August 24, 2015

I cant believe that I hit my 3 months as a missionary!!!! IT IS ALREADY THE END OF AUGUST.... this is soo crazy!!! we are on week 3 of the transfer! Time has flown this week and next thing i know its going to be p day again and I will be writing home! but anyways... this week....

WE WALKED A LOT. i wish that i could give you an estimate of how far we walk every single day... but with hermana hartley most of our investigators lived close to our pension... but since they have either been baptzed or have lost interest... this week we CONTACTED!!!!!!! i love contacting!!! its soo fun... just to stop someone and share with them my testimony and hope that they feel the spirit. but anyways... our new investigators live pretty far... soooo we have been walking A LOT!!! which is fun AND not fun. hahah it gives us a lot of time to think and to chat! but anyways...

this week... for my cumplemes hermana wilson made me pancakes and of course we had nothing to put on them but sugar... which for me was totally normal and reminded me of home! i loved it! we also ate my favorite postre... its this durazno tart thing with dulce de leche... HOLY COW. i have to stop myself on that one... but dont worry mom i am being really good about the sweets.. hahahah well most of the time! but anyways! it was a day to celebrate because i made it my first 3 months sooo crazy!!!

now for the serious stuff we have a couple new investigators that are sooo cool...

first is mario... me and hermana hartley were walking in the streets one day and this man on a tractor stopped in front of us and said that he had the feeling to call out to us and wanted a folleto!!! MIRACLES I tell you... but anyways we didnt have the chance to go to him because he lives reeeealllll far... im talking the farthest from centro as possible... anways! hahaha BUT THIS WEEK WE FINALLY GOT TO PASS BY!! he has a wife and 7 kids!!!! A FAMILY!!! but they are super interested and he kept telling us that we were sent from god! Anyways! i really hope that they continue to progress! they are soo cool!

And our other investigator that is waaaaayyyyy cool is Carlos... we were walking by me and hermana wilson and we started talking to his family who was visiting from posadas and he said hold on... and ran to the other room! anyways he comes back with this book of mormon that is yellow and these ancient folletos.... probably from like the 90s or something (realllll ancient... just kidding) but anyways he said that the missionaries just stopped coming one day... he seems to still be really intersted! but I am excited to watch them progress in the gospel and gain a testimony

That is what is soo cool about missionary work! watching people gain a testimony and recognize the truth! it only just strengthens mine. but this week i finished the book of mormon again!!! yay!!! I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON! its amazing!!! and I KNOW WITH NO DOUBT IN MY HEART THAT IT IS TRUE! i know that we are humans mortal beings our natural men needed an easy way to know... and that is the book of mormon!! we needed 1 way to know that everything is true.. that jesus christ is our savior and that he lives and that joseph smith was a prophet called of god and that the true chruch is on the earth today! its soooo cool! and sooo true! if we know that is true then everything is true!!! that is why i love sharing the blue books, there is soo much power in the words! becuase they are literally the words of our savior!

I know this gospel is true.. i know it with all my heart! and I love to share it! 

have the best week ever! and keep the faith

Week 13 August 17, 2015

August 17, 2015

WOW..... BALTAZAR WAS BAPTIZED!!!!

This week has been crazy!!! cambios.... new area.... teaching my new comp the area..... and on top of that a baptism!!! the mission is amazing! although i miss you all dearly i finally feel like i am getting a little bit more comfortable with everything here at least in ituzaingo. there are a lot of things that are hard still the language and the changing companions but overall its coming... with time i hope! but yeah i dont even know where to begin!

Monday and tuesday were our last days together as me and hermana hartley found out that i would be staying in ituzaingo and she would be headed to paraguay....but what i didnt know is that my new madrastra would be an abuelita from paraguay!!! 

which is what happened thrusday!!!!! thursday i met my new companion! Hermana Wilson! she is from mountain home idaho and has over  year on the mission!! its such a different world being with her... she is so comfortable with being a missionary... the language... being comfortable where she is with training and everything!! really different than mine and hermana hartleys realtionship but i am excited to be able to learn from her!  she is very experienced as to why she is a grandma here on the mission.. there are a lot of things that i looovvvee that i want to apply and there are a lot of things that i like that me and hermana hartley did and its just going to take some time to adjust and figure out the type of missionary that i want to be!!! but she is amazing!!!

Friday and saturday wereCRAZY!!!! baltazar had his baptism planned for saturday and we were running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to get everything set... but here in argentina... in a place that hasnt had a baptism in over a year allll we needed were 3 things...

1. baltazar

2. someone to do the baptism

3. cake

thats about as simple as it gets!! after some last minute prep the baptism was perfect!!!!!! sooo pretty with a dulce de leche cake at the end!!!! who could have asked for more?? not me!!! next time i am hoping that we will have 2 baptisms all on the same day!!! HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE??? wow with time and with faith!!!

but anyways!!! we have been starting the work back up in ituzaingo!! contacting.... contacting... and some more contacting... but we have lots of promising potential investigators and i am really excited for that!!! but we are praying for a family to help the branch here in ituzaingo they need it sooo bad!!! but I love this work!! IT IS FREAKING HARD!!!!! but i love it! and i wouldnt want to be in any other place!! 

this week has been a lot of changes... but i love changes! that is what the gospel is all about!! changes... just improving your life every single day... making a small change to come to our savior!!! this week i challenge you guys to change something to sacrafice just a little more and come just a little bit closer to our savior!!! I am going to do the same! i this week am going to be a little more diligent in my work and be a little bit more like jesus christ in showing my love to others!!!! that is my goal! i know that christ is going to help us!!! we just have to have faith that he will and ask. that is all it takes!!! I love you guys soo much and I love this gospel! i know it is true and i know that i am on this mission to be able to become the best HERMANA PITTS that i can be!!! the best disciple of jesus christ that I can be!!!

I love my savior and I love you guys! hope you have a good week!!! REMEMBER TO ALWAYS KEEP THE FAITH! 

xoxoxox

hermana pitts 

 Baptism in Ituzaingo!

Week 12, Aug. 10, 2015

WOW... have i really made it 6 weeks here??? it seems like the longest and shortest month and a half of my life.... but i have learned sooo much!

WE HAVE CAMBIOS THIS WEEK!!!! we found out this morning!!! i will be staying in ITUZAINGO one more transfer which i expected and am super excited to stay and continue working buttttttt i am getting a new trainer!!!!! Ill let you know next week what she is like... alll i know is that she is another american!! which is sooo crazy.... there are so many people here who havent had one and i have had 2!

I was at first a little disappointed because i wanted to have a latino in order to learn the language faster but heavenly father knows best!!! he obviously needs me for a different purpose and i am excited to meet my new comp!! she is going to be the new hermana leader soo LOTS OF CAMBIOS!!! which is am super excited about i love divisions!!! Another opprotunity to learn more!!!

but wow... i am soo sad that hermana hartley is leaving we have grown soo much as a companionship in these past few weeks but its sooo good! changes are good... we need them! that is why we have the atonement we are supposed to change and better ourselves... become a little bit more like our savior!!!! that is what we are teaching people... and now wea re going to live it!!! sooo crazy! im excited to see what this next transfer brings... 

This week... hmmmmmmmmm where do i even begin!! 

baltasar had his baptism interview!!!!!!!! he is getting baptized this saturday!!! sooooo crazy i am soo excited for him! this week we started teaching his neighbor salina... who has been reading the book of mormon and praying with baltasar everynight! it is sooo cool to see how baltasar has the desire to share the gospel!!! pray for him this week! satan is always really strong on us right before something big happens!!! 

its amazing this work... so often we have no idea what we are doing and it all just works out!!! its such a testimony that the lord is in our lives.. the lord knows us and as missionaries we are doing his work!!! Things just work out and all we have to do is have faith!!! have faith that the lord is going to help us... and HE WILL!!!!! 

