Round 5 in White! :)

Haha yep! Here we go again!! I can't believe I will have been here in Argentina for 6 months in just a little over a week. . .and all in this tiny little place we call White haha but it's ok. I love the people and it'll be much easier to comunicate with all my friends here if they are all in one place! Everyone was really happy that I didn't head out haha even though I was feeling ready for a change, but me and Hermana Boyce are gonna change somethings up and have fun!

We got to work a day in Bahia so that was a fun change of pace! We meet a lot of nice people, but we also got a whole lot more doors slammed in our face haha but it was a good time! Also, the Zone Leaders came out and worked in White for a day and they found a bunch of people! I feel bad cuz most of them don't wanna talk to us, they mighta been the type that just like Elders haha but they also vistited one of our investigators Maria, whose been coming to church a lot, and set a baptism date with her! That was cool :) We've got some work to do to get her ready but I'm so happy she's wanting to take this step now!!

I also gave my first talk in church yesterday haha that was fun! I was all stuffed up and was afriad I was gonna just cough the whole time but I didn't and it went well! Hna Boyce also spoke and did SO well! Sometimes it seems like she's been here longer than me the way that girl is picking up the language :) I spoke on a talk given in the last Conference by Elder Dyches I believe is his name about how we can be purified through Faith in Christ.

I think I've mentioned it a whole lot more times than once that I learn more and more about realy faith every single day out here! I'm grateful I'm having all these crazy experiences and missing all of you so much and I have to use my faith every day. I know when all this is said and done if I just keep working hard and trying to convert myself to Christ, I'm gonna be ready for the crazy beautiful path of life my Heavenly Fathers got prepared for me :)

Welp, that's it for today!! Hope you all have a fantastic week!
Love you all so much!!

Fotos!

Haha because I turned 9 months I had my mission baby 

Feliz. . . .TODO!! Haha Yeah, it's been awhile!

Well! I was on for a few minutes this morning but then the internet stopped working so we went to a different place and all the internet in White was out apparently haha but we're up and running now! and it saved a few sentences of the novel I wrote this morning haha so I'll try and get a good long e-mail written :) 

(here begins update from this morning haha) 

I know I'm a looser and I haven't written for awhile! Sorry I'm becoming a stranger!! Don't want that!!! So, I'm gonna give you some update on my Argentina life :) First of all, all this celebrating they do down here is wild haha WAY to wild for this time of year in my opinon. Fireworks all over the place and really loud noises haha also the members here are funny cuz they bring in the new year with sparkling juice like we have, but they also have BEER but without alcohol. . .yeah I tried it. It was NASTY haha so, I think I've officailly ruled out ever drinking ;) It has been a crazy but good couple of weeks. 

My companion has been battling with her body, but this week we were able to get out and are working hard. (End of update from this morning haha) But yeah, seeing as how this could be my last wek in good ole White I'm gonna give it all I've got! We've got such amazing people we're talking too, they all have such great faith in Jesus Christ <3 Oh other crazy random things these argentinans do with their fiesta time is we ate (with the Familia Antunez, this picture I attached) lechon, which is Pig cooked on a spit haha I tried sending the picture this morning but it didn't work haha sorry, you'll see it some day! Also, I tried pig intestine! I'll save the juicy details for when I can tell it in person, but lets just say I'm not a fan haha. Something else kinda cool they do at this time of year is "los Reyes Magos" or the wise men, come and bring girfts of candy haha it's like a parade and then if they are good they get something from the reyes the next morning too. I dunno, I think it might be something I'll have to do with my kiddos (whatcha think babe?? ;) so yeah, that was cool to see. 

Some other random high lights, this week our District came and worked in White, which is 4 other companionships, and that was way fun haha all of them loved the members that they met and the spirit was so strong with so many missionaries in such a small place :) it was way cool. Oh other note on of the other hermanas who I was living with had to go home for health problems and they sent the other one to be in a trio in a different area, so it's just me and Hna Boyce. It's nice having space and air to breath again haha it's so much cooler there as well so that's great too, but I do miss my Peruanas. I don´t think I talked a lot about them but I needed them these past couple transfers and being there for Hna Carpio (the one who ended up needing to go home) gave me an up close look at what my Aaron had to go through, so I was grateful I could be there for her <3 

The District 

La Familia

The Zone

welp, I know there's other things to update you all on but I can't remember. I'm doing good at writting in my journal and in all of my planners I write things that happened that day so that when I get home I'll have helpers when I tell you all the crazy things I've been up to down here! I've been thinking a lot and reading a lot about Faith and it really is so fundamental here in this life. 

