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

Fruit Salesman

Sometimes, you just have great weeks. This was one of those weeks. :) We put a lot of emphasis this week on forgetting ourselves and doing the work that the Lord sent us here to do. Sometimes it's hard when it's 120 degrees and you are sweating more than you thought was possible. But, we focused and overcame that natural man this week and we definitely saw the blessings.

City contacting. It's like a game, contacting those houses
with voice box thingy's... one day we're getting in...

Last week, while on divisions, Hermana Palomino and I talked to this guy named Claudio who works in a fruit stand. Hermana Palomino had worked in this area before us and she had taught Claudio before and she suggested that we go see if he was there. He greeted us kindly and said he'd liked what the Hermanas had taught him before but he'd never gone to church. He seemed nice. So, I fixed another appointment and we went on our way. When we went back with Hermana Ostler, Claudio was all ready to receive us. He had his Book of Mormon ready and the chairs out for us when we got there at 4. It was so great!

Happy Hermanas

Claudio is so receptive! He told us that he just wanted to start over with the lessons. So we taught him the Restoration. I love teaching the Restoration. It's my favorite. And Claudio accepted it so willingly. And he understood. It was such a great lesson. It's so nice to teach someone who's so receptive.
We went back on Friday to teach about Sabbath Day. We brought René, a recent convert with us. It was another great lesson. Claudio told us about some of the things that had happened in his past and how good he feels when he reads the Book of Mormon. He was really excited to come to church and we even set plans for him to go with René. But due to some inconvenience, he couldn't make it to the meetings yesterday. That's always discouraging. Nevertheless, Claudio continues progressing. He literally just called us to fix his OWN appointments. That's NEVER happened before on my mission. AWESOME. We might as well just take him to the river right now. Haha.

The Gospel is amazing. I've been learning this week about love. Which is the essence of the Gospel. But why? Because love is selflessness. Nothing we do in the Gospel should be for us. Our purpose in life is to become like Christ. And what did Christ do? He sacrificed His life for mankind; for those he loved. There wasn't a lick of selfishness in His being and we are striving to be the same. It's tough. But it's not impossible. As I learn more about that infinite sacrifice, I have more of a desire to share it with others. Because it's important. It's the ONLY thing that will save us from this world of growing darkness. The light that Christ brings to this world is beautiful. And more people need to see it.

Nothing better than those Argentine sunsets

Keep praying and keep hoping. The Lord is there.
 
Sending lots of love from the south,
Hermana Hein

Grace & Love

Conference... Whew... talk about a spiritual feast. I just love conference. And on the mission, it's even better. All of us gringo missionaries just sat in one room and feasted... spiritually and literally... Hermana Beckstead and I made french toast for everyone. It was pretty sweet. It's amazing to me the way the spirit communicates to the speakers what needs to be said; what needs to be heard. And how every one of us can receive some type of inspiration from the words spoken. Also, let's just mention those three new apostles... I totally called Renlund. They're going to be great.

I particularly enjoyed Elder Christofferson's talk about the institution of the church and why it's necessary that we have a church. It answered perfectly a doubt that Andres had expressed earlier in the week. It was a shame he missed it... Andres did make it to the Saturday evening session and told us afterward that he LOVED it. We knew he would.

Earlier in the week, we were amping up the conference, going off about how excited we were, Andres asked us why we were so excited; why we were "fan girling"
over old church leaders. Well... now he understands. That's the word of GOD right there man... THAT'S why we were so excited. Ugh. So good. Can't wait for next conference.

Earlier this week, we planned to go up to one part of our area we'd never visited before: Barrio Arce. It's up in the very corner of the area and feels a little sketchy sometimes so we generally avoid it. But, in the morning, it's okay. So, we headed up, hoping to find someone to teach... as always. But, after a good hour and a half of nothing, we became a little discouraged. We were about to turn back. But, looking down the wind-blown dirt road we were on, we noticed a little passage we hadn't seen before. "Well, might as well go see who's down there..." I mumbled... And then we found Monica.

Monica told us that she'd investigated multiple religions but that none of them ever felt right. She told us that she'd noticed the frequent appearance of false prophets preaching the doctrines of man and was tired of the lack of God and Christ in their teachings. She wanted the truth. She wanted Christ. So, we explained to her the Restoration. As we recounted the First Vision of Joseph Smith, she paused, staring at the photo we showed silently. "Wow..." She said, beaming. We testified of the reality of living prophets and apostles and that the priesthood of Christ had in fact been restored to the earth. But the only way we were going to know, was by asking Him who knows all. She loved it. We gave her a Book of Mormon and Moroni 10 to read. (Classic) And of course, invited her to conference to listen to the prophet's voice and see for herself. Nobody could have watched that conference and NOT felt the spirit. But, unfortunately, she couldn't make it to the conference because her baby was sick. But we have plans to go back and see her soon. I know she's going to feel it.

One of the themes of conference that really touched me was that of the grace of the Atonement. At times we feel that we're not good enough. There's just no way we can be perfect. So we give up. But the Atonement isn't just for perfect people. It is for everyone. Christ doesn't expect us to be perfect. He expects us to try. And if we try our best and ask for His help, He's going to help us go the rest of the way. He's going to be at our side, holding up the cross we've been trying to lift ourselves. He's already done it once. And He's willing to do it again. Trust in the Lord. Trust in His love for each one of you. He lives. And the Atonement has the power to lift us out of our darkest places. We don't have to be perfect. We just have to try.

Lots of love,
Hermana Hein

PS - Mum here... because Jenessa is still having troubles with her photo card, I thought I would drop in a picture of her getting dropped off at the MTC, a year ago on October 8th. I don't sound trunky....