I LOVE TOAY!

Hey peeps,

How are ya! I'm doing pretty darn great. Flippin' EXHAUSTED but hey, that's missionary work for you. It's pretty great! You should try it sometime. :-)

-Since I didn't have much time to write about Toay last time (and also because I didn't really get to know it yet) I'm gonna explain to you. Toay is about a 15 minute drive from Santa Rosa, the capital of La Pampa. It's a small farm town... it's a big area with not a bunch of houses, but a bunch of fields. I LOVE IT! The dirt here is like sand. Straight up sand. I pick burrs out of my skirts daily. There are pickups everywhere and farm animals in the yard! We got hissed at by a goose the other day, and I think it almost charged us. It was a close call.  It's dryer here (thank goodness) and it's a lot more humble than Mar Del Plata. The people here are SO NICE! Always greeting you in the street, and the majority listen to us with respect, even if they aren't interested. 

A lot of them live pretty humbly. They are hard workers and all around good people. And the members... WOW! I love them. Everyone is so excited to have Hermanas. Well, the sisters are the most excited because we can come in and eat with them... the other day we ate with some members and they fed us chicken... their own chickens! And today they gave us eggs. The hermana said, "don't ever buy eggs, we will give you some."  These same members drove us to Santa Rosa today to check some prices on stuff for the apartment at a place like Walmart but on Steroids. It was the best! Then, the hermano installed our washing machine!!! I LOVE IT HERE!

- So the other night, our plans had fallen through and we were just walking around without direction. It was frustrating so we stopped in the corner and said a prayer, asking the Lord to guide us to someone who was prepared to receive the gospel. We walked past this girl outside smoking and my companion was looking at me and I was looking at her and she had this look on her face like, "ahhhh". So, we stopped on the corner and I said to my companion, "It was her wasn't it?" and she said "yes". So we went back, but she had gone inside. We then knocked on her door. She had company but we found out that she was atheist. She invited us to come back again. I thought it was interesting and amazing that the Lord would guide us to one of his daughters who didn't feel that He existed. I hope we get to teach her again, her name is Monica. Pray for her heart to be prepared for us. Lesson learned: Never delay a prompting!

- I have been LOVING my personal study time as of late. I know that I won't have as much time to study the scriptures in depth when I am home so I'm taking advantage of it!  I read in Ezra 7:10 " For Ezra had ^aprepared his ^bheart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel ^cstatutes and judgments." I love that! Ezra first prepared his heart to seek the will of the Lord, then prepared to DO IT! 

Next up, I read in Doctrine and Covenants today in 127: 2, "And as for the ^aperils which I am called to pass through, they seem but a small thing to me, as the ^benvy and wrath of man have been my common lot all the days of my life; and for what cause it seems mysterious, unless I was ^cordained from before the foundation of the world for some good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it. Judge ye for yourselves. God ^dknoweth all these things, whether it be good or bad. But nevertheless, deep water is what I am wont to swim in. It all has become a second nature to me; and I feel, like Paul, to glory in ^etribulation; for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me from henceforth; for behold, and lo, I shall triumph over all my enemies, for the Lord God hath spoken it." 

Sometimes I feel like I have been called to swim in deep waters... but like the Joseph Smith movie says... "better deep than shallow". The Lord has trusted me to pass through my trials because He wants to shape me into a better person, and He knows that I will be able to pass through it. In the last few weeks, I feel like I have come to the end of my rope. But someone once told me "when you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!"  So that's what I'm doing. I've tied my knot and I'm hanging on with both hands!!  

Then I read D&C 128:22: "22 Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. ^aCourage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad."  I love that scripture! I know that the Lord is saying to me, "ON TO THE VICTORY, CYDNEE! Be exceedingly glad, because you are doing MY work! You are my instrument! Look ahead! Move forward! Open your mouth! Courage!"

- Shoutouts: Happy Birthday to my Vawdrey!!! 

HUNTER DAVIS! Congrats to your rocket team! Hey just remember your cousin Cyd when you become a famous rocket scientist. Man, my cousins are rockstars!

Holmes' family and mission prep kids! Thank you for the pkg and the note! Keep working hard and preparing for the best 18 months to 2 years of your life! 

