Week Twenty-Six

Buen Dia Familia!

It was a bit difficult this morning to find a place with internet but we finally found a little corner store with 5 computers that was opened because as luck would have it it's a holiday here. Not sure what for, but they seem to celebrate every little thing here.

Tell Sarah and Ryan congrats that sure is a mouthful Alma Oscar-Scott Seely but I like it. It's always exciting to hear of new babies coming into this world. To answer your questions mom, they say in the winter, the coldest it gets is -5 or 10. Not too terrible, but right now it is pretty perfect around the high 20's and 30's. And I can imagine it was an emotional day to be released from your calling. The girls were really blessed to have such a great leader but it's always good to have a change every once in a while.

Things are going good with my comp - the problem is I need to speak more in our contacts and lessons to help her. She has almost a year in the mission and is really great. I'm trying to over come my own personal faults and quietness. It's a great new challenge everyday but I know the Lord is helping me. And I don't need anything but just to remind everyone my birthday is a month from today which means there is still time to receive packages and letters, just remember to include the phone number or there can be slight problems with getting the package. Oh and one thing they don't have peanut butter. Just sayin.

Anyways about my time here. Last P day was lots of fun playing soccer and getting to know the other missionaries in the zone. And receiving more letters from home. We finally got a hold of Gianella and talked with her and she wants to be baptized next Saturday! So excited for her. She also took time to teach the plan of salvation to me, it was pretty funny. She loves to talk. The Elders in the area had a a baptism of an elderly man Jasinto, 76. He is super sweet and we had the opportunity to help with some of the lessons as well. Super funny though, the day of the baptism we were supposed to have a early lesson with Luis in the Chapel and we get there and we see water coming out near the front door and immediately I think, 'oh no the font!!!! ELDERS!!!!!' We open the door to an inch of water all through the church. Luckily the floors are all tile except the chapel. So we run through the water to the chapel and the water has just entered a bit. What a disaster. We opened all the doors and turned on all the fans and called the Elders to get there right now. we used giant squigees that they use to clean here and started directing all the water outside. With the help of the members we had all the water out in about 2 hours. What opposition for this baptism. The poor old man was sitting on a bench waiting for his baptism as we removed all the water. Crazy elders they forgot that we don't need to baptize the church as well. After that it was a very nice small baptism.

We are focusing a lot right now on trying to find new investigators that are ready to hear the gospel. I'm finding that it takes a lot of faith to knock doors and talk with people and often I'm glad I don't understand the bad things people say. I'm also loving studying the scriptures everyday. I'm reading right now in Helaman and I had never realized how much missionary work was in this part. I love it and pray every day to have more faith to be successful and the missionary Heavenly Father wants me to be.

I pray that all is well and make sure to give Kesler lots of my love for his birthday I miss that little guy and Tacey. Lots of hugs and kisses from me.

Love Hna Potrie

Week Twenty-Five

Hola Familia!

It's great to hear from you guys. Sorry this email is a few days late. What happened is P day was changed to Thursday this week so we could have a zone meeting and P day together. It's because our zone is very spread out and in order to use our time the most effectivly we needed to have the meeting and P day together. It should be lots of fun, there's about 30 of us in the Bell Ville zone. I'm not gonna lie though when we found out late Sunday night about the meeting and change of P day I was super bummed. Because it's our only time to just have a break from the constant go go go all the time.

Anyways congrats to Sarah and Ryan on the new baby boy. Hope they're happy and healthy. Can't wait to meet the little guy! Well he'll be a lot bigger by then but still so excited.

The past week was super hot here temperatures in the 40's but with lots of humidity. It was crazy. Super grateful for the rain that we had after that. And the weather is beautiful now. It was funny all Monday it rained but it seemed to only rain once we entered the houses and then when we had to leave it would stop then start. Truly a blessing because working the whole day soaking wet is a lot harder. But finally we got caught in the rain in the evening and the streets have horrible draining systems so the water was rather high for biking so we had to change some appointments and knock doors instead.

