Traveling.

Hey peepes. I'm still alive here... just having a good old time here in Cancun. More on my adventures to come!

Awkward and Awesome (Yeah, Monday Moments)

Annnnd we're back. This week's awkwards and awesomes are all RM themed. (That's 'returned missionary' fyi) Here we go....

Awkward

• Figuring out how the washer, dryer and dishwasher work again. What button is it again?
• The most common question I've been asked? "What are your plans now?"
• Another common question: "So how was your mission?" Me: "Ummm.... good?" Honestly, how am I supposed to answer that? Missions are like mini lives. It's like asking, "So, how have the last 10 years been?" Good?
• It was so weird coming back and seeing how technologically advanced everyone is... how EVERYONE has an iphone and all this instagramming and snapchatting stuff.
• Speaking of technological advances, this one right here got an iphone. Yeah, that sure was a blast trying to figure out the first few days. What do I do with this space phone?
• How my eye twitched for 2 weeks from straight up fatigue. No I am not winking at you. So sorry.
• Getting tired around 7, and waking up without fail at 3:15am for about 6 days. 
• The strange sensation that my mission was just a dream and that I never left. 

Awesome

• My awesome bed!!!  So soft!
• Carpet!! Seriously, this was me about 5 seconds after I walked into my house.

• Listening to music again... the absolute best.
• Being alone Driving alone. Sleeping alone. Reading alone. Walking alone. I like being alone. 
• annnddd.... seeing all my family and friends. Only a little awesome, right? :)

We've got lots of catching up to do... so keep your shorts on and be patient with me while I try and update this thing. I'll be headed to Mexico tomorrow, so it might be a bit!

ASADO

Asado means BBQ in Argentina, y'all. So the day after I got home, my parents threw a little party and I was so so happy when a bunch of my mission buddies showed up!

Cousin Greg served his mission in Brazil and learned how to do Brazilian BBQ... man this stuff is amazing. Head and shoulders above Rodizios. It was so good to see so many people from the mission and to connect with old friends.

 

All kids from the Bahia Blanca Mission. We rock.

Well that's a wrap, folks. As you've probably noticed, we're back on the old blog look. *Sniffle.  I'm so happy you all were able to follow me on this little adventure, and I hope that you'll stay tuned for this next exciting stage in my life.


We're back to posting some good music... here's 'Boys with Girlfriends'

One Last Time

- So I promised I would write one last post on my last week in the mission. The exciting news is that on Sunday the 28th of July, Margarita got baptized! But man, that was one heck of a baptism. We got a call on Saturday night telling us that there was no hot water for the font! They said the baptism may not happen and we were so bummed. On Sunday morning, Margarita came all prepped and ready with a skirt and her nice shoes on and we were honestly praying for a miracle... and that's what happened. Something that was once broken started working and we were able to fill the font with warm water. What a miracle right?? Margarita was baptized and it was a perfect way to end my time in Toay. I also was able to fulfill a goal of mine...at the beginning of my mission I made the goal to baptize in every area and with every companion. And I am so happy/blessed I was able to have this baptism with Hermana Vawdrey! I will miss her!!
- The whole rest of the week was full of goodbyes and lots of people wanting to give me food. We even had lunch with our favorite investigators, Juan and Cristina... they are so great!!

- So on Sunday night, I left Toay with all my suitcases and headed to the terminal. My bus left at 4am and everything was so surreal. We got to Bahia at like 9 in the morning and went straight to the office to weigh our suitcases and have our last interviews with President. My interview was the absolute best. I asked President to give me a blessing and it was the absolute best decision I have ever made. It was the sweetest and clearest blessing and I will always hold that near to my heart. After finally having the chance to shower, Hna Gonzalez and I went off to Villa Mitre 2 so I could visit some people. I was able to see Tatiana and Erika and found out they would be off to the temple that week to do baptisms... SO GREAT!! I also saw a few more families in the ward and it was just so nice to be back in my old area and say goodbye.

With Tatiana and Erika

- That night we had FHE at the Presidents house and everything just felt like a dream. We shared our testimonies for the last time as missionaries and had asado. Our gift from President was a bound book of all our letters we had written to him throughout our missions. It was funny to look back and see how terrible my Spanish was when I first started! After that we went home and tried to sleep... that didn't work too well, but that's ok. The next morning, we got picked up and we headed to the airport. Everything was so surreal and sad.

With Hermana Parreno

-When we got to Buenos Aires, we met up with all the leaving groups... from  Cordoba and Mendoza and ate lunch. We also met the new missionaries going to Bahia Blanca! Then we were all shipped off to the temple. We got to see one of our old APs there and he was able to do a session with us! Such a sweet experience for us all.

