Sister Audrey McBride: Week 29: Birthday Week, Baptism, Excited for Christmas!

Happy 20th Birthday Hermana McBride!

My birthday week was pretty awesome and was filled with lots of great things! Celene was baptized!!! The church is just renting a building to use for the meetings so there isn't a font. We have to use a swimming pool! We weren't sure if Celene was going to follow through and get baptized because her dad doesn't like the church, but in the end she decided that she knew the church was true and wanted to be baptized! She is 13 years old.

Celene with Hma Molinero & I

Here is her mom Maria. She is an investigator as well and wants to get baptized too. We are working with her to quit smoking first.

Swimming Pool as Baptismal Font

Cañuelas is bursting with people to teach and I don´t want to leave now! We had 9 investigators come to church yesterday and two of them are going to be baptized next Friday as of now! :) It is so great to teach people that are ready and eager to learn and who are actually progressing in their testimonies.

Earlier in the week on Tuesday we had a Zone Conference which was so good and inspiring. It started off with a video of most of the missionaries of Buenos Aires South opening their mission calls. You know how I love watching these and it was so cool to see my mission call opening again as well that of the other missionaries here. The purpose was to remind us of how excited we were before the mission and to give us a reminder that this is a privilege to be here, and that it can be an amazing journey if we are positive and diligent in the work. President Calquin talked to us about other things too. Afterwards we all ate pizza and empanadas and then had a Zone activity. President Calquin and his wife joined in to play soccer and volleyball with us. It was really fun (and strange too to see President not in a suit but in exercise clothes playing soccer alongside the other Elders.)

Since Cañuelas is far away from everything, we stayed the night with the Hermanas of Luis Guillon: Hermana Hernandez from Mexico and Hermana Biesinger from New York. I love them both a lot! In the morning of my birthday they all bought me "massas finas" (cookie cake type food that is so yummy!) and ice cream and gave me a card. We are going to be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas day with them so I am excited!

Hmas Biesinger & Hernandez with me & Hma Molinero

in the area of Luis Guillon

On the way back to Cañuelas some members from the branch called us out of nowhere and offered us lunch so that was a great surprise! Then for dinner, the Huertas family- one of my favorite families here from Cañuelas made me a yummy dinner (see photo) and a cake and gave me two pairs of earrings as a gift. It made my birthday so special. They are a really humble family and I could feel their love as they sacrificed to try to make the occasion a fun one.

Lunch with Wonderful Members in Cañuelas

Dinner with the Huertas Family made my birthday so special!

By the time I Skype on Saturday I will know what will be happening in transfers which are Monday! I don´t want to leave after just 1 month of being here! We willl see.

Here is the plan for our Christmas skype. I will be skyping by cellphone from a member's house in Luis Guillon at 4 o´clock Argentina time on Christmas Eve. (Originally I didn't like the idea of skyping by cell phone but I will have more time this way and it is one day early! Hna. Molinero is going to do it in another members house in Luis Guillon on Christmas day on a computer but already 2 other missionaries are Skyping there too so they will have only about an hour. This way I am the only one skyping and I´m not complaining that its one day early! :)