Hello again everybody. It's been yet another week. Whoooo!
The truth is, I don't remember what I did last week. But I think I wrote about it last week so... everything is all right. I'll use my notes to remember and tell you all about my activities. :)
Tuesday we had our usual district meeting. The only thing different was that it was here in Madariaga and not in Pinamar. Our branch president came along with the Relief Society president. I thought it went quite well. And after that we went to visit a very elderly member who lives at the end of the world. She reminds me a lot of my great grandma.
On Wednesday, we had an appointment with a less active member who isn't on our list of members. He tells us that his godfather -- the person who baptized him -- is famous in the States. Casey Elliot? Never heard of him. But that might just be me. This member is a little different. He knows a lot about the Mormons and what we believe but he gets it all mixed up with lots of other religions. Maybe it's just that he hasn't come to church for so long that he just doesn't remember that much of the correct doctrine.
Thursday we had a couple lessons and we made cookies with some of the members. We are doing this activity where we go and teach the members how to make "American cookies" and then they have to go and share the cookies with another family or two. So far it's worked out pretty well. The only thing is that everybody thinks I should know how to make brownies from scratch. Nope. I like box brownies. (Mom, if you can, please send me a simple brownie recipe. Hna Gonzales and half of the other sisters here have told me that I have to teach them how to make brownies. HELP ME! I don't know how to make brownies.)
On Friday I ate seafood. Hno Sanchez is from Peru and he likes to make Peruvian food for us. We ate -- I don't know what it's called in Peru -- rice with mussels, shrimp, and squid. And bell peppers and onions. ...I ate squid... Ewwwwww. Actually, it's not that bad. It's just really... chewy. And mussels aren't all that bad either. They just look like deformed fish hearts. Supposedly Hno Sanchez sent pictures to Papa over Facebook.
On Saturday we made tacos with Manolo, our branch mission leader. I think he was bored so he called us to come and hang out with him. Afterwards, he went with us to help teach in our appointments. We had a really nice lesson with the now less active ex-second counselor in the branch presidency. He promised that he would come to church next Sunday!!
The Quiroga family came to church on Sunday!!!!! And they really liked it! I'm not quite sure when, but we are gonna see some baptisms in Madariaga! The teenage son is super excited to go to seminary this Wednesday and the younger girls loved Primary. We also had three very very very very less active members come to church on Sunday. To top off all of the miracles, the bike tire popped. I think it's becoming a trend. Bike tire pops Sunday during church, we walk home to cook some lunch and then walk to all of our appointments. On Monday, we do our thing and then take the bike to get fixed. Ehhh. Whatever.
Hope everything is going well for all of you. Talk to you all next week! :)
Hermana Crotzer
Monday, April 28, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
Happy Easter!!!
Happy Easter!!! Well, I have a couple fun stories to tell about this past weekend.
Friday night, we had a lesson with the Quiroga's (the family of gold) and this second lesson was just as good and fantastic as the first. And then we ran (biked, really) as fast as we could to the chapel, which wasn't close by, so that we could have our interviews with President Thurgood. We got there late by my watch but right on time by his so everything was okay. Afterwards, we went out to dinner with President and Sister Thurgood and Elder and Sister Dance (a missionary couple who were traveling with them, Elder Dance is the financial secretary). They treated us to a pizza and then we went off to see "La Pasion segun San Juan" [The Passion according to St. John]. Let's just say that Friday was a really, really good night. :)
When I say -- type -- whatever -- "La Pasion" [The Passion], think Mesa Arizona temple Easter Pageant but waaaay Catholic. It's the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ put to traditional Argentine music with traditional dances. A gaucho (cowboy, more or less) tells the story from his point of view but using the words of the Bible found in the Gospel according to Saint John. A member of our church was in charge of inviting all of the religious clergy in Madariaga and she managed to reserve front row seats for us. It really is like the Mesa pageant and it's all free. Just the front two or three rows are reserved for people, mainly church people and important city counsel people. Or something like that.
President Thurgood sat by the Catholic priest and at the end of the performance, the local radio interviewed us to ask us, "what the United States and Ecuador thought of La Pasion in Madariaga." And the Catholic priest invited President Thurgood to Mass that Sunday and gave all of us a hug and a kiss. Including Hna. Pomader and me. In front of President...
