Nov. 23, 2015"Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together." D&C 50:22

(" Hastening the work has to do with the excitement we all feel about sharing the gospel message . This is a natural process that comes from love . "  - Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson)

 

Querido Familia y Amigos!                              Nov. 23, 2015

   Been thinking a lot this week about DyC 50:22, about rejoicing in the work, and it`s starting to work! Our Presidente taught us this week in the Concilio de Lìderes that we need to get rid of all of our fancy teaching analogies since they are more crutches and distractions than aids. So we are working on getting rid of them completely, and on teaching only pure doctrine. It is helping to teach much more straight forward and with power. Also we are doing better at teaching a principle first before asking them what they think about something (Like What is a prophet? etc.)    

        Yesterday was super awesome. We had set a goal to have 10 investigators in the Sacrament Meeting, and so we worked really hard to get there and invited everyone and tried to call and visit everyone we could to help them come. We had five investigators at church! And we would have had more if it hadn`t been elections. Three families came: D-(a Less ACtive) with his girlfriend M- and his brother Jo-. We didn`t have any contact with them last week since they canceled our cita, but we called and invited them to church anyway, and they came during the second hour. A-, her daughter Mi- (9), and her son JP- (7). We did divisiones and I went to look for them at 10:00 while Hermana A- taught the Principios class. S- --we have taught her a couple times; the last time was with a member, and she showed a lot more verdadera intenciòn and understanding. She said she would come at 10:30, and was waiting outside the gate when I got there with A- and the kids. They all said they liked the church and felt good. The members accepted them well, and we got them to sit with them too. D- participated really well in the class. We have citas with all of them for this week. 

    A- was a contact that Hermana A- found on divisiones. She has three kids, and is recently separated. We taught her Lesson  1, she liked it, and the kids understood too! They are all pretty reserved except for JP- who is super confident and does and says whatever he thinks. He is super adorable, and probably my favoritest kid here. 

    J- was supposed to come to church yesterday, and we don`t know why he didn`t, since he usually keeps his compromisos. We had a lesson with him on Friday after a week of not seeing him (since he went to Chile on a business trip). He said that he read and studied all of the scriptures that we marked for him to study every day! And that he had continued talking with a member family in the ward that we had our previous lesson with, and had lots of questions about the Palabra de Sabidurìa. So we talked about that a little bit but didn`t have very much time and told him that we were going to talk to him the next time more about that. 

    E- is having a hard time getting her respuesta. But she has been asking about Joseph Smith in her prayers. She says that she doesn`t feel very comfortable in the church=we need to get her more hermanamiento! We went with a member on Saturday, who shared about her conversion, who was also from the same religion before. That was good, since E- feels like she is changing Equipos de Fùtbol by changing her religion, even though she doesn`t go to her church or anything. She also heard something about tithing in the church, and doesn`t know what it means for us, so she has doubts about that too. We are going to teach her about that next time. 

    We have some super capos investigadores: G- y P-. P- is like 24ish, and is the son of G-. He told us that he was atheist when we started teaching him, but poco a poco has started to change! G- is looking for a true faith. It`s harder for her to change since she is older and has been a member of a different church her whole life, and also because she takes medicine to sleep, and so it is hard for her to fit reading into her day. Last time we went with a member and read Alma 32 together, since she hadn`t read. It was perfect, since it talked about how to grow your faith. P- is super inteligente, and he explained it and then G- understood too. Also at the end of the chapter it takes about satisfying your hunger and thirst, and the member testified about how it feels the holes in our life. And Pablo said that that is his need--that he has a gap and can`t fill it with school, buying things, playing fùtbol, etc. We testified that this is what he is looking for, and that only the gospel can fill that hole. That was so cool. We know now when we have the spirit with us, because we really leave rejoicing! 

    O- is the friend of G- --we found them on the same day at G-´s house. This week we went to visit him at his house with a member, and taught him about the Plan of Salvation. He somehow found a Book of Mormon at a bookstore a couple years ago, and has started to read it!  

    Se-, our Converso is doing well. We made a reading calendar with him to do the Area Presidency`s challenge, and he is keeping up with his goal, reading 2 chapters every day! We talked about the responsibilities of a Teacher, and are helping him to prepare for the Aaronic Priesthood. We want to get the rest of his family more involved and listening. So far his little brother came to his baptism, and one of his sisters has listened during one lesson. We are trying to have a Family Home Evening with them this week. 

  Lots of great things happening in the area! Looking for more investigators and trying to do more contacts in the street! Thanks to all who have written me recently--I really appreciate hearing from you and hearing about your spiritual experiences!

 

Love you all lots! 

--Hermana Durfee

Nov. 9, 2015 BAUTISMOOOOOOO

Baptism for S.

Querido Familia y Amigos!                          Nov. 9, 2015

    This week was a boss! Lots of great things happening in San Justo! 

On Tuesday we did divisiones with Merlo 1, and I went there with Hermana G-. We had an awesome District Meeting, focused on the power of praying with the members for their queridos, like Elder Teixeira of the area presidency told us when he came. We did that with every family and person we taught or were with that day, and at the end of the day we found a really good new investigator who is the son of a inactive member! 

    We taught S- almost every day this week, and on Saturday he got baptized and Sunday confirmed! Most of the jovenes came to support him, and the service went really well. The only complication was that the water didn`t fill up all of the way, and S- is tall, and his brother En-, who baptized him, is a little bit shorter. So he was baptized 6 times, since he kept getting nervous and going stiff and his elbow would stick out of the water. But afterwards he was smiling again and said that he felt good. :) On Sunday we got to church, and all of our investigators and S- were waiting in the foyer--and S- had a white shirt and tie! His confirmation was todo bien. Super lindo. 

Hermana Durfee, Hermana A., and our investigator. E.

    We have also been working a lot with J-. He`s a man that came to church on his own the first time. His girlfriend is a member and lives in Utah, and when he went to visit her they visited all of the temples in Utah including the Salt Lake Temple.  I am super excited about him. He shared with us this week the reason that he came to church that first time: Because he felt the Spirit super strong when he went to temple square, and he wanted to feel it again and know what it was about. So we have been teaching him how to feel the Spirit, including through prayer, scripture study, and church attendance. We also taught him the Plan of Salvation and about baptism. He accepted a baptismal date for 12-12. We wanted to invite him to be baptized in November, but he is traveling to Chile for work for two weekends, so we want to make sure he has the habit first of attending. But our lessons are really cool! They are really spiritual, and we always have a member with us, since he is an hombre solo. He also makes the effort to come--since we have the lessons in the church. And everything we invite him to do, he commits himself, and takes it really seriously. He is looking for the truth!!! He`s a lawyer, so he understands everything really well too, he`s already marking his scriptures and asking questions about them! But we told him that he can`t think rationally about the gospel, he has to feel it, and he`s agrees and understands that. I am SUPER excited about Juan! He came to church on Sunday again, all the way from Pilar to San Justo! (Look that up on the map) He`s going to Chile next week, but we`re going to teach him about Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy today, so we are hoping that he`ll be able to go to church there, too. 

