IN Tigre THE FIELD IS WHITE AND READY FOR THE HARVEST!!!

From August 8, 2011

So here´s the really quick low down on my area and new comps....

I LOOOOOOVVVEEEE IIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Basically we have a ball doing missionary work, laughing our guts out and having really wonderful spiritual, growing, learning and teaching experiences all at once. SSSOOOOO great.

My companions (yes, plural) are Hermana Whitehead, who has 3 months on the mission and is fantastic, and Hermana Huish, who is a mini missionary from Arizona in President and Sister Gulbrandsen´s ward in Mesa who is here being great and serviceful and practicing Spanish before her study abroad. It´s so great to serve with them because their excitement and joy and love for the work are CONTAGIOUS! I´m not getting tired of the work but I am really tired. With them, I feel like with a new energy. Though now I really wonder what my letters are like, if they make sense at all because when I got here, I couldn´t really speak English. I hadn´t realized that I had spoken very, very little English for 9 months and I was more fluent in Spanish. Weird but hey, Hna Whitehead got a kick out of my mixed up, stuttered sentences so it was fine, haha.

Hna Whitehead is from Holladay Utah! and basically we get along great and the three of us make a lot of goals and reach them!

This last week when I THOUGHT I was staying in the south, they were here waiting for me and working alone! It is so amazing that these two sisters accomplished so much having so little time in the country and little language skill. Obviously and their testimony is that the Lord provided for them. I came mid-week and helped them make sure the baptisms that they had worked for came to be......

 5 BAPTISMS!!!!!!!!!! And 12 investigators in church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Hna. Huish I stole your picture, Suzette’s mom).Can I just tell you how much I wanted to cry all of Sunday?? So many miracles came walking in the door by themselves and I know that Tigre is going to burst from here on out.

(Just so you know, my best week in the mission for investigators in church was for a conference and there were 9, so 12 blows that out of the water and I´m SOOOO excited about being here!!!)

5 baptisms and it was a great experience. A lot of the branch participated, 2 recent converts who received the priesthood baptized and it went as smoothly as 5 baptisms and craziness can go :)

I can´t even begin to describe how much I love my comps. I wish I could send pictures but my camera ran out of battery.

I love, love, love them. We have the weirdest sense of humor but it works because we all die laughing. Only bad thing: sharing such close quarters....we are ALL sicky with sore throats and runny noses. 3 gringas with reddish noses from wiping and blowing constantly. Shooters. But hey, all is well.

I LOOOVED the glaciers, it was amazingly beautiful and so unique to be interviewed by president there in such a venue.

The plane from the south to here was a little shaky with the most turbulence I have ever experienced and it was actually making me pretty nervous before we touched down but we made it :) Good thing.

Elder Grover....not sure if I´ve mentioned him before but since in the south there weren´t a ton of us and here there is a lot more missionary interaction, I’m probably going to mention the Elders more. I loved the Elders that were in Gallegos and I actually miss them a lot more than I thought I would but up here, the few that I knew before I´m super happy to see again and especially have them in my district. Like, E Grover. He went to Orem High, younger brother is Sam Grover....Ruth, do we know this name???? It sounds reeeally familiar. Let me know chicadee

He´s hilarious and works really hard as President´s right hand man and does a lot of crazy things and loses a lot of sleep from his work in the offices. He and Elder Unrau, Elder Mcneil and I all have an OREM peeps picture from like, 6 months ago. Mcneil is already home haha weird.

Speaking of people that are home, if you see Brady Bills, which I hope you do because I saw his homecoming is this Sunday, let him know I got all 3 parts of his letter and thank you so much for the story he shared about the visit from Elder Oaks. It went perfectly with my personal study on obedience and my comps and I learned a lot and really felt the power of the Spirit testify to us. He sent me pictures a while back and he looks older and wiser :) haha tell him to send me his home address so we can keep writing. I told you guys that we were pen pals his whole mission right? He was a great support from someone who has a lot of missionary wisdom to share. I really appreciated it. Tell him Hi and thank you for me!!

