Happy New Year!! Well... almost!

Hello Hello!

So let me start off by telling you how Christmas went. We visited members and investigators and every house that we went to fed us. Like a full on feast!!! I have never eaten so much food in my life! We went everywhere with the other sisters so that was fun, and it got to the point when we could not stuff any more food in our mouths that we just had to bring the food with us. We still have bowls full of different meats, sopa, and chipa. (we actually ate none of it and gave it to other families with not a lot of food) We also had permission to stay out till 11:30 so we were able to visit a lot of people, and take a ton of pictures! I will send some later. Oh something different that I experienced is that our companions from Guatemala stay up at till mid night and open there presents then, I don't know how Santa gets them their presents without them knowing, but it was still fun! I also made cinnamon rolls for the morning! Oh and it was really hard to sleep Christmas Eve because there were fireworks going off all night, but overall it was a good day! Mostly because I saw my FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And JAKE AND STU!!!!!!!! That was the best Christmas present that I have ever received. I sure love all you guys sooo much! Oh and Christmas day I opened my package and we all ate cinnamon rolls, then visited members and ate some more! It was awesome and SUPER hot! 
 

 A couple days later we received a late Christmas present... Our NEW HOUSE!!!

 

Man.. it is so much better than our old house. We have a shower that actually works, we have a sink for washing clothes, we have all new stuff, everything is clean.. ah I love it! The only thing it is missing is the family of lizards that was in our old house, oh and AC! We have an AC unit, but it is not installed yet... so the nights have been somewhat miserable. But who needs sleep, right? I took pictures of our new house too, and will send them soon! It is such a blessing!

 Now for some random things, the other day I saw a kid with a BYU shirt on! WHOOT WHOOT!!Kinda random, huh? Oh and the members love adding us on facebook, even though we can't use facebook for another year and a half... but they still do it! I don't even know how in the world they find me, but they have some mad facebook skills here! They always think that Jessica is my mom for some odd reason, and they all tell me that I look younger in my pictures?! It is a little strange that they can facebook stalk someone half way across the world, but yeah. But they love seeing pictures of my family, so I bring my album book with me almost everyday (Because if I don't they get mad)

 

We have changes this Tuesday, and sadly Hermana Willis is leaving. Her companion is getting a Hermana from Ecuador so there is going to be a WHOLE lot of Spanish in our house. yay.. Oh and Hermana Willis is going to Juan Pablo which is even hotter, which is hard to imagine, and on the border of Brazil, oh and 8 hours away! But the point is that some of the ward members wanted to throw her a surprise party sort of thing Sunday night, and I was told to bring the dessert (It is probably because I am so good at baking desserts ;) ) So my companion and I had to go to our old house to make the dessert so that Hermana Willis would not know. I made Peach cobbler, and I thought it was delicious! But I don't think the Paraguayans liked it very much. Bummer... Oh well! 

Oh today we went to the house of the people who saved us from the rain! We went with all the sisters and ate lunch, and ate the brithday cake that I brought them. It was really fun! It is really cool how the Lord places these people in our lives, and I absolutely love teaching this Gospel to them. I know everything that I have experienced and everything that am and will experience is for a reason! It is amazing how much I am understanding now and how I am able to communicate with these people. Even though they live so much differently than I do, I know that they are all children of God, and I feel His love for them! I love being a missionary, and I know that even though most of the times it is really really really hard for me, I am suppose to learn something here. And let me tell you I have never been happier, which is weird to say. I have become mentally and spiritually stronger. I bet I won't even scream when I see spiders back at home. Anyways I love you all, and you are all in my prayers. Have a good New Years, and be safe! 

Che Rohayhu! (I love you in Guaraní)

Hermana Sanders 

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

This week was a little interesting because the companionship in our house has been fighting. We did divisions twice this week. It is really stressful being a missionary, and Hermana Puac is really feeling it right now. We got permission from the President, well I should say my companion and the other Hermana got permission and after I found out not knowing before hand their plans. It was an interesting day, all I did was listen to all her problems...and Heaven forbid that I give advise! I almost got my head chewed off. But we taught lots off lessons which was really good. After the day ended we thought that Hermana Puac would be okay, but we were wrong. In the morning she desperately wanted to go home, which was really sad. Eventually they ended up in the Mission office talking to President. I believe that helped them a TON! It is sad that they were letting little things bug them and bring them further from the Spirit. So that was the drama this week. I am so grateful for my companion and that we get along. It is so much easier to teach with the Spirit when you have companion unity.

Remember that one family who saved us from the rain? Well we went back to visit them, and boy do they like to feed us! We ate dulce tarte, which is just a sweet bread, and soda, and everything else they would shove at us. They also gave us a bag full of mango's, which is awesome!!! I Love mango's! Here is mango season so pretty much every tree has mango's! They are a little different, but delicious! We are going to celebrate the husbands birthday with them on the 27 and teach them a lesson. The people here are great!!!

