Longest. Week. Ever

Well... this week was really long. Last Monday we had a REALLY great Noche de hogar with la familia Ibañez. They are literally my family here. Their son Lisandro is like the little 17 year old brother I never wanted. But I love him still. And they have a daughter named Juli who is 6 and she is to die for. They havent been going to church for a few months and they just say its because they are so lazy. They just dont feel like going. And Im here like... uh well thats too dang bad!.. So we talk about Time. We decided the Endure to the End message is a message that has just been used too much with them so we talked about Time. LIke our Time on Earth. We used the talk that was in the Liahona about the Four minutes or something like that. And we talked about how little of a moment this life is. and depending on what happens here, is what happens after. And there is A LOT after. It was really good. We were able to talk about how important it is to go to the temple and how important a mission has been to the both of us. We were both given the opportunity to share our testimonies about our missions and that was just a mess. Yeah. bawled. But all in all it went really well. So on Sunday Bishop announced at church that saturday is a service project and its big and we all have to be at the church at 7 in the morning. Bring your machetes and all that jazz. So we looked at eachother and we are like, SCORE. So Saturday rolls around... very... slowly... We wake up at 5 30 so we could get up and get to the church on time and NO ONE IS THERE. but.... VICTOR!! Our convert! He is so sweet. we got there and waited, and waited, and waited until 8 30. And no one showed up. We called the Bishop and he told us to go over to his house. Went over there, no one was there either. So we all went and hung out with Bishops family and we played Signs. So fun. Then its like 10 and the members start showing up... Awesome. And we cleaned out this soccer field in front of Bishops house. I used a machete for like 3 seconds and then the elders took it out of my hands. Whatever. I showed them up in that 3 seconds for sure. Machete skills. That night we went to another baptism with Karen! She is really excited and went to church on Sunday! So we are all getting really excited for her baptism. She is the best. Sunday we went to visit the family Molinas. Hermana Molinas hasnt been to church since I have been here. But she is one of the strongest people I know. She has all of these trials in her life and such a great testimony. But instead of clinging to the church during these hard times, shes falling away. Its so sad to see. We sat and talked to her and she just told us she feels so empty. She feels nothing. The greatness and spiritual feelings she used to feel arent there anymore. And its like no one cares. She hasnt had anyone visit her, or message her or anything these months and shes hurt. She said that we are the only ones who visit her and that isnt the way it should be. I just sat there and looked at her and told her she was right. I didnt have anything else to say. And its just so true. Pte Hinckley said that there is no point of missionary work if we cant hold on to those fruits. It just helped me gain so much of a testimony of home teaching and visiting teaching. These are our brothers and sisters here who struggle like we do. They need our help. I have the biggest goal to be such a good visiting teacher. Goal for life.. Holler. Well That has been our week and we are soooo tired.. I love you all and I will talk to you next week! Love Hermana Healey

"How About Someone Who Is About to Die?"

Right? My companion cracks me up… Explanation later... What a week!! And what a day! We went out on adventures this morning so we just barely got to the cyber. I don’t have a lot of time but Pte Franco said we can finish up our time tomorrow, so all you listeners at home, just wait, all you missionaries... well... doesn’t really matter because you still gotta wait! Last Tuesday we saw Karen!!! Finally! We had been looking for her for a while and we were getting really nervous. But turns out that she went off to the house of her grandpa for the weekend for her birthday! But we were able to teach her, AND talk to her mom about baptism!!! We wanted to let them know that we mean business, so we brought the form that the mom has to sign and she was super excited to do it!!!! That’s right. She will definitely get baptized on the 20th or the 27th, she hasn’t really decided. Also, custom here is to say hello its two kisses on the cheek. Girls. boys, grandparents, children. Everyone. Obvio as missionaries we just shake hands with the males. AND for the longest time I was so good at shoving my hand in their face and saying "Sorry we just shake hands!!" Until today. I was trapped and I think the kid was deaf and he said hello the friendly way that they do and by the time it was over I didn’t even know what happened. That’s right. Kissed on cheek. I basically screamed. Awkward. Wednesday we went to see our sweet Victor and in El Camino we run into a few members, I don’t know if I have ever said anything about them before but they are recent converts, she is 19, her husband is in his 60's, two kids. Yeah. It’s the truth. It’s actual. But now they live in our area!!! In a MANSION. Really the house is sooo old and out in the middle of nowhere. But they are super duper nice and welcomed us in and gave us a tour of their new place. And in their room there is a piano from 1915!!! It was so broken and had cobwebs and everything but still so beautiful. They had their clothes all over it and I asked them if I could fold their clothes just so they didn’t cover up the beauty. People these days, marrying their grandpas friends and covering beautiful pianos…I’m not judging I’m really not, it’s just rather interesting. But they have a really great testimony of the church already! And invited us over to have asado…that’s like BBQ, I think. Thursday!! We were just walking around and we wanted to talk to this girl outside who was washing her clothes... we talked to another woman outside washing her clothes too this day… I think it was like a trend or something.. And we started teaching her, her name is Raquel. We start with a prayer, right after the prayer the lady who was on the other side of the fence leaned over and said "When you’re done over there will you bring the word of God over here?" With pleasure. It was so cool! So we taught Raquel... not really interested and then went over and met Lidia (little old grandma) Juan her son and his wife Benita. So great! They say Amen after everything we say and love us so much. It was super cool I thought that we found them through Raquel. Friday we went and taught Rodrigo’s grandparents. They are just the sweetest old people ever. Francisco (grandpa) has read the Book of Mormon, goes to church, has the strongest testimony I have heard on my mission-seriously-but they are not baptized. Francisco and Edmunda are not married. They have waited for so long for Edmunda to get citizenship here or something and she just hasn’t been able to get it. They want to get married so that they can be baptized so bad and it kills me that this is the thing holding them back. They, when I got here, were living in a shack held up by sticks and tarps. And now, after 15 years of waiting, finally got permission to make their house. They are now in a cute house that Rodrigo’s dad is making for them with four walls, a door, a window, and a roof. They are so happy. We keep talking Francisco to paint his house a nice pink but he says it won’t go with his skin tone…Please. Saturday!!! We went to see a baptism from the elders area!! And Karen came with us!! She is so excited for her own that she wanted to see how one is. So we were able to go and she was just so excited. There was a poor little girl who didn’t want to get into the water, and everyone was really nervous. ALL THE ELDERS WERE TRYING TO HELP. Finally Karen looked at us and said "We should say a prayer"... Uh... yeah... I was... just... thinking that...as... well. NOT. Karen rocks! So we all closed our eyes and said a prayer and when we opened our eyes the little girl was in the water!! Still scared but she did it! We left and Karen was STOKED! Prayer is SOOOO powerful. And I was just super happy that Karen was able to see that today. Also we saw a less active and this was our conversation. Me: Hermana, do you have a friend who lives around here that we can share this message with? Camilla: No. H Atkinson: someone who just moved in?? Camila: No Me: a Neighbor?? Camila: no. H Atkinson: How about someone who is about to die? .... bahahahhahahaha we all just started laughing. Still a good question but wrong time. haha Sunday.. I bore my testimony because I’m pretty sure it was my last fast and testimony meeting.. I think they do fast and testimony the week after conference. We do it the week before right..? I don’t really know. I didn’t want to take the chance so I planned on doing it anyways. But the meeting was so spiritual and powerful. One of the most powerful testimony meetings I have been too. Almost everyone was in tears and we all felt the spirit really strong. Karen came with us!!! And Raquel came to church too! When I got up from the piano and headed over to the pulpit I heard Lulu scream, I look over and she was pointing at me, so I pointed back. Oh yeah! Shout out to the Lulu. That’s about it. My week was really laid back. We are doing everything we can to get Karen ready for her baptism. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. She really is the sweetest girl here and we can’t wait for her special day!! We went to this arcade/theater thing and the theater was closed!!! I put my face up to the gate and begged to enter. So close. Also super sad note for the ride. I had a flash drive that I put all my videos and all my photos on from basically all my mission, and well yeah, it’s not anywhere. So I’m super bummed. Luckily I have some pictures still from other camera cards. But yeah, I’m still praying I find it. Weeks are flying and it will definitely not be easy to leave this place. I’m super happy here and I love being a missionary. Really is something that I don’t want to give up. I’m giving my all and hoping it’s enough! Thank you all for your love and prayers. Love Hermana Healey

"¿Porque las caras largas?"‏

Yeah that is what the shrunken head in Spanish says on the night bus for "Hey guys, why the long faces?" I saw that part the other day and died laughing; then had to get up the courage to ask them to turn it off, even though I love that movie so much. I’m still here in Formosa!!! It’s super great that I’m going to "die" here. I love it so much. It’s cool because Hermana Allred was "born" here and now I’m "dying" here. Like "mother" like "daughter". They transferred Hermana Lopez into the city city. Resistencia. It’s sad but really good because she is out where there are a lot more doctors and more city then campo. She was really sad to leave but I know she will be great where she is. My new companion is HERMANA ATKINSON!!!! She is from Lehi Utah and is a boss! She is so great and we are having so much fun already! So on Wednesday we had to go and drop off Hermana Lopez, Hermana Bonilla and Hermana Lloyd off at the terminal and wait for our companions who were coming 5 hours later all together. SO! Hermana Howard, Hermana Pipe and I strolled around downtown and well actually we did errands for the elders because they all wanted food, But it felt super weird because I just felt like I was walking around with friends at home. It felt so normal but weird all at the same time. We had tons of fun. I was taking her around and showing her all of the area and meeting everyone and we only found Ale. So we sat down and talked about the Book of Mormon again. He kept getting distracted, like always but then we asked him what means "otro testamento de jesucristo" and he was like, well it means that it’s a book filled with testimonies of Christ. MIND BLOWN. It was the cutest answer ever but really! That is what it is! What does the book of Mormon do? It testifies of Christ. It is filled with prophets testifying of Christ. I love that he said that. We went and Hermana Melton (Pipes companion) just said “the gospel makes us more pretty” just so you all know, I’m dying in the cyber right now... anyways... Saw Raquel and Carolina! And they didn’t have power because they couldn’t pay the bill in time, and we taught them, outside in the dark. But it was so awesome because it was the first time we actually have taught Carolina and everything that we said made sense to her. She just looked at us like "where have you been all my life" and we looked at her like, "COME TO CHURCH" But she had so many questions about baptism so we explained to her why babies don’t need baptism. She loved it. She loves that we actually believe that babies are pure and perfect. Because duh. They are. But it was really spiritual, even though I was using the flashlight on our cell phone to read from the scriptures. Then on SUNDAY there was a fetching STORM! All of our investigators fell through. We got to the church soaking wet because it was a huge storm. NO ONE WOULD LEAVE THEIR HOUSE. Literally there was like 60 people at church. And Victor was one of them! He is doing so good and he loves church so much. He participates and everything! I love him. Well I’m super super happy to be here with Hermana Atkinson! We are so happy to be able to work and find new people!! I’m super happy! Everything is good! Hope you all have a great week! Love Hermana Healey

"What Should I Name This Email?"