- The temple was so beautiful but we couldn't enjoy it because we had to rush outta there and get to the airport. Then we found out that the Bahia Blanca group wouldn't be leaving that day... I know, ahh! Our luggage (which was sent by ground transportation) didn't make it in time so we would be staying an extra day. We were all pretty bummed, but mostly just scared to have to call our moms and tell them the news! So, there was about 18 of us... and I was the only sister. Ha, awkward.... but at least the Elders were pretty cool. We had to stay in a hotel that night, and I had to sleep in a room by myself... which was very strange, still being a missionary and all. The next day we were able to do a tour of Buenos Aires and see the sights. At last we were able to get on the plane... all of us pretty ready to go home. 

- Those two flights... from Buenos Aires to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to Salt Lake...were the absolute longest flights of my life. 8 of us finally made it to Utah and we were all so excited and nervous. We booked it through the terminal, ignoring all the excited pointing from fellow Utah mormons and made it to the escalator. I tried filming everything but my hands were so shaky I couldn't! 

-Seeing my parents and family and friends was amazing. I was just crying and shaking so much! It made me think of how our "homecoming" will be when we finally make it back to our heavenly parents. I imagine that the pure joy I felt on that day in the airport will be magnified when I run in to my Father in Heaven's arms. How sweet will be that reunion?

-Well there you have it... my journey home. I'm sad that this chapter of my life is ending, but I am so so excited for the next one to begin. Missions are a funny thing. You're out there, preaching the gospel day in and day out and if you let it, it starts changing you. Little by little, until you look back and realize you're not the same person you were before you left. Like they say, you only have 18 months to serve and an eternity to think about it. And in these last two weeks I have thought about my mission every day. I am so grateful I had this opportunity to serve.

Love you all,

The former 'Hermana' Cydnee Squire

Welcome Home Video

Thanks to Savannah Slater we have this lovely 'Welcome Home' Video.... ENJOY


                   
                         Welcome Home Hermana Squire! from Savannah Slater on Vimeo.

I'm Home

Hey guys.

I'm HOME. More to come later.

Fin

My people,

It's here. The moment you've all been waiting for. 

I'm sitting here in this cold cyber, blowing on my fingers every few seconds and thinking about what I could possibly write to wrap this up. My heart is racing, and well, I've tried pretty hard not to be trunky in my emails... but seeing as it's my LAST week, I'm just gonna say "I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU GUYS NEXT WEEK!!!! WAHOOO!!!!!!!!!"  

Ok. I guess I'll tell you all what happened this week and try to think of something to say at the end. 

- Let's start with the usual, ok? The funny. So one day we were walking to a cita (appointment) during the siesta. So you know, during the siesta there is NO ONE around. Everything is closed. People are sleeping. Hardly anyone in the streets. So we're walking in the middle of this neighborhood (AND all of the members had traveled to the temple), and lately the air has been so dry and cold... anyway! We're walking, and my nose just starts bleeding... like furiously. And I'm sitting there holding my nose with blood just all over my hands and face going "what do we do!? what can we do!!" and Hna Vawdrey is just busting up. So we go knock on some door, wake some poor lady up... and when she opened the door with this "what do you want" look, she saw ME... and haha, you should have seen her face!!! I asked her for some paper, and she gave me two paper towels and shut the door in our face! I was laughing so hard. We had to go back to the pension (apt) to clean myself up, and you won't believe the stares I got... people were probably thinking, 'those crazy Mormons... fighting with the people..." :-)

- It is SO DANG COLD. Yesterday it was like 14 degrees and SO WINDY with freezing rain. I wanted to DIE. I kept thinking... I'm so glad it's summer at home and I only have to be cold for a few more days. Before we left yesterday, Hermana Vawdrey and I put on like 5 layers... I said,  "Are we going skiing or are we going to preach the gospel?" I'm wearing thermals right now. In July. Yeah. I don't wanna talk about it. 

- SO MARGARITA! We are hoping we can get her baptized on Sunday! Maybe! She is so great and willing but her understanding is mas o menos. BUT we are patient and she is finally starting to get stuff. She came to church yesterday too!

- We had interviews with Presidente on Friday and it was just so fun! I walk in and he goes, "la famosa Hermana Squire!!!" (*the famous Hermana Squire) and we just laughed the whole time. He gave me some great advice for my last week. I'm so grateful for President. He's amazing.

