Merry Christmas everyone! :)  

The biggest Christmas miracle happened this week! Our investigator, Silvia, and her 12 year-old son, Gonzalo, accepted baptismal dates for the 26th of December!! It was the happiest day of my life :) She was so excited, but still not as excited as I 

was! I love this family with all my heart. I have been able to see them through the Savior´s eyes and it is maravillosa! :) I know that Heavenly Father loves all of His children, every single one.

Well, besides Christmas Choir practice and Leadership Council this week, we also went to help out with a Capilla Abierta in Plátanos (about 15 minutes from where I´m at in Berazategui). It was a blast! We got to visit some of the less active members during the morning to invite them to the activity and then we got to give little tours of the church to those who came :) We also got to see a little Nativity scene acted out by the Plátanos ward. It was precious :) 

On Sunday, the Primary children sang "Jesús en Pesebre" or "Away in a Manger". Everyone was touched by the spirit that was there. I absolutley love Christmas time. There is something in the air that everyone can feel: the Spirit of Christ! Hopefully we can all remember Him this Christmas and the perfect, loving example He is in our lives.

Pres. Benson said "If thoughts make us what we are, and we are to be like Christ, then we must think Christlike thoughts." Let us think of Christ this week and every day, because He is our Savior. He lives and He loves us! :) 

Love you all!

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- The Capilla Abierta in Plátanos, along with the Nativity Scene!

2- Ice cream sundaes and Capture the Flag with water balloons for our Zone Activity today :) It was a BLAST!

3- 14 KILOS of ice cream! 

4- Hermana Glazier, my hijita Hermana González, and I at leadership council :) I just love them!!

5- Selfie with my favorite Hermana Magdaleno and Juanita! :)

Tis the Season :) December 14, 2015

What a crazy past couple of weeks! (I ran out of time last week and didn´t get to write to everyone, so sorry about that) I am loving the Christmas season! Miracles are everywhere :)  

One of our investigators, Silvia, continues to surprise me! Last week, she bought a bible and she also read to 1 Nephi 3 in the Book of Mormon! She cleaned her house up and told us that she did it so that the spirit can be there! This week she made it to 1 Nephi 10 and caught me off guard when I started talking about why we want to share the gospel with everyone and she said "It´s like Lehi when he ate the fruit and wanted to share it with his family because it tasted so good." Talk about MIND BLOWN! I couldn´t stop smiling that day :) She has been to church the past couple of Sundays, and her sons Gonzalo, Máximo, and Ivan have been coming with her as well. They even went to the Ward Christmas Party last Monday! They´re such a special family, they have definitely been prepared by the Lord! :) We´re praying hard for them each and every day so that they can feel the same and accept a baptismal date! 

I had an intercambio with Hermana Sánchez (from Utah) last week and then an intercambio with Hermana Fagua (from Columbia) this week, both of which were amazing! I always learn so much from the other missionaries here! We also had a sleepover with Hermana Sánchez and Hermana Callis this week! They had to stay in our pension because they had to be in Quilmes super early in the morning and we live close to there. It was an adventure, especially when the power went out and we couldn´t sleep because it was sooo hot in our apartment! But we made it through alive, a little tired but alive ;) 

We went to the temple with a few recent converts last Saturday (Dec. 5), it was absolutely amazing! Aldana, a young lady who got baptized a few months ago, entered the temple to do baptisms for the dead and we got to go in with her and support her! It was such a special experience, I will never forget it. I couldn´t be more grateful to be a missionary and help people find the truth and receive the many blessings that our Heavenly Father has prepared for them! :) 

We had a Tormenta Blanca on Saturday in Plátanos, which is about 15-20 minutes from our area. It was SUPER hot outside, but it was still a success! We spent the morning visiting less actives and inviting everyone to watch the new Christmas video for this year, "A Savior is Born." If you haven´t already seen it, I hope that you can take 2 minutes of your time to watch it because it is amazing! And then share it with everyone you know ;)

Take care!!

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- Hermana Magdaleno and I at the temple :)

2- Our cute recent convert, Aldana, entering the temple! 

Happy Post-Thanksgiving! :) November 30, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all enjoyed a big slice of turkey! I didn`t feast on turkey this year, but chicken is close enough right? :) The Martinez family made a nice Thanksgiving dinner for us this week (the same family that threw us the Halloween party). It was great!! They even made pumpkin pie! :) The members are such a blessing here, I couldn`t be more grateful for all they do for us! 

