Thanks for the PJ`s Grandma!! Christmas Jammies

Jazmin's Baptism..............freshly sin-free, and us with Marcusen who baptized her, and her mom Veronica

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR...............December 29, 2014

Hey fam and friends! How was your Christmas? I hope it was awesome, like mine was. Second Christmas in the mish. Man, it was sweet. We spent Christmas Eve at the familia Aquino`s house (same place I spent New Year`s last year), and Hnas Nielson and Wiscombe stayed the night with us because a taxi was going to be too expensive to take back to their area. So, the four of us spent it in the Figares sweet house because they were out of town and wanted someone to be there to watch the house. Don`t mind if we do! The fireworks weren`t as crazy this year because the Figares house is more where all of the stores and restaurants are and those were all closed at midnight. But, we sat on their balcony and played Christmas music and listened to the fireworks going off in the surrounding neighborhoods. It was cool to be in our own little bubble. 

The days before, we contacted a lot and were able to share He is the Gift with a lot of different people. Most didn`t actually accept having the missionaries visit them, but what was important was getting to testify of the love of God for giving us His Son, and the love of Christ for everything He did for us. He really is the gift! 

On Christmas Day, 8 of us missionaries didn`t have any lunch appointments, so we got together in the church and made canelones and invited a couple of jovenes and Brian and Angela. It was pretty great! 

And of course there was Skype with the fam! My family`s kind of the best. People who heard parts of our conversation said "wow, you guys are pretty funny." Yeah, we are ;) 

It was a pretty life changing week, but just in a way that I can`t really describe. Just being filled with the love of God and Jesus Christ, and sharing it with others, even if they didn`t want to accept it. The year 2014 is very quickly coming to an end! It`s been a wild year. 2014 is a year I will always remember with a smile: the only full year I spent in Uruguay. So much growth, so much laughter, so many tears, so many lessons learned....so. much. joy! Last year, I had said that I had chosen a word that was going to be my focus for the year: LIGHT. I have felt that light in my life, i have seen it turn on in others as they listen to the message of hope, and I have felt my own light grow through the examples of these amazing Uruguayos and the experiences the Lord has thrown my way. 

Here`s to 2014, and a great 2015 to follow! 

I love you, I love you, i love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

Merry Christmas 2014! Family Skyping with Megan from Colonia, Uruguay

Have a holly jolly Christmas......................December 22, 2014

HEY HEY HEY fam and friends! How is everyone? Is everyone excited for Christmas? I know I sure am! 

So this week has been SO crazy. Seriously the busiest ever! But with some seriously amazing experiences! 

So let`s start with Tuesday. This weekened, we had some big Christmas firesides in two parts of Colonia, and we had to practice for them. So on Tuesday we had district meeting and practice in Nueva Helvecia (one of the places where we did the fireside). It`s about an hour away by bus from centro. So the ZL`s had given us 10 missionaries that are in those 3 branches a certain time for our bus that was leaving, but it turned out it was actually the wrong time and the next bus didn`t leave for another two hours. Which meant not getting back into our area until like, 6. Which we were all pretty bummed about. But THEN me, my companion, and Hna Wiscombe and Hna Nielson from the area next to us went to the back of the bus, speaking in english. This woman in front of me and my comp asked us a question in english. We responded, and then the 4 of us spent 5 minutes trying to figure out what language it was that she continued to speak in after with the man sitting next to her. Until we decided to ask. Turns out they were both from Sao Paolo Brazil, the  but had never met until that day, both spoke english and were both backpacking through Uruguay. So we had the most AMAZING chat with them about both He is the Gift, and then prayer, because we invited them to watch the video and then to pray about it after, and the guy said "well how do i pray?" Boo ya!First lesson in ENGLISH, taught between the four of us. We talked the entire hour, and then helped them get maps in the terminal. The woman said "I have never been to a Mormon church, but I know where it is where I live and I think I`d like to try it out when I go home." And then the guy said "I never talked to the Mormons because I always just thought they were strange. But now after talking to you guys, I think I will look for the other people with black name tags." SO AMAZING. And totally the hand of God making sure we missed the first bus so that we could meet the two of them and plant that sad. We got their phone numbers too and will be passing the reference to the church. I just love those moments! 

Wednesday and Thursday, we were in MONTEVIDEO!!! We had interviews on Wednesday, and did the temple on Thursday. We also had some really cool lessons on Wednesday from President and his assistants, and mostly I just have to say that A. President Smith is absolutely amazing and B. I have a whole new perspective on fasting and personal covenants. Not just temple covenants, but PERSONAL ones. in the temple on Thursday, we all brought family names and did the four ordinances of baptism, confirmation, initiatory, and endowment for a member of our family. Mine was for my great great great grandma, which was really cool and I felt her close. President Smith baptized all of the Hermanas, and the cool part was that the Elders all went into the font with their companions and one baptized the other and then they switched...kind of like how Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry first did it. That was really cool to see. It was seriously AMAZING, with so much revelation received and my mind just completely opened. It was two days of a completely spiritual high that went by way too fast! Also, Hermana Smith is literally an angel. The four of us hermanas hung out in their house with her on Wednesday night and she is just incredible. I love them! 

Friday was also traveling to go to rehearsals. Saturday and Sunday were also traveling because the day finally came that we had the firesides! On Saturday in Carmelo and Sunday in Nueva Helvecia. It`s really something I can`t describe, with the power of the music of all of us missionaries as a choir singing praises to our Father for His Son, the uplifting videos, and inspiring messages from recent converts and returning members, It was another indescribable Spirit. All the kind of Spirit that has left us all changed and......tired. Very, very tired. Haha but the good kind! 

I seriously love you all so much and I hope you can have the best Christmas ever, completely focused on the Savior and the amazing gift that He truly is, given to us by a Father who loves us infinitely! Let us focus on them and what we have and knowing that they live, and this Christmas will be the most special of all. I know They live and They love us. I know that baby born so many years ago grew, taught, healed, blessed, forgave, bled, died.....and lived again. And He is the reason. He is the Gift. 

I love you, i love you, I love you! 

Hermana Dolan 

"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