Week 63: Another Great Week!

October 16, 2017

So this week was great. Trios are fun :D.

Because we`re in a trio, we`re allowed to teach men even if there isn`t another woman with us, so this week we finally taught 4 contacts that we`ve been trying to teach for a long time! Two of them have a lot of potential, and we`re so excited that they now have the chance to hear about the gospel.

This week has also been an emotional rollercoaster, but that`s the norm in a missionary`s life :). 

I`ve been thinking a lot about how my testimony has grown and about the many people I`ve met here on my mission.

Today is literally my last day, I`m going home tonight, and while I`m excited, I`m also nervous. Excited to see my family, and nervous about pretty much everything else :D. But I`ll spare you the emotional downpour. The mission is hard, but it`s simple. It`s simply the work of God, and I`ve loved being a part of it.

Sunday we did one more musical number. I played violin once more and this time we had members singing with us and some of the elders, so we were quite the choir! We sang "I know that my Redeemer lives," and it was beautiful. 

Argentina is one of the only  countries that celebrates Mothers Day on a day that`s not in May, and the day was yesterday, so it was fun :D. My comp Hna Couto was able to talk to her family and I was able to share a spiritual thought with the Bishop`s family.

I love you all so much!! No matter what happens, always put the Savior first! It`s really the easiest and the best way. I know that He loves and that even when things are hard (especially when things are hard) He is always on our side. 

Thanks for everything, I`ve loved writing you all every week. Have a great day!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 62: Transfers!

October 9. 2017

So this week we had transfers. I stay in Adrogué with Hna Couto, but we were joined by Hna Manner, my comp-STL these last two transfers.

We`re super excited to be working in trio!

Not much happened this past week. We had a special conference with a Seventy who lives in Buenos Aires. He and his wife came to speak with us. It was amazing! 

The next day we had our last intercambios for the transfer, and we worked in Adroguè and managed to visit an investigator that we haven`t seen for a long time--Eduardo. He let us in again, and we had a good discussion about the Book of Mormon.

The other two days we walked a lot and talked a lot. It was great! It`s been fun seeing this area grow.  

Saturday night we had dinner with the bishop and his family and it was super fun! His son is less active, and his son`s girlfriend is investigating. We organized another musical number for next Sunday with the bishop`s daughter and another youth that`s leaving for his mission soon.

So yeah! Not a lot happening. Life is good. The mission is amazing. I love you all!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 61: Welll....

October 2, 2017

This week was crazy.

Tuesday we had interviews, right after we started intercambios and I went to Cañuelas (the far corner of the mission) until Thursday, when I got back in the afternoon and had 2 hours to unpack, pack, shower, eat something, and go to Banfield to stay the night. Friday Hna Gove and I went to the temple and then that afternoon we had a self reliance class, so when we finally finished the intercambio it was study time.

Saturday and Sunday we had the Women´s session and the General sessions of General Conference and also did weekly planning because we hadn´t been together the rest of the week.

And that is why I didn´t work in my area this week :(.

But in Cañuelas we saw miracles! We were able to teach the family of an investigator that the sister´s already had and they are all willing to investigate and are very excited to learn more. 

We´d also found another woman who didn´t want to let us in at first because she has a 6 year old daughter with Down Syndrome. But I played with her daughter while Hna Lima taught the lesson. It was amazing, and we were able to establish a relationship of trust with her.

The next morning we taught another of the sisters´ investigators and invited them to be married. They were so excited when we talked about baptism, and the Spirit was very strong. 

In the temple I loved feeling the peace. Afterwards I had lunch with President and the 24 other missionaries who are leaving with me (we´re the largest group leaving that our mission president has seen). 

Then we had a three hour class introducing us to the principles of economy and the church´s program for self reliance. It was interesting, and basically the same plan that I had made, so it was nice to receive the confirmation.

Saturday we made a quick picnic lunch of pasta, watched the women´s session. I received a surprise message that I should bring the violin "to practice" with an elder notorious for organizing musical numbers during conferences.

Sure enough! After the first session, another sister (Hna Garner!) and elder arrived and they´d already planned a musical number and I´m going to play violin tomorrow when a Seventy comes to talk to our mission :S. It´s a good thing they let me in the loop late, less time to stress :).

That night we started beans and I made brownies with brigadeiro for the next day.

Sunday morning we planned, and in between the sessions we ate TACO SOUP! and the brownies. It was a great day.

I loved General Conference, there is always such a strong spirit and I come away feeling ready to begin again.

