Play Day with Presidente and Farewells

So as many know, Presidente Ávila and his family finished their mission of 3 years YESTERDAY. Sad day, no? Well instead of just taking off, and flying back to Buenos Aires, Presidente and his family decided they wanted to do a Leadership P-day "play day" and then haveour Consejo the next day! (: Alrighty! So we headed out Sunday night, stayed the night in the offices, annnd the next day we played sports, games, had an asado, made up HILARIOUS skits, and then while the zone leaders went to a mini-meeting, us hermanas went out to Mendoza Centro to find a decent pizza place! (: Dang, it was WEIRD. A group of sister missionaries "out on the town" hahaha. Nah, not at all, but it was a blast to get together and just have fun as missionaries. So we enjoyed that delicious pizza, and since I was the only one who had served even remotely close to Mendoza Centro, I guided us to the train station, and we took the train back to the mission offices. (:

BUT...Not all ends there. (; The Ávila family was having a dinner with the couple missionaries in the offices, so we went to the nurse´s apartment and bought 3 kilos of ice cream! :D :D :D Hahaha. So yeah. We enjoyed it thoroughly. :P

Then Tuesday morning we get ready for our last Consejo with Presidente. ): And DANG, it was a good one. Long, but so great. I wish I could´ve sent videos, because I´ve got some good ones. We not only sang the mission hymn, but then us leaders gathered around in a half circle and sang Para siempre Dios esté con vos (God Be With You ´Til We Meet Again) to the Ávila family. It was hard, not gonna lie. Hermana Ávila just stood there, crying, and watching all of us sing to her. Then we received permission to hug Presidente, and the elders received permission to hug Hermana Ávila. It was bomb. (:

We then came back to San Rafael and have seen a couple of miracles! (: We´re giving lots of tours of the church, and we have a program going where you put a baptismal date with the investigator right there in front of the baptismal font. It´s a way cool experience. So we found a gal, Belén, a couple weeks ago on a Friday, and she let us right in. She said she´s been waiting for us to pass by, ever since we talked with her in the street. The next day, Saturday, we have a tour of the church, and she was SO excited to be baptized and come to church. She said she was even going to come in a skirt! Haha. It was incredible, because she truly has a great need for the Gospel. She has some problems as well as a baby girl, but she is so ready and willing to change everything. She just hasn´t known HOW to...Until we came along...Well...She didn´t end up coming to church, and after our trip to Mendoza for Consejo, she kind of disappeared. We couldn´t find her, nor did she answer her phone. We stopped by a few times, and nothing...Last night, we decided that we´d pass by just one last time...We ring the bell. Nothing. Wait. Ring again. Wait...FOOTSTEPS. She came to the door!! She was so excited to see us. (: Her phone broke, and she went out to visit her parents during the week. SO we´ll be stopping by again tomorrow to start teaching her more of the Gospel that will change her life. We´re really stoked. (: Plus, our recent convert just received a calling to be the Young Men´s counselor! Which is bomb, because he´s 19, and the president got home from his mission not too long ago. (; So we´ve got our fingers crossed and our knees dirty from praying. (;

WHEW! Okay, now enjoy the bajillion photos that we took. (: This next week will likely have quite a few photos, too, becauuuuse we got a call this morning! Frommm the assistants. Presidente Goats arrived Saturday night, had a charlita with Presidente Ávila Sunday, and Pste. Goats wants to have ANOTHER Consejo--WEDNESDAY. SO...We´ll be having our zone meeting tomorrow morning, lunch with Hna. Cácamo, a lesson with Belén, and then we head out to Mendoza on a 3.5 hour bus ride all over again hahaha. Whoots! We´re gonna meet our new presidente! (:

-Ultimate frisbee!

-You have no idea how dirty and muddy I was...Muddy volleyball. 4hours. I was sore afterwards. (:

-The 2 assistants in the middle, showing us how to play some game...? Haha.

-Predicad Mi Evangelio races

-Me and the comp I JUST left a few days before! Hahaha. We were way tired. (:

-Hna. Cox and Hna.Hales were in charge of a couple donut games. (;

-Playing "Amas a tu vecino?" Do you love your neighbor?

-Hna. Hales loves and misses me. (;

-Elder Pelayo making us an asado!

-BEFORE the pizza came. (;

-Telling stories while waiting for the pizza

-Our 3 kilos of icecream haha

-AGain haha.

-Me and the Ávilas!

-The sister training leaders!

-My first hug in 15 months. (:

Pack It Up

So this blog update will likely be a little different, but that´s alright. I also don´t have photos for this week haha, so I apologize. But we´re headed out hiking today, so this next week for sure!