Is what I asked Hermana Howard…Her reply? "Hermana Howard" hahahaha Love her. What the longest week ever?! Here is what went down… Tuesday we got a call and Hermana Lopez needed to go to Corrientes to do more work for her tramites. ALL DAY IN A BUS=sucks. Really it was about 4 hours there and 4 hours back. Thursday was the birthday of Hermana Lopez!!! It took a lot of work to do surprises for her without her knowing but it all worked! We woke her up this morning singing to her and we had a card made from all of the missionaries in the zone. Then we decorated the apartment and Hermana Pipe and Hermana Lloyd made her a cake because our oven is broken and she would have smelled it of course if we made it at home. They are angels. We were able to see a lot of people today! She got hugged by Ale and she freaked out. haha It was really funny to see her first illegal hug. haha Well this week we have been looking for a lot of new investigators... because we have none basically. We have been visiting this girl named Karen for a few weeks but she hasn’t come to church. She does every other commitment but that so we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to keep visiting her. SOO…we did a "You either come with us or we gotta start seeing other people type talk" Like a Define the Relationship type of deal. ha And we talked to her mom! So we were really nervous but it turned out really good! And she went with us to church on Sunday and now we are teaching the mom!!! It was our first full week of working again so the littlest things are really exciting. ALSO! We went to see Hermana Raquel today, and her cousin Carolina lives with her right now with her boyfriend (great). Everyone lives at that house, but Carolina is really... sassy. I am all for sassy, but don’t be sassy to me. But she ALWAYS is. One time with Hermana Bedoya she confronted us because she doesn’t like us because we get paid for what we do... News to me! I’M POOR! So we explained to her it was something that we choose to do, we choose to serve God. That shut her up real quick. And then she never really said much to us since... UNTIL THIS WEEK. We were sharing a scripture with Raquel and Carolina came in. She asked us to forgive her for how she has been to us and she wants to go to church! She says that she LOVES that our church focuses on the family so much that we dedicate a NIGHT at least one night of the week for the family. SO TRUE! We are going to start with the lesson one tomorrow night and we are THRILLED! We had a really good week and it has been so good to work again! I love it. Tomorrow we find out if there are changes. I’m praying to stay. But we will see. I will go where He wants me to go. Have a wonderful week! I love you all. Love Hermana Healey P.s. Made my "trunky agenda" or my last planner, It’s good. I’ll send pictures soon. ha It’s a big deal okay.

HOUSEKEEPING!! rooooooarrrr!! I'll come back Later!

Update on my compi... Well she was good! We went out on Tuesday! And then we got a call from Elder Fiabane that we had to take a trip on Wednesday to Resistencia to do some document stuff for Hermana Lopez, so we went and she got bit by a mosquito on the bus. It didn’t start bothering her until Thursday, then on Friday we went by and the doctor told her the same thing, bed rest until Tuesday and the pills that put her to sleep. President Franco wanted us to go for a second opinion and boy, the second doctor was INSANE. Long story short we just thought it was best to go with the first lady. But then on Sunday after church we get home, and Hermana Lopez stayed with a member. She slept the whole time but when she woke up she didn’t feel good, she was dizzy and her throat hurt and all this weird stuff. We went to the emergency room again! And she has STREP throat. Know it well I do. So now she is on antibiotics and yeah. She is still in bed. ha On Thursday was multizona!! I saw Hermana Lund! And Hermana Bedoya! They both are doing so good. It was so much fun to see them. We learned so much. President talked a lot about the Holy Ghost and the importance of working with the recent converts and less actives. We also talked about the importance of sharing the gospel. We watched one of the videos from LDS.org, it’s like "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" or something, but it was about the family who starts their day out together and then they share the gospel throughout their day! And then they ended their night with a prayer. Heavenly Father is our father, he wants to give us the things we want in this life. So if we ask for an opportunity to share the gospel, an opportunity is what he will give us. My beautiful family and friends! Pray for that. It will come, and you will be so blessed for it. On Saturday I did divisiones with Hermana Lloyd so I could go see a few people in the area for Sunday. We went and saw Victor, it was so sweet. He told us about an experience that he had, how he made a mistake and asked Joseph Smith for forgiveness. Ha We both changed our plans of teaching the Book of Mormon again and decided to talk about the Gospel of Christ and repentance. We talked with him about how we can only receive forgiveness from God because he is the only one we worship. It was great because he truly was looking for peace again. I was telling him about a pain that he had when he drank and it gave him a really bad headache how that will always be a remembrance that he shouldn’t do it again and he said "What hurt most was the pain I had in my heart for disobeying God" Well there you go! He is so amazing. He really has been converted. He knows how to repent.... well now, that he doesn’t pray to Joseph Smith again. ha Walking back to the pension Lloyd and I went through with all of the Harry Potter books.. Well up to the third one. But it was soooooo funny! Harry Potter really is the best. Well I am pushing through! We are finding ways to work! Transfers are not this week but next week. So we will see what is going on. But thank you for your love and your prayers, they have strengthened me so much this week! Have a great week! Love Hermana Healey

Shall I Falter or Shall I Finish??

Well I’m not gonna lie, this week was a tough one. But there is no doubt that I grew a lot this week and my testimony has soared. Because a lot of it happened with personal stuff with some missionaries I won’t go into detail, but how I felt is what I will share. Remember how I told you my poor companion is allergic to all things? Jk (not all things but pretty much any insect) well yeah, we went to the doctor, they gave her a shot, and then the shot reacted weird and it went red. Awesome! Another trip to the emergency room. So we went on Wednesday super early in the morning so that she could see a specialist and they basically told her they have no idea what happened but pop these pills that make you sleep until Monday and oh yeah, don’t leave your bed. Excuse me? It’s Wednesday. So we both kinda look at each other like... life sucks. But when I got home I got to work. I called Pipe and Lloyd and scheduled to work with them in divisiones every day for at least two hours, I didn’t want to have their area suffer, I called Bonilla and Howard and scheduled them in. And then called all of the members I could think of. Rocio and Guadalupe were so willing to work 3 days with me! I was so grateful. I refused to stay at home. Basically every day I had a new companion every 2 hours. It was really fun, and I loved it because I was able to leave and still try to save the area that is slowly being destroyed because we haven’t been able to work lately. But we were able to visit with Victor, Raquel, Belen and Ale, Rodrigo and Leonela most of the time. I figured if I could see them every day I would be set. Thursday night was the big blow up. Basically everything went wrong. But I hit a point where we had a problem, a problem that I couldn’t fix. So I didn’t know what to do, called my zone leaders, they didn’t know how to help me either, neither did the Hermanas, and then I just lost it. Now that I look back I think I really freaked out my district leader because he passed me on to one of the assistants. I broke down even more, ha ha! But then, I got a phone call from Presidente Franco. I was sitting downstairs in our front room, on the floor, Hermana Howard was there with her arm around me and I heard Presidente say "Hermana Healey, How are you?" More breakdown. I just let it out. Everything I had I just told him all that I was feeling. I don’t know how to explain the peace I felt though when I heard Presidente talking to me. It was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father was aware of me in that moment. That I was faced with a situation I couldn’t fix on my own. And I know that in that phone call, Heavenly Father reached out to me through one of his humble servants. I know that our prayers are heard. I know that they are answered. I know that every trial and every test that we go through day to day is to help us grow, and help us be better. I know that that night I felt the love that my Savior has for me. And I knew everything would be okay. I’m super great now. Don’t be thinking I went all wacko depressed. Presidente and I talked and we found a solution that will help us all! He really is a man called of God for us and this mission. There is no doubt in my mind of how guided he is by the spirit. That really was my week. I worked a little, with the luck of my lovely Hermanas and the Hermanas in the ward. And I’m ready to have a good week this week! We went to the hospital this morning at like 7 and Hermana Lopez is good to go! She can work this week! We are hitting the pavement. Yesterday was my daddy’s birthday! I hope you had a really good day daddy and that you were spoiled rotten! I saw the Christmas Harley Davidson stuff you got so I’m sure you are ready for the holiday season just as much as I am! Also I reached 16 months in the mission yesterday! Guada and Rocio made a cake! It reminds me of Dr. Seuss. It was DELICIOUS. So, to answer the question. You better believe I will finish. Thank you for all of your love and support! Have a wonderful week! Love Hermana Healey

"...Was that ENGLISH?"

Monday: Obvio we had a pretty great P day. We ran all around town looking for a place that would use my companions credit card.. Yeah it doesn’t work here. So that was sad, but this week we have money! Yeah first of the month! Then we had a Noche de Hogar with the familia Molina. Hermana Molina is SO strong. She has a lot of trials in her life but she still strives to keep a Christlike home. The past 2 months she hasn’t been coming to church so we have been really worried about her. We went over to do a Noche de Hogar and the first thing she said to me was "Do you know how to give massages? All the North Americans know how to.." Uh…False.” But I gave it a try. We then talked with them about Enduring to the End. It was a perfect lesson perfectly led by the spirit. Hermana Molina said it was something that she really needed, her battery was dying and she needed a recharge. She came to church on Sunday! Tuesday and Wednesday... no idea... Thursday: What’s up! My companion has an allergy to EVERY BUG IN THE ENTIRE PLANET. And even though she put that in all caps in her mission papers, she got sent to the Mosquito capital of the world. She got bit by ONE mosquito right when she got here and her legs are just done for. She has marks all over her legs and they are swollen, I can’t even imagine what will happen in summer when I got bit 100 times on one leg. Serious problem. So Thursday we had her try and take some Benedryl.. That was a bad idea to take before weekly planning. There was a moment where I was talking about a recent convert and I asked her a question, looked up, her head was on the desk and she was OUT. So funny. I just woke her up and put her to bed. Hermana Howard’s companion also was sick so we were blessed and got to do DIVISIONES!!! Highlight of my week right there. It was so hot today!! We literally ran back and forth from her area to my area meeting new people and visiting our investigators. It felt like summer was back and we were not happy about it! We met a TON of new people in her area and then we went to my area to visit Victor! We taught with a lot of unity and it was really great to be teaching from her. She teaches so great and I learned a lot from her. She also helped SSOOO much in a Noche de Hogar we had with Rodrigo and his family. Rodrigo is the only member in his family and his parents are so loving and make us bread all the time. But his brother is another story. There was one moment where he wanted to fight with us about something stupid and HIS PARENTS stuck up for us! It was really great. We literally went up the stairs in our pension, walked into the room where our companions were and crashed on the floor for a good 10 minutes before we planned for the next day, and crawled into our beds. It was a good long day. Also some boys said "hey Mormons" in English. That was bomb. Friday: Victor had his interview for his baptism!!! He was so nervous. And got all dressed up to meet with the Elders! He is so great. They said he passed and that he was ready for the big day! He thanked us all for helping him change his life and feel more close to his Savior. The best part is that we have seen his change! We have seen him learn more and more and that really is what makes everything so worth it. Saturday: THE BIG DAY!!! He showed up early so that we could teach him one last time before he is a member of the church! We talked about baptism and what we promise to do and how it is something that we continue to do for the rest of our lives. And then it happened! The bishop baptized him and he came out of the water thanking everyone. It was so beautiful! Sunday: He payed tithing!!! And was confirmed! It was so great. Hermana Lopez was explaining about fast offerings and he said, "Yeah I just handed mine to the bishop!" WHAT?! GOLD. He really is one of those people who learns and changes. We are so excited for him to receive the priesthood. We will be talking about that a lot this week and he will receive it hopefully this Sunday! My week was good! We are hopefully going to find out something that is going to help my little compy. I hope she feels better soon. Please keep her in your prayers! Love Hermana Healey