- So, we have been working with a great couple, Juan Carlos and Cristina. They were a reference from the Patriarch and live in the NICEST house I have ever taught in. They are AWESOME. Cristina is more ready than Juan, but they BOTH have such good questions. Cristina told us she read 3 Nephi, but didn't pray to ask if it was true. At first we were bummed, but then she said, "I felt  that I didn't need to...I was reading and it just made sense. I just knew it was true."  SO GREAT! They need to get married, so I'll be looking forward to seeing those fruits in the future. Juan has Mormon cousins that live in Utah that keep bugging him to go see them, so I said, "if you go, you can come visit me!"  They were all down for that. When they found out that I was leaving, they got all sad and invited me to lunch on Saturday. So sweet! This week is going to be full of a lot of "lasts" and a LOT of food.

- Just some last thoughts. As I was sitting on the bus this morning on the way to Santa Rosa for some trunky shopping, watching a little boy lick the window while sitting on his mom's lap (she definitely wasn't stopping him), I thought about how much I was going to miss this place: the 5 people squished on a motorcycle, dogs everywhere, dog POOP everywhere, 80's style.... then there are the people. These people have become my FAMILY for the past 16ish months, and my heart aches to leave them. I love them soooo much. I have loved my mission and I can honestly say that I couldn't have done anything more amazing with my life than serve a mission. I have learned so much and grown so much. "La gran Misión Bahia Blanca" has humbled me, molded me, tried me, taught me to trust in and rely on the Lord, and taught me to see people's true worth. I am so grateful to have been a tool in the Lord's hands to serve His children in Argentina. The scriptures speak better than I can, so here's a couple of verses from Alma 26:

 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.

 29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their ^asynagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been ^bstoned, and taken and bound with ^cstrong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again.

 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our ^ajoy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

 31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the ^afruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are ^bmany; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.

 16 Therefore, let us ^aglory, yea, we will ^bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his ^cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

 35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all ^apower, ^ball wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a ^cmerciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

 36 Now if this is ^aboasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a ^bbranch of the tree of Israel, and has been ^clost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, ^dwanderers in a strange land.

 37 Now my brethren, we see that God is ^amindful of every ^bpeople, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

Shoutouts: 

This is just gonna be a general shout out to ALL of you who wrote me an email. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I am just in awe and so happy right now. Thank you, thank you.  Maybe you will miss my emails, but GUESS WHAT!?  I have a blog (cydsqui.blogspot.com) where I will continue doing updates on my life. It may not be spiritual all of the time, but hey, if you wanna keep reading, follow me on my blog. I'll be doing a post for what happened the last week in the mission.

Thank you all SO much for supporting me in this amazing journey... For your endless prayers on my behalf... they have kept me going these 18 months. I hope that when I come home, you can all see the change that it has made in me. Because of these people and because of this mission, I will never be the same.

I will end with the words of one of my favorite disciples, Paul: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

See you at the finish line,

Hermana Cydnee Squire

Familia Lobos & Mikaela

Sister Vawdrey & Mikaela before she left for her mission to Peru

Still Sprinting!!!

"El fin se acerca y hay poco tiempo...."

Hey goobie goobs. How´s  life? 

-Things are pretty good here. We are just work workin away and having a blast doing it.  Hna Vawdrey and I laugh together a LOT. 

For example:

- She talks in her sleep...like BAD. (like the other hna vawdrey!! how weird) So  two nights ago i wake up at 2am to her talking... and this is how it goes:

 V: Nuestro Padre celestial quiere comunicar con usted...

 S: hmm?

 V: mumbles.... (later I find out she said "why am i teaching?")

 S: What´s next?

 V: I don´t remember

 S: *thinking*... la fe

 V:  I have to go to the bathroom....

 S: are you awake????

 V: wait, were you messing with me??

And that´s how it went... we laughed so hard. 

- You know how sometimes you have district leaders that just make you wanna scream? Yeah, that´s pretty fun. Well, this is how you deal with it... when you get tired of talking to him, you pass the phone to your companion who struggles understanding spanish, and listen while he gets a little frustrated thinking of simpler ways to say things. Then you stifle your laughs and feel a little happier. (just a side note, we DO have to take turns speaking with the DL every night)

- SO anyway... this week we´ve been passing by old investigators and we found a golden one. Margarita. She is just the sweetest thing who has been through some tough times. She has already been to church in the past and everyone knows her! And I was all, why have you not been bap-tized? (NACHOOOOO!) So she came to church yesterday and just loved it.She told us that ever since we started teaching her she just feels so much peace and feels so happy. Pray for her!

