Week 47: Upcoming Baptism

On Monday we had a fun district activity! We just ate and told jokes
and played Uno. I learned that I am not very good at understanding
jokes in Spanish...haha. I love the freindships that I have made in my
mission!

                               Fun District Activity!

This week we had three run ins with Jehovah's Witnesses. Three times
too many if you ask me. They always want to Bible bash with us and are
super closed off to anything new.  We don´t want contention and we
always just defend our religion and beliefs and try to calm the
situation and leave. Two times we were in an appointment and Jehovah's
witnesses already there or knocked on the door and were really rude to
us. They started pushing their beliefs on us and telling us we were
wrong. Another time we were making a contact in the street and a pair
of Jehovah's Witnesses just came right up and interrupted us and told
the person we were wrong and that he shouldn't talk to us. I could not
believe they did that and we were both amazed at how many times we had
problems with them this week.

But it was all good when on Saturday the doctors told Fanny, our
investigator in the wheelchair, that the infection she had in her leg
had healed and she was now able to get in wet and be baptized! What a
miracle! Members gave her a ride to church this week and she will be
baptized this Saturday! We will be busy all this week organizing the
baptism and teaching her so she will be ready for her baptismal
interview. We are so happy for her!

Other than that we found 3 new investigators this week and taught a
good amount of lessons! Next week is transfers!

Love you all!

If we get to go to the temple, it will be in zone conference at the
end of May. We will see! And no Harrison didn´t write me.

I am excited for Mother´s Day too! It is coming up soon!

Week 46: Bikes- Manna from Heaven!

Thanks mom! Last week we received bikes which helped a lot. Our feet were so tired from walking all day...everyday if nobody received us. This week I overcame a lot of my fears because Hermana Roman had me guide the area this week instead of me following behind. Our area is so big and it is so hard for me to remember where all the people we visit live. But this week I learned to use a map better and I was reminded that I can do hard things! I might get a new companion in two weeks so I would have to take the lead and I was pretty scared by the thought of this before. But I feel a lot more familiar with the area this week. And I can make contacts a lot easier now. It helps that I have improved in my language skills and with my time in the mission the rejection doesn't hurt very much anymore. I am so happy to be in this area with my sweet companion Hermana Roman. We get along so incredibly well and we have a lot of fun together!

Week 45: A Remarkable Connection; Loving the Area of San Jose!

This week was really great! On Tuesday we had a really great district meeting and had a pair of hermanas and elders visiting other areas helping out join us. We talked about overcoming our fears and had us imagine what things we could accomplish if we overcame our fears and weaknesses. It was a great exercise and the best part is that it is possible to overcome our weaknesses through Jesus Christ. I love the opportunity, the challenge to become better, of changing our bad habits and strengthening our testimonies. I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ.

After the meeting we had lunch with a member named Marie Velasquez. She turns 74 today but still is in great health and has a lot of energy and is still really active in the church. She was baptized at the age of 15 in 1958 and she showed us a book she has of pictures and cards from missionaries throughout the years. I was thrilled when I saw a card that said Elder Delbert W. Ellsworth! What a cool connection! I took pictures of the mission president too- I don´t know it Brother Ellsworth knows him or not. It was so cool to see the history and her old pictures and papers. 

Hermana Roman, Marie Velasquez, and Me

Missionary Card from Elder Delbert Ellsworth, a dear family friend in my ward back home in PA who served his mission in the 1960's!

Announcement of the Creation of the New Argentina North Mission

District Conference 3 February 1959 with Visit from Elder Spencer W. Kimball & wife Camilla

On Wednesday and Thursday highlights are that we got a baptismal date for two of our investigators! One is a man named Demasio that we found two weeks ago. He had come to general conference but didn't make it to church this week because there was a big rainstorm all Saturday and Sunday. The other is a sweet lady named Fanny who is in her 60's and is in a wheelchair. She has incredible faith and love for God even though her life has been very hard. She said she had never been baptized before and was excited about the idea. But with the rain she didn't make it to church either so we have to move the baptism dates later. Thursday after lunch my eyes started hurting and soon I could hardly keep them open so we returned to the pench at about 4 pm and I took a nap and took some allergy medicine thinking it was allergies. But afterwards it was worse and some sweet members took me to an eye doctor and I had pink eye in both eyes! They gave me drops that my compi has to put in my eyes every 4 hours and the next day my eyes were already much better. Now I can´t wear my contacts or makeup for a week- woohoo glasses! 

 Friday we had interviews with President Calquin in Adrogue and it was only about 3 minutes long. He just thanked me for my service and expressed his love and told me to be careful in the streets! We have to return to the pench at 7pm and asked if I had any concerns.  Afterwards Elder Burton, an assitsant to the president had us imagine waking up on the last day of our mission and asked us how we want to feel about our missions, how Heavenly Father would feel about our work. Basically he challenged us to change the things that are disobedient and decide now to work in a way that would make Jesus Christ happy if He were always along side us. Because the truth is that He is always watching! What a mind exercise! I am not ready for it to be the last day of the mission yet!

At lunch we ate milanasas and afterward they showed us our lunch for next week-  a pig head! I don´t know if they were serious but we had fun taking pictures it! The ward was a part of a blood drive so I was able to go and donate blood! Woohoo- it was basically the same as in the US, but everything in Spanish obviously...

Next Week's Lunch?

Audrey Loves has Always Loved to Serve by Giving Blood!

Saturday the Elders in the ward had two baptisms and it was really inspiring. One was a man in his twenties with tattos- a tough looking guy who you wouldn't think would accept the gospel. The other was an old man in his 80's. I loved watching their baptisms and could feel the spirit. It just shows that the Lord works in mysterious ways and that we shouldn't assume that people aren't interested in religion. Even in his 80's, the old man decided to change his life for the better and accept the gospel. He's an example that it is never too late to change.

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and it was powerful. The people who bore their testimonies were so sincere and humble. The Spirit was so present. I am loving serving in this ward and I love the people who surround me. I love being here and every week there are moments that I think that my mission is perfect for me. God really does know me and has his reasons for sending me to Argentina.

Dad,  I hope that your trip to Israel goes smoothly and that you all return safely!

 I like the poem you sent. It really is true that we can make almost any place sacred when we have the Spirit dwelling in us. I feel so lucky to be living on a higher spiritual plane in these 18 months and to learn how to follow the Spirit more. 

Love you and the family too! Happy Easter to all!

Week 44: Zone Conference, General Conference, & Seeing Old Friends and Companions

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference in San Vicente! It was so great to go back to my first area! After the conference, we all ate pizza and empanadas and played sports for a good 4 hours and President Calquin and Hermana Calquin joined in for the fun too! Hermana Manner was there too- we hadn´t seen each other since October and it was great to catch up! We played volleyball, frisbee, and a few other games and the following days we were really sore since we aren´t used to that much excersise in one day. At the end of the conference, president announced that for the next conference we would be going to the temple! We all cheered and I am so happy! I had been wanting to go for so long! 

Fernandez Family from my first Area Came Back to See Me!

Another great surprise was that the Fernandez family who got baptized in August came to the chapel and I got to talk with them for a few minutes! Laura is a really sweet lady in San Vicente who fed us every Tuesday and in the few minutes we talked she asked me about how my family was along with how was Matthew Rodriguez, Grandpa, if my mom was still teaching tennis,and if we had gotten a new car!  She remembered what I had told her in almuerzo over 6 months ago about when Matthew was diagnosed with leukemia, when grandpa had his heart attack, and when the car accident happened. I could hardly remember myself what she was talking about at first but I felt such love from this act of remembering things about my life- how sweet is she? Seriously I am so impressed with her and I hope to see her again! That´s the bad thing about a mission- when you change areas its hard to go back to see the people again and I was so lucky to have a few minutes with them.

 Former Companion Hermana Molinero

 Hermana Roman (comp, me, Hermana Molinero (former companion), & 

Hermana Manner (MTC Comp)

In the week we found 2 new investigators and one of them came to a session of general conference and brought a friend too! On Sunday, the ward all met at the chapel and we all went to the conference in Adrogue together. It was so fun to be with a bus full of members and writing about it doesn´t sound that cool, but being there was so awesome.

Also, I ate cow intestine this week and it wasn´t too bad but I don´t want to eat it again...haha  

I loved conference- we went to the chapel in Adrogue to watch it and they had an English room where about 15 of us missionaries from the US watched it. My favorite talks were by Elder Rasband about following the first promptings of the Spirit and Elder Uchtdorf about fear. As a missionary we have the responsibility to talk to everyone possible about the gospel and it can be hard at times to have the courage to talk to strangers especially after a lot of rejection. And we have to follow the Spirit to know what houses to contact or which less actives or investigators to focus on and I feel like I can definitely improve on acting on first promptings.

Mom: I don´t think I will will need to buy new shoes for the rest of my mission. I did buy rainboots here but my Clark´s flats summer proscelyting shoes are worn but are still holding up great! I have another pair of Clark summer shoes that I have hardly touched as backup. My winter boots from last year are destroyed but I have another pair that I brought. No there isn´t air conditioning in the new pench but we have a fan that we use at night. It is starting to cool down too. I am guessing Chile for Dean´s mission call! I had a dream about it.

I love you guys!!  

Week 43: Finding Place in my Heart for a New Area/ Hermana "She-Plays the Piano"

The beginning of this week was a little rough- I had forgotten how difficult it is to get used to a new area. I often felt nervous and strange walking around in a new city and I just had to follow my compi around because I had no idea where anything was. I missed Cañuelas and the people there. The members cancelled lunch two days but all the other days I enjoyed getting to know the members here. 

We only have a few investigators here and are constantly looking for new people to teach- we are contacting a lot using El Libro de Mormon and we found a few people this week that have potential to progress. Also we walked a ton- our area is so big and I missed the bikes that we had in Cañuelas. I feel like we lose a lot of time just walking from place to place. Hermana Roman and I get along great. We taught 4 lessons this week and also did service for an afternoon cleaning and organizing the house of a lady who is investigating the church. On Friday we went to the ward Noche de Hogar (FHE) and a good 25 people came. 

Sister Roman (Ecuador) and I

It was great to play some group games and listen to the message. This ward appears pretty unified and the people are very welcoming.

All week I wasn´t sure how I felt about the area, but at church on Sunday I fell in love with the ward of San Jose. The chapel in sacrament meeting was full.  I counted 95 people and the talks were so great. I gave my testimony as a new missionary in the ward and I couldn´t believe it as I said I have "10 months in the mission"...where did the time go?! They didn't have a piano player so I played and afterward throughout church a lot of people thanked me for playing. Hermana Roman said that there are two ladies who can play a little out of a simplfied hymn book but they don´t come to church all the time so they had to sing acapella a lot. I know I always talk about the piano but I am so happy that I can serve in this way and it helped my transition into the ward. Nobody remembers my name because it is difficult for them to pronounce,  but I am known as the hermana that finally arrived who plays the piano! There were 35 women in Relief Society and it was so great to be surrounded by so many people. What a change after the small branch in Cañuelas where we had 5 or 6 hermanas in Relief Society and 25  people in attendance! I am very grateful to be here in San Jose.

Also I learned this week that an investigator in San Vicente that Hermana Abate Daga and I had taught was baptized and that her mom wants to get baptized too! And apparently the congregation in San Vicente has doubled to 65-75 people every week! I was so happy to hear about the progress of my first branch of the mission.

For the coming week we have Zone Conference on Wednesday and it´s General Conference weekend! I am so excited! Enjoy listening to the words of the prophets! :) Lots of love!

Wow what a week- Heidi Baker's funeral sounds like it was a touching experience! You are so beautiful!! I am so blessed to have you as my mom! 💟😘Thank you so much for your long messages- I love reading them! To answer your question, my Spanish is just fine! Yes, my accent is still pretty strong but people can understand me- I´ve learned to accept it and now I feel more confident than ever talking to people in the streets. I know my Spanish could be better but I struggle to study the grammar- it is so boring and I do better just listening and learning that way. I often try but end up using my language study time memorizing scriptures and reading El Libro de Mormon and looking up the words I don´t know.

Thanks for this email- haha its true that the water is terrible in Cañuelas but after a few weeks I got used to it and now the more normal water here tastes weird. Oh and I found out that our area and ward is called San Jose but we work is actually called Rafael Calzada and our address is Fournier 1536. San Jose is the area of the Elders and is a little more dangerous. 

 Area of Audrey's Apartment in San Jose

                                      Neighborhood Area (via Google Earth)

San Jose Chapel

Dad: Heidi´s testimony is amazing and it is inspiring to see Matt´s huge smile from the photo even in this hard time.

Thanks for your example of service- this week helping out with the funeral and with the temple too- amazing! As I hear about the families of my companions I am continually realizing what a great blessing it is to be a part of the McBride family. Hermana Roman is the only member of the church in her family and is one of 14 kids from different marriages but doesn't talk to her dad. She listened to the missionaries and was baptized when she was 15 years old. Her mom moved to Spain while she was on the mission and Hermana Roman won't be able to see her for a while when she gets home from her mission. Hermana Dias only has one sister and an aunt and uncle who are members. Her parents are separated and don´t have an interest in the gospel. Hermana Molinero´s parents are divorced too and are both members but are both really inactive. Her mom hasn't forgiven her as of now for her decision to stop studying and leave on the mission and they don´t talk. Their family situations are all complicated and broken.  And here I am with my parents still happily married and in the gospel and wonder what did I do to receive such an awesome family? You guys are in my prayers every night and I love you so much!

Week 42: Transferred to the "Big City"

Saturday afternoon we received the news that I am leaving Cañuelas! I had until Sunday evening to pack and say goodbye to everyone and I was brought to my new area San Jose! I was ready to leave but it was sad saying goodbye to Hermana Dias and to the German, Lucas, Elba and Maria del Carmen and Celene and to the Huertas family. (photos) These people will always have a speacial place in my heart and it is sad to think I might never see them again. At least there´s Skype and Facebook right? My new companion is Hermana Roman from Ecuador! We were in the same district in December and January so we arent strangers! She has 14 months in the mission and is really sweet and laid back- I think it will be a great transfer! What I have learned about my new area is that it is a really big area-all city and we get around on foot or by bus and we have the smallest pench... It is a ward here with an average attendance of 90 people and we have lunches everyday with members. Woo hoo!

With my new companion, Hermana Roman (from Ecuador)

     Farewell, Cañuelas!

A lot of photos this week! I´ll try to explain them.   We also had an awesome lesson and lunch with the Montenegro family one day and Lucas brought out his guitar and played a little for us.  

 So first last P-day we had a really fun district activity where we ate out in a restaurant, played gospel jeopardy and ping pong. We all are great friends and one of my favorite parts of the mission is the relationships with my companions and other missionaries.

  Monday we didn't have electricity so we got out the candles. The whole neighborhood didn't have electricity so it was a little scary coming home from a lesson at night in the pitch dark.

I enjoyed teaching Miriam, one of the sweetest ladies I have met- I have a lot of faith will be baptized in the future too.We had a good amount of lessons this week and my favorite was with Sergio and Marissa- a family of investigators- they have a lot of faith and we had a powerful kneeling prayer at the end of the lesson and I felt such love for them. One day I hope they get baptized.

 Miriam- Such a Sweet Lady!

 Hermana Diaz' new companion (Orange Shirt) is also from Brazil

 In transfers we got to see other hermanas as we were brought from place to place. It was great to see Hermana Abate Daga again. This is her last transfer and she goes home in the beginning of May! This is her second transfer being an hermana that travels from area to area for one week at a time.( I dont know what it is called in English...) As for Hna. Molinero, She is companions now with Hermana Manner (my comp from the CCM) as a sister training leader!

The time is passing so quickly here I can hardly remember all that happened- but I am loving being here on the mission!

Week 41: Scripture Hunt, Flooded Apartment, Upcoming Transfer

Next week is transfers and I should leave Cañuelas! I am so ready to leave to a ward where there aren't so many problems and where finding new investigators may be easier. It is so hard to find new people here and the people we have don't progress very much. We started teaching a new less active family this week and they are so great but they don't feel like they have friends or support. The branch here isn't very unified or very big and it is true that is is hard to feel a part of something. When the branch isn't very welcoming or very organized it is hard for investigators or less actives to progress and stay firm. It is sad because this will be my last week with Hermana Dias. She goes home on June 12 so we might not cross paths again! I will find out on Saturday where I will go and who will be my new companion!

Mom, the Relief Society activity sounded really great and the music night with the missionaries too! That is so great that Beth could go to both and feel the Spirit too.  We organized another activity this week with the goal that the members and investigators can have cool experiences in the church. The activity had the theme "Busqueda del Tesoro" (treasure hunt) where different scripture hints would lead to other hints hidden throughout the church and eventually lead to two different treasures- a bag of candy and more importantly the scriptures. My comp made an awesome treasure chest from cardboard. It was sad because none of our investigators or less actives that we invited came.  But a few of the elder´s investigators came and three member families. Those that participated enjoyed it!

Finding the "Tesoro" at Our Activity

The weather is starting to get cooler here too. Good luck in the snow! All three of my companions and a lot of other missionaries who live in South America have never seen snow! Somebody said that 7 years ago it snowed a little bit here in Cañuelas for the first time in a long time. Even though it can be annoying, I am so grateful for my memories of playing in the snow! It would be so sad to never have those experiences!

Highlights for this week are that we found a new investigator named Mirian! She has an incredible amount of faith and is so humble and accepting of the gospel. She was so excited about baptism and has a date for April 8. She has to work on Sundays so that is a problem. We´ll see how it goes with her!

On Friday we had interviews with President Calquin and it was so great as always. He always knows exactly what to say to help me. He is doing a great job as mission president. His youngest son is leaving for his mission to Lima, Peru this next week. It is interesting that he will be in the same place as you guys- a parent of a missionary. He already had other sons that served missions but still. 

Look above the church sign and  you can see that someone threw a rock through our window this week😟

Lets see. On Wednesday night we had a huge wind and rainstorm in the middle of the night that woke us up. The doors here in Argentina have the a crack at the bottom of the door so we have to be really careful not to leave food out because ants will crawl in through the crack. We found out that it is also a problem when it rains because water comes in! It rained so much that water was just flowing in. Our living room and kitchen was flooded with a good inch or two of water. Luckily we woke up and moved our mattresses from the floor. And the floors here are all tile so is wasn't too bad to clean up. We needed to mop the floor anyway!

Other than that, I still loved reading the scriptures. Since November I have been doing my studies in Spanish. This week I was especially grateful for this opportunity to learn another language. I read through Alma 42 this week and I loved it so much. The book of Alma is amazing! The scriptures have different meanings or stresses on different words in Spanish and it gives a new perspective on the verses. I am finding that the lyrics of the hymns in Spanish are much prettier than English and have more meaning in Spanish too! I am out of time but I love you guys! I am praying for you too!

The Train that Takes us From Cañuelas to the rest of the World