Week of Patience

First off; tHE CAP LOCK IS broken; so please excuse THE OBNOXIOUS NATURE OF THIS EMAIL. RIGHT NOW I AM LISTENING TO AN AFRICAN VERSION OF AN ADELE SONG. ARGENTINA FOR THE WIN! 

THIS WEEK WAS A CRAZY ONE FOR SURE. ON WEDNESDAY hNA.qUISPE AND i WERE ROBBED BY A GYPSY GRANDMA. LUCKILY i LIED AND SAID i DIDN´T HAVE ANY MONEY. sHE TRIED TO TAKE MY CAMERA, BUT I TOLD HER THAT IT HAD PICTURES OF MY FAMILY ON IT (ANOTHER LIE, PLEASE FORGIVE ME.) SHE TOOK hNA.qUISPE´S MONEY AND LEFT. wE LAUGHED SO HARD AFTERWARDS. pRES.rOGERS TOLD US THAT WE ARE THE FIRST HERMANAS IN THE MISSION TO GET ROBBED. iT WAS BY A GRANDMA TOO! MY LIFE MAKES ME SMILE SOMETIMES :) 

oN THE DOWNSIDE, i HAVE BEEN PRETTY SICK SINCE WEDNESDAY. i LEFT THE PENSION THURSDAY FOR INTERVIEWS AND SUNDAY TO TAKE THE SACRAMENT IN THE CAPILLA. oTHER THAN THAT iVE BEEN CAMPING OUT IN THE PENSION TAKING WEIRD SPANISH PILLS, DRINKING FILTERED WATER, AND FILLING OUT PASS ALONG CARDS. i´M STARTING TO FEEL BETTER TODAY THOUGH.

BE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR LIFE! nO MATTER HOW BAD THINGS GET, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE WHO IS SUFFERING MORE. lOOK FOR THAT PERSON AND HELP THEM. FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST AND LOSE YOURSELF IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS. THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS TRUE HAPPINESS.

CON MUCHISIO AMOR,

hERMANA dAVIS

Two Month Mark!

At the Beach in Caleta Olivia

Aubrey and Hermana Quispe on P-day
 visiting the Sea Lions. 

Dearest family and friends:

Today is my compañera´s birthday. We ate two lunches...I consumed my weight in chicken, potatoes, and bread. Oh, and cake and pie. I have no regrets.

Here´s the list of the super awesome things I did this week:

On p-day (after I wrote you all) we went to the beach to see the sea lions. They were fat, smelly, and mean. It was a blast!

Later in the week I had the opportunity to do divisions with the angelic Hermana Smith. She is exactly what I want to be like when I finish my mission. She has made it a goal of hers to be exactly obedient. I can see how it brings her so much joy.

On Valentine´s day we had a ward activity. We played games and ate bread. Go Argentina!!!

On Sunday Thiago (a recently baptized 10-year old) was saying the prayer in our gospel principles class. He blessed that all the missionaries would be able to find good spouses. Thank you Thiago :) He should say prayers in church more often!

We have a small window in our bathroom that we leave open during the night. Last night a super fat cat squeezed in the window and was walking around our room. This was around 3am. Never a dull moment around here!

My challenge this week is one that is very close to my heart. Please, go to the temple this week. The people here save up for months (sometimes years) just to make a trip to the temple. It is such a big sacrifice. Our mission goal is to prepare Patagonia for a temple. I can´t wait for the day when I am watching general conference and they announce a temple in Patagonia, Argentina. It will happen and it will change lives. Temples are such a gerenous blessing from our Heavenly Father. Please go!!!!

I love each of you very very much. The mission is tough. It is my personal refiners fire and sometimes it hurts. But I have learned more about myself and my Savior than ever before. I will not give up. 

Please remember that the Savior loves you so much. There is not one person in this world who is out of reach of the Savior´s love. He has descended below all men so he would know how to lift us up. Please let him change your heart.

Lots and lots of love,

Hermana Davis

Semana 2 in Caleta Olivia!

Hermana Davis in her apartment in Caleta Olivia!
Love the smile...and freckles

I don´t have much time, so here´s the top highlights of my

semana;

1. P-day we went fishing at the beach. I caught a shark! Just kidding..I did make friends with a stray dog though.

2. We met Tina. She is an older lady that is a golden investigator. Her children have mostly been baptized and are less active. Oh, and Tina doesn´t drink or smoke! I think we found the only person in Argentina who doesn´t Smoke :) She accepted a baptismal date for the 21st of Marzo.

3. We had a zone reunion with Elder Viñas. He talked to us about increasing the quality of our baptisms. Often as missionaries we get baptism-happy. We need to make sure people understand the covenants before they make them. Covenants aren´t something that you can discard when you get bored or when life doesn´t go the way you want it to. They are eternal promises with God.

4. At the end of the week we made pantuflas (slippers) with the relief society. 

My challenge for this week is something that I have been thinking a lot about: Obedience. I challenge everyone to step it up this week. Do the basics: Read, pray, go to church all 3 hours. Part 2 of this challenge is to stop doing something that is making you unhappy. I will be doing the challenge along with you all. There are plenty of opportunities in the mission to be more obedient!

Sorry for the short email. This keyboard is crazy and I´m on a tight time budget. I really do love my mission. I have come to know a little bit more of Jesus Christ. We should all be happy. We are the children of a eternally generous and all-powerful God. Whenever you feel down just remind yourself who you belong to.

Love you all tons (Heavenly Father and Jesus Love you even more!)

Hermana Davis

Answers to some of mom's questions:

• I have a small washing machine in our kitchen. It takes 2 hours for one load. We hang everything to dry.
• I make my own breakfast. I make avena (cereal) y fruta. We eat lunch with the members. Cena (dinner)  is usually fruit or crackers.
• I didn´t have much time with my mission pres. He is straightforward and has a lot of energy. I have interviews with him on the 20th.
• Caleta is usually hot, smelly, and dirty, but its by the ocean. There are dogs every where and everyone smokes. Oh, and there is a lot of wind. I love it though. The people and the food make up for everything else.
• During personal Study time I read PMG (Preach My Gospel) and study the scriptures
• We live alone in our apartment. It is small and smells moldy, but the bed is comfortable. I have a nice desk space. I sleep on the top bunk.
• My district is mostly Elders. We have one other set of Hermanas. They are both from the US and are wonderful. The Elders are crazy, but good. Our zone leader is in our district (Elder Smedly). 
• In my bag I carry my scriptures, dictionary, verb book, handbook, and planner. I don't usually carry my camera just in case we get mugged. (mom note - oh joy!!)

My first week in Argentina

Aubrey's first companion Hermana Quispe from Peru. Isn't she darling?

Aubrey's first area - Caleta Olivia.  Looks hot and dry!
Love her smile!!

Hola! This week has been tough, crazy, and awesome. I must be on a mission :)

On Monday,  I checked out of my beloved MTC. We caught an airplane to Houston and then one to Buenos Aires. This was the day of travel.

Tuesday: I landed in humid Buenos Aires. It is beautiful! Everyone here is beautiful! We caught a plan to Comodoro Rivadavia. I met President and Sister Rogers in Comodoro´s small airport. They took us to the highest point of the city. We took pictures. Then we ate empanadas at the mission home. Food here is tan rico!!! We stayed at the Carter´s house overnight.

Wednesday: (P.S. This computer is marking all my english words as being incorrect. It´s quite funny.) We ate croissants filled with dulce de leche for breakfast. Yum! Then we had orientation all day. I met my new compañera. Her name s Hna.Quispe and she is from Peru. She only knows a few words in english, but is very kind. Then I received my assignment to go to Caleta Olivia! We took a bus to our area and arrived at 11pm.

Thursday: We contacted in the morning. Contacting is scary because I don´t know what people are saying. It´s a whole different spanish down here. Also, people always stare at me when we walk down the street. There aren´t any 5´9 redheads in Argentina. My companion thinks it´s funny how white I am. We have the hardest time taking pictures together because the camera doesn´t know how to adjust the light. 

For lunch we ate with Jaquelena. She made delicious meat, eggs, and arroz. Meat and eggs are a standard down here. I´m not even mad :) After we ate dulce de leche jelly and cheese on the beach. We had an appointment with Eulalia. She has a baptismal date for the 28th of Feburary. Then we met with Martin, a 13 year old who was baptized two weeks ago. His cousin who lives with him reminds me of Tanner. His name is Tiago. Tiago likes to ask me questions about America. He wanted to know if oompa loompas (from willy wonka) live in the states. 

Friday: We had a district meeting! I lucked out (once again) with my district. They are the best! Then we climbed a huge hill for our lunch appoinment with the Escobars. They gave us slippers to wear while we ate. They are wonderful! Also, they have puppies in their back yard! In Argentina there are dogs everywhere. After lunch we visited los abuelitos. The abuelo is hard of hearing, so he speaks castallano very loud. The abuela has been bed-ridden for 4 years. Hna.Quispe, a nurse, and I helped bathe her. Then Abuelo gave us some coconut bread. It´s probably my favorite thing I´ve eaten thus far. Then we had noche de hogar with the ward. We taught about the plan of salvation.

Saturday: We helped a family move house. Then I ate my first asado at the Maldonado´s house. It was tan rico! Hna.Quispe and I bought icecream after lunch. I chose manjar de coco. The best part of Saturday was MMT. The ward is striving to become more zion-like, so we had an exercise class to take care of our bodies. They played zumba music and we followed a ward member´s instruction. In the middle of one of the songs I started laughing to myself. There I was doing Zumba in Argentina while wearing church clothes. I can now cross that off my bucket list! 

Sunday: None of our investigators came to church. I´m not going to lie, Sunday was a tough one. However, I know that the Lord is with me. Before I left Hno.Thompson gave us each a personalized hymn book. In the back he wrote down scriptures for a rainy day. They are comfort scriptures. I really needed those yesterday. I want to share a comfort scripture that I found during personal study. Alma 17:10-11 God promises us that we can be instruments in his hands. In Alma 26:3-4 The Lord´s promise to Alma and the sons of Mosiah is fufilled. I know the Lord keeps his promises. He has promised each of us that he will be by our side if we follow his commandments. Why not take him up on his offer? Now more than ever I need the Lord by my side. The mission is really hard and I can´t do it alone. None of us can get through life by ourselves. Everyone needs Jesus Christ. Everyone needs the atonement. This weeks challenge is to find your own personal comfort scritpture. You can even send them to me in an email with an explaination of how it helps you. I would love that! 

I know that my Savior lives. I wish I could look each one of you in the eyes and tell you that God loves you unconditionally and eternally. It´s the truth! 

Love for the evidence of his love everyday. I assure you, it´s there. 

Love you all so much!!!!!!!

Hermana Davis