5 months! actually 6 since i entered the mtc later...

Dear Family,

This was a great week! I went on splits with Hermana Rosza and it was great to go to her area and see that Argentina is more than Villa Mitre I.  Her area is just on the other side of the highway and its so different than my area.  We went on splits because our companions weren't feeling well.  I had a great time because I learned so much by the way that Hermana Rosza teaches.

 

The work is going great.  We are teaching a man named Santiago (I told you about him last week). He loves the Book of Mormon and loves the things that we have been teaching him.  He really feels the peace in the church and has so much desire to be baptized.  We need to work with his girlfriend though and start teaching her.

 

As missionaries our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by having faith in Jesus Christ, in repenting, in being baptized by someone with the proper authority, by receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  With this in mind, it is also my purpose and vision to help bring this people to the temple so that they can be sealed as eternal families.

 

We are also teaching a man named Orlando.  He is reading the Book of Mormon and has really changed his approach to the Mormons from the first time we met him. We had a fantastic lesson this week with him and his parents.  After our lesson, Hermana Rosza and I felt like we should end with a song.  Music is a powerful tool and way to feel the spirit.  I love singing in our lessons because we can leave their home with a beautiful and strong spirit.

 

We are working really hard right now in finding people to teach.  We have come up with some fun ideas to talk to more people and help people come to church.  We need to contact people better as well.  We want to contact in a way that the people feel the Spirit and feel how this message of the gospel can really change their lives in the five minutes we have to contact them.  The gospel is really real and as people see how our message really applies to them they will feel the Spirit testifying to them.  This is our goal this week! Please pray for us that we may find those who are ready, specially a family. 

 

This week has been really humid and hot! I felt like I was going to die with the heat.  However, after 4 days of heat and humidity, the weather changed and now is cooled down a bit.  I had to actually use a sweater last night because it was kinda cold.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!! I hope you have a fantastic week in Arizona!! You are going to have so much fun!  Can you believe how fast the time has flown!? I have been on my mission 5 months already!! Only one more year left! the time is going by faster than I could ever have believed.  Everyone said that it did but I didn't believe it!  Not only that, but Pablo (aka Elder Zubeldia) has been out for almost 7 months!

Well, yo quiero compartir mi testimonio.  Yo se que ésta iglesia es verdadera.  Se que José Smith realmente vió a nuestro padre celestial y a Jesucristo esa mañana.  Se que nuestro Salvador vive y que El está allí para nosotros.  Se que el arrepentimiento es real y que si tenemos fe en Cristo todo es posible y podemos cambiar.  Este evangelio es un evangelio que nos ayuda a mejorar, cambiar y progresar.  Me encanta la obra y se que si oramos nuestro padre celestial va a contestar nuestras oraciones.  Tal como José Smith, nosotros también podemos tener respuestas a nuestras oraciones. 

Gracias familia por sus oraciones y por sus cartas y por su amor!! Les Quiero muchismo!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Susana Zubeldia

Castellano de Argentina...

Dear Family,

Thanks for the wonderful update.  This has been a great week for us! We have seen many miracles and have been blessed so much by the Lord.  We are teaching a man named Santiago and he has been prepared his whole life for the gospel.  Last Sunday, Hermana Pinnock and I didn't know where to go or what to do. It was 6 in the afternoon and no one was out in the streets. All of our plans had failed and so we decided to just contact in the streets.  We were in an area we hadn't planned to be in.  As we walked, this man, Santiago, stopped us and asked if we had a "folleto" (pamphlet) for him. After talking for 15 minutes he asked if we could meet with him in the church that week.  We were so excited!  After meeting with him twice this week at the church he came to church on Sunday and he loved it! He told us that he wants to get baptized and so we set a date for the 21 of December.  We also found out that his "pareja's" daughter is a less active member. This man studied 3 years to be a catholic priest but left the catholic church. He has attended many different churches and said that out of all the churches he has been to, only the Mormon Church has all the truth. I am so happy for him that he has found the Church of Jesus Christ and that we were placed in his path that Sunday afternoon. 

