Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Just a Song Before I Go...

I don't really know what to say. I honestly didn't think I would ever come to this day. But, the time passes for everyone, even me. And as much as I didn't want it to come, here we are. It's hard to have to end the mission. It was the best thing I ever could have decided to do. I love Argentina and the people I've come to know here. And I'm grateful to the Lord for every miracle, every blessing, trial, disappointment, and every opportunity to learn, which, if you add it all up, is basically every second of everyday of these last 18 months. Needless to say, I've learned a lot of lessons here on the mission, all of which are priceless.
From this first day....
Perhaps the most important of all the lessons I learned, was that of the reality of the Atonement. When I first arrived in Formosa, November 2014, I quickly discovered that I had miscalculated just how much I would be walking and what type of shoes I would need. And I paid the price for that miscalculation. My feet were covered, literally covered, in painful blisters and cuts. Also, for whatever reason, my feet began to blow up like a pregnant woman. I could hardly walk it hurt so bad. But one must walk as a missionary. And with every step I took, I offered another prayer, asking for strength to keep walking. Every night and every morning, I prayed that my feet would callous over. Then there was the fact that the amount of Spanish I spoke was exactly zero. I felt so helpless; so lost. "What am I doing in Argentina?" I asked myself. "I'm not contributing to anything." Again, I prayed. I prayed to be able to talk to SOMEONE. And in answer to those prayers, I received a simple answer. "I'm here. Don't give up." And somehow, each day, I was able to find the strength to keep walking. Something I've come to learn about the Atonement is that Christ will not take our pains and suffering away, rather He will strengthen us to be able to face them and become stronger. And He did just that those first 2 transfers.

Another lesson I learned is the importance of obedience. Not just to commandments or mission rules, but to the promptings of the Spirit. I found a quote this week from President Monsen from his address to the Priesthood in the April 2012 Conference. "When God speaks and a man obeys, that man will always be right." And as scary as it is sometimes to talk to people on the street or the bus, we always receive blessings for acting on those promptings. I can't even number the times the Lord fulfilled a promise for fulfilling my end. And in regards to obedience to mission rules, Hna. Ostler and I had put specific emphasis in exact obedience to every mission rule when we found Claudio. Sometimes it's a sacrifice to deny a glass of ice cold water in the 120 degree summer heat, but the blessings of heaven are poured on all those who are willing to sacrifice for the Lord and His work.

This past week, Hna. Alduenda and I had the chance to attend the baptism of a woman we taught a couple of times in another part of Corrientes. It was a really simple service, but it taught me another lesson. It's not about me. It never was. And it never will be. The scriptures teach us that without charity, we're nothing. But what is charity? The pure love of Christ. How did Christ love? Selflessly. Everything Christ did was for someone else. He never did anything for Himself. Everything I've learned in the mission, is to help other people come unto Christ through His Gospel.
To experiences like this...
I know the church is true. I know this is where we can learn what the Gospel is and how to apply it in our lives. I know that Christ lives. I know that His Atonement is infinite and real. I know that the power of God has been restored to the Earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that the church is led by living prophets and apostles today. I know families can be forever. This is a Gospel of happiness and I know that it brings happiness to all who live it.

I want to thank everyone who read this silly blog and supported me on this crazy adventure. All the prayers and love sent down this way have been felt and appreciated. I love you all so much.

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Hein


 

Monday, March 14, 2016

Qué dicha es

The Lord teaches His lessons in mysterious ways and sometimes, they're not the lessons we're expecting. For example, yesterday, I learned the lesson of the sidewalk greeting.

For a couple of weeks now, there's been this police officer working outside of a government building on a street we frequently walk down. I think he's a guard there or something. Anyway. Everytime we walk past, he greets us. "Hola. ¿Cómo están?" Now, you have to understand something about the mission. The men here LOVE to bug us. I don't know if there's been a single day in my mission when some guy in the street HASN'T cat-called or wolf-whistled at me. I DON'T EVEN LOOK GOOD!! But, after 17 months of it, I've grown accustomed to ignorning all men in the street. So, for the past few weeks, I've been ignoring this man in front of the government building. But yesterday, he stopped us.

"Hey wait I talked to someone from your church once over in Laguna Seca but then I moved to Centro and lost contact but he really helped me out a lot in a hard time and I just wanted to know where the church is or what to do!" he said, all in one breath.