I've also learned how to make the stuffing part for Empanadas Saltanians, each province has a different empanada. It's ground beef, onion, and potatoe with seasoning. So yummy. And also realized that I had cow stomach empanadas the other day. I didn't know it at the time but it was so delicious honestly I think a lot of these weird foods totally depend on the mamner in which it's cooked more than what it is.

So this weekend we were supposed to have two baptisms but yesterday was a day of oppostition. We are teaching Elian the little brother of Dulce and all we need is the persmission from his mom who works in a different city and yesterday she was in town so we passed by the house and immediately knew something was wrong. The mother wasn't very happy to see us and Elian was in tears. It broke my heart to see him cry and say I want to be baptized. What a pure and righteous desire he has. But in this moment he is learning to have more faith and patience that one day it will be possible just like his older sister. We also have a young girl Gianella she is friends of some new members and is super sweet. I really enjoy teaching her but again yesterday we tried to meet with her three times and couldn't find her and her mom stopped answering the phone. So we don't know if she will be baptized this week or the next. but I know it will happen. But through all of the canceled appointments we got a call from one investigator Luis. He called us and said that he was having a horrible day and wanted to talk with us right away. So we meet with him and he told us what's been happening and I just felt so much love from the Savior for him. He wants to have a better life and to find peace and I know he'll find it in the gospel. I pray that he will fight through the hard times to feel the joy and blessings of the atonement. It's amazing to me how a day can go totally wrong but in the end I still know that we were in the right place at the right time for Luis. It's the work of the Lord and I feel so blessed to be intrusted with this call. Everyday when I need a little more courage or faith I think of my Savior. He gave His life for me and I am grateful to give a year and a half of my life to help others come to know Him.

Oh and send thanks to Auntie Brenda for the Christmas Package I received it last week late but in good condition. Loved the photos of Grandpa!

Hope all is well my thoughts and prayers are with all of you always.

Lots of love,

Hna Potrie

Week Twenty-Four

Hola Familia!!!!!

It's been another crazy busy week and I can't believe how time is flying here in the mission. But news flash I love ARGENTINA !!!!!
I was riding around with Hna Frias to our next appointment and I said "Sabe que Hna" (know what Sister?) Me encanta Argentina! ( I love Argentina). It's true, although I still feel kind of lost in the language and culture I love it.

The good news is it will be cooling down soon and at night it's usually nice and cool. Last Monday though was crazy humid and we spent P day with the elders in our district. We made pizza in the church and it was so hot, we were dripping with sweat with the oven open and closed to change all the pizzas. The pizza here is very different but delicious, with lots of sauce thats more chunky, oregano, tomaotes, red peppers and always green olives and then this chesse that is really soft and creamy. Delicious really. We also played a bit of soccer - the best thing to do for P day!

This week we worked really hard at finding new people and teaching lessons. My comp Hna Frias is really bold at inviting people to be baptized and it's great. We are teaching the little brother of Dulce and we are praying to have the permission to baptize him. As we've increased our contacting it's been a real test of faith for me. More than once this week I had people yell at me because they think I'm American or because I speak English. It was really discouraging one night but my great companion helped pick me back up as she told me to think of my Savior who suffered so much and yet people rejected Him and that I am no better then Him, but that He is with me. And the next door we knocked on was much better. But really the greatest thing was to
feel the love of my Savior and Heavenly Father. We are not alone in this work. We saw miracles this week of people letting us in their houses and giving us time to teach. I know there are people in Bell Ville that have been prepared and are waiting for me to talk to them.

Also good news, we've been working with the family of Enzo and the mom finally came to church on Sunday!!! Miracle! We also went to pick up a little girl Shiela that's 8. She was so cute. We rode over on our bikes and asked if she wanted to ride with me on mine. Yes, I double people all the time. It's quite funny. But she wanted to ride her own. She really enjoyed church and wanted to know when we could go back again. So sweet - love her!

