt was home and told us they went al campo... stinking campo! But we have an appointment tonight for a family home evening with their family, so we will help them get back to progressing.

Valeria is moving! So sad... Plus, she is living with her boyfriend. We are going to send her name to the new area so that she can take the missionary lessons there, get married and be baptized.

We met a great new investigator yesterday, Noelia. She is 14, almost 15, and we met her when we went to visit a taxi driver who told us he´s like to hear more. He wasn´t home, because he and his WIFE (married!!!) were at a funeral. But we talked to their daughter, Noelia, and she was great! She said that she can´t wait to have us come back on Tuesday and hear more! 


We are doing great and I am learning so much! I have especially enjoyed my studies this week and I know that I am where I need to be, doing what I need to be doing. I am so grateful to be a missionary.

Something cool that I studied this week was about charity. Why is it the greatest of virtues? Because seriously every other virtue comes when we have true charity! Isn´t that amazing!!!

We had interviews with President this week and they were AMAZING!!! I learned so much! We talked alot about vision and responsibility. How we have the duty to make our vision in line with the Lord´s vision. We talked about how to do that, how I am doing, and how to improve so that I can have 100% of the Lord´s vision. Super awesome interview. I felt so strongly the love of the Lord and President´s love as well. He is a really great man! We also had a mini conference after where we talked even more about vision. I have worked really hard to align my will even more with the Lord´s. I have a long way to go. I know that if I TRULY have the Lord´s vision, that we will have much more success. We are working on it together. I love working with Hermana Gonzalez. She is such an example to me and I have learned so much from her. I was so blessed to be put with her another time. Absolutely amazing.

I love you all! Thank you all for your love and prayers. Keep up the amazing scripture study! I know that you are all doing many things, but when the Lord comes first, everything else is much better. I love you all! Thanks for the letters and the support.


Love you all! Happy Valentine´s day!!!!!!

All my love, Besitos!
Hermana Shelley


pictures are all of Kailei's zone at the National Forest

2-6-12

So there we were... walking down the street, SUPER excited for the next appointment with Tamara, an investigator who has a baptismal date for this Sunday, repassing the plans that we had for her, when a cute little dog started freaking out on us, barking at our heels... another, slightly bigger dog comes up and I had a very clear feeling that I was about to be bit by a dog, but that it would all be okay... EEEP! escaped my lips as his little pointy teeth sunk into my left leg. Hermana Gonzalez kicked him away and we tried to assess the damage... hard to tell with 3 pairs of tights on (which by the way, totally saved me), so we made it limping to the end of the street where the Orellana Family lives. Hermana Orellana carefully cleaned up my little tiny bite and we called our zone leaders. I was SOOO embarrassed to have Hermana Orellana see my leg... you know, when you wear tights every day, you just don´t take care of your legs the way you should... greatest lesson learned from the experience: ALWAYS shave!!! Even if no one ever sees... you may just be bit by a dog and have to take your tights off... We talked to our mission doctor who said that we had to go back right away to make sure that the dog has all his shots. So by this time, I was pretty much done hurting and just feeling silly... So we headed out and talked with some kid who was just a big pain, thinking it was SO funny that his little dog had bitten a poor little missionary... but whatever. the dog has all his shots, so we are good to go! haha. I have to take 600mg ibuprofen for the swelling and clean it 3 times a day with iodine and a cream thing... then the mission nurse called me and told me that we have to go back to the people´s house on the 10th. If the dog is okay, there´s no problem... if he´s sick or dead, I have to go get a rabbi´s shot. hahahahahahahaha. I think that´s so funny. Obviously, it is no big deal, or I probably wouldn´t share all those sweet details. haha. good times. I feel like it´s a CLASSIC mission story... especially since last week we were totally protected from the dogs... I guess we only get one strike with dog protection. I really just feel kinda lame because it was such a pip squeak dog. I just felt bad that we were wasting time. I had to go back to the house because I had doctor´s orders to ice it for 15 minutes, wait 5 and ice it another 15... I know that it´s totally fine now because we did that, but I felt that we were wasting so much great time. haha. It´s cool though, because now it´s healing really well... that all happened on Friday, and today I feel super good. The most painful part was that I had to walk around without tights for 2 days on the 2 COLDEST days ever... NO WORRIES!


