Elder Holland in Buenos Aires!

Dear family and friends, 

I had an amazing birthday week. I sat on the front row for Elder Holland's talk this last Saturday!  It was the most amazing moment ever!!  I just love Elder Holland!!! And I really love Sister Holland, too!!! First, I am going to tell you about Sister Holland's talk.

She started off talking about a moment about three years ago when she and her husband were having scripture study.  They began to talk about how God would get all the work done in the last days.  She said that she told him,"I just read, I the Lord will hasten the work in my time." She said that standing there looking out at the 900 something missionaries in Buenos Aires, she is seeing the fullfillment of that prophecy.  She said, "If you have ever wondered why you are here, this is why! You are here to be God's miracles.  You were sent to this earth with the predestined purpose to hasten the work." She gave an amazing talk about keeping your eye single to God's glory.  She used DyC 88:63-68 to explain this and said it has been she and Elder Holland's life scripture.  Both she and Elder Holland emphasized that it is not what you say, it is who you are!

When Elder Holland walked up to the pulpit, he had everyone stand for a second.  When I stood my face was about 5 feet away from his.  The spirit was so strong; I got the chills.  Obviously, he said it as only Elder Holland can, but he mostly talked about true conversion,  now and forever.  That the mission of the church right now is to have everyone more converted, and this new era is starting with the missionaries now.  We are to be true now on our missions, and then be true forever.  As he said it, "The Mission is REAL LIFE! When you go home you are not to go back to anything like you were before."  It was great.  He talked about how missionaries are the most loved and prayed for group in the world.  His talk was uplifting, powerful, and just got us all excited for missionary work and the rest of our lives in this gospel.  I had expected to be chastized a little bit, because as a group of missionaries we are always always lectured about obedience, but Elder Holland said, "The most tedious thing I ever have to do is talk to missionaries about obedience," and  then he addressed our mission presidents and said regarding obedience, "But this group looks good, I do not sense much disobedience here at all." The gift of discernment is so cool.  

I mostly just would like to bear my testimony that Elder Holland is truly called of God.  I know that the words our Prophets, seers and revelators are to help us on this journey back through life and with things that we don't completely understand so that we can return to live with our Father in Heaven.  The church is just so true.

Work in our area has been great this week.  Florentina and Pedro will be getting baptized this Saturday! YAY! YAY! YAY! They are so ready and so cute. We also have many other investigators who are progressing.  O. is an investigator who found us.  He is very very educated about the Bible, and the first lesson there was a little contention with conflicting doctrines.  We told him that we love and believe in the Bible like him, but we weren't going to argue.  We just left him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read and pray about it.  When we came back the next time he held his Book of Mormon next to his Bible on his chest and said this is the word of God.  Thank you so much for bringing me the truth!  He is excited to be baptized in December.  We have many other miracles just like this in our area every day.  Our Branch is so so so amazing.  Every organization is always talking about missionary work.  "How are we going to get, more young men, more young women, more priesthood, more relief society sisters?" These are the words we hear often, and this is the topic of every ward council.  Yesterday we had 30 people at church.  And our Branch President along with other leaders of the area have set the goal to have 80 people in church by March.  My companion and I made a joke about how we found some good land for the chapel, and the branch president said back super seriously, "Let me know where it is, because if we find the right palce we should buy it." Our mouths just dropped.  It is so amazing.

Over all here in 9 de Julio it is sunny, blazing hot, but the best place in the world.  I have an amazing companion. (Seriously my companion is amazing, especially amazing.  I love her so much! I have been blessed with many awesome companions.)  We are working so hard, and the Lord is blessing us with being able to teach the elect! 

xoxo,

Hermana Chloe

One of our 5 hour bus rides into Buenos Aires
that we love so much!
I am getting to be a very experienced at riding the bus.
It was worth it, though, to see Elder Holland!

President and Hermana Carter and all the missionaries of the
Argentina Buenos Aires West Mission!

Campo

Okay, I just need to mention something that  I only think about when I send pictures. I have all but quit wearing makeup, and most days I just wear sunscreen.  It is so hot and humid here that I sweat makeup off so why bother.  Like I've said before, being a missionary is not glamorous.  

Birthday Cake!

Asado for my birthday lunch!  It was delicious.

