capilla abierta

Where to begin.  Nancy and her family stopped going to church a few weeks ago, but said they were still going to follow through with their plans to get married... and they did!  So we went to their marriage and it was quite different from all the weddings I've been to in the past.  So they are being obedient to one commandment more now and God will bless them for that.  Hopefully soon they will decide to continue learning about Jesus Christ and find more peace in their lives.

We had a capilla abierta this weekend and it was great!  The whole district came to our chapel and we all worked together with the ward to present the chapel to the public.  People always say they are curious about our church but have never entered, so opportunities like this are excellent. Afterwards Marianela, a woman the Elders have been teaching, was baptized.  It was a lovely day.

Familia Guiñazu is the best family ever (not counting all of you, of course).  They are learning and loving it.  We love teaching them and they love soaking it all in.  They continue praying every day as a family.  It makes me think, "If they can do it, so can every family in the Church!"  The blessings that come are incredible.  Natalia, the daughter that is 22, has started listening in more and we asked her if she thought all we taught was true.  She told us she´s been praying to know and when she sees the change in her family, she can't help but believe that it really is true.  The changes are undeniable.  There is unity and peace and love and excitement.  

We have transfers this week! Eeeee!  Vamos a ver que pasa.  I´ll keep ya updated. :)  Next Monday, of course.

I love you all and pray you are well!!  Keep living life to the fullest and sharin the joy with all you encounter!

LOVES

Hna Peterson

Marianela se bautizo

escrituras gigantes

hnas Anderson y Olson

la provencia

Nancy and juan got married!

The marriage ceremony

wedding day

Melany y Tiago:))

la capilla abierto

family history!

las mujeres jovenes

The marriage ceremony

sandwiches de miga

Roots

We have a calendar of Junio that we mark every day and write the miracle of the day.  We Hermanas like to draw doodles and make it all pretty, too.  This week almost every day, the miralce has to do with familia Guiñazu.  They are too incredible!  They receive the gospel with so much love and faith.  Thiago is an angel and when we ask questions his answers are so sweet and tender.  The Hermana has another daughter from her first marriage, Natalia.  She is twenty-two and studying dietetics.  She is reading the Book of Mormon but hasn't gone to church yet.  She is taking her time to feel things out, but it's also because they have a kiosko and she is the one that attends to the customers while the rest of the family is in church.  So this week we will focus on Natalia and try to help her gain this same testimony that the rest of the family is gaining.  

The ward is super excited for this family as well.  The ward is eager to help and the bishop focuses heavily on retention.  All the organizations are working to help the new members feel involved and befriended.  Morón es la tierra prometida, en serio.

We are reading all the General Conference talks as a mission and I love it.  Today we read the one that talks about how trees that grow in places with lots of wind grow their roots deeper and the tree becomes stronger.  God made us, His children, with the ability to withstand the winds of mortal life.  As we seek nourishment in the face of trial we grow stronger.  

Something else I'm learning is the importance of defending the truth.  Christ always defended the truth.  What He said was not popular, but it was right.  As messengers of the truth we must always declare what is right, and do it with love and power and faith.  Then the miracles come and hearts are softened and people make covenants with God.  I love covenants with God.

We are happy and hopeful.  I love you all and pray for you every day.

la zona de castelar!  Vamos Argentina!

my companion, cut in half for some reason

The zone again

we're cute

we love Argentina

an action shot...jaja...I have no idea why it copied this way, but there you go!

I believe in Miracles!!!

I am so full of gratitude that I don´t have words to express it.  I am so happy to be in this place at this time with these people.  I wouldn´t have it any other way.

Our district is so pumped.  Our zone is so pumped.  We are united and excited and we are working as a team to reach our goals.  And the miracles are raining down upon us.  Our district leader shared these verses with us last night and we all feel the same: Alma 29:9-10, 13-17.  Nicely put. :)

So yesterday morning we went to wake everybody up for church.  We had a lot of people who committed to go, recent converts, less-active members, investigators.  They all live close so we decided to pass by for all of them.  We were highly disappointed.  Nobody opened the door.  We then went for the last family- familia Guiñazu.  We knocked and said silent prayers.  This is an incredible family.  This week we had lessons with them where the Spirit was so strong.  We finish each lesson with a kneeling prayer at the door and there are hugs and kisses all around.  They hadnt been able to go to the church the past two weeks but this Sunday they were super committed.

