Tansfers video

April Transfers 2014

Click on link  Lauren is about 12:30 minutes in

Transfer day - April 2014 Last day together

12 April 2014

open chapel in parque san martin

In many areas of the mission we have had an “Open Chapel” experience. The chapel is open on a Saturday and/or a Sunday for people to come and visit and learn more about the church. They have been quite successful in helping the local communities learn more about the church and as a means for the members to bring friends to an activity to learn more, as well. Presidente received an email from the missionaries that coordinate the Open Chapel, which I am please to share.
President Carter-
I wanted to report that we had an amazing Open Chapel in Parque San Martin on Saturday.  Thank you for sending us great missionaries.  I attached a photo of them.  Sister E……, with just 4 days under her belt, really dug in and loved the people.  I was so proud of her.  Elder F…….,with just 4 days was amazing!  He was out inviting people inside the chapel with Elder H… and they were so enthusiastic.  Very few people made it past them without coming inside.
We ended up with 26 new referrals for the missionaries and a total of 32 non-members that visited.  They are great…Keep up the good work!

14 April 2014

So the biggest news this week... TRANSFERS. 

And I continue here in Padua B, but this time with Hermana Espinoza.

Transfers can be difficult, and I would be lying if I said that I don`t miss working with Hermana Morales a little bit, but Hermana Espinoza is great.

Hermana Espinoza is 23 years old and joined the church 6 years ago, along with her younger sister.  She`s the first and only missionary in her family.  Her story is very inspirational in that she has really kept firm in the faith and is a great example. I`m learning a lot from her about humility and love, two of the attributes of Christ that I would like to develop more.  So I`m sure there are lots of things we are going to learn together.

Also, this is her first transfer as sister training leader, so I`m also in charge of training her and getting her all ready for our first divisions that should be this week.

In other news, we invited one of our investigators, Silvana, to be baptized this week!  She is super great.  She`s seriously one of the smartest people that I`ve taught and she has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy.  It was a little bit complicated, because before she wasn`t too interested in baptism, because she felt like it was a very big commitment, but this time around she`s much more prepared and really feels like this is the time for her.

Also, speaking of incredible people, my dear friend, Marco, who got baptized two weeks ago, received the priesthood this weekend!  It`s so great to see the incredible progress that he has had in the time that I`ve known him.  I love seeing his energy and excitement for the gospel.  Oh, and he already wants to receive his patriarchal blessing.. did I mention that?  Receiving the priesthood is one step closer to that for him.  He`s great.

Also, fun fact:  it`s been super cold this week.  I forgot about how bitter the winter here is... I thought I would have some sort of transition between summer and winter, but it`s been pretty abrupt.  And so it begins, my year-long winter.  Woo hoo!

But that`s all for now.  Love you all!

Hermana Walton

7 April 2014

We`re going to try this again....

GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEK IS A WEEK OF MIRACLES.

Okay, now I`ll tell you why.

This week started out a little bit rough because last Monday I got sick.  And I continued sick all week, even until now.  I still have a cough that`s pretty ugly, but I`m surviving.  But Tuesday, I was down for the count.  But the week of conference, we have lots of rules and requirements before we can assist conference.  One of them is that we have to reach our goals for numbers of lessons and contacts and new investigators, etc. before going to conference... so we had four days to finish everything, and I was sick in bed. 

But on Wednesday we went out to work, because the conference is very important!  The day started out slow, but then we found some miracles!

The first was that we found one of our ex-investigators, Silvana.  This woman is seriously incredible. . She received the Book of Mormon in January, and right now she`s reading in Alma 40.  YEAH. She had lots of challenges in her life in the two months that we hadn`t seen her, but when we knocked on her door again, she excitedly welcomed us back in.  And she came to conference!  We`re so excited to be visiting with her again, and the conference helped her a ton.  I think at this time she is much more prepared to make changes in her life.

The second is that we found a family that has parents that are married!  In Argentina, that is quite the phenomenon.

We ended up having 8 investigators come to the conference this weekend, which was just incredible.  They all enjoyed it a ton (okay, other than the 9-year-old that came), and received answers to their own questions.

The last thing I want to say this week is: ELDER BALLARD.  FIrst of all, he talked about my mission!  Woo hooo!  And second of all, I hope everyone is participating in his challenge!