My Christmas presents. You know how impatient I am.
I may or may not have a giant Christmas tree hanging on our wall :)

This is the Week!! My Birthday and much more!

Hello! 

This is the week! 9 months on the mission! 21 years old! And Elder Holland is coming to talk to my mission on Saturday!!! AHH! Is that not the best birthday present ever!?!

This week we found and taught two new families, and next week on the 23rd, Florentina and Pedro take the first step toward returning to their Father in Heaven through the waters of baptism! That means of the small strong group that comes to church, we will have 4 recent converts in about 2 months.  Wahhooo! We have been having success finding families!  As we follow the counsel of Preach my Gospel and search for families, the hard work is so worth it.  The gospel of Jesus Christ has made such a difference in my life and in the lives of my family, that I am so excited to share it with other families.

We had a great District Conference yesterday!  President Carter came, and I had a chance to talk to him after the conference. He was just checking in on how I am doing; I am so blessed that he is my mission president. He is so wise and so kind.

Life is good. Sister Sanchez and I started off this week taking turns being sick, but we still had a great week. I'll admit that sometimes as we are riding our bikes through the city that I catch myself singing Michael Buble.  "It's a beautiful day, and I can't stop myself from smiling." I sing that part of the song over and over sometimes :)  It's been stuck in my head. hahaha. I know that it's not a church song, but I figure that it is okay that part of the song because that is how I feel! 

I got a lot of emails for my birthday, and I am so grateful for all of them!!! I spent a lot of time reading them, so I don't have a lot of time to write a long email. Also, I probably won't be able to get back to everyone, but I wish I had time and love you all!  I also got about 10 letters this week! That is a lot. Thanks for the letter, Marcus! I also received a really cute dearelder from Kenadee Bailey! Tell her that she looked beautiful in my dress; pulled it off just right!  I also got a letter from grandma that she said she wrote the day the sister missionaries moved in, if that helps you figure out how long it takes for me to receive letters. I loved all my letters, thank you everyone! This week is going to be crazy, but I am super excited! Love you! Bye bye!!I 

Think of me on Wednesday for my 9 month mark, and on Friday for my birthday, and on Saturday when I am listening to ELDER HOLLAND!!! Wahooo! I will take notes on Elder Holland's talk! 

xoxoxo,

Hermana Walker 

ps. This is the last entry by the 20 year old Sister Walker! 

One of the many beautiful plazas/parks in 9 de Julio!

Riding my bicycle through the beautiful streets of 9 de Julio!

The ice cream here: to die for! The milk is sooo much better in Argentina,
and thus we have much better ice cream! 

9 de Julio--the Boulder City of Argentina!

Hello all!

This has been one awesome week! First, we had transfers, which were a madhouse because almost everyone in the whole mission got new companions.  I was lucky enough after only one month in Argentina to get a new companion and a new area.  You know me, I just love change!!

I am in Chivicloy Sur Zone working in the 9 de Julio Rama.  We only have about 20 people in the branch who come to church, but it is amazing.  I love this place after less than one week. I have also decided that 9 de Julio is a little slice of heaven.  But seriously, it is so beautiful here.  I have been sent to the closest thing to Boulder City, Nevada, in Argentina possible.  I already love the people, the area, and the rama so much! The branch is great--soooo missionary minded, basically because they have to be.  They need more members.  They need more priesthood.  The sisters had a baptism the Saturday before I got here, and the branch president made sure the man got the priesthood yesterday, and he will have a calling next week.  Then, the elders working in the branch had a baptism on Saturday of a super cute lady.  A less active member of the ward came to the baptism, and after the baptism, the branch president called him into his office and gave him a calling.  Nothing like calling someone to be in the Young Men’s presidency to get them to come to church the next day. hahahahahaha.

My new companion Hermana Sanchez is also amazing; she is beautiful and kind and hard working. She is from Santiago, Chile. Grandma Sue, I also love the Chilean people--everything but the accent! I couldn’t understand a word she said the first few days! Hermana Sanchez has been in this area her whole mission, and she has been out for 5 months! So I have a lot to learn from her because the odds are I will be here for about two transfers with her, and then one or two with someone else.  We are able to teach and work with so much unity after only one week.  I know it is hard for a Latina to get a North American companion, and Hermana Sanchez even told me she thought she would be doing all the work.  So, my goal this week was to share the responsibility.  Deciding where to go and talking to members to come to lessons were things we did together.  The only place were the language is a problem is in lessons, but as we prepare well during studies that will get better, too.  

