Staying here in Tandil!!!

DEAR FAMILY!!!

Transfers!!!......I am staying another transfer here in Tandil (number 4 transfer). Sadly, my companion, Hermana Williams has gone... but, she is going to Villa Mitre, the same ward where I served!!!!!! I am so excited for her! She is going to go where I got to work for 6 months! Villa Mitre is going to be so blessed to have her there! Good luck Hermana Williams!!

My new companions name is Hermana Burgos. She is from Arequipa, Perú and has been out on the mission the exact time as me, a whole year! I am really excited to get to serve with her this transfer. We are going to see a lot of miracles. We are going to continue to work hard and to work with the members. I truly am excited for this transfer. It's going to be brand new, with new experiences and new people to meet.
  
We have been blessed to find many people who want to hear more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The last lesson that Hermana Williams and I taught together was a married couple (one was catholic and the other protestant). They are a beautiful family and want to know more. I really felt the Spirit as we taught them and I know that the Gospel is going to change their lives forever.

This week we painted part of a house of an investigator. It was a blast!! We listened to church music and painted.  Also, after contacting a person at their door, they gave us a soccer shirt (equipo RIVER), a real one! haha,  Last P-day we went to a lake and it was beautiful. (picture attached)

Happy Birthday Levi and Papi!!!

This week I have been thinking about how grateful I am for the Gospel and for the Bible and Book of Mormon. I truly believe that as we come to know that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are true our perspective of life changes. We come to know that we really are children of a Loving Heavenly Father and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is on the earth again! Its been restored. The church of Jesus Christ is on the earth again with a prophet and apostles who have the authority to seal families forever. I love this gospel. I love the book of Mormon and I love the Bible. And most of all, I love my family!!!

Have a great week!!!

Hermana Zubeldia

Pictures from the lake

Last P-day we went to a lake and I took a bunch of pictures:

Posting from Hermana Williams

Hello world!!

Haha this week has been Ah-mazing. So many little miracles! First, a woman we are teaching has been meeting with us a lot lately; and we were able to have a talk about the law of chastity. We were both really nervous about how how it would go, because we aren't good at being direct and we also wanted to move her baptism date from the  28th to two weeks later because we feel she needs more time to reach her full potential and use the atonement fully, if that makes sense. But she accepted and is still going to keep on with her decision:)

  

Second, we had the sister training leaders come do splits with us for one day and it really helped me. I was able to ask the other Hermana, Hermana Dolores, how to contact better, how to study more effectively, how to stay obedient in everything, and also how to be more confident. Her answers of course are just her opinion but they really helped me and I was able to overcome some fear and learn a ton.

  

Third, after those hermanas left, Hermana Zubeldia and I continued working the next day together and we put in practice the things we learned. We started overcoming our fears and contacting more people in the street instead of just knocking doors. And we found some really great people!! Oh, I felt the spirit so strong and I was just super happy. I just felt so much more stronger and like a missionary of the Lord. So the people we found, Leandra and Rodrigo (different one), are going to be meeting with us this week. Pray that we can help them come to Christ!

  

Fourth, we were knocking doors one day and happened to run into a less active member  that we had never heard of before. She is going through some tough times right now but I know we can help her come back to church and feel the love of God and Christ in her life again. We really have a lot of hope for her and are going to give her our all!

 

Fifth, while we were walking, more like running, to an appointment we ran into the other Rodrigo from a while back and so we were like "hey!! How's it going!" and he told us he was doing great and that he is READING THE BOOK OF MORMON...woooo! We were so shocked and he said he really liked it. He didn't want to come to church with us because he says he still goes to his church but I KNOW that with him reading this book, that he will gain a strong testimony of this gospel and will receive an answer that these things are true!!

  

There are so many more but I have to go:/ I KNOW  that this is the Lord´s work and am soo thankful to be here serving His children and seeing these miracles. What an experience it is and how amazing it is to know that it will bless me forever and my future family forever:)

Love

Hermana Williams

 

Pictures of our Zone in Tandil:

 

 

The finals weeks here in Tandil

Dear Family,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMI!!! Felíz Cumpleaños!! I hope you had a great birthday and that you enjoyed every moment of it... including the yummy cake that Sofía and Soraya made for you! Looking at the picture of the cake made me hungry!  

