Week #72 - Bye! Bye! Ituzaingo!!

Saying byeto sister Zambrana! :) 

(From Heather:  The first email I received this morning said,

 "MOM -- BIG NEWS- NEW AREA AND MY COMP IS ONE OF MY DEAREST FRIENDS IN THE MISSION!"

 Hannah then said her new companion is one of her best friends in her mission.  It is also her FIRST American companion besides Hermana Wilson in the MTC.)

I had to say goodbye to my sweet Ituzaingo! To be honest, I was a little sad when I received the call that I was getting moved for my LAST TRANSFER. But it’s okay.

As I left the church building, I was so sad because I wanted to keep working with them on reaching their potential! I really saw so many wonderful changes in the last couple of weeks. I love with ALL of my heart Ituzaingo! 

This week I will be headed to an area that is called Corpus Cristi.  I will be serving my last transfer with Sister Ehlert. We are so excited! 

XOXO

Hannah

Week #71 - 21

Well. I feel officially OLD and legal! I cannot believe that I am 21 years old! I still remember my 20th birthday PERFECTLY in the mission. Today was a really great day though... well actually let me start with yesterday! 

We traveled Sunday night to the mission home so that we could go to Iguazú on Monday! (Everyone in my mission that goes home has the chance to go to Iguazú their last little bit of the mission.) ONE WORD: beautiful. Ah. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever done! (Someone let me use their camera but I need to send the pics over. I will figure it out...) but it was so awesome. We had to leave at 2 in the morning on Monday to get there by 8-- it was a long night in the bus but we got there and it was so great!

We finished around 1pm and we started heading back. We tried to get back in time to go to pre-leadership counsel. We went back to the mission home and changed our clothes and ran to the church to finish our leadership counsel. We were talking about lots of things. We came in right at the end so we missed a lot of what they said, but it was okay! After president said that I looked so tired it looked like a truck hit me. Ouch. That hurt more than an actual truck hitting me! haha no it was funny. We were all really tired! haha

That night we had a family home evening with the LaPierre's and then ate dinner and got ready for bed. 

The next day (today) was so fun! EVERYONE greeted me for my birthday and one elder even sang to me in Guaraní! It was so great. I couldn’t even wish for a better birthday present. I just love my mission so darn much. Thank you for all the love and support. I really cherish all the kind words and love that you all sent me! :) 

Week #70 - Two Pictures.........

Hannah had internet issues this week, so no letter :( BUT........two pictures made it through!  Woot!)

And we can now officially say, "Hannah is coming home next month!!"  Can you even believe it??

Week #69 - "Miracles Happen Once in Awhile if You Believe......."

Yeah, I quoted Princess Diaries. It’s okay. I am just REALLY HAPPY! 

Let’s go back a little to when I completed 1 year in the mission. My mom asked me a bunch of questions about the people I missed, the food I like, and how my Spanish is. One of the things that she asked me was about the investigators that I missed the most. I talked about the cute two kids that I taught in Puerto Rico, Octavio & Ruth.

Okay. This is where it gets exciting. On Thursday we had a zone conference. One of the things that happen during zone conference is that we get letters from former companions or from our families. I got one letter that I wasn’t expecting. As I opened it, tears streamed down from my face because in big bold letters it read: YOU ARE INVITED TO THE BAPTISM OF OCTAVIO & RUTH. I wasn’t expecting it. But it sure made me happy. They got baptized. 

I was saddened when I wasn’t able to stay to see their baptism about 10 months ago. Now I feel differently. I am so happy with their decision to be baptized. I have never felt so peaceful. I sure miss those kids so much! It really was an honor to meet those kids and to work with them! When I was there, the branch president didn’t give them permission to get baptized. It made me sad because I could see their potential. With time, the missionaries have worked SO hard to have this day happen. These baptisms were miracles. We believe in miracles here in the Posadas Argentina Mission:) 

Week #68 - Ituzaingo

Okay. Here we go. I am going to tell you a LOT about my new area today. First off, t is SO beautiful. Every night we pass by the MOST beautiful sunsets. 

There are fireflies. dragonflies. horses. frogs. ah, I just love all of the creations of Heavenly Father. He makes so many beautiful things!

There are great members here. (It is such a cute little branch but I love it! I may or may not have done two musical numbers yesterday in church....don’t get too excited Skyline... it’s not happening... haha!) We have been working a lot with the members this past week. It has been so fun getting to know all of the members. We have the BEST branch president. His name is Presidente Godoy. He is awesome. He works so hard with us. This week as a branch we are starting English class, and we are doing the activity Minute to Win It! I am SO excited! 

We have been working really hard with finding new investigators. It is a lot harder here in Argentina to contact new people so we have had a hard week with new people. In Paraguay you can go to any house and teach anyone. Here, not so much! It has been a hard adjustment but it has been a good one! I love working with the members! 

XOXO

Hermana Hannah

We went to a place in Paraguay that is called Saltos de MONDAY! It was SO beautiful! These are from my fav sista Hermana Dempsey!

Week #67 - Short and Sweet

Hannah made it to her new area in ITUZAINGO, ARGENTINA.........she sent a few pictures, but didn't have much time to write today.  In fact, here is her official message:

"I love you too soooo much! I can't write much today! Just say that my town is cute and it reminds me of a latino version of Manzanita beach!:) It's so cute. haha."

So there you have it!!  Short and Sweet!!

Here are some pictures that Hannah sent today.  ENJOY!!

the parana river!

MY NEW COMP. hna goñi

long story short.... the elders left this area and their landlord was angry so we had to clean their mold filled room.... (we were singing i hope they call me on a mission the whole time:))

we LOVE cleaning the elders apartments!!!!! (Can you hear the sarcasm in her typing??)

Week #66 - Peace Out CDE

All of the pictures today are from a road trip that Hannah took to Brazil!  Enjoy!

Wow! I cannot believe that my time has ended in CDE! It has really been a home for me. These members have treated me like their daughter; I have just LOVED my time here. I will totally miss Paraguay, but I am excited to go to my new area in Argentina. My new area is called Ituzaingó. (& it has a beach. yeah I am excited)

I found out this morning about the changes and I was really excited about changing my area, but also really sad about having to say goodbye to my sweet Silverio. We went over to his house to tell him and I totally started crying. This is the one thing that I do not like about being a missionary! I just love these people with all of my heart!

It will be an exciting week for sure!!