Week 10: Put the Atonement on your Scale

Sigh... I don´t want my trainer to leave :(. But I´m excited to meet my new companion next Monday!

Last week we had a fun activity in our district, and were able to edify each other, and I was able to have an enjoyable time speaking spanish! :D

In his talk ¨The Joy of Redeeming the Dead¨ Elder Scott gave us a way to ELIMINATE the influence of the adversary in our lives-- by searching wholeheartedly for our ancestors and taking their names to the temple. I can´t help with that right now, but I can see in the lives of the recent converts here, and it´s been shown that the people who do family histroy work are more likely to be active in the church... as my brother recently said, Coincedence, I think NOT!

Also, if you read in hebrews 11, it talks about faith and also about how faith relates to our trials. 

We were able to teach Kiara and Valentina-- the little girls who are preparing to be baptized, and we found another girl and a boy who haven´t been baptized, and who´s families are less active. It´s sad to see how inactivity in the church effects the children in the family. They don´t have a knowledge of Jesus Christ or a security that comes from the knowledge we have in the gospel. But we´re working with them, and their families remember the joy that they felt when they attended the church--it´s just taking the step to returning is difficult. 

On Wednesday, I stopped a woman in the street to invite her to our Open House (Capilla Abierta) in the church, and she smiled really big. Then she told us that just a few minutes before, she´d been invited by the elders. :S. But we were able to connect with her because her family comes from Germany and so does mine (distantly). 

As I was studying the attributes of God in PMG, I noticed that in nearly all of them it mentions love, or caring, or understanding, finally all summed up in John 4:7-9 GOD IS LOVE.

Thursday we were running (sometimes literally) from lesson to lesson. It was amazing! We were able to teach about the Book of Mormon with one woman, who said she´d download the gospel library and listen to it on the bus. We also sang some hymns with the blind friend of a member who we found again, and she sang some catholic songs for us. We shared how Jesus Christ helps each of us in our trials. 

Then we had one more lesson, quick study time, and a family home evening with a family, who then gave us some AMAZING Argentine pizza. :) It was an amazing day. :)

Speaking of food, we had intercambios (exchanges) this past Friday-Saturday, and during lunch the member filled our plates twice with delicious food, refilled our glasses at least five times, and then brought out dessert. :O. I rolled out of there very happy, and wasn´t hungry until breakfast the next day, and even then I could have waited until lunch. :). We also had a lot of lessons during intercambios, and it was amazing to see how the other sisters taught together and how my teaching could improve. 

One of their investigators shared that he hadn´t understood how there could be a God if all the bad things happened in the world, but after they´d left 2 Nephi 2, it made sense to him why we needed the opposition. 

We had an amazing day in church, the speakers were talking from their hearts and the Spirit was so strong. One of the less actives we´ve worked with came! And hopefully he was also able to feel the Spirit. 

I still love studying the Atonement. :) This week I thought about how we have a scale, and on one side is our sins and the obstacles keeping us from God and the other side is what we can do to make it up. It´s not that much. :( But if we accept what the Savior offers to us, and using our faith, repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost to put it on our scale, He can make up the difference. And as missionaries, we help show people how they can put the Atonement on their scale and help them find that balance in their lives.

Que tengan una linda semana!!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

ps, quotes from this week-- We don´t have to defend Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon will do it for us (Hales... I think)

--Without repentance, the past would forever hold the future hostage.

--How many times have we vigorously protested on the way to a blessing? (Maxwell)

--The crowning characteristic of love is loyalty (Holland)

--Our Father in Heaven refreshes us on the journey through life with some pleasant inns, but He will not encourage us to mistake them for home. (CSLewis)

Knock-Knock Story and Quote

Knock knock story of the week:

We rang a bell for a referral. After about 3 minutes, she came out. ¨Did you ring the bell?¨ ¨Yes¨ ¨It doesn´t work.¨ Then she closed the door. We weren´t sure if she was going to come back out again, so we waited for a while, and then left when she didn´t come back out :S

Cool quote from Pres. Monson as quoted by Hma Walters-- our sufferings can be opportuinies to grow or they can just be sufferings.. depends on our attitude.

Week 9: Aug 1 and pics!

To start out, here´s a scripture 2 Nephi 10:20-- trials will lead us to better things**

