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