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

A little on the sickly side....

Hey Goobers!

How are you all? 

-Well. It's been an eventful week. I stayed in Santa Rosa until Wednesday night and worked with the Hermanas there. I slept on this mattress that was basically like sleeping on the floor, and LUCKILY, I brought my sleeping bag because it was SOO cold at night. I literally slept with the blanket over my head because it was so cold. But it was a good experience... even if I looked like a giant next to these sisters!

- So on Wednesday night, I went to pick up my new companion! Ever since then, it has been the absolute BEST! We have just been laughing so hard for the past five days. It's so nice to have someone from the same culture who knows the SAME people! We have just been having a blast working here in Toay. I think the Lord sent me Hna Vawdrey so that I could enjoy my last transfer and have fun. My last two transfers were a little more serious and not too much fun, so I think this will be a great way for me to end my mission... working hard and enjoying it.

- Well... I think I ate something bad on Saturday because I've gone to the bathroom more in the last 48 hours than I have in my whole mission... you all wanted to know that right? Sure you did. :-) Well.. just pray that this food poisoning goes away soon, ok? I ate six crackers yesterday. Yup six. I want real food again!  urgggghhhh....

- My mom told me all about her woes with my flight plans... apparently she hasn't received anything yet... I think parents get more trunky than the missionaries do... haha! Tell my parents not to get too crazy, ok??

- So I read a little quote from Elder Ballard, here it is:  "Whenever you serve the Lord, He blesses you. Many... missionaries begin their missions thinking they are going to repay Heavenly Father for His goodness toward them by serving Him for 18 months to two years. But before long they learn an important eternal truth: you can never do more for the Lord, than He can do for you".  I LOVED THAT because it is so true! We are forever in debt to our Heavenly Father. He will always bless us more that we can serve Him. We will never be able to "repay" Him.  I've realized that on my mission... the more I serve Him, the more He blesses me.

- Shoutouts: Happy Birthday to my parents!!! WOOO!! Hope you have great days!!!!! 

Happy birthday to Trevor! 

Listen. I love you all!! 

Hope you have a fabulous week.

Love,

Hermana Squire

You're Not Gonna Believe This One...............

Hello Everyone...

Well, I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep but that's okay. 

SO LET'S GET DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY.......

- So transfers came. My comp was sent off to Bahía Blanca... and I was told I would be training... AGAIN! Just send me all the newbies! I'll train them all! Don't worry! Haha, an Hermana told me I'm like Eve... "the mother of all hermanas"... LET'S GO HIJA (daughter) NUMBER 3!!! That night, President called me... he said  "Hermana! I know you have six weeks left (thanks for reminding me...) I'm going to send you another companion. She's from the U.S.! You know I trust in you a lot, and I want you to teach this sister all you know! She must have a marvelous mission, like you've had!" Then he told me that she was waiting for her visa and already has about 3 months in the mission. So I thought... "WHAT IF it's Jamie Vawdrey?" ( a girl from our former neighborhood, a girl from HIGHLAND, UTAH)  I found out there are 6 gringas ("yankees" as they lovingly call us) coming, and ZERO Latinas. Well, as of right now, there are only TWO American sisters... and only I am free to train. SO YEAH. Anyway. I just looked at my missionary profile to write to President... and IT SAYS MY COMPANION IS JAMIE VAWDREY! What!!?? WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Such a small world! 

- So, Hna Ibaña's collectivo(bus) left at 2 in the morning, and we had to wait for other hermanas to get to Santa Rosa... I'm going to be working in Santa Rosa with Hna Perdomo and Hna Troval until Wednesday... so we went to bed at like 3... wow, I'm tired. But I'm loving being with these hermanas... Hna Troval is from El Salvador and has such an amazing story. And she speaks English SO WELL. Hna Perdomo is so humble...from Honduras and the only member in her family. I'm just so pumped to be working with them, and so stoked for this transfer with Hna Vawdrey... an AMERICAN! A real live AMERICAN! Haha, she'll  think she's lucky to be with an English speaker... but little does she know that I can't speak English anymore. I was talking with Hna Troval in English and I'm pretty sure that she can speak better than I can... hahah. 

