Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Week #17 - Cockroaches, Rats and Lots of Laughs.......

Note from Heather:
**There was another holiday yesterday in Argentina, so Hannah's Pday got moved until today......luckily I looked it up BEFORE I overreacted.........so I wasn't worried this time. Shwew!
this is our chapel
number of cockroaches seen this week: 12
number of rats seen this week: 3
number of laughs shared: TOO MANY TO COUNT :) 

Honestly, I am creeped out everyday by all of the weird creatures of Argentina... BUT... I love my mission more and more every single day. I love my mission and the people here. I love my companion. 

We did 2 service projects this week. One with the familia Martinez and we painted a gazebo and then we cleaned out Ramona and Mario´s front room. Yep... that is where I saw the rats and cockroaches... this mission is really helping me face my fears... haha

This week we did not have our baptism with Johanna. That will be this upcoming Saturday with the parents of hermano Pereyra! We are SO looking forward to this weekend. I cannot wait to share this experience with these people. I just love these people. 

This week has been REALLY good and we got 4 references that were awesome. We taught this one lady named Fabiana. She is a doll. She is fun to teach because she was interested in us and our message. She has had a tough life. She has 7 children-- all of which are darling-- and within the last two years her husband and dad have died from cancer. She has the most faith in the world though. She KNOWS that there is a plan for her family. It was fun to teach her about the great plan of our Heavenly Father because I too have so much faith in that plan. 

I really love teaching people about Christ because every time I teach my testimony grows so much more! 

this is hermano jose and this is how he grills things
Thank you for the love and support. I miss you all dearly and cannot wait to hear from you all next week! :) 

Hermana Hannah

Another note from Heather:
Hannah let us know today that exactly ONE MONTH from today.......we get to SKYPE with her on Christmas!!  SO SO SO excited to see and talk to my Hanzee!!  Best Christmas Gift EVER!!!

Monday, November 17, 2014

Week #16 - Hola from AWESOME Argentina!


This week has been way cool! It has been a normal week, but we have made some great progress with investigators so I am one happy hermana! I have some exciting news as well...... we have a baptism this weekend!!! The baptism is for a girl named Johanna! Johanna is 18 years old and she is dating one of the sons in the familia Rios! She has been taking the lessons for over 3 months so we are all excited about her baptism! She always tells us how happy she is. I can really see the change in her as well. That is probably one of my favorite parts of being a missionary! Seeing people change for the better! It is so fun! Anyways, I am just really excited for this next weekend!
Okay... time for a gringa moment. Every night we get into our apartment at 9:30pm to plan for the next day. On Thursday night I look over and saw a HUGE RAT! It totally freaked me out! Hermana Moreno just laughed because it is totally gringa to be afraid of rats! Anyways... it was a cool moment... kind of... do you think they would approve a cat as a pet?... haha
We had zone conference this week as well which was so fun! President La Pierre said something that really stuck out to me. He said, "our testimonies yesterday, are not sufficient for today." I totally believe that. We need to constantly be learning and improving. I challenge all of you to strengthen your testimonies daily because I know that we will become happier if we do so! 
missionaries of barrio jardín :) hermana moreno, elder duke, elder muñoz.
 i love these people! they are awesome! 

this was taken at zone conference!

craft time at zone conference! 

elder prince and elder duke are 6´8. they are pretty much the coolest too! 
in one more week i will officailly be the tallest sister missionary
 in the Argentina Posadas mission! haha

This past week was AWESOME and I am really looking forward to this next week. Thank you for all of the love and support. I love you all! 

Hermana Murphy

Note from Heather:

Hannah sent her emails much earlier today so I sent her an email and asked if she and Hermana Moreno were doing anything special today.  This was her reply:

"YES! we are taking naps.... hahahaha. We wanted to write early this week. I LOVE MY COMP SO MUCH. She is a doll."

For those of you who REALLY know Hannah........you know that girl loves a good nap.  I am cracking up that she would wake up early to get everything done........so she can take a nap today. Another thing I asked is if the Argentine people took siesta's.  She said YES........EVERY.SINGLE.DAY........so they can't visit during that time.  Isn't that funny?  Too bad they don't let the missionaries observe that local custom.  haha.  If they did.......Hannah would be all over that one. 

Thanks for all of your love and support for our Hannah!!  