TAHNEE! I got your letter. You are the best. Also, I think I might have been in the same EFY group as Taylor when we were  14 or 15... I'm almost sure. Check on it. Email me. 

VENICE YOU ARE MARRIED! I can't believe it. I LOVE YOU! Email me! And happy bday! 

Rachelle! I just wrote you a letter, it´ll be off to you soon! 

Lucretia! Congrats on the baby :)

LIsten. I just love you all so much. You are the greatest support group. I know that I can go on because you're all cheering for me. Have a great week.

Hermana Squire

Our chapel, capilla, in Toay

Front door to our apartment

Emergency Transferred...

Hello Everyone!

-Well. This last week was probably the longest and toughest of my mission so far. I´ll tell you why. It all started with Wednesday. We got a call around 1pm from our mission leader telling us that Mariana had passed away that morning. It was so sad. But she was suffering so much. The comforting thought is that she went from this world completely clean. One month ago today she was baptized... and that baptism was a miracle. She suffered so much, but knew that baptism was necessary. She knew it and we all knew it. So she went through with it, and now she is resting in paradise. That I know for sure. I'm so grateful that the Lord let me teach her. It was an amazing experience, and she is an example of perseverance.

- Later on Wednesday, we had Juan Enrique's baptismal interview. TODO BIEN. He passed. On the way home in the remise, our district leader called us and said there was EMERGENCY TRANSFERS: WHATTT!! NOOOO! He said we would be leaving THE NEXT DAY. But we were like "NOO! We have a baptism on Sunday!" So after our Z.L.s (*zone leaders) talked to the A.P.S. (assistants to the President)... we were able to stay until Sunday. And we had time to say goodbye. They put Elders in this area and Hna Ibaña and I were assigned to TOAY, LA PAMPA (a different providence in Argentina) OPENING THE AREA FOR HERMANAS!!!! and Hna Batista and Hna Godoy got sent to Pigue. So the whole half of the week was spent preparing, saying goodbyes, packing, cleaning the pension, and writing up info about the area for the Elders. It was super sad saying goodbye. Especially to our ward mission team. The best ever. The girls cried. I'm not gonna lie, it blew. Emergency transfers blow. It's a big change to put in Elders. But the Lord knows what's best. 

- Juan got baptized!!! It was the best thing ever. He looked so cute in white, and was just grinning from ear to ear. It's been a long time since someone got baptized that wasn't a referral from members. So, it was a true miracle. Juan taught me that you are never too old to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is never too late. I know he's gonna be great.

- SO, here I am in Toay!  We left last night at 8:30 and got here at 8 in the MORNING.. well we arrived in Santa Rosa. I LOVE LA PAMPA!! It reminds me of Nevada or Arizona or Texas. Hopefully, I'll have more pictures of the Area next week. I think I'll be finishing my mission here and I'm pretty excited about it! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it already. 

Shoutouts; Happy Birthday Corb! And thanks for the email! :) 

Also thank you to Tio Hector for the email. 

Hope all is well. 

HEY I LOVE YALL! 

Have a great week. 

Hermana Squire

(******note from mama Squire: In a separate email, she wrote that Sister missionaries have not been in Toay---pronounced *toe-eye* since 2008. So she is super excited to be in an area that has not had hermanas for a long, long time.)

Familia Henrik

Graciela and Carlitos

Hermana Raventos & Gladis

Missionary Team in Puerto

Ward Misson Leader and his family

Barby, a ward missionary

With Estefy, FUTURE missionary!

Fish on the ground, Fish on the ground, Whatcha gonna do with yo fish on the ground??

Well, if you're in Puerto, you're just gonna leave it there. Seriously, there are like 500 fish factories here, and when they unload the fish from the trucks, if a few fall on the ground, NBD, they just leave it there to rot and all that fun stuff. Also, we NEVER step in the water that's in the gutter. Why? because normally there are fish guts and all that so it makes it slippery. My poor companion fell right on her tush in that nastiness last week.

Me calling the fish unto repentance.....

ANYWAY! Hello my people. 

HOW ARE YOU!?? Hope all is well.

