Wow...

That is the word of the week. It has been a big roller coaster of emotions.

So I found out a couple weeks ago that there´s a distribution center here, but they don´t have change for my 20 bills and they accept Visa cards, but I have a Master. So.... I had to wait for the mission president to hand us out our peso exchange before proselyting last week. 

So for proselyting, it was a lot of fun. At the beginning we could barely understand people and just preteneded to understand or asked them to repeat it. But by the end we could understand people pretty well. We contacted twice our goal and set up 4 appointments for this next Saturday. I´m excited to see what happens with those, and also a little scared. 

It was nice to talk to Mom and Dad on Sunday, even though I surprised them be calling at 6 my time instead of 6 their time :S. 

On Tuesday, the Latinos left for their missions (or for Argentinte missions if their American visas didn´t come yet). That afternoon, presidente (spanish for President :)) had us come into his office, and told us he was switching up the American districts. Previously, the 3 elders were in the other district, but now they´re in ours and three girls have gone from ours into the other one, and the girl whose companion left joined another companionship to make a threesome. It was a very emotional day, but I think everyone´s settled with it by now.

Cool thought from that day: in 3 Nephi 9:13-14 Christ is literally pleading with us to accept His Atonement.

Also, there´s also a scripture in Ephesians that says Let not the sun go down on your wrath. I always thought that was just a saying. It´s interesting that the verse after it says Neither give place for the devil. 

Yesterday was the part of the roller coaster where the track spins around and you can´t tell if you´re right side up or not. 

So the schedule was changed around literally after every class or event. The in the last class the teacher was uncomfortable with us and didn´t really look like he wanted to teach us. So that was the down part.

The confusing part was when the new Latinas that arrived got locked out of their room and while some sisters went downstairs to see if they could find anyone with keys, another sister climbed out the window onto the porch roof and would have gone over to the window of the room that was locked. But we convinced her to come back in, thankfully. 

The new people started arriving last night, first of which was an Australian sister!! I love hearing her talk. One of our new roommates arrived at around 6:15 this morning, and I was very impressed that I could kind of understand her and respond to her that early, having just barely woken up. (although I did keep on repeating Otra vez?? Más despacio, por favor?? :S) 

The high point of yesterday was ...

I GOT TO PLAY A VIOLIN!!!!!!

Presidente apparently keeps one for the people who can play. So after accompanying two numbers last week, I´ll be able to violin for another on this Sunday (All Creatures of our God and King). I´m so spoiled here, it+s so amazing. 

Random thing: last week, in the space of 2 days, three separate people tld my I look from the girl in the Adam´s Family. I don´t think I´ve ever gotten that before, so that was surprising (at least the first couple times, the last time I was expecting it :S). 

This next Sunday we´ll be speaking in Spanish for five minutes, which should be fun. I´m preparing a talk on the Atonement so it should be easy. I´ll just read scriptures and phrases from PMG and the pamphlet with maybe one story translated. 

Yesterday, when I was feeling drained, I played another game of Scripture Roulette (when you open up to a scripture to answer a question). The first verse I looked at didn´t help me at all, but then I look up one line and the end of the next verse said this: For behold, I know my sheep and they are numbered. (3 Nephi 18:31) It was perfect. I just sat there, literally stroking my scriptures.

I know God loves me, and He´s looking out for me.

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 2

So a quick apology to those who aren{t my parents or siblings. I originally wrote the last email for them, and then decided that it was what I was sending to everyone else, anyway, so I just sent it to all of you. Then looking back, I realized there were some references that may have been confusing. Sorry for that. I{ll do better this time :).

Hello everyone!!

So I told my mom im my letter that I wasn{t homesick... famous last words. I got super melancholy that night, and ended up sitting on my bed singing my dad´s favorite hymn and pretending to play ¨Come THou Fount¨¨ on a violin. But after that everything was good. :)

Right now my favorite song is Äbide with Me¨because I found it again that night, and it was like a message from Heavenly Father to me. 

I got a blessing a few days later to get rid of my cold and help guard my mind. I feel a lot better now, and only cough at night. 

I haven{t ¨Journalled¨as much lately becuase the main event is studying. Studying all day. 

In a couple days we´re going proselyting!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! We will be shipped out in buses to different parts of the city and set loose on the people. We were given a sheet of paper to write goals on. At the part that said ¨Baptism¨ my companion suggested we pray before setting a number. We did, and both came back with the answer of 3. So in two days we will invite 3 strangers to join the church-- and we will do it in Spanish :D.

For practicing here, our teacher pretend to be investigators, and we prepare a lesson for them every day. Right now we´re teaching Cecilia who is an aethiest with a mormon friend, and Sarah who´s daughter is baptized but is living with her boyfriend. In our last lesson with Cecilia we asked the right question and she opened up about her reservations. Her experience was much like my companion´s experience coming into the church so she was able to share her feelings. We cried a few times with her which was amazing!! It gave us a taste of what it´s really like. 

In my scripture study I read about Ammon converting Lamoni and his entire household. The enirety of his success was hinged on 2 things: love and service. Witnessing that love is what made Lamoni´s father become interested. I remember a story about a man who very rudely rejected the elders when they came to his door. As they left, he watched through his window. He expected them to joke or argue, but what he saw was the older companion reaching over and putting his arm on the younger one´s shoulder to comfort him. This touched the man. The next time the missionaries knocked on his door, he let them in.

On Saturday night we played ¨Scripture Roulette¨where we all thought of a question, prayed, and opened up our scriptures to find the answer. Everyone found something. The spirit was super strong. Then the next morning, in Fast and Testimony meeting, the spirit continued to be powerful. It was sooooo cool. I feel like we´re all pushing through the wall Satan kept setting up to block us. 

Sunday night we listened to a powerful devotional by Elder Holland where he told us just how important missionary work is. It was powerful, powerful, powerful!

Since coming here I{ve discovered the taste for two different smell: the doTerra oil ¨OnGuard¨ and menthalaetum (sp??). They were both coughdrops that I was given to help with my cough. The on guard one was okay, but the other one was disgusting. It was effective, though. 

I get plenty of opportunity to play the piano. This Monday I was playing ¨Nearer my God to Thee¨from the book Mom gave me and Sis. Adams was singing from the spanish hymn book. Half way through, Latinos started coming and joining in. They have amazing voices and an incredible ability to harmonize. When we finished, they wanted to sing again, so I played it again. Then we tried to find a song that was in my book and the spanish hymn book and that I could play. Unfortunately we weren{t successful. But this Sunday I´ll be played the ¨Nearer my God to Thee¨with my district for a musical number and playing ¨We´ll bring the world his Truth¨ with Sis. Adams and a Latino sister--Sis Fernandez. 

We went to the temple again today, and I was able to do a family name that I accidentally brought with me. It was amazing. 

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Hello from BA!!

Hey everyone! 

So I couldn´t wait for today to write to you, so I wrote letters to you all at least every other day. So I´m going to just copy those for most of this letter.

Mom said to eat a healthy dinner (actually her words were a 'good dinner´) (this keyboard is really weird, I have to keep switching from english to spanish to english in order to get the punctuation right :S)

Anway, dinner ended up being an Arby´s sandwich from the airport. I was too shaken up to try somehting new, and that was what I would have eaten had I gone to Utah to be picked up by Oma and Opa. At the airport in Atlanta, there were 23 other missionaries. 20 sisters and 3 brothers. Two of them are above 6 ft. tall, and the other one was Kel´s height, and his name is Elder Kelly. I think that is a foreshadowing that Kel will look super short compared to all of his companions.

Right when I got off the plane I started to have a runny nose and it hasn´t gone away since. It has been joined by its friend the cough that sounds 3xs as bad as it actually is (so it isn´t bad, but it sounds like it is). 

Also, as we were walking up to customs I had my carry on balanced on top of my rolling suitcase, two purses on my shoulders, and carrying my other 50 lbs suitcase in my hand, one of my purse´s handles broke :O. So I tied them together and made a makeshift handle. I need to get a new one, but I don{t think I{ll be able to shop until I leave the CCM (MTC in Spanish). 

Speaking of the CCM, it{s really funny, because the sign says [Central de Capacitation de Misional] and whenever I see it, I think it says [decapitation] :D.

