Fotos & Investigadora de Oro! (Photos & Golden Investigator!)

23 abril 2012

HOLA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS!

Oh man, we are now in week four of the transfer and I cannot believe it!! WHAT! WHERE has the time gone? Seriously. Fall is here and it is chilly. Mornings and nights are a funny thing in our house. Our little home has giant cracks in it (that´s how that monster spider got into our house) and so it is really cold when it's dark. So we all are walking around like eskimos and warming our hands by our gas heater. Oh, the adventures of the mission! AND I FINALLY AM ABLE TO SEND PICTURES! We have to go to the church and do it there and it takes approximately a million years to download one, but I hope you all enjoy them.
- ANALIA- OH MY LANDS. She is my golden investigator!! We found her and her two kids in the calle (street) after we had fasted. The 11 year old, Abby is a member, and Rodrigo is 9. We went to visit her and she told us that before Abby´s baptism, they were homeless in Mar Del Plata, and only got food when people would give it to them. Then the missionaries found and baptized Abby. After that, they got a house, she got work, then they moved to Pringles and she got pregnant after trying for 8 years (she´s six months along). She said that recently she was feeling that she needed to change, and started praying. A few days later we met her. She started crying and said that she knew that was a sign from God that this was the way she needed to go. I just sat there in amazement at how everything played out. We were all sitting there crying, the spirit was so strong. She bore testimony of how we need to learn from trials and that God´s hand is always in our lives. GOLDEN, RIGHT?! Her fecha, and Rodrigo´s is for the 13th of May, the last day of the transfer. We are praying she can get married to her pareja(partner) by then. PRAY FOR HER TOO! My goodness, I love her. We are also going to work with her menos activo brother, Filipe and his señora. He went inactive after his son died, said he would never go to church again and never would pray again. He came into our lesson as we were finishing, and not knowing the circumstances, only that he was inactive, asked him to pray. He offered such a beautiful prayer and Analia told us her testimony was strengthed because she saw that her brother was changing too. So excited to work with this family!
- Julieta was not baptized. We had a noche de hogar(FHE) for the youth in the branch, and only she and Enrique showed up. We had a good talk with her about not waiting for the blessings that will come from baptism, but she still wants Enrique to do it. I could just shake Enrique right now! He´s not doing his part, he doesnt come to church in his white shirt and tie and doesn´t participate in activities. We are going to work on them both and work on a plan. So frustrating, but hopefully we can baptize her soon.
- Funny stories: We had just finished teaching a lesson with a 14 year old girl and her friend in their house when her 4 year old little brother came in and puked EVERYWHERE. I was surprised that I reacted so calmly. I didn´t even flinch. I was just like, oh, barf. Ok. The best part was Hna Israelsen was like, so, can we leave you with a prayer? And I was like NOPE! WE¨RE OUTTA HERE! Ah so gross. Then, the next day, we were walking in the street and WHAM, a bug flew right into my eye with the force of a jet plane I swear. It took me like 2 minutes to get it out of there and my eyes were watering so bad. We were laughing about it and not even 30 seconds later, a fly flew down Hna Israelsen´s throat (her mouth was open from laughing at ME). She was gagging, coughing and laughing... I was seriously dying on the side of the road. What a scene. Oh, she ended up swallowing it. Nice.
- I had my worst meal and my best meal so far in the mission this week. Worst: This sick cornmeal stuff with meat soup stuff. The worst part is that she PILED it on our plates. It was a small mountain and it was all I could do to eat half of it... so gross. Hna Israelsen ate it ALL. We were SO SICK after. Ick. Then, on Friday was Hno Achigar´s bday and we had asada with sheep, chicken, stuffed zuchini, and chorizo. OH MY LANDS. It was so great!! Ah, I just love Hno Achigar. He treats us so well. Next week we´re going to milk cows at his ranch... we´ll see how that goes.

