10.31.11

Hey there!
Happy Halloween! umm I pretty much died when I saw Laurens costume. Stinking crazy head! hahaha Ky looks so stinkin cute as a bum, I love Heathers awesome indian outfit and mckay is probably the cutest cow ever well of course up there with Lauren! I am loving the cute halloween costumes! I am just wondering where is Amys outfit? haha So pretty much Halloween doesnt exist here. Its super crazy to me that Halloween is today because I am so used to seeing halloween things in every store I walk by in the United States but here there is nothing. The only reason I knew that it was Halloween because I looked at the date. so basically Im dressing up as a missionary for this special holiday! :) haha creative right?

Well I am super happy to say that we found an awesome family this week! We realized that going around knocking doors has not been super sucessful for us as far as finding people so we figured out a new way. We found out that our branch here in Obera has over a 1000 members but with only maybe 50 active. What happened you might ask. ya I have no idea! Some disaster it seems to me. So we have decided to go through the list of members and start visiting these members and recieving references from them. Well this past week we started this adventure but one of the things about here in Argentina is adresses to houses are not very clear or they have a number to to the house but it doesnt say the number anywhere on the house so basically we have to ask everyone around this area who this family is. but through this we have an excuse to talk to random people and share with them too. Well we asked this family where one of the members lived and we ended up going in their house and teaching them and I was so shocked that both the parents were there and most of the kids while we were there teaching. This was the first time in my mission where it has been like that because usually its just one person that will sit and listen. So for me this was pretty much a miracle. My comp and I were pretty stocked. So we are really trying to focus on this family and what they need. It is the parents and they have 5 children. That is also something not super common so have a whole family with the parents not separated. So we will see what happens with this family!

Well this Saturday I am super excited about!!! We are heading to Resistencia which is about 6 hours away by bus and we will be meeting up with everyone in the mission so listen to a prophets voice!! Elder Christofferson is coming the the Argentina Resistencia mission to speak to us and we are all pretty stocked!! This is the first and probably only time that we will get together with the whole mission like this so I am super excited to see all my friends from the mtc and old comps and to hear from Elder Christofferson!!

Well that was pretty much my week. Things are going well. Learning and growing everyday. Man am I learning that the Lord really does know us. This whole senior comp has not been super easy for me. We all know that I have never been a leader type person but being senior comp I am forced into taking charge and being the leader and going up to people to talk to them. Apparently the Lord wanted to take me out of my comfort zone because man has this been out of my comfort zone but I am grateful for it and the things that I am learning. The mission is crazy but super awesome! haha Well I love you all lots! Have a wonderful week and enjoy your Halloween! Send me some of your candy! haha jk

Lots of Love,
Hna Van Wag

10.24.11

Hola!
como estan? Total bien aca en Obera. We are still in a pretty slow
moment right now in the missionary work. We basically have one
investigator that is truly progressing but he still hasnt come to
church yet. Its super frustrating. I am realizing that I think this
area might actually be harder than my first area. There is literally a
church on every corner here and its not just catholics. I am realizing
that I actually like to talk to the catholics because most of the
catholics are catholic because of tradition but dont actually go to
church or anything. but here there is a ton more religions and the
people are super super devoted to their religion and believe that
their church is the true church and dont want anything to do with
other religions. yes its pretty awesome! so i am basically realizing
that I am happy when I find a catholic person. haha

So our one investigator that we have is Senor Morales. He was a
reference of one of the members and he is basically the best
investigator one could have. He absolutely loves our visits and is
always waiting outside for us to come. The problem is that he has a
sickness and he is in a wheelchair so this basically impedes him from
going to church because he can only leave and go if his wife drives
him and goes with him. It has been about 4 weeks and he still hasnt
come. We are just praying that one day they will come to church
because I know that as soon as they come they will love it and know!
He is reading the book of mormon every morning and just loves the
things that we teach him because he says that we teach him things that
he never knew before. We are just hoping and praying that they will
come to church because i could totally see a baptism in the future.
Other than him we are pretty slow but its ok I have faith that things
will pick up again.

