Week 32: Yeah!!

March 13, 2017

Great news! When one can`t upload photos because one doesn`t have a computer that has a usb opening one has much more time to write to ones fans :D

This week I`ve been thinking a lot about the role of service in missionary work.

We were able to talk with an elderly man as he was walking slowly with his cane and his bag of groceries. I offered to take the bag for him, and he handed it to me and then put his free hand around the shoulder of my companion. ... :S. So we walked him around the block to his house and left him with his groceries. My companion commented later that he really needed us to come along, because he was using her as support to continue walking, so we were super happy to serve him :D.

We met again with our new investigator-- Claudia. She has a lot of very good questions, all of which we can answer! She has a strong testimony of the Bible, but still doesn`t completely trust the Book of Mormon, so we`ve invited her to read it and pray about it and promised that she could feel that it was as true as the Bible. She accepted everything that we`ve taught so far, but said that she did it because we`ve been using a lot of references from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. But she`s a really good person and we`re excited to be working with her.

This week I tried passion fruit ice cream... and... woow..... it`s..... super...... yummy..... mmmmmmm...... We have an amazing icecream shop in town that has a killer deal every Tuesday so we`ve gone the past two weeks after district meeting to pick up icecream to go with lunch ... for the entire week :D (it`s 2 kilos of icecream, so it takes a while :)).

We`ve taught our little investigators the laws--- chastity, word of wisdom and tithing. We gave them a tithing slip and when we passed by a few days later they said that they hadn`t received money so still couldn`t pay their tithing.... so cute.... :D

Oh! And a crazy day thursday!! (close your eyes and plug your ears elder Biesinger) We had three appointments before lunch, lunch, study in the park for half and hour (because we didn`t have time to go home to study), then five other appointments in the afternoon-night!!!!!

Woohooo! (well... only two of them actually happened, but they kept us busy running from house to house :))

Yesterday was also crazy, with an apointment at 6:30, 7, and 7:30! (all of which fell through... but...) then we were able to watch Legacy with an inactive family and we think it really helped them feel the spirit of the church and the importance of the gospel. We challenged them to renew their testimony of the Book of Mormon, and will be visiting for follow up.

Oh, and Saturday and Friday we did divisions because the one of the hermanas that live in the complex with us broke her foot and can`t walk, so we helped them work in their area for two days. I went with her comp and we walked all day contacting until our appointment at night that was with a less active member they`d found contacting, and when we knocked at the door an active member of MY ward answered. Apparently the less active is his son, and he was taking care of his grandson. :D What a small world!

The next day I stayed with the hermana that has a broken foot and finished a project I`ve been making for my companion. Don`t tell her, but it`s a huge collage of pictures of the temple, because she`s going to be finishing her mission with me :D

And Saturday morning, before divisions, we walked past a girl and I thought "What a pretty dress." and we continued on our way. Then we went to set up an appointment with a less active that lives on our street, and her husband answered and he said she wasn`t there, so we were setting up a time to return when he said, "Oh, there she is!" and lo and behold the girl that we had passed.... :S. Lesson: Talk to everyone. We`re going to visit her today and have a great time :D.

Woohoo!! Have a great week everyone and enjoy your lives! Smile and say hi to everyone you pass this week!

Love you all!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 31: Apologies

March 6, 2017

Sorry, the internet was slower or something, becuase I ran out of time and didn`t get to write about all of the awesome things that happened this week like

--missionary sleepover

--interviews with president

--new investigator with great questions

--cleaning with a member

and things like that.

Love you all! I promise to write more next week :S

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

So there a couple of random pictures of me, then there are some coloring books I made for three kid investigators for sacrament meeting, and then the presents I bought myself with the money Mom sent. :D​

Week 30: Hola!! Tanto tiempo :D

So a few weeks ago I got my first "Hola Señora". What`s different about
this greeting? The word Señora. If you get this greeting in the mission,
you`re officially old. :D

This week has been amazing. I`ve been really trying to push myself and
say the uncomfortable things that need to be said (like commitments to
live the law of chastity :S) and making more contacts!!! It`s been
awesome, and I feel a lot more like I`m actually making a difference
here :D.

A member asked us to teach his grandson, and we`ve taught him twice,
he came to the ward FHE that we organized and to church yesterday!
We`re going to be teaching him a lot in these weeks to help him really
understand and be prepared to be firm in the church. We also found a
great family of less actives that are super friendly, but go out of
town every weekend, :S. But we`ll be working with them, too.

We had a good talk with an investigator that doesn`t want to change,
but we shared a scripture from the bible and shared that we`d be
passing by every now and then to see how she is. We also found yet
another family of less actives. They love it when we come and the son
(who`s 6 years old) always runs up and hugs us :). We were able to do
service for her, and teach a few lessons, and she`s going to start
reading her scriptures again!
We met another old investigator from the last hermanas, and she`s
really confused. She`s doing a daniel`s fast in order to receive the
Holy Ghost. :S We`re going to teach her more about that, becuase she
really wants to feel the spirit in her life.

Oh, and we organized a FHE for the ward, but only investigaotrs came,
and the bishop and the YM counselor :D. But we had fun and there was
lots of good food.

It was an amazing week! Love you all!
Sister Tova S Biesinger
Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

(January 30, 2017)

Week 29: Great Week!