On Thursday we got to go to the Hermanas meeting! Wow, that Hermanas meeting!  What a treat!  It totally raised my vision to what is possible here.  Lots of work to be done in the next 9 months.  I am so grateful for President Carter and Hermana Carter for all of their hard work to make the meeting so awesome. When I read talks from the apostles they all say that we need to step it up on missionary work.  The church, members, and missionary work are going places they have never gone before with a force of Sister Missionaries like never before!  

I have learned a lot from Hermana Sanchez about working hard and not stressing.  We found some great families this week.  One day when we had no where to go we said a prayer in the street.  As we were walking our bikes along the dirt road I looked down one of the streets and saw a woman sitting on the wall of a house.  We continued walking down our street.  After a couple of minutes, I asked Hermana Sanchez if we could go back but couldn’t really explain why in Spanish.  When we got to the street the woman was gone, but we clapped the house she was sitting in front of anyways.  When a guy came to the door Hermana Sanchez said that she knew him.  They had contacted him in the street but hadn’t talked since.  It turns out one of his good friends is a member of our Branch, and now his whole family is listening to us and he and his mom have accepted baptismal dates.  And then yesterday we had a cute old couple come to church together and accept baptismal dates for this month.  It was great especially after how in the first lesson they tried to convince us of how Catholic there are and how they never want to change.  

We have set a goal to find three more families this week.  And have also set a goal to invite everyone to accept a baptismal date in the first lesson.  For some reason it hasn’t been happening until the second lesson so we are going to change that! I love my area so much, and I know that President Carter is inspired, because only a man of revelation would send me to the countryside, hours away from the mission office. I mean let’s face it, I wasn’t exactly the picture of emotional stability this first month in Argentina :) I was scared last week when I found out how far away I was going, but I just had to have faith that President Carter and the Lord want me to succeed.  And now I couldn't imagine a better place and companion for me.

Also cute story, we were teaching a family with two little girls 5 and 6.  When we started teaching the restoration we showed them a picture of Jesus and asked who he was.  Turns out they didn’t know who he was so we talked about him a little.  They just listened quietly.  We finished by telling them that the bad people didn’t want to do the right thing, and they killed Jesus by hanging him on a cross.  Then after about 5 seconds of silence, the cute little 5 year old looked so sad and said, “Pobre Jesus”-wisdom from the mouth of babes, my friends.  The 5 year old also asked us if we could come to her preschool class to teach her friends about Jesus, too.  So cute! I almost died at this point. I love these little girls! They are so excited for us to come back and teach them more about Jesus.  They also we so happy when we told them that they could keep the pamphlet with the pictures of Jesus.

This week is my one year mark with my mission call.  It is hard to believe that it has been a year, but then I look at pictures of myself from a year ago, and wow it is obvious that I am on a mission. haha.  The month of November has always been one of my favorites and this one is turning out to be no different.  It is going to be so fun! I am going to learn so much Spanish! And I am going to talk to my family in a month and a half!

Marc and Nick look so cute playing soccer! I haven't replied to many people lately, but thanks Nick for the funny Zoolander quotes.  Thanks Marcus for...the email that you are going to send me this week that I promise to write back to. Thanks everyone for all the emails and letters.  I will try to be better at writing back. Thanks dad for the pictures! 

Love you,
Hermana Chloe
xoxoxo

ps. I was really weird, but the first day I was showing Hermana Sanchez pictures, and she said, “We must have friends in common on facebook, because I have seen this exact picture before!”  It was one of Bryce and I.

Hermana Sanchez y yo

 Yes, that is my bike outfit :)

MTC roommates reunited at the Hermanas' Meeting!

Trees and parks and beauty! 
9 de Julio is like the Boulder City of Argentina

Also, if you were wondering if I walk a lot, check this out.

Oh, how I love camping!