Another Elder that is in the district that was in my first one is elder Bahamondes from Chile. He has changed a lot in 6 months. And I saw Elder Parra today when I went to Capital to do paperwork for my DNI! He was there with his comp and I was so happy to see him. He is actually a zone leader back in the area where I first met him. I think of the ´friends´ I have in the mission, of the Elders, E Parra is (for now) my favorite. He´s way more chill than the other elders who keep quiet and to themselves because the Hermanas have cooties or something. Anywho, it was nice to see familiar faces and share with my fellow missionaries the joy of the work. I hope everyone in Gallegos is well especially my dear, dear Hna CAMPOS! I talk about her a lot (expected right?) Hna whitehead it´s so fun! She reminds me of so many people but basically, if we had met before the mish., I think we would have been great friends!

AND I GOT 3 packages and I felt like the queen of the world!!! I was overwhelmed with happy fuzzies in my heart. I got the under armour, pop tarts, hair ties, candy, reeses, stickers, .... Hooray!!!! I didn´t get leggings or tights yet which I actually WILL be needing still here in BS AS. Even though it´s not as cold, my tights and stuff I was using are ragged and unmissionary-like. Plus I left the long skirts I had been using in Gallegos there for Hna Salva and other sisters to use in the cold winter months. They´ll need them more than me for sure. And no bobby pins which I hope are coming because I am saving like they are gold THREE little bobby pins hahaha

And no baby Bof mormon....hmmm Got the hymnbook thanks!

I love, love, love it here in Tigre. Have I mentioned that enough? I thought it would be stinky and horrible to come back to capital but it is actually wonderful and I am so grateful for the wonderful companions I have, the area that has been so blessed and prepared by many that came before me and that the Lord has taken us by the hand and led and protected us to know where we should be and how He wants His work done. I love it. There is no greater work and no greater call....until I´m a Mom and then we´ll talk. But until then, I will never STOP being a missionary because this is just so great to not be part of.

I love it! haha

I know that the Church is true and that the only way to salvation and the Celestial Kingdom is to follow the example of Jesus Christ and make and KEEP the sacred covenants with the Lord. He promises and is bound to His promise IF and ONLY IF we do what He says. And He loves us. Who better to be telling us how to live?

I love you all and thank you for your love and support.

Will you pass along thank you messages to Steffannie Peña and Brady for their advice, their stories and their friendship. Tell Steff that I love her and expect her to have all the details of her first date SOON.

Tell Angelica I got her emails, I am waiting for her letter (which, PS, I will get WAAAAY sooner than ever because the mission office is in my district and they can give us our letters WHENEVER hooray!)

So, I don´t know how else to describe my excitement and love for this area. I can´t believe that the Lord has opened the windows of heaven so wide that we can´t see the end of the blessings. We just have to keep working hard, hard, hard and living worthy of the blessings to keep them flowing.

We went on a boat ride today down the river with President and his wife because our Zone broke a zone record with 60 investigators in church this Sunday!!! The goal had been set at 45.....woot woot!!

One of the most hilarious moments together here was within 2 hours of me arriving, we went and picked up a member to accompany us and then got a bus. Hna Whitehead was talking to the member (Hna Rivera) and I was chatting with Hna Huish....Hna Whitehead motioned for us to get to the door and we did so. The doors opened at the next stop and Hna Huish and I stepped off. We looked behind us and then around us as the bus pulled away and Hna Whitehead wasn´t there! She and the member hadn´t gotten off!!! I started laughing immediately but then started running after the bus because it was turning a corner and I didn´t know the area or where we were going and neither did Hna Huish really. Luckily they got off and we caught up to them but we were laughing so hard it was hard to breathe and run. woooo. We´re crazy I know.

Later I’ll have to tell you about our 5 baptisms and the 9 dunkings that took place. ....One sister was very, very difficult to baptize I guess, (she wouldn´t go down easy) so they have to try 4 times. It was comical ONLY because it was so unreal and President and his wife were there to support us so though I was stressed beyond belief, it turned out beautifully and unforgettable, like all baptisms are :)

The Church is SO true.

I love you folks so much! Until next week!

Love your missionary,

Hermana Gonzalez