It Depends On Where You Want To Go

¡Hola!

Crazy busy week as usual!

In one of Cade´s emails he talked about contacting whole buses of people. I hadn´t done anything like that until the other day with my new comp we contacted a whole train car of people. I didn´t really want to do it but after you do it once then you really don´t have any embarrassment etc to always do it. We had to travel to Lujan for a meeting this past week and it´s about 3 hours away. My comp and I contacted basically the whole three hours there and the whole three hours back. All the Elders that were with us made fun of us but it seriously was the coolest thing. Most/pratically all of the people we contacted don´t live in our area but we did find a family that lives in Las Heras who we have started teaching and they are so wonderful. 6 hours of work was totally worth it.

My favorite scripture of the week is in 2 Nephi 2: 22-25, 27. Many people don´t understand the purpose of this life and are therefore unhappy with where their lives are. Which completely makes sense... because if you don´t know where you are going, how can you ever get there? I can´t remember if I shared this before but it´s like Alice in Wonderland when she meets the cat and asks which path she should take. He responds that it depends on where she wants to go, because if she doesn´t know where she wants to go then it doesn´t matter which path she takes.

I know that the only path that can lead to EVERLASTING happiness is the path of Jesus Christ and that we can only enter in at the gate of that path through baptism by someone having the proper authority of God.

Think about you often, pray for you always, and love you forever!

Hermana Scanlon

Mission Accomplished!

There is a girl from Argentina currently living in my parents' ward in Sun Valley. Her name is Sofia. (That's who Jordan was talking about in her last email). Sofia went back to Argentina a few weeks ago and my parents were able to send a package (and a hug!) for Jordan. My dad has expressed concern that Sofia wouldn't get to see Jordan, but she did! I'm sure it was a fantastic surprise for Jordan to get unexpected love from home. Dad did send peanut butter which was, unfortunately, confiscated in customs. Shoot!

Here's the email my Dad got from Sofia today:

Hi brother Scanlon!

Finally i met Jordan today!! She was very happy to see me, it was kind of a surprise afterall because i told to some elders that i was going to ramos mejia, but they never told her.

 Was great to get to know her we were talking for about and hour, she gave me something to take back to you. I'm heading back to Sun Valley in 2 weeks, so i'll see you soon.

I hope everything is going great for you over there!!

best.

Sofia.-

This is the email Jordan sent to our Dad:

Hi Dad!

Yeah I met sofia today!!! What a great surprise! I had no idea that she was going to be there so it was really funny. I was talking to one of the other missionaries and then a girl came up to me and asked, "Are you Hna Scanlon" To which of course I responded yes and then when she told me that she was Sofia I think I jumped like 5 feet in the air and gave her a HUGE hug. I think she was a little surprised... I think that I also gave her like 5 hugs afterwards so hopefully at least one gets to you guys. It was a little stressful because all the missinaries were there including Hna Svedin and co who were with me in the MTC and I haven´t seen since like the beginning of Feb and there wasn´t really time to talk to everyone  but it all seemed to go well and I think that Sofia really enjoyed being there... at least I hope so I think she really was there hanging out with me for like a hour. Ok I better go and write my big letter!

Love you!

your favorite missionary

Changes

¡Hola!

Wow what a crazy week!!! lots of changes around these parts but I am REALLY excited about all of them! So the biggest news is that my call letter was written wrong.... It was suppose to say that I was called to the Las Heras, Argentina Mission... ha ha ha. Yup we had transfers and it looks like I am staying here for 6 more weeks which equals the first 6 months of my mission in Argentina. I am excited about it though. My new comp is Hna Salazar from Argentina! I am way excited to have an Argentine as a companion and to be honest I was praying that it would be her. She is amazing... pretty much the best Hna (possibly missionary) in the mission so I am SOOOOO grateful that we get to be comps. I had divisions with her last week in her old area and she really is incredible and works so hard so this transfer will definitely be awesome. Other big news is that Hna Svedin is in Lujan with Hna Tucker!!!! How cool is that? I get to see them again on Wednesday at a meeting so I am excited about that!