      E- is doing really well too. We taught her the Law of Chastity this week. She came to the baptism on Saturday--she came late, so she didn`t see the actual baptism, but she said that she feels peace in the capilla. She also came to church on Sunday for all three hours, all by herself! And her favorite class was Gospel Principles, about Eternal Marriage. 

   San Justo is going so well! We are super happy and excited!!

Ponderizing scripture this week: Mosiah 5:7-8, 11-12.

Love you all!!!

Hermana Durfee

Nov. 2, 2015 And She's Back!!!

Querido Familia y Amigos!     Nov. 2, 2015

Hermana W, my temporary German companion

   Well this week has been about ten years long! Things are going well. We have a baptism this Saturday that we are preparing for. S- is doing really well. He came to church on Sunday, and is super excited for his baptism! He remembers a ton and applies all of the things that we teach him! 

   On Friday Hermana A- completed 15 months in the mission, so we celebrated by eating pancakes with strawberries and peanut butter. Yum!!

   Last Monday Presidente called us and asked us how long it would take to get from our pench to Atalaya (my first area), and said that he was thinking about putting hermanas back in there. Sweet! Then on Tuesday we had Special Capacitaciones and Entrevisitas with Pte, and he said that it was very likely that the Hermanas from Haedo would be flashed to either San Justo B or Atalaya B. So when the assitents called on Friday and said that the Hermanas were moving in that day, it wasn`t a huge surprise. What was a surprise was that they said that we would be doing divisiones for a couple days and that I would be going with the Senior companion to help her learn the area of Atalaya. 

Ward Mission Activity

    So we changed all of our plans that day, and after the Hermanas got here, I went with Hermana K- to Atalaya. Talk about super weird! So strange to go back to my first capilla, going down the streets, talking to the members, and antiguo investigadores. The members were all really excited, especially the Bishop, "Volviste!" And I had to tell them it was just for a few days. But the really cool thing is that I found out that a woman that my first companion and I found was later baptized with her daughter! That was so cool to go to her house and see her and know that we planted the first seed.  

     Weekly Challenge: Plant seeds! Share your testimony in words and actions with all that you meet! 

I love you all! 

Hermana Durfee <3

Oct. 26, 2015 Mosiah 28:3 :D

Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble.                                                    –Mosiah 28:3

 

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                         Oct. 26, 2015

    This week has been amazing! We made almost all of our goals! And we are working on finding escogidos every day. We found them the majority of the days.
     S- is doing well. We taught him this week about baptism and repentance, and about Palabra de Sabidurìa and follow the prophet. He applies all of the things that we teach him, and he is reading and praying. But he didn`t come to church this Sunday, since he went to a cinceñiera the night before, so we are going to move his baptismal date, since we want to make sure that he is firm in the church before he gets baptized. We also got his mom`s permission this week so that he can get baptized. She originally said that she doesn`t want it for her, but after we filled out the ficha with her, we taught her a little bit, and she said that we can come back to visit her again. :)
   Ja-is doing really well. We went with a member that is more mature, and were able to teach him in his house. She really helped us out, and answered a lot of his questions. He felt really good with her. We taught him how reading and praying and attending church can help him find answers and know the truth. In the end he said the prayer again, and said that he felt heard, and teared up. It was super good! He couldn`t come on Sunday, since there were elections, and he had to work the election table. But when we talked with our Lìder Misional on Sunday (who is his friend), he said that Ja- asked his dad for a white shirt and tie to come to church!!
    E- is a woman that we found week 1, when we saw a house and felt inspired to knock it. She came out and listened to us, and accepted a Book of Mormon. Yesterday she came to church, but she got there right when the Sacrament started, so had to wait outside until it ended. But she liked the church, and said that she felt peace. We taught her this week about The Plan of Salvation with her Less Active friend, P-. P- is from the South and moved here like 10 years ago, but never came to the church. P- was going to come to church with E-, but didn`t make it until right when it ended, but she came! We had a lesson with two active members, and had everyone introduce themselves and say how they felt, and what they learned in the church that day. It was super good, and we basically didn`t say anything. The members all talked and helped E- and P- to talk, and testified of things that are important for them in this time of their livesm and also about their own conversion process. So that was cool. We also learned things that they hadn`t told us before. For example, E-`s husband never stays to listen to us, but he is always in the kitchen, and E- says that he listens from there. Also, he is really opposed to churches since he had a bad experience with leaders of a different church when he was little, but he brought her to church! We have citas with both E- and P-, and are going to try to start teaching the rest of their families too.
   We are doing a lot better with contacts too, and following up with the contacts that we`ve already done. We found a ton of new investigators this week by doing that. That was also one of my goals from Thursday--to start more contacts, since usually my companion starts them. We applied that, and on Saturday we found 3 new investigators before lunch! And another escogido, and another contacto that is going to accept us back. We are working super hard to apply all of the things that we have learned, to sacar la tapa, to talk with everyone.
    We are working the areas of San Justo A and San Justo B, which is a lot. We had a thought this week that we are going to try to apply. Since before we were trying to work in all of the sections of San Justo, but there are some that are really far away, and hard to do it without getting spread super thin. So we are focusing more now on exploding one or two of the sections in each of the areas, A and B, so that when it gets divided again there will be people to work with in each area, and then with 2 companionships they will be able to explode more the parts of their areas that are farther away.

  I love you all! Keep up the good work, being missionaries to your friends! You never know who will accept the gospel now, or who will remember your good example in ten years and have interest. This work is true, and the only way to return to God and to live with our families forever!