So this week was great, but super WEIRD!!! haha. Here´s a snippet.....

Tuesday: we walked around in hail and snow all day... summer is officially GONE before it even started!
Wednesday: Pretty normal
Thursday: Locked in a building for an HOUR! (more details later)
Friday: Bit by a dog
Saturday: super funny lunch (also, more later)
Sunday: FREEZING!!!! We woke up to a whole heap of snow this morning! CRAZY!!! We were going to go see the glacier today, but with the freezingness, the snow, my leg, and Hermana Gonzalez´s cold, we decided it would have to wait. Bummer.

So... it was a crazy crazy week! But we worked really hard and kept the faith! haha. I feel much better this week and know that the Lord really helped me through some hard stuff. Still no baptisms, but they will come!

So... about the building.
We went to meet up with a new investigator. We went into the building with a worker and started looking for Cinthia... she was running out when we met her and so she didn´t tell us which apartment number. So we started knocking doors, looking... and there was NO ONE in the whole building... only 1 of the 12 or so appartments had people in it and we didn´t even see her... she only listened to us for about 2 seconds through the door... So after searching for awhile and finding NO ONE home, we headed for the door... when we realized that it´s one of those buildings that also needs the key to get OUT. Oh man... the worker had definitely left. So we head back up to the only apartment where someone was home... the lady had zero sympathy, saying that she was about to bathe a baby and to just wait for someone to come in. Oh man... so we head back down, praying that SOMEONE will come home... after a FULL HOUR, the man who owns the store next door came to open it after the siesta and he also had a key to the apartment building! haha. So funny! Right after, we ran into a man who contacted US, so we figure maybe that´s the reason... ya...

About the funny lunch:
We ate with our mission leader and his family and he was sitting telling us all about his mission. Then, the little 8 year old has this conversation with his mom:
-"Mom, did you serve a mission?"
-"No... I got married right away"
- (TOTALLY serious...) "Woah! What a blessing!!"

hahahahahaha. We laughed SOOOOOOOOOOO

Oh man... okay... it sounds like we didn´t even work this week! We really did and it was great! We are working out little bodies into the ground!

Our investigators are doing super great!

Franco is a 13 year old boy who is the neighbor of an old investigator. One day, the old investigator wasn´t home, so we knocked next door. It was great! We found Franco and he came to church yesterday and loved it all, especially the young mens! So great! He is really progressing well and we will do everything possible to see his baptism the 19th. He also has a HUGE family and they accepted a lesson with us tomorrow! We want to baptize the whole family for sure!

Valeria is another miracle. We went to visit a less active family who also ended up not being home, so we started knocking doors. We have learned that there is ALWAYS a reason that we are in every place, so we never just leave if someone is not home. When she answered, she practically squealed! She had been meeting with missionaries 10 years ago, but then her son got really sick and she had to stop meeting with them to go to the hospital in Buenos Aires or somewhere and the missionaries never came back! She had a friend in town from Antarctica (ya, I know... I TOTALLY live at the end of the earth!) and so she couldn´t come to church this week. But we have a return appointment tomorrow and we are hoping she will accept a baptismal date for this Sunday.

Walter told us that he is feeling really pressured and needs some time. Bummer. I have learned that people feel pressured when they don´t want to do certain things to be able to be baptized. I hope that he will keep praying and gain a testimony of tithing.

Daniel has pretty much disappeared... we will keep trying this week to see what happens.

Tamara works a TON, so we are just trying, trying, trying, to get a lesson with her. Pray for her.

Life as a missionary chugs along and we are loving every moment of it. I love the work, I love my Savior, I love life! Thank you all for your support and prayers. And seriously, the dog bite is NO BIG DEAL!!! So don´t even worry for a second!

I am so glad to hear all about your studies in the scriptures! Keep up the great work! I love the scriptures and everything that I learn from them each and every day. I love studying for the investigators. President always tells us that this is not the time to be the one who knows the most in Sunday School... we study for our investigators by going between Preach my Gospel, the Book of Mormon, and then back to Preach my Gospel and back to the Book of Mormon. I love being able to receive revelation every morning for the lessons that we will be teaching and feeling what the investigators need to know. It is a really special thing to be a missionary. The other day, one of our members told us after lunch that she always feels that her house is different when the missionaries come and that when we leave, we leave the Spirit behind. I LOVE that. I love that people really do feel the spirit when we are there... that´s why it is SO important that we can always have the Spirit... if not, we are just any old visitor. We have a duty to make sure that we are representatives of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We have to do what He would do, say what He would say, and love how He would love. That makes all the difference. 