The Spanish is improving each day. Little by little I am learning and people are understanding me better.  I am picking up the "Castellano" accent because otherwise they don't understand me. Heavenly Father really is helping me to learn Spanish really fast. Sometimes its easier for me to speak in Spanish than in English with my companion.  

 

Congratulations Daniel on the indexing! You are an inspiration!!!

Levi, I am so glad that you have had a great week! Remember to keep up the good work.

Carlos, remember to wear your uniform each day to school. haha.

Sofia and Soraya, I am so proud of you for organizing your closet and your room! 

Pablo, I am praying for your and your investigators. remember why you choose to serve a mission.

Sarah, have fun with school, homework, dating and visiting the family when ever you want!!! I love you!

Mami, I hope you are feeling better! The best medicine is to smile and to serve someone.

Papi, good luck substituting this week in school!

Have a great time in Arizona for Thanksgiving!!!

Well, I hope you have a great week. Thank you for your prayers and for your love and for your letters. I am so grateful to be on the Lord's work here in Argentina.  I love this country, the people and of course their food.

Hermana Susana Zubeldia

View from the street in front of our apartment, last night, with a full moon.

With my companion, Hermana Pinnock

Talking with a recent convert while my companion is trying to entertain their 4 year old daughter.

The 4 year old took this picture of us :-)

Another fun week in Argentina...

Dear Familia,

This has been an interesting and fun week. I have learned a lot about myself and about the importance of having unity in a companionship.

1. The packages came!! Thank you so much family for the wonderful letters, the candy, the chocolate chips, the peanut butter and the stickers!! My companions were so excited, especially for the peanut butter!  We opened the organic peanut butter and its probably going to be gone in the next two weeks. Also, thanks for the testimonies Sofia.  I have carried your testimony with me this week and have used it in a couple of my lessons to explain the simple power of the atonement and of repentance.  As I read your testimony the spirit filled the room and touched the hearts of those we were teaching.  I am going to continue sharing it with everyone. Also, the music you sent was great! We have been listening to it all week!

2. Maria accepted a baptismal date!! Maria is Graciella's (our recent convert) mom.  She has a strong desire to be baptized to change her life around.  She has seen the happiness in Graciella's life and wants to be happy again.  She didn't come to church this week but we are still meeting with her this week.  Church yesterday was really good. We had an investigator come unexpectedly.  He is in his 80s and he talked throughout the sacrament meeting.  I think he thought he was whispering but his voice was really loud.  My companion and I were sitting on the other side of the room and when he started talking we looked at each other, then looked at our bishop who was looking at us with a smile.  It was really funny. We moved over to sit by him and he stopped talking.  It was the Primary program this Sunday. I loved the simple testimonies of the children and how much they love the gospel. Jesus said, be as the little children.  It is true. They have simple but true and pure testimonies of the gospel.

3. We had Zone conference this week. I loved it!! The assistants asked my companion and I to bring an investigator to the conference so that we could practice teaching the lessons with them to help us ask good questions and to help us improve our teaching skills.  After teaching, the assistants asked the investigators what they had learned. For example, why is church attendance important? What role did Joseph Smith have in the restoration?.  It was really helpful.  We brought Graciella and her mom. The spirit was very strong as the missionaries taught them. Graciella and Maria both had tears in their eyes.  One of the elders right before the meeting brought in a street contact he had just made and they taught her the importance of church attendance. It didn't get any more real. The thing I learned the most in the Zone Conference was that practice is essential in missionary work and that learning to be a missionary is a life long process.  As we have the faith and reach out to others and share the gospel our abilities get stronger and our testimony grows. They will feel our testimony and know that what we are saying is true. Always share your testimony with everyone. You never know who is being prepared by the Lord.

Playing by candlelight

The light is from the flash. I could barely see the keyboard.

4. I played the accordion! We were walking home one night and a lady who lives by us invited us in to hear her play music. We walked into her house and she brought out her accordion! She played the Jota, Spanish music, French music and music she had composed herself. She is 79 years old and taught herself. She also played the castañuelas for us! And it was all done by candle light!