Hi all,

So I'm not exactly camping, but I was transferred to "el campo" (the countryside).  That is why I didn't email yesterday.  After transfer meeting we took a bus to the bus terminal and waited for two hours.  Then, we had a 5 hour ride to our area.  We got to our area at 11 at night. Crazy.  We seriously got so many new missionaries that almost everyone was transferred.  It makes me feel better not to be the new kid, but since it is my first full transfer technically, I am a refuerzo, too.  Nothing like being a trainee your whole mission to bring humility.  My companion has been out for 5 months.  She is great. I will send a picture with her after we have had some sleep.

My area is called 9 de Julio. I think that is the name of the town I am in.  In Argentina, they like to name parks, streets, cities after important dates in history.  9 de Julio is Independence Day in Argentina.  So, that would be like living in a town in the U.S. called 4th of July, kinda cool; I wouldn't mind living in a town with that name. There is a small branch here.  My companion said that about 12 people come to church on Sunday.  My companion is Hermana Sanchez from Chile.  Again she doesn´t speak much English at all.  And I still am not speaking much Spanish, so it is interesting. Especially because I cannot understand a word that she says with her accent.  It is not fast, because she talks slowly for me, but even words I know, I don´t understand when she says them.  Yesterday while we were talking, she asked what something was that I was trying to work on.  I told her that I  have been trying my whole mission to be better at taking correction because I am super sensitive and take criticism very personally, which restricts my growth.  She just smiled back and said that is why we are together because I have the same problem. 

So all I really know of my area so far is my pench, which is super beautiful.  I love it.  I am excited to see what missionary life will be here.  I have a feeling I better like it because I think I will be here for a while.  My companion has been her for a long time!  We are on bikes. hahahahahahaha. So ya picture that!  

Just like at the beginning of every big change, I feel super sick to my stomach, but I am a lot better than my first day in Argentina and know things will end up okay. Funny story. Yesterday when we were at transfers, Sisters Nielsen, Bangerter and I walked into the building to go to the bathroom, and the newbies were there. This super, super cute sister came up and gave me a big hug and said it is so great to meet you! And I had absolutely no idea who she was.  But it turns out she is from Henderson and went to Coronado, and her name is Hermana Foutz.  But she was like, I know you don't know me, but I feel like we're friends because I have been following your blog! haha. It was great.  We became great friends in like two minutes of talking.  She is feeling about the same way I was about three weeks ago when I arrived (overwhelmed and scared), and although I couldn't make her feel better from my amazing recovery story (because it is still one day at a time) I was able to tell her that it does get better everyday and that it was just as hard for me in the beginning, too. Sometimes people just need their feelings validated, and I think being scared the first bit in Argentina is okay.

Hey, I am almost out of time because we only have an hour on email today, but more cool stuff! Thursday is an Hermanas Meeting! And we get to go, so that is 10 more hours in a bus! But I am super excited to see my girls again! This month I am just going to keep moving forward.  I can´t believe that I will be 21 in about two weeks.  And that this week, I will have had my mission call for a year! In December we get to go to the temple! Yay! Thanks for the love and the prayers.  

Love you so much, have a great week! 

xoxo,

Hermana Chloe

Leonore.  A super cute recent convert! She is so, so, so cute.

Mimosa, the dog of one of our investigators
in Castelar.

Hermana "Elle" in Argentina
(Trying to fit in by wearing ugly shoes, not an ugly sweater.)

Hermanas in Castelar District!

Martin came to church!

Fleur (like from Harry Potter), the adorable daughter of one of our investigators

Fleur was not happy I was leaving.

Sister Morales and I found tacos!  They weren't great,
but they satisfied the craving.

Spring in Argentina :)

My new pench in 9 de Julio! We have a great view too!

Nice, huh? Another tender mercy ;)

Last Week On...Chloe´s Mission

Hi all,

(That title is to be read like the recap at the beginning of The Bachelor.)

Last week on. . .Chloe's mission, Chloe was crying on the streets of Argentina.  Distraught with not being able to speak the language, she was brought to the depths of anxiety and despair.  Slight glimmers of hope on the horizon convinced her that she could make it through another week...

Well people, this week was better than the last.  Not that that is hard or anything, but it is true! We have some amazing investigators.  Most of them are new and have only received one or two lessons, but we had 2 people at church yesterday and they are super solid.  Every day, as I get to know the people more, I love them more and realize that they are children of God.  And although the church is at a different place in this country than Utah, the work is equally important.

