September to December!

Okay, this is going to be like PURE photos!! These are quick updates of our adventures from September 2014 to December 2014. And thennn I already have two other posts ready for this year's adventures. ;)

OCTOBER! We celebrated Madre's 53rd birthday!! It was quite an adventure stealing her from work. ;) I also took the motorcycle class, so I learned to ride a motorcycle! I also got stuck on the side of the freeway, so Padre and Uncle Todd had to come and save me. :D Haha.

November!!! I was FINALLY able to see Dene', Trista, and their families!! I can't believe I've been on so many planes since I've been home haha. But I flew from Seattle to Chicago, Chicago to Iowa, where I stayed for a good week or so...

          

We even got to pick out a tree and put it up!! :D

Annnd the cheapest flight to Albuquerque was on Thanksgiving Day, so this was my Thanksgiving dinner! :D

But no worries, but I thoroughly enjoyed another week and a half with another sister and brother in-law and niece and nephew. :D

They're so cute. :)

I even got to visit my fellow Argentines!! :D The Cornu-Labats! Ah, how wonderful it was to drink mate with them and speak to them in vos! :D

After coming home, I continued to work as a para pro at several different schools, so this kid just kind of summed up how much fun it was haha. And I also got to visit a past FHE brother from BYU-Idaho since we had both just come home from our missions!

Stay updated for the wonderful adventures of 2015!!

300: Tolerance. Acceptance. Love.

These three words would be considered synonyms, but they still have completely different meanings--especially when you include them all in a discussion about the legalization of gay marriage. In my Marriage 300 class this week, we kept our focus on the debate about gay marriage. I have to admit that I was a little worried about this topic! Most know by now that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has made an official stand on this subject, despite not usually getting involved in politics. Although we do not endorse nor support the legalization of gay marriage, we are exhorted to love all and not judge. For everyone is passing through their own storm. This topic got me even more worried, though, because I know that even though the Church leaders have taken a stand on this, the members are still allowed to have their own opinions and make their own choices, of course. I know there are members that support gay marriage, and so I was curious as to how this would pan out in our class discussions this week. Thank heavens everything worked out just fine; we were all able to keep ourselves composed and respect one another's opinions. The discussions and reading material actually opened my eyes a TON.

I will admit that I feel extremely informed about why it is that many people support gay marriage; they have their own very valid reasons. Many people whom I admire support gay marriage, and I've had many opportunities to listen and understand their point of view. It. Makes. Sense. But regardless, I was never (and will never) be able to deny what I know to be true and right. Unfortunately, before this week, I was never very informed as to HOW I could defend my side of the debate. I don't ever look to get into an argument; firstly because it's childish and unneeded. We don't need to handle disagreements by continuing to argue about it. Secondly, because I know I would lose! I get all tongue-tied in debates :) Nevertheless, I want to not only be able to declare what I believe, but also why I believe what I do!

I won't go into really juicy complicated details, but I do want to share one, big thing. The family is the basic and central unit to life and the Gospel. Legalization of gay marriage is not simply expanding what marriage means. It is a complete redefinition of the word. In the Federal Marriage Amendment, marriage is described as the union between a man and a woman. Now think about it: WHY has marriage been considered only between a man and a woman for so long? First off, if you're religious, because that is how God first instilled marriage, beginning with Adam and Eve. Second, because what is the purpose of marriage? Yes, to unite a man and woman to be able to multiply and replenish the earth. Yes, everyone, that commandment, along with marriage, is STILL in full force today. Unfortunately, if we endorse gay marriage, how are we to expect this couple to fulfill both commandments and receive all the blessings? They biologically are unable to reproduce. Fact is fact. And if we change this definition of marriage, saying that anyone who loves each other is legal to marry...To what extent does this go? Who is to say that in ten years we won't want to change it again allowing more than just two people in the union (polygamy), or even incest. It may seem like a strange and foreign idea to you now, but is that not how the idea of gays or lesbians began 10+ years ago, as well?

You may ask me, "But why do you even care? It's not like it affects you. Just let people be people, and let them marry and love whomever they want." And, you know what? For a long time, I thought the exact same, "But why is it such a big deal? I'm still allowed to marry my handsome man, how does it affect me?" Well let's take our morals and values about marriage back 50 years ago. Baby boomers! Not only were people having children, but in the early 1900's, marriage was well sought after. Most men and women married young and had bigger families. Then we slowly started to introduce new factors. Education pursuits and establishing a solid career became extremely important, so men and women began to wait longer to marry and have children. Then children almost became a burden and, yes, are expensive, so families became smaller. Then our morals began dropping drastically. Premarital sex became far more popular, which leads to child-bearing out of wedlock, which can also lead to abortion at times. Then cohabitation became normal; many studies have found that a couple will cohabitate mainly to satisfy their own needs, but very few actually plan on having children. Although our population is still rising, it is slowing down. Due to smaller families, abortions, marrying later on in life, or not having any children, period, the world's population is expected to begin to decrease within the next 50 years if we don't turn something around. We will face depopulation. Gay marriage goes right along with "not having any children". Yes, they can adopt, but they themselves cannot reproduce and have children.

And not only that, but it has been shown in various studies that a child has great advantages by being raised by a mother and a father together. In fact, having both examples and influences on them is crucial and vital to their growth and development. This is my belief and what I know to be right according to my knowledge and understanding. And if a gay couple intends to infringe on my religious beliefs and rights to refuse to make their cake (or whatever else the case our there might be), the table has been completely turned. It is no longer me being intolerant (because I DO tolerate it, even if I choose to not condone it; I will not mistreat a gay couple) of your sexual orientation; it is that couple being intolerant of my religious beliefs. We are free to live however we may choose to, but our government should not be used to punish those who choose differently.

Tolerance.
Acceptance.
Love.

I will be tolerant! But I should not be forced to accept a certain opinion or belief. Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “Tolerance does not require abandoning one’s standards or one’s opinions on political or public policy choices. Tolerance is a way of reacting to diversity, not a command to insulate it from examination.”

I will not abandon my belief; I will stand strong. Nor will I push it down another's throat if they disagree. But I WILL follow the greatest commandment given from God to man: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart...And...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:37-39) I WILL love you and do my best to show you that pure love.

"Love the sinner; hate the sin."

I encourage all to study out the doctrine and facts and not simply go with the flow of the crowd or media. Decide for yourself, and stand by it, whatever it may be.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." ~John F. Kennedy

Marriage 300: My Testimony on Marriage

This month I am taking a huge…Risk? I’m not positive if “risk” is the right word for it, but I will say that I am taking one big bite of life to chew on right now. I have a couple of other rough drafts that I need to get posted (preferably within the next five days haha) to update you all on how I’ve done and what I have been up to. But to really quickly explain this “big bite of life”: I am engaged! To my most favorite Mexican ever, Adonai ;) And we are in the middle of doing all sorts of paperwork and junk to get his fiancé visa so that we can get married. I’m also working full-time at the high school, AND starting this month I have also started school through BYU-Idaho again. Except this will be the first time since I’ve been home from my mission to go to school full-time again! ALL online. And I was lucky enough to be hired on as a junior high volleyball coach! So life is pretty busy, but you should be hearing lots more updates on my blog now. J

Why? For one of my Marriage and Family Studies classes, I am to write an online blog post about principles and topics that we have learned each week! So yes, many of these will be about church topics, trials or challenges with marriage and family, and even viewpoints from the world around us about marriage and family. On here I am simply sharing my thoughts, insights, and principles that I am learning. If you disagree or have a different idea or even an answer to a question I have, please feel free to comment and explain/answer! I would love it.

So, for this week, we have talked a lot about trends and patterns in marriages, families, and how the world and Church views both. Throughout all of the readings that we were assigned this week, there was one, huge theme that stood out to me. We read a couple of talks by Elder Oaks and Elder Faust, but neither mentioned this theme I’m going to write about, in their talks; but it was mostly found in two of the other readings. The pinch of bluntness that is in me which I've accrued over time is screaming "Hypocrites!", while my much more dominating soft side reminds me, "You were raised differently. Some simply may not understand."

Let me start this all off with a story…I remember when I was younger, I was having a conversation with another student at from school. We were discussing marriage and cohabitation (living together before marriage), and they mentioned that they planned to live with their significant other for at least one year before getting married. I was a little surprised, so out of curiosity, I asked them why. This was the first time I heard the reasoning, "I want to get a feel for what it will be like being married to them before I make that kind of commitment. I need to make sure I can live with that person first! If I can't live with that person for one year, how can I expect to live with them for many more years? For a lifetime?"

In absolute honesty, I did not know how to respond. Why? Because I had always been taught that cohabitation was NOT okay. Under any circumstance, it is not okay...Yet I didn't know how to respond to my classmate, because their reasoning legitimately made sense to me. That student and their reasoning for cohabitation made perfect sense. It's like a science experiment, right? Question: Should I marry this person? Hypothesis: This relationship is a good one. I am happy, and I believe I can be happy with this other person. I would then proceed to test my hypothesis through an experiment (living with them for a year), and then draw a conclusion. If the conclusion is good, DEAL! We get married. If it is bad, re-test! With a new variable, of course. That being a different person. It seems as though it would work. SHOULD work...But let me tell you, although science has answered many of our questions and absolutely amazes me, unfortunately, science does not always have the answers. Not yet, at least. Science is always progressing and changing and making new hypotheses as it finds more answers and new information. And for this reason, I don't rely wholly on science. I rely on the One who knows it all, without fail.

God does not change. And the Law of Chastity (meaning the law that God has given to His children concerning their reproductive powers to create families and marriage—for more information see "The Family: A Proclamation to the World") certainly will not change. For this purpose, I have been taught all my life that living together with a significant other before marriage is not okay. Even though I did not fully know how to respond to the other student's views at the time, I have now come to learn why AND have been able to see scientific evidence as to why their "hypothesis" or reasoning is skewed.

While reading through several of our assigned material, I was continuously amazed at how many people said that a happy marriage and family life is "extremely important" to them, yet so few were willing to take the appropriate steps to have a stable marriage and family life. Many have seen divorce rates climb higher and higher and are fearful to marry. Many don’t even want to have children. And for those who do but prefer cohabitatation instead of marriage, they want to provide stability for their children, but by having their children out of wedlock, they are failing to provide that stability! Couples who cohabitate are more likely to split up, because no, they don’t have that vital commitment of legal marriage tying them together. So if they do have children while living together, it’s possible that their children grow up in a single-parent home. And I believe very few would disagree that a mother or father attempting to raise a children (or multiple children) is a grand struggle in and of itself.

So the majority of people said that a happy marriage and family life is extremely important to them, but then after reading some more, very few believe that legal marriage will lead to a fuller and happier life. There is where it finally dawned on me. These people who say that marriage and family stability is so important truly do believe that, and they WANT that in their future. Unfortunately, it’s possible that they simply lack the knowledge of how to make that come true. They haven’t seen the statistics of marriage versus cohabitation, especially while raising children. They don't realize that by cohabitating, they are more likely to split up, because there IS NO commitment. There is no reason for them to stay together if things get rough. It is so easy to walk away, and unfortunately, like I mentioned, that often happens. I do realize that there are strong couples that are faithful to each other while cohabitating, but even then it makes you wonder, “If you plan to stay faithful to one another and plan to stay together for the rest of your lives…Why not marry?”

While conversing with my classmate, I may not have understood the "why" all those years ago, but I did know (and I DO know to this day) that marriage is sacred. I am not married (yet!), but it is something to special that I have chosen to only share this commitment and experience with one person. It is not easy, but I will do my part as best I can to make it work. I will stay faithful and true to my husband and to God. There are so many benefits to legal marriage, not only physically and economically, but also spiritually. God gives no law that is only temporal or only spiritual. They will always go hand in hand.

"So...How was your mission?"

"Uhh wow, it was GREAT..."

Really?? Is that even a question? Or here's a better one:

"Tell me about some of your experiences in Argentina."

There are NO words to answer such questions...A mission is 18 months to two YEARS long. In a place where your heart learns to call home. With people that somehow become your own, adopted family. Missionaries have spiritual experiences on a daily basis, and it is impossible to adequately respond to such questions. Let alone share those experiences that are most dear to our hearts...

So I was not expecting to start off my first blog post after the mission quite like this. I didn't really plan on it being three whole months after having returned home, either. I never imagined it would be so...hard. Difficult. Heart-wrenching. I feel a little bad for my parents, because they've been the ones around during the whole transition, and they will probably be the first ones to say that it has not been easy--for me OR them.

I've always known that missions can change people. I know it's not a guarantee, but I've always known that a young man or woman who is set out to give their all to the Lord and His children for 18 to 24 months has the ability to completely change. However, for some indescribable reason, I thought that I would be different. HA...Yeah, no. Before my mission, I thought I had it all figured out and that I was ready for everything. To finish school, start a career, get married, have a family...I learned on the mission how wrong I was. Sure, I probably could have made it. But I know for a fact that every single one of those things--the schooling, career, marriage, family, and MORE--will go much smoother and much different and much more Gospel-focused than ever before.

So like I was saying...My parents had a pretty good idea of who I was before my mission. And it's not as though I've changed entirely. But I have indeed changed, and they've been on a roller coaster, trying to figure it all out and HOW to handle it. (;

I'll just say that these last few months have been a lot harder than I ever imagined they would be. On the mission sometimes you just gush about how much you miss taking naps and doing absolutely NOTHING and never having to do another weekly planning...But then you are forced to leave it all behind. I would give anything to sit down on one of those awful folding chairs for hours on end to do a weekly planning session just one more time. To put that scuffed up tag on just once more and be a set apart servant of the Lord. I don't think a day goes by without me thinking to myself at least once, "Just take me back to Argentina...". Not one single day. Argentina is always on my mind. We are told to not be "that returned missionary" who only ever talks about their mission, but do you realize how HARD that is??? We're having a conversation, and the ONLY experiences I've had for the last 18 months are not allowed to be mentioned? Sorry. Not happening. I try to not go on and on, story after story haha. But I'm not just leaving half my heart behind like that.

How do you get over it? GREAT question. My parents once told me that I should write a book for returned missionaries about how to transition back. The problem with that is that I still have NO IDEA how to do so! I still cry about Argentina every now and then! Hahaha. Not in public, of course. (; However, I can tell you a few things that have helped me. They come straight from Presidente Goates' final interview with us missionaries. It all comes down to doing the basics. Not losing that structure we have as missionaries. I'll probably get into that in another blog post, so I'll just leave it at that. Do the basics, my friends. Read the scriptures, talk with your Heavenly Father, serve others, go to the temple and church...Y'know. All that good stuff. (: Always be working towards a goal, or else you're just sitting there completely dormant. Not moving forward.

Okay, that was my Rant&Rage for the night. (: You all know that a lot has gone down in these last 3 months. I am SO incapable of writing it all out, but luckily I've got the realllly important stuff written in my journals for my posterity. :P Haha. So I've decided to give you a brief summary of what I've gone around doing lately. (: Lots of traveling and visiting people and just fun stuff. SO...Get ready for the next post, because it is going to be LOADED with photos from after the mission. (: For now, here are the last of my photos from the heartbreaking departure from San Rafael and all of the incredible people there...

The classiest woman alive, Alicia Ochoa.

Mendoza sunsets...On our way to Malargue for my last exchanges as Sister Training Leader.

The last P-day! Spent with some great missionaries, laughing, eating, and just loving the mission life.

A glorious family we were able to visit in Malargue. (:

She recently just got baptized with her siblings. Future missionary, yo!

Celebrating my 18-month mark, Japa's year mark, and Bentley's 6-months mark. (;

La familia Bernardeau (: Greatest investigators of my life...

My favoritest little Segura boy (:

Raquel Segura's family. (: They have the most amazing story...

Andreaaa (: My last lunch with a fabulous member!

My last day in San Rafael...With Damian Balmaceda. (:

Renzo Ibañez! Great new member of my life. (:

I've just got this love for all those darling young women. (: Such incredible gals.

Haha what a ward mission leader. (: Hermano Bustos and his wonderful wife.

One of my favorite families. :D La familia Ortiz!

Oh Lourdes (: I met her just the day before. She came to church my last week. She is full of miracles and love and...so much more. (:

Familia Pastor!!! Vamos Racing! (;

Hno. Ortiz and his cute little pregnant wife. (: Now THEY have a cute love story! (;

The Martinez women (: Anita and her mom. Best milanesas in town!

These two are like my best friends, no joke haha. Them two plus the sister missionaries? Talk about power houses. (; Debra and Ana. (:

Bishop Galdeano and his cute little fam. (:

Familia Miranda! Ice cream. Always ice creammm. (:

...It was time to get on the bus and say goodbyes...All of the hermanas in the whole zone came...I miss them so much.

Pulling out on the colectivo bus...

And our final goodbyes...

I bawled the whole 3 hours to Mendoza Centro.

The end.

Stay tuned for the party at Presidente's house and the plane flight home and hugging my family for the first time in 18 months! :D

Photos

Warning: There are LOTS!

-The Conference with Elder Viñas from the Seventy

-Baleadas!! Oh how I missed them. (:

-That´s ice on top. My head hurt...A lot.

-San Rafeal ZONE! La Tierra Prometida. (;

-Us hermanas!

-Waiting for us in the acequia (;

-There we are! Good ol´ Argentina "winters" :P

-Walking to the service project

-Hna. Japa painting!

-Hna. Cerrato and Hna. Malstrom painting

-Hermana Benítez fulfilling her "duty": Mate preparer!

-And then she takes it around to the members and offers them mate. (:

-Raquel! The greatest hermana of my life. (: Preparing the meat for the asado!

-The awesome Bishop Galdeano, enjoying the service project haha.

-And one of his sons! Kevin. (:

-One of my favorite niñitas. (;

-I assumed the responsibility of entertaining the kids with soccer. (;

-I did a good job. :P

-But then I got to painting, too!

-Whoots!

-Showing off some sunglasses that aren´t mine with my comp haha.

-The hermanas. (;

-Hermana Raquel and Isaías! (:

-Hno y Hna. Bustos. This couple reminds me WAY too much of Mom and Dad! Just a bit more Argentine. (;

-The pro-asador (;

-Yummm! Meat!

-Great ward activities with food!

-I love this ward way too much. (:

-The Loyola family!!

-With Marinel now (:

-Me and the hermanas (grand-daughter, me, mother, grandmother)

-With Hna. Cerrato!