Hermans Perdomo y Troval

- This morning I had to go to Toay with Hna Perdomo to get some stuff. We started talking to a lady that I always cross paths with, she's really sweet and we chat a bit before the collectivo. Well, I was praying for an opportunity to share something about the gospel with her... well, she just started talking about God and His patience with us, and BAM! We started talking about forgiveness and Christ and what He did for us... next thing I know, she's crying. She feels alone and overwhelmed. We tried to get her address, but she said she would look for us...  not QUITE her time yet. But I was so amazed at how the Lord just puts people in our paths, RIGHT when they need us.

- I've been thinking a lot about this time in my mission. I'm in my last transfer. I'm the next one to go home. I know the language, I know how to work with the ward, I know how to find, teach and baptize... as Aubrey said, "I'm a big, bad, Spanish speaking missionary"... but when we start thinking we're successful because of US, the blessings stop. The sucess stops. I have realized that I have to constantly rely on the Lord and be worthy of His spirit, to direct me to the people that are being prepared to listen to the gospel. I tried hard to be humble this week... and the Lord prompted me to knock one door, where we found a wonderful young mother, Andrea, and two days later, He guided me to another door, where we found another awesome woman... who turned out to be the Mom of Andrea.They are both SO GREAT.

- Camila is doing well... she came to mutual and loved it!

- We've been teaching a man named Darío... he came to church yesterday, BY HIMSELF! He is really looking for the right path and is so great. Pray for him!

- An hermana is staying with us that just came from one of my old wards. She told me that Tatiana and Erika, my converts are doing SO WELL! So active... and Erika is going to seminary every morning :) I'm SO HAPPY!!!!!!

Shoutouts: KELS I LOVE YOU. Next time I have time, I will write you. 

ADRIENNE! Glad you are good! Thanks for writing! 

Aunt Lori, thanks for the update, chin up buttercup! And happy bday this week!

Happy bday to Hugo Jr! 

Aunt Jeni thanks for the pics and announcement! You are great! 

TO ALL FATHERS, especially mine, I hope you had a Happy Father's Day! 

Listen everyone. YOU ARE SO GREAT! I LOVE YOU ALL! PORTENSE BIEN!!!!! (behave!)

Hermana Squire

*meditating the scriptures (listen, this was at 10 at NIGHT okay?) and it's a joke...not really sleeping!!!

My district

BAPTISM!

Hello all!

Ok, so we had quite the interesting morning today. We came to the cyber and my companion had some pretty strong "lady pains". Like way strong. She started passing out in the cyber and convulsing a little. I think the cyber man about had a heart attack... I was pretty calm... Adrenaline for sure... but yeah. Calm. Good thing I want to study medicine, right? So we called the ambulance and took her to the hospital. Turns out her BP dropped pretty low... but we're all good now. 

- On a happier note... ANABELA GOT BAPTIZED! WOOO! She was way happy... but that baptism... wow. Let's just say that everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. First, our mission leader said that the font would be clean for the baptism... we went, and it wasn't... so we cleaned it. (hence picture one) 

The guy who was going to do the baptism left on an emergency trip, so we were scrambling to find clothes for the replacement. Then, AT the baptism... this drunk guy shows up (we actually ran into him on the street a few nights ago... homeless... member from another providence... loves wine....) and was just hanging out. After the baptism he sang us a little song "la mujer, si no la cuides se te va!" (a woman, if you don't take care of her, she leaves"...")  I just wanted to put my face in my hands and LAUGH. Then, only 5 members showed up. BOO. That made me so sad. 

THEN! The kids were being little DEMONS! So we went in the hallway during the service and took pictures. 

WHAT A BAPTISM RIGHT? We had to buy ice cream after that to recover. But, the good thing is that she is BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED. 

The Lord and His missionaries: 1. Satan: 0

- Anabela's 12 year old NIECE came to the baptism... she's gone to church in Santa Rosa a few times and loved it... and SHE CAME TO CHURCH WITH US YESTERDAY! Her mom is cool with us teaching her... so we will. She's coming to mutual this Saturday. WOO!

- Funny note: we found this man who practices the Indian culture here... all natural stuff and all. He told us that the plants are our brothers and sisters. He said, "for example, if I want to take a grapefruit from that tree, I'd have to say to it, "excuse me, my brother grapefruit, and then take it" I tried not to giggle.

