Hermana Gonzalez in Argentina!: What a week!!! Love LIFE!

Suzette Gonzalez suzette.gonzalez@myldsmail.net

Feb 6

This week has been like any other. I know that I´ve had a ton of crazy weeks but I really think that this one takes the cake.

It all started last week when we had lunch altogether as a zone (all 8 of us). We ate hamburgers and played soccer, much like we do every Monday (not the hamburgers thing) and we went and got Ice cream to celebrate my mom´s birthday last Monday. It was GREAT except we ate it while walking down the main street downtown (it really IS like Juneau, Alaska because ´downtown´ is only one, maybe two roads that you can walk down with stores down both sides. Oh, I said we were walking down the street eating ICE CREAM.....it was like 5 degrees Celsius!!! NOT great ice cream eating weather but it was GOOOOOOD.

Mom, quick question, there´s a sister here who´s sister has lupus...anything you can recommend her? I told her about how you have done a ton of different things. I even remember DR. Landis but not what you did to help control symptoms and such. She gets the huge ronchas that you used to get. Remember? in the house on Main St? That´s what hers looks like. Big red itchy horribleness. Anything to suggest?

Have I told you about how much I love a sister here named Hna Zapata??? She´s so great! Love her. She has been less active for a while but it was one of those things that she just had chosen day by day other things until not going to church on Sundays wasn´t a weird thing. Since Hna Shelley and Hna Malhue went to go visit her, she has been attending faithfully. She´s got the most heartbreaking life story I´ll tell you all about someday, basically, it´s a romantic story without the happily ever after ending...maybe.....haha well, she´s just great. She loves to have us over for lunch and we sure don´t complain because she stuffs us full of amazing veggies and healthy, light food that makes our work SO much easier to continue rather than the other HEAVY stuff we are fed for the ´cold´. It´s great! I love her tons!

I´m giving you all a little profile of the GREAT members that are living and sharing the gospel down here at the end of the world....

Hno Juan Godoy is an incredible example of a priesthood holder that strives to magnify his calling. He is a convert of 11 years. He is the only member of the Church in his family of 11 brothers and sisters. That doesn´t keep him down at all. He´s so great! He set apart 2 and half hours every week, every Wednesday night, to go with us to visit investigators and less active members or new members. We plan to take him to help and meet specific people because we know he´ll be there. He´s ALWAYS there, always on time, even EARLY. His testimony is powerful and he loves to be with us and the people so that he can do his part of sharing powerful testimony. He is the Elder´s Quorum President here too. He´s a rockstar!

President of the Branch, President Leiva is a convert of 2 years and is married to another convert of 2 years. They are AMAZING. I am SO grateful for the opportunity to serve with President Leiva who is so focused and great, with Hnos Cherañuk who are GREAT! I just love the members we are blessed to work with down here! We are so lucky and we count our many blessings!!

Tbc…

More....weird week

So we were with him Wednesday in a lesson where a new member, little 8 year old David, had a real concern about fasting. He asked, What? We can´t eat? How can we fast, we´ll die!!! It was such a sincere little cry of despair that we couldn´t help but chuckle a little before answering. It was so funny. What a crazy kid. The WEIRD thing, we met a cousin of theirs (we LOVE new people) and we share with her about the gospel. She gave us an address and we went the next day. It was for an apartment building downtown. We got there as a tenant was getting there so he let us in. We didn´t realize you needed a key to GET OUT so we went in calmly and on the way down after not finding her.....we found that we were left alone in an EMPTY apartment building. We got STUCK in the building for the better part of an HOUR until someone finally came and set us free. We were going crazy in there. Not being able to do ANYTHING about it! ah....

Then, Friday, Hna Shelley got bitten by a dog....but for REAL this time. Nothing to protect her from the fangs of a ferocious beast .....oh wait, it was a little guy. Those are the ones you´ve got to watch out for. He was annoying, barking at our heels (like he always does when we walk down that street) and then as we were getting by, he came up like a crazy and got the back of her calf. It was ridiculously painful for Hna Shelley. She limped to the closest member´s house where she got it cleaned off and then we called all the appropriate people to get the procedure. We got antibiotics, meds etc and like Hna Shelley is....got right back to work. She´s a nut! We paused long enough to ice it a little because it was swelling from the hit and then back to work. Probably not the brightest idea but we found lots of great people. It has been changing colors. I take pics of it every morning and night. The ones i included I think are from the first day and today. It´s as crazy looking as the pics show. I love her for her diligence but I HAD to make her stop to make sure she wasn´t going to die of rabies :) I figured her mom would appreciate that.

One last story and then chau-sito (little ciao)

On Saturday, we ate lunch with the branch mission leader and his big loud family. I love big loud families. Hno Franco was telling a ton of great, humorous and crazy mission stories. We would laugh, gasp and scream at all the right moments. Then the questions and stories turned to Hna Franco. Her 8 year old asked at what age she served her mission. Hna Franco explained that she had gotten married and not gone on one. The little boy said very seriously, Wow mom, you got married, what a blessing!

We were all DYING. Hna Shelley and I could NOT eat for about 5 minutes until the giggle had subsided. What a kid....

I am SOO crazy excited to work with the people we met this week. They are GOLDEN!

We have interviews this week with President. It´s gonna be GREAT! I love these things. President is like my temp Dad. It´ll be a great week again here in Ushuaia as WINTER sets in...it is all snowed in from the storm last night. This place is nuts. Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself exactly where I am. It´s the END of the world. Any further south and you fall off the corner ;)

I know that the Church is true. It is true everywhere and in every heart lies the Light of Christ that helps them recognize the message of great joy that we bring as set apart representatives of Christ.

Love you all

Thanks Emma and Amelia for the emails. I love hearing from you!!! Letters are few and far between but I hope you know I love you bunches!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you fam, thanks for sharing with me the song you sang mom for the B-day. Save me a piece of cake!! haha not, but I WOULD love a good Dunford doughnut ......mmmmm... dreaming about it :)

Love you,

until next week!

Hermana Gonzalez