The Obelisk of Buenos Aires!
New area of Palermo
September 15 Tuesday
We
had our first District Meeting:) We talked a lot about the importance
of finding people to teach and applying 3 principles: opening our
mouths, congregating those around us, and asking for referrals. After
the meeting I had my first lunch in a member's house here in Palermo!
We've been receiving a lot of Tupperware meals, so it was really a treat
to get to eat with Hermana Palma! We had empanadas with cheese and ham
(The cheese and ham turned out to be a theme of the week...). After
lunch we met up with All and taught Daiana the Restoration. I also gave
her the two skirts that I never use so that she could come to church on Sunday
with a skirt, something she'd been wanting for quite some time:) It's
amazing to see her progression in the gospel, how quickly she can find
the scriptures we share and to hear her pray. She's a wonderful girl and
reminds me a LOT of my first convert, Zulma. We tried finding Exequiel,
but we didn't have any luck... We did, however, visit with Carlitos and
help him with his family history. My companion very lovingly helped him
fill out some more of his genealogy. He's such an example of
faithfulness to this gospel! He also gave us some of his Peruvian
dessert... messy, but it was good:)
16 Wednesday
I
finally got to meet Lautaro, Oriana, and Zuleika, three of Hermana
Johnson and Hermana Muro's most recent converts:) We first visited with
their grandparents and shared a scripture before going over lesson one
with the kids:) They were a little rowdy, but know a lot about the
gospel! It was great to see them all raising their hands at the same
time and all wanting to contribute:) We also had correlation with Elder
Hunter and Hermano Pucheta, where I was asked if I would be willing to
give a ten minute talk over the Book of Mormon... It's just one of my
favorite subjects, and I had no trouble agreeing to such!
17 Thursday
We
went to visit the Gonzalez family and I shared Alma 2:28-31, explaining
this struggle all of us have with the person we were before and the
person that we want to become, that God knows we can become. I could
really feel the spirit as we were sharing the scripture, and was able to
look at the verses in a different light. It was truly a moment where
each of us was being taught by the spirit, as I didn't know what I was
going to share until I opened the scriptures and went for it!
Afterwards
Anderson, who has only been a member for a month, accompanied us! Man
was it amazing! We visited with Daiana, and Anderson helped us explain
the plan of Salvation! We tried to visit Exequiel as well, but after
teaching him the word of wisdom on Monday
I think he was hiding from us... We also taught Carlitos about
fasting:) To end the night we visited with Kathy Campos. I tried to
shared the video LIFT with her, but couldn't find it in Spanish... oh
well!
18 Friday
On Friday
no one seemed to be home at first! My companion and I tried in vain to
find Jose Luis, Daiana, and others. As we were in the front of the
Sandon's door, about to knock who shows up but Daiana and Jose Luis! It
was truly as though the Lord had seen our efforts and had led them to
us! It was truly a great blessing. Later while we were visiting with
Hermana Sandon we invited her to think of those she knew that didn't
have the gospel and to invite them to come to church. She said she had a
couple in mind, and we did some practices with her to help her feel
comfortable inviting her friends when the real moment came:) We ended
the day having dinner with Hermana Saverry:) You'll never guess what we
had for the fourth or fifth time... yep, ham and cheese.
19 Saturday
I finished writing my talk for Sunday!
We then took the subte, or underground train to get to the Lopez
family. We had lunch with them, and afterwards were able to teach
Lautaro and the girls the plan of Salvation. We visited with Daiana
afterwards and taught lesson 3, the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we came
in she seemed sad about something, and I was able to share Helaman 5:46 and 47 with her as my companion gave her a hug. The lesson went really
well and once more Daiana knew just where every scripture was:) She's
awesome! During the day while Victor was accompanying us we managed to
teach a TON of lessons and invite a ton of people to come to church the
following day. The investigators literally seemed to flock to us! It was
insane! I have never taught so many short lessons in one day! After
teaching the entire world (kind of) we went to see Luz Gonzalez and wish
her happy birthday. Somehow that turned into my companion and I singing
for her in front of a huge group of her friends... All I can say is
that in my "past life" I would NEVER have done such a thing! It's crazy
what the mission does to you...
20 Sunday
Whoo!
Gave my talk:) It went really well, although I was a little nervous.
After church we had lunch with Maida. She's from Brazil, and lunch was
delicious! I can proudly announce that it wasn't ham or cheese:) We had
rice, which I was missing from my San Fernando days, as well as milanesa
al caballo (milanesa with a boiled egg on top) and salad with Cesar
dressing. YUM! After lunch we met up with Victor and were able to ask
Daiana how she liked church before visiting with Kathy Campos. Our visit
was a surprise, and when we left she sent us a message saying that we
had visited her right when she was passing through a difficult moment.
We had only been able to visit her because the appointment that we had
had scheduled had fallen through. It's crazy how the spirit works,
putting us right where we needed to be in the moment this sister needed
it. We always work with the spirit. If not, many times we wouldn't know
who we needed to visit. After visiting with Kathy we tried to find
Exequiel... As we walk up to his door it opens and out he comes, at
exactly the right moment! We both knew it wasn't coincidence, and we
knew he knew it too. I don't know what to make of him, but the Lord
keeps crossing our paths. We'll just have to see! After checking up on
him and scheduling an appointment for Wednesday
we went off to church where a piano recital was being held. We got there
just in time for the refreshments... sad! However, I did get to play a
little bit of piano after a good 6 months of not really touching one!
That's what happens when the piano in San Fernando just happens to be
LOCKED. After saying goodbye to Elder and Hermana Hunter we went to
visit with the first counselor in the bishopric and his family. I felt
really at home with them and we talked about family history and the
mission:)
All in all a WONDERFUL week, even if I had to fight off a cold. We are blessed that the members and good people of Buenos Aires take such good care of us!
Love you guys!!
Hermana Dickson
