Week 52: Hola Todos-- Estoy muy Feliz!

August 7, 2017

I don`t know why, but that`s the way it is. 

This week felt super long, but we were able to get a lot of work done. 

I did my first intercambio as a leader and it went great! I was worried that I wouldn`t be able to help the sisters but I was able to make friends with them and find out what they needed. It was fun! A new challenge. 

This week I`ve been praying that our area can progress and that our investigators can progress towards baptism. My prayers were answered in interesting ways. 

One investigator told us that she received her answer that the BoM isn`t true, but that she`d pray again. When I asked if she`d be willing to be baptized if it was true, she said no. So now we know why she didn`t get her answer. 

Another investigator told us that she still wasn`t ready for baptism. That`s okay, she still needs to attend church, so that`s our next goal. 

But we were also able to find a lot of great people who want us to come back, so we`ll be finding lots of new people this week! :D

I also wanted a better relationship with the members of the ward and the other missionaries, and Sunday I was able to feel that, so that was super great! 

I feel like I`m on fire... in a good way and a bad way. I feel like I`m finally reaching my potential, and I`m a little afraid of burning out. But I guess that`s the goal. To lose myself in the work :D. 

So yeah, it`s been a great week, and I`m looking forward to another one. This week I`ll be going to my first area Villa Madero for intercambios. It`ll be the fist time returning to an old area, and I`m super excited!

Love you all!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 51: Hola!! First week in area

July 31, 2017

This week was amazing, I got to know my area, my ward, (I already knew my companion.. :D), my responsibilities :S. It was great!

We started out the week doing service for an investigator (Gisela, 32, evangelica) we cleaned her house and the elders gave her a blessing. We then did lots of contacting for the rest of the day. 

We have another great investigator named Graciela. She has a dietetica (where they sell natural things and things for cooking). We had a great lesson and as we were leaving she asked me to speak in english. I didn`t know what to say so she asked me when my birthday was. February 1. "Entendì Febrero, cual dìa era?" "Primero" "No!! Es mi cumpleaños, tambièn!" She was born the same day! She`s super fun, an instant friend.

I had a leadership training Thursday, but we were able to visit Gisela again afterwards and she hadn`t read the Book of Mormon, so we gave her a chapter that captured her interest (3 Nephi 17) and the next day she`d started reading it, but still hadn`t prayed, so then we talked to her about the importance of praying! It`s interesting to see how she`s become more and more happy just in a week`s time. 

The investigator of the other sisters in our ward got married Friday and baptized Saturday. We made a brazilian dish to share in the wedding, and it was so sweet to see how happy they were. They`d waited 10 years for this marriage, because her ex-husband had abandonded them and moved to europe, and they couldn`t get the divorce. But now they`re super happy!

It was a great week. This week will be a little crazy, but that`s how life is, and it`s always interesting :D

Love you all have a great week!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Wedding Pictures:

Making Coxinhas:

Making PB and honey on Tova's homemade bread...a true treat!

Week 49: Rain came :D

July 10, 2017

So.... my wishes weren`t granted I had a little less time in my area this week :(. But the time I had we worked and worked!!!

Our investigator (Magali) that stopped smoking but then paired up with her boyfriend again, told us that they`d gone to the city center to start the process of getting married!! :D Yeah! She still hasn`t come to church, but we`re going to start working more with the members so that she feels more comfortable.

We celebrated Independence Day by dressing in red, white, and blue, I made apple pie, and we sang patriotic songs in the district meeting.

Thursday I went to my second area--Claypole. The viajeras are still there, so we were still 5 :D. It was great! Both of the days I was there we were able to find new investigators, and the one that we`d found last week had read the book of mormon and the pamphlet and told the missionaries that he was looking for the true church!! It was amazing seeing the fruits in an area that wasn`t my own (but where I´ve put some effort, :D)

I got back to my area Saturday in time for the ward activity celebrating Independence Day (of Argentina :D). It was so much fun! There were non members and less actives and everyone was laughing and eating, and there was an amazing puppet show, they told the story of Argentina`s independence, and a sister led the primary in a couple of cultural dances. 

Afterwards we went to visit a less active family. "No, we won`t be able to come to church, we`re going to visit my new grand daughter" "Well, so that you don`t miss out on the blessings, you can stop by the church to attend the first hour and partake of the sacrament before going." "Oh, I never thought of that, that`s a good idea." :). They still didn`t come :(. Agency.....

Yesterday we had a situation. It was after church, it was raining, it was a national holiday, and it was the siesta. Any one of those elements kills the activity in Argentina. So, we hadn`t done our weekly planning yet (due to exchanges), and we decided that we`d do it that afternoon. Then we both felt bad, and decided to go work. We taught a sister that`s recently been returning to church. She told us her life`s story (wow, she`s had some crazy trials!) and bore her testimony. We sang a hymn with her and arranged to have lunch again this week.