Love you all!

Hermana Walton

Christmas call information from President Carter

information for parents/información para padres

Dear Parents,
At this special time of year we want you to know how much we love your sons and daughters who serve with us here in the Argentina Buenos Aires West mission. We appreciate your loving support and prayers for your missionaries as they seek to serve with all their heart, might, mind and strength.
We remind you that your missionaries will not be using the internet this week to communicate with you. Their call home on Christmas day will replace their weekly letter. We hope all are successful in making a connection on Christmas day as planned. In the event that something fails to allow a conversation with your missionary, please do not fear. We will work with them to connect with you as soon as possible. There are always a few who fail to connect as planned.
We ask that you limit your phone call to 40 minutes. Please speak about things that are supportive of what your missionary is doing here. I'm sure you all realize that spending time speaking of the things he or she is missing by not being home, is not what he or she needs to hear as these things only serve as a distraction from what your missionary has been called to do. Certainly do not speak about problems or issues they can do nothing about. Please do not invite non-family members including boyfriends or girlfriends to participate in the call. Try and spend much of the call asking your missionary to tell you what they have been doing. Ask them to share a spiritual experience with you before ending the call. They have been encouraged to share their testimony with you at the end of the call. Giving time for your missionary to accomplish this will enhance your experience and bless your lives as you continue to give support from home and bless their lives as they continue their sacred service here in the Buenos Aires West Mission.
We wish you and your family all the best at this time of year. Thank you for sharing your beloved children with us and the good people of Argentina. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year!
With love,

Sister Carter's impressions on new Mission President - to come out in July

el presidente y la hermana robertson

Recently, my husband took a phone call in the car on speaker phone. After the call was finished, I looked at him with tears in eyes and asked, “Who will love these missionaries like we do?” Honestly, it troubled me off and on for a few days.
The Robertson family received their call much sooner than we did, so it was a little bit of a surprise when we received an email about their calling. However, when I read that email, in that moment, I had such peace. I truly felt that their family will love missionaries like we do!

President Robertson was born into a large Southern family of 9 children. He served his mission in Recife, Brazil and graduated from BYU where he met his wife, Julie.  Shortly after they met, they were married in the Los Angeles Temple in California, where Julie was born and raised.  He currently works for the Church as an Area Controller in the South America North West Area.  

They have 7 children, three of which are married, and are happily awaiting their 5th grandchild due in July. They will be arriving to the mission with their three youngest, Nicole (17), Dallas (15) and Dallin (9), pictured to the left with their mom. Their daughter Casey, who will be joining them later in Argentina, is serving her mission in Kiev Ukraine, Russian speaking. They have lived in various states in the United States, Brazil, Portugal and Guatemala and currently reside in Lima, Peru.  They enjoyed being session directors for one of the first EFY programs in Peru and have a great love for the youth and young adults of the Church! We have miles to go before we rest, and we are looking forward to the remaining part of our journey. In the meantime, we now know who will take the baton and carry on the tradition of the best mission in the world here in Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste.   Graphic from the Church News today:

picture

Misc Pictures

Resolution is not too good on this one, but cute nonetheless

This day has been prophesied for many generations and

we are in the midst of it.

Missionaries are the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Their voices must be heard.

We need to escalate in our minds the importance of

hastening the work.

We need to feel the urgency and expectation of the Lord.

March 2014 - no more packages

no more packages

We are sorry to say that with new restrictions and fees that are being imposed by the government of Argentina, we are no longer able to accept packages.
We have made this decision in conjunction with President Robertson, who will preside over the mission beginning in July and in conjunction with other missions in Argentina.
Do not use other methods such as FedEx, DHL or UPS as we will not attempt to retrieve those packages.
We recommend sending your missionary a bank card that you can refill from home if they need to purchase items here in Argentina.
We will do our best to obtain those packages that are still in transit, but there is no guarantee that we will be able to get them. Thank you for your understanding cooperation with this issue. 

Blog From Mission President Carter's wife.

