March 9, 2015 our Baptism!!!

March 9, 2015
Querido Familia y Amigos,

This week has been the greatest ever!! On Saturday we had the baptisms of E- and V-, and on Sunday the confirmations. These are my first baptisms in my mission, and so I was super excited and happy. They are perfectly prepared, they have strong testimonies, they know that this is the truth! And the whole family came to the baptisms! C- and A- are the daughter and husband of E-. C- has a baptism date for May, but I have never taught the husband. And A- came to church on Sunday!! The Presidente of our branch asked him when he was going to get baptized, and he said that he would eventually, but it would take him a little bit of time. We are going to start working with him so that he can get baptized and the whole family can get sealed next year!! E-´s son, M- is a recent convert as of September I think. He turned 12 last week (we shared our birthdays), and on Sunday he recieved the Aaronic Priesthood! He is un capo también. This family is seriously golden!! I just love them!

 

 We finally found T- again. We had taught her twice the last month, but she was never there when we went back since she was in campo. And she lives about 30 minutes from anyone else, so that made it difficult to go very often. But we went yesterday and finally found her again! She remembered about her baptismal date--which was supposed to be the 7 of March also. But she knew that she couldn´t get baptized without going to church first--even though we had not explained that yet! She is super awesome and now has a fecha (baptismal date) for the end of April!! She is excited to start coming to church and Relief Society activities on Sundays. And she got her own bike now, so now she doesn´t have to depend on anyone else to get the places she wants to go! When we left a chapter in the BOM for her to read, she asked if she could read more if she finished that!! She is seriously una capa!!! 

 

We are seeing tons of miracles here in Lobos. And Hermana H- and I are going to be working together again this new transfer!! She is a little confused since this is her first area and Presidente told her that he doesn´t leave missionaries in their first area for more than one transfer. But I am happy to be staying, and I know that we are going to see a ton more miracles working together! The work is beautiful!! 

 

Weekly Challenge: Share a Book of Mormon with someone this week! Study and pray to know who is ready to receive one. Remember--they can´t read it if they don´t have it! 

 

Love you all! 

Hermana =Durfee

March 2, 2015 this little sister loves Lobos!

March 2, 2015

Querido Familia y Amigos! 

 

This week I accomplished riding my bike with no handlebars for 39 seconds. That´s what happens when you are biking for quite a while and you get bored of the same thing and you start experimenting. And it´s actually not as hard as it looks, except when the bike starts swerving since it´s hard to direct it without the handlebars. Haha.

 

WE HAVE A BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!! V- and E- are getting baptized on Saturday. They are going to be my first baptisms. :) They are super awesome. They are the sister and mom of M-, a recent convert who turned 12 yesterday, and is GETTING THE PRIESTHOOD NEXT WEEK!!!!!! And so now we will have one act

ive young man in the branch! Woot! And his other sister, C-, now has a baptismal date for the 30 of May so that she has a goal to work towards. We are still trying to work on her marido to get him to like us so he´ll listen to us so they can get married and he can get baptized too! And we are going to start working on M-´s Dad so that they can all get sealed next year!!! 

 

My birthday was awesome. Minus the fact that everyone kept trying to pull my ears off. Haha. But I (mostly) successfully dodged them. Church was amazing and the spirit was super strong. All of the testimonies were awesome. And M- gave his testimony about how excited he is to get the Priesthood next week, and how he is preparing for it and everything. And I just got super excited and happy too! E- and V- had their baptismal interviews with our District Leader and passed! My comp made me lunch--of milanesas (basically breaded fried chicken--except better than american fried chicken) with cheese and sauce and pasta and salad and cereal since it was fast Sunday. We were trying to make it like Chicken Parmesan, and it tasted super good. And then we went to M-´s birthday party--since we have the same birthday. And his cake was SUPER good--since they put dulce de leche in the middle and it sinks into the cake and is super great. And then we went and taught N-, a converso recien from September. He is super awesome, and is doing all that he can to prepare to serve a mission and to be active and strong in the church and to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood in a coupld of weeks!! And he is our Branch Mission Leader now! His mom came to church for the first time today--which was awesome, since we´ve been working with her for a while, and she knows it´s all true, but doesn´t want to commit to anything and doesn´t want to feel pressured over anything. But, she came to church ALL BY HERSELF!!! And in the nighttime we went and talked to F-, one of our investigators who asked us to come teach her, and we taught her about baptism, and she told us that she wants to get baptized!! And by that point I had forgotten it was my birthday again until my comp told my happy birthday again at the end of the night. 

 

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support! Love you all!! 

Hermana Durfee <3
 

Feb. 23, 2015 this little sister plays "The Ultimate Wave Game"

Feb. 23, 2015

Queriedo Familia y Amigos!

 

On Sunday I´m turning 20. So that´s weird. The great news is that it will be Fast Sunday! The bad news is that some of the members want to pull my ears off—that´s an Argentine tradition to yank on the ears of the birthday person as many times as they have years old. But luckily, most of those people were Hermanos,  and they can only touch my hands to shake them, so I am hoping I am safe!  Also it is the birthday of M-, a recent convert.  He is turning 12 and is going to get the Priesthood! And also I told him he has to make two birthday cakes—one for him, and one more delicious for me! We will see what happens. :D

 

We are playing the ultimate wave game here. Wherever we go on our bikes, we also wave at all of the people and yell “¡Hola! ¿como anda?” (Hi, how´s it going?) at all of the people. The roads that we use a lot, the people have started to wave back at us. So that´s pretty awesome. One of our new investigators told us that some guy asked us who we were, because nobody else here waves at anyone else like that. And also nobody else uses bike helmets. So we tell people we have them to be prettier. But I think their real use is so that people can identify us—“Have you ever talked with missionaries before?” “Um…I´m not sure…” “The chicas with the cascos?” “Oh ,yeah!!”  So that´s awesome.

