12-3-12

Dearest Family,

Hola from Villa Urquiza!!! I had the great opportunity to make a visit to two areas this week because there are two sets of missionaries here in Urquiza. It is capital and really a lot of fun. It´s not as crazy capital as Congreso, but it is good. We got to work and really had a lot of success. I arrived on Tuesday night and will be heading out tomorrow morning. That gave me two and a half days with one companionship and two and a half days with the other. It really did turn out well and I was very pleased with it. 

I started out with Hermanas Kapp and Lobos. They had the goal of finding new investigators, so we made some plans to try some things that they had never tried before and we saw miracles. We talked with the whole world on the way to citas with less actives or recent converts where we asked for references. We were really blessed to find people who were prepared to receive the gospel and they had two investigators in church! It was really great. 

I spent the second half of the week with Hermanas Vargas and Alvey! It was really fun to get to  know Hermana Alvey even better (the Houston´s niece) and we also had a lot of success with these Hermanas. We found so many new investigators and 7 of them accepted the invitation to be baptized in December! What a blessing. One of the investigators who went to church, Yolanda, was really on the fence about her decision and didn´t know what to do. She has gone to church a number of times, but was worried to make the decision. Well, the testimony meeting yesterday was really fantastic and she felt the spirit so strongly. She will be baptized this coming Sunday.  Miracles! 

Tomorrow, I am off to another visit. I was hoping to be able to stop by Talar to change out my stuff, but it will just be easier to wash my clothes and go on to the next area... SAN IGNACIO!!!! haha. I am really excited about it! I had been planning on going to Nuñez next, but I talked with President this morning and he wants to send me to San Ignacio! haha. I can´t believe it! I am really excited to get back there and see how things are going and start some new things up. I have a greater vision of the work now and I am excited to share it with the Sisters. Hermana Montecinos is still there and it will be really fun to see her! I think I forgot to mention... about 3 weeks ago, I received a 5 page letter from her! It was really special. I know that the beginning of the mission was really hard for her, but I also know that all I asked of her was to help her to become the missionary that she is. She talked about how she now understands and how grateful she is. I sat and cried as I read it. I was so very happy to see her progress. She is an amazing missionary. She always was... she just had to see it!

Quick funny story before I sign off...

We were doing street contacts the other day and I contacted a nice looking older lady. She tapped me on the shoulder, told me that everything was going to be alright and gave me 50 pesos! haha. I explained to her that I was just inviting her to church and gave her money back. She told me that there was no shame in being poor and that I should take the money. I explained to her that I was a missionary and that I was just inviting her to come and learn more. She said "ah! I thought you were asking for money!" and then walked away. haha. It was really funny. And 50 pesos isn´t a little here... it is only about $10, but here, it is quite a bit of money... to put it into perspective, I can buy all of my food for the week for about 60 pesos. Good times, good times. It would have been even better if she had come to church! haha. 

Family, I love this gospel! I love the work! I really am enjoying my travels. I am totally exhausted, but loving every minute. It is a blast being able to go all around Buenos Aires, get to know the Sisters, and serve them. This week, we had a training meeting with President about doing exchanges and it was really great. He talked all about serving and loving the missionaries and helping them to become even more, while learning and becoming ourselves. It was a really great conference. I am so humbled by the assignment to visit the sisters. I feel that it is a great responsibility and I don`t want to mess up! I love doing it and I am always looking for chances to serve. I seriously am learning way more than what I am sharing. It is really a huge blessing. The Sisters in the mission are so impressive and I am so grateful for all that they are teaching me. It is really neat to see each of the areas and serve, teach, and love our Heavenly Father´s children all over the mission. 

Jesus Christ lives. He is our Savior and Redeemer. He knows each and every one of us individually and perfectly. He knows the things that we are going through and He can help us to overcome it. He lives! I am so excited that Christmas is fast approaching. May we remember Him even more this season as we celebrate His birth, His life, His divinity, His way. 

I love you all!!!
Hermana Shelley

11-26-12

Dearest Family

We had a really great week! 