I have been thinking a lot this week about progression and family tradition.  Lots of people here say that they are Catholic because everyone in their family is Catholic, and they can’t and don’t want to change.  It sounds crazy, but I think we all use this logic a little bit. 

Por ejemplo:
We use the excuse that our parents do something so it’s okay for us.  But it doesn’t matter.  We all need to be constantly progressing.  It is like dance.  Anna is a way better dancer than I was at the age of ten.  The bar was raised she rose to the occasion, and now she is amazing.  She never told anyone, “Oh, I don’t need to work harder or do that because this is how good my sissy was at my age.” If we use this analogy with the gospel, think of how the church would be strengthened.  The generations of families in the church would be even stronger.  So instead of saying, “Oh, it’s okay to do this and this because that is what my family does,” we can choose to do something different because that is what our Father in Heaven wants us to do.

On Friday I talked to President Carter about the hard time I am having.  He said, “You want to know why I think you are on a mission Sister Walker?” I said, “Yes.”  He said, “I think you are on a mission to change the course of your life.”  And I agree!  Had I not gone on a mission I would probably have still lived a good life and would have been married in the temple and raised my family in the church.  But I promise that I would be no where even close to the path that I am aiming for, had I not made this life decision.  I am forever changed, and I still have 9 and a half months ;) I still will have anxiety, but I trust in the Lord’s plan.  I am not letting go!!! I am holding strong to the strength that I can do anything with His help! 

Just like we can't gain a testimony of tithing before paying it, I cannot gain a testimony of putting my trust in the Lord and his plan without first trusting Him.  I am going to trust Him and the blessings He has promised me.  I feel so strongly that the timing of my mission is divine. 

Thanks for the prayers, everyone.  One time this week when I was walking and tired and about to break down, I prayed that your prayers could carry me, and I felt that strength!  

I love you! 

xoxo,

Hermana Chloe

ps.  This whole mission in Argentina thing is about as unglamorous as it gets.  I sweat buckets everyday.  It is so hot and humid.  The sun is blazing. And believe it or not I am tan, but I dress like a grandma.  I am going to need some serious help when I get home to not look like a grandma anymore! (No offense to my beautiful grandmas intended. Even you two wouldn’t wear what I am wearing.)

pss.  I got ten letters this week! My zone leaders were so funny.  They said, “Wow, apparently Hermana Walker is still loved.” Special thanks to Ms. Ringen for the letter.  All of the letters were sent from the end of September to October 3rd. I got them all at the same time.  

psss. We are getting 38 missionaries this week.  Apparently ALL of the visa waiters received their visas!

 If you were wondering if that is my white watch, you are wrong.  That is my wrist tan from my watch.

My ten letters!  Thank you everyone!

Sister Morales taught me how to make tortillas! But this is at night, and I have been working all day and am wearing no makeup so no one judge me!

I'm gonna be real here for a sec., okay?

Mom, before I start I would like to tell you not to edit this letter. I want everyone to see what's really up here for a sec. Maybe I should include a warning like at the beginning of some TV shows, "Warning, this post may contain graphic material not suitable for all readers." Hahaha.

I have noticed a big problem people.  Our culture does something that I am not a fan of, and to illustrate it I am going to use an example from a cinematic masterpiece--Legally Blonde.

After Elle is dumped by Warner, she does the only thing she could possibly do! Decide that she wants him back.  How is she going to do this? Go to Harvard Law school, of course.  She works so hard, misses out on parties, and studies her butt off.  Blood, sweat and tears people.  And she does it!  Gets a 179 on her LSAT, completes her admission video, and heads to law school.  I want to talk about her first exchange with Warner after this.  When he sees her he asks, ¨What are you doing here?¨ 

She responds “Oh, I go here!” 

Warner replies, “You got into Harvard Law?”

Elle then says, “WHAT? LIKE IT´S HARD?”

Your kidding me girl!  You just worked so hard.  And now you are saying that it wasn’t even hard.  Come on!?!  I don’t want to seem like a complainer, but I hate the pretending that everything is easy and everything is ALWAYS okay.

