What A Week.

March 13, 2012

Hello everyone :-)

 

 

Hope you are all doing well! This week...this week has been interesting to say the least. We couldn't email yesterday because we had a mission conference where Elder Perry of the Twelve and Elder Maynes of the Seventy came. SUPER exciting. Before the meeting started, we go to go through and meet them and their wives. It was a pretty neat experience.

 

Things that impacted me:

 

Sister Maynes said that there is nothing more important that we could be doing right now in our lives, than be on THIS mission. She also talked about wearing our credentials, we have our name and the name of Jesus Christ. She said, "Can you justify your character with your credentials?" I love that she said that we have EARNED our credentail to be a missionary. I never really saw it that way, but it is so true. Not everyone gets to go on a mission for one reason or aother, but I earned my right to take this hardest journey of my life. Funny to think about it that way hahaha. "There is no miracle like the miracle of conversion."-Pres. Hinckley.

 

Elder Maynes: There is nothing as powerful as a testimony. Always bear testimony. If the Spirit is NOT with us, we DRIFT and find ourselves off purpose. It is the Spirit that helps us stay on purpose. SOOOO that means, if we feel lack of purpose, or not knowing which way to go, we must try harder to have the spirit in our lives. That means, we must read the scriptures, and pray.

Seriously though, missionary work is like finding needles in haystacks. Shocking huh? :-) But if you think of it that way...wow can it be overwhelming. It's true...we have to work super hard. One sister missionary was funny and said..."Well, I'd just burn the hay." BAHAHA it was funny. Seems like the obvious thing to do.

 

Sister Perry: I love what the bible dictonary says about prayer. We must give daily acts of service. Also, live worthy daily to hold a current temple recommend. Love your mission.

 

Elder Perry: He talked about how when he served his mission, we went 5 days to the MTC which was then just a house were they learn only 2 important things: How to set the table and direct the music. After that, they were on their way to knock doors. All they had was the Spirit and the scriptures, but that was enough. I can't even imagine. I am sooo grateful for Preach My Gospel and the guidance it gives us. Every profeta has a "theme," whether it is the BOM, building temples, genealogy, and Pres. Monson is having compassion and caring about people. He tells us to use the POWER we have (GOD) and teach with boldness. He gave his testimony and it was the most powerful feeling I had ever felt. An apostle was right in front of my eyes bearing, his testimony of this church, and it was so beautiful. My heart smiled. It was a wonderful conference where I was spiritual edified.

 

I got to see Hna Zepeda and I was super excited! It was great to see her. I saw Elder Mathews too, and a few people that came out the same day as me. It was a great day. When we got back we finished our district shirts. On them is "Whatever it takes." on the back it says our names and "Get Real"...because our ward is called El Camino Real. Those that speak spnish get it. ha.

 

I read "Hope, an anchor of the Soul" by Faust. Wonderful. When you have time, read it. Sooner that later....especially in this time for us seeing how things are so rocky. With hope, come peace, but we must have faith to have hope. Something I have come to understand with the church and the gospel is that everything is intertwined. think about it. He talks about how everyone can enjoy the hope that comes from the knowledge that God truly lives. He says, "Such hope springs from the belife that if we have FAITH, somehow He will help us through our challenges--if not in this life, then SURELY in the life to come."

 

Okay I need to finish up other things, here are some pictures :-)

 And the pictures of the building is where they shoot the show "The Office." Hahaha it's in our mission, we went to see it. 

those are 4 bikes..the orange on is like from the 70s haha my bike...is furthest to the left. It is bigger than me. The handle bars go up to my mid upper arm hahaha but I love it :-) The bike without wheels...is when hna busch's tire got stolen ha.

 

Also to leave you with a funny story. but que vergüenca!