Kelsey, Adrienne (letter on the way to you!), Hno Larsen- Thank you for the emails! I wish I had time to email you all back individually. Everyone, thank you so much for the love and support. I am so happy in Argentina. I love the people. I love this work. I love Castalleno :) It´s hard sometimes but when I find people like Analia, it makes all the hard times worth it! Have a wonderful week!

Much love,
Hermana Squire

Picture 1: The giant trantula in our house. Now you know why I screamed.
Picture 2: Asada for Hno. Achigar´s birthday with Familia Wilt. SO DELICIOUS
Picture 3: Presidente Wilt y Familia with Hermano Achigar. And I just realized I look like a giant.
Picture 4: Las Hermanas with Hermano Achigar.
Picture 5: our little room (my bed is on the left)

Parents:
YES I HAVE TO PAY FOR PACKAGES. PLEASE DON´T PUT ACCURATE AMOUNT. If you put 15 dollars, that's 60 pesos and I have to pay for half. So HIDE HIDE HIDE. And don´t list all things... Could you send some raisins, some cereals (none with nuts... they´ll take those) so i was thinking maybe get like captn crunch, take that cereal out and put in some yummy granola and a bag of almonds and raisins in the empty box and reseal. I AM CRAVING HEALTHY SNACKS but everything is so darn expensive. If you can hide beef jerky, nuts etc in a box that previously had granola bars or fruit snacks or whatever and just carefully reseal, that would be great. I really NEED healthy snacks!! Aye aye aye! Foot is better. I think I did strain it and I stumble a lot haha. But I´ve been careful and it´s been better. We have number for doctor in case it gets bad again. Only Hna Israelsen and I jog together. Other times I use my thing Brendi gave me. IT´S THE BEST! Please tell her that. Our house has a washer. It doesn´t rinse so we rinse in the sink and then hang dry. Don´t know how that´s gonna work in the winter. We only have lunch w presidente and family so far. Yes I can open attachments. SO CUTE AVA. Sleeping bag is great for cushion now. I´ll be sleepin in it sooon, no doubt! Internet is 8 blocks from house. Not going to buy a blowdryer. Ive been using Hna Linco´s... well I've used it 3 times so far. OK LOVE YA! Hope all is well and I get to talk to you SOON! Doing Race for The cure this year? HOPE SO!

The spider that made us scream!

Asada for Hermano Achigar's birthday. Presidente Wilt & hermanas

Hermanas with Hermano Achigar

My bedroom with Hermana Israelsen. My bed is to the left.

The Crazy Man In The Window

¿Cómo andan?

Wow, I can´t believe I´m in my 2nd week here in Pringles. It is such a great place and I absolutely love the people. I´m so excited to be in Argentina! Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I´m like, whoa! I´m in Argentina!