- You know whats funny? It seems like when missionaries finally get the hang of what they´re doing, they get the boot. Funny how that happens. I´m convinced its so that we can remain humble. I still have to rely on the Spirit 100%... when plan A, B, and C fall through and I´m in the middle of the street sometimes i´m just like, Ok Lord, what do we need to do? And he always seems to guide us right where we need to be. It´s crazy how sensitive I have become to the spirit... I can feel it´s power when I teach and when inspired questions come to my mind.

- SO I was reading in Jacob 5 this morning. And I LOVE it.. here's some verses that stuck out:

 62 Wherefore, let us go to and labor with our might this last time, for behold the end draweth nigh, and this is for the last time that I shall^aprune my vineyard.

 70 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his ^aservant; and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other ^bservants; and they were ^cfew.

 71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and ^alabor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the ^blast time that I shall ^cnourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.

 72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.

 74 And thus they labored, with all diligence, according to the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard, even until the bad had been cast away out of the vineyard, and the Lord had preserved unto himself that the trees had become again the natural fruit; and they became like unto ^aone body; and the fruits were equal; and the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself the natural fruit, which was most precious unto him from the beginning.

 75 And it came to pass that when the ^aLord of the vineyard saw that his fruit was good, and that his vineyard was no more corrupt, he called up his servants, and said unto them: Behold, for this last time have we nourished my vineyard; and thou beholdest that I have done according to my will; and I have preserved the natural fruit, that it is good, even like as it was in the beginning. And ^bblessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the^cnatural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold ye shall have ^djoy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard.

Well, this is the last time I get to labor in this part of the Lord´s vineyard for "the end is nigh at hand" and I must "labor with my might" and with "all diligence", so that when I hit that finish line, He can tell  me "blessed art thou; ... ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard and kept my commandments" 

SHOUTOUTS: HOLY EMAIL LOVE!!!!! Thanks y´all for sendin! Grandparents Squire, Texas peeps, Paige, Taylor, Fernandez Family, Jamie Brown, Anna, Natalie, Nancy.... It´s totally fine that you waited until I had two weeks left... jaja just kidding. 

Happy birthday to Dave! 

And happy anniversary Tyler and Ashley! Alright adrienne and troy, I'm excited to go to Mexico with y'all! Stop being trunky! And listen, I DO  know a buttload of crap about the gospel, okay?  So listen, next Monday is my last week emailing from the field. SO if you wanna, you can send your "last words" to me. I´d love that. Hey, behave and remember that I love ya.

H.S

pics

Asado with Mikaela's family before her mission

WASSSUP??!!!!!

Hey goobies,

-Hope you all had a happy Fourth of July... ´Merica!

-So, another week has come and gone.The time is slipping through my fingers and I don't exactly know how I feel about it. But let's not get trunky just yet, ok?

- So I forgot to say that last week when we went to Bahia, we had a few hours free to work. So what did I do? I mosied on over to Villa Mitre 2. SO GLAD I DID!!! I got to see Erika... she's doing SO WELL. And then I surprised another hermana in her Kiosco. She started crying when she saw me...so sweet! Then I saw another Hermano in the street walking back to the office... it was SO great to hear that everyone is doing good! Then, an Elder serving in Puerto was there doing his tramites (paperwork) and so I got the DL on what's going on over there. Juan Enrique, my cute little grandpa, got the priesthood and blessed the sacrament! Amazing right? He's going around doing his home teaching and going to church faithfully. SO GREAT! Everyone is doing well in Puerto.

Tatiana & Erika

Juan Enrique

- On Wednesday, we had a zone meeting. They asked us leaving missionaries to share our testimonies and I was like, WHAT! Already? I feel like they're giving me the boot! It also doesn't help that the members are already counting down the days and saying how much they'll miss me... and I'm all "I'M STILL HERE, PEOPLE!" Sheesh I swear, everyone is trunkier than I am. 

- I'm feeling better from the stomach issue this week... only thing is that now I have a cold. GREAT. Coughing all night and little sleep. SO MUCH FUN. I feel like my body is shutting down on me, and I'm just like COME ON! YOU CAN MAKE IT! I have to give it pep talks daily. Mind over matter. Right??

- We have been blessed to be finding a lot of people this week with a lot of potential. The biggest challenge right now (and of my WHOLE MISSION) is getting them to church. But we are working hard and I know the Lord will not forget our labors. As long as we are obedient and diligent, He will bless us with success.