- So we have a problem here... it's called the "one hit wonder" syndrome. We find some great people, have a great lesson... and then we never find them again. One hit wonders.

- We are trying to find Laura again... she is such a great girl! We had a lesson this week about the values of the youth and she told us that her friends try and pressure her to smoke but she always says no... she is SO GREAT I tell you!

- So this is the LAST week of the transfer.... supposedly there are a lot of new hermanas to come in... President might have me train again... but who knows.... I think this because in my last interview he told me "Hermana Squire... the mission cannot be without sister missionaries who know how to work like you do",  so I think they're gonna get me again and that's o.k. But that's my guess... who knows what the Lord has in store for my last transfer.

- A few weeks ago we were walking in the street and a woman called out to us... she told us that missionaries stopped by a while ago and never came back... so we went last night and had a great lesson. She said... "I didn't want to call out to you because I was embarrassed... but something told me... these girls have something good for me." Her name is Mari. She works on Sundays. SO PRAY FOR HER! 

- Shoutouts: JAKE. Good luck this week. You will be a great missionary. I am sad I won't see ya for 3.5 years, but that's okay. You will do wonders in Spain and I'm proud of you. Love you kid. 

Happy Bday to JULIE SERNA AND ELLY BELLY! Hope you have great days! 

Thank you Tio Hector for the email... glad all is well. 

CORB you are the best. 

TAHNEE! I died with those pics! I love ya, miss beauty queen.

Listen everyone. You are all SO GREAT and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! 

Guess what? 

I love being a missionary. I love the gospel. I love my Savior.

Have a great week.

Hermana Squire

Puke Patrol

Well hello there my little goobers!

How's life? Well... there's not much to report this week because my comp has been a little under the weather. First she got a cold... fever... cough, body aches... so at times she was dying in the streets and weak, so we had to stop by the house to let her rest. THEN, yesterday she got really sick. I'm pretty sure it was food poisoning... we were walking and she was like "ahhh I feel really sick"... 

We stopped by a members house and she basically had a throwing up fest. So basically, all of yesterday, we were in the house and she was just puking like a champ. But, I think she's all good now! Hopefully, cuz I didn't sleep too well last night either... being on puke patrol and whatnot. So pray for her health!

- SO GOOD NEWS!! Anabela is getting baptized this Saturday! WAHOOO! She really is SO prepared. When we taught her the law of chastity... her face... ahhh she was so heartbroken to know that she had gone against the commandments... (she had her 3 kids out of wedlock) but was SO happy to know she could be forgiven. True doctrine, UNDERSTOOD, changes attitudes. She understood with her HEART and wants to change. Read Daniel 10:11-12 (mom paste it on here) Love this girl.

 11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly ^abeloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.

 12 Then said he unto me, ^aFear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst ^bset thine heart to understand, and to ^cchasten thyself before thy God, thy words were ^dheard, and I am come for thy words.

- This week we had some crazy wind. BOO WIND. Dirt in mouth and eyes! Bleh! There was some crazy weather because of a volcano in the south or something. Que sé yo...(what do I know)..... I don't watch the news. 

- Other than that we have had some pretty nice weather for it being almost winter time. It's not too hot, not too cold... all you really need is a light jacket... (Miss Congeniality... I'm kinda funny still.....I hope) :-)

- SO! We also found a really great woman... Susana... she was a contact from forever ago, and we felt we needed to keep passing by until she let us in... haha. AND SHE DID! After the lesson she told us that we brought so much peace into her home... true stuff people... the gospel brings peace into our homes and our lives!

- So Kris, I was thinking about your question about how to strengthen our testimonies and help them grow. My testimony has grown IMMENSELY these past 16 months. And I'm gonna share with you all the secret to my success... and to ALL missionaries' successes... my testimony has grown from 3 basic things:

1. Diligent Scripture Study- DIVING into the scriptures has helped me so much... and then APPLYING THEM. Keep a study journal. Read diligently EVERY DAY. Before the mission, when the Ensign came I was like, "cool, the Ensign".  Now I'm like "IT´S CHRISTMAS!!!" And even more so with the conference editions. They are like my prized possession. Eat those babies up, people. MODERN DAY SCRIPTURE!