This week went by a little slow because I got sick on Wednesday and I still have a nasty cough! But I`m alive :) We went to a wedding that morning, which was quite the experience! We got to watch the ceremony and then throw rice as they walked out :) I couldn`t stop laughing at all the little kids because they were literally PELTING the newly married couple right in the face with the rice because they were so excited! Gotta love em :)

Our investigator, Silivia, continues progressing and surprising me each day! We have been teaching her about the Holy Ghost and how she can have him with her as a constant companion once she is baptized. She connects the dots so well and surprised me when she told me that her body is like a house for the spirit, so if her "house" is dirty, the spirit won`t want to be there! She is seriously golden :) We`re praying hard for her each day so that she can keep following in 

Christ´s footsteps :) 

Today for P-day we had a big water balloon fight! It was perfect weather for it too: HOT! Summer has arrived early this year! :) Then we had a little picnic in the grass afterwards. I think I may have eaten a few little crawly critters... but hey, it`s just protein right? ;) It was a great day!

Take care everyone, love you all :)

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- The newly married couple :) I was in exchanges with Hermana Callis that day

2- Our Thanksgiving dinner with the Martinez family :)

3- District Activity Selfie!

4- Our picnic after the water fight :)

5- Hermana Magdaleno and I preparing for the water balloon war ;)

Happy Thanksgiving! November 23, 2015

Meetings, meetings, meetings! I think I spent more time in meetings this week than I spent actually out working in the field! But it had to happen :) My new companion has arrived and she is definitely NEW! I love the spirit the new missionaries bring with them, the light in their eyes, and the new brightly colored clothes ;) My new "daughter" (as they say in the mission, I`m her "mom") is Hermana Isabel Magdaleno. She`s from Califronia, but her parents are Mexican so she already speaks quite a bit of Spanish :) She`s super sweet! And I don`t feel so short around her ;) (don`t worry, she doesn`t get offended about her height) I just love her already! It`s a little stressful training, because it`s a lot of responsability! But I know that if the Lord called me to be her trainer, He`ll provide a way for me to do it :) 

Sunday was a wonderful day!! (Except for being stuck in the apartment after 5pm because of the elections going on here.) Our investigator, Siliva, went to church again! But this time she brought 3 of her 7 sons! It was amazing to see her there with her sons, I can imagine them as an eternal family a little down the road!

Last week our Mission President challenged us to read the Book Of Mormon, cover-to-cover before the New Year, focusing on the blessings that Heavenly Father has prepared for us. Ever since I started the challenge, I`ve been able to pick out so many new things from chapters I felt like I knew so well! So I want to share one of them that is found in 1 Nephi 5:9-10. In the chapters before that, Nephi and his brothers are commanded to go and obtain the brass plates. They try 3 times, suffering many afflictions and almost being killed in the attempt, but at last they succeed! They take the plates to their father in the wilderness, and what`s the first thing they all do? They GIVE THANKS to the Lord! When I read those verses (1 Nephi 5:9-10) it made me think about the importance of giving thanks. If Nephi and his family gave thanks before reading the book that they were sent so far away to get (something I`m not sure I could have done), almost losing their lives on the way, how important it is for us to give thanks to the Lord for the many blessings He sends us! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and remembers to count their blessings :)  

Love you all!!

Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- Hermana Magdaleno and I :) her 1st day! 

2- Happy Thanksgiving!

3- Happy Birthday to the sweetest Hermanita Alda Paz :) 

4- Family History activity in Berazategui!

5- Selfie ;)

Transfers!

Surprise!!! I`m going to be training again! 

We had transfers today, and it has been a hectic weekend because of it! My companion, Hermana Juarez, was driving herself crazy thinking about if she would be leaving or staying in Berazategui (she spent 6 months of her mission there)! Even worse, President Nuñez didn`t announce who was going where until Sunday after church! SO the whole weekend was spent saying half-hearted goodbye`s to the members, because we didn`t know if she would be leaving or not! Que locura! ;D 

In the end, (after packing two suitcases, two plastic bags, and one backpack) Hermana Juarez got transferred to City Bell in La Plata. I`ll be staying here in Berazategui as Capacitadora and will be training the only Hermana that is coming in to our mission this transfer! Wish me luck :) Right now, I have a temporary companion, Hermana Edquén from Peru! She`s very sweet :) 

Sunday was a wonderful day! It was the Ward Primary Program :) I LOVE primary programs, they always bring the sweetest spirit! Also, our investigator, Walter Jancko, came to church and his parents came with him as well! I know that they felt the spirit! How can you not feel the spirit while little children of God share their testimonies that Jesus Christ lives and loves them! Plus, the singing gets ya every time :) 

It was a good week! Let the adventures of a new transfer begin! :) 

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- Zone picture before transfers :) 

2- Burger King again... twice in one week! (The wall says "The best things in this world are done as a team") Spreading the gospel, two by two! :)

3- The Jancko family at church!