People, I am having an Elle Woods moment (well one of them, I have many).  I am in Argentina.  This language doesn’t make sense to me.  The culture doesn’t make sense to me.  I walk literally hours a day.  I walked from 2 until 8:30 pretty much straight yesterday.  After being a visa waiter for over 7 months, I have been struggling with letting go of my Love and mission pride in Salt Lake East Mission.  Two days this week I had anxiety so bad that while I prayed to my Father in Heaven for help all I could do was cry.  Then, when I left the house it was all I could do to not continue crying, let alone smile at someone.

If I told you this wasn’t hard, it would be a lie.  I don’t want to be like Elle and tell you this isn't hard, because that would leave out all of the growth.  We are a church of unity.  It would be prideful for me to pretend that I am doing this all on my own.  During a breakdown Thursday during weekly planning, Sister Morales tried calling president, because it is really hard for me to express myself in Spanish when I am crying.  And I'm telling you that man must be a man of revelation, because he didn’t answer the phone or call back.  If he had, I might not still be here in Argentina.  I haven’t had a moment of truth yet, where everything fits and I know I can do this.  No sign or magic scripture.  But I have had tender mercies from the Lord.

Yesterday at about 4 we walked out of a house, and this dog was there.  So cute! The dog started to follow us.  I kid you not that dog walked around with us all day until he walked us home to our pench.  We named him Nephi because he was our Nephi.  Every time another stray dog came near us he would bark and fight ‘em off. Haha.  When we got to the pench, we made him two eggs and gave him some water.  I decided that it was the spirit of my favorite dog ever, Zack, coming to protect me and help me know I am loved. (No judging; you know I love my puppies and how they make me feel calm!)

Another awesome moment yesterday was in testimony meeting.  It was a crazy meeting, but the bishop stood up and bore his testimony.  It was so beautiful, and I understood every single word!  The whole time I had tears running down my face.  The spirit is the same in any language. After that I got up and bore my testimony and talked about how being in this ward has helped me see that the church is just as true in Spanish as it is in English.  Obvious, but for me, I truly realized that yesterday.

So that is how I am doing.  I don't care if you are the Bishop or the Relief Society president, when life is hard, don't pretend it's not.  Don’t just clue people in after you are done going through whatever has happened.  Admitting something is hard, doesn’t mean you don’t have faith.  It is a show of faith to admit when the Lord is carrying you.

No one wants to be “that” companion, the one having the breakdown. Poor Sister Morrales; she is doing her best.  She is really babying me, and I would like to tell her that I am not that fragile that I’m really a strong person who has been having a couple of really bad weeks.  But I don’t know how to explain that in Spanish :(

On a lighter note.  Here are a few funny things I have discovered in Argentina. (Because laughing is better than crying.) 

1. There are tons of ants here.  They are really small, but they carry giant pieces of grass and sticks and rocks and stuff.  It is so funny to watch a line of moving grass. Haha.

2. Also politics.  Dad I have a political idea for you.  Like the Argentines for your next campaign you can rent a plane with giant speakers and yell at the people of Boulder City from the sky.  It would be really effective. Haha.  

3. I thought that when I came to Argentina, after wearing my Sister Walker tag for so long that I would finally become Hermana Walker.  But upon arrival I have realized that I am now la Rubia (the blonde).  It is actually becoming a problem.  If I got a peso for every man who whistled or called out, I would make more than my fare share of 800 pesos a month.  I guess catcalling is just culturally more acceptable in Argentina. On Saturday, a man followed us for about 10 streets.  He called me beautiful and touched my face. Ewww! We told him we lived with our families, were both married and 28.  I had to end up calling the zone leaders, and they told us to go to a member, go inside and not come out until he left.  At that moment a bus drove by and we jumped on and lost him.  The zone leaders also gave me permission to slap the next person who tries to touch my face.  So that is cool!

4. Ironically considering Buenos Aires means good air, the air here smells so bad, but for some reason my face must love this polluted air because I have never had better skin.  I am also getting a tan. Well, I´m getting tanner. Hahaha.

5. There are so many language variations in Argentina that even my companion has difficulties, and she speaks Spanish. Haha. For example, my area is super nice so they would say, “recheta” (cheta is short for concheta or "posh") the Argentines add re like muy when they talk.  It is funny!