Another Baby Came My Way

I´m training again! She is cute! Her name is Hermana Lopez and she is from Chile! She literally has 20 days on the mission. 20 days away from her family. She was only in the MTC for 2 weeks and then came straight here. So its literally starting from scratch. She is really sweet and I just want the best for her. I really hope that I can help her with everything so that she feels loved here. Our first planning day was a little rough and Homesickness hasnt hit her yet but it almost did! Im so prepared. I got chocolate and all that good stuff. Im thinking my last two transfers I will be with her, so that is really cool! We are doing training so I am remembering everything that I had to learn those first 12 weeks and Im able to see what I need to do better for my last 12 weeks. Our first day being able to work together we found this woman Paulina and Hermana Lopez threw out the Book of Mormon and really wanted to teach it. So we went with it, little did we know that Paulina was really looking for a way to learn more about Christ and feel peace. What does the Book of Mormon do? Helps us learn about Christ and feel peace. MIRACLE. She is so in tune with the spirit and she shines in every lesson. Im so grateful to be able to serve with her. Saturday the stake did a MINI CCM! It was so cool. It was a little Missionary Training Center at our stake building. There were 150 young men and young women who came and all of us missionaries went out and did contacts with them. We had 4 amazing girls who did sooooo good! We did a game to help with the awkwardness of contacting. That we had to say a specific word in our contact. Hermana Pipe and I did that a few times when we worked together and it seemed to work! So we did it with them and IT WAS AWESOME! At first I did the talking because yeah Hermana Lopez was just as nervous as they were, then the girls took it away! One lady talked to us but basically didnt want to do anything with the church and one of the girls bore her testimony! It was really amazing. It helped me to realize how simple it really is to share our testimonies and the gospel. We dont need to leave a 30 minute lesson with an opening and closing prayer with every person we know, but these girls helped me to realize that if all we have is our testimony, give it. And we will be blessed in return. AND I SAW HERMANA BEDOYA!!!!! I practically sat in her lap the whole meeting. Sunday Victor came to church again! What a champ. He so is getting baptized. He is such a humble hermanito and I love him to death. He has such a testimony already and every time we leave his house I feel like I got more out of the lesson with him because of the love he has for the Lord. I live with now Hermana Howard from Salt Lake! She and I have a lot in common and we are having lots of fun together so Im glad that she is here with me. We took tons of pictures on Sunday so I will try to get them out but if I dont, next week! Im super happy and everything is going good here in good ol Formosa. Love you all! Love Hermana Healey

Remember when Argentina almost won the World Cup?

Yeah me too! Everyone has been asking so Ima tell you how it was during this exciting time of our lives. Every day that Argentina played we changed the schedule and we worked in the morning and then we studied during the siesta when Argentina was playing and then we left at like 5:30. So we weren’t in the crazy, but we sure heard the crazy. Sunday was a total different story. They played here at like 3 or 4, so we went to church and then we came home and didn’t leave for the rest of the night. Yes, you better believe I took my first Sunday nap yesterday. We couldn’t tell if the game had ended or if we lost, until we heard fireworks and no screaming. That is when I knew that Argentina was in mourning. Enough about that, BELEN FINALLY GOT BAPTIZED!!! We were so excited for her! This time we went to her house, waited for her to get ready and then walked with her and her family to the church. Then later on her grandma and two of her aunts came! All non-members and they all came to support Belen! So cute! She was so excited and so happy! She had a permanent smile on her face all night. She asked Elder Hastleton to baptize her, and it was his birthday on Saturday! Happy birthday to him. Really all the good things of this week happened on Sunday. We told our investigator Victor that we would wait for him at church because he has his moto and everything. So we get there and I have to go straight to the piano to play, so Hermana Bedoya grabbed another Hermana and was waiting and waiting. I looked down and didn’t see either of them when Sacrament started so I started to panic. Then after the opening hymn they walked in!!! Part of my stress=gone. But then we were all panicked because Raquel still wasn’t there and she needed to give a talk during sacrament! Seriously I was looking through windows outside looking for her moto, listening carefully to see if I hear Lulu or Ariel. I was stressed. Finally she comes in! RELIEF. She did such a good job! She talked about baptism and talked about her own baptism. it was so beautiful. After sacrament we were making sure everyone was where they needed to be. Victor=his class, Belen=her class, Lulu/Ariel=primary, Raquel=our class. We were running around everywhere and then we wanted Victor to have a friend come sit by him. The member who helps us with victor usually wasn’t there so we were like "What do we do now?" (Really like the world was ending) But then we though Hermano Medina. He was glad to help! AND IT WAS PERFECT! In class he sat by Victor, helped him read, let him borrow his scriptures, then RAISED HIS HAND and talked about how he was so glad to have made a new friend today in church. Victor was so grateful he was brought to tears. He told us that he has been praying for spiritual guidance and that he knows the church is true. He is preparing to be baptized 2 of August...I think…ha but the point is…he is awesome, and maybe Sunday wouldn’t have been that great if Hermano Medina wasn’t willing to make a new friend in church. Well that was basically the great part of the week. Since we didn’t leave yesterday I read, slept, and then colored of course. And then we were all saddened by the loss of Argentina. Remember how it’s like "winter" here? Yeah I’m sweating. It’s been so hot this week I’m nervous that summer came a little too quickly. Transfers are this week already!!! I think I’m staying, I think I will stay here until I go home, I am PRAYING that Hermana Bedoya stays here with me for at least ONE MORE TRANSFER. But I will let you know next week! The time is FLYING! And there is no stopping it. I am so grateful for this time I have to serve the Lord, I know and I am reminded every day that this work is REAL, it is changing lives and it is helping so many families. That is what it is all about right there. Love you!! Have a great week!! Love Hermana Healey

First Cotton Candy - Not Bought on the Sabbath!!

HAPPY LATE FOURTH OF JULY!!!!! I celebrated by rocking a red sweatshirt most of my time in the pension and hummed the national anthem through the day. Then drew fireworks all over every single paper I found. I hope everyone enjoyed their day!!! I also said the Pledge of Allegiance...? Yeah if that’s not how you spell it it’s totally Pipes fault. haha This week was a good one! We had divisiones this week! I was with Hermana Otiniano! She is really sweet. Really strict; I... thankfully... stayed in my area and we went around and she got to meet a lot of people we are teaching. She really is straight forward... and kinda strong…haha I was kind of embarrassed at some of the things that she said to some people. But she probably meant it... with love. haha In the end she said that I didn’t have to work on anything…but I told her to be a little bit nicer to people. haha But all in all it was a good time. She bought me cotton candy in the end so she earned the brownie points that she needed to earn. Friday was the interview for Belen for her baptism. She passed!!! Before we left I looked at her and said that we were going to stop by at 5:30 to get them and then I turned to the mom and said the exact same thing. Belen has had her invitations to pass out to all of her little friends since Thursday, and they say the time and date of the baptism. We passed by again on Saturday in the morning and I said, again, we will pass by at 5:30 to come get you! I hope we are all clear that we were going to pass by for them at 5:30 because the baptism started at 6:30. We show up... No one. So we think they went on their moto! So we head on over to the church and the young men are there playing soccer outside, so we pass by the brother of Belen and he said that everyone went home already. Excuse me? APPARENTLY, EVERYONE in Belen’s family came at the church at 5, thinking it started at 5... Why you may ask? I have no freaking idea. But all of their family members are non-members and so they all thought we forgot about the baptism blah blah. Some were pretty mad. Did I not say...?whatever...! We called the mom and she said that Belen had told everyone that it started at 5. And so yeah. She didn’t get baptized. But the coolest kid Max got baptized! And hardly any members were there so we stayed and I gave the talk on baptism. He is such a cool kid! Sunday Belen didn’t go to church…so that worried us. But we went with Raquel! Last week we did a Noche de hogar with her and her family and then yesterday she invited us to one tonight that she is doing all by herself! And she is making cake, so of course, Ima be there. But she also got asked to speak in sacrament next Sunday about baptism! Talk about an assignment!!! We are so excited for her! She is growing up so fast. haha Sunday night we went to see Belen. She was, I think, embarrassed and so she said that she wants to learn about the church more before she gets baptized.. So that was a setback. I don’t know if she really has problems or questions or if her grandma said something or someone in the family, all I know is that we will see if she gets baptized this week. Please keep her in your prayers!! Well This week basically was like that. It just keeps going so fast! But I am so thankful for my time here. I love it here and what I am doing more and more each day! I hope that everyone has a wonderful week! Love you!! Hermana Healey

Could this rain count as our baptism?‏

This week went by way too fast!!! I don’t even remember what happened this week. Little things… Wednesday we went and saw Epifanio. That man frustrates me… He went on about how he still hasn’t received his answer and there is only one God! So the churches that talk about God are all true! Blah blah blah. The wall of his house is progressing faster than he is. So we decided to take a little break from little Epi pen. There is a girl Sabrina. Literally makes my life. She is like 19 years old, loves 80s music and is the cutest girl ever. She always is so happy and we see her everywhere. We tried teaching her! It was really good but she didn’t come to church on Sunday and wasn’t there for the next appointment. We are thinking that she just wants us as friends so we haven’t been back to see her. But literally I love her to death. She asked me for my home email so she can send me an email the day after I go home. haha She makes the week a lot better. Last night we had a Noche de Hogar with the Familia Cabaña! They are amazing. We talked about the family and how our families are ordained of God, I think that is what it is in English…we read Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life with them and how Lehi when he partook of the fruit, he wanted instantly for his family to eat of it as well. It was a really good lesson and the spirit was there. Then Hermana Cabaña made LEMON PIE. Yeah that’s right. Pie from a lemon; so good. Best part yet... I know that you are all waiting for this… RAQUEL AND ARIEL WERE BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! They did it! Even though it is freezing cold here and has rained all week and we walked to the church in the rain, and the water was cold! They came and got baptized. Raquel is amazing. Poor Ariel was so scared he didn’t want to go far in the water because it was so cold! But afterward when we were walking home I asked him how he felt and he said "Like an angel from heaven" haha OH MY LIFE I just wanted to hug that kid. He gets it! He knows that he made a very important step in his life. He knows there was a change and that he can be happy. Raquel still is amazing. She said that that Saturday morning they woke up and laid in bed and talked about what baptism means and what Heavenly father expects of them after they take this step! They know it is a responsibility and are taking it seriously! I love them so much. I feel so blessed to have been able to see them take this step in their lives. Such a wonderful family that has joined the Latter Day Saint family! Hermana Bedoya and I called Pte and Hermana Heyman last night just for a chat. It is so weird that they leave TOMORROW! We asked them what they were doing and Pte Heyman said, "Hermana Heyman is packing and I am taking out what she puts in!" haha good job Pres!!! It is really sad to see them go but I am definitely excited to get to know and love Presidente and Hermana Franco! That’s how my week is going so far!! Belen is going to get baptized this Saturday! She is just a joy. Her parents support her but aren’t members and her brother just recently got baptized! We are excited to be working with this family. The weeks are going by and by and before we knew it, it’s July! What the??? I love my mission and I am so happy to be here. Here’s to a new week! Love you! Hermana Healey

Somos Consiervos en la obra‏

Yesterday we went to the farewell of President and Hermana Heyman. It was a really good day! Really beautiful and really sad. It will be really hard and weird without them, but I know that Pte and Hermana Franco have been called here to help us because it is their time. We are excited to welcome them here to La gran Mision Argentina Resistencia. I saw my friends yesterday!! It was a mission wide conference. Hermana Lund and I weren’t sure what to do without Hermana Allred. But it was really fun to catch up with the Elders and Hermanas! There were a lot of musical numbers and slide shows. And we ate SUBWAY. Yeah, eat fresh. This week went by really fast! Hermana Bedoya and I think it was because we were so excited and looked forward to Monday… now Monday is over and we didn’t know really what is next to look forward to...UNTIL this morning! Raquel and Ariel are going to get baptized this Saturday!!! We had to ask permission from Presidente because they only went to church 2 times. This last Sunday they couldn’t make it because of a family emergency. But they are so ready. You know why? I will tell you why… Rewind to FRIDAY. We didn’t know if Raquel was really interested. Yes she loved the idea of church and she loved that Ariel was learning, but she always avoided answering if SHE was ready for baptism. Finally we dropped the question with lots of inspired questions and she said "I told you I would get baptized on the 28 so I will be baptized on the 28th!” Miracle. She has been so off and on and off and on we didn’t know what we were doing. But we are really excited for her and Ariel to get baptized this week! Please keep her in your prayers and Ariel. Epifanio! Our little Epi. He still says that he hasn’t received an answer yet from God if this is the true church. We explain things so simply to him and in the moment he gets it... I think.. He says Yes all the time and then when we ask him to explain what we taught in his own words he says the right thing. But I swear it leaves him so fast that if we asked him 2 seconds later he would say that the word of wisdom is to get smart and go to school. But he came to a baptism that was on Saturday! And then came to church. He brought his daughter Florencia…who is an... angel. And it was a lot of Where did Florencia go? What does she have? Where did Epifanio go? Is he on the right page? Did he just get asked to read? It was insane. I put on chapstick and Florencia said "You can’t see anything, you need bright purple or orange or something." Thanks Flopy. Hermana Bedoya and I are surviving. I am really happy that I am with her. It is a really hard area and we are struggling, but if I was with anyone else I would probably say that I was dying here and send help. But it really does help when your companion is great. (The area isn’t that bad) We are making strides and strive to be better every day. This week a lot of thoughts have been running through my mind. We are really trying to figure out how we can help Epifanio to recognize his answer. I know he has received his answer, but I know that he is having trouble seeing it. I think at times we think we do have unanswered prayers, that the blessings and knowledge that we want have been unheard. But it all goes back to the plan, His plan for us. We are here living this plan, it’s not up to us. It isn’t what we want when we want it. Which is usually NOW. But it is His time, and when He wants it, which is usually perfect timing. I am so grateful for this time I have to be able to serve the Lord. I know this is His time, and I’m here to do what He wants me to do with it. I love you and I am so sorry about yesterday!! I hope pictures make up for it :) Love Hermana Healey

“So you’re going to suffer – but you’re going to be happy about it!”

I taught Hermana Bedoya that part of Harry Potter and when we are walking she randomly says it. Love her. Its El Mundial here! Everyone is soccer crazed and inside their houses not wanting to talk to us because the game is on. Ha Oh well. Sunday night Argentina played Bosnia... I think.. And yeah, we went in early because the people got cray cray. Argentina won and it was such a loud night. Outside of our apartment these kids went out all painted and in their jerseys and celebrated by singing their anthem and marching around the neighborhood with drums and loud stuff. If it was that loud for a win.. I am scared of what might happen if we lose.. Raquel and Ariel!!!! We went and did service for them on Saturday so that they could feel better prepared for church on Sunday! We did a lot of yard work. Lulu was so cute and helped carry around the bucket of leaves that we gathered to put in the back yard to burn. She just is the most perfect helper!! They got everything ready for Sunday and were so grateful for our help. Sunday! They went to church! Right in time to partake of the sacrament. It was really good to see them walk in! Did I already mention I’m in a WARD? Yeah the chapel was filled again this week! I couldn’t leave the piano chair because I had nowhere to sit! But it was a really good Sunday! I hope all the fathers had a wonderful day! Belen still is amazing. She is going to seminary all by herself and making friends. Her and her brother are so alike its almost scary. They also love looking us up on Facebook so that’s awkward. But they are good kids. Belen is still super excited about her baptism but for the past 2 Sundays has been at her grandma’s house. Serious, I think the big bad wolf got her grandma and is pretending to be her grandma and is holding Belen captive so she can’t go to church. Freaking grandma. But we told her that si or si she has to go to church on Sunday or we will have to change her date. Hermana Bedoya and I don’t have lunches here. So we are being really creative with our food. We made BBQ chicken salads... thanks Zupas... and Teriyaki chicken with rice. I don’t know if you all knew… but I’m a chef. We are going strong and really excited! Nothing can let us down as long as we have hot chocolate! :) ABOUT MY EYE! Literally the thingy popped. It didn’t hurt and it is still there but it’s not big! So that is good. Bye bye operation in Argentina. But thank you for the prayers and emails of concern! But I think I will be good until I get back to get it checked out. Take that doc. "You need an operation" yeah, POWER OF PRAYER! Thank you for all of your prayers and support! I love you! Love Hermana Healey

Formosa!!

Yeah I always knew I would be sent here. WELL…There is a ton of mud here. But luckily we find a lot of sidewalk so that is a blessing for sure. I live in the pension Hermana Allred lived in when she first got here in Argentina…That’s cool! And I think I might finish my mission here. But we will see. Monday before I left we had a birthday party for Maria and we were there making empanadas and Hermana Lili said, well let’s cut your hair Healey. Okay! So she cut it. You can’t really tell so that is good. Tuesday we went to say goodbye to marce and we were there when Hermana Pipe called me and said "Well how do you feel"... yeah I don’t have the button to do the question mark right now.. sorry.. But I was like WHERE AM I GOING? That’s when she told me that we were both going to Formosa. She is in Centenario 3 and I am in Centenario 2. So that was good to be able to leave with her. And it was good to be with Marce so she would listen to my freak out. haha she took very good care of me don’t you worry. Wednesday I got here and met Hermana Bedoya. When I heard her name I had no idea who she was but I couldn’t stop saying Hermana Bed... oh yeah! But no her name is like Bedoija. haa something like that. But she really is so super sweet! We get a long really well and I would be perfectly fine ending my mission with her! It’s something we are praying for. haha she is awesome. I live with two other Hermanas, Hermana Benilla and Hermana Rojas. They are nice. It’s weird but I am adjusting. Thursday Friday and Saturday are all a blur and I’m not sure really what happened. I just remember mud. And Ale and Belen! Alejandro is a recent convert. He is 14 and just a little guy. haha he is really hilarious and now that his sister Belen wants to be baptized we are super excited and so is he! He just teaches her for us and we sit there and shake our heads and laugh because he is absolutely adorable. He also likes to scare me so that’s always fun. But we put fecha with Belen for 28 de June and we are super excited for her! Also...Raquel! She has two kids that she adopted because their mothers didn’t want them. The little boy is named Ariel and he has gone to church once and he and his mom will get baptized together! And then there is a little girl who is 4 and is special. She really is just my happiness I love her so much. We have had a lot of really good lessons with them! Sunday What the? I am in a ward? It is weird to say Bishop instead of President but hey it’s a big ward. And I get to see Hermana Pipe a lot! Well this e mail sucks but I don’t have a lot of time. I love you all and thanks for everything! Love Hermana Healey

Docta Docta Give Me The News...because I'm gettin' outta here!!

