April 27, 2015 Finding Treasures in Lobos

 

 

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                         April 27, 2015

 

Wow, what a week!

I am now the Hermana Líder Entrenadora (Sister Training Leader) of Marcos Paz! So that means I have to go to the Concilio de Líderes on Friday. Which might possibly complicate some of the citas and things we have this week. But we´ll figure it out! :D

 

On May 17 will be the dedication of the Cordova temple! And we are going to it! Woohoo!

Firstly, L- is progressing AMAZINGLY!! We taught him twice this week—Law of Chastity and Baptism and Confirmation. He is en acuerdo (how do you say that in English?) with all of the things we have taught him, and is super excited to cumplir con todo. He told us that he studies the Book of Mormon three! times a day. And he prays every day. And he has started to give us referrals on his own—for his sons and one of his nieces. He also told us that he thinks about his baptism every day, and that he really notices the difference in his life—he has so much more peace now. I notice the difference too! He changed his baptism date for 9 Mayo so that he can go to the temple dedication the week after! I am so excited for him!!

 

We have found a bunch of new people this week! We found a family that is SUPER Catholic, L- y J-. But unlike the Super Catholics that we usually find that are obsessed with virgens and walking to Lujan, and other rituals or organizational things like that, we feel like the thing they like more is the doctrine. And they told us there are things that they don´t like about their church (maybe like the actions of some of their leaders?). We shared the Restoration and the Book of Mormon with them, and they said that they will read! They said that there is no reason to be scared or closeminded. So we will see where this goes!

 

We decided we need more room to dry our clothes, so Hna P- put some string between some of the curtain rods. Hopefully it will actually work! Haha.

 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Study the talk “Beware of Pride” by Presidente Benson. (You can find it hereà https://www.lds.org/ensign/1989/05/beware-of-pride?lang=eng) Analyze your own life and the things that you can do to be more humble and to eliminate the burden of pride from your life!

 

Les amo un monton!

Hermana Durfee

April 20, 2015 this little hermana ate roast pig

Querido Familia y Amigos!                                               April 20, 2015

   This week has been CRAZY! Transfers are on Wednesday, and Hna P- and I have been praying that I will stay in Lobos. And today we got the good news that we will be working together this transfer too! Which is really good, considering that she doesn´t know the area at all since she´s only been here for two weeks (although this week she was in Ramos Mejia a ton for refuerzos meetings and tramites). So really only like a week and a half.

 

    Other crazy things and miracles that have happened:

 

-The members served us lechon last night. Lechon is basically the whole pig grilled. And kept sticking the pig head in my face, so that was lovely. The added transfer stress didn´t help, but it was delicious, so all´s well that ends well. But I just ate the normal meat, not the head. Haha. I will send pictures later.

 

-On Monday night we slept in Las Heras, and I was with 4 of my current/previous companions! Hna G-, Hna S-, Hna T-, and Hna P-. Only one of the hermanas wasn´t my comp yet, so I decided that she has to be my comp at some point in the mission. It was a ton of fun, and felt like a huge reunion.

 

-On Wednesday Hna G- came to spend Thursday and Friday with me while Hnas P- y T- went to do tramites (paperworky kinds of things to make you legal in the country). After a lesson, Presidente called us and said that Hna G- had to come to Ramos Mejia on Thursday, too, so we had to go to Las Heras to sleep. But their phones weren´t working. So we took a taxi there and then were clapping outside of their pench and calling their names until they came out to let us in, and they were super confused as to why we were there. And so I was in a trio with Hna S- and Hna C- Thursday and half of Friday.

 

-We studied the Book of Enos as a mission this week. It was soo amazing! We read and studied the whole chapter every day, and it is so cool all of the different revelations and cool things that you can pull out of it. Studying Enos this week has been AMAZING!!! I loved it! It was really cool to see all of the different ways to study the same chapter, and all of the different things I could get out of it. It has left me with the question "How do we allow the word to really penetreate our hearts?" and to have these kinds of experiences?  I have been studying and pondering that and discussing it with Hna P-. It´s been really eye-opening.