As the wife of a Mission President, I watch the weather with more interest than I did before the mission. I think about my missionaries and what it will be like for them on the streets every day. I pray for them specifically to be able to cope with the heat or be safe in the rain or warm in the cold.
In Buenos Aires, we have downpour-style rainstorms. They come on without warning and within seconds you are completely drenched. We had a similar style rainstorm in Florida, however, in Florida they last for about 15 minutes. If you are lucky enough to be inside when it happens, you can quite easily wait it out. It is different here in Buenos Aires. The storms can last with intensity for hours and hours.
One day a missionary said to me that she loves the rain because real missionaries work in the rain. I love that we have valiant missionaries that work in the rain. As a people, the Argentines are a little bit weather-dependent. They don’t go out if it is too hot, too cold or rainy. It makes missionary work challenging because not only do they not go out, they don’t want anyone to come in.
I am remembering another day when we were having a mid-transfer change. The hermanas arrived soaking wet. When we asked the why they didn’t call a remis, they laughed and asked what was the point since they were soaked already. They dried off, picked up their new companions and went back to work.
I have heard countless stories from missionaries standing in the rain or cold or heat being rejected because of the weather. Fortunately, they are good-natured about it. This week began with lots of rain. I have to admit that mom in me was was glad that today they had district meetings during the worst of the storms.

March 5th Missionary Leaders (Hermanas)

We got together this afternoon with most of the Hermana Training Leaders. Their responsibilities are still new enough in the mission that we are working out the kinks of how they work in their own areas and still have time to help others. They have willing hearts and they are going to have a positive impact on the hermanas, no doubt.

March 2014 Mission Picture

Elder M. Russell Ballard: 'Day of the sons, daughters of Lehi is blossoming'

Elder Ballard offers blessing on nation of Argentina

The article is available on the link below.
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/64501/Elder-M-Russell-Ballard-Day-of-the-sons-daughters-of-Lehi-is-blossoming.html
This dedication actually happened several weeks ago, but we were asked to wait until it was officially announced by the church before we shared the news with others.
Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know what an important place this has been for us as a mission. To be invited to attend this event was an incredible opportunity. The original dedication in Argentina was for the preaching of the gospel in the land of South America. In the intervening years, every country has received its own dedicatory prayer. The news article states:
Elder Ballard dedicated the land of Argentina and promised a blessing on the country. Although there may have been an Apostle’s earlier dedication, there is no record of such in the Church. Elder Ballard said “it was a great honor for me to dedicate and record a blessing for Argentina”.

24 March 2014

Yeah, that`s right.  I`m about to complete one year as a missionary.  And yes, I`m telling alllll of the world.  I can hardly believe that it`s been a year since I was in the great northwest.

To celebrate my year mark, today my companion and I are going to go eat at.... BURGER KING.  Yeah.  The first and only time since I`ve been in Utah.  But I now eat beef, so we`re going to go buy ourselves hamburgers. That`s something that nobody ever expected to hear.

Also, this week we should be having three baptisms, which is a very lovely thing.  My queridos amigos are very excited and we are very excited for them.

This week we had divisions again. They can be a bit complicated.  But it makes me very grateful to be in the situation that I`m in, with the companion that I have. We`re very happy together, Hermana Morales and I.

Hermana Morales and I were talking a good amount this week about how our perspectives as missionaries really are broadened.  So much of the time in our day to day life we have such a narrow perspective of the world around us and are so centered on our own needs and problems.  But as missionaries we enter into the homes and lives of tons of people every week and listen to their problems... then it`s our duty to help them resolve those problems and find comfort through the gospel.  I really am grateful that I have that guidance in my life.  We have a much broader understanding of how life really is and that we`re not the only ones with problems.  But if we can support them well, all will go alright.

Anyways, I think that`s about it for this week.  Sorry if it doesn`t seem very coherent, but those are my thoughts for now.

Love you all!

31 March 2014

03/31/14 - General Email
First things first:  we had three baptisms this week.  Yes, we were very happy!  We had the baptisms of Marco, Elizabeth, and Cecilia this weekend, and they are doing so well.

Marco, especially is doing great.  He is seriously one of my favorite people that I´ve met here in Argentina... and he´s from Bolivia.  But the day of his confirmation, he asked us how he could prepare to receive his patriarchal blessing, and when he could enter into the temple.  He´s a very worthy convert.

In other news, this week we celebrated my year mark!  We ate cake and everything.  It was a very good day.

But all of a sudden it´s like the entire world wants to talk to us about marriage and family and the future.  My companion and I are like, what happened?  We´re missionaries!  But my mission president informed me that I´m going to have at least 6 children, so that´s fun.

Other than that, my companion and I are super excited for this week because it´s general conference!  Woo hoo!  But it´s also a little bit sad because just days after the conference we´re going to have transfers and we don´t want to be separated.  We like working together a lot.

That´s about it for this week!

Oh, but also, my "mommy" of the mission, Hermana Costa, went home this week! I included our last picture together, which includes my "sisters", the other missionaries that she trained.

Love you all!

17 March 2014

Well helloooooo.

This week Hermana Morales and I received some very sad news... one of our investigators passed away.  Paola was a woman that we had been visiting for probably a month or so, but stopped visiting because she was interned in a rehab clinic. She was trying, for the fourth time in her life, to overcome her drug addiction.  After a few weeks interned, she passed away.  We could hardly believe it.  She was so young, poor thing. It`s in these moments that we are especially grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that we have.

This week I was a little bit sick, so I spent a day and a half in the apartment.  Needless to say, when I left, I felt so liberated to leave those four walls.

Hermana Morales and I had our first divisions this week as hermana lider entrenadoras.  It was an adventure, working with a new sister.  As HLEs we have the responsability to help the sisters strengthen their area and give them counsel on what things they can improve.  I certainly feel humbled with having the responsibility to help the other sisters, but I feel like I`m learning a lot.  We`ll be having another division this week, and this time I`ll be working with a Northamerican, just the two of us.  This will be the first time in all my time in Argentina!  How weird.

In other news, this week our plans for our baptism fell through and the baptismal date for our dear investigator, Marco, got changed for two more weeks.  That means that we should be having three baptisms in the last weekend of March.  That should be an adventure.

I believe that`s all for this week!  Cuidense!  Les amo!

Hermana Walton

3 March 2014

Okay, this week will be short and precise.

I was called to be a sister training leader.  My companion and I were super surprised, because she only has 3 months in the mission, but we are super excited for this transfer more that we get to be together and to help other sisters out.

Also, we went to the temple this week!  We went with a couple of our investigators that will be getting baptized this month.  We spent most of the day Saturday walking through the lovely gardens.  It was such a great experience, but now we have a lot of work ahead of us.  I wanted to send pictures, but I couldn`t figure out how to this week, so maybe next week.

This week we will be doing divisions with two of the sisters that just ended their missions, but extended in order to help the new HLEs (hermana lider entrenadoras)... including my mother of the mission, Hermana Costa!  I`m so excited to be able to spend a couple of days with her before she heads back to Brazil.

Hope everyone is well!

Love,
Hermana Walton

24 February 2014

Okay, this week was the trio week.  What a crazy one it´s been!  We were working in two areas, and trying to do the same amount of work in each area as we usually do all week.... in half the time.  It was certainly an adventure, trying to find the balance between it all, but we still had a good amount of success.

We spent basically all of our time in Padua B in one area, called "barrio policial", which is full of apartments.  The family of Milagros (recent convert) lives there, and so they know everyone.  We were walking through the neighborhood one afternoon, when Martina (one of our investigators, Milagros´s little sister) saw us and came to talk to us. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by children... but seriously, there were probably 15 of them, talking to us, asking us to speak in English, asking if they could get baptized too, like Martina was going to be baptized, and just being funny children.  It was crazy.  But we´ve seen miracles because of Martina.

We started to teach a new family this week because of her.  Her friend, Magali, invited us to go to her house and meet her parents, so we followed along.  As we walked up the steps of the apartment complex, Magali went running up the stairs to talk to her mom, yelling "mamá, las monjitas están!" (mom, the nuns are here!)  But her mother very excitedly received us, so that was a plus!

In other news, this week Martina was going to get baptized.... she was going to get baptized three weeks ago, but was afraid of the water (she´s 8 years old), and so we postponed her baptism.  As it turns out, in these three weeks, she didn´t get over her fear and still hasn´t been baptized.  But it´s alright, because she made a promise that when she turns 10, she will be baptized.  Yes, I´ll be back in the States in that time, but that´s alright.  It´s just important that she feels good on her baptism day.

Included is a photo of another member of the family of Milagros, Marion, who is 4 years old.  Yes, that avocado is as big as her head.

17 February 2014

Dear family and friends,

What a week it`s been.  And man, do I have news for you.

I`m now in a trio.

