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

Ten Months Old and Still Kickin'

This week not a lot happened. Well actually maybe a lot did but I don´t even remember half of it. We did divisions this week! I went to Ensanche with Hermana Drew from Alberta Canada!! She is such a sweetheart and such a wonderful missionary. I learned so much from her. I love hearing stories about the lives of the missionaries here. She is really great and I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve with her. She and her companion had been living WITHOUT WATER for 2 weeks!!! She said she called the zone leaders and they said if they still didn´t have water for two more weeks start looking for a new pension. I said “THATS DUMB look now.” They are some tough cookies. But luckily we saw them today and they said they have water!!! Tender mercy right there. We met one of their investigators named Dalia or something like that. And she has 3 sisters who are just plain mean. And so she was acting all mean because they were. So, we played a game. haha And then her and her sisters all liked us. I love how the gospel is so simple, and should be taught that way; it´s us crazies who make it difficult. Divisions are so much fun! I´m going to Las Breñas this Tuesday with Hermana Pipe! Saturday the elders had a baptism, it was great that the whole ward was so willing to help and work together. Really this ward GETS MISSIONARY WORK, I´m so happy and impressed. We had the meeting with all of the presidents in the ward... I don´t remember what it´s called really in spanish or english.. awesome... And Presidentes office has carpet! First carpet I have seen here in Argentina. It freaked me out at first but oh well. haha You better believe I sat down on the ground and enjoyed it for a few minutes. Because of the baptism and then the meeting after we didn´t work a lot. But as we were leaving the church to go to our pensions the first counselor asked us to speak in sacrament in the morning… Great. Sundays I swear take years off of my life. Hands down the most stressful of days. We went out to get all of our investigators this morning and 3 came! We first went to get Gisel and Adriana. Gisel is 11 and Adriana is 8 and they are so great. Adriana wants to be baptized but doesn’t like church. And Gisel is scared to be baptized but loves church. We can´t win. haha but they are great. We are just worried about getting permission from their mom. Amalia is also another one of our investigators. She has 4 kids and is living with her boyfriend right now. And ALL of her kids have lice. like way bad. And they are out of control!!!! She said she would come this week and she has said that for WEEKS and never comes. But we called to see and sure enough! She and her kids all came to church. One of her daughters was going insane and she is like 7 and running around and put on my sombrero. Looks like I´ll be burning that thing. When we got to the chapel the music lady came up and asked me if I could play two of the hymns because her daughter wants to play one and then use the already recorded organ for one... Sure? It was really weird. Just let me play all of them. Let me!! It´s weird. But I did it. Had I ever heard these hymns before you may ask? Nope. Never. Then I gave my talk... WHICH SUCKED... Really. Dad, you have the best talks always.. Teach me your ways. Then Hermana Alvarado and I had to split up because someone had to stay with the kids in primary and someone had to stay with Amalia. I practically jumped into Amalia´s arms. No way was I going to Primary with CHILDREN. Needless to say, I’m waiting for the day when I´m called as Primary President or something. But other than that church was pretty great! Sunday night we met a really great lady named Maria and her son Cero. They are all really really great and she had a lot of questions about our baptism and everything. Hermana Alvarado and I have totally different teaching methods and it’s hard for us right now to teach together. Most of the time she is sitting there looking off in the distance or gets distracted by a bug. So I did most of it, which I honestly don´t mind. I just hope we can work more on being together. Sunday we were walking home and this moto zoomed by us so fast! All I could think of was "Looks like they are running from the cops or something" Then we were walking and found some of our investigators and talked to them for a little bit. They told us that someone had robbed a girl around the corner just five minutes ago and that we should be really careful. Okay time to go back to the pension and get into bed is all I could think. We were walking to see one investigator named Norma. She was outside and said that there were two guys who robbed the young girl next door... that young girl is a member, Rud! The one who plays one song and then presses the buttons on the organ when she doesn´t know them! We were talking to Norma and the police showed up and then we went to see Rud. Rud´s brother (first counselor in the ward) had left to go and get the mom (music lady) and he wanted us to stay with his wife and Rud. So we were all sitting outside and they returned. Hermano Rodriguez said (Behind the back of the mom) Don´t say anything! I didn´t