Week 24: Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful time this holiday season!

Wow! it was just last Tuesday that my companion and I arrived on time in the train station and couldn´t get to our zone conference until 20 minutes late becuase we had no idea where it was and no one was answering their phones becuause they´d already put them in silent and we had to wait until the elders that arrived late showed up. It feels like it happened two weeks ago. :S

Zone conference was amazing!! One elder shared that we are literally living the dreams of the prophets. They saw our days and were so happy with how the church was growing.

After the conference a couple of sisters had a lot of stuff (book of mormons, pamphlets, etc) to bring back in their two hour journey, so they stayed the night in our pension, and the pensioneros (elders that organize everything in the pensions, rent, furniture, todo) picked them up the next morning with their things. That morning was the birthday for one of them and so we had a little celebration for her with balloons and presents. 

That day (wednesday) we had a lesson with Mimi about praying, reading, and going to church and it was really good. She still doesn´t really want to be baptized but our lessons are a lot better and she´s a lot more open. We also talked with Hna Olga about the Restoration, and then had a last minute rehearsal with the stake choir. 

They had their performance yesterday and the missionaries joined them for the last song- Joy to the World. I also joined the program playing the violin. In a couple of songs they also had me play the tenor part on the keyboard to amplify the sound. It was crazy and fun!

The performance was amazing! We´re going to get the photos and videos from the two photographers (members of our ward :)) and I´ll send them to you all.

To my embarrassment this week I fell asleep during a ¨lesson¨. :S We´´d found an old investigator and she talked and talked and talked, and it was late afternoon and I was sleepy, and so I fell asleep around 5 times during her conversation. :(. Lesson..... DON´T FALL ASLEEP DURING LESSONS!! :S

But we got a return visit, so she wasn´t offended (or didn´t notice, hopefully :))

Friday we had a lesson with a member that´s super sweet and is raising her neices. She came to the ward dinner that night which started at 8 and ended at 12 (we only stayed an hour), but looked super fun!

Our investigator Maria accepted the Word of Wisdom without any problems, so we´re super happy for her! 

Saturday and Sunday were musical! We practiced again with the stake choir in the morning, ran to lunch, ran from lunch to violin lessons and piano lessons with a less active member and her granddaughter, and ran to the stake center again for the baptisms of the stake. One of which was a member in our ward. She was the last person in her family to accept the gospel, but now they´re all together, and she wants to visit people with us. She´s super sweet, and it´s amazing that she´s had this opportunity.

Then Sunday was church, practice for the ward choir, eat lunch, and practice for the stake choir, and perform for the stake choir. 

It was really the best church production I´ve been in, and in the end people were crying, and Mimi was able to go, and it was all amazing.

Overall, I´m super happy. We have fun plans for Christmas, the highlight of which is going to be..... the apple pie. JK, talking with my family!!!

Famililes are amazingly important, and in the Christmas season we appreciate them even more. Because Christ was born, He was able to perform the atonement. Because He performed the atonement we can be clean from sin. Becuase we are clean we can enter the temples. And becuase we can enter the temples our families can be sealed together forever. 

I love you all and *May your days be merry and bright, and my all your christmases be white*

(we´re going to have a lightening storm here. I guess that´s the closest we´ll get to snow :))

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 23: Hola! Feliz Navidad!

This week was super fun!

Last Wednesday a member notified us that he wanted to go proselyting with us. So he went with us! He´s 16 years old, and is amazing. We had a lesson with an investigator and afterwards he invited her son to mutual and the church, and he went! Thanks to all the members who help us out, it really makes the day of a missionary when this happens. 

Also in Monday we´d made brownies and cinnamon rolls and piña colada (without alcohol, don´t worry) to bring to eat at the end of district meeting Tuesday. But at the end of the meeting our lunch called and said we had an hour to get there (and we were 1 1-2 hrs. away) so we left the food with the elders and to this day I will never know if it was delicious or not (besides taking their word for it, but I´ll never know for myself :( ...).

Then our weekend was amazing because WE SANG ALL WEEKEND!!

All of the missionaries in our zone sang chrismtas carols in three different parks that were next to train stations, and I got to play violin!! The funnest part was afterwards, as we all went home in the train we sang and I played violin some more. :)

I´ve been finishing Alma in my scripture study, and this is what I learned from Moroni. 1--we should be like him (he is ... Alma 48:7-16). 2--how to handle adversity: have faith and a sense of duty or motivation, receive counsel and comfort from leaders and loved ones, have unity, pray, endure with power, and forgive (see Alma 43:46, 48, 49, 50, 54, 44:20).