Well this week I literally only worked in my area Monday.. Tuesday: We had reunion de distrito. It went really well, I gave the closing prayer in Portugues. Yeah everyone thought it was a joke but I literally did it. It was so weird. Right after we headed to the terminal to take a bus to Villa Angela to do divisiones. We stayed the night there with the Hermana’s and talked about their leaders and some problems they are having in their zone. "Supposedly" their reunion de distrito got moved to Wednesday because the leaders want to be there to basically drop Cain. So I made sure I grabbed my sassy pants :) That´s the thing I dislike most, if a zone is struggling, help them out, don´t punish and yell at them to make it worst. I got super pumped for a throw down.. jk Wednesday: Hermana Rodrigues and Hermana Coronel left to go back to Saenz Pena and I stayed with Hermana Skirvin. She really is so great. We had a lot of fun together and decided that the most quotable movie has to be “She´s the Man”. The littlest things would happen and a quote from that movie would pop up. She made me laugh harder than I have this transfer- she´s the best. We also had Mac and Cheese that her sister sent her. Bomb. We went to the meeting, which actually wasn´t that bad. The elders were a little feisty but nothing was too bad. I sassed only once. It was called for this time no worries. Thursday: We woke up super early to get home. Switched back and they left. We went to lunch, empenadas, I couldn´t do it. It was really so sad. I ate 2 sssuuuupppper slowly I don´t even think they noticed. My companion went to town though. We went back to the pension so I could eat some cereal and my comp felt really sick. Sooner than later, she threw up. We stayed in for the rest of the day. Hermana Heyman wanted me to call the doctor of the area because my companion had gotten sick every week this transfer. I called and he sent me a name of a medication he wanted her to try. Friday: Still sick. She started to take the medication and it was helping her feel a lot better. But we still didn´t go out. I tried to do divisiones but the other Hermana’s were sick too. Side note… that morning I woke up and I had a huge bump under my eye, yeah had to get that taken care of. I called members and Laura went with me to set up an eye appointment for tomorrow. We get home and my companion is all fine and dandy. Saturday: We get up and head to my eye appointment. Hermana Rodrigues felt really tired but wasn´t sick or anything. The eye place we found actually was really nice and the doctor was awesome! I definitely trust her with my eyes. Ha! Sure enough it´s another Shizlonowefnoakenfoaw OR something like that. Shizlon? It´s what I had before that I had to get removed so that´s the next move I gotta take. Transfers are this week so I couldn´t set up a day for the surgery but we´re going to see what happens after transfers and where I’m at before they operate. We´re walking to our lunch date and my comp stops and sits on the ground and just starts crying because she has so much pain. Her pain was everywhere. Her neck was tilted all the way to one side and she couldn´t put it straight. I flagged down a taxi and we went home. She got in bed and was still crying and shaking and it just seemed to be getting worse. I called everyone. No one answered. Finally I called a member and she said I should take her to a clinic, then my comp started screaming because of the pain. I ran in and her chest was lifted and her neck was tilted still and she was shaking so bad. I called the closest member with a car to take us to the emergency room. We ran in and she got into a bed and a doctor hooked her up to this thing to put liquids in her. It wasn´t an IV I have no idea what it was. Then Hermana started convulsing. They put in a medicine that put her to sleep and then kicked me and the member out. By this time I finally had gotten a hold of President Heyman to let him in on what was going on. Like 5 minutes later someone else went through the doors and we saw Hermana Rodrigues up and walking! What the freak. I ran in and she was just hunky dory so giddy and fine. They took her up for some tests but when she got back she got back into bed and was talking to us and smiling, then she laid down and slowly her neck tilted and her chest went up again and the shakes began again. We ran for the nurse and she kicked us out again and told us she would let us know when the tests came in. We got to the emergency room at like 12. By 5 a lot of the members who were there with me left because we knew nothing. And we couldn´t go in either. Two members Laura and Myra stayed with me and we snuck in to try and see what was happening. LIterally snuck in. Like hid in empty rooms from the nurses and all that. I had to know what was going on. We found where she was and she was sleeping. We found a doctor finally at like 6 or 6:30 and they told her that all of the tests came back fine and she should just go home. So yeah… then we went home. Thrilling right? Then Sunday we only went to Sacrament but then she had to go back to the pension. But at 4 she felt better so we went to choir… I´m playing the piano for it so we had to go. She has been well since. Nothing has happened. I’ve been paranoid and haven´t slept just in case something happens but she seems to be really good. Just weak. Good to know I do well under pressure. Jk I was a wreck. But I´m fine! I´m just dandy. Living it up until transfers. We´ll see what happens. Love you all Hermana Healey

Yay Divisiones!!

Tuesday: Did Divisiones with Hermana Young.. she is awesome. We were able to meet a lot of people in their area. We met a girl named Debora who was really cool. The only thing is is that she goes to her dad´s house on the weekends and he is CATHOLIC. of all the catholics.. he´s the pope. NO JUST KIDDING. But He is really catholic. So I hope that she can stay one weekend and go to church! She is really sweet. That night we got on the roof of their apartment building. We had to climb out of her balcony to get on but it was really fun. of course I didn´t have my camera. But we got to one point and there were clothes hung up drying and all I could picture is a cute little old lady climbing out her window and climbing up to the roof to put up her clothes to dry. Dedication people. It was great. Wednesday: Poor Hermana Young got sick! It was so sad. I tried my best to nurse her back to health. She didn´t get sick until the night so we were still able to work in the day. And then that night she and Hermana Zaneli had to stay in our pension because she literally couldn´t leave the house. It was so sad. But don´t you worry folks. She´s good and feelin Young again. Thursday: We went and taught Susana. This Sunday she has to study for yet another test, but she said she is going to go to sacrament again which is good. We taught about the Book of Mormon and she asked us why it was important to us. I was really grateful for that question. I took a second and thought about how Joseph smith said where is our religion without the book of mormon? We have no religion. It´s so true. We wouldn´t have anything. I was so grateful for Susana that she helped me to realize how much I really do love The Book of Mormon. (I´m actually doing a training on that today from what we learned in consejo... coincidence? I think not) Friday: The Elders from a little town near our town uses our chapel for their baptisms. And called me Friday morning and said they had a baptism to do tomorrow... okay... They are only a group. In reality, they don´t really have members. They are reactivating a lot of people in their town. So guess who planned a baptism and got everything ready for them? That´s right. This girl. You are welcome Elder Gates. Saturday: AKA WEDDING OF KAMIE TYE... My companion woke up this morning sick and didn´t know if she could leave, which was hard because we had plans to go on splits with members today because our day was so big. So we tried getting a hold of everyone and I was still planning on doing splits with Laura, and Irina was going to stay with Hermana Rodrigues. But then she got healed and went out to work! Yay! Then got sick and went back and we couldn´t work before the baptism.. And then she was healed again to go to the baptism! But then got sick again. It was just a long hard day. But It was so great to go out with Laura and teach with her. She is really sweet and is working on her papers to serve! She will be amazing I know it. It made me remember when Kylee Andersen and I went and did divisiones with the missionaries before we left on our missions and how terrified I was! But it was a great experience. Sunday: Happy birthday mommy! I made you a sign! Monday: Consejo! Sorry that´s why I didn´t get to write yesterday! But it was so fun! 2 daughters of Pte and Hermana Heyman were there and they are just so beautiful! We had a lot of fun with them. Hermana Heyman taught about the Book of Mormon and we played the Who am I game where you have a paper on your forehead and you don´t know who you are but everyone else can see and you can only do yes or no questions to find out who you are.. I was freaking Himni, brother of Ammon and all them. Yeah that was hard. Finally Hermana Petersen said "Sounds like himnos, but not o´s..." haha She´s the cutest hija. Hermana Allred, Hermana Petersen and I took a "generation" picture. It was cute. My camera died so Hermana Allred has all of the pictures. But it was a really good day. I said goodbye to Hermana Allred yesterday. It was really hard. She leaves in like 2 weeks! But I know that she is happy and that´s all I can ask for. Well just another week here and things are great. Love you and thank you for everything. Hermana Healey

The Spirit of God like the bathroom is burning!...

eah I´ll get to that later.. Monday-Nothing that exciting happened. Tuesday- We had our Conferencia Multizona! We had a really good meeting. President talked about the different powers from the Holy Ghost. He said that his first talk as a president was about the Holy Ghost so he was going to end with the same way he began. It was really good. I learned something I think I already knew, but now its something I recognize more in the scriptures. But when it says Spirit with a capital S, it´s The Holy Ghost. The member of the Godhead. But if it is spirit, little s, it´s the spirit of someone. Just a fun fact for the day. Look for it in the scriptures! It´s fun. ha I got to be with Hermana Allred and Lund all day. It is really weird that Hermana Allred literally leaves Argentina, in like less than 30 days. Blows my mind. That night 2 Hermanas left their other companion (TrioTroubleTime) at the church, and they went off with another Hermana to see her area. THEN, everyone in Argentina lost phone signal. So that was fun. We had to look all over for them. Then I left a sticky note on the church that said "Hermanas, we went to the terminal. You are in big trouble." Lets just say after everything, the Hermanas didn´t get there in time and ended up staying at our apartment. haha Super fun. Wednesday- We did divisiones with Hermana Morris and Hermana Gordillo. I was with Hermana Gordillo! It was a really good time. She is a missionary very strong and she knows a lot about the scriptures! She is a convert of 2 years and is amazing. We were able to visit with a lot of really great people and a member who is getting her papers ready for her mission came out with us! Score. Thursday- Alright, fire time. Hermana Rodrigues showered first this morning and she was showering and I smelled something funny, but I think I just thought the man next door was making breakfast or something. I didn´t really worry about it. But then I went to shower. And I started the water before I got in to heat it up and then Boom! Pow! Pop! The lights flashed and then smelled more smoke and Hermana Rodrigues is pounding on the door screaming "FUEGO!" and I´m screaming "WAIT I DON¨T HAVE CLOTHES ON!" And then the power went out, and the fire. It was a good time. We´re thinking about moving. What do you think? Friday- We met Susana!! She is sooo great. We were walking past her house and I kinda did that one thing where I saw her and thought "Time to put on your missionary smile and talk" and my legs just kept walking. Then I stopped and made them walk backwards. ha But we talked to her and she let us in! Her son is named Ian. And he is 2 and he was watching Winnie the Pooh! (Really different in Spanish). But she is really super nice. And we literally can´t think of a problem that she has. She is really great. Definitely prepared. We shared the first vision and after she said she felt something, something different. It was great! She accepted Fecha for 7 of Junio and she went to church on Sunday with us! Saturday- I learned how to sew a little rose. Take that Martha Stewart. Sunday- MOTHERS DAY!!! I talked to my beautiful mother, my handsome father, and a few beautiful future mothers. I´m so grateful for all of the love and support I have from all of you and for being able to see you all again and say goodbye for THE LAST TIME! I´ll see you all again soon. This week will be pretty great as well!!! Kamie, happy becoming a wife day on Saturday. I´ll be thinking about you all week. PUT MY PICTURE IN YOUR BOUQUET! (<---Thats a word right?) Happy birthday Lushtin on Saturday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SUNDAY MOMMY!!! Love you, Hermana Healey

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!!!