I hope your weeks also went well! I love you all and hope you have another wonderful week.

Besitos!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Week 60: This Week

September 25, 2017

This week was a good week. 

Lets start from the beginning. We worked a little bit Monday, then Tuesday we had intercambios. I went to Ezeiza and it was so much fun! We were able to teach and feel the Spirit, and were able to find new investigators. 

I love my companion!! In the transfer before this one, I needed to motivate my companion to work after a tiring intercambio, but Hna Couto doesn´t need motivation. We both look at each other, tired but happy, and kneel down to pray before leaving. It´s amazing!

We had other intercambios Friday, and due to complications I stayed the night in Ezeiza one day to travel to Monte Grande the next morning, I stayed the night there, and then returned to my area :D. But it was a big adventure, and I got to know Hna Manner better. And I was able to be with my compi Hna Rascón again! 

We´ve seen a lot of fruits this week. Saturday we taught Cristina, lutheran, who took us to a cafe to have our lesson. We drank juice and taught about the restoration. Then we were able to teach Gisela and help her clean her house. 

She came to church again! We did our musical number, which was pretty :D. We almost had another investigator come, but she felt sick so backed out.

Today we went to buy food for the week, and the supermarket was closed, so I joked "IT´s supermarket day so it won´t be open." When we actually ask someone they told us that yes, it´s day of the comercial employee. :D. 

Love you all! Have a great day! I´m going to make empanadas :D.

Chau!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Week 59: Una Semana de Bendiciones

September 18, 2017
Esta semana decidí que no hablo inglés más. Posso falar português, mas meu inglês è terrivel.

So.... this week ...

I had intercambios (exchanges), both times I went to Cañuelas :D. The first time with Hna Chappell! I love her! 

She showed me an icecream place that serves waffles with fruit, icecream, and dulce la leche .... mmm.... We had a great (if unhealthy) lunch :)

Funny thing- everytime I`ve gone to Cañuelas, we teach a recent convert named Isabel. They only visit her once a week, but it always happens to be the day that we do intercambios. Poor thing, she`s a little confused about why I keep showing up :D. 

We also had a zone conference which was amazing! I didn`t go home after the zone conference because we had another intercambio! o Cañuelas! :D

While waiting for the train, we realized that we wouldn`t have time to proselyte in the other sister`s area by the time we got there. So she suggested that we sing in the train and then pass for the seats and offer pass a long cards (we didn`t have any copies of the Book of Mormon). It was amazing. I was ready to finish, but we hadn`t done one car, so we did it, and the last people I talked to were two youth who started asking all sorts of questions, accepted the few pamphlets we had, and we wrote down their address. They were the only contacts we`d made that lived in the sister`s area! :O. Miracle!

I saw Sister Ortiz when she started her mission and now she`s training. She`s changed so much, and is such an amazing missionary.

The miracles didn`t end there. After the intercambio, we met a woman named Alicia who is amazing! She accepted us into her house, and is interested in reading the Book of Mormon in order to find more knowledge.

We were also able to visit a less active family who gave us brownies :D. 

The four of us (my comp and our "room"-"ward"-mates) were going to do a musical number this Sunday, so we practiced a little Saturday before contacting all of our investigators to invite them to church. The bishop forgot to announce the musical number, so we`ll do it next week but that`s fine :D. 

Last miracle of the week, Gisela attended church with us! She loved it. She participated in the classes the members were super friendly, and afterwards she said she felt at home and enjoyed the reverence and the learning that we had in the chapel. Yeah! 

It was an amazing week. 

It`s been a little crazy with four people in the apartment, and this week we`ll have the ETMs/viajeras/traveling missionaries with us, so we`ll be 6. :) It`ll be great. No drama at all ;)

I love you all! You`re amazing. Keep developing your testimonies and reaching out to EVERYONE you see! 

Love you! Have a great week!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Week 58: A Great Week!

September 11, 2017
This week I began working with Hna Couto, and it`s amazing! 

Tuesday morning we were in a trio while waiting for the new missionary to arrive. We dropped off Hna Ochoa to receive the newbie, and went to an appointment with Cecilia (less active).

It`s been amazing being with someone with so little time. She has so much energy and so many ideas. We`re doing a lot of practices and learning how we can teach together. 

It`s been a little hard for her because everything was cheaper in her last area and the people were friendlier, but she`s got a great attitude and we`re contacting a lot of great people.

Having four people in the apartment is still super fun! We feel like a mini family, with a baby, a mom, an aunt, and the funny sister (I`m the aunt, in case you were wondering :D).

