All You Need Is Love

My Book of Mormon was falling apart this week so I had a member try to take it to get fixed. Not having it all week made me realize how much I LOVE the scriptures. It’s like our own personal treasure trove of all the things God wants us to know.

My companion has an insanely good accent and everyone tells her so which leaves me all the more determined to sound like a Latina. I’m already learning a lot and sounding a lot better. Hermana Quispe says she can hear the difference. Don’t worry everyone. My companion is just as great as Hermana Gentry, and Sister Hansen and Hermana Howard. I already love her a ton.

Speaking of love, Valentines Day here is no big deal. But I spent the day thinking about the most powerful love there is. The love of God. Everyone should read 1 John 4. I think it might be the best chapter in all of the Bible. It made me remember an experience in Indiana when Justin, who doesn’t know if he thinks God exists, asked me why I love God. And so easily and clearly I said because he loves me. And the amazing thing about His love is that it is infinite and individual. And as a missionary I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to preach to everyone that GOD LOVES THEM. And YES, that includes you too! As a missionary I want to grow this love so that people can feel it. So that they can feel the power of God and how the knowledge that God loves them and is their father is the most potent antidepressant out there! By far sharing the love of God made it my best valentines day ever!

I was reminded this week how powerful a simple invitation is.Two times this week invitations of love to come back to church was all that was needed to help someone make a change in their life to return to church and come a little closer to God. There are so many less actives all around us. Find one. Invite them to come to church. Simple as pie.

We were teaching a younger boy named Axel. He is quite the character. At the end of the lesson, he didn’t want to say the prayer in front of us. Once he finally did, he said ‘’That felt good. I want to say something more’’ and then said another prayer. It was a humble reminder that we really are talking to someone when we pray. It feels good. So just do it!

Love you all and pray for you daily.

Hermana Pearson

And then there were 3

On Sunday right before we left to go track people down to bring them to church, we got a call from one of our investigators who told us she didn't want to go to church yet and she said ''I woke up this morning and just feel like going.''  Her cousin, who is also an investigator had told us she'd be going. This Sunday we had to be on time because it was a Stake Cnference and we had to all travel together on a bus. Well turns out she slept in and wouldn't have been ready except for the fact that her cousin called her and told her she wanted to go.

When we got to the church we saw an unexpected surprise, another investigator who we hadn't been able to see this week was there too.

We are teaching this family that we found on Christmas Eve because we went with some recent converts to go sing Christmas songs to investigators. Their little daughter saw us in Santa hats and got really excited so we went and sang to them. This week they told us that we were their Christmas miracle.

Well Hermana Gentry got transferred...It feels like we lost a little part of El Carmen. We'll miss her a lot but I have a great new companion-Hermana Thompson from Washington. She served in West Virginia for 6 months so she only has one transfer more than me here in Argentina but her Spanish is SUPERB! She came from another part of Jujuy and she already thinks El Carmen is heaven. She's right. It's the perfect little town!

Transfers were COMPLETELY LOCO! We stayed up until 1 helping Hermana Gentry pack and then we had to wake up at 5 so that we could take her to San Salvador. We were a little trio today for a while. Then we had to come back to El Carmen to do a few chores and then went back to San Salvador to pick up my new comp. We had to take advantage of being in the city because I NEED NEW SHOES. We found 2 pairs. Well with all this I'm so tired and have no idea when I'll make up on this lost sleep. Wish me luck!

We had a couple great opportunities this week to buy a couple things for 2 really humble familes. One is the familia Cari. We taught them about the Sabbath Day and what we can do to keep it holy. They said they wanted to wear dresses but didn't have any. So we took the 3 girls and went to the feria (it's just a field of people from Bolivia who got a whole bunch of free clothes from America from thrift stores and then they come to Argentina to sell it.)

The other was with an investigator that we have. She doesn't have enough money to buy chairs so we always teach on her doorstep. We figured we'd buy her some chairs so that we could have a more focused lesson.