 

We were leaving an appointment, this man (he was like 60, all white hair, skinny) was like oh you are missionaries. We talked to him and he was going through a hard time. He said his daughter was in WA and she is going through really hard times and he just wants her to come back. He was just visiting a family friend. I asked how old she was and he said she was 22. Then he said don't tell them, but she is in a same sex relationship and it is just not right. She needs to come home....etc. I said. "wow I think that would be hard on any father." He said, "OH I'm not her father, I'm her boyfriend." (OH OOOOPPSSS) ummmmm think think think think what to say??? ummmmm oh  I'm sorry I must have heard wrong. So apparently, he was visiting his 22 yr girlfriend's friends. This guys is like 60!!! How embarrassing. ahhhhhh it was so funny...we left and biked as fast as we could. I hope you understood this crazy story. blah. HAHAHA now I actually have an embarrassing story...why? Because it wasn't even in spanish...this all happened in english.

 

I love you all,

Hna Argüello

 

 

P.s. So I gave hw to read that talk "The spirit Givith Life" by Monson. Awesome. I hope you found it as uplifting as I did :-)

also, I love 2 Ne 9:18 It helps me seeing as how I'm on a mission. And the cross reference Luke 14:27.

 

 

 

Buenos Dias!

March 5, 2012

Hola, hola, hola!!

 

Oh my goodness weeks go by super fast...yet slow at the same time. It's weird. More fast than slow though. We have seen soooo many miracles this week, it is amazing. It's really hard to explain, but these miracles are such tender mercies from the Lord. We have one investigator Franklin...ya I know it's enlish...but whatever lol he hasn't smoked for a week! He also fasted with us so yesterday to have sunday off to be able to come to church. He said he will. He is like changing his whole life because he just wants to be better. (p.s. he is from Honduras) He hates fish but is eating it now, he is cutting out fats, he stopped smoking, he is actually drinking water now hahaha, and he is doing the P90X or whatever it's called. He says he feels good. It's awesome to see the change in his countanace. I hope he can come to church, he even said he was going to cut his hair hahaha. Sad part about yesterday though, Hna Busch's tires (both of them) got stolen. AH seriously. OH but great news, I am borrowing a bike from an elder in an english ward since he is in car. It is huge and super nice!!! I was sooo excited!!! Oh it ridessss sooo nice. So on a happy note, I got a bike, on a sad note, now people are going to rob us. We locked our bikes up inside the apt complex even. That's like$140 since it's a road bike. so today we are going to try to figure something out, because we can't go to our citas because we can't get there fast enough. We'll see how this plays out. When we were standing there looking at the bike, we were just laughing so we wouldn't cry. We need to ghettofy the bikes. They we starting on my back tire...because it was loose. We used 2 locks, but we are going to buy another one. That is why I didn't want to buy a bike...knowing that it would be really likely to be stolen. But there is opposition in all things. As we were starring at the bikes, this women came to talk to us...probably mid 40's and she lives in the complex. She said that she was going to help pay for the tires because that is wrong and a violation. So we thought okay probably 50 bucks...and she was like I'll chip in $200 if that will cover it. Opposition in all things. It was crazy to see that though bad occured, there really are great people in the world like this woman. There is no way that Hna Busch will let her give her that money, but it was nice to see that someone that doesn't have that much, was willing to help us. She said "I see you girls around the complex going around doing good things." People are always watching. in Preach My gosple it tells us to have a 24/7 smile. Do yo uknow how hard that is??? Do you?? Try it okay? All of you SMILE all day no matter how you feel. :-)

Gerardo, is anothing miracle, but he is confusing all at the same time. He used to smoke 40 cigarretts a day, and now 2-5. It has only been a week and that is awesome!!!! He is doing soo awesome....but here is the confusing part, a lot of the time he is cancel our citas, and it's annoying, but if we just go by we have such a good lesson. At the end, we kneel and HE gives the prayer, and it is the more sincer prayers that he gives. He always blesses our families. It's tender, and he prays for our protection. I think sometimes it's just hard for him to think that he can quit. That it is just TOO hard. That he cannot do it. He has smoked since he was 11 YEARS OLD! Can you believe that?? yeah. He has improved so much. His baptismal date is the 1st of April. We really want him to make it. He is a really good young man too. I think he is just scared.

Another investigator Maria finally made it to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You don't understand. This is the biggest miracle. She waits on her dad hand and foot because he is obese and doesn't let her do anything. It is the craziest situation too. She is 24 and she has all these dreams that are just as normal as the next, but she thinks they are crazy dreams and so out of reach. She said that she loved church and she didn't want to go home. She hates being home. She told us to never give up on her. Other Sisters had dropped her, but we can't drop her. She just needs to be able to come to church.