Faith is hard. It's not easy to put our confidence in things we can't see, and have no physical proof, out side of scriptures and the feelsçings we recieve from the spirit, but our faith is what HAS to be strong and carry us through the times when it feels like we can't so any more. I read a talk this morning that talked about victims of an earthquakeand how the church was prepared to help the people when the time was needed, and that our testimony if the same. We have to build our faith by keeping the commandments and living the principles of the gospel so that when the time comes our faith is ready to take on the challenge that Heavenly Father knows we're prepared to face in order to help us grow. 

I hope I make at least a little sense, but I feel so blessed because I have this time where things that are hard are thrown at me almost every single day and I know that things that are MUCH harder are coming later in life. . .this time now that I'm learning to do the Lord's will even when I really don't want to, are helping me see that it's ALWAYS the best option. Even though maybe it hurts sometimes, in the end, He will make everything work out for the best for us. I am so grateful to be gaining a testimony of that truth right now <3 Thank you all so much for your prayers, letters and support :) I can't believe how many friends and family that I have looking out for me and thinking about me. I am so truly blessed and I am LOVING my time here in Argentina :) Yeah, it's hard, but it's SO worth it :) Vale la pena, como dicimos acá :) 

Have a great week everyone! I love you so much!!!

Larissa

Regocijad! Jesus Nacio :)

Hello Familia!!

HOw are you all doing?! I¨m so sorry I haven´t sent a long good detailed e-mail in awhile. Sometimes I get lost in this lçworld I¨m living in and feel like everything before was just a dream . .it freaks me out sometimes, but I guess it´s just the way it´s gotta be for now!! I didn´t really directly tell you I´m still serving in White! I realized this week I will have been here for longer than an entire semester of school!! Haha it´s gone WAY faster than I ever thought school went. . .but at the same time I´ve been here SO flippin long haha I was kinda looking forward to a change in scene, but I know this is where Heavenly Father needs me to be right now :) But, Heavenly Father musta known I was getting in a little bit of a funk cuz I went on Divisions this week to another area in my District called Punta Alta! It is WAY pretty there and there are fruit trees that you can pick the fruit right off and eat it on the spot haha the black berries were SO good! BUT, we walked like 15 miles in one day I think and we knocked SO many doors and the people were just cold. .

.it made me super grateful for my White where the people are nice and at least hear us out before they tell us they aren´t interested at the moment. 

White to Punta Alta

It was also nice cuz my Hija got an opportunity to see that she can communicate well (we were both with a native comp) which has given her a little more confidence and we are having SO much more fun now and learning and teaching a TON! I think I told you all about Flor. . .I love that girl so much. We planned her baptism for last Sunday. . .and she told us she wanted to go to church by herself (she lives close so we sould go so we could walk with her, but everytime we ended up having to wake her up. . .) And she wanted to be sure she could get herself to church by herself. So, we set and alarm, got all the clothes ready, and she was just so excited. But the next day. ..we were waiting for her, she didn´t show up at the time we planned, so we went by to see what was up, and she was sleeping. I was so heartbroken. We went by later and she just told us that we´ve done all we can do and now she has to decide for herself to live it. . .which is so so true but it just broke my heart because she has a testimony but she is letting Satan make her beliee it´s easier in the world. She knows that´s wrong, but still. . .so I cried for her a little bit, but I have so much hope and faith that she WILL choose the path for happiness her Heavenly Father has prepared for her. All we can do now is pray for her and be here when she´s ready <3 

We´ve found a couple REALLY amazing people to teach here. One is the friend of a member who is very Evangelist and loves her church, but we watched the Restoration with her and she loved how Joseph Smith is just like us and he just had to ask our Father, and she told us she´s going to read and pray, so we´re excited to go back and she her! Also we are teaching this super funny and sweet older couple who are living together because both of their spouses past away. They both love that we talk all about God and Jesus Chirst and Nelly (Carlos is her boyfriend) told us she knows the Book of Mormon is true. Now we just gotta break it to her that she needs to get married and that maybe she could drink some juice instead of wine :) But we´ll see how it goes!

Like I said, Hna Boyce and I are just having a really good time trying to give all we have to this work. It´s hard for both of us being away from all of you at this time of year. . .but I´m excited get to talk to you soon!!! I´ll have more details about how thats going to work next week. . .we´re singing in a missionary choir! We´ve been practicing a ton and we sound pretty darn good :) I´ll have to take my recorder and record us singing :) I´m loving the mission guys. It´s great :) I´ve got my ups and my downs but that´s life right?? We just have to put our trust in our Father in Heaven and in our big brother Jesus Christ that they truly can get us through everything. 

I read a talk this morning about putting Childlike faith in that knowledge because we often talk ourselves into thinking we are unworthy or less than we are, Satan literally uses these things as tools to drag down even the most righteous of people. Nephi is a prime example. I can´t remember the reference right now but I love when he´s despairing because of his carnal desires and then he tells he´s told to wake up and get over it and to rejoice in Heavenly Father and the Savior :) We´ve just gotta do that sometimes!! Remind ourselves of all the potenatial we have and that we can do anything with their help. We won´t be perfect, but we´ll be very very happy!!

Alright! I love you all so much but I gotta go!! 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!!!

Lot´s of Love

Larissa xoxoxo

Mi y mi hija Hna Boyce :)

Thanks so much for the updates momma!! I feel so bad cuz I don´t think I´m sending a big e-mail today. . .I messed around reading stuff for way to long. . . I´m doing good! It´s been a hard week. . .but I´m glad to start a new one :) I´ll be sure to write a good long e-mail next week!

Are there any specific questions I can answer???
I LOVE YOU!!!!

"her nice smile illuminates the quarter"

ALERT!  Post from Mom/Rhonda:

Veronica is a member in Argentina. She has let the girls come to her home and use the computer, and probably all sorts of other things to help them. I'm touched that she went to the trouble to send this message in English!

I LOVE how Veronica says: "her nice smile illuminates the quarter"

Goodness I miss that smile!!  ♥

Here is another one from a friend in Argentina, posted back in August:

Translation:  "MOM's sister conger: I am writing to thank you for the beautiful person q has raised the word of God, she brought to my house here in Argentina we are caring for her. I hope q to read this message. Best regards"

And one more from a friend in Florida back in June:

♥ Yes that Rissy girl is a special kid alright.  I'm so grateful for her. ♥

It's another holiday!

Sorry everyone!  It´s been a crazy morning! It´s a Holiday here (practically every Monday in Argentina haha) but everything is closed. I had a great week, but I´m gonna take advantage of this members computer and get you some pictures!! I´m doing great and having a blast.

My comp and I have had a few head butts this week, but it was good we talked it out haha One was because she can´t handle when i blow my nose (I was sick again this week, but I worked through it!!)outside of the bathroom (I go in there and close the door now haha I decided not to tell her about the farmers blow) ;) haha but yeah, it´s cool though that we are just completely different people and learning how to serve the Lord the best we can together. It´s also super stressful not being able to communicate how you want and not express yourself the way you want either, but we are practicing and working hard to get her there!

I´m loving White. Our investigators are doing good, especially F, she needs to show a little more commitment, I´m praying she´ll get herself to her baptism interview by herself this week, cuz if not I think we´ll have to wait till next Saturday, but we´ll see. She wants to follow God and Christ so we just gotta help her understand what´s important! It´s very possible that I´ll be in a different area next Monday. so I´m gonna give all my heart to White this week!! :)

Ok pictures, I love you all so much!! Have a great week ok!!
LOVE YOU!!!

This is Tigra. . .I dunno if I´ve talked about her but she´s great :) She´s just a Street dog but she makes my day and is a great source of conversation when we´re knocking doors haha 

in the kitchen  :)

a while back with Hermana Vincent and new member!

LOVE

Haha ok so I read an AMAZING talk this morning by Elder Uchtdorf in the Nov 2009 Ensign called The Love of God (I think that´s what it was called) and you should all read it :) Sooo so good and it helped me realize that I think I´m doing the best I can right now. (watch below)

or click here to READ the talk!

It´s been a good but crazy week! I´m kinda getting sick again cuz this darn weather is nutzo. . .so if you could pray for my body that'd be GREAT!

F is doing great. She had some pretty big doubts about the church, mostly sparked for a TV show she saw, but we happened to be blessed to pass by with a member exactly when she needed to hear the testimony the member had about 7 years of doubting she did and all the blessings she thinks she lost in those years, and now she seems very full of faith that this is the path God wants her to be on :) We had 4 investigators at church yesterday and that´s the most I´ve EVER had on my mission! It was a miracle and I´m so grateful that I´ve been able to feel like I´m doing all I can to be the tool in Gods hands that he needs me to be.

Yesterday we had a lesson with A and she´s one of my investigators that had a hard time, especially with church, because she has a fear of large groups of people. . .I´m not totally sure how it came up but she started talking about how she trusts us and she said "·especialmente vos. Tienes una alma transparecida y puedo ver tu espiritu." (especially you. You have a transparent soul and I can see your spirit).  She´s SUPER spiritual but it made me cry because I really do just care so much for each of these amazingly special people here. I might not be able to speak perfect and I have to repent everyday of the things I lack, but I have been feeling more and more like I am doing the work Heavenly Father needs me to do here and now. I think that's when we find the fullest joy here in this life, when we can have confidence that we are giving our all to do His work and love His children (that talk I read this morning talks about that) but it´s been a huge blessing to me to really feel that <3