  

This week was my 11th month mark on the mission!!!! In just 6 months I will be home! I can't believe that the mission is going by so fast! I feel like I just started the mission and I am still having to learn so much. Literally, the days go by slowly but the weeks are going by so fast. I want to make the most of the time I have left on the mission. I could stay on the mission for another year if I was asked to!

  

Right now in the cybercafé I am listening to a song on the speakers from imagine dragons (it's time to begin..)... reminds me of when I was in Jerusalem!!!

So, Mami asked me to describe a typical day as a missionary here in Argentina. Well, its just like Pablo and Sarah's typical day because we do the same thing! 

  

I wake up at 6:30 in the morning with the black sky and the stars still shining. I don't want to get out of bed because its really cold and the windows are fogged up because of our breathing! My companion and I try to exercise and then we try to get all 4 sisters to shower in an hour (almost never happens). We study from 8 to 9 personally. We then study as a companionship from 9 to 10 (practicing for our lessons, sharing what we learned in personal study, and also sharing some jokes here and there). From 10 to 10:30 we have Spanish language study and then at 10:30 we head out for the day.  Bundled up in 3 sweaters, my jacket, and a scarf, we contact until about 12:30 when start to head to lunch with a member!!

 

I made my own real spaghetti sauce!

After sharing a delicious meal (either pasta: ravioli, spaghetti, gnocchi, fettuccine, or meat of some kind) we head out again and teach the rest of the day. We knock on doors, pass by old contacts, visit less actives, talk to people on the streets and teach investigators. Around 6 pm the sun is down and everyone is inside their houses because its cold. During the day my companion and I tell stories, share spiritual thoughts, are followed by dogs as we go form one appointment to another.

 

We head home at 9 pm, plan for the next day and then go to bed by 10:30 pm.  Each day is so much fun and each day I end up at home exhausted yet happy that we tried our best. I love each and every day in the field. I love getting to know people, talking to them and sharing my testimony. Each moment with my companion is a treat because we just laugh all day! 

This week we had Refuerzos in our Rama. We had "divisiones" with the Sister Training leaders (hermanas entrendadores) and found a lot of people to teach!

This week my companion and I were talking about the purpose of life. There is a phrase that says, YOLO, You only live once!!!  This is true. We only have one life here on earth and we only have one chance. Many people believe that because we only live once you should do what you want and have fun, that its okay to sin a little bit and, oh well, we are going to die anyway.  This is a false way of thinking. It's because we only live once that why mess it up? The phrase is YOLO, you only live once, do it right and choose the right!! Each day is full of decisions. Live each day with no regrets. Do what is right and follow the commandments so that when we return with our Heavenly Father again we can stand before him with no regret and clean of sin so that we may have eternal life. 

I love you all so much!! have a great week!!!

Hermana Zubeldia

 

Even inside our apartment we are bundled up. It is so cold!

There is lots of Zubeldias in Tandil

And Basque stores too.

This is our study table.

And our room. Yes, we keep it clean all the time :-)

 

 

Email from la Hermana Williams

Buen Lunes:)

I feel like it has been an eternity since I have last written but it has only been one week! I'll start with the somewhat bad news first, that Rocío has told us that she doesn't want to keep trying for the 21st as her baptismal date, that she doesnt feel ready. BUT we are not going to give up on her. She is so ready to make this step and we want it so bad for her.

  

And I have, I guess you could say, a new point of view about the missionary work. I realized through a little bit of trials that really the best way to go about missionary work is to have yourself immersed in the gospel. Now that seems a little obvious but recently I was feeling like I wasn't really teaching the people or like my words didn't have meaning and it came to me that its because most of the time I rely on my own words to teach. But what I should do, and what we all should do is teach others by the words of the prophets who have been called of God. In other words: teach by the scriptures!! More specifically the Book of Mormon. Also, it is so important to help others realized the need for the Restoration and the role of the prophet Joseph Smith in this time and in the Book of Mormon. A testimony of these things and of God and His son, Jesus Christ will create a true conversion. So we are going to be focusing on that and killing the people with love and scriptures;)

We had the opportunity to have dinner with this family that loooves us but never has time to meet with us. We ended up talking about missions and our religion and now she is a new investigator! We may not have been able to teach her a lesson but my companion and I just have a really good feeling about them and are hoping that through teaching them of God and Christ by the words of the scriptures and our testimonies, they can come to the gospel and find the true, eternal happiness:)

One really cool experience we had was walking down the street and there was a young woman walking behind us and we had to stop to look at the map for something when she passed us by. A few minutes passed and Hermana Zubeldia asked me what I thought of that girl then said she though we should talk to her. Well, we had lost her, so there was no way to talk to her. haha. But almost 20 minutes later there was a girl in the street waiting for a bus and we started talking to her. (I didnt know till later that it was the same person!!) We got her address and are going to visit her this week:) Just realizing that we have tiny miracles all the time really strengthens my faith and helps me feel more my Savior's and Father's love for me.

