Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

Hello everyone,

What the heck, it`s almost Thanksgiving and I'm sweating to death. Ok, not that bad, but it's pretty hot! I totally forgot Thanksgiving was so close... it's just gonna be another day of work for us! Eat some extra turkey for me, since they don't have it here! :-(

- Let's start with the funny and end with the spiritual, sí? Ok, so a few weeks ago we were eating with the Familia Saghin ( I LOVE THIS FAMILY WITH MY WHOLE HEART) and we were talking how everyone here calls each other "gordo" (fat) and even girls are like, HEY GORDA! And I said "that would get someone a smack across the face in the states." Anyway, they asked what gordo was in English and I told them, "fat".  Then Ayrton (12) said, "yeah, but if you add an "r" it`s a bad word."  And I'm like "what???!!" And he whispers it to me. Then everyone is like "que significa  esa palabra?"  (what does it signify?") And they just kept repeating that word like 50 times and I was dying of laughter!!!  Then I had to explain what it meant. aye aye aye.

- Speaking of the Familia Saghin, that's them in the foto you see. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. Even though they aren't old enough to be my parents, they feel like my family. When we eat with them, I feel like I'm at home. That means so much to me as a missionary. They told us yesterday that we're the daughters they never had and that they love us so much. And there I was, just crying my eyes out for the love I have for them. And isn't little Valentino SO CUTE! He's 7! I just love him! He's so polite too!

- I love living in Argentina! I love that when I talk to some ladies they call me "mi vida", "mi cielo", "mi reina", "amor", "corazon" and all that jazz!! (mi vida=my life; mi cielo= my sky; mi reina= my queen; amor=love; corazon=heart)  I love that the mail is delivered by men on bikes, and at 8 in the morning, a man rides by the houses selling newspapers on his bike and yelling DIAAAAAAARIO!!!, and of course the egg trucks...

"LEVENDOHUEVOSHUEVOSBARRATOSHUEVOSHUEVOSHUEVOSBARRRRRATOS!!! I (*I sell eggs, cheap, eggs,eggs, cheap..all run together in one long word) love that it's common to see 5 people on a scooter... the parents, a baby in the lap of the driver, a kid on the very back, and a pobrecito (*poor little one) smushed in the middle of the parents. 

- This week was a week of finding. We've dropped a bunch of investigators because they're not progressing. And our time is too precious to be wasting with people who aren't committed to doing what we ask them to do. We found a very sweet woman whose husband doesn't like religious talk (other than catholicism of course) but we talked to her outside. She has a disease that left her partially paralyzed on one side. Her right arm doesn't work very well and she slurs when she talks. We testified of the resurrection and how we will all receive perfect bodies. I know she was touched by the spirit because she started to cry. We're supposed to pass by tomorrow, and I hope somehow we can touch her husband's heart. I know she would be great. 

- We also found a great woman named Sandra. W'e've passed by a few times and she said we could come back but she was always busy. But we persisted and she finally let us teach her. She has 11 kids! 7 live with her and guess what,???!!! She's JESICA`S mom!!!!!! Remember our one hit wonder golden family from way back???!!!  Jesica and Fernando???!!!!! Yeah. Anyway. She was very attentive and accepted a baptismal date. We chatted some more and found out that some weird things have been happening in her house, shadows, things falling on their own accord, so we came with the bishop the next day to bless the house. She told us that after she read the chapter of the LDM (**Book of Mormon) and prayed, that she slept peacefully for the first night in 2 weeks. WOW. Sunday we went by to get them for church, but Sandra had left to the hospital to get injections in her back for terrible pain, but we brought Tatiana (11) and Favian (9) with us! They are cuties! Tatiana said she wants to be a missionary! Well let's get you baptized first!!!  I'm pretty excited about them!!!! There are 4 kids that are at the age of baptism, WAHOO! I´m trying to have lots of faith and hope for these people and to do my part so the Lord can bless us with a baptism. 

- Scripture time. Alma 7: 11-12  11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and ^aafflictions and ^btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ^ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 12 And he will take upon him ^adeath, that he may ^bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to ^csuccor his people according to their infirmities. Elder Holland said this: "Succor means ´to run to´. Even as Christ calls us to come to Him, He is unfailingly running to help us." I know that is true. He suffered for us INDIVIDUALLY. He KNOWS how we feel, because He has felt it. I know the Savior is always running to help us, active, menos activo, completely inactive, or non member. But WE are the ones that have to ALLOW Him to help us. Like He said in 3 Nefi, won't you come unto me so I can heal you?"  It's an invitation... MORE than an invitation. He is PLEADING for us to come unto Him so He can heal us. 

- At this Thanksgiving time, I wanna write a little list of what I'm thankful for:

My amazing parents who love me and support me. I am the person that I am because of them.
My great friends .
The clothes on my back and the shoes on my feet. No matter how dusty and dirty they get. 

