11.21.11

Hi!!!

I am not going to lie. Its really weird to say Happy Thanksgiving here because first it doesnt seem like it should be thanksgiving right now and second they dont celebrate it here so there is nothing to show it would be thanksgiving but since it is november I am assuming thanksgiving is this week! My comp and I are wanting to do some sort of thanksgiving dinner but the truth is that there is nothing here that we could make that is like what we eat for thanksgiving we might just make mashed potatoes or something. haha

Well this week was kind of a sad week for us because Senor Morales once again did not come to church so basically we are just thinking that we have to let him go which is sad but we have been teaching him for so long that now there just isnt really much that we can do. Man its hard to let go of investigators when they are super awesome but I guess that is part of the mission huh? Last thursday the relief society president asked me if I could teach the lesson in relief society. ahhh Man I am not one that enjoys teaching lessons at church and let alone when it is in a different language and with little time to prepare. but I did it! haha it was interesting and I think I just ended up just asking a lot of questions and trying to get the members to talk. Then I showed the movie small and simple things. Have you seen that video? its super cool. you should watch it!! basically as missionaries you are always on the spotlight. we are always the ones call on five minutes before sacrament meeting to give a talk in church. ahhh being a missionary I am realizing it very much out of my comfort zone but I think it is good for me.

I am contining to do good and working hard. I am so grateful for this gospel and for this time that I have to devote to the Lord. What an awesome experience it is. ahh the guy is telling me they are closing. gtg. love you all lots! have a wonderful week together!!!!!

Love,

Hna Van Wagenen

11.14.11

hey there!
How is everyone doing? well this week was kind of an interesting week. On wednesday our zone leaders decided they wanted to do divisions with us sisters. ya I am not going to lie I was a little scared for that. They told us that they were going to come here in our area and one of us sisters would go with the zone leaders and the other would go with the district leader and his comp. I have never done this before but it actually ended up being a very cool experience for me. I got put with the zone leaders which was kind of intimidating but they really showed me how to be excited and enjoy the work because sometimes each day is kind of the same and it gets kind of repetetive but they really showed me how to stay excited and it doesnt even matter if people reject us because our message is so important and if someone doesnt want to hear it that is their disadvantage.

This week was pretty good. I was pretty sad though because out investigator Senor Morales told us pretty much for sure that him and his wife would be coming to church on sunday. so we excitedly waited on sunday morning for him and he didnt ever show up. man did it make me pretty sad. I just feel like we have been doing so much to help him. We are constantly thinking about him and what he needs and so it lets me down so much when they dont go through with things they say they are going to do. I just pray that this sunday he will finally come. Man there are times in the mission that are really difficult and really sad when you have investigators who have so much potential and are really awesome and then they reject you because they said that their pastor said that they cant talk to us but at the same time there are some really awesome moments in the mission that make everything worth it. I have really learned to turn to the scriptures lately. I have been reading the Liahona/ensign from october about the book of mormon and realized how amazing the book of mormon is and what a power that it has. I have really learned during my mission to turn to the book of mormon because everytime I do I always seem to recieve that comfort that i need. if you dont read the book of mormon daily i suggest that you do it because it is councel from a prophet and i really do believe that it helps so much through the day. i know that the book of mormon is the word of god and was so happy to hear that you guys have been giving out book of mormons! how awesome you are all super missionarys!!! love you all lots and lots! you guys are the best ever!!! have an awesome week!!!!

love,
Hna Van Wag

11.7.11

Hola Familia!!

This past week was a great week. On Friday we took a 7 hour bus to resistencia with a bus full of missionaries. It was pretty crazy but fun to be with other missionaries. When we got to Resistencia they split us all up and sent us off to different hermanas apartments who are serving in Resistencia. There were 12 hermanas sleeping in one small apartment basically just people all of the floor. It was literally crazy but fun. Then on saturday morning we went to the church and listened to Elder Christofferson and his wife. It was such an amazing experience. I feel so lucky to be here at this time because it is not very often that someone from the 12 comes to our mission and for me I felt like it was the perfect time to come. Almost at the half way point of my mission to get me excited. Its so hard to explain the feeling that I felt but there was such an incredible spirit in the room as he walked in and as he shared his testimony. It just was another strong witness to me that what I am doing is correct and that this is without a doubt the church of Jesus Christ. We also had the opportunity to shake his hand. So AWESOME! It was also super awesome to see all of my friends from the mission. The best part for me was seeing my mtc comp and some of the people from my mtc district! oh what a wonderful weekend!!

The missionary work is still a little slow at this time in our area. We are working hard with our friend Senor Morales who is the man in the wheel chair to get him to church. This is like the 6th week that he hasnt come. Ahhh! I dont know what to do! When we teach him he loves it so much and he says that he knows the things we are teaching him are true and even last thursday he invited his friend to come listen to us and during the whole lesson he was teaching his friend the things. It was so awesome to see him teaching and inviting his friends to listen to us. but the whole coming to church thing has been a problem. Hopefully this sunday we can see a miracle happen! We need your prayers!!! :) Well I dont have a lot of time so its a short letter this week but basically i love you all. Hopefully you have a wonderful week. I am so grateful for all of you and your support during my mission. YOu are awesome!!!

Love,

Hna Van Wag

P.S. I recieved the letters in spanish from the sisters in the ward. I absolutely love them!!! Thanks so much!

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