Last thing is our trip to Olavarria yesterday as a branch. They are planning in combining two cities into a Stake! So we traveled there with everyone and one thing that one of the Area Seventy said somehting that struck me. He talked about how they have a few missionaries that left from the ward and to think about how we would want them to be treated or if they had their son or daughter on the mission and how they would want them to be treated. This is how we must treat the missionaries in our wards or branches. That really the work of a member is so important to the missionary work. That the missionaries are here to teach and that in successful missions, the members are doing the finding and the missionaries teach. This isn't to tell the members that if they don't have people to teach they arent doing their job.

  

But really, for example, our mission president and his wife are such an example to us of "talk to everyone". They are always sharing the Gospel and helping the missionary work. THIS is what we are called to do as part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Preach to all the word of the Lord. That together we need to put into march the mechanism of faith and invite our friends, family, all to come to the gospel and not fear it! Because we will be surprised how many people come to have a testimony because of our invitations. 

   

There are people looking for the truth, they just don't know where to find it. BE that light that they are looking for, and God will be with you in what you need to do and say.

LOVE you all and I LOVE this work!

   

Hermana Williams

Tandil is growing!

Dear Family,

Happy Fathers day Papi!! I hope you enjoyed it! You are the best dad ever!!  Thank you for everything Papi!!

What a fantastic week here in Tandil. We have been having a lot of work to do. We haven't been finding that many people but we sure are busy helping the people we have gain a testimony slowly but surely. We haven't been able to find them and teach them but they told us they are reading the Book of Mormon. My companion and I are trying a lot harder to use the Book of Mormon as the source of testimonies.  WE are trying to do this because if they have a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true, then they will know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ, and then they will understand the why behind everything else we teach.  

Olavarría is just as cold as Tandil.

The highlight of the week was that we went to Olvarría! It is a city 1-1/2 hour away from Tandil.  The District of Tandil and the District of Olvarría were merged into one District for the two cities.  We now have a new District President and new leaders.  Its going to be a wonderful step in the history of the church here. The work is definitely hastening and moving forward. President Parreño and la Hermana Parreño presided and gave wonderful addresses.  Also, an area seventy came.  There were tons of people at the meeting.

  

Me, Rocío, Hnas. Zurita, Williams and Cruz

We were given permission to travel with the District in the "collectivo" (buses) to Olavarría. And guess what? Rocío, our investigator, came too!! Her 2nd cousin, who is a member, drove her and her sister to Olvarría!! She was able to meet with Presidente and Hermana Parreño! She liked the meeting a lot. 

So, if you didn't know, the world cup started this week! Yep, this means that during the games no one is on the streets!! Yesterday, Argentina played ( I think they won because the cars started honking around 9 pm) and there was no one, absolutely no one outside!!! Mexico played, Spain played and Argentina played this week, so I guess that Pablo, Sarah and I were in the same boat! jaja! Each day we know who is playing and at what time so that we can talk to the people about the mundial and then talk about the church!!

We also had "refuerzos" this week in Rama 4. We all worked in Rama 4 (Branch 4) and helped them find people! We found a lot of great people for them. Miracles happen when we work together in this work and help others come unto Christ. 

And don't worry, I am eating well... too well actually! We have lunch everyday with members and they always feed us really good. We also had lunch with an investigator and her family! Their daughter just loves us!!! She said she wants to be a missionary when she grows up!!  

I love being a missionary. I love the work and I love learning about the gospel.  Truly, the work is hastening and moving forward really fast. Each day there are more people who are ready to hear the gospel, we just need to find them. The world is changing, standards are dropping, the youth are losing their way and people are trying to live life by themselves. The world is in confusion, wars are starting and people are lost.

  

This week while I was reading in Alma I read a verse in the war chapters that struck to me. In Alma 48 the lamanites (Amalickiah) and the nephites (Moroni) are in battle. And even during the battle Helaman and his brothers kept sharing the gospel (verse 19).  Even in the darkening world we can still have hope that the gospel will never stop and will only keep growing. We are on the winning team with the Lord at command.

   

I hope that you all remember that this is the work of Salvation, the work of helping the children of God return to His presence. Smile to someone today and give them a compliment and share with them this wonderful message. A smile can really change the world (Spiritually Minded is Life Eternal)! :)

I love you all so very much!!!

Hermana Susana Zubeldia

 

Hermana Cruz, Hermana Zurita and me.

 

Posting from Hermana Williams

Heyyyooo ALL!

Dressed in layers. LOTS of layers. It is COLD here.

Just to start out it has been FREEZING here lately:P And also this week I was having a hard time feeling my self importance BUT after talking to my companion and expressing my concerns I really felt better. I realized that I'm not the only one to feel this way and that even though I'm on my mission, that those kind of feelings are still going to happen. That we need to rely completely on the Lord and have faith in EVERYthing that we do. Because only through Christ's atonement can we find true happiness; He suffered everything that we have to go through in this life so he knows how to succor the people. And that only through true faith in every footstep and growing closer to our Lord and also our Father in Heaven can we receive even more strength. A strength that is not known to man! Can you imagine having that strength? We have that potential. So my invitation is for all to pray harder, be more positive, give more service, really develop those Christlike attributes and strengthen your relationship with God the Father and His son. Really use the Atonement of Jesus Christ in your lives!

I don't really have a lot to write about investigators except that Rocio's date for baptism has changed to the 21st!! because we are having a meeting in the city Olavarría this Sunday and can't have baptisms. We are trying so hard to find new people and to help the people we already have to keep progressing. Pray for them! and I have total faith that me and my companion will be able to find people this week. We are going to start doing more service and just demonstrating our love for all the people here and I am super stoked about it:D. 

  

One miracle that happened is that we were walking on the street one day after passing by a less active that wants nothing to do with the Church and this guy came up to us and asked which ward we were from. He is a member from forever ago on vacation here because he moved. His niece was with him who isn't a member and they invited us to dinner! She used to go to church with him when he lived here in Tandil and she remembers it. So now we have the perfect person to teach the gospel and I know she will realize that she is a daughter of God! She totally said she would come to church with us so we will work really hard to help her come unto Christ:)

Love you all and wish you the best!

 

Hermana Williams

 

Celebrating 6 months as missionary

Hermanas Zurita and Zubeldia

Birthday cards for some little boys in our ward

Hermana Zubeldia's hair

Hermana Zubeldia

 

Hola de la Hermana Williams

Holas :)

For those wondering, the investigator we had found, Sol, does not yet have her baptismal date. We have not been able to see her since but she was a miracle so I know that the Lord has His plan in store for her, even if now isn't the time. And its the same with the man we found last week, we haven't been able to find him but we are hoping to be able to teach him this week! His name is Rodrigo.

  

Last week I think I also didn't have time to write that we had got word that there was a person that wanted to come back to church! Her name is Daniella and we visited her house. She is amazing! And I think she really has a true desire to come back to church and turn her life around. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she is taking care of someone in the hospital who is really sick, but we are planning on really helping her to come back and use the atonement of Christ in her life so she can find her happiness again:) 

  

Rocío has a baptismal date! She is set for the 14th of June but there is a problem... we received news that Tandil is going to form a Stake with a nearby city called Olavarría!! wooo. And so we are traveling there on the 14th as a Branch to have a meeting together with those members:) So she won't be able to get baptized that day and we want to change it to the 21st. Pray for her that she makes it! 

  

Gabriella is a super miracle too... this week she acepted to keep the Word of Wisdom and all we said was "remember when you went to Church the first week and we talked about the 'law of health'? Well we believe that we shouldn't put these things into our body and that there are multiple multiple blessings and joys we get from keeping this commandment of God" And she just said "OK, out with those things!" (I don't know if that makes sense) But she agreed in the span of 5 minutes to try her best to keep that commandment! So we are going to follow up with her every day to make sure that she knows that she can have strength in the Lord and really we can do all things with His help and if we have FAITH that we can.