Love,

Hermana Durfee

Oct. 19, 2015 No hay cual cosa como el limites!!:D

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                Oct. 19, 2015
Lots of running around this week! We had divisiones with Padua and with Ramos Mejìa. Lots of working on door contacts and street contacting, and how to make a contact shorter, more powerful, and how to start testifying and teaching from the beginning of every contact.
    Our President has given us a new standard of excellence: Find one "elegido" (elect) before lunch! We are working on doing that, and have found them about half of the days this week.  Some of them live in our area, and we are finding lots of references for other areas, so that`s super exciting! During the divisiones, we had one of the hermanas from Padua here with my comp, and the other hermana had already served here. So they found one of her antiguos on Tuesday when we did divisiones, so we are teaching them now--they are R- and J-. R- is super ready to be baptized--she already read the whole BOM etc. and is only waiting to get baptized with J-. The only problem is that J- goes to visit her Dad every weekend in Ramos Mejìa, and he is slightly atheist. So he doesn`t want to bring her, and he also doesn`t want to leave her with a member that he doesn`t know to bring her. But I think that as J- gains her own testimony that will help her to be more insistent with her dad, too.
    Saturday was a super great day! S- is our progressing investigator. He is the hermanito of a converso recièn, so his brother is helping him to come, and he is progressing a lot! We taught him on Saturday about the 2,000 stripling warriors (since he is also a young man), and we gave him a calender with the times, where, and what we were going to teach him each day. He is going to get baptized next Saturday, 31/10! He is super capo--he reads whole chapters and prays really well. He is super shy, so he doesn`t talk very much. So we had the idea to have him write a talk to see how much he really understands. But it seems like he understands really well. We are super excited for his progress!
     On Thursday we were heading for R-and J- and a chico ran after us and asked if we were mormons. He said that he knows one of the family`s in the ward, and we got his direction to go visit him. That`s one of those things that every missionary wants to happen--someone comes up in the street and asks them to teach them! So Saturday after S- we went to Ja-`s house and he said that he`s atheist, but he wants to have faith and believe. We taught him about the Book of Mormon, prayer, and going to church. He said that he would go on Sunday. Sunday he didn`t end up going, since he slept in, but he came to church in the evening for an appointment to talk to us, and we taught him Lesson 1, accompanied by a converso recièn. It appears that he has real intent, and we are going to get our ward mission leader involved too, since they were friends when they were little.
    Sunday was awesome. There were 4 nonmembers in the capilla, and a couple menos activos. S- came with his brother, two members brought family members, and a new man came by himself. He said that he visited temple square in Salt Lake City and wanted to know more and that his girlfriend is mormon and told him to go to church. We have an appointment to go visit him on Saturday with a member.

     So basically, we are starting to explode the area! God is blessing us a full--we had divisiones twice last week, and one day we both went to Ramos, but we knew that God would help us for helping his hijas. And He is a full afull!!! We are super excited for the progress of the area, and are looking for more ways to improve and more ways to find new investigators and make a difference.

Weekly Challenge: Did you have a really good friend when you were younger, who you have lost contact with? Look for the way to get in contact with them again--be it through face book, a letter, or a phone call. When the time is right, bring gospel topics into your conversation and see if they are ready to listen to the gospel! Share your testimony with them in word and actions.

I love you all!

Hermana Durfee <3

Oct. 12, 2015 Haz te SAN JUSTO por mas que le cuesta...

Current ZLs and HLE's

Querido Familia y Amigos!!                        Oct. 12, 2015

   Estoy en SAN JUSTO!! I am back in ciudad now, in the area right next to the area where I started my mission, Atalaya. It is a little bit more city-ish that Atalaya was, but the people are friendly. Super weird to be back walking after 9 months on a bike! The good news is that I am re-gaining the hang of it pretty quickly. 

   My new compi is Hermana A- from Florida. She has 2 weeks more than me on the mission, so basically the same time. I will be completing 14 months tomorrow! LOCO! We are the Hermana Lìderes Entrenadoras for two zones: Ramos Mejìa and Merlo. So we have 8 hermanas para cuidar. We are going to start off this transfer with a BANG doing 2 divisiones every week to help the Hermanas have ànimo, sacar sus tapas (take off their lids=get rid of limits!) and help them find new investigators. Pte Robertson said that we can expect miracles in every division, and we are super excited to see what the Lord has prepared! The biggest problem in our zone appears to be finding new investigators--which is also linked to talking to everyone, having short and powerful messages, and having confidence to talk to just one more person. Walking really helps with that, being able to talk to everyone, present them the Book of Mormon, relate it to your personal life, and see if they will read it and thus progress. 

    We are super excited for all of the work and miracles that we are going to see this transfer! With Christ, we are unlimitless!  Philippian 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." 

Love you all! 

Hermana Durfee

Aug. 31, 2015 The Iron Rod is the Word of God

Querido Familia y Amigos!      Aug. 31, 2015

 

     We have seen many miracles this week using the Book of Mormon! We contacted a reference, who is also an Antigua Investigadora, and set a cita to come back. When we arrived, she let us in and told us to present our message. She didn´t seem super open, but was willing to listen. We taught her a little bit about the Book of Mormon and how it could help her in her personal life. When we said we were going to give it to her, she said she didn´t have any money. So we explained that she didn´t have to buy it. But she still protested that it had to be expensive to print etc. We explained that that didn´t matter, since her soul and salvation were worth a lot more than the price of a book. She accepted it, and her countanance changed completely. She became a lot more open and said that she is going to read a little bit every day, and is going to pray to know that it´s true! Wow! 

   We were riding down a busy street, and saw a woman working outside. We pulled over to see if we could help, and found out that she is an Antigua Investigadora. She said we could come back later, and strait out gave us a reference for a neighbor who´s husband had recently passed away. We went strait over, and L- opened the door. She told us all about her husband´s death and other problems she was having, and we explained that we had a book that we would like to share that could help her with these problems, and permítanos pasar. She let us in, and we explained briefly the Book of Mormon and left her the intro to read. She said that she usually doesn´t let any one in her house, but for some reason she let us in. :)

 

   Our biggest miracle this week is G-. He is the brother of a más o menos activa. We found him in her house last Saturday and taught him about the Book of Mormon and gave him one. Then he went back to La Plata (city 4-5 hours away) this whole week (he´s studying to be policia). On Saturday when he came home for the weekend, we went to teach him and found out that he had read almost 100 pages! He said that he had had dudas about why God told Nefi to kill Laban, but then he figured it out while he continued reading. Awesome. We taught him Lesson 1, and he believed it, and said that it would be important to have a prophet hoy en día. He commited to pray about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and if the church is true. (His sister already texted him telling him that he had to pray about the church!) He said that when he gets his answer he´ll get baptized. He has a fecha for 26/9! The only problem is that we are only going to be able to visit him once a week, but luckily he graduates in 3 weeks, so the last week we´ll hopefully be able to visit with him every day! 

Other news: It´s Spring!! Everybody is leaving their houses, they are now all outside in the tardes--mucho más fácil contactarlos! Woot! That also means the sun is starting to come out more--thinking about using sunscreen--...AAND the mosquitos!! Noooo! Pulling out the heavy duty bugspray too. The other day my companion looked up, and there was a huge cloud of mosquitos above us, and they kept following us! And then I got bit. Luckily most of my mosquito bites haven´t been like this one, but these were super huge, and they made you bleed. My comp got bit by one, and her whole hand swelled up. Luckily, the aftermath of my bite was not so big. 

