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

"Fine day, Sunday. In my opinion, best day of the week‏..."

AloooooooHA!! Sorry. The internet cafe's playing weird Hawaiian music right now. I like it. Haha. Anyway.

It's been a good week. A fast one. But a good one. And a hot one. It's weird how the rain here only makes it HOTTER. Oof. Gotta love that South American humidity.

Claudio came to church for the third time yesterday. Which means he can get baptized on Saturday! We still have quite a bit to do before Saturday, so we'll be working hard this whole week to get everything squared away. Yesterday was a great day. Claudio is just loving church and all the members have been so supportive and welcoming. We taught the Gospel Principles class about Christ's call to be the Savior. I love learning about the Plan of Salvation because as you learn about each individual part, the rest of it all starts to come together. That's what you think anyway, and then you realize that it's just more complicated than you originally thought and you just decide you've gotta keep learning. But it really is amazing to learn about the Plan that God has for all of us. Claudio loved it. He's started a scripture study journal so that he understands better the things we leave him to read. How incredible. And he's just so excited for his baptism. He's already invited his family and his friends.

We had a family home evening with him and the familia Orellano on Friday and we talked about Baptism and the Orellano's shared their conversion story. It was really great. They're an awesome family. And Claudio shared with them what he had learned about the Sacrament. Which was a lot. It's so cool to see the way the spirit teaches those who are willing to listen. You just need to be humble. And Claudio's very humble. And for that humility, he's learning really fast and really well, despite his lack of education. It's incredible.

Painting at Pres. Godoy's House

Anyway. It was a good week. We helped Presidente Godoy paint his house as they have to move this week. So that was fun. I was commissioned to do the top 3 inches of the room and as a result, my back and arm are DEAD. But that's what you get for being the tallest. Haha. But it was fun. And I like that Argentines aren't so particular about their painting. It makes my job a lot easier when I don't have to meticulously place blue painter's tape. Haha.

Some great grafitti we found this week

We've been learning a lot about the spirit this week and the way we can follow his guidance. Again, it all depends on our humility. We have to be humble enough to accept the guidance of the spirit and act on it. It's scary sometimes, but it's worth it if the person you're teaching feels the spirit. I've got a long way to go. But the first step is recognizing it. I hope you all have a great week.

Sending lots of love from the south,
Hermana Hein       

Wonders and Miracles

Hi All:

It was a week of wonders. Really, just another week in the books. But it was a wonderful one. It was hot and humid but that's not really anything new here. Yesterday was great. Claudio came to church and loved every minute of it. When we passed by the fruit stand Saturday morning on our way down to our first lesson, Claudio stopped us to show us the white shirt he'd bought for church.

He was so excited. We made plans with René to go pick him up after the first hour of church (our meetings our backwards, making Sacrament Meeting last) to be able to make it to Gospel Principles. He LOVED it. He even called us after church to ask us to bring him the book so he could study it more during the week. Then, when he came in for Sacrament Meeting, all the members came and welcomed him and introduced themselves and were just so nice and great. And the meeting was excellent. Emiliano Orellano is heading out on his mission this Thursday to the end of the Earth in the mission Argentina, Comodoro Rivadavia and he gave a great talk about discipleship. The spirit was really strong and Claudio said he was excited to come again next week.

Graciela and dog, Titan

This week, we also did divisions with the Hermanas in Barrio IV of Resistencia. I was once again with the lovely Hermana Palomino but this time I went to her area in Resi. It was weird. I forgot how nice Corrientes is compared to the rest of the mission. Haha. It was like going home. I was back in the dirt roads and janky neighborhoods of Argentina. We had a good time.

Hna. Ostler and I with some of the awesome
members of Rama Costanera

Teaching the Gospel to the overly serious rock band Maná.

