"it`s beginng to look a lot like CHRIST-mas"............December 15, 2014

Hello, my dearest familia y amigos. How the heck are ya? I sure hope you`re doing well. Today for PDay, we made french fries and oreo milkshakes. A lot of oil, a lot of fat, a lot of sugar...it made us gringos feel very at home :) 

So the biggest thing I have to report is JAZMÍN. I am pretty sure the last time I was in Colonia, i talked about Veronica. She`s a less active woman we were always working with. She`s Mary (my Uruguayan mom`s) daughter, and Carolina`s best friend....it was through her that we met Carolina. Anywho, her husband is currently working as a policeman in Guatemala. And they have two daughters: Jazmìn, who`s 10, and Mia, who`s 4. Jazmín was never baptized and never wanted to. The 4 of us missionaries tried so hard to catch her interest, but it just never happened! She is a little girl with a lot of fire, and a very determined character. When she wants something, she WANTS it, and when she doesn`t, she absolutely doesn`t haha. So we figured it was just a matter of patience, and mostly worked with her mom. 

Well, Presidente Figares called last week, saying that Veronica had just called him telling him that Jazmìn has decided that she wants to be baptized. She just up and decided it. UMMM WHAT. And they wanted to do it soon, because next week they`re all going to go up to Guatemala for 2 months to be with the dad. It almost wasn`t going to be able to happen, because of some rules with baptizing kids, so on Monday we had told them they were going to have to wait until after they got back. So they were kind of bummed, and I was too because I really wanted to be able to see this great little girl get baptized. But THEN, Pres. Smith called and gave the go ahead. So they were stoked! 

So, because of miracles and tender mercies of the Lord, on Saturday, Jazmín Casaravilla was baptized! 

While were in the bathroom before the baptism, she looked at me and said "Hermana Dolan, God obviously wanted you to see me get baptized. I`m glad He did." I wanted to cry tears of joy. I`m pretty darn glad he did too. It was such a beautiful baptism! So simple, but beautiful. Carolina was there. Mary was there, so I got to see her again! Veronica thanked me in her testimony at the baptism, but I really don`t feel like I did anything. Which is pretty much how I always feel. And it`s because it`s so true! The Lord does E V E R Y T H I N G. He just does it through us! 

They leave on Wednesday for Guatemala and won`t be back until the beginning of March, just after I go home. :( But I love this family so much, and I`m so grateful that the Lord sent me back to be able to see sweet, spunky little Jazmín take her first steps toward his kingdom! 

It really actually doesn`t look much like Christmas here. No decorations, no snow, no christmas music. But it`s looking and FEELING a like CHRIST-mas, as we share the gift of Christ with others, and as the Lord through experiences has taught me how to force myself to my knees and look for Christ, and he`s showing me amazing things that I never thought I`d see or feel. He is Christmas, and I love Him so much. 

And I also love you, I love you, I love you! 

Merry Christmas, 

Hermana Dolan 

P.S. forgot my camera cord again haha sorry....pictures next week I promise! 

Deja Vu is becoming too common..............December 8, 2014

Hey friends! 

So, I am writing from the exact same computer that I wrote from my VERY first day in Colonia, just a couple weeks shy of a year ago. Just like with Rivera, it`s so weird to go back to places and see how different things are. And how different I am. But I love it! 

Leaving Rivera was rough....obviously. But I am so grateful for my time there and I was happy to at least be coming to a familiar place! 

So, I am with Hermana Colwell from Montana! She`s got about 9 months on the mission. She is super sweet. It is kind of weird to have a gringa companion again. Haha I had gotten so used to Latinas and zero english. But I`m slowly discovering that my english has deteriorated a little bit. So, sorry about that....debate coach. 

As for the deets on Colonia! Well, as far as familiar faces and names....starting with BRIAN AND ANGELA, my favorite people! I have got to say, it is so fun to be able to see how much they`ve progressed after 6 months of not being here. Which is a LOT. Like, I`m just filled with pride every time Brian`s talking about the Gospel. They`re amazing. 

Note** After I left Colonia the last time, Brian discovered the blog my mom keeps up to date and follows it now since he understands English. So....hey, Brian. Go read your scriptures. :)

I saw Mary, my Uruguayan Mamà, this week. It was such a surprise! She lives in Montevideo now but she was there visiting Veronica. It was so good to see her! Also, saw Carolina! Man, I love these people. 

The typical weekly dinner with the Uruguayan grandparents, Miguel and Maria, continue! Haha I LOOOOVE THEM. And Maria, who has been an eternal investigator for FOREVER, is like...actually progressing. But really. The last Hermana who was here, Hermana Berlin, started her mission here and ended it here. So even though we have never been in the same zone at the same time, we have our Colonia-Rivera connection (she was in Rivera for six months as well). I saw her in the terminal because she was finishing her mission, and she told me "Hermana, Maria, you gotta go for it!" So we`ll see how that goes! 

As for investigators, we`re in Colonia, so that`s always a work in progress to find haha. But we`ve got a couple, and I`ll let you know how things go when they progress more! But keep us in your prayers to be able to find more! 

I`m excited to be here again. The branch is struggling a little bit, but instead of ever getting discouraged I just remind myself where it was at when we had first gotten here last January and how a LOT of faith and prayers and trust in the Lord worked some really mighty miracles and this place flew! So that`s the secret formula! 

Alright where not much more to report! December is flying by already. I can`t believe it. Enjoy the holiday season, and the snow! 

I love you, I love you, I love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

Happy Thanksgiving from Rivera Central 1 missionaries! Burger King!

BEST PICTURE EVER. Water fight. December 2014

He is the Gift...........December 2, 2014

Wellllll heeeeeyyyyyyy you guys! How was your week? How was THANKSGIVING?! Mine was great! We went with the Elders to Burger King. Elder Neilson`s comp is also from Guatemala. Luckily, our Guatemaltecos were willing to appease their gingo companions and agreed to go. Nothing like a burger and a chocolate shake to celebrate the American eating holiday. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I^m thankful for all of you! 

My week was....weird. Crazy. Wanna know why? Let`s talk about transfers. 

So my converts in Colonia are going through a rough patch, so on Tuesday I called President for permission to give them a call because they said they wanted to talk to me and Hna Zumeta. So President goes "well, do you want to know your changes?" And I was like HECK YEAH. And he said "You`re going back to Colonia Centro." 

I`m going back to Colonia Centro. 

WHATTTTT! 

I just have to say that President is absolutely without a doubt called of God. He said "you know, obviously without even knowing about what`s going on with your converts, I just felt like you needed to go back." Wow. Amazing. So he made me keep it a secret until Sunday and let me call them to tell them I`d be coming. I know that the Lord has more purpose for me there and I`m excited to go back and see all of my amazing family in Colonia. My mission has basically been Rivera, and Colonia haha. 

I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for having sent me here to Rivera. It is seriously so special. This ward, is so special. We had a goodbye Family Home Evening in the Valentti`s house and it was kind of just a bawl fest. I love all of these amazing people here who have taught me so much. They are all seriously my family and I will love them forever. I can`t even believe how much the Lord loves me. I`m grateful for how much I was able to learn from Hna Barrios. She is an incredible missionary and we had a lot of fun together and saw some serious miracles. 

I`m hoping you`ve all heard by now of this new campaign the church is doing for the month of December. It`s called, HE IS THE GIFT. 

In the rush and excitement of the Christmas season, there are a lot of people who forget the true meaning of this special holiday. There are a lot of people who don`t even know what it is: who don`t even know their Savior. Who don`t even know that HE is the first, and most important, gift ever received: given directly by a Father in Heaven who loves us SO much, that He gave us His Son. Just as John 3:16 says: 

16 ¶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begottenSon, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Lord truly is hastening His work! The Church has a billboard in TIMES SQUARE, where millions will have the opportunity to "discover the Gift" every day. It will have the main page of Youtube all day on December 7, so that everyone who enters that day in youtube, the first thing they will see is a link to the video that will help to discover the gift, embrace the gift.....and most importantly, share the gift.

So I hope this month, you can all do all you can to share the gift with everyone! Here is the link to the website that has a video that I promise will bring you to tears: http://www.mormon.org/christma

​

 Share the link on Facebook. Ask everyone you know if they`ve heard about "the gift", and if they haven`t, share it with them, so that they can discover it (come to a knowledge of their Savior), embrace it (accept Him into their lives through faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost), and then, share it, so that it spreads and spreads and spreads. Because THIS is what Christmas is all about! 

I love my Savior. I love Rivera. I love this work. I love Uruguay. I love my Father who has given me, because He so loved ME, such a precious Gift. 

Happy December and HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

I love you, I love you, i love you! 

#ShareTheGift

Hermana Dolan 

Happy Thanksgiving...........November 24, 2014

I spent all my cyber time writing to people personally, so I don`t really have time for a weekly email. Sorry. Just know that Mirna is a handful and always full of drama haha but we had an AWESOME lesson with her with the bishop on Friday. The Bishop is a capo and things have smoothed over...again. For now. Haha oh man, keep Mirna in your prayers ladies and gents. She is the definition of a rollercoaster. 

Know that we have a lot of other great investigators that are progressing really well, we`re just trying to help them to go to church. 

Know that I am so grateful, in this time of year, to be a missionary. Know that I am so grateful for the Gospel, for the Savior, for my Father in Heaven. I am thankful that They know so much more than I do. I am thankful that even though I don`t see the outcome, They know it perfectly, so if I can just pull a Carrie Underwood and yell "Jesus, take the wheel", I`ll be alright. I`m thankful for the love I feel surrounding me. I`m thankful for the Spirit. I am thankful for the miracles I see every day. I am thankful for the friends and family I have back home (aka every one of you) and for the friends and family I have here in my favorite little part of the universe. I`m thankful for so many things, but that would just take so long to write.

 Also, I`m thankful for turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy. Everybody eat an extra helping of those for me, please. 

I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU! 

Hermana Dolan

God is good..............November 17, 2014

Hey hey hey boys and girls! I hope everybody is well and enjoying the first falls of snow that I´m sure are starting to come. Before you complain, take a moment to remember yours truly in 115 degrees who will go 3 years without seeing snow. You´ll feel a lot better. But good thing I love Rivera anyway! 

We went as a zone today to this AWESOME park camping ground thing in the outskirts of Rivera. One of my zone leaders has three BASEBALL mitts and a baseball. Playing catch never felt so good! also, fun fact: Latinos are SUPER amazing at soccer. Baseball...they play about as well as I play soccer. Haha to each his own. 

This week was super great! Full of miracles. Every week is full of miracles. 

So the first is Mirna. Her progression is incredible! On Tuesday we went with a member to her house and taught the first part of the Plan of Salvation (in our mission the lesson is split in 2). She shared the same doubts with the member, Mirta Cal, as she had shared with us. Mirta was a big help because she has also been in other religions but said she never felt so right as she has in her years as a member. My companion and I decided that instead of beating a dead horse constantly talking to her about the priesthood authority that makes the church different from others, which really just brings us around in circles with her, we were just going to keep teaching her the doctrine and continue encouraging her to keep reading and praying and the Spirit would take over. 

She said another amazing prayer at the end, saying "Help me God, because I don´t want to get it wrong this time. I want to be sure. Help me be sure." And then at the end of the prayer she said "While I was praying, I saw a light. It lit up my whole being." She recognized it as an answer, but still wants to keep learning more because she really does want to be sure. But her sincere desire to know is incredible! It´s fun to teach her because it´s amazing to see the way the Spirit always manages to touch her. 

But yet another amazing tender mercy from God was when we went back on Saturday. She said that the night before she went to her church, and the priest took out some herb saying that if they blessed it it would heal them. And so she told us "that´s not from God. I didn´t like that. So I´m going to have to Pastor Nelson." WHAT. Yet ANOTHER way in which the Lord touched her heart! We invited her to church and said we would pass by her house to walk with her. But we were running late, so right at 9 we called her to ask if she was ready, and she said "i´m already here in the church talking with some people!" INCREDIBLE. And the fellowshipping in this ward was phenomenal. We did have much time to talk to her afterwards, but we´re hoping she was able to receive even more of an answer to her prayers. It´s been so awesome to see her progression from the very first time we taught her. Keep praying for Mirna! 

The other thing was José. José is Belén and Valentina´s dad. He´s the only member of his family that isn´t baptized. The mom and their little brother all are. José is someone who requires really sloooowwww warming up to to win his confidence. Before, he would actually drive around the block to avoid seeing the missionaries if he saw them walking on the same street of his house. With the other Hna Barrios, we decided to start to go inside for a glass of water or something every time we went to pick up Belen or Valentina to go out with us, so that we´d at least have an excuse to say hi and shake his hand. From there, he is still slowly warming up, but he will come up and talk to us, he´ll make jokes, he´s a lot less serious. He has NEVER, and I mean EVER, been to church. He has only ever come to an activity or two. Well their little brother Franco turned 12 a little bit ago and was receiving the priesthood yesterday. So we walk out of Sunday school and who do we see? JOSÉ. With his family, waiting to go into sacrament meeting. WHAT. I hugged Belén and Valentina and literally started crying and they just laughed at me. But it´s because I love this family so incredibly much and I want them so badly to be able to be an eternal family. There is still a loooooong way to go, but this was a huge step. 

Long story short: God is good. So, so good. 

I love you, I love you, I love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

literally on the line between Uruguay and Brazil!

Me and my comppyyyyy in our area

ice cream time! $1 for this sucker

Rivera sunset (ignore my hair)

Getting fluent in Portugese..............November 10, 2014

And by fluent, I really mean that I now know how to say "I don`t speak Portugese very well" and "I know that God and Jesus Christ live" (Eu se que Deus e Jesuscristo vivem.") I am pretty sure how I mentioned before that up here in the north with the border with Brasìl, there`s a buttload of Portugese speakers. One of them is Leo, a 13 year old kid who lives in front of Familia Valentti. It was actually his mom (who isn`t even a member) told Daniel that she wants Leo to listen to the missionaries because he`s starting to get into a rebellious stage and his grades have been slipping. He hasn`t gone to church yet, but we haven`t really gotten to that either, and he`s super receptive. He`s a good kid. 

As for Mirna...well, bad news and good news. We went back this week, and she said that she`s been thinking about it, and she feels like she shouldn`t be jumping from church to church. We`re pretty sure her priest (is that what it`s called? in spanish it`s pastor) from the Evangelical church went and told her that, because the pastors tend to do that here with the people from their congregation. We`ll have a really good one or even more lessons with someone, and then when we go back they tell us that their pastor went and told them they`re "not allowed" to receive us anymore. 

Anyway, we had already planned to explain the priesthood authority, so we did, but she still doesn`t feel like she`s ready. It was the first time with an investigator that I felt prompted to share Grandma Dolan`s conversion story, because it`s kind of similar, and we both felt like it helped soften her heart. So, shout out to mah Gram! She still said she doesn`t feel ready, but by the end of the lesson she agreed to keep listening, saying "if God tells me that this is the path he wants me to take, i`ll take it. But He has to tell me." Don`t fret girlfriend, He`ll tell you. We went back again on Saturday with Valentina, and she still had the same doubts, but this time she had been reading the Book of Mormon. She also shared a few more questions and doubts she had, which we were able to answer. Val all on her own shared a SUPER capa testimony. We didn`t even ask her to share it, she just felt prompted. She`s our 3rd Nephite. She`s amazing. So by the end of THAT lesson, Mirna agreed to go to church on Sunday. So, pray for Mirna! 

The primary program was on Sunday. Oh my freaking cute. It made me miss my primary class back in my home ward, but it was my first primary program here in Uruguay and I loved it. Uruguayan kids are just so special. 

Funny story for the week:

Gael Valentti is 3 years old, and ever since he got in a buttload of trouble a little over a month ago for kicking me in the chest, every time he sees me he goes "I`m not your friend, and I won`t be until I go to the temple in January!" Haha, so I have to wait until January apparently. But then the other day his mom was telling me he`s been behaving badly in school, so I said "Hey Gael, you`ll never get married if you keep behaving like that." And he goes "Yes I am, I`m going to marry Hermana Barrios." Hahaha soooo my companion is engaged. 

We are officially halfway through the change! And I seriously cannot believe it. Time is going so fast. We have another mission wide conference this week! We don`t know what general authority, just that it`s somebody important enough for the whole mission to get together with the other mission for the second time in less than six months. 

So lately we`ve had a few people who have spoken pretty rotten to us. Some have been inactives, some actual members, and some just contacts in the street. It`s the first time it`s really happened to me in my mission has been in this area, and last week I was feeling pretty frustrated about it. That`s when the image of the Savior came into my mind, a crown of thorns placed on His head, as they scorned and spit upon Him, calling Him Kind of the Jews. And so just like most hard things in my mission, even though it`s hard, it makes me grateful to be able to get to know my Redeemer that much better by walking just somewhat of the path He walked. 

Eu se que Jesuscristo e Deus vivem. Yo se que Dios y Jesucristo viven. However you want to say it, They live. 

I love you, I love you, I love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

Happy Halloween!.................November 3, 2014

I know it`s late, but HAPPY HALLOWEEN! And happy end of October. I hope everybody enjoyed my favorite month of the year in the Salt Lake autumn leaves. Halloween was low key here. Nobody celebrates it here in Rivera. Well, almost nobody. Only a handful of kids were out trick or treating and there really aren`t any decorations. Since it was on Friday, that means we had our weekly soccer activity, so that`s what we did. Belèn and Vale lent me and my comp some hats, so I was a witchy princess (it`s hard to explain but that`s what the hat looked like.) 

It was a great week! The rainnnnn came in without warning, which I for once am super grateful for because of the lack of heat. 

So the biggest thing that happened this week was Mirna. We found her on Monday after PDay when we were just going to Family Home Evening and she was working in front of her yard. She talked to us for a bit and said we could go back on Saturday. So on Saturday we went back and taught the Restoration, and she gave an incredible prayer at the end, and told us after "I just feel so full of joy right now. I can`t even describe it." We went back again yesterday to give her The Book of Mormon, and everything that came out of her mouth seriously just made me go "man, God is awesome." She said she had been jumping from church to church but never felt satisfied in any of them, but now she feels like this is it. She talked about this indescribable joy that she`s felt ever since Saturday when she had that lesson with us. And THEN she said "I had read this book a little bit before when I was in the Catholic church, and you know what called my attention? The way it says to do baptism. Because you do it the same way John the Baptist baptized Christ." YES. So we invited her to be baptized the 6 of December, and she accepted. So pray for Mirna that she makes it to December 6! Meanwhile, I`ll also be praying that I stay her in Rivera next change, because the 6 is the Saturday AFTER changes. But either way, God`s got her taken care of.  

She also said "you know why I know this is true? Because the eyes are the window to the soul, and the two of you just shine. It`s something different, and I see in your eyes that it`s true." Capa. 

So anyway, that`s the biggest thing that happened this week. We`re keeping super busy and having a blast. Hna Barrios is awesome! I`ve had some major luck with companions. I`m learning a lot from her and we have a lot of fun.  The only suffering I`ve felt in awhile has come from others not having the desire to repent, because they`re missing out on the joy of coming unto Christ and following Him. But their time will come. 

I love you, I love you, I love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

Here we go go go again...............October 27, 2014

....with the other Hermana Barrios! 

haha, you guys, it is so nuts that I have two comps with the same name, and that i`ve served with both of them in the same area. 

Soo Hermana Barrios! Is a CAPA! 

She`s from Guatemala, she`s 23, the oldest companion I`ve ever had, and she just finished her training. But it so doesn`t even seem like it, because she was simply born to be a missionary! She came to the mish super pre trained. She is a SUPER hard worker, with no fear of talking with anyone, and she has a gift with following the spirit. We`ve already started in the search of finding new investigators and I tell you folks, they`re popping up like daisies. I`ll talk about them more as more happens this week! 

Also, she was a hair stylist before she came to the mission, and she brought all of her stuff with her. Soooo maybe my hair will survive the heat! Maybe. 

Speaking of, it is starting to get SO. HOT. Summer is startin`early. I love Rivera and would love to be able to stay here another change after this one, but I also don`t want to die. So we`ll see how the Lord looks at the situation. But for this change, we are going to work our tails off and see some miracles, which we`ve already seen! 

I also wanted to share something about the youth in our ward. They are CAPOS. The Young Women are AMAZING. (like Valentina and Belèn). A couple of months ago, me and the other Hermana Barrios started to help them with their Personal Progress. They still needed to do a project for choice and accountability, so we suggested that they plan a youth dance for the youth in Rivera. And from there, ideas started rolling and they always came to me saying "hey, gringa, what gringa stuff did you guys do in the states?" haha, and the planning began. Between me and the three companions I`ve had since then, we`ve been able to help them plan, decorate, and all that jazz. And last week, the big day finally came! And it was a HUGE success, nobody could believe how many youth, members and a lot of nonmembers, came to the "Under the Sea" dance in the church. The bishop congratulated them and everyone who helped from the pulpit yesterday in church. They were so excited to get to see the fruits of all of their hard work, and get that project signed off! And they told me the other day "Hermana Dolan, when we get our medallion, we`re going to think of you." GAAAAHHHH. I have loved working with the youth here, and it`s proof that the fruits can never be counted in the baptisms. It`s counted in the service and in the heart of doing it. 

Have I mentioned I love it here? Well, I`ll mention again that I love it here. The members keep asking me "you`re STILL here?" haha, and I happily get to respond that I am. Rivera will forever have a special place in my heart. The youth, the new converts, the amazing members, the bishop. They are the greatest people I`ve ever known, fully engaged in this great work, fully following the prophet`s commandment to unite with the missionaries and get to work. I know this work is true. I see it in the change of countenance that occurs in someone`s face as they hear the truth. I always like to say "it doesn`t matter if they accept it or reject it, because I know that they FELT it." Because it`s the truth, and the truth is always felt. 

I love you, I love you, I love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

the mission is full of surprises.........................October 20, 2014

Hey folks! How is everybody? i hope everybody had a great week! 

So I`ll just get to the point, which are changes! So as you know, I`m training Hermana Leiva. So that obviously means that we are staying another change together. Right? Right? WRONG. President called and said "Hermana Dolan, I really hope you can feel the Spirit in this, but I have just really felt like Hermana Leiva is needed somewhere else right now." So, my hija is leaving me!!!!! We were seriously so shocked! She`s going to Salto. Ah, man, what! This change FLEW with her. I learned so much from her and we seriously had such a good time and really grew together. I am going to miss her, but I have definitely learned that the Lord knows what He`s doing, so if President says that he feels like she`s needed someone else, it`s because the Lord needs her in Salto. 

So you won`t believe the name of my next companion....Hermana Barrios. Haha there are only TWO Hermana Barrios in the whole mission and both of them will be my companions. Except this one is from Guatemala! She just finished her training, so I`m comp number 2 for the third time! Rock and roll. I haven`t met her, but her trainer is Hermana Baca, so that automatically means she must be awesome. 

On Wednesday we did Divisions! Which means, we did divisions with Zumeta and Paris! Which means I got to be comps with each of them for a few hours. It was awesome. Even though pretty much all of the lessons planned fell through, it was still a blast. Hermana Paris and I were together all afternoon and the one on one time was really great. 

On Saturday we had another ward talent show. I sang "The Scientist" by Coldplay with Valentina while the bishop`s daughter played the piano. They asked me SUPER last minute so it was just mas o menos, but it`s alright. Haha and for those of you who speak Spanish, the Elders made up their own version of "Bailando" by Enrique Iglesias, called "Predicando." We had to help them with it with throwing props and things like that. It was legit, and I died laughing. Sunday was Hermana Leiva`s last Sunday, and also Elder McRae`s. Elder McRae was here in Rivera for 8 months. It was definitely an emotional sacrament meeting for everybody. They are both REALLY great missionaries. I loved being able to be Hermana Leiva`s first mom, and I really enjoyed sharing a ward with Elder McRae and Neilson, and I learned a lot from them. I love the friends made in the mission, it`s one of my favorite parts. 

So anyway....that`s about it for this week. NORMA CAME TO CHURCH. First time we had seen her in a while because her daughter was in Montevideo. Perfect timing for Hermana Leiva! Keep her in your prayers. 

So anywho, I hope everybody has a great week. I`ll let you know all about how things go with my new comp! 

I love you, I love you, I love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

English room at conference!

slumber party in the living room.................

slumber parties, family history, and tender mercies................October 13, 2014

Hey folks! I hope everybody had a great week! This week flew. Seriously, the weeks just fly and fly. For example, last Wednesday was the one year anniversary of two things: the day my sister got home from her mission, and the day I arrived in Uruguay. WHAT THE HECK. I feel like I blink and it`s Monday again. Next week is already changes again! i can`t believe it. 

So this was a good week! They`re all good weeks, let`s be honest. With super bipolar Uruguayan spring weather, but it`s alright. So on Tuesday, the uncle of the bishop got baptized, who the elders were teaching. It was SUCH a beautiful baptism! I love love love baptisms because I love seeing the change in countenances. The bishop`s uncle, for example, was atheist before. And now he`s completely changed. He was so excited and happy. Now a year from now he and his wife, who was inactive for a long time, will be able to become an eternal family. And you know how it started? A couple of months ago, the bishop`s father died. He talked to the two of them about a plan that God has for us. And then? He just invited them to church. THAT`S IT. They went to church that first time, cried when we sang "families can be together forever" and never missed a Sunday after. All because he invited them, that`s all it took to change their life. So, invite everybody to church! Or think of one of those talks in conference that made you think of a friend or loved one, and invite him over to watch it. You won`t be sorry and neither will they! 

Remember Annie? She moved last week to Montevideo :( But we just happened to be home when she was about to live, so we wrote our testimonies in a Book of Mormon and gave it to her, promising her that it will bring peace to her life. She thanked us and hugged us and said she would look for the church in Montevideo. Obviously it`s said that as missionaries we "plant" a lot of seeds, but Annie is one that I just really FELT, and I am grateful that the Lord put her in our path, even though it was for such a short time. 

Now to explain the subject line:

Slumber parties:

We are getting new furniture in our apartment (holla!) and when the family that took our old furniture came to take it on saturday, our landlady decided to take advantage of there being no furniture, and had her son repaint. So we slept on our mattresses with ALL of our other stuff in the other room two nights in a row. So we ate popcorn and probably drank too much Coke. But it was fun. Pics to come!

Family history:

President Smith is making a HUGE new focus on family history. In fact, in a couple of months we are all going to go to the temple in Montevideo to do all of the temple work for one of our ancestors! It is going to be awesome. We also had an activity for family history in our ward on Saturday, which was our ward mission leader`s idea. To help everyone gather names before the next temple trip in December. I wish I had gotten more into family history before! But I am definitely going to take advantage of getting more into it these last 6 months before going home. It`s a big promise in my patriarchal blessing that I`ll experience the Spirit of Elijah in my life. It`s a pretty rockin`blessing that i should definitely take more advantage of. 

Tender mercies! 

Two things:

Brian and Angela are going to the temple for the very first time this month and they are going to do baptisms for Brian`s grandparents! Gahhh. Please keep them in your prayers to be able to get sealed in March! They`re amazing. 

Anybody remember Andres? I wrote about him last change. He was a guy who a member had called us saying "I want you to come teach somebody right now in my house." And we went and taught one of the most powerful lessons on the Restoration I`ve ever experienced. But then....he went back to Brazil, where he lived. But he had said that he wanted to move back here. Well I`ve been thinking about him lately, so just yesterday i asked Daniel "hey, do you know how Andres is doing?" And he said "he`s moving back today or tomorrow!" And five minutes later, Andres showed up! And we`ll see him today to mark a day to visit him. Just when we`ve really been in need of investigators. Keep Andres in your prayers. He has a big desire to change, and with the Lord he totally can! 

The Lord is always full of such great tender mercies. They`re in every single day, we just have to keep our eyes open and look for them. 

Yo sè que esta es la iglesia verdadera. Sè que Jesucristo vive. Èl es mi Salvador y mi Redentor. Sè que las familias pueden ser eternas. ¡Que bendecida que soy por tener a la mia para siempre! Sè que el Libro de Mormòn ES la palabra y el poder de Dios. Es un libro que realmente cambia vidas tal como ha cambiado la mia. Mi misiòn me ha cambiado de adentro por afuera. No puedo creer la person que yo era, pero màs estoy tan agradacida por la gracia del Señor y por la person que ahora yo SOY. Amo este Evangelio, amo esta obra, amo a mi Salvador. Sè sin ninguna duda que Èl vive y nos ama. En el nombre de Jesucristo, si, el Hijo de Dios, Amen. 

I love you, I love you, I love you! 

Hermanita Dolan 

P.S. Wanna hear something stinking cool? Part of the Uruguay Montevideo West Mission is now one city in Brazil (now part of the stake in Artigas), and a part of ARGENTINA!!! (now a part of the stake in Paysandu.) The Lord is truly hastening His work in my favorite little part of the universe! 

Belen and Valentina, the loves of my life...Vale (left, 15) and Belen (right, 14) are my best friends! We went to the plaza in between the two sessions of conference on Saturday for some churros. I love them.

Save it for a Rainy Day

X-Ray of Megan's hand

As you can see, it was a rough week........October 6, 2014

Haha no not really! But by the photos it sure looks like it, no? Haha Wednesday was an adventure. 

So guys, remember my hand that got slammed in a gate? Well, it kind of sort was really swelled up and I couldn`t bend my pinky without it killing. But, typical me....didn`t want to go to the doctor. Until like five people, including my comp, convinced me to. So on wednesday, we decided to visit the member who lives in front of us in the hospital. Which is on the other side of Rivera. So we took a taxi, but when we got there, they told us she had left in the morning. SWEET. Which, by the way, this woman is 85 years old, had an operation where they removed FOUR cysts, and she had the operation the night before and they released her the next morning. Which makes me understand now all of the rumors about the doctors in Rivera....haha pray that i never get sick here. So anyway, we were like "well crap, but at least i can get my hand checked out while we`re here." Sike, we had to go to the other hospital that´s back in our area. But we weren`t about to spend money on a taxi again, so we walked. Did we know where we were? You bet your bottom dollar that we didn`t. But between my companion who remembers landmarks and me who remembers street names, after much time, and crossing about 4 other companionship`s areas, we made it back. 

So then we had to get my hand checked out. Uruguayan hospitals aren`t the most efficient places on earth, so we got directed back and forth to about five different places. And they took an x ray of my hand. And ladies and gents, I have.....nothing wrong. Haha but they gave me some pain meds and cream for the inflammation, and now I have a cool x ray of my hand, so we got something out of that. 

And then the next day my comp fell down in a super hilariously embarrassing way. Not as bad as it looks, it`s just that she had nylons on. Just so everyone is aware, Hna Leiva is secretly hilarious. To everyone else she`s quiet, but once she opens up she turns into a sassy black woman, just Chilena version. We laugh all the time. 

We also met a super cool investigator named Jakaline. She was a reference from the other hermanas. She had been taught for awhile by the hermanas there, then disappeared for a couple months, then last week sent them a message apologizing saying that her son had passed away, and that she had moved to our area and still wanted us to go teach her. So we went on wednesday, and that woman is rockin! She never stopped reading the Book of Mormon or praying. She immediately walked in and sat down and told us she knows this church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true and that this is the path she needs to be on. Holy cow! Only typical Uruguayan problem is....she`s not married and living with someone. But we`ll work on that! The testimony is the foundation. So pray for Jakaline! 

Remember Raul? So he`s kind of always been on the side because he really just ALWAYS forgets to go to church. It`s just his old man-ness, he forgets. So we put a big not on his wall with the hour of church last week. We were going to with a member to pick him up, but when we called, his son told us he had already left. So we waited and waited, and he didn`t show up. When we went to see him the next day, he told us he had went, and gotten almost all the way to church, but then said to himself "if there`s no power, there`s not going to be church, how silly am I!" (the power was out the last Sunday). But the progress here is that he REMEMBERED, folks. Big step. So, we`re still working on Raul! Keep him in your prayers. 

WHO ELSE LOVED CONFERENCE. To answer your questions, we do get to watch it here with everyone else in the stake center. They even have an english room for all the gringo missionaries. Except we were SUPER stoked for the two speakers who gave their talks in Spanish. So we ran to the other room to hear those in Spanish instead of listening to the english translator. Also, WHO LOVED ELDER ROBBINS TALK. He is such a boss. He`s the one who came to Uruguay in June where both of the missions all went to Montevideo to hear him speak. "Which way do you face?" 

There were two things that stuck out a lot to me that were really focused on: strengthening the home, and sustaining the prophet. Both things that are getting really attacked these days. All I can say is that families are forever, and I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I love him so much. All of us missionaries talked about how we`re a little sad to see how old all of the brethren are getting. We grew up with all of them. They are truly called of God to lead our church. 

Also, loved Elder Bednar`s. I hope everyone is having the desire to go out and share ALL of their ointment and bandaids with EVERYBODY! And I hope that those who aren`t members are recognizing how it can heal their spiritual wounds. 

Conference goes by way too fast! I love it, it`s a missionary holiday! 

kicked in the chest, hand in the gate, bit in the ankle....................September 29, 2014 Rivera, Uruguay

Heyyy you guys! I hope everybody has had a great week! 

In case you are wondering about my caption, haha what a week it has been folks.

So there`s this little boy named Gael who`s 3. I`ve gotta say he`s probably the closest thing to a little brother I`ve got here. Haha he reminds me a lot of Jackson. He just says the funniest things. Well, Gael cries over alllmost everything. So we were playing soccer with the little kids, and I wasn`t on Gael`s team, but he was telling me to pass him the ball. So when I didn`t, he came over and hit me. So I very gently grabbed him and told him not to do that. And he hit me again. So I told him one more time, and he just gave me a good kick in the chest. Haha ANOTHER mission first. So funny though, I took him to his dad to tell him, and Daniel jokingly goes "Gael, violence is not the answer! Now wait until we go home and I can wrap you up in duct tape." Haha what? People kill me. 

I got bit in the ankle by the dog of a house we contacted. That`s pretty typical missionary life here in Uruguay. 

Annnnd last but not least, I was trying to help open the big iron gate in front of our church that slides open. A member was on the other side, and she slid the gate without noticing that my hand was RIGHT smack dab in between the big iron gate and the brick wall. Yeah man. She felt SUPER bad. But calm down you guys (mom), I got to finally use the skills I learned at Girl`s Camp and I put myself a beautiful ace bandage. And that`s the Lord`s work. Pictures to come. 

Soooo we had a really good lesson with Norma last week, where she accepted a baptismal date. But then when we went back Norma wasn`t there, but Maribel was, and said that Norma says she needs more time and feels like she needs to learn more. Well, my sister-in-law who just went through the temple and got sealed to my brother is my living proof of never giving up on anybody, and not pressuring them either. So we`ll be right here to keep guiding Norma and helping her to make the decision that will lead her to eternal happiness with her daughter. So keep her in your prayers! 

I finished the Book of Mormon this week! My first time in Spanish. It`s so cool how the Gospel is so 100% true in every language. Read the Book of Mormon every day! I`ll be honest, I didn`t before my mission. But it is here where I have gained a living testimony of this amazing miraculous book that brings so much joy and peace and counsel and truly changes lives. And I am never going back! 

Honestly, other than that, not a super eventful week! Good things in every day, as always. It`s a week that before might have gotten me down, but I`ve learned that as long as we`re being obedient, seeking the Lord, and loving the people, we`re doing our job. I intend on going home with for sure one convert and that`ll be me. And I`ve still got loads of time--the rest of my mission and the rest of my life--to keep the conversion rolling. 

I love you, I love you, I love you all! Have a great week! 

Hermana Dolan 

August 2013, Megan's brother and his recently baptized new wife at their wedding. Mackenzie was on her mission in Japan, and was the stand up photo. Fast forward one year, and Megan is the stand up photo in Justin and Amanda's sealing pictures., September 26, 2014

Meet Jorge This is Jorge, he`s been a member for about 2 years now. He only has one leg. He is awesome.

Service project on Saturday! I forgot to mention that my two favorite companions are now COMPANIONS! Yeah, divisions are gonna be rad. Hna Zumeta, Paris, and Leiva! Sept. 20, 2014

Service project on Saturday at Elementary School September 20, 2014 Rivera, Uruguay

¨Eternity is too long!¨ September 22, 2014

Hey everybody! I hope everybody had a great week! I know I sure did! 

So the first really great part was on Tuesday. President Smith has made a HUGE emphasis on us always making sure we are working with members. Our mission even has it`s own Key Indicator in addition to all the rest, which are "Hours with Members." He`s not just interested in how many lessons with have with investigators with a member. He also wants to know how much time we`re actually with them contacting, visiting less active members, etc. So anyway, the week before in district meeting we talked about also making sure that we`re working with the leaders in our ward. The bishop, the ward mission leader, heads of the organizations, and the ward missionaries. So we decided we were going to do better with that last week. 

We started out going out with one of the ward missionaries who we had never gone out with before, Mirta Cal. She first went with us to Vovo, which was really good because Mirta is also an older lady who has been a member for a long time. Vovo spilled a lot of really deep questions about the eternities and things like that that she had never talked about before because she didn`t want to "scare our young minds" haha, but she told all of them with Mirta there. One of the best parts was when the subject came around to temples. Mirta told her "you need to go to the temple and seal yourself with your husband!¨ (Vovo´s husband passed away awhile ago). And so Vovo goes "Yeah, here`s the thing. I don`t want to.¨ And Mirta said ¨why is that¨and Vovo yells ¨Because eternity is TOOO long to be with a man!¨ Hahaha we all seriously died laughing. Haha I know it`s kind of sad what she said, but so hilarious. I love that crazy old woman. 

We invited both Mirta and Carmen Cascallares, the other ward missionary, to a lesson with Norma, Maribel`s mom. We started teaching about the Book of Mormon. It ended up being a longer lesson because both Carmen and Mirta like to talk haha, but it was I N C R E D I B L E. The Spirit was so strong, and we just knew that Norma felt it. Carmen and Mirta testified over and over again about the Book of Mormon. I heard Carmen say at least 3 times ¨this is a book that changes lives.¨And it is SO true. I can`t imagine that lesson without the two of them there. They were perfectly comprehending but also direct with Norma. Norma`s husband passed away a long time ago, when he was only 29, and she never got remarried. Mirta brought up the opportunity to be an eternal family, and how she needed to be able to go to the temple to be with her husband and with Maribel. Maribel was relatively quiet during the lesson, but then towards the end said "I just wanted to thank the four of you for saying to my mom what I`ve felt the past two weeks I`ve needed to come and be direct and say to her--that I need her. I need her with me at church, and I need her and dad with me in the eternities.¨ Carmen also siad ¨You know i have always tried to fulfill my calling and I pray every day for the Lord to help me find missionary opportunities. And I never understood until today why the past few weeks, I kept seeing Maribel`s face.¨  She cried. We cried. Norma cried. And she said she would pray about a date for baptism. I seriously love them so much. I feel the truth and power of the Book of Mormon, and I especially have a testimony of the importance of the members and missionaries working together. The members have SO much power, because they see things that us missionaries just can`t see. These Uruguayos have so much faith. More faith than I ever saw in my whole life. And the ones here in Rivera have such a fire and desire to share the Gospel. 

Also, so we live in a pension behind a member`s house. She rents out 4 or 5 little places there in the back and we live in one of them. The other day as we were leaving, she stopped us and told us she had talked to one of the people who lives back there, and that she wants to listen to us. So we set up an appointment for last night, and it was amazing! We taught the Restoration of the Gospel, and she was just so open and receptive and hungry to learn. She said she had always seen us talking to Luz Cal (the member) and we looked friendly and that`s why she had been given the desire to listen to us. She really seems so prepared. Her name is Annie. And the best part? I saw in the directory last night that her name is Annie R. Yeah, shout out to my best friend who gets home from her mish next week! Your mission lives on here in Uruguay haha. So please pray for Annie! 

The Lord is teaching me so much every day. It`s amazing what a rollercoaster even every day in the mission is. I constantly feel more and more how much more I am learning from the people here than what I am teaching them. And how much the Lord is teaching me. About the people, about the Gospel, about the Spirit, and about myself. I love this Gospel, I love the Savior, and I know He lives. This is HIS Gospel, it is HIS work, and I know that it is true. and I am so glad I still have more precious time to learn even more about Him in this special little corner of the universe. I am more and more determined to use every day to do so. I`ve still got a heck of a lot to learn! 

I love you, I love you, I love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

Single Mom.............September 15, 2014

Hey hey hey, kiddos! 

So since I`m a "mom" now, in the mission we say that the companion that came right before the trainee is the dad. (in the case of elderes, the trainer is the dad and the previous companion is the mom.) In other words....Hermana Barrios is the dad. And she went to Cerro in Montevideo, leaving me alone to raise this child all by my lonesome. Unbelievable. Haha we had some good last few days together though! Her last night, we did a ward talent show. It was super last minute and Thursday or Friday the Elders told us about it and told us we had to do an act. But we were like "haaaa we have no talents." But then we thought about it, and thought about it, and said "Heck yes we do: we`re freaking funny." So in the end, we were the "presenters" of the talent show. We dressed up as the ugliest nerds you will ever set your eyes on, the kind that would probably make our families SUPER proud, and in between all the other acts, we told jokes. In the voice of nerds. We were a hit! One little girl in the ward now just starts laughing every time she sees me because she remembers me as the crazy nerd....or at least we can pretend that`s why she laughs. 

Haha okay so I know you`re all wondering. 

My daughter is...... Hermana Leiva! From..... Chile! 

I so called it that it would be a Chilena. I got to go to Montevideo to pick her up. I love the way we do it here: all of us go to Montevideo. The trainers have breakfast and a little bit of training and scripture study with President Smith. Then, they put all the newbies in a line in front of the temple with their backs to the temple, and tell them to close their eyes. Us trainers walk up behind them, sing the first verse of "Called to Serve", and then the APs yell for them to turn around and meet their trainers! Maybe I already explained that when I met Hermana Goode....which by the way, seems like forever ago. 

Hermana Leiva is really great! She is more quiet, but she`s opening up more every day and I know she will as she meets more people and starts to get the hand of things. She is really sweet and has a got a lot of desire to be obedient and work hard. We`re going to have fun and learn a lot together! 

This time around at the temple was one of the best! At the end of the session in the Celestial Room, I took advantage of having President Smith right there and asked him a bunch of questions. So many things are so much clearer now! All I have to say is I L O V E the temple and I know my Savior lives. I seriously want with all my heart for everyone everyone EVERYONE to be able to go to the temple. It`s the purest peace we will find in this life, and the surest way to eternal happiness in the life to come! 

So we`ve got some good potential investigators. The surest one is Norma, the mom of Maribel the one who cut my hair when I first got here. Norma has come the past 4 Sundays and went to the ward talent show last week! She is progressing super well. It`s amazing. The Lord really does prepare the hearts of his children in His time; Maribel has been a member for a LONG time and her mom has always lived with her, and yet Norma never really listened to the missionaries before! Please please please pray for Norma, we are planning for the next few weeks for her baptism. 

There`s also Bruno and Nancy. Like most young couples in Uruguay....they`re not married. But unlike most young couples.....they want to get married. Bruno is the son of a family here in our ward and he has been struggling with some things. But Nancy is a rock and they both made it to church on Sunday. 

We`ve got some good potentials and during weekly planning we made plans to visit a bunch of people who we found in the area book....we could use your prayers :)

I love you, I love you, I love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

Vovo.........

​This is "Vovo", my Uruguayan grandma. She is blind. She always, without fail, has coke and food for us whenever we go over. She`s also Belen and Valentina`s grandma. Haha last week when we were there, Belen, Valentina, and their little brother played a game to see how many clothes pins they could get on vovo before she noticed. Hahahaha love her. 

Riveraaaaaaa! District as it was for last change which ended September 9, 2014

Hold on boys and girls, yours truly is going into labor! September 9, 2014

Heeeeeey kids! Soooo there are changes this week. The ZLs had said that everybody would be getting their changes on Sunday after church, but then when some people started to get their calls early, we started to get pretty ansy. I went to bed all hyper. And then five minutes after lights out, the phone rings and I look and it`s President. Ahhhh man. Well, he didn`t waste any time. Right after answering the phone, he says "well Hermana Dolan, you`re going to train this change."

I`M GONNA BE A "MOM"!!!!!

Rock. And. ROLL. This was seriously such a surprise; Pres. had told me before that I probably wasn`t going to train yet. You guys, think about it....I am training my daughter around the same time of year that I was trained, in the EXACT same zone. Crazy! I am SO stoked! I leave for Montevideo tonight to go meet her and pick her up, so I`ll have details next year on who it is! Gringa or Latina¿ Vamos a ver!

There are also some crazy things happening in the mission. The zones are starting to get so big, that President is splitting THREE of them in half. Rivera, Colonia, and a zone in Montevideo are all splitting because they have more than 30 missionaries. The Lord is hastening his work!

So this was an AWESOME week! The best miracle happened last Wednesday. We were going to contact a reference when we realized it was just barely past the limit of our area. But there was a woman outside her house, so we decided to go talk to her for a little while. She wasn`t really very interested, but she was nice. So as we started to walk away, a woman from the other side of the street whistled to us and called us over and said "come in." Um, DON`T MIND IF WE DO. So we met her and her husband, and they told us that she`s been a member for foreeeever but inactive for years, and years ago when they lived in Montevideo her husband was all set to get baptized but then they had to move to Rivera and they just stopped going to church. They even went to another church for awhile, but knew there that it just wasn`t the true church. And her husband wants to get baptized!! And they want to be an eternal family! They are seriously a miracle. We asked her how she knew we were across the street to come outside and call us over, and she looked at me and said "I heard you talking and noticed your gringo accent and thought it just had to be the missionaries. We`ve been waiting for you." My gringo accent came in handy! Haha. Alberto is a policeman in Montevideo and so he comes and goes so that complicates things a little bit, but either way he retires at the end of the year! So pray for them!

Thursday we had divisions! And guess who was my companion for a day. Hermana ZUMETA. We were comps again, and it was so great! Our flow is still totally there. We had a really good afternoon togther, including teaching the Restoration to Diomar and Alberto and seeing their eyes just glow as they heard the truth again. Man oh man, I love this Gospel.

I am so excited to train here! Rivera is the promised land. I can`t even believe how blessed I feel every time I come home every day. Time is flying! Another change came and went! Man oh man.

The church is true and I love you! I love you, I love you!

Hermana Dolan