You're Not Gonna Believe This One..............

Misioneros Street in Bahia.....gonna miss it.

So here's the DL, the 411, etc....

I got transferred. YES. I know that it was an inspired process for sure, but I think the cookies and brownies I made for the office Elders helped a little... 

maybe a lot :)

- So, we got transfer calls at 1 in the afternoon Saturday, and ALL the office Elders knew what was happening to me before I did. I guess I was the one most anxious to leave that they all wanted to know what happened. BUT, they couldn't tell me! Goobers! So I had to wait 2 hours and I found out I would be going to......

PUERTO MAR DEL PLATA! With... Hermana BATISTA and Hermana MANSILLA!! Yep, I'm in a trio. And YUP with my hija!! I was super surprised and thought it was a joke. But here we are! We are thinking it's because no new hermanas came and that Hna Batista has to train when the 14 new hermanas come next transfer... We'll see! I'm super stoked to be here. I secretly wanted to be companions with Hna Mansilla. She is a super hard worker. She's 24, from Buenos Aires, and we have the same amount of time in the mission. Her mom owns a salon, so she knows a bajillion beauty secrets. Today, they were putting mayonnaise in each others hair... it's supposed to make it way soft... but I'm not convinced, yet. We"ll see if y'all get a pic of me with mayo in my hair!!! She is AMAZING. She said something like this "I think that we were best friends with all of our companions in the Pre-existence. But we all knew that we would be living far away from each other, so we had to come to the mission so that we could find each other again". It's so true! She also told me that they had various people that were close to baptism but things came up and they weren't baptized. She said that maybe the Lord put me here because these people need something more that they couldn't offer them. Yup, I love her already. I know that God has great plans for us! It's not very common that ex-companions return to being companions again! He has great things in store for the three of us. 

- So, I left Bahia yesterday at 5 and got to Mar del Plata at 12:30 at night. I traveled with a few Elders and we chatted for a bit and then it got dark and I thought, "super, I'll rest for a bit." We stopped in Tres Arroyos and a man got on and sat right next to me and SNORED THE WHOLE WAY!!!! Flip. But I got here safe and sound with my GIANT suitcases and Hna Carson, Mansilla and Batista were waiting for me. Hna Carson had to wait for her comp to come, so she stayed with us. We went to bed at like at 2:30 that night, so I'm runnin'  on about 4 hours of sleep!!  WOO! SO, we had to travel to Centro this morning to pick up Hna Carson's comp and leave them to travel to their area but WOW centro is SO BEAUTIFUL! I felt like I was on vacation! Beach, Hotels, Shopping... I was like "you're a MISSIONARY! Not a TOURIST! FOCUS!"  Haha, but one day I'll come back. Puerto is... well a Port. It smells like fish. All of the time. We can see the ocean!! It's so pretty, and our area is like 2 and 1/2 times the size of Villa Mitre. AND IT'S MOSTLY PAVED! No more dirty shoes! No more dirt in the face and mouth! WOOO! AND! It's not as hot! I think the Lord heard my prayers.. or He knew that I would probably DIE in Villa Mitre. I'm super happy!

 - The hardest part was leaving... as we all know. I gave a talk in church about missionary work and I sorta bajar´d the caña... pero bueno. (**lowered the cane, oh well...) Poor Rosita cried! It was so sad! She said, "oh no, don't tell me. I grew to love you so much!" She's the little lady in the pic. Erika cried as she was hugging me and all of my girls were so sad. I didn't expect so many tears! We ate with the Familia Saghin and they told me how special I was to them and how much they thought of me as their own family. It was a very sad day, with lots of tears. I will miss them all very dearly. The best part of the day was when all of my converts came to church in SKIRTS!!!  That was the icing on the cake and made me want to cry. I love these girls, and I will forever be grateful that God put them in my path. They were BEYOND ready to receive the gospel.

-Shoutouts: MIKAYLA MCCHESNEY!!!! I forgot to say in the last email CONGRATULATIONS on getting called to serve in the best country!!! You will love the Argentine people!!!!  You will also be speaking the best form of Spanish there is... Castellano.... so work on your "sha"s!! 

MOM AND DAD!!! New mission prep teachers! I AM SOOOO PROUD!!! WOOOO!!! 

JAKEEE!!!!!! WOOOO! Congrats on your mission call! I'm beyond stoked for you!!! 

