Pioner Children Sang as they walked, and walked, and walked

-Ok this title explains my week. It seems like we walked SO MUCH. I have a pedometer and the record is 13 miles... so yes, I feel like a pioneer. Saturdays are the big walking days. We go find all our investigators and try and get them pumped and ready for church. This week, we visited AND called people. 10 people said they were coming to church. Guess how many came? 0. I was sitting in sacrament thinking, you've got to be joking me. JUST COME TO CHURCH PEOPLE!  Bahh, so frustrating. I don´t know what else we can do to get people to church.
- Analia... oh man. This woman has got some major issues. She feels like every time she starts doing the right thing, major trials come into her life. The last time she almost got baptized, they were homeless and they almost took her children away. So sad. We prayed with her and she offered the most sincere, heart felt prayer. We had been wondering why we hadn't met her pareja and why she never really talked about him. WE NOW KNOW WHY!. We passed by last night and he answered the door... UM!!! He can't be a day over 18 years old. AH!!! SHE´S LIKE 38!!! WHAT IS SHE THINKING! No wonder she wants his parents permission, he's a BABY! So we don't know what we´re going to do. She hasn't been coming to church, so if she doesn't keep her commitments, we're going to have to drop her. So sad.
- We taught Hnas Legizamon and Linco to say ´nose goes´. They think it is the funniest thing ever.
- Pringles can't decide if it wants to be winter or not. It was SO WARM this week! So nice! More people are outside!
- We had another asada at Hno Achigar's. Lamb again... I wasn't a fan before, but man, these Argentines KNOW how to do it. So dang good. Did I mention Hno Achigar owns a BAR?! Haha the funniest thing ever. He also bought us a sacarropas- a thing that spins all the water out of our clothes. It doesn't dry them completely, but it does the job!! I never thought I would almost cry over a home appliance. SO AMAZING! We were so worried about what we were going to do in the winter with our clothes drying. This man is seriously the best.
- We had a noche de hogar (FHE) with a menos activo, Maria José. We did cookies of the restoration, using Sister Hobson's recipe! The brown sugar is different here, so they came out brown, but they were a hit! I love Maria José!
- We are also working with the Famila Varela, another menos activo family. They are going through a hard time with no work. We stopped by and shared a quick message and they expressed their desires about coming back to church. THEY CAME YESTERDAY! The best thing ever! Ahh. I've been think about what makes people go inactive. I read a talk by Elder Samuelsen (CECIL!!) about Testimony. The small and simple things like reading scriptures, praying, going to church are crucial. Satan will make you think that you don't have to pray one night, then the next, then you skip a Sunday... it's a gradual and vicious cycle. DO THE SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS! I´m begging you all, if you don't, your testimony will be in jeopardy. Another great point is that we need to trust in the things we believe in or know to sustain us in times of uncertainty or with issues where we struggle. Don't lose faith in what you do know because of what you don't know. Love that quote.
-Shoutouts: ASHTON CRAIG- I missed your bday. Sorry. Hope it was great! Hermano Larsen! Thank you so much for the package!! That was very kind of you, and I really appreciate it! Loved it! Greg Dunn: I read your letter you wrote me and I cried. Thank you so much. It was exactly what I needed at the time and I really, really appreciate it. You're the best. Also, I'm in gaucho land...(South American farmers- knee high boots, khakis, ascots, button ups and berets. THE BEST EVER) To everyone that wrote me a letter for my little book: THANK YOU! The one's I´ve read so far have been such a boost and such a support for me. I have the best family and friends in the world. VENICE! Letter on the way to you! You have some explaining to do, missy. IS JUSTIN STUCKI HOME??! If he is, RaRa, HaHa, give him a squid sized squeeze for me. TO ALL THE MOMS IN MY LIFE (Adrienne, Natalie Grant, Nancy Shriever, Aunt Lori, Grandma Squire, Grandma Hobson, Tia Alice, Soila, Aunt Jeni, Aunt Anne, Michelle Young, Adriana, Susan... and my mama,
the best lady around :-) HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY! I LOVE YOU ALL! Happy Mother's Day to ALL the mom's out there. I love you, and thank you for your example.
-This work is the Lord's work. I am so proud to wear His name on my chest every day. I am so happy to be trusted as His messenger. These people need this gospel. There is so much heartache that can be avoided if you follow the principles of the gospel. I love loving these people. I love when I can feel the love God has for them. The mission has already blessed my life so much!
I love you all as much as Argentine's love their mate! Besos!