know how to tell her! So we all sat there awkwardly. But yeah. The good thing is that Rud is okay! She is a tough girl. The guys stole her laptop. We´re all really happy she is okay. The cables were plugged into the wall and she was just sitting there on the couch (second couch seen in Argentina) and the door was open (everyone just hangs out with their doors open) And he came in, grabbed the lap top. She grabbed the cables. He pushed her over and then grabbed the cables and ran. I´m just happy we weren´t there to see how Hermana reacted... Well welcome to my area. haha Everytime I hear someone say Rud. it sounds like Rue…so I picture the poor little Rue from Hunger Games. On a lighter note. We were sitting at lunch and some of the Hermanas were talking about a wallet made out of skin from a yacare. (The Y´s here are like J´s) So I kept hearing Jacare. And first thing that came into my mind was Kangaroo Jack. So the entire time I was thinking that there was a wallet made of Kangaroo. Gross & embarrassing. Yacare is a crocodile. That´s about all I remember. Things are getting better and better here! The members are great and I feel a lot of love here. Well I love you all! The church is true. Love Hermana Healey

Saenz Pena

Transferred. With Latin. In Chaco=hot. Training Leader. Tuesday; Hermana Petersen and I knew that I was leaving. So Tuesday was a big day of do what Courteney wants! Yes. We went and saw Norma... It was raining hard core again of course. Norma was so sad to hear that one of us could be leaving. But she promised to keep learning more. We left her house and she sent us a text that said if one of us leaves she´ll miss us and pray for us. Break. My. Heart. Then all I wanted to do is go to the Duarte’s. So we went over and made french toast, we talked and I signed this HUGE book that they have for the missionaries that love the Duarte family. I was Missionary number 187. Yeah. That´s cool. We wanted to go over to Hermana Allred and Hermana Johansen’s pension after and it was already time for bed and we still hadn´t heard about transfers. We were waiting for our remis and I got a call from Hermana Allred and she was freaking out. All I could hear was "I´m with Hermana Lund and I´m leaving and you are leaving and you are Hermana Leader!" I almost died. How in the world is she so lucky? haha that is insane. While I was talking to her the zone leaders called and said "Hermana what do you think will happen?" And I just said I´m leaving. They confirmed and gave me my travel plans and said Hermana Petersen is staying and will be with Hermana Rojas. My companion is Hermana Alvarado from Guatemala! She is really sweet she used to be in my zone. We were still waiting for a stupid taxi and Viki and Susy Duarte came out to make sure we were okay and I told them I was going and we all started crying. I told them where and they told me I was going to die of heat... comforting…and to not drink the water or I will really die. Great. That night I stayed up all night packing and writing letters to people. Wednesday; We all met up at the terminal. Hermana Allred wasn´t leaving until 12 and Elder Fiabane and I were leaving at 10. Elder Fiabane is going to the office!!! I knew he would. He´s so great. We all said goodbye but it was all so rushed it we didn’t have time to say a real goodbye. haha I traveled with some elders...alone…to Corrientes Capital. Then there I waited... alone with like 20 elders for a bus to take me to Resistencia. I traveled with Elder Gates, and then at Resistencia we were supposed to take this other bus to Saenz Peña, but we missed it, so we waited and then found another stupid bus and took it. We had no idea which one was our stop or where we were so that sucked. Elder Gates saw a sign that said Quitilipi. That is his new area so he got off and I did too. Yeah, not my stop. I had to buy a new ticket and travel alone to Saenz Peña. I officially hate busses. I got off the bus... Ps mom the wheels on my carry on suitcase broke, so that was a work out. I finally saw my companion and we went to my new home. I asked her if it was cute and she said it was really great... She was really wrong. The amount of dirt in that apartment makes me want to die. Don´t worry, you all know I´ve been cleaning it since I´ve gotten here and now it´s almost livable... But we dropped off my stuff and had to rush off to a ward activity. OUR CHURCH IS HUGE. I was really happy. Hermana Sasser is in my zone!!! She came with me and was Hermana Rich´s companion from the MTC! It was great to see a familiar face. We couldn´t stay for the activity sadly, wanna know why? THEY WERE WATCHING FROZEN. How in the world they got it I have no idea. It´s only in theaters still right? Whatever. But you better believe I snuck a peek every once in a while. In the beginning why does the little girl sing to a door?... Looks so cute. Thursday; I think I freaked out Hermana Alvarado because I started throwing out crap and cleaning like a maniac. I also called Howlett and begged him for some more money on my card to buy some things, like a shower curtain and cleaning supplies. He agreed. Hermana Alvarado said "I didn´t know we could do this" And I said "Clean? Yeah it´s a way for us to be more human" I was