We live in a super nice Pench.  It is just a one bedroom apartment with no carpet, just tile.  We have a bunk bed.  The only difference is the bidet in the bathroom.  The Bishop’s wife and our ward mission leaders’ wives have done our laundry for us.  It is super nice of them, because otherwise we´d be doing it by hand.  

We pretty much eat milanesa, bread and pasta every single day.  I like chicken milanesa better than carne, but both are pretty good.  My companion and I are dying from missing spicy stuff right now.  When my days are super bad I buy an orange Fanta from a Kiosco; always makes me feel better :)

There is probably more I could say, but I don't have much more time.  Also, I have really enjoyed the Young Women’s meeting from April Conference, especially the talks from the second counselor (link to Sister Dibb's talk) and Sister Dalton (link to Sister Dalton's Talk).  Mom, read sister Dalton’s talk.  It has helped me through the last two weeks. The Church is true; I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father who loves me, and I love Him; His Son is my strength and I am upheld by His hand. Love you all.  I CAN DO HARD THINGS! That statement will get me through this week.  

xoxo,

Hermana Chloe

My bathroom

My pench (apartment)

Typical street in my area

The Castelar Zone

El libro de Mormon!

Cardboard Christus in our chapel :)

A few of you owe someone 20 bucks . . .

Because I have made it over a week, and I bet there are some of you who thought that wasn´t possible! Haha.  My life is very different now; I have a new reality.  My goals for next week are to love the people, the ward, and my companion more.  It is just so hard to love something that I feel so disconnected to because of the language.  It seems like the world is moving around me, and I´m just sitting back and watching.

Conference was amazing.  We watched Conference at the stake center which is our chapel, and there was a special room with Conference broadcast in English for the gringo missionaries.  There were three sisters and about eight elders in the gringo room.  All of the talks were such a boost, and I have no doubt that it was not a coincidence that Conference was the week after I got here.  I needed that comfort of Salt Lake. 

Part of my new reality is that I am no longer a celebrity. Haha.  In Salt Lake, the missionaries are celebrities.  Everyone wants to talk to us, take care of us, feed us. In Argentina people try so hard to walk away from me and won't let me talk to them.  People won't even give us the chance to let us teach them the gospel.  I am serving in the Castelar Ward in the Castelar Stake.  It is pretty great.  If anyone was worried (mom and grandmas), I am pretty much in the Park City of the ABAW mission.  My area is very nice; however, it is so funny how diversified one street can be.  In the U.S. a whole neighborhood will be one way, but in Buenos Aires a mansion is right next to a humble home.  It is so interesting.

Once again, I am white washing an area.  One of the first questions I asked President Carter when I got here was do you white wash a lot because that is all I have ever done when I entered a new area.  He said almost never, but they needed to open an area so here I am again, opening, white washing, and preparing for the miracle baptisms that the missionaries will have in 4 months.  Maybe I'll get to stick around for that this time.  

This week I can´t believe that I will have been out on my mission for 8 months! Crazy!! Crazy!!! Those of you who bet against me lost. Hahahaha. But now I feel like I am starting over, and I was so anxious to get here and now I think, wow, 10 months in Argentina is way too much. Haha. I´m sure I will get over that eventually :-) I hope.  

I have decided that it is kinda fun to do things that you know people think you can´t do.  Handle things people think you can´t handle.  That is what I am doing--trying to hang in there through all of the things that even I wondered if I could handle.  But I'm doing it! 

I love you all, and loved hearing from so many people today.  I can make it another week.  I am sure that things will get better as time goes on.  Even my first weeks in Salt Lake were hard.  Now I just have to redo that process all over again.  

Marc and Nic, you two are studs.  The dance looked so good.  I want you both to go back and listen to more Conference.  One of the first talks on Saturday talked about how Conference is for the youth as well and promised you answers to your questions if you will listen.  Take up the promise of our leaders and find answers to your questions.

You know everyone, I have learned that sometimes you have to trust in the Lord because that is really all that you have left.

Sister Morales and I found a place that sells tacos and has salsa.  We are going there for lunch today.  That will make things a little better. It is getting warmer here.  Everything is okay.  It has been a pretty hard week, but I know that it will get better as I learn more. Love you mucho!

xoxo,

Hermana Chloe

ps.  Camron told me how to send pictures so I will do that for next week.