The Family Cow

¡Hola!

¡¡FELIZ LUNES!! This week I have been loving the weather here as it feels like SPRING!! If it really stays like this I will be super happy since winter here was definitely NOTHING compared to Idaho/Utah. Everyone told me that July is the worst month so I am hoping that is true. My comp said that last year in August they had Polar Week... I am not exactly sure what weather that entailed but definitely does not sound fun so I am hoping and praying that we do not have that this year as well.

Everything is going great here in Cuidad Evita. It´s fun because a ton of people here speak english so I get to hear it more often. Our Bishop is pretty much fluent I think and yesterday we were having ward council and he described an interview that he had as a "face to face". I laughed and everyone else asked, "What does that mean?" Sometimes when people only say one or two words in english I have to think really hard about if they really said it in english or if I just translated it in my head.... Definitely a blessing to be learning another language.

This week I had an interesting experience with my comp. She was always calling our investigators "vacas" or cows and I had no idea why. I was guessing that it might be because they were lazy... or for their weight... ha ha I was really a bit confused as to the exact meaning. Then this week she asked me if I knew what it meant when she said that and I confessed that I did not. She then related the following story to me. I think that I have heard it before but it was good to hear it again so here you all go.

There was once a family that was very poor. Their most prized and honestly only possesion was the family cow. This cow was their primary means of food to help them survive. Many of the townspeople were very concerned and were trying to think of ways to help them, but no one could come up with a solution for this family. Then one young man thought to ask one of the wisest men in the town. The response of the wise man was, "It´s simple, kill the cow". "What?", thought the young man, "How can that be the solution? That cow is all that they own". But he knew that the man was very wise so he went and got the family cow out of the pasture and pushed it off a cliff. At the time the family was devestated and the young man left the poor family alone, certain that he had done more harm than good. Many years later, the same young man returned to where the poor family had once lived. But now he found a grand house with cars, running water, and electricity where once had stood the shack and pasture of the poor family. He knocked on the door and asked the family living in the house what had happened to the poor family that had once lived on this land. Their response was that this was the exact same family and when the man inquired as to how they had gained all that they had now they replied, "Some lunatic came and pushed our cow off the cliff and we all had to go out and get jobs to provide for our family".

I love this story because how many of us are content with our current situation and our own "family cow"? Almost every day I talk with people that think they have everything and that there is nothing that I could possibly offer them. They are content to live with their "cow" when in reality I am trying to offer them the riches of eternity. It´s also made me think about the blessings as members of the church that we are missing out on because we are clinging too tight to our "family cow" and are not willing to work to improve ourselves and our situations while we are in this life. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that offers us a happier and a better life, but we have our agency to chose if we want to accept it or not. I know that only through Christ and his atonement can we find lasting peace and happiness in this life and live with our families forever in the world to come.

In closing I have a funny story to share with you. The other night we were walking to our apt and it was pretty dark and as we passed this house a dog started barking and running for us. I was a few steps ahead of my comp so I started screaming bloody murder and running. When my comp passed the opening in the fence out marched probably one of the most tame and gentle dogs in argentina (it looked a little bit like reo but was probably a little smaller). She continued to mock and laugh at me for about the next hour because she is always the one that is freaking out about the dogs and usually I am not afraid of them... I guess I am only afraid of the tame ones. :)

I love you all TONS!!!

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

Hna Scanlon

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Hey All -

Cali here. So, we are currently experiencing a picture drought (I've resorted to cartoon cows!). Hna Scanlon promises to get us some this next week. Until then, I have found some maps of Argentina and specifically her mission, so we can get a better idea of where she is.

And here's a photo collage I found on a Buenos Aires Mission Blog that has Jordan in it:

Crosses

¡Hola la mejor familia en todo el mundo!