Thank you for all of the Thanksgiving emails! I am so grateful for each and every one of you. I love you all so much. That is something that is really different about me now is my ability to love and accept. It is really neat to feel the love of God and share that with others. I love the people of Argentina so much and I love you all so much! I am so very grateful for your support and your care. Thank you for always supporting me and helping me. My mission would not be what it is if it were not for you all. Our Thanksgiving was non existent as they do not celebrate it here, but at the end of the day, Hermana Dunn said "Would you make us an apple crisp?" haha. So we decided to have a mini Thanksgiving celebration. It was good. I did remember it all day and was extra careful to show my gratitude. Sounds like you all had a great day! 

I have a favor to ask. We are going to do a 40 fast here for missionary work. I would love if the ward could send me some of their experiences so that I can share them with the ward here. I will translate them so in English is fine. Also, if anyone else has participated in a 40 day fast for missionary work and can share an experience that they had, that would be great! 

Matìas, Marcela`s other son is doing really great! The boys in the ward are really taking care of him and he is really starting to be interested. He has the goal to be baptized this Saturday. We are so happy for him. 

Claudia is the mom of two recent converts and she is just on fire. In the 2 years that her daughters have been baptized, she hasn`t wanted a lot to do with the church, just because she didn`t have a lot of time. But she always felt that it was good and possibly true. Well, we felt to go back to working with her and she is progressing like crazy now! She loved church yesterday, is reading and praying, and already even had her baptism interview because she wanted to see if she was prepared. She will be baptized on the 9th. 

Alex is a new investigator that we are working with and is really a great guy! He is 21 and has a great desire to learn and find out the truth. He is the nephew of a family in our ward and they invited us over last night for a lesson with him and it went really well. He works on Sunday mornings, but says that he can probably get it off. He accepted a baptismal date for the 22nd. 

The primary program was yesterday and it went really well! The kids were so cute and it all came together miraculously. I was able to play the piano for them, and that was so much fun! On Saturday, it was pretty rocky, but on Sunday it was absolutely perfect and the kids did such a great job. I love them so much. The Spirit was so strong and the investigators all really felt it. 

I stayed in El Talar this week and President sent me some info about the Sisters so that I could organize myself and get ready to visit them. I think that I won`t be spending much more time around here. I am sad but it will be a good experience. 

Last week, Grandma wrote something about Baked Ziti, and I must say that it sounded SOOOO good! I forgot about Baked Ziti... that will have to go on the list of things to eat when I get home... haha. 

Sorry so short. We are headed to Tigre for Pday. President gave us permission to go to a theme park, so we are excited about that. 

LOVE YOU ALL! The gospel is true! I love this work. I love being a missionary. I love the things that I get to experience every day and all the fun that we have! I am so grateful for the chance to proclaim the truth of the gospel. I love seeing the Atonement work in the lives of others. Such a great blessing. 

LOVE,

Hermana Shelley

11-25-12

Look what we got in the mail!! Makes it more real-she really is coming home. Kailei will report Jan. 27th at 11 am. Our church building is located at 1415 E Southern. We would love to see all of you there. We will let you know when we will have a small open house, so you can all visit with Kailei.

 MISSIONARY TRAVEL

  ARGENTINA BUENOS AIRES NORTH MISSION

 

SERVICE               DATE  FROM           TO             DEPART  ARRIVE

_____________________ _____ ______________ ______________ _______ ______

DELTA AIR LINES       21JAN BUENOS AIRE BA ATLANTA GA     920P    540A

DL 110               MONDAY PISTARINI      HARTSFIELD JAC         22JAN

U ECONOMY                   TERMINAL A     TERMINAL INTL

           NON SMOKING      DINNER                        NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         10:20 DURATION

                  AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A330-200

                            SEAT 23H NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

 

DELTA AIR LINES       22JAN ATLANTA GA     PHOENIX AZ     835A    1053A

DL 1546             TUESDAY HARTSFIELD JAC SKY HARBOR INT    

U ECONOMY                   TERMINAL S     TERMINAL 3

           NON SMOKING      FOOD FOR PURCHASE             NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         4:18 DURATION

                  AIRCRAFT: BOEING 757

                            SEAT 37D NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

 

RESERVATION NUMBER(S)  DL/GQUU2P

 

SHELLEY/KAILEI JO  248922-R

     ETKT:DL/006 7162408446

11-19-12

Dearest Family,

Well, what a week we have had! Hermana Dunn got here Tuesday morning and I left for my first exchange on Thursday. She was really blessed to learn the area quickly. She is such a great missionary. It was hard for her to leave her area so unexpectedly, but she is doing really well. I am so grateful for all that she is doing. It is fun to be back together. Hermana Dunn is seriously one of my very best friends. We definite have a life´s work to do after three times of being comps! 

I visited San Fernando this week and it was a lot of fun. I was there 2 and a half days and we saw lots of miracles. I was able to go teach a 13 year old that they have been working with and not been able to break through her "wall." Well, I was just praying so hard and I felt extremely impressed to tell her about a memory that I had with Granny about when I was running for Student Body Vice President and aways went after school to tell her about every detail and how it was really hard for me when she passed away before the election. I wasn´t sure why I was telling the story because it didn´t really have anything to do with the lesson, but I followed the prompting. Half way through the story, she just started bawling and at the end, she told a story about how last year, she was going to go and meet her grandma for the first time, but that just a couple hours before she arrived, her Grandma passed away. It was so sad and she said that it was really hard for her still. We had a great lesson after that about the plan of salvation and at the end, she agreed to be baptized next Sunday! It was a miracle, and I was grateful for the chance to be there. I was with Hermanas Smith and Allan and they are both really great. I learned a lot from them and was able to share a few things too. They are opening the area, so it has been difficult, but it will come. They are really organized and I know that they are going to see many miracles. 

Since I wasn´t here this week much, I don´t know a lot about the investigators here, but they seem to be doing well. Marcela´s family is progressing and I know that they will get baptized. They have a goal for the 2nd of December, and I am sure they will reach that goal. Marcela and Jonas are great examples in their home. 

Maxi (from Flia Suarez) received the priesthood on Sunday! I am so happy for him! He was beaming. It was really special to be a part of that. He is even doing some odd jobs to earn some money so that he can pay his tithing. He is doing really well. I am so proud of him. He is already studying a mission prep manual. What a great example! He has only 3 short years until he is Elder Suarez! Que emocion!!!

We had a great Zone Conference last week. It was so good. I don´t have much time, but I just want to share one thing. President was talking about how sometimes we get into these routines and we are not happy because we don´t understand the why of what we are doing. We do it, because we have to. Not because we love God and His children. He had an Hermana go in and play a very boring descending C Scale over and over and over. Imagine like when I was practicing my scales as a child. He asked her to get up and he was going to do the EXACT same thing, but with a smile. He sat down, and played the exact same notes, but with a different rhythm, and it was "Joy to the World!" Wow. That was really powerful and taught me so much. We can do the same things, but our attitude changes EVERYTHING: We can do it and resent it and be sad, or we can do it with joy and gladness and be happy that we are serving the Lord, doing it out of love. Is missionary work hard? Oh man, YES! It is the most difficult thing that I have ever done! Am I tired? Absolutely exhausted!!! Do I get sick? Of course! Do I feel discouraged at times? It happens. Do we experience sadness? Every day. But it is the BEST and most WONDERFUL thing that I have ever done. It gives me more joy than I have ever experienced. We have the chance to be servants of God. We have 18 months to think of nothing but Him and His children. It is FUN. It is an ADVENTURE. It is HUMBLING. Everything about it is just so great. We choose what our mission will be. I choose to do it with a smile and with JOY. Rhythm is everything. 

Well family, I have to go. I love you all SO much. Thank you for aways sending letters. I need that support. I am so grateful for all that you are doing and becoming. I love seeing our progress individually and as a family. I love the gospel. I know that we are in the only true church. I know that we are led by living prophets. I know that we will be able to have an eternal family. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that it contains the fullness of the gospel. I know that Jesus lives. I know that we are children of God. I love you all so much. Keep up with the OLA. Prayers, Book of Mormon, and Attending church. Simple, but critical. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Hermana Shelley

11-12-12

Dear Family,

This is going to be a short one. We are in Capital doing my paperwork and I want to show Hermana Salazar around and we have about 3 hours to see EVERYTHING!!! haha. Also, we are going to meet up with Hermana Malhue and her comp and Hermana Dunn and her comp. FUN!  Note on the paperwork... pray for it! haha. I went south so soon in the mission that I don`t have anything done and I have to do what you usually do in 8 months in 1... they say it will all be fine. I just have to pay a bunch of fees and stuff. They gave me a paper today that says that if it doesn`t go through I am still allowed to leave the country. haha. 

Marcela and Jonas were baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. Man, was it ever one powerful baptism! I am so proud of them and all that they are doing and for who they are. I was really emotional in the baptism as I saw the joy in their eyes. Their whole family was there, and that was really special. Iara and Matìas, the other kids, also went to the confirmation on Sunday and we are going to have a Family Home Evening tonight to help them start progressing all together. It should be really great! Marìa, Marcela`s sister also went to the baptism and the confirmation and felt the Spirit really strongly. She cried through the whole thing. Marcela told us that she went home and put on face book that she had never experienced something as beautiful as what she experienced that day. So great! We are hoping that she too will start progressing. She just went through a pretty nasty divorce and is a little bitter, but the gospel is exactly what she needs! She is living with Marcela now, so she will have a great influence.

The Spring Fling went really well! Everyone had an amazing time and there was a great number in attendance. More details later. Now, I am on to the next big project. I am planning and preparing a musical fireside for Christmas. It should be pretty powerful. Note on that, please get in my music files in the Christmas drawer and find "Breath of Heaven." Then if Dad could scan it and send it to me, that would be great! Also, if you could google "Lyrics to Breath of Heaven in Spanish" that would also be a big help. I translated it, but the rhyming is weird and I want to see if there is an official translation. Thank you! 

Hermana Salazar is doing well! She has really broken out of her routine. It was hard for her, and after lots of practices and a few tears, she is starting to teach from the heart and not just the things she has memorized. We are really beginning to enjoy each other. I was feeling really lonely the other day, because she is VERY quiet and it was like pulling teeth to get her to say two words to me... well, in my night prayers, I felt that I just really needed to serve her and when I woke up the next morning, I just served way more than usual. After about 3 days, she really started opening up. The activity was the icing on the cake because it was just a lot of fun and she could not be so tense. We are doing much better. 

Family, I love you all SOO much! I love this work. I love the gospel. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that this is His Church. I know that we must help the whole world to receive the restored gospel. 

Love you!
Hermana Shelley

11-5-12

Dearest Family,

I can´t believe that we are in NOVEMBER!!!!! Where is the time going??? haha. I guess it has to be that way. I am learning to accept the Lord´s timing in all things. Hard, but good. 

We had a great week! My new companion is fantastic. She is Hermana Salazar from Honduras! So fun! Her accent is SOOOO different, and it took me a good 2 days to get used to it and be able to understand her. haha. But now, we are good. There are still some things that I don´t understand, because there are a lot of words that are different, but she explains it to me, and I understand and then I teach her the Argentine version. haha. For example, here, "strawberry" is "frutilla" and in Honduras it is "fresa." haha. So I am now learning Honurean. She is really great. She is 22, a convert of 5 years and one of only 2 members in her family of 13 brothers and sisters! She was baptized when she was 17 but started going to church as a girl. She had to wait to get baptized because her mom didn´t give permission. Her other sister who is a member is also in the mission, in Mexico. Hermana Salazar has been waiting for her visa for 4 months, and in 3 of those, she did a mini mission in Hondurus, so she already learned a lot. Makes my job a lot easier! haha. She has a ton of scriptures and things from Preach My Gospel memorized, so now we are just working on making it her own and following the Spirit. She is really fantastic and I know that we will work really well together. I miss Hermana Hualpa a lot... we became such good friends and we really taught with a lot of unity. But I know that she is really needed in Tigre and I need to be here so it is all good. The really fun part is that we are now all in the same district, so I will see her often! And Hermana Hill!!! Great things!

The work is going well. We had an amazing experience with Marcela. She was having a TON of doubts... really, just putting a lot of excuses. She told us that she thought her baptism as a child was good, that she thought there were a lot of rules, etc. We weren´t worried, because we have been with her and seen her true conversion. She has really had her own personal "sacred grove" experiences, and she knows that what we are teaching is true. She has felt the Atonement in her life. Satan was working hard, but we knew that the Lord was working harder. Well, Saturday, she was especially upset. Her son had said that she was different now that she has started going to church and that he didn´t like it. We showed up at the exact right time and were able to help her through it and through questions that help her recognize her conversion, she was able to see that she really does have a testimony, but still said that she didn´t think she wanted to be baptized. We committed her to go to church on Sunday, promising that she would receive a definite answer. She agreed. She and Jonas showed up nice and early and really enjoyed it. She agreed to go home and pray. We tried to see her that night, but she had gone to her Mom´s house. This morning, we went for a lesson and she started to tell us of the experience she had last night. She said that Jonas came into her room and started crying and said "Mom, I want to be baptized, but I don´t want to do it without you." She said that really hit her and she started thinking more seriously and they had a good talk. He went off to bed and she tried to sleep too, but just couldn´t. She said that at 2AM she decided that she had to make a decision. She went into the living room and took her Book of Mormon. She knelt down and said a prayer, asking Heavenly Father to guide her and tell her what she was supposed to do. She then opened the Book of Mormon. The page fell to Alma 42, the end of Alma´s talk with Corianton. She began reading in verse 18 and when she got to 27, she said she felt that God was speaking to her. It talks about how no one is obligated to come unto Christ, but that we must all choose. Then, in 28 and 29 it talks about giving up your sins and repenting. And verse 30 talks about leaving behind excuses. She said that she felt a great burden lifted from her. That she realized that she DOES have sins and must be baptized. She said that she recognized in that moment that she had just been making excuses and that she really did NEED to be baptized. It was such a powerful moment. She was crying, I was crying, Hermana Salazar was beaming. It was all just so great. She has truly had her own personal conversion experiences. She and Jonas will be baptized this weekend. 

Rosana, the Mom of the Suarez kids is doing great! She wants to be baptized so badly. She has been looking for work that is just Monday to Saturday, and we think that she has found one! She has to wait to hear officially, but please pray for her. 

Aidee is a new investigator that we found this week who is really doing great! She is not married, so she can´t be baptized until she and her "husband" get officially married, but she is really enjoying the lessons and had a great experience in church yesterday. We only see her once a week since she can´t really progress a lot right now, but it will all work out. 

Augustin is a young man who has been coming to church with his friends, and he is really loving church. He has been two times now. We haven´t been able to teach him very much because he goes to school and then going to soccer practice and then goes to his mom´s house (he lives with his dad and visits the mom in the evenings). But we have set an appointment up with him, and we will see how it turns out. 

I love you all so much! I love this work. Being a missionary is the best. I can´t believe how very blessed we are! Well, I can believe it... because this is the Lord´s work. When we do it in His way, we receive His blessings. I truly do love seeing the miracles that we get to see each and every day. I love seeing the Atonement work in the lives of the people that we are teaching and see how they are growing and changing. I love to see the changes in my own personal life. I am a different person than I was 16 months ago. The Atonement is real and it truly makes us who the Lord needs us to be. 

I love you all!!!

Hermana Shelley

pictures: 1.New companion Hermana Salazar

              2.Pasta Frola (before it was baked)

              3. Kailei's birthday cake

              4. Menezes family

10-29-12

Dearest Family,

First, some business.... 

I will NOT be extending my mission. I will be home on January 21. I know that it is strange, but I will try to explain. Monday night, I started feeling really weird about the extension... I just sort of brushed it off. I had received my answer and President had already given me the new date. Tuesday it was on my mind again. Wednesday I was feeling strange as well. Thursday night, I got a call from President and he said that as much as he wants me to extend and as much as I want to extend, he had been praying and he felt that he needs to let me go on my original release date. When he said that, I felt that it was correct. I don`t know for sure why the answer was yes and then no, especially for only three weeks, but I feel sort of like Abraham. I had to demonstrate that I was willing and now I am not being asked to make the "sacrifice." I really hope that Grandma hasn`t bought her plane ticket yet... if she has, I will just have to wait 3 weeks to see her I guess. Surprise, huh? I don`t really know why still, but when President told me that he feels that he has to let me go at my date, I felt that there will be some reason... there is always a reason I guess. 

We had a FANTASTIC semana. The 4 Suarez kids were baptized. Roxana, the mom, has to quit smoking and get Sundays off of work, but I have never seen someone so determined to be baptized and I know that she will be. Her testimony is growing each day. The baptism was absolutely beautiful and there was SO much support from the ward. I have loved seeing the conversion of this family. Maxi, the 15 year old son, quit smoking, cut his long hair, and took out his earings. I am so proud of him. Sofia, Julieta, and Milagros have really just blossomed in their understanding. All are doing wonderfully. I am so proud of them. The ward has been so great with them. One of the recent converts brought Maxi a full suit coat! He said that his son had grown out of it and they didn`t have use for it, but it looked pretty brand new to us... Our ward is fantastic. I feel so very blessed. 

We have seen a lot of wonderful miracles for changing the way that we are verifying. For asking questions about their conversion instead of their actions, our investigators are really progressing. Marcela and her son Jonas are just wonderful. Every time we leave, Jonas writes a summary of the things that we taught that day and the things that he will do because of the lesson. He reads the book of mormon and writes summaries... DId I mention that he is only NINE??? What an example. The older kids and the husband still don`t want a ton to do with the church, but I know that they will see the examples of Marcela and Jonas. They will be baptized on the 10th, and the whole family will surely be there. We will make sure that it is a very spiritual experience so that they can make the decision to be baptized as well. 

Hermana Hualpa is so wonderful. I am just so proud of the missionary that she has become and for all that she does in the work. She has been my companion, my sister, but even more than that, my friend. I love her dearly and am so grateful for her. She is truly an amazing missionary and I can`t even imagine all that she will become! I am so grateful for all that she has taught me. We have really worked hard this transfer and learned more than ever how to follow the spirit. We have also had a LOAD of fun! I am truly going to miss her....................

......................... yep, that means changes. We got the call last night. Hermana Hualpa is now in Tigre with Hermana Hill! That is really fun because it is right next door and we will be able to see each other. So fun! She is going to have a lot of success there, I am sure of it!

As for me??? I have been called to train again. haha. I have been feeling that that would be the case. I will go to the mission home tomorrow to meet her. I don`t know anything about her, but we are only getting one Sister this transfer, and all I know is that she is Latin. I am SO grateful for that! haha. Perhaps another Chilean... we will see I suppose. I feel very humbled by the call and excited to learn all the knew things that she brings with her. 

I love this work! I have truly seen miracles in my mission. I cannot believe how fast it is going! Yikes! Tell Lauren that I love her so much. Send her my "welcome home" and tell her that I would love to hear from her. I cannot believe that she is coming home on Wednesday. How quickly the time went. 

I love being a missionary. There is truly nothing like it. Thank you all for your love and support. I am so blessed with the best family EVER. Thank you for always praying for me and thinking of me. I know that I don`t always have the chance to respond, but I love getting the letters and emails. They are the best. Keep doing the wonderful things that you are doing. The Lord will bless you all so  much for doing the small and simple things of reading, praying, and attending church. Pray for missionary experiences and then ACT in order to find them. I know that you will. 

I love you all!

Hermana Shelley

Pictures: 1. Gonzalez family (recently reactivated)

              2. Carvajals family (baptized 5 mos ago)

              3.Suarez kids-Maxi, Mili, Sofi and Juli

              4. Suarez family