Here in Padua, before we were 4 sisters serving in the ward... but one of them, Hermana Silva, who had 17 months in the mission, has been fighting with an illness for several weeks now.  It`s gotten to the point that she can barely walk, and the recuperation time will be 6 weeks.  Sooo... President sent her home on an airplane today.  And now we`re here, working with Hermana Ashby from Idaho!  She`s my first Northamerican companion in all of my time in Argentina! It`s a strange change and it was hard to see Hermana Silva go home after so much time of dedicated service, without any form of real "despedida", but she served well and she`s better off at home.

But the new challenge is leraning how to work in a much larger area, with another Sister.  It`s only for this week, though, because next week we have transfers, and President should be getting it all worked out again.

Other than that, this week was a lot of door knocking and walking... but that`s alright, because we are very hopeful for this new week. 

Hope everyone is well!

Love,
Hermana Walton

P.S.  Happy Valentine`s day!

9 February 2014

Okay, so now I have lots of things to say, because I didn`t write much last week... but more than anything, I want to send a lot of photos!... but just kidding, because my computer isn`t letting me send photos. 

This week was kind of a strange one, but it passed just fine.  We`ve been having a few challenges with our golden family, the Milagros`s mom and sister, but we`re hoping with a good amount of prayer and effort, all will go well.  The two of them have a lot of desires to learn more and to go to church, but life sometimes gets in the way of those righteous desires.

Sunday was a tough one.  We always are working hard on Sunday to be able to reach our goals for the week... this week we spent three days looking for our last two new investigators that we had as our goal.  On Sunday we still had to meet that goal, and everything seemed to be working against us.  we walked around, knocking doors for literally 6 hours, looking for SOMEONE that would open their door for us and let us in.  In about the fourth hour, my companion had a little accident. We were walking along and we came upon a ditch filled with still water, garbage, and mosquitos... and my companion didn`t make it across too well.  Her calf was half-way submerged in muck, so we had to also find a house to let us in to wash her off... luckily there was a member close.

Next week I`ll include more pictures!

Love you all!  Happy Valentine`s day!

Hermana Walton

3 February 2014

I was going to send pictures this week, but then we went to an internet that doesn`t let us send pictures, so sorry about that.  I don`t have much to say without the pictures, soooo.... hope you`re all well!

But I`m 20 now, fun fact.

Sincerely,
Hermana Walton

27 January 2014

Yes, today I complete 10 months as a missionary... how did I get so old?

This week was full of miracles and beautiful things.  First off, I´ll explain the picture.  Yes, that´s a really big Book of Mormon and Bible. My companion and I helped out with an Open House in Moreno this week.  It was very lovely.  Basically we gave a tour, explaining basic principles of the gospel.  It was great practice in "less words, more power".

I don´t know where to begin with the miracles we saw this week, but especially in Sunday, Hermana Morales and I just seemed to be where we needed to be just in the right time.  We had four new investigators that day, which was pretty good after a slow week of 4 new people in 5 days.  I really know that the Lord is directing us and putting us where we should be.

Anyways, I´m a little short on time, but so you all know, THIS WEEK IS MY BIRTHDAY!  So if you haven´t written me yet, you can feel bad now and begin your repentance process by sending me a lovely birthday card filled with fun stories about your life.  I would like that very much.

Love,
Hermana Walton

20 January 2014

And thus begins a new chapter in the mission of Hermana Walton.... I am now in PADUA!  With the lovely Chileana, Hermana Morales!  And I absolutely love it here.

It`s actually a funny story.... we had divisions from December 31 to January 1 and I came here to Padua to work as my companion stayed in Caseros to work with a sister training leader.  So I actually was already here a couple of weeks ago.  And I absolutely loved my little bit of time here.  I absolutely fell in love with Padua and it was one of the places that I really wanted to serve. But when we got to the transfers meeting, Hermana Morales and her old companion, Hermana Silva, were there and said that they didn`t have transfers... so when we were in the reunion and their area came up on the screen, it was a surprise to see that I would be taking the place of Hermana Silva!  But I am so happy to be here.

We had a baptism this week, for a 12-year-old girl named Milagros (which means miracles).  It was a lovely service with all of her cousins and siblings there.  It was a day to remember.  And that was just ONE of the miracles we saw this week!

We are teaching a woman right now that is SUPER great.  The sisters contacted her in the street on January 1st (after I had left the area...) but since then they hadn`t been able to see her much.  They left her with the Book of Mormon last week, and this week when we passed by, she was already reading in 2 Nephi!!!! She`s so hungry to know more.  She and her son, Ticiano, came to church this week.  Ticiano is 10 years old and absolutely LOVED primary... he didn`t want to sit with us during sacrament meeting because he wanted to be with his new friends!  We invited them to be baptized on February 2nd (which happens to be my birthday!), so we`ll see what happens.

Anyways, I`m happy and all is well.  I feel like I`m at home here in Padua with so many loving people.

I hope everyone is well and I`ll try to send pictures next week!

Love,
Hermana Walton

13 January 2014

Dear Readers of Lauren's Blog

She could use prayers for her foot.  She had a stress fracture a few years ago and wore a boot on it for almost a year.  She is concerned as her foot is giving her a lot of problems this week.  She is going to the doctor.

Additionally, there are some pictures on Facebook of her and a video from Christmas.  If you can not access it, ask to friend me.  Lisa Jane Walton

9 December 2013

This week we had transfers!  And ME FUI!  I left my darling little city of Junín in the care of my darling first daughter in the mission, Hermana Medeyro, packed my bags, and headed back to CASEROS.  If that sounds familiar, that´s because it was my first area here in Argentina, now with 4 sister missionaries, two of which are me and my second daughter of the mission, Hermana Arenas.  Yes, I´m training. 

It´s been a pretty crazy week, having to get to know the area again and learn how to ride the public transit system and figure out how to do ALL of the 12 week training program, but it´s been great.  After being in a tiny little branch for so long, we had stake conference, which was a little bit unbelievable, to see a church so full of people. 

We had a super incredible experience on our way to church on Sunday.  Hermana Arenas and I were walking to church and as we left that morning, we decided that we were going to find someone to bring with us to the conference.  As we walked through a plaza, we found a man that was sitting on a bench alone.  We stopped to talk to him and the other sisters had just invited him to the church.  He told us he was waiting to meet someone there in the park, so he couldn´t come, but he gave us his phone number and we told him we would call him in half an hour to see if he could come.  Half an hour later he was sitting next to us the the conference.  MIRACLES EVERYWHERE:

I thoroughly believe that I´ve returned to Caseros for a very important reason.  There are people here I can help and I look forward to seeing what I missed the first time around.

Hope everyone is well.

13 January 2014

So this week was a bit of a tough one.  My companion was sick for about three or four days and my foot has been bothering me, so we were moving a bit slower this week.

One of the highlights of my week was the opportunity I had to give a talk in sacrament meeting.  I was assigned the subject of testimonies, which was great.  More than anything it was about how we can become converted to the gospel and how that can be a great support for us during our trials.  I´m so grateful for the knowledge I have that this life isn´t all, that my Heavenly Father has a plan for us and that we can have so much more happiness in this life if we live in the way that God wants us to live.  My testimony really is my foundation and is what drives me and helps me have a desire to share that happiness with other people, even on the hardest days.

In our ward here, we have a woman who is just incredible, Hermana Patricia.  She is the type of person that never tires of giving.  Okay, she tires, because she spreads herself out too thin, but she is willing to give her all for someone to lift them up and help them.  We have an investigator right now that is in need of a lot of help for lots of reasons, and we felt like we needed to bring Hermana Patricia with us to visit her.  I think it´s very possible that this our investigator´s life is just about saved because of the help this woman is willing to give her.  She is such an example of Christ-like love for me.

This week we have transfers.  This transfer has gone by so quickly.  I can hardly believe that it´s ending.  We´ll see what happens next week.

Anyways, I think that´s all for this week.  Hope you´re all well!

Love,

Hermana Walton

6 January 2014

I can hardly  believe that it´s a new year and that in just 9 short months I will be back in Oregon.  How did I get to the middle of the mission already?

This week I think all I want to do is share two experiences... this week has definitely had it´s trials and difficulties, but I´ve seen great things happen.