Hermana Squire
cydnee.squire@myldsmail.net

PADRES! (answers to questions)
No guacamole... I haven't seen any avocados actually. But the food is SO DELISH. Wow! What we had at that house was NOT Argentine. We travel to Bahia via convi (15 seater van thing) or collectivo (bus with cushiony reclined seats) pretty nice. GOT MY PACKAGE! Both, actually. I'm such a baby. I cried when I opened it. You are seriously the best parents ever. Also, I CAN'T CHEW GUM! Haha I keep forgetting to tell you. I chew that in the morning.  Ok so what we don´t have in Argentina that you can still send: American candy. Kids LOVED it when I passed out tootsie rolls. If you can send mini stuff every once in a while that would be great. I miss my mama's cookin. Especially your bread. I almost cried thinking of the two loaves I had to leave behind at the MTC.
LOVE YOU! CAN'T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU!!!

Pray for Visas!

Que tal mi familia y amigos?

24 days and COUNTING until ARGENTINA! What the crazy? I'm so pumped and so ready to get out there. This week was so great, but every week is great when you're a missionary!

- I am now officially coordinating sister. Pretty much I take care of the Hermanas in our zone (3 of us), go to branch council, and tell people off in the residency for not observing quiet time... in a loving way of course. Then when new districts come in, I help the zone leaders do orientation and teach them a little about the MTC and such. We got a new district last week, they're going to Columbia and are leaving before us! But they'll be in the Columbian MTC for 6 more weeks. Hopefully we get a new district this week... there are only 3 districts left! Maybe we'll get some Hermanas, who knows!

- This week, we got to leave the MTC TWICE! Hna. Hinze's retainer broke so we had to go to the orthodontist. I got to venture out into the REAL WORLD! It was weird, but I liked it. They had real music playing in there too! It was hard not to stand up and sing along... " I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL, PUT ANOTHER DIME IN THE JUKEBOX BABY!" Don't worry, I refrained. We get to go back next week! Woo!

- So, the prayer for devotional went well on Tuesday. Except President Brown called me Cindy Squire. Yup, that's me. I sorta knew it would happen, but oh well. I was SO DANG NERVOUS that I couldn't eat dinner before. Ridiculous, I know. Elder Evans came and spoke to us and it was really great. We've been hearing the recurrent themes of Enduring to the End and using the Book of Mormon more. Missionaries HAVE GOT TO ENDURE after their missions! One of the saddest things is seeing a RM go inactive. We teach our investigators to endure to the end, SO WE HAVE TO ENDURE TO THE END TOO! It's so important. I don't know how one can go inactive after experiencing all the miracles of missionary work. This gospel is so engrained into me, I cannot possibly fall away. When investigators call me up when I'm 50 years old saying their son/daughter is marrying in the temple I want to say, I'LL BE THERE!

- On Sunday night, we had an interesting fireside. Alex Boye came and did sort of a talk/singing session. It was great. He was pretty hilarious but then got spiritual. He told his conversion story and promised that years from now, people we helped to convert will speak our names with reverance and with a heart full of gratitude for sharing what we know with them. That hit me hard. It made me think about how I want to be remembered. I want to be remembered as a humble missionary who was so full of love for the people and for the gospel.

- Investigators! Sergio: I love this man!! On Saturday, we went to teach him. We left him with Ether 12 and he told us that he loved the chapter. He read it 3 times and focused on Ether 12:27 (weak things become strong), and told us that he was up all night thinking about it and decided that he wanted...NEEDED... to be baptized. WHAT! The Book of Mormon works miracles!! The Hermanas are the only ones who have a baptismal date set in stone... why? Because of the Book of Mormon. That's why. Later, Hno. Larsen told us that Ether 12 was the EXACT scripture he shared with the REAL Sergio and it made him finally decide to be baptized. I was floored and so humbled by that. THE SPIRIT IS REAL!! It prompts us and tells us of the things we need to teach and share. We had more lessons with him, and we taught about how Satan was going to try and change his mind and be working on him really hard. We told him to write down his feelings of when he decided to be baptized and used the BoM a lot. After that, Hno Larsen told us that it was our best lesson by far. He told us that we, as 6 week missionaries, were teaching like we had been out for 6 months. It was the best compliment I could have ever gotten. Ruben- Sweet Ruben! I love this kid. We finished up the plan of salvation and talked a little about how to enter the celestial kingdom we needed to continually stay on the path and continually repent. He was like what is repentence and how can I do it? That right there is a proud moment for a missionary. When someone wants to do something without you even asking. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!

- Spanish is coming along great. I feel like I can speak more and more every day, and my fluidity is getting better during lessons. It's exciting!

- We're slightly worried that our visas won't make it on time. Other Argentine missionaries have been delayed. So, PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR VISAS! I want to get out there! If we don't get them, we'll be temporarily reassigned to a state side Spanish speaking mission for a month or so. I would go if the Lord wanted it, but I WANT TO GET TO MY PEOPLE!