Friday we had our zone choir, which turned out really great. We all met at a public park, all dressed in red and green and white. They had a short movie about Christ's life playing and narration in between each of our songs. There were a lot more people that came than I thought.

Saturday we had our FIRST BAPTISM!!!!!! We made banana bread in the morning and after went to check if we had water in the church. We checked the font and I was shocked!!! There were these GIANT spiders floating in the font. And I mean GIANT spiders!!!! UGH... and all sorts of bugs in the water. We had to wait for the other Hermanas to come and show us how to drain the water. Unfortunately it was not working very well so we grabbed buckets and poured the water in the toilets. It took HOURS!!!! But luckily it was all prepared in time for the baptism. Jorge was so excited, and we took a ton of pictures! His uncle was super excited as well, because he had the wonderful opportunity to baptize his nephew. A few of the members came, and gave wonderful talks. When Jorge came up from the water I felt the spirit so strong, and felt such a strong love for this Gospel! Everyone in the room had huge grins on their faces. The next day he was confirmed, and yet again I could feel the Spirit. Later on Sunday we brought him to a lesson with us, and he bore his testimony. He testified how the Gospel has changed his life, and he notices the difference. I know the Lord prepared him for baptism and really does love and thing of ALL his children. Jorge can't wait to be a missionary in 2-3 years!

So Christmas here will pretty much be just like every other day. On Christmas eve we have 2 invitations to visit their houses. One is a members house, and the other is our investigators house! Other than that it will be a normal day. Christmas here is really different. Everyone paints their houses crazy bright colors, but mostly lime green! and everyone gets new clothes and EVERYONE has nativity scenes in their yards and in their houses. On Christmas everyone makes a ton of food, but it is the traditional food of Paraguay, like sopa paraguaya, chipa, ensalada de frutas,{fruit salad} and other foods. You guys will have to look them up. Then I believe New Years will be big here, and there probably will be a lot of drunk people. We will have to see. It is 90 degrees... or higher... everyday and night. It's awesome!!!! {sarcastic} But it's all good, we just keep doing what we do best.

Well I love you all so much, and wish you a Merry Christmas! I think about you always, and feel your love and support! Stay warm!

Love, Hermana Sanders

 

Paraguay Asuncion North Mission

Hello Hello!

 




The Christmas Story
 

Let us make Christmas a time of rejoicing and celebration, a time to share the marvelous truth that Almighty God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem the world! May the joy of that knowledge be with each of us this Christmas season and throughout the coming year.
Sincerely, Thomas S. Monson
Henry B. Eyring
Dieter F. Uchtdorf



Me and Hermana Santos
Merry Christmas!!!

 

This week nothing too exciting happened... except we have a BAPTISM this Saturday!!!!!! Yay! It will be my first baptism, and it is someone who I taught with my companion, if that makes sense. It was really quick, but awesome right? His name is Jorge and he is 16 years old. His uncle who is 19 is a member, and we have been working really hard to prepare him to baptize his nephew. I am so so so excited! Our other 6 baptisms fell through, but we are going to still work with them. We have these awesome investigators that have so much promise, the hard thing is getting them to come to church. too bad, but I know they will get baptized, there is no way that they won't be! 







Our House we live in

So after Christmas we will be receiving new missionaries in our area. Right now our area is HUGE and takes us a hours to walk house to house. And to be honest with you we haven't even ventured to the far parts of our area. So we split our areas into 3 areas now, the hard thing is that we need to find a house for the new missionaries. There is absolutely NO houses here for rent, or sale, or in all reality houses. We spend hours just walking around asking people if they know of a house for rent. And... well they aren't very helpful. Oh well. We still have a couple days ha ha. 





Yesterday we practiced with our choir, and it has been a miracle! We actually sound decent. It is really hard because most people here have not had any music classes, so everything needs to be very basic. I really hope that it will sound wonderful for Christmas so the people in the community can feel the sweet spirit as we sing. I know that the Lord will help us, and it is going to be a great experience. Also with my district on Christmas day we are going to the hospital to sing to the people there. It should be a really neat experience. Also for church 3 other sisters and I are singing Noche De Luz, but in English, Spanish, and Guarani! Should be interesting! Especially for someone who does not specifically love singing. But people love to hear music here, so I am glad to be apart of it. And it will fun to do something a little different! 

 

It is raining again!!!