It also talks ALOT about preparation. When he isn´t fighting he´s preparing. When Teancumn doesn´t know what to do, he prepares. As we prepare we can face the trials and fights that come our way with courage and faith.

Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! I know it´s not there yet, but it´s basically there. :)

I know that as you do the Light the World program (even every other day) you´ll be able to feel the Spirit more, and see miracles in your lives and the lives of others.

Love you all!!

"May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white."

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 22: A Great Week

I`m going to start out this email with some amazing scriptures about hope and faith. Reading them helped my understand them, where we get them, and what they mean for me, and I know they can help you all as well: 1 Nephi 7:12,  1 Peter 1:8-9,  Enos 1:6-8,  Moroni 7:33, 10:23,  Jeremiah 17:7,  Psalms 33:22, Moroni 7:41,  Proverbs 13:12,  Romans 8:24-25, Alma 31:21-22, Ether 12:4, 32,  1 Peter 3:15

My companion shared this thought with me... If we don`t have faith, the Lord can`t give us hope.

Last Monday we joined a family for FHE, and were able to teach the less active father. We had fun building boats and planning how to help our family arrive in the promised land, and then chatted until they gave us a ride home. 

Also, this week we made cinnamon rolls and apple pie!! The apple pie was easy to make and turned out really good, and when our district leader heard that I`d made it, he requested it for our district meeting tomorrow (he`s also from the US). 

We had another good lesson with Mimi. We`re going back and teaching the first lessons before going into the commandments. She and my companion chatted after the lesson about Mexico, becuase she wants to visit there with Leonardo (her son). Then we talked with Hna Olga and her daughter about their families and how special they are. Even though she isn`t doing her family history as we`ve invited her to do, teaching her got us started doing our own family history.

We also got to help a member in her garden weeding (woohoo :)). We only ended up doing it for about 20 minutes before she had to leave, so we`ll be going back to help another day. 

I loved reading in Alma 29 and Alma 31 because in both chapters Alma prays. In one, he`s finishing a mission, and in the other he`s starting a mission.

In chapter 29, I learned that joy comes from seeing others spiritually self reliant, seeing their success, following God`s will, and being grateful.

This week has been full of appointments, so in Thanksgiving we enjoyed riding the bus and sprinting through our area to have a lesson, then deliver a piece of pie, have lunch with a less active, and finish the day with another FHE. 

We got to go visiting teaching with a sister that doesn`t have a companion, and talked about the new Church Christmas challenge-- Light the World!! (I only just figured out what it was in english today, when I saw the other emails from missionaries :)). It`s a beautiful video and a challenge reach out to people every day until Christmas.

After visiting teaching we helped set up a reception for a member`s daughter`s wedding (but we didn`t stay :( ), and then left to have a lesson with our newest investigator-- Maria. And she accepted baptism! She`s so sweet, and reads the pamphlets we leave with her, has a son and a boyfriend. I can`t wait to see her and her family sealed in the temple. :)

At the end of the day we needed to walk home, because we no longer had money to take the bus :D.

Saturday it rained a lot, but we started our piano classes in spite of it, and my student (aka, my companion) played her first hymn! Next Saturday we have more people that are going to come, and I`m super excited to continue teaching.

After church on Sunday we had ward council, lunch with the bishop, a lesson with a less active family, a FHE with another family (so much fun, and they taught us a game!), and then ran to the stake center for a choir practice with our zone for the weekend choirs we`re going to do. 

So this week was busy and awesome, and this next week is even busier! :D. I know that this work brings happiness and that we can all help in it. As you reach out to the missionaries in your ward you`ll be able to help them feel your support and you`ll also be able to feel the Spirit more in your own life.

I love you all,

Enjoy the snow,

Happy holidays!

:D

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 21: New Transfer.... Ready for Christmas!

Hola todos!

So last week in district meeting we played two truths and a lie to get to know each other, and I mentioned that I could solve a rubik´s cube, so one of the elders let me use his 2x2x3 cube (which I had never seen before) and said to solve it like a 3x3, but it´s completely different, but I solved it this week :). 

We´re starting our Christmas campaign this week after Thanksgiving (which I will be celebrating alone :(...). Our President organized for us to receive enough pass a long cards to give out 75.... EVERY DAY!! :s. We´re also going to be getting together as districts and zones to sing in choirs in parks every weekend until Christmas, and it´s going to be super fun!

