Argentina Para Siempre

Hola amigos!

So this week I learned that I was going home. It was really hard knowing that I was coming home, but I know that it will be better for me to get the health care that I need here in the States. I just want you all to know that the mission was literally the best decision of my entire life. I have never been so happy. Sharing the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ brought so much light into my life and light into the life of others. I have seen miracles. I have seen the miracle of repentance working in people to completely change their lives and to become happier. I have seen the restored Priesthood of God work miracles. I was given many blessings for my health and I know that I was able to continue to go out and do the things I needed still, even through my back pain. I want you all to know that Jesus Christ lives. He died for each and every one of you so that you can return to live with him and our Heavenly Father again. I know that through repentance and his Atonement we can change for the better and become who he wants us to be. I know that my time in Argentina was short, but I know I was specifically called there by a prophet of God to serve the people there. I love all of you so much and thank you for all your support!!!

Maren

💙💛💙VAMOS ARGENTINA 💙💛💙

Angelica and I

Family Home Evening

Zone Concordia

Happy Fourth of July!

Hey everyone! 

I hope you all had a fantastic week and are looking forward to the Fourth of July tomorrow! It will be super weird to not be with all of you! I hope you guys do something super fun with your families and friends! 

This week was good. We went to Santa Fe because Hermana Ginéz had to do tramites. I stayed in the offices all day wooo. Hahaha super fun. She went to Rosario. 

We went to eat Mexican food this week to celebrate my 6 months! It was awesome. It made my companion miss her house hahaha. We had a good time with that.

We have been trying to get a cita with a lady named Maira. She talked with the missionaries before and is interested again. She is super nice and has a little baby. We are hoping to see her tomorrow and talk! 

This week we get to heare from Elder Mark A. Bragg of the 70 and that should be super cool!

Something I learned this week is that sometimes things happen that are totally out of our control. Heavenly Father knows each of us individually and tests us because he loves us. He loves us so much that he wants us to pass through trials so that we can become better. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can better ourselves every day and reach our full potential. 

Love you guys!!

Hermana Stewart

PS also Messi got married this week in Rosario 😢💔

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6 Months!!

Well the time has gone by super fast. It feels like I just got dropped off in the snowy MTC. I have learned a lot in these past 6 months, it´s crazy! I have learned about Argentina, how to speak Castellano (mas o menos), and how much the Gospel of Jesus Christ can change people´s lives. It has been awesome. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to come out here and serve the people of Argentina.

Well this week, speaking of serving, we helped the familia Carrera in our ward to clean out their house from the flooding. It was really sad to see. Their whole house was coated in mud , toxic river water and trash. We cleaned 3 days with Hermano Carrera and the elders. It was cool to be able to help. I never thought I would be doing that in my life. We got it clean and now they are able to move back in. On my mission, I have really come to learn more about serving people. We don´t need to just wait around for a planned ¨service activity¨ We can give service at any time at any place to anyone. It helps other people and it also helps us to become better and more like Christ. I hope you all can look for a way to serve someone this week!! Love you all! 

-Hermana Stewart

This is just their driveway. Its coated in super smelly mud. The green on the walls is how high the water was all through their house. We cleaned for 3 mornings. 

The church by the Plaza 25 de Mayo

Museum

Acupuncture

Hey everyone!!!

Guess what I did this week? I got acupuncture in my back in Argentina!! Woo!! Talk about sketchy stuff hahaha. I hope all of you had a good fathers day! Happy fathers day dad woo!! This week we walked a lot and we contacted a lot in the street. We are also looking at the old investigators. The houses in our area are still underwater but the water seems to be regressing a bit, so that is good. My new companion Hna. Ginéz is awesome! We get along super well. She is helping me a lot with my Spanish and I am teaching her English (Although my English sucks now hahaha). Hopefully I can continue to improve in that!! Love you guys and hope you have a good week!! 

Hermana Stewart

We went bowling last Pday

Acupuncture

Zone Conference & Transfers

Hola!

This week was super cool. We had zone conference with Presidente Perez. About 20 youth from our district showed up so that was cool too! And we ate TACOS!!!! We also had transfers! Now Hermana DeGolyer is in Santa Fe. I am still in Concordia but with a new companion! Her name is Hermana Ginez. She is from Mexico and she is super chill! We get along super well. I am really excited for this transfer! As to our area, it is almost completely submerged in the flood water. It is really bad. Our area is like 2 streets. It´s really sad. We are hoping the water goes down soon so that we can give a lot of service to the people that are returning to their homes! I hope you guys are having a good week! Love you! 

Hermana Stewart

TACOS!

Hermana Perez and I

Saying goodbye to Hermana DeGoyler

This is a street in our area

My new companion Hermana Ginez

This is because she has 9 months in the mission now hahahah the hermanas do that

The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

Hooola!

So this week was crazy. There is a ton of rain in Brazil and it is filling up the Rio Uruguay. The river is flooding the city. We have been doing service to help people move out of their houses before the water gets to them and fills up their houses. It is honestly pretty sad and really crazy to see. It reminds me that sometimes there are challenges and trials in this life that we have no control over. God gives us these so that we can learn and become better. We can reach our true potential and what he wants us to become. I am so grateful for everything I have been given in this life. I am really happy to be out here serving the people of Argentina! Love you all!

Hermana Stewart

This was a park

This is the skate park

We helped these people move all of their material to make couches up those steep stairs behind us.

A park one of the first days of the flood, we cant even get to it now.

Us and la Familia Vazquez, she is like our mom and Franco.