How are you all doing? Ha ha I know that I ask that every week and that you can´t actually respond to my question but I am going to go ahead and keep asking it. ;) My week was really good. It turns out that they weather in Argentina is a crazy as the weather in Idaho and some days this week we were dying of heat and other days freezing. Ha ha but as we always tell ourselves and everyone else we are still happy so that is what really matters. My new area is really great. The members are fantastic and really want to help us with the work. They always have ideas as to what we can do to help the work here so it is really great. To answer Dad´s architectural question and for the information of the rest of you, most of the chapels in Argentina have the same floor plan, with exception of the the chapel that is attached to the mission offices. The front door leads into kind of a entry type thing that is a hallway that connects the two halfs of the building. On on half is the chapel and in the back is the gym. on the other side is the classrooms and offices etc. It´s interesting. I will have to take a picture of the chapel next week. Oh before I forget. Hna Carter has a blog about the mission. I think the address is http://buenosaireswest.blogspot.com/. If that is wrong sorry. I will look at my notes later I just don´t have them here.

The exciting part of today is that we got to go to WALMART!!! I was sooooo excited. We did have to walk through monoblocks to get there which are kinda like apartment buildings but pretty dangerous. For example only a few of the areas of the Hnas have monoblocks and the Hnas always have to enter them with members. We with with Elders so we felt safe but it was definitely interesting. The best news is that Walmart is the same everywhere. I was all smiles as we were walking in and I guess it must have been pretty funny because one of the elders looked at me and said, "Don´t worry Hna, you´ll get trunkier" Ha ha good joke. Well I guess the only difference is that here Walmart is like super nice.. so yeah I guess that is a bit of a difference. I did get to buy peanut butter which I was super excited about so I will let you know how it tastes.

I LOVE having the temple in our area. It is such a blessing to be able to see it every day even though it isn´t open the spirit is still so strong around the area that it is in. This week my comp and I ate lunch in a park that is close to the temple. It was the best.

This week I found the coolest scripture and it is something that I have been thinking about a lot. In Mark 8:34 it says, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." I love this because it doesn´t say that all we have to do is follow after Christ and all will be well. No it says, deny yourself, take up your cross, and come follow me. I also like to cross reference this scripture with one found in 2 Nephi 9:18 "But behold the righteous saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the Kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world and their joy shall be full forever." As we follow after Christ we are expected to endure the crosses of the world and only after this sacrifice and time of learning and growth can we become perfect, even as Christ is perfect. The other day my comp shared a story in one of our lessons that I really liked. One day a man had a dream in which he was carrying a cross. The cross was heavy and hard to bear. He prayed to God that He would change the cross in which the man was called to bear. God granted his plea and the man entered a room filled with crosses. The man put down his own cross and began to search for the smallest cross he could find to carry. There were many crosses in the room. Some very small but heavy. Others very tall and some seemed to go on forever without end. After trying on a few crosses and not finding one to fit his desires. The man spotted a cross far off in the corner. He ran to and and tried it out. It was very large nor very heavy. And although it still had weight to it the man felt that he would be able to carry  this cross. He turned to God and told Him that this is the cross he would like to carry. God replied, "But this is the cross that you recently wanted to exchange." I love this story because we are all called to carry our own crosses in this world. Sometimes it is due to our own decisions. Sometimes it is due to the decisions of others. But always it is for our experience, profit, and learning. Often it seems that others do not struggle as much as we feel ourselves to be struggling. But this is a deceitful trick and habit of the human mind. We all are here to gain experience and I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that loved us enough to send us here to learn and to grow although that must not have been an easy decision for Him. I know that He gives us that exact trials that we need for He loves and knows us better than anyone else. He not only sent us here to learn and grow but He also send his beloved son Jesus Christ so make is possible for all of God´s children to use their agency and return to live with Him once again. For as Christ said, "Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give ye rest... for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." As we come unto Christ with all that we have and use our burdens to help us learn and grow, then will our crosses seem easier to bear.

I love you all tons and tons. Thanks for all of your love and support.

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

Hna Scanlon

O Remember, Remember

¡Hola!