5. I learned this week the power of Prayer.  We were having a rough day and didn't know what we needed to do to help our area move forward.  I sat on my bed and talked with Hermana Pinnock.  We didn't know what we were doing wrong or what we needed to do better. There is an Ensign article that I read that said that it might not be what we are doing wrong but what we aren't doing right.  My companion and I decided to turn to the Lord in prayer and ask for help.  The only thought that was going through my mind during the prayer was the song, "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord." I know that as we keep going and do what the Lord wants us to do He will bless our work and one day we will see the fruit of our labor, in this life or in the next.  Just like Abinadi, he bore his testimony and never saw anyone baptized. Little did he know that his testimony touched the heart of Alma.  After the death of Abinadi, Alma had a change of heart and latter baptized thousands of people. As we put our faith in the Lord, pray for help, and go where he wants us to go we will be blessed. 

I am so glad you had a fantastic week! I have learned a lot this week and had a great time doing the Lords work! Daniel, I am glad you had a great Rhapsody performance. Levi, I hope it was fun seeing Mami and Papi at your Reality Town activy for school! I remember when I did Reality Town. Sofia and Carlos congratulations on your piano performance!! Sarah, I hope you are having a great time at BYU!! Mami, I hope you are feeling better and that today is a bright day! Papi, good luck substituting this week at school! Pablo, I love you! Katie, I hope you get all your art projects done this week!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Hermana Susana Zubeldia

Week ?? I don't know what week this is.

Dear Family,
  

I am doing great. This week was a kinda slow week for teaching lessons but we did contact a lot of people and talked with many on the streets.  My companion is doing great as well.  She is learning Spanish and is hard on herself but she is doing great and has progressed a lot. She has helped me a lot especially with enjoying the mission.  She is always smiling and even though she doesn't understand a lot of what is being said she always just bears her testimony and the Spirit is brought to the lesson.  I love it!!

 

Hermanas Pinnock, me, Tokailagi, and Hawkins

Companions are a blessing.  They are always there for you, they help you when you are stuck, when you don't know what to do, they teach you, they have spiritual insights and they help you push on, stretch and grow.  I am blessed to be companions with Hermana Pinnock.

 

Funny thing that happened this week with Hermana Pinnock.  Because she is still learning Spanish she says the funniest things. One night we were having a lesson with a less active couple. She opened up the scriptures randomly and started reading what ever was marked on the page. She read 2 Nephi 9:28.  It was really funny. She started reading and I looked at her like, what? the less actives looked at me and I just smiled. She had no idea what she was reading until later that night when I told her. Haha, she is the greatest!! She just said: You think I can read Spanish, ¿no? I have no idea what I am reading!!!

Contacting on the streets

The weather is warming up here. I am getting a nice tan line on my feet and also on my neck. I am wearing sunscreen but even then, I get burned a bit.  After this summer ends I am going to be pretty tan!  

Just like Pablo said, we also see miracles here.  Everyday miracles happen in one way or another. Heavenly Father is really preparing people and puts them in your path.  And its up to us to open our mouths and talk to them.

This last week as we were walking we said "hi" to a woman. She stopped us, kissed us on the cheek and said Hi Hermanas.  I was surprised for a moment, I didn't know if she was a member, a less active or an old investigator.  She told us that her daughter was baptized Mormon 4 years ago but that she was know less active. She told us that she wanted to us come by her home to teach her and her daughter again. She said she loved the church and went to her daughters baptism. It was a day where we didn't teach any lessons, all of our plans failed and no one wanted to talk to us. Hermana Pinnock suggested that we pray and ask where we needed to be at that moment.  After the prayer we felt prompted to keep going the way we had planned.  We decided to talk to everyone on the path.  With faith we talked with all, knocked on doors and knew that there was someone who we needed to find. I know that heavenly Father will provide as we put our faith in him.

I love you all so much! Thanks for your emails and your prayers and love!!

 

Hermana Zubeldia

 

PS: Week ?? I don't know what week this is. I know that I have only 13 months left! The time flies by fast.

PPS: Here are some more pictures.

 

Zone service project. this is my district and some members. For the project we worked with the municipalidad and cleaned up some neighborhoods.

After contacting a family they gave us roses from their garden. I really like this picture of me and my companion.

Not everything is work, work, work. We can be goofy too!

 

Hermanas Silva, Janampa, me, Marín, Rozsa y Rojas.