I was confused at first, but then I understood. He just recognized us as missionaries and knew we could help him and his family. So we took his address and phone number and told him we'd come visit him and headed on our way. I felt so STUPID. Here I was thinking this guy was just looking to bug when all he wanted was to hear the message of the Gospel. I learned that I maybe need to be a little more Christ-like and be nice to people on the street, regardless if they're looking to bug or not. Haha. Like I said, unexpected lessons in unexpected ways.
I have completed 17 months this week.
 These past 17 months have been an adventure. I only have 2 weeks left, but I'm going to make the most of them. No matter how hard the work is, how many people slam the door in your face, how hot it is, or how much your feet hurt, the work is a joy. But we are responsible for making that decision. We have to decide if we're going to let Satan get us down or if we're going to put a smile on and share it with even those who laugh in our faces.
An Argentine backroad. Love it
I love being a missionary. It's changed my life. And I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had here in Argentina. It's going to be weird going home. But there starts the REAL mission. And I know that all of the experiences I've had here will be a blessing for me in the future. I know that the Lord lives. I know this is His Gospel. It's the most correct thing this world has to offer. Which is why sharing it is such a joy!
Mexican Monday - Nachos

Until next week,
Hermana Hein

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

An Anchor to the Souls of Men

Hi All:

It feels like the weeks keep going faster and faster. It's not fair. :( Haha. But that's life. I keeps going. Even when we don't want it to. But besides the fact of it being a fast week, it was a good one. Tuesday started out with a trip to Laguna Seca, another part of Corrientes about 40 minutes in bus from where we live in the city to teach a woman who had come to church in Costanera last week named Dora. She asked us to come visit her because she wanted to talk to Hermanas and there's only two of those in Corrientes. We had a nice lesson with her but by the time we were ready to leave, the Argentine rains had come. And when the rains come, they come hard. It always reminds me of Jurassic Park when that first storm comes and all the dino's escape. That's what it's like here... unfortunately minus the dinosaurs. But we hadn't been expecting the rain so we were stranded in Laguna Seca without umbrellas, coats, boots, or even plastic bags to put our scriptures in. Luckily, Dora and her husband had a few extra Jurassic Park ponchos on hand and we were able to wade the few blocks out to the bus stop. Hermana Alduenda was embarrassed by her bright orange poncho. So naturally we took a photo.
Hna. Alduenda and I in our ponchos after the storm.
 Last week, we contacted a house on a street we frequently walk down and found Manuel. He said he'd talked to missionaries before but I think they maybe just greeted him in the street or something because he didn't have a Book of Mormon. But he was really nice and allowed us to share our message. He was attentive and receptive. He liked what we shared. And when we walked past his house later in the day, he was sitting outside in his lawn chair reading the pamphlet we'd left him. The first time we invited him to church, he said it would be hard for him to go because he didn't want to leave his house unattended. (people get robbed frequently here.) But in a later visit, he explained his real doubt: "I don't have a suit." he said. He had seen the pictures of church in the pamphlets we'd given him and was worried that the members would judge him for coming to church in jeans and tennis shoes. But we assured him that wasn't the case and he committed to come. And sure enough, Manuel showed up at the church 10 minutes before Sacrament meeting started. And it was a great Sacrament meeting. (Minus Hermana Hein's terrible piano playing...) The testimonies shared were simple and heartfelt and the spirit filled the room. Manuel listened attentively to every one. Including Claudio's. ;) What a champ.  Needless to say, it was a great Sunday.

Under the bridge of Corrientes. A little Inceptiony?
No Leo DiCaprio though... shame
Speaking of testimony, we sometimes wonder what that means. It's simple. A testimony is a declaration of what we believe to be true. It doesn't have to be long or complicated. All it has to be is sincere. And as Ether says, a belief in God brings a hope for a better world. (Ether 12:4) And it's true. As I've nurtured my own testimony here on the mission, I DO believe in a better world. I have that hope. Because I've seen the changes that people can make as they put in practice the teachings of Jesus Christ. I've seen it because I've lived it. And I'm so grateful for it. I love the Lord and everything He's done for me. I love the Gospel and what it's taught me about who I am and what's expected of me. We don't need to be moved by the crazy waves this world brings everyday. We just need to believe.
And some good wall art I found and replicated. Haha. 