  

We also had a person to visit that the elders gave us because she spoke English and said they could come back another day. And she is a girl, so they thought we would be best for her. Her name is Sofía and, man, this experience was AWESOME. She spoke perfect English because she had lived in Kentucky for 8 years and we taught in English! The thing is that she agreed with everything that we said... We promised many blessings to her family if they stayed close to God and that her kids could have happy lives, that they could be an eternal family and many things but her husband won't let us return out of fear of the world. He doesn't let people they don't know into the house for safety. She only let us in because he was gone :( She is a really really great person and it was so wonderful to talk to her and plant a seed in her heart. We gave her a pamphlet of the Restoration and a Book of Mormon and just testified our socks off!! I felt the Spirit so strong and I know that she will come to the Gospel one day when it's in the Lords time:):)

I will leave with my testimony that this church, this work, is truly the Lord's work. That only through Christ we can be saved and have eternal happiness. I love the scripture in 2 Nephi 31:21 that says that this is the ONLY way. It is the only way to follow in the footsteps of Christ because this is His Gospel. And WE are in charge of teaching it to others, God's imperfect children. But that because we are imperfect, we are the perfect ones to help others on the path because we have repented and followed Him with our own will. And we have a sure faith, have built on a sure foundation, and know personally of the blessings that we receive when we obey. God promises these blessings and we are a witness of Him keeping His word!

  

Promise these blessings to your friends, family, and everyone you meet whether they are members or not and you will see the miracles that result. Your testimony will grow and so will theirs. Everyone on the earth is either needing a seed planted or are trying to personally nourish theirs and YOU are one that can help them. Testify to all!

Amo a todos!

Hermana Williams

Miracles happen in Tandil! but its according to our obedience!

Dear Family,

This has been a fantastic week! Truly, miracles happen.

  

So, this week we sang at a baptism. My companion and I sang the primary song, "I'm trying to be like Jesus." I don't know why they asked us to sing, but I think it turned out pretty good. haha. During our practices we couldn't stop laughing and I was so afraid that we were going to break into laughter during the baptism! The baptism was beautiful. The spirit was really strong and our investigator  Rocío came! She is progressing slowly but surely!

Also, we actually taught a whole lesson in English to someone. It was super strange to speak and teach in English. The lady we taught had lived in Kentucky her whole life but is now living here.  I thought it would be easy to teach in English but it was actually a little difficult to find the right words. After speaking in Spanish a whole year I have been losing some English!!

This week I have been thinking a lot about obedience and the reason why we are given commandments.  This morning I was reading in Alma 36 and Alma 37 and I learned a lot. I love my study sessions and the things I learn each and everyday. I wish I had studied more the scriptures before the mission. I missed out on a lot. I am so grateful for learning how to study a little better and I hope that after my mission I can continue this practice. 

  

"Y ahora, hijo mío, tengo algo que decir  concerniente a lo que nuestros padres llaman esfera o director, o que ellos llamaron Liahona, que interpretado quiere decir brújula, y el Señor la preparó... y  obró por ellos según su fé en Dios. Por tanto, si tenían fé para creer que Dios podía hacer que aquellas agujas indicaren el camino... así sucedía... Pues he aquí, tan fácil es prestar atención a la palabra de Cristo, que te indicará un curso directo a la felicidad eterna... Porque tan cierto como este director trajo a nuestros padres a la tierra prometida... así las palabras de Cristo, si seguimos su curso, nos llevan mas allá de este valle de dolor a una tierra de promisión mucho mejor... Oh familia mia, no seamos perezosos por la facilidad que presenta la senda, porque así sucedió con nuestros padres, pues  así les fué dispuesto, para que viviesen si miraban. Así también es con nosotros. La vía está preparada, y si queremos mirar, podremos vivir para siempre." (Alma 37:38-46)  Sorry for those who don't understand Spanish. You can read the scripture reference I posted! 

  

I know that the path is set. All we need to do is have faith and be obedient to the little commandments. Its through the simple things that big things happen. The path is set, the way given and its up to us to look and live, to walk it.

I love you all so very much! Have a great week!!!!

Hermana Susana Zubeldia

 

The weather is getting cold in Tandil.

Hermana Rene (a member) and her husband.

Rene is really sick and we went to visit her

My companion Hermana Williams in front of a catholic church

My hair is growing very long.