How are you all doing? How was your week? It has been an interesting
week with all the new changes but very fulfilling as well. I am
definitely very blessed and in so small measure I know that this is
through the faith and prayers of those that love me so thank you for
that!

This morning as I was studying I just couldn´t make myself focus so I
decided to switch topics (and also read in english) and found an old
Liahona from October Conference 2007. In it is a talk by Elder Eyring
entitled, "O Remember, Remember". In his talk Elder Eyring talks about
the importance that the prophets emphasized in remember the blessings
that we have received from Heavenly Father. He related a story about
how for many years he kept a journal of the blessings that he saw in
His DAILY life from the Lord and challenged all to do the same. He
said, "It won´t be easy to remember. Living as we do with a veil over
our eyes, we cannot remember what it was like to be with our Heavenly
Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, in the premortal world; nor
can we see with our physical eyes or with reason alone the hand of God
in our lives. Seeing such things takes the Holy Ghost. And it is not
easy to be worthy of the Holy Ghost´s companionship in a wicked
world." I loved this part because I often don´t see all the blessings
in my life now and before that I should. But we have the promise that
the Holy Ghose will bring "all things to our rememberance" Every day
as a missionary I am constantly thinking about how I can have the
spirit with me more strongly becasue without the spirit we are just
like any other religion in the world. But as Elder Eyring pointed out
in his talk we have the pattern established by the Lord and we hear it
EVERY Sunday in the Sacrament prayer. 1. We must always remember
Christ 2. We must take His name upon us 3. We must keep His
commandments and then we have the promise that we will ALWAYS have the
spirit to be with us. I like to think of this list as a checkpoint
because if we are doing these things right then we are probably
observing and completing all the other ordinances and principle of the
gospel of Jesus Christ as well.

Elder Eyring goes on the say, "And the challenge to remember has
always been te hardest for those who are blessed abundantly. Those who
are faithful to God are protected and prospered. That comes as the
result of serving God and keeping His commandments. But with those
blessings comes the temptation to forget their source. It is easy to
begin to feel the blessings were granted not by a loving God on whom
we depend but by our own power." Luckily we can repent and start today
to recognize the power of God in our daily lives! Elder Eyring said
that often he only wrote a sentence or two about how God had blessed
him that day but he continued to do this for years and later even gave
a copy of it to his children. I also love the scripture found in
Moroni 7: 16-17, 19. Especially verse 19 where it says, "Wherefore, I
beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the
light of Christ that ye may know good from evil, and if ye will lay
hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a
child of Christ."

So I invite all of you to take a few minutes EVERY day and in some
small way recognize how God has blessed you that day.

Ha ha ok as for me and my new area... I AM LOVING IT!! There are SO
MANY people to talk with! It´s incredible. It´s a little bit of a hard
area but I really feel that there is a ton of potential here. Also the
TEMPLE is in my area. When I saw the angel Moroni the other day as we
were tracting I literally almost cried. I basically see the temple
every day at least once and it is definitely an incentive to work
harder! The temple is still under construction (I think the same
renovation that they will be doing to the Boise temple since they are
the same structural plan) so we don´t get to go to it on P-Days but
there is still a very sweet spirit in the area around it. Every time I
see it I start to sing the Primary song "I love to see the Temple" and
have found that the words are really cool. I have always gained a
testimony of primary since I can still remember the words! My comp and
I are working on teaching each other the song in our native
languages... it´s coming along but is pretty funny to listen to us I
am sure.

The ward here is actually pretty small but we do have a beautiful
chapel to go to! there were about 50 people in sacrament yesterday!
it´s funny because the bishop actually looks like Kyle! I was showing
members in the ward a picture of our family and that was the first
comment they made! When I met him yesterday I found out it was true...
He definitely could fit into our family. Other funny fact about our
ward is that many of them speak english and are constantly saying
little things like "just kidding" etc in the middle of their
sentences... It really confuses me because I have to think about if
they really said it in english or it I just translated it in my head.
Moving areas has been a boost for my spanish since an Hermana with
less time in the mission than me was in the area before so all the
members always comment on how good my spanish is. The other day
someone told me that I should be studied since I learned spanish
"perfectly" so fast. Well my spanish is far from perfect but I really
have seen how much I have improved in my time here.