VENICE!! I'M DYING! WRITE ME, YOU GOOBER FACE!!!!! AHHHH! Flip, three amigas DOWN.

 OK everyone, really quick, last Sunday we had a lesson, and Cindi Luna (love that girl) challenged us to look for the Lord's hand in our life. I challenge you to do that. Look for the blessings that the Lord gives to you every day. Big and small. For example, that very day, we were walking home in the heat, and some nice lady stopped and said, "I'll take you to your house, it's hot, hop in!"  So we did and she took us to the corner where we live. I'm not sure if that was against the rules or not... but hey, not the point. The point is that the Lord is VERY aware of EACH of His children. Look for His hand in your life and write down what you find. I promise if you start looking, every day,  you will find out that He is very involved in our lives.

I love you all very much. 

Have an amazing week.

Hermana Squire

pics:

#1 My District in Bahia!!!

#2 The "Dream Team"; Elders Cruz & Gravelle; Hermana Gomez

#3 My sweet little Rosita! Love her!

#4 My girls in Bahia; Liz who is a future missionary, in pink; Bella, the little one, a future baptism;  next 3 our converts:Tatiana next to me;.Barbara and Erika

What a great day.

#5 Hermanas Mansilla, Batista and myself (don't know about the mayonnaise....in the hair....:-)

#6 "Misioneros" Street in Bahia..the best.....gonna miss it....not gonna lie.

My district in Bahia

The "Dream Team": Elders Cruz, Gravelle,& Hermana Gomez

Our Rosita

My girls: Liz, Bella(little one), Tatiana, Barbara & Erika

Hermanas Mansilla, Batista, & Squire

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hey peeps!

Well I hope you all had a great Christmas!!  I sure did because I got to talk to the best family on earth... otherwise known as the SQUIRE FAMILY! And with my Grandpa Serna and adopted big brother, Tyler too... so yeah. My life is preeety good.

- BARBARA GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!! WAHOO!!! It was so great. She already has a friend from school who is Mormon and he was able to come to the baptism and the confirmation yesterday, and she was super happy!! We went to pick her up for church yesterday and she came out in a SKIRT! I about passed out. We didn't say anything about it because not everyone has skirts and not a lot of people have the money to buy them, and if they do, there's not any that are modest. BUT! Her MOM had one and said, "you should start going to church in a skirt." WOO! We were two happy missionaries yesterday!! We found out that Natalia really likes the Mormon church, but it's hard for her to get up and go on Sundays. Her marido, boyfriend, father of her children, whatever, is not the best person and doesn't want to get married, so there´s not much we can do about it. But we're hoping to baptize Lautaro and if we do, I KNOW that one day she will be a member!! This is one of the circumstances that I've had to patient and ´wait on the Lord´ and trust in HIS timing, and not mine. But I have faith that she will one day be baptized. 

- So I forgot to say what Christmas Eve is like here in Argentina. At midnight, they set off fireworks ALL OVER and it's like a war zone with all of these explosions (illegal fireworks for sure). Then they open presents and go around to their neighbors and eat and chat until like 5 in the morning. They also eat a lot of fruit salad. I can't tell you how many bowls I've had since Monday. We'll be going to a member's house tonight to eat some more and say, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"  Hna Gomez and I bought some bubbly and we'll be toasting to the New Year solas (**alone) tonight since Vawdrey and her comp moved. 

-  On Thursday, we were finishing up the day and it started POURING!! I didn't have my umbrella and Gomez didn't have a hood so we were like "WHATEVER!" We got soaked in a matter of 5 minutes walking home, so we ran in the rain, jumped in puddles and played on the seesaw in a park for a bit. The pic below is the after effects. Fun times!!

- On Friday, we had the end of year dinner with the two wards. It was SO FUN! There was so much food and the youth (including my converts Tatiana and Erika) danced Argentine folklore in traditional dress and it was so great!!!! I love all of the traditional music and dances of Argentina. I was talking to Elder Gravelle and we were like, "what does the U.S. have in terms of traditional dances? The line dance? cotton eyed joe? The chicken dance?" Ha ha. Sad. They played some great music and Gomez and I were having a hard time not dancing. We may have done the sprinkler a few times when no one was looking... my friends know I can't dance.... ha ha. Tatiana and Erika are doing so well and fit right in with the members. They love them so much and are just part of the big family. That makes me SO HAPPY as a missionary. There needs to be a good hand off from missionaries to members, since we're not going to be here forever, they need to have the support system. Erika is now trying to save up to go to EFY in February and I KNOW that will be a great experience for her and a testimony builder.