This week´s been full of miracles. We found a less active that has never been home before, and got his number and an appointment. The same day, we went to visit another less active (who is now evangelical) and she told us that her pastor told her not to listen to us anymore :(. But we´ll probably drop something off at Christmas anyway :D.

I was reading about Aaron, and thought about him and his brother Ammon, and the conversation they had in the prison. 

Ammon: Hey brother, wow, you look terrible.

Aaron: Yeah, it´s been rough. No one wanted to talk to us, but it´s all for the Lord, right?

Right.

How did you let us out?

Oh, this is Lamoni. I baptized him, his queen, and all of his servants, plus a bunch of his citizens this week.

..... Oh....

So often in missionary work we make comparisons between our work and others, but WE SHOULDN´T. (this applies to any other aspect of life, too).

Then a few chapters later, I found something I´d never noticed. After destroying the city of Ammonihah, many of the Lamanites remembered the words OF AARON, and were converted, and went to live with the people of Ammon.

Every good thing you do counts.

Also, in this section both of the kings--when converted-- shared their testimony with their people but established religious tolerance. Thought it was interesting...

We were able to teach a lot of less actives. 

Our new investigator asked me if I was from Ukraine.... Never got that before :). Another first-- we knocked on a door, and the guy who came out gave us the cross, and left :S. 

The Flia Ortiz let us in again, and we had fun chatting. There is so much love in that house, but she is very sensitive when we share things about the church.

Speaking of the church, there was a baptism from the elders yesterday, and I got to lead the music, and my comp got to give another talk (she also spoke in sacrament meeting :)).

Also, the husband of a member who is generally inactive also came to the church. 

Yeah!!

As I said, a week of miracles.

I´ve really been able to feel closer to the Spirit this week, and feel the excitement of the work.

Love you all so much!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 20: Let's Try This Again

So starting with last Tuesday... :) My companion and I talked alot that night, which was good. Talking about our dreams, the different things we´ve learned, (a little bit of conspiracy theories, brought up by her :)). We´ve also decided this last week that after our missions we´re going to meet up on an island owned by Portugal off the coast of Africa, and from there tour Europe with a little bit of money for traveling, but we´ve pooled our friends together, and have acquaintances or family in almost every country we want to visit. Love the mission!! (plus between the two of us we have english, spanish, and portuguese :)).

Mimi our investigator brought up two difficult questions in our lesson-- Why do bad things happen to innocent people, and why can´t she enter the temple?... She said she understood, but I don´t think she did (at least about the temple). It´s a touchy subject, but it really makes sense when you think about it. 

We also found the Ortiz Family!!! They´re inactive and haven´t let the missionaries in for a few years now, but we needed to use the bathroom, so they let us in :). Then we talked, and their daughter wants to be baptized and learn the violin, so we´ll be teaching her the gospel followed by violin lessons!!

Also, we´re going to arrange piano classes so that I can teach some members, and of course we´re going to invite all of our investigators and contacts that we make in the street. Hna Mattos explained to me how to have a piano lesson with a lot of people present, and it makes sense, and I´m super excited to start!

The last two Thursdays have been crazy... mostly because of the elders :). They sent us a message last Thurs. at 9:30, saying that we had correlation at 10. What they didn´t know is that we had intercambios that day, and so we did a bunch of wacky switching until I ended up in Monte Grande with Hna Czappa, who´s finishing her mission (going home today :(). It was fun going around with her, and talking with the people in her area. She´s an amazing artist, and wants to be a journalist. 

I´ve been reading about the ministry of Alma to his people, and one of the things he mentions the most is that he´s speaking the words that the Spirit gives him, or speaking according to the Spirit. As a missionary, that is vital, and becoming close to the Spirit is a goal for all of us :).

Also, like a recent post my mom sent me, Alma didn´t overexert himself. After a year of preaching, he took a short break in his house. Then he went and preached in a city before going to Ammonihah. After Ammonihah he took another short break (after helping the people in Silom).

The Friday after intercambios was amazing!! We had a record of 4 lessons in the day and found two new investigators--Yamila and Diana. They have problems with drugs, but Yamila has four children and wants to be able to help them more. We´ve met with her a couple more times, and as a companionship have studied in Preach My Gospel in how to help people with these problems.

