Miracles in Santa Rosa

Dear Family,

Well, this week has been wonderful. Yesterday, Sunday, was a very special day for me. All the talks in church talked about our purpose in life and about the reason as to why we need to continue our life with faith and hope.

I love being a missionary! I love sharing the Gospel and I love helping people come unto Jesus Christ. The work here in Santa Rosa, Argentina is moving forward really fast. We have been seeing many miracles and have been blessed in so many ways. Our investigators are progressing and moving forward.

My companion is wonderful. I'm so blessed to work with Hermana Godoy.  She teaches me everyday. I admire her desire to serve and her hard work. She had a lot of challenges before the mission and yet she was determined to serve the lord. I pray that one day her family will see what a wonderful daughter they have! I love her so much!

This week my companion and I talked a lot about the purpose of baptism.  During my study time yesterday I was studying about Sin and the need to be baptized and to receive the holy ghost.

Why are we baptized? This is a quesiton we ask many people. Many people are "baptized" when they are babies. Baptism isn't an inauguration ceremony into a certain church. Baptism is for the remission of sins.  Jesus Christ was baptized because he wanted to show us they way to  how we can return to live with our Heavenly Father again. When we are baptzied we are cleasned from sin! After are are baptized we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost sanctifies us. The Holy Ghost is also refereed to as baptism by fire.

For example, when we want to clean a pacifier we put it in water. But if we want to purify it we put it into boiling water. This cleansing process purifies the pacifier.  Just like this process, when we are baptized we are cleansed, and when we receive the Holy Ghost we are sanctified.

I know that our Heavenly Father loves us so much. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. It is because of him that each of us can change. It doesn't matter how old you are or where you live, we all can change and repent and try harder tomorrow. I know that people can change. I have seen miracles happen.  All it takes is faith in Jesus and determination to change.  Just like my brother Pablo said, The gospel is for everyone!

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

Hermana Susana Zubeldia

Hermana Godoy and me in the locutorio writing to you this morning.

Celebrating Hermana Williams' birthday

Summer is now here in Santa Rosa!!!

Dear Family,

This was a great week! My companion has been sick with the flu the past 4 days but she is doing a lot better today. We have been staying inside so that she can sleep because she hurts all over. I hope that she gets better!  Besides her being sick we have had a fantastic week!

We have been trying to work really hard with the investigators that we have. None of them could come to church yesterday but we are still going to work with them. Here is a summary of what we did this week:

Lunes (Monday)
For P-day we went to the laguna and spend a few hours strolling and talking. It was such a beautiful day and there was almost no one at the "lagoona" (English spelling?).

Martes (Tuesday)
We had district meeting! Hermana Loza was able to accompany us to two lessons and was able to bear amazing testimonies. One of the people we visited is a man who said that he has been on the search his entire life for the true church of Jesus Christ. Hermana Loza bore her testimony as to how reading the Book of Mormon changed her life and helped her find the true church. The man invited us back this next week to talk more about the Book of Mormon! I know that if he has a real desire to know if the Book of Mormon is true he will find out. His life long search is about to end!

Miércoles (Wednesday)
We had Lunch with a recent convert and she made us meat bread. It was really good! It was just like eating hamburger. We also were able to visit our investigator Sofía who is progressing so much! She loves reading the Book of Mormon and always reads what we leave her. We are now helping her recognize the spirit and the answers to her prayers.  We also had a beautiful lesson with our young investigator couple, Romina and Francisco! Francisco accepted to be baptized and now we are helping them get married! I love seeing their desire to get married.

Jueves (Thursday)
We had a beautiful FHE "Family Home Evening" with a family in our ward and Rosa and her family. Rosa, our investigator loved the FHE, specially the movie on the Restoration.  I hope that she starts to recognize the spirit and starts to read the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is the key to everything we do! We can't help someone become converted if they don't read the Book of Mormon.

Vienes (Friday) Sábado (Saturday) and Domingo (Sunday)
We stayed home because my companion was sick

During my study time yesterday I studied Alma 31-33. Read it and think about how you can increase your testimony.

Hoy (Today)
This morning we were able to go out a bit and visit a less active and an inactive family that we are trying to reactive. Its was great! We went food shopping and now I am emailing you!

I love you all!  Have a great week!!!

Hermana Susana Zubeldia

Me and my district

Me and Hermana Vera! I can't believe she finishes her mission today!!

Do you think we look good with these glasses??

Me and Hermana Williams

Me and my companion when we found out we have another transfer together!!! haha my companion is actually sick and wasn't looking at the camera :)

Good morning! This is us this morning!

May we never tire of doing good

Dear Family,

This has been a great week!!!!  I love being a missionary! This week is officially 15 months on the mission!! Where on earth does the time go? It definitely goes by way too fast! Each day on the mission is a miracle. Each day my companion and I go out and talk to everyone. One may say that we do the same thing everyday. "How crazy!? Don't you wish you could go home and take a break?" Honestly, no. I love being a missionary and I love studying, teaching, testifying, finding, talking to the members, and walking everywhere we go!!