 

-To finish, I started reading the Book of Mormon again in Spanish. I LOVED this verse in 2 NEFI 4:34, 35 34 O Lord, I have ^atrusted in thee, and I will ^btrust in thee forever. I will not put my ^ctrust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his ^dtrust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.

 35 Yea, I know that God will give ^aliberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ^bask ^cnot amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the ^drockof my ^erighteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen. 

I love the psalms of nefi! 

Shoutouts: ANNA! I got your email. I LOVE YOU! And thanks for sending pics of little Evelyn. 

KELSEY MEGAN.... COOK! YOU ARE A MARRIED LADY!!! I want pictures dang it! 

To all of you who sent cards to me for Christmas......THANK YOU SO MUCH!! 

Vaughan! Good luck on the 5th! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! 

Hey, I love y´all! 

Have a Happy New Year!

Hermana Squire

Clouds on a rainy day in Bahia

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Christmas sing at Centro

Hey people,

First off, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!! I hope you all have snow because we're having a CRAZY rainstorm right now. We got soaked walking to the cyber in a matter of 5 minutes. WOW! 

Elder HALL from Provo MTC District!

- Well it was a fun and interesting week. We had our Christmas activity on Tuesday and it was the BEST! We got to the chapel and I hear "Hermana Squire?" and I turn around AND GUESS WHO IT IS!!! ELDER HALL!!!! (Elder Hall was in my district at the MTC in Provo) I started flippin' out and bouncing on the spot because it was as good as seeing family! He's grown up in the past 8 months and it was honestly so hard not to just squeeze the heck out of him! But I didn't do it, don't worry!! It was so nice to chat and catch up. 

To start off the activity, about 50 of us went to this Catholic Care Center for people with disabilities and we sang to them. It was so wonderful! You could feel the spirit so strong because these people are so special and you can just feel their sweet spirits! 

After that, we met up with the rest of the group to sing in Centro. It was so awesome! We were on the news here in Bahia! The only bad thing is that they said that we were the "Coro Evangelista"! (Evangelical Choir) POR FAVOR! But then they changed it the next day. We had an Hermano play the violin while we were singing. Investigators and miembros were telling me that I showed up front and center in the clips. Ahhh... how embarrassing. We weren't allowed to proselyte but it was amazing how many people stopped US to say "What are you doing? Who are you guys?" So amazing. We were STILL able to do some missionary work. We got back to the church, ate, had a hilarious talent show and a fireside by Presidente. It was great. They gave us letters from home and a letter to each missionary from Presidente and Hermana. It was a very spiritual and touching day but it made me feel a little trunky!! Haha I was like "I want to be with my family!" But it's ok, I get to talk to y'all tomorrow.

- Barbara came to church! That means she's getting baptized on Saturday! WOOO! Pray that everything goes well. 

- Just some quick funny things about Hna Gomez- She is TERRIFIED of dogs. When we are walking down the street and there's a dog on her side, she switches sides with me. She won't knock on a door if there's a dog in front of it, and she's always like "IT'S GONNA BITE MEEEE." Haha, we laugh a bunch. She's one of 9 kids, and all of her family are members. She is the 4th missionary in her family and is an excellent teacher. I'm happy for this time that we have to serve together.

Hermana Gomez

- SHOUT OUTS: Hey you, Yes YOU (all of you!!)  Merry Christmas. 

I have never felt so much happiness and joy as I do as a missionary. I get to see people's LIVES change through obedience to the gospel. I get to meet wonderful people every day and grow close to them, close enough to call them family. I am SO GRATEFUL for my savior Jesus Christ. That He came to earth, and that He died so that we might live again. I am so GRATEFUL for the restored gospel. I know with every fiber of my being, every particle of my body, that THIS is the TRUE and ONLY TRUE church. If you don't know that yet, I invite you to get down on your knees and ask our Heavenly Father if it's true. We have the FULLNESS of the gospel. People often tell us that we look different, that we have a light about us. THAT, my friends, is the LIGHT of CHRIST and the LIGHT of the GOSPEL. And you can have it too. If you have lost that light, I'm inviting you to find it. It is never too late. Remember when you made covenants with our Heavenly Father that it was FOREVER. Not for a time, but FOREVER. Once you enter into the gate, there is NO TURNING BACK. You stay on that straight and  narrow and I PROMISE YOU, as a representative of Jesus Christ, that you will find indescribable happiness. I love you all and I want you all to have this happiness and pure JOY that I have. The JOY that makes me want to shout out "I LOVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!" AND "I LOVE BEING A MORMON!!!"