Pack It Up: We got transfers. Yeah, it was a short, 4-week transfer due to the new mission president who is coming in these next couple weeks. Annnd the Lord has decided to ship me out of here! ): I´m headed to San Rafael with Hermana Crawford! Who finishes up this next transfer, so I´ll be "killing her" (her last comp), and I will likely be "dying" (finishing up the mission) in San Rafael, too! It´s a little crazy, but it´ll be a blast. I´m way stoked. SO, it´s time for me to pack it all up again and head out on Wednesday morning.

So this week I´m still a little sick, mostly just a nasty cough, but I´m feeling better. It´s crazy cold out, so I´m bundling up every morning haha. Annnd the World Cup has officially started. :D So the Argentines are all going nuts, because they won last night haha. Along with that, we´ve had LOADS of meetings, conferences, and studies. I´ve loved it. I´ll share my favorite part at the end of my update.

We are teaching loads of people, and they´re INCREDIBLE. Most of these families need to get married, but that´s alright. They´re all coming to church and really loving it all. (: We´re teaching a Colombian family, and there´s an hermano here who served in Colombia! So they all hit it off really well after stake conference yesterday. (: I´m a little sad to leave San Luis just as it´s getting really big, BUT I do feel accomplished. Yesterday, all of our recent converts came to church, we had 4 investigators love the meetings, and President and Sister Ávila all came to the conference. (: It was incredible. I love this place. But I also know I´ll love San Rafael! Why?? Because I was "born" (my first area in the mission) was San Rafael South Zone in California! And now I´ll likely be dying there. (: So fun.

Alright, I´m running out of time, so here it goes...Pack It Up.

I feel like I´m FINALLY learning how to not just love the mission but to take advantage of the mission and change MYSELF--not just the people I´m teaching. Sure, I´ve already seen lots of changes in myself, but me and Hermana Lawrence have started a couple things to finish up our missions ON FIRE. If any other missionaries have heard about the 40 Day Purification deal, I urge you to try it. AND, if you´ve got a copy of "The Fourth Missionary" talk, read it and study it as you start this 40 Day "Fast". You will be amazed.

The Fourth Missionary. In the middle of the talk, it starts talking about our desires, wants, wishes, and dreams...Learning how to give our whole self to the Lord. I can´t just work hard with diligence, that´s not enough. The Lord has asked for my HEART, MIGHT, MIND, and STRENGTH. All four. Not just a couple.

C.S. Lewis says that the Lord says this to us, "Give me all. I don´t want so much of your time so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work: I want You. All of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man, but to kill it."

Biggest excuse of my life: "This is my nature. That´s just how I am. I can´t change." False. This life IS change. The purpose is to learn how to change, grow, and become better. The natural man is an enemy to God. Change it. Become more like God.

I loved where the talk starts about desires, wants, wishes, and dreams. How we have to drop some of those for 18-24 months. Our goals before the mission are GOOD goals. GREAT goals, even. The goals to study, get a good profession going, finding an eternal companion...Those are all the goals we must have. "But not now." Here comes my favorite part..."(The Fourth Missionary) boxes up all of those plans, wishes, wants and desires and puts them on a shelf in his closet at home with all of his clothes and other things. When he returns he will unpack all of the boxes. He will find that some of the clothes he doesn´t want anymore, and he will give them away. When he unpacks the box of his wants, wishes, dreams, and desires he may find that there are also some of those he doesn´t want anymore either."

I really got to thinking about that this morning. Of course, I´ve got lots of goals for after the mish. But if I keep taking down that box and peeking inside, I´m not completely focused here on the mission. I haven´t lost myself in this work 100% as I should be. I´ve got good goals. But they aren´t for this time in the mission.

If you´ve got that talk, go read it. It´s bomb. I´d share a bajillion other things, since we´ve had stake conference and a specialized conference with President yesterday. BUT, that´s the main thing I wanted to share. Pack it up. Don´t even peek inside that box. I´m excited for after the mission, of COURSE I am. It´s hard to not think about classes, school, family, friends, etc. I´m stoked for what´s to come next. For my goals and dreams and future. But not yet. Not now. Pack it all up.

Rejected Visas and Sickness

Well it´s been a slow week, becauuuse Monday morning we got a call from the Secretary, telling us that it´s Hermana Lawrence´s turn to go finish trámites for her visa!! So Tuesday we have a long meeting, lunch, and then we head out to Mendoza. All of Wednesday morning, we´re waiting in lines and running around to get her visa stuff worked out, annnd what happens? They reject one piece of paperwork. Why? Who knows, only the Secretary really understands, poor elder. Sooo we eat lunch, and get back on a 4-hour bus back to San Luis! That was the first half of our week haha. The second half?

Thursday, weekly planning. That was rough haha.