Thank you all for your love and support!

All my Love,
Hermana Shelley


Pictures: THE DOG BITE!

1-30-12

Dearest Family,


So... this week... I´ll be honest. It was rough. But weeks like this make us stronger. And it´s only up from here. I am doing better now and everything goes on. I am a missionary! What better thing is there to be? I love the work and I love being part of the Lord´s army to bring the truth to the world. Something that really helped me this week was reading something that Hermana Gonzalez gave me:

The Fellowship of the Unashamed
President Henry B. Eyring

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won´t look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am done with low living, small talking, colorless dreams, tamed visions, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, position, promotions, or popularity. I don´t have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gate is fast, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won´t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go ´til I drop, preach ´til all know, and work ´til He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
My banner will be clear. 

Isn´t that just so great? It really helped a lot this week. I know that we are going to pick things back up here. People are slowly coming back from vacation, we are meeting new people every day, and things are moving along. It will all come together.

I forgot to tell you! Last week, we BOTH got bit by a dogs... sort of... Hermana Gonzalez´s experience happened one day, and mine the next, but they were almost identical.  We were walking normally, when all of a sudden a dog jumped out at me... I felt the teeth, just above my knee, but didn´t have any pain. When I looked down, there was nothing but slobber! It was truly a miracle and it came to my mind right away that we had physical protection for keeping our COVENANTS! What a blessing that was!

The weather has been REALLY weird. One day hot. Next we DIE from the cold, the next rain, the next a mixture of all three. WEIRD! And we are never prepared for what is to come. Rude.

Our investigators are chugging along. Walter wasn´t baptized this week. He is a wonderful man with a great heart and a HUGE desire to be baptized. His thing is that he doesn´t want to give money as tithing. He knows that tithing is a law of Heaven, but he wants to know where the money is going and that it is where he wants it. He accepted a new baptismal date for this coming Sunday, and said that he is going to pray really hard to be able to accept the law of tithing. I know that he will receive his answer and we are going to be with him every day to help him in the process. We feel that we just need to help him strengthen his testimony in the restoration... if the church is true, and we have prophets of God, all of the rest is true as well.

We met a great couple the other day, Gabriela and Lucas. They are really young and cute and just had their first baby! They are both the nicest people. The hard thing is that they work on Sundays, but we are working with them to get some time to come to church. They were a reference from a brother in the other branch that drives a remis (oh... sorry, Grandma... never answered that question... remis is like a taxi but slower and therefore CHEAPER... a missionary´s 2nd favorite word next to FREE!)

Daniel is still really great, but his wife doesn´t absolutely love us... her sister is a preacher, so she´s trying to convince him to be baptized in her church. We know that if they will both read, pray, and attend church, that they will receive their testimonies.

Life as a missionary is still great! I can´t believe that Mackay is heading out this week! I want to share this scripture...

Alma 17:13-14
...and they separated themselves, and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work that they had undertaken, and assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God...

Isn´t that so great!? I am so grateful to be sharing this experience with you! And I keep hearing great things about the Philippines... like whole families being baptized, super high numbers, and other great successes! Thank you for your example. Get out there and enjoy it. If you don´t understand a word, it doesn´t even matter. Love the people. You can love them even when you don´t understand a word that comes out of their mouth. And the ONLY universal language is the Spirit. Work with the Spirit and the people seriously don´t even care when we say such silly things. 

I love you all so much! Keep up the good work with the scripture study! So proud!

All my love,
Hermana Shelley

PS-  tell Mackay that I love him for me! He is going to be so great. Tell him I pray for him. I am excited to hear all about his miracles in the Philippines. 