- Shoutouts: Squire Grandparents: thanks for the dearelder! Love you! Paige and Taylor- thanks for the dearelders! You two never fail to make me laugh until I'm crying. Tio Hector- I hope your surgery went well! I love all you Texas people! Grandma Hobson- You are a sweet angel! Your cookies are legendary on the 4th floor! Thank you so much! Dunn family- I was so sad about Lucky. I don't remember a time when you didn't have him. Love you all. TAHNEE OWENS: get your hiney in gear and send me a dearelder or SOMETHING! I miss you! A quick note on dearelders. I just found out that we CAN get those in Argentina! They can be sent via pouch and they send them out once a week! Who knows how long it will be till I actually GET them, but it is still an option! I don't know how, so ya'll are on your own on this one.

Being a missionary is one of the most rewarding things ever! I love it! It's challenging, but I know with the Lord's help I can do ANYTHING! This is HIS work and He will not let me fail! Thank you all for the prayers and support. I love each of you so much!

Con Amor,

Hermana Squire

I'm Going to Be on TV....sort of...

Hola!

Here I am again, stunned that another week has gone by here in the CCM. We are now HALFWAY through our time here! This time next month I will be on my way to Argentina! I have some exciting things to share this week so I'd better start!

- On Tuesday, we had our weekly devotional. AND GUESS WHO IT WAS? ELDER HOLLAND!!! Just my favorite apostle in the world! Oh my gosh. IT WAS AMAZING! He walked into the room while we were singing prelude and we all stood for him. A wonderful spirit FILLED the room! It was such a special witness to me that THIS MAN is an apostle of the Lord! I sang in the choir again this week (are you all shocked?!) so we had great seats. We sang 'come thou fount' which is definitely one of my favorites, as well as Elder Holland's! He started off by telling us that we are one of the miracles of this church and probably the most prayed for, save the Prophet. He expressed deep love and admiration for us and told us that he prayed for us as well. Morning and night. Then, the real fun started. I don't think I've ever felt so chastised but so loved in my whole life. He practically yelled at us, but with tears in his eyes. It was so great. He told us that The apostles and the prophet expect a lot of us. They expect us to 'pull our socks [or tights] up to our armpits and get to work'. He told us that we do NOT have the right to compromise our mission. There is 200 years of restoration tradition on our shoulders and we do not have the right to compromise what we are seen as. Missionaries are the image of the church. We are known by it. He also told us we need to come back CHANGED for good, even if we were terrific before. We are never supposed to go back to what we were before. He told us that we shouldn't fade after our missions, if we are just going because our parents want to and just want to get it over with, THEN WHY ARE WE GOING?! We need to come back from our missions with the gospel burned into our souls and into our countenances. Young people should say 'I want to be like them' when you speak. We won't be perfect, but we better try! He told us we would be apostolic... a witness sent to declare His word. We learned that we need to use the BoM more. It is so important! If investigators read the first 10 chapters, they will be well on their way to a testimony of the restoration. Elder Holland also said that the BoM contains the spirit! It physically dwells there. We also learned we need to PERSONIFY the spirit into our personalities. Persuade and never force, be individual, be simple, this leads to ACTION. That is something I've never thought about before. It was such an amazing talk, I wish you ALL could have heard it. I left feeling edified and feeling the need to improve... A lot. I feel so blessed to have been able to listen to an apostle of the Lord.

- Now for the subject of this email... It's too bad Elder Holland couldn't have come next week because... I'll be giving the closing prayer at devotional. Yup, Elder Kelly and I were chosen from our zone to give the prayers at the next devotional. Did I mention that they are broadcasted to 15 MTC's?!! What?! How did I get chosen for this job? Do I know how to pray in English anymore? I hope that I don't slip Spanish in there. AYE! AYE AYE! Hopefully it goes well because, my lands, I am terrified.

- Real quick: We sing the hymn Armies of Helaman sometimes... but instead of singing, 'and we will be the Lord's missionaries' we sing ' and we ARE NOW the Lord's missionaries'. I LOVE THAT! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

- Investigators: Ruben. Our sweet golden investigator. We have a fecha for him to be baptized on March 24. He is well on his way! We brought a ward member, Eduardo (actually Hermano Romney) to help fellowship him and teach him about getting baptized and getting the priesthood. Ruben is SO excited to get the priesthood because then he can baptize his mother! So sweet. Now there's Sergio. He is such a hard man and has so many questions. It's hard to find out what he needs, but we definitely have made progress. We did have a terrible lesson where he asked about infant baptism and I led him to Moroni 8. I forgot how strong that chapter is! He was like 'Es muy fuerte, no?' ahhh then he had 100 more questions that we didn't know. Hno. Larsen told us after that he just saw the wind blow out of our sails, and we looked like we wanted to crawl under a rock. Which was TRUE! Aye. But he did say never to feel bad for teaching the truth. We had another lesson with him yesterday, and it was SO GREAT! We tried to pay attention to the spirit more and decided to talk about faith. We read Ether 12 and he loved it. (no witness till after trial of your faith). It went so well and HE FINALLY ACCEPTED A FECHA FOR BAPTISM! Same day as Ruben. He did say if he wasn't ready he wouldn't do it. BUT HE WILL BE READY. That's a promise. I wish I could tell you more about them!