Welll I wake up Friday morning with my throat hurting. A little cough. Stuffy nose. Meh. That´s nothing. Keep on, keepin´ on! We get some decent work done, visiting recent converts and such. Contacting loads of people. Saturday morning? Ehhh a little rougher, but I can make it. We get all bundled up for the cold Argentina wind and get rejected a LOT. About midday, I´m fighting. Struggling. Head is hurting. We go to lunch, head back to the apartment to finish our afternoon studies, annnd I tell Hermana Lawrence that I´m gonna lay down for 20 minutes, and I´ll be good to go...

You know how when you´re feeling sicky, and you wake up all achey and the body just hurts all over? Yeah. A half hour later, and I´m waking up así. We head out to an appointment igual, WITH A MEMBER (MIRACLE), annnd it falls through. I´m done. Ready to crawl home and take cualquier meds I can find. So we stop by a couple houses on the way to invite them to church the next day, get back to the apartment, annnd we get to working on the fat, awful, messy area book. Bleh. Finally it´s looking half-decent. Then I took some meds about 8:30, planned for the next day, and I was out.

Sunday, we saw MIRACLES for our perseverance!! FOUR people came to church! It was incredible! ANNND we had a sick lesson with the Colombian family we´re teaching. (: They also are stoked to come to church next week. (:

Alright, that´s all for now. Someone asked if I was from Ecuador the other day because of my accent, so that was cool.

I was also told I´m an optimistic person, so I was STOKED. That´s been a life-long goal, I feel like. I´m getting there! Poco a poco. Alrighty. I´m out. Loves!

Soem photos are from the bus ride, the movie that was on (Meet the fockers or one of those? Meh.), the riot that made us stop, a sign outside a Baptist church from Elder Boyer´s mission hahaha I died...Annnd RUNTS! They were 35 pesos, but they were delicious. (:

Chau!

Independence Day = LOCRO!

Sooo I feel like all I ever say anymore is how tired I am haha, but that´s alright! I´m doing good, and we´re working hard! We did happen to be in Mendoza from Monday to Tuesday for Consejo (I just learned that the Consejo meeting in the states is called Missionary Lidership Council...So I apologize for never being able to explain that very well haha), so that took a good chunk out of our week, but we´ve seen a LOT of fun miracles this last week. (: A week ago we found a Colombian family who has lots of questions, but they´re really excited to learn about the gospel and see what it´s all about. They´re never heard of the church, but they´re curious. (: So we had a lesson with them last night, and we sat on boxes, because they´ve yet to get any kind of furniture haha. But it was good!

Then another young couple came to church yesterday! They gotta get married, but they´re also way excited to keep reading the Book of Mormon and see the blessings from the gospel. (:

Annnd there´s a gal who I ADORE. Mikaela, she´s 17. (: I´ve just got this thing with jóvenes (teens?), I´ve decided. They´re all just so prepared and searching for something in their life. So they all just EAT up the gospel. We went to visit her, and she started telling us how she´s been reading Joseph Smith´s testimony in the front of the Book of Mormon and how much she loves it, and FAH. She´s great. I love that gal to death. (: I´ll get a photo of her soon. (;

So! Independence Day here is May 25th, and Independence Day = LOCRO. Which is a type of food! Well...Soup, really. And the hermanas here in our ward made a TON. Ya see those two big pots? Yup. Locro. I can´t even explain it. Not the greatest thing I´ve ever eaten, but it definitely was tasty. (: So that is our Locro fiesta, singing the Argentina anthem and everything. (: Viva La Patria!

Annnd then we went and tried the most expensive alfajor of my life haha. 11 pesos, but it was SO good hahaha. We thoroughly enjoyed them. (:

Then we went to Consejo! San Luis is about 4 hours from Mendoza centro, so we enjoy our long, comfy bus rides. We were stoked to get our bus tickets after a long day of sitting in a meeting. (:

Annnd last but not least haha. Sooo I know everyone thinks that sisters don´t do stupid stuff, but you´ve also gotta remember we´re a little crazy, too haha. So we have an ELEVATOR in our apartment. (Almost getting to this 21st century (; ) Annnd it´s an old one with that little closing door. But an elder once told me that on the cement wall in between the 2nd and 3rd floor were some uhh...Names. And dates. Of other missionaries hahaha. Sooo we opened up the door, and the elevator stops. WHOA. So funny haha. So we had to join the gang! :P

Alrighty, well I´mma head out and go buy some warmer clothing. I´m struggling a little, because I started in California (nice and warm) and got here to Argentina at the end of spring in San Juan (almost nice and warm)...So this the first time in quite a while that it´s getting pretty chilly...Sooo we´re out! Gonna go get some warm leggings and long-sleeve shirts and such. :D Loves!

-Hermana Lybbert