This week, we were studying a lot about the Atonement and the effects of this most selfless act of love. It's amazing. Christ was willing to give everything for us and our sins. On one condition: that we follow Him and live His Gospel: Have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. Christ is willing to pay for our sins. But we have to be willing to pay Him back. And it's not a bad deal. I love the Lord. And He loves us. He's doing everything in His power to help us return home one day. I know He lives. I know the Gospel is the way to get there. But we must be diligent and humble in completing the terms the Lord has set for us. I love you all so much and I hope you all have a great week!

Lots of Love,
Hermana Hein

Cambiemos

Hello All,

Finally, the presidential race of Argentina is over. The last time the Argentines voted, the votes fell in a 3 way tie. Which required a re-vote... yesterday. Which meant we stayed in the pension ALL DAY... AGAIN. But this time, we were better prepared. We had a Work and the Glory marathon, we made apple pie, and Hna. Beckstead taught me how to play chess. I'd say it was a pretty successful day.

Since we got to Sáenz Peña, Hna. Beckstead and I have been teaching a woman on and off named Carina. She's been investigating the church for over a year and multiple sets of Hermanas have taught her before us. She's really special. She's told us of multiple experiences she's had that prove to me that the Lord really is and has been preparing specific people to receive the restored Gospel. It wasn't by coincidence that those first Hermanas found her. And it DEFINITELY wasn't by coincidence that they found her AGAIN after her and her family had moved to the OPPOSITE edge of the area. Like I said, she's special. But it's been pretty difficult to teach her. She lives far and out of the way. And we can only meet with her on certain days.

The first time Hna. Beckstead and I met her, we were impressed by her Gospel knowledge and the spirit she emits. She could have been baptized that very next day had she wanted to. But little things kept coming up. Little impediments that kept her from coming to church. She had to go visit her family in the country. She had to vote. She would have had to walk by herself.... Little things that to the eyes of a missionary, are easily overcome. But what may be no more than a pebble to me, could be a boulder to someone else.

Every time we went to Carina's, we exhausted our spirits trying to determine what was really impeding her and commit her to come to church one more time so she could get baptized... This went on for four and a half months. It's the most tired I've been on my mission. Teaching people with Word of Wisdom issues is one struggle. But teaching people who are tangibly close to membership in the Lord's church but still so far is a completely different type of battle. It's HARDER. But it all ended this week. Carina never needed us to give her a baptismal date. She needed to figure it out for herself. And she did. She told us Friday morning that she'd going to be baptized in December. She prayed and received her answer. And December is when she and the Lord have decided is the right time. It was like finally reaching the top of the mountain after an endless, steep climb. She's going to make it. And she's going to make an AWESOME member. It's been a privilege to be able to teach her.

Hermana Beckstead, Carina and Me

This week, in our Book of Mormon reading, we got to one of my favorite parts: the second half of Alma, featuring Captain Moroni. So good. One part I love a lot is the exchange of letters between Moroni and Pahoran, the chief judge. Moroni and Helaman have been backed into a corner by the Lamanite armies. They're outnumbered and outmatched and Moroni is angry that the government hasn't sent them any help. He sends a scathing letter to Pahoran accusing him of treachery and threatening vengeance. Little does Moroni know of the insurrections against the government that Pahoran himself has been facing. Any normal person would be ticked. But how does Pahoran respond? "I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart." What humility. Instead of jumping to the defensive and accusing Moroni for not coming to HIS aid, or not even questioning why Pahoran hadn't responded and jumping to the conclusion that he was a traitor, he just takes it. Pahoran gracefully explains to Moroni the situation and says, " I do joy in receiving your epistle." And for that humility, the Nephites were greatly blessed. Helaman and Moroni's armies received support and Moroni and Pahoran were able to drive the rebels out of Zarahemla and restore peace. Where there is humility, there is unity. Where there is humility, there is peace and love and immeasurable blessings. I think we can all be a little bit more like Pahoran. Patient and humble, even when an army of Nephite traitors is rebelling against you AND the chief captain of the Nephite army, a terrifying military genius with the power of God on his side has threatened you with destruction. If Pahoran can manage it, I think we can. Humility is the key to happiness, I would say.