2. Fervent Prayer- Don't get into a routine with your prayers. Need help? Read the talk by Elder Wirthlin: Improving Our Prayers. Changed my life.  

Improving Our Prayers

3. Serving others and the Lord with love- Self explanatory. When we serve others, we serve God. Pray for opportunities to serve.

SHOUTOUTS! 

WELL HELLO THERE DUNN FAMILY! My mother just sent your family pics and can we just say MODELS? Love y'all. 

Happy birthday this week to Gail Berry and to Elizabeth Squire. 

Megan Davis! Congrats on graduating! Woo! 

And to Ally, Syd and Jessica... in my mind you three will always be 10 years old... I can't believe you all are graduated. I'm OLD. 

Kris! Thanks for the email. I love you. 

TAHNEE YOU ARE THE BEST. I LOVED YOUR EMAIL. AND My WORD those pics just killed me. YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. Send me more when you get them. 

Texas people: HELLO!!  

SERNA CREW! Thanks for the letter Robert, and thank you for the sweet things you wrote... in my heart I will always be Sister Squire!! Give the Serna Squirts a big Cydnee Squeeze :) 

TYLER THANKS FOR THE EMAIL!!

Hiatts... I can't believe that Mikael is in driver´s ed. WHAT THE??

And a very special shoutout to Mikayla McChesney and fam... good luck in the MTC! And it's okay to think the first night "what did I get myself into"... everyone thinks that! But you will be great! Argentina needs Hermana McChesney right now!!

Listen, I just love you all soooo much! Thanks for the support.

Besitos!

Hermana Squire

( Meisha, Jill, Jenn and Suzie: I wanted to share this email of Cydnee's with you,  since it specifically mentioned your daughters. :-))

"What-e're thou art, act well thy part‏"

HELLO THERE!

Well it was just a lovely week here in Toay. But it's always pretty lovely here.

- First I wanna start out with some funny stuff. Yesterday we were eating with members, and we were eating jello for dessert. Well, the hermano said something funny, started laughing, and jello came out of his nose. I started crying because I was laughing so hard!!!

(had to be there)

- NEXT! This one goes out to Taylor and Devon. I'm so happy Dev is in PERU right now! His emails are HILARIOUS and I seriously laugh out loud with every one. Reading about his arrival in Peru brought back many memories and I was just busting up remembering my travels to Argentina and my first day. 

Then I realized I never really wrote about it... so here it goes... 

I was TRAVEL leader of our little group that left one day late. We got to Buenos Aires, and there was the mission president waiting for a group of missionaries, and they were like WELCOME!!! And started hugging us... and we were like... we're going to Bahia Blanca... haha awkward. So these two men came up to us and one was like "Elders, Hermana, follow". So we did and one of the Elders got sent in a car somewhere alone... and me and the two other Elders were like "oh what the heck"... and then the man took us to McDonalds. He kept saying things in Spanish and the Elders kept looking at me... and I was all  "I don't know what he's saying either!" 

So then we drive to another airport and get on a plane to Bahia, and I basically passed out on the window for an hour. We get there and Presidente and Hermana Detlefsen are waiting for us with our companions. Lots of hugs, me, confused and tired....pictures... and then I get in the car with my companion and with Presidente to head to the office. Presidente drove SO CRAZY and I thought, "Flip, I'm gonna die before I even start the mission!!" ... but we made it to the office... had orientation, and we were about to head off to the terminal to get to the area at like 8:30 at night... 

All I managed to say was "wait, I'm hungry!!" and one of the asistentes stole a box of pizza from the cultural hall as we were heading out the door. We made it to the terminal, loaded my suitcases on the bus, and headed off to the area... I was left confused and looking out the window thinking... what have I gotten  myself into??.... 

Well there you have it. I look back on that day and just laugh. And look where I am now... 16 months into the mission, and it's the best decision I've made in my whole life. 

- So for 25 de Mayo we had an activity in the chapel... you know what that means. Locro (defined at end of letter)... bleh. Well, it wasn't too bad this year. 

But anyway, ANABELA CAME!!! Wahoo! She's progressing so well! She brought her kids too... she has the most ADORABLE twins, Micaela and Bianca. So cute! 

