Tess, The Charity Case

Hey so thanks for the emails and pictures! It's weird to see the ones of Olivia playing lacrosse because she seems way too little to be on the Gilbert High team, but I guess not! I'm glad the new ward is fun and yeah, we should definitely do the Book of Mormon activity sometime. Haha and that's sweet that Olivia's doing a report on Argentina, if she has any questions let me know! I'm definitely lucky to be here, I'm learning a ton. Sorry I don't have any pictures this week though- I do, but the compu won't let me open them.. I guess you'll have to wait till next week :/

This week was an interesting one. To start out we went on Monday to the farewell of a girl in our ward that's going to Santiago Chile on her mission. We didn't stay for the whole thing though because like 50 people came and they gave time for testimonies, so as you can imagine, it probably lasted about 3 hours given the fact that the people here love to talk.. (: Then tuesday my comp had to do her visa stuff and so I got to hang out in the offices with none other than Hna Smith, my MTC comp! It was funny because it was exactly a year ago last tuesday that she and I left the MTC.. so weird. Anyways so I got to catch up with her, and she's doing great even though she still struggles quite a bit with Castellano. Then as we were eating lunch the mission nurse, Hna Ashby, (the one I translated for) called us and asked if we could do her a favor. She wanted us to go visit her friend with her who just recently had foot surgery and help her share the gospel with her. I guess she had asked Pres. Avila for permission and so since we didn't have appts. we agreed. Before we went we got to eat dinner with Hna Ashby in her apartment, which is pretty nice, and she made us veggie soup, fruit salad, juice, and zuchinni bread. We regretted eating so much soon afterwards though because the lady that we visited fed us a ton too. Her name is Julia (she's related to the bishop of our ward, but isn't a member) and is about 75 years old, but looks great for her age. Her apartment was insane, definitely the nicest one I've been inside in the past 13 months besides Pres. Avila's. She showed us around and then we had like a Tea party with herbal tea, and the table was full of crackers, nuts, fruit, cheese, dulce de membrillo, honey, and alfajores from Santa Fe.. we almost died. She was very friendly and loves the bishop and his family, but she doesn't necessarily believe in God and so we shared a few scriptures but she didn't want us to preach to her. It was still fun though and it was worth a shot. 

So you're not going to believe what happened on Thursday... we were out working as usual and around 10:30 am I looked at the phone and saw that we had a missed call from Hna Avila, Presidente's wife. We were freaking out for a bit, wondering what we had done wrong, but when I called her all she said was this "Hna Crawford, could you please come meet me downtown at 12pm between the streets Buenos Aires and Lavalle, with socks on?". I was a little confused but I said yes anwyays. So we ran home to grab socks and figure out how to get to the streets she had told us, and then at 12 we arrived at none other than a shoe store... Before I go on, I fill you in on something that happened at the zone conference with president a couple weeks ago. As I was translating, the nurse started talking about feet and how we need to take care of them by washing our shoes daily- she then proceeded to make me take off my shoe, and she held it up in front of everyone. The shoe she held up was the charity one that they had given us in La Punta when the saw how destroyed the white ones were (the story I told you on Skype for X-mas), and after 5-ish months of good use they've gotten a little bit destroyed as well, but I kept using them because they're extremely comfortable and I didn't have time nor did I really want to by a new pair. So anyways, she held the shoe up and Hna Avila was right there watching... Fast forward to this Thursday in the shoe store: Hna Avila is there with her 16 yr old daughter Leticia and she starts showing me shoes and asking me which ones I like, and telling me to choose a pair.. Yep, it happened again people. The 2nd pair of charity shoes. Hahaha. I picked a pair that looked comfortable and match with most of my clothes, and we went back to the pench to plan (after grabbing Subway for lunch). Kind of embarrasing, but I couldn't tell her no, not that she even really asked in the first place. It was sweet though to know that she's looking out for me. 

So anyways, on Friday we had exchanges with the sister leaders and I got to go to Dorrego with Hna Enos, who's from Mesa! Her uncle actually teaches Spanish at Gilbert High (Mr. Grover) and he was the volleyball coach when I was there. It was fun getting to know her even though I don't know how they survive in that tiny pench, and we had some interesting lessons with a recent convert who got chewed out by her crazy mormon-hating boss who she lives with as we were teaching, and then one with two little girls (9 and 12 yrs old) and their grandma who's a member. It was a pretty successful exchange. My comp & hna cox had success in our area also- one of our less actives is stopping smoking, another family is really close to coming back to church, and they found a new investigator who's apparently awesome!

Then on Sunday I had to give a talk about testimonies.. It actually went pretty well. Sometimes there talks here are kind of dry and so I tried to make mine a little more interesting by telling them to imagine that after church we're all going to go to the ciclovía (it's a running/biking path that's about 9 kilometers) and run it twice in under 2 hrs, and those that can do it will get 5,000 pesos. Then I used the talk from last conference by elder Maynes and compared it to the race of life and how we need to be in shape by keeping the commandments, etc. They loved it and I got a ton of compliments afterwards!

Ahh I'm out of time but I'm excited for this week- we're having a conference with all of the hnas tomorrow, and then we have general conference!!! Also it's the last week of the transfer. Love you all, have an awesome week!

Hna Crawford

PS- for more pics go to:

http://argentinamendozamission.blogspot.com.ar/

Feliz día de los enamorados!

Hey, happy valentines day!                                     March 24, 2013  

I finally got the package, but I'm waiting to open it until we get home from grocery shopping (: I read that there's t-shirts, candy, and letters though so I'm sure there's some awesome stuff inside- thanks so much! <3 I'm glad the trip to Cali was a success and you got a break from work. That's sick that the lax bros won the championship- way to go hermanos! What's sick in the other sense of the word is that they ripped our ward family apart and we had to adopt new members, what the heck! Haha no, but Bishop Wirthlin will be great, and he's got an amazing lady by his side too to help him out with all the craziness of what's basically a new ward. I'm sure the decision was made based on revelation so it's going to be a good change, but it's kinda sad that the ward I'll be coming back to will be way different than the one I left. It's all good though!

I loved hearing about all the future missionaries that got there calls! I can't believe that Spence is going to the same mission as Elder Willden- that's insane!! And that's so awesome that Kenna's going to Texas speaking SPANISH- yeahhhhhhh!!! That's so exciting! Also I can't wait to find out where Jake's gonna go!! My guess is Peru!

So this week was a lot better than the last ones! My favorite less active Salomé didn't come to church yesterday :,( but we did have lunch with her on Saturday... she's cray haha. She has a lot of theories about metaphysical Christian stuff (like our recent convert Cristina) and believes that we should enjoy being humans and not deprive ourselves of things like a good wine & stuff like that, but she's still awesome and definitely unique. She didn't tell me I was fat this time, but she did tell me that "she can tell by my face that I've done bad things in the past and that I like worldly things", but she says my comp "has always been on the path of God"?? Hahah with Salomé you never know what she's gonna say next.

Besides lunch with Salomé we also met a golden investigator! It's a lady I talked to on the street a few weeks ago that had a 12 year old and a newborn baby and was willing to hear what we had to say. We had a lesson in her house a few days ago and she's super prepared! She already has a really strong testimony of Christ, miracles, families, prayer, having patience in trails, etc. and she commited to read the pamphlet and pray. She's awesome and we think she might be married! We have another lesson with her this wednesday so I'll let you know how it goes- pray for her!

Funny story- yesterday Hna Sanford & I were singing Veggie Tale songs in the morning, and so as we went out to preach I was singing "oh where is my hairbrush", of course, and then suddenly this 25 yr old guy on a bike pulls up next to us and asks if I speak English.. haha so we talked a bit (my comp understands English almost perfectly) and he's actually Italian and is in South America working with some organization that helps people with disabilities. It was definitely a random experience, but he's a cool guy.

On Saturday we had a Relief Society activity where we got to clean the chapel (all 3 floors). I got to hang out with Carlita and Hna Inocenta and get to know both of them better. I told Carlita a few stories about my past and my conversion, which was cool, and the next day she told me that the stories helped her out a lot (: Hna Inocenta is super funny and was ordering us around as we were cleaning, and was singing the Peruvian national anthem. It was fun and it felt good to finally do service after a while of not having the chance.

Yesterday was awesome too. All of our recent converts came to church (there's 5) and we taught the Gospel Principles class about the scriptures and it went really well! Afterwards we had ASADO with Carlita's family (her mom and her three sisters, and then we had a lesson with Marfa (haha, I know- it's a strange name), Carlita's 23 year old sister who's really cool and is reading the Book of Mormon. She hasn't had a lot of time to talk to us because she's in college and has a boyfriend who she's thinking about marrying, but hopefully now that classes are ending she'll have time to talk to us more! She's smart, and has a lot of potential. She also told me that I sound more like someone from Buenos Aires than someone from the States, which scores her some extra points. Afterwards we had our Book of Mormon activity! Ok, only 9 people showed up (besides the 3 Elders) but it was still a hit. We took pics of all the families a few weeks ago and glued them in the front page of the Books of Mormon, and then we watched the Reflections of Christ video, and an elder read this story about Christ where they had to close their eyes and imagine that the Savior is there alone with them and He's smiling, then they imagine the Atonement, that He's suffering for them, etc. and it made most of them cry. As their eyes were closed we put the books on their laps and when the story was over they opened them and saw their pictures. They then dedicated it to someone and watched a video of the pictures of the families in the Ward. We also did a demonstration of how they can give it to their friend/family member. It was awesome even though only a few people came! We're going to see if we can do a mini version of it on Sunday so that the rest of the ward can have their pictures and have the chance to give it to someone too.

Those were the highlights of last week! This one should be fun too- my comp has to do some visa stuff tomorrow downtown so I'll be at the offices all morning/afternoon with some other Hnas, and then on friday we have exchanges. Thanks for figuring the school stuff out and for the package! Love you! Que tengan una linda semana!

<3,

Hermana Tess Crawford

Yay! Remember one of the very 1st pics I sent home from the MTC holding the Valentine's day package from my roommates? Here's the 2014 version

for some reason I took an unusual amount of cat pictures this week- here's the first one of a homeless, eyeless kitten.. he was angry

another horse sighting- this time there were 2!

hey dad- you have pilares.

Carlita & Hna Inocenta at the activity on Saturday, so cute

asado! <3 

2nd cat pic- caption it if you want

and here's the 3rd haha

More of my area

Green powder on St. Patty's day

What up flia!                                                               March 17, 2014  Godoy Cruz

I'm glad everyone got to enjoy their Spring Break adventures! Loved the stories and pictures. Looks like everythings great out there in AZ!

Down here in Arg. things are a little rough for everyone because of the economic situation right now. Just about everyone we talk to is on edge and it definitely complicates the work a little bit too because they've got a lot of things on their minds and don't have time to listen, but it's all good, we're doing what we can to help those that are willing to listen find peace. We had a little bit more success this week than the last one. A miracle happened las Thursday when a lady named Salome rang the doorbell of the mission office and told the elders she was a member but hadn't gone in over ten years and wanted to know what she needed to do to come back. She's 32 and got baptized at age 14 in Chile but she was the only member in her fam and when she moved to Argentina with her boyfriend and had her baby she lost contact with the church, but now her daughter is 10, and the two of them live alone. We had a lesson with Salomé on Thursday and then she and her daughter both came to church yesterday and stayed all 3 hours! She's super cool even though she told me I was fat and apparently is going to get me some sort of green powder to take so that I can lose weight... Yep.

We also had Zone Conference which was amazing- our Pres. is the best. What wasn't cool about it was that they made me translate a 10 min presentation that the mission nurse gave who still doesn't speak much Spanish. She's crazy and she wouldn't pause to let me translate and so it was kind of a mess.

It's always funny to have a comp from another country because of the different words and phrases we each use, for example this week we had a discussion about whether a lemon is called a lime or a lemon.. according to my comp, a lemon is a lime and a lime is a lemon. But we all know that lemons are lemons and limes are limes, right? Also, she calls socks pantis. Oh and she plucks her armpit hairs.. hahaha

Not much else happened this week besides meeting a crazy old depressed lady who won't stop crying and wouldn't let us teach, and also we met a crazy old guy who freaked out when I told him I was from Arizona. He congratulated me from being from there and then the next time we ran into him he said Hola, la Arizona, como andás? Haha.

That's about it. This week Fall is supposedly starting :( and hopefully we'll find some more people to teach! Don't forget to say your prayers and read the Book of Mormon. Love you! 

<3,

Hna Arizona

Yeah this is a normal sight to see here in Godoy Cruz

Zoo pic of the 4 of us

Carlita, Cristina, my comp and I! 

trip to el dentista

One of the few that has a home <3

be grateful for seedless grapes, people of the U.S.

anybody want pizza?....

Zone: Godoy Cruz. I went from a zone of 10 hnas and 6 elders to this one.. /:

Merry Cumpleaños & Feliz Christmas to mí

Hey family how's it going? 

Definitely wasn't expecting the story about trying to stop the car while holding Presley! Dang, I'm glad everything was fine though, that could've been bad. That's good that you're able to relax a bit now- besides the whole work thing- and go to the temple. I can't believe Chloe's in Mexico and Olivia's in Cali.. no es justo. That's awesome though, I hope they have fun! Tell all the Wilson kids happy late birthday and also tell Audrey congrats on the new bebé! That's crazy that Chloe might work at Coldstone- tell her to eat a bunch of ice cream so that she fattens up and then when I get back I won't feel as bad because we'll both be gorditas together haha. So yeah, as you already know, I got my presents por fin! We've been listening to the music all week, I ate the chocolate the first day, I loved the letters from the Halls (thanks Anath for the shark, cat, and husband and Hall kids for the cards!) and from grandma & grandpa Koski (thanks for the snickers and kit kats) and the letters from you guys too were great! Best Christmasbirthday ever! I also got 3 christmas cards/letters in the mail too from the Stewarts, Sis. Petersen, and the Wirthlins which were also awesome!

So.. apart from the package and letters, this week was... rough. Probably one of the roughest I've had as far as the work goes. First of all we had to drop the only investigators we had because they aren't progressing at all/ they don't let us teach them. Also, the people here are great, but this week just about everyone we tried to talk to didn't want anything to do with us and they wouldn't even say hi to us as we walked by. It's quite the change from La Punta where a lot of the people said hi to us first and let us into their houses.. The grand total of lessons that we had this week was 0. Yep. We had 2 with recent converts, but that's it. We had an FHE planned with 2 less active families (we made a cake and everything) and they both stood us up. There's also a new rule in the mish where we have to start working at 9:30am and then after lunch during the siesta we finish our studies and then head back out again.. it's exhausting, but in spite of the extra time we had we still didn't have great luck. So yeah it's been an interesting week. I'm going bald too just in case you were wondering. But hey, no one ever said missionary work was easy and trials make us stronger so it's all good, we're just going to do what we can and leave the rest to the Lord. Don't worry about us, we still laugh and have fun despite what's been happening.

On the bright side, our ward is cool! The recent converts here are awesome and each one is really unique- Carlita is a 19 year old who is the only member in her fam. and has a really fun personality and always wants to help us out in lessons (her dream is to get married in the Salt Lake temple, she's obsessed), then there's Miriam and her fam who are doing great even though they've had a rough past few years with the abusive ex boyfriend, there's also Cristina who is..unique. She's 38, single, a little (ok, extremely) quirky and only likes gringos (as far as dating goes). Her parents both have passed away, and her fathers last words were that she needs to belong to the Mormon church, so a few weeks later she went and found the church and started taking lessons.. crazy, huh! It's been fun to get to know them cuz I've never had an area with recent converts.

So that's all I've got, folks. I hope we all have a great week this week and that you enjoy spring break!Mine's bound to be better because I have Nutella that I just bought and Cajun trail mix :) Thanks for the prayers/fasts! Love you!

Hna Crawford

finally got my christmas/birthday package!

the hnas have been STEALING my Cajun Trail Mix for the past few days- even though they made fun of me when they first saw it- and now they're both addicted and keep bugging me for more haha.. they're not getting any.

Godoy Cruz, definitely the richest area I've been in so far

true love <3

fuimos al zoológico de Mendoza.. it was a little sketchy and the animals were old and not super well taken care of but it was still an adventure

un oso bañándose

it says "avoid accidents: don't feed loose monkeys"

I guess this is what they mean by "loose monkeys"

aguante BYU

the most flexible elefante I've ever seen

I love that they use vos here instead of tú, and I've been practicing using it because it sounds cool.. you probs have no idea what that means but just pretend you do or ask someone who does!

cute little house in our area

Farewell Party and Hello Mendoza!

What up flia. 

It's awesome to hear that the temple celebration and dedication went well despite of the pouring rain haha, classic! That's so cool that it stopped just in time though, of course the Lord wasn't going to let the rain ruin the program. Judging by the pictures you sent, it looks like it turned out great! It's gotta be weird though now that it's all over after months of stressing, hopefully you're enjoying it.

So my week was amazing!! After a super rainy and cold p-day (we did end up teaching Angie & Matias the law of chastity and it went surprisingly well except we couldn't invite them to baptism because we got kicked out early so they could by shampoo at the store..), and a sad day of district meeting and farewells (yes, it was harder than previous transfers), I finally made it here to Mendoza.. I love it here! It's a big change from La Punta to here, there's actually people, loud noises, cars, music, stores, etc.. what the heck. No it's a really pretty area though, I didn't realize Mendoza could be this green. My pench is super nice even though it's not in quite as calm of an area, we have HOT WATER <3, a couch, bunk beds, and a washing machine/dryer! Love it. The kitchen is big too. The floor was falling apart when I got  here but we already got it fixed, don't worry. My comp is awesome too!! I already love her, though I was slightly intimidated at first (look at the pics and you'll see why). She's from Arequipa, 22, second oldest of 5, studies beauty aka facials and stuff like that, seems more Gringa than Peruvian, watches Walking Dead, and is really sweet and funny! The ward is cool! We share it with office elders, we're in the stake center and so we actually have pews- it's a miracle. I gave my testimony & it went surprisingly well!

I have no time so really quickly just so you know I'm gonna get my package finally this week, it's carnaval today and tomorrow so it should be crazy, we have no lunches this month (only like 3), we're going to the zoo today, and its gonna be an awesome week! 

Love you!!!

Herm. Crawford

El Cabildo (trucho) in San Luis

After walking in the rain without jackets or umbrellas it turns out it was closed, so we couldn't go inside

Gary

..yep, another one

saying goodbye to Gloria, Lucia, and Jose :(

Flia Ponce, the family from Peru that we were teaching

the branch did a farewell for me on Tuesday!

more pics of the farewell

my fave La Punta members/almost members (Cinthia) & I: Flia Romero, Flia Aguilera, Hnas Cinthia, Varela, and Videla

Flia Quiroga again

Hna Sanford & I on our way to Mendoza!

sneak peek of the new area

My new kitchen & comp (she cooks really well!)

the mish office right next to our chapel

Baptism of Miriam Salinas! Hna Keller found her and she was finally able to get baptized (her kids already did) because she separated from her scary abusive boyfriend who brought a gun to church last sunday apparently.. they're trying to get restraining orders.. but it was amazing and the spirit was incredibly strong during the baptism and confirmation!!