Yeah enjoy all that guacamole, salsa, burritos, tacos, whatever your heart desires. I´ll be eating noodles. This week has been pretty eventful, and yet not eventful at the same time. hah We did divisiones this week with Hermana Pipe and Hermana Fernandez. At the beginning of the transfer the elders called us and asked us to make sure we do them first this transfer.. So.. Of course I dibbed Pipe. Tuesday: We had our reunion de distrito. The first one of the transfer is always fun because we play get to know you games. This time we brought pictures. Okay, everyone else brought A picture. I brought MY pictureS. So everyone knows all about you all already. One of the new elders was telling us where he was from and he said Bolivia! I raised my hand... like a nerd... and asked what part, he said Cochabamba. High five Jake! All in all, it was a real fun time. That night we took a bus to Las Breñas so I could get Hermana Pipe. We stopped by at a panadería and bought alfajores and coke and went on our little way. We drove back to Saenz Pena pretty late and it was dark and we just talked and caught up on a few things. It felt like a good ol´ sleep over. Wednesday: Hermana Pipe and I met a lot of real cool people. But no one who was interested. ha That´s always fun. But that night the other Hermanas usually host a Noche de Hogar at the church for the members,but they got sick. So Hermana Pipe and I had to think on our toes and break out something really fun. It turned out great. Chaotic and I refuse to do it again. But great. We also celebrated her birthday!!!! Her mom sent her 50 dollars and told her to have fun with it.. So We bought a cake. And we ate that sucker. even though we don´t like cherries. Thursday: We were SUPPOSED to switch back that morning. But at 6:25 (5 fetching minutes before our alarm went off) Hermana Rodrigues called and said that none of the busses were working that day because it was yet another holiday. She couldn´t wait for 5 STINKING MORE MINUTES. jk. No biggie. Basically, we were pretty grateful for this holiday because we got one more day together! Friday: I said goodbye to my little Pipe, she is really an amazing missionary who is a perfect example to me of having Charity. She loves everyone and loves being a missionary. I just adore her. We went to lunch and had empenadas with Hermana Hilda... Back story: When I was with Hermana Alvarado every night we told eachother why we love Argentina. And every night my answer was empenadas or Grido (ice cream shop). Every night. So we were eating empenadas and french fries with Hilda and there was just sooo much oil. But I didn´t really notice.. Until about 4 hours later when I got deathly ill. Lets just say I´m looking for other reasons why I love Argentina. Saturday: I was dying. But we had so many set citas and we HAD to work. So we called Hermana Zaneli and Hermana Young to help us out and do divisiones. Hermana Young got sick earlier this week so us two, the sicklings stayed in my pension in bed. while Hermana Rodrigues and Hermana Zaneli kicked butt at working. I´m so grateful for them and for all of their help. Sunday: I felt alright. Not all the way better but alright. And everyone treated me like I had the plague! But it was still a good day... Until my companion got sick. Basically we are just here. Feeling great. But we had a really great week and met a lot of really great people. haha AND! Mothers day is in only 6 more days!!!! Yay!!!! Happy Mothers day!!!!! See you sooon mom! Love Hermana Healey

Just Another Manic Monday

I´m sorry this won´t be very long, we didn´t have a very exciting weekend this week. First off, I´m still here in Saenz Peña! So that´s good, I´m happy to still be here. After about 7 or 8 months, Hermana Alvarado flew the coop. She is in Resistencia right now with Hermana Phillips! My new companion is Hermana Rodrigues from Brazil! She is really nice and pretty cool. Ask me anything about her. I know ALL already. haha She is a convert as of 2 or 3 years! That´s pretty cool! We have had a lot of success in finding new people to teach. There are a few neighborhoods that Hermana Alvarado was afraid to work in and we are working there and finding gold! Monday we had a Noche de Hogar with Marce and her family. They are so sweet, my family here in SP. We made Torta Frita and had a mini food fight with flour until we got caught. It was really fun! Tuesday we had a meeting with Nicolas, HE IS GOING ON THE TEMPLE TRIP!!! He´s gold people. GOLD. He is super excited to go. We were with him and Hermana Lili when we got the call for transfers. Hermana Alvarado just cried and cried. It was so sad! But I´m glad that she will be able to go and get to know a different area. Wednesday, Transfers! We spent the whole day in the terminal again waiting for Hermanas. But my companion left, Hermana Quick´s companion left, and Hermana Zaneli´s companion left in the morning so we got to be in a trio for lunch! It was fun to be in a trio for a few hours. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, We met a lot of really good people. That´s pretty much it. haha Sunday, We had made plans throughout the day to have our investigators meet us in the middle, or come on their moto. Yeah no one came. But we´ll be better next week! We went to visit Jaz and Celeste on Sunday night and their mom was telling us that she saw them kneeling and their heads were bowed and she thought something was wrong and that they were crying. She panicked, but then she found out that they were praying and that they pray together every night. Tender right? That is my week ladies and gents. I hope all of you are having a wonderful week and I promise to have a more exciting week this week! Love Hermana Healey

"Am I Everywhere in Argentina?" "Yes!" "Am I a Dog?"

So much happened this week!!! It felt like the LONGEST week of my life. And I started a new planner today and left my old one so I´m just gonna use the ol´ thinker to tell you about my week. Wednesday- At the Noche de Rama we played that game "who am I?" Where you pick a name or a thing and everyone can see it but you, and then you have to ask "yes" or "no" questions. I was a dog, whatever. But this girl Myra was Beyonce, and I was the only one from the states there so I was super excited because, Beyonce, she´s my girl. But I´m pretty sure I said that she was married to Nick Cannon so I taught false doctrine there, but it was still a really fun night! Thursday- CONSEJO!!! Saw Hermana Allred and Hermana Lund, always a pleasure. They are doing really good! Hermana Allred goes home in like 6 weeks so that sucks but she is really happy. But something big, THEY CANCELED OUR PACKAGES. We can´t get packages anymore in my mission. So, I would just like to thank all of you lovely people who sent me love, but I can´t receive anymore. Trust me, every Hermana almost cried. But other than that, consejo was really great. Pte. Heyman´s brother was there and he did a really great slide show about the conversion of their family. I loved it! Saturday and like Friday- Little Walter got baptized!!! It truly was a miracle. The day of his interview, he was in a bad mood and didn´t want to be baptized again. But we played a game... to teach tithing... it´s possible people. And he loved it! And he did really good in his interview!! That night (friday) his grandma said if there was rain we would have to move the baptism. HECK NO! I was like, "nope, we´ll come and get you." We prayed so hard that Walter would be happy on Saturday, and that it wouldn´t rain. Saturday the rain clouds came and sprinkled a little bit and we thought we were doomed! So we felt like we should go earlier to pick them up, and Walter wasn´t very happy.. Doomed! We talked to him a little bit and then he got himself ready and came out and said "Are we going to do this thing or not?" Miracle people. The baptism of course didn´t start on time, and NO one was there that was supposed to be. But after it got started, it was smooth sailing! He even smiled!!!!!!!!! Sunday- Walter received the Holy Ghost! And he even closed his little eye balls for the prayer and sat very reverently! He´s so cool. AND!!!!! Hermano Nicolas our other convert, said the opening prayer in sacrament! It was a wonderful Easter Sunday. That night we did a Family home evening to celebrate Easter with the Family Rodriguez and it was so great! They are so sweet. Easter, this Easter was a little bit different then others, (no one hides eggs for me here) but it was one very impacting. I am reminded daily of the many blessings that I have in my life. Especially this last week. This is what The Atonement was all about! So that we can all have this knowledge that this life isn´t the end. Christ lives, and we will forever. I am soooo grateful to be here. I love it, and I hope that everyone is healthy and happy and had a wonderful Easter! This Wednesday is transfers... I think I´m staying and Hermana Alvarado is going to leave... but I´ll let you know when I can! All my love, Hermana Courteney Healey

Where´s Waldo? More like Where´s Walter?‏

Lunes We had a Noche de Hogar with the family Rodriguez and with Hermano Leo and Noelia. It was so much fun! I love the family Rodriguez with all of my heart and their willingness to always help everyone and their testimonies. Their family is a family that I will remember for ever. I hope I get to stay for at least one more transfer to spend more time with them. They have the happiest baby boy named Ian and he is my world here. We ate pizza. With fish. Not my favorite. Miercoles We had interviews with Pte and Hermana Heyman. It was really wonderful and sad all at the same time. I can´t believe they are getting ready to leave! We talked a lot about my mission, the good times I have had and the bad times as well. It was really wonderful. Then he started talking about marriage and I said "too far." but it was actually really nice. He truly cares about every single one of us. Of that, I´m very grateful. Jueves You´re girl hit one year!! I celebrated by buying a ice cream cake. Even though it was raining. haha It was well worth it. We went out to work and we met a very sweet family! At first we were visiting with them to get to know them and we shared a message and she brought us mate. We don´t drink mate. She was so surprised. haha I felt so bad. and then her husband and her two kids came in and we talked to them about Noche de hogar and then the daughter made us coffee and brought us coffee. We don´t drink coffee. haha It was really a series of unfortunate events. They were only trying to be super kind and here we are not drinking their kindness. They were really sweet though. The storm got worse and we were trying to get out of there and then it sounded as if lightning hit their tin roof. Their dad dropped their mate cup that was made of metal because he thought he was going to get electricuted, and they refused to let us leave. Ha I didn´t mind. I was terrified. ha But then after they drove us home. So we missed the storm! Viernes On the way to our lunch appointment I we were walking in the rain and I heard this "meow! Meow!" I knew it was a kitten and my heart sank. I practically dived into a bush looking for this poor wet kitten and got all muddy and wet in the process. I wrapped it up in my scarf and we walked the rest of the way to our lunch appointment. I practically begged the member to take her but she didn´t want a cat. AND NO ONE WANTS CATS HERE. And there isn´t like a cute little pet shop to bring it to. No one accepts cats. So I finally called our Presidente of the branch and they accepted Baghira with open arms! Yes it was a black kitten, Baghira from the Jungle Book fit perfectly. Domingo We had a really great fast and testimony meeting this Sunday! Nicolas recieved the priesthood! He truly is "de oro" and he bore his testimony! All by himself! It was a wondeful thing to hear. I bawled all the way through. We had three girls come with us to church this Sunday, Jazmin, her little sister Celeste and her friend Leticia. Jazmin and Celeste we have visited for awhile now but her dad wont give them permission to be baptized. But they LOVE church. and sometimes even go on their own! I thought a lot about them during Sacrament yesterday and it all felt really special to me that they were with us this week. For a long time before I was a member of the church, Ky and I would walk to church and go alone, later on I started dragging Jacqlyn a long with us. We all had the same ages as Jaz, Celeste and Leticia. And I´m just so grateful for them and for their love for the savior to keep going even though their dad doesn´t approve. My mom and I were baptized 17 of April in 2004. And I am so grateful for my little sister who started going to church and started this journey for us. Happy Anniversary mom and dad!!! This week, 20 years! that´s like the diamond anniversary or something right mom ;)? Happy birthday Camille!!! I love you so much! Happy Birthday Saturday Jo! I love you!!! Happy Easter everyone!! Saturday Walter will be baptized! Finally we are able to teach that child. haha And I think he is really excited! I´m so grateful for this gospel in my life and that I can be here right now. Thank you for all of your love and support! All my love, Hermana Healey

Wait...you don't know what a McFlurry is???