Monday, November 10, 2014

Week #15 - LAS FAMILIAS SON ETERNAS!



Can you spot Hannah?  It's kind of an Argentine "Where's Waldo"

Hi my sweet friends and family!
 
This week was by far one of my FAVORITE weeks. On Tuesday night we got a call from the office that I had to do some visa work in Resistencia and I was so excited because that meant that I GOT A CLEAN SHOWER AND A CLEAN BED FOR THE NIGHT. Yes, we got to stay in the mission home for one night and YES,  I HAD THE NICEST SHOWER IN THE WHOLE WORLD. It needs all caps because it was that nice. AND! I GOT TO SHOWER BAREFOOT! (it’s the little things...)
ANYWAYS.... i also got to see Hermana Wilson, and it was so much fun. We spent the day traveling and laughing (in English) IT WAS THE BEST :)
Okay one of my all time favorite moments this week was meeting my favorite investigator, Norma. She is so spiritual and I love it! Her father died 5 months ago and she has been looking for something more in her life. She said that we were a gift from God. It was the best and I was so grateful to have her and be able to teach her.
The primary program was on Sunday and it was so darn cute.  It will never be the same because it was missing my favorite people of all time (my triplets...) But, it was still way cute. The theme was families can be together forever. I have been thinking a lot about my family and how much I love and miss them! I am so glad that I get to be with my family forever and bring people to that here :) I love that about the mission!
Today we had a fun activity with 3 zones of the mission! we played games and had lunch. It was the best. I love these people and the missionaries here. 

Three Zones gathering together for some P-day activities!  Good times in Posadas!


(sorry this letter is lame, other missionaries need the computer!)
I love you all and am so grateful for the emails and support! I love you all so so so so much! :)
Hermana Murphy

More photos from Hannah this week:

Zona Posadas!  my zone! i love them!
i saw my baby brother of the mtc at our activity today and it was one happy moment. he is so awesome!
the hermanas of zona posadas
hna moreno y yo!  :) me and my trainer!
do the bidets come standard?  haha we have a bidet. it is awesome
me with astrella pereyra :) i love this little one!



Monday, November 3, 2014

WEEK #14 - ¡YO NO DOY DOS HIGOS! (I don't give two figs)........

missy, will you insta this? thanks! :) 

Hola!! I hope all of you are well and happy. This week has been a really good and happy week. I hope you all had the BEST Halloween in the world :) It is weird to think that last year I was Gilly (hahahaha)

Oh Gilly!!  
Anyways, I had such a fun time with Hermana Moreno, so it is okay. Argentina is not the biggest fan of the USA so they celebrate Halloween on November 1st to be different. 

This week was so fun! We had a fun meeting with the zone. I taught a 10 minute lesson in Spanish! Holla!!! I was so nervous when I was preparing the talk but when I went up to speak and share I was not nervous at all! Woo!!! Also, cool thing. Our zone found BURRITOS! So, we had burritos in our meeting. It rocked. 

This week we started contacting in a different area called Bº Latino America. We contacted 10 new people and have a lot of families interested in our message! It is so exciting. Hermana Moreno is such a great example to me of a missionary. I am so happy I get to finish my training with her. We have SO much fun together. 

This week we were able to teach Ramona and Mario a bunch of times. (In case you haven´t read my other posts.... they are the parents of my familia here in AR! So basically they are my grandparents. they always give us food and clothes. I love them.) 

my investigators/grandparents that i love so dearly!

We changed the date of their baptism to the 29th of November! They are looking forward to it and have attended church 3 times now! Hermana Moreno and I feel like proud parents :) It is so much fun to teach them. 


rain storm!!!

So yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and since my ward is HUGE we don't have to bear our testimonies in the big meeting which is kind of a relief. I kept having this feeling that I need to share my testimony and I did not have the chance. BUT.... Heavenly Father works miracles and one miracle that happened was we had a testimony meeting in relief society. I got up and bore my testimony that I know that Christ is our Savior and He is always with us through every problem! 

I teach this principle everyday and I truly believe in Christ and His power. I know His grace is sufficient for us and I know that through Him we can feel peace and joy. 

Throughout this week I challenge you all to make Christ the centerpiece of your life because I know you all will be so much happier! I love and miss you all. Thank you for the support and prayers-- they are felt and appreciated greatly. 

Chao chao! :)

Hermana Murphy