-      -  Pringles is a super safe town and we have no problems walking around at night or anything. We are lucky to have an Amazing branch presidency who will do anything for us. Hermano Achigar comes by and brings us fresh vegetables and fruit multiple times a week and we have lunch at President Wilt´s home 2 times a week. They take great care of us and I love all the branch members. Ha, they SHOULD take care of us, because between the 4 Hermanas, we rotate teaching gospel doctrine, relief society, the youth class, AND give talks. I´m giving my talk next week… eek!
-         - Funny stories this week: Hermana Israelsen and I were studying in the main room when all of the sudden she starts freaking out. There was this guy looking in our window! We ran out of the room and the other Hermanas came out and it turns out, he was trying to ask us what time it was. Whoops. A couple days later, Hna Israelsen and I were walking in the street and all the sudden, right in the middle of her sentence she said ´Ugh i just stepped on a diaper and it was squishy´ Sick, huh? Then last night I was getting ready for bed when I hear HERMANA HERMANA ARAÑA!!!! (Hna Israelsen is terrified of spiders) I come out thinking it´s a little spider, but NO. It´s as big as a freaking tarantula! I´m serious! It could have swallowed a mouse! I would like to tell you all that I courageously slapped it dead with my shoe, but no.. What did I do? I got on the chair and started screaming with Hermana Israelsen until Hermana Linco came out. She sprayed Raid at it which made it scuttle around and made us scream louder. Oh my gosh. There better not be any more of those in our house. I have a picture and once I figure out this picture thing I´ll send one.
- - We had a 3rd companion with us this week. A little stray cat we named Favian. He followed us around for half a day and patiently waited while we contacted. We lost him after an appointment then he miraculously showed up 2 days later and followed us again! How funny:)
- If anyone wants to give me advice on how to convert a Jehovah´s witness, that would be great! They are so hard to talk to and trying to get them to even listen is impossible.
 -- Fasting works miracles. We had a zone fast and after that we found 4 new investigator, and a family with an 11 year old menos activo and a 9 year old who wants to get baptized. We are going to work with them and find out what kept the mom from being baptized. I´m so stoked.
- -Julieta- She has a fecha this Saturday but it probably will fall through. She only wants her boyfriend, Enrique to baptize her but he´s been less active for about a month because of a dumb fight with a kid in church. BUT HE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY! WOO!! So he is working on being worthy to baptize Julieta. Ah, I love Julieta! She´s 16 and always keeps her promises. WE taught the Word of Wisdom and she was like yeah, I´ll live it. SO SWEET!
  - We celebrated Ramon´s 85 birthday this week. We got him a little alfahor and a candle and sang to him. I LOVE HIM! He is the cutest grandpa!
  -We are also working with a recent convert, Juanita (MOM!!), and she is the sweetest old lady. Every time we go over she tells me I need to eat more or I´ll blow away in the wind. Another menos activo: Maria Jose. I LOVE HER! She had a problem with smoking and didn't want to come back because she was ashamed. But she hasn't´t smoked in 2 weeks!! She has a strong testimony and has gone through the temple. We visit her and she whips out her preach my gospel, gospel principles book and we just chat! AHH love that woman.
--- We found a nueva yesterday, IDE... sounds like Iday? Anyway, we knocked on her door and it was like BAM. Smoke cloud. She is a heavy smoker but we´ll help her change that. Also, there were approximately 150 flies in her house. I about died, but THAT went away when she said she would be baptized. Woo!
-  Shoutouts: Tyler, thanks for the email! CONGRATS ON TENNESSEE!!!! You were right in your post script once again. Sis Corbett thanks for the dear elder! BYU peeps, I hope finals go well! Then you can write me! Dearelders take 2 weeks, letters I'm not sure, and emails are obviously quick. Hermano Larsen, Thanks for the email! Thank you all for the endless love and support.

Hermana Squire
cydnee.squire@myldsmail.net

I'm In ARGENTINA!!! Anyone up for Pringles?

¡HOLA TODOS!