After that full day, Hna Mattos was feeling really sick, so we planned for the week in Saturday and studied in the house. (Talking a lot more :))

Then we had Stake Conf. last Sunday, and the Stk Pres. said that if we could see the hundreds of people that are behind the one person we invite to church, how much more willing would we be to invite more people to church? To share the gospel with them? It went along with what we learned in District Meeting. Imagine the ones you love most are hidden in the area you´re working in. How hard would you work, and how far would you be willing to go to find them and bring them the gospel?

Another speaker said something that affected me alot. The Lord didn´t call Alma, or Amulek to serve in Luis Guillón. He called ME. The same applies to all of you. The Lord called you to be in your family, your neighborhood, your calling, all in this time and this place for a purpose!

A member of the Seventy spoke, and shared that when going to a confernece, his objective is to reach out to one person and try to help them. He also talked about the lost sheep, lost coin, and the prodigal son, and our duties as members. It was amazing!!

It was interesting the difference between the streets these past two Sundays. Pleasant, warm weather--families outside chatting and talking with friends. Add a few degrees--Nadie!! (that means nobody :S). It´s gotten a lot warmer, and people have said that Spring didn´t happen this year and we´re heading straight for summer. (¨I´m dreaming of a white Christmas....¨)

An interesting thing from this culture is that it´s common to lose your light, or for your gas to be cut. In lunch a member said ¨Sorry it was late, I needed to go to my friend´s to cook the food.¨ or ¨We only have juice to give you, the water was cut again.¨ Wow.... Sometimes we take a lot of things for granted.

We found a less active who is now Evangelical (is that what it´s called in english?). She´s super friendly, and even though she didn´t accept the Book of Mormon we offered, in the prayer she prayed to know if she should return or not. :D

Then we visited a part member family and taught the mom and son (who aren´t members) about the Plan of Salvation. They asked amazing questions and showed a lot of interest. I´m excited to continue teaching them.

We met with Rosa more this week, and sang a hymn. She wants to bring her son to church with her, so we´ll start teaching him, too. She´s also moving into the elder´s area, but we´ll probably continue to teach her. 

I met one of the investigators that Hna Mattos had taught yesterday, and we both met her husband, who has family in New York City. He and I talked a bit in english, then he saw my name and asked ¨Sprecanzie Duetch?¨ (or something like that) And I only know good morning and silent night, so ¨Sólo un poco.¨ But they´re super friendly and have invited us to their son´s birthday party.

All in all it´s been a great few weeks.

Now a new tranfer has started, and today Hna Hernandez (my new companion) arrived in Luis Guillón. She just finished her training, and is from Mexico. I´m super excited to get to know her more!!

Love you all!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 19: Sorry

I´m sorry for the short emails, the time goes by super fast.

Last Monday we had an AMAZING family home evening with a member family. We had so much fun, and now whenever he sees us, one of the sons always makes a funny face from the games we played. :)

We also almost lost the keys, and spent ten minutes tracing our steps in the streets, only to return and find them three steps outside of the gate :S. But the miracle was that we found them!! :D

On Tuesday we had interviews with President, and it was amazing!!! He told me that when problems come up, we can just forget about them, and move forward. It´s been amazing, because I´ve felt so much more free to love and feel the Spirit as I´ve tried to forget about the things that bug, frustrate or go wrong.

That same day, one of the new members of the ward (who has her mission papers in! :D) went visiting with us, and we found out that some of her friends that went to the MTC were some of my best friends there!! Wow! Small world :).

We also met a sweet elderly couple that are less active, and don´t feel like they have any friends in the ward. 

Lessons from Stake Conf.-- The way to improve is to always be a better friend, especially to those who are new or investigating the church.

Love you all!! More catch up next week, because this week was amazing!!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

**********************************

PICTURES:

Enjoying Mom´s 20$​
​Roses from an investigator​
​One of the coolest flowers I´ve ever seen​
​There´s a hook like thorn inside​
​Mi Compañera!!​
​She made cards for some girls who got baptized​
​Happy Halloween!! (I´m a gypsy)​
​

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 18: Two Weeks With One Email :S

Sorry for the break, last week was crazy :)

So I´m in a new ward, which is lovingly remembered by every sister missionary that has been in it (and I can see why--the members are amazing and always willing to help us). We had a stake council one of my first days here, and were able to hear the goals of the stake for the missionary work. There´s a lot of vision and faith, and I´m excited to see the miracles that happen. 