So we took the kids outside with the rest and played so that she could talk and make friends with the other sisters. Man, I haven't played like that in a long time. We ran, we played monsters, we gathered all the leaves up... they even somehow managed to get me on the ground and they buried me in leaves...  but we just had a blast! 

It made me a little trunky because I miss all the cute kids in my life! And my GOSH can I just hold one on my LAP?! Dang, that's the hardest rule for me! Especially when the little ones back their rears up to my knees and I'm like "I CAN'T!!!"

Ahhh. And with cute kids like these... man it's hard. 

Benjamin...boyfriend #1

Gonzalo, boyfriend #2

BUT ANYWAY! So Anabela and the kids came to church! She wants to get baptized so 

she knew she had to come to the ward in Toay! WOOO! And she loved it! Man, I'm SO excited about Anabela. 

And it was just the best, walking home from church with them, with a twin on either side of me holding my hand. I just love being a missionary. LOVE IT, I TELL YOU!

- We also found a really really great 15 year old girl. Her name is Laura and MAN the spirit was so strong in that lesson. She felt it for sure, she kept smiling during the lesson. You can tell that she is a really great girl and I'm excited to teach her.

- SO! My sweet mother sent me the conference edition of the Ensign and I've been studying every talk pretty thoroughly. I read the talk by Sister Dalton and I loved it. Here's a quote that I loved  "As (children) of God we are each unique and different in our circumstances and experiences. And yet our part matters- because WE matter". Love love love. It doesn't matter what part you have... but your part MATTERS! 

I've been thinking about "my part" lately. How blessed am I for the privilege to be a daughter. A sister. A friend. A neighbor. And the most important part I can play right now... A missionary and representative of our Savior Jesus Christ. I'm trying to "act well my part," every blessed day that I have here on the mission.

Shoutouts: TAY AND PAIGE Loved your double email. Love you both little goobies. 

KELSEY! Happy birthday today! Hope you have an amazing day! 

Tio Hector thank you for the email... hope all is well. 

Natalie Grant! Happy Bday this week! 

ANNA! THANK YOU FOR THE LETTER! Oh how I love you... and I can't wait to meet Evelyn... 

AUBREY BRENNAN! Thanks for the email! what a nice surprise! 

Dad! Cant wait to see your new Nordstrom suits! Woo! 

ABUELO: ME ASUSTÓ!!! Pero me alegra que está mejor. Voy a estar orando para usted y para su salud. Muchos saludos y un abrazo fuerte. Listen all of you. You are great. I love you lots. Have a freakin fantastic week.

Hermana Squire

.

(Locro...according to Wikipedia!!  

The defining ingredients are corn, some form of meat (usually beef, but sometimes beef jerky or chorizo), and vegetables. Other ingredients vary widely, and typically include onion, beans, squash or pumpkin. It is mainly eaten in winter.

In Argentina it spread from the Cuyo region to the rest of the country. It is considered a national dish^[1] and is often served on May 25, the anniversary of the May Revolution. A red hot sauce made from red peppers and paprika known as quiquirimichi is served sometimes on the side.)

HEY! IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

• Ok, not really, but I'm totally listening to Christmas music. Ok, so maybe I've been listening to Christmas music my whole mission.... I don't care!

HOW ARE Y'ALL! 

I hope good. Well, winter finally hit us and it's pretty dang cold, I tell ya. We have iron stairs in the pension and our calefactor (heater) is right underneath, so sometimes we just study on the stairs to get warm... the mission is pretty funny. 

I'm also leaving the house with about 10 pounds of clothing... sometimes it matches... sometimes it doesn't... do I care?... NO!! It's winter... I'll do anything to stay warm!

- Well, it was a normal week here in Toay. We've been inviting a lot of people to get baptized, now the only thing they have to do is come to church :) Haha, biggest struggle in the mission. We have been finding some REALLY great people, and I'm just so stoked to see what the Lord has in store for them. 

For example:

- Anabela and Luisa. Anabela's mom, sister, and niece are converts. They were referrals from the sister, who just got baptized last month. THEY ARE GREAT! In these last few lessons they've been really attentive, asking great questions, and are reading and praying. Problem, they go to Santa Rosa every weekend to see the mom... but they do go to church with them. THEY NEED TO COME TO CHURCH HERE! So we're working on that. Next problem: There are 6 (SIX)  children in that house under the age of 7... so our lessons are like: "Ok, you teach and I will draw Mickey Mouse. Ok, your turn... where are we??" And dodging flying objects being thrown by a 3 year old demon... BUT we will do anything for these sweet girls!