 

We are going to have a baptism next Saturday!! E-, the mom of M-, and V-, his sister, are getting baptized that day. They are going to have their baptismal interview this Saturday! They are super excited, and have already started inviting their friends to it. They are amazing, and understand all of the things and have strong testimonies. J They are going to be a great strength to the Branch. And M- gives us references for all of their family members, because he wants everyone to get baptized! And hopefully his dad will come to church on Sunday to see him get the Priesthood—I don´t think he´s ever come to church yet.

 

This Sunday was Branch Conference! There were 92 people at church!!!!! We didn´t all fit in the house, so we had to have Sacrament Meeting in the backyard. And Hermana H- and I got to go to Relief Society since the Stake Primary Presidency took care of all of the kids. They are going to call a Primary President next week! Yay!

 

We already have 11 citas (appointments) for this week! It´s going to be a great week!

 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Tell at least 3 people that you love them each day. Smile and say hi to all of the strangers. Make a new friend. Tell Heavenly Father that you love him. Tell all of your family members that you love them!

 

Love you all! Let me know how you´re all doing!

<3 Hermana Durfee

Feb. 16, 2015 Happiness is . . . two scoops of ice cream!

Feb. 16, 2015
Querido Familia y Amigos!

 

This week has been AMAZINGGGGGG!!!!!"!°!!!

 

First, on Tuesday we had "divisiones" (splits). Hermana A- (one of the HLE´s (Sister Training Leader)) came to Lobos with me, and we worked a fullll!!! We applied all of the principles we have learned throughout our missions and from Preach My Gospel--like talk with everyone, how to talk to them when we are contacting, how to follow the spirit while teaching, how to work with members, etc. We worked as hard as we could, and biked as fast as we could, and were SUPER DUPER HAPPY!!!!  :D:D:D

 

Thursday was my compañera´s 1/4 mark, and Friday was my cumplemez and 1/3 mark (I completed 6 months! The time goes sooooo fast!!) So we celebrated by buying a kilo of icecream and devouring it all over the course of one.5 days. And it was DELICIOUS! 

 

And Saturday was Valentine´s day. So we heartattacked the Branch President´s door--without getting caught!--and ate heart shaped pancakes with strawberry syrup--because you have to do that on Valentine´s day! Today is President´s day, so we sang America the Beautiful during companionship study, and we are wearing Red, White, and Blue, so that we can be patriotic. Because you have to celebrate all of the little things! Today is also some kind of festival day in Argentina, so that just means that supposedly nobody goes to work--but all of the shops are still open, so maybe it´s only in the night? 

 

And today I found out that one of my best friends will be serving a mission and I am soooo sooo excited about that too!

 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Write down each day a few of the blessings that you get for keeping certain commandments, and send them to me! 

 

Love you all lots! 

Hermana Durfee :D:D

Feb. 9, 2015 48!

Feb. 9, 2015
Querido Familia y Amigos,

   A big thank you to las familias: Going, Morris, Durrant, Bittleston, Tomlinson,and  Grandmas Durfee and Tenney for the Christmas Cards! (I finally got them!! Woohoo!) 

    This week we had an amazing Zone Conference. We got to watch Meet the Mormons, (and know I finally understand what you were talking about, Mom). It is supposedly coming to theaters here in March or April, so Presidente wanted us to know what was going on and to be able to talk about it with the people that go to watch it. 

  On Friday I will complete 6 months (1/3) in the mission! And my companion is going to complete 4.5 months (1/4) so we are going to hunt down some icecream to celebrate. Yay! Because the Icecream of Argentina is WAY better than icecream in the US. I think it has more cream or something? I don´t really know, but it is GOOD! 

    On Sunday we had FOURTYEIGHT people in sacrament meeting! That´s a record! And the room was crammed packed. So our District Leader (who is also in our Branch) told us that we should keep our eyes out for a bigger house that´s for rent in our area. Our goal is to get a chapel built here. To do it we need to have 70 people attending and like 15 priests or high priests (I´m not sure which) paying tithing for a year. I don´t know if there are other requirements or not, but we are super stoked to be working here. The new members are amazing, and are always trying to help us with food, with their families who aren´t members, their neighbors, etc. 

   One of the recent convert families in Familia R--. Y- and L- got baptized about 4 months ago. And they are super faithful and now L- is the Young Men´s President and is working with the elders to activate all of the young men in the branch--since they are all inactive. They have 3 adorable kids, and Y- is a great cook and gives us  dinner every Monday when we go for FHE Yesterday they told us we can bring whatever investigators with us and just call them and tell them how many are coming! So that´s awesome! 

 

Thanks to all of my siblings and parents for writing me this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loved all of your letters!

 

Love you all! Keep spreading the gospel! 

Con un monton de amor, 

Hermana :Durfee

Feb. 2, 2015 this little sister estoy en Lobos!

Feb. 2, 2015
Querido Familia y Amigos!

Un monton de cambios este semana! This week was traslados (transfers) so we went on Wednesday to Ramos Mejía (center of the mission) to find out where we are going. I am now in LOBOS, MARCOS PAZ with Hermana H.! We live maybe 3 or 4 hours from Ramos. After the meeting we left with our zone in a bus, and drove past all of the penches and dropped everyone off. We are the second to last area in the zone (the elders in our Rama (Branch) are the last). So we are in CAMPO! And we use bicis! (Bikes). So that´s really exciting. And now I understand why all of my companions have always wanted to go back to campo, or at least have bicis. But, it is still hard to ride with my skirts, because they work walking, but not quite as well biking if there is even the least bit of wind. 

We are in a tiny little branch. We meet in a house that has been converted into the church--there were 39 people on Sunday. But the Stake has told us that if we have 50 people in church for three months, we can start the process of getting a chapel! There are a million menos activos, so we are working a full with them and looking for new investigators, etc. The people here are really receptive and friendly! We have three people that are going to get baptized this month--A-, E-, and V-. E- is the mother of V- and M-, a boy with 11 years who got baptized like four months ago. 

It is super beautiful here. There are a million fields, and space and sky, and horses, and everyone rides bikes and motos (motorcycles). I am in love. :D

 

Interesting experiences this week: We went to visit a man and his daughter who the hermanas had visited before. When he came out he told us to leave, that he didn´t have anything against us personally, but that he didn´t like our church, so he was going to call the police if we didn´t leave. That´s the first time that that has happened! But it was sad, because I felt like there was a reason that he felt that way, and I wanted to help him overcome whatever it was that was bothering him. But needless to say, we wished him a good day and left. 

We live on the second floor above the carniceria. So we have to bring our bikes up at night and leave them in the stairwell. So one day in the morning I went down and unlocked the outside door, leaving the keys stuck in inside of the door. Then I brought down my bike, and Hermana H- came down and closed the door. You can´t open the outside door without the keys, so we were stuck outside and couldn´t lock the door correctly,  or get back in. We pushed the doorbell of our neighbor, but she wasn´t home. So we ended up sticking part of a box under the door, pushing the key out with a pen (the keyholes and keys are like the ones on Cinderella), catching it on the box and pulling it out from under the door. 

We are also the primary teachers, so that was interesting to try to keep control of a bunch of little kids in Spanish without touching them. Anyone have any great ideas for Primary?

Gracias por todo! Amo a todos un monton! 

Hermana Durfee

Jan. 26, 2015!!! Whiiiiiiiite Wash!!!

Jan 26, 2015

Querido Familia y Amgios,

alfajor birthday cake

 

The Líderes de Zona called us this morning to tell us about transfers. It keeps getting earlier and earlier every transfer. My companions told me that with the old president, they would recieve the noticias at 10:20 Tuesday night, and would be up all night packing for transfers. With Presidente Robertson we would recieve the noticias Tuesday morning, the next transfer was Monday night, and now Monday morning. The idea is to give us more time to clean the pension well, to desperdirnos from the members, investigators and converts, and to have more time to pack without going loco and being up until 11 or 12 the night before. Hermana Gc and I have "White Wash"--which means that we both are leaving the area. (Usually one compañera stays in the area and recieves a new compañera.) Hna Gc is mucho más anxious que yo, so for her this is a bigger deal. Also because we are going to marry our pareja next week, and she has to be a witness. And they can´t get baptized the week after if they´re not married. All of their kids already got baptized, and the couple went 6 times to Registro Civil to sacar un turno for their casamiento. And it takes a month, and lots of paperwork, and you have to have a test of your blood, and I don´t even know what more, to get married. And you have to get married on the date they say, and you have to have 2 testigos--which have to give their info too, when you schedule the wedding a month in advance. So it´s a really complicated process, and this means that probably Hna Gc will have to return to the area next week with her new companion to be testigo for their wedding. 

 

This week we have seen a lot of miracles. 

Actividad por la familia: How to teach the Gospel of Christ with Tacos! 

1-Tortilla=Faith (because it is the base of everything)

2-Meat=Repentance (Changes from red to brown when you cook it, like the change in a person when they repent)

3-White Cheese=Baptism (because it is white:)

4-Tomatoes, Lettuce, other condiments=Holy Ghost (works in different ways)

5-Eating more tacos=Enduring to the end (if you don´t eat more, you will get hungry. Just like you can´t only have faith, repent, etc. once and call it good. You have to continue living the gospel and endure to the end to feed your spiritual hunger)

 

Jan. 19, 2015 Las hermanas cantaron mientras caminaron y caminaron y caminaron

Jan. 19, 2015

Querido Famila y Amigos,

It has been raining a ton, and Hermana Gç- has  fear on lighting and thunder, so it gets exciting. But it is super great, because it cools everything down, and we get to use our boots and walk through all of the streams of water in the streets! So that´s exciting! 

Baptism at San Justo
 

On Saturday we went to San Justo to see the baptism of two of the conversos of Hermana Gç-. She worked with one for 6 months, and the other for 3 before being transferred to Ituzaingo, so she was emotional and they were emotional. Her compañera that worked in SJ with her is in Atalya with my previous companion now, so they came too, plus the 4 Hermanas of San Justo A and B. So there were 8 misionaras there, and we sang "Te Hallaré Mi Querido Amigo" (our mission song!) (I`ll Find You My Friend), while I played piano. And the investigator that Hna Gç- taught for 6 months cried. It was beautiful. 

 

On Sunday we went to look for some investigators to bring them to church. We passed our Mision Leader in the street, so we said hi to him, and kept going. We didn`t find our investigators, but when we were returning, a chico passed us and said that they were going to church and that he was going to change. We didn`t know what was going on, but we saw our Mission Leader further on, and he told us that he had passed the couple sitting outside a house and invited them to church and that they were going to come. We waited outside for them, and the girl left her house and the chico came back from his and came to church with us. They stayed for the classes, but left before Sacrament Meeting. But Principios del Evangelio was about the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She had a lot of great questions, and they participated really well in the class. 

Asado with mission leader
 

 

Also, our pareja (couple) that is going to get married 7 Febrero came to church with all of their kids! A- said the opening prayer in Principios. P- is going to have a surgery this week, and has to stay in the hospital for one week (so it`s going to be crazy in their house with all 5 of the kids--the baby has 3 months). And then right after she leaves the hospital they are going to get married. And then the next day or next week they are going to get baptized! (The kids are already members:) 

 

Earrings that our mission leader bought us.

Cultura: Everyone has fences, bars over the windows and doors, etc. The keys are like the keys in old movies--like in Cinderella. The church also has a big gate around it, and bars on the windows and doors, and an alarm system that you have to turn off when you walk in. 

 

Weekly Challenge: Study Ch 3 Lesson 3 in Preach My Gospel. How are you living the gospel in your life? What are you going to do to live it more, personally and as a couple and family? What are you going to do to share the gospel that you have with others? 

 

Love yous all bunches! 

Hermana Durfee

 

 

Jan. 12, 2015 this little sister estoy en Ituaingo!

Jan. 12, 2015
Querido Familia y Amigos!

