Mom Times 2

Hey goobers!!

How are ya!? Well, you're all heading into spring, breakin' out the sandals and such and I'm puttin' on the scarves and tights. BOOO. 

First off, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE EMAIL LOVE. I love hearing from you!! Yes, YOU!

Saying goodbye to Hermana Mansilla

-Well, we finished the 9 week transfer of death, Hna Mansilla said her goodbyes and we got all of her stuff together, which was a LOT! and headed off to Bahia. Dorrego is like an hour from Bahía so I don't think we'll see each other until we finish the mission in July. PS. Every time people ask me how much time I have left and I say 4 months, they're like, "oh hermana, ya esta, ya se va!"  It's weird... now I'm in the "old group". 

So, we went to the office and did the whole orientation deal and I found out who my companion would be.........

Hermana Ibaña! Another comp from Argentina! She's 20, and from Santa Elena, Entre Rios. She did a mini mission, so she knows the basics of the work and the lessons. She likes cooking and is hungry every 2 hours... but she's like a little stick! It's hilarious. So we're happy to have her here in Puerto.

New companion! Hermana Ibaña

-So we had one heck of journey home! There weren't any colectivos directly to Mar del Plata, so we had to take one to Villa Gesell, about 1.5 hrs from MDP. WELL, 3 hours into the journey, we blew a tire! So we sat off to the side waiting for 3 hours. Then we drove to a pueblo and got off since we were the only ones going to Villa Gesell. The six of us got into cars and headed off to ANOTHER colectivo (bus) in the middle of nowhere waiting for US. We got on, and there were only 4 seats for 6 of us!! SO I sat on Hna Ermacora's lap for an hour. Any longer than that and I think she would have been paralyzed! haha!  We finally got to Villa Gesell at like 4 in the morning and had to wait until 6 to get another collectivo to MDP... it was a joke!!!  We were beat after the 17 hour journey. I wanted to die. So long!

The lost and weary travelers, even the dog...

4 am......so tired!

I don't think she will ever recover from the bus ride!

- Hey! Today is my 14 month mark! WOO! Can you believe it?? That means in less than four months I'm gonna be home and I'm gonna see all of you!!!

- Ok, I was reading in Nefi (Nephi) the other day....we all know about 1 Nefi 3:7... I will go and I will do... and everyone loves that scripture. And it says yes, I will go and I will do what the Lord asks of me! But that's future tense, right? So, I was reading in 2 Nefi 5: 31, in Spanish of course, and it says, " 31 Wherefore, I, Nephi, to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord, went and made ^athese plates upon which I have engraven these things". In Spanish, "hacer" is to make or to do. SO it says,"fui e hice", or I went and DID. I thought about that for a bit, and I thought maybe we should be more of the type of disciples you "went" and "did" and less like the disciples who "will go" and "will do" (tomorrow, next week, later). Hopefully you all understood that. 

- Shoutouts!!

 Since I don't have time to write you all, thank you Sandii, Tio Hector, Amberly, and Serna family for the emails! 

AND MY VAWDREY! It's so weird that you're home! I miss you!!!! 

Happy Birthday to Heather De La Garza , Bella Davis, and to Paul!! Hope you all have great days.

Venice!! My mom sent me some of your bridal pics, and you are GORGEOUS! WIsh I could be there with you. 

HEY! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

SQUID, ah, I mean, 

Hermana Squire

We will all finish the mission together:
Hermanas Ermacora, Squire, Mansilla y Gonzalez

I'm in an OVEN. A hot, HUMID Oven.

Hello all you mighty fine lookin' people,

I am going to take a little space to complain about the heat. Then I won't mention it again. Ok? ok. I am in an OVEN!!! This last week was the hottest that it's ever been!!!! 100 degrees with sensacion termica of 104!!!! I thought I was going to 1) pass out, 2) throw up 3) die or 4) all three at once. I'm not joking!! The sun is SUPER strong and it's so humid!! I feel like I'm breathing in vapor. And NO ONE IS AWAKE OR IN THE STREETS FROM 2-5! So we just die in the streets! We have to take shelter sometimes in a home of a member, or menos activo because my blood pressure drops and I feel pretty weak.  It's pretty dangerous sometimes. I know missionaries have gotten heat stroke. It's gotten up to 88 degrees IN our room at night and we sleep with 2 fans, one on me, and one on Hna Gomez. So yeah. It's been pretty bad. The end.