- Rina. She's from Chile and is a friend of a member. She already has 2 asistencias, (church attendances) so we're working on it! Pray for them!

- So about the "deep doctrine" I promised last time. Presidente taught us that the Plan of Salvation has four names in the Book of Mormon:

1. The Plan of Salvation (Alma 42:5) It is not a plan of condemnation... EVERYTHING is for our salvation.

2. Plan of Redemption (Alma 42:11) The Plan includes suffering. But we can be happy if we understand the plan.

3. Plan of Happiness (Alma 42:8) If you're not happy, there's a problem that you need to fix.

4. The Plan of Mercy (Alma 42:15) Look for the tender mercies! 

Just look at how the Book of Mormon starts:  1 I, Nephi, having been ^aborn of ^bgoodly ^cparents, therefore I was ^dtaught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many ^eafflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a ^frecord of my proceedings in my days.

Shoutouts: 

TAYLOR YOU ARE NOW THE BEST CAT IN THE UNITED STATES!!!! 

Paige... still waiting...... gooberface. 

TAHNEE YOU ARE NOW A MARRIED WOMAN. AHHH I want pics! 

***Attention all friends****: Now 5 of my besties have gotten married while I'm in the mission. 

That's all great and stuff, but can the rest of you just HOLD OFF until August? Ok??  thanks. :-)

AUNT LORI thank you for the email! I'm so glad Jake got his Visa! He's gonna be a stellar missionary! 

Tio Hector, thank you for the email! 

VAWDREY! I sure love you. I MISS YA! 

AND a big shoutout to my B.F.F. Haddy... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY! I love you soooo much! 

Hey everyone! Be good! Or... portense bien!!!

Chao chao, besitos (little kisses)

Hna SKWYAH!

cydnee.squire@myldsmail.net

This is my life right now, dirty tights with stickers/burs in them, along with the dirty shoes.

                                                       Leo & Paola's

                                                             wedding

Walking the 'streets' of Toay....apparently I walk with a swagger.....

Foggy day in Toay...brrrr......

Mission Conference Goodness!

Hey, what's up goobers?? 

Hope you all had a good Mother's Day. I forgot to do a little shoutout to all the moms out there, especially mine! I'm grateful for my mom and all the mother figures in my life. Thank you for all you do!

-Well! We had quite the week! Yesterday I got to talk with my sweet parents! I really didn't know what to say, haha. And I sorta struggled a little bit... "uhhhh, ehhhh....." haha.

- SOOO! We had a baptism on Saturday... YUP, LEO GOT BAPTIZED! (well, it wasn't really MY baptism, we were just there to watch... but the way that I see it is that the baptisms we witness as missionaries aren't OUR baptisms, but the Lord's).

Leo's baptism

We weren't planning on that but when we had an appointment last week he was like, "listen, hermanas, I want to get baptized this week". So, what did we do? We whipped out all the folletos and got to teaching. He already was familiar with everything so we just reviewed, committed, and BAM! Water. He got married on Friday and baptized on Saturday. Both he and Paola were so happy. They are now working on getting to the temple.  

- On Friday, we got up at 2 in the morning to travel to Bahia Blanca where we had a mission conference with Elder Zeballos. IT WAS AMAZING. The best so far. Hermana Parreño talked about the things that hurt us now... the blisters, sore feet and legs, tired backs, the heat, the cold... will exalt us when we leave. We have to pass through these things in the mission so that we can leave happy. I know I should be more like Paul, and "glory in my tribulations".  President talked about deep doctrine, about the Plan of Salvation. It was like WOW, I'm gonna have to explain it in the next letter cuz I´m short on time. Hermana Zeballos said something that I really loved. She had an apple and cut it in half and asked us what it had to do with missionary work. We made our guesses and she told us, "You can count how many seeds are in an apple, but you can´t count how many apples will come from one seed". As missionaries, we plant seeds everywhere. Sometimes we are able to see them sprout and bring forth fruit, other times, no. 

