Monday, May 29, 2017

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





Monday, May 22, 2017

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

Monday, May 15, 2017

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💞

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. :) )***








Monday, May 8, 2017

Changing Areas


Concordia

Hey everyone!

My back is way better now! I can walk a lot more without pain! This week was really good! We are going to change areas with the zone leaders because our area was getting increasingly more dangerous. We are really excited to work in our new area this week! 

We finally were able to meet with Junior, our recent convert, again. And guess what!! We taught his mom!! She is really awesome and has interest in the church. 

We have been using the registros of the church to find less active members. We have found out that a bunch of people are not living anymore or the address doesnt exist. So it has been a fun adventure with lots of walking haha. 

What I want to tell you guys this week is that I have realized that the mission is the best decision I have ever made in my life. Before, I didn´t really know why I was coming out here. I just knew it would be a good experience. I now know, without a doubt that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I know that he loves me. I know that by living the commandments of God, we are blessed. I have seen it in so many people´s lives here and also in my own. I know that we are here on this earth to have joy and to learn, so that we can return back to our Heavenly Father again.

I love you all so much. If you have a doubt or question about anything, please let me know! Have an amazing week!

Hermana Stewart


Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Faith


Hola!!

This week was really good! We had transfers!! I will be staying here in Concordia 6 more weeks! And I am still with Hermana DeGolyer!

I have been going to physical therapy for my back. I have to do a bunch of exercises. But I have been able to do a lot more than I could before. Thank you all for your support! 

The weather is finally turning into fall here which is really nice! We don't have to walk outside and sweat to death and feel like the sun in attacking us all day haha. We are still working on finding people so it is much better in this weather. We might be changing areas with the elders which will be awesome. I will let you guys know when it happens. 

Hermana DeGolyer and I have been studying a lot of the Old Testament this week. There are so many stories of true unwavering faith. If we want to see a miracle, we must first have faith. Without faith, nothing can happen. I have been learning that God sends us hard things in life so that we can become the best people that we can be. We just need to endure and have faith.

I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.  Ether 12:27 


Love you guys and have a great week!!

Hermana Stewart


la flia. Wallingre


This cute girl is in my Branch. She said, "Hey, I want a picture!" :)


Sk8!!






Some of the people in my district. Elder Chaname, Elder Chauque, Elder Orozco, Elder Soto, Elder Mitchell, Hermana DeGolyer and I