- Happy Birthday to my awesome cousin Greg Dunn! I hope you had a great day. And Happy birthday to my amigas mejores TAYLOR AND PAIGE! I love you guys and I wish I could be there to draw awkward portraits of you and sing weird songs. Hope each of your birthdays are GREAT. Thank you Serna family in Virginia for the dearelder! I love reading those! Love you! Thank you for all the prayers and support. I feel it every day! I have never been so tired in my life. But I am SO DANG HAPPY! I don't get it! I love you all so much and hope you have the best week!

Besos y Abrazos,

Hermana Squire

Besos y Abrazos

Hola!

Another week has flown by here in the CCM! It's crazy! Next week we'll be on our 5th week here! I can't believe how quickly time has gone. But I'm happy it's going quick here in the CCM because I want to get out to Argentina! Let's begin on the highlights of this week!

- Every Wednesday morning at 6:15, we do service. And what have we done every single week? Clean bathrooms. Yup! We have to wear these dorky goggles and huge gloves and scrub urinals and toilets for an hour and a half. It's the BEST! I LOVE IT! Haha, so I'm being a little sarcastic, but we try and make the best of it.

- This week, we've been trying to learn a new teaching strategy. We're only going to take 30 seconds to say part of the lesson then switch off. It's been a challenge but is so much better than assigning parts! We are more unified and speak with one voice. It can be tough, but I think it will really help us out! We've also been working on keeping our lessons simple. After all, we're not here to offer information, we're here to offer salvation.

- So read Alma 16:16. Hermano Larsen told us that we are not only helping people to come unto Christ, but we are helping the people of Argentina prepare for the second coming of our Savior. How crazy is that? Our calling is so so important.

- Consider the first vision in ESPANOL memorized! YEAH!

- This past Tuesday, me and my companions did MTC choir. We sang 'Be Still My Soul' and OH MY GOSH. It was the most beautiful arrangement. I am by no means a singer, but I felt the spirit SO STRONG when singing that song. Our devotional was about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon WITH our investigators! We have got to help them understand the symbolism and be there to answer questions. Once they can gain a strong testimony through the Book of Mormon, there is nothing to keep them from baptism.

- 2 of our 5 districts have left to go into the field! We haven't gotten a new district in so long. We're still the babies of the zone and our zone is SO SMALL!! We will be getting a new one next week though, but they're all Elders. No Hermanas this time! Our sacrament is so small now. Did you know that we prepare talks on certain subjects IN SPANISH every week and you only find out if you're speaking when they call you from the pulpit? Yeah, it's a little nerve wracking... But we'll have 9 sacrament talks written in Spanish for the field!

- We got new roommates this week, only two. Sister Thornton and Sister Marshall. Both are going to German speaking missions. Marshall is from England too! She's super nice but snores like a freight train. Ughhh. Dad, she could give you a run for your money. I just pray every night that I fall asleep before she starts snoring. Poor Sister Thornton hasn't slept in 2 nights :(

- Elise Leavitt is now in the MTC! I graduated with her and she will be serving in the Buenos Aires mission. It's like a Lone Peak reunion in our residency! There's me, Kaitlyn Brunsdale, Shelby Curtis, and Elise... ALL ON THE SAME FLOOR! We should take a picture sometime.

- I just LOVE my teachers here at the MTC. Hermano Larsen loves us SO MUCH and wants us to be our best. He is the greatest teacher and has helped me grow so much. My district has become my family, and now I have 5 little brothers that I can talk to about anything. Our Elders are SO great. I wish I could squeeze them all.

- I can honestly say that the gift of tongues is REAL! Before the CCM, I couldn't roll my 'R's. Well guess who's a rollin R MACHINE?! ME! Ahhh the power of the Lord is SO AMAZING! Everyday I am so grateful for this work. I have so many weaknesses, but my Heavenly Father is helping me to be better. I have been praying more sincerely, studying harder, and listening for the spirit in my every decision, be it teaching or anything else. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!! There's no way I could progress so quickly in Spanish without the Spirit! I've been here 24 days!!! God loves us all! He has a perfect plan and He knows what is best for us. We just need to trust in Him! I love EACH AND EVERY ONE of you so much. I pray for you all every day.

Besos y abrazos,
Hermana Squire

Ima Wilde & Hermana Squire

Celebrating Hermana Hinze's (center) birthday! Elders decorated the classroom!

Buenas Tardes Familia!

Buenos Tardes Familia y Amigos!

I know, my Spanish is SO GOOD! Well, another week has flown by here at the CCM. All the days mush together here and go by so quickly. I'm loving my time here and I love feeling the unique spirit that resides here at the CCM. All these sweet 19 year old boys are so homesick but trying their best to be wonderful servants of the Lord. I really do admire them! And all the sisters!