Story time. in Pringles, my companion and I worked with a menos activo family every week while we were there, but we never saw any progression... this week, my mom got a facebook message from my trainer, Hermana Israelsen. The hermano had sent her this message:

"Buenos días Hermana! como le va??? le cuento algo ya hace un mes que asisto a la capilla junto con mis hijos, Andrea fue a la conferencia general y este domingo asistió a la capilla. Ya tengo un llamamiento soy el secretario ejecutivo de la rama y el domingo me sostienen. Hacemos las noches de hogar, oramos y compartimos las escrituras en mi casa. Quería que lo supiera porque esto es producto de su trabajo aquí, su semilla quedo plantada y esta dando frutos, Muchas gracias por habernos ayudado.!" 

**************translation: "Good morning Sister! How are you? I want to tell you something. It has been one month since I have been to church along with my children. Andrea went to General Conference and this last Sunday she went to church. I already have a calling. I am the executive secretary of the Branch and this Sunday, I will be sustained. We have Family Home Evening, we pray and we share/study the scriptures in our house. I wanted you to know this because it is the product/result of your work here; your seed was planted here and it is giving forth fruit. Thank you for having helped us!"*******************

I am SOOO happy. To you missionaries.... sometimes we sow and we sow and we sow... we plant seeds all over and sometimes we don't get to see them grow. But some of them DO grow. This is evidence that they do. Sometimes we get frustrated when we don't see any results. My cousin Greg told me " Remember you decided to be a missionary despite what your ´results´ would be". So true. I have to remind myself of that daily.

-  One scripture to finish up. This is in 2 Nephi 33:3-4, but I'm gonna change the words up a bit "3 But I, {Cydnee}, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great ^aworth, and especially unto my {family and my friends}. For I ^bpray continually for them by day, and mine^ceyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry.

 4 And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my {family and my friends}. And the {letters} which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it ^apersuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life ^beternal.

- Shoutouts! 

KRISTEN FINALLY YOU WROTE ME!! (whose the best cat in the United States... it´s you, champer damper, it's you!). 

Taylor, Paige, EMAIL ME! Goobers. 

Serna family! Thank you for the email! Cool lizard!!! I like the name Draco... only because it reminds me of Harry Potter :) Leah, thank you for the drawing! Thanks Tio Hector!

Fernuik family! Thank you for the letter and for all the postcards!  I love seeing where you're all going! 

Myranda Thurman! Thanks for the email! I hope all is well with your family :) 

Tyler, thanks for the email and for constantly giving me advice.

I'm lucky to have a brother like you. 

Listen up peeps! You are great!
I love ya!

Love,

Hna Squire

cydnee.squire@myldsmail.net

Elders Allred and Hall! From my MTC District!!

Hermana Marin

With Elder Flores and Presidente's wife, Hermana Parreño

Reunion with Hermanas Mansilla and Batista!!!

Are You Espeaking Engrish???????

HELLOOOOO WORLD!!!

How are my favorite people? I hope you're all well.
 

- Well, I know that I do this shout out business at the end of the emails, but this deserves something more special... here's to my DAD! New FIRST COUNSELOR IN THE BISHOPRIC! Wow. Is it allowed to be proud of your parents?? Because I am. I am SOOO HAPPY for you dad. You are a humble servant of the Lord, and I can't think of a better man for the job. For those of you who know my dad, he serves and serves and serves so quietly and humbly and never expects anything in return. He loves our Savior. He strives to be like Him everyday. He loves his girls. He takes care of us and carries our shopping bags (while stopping to look at the electronics ;) ) and watches chick flicks with us. He makes me freshly squeezed orange juice every morning when I'm living at home. He makes us waffles every Sunday. He sends me a handwritten letter EVERY SINGLE WEEK with a hand made envelope. To this day, he has not missed a week, giving me many letters to cherish my whole life. I love my dad. He is the best. It took me too long to realize this... and sadly it took being in a different country for a year and a half to realize that. I always knew I wanted to marry someone that has my dad's qualities... poor kid has a lot to live up to :) I LOVE YOU DADDY!

 

- And while we're at it, someone once said that when they pick leaders for the church, they always think of the wife. So mom, congrats on being a first class lady. I'm excited to talk to you on Mother's Day. MAN! I have the best parents ever!! Seriously! I am one lucky kid! I regret being so onery as a teen! Man, sorry for that! Now everyone I meet... when I talk about my family I'm like... "yeah, my parents are pretty cool people".
 