 

WEELY CHALLENGE: In Spirit of Prayer, study the whole Book of Enos in the Book of Mormon every day this week! Record your feelings, impressions, questions, etc. in your (study) journal. Apply the process of prayer that you learn from Enos in your daily life!

 

-L- is progressing amazingly! We taught him Word of Wisdom this week, and he immediately agreed with it. He even pulled out his black tea and gave it to his neighbor. And he had us write the five things we can´t tomar (drink/take?) in his Libro de Mormón. He is reading from the beginning now, and analyzing every sentence. He understands it so well, and is doing amazingly! He came to church for the third time this week, and this time he came for two hours. He said that maybe he´ll come for all three hours next week! And he came to the baptism the Elderes had this weekend so he could see how it is. I am SO excited about all of the progress we are seeing with him. It is SO awesome to see the changes in his life! The mission is seriously the BEST thing ever!

 

-The other person I am SUPER excited about is E-. She has been menos activa for several years. Last week was the first Sunday she came back to church. This week she was already waiting there when we got there, talked and interacted with people well, etc. We went to visit her this week, and she is SO amazing! She is physically weak, but so spiritually strong! She has so much faith and trust in the Lord, and she has and is going to work so many miracles with the people around her! We are going to start working to get her to the temple!

 

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only TRUE church of Christ! I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that through Him all things are possible. And through living His gospel we are, have been, and will be the happiest possible. We will still have problems, challenges, and difficulties. But we will always have His peace and have the assurance of a better tomorrow through Him. The gospel is simple; faith and repentance lead to baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost. Living all of these principles continually lead to eternal joy. I know this is true.

 

I love you all! Keep your lights burning bright!

Love, Hermana Durfee

 

April 13 2015 The great thing about following the Spirit . . .

Querido Familia y Amigos,                                             April 13, 2015

    The greatest thing about fall is crunchy leaves! And yellow trees! And clear skies. And it´s not so dying hot. Although that also makes it a bit colder than comfortable in the night time. Which means you either have to carry a sweater around with you all day long, or just tough it out for a couple hours and hope that you have some appointments for the nighttime.

     News number one: I have a new companion—again! Hna T- was my companion for a week, and went back to Las Heras on Wednesday. My new comp is Hna P-. They had to have another flash since they had to close an area with hermanas (Atalaya—donde you nací!) because of problems with the neighbors, and they had nowhere to go. So since Hna T- already knows Las Heras, presidente sent her back there to dirigir el area. My new comp is from Provo, Utah. She is half Mexican, but you can´t tell. But she is going to make me tacos. And she is super adorable and a great teacher. I am still madrastra (step-mom) since she is also ending her training with me. So she is getting the hang of the language. Es una capa!

     During General Conference I got an impression to go visit a Menos Activa, S-, so we went this week. This first time we went I was with Hna H-, and she wasn´t that receptive since she was attending another church. I don´t know what the difference was this time, but we asked her if she would like to come to church with us on Sunday, and she said she would come! But she said that she didn´t want anyone to talk to her or greet her; she only wanted to go and think about God and pray. Which we said was ok. And so she came on Sunday! And the really great thing is that she saludó la gente on her own, and started talking to the some of the members too! She was one of the pioneers of the branch, she got baptized five or six years ago, so she knew a couple of the people that were still there. And she felt super great. She even gave her contact info to the Relief Society President and said that she will come the RS activity on Wednesday! And asked us to bring her a new triple since her son (who is also a member) took hers when he moved out. I am super excited about her!

    We also had two other investigators in church on Sunday, L- and A-. L- set his own baptism date for 17 Mayo. He is progressing well, and is excited to get baptized! And he asked me to be at his baptism, so we are praying that Presidente won’t get any revelation that I need to change areas. Also because I LOVE Lobos! It is my favorite area ever, and we are seeing tons of progress and miracles here! And also because pobre Hna P- has no idea where we are still, and has a bunch of meetings in Ramos this week, so she won´t be in Lobos very much to learn the area. But, we will do what the Lord wants! A- is the Dad and husband of a couple conversos recien. He said that he will get baptized, but he doesn´t want to set a date. He has problems seeing, and so hasn´t been reading the Book of Mormon very much. But I know that that is going to be the key to him feeling the Spirit and feeling comfortable to get baptized. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and it really does change hearts and work miracles!!