Yesterday we had a Muti-stake Conference. Elders Cook and Hales along with Elder Maynes of the 70 and Sister Marriott sent the thingy by satelite from Salt Lake, and Elder Gonzalez, the Pte of Sur America Sur also spoke--I think from somewhere closer to here. :) It was really good. They talked a lot about sanctifying the Día de Reposo, and to the youth about preparing to serve missions! :D

41 Day Challenge: Read the Book of Mormon in 41 days! So I looked at the English copy, and it is only 13 pages in English! I usually study the BOM slowly, analyzing all of the things with cross references, etc. but it´s really cool to be able to see the larger connections between chapters, too! Whatever you do, make sure to read every day! 

Love you all lots! 

Hermana Durfee

June 27, 2015 The Book of Mormon

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                               June 27, 2015

This week things warmed up a little bit, with cloud cover, and then rain. Which was nice to not have it be so cold, but it hurt our numbers for church attendance. But the good news is that both us and the Elderes had one investigator each in the Sacrament Meeting. A-A- came with his family (the rest are all converts), and he liked it! He has been changing a TON since he started reading the Book of Mormon every day. Yesterday we went over to visit them, and his wife had just made a bunch of popcorn. So we had Family Scripture Study popcorn style! (When you finish reading the verse you say "popcorn" and get to decide who reads next). 

This week is going to be loco! I am doing divisiones with the hermanas on Tuesday, on Thursday we will have to viajar to Ramos Mejía, and Friday I have Concilio de Líderes, then we have to travel back to Lobos, and probably won´t get there until 6 or 7ish. Awesome. But the good thing about that is that it means that we are going to see un monton de milagros este semana! Since that is what always happens when we have so much time away from our area. :D 

Lots of work this week. Lots of good things are happening in the area! The best tool that we have to help people, is helping them to read the Book of Mormon! Really, if an investigator is not progressing, it probably means that they are not reading the Book of Mormon and praying. If a member feels that their testimony is weak, it´s probably the same reason. If a family feels ununited, or that something is missing, same thing. The Book of Mormon is so powerful, because it truly contains ALL of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we read, study, and apply the princples that we learn, we start to make the changes in our lives that the Lord wants--changes that lead to greater happiness and peace. I know that the Book of Mormon truly is the word of God, and that we really will get closer to God by reading this book than any other. 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Create a scripture study plan if you don´t already have one, or review and revise your current one as needed. Make sure you take time every day to read and study the Book of Mormon. Include in your plan how you will ponder, study, and apply the things that you learn in your reading! Apply the plan daily! 

Love you all lots and lots! 

<3 Hermana Durfee

June 15, 2015 Colectivos y Coversiones

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                                       June 15, 2015

Wow, super crazy week, but a thousand mini miracles! Like always. :D

Next Monday we are going to the Temple como misión!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO! We are super pumped! We are losing the temple to the South Mission on July 1, so we are really happy to be able to go before that! And we are going to have a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with Pte y Hna Robertson and their family! I´m so excited! (So that also means that I won´t write you next Monday, but don´t worry, because they´re giving us time to write on Tuesday.) 

We started out this week having to change our Reunión de Zona to Wednesday instead of Tuesday because of a transportation strike (so there weren´t any colectivos, so nobody could get very far out of their area). So that meant that we had to go Monday night to Las Heras so that we would make it on time Wednesday to the meeting (the bus from Lobos doesn´t leave in time). So that gave us all day Tuesday to go and do contacts ALL DAY LONG. We actually did find a few super great people that said that the other Hermanas could come back and teach them. And we also did our weekly planning. 

On Wednesday we had the Zone Meeting, and heard some really good tallers (pronounced "tie-share") about faith and about finding new people to meet. I got to give a small taller about obedience, since I am still HLE. It was really cool. After the meeting, we went to go take the colectivo back to Lobos, to find out that the next two colectivos had been canceled! So we had to wait until 3 pm to leave Loma Grande. But Hna P- said that something awesome would happen, since something awesome always happens when there are problems with the colectivos. And she was right! When we got to Las Heras, a woman got on the bus, and sat down in front of us and started talking to the Elders. They found out that she lives in our area, so they traded us seats so that we could get to know her, etc. Her name is A-, and she has wanted to talk to the missionaries for a long time. She said that they always pass by her house, but that they never hear her call out to them. But that this day she went to Las Heras by herself to go to the doctor--she said she was scared to go solo, because she might fall (she´s 70), but something (Holy Ghost!) told her to go, so she did! She is golden! We went the next day to teach her the first lesson, and she accepted a baptism date for three weeks away, but wanted it to be closer. :D And she prayed about the Book of Mormon that night, and already knows that it is true! Woohoo! We have taught her every day except Sunday, and she is progressing a fuullll! We are really excited! :D

On Saturday we had an awesome lesson with A-A-, and his family. Hna P- and I know that he is so ready to get baptized! But he is still resisting a little. For a while he said that he would only come to church every other week, since he didn´t want to commit that much. But yesterday we taught him about Día de Reposo, and he commited to come every week to church! Woot! He couldn´t come this Sunday since he worked, but he came to pick up his family after, and reaffirmed his commitment to come! He is sooo close!!! 

Saturday night was exciting, because we went to take the Colectivo for Las Heras and it left literally 5 seconds before we could get on. So that was awesome. Stake Conference was on Sunday, and we had no idea how we were going to get there on time. But luckily, the members had room in the combi that they rented, and let us ride with them. 

So Sunday we had to get up at 5 am to go get on the combi. But it had super cushy seats that leaned back, so we could (kind of) sleep on the way there. The Conference was super good. Pte Robertson talked about having 4 "bars" of spiritual signal by always praying, reading the scriptures, obeying, and serving. And he talked to all of the youth about using these steps to prepare for the mission. The Stake President and one of his counselors gave really good talks about delighting in the Sabbath Day, and also about fasting. The ride home was great, since we got to sing hymns with all of the members for a while, and also because everybody shared all of the food that they had brought. :) Saturday night we went to contact a man, P-, that we had found outside our pench. It was funny how we found him. Nobody in Argentina uses bike helmets. We were parking our bikes outside of the pench, and had the helmets on, and a man came up to greet us, and told us that he liked our helmets. He said that he wanted to get one so that he could feel safer when he bikes! Haha. So we got his name and address and permission to go visit him. When we went on Sunday, his wife, E-, was in the other room, but we sat down and started getting to know him better while we waited for her. He was super excited that we were there. So I was a little bit nervous that his wife would be super catholic or something, because he was pretty awesome. But she came in, and was also SUPER excited that we were there. They even invited us to come back for dinner another day! We taught them the first lesson, and when we asked them how they felt when we told the first vision, he said "a rejoicing"! They are going to pray to know that it is true. They are pretty golden! 

A big thank you to all that wrote me this week! I hope that you´re all well and happy, and that you are sharing this marvelous gospel!! ;D Keep up the great work! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Durfee 

 

Oct. 5, 2015 General Conference Glory!