President Thurgood also attended church in Madariaga on Sunday so he got to hear my talk. He had to speak as well. For half an hour. There were five speakers on Sunday and four of them were gringos.
On Saturday, the bike broke. Not just kinda-broke-take-it-to-the-bike-shop-and-have-them-patch-the-tire but take-it-to-the-shop-and-have-to-pay-at-least-$200-so-while-you're-at-it-fix-the-outer-tube-as-well-and-whatever-other-problems-there-might-be. And so, thank you Mama for sending me money for my birthday. I'm gonna need it. We are broke until the mission gives us some more money. The entire zone is having money problems. We, in Madariaga, have more than the rest, but we only have about $100. That doesn't cover the bike. Or food for the next week. But we at least have something. The Hermanas in Pinamar have nothing. Don't worry, I'm keeping track of what I'm spending so that I can pull it out of the money that the mission gives us. Elder Dance told me to do that.
On Sunday my companion and I had lunch with one of the less-active members here. It wasn't the most delicious meal I've ever eaten nor was there really all that much to eat. But it was all he had and he was soooo happy that we came over. He also gave us Huevos de Pascua [Easter eggs] and that meant so much more to me than all of the other people who also gave us Easter eggs. (All of the eggs were really yummy and everything and I am grateful for all I was given.)
And those are the last three days of my week. Hope you all had a great Easter weekend!
--Hermana Crotzer
Friday night, we had a lesson with the Quiroga's (the family of gold) and this second lesson was just as good and fantastic as the first. And then we ran (biked, really) as fast as we could to the chapel, which wasn't close by, so that we could have our interviews with President Thurgood. We got there late by my watch but right on time by his so everything was okay. Afterwards, we went out to dinner with President and Sister Thurgood and Elder and Sister Dance (a missionary couple who were traveling with them, Elder Dance is the financial secretary). They treated us to a pizza and then we went off to see "La Pasion segun San Juan" [The Passion according to St. John]. Let's just say that Friday was a really, really good night. :)
When I say -- type -- whatever -- "La Pasion" [The Passion], think Mesa Arizona temple Easter Pageant but waaaay Catholic. It's the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ put to traditional Argentine music with traditional dances. A gaucho (cowboy, more or less) tells the story from his point of view but using the words of the Bible found in the Gospel according to Saint John. A member of our church was in charge of inviting all of the religious clergy in Madariaga and she managed to reserve front row seats for us. It really is like the Mesa pageant and it's all free. Just the front two or three rows are reserved for people, mainly church people and important city counsel people. Or something like that.
President Thurgood sat by the Catholic priest and at the end of the performance, the local radio interviewed us to ask us, "what the United States and Ecuador thought of La Pasion in Madariaga." And the Catholic priest invited President Thurgood to Mass that Sunday and gave all of us a hug and a kiss. Including Hna. Pomader and me. In front of President...
President Thurgood also attended church in Madariaga on Sunday so he got to hear my talk. He had to speak as well. For half an hour. There were five speakers on Sunday and four of them were gringos.
On Saturday, the bike broke. Not just kinda-broke-take-it-to-the-bike-shop-and-have-them-patch-the-tire but take-it-to-the-shop-and-have-to-pay-at-least-$200-so-while-you're-at-it-fix-the-outer-tube-as-well-and-whatever-other-problems-there-might-be. And so, thank you Mama for sending me money for my birthday. I'm gonna need it. We are broke until the mission gives us some more money. The entire zone is having money problems. We, in Madariaga, have more than the rest, but we only have about $100. That doesn't cover the bike. Or food for the next week. But we at least have something. The Hermanas in Pinamar have nothing. Don't worry, I'm keeping track of what I'm spending so that I can pull it out of the money that the mission gives us. Elder Dance told me to do that.
On Sunday my companion and I had lunch with one of the less-active members here. It wasn't the most delicious meal I've ever eaten nor was there really all that much to eat. But it was all he had and he was soooo happy that we came over. He also gave us Huevos de Pascua [Easter eggs] and that meant so much more to me than all of the other people who also gave us Easter eggs. (All of the eggs were really yummy and everything and I am grateful for all I was given.)