My new companion is from Brazil again, but for the first few days I couldn´t understand what she was saying, because she speaks Spanish really quickly and with a strong portuguese accent :D. Now I can understand her, though :).

I´ve been reading about one of my FAVORITE people in the Book of Mormon-- Abinadi. As I was reading his quotation from Isaiah 53, I realized that they didn´t have a bible on hand to give him to read. He was reciting a whole chapter from the bible!!! Wow!! How well do we know the scriptures? Unfortuneately I don´t know them that well, but I´ve started to memorize the Living Christ in spanish. :) (wish me luck)

We met with quite a few less actives over the past couple weeks. Many of them have made progress, and started to attend again. One sister has a husband who was determined that he´d never return to church or marry in the temple, but has since begun to make plans for the celebration of their sealing :). In the street, another sister stopped us, and expressed that she was in a similar situation, but her husband was atheist and she was afraid to come back to church for fear of offending him. She gave us her number, and we´re going to reach out to help her as well. 

As we were going through our list of less actives, we decided to visit a certain family. They let us in and said they´ve been less active for five years for medical problems, but now want to come back. The daughter hasn´t been baptized, and the mother hasn´t been to the temple to do the baptism for another daughter that passed away six years ago, so we´re going to work with them for their goals. 

Speaking of baptisms, YESTERDAY WE HAD ONE!!! A daughter of a less active was baptized, as was able to be baptized by a missionary who´d reached out to their family four years ago and since returned home.

Another less active (who isn´t really less active anymore!!) makes BEAUTIFUL dresses for parties and weddings. She´s 60 yrs old, and just started learning 3-4 years ago, and is already making a career with it. She asked my companion to be a model in the talent night we had, but we were advised that it wouldn´t be missionary appropriate to be a model, even for a church activity :). 

We´ve also been making a lot of contacts in order to find more people to teach. We found a family that is living in a filthy house, and the children don´t really have good clothes. 

One of the little girls looked exactly like Suvi, and was looking at me with Hava´s eyes. We´re definitely going back to teach them, clean their house, and help improve their living style. It´s one of the priviledges of missionary work. I can´t wait to see them dressed in clean white and in the temple!

The other day I was reintroduced to PASTEL DE PAPAS!!! It´s even more delicious then before, and this time I knew enough spanish to ask for and understand the recipe. :) Be prepared, family, it´s delicious!

We also had a talent night with the RS to bond the sisters, invite less actives, and have fun! A lot of food was brought and even more recipes shared, so I´ve completely filled one of the pages from the cook book Oma gave me. 

In Sunday school, the teach shared that the commandments are excuses that God gives us to bless us. When we obey, He is free to shower blessings upon us.

One of our investigators is soooo sweet. We knocked on her door a few times, and then left to try another house. Five blocks later she came RUNNING UP BEHIND US, calling "Hermanas! Hermanas! Come back and visit with me!" :). She is so sweet, and started crying when we talked about the plan of salvation. She needs to marry her son´s father, but they both want to, so we´re encouraging them to get started as soon as possible. 

Another thought I forgot to add about Abinadi-- even as he was talking to wicked, wicked, wicked people only 7 out of 57 verses were about the judgement of the wicked, and the rest were about the Atonement and mercy of Christ. Yes, there is judgement, and yes, he speaks strongly and clearly about what happens, but he chooses to focus on the mercy and the possibility for change. 

Last Saturday we had a ¨White Storm¨ which means our whole zone went into one area to contact old investigators, less actives, and contact people to find more investigators for the elders in the area. We met some amazing people, and I was able to feel some inspiration in contacting some families that hopefully are now being taught the restored gospel!!

One boy we contacted this past Thursday was very nice, and then pointed out a man walking towards us and said ¨You should go talk to him¨ Ok, if you say so. So we started talking to the man, and behind us the boy started laughing. 

The man was his cousin, and at first was really good, but then started saying things like "Where do you live?" "You have beautiful eyes." So we got his address, and then left him with a card about Jesus Christ :). 

A Jehovah´s Witness also stopped us that same day, and tried to convince us that we shouldn´t worship Thomas S Monson, which was easy to do, because we don´t worship him :D. We were able to explain what we believe about prophets, and reaffirm our shared belief in Christ. 

