Yay for nuevos miembros!

January 6^th, 2014

This week, Rosa Romero, became the newest member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 2014! Ok, probably not, but she was baptized and confirmed!!!! Yay! After 9 months of taking the discussions, she was ready to make covenants with our Heavenly Father and it was such a great day! She is so happy and ready to start her new life in the Restored Gospel! 

This week was a little bit weird, because Tuesday and Wednesday we couldn´t leave the apartment all day! We studied a lot, took a little nap, and organized/cleaned un poquito. Boring.. But we have seen the miracles this weekend! On Sunday, Monica came to church! She is a former investigator that we have been trying to contact lately. She has never let us in her house to come talk to her, but we could feel she was really prepared. The other day after the baptism, our ward mission leader, Alan and Gabriel, who has his mission call, went to visit some people who they wanted to invite to church the next day. They passed by Monica´s house and she was really stressed trying to find a job because her children didn´t have anything to eat. When they passed by she was on the verge of tears, so they asked if they could say a prayer with her. They kneeled down and asked the Lord for help. Before they could leave the house, she recieved a phone call from a job that she had been waiting to hear from! What a miracle! So she came to church with her 10 year old daughter so excited to learn more and ready to be baptized! She has a date for the  17th of January! Woohoo! 

It´s still hot, but we´re surviving! I think I´m getting used to it! The cold showers help :) 

On New Years, I got up and set my Resolutions for the year! I´m sad I couldn´t make them with you guys, but I took a picture so it looks like I was a part of it! :) 

Things are going really great! We are working hard and seeing the fruits of our labors! We find out about transfers on Sunday! Although I think I´ll be staying here with my companion! :) Yay! 

I love you all and I hope everything is going well with you! Good luck with your trip this week and have so much fun! 

Love love love,  

Hermana Lawrence 

Yay for Summer!

January 13th
Hola! 

This week was soooo great! Another week full of miracles! It´s still super hot and getting hotter, but the Lord is blessing us in other ways! ha. 

First of all, transfer news! I will be staying in my area, Dorrego, but my companion Sister Dote will be leaving. :( But my new companion will be Sister Cox! She came with me in the MTC and she is super fun! She is gorgeous so that means I actually have to do my hair every day. haha! We will both be Sister Training Leaders, so we will be able to do two exchanges at one time! Yay! I am super excited and I can just feel the miracles coming this next transfer! 

The week started out a little rough, like always, but the weekend brings the miracles! On Thursday, we went to visit some less-actives with our Ward Mission Leader, and Daiana who is leaving on her mission in April to Brazil! We visited Hermana Aurora Puebla who doesn´t hear very well so we had to knock about 10 times. We finally decided to call her and she came out in a little bit. When we entered in her house, it was full of smoke! When she came out to open the door, she realized her kitchen was on fire and quickly put it out. She told us that she hadn´t noticed it, and if we wouldn´t have come, she would´ve died! Wow. ha. We shared a short message with her and she felt the Spirit and wanted to come to church! She didn´t come, but everything in the Lord´s timing :) 

Monica, who got the job last week, lost the job a day later, and has been outside all day everyday looking for work. Every time we pass by, her sweet daughter says that she doesn´t know what time she left or what time she´ll be back. But she has a ton of faith and wants to keep coming to church! So please keep praying for her! 

We are also teaching Raquel and her dad Humberto. They are incredible and searching for the church that "fills" them. They´ll find it soon. :) This week we also found Patricia and her husband Santiago! They were out shopping in a store that is owned by a member, and picked up the Liahona that was sitting on the counter. As she flipped through it she asked Hermana Leon where she could get a copy and she got her address and sent us over! Patricia told us that that day, she had been praying with her husband to find the chuch that they should go to with their family! She told us she wants to come to church and she wants to know more! They didn´t come this week, but we´re going back to teach them all this week and I know they will come soon! They´re amazing! 