    Sooo...the first announcement is that I got transferred! Presidente called us last Monday after Pday, and told me that I need to pack my bags and be at the office the next morning. So that was exciting. My new compañera is Hermana Gç- from Brasil--one of the Hermanas that was in my district before traslados (transfers), so that was great to already know her, since we will maybe only have 4 semanas juntos. We are in Ituzaingo, Castelar, and it is WAY more tranquilo than Atalya. It`s more like our house, less people living on top of and behind each other, and more green space. Also, more dirt roads--although no mucho. 

     Also our pench is on the second floor, so we are basically dying of heat. It has been 85-95 degrees F all week long, and this week will not be any better. We return to the pensiòn at night and open all of the windows and turn on the fan and try to suck in the air that is cooler. Cold showers at night, sleeping with the fan full blast and without blankets, waking up completely soaked with sweat. Y sì, es la vida. :D But I have decided that we can be grateful for the heat becuase it will help us be healthier, and maybe we will control our weight better. I am drinking water literally all day long! 

 

We had a picnic on the roof because it was so stinkin' hot in the apartment!

  Hna Gç- only has 2 weeks here, so she doesn`t know the area very well, and we are basically opening the area. We saw some awesome progress with MC- this week! Hna Gç told me that MC- has been investigating the church for 16 years, and that she attends a lot, and the missionaries visit her a lot, but she hasn`t been progressing a ton because it is difficult for her to believe in God when she has all of these problems in her life. But when we went for our second lesson with her this week, she had read part of the chapter, and was starting to stop smoking with the help of her grandson--rationing the ciggarrettes so she could only smoke one every 30 minutes. This is a miracle, because she has never read by herself before--only with the Hnas--and she has never progressed with the cigarrillos either. 

    We also found an awesome new invesdigadora--N-. She is the daughter of a Menos Activo, and went to a few bautismos with the hermanas before. I think she never progressed because she works in Capital (Misiòn Norte) and spends all of her time there--but now she is living above the house of her mamà for this mez de enero por vacaciones! She is super prepared, and we are going to return to talk with her mom tonight, and hopefully also her dad (Catolico) and her, and her novio! 

    Weekly Challenge: Study Chapter 2 in Preach My Gospel and pick one or two ways to apply the suggestions to your personal scripture study! 

    Con calor, 

Hermana :Durfee 

Jan. 5, 2015 Happiness is eating a taco, preaching the gospel, and going to the temple!

Christmas dinner

Jan. 5, 2015

Querido Familia y Amigos,

 

This week has been the best week EVER!

 

First, we went to the temple on Tuesday. And it was literally the best thing in the world. We didn´t have to worry about the time or stress about the things that we had to do afterwards. And it was my first session in Spanish, so that helped me to focus more. It was so cool to be all together in the temple as a mission. 

Also this week, the temperature was a lot cooler! And although it was still really sunny, there was a nice cool wind. }

On the bus  to the Temple

We ate tacos Wednesday night to celebrate New Years Eve! And they were delicious!! (Becuase 1-the meat is different, 2- they were prepared by a mexicana, and 3- it´s something different from what we eat all the time). 

We prayed for miracles every day, and we have really seen a ton. We found a new family to teach (Flia A-) that lives close to another of our investigadoras. Their neice was a reference from her. And so we went and talked to them, and they let us sit with them outside and we got to know them and shared about the Plan of Salvation. We have another new investigator-- a copastor of an evangelico? church, named DG-.He came out and was talking and talking and talking. And saying things like "I´m going to ask you a question, but I just want you to think about it. ¿Porque no hablas sobre el Espíritu Santo? (Why don´t you talk about the Holy Ghost if you talk about God and Jesus Christ)." And then he kept talking and talking, so I knew that it would end up like last week where he talked a bounch and said a prayer and left. And I remembered a scripture that says that we are here to preach, not to be taught. So I interrupted him and asked him if he had read the Restoration pamphlet that we left--which he hadn´t--and talked about how it talks about the Holy Ghost and how we can recieve answers from prayers through him. And we shared with him about Joseph Smith´s vision, etc. and he actually listened. So we´ll see what happens with that. We had another investigator that kept talking about cualquier cosa, and we were really great about applying it and getting back on track this week!



We celebrated New Years with a taco dinner

Da- y La- two grandmas, came to church!!!

And so that is why I am happy this week! 

Love you all!! Hermana Durfee

P.S. Writing in English is really hard now. Ex: Week=Wekk, were=where, etc. 

 

 

 

Dec. 29, 2014 this little sister wishes you a Feliz Verano! (Happy summer!)

Dec. 29, 2014
Querido Familiy y Amigos,

 



A family in my ward

I have more than 62 mosquito bites! I think I need to buy a little thing of repellant that I can bring with me and reapply in the afternoon after I sweat off everything I put on in the morning. It is hot! Today it is 33 C (91F), tommorrow will be 36 C (96 F)! And it is HUMID. Hna G- and I decided that maybe we can´t go outside, because it will break the rule about no swimming ;). Or we can pray that we will have citas (appointments) all day long. It worked yesterday! Yesterday we prayed that we didn´t have any citas, so we prayed that we would find people to talk with who would invite us into their house. After lunch, we went to the house of one of our investigators, C-, who we taught outside the first time. She was going to bring chairs outside again, but instead invited us into the house where she had a huge fan. We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation with her and her son D-. C- doesn´t know how to read, so D- is going to read the Book of Mormon to her! After this it wasn´t as hot, and the rest of the people we talked to were in the shade. So from this I have a testimony that prayer works when you work!

A family in my ward

We had an amazing Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with the Familia B- on Friday! We taught Plan of Salvation using Kickball. First base was the premortal existence, and they had to kick the ball and run to second base (earth) where they had to do 5 jumping jacks (because we have to work in this life), and then they had to run to third base (spirit world) and wait for the whole family to get there. From there they had to run all together as a family to home (Celestial Kingdom). It was super fun, and it was a really great way to help all of the kids understand it better too. D-, L- , and A- are going to get baptized on 7 Febrero! 