 



On Saturday my companion was able to enter in the temple with a family in our area. Unfortunately I was not able to go in because President only wants 2 missionaries to attend the temple at a time. And the other sister who was in my area previously really wanted to go. Which seems fair since she has been here 8 months and has not been in the temple yet. Still I was a little disappointed, but it's alright. I was able to do splits with other sisters in the area of the temple. I was with this adorable sister from Guatemala. I am surprised how much spanish I can speak. We quickly became friends as we walked around her area. She lives in a very rich area, which was such a nice change! They actually had roads, and the people had more of an education and understood what we were saying. I really enjoyed being in the city with her, and learned lots of new ways to teach. It was really good experience. Unfortunately it was really HOT and I received a heat rash. Now with a heat rash all over my legs, accompanied with my mosquito bites... my legs look lovely! What can you do? 

Anyways I love you all, and think about you all everyday! Thank you for all the prayers and support! I can't wait to call home next week, I am so excited! I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!! Have a great week! 

Love, Hermana Sanders

 

Hello!!!

Today at 10:41 AM

Well... I don't have my journal... so I will have to try and remember what happened this week.It rained a lot. It is really crazy how it can go from blazing hot to a rainstorm in a matter of minutes. In fact right now we are experiencing a rainstorm. I carry my umbrella everywhere with me, and plastic bags. We never know when it is going to rain. Pretty awesome haha.

This week we got together with all the zones at the mission office. I got to see all my ccm family! We listened to our mission presidents and some old mission presidents. it was really good. Oh and guess what? there is another Hermana Sanders from Lehi, Utah! Her dad's name is Scott, I don't know if we are related, but pretty funny right? Oh I also received my packages! THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!! You guys are the best! I got my scriptures and a Christmas package! Oh my goodness mom, you are adorable! I was so excited and put up our stockings and Christmas calender right when we got home! oh and it really meant a lot to my companion that you sent her something as well. Her family is really poor, and they can't send her a package! She about cried she was so happy, and couldn't believe that you guys sent her something! Oh and the testimonies that Dad sent me, I can not wait to use them! they are really awesome, and a fantastic idea! I love you guys! thank you for all that you do! Oh and speaking of Christmas, we get to skype on either Monday Tuesday or Wednesday, for 30 minutes. Which day works best for you? It will be right before Christmas.

this week we also met with just our zone and practiced singing hymns for Christmas. I guess we are going to have a Christmas program, which will be fun! It is strange to think that I am going to have a warm... correction HOT Christmas. I sure miss all of you! Oh and my investigators and members are loving seeing pictures of my family. they all think it is strange that Maddy is really blond, and they always ask if she is going to go on a mission! And yet again no one believes that mom is my mom. they all say that my parents are sooo young! What can I say? I have a pretty good looking family! haha

Our investigators are having some problems. Sandra and Fernando are so ready to get baptized but for some reason things keep happening to stop them from getting baptized. Right now they are trying to save up money to get married, but Fernando just was in the hospital for his surgery. Hopefully they will be able to be ready next week, but we will see. Vanessa and Gabriel are so awesome! I always am so excited to teach them. But this week they told us they were busy and couldn't meet with us. so two days later we surprised them and just showed up. Vanessa was the only one home, but we met her mom. She is crazy! But their whole family is great. the only bad thing is they didn't come to church like they said they would. I don't know what is going on with them, but I hope we can continue to teach them!

So Saturday, they have this thing here called dia de caakupe. It is were all these crazy people walk all night to this church to worship their version of Mary all day Sunday. So the streets were crowded all night Saturday. the next day the city was like a ghost town. It was really hard to find people to teach, because no one was in their homes. So we just visited members.

Anyways I don't remember if there is anything else that I forgot. I love you all so much, and I can't wait to talk to you. I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you sooo much! Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Sanders

DECEMBER!

Today at 10:58 AM

Well... This week was interesting. We have some really awesome investigators! I have felt the Spirit so strong with all of them, it is amazing. I also got to meet my district last week! Most of them are Latins, but they are all super cool! There is only 4 North Americans, and 2 of them have been here 6 weeks. They speak really well, and it gives me hope! My city is called Ysapy (Ee/sa/puh). It is in the country, in the middle of no where. I get to email in an Internet cafe on P Days.

So this weekend it rained... HARD! I have never seen so much water in my life! The best part is that you can not tell when it is going to rain! On Wednesday it was as hot as ever... and we were walking down the "street" when all the sudden it just started pouring! Like huge drops of rain. Then the thunder and lightening came. I have never heard thunder as loud as I did in that moment. I now really know the meaning of a crack of thunder. But my companion told me that we have to keep working. Eventually my companion became afraid and we started searching for shelter. Luckily we heard a shout from a house. Some kind old man let us in his house, and he had a nice house for Paraguay. He lives with his wife and son(?) anyways we ended up staying there for 3 hours while the storm got worse and worse. They were very nice though, and fed us lots of food. We became really good friends and hopefully we can start teaching them. 

I want to tell you a little about our investigators. We met one lady who was very sweet. We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and had her pray at the end of our lesson. While she was praying I was hit with the Spirit. She told us after that her mom had just died 3 weeks ago. God really does love his children! My favorite investigators we have right now are 2 young adults, who are also siblings. They know a lot about God, but are so willing to listen to us. The boy speaks a little bit of English, so that is fun! We invited them to come to church, and this Sunday they came!!!! We were soooo happy! We also have a member that has been coming to lessons with us, and he brought a member to church! it was a real exciting day! Back to the 2 young adults, their names are Vanessa and Gabriel! We taught them today for 2 hours about the restoration and gave them Books of Mormon! They were so excited! I love our investigators, and the feeling I receive as we teach them! I know that God loves ALL of his children! 

So about that rain that I was telling you about, well everyday it rained really hard! It goes from being really really hot, to pouring rain in a matter of seconds! Yesterday we got stuck in the road, and hit under a small cover of a shop. While we were running to cover right behind us this 40 or 50 foot tree fell! It was sooo loud! It felt like we were in a mini tornado! We sang hymns while we waited for the storm to end. Right after we finished singing the hymn "there is sunshine in my soul today" the rain stopped in just enough time for us to run home. It is really cool seeing the Lord's hand in our lives every day! So one of the down falls of the rain storms here is there is always a huge river that we get to walk in, we lose electricity, and we lose access to water. So for the past couple of days we have not been able to shower, but luckily it rains so hard that we "take showers outside" if you know what i mean. I don't think i have any dry clothes left. We took a shower in a members house today, and that was an experience. We had to fill up a small pot with freezing water and use a cup to shower ourselves off. Wow, I sure miss America. 

One last thing, Thursday I got really sick. I don't know if it was a bug, or from the food. But for 5 hours I threw up and all that fun stuff. I really was missing my mom. But the sisters in my house are very kind and took very good care of me. I got to sleep for more than usual, but then we went back out to work the next day. It was a little hard at first because I had no energy, but I know the Lord is giving me strength. I am slowly starting to adjust, I really love the people here. They make everything worth it. Most importantly my family and loved ones are one of my biggest motivations. I love you all and think about you always! Thank you for all the prayers and support! I can't believe that I have almost been on my mission for 3 months! I Love you all, and can't wait to hear from you! 

Love, Hermana Sanders

Sierra's Mission President & Wife Brother & Sister McMullin

 

Mission President
Brother & Sister McMullin

 

Dear Family of Hermana Sanders:

We have been out of the office for several days and apologize that this letter is arriving a little late. We are so happy that your daughter has joined us here in the Paraguay Asuncion North mission!  We know that as she commits to work hard and be obedient to mission rules, and continues to study and seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost, she will have a great experience on her mission.  She will grow to love the people, she will be willing to pass through difficulties, and she will come to know and love her Savior in a more profound way than she has ever known.

We were able to give all the incoming missionaries some training on staying healthy, finances, mail, etc.  We were also able to learn about the history of the Church here in Paraguay:  the first missionaries to arrive, the building of the first chapel by the manual labor of the members (including Elder Robert E. Wells while he was employed in a prominent banking position here in the early 1960´s), the conversion of the Nivacle Indians, and the building of the temple.  We held a testimony meeting in Spanish, and we formed a choir and sang at a baptism.  We were able to enjoy some typical Paraguayan cuisine along the way too.  It was a wonderful day and we hope it was very worthwhile for your daughter.

Your daughter was also interviewed and met her trainer, Hermana Santos, who was specially chosen for her.  She was also trained to help your daughter in all the skills she will need to be a good missionary.  We hope you will enjoy these pictures that we are attaching as well.

Thank you so much for raising such a fine young woman who is so willing to serve her Father in Heaven and be a blessing to the people here and to her fellow missionaries.  We truly pray for them every day and are also committed to working diligently to help them in whatever they need to be happy and successful.

May the Lord bless you, and your daughter, for the sacrifices, the faith, and the love that you are extending to the people here.  Thank you for all of your support.

With much love,

Pres.  and Hna. McMullin

First Week!

Today at 9:17 AM

Well I don't really know where to start... my last week in the CCM was amazing. Elder Holland was able to give a fireside for the missionaries in Buenos Aires! there was over 900 missionaries there! it was amazing. We heard from his wife, and she is adorable!!! She has sooo much love, and such a sweet testimony! then we heard from HOLLAND!!! AMAZING!!! He just has a way to hit you with the Spirit!! It was such an amazing experience and is what I needed to hear. Well I don't remember if I told you that I had been praying that we would be able to hear from Elder Holland in the CCM and be able to meet him. I prayed everyday! And guess what... HE CAME!!! He ate lunch at the CCM with the other mission presidents and luckily he had time to talk to us for a bit! I really felt like he was just speaking to me. I have never felt the Spirit so Strong. I also couldn't help but cry the whole time. Then after we got to shake his hand and meet him! I was SO EXCITED!!! When it was finally my turn he grabbed my shoulder, shook my hand, and looked me in the eyes and told me that he loved me. I felt as though God was speaking through him and telling me that He loved me. I totally told Elder Holland that I loved him too! As soon as I went into the hall all the Hermanas came and hugged me! I was bawling! God really answers prayers, and meeting an Apostle was the happiest day of my life. I cant even describe my feelings. I wish I could call you all and tell you more details. It was amazing.

Well I am now in Paraguay. It is so different. Not sure how I feel about it right now.. It is like 100 degrees and it isn't even the hottest months yet. Everyone drives super crazy, and every time I am in a car I fear for my life. When we finally arrived my Mission President and wife picked us up. We drove to the Mission Office and ate lunch. Then we had a ton of meetings. We also got to visit the temple grounds and learn about the history of the church in Paraguay. Then we had a testimony meeting, and I bore my testimony in Spanish! Then we got to take some pictures at the temple before we attended a baptism! That was so cool! 4 people were baptized. All the new missionaries sang a special musical number for them. It was so cool! then we got to eat a hamburger sort of thing, which was REALLY good! After we all went to the hermanas house that we were staying at. It is crazy different. Super small, the walls are falling apart, the bathroom is nasty, there are bugs everywhere, and it is just dirty. But I lived! In the morning we went back to the office and had more meetings, surprise! Then the time finally came when we received our new companions! There was 4 North Americans and 3 Latinas. I was hoping for an American. They put the picture of the trainer on the screen, then the Greenie! I got an Latina that does not speak English. Her name is Hermana Santos. She is from Guatemala. She is super nice, it is really hard to communicate though. 

My house is about an hour away from Asuncion. Our area is in the middle of no where. We share our house with 2 other sisters. Luckily one of them is from California. Our house is supposedly one of the nicer houses. We don't have clean water, it is red half the time (from the dirt). Oh and that is if we have water, when it is really hot our water doesn't work. We don't have much, but it is way more than what the people we teach. I will try and send pictures sometime. The people here are very nice, but very poor. Our area is super poor. Most people don't have real houses. It is more like sticks and tarps or blankets or whatever they can find. There are no roads here. I walk on rocks everyday, it is like walking in a river bed. Some people have houses with actual walls, but they are very poor. The members feed us lunch, and everyday since I have been here I have had the same meal everyday, noodles and chicken. The members like to feed us plates full of food as big as my head! The first day I ate everything on my plate, and I felt like I was going to throw up! My companion was laughing at me because I ate everything! The members now know to feed me a lot less. They are all super nice though! We get to walk everywhere and it usually takes us an hour to get to houses from our house. My feet look and feel really good... It is also really hard to understand everyone because they don't speak correct Spanish, and they mix it with Guarani! So that is really fun... haha! I understand my companion though, which is good! I have learned so much Spanish, because that is all I do all day. It gets overwhelming at times though, and a little lonely. I pray for strength all day long. I though the CCM was hard... boy was I wrong. Everything is so different here. So poor. Hopefully next week we will have my first baptism though. We have lots of new investigators. The members are great. I am just living one day at a time. Thank you for all of your support and prayers. I love you all so much! Have a great week! 

Love, Hermana Sanders

I MADE IT!!!



I made it to Paraguay! It is so warm here, and there is red dirt every where! My mission Pesident and his wife is AWESOME!!! Sorry I wasn´t able to call you at the airport, but I am safe! I love you all so much! Tell everyone Hi, and that I love them. I will not be able to write you till next Monday! Can´t wait to hear from you! 

Love, Hermana Sanders



I´M LEAVING TO PARAGUAY!!!!!!!!!

I am finally leaving to Paraguay! I am leaving Tuesday morning at 4 AM Argentina time. My flight number is AR1260 and we depart at 7:20 AM. I don´t know when I will be able to call you. It might be before our flight, or once we make it to Paraguay. Just try and be up so I can talk to you. You guys are like 3 hours behind I believe. I love you all so much! I can´t wait to tell you all about personally meeting ELDER HOLLAND!!!!! Remind me if I can call you! And I will get to email you more next Monday! Love you!

 

Love, Hermana Sanders

God answers prayers!

    

     This week we received new missionaries.  It is crazy how young the Elders are.  One can definitely tell that they are younger too.   They have some maturity issues, but it is crazy how much we grow. I’ve only been here for a month, and I have grown so much!  I wish everyone I knew could be on a mission. I know this is going to be the BEST 18 months of my life so far.  Guys... I’ve been gone for a whole month!!! wow, time flies.  I feel like just yesterday I got off the plane.  On to 17 more months. wow!!!