- Ok some funny stories. So my companion has been sick this week with some stomach problems. I had to call the doctor of the area and he only speaks English. I was like, oh cool, that's fine, I speak English. Well, I was wrong. The whole time I was like "uhhh, ehhh,,, ummmmm" and Spanish kept slipping in! It was like the filter from my brain to my mouth didn't work! NO ME SALE INGLES! (**English is not coming out!) Then my comp said... "hermana, I think I can speak English better than you."... hahaha. Oh no. Mother's Day is going to be interesting....
 

- So in church yesterday, I was sitting there next to an investigator enjoying the testimonies. Then, a cute boy sat next to me. Real cute. Next thing I knew, he was holding my hand. Man, it's been a LOOONNG time since I've gotten that kind of affection. Did I mention he's the bishop's son? His name is Benjamin... and did I mention he's about 3 years old? Ahaha, hopefully I didn't startle anyone. But I've got a little admirer in the ward. :)
 

- OK! SO! We´ve been teaching an eternigator... a boyfriend of a member... that the missionaries have been teaching for like a year. WELL! They are getting married this Friday and we think he'll be getting baptized next week! WOO! His name is Leo... and he's such a good guy. He even bore his testimony yesterday. It was amazing.
 

- We are also teaching a married couple, Jorgelina and Cristian. They just had a baby girl about a month ago. SO CUTE. AHHHH BABIES! For some reason we just started talking about temples and eternal marriages and they loved it. Cristian started crying. Now we just have to get them to church. THEY WILL GET BAPTIZED I TELL YOU!!! They have so much potential it's insane! I already see Cristian as bishop!
 

- So I just started my second to last transfer... UM WHAT! So old, it's insane.
 

- So. Ya'll know I've been pretty tired as of late. So I asked my amazing district leader if he could give me a blessing. This is the first time I've asked for una bendicion de fortaleza(**blessing of strength) in the mish (p.s. how blessed are we to have worthy priesthood holders wherever we go??) He blessed me to have strength in my legs and he said "te falta poco, pero tienes mucho para dar". (**you don't have much time left, but you have a lot to give**) I loved that. I felt the Spirit so strong then. I know I have so much to give! I just have to stay close to the Lord and interchange mis fuerzas por sus fuerzas. (***my strengths for His strengths). With His strength, I can sprint to the finish line, with "both of my index fingers pointing to the sky, not to glory in my own achievements, but in the act of praising my God" for giving me the strength to finish.
 

- I heard an interesting phrase in church yesterday.... "Don't expect the Lord to guide your steps if you aren't willing to move your feet". SO TRUE. As missionaries... we pray, and then we go. We ask for guidance then we get moving. We knock doors. We visit old investigators. We pray for guidance and then we ACT. This is a gospel of ACTION.
 

- Other shoutouts! Greg! Congrats on getting your Masters! What a stud.

Tyler, thanks for the email!

Y a la familia Ibarra y Familia Serna en Texas! Hace mucho mi mama me esta molestando para escribir en castellano... jeje. Les amo mucho! No puedo esperar hasta que podamos hablar cara a cara. Creo que sería más facíl para mi porque mi ingles es un garrón! (crap!) Estoy tan feliz que Dios me permitió aprender español en la misión, para que pueda hablar con ustedes. Que bendición. Que sigan bien y recuerdan que yo les amo. Gracias por el apoyo.
 

HEY ALL YOU! You are great! I love you so much it may be unhealthy! But that's ok!
:-)

 

Hermana SKWAYAH!!!
 

cydnee.squire@myldsmail.net (write me!)

 

 

**(translation for last paragraph : "And to the Ibarra Family and Serna Family in Texas. For some time now, my mom has been bothering me to write some Castellano...ha ha. I love you so much! I cannot wait till we can speak face to face. I think that it will be so much easier because my English is 'crap'! I am so happy that the Lord allowed me to learn Spanish in the mission so that I could communicate with you all. What a blessing. I hope you continue to be well and remember that I love you. Thank you for your support."

 

 

Just waiting at the bus stop......such a colorful one!!

nice dirt road

parrots just hanging out