I love you all and hope you have a great week.
Hermana Hein

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

It's not our abilities, but our choices‏...

What a week. I forget how stressful it is teaching an area. I haven't had to teach an area since Hna. Dustin came to the mission. Entonces, hace un buen rato.. But it's been fun. Hna. Alduenda and I have already had our fair share of adventures here in Costanera. Including, but not limited to, the incident with Frank's wallet.
After leaving President Godoy's house yesterday evening, we were headed down España when we see in the street, a wallet. "Oh...crapp..." We pick it up and look for some form of identification. This kid has all KINDS of legal documentation in his wallet. But his ID said that he lives in Formosa, which makes walking up to his house and contacting it a bit difficult. We returned to Pres. Godoy's house to ask him to Facebook stalk this kid and tell him that we had his wallet.
Con Hermana Alduenda de México

The rest of the evening we awaited a call from Franco. (Don't say ANYTHING Beckstead) During a lesson with this guy Manuel we'd met earlier during the week, the call came. I rejected it and we continued our discussion about the Restoration of the Gospel. He rang again. I hit the "end" button again. The phone rang a third time. ¡Dejáme che! I put the phone on silent and we continued with the lesson. But my pocket was buzzing the rest of the time we were with Manuel. I could hardly focus. But we finished the lesson and Manuel accepted the baptismal invitation. So that was exciting.

We left Manuel's and went to the corner to call back. Being from Formosa, this kid had no idea where anything in Corrientes is. "We're by the bridge!" we tell him. "Oh cool. I'm close.".... He wasn't close. We waited for a good 20 minutes for him to find us at the Shell station. He was weird. "Thanks." he said. "Where are you from?"
"Uh... the United States."
"Wow. That's cool. What part?"
"...Utah."
"Cool." he just kept staring at me....
"....yeah.... HERE'S A PAMPHLET YOU'RE INVITED TO CHURCH BYE!!"
We had to get home anyway. But the men in this country are just outta control. But at least he got his wallet back.

In other news, we had the great opportunity to participate in a area wide broadcast with Elder Bednar. He came to Buenos Aires and with the area presidency and they did this huge Q & A with the four Buenos Aires missions (800 missionaries) and broadcasted it to the whole South America South area. (6000 missionaries) It was incredible. Bednar is amazing. Something he said that I really liked is that as teachers, we can't play this game of "Guess what's in my head". We can't ask questions we already know the answers to. Our job as missionaries or as any kind of teacher, is to invite and inspire our students to act as agents "for themselves and not to be acted upon" (2 Nephi 2:26)

One of our divine inheritances as children of God is our agency. We have the ability to act as our own agents. We are not objects, waiting for something to happen to us. We are living, thinking beings with the ability to act for ourselves. And as we exercise that agency with righteousness, we are blessed. As I've spent the last 16 months in Argentina, sharing with others the Gospel truths I know, I've come to recognize that our individual agency is essential to our individual conversion. How many times have I wished that I could just put my thoughts into the heads of the investigators? "Am I not explaining it clearly enough? Why aren't you reading the Book of Mormon??" But if we force our investigators to read the Book of Mormon and we believe its words, what makes the difference between us and he who wanted to take our agency away from day one? (Yeah... that was supposed to be a kind of Harry Potter reference.)

My true conversion didn't come until I chose to read the Book of Mormon for myself. It doesn't matter how logically we explain the succession of the Priesthood or the effects of the Fall of Adam and Eve, and it doesn't matter how much education an investigator has. What we possess, in terms of knowledge or means, really doesn't matter at all when it comes to conversion. What matters is what we choose to do. How we choose to exercise our agency. And if we decide to experiment with the word, we will receive that witness from the Holy Ghost. It all comes down to us. I have no influence over anyone I teach. I can only invite them to act and invite the Spirit to testify, and the rest is in the Lord's hands. And I know that He does the rest. Just look at Claudio. He didn't even finish high school. But he understands more about the Gospel than people who have a college degree. And what he understands is what's really important.

I'm so grateful I've had this opportunity to be converted to this great Gospel. I know the Lord lives and that He directs this work. I love you all so much.

Homemade Mexican-Argentine tacos.
The tortillas are homemade by Hermana Alduenda

Con amor,
Hermana Hein