We've also had a miracle with Haydee. We had a lesson on tuesday and we're trying to teach her to feel the spirit and so she can recognize her answer about the book of mormon. So I opened to my favorite scriptures and started to share why they are important to me and how I feel closer to my Savior when I read them. I felt the Spirit so strongly and I knew it was there and testified to her that it was and yet she said that she felt nothing. I was shattered. I felt so much love for her like a grandma and yet I couldn't do anything more to help her understand. We rode away that night very sad because we feel so much love for her and want her to have this gospe. The next day we passed by again and she was very angry with us and me and Hna Frias were running out of patience and just in the moment we needed some help, Hno Hugo Osess rode up and came and shared his powerful testimony of the book of mormon because that is how he learned to read. Such a blessing for us. Haydee still hasn't progressed but I know that Heavenly Father cared enough to send someone else to help all of us that day. What a blessing.

This gospel is such a blessing and I pray every day to be a better missionary. I know the Lord is watching over all of us and pray that we will always remember to do the things that He has asked us to help us in this life. READ, and PRAY everyday!

Lots of love and prayers,

Hna Potrie

Week Twenty-Three

Hola,

Perdon for not writing last week. I was equally as sad not to have the opportunity, but I did receive real letters instead so it all was good. Last Monday, my Companion, Hna Tejada left for her home. So we were up at 4AM to take her to the bus, and then I waited with the members to see the youth off to EFY. Then I headed to the apartment. Things in our mission are a bit different with the areas being really far away. We travel on the buses alone or we wait for our companions alone in the apartment. So this is what I did. I cleaned and wrote letters, and then headed to the bus station to pick up my comp because I had been given a time when she would arrive. But after waiting for an hour I got worried and called the secretary and apparently he forgot to call and tell me that Hna Frias (my new comp more about her later) missed the first bus and would be another 30 mins. Then after about an hour I got worried again but then she walked off the bus and everything was good. Who knew it would feel so weird to be alone for only a few hours. Anyways she explained that there was an accident en route and that's why she was late. So that's how i spent my p day but it's all good. I wrote lots of letters and need to send them now.

I'm still in Bell Ville and my new companion Hna Frias is awesome. She's from the north part of Argentina called Salta. The moment she arrived she dropped her bags in the pension and said lets get to work, which is perfect because the harder we work the faster time flies. She is about the same height as you mom and has dark skin. She speaks very little english and she likes to learn to sometimes she speaks in english and I respond in Spanish so we can both learn the opposite language. But I feel like it is a huge blessing to have another latino companion to help me learn the accent and even better that she is a Argentine because she knows their sayings and culture and everything. I love it!!! And love working with her!

Here in Bell Ville we have a very small church building, but it has everything we need including a soccer court in the back made out of cement this is always important. And I don't know what city your phone is locked onto mom, but it's been a lot hotter than 25 here around 40 C cada dia (everyday). But it does cool off a little at night usually. For the first time I felt a little sick this week, but I took some of the antibiotics that I have and the pain in my stomach is gone which is a huge blessing. Trying to focus on teaching when your stomach is a knot doesn't work well. Oh and I found out that a month ago in the house of the Cordobas we ate iguana (the lizard thing). Ya, gross to think about but it was delicious when I ate it, kinda like chicken.

The work is great the last day with Hna Tejada we had the baptism of Dulce and it's just so amazing to see the change begin to happen. She is such a great example to her family. Also we had a lesson with the family of Enzo this week and his parents and sister accepted an invitation to be baptized!!! They need to get married first but Enzo is such a great example for them. We are having problems helping the mom of Osualdo receive a testimony of Joseph Smith. She is old and can't see very well so she can't read the Book of Mormon which is a big problem. She is so sweet and I want so badly for her to find the truth.

Well I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week.

Love Hna Potrie

Ps Kim Stoddard I got your letter my love and prayers are with you. Hope school is going well. Love you!