¡Querido Familia y Amigos!                                                   Oct. 5, 2015

 

    Transfers are on Wednesday!!!! Aaaahhh!! And, I have transfers, and it looks like I am going to ciudad! After 9 months in campo, me va a costar un poco. But, THERE ARE NO SUCH THING AS LIMITS!! So planning on baptizing about 3,000. Or at least talking with that many. :D 

 

    I ABSOLUTLY LOVED GENERAL CONFERENCE!! Siempre a spiritual feast!!! If you didn`t get the chance to watch all of the sessions, go here https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2015 to watch, listen, and read! AND, if you did watch conference, I challenge you to go back and re-watch, re-listen, and re-read all of the talks! There is something important in every talk for every person! 

 

President Thomas S. Monson, President Henry B. Eyring,
and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

    It is absolutely amazing to me how God works. Through his chosen profetas and apostoles, he can communicate with every single one of His children in the world, helping them with their current needs, and giving them encouragement and guidance. And even though every person will hear the same words, every one will leave with a different message for what they need to do in this exact moment. For example, with our individual questions and preparation, my companion and I came away with different messages. She said that every talk mentioned something about faith; while I felt like all of them were talking about the central role that Christ plays in our every day lives, the importance of keeping Him the center, and the importance of depending on God and allowing that His will, and not ours, be done. I testify that through the words of the living day prophets, each of us will hear what we need to hear in this exact moment. And we will be able to receive even more help and guidance as we study
                                                                                   and re-study their words! Because their words are
                                                                                   His words. 

    

I know that President Thomas S. Monson really is a prophet of God, his chosen spokesperson in these days. Together with his counselors and the 12 apostles, he directs the church, under the direct direction of God and Jesus Christ. This truly is the church of Jesus Christ, and the only way to get back to God and to be able to live with our families together for the eternities. 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: I invite each of you to review your notes of conference. Find all of the invitations that were made, write them down. Think about what you want to do with your life in this moment, and how these invitations can help you now. I testify that the men and women that spoke to us truly are dedicated servants of God, and that by following their counsels and accepting their invitations, we will see miracles in our lives every day! 

I love you all! 

Hermana Durfee <3

Sept. 28, 2015 Semana Milagroso! (Week of Miracles!)

Jesus Christ's visit to the Nephites in the Americas -
3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon

 Sept. 28, 2015

Querido Familia y Amigos!

 

This week has been super milagroso! We had divisiones on Tuesday, and they were super èxitoso! I was with Hermana G-in half of Bragado, and Hermana F-and T-went in the other half. We already had some goals set down, but we decided to pray about them and re-put some of them. Originally we had the goal of 3 new investigators, but after praying we decided to put 10, and we found 5. I learned a lot from Hermana G-: 
1- She taught me that the first lesson doesn`t have to have a prayer, so that makes it a lot easier to start teaching in the door and end with a prayer and have an automatic new investigator. 
2- This approach also helps with contacts. I have always known the principle that we need to start teaching right away when we contact someone, but I never understood it very well (probably since I never applied it very well). But this time we were focused completely on the Book of Mormon, and teaching the people that, seeing if they would read the book and therefore progress. So that helped a lot to know of something specific to teach and testify in the first contact. Hermana G- also taught me that it`s important to not only tell the people that the BOM is like the Bible, and it talks about God, etc., but to tell them how it has helped you personally, and relate the stories to their lives and help them to see why it could be important for them. We have been applying this a lot more in the contacts, and we have found more new investigators than ever--12! It has also really increased our number total of lessons taught--this week we had 27!! Knowing what to talk about in the contacts is also helping me to be more bold and talk to more people, since I already have an idea of what I want to talk about. It is also making our bags heavier, since we are bringing more BOM`s with us, but we are coming home with less! 
3-To write my vision--she showed me part of her vision that they had them write in the MTC, and I love the idea. You have to write what you want to be as a missionary, or in your life in general, and you have to write it in present tense. For example: I am bold. I am diligent. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. etc. 
4-I learned that Elder Teixeira taught the lìderes about the importance that the Latinos really learn English, and that it will open the doors for them. So we are working to speak more English and to help Hermana F- actually learn it. 
5-Knock the doors next to the house where you are at. God put you where you are in this moment for a reason, maybe it`s not the person who you wrote in your plans, but that was a way to get you to the person who is ready.  
Felt really great this week, found lots of news, taught lots of lessons, talked with lots of people. We have two people who I am really excited about: 
    A- is the mother of a reference that the Elders gave us--she lives next door. We went the first night and taught her LDM. Yesterday we went back and she had read what we left in 3 NE 11 and loved it. We taught her lesson 1, and she said that she felt really happy, and we identified it as the Spirit. We wanted to invite her to be baptized, but we already gave a lot of commitments, and she is excited to watch General Conferece--but on her own computer. But we are going to invite her next time to be baptized. 
   M-!! She is a woman that we found last Sunday, that loved the Book of Mormon. We taught her daughter LDM the week before, and when we went back for the appointment, she wasn`t there, but M- was, and said that she had started to read the LDM we had left. We went back during the week and taught her Lesson 1--which she also loved and was super excited to go to church, and to the baptism Saturday night. We invited her to be baptized, and she said no, but only because she was baptized when she had 6 meses. But, she is against baptizing babies. So we are going to talk to her about that next time and I know that she will accept the fecha. When we went Saturday night, it was her granddaughter`s birthday, and the whole family was there--she thought they were going to do it somewhere else. So she was super sad to not be able to go to the baptism. But Sunday morning she was ready when we came, and the Presidente de Rama came to pick her up in his auto, since she can`t walk super far. She loved the church, and stayed for Principios de Evangelio and had lots of comments. And she started to talk to the members by herself, and it looks like she already knows some of them! Sweet. An hermana took her home after the 2nd hour, and M- told her that she needed a skirt, since that is what everyone else wore, and that she is super excited for when we come on Tuesday. And that she wants to come to the conferencia in CHIVILCOY on Sunday to listen to the profeta!! La Hermana came back and told us that and said that she would talk to the hermanas to see if someone had a skirt they could give. So the members are already getting involved! And she and her husband are going to come with us on Tuesday to visit M-. And we are going to ask them to pick her up on Sunday to take her to the church to come in the trafi to Chivilcoy, since it looks like we are already going to be there for the conferencia en Sàbado. 

 

General Conference is Saturday and Domingo!!! I am sooooo excited!! It is going to be amazing, and the Spirit is going to be so strong! 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Prepare for General Conference!!! During your scripture study this week, pray and write down a few questions that you would like answered. Pray to receive inspiration from the Spirit during the conference to know the answers to your questions. Take notes during each session, noting the things they say that specifically relate. Then review your notes afterwards and create an action plan! I know that as we go to Conference prepared, we will find even more answers, and it will be much more spiritual. 