- Ok, so this week we had a zone meeting and President came for interviews. I LOVE PRESIDENT! He is such an inspired man! I love talking to him and asking him questions. 

- So this past week, my companion got sick... and we had some time in the pension. It was kinda funny how it happened... we were out contacting and I hear "hermana, I don't...." and then she threw up. So yeah, we went home after that. We did practices and studied, but we needed a break, so we watched "On the Lord's Errand", the Pres. Monson movie. I LOVED IT! Go watch it. Now! But now my comp is feeling better so we can hit the pavement!

- JUAN ENRIQUE. HOW GREAT IS THIS MAN! He is getting baptized this Sunday. SO PRAY that everything goes well! He accepts all of the commandments with a "of course I'm going to do what Christ asks me to!" We went to teach the word of wisdom this week, and right then he was preparing a cup of coffee. We had brought malta with us (it's made from wheat and has no caffeine. It's pretty good) so I quickly said, "JUAN! The hermana Ibaña makes a mean malta, you should let her whip one up for ya!"  Phew, dodged that bullet. Well, we taught him the WoW (Word of Wisdom) and of course he accepted, and the next day he had a cup of malta on the table. So amazing. He went to a baptism that the ward had yesterday and loved it. He is so excited to get baptized. 

- I was thinkng about conference this week and how amazing it was.  A recurring theme seemed to be obedience. I loved what Pres. Monson said, "Said President Gordon B. Hinckley, “The happiness of the Latter-day Saints, the peace of the Latter-day Saints, the progress of the Latter-day Saints, the prosperity of the Latter-day Saints, and the eternal salvation and exaltation of this people lie in walking in obedience to the counsels of … God.”⁹

Obedience is a hallmark of prophets; it has provided strength and knowledge to them throughout the ages. It is essential for us to realize that we, as well, are entitled to this source of strength and knowledge. It is readily available to each of us today as we obey God’s commandments.

I was reading through the book of mormon, and noticed how Nefi ends 1 Nefi and 2 Nefi... 1 nefi 22:30-31"  30 Wherefore, my brethren, I would that ye should consider that the things which have been written upon the ^aplates of brass are true; and they testify that a man must be obedient to the commandments of God.31 Wherefore, ye need not suppose that I and my father are the only ones that have testified, and also taught them. Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the ^acommandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day. And thus it is. Amen.  

And 2 Nefi 33: 15  15 For what I seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the ^ajudgmentbar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must ^bobey. Amen.

How interesting is it that Nefi ends each book talking about obedience? And how many times does it say in the BoM, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land"?? I don't think it's coincidence that obedience was a popular theme. There are tough times ahead, and Like Pres. Monson said, the great test of life is obedience. Pres. Packer said that Mormons aren't obedient because they are blind, but because they see. We SEE the blessings that come from obedience to the gospel. And they are many, that's for sure. 

- So about this baptism we had yesterday. There were a lot of people visiting, and a lot of family members of this little boy. One of them that came was Franco, a 16 year old boy with Muscular Atrophy. He gave a beautiful talk. I was so emotional all of sacrament meeting. I had prayed to have more experiences with my brother and that is what the Lord gave me. As I watched his movements, looked at his hands and listened to him talk, I was reminded so much of my brother, and I thought of what he was doing on the other side. At church, I'm always looking out for other people... investigators, converts, the members... making sure everyone is happy. But yesterday, the Lord let me know that He and my brother are both looking out for me.

My new friend, Franco

-Shoutouts: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AUNT ANN AND ZANDER! Hope you both have great days. 

And a very special shoutout to Holley and her family. Thank you for your sweet letter. It really means so much to me! 

I love you all soo much! 

Take care!  

Hermana Squire

Hermana Godoy bundled me up like a burrito so that I could get warm! It is getting cold!

These are some of the houses that I have to preach to. Scary sometimes.

One Year in Argentina...

Hello ALLL!!!

Well, today it smells worse than normal in Puerto... like dead animals. Bleh. Well, what ya gonna do?

- SO! This week I hit my one year mark living in Argentina!! What the!?? Well, I've compiled a little list of things that have gone down in Argentina the past year. 