Ha ha I forgot to tell you last week that all the Evangelists here were saying that the world was going to end on 21 May, 2011... There were billboards and everything. I am not really sure how they felt when that didn´t happen (relieved?). I am not really sure how many had their faith shaken by that... I thought it was pretty funny. Not really sure how a church could regain it´s credibility after that...

Other tidbit of news/Argentine culture that I have forgotten to share with you.... Here in the fall instead of sweeping up all their leaves (yes they use brooms for the leaves there are) they just cut off all of the branches that are on the trees. If you ask me I think it would probably be a ton easier just to sweep up the leaves.... Today I saw a man with a machete (sp?) hacking away at one of his trees. Ha ha good times.

So I have left out some pretty important information I realized today. The temple in Buenos Aires is being remodeled very extensively right now. They have been working on it for over a year and a half now and I think it is scheduled to reopen in November so that will be SOOO awesome. President Monson dedicated it the first time so many think that he will come again.... I guess we´ll just have to wait and see. Also this is the last 6 weeks of my mission President!!! So we will be getting a new one like the first week of July so that will be really cool to experience!

I wrote a quick email to dad but other exciting news is that I MET SOFIA TODAY!!!!!!! I was in the middle of all the missionaries this morning as we were all getting our new comps and she came and found me! It was so cool. Thanks for the package!!! I haven´t had much time to look at everything quite yet but I am wearing the jacket right now and LOVING it! Thanks so much for going through all that trouble for me! It was fun because she basically got to meet everyone including my new companion and President Benton so she can tell you about the whole experience. It was the best to get a little hug from home! :)

With President Benton about to go home I have thought a lot about the council that he has given us. One of my favorite talks that he gave to us was about obedience. He taught us that there are 3 kinds of obedience:

1. We are obedient because we are afraid of the consequences
2. We are obedient because we want the blessings
3. We are obedient because we love Heavenly Father and all of His children

I often think of this when I don´t want to get out of bed at 6:30 in the morning or am tempted to break any other of the tiny rules that we have here. That is when I think "why do I want to be obedient?". Or more importantly, "Which type of obedience am I going to have today?" I´ve found that when I am obedient because I love my Heavenly Father that is when I am truly happen and being here isn´t a sacrifice at all, but an incredible blessing from a loving Heavenly Father who knows me better than I know myself.

I am having the experience of a lifetime here and I am so grateful every day that I can help others to find lasting peace and happiness in this life and in the life to come. I love you all tons and tons and am so grateful for all that you have all done to help me to be the person and the missionary that I am. Thank you so much for all of your prayers etc, I can feel that added strength from all of you.

Think about you often, pray for you always, and love you forever!

Hna Scanlon

(these pics aren't real current - hopefully we'll get new ones soon!)

What We Have To Share With The World

¡Hola!

I am writing this to you all from Lujan! Hna Duarte and I travelled here today to go to the Zoo again! Ha ha it was super great... not as exciting as the first time but still really good and I got to spend some of the day with Hna Tucker so I was really enjoying that.

This week I had divisions on Tuesday and they sent a mini missionary to spend the day with me in Las Heras. Not gonna lie I was a little surprised and thought, "What are they thinking?" But it all went really well. Her name is Hna Zapata and she is from Merlo and was such a big help. It also helped me to lead in my area and take charge of our lessons etc. So all in all it was a really great experience. The funny story of the week is that when Hna Duarte got back she asked me if anything big had happened while she was gone. I responded that there had been a cockroach in the pench and the rest of the dialogue is as follows:

Hna Duarte (HD): A what?

Hna Scanlon (HS): A cockroach (cucaracha)!

HD: Hmm was it related to the neighbors?

HS: What Hna?

HD: Was it related to the neighbors... you know like their family?

(My only excuse as this point is that I thought I didn´t know the full meaning of the word familiar)

HS: Umm no I don´t think so

HD: How did it get in through two closed doors? Was the door closed?

HS: Umm I am not sure... (Thinking of the door to our balcony) No it wasn´t but don´t worry it is now

HD: Well what did you do?

HS: Hna Zapata did this (me making the motion of stomping my foot to kill the cockroach) and threw is out of the pench while I stood behind her screaming

HD: How did it enter in through TWO doors?!?

HS: (Thinking umm it´s a cockroach I´m pretty sure it can crawl in through the inch of space we have at the bottom of our doors) Umm I don´t know Hna

HD: Where was it?

HS: By the bookshelf where my books are. (Thinking wow she is really concerned about this cockroach... I thought they were pretty common here.)

HD: Was it a boy or a girl?

HS: (Wow she really knows a lot about cockroaches... How does a person even tell?) Umm I know know Hna.

HD: Well how old was it

HS: (Seriously...) Umm I don´t know... about like this (Me making a circle with my fingers that was about the size of the cockroach)

HD: What what was in our apartment?

HS: A cockroach!

HD: (laugh hysertically... tears and all)

Apparently what she had heard both times was that there was a borracha (a drunk lady) and had been picturing some drunk in our apartment throughout this whole story. Oh my what good times we have with me and my castellaño sometimes! :)

This next week is our last week of the transfer which is exciting because there will most certainly be a change in our area. Things here are good and we will have two baptisms this weekend so Hna Duarte and I are both looking forward to that!

Yesterday I gave a talk in church about humility and having Christlike attributes. When Christ was on the earth as He was walking along the shore of the sea of Galilea He called two Peter and Andrew and said, "Come follow me". In 3 Nephi 27:27 we read: "What manner of men ought you to be? Even as I am." Christ beckons us to follow Him and indeed it is even a commandment that we become perfect, even as He is. This is only possible as we become humble and recognize that we cannot do this on our own and recognize the need AND the role of the Savior in our own individual lives. If there is one thing that I have gained a testimony of over the past year it is that God and Jesus Christ know us individually and they know what we need to learn and grow in this life and to become perfect like they are. But don´t forget that Satan knows us too. He is smart... very smart. And he knows what our temptations are. He will ALWAYS use these to try and make us miserable like he is. But remember that wickedness never was happiness and that everything that is good comes from God. We have the greater power to oversome Satan whereas he only has the power to bruise our heels UNLESS we welcome him into our lives. I hope that we can all look for and use the atonement of Christ daily in our lives as we are learning and growing and using our tribulations, trials, and experiences as a "refiner´s fire" to become the perfected beings that we were created to be.

How incredible it is to be here and share the everlasting gospel of peace and joy with the people here in Argentina. I love that everyday I try and give people the best thing that they will EVER receive in their lives.

I know that this gospel is true and that Christ established His church, set the perfect example, and died for our sins, but most importantly that he rose on the third day and that He lives! This is His gospel and it was restored through His prophet Joseph Smith, whose name really is known for good and evil throughout all nations. This is the church of Jesus Christ and we are all living and fulfilling revelation of these the latter-days!

I think about you often, pray for you always, and love you forever!

Hna Scanlon

(this was from her 1st visit to the zoo - it's awesome)

Our Path Of Duty

¡Hola Todos!

Sorry that my email today is a little later than usual! We travelled to the offices today to have an activity with our zone. Because we had worked so hard last transfer President decided to reward us with food and games. I thought it would only be our zone there but when we got there we found out that Lujan was there as well which meant that I got to see Hna Tucker! That was probably the best surprise of the day!! So I spent most of my day there and just barely got back after travelling. As I was riding the train in the city today I was talking to and Elder (who is also from Idaho) and was telling him that I tried to explain to you all how the trains are in the city in Argentina.. His response was "did you tell them it is like a cattle car?" Basically from that statement you can tell that he is from Declo.. but yes it is a very accurate description. Basically people just push and cram and shove until they can get on or until they can get off. I think I´ve determined that when people try to get off is worse. I just stand in the middle and try not to get shoved off the train against my will. It is so crazy... Today two of the Elders punched different people... unintentionally of course.... because it is such a whirlwind of madness. This man with a large box was on the train today and this poor old woman was crammed behind it and she kept yelling "I´m in deep pain... the box is crushing my legs... I´m in deep pain" (in spanish of course). No one did anything until one of the Elders finally adjusted the box for her. Oh Argentina... One of the Argentine Elders just looked at us all (mostly Americans) and said "Welcome to my country" (in English). Ha ha good times. That was probably more than any of you wanted to know about the train in Argentina but there is it.

Dad and Cade both have asked if I can see the Southern Cross. I´m gonna be honest and say that I have no idea what or where to even look. Astronomy was never my strong point. I´ve tried to look for a cross in the sky (yes I am smart enough to figure that much out) but I haven´t had any luck... can I see it here year round?

I found a talk in the May 2010 Conference Ensign that I love. It´s called "Our Path of Duty" by Bishop Keith McMullin. He quoted President Monson in saying, "If we are to walk with head held high, we must make our contribution to life. If we are to fulfill our destiny and return to live with our Father in Heaven, we much keep His commandments and pattern our lives after the Savior. By so doing, we will not only achieve our goal of eternal life, but we will also leave the world richer and better than it would have been had we not lived and performed our duties". He goes on the say, "The duty of which I speak is what we are expected to do and to be... Doing one´s duty is a manifestation of one´s faith". His talk starts out with the most incredible story about forgiving others. I have found so much that one of the ugliest sides of pride is not being able to forgive others. Dad sent me an amazing insight about the debtor and the man who forgave him but he would not forgive others of their debts when they owed him basically a penny in comparison to the billions that he owed.... basically a debt that he could never repay. And so it is with us. How can we expect others and especially God to forgive our short comings when we don´t do that for others? In one of my classes at BYU a girl once said, "Don´t judge others just because they are chosing to sin differently than you are." I really liked that because it is so true. It is so easy for us to find the short comings and differences in others and hold things against others but then we expect mercy for our faults from others. I hope that we can all look for the good in others because we WILL find it!

I love you all! I loved talking to you.. sorry if it seemed liked a was rambling... I realized that I talked about kind of random things when I hung up... Hope you liked it! Know that I am SOOOOOOO SOOO happy... yeah there are hard things but as Elder Holland put it we can´t expect to be true disciples of Christ without spending a few moments in the garden of Gethsemane and taking a few steps toward Calvary! I feel like it´s a success that there are more ups then downs! Love you all and I pray that you are as safe as I am while I am in the Lord´s hands doing His work! I see His blessings and miracles every day and hope that you can too!

Think about you often, pray for you always and love you forever!

Hna Scanlon



Mother's Day Call Home

It was so awesome to talk to Hermana Scanlon! We all miss her so much! Only Mom, Dad, Janae and I (Cali) got to be at home for the big call, so we grabbed all the house phones and cell phones we could to include each of the immediate family.

We only got to talk for 40 minutes and the time went way fast, but she sounds great and it was so good to talk to her. I spoke some Spanish to her and she's doing really well with it - well, aside from the crazy Argentina accent! Our last name is hard in english and it's dang near impossible for latinos to say it. However, there is a word in Spanish that's very similar, so people (in Spain) would just call me Hna Step - or Hna Escalon. It's funny that Jordan gets to experience that too!

She said that people also call her Hna Seeja, then she laughed. It took me a minute to realize that she was saying "silla" which is seat in Spanish. She says it weird!

We all miss her like crazy but she is definitely doing the Lord's work and is learning and growing so much. We're so proud of her!

(yes, Cade is 'Bubbles' in my phone)

I probably should have walked downstairs and gotten a picture of Dad too - next time!

This Day

¡Hola!

How are you all doing!!! First things first... the big call next week!!! Can you believe that it is already time for Mother´s Day? Ok so I can call from the phone in the Bishop´s office in the church here. I am planning on calling at around 5 o´clock Argentina time... I am not exactly sure what time that is in the states. I have 40 minutes to talk and we were adviced to tell you to make a list of questions that you want to ask me and things that you want to talk about. I will do the same thing so that we can use our time the most effectively.

This week was really good but ït´s FREEZING here now. Ok so not literally freezing here but sooooo cold. I think it is mostly the fact that I am walking around in the street all day in a skirt that makes it feel so cold. Also as Kyle warned me most of the houses that we go into are not insulated and also very cold so I kind of feel like a popsicle by the end of the day. Funny argentinism is that they turn on their stoves (like that they cook from) that are gas to heat their house... kind of interesting. I actually laughed the first time an Hermana did it in her house because I thought she was joking.. she wasn´t.. oops. :) It has been raining here a lot as the weather gets colder and the sidewalks in some parts of the town are tiled. Well some of the tiles are loose so when it rains water gets underneath of them. Yeah you guessed it... everytime it rains either my companion or I step on one of these tiles and either spray each other or ourselves. Yeah it´s pretty good times. Usually we are so wet anyway that is doesn´t matter and it´s usually pretty funny.

Dad thanks for sending me the little tid bit about the talk that President Uchtdorf gave in conference. I related it to my companion and we have been sharing it with our investigators all week and even used it in one of our lessons where one of our investigators commited to be baptized!

News this week in America seemed to be a big topic of conversation. I did hear about the royal wedding...(She seems to have forgotten that America doesn't actually have a royal family - hee, hee!) A family had it on during one of our lessons and it was super hard for me to pay attention because the news coverage was in english so it made it hard to focus on the spanish that was being sad around me. People also asked me if I was excited that my prince was getting married... I was a little confused until my comp replied that I am not from England... apparently the whole fact that I speak english is what confused them... yeah I am not really sure. I also heard about the tornado... so sad. Also today I was at one of our recent convert´s houses and I happened to walk in the room when Obama (our president) was talking about killing Obama (the terrorist).. yes it is sad that I have to explain that statement. Our convert starting yelling, "It´s a lie!" Ha ha so I guess we will see.

If you have a chance to look at an April Liahona my mission is in there... pictures and all! Well I´m not but people I know are and are President... just thought you might be interested.

Food news this week. I ate carne asada today for the first time... yum. Also I noticed this week that the food labeling here is really quite funny. If more people spoke english then I am sure that it would be different. For example... There is a brand of hamburgers called Barfy, a brand of bread called Faty, and cookies called Don Satur (like saturated fat...). Yeah it´s pretty funny to me.

This week after getting rejected for like the 5 time in a row by different people my comp starting singing the "Nobody like me, everybody hates me" song! Of course it was in spanish but I started laughing because it was so perfect for that moment. Oh good times. There are so many things that are similar between our cultures... for example Blu´s Clues... who knew that existed in Paraguay as well!!!

This week I was finally able to print out one of my favorite talks of all time by President Eyring. I´m sure that you all remember it, it´s entitled, "This Day". I´m just gonna quote a few of my favorite parts from it.
"There is danger in the word someday when what it means is ´not this day´. ¨Someday I will speak to my friend about the Church.´´Someday I will start to pay tithing.´´Someday I will return to the Temple.´´Someday...´"

"It is hard to know when we have done enough for the Atonement to change our natures and so qualify us for eternal life. And we don´t know how many days we will have to give the service necessary for that mighty change to come. But we know that we will have days enough if only we don´t waste them."
Wow... so powerful. I know that this is Christ´s church again established upon the earth through a modern day prophet Joseph Smith, to help lead and guide the children of our Father in Heaven along the path to eternal life. I know that God loves each of His children and that as we follow the perfect example of Christ each and every day we can feel the power of the Atonement work it´s mighty change in every facet of our lives. Remember to not put off things for a tomorrow that may never come. Whereas there is danger in the word someday, there is strength and power in the words this day.

Think about you often, pray for you always, and love you forever.... AND I AM SO EXCITED TO TALK TO YOU IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK!!!

Hna Scanlon