4- Saying goodbye to Hermana Juarez with the Medina family (they live in the apartment below us)

5- My temporary companion, Hermana Edquén :)

Frutos!

Argentina is warming up!! This week has been super hot and humid, I hoped that summer wouldn`t arrive so soon! But it`s here and it`s gonna be brutal! ;) Thankfully, it rained today and the temperature dropped a bit. 

Well, sunday was an absolutely amazing day! We worked super hard again this week to help our investigators get to church, and we finally saw los frutos (the fruits) of our labor! :) Our investigator, Silvia, went to church with her 12 year old son, Gonzalo. She is golden! We taught about keeping the sabbath day holy in sunday school class and Silvia understood perfectly! She asked so many great questions, it blew me away! Heavenly Father is definitely preparing his children, and Silvia is prepared :) 

The husband (Leandro) of one of our investigators (Karina) also went to church on Sunday, which was a miracle, because he has been inactive for over 10 years! They also have a home bakery business which makes it difficult to go to church on Sundays, but they´ve decided to close for at least one hour to go to sacrament meeting next week. Hopefully we can get them to attend church as a family next Sunday! Miracles happen every day! 

We also got to see one of the less active families that we have been working with go to church, the Rivera family! They looked so cute sitting together in sacrament meeting: Mom, dad, and their 2 little ones. I`ve been studying a lot about eternal families to try and find a way to help them realize all the blessings they can receive by living the gospel! I know that families can be together forever. It`s one of the greatest blessings we can receive from our Father in Heaven :) 

For P-day today, we ate lunch at BURGER KING with our recent convert, Aldana! It has been sooo long since I ate a good ole fast food burger with french fries! I got a triple bacon stacker, it was pretty delicious :) But I paid a fortune... so it will probably be a one time thing haha It`s weird that in the USA, fast food is one of the cheapest foods you can buy, but here in Argentina, it`s one of the most expensive! But it was worth it just this once :) Then we got ice cream at Grido afterwards! It was a "stuff-your-face" kind of day ;) 

Take care everyone! Love you!

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- Happy 6 months in the mission Hermana Juarez!! 

2- The three of us at Burger King :) Aldana, Hermana Juarez, and I

3- Yay for Burger King! :)

4- And yay for Grido ice cream! :)

Happy Halloween! :)

Well, it has been quite the rollercoaster of a week! And sadly, I don´t have much time to tell about it! 

One of the hardest days of this week was Sunday. My companion and I had done all we possibly could to help our 4 investigators get to church: we had lessons with them during the week about keeping the Sabbath day holy, we assigned members to stop by their houses and accompany them to church, and we tried calling them Sunday morning to remind them all. WELL, after all that work, none of them ended up going to church. It hit us hard! But we also realized that we can´t force people to do what´s best for them ;) we can only invite them and do our part to help them come unto Christ, and that´s what we did. Sadly, everyone has their agency ;) I´m just kidding, agency is absolutely essential to God´s Plan of Happiness! I know that we´ve done our part as missionaries and that the Savior will do the rest :) we just have to keep moving forward with faith and find those that are truly prepared to hear the gospel! 

Now that the toughest part of the week is over, we can get to the best parts! We got invited to a Family Home Evening/Dinner party and it was all decorated for Halloween, in honor of my "yankie" or "gringo" traditions ;) It was great! Hot dogs with ketchup cut up like bloody fingers, spiders made out of black olives, and tons of sweets! My first and last Halloween in Argentina: I will never forget it :) 

Today for P-day we cooked Lomo Saltado, which is a typical food from Peru, and then played Zombies vs. Humans. It was basically a giant flour war! Good times :)

Love you all! Have a great week, and do something special for someone else! :) Take care! 

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- Halloween food! 

2- Happy Halloween! :)

3- Hermana Juarez and I with the Martinez family at our Halloween dinner!

4- Lomo Saltado with our entire Zone!

5- After the flour war: Zombies vs Humans! 

One year! :)

One year has come and gone! :) Time flies by! 