This past weekend we had a visit from President Hayman and his wife.
We had interviews with him and they took all of us out to ice cream.
it was a fun little visit. and everytime they come they tell us how
much they love obera and apparently obera is the prettiest city in the
mission. it really is a pretty cute city! well i am litterally out of
time. but i love you all lots and hope you have a wonderful week!!!
until next week!!

love,
Hermana Van Wag

10.17.11

hey there!

Well Happy Mothers Day to my wonderful mom. ok yes I know its not really mothers day but over here in the wonderful Argentina it was mothers day yesterday so i thought I would send a little shout out to my wonderful madre! Can I just tell you that I am loving the emails from Mom and dad about their trip. As I was reading about their experience at church it reminded me exactly of me over here in Argentina. yep no one can play the piano so the singing is HORRIBLE. i mean really pretty.....(trying to stay positive) haha and then the whole sacrament meeting is in spanish. Now its not as bad because I understand a lot more. but i just remember my first while here in sacrament meeting I just sat there totally confused the whole time. but like mom said that dad understood the elder that spoke in spanish that was from florida. I am exactly the same way. When a missionary from the united stated speaks spanish I can always understand because of the american accent. haha and No there are not street signs or anything here as far as driving. I would be scared to death to try to drive here because people are insane!! I cant wait to hear about the rest of the Costa Rica adventure! and I am so proud to hear that you guys are getting around fine with the spanish! that makes me super happy!

Well as far as my week.. well we had a baptism on Saturday! yay everything went through super smoothly and Gladis was baptized on saturday. I was super happy. So as missionarys we are told that if someone if getting baptized at the end of the week we have to go visit them everyday that week to prepare them and keep them excited. So we did just that and I am not going to lie every single day that we went I was super nervous that she was going to tell us that she was too scared and couldnt do it. but luckily that did not happen and everyday we went she was excited to see us and excited for her baptism! so we are happy that Gladis was finally baptized! and she seemed super happy after! I have a pic but it wont let me upload on this comp. oh the wonderful computers of argentina. i just love them so much! :)

Pretty much the rest of this past week was not very excited. The week pretty much was just getting Gladis ready and prepared for her baptism. I love having baptisms but the thing that I hate is it means that is one less investigator and not we are on the search for new investigators. She was pretty much the main one we have right now so now we are on the look out for some new gators (investigators) . wish us luck! this area I am realizing is worse than my first area. There is literally a huge church on like every block. The people here are very religious and stuck in their religions.

The weather here continues to get hotter and hotter everyday. Summer is on its way and I am not going to lie I am dreading it more than every. I keep asking people how to survive in summer and they just keep telling me you pretty much dont.. you just suffer. haha awesome! cant wait! they just keep telling me that you are in a constant sweat that doenst ever stop all summer. when you go to bed at night you just need to lay there and not move at all because if you move one part of your body you will start sweating. hahaha oh man! doesnt that sound like a blast! well things are good over here continuing to learn and grow daily and learning to put my trust in God and he will help us. I am realizing more that ever that like it says in the sciptures that God give us struggles and challenges so help us grow and learn. Its true the only way that we are going to grow and learn is if we suffer through the hard times first and that is when we will see the happy times and miracles. I love this gospel more than ever. We truly are blessed to be members and I am grateful for this short time that I have to share this wondefulness with others. Love you all lots. Everyday I realize how grateful and lucky I am to have such an Amazing family.

con amor,
Hermana Van Wagenen

10.17.11

hey there!

Well Happy Mothers Day to my wonderful mom. ok yes I know its not really mothers day but over here in the wonderful Argentina it was mothers day yesterday so i thought I would send a little shout out to my wonderful madre! Can I just tell you that I am loving the emails from Mom and dad about their trip. As I was reading about their experience at church it reminded me exactly of me over here in Argentina. yep no one can play the piano so the singing is HORRIBLE. i mean really pretty.....(trying to stay positive) haha and then the whole sacrament meeting is in spanish. Now its not as bad because I understand a lot more. but i just remember my first while here in sacrament meeting I just sat there totally confused the whole time. but like mom said that dad understood the elder that spoke in spanish that was from florida. I am exactly the same way. When a missionary from the united stated speaks spanish I can always understand because of the american accent. haha and No there are not street signs or anything here as far as driving. I would be scared to death to try to drive here because people are insane!! I cant wait to hear about the rest of the Costa Rica adventure! and I am so proud to hear that you guys are getting around fine with the spanish! that makes me super happy!