We got accused of being devil worshippers this week. He told us we were like Saul destroying the Church and that he hopes we find our road to Damascus soon. Oh if only he knew.

Well that's all for today. Much love,.

Hermana Pearson

Adventures with Gauchos

Our whole district fasted this week that we would be able to meet our district goals. The same day we saw a lot of great miracles.

We have a mom and daughter investigating. They talk A LOT. When they’re together they talk MORE. We practiced to be able to push through a lesson so that we could teach powerfully and without wasting our time. We were in and out of their house in one hour. They just sat through the whole lesson quietly, listening to what we had to say. We had left the Introduction to the Book of Mormon for them to read. Mirta told us, I hate reading. I’ve always hated it and I always will. BUT something about this book really interests me and I’m going to read it. And she did! She read the introduction 4 times! She had a doubt about why it was only written for the people in America. We explained that a little better and she said, "bueno, my doubt disappeared." This whole time she’s been talking about what she wants and what she likes. But this week when we invited her to baptism she said that she will pray and figure out what God wants. They talked so much about the difference that they’ve seen in their lives since we first came a knocking. Now if only they’d come to church again...

We taught a whole family this week. We started with one of the daughters, then we had her invite her sister who came with her baby to listen. Then another sister came home. We recapped all that we taught and continued. Then the brother came home, and the mom and by the end we were teaching 7 people. Each time recapping and continuing!

The old branch president has a son-in-law who is not a member. We’ve been over to their house a few times to teach but the husband listens out of respect nothing more. He's a police officer and teaches some sort of body building class and is always really tired. Well this week he hurt his knee and can’t work. His father-in-law committed him to read the Book of Mormon in his spare time. He came to church this week! We’re going to visit them today and we’ll see if he really has been reading.

Today for our preparation day, we went on a little hike. Complete with our tour guide, Hermano Ramon. AKA the Chuck Norris of Argentina. BEST DAY EVER! We went with Faca and Oscar too. We drank from a brook. (Don’t worry Hermano Ramon knows his stuff and said it’s better than what you’d get out of a bottle) In the pictures me, Hermana Gentry and I are sporting out BOCA shirts. It’s a soccer team. Everyone here asks if we’re fans of boca or river. The truth is we know nothing about the teams but boca’s colors are better! We saw a bunch of free roaming horses and cows and just had a really great time. Hermano Ramon is our grandpa here. He is a Gaucho/Submarine Diver/Poet/Cook/Genius. He has a radio program here in El Carmen called Gaucho Inheritance (it sounds cooler in Spanish) and this last week he dedicated it to the missionaries. Every week at lunch with him, we learn a thousand things we never have even thought about.

Well I love you all and hope all is well,
Hermana Pearson

Better than bottled!

Best day ever!

Sister Gentry and me in our BOCA shirts

With our guide, Hermano Ramon

Water? What Would We Need That For?

We haven’t had water for the last 4 days. And our toilet is broken…again. Not a good combo!

This week Hermana Gentry got sick. Okay the truth is she’s been sick the whole time I’ve known her…parasite…but it got worse so we ended up pulling some strings and she got an appointment with the hospital director. Usually you have to wait for a long time to get an appointment and have to have paperwork to prove your citizenship and all that. But she went to the appointment, had some tests done and they gave her medicine. All for free…..she felt like she was robbing.

She and Hermana Rallison had to go to Salta to do visa paperwork so Hermana Quispe and I worked in all of El Carmen for a day. I missed the other half of the city that we worked in before the other hermanas came! This week we worked so hard to get our investigators to church. We thought for sure we’d get a good turnout. Yeah, not so much. It broke my heart a little. But after church on Sunday, we had a lesson with Leandro, the boyfriend of a member. We’ve never taught him before but he comes to church every once in a while. He’s really quiet and so we didn't really know how he was taking it all. But we really felt the Spirit. When he said the last prayer. He cried. One thing I’ve learned on the mission; tears are a really good thing! Later, when we were looking for the houses of referrals, we taught a girl named Erica. She gave the closing prayer. She cried. Later a man, Jose, stopped us on the street, told us his whole life story about all the hardships he is facing. We said a prayer together. Hermana Gentry cried, I cried, Jose cried.

