The Streets of Argentina

Queridos amigos,

Another week in Argentina! The funniest things seem to happen on P-days and then I have to wait a whole week to share with you guys!

Last Monday, a family in the ward invited us over for dinner. After dinner, we were rushing home to make it back to our apartment in time (dinner is at 8 here). It was dark, and the few street lights that we had didn´t cast a lot of light on our path. My brain was focused on speaking spanish to my companion, not getting hit by a car, avoiding dog poop, and walking as quickly as possible. All of this seemed to be too much for my brain to handle, because with all the grace that I contain (which I´m sure comes from my dad´s side) I tripped and fell on the cold hard cobblestone sidewalk.

I had tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard. It took several seconds for my companion and I to calm ourselves and walk (slowly now) back to our apartment. I guess Argentina is giving me the opportunity to perfect my tuck and roll.

This week was much better than last week. I was more comfortable with the area, my spanish, and my purpose being here.

Thursday we taught our first lesson! We taught a man named Gustavo who is a lawyer. He first came in contact with the missionaries in 2012 and hasn´t talked to them since 2014! I didn´t talk a lot, but I was able to share some of my thoughts and feelings with him. He is out of town this week, but we have another meeting with him the first week of August.

Saturday was a great day. We had more success in that day than we had our whole first week. We went to a house of a lady (Luisa) who had listened to the missionaries a few years ago and had stopped for some unknown reason. She invited us in, and brought her son (Gabriel) into the conversation as well! It turns out that her son is a member of the church, but he hasn´t been to church for 4 years. We talked about the restoration and invited them both to come to church.

On Sunday, we got to the chapel, and Gabriel was there! We were so excited to see him! The members were so welcoming and many told him how good it was to see him again. After church the bishop pulled us aside and said he couldn´t believe that Gabriel came to church. They´ve apparently been trying to get him to come for a while now. The bishop really wants to help us with our missionary work. He is a convert (he was baptized 8 years ago) and loves sharing the gospel.

I love the people here, and I can´t wait to progress and really be able to converse with them. I hope all is well with you and your families.

Con cariño,

Hermana Chaffin

"...The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the eartrh, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regulasr form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator" Alma 30:44

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm" -Emerson

Please read John 17:3

"If you want your neighbor to see what Christ´s spirit will do for him, let him see what it has done for you" -Henry Ward Beecher

Por fin!

Dear friends and family,

It`s finally P-Day!!! I don`t know if I`m more excited to have a break or have something to read in english!!! It has been so great hearing from all of you (especially my dear family).

So much has happened since I last wrote!

I left the CCM on Tuesday, had lunch with President Calquin (he is from Chile) with his wife and the other new missionaries. After lunch, and a little debriefing on our mission and our goals, we went to the church to meet our new companions!

My companion is Hermana Medrano and she is from Bolivia. She has been out now for 14 months! I feel like a toddler around her when it comes to knowledge. We are in an area called Banfield 2B. Normally, when you come to your first area, your companion has been there for a while and knows the area. However, that is not the case with me (I always knew I was special). We are in what is called a "white-wash", we are both new to the area and are learning together.

Our area is super nice and the members here are so sweet! They`ve fed us a lot of delicious meals that I`ve enjoyed immensely.

The missionaries before us were only teaching 2 investigators before we got here, and we`ve only been able to contact 1 of them. Hopefully we will start teaching people!

Fun fact, I bought some new perfume before I left on my mission, and I`m allergic to it!!! I broke out in a nasty rash on my neck. I guess I`ll stick to lotion for a while :(

Haha no worries, it cleared up in 3 days and I just used makeup to cover it up.

This week has been pretty rough, but I`ve had the strength of the Lord. The scriptures have especially helped me. I love you all so much!!! I can`t even express how much I love you all.

He lives!

Con cariño,

Hermana Chaffin

Scripture that helped me: Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many, but endure them, for lo, I am with thee, even uto the end of thy days - D&C 24:8

Last P-Day at the CCM!

Queridos amigos,

This week has been wonderful! I can´t believe I only have 4 days left! I have no idea what the future holds, but I´m sure it will be great!

Last Saturday we went proselyting in in area called Moron. It is in the Buenos Aires West Mission. It is much nicer than the first area we went to. I had my first empanada! It was so amazing! Words cannot describe how magnificent it was! I can´t wait to get some more this Saturday.

The first two hours it was overcast, but the last three it rained steadily (fear not, for Hermana Chaffin is always prepared with an umbrella and thermal tights). I stayed perfectly toasty and my toes didn´t feel a drop (shout out to the dansko shoe company). Around 3:30 we came across a very frinedly man. He asked us who we were, and we talked to him for a while.  He tolds us that we were too pretty to be missionaries and that it was too bad that we couldn´t have boyfriends (this man was about 50 yrs old).

After about 5 minutes, his friend showed up with 2 teenage boys. All but one boy went inside, and we started talking to him. He told us that his name is Ian (he is 17). We ended up talking to him for almost an hour in the rain. The poor kid was shivering! I offered him my umbrella but he wouldn´t take it. We had a wonderful conversation and he ended up giving us his phone number and address. After talking to him for several more minutes, everyone came out of the house and he left with them (he and another man took a book of mormon and they both promised to read it).

We wandered around our area for about half an hour, clapping doors and talking to people to no avail. Hna. Warnock had to go to the bathroom, so we started heading to a gas station near our drop off spot. We were one block away from the station when we heard someone yelling "chicas!" We turned around to see Ian running after us! He told us that he had been driving around for several minutes looking for us. He asked if we could talk to him longer. We of course said yes, and went into the gas station where there was a dining area to sit down at. When we got inside, all of the Elders from our district were there! It was so strange! Everyone had something to add to the conversation, and we gave a short lesson to Ian.  Elder Bednar was right when he said, " There´s no such thing as a coincidence when you are on the Lord´s errand"

I was seriously smiling for the next two hours after our bus picked us up. The gospel is true! All of it! I can´t wait to go out again on Saturday and then after Tuesday it´s my full-time job!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

No pierda la fe,

Hermana Chaffin

Our only concern should be to do better than we did yesterday. Step by step is the law of growth. God does not expect the acorn to be a mighty oak before it was a sapling. -George E. Carpenter

D&C 64:33

p.s. please enjoy the photos from our rainy Sunday at the temple