Interesting food: Tuna and onion pizza, lembas bread, hotdog soup with buns (from brazil). Speaking of brazil, apparently they always have a banana with their food. So with our chicken and veggies, potatoe soup, etc. we´ve diced bananas and eaten them together. And it´s actually REALLY good! You should try it :)

We brought a member to one of our lessons (she was the member who´d given us the name of this investigator--Mimi) and they were so much fun to watch :) They talked for two hours while we had a fifteen minute lesson :S. But this friendship is what has helped Mimi accept what she has from the gospel, which is.... A BAPTISMAL DATE! She really wants to know if this gospel is for her, even though she´s mad at God for the challenges she´s had in life. 

Yesterday, we were able to bring another investigator--Rosa-- to church. She´s been receiving the lessons for a long time, and yesterday 1-attended church, 2-received a blessing of health, and 3-attended a baptismal service. She had a full spiritual day! Now we´ve set a baptismal date with her as well, and I know that if she´s open to the Spirit, she´ll receive her answer.

I love you all!

Have a wonderful day!

Love this girl.

Week 17: Going to...LuisGuillon!!

Hola, todos!

So I don´t have a lot of time this week, but I´ll be travelling to Luis Guillon to be with my new companion Hma. Mattos, from Brasil (woohooo! Companions from Brasil are my lot :D)

I´ve attached a picture of an adventure I had this Tuesday :). I don´t know if you can see it, but it illustrates why you shouldn´t put water in hot oil. I´m holding the pan so that the walls don´t catch on fire :D. But everything turned out fine, I made hashbrowns with eggs, and Hma Conceicao made kiwi juice.

We also made brownies this week, and Hma Conceicao introduced me to Brigadero-- a brasilian chocolate that can go on brownies, icecream, or just out of the pan like we ate it this morning :)

Conference was amazing! It was really an answer to my prayers, and filled my cup. I especially loved the talk by Elder Rasband and the talk in the Woman´s session about faith and ¨Someone already did¨ 

When the MTC choir was announced, everyone in the room (we were the english speaking missionaries) said ¨Aaah... How cute!¨ (It´s that way until you have about 5 months in the mission :)). 

More news next week!

Love you all!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 16: Humility is the Key to Success

Hola familia y amigos** ¿Cómo están?

In our zone conference, we were told that the more humble we become, the less fear we´ll have and the more powerful we´ll become. Humility has always been an interesting concept for me, bcause it seems so weak, but it makes us so strong.

Speaking of which, the scripture shared was 2 Cor 12:9-10, about how our weak things will become strong. Interestingly enough, the scripture I´m memorizing this week is Ether 12:27. I think I need to get this message.... :D

During our district activity we played pingpong, and I discovered that I´ve inherited my Dad´s love for the game :D.

This week has been a week of creative food adventures. First, I made sandies again for our district activity, and then again with Hma Conceicao, for her cumplemes-- but the second time we put leftover shazaam in the middle. Mmmm... we wanted to also put a little piece of strawberry with the shazaam, but didn´t have strawberries, which made it hard.

What we did have were a lot of apples, because neither of us ever feel like eating them. So I made applesauce** It´s surprisingly easy when you just have eight apples and three little jars, and only takes an hour :D. So much fun.

Today I´m making lemon bars to celebrate the end of the transfer with our district. Woo hoo** And brownies and dulce le leche to celebrate General Conference. Mmmm....

During district meeting we talked about Family History and how it´s an amazing tool to find people. I showed my little booklet that I´d filled up the day before, and I´m going to put in more pictures when I get home. Those little *My Family* booklets are so much fun, I recommend filling them out personally, and also sharing them with your neighbors. It´s a very easy way to share the gospel, and one of the most amazing truths we have in this church is the truth that we can be together with our families forever, and can help those who have already passed away receive this joy as well.

This week as we were walking down the street, a dog came up to the gate we were passing and started barking at us. That didn´t fase me, becuase there´s almost always a dog barking at us. But then a smaller dog came up from behind the other one and started barking at us... and then walked through the bars of the gate, and started chasing us :O. It didn´t follow us very far, but it was funny to see the little puppy trying to act big. --and he did scare my companion :D--

This week I had tramites --which means governmental paperwork-- in the capital. Pictures to come next week becuase this week my card is being tempermental and won´t connect :S. It was fun, I met another hermana from Pennsylvania, and we had pizza and chocolate mousse in a restaraunt called the Kentucky.

This week one of our new investigators is an older woman named Juana. She was so cute, and repeated everything she said a few times... sometimes in the same sentence. :D She´s very catholic, but liked hearing about the Plan of Salvation.

Another investigator--Prisila-- is preparing for baptism** She´ll be baptized after I leave, but it´s still amazing to see her and her family grow in the gospel. She´s 9 year old, but very mature, and helps her younger siblings understand the scriptures that they read together. The primary president is excited to see how well she´s doing, and has given us another primary aged referral to work with. Yeah**

We were finally able to teach a lesson to a contact that had turned out to be an inactive member. She´s attending another church now, and has troubles with the Book of Mormon. It was amazing during the lesson with her, becuase one of my weaknesses is asking questions, but as she was talking, I remembered to rely aon the Spirit, and the moment I did, a question came ot my mind, and we were able to help her see the importance of the Book of Mormon. We challenged her to read it, as well as her sister, who isn´t a member, but was very receptive.

As many know, this week is a very special week because we get to hear from the living prophet. This week, I read in DandC 21:4-6 that through listening to the prophets, and clouds of darkness are dispersed, and we receive greater light and strength. Today, I started my personal preparations for listening to conference. As I was studying, I had the impression to make time for my scriptures. ¨No,¨ I thought, ¨I´m on a roll learning about the prophets, and I just finished reading about King Bemnjamin, so it won´t have anything to do with prophets.¨ But, I read anyway, and I´m so glad I did. Mosiah 8 contains the testimony of Ammon to Limhi about prophets and their role in our lives.

This week we have this chance to receive guidance and blessings through the prophets. Take advantage of this opportunity, because it will bring great blessings to your lives.

Love you all so much**

Espero que tengan una buena semana :D

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

ps, ¨The field is ready.... are we?¨ 

Week 15: Hola de Villa Madero**

So, anything with dulce le leche tastes good, as I discovered in intercambios. We had bread with dulce, empanada wraps --not actual empanadas-- with dulce, and this next week for the cumplemes we´re going to have brownies with dulce and before I leave, I´m going to have icecream with dulce. Mmmmm.... Dulce le leche is one of the top reasons missionaries gain weight :D

Also a couple weeks ago we were helping a member move. One of her beds didn´t fit out in the hall-stairway leading down from her second story apartment, and so we were trying to think of what to do. In my mind, I thought, ¨Oh, we can just throw it out the window¨ and literally right after I thought that, Hna Alicia --the member-- said, ¨Do you think it will fit out the window?¨ :S. 

So we figured out 1- If it would fit. Yes. 2-If the window would stay open. Yes. 3- If it was safe. ... That question was never answered, but we put the elders underneath the window, in the passage way just at the top of the last flight of stairs, and we were hanging out the window, holding on to the rope that was fastened to the bed. :D. Everyone survived, but it was a close call for the bed. 

We also had a lesson with Maria Ester --a less active-- and managed to set goals with her for living the word of wisdom. This was something she´d never allowed Hma. Walters and I to talk about, but with Hma. Conceicao, she opened right up and set the goals. We´re taking huge steps with her to get her back to attending the church.

This week I found two more scriptures about repentance leading to missionary work, and your homework is to look them up and apply them. Sound good? Great** Mosiah 3:19-20, and the other one is in my second journal, so I´ll need to send it to you next week. D:

We had our first zone conference with Pres. Calquin, and it was amazing** It´s like a personal and interactive general conference* I came away with more goals about how I can improve, and ideas that we´re going to apply to our work. 

Another first this week was my first talk in a baptism. Yeah** We were visiting investigators and talking with the member who was going with us, when the elders called and told us that their talks had fallen through, and were wondering if we could give them in an hour and a half at their baptism. Ummmm.... With some quick rearranging, we were able to go, and even have fifteen minutes to prepare :S. I´m not sure if I was understandable, but I just put my trust in the Spirit and hoped it came out well. It was a beautiful baptism. She´s the thrid sister in her family to be baptized, and they´re still working with the mom towards baptism, but it´s so amazing to see the unity that baptism brings to the three sisters. 

Saturday was a day of miracles** We found an investigator that´s never home, and were able to present her with a Book of Mormon. She says she has troubles reading, but my companion´s grandma had a powerful experience reading the Book of Mormon despite her lack of education and we were able to promise this same experience for our investigator. 

As we were running from there to another appointment, a dog started barking from across the street, so we turned up the next street to avoid it. There was a woman sitting outside her house, and when we asked her how her day was she said ¨Horrible.¨ We were able to talk with her, and sing a hymn. She cried with us, and we said a prayer with her. We set an appointment for the next day. 

