DREAMS COMING TRUE!!

I love where I am right now! Seriously I think I'm the luckiest girl EVER!!! I'm in a position to fulfill all my dreams, and well that is what I'm trying to do, even if it means I don't have a penny to my name!!

So on Sunday I had the most amazing experience to go with one of my converts to get her Patriarchal blessing, it was a sweet experience, although full of trials to get there!! We didn't really know how to get there, so we took the subway (I know my way around the subway a lot better than in busses) As we were getting on the subway I accidentally stepped on Monica's shoe, it immediately broke, no way to fix it or use it to walk!! I offered to just get a taxi so she wouldn't have to walk everywhere without a shoe, this city is pretty dirty. She refused to let me get a taxi so we went walking... 11 blocks!!! We got there everything was good, she received her blessing while I sat in the living room and chatted with the Patriarchs wife. Then the wife gave Monica a needle and some thread and Monica was able to sew her shoe enough to where she could use it to walk at least a little bit. Feeling much better we walked out of the Patriarchs house, and not even 2 steps outside the other shoe broke for no reason at all!!! So she had to walk with only one shoe AGAIN!! At least the second time wasn't my fault!! Then we ended up taking the wrong bus and having to take another one, then getting off at the wrong spot... after everything we finally made it home safely! But it was worth all the trials to see how happy and at peace she was when she came out from getting her blessing!! I can't wait because in a couple of weeks I'm going back to Uruguay, only this time with Monica and she is going to go to the temple for the first time! And yesterday they gave me the assignment to teach her the temple prep classes!! What a great privilege that is!!

So not only am I able to live my dream as a missionary to see my converts continue strong in the church (by the way Fernanda and Claudio who were just sealed gave FANTASTIC talks in church on the importance of temple work on Sunday!!) I'm also able to live my dreams of traveling, ever since I heard of Ushuaia, I have wanted to see it... I honestly can't remember how old I was, my mom says she thinks I was in 4th or 5th grade... whenever it was it has been a dream I've had for a LONG time!! It is also the southern most city in the world, one of my dreams/goals is to visit all 7 continents, I honestly don't have much desire to actually go to Antarctica, but being in the southern most city I feel will count... its as close as I can get to it without actually having to go to it!!!! I just bought my plane ticket, and I'm so happy! I'm going in about 3 1/2 weeks!! I don't really know people there, but one of my favorite mission comps will be there visiting families she knows, and has already told me I have a place to stay!! I'm so happy!!

Well i was just informed there are tortas fritas, I'm starving since I haven't eaten anything in a long time!! Chau all!!!

SLEEP

So my new fan has been my life saver!!! I basically never leave my room!! This week has been the hottest since getting to Argentina, it makes me remember why I never wanted to come back to Argentina during the summer!! This week has been kind of a boring one, I've just gone to work, and done homework! I was going to go a modern art museum and then walk around san telmo, a really cool neighborhood, well I made it to the museum, but I started feeling really sick, I'll spare you all the details! I decided to just go home, I'm sad cause modern art really isn't my thing, I thought the little bit of the museum I did see was kind of weird! I was more looking forward to seeing San Telmo, oh well I'll go back another day!

I got home and basically just went to sleep, I slept all day, and would have slept through the night, but my lovely brother Nico came and woke me up when he got home around 11, and then they had me come eat dinner... I was awake for a little while, but then I just went back to sleep, and I slept until about 12:30... I'm def getting caught up on my sleep!! I'm wanting to do something fun this weekend, so hopefully I can think of something!!

HOT HOT HOT

So the past month I have been just MELTING from the heat here!! Most people have fans in their home, and coming here I just assumed that there would be a fans here in the Feresin home too. Almost nobody has air conditioning here, so I wasn't expecting that! Well I got here, and to my biggest surprise, there wasn't even one fan! When they had moved they forgot to bring their fans!!! Usually during the day it isn't too bad because they have lots of windows that when there is a little bit of wind it blows right through the house, in fact sometimes I forgot there wasn't any fans!! That is until I would go to sleep at night, I sleep in a room that has no ventilation, no windows, and gets really really hot!! Every morning I wake up just drenched in sweat, not really that fun trust me!!

The family kept telling me they were going to buy me a fan and stuff like that, I felt bad because they don't have the money for it, so finally last week I just told them I'm buying myself a fan, and today! Well I ended up not being able to buy it that day, so I had to wait until yesterday to buy it... but it was the happiest moment of my life!!
I went with Kevin and we bought it together, and he being the man he is carried it home for me, and I had to leave to go visit Monica, so I just left it at home still in the box and everything, when I got home from visiting Monica it was all put together and running... I almost wanted to cry! I was sooo happy! It is nice to be loved, the Feresin's would do anything for me!!

This morning I woke up nice and cool, it was the nicest feeling EVER!!! I love my fan!!!

Finally I have begun!!

Well Wednesday I finally started my volunteer program, it was a lot of fun, we had a birthday party for all the kids who had birthdays in January, and it happened to be my brothers birthday that day too!! We played with the kids, and then sang happy birthday and gave them all a piece of cake. I had a ton of fun because I love working with kids, and these kids are all just really sweet. The other volunteers are a lot of fun too, even though almost none of them speak Spanish, on Wednesday I was the only one who actually speaks Spanish well, and yesterday there was one other volunteer that spoke Spanish really well! So I get a big headache because all the volunteers are speaking English and I'm thinking in Spanish. Also I have to really pay attention when they are speaking in English because none of them are from the states, they are all from different countries so have really thick accents, for example here are a few of the countries the other volunteers are from: England, Wales, Australia, Germany, Norway, and Estonia. I'm sure there are other countries I just can't think of them right now!

I'm loving my time here!! Also yesterday my Argentine brother got his mission call, he wanted to go anywhere except Bolivia, Peru or Chile... his mission call is Chile, Santiago North!! He is still pretty excited, the only thing he is upset about is he doesn't leave until almost the end of May!!

Welp other than the heat, I'm loving my life here in Argentina!! Can life get any better than this? I submit that it cannot!!

Another orientaion?? Really??

So yesterday I went to my internship, only to have yet ANOTHER orientation. I officially start working on Wednesday, no more orientations!! This orientation was a bit more informational for me than the other one. This one was all about what we do with the kids and stuff. I got to the LIFE office and had to fill out an account and stuff, there were 2 other girls there for the orientation, one is from Germany, and the other is from England, and the guy that did the orientation is from Estonia!! It was pretty cool hearing everyones different accents!!

The orientation was just basically telling us where we will be working, how we will get there, and what we do. We basically just play with the kids, they have 5 different sites they go to, and it just depends what day it is which site they go to. And for example every Wednesday they go to a site and throw a birthday party for all the kids in that area that have a birthday in that month, they get a birthday cake that we make, and a wrapped present, which is awesome, because kids in these areas don't get things like that ever!! Other things we do with them is we take them to the pool, museums, or we just sit and play with them, color, or whatever we can to keep them entertained and off the streets. I'm pretty excited because I'm starting on the birthday party day, then the next day I'm going to the pool with the kids, yeah I think this is going to be a fun job :).
After the internship was over, Sarah (the girl from England) invited me out for a drink, I politely declined by saying I don't drink, she seemed surprised at first, and then almost desperately said well a coke or something? She had mentioned earlier in the orientation that this is her first time traveling far away by herself, and she doesn't speak ANY Spanish. So I said yeah I guess I can go for a coke, we went to a restaurant on the corner, and we both ended up getting a Licuado of strawberries and oranges (its kind of like a smoothie). It was fun getting to know her and stuff, and of course I loved her accent!! She went to Sri Lanka a few years ago to volunteer there, and she said her next goal is to go to Kenya, she sounds a lot like me :).

So that was my first day at the LIFE offices, I'm excited to start for real tomorrow, to meet the kids and really get into my internship!!

Here is a video of a couple dancing the Tango, they had a Tango show on the boat on the way home from Uruguay, it was pretty cool!!