Everything is going really well! I´m still amazing at how much I can learn each and every day. I feel like I never stop learning! It´s amazing! And my testimony never stops growing stronger. This is the Lord´s work. And it´s our decision to be observers or participants. But participating fills you with a joy that´s indescribable! (ya no puedo escribir en inglés) I love being a missionary! I love who the Lord is turning me into. I love the support I feel from all of you. I love my life! 

How is everything going for all of you? I heard is super freezing cold in the states? Probably not in Arizona, but everyone I meet tells me "oh, you´re from the US? It´s super cold there right now" haha. And I thought, well no wonder I haven´t heard anything from my family because we live in the desert. 

Love you allllllll!!!!!!!! 

Also, some funnies of the week: 

This week I swallowed a bug. It was gross. And I was fasting. 

Every person we talk to thinks we´re crazy for walking out in the heat all day. Every conversation ends with "vayan por la sombra" which means, walk in the shade! haha. I´m getting a little bit tan! But not really at all. 

Good luck with everything this week! 

Love, 

Hermana Lawrence 

Only 360 more Days till Christmas!!

December 30, 2013

Well, my favorite day of the year is passed, and that makes me sad, but the work of the Lord continues to make me happier every day, so I can wait another 360 days :) 

This week was a little different. There weren´t a lot of productive things we would do on Christmas Eve or on Christmas and then we went to Uspallata for the weekend to do exchanges. But our area is going strong and we are looking forward to another great week! (even though Tuesday and Wednesday we have to stay inside all day.. it´s supposed to be dangerous on the streets those days) 

Uspallata is so pretty! It´s an area right in the mountains so the weather was so nice and basically I wanted to stay there forever! There was a lot of wind, but the sun shone right on us.. so I´m a little bit fried. ok a lot. but it´s kind of turning into a nice tan! so that´s good :) We spent the day with Hermana Tirado from Peru and Hermana Norr from Washington and saw so many miracles! In the two days we were there, they picked up 4 new investigators with baptismal dates! They are doing so great and I learned a ton from them! 

Funny experience from Uspallata: We saw a lady sweeping her porch. Her porch was just dirt. 

Friday night was our ward Christmas dinner which was supposed to start at 8:30pm. I´ve learned quickly that Argentine parties last forever! We had permission from our mission president to stay until 11:30pm and they didn´t even start the activity until 11! ha. so we stayed for a half an hour and then went to bed. Who knows what time it ended? ha! 

There are supposed to be a lot of fireworks at midnight on New Year´s so we are excited to watch them from our little balcony! :) 

Rosa is a different person! She is so ready for baptism and she can´t wait for this Saturday! She will have a baptismal interview on Thursday and Saturday she will baptized! Yay! She has such an amazing spirit with her and she is so ready to start her life clean and serve Jesus Christ! I´ll send pictures next week! :) 

Something I forgot to ask when I was in Vallejo: There was an Elder in my district named Elder Contla and I KNOW I know him from somewhere! He said he used to live in Gilbert when he was little. They lived in the ISLANDS! and I said, I lived in the Islands! Do we know the Contla´s or did I have a friend named Zach? Because I think that´s where I know him from. haha. Random. 

Anyway, things here are going great! It was sooooo good to see you all this week! I absolutely loved talking to you and getting to see your faces! You all look so great and I know miracles are happing at home! I hope things continue to go well! I will continue to pray for you every day! Thank you so much for your strength, your examples, and your love! I love hearing from you every week and I promise to be better at writing details :) 

This week I have gained a stronger testimony about the love Heavenly Father has for everyone of us. In every lesson we have taught, I have been able to feel the love that God has for every person we teach. We were with all these people before this life and we are all here for the same purpose: to be able to live with Heavenly Father again. Heavenly Father wants me to get there, and He wants me to help all these people here get there. I can´t let my selfish desires get in the way of that. I always think about how hot I am, how I need water, how I need food, but these people need the gospel, and that´s way more important. I love these people and I know that the Lord will help me forget about myself so that I can help them more. :) 

I love you all and I hope you have a great New Year! Happy 2014!!!!! 

Con amor, 

Hermana McKenna Lawrence