We knocked he door and the dad opened it and invited us in- they were all running around, finishing getting ready!  Hermana Salinas helped braid hair and we were off!  I didnt stop smiling the whole ride in the colectivo.  The kids happily went to Primary and enjoyed it thoroughly.  We went with the parents to Gospel Principles and it was the best Gospel Principles class ever.  Hno Lema taught and it was on the gift of the Holy Ghost.  The Spirit was present during the whole lesson and all our investigators, of us and the Elders, were commenting on how they feel the Spirit in our lessons and never want that feeling to go away.  It was happy.

We also painted Stella´s house this week and it fun.  The house is full of light now.  We were happy they let us help.

God is a God of miralces.  He always has been and always will be.

I love you all very much.  Your pictures and emails lift me up and make me smile and cry and laugh.  May this week be bright. :)

LOVES,

Hermana Peterson 

Stella cooks well:)

familia Guinazu!!!!!!!!! en la capilla

almuerzo con Ludmi, Melany y Diego

la verdad

Painting

more painting

that's Julio

Love

25 de Mayo

The day of the revolution!  And it was also the ward conference.  It was a big deal in Morón 1 and I loved it!  In church everyone stood and sang the national anthem and it was so lovely!  Salud, Argentina!!!!  Everyone gave their very best this Sunday in the classes and talks and it was uplifting for all.  

Adriana, the miracle that went to church last week, is amazing.  She is very intelligent and loves to read and loves dance and music.  She is progressing well and went to church again yesterday.  Es un amor.  She has a daughter, 17, that is sweet.  Adriana showed up to church yesterday in a skirt and sat in front and participated in the classes and I don't think people realized it was only her second time going to church.  She´s a natural. :)

Daniel brought his family to church again this week.  They are so wonderful.  Monica loves us and we love her and we saw their family almost every day this week. Every time she sees us she says, "Oh, no, hermanas, oh no!"  And gives us a big hug and we all say we love each other.  Hermana Salinas and Monica are always teasing and bickering and then we have super awesome lessons and Monica has stopped smoking and is leading her family in this new path.  She is the mother of ten children, and now she has two more. :)

Nancy and her family are needing some more time to build up their testimonies and understand the baptismal commitment, so Ludmila and Azul weren't baptized this weekend.  But a few more weeks and hopefully they can all be baptized together.

We didn't have transfers, as you can see, so we continue working together in Morón for four more weeks! Wohoo!! Super happy.  I love being a missionary.

This week I started reading the New Testament from the beginning and I am learning so much.  Christ was so firm.  It is like Elder Holland said in his talk this past conference-  Jesus Christ was loving, but that doesn't mean he wasn't firm in proclaiming the truth and the importance of DOING the will of the Father.  There is no sugar-coating.  And so it should be.  We must defend the truth with boldness and love.  It is what we all need to hear and our spirits, if they are humble, can recognize the truth when it is stated clearly.  I love that Christ´s example is perfect.  We can trust in Him with all our souls and not worry that we will be led astray.  If we pray, study, and keep our promises with our Heavenly Father, we will have eternal life.  And it is all thanks to out Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love it.

I love you! Thanks for all your support!

Hermana Peterson

*salud, Argentina!

Ward Conference...it's a big deal.

25 de Mayo

Foto Zona Castelar

las hermanas de castelar

Adriana. Yep, that's me in a turtleneck.

familia Guinazu

familia Piombo

Monica y Priscila

Monica y Maxi

Were baptized this weekend!  And it was so happy.  Maxi is thirteen and is already talking about how he wants to serve a mission.  They are starting fresh, starting a new life, and it is very exciting.  When Monica came out of the bathroom in her white dress she looked at her son and said, "Now I'm going to heaven."  Dionel had a nervous look on his face for a second but when we started laughing he just smiled and ran away to play.  But she really did look like an angel. Awww. :)

Daniel`s family didn't make it to church this week and we were bummed but they will go this Sunday.  There is lots of sickness going around and they said they woke up not feeling well.  But Nancy is still going strong with her daughters and two of them will be baptized this weekend.  Nancy will be getting married and then she and Malena will be baptized in June.  They have a lot of faith.  And we had a miracle in church! A woman entered the chapel and nobody knew who she was.  It turns out she lives just a few blocks from the capilla and always thought, "One day I need to go to that church."  This week she decided the time had come, so she went!  She enjoyed being there and we will visit her and get to know her family tonight.  She seems to be prepared to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

We have transfers this week and we are nervous.  President said there will be a lot of changes.  We don't want to be separated!  But the Lord always knows best and whatever is coming will be what He wants, and that means it will be good. :)  I am loving this labor in the vineyard of the Lord.  We are learning to be better teachers of the gospel and how to help people have a true repentance, a repentance that will bring them to the celestial kingdom, sin mancha.  It is so wonderful that we can be made clean through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  We can start again, we can find hope, we can be made new, we can serve others, we can create happiness, we can bring peace.  All because of Him.

