DO I LOOK LIKE CELINE DION?

So on Tuesday we had multizona.. where president came and we all met together. It was really good! I actually understood the majority of what happened. I had to give the opening prayer, and I thought it went pretty well.   

We had sandwiches.. and then my stomach got wrecked. And actually I keep getting sick like ever since my birthday.. Basically every single day, and its awful. So I talked to Hermana Franco and she told me these certain pills to buy,.. so that was what my pharmacy charge was. We have been trying to figure out what could be making me sick.. and we thought it could be dairy, because I got sick after eating ice cream on my bday, and then every time I eat cheese. But we aren't sure because I don't get sick after eating yogurt. I'm just hoping that my stomach starts calming down. And the past couple days have been okay after I started taking the medication.  We taped up the 13 articles of faith in Spanish on the wall in the bathroom.. and judging by how much time i spend there, ill have them memorized in no time haha.  

COUNTRY  BAPTISM SET  We set a baptismal date for country for the 22nd of July and so we´re meeting with him to get him prepared for that day. He just talks a looooottt... so its hard to get through lessons. He calls me Celine (Dion).... its hilarious. But he keeps saying he wants to take a pic with us so he can tell people he knows Celine Dion.

ARIEL  We also have an investigator named Ariel. We taught him the plan of salvation, and it went well. We tried to catch him again the past few days but he wasnt home...  

LORENA   This week we taught a girl named Lorena. She's a menos activo... she is sooo hilarious. and shes like under 5 feet tall.  But anyway, as we were leaving, she made me take some of her clothes because it was cold outside. So she kept throwing all these clothes at me.. and she forced me to wear all of them. I was trying sooo hard not to laugh. I had 3 sweaters, a scarf, and leggings. 

DANIEL    Nadia who was baptized, has this friend Daniel who is always at her house.. but he never really pays attention to the lessons. He always buys us food though. We have wanted to teach him for so long, he even came to Nadias baptism.  But the other day we visited Nadia he agreed to take the lessons! So we´re gonna teach him tonight. I really hope he can feel the spirit and gain a testimony.  

This week for comp study, we had to watch some of the district videos. During the sacrament this week I had prayed to notice the things I needed to work on and improve, and then that afternoon we watched this video... and many things came to my mind that I could work on.  After watching it, we had a good conversation and discussed the things we´re going to do differently. 

We´ve been getting free food from everyone. Always cookies and facturas, etc. And all the member lunches are pasta.I try to do some exercises at night.. although we only have a small kitchen area. We do some insanity moves but would like to do more. Send some ideas will  ya? We dont really have many options to start eating healthy. We don't have a microwave so we eat lots of eggs, crackers and jam, and yogurt. There's really not much else i can buy that's healthy. The produce is nooot good or safe here. 

Apparently its a rule that we´re supposed to be wearing pants here so I've had to buy a couple of pair here.  They are huge, and I feel awful in them, so I hate wearing them. Just a warning for those coming to Argentina.  Bring pants you like! 

We´re trying so hard to find new investigators, but its rough. We visit a lot of less actives. I know that reactivation is just as important as finding and baptizing, but it's hard not to feel unproductive.   

I love all the words of encouragement and advice you send... they give me so much strength!!! 

                    Love Hermana Hall

Nadia's Baptism, Plant Tea, and Lice

Happy Father's Day...

Me, Hermana Allred with Nadia

Naadia got baptized! 
ahhhhh.. we are so close, I just feel like shes my best friend, even though I cant understand her most of the time, She was just glowing after her baptism, she was so happy. At church the next day she answered so many questions in class and participated so much. We want to teach Nadia's family and one of her friends Daniel that's always at her house (also Daniel always buys us pastries, every time without fail). So this week we´re going to try to see if we can teach them together. 

Baptism after feast 

Our first baptism in Formosa - Nadia 

COUNTRY...
the man we are teaching attended her baptism! That was amazing, but didn't show up to church yesterday. So we studied for him during personal study, and I found a scripture that fit his situation so perfectly. Because  he loves the feeling he gets at church and when we talk to him.. but he says he isn't sure that he knows the church is true. He is waiting for a bigger answer from God. So I shared Alma 32:16-18.. and said that he needs to exercise his faith.. because if he had a perfect knowledge, he wouldn't need faith. He seemed a little less argumentative after that, and it must have touched him because he accepted a date to prepare for baptism! So hopefully we can keep him motivated and on track. 

Also Hermana Allred had a cold.. and so of course he thinks he can heal it with these magic leaves. So he picks some plants from his front yard, and tells us to boil them and drink the tea haha. So we walked around Argentina with these huge branches sticking out of her backpack. It was hilarious. 

I spoke in church in Sunday and i was terrified. But all the members told me they could totally understand me and that my Spanish was good. So that was a relief.. but now I just need to work on understanding them better. 

We visited someone named Ariel this week. He has so many challenges in his life right now.. and I know the Gospel can lift him and bring him peace. He texted us when we left and said our visit meant so much, and he felt good. but then we couldn't reach him the rest of the week because he left town. So we´re gonna try him tomorrow. 

My companion got lice...and I pick them out of her hair at night- true friendship.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get them. We also fell into a sewage ditch...UGH!  My shoes are trashed. 

Anyway, all is well down here in Argentina! Love you all and hope you all enjoy your week! Eat some peanut butter for me( its a very rare find down here)

-Hermana Hall 

A man named Country, my Birthday

Hola, hola, hola amigos! 

This week was interesting. We had a couple ups and downs the beginning of the week, including my first mission breakdown, woo! But really, the Lord came through the past few days and its been full of tender mercies. 

Poor Neighborhoods.  No clothes dryers 

NADIA'S BAPTISM

Nadia is amazing! Her baptism is this Saturday, and we are so excited. She accepts every single commitment so willingly, and comes to church every single week. I lucked out with her. Shes a golden investigator if I ever did see one. 