 

A family in my ward

The first Christmas in Argentina: honestly, it didn´t feel exactly like Christmas, but maybe that´s a good thing. Christmas Eve we had permision to eat dinner at a members house and be out until 10:30 if they drove us home. We ate dinner with the Familia W- and the Élderes. I think we ate tongue, but I´m not sure. But it was super delicious. 12-1am everyone and their dog celebrated the coming of Christmas with fireworks ("fuegos artificiales"), and we celebrated it by wishing they would stop so we could sleep. :) 

part of my zone with our Ramos Mejiera shirts
 

 

Christmas luckily was a Thursday, so we had weekly planning and lunch in our pension. So we didn´t leave until 3--which was probably a good thing for safety and to be realistic--because everybody was sleeping until the tarde. We had a lesson with some recent converts, and went and visited a Menos Activo, AH-, in her garden and ate pan dulce. It was super great, because she has never let us pass before, we always talked to her outside her gate. We are gaining more confidence with her, so it was great to get to talk to her in her garden--except that there was water and mud and 10,000 mosquiteos, and they really love my blood. I had about 50 mosiquito bites after this visit, and I have been collecting them since then. :D Anyway, we almost committed her to come to church with us on Sunday. We passed by on Saturday to confirm it, and she had some problems with blood pressure or something and wasn´t feeling very good. So when we passed by on Sunday she didn´t come out. But, we are not giving up hope! We have a ton of faith that she is going to return, and so we are going to visit her some more this week to bring her to church with us on Sunday! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! 

Love you all tons!

Hermana :Durfee

Dec. 22, 2014 Feliz Navidad!

Hermana Medeyro y yo con nuestros nueovos vestidos!

Dec. 22, 2014
Queirido Familia y Amigos
                                                         
En este momento de Navidad, quiero agradecer a los muchos personas que me ayudaron a venir en la misión. Gracias a los muchos maestros en la iglesia, mis amigos y más importante, mi familia por todo su apoyo y amor. ¡Gracias por sus buenas ejemplos por mi y por sus testimonios! Estoy muy agradecido por tener la oportunidad de servir mi Señor este Navidad y para buscar sus ovejas, ¡mis hermanos acá en Argentina! Se que es un gran privilegio y que todo es posible con su ayuda; que voy a ver milagros cada día y que voy a recibir la ayuda de muchos personas--los dos los que puedo ver y también de los que no puedo ver.

 

Google translation: At this time of Christmas , I want to thank the many people who helped me to come in the mission. Thanks to the many teachers in the church , my friends and most importantly, my family for their support and love. Thanks for your good examples for me and for their testimonies ! I am grateful for the opportunity to serve my Lord this Christmas and to find his sheep ,my brothers here in Argentina ! It is a great privilege and that anything is possible with your help ; I'll see miracles every day and you'll be getting the help of many people - both those who you can see and those who you can not.

If you haven´t watched Él es la Dádiva (He is the Gift) yet, please do it! And if you have watched it, please watch it again! It has such a great message about the true meaning of Christmas, and who and what Christ is for us. 

christmas.mormon.org or to watch it in español: navidad.mormon.org

My new companion, Hermana Gillen

We had transfers and pday navideño en Miércoles. I recieved a new companñera! Se llama Hna G-. She is from México, abd is super adorable. She is also the Hermana Líder Entrenadora. We are working hard to find lots of new investigators and to help the investigators that we do have to progress. She has 13 meses en la misión, and has been in Campo the whole time--using bicis (bikes). So now she is trying to acostumbrarse a caminando--pobrecita. But she is a very good sport about everything and very positive. :)

L-, A-, y D- accepted fechas bautismal for 7 Febrero! They are the sons and husband of E- a recent convert. Their whole family had all the lessons earlier this year and were going to get baptized, but L and D couldn´t keep the Sabbath Day Holy for a Fútbol contract L had for Sundays. But now his contract has ended, so they can come back to church and can get baptized! The WHOLE family came to church on Sunday! ¡Este familia son super capos!

 

The makeup of our mission
 

On Friday the ward had their Cena de Fin de Año. It was a night full of miracles. There were several investigators there--DyE y their familia, and some of the investigators of the Élderes. There were also a lot of Menos Activos. One miracle that we saw: A couple weeks ago Hna M- and I passed by A-´s house (Menos Activo) and invited her to the dinner. She said maybe. Friday night Hna G- and I were trying to go to an investigator´s house, but ended up going one street over--the street where A- lives. A- is elderly and never lets anyone in her house, and never comes outside when we clap. We can only talk to her if she is alreadly outside in her garden or if we see her in the street. Bueno, A- was outside in her garden, so we stopped to talk to her and invited her to the dinner in 1 hour and she said she would come! We came back in an hour to buscarle, and while we were waiting for the colectivo, she said that it was a miracle that she was coming with us, and that she didn´t really know why she was coming. A ton of people were super excited to see her at church. I know that the Lord is using me--with my strengths and with my weaknesses-- to bless the lives of mis hermanos acá! It is super incredible para verlo! 

¡Les amo a todos! Se que vive mi Señor y que tenemos que tener nuestro enfoque en Él este Navidad. Se que por medio de Él todo es posible. Por medio de Él recibimos más bendiciones que sabemos es posible.   (Google translation:  I love you all! I know that my Redeemer lives , and we have to keep our focus on Him this Christmas. I know that through Him all things are possible . Through Him we receive more blessings we know is possible)
 

 

¡Feliz Navidad! ¡Recuerden la Dádiva!

Muchisimo Amor,

Hermana Durfee <3

Dec. 15, 2014 Christmas = Cristo mas

Querido Familia y Amigos,                                                                     Dec. 15, 2014

 

    Well, another transfer has come to a close. Traslados (transfers) are on Wednesday, and we find out tomorrow who has changes! Presidente told Hermana M- that he felt that she does a good job training, so she might be training again. There are 14 new Hermanas! Also, Pday Navideño is on Wedenesday! Which means that the whole mission is coming to celebrate Christmas together! I don´t know exactly what we are doing, but from what Hermana Robertson told me, we are going to have lunch all together, have some fun things--maybe singing carols? And we are going to have a spiritual program in the evening with narration and pictures and a choir. I´m playing the piano for it. 