I AM IN ARGENTINA AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!! Wow, there is lots to tell so I´m going to just get started.
- We flew into Buenos Aires and then took a little plane to Bahia. We met up with President Detlefsen and his wife and our companions. The president and his wife are so great! My companion is Hermana Israelsen, she´s from Cache Valley, Utah. She´s pretty great. We went to the mission office to have some orientation and do some paperwork and then my companion and I got on a collectivo to our area: Coronel Pringles. (PREngLESS- not like the chips). WE didn´t get in until midnight... It made for 2 VERY long days of traveling. 
- We hopped right into missionary work the next day. I got to meet with the Branch President, Pres. Wilt and I saw our little capilla (chapel). There are only about 30 members in the rama(branch), but I am there to change that. Contacting is a little strange to me still... I´ll get over it soon, I´m sure. 
- Pringles is very tranquil. The people are relaxed and most live in pretty humble homes. Cinderblocks, curtains for doors and such. There are nice homes too, but a lot of the roads are dirt roads. It´s a farm town... a lot of people work in the campo the next town over. There are also a lot of Jehovah Witnesses here... and some can be pretty mean! But we are working hard. We walk around 8-10 miles a day... our area is super huge. A lot of people ride bikes here instead of having autos. 
- I´m surprised at how many people give us their address when we´ve only talked to them for two minutes. Also, they kiss cheeks here. It could be 5 minutes since we met and some lady is kissing my cheek. It get´s a little tricky with the men... we have to say SOLOMENTE LA MANO! (only the hand!) as they come in for the kiss. It´s my favorite with little kids... they reach up on their tip toes and kiss your cheeks... ah I love the kids here! So adorable!!
- So, Argentines don´t speak Spanish. They speak Castellano. And they speak it FAST. It´s a little hard to get used to and sometimes I don´t catch things, but it´ll come. I´ve already been told by plenty that I speak it well. That´s because I practiced in the MTC! Castellano is the y and ll sounds (ya) make the ´sha´ sound. Yo me llamo is ´sho me shamo´. It´s different but very beautiful. The Argentines are a beautiful people and I love them already. The rama is great! We have some strong members.
- We had a confirmation on Sun of one of H. Israelsen´s investigators Ramon. He is 84 and SO ADORABLE! But he is very deaf! Haha. We taught him about the holy ghost the other day and it went like this. Ramon, usted va a recibir el espiritú santo manaña! Eh? USTED VA A RECIBIR EL ESPIRITÚ SANTO MANAÑA! Eh? USTED...VA...A....RECIBIR...EL....ESPIRITÚ... SANTO ...MANAÑA!!! Oh! Sí!! Oh I love him. WE also are working on two sisters and their mom. Julieta (16), Sofia (13) and Adriana. They have fechas for the end of the month. PS Sundays are CRAZY! We have to rally up our investigators. Julieta, Sofia and Adriana were nowhere to be found so we RAN (literally ran) to their house, found Sofia and Julieta in the street, and dragged them along to church. They stayed, so that´s good! So stressful! I am also a visiting teacher with another woman in the rama. Every month, we´ll visit teach 5 members (active or inactive). We also rotate teaching classes with the other Hermanas (Linco from Chile and Liguizamon from Mendosa, they live with us in our little home) and give talkes every month. Lots to do on Sundays!! 
- No one can say my name. I even say, its Hermana Esquire. They say, Skeeray. Ha so I´ve given up. Call me Hermana Skeeray. 
- Dulce de leche is nectar from above. I swear. Yogurt comes in a bag... and it´s delicious. The food is seriously the best. 
- Coming to the mission field is like starting all over! The accent is different, new schedule to get used to, new stresses, new foods... but it is all great. I will accostom soon.
- We can´t carry bags because it looks like we´re carrying valuables and such, we don´t want to get robbed! So we have these little box things. About the size of a tissue box, but a little thicker. Theres pictures of jesus all over mine. People call them esposos (spouse) because they are always with you. Some call them Jesus boxes. There we carry folletos, a Book of Mormon and our planners. No room for hardly anything! How am I going to sneak food that I don´t like out of people´s homes? Aye, aye aye, I´ll have to figure something out. 

Shoutouts: Taylor and Kristen. I got your dearelders first thing when I got to the mission office. It made me laugh all over again! Tyler- thanks for the email... FINALLY. And about your P.S- No. nononono. THANK YOU ALL for your lovely comments on conference. Such a great experience! Elder Nelson came up and talked with all of us before... so amazing to have an apostle of the Lord right there! And just so you know, I don´t wear that much makeup... President brown´s wife came at me with a blush brush and I was pretty much helpless. Hna Brown- I AM PRAYING FOR YOU AND E. HAROLDSON! Hiatt family- thanks for the email! You should send an update more often! :) Thank you all for all the prayers and support. It´s because of you that I´m here in Argentina! It´s the best. I seriously am so so happy I am finally in the field. I can´t wait to find and teach more. 

Love,
Hermana Squire (Skeeray)

I'm GOING TO ARGENTINA!!

HOLA todos!!