That´s right…this girl right here completed her dream and went to McDonalds!!! Tuesday I was in Corrientes doing some paperwork and we had to wait for like 7 hours for our bus! So we did divisions with the Hermanas there in Corrientes capital and they didn´t have lunch that day! What do we do? WE RUN TO MCDONALDS. Which by the way is right next to a LEGIT Wal Mart, and is in a Mall. Saw posters for a new movie named Noah. I thought it was appropriate to note down because it is from the Bible. :) It was really fun! And I loved every second of that Big Mac. A responsibility that we have as Hermana Leaders is we get to do a division with the Hermanas in our zone! Every week we do a division with a companionship and help them out in any way that we can. We had plans for this last week to do divisiones with a different group of sisters, but the other day I had a strong feeling to call Hermana Pipe. It was so strong I called her right before we had to be in bed but she didn’t answer. The next morning we called their leaders and they said it was needed that we did divisiones with them first. They needed help. So, that´s what we did. I went to Las Brenas with my lovely Hermana Pipe. And I knew that Heavenly Father helped us to know that they needed us in this moment. Well, Hermana Pipe did. She was having a really hard time and said that it was an answer to her prayers that I was there with her. It was such a testimony to Hermana Pipe and I that God is mindful of every one of us. He hears us, and he sends help. "..Of this I know, God answers Prayer" President Monson. Conference!! What in the world!! Blew me away! We got the opportunity to watch the young women conference on Saturday morning in Spanish, but then I got to watch the rest of conference in English in the "Gringo room" Filled with like 10 missionaries from the states. I was happy to be able to watch it in there and take notes like it was my job. haha A few of the talks really stuck to me and were answers to many of my prayers… President Uchtdorf! Being grateful always!! He said something of the sort of "Instead of waiting for the rainbow and letting life pass us by, we should be grateful for the rain!" I don´t have my notes and didn´t do that justice but it´s so true! It was really great to hear and be reminded how truly blessed we are. Elder Holland. OF course. You just listen to his words and feel like you can change the world! At least I did! "Defend your religion, with courage and courtesy, but DEFEND IT!" Every day, every hour, we are attacked as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are we brave enough for stand up for what we believe? It definitely helped me to get up and go out for another day of missionary work! Elder Bednar! Talking about the atonement. Always. It helps me to learn more about my savior. And about how important are our burdens that we bare! President Monson, of course always I go into conference with the hope that I will have the help to carry on. If we love God, we love others. I love that. Heavenly Father truly is so mindful of every one of us. I´m so happy to have a loving prophet today. Conference was wonderful and I loved every minute of it! I am so ready for another week. Hopefully it cools off! I love you all and hope all is well! I hit a year on Thursday!!! Eat a ice cream cone for me! Unless it´s snowing there or something… But I´ll be eating Ice cream!! Love you! Hermana Healey

Who Gets a Mosquito Bite on THEIR FACE?!?!?!?!

Yeah that´s right. I have one. On my face. Well this is going to be short but really happy! Friday I got deathly ill. No I´m just kidding but I got a little sick and then Saturday I really couldn´t sit up without wanting to die. So I stayed in bed and we were really nervous because we still had to fill up the font for the baptism for Nicolas and get everything ready and yeah, I couldn´t do it. Luckily we have really amazing zone leaders and hermanas in our district who took care of everything for us! And then the Hermanas bought my medicine and some crackers and soda. So sweet, We are so lucky to have loving missionaries! I got up to go to Nicolas baptism and it was so great! He walked right in all smiles and ready to be a mormon. He was glowing with the spirit and we all knew that nothing was going to tear him down. He just looked so strong and happy! It was a really great service and he was all smiles the entire time!!!! I did divisiones with Hermana Quick this week as well! She is a really amazing missionary with such a strong testimony! She really knows why she is here and I love that she can truly find a way to testify with everything that she has! She and I had a really good time and she blew my mind with the scriptures. I definitely have a lot of "questions of the soul" lets put it that way and I´m so excited when I can briden the variety of the books I can read again about the church and study away! It´s another week! I´m so ready for Conference!! I hope you all are so excited to see our beloved Prophet and the Apostles!! I love you! thank you for all of your love and support!! Love Hermana Healey

"You break our hearts and then want to be baptized?!?!"‏

Another week has flown by. Yesterday was, yet, another holiday here in Argentina. And for some reason it is ALWAYS on Mondays. I don´t get it either. But oh well. Celebrate you Argentines, celebrate. This week I went on divisiones with Hermana Zaneli de Brasil!!! She is one amazing missionary. She just barely hit her 5 months and she is rocking it. She really has a beautiful ability to be able to testify of ANYTHING! And to share the gospel even with those meanies out there. I had so much fun with her. I was dying the first day because I was so sick but she took such good care of me. Friday we knew we had to get our butts in gear and visit Nicolas more often in the week to finish teaching him so he could be baptized the 29th. We called his house (his parents are VERY catholic) and asked to talk to "Senior Nicolas?" and his dad answered saying "There is no senior nicolas here, only el joven nicolas" whatever sir let me talk to your son. We talked to him and he said that he finally found work through the Catholic Church and he doesn´t want to have anything to do with the Mormons anymore. Our hearts sank and we just sat there shocked. Saturday we went to visit Paola. She is so amazing and has a wonderful testimony already. She has 3 kids and lives with their father but they aren´t married. But she wants to go to church and learn more about what we teach. Then we went to see Vanina, she is 19 years old and sooooo shy. I wasn´t really sure if she really has interest or if she just was being nice so we shared something short and invited her to church. She said she would be ready and will wait for us on Sunday. I hate to say I didn´t have much confidence in her.. SUNDAY!!! Best/Worst day ever. "lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start" That morning we had 5 people promised to go to church with us and all lived in different neighborhoods, so we called up Irina and Marci to go on divisiones with us. I went with Irina to go and get Paola and Vanina, and Hermana Alvarado went to get Jasmin and her little sister. Irina and I showed up for Vanina, and THERE SHE WAS! Dressed in her nice coat (because it is freezing in the mornings and nights now) Ready to go! It was a wonderful surprise. Then we passed by to find Paola, she brought her two sons. I don´t remember their names but lets just call them by their ages, Terrible 3 and FRUSTRATING 4. Thankfully we walked to church in peace. We showed up and Jasmin was there! And Walter, and NICOLAS. With a nice Sunday jacket and his comb over all slicked. Lookin good. We didn´t have time to talk to him before the reunion started. And ALL THROUGH SACRAMENT I was entertaining these two rugrats. With everything I had. Frustrating 4 ate all my cough drops (they eat those things like candy here) and scribbled all over my agenda, tore out my photo album and looked at every book I had in my bag. I didn´t even care because he was silent for at least 30 seconds.. Oh well. I BEGAN to rethink having children. Not gonna lie. So we are about to go to relief society, and all of Sunday school we were running back and forth between primary and the class and the hooligans were insane and there was one moment when I had Frustrating 4 climbing up my body, Terrible 3 pulling on my arms, and Hermana Alvarado just sitting there, and that is when an elder decides to ask me stupid questions just to be a pest. I snapped at the elder, practically threw the kiddles in primary, and hummed I am a Child of God. We talked to Nicolas and he said that he made a mistake and knows that the church was true. And he knows what happens if he knows it is true and denies it, so he said "Baptize me Saturday" And we said "With pleasure." We had a really awesome lesson with him that night and he will be baptized this Saturday! That night we literally got locked out of our apartment. Our lock in our door is so stupid and the key is stupid and it was just all stupid. The key would enter into the door, but wouldn´t turn por nada. We tried everything. And NO ONE was home on our floor, and NO MEMBER answered us. So we called the zone leaders and they came to help. NADA. All I wanted to do was call my brothers. I even tried pulling out my credit card knowing it wouldn´t work but had a hope that I could do the same thing Ty did with his card. But nope. We slept very nice on the floor of the Hermana’s pension that night and paid 100 pesos in the morning for a locksmith to open our door. I was so glad that day was over. Monday we had Noche de Hogar with the familia Ovando. All the grandkids live with grandma and we talked about service and how we can serve grandma. In the end they sang to her I´m Trying to Be Like Jesus. It was so beautiful and the spirit was amazing. And then after we played Ninja and it was literally the most fun I´ve had here in Saenz Peña. I can´t believe Erik will be home next week! Kamie´s wedding is coming up, Ky just left for her new mission. So much stuff is going on at home and the weeks are flying. Everything is going really good right now and I´m so grateful for all of your love. Have a wonderful week!!! Love always, Hermana Healey

Yo tengo gripe. I have a cold. And I sound awesome. This week was a long one! And a lot has happened but not a lot of work unfortunately. Tuesday we went to Corrientes so my companion could do some things for her ID here. Let me tell you all a secret about Corrientes. IT HAS THE ONLY MCDONALDS IN THE MISSION. Well, we were there forever and I told Elder Fiabane that it is my DREAM to go to McDonalds. And he said I couldn´t go. haha I was there with the cutest Hermana Young and Hermana Gonzalez and Hermana Alvarado and we all wanted to go! And it was Hermana Youngs birthday! So we all kept kissing up to elder Fiabane and he said that we could call President. We called and President said he had no problem if we went to McDonalds! He just doesn´t want all 16 of us missionaries Elders and Hermanas in the McDonalds together. So we tried to make a plan and in the end we just went with what Elder Fiabane wanted and went to a hot dog stand. Big dissapointment. But whatever. I´ll make it to McDonalds one day. But we had so much fun with Hermana Gonzalez and Hermana Young. Wednesday! Traslados!!! Yeah I didn´t go anywhere. Still here. haha I knew I wasn´t leaving. And Hermana Alvarado is still here with me! She has SOO much time here. I know that this is her last transfer here and then someone else will come be here with me next transfer. Called it. We will see. ALL DAY WEDNESDAY WE WERE AT THE BUS STATION. Waiting for all of the hermanas and their companions and sending off other hermanas and wait for others. Hermana Alvarado and I had to be there at 5 in the morning, until 6 in the night time. That´s right. I almost died. But we had a good time talking to other people in the terminal and passing out folletos and Books of Mormon! And coloring in my coloring book...Thanks mom! That night we were done at the terminal just in time to go to Noche de Rama! Our Investigator Nicolas was there and he is soooo golden. He knows a lot of the Bible and LOVES learning more. I don´t know If I have written about him yet but he´s the one who had elders 2 years ago and just randomly came to church and has been the past 4 weeks! Yeah he is great. In the Noche de Rama he just raised his hand and bore his testimony about the church to everyone in the room. He says that he believes that this church is true. He talked about how much he is learning from us and that he is so grateful. I about died. He´s wonderful. The only problem is he focuses more on his knowledge and not a lot on his faith or the spirit. We are trying to work on that. Sunday we went and saw Irma, she is just our sweet little grandma here. She loves us so much and we love teaching her. She still hasn´t been to church yet and we are not sure what to do to help her. But we were talking about how Adam and Eve didn´t sin, that it was a transgression and really it is a blessing what they did for us so that we can be here on Earth. And she was like "How do you know that they had children?" and I just wanted to say "Well how do you think you got here?" Crazy woman. But I love her. Yesterday we had consejo de lideres in Resistencia and it was so cold!! But it was really good. I learn so much from these meetings with President and I´m so happy I am able to see Hermana Allred and Hermana Lund there. haha We also had cupcakes. Yeah that´s right. Cupcakes. Well it´s raining and everywhere the water is all the way up to the side walk! It´s crazy. I´m drinking a lot of orange juice and I will get better I promise! I love you and hope you all have a wonderful week! Love Hermana Healey

I Never Know What to Title These!