Here we go... in one year, I have....

- seen lots of leggings and 80's style with floppy ponytails
- eaten lots of good food like milanesas, pizzas, tortillas (not the mexican kind), tortas de verduras, ensalada de papas, asados, canalones, chorizos, ravioles, facturas... etc
- eaten a few weird things... liver, corn meal mush, vizcacha, mundungo...
- Been barked at by many dogs
- Seen the strangest and or ugliest dogs in my life
- Been asked interesting things by children, like: Why are your teeth so big? Why is your hair so blonde? 

Do you know Justin Beiber? (sometimes I say yes to that one, just for kicks) :-)
- Listened to Christmas music. All. Year. Long.
- Watched these people cover their food in mayo...
- lived without a dishwasher, carpet, a dryer, a toaster, an electric stove, hand mixers, and MY DOWN COMFORTER!!!
- improved my Castellano
- worsened my English skills (the last time I had a conversation in English was at Christmas...)
- Seen lots of dogs chillin' on roofs (rooves? no. BAD ENGLISH!)
- Taught hundreds of lessons
- Talked to hundreds, if not thousands of people
- Seen up to 4 people on a scooter, with a mother breast feeding on the back... all without helmets...
- Learned a little Argentine slang
- carried my things in a box or plastic bag like a homeless person 
- almost been hit by cars. A lot. The pedestrians don't really have the right of way here... I have to say I've almost pulled a Gracie Lou Freebush from Miss Congeniality and yelled  "I´M WALKING HERE!!!" in the streets... but I'm a missionary. Quiet dignity. 
- and.... grown to love every silly, crazy, and beautiful thing about the Argentine culture.

- WHO LOVED GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!?? Or "Missionary Superbowl" as I like to call it. Ok, HOMEWORK FOR YA¨LL. I´d LOVE to hear what your favorite talks were and WHY. SO send me a line this week! 

Ok, so on Saturday, we went to the Stake center, and they had a TV set up for the "yankees" (as the Americans are so affectionately called here) and the screen set up in the sacrament room (um hi,... I definitely forgot what that's called. Fail in English, again)....  but we didn't have any satellite feed! NOOO!! So as they were scurrying around trying to fix it, we waited.... somewhat impatiently on my part (the attribute of Christ that is the most difficult for me to master...) and we ended up having to do it via internet. So, we missed the first 30 minutes of conference, with the temple announcements!!! But don't worry, I found out later!! 

AND HELLO, I SAW TYLER MICKLESON IN THE CHOIR!! Corb, give him a shoutout for me, and say he is famous in Mar Del Plata, because I said "HEY! LE CONOZCO!!!" (**hey, I know him!) unintentionally loud. 

I loved President Monson's talk on obedience. Also from Elder Holland... "What we know will always trump what we do not know". I also loved Elder Whitney's talk... more the concept of Watch and Learn. That is a great philosophy of life. And to you future missionaries (especially in my parents' mission prep class) I'm gonna let you in on a secret. No one really knows how to be a good missionary. You just have to try. You watch others, see what works, and try it! As long as you're obedient and trying, the Lord will help you be a good missionary. That is my key to success. 

-Juan Enrique was able to go on Saturday, so that was wonderful! He's such a sweet, old man. He has such a sad life, but I know that the gospel can bring more light and happiness into his life!

-Hey, just to let you all know, I'm in Mar del Plata, not La Plata. La Plata is about 200 miles from here and out of our mission limits. No, I'm not wading in water up to my waist. La Plata is where all of the flooding took place. It rained here last week, but just the annoying misty rain. But the Stakes have been gathering clothes and everything for the people affected by the floods. Our prayers are with them.

o.k. I've been teaching the other Hermanas in the house some English. So far they've told our ZL "you're weird", "nobody loves you!", "Everybody loves you!" and "I want a beer". That last one I DID NOT teach them... but it was pretty hilarious. 
- Shoutouts: Happy Birthday to Josh Welch and Zachary Serna this week! 

And happy birthday to woobie face Ashton!!! Woo! Hope you all have a good day. 

Adrienne, thanks for the email update! 