Hna Ochoa did hair (peluquera, I´m not sure what it is in english) before the mission, so she did my hair for the leadership counsel Thursday. 

After the counsel, we taught Gisela. She`s a lot stronger than she was the first time I taught her. She has so much more faith and understanding. The greatest miracle is that now she`s open to baptism. She hasn`t said yes, but she´s going to pray!

We also talked with a sweet old man. He married a young woman 8 years ago and they had a daughter, and then the mother left him for job opportunities. So he`s a grandpa with a 6 year old daughter. He`s a little bitter about the situation, but when we finished our lesson he asked us to come back, saying that he needed more of these teaching in his life. 

It`s interesting, now that I think about it, how many people a missionary is thinking about everyday. "I need to call ---" "When can we visit---?" "What does it mean when they don`t respond?" "How can we find ---?" Sometimes your brain explodes :D. But I love it. It`s a great opportunity and training for life.

Sunday a sister in the ward passed away. I was making her a shawl, so when I heard that she`d passed it was a bit of a shock (crying for a few minutes in the bathroom). But she was the sweetest person and is happier in heaven. She came every Sunday and always said "I`m deaf and I`m blind, but I`m here." 

We`re going to do a musical number next Sunday. Hna Callister (the newbie) at the piano, Hna Couto the recorder, Hna Ochoa singing, and I`ll play violin! :D

Love you all have a great week!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Week 57: Hola todos!

September 4, 2017
Cómo están? Cómo fue su semana?

Ya fue inglés, ya no hablo :D

Pero bueno....

This week was insane.

Monday was normal, P-Day. We had an appointment, but she didn`t have time. We had our last district meeting for the transfer, and worked all afternoon.

The craziness started Wednesday, when Hna Mattos did some last minute shopping, and then we went to Banfield to stay the night, because the next day she went on tour with another sister who´s also ending. Sis. Barlow and I returned to Adrogué thursday and tried to contact people but NOBODY WAS HOME and NO ONE ANSWERED THEIR PHONE :S. It was like everyone died for a week :(.

Friday we worked in Banfield until Hna Mattos came back from the temple and her last interview. 

Saturday we went to the temple so that she could buy garments, but they didn`t have her size, so we went back home and she finished packing. I tried to call more people, but I think there was a holiday that I didn`t know about or all of the phone lines blew out because no one wanted to answer :(. 

But oh well! The craziness is over. 

Now I´m with Hna Mattos AND my new companion-- Hna Couto! She`s the sister that I helped train when I had all those intercambios in Claypole (in our mission she´s considered my niece :D)

It`s been a crazy week, but in the end it was good. I`m excited to get back to work. 

Love you all!!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Week 56: Hola Familia y Amigos!

August 28, 2017
So.... I don`t know why but this week felt like a bunch of weeks put together, but at the same time it went by really fast. Oh well, time in the mission :D. Doesn`t make sense.

We had our last intercambios of the transfer this past week. I went to Cañuelas (the end of the world) again, and enjoyed time with Hna. Lima from Brazil. She really likes homemade bread so I made a speed batch :D. 

I had an afternoon with my companion, and the next morning we did the last intercambio. I met Hna Lopez from Argentina :D. She`s super fun, and we spent a lot of time walking around, trying to find people, getting to know each other, and enjoying the fact that it wasn`t raining.

The next day the rain came. And it came strong :D. Thunder, lightening, wind. As missionaries we still work in such weather. But thankfully we needed to do weekly planning, and thus avoided the worst of the storm :D. 

Saturday we started a fast to help our area and that afternoon we found two new investigators! Gisela`s friend Pilar and a family-- Alejandra y Pedro. We felt the Spirit strongly with Alejandra, and she is so prepared. 

Sunday was an area conference, broadcasted from SLC with Elder Rasband. It was amazing, like a prolouge to General Conference! 

I`ve really enjoyed meeting all the sister missionaries, especially the new ones. They have so much energy and inspire me to do my best. 

Well, there wasn`t much to report this week :D. 

I love you all and hope you have a great time! We`ve got clouds and rain here, which is perfect for me :). "I`m singing in the rain." "There is sunshine in my soul today!"

Love you!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Week 55: Hidden Treasure

After so much time, I finally found a suitable title for the email :D. 

Yesterday during Gospel Principles, I flipped to Articles of Faith and then turned to the page before... and I found something that I didn`t know existed. 