 

I love you all! 

Hermana Durfee

 

Sept 21, 2015 The Importance of Church Attendance

Querido Familia y Amigos!                    Sept. 21, 2015

English is really hard. Today I tried to pray in English to demonstrate for my companion, and I had to translate everything in my head. No me gusta. 

This week we traveled to Ramos Mejìa for a Gira Misional with Elder Josè A. Teixeira of the seventy. We had an amazing meeting with him. He talked to us about achieving our potential and not letting a certain area, etc. that is supposedly "difficult" limit our visions for what we can do. He related it to a jumping flea--a flea can jump super far, but if you put it in a bottle with a lid, it will start jumping smaller since it hurts to be always banging your head. Then, you can take off the lid, but the flea will keep jumping small since that is what he is used to. He taught us that we have to be liberated from whatever pre-expectation to be able to achieve the expectations the Lord has for us. 

He also taught us that if we want to be better teachers, we have to talk with more people. He probably said it 20 times. We have been applying this, and we are seeing the results. We are already teaching better, and we are finding a lot more people.His wife taught us that 1--we must exercise for 30 minutes every day so that we sweat. It was really funny--she said ""Sweating is good for you! It`s how you get all of the stress and other bad things out. That`s why it smells so bad!" haha. 2--That we must always invite everyone to come to church. 

   Thinking about it, it`s super true. Sometimes we are scared to invite someone to church, since they already attend another church, or we don`t want to leave too many compromisos, etc. But, if they don`t attend church, they can`t get baptized. If they don`t get baptized, they can`t go to the temple to get sealed. And if they don`t go to the temple to get sealed, they can`t have eternal life--the opportunity to live with their family and with God, always. And God`s purpose is to "Bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man". So in other words, if we don`t invite someone to come to church, that means that we are not worried about their eternal life. We are more focused on their present comfort than on really focusing on what they need to do now to come to Christ and to be eternally comfortable. Christ`s life was never easy, and the life of his disciples is not easy either, but it will always be worth it.

So we started inviting everyone to come to church this week. We have yet to see the results, but we are expecting big things! 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Make a list of all of your friends, family members, and acquaintances that you would like to see in the Celestial Kingdom. How many of them have the gospel in their lives now? How many of them are living the gospel? What can you do to invite them and help them to understand and live the gospel? Pray about your list, for each person individually, and what you can do to help them. With spirit of prayer, make a plan for what you will do for each person to help them come closer to Christ. You could also make the list as a family. I promise you that by doing this activity, you will feel the Spirit showing you those you can serve and help now, in ways that you may not have thought of before. And you will see great miracles in your own life as you apply the plans to help others! 

I love you all! 

Hermana Durfee

Sept. 14, 2015 Familias

La Zona de Chivilcor

Querido Famila y Amigos!                                   Sept. 14, 2015

Almost started writing my whole letter in Castallano. You`re welcome. 

Wow. Super epic week. We started it off on Monday by grafitting the back wall of the church with chalk, so we could take an epic picture with our Zone. (See the picture) (Don`t worry, we washed it off later;).  

Tuesday, we had the first Reuniòn de Zona of the biggest Zone in the mission--Chivilcoy! It was super awesome and spiritual. We left super animadas (excited?) y con mucho energìa. And we carried that in to the rest of the week, and found three new families! 

Familia 1--Familia M-. They are married! They have four kids, and are super united. We taught them all about the Book of Mormon, and they understood everything--usually they get a little bit confused with all of the terminology, or when reading straight out of the scriptures. We are going back today to teach them the Restoration and to invite them to be baptized! De oro! 

Familia 2--D- y M- Two little girls that stopped us in the street and asked for folletos. We got their direction, and went back the other day, and taught them that God is our father and a little about the Book of Mormon and sang I am a Child of God, and they loved it. Then, the next day we found them on the other side of town at their Uncle`s house, and then we went back later and taught them again in their house. D- started reading in Mosiah and is really excited. We still have to meet their parents--they didn`t want to come out yesterday, since there was a partido de fùtbol. 

Familia 3--Familia P.A.E. They were a reference from their son, who we met outside. We went twice and didn`t find them, and finally we went the third time more towards nighttime, and they were there and let us in. We explained the BOM to them, and the father gave the closing prayer, kneeling. Golden! 

Love you all lots! Keep reading your Book of Mormons! Suerte por todos los alumnos empezando la escuela otra vez! Stay tuned for more adventures next week! 

Love, Hermana Durfee

P.S. "Atheism is a non-prophet organization!" --Pte Robertson jajaja

Sept. 7, 2015 Feliz Cumpleanos! That's how they say it in Spain 

Querido Familia y Amigos! 

  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GREATEST MOMMY EVER!!! 

Happy school year to all of the kidlets!!! 

Lots of studying the Book of Mormon. Lots of finding new Menos Activos, dropping investigators, finding more investigators. 

Thanks to everyone for all of your love and letters! Sorry this letter`s super short. 

Love you all! Keep reading the Book of Mormon! 

Love love love, 

Hermana Durfee 

Aug. 24, 2015 Book of Mormon Challenge!

 

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                            Aug. 24, 2015

Traslados are here! Aaaaaaaaaand no me voy!! Me quedo (por lo menos) un traslado más con Hermana F- en Bragado! Woot! We are looking forward to all of the growth and miracles that we are going to see! 

Lots of work. Lots of finding, lots of teaching. The time goes faster and faster and faster every day. This traslado has felt like only a week! Our Zone Leader and District Leader taught us a trick--no matter what your weekly goal for new investigators is, put the daily goal as 2. On Saturday we still had to find 8 news to complete with our weekly goal, but we decided to try it, so we set the goal as 2, and we found FIVE nuevos! We are really excited to really get going with the area and to make a difference! 

On Friday we had a Branch FHE, but there was nobody there! We called everyone we could think of, but eventually we had to start with the just the few active members that we had there. During the opening hymn, two teenage less active brothers walked in that we had invited earlier that day. And then during the lesson another less active man that we are working with came in. They all really enjoyed themselves and had a great time, and the second man even came to sacrament meeting yesterday! 

Our mission is starting a new challenge for this transfer. We are going to read the Book of Mormon all together. They gave us a schedule to follow, and we are going to finish reading the last chapter all together in the next transfer meeting in October! I am super excited, and know that it is going to bring us all kinds of power and éxitos! President Benson taught, “It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path." I know that this is something that each and every one of us needs, now. Especially as ya´ll are heading back into the school year, I testify that each of you needs this power in your life NOW! Sooooooo, this is the invitation!: 

FORTY-ONE DAY CHALLENGE: Join me and my mission in an intense study of the Book of Mormon! Start and end every study session with prayer. Take notes, study a topic, read with the family or individually (or both!) Share the experiences that you have with family, friends, and with me! :) Here is the reading schedule: Starting on Friday, 28 August, read 16 pages every day. Actually, that is the math for Spanish, and unfortunately I don´t have an English copy with me now, so I don´t know exactly how many pages the BOM in English is. But do the math, and on day 41, 7 October, finish your reading with Moroni 10!   I promise you, as a representative of Jesus Christ, that really this book will strengthen your testimonies, it will give you the strength you need daily to carry forward, to resist temptaion, to be a good example, and to share the gospel with everyone! 