-So Hna Hinze said that her birthday was the best thing ever. Our whole zone met together in our tiny class and surprised her! She was very touched.

- Our roommates left for St. George and we were supposed to get new sisters in our room but we didn't! So we're having a week to ourselves in a room for 6! YEAH! Hna Hinze and I switched beds so we are no longer by the door. Hallelujah. Also, can I just say that I LOVE my companeras? They are the greatest things ever. Hinze and I are the most sarcastic people and Brown is just sassy. What a combo! Last night right as we went to bed, we just sat and LAUGHED for 10 minutes straight. I am so blessed to have them in my life.

- At the devotional on Tues, I met another Sister Squire. Yup, SQUIRE! And the creepy thing was that we were wearing the SAME skirt in different colors. Weird. Our Devotional was from Elder Clarke from the 70 and was SO AMAZING! He talked about praying for the people of our missions NOW. I had never thought of that! But now, every night I am praying for the people I need to find in Bahia. Praying that they will be prepared and ready to recieve this great message. Elder Clark mentioned the scripture DC 101:1 saying our families are WELL and in God's hands! I really don't worry about you all anymore! I know God will take care of you and bless you!

- We have new investigators- Ruben y Sergio. Ruben is a 17 year old from Dominican Republic and is just rough around the edges but very humble. Sergio used to be an alcoholic and is so apathetic. It's frustrating teaching him because he just doesn't care! 'I don't like to read the bible' 'I don't like church' blah blah blah. I just want to whap him on the head!! We're working on figuring out how to teach him and get him to realize that he needs to change. Our teachers (since they role play our investigators) told us something so cool about the people they play. They are actual converts that THEY taught on their missions, and when we pray so much for them and try our best to figure out their needs, the actual converts, wherever they are, get blessings. That's why the spirit works so much during these role play lessons!

- I have a commitment to extend to everyone. Go on lds.org and WATCH Elder Hollands talk from Oct 2009 conference called Safety for the Soul. WATCH it, don't read it. It is an amazing testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. When you think about it, would Hyrum and Joseph really died for a book if it weren't true? We started a tradition of watching 1 conference talk every Sunday during our study time. It really helps boost us up!

- We met with the Argentine Consulate on Thursday. She came all the way from LA to come talk to us! She told us all about Argentina and answered our many questions. She was the cutest little lady with an amazing accent and I loved listening to her! It made me SO EXCITED to get to Argentina! I might never come home! I already love the people so much and I haven't even met them.

- Every day we sing and pray in Spanish, and I LOVE IT! I might never sing hymns in English again! It's so beautiful. My Spanish is coming along well, I'm still having a hard time expressing myself, but I understand about 90% of what's going on. Right now, I'm working on memorizing the First Vision in Spanish. Not as easy as it sounds! It's so funny because I feel like I can't speak English OR Spanish anymore! It's like weird Spanglish gibberish. Funny story: the other night I had a half dream that Hno Larsen was in our room teaching Spanish. I kept taking out my ear plug to try and listen... I'm pretty sure my comp talks in her sleep so that's what I was hearing. I kept thinking, GO AWAY HERMANO LARSEN! I DON"T WANT TO SPEAK SPANISH RIGHT NOW! I'M TIRED! Haha.

- 3 Elders in our zone are going to LUBBOCK!! So you Lubbock people... keep a lookout for Elder Rodriguez and two others whose names I can't remember!

- The coolest thing at the temple is having people pray for the missionaries during the session. It's like HEY! I'M a missionary! I love that, and it means so much more to me now.

- We had a workshop where each missionary played the role of a potential investigator. The other missionary teaching got to see the screen where as the 'investigator' didn't but had to listen to this hard life these people had. Then we took turns teaching. It made me realize that the atonement of Christ is for EVERYONE. No matter your circumstances. Loved that day.

- So I am probably the most spoiled/loved missionary at the MTC. THANK YOU for the letters/dearelders/packages! I just got the Hiatts letter. THANK YOU! I loved hearing from you all. Everyone makes fun of me since I get a package almost every day! But it's a-okay with me! TPK- you guys make me laugh! I'm sure at the Argentine MTC they are wondering who the heck this Hermana Squire is, that's getting all of the dearelders! Please send those to the PROVO MTC! That's the first thing you click before sending the dear elder. Kels- bachelor update? Thank you all!! I love you all so much and I LOVE THIS WORK! My favorite part of the day is putting on my badge that bears the name of Christ. I am His servant and He trusts me with His children in Bahia Blanca! I want to make sure I'm the BEST MISSIONARY for Him! I'm still in awe that He trusts me with His work! Have a wonderful week and remember I'm praying for all of you and LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Hermana Squire

From her mom:

Feel free to email Cydnee at cydnee.squire@myldsmail.net

or dearelder.com; after you sign in for an account, which is free; be sure to pick PROVO MTC on first page. It will go to the second page..which is where you put her name, box #207; departure date 0403; ARG-BABL mission code. If you send a dearelder.com letter before noon, she gets it later that day. IF YOU DO NOT PICK PROVO MTC, she will not get the letter! (if you are choosing the Argentina BABL, then letter goes to Argentina!!..aye aye aye!)

