Hola to Tacuari

Adios to Apostoles!

Saying good bye in Apostoles. Silvana, Yani and Yaquelin. Members we activated.

Transfers...locked outside of the Stake Center...long night haha

Hola from Tacuari!!!

Can I just say that it has been an amazing week? (: 

Hermana Lopez is AMAZING! Honestly, she is so great and we get along super well. We just laugh the whole time and talk about everything! But don´t worry we´re being professional as well. haha. (: But I´m like the luckiest girl because she is like the greatest. I couldn't ask for better here in the mission. (: 

Tacuari I´m in love with as well. The area is gorgeous. It´s close to the river that separates Argentina from Paraguay and it´s close to the downtown, and it´s gorgeous! The members are also super great!!! They are super sweet and I fell in love with them immediately! The area is definitely a lot richer than my other area and a lot of the members have really nice houses. That´s kind of cool. We have a few investigators and they have baptismal dates for October, so pray for them!!!(: I am getting to know people and the area still, so next week I’ll be able to tell everyone more about it! 

This past week I helped out with the new missionaries that arrived this week. It was like a flashback. It´s crazy how fast the time has flown! But it was a lot of fun. On Thursday I started with Hermana Lopez! As I said before, she is amazing! The pension [apartment] is huge and super nice. And we have a fancy phone. haha. 

On Saturday we had the World Service Day. We went to a place for handicapped people and helped clean, paint, garden and passed out candy bags. It was with the whole Stake and like 14 missionaries! 

World Service Day with the Stake. And the Lions Club was there to help as well!

 We have a new Lider Misional, [Ward Mission Leader]. He just got back from his mission in Brazil, Salto. He came home early for health reasons but is going to go back out in four months, but in the mean time we get to use him. His Spanish is super bad though-- haha. 

Hermana Lopez is a boxer. This morning she taught me the steps and some punches and we are going to start ‘training.’ I’m so excited!!! And we are doing zumba in the mornings as well! 

Today for P-day was like the best on the mission. We made a salad, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, strawberries, and grapefruit. We then went and picked mulberries. It was so fun and I remembered being a little girl! [The girls used to pick mulberries when they were all re-enactors at This Is the Place Heritage Park.]

Picking mulberries!!!! I felt like a little girl again!

And then we went to a dock out over the river and sat and had a picnic! We stayed there for a few hours and just talked and ate. It was so much fun and I love this area so far. (: 

Hermana Lopez and I at the river today for P-day.

Rio Parana

Life is super good right now. There were not a whole lot of really spiritual experiences this past week. It was a crazy week but this next week is going to be great! 

OOHHH! So today the Assistants called and told me that I’m the new Hermana Lider. I think in English it´s like Sister Training Leader. I have to do divisiones [exchanges] with other Hermanas, call them once a week, go to meetings with all the leaders and President LaPierre and some other things. It´s a lot of responsibility, because I’m also helping Hermana Lopez get used to everything. She´s only been out for 3 months! But God trusts me so I’m trusting him! Your prayers are very welcomed, though! 

Talk to you all next week, thanks for everything, God is amazing and this church is true. (: 

Hermana Newell

The Book of Mormon is even better than Harry Potter

A Catholic church in Apostoles

Hey, I´m being transferred!!! I´m going to Taquarii. It´s an area in Posadas, right in the City! Transfers are Thursday! I´m excited. I´ve done splits once there and the pension [apartment] is like huge and super nice. My new companion´s name is Hermana Lopez. I met her in splits and she is super great. She is from Honduras! 

Some of the Elders who are leaving for home this week.

Elder Trujillo, Elder Ollerton and Elder Duke. They finish this week.

I´m super sad to be leaving Apostoles. It´s been my home for the past 4 and a half months. And it is AMAZING! I´m sad to leave Hermana Martinez as well... but I am excited to see and meet new places and people! 

Some of my favorite people ever: Silvana, Yaquelin and Yani.  This is a less active family that I have been able to, with the help and hand of God, reactivate. The rest of the family is in the process.

Hermano Cristian Farina and me saying goodbye from Apostoles.

Hermana Adriana Alvarenga. The family Alvarenga are like the greatest people ever! Adriana is the girlfriend of Leo Sosa, who was recently baptized. They plan to be sealed in the Temple in ten months when Leo has one year as a member. 

This week has been super great! Micaela is progressing so much! We talked about the spirit, families, and the Restoration. She has a baptismal date for the 17th of October! We are working with her boyfriend (who she lives with). He is a less active and he is progressing so much too! Honestly the spirit with those two is amazing! 

Noelia… can I just say that she is the greatest!! We met her last Monday and had a Family Home Evening with her. She is a friend of a member, Aylin, who was baptized in June. We talked about the Restoration and it was so spiritual!

We then met with her on Friday, and we talked about the Plan of Salvation. Her mom died two years ago and our discussion helped her so much. She was crying the whole time and when she said the closing prayer she said, ¨Help me to have as much faith as these Hermanas and to be able to know that this church is true, like they know it is!¨ She has been praying every night and it´s been so spiritual, I cried too.

We then met with her yesterday and we talked about forgiveness and repentance. It was super great. We gave her a Libro de Mormon! When we went today for lunch with her she had finished the intro and the testimonies and was in 1 Nephi chapter 5! She said that she loved it and that it was like reading Harry Potter because it was so interesting!

We talked about what it was, how Joseph Smith translated it, and we answered her questions! She is so amazing and so prepared! She has gone to church twice already, too! But she is in the Elder´s zone--- so we might now be able to continue with her and have to pass her to the Elders. We will see what happens! 

Oh, on Friday when we were with Noelia, she gave us dinner, and it was lentils. It was super good, but she cooked it with sausage. She took the sausage out of my part but it was cooked in it and when we got back to the house I was having a great time vomiting in the bathroom for a while... it didn´t work so well. 

Next week I will be writing from Posadas! I’m excited because in my area there is a store that is like Walmart and they have Jalapeño peppers. Haha! (: 

I love you all! 

Hermana Newell