I love you all, and look forward to hearing about your experiences! 

Love, Hermana Durfee

Aug. 19, 2015 Travels

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                

 Aug. 19, 2015

   

Bueno. Monday was Dìa de San Martin--the guy that liberated Argentina--or something like that. Argentina has holidays every month, and if they don`t have them, they invent one. So literally EVERYTHING was closed, and we couldn`t do cyber. So we are writing you today (with permission;). 

Luis! Our converso!

   This last week was crazy. I know I say that every week, but really, every week is a different type of crazy. Last week I traveled five out of the seven days. On Tuesday I did divisiones in 9 de Julio with Hermana S- --one of my MTC Comps! It was super awesome to be with her again and to get to see her progress again. We did service, painting the house of one of the investigators that is moving from the elders` side to the hermanas` side. It was super fun. Wednesday we traveled to go back to Bragado. On Thursday we had to go to Ramos Mejìa for tramites. So Friday we drove all over Ramos and Captial doing tramites. So we got the joy of sitting in a government building for five and half hours to wait with a million other people so we could help Hermana F- be legal. It took so long that the room that had 200-300 people in it before only had 10-15 by the time we left. Awesome. But I learned something really cool from it.  I learned that that is how God feels every time we put off doing the things that we know we should be doing. He is waiting on us, that we can act, and then He can give us the blessings that He wants to. Also, in the mission, He is waiting for us to act, to prepare someone for the next Hermana or Elder that will help this person to progress and achieve their potential! By the time we finished and got back to the offices to drop off the papers and to the bus station to take the Micros, all of the seats of all of the buses to Bragado were full. So we had to go back to Ramos to spend the night and leave Saturday morning, early, to get back to Bragado. It is good to be home! Looking forward to seeing more miracles and progress in this area! Transfers are next week, so we are hoping that we both stay here, since we just got here! 

Love you all lots! 

Portense bièn, que nada le cuesta! 

Hermana Durfee <3   

 

July 27, 2015 Bravo Bragado

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                          July 27, 2015

We had a flash on Tuesday, so now a I have a new companion again! Hermana F- is my eleventh

Hermana Flores y Yo

comp. I am finishing the second half of her training, so she is my hijastra (step-daughter). She is from Tacna, Peru! So that´s good, since she already speaks the language! Except it makes my idioma look worse haha. Also, since I try to speak more sofisticated like she does now. :) She is also super short, like 4´6. So the bike is too big for her, even with the seat all the way down. She is just learning to ride it, so that makes it even harder. But she is progressing a lot! Luckily, Presidente is going to give us money to buy a smaller bike for her. :) 

Crazy crazy week. So Tuesday we spent the whole day traveling to Ramos and back for the split. We have spent the rest of the week trying to find investigators, menos activos, and trying to get to know the members so that we can figure out who to work with whom, and what is what. Opening an area is hard! 

Bragado at night from ourpench!

We found a family who are super awesome. They are twins, brother and sister. We talked to P- the first time, and the second time E- was there too, and she explained all of the Restoration to him. They both understand very well, and have really good questions. P- read what we left for her the first time. We invited them to be baptized, and they were a little bit hesitant and want to wait and see. But, they are super buenos, and we are praying for them that they can progress a lot! 

We also found a woman named D-. She is friends with a Menos Activa, and has attended church a few times already. She loves going to church, and says that she feels  a ton of peace when she goes. We are going to explain baptism to her next time we go and invite her to be baptized! 

HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY TO STERLING! I hope you love your 100 mile bike ride! Woot! When you finish with that, you´ll be just about ready to go on the mission and bike all day every day! I love you! Capo! 

Weekly Challenge: What is missing in your life? What more do you want to accomplish? Have a prayer session with Heavenly Father, write down things you want to pray about so you don´t forget, after every question pause and write down the thoughts and feelings that come to you! Act on the answers you get! 

Love you all lots! Prayers for your missionary efforts! 

Love, Hermana Durfee

July 19, 2015 Chau Chauuuuuuu Lobos!

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                            July 19, 2015

Wow. Que locura! They told us the transfers last night, and needless to say, I did not sleep super great. (Which means that I rolled around a little, instead of like a rock ;). They told me that I am leaving Lobos (which I already knew), and that I am going to be training! Aah! That means that I will also be opening an area! So that´s going to be super interesting. But I know that this is what I need to learn and grow some more. And I know this is what the Lord wants for me, and I feel good about it. Looking at the pictures of the new misioneras, there are two options--one is an Americana, and the other Brasilera. So we´ll see what happens. But that also means that there are a million and one things to do today! But first, a couple milagros from this week: 

Yesterday we fasted that we would be able to find more nuevos investigadores this month to be able to baptize more and help more people. We went to a cita that we had, but she wasn´t there, so we decided to contact a reference that we had. It wasn´t super clear, so we started contacting houses to try and find the reference. We clapped outside a house just when it started to rain, so she let us in. We started to teach her, and found out that she really needs the gospel! And her daughter was just leaving, and we saw her and realized that we already knew her--she was a reference from the Elders that they found working in a tienda. But we had no idea where she lived. At the end we asked for her apellido (last name), and realized that it is the same as our converso recién! She´s his cousin! So that was awesome! She hasn´t seen him since about three months ago, before we found him. So we are going with him next time to show her the grand difference that the gospel can make in her life! 

 

When it rained and flooded the street outside!

Then it was pouring rain, but we had a cita so we went anyway. They came to the door and let us in, even though they didn´t even really know who we are (She was a contacto). We entered and found FIVE men inside, along with the young woman who we contacted. Which was AMAZING! The South America South area has two goals: 1-To increase significantly sacrament meeting attendance, and 2- to increase the number of priesthood holders=baptize more men! So that was incredible to find such a large family of men! We got to teach two of them with their sister since the rest had to go work right then. BUT, we are going back, and it´s going to be amazing! 

I am super grateful for the opportunity to serve in Lobos! It has truly been the best thing ever! Lobos seriously heals your soul. 

Bueno, no tengo más tiempo! Le amo a todos! La iglesia es verdadera! 