Anyway, we made it safely to the CCM, where I sent you that heartfelt email :P. My senor companion is Hma. Adams. She{s from Alaska and is part Native American part Tahitian. People keep on speaking to her in spanish, because they think she{ll understand. 

Thursday was pretty crazy, but by the end of the day I had enough time to start to crochet a passport pouch which I actually did need. I haven{t finished it yet, but I{m almost done.

So, I know you{re all wondering about the food and if I{m eating or not. Every morning we have cold cereal!! But we only get one bowl, so be grateful. I usually need a fruit and some bread to go along with it. We have beef for lunch or dinner every day and either chicken or pasta topped with meat for the other meal. I have eaten everything of my plate every day (besides one day when it was either a firm, soggy, piece of cornbread or a cake made of crushed pasta. But I still ate a thrid of it). Other comfort zoned that I have stretched: I turned off the light at 10:30pm and walked back to my bed in complete darkness and even managed to climbe the ladder without incident :D. And, on Saturday and spider fell from the ceiling onto my lap and the only thing I did was say [Oh, that{s gross] and brushed it off (and then I killed it). Also, I have been speaking in spanish to the other Latinos here. We have two Latina roommates and two sisters besides Hms Adams and me. The past two nights we were actually talking to them for too long and turned of the lights at 10_35 instead of 10:30. Oops...

Friday felt really rushed and confusing. The teachers kept getting confused as to where we were supposed to go, and kept giving us books and papers to study and fill out. Hma Adams and I managed to make a goal though, to learn 10 phrases and 22 words ea day plus one scriptures or other paragraph (ie, first vision). We{ve done well with the scriptures, but are behind on the phrases and words. 

When I first got here I was intimidated by the sentence [Somos misioneras de la iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias] but yesterday I learned, [Y caunda recibir estas cosas, quisiera exhortaros a que preguanteis a Dios el Padre Eterno, en el nombre de Cristo, si no son verdadera estas cosas; y si pedis con un corazon sincero, con verdadera intencion, tenienido fe in Cristo, el os manifestara la verdad de ellas por el poder del espiritu santo; y por el poder del Espiritu Santo, podreis conocer la verdad de todas las cosas.]

Sorry, I really wanted to tell someone that, even at the risk of being a show off. 

Also on the first day, we taught our first [investigator] in spanish (she was our teacher). It didn{t go very well, but it was pretty good. We{ve taught her 2 more times since then, and she{s committed to be baptized. 

Two things I{ve loved that my mission pres and his wife have said: [The gospel isn{t weight, it{s wings.] and [Whereever truth is found, the dust of the battle may be seen.] Yeah!

For exercise almost every day we{ve played volley ball, although it{s really crowded because that{s where everyone who doesn{t play soccer or basket ball goes. But yesterday Hma Adams and I finally had the guts to join the Latinos in their game of basket ball. Playing with the fam really helped me then, because I could be aggressive enough to play, but not enough to be in awkward situations with the elders or hurt the hermanas who didn{t really play. 

On Sunday it was more relaxing. We had an hour to walk around the temple which is literally ten steps out the door of the CCM (and is in my mission, apparently!!) and take pictures. But I can{t send you the pictures because the computers at the CCM are connected and there would be too much happening if we all sent our pictures, so you{ll have to wait for a few more weeks . sorry. Anyway, Sunday we had cake for dessert, and the elder 2 people in front of me took the last chocolate one, so I had some strawberryjello-cheesecake which was delicious. 

For sacrament meeting, we were in our own room for the [Americans] but only had 3 elders, so they did some fancy moving around and handing off during the sacrament. Unfortunately, once one of the elders ran into the other and everyone started giggling. It was funny, but I tried not to laugh because I thought it was cool that they were trying so hard to help us get the sacrament. 

As far as weather goes, it{s super sticky becase of the humidity and is usually overcast and windy, although we do have sun for at least some of each day. (I apologize for the typos, but time is short :S). The temple is gorgeous, you should look up a picture. We{re going through it for a session today which will be amazing. 

That{s it for now. I love you all!!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission