June 8th

Well this week was kind of a slow one for us! I finally had the day where you go the entire day without a single visit!! That was a little rough! haha but that day we had planed for the whole week and then went to our lunch appointment and they are having some health issues and so they just sent us with food we came back did our studies and then EVERY SINGLE appointement fell through! It was harsh! We went to about 16 peoples homes all over just trying to talk and find someone to let us in! haha but no such luck! We walked all over and would find some people to talk to but only small chats where they just came outside to tell us that they were busy but that was few and far between only 5 people opened their doors and talked to us outside. 

But its okay! We are given the hard days to help us appreciate the good days! :) 

I love this gospel with all my heart! I love the opportunity that i have to wake up each morning and be able to go out and share what i know to be true with the people of Argentina! The missionary life is pretty great! We have a really good area!! I love The Book of Mormon! There is such power in the pages! I know that this book is true! I know that Joseph Smith translated it by the power of God. I know that any question a person could have there is an answer in the pages of The Book of Mormon! I love being a missionary! I love this great opportunity! There´s nothing like it! 

I love you all and hope that you all have a fantastic week! 

Hermana Armstrong

we found some pretty huge apples and just had to take a foto opportunity! haha

And here missionaries have a weird tradition where they do what´s called milking an alfahor! its where you take the cookie and bite one side and bite the other and then drink the milk through the cookie! It is divine!! haha 

So weird that all my photos this week are about food! HMMMmmm.... I do promise that we do, do other things than just eat! hahaha 

June 1st

Hola,

This week went by sooo fast!!! I cant even believe it! Time is really so weird! haha 

so a couple really cool things that happened this week are;

We met with this lady, Her name is Fransica! She is so great! We have been contacting this same house for like 3 weeks because one of the members gave us this address because she felt like her friend who lived there could really use the gospel and so we have been trying this same house for like 3 weeks and no one ever answered until this one day! She answered and its not the same lady that was the reference but she was just like i have seen you walking and have always wanted to talk to you!!! It was so cool!!! We had our first lesson with her and she just cried the whole time because she says it was just something she needed to hear!! It was the best!!! 

Today we had a Pday special! Where we went to Santa Fe and got together with a lot of the other Hermanas in the mission!! It was sooo much fun! We learned a lot of things and had a lot of fun playing games together it was a fun road trip! haha 

Something funny that happened this week: 

okay so our schedule is a little different from other missionaries because of winter and then Argentina is wierd with time! haha And so usually we wake up at 7:30 in the morning but on Friday, Hermana Randall and I accidently woke up at 5:30 in the morning! The night before we had dropped the phone and as older phones do they come apart when you drop them and so the battery had popped out and everything. Anyway, we forgot to set the time and so our alarm goes off and we both get up and are so tired!!! But we got up made our beds, had our personal and companionship prayers and were in the middle of exercises when i look at my clock and see that it is only 6 in the morning!! I then told my companion and was like "hermana son las seis!! Im going back to bed!!" It was really funny once we woke up a bit more and could look back and laugh about it! haha 

Well, It is that time to say goodbye!! but until next monday!!! 

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!! 

Love,

Hermana Armstrong

A little bit of the Argentina country and then our Pday special picture!

--

The Church is True!! 

May 25th

Hola,

 

Can you believe I have been gone for 2 months already!! its so crazy!!! it really only feels like 2 weeks! People werent kidding when they told me that the mission passes by really quickly!!! haha i love being a missionary!! I love Argentina!! I just am loving life!!! I have learned that just be happy through it all!!! Just the overall lesson for the mission because missionary work is fun!! Its hard work but it is fun!!! Nobody told me that it was fun! I just heard that its hard and so worth it but i have leared that it is so much fun!!! 

 

This week has really been a true roller coaster ride! haha We had the best week and the worst week all at the same time! Its like taking all the emotions one could think of and smash them all into the week! It has been a week of learning many lessons!

 

Lesson number 1:

The flu shot that they give in the US means absolutly nothing tp the flu down here! Haha on Wednesday i woke up with a bad sore throat and thought i had just gotten a cold or something then came thursday... I woke up after a night of absolutly freezing! haha I had a temp of about 102! Needless to say i felt like i got hit by a train! haha we got permission from the mission nurse to stay in the pension to let me sleep because if you dont get permission from the mission nurse to stay inside you dont! haha anyway we got permission and i slept from about 7 till 11:30 and then was awake from 11:30 to 12 for the only purpose to walk to the chapel so i could recieve a blessing from our elders that live kind of close to our area. then went back asleep until like 5:30 or so! haha i was just wiped out! It was just an interesting day!

 

Lesson number 2: 

The people here are the nicest people you will seriously ever meet!!! While i was sick my companion called our investigator Jesica (The one that got baptized on Saturday) to tell her we wouldnt be able to meet with her today and she was totally fine with it and then asked if there was anything they could bring us and that they are more than willing to serve! It was awesome!!! 

 

Also w have this one family that we go visit, the no longer come to church they are members but the dad started drinking again and they just stopped coming. Because of him drinking they are like dirt poor! They have no money whatsoever! The mom was telling us how she is going to make something called papas fritas which is basically like fry bread and how that is going to have to last them for the next week because they dont have money to get groceries and they are going to go to the dad´s brothers place who grows oranges and pick some so she can make marmelade and that is what their family is going to eat for the next week. Anyway, even though this lady has NOTHING she gives us this jar of orange marmelade that she made!!! She has no reason to give it to us yet she does happily and so willingly!!!

 

 Its insane how nice the people are here!!! Then we also were given Asado today!!! because its basically Argentina´s 4th of July today and its just a huge celebration! Asado is the best!!!!! oh my goodness Argentine people really know how to bring out the natural flavors of the food and make absolutly EVERYTHING taste amazing!!! haha so we had this family that gave us Asado and Asado here is SUPER Expensive!!!! SUPER!!! And right now Argentina is going through a depression where there isnt very many jobs and so most of the people we visit dont have jobs and money is super tight but this family was willing to give us everything that they have and they want us to come over again a couple more times this week so that the mom can make empanadas for us!! We just have the best people here!! 

 

Lesson number 3:

 

Baptisms are so stressful but so worth it!!! We had a baptism on Saturday! the first stressful thing was that every place that we went to try to make copies was either closed or broken!!! haha we tried like 7 different places before we found one that was open and wasnt broken!!! it was a miracle another miracle that we had was that the church had hot water!!!!! That was amazing to find out because we were thinking and even planning on having to fill up the font by buckets of hot water!!! So when we found out that we were going to have hot water it was amazing!!! Also the church here only has two different outfits for women to be baptized one tiny jumpsuit and a HUGE dress made out of two huge towels sown together with arm holes and a head hole cut out and we were just really worrying about it because the jumpsuit wouldnt fit and the other one was too big!! But the Family Rohrmann came to our rescue by giving Jesica a dress to wear that was just right!! We just witnessed so many miracles this week that made me realize that if we trust in our Heavenly Father everything is going to be okay!! :)

 

I have been asked about the weather and really the weather here is just super humid and typical fall weather for washington!! just more intense because of the humidity!!  hahaha 

 

Well that was my week! I hope all is well with everyone its great to see pictures and hear that everyone is doing well!!! I love you all! ¡Tenga un buena semana! 

 

Chao,

Hermana Armstrong

The Church is True!! 

May 18th

Hola!! 

Well this week i have been learning on how to be patient with myself. Its hard to leave behind english and pick up a new language but slowly and surely i know that i will be able to pick up spanish soon! 

This week was so great! We were able to watch the dedication of the temple in Cordoba! That was such an awesome experience! President Uctdorf was able to come and dedicate the temple! Also Elder Christofferson came and spoke too! I had no idea that he served his mission in Argentina too! They both had really good talks about the importance of temples here! A good quote that President Uctdorf had was "Always walk before God with All your heart"A few other people spoke as well but i didnt pick out a lot since it was all in spanish. That really was hard for me because i knew that what they were saying was important but i just couldnt get what they were saying! but It will come soon enough! You really just have to keep your head up and dont dwell too much on the fact that you cant understand! But it is coming, everyday i notice that i can pick up more words than i could a week ago or even the other day! 

I have also noticed the importance of working hard but the need to have fun! My companion is the best! We are just able to work well and laugh together! Which is so nice because there are just some days where you just need a good laugh! haha for example by our like appartment plaza there are a ton of smokers and one of our neighbors is pretty old and has smoked his whole life basically and he coughs! and it always makes us laugh because he just sounds like a pirate and it will be while we are getting ready for the day and we hear this ARGGGGGGHHHH sound coming through the walls and it just makes us laugh! 

Some exciting news is that our investigator Jesica is going to be baptized on Saturday!!!!! :) She is so sweet and so ready! We love her to death and she is just such a happy person! She is going to be great! 

Well I hope you all have a fantastic week! I love you all! 

Love Hermana Armstrong

P.S. the First picture is my first whats called an alfajor! its basically like the better version of a oreo! Its got caramel inbetween 3 layers of cookies and all dipped in chocolate! Argentina knows how to do desserts! They are so good!!! 

The second picture is me with the little card that they give you to go to the temple dedication! 

The last picture is what we bought today for food for only 45 pesos the conversion rate would put that at about $4.50! We were reallly excited!!!! :)

-- 

The Church is True!! 

May 11th

Well I made it to Argentina!!! :) Its the best here! The food and the people are so fantastic!!! I love it!

So I got to Argentina on Tuesday around 9:30 or so and then we finally got through customs that was fun! haha anyway by the time that we got out of the airport it was like 10:30, so then we took a bus and we drove about 4 hours to Rosario to the mission home and i got to meet my mission president! He and his wife are so great! They dont speak any english but are such great people! They love the missionaries and love to help in anyway they can! 

Wednesday, I got to meet my trainer! Hermana Randall, She´s from Nevada and is the best ever! We are a lot a like and we just have a lot of fun! We left the mission home and went to our new area which is called Rafaela! It is so beautiful! Although, it meant that we had to take yet another bus! This one was like 3.5 hours or so! I am loving this area the people here are super helpful and love the missionaries!

Thursday, we got to work! :) We met with a lady named Graciela! She is so cute she loves the church and loves our visits! However, she loves her church a little more. She´s really sweet though! She loves The Book of Mormon and loves everything about the church but she doesnt see why she needs to change! We also met with a man named Nestor, he´s this little old man or (Viajito) and is a less active member that we are working with to bring him back to church! 

Friday, we met with a couple named Raul and Jesica! Raul is a recent convert and Jesica has been waiting to join the church because she wanted to know for herself and didnt want to join just because Raul did, Anyway during our lesson with her she asked if she could be baptized!!! She had finally recieved her answer that she should be baptized and we will be planning her baptism for the 23rd of may!!! That was so exciting!! :) We also made three new contacts this day! So all in all it was a great day! Something really funny that happened was we had lunch with Hermana Stoffel and her daughter! Our security rules have just changed because of areas getting more dangerous and so we asked them which areas we should avoid and so forth. Towards the end of our meeting her daughter pulls out her pepper spray can and tells us why we should get one and exlains how to use it. well while she is explaining it she pushes the can and  out comes this bright orange fluid that goes all over the door! it was so funny but as she cleans it up the fumes come over us and we all just start coughing and our eyes tear up and everything! it was hilarious!! 

Saturday, This was a great day too! We met 3 more contacts and talked with some less actives inviting them to church and did a lot of walking this day! It was really great! The contacts we met two of them were friends and they are evangilist and they were really just quizzing what we believed but it was really cool because the one friend kept on flipping through the pamphlet we gave him and would answer some of the questions his friend had! That was really awesome to see! Something funny that happened this day was i came to the realization that i have gained some weight! hahaha no not really i just have been using a really old rusty chair and it finally broke! it was so funny we were doing studies and we heard this pop and i felt like i was falling but it was so slow so i didnt really realize it! haha and then i landed on the floor! haha It was really funny!!

Sunday, It was Mother´s day!!! It was so great to see and talk to family! I loved being able to talk with you all! :) In sacrament meeting i was asked to come up and bear my testimony! That was fun! Everyone has been complimenting me on how well i speak spanish which is such a huge blessing! Its so nice to hear native spanish speakers tell me that my spanish is really good! Its a nice confidence booster! haha 

Today, Well today was my first p-day! So which means i get to wash my laundry by hand!!! :) haha There arent really washing machines here in Argentina so my washing maching is a bucket! hahaha its definitely an experience! haha but i love it!

I love it here in Argentina the people are great and the food is awesome!! 

Well i love you all and hope that you have a fantastic week!! :)

below are some pictures the first one is our shower on the lower left hand corner is our toliet and then the shower head is up on the top! There´s no tub and so we shower right next to the sink and the toliet! haha but we do have hot water! That is fantastic!! Its really the little things that can make one so happy!! haha also my bucket that i use to wash clothes and :) and also the broken seat! hahaha

I love you all,

Hermana Armstrong

--

The Church is True!! 

*Side note... her pictures wouldn't download... so I promise I'm not just keeping them for myself. ;)

Mother's Day Call

I'm going to sum up the conversation held by Hermana Armstrong and her parents and family.....

She is LOVING it. She was so happy, laughing, excited, and overall pumped to be in Rafaela with her companion who hails from Nevada and speaks both english and spanish. :)

She bore her testimony in Spanish and she sounds great.... castellano and all! :)

She has already helped contact people in the street and they have an investigator who has a baptism date set. Her companion and her are teaching a few people and have a list of investigators which is awesome.

She has had some amazing tasty food and has started learning about markets and shopping.

She has learned there are bugs... mosquito's mostly from the sounds of it... and has seen many stay horses.

She has experienced bus rides and long trips on them, and says the scenery is amazing.

She sounds super happy and so excited to be in Argentina. She loves being a missionary and it is very apparent when she speaks.

Here are some pics from skyping! Don't mind the gawking faces in the corner... ;)

May 5th

Hey Mom and Dad,

I made it! All is well! Argentina is beautiful, its been a really pretty day, nice and cool, My mission president is awesome,so is his wife! They dont speak english but its all good they are great people, It´s hard to understand the people when they speak and it is a little frustrating but its okay! Ill get it someday! :) I love you both and i cant wait to talk to you on sunday! It was really good to hear your voices! I hope all is well right now its about 6:20 PM! Well I got to go, but i just wanted to let you know i made it alright! I love you! Talk to you on thursday to set up a time! Start thinking now of what time you want me to call and let me know by thursday! Write me on Wednesdaythat we dont have to worry about the time difference. Alrighty, I´ll talk to you then!Love you!

Always and forever,

Hermana Armstrong