- Well, I'm sorta at a loss for words right now. My whole mission seems to be flashing before my eyes and I'm sorta just staring at the screen, thinking. I thought back to when I got my call, and how excited I was, my first days in the MTC, my first transfer in Argentina... I have such a strong testimony that the Lord KNOWS who needs to be our Mission President, WHO needs to be our companions, WHERE we need to serve, WHO we need to teach... every mission is so individualized and specialized to the missionary... and I have to say.. the Mission of Bahía Blanca has become holy ground for me. I love it here. Love it. I wouldn't be anything without all of the people that I have met and all the experiences I have had. I came here thinking that I would help people change their lives, but in reality, they helped me change mine. 

-Shoutouts! Josh Serna! Happy 12th Birthday! Hope you have a happy day!! 

To Ashley Standifird, Brittni, and Amberly... thank you for the email love! I love you all very dearly!! 

Paige- an update on your life before I go home would be nice!! 

Listen everyone, I love you soooo much! Know that I am Happy! Have a great week!

Hna SKWYAH

Mishy,Mishy

What's up my people!

All right, so there's not TOO much to report this week and I'll tell you why.

- Remember when I told y'all I was sick? Well, after I left the cyber on Monday we started to work. We walked for a little bit, and then my intestines started freaking out! I seriously was doubled over in the street... I think I freaked out my companion... so we went home. That night was probably the worst night ever... I had a 101 fever and my intestines were tying themselves in knots. I have never felt such intense pain. I was SO THIRSTY but every time I drank, my stomach went in knots and it went right through me. I didn't sleep all night. It was terrible. In the morning, I called some members, and they came over. They gave me a blessing and then took me to the hospital. I had gone my WHOLE MISSION without going to the hospital and without major health problems... and I did NOT want to go to the hospital in Argentina. They're so sketchy... blood on the floor, dogs inside...So luckily this one wasn't so bad. But we waited forever... so these sweet members used their OWN insurance and took me to see a private practice doctor in a clinic. I felt so blessed to have them take care of me. Well, basically the doctor said that I had a stomach flu like virus (ummm, sure.) and I needed to drink fluids and stay in bed. So that's what I did until Thursday. SO BORED! Hna Vawdrey got a cold so she was sick too... we just chilled in bed all bored and stuff (there are only SO MANY times I can watch the Joseph Smith Movie)... and me running to the bathroom every hour or so... yeah we couldn't do much work. I kept thinking, "one day I'm gonna look back at this experience and laugh... but today is not that day!" I may or may not have said many times "I want my mom!!" haha. So, after five days of being sick and five pounds lost... I'm all better now :)

This whole experience made me SO frustrated. I had never been sick like this in the mission... and just when I'm catching speed and the finish line is in sight... I fall flat on my face. So I struggled with these feelings of frustration this week... but I know everything happens for a reason. I could complain about it... but complaining doesn't get me anywhere. In fact, I could whine about a lot of stuff on the mission, my back hurts, my feet hurt, I'm exhausted, or that I didn't get along amazingly with a companion, the work is tough, etc... the list could go on and on. 

But I always remember, I CHOSE to be here, I WANT to be here. Whining and a bad attitude doesn't help anything or anyone. 

So, I've learned it's just better to get an attitude adjustment, put on your big girl/or big boy pants, and just forget about YOU, YOU,YOU, YOU, YOU and start thinking about everyone else. If not, you'll just be miserable for 18 months to two years, doing something that is hard and you don't like. 

That is probably the most valuable thing I have learned in the mission, and a hard lesson I had to learn right off the bat. Alright, I´ll step off my soap box now. :)

- Oh, then on Thursday night we had to travel to Bahía to renew my visa, so basically we had Saturday and Sunday to work... ha, so yeah, our numbers were really great. (not)

- So about the cat... we had a cat follow us home one night... yup a cat. It looked hungry so we gave it some leftover pizza, and it left. No biggie, right? That was on Saturday... THIS MORNING, I find the very same cat in our back porch! What the! It is all fenced in and we have NO idea how it got back there! We named him Mishy... that´s what everyone calls cats here... it´s like kitty. Here´s a pic of him trying to get into the house.

 

-SHOUTOUTS!  Happy Bday BJ Serna!!! 

To Hna McChesney, I'm jealous you got to see my mom! I'm happy that you are well and happy, can't wait to hear about you "tearin'  it up in mi pais." (**pais=country)

Mission prep kids! Study PMG! Go visit my parents! They love YOU! 

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE! 

Go have some fun in the sun. 

I´ll just slowly turn whiter and whiter... no big.

I love you all!

Hna SQUIRE

Hermana Vawdrey

Improvised Backpacks