The sun came out the past few days! Its been amazing weather. Since I've been here its constantly been raining and cloudy. But the sky has been clear and blue, which has really boosted our spirits this week. 

I'm so grateful for this opportunity to completely depend on the Lord. We pray so so many times everyday, and I love it! 

Prayer is my first solution for any issue or problem now 

Our bedroom wall...

A MAN NAMED COUNTRY....

We´ve been visiting this guy named Country (because he loves Johnny Cash lol)... and he never usually comes to church.... but he actually came this Sunday! it was seriously a miracle. We taught the gospel principles class. I couldn't participate a lot, but I made sure to say a few things. Then after church he told us that when i spoke he felt such a strong feeling that he couldn't describe. He said that in sacrament and whenever the missionaries come, he feels good. But for some reason when I spoke in that class, he just felt it go straight to his heart (the Holy Ghost.) This made me so happy. I worry so much about my Spanish, that I don't realize how the Spirit is actually doing the teaching.  God is helping me! It doesn't matter what I say as long as the spirit is accompanying me. So that brought me so much comfort. We visited him again yesterday and he is just so stubborn. He is hesitant to be baptized, but is conflicted because he says that whenever we speak, he just knows that what we are saying is true because he feels that peace from the Holy Ghost. So we will continue to teach and pray for him.  

Members at Church in Formosa 

My Spanish is coming along. My companion says she is jealous of how fast I'm learning it, because she said she hardly spoke during her first month. But its hard for me to believe her because I'm impatient and compare myself to people who have been here for a while. 

And today's been good because its my birthday! 

On June 13th I turned 20 in Formosa,

Argentina.  The Zone leaders

bought a cake and Hermana Allred and I

got ice-cream...my favorite!  

Side note....I totally thought I was a dog person until I came to Argentina. Yikes, they´re all nasty and diseased here....watch out! 

Have a great week! 

Hermana Hall 

P.S. eat some peanut butter for me.  XO

Nadia, Ocean Stew, Avril Lavigne

Week 2, down in Argentina.  T´was a pretty good week! Went by pretty fast.  

So Nika, my older sister,  returned home this week from her mission in Fort Worth Texas - Spanish speaking.  I tried really hard not to think too hard about it, but really I'm just happy that my family is together again having fun! 

Something i figured out about myself on the mission is that i love to be corrected. I just want to learn as fast as possible... so i always tell my trainer to correct me whenever i say anything wrong.. and she was nervous at first, because she said when she got out on her mission, she hated being corrected and would get super annoyed. But I am ready to learn...so that's good. 

I LOVE READING MY BOOK OF MORMON. I really do. Its my favorite part of the day.. and I use any spare time to read it. For some reason, I can understand my scriptures so much better on the mission.  Alma is just the bomb. I read the war chapters recently, and got a lot out of it. I want to go into detail but have like zero time..  I 've already learned so much in the 2 weeks in Argentina, especially that I could have made much better use of my time at home. Oh well, you live and you learn. 

I´m super diligent with my studies, I'm not gonna lie. I don't waste any of my spare time. Spanish is killing me though.  I still just feel so inadequate, and keep wondering when its gonna get better. People keep telling me I'm doing good for only having 2 weeks. and they always say the same thing... "be patient, it will come..".. and I"m  like do you know me at all, I am not patient with this stuff. I like to get As. All the time. I like to be good at stuff haha. But I've really been trying to work on hope and faith.. and just trust that i will someday be really good at speaking it. Its my biggest stress. 

Anyway, Nadia (our investigator with a baptismal date) is AMAZING. She loves the church, and every single lesson we teach her. She is so gonna go through with her baptism. I love her. This week we did tons of contacting... which I'm awful at. And people usually swerve us.. But we met a guy the other day named Ariel. He said his wife took his daughter and left like 5 months ago, and he has no idea why, and so his life is super hard, and he had a period of time where he didn't want to live. He feels like god isn't listening to his prayers. He said he doesn't usually open up to people but for some reason he told us everything. So he said we could come back, and we´re hoping to he will find happiness in the Gospel right now. 

OCEAN STEW
So here's my funny moment of the week.... which was actually awful haha. 

We had lunch at a members house... and they gave us this squash stew stuff.... and i went to put some salt in it.. and the lid wasn't fully on... so ALL THE CONTENTS OF THE SALT SHAKER fell into my soup. I felt so bad to waste the food, so they took it away... and i thought that they dumped it and gave me a new soup.. but turns out they just spooned out the salt.. and gave it back. So we prayed and i started eating, and it was soooo salty. I didn't want to say anything though because I felt so bad. So i thought i can just make it through. Ill just dip a lot of bread in it to dilute it.. But it was like drinking the ocean honestly. So they started commenting on how i hadn't eaten hardly any of it... and "ohhh she likes bread a lot"... so then eventually i told them it was super salty because I couldn't finish it. And they were all laughing soooo hard at me. Apparently they kept making jokes about it but i obviously didn't understand because it was in Spanish. Now every time I see them they say they´re gonna bring me a pack of salt. It was awful.. I felt sick for the rest of the day.

RANDOM THINGS 

-This lady in the streets thought i looked exactly like Avril Lavine...?   So she wouldn't drop it.

-Also our toilet stopped working one day and we had to   plunge it with a hanger, because that's all we had.  

-There are dogs EVERYWHERE. So many dogs.

Anyway, I'm doing well! There is so so much to be learned out here... its such a great experience. I´m trying super hard to keep faith and hope throughout my days and weeks! Love you all!

P.S..... go to the temple for me. Take advantage of that opportunity. I miss the temple so much. Also eat some peanut butter. That doesn´t exist down here.