a gift from my hijas (doesn't Argentina have the coolest keys?!)
My former companion and Martin Lopez
My new companion, from Salta, Argentina
Hermana Cuevas
Hermana Cuevas
On Tuesday we all gathered in
San Fernando at 5 to meet the newbies! Hermana Johnson was one of the
sister training leaders helping with the new missionaries, so I got to
see her! The assistants around 5:45 ushered us into the primary room, as
the newbies were coming in and we needed to hide! Hermana Johnson's
hija, Hermana Sanchez, was with us as she would be training for the
first time. She seemed a little nervous, but I sat by her and put an arm
around her, assuring her that it was normal to be nervous, and that
even I, on round 4, was a little nervous;) The assistants handed us hymn
books and off we went in a line, ready to come in singing Called to
Serve.
Once again I was in the front of the line... someone has something against me. We came in singing, and once we had all entered the room Hermana Ayre and President started naming companionships. When they called me up I went up to Hermana Cuevas, gave her a hug, and we sat down among the other companionships. After President talked to us briefly and we ate pizza Elder Perry was ushering us towards a remise to Palermo. Off we went! It was about 8:20 when we got to the apartment, so we didn't have time to work that night, but we planned for the next day and I got to get to know my comp a little better!
Once again I was in the front of the line... someone has something against me. We came in singing, and once we had all entered the room Hermana Ayre and President started naming companionships. When they called me up I went up to Hermana Cuevas, gave her a hug, and we sat down among the other companionships. After President talked to us briefly and we ate pizza Elder Perry was ushering us towards a remise to Palermo. Off we went! It was about 8:20 when we got to the apartment, so we didn't have time to work that night, but we planned for the next day and I got to get to know my comp a little better!
Treats for the hija and the pension
The apartment we share with two other hermanas
my bed with the banner
My study space
On
Wednesday we took off running with weekly planning, followed by our
weekly vianda from the Cucaresse family. We ate at church, and shared a
little bit about ourselves as we did so. After lunch we went to the
hospital, as my comp had to have a stitch taken out of her hand. I was
scared for her, but the doctor took it out in about 2 seconds! After
that we went to meet up with our member who was going to accompany us.
Unfortunately he didn't ever show up... So we got Victor to accompany us
and visited Kathy:) The idea was to go over and help build her up, but
she did the opposite, building up Victor and helping him understand that
he was progressing and developing in the gospel and to recognize what
he was achieving. What should I expect, once a missionary always a
missionary;) My companion also shared Doctrine and Covenants 122:7 and 8 with Kathy and
Victor, which really brought the spirit. We then saw Daiana and
Luciana! We talked about tithing and fasting:) After visiting with the
two of them we ran off to go to our weekly meeting with our mission
leader. ...We eventually found the church and were able to help plan our
upcoming activity as a ward:) The Hunters were there and gave us
Halloween candy, fake tattoos, and plastic vampire teeth. Pretty much the
best family ever!
The Hunters and Hermana Muro
With Maida and Karen
On Thursday as we left the
house to go to our zone meeting we were greeted by an absence of
functioning subway! We found a bus and made it, albeit late;p The zone
leaders had asked me to take 7 minutes or so to talk about commitments. I
wasn't too thrilled, as I had to do it alone in front of everyone, but
it actually went quite well:) I also enjoyed the visual demonstration
Elder Wilcox and his companion showed. They made a cup tower with cups
that had each of our names written on the front. The top cup was called
"the goal". They pointed out that each one of us would be needed to hit
the goal. To illustrate the point they asked one of the Elders to take
away his cup. The entire tower shattered, cups flying everywhere. It was
a powerful example that engraved itself in my mind.
Hermana Montoya and Hermana Dani
We
then had lunch at 4 in the evening... talk about hungry! It was very
good however:) We then went to visit the Sandon family. We helped
Joseph, their son, to set a goal to read the Book of Mormon and for the
family to start holding family scripture study:) We then went next door
to visit Daiana. I received inspiration, and asked her if she would
accompany us. She said yes!! With Daiana we visited Mayo and set an
appointment with the entire family for Saturday! We also visited
Carlitos:)
That night I had my first family
meal in 15 months... with 3 of my hijas! Hermana Bekaouche did the dinner,
Hermana Yancey did the show, and Hermana Cuevas and I were the guests:)
As I gave the prayer for the food I gave thanks for the chance we had to
be eating together as the Dickson family... it was sort of crazy! Great
to see all of them:)
Riquelme is training, but here is Yancey and Cuevas, and Beckaouche is here too
On Friday was my dad's birthday!!!
We
ate alone once more... or as Hermana Cuevas puts it, our "Forever Alone
lunch". After lunch we went to get Victor, but when we passed by he
told us he wasn't doing well and that he couldn't accompany us... It put
a bit of a damper in our plans, but we were determined to endure to the
end! ;) We decided to visit Mari and Jaghira and shared Ether 2:22-25.
Read it, it's good;)
We then went to try and
find Karina. We had been calling and texting, but hadn't been receiving
any reply. And so we went over to her house, hoping to catch her home.
We rang the bell and nothing happened. We were about to leave when
Karina came walking by. When she saw us she looked confused and asked us
why we were in front of her building. We told her we had been trying to
visit her. She didn't have time to visit with us, and left very
quickly. As we left I have to say I felt a little down. I felt like she
had been so close and that now she didn't want anything to do with us or
the church. However, my daughter wisely commented that we should pray
during planning that night to ask Father if we needed to try to see her
once more or if we needed to give her space for now. She helped me feel
calmer about the situation as she told me that I'd done what I could and
that the rest depended in Karina and in God's timing. She's right.
We
then visited Paulo and got a referral. Whoo! From there we visited
Daiana in the Sandon house. We taught the 10 commandments with hand
signs, which was just a little bit too much fun;)
We finished off the day with dinner at the Licursi house:)
On
Saturday we ate in the abasto, a huge shopping center:) With Victor we
visited Anderson and talked about service. I don't think he really
understood the importance of serving others until I asked him, "How
would you feel if you came into the kitchen in the morning and breakfast
was ready and waiting for you?" I hadn't even finished the question
when he smiled and said he'd really enjoy such. I explained that each of
us can bring that easy happiness to others, and challenged Anderson and
Victor to find little ways to serve.
Camila!
We saw Daiana, who is now reading in the book of Enos! She's going to be finished in no time!!
The day finished up with a visit to the Gonzales Family:) We watched the Mormon message "Origin". Another invite: watch it!
On
Sunday all of Argentina was voting, so after going to church and
picking up our vianda we were told to go to our pension and stay there
for safety reasons. That we did. At church I really enjoyed the lessons!
We studied Uchtdorf's talk from this last general conference and watched
a video on our true identity. In gospel principles class we talked
about the holy ghost. Hermana Hunter commented that often we think of
the Holy Ghost as the weakest member of the godhead and underestimate
just Who he is and just all he can do. It really made me stop and think
about the power of the holy ghost. Something to study!
The view outside of our apartment
Map of our area
My companion gave a talk on missionary work in sacrament meeting that went really well!
The
rest of the day was spent studying inside. I enjoyed studying, and
finished the Book of Mormon!! This will be the fourth time in Spanish.
As I was finishing it up I could really feel the spirit and the reality
of the book. I've already started reading it again. The Book of Mormon
is truly full of a power hard to explain.
It
was a great week:) My comp and I will continue to endure to the end,
search for investigators, and enjoy our forever alone lunches;)
An Argentine treat :)
Facturas
Take care!
Hermana Dickson
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