Have a very MERRY Christmas and remember, I love you.

Hermana Squire

Elder Stott an alumni from LONE PEAK HIGH SCHOOL!


                                  

Hermanas in Santa hats with...ummm...Santa....

Pic four:  Elder Stott! He went to LONE PEAK HIGH SCHOOL!!!!! We had to do the "L P" together! RACHELLE & EMILY!!!!!! HE SAID 'TELL THEM HI AND TELL THEM TO WRITE ME!!!!!"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...ha ha..not really!

Hello world!!!!!!!!!!!

I want y'all to put on NSYNC ¨Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays¨ on right now and think of Hermana Vawdrey and I singing at the top of our lungs in the pension at 7 in the morning (especially for you Kris)!!!!

WELL HELLO! I hope all is well in the good old United States. I'm just walking around sweating all the time and then I see a little plastic Christmas tree and I'm like "OH YEAH!!! IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME."  It really is going to be just another day of work for us... BUT I get to talk to my FAMILY!!!! WAHOOO! 

- Ok, so I'm trying to think about what happened this week. We have been practicing singing for our Christmas activity tomorrow. It's going to be half of the mission and we'll be singing 5 Christmas hymns in the plaza en Centro, and in the Hospital! They said we can´t proselyte, but little do they know that when we sing about Christ, it will be proselytizing in a way! Right?! Music can touch hearts, so I'm hoping there will be lots of people there! And I think we're even going to be on TV....so yeah. That will be fun!

-So Barbara. She's progressing really well and really wants to get baptized and do the right things but she slept in for church yesterday!! So now she can't get baptized until next Saturday! BOO! Who needs sleep anyway!!?? Ok, but we are really praying that she can realize how important church is. Maybe we'll buy her an alarm....

- We found PAULA again...!!!! We've started teaching her de nuevo  and she REALLY has a testimony of the LDM.(**Book of Mormon) We're praying she can come to church and feel that is where she needs to be. She's such a sweet woman and I KNOW she could get baptized!!

- Hna Gomez and I have been getting to know each other better this week. She's pretty straightforward and says things how they are but is also SUPER funny. She's so quick and sarcastic, so as you can see, we get along great!  She is also a hard worker and a very good teacher!! We have been working hard all week to find new investigators.!

- On Saturday, we had another missionary day with the jovenes(**youth) in the stake. We went with Mité, a cute and hardworking 15 year old. We found two new investigators with her, and all before lunch! What a miracle! We taught one girl the first lesson and after we taught the First Vision, she said ¨que lindo! genial!¨(**how wonderful and brilliant!) and I was like..." ahhhh!" She accepted a fecha bautismal, (**baptismal date) but might be moving in the next bit. 

-During this Christmas season, I hope you all remember why we celebrate this special time. I am so grateful for my Savior and all He did for me. I have grown closer to Him in these 10 short months as I have labored in His work. President Monson said this ¨There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus Christ.

Because He came to earth, we have a perfect example to follow. As we strive to become more like Him, we will have joy and happiness in our lives and peace each day of the year. It is His example which, if followed, stirs within us more kindness and love, more respect and concern for others.

Because He came, there is meaning to our mortal existence.

Because He came, we know how to reach out to those in trouble or distress, wherever they may be.

Because He came, death has lost its sting, the grave its victory. We will live again because He came.

Because He came and paid for our sins, we have the opportunity to gain eternal life.

Because He came, we are gathered tonight to worship Him, in bonds of brotherhood and love."

- SHOUTOUTS!  MARGIE! Got your pkg this week!!! THANK YOU! 

And thank you Grandpa and Grandma Hobson for the card! Loved it!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday KRISTEN! Yes, I'm one day late and I didn't have time to draw you a hideous self portrait, but don't worry, you'll get one soon!! 

Adrienne! Thanks for the email!!! Good to hear from you!!! (FINALLY.) :-) 

Happy late birthday to Michelle in Idaho! And happy birthday to Susan and Nancy next week! 

Hey....

I love you all. 

Have a great Christmas. 

Hermana Squire