If you don´t know what the subject of this email is from, please go and watch Just Go With It right. the heck. now.
Yo yo yo ladies and gents!
I mean....hola!
So guess what? And this is perty dern sad, but also exciting! This is my last email in the CCM!
Well, my last real email. We´ll get to send a quick one to familia on Monday, but that´s it! So I hope these stories are to your liking because stories like it are never coming again!
Alrighty, so first of all, and I know all of you were dying to know the results of this game, but we pwned the Aaron District last week in volleyball after I got done emailing all of you!
Not that we keep score, but trust me...you can just tell.
Also, you know how I have a super untapped talent for ultimate frisbee? Well guess what I found out about volleyball?
That I do not have the same untapped talent.
But it´s all good, I just have a talent for hitting it into the stratosphere.
Also on that day, we got a whole new batch of kiddos. We got about 15 North Americans and like 50 Latinos, about 35 of which are HERMANAS. I tell ya, that is just too many sistas in one place. But it´s pretty cool too I guess! Hermana Power!
But let´s just talk about the only one that matters. whom my comps and I fondly call Nephi. Alright? Alright okay good. Nephi is one of the Latino Elders. He´s got a not very thick Latino accent because he lived in the U.S. for awhile (and even went to UTAH STATE WHAT UP), and let me just take a few seconds to tell you that he is far too attractive for any young man to be. Like, probably one of the most attractive people I´ve ever seen. Not even exaggerating. The first time we saw him we all said at roughly the same time "he has the stature of NEPHI" And thus, he was called Nephi. To add to the excitement is the fact that he most DEFINITELY knows our opinion, he makes that known every time he throws us a smolder. So anyway, that´s worth sharing. And no, he´s not a distraction. He´s a God sent. God sent him to all the Hermanas here in the CCM to look at. Too bad he´s not going to Uruguay. Or as Dad is probably breathing a sigh of relief, good. thing.
Speaking of prophets of the Book of Mormon, there is this little Moroni statue that is about a foot tall that sits on a table in the Girls staircase. Everytime we pass it, my companions and I turn it around. And somehow, every. single. time. we pass it again, it´s been turned back around. So we´re having a miniature war with someone over this statue. So clearly, as you can see, we´re doing big things here in the CCM.
Alrighty so now I´ll tell you a couple of things about our last day of proselyting, because not a ton happened but what did was pretty cool!
So last Sunday Hermano Eckel talked to us about service and how we need to serve and get to know people first before we jump right into a lesson or asking them for something. So right as we got there, my comps and I saw a girl working in front of her house in her yard. Which is rare for someone to even have a yard, for real. So anyway we asked her if she wanted help. She was hesitant at first and asked us why we wanted to help and in our skirts and everything, to which we said "why not?" She probably thought we are insane because when she said we could help her after we asked again, we all three of us cheered and said "gracias!" Crazy Mormons. so anyway we pulled weeds with her in her yard for a good hour and a half and got to know her. After talking to her and finding out her name is Nerea and she´s 20 and she loves Aerosmith and Bon Jovi and ACDC, and that she´s Christian but doesn´t really go to church and getting our hands fantastically filthy to show of to all our Elders, she actually brought up our church and why we leave home and why we do it without pay. We explained that that´s how important the Gospel is to us and we want to share it with others, then we talked to her and her brother about The Book of Mormon. The beauty of this Gospel is even if you struggle with the language, sometimes all it takes is pointing to a copy of the Book of Mormon and saying "felicidad." Or, "happiness." We can luckily say more than that though, but it´s so comforting to know that it´s the simple things that matter the most. Anyway, we asked her if she would take one and read it, and she was really excited and said yes, and even asked the three of us to sign it. Then we asked if the missionaries could come back and teach, and she told us yes and gave her her address and cell phone number. This girl was SO prepared, and I´m so glad my comps and I decided to do service instead of jumping right into something, because I don´t think that would have worked with her. She thanked us and gave us hugs and the classic kisses on the cheek. And then, awko taco, her older brother Danielo tried to do the same thing. And of course, I was lucky enough to be the first of the three of us to try and shake his hand. So I put my hand out saying "Danielo, sí?" And he put his hand on my shoulder and tried to lean in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. But have no fear, for I was valiant! I kept my hand out and just kept saying "mucho gusto! Mucho gusto!" And he kept saying "no, no, yo soy Italiano, esta bien!" And I just said "No puedo! Mucho gusto!" and finally he gave in. My comps said they probably would have just given in so it´s a good thing I was the first one. That´s what happens when you have my father, and almost more importantly....my brother. So uhhhh got my first awkward encounter with the Latinos out of the way.
We walked away from their house and our hearts were simply bursting with gratitude. We said a very sincere prayer of thanks to our Father in Heaven for helping us find her. She is SO ready, you could just see it in her eyes. I´m so glad he led us to her. There´s no way running into anybody is simply a coincidence.
We didn´t run into anyone who would listen for really the rest of the day. Well, except for our new best friend Jake, who followed us around for a good three hours.
Alright alright, so maybe Jake is a dog.
Jake is a stray dog who we named Jake. He has the body and fur of a border collie, but kind of the colors of a rotweiller. Like he´s all black but with gold on his paws and a fleck of gold above each eye, and his eyes are a goldish color too. The first time we walked past him, he just started following us. And if he wasn´t following us, he was leading the way for us. It was so cute. He would stay about 10 yards in front of us, and every now and then look back and look at us kind of like "you guys still comin´? You are? Okay good" and keep walking. And when we stopped for a break at the park, he just layed by our bench and had a nap. It broke my heart when we had to leave him. I will probably look the rest of my life for a dog that looks like Jake, because he was just beautiful and SO cute. Gahhh hit makes me miss my Charlie Bear.
that was our last time proselyting in Argentina because this weekened is GENERAL CONFERENCE and we´re watching it live! I cannot cannot cannot wait to watch General Conference in the CCM! I am so lucky!
So uhhh... this week has been really interesting. And my comps and I have really learned a lot and stayed super focuses. So focuses, that we have four lists. What are these lists, you may ask? Well, they are lists of what characters everyone between our District and the Aaron District would be if they were people in Disney, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Twilight, getting input from our Elders and others, of course. Don´t worry, if I were in Disney the decision was unanimous among everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, was that I would be Meg in Hercules. for Lord of the Rings, I would be Eowyn, for Harry Potter, i would be Ginny Weasly, and for twilight, I would be Bella. But I´m pretty sure that last one is just because I´m super white. Also, a little tidbit that will make my father super proud. While talking to the Elders about the Lord of the Rings characters, I had to actually be the one to explain to THEM who some of the characters are. And afterwards, Elder White was like "wait, are you actually really into Lord of the Rings?" To which I said uhhhh DUH and then the Elders said "Wow, I´ve never met a girl who is that into it." Which could mean one of two things. A. they were impressed. or B. I really needed a life in high school and I am just now figuring that out. But either way, I thought that would make you proud Dad. Thanks a bunch for teaching me the ways of LOTR.
I´m running out of things to say and we keep asking each other what to type. There really isn´t much else.
OKay, so I guess I can get a little deep on you guys here. I cannot believe my time here in the Argentina MTC is almost over. I have loved it so much. I can´t even explain how much I have learned and grown in just six weeks. The people I have met here have truly changed me. My companions are not just the best companions ever, they are the best FRIENDS ever. And I know we will be friends forever, because I have never met anyone like the two of them, or had the kind of friendship like I have with them. My teachers Hermana Gutierrez and Hermano Abad were so meant to teach our District, and they have changed us all for the better with their testimonies and the love you can see in your eyes. And the same goes for the friendships I´ve made with some of the other 18 people I came here with. There´s just nothing like the bond that´s formed over a dreadful flight to Buenos Aires and starting anew with a new language, every one of us with similar fears, insecurities, and excitements. My goodbye here will without a doubt be even harder than leaving home was. But as it says in Alma when Alma and Amulek and all those who would serve with them leave each other to serve the Lord, "they scattered themselves throughout the land, trusting in the Lord that they would meet at the end of their harvest. For how important was the work they were undertaking." Something like that. I will miss these people with all my heart. The CCM will always hold a piece of me. My testimony is stronger, my Spanish is better, and I have made a bunch of new best friends. I´ve cried, I´ve feared, I´ve struggled. I´ve laughed my pants off, I´ve learned, I´ve grown. I cannot wait for my adventures in Uruguay. I can´t wait to see how much I can grow in 17 months. More importantly, I can´t wait to find those people who the Lord has prepared for me to find.
YAAAAYYYYYYYY I JUST GOT A CARD FROM MY MOMMA. Yay yay yay. I love you!
Okay anyway, back to topic. I know Jesus Christ lives. I know he bled and died for us. I know he bled and died for ME. I´m seeing that more and more everyday as my relationship with Him and the Lord grows stronger. The hope They bring is why I am here today. What a blessing that I get to share that hope with others!
Yep, Hurricane Katrina could do "somethin". Imma do somethin´transcendent.
I love you, I love you, I love you! Next stop, Uruguay!
Hermana Dolan
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