The first was a very humbling experience, which took place yesterday.  My companion, Hermana Arenas, and I were working hard to finish up with our last few lessons on Sunday to reach our goals.  We had been a little bit contentious that day for no good reason.  When you spend a lot of time with someone, sometimes it just happens.  We were heading towards the house of a few of our investigators, when we started to get contentious again.  We got to the door and finished our disagreement, and, filled with contention, we waited silently for our investigators to come to the door.  I felt so bad, I had no idea how we were going to be able to help these people if we couldn´t get over our own problems.  I found myself praying silently for some sort of solution.  When they answered the door, we entered the house, and within seconds, the couple we had come to teach were yelling at each other, insulting each other about the silliest little things.  They had both been drinking and were not doing too well.  We explained talked to them about the importance of obedience of the word of wisdom,but more than anything that as they strive to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord, they will be happier and be able to have more peace in their home.  My companion and I explained that we, too, had contentions, and recognized that it came from our pride and disobedience.  It was a very humbling experience, in which we both felt very guilty and ridiculous for having fallen into the trap of pride, when we needed to be examples.  But the Lord knows better than us how to answer our prayers and the lessons we need to learn.

The other experience I want to share happened this morning.  As my companion and I went to buy groceries, we came across a man standing alone on a busy street corner.  He was asking desperately for someone who was willing to walk with him 3 blocks to the bank.  He was blind and needed someone to guide him.  My companion and I willingly offered our service and as we walked, he quickly noted that I wasn´t from Argentina.  Before we could tell him that we were missionaries, he told me, "Dios me ha enviado un angel de los Estados Unidos para ayudarme hoy."  (God sent me an angel from the United States to help me today.)  When we told him that we were missionaries, he repeated that.  His name is Francisco and he lost his eye sight a few years ago because of excessive depression after losing his job.  It was obvious that we were placed in his path today for a reason.  He really needed us and it was another evidence to me that the Lord is very aware of the needs of His children and provides a way for others to help them.

I know that the Lord is aware of us.  He loves each and every one of His children and there are things to learn in every experience that we have in this life.  I´m so grateful for the chance that I have to learn from the Master, as well as be the answer to other people´s prayers.

I love you all.

Sincerely,
Hermana Lauren Jane Walton

30 December 2013

So to be perfectly honest, I have five minutes left of email time and I forgot to send out a general email... sorry about that. 

But these last two weeks have been two weeks to remember.  Christmas was SPECTACULAR:  I loved seeing the family again!  So beautiful, those people.  Even if we got cut off a little bit there at the end, it was so much what I needed in that moment.

After skyping with the family, the other sisters of Caseros, my companion, and I went to the plaza in our area and sang Christmas carols.  It was a great contacting activity.

We also had our Christmas P-day, which was so great.  I loved being able to go to the temple again.  There´s such a peace there.

Other than that, we´ve been working hard.  It´s really hot here right now.  But really, really hot.  And humid.  But that´s alright.  We drink a lot of water.

Anyways, sorry this is short, but hope everyone is well!

Love,

Hermana Walton

30 December 2013

We got to go to the Buenos Aires Temple at Christmas time!  It was wonderful!

16 December 2013

Wow, I can hardly believe that Christmas is just around the corner. First things first:  I will NOT be writing next week on P-day, because we will be having a wonderful Navideño activity as an entire mission!  Woo hoo!  We´re going to be going to the temple, which I cannot tell you how excited I am for that.

This week was definitely the hottest week I´ve experienced yet on the mission.  Hermana Arenas and I felt sick to our stomachs from drinking too much water in an attempt to stay hydrated.  Weird how that works.  Even weirder is how everyone likes to sleep during the siesta in these days, so we spent a lot of time knocking doors in the heat.  Woo hoo!  But that´s alright.  It builds character.

Really not all that much really notable stuff happened this week... we´re still trying to get into the swing of things here, because the city is very different from the country and we´re learning how to work with the people here.  Luckily we have a great ward who is working hard to help us, so hopefully in these coming weeks we´ll see some good success.

Hope everyone is well and that you all enjoy your Christmas!  Remember the reason we are celebrating in this time of year.  The birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, is certainly a reason to celebrate.

Love,
Hermana Walton

9 December 2013 - no, she didn't include the pictures

I don´t have a lot this week, but here´s something:

 

A member bought my companions and I ice cream, so we all sat on the floor eating it straight from the container Sunday night.  Mission life.

 

One of the other sisters received this beautiful hat for her Birthday from a member in her area.  She let me wear it.