     The other day our teacher Hermana Gutierrez wanted to see our family pictures. I first showed her one with me and my mom. She was shocked and at first didn’t believe that she was my mother. She kept saying how young my mom was. It was pretty funny.

     Oh, my companion became the new sister leader trainer, so pretty much she is awesome.  My Spanish is coming along, it is all finally sticking.  We had the best lesson last night.   We applied all that we have been learning and the spirit was so strong. The BEST lesson we have had yet!   I was so excited.  I just love it here, but I am so excited to leave in less than a week!  I can’t wait to teach the people of Paraguay!

     So... God answers prayers.  For the past couple weeks I have been praying of my favorite apostle, Elder Holland, to have the opportunity to come and speak to us. Enos 1:12.  Guess who is going to speak to us THIS Saturday!?!??! ELDER HOLLAND!!!!!!!!!!! He is my absolute favorite!  And it gets better... He is going to be at the CCM Sunday to eat, and hopefully we will be able to speak to us again!  I have never been happier in my live than when I heard that Elder Holland was coming!!!! This is going to be the best and last weekend EVER!

     Oh did I mention that I am suffering from a severe allergic reaction?  I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck... twice, and somehow I am still alive. Okay, maybe it isn’t that bad, but I saw the doctor, and I am on a ton of medication.  I am not allowed to go outside, which really stinks because i NEED to play volleyball.  They think something has just come into bloom, and I’m just reacting to something new.  Who knows, but I received a blessing and I know I will get better.

     Some good news, the new temple video is now available in our temple, so I get to watch that today.  Pretty excited.  I love you all, and thanks for all the prayers and support.  Oh, and I won’t be able to email you all till next Monday!

 

Love, Hermana Sanders

This Week´s Adventure

   

 Well it has been a more difficult week for me. My companion and I have been working towards building a stronger unity while teaching.  It has been frustrating for me because my progression isn't as rapid as my companion, so when we teach she is able to expound on her feelings, while I keep it very simple. I have been trying to participate more, and ect... it has been a struggle, but I am learning so much every day. I recently read in Alma 8:14-15 when Alma was discouraged because of the wickedness of the people. but an Angel came and visited Alma, he told him not to be discouraged, but to rejoice because he is following the Lords commandments. I have learned that I must put all my trust in the Lord, and that He will give me strength. I don't need to be discouraged as long as I am trying my hardest. Anyways I have learned so much here, it is the best. 

     I just love how much fun we have with our district. The joke for this week was all about pudding. I will explain. So, one day elder Eaquinto had forgotten his pudding at the dinner table. One of our sisters (Hermana Minks) brought it up to our class room and stuck it in his desk. He was totally surprised, and of course we all laughed...so the next day he decided to purposefully leave his pudding by the Hermanas. We in return hid a empty pudding cup in his desk, while our teacher hid the full one. E´ Eaquinto was so confused, and sad. Later we stashed his real pudding cup in his desk while he was away from his desk. So funny. the next day we decided to put a pudding cup in our teachers desk, and you must know that he LOVES pudding! and finally yesterday we all sat with our teacher at dinner and ate our pudding. It is just a little fun we have here while we are working soo hard ;)  

     This week when we went proselyting, well, it was different from last week. We were dropped off at a different location, due to the fact that in our last area some elders got robbed, so this new area was more wealthy, and it was in the suburb area instead of the city. It was a little more difficult.  We "knocked" doors, which really we found doorbells that were hidden all over the place.  It was like a hide and seek game and we found that that was not successful like at all. It is so easy for people just to hide in their houses.  We had 2 experiences that were pretty good though. One man told us he would go to church and was telling us something about cancer? oh, and he also told me that I needed to work on my Spanish more... I guess I don't have a large enough vocabulary for him.  But he was a sweet old man. Later we found this elderly couple who were not interested at all, but kindly they listened.  After we left some two blocks down the old lady found us. She told us we were angles for talking about Jesus to everyone, and asked if we would pray for a woman in which she had brought a picture for us to see. The woman had cancer. Then right before we left we ran into a bible basher, a Jehovah Witness. It was awesome... 

     Sunday we had a 24 hour fast, it was a really neat experience. I prayed that I would not be hungry, and guess what? I was not hungry the whole day! I definitely feel like it has helped me receive answers to my prayers, and that day I felt the spirit so strong throughout my church meetings. The church is true, and fasting really works! We also got to take pictures at the temple again, which was really fun! it is the last week for the North Americans that arrived before us. It was sad seeing them leave, and now we have like the whole CCM to ourselves until the new missionaries arrive.  All of us North American hermanas got to move into the same room, because they are remodeling the CCM. But it has been really fun. 

     I hope everything is going well with everyone, I love you all. I get to go to the temple today, and I am sooo excited. You are all in my prayers! LOVE YOU! 

Hermana Sanders

 

 

Week 3!!!

SO... last week when we went to the temple.. It was awesome!!!! I did better with the Spanish! And.... I MET OUR MISSION PRESIDENT FROM PARAGUAY!!!! And his wife!!! They are sooo cool!!! They gave us this awesome pep talk, and let’s just say I am so pumped to go to Paraguay and start preaching to the people! They are so nice! I can’t wait!!

So on Friday we did an English fast (where we can’t speak English the whole day) and it was hard. But i lived.. We did an English fast because we went proselyting on Saturday!!!! we totally went out into the city, it was my first time seeing the real Argentina! The mtc here is like a bubble! Everything looks so different, like the buildings are unfinished and all crowded. We got dropped off in the middle of some random city, with no direction. we all had to split up and cover our areas. i was scared to death at first.. but after a while i LOVED it! most of the time I couldn’t understand what people were saying, and half of the people were not interested. but we did have success. i will just tell you about my favorite story! We met this man named Claudio. We taught him for over an hour. At first, he just wanted to know about us, America, and what we liked about Argentina. We told him we loved the alfores (COOKIES), and the dulce de leche. Then he started asking about the BOM. Half way through the lesson one of his employees brought us a huge bag of cookies! But that wasn’t the best part! We taught him the restoration and committed him to read the BOM and pray about it. The spirit was so strong! He shared some awesome experiences with us, and I was totally crying. He told us that he knows that Heavenly Father loves him, and that he loves us, because he sent us to him. He said he felt so warm inside, he described it as a beautiful feeling. IT WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE EVER! I wish I could tell  you all the details. I absolutely love sharing the Gospel, it is the best feeling. Oh, but let me tell you a bad part about  the day... some dude around 20 yrs. old came up behind me while i was talking to some lady and touched my butt... seriously!!! I was about to punch his smile right off his face.  But other than that, it was such a good day!

 Throughout the week we are able to attend devotionals! It is the best!!! I love the spirit that i feel here, I am so happy! I get to learn so much every day, and I am so grateful! I wish you guys cool come and feel the same way. Spanish is getting better! I can now have conversations with people, sort of... I know that the Lord is definitely helping me! Guys I love you sooo much! Have a great week!

 

 

Love, Hermana Sanders

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!

guys... they have a queso truck here. it goes around and has a little song singing about queso... weird? well this past week has been amazing!! there is so much to write about, so I hope I remember it all. so we get to teach investigators every day, and I absolutely love it. it is so amazing how the spirit will tell you what to say. my companion and I would plan out a lesson for our investigators, and once we were teaching them the Spirit told us to teach something else. I have also shared a few experiences that just popped into my mind. the spirit was so strong each time I would share an experience. even though it is hard to understand our investigators due to the lack of my Spanish, I know that the spirit is the same. I feel the Saviors love for these people each time I teach. the CCM (MTC) is the best experience, and I love every day! It has been so amazing to see how the Lord has blessed me with the gift of tongues. It is small progress, but progress none the less. I will be in lessons and I will be able to understand most of the conversation, and be able to respond in my Spanglish, but they will understand. my companion is so awesome and helps me with Spanish everyday. I don't know what I would do without her. we were also able to attend the temple Tuesday. that was kind of a surprise. we were in the middle of class when a teacher ran in and told us to get ready for the temple. the temple has been closed since we got here, so it was a treat. we all ran to get our temple stuff. my companion lost her recommend


My Companion Sister Bennett

 hermana minks from hawaii, hermana meese from california and utah, hermano tauiliili from utah he is super good at volleyball, and hermano aequiento from california and he is super funny, and hermano haworth and merill

(guys I can not spell anymore, I mix Spanish and English all the time) so the temple workers just let her in. the temple here is so beautiful! it is even more beautiful inside! there are sky windows all over, and the art work is amazing. I love the temple here. we got our rented clothes and guess what? mine was too short, and my slip was huge! so I looked pretty awesome if I say so myself. the session was so good. and no dad, I got an English headset so I could understand. maybe next time I will listen in Spanish. I absolutely love this gospel! the Celestial (guys did spell that right?) room was so colorful and beautiful. it reminded me of the one at timp, but less white. I decided to pray, and that was the longest and most sincere prayer I have even given. I felt the Spirit so strong, and I felt as though there were arms surrounding me in a hug. it was a great day. oh let me back up, on Sunday we were able to take pictures at the temple! it was so much fun! we took so many pictures, and I love everyone here! we took lots of district pictures because they are my little family! I don't know what I would do without them. we have so many inside jokes, it is the best. if I can figure the computers out I will send some pictures. after we took our pictures we found a bird in the kitchen. that was an adventure... but we rescued him. oh guess what else happened?! I walk into sacrament meeting and guess who was sitting in the room? ALI VINCENT (SUNSHINE)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah...


Ali Vincent {SUNSHINE}
I PLAYED VOLLEYBALL WITH ALI IN HIGH SCHOOL

 I was so excited! she told me that her back had been hurting so she went to the doctor. they x-rayed her back and said it was broken (k.. if it was broken she wouldn't be walking) so they had a plane ticket for her to come home. her uncle which happens to be in the Argentina mission training center presidency picked her up. they took her to the doctor just to double check and her back wasn't broken. they were trying to get the rich American to pay for surgery. so she got to spend the morning at the MTC. I am so glad she is okay and is able to finish her mission. I

I loved hearing her testimony. oh... my toe got infected. I don't know from what, but all my room mates played doctor. the next day I was able to get a blessing from my district leader. it was so strong, and I am so grateful for the priesthood. I think it is getting better. funny story, there was one night where there was a huge thunder storm. they aren't like the ones in Utah. they are sooooo loud and bright. so the Latina sisters were up at 1 in the morning. they said that I was sleep talking... and sleep laughing... the best part is my companion was talking back to me!!!! they were all laughing so hard and wouldn't let us forget that we talk to each other in our sleep. my room mates call the me mermaid... I don't know why. but it is a compliment I guess, right? I love them so much, and the sad thing is they left today! they are so cute, and I am going to miss them. anyways I hope I remembered the important things. I am loving it here! everything is just so great! and I love you all! you are all in my prayers, and thank you for all the support! I cant wait to hear from you!!!

 

Love,

 

Hermana Sanders

{October 17, 2013}

Hello,

So excuse my spelling and the lack of grammar. the keyboards are weird and I am trying to write as fast as I can. so we traveled with 2 elders and 4 sisters. they are awesome. I also got to see Jared at the airport, he came and said goodbye at the gate, and of course I started crying, but I was so happy. the flight was short, and good. once we got to Georgia we ate and tried to find a pay phone. I guess I don't know how to use one, because it took us forever to figure it out. as we were waiting for our flight to Argentina we saw so many missionaries. it was like a whole army!!!!! soooo cool!!!! the flight to Argentina was awful! super long and I was so tired. but we finally made it! once we got through customs and all that stuff, we waited and waited and waited for someone to pick us up. we ended up waiting for 2 hours, so I guess they forgot about us. some member called the mtc and arranged for someone to pick us up. the mtc is super close, and it is beautiful. the mtc is actually on the temple grounds!!! there are lots of palm trees, and it is so warm. I love it. so my companion is named Hermana Bennett. She is the most amazing person. she is so loving and sweet. she has humbled me to be her companion. she is constantly reminding me to pray and to study. everyone else here has taken Spanish and can speak okay. I feel like I am the only one who doesn't know Spanish. but I am slowly learning. it is really hard though. it is so cool being in the mtc. I absolutely love it here. we are constantly feeling the spirit all day, and I have been so happy. all of our lessons are sooo great, and I learn so much every day! I enjoy everyday here. it has helped me not be so sad and miss everyone because I am feeling the spirit and serving others. I don't have a lot of time to think about myself. well the food is interesting. I have never eaten so much meat in my whole entire life. we eat it for every single meal. we also have rice and beans. the milk is weird, its in a box, and it isn't ever cold. but the chocolate and desserts are way yummy. I think I am going to gain weight here... not good. my room mates are all latias. they are so sweet and loving. they are trying to learn English so we help each other everyday. they are always making me laugh. speaking of laughing my district is by far the best. its amazing how perfect each companionship is. we have Hermana minks from Hawaii, Hermana Meese from California and Utah, Hermano Tauiliili from Utah he is super good at volleyball, and Hermano Aequiento from California and he is super funny, and Hermano Haworth and Merrill they are the nerdy guys that make us laugh. pretty much we laugh all the time which makes it enjoyable, but we learn so much from each other and have spiritual experiences. oh yes.. my suitcase was locked and I couldn't get into it all day. but the tips you gave me worked. at the end of the day we got a flashlight and we found out the combo. it was 463... really random mom! haha oh for p days guess what? we play VOLLEYBALL!!!! I love it! oh one of our instructors... he had a hickie... it was distracting... haha. but they are all really good teachers, so kind! it is so awesome here! how was Jessica's farewell? I bet she did amazing. well I don{t have a lot of time left. I love you all! have a good week!

My Mission Call Opening!!!