Today is my 11 months. Yeah. Weird. This week I did Divisiones with Hermana Morris!!! From American Fork Utah! Pretty sure she has to know some of the family, but we don´t remember really. Hermana Morris is probably the most hilarious missionary here in the mission. I had such a good time with her. I laughed so hard and she was just funny the entire time. Love her. This week Facundo was baptized! That´s right. That long haired, bearded child of God did the right thing! This week was filled with trying to teach him everything, get everything ready, and calling everyone to make sure people were there because we didn´t announce it in church on Sunday. Here are the real highlights of this chaos.. Tuesday we had a lesson with him in the chapel with Hermana and Hermano Mesa (Naum). Hermana Mesa has been less active for a little while and recently she is coming back. But I am SO grateful she was there that day. We were all talking about how we can receive answers from our Heavenly Father through prayer. And Facundo started to tell us about how he NEVER dreams, but lately he has been having really bad dreams after he prays before bed. And he told us about some and they were just too weird. It was a moment when I would usually sit there and wait and wait until I had something to say or a scripture to read, but NOTHING. Blank. I looked at Hermana Alvarado and knew the same was happening with her. In DyC we are promised that the Holy Ghost will help us in those times and put the words into our minds, that moment, the Holy Ghost helped Hermana Mesa. She talked about how the exact same thing happened to her right before her baptism and how prayer and scripture reading helped her to know that the church was true. It was so beautiful and powerful. I know that The Holy Ghost is the real teacher, and that sometimes it´s not the missionaries who deliver the message. My testimony grows of working with members every day. Saturday morning we went to clean out the font. It was so filthy I wanted to die. But por suerte, at that time there was a Presidency meeting for the stake and two hermanos from Las Breñas came in and helped us clean it out. I was so happy. We were so grateful for all of their help. The baptism was at 5:00 en punto... Yeah no one here understands that. Everyone started arriving at 5:20 and it started at 5:40. I´m a timely person.. That will never change.. Imagine my stress. haha I almost baptized him myself. Jk Naum was so excited that Facundo asked him to do it. It was his first baptism and he was sooo excited. They had to do it twice because Hermano Naum said his last name wrong. haha but it was great. Facundos brother was baptized in December. And he is really cool! We went to the zoo with him and his family. But he hasn´t been at church for about a month and doesn´t have much motivation to go. But we asked him to talk at the baptism and was scared as to if he would be there or not but he was there! And he bore such a beautiful testimony! It was so great; a perfect ending. This week was just a bunch of stress!!! But it went by so fast so I´m grateful for that. This week is Transfers AGAIN! We´ll see what happens next week... I think that I´m staying here. haha I ain´t goin anywhere for awhile. I love you all! I hope you all have a wonderful week this week! Love Hermana Healey HAPPY BIRTHDAY XANDER MAN!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABS!!!!!!!

Dios es Maravilloso‏

Hey howdy hey it rained all night and all day! Today we walked out of our pension and there is a river out there! It is insane. Could be worse, but hey its cool. This week was a rollercoaster for sure! The mosquitos here are attacking. We are under attack. It´s terrible. Like a plague. I´m positive it is a sign of the second coming. It´s comin. But there literally is a wall of mosquitos when you walk around. I have over 100 bites and still counting. BUT! The worst part is, one night in particular we were fighting off the mosquitos and slapping our legs and our arms and looking like weirdos, and when we returned home, I DIDNT HAVE MY PLAQUE. It got lost out there. And so I had plans to go look for it in the morning, but it rained. It´s gotta be in another country or something now. Sad day. Wednesday we went to Resistencia to do some paperwork for our visas and all that good stuff. I saw Elder Fiabane and Elder Craven!! They brought me my mail, because I constantly bother them for it. And we pretty much spent the day in Resistencia running around. I did have to do fingerprints and this guy was asking me if I was from Japan.... WHY DOES EVERYONE THING I'M JAPANESE?! I told him no, but everyone asks me so I usually say that I am, and then they usually ask me how to say stuff in Japanese and I make up stuff and they believe me. He thought that was hilarious. And now he´s my best friend. Thursday we did Divisiones with Hermana Sasser and Hermana Zaneli! Hermana Sasser was companions with Hermana Rich in the MTC!!! It was fun that we all had that in common, we miss our Hermana Rica in Tennessee. Hermana Sasser is an AMAZING missionary! She has a wonderful testimony and is such a wonderful teacher! I learned so much from her. We met a couple people in her area that I would like to share with you all, one thing is for sure, Divisions bring Miracles. First we will start off with Ana Paola. On Thursday night we went out with a member. We were out in the middle of nowhere and all of our meetings fell through, great. But Hermana Flores said that she had a friend close by! Wonderful! We passed by, but no one was there. So we went Friday in the morning! She at first was very hesitant. And didn´t really want to let us in. But when we told her about Hermana Flores she let us in and opened up in a second. Recently her husband left her, and her three children for another family. She is heartbroken and feels so alone. We shared scriptures with her and asked her to pray. Her prayer was so beautiful. She said it was her first time ever praying. It was her first time ever talking to our Heavenly Father! It was so special to be apart of. She said that now she knows that she was never forgotten. I know that truly we are never forgotten. Heavenly Father is always there. He has promised that he will always be with us. And Christ even has taught that if not him personally, he sends his angels. We are never alone. I really hope that everything goes well with her and that she will be able to go to church! Second, our dear Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos sings. And he composes songs about God. And boy did he sing. Not like it was amazing. But he sang, and then he sang, and then he sang some more. haha His songs were all really great. One of his favorites is Dios es Maravilloso. You better believe I still have it in my head. We tried so hard not to laugh because it was adorable. And of course Hermana Sasser laughed so hard and I just sat there dying inside. Dios es Maravilloso. Yesterday we had Multizona!!!! You´ll never guess who I saw! You better believe I was with Hermana Allred and Hermana Lund! I miss them so much. They are so great. I was talking to one of the elders and all of a sudden I heard from the bathroom..¨HERMANA HEALEY??? HERMANA HEALEY???¨I screamed "MOM!!!" And I ran into her arms. haha we were all so excited to be together again. The reunion was so great! We talked a lot about how the Lord is in His work. He is here helping us a long the way. I loved it. I got my box por fin!!!!!!! Thanks mom, dad, ky! Thanks Lor! Thanks Justin! I am finding out the harder way every day that it is up to me how my days will go. It is all about the attitude people! I´m so grateful to be here and to have this opportunity to serve the Lord. I love you all and thank you so much for all of your love and support! Love always, Hermana Healey

We Have a ZOO!

Yeah that´s right. We have a zoo here. It actually was pretty nice. The lions were growling every five seconds and we could hear them everywhere! And I chased around a peacock to get a flippin feather. Don´t worry. I got one. haha We have a zoo is a movie right..? There is a family here. Hermano and Hermana Usal. They are my "ma" and "pa" here. Don´t get too upset mom and dad they always wanted a little "Utah girl" They literally love me. Hermana Alvarado gets jealous sometimes but it´s nice meeting nice people who like the states!!! haha Well they are also known as "Eternagators" They have had ALL of the lessons. Like 3 times. Every missionary in the world has taught them. They know everything and they HAVE everything. Their front room has Liahonas and all of the little pamphlets we pass out. The first shelf you see when you walk in has The Law of Chastity pamphlet and the Word of Wisdom pamphlet standing up for all to see. Anyways they are cooks but so adorable. We ran into Hno. Usal on the street and he was telling us about these leaves that he uses to wash his face to make the wrinkles go away... he actually looks really young for being almost 70. But he was telling us that we have to try our best to look our best for our husbands when we get married. Its a part of this life. And then he looked at me and said that I have got something special... Maybe something special to get you baptized Papa Usal.. We did divisions this week and I went to Las Breñas with Hermana Pipe! From South Jordan Utah!!!! She is beautiful and a wonderful missionary. I learned so much from her. We first had a wonderful time in her pension... which over looks a pool so that was added torture. haha But it´s so beautiful. We had a lesson with a woman named Maria whom they met earlier that day but Maria was busy. So we passed by and she said that she NEVER accepts anyone from another religion.. But that morning she was remembering her son who died suddenly and she was having a really hard time and that is when the missionaries clapped at her gate. We taught the Plan of Salvation. The spirit was so strong!!! We truly could testify that her son helped the missionaries to find her. And that we were meant to find her to teach her how she can see him again. We cried through the whole lesson. Every time we teach The Plan of Salvation my love for My Savior grows. I honestly can´t explain how much I love this gospel. We left her house and felt so great! I hope that things go well with her. I love Hermana Pipe. We had so much fun together. We only had 1 day together but I know that we are going to be real close from now on. And to think! If I wasn´t on my mission I probably would have never met her, or Hermana Rich, or hermana Allred, or Hermana Lund. I love that through this gospel and through our missions I have found some really wonderful friends. IT RAINED!!!! Finally. haha Off and on for about 3 days. It still is kinda cool and off and on rain. It is great! I wish it was like this for ever! Well summer is coming to an end finally so hopefully it will cool down and be more like this! A few pointless things I would like to share.. I went to Chango Mas. It´s like a cheap Wal Mart. And got PEANUT BUTTER. What´s up?! I´m so happy. It´s the only place that has Peanut butter in Argentina. I also cracked and bought a curling iron. I am loving every second of my time here. I know that a mission is short and then comes life. This is a time I have special to help and do my absolute best here in Argentina. I love you all and I miss you lots. I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines day! And Happy Presidents Day! Love Hermana Healey