On Tuesday I had an intercambio with Hermana Sánchez from Draper, Utah. It was great! She`s a crack up :) Then, right after ending our intercambio on Wednesday, my companion surprised me with a trip to the temple! While I was gone in the intercambio, she organized everything so that we could go to the temple with our recent convert, Aldana, to do baptism`s for the dead and to celebrate my 1 year in the mission! It was the sweetest thing ever :) Thursday was my 1 year mark! Hermana Juarez seriously went the extra mile, she even woke up early to cook a "gringo" breakfast for me! I woke up to french toast, pancakes, banana cupcakes, and orange juice! Talk about a feast! :) 

Friday morning I had to do tramites, which is the paperwork so that I can stay in Argentina for 6 more months. So we spent our entire morning in Quilmes. Then we taught Siliva, the mom of 7 kids that we found last week. She told us that she has been looking for one church to join, and that she wants it to be the church that God tells her to join! Golden! She understood the message of the Restoration really well! Then we passed by yesterday to give the family a little birthday cake for her son, Maxi, and she told us that she had been reading the Book of Mormon and that she had marked a few questions that she has! Double golden! Gotta love it! :) 

Saturday we ate asado (BBQ) with the Jancko family to celebrate my 1 year as well! It was sooo delicious, we left their house more than stuffed! They are such an amazing family!! Then, literally 30 seconds after leaving their house, we had a little run in with robbers. They came by on a motorcycle and wanted our cell phone, even though I`m sure they would have tossed it back at us because it`s such a dinosaur! But nothing happened, all is well :) Heavenly Father watches out for his missionaries! 

Today has been a very relaxed P-day, it`s the end of the month so we`re pretty poor ;) We spent the day relaxing in the apartment and eating some delicious ham and cheese sandwiches! It was a good week :) 

OH yeah! We have been asked that the packages sent to us aren`t much bigger than an adult male`s shoebox! So keep that in mind please :) thank you!! 

Love you all! Take care :) besos!!

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- Asado with the Jancko family! Love them :)

2- Hermana Juarez and I at the temple :)

3- One year! 

4- My "Gringo" breakfast ;) thanks to Hermana Juarez!

5- Ice cream and Intercambios with Hermana Sánchez! :) 

Happy Mother`s Day.. Again! :)

What a week! :) 

Well... I got sick with a head cold on Thursday and it lasted until Sunday! That wasn`t the highlight of my week ;) but I`m feeling much better now! On Saturday, we were running around all day like chickens with their heads cut off preparing for Brisa`s baptism! (Being sick didn`t help) Baptism days are always fun but stressful :) luckily, we didn`t have any problems with the baptismal font this time! Last time, the water faucet was broken and we couldn`t get the font filled up until the very last minute! But most important, Brisa got baptized and she looked absolutley adorable in her little white dress :) it was a very sweet day!

Sunday was Mother`s Day here in Argentina, so Saturday night, Hermana Juarez and I got busy working on a little surprise for the moms in our ward! We made little boxes out of posterboard paper, just big enough to hold a little cupcake inside :) it turned out very well, we even had a few teary-eyed moms give us a big hug! So, although it`s not Mother`s Day in the States, I just want to say THANK YOU to all you amazing moms and Daughters of God! Love you all :) 

We had a few cool experiences during street contacting as well! We found an older man, sweeping outside in the front of his house. We offered to help him and got started talking, and just like that, he told us he was very interested in our message and he invited us to go back during the week! That definitely doesn`t happen every day :)

We also found a HUGE family on Mother`s Day: Silvia (a single mom) with her 7 kids and 2 grandkids! They were outside on their front lawn, just soaking in the sun, and I felt like we should talk to them and tell them happy mother`s day! Well, it turns out that they have talked with the Elders before and they invited us to go back and share our message with them as well! They were very friendly :) Yay for families!!

Today for P-day, we went to the River in La Plata! To be honest, it looks more like a beach! It`s huge! We played a little soccer, but mostly just took pictures :) Sadly the sun wasn`t shining, but it was still a good time :)

Take care everyone, love you all! :) And Happy Mother`s Day ;) 

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- Brisa`s Baptism :)

2- Happy Mother`s Day: Argentina style ;)

3- District Selfie at the river!

4- Crazy hair, don`t care ;D

PACKAGES! WOO! :)

I forgot to include one of the big mission changes from this week... I can receive packages now!! Woo-hoo! :) Here´s the address:

Valentín F. Núñez

599 Rivadavia

1878 Quilmes

Buenos Aires, Argentina

You also have to write my name somewhere off to the side so that they know who to give it to. They can´t be super huge packages, but small-medium sized things should get through now :) 

Thank you thank you! Love you all!!

Besos :) 

Hermana Orgill

The Sun´ll Come Out :)

It is a beautiful day here in Berazategui, Argentina :) Which is such a relief, because during the week, the sun hardly showed and the wind was so brisk that it hurt my face! haha

Well, we saw many miracles this week! My companion and I received the fastest answer to fasting and praying that I have ever received during my time here! :) We have been searching high and low for new people to teach, but especially for a new family. Saturday afternoon, as we were walking down the street and contacting a few references we had received, we realized we were close to the house of one of our investigators, Ruth (the woman from England who only speaks English). So we stopped by to set up an appointment and see if she needed anything. Well, when we knocked on the door, her husband, Sebastian, answered. We had never met with him before, but he was very friendly and let us in. We began to teach the both of them about the Book of Mormon, and to our surprise, Sebastian had more questions than Ruth did. He told us that he was very curious and wanted to know more, then he committed himself to read the Book of Mormon (we didn´t even get the chance to invite him!) It was amazing :) The power of fasting and prayer is real!

We also had 3 investigators come to church yesterday, even though we practically pulled one of them out of bed ;) One of them has a baptismal date for this Saturday: little Brisa. She´s 9 years old and a handful ;) but a big sweetheart as well! It´s going to be another great week!

(I also learned how to make Arroz Chaufa this week! Woo! Peruvian food!)

Love you all :) take care!!

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- God´s beautiful creations :) 

2- Happy 5 months to mi compañera!

General Conference Weekend :)

Happy October! :) 

Today we had transfers, but I`m staying here in Berazategui with Hermana Juarez! So nothing has changed :) Except that the other Capacitadora in my Zone finished her mission today and went home... so I have 2 other sisters to work with now! That will be fun :) 

I hope everyone enjoyed General Conference weekend! I don`t even know where to begin, so many wonderful talks! I think that General Conference for missionaries is like Christmas for little kids :) We got to watch both sessions on Saturday and on Sunday, and a little part of the Women´s Conference. I don`t have even a fraction of the time I would need to share all that I learned, but here are a couple of my favorite quotes:

" Your faith will grow not by chance, but by choice." -Neil L. Anderson

and

"There is no darkness so dense, so menacing, or so difficult that it cannot be overcome by light." -Vern P. Stanfill

I know that every single one of our church leaders have been called and prepared by God! The Lord leads and directs His church today :) His gospel is beautiful and simple, and if it doesn`t seem that way in your lives, SIMPLIFY it. :) 

Love you all! Take care :) Besos!

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- General Conference Sunday :) 

2- District meeting and saying goodbye to Hermana Toala!

3- The perfect treat on a rainy day: facturas and malta! 

4- Learning something new every day ;) hahaha!

All is well :)

I`ve never had 5 companions in one week before, so this week was quite the adventure! :) I had intercambios on Tuesday with Hermana Sánchez from Draper, Utah. She`s a crack up! It rained ALL day, but we still had a good time! We got to teach English to one of our recent converts, Diego Colagrande. He grew up in Italy and moved here with his family about 5 months ago, so he`s going to know 3 languages: Spanish, Italian, and English! 

Then on Wednesday, I had another intercambio with Hermana Lazaro from Peru and Hermana Flores from Chile. It was another day of rain, but we had a fun Family Home Evening with a member family and their non-member friend. We had a tower building competition using toothpicks and potato chunks, and then talked about the Wise man and the Foolish man and how we need to build on a good foundation, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It was very creative :) 

Friday night, we took a trip with the Jancko family to Ezpeleta (about 15 minutes away by car) to see the Quilmes Ward Talent Show! Hermana Toala, a sister missionary from Samoa, danced to the Lilo & Stitch Hawaiian song, which was amazing! I felt like I was in Hawaii for a split second ;) a little girl sang "Let it go" from Frozen as well, which was more than adorable! We had a great time :)

Saturday, we helped out with a Capilla Abierta in Wilde. I spent most of my time with Hermana Toala, taking investigators on tours of the church and standing outside, inviting everyone to come take a look! We had the opportunity to meet a young lady in the street and invite her to read the Book of Mormon! She accepted the invitation and walked away browsing through the pages! The Book of Mormon is the key :) I know it with all my heart! 

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, full of sunshine! There were plenty of families to talk to outside, soaking up the sun! And today has just been a relaxed P-day, nothing to eventful :) All in all, it was a wonderful week :) Love you all! Take care and enjoy General Conference this weekend! Soak in the spirit!! :) 

Con amor, Hermana Orgill

Photos:

1- Intercambios with Hermana Sánchez :)

2- Capilla Abierta in Wilde!

3- My little golden friend, Juanita :) 

4- Hermana Juarez and I after church on Sunday :)