Word of the Week: ortiga (stinging nettle)

This has been a crazy week with Hna. Cuello getting ready to go home to Buenos Aires and with me getting ready to train again. Needless to say, we kept busy, walked a lot, and got into lots of doors, unfortunately, our investigators seem to have disappeared---though it doesn't help that it's the American Soccer Cup right now and everyone is invested in watching soccer and not so much worried about their eternal salvation. Maybe we should use it as our door approach--"Hey, who's playing? Can we come in an watched with you? We brought a "treat" to share with you..." and then we can start in on the Book of Mormon. I'm starting to like this idea more and more as I think about it. Hahaha. This week was the second Argentine independance day on the 9th, though no one even remembered why they had the day off from work. (the 25th of May is when Argentina declared independance) and then on the 9th of July they signed their version of the declaration of independence, though I've heard multiple versions about what the 2 days represent. They don't do anything here to celebrate, but like I said, they have the day off. At least once or twice a month they have a holiday, so most people don't attach any significance to holidays any more because they come around so frequently! Hna. Cuello and I made empanadas to celebrate (thanks for the taco seasoning! it made for great empanadas!) She said that they were way better than the ones you can buy and that I folded the edges better than she does and she's Argentine....I felt pretty good after that. So, have no fear--Empanadas will be made at home! They were delicious if I do say so myself! We did see some awesome miracles this week! On Thursday, we went to a neighborhood where we haven't worked hardly at all because the other hermanas worked there a ton. We went and within a few hours, we had gotten into over 5 homes and taught 14 people. IT WAS AWESOME! lots of short lessons, but here, it's about getting into the door! Friday night, we went to visit a less active family where the wife is active but her husband and 5 sons are all inactive. We went over to watch the Joseph Smith movie with them since I recently got a copy of it in Castellano. At first, they were just watching it, but by the end, the spirit had filled their home! I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a home in a while...it was incredible! Afterwards, Hna. Cuello and I bore testimony about Joseph Smith and the living prophets and it was like I was testifying to myself. I've been studying Elijah the prophet this week because we're having a hard time getting people to understand the line of authority and the Priesthood power that was lost in the great apostasy. It's hard here with all the Catholics who believe that Peter passed the Priesthood to the pope. So, I decided to study more about the ancient prophets in the Bible, starting with Elijah. As I watched the video of Joseph Smith, I realized that his experiences were almost exactly the same as Elijah's in terms of what types of miracles he performed. On top of it all, it was like my mind clicked and my understanding was deepened. It was a very powerful experience for all of us; you could see it in their face and could feel it in the stillness of their home. It was incredible. The other miracle came Saturday morning when Hna. Cuello and I were cleaning through our ward list and had planned to pass by some less active members. Out of all the names we put down, one woman was home, but she really had forgotten everything about the church and was really distracted and not too interested in re-learning. We had a few minutes before our lunch appointment and one more address to check out, so we went. When we got to the door, we realized it was a door we've knocked multiple times, but have never gotten into. This time, a young woman came to the door and let us right in. I don't know that we even said our names or who we were; she just let us in. Yoanna welcomed us in and let us sit down while she went to tend her 2 small kids that I had just woken up (yes...it was about 12:30 in the morning...). While we helped her sweep and clean up her home, she told us about how she had gotten pregnant at 19 and had her daughter, then got pregnant a few years later with her son, but her then boyfriend left her for another girl before Yoanna had her baby. She then told us about how her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend put a curse on her because she was jealous and how weird things have been happening in her life and home since then, including the refigerator door randomly falling off it's hinges....weird. Anyway, she then looked at us and asked us if we believed in things like curses and "a dark side" to which we replied that Satan exists, but God is more powerful in every regard. We then told her that we had a book that she could read and that would help protect her and her family by bringing more of the spirit of God into her home. We then taught her about the Book of Mormon and her eyes just lit up! It was awesome. The best part was that I had been studying about the Brother of Jared in the morning during my personally study and felt particularly impressed to share with her the personal insight I received while studying. She loved what I shared and completely understood and said that it was beautiful. I shared about how just like the Brother of Jared and his family were constantly tossed upon the waves of the seas and were driven under huge waves, the Lord always rescued them and brought them back to the surface when they cried out to him. Even though the winds never stopped tormenting them, in the end, the winds are what lead them to the promised land. In our lives, it's the same: the challenges never stop blowing and often times we feel driven beneath huge waves, but as we cry out to the Lord, he will rescue us and bring us back to the surface so we can catch our breath. But the big picture is that the challenges and the winds of life always drive us to a better place in the end--whether that be spiritually or emotionally or temporally, our challenges lead us to the "promised land" in this life and the "promised land" of eternity in the celestial kingdom. Yoanna tapped right into and loved it. I feel like it really sparked her interest to read. I can't wait to go back and visit her. She told us how last year, when she was in her mom's house in another part of the city, she met some sister missionaries, but had no interest in listening to them. She listened to their prayer, but nothing more. A few days later, she found a great job. She told us how just a few days before she was talking with her new boyfriend about these missionaries she met and how it had been a miracle that she found work right after meeting them. She said that she was looking for sister missionaries but didn't think any visited her neighborhood and then we appeared at her door. The Lord truly knows His children and prepares them over time because now, Yoanna wants to listen to us because she's seen miracles from the Lord as she listened to the missionaries that one time over a year ago. Gotta run! Talk to you all next week. Thanks for all your love and support! Hna. Pelton This has been a crazy week with Hna. Cuello getting ready to go home to Buenos Aires and with me getting ready to train again. Needless to say, we kept busy, walked a lot, and got into lots of doors, unfortunately, our investigators seem to have disappeared---though it doesn't help that it's the American Soccer Cup right now and everyone is invested in watching soccer and not so much worried about their eternal salvation. Maybe we should use it as our door approach--"Hey, who's playing? Can we come in an watched with you? We brought a "treat" to share with you..." and then we can start in on the Book of Mormon. I'm starting to like this idea more and more as I think about it. Hahaha. This week was the second Argentine independance day on the 9th, though no one even remembered why they had the day off from work. (the 25th of May is when Argentina declared independance) and then on the 9th of July they signed their version of the declaration of independence, though I've heard multiple versions about what the 2 days represent. They don't do anything here to celebrate, but like I said, they have the day off. At least once or twice a month they have a holiday, so most people don't attach any significance to holidays any more because they come around so frequently! Hna. Cuello and i made empanadas to celebrate (thanks for the taco seasoning! it made for great empanadas!) She said that they were way better than the ones you can buy and that I folded the edges better than she does and she's Argentine....I felt pretty good after that. So, have no fear--Empanadas will be made at home! They were delicious if I do say so myself! We did se some awesome miracles this week! On thursday, we went to a neighborhood where we haven't worked hardly at all because the other hermanas worked there a ton. We went and within a few hours, we had gotten into over 5 homes and taught 14 people. IT WAS AWESOME! lots of short lessons, but here, it's about getting into the door! Friday night, we went to visit a less active family where the wife is active but her husband and 5 sons are all inactive. We went over to watch the Joseph Smith movie with them since I recently got a copy of it in Castellano. At first, they were just watching it, but by the end, the spirit had filled their home! I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a home in a while...it was incredible! After word, Hna. Cuello and I bore testimony about Joseph Smith and the living prophets and it was like I was testifying to myself. I've been studying Elijah the prophet this week because we're having a hard time getting people to understand the line of authority and the Priesthood power that was lost in the great apostasy. It's hard here with all the Catholics who believe that Peter passed the Priesthood to the pope. So, I decided to study more about the ancient prophets in the Bible, starting with Elijah. As I watched the video of Joseph Smith, I realized that his experiences were almost exactly the same as Elijah's in terms of what types of miracles he performed. On top of it all, he was like my mind clicked and my understanding was deepened. It was a very powerful experience for all of us; you could see it in their face and could feel it in the stillness of their home. It was incredible. The other miracle came Saturday morning when Hna. Cuello and I were cleaning through our ward list and had planned to pass by some less active members. Out of all the names we put down, one woman was home, but she really had forgotten everything about the church and was really distracted and not too interested in re-learning. We had a few minutes before our lunch appointment and one more address to check out, so we went. When we got to the door, we realized it was a door we've knocked multiple times, but have never gotten into. This time, a young woman came to the door and let us right in. I don't know that we even said our names or who we were; she just let us in. Yoanna welcomed us in and let us sit down while she went to tend her 2 small kids that I had just woken up (yes...it was about 12:30 in the morning...). While we helped her sweep and clean up her home, she told us about how she had gotten pregnant at 19 and had her daughter, then got pregnant a few years later with her son, but her then boyfriend left her for another girl before Yoanna had her baby. She then told us about how her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend put a curse on her because she wasjealous and how weird things have been happening in her life and home since then, including the refigerator door randomly falling off it's hinges....weird. Anyway, she then looked at us and asked us if we believed in things like curses and "a dark side" to which we replied that Satan exists, but God is more powerful in every regard. We then told her that we had a book that she could read and that would help protect her and her family by bringing more of the spirit of God into her home. We then taught her about the Book of Mormon and her eyes just lit up! It was awesome. The best part was that I had been studying about the Brother of Jared in the morning during my personally study and felt particularly impressed to share with her the personal insight I received while studying. She loved what I shared and completely understood and said that it was beautiful. I shared about how just like the Brother of Jared and his family were constantly tossed upon the waves of the seas and were driven under huge waves, the Lord always rescued them and brought them back to the surface when they cried out to him. Even though the winds never stopped tormenting them, in the end, the winds are what lead them to the promised land. In out lives, it's the same: the challenges never stop blowing and often times we feel driven beneath huge waves, but as we cry out to the Lord, he will rescue us and bring us back to the surface so we can catch our breath. But the big picture is that the challenges and the winds of life always drive us to a better place in the end--whether that be spiritually or emotionally or temporally, our challenges lead us to the "promised land" in this life and the "promised land" of eternity in the celestial kingdom. Yoanna tapped right into and loved it. I feel like it really sparked her interest to read. I can't wait to go back and visit her. She told us how last year, when she was in her mom's house in another part of the city, she met some sister missionaries, but had no interest in listening to them. she listened to their prayer, but nothing more. a few days later, she found a great job. She told us how just a few days before she was talking with her new boyfriend about these missionaries she met and how it had been a miracle that she found work right after meeting them. She said that she was looking for sister missionaries but didn't think any visited her neighborhood and then we appeared at her door. The Lord truly knows His children and prepares them over time because now, Yoanna wants to listen to us because she's seen miracles from the Lord as she listened to the missionaries that one time over a year ago. Gotta run! Talk to you all next week. Thanks for all your love and support! Hna. Pelton