Last week for district meeting Hma Walters made banana bread with our left over bananas and I made Sandies --my dad´s ¨favorite¨ cookie :D.
Speaking of food, I forgot to mention that I passed my first test** During intercambios last week, we were served some rice, veggies, and noodles in a member´s house. But they weren´t noodles. I half knew this, but didn´t let myself think about it as I finished it. Later, my companion confirmed my fears-- It was cow stomach. Well, the worst part was the texture, and it was cut up small enough that you could just swallow it. :D. Hma. Latoja said that she´s only had it 3 times in her stay here, so I´m pretty safe.
Afterwards, we were looking for a member from the ward list --which is fairly old-- and she hadn´t ever answered the door. Hma. Walters felt to go one door over, and we found her brother. She had moved a few streets over. We found her yesterday. She hadn´t attended the church for about 15 years, but said we could visit her. Yeah**
We found two other less actives that day, both are very friendly and willing to try to come back to church. One of them went inactive because she married and moved shortly after she was baptized, but she has good memories of the church and the missionaries. Today we´re going to talk about Pres. Thomas S Monson and how we have a prophet today to help us.
On Tuesday we had an amazing lesson with Valentina. She asked us how she could recognize the answers to her prayers, and we had the other members of her family answer. After teaching the Plan of Salvation, we also talked about temples. They haven´t been sealed yet, but the mother remembers being sealed to her family when she was Valentina´s age. She said she doesn´t attend church because of some hurt feelings, but she´s going to try to let them go because she knows that it´s a step she needs to take if their family can be sealed. :D We´re so happy for them. It´s been a miraculous experience whenever we´ve taught them. Tonight we´re going to do a FHE with them, and start working with them even more.
Thought from Pres. Faust: The Holy Ghost is the most reliable source of peace in our unstable world. It can be with us in sorrow or joy. It can heal our insecurities.
The weather´s been great** It rained Tuesday and yesterday, but other then that it´s been autumn the whole time I´ve been here-- and occasionally spring and summer, it only gets winter like at night.
Jorge looks a lot happier this week, and we hope that we´re helping him by visiting regularly, and I know that the Priesthood is really reaching out to him as well. At the end of our lesson with him, his son Lucas gave us alfajores and chocolate bars. Mmmm...
Elder Bednar gave an amazing talk a conference or two ago about the prophets, and why they are elder men. He said ¨They are not spared affliction. Rather they are blessed and strengthened to press forward valiantly. ... Their greatest desire is to discern and do the will of Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son.¨ I could feel that as I read the talks of Pres. Monson today. They really do love us and want us to be able to be happy in this life.
Alma 28--talks about a huge battle where 10,000 plus were killed. Later it describes two types of survivors--the kind that had hope through the gospel, and those who didn´t. They were both sad, and both had lost so many loved ones, but because of the gospel, one group was able to look forward with faith and to move on to their future.
And yes, there´s a tie in in verse 14 to missionary work...
We had our first interview with our new mission president this Thursday, and it was cool. He gave great advice on how we´re going to help improve our work in this mission.
We also sang I am a Child of God for an older lady, and right after she asked if we were married. :S. She´s super cute, and it´s such a cool opportunity to visit with her.
On Friday, as I was talking on the phone, the lady on the other end kept saying that she couldn´t understand me. :O. I thought my spanish was improving** We also found an investigator that is rather hard to find, because of her school and work, but we talked with her about the Book of Mormon and she asked us if she could attend church. YES** You Can** She´s so sweet, and I can´t wait to see how the gospel blesses her life.
On sunday, we learned that we´d be having a big open house in the chapel later this month. It´s a beautiful program that was started in Central America and now they´re doing it here --I don´t know if they do it in the USA. I´m excited to help with it, and will send pictures if I can. :D
I was studying the commandments this morning, and found a couple of scriptures. Mosiah 2:36-37, 41. When we´re disobedient we withdraw OURSELVES from the Spirit, but as we live faithfully we are able to be blessed temporally and spiritually and live with God when it´s all through.
I know that that´s true, and that as we live faithful we´re able to see the blessings of God in our lives.
Love you all, have another great week**
Sister Tova S Biesinger
Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 8: "Awake to your Duties"

I read an amazing talk this morning by Carol M Stephens, and she cited a scriptures in Romans 13:11-12--both are very inspiring, and you should look into them :D

And yes, we are starting out with the connection between the Atonement and missionary work. In 2 Nephi 16 (or Isaiah 6), Isaiah receives a remission of his sins, and DIRECTLY AFTER the Lord asks for someone to preach. Isaiah is ready, and willing to answer that call. (see also vs. 17:14, 18:10, and 19:6). Are we?

Food update: Milanesas are still delicious!! We have them at least once a week. We also had estofada, I think it´s Peruvian, and I was in heaven!

We taught our 10 year old investigator every day this week to try to prepare her for her baptism. We talked with her family about eternal families and how they could be sealed in the temple. After this lesson, her mom really warmed up and shared how she remembers being sealed to her family. She still hasn't attended church, but Valentina bore her testimony in sacrament meeting yesterday. 

On our way from district meeting and to lunch, Hma. Walters felt like we should turn around, and talk to the woman we'd passed sitting by the sidewalk. She opened up quickly to us that she'd lost her son a year ago, and didn't feel like Jesus Christ could be there if he'd let a child die. We talked to her for a while, and are going to find her again. The family we had lunch with knows her, and told us a little more about her situation, and is willing to help us to meet with her and with other investigators.

We taught the daughter of another less active family (Kiara) and had a fun object lesson to teach about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The 6-yr old reminds me of Hava and Maia, and is super sweet!

We found a new investigator on our way from this lesson, a young mom with two children. (We also met her husband in our second lesson). She hasn't really ever prayed, but said the prayer in our lesson, and is reading the Book of Mormon. She asks really good questions that show that she's really learning and has a desire to learn more. 