 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Write your testimony in a Book of Mormon. Pray for an opportunity on a specific day to give the book to a friend, acquaintance, or someone you meet. Pray for the courage to give it to them and explain it. Invite them to come to church with you on Sunday to see what it´s all about! And theeeen write me about your experience and your successes!

 

You are all amazing! Thanks for all of the support and prayers, and for sharing with me the interesting things in your life and all of your missionary experiences! Keep up the great work!

Love you all!

Hermana Durfee

 

P.S. English is SUPER weird and hard to write in. I had to ask my comp how to say acquaintances because  I could not remember como se dice conocidos en ingles.

April 6, 2015 Miracles in Lobos

The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Querido Familia Y Amigos,                                                    April 6, 2015

So the first great thing about this week was that we got to watch (most of) General Conference! (The internet went out in all of Lobos Saturday afternoon, so we didn´t get to watch it.) But what we did see was amazing! I loved the focus on families and the Atonement and Christ. If you haven´t watched conference yet, or if your internet also didn´t work, or even if you did watch it, you should watch it!! Look it up on www.lds.org . My favorite talk was on Sunday afternoon by one of the 70 about how to return back to God by reading the Book of Mormon every day every day every day. And he also shared 6 steps to apply Lehi´s dream to our lives--which I LOVED! 

The second great news this week is that L- has a fecha bautismal (baptism date)!!! He is an antiguo investigtor of the other hermanas, about a year ago. He didn´t progress with them, but is progressing afull with us! He loves the things he is learning. We started mentioning baptism from day one, and giving him reading assignments from the BOM about baptism, so he had already been thinking about it. And then on Wednesday when we went and started talking about baptism, he said that he wants to get baptized on May 17, his birthday. Which I thought was super cool since he will be reborn on the day he was born! And he came to a session of conference on Sunday! We taught him about keeping the sabbath day holy last week, and he is suuuper excited to rest on the día de reposo! 

We also had another miracle this week: We were walking our bicis on a road that is contramano heading towards the church, and passed a couple of people sitting outside. One of the men, J-,  stopped us and asked us about who we were and what we do. He has studied the Bible and believes in Christ, but doesn´t have a religion (yet)! The other people were his friends who are Evangelico and Catolica, so they left, but we sat down with him and taught him lesson 1. He said that he is going to come to church next week and that he believed what we were sharing!! This was double the miracle, since the area presidency has asked us to focus on getting worthy Melchezidek Priesthood holders in the church. And he is a man. Which means that one day he will fulfill that role. Woohoo! 

 

The Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: What did you learn from Conference? What did you love? Share it with your family, church class, and at least one nonmember friend. Invite them to watch that talk with you and share your testimony of the prophets and apostles. 

Love you all!! Keep on being awesome and living worthily! 

<3 Hermana Durfee

March 30, 2015 Semana loca

South Seaside in Mar del Plata
 

Querido Familia y Amigos,                                                        March 30, 2015

What a craaaaaaazzzzzzzy week! On Monday we were rushing from an appointment to a Noche de Hogar (FHE), so we were going fast in the almost dark on a dirt road. And thne Hna H- got chased by a dog (which she is afraid of), so she put on the brakes and fell and banged up her knee. So it is still healing, but it looks a lot better now than it did. 

On Tuesday I had divisiones with Hna T- in Las Heras. They were great and in the nighttime my companion and the HLE (Sister Training Leader) came to sleep in the pench in Las Heras with us so that we could get up early Wednesday to go the the Capacitación Especial. The Meeting was SUPER great. Presidente Robertson told us about the South America South area´s new goals: 1-Significantly increase the amount of worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holders that pay tithing and fast offerings, and 2-Significantly increase the assistance in Sacrament Meeting. So have now been instructed to focus on men, and that we will find the other people that are ready for us in the way. The good news is that for once we have a ton of men investigators, and one of them is SUPER great, and I know that he will get baptized while we are here! 

On Thursday we finally found ML again! She is a converso recien, who stopped coming to church. When we would go to her house to try and visit her, her kids would come out and tell us that she didn´t want anything else to do with the church. But we felt that that was really their desire, and not hers. So we finally found her there without her kids, and she let us in and was the same as always. What happened was that she was sick before, so she wasn´t working (she´s a nurse). But since she´s gotten better, she has started working every Sunday except the first of each month so that she will have enough money to fix her house so that it is warm before it is winter. And so she will stop working Sundays in maybe a month or two. But she told us that she will come to General Conference this weekend! So that was a miracle! 

 

Friday was exciting because 1-we got a new investigator who is a man, and 2- he has some ideas that are a little bit weird. We were explaining the first vision, and then he decided that Joseph Smith saw two shiny short aliens from another planet. And then he "remembered" that Mormons come from another planet (at first he thought we were the pilgrims--haha). And then he thought that my comp was from another planet since she has white white hair and her parents have brown hair. "Where do you think your hair came from??" So I made her show him the picture of her whole extended family who also have all white hair, and then (hopefully) he believed that she really is from the states. 

On Saturday we went to the new house of L y Y. They are conversos recien of the hermanas, but they lived on the side of the Elders. So the first exciting thing is that they moved to our side! So now we can visit them more! And the second really exciting thing is that it is a HUGE super nice house. (Before they were living in a tiny, cramped, dirty house). It is out in campo and has space for a garden, I think there are fruit trees, and it would be perfect for activities for primary or young men´s (they are the presidentes of both of those). And the REEALLy great thing is that they got the house basically for free! L- builds houses, and he said that the built that house for a rich lady, and then afterwards she gave him the keys and wants him to live in it with his family. He is going to pay a "rent" every month, but really it will go towards paying off the house until it is his! And the REAAAAALLLY great thing is that they recognize this as a blessing for living the gospel! They are SO awesome! The other crazy thing is that the Assistents called us in the night and asked to talk to Hermana House, and I KNEW she was getting flashed. So we had to go today to Ramos Mejia (which took like SIX HOURS in remis to get there and back!) to bring her to her new companion. My new comp is Hna T- that was in Las Heras. This is only her second transfer, so I am finishing her training--which makes me a madrastra! (stepmother) Hna T-´s other comp is going home a little bit early to pick up her sister from her mission. 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Prepare for General Conference!! Write down questions you want answered, pray about them, study them out, listen to-watch ALL of the sessions of conference! And also remember Christ on Sunday since it will be Easter! 

 

Love you all lots! 

Hermana Durfee

March 23, 2015 Feliz Otoño!!! (Happy Fall!)

Valle de Lobos, Ushuaia, Argentina

Querido Familia y Amigos,                                                Mar 23 , 2015

Fall has FINALLY come (it was official on Saturday) and with that the COLD! I was actually really surprised since it was so suddenly cold when it was hot the day before (it was super windy all night long). I stopped sleeping with the fan and even had to get out my heavy blanket. But I am wondering if it will last, or if it is just a freak cold spell and will get hot again before it officially gets cold for winter. All of the kids are back in school, and the leaves are falling. And Lobos is still AMAZING like always! 

 

We decided that we are going to baptize Pedro, Santiago, y Juan (Peter, James, and John). We have already found Pedro and Juan--and they are golden! Now we just need to find a Santiago. My comp decided it is one of the men we always see on that street--since Pedro and Juan live about two houses apart. 

 

Kalianne---HAPPY BIRTHDAYYY!!!! Watch for something in the mail--hopefully you´ll get it before your next birthday! ;) 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Befriend a Menos Activo! (Less-inactive) Help them feel comfortable with you, the idea of going back to church, actually going back to church! There are so many people who have already made covenants, but just need a little bit of help remembering them or a little bit of prodding, or just a friend to help them feel comfortable going back to church and knowing why it´s important! 

 

Sorry the letter´s short this week, I left it until literally the last second. But I loved reading all of your letters! (My comp can testify to this as I always make lots of noises--like laughing and commenting--while I am reading my letters. She probably thinks I am crazy. She is probably right.) 

 

Love you all!!!! 

Hermana Durfee

March 16, 2015 Sigue al profeta!

Dear Familia y Amigos,                                               March 16, 2015

    Yesterday was the greatest day in church!! We finally got our Primary President--one of the recent converts (as of like 6 or 7 months). And we had like 10! kids! So we actially had real primary instead of just coloring time. :) We assigned the stuff before time, but the boy that was supposed to give the talk didn´t show up. So we skipped that this week. But we all said the 1st aricle of faith several times--we are working to help the kids memorize (or at least know) all of them. So we are starting with number one and reading it every week until we get it. We also taught them "Follow the Prophet"--the first verse about Adam. So we also taught a little bit about what a prophet is and who Adam was. And then we gave pictures of different scripture prophets to all the kids, and we all marched around the table and sang Follow the Prophet while we followed our prophets. It was pretty great. Then we read them the story of Joseph Smith in the kids´scripture reader. And THEN we gave them the things to color. Half way through the second hour, our mission presidente, Presidente Robertson walked in (the primary room is also the room with the front door). He said that we always said such great things about this branch that he wanted to come see it personally. I just wished he had come a little earlier when we were all marching around the table--haha. Then for Sacrament Meeting I had to give a talk, and so did my companion. Presidente F- (the branch president) told me about mine on Tuesday. And then he sent us a text yesterday morning--and I said "Oh, this is President calling to say that I don´t have to talk!" I went and looked at the phone and laughed and then told Hna H- that it said that she had to give a talk too, since someone had bailed. She didn´t believe me until she read it for herself. Presidente Robertson also gave a brief message, which was really good. The sacrament was also really special, since it was MA-´s first time, (he´s the 12 year old who is a recent convert and just got the priesthood). It was also D´s- first time--he is a blind man. And so MA- helped D- to know where he was going. It was really cool and reminded me a lot of the love of God and Christ for us. Two of our recent converts, L- and N- got the Melchizedek Priesthood last night!!

 

Miracles of the week: 

--M- finally listened to us! He is the marido of E-´s younger daugheter. (That means they are juntada and not married). He has never listened to us before, and never wanted to. But he was finally there at the same time that we went there. And so we invited him to sit with us, and he listened! 

--We found one of the Menos Activos we have been looking for the whole last transfer!! We always knocked his house, but he was never home. There is an old man that always sits outside ont he other end of town, and we always wave when we pass him. This time when we passed him, he said "Hola Hermanitas!" So we stopped and went back and started talking to him, and found out that it is the Menos Activo we´ve been trying to find!  He is super good, and wants to come back to church.His only obstacle is that he works all night long, and he is old, so he cannot wake up in time to make it to any of the meetings. 

--C- is an investigator who has had a hard time believing in God because her sons fight and she doesn´t understand why God would give her these afflictions, etc. So she got rid of all of her virgins and crosses and pictures of Christ and everything. And she told us that she never lets any other religion in. But she let us in. And on Tuesday we passed her in the street, so we stopped to see how she was, and she said that both of her sons had come to visit at the same time, and that they got along well and didn´t fight and everyone was happy. And she said that she had been reading the pamphlet we left, and praying like we taught her!! 

--Yesterday we had 51 people in Sacrament Meeting --Record!!! And it was AWESOME! But we have way more women than men. We need to get some more male converts so we can grow the branch better. :) 

WEEKLY CHALLENGE: Keep a miralces journal! Look for the miracles every day, record them, share them with someone else, give thanks to Heavenly Father for giving you these experiences and for helping you recognized them! 

Mucho amor!! 

Hermana Durfee <3