<3 Hermana Durfee

July 6, 2015 Bleach, Bicycles, and Bautismal Dates

Querido Famila y Amigos!                               July 6, 2015

Wow what a crazy week! Haha, like always! With all of the travel time and meetings and things, I was probably out of my area for a total of 4 days this week! But, the Lord loves us still, and always blesses us with tons of miracls. :)

On Tuesday I did divisione in Las Heras with Hermana C-. She is a sweetheart, and it was a ton of fun to get to work with her again! Wednesday was full of running all over the place and teaching a million lessons, then returing a little early to the pench to finish bleaching the ceiling. (Hermanas T- and P- started on Tuesday. We had a ton of nasty black mold growing all over the ceiling, so we called the pensionero, and he called the fix-it guy for us. But they told us that we had to bleach everything first.) So that was a fun adventure. We had to put the bleach in a squirt bottle and stand under an umbrella while we sprayed the ceiling so it wouldn´t get on us. But, when we were done, the ceiling turned white again. So I´m not sure why the cleaning guys had to come clean afterwards...But on Thursday they came and cleaned and fixed things for a few hours while we went out to work. It was super exciting, since we were biking along,

minding our own business, and BANG! It sounded like a gunshot, and I thought that someone had shot at us (which would be super unlikely anyway), but when I looked over I saw Hna P-´s bike tire go flat in 3 seconds! It was crazy!! I think she ran over some glass or something...but the tire just exploded! When we came back, the whole pench looked amazing, and everything was fixed! The only problem is that we found out that some of our clothes got bleached. But they were really good about it and said that they would pay for it. So today we got to go shopping!! Yay new clothes! So the rest of Thursday we ate lunch and did our weekly planning on the roof so that we wouldn´t be breathing in the Bleach. And then we left in the evening to take the colectivo to Ramos Mejía to spend the night. Friday was Concilio de Líderes. It was really awesome. Presidente talked about a ton of topics, and the asistentes taught us about how to work with the better. We are going to teach the rest of the Zone all of the awesome things that we learned on Tuesday ni our Zone Meeting. Saturday was the FOURTH OF JULY!! Yay! We didn´t really do anything to celebrate, other than wear red, white, and blue. But we possibly thought patriotic thoughts...hahah. We had to go home early, since there was a partido de fútbol..in case things got a bit crazy if they won. So we cleaned up the pench, and cleaned our Area Book too a little, like Hermana Robertson taught us in the Concilio.

Miracles of the Week:

--We had FORTY SEVEN people in church! We had two investigators and one menos activa that came, and the Elderes had a ton of investigators and Menos Activos and Conversos Recién too. Our Menos Activa, E-C- and our Coverso Recién L-L- both shared their testimonies, and it was super linda! L-L- almost cried. I´m goig to miss them! (Transfers are next week--aaaahhh!!!)

--G- accepted a fecha bautismal! She doesn´t know much about religion, so she baptized her kids for tradition, but didn´t understand why. Now she understands, and accepted the invitation! We are going back this week to talk a little bit more about it, and to help her understand what a privilege it is to be able to be baptized and the requirements to do it.

--We don´t have any more mold in our pench! Yay!

--Argentine landscape!!

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Keep a daily journal every day of all of the tiny blessings and miracles that God has given you. Remember to thank God in prayer for all he has given you.

Love you all lots! Disfruten su semana!!

<3 Hermana Durfee

June 23, 2015 Sacrifice Brings Forth the Blessings of Heaven

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                         June 23, 2015

Lots  of amazing things this week! We went to the Temple yesterday as a mission, and it was BEAUTIFUL! I understood a lot better this time! And then we waited outside for like 3 hours for all of the groups to get out of their sessions, and took a picture of all of the mission together for the last time (we are losing two zones to the South Mission)! Then we got some amazing sack lunches, and went back to the offices where they let us socialize for a little while more. Then we went into the chapel, and had a Family Home Evening with Pte Robertson and his family. It was super cool! They had a few special musical numbers, several missionaries came up and shared their conversion stories, then Hermana Robertson taught the lesson, and Pte left his comments. Afterwards we all went back into the gym to play games. We played a game where each zone had the same amount of candies, and we had to go play rock paper scissors with everyone else that wasn´t in our zone. If we won, we got one of the other person´s candies, and if we lost we had to give them one. Then we had to go to a different group based on our birthday month, and we played stare, where you look at the ground and on the count of three have to look up and if two people look at each other, they are both out. The winner got another little bag of candies, and in the end we went back to our zone and added up all of the candies that we had. I think Chivilcoy Norte won. But it was actually really fun! Then we had the joy of running back to the Hermana Pench where we spe Sunday night to get our stuff, and then rush to the train station to try to get on the train llenisimo de gente! We got to Merlo about 4 minutes before the last bus for Las Heras, and spent the night there last night. We finished traveling--por fin!--this morning when we took the colectivo back to Lobos. It´s so good to be home! 

Yesterday President talked about the Fathers of the stripling warriors, and how they burried their weapons of rebellion deep in the ground. He asked us what weapons of rebellion we still have (favorite sins, or disobediences), and invited us to burry them deep. It was interesting to me that he talked about that, because the night before I had an interesting experience that made me think about a similar subject. We spent the night in Ramos with 16 other hermanas from campo. While talking about our respective areas and some of the challenges we were facing and things to do to overcome those, the idea of fasting was brought up. One of the hermanas commented that she doesn´t like fasting since she really likes food. And the line from Praise to the Man came into my head: Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven! I have been thinking about sacrifice a lot since then. I looked it up in the Guía para el Estudio de las Escrituras today (like the Bible Dictionary but in Spanish), and it was really interesting what I found. It says that in ancient times the word "sacrifice" means to sanctify something or someone. That today it means giving up the wordly for the Godly. Joseph Smith said that "a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, will never have sufficient power to produce the faith necessary to bring us to life and salvation." How true it is! We cannot really grow our faith unless we act upon it, and we will not become strong until we make sarifices and accept challenges in our lives. Sacrifice truly sactifies us, makes us more like the Lord, and refines us so that one day we will be able to enter in His kingdom and sit down with him. It was interesting to me as I pondered on this subject all of the things that we can--and must--sacrifice. There are the obvious things--money, time, work, sweat, labor. But there are a lot of things not so obvious--tears, fear, our desires, our will, dreams, sleep, the list goes on and on. I know that as we truly sacrifice, and take the time to do the Lord´s work, do His will and not ours, that He will allow us to be instruments in His hands, and will work in us the changes that we need to become like Him. I challenge each of you to examine your lives, what things do you want to or need to change? Make the commitment now to follow the Lord in all things, even the hardest. I know that Jesus Christ suffered and sacrificed the most out of all of us--even His very life He gave so that we could live. What will we give for Him? What will YOU sacrifice today? 

I love you all. Keep smiling in all you do! 

Con much amor

Hermana Durfee