Argentina Holiday

Hey!

This week was better! My back is getting a little better! I got a blessing from the Elders and ever since then, my back has improved slightly woo! I know that the power of the Priesthood is real! 
This week was good! We were able to visit people because I can walk a bit better! We have been meeting with the Flores family a lot. They are having a hard time because their newborn baby has health problems. Keep them in your prayers! The kids drew us drawings this week and it was the cutest thing ever. 
SPEAKING OF THE CUTEST THING EVER!! This week was the 25 de Mayo. A reeeeallly important holiday here when Argentina began the revolution against Spain. It was raining really hard so there weren´t as many festivities as probably would have happened otherwise. So we went to lunch at the Wallingre´s house. They were playing traditional Argentine music on youtube on their tv. Hermana Wallingre was cooking and all of a sudden she busted out into dancing! We freaked out it was so cute! AND THEN SHE GRABBED ME!! And she taught me how to do it! Then she grabbed Hermana Degolyer after! AND THEN! After lunch, Hermano Wallingre turned up the tv as loud as it could go. (It went really loud haha he was JAMMING) We moved the table and he grabbed his wife´s hand and they danced for us! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Then she grabbed me again after and Hermana DeGolyer too. She said we have to come back and visit her with our families. I love them so much! 
So this week I have been reading the Book of Mormon completely in Spanish. I am actually finding that is is easier for me to read and understand than it was in English! Crazy right? I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It contains the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can have our questions about life answered through simply reading. I hope that you all will take the time to use this gift that God has given us in these latter days. Love you all!

Hermana Stewart

The couple in the middle is in our district and got married and sealed in the temple this week and invited the missionaries to have an activity

los dibujitos!!

​I cut my own hair this week! I ended up cutting more than this but i was really scared to start hahaha

No electricity

Hola!!!

This past week was really long for us. My back has started to get bad again. We couldn´t go out and work for a couple days. The first day we didn´t have electricity. The bad thing was that is has been pretty dang cold here. We thought we were going to die. We found 10 little candles in a cupboard that served as heat and light for a few hours. It was FREEZING. Be grateful for what you have! We didn´t have it for 24 hours. But it really is a blessing that we are still alive! And the blessing of technology is a good one!

I have been reading in the scriptures a lot this week. The Book of Mormon is really amazing to me. I cant believe I took all those stories for granted before. There are some really amazing stories in there that we can follow to become better. I would love if you guys would start reading it today. I promise you that if you read it, you will see all the blessings come from it in your life. You will be uplifted every day. You will come to understand that God has a plan for each of his children. He loves you all! I love you guys and hope you have a great week!

Hermana Stewart

Emapandas

Mother's Day Skype

Hey everyone! 

I don´t have a ton to say this week. We travelled for 2 days to and from Paraná for divisions with the leaders of the hermanas of Entre Rios in our mission. It is a loooooong bus ride of 5 hours each way. Guess what?? We finally switched areas with the elders! The houses here have sidewalks and doors! Crazy! We are really excited to work hard in this new area! We have one investigator that is in a family of recent converts. She hasn't been baptized yet because she has to quit smoking first but she is awesome! Her name is Andrea. Her family is super cute. They have an 11 year old boy that reminds me of my little brother Cannon. Speaking of....WE GOT TO SKYPE OUR FAMILIES THIS WEEK! WOO!! It was really fun to see them and talk to them. I miss you guys tons. Let me know if you have any questions. I love being in the mission!!! 

Hermana Stewart💞
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maren.stewart@myldsmail.net

**Questions and answers from our Mother's Day Skype**

What are your favorite foods so far?
-Chicken Milanese and Gnocchi

Do they have any holidays that we don't?
-They seem to have 'made up' holidays practically every few weeks. They all get off work and go to the river.

Where do you shop?
-There's a market in Centro on the corner by our apartment that we get groceries at. We went to Carrefor,  which is like a big Wal-Mart, once. But things are really expensive there.

How many girls are in your mission?
-There are only around 25 hermanas in our whole mission.

How does your new area differ from the old one?
-It's a lot safer. Also, many of the houses didn't have doors before just curtains in the doorways. But now they have doors.

What food have you liked the least so far?
-Probably the pizza with egg and a whole onion.
-They put mayo on almost everything here too.

What food do you like the best?
-Ice Cream. Frambesca (Rasberry) is the best flavor.

How do you wash your clothes?
-We wash our clothes in a bucket and we were hang drying. But we just got a dryer that spins it out and drains on to the floor. The drain is flat so water goes everywhere. We aren't very good at it. We wash our clothes like "Shanki's" (Yankees).

FACTS:
-No one wears makeup unless its a special occasion
-There aren't many fruits or vegetables
-17 pesos =$1
-We have bidet's
-The landscape reminds me of Idaho, California and Arizona. There are a lot of palm trees
-We are not allowed to play soccer in the mission because the people here are very intense and competitive about it.
-The song 'Despacito' is super popular right now 
-Kids go to school through high school. They wear uniforms.
Most do not go to college.
-People go to the Boilche (club) for fun
-1 District in Concordia and 2 branches
-There are 221 members on record but only 30 people regularly  come to church. But on a good day 40-50 people
-In Argentina they speak Castellano. 
The "che" sound is in place of the "ll" or "y"

-Some slang words:
-"vos" -instead of "tu" or "usted"
-"copodo"- that's cool or sick
-"capo"- you're a boss
-"facha"- swag
-"trucho"- fake

***-This is Maren's mom- (I may not have spelled all of the words correctly. :) )***