Only In The Service of God Week 9 in Palermo

 The famous Buenos Aires "flower"

Monday: "We work according to God's timing"

After a wonderful Pday touring the city of Buenos Aires we went off to work per the normal. We were planning on taking the subway to our area. We had already paid and entered the train station when a lady announced that the train was having problems and would be arriving late. We waited a good 10 minutes before a train came pulling into the station. Something you should know about subways in Buenos Aires: during rush hour hundreds of people use the subway. There is no air conditioning, and no respect for personal space. People will fight and push, quite violently, to shove as many bodies on or off as possible. It's expensive. It's also the fastest way to get to our area. With all of that in mind we did our best to get on the dumb train, but we didn't want to get trampled as people fought to get on the EXTREMELY full train. After it left we decided to wait for the next, although we knew it was going to be jam-packed as well. My patience was leaving as quickly as the people kept entering the train platform. There had to be about 200 of us waiting for the next train that was sure to be full as well. My companion was waiting patiently, although she knew this wasn't working out. Frustrated, I said a prayer, asking Father if I needed to fight my way onto the train or if we needed to leave and find a colectivo, or a bus. After praying and opening my eyes I found myself right in front of a rail that said "Peligroso". Aka Danger. I didn't need any more of an answer than that, and up we went, finding a colectivo and making it to our area in time to collect Daiana and go to Kathy's for our Family Home Evening. We watched half of "17 Miracles", a VERY powerful pioneer film that Kathy and Daiana loved:)

My greenie: Hermana Cuevas

Tuesday: "It will all Work out"

We had lunch with Sandon! It was kind of the peruvian version of good ol Kentucky Fried chicken, yeaahhh buddy;) After lunch my ear started driving me crazy and my head started pounding. Welcome to my sick mission life;) I started getting pale as well, which instantly signaled to my companion that something was up. We went straight home, to which my companion helped me put some drops in. I actually fell asleep for a couple hours that I really needed before we headed to the pharmacy to get me something for the pain before heading back to our area in time to go with Daiana and visit Carlitos:) We finished decorating his wall with pictures of Christ and then ran to the appointment we had with the Fenoglio family:) They had told us we would be helping them with some service, but when we got there we were greeted by pizza... not really what i had in mind, but not bad;) (name that Disney reference!) However, we were able to serve the family by getting to know their daughter, who isn't around much, and their two little boys as well! We've been seeing a lot of positive change with the family and know that God is blessing our efforts to serve and strengthen the members of our ward.

Wednesday: "Positive and negative things work together for our good"

Zone Conference! Learned lots of good stuff, got to see President, and got a blessing for my ear:) We didn't get back to our area until pretty late, but we managed to pick up our vianda and get over to the Lopez family. They live extremely far away, and we've been really working to get out of the part of our area where we always work to meet new people and try to find more people to teach! We went with Zulieka and her sisters and contacted the entire neighborhood practically! It's pretty much country out where they live, which is such a beautiful change after the city city city of Palermo... so nice to see rustic stuff like GRASS. Needless to say, we thought out of the box and out of the city;)

In Chinatown Buenos Aires

Thursday: "Yielding to the Lord's way is the Only way"

The entire day my companion and I were guided by the spirit. Our lunch, upon arriving, was not present, and told us to come back for dinner. We therefore went walking, bought a loaf of bread and some sandwich meat on the way and went to our next appointment, about 15 blocks away. Upon arriving at Dani's house we ate our lunch with her picnic style. We also took the time to talk to her and listen to what she had to say. At one point, after we had eaten and shared a scripture I felt like we needed to leave, as we'd already spent a lot of time at her house and we had a member to accompany us. I was focused more on the time than on what she was saying, until a voice told me to LISTEN. To stop worrying. That Dani was going to say something that I needed to hear. Something I needed to know. And so I stopped worrying, and started listening. As we were there our member sent us a message to tell us he wasn't going to make it. God was making it possible for us to stay and listen. And listen we did. The things Dani shared were so jam-packed of the spirit that I felt as though she were the missionary and I was the investigator for a moment. She told us that the second coming was much closer than we knew, and that when Christ was coming Satan wouldn't instantly be bound. That Christ was going to need warriors, those whose faith had been tested to fight, to stand with him and bind Satan for a thousand years. We left spiritually and temporally full. Upon leaving we visited with Daiana briefly before going to our dinner. Upon arriving we were handed the food in sacks.... leaving us with some extra time. ... We decided to see if Hermana Fenoglio was home to offer to help her in some way. She doesn't have a phone, or a doorbell, or even a camera to see us, and I was doubting as to how we would ever get her attention. However, a second later she turned the corner and saw us, inviting us in. NOT a coincidence in the least. Once inside we were able to serve her through taking out the trash and washing the dishes. She didn't want us to have to work, and said that we were here to serve God. I told her that when we were in the service of our fellow beings we were only in the service of our God, and that she needed to allow me to serve her to serve God. It worked! God led this day, and although our number of lessons with a member or other numbers were low, the spirit was so high. A GREAT day.

Friday: "The spirit continually challenges us to be better and climb higher"

On Friday we had the newbie meeting... again! President and his wife did a great job as usual, and after eating we went to my doctor's appointment, where we did a hearing test. What fun! ;) We then met up with Ayelen who was going to accompany us. We visited a ton of people and went through all of our plans, but everything fell through. However, we were able to serve Ayelen by putting some pictures of Christ in her house as well:)

Saturday: "The Holy Ghost really does give customized counsel"

Once again we did our best to find people! 

Sunday: "The atonement is also for Saints"

On Sunday we had lunch with Kathy Campos and the family:) After eating, super good by the way, I told her that I wanted to wash her dishes. There were quite a few, and she seemed hesitant, but I jumped to it, telling her that I was a professional dishwasher and that I washed them FAST! I don't know if she believed me, but she let me wash anyway;) And I was indeed speedy! Caught her off guard by my speed;) We then helped her out by taking her daughter to the church to practice for the primary program. As we walked to the church we got to know Sasha a little bit better:) Upon arriving we could see that the kids were all going a little crazy. I jumped in and helped two of the little ones out, Aaron and Ivo, sitting in between them and keeping them from going crazy. The primary pres made good use of me and had me playing the piano, leading the music, singing a freaking solo, and singing with the little kids... Yikes! But oh well, it all went well. 

To finish off the week my comp and I made pancakes and ate them out on the balcony with dulce de leche... yes, be jealous!

So, a service filled week! 

And all of the quotes are from this last general conference, quotes I had written into my planner before this transfer even started. Crazy how each corresponds with what happened during the day. Yep, go back and take a peek;)

Hermana Dickson out!