I know the Book of Mormon is true. It tells the stories of REAL people. It testifies of Christ. I know He lives. I know He loves us. And now behold, I close mine epistle.

We're teaching people who have owls!! So Cool!

I am Hermana Hein. (gotta love that CHEESE!)

Being Wise, Yet Harmless

Greetings from the south!

It's been a quick week but a good one. Full of small miracles and the joy of spreading the Gospel! Man. It's crazy how much reading the Book of Mormon can have effect on people. As we've been reading this week, our attitudes, our outlooks, our very desires have changed for the better. That book is REAL. And we've been utilizing it a lot in our teachings with Andres.

Hi-jacked picture from Mission Consejo

He's still great. And we see the evidence of his conversion everytime we talk with him. He's come a long way. But, he still needs to get married. And thank you Argentina for making that very difficult for him as the government building where you get married (I don't even speak English anymore...) is on strike... Great. There's really not much we can do there but pray. And trust me, we'll be praying like maniacs. But until that time that they decide they want to work, we just have to keep helping Andres build up his faith. And you do that through the Book of Mormon. The Hermanas who were here before us told us that when they first met him, Andres read through 1 and 2 Nephi in a matter of days. He loves it. And he's resolved his own doubts by reading it. But, he's fallen behind a little bit. He's been in Mosiah 2 for a number of weeks now. Come on man! King Benjamin?? That's the best part! So, this week, we decided to use his own vice of curiosity against him, just as Ammon was wise, yet harmless in his contention with King Lamoni. We asked Andres what was keeping him from reading. He told us he was confused in regard to the timeline of the Book of Mormon. "Why isn't it the Book of Nephi?" he asked us. "He wrote it!"

Hermana Beckstead and I looked at each other. "He wrote part of it. But the rest was abridged by Mormon."

"I'm still confused."

We knew there was no way we'd be able to explain the entire complex timeline of the Book of Mormon to him in those last few minutes of our lesson. Luckily, back in my Resistencia days, I had stumbled across an old Liahona article that was actually, a detailed timeline of the Book of Mormon. I smiled.
"I have something to show you next time." I told him.

The next time was Saturday. He came, he sat down, we got Hermano and Hermana Avalos the older to come sit with us as well, and we whipped out the timeline. It's HUGE. It's like, six pages, front and back. It stretches out into this long banner that details the dates, events, and peoples of the Book of Mormon. We proceeded to give a rehearsed summary of the ENTIRE Book of Mormon, including details of the different peoples and their trials. As we spoke, Andres just got this look on his face of complete desperation. His confusion had deepened. Which was EXACTLY what we wanted. Perhaps that seems a little counterproductive. But trust me, giving him a teaser of what the Book of Mormon actually contains and how complex and complete it really is, will be the driving force he needs to actually read it.
"You just have to read it." We told him, smiling.

We then bore solemn testimony of Jesus Christ and how one will draw closer unto Him by reading and living the teachings found in the Book of Mormon. It's crazy how fast the spirit flies into a room when you speak of Jesus Christ. We may not speak perfect Spanish, but we don't need to when we have the Holy Ghost doing his job, which is to testify of the Saviour. While before, the lesson had been fun with our elementary school teacheresque presentation of the Book of Mormon timeline, it turned very quickly, very serious and reverent as we testified of the Lord. All of us had tears in our eyes.

I really do know He lives. I know the Atonement is real. And I know that He is the ONLY way by which we will obtain salvation. We cannot trust in the arm of flesh. We cannot trust in our own strengths and abilities to save us. It will never be enough. But with Christ, we can do ALL things.
"I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness... and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come." Mosiah 4:11 I love the Lord more than I can say. And I pray that one day, I will be able to look Him in the eye and tell Him, "I've done my best. Please help me do the rest." Trust in Him. He will NOT leave us comfortless.