Then, after not finding anyone we went for a contact that we`d half taught. She was home! She let us in (Julia) and we shared the Restoration with her. She does yoga (her job and religion) and doesn`t have a christian background. We heard her first prayer! It was super sweet. Then, as we were leaving, she started talking to us in english and asked if we could have the next lesson in english so that she could practice. :D. It was great and we felt so happy. As my comp said, we felt a lot better than we would have felt spending the time planning.

Today we had our district activity. We ate sweet pork, mexican rice, salsa, and orange bars. Super yummy! Then we played a few rounds of ping-pong around the world. Super fun!

I`ve been cooking a lot. I discovered in the mission that cooking helps me relieve stress. I cooked orange bars, mexican rice, apple sauce, monkey bread, and I`m going to make bread tonight. :). Yeah. A little overboard, but we share most of it with the elders and the apple sauce and bread are good for breakfasts. :D

Lots of fun! It`s been a great week. I hope that you`re also enjoying your week. Enjoy life! And the best way to do that is to live the gospel. Love you all!!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 48: Hola Todos!!

July 3, 2017

It gets harder and harder to write in english :). It`s a good thing I have Mondays to remind me about my native language. Our district leader called us last night and he asked if we could speak in english so that his companion could practice listening. It was super weird having a conversation in english. Then during exchanges a sister asked me to pray in english and I`m pretty sure my grammar was terrible, but it was interesting :D. Thankfully my Heavenly Father understands me perfectly.

Anyway, this week was amazing! I was only in my area for half of the week, but it was fun :D

After the District Meeting Tuesday we were working and contacted a man who said that his wife wasn`t home. We heard a woman talking loudly on the phone and my comp asked him "Then who`s talking?" And he said "Oh, just the crazy grandma." Then the crazy grandma came out and invited us in. I was super confused, but my comp asked, and yes, the "crazy grandma" was his wife :S. But we had a good lesson about the Restoration. :) 

The next day we headed out early and I went to Claypole to be with my part-time comps. They also have the viajeras (traveling missionaries) so we were 5 girls in the apartment. We split up to be a trio and a normal companionship :D. 

While there, we found another couple.... who are missionaries for the Catholic church :). Technically the catholic church doesn`t have missionaries, but they`re members of an off shoot (as my comp described it, they`re a protestant church that isn`t protesting :)). They believe that the apostasy happened and that authority come by the laying on of hands, but they don`t know how to receive the authority.... :). ... thankfully that`s where we come in!

After 2 1/2 days in Claypole I was able to return to my area. We met a less active who had contacted my comp and set up the appointment. She`s a sweet older woman who was baptized 20 years ago, but after a few years stopped coming and started going to other christian churches. But lately she`s felt the desire to "go back to where she was born" and return. Aaaah... she`s so sweet. 

Saturday we had lots of opportunities to teach and invite people to church.... but no one came :(. But we`ll be working even harder (And maybe I`ll have a little more time in my area :)) and have a 100% improvement! :D

It was a great week and I have lots of "ànimo" for this next one! 

Have a wonderful day!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Is her hair curlier now? :D

Cleaning the Ceiling

Visiting a Member's Home

Week 47: A great week :D

June 26, 2017

Hola todos!!

So this week was great, we were able to do exchanges and I met my new part-time companions, one is from the states and the other is a new missionary from brazil. (she`s helping me learn portuguese, which is spanish with a few pronunciation changes :D)

We were able to find a young woman and her cousin this week. She has had the lessons before, but he hasn`t. It was great being able to invite them to read the book of Mormon and let that solve their doubts. 

We started teaching a member`s grandma at her request. She`s a super sweet older woman who is practically confined to her house. That same day we were able to teach a young woman (Yoana, pronounced Joana :)) who wants to be closer to God and fix her relationship with her father. We`re planning on helping her see how her relationship with her Heavenly Father will help her with the relationship with her earthly father. She`s really humble, and it was great teaching her.

Then, we found another less active :S. She and her family just started sleeping in Sundays and slipped into inactivity. We asked if they had a book of Mormon and the kids brought out the picture version. We asked which was their favorite story and they said "The one about Jesus" so we read from the book the story from 3 Nephi 11, when Jesus came to the Americas. It was so cool, because as we read the Spirit was so strong and the sister started crying. They didn`t come to church, but hopefully that touch of the Spirit helped them see what they were missing.

Speaking of church, funny story. A young man that no one recognized came (I didn`t teach him, did you teach him? May be the elders. No? Who invited him? :)). After sacrament meeting he gave us some slips of paper and asked us to put them in our prayer box. That`s when we realized that he thought we were the Universal Church that`s around the corner. But we just told him that we`d pray for him and he was invited to stay for the classes. He really liked them, and the elders are going to teach him now! God works in mysterious ways :D.

We had a great Gospel Principles class, the Spirit was very strong. 

It was an amazing week! I hope it was the same for all of you! And that this next week is the same :D Love you all!!

Sister Tova S Biesinger