 

Scriptures I like:

2Ne:30- What a good partening scripture. Think about it.

1Ne22:26- Satan will have NO POWER over the righteous. We must strive to be more righteous then huh? :-)

2Ne4:35- Oh my goodness I love this. Seriously. Read it. As liberally and it will be given to you. Ponder that.

 

There is a talk that I want to read sometime "The Spirit Giveth Life" by Pres. Monson, read it if you have the chance.

 

"It is not hard to make choices when you know what your values are" (Roy Disney).

 

It has been a really good week filled with miracles. It is super awesome to see. I appreciate so much the prayers and the love that I can feel. Thanks for not forgetting about me :-) I love you all so much and I pray that I may be a better missionary each day. Remember as you go throughout your day that you are no more important compared to the person next to you. "Remember the worth of souls in great in the sight of God." Serve others, and be happier.

 

I love you all so much, it's hard to describe.

cuidanse.

con amor,

Hna. Argüello

Been Here a Week and a Day

January 26, 2012

Oh my goodness! HOLA everyone! So this week has been crazy busy and all at the same time one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had. I decidede though that though I type fast, I need to type faster. Sorry for the typos...but I won't reread this. Anyway, there have been many things that happened this week that just made my heart race. I can't even keep a smile off my face. Also, today I went to the temple, and the whole time...seriously...the whole time, I smiled. I mean it was so hard not too. I really felt like I was in there with my brothers and sisters. The love that is shared within my distice is indescribable. It is amazing how you can see people through God's eyes the more you know of Him and the more obedient you are.

 

Yes, write letters/dearelder.com because then I can underline things I want to write back about and not take time reading. It has really helped getting them on different days so I get mail :-) HA!

 

Things that impacted me this past week (PS now my P day is thursday.) Also I will be leaving Feb 8th.

 

1. By the dedication of your missionary service, your children will be blessed. (We all know I love kids and I for one need all the help I can get.....so this is great!!! ha)

2. If you are worried about whether the man you are dating will be a good husband, ask his Elders Quorm President whether or not he is doing his home teaching. If he does, you know he will be commited. (So great to hear.)

3. Elder Bendar told of a story where he had to decide on whether to go to a bball game of his son, or be present in a stake meeting. He chose the game and later on realized that it wqas a prompting of the spirit. Long story, no time to write, but in the end he said this. "It was a good thing, but it wasn't the right thing in that exact moment." AH seriously, everyday the Spirit testifies to me that this is the right place for me to be. As extreamly hard as it was to leave...for reasons which we all know, I am so happy and I know for sure that this is right. I am so glad to know I am in the right pace, at the right time. I had two GREAT choices, this one is just "right" for now.

4. Tuesday we had Devo. Elder Alonso of the 70 came. His wife said something that struck me. "The way you live your life for the next 18 months or 2 years, will be the way the Lord serves you for eternity." <3

5. Elder Alonso said we will do more missionary workl than any other generation that will. We have 56,000 missionaries out there!!! AND I'M one of THEM. Sweet. :-)

6.Power comes through preparation.

7. Jesus' mission was not easy, and neither will yours, but He already did it and is front and center ready to help you forward his work.

 

 

I'm mailing pictures tonight.

Also, mom forward these to sara, she'll send them to her mom.

 

I love you all so much!!!! Ahhhhhh God is so good! Thanks for all the support, gotta go!

P.s. we have been teaching investigators everyday since day two. Also, I have our purpose, the vist vision, and the baptismal commitment memorized in spanish. Now D&C 4 is next...ayhhh!!!!memorizing in spanish is soooo hard but look I'm doing it!!!!!!

 

Love you all than you know!!!!!!

 

Hermana Arguello

Center Everything Around Christ

February 20, 2012

Hello!