This week my companion and I saw many miracles!! Yesterday, after weeks of working, 5 investigators came to church!!! I want to share with you one miracle that happened on Tuesday. After lunch we asked the hermana who invited us over to go out with us. After 40 minutes we didn't find anyone home or interested in listening to us. As we walked the hermana home she said she wanted to introduce us to her son's friends, Francisco and Romina. Romina is a less active and she and Francisco are about to get married. They were very happy to see us and accepted to listen to us. On Sunday they came to church!! They loved it!  Miracles happen when we work with the members.

Yesterday, after talking to a member about a reference he gave us told us to never tire of doing good. In D&C there is a scripture that says, Por tanto, no os canséis de hacer lo bueno, porque estáis poniendo los cimientos de una gran obra. Y de las cosas pequeñas proceden las grandes. (D&C 64:33)

May we never tire of doing good. Every act we do for good will one day be compensated. From the little acts each day miracles will happen. Its like the parable of the 12 virgins, little by little, drop by drop we add oil to our lamps for when the time comes that the Savior appears we will be ready. De las cosas pequeñas proceden las grandes!!!

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

Hermana Zubeldia

We made cinnamon rolls y Sopa Paraguaya

From Hermana Williams

EMERGENCY TRANSFER...and I got caught right in the middle haha

Good day everyone :)

My new companion, Hermana Morgan

Well the story goes like this...we were grocery shopping in Bahía Blanca and we get a call. Hermana Asencios answered and I thought the Elders had told her that Jose Luis was going to be baptized at 6:00....wahhoooo! But no. Hermana looked at me with red eyes and tells me I'm leaving to Santa Rosa, La Pampa at 6:00. Seriously? I couldn't believe her for a while because there were still 3 weeks left of the transfer. And now here I am, in La Pampa- area Santa Rosa 4th ward- with a new companion Hermana Morgan, from Kentucky! We lived together my first transfer in Bahía Blanca (the house with 6 Hermanas) and here we are again together as companions.

So this week has been SUPER interesting and exceptionally difficult. I don't know what it was but when I left, of course I was super rushed and sad (I almost missed my bus and 5 of us missionaries were running to wave it down J oops) But when I arrived here and got all settled, the next morning I was super tired but super pumped!! I just felt that God wanted and needed me here for a purpose.
What has happened is that:

1. I am Senior companion and I was freaking out about that. But I have already learned so much in this position and also learned more that the title "Senior" doesn't mean I have to do it all by myself. My companion still is learning the language but shares thoughts that really help me feel the spirit and teach me. It is super amazing. I am really trying to help her learn the importance of contacting daily and inviting people to baptism!

With Hermana Zubeldia again!

2. We live 4 Hermanas in this house and guess who lives with us....HERMANA FREAKING ZUBELDIA!!! hahaha I can't describe how much of a joy it was to see her and it is to be with her again. Wow, I tell you it just made me even more happy to be here! Her companion is Hermana Godoy from Paraguay.

3. We had a baptism on Saturday and confirmation Sunday!! Her name is Betiana and though I did not teach her much before her baptism I already love her and her 4 cute kids. They are a handful but if you know me, you know I love kids and it's just fun J haha So she is 23, single, with 4 kids and was an investigator for like 5 years before she decided to be baptized. WHAT A MIRACLE. And I was able to be a part of it.

4. There are also 3 other couples listening to us from before I got here that just need to get married and they are good to be baptized! They obviously need more lessons but they have the most important part: the DESIRE. It is amazing! We just really need to be in tune with the spirit to know how to touch them so they can get married now! Because there is NO reason to prolong the day of our repentance, the day we receive so many blessings.

5. All I will say is that our ward has a lot of difficulties. Things that make our work as missionaries VERY hard, and made a lot of members inactive. But one thing I do know is that I'm not going to give up. Because (not by chance) I was talking to Hermana Asencios before I left about focus. She gave me to counsel that I should pray for more trials so I can notice the miracles even more and learn more! Well that is what I did... and a few days later I got transferred here. I know I am here with my companion for a reason and we are going to kill everyone with kindness! We are already finding lots of prepared people and working a ton. I have so much faith and I am so grateful for my trials.

Through leaving a great area, coming in to an area needing lots of work, getting super lost in the area many times, and having people give me sad faces because they want the other missionary that was here instead of me has really just made me understand the importance of this work even more. I understand the Atonement and am really learning how to apply the love and sacrifice of the Savior for ME into my life and my teachings.

I love being here! I love this work! And I am going to continue in it ALWAYS...it is a part of me and I know my life will be forever changed for the decision to serve my Lord and for the people that have come into my life since then.

Jesus only asks:

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Follow Him:)

Amo a todos… que tengan una semana buenísima!

Hermana Williams

With Hermana Godoy

Families can be together forever - from México, to Spain to Argentina to USA

Dear Family,

How I love being a missionary. I love sharing the gospel and I love bearing testimony to everyone I meet that this is the True and Only gospel of Jesus Christ, the only Church that provides the necessary baptism, and that because of the restored gospel, our Families can be together forever! And this was more special to me because it was your 23rd wedding anniversary.  How wonderful it is to know that my family is an Eternal family!! Thank you mami and Papi for your wonderful example of great parents.