PICTURES: 1. Boat dock-Ushuaia, Argentina

                     2. Kailei hasn't changed!! Do they look like twins?

                     3-4. View of the ocean-Ushuaia, Argentina

                     5. Ushuaia, Argentina

1-23-12- Like a woman

Dearest Family,

 

Hola from south-land!!! Yes, it is getting SO cold... I think we´re leaving "summer"

This week was good! We found a ton of new investigators, which is really great because we really need them. I know that the Lord will provide and we will keep working and we know we will see the baptisms. We have 3 solid baptismal dates...

 

Walter is a former investigator with a bunch of attendance who we found in the area book. We went to visit him and after 4 different visits, finally found him... AND, the first thing out of his mouth was that he knows everything is true and that he wants to come back and GET BAPTIZED!!! He accepted a baptismal date for this coming Sunday! He is really great, and will make an awesome priesthood holder... seriously, future missionaries... USE THE AREA BOOK! Their are so many great people in the area book who weren´t ready, but now are so ready and willing to accept the gospel. Do it! Visit them!

 

Lidia is also a former investigator who we found by mistake looking for Walter. After the first lesson, we found her old teaching record in the area book and it really helped us understand her doubts and in the second lesson, she accepted a baptismal date for the 5th of February. Super great! We had a really powerful lesson with her and it really was very special.

 

Daniel is GREAT!!! He walked into the church about a month ago during a zone conference and we quickly took down his info and tried searching for him forever, but he was never at home when we went and so we eventually had to drop him (at the time, he also didn´t have a cell phone cuz he had just moved here). Well, Saturday we found him walking in the street and stopped and invited him to church. To our great surprise, he came!!!!!! (Oh me of little faith...) and he LOVED it and said that he felt so good and so much peace. We invited him to be baptized and before we could even finish the invitation, he was saying YES and how soon!!!!!! We set the baptismal date for the 5th!

 

So we have seen lots of tender mercies and we know that we are going to have a lot of success this transfer... we may be off to a slow start, but everything will come along just fine. And the people are slowly coming back from vacation.. school starts the first week of March so in the next 3 weeks, pretty much everyone will be coming back... we only had 53 people in church yesterday, so most of our members are still gone, but they will be getting back soon.

 

I forgot to share something from the conference last week that I wanted to share... I think that Dad will especially like it!

How do we fully share a vision (talking about ward council)?

1. Form the vision

2. Share the vision

3. Counsel and agree on the outcome

4. Make specific plans

5. Motivate and inspire others

6. Report back

 

I thought that was so neat! I wish I would have had that idea in my head during my council time... I think a few council members read the blog... maybe it will help.

Also, he told us that Vision determines direction, goals distance indicators. That was really great! Our branch council this week was really a lot better with this in mind (this vision thing was shared at our Sunday night meeting with all of the district leaders).

So a quick note of apology... I REALLY, REALLY hope that the envelope of Christmas letters gets to you!  I´m afraid that it got lost somewhere or didn´t have enough postage of something... hopefully it´s just behind with the holidays or something... Also, dearest friends, thank you SO MUCH for your love and support and letters and everything... I wrote you back, but put them in with the big envelop to be sent out by my family, and now you may not get them... I´m SO sorry... I really do love and appreciate you all... still hoping that they get there... things ARE slower to and from the end of the earth... it takes a good month and a half or more for things to get here to me, so hopefully you will get your things too... Love you all!

 

So now that you are all trying to figure out WHY in the world the topic of this email is "like a woman," I will explain...

The other day, we were walking and Hermana Gonzalez said that her legs were killing her... I asked why they were hurting so bad, because mine hadn´t hurt as bad when I got here... she said "probably because I walk like a woman!" hahahaha. Meaning that I walk like a man??? haha. So she loving taught me to walk like a woman by putting one foot directly in front of the other like walking over a straight line. Well, let me tell you... my legs were ON FIRE at the end of the day... I thought they were going to fall off! haha... But after that, we had lots of good laughs about how I walk like a man... good times.

I am so proud of all of you to hear about your success with the daily scripture study! I love, love, love it! Thank you for taking that challenge to heart. This morning, my study was focused on how to use the Book of Mormon more effectively in my teaching, and I was just so happy to think about how much I LOVE the Book of Mormon. Though I´ve read it many times, it´s different every time, and every time I have a witness of it´s truth. Also, I have been reading it in Spanish and it is like a completely new book. My goal is to finish it in Spanish by the April conference... I am determined to do it! I´m only in Alma, but I really want to do it, so I will make it happen. Thank you for all reading the scriptures and going to the Temple like Mackay invited. That´s really so great!