Y gracias Adriana y familia por la carta! Que alegría que ahora puedo entenderles! Espero que todo este bien! Muchos abrazos! 

And Congrats to TREVOR AND LAUREN! WOO another Dunn wedding! One that I will actually be able to go to! 

And a shoutout to the Smith Family... YOU CAN'T MOVE! BOO I SAY!  I OBJECT! Ok, you can do what you want, but I will miss the Smith family! We've been neighbors since I was ten! I will miss you! 

Everyone. Have a great week. Know there's an Hermana in Argentina that loves you and prays for you. And missionary prayers count for more points. :) I LUFF YOU!

Hna Squire

cydnee.squire@myldsmail.net

Mom Times 2

Hey goobers!!

How are ya!? Well, you're all heading into spring, breakin' out the sandals and such and I'm puttin' on the scarves and tights. BOOO. 

First off, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE EMAIL LOVE. I love hearing from you!! Yes, YOU!

Saying goodbye to Hermana Mansilla

-Well, we finished the 9 week transfer of death, Hna Mansilla said her goodbyes and we got all of her stuff together, which was a LOT! and headed off to Bahia. Dorrego is like an hour from Bahía so I don't think we'll see each other until we finish the mission in July. PS. Every time people ask me how much time I have left and I say 4 months, they're like, "oh hermana, ya esta, ya se va!"  It's weird... now I'm in the "old group". 

So, we went to the office and did the whole orientation deal and I found out who my companion would be.........

Hermana Ibaña! Another comp from Argentina! She's 20, and from Santa Elena, Entre Rios. She did a mini mission, so she knows the basics of the work and the lessons. She likes cooking and is hungry every 2 hours... but she's like a little stick! It's hilarious. So we're happy to have her here in Puerto.

New companion! Hermana Ibaña

-So we had one heck of journey home! There weren't any colectivos directly to Mar del Plata, so we had to take one to Villa Gesell, about 1.5 hrs from MDP. WELL, 3 hours into the journey, we blew a tire! So we sat off to the side waiting for 3 hours. Then we drove to a pueblo and got off since we were the only ones going to Villa Gesell. The six of us got into cars and headed off to ANOTHER colectivo (bus) in the middle of nowhere waiting for US. We got on, and there were only 4 seats for 6 of us!! SO I sat on Hna Ermacora's lap for an hour. Any longer than that and I think she would have been paralyzed! haha!  We finally got to Villa Gesell at like 4 in the morning and had to wait until 6 to get another collectivo to MDP... it was a joke!!!  We were beat after the 17 hour journey. I wanted to die. So long!

The lost and weary travelers, even the dog...

4 am......so tired!

I don't think she will ever recover from the bus ride!

- Hey! Today is my 14 month mark! WOO! Can you believe it?? That means in less than four months I'm gonna be home and I'm gonna see all of you!!!

- Ok, I was reading in Nefi (Nephi) the other day....we all know about 1 Nefi 3:7... I will go and I will do... and everyone loves that scripture. And it says yes, I will go and I will do what the Lord asks of me! But that's future tense, right? So, I was reading in 2 Nefi 5: 31, in Spanish of course, and it says, " 31 Wherefore, I, Nephi, to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord, went and made ^athese plates upon which I have engraven these things". In Spanish, "hacer" is to make or to do. SO it says,"fui e hice", or I went and DID. I thought about that for a bit, and I thought maybe we should be more of the type of disciples you "went" and "did" and less like the disciples who "will go" and "will do" (tomorrow, next week, later). Hopefully you all understood that. 

- Shoutouts!!

 Since I don't have time to write you all, thank you Sandii, Tio Hector, Amberly, and Serna family for the emails! 

AND MY VAWDREY! It's so weird that you're home! I miss you!!!! 

Happy Birthday to Heather De La Garza , Bella Davis, and to Paul!! Hope you all have great days.

Venice!! My mom sent me some of your bridal pics, and you are GORGEOUS! WIsh I could be there with you. 

HEY! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

SQUID, ah, I mean, 

Hermana Squire

We will all finish the mission together:
Hermanas Ermacora, Squire, Mansilla y Gonzalez