The Testimony of Oliver Cowdrey about the Restoration! It`s incredible and powerful. I read it three times today to absorb it all. I don`t know why no one`s told be about it before. It`s so beatiful and shows the light that the Restoration really was after the years of apostasy. 

So yeah, that was the hidden treasure :)

I feel like this week our area exploded. Suddenly we have so many people to visit!! We found three families that are less active and not all the family is member, so we`ll be teaching them the gospel. We also found a new family that was a grand blessing! After weeks of the same work we`re finally progressing!

One of the members we found is Cecilia. She has four kids, and they`re all sooooo sweet!

We`ve also continued visiting with Graciela. She gave us honey candies :D. But we need her to come to church!! :S. Gisela doesn`t really have much interest anymore, so we`ll probably stop visiting her after this week :(. It`s so sad, because she`s just a little confused and blinded by some creencias falsas. But we`ll see how it goes. 

I had two intercambios. One with Hna Lohman, from California and the other with Hna Rascon, from Mexico, my old companion!! :D It was great, and I learned so much from them. 

I also had the best correlation of my mission!! Normally in correlation the Ward Mission Leader gives us advice instead of helping us connect with the ward (and it`s fine, we get other stuff done). But in this correlation our leader made plans to visit recent converts with the bishop, helped us plan our activity, and we could enjoy a friendship with him at the same time. He let me know of another less active that we could visit, and was just amazing! 

Our new investigator family is the Family of Luis. He used to be ubanda (a really bad religion) and do drugs, but the Iglesia Evangelica helped him get out of those. Now he`s looking for something more, because he isn`t completely in agreement with some of the practices in his church. It was amazing, and a miracle that we found him! 

Now we have a lot more people to visit, and a lot more work to do. I love it! I feel like this week we saw the fruits of our efforts for the past month. 

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

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Week 54: Hola Amigos!

August 21, 2017
So this week flew by, and thinking back on it I don´t remember a lot 

(pause as I take out my agenda.. planner, sorry)

We had a FHE in our apartment. It was fun! We sang, had a short spiritual thought, and played games. Then we chatted as we ate cheezy biscuits and lembas bread (I went on another cooking spree :S)

The other sisters in our ward had a pretty hard week, and so we did divisions to try to help them out Tuesday. It was fun! I was able to get to know the other half of our area, and get to know the other sister (Hna Vasques de Brasil). 

The next day (Wed) we got up early to go to a zone conference close to my last area, in San Vicente. It was amazing, and we enjoyed playing soccer afterwards. My team was undefeated!! :D

Finally getting to work in my area :)... we talked with Graciela more this week. We also continued helping a member who´s taking care of her grand daughter while her daughter is in the hospital. We´ve been stopping by one or two times a week to help her clean the house and talk. I like it, and she´s the only active member in our area, so she definitely has our attention :D. 

After lunch we had intercambios! 

I went back to Villa Madero and it was soooo weird! In a good way :)

The sisters there are working on finding old investigators, so we went through the area book and I showed them a few names that I knew that were good people. We saw a few members who complimented me on my improved spanish :S. It was amazing.

Hna Santos (the sister I was with) was great. She´s super funny and has a lot of energy!

Saturday I finally met one of our investigators, Eduardo. He´s a sweet elderly man. We ran to the rescue when Gisela sent us a message that she wasn´t doing well. We talked with her, my comp gave her a massage, and then we ran to the baptism that the elders had. 

It was such a spiritual experience, the baptism. Only three members came :(. The rest of them really missed out. During the last hymn, I know that my Redeemer Lives, I almost cried. An elderly woman, very humble and sweet, was baptized. She´s always smiling and has a special light about her. 

To finish the week with a spark, as we were working Sunday afternoon, we received a phone call--"Hermanas, can you return to your apartment, becuase the other sisters are locked in" :D.

Unfortunately we were in the far end of our area. We tried to take the bus, but it didn´t come. Then we went for the train, and and hour and a half after receiving the call we finally made it back :S. We found that they hadn´t been locked into the apartment, but locked on the balcony of the apartment :D. It was crazy, and a fun way to end the week.

Today we played frisbee in our district activity. Super fun! But the best part was on the way back when we found a couple from Luis Guillon!! The sister started crying, because they don´t have missionaries in the ward now, but they cheered up, and told us that they´re going to be sealed this weekend!! :D It was a blessing to be able to see them, and I´m praying that we´ll be able to send more missionaries to the ward, they´re such good people!

Well, that´s the week. It´s been a good one, and will be an even better one this week.

I love you all!! Have a great time! Know that God loves you, no matter what. 

Sister Tova S Biesinger