Valentin and his grandfather, just before the baptism.

This week our friend, Valentin, was baptized! He is such a ball of energy and was super excited to get baptized. His grandfather, who is the 1st counselor to the Bishop baptized him. Because his mother isn't a member we had the wonderful opportunity to teach Valentin. The next step now is to teach his parents and help his family also become an eternal family.  The elders in our ward also had a baptism. On Saturday we had an 8 year old and a 79 year old get baptized. It doesn't matter what age you are, the gospel is the same for everyone and we all need this baptism. It was a beautiful baptism.

Almost all of the investigators that we have been teaching or finding haven't wanted to progress that much. We are going to work a lot his week to help them progress and to continue to find new families to teach. Just today on our walk to the Cyber-café a member stopped us and gave us a reference to a family. He said that just this morning he talked with his friends and told them that he was going to send the missionaries! He walked away and said, "call me for their baptism!" Its wonderful to work with the members! Papi, I really like what that sister missionary said in our ward,  "Trust us with your friends, trust us with your referrals. It is not up to you to decide whether someone is ready to receive  the Gospel. Give your friends the opportunity to make that decision for themselves. Don't deny them that opportunity."

What she said is true, everyone needs the opportunity to hear the gospel. Its us, the members who offers it to them. If they accept great, if not, well, maybe next time.

Yesterday my companion and I were talking during our study time about how important it is to understand the Plan of Salvation. I studied about Agency.  Agency is the capacity to choose between good and bad. The way we use our agency in our life determines our happiness now and in the eternities. Everyday we make choices, and those choices through time build up and can either create a sure foundation or can break our foundation. In Abraham 3:25 it says that our Life is a period of trial for us to prove how we use our agency. (read 2 Nephi 2:16 and DyC 29:39.

I am so grateful for this wonderful gospel. I know that this Church is true and that there really is a prophet of god on this earth, a prophet like Moses. I know that Families can be together forever. I know that living the gospel really does make us happy. I want to invite you all to do what Pablo and Sarah said: To read the Book of Mormon and to pray to know if its true. If you do so,  you will know in your heart that is is true. And if its true, then Joseph Smith really was a Prophet. If he was a prophet then this is the TRUE church of JESUS CHRIST:

I love you all. I hope you have a great week

Love,

Hermana Susana Zubeldia

The plaza of Santa Rosa

My companion and I helped a member after her house flooded. It was raining a lot that day!

Guess who came to Santa Rosa?? Hermana Williams :) my old companion!

Dear Family,

What an amazing week my companion and I have been blessed with. We truly are so grateful to be here in Santa Rosa together.  This week we had some great experiences. First of all, I am so happy to hear that you guys are all doing so good. I love your emails and all the fun updates that are happening in the family. I'm grateful that you guys are receiving so many blessings. This week I have been thinking a lot about the experience that Élder Zubeldia had to be with our family in Spain. It truly is a blessing for Pablo to get to share the gospel with our family and to get to spend some time with them. I am so grateful!!!

This week we had a Zone conference with Presidente Parreño y la Hermana Parreño. It was a beautiful conference. We were reminded of our purpose as missionaries and the importance of staying focused in the work. It was a wonderful conference.

Also we attended a beautiful baptism of a 16 year old girl in our ward. Over the past 6 months her family has been baptized and she is the last one to join her family in the gospel. The Spirit was strong in the baptism and you would see her happiness as she came up out of the water. One of the most amazing things to see on the mission is to see how the gospel of Jesus Christ unites the family. I can just imagine my whole family one day accepting this beautiful gospel.

This weekend we are going to help our friend Valentine get baptized! He is the grandson of a member in our bishopric and is going to get baptized this Saturday. He is 8 years old and is super fun! He has tons of energy and loves going to church.

I want to share another experience we had this week as we have tried to be more grateful in our companionship. In the Book of Mormon it says:

38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you (Alma 34:38)

We have seen blessings as we have tried to count our many blessings in our lives.  Expressing our gratitude has helped us concentrate more in our prayers. As we live in a spirit of thanksgiving we will be happier and see that we really are blessed each and every day.  Each day as I return home, my companion prays and thanks our Heavenly Father for the wonderful blessings we have seen that day. As she prays I realize that even though we didn't see much success on the surface, we were indeed blessed the little everyday moments.

I invite you to express more gratitude in your prayers. As you do so, I promise that you will be happier. Our Heavenly Father really is watching us each day and blesses us as much as he can. One of the greatest blessings that we have is that we have the gospel in our lives and a wonderful family.  I love this gospel. I love my Family and I love being a missionary!

I hope you all have a great week! Know that I am praying for you each and everyday!

Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Susana Zubeldia

Zone Conference

They served us the biggest hamburgers I've ever seen...and I ate it all!!

I made my own empanadas!

They are filled with "choclo" (corn).