The first and great commandment is to Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your soul.  If we can master that we can do everything God wants us to do.  Let´s do it!!

I love you all with my whole soul!  Be well and righteous.

Loves,

Hermana Peterson

Monica y Maxi

Monica y Dionel y Hermanas

Baptismo

Birthday Girl!

Reunited:)

We love these people!

a Light

What a treat!  I got to talk to you yesterday and now I get to write you!  Wow, I sure loved seeing your faces and hearing your voices.  The time went so fast!  But your spirits are strong and vibrant with love.  I feel so abundantly blessed.

We had a sister conference this week and I was reunited with Hna Zamora, Hna Passos, Hna Hicken, and every other deeply and importantly talented sister of the mission.  I have pictures but they will have to wait until next week.  We learned a lot.  Every conference, interview, meeting that we have with Presidente y la Hermana Carter are so high quality.  Not a moment wasted and we always leave knowing exactly what we have to do.  The Sister Training Leaders are so inspired and each prepared a taller perfecto.  We are here to be true disciples of Jesus Christ.

So many miracles this week.  Monica and Maxi will be baptized on Saturday!  Monica brought her son to church for the first time and he was so curious about everything.  He is only six but he is already highly independent.  He went to Primary and was asking, What is prayer? Who is God?  What is a prophet?  And then he explained it all to Monica afterwards.  I love Monica.

Daniel brought his whole family to church yesterday!!  Mom, tia, primos, hermanos, todos!  We have been teaching them since he was baptized and they want the change he is having.  We did a Family Night with them this week and watched a video about the Family: a Proclamation to the World and it shows how we can apply the gospel in our families to have unity and love.  When the video ended they all smiled and said, "That was beautiful."  They are beginning to pray as families.

I feel a happiness that must come from the heavens, because there isn't anything quite like it in the world.  It comes from sharing the gospel and loving people and trusting more in God and His power than in any other thing.  People can change.  People can become new.  We can forget about the old man of sin and rejoice in the miracle of forgiveness.  Our hearts can change.  Our eyes can be opened. And it is all made possible through Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.  What a miraculous plan our Heavenly Father made for us!

Well, family, just keep on keepin` on.  Let yourself reach your goals and keep climbing.  I love you!  And Heavenly Father loves you.

Un beso grande,

Hermana Peterson

Lalala!

The Lord is pouring out His blessings and we are trying to catch them all!!  Daniel has caught the missionary spirit and is inviting everyone to learn more.  This week we taught his family and the family of his aunt.  He has a little niece named Jocelin and she is pure joy.  We actually found the family through her because she is friends with the other kids in the neighborhood that we always teach.  She is seven and adorable and came up to me and held my hand as we walked down the street.  One arm is underdeveloped and she cant move it much but it doesn't phase her one bit.  She is all smiles.  So we taught her family and the mom is super receptive.  She cant believe the changes they have seen in Daniel and Ezequiel.  She attended the baptism and enjoyed it.  They all committed to go to church and then weren't able to go, but next week!  We were teaching about the commandment of the Sabbath Day and Daniel said that when you start going, Sunday to Sunday just seems way to long because you are so exited to go again. Yes!! That is a testimony.

Monica is still progressing super well and is reading the Book of Mormon every day and praying.  Nanci and her three daughters went to all of church again yesterday even though Nanci was sick.  Nelson loved the class in Gospel Principles about the Church of Jesus Christ today being the same church that Christ established when He was here on Earth.  That got him excited.  Maxi is the brother of Ezequiel and is preparing to be baptized this month as well.  He has the same tranquilo disposition as Ezequiel.

Lots ans lots of blessings, no?  Each week is so incredible.  This week we have a special training and a Sister´s conference, so those will be good.  And then on Sunday I get to talk you and see your pretty faces!  It will be a great week.

Keep studying the scriptures each day- I am studying all the prayers that are offered in the Book of Mormon and it is wonderful.  We should always pray in humility and faith, and ask specifically for what we desire from the Lord, willing to act upon the answer.  Prayers bring miracles when made in faith.  I pray you are all well and happy and learning each day.

I love you all so much! I have the best family in the world.

LOVES!

y un beso grande,

Hermana Peterson

                                                               Lots of fotos today!

Monica

Yellow!

tall, taller y tallest!

Rocio se va a la mision hoy!

La familia Garcia

Maxi!