We had an amazing FHE with a less active family last Monday. We talked about Nephi´s boat and filling our boat with good things in order to make it to the promised land. Then I taught the youngest how to make chocolate chip cookies and my companion played ¨Porque?¨ with the rest. We didn´t get to try the cookies because it got late, but it was super fun!

I was under doctor´s orders to relax, so instead of cooking I took a nap during P-Day. Everyone in the district was a little confused and lots of people didn´t believe that I hadn´t brought anything. :) Silly elders. But the meeting was great, we had a good practice and my companion and I used my yarn in our presentation.

We´ve had so many amazing lessons this week with less active members. And it paid off, because we were able to do three services and three inactives came to the sacrament meeting along with about 5 less actives!!! Yeah!!

This week I started teaching violin to one of the members, which is fun. He has a great ear for music and just needs to master the posture (which is one of the hardest parts :S). 

The youth got back from their EFY this week, and one of the moms (who´s a little less active) came up to us afterwards and shared how she normally has a hard time waking her daughter up on Sunday, but that morning her daughter got up and immediately knelt to pray. That inspired her mother, and they´ve both received stronger testimonies!

There was a ward baptism this Sunday, and it was so sweet. We were also able to find another less active family right before she left for vacations, so that was a miracle and a blessing.

I love you all a bunch! Give your best effort and the Lord will recognize it. Have a great week!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 28: Hola Todos! (#2)

This week has been amazing.

I don´t know if I already shared that last week we past a couple of men outside a house and they started asking us questions (Where are you from? Are you Evangelists or Catholics?) but we kept walking. Afterwards my companion felt bad, so we started walking more instead of taking the bus in order to see if we could find them again.

Last Monday, we found one (Matias) outside the same house, but he was drunk. We still talked to him and later his dad came out to tell us that if we could come back another day, his son really needed to learn about God. So my companion went back during intercambios and they had a good lesson with him, and he accepted baptism! He´s going through a lot of trials right now, so he´s really depressed but likes it when we come to talk to him and teach him about how he can change his life. Wow!

How to make the missionaries in your district amazingly happy and homesick at the same time-- make lemon bars :). Every missionary from the States said something like this ¨Are these lemon bars?¨ Yep ¨Wow, my mom makes these!¨ :D

This week, a youth in our ward was with us for two days in a row, and we were able to give out ten Book of Mormons and teach investigators and find less actives with him. 

As we were contacting, this member contacted a lady and introduced us as from the Church of Jesus Christ, and she finished his sentence ... of Latter Day Saints. She and her family moved here a year ago, and for about 4 years have been inactive. But her son is studying to be a piano professor and came to the piano classes on Saturday. We talked about the piano and I showed him some exercises and he showed me some cool songs he´s already learned.

Then a family came to learn piano and won the prize of the first people that have come for two lessons in a row :). It was amazing to see the mom. Last week they´d learned what the notes looked like and this week we took a hymn and practiced identifying the notes. She got so excited that when it was her turn to practice on the piano, she took out her favorite hymn and started playing it! She played the first line and then turned and gave me a huge hug :). Then she finished playing it! It´s amazing seeing her and her daughters practicing. It´s also cool to feel how I need to teach them each so differently and at different levels. It´s that way with missionary work, too. Everyone has different expectations, situations, and experiences and need different approaches and information.

This Sunday there were alot of less actives that came to the church!!!! It was amazing. One woman recently lost her son, and has felt that she needed extra peace, and recognized that she could find it by coming to church. We were able to talk with her a lot, and are going to visit her again. 

It´s been una semana maravillosa!! I feel a lot more excited and my companion and I are working hard.

I love you all, have another great week!

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission

Week 27: Hola Todos!!

Cómo están?

This week was amazing, and we´ve had miracles come our way!

Our district meeting was great, we put together our vision and took all of our favorite scriptures, took a phrase, and made a ¨Super Scripture¨!! 

A member (Luciano--16) came with us to visit Mimi and we decided that we´re going to trust in the scriptures and read them with her for the lessons. She´s already received almost everything we have to teach her, and just needs to exercise her faith and act.

We also talked with Olga (less active) and she´s also progressed a lot. Now she just needs to attend the church :).

Miracle in Thursday!! We went to see if a reference was home, and not only was she home, but when she saw who we were, she let us in, and we started talking! Catalina is going to have her baby this month, has a lot of great questions, and is so receptive to our message. We shared about the Plan of Salvation, and she believes in a lot of the principles already, and just needed to hear about them.

We also visited a new member in a critical time, she just received some hard news and we were able to share in Mosiah 24 when Alma and his people received strength to carry their burdens. 

We visited her again in Sunday and just that morning an uncle had passed away. The Lord really loves her because he keeps putting her in our path during these hard trials in her life. 

In Friday we were able to have a lot of lessons! We found a family that usually isn´t home, and they shared with us why they don´t want to come to church, which is great because now we know how to help them. 

We also got to know an amazing family in our ward. We had lunch with them then they came to our piano classes. They´re so much fun, and it was great to get to know them. We´re going to be reaching out even more to the members this week. 

This week has been amazing. I love my companion and the ward. The investigators are great, and the people are open to the message. I´m loving reading the scriptures. As a zone we´re reading the entire Book of Mormon this transfer, so it´s been really cool (and I´m reading it all in Spanish, woohoo!!)

Love you all!

Have a great week! 

Sister Tova S Biesinger

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission