SCORPION

Yep. The day has come. I killed a scorpion. The other night Hermana Allred was brushing her teeth and I was writing in my journal already in bed, when out of nowhere I hear her yelling. I instantly reach for something to kill a spider. I run in there and she is so mad. She is furious, and our hand towel is in the sink. That´s right. When she was about to wipe off her mouth after brushing her teeth she looked at the towel and saw a pink thing with legs. IT WAS A SCORPION. Granted it isn´t black and huge like I imagined, but stil, I killed a scorpion. I first tried drowning it in this bowl thing. That didn´t work. Then we drowned it with Clorox. And then flushed it. And yes of course I still am so terrified that it will come back alive and crawl out of that toilet and sting me one day. So we have been visiting a less active family, the Farias family. They have been less active for quite a while. The dad sometimes goes and his daughter Pamela who is 8. NO ONE KNEW SHE WASNT BAPTIZED. That´s right. She isn´t. And she wants to really bad. But her parents really haven´t done anything about it so it´s weird. But we have been visiting her and teaching her all the lessons because she turns 9 in like 6 days. And her baptism date is planned for the 30. So let’s all pray that her parents don’t go crazy and that this actually happens! She is such a handful but adorable at the same time. We walked to church with her because her dad didn´t want to go this week and she sang with us One Direction the entire way. She´s wonderful. But we are hoping that everything goes well for her baptism on the 30th. Right now her parents are okay with it but we feel like we are walking on egg shells with them. Tomorrow we have a multi zone conference with the missionaries from here in Corrientes and another place! I´m really excited to spend the day in Resistencia tomorrow and learn more. We have a really awesome investigator named Vanesa, she really is so great. She didn´t come to church again on Sunday which is so heart breaking but she is still progressing and doing so well. She has amazing questions and everything just clicks and makes sense to her! She just NEEDS TO GO TO CHURCH. Carlos and Graciela are really awesome as well! They aren´t married, just live together and no desire to get married soon because she thinks she is too young. Their situation is really difficult but they are so great. They are both Catholic and everything we teach they are understanding and saying how it makes so much more sense than the ways in the Catholic Church. They both are teachers, and Carlos is so intelligent. Every time he opens his mouth he says "Una pregunta" And I swear we both catch our breath and expect the worst. But then when we answer his questions he talks about how much it makes sense and of course Heavenly Father would do things this way! It´s really great when they catch on and truly listen and understand; we just have to get them married first. Ha! No pressure. Next week is Thanksgiving? No way. Love Hermana Healey