frustrated. We bought some things for the pension and cleaned and then we went out to work. This is the first established area I have served in. So it was really weird to have set meetings with investigators and that we have lunch every day. I´m pretty stoked about that. We first met Mercedes, she is a recent convert who is a BRAT. She literally looked at me and then wouldn’t come out because I am not the other Hermana. She cried and then yelled in my face "I don´t want her I want the other one. Why is she here" Blah blah blah. I almost smacked her. But I was determined that she will like me. Dogs here are insane. They fight and are all dying and are missing eye balls. It’s really gross. Disney analogy for you all here; Hermana Alvarado is very sweet…and innocent…and a little paranoid. I think we all remember Tantor who was scared to enter the water? That is how she is about crossing the road. Now don´t get me wrong, I am very cautious, I´m not paranoid. But compared to her I´m more like the grandma from Mulan who shuts her eyes and crosses with the Lucky Cricket. "THIS SUCKERS A LUCKY ONE" Friday; We did service for one of our investigators Angela, she wants to be baptized and get married but her boyfriend doesn´t. Story of everyone’s lives here in Argentina. But they are building their house so we pulled weeds and cleaned garbage. It was soooooo hot, but pretty fun. We also are teaching a less active’s daughters. Their names are Maria and Milagros. Maria looks EXACTLY like Annie! (Jakes little sister Annie). I think I´ve called her Annie like three times. Oops. Their little brother is like 4 and runs around BUTT NAKED all the time. Please. Clothe. Your. Children. Saturday; I honestly don’t remember anything. Sunday; we went and picked up Mercedes and she was practically on top of Hermana Alvarado the whole time. I kept talking to her and making her laugh but then she would see that she was liking me and then scowl at me. Whatever. None of our investigators came so that sucked. Did I mention our chapel is beautiful? It really is. We have more of a legit piano, and I offered to play and the Hermana who leads the music said "Oh yeah my daughter can play" So I was like okay. Her daughter pressed the button on the piano that plays the hymns on it. Okay. Your choice. I went and bore my testimony and then Hermana Alvarado did and when she did Mercedes sat by me and put her head on my shoulder... Oh yeah. She loves me because I made her laugh. We went to class, which we teach for the investigators and the new members. It was of course our turn to teach and Hermana Alvarado gave me the book and left and I sat there staring at 20 adults and looked at the manual “The Law of Chastity”. Awesome! But I think it went really well. We did Head Shoulders Knees and Toes to show our thoughts and our actions should be clean, and we should stand in holy places. It was pretty good for my first day I think. We had lunch with a member and her dad is not a member and he definitely does not like us North Americans. So that was fun. He said something about us being too busy with our lives that we don’t know how to enjoy life and that we are rude and I just had to sit there and bite my tongue…not! You know I said something about how we actually work for what we have and don´t sleep for 5 hours in the afternoon everyday. Probably shouldn´t have said that but I´m Proud To Be An American. (And I don´t like being sassed.) But at the end of lunch we were talking about his grandsons and sports and now he likes me. Everyone asks me where I´m from because I "look Asian" so that´s cool. BUT! We found a couple who LOVES the U.S. and they loved me. I did not even mind that we talked to them for a while. Hermana Alvarado got a little jealous but it was nice to meet some nice people here. They have every book for the church, they have pamphlets, Books of Mormon, even a Preach My Gospel and they watch General Conference and get the Ensign. But they don´t want to get baptized. Yeah I thought it was weird too. Monday; As a Hermana Training Leader we go to the meetings for all of the leaders of the mission. Monday was that day! I saw Hermana Allred and Hermana Lund!!! I was sooo happy. I learned a lot and today I am in charge during zone conference to teach the message of Hermana Heyman which was on Communication! I´m way pumped for this new calling but terrified at the same time. I don´t know really what I can do to help the Hermana’s but I will try my best. Hermana Heyman yesterday made chocolate cheesecake cupcakes. I DIED. Do you remember the last time I even heard the word cupcake? Yeah me neither. It was great. So much has happened this week and so much more but this is long enough. I love you all. I know that there is a lot of things going on at home, but just know that I love you all and I pray for you. I know that everything will be okay! I´m happy! My companion is really sweet. And I have a shower curtain. I´m set. haha Also I have a Chango Mas in my area... It´s like a cheap Wal Mart. Yeah. I´m definitely going. I love you all. The church is definitely true. My testimony of this gospel grows every day here. There is no doubt that it is true and that I am where I am supposed to be. I love you!!! Hermana Healey