Every Friday we eat with the same family. Two weeks ago, we got to lunch with a little surprise…2 new investigators! One was the daughter’s boyfriend and the other was the boyfriend of another daughter who died a few years ago. I guess it was really hard for him and he ran off to go work in the South. He came back and the mom invited him to lunch, specifically for Friday. They are really interested in it all. Later that night, the other hermanas had a baptism and they both came. We have taught them a few times since. They both have a lot of potential! How great would it be to always have members arranging appointments for us!

Hasta Luego,
Hermana Pearson

Ghost Busters

We stopped by an investigator's house and I saw some people in the house next door and I just thought we should talk to them instead. The first person we talked to said he was leaving and said we should talk with the owner who was an old guy that wasn't making any sense. So I asked to talk to his daughter. She finally came out but gave us every excuse(lie) in the book. ''I'm just about to leave. My family won't like to have you here.'' Ya know the same old, same old. Well we were persistent and finally she said we could share. She was a little cold and really didn't want to talk to us but I just knew we had to-but I had no idea what to say. So I just prayed like crazy and all the words came. We talked with a grown daughter and her mother and they started to tell us about the terrible things going on in their life because of the evil dad. And in not so many words they said he's practically possessed.  They said how they've listened to every religion and it hasn't helped. They were crying and we just listened and testified of Christ. We sang 'Come Unto Jesus' and we just let them know how God loves them. By the end they were just so happy we had come to bring God into their home and be their personal ghost busters. The best part-they came to church! And when we where there it turns out she has a really good friend who is Mormon. They felt really comfortable and uplifted.

A couple things I learned from this experience. First, why are we so resistant to the help we so desperately need? God tells us where to find help. The scriptures, prayer, church, prophets. The list is endless. So why when we are hurting do we shy away from the things that will help us. When I was in Indiana and Elder Holland came, he talked about the part in the Bible where Jesus is sleeping in the boat and his disciples wake Him up when the storm comes. Elder Holland talked about how when we have the storms of life we CANNOT jump off the boat. We need to have faith that Jesus Christ is there leading the boat and that the safest place to be is by His side. So just be humble. And realize that you can't do it on your own and that the only way to do it is with God.

Second- There are so many people around us. They're hurting and they need God. And they are YOUR friends. They want to be invited to church. They want to have a support. They want someone to talk to them about God. Can you imagine how much earlier Mirta and Amalia would have come to church if their friend had reached out to them and invited them? It's not just the people that aren't members, the members need help too. So be a representative of Christ and invite your friends to come unto Him.

When we were traveling to a district meeting, Hermana Gentry talked to a lady on the bus who was really great but even though Hna Gentry asked her 5 times, she wouldn't tell her the address to her house. BUT she gave us a referral of her son. So we visit her son and his family who are really great too and he kept asking who told us to visit him. But we get so many referrals that we couldn't remember who. Well when we asked him who else we could visit, he gave us the name and address of his mother. HAHAHA God can be pretty funny sometimes.

We were visiting a less active and in the middle of the lesson, her 6 year son comes home. He sees us and runs to me and hugs me and gives me mil besos on the cheek. Hermana Gentry was expecting a similar reaction so when he walked past her she asked 'What about me?' He just said 'you're ugly and I don't understand your English.' Ahh classic little kid. hahaha

The sweet, humble familia Cari that I've talked about before, their daughter Estela got baptized! It was quite the miracle because usually the members here are so lax they just never quite get around to baptizing the kids so then when they are 9 or 10 the missionaries realize that they never got baptized but at that point it's considered a convert baptism. But cute little Estela wanted to get baptized so bad that she kept asking us about it every time we went over and bugged her dad about it and so finally the branch did something about it! I thought of Annika the whole time and how close her baptism is!