I love my Heavenly Father and I love Jesus Christ and I love that I have the opportunity to help the children of Heavenly Father here and now feel of the love that He has for them :) I love you ALL so darn much!!! Have an awesome week! My sweetheart Aaron has a big surgery to go through so please keep him in your prayers, especially on Thursday!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

xoxoxoxo Larissa

Haha algo chistoso. . .this week my poor comp had been told by several people that she has "la cara de una niña" (the face of a girl) and it´s been making her mad. But, yesterday someone (sorta jokingly I think but idk for sure haha) asked me how old I was turning and said "40 what?" haha soooo I´m hoping all the stress and challenged of the mission haven´t aged me THAT much haha I´ll try my best to getcha a picture ASAP :)

LOVE YOU!!

Happy Little Working Song

Haha anybody anybody??? Haha yeah, it´s a song on Enchanted that Amy Adams sings and it just so happens I´m serving right now with Amy Adams :) Hahaha it´s sooo funny to me because since the first day I met Hna Boyce she reminded me of some Disney character and I couldn´t figure out who and I said Amy Adams from Enchanted one time and she was like really? and I was like oh maybe not. . .but THEN she started singing that song and she sounds JUST LIKE HER!!! Haha and she´s just super gorgeous and cute and yeah haha it´s the best :)

She also knows what she wants too, so she is being a tough one and working even though her allergies aren´t totally gone. . .so we went out and worked hard this week!

My Florencia, who I´ve been teaching for awhile, is SUPER looking forward to her baptism and FINALLY came to church yesterday! I think she really enjoyed it :) She loved that there was nursery for her kids to be in while she was in class, even though they only stayed there for one of the hours (which really worked out perfect) and I taught the gospel principles class on the Priesthood and she had been wondering about getting a blessing for all of the hard things she´s got going on and just bad feelings about her past, and we set up a time this week for her to receive one, so I´m super looking forward to that :) All of our members in our little branch went to the Temple this week. It´s crazy to be in an area where they literally save all they can every month so that they can go to the temple 4 times a year. . .if they are lucky. Our missionary leader got sealed to his wife and he is just the sweetest about it all.

One of the members cars broke down on the way back too and that´s what they use in order to work (they take drinkable water around, like the dispenser kind since the water is bad here) and they really need there car for that :/ but they just have this amazing "God gives us trials to make us stronger" attitude and it´s so amazing. I love the Book of Mormon for that reason. It teaches us and helps us see that the only way we can find happiness in life is if we are learning and we can only learn if we are having challenges and testing our faith so that is can grow bigger and stronger. it´s truly amazing. I also have seen that REMEMBERING is so huge. We have commandments in order to keep us humble, so that we know that we can´t find peace and happiness without Heavenly Father. It´s all about doing things in his time and in His way :) That´s the theme of the mish for me, and I don´t know if I would have learned that any other way.

I´m so ridiculously blessed. Thank you ALL for all your support and the prayers and letters! Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for the e-mails! Sorry I didn´t get to reply back this week, hopefully I´ll find time one day! Thank you to everyone whose sent letters too! Those are a rare thing and they mean the world to me when I get them :)

Have a great week ok??

I love you all so much <3 xoxoxo

Larissa

Help from on High!! :)

Wow! This amazing ride just continues to get crazier and more amazing the more I´m here :)

We actually didn´t get out a whole ton this week because my poor companion has major allergies to the air here and her head feels like it´s going to explode, I think she´s doing a little better now, but the poor girl is just having a rough time. Please send some prayers Hna. Boyce´s way if you could. It´s hard enough being a new missionary, but add a foreign country, language, and being super sick on top of that, she´s having a hard time loving it here.

just a joke!  :)

I feel so blessed that I had my time in Florida to adjust to mission life before I was just thrown out into Argentina, just proves she´s a strong one! Despite all that´s happening I know she´s trying her best to look at the bright side. It´s also been hard for her that she can´t contribute a lot to the lessons, but this has really been where the miracles of the week were for me! I´ve seen help from my Heavenly father in EVERY part of the work when we were able to go out, especially in my ability to teach what people need and that has been amazing. I know I have a Heavenly Father that loves me and is looking out for me and especially all the people I care about!

click here to catch upon the latest back in the good ole FOM

I´m praying for all of you! Sorry this one is kinda short this week, I´ll get you all a longer one next week! (haha after all this time - only having an hour still kills me :/) Haha oh and maybe I´ll start up the things that are different about Argentina list again because having a comp brand new from the States has made me realize some things I forgot, I´m just like used to life here I guess! haha

I love you all so very much. Have an AWESOME week!!

Love, Larissa :) <3