Yesterday was the appointment, and we taught her about the Plan of Salvation, and how the Savior has experienced everything that she´s experienced and is able to help her perfectly. We were able to serve with her temporal and spiritual needs.

Speaking of service, Hma. Conceicao gave an amazing talk about service in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. I know that my time is approaching when I´ll receive a call and be asked to give a talk, but for now, I´m just focusing on talking with people in conversations and lessons :D.

I´ve been reading the talk that King Benjamin gave to his people, and it´s an amazing teaching on not only service, but on acting on your change of heart and how to retain a remission of your sins. 

I know that it´s through Jesus Christ that we can overcome our weaknesses, and that we can become the people He needs and wants us to be. Real and lasting happiness only comes through Him and through living his gospel.

I hope you have a wonderful week, filled with miracles**

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 14: "When you find out who you are, you''ll be sorry you didn't try harder"

I´m not completely sure what this quote means, but it´s really made me think about who I am, so I liked it. 

A couple of our new investigators are amazing** Juan and Marta are an older couple. Juan grew up in Russia and was greek orthodox, but converted to catholicism to marry Marta. Marta was almost baptized  years ago, but went to a different chapel for the baptism, and after that was upset with the missionaries. :O. Lesson: communication is important** She´s open to the lessons again, and we´re going to make sure to communicate with her :S. 

Last week I had a problem, so I prayed about it and the next morning I decided to read a couple of the talks that H. Walters had left, and it was the answer to my problem** It was a testimony builder that God answers our prayers and will help us through other people.

There was a lot of rain on Monday and Tuesday, really nice the rest of the week, and now it´s raining again :D. Woo hoo** While we wait for meetings to start, I´ve been helpind teach Hma Conceicao how to play the piano. She´s amazing, and can play basically all of the simplified hymns even though she had never played piano in the beginning of her mission. She´s practicing so that she can play for her ward when she goes back home.

We´ve been visiting Maria --less active-- quite a few times and even though she´s not attending, she´s started to pay her tithing and has set goals to keep the word of wisdom. She has such a strong testimony, but I read this morning in a talk by Elder Bednar that although testimonies are essential and amazing, we need to do more to be converted. *Gospel truths are the essence of testimonies. Being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion.* --or somehting like that :D--

My testimony of the Book of Mormon is another thing I´ve been working on, --while you´re on your missino you kind of find out where your weak points are in your testimony :S--. It´s been amazing the power that comes from studying, praying, and really trying to obtain a testimony.

I´ve learned so much from H. Conceicao. A few things are : how to sing Silent Night in portuguese and japanese, how to teach a lesson when you first contact a person, and how to have fun while doing missionary work.

WE had intercambios, which was great** I got to know my new sister training leader and we were able to talk, and teach a less active in their ward. They have bikes in their area** :D We didn´t get to use them, but I can dream.

While visiting with a member, she asked if we could die her hair. Thankfully, H. Conceicao knew how, so she was able to help her.

Today I read more about the Atonement, and it´s such a beautiful process.

I know that by studying the Atonement and the Savior´s life we can become closer to Him.

Love you all, have a great week**

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Week 14: Pictures and chocolate!

My first real mango** Besides having the texture of a peach, it tasted good​

​Chocolate during intercambios --I can never remember the word in english--​

Can you see what´s wrong with this picture??

Mom's response:

Well, if it is the mango pictures, maybe you forgot you already took a picture and accidentally took another one?  Or maybe it is that you are trying something different, like  a mango :)?   I can't see anything that is deliberately missing or misplaced between the two.

Ummm....the chocolate picture with you and the other sister: what is wrong?  You don't have both of them :)?

The chocolate bars one: the fact that they are uneaten yet?

The first one?  Let's see...you have lovely shoulders and must be overly warm to be displaying them so :).  You lost your hair?  No, it's just pulled back...hmmmm...the crack and leak in the wall behind you (please don't tell me that your house collapsed, although that would be quite the story!

Ummmm....there is definitely not anything wrong with that beautiful smile!  Love you!  Can't wait to hear!

Dad's response:

I can see lots of things wrong with the picture:

One room is pink and the other room is white, but the paint line between the two is not straight. 

There is a hole in the ceiling where the rains gets in.

There are three pack of cigarettes on top of the fridge and you shouldn't be smoking on your mission (or off your mission). 

You have two refrigerators.

Your hair is parted on the wrong side.

One of the fridge magnets is for a company that is no longer in business so the number has been disconnected.