So I realized that one of the best things about the mission is getting to hear investigators pray. The spirit is so strong. Our investigators are progressing really well, which is awesome and we comminted Marisela to change her baptismal date to the 4th instead of having it in April. It's been really neat to see 2 investigators we have have the desire to quit smoking. I think for one of them they just see it as impossible and has cancelled some of our citas with us. So....sometimes we just drop by because then he can't cancel hahaha

It is neat to see how if you center everything around Christ, you can receive so many blessings. As I have been reading Nefi, I have realized that in every chapter, it talks about how if you keep the commandments you will "prosper..." If we keep the commandments, everything will work out for our benefit in the end. God is always there to help us and he wants us to take action and make something out of our life. I am grateful for the time I have to be here serving. Missionary work is super hard, but it will all be worth in in due time. I can't believe mom was one of those people that got baptized...you know like I am teaching people like her...crazy to think about!

I know this is short, but my mind is everywhere, and today I don't have alot of time.

I love you all and thank you for your prayers.

Love, Hna Arguello

Here are some photos....that is my district with all the bikes..they were giving me a piano to practice, and han Busch got a tack in her wheel.

BOO!

February 13, 2012

Hola todos!

I am alive. My name is Hna Arguello. I ride my unsafe, pink (YES, PINK) bike up and down the streets of Conogo Park. I have never felt so "white" in my life. EVERYWHERE are latios. It has so many palm trees with is a comfort to me if nothing else is haha. So the first day I got here...so last Wed afternoon, we had a meeting and such. Then we got to meet our trainers....which for me...I think I told you in that letter is Hna Busch (Bush)...the one I already talked to! crazy huh?! Anyway we left the church around 5 to go to the apt and while we were being dropped off...the bishop called to tell us we needed to teach institute...uhhhh what?! haha okay...it's all in the Lord's hands, here we go! The we had an appt to teach Mariano at 8. OKAY first things first. That night was crazy...but I was so dead tired I feel like it never happened, BUT it did haha. Anyway, my first night and I taught a lesson. So at night...I have to admit it was really scary...and on a bike...that doesn't work and my feet could barely reach the pedals hahaha all I could do was PRAY! It's better now. That's really the only thing that was freaky...the bike. We finally got tools for the seat so I can reach now :-) haha but dad don't worry...though it's all sketchy...it'll be fine. The morning are beautiful here. I love the weather :-)

Well, we have taught so many lessons already and it hasn't even been a week. It is crazy the work is going to fast. We have like 5 prgressing investigators with baptismal dates now that we are continuing to teach. Mariano is is awesome but he won't get baptized till his family meets the missionaries in El Salvador. (He is like 50) Yesterday we taught him and it went SO well. It was nice after because hna. said that I did such a good job I was on fire! WHO KNEW?!? Spanish is coming, and the people here are super nice. The kids at church were like hugging/hanging on to me. There is just so much love. It is amazing how much you love these people not knowing anything about them. The more we teach Mariano the more I want to help him. I have never wanted so bad to help someone. All the people we are teaching (like 14 ppl) are all not from Cali. Mostly Guatemala, mexico, El Salvador....and much more. They are very nice.

There is so much to say but I can't say everything obviously.

We taugh Johnny who is 60 at Burger King and he is SUPER nice and a really good person. He is less active but loves learning more about the BOM. He has been coming to church so it's good. We walked out of BK and this man asked me, "Do yo uknow where the Mormon Church is?" I thought WHAT?!?! um yes...well no because I don't know where anything is right now haha but I told him we were the missionaries. Hna told him where it was. He just got came from ID and wants to go back to church though he has a problem with cafe. It was really awesome though, it was like God place him there exactly at that time. I have noticed that since I have been here. There are people that are willing to listen.

I forgot, hna busch goes to BYU-I too! and we have like the same story....ummmm when it comes to boys. raro.  Anyway, it is awesome, she is super nice, funny, patient, and is teaching me a lot of things. I am SOOOOOO grateful to have her. Thank goodness that is something I don't have to worry about. She is really underatanding too. YAY. We get along and I'm sure it'll get better.

We live outside of our area, and the church is outside of our area too...so it's kinda far but that's okay, my legs are like rocks lol caminamos con proposito and we bike that way too.

I am So grateful that I am here. The Lord has so many plans. One of the greatest things for my is the listen to how I am feeling and pray that I can feel the spirit. As I get away from internal and external noise, it's amazing how much clearer it is to think and know what needs to be done. Something I realized that makes me super happy is something that I always knew, but never though about. This church, is the EXACT same church the Christ established. We go to that same church. Everything is the same. My testimony has strengthen since I have been here so much about Joseph Smith. Everything just makes sense. To see the faith that investigators have to take action and change there life is amazing. AT times I feel that investigators have more fe then some members. I still CANNOT believe I am here. Sometimes I just start thinkin...wow I'm in the mission field. WHAT? when did that happen? ha. I can't believe it and it will be a wonderful experience to have for the rest of my life. Though it is really hard work, especially to GET UP in the morning, it'll all be worth it.

THIS IS FUNNY. Sister McConkie would like this. So apparently my broken piano playing is what they want. SOOOOO that mean Relief Socirty, Sunday school..........and here's the kicker, SACRAMENT MEETING, I have to play the piano! hahahaha oh I'm grateful for the fact I can sightread music and play something lol Oh the funny things of life. I guess I should have made myself practice after the accident even though I didnt want to because of fear of failing.

Our mission logo..or whatever it is called is: Fear Not. Work Milagros. Return with Honor.

So dad my pdays are monday, and we get here to the church at 9am to email. We get to be here for an hour.

I have to go but I'll write next week!

I love you all and thank you for the letters!

Hna Arguello

So Much to Tell, So Little Time

February 2, 2012

Hola!

 

Okay, so hears the deal...so much happened this week itäs crazy...not to mention that my spelling in enlgish is becoming so bad that when I go back to read my journal I hope I understand what I am writing. hahaha. Also, I donät want to focus on how I need to learn so much vocab, but the things that impacted me the most this week. It was a really great week because on Tuesday, it was the 50th anniversary of the MTC. SO in consequence, Elder Holland and Elder Nelson came to speak to us. I will talk about that later. First, som scriptures that I loved. Read them because Iäm not going to type them-

 

3 Ne 17 1 through 9 sorry for some reason some of the keys arenät working on here like the colon and apostrophes.

I love verse 8.

 

Luke 18 22 through 43. The verse I love vs 27. OH It is the BEST. It is so true. Itäs helped get through some things this week. contunitue to vs 30 and I love that we will receive blessings manifold.

 

Elder Coffman told me God hasnät called you to fail. It is so true. It was probably the most sincere thing he has ever told me. We are all really close, they are my family here while you are gone. We all MOST definitly have different strengths and weaknesses, but it makes us work better and understand things we may not have understood before.

 

In relief society I learned that we shouldnät ask what do You want me to do, but what do You want me to be. If we are the people we are supposed to be, we will be at the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. amazing how that works huh_

 

Things happen exactly the way they are supposed to happen, there really are no coincidences. I actually believe that and I see it more clearly every day.

 

What we invite others to do, we must be doing ourselves. We canät intive otheräs to come unto Christ if we donät go with them or know where He is.

 

Iäm in the MTC choir, and we sang for the 50th ann. Devotional. We sang Precious Savoir, Dear Redeemer arr. by Brett Stewart....mom you guys should sing it for choicr...it was amazing. simple. short. beautiful. exactly like the gospel really. Anyway along with that there is a story about Carest thou not that we perish and how the winds and the waves know Him. think about that. read the scriptures about that...i donät have time to tell you hahaha sorry. Iäll write a letter.

 

The spirit was sooooo stong...like I had never felt it before. It was crazy. I didnät know something could feel like that. When the apostoles walked in, there was this peace and love that felt like a blanket that swept over the whole congregation. Elder Hollandäs main point was that we are under obligation to honor the history of this church as we do missionary work. We are to honor the sacred covenants we have made because we have been set apart to do so. We were to step into history that night by being missionaries. We are to take our plave in histoy, stand proud, stand tall, and stand staight. Alos, he said first actually that one of the greatest things about our mission will be our companion whether we think so or not right now.

 

Elder Nelson spoke of the history of the missionaries starting with Samuel Smith. The first sister missionary Harriet Nye, and how we will be wonderful missionaries as long as we have the spirit.

Qoutes

 

What e er thou art, act well thy part.

We thank God for these wonderful sister missionaries   Monson

If you love them today, maybe you can teach them tomorrow.

 

He also gave a dedicatory prayer for the renovated buildings...oh it was amazing. It is he said that us missionaries right now are the choices. TWe learn that we all stand tall on the shoulders of giants that procedeeded us. Oh what big shoes we have to fill huh

 

 

 

Okay I donät have anymore time...I donät understand. Iäll write letters.

 

IMPORTNANT

 

I will be calling wed between 9 and 11 am. Mom cell on. dad Iäll call your cell.

 

I leave provo to SLC at 8 am. My flight leaves 1115. I will fly into burbank at 1215pm.

 

 

LOVE YOU!!!!

Hermana Arguello

Oh dear.

January 21, 2012

Hola familia! :) 

 

WOW.

 

What the heck you know week on is almost over right? You can't start with not writing me. Here I expect an email, and NOTHING! hahaha Well, I survived what I think was the longest day of my life. Ha. I absolutly LOVE my companion. Hermana Zepeda and I are both going to San Fernando. I am so grateful that God knows me so well He knew I needed a reliable companion to start me off. She is from El Salvador. I'll be sending a picture. My roomates are in my class (Which is also my district)...which is the advanced class. Hermana Bojorquez (Parents from El Salvador, y Ecuador! like my companion!), going to St. George, and hermana Camarillo, going to Oakland, California. We all get a long SOOOOO well, it truly is amazing. Oh my goodness, I'm still not even unpacked all the way. Seriously. There is no time to do anything....execpt for study. STUDY. STUDY...and sometimes if we are lucky, we study even more! :-)  My companion is really patient, and I feel like I have known her forever. It really is a beautiful thing. So with the 2 other sisters and me and my companion, there are 4 other in my district. Elder Coffman, Elder Hill (both came from Boutiful), Elder Garcia, and Elder Baez. They are a really great group of people. We were actually talking about how all their faces seemed familar. I think it's really becasue we all chose to come before this life and knew each other. We are like a family already. Thank goodness. It was a little nerve racking...but I felt peace all at the same time. Who knew. My spanish has already gotten better, but I know that right now, that is my only barrior. Too bad, but I'll get there. It is sooo hard to fall alseep, but it is getting better. Also, the lights in in hall stay on the whole night. So in my room it is pitch black, and in the morning you get up to get ready, and you feel like your eyes and head are going to die. Not cool. Anyway, the food is actually really good. I do like the MTC or the CCM. There are some people that obviously don't, but it pushes me to do things that I feel I am NOT ready to do but have to do them already. For example, yesterday adn today we already had to teach...as if we were in a lesson! It was crazy you know like HELLO...Do you realize I just got here on WED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But that's okay. The first lesson went really well, the second one today...not so good. We were in a room in one of our teachers and we had to teach him as if he were investigating the church for 25 minutes! Blah. We will get better for sure. At times, there are moments were I sit in the 15 x 10 ft room and think, my head is really going to explode....no really...I think it will. Ha but it is all for a very good reason. I thought I was going to feel really inadequet, worried, and tal vez scared, but all the fear and concerns that I had vanished. If we focus on our cause, God will take care of the rest. I have already seen that as a miracle in my life now.

 

I saw Josh Matthews, Kimberly webb...who is my neighbor, ha, and 5 other people I know! neat. I saw Mary like 3 times...but it's still nice to know she is here and pray for her often.

 

I have NEVER EVER been around so mayn men in my life. Seriously. I mean BYU-I is 3girls:1guys ratio. Here there are 2000 elders and 200 sisters.....it's sooooo weird. It's like hermanas are nonexistant.

 

 

I can feel the spirit so strong in my life right now. There so some things that concerned me coming in here, and I have felt so much that God knows them and is taking care of me. I love that I know you guys really will be taken care of because I am being taken care fo right now. I do believe that and I am so greatful for it. I don't have a lot of time, especially since it's my first P day...and I still have to unpack ha! lol All day everyday is in spanish, and I find myself saying things wrong in english or not being able to spell things...I guess that can be a good thing. Anyway, update me! I'm alive, kicking and happy. I hope you are too. How is everything going for you guys?!?!?! Alive?!? Time is up!!

 

Cuidansen! <3

Hermana Argüello