(or 'estinky')
An amazing companion who is a STELLAR missionary.
The opportunity I have to serve the Lord, and labor in His work.
Great extended family. 
People in the mission that feel like my family.
Fun and loving Hermanas in the mission that I get to meet.

And most of all, A Father in Heaven who loves me and knows my needs, and a Savior who loved me enough to die for me. 

Shoutouts: Happy late birthday grandma Squire! And happy birthday to Gavin and Hunter this week! 

DEVON WOO YOU GO TO THE MTC NEXT WEEK!! Have fun, and Tay, try not to miss him too much!! 

Listen, I have a talk for yall to read, it's called "The infinite Power of Hope" by Pres. Uchtdorf. IT IS AMAZING. I've realized that I have been lacking a little bit in the hope section, and that's why I've probably been a little discouraged. He says " Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God's laws and the words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. It is BELIEVING and EXPECTING that our prayers will be answered". In PMG(*Preach My Gospel) it says that it is BELIEVING and EXPECTING that good things are to come. Now I know what I need to work on :)

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!

Hermana Squire

Foto: #1 Familia Saghin (holding Dad's Monthly Mustang Magazine...look in background...Brother Saghin restores cars too!!)

Foto: #2 Starting a day of work with my ice block for a water bottle. And yes. I carry my things in a BOX. Very classy I know. Mission rules.

My bed

My picture wall in the bedroom

Missionary Tan Lines

Nickel Sized Hail

Hello People!

Ok, well another week has come and gone and here I am in this smelly game den again with smelly preteen boys playing video games once again. My how time flies.

- So Hermana Carson and Vawdrey are with us once again!! Turns out their neighbor is pretty crazy and yells at them a lot!  I know, I've witnessed it.  She's not all there.... so they're working on moving to another apartment. In the meantime... it's just like old times. WOOO I'm super happy!!!!!

- On Thursday, it rained SO HARD. We were doing weekly planning in the house and it was just SO HOT. Like 95 degrees. So hot, that the power went out. No more sticking my head in the freezer... !!! We were stuck in the house until about 5pm because a guy was putting in more enchufes... plugs. Wait. Is it plugs? I think so... anyway! So he was in and out all day getting stuff,  so we couldn't leave. When we finally did, it had just started raining. By the time we got halfway to our cita, it was POURING super hard. Hna Batista doesn't have an umbrella so we were using mine. We were literally walking in a muddy river. Then it started to hail nickel sized hail thingies. We were walking huddled under the umbrella and Hna Batista was freaking out! Hermana! This is dangerous! Cover your face! And I was just laughing my head off. Saying THIS IS MY LIFE! I´M PROSELYTING IN ARGENTINA IN A HAIL STORM! IS THIS REAL LIFE??? As you can see, I thought it was quite hilarious. We made it to our cita, soaking wet with red marks on our arms, only to have our district leader call us 10 minutes later saying that we need to go back home. Darn! So we did, soaked and muddy. Well, we're alive. 

 The rain brought a swarm of mosquitoes. I can put on all the protector that I want but they still get me. The mosquitoes have been so bad that trucks have been passing through the streets fumigating. It´s quite the adventure contacting when once you stop moving, 10000 mosquitoes start landing on you. On Saturday night, we were talking to this man on his porch and when I wasn't teaching or testifying, my eye was out for mosquitoes.  . My companion was testifying with all her heart and I seriously was slapping myself all over, then THREE landed on my companion's arm, so being the great companion that I am, I slapped them dead. Well, the man started laughing, and so did my companion... and I just stood there feeling dumb. Spirit= gone. BUT, this man has interest... his name is Luis.

- We had a zone conference this week, just a mini one... an emergency one because our numbers have been so low right now  in the mission. It's pretty sad but everyone has been pretty desanimado(**discouraged), including me. We haven't been finding people who want to progress, our investigators are all becoming flojos(**lazy) and it has just been really frustrating. We talked about how we need to be exactly obedient and work a lot harder. I took the info to heart and we were able to find double the investigators that we usually do. We were more focused and unified. We found an x Jehovah's Witness who has a LOT of promise, as well as people who have already been to church a few times that weren't in the area book. We also got a text from Gabriella that destroyed me. She and her very Catholic husband had problems and he doesn't want her to meet with us any more. My heart literally broke. It's so sad when things like this happen and there´s not much I can do about it,  but pray. But I´m thankful for my companion, who is seriously amazing and has so much faith and animo(*encouragement). She doesn't need to be trained! 

- Well, after my soul felt like it was literally destroyed and I wanted to shout to the heavens "how long are you going to try my faith??" I found some really great scriptures that comforted me this week. Funny how that happens. First one is in Alma 26: 27-28 "27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success. 28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God." THIS IS ME!!  The Lord is telling me to be patient in my afflictions, then he will bless me with success. Next: D y C 31 "1 Thomas (Cydnee) , my son(daughter), blessed are you because of your faith in my work.

 2 Behold, you have had many afflictions because of your family; nevertheless, I will bless you and your family, yea, your little ones; and the day cometh that they will believe and know the truth and be one with you in my church. 3 Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation.4 You shall declare the things which have been revealed to my servant, Joseph Smith, Jun. You shall begin to preach from this time forth, yea, to reap in the field which is white already to be burned. 5 Therefore, athrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Wherefore, your family shall live. 6 Behold, verily I say unto you, go from them only for a little time, and declare my word, and I will prepare a place for them. 7 Yea, I will open the hearts of the people, and they will receive you. And I will establish a church by your hand;8 And you shall strengthen them and prepare them against the time when they shall be gathered. 9 Be patient in afflictions, revile not against those that revile. Govern your house in meekness, and be steadfast.11 Go your way whithersoever I will, and it shall be given you by the Comforter what you shall do and whither you shall go.12 Pray always, lest you enter into temptation and lose your reward. 13 Be faithful unto the end, and lo, I am with you. These words are not of man nor of men, but of me, even Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, by the will of the Father. Amen." There it is again. . Be patient in thine afflictions. I love the promise the Lord gives... that He will open the heart of the people here in Argentina for me. I know if I do my part, He will do the rest. 

-Shoutouts: OK Tyler and Ashley, I was showing a pic of Lucas to my roomies and they said he looks like Jack from The Incredibles. IT'S TRUE!! Love it! 

Happy birthday to Julie and Tia Alice! Hope you have great days this week!

Listen everyone. I LOVE YOU ALL DEARLY. Thank you for your love and support. Don't get too cold this winter :) hee hee hee..

Hermana Squire

And.......it's getting WARM!

Hello people,

Well, another pday has come and gone. I swear, all the days are SO LONG, but pday. Then the weeks go by so fast... weird. 

- SO it's getting really warm here. And it's spring. It's been like 85 degrees. WOW. I don't even carry my jacket around anymore, because it doesn't get dark until about 8, and the sun comes up at around 6. Crazy! I'm a little nervous for summer... they say it gets above 100 degrees, and it's HUMID, and all anyone does around here during the day is SLEEP. The other missionaries have told me it's rough because hardly ANYONE is outside, and hardly ANYONE is awake during the day!! So I guess we'll see how it goes. I come home every day, beat and SO DIRTY. I have to wash my feet every night because we basically work in the SAND DUNES and they get SO DIRTY. Good grief. 

- Well, this week Hermana Batista and I got sick with sinus infections. Fevers, congestion, sinus pressure and I had a super bad cough. So bad I would start gagging because I coughed so hard. So basically Tuesday through Thursday we were quarantined in the house recovering and couldn't do much work. Now the other hermanas are sick... it is a good thing we got sick at the same time! That way we didn't waste too much time :)

- We now have tables! WOO hoo!! We now have a washing machine!!! But we're working out the plugs and such. We are slowly getting stuff for the pension and I'm pretty happy about it. I'm pretty sure we live in the best pension in the mission. It has to be that way because this is where all of the hermanas are going to stay for conferences and such. I feel spoiled :)

- With all this heat there are more men walking around shirtless. And let me tell you, most of them are not very buff. Sometimes I have to fight back the urge to gag when a hairy, chubby man comes to the door all shirtless and I'm like  "ahhhh.... hi, we're missionaries.... " It's an interesting experience. 

- I'm sorry I don't have a bunch to share, we can blame it on me being flat in bed for three days. 

- We had our lesson with Gabriella on Monday. It went VERY WELL: Thanks for praying! She has a lot of desires to learn and told us that when she prayed how we taught her (and not just Padre Nuestro)(**Lord's Prayer) she felt something different, something good. I about died. I know she can get baptized. I know it! We just need to help her get Sundays off!

- I read a talk a while ago about the enabling power of the Atonement. Yes, we all know we can receive perdon(*forgiveness) for our mistakes, but we can also receive STRENGTH to do things that we could not do without the help of the Savior. Scripture examples, when the brothers of Nefi tied him up, this was his prayer: 17 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me ^astrength that I may ^bburst these bands with which I am bound.

Did he pray that his circumstances would change? No. He prayed that he would have the STRENGTH to CHANGE his circumstances. And that faith was founded in Christ. I have changed my way of praying. I now ask for strength to work the entire day, courage to open my mouth, wisdom to teach people from the scriptures, the Spirit to guide me to "the chosen ones".  By praying this way, I am becoming a missionary who ACTS and is not ACTED UPON. I loved this talk... look it up... It's by Elder Bednar "The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality") Here are some other examples of this enabling power: Mosiah 24: 14-15 and Alma 31 30-38. 

- SHOUTOUTS! Happy birthday to MEGAN DAVIS TODAY!!!! 

And to Tio Hector and IRMA WILDE!!!! Hope yáll have great days!! 

East coasters! Please be safe! Thanks for the email!

TYLER!!! LOVE the pics of little Lucas! SO CUTE! Thanks for the email Tio Hector! Glad all is well! 

Kris, Got your email. I'm glad you're not pregnant. But you now have my permission to get pregnant because I will be home before the baby is born. :-)

Hope I didn't freak you out... but that also goes out to all of you married ladies that I know! 

Listen Peeps. Have an amazing week and don't forget about your sister missionary in Argentina :)

Madre! Send popcorn! We have a microwave!!!!

OKAY!!! 

BYE LOVE YA!

H. Squire

                     Hermanas Vawdrey, Batista, Carson & I before we moved out of the 'cracker box'. :-0

 Backyard of the pension (where I exercise)

Beautiful sunset

Argentine sunset in our area

                                                              Our study/living area

                                         My corner with pictures of my cute family and friends!!

 Kitchen with Hermanas Marin and McWorter. (p.s.  that's our wardrobe against the wall...still needs to be put together for our clothes)

Whoa!!! We're HALFWAY There!! WHOAAAAA!!!

Livin' on a prayer!!! Actually MANY prayers.... This week I hit my halfway mark. And that's all I'll say about that. 

HELLO WORLD!!!

How's it going? Hear you got your first snow! Poor things. HAH! Not!!! I don't reel sorry for you, cuz I was cold for a year!!! WOO summer time is a comin' ! I may melt. 

-So I am typing on the most ancient computer EVER. I think it might actually be wheezing. Hold on bessie, we got an hour to go....:-)

- I'm super jealous that BYU basketball has started. OH MY GOSH DO I LOVE MY COUGARS!!!!!

-SO WE MOVED! We now have a house! We are living about 3 blocks from our area, and the house is like a dang mansion compared to the cracker box! I don't have pics because the house is a disaster. All we have are our beds, our things, 2 chairs, a fridge, a blender, and a few random utensils. I ate breakfast on the floor this morning, thank you. But the hermanas from Villa Floresta are staying with us temporarily... Hermanas McWhorter and Marin. From Arkansas and Chile. So we're not all by ourselves. We have a BIG room, with no closet or anything so we're STILL living out of our suitcases, huge kitchen, pretty backyard, and a big bathroom. There's not a lot of hot water for the shower though... oh my Argentina. I'll miss Hermana Vawdrey, but it's nice to have some space. 

- Today I saw a girl walking down the sidewalk and juggling. Quite amusing. Random, I know.

- Remember Natalia? She came to General Conference. Well, we had an activity in the stake center and she and her 3 kids WALKED 28 blocks to get there! It was various plays put on by the youth of each ward, and they LOVED it! Then Natalia came to church! She doesn't have a fecha(date) because she needs to get married. She already talked to her pareja(partner) and he didn't say anything back... ahhh! So pray for her!

- We found an amazing woman this week, Gabriela. She's a young mother who is getting MARRIED THIS THURSDAY!  I almost peed my pants with excitement because NO ONE GETS MARRIED HERE! They say it's better to try it out first and live together for a few years. The worst part is that in Argentina if you're together with someone for over a year you get the same privileges as married couples. I am amazed and saddened at the hold that Satan has on people. Anyway. So we taught her the first lesson and when we explained baptism and how we don't baptize babies, she said  "I knew I made a mistake after we baptized my (one year old) son". You better believe I about had to pick myself up off the floor. AMAZING! She asked us when our reuniones(meetings) were and we told her. She accepted a fecha(date) and everything. THEN GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THAT MADE ME WANT TO PUNCH SATAN IN THE FACE??!!!! She started working on SUNDAYS. Flip!!! I swear, every time we find someone golden, problems come up. We have a lesson with her tonight, so we're going to explain BIEN CLARO(real clearly) the importance of church. Pray for us. LIke right now. I have faith that she can become converted, and then change her work schedule. 

 - So last week the office elders decided to play a joke on me and tell me that all my packages and letters got sent to another city in the mission. I flipped out a little, and the next day they told me it was a joke.  So I withheld cookie privileges. THEN this week, I get a package, supposedly from my dad, and I open it and it has cookies and this funny card in it. (see pic) One of the Elders said "If there's one thing I have learned in the mission: it's not to mess with Hermanas that bake cookies". Needless to say, they were forgiven. 
And Elder Costanzi's bday was on Friday, and you better believe cookies were delivered.:-)

I think the Elders learned their lesson!! 

- I´ve been reading in the Book of Mormon (IN SPANISH, thank you) and I just finished the part in Alma about the 2000 stripling warriors. I love this part in Chapter 56

V.44 Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle? 45 And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen ^aso great^bcourage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites. 46 For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will ^anot suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus. 47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the ^aliberty of their^bfathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their ^cmothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their ^amothers, saying: We ^bdo not doubt our mothers knew it." 

I know that as I continue this battle here in Argentina, a battle against Satan to help others gain eternal salvation, my Savior will not let me fall. I will put my trust in Him forever. When I am a mother, I want to teach my kids in a way that keeps them on the straight and narrow path, and hopefully they will say, "We do not doubt that our mother knew it".  That if we do not doubt, God will deliver us.

--Shoutouts: DAVE! Thanks for the email! Evelyn is just a DOLL! 

EVERYONE ON THE EAST COAST! Please be careful. I will pray for you!! 

Hey peeps. I love you all. I hope you all have a great and safe week. I love you and pray for you often. I miss you a BUNCH. But that´s ok, cuz you're all people worth missing. LOVE YOU!!!

Hermana Squire

Yes, dad I´m getting your emails, thanks!
Love ya parents!

The Marathon of the Lord

Hey people!

Well, it's another rainy day here in Bahia. I swear, it ALWAYS rains on pday. BOO! But I got to take a nap for a WHOLE HOUR. Oh my. It was heaven. And this week we will end the transfer! What the!? I can't believe it's already over. Time is flying. 

- So yesterday was Mother's Day here in Argentina. We handmade cards for the hermanas in the ward complete with glitter (UNICORNS AND GLITTER!!!) and they LOVED it! We didn't get into anyone's house... "Chicas tengo gente...."(**girls, I have people here) so we delivered our cards to menos activos(**less actives) and other hermanas in the ward. Sweet Hermana Cortez would have spent the day alone since her kids live in Buenos Aires and Spain, so we dropped by to see her too. It was a great day. I loved it. 

- Saturday we had a great ward activity. We ate empanadas and chorizos and played games. There wasn't much I could do in a skirt, but I DID win the Potato On a Spoon Race against the hermanas in the ward. We couldn't run, but I definitely am the tallest of all the women, so I smoked everyone!!!!!  One of our menos activos came, Miriam, and brought her daughter-in-law, Florencia. We tried teaching her before, but she was like "no, I want to stay in my church." But now she's interested! She wants to change some things in her life, so we are super excited to work with her! It was such a fun way for everyone to just chill out and get to know each other better. We definitely need to have more activities to unite the ward more!!

- SO. Earlier this week, it was really warm. Like WAY warm. Like time to ditch the tights warm. So for 3 days I did... It felt SO WEIRD! First time in almost 9 months that I haven't worn tights. My legs are SO WHITE!  Who needs street lamps at night??!!  My legs will light the way home!!!!! Haha, in time I'll be a little morochita. (***tan country girl)  It's already been pretty warm, and all the Elders are dreading summer. We'll see!

- We passed by a members house this week and their little boy was outside. He's six, but has a growing disorder so he looks like he's 3 or 4 with the tiniest bones. He's so cute and I just want to squeeze him! So anyway, we waved to him and later his mom told us that he said "Las Elderas passed by and they waved to me! They saw me!" It was so cute. It's so hilarious when people call us "Las Elderas" or "Las Elderes". I'm always like, ohhhhhkay, we're hermanas... but whatever. It's a little endearing.

- HOPEFULLY we'll be moving to a new house this week. They called us last Monday and told us we'd be moving on Tuesday, so we packed EVERYTHING, but the next day they said that they were fixing up the house! NOOOO!!!!!! So EVERYTHING is all packed in space bags and I have TWO skirts that I've been wearing. Fun times. I'm sure going to miss my Vawdrey. :-(

- So, I read my weekly pday letter from Aunt Lori last week, and she shared two excerpts from Dave and Greg's emails from when they were serving. I LOVED what you two said, it really has helped me. They compared the mission to a marathon, and the longer I serve, the more I realize it really is like a race... an 18 month race. This is what Dave said, (direct quote because I cannot do it justice by summarizing) "Now is my time to RUN full out. When a runner finishes a race, how much should he have left? The answer is NOTHING. If it is anything else, he didn't run the race right. I want to run the race correctly by expending myself fully so as not to have any regrets or wonder what might have been. And oh yes, I will finish despite how tired I may have been throughout the 2 year marathon-- and as I hit the crimson tape, both my index fingers will be extended to the sky. But not to glory in my own achievements, but more in the attitude of praising my Heavenly Father for sustaining me when the track got rough. I'm not an idiot--I know it is going to be difficult. But I also know of the promise made by my older brother Jesus when He said, 'I never said it would be easy, I only said it could be worth it'. Yes, I will stumble and probably even fall flat on my face just at about the point I reach maximum speed... so what? At this point the Savior will come and put me on my feet, brush me off, clean up my cuts and help get me started again. He'll whisper words of sympathy in my ear saying, 'Kinda stings, doesn't it? I know how you feel--but you must not let it slow you down. Know that I am with you the entire way and will carry you across the finish line upon my back if you require it'. I have already felt the Savior carrying me throughout this race-- I know I am accomplishing things beyond my efforts and abilities with the Lord's help. I am doing the Lord's work, and so it is in His best interest that I succeed. I have the faith that my Savior will not quit 'saving' me-- He IS my Savior, not WAS my Savior. Despite how tired, sick and weak I may become, the Lord will lift me up and I CANNOT fail in the Lord's work." Wow. I can honestly say that I have never felt so tired and worn out in my entire life. But I know that my Savior is sustaining me. He is helping me keep going, amidst the blisters, rejections, sweat, cold, and rain. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but I will endure it with the help of my Savior. It is also the most rewarding thing. We don't have a bunch of success, but when we do have success, even a small miracle, all the tough times make me appreciate it more. I'm trying to gather up my energy and run full out, run until I have nothing left, until I cross that finish line and get on that plane home, and feel the Lord accept the work that I did here in the Bahia Blanca Mission... I want to feel Him say," Well done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things, enter now into the joy of thy Lord." I want to leave the field with no regrets, leave knowing that I accomplished the work the Lord called me to do. 

Shoutouts: Cousin Heather, THANK YOU for the email and the updates on the real world!! Tio Hector, thanks for the email! Glad things are well. 

Happy birthday this week tooooo Amberly, Jonathan and Myrinda!! Hope you all have great days!! 

Kris... the last dearelder I got from you was a few weeks ago... I MISS YA. 

Hunter, WELCOME TO THE EMAIL LIST! This is where the cool people are. :-)

Okay people. I hope you all have a great week. Remember I love you.

Con mucho amor,

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

HELLLLLOOOOOOO PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HELLLLOOOO PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!!!

UM OK DID EVERYONE JUST LOVE CONFERENCE AS MUCH AS I DID??!!! I love missionary superbowl!!! Ok, before I talk about conference, I need to cover some other bases that happened earlier in the semana. (**week)

- We had lunch with the Elders early this week and the member lied and said there was a woman at the house and there WASN'T. Aka, we (sisters) couldn't be there! E. Gravelle was freaking out. He was like Que haría Nefi??? (What would Nephi do?) and Elder Cruz was like Matalo. (Kill him). We all died laughing. Everything turned out just fine... we just all ate outside. Hilarious. 

- So I must say I've been seeing some miracles working in Villa Mitre 2 with Hermana Batista. She's a great missionary! Really great! She is SO VERY SENSITIVE to the Spirit. We'll leave a house and she'll be like "wow, did you feel that special feeling in that house?" And I'm like... "ummmm sure".... then I'm like "DANG IT!! Why am I not that sensitive to the Spirit?"  There is ALWAYS something I can work on. 

- On Wednesday we went to see Paula. This woman is so great. She already knows that the LDM (**Book of Mormon) is true. I'm sure she's just afraid to leave her church. We asked if she needed anything, and she said "ummm yeah, but I´m just going to ask my kids." And I just said "Hermana, we are here to SERVE you. Tell us what you need." And it turns out the woman had no food. If someone in worse condition asks HER for food, she gives what she has. She is a pure Mormon already. So we went off the the grocery store and bought her some food. As we trudged down the muddy hill (it was raining) my heart was full to the brim. I LOVE when people let us serve them. It doesn't happen very often but to see the look on her face as we pulled out bread, crackers, fideo, rice and everything, her eyes full of gratitude, my heart was truly full. Paula also read 16 chapters of the LDM!! AHHHHH. She's so ready. PRAY HARD FOR HER! She leaves for TWO MONTHS on the 21st. PRAY WE CAN GET HER IN THE WATER BEFORE THEN!!! She already has 2 asistencias.(attendances to church) One more!

- OK TIME FOR MY CONFERENCE SPEEL. First off, we had THREE investigators that came to the sessions. WOOOOOO!!! We had Natalia and her son there and at first we didn't think they could come because we passed by for the morning session and her mom had gotten there and she said "well I can go at 5 and we're like "BUENO, we´ll come back to get you!" So we did! She came with her 9 year old son who is a future investigator and her little 10 month old. They talked about families that session and she loved it! She needs to get married, but for now, we can start teaching her son. Then we had Luis, who came with Ines. He looked really content and happy to be there. Then we had Joel. A reference from the ZLs and he already had 2 asistencias to the church. Now 3. Totally BAPTIZABLE! We went to pick him up and he was in a cute corduroy suit! He's 50 years old, MARRIED, and SO SWEET! He is SO addicted to smoking, but through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE! We know we can get him baptized this month! Pray for him! We are hoping to have a lesson with him and Presidente and La Hermana. 2 misioneras and THE POWERHOUSE OF THE PRESIDENT! So nice that we can do that... since they are soo close to us! It was such a miracle to have THREE investigators come to conference. I thanked my Heavenly Father for the miracles that we have been able to see here in Villa Mitre. I am very, very happy. 

- Ok so the cable wasn't working for the English missionaries, but luckily we had the office with computers so it was me, and yup, you guessed it, NINE Elders crammed by one computer watching conference. Me and all the Elders. Yup. 

-HOW BOUT THAT MISSION AGE!!!!! I was stoked! I know that I was supposed to come at 21, but HOW GREAT FOR YOU FUTURE SISTERS! MEGAN, Jake, Gavin and Hunter!!! ARE YOU SO STOKED?!!!!  Such history! And now my grandkids will by like, "yeah, my grandma was one of the last sisters to leave at 21 on her mission..."  I have no doubt we will get a stronger Army of missionaries with MORE SISTERS!!! WOO! 

- Ok SO I LOVED CONFERENCE. LOVED IT. Is it just me or does it get BETTER EVERY YEAR! I loved how President Monson asked us to take an inventory on the blessings that we have in our lives, big and small. I AM SO VERY BLESSED!! SERIOUSLY!!! Did everyone notice the theme was mentioned about 2 times that we must DO and BECOME??? LOVE THAT! I also Loved Pres. Eyring's talk, how God will NEVER hide from us. We put up spiritual pavilions that hide us from Him. I testify that He NEVER stops caring, WE are the ones that have to reach out to HIM first. He will never take away that agency. I love Pres. Eyring. My favorite, of course was Elder Holland´s. I listened to the Feed my SHeep talk in the MTC and I was SO HAPPY TO HEAR IT AGAIN. All of us missionaries in the office were like... whoa. afterwards. HE´S SO POWERFUL. Everytime I don´t want to get out of bed, or I would rather throw the covers over my head and not go out to work because sometimes it's just really hard, the thought has always crossed my mind, a little, silent "Cydnee. Do you love me?" But now it's going to be Elder Holland's voice, "CYDNEE. DO. YOU. LOVE. ME?" Yes, Lord, I love thee. And I will get out of my bed and onto my knees and pray for the strength I need to take on the day." I LOVED that talk. Can't wait to listen to it again. I hope you all thought of me when you stood and sang "Called to Serve." I stood there in the office with 9 Elders, singing that song and thinking of y'all singing with me. Remember you don't have to wear a plaque to be a missionary.

SHOUTOUTS!!! Leah dear! I'm so sorry I forgot to say happy birthday! I hope that it was great! I miss you cutie pie! Happy birthday this week to REBECCA SERNA!!! And to Tía Jeni! And to Taci Fernuik! Hope you all have great days. Tay! I got your HP dear elder and I DIIEEEED! HP for life! Kris and Paige, I quite enjoyed your self portraits of me. Way to keep the roomie tradish going. HIATTS! Thanks for the JAM!! When I opened it, Hnas Vawdrey and Carsen were like IS THAT REAL JAM???  It's heaven!!! I splurged on sliced bread (um 18 pesos THANK YOU) and enjoyed myself a PB&J on my Bday. BEST MEAL EVER!!! Zander, thank you for the message! Send some pics of the kids through email! 


Hermana Squire
 pic 1: Vawdrey and Carsen saying THANKS DENNIS FOR THE BIRTHDAY LUNCH!!
pic 2: Me with Linco, Leguizamon, and Alvarez, Pixton and Israelsen in the background at zone conf..
pic 3. Vawdrey made me a bday cake!!!
pic 4. Zone conference

I'm OLD! I'm UGGGH Like the Crypt Keeper!!!!!!

Hey you people whom I love so DEARLY!

If you can guess what movie that´s from, we´re BFFs. WOW CAN I JUST SAY I FEEL SO LOVED!!???? Ok wow. I´m 22. I also completed 8 months in the mission TODAY! Way to kill two birds with one stone!! I FEEL SO DANG LOVED!

- Ok so this is what went down on my bday. WE HAD A ZONE CONFERENCE! What better could I have asked for!??  But first. I was a good girl and waited until this morning to open presents. I was so touched at the stack of cards I got! Seriously! Made my day, and it was more than I could have ever asked for. Just about cried, thanks. I got some sweet cards from my companion and from my companions de pension.(**apartment). THEN we left for zone conference. I got to see Hna Israelsen, Linco and Leguizamón and got some birthday wishes from them and a bunch of hugs. Mom, NO I did not wear the "Birthday Girl" badge to conference, because you know me and attention.... but it didn´t make any difference because I got a whole bunch anyway!! Right after lunch, we were all chatting and waiting for the conference to start back up again. I was up front, chatting with some Hermanas, when presidente was like "Attention! We have an Hermana here...." and that's when I was like "Shoot!!!!" and tried to sneak away, but I got trapped........ "...that has a birthday today!!!" And then the two zones sang happy birthday to me, or rather, "Se lo cumpla feliz", complete with clapping. I almost DIED of embarrassment!! But, I did feel loved. Now, I´m all spiritually uplifted and edified and I´ve got some ganas(motivation) to get out and teach some people!

- Zone conference was AMAZING!! We learned more ways how to better ourselves as missionaries through planning better, and having more desires to work. Sometimes it´s hard to have desire when you get so many rejections, especially when you leave the house thinking, "well, here we go. Let´´s get some more rejections."  BUT I've been trying to be better. I'm trying to leave the house with more faith, and a vision for miracles. Our area is TINY TINY TINY, and I feel like all these people have already had their chance. But there is always that ONE person that you haven't talked to. One person who is ready. ALL you have to do is LOOK. All you have to do is have faith that God will put them in your path. That's why it´s important to talk to EVERYONE! Experience time. So on Thursday, we combed our area book, praying about old investigators. We felt good about 3-4 in every sector of our area. Friday and Saturday, we passed by the majority and eliminated a few, and than the rest, we couldn´t find. I was struggling with the lack of success we've seen here in Villa Mitre II. On Saturday, I read through my letter book of all the letters y´all wrote me before the mission (I didn't read ahead mom, don´t worry :-)). Then I prayed more fervently than I ever have before. I prayed for strength, for courage, and the faith to see miracles. Then I wiped the tears off my face and we headed to work. Nothing happened on Saturday, but the miracles came on Sunday. We went to look for an investigator at church and guess what? She didn´t answer. So we trudged up our dusty hill ( I swear, it is SO DUSTY HERE! It´s ridiculous. It´s like sand in some areas) and made it to church. That´s when the miracles happened. Luis, our investigator, came with his girlfriend who is menos activo. THEY STAYED THE WHOLE TIME! He needs to get divorced and they need to get married, but there is progression. Hernan, a menos activo and x missionary came too!! We've passed by there two times, and he came to church, after about a year of inactivity. WOOO! Miracles. Then. That night, we passed by another x investigator, one that was on our "feel good list" and she was there! SHE IS A MEMBER WITHOUT KNOWING IT! Her name is Paula. She had investigated a little bit with her husband before he died. She LOVES the Book of Mormon and still reads it. She goes to a evangelica church and her pastor was giving her beef about the LDM,(Book of Mormon) and she said, "If you would just READ it you'd find out that it's true, and that it's similar to the Bible. I understand the Bible better because of the Book of Mormon. And I was like "IS THIS REAL LIFE????" She said, "I've seen you chicas walking by my house and I wondered, why haven't they stopped by me yet? Just before you came, I was praying. I told God I felt alone, and that I needed someone or something. I looked out the window and I saw you." And she pointed to me. "I thought you came alone because I only saw your head over my fence, but then I saw this bajita (short one)  with you when I came outside". This woman already has such a strong testimony of the LDM. She knows what we teach is true. She´s just afraid to leave her church, and I know that her pastor is going to hound her. SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray SO HARD for Paula. That her pastor will leave her alone and will not influence her decision. I cannot believe this miracle. I am sitting here, full of love and the Spirit, grateful that God has blessed me with this miracle. I know that the Lord will put us right where we need to be. I know that if we are worthy of His Spirit, He will guide us to where we need to be.

-We almost got eaten by two dogs this week. Freakin perros. (**dogs)

Shoutouts: TO ALL OF YOU WHO SENT ME BDAY CARDS!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I felt so much love today (and a little trunkiness) BUT THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! Flip, I have the best family and friends IN THE WORLD. Ty Ty, Corb and Steven... WHEN DID YOU BECOME MEN??! Ha! I love you guys! Grandpa and Grandma Squire thank you for the card and such! Wow, I can´t thank every SINGLE one of you but I WISH I could!  THANK YOU! Venice, Haddy, Paige, Kris... your pics are gorgeous. You're all tan and such! Tyler W. Standifird!!!! Bout time you wrote me you goober. I expect better from YOU these next few months!! Peterson family! Thank you for the package! HAVEN'T OPENED IT YET!! Grandpa Serna, Muchisimas gracias! Tio Hector & Alice, Thank you! Grandma Hobson- I have become the popular sister missionary here through your cookies. Just look at the picture below. Elders offer me FAVORS in exchange for your cookies. When I brought them to the office last week, Elder Costanzi (glasses in front) looked like a kid on Christmas day. They took this picture and it is now the desktop of Elder Costanzi´s computer. Thanks for making me extra popular! EVERYONE!!!!!!! WOW!!!! Thank you for EVERYTHING. Thank you for loving me so much!!! I love you allllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!  Work hard, and pray harder!

Hermana 22-year-old Squire

FOTOS:

1. Bday decor. Thanks mom!

2. I´m twenty twooooo.... and my hair has never been so blondeeee

3. Hna Vawdrey and I... with our cool party favors!

4. MY CARDS! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

5. Office elders and their cookies. Almost cried laughing.