I love you all,
Hermana Hein

HiJacked Picture from mission Consejo
Jenessa camera still not working

 

Are you challenging me to a walk off?

Yesterday, the citizens of Argentina had their presidential elections. At long last, the reign of Christina is over. I don't actually have any idea what that means but a lot of people seem pretty excited about it. What that meant for us as missionaries: ALL DAY IN THE PENSION. I guess things can get pretty crazy on election day. So, right after Sacrament Meeting at 10:10 on the dot, (all the other meetings were cancelled) we headed home to wait out elections inside. After we made a delicious homemade lasagna for lunch, took a nap, and did studies, we were left with little to do and the boredom set in. We nearly went mad inside all day.

Anyway, this week provided some interesting miracles. As you all know, we've been teaching Andres for some time now, trying to get home to get married but he keeps telling us he needs a job first... Well, this week, we came to the conclusion that he needs to get married before anything else. We shared Mosiah 2:41 that says that we will receive temporal and spiritual blessings for acting on our faith. We also had a lot of help from President Conradi AKA District President here in Sáenz Peña who bore a sweet testimony on eternal marriage and faith that really touched Andres. He went THE NEXT DAY to verify days they could go get married. It's crazy how much his faith has grown since we started teaching him. Various other obstacles are emerging, but we know that he'll pull through. He hasn't been reading his scriptures everyday and he told us that he feels a difference. "When I was reading the Book of Mormon everyday, I felt this peace. I don't feel that anymore now that I'm not reading as much." Well... There you go. Get on that reading. We promised him that if he puts emphasis on daily scripture study and prayer, he will receive the revelation necessary to help him overcome his obstacles.

It was overall, a pretty good week. We had those good, spiritual lessons with Andres, and we taught Feliciana a number of times also. She's just too sweet. And her prayers are getting really good. The only reason she didn't come to church this week was because of the torrential rain storm that hit Saturday night... classic. It's the curse of Argentina. But Sunday was also election day and voting is obligatory here so... we're not sure what all the Argentines who usually sleep in on rainy mornings did... It was like clash of the Argentine vices here yesterday. Actually, the best part of the whole week was Saturday night, when we stumbled into a Relief Society activity at the church. They were showing off all the artsy things the sisters in the District had made when a sister from the other branch started yelling into the microphone for all the ladies to line up for the dance competition. Yes. All the relief society ladies of Sáenz Peña had a DANCE OFF. What was the first song they danced to? MORTAL KOMBAT... I'm not kidding. It made my entire life.

This week, while studying to teach Feliciana, I focused on the relationship we have with God. God is our loving Heavenly Father. But what does that mean exactly? It means that each and every one of us have a divine destiny given us by the creator of ALL things. It means that He loves us; really, truly loves each of us. He knows us personally. He knows the trials we face and knows how to help us. He loves us so much that He was willing to give up His ONLY begotten son so that all of us could return to live with Him. We could not possibly comprehend the type of love He has for us. But if we can understand two things, that He loves us and that He knows all things, we can have the confidence that everything He asks of us is for our benefit. We don't need to doubt, we don't need to fear, we just need to know that He loves us. I know He lives and that His love is real. I've felt it. I know Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know this is His church and that only through Him will we find our way back to our loving Heavenly Father again.

Sending lots of love from the south,
Hermana Hein


   

Carry On

Hello All:

Another transfer, gone. And here we both still are in Sáenz Peña. Yup. Hna. Beckstead and I both stayed. We knew we would. We're here for Andrés. I'm pretty excited about it. Even though we haven't seen a ton of direct results in this area, I love it. I love the people we've met here. And as I know I've said before, I love the members here. They're incredible.