Well I love you all so much!!!

Hermana Pearson

Estela's baptixm

Disciples of Jesus Christ- A Demanding and Relentless Task

This last week an old missionary came by to visit in just the right moment when we were having a small activity in the branch. At the end, he bore his testimony and said if there is anyone who is missionary age that they should prepare to serve because it will change your life. And in that moment I just knew that I’m where God wants me to be and He’s changing me into who He wants me to be. I read this quote from President Kimball I really liked. “The cultivation of Christlike qualities is a demanding and relentless task—it is not for the seasonal worker or for those who will not stretch themselves, again and again.”

We had a zone training and interviews with President and I just realized how much I lack. There is so much I have to improve and I’m working on that daily but meanwhile I just have to trust God that He will make up the difference for what I can’t do on my own. That’s the miracle of the Atonement. It transforms us.

We’ve had a few lessons with the sister of an inactive/recent convert. She said at first that she’s Catholic and yayaya the stuff they all say but she invited us back. And when we came back we sang a hymn to start the lesson. And then she asked us to sing another because it made her little mischievous 2 year old calm down. That first day we weren’t sure why she wanted us to come back but after that we understood. She could feel the peace of the Spirit with her when we were in her house.

So a new grocery store opened up here in El Carmen. And it is GREAT. Okay the truth is it’s relatively clean and it doesn’t smell bad and it has air conditioning. So clearly it’s our favorite. Well one day I mentioned something about it when we were with Facundo and he asked, "Why is it your favorite? The wide selection? No. The low prices. No. Why?" Because it has air conditioning. I was being dead serious but he was laughing so hard like it was a joke. He tweeted as a joke and it got more than 200 retweets and 200 favorites. So yeah these Argentines think I’m pretty funny.

We’ve been challenging a lot of people to put reading the Book of Mormon this year as a goal. So I’ll extend it to all you who are reading this too. I’ve truly seen the power of the Book of Mormon transform the relationship people have with God. It’s true the promise that there is no better way to get closer to God then to read the Book of Mormon. Just do it!

Hope all is well!

Hermana Pearson

Since When Does 2+2=6?

We’ve been teaching an investigator for a couple months now. She’s gone to church, read the WHOLE Book of Mormon and has a strong testimony. She says she believes the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true church. She’s wanted to get baptized since the first time we visited her. We’ve taught her all the lessons and have felt the Spirit guide us in what we’ve taught. She knows everything and has a testimony of it all but isn’t willing to keep all the commandments of God because it would mean giving up the most important person in her life. Her girlfriend. This last week we had a lesson with her and she ended up telling us that even though she believes it is all true that she never wants to get baptized. ‘’Not today, not tomorrow, not yesterday, not in 10 years.’’  She dropped us hard and also said she thinks all we’ve come to do is make her cry in every lesson. It was heart breaking for her to tell us that she’s choosing her temporary happiness instead of eternal happiness.  Hermana Gentry told her she can’t choose the truth. 2 + 2 will ALWAYS be 4. And there’s nothing we can do to change it. This investigator understands everything but said she just wants to live in ignorance. She basically said that she’s just going to go on pretending that 2+2=6 It was really hard and we left her house crying but afterwards we felt peace because we knew we did everything and that she understands it all clearly. And now after doing all we possibly could have, it’s all in God’s hands.

One thing I have learned from her though is the power of the Book of Mormon. She read it all and because of that she has a testimony of our whole message. Now she just needs to act on the faith that she has because ''Faith without works is dead.'' I have a lot of hope in her that she can one day be baptized to be in the path that leads to salvation.

New Years was just a repeat of Christmas. And today is 3 King’s day…which is also a repeat of Christmas. And in a couple weeks we’ll be celbrating Carnival. There’s a never ending supply of reasons to party here in the good ol’ ‘Tina.

Thats all I have time for.

Much Love,
Hermana Pearson