We have had soo many amazing experiences this week... one of particular is one taht i will never forget...

we walking to an appointment and had a few extra minutes sooo we decided to contact! we were in an area that we never really had been much... and there was a man sitting out side of his house in a wheel chair! as we walked up to him i handed him a pass along card with a picutre of christ on it!!! but as we began talking to him a women walked out and told us that he cant speak... that he can understand but he isnt able to speak! she then went back in her house for me i didnt notice it because i dont ever understand anyone hahaha sooo his mumbling made up language didnt sound any different than spanish... but as he spoke i understood exactly what he was saying!!! it was the spirit!!! it was amazing!!!!!!! even though he wasnt speaking english... or spanish... or any language... the spirit was helping us to communicate!!! even though all we kept saying that we love him and that christ loves him... i know that he knows that christ knows his heart!  it was an experience that testified to me taht we all have disablilities and we all have weaknesses but christ knows! christ knows how we feel and how to succor us!!! he is the only person taht understands us perfectly and exactly! i know that these past 6 weeks i wouldnt have been able to do this without the help and succoring of my savior!!! HE LIVES. i know this with all my heart. I am so grateful for his sacrafice so i dont have to go through this life alone. HE KNOWS!!!!!!!! TRUST IN HIM!!!! alll we have to do is have faith..  i love 3 nephi 9 that is all we have to do we only have to have faith believing on him and we will receive the salvation... we will recieve the happiness the help!!!! 

this gospel is soo true... it is the only thing that is true on this earth and the only way back!!! 

I know that and that is why i am here. I love you guys and hope you have a good week

xxoxoxoxo keep the faith!!!!!!!! seriously... KEEP THE FAITH.

Week 11

Aug. 3, 2015

this week fllllleeeeewww... monday and tuesday we were in posadas and then wednesday i had my first taste of divisions.... SOOOOOO COOL. its crazy how much you can learn by simply being with another companion for a day. but i was with hermana simmons who leaves next week... sooo it was really fun talking to her and asking her my questions. asking someone questions who has experienced the whole thing! who is finished with her shift in the vineyard and is dying next week.. but I LEARNED SOOO MUCH..  i think i learn soo much everyday with hermana hartley.. seriously every night we just look at each other and just say WOW. how can we learn something new everysingle day... how to be a better missionary... how to help our investigators... how to be a better person... how AMAZING this gospel is ... more about our savior... THE LIST COULD GO ON FOREVER!!!! but that is what i love about being a missionary!!! being able to learn everysingle day!!! and have a life changing eye opening, mind blowing experience every single day!!! IT IS SO COOL!!!! 

we had a lot of really cool experiences with our investigators this week.... the problem is that our plans are always flipped flopped and we do a CRAZY amount of walking... every night we get back to the pensions and my feet ache and i can barely keep my eyes open... but i guess that i know that i am working hard! hahahahah the weather is starting to get really hot.... the sun is MUY FUERTE.  but its winter and sooo i cant imagine what summer is going to be like... 

but its getting easier... i am starting to get used to everything... the language is slowly coming but everyday i get the opportunity to be humbled and strengthened through the atonement of jesus chirst. we have learned a lot with our investigators... this week we found out that baltasar has gone back into old habits and we are going to have to change the baptsimal date again.. its sooo hard because he has such a strong testimony but there is just one tiny obstacle. 

keep him in your prayers that he wont feel so lonely and he can overcome his drinking!!! he is sooo amazing!! the sweetest old man i have every met..

yesterday was hard.. i LOVE sundays... and i HATE sundays. they seriously are the best being able to go to church, ituzaingo has the most beautiful chapel... ill have to send a picture of it!!! but the spirit is sooo strong in our little branch.. but yesterday my heart sank when none of our investigators could come!!!! sundays are hard because you work all week to try to get them to come to church and when they dont follow through my heart breaks.... i hate it... but then you still feel the spirit and its all good... but when they do come sundays are the best days in the whole world!!!

anyways yeah the work is slow here... the members and the branch need a lot of attention to there isnt much unity here... so we are just working... trying to focus and balance our efforts!!!! but its alll good!!!! just keep on keeping on!!!!! 

this work is amazing!! i know that this church is tryly led by our savior... and that HE LIVES!!!! i love sharing my testimony of the book of momron and the importance of family!!!! i love him and wouldnt be here if i didnt!!! its hard but its worth while!!! i love you guys and i hope you ahve the best week!!

Keep the faith,

xoxox hermana pitts