Well, after we sent Hermana Hinze, and Elders Kelly, Hall, and Allred off to the airport, I was feeling pretty down with not getting my visa. Then, right after lunch, what do you know... I GOT MY VISA! Yes! I am leaving for Argentina tomorrow morning! I AM SO DANG EXCITED!! I can't wait to start this work I was called to do in Bahia Blanca. Thank you all for your continued love and support these past few weeks. I look forward to more dearelders in Argentina! (It's possible! I just don't know how to do it! :)) I love you all so much and I can't wait to tell you about my first week in Argentina. I am so blessed to have gotten my visa only a day late. Please continue to pray for the rest of my district and other Argentine missionaries still waiting. I am so incredibly happy and ready to serve. I'm only a little nervous, as expected. But I can't wait to serve with my whole heart. Until Pday------from ARGENTINA!

Con Amor,
Hermana Cydnee Squire

Little Devastated

Hola Todos!

Well, here I am in the final week of the MTC... with no visa. Half of our district got theirs and will be leaving on Monday, and the rest of us will be stuck here until we get ours. To say I'm bummed is a huge understatement. I was pretty much devastated. But, there is still hope that the rest of ours will get ours next week. It will be hard to see the rest of our district leave on Monday, I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye and having to stay here. So pray hard, I don't think I can last much longer in the MTC... I'm going a little crazy!!

- David Archuleta is in the building. The rumors are true. He is so small and he looks scared all the time, like someone is going to tackle him or something. He's pretty well guarded and for the most part, everyone kinda lets him be. Which is good.

- We are ready to sing for conference! We have been practicing so much and working so hard. It's going to sound so AMAZING! The sisters have been having a rough time finding pastel-like shirts. And the Relief Society Presidency had us wear our outfits for Saturday this past Tuesday to get approval. Try singing your part with the Relief Society Presidency pacing around you and scrutinizing your outfit with their eyes. Not easy, I tell ya! It's going to be so amazing, I hope that you get a glimpse of me in the crowd!

- This past week has been great... a little monotonous at times (so many practices and acting like fake investigators!) but great. Hermano Larsen made it special for us by showing pictures of his mission and we FINALLY got to see the real Sergio. He was exactly as I pictured. A little stocky and grumpy looking. We saw post baptism pictures and man, what a difference. He's so happy and has the light of Christ in his eyes. I can't wait to witness that first hand in Argentina. Today we're doing in-field training... it's where they tie all the loose ends together for the departing missionaries. So far we've learned contacting, working with members for referrals, and preparing investigators for baptismal interviews. It's been really great actually! I can't wait to leave and apply all that I'm learning.

- Our new district has an Elder in it that looks like Squints from the Sandlot. I GOTTA take a picture of him before we leave. It's pretty awesome. We'll be getting another district this Wed... but let's hope I'm not here to see them :) We got new girls in our room and they're all going to MCALLEN TX! Small world right? It gets even smaller: one of the Hermanas is Rachel Richards. I went to school with her in Jr High and High School and she even came to my bday party when I was like 14! So nuts! It's always fun to see people I know here.

- I'm sorry this email is so scatterbrained and a little unfullfilling. I really am at a loss for words and don't know what to talk about! Everything is the same here in the MTC! All my days run together and I never know what has happened on each day. Shoutouts: Paige- you are great, thanks for the email. A letter is coming your way (for all of you). Had- YOU ARE ENGAGED! I saw the ring and it is GORGEOUS. Ahhh and your pictures! I love you!!! Rachelle- thanks for the dearelder and I LOVE YOU!! Grandparents Squire: thanks for the email! Hope you all feel better soon! Summer- thanks for the dearelder! I miss you, and keep me updated on your life. Thanks for all the prayers and support. Hno Larsen told us... why should we ever be discouraged? We have SO MANY people praying for us. In every temple, our wards are praying for us, the prophet prays for us, and all our family and friends pray for us. I am so blessed to have you all pray for me. I really appreciate it. When I feel discouraged (especially since I'm not leaving on time anymore) I think about you all and how much I love each of you. I hope you have a great week and always remember that I love you... but more importantly, I hope you remember you have a Father in Heaven who loves you and cares about your happiness. He knows you personally because you are His child. Always remember that you are sons and daughters of a King. This is the work of the Lord! I cannot wait to start bringing others to Christ.

Con amor,

Hermana Squire

I'm Gonna Be on TV again.....LOOK for me!!!

Hola Todos!

Time here at the CCM is a crazy thing. Some days are SOOO long and then BAM it's pday again. It's so weird. This week has been SO GREAT. SO much better than last week. I am refocused and utilizing all my study time to prepare for Argentina.

-I'm finishing up my EIGHTH week here at the CCM and my departure date is 4/2... next Monday. But I'm pretty sure we'll be staying here longer. We haven't got our travel plans yet either... they were supposed to come yesterday. The group before us hasn't gotten their visas and they'll be starting their 12th week here next week. That's as long as the Mandarin and Russian missionaries! Ah! We are all pretty sure that we'll be here longer. Sad. The mexico missionaries are being reassigned to wait for their visas, but the Argentina ones are waiting at the MTC still. There's a group of 30 missionaries ALONE going to Bahia Blanca on 4/2... so we'll see who gets their visas. I actually wouldn't mind getting an extra week... only one though :). It would be nice to review Spanish and work harder.

- The Bahia Blanca mission is expanding... by June there will be 270 missionaries... our President wrote and said they were trying to get a temple... you better believe I'm going to work hard to get more people baptized so they can get a temple!

- Ok so EXCITING NEWS!!!! I'm going to be on TV again! But this time... you all get to look for me! Yup! I'll be singing in the MTC choir AT GENERAL CONFERENCE on Saturday afternoon!!! What the! This girl, who's not so much of a singer, will be singing for the prophet, apostles, and THE WHOLE WORLD on Saturday! So set your DVRS and look for the girl in peach (the sisters will be wearing pastels... so we'll look like a big bouquet of flowers... that's what Sister Brown said... so look for me in all my pastel glory. PS who wears pastels anymore? Anyone??? No offense people! This is a ONCE IN A LIFETIME opportunity and I am just so humbled to be a part of it. We've been working hard to memorize our parts so we won't let you down!

- On Tuesday, we got to hear from Elder and Sister Oaks! So great! I loved Sister Oaks talk. She told us that we came to the MTC to learn about Christ and how to love as he did... not to learn our language. She told us we need to be BOLD because we can teach others how to achieve SALVATION!!! A few weeks ago we had a talk from someone of the 70. He told us that if we had gold to pass out to everyone, we wouldn't say, "Hey um... I've got this gold here... do you, uh, want some?" NO! The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is our gold! We should be like, "HEY EVERYONE!!! I've got GOLD HERE!!!" The gospel is much more precious than gold and we should NOT be timid in sharing it. Elder Oaks talked about the importance of preparing ourselves for taking the sacrament and how through that we are promised to have the Spirit with us always. And a missionary ALWAYS wants the Spirit with them! It is the main teaching tool! We have such a small part in the conversion of investigators. The Spirit does 95% of the teaching, so it is VITAL for us to teach by the spirit.

- Every Tuesday, we get the opportunity to go to TRC. We teach a lesson to members and it really is one of my favorite times of the week. So this week, we walked into the room and shook hands with this young guy. I recognized him! We were like "HEY! I KNOW YOU!" And what do you know, it was Blake Lewis, recently returned from serving in Ecuador. We graduated from high school together and it was so nice to be able to chat with someone I know! TRC really is so great!

- Brother and Sister Malan were released on Sunday. They'll be going to China for a year to serve with the BYU Kennedy center. It was SO SAD! I love them both so much. Sister Malan served in Bahia Blanca too! We all cried when they left. We got a new couple put in, Brother and Sister Tedrow. They are from Highland and are so sweet! Also, Sister and Brother Nally, who are in the MTC presidency are from Highland too! I always like seeing people from my home town. The Nally's know President Bangerter and Bishop Millar too! We got a new district this week... 8 going to Mexico, 2 going to Peru! It's always fun to have a new district. Ours is now the oldest in the zone! So crazy!

- So on Sundays and other times during the week during meals, President Brown (the MTC president) trolls around and finds a district to sit with. Sometimes it can be bad news because then he makes you get up during firesides and bear your testimony or something! So we usually try to avoid eye contact, haha. So on Sunday we saw him walking with his tray and I said to Hna Hinze, "watch out, Brown on the prowl!", and what does Elder Robertson do? He says, "President Brown! Come sit with us!" I was dying! It actually was really great and he didn't make us go up during the fireside. We were quizzed on the Doctrine of Christ and I have to say, I was sweating a little!! He is such an inspired man and I LOVED listening and learning from him.

- This week we have been learning about teaching PEOPLE not lessons. That is one of the hardest things! To go into a lesson with a plan that is subject to change according to the needs of your investigators. We practiced teaching our teacher as himself, not as an investigator, and we were literally inspired to talk about aligning our will to the Lord's. He told us it was exactly what he needed. I hope all my lessons can be like that. About that subject... sometimes we think that WE know how we can be happy and WE know the ways we can get there. But we must remember that we have a loving Heavenly Father who has a plan for us and knows how we can have the most happiness. Sometimes it's hard to realize that and give up what you think should be your plan for God's plan. But it is a DIVINE plan and He knows our potential. Don't forget that... especially when you feel like you are being stretched to your limits.

- Sergio and Ruben get baptized tomorrow! The whole process has been so great and I'm so HAPPY to see the hard work and studying we've done pay off. Sergio has made a 180 and I am just so impressed. I can't wait to see what that's like in the field. After their baptisms, our teachers are bringing in pictures and telling us stories of the REAL Sergio and Ruben! So exciting!

- This Sunday marks the 9 year anniversary of my brother starting his mission on the other side. I have never felt closer to him than I do now. We are united in purpose and I know he is proud of me. I know that there are TWO missionaries from my family out in the field, bringing the gospel to those who need it. We miss him every day, but he is on the Lord's errand, as am I.

- Shout-outs: Aunt Lori- thanks for the email... BOUT TIME! I love you all and say hi to everyone for me! Aunt Jeni, thanks for the dearelder! Glad you can put the rumors to rest about David Archuleta (he's not here people). Taylor- thanks for the dearelder... you, Paige and Kris are ultimate creeper stalkers... YOU KNOW WHY! Haha but I LOVE you and congrats on the decision to go to DC! I'm jealous!  Susan, thank you for the dearelder and spiritual thought. Loved it. Ashton, your Spanish is great! Sorta... thanks for the dearelder! WOOBIE!!! Adrienne- I'm going to send you some hand sanitizer soon! Don't you worry! And I'm sure your YW lessons are amazing :). Squire grandparents: Love you! Thank you for the email. Sis. Wirig- Thanks for the email! I love hearing from you and I wish I could have Laurel lunch at your house still. I miss that! Venice- I could understand your letter! THANKS for writing... ESPECIALLY in Spanish! I miss you! I got so much love from everyone this via dear elder and letters. THANK YOU! You are ALL an inspiration to me. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Besos y abrazos,

Hermana Squire

Cydnee and her Lone Peak missionary friends!
Elise Leavitt, Kaitlyn Brunsdale & Shelby Curtis

Cabin Fever!!!

Hola!

 

Como estan? First off, HAPPY 33rd ANNIVERSARY to my wonderful parents! I love them SO much. They are the BEST examples, as you all know, and it's because of their influence, teachings, and nurturing that I am here today.

 

Well I can't believe I'm writing again. This week flew by. It was kinda a rough week, to be honest. All of us in one way or another lost our marbles. WE WANT OUT! I want to leave the MTC sooo bad! I love it here, but I want to get to the field!! Looks like I need to work on being patient this week... because it is 98% sure that our visas will be delayed. They are having delays with Mexico and Argentina visas, and a lot of us...mostly all of us... are getting delayed. It is likely that we will stay here a few extra weeks. We have no idea on the progress of our visas, and no way of knowing until the day before we leave. We'll get travel plans on Thursday, which gives us a seat on the plane, but we can't go if we don't have our visas :( So that was a bit of discouraging news, but we all have been praying and fasting hard to get our visas. The travel office said they are getting 6 visas PER DAY! For like 100 missionaries that need to leave! Ah man, the Argentina missionaries could use some of your prayers.

 

- So I was horribly sick almost half of the week. I'm not sure what it was, but the doctor just told me to take sutafed and I would be fine. I WASN'T FINE! My nose was so runny and yucky and my head felt like it was going to explode. I got sent back to the residency almost every day (Sat-Wed) by our teachers to go sleep. I wanted to stay and study, but I was grateful for the rest. I'm feeling SO MUCH better now, so don't worry!

 

- We got a new district this week... all going to Argentina! They're going to be a good group of Elders, I know it. I got the opportunity to help the ZL's out with orientation, and they are all excited to be here. On Monday, TWO of our districts leave! The newer district is going off to Columbia MTC and the district above us will be headed out to Columbia and Lubbock! So WE will be the oldest district in our zone! Crazy! We'll get another district this week, so our zone won't be super small for long. We also get to host next Wed, which means we get to shuttle the brand-spankin new missionaries around the MTC! I feel so old!!

 

- Hermano Romney told me about BYU's miracle win when we were down by 25 points. He said angels came down and helped us! GO COUGS! But then I was sad to hear that we lost to Marquette. :( I miss cougar basketball!

 

- This week we had Elder Cardon of the 70 come speak to us. I swear, that man is going to be a part of the 12 one day. SO INSPIRIED and SO AMAZING! He told us to always remember that we are VALIANT sons and daughters of God. The adversary will try to convince us otherwise, but we have to always remember that we are sons and daughters of a KING and we have divine potential!

 

- This week, I have been studying the power and authority that missionaries have. I never realized how much we actually have! We are LITERAL representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ and we have the power to act in His name! If we are prompted to promise someone something, and if they take that promise to the Lord, it will be granted to them! The calling of a missionary is SO amazing and SO powerful. We are given special certificates that say we are authorized to minister and preach the gospel in our countries! So cool! Every day I am honored to put on my plaque that says that I am a representative of Jesus Christ.

 

- Ruben and Sergio get baptized a week from Saturday! They are doing so great and I love teaching them. The spirit guides our lessons and we teach what they need to hear. It is an amazing thing.

 

- Supposedly David Archuleta is in the MTC right now? I have no idea. I haven't seen him, nor do I know where he is going. It's ridiculous how many rumors are going around about him.

 

- Shoutouts: Anna and Dave: AHHHH I LOVE YOU BOTH! Thank you for the email and picture! I am SO EXCITED FOR YOU! Tio Hector- congrats on retirement! You deserve it for all your hard work! Tahnee- bout time you wrote me. ;) Love you and thank you for the laughs :) Paige- light wash painter pants and new balance sneakers... seriously almost died! Never stop writing me stuff like that. Kristen- I would love to see a picture of you wrestling Paige. Please email that to me sometime! I love you and I hope you are still enjoying massaging the gluteals of the football team! Bud- THANK YOU for writing to me! I was so excited to see I had a dearelder from you. Thank you so much for the advice, you are great!

 

- I love you all and am so excited to start this work in Argentina. I seriously am DYING to get out there. Thank you all so much for the prayers and the support. It means the world to me. Quiero compartir mi testimonio con ustedes: Yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera. El Libro de Mormon contiene las palabras de Dios. Jose Smith fue un profeta y tradujo El Libro de Mormon. Jesucristo es mi salvador y mi redentor y estoy MUY agradacida por el ejemplo de el. Estoy MUY MUY MUY agradacida por la oportunidad ser una misionera. Esta obra es la obra de El Senor. Les Quiero mucho mi familia y amigos!

 

Besos y Abrazos,

Hermana Squire

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!