-OK!!!  So last Monday, we had a great noche de hogar (family home evening) with the familia Saghin! THEY ARE THE BEST PEOPLE EVER!! I LOVE THEM. Mom, they loved your gifts by the way. I JUST WANNA TAKE THEM HOME!!!!! Dad, they love that you restore cars. 

That same day, we found Corina. She was a street contact and the first time we went to her house she said, "wanna come in?" And we're like... "ummm... SURE!" Haha, it's so surprising when that happens. When people invite me in I always stand there like... "wait,..... what? Really?"  It's like a Christmas miracle every time! So she's in her 30s, not married, but is very attentive in the lessons. She has got a lot of potential, and I'm excited to see her progress. Pray that she gets her answer. 

- This week we did divisions and Hermana Ermacora came to Villa Mitre! woo!! This girl is a hoot and a half and I seriously almost peed my pants every day. We worked really hard (except for 20 minutes one day, when we thought we were about to fall over in the street because of the heat, so we sat under a tree) and laughed really hard. I hope I get to serve again with her one day. If not, we're going home together in July so we'll be able to see each other again. Um is it just me or does July seem really, really soon? What the heck?

-So this is the last week of the transfer. If you wanna pray for me, pray for 1) that my body will survive this heat and 2) that I will get transferred. I already have 4 transfers here and this next one is 9 weeks long (they are normally 6) to accommodate the flood of new missionaries. I WILL DIE IF I HAVE TO BE HERE THAT LONG. DIE I TELL YOU! I love these people and the members but I NEED A CHANGE! I have memorized this tiny place! I walk down the street and point at houses... testigo, evangelico, viejito that said "no", x investigator, menos activos that don't want anything to do with the church.. etc. I NEED A CHANGE! PRAY HARD!  PLEASE!

Ok, So I read a talk by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson... It's "The book of Mormon, the Keystone to Our Religion." It is amazing. Go read it. He talked about how the Lord views this sacred work, and I had never really thought about it too deeply, but he makes the point that the only thing that preceded the coming forth of the Book of Mormon was the first vision. It came forth before the restoration of the priesthood, and before the church was organized. The saints were chastised because they were taking too lightly this "new covenant" (DyC 84: 54-57...i think). Here's a quote: "Do eternal consequences rest upon our response to this book? Yes, either to our blessing or our condemnation. Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this book a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in jeopardy and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity to his whole life. There is a difference between a convert who is built on the rock of Christ through the Book of Mormon and stays hold of that iron rod, and one who is not". WAHPUH!! My family and friends! Are you studying the Book of Mormon as fervently as you should? If you are not, is President Benson's warning enough to put a fire under your bum? I hope SO!

-Shoutouts: LUCAS BOY!!!! Happy 1st Birthday! Su primer añito! Also, Happy birthday to ADRIENNE this week! Woo one  year younger!! Then Happy Birthday to Lauren Platt! I hope you all have great days. I LOVE YOU ALL! Thank you for the prayers and support.

Hermana Squire

Might Be Turning A Little Argentine!

HELLO ALL YOU GOOD LOOKIN PEOPLE!!

How are  ya?? How's your October going??  Ok, so about the title of the email... I might be turning into an Argentine... I´m foot tapping to a song here in the cyber and I love it. It´s called Colgando En Tus Manos. Go look it up! Hey!! I can't do much about the songs blasting in the cyber!! So I´ll just happily foot tap through this internet "sesh", then go listen to some MoTab. Shoot, AUNT LORI, they're playing MUSE!! Satan, why must you tempt me so???