I decided to be daring and read something out of the old testament. There's a reference to Ezek 33-34 somewhere in PMG, so I read those, and WOW!! They're so powerful, and beautiful about the love of God for people who've gone astray and how we have the responsibility to look for them, and how Jesus Christ is also the Shepherd who wants to gather his flock. 

We met with the woman who's blind again, and were just in time to help her walk to her friend's house. She was so much fun to be with, and said that we could call her to pass by again some other day. 

I've been talking to more and more people, and have decided that one of my mission goals is to be able to talk more easily about the gospel in contacting situations. I'd just gotten use to easy conversations with strangers in English, and now I'm learning how to do it in Spanish.

Yesterday we had our first lesson with a woman that we've talked to a couple of times, and who has met with the sister missionaries once before. She asked a lot of questions and has a desire to have a desire to believe. She told us she has a lot of doubts about religions and even apologized for her "Hard Heart" We shared scriptures from the Book of Mormon and explained about faith, and how it's something that grows gradually as we're developing it. 

Today I studied how the Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul, and decided to write down a question I had, and look for the answer tomorrow. But I didn't even have to wait, because in companionship study, Hma. Walters shared a scripture that answered the question. 

The Book of Mormon is true scripture, and it's a way that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. 

I love you all and wish you a happy week filled with the Spirit!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 7: A Free Store with Immeasurable Joy

Hola!

So a super cool scripture I was reading this week is in 2 Nephi 9:50-51, where it says that anyone can come to Christ, and buy milk, water, and wine without money. I was thinking, ¨Oh yeah, that´s so wonderful¨ But then I also thought, how would my mom react if she knew of a store that had free food and drinks. She´d tell my aunt and all of her friends. Who would tell all of their friends. If you knew of a store that would give you this opportunity, you´d want to mention it to your neighbors (even if you didn´t know them well.) ¨Oh, by the way, there´s this amazing place where you can get food.¨ That´s how it is with the gospel, only instead of having food, we have the fountain of righteousness, the living bread and water, the light and life of the world--Eternal Life through Jesus Christ. How much more will we want to share this Good News?

We met some cute girls (daughter and friend of an investigator) who wanted to know all about New York... City. I´m glad I visited it once so I could describe it a little. :S.

District meeting was great. Mostly because I don´t feel as intimidated talking in spanish in front of them. It´s been cool, as I rely on the Spirit, I can feel the gift of tongues, but when I just try to think of things and words, I get flustered and confused.

We had lunch is the friend of the relief society president--she´s a sweet lady who´s blind, but very independent and very close with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. She mentioned the scripture in James 1:5, and the scripture in Isaiah 29 about God{s thoughts higher than our thoughts. She teaches in schools, and helps children who have family problems to learn better. She´s funny and we´re going to visit her again this week.

Wednesday was the Día de Amistad (day of friendship). There were a lot of people in the park, and a member we met gave us these cute little butterfly brooches, but more importantly, she gave us the information of her niece, who´d listened to the missionaries before and wanted to listen again, had a new baby, and was ready for us! Yeah! 

I read an amazing talk by Holland this week, about the scriptures (Safety for the Soul) and how in these days, mens hearts will fail them, but if we´re anchored to the gospel through the Book of Mormon we will be able to be strong. He also bore a powerful testimony of the book of mormon.

We met a sweet woman, who said that the sister missionaries always find her when she needs them and that they´re like angels. Aaah... We had an appointment with her, but found out that she doesn´t live in our area! Thankfully, we were able to call the sisters in the other area, and they were able to go visit her.

Another connection between the Atonement and Missionary Work: The first thing that Alma and the Sons of Mosiah did after repenting was going about preaching to the people, and the sons of Mosiah even went to the Lamanites because they couldn´t bear the thought of anyone not experiencing the repentance that they had experienced.

True to the Faith on the Atonement: The Savior was willing to be beaten, humiliated, and executed so that we might enjoy immortality and eternal life.

We had exchanges again this week, and I got to be in our area with Hma. Latoja from Chile. We tried to start our classes of english, but no one came :(. But it´s winter vacation here, so next week we have some members that are going to come and bring their friends! :D

Also this week, I found out that I was saying ¨Raro¨ wrong. I was saying ¨rado¨ ... thankfully the rs and ds sound almost exactly the same. ;)

We weren´t able to meet with the aunt of the member that we met last week, but were able to talk with the cousins. They are also willing to learn, but don´t have a religious background, so it´s different trying to teach them. I hope that they can come to see how happy the gospel can make them, they´re so sweet!

We also met the family that we taught the first day I was in this area. It was interesting, because I can now understand what the little girl is saying when she´s chatting with us!! (most of the time) We were able to go over the Book of Mormon again, and are going to talk with them again tomorrow. 

As I´ve been trying to talk to more people in the streets, I´ve decided to try and follow the Spirit first, and be afraid later. Of course, deciding and doing are two different things, but deciding is the first step. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission