Christmas Rocks My Socks!

Hola Hijos de Dios!

Christmas Eve dinner

Sorry I didn´t write until today. We found out right after we talked to you that yesterday was a holiday, so we had to work. And they changed our P-day to today... I don´t like it on Tuesday. We have district meeting on Tuesdays, so an hour and a half of our P-day goes to district meeting...  but ya. oh well.

What an awesome experience it was to talk to you guys yesterday. It was so great to hear all of you mumbled together. :) lol I Loved it, but before I knew it, the time had past, and we were saying good bye... well, I was saying good bye, you guys were singing. :) lol

For all of you who didn´t hear. Yesterday was my 7th month mark! QUE RAPIDO! I can´t believe how fast time flys. Really, It´s crazy. I´ll be home for Christmas next year and all. Super excited... Just sayin.

Gotta love Christmas PJs

I bought my nativity, and I´m pretty excited about it. Cost all of  my birthday and half of my Christmas money. BUT, so worth it!  I love it - but you´ll have to wait to see it. :)

Well, I can´t really think of more... since I talked to you guys yesterday. I love you all so much. and I hope, and Pray, that all is well at home. Perseverar hasta el fin! Endure to the End! Trust in the lord. Be Smart, Be Safe (especially during this season), and Be AWESOME!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Hna. Erin Kaye Griffeth

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Our Area

What is this thing we call Christmas...

Hey yo!

So, First off. Woot woot! CHRISTMAS! I´m sure it´s a lot more exciting back home. It´s REALLY hot here. It´s not all that exciting when it´s
not white, and I feel like my face might fall off. BUT!, Christmas is a feeling, feeling in the air - it´s love, and Joy, and laughter, and
people everywhere... Finish it Kim! lol :)
We were able to finish our tree, with popcorn strings and paper origami ornaments. Here, they love to cover their tree so much that you can´t even see it. But, that´s ok. I'm in beautiful Argentina -no complaints.
We only have Sacrament meeting Christmas Day, and trying to get investigators to church is going to be even more difficult. We are
praying and crossing our fingers. There is no better time to go to church!
I figured out that the day I leave next year, I believe, is the 12th of December, so no Family party before then! :) I loved the pictures -
oh how I miss our family. The more I´m on my mission, the more
grateful I am that we are so close, and we know that even after this life, we can be together forever! What an AWESOME knowledge. I love
that!  I´ve been trying to explain that to everyone, but with my
VERY terrible Spanish, I´m having a hard time. Hopefully, with time, all
will be well. No sé precupe.
Things are going great here in Resistencia. Last week we had a
reference from some of the Elders here. His name is Julio. He walked
up to them on the street and asked them for a Bible. They didn´t have
a Bible with them, but they were more then happy to offer him a Book of Mormon.
lol.  He took it gratefully. When we went looking for him, he wasn´t at
his house. Our 3rd time looking for him, he didn´t answer either. We
were about ready to write him off, but one of his friends was washing
his bike when we walked by. He asked if Julio answered. We told him
no, and he told us that Julio was there and took off for his house.
lol :) We just started to follow, and there his friend spent the next
5 minutes knocking, clapping, yelling his name, and finally, Julio
emerged from his house. He´s like 30 years old, and looks like he´s
had a couple of hard weeks. But, when he saw us, he told us that he
was reading his Book of Mormon, and wanted us to give him a chapter to
read. We, of course, were more then happy to give him a chapter. We
set up an appointment with him and his friend, and went on our way.
The only problem is, he´s a really HEAVY sleeper, and he´s only there
during the siesta, so we haven´t been able to contact him again. But,
for some odd reason, we have hope for him. I feel like every one of his
friends wants to help him. When we went back the other day, his other
friend was outside, and saw that he wasn´t answering, so he did the
exact same thing that the first friend did, but Julio didn´t answer
this time. He then told us that he was with Julio the other night, and
Julio told him that he was reading the Book of Mormon, and it made him
feel good. We are praying to be able to find him again.

Nothing more happened this week. We have a lot to do this week for
Christmas, and it doesn´t feel close to Christmas for me. I don´t
know. I´m hoping as it gets more close I will feel it more. I´ll let
you know. Thanks for everything.

I love you all, and I´m so grateful that Heavenly Father sent his son
to a tiny manger, so that we are able to repent, and live with not
only him, but our families to. Forever.

Thank you for everything.

Hermana Erin Kaye Griffeth

Guardar la fe durante este Navidad.

ps. no package yet, but that´s ok, I'm expecting a Christmas in January. :)

Real Fast...

This is going to be a super fast letter with a lot of spelling mistakes. I don´t have much time, so ya.

This week, Hermana Parker and I started off really slowly. We had we barely gotten anything Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The people just didn´t want to talk to us, I don´t know. But they were really long days - and Super hot. But, by the end of the week, our spirits were lifted and we now have four people with a baptismal date. .

We have been decorating our small tree. We are super poor missionaries, so we have been making a popcorn garland and paper ornaments. I'll send you guys pictures next week. I can´t believe how fast Christmas is coming. It sure doesn´t feel like it here - way too hot! And the people here seem to decorate their Christmas tree with so much tinsel, you can´t see the tree anymore.

I'm so sorry, I'm out of time.

But I love you all so much. I love this gospel, and I know that God lives and Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer.

Love love love

Hermana Erin Kaye Griffeth

guardar la Fe.

Connections in Hawaii

To the Familia I love the most. :) 

Hey, transfers were this week, and I can´t tell you how grateful I am to be Missionary #2 again. I¨M NO LONGER THE SENIOR COMPANION! YEAH!! :) My new companion is Hermana Parker. Like hombre araña (spider man), Peter Parker. LOL :) She tells everyone that because no one can say her name right until she mentions Spiderman.  lol- It´s pretty funny. She´s from Hawaii, hence my email subject. :) She has one less transfer than I do. BUT! She did a foreign exchange program in Chili when she was 16 and studied Spanish in college. So I don´t feel too bad about myself. She´s great. I haven´t laughed so much since the beginning of my mission. I don´t know if it is because I've been deprived of North American humor, or what, but she´s awesome. And we have started a better Spanish program for me to practice. I have a feeling that I will learn a lot from her. She´s my first North American companion and I can actually ask her how to say phrases. Which I'm super stoked about. I´ll send a picture next week- my camera died. 

Because I´m still learning how to understand everything, I couldn´t remember what we had talked about with our investigators, and because our area book was never updated  (l didn´t even know it wasn´t updated. I went back when I was with Hermana Salto, and realized that it was never updated) I was basically no help. So... I feel really bad. But, she´s been really nice about it. We also have some really awesome ideas to help our members with missionary work. So that is always a bonus. Woot woot! 

We have new family that we are teaching. Familia Martinez. They are Evangelica. They are pretty awesome, and I think they have a lot of promise. We taught the Jorge before (the man of the family), but this was the first time we taught the family. So I´m super excited to see how it turns out. 

It´s raining... again. BUT. we have our umbrellas... so No se precupe. So, not much has happened this week, but a lot has happened. I´m so tired that I can´t even think. But, all is well here in Argentina. And, I´m so excited for a new week to work in the ¨´obra del Señor.¨´

Mom, those cookie pops look awesome, I want one really bad. OH, I just remembered, the next package you send, I want sour stuff. I know that´s a weird thing to ask for, but they don´t have sour candy here. It´s a little sad. Make sure you let me know when Kyle sends in his papers. I would like to ask president if I could call. 

creo que es todo... I love you all with all of my heart. Thank you for the apoyo (support) every week. It´s truly a blessing in my life. I love this gospel with all of my heart. It´s truly one of the biggest blessings in my life, along with all of you. Trust in the Lord in everything you do. He knows what you are ready for. Thank you for everything.

Con Amor, 

Su hija/hermana en el Señor,

Hermana Erin Kaye Griffeth

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What...Just... Happened...???

¡¡¡Familia!!!

 

So, This past week has been crazy and A LITTLE nerve wracking.

 

Hermana Arcos had to go home to take care of something at her house that might take her away for a transfer or 2... entonces... At the moment, I have a mini missionary, Hermana Salto. WHICH MEANS, she hasn´t had any training - she came straight here from Formosa to help me because we don´t have that many sisters, and I needed a companion. WHICH ALSO MEANS, That I am the Senior missionary. Six months in the mission, four months in Argentina, and I´m the senior missionary. It is so Nerve wracking I can´t even tell you. I´m constantly worried about the people I teach and if we are actually teaching them the correct thing that they need to know at that moment. I have to keep the information updated about everyone we're teaching. At the same time, I need to be upbeat, have a lot of energy, and animada (enthusiastic) for my companion. Let´s just say I´m having a hard time. But!... The Lord has not left me alone. Thank goodness...

 

With this grand change... I have received a boost in my knowledge of the language. More confidence in my language abilities, and I speak better. NOT perfect, but better. I´ve been able to understand a lot better too. I can´t tell you what a blessing it´s been. I´m still panicking about lessons and the numbers each week. But if i´m trying, I have nothing to be worried about. The lord blesses us... La verdad.

 

So, ya, that´s the biggest change this week.

 

We had a baptism Sunday!!! Woot, Soledad got baptised, and had a huge smile on her face! She looks excited, and she knows that this comes with change.  It was a huge step for her, especially with Hermana Arcos leaving. We missed two days of lessons, which were the two days to teach Soledad the rest of the Gospel principles, so Saturday we taught her:  Law of Chastity, Tithing and Fast offerings, Word of Wisdom, and The Sabbath Day. Surprisingly enough, she understood all of it and what she needed to do. WHAT A RELIEF! The interview for the baptism went great, and she was baptized and confirmed the next day. lol :)

 

Transfers are tomorrow. And I don´t know what is going to happen. One of our Elders leaves, Hermana Arcos is gone, and perhaps my mini, Hermana Salto, is leaving also. Maybe one of the other Elders. Mighty changes are happening. It´s all for the good. If Hermana Salto doesn´t leave, I¨m positive my stress level is going to go up, it´s already happening, but still.

 

OK, my time is almost up, but I think Í´ve told you everything.

 

Oh, My pie kind of sucked. I mean, it was still good. But we don´t have Crisco here, and my companion talked me into using margarine. Oh, and they don´t have light brown sugar here. So I used dark - it wasn´t as good as I wanted it to be. ... un poco triste.

 

But ya, sorry got to run. Love you all with all my heart. Read your scriptures, pray always (no matter where you are), go to church, and remember your standards, and the faith Christ has in you.

 

Love you,

 

Hermana Erin Kaye Griffeth

 

Guardar la Fe

Happy Turkey Day!

WAZ UP MI FAMILIA!!!

I can´t believe how fast time is going by. Just for your information, black Friday, is my 6 month mark... Enjoy! ;)

This week has been better. We have a baptism this week... we hope. Her name is Soledad... she is 23. She´s been taking the lessons since before I started my mission.  I´ll let you know next week.

This week is Thanksgiving... It´s weird. It doesn´t FEEL like thanksgiving. But, I made an apple pie in our crappy oven for the district. I hoping it helps. But I think it turned out pretty good. I haven´t tried it yet, but It looks ok. I´ll send pictures of the pie, and the oven. :D  

It doesn´t seem like it´s this close to Christmas. I have a feeling Christmas won´t FEEL like Christmas. I don´t have much Christmas music... and It will be SUPER hot here. Weird. But, weird enough, the Walmart here has a Christmas section.. which helps. :) I¨m hoping as it gets closer, It will start to feel like it should.  Maybe with some decorations in our apartment. 

No sé. Transfers are the 30th -  you never know what will happen. I might be here, I might not. LIKE MAGIC!! One of our Elders is going home this transfer. So, we will at least be receiving one new person to our district.

So, ya, sorry, not much happening here. Our investigators all want to follow Christ, but when it comes to doing something, like going to church or accepting a baptismal date, they don´t want to do anything.  And I´m not kidding... this is ALL of our investigators.  I don´t know how I can get them to realize that they need to actually act. It´s a little frustrating. And, we are with the Elders every other day, bajar la caña us for not having more Baptism dates. I kind of want to punch them... but I´m not going to. One, I´m a missionary, and 2 and most important...they live too far away. ;)

Other then that... not much. I´ll try to make notes in my agenda throughout the week about my experiences to make my letters more exciting... You´ll just have to wait till next week.

I love you all so much. Thank you for everything you do for me. Trust in the lord in everything you do. Like it says, Search, Ponder and Then pray. He´s given you the tools, you just need to use them. Be safe, especially since winter is coming back at home, and there are a lot of ice and storms during this time. Be smart. Listen to the spirit. And, once again, be safe.

Love you all,

Hermana Erin Kaye Griffeth

Guardar la Fe

No puedo creer...

Hola Mi animo familia, quien viven en atonio mientra yo en lluvia y color... moriendo... Just sayin. And I´m pretty sure I spelled half that stuff wrong. Don´t judge me! :) still learning.

 Singing in the Rain

It´s been raining for the past 2 1/2 days here in Resistencia. My shoes are covered in mud, and we haven´t had the time to head to town and buy rain boots. Entonces, I´ve been changing shoes like crazy, waiting for one to dry, while the other is freakishly wet. But, that´s the life of a missionary, especially here in Argentina. Mojado! Woot!

Here is a little bit of random information for you guys. I FINALLY bought a pillow today! Super excited about it. For about four weeks I´ve been sleeping on a pillow. But, if you would imagine something that looks like a board in a pillow case, that´s about right. :S  It wasn´t the best four weeks, but I took a little nap for p-day, and man... It rocked! First nap I´ve had for a while, on a fluffy cloud. The joys of a new pillow.

I´m planning on making an apple pie for thanksgiving. Well, district meeting, which is 2 days before, but we´ll make it count. I¨m hoping it works.

Faith, work, confidence, and patience.

Well, got to head. Thanks for the letters, I can´t wait to hear more next week. Things are going good with my comp. We had a companionship inventory and hopefully that fixed our issues. I´ll let you know more next week.

Love you with all of my heart. Trust in the Lord. He knows what you need and when you need it -just keep trying your best.

Paz!

Hermana Erin Kaye Griffeth

 I was having a really good hair day. :) I know... random

Mission Conference!

Can you find Erin in this picture?  Click on the picture to enlarge it, then look for yellow :)

Hey Ho Familia!

¿Que pasa!? ¿Como estan? Esta semaña tenia loco. Mucho Hermanas en nuestro pension para la conferencia de la mission. Pero, todo bien, y fue un caupo expiriencia.

Enough castillano.

How are you guys? This week was awesome- we had 10 more hermanas in our apartment this week. So, with us, that´s 12. TWELVE Sister missionaries in one apartment... It was crazy loco, but, awesomely awesome. We had the sisters from Formosa in our apartment, so I already knew half of them.

All of the sisters in Resistencia

The Conference was Awesome, We had Elder Foster, Elder Jensen, Elder Christofferson, President Heyman, and all of their Wives, along with 200 Missionaries in our chapel. Such an amazing spirit. I only wish I understood all of it. I missed a lot of things, but it was awesome. Elder Christofferson shook all of our hands (200 missionaries, took a little time.). Caupo.

And, we had Stake Conference this week, with Elder Jensen. Once again... awesome. My second Stake Conference in the mission.

Love this!

I love you all, thank you for the letters each week and for your prayers.

Stay strong, be safe, be smart... and AWESOME.

Hermana Erin Kaye Griffeth

Guardar la Fe

Feliz Noche De Brujas!

Hola people back at home who actually celebrate Halloween!

I can´t believe it´s been a week already, and it's Halloween again.  Raro... but, that´s time...

 Things here are going great. Love my comp. She´s awesome. Today for p-day we carved squash because I wanted something Halloween. I had bought a Happy Halloween sign in Chango Mas, when I was in Formosa, but that was about it. So, the past week I have been making trick or treat bags for my district. 

We only have three sets of missionaries, and all of us are from the States except my comp. But she was more then happy to celebrate with me.  The patriarch of our Ward (who might I add, gave me a lecture about how Halloween is not a holiday here, so why would we celebrate it) bought us some candy and treats for Halloween. :) lol, he´s a softy at heart.

Hermana Arcos and I with the candy patriarch gave us.

The weather here so far has not gotten extremely hot - I´m super grateful for that... but I´m terrified for what people call HOT here. The days I think I´m going to die, they keep telling me "it´s nothing"... OH GREAT!!! Lot´s of rain... not a lot of mud, love that.

Resistencia has a WALMART! Superstoked about it, but it´s across the street from our area and we haven´t been able to leave our area for two weeks. So.... I wait patiently.

This Saturday is Mission Conference.  It doesn´t happen often, (almost never) but all of the missionaries in the mission are coming to Resistencia for a special conference given by Elder Christoffersen. We are expecting ten Hermanas in our apartment, not including us. And we have to be in the Chapel at 8:30 I think. So, 12 girls, one bathroom, one shower, and 2 hours to get ready... I´ll let you know how it goes... Wish me luck!

Oh... The language. What language? I feel like I´m not progressing, I don´t know what it is... but I´m trying super hard to be patient, and learn as much as I can. With that... and the Lord... I´ll get the language. Just with time. I can read it better then I can understand it. No sé, I´m hoping for a miracle. :) lol

I want pictures of the pumpkins, and the awesome makeup. If you go to the family party, tell everyone hi for me. (and dad, tell all the trick or treaters of the ward hi for me too. :) This is weird for me... I know it´s Halloween, but it doesn´t even feel close to Halloween. There is NOTHING HERE about Halloween, I was lucky to find the Happy Halloween sign in Chango Mas. Well, anyway. Have fun tonight, whatever you are doing, and PLEASE, be smart. S-M-A-R-T, if it doesn´t feel right, It´s most likely the spirit telling you that you probably shouldn´t do it.

Love you so much, Trust in the Lord, Be smart, be safe.

Feliz Noche De Brujas!!! (Night of Witch)

Hermana Erin Griffeth

Guardar La Fe

HEAVEN!!! :)

lol Chiste..

Hola Familia!


Transfers happened quick... and now they are over. I´m in the Lovely City of Resistencia, Argentina. I know! I´m super excited about it. ´My companion's name is Hermana Arcos. She´s 23 and from Buenos Aires North. She´s learning English. She doesn´t speak it very much... But can understand a lot. We are learning from each other. Also, she´s had 2 more transfers then me.

The view from my apartment... which by the was is Huge! I have my own room to change in... it´s weird

Left to right... Hermana Arcos y me. Hermana Papenfuss (She´s headed to El Dorado, the place with the Awesome water falls... and is the new companion of Hermana Lao) and Hermana Hall... she´s from Highland and headed home last thursday. she was the companion of Hermana Arcos.

          
                                           Hermanas de parque. Hermana Quezada y Rojas


Our area is much smaller then mine in Formosa. It was super big, but they split it this week into two areas and put some Elders in that area. SO... Once again, I´m with Elder Garrett. He´s been in my District (so far) for my entire mission. lol :) I think it´s funny. What I don´t like about it though... I have a constant reminder of how much I haven´t learned. Also, my District Leader has one more transfer then I do, and his companion came with me to Argentina. Entonces. We are a young district.

                                                      My district... before transfers
There are a lot more contacts here then there are in Formosa, so I´m learning how to knock on doors (clap at doors) and talk to people. It´s kind of fun, and kind of hard. Most of the people say that they are Catholic, to which we reply "we share our message with everybody". We get a lot of finger wavers from the door. And yesterday we received a "I´m not your Hermana!" lol :) It was pretty funny, but, what can you do?


Not much more to report. Today has been fun - we played ping pong, and had Tacos! They were awesome, and tasted just like home - with homemade tortillas. Fantastic. Just what I needed to start a new area.


I love you all and I pray for you guys everyday. Keep up the amazing work. Trust in the Lord. I´m reminded everyday how much he has blessed me. The more I´m here, the more I´m grateful for a family centered in the gospel of Christ, for Temples close by. And for a washer and dryer. :D


Love you all,


Hermana Erin Kaye Griffeth


Keep the Faith

One... week... later...

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I loved them! I even got a letter from kyle.. I hope I don´t have to wait another 2 1/2 months for his next one. Blaine however is climbing up there. I received your video (no sound), but it was received and I´m so greatful! Thank you! I watched it 3 times. :D And I can imagine the chipmunk voices singing Happy Birthday. For my birthday Hermana´s de Parque came over and we had a lunch. They gave me a jewelry box and a pen with a blue heart on top. Lol, it was awesome. I also got a video of them singing happy birthday in English.  Two are from Chile and the other from Uruguay... lol you can imagine. I wish I could send it, but this email won't let me send more then a certain amount. Which is why I was a little surprised to receive the video. I bought a cake for myself. (only the cake -no frosting -no nothing. Hermana Medero thought it was crazy that I didn´t want anything on the cake, but it was fantastic. Got it from chango mas (walmart here is under a different name). And I took a picture with you guys (un photo) and Hermana Medero. Later on in the week, familia Zalazar bought me a cake and I got a picture with all of them, SMILING! People here don't smile all that much in photos, - I don´t know why, they look better with smiles.
Familia!

It was an awesome cake. It had dulce de leche and that flaky pastry in the middle. Awesome! I have yet to receive your package, but today is our district meeting, where we receive letters and packages. I´m hoping today.
We have transfers coming up on the 19th.  I´m panicking because my companion has been here 5 months, and my two transfers with her are almost up. So I think either she or I transfer... I´m praying not, but the Lord knows where he wants us. If she goes, I have a whole lot of responsibility to train my new companion, and I don´t think I´m ready. I still can´t understand most of what people say, and as for talking the language, forget about it! No sé... all I can do is say," El Señor sabe" and have as much faith as possible.
Guess what!?! My rain boots... no más. They ripped in 3 different spots.. I tried to fix them with duct tape, but water kept getting underneath. Needless to say, I´m buying new ones soon. I´m super sad about it, because everyone loved them.

We had a baptism last Saturday, Ayelen (Ashelen)- she´s 9. It was amazing. Silvia still hasn´t been confirmed and it´s been four Sundays. We had the zone leaders ask President if she needs to be baptized again, we find out today.
They don´t celebrate Halloween here. They have a name for it, Noche de brujas (Night of witches), but apparently they don´t do much. raro.. I told them that it is huge in my country. Chango mas had a Happy Holloween sign, so I bought it, that is about all they had for Halloween. It´s weird to me. Entonces...
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, he knows what he is doing. I love you all.
Erin
Guardar la Fe

Happy Birthday to Erin!

From October 3, 2011

Click on the picture and sing with us, everyone!

The Perfect Combination

Oh what an awesome week. I can´t tell you how much I loved Conference this weekend, and boy did I need it! Not only for the messages, but to be able to understand people for the first time in four months! lol. I listened to every word... and I can´t tell you how much I missed american sarcasm. lol. I loved all the talks. I always love listening to the speakers. President Monson´s talk about the temples... man you should have heard us. When he anounced that the Provo Tabernacle was going to become a temple... shocked! Just saying.. I suspect it´s not going to be a big temple, because there isn´t that much room on the property, but I´m so excited for it none-the-less. And, when he anounced all the awesome places and then, Star Valley, Wyoming, we all laughed- but there was silence from all of the other people, because they didn´t know where
Wyoming was. It was pretty funny. I´m super stoked about all the Temples. And I can´t wait to finally attend one again after my mission. We have a Temple about two hours from here, in Asuncion Paraguay, but we are not able to visit it, unfortunately. So, the next time I go to the Temple will be in the states. I loved all the bajar la caña talks. lol :) Those were pretty funny. All around, an awesome Conference.

Found out this week that we have seven people that need to be married in order for them to be baptized. One, we are waiting for the papers and the rest don´t want to be married, so unfortunately, we have to drop them... it stinks, but we are hoping that they figure out sometime soon how important it is to be sealed as a family.

It got HOT this week... So Hot. I can´t even tell you how much I sweat. I have to keep a handkerchief in my hand all day. It cooled down a little bit because we had another rain storm, but it´s becoming hot again.

My birthday so far has consisted of Hermana Medero singing happy birthday to me in broken English and kind of on tune. :) but that´s about it. I´ll send pictures next week. The Hermana´s de paque are coming over to our apartment to have lunch for my birthday. But another day on the mission. Nothing too exciting. I´ll try to do something fun, but our p-day normally consist of email, store, clean the appartment, clean our clothes (which takes a long time.. ask Kim), and sleep (if we are lucky). So, I´m hoping for sleep as my birthday present, since we won´t receive a p-day next week because it´s a holiday. You´ll receive an email from me on Tuesday, which gives all of you one extra day (*cough* *cough* Kyle, Blaine).

I love you all with all of my heart. I´m understanding more of the language, but still missing the important parts. I´m hoping to follow the words of the Prophets and open my mouth more. We´ll see how that goes. Trust the lord with all your heart. Mom, Dad, be safe in Washington and don´t electrocute yourself. :D Good luck!

Erin

Guardar la Fe

4 Meses and still going strong!

La Familia Estoy agradecemos por cada Dia,

This week was... AWESOME! And, a little sad... But mostly awesome. We had 2 baptisms, Danny and Tony - brothers. Danny is 11 and is starting to prepare to receive the priesthood in December, Tony is nine. They are amazing. We have been teaching the whole family. Their dad and his girlfriend don´t want to get married, but the Dad knows the church is true... I know, I don´t understand it either. Their older sister, 14, decided she didn´t want to get baptized. Until she talked to Hermana Yolanda (show-landa) lol. She´s the mom of our mission leader. lol. She isn´t a member, but she wants to be. Anyway, Diana has a baptism date for the 15th of October. Super stoked!

Nothing much more happening here. A little tired.. (a lot), and I´m learning more patience then I ever wanted...
I still don´t understand half of what people are asking or saying... I understand the general idea of the conversation, but inportant information, way WAY over my head. Like, I know they are talking about temples, but if you asking me what happened... I can´t help you. Also, I´m still having trouble with my fluidity of speaking... but that just takes practice. All of this takes practice and a lot of praying... ;D with time I guess... It´s been two months, but with time. All is well, all is well.

I´m super stoked for General Conference this week! Can´t wait to hear the words of the lord, IN ENGLISH!!! This conference is for everyone and has something for all. Keep your ears open and follow the impressions you receive. With that, comes blessings.

I love you all with all of my heart. Be safe and trust in the Lord.

Your freakishly AWESOME Daughter and Sister,

Erin

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Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Hola Familia!

It´s been raining here for 3 days. Super dark clouds and a LOT of mud. My rain boots are coming in handy, and people love them. They only have dark blue and black here, so checkered black and white ones are being noticed. Even the Mission President's wife loves them.
We had stake conference this weekend. We had the President of the Asuncion, Paraguay Temple, our mission president, and Elder Foster of the Seventy. In Stake Conference, President had me stand up and said that I was the most "animada de la mission" (most excited of the mission). Also, he mentioned my boots. lol :)
Conference is coming up quick! I can´t believe it- in two weeks it will be Conference and my birthday. Man, how time flies. I´ll be 22! What? Weird...
Silvia was baptized this week and Diego´s baptism is this week - he is so excited. He is getting baptised with his friend, who lives in a different area, so we are cordinating with the Elders. This group of friends - Man, they are awesome. Alexis (boy) was baptised a couple weeks ago, and now these two are being baptized. I believe they all want to serve mini missions, and perhaps (I hope) Missions. Also, we have Danny and Tony. They are brothers, 11 and 9 years old. They are both awesome. Danny gave the prayer the other day and I was AMAZED! It was great!
Thank you for your letters. They lift me up every week. Be strong, be safe, and trust in the Lord. With patience and faith, all is possible.

Hermana Erin Griffeth

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Feliz Septiembre!

This picture is of the Sisters in my District

Things this week have been crazy.
We were able to visit with one sister for the first time in 3 weeks (She´s been in Asuncion, Paraguay). We found out that her son is some where in Asuncion, but since it´s such a big city, she wasn´t able to find him. We´re praying for her and hoping everything will turn out ok.
We're also teaching a 16 year old with the 8 month old baby girl. The day we went to teach her the Plan of Salvation was the day her Mom told her she had to leave. So the members have been working with her. She is being baptized this week! woot woot! It´s a good thing she now has the gospel. :)

We sang families can be together forever yesterday, and the investigators were laughing at me because I kept getting off on the music. AND, the fact that they weren´t even close to the tune.... man... It was difficult. But, all is well.
We had 14 investigators in the church this week. But our Baptisms are slowing down. Either parents don´t want their children baptized or the adults don´t want to get married.... Kind of saddening, but that is their choice. It happens a lot here. People live together for years, but never get married because it is so hard to get divorced here.
I also found out this week that people here get offended really easily. One of our investigators left the church early last week because Hermana Medero didn´t kiss his cheeks. He was very upset. What can you do?
nada mas esta semana... espero cada cosa es bien alli que la casa. Té amo!

Trust in the Lord in everything you do and remember who you are.

Erin

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This picture is of Hermana Schmidt, Medero y I with Hermana Yolanda y Hermano Angel. They are the parents of our Ward mission Leader. Hermana Yolanda bought me a Hat yesterday because I´m so white. LOL Love her

Primera Transfers

Things here are going grand. We gained a new companion for a couple of days. Until transfers... which are on Wednesday. Hermana Schmidt. They had an early transfer and her companion was sent to Resistencia. So she is here with us. She goes home in a couple of months. She´s 25, really cool and from Texas. She was Hermana Mederos second companion - they were together for 4 months. Hermana Medero is super excited.

The other day I was walking with my companion at night and I saw fireflies! I was so excited. I can´t even begin to tell you. I¨ve never seen them in person before and there were a lot. It was so cool!

We have awesome investigators. I don´t know if I have told you about them yet. But we have Francisco y Fransisca. He is 76 and she is 67 I believe. They have been together for 52 years, have 13 kids... and have never been married. :) We started teaching Fransica and she agreed with all of us. That sunday they came to church and the Bishop gave a talk on eternal families. After, at our next appointment, she told us she wanted to get married to have eternal families. I believe they get married on the 15th, and their baptism is the 17th. I´m so excited for them.

Then we have Diego. He is freakishly tall for an Argentinian and is 22. Everytime we teach him and ask him questions I feel like he is teaching us. He comes to church every Sunday, and is supporting his friends in their baptisms. He is going to institute. I swear, he is the perfect investigator. I´m so stoked for his baptism.

Dad was telling me about the little kids testimonies in church and...I want to tell you guys about Juan. Juan is 11 years old. He was baptised about 8 or 9 months ago along with his brother Luis (our mission leader), and his other brother Lucas. His mom and dad aren´t members, but they want to be - they come to church every Sunday. I´ll tell you their story later. Anyway, Juan is AWESOME. Yesterday at Testimony meeting, he promised our 15 investigators who were at church yesterday, that if they prayed, they would know the truth. SUPER POWERFUL. He also practices talking to everyone and goes door to door and just talks with people. He´s starting to save for a mission. This kid is going to be one awesome missionary. I tell you. Love this kid.

Nothing much more happening here. I believe my spanish is expanding, and my understanding of the language. I know what they are talking about, but not exactly what they say. Like, I know they are talking about faith, but I don´t know what they believe or what kind of faith they have. It´s hard, but all I can do is try and after that... The Lord will help me. I´m so grateful to have the gospel in my life.

I love you all so much, Be Safe!

Erin

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11 Con un Fetcha! (translates as 11 With a Date!)

Hola FAMILIA!

What a week. We had a lot of progress this week. The most exciting is that we have 11 people with a baptism date! Woot woot! Really excited about it. But I´m also really tired. I don´t think that will change much in the next yearish, so... I´ll suck it up.

Nothing much to report this week. We had our first major heat wave and dang... DANG! lol. The day it happened, we had lunch with a member. Then we got on a warm bus and I was tired.... Needless to say, I fell asleep. My companion thought it was hilarious. :)

I hope and pray things are going good at home. I know the Lord is with you and me.

Be Strong, Be Safe.

Erin

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One Step at a Time

Hola Familia!

Here is the official picture from my first zone conference.

We had one baptism this week - Ivan Esteves. He´s eleven years old and pretty cool. His brother Maties was recently baptized also. I´m really stoked for him. Aaron´s dad said no, but we are talking to him tonight and hopefully he will let Aaron get baptized this Saturday. Praying. :)

Elder Rivera, one of my zone leaders, left this Wednesday for a different area. Kind of sad about it. He was the one who always put a massive smile on and give me thumbs up because that was all I could do my first district meeting. It was pretty funny. He loved it. I don´t know why. :)

Found out that for people here to serve full time missions they have to serve a six week mini-mission. So the full time missionaries here work with mini missionaries for 6 weeks. I think it´s kind of cool, and super dedicated for the people here. Awesome.


Gotta Run! I know the lord knows what I need, and is with me every step of the way. I hope and pray for you everyday, be safe!

Love,

Erin

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Bautizado!!

That´s right family, dos bautismos!
Jonatan and Martin were baptized Saturday. I´m super excited for both of them, and we have Ivan´s baptism this week as well.

I received my suitcase finally last Wednesday - two of my watches, my alarm clock, my straightener, all of my batteries, and the speakers Ammon gave me, all missing. They look like they were taken by customs. I don´t know why they would take that stuff.... but, oh well. I´m going to buy speakers today, been going crazy without music. They asked me to lead the music at the baptism. There is no one here who can play the piano, and I don´t know which songs are which in the hymn book yet. Since I can't claim perfect pitch, the Bishop had to sing the first few notes for me. LOL! Very funny, very embarrasing.

I found out the other day that my companion and I are the only Missionaries in my area, and our area is big. We are hoping to gain Elders with the next transfer, but who knows? I think the Lord is trying to teach me how to tell direction, because the addresses here are crazy. I am so turned around everytime we go anywhere. Whoever gets transfered with me in this area is going to have a problem, cause I´m not going to be able to speak the language or lead us to where we need to go. lol. Patience, I guess.

I´m loving my district. Elder Garrett is in my district again, which is nice. I love my district leaders. The other is a native, Elder Rivera. Elder Rivera likes to make fun of me because the first time I met him, all I knew how to say was Sonrisa (smile), with my thumbs up. Now, everytime he sees me he gives me the biggest smile and a thumbs up. It´s so funny!

Elder Coombs is super patient with me when trying to explain things. In the end he has to resort to English - It´s terrible. I feel like a child some times, trying to be taught something very simple. The other day I was in an interview with them, and they wanted to see how well I did at reading Spanish. They opened my Book of Mormon and had me read a verse. I'm terrible at reading in Spanish - it´s a fact. I got a little nervous, but started reading anyway. Then I started laughing! Not laughing, haha... but laughing... HAHAHHAHAHH... giggle giggle... HAHAHHAHAHHAHAH! For like 3 minutes! They had a great time laughing at me. It was Terrible. They didn´t know what was happening. I didn´t know what was happening. I guess I just got nervous. I'm bad at interviews too, so that made me nervous. Entonces....

The otherday we were visiting a member family, The Zalazars, and they were shoveling dirt in front of their house. Hermana Medero asked if she could do a shovel full. She tried and got like a spoon full... and then I was like, YO QUERRO! (I want, I don´t know how to say I want to try yet) So they let me, and in my skirt I got three massive shovel fulls. Apparently it´s not common in Argentina for girls to know how to shovel because they were all amazed at my Griffeth shoveling skills. It was really funny.

NOthing mas happening here. I hope and pray for you everyday. Please be safe. Let me know more about what is happening. I love to hear the stories. You should see me here, as I read I have the biggest smile on my face. Not because of the fact that I´m reading English and understanding everything, but because I love the stories. Thanks for all the support. I love you all with all of my heart. Be strong and trust in the Lord, He know´s what he´s doing. Have patience. :) LIKE ME! :D

Erin

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