Well as far as my week.. well we had a baptism on Saturday! yay everything went through super smoothly and Gladis was baptized on saturday. I was super happy. So as missionarys we are told that if someone if getting baptized at the end of the week we have to go visit them everyday that week to prepare them and keep them excited. So we did just that and I am not going to lie every single day that we went I was super nervous that she was going to tell us that she was too scared and couldnt do it. but luckily that did not happen and everyday we went she was excited to see us and excited for her baptism! so we are happy that Gladis was finally baptized! and she seemed super happy after! I have a pic but it wont let me upload on this comp. oh the wonderful computers of argentina. i just love them so much! :)

Pretty much the rest of this past week was not very excited. The week pretty much was just getting Gladis ready and prepared for her baptism. I love having baptisms but the thing that I hate is it means that is one less investigator and not we are on the search for new investigators. She was pretty much the main one we have right now so now we are on the look out for some new gators (investigators) . wish us luck! this area I am realizing is worse than my first area. There is literally a huge church on like every block. The people here are very religious and stuck in their religions.

The weather here continues to get hotter and hotter everyday. Summer is on its way and I am not going to lie I am dreading it more than every. I keep asking people how to survive in summer and they just keep telling me you pretty much dont.. you just suffer. haha awesome! cant wait! they just keep telling me that you are in a constant sweat that doenst ever stop all summer. when you go to bed at night you just need to lay there and not move at all because if you move one part of your body you will start sweating. hahaha oh man! doesnt that sound like a blast! well things are good over here continuing to learn and grow daily and learning to put my trust in God and he will help us. I am realizing more that ever that like it says in the sciptures that God give us struggles and challenges so help us grow and learn. Its true the only way that we are going to grow and learn is if we suffer through the hard times first and that is when we will see the happy times and miracles. I love this gospel more than ever. We truly are blessed to be members and I am grateful for this short time that I have to share this wondefulness with others. Love you all lots. Everyday I realize how grateful and lucky I am to have such an Amazing family.

con amor,
Hermana Van Wagenen

10.10.11

Hey there my wonderful family and friends!

How is everyone doing? Well yesterday was another holiday in the land of Argentina. I swear that they seriously have holidays like every week and they just make up the most random reasons to have holidays to not have school and work. haha Which meant that yesterday was a day of working for us missionarys and today is our p-day. Well I am happy to say that over here in Obera, Misiones we are preparing a baptism for this saturday. I think I might have mentioned this in my email last week but I will tell you a little more about Gladis. So gladis is the wife of a member but obviously she is not a member. So i am pretty sure that the elders started teaching her in about January. and I have heard that she has constantly had baptism dates but hasnt every really gone through with them. I think in around march she was really excited for baptism and was super close to it and she ended up getting married in march so she could get baptized well something happened and she backed away. So the elders had continued teaching her but not ever knowing what her doubt was or how to help her. So when we got here the elders introduced us to her and basically told us good luck...hope you can figure our her doubt! haha we just laughed and said uhh thanks elders! So we passed by a few days later to see her and it was pretty much the worst lesson ever! The whole time we tried to teach and ask questions she would turn to her husband and she basically wouldnt say a word! I left the lesson super disapointed and with not much hope with her not knowing how to help her. Well we went back the next week and were happy to find that she was home alone and her husband was at work. This was our chance to really get to know her and talk to her and she wont be able to turn to her husband to talk. so we basically did just that. We just talked to and got to know her and her life and left her with a short message. when we went back the next week she was actually excited to see us and asking how we were doing. Well in the second lesson we had with her we talked about baptism and figured out that she basically has this fear that they will have to baptize her like 4 times because she has seen baptisms where that has happened and she doesnt want that to happen with her. Well we put a baptism date with her for the 15 of October but still realizing that she is kind of iffy about it. Well we had passed by several times after that and things we good but everytime we talked about baptism she was still super iffy about it. until one night we went by and she was there alone without her husband and out of now where she asked us who was being baptized on the 15 of October. We just looked at each other and said uhh you!!! then i just sat there scared of what she was about to say when out of now where she said yes actually i think i am going to get baptized on the 15. My comp and i looked at each other in a shock and left her house super happy. well ever since that happened 1 week and a half ago she has still been super excited for her baptism. She basically told us that this is the first time that the missionarys have actually taken the time to talk to her and get to know her because before the elders always just talked to her husband. I am starting to wonder if this is one of the reason for the whitewash here in this area. I mean obviously our president didnt have any idea about this situation but the Lord did and he must of known that gladis was going to progress better with sisters in this area. I dont know but I am super happy and excited!