 

I love you all! Thank you for your examples and dedication in the gospel. I know that the church is true and I am so grateful for this chance to eat, sleep, and breath the gospel! There is really nothing like it. I can´t put into words how great it is to be completely focused on the work of the Lord. Never again will I have this chance. I will one day have to go back to school, get a job, etc... but for now, I can just serve the Lord. I have made some new goals. I really want to say at the end of my mission that I have been transformed. That I have BECOME a true servant of the Lord. That I have gained talents thanks to the Lord that I will then use the rest of my days in serving Him. I want to be changed. I want to be a disciple of Christ. I want to do like Elder Holland says... forever. 100%. He said that when he called the Apostles to leave their ships he meant FOREVER. He meant to have them give EVERYTHING. When we think about it, really EVERYTHING we do IS for the going forth of the gospel. We work so that we can support our eternal families. We go to school so that we can learn all that the Lord already knows. We study the gospel to have a better understanding. We serve because we love the Lord and we love His children. What a marvelous work. I love one sentence in the mission handbook the most:

HOW GREAT IS YOUR CALL!!!!!

 

This is the Lord´s work. May we all do it together!

 

Love,

Hermana Shelley

pictures: 1.  Hermana Gutierez, me, Hermana Milmont, Hermana Gonzalez 

                                            (Sisters from Rio Grande) 

                2. Hermanas Gonzalez and Shelley (Hermana Gonzalez bday)

                 

1-17-12

Dearest Family,

So sorry that I didn´t give you then heads up that we had a conference yesterday and Pday today... we didn´t find out in time to email you last week about the change. Elder Foster, a council in our area 70 and Sister Foster are doing a mission tour and they started out here in Ushuaia. I learned SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much and it was such an amazing conference! I want to share a few things that I learned from the conference. 

The whole theme was "crecimiento real" or real growth in the church. We are baptizing, but then some go inactive, other previously active members go inactive, etc. He told us that in one stake in 2005 their were 755 active members, in 2010 there were only 661. But the thing even crazier is that that stake had had 482 baptisms in these 5 years. WOW... so we really need to help these people stay active and help those we have to stay in the church. We talked about how we REALLY need the help of the members to do it... we as missionaries will eventually leave, and really our duty is to find, teach, and baptize. Yes, we love working with recent converts and less active members, but we also have to find more people who are ready to come unto Christ through baptism. That´s why it´s so important that every member has a friend, and assignment, and nurishment by the good word of God. I especially want to mention the importance of Home Teachers and Visiting Teachers... SO essential. 

Hermana Foster talked alot about having faith in yourself. I really needed to hear that this week. She said that we have to get down to our knees but look up to heaven. I really loved that. 

President Foster had us start out by all thinking what we would want to say in our final prayer as a missionary. Who we would want to have become, how we felt, how we learned, etc. It was a really powerful moment for me. I just kept thinking that I want it to be a prayer of total gratitude. For the people, for my comps, for the converts and baptisms, the members, the areas, President and Hermana Gulbrandsen, the language, for the culture, for the things that I have learned and experienced, for my amazing family and EVERYTHING they do so that I can be here, for my friends and their support, etc. etc. Then I want to do what we learned from the missionary talk from priesthood session (Mom... thank you so much for recommending reading it last week. Changed. My. Life!) and talk about the things that I´ve learned and how I am going to use them in future service in the kingdom. I want to have really and truly become and instrument in the Lord´s hands. I want to be transformed. I want to be His. 

President Foster showed us a diagram that I´ve seen before, but is just so true... there are three ways to do missionary work:
1. Missionaries do everything (study, plan, teach, obedience, etc) and this makes for about 100 baptisms per month in a mission
2. Members help the missionaries (go to lessons, pray for, etc.) and this makes for 200 per month per mission
3. Missionaries help the members (THEY give us the references, bring their friends to church and activities, and we just teach) and this make for 400 baptisms per month per mission. 