Other interesting fact of the week is that everyone is convinced that
since I am an Hermana I should know how to cook really well... I
informed them that if I could cook I wouldn´t been in the mission
because I would´ve gotten married :) Ha ha I´m so funny. But really
the Bishop came up with a plan where for service the ward is going to
supply the food and we are suppose to go to the houses of less active
families who are in need and cook the food for them and then share a
message with them..... Oh my this should be interesting. I hope that
they send something like noodles and pre-made sauce. The bishop
actually joked that just for me this is what they would send... how
embarrassing.

ok well I am really out of time. Thanks for you love and support. Know
that I am super happy and praying for you all always!

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

Hna Scanlon

His Way

¡Hola!

Greetings from Ciudad Evita!!!! Yes I got transferred from Las Heras! It´s really strange I am not going to lie. There are actually people in the streets and other missionaries close by. Also my area not only has one Walmart but two!!!! My new companion is Hna Urdapilleta (remember ll sounds like "sh"). She is from Argentina so my prayers to always have latin companions are coming true. We have only been companions for about 5 hours but this transfer is going to be great. As you can tell from the Walmart status, this area is a lot richer than Las Heras. We actually don´t live in my area so I have yet to see it but we will head there tonight to work (obviously). Well you all know how well I do with change so pray for me ok?!?

This last week in Las Heras was a really special one. Probably the best week of my mission. We were able to baptism the Flia Ferrari. They are so incredible. They were baptized on Saturday and on Sunday they were evicted from their house with no place to go with their 3 children yet they still made it to church to be confirmed. They are so incredible. On Saturday we were in their house and Silvina said a prayer and thanked God for all the many blessings in their lives... What an example they are for me. It´s interesting that one of our other investigators has all the money that he could ever need and a house etc but we visited him last week and he was crying because he was alone in life. And then we visited the Flia Ferrari and they are a very strong and righteous family and were crying because they don´t have the material things to provide for their family. It´s so incredible that God knows what we need to learn and to grow and that we have trails in life to help us become perfect. Dad sent me a quote that I loved and want to share with everyone. Elder Holland said in his talk this past conference, "Obviously as the path of discipleship ascends, that trail gets ever more narrow until we come to that knee-buckling pinnacle of the sermon of which Elder Christofferson just spoke: 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.' What was gentle in the lowlands of initial loyalty becomes deeply strenuous and very demanding at the summit of true discipleship. Clearly anyone who thinks Jesus taught no-fault theology did not read the fine print in the contract! No, in matters of discipleship the church is not a fast-food outlet, we can't always have it "our way." Some day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ and that salvation can only come His way." Elder Holland gave a talk at the MTC when I was there and he said that as disciples of Christ we have to be willing to pay a little bit of the price that He paid so that we can be perfected, but He will always be there to help us because He knows the way. I have learned SO much here in Argentina about the disciple that Christ needs me to be. As it says in Ether 12:27, as we come unto Christ He WILL show unto us our weaknesses, but He gives us weaknesses so that we can be humble and if we are humble and trust in Him, then will He make weak things become strong unto us. I know that this is true. I have seen it time and time again not only in my own life, but in the lifes of the people here in Argentina. This is His church and we can only receive salvation His way.

Ha ha funny story I forgot to mention. Hna Salazar made us matching skirts for the baptism of the Flia Ferrari. They´re pretty great. Hopefully the pictures will come through so that you can see them. Also because I am in a rich area now I can send pictures... added plus. Also the pench is like 10,000x nicer. I kinda feel like I am in the States.... which is kinda perfect since it is the 4th of July... HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!

Love you all tons. Thanks for all of the support. I will update you more on my new area in one week!

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

Hna Scanlon