"As if I´m not already a freak, let´s add a sombrero!"‏

Princess Diaries, with a twist of my life. It has been getting so hot here! And my tan lines are RIDICULOUS. And everyone has told us to get some sombreros. I immediately think of a huge hat from like La Casita or something. haha But no. An investigator (who has so much money it´s insane) just gave us two of her hats! They are really nice because it blocks the sun from my quickly aging face. But it draws so much more attention to me. I´ll send a picture one day... maybe. Transfers.... I stayed! I think it´s my calling in life to stay in places for very long periods of time. I swear, it´s really really unusual here in this mission to stay in an area with the same companion for 3 transfers. But there must be a reason for it right? Right! This week, not a lot happened really. We were flipping out about transfers for a very long time and then afterward we were in shock. haha Yesterday we called Mirta to see if she was going to be able to go to church and she told us "Impossible" And we thought she meant because of her son who has a lot of problems... No. It was because her other son hates us pretty much and forbids his mom to ever let us in again. First of all, who forbids their parents to do anything? Crazy. It is really sad because I know that this gospel could have helped her so much. During our consejo with our branch president Pte. Diaz, he is just so sweet and little and old! He just listens to us talk about all of our investigators and doesn´t talk much. So that´s where our elders takes charge of the meetings and Pte is just there just because pretty much. But he is this skinny little adorable man. Do you want to picture him? He is literally the little old man that fixes Woody in Toy Story 2. Anyways we are sitting there listening and I look over at Presidente and he is trying to get my attention and then rolls up his sleeve and shows off his cute little muscle. I DIED LAUGHING. It was the most adorable thing I had ever seen. We were laughing so hard and the elders were mad because we were goofing off. But who cares? Presidente Diaz showed off his guns in our meeting. I don´t think I have ever described The Siesta to you good folks yet. A missionary does a lot of walking around in a place like this being guided by the spirit and finding those who are prepared. To be able to do our job, we need the prepared... to be awake. The Siesta here in Argentina is this basically, everyone here wakes up at 8 and opens their shops. They work very very very hard until 12. Then they CLOSE EVERYTHING FOR THEIR NAP TIME UNTIL 4 OR 5! And everyone literally sleeps. We walk through the city and it´s as if we have landed into the movie I Am Legend. I feel like I need Will Smith and a trusty pup by my side. NO ONE EXISTS FOR 5 HOURS of the day. It´s really the most ridiculous thing of my life. And everyone gets mad if you clap at their door because it´s their nap time. Lazy. And the worst part is that they think it´s that way everywhere!!!!! I love seeing their faces when I explain to them that people from my country actually work 9 to 5 shifts, that 8 to 10 hour shifts aren´t that crazy. It´s literally so ridiculous. I would also like to announce that I am finally in the same country as Justin Bieber again. He did a show in Buenos Aires Sunday night and everyone has had Bieber fever this week. I have heard the song Baby more than I have ever heard before. But! This knowledge and love that I have for this pop star singer (don´t judge me) has helped us more than ever in our work here in BV. Saturday day we clapped at a door and this girl Vanessa opened the door and asked us to come in right before we had a chance to introduce ourselves. She had said she had met with missionaries before and liked what she had heard. She said that that morning one of her best friends died in a moto accident and she needed help and comfort. We knew then we were led there by the spirit to help her. We taught her Plan of Salvation- love this lesson so much- and she said "I have something from your church is there somewhere I can read?" and we were thinking it was the Bible or just a little booklet thing, she came out with The Book of Mormon! We were really excited because she said she was for sure coming to church Sunday. We talked to her in the morning and she said she was getting ready, but she never came. It´s so hard when they don´t come to church! But her little sister didn´t really think we were cool until we told her that we love Justin Bieber. Now she wants to take the lessons as well! Thanks JB. Anyways she was our little miracle of the week! We hope that we can get her to church for sure on Sunday! Well I love you all and I love my mission. I´m still here in BV for a reason! Let´s hope that we find out why soon! I hope you all have a wonderful week and get ready for the wonderful holidays that are coming up! xoxo Hermana Healey

RAIN

That´s right, it rained. And not anything cute like oh hey it rained! IT RAINED. It really wasn´t even that bad but you better believe I looked like a mop running around outside. So on Friday, it was about 90 something degrees. I was on divisions with Hermana Johansen, we were working in her area and had a lot of set visits so it was pretty exciting. We are teaching this woman, and all of a sudden winds pick up and it´s freezing. We are in the forest part so trees and branches are swaying and I feel like it´s a tornado. So we cut the lesson short because everyone is starting to go inside their houses. Hermana and I are starting to walk back home; INSTANT RAINFALL. Literally I thought I was being followed around by a man with a bucket of never ending cold water. I was drenched; and cold; and gross. But the work must go on! The power went out all over Bella Vista so that was fun. No one would let us in either but oh well. So yeah - RAIN! That morning we had a lunch with a less active family. We are eating outside and this man comes up to their house and wants to get a fridge from Hermano Rojas. Yeah a fridge. I don´t know I just kept eating. They have two adorable boys. Maximus he is 4 and Simon who is 2. We are sitting and talking to Hermana Rojas and all of a sudden she interrupts the spiritual thought and starts yelling at Maximus, we look over. THE CHILD IS HOLDING THE HEAD OF A GOAT! That´s right; the head of a goat, by its horns. Now I want you all to picture Bam Bam from the Flinstones before he has his haircut. Blonde curly long hair=Maximus. So picture Bam Bam holding a goats head because he thinks it´s funny. I almost screamed – I was terrified. That night when we switched back we had a Noche de Hogar with the familia Duarte. They are such an amazing strong family. We were there and they made us BROWNIES. Do you know the last time I had a brownie? I don’t even know! It was delicious. And perfect for such a cold and stormy day. It´s come to me that every day is a miracle here on the mission. Yeah it´s hard, but every hard day we are reminded why we are here. This week was filled with heartbreak, tears, frustration, but also, pure joy, hope and peace. We finally found Gisela and Sergio. They had been traveling and we haven’t been able to see them since they went to church and our mission president called everyone to repentance. (Which was great!) It really was important to be done in our branch, and we have seen such a difference with our members. But unfortunately Gisela explained to us that it scared them. They are scared to go to our church, immediate heartbreak. She said that she is content with her religion, she´s comfortable. I hate that. But she said that maybe with time there will be a change. Right then I had a stab of discouragement because I thought it was over with this beautiful family. I didn´t know how to react what to say. So we just testified. She told us that Sergio, who hardly ever does commitments, and is always leaving during our lessons, is reading the Book of Mormon. Pure joy. Right there I knew that there was hope. I knew that that tender mercy from the Lord was telling us to not give up, just work a bit harder. We have a new investigator named Mirta. When Mirta was 11 years old her father passed away. Her mom hit the liquor pretty hard after that. Mirta raised herself, and her 6 brothers and sisters. One of whom is deaf and can´t speak. When she was 14 she met a man and they loved each other. They had 3 children. Their youngest is Gabriel who is 25. Gabriel can´t walk, can´t speak, can´t see. He is 25, but is about 1 years old. 20 days ago her abusive husband left her to raise Gabriel alone. Right now it´s not my point to sound dramatic or be a downer on the day, it´s more of a ‘Hey!, our lives are hard. But you gotta keep your head up.’ Last night we had a lesson with Mirta and taught her about The Plan of Salvation. When we got to resurrection she leaned over and held Gabriel and cried because she knows he will be perfect. The spirit was so strong and I love Mirta so much. Her patience and love is so Christ-like, you know that she is a choice spirit. She is a strong daughter chosen to take care of this angel. Yeah days are hard. I get it. I am so grateful though that I have the knowledge of why this life is worth living. I love you all and I know that with faith comes hope for better days. xoxo Hermana Healey P.s. Transfers are this week. I have a huge feeling I´m leaving but my DL thinks he is psychic and says I´m not so we will see. I´ll let you know what happens next week.

Tarantulas and Scorpions

Last Monday after I had a jolly good time writing you lovely people, Hermana Allred and I were out preaching the gospel. On our way home we walked by this cute little shop that was selling sheets! I peeped my head in by the window to see if there were any cheap cute ones.. because I would like some new sheets of course.. and Hermana Allred is standing by the wall. All of a sudden I hear a gasp and she jumps into my arms. Ladies and gents. A huge, the ugliest, tarantula. That is right. That doesn´t even look like the word but the biggest hairiest tarantula I have ever seen. That night they also told us the scorpions will be out and about sooner than later. Ask me how many times I have to drop a weight on a cockroach, how am I supposed to kill a scorpion in my house? Sunday was a lot better luckily this week. I think the smack down from President really made everyone think about their behavior and want to be better. Church was better and I actually left spiritually uplifted this week! Something that I haven´t felt in a long time. Today, our new Pres. and the Elders went through training on how to run the ward pretty much. So Hermana Allred was in charge of teaching the Sunday school for adults and guess who taught the teenagers? That´s right. This girl. It really wasn´t bad they were all participating and were really nice to me so I think it went well. They all guessed that I was 19. Thank you children. Friday I went on divisions with Hermana Johansen again. This time we worked in my area. It was a long hot day but we had a lot of success! We were practically run down by a less active a few weeks ago and she wanted us to come see her on Friday so we went with a member! haha We brought Mara, who is getting ready for her own mission! We are so blessed to have her. We walk up and clap at her gate and her daughter comes and lets us in and we go into her house and she leads us to the bedroom..yikes!.. This Hermana is laying in her bed with a deathly illness! JK but she really wouldn´t even sit up or anything. She just kept begging for help from the scriptures. uhhh. Okay. So I pop out a scripture, I don´t remember which one really. It was great she loved it. I bore my testimony about how much of an impact my mom has made on me and about how there would be no way I would be able to do this without my mom. She was kind of surprised but after Mara bore her testimony as well we knew that we had done all that Heavenly Father wanted us to do. She wasn´t at church again this week but hopefully something changes. I was just happy I felt the spirit talk through me and that I had done what Heavenly Father wanted me to do. It´s crazy how many situations we go through where we have no idea what the word is or where that is in the scriptures and the answer just comes! I know that I am an instrument for the Lord and I only have this time to do what I can for him. Kylee Healey, Happy birthday my sweetheart. Your day landed on my 200 day! So we had chocolate milk and grilled cheese in yours and my honor. haha Well the church is true. And I miss you all with all my heart. Love always, Hermana Healey

Dear Diary: Today Pte Heyman called the whole ward to repentance...

You bet. Just another day out here doing the work. First of all. Someone tell Lor and Justin I said Happy late anniversary! Their letter is in the mail. Or in their hands I´m not sure. Secondly, Guess who will plan on getting a job in real estate when she gets home? This girl. WE FOUND ANOTHER PENSION AND ALL THE FURNITURE FOR IT IN 24 HOURS AGAIN. We got a call Monday night and the office asked us if everything was set up for the elders yet. Our reply? "say whaaaa???" That´s right. So off we went bright and early to go out and knock doors and say "Hi! do you know of any places that are for rent?" worst thing ever. People are surprisingly really nice when you are talking them about a place to live instead of their salvation. Go figure. Anyways after a few people we found a BEAUTIFUL place. And it was perfect because we heard President Heyman would be coming Saturday so we sealed the deal. Friday we went on divisiones! I went with Hna Johansen again. I really am grateful for her. She loves this work so much and it´s admirable. We walked up to a couple families outside sippin their mate and shared with them The Restoration. They were all so surprised we were so far from home without our moms. Trust me lady if I could I would have my mom with me. Thanks. But then they wanted to see our moms and I whipped out my little photo album and it has pictures of me with my friends in it and they looked at THE WHOLE THING: Ask me how I explained Six Flags because I have no idea. Hermana Fala and Hermano Francisco got married today :) We all got together for some delicious cake and I kept saying his name like Elf. It was grand. Saturday our dear Elders came. Elder Leon and Elder Fiabonie. They are really great! It´s real nice to be able to have them here so we can have more priesthood in the rama. Pte. Heyman came today and we had a few meetings with him. And then we went with him all over Bella Vista to sign contracts and stuff. That´s right. I rode in an actual car that day that smelled like "New Car Smell" It was weird. We got stuck waiting with him at an appointment and he whipped out his Ipad and showed us all of the pictures from when his wife had her accident. The way he talks about her is seriously true love. It´s beautiful. He´s really great. That was pretty much my day. Driving with President. SUNDAY. Are you ready? So Gisela and Sergio have been a wonderful family. They are the ones who watched all of conference by themselves. So awesome. THEY CAME TO CHURCH TODAY! They left after sacrament because it was Mother’s day here.(Happy Mother’s day mom from Argentina) But they came! When Pte Heyman was in our ward! What luck. It was a blessing. Here is the bombshell. So we have a lot of problems with a lot of the ward not respecting Pte. in the rama. Turns out there are a lot of people here who just are not that cool. whatevs. But Pte got called to be the stake president and FRANCISCO IS OUR NEW PRESIDENT! Francisco married Fala on Friday. They have been "dating" for a while now but he lived in Corrientes Capital. Now he is here, married, and Branch president in a matter of 3 days. What a life. He is the sweetest little man. A lot of people had a problem with that too. So then.. (Here comes the big guns). Pte. Heyman got up to speak to us and spoke about pretty much how everyone needs to grow up and respect their leaders because if not, they are not respecting the prophet himself. He laid it out. It was very stern and strict, but with love. ha-ha It was really great. Just not really what we wanted to be the inspired topic for the first week Gisela and Sergio came. But we´ll take it. I was playing the piano after sacrament and Pte. Heyman came up behind me and said "Dear diary, today Pte Heyman called the whole branch to repentance. The end" He said that if Hermana Heyman called looking for him in a few hours, tell her that some people just didn´t like what he had to say. It was seriously so funny but I´m glad he did it. It really is so true though. If we aren´t respecting the leaders of our church we are not respecting the revelation from the Lord. The gospel is very black and white. Then good old Relief Society. Somehow this lady literally went off about how going on missions isn´t a sacrifice like how it was in the pioneer times. And how sister missionaries don´t do as much work as elders do because they are scared of the dark. Thankfully we had Viki Duarte there who pretty much said, "That was the stupidest thing you have ever said, you try serving a mission" (she served a mission as well) But it was literally a huge attack on the sister missionaries and I just sat there wanting to die. But luckily afterward I was able to do some studies and I got some spiritual up-lifted from that. ha-ha I´m hoping that with this week that there will be changes in our ward. We really need their help and I know that the changes will be good. I am so grateful for the leaders we have in our church and I know that they are all called of God. Last night was a huge storm and our power went out and I woke up melting because it was over 90 degrees in our room! Yay! Also the sky was on fire because of all the lightning. I thought we were going to die. No worry. Power came on a few hours ago. I also killed a huge cockroach again with a weight. Watch out bugs. I love you all. The Church is TRUE. Love Hermana Healey

"Well I don't personally eat blood"

That´s right. That is the line of my week, but I will get to that in a moment. 

This week was pretty difficult to say the least. But there were a lot of firsts that is for sure! 

Starting out with Monday, We had a day of miracles. It´s true. Hermana Allred and Johansen had a conference in Resistencia, so I stayed with Hermana Lund. We both knew that Heavenly Father knew we needed a day of happiness, and that is what he gave us. We had 4 lessons right in a row! All just clapping. Nothing else! We felt like we needed to clap at 4 doors and they all let us in for lessons. THAT NEVER HAPPENS HERE. They were all very nice but the nicest was Diana. We shared the Restoration with her and she loved it. She is dying to be baptized. Only problem is she lives in Resistencia. Awesome. There you go Hermanas in Resistencia, here is an angel. But we were grateful for that night of milagros. 

Tuesday we had our meeting in Goya. For some reason the meetings after consejo always go for like 4 or 5 hours I swear. And they are supposed to be only like 2. But whatever. So we missed the bus again. But we were also doing divisiones with the hermanas there. So I left my sweet Hermana Allred there and Hermana Johansen came home with Hermana Froerer. Which means another lovely day with Hermana Lund! The bus rides home are always the best for story time. I just sit there and laugh the whole way home all the time. I would rather be working in BV, but laughing is always good too. 

Wednesday. Happy birthday my sweet Ridster! Your card is late but I love you bud! We had lunch with a woman in our ward who is almost in her 70´s. She fences, and sings opera. Enough said. She told us SHE IS GETTING MARRIED. In like a week. No big deal. We are all so happy for her because she has been praying and fasting so that she could meet someone but it didn´t happen until now. But it´s happening! She is happy and I just know that this marriage is going to make some changes here in BV. I know it. But I´ll tell you more when I know for sure. But it gives me hope that love does find a way. Even if you fence and sing opera. Not judging, she´s wicked awesome. 

Anyways we go out to work and literally I felt like I was going to die. I would look at a tree and see 3 of them. And I felt like I was having contractions or whatever those baby pains are. Haven´t had them yet but I was positive those were them! Anyways this day sucked. The only thing that kept me moving was Hermana Lund quoting Gilmore Girls for me the entire day. 

Thursday. That´s right, Hermana Healey is sicker than a dog. I was given the liquid only diet for 12 hours and then the BRAT diet. And yeah. I thought I was going to die. To make it worse, it was my SIXTH MONTH MARK! And I was miserable. 

Friday. Entrevistas with President and Hermana Heyman! I was still wanting to die but it was good to be able to talk to them and learn. I asked President probably 8 questions. And the questions I have that will torture me until I die were answered like this "Well Hermana Healey I want you to study in D&C and then let me know." But Pte. is so wise. He answered my questions and helped me so much. I am so grateful for them I love them so much. 

Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLEE!!!! You are so great. Your card is super late. Today we went out and it was better. I felt really weak but I was able to eat a burger. That´s right. My first real Argentine Burger. With an egg on it. Not sure why but it was delicious. We also saw the Argentine Joseph Gordon Levitt. Robin. 

We are also doing a t shirt for our zone here in Goya. And they want us to make up nicknames. Which we all know I rock at. Here are some of my favs... 

Johansen= Johandsdrawpictures.... she´s an artist so it´s perfect.

Muentes= Miniminutemuentes.... she´s like 5 feet tall.

Froerer= it is pronounced as such (froher) so I said froereroverthebridge... It is of course a joke but I couldn´t pass it up.

Ulloa= pronounced (ooshowa) so I said ulloagoodtime. 

I know I am a genius. 

Sunday we had like stake conference in Goya. But it´s District conference here. Pte. and Hermana Heyman were there and both gave beautiful talks. There was a family of at least 9 kids there and they got up and sang a song and I named them the Vantrap family. 

And now here is the moment you have all been waiting for.. 

So we went and saw Luciano. He is the kid who speaks perfect english and loves that we are from the US. Anyways, we went back and he had so many questions about where in the Book of Mormon does it talk about Christs birth, or his crucifiction, and stuff like that. So we are telling him and it´s really funny because he´ll ask us stuff in english and we teach him in Spanish. But when Hermana Allred talks to him in English she literally yells at him and talks really slow like he is dumb. She doesn´t mean to at all! She literally talks 30 words a minute so it´s hard for her. It´s hilarious. But here is our convo with him...

Luciano: I have a question about your foooot.

Us: Huh?

Luciano: Fooot?

H.Allred: OUR FEET?

Luciano: stuff...you...eat...

Me: Oh! FooD! 

Luciano: Yes, can you...eat...whatever...you..want?

Us: Yeah! 

L: pig?

Us: yes.

L: blood?

H. Allred: WELL PERSONALLY I DON¨T EAT BLOOD.

I laughed so hard. It was probably really innapropriate. But I lost it. It was probably the highlight of my week. He has the best questions ever. 

Anyways I love you all. I am really grateful to serve here in BV. And one day things will make sense here :) 

All my love,
Hermana Healeywhodoesn´teatblood.

How does it feel knowing that a representative of Jesus Christ is e-mailing you right now‏

This week was one of the longest weeks of my life.

Transfer news! Still in Bella Vista; still with Hermana Allred; I´m really so grateful for that. I know that we are still starting out and trying to build it up here so I´m glad that we are here together. 

Hermana Hernandez and Hermana Johansen left the nest. So Hermana Allred and I have the pension all to ourselves! It is so weird only the two of us there. But we are making it homier :)

We went to get a girl F*** for church on Sunday. She´s so cute and so great and the last time we were with her she was telling us all this crazy stuff. She went off about how she doesn´t smoke or drink or party (cha-ching!) but then she was rambling for like thirty minutes and ended her spat with ¨well it´s okay because God is only a spirit¨ okay. Let´s start from the very beginning (a very nice place to start!) So we went to get her for church on Sunday and her family was outside and F*** never came home that night! They were in a panic. We didn´t know what to do. We went back later and found out she had been with a friend. So don´t worry she´s safe. But still, she might not be able to talk to us for awhile because she is probably grounded for life. 

                                                                                     

Friday we had lunch with a family here who tells everyone they’re fat so… that was awesome.  Later we went out with a member and she took us to see her friends and they sat and talked about how terrible America is and in my head I kept singing “I´m proud to be an American” there is plenty I can say about here but I don’t. It is always quite the challenge for me.

We went to visit a lady on the less active list named E***  S***. She is really the sweetest thing. And she has beautiful teeth. Her daughter died a couple years ago and she started to raise her granddaughter. She now has serious depression and can´t leave her house. But she loves getting visits. She said that morning she was praying to get a visit from the missionaries because it had been about 5 years since her last visit. She feels so alone and it´s really a good topic for a missionary to study because hello! But we were able to share some scriptures in D&C from when Joseph was in the jail. She is the most loving person here. 

We had a conference for the missionaries who are new to the mission yesterday. It was really good to be able to see Hermana Elton and Hermana Phillips and all those great missionaries. I went with Hermana Lund! She just got here and she is so sweet. Hermana Hernandez left for Resistencia and we got this cute girl from SLC. Love it. I learned so much at this conference though. There is a lot that I know I need to do better as a missionary, I was really grateful to hear this conference! 

I love that General Conference is coming up! I can´t wait to see beautiful Salt Lake! I know that we can all receive answers in conference this week if we look for them! 

I love you all and I know one day I´ll have cooler e-mails. But until that time thanks for the love :)

Love Hermana Healey