-Ok, this week we had divisions. I went to Dorrego with Hermana Ermácora, and poor Hermana Batista had to navigate her way through our area with Hermana Gaspar. Hermana Ermácora is a hoot and a half. I had such a fun time! But silly me, I thought that Spring means warm, but NO, I froze! I had to borrow sweaters from her. That house is a dang freezer. ANyway. Hna Ermácora. She´s 22 and from Rosario, a small town called Venado Tuerto (Dave?? do you know it?) which means "one eyed reindeer" in Spanish. HAH!!!!!!! Her favorite movie is Nacho Libre!!!!  She's an art student, and loves ACDC. So as you can see, we got along pretty well. We laughed a lot and worked our buns off. Dorrego reminded me of Pringles, just a little bit nicer. It was such a good experience. I hope I have the opportunity to serve with her again someday. 

- So the mosquitos are ridiculous here. I SWEAR THEY KNOW WHERE I AM! We were waiting for the bus last night and I was getting about 2 bites per minute. So I was standing there in this awkward downhill skier squat position so I could see my legs in the light, my eyes darting around to every part of my body and when one would land WAHPUH! Smack em dead!!! Then the bus came, sweet relief, right? WRONG! THEY WERE ON THE BUS! And I watched them. They would fly around the natives, then sniff me out with their freakish gringa blood seeking noses and they would FLY RIGHT AT ME! I was ticked!! Might die this summer.!! It´s getting warmer, I think it was like 80 degrees yesterday.... people are saying it gets to be about 105 WITH HUMIDITY here. I might melt!!

- Now they're playing MGMT... FOCUS CYDNEE!!! 

- Joel is doing great. He is totally baptizable. We just need to finish teaching him and help him to quit smoking and IN THE WATER HE GOES! He seriously is so great. 

- While I was on divisions, Hna Batista told me that Paula left. She will be gone for 2 months plus. I was heartbroken. Her pastor came and lectured her and now she´s confused and doesn't want to go to ANY churches. I´m way sad. Keep her in your prayers. 

- I read an AMAZING talk by Elder Wirthlin "Follow me". GO READ IT. It talked about how Peter, James, John and Andrew left their nets "straightaway" and heeded the call of the Savior to come follow Him. We must do the same. Elder Wirthlin describes the nets of today: "Nets are generally defined as devices for capturing something. In a more narrow but more important sense, we might define a net as anything that entices or prevents us from following the call of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God." We must leave the nets of the world and follow the call of the Savior and follow him. "As Jesus the Christ stood on the shores of the Sea of Galilee 2,000 years ago, so stands He today, issuing the same call He gave to those faithful fishermen and now to all who will hear His voice: “Follow me!” We have nets that must be tended and nets that must be mended. But when the Master of ocean, earth, and sky calls to us, “Follow me,” we should leave the entangling, worldly nets behind and follow His footsteps." I have left my nets of the world, my friends, the music I love, my education, family and all things that are comfortable to me. I have heeded to the call of my Master to follow Him, and feed His sheep. And I can tell you all that I do not regret it for one second. I can say to you all that I have never been happier!! So my invitation to the youth and to senior couples:  Leave your nets of the world, and come follow Him. Feed His sheep, and you will receive blessings beyond your imagination. You youth can now serve sooner!  Take advantage of this opportunity and come thrust in your sickle with all your might, because the field is white and ready to harvest. To the rest of you, I invite you to leave some of your worldly nets, and serve and love a little more. 

Shoutouts! TYLER! THANK YOU FOR THE DOUBLE EMAIL! WOOO IT´S LIKE CHRISTMAS!!! Had. I love you!! Rachelle. WRITE ME. Zander thank you for the pictures!! Cute fam! PEOPLE OF THE WORLD! I love you. Know I pray for you and that my missionary prayers count as double. SO you should be receiving lots of blessings. HEY!! Work hard, and pray harder. Have an AMAZING WEEK!!

Hermana SQUIRE

LOVE YOU PADRES!

On Missionary splits
L-R: Hermana Batista, Hermana Ermacora, and Hermana Gaspar

On my way to Dorrego for the split

Her "HLJ" birthday ring: Haz Lo Justo, Choose the Right