but other than gladis we dont have too much else to share. We have some other investigators but truly right know we dont have too many that are truly progressing. this is basically always the struggle is finding new people that are really interested and are going to progress. After Gladis I dont really know what is going to happen but I guess you just have to take it one at a time. I am still doing great. Learning and growing more everyday. I am grateful for the struggles that I go through because I know that they are only helping me to grow as a person. Love you all lots! Thanks for all of your love and support. It is greatly appreciated!!!

Love,

Hermana Van Wagenen

Pictures

1. A store named FLOPY! need I say more? ;)

2. The other night as we were walking back to our apt it just starting dumping rain on us and we were pretty much soaked by the time we were in the apt.

3. super cool clouds

4. A day with the primary. ahh man children are crazy!!!!

10.3.11

Hey there!

Wasnt this past weekend so wonderful! Yes over here in the good ole Argentina we were able to watch and listen to conference too! I am lucky because I am in an area where conference was broadcasted in our church building so we were able to watch all of the sessions. Other missionarys who arent in an area where it is broadcasted could only watch one day of conference but I was lucky enough to get to see all of it! and I loved it so much! I absoultely loved the talk that President Uchtdorf gave at the relief society broadcast! That was such an awesome talk. and I was super shocked to hear about the new provo temple that they are going to build. As a missionary the talk by Elder Callister was super awesome about the book of Mormon. Was is just me or did it seem like a lot of conference was really focused on the scriptures and the Book of Mormon. After Elder Scotts talk I basically realized that I need to start memorizing scriptures. But really all of conference was super awesome. I really would like to go back and read all of it right now.

Well this past week was pretty good. On tuesday we had the opportunity to be visited here in Obera by President Hayman and his wife. They came to our district meeting and really taught us how to get people to come to church. because truly the people here are pretty lazy and are hard to get to church. So pres was teaching us how to better get them to come to church. Then after district meeting Hna Hayman came out with us and worked. It was super awesome because she is just great. We were able to have a wonderful lesson with her and then after she took us out to ice cream! they are our mom and dad of the mission. Super sweet!

We had a miracle happen this past week that I cant even express how happy I was. So we have this investigator name Gladis and she is the wife of a member. I am pretty sure the missionarys have been teaching her for forever and the missionarys have put a bunch of baptism dates with her but obviously she has never gone through with them because she has a doubt/ fear about it. Well when we first got here she had a date for baptism but it was more like she didnt really know she had it so we have really tried to take the time to get to know her and figure out her doubt or fear and I dont know if it is because we are sisters but on friday she told us that she is really thinking about baptism and she wants to be baptized the 15 of october. I dont think she has ever straight up told the missionarys like that that she wants to be baptized. So we were pretty much super stoked and excited about that. She said that this is the first time that the missionaries have really taken the time to get to know her because with the elders before they would always talk to her husband and not her. I am starting to think that there must be a reason for the whitewash here in Obera. Pray for Gladis that everything will work for her baptism the 15 of Oct.

Everything is going well here in the mission field. We are continuing to work hard and share the restoration of the gospel here with the people of Obera. Conference was something I really needed to strengthen my testimony and realize really how much these people need these blessings in their lives. The gospel truly is a blessing. I love it so much! I am so grateful I am to be a member of the restored gospel. Love you all lots!! Have a wondeful week!

-Hna Van Wag