WOW... This is such a key! We are talking about SALVATION here... we can baptize WAY more when the members really understand that this is missionary work, not the missionary´s work... that we are hear as full time teachers. We need the MEMBERS to be the full time finders. We need a vision that missionary work is the work of the CHURCH... the work of the MEMBERS... 



Yes, it was super great! I loved, loved, loved the conference. I learned so much from the speakers and more importantly from the Spirit. I am grateful for all that we learned and we´re super excited to put it in practice. 

I also got to sing the special musical number with Hermana Milmont who is serving in Rio Grande (about 3 hours from here and they come for conference) and it was sucha great experience. I loved doing it with Hermana Milmont. She´s one of my favorite Hermanas and we really get along great! 


So.........................

Mom got here!!!!!! I love being with Hermana Gonzalez again! She is just the cutest thing. I really wish that I could have had way more to offer her. I know that she had a hard time with 4 months in super difficult Congreso, and I wish that she could have got here to like 100 baptisms.... but ya... that didn´t happen. I was super down to be honest and feeling like "really???!!!??? Why is it that everyone that was progressing so well had to go on vacation?? What did I do wrong? Where did our baptisms go?" and then I realized that I was being like Laman and Lemuel and murmuring a whole ton and my problem was that I just needed to GO and DO. Hermana Gonzalez was super awesome about it too and just said, "hey... sometimes that happens. Let´s get out there and find new people!" She´s super great! We´re really looking forward to the success that we KNOW we will find... we might have a few tough weeks, but we aren´t worried. It will come! 

Hermana Gonzalez is super funny, just like always. My favorite is when we have to hike up to the barrios and she always says "I just don´t like it at all when you say that!" hahahaha. 

So to explain, yes Hermana Gonzalez was in the south... and yes it was her that we looked at the penguins when I was blog stalking... but she was in Rio Gallegos, which is more north from here. She was SO surprised to be coming back to the south... but the funny thing is that she was SUPPOSED to come here from Rio Gallegos and then a volcano erupted and she couldn´t get a flight so she went back north, and a transfer later trained me... we figure that there is DEFINITELY someone here that needs HER. 

Speaking of blog stalking... I found out that Herman Pinto in Congreso still reads my blog!!! YAY!!! Shout out to Familia Pinto. I love you both and hope that all is well. It was so fun to see pictures of you both from Hermana Gonzalez. You are both so great! Thanks for all you do for the work! 

Also, Brother and Sister Gonzalez read my blog! I love that! I am so excited to meet you both some day. I love hearing all about your lives! Also, thank you for having such an AMAZING daughter. I just love her! 

So Hermana Malhue´s last day here (SAD!) we decided that we DID have righteous desires to ring the doorbell on the big house... they are children of our Heavenly Father just like everyone else... so we did it!!!!! haha. Oh man! The man actually came out and talked with us about his family and everything!!! We gave him a folleto... um... I think it´s flier... no... pamphlet??? Oh English... anyways, we gave him one and tried to set up a return appointment, but he told us that he had everything that he needed in his life and didn´t need anything else. Bummer. I think we´ll stick with working in the more humble areas. At least we planted a seed and he has a Folleto. 

Yes, it was hard when Hermana Malhue left. Cried? Of course. But it´s ok. I know that she is needed in Capitol and I am really excited for the adventure to continue on here and be working with Hermana Gonzalez again. We didn´t even have to have the awkward getting to know you phase. It was great. She already know´s that I´m super awkward, super clumsy, etc. 

Hermana Gonzalez´s first full day here was her Bday! It was super fun! I didn´t want it to be a big bummer, so I had already told like the whole world that it was her bday before she got here. So I made a cake and we ate it with the Elders and district meeting that day, our lunch appointment had ice cream with candles and everything, everyone wished her a happy birthday, and that night, Veronica brought us a half kilo of ice cream! Sweet! It was a fun day. 

I forgot my camera chord again... sorry, no pics this week!


Well, another week down! I can´t believe how fast time flies. I love being a missionary. I have a strong testimony of the gospel that grows every day. I know that this is the Lord´s work and that we are just His servants. I know that the church is true. I know that Jesus lives. I know that we are lead by a prophet of God. I know that the scriptures are true.

I love you all!
Hermana Shelley