Anyway, this week, Hna. Beckstead and I worked a lot on focusing more on the work. It was a good week. We met some cool people and had some good experiences. We met this old lady named Feliciana who doesn't know how to read. We've actually run into a lot of people who can't read here. It's hard for me. I don't know how to teach people without that. But we had a pretty cool experience teaching her how to pray this week. We explained prayer like a sandwich: You have to have the two pieces of bread or it's not a sandwich. It's just a bunch of random cold cuts. The top bread, is how we start: "Heavenly Father," In the middle, you can put what you want: ham and cheese? No. I'm thinking roast beef. Maybe tomorrow I'll do milanesa: just say what you feel. And you end with that last piece of bread: "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I even drew the whole thing out for her in the pamphlet we were using. But she still wasn't getting it. Finally, Hna. Beckstead said, "Okay. If Heavenly Father were standing here RIGHT NOW, what would you say to him?" She began listing off the things she was grateful for and the questions she had. "PERFECT!" We told her. "Now add the two pieces of bread." She slapped her hand over her eyes and began to pray. It was the sweetest, most simple little prayer but it was so awesome to hear her do it. Sometimes, you just struggle getting people to pray. But she did it. And it was great!

Hijacked this photo from the Resistencia Mission facebook
page via Janet Tracey. Thanks!!!!

Sometimes, the trick to this whole mission thing is just to carry on. Sometimes, things don't always go as you had planned or you don't see the direct results of the work you're doing. But you just have to be firm as the mountains around us, (or those of you living in Utah... There's no mountains here.) and stalwart and brave. The work must continue. We cannot falter. The work here in Sáenz Peña continues. Sorry if that was overly cheesy.

Sending love from the south,
Hermana Hein

One year later...

Hello hello. Greetings from Argentina.

Here we are... another week has again passed. And believe it or not, it's been a year since the beginning. It's a little difficult to believe... But one year ago, I was in the MTC, trying to learn Spanish and being a real annoyance to our poor teachers. Sometimes it seems like I haven't learned anything. Like I haven't grown at all. But that's not even true. It's taken a year... but I think I've finally gotten the hang of using the past subjunctive tense in Spanish! :D:D:D In reality, the most valued thing I've learned in this past year is that the Lord really does live. And He loves us so much more than we could ever understand. And I'm grateful for that knowledge. I know He's there for me. I couldn't do it without Him.

Tuesday, we had interviews with President Franco which was great. We've been struggling a bit in our area; we get a little frustrated sometimes from the lack of results we see. But President assured us that we just have to be patient sometimes. And that our work isn't going unnoticed or without results. We later in the week, had a cool experience that confirmed his statement that we were in fact helping people, even if we don't notice.

We had received a referral from a member in a small town about 40 minutes outside of Sáenz Peña called Quitilipi. She asked us to go visit her aunt, Dominguez. When she came out of the house, she told us immediately that she wasn't interested. "The missionaries have come to my house before, but I'm Catholic and that's not going to change." "Did the missionaries share with you the Book of Mormon?" Hna. Beckstead inquired. "No. But if it's not the Bible, I'm not interested." she responded. I was praying the whole time that I would know what to say and have the courage to say it. I whipped a Book of Mormon out of my bag before she could get out her retort. "This book testifies of Christ." I said. "I know He lives and that because of Him, we will all be resurrected one day." The spirit whooshed in at the mention of the Saviour and tears came to her eyes as she said quietly, "I hope that's true." "I KNOW it's true." Hna. Beckstead said firmly. "Death is NOT the end." And she shared Mormon 9:13 which talks about the redemption and resurrection of Christ.
Dominguez still had tears in her eyes as we testified of the Book of Mormon and its power to heal. When before, she had never accepted the Book of Mormon, we were able to give her one thanks to the spirit softening her heart. It seriously was one of the fastest and most dramatic changes of heart I've EVER seen. 100% by the spirit. We set another time to come back to see her and left, marvelling at the spirit we had felt. It was a really cool experience.

We couldn't do anything without the spirit. It was yet another testimony to me of the truthfulness of the Gospel, and that the Lord is in charge of this work.

I love this work and I love the Lord. Keep the faith.

Con amor,
Hermana Hein