Mailing address to MTC: 
Sister Cydnee Squire

MTC Box #207

ARG-BABL 0403

2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT  84604

My sweet district! Hermanas Hinze,  Brown,  Me,  Elders Kelly,  Robertson,
Haroldson,  Hall and Allred

For my Mama! She wanted a picture of me pointing @ "the map"!

Hermana Hinze & Hermana Brown! This was our first Sunday. Do we look tired or what??

Study time!

Hola!

Hola!

How is everyone!? Well, I'm not a newbie in the MTC anymore. On
Wednesday I got to welcome the new missionaries with their dork dots
all afternoon! We just got back from the temple, and oh man, it was
needed. Pdays are the best... temple, emails, and laundry. Ok, I don't
know where to start, and this countdown in the corner always stresses
me out. So, I'm going to do a bullet style sort of email if you don't
mind! Here we go!

-So Sunday was fast Sunday, and they do make you participate in a 24
hour fast. Oh man. I almost passed out at the end, but I did it! We
had a great fireside and the whole day was just spiritually uplifting.
- Tuesday we had another great devotional by a bishop... who I don't
remember his name... but he talked about the importance of having the
spirit with us ALWAYS. Without the spirit, we cannot teach. That is so
true! I am working hard on being worthy to have the spirit with me at
all times.
-Favian, aka our investigator. We had 4 lessons with him, yes all in
Spanish, and I think they went well! We taught most of the first
lesson with him, and were going to finish up and commit him to baptism
on our next lesson but it got cancelled because we had a visa meeting
with all the missionaries going to Argentina. More on that in a bit.
So anyway, we were pretty bummed that we couldn't finish up our
lessons with Favian, but then we found out he's going to be our other
teacher. Tricky tricky! His real name is Hermano Acana, and he'll be
team teaching with Hermano Larsen. It will be helpful because he can
tell us our strengths and weaknesses as teachers!
- We learned that in the MTC, the first week is to teach us to rely on
the Lord. We teach investigators the 2nd day, without knowing any
spanish or teaching skills. THEN, they teach us how to teach and a
little bit more Spanish. It was definitely a humbling experience.
- On Thurs, we missed our appt with Favian because of the visa
meeting. We got finger printed and next Thurs we get to meet with a
consulate. It's WAY lucky because some Elders in our zone just barely
met with a consulate and they were supposed to leave on Tuesday! Que
triste! Hopefully they get out of her next week. It's nice to know
that our visas are well on their way. I'd hate to be delayed.
- I love my district and my zone. We have such a close relationship
with each other and it's just the greatest. We all sit together at
lunch, and I think that creates a lot of unity. All the Elders are
just great and super nice to the Hermanas, except I think a few are
afraid of us... We have a little Australian Elder whose parents are
from Chile. He's like 5'4 and the most adorable thing. My comps and I
agree that he is the cutest thing and we just want to take him and put
him in our pockets. REALLY SO ADORABLE! Ah, I wish you all could meet
him. The Elders in our district are great. They never let us take our
trays back, and always hold open doors. One of the mothers of an Elder
in our zone sent him a huge bag of bouncy balls. It is the best thing
EVER! When we need a mental break, we just play with the bouncy balls.
Simple minds, simple pleasures right?
- So I did see Jamie Swindler! My comp got shingles, so we had to go
to the health clinic. She is the sweetest! I've also seen Elder Chris
Nelson. He is doing very well! I see people I know all the time and I
just love it. It's nice to see them and be reminded of home. It's very
comforting!
- I found out that my comp Hna Hinze loves Fleet Foxes. So pretty
much, we were meant to be friends. It's funny because I don't really
miss too much about the social world, like facebook, pinterest or
blogging, but I really do miss music.
- The great thing about being in a trio is that we can 'chain'. Let me
explain. When one of us needs a drink from the fountain around the
corner, she would walk out there and one sister would stand by the
door of our class and the other at the corner. That way we are always
in sight of each other. Ridiculous, but effective, right?
- I feel like I need to explain the Spanish situation. Only the
Advanced class would allow me to leave in 3 weeks. BUT the advanced
class is for the fluent ones, you learn teaching skills in Spanish,
and I need to be taught how to be a better teacher in English. In the
intermediate class, I would still be here 9 weeks. So I'm not leaving
for Argentina for a while! Don't worry! My Spanish has been improving,
I can now pray and testify in Spanish! All our prayers and hymns are
in Spanish and I LOVE IT. You better believe I pray for all of you in
ESPANOL!
Thank you ALL so much for the dearelders. I seriously love them!
We get them every night and it really is such a boost. Serna family,
thank you for the email and congrats to Leah on 2nd place in the
spelling bee! So great! Taylor- thanks for the email and good luck in
Philly! I'll send a letter your way soon. Haddy- love you so much.
Look for a letter. Kelsey: PLEASE SEND ME MORE BACHELOR UPDATES! I
nearly died reading it, it was the best thing ever. My comp loves
Bachelor too, so keep it up! Love you! Tio Hector y Tia Alice, thanks
so much for the kind words! I love each and every one of you, and
guess what? So does Heavenly Father. I know He is aware of each of you
and loves you so so much! Take care everyone!

Much Love,
Hermana Squire

So Long, Farewell

What an amazing day. Are you ready for a long post full of pictures? Here we go.

I woke up early because I had my final interview with my stake president at 8:30. The rest of the morning was spent getting ready and practicing my talk. We got to the church half an hour early and waited for the meeting to start. It was another Elder's homecoming, so we were expecting a full house. After the meeting started, nearly all the seats were packed. We couldn't use the triple overflow because the ward before us had their 3rd hour meeting in there. Some people even had to listen in the foyer!

Elder Mccolm spoke before me and he did a great job in inviting the spirit. My cousin, Dave, sang a beautiful missionary song called 'I Will Not Be Still' (listen to it at end of this post). It was hard to try and maintain my composure with a song so close to my heart, but I did it.

I got up to the podium and gave my talk, which was about doing hard things. It was perfect for me, because I've been feeling worried and inadequate about the work that I have to do. I talked a little bit about how God will never forsake His children during trials, even when you feel alone and I shared a personal experience about feeling alone in the middle of a trial. After my talk, the bishop got up and had me stand. He said something like, "If you're going to pray for Sister Squire, will you please stand?" Nearly the whole congregation stood up (well, everyone except the people who didn't know me). Bishop said, "See Sister? Take a mental picture of this. When you're out in Argentina and you feel like you're forgotten and alone, remember this picture, and remember that there are people here who love you and will be praying for you". That was probably my favorite part of the whole day. I felt so loved!

When I finally made it home, there was a line to get into my house out the door! I was hugged, congratulated, and took so many pictures. I have such a great support system of family, friends, and ward members. There was around 200+ people who came out to see me and I couldn't feel more grateful and humbled that so many people love and care about me. I had a warm and happy heart all day!

Study abroad gal pals.

Beautiful cousins (in-law?)

My handsome Dunn boys

The best guys around. Watch out, ladies.

G-ma, g-pa and great aunts and uncles!

Ah, can you feel the love? Thank you to everyone who came. It meant the world to me. 

Here's One for the Dark Lord

I'll explain the title in a minute, don't you worry. A few nights ago, Haddy and I took Rachelle to CPK for a late Birthday dinner. The evening was spent laughing obnoxiously loud (we are so funny). We were taking pictures and Rachelle said that her dad used to say "Here's one for the dart board" while posing for a pic. Well, I thought she said "Here's one for the Dark Lord" (I'm reading HP right now... of course I thought she was referring to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named). We laughed our faces off at that. Man, I have some pretty great friends.

Lovely Rachelle with her gifts

HE'S HOME!!

Oh my goodness. I just can't even think right now. I'm so happy this boy is home!

The 6 of us arrived at the airport to find that Ty Ty's plane had been delayed. So we bought some snacks and waited.

And waited.

Finally, Ty's brother texted us to let us know they were about ten minutes away from coming through the door. We held up our signs and huddled in the corner to catch the first glimpse of our favorite missionary. He came around the corner, and we all screamed. We didn't cheer... no, we screamed. I don't think we really knew what we were going to do once we saw him, but the look on his face was priceless.

He gave hugs to his brother and sister, then to Ryan and Steven. Us four girls were kinda huddled together, wondering what would be appropriate for us to do. Handshake? Pat on the arm? Back pat? No... that wouldn't do. We were all kinda crouched and ready to pounce then Haddy finally asked Ty if we could hug him. He held out his arms, shrugged his shoulders and said, "sure". We all ran at him and gave him the biggest we-haven't-seen-you-in-two-years-and-we've-missed-our-best-friend hug.

Bah! I kept thinking, "this isn't real life!" the whole time. But it is real! It's REAL! Welcome home to Elder Tyler Madsen! We missed you!

I'm Excited

 Why? Because this guy is coming home tomorrow. Tyler (affectionately known as Ty Ty) has been serving a mission for the past two years in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine (try and say that) and I have missed his sweet face like crazy!