Uruguay= BEST weekend of my LIFE

So this weekend I went to Uruguay with my Argentine family, and with a lot of people from the Almagro ward. Uruguay is know for their beautiful beaches, did I go to the beach? NO!! I went somewhere even better, the temple!!
We went by boat to Uruguay, so we met at the dock at 9:30, and the boat left at 11pm. It is about 3 hours in boat, and then another 2 hours in bus. It was a pretty fun trip, we slept most of the way, and we got to the hostel at the temple and didn't have much time to get ready before the first session of the day.
I'm glad I didn't have to wait very long, I was so anxious about this session, there were 4 people from Almagro going for the first time, my brother who is waiting for his mission call, Fernanda, one of my converts, and her husband who was baptized a few months before I got to that area, and his mom, who was baptized with him. I'm really close to them, and I was so emotional about being there for them. I always told them I would come for their sealing and stuff like that, but I never actually thought that dream would come true. From the moment Fernanda walked into the temple session I was an emotional wreck, I cried almost the whole time. As a missionary, this is something you pray and dream about, seeing your converts in the temple, I couldn't believe I was actually living that!! It was a very special time in the temple, and as soon as that was over they took us to the sealing room where Fernanda and Claudio were sealed for time and all eternity!! Needless to say I was a mess during that too!!
After the temple we went outside, I took pics with the Feresin family, and then they went to go eat lunch, and I stayed to take pics with Fernanda and Claudio.
She had borrowed a wedding dress from a friend and so we had fun taking wedding pics!! Even though they have been married for years, it was so amazing to see how much in love they were and everything.
Their story is amazing, when he found the church they were seperated and working on their divorce papers, he started listening to the missionaries, changed his life around, asked forgiveness from Fernanda, and she saw how much he had been changing and asked for a book of mormon and started reading it, he was baptized and then she asked to see the missionaries, that is when I got to the area, she was baptised, in fact he was the one that baptized her, and now they are back together!! The gospel changes lives and brings people together!!

The rest of the weekend was really sweet, we did more temple sessions, Saturday Claudio's mom was sealed to her husband who passed away a while ago, and then Claudio was sealed to his mom, it was really sweet! All in all, a great weekend!! I'm going back in Feb because another one of my converts is planning on going then! I'm so blessed and so happy to be here right now!!

We headed back home on Saturday afternoon, the bus we were on broke down and we had to wait for another one, and we got to the dock with just a few minutes to spare!! The trip home was a bit more of an adventure, the way there the boat was really smooth, no problems, the way home the boat was rocking so much, a lot of people got sick, luckily I don't ever get motion sick, but even I was feeling a little off!!

WE made it back safely and I enjoyed sunday, was able to teach the investigators sunday school, and then I had lunch with the missionaries at one of the members house!
All in all a FANTASTIC weekend!!

Zone Conference= 60lbs of potatos

Well the past couple of days have been exhausting, but fun! Saturday night the Zone Leaders of this zone called mama Ofelia to ask her if she could cook for their zone conference on tuesday! There would be 2 zones together for a grand total of 41 missionaries! The Feresin theme is anything and everything for the elders, and they feel like the missionaries need to eat enough to fill themselves for the whole week, no one thinks of the part of the Word of Wisdom where it says not to eat too much!! Anyways I didn't think I would be able to help because I thought I would already be starting my internship, well since I don't start until next week... I was able to go and help. They decided to serve them Milanesa a la Pizza, and potatoes, a very delicious lunch, but a little bit in practical for so many, and they calculated to have enough so that each missionary and repeat THREE TIMES!!! Well do you realize how much chicken and potatoes one needs to buy to fulfill that amount?

Well I don't remember the exact amounts, but we had a 60lbs bag of potatoes that I helped peel, then there was 45lbs of milanesa, it was a lot, but en fin, we were able to do it all, and it turned out delcious, but the three of us (mama ofelia, Daniela and me) were worn out by the end of it!! I had no desire to do ANYTHING the rest of the day!
It was a lot of fun though because I knew a few of the elders there, and it was fun seeing their reaction, also for the elders that didn't know me, if I said anything in English they just stared at me like I was from another planet, then they would gush about how well I speak English, I don't even have an accent... haha!!! I would just laugh so hard and then tell them well I hope i don't have an accent, I'm from the states!!

We had a bit of a problem with the oven, we couldn't figure out how to turn it on, a couple elders came to help us... Daniela was trying to get as far away from the oven as possible, apparently she has had a bad experience, she asked me to put something away in the refrigerator for her because she didn't want to get near the oven, that is way she is laughing in this pic... no worries, we got the oven turned on and there were no causualties!!
This morning I was still trying to recuperate from all the peeling, cutting, and serving I did! I took it easy all morning and afternoon. Then I went out with Kevin to buy food for dinner, I had promised to make tacos for everyone! I was nervous to make tacos because they always tease me that I don't know how to cook, well I knew that if they didn't turn out delicious, that I wouldn't ever be able to live it down!! Well it took me a while to cook the 4-5lbs of meat that I had to cook for everyone, then I had to make a TON of rice, luckily they helped by cutting the tomatoes and lettuce, and onions.
Since here in Argentina they don't have anything mexican, I had to improvise and use empanada dough to make the tortillas, not quite as good, but hey es lo que hay!! I was cooking like a true Argentine, drinking mate while browning the meat, it was so hot in that kitchen, I felt like a crazy person drinking a drink as hot as mate while cooking!! But hey what can I say, it is really good!! My family won't believe me because when I made mate when I got home from the mission, it turned out really gross... well I'm going to learn how they make mate and then make it again when I get home, in fact I will probably make it alot, I really love it alot!!
Well the dinner turned out delicious, I know they all liked it because they all ate a ton, but luckily there are leftovers, so its what we will be eating tomorrow!! I had to make 2 types of meat, one that wasn't hardly spicy at all, because most people here don't like spicy, and the other that was perfectly seasoned (for me it wasn't very spicy, for all the feresin's it was really really spicy).
I'm relieved that they turned out so good, but of course they all teased that just because I cooked something well one time doesn't mean I know how to cook... basically saying they need to see more evidence of my cooking skills!! I'm sure it will never end!!

Well tomorrow (or I guess later tonight) we are all leaving to go to Uruguay to go to the temple, I'm way excited... I get to go to a country I've never been to, and a temple I've never been too! It will be an amazing experience as well because Nico is going for the first time, and so is one of my converts, and not only is she going for the first time, but also she and her husband are going to be sealed as well!! I have a feeling this weekend is going to be one of the best weekends of my life... at least that is what I'm hoping and praying for!!

Well I should probably go to bed now, I have lots to do tomorrow to get ready for Uruguay!!

First Day of Internship... NOT!!

Well today was supposed to be my first day at my internship, I was all excited to start and really see what exactly it is I'm going to be doing, because everyone has been asking me exactly what I'm doing, and well to be honest... I have no idea!!

Well I woke up bright and early at 11am to get ready to leave by 2! HAHA gotta love Argentine schedules! Well I woke up got ready, with the help of Daniela figured out which colectivo (bus) I needed to take to get me there, mama Ofelia was all worried about me going by myself, and offered to have Daniela come with me, but they had to go out and run some errands because they are cooking lunch for zone conference tomorrow. They didn't get back in time, so I went ahead and left by myself. The directions Dani gave me seemed pretty simple so I wasn't too nervous! Well I made it perfectly! I'm always so surprised at how easily I can find my way around the city!! I used to be so bad about directions and stuff, but now I'm way canchera, it is way easy for me to figure out directions now!!

So I got there and there was one other girl already there, she is from Indiana!! Crazy!! Well one other girl came, and instead of working today like I thought I would, it was just an orientation of how Buenos Aires is. How to use the bus systems, subways, and how to travel around the city, what parts to avoid. Basically I didn't learn anything new!! I did get a cell phone, which was nice... and they gave me a backpack with city maps, and a few passes to go try a few things out for free... one pass I might actually use is I have 2 passes to take a tango class... who knows maybe I'll take a friend and go check out tango!! The orientation wore me out, it was all in English, which surprisingly after only 2 weeks in argentina listening to English for a couple of hours gave me a huge headache, and wiped me out for the whole day!

After the orientation they told me I don't start until next monday!! And next monday will be just another orientation, but an orientation for my actual internship, and then after monday I can actually start to work! It is nice though because I can now help with serving the missionaries lunch at zone conference tomorrow, and then I'm going to Uruguay this weekend to go to the temple! Should be a pretty good week!!

Hopefully next week will be a good week too, I'm anxious to start my internship!!

TIGRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I continue to love everything about my stay here!! Let's hope it doesn't change!! This week has been a relaxing one, I haven't really done much! I did go to lunch with the sisters on Tuesday, I was hoping to see one of my converts there, but she had to work so we ate with her mom!

Monday night we all went to the house of Diego's girlfriend. It was her birthday and she is a really good friend of the family, and I know her from the mission! So we all went, she lives pretty far, we had to take subway, train, AND a bus!! We got there pretty late and only spent an hour or so there, then we had to go running to catch the train, usually the last train leaves at midnight or close to it. Well Carla's family has a car so one of her sisters gave us a ride to the station, but since there were 6 of us we had to go in 2 groups. I was in the first group with Daniela, Kevin, and Joaquin. We got there and found out that the last train was coming in 5 min! Which means Diego and Nicolas weren't going to make it! We took the last train and got home really late! Nico and Diego decided to stay at Carla's house and just took the train home the next day!!

Wednesday was AWESOME!! I got to go back to TIGRE!! For those of you who don't know, Tigre was my first area of the mission! I absolutely LOVE Tigre, it will always hold a place in my heart! I went with Nicolas, and it is kind of far from where we live, we had to take subway, then train! But finally as the train was pulling into the station at Tigre I was happier than I can even describe!! We walked over to visit the Olmedo Family, they were always so patient and kind with my because when I was there I didn't understand any Spanish!

Last time I saw them Dani and Nati had just had a little baby girl, well she is now 2 and has a little baby sister!! It was so much fun to be able to hold them and talk with the family!!! We spent a couple of hours there, then they took me to go see Claudia, another member in Tigre who I just love because she served her mission in Los Angeles and so she understood how hard it can be to learn a language!

After visiting her I wanted to go see the Branch President and his family, but I didn't remember exactly how to get there, so I decided to go see the Soler family, Brother Soler was our mission leader, and I love him and his wife! So Nicolas and I walked back over to their house, right as we were walking up Karina was walking home and was with the missionaries!! She hugged me for a long time and the missionaries were excited to see me, even though I hardly knew the older one! We ate dinner with Karina and Andres, and after the missionaries left to go home we stayed a little longer to chat!

Finally we decided to go and since it was kind of late we took a remis (taxi) to the train station, we got there and were walking in when someone said you better run the last train of the night is leaving, we took off running and got to the platform right as the train was pulling away!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I was so mad, that was the last train of the night!! So luckily I had Nicolas with me, because otherwise I would have been completely lost! He knew how to get home using the busses, it just takes a million years!! So We went to the bus stop and took our first bus, we were on it for an hour and 15 min and then we had to wait for the next bus, which took nearly 40 min to come, I was starting to get nervous it would never come! Finally it did and then we had to walk about 7 blocks home, we didn't get home until after 2:30am!!!! I was so exhausted, and mama and papa Feresin had stayed awake to wait for us because we neither of us had a cell phone to call and tell them we were fine!! So they were worried to death about us! I felt so bad! But the good thing is we made it home safely!!!

Other than that excitement life has been pretty boring! We might be going to see Tangled tonight in the theater, it just came out in theaters yesterday here, and I told them how much I liked it, so I think we are going to go see it tonight! Should be fun!! Good thing I have already seen it twice in English so I won't have to pay too much attention to understand everything in spanish!!

Well I think that is all I have to say so far, I feel like no one is reading this, but hey at least I have it all written down!!

First Sunday

Well I went to church on Sunday, and it was AWESOME!!! It was funny seeing everyone's reactions to me being here, them calling me Hermana Gosnell, I had to keep telling everyone my name is Michelle!!! Then those that still couldn't get it into their head that I am not a missionary anymore were inviting me over to their house for lunch when they signed up to give the missionaries lunch!! In fact, today I have lunch with a member and the missionaries because she insisted so much that of course I couldn't say no!!

All in all it was a fantastic day seeing all my old friends here and being welcomed back into the ward with open arms! After church I had the opportunity to visit one of my old areas, I got to see 2 families there and it was a lot of fun! Today I'm hoping to be able to go to Tigre to visit all the people there!! It just all depends on if I have the time or not because Tigre is pretty far from here, probably a good hour or more in travel, I will have to take bus, subway, and train to get there!! Oh good times!!

Well I don't have a lot to update, but I just thought I would write about how awesome everything is... and it is AWESOME!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Well I had one of the best new years I think I have EVER had!!! Friday I went out with Kevin and we went to go see Monica, one of my converts, I had a great time listening to her tell me about how she is progressing so much, I saw her Book of Mormon and it is all marked up and well used!! I love to see that!! Then she told me about how she is getting her patriarchal blessing, and is planning on going to the temple in Feb!!! Best news ever!!

Then when we got back to the house we were getting things ready for the new year, making dinner and all that fun stuff!! at 11:30pm we all sat down to eat and at midnight we got up and gave everyone hugs, it was so nice!!


Then we took lots of pictures, continued eating, they all danced and we listened to music. Then around 2am they all decided to go over to a friend's house, so I went with them, but I ended up falling asleep on the mattress they had out on the balcony!!


All those pics are on facebook, so just go look them up!! It was a great new years, I didn't get home until around 8am and I went straight to bed, and when I woke up the missionaries were here to eat lunch!! I got up and showered real quick then went out to see them!! It is so weird not to be a missionary, I was so grateful I didn't have to go out and work with them, new years is so hard to be a missionary because there is no one out!! They are all inside sleeping!!
Well that is about all, we might go out later and go to a park or something, I have no idea, I'm still just so tired!!!
Well I'm gonna go and try to rest a little now!! CHAU!!