    Also, there are going to be 2 new missions in Argentina in July! Which means that we are losing 2 zones to the Buenos Aires South Mission. And there might be other changes too, but for now that´s all we know. 

  Saturday was my four months mark. Hermana M- made me breakfast and gave me a pretty clippy thing for my hair. :) 

        The Lord works in mysterious ways. Last night we were walking, and there was a group of chicos up ahead, so we stopped to contact a house. An elderly woman, C-, came out and we asked if we could sing her a Christmas song, and she let us in. She told us that she didn´t know very much about Jesucristo, so we started to explain. We shared that God is her Heavenly Father and asked if she could feel His love and if she believed it. She shared with us about the death of her son, five years ago, and the pain that she still felt for this. We shared about eternal families and about life after death. There was a great peace in the room. C- said that she felt good, and that we could returen to explain about this more. We are going back tomorrow to teach the rest of the Plan of Salvation. :)

    Weekly Challenge: Study about Christ in the scriptures! Pick a Christ-like attribute you want to develop, and look for the ways that Christ demonstrates it. Share your findings and your testimony about Christ with a friend, family member, acquaintance, etc. Spread the Christmas love! 

 

    Yo sé que vive mi Señor. Sé que por medio de Jesucristo todo es posible. Él sufrió por nosotros. Él sabe exactamente que estamos pasando por. Vamos a superar cada situación difícil por él. Y podemos recibir su ayuda en cada momento para ayudarnos mejorar y llevar a ser las personas que él quiere. Sé que es verdad, y que este es la iglesia verdadera de Jesucristo. Su evangelio es simple, pero puede bendecir a nuestras vidas más que podemos imaginar. 

Google translate:  I know that my Redeemer lives . I know that through Jesus Christ everything is possible. He suffered for us. He knows exactly what we are going through . We will overcome every difficult situation for him . And we can get your support at all times to help improve and lead to being the people he wants. I know it's true, and that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. His gospel is simple, but can bless our lives more than we can imagine.

 

 Con muchisimo amor <3

Hermana Durfee

 

Dec. 8, 2014 this little sister is getting ready for Navideno

Dec. 8, 2014

I am teaching Hermana M- music! She told me about two days ago that she wants to learn piano. Well, we probably only have one week left together. So I started teaching her how to count the rythms today with ta-ta-ti-ti-tuu. :) It made the 40 minute colectivo ride a lot more fun and it went a lot faster! When we get home I´m going to make her start singing hymns with ta-titi-tu instead of the words. :)

 

Actividad de Zona de Ramos Mejía

Speaking of which, transfers are in one week!!! Hna M- and I think that she is going (she´s been in Atalya B for three transfers) and that I will be staying here. We are going to have Pday Navideño this day, and ALL of the missionaries in our mission are going to come. We are going to have games and sing songs and eat lunch and have a fun part. In the evening we are going to have a SUPER AWESOME program focused on the life of Christ and Christ like attributes. There are going to be two narrators, and in between there are going to be songs. There is a slideshow with pictures that go with the words behind it. It´s going to be so amazing!!! An hermana that is a story teller wrote the script, and it is super beautiful and perfect. I am helping with playing the piano, so we´ve been in Ramos all week practicing--which makes it a little hard to do the work. Hermana Robertson says she feels bad pulling the missionaries out of the field for so long, but really this program is going to change missions! So it has to be really good. (Also, it´s great since we are going to use the same program for the Fin de Año Cena del Barrio (End of Year dinner in the ward), with some changes to the words and the music). 

Completamenta mojados!  Super divertidos! 
(Otro Sabado despues de actividad en San Justo)

And the best news of the week is that ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡C- y R- came to church yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are an elderly evangelico couple that we found clapping doors. We went back later, and C- let us in and we got to know them and had a lesson with them. We left them a Libro de Mormón and when we went back, R- had already read up to where Joseph Smith went to get the plates. Now she is in First Nephi. She was excited to find out that Nephi is a descendent of Joseph. She seemed to really like church, and told us to call her Monday night to set up an appointment to go and answer all of their questions etc. C- also has a big smoking problem, but wants to stop. We are going to start working on that this week and talk about how he needs to read the LDM to help him quit (he has not started reading todadvía.) They have a baptismal date for 27 Diciembre! 

 

Divisiones

Atalya definitely isn´t the most tranquil place on earth, but it also isn´t downtown city like Ramos. It´s a suburb--kind of like Hillsboro, but a lot more jammed together with people living behind and around and on top of all the other people. And there is very little green space--although there are a lot of trees (but not like Oregon). If we have to teach someone outside on the street then it´s a little hectic sometimes, and distracting. But usually if we can go in their house, we can eliminate distractions--like the tv--and it´s good. 

Christmas isn´t a huge deal here. It´s time to get together and eat food as a family, or have a fiesta, or a baila. But it´s nothing like in the states. Also, it doesn´t really feel like Christmas since it´s super hot. The other day it got up to 33 degrees. 

Mucho Amor!

Hermana Durfee :D

Dec. 1, 2014 El es la Dadiva!

¡Hola Familia y Amigos!                                                                                Dec 1, 2014

This week has been awesome, as usual. On Friday we started the new church initiative: He is the Gift. We have already found 3 new investigators using this! They are super awesome. (We found 4 other new investigators this week, which makes a total of 7! Woohoo!) Anyway, this is an amazing time of year to remember Jesucristo and all that He has done for us! We are sharing messages about Christ with the people and helping them to feel of His importance and feel of His love in this time of the year. :D The sad thing is that here Christmas is not a huge deal like in the states. It`s just another party day and they might have a fiesta or baila or something, but it`s nothing like at home. But, we are going to change that by bringing Christ to the people! The church has an AMAZING new video (He is the Gift). Check out christmas.mormon.org to see it and to find out more about how to DISCOVER, EMBRACE, and SHARE the gift! Also December 7 the church is going to buy the coverpage and all of the adds on facebook and over 2 million people are going to see a 30 second version of the 2 minute movie! Help spread the word and bring The Gift to your friends and family!
 WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Check out the website, share it on FB-Twitter-whatever you are using. Bring up Christ in conversations with your friends. Share the video with them! Read the account in the Book of Mormon of Christ`s birth with the people you love--your friends and family. Give away a Book of Mormon with your testimony of Christ in it! Invite others to Discover, Embrace, and Share the gift!

We got COMPLETELY soaked on Saturday and it was glorious! We had an activity in San Justo helping the Hermanas there contact, find menos activos, contact antiguos investigadores, etc. Luckily we were in the capilla when it started to pour, and we left when it cleared up a little. But it started raining again when we were in the collectivo. It was literally a river--at least 3 feet dee--in a few of the streets we drove down. At one point water started coming in the collectivo! When we got off we started to run, but we were already completely soaked, so we just walked and enjoyed it. It was super fun! I have pics, but this computer doesn`t want to let me upload them, so I`ll send them next week.

Thanks to la Familia Wilkinson for their letter! Also to Grandma Durfee and to Sterling! We went to the offices today for a Zone Activity (we played ultimate frisbee and fùtbol), so I got my mail! Thanks for all of the support and love!

Mucho amor y besitos!

Hermana Durfee

P.S. You know Elder Lyman from our stake? He`s in my Zone now!

Nov. 24, 2014 Milagros!

Querido familia y amigos,                                                                                 Nov. 24, 2014

This week we have not had a ton of time, but with the time we did have we have seen amazing miracles! We had to go to Ramos almost every day this week--for pday to write our families, Martes for District Meeting, Miércoloes for Zone Conference, and Jueves to drop off Hna M-t so she could leave to go to the airport! (So that´s why we didn´t ahve a ton of time). 

 

On Monday we found S- y her daughter L- while trying to contact a reference. (It turns out that the reference is her neighbor). S- attended church and studied with the missionaries when she was 12-13, but then her parents made her stop. We introduced ourselves as representatives of Christ, and she said that she knew and told us about her background and invited us in to talk. We taught her the first lesson about the restoration. We asked her what she knew about prophets, and her first response was that Joseph Smith was a prophet! She has a baptismal date for 13 Dic. She recognized the miracle it was that we found her, because usually she doesn´t come home from work until later, but this day she got home about 5 minutes before we went to her house. L- came home as we were ending the lesson, and she is super friendly and loving! Usually the youth here are a bit rebellious, but she was very receptive to our message. We returned later in the week and taught her about prayer, and she was excited to attend church with her mom on Sunday. They ended up not attending because they went to a different place Saturday night, but we know that they are going to progress well towards baptism!

Yesterday we found a woman named C- who is SUPER open. She has traveled a lot, and knows English and German, so it was really fun to teach her and get to listen to her talk in English a little. (It´s weird, but I really don´t like talking in English now. Especially praying in English. It´s better to listen to Latinos speak it with an accent.) We taught her about the Book of Mormon, and how she could read it and pray to know if it was true. She said that there was no way she would know if it was true or not without reading, and so obviously, she has to read it. She told us a little bit about her schedule, and so really she is busy and doesn´t have a lot of time, but I feel that she will read it. Hna M-o and I both felt that if she reads it, she will recieve an answer and will be converted. And she will be a great help to the church, because she will bring all of her friends and family with her!

 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE! Read a conference talk from this last conference. Take notes about how you feel and the thoughts that come to your mind. Create a plan to apply what you learn throughout the week. Share your experience with a friend or family member!

News:

-In our Zone Conference on Wednesday, we got all new pots, cups, silverware, etc! We are super happy about this! They are working on updating the conditions of the pensions etc. (I guess some of them the missionaries have lived there for 30 years!)

-We got a new District Leader on Thursday. Elder M- called us to tell us that they had a "Flash"and that he was leaving (He´s now a Zone Leader in Castelar). Our new Líder de Distrito is Elder V-. 

-The church is going to do an AMAZING thing this Christmas (maybe you´ve already heard about it???) They are going to ahve a super cool focus on Christ with a video "He is the Gift," and website (christmas.mormon.org). It´s going to start Nov 28 (this Thursday!). We are going to have passalong cards for this and be teaching people specifically about Christ all of December. Also, the church is putting a ton of advertisments in NYC and on Dec 7 they are buying all of the ads on Youtube for this video! Check it out and share it with your friends!!!

¡Mucho amor por todos!

Hermana Durfee

Nov. 17, 2014 Milagros son de fe y flia!

¡Hola amigos y flia!                                                                               Nov. 17, 2014

Nuestro distrito for Elder Augustin's bday

We had the GREATEST meeting with Elder Christofferson! His message was about the Atonement and we discussed what it means to preach repentance. The Spirit was amazing, and his message was really clear. He left his apostolic blessing on us and it was AMAZING! One thing he told us is that he always thought that the second coming would happen when the world was wicked enough. But really, the world is alread wicked enough. The only thing lacking is a group of saints worthy enough, big enough, dedicated enough, etc. to prepare the way for the Lord. What will YOU do today and every day to be a part of this group and to help add to its numbers?

In other news, we are now a trio! Hermana M--t will be with us until she goes home on Thursday. She is amazing and I am learning a ton from her. I´m really grateful for the opportunity to work with her. And it´s great for Hna M-o too, because she can practice her English more with her. :)

Hermanas Medeyro y Zomora came to help for the day

R--l came to church with her son K (he has 8 years!) yesterday! It was the primary program, so I was playing the piano. And Hna M-o helped with holding the poster and getting the kids to sing louder--she worked with the primary before her mission, and she really loves kids. She is really great with them! Hna M--t sat with R--l. We have primary first hour, and so when they were practicing all the other kids had a part, but K didn't. He asked for a part, but his mom didn't know about it. So when he went up to say his part she was SUPER happy! He did a really great job! And he told his mom that he wants to have a white shirt and tie for next week! For sure they are going to get baptized! R--l is really spiritual, and has a baptismal date for 20 Diciembre. In our lesson with her on Friday she shared with us about some of her spiritual experiences. She´s amazing! 

 

Con mucho amor!

Hermana Durfee <3

November 10, 2014 Con fe todo es posible

¡Hola familia y amigos!                                                                        Nov. 10, 2014
 

 

     First of all, if you ever get the chance to eat Cow Intestine...don´t. Ok, so it wasn´t super super terrible, but the consistency is really squishy and gross. Luckily, this was (hopefully) a rare occasion. Por lo menos, it was the first time in almost two months that we ate something really weird like that. And the family is Bolivian and they eat weird things like this in Bolivia...so...yeah. 

las hermanas en nuestra zona

    Second, WE ARE HAVING A FIRESIDE WITH ELDER CHRISTOFFERSON ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the choir I told ya´ll about a few weeks ago is going to sing for the fireside, so we are going to sit on the front row seats! (Unless they change the plans, but so far that´s the plan). We are singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in Castallano (I don´t know what the difference between Castallano and Spanish is, but the Argentines say that they speak Castallano, not Spanish). Anyways, it´s going to be a huge deal--all of the mission is coming; and we have missionaries that are working 10 hours away from the offices, so they are going to come the night before and there are a ton of plans and coordination. (And for things like this, I am really grateful that I´m not an office elder). Also, we are bussing the whole mission to the Buenos Aires North mission area for the conference. I think that the South mission and the CCM  (MTC) are coming too. 

Mi Zona despues de actividad

    Thirdly, WE FOUND NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!!!!!!!!! We found a family (R-A-B-) and taught two of the daughters and 1 granddaughter on Thursday about the Book of Mormon and how we can follow the teachings we find there to live happily with our families for eternity. They lost their father when A- was 1, and R- lost a baby, so this was really meaningful for them. We also found R-l while doing street contacts, and she let us in and was really open and gave us abrazos and besos when we gave her a Book of Mormon, so that was cool. We have a goal this week to have one or two FHE´s with families in the ward, and they are going to invite either their non-member friends, or less active families in the ward to come. It´s going to be a great opportunity for them to start learning the gospel in a non-threatening environment with their friends. 

    Weekly Challenge: Have an FHE and talk about the importance of missionary work and what you will do as a family to start sharing the gospel more with your friends and aquaintances. Use 1 Nephi 8 (see following email). Pray together and personally to know which of your friends is prepared now for the gospel! (Or better yet, have a FHE with your nonmember friends or less actives and have a lesson about a basic principle of the gospel--like prayer, reading the BOM, and attending church =) And then write me and tell me about it!!!

¡Mucho amor por todos!

Hermana Durfee

October 27, 2014 Happiness is . . .

¡Hola familia y amigos!                                                                               Oct. 27, 2014

My Zone:  The Kingdom of God in Ramos!
 

We had THE BEST lesson with N-yY- on Wednesday! We have been working with them since before I came. They are really great, and have improved a lot. But they have not been progressing the last little while, because they have not been attending the church. N- came once, and the difference in their home all week was amazing, so they both understand the difference it can have in their lives. But every week there is some difficulty that keeps them from coming: one of the babies is sick, they sleep in, they have visitors etc. So we had a lesson about guardando el Día de Reposo (Keeping the Sabbath Day). It was amazing. At the begining before we started our lesson, hey were chatting with the member we brought with us, and I was having a hard time focusing and knowing what was going on, and was feeling a little bit frustrated. So I started to pray for understanding through the Spirit and that we could know how to teach the lesson, and while I was praying I could suddenly understand everything that everyone was saying clearly. The lesson ran super smoothly and I knew what to share, when. The Spirit was super strong, and they felt it. At the beginning of the lesson they said that they would not be able to attend church on Sunday because they had a Cumpleaños all night Saturday, but by the end of the lesson they said they would come. They did not end up coming, but I know that they know the importance, not only of attending church, but of keeping the WHOLE Sabbath Day holy. 

 

Me with mi mama y mis abuelas
 

God is the happiest being alive. And He has given us the opportunity to come to this earth, to learn to be like Him, so we can be as happy as He is! He has given us the guides of the scriptures and the prophets so that we will know His words and know how to be like Him. I know that when we keep the commandments, we will be happy. God gives us commandments because He knows that they will make us happy and help us become like Him. For example, in Exodus 20, it tells how God rested on the 7th day, and so we too need to rest every 7 days. God sacrificed His Son for us, and so we too need to make sacrifices. We can know how to be happy like God as we study the life and teachings of Christ in the scriptures--the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and words of the living prophets. As we apply the things we learn with the help of the Spirit, we will have greater happiness and peace in our lives.

Random news:

-We are going to have a choir! We have our first practice today at 4. 

-We are in week six! Transfers are next week! Crazy that I have already been here for over a month. 

-We had "tramites" this week--all of the new gringas went to do paperwork and pay money to work on our visas.

-I eat like an Elder. We are constantly walking and burning calories, so we are always hungry. Lunch is the most important meal here, and we eat a TON! Two or three servings of everything. Luckily, the members in our area always feed us, and the food is tan rico! So no complaints there. :D We eat a lot of chicken, rice, salsa (not Mexican salsa. Salsa=any kind of tomato/veggies chopped up or blended), potatoes, eggs, bread, fruit, juice. They like to put mayonais on everything--dip the milanesa (best meat ever!) in it, and they have a lot of "ensaladas" that they use it in.  Definitely going to be gordita cuando vuelvo! 

¡Les amo mucho! ¡No olivden leer sus escrituras y orar cada día!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Durfee