Ty Ty and I have been friends since high school. We spent many nights at school dances, watching movies, and being crazy high school kids along with the rest of the crew. Ty is so hilarious and such a great friend. I'm so glad I get to see him before I leave on my mission! Unfortunately he is the only one I will get to see out of our group of friends on missions. But, I can't wait to spend time with this kid!

Backyard Boo

On Friday, one of our friends threw a backyard Halloween party. There was the classic donut on a string, pumpkin carving, and we even watched a scary movie (or rather, not so scary, complete waste of 2 hours, lame movie known as "The Box"). Before the party, I made pumpkin cupcakes, with a tasty cream cheese-pumpkin-nutmeg-cinnamon frosting. That is one recipe for the books, I tell ya.

Taylor, Kristen, Paige, Jessica, Sarah and I all went in on a group costume. We decided to be the characters from the board game Clue, and each of us brought our own weapons too! I think we looked pretty dang good.

Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green

I think Paige and I make attractive men.

Mr. Green with the wrench, Mrs. Peacock with the lead pipe, Mrs. White with the candlestick, Miss Scarlet with the revolver, Colonel Mustard with the knife, Professor Plum with the rope.

It was such a fun night! I love Halloween!

 

P.S. Update on this famous pin... 363 repins! What!?

Twenty-One

On Saturday, I woke up to a lovely breakfast and the first session of conference. It was a great way to start my birthday. After the first session, I opened presents. I got some cute, missionary perfect skirts and this baby:

A Michael Kors watch. Oh. My. Word. I have been coveting over one of these babies for about 7 months.

My mom didn't tell me the activities she had planned for the day, so I had no idea what was next. After presents, she took me to American Fork. We got out of the car and walked towards the spa. I thought 'a mani/pedi with my mom!' But then, my friend Summer popped out. My mom had set up mani/pedis for me and four of my friends!

We left after that, planning on seeing each other again at 9pm for a sleepover. Later that night, my parents and I left to go to dinner. I thought it was just going to be the three of us, but I got a lovely surprise. All my close girl friends were already there!

Best card I've ever seen.

I also got a little present from my brother...

See the double one in the right corner??

I don't think he forgot this special day. He knows how much I love rainbows!

After dinner, we went back to my house and had a for a sleepover that included "Ten Things I Hate About You". I love that movie!! We woke up on Sunday to a great breakfast of waffles with all the fixings and some more general conference. I seriously have the greatest friends and parents.

Birthday weekend was one for the books.

Called to Serve...

Hello my lovely friends!! I know you all probably know this, but I got my mission call on Wednesday.

Want the whole story? Good, cause that's what you're getting!

As you know, last Friday, I found out that my call had been assigned. That meant five more sleepless nights.

I woke up on Wednesday and went to class, hoping, praying that my call would arrive at my house (you see, we weren't sure of the mailing situation because of Labor Day). Then, at 11 am, my mom called me, and screamed into the phone, "IT'S HERE!". I was pumped. But guess what? I wouldn't get done with class until 6:30 that night. Boo. I spent the rest of the day fidgeting, definitely not learning anything. I finally made it to my last class, and unfortunately it was my most boring one. I. Could. Not. Sit. Still. Luckily, we got out of class early, and I booked it home and waited for everyone to arrive at 7.

I am not the kind of person who paces, but man, I was pacing around that whole house. Every minute seemed like an hour. I was so nervous, and I could tell that my mom was a mess. She suggested that we go pray in my brother's room, just our family, and my adopted brothers Josh and Tyler. Tyler said a beautiful prayer that immediately put me at ease and invited the Spirit. I knew that wherever I was called, it would be perfect for me. I knew the God knew me, and that He knew where I needed to be.

Finally, everyone was there. I did not waste one second. I plopped down in my chair and announced that I would be opening it right then. There was no way that I was going to wait any longer!

Someone gave me the idea to try to cover up the mission with my hand so I wouldn't see it right when I opened it. But I kinda saw something Spanish... so it only worked a little bit.

"Dear Sister Squire,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the ARGENTINA BAHIA BLANCA mission."

I was so shocked and so excited. I was crying so hard, almost to the point of hysteria. I was that excited. You see, I wanted to go to South America so so bad. Everyone kept asking where I wanted to go, and I kept that desire a secret and would reply with anywhere Spanish speaking. My biggest fear was that I would be called to a visitor's center, or somewhere too close to Utah. My prayers were answered and I knew God knew the desires of my heart, and blessed me with the call to Argentina.

I had a group on facebook where my family and friends could guess where I would be serving. About 13 people guessed Argentina, but only ONE got it right on! So congratulations to Eileen Williams!!

Best friends right here. Gonna miss them SO BAD

I've got some beautiful friends!

I depart to the Provo MTC on February 1st. There, I will study the gospel and prepare to preach it in Spanish. I can't wait to go. I am so excited and so ready to be a missionary. I can't wait to share this wonderful truth with the people of Argentina.

My mission!