And those are the last three days of my week. Hope you all had a great Easter weekend!
--Hermana Crotzer
Monday, April 14, 2014
A Family of Gold
To explain this first picture: That's my birthday lunch.
We made tacos. My companion made the filling and I made the tortillas. I'm pretty impressed with myself. Argentina doesn't sell tortilla mix. They have all sorts of other types of flour but nothing to make tortillas. So I figured I could probably figure out how to make an imitation of what we call flour tortillas. Yup. All you need, as far as I'm aware, is flour and water. Ohhh... They were soooo tasty.
That same night, part of the ward -- the Sanchez family and Manolo -- decided to have a party for me and Hna Sanchez. (Her birthday was yesterday.) Manolo bought a cake and Hno Sanchez brought the empanadas and soda pops. I, unfortunately, don't have any pictures but Hno Sanchez tried to send some to Dad through Facebook.
This next picture is a funky heart-shaped potato that we bought at the store. I love french fries. They are also pretty easy and quick to cook.
The third picture is me at the beach. And naturally, in the only picture of me on my camera, I have my eyes closed. But in the million and one pictures that my companion took of herself (her camera broke so she decided to use mine so that she could still send pictures to her boyfriend), she looks just fine. Whatever. I'm sure we will go back to the beach eventually and I can get a good picture. And if not, Photoshop works miracles.
I learned something interesting this week. I learned that I am really bad at recognizing and following the promptings of the Spirit. People say that sometimes it's hard to tell if it's the Spirit talking or it's our own brain. Twice this week I had "a feeling" that I just shrugged off as my own and later found out that it was the Spirit trying to prod me in the right direction. How much time could I have saved if I had listened? How much pain could my companion have avoided if we had listened? I think that sometimes we have "feelings" that we just shrug off as our own or thoughts that we think are just plain crazy that are really impressions from the Spirit. And we should follow them. If this thought or feeling doesn't hurt anyone, why not try it out and see what happens? Who knows, it could be our imagination or it could be the Spirit whispering to us, trying to guide us. Preach My Gospel isn't wrong when it says that the Spirit doesn't talk to us by shouting at us or shaking us. We have to be listening and ready to act on any little whisper that could be the Spirit. And I think that, more often than not, we will find that the feelings and thoughts that we have are the Spirit guiding us. And that's my super spiritual thought for the week.
This last picture is of our beach buddy. I have no idea where he came from, he's probably just another stray, but he met up with us as we were going to the beach and he hung out with us until we left the beach. Isn't he cute?
We met a family of gold the other day and we had our first lesson with them some two or three days ago. They are perfect. The father is a less-active member who isn't on any of our lists. Every time he passes by the church, he tells his daughters that that was where he went to church as a boy. When we had our lesson, they turned off the TV without us ever asking them to. And the 14-year-old boy told his father at the end of the lesson that he liked what he had heard. If you all could pray for them, I would be ever so grateful. I don't know if I could ever describe how much I want to see them get baptized. It's not everyday that we find a family that is so ready to hear and accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Especially not in La Costa.
And... That's all for this week.
Hermana Crotzer
We made tacos. My companion made the filling and I made the tortillas. I'm pretty impressed with myself. Argentina doesn't sell tortilla mix. They have all sorts of other types of flour but nothing to make tortillas. So I figured I could probably figure out how to make an imitation of what we call flour tortillas. Yup. All you need, as far as I'm aware, is flour and water. Ohhh... They were soooo tasty.
That same night, part of the ward -- the Sanchez family and Manolo -- decided to have a party for me and Hna Sanchez. (Her birthday was yesterday.) Manolo bought a cake and Hno Sanchez brought the empanadas and soda pops. I, unfortunately, don't have any pictures but Hno Sanchez tried to send some to Dad through Facebook.
This next picture is a funky heart-shaped potato that we bought at the store. I love french fries. They are also pretty easy and quick to cook.
The third picture is me at the beach. And naturally, in the only picture of me on my camera, I have my eyes closed. But in the million and one pictures that my companion took of herself (her camera broke so she decided to use mine so that she could still send pictures to her boyfriend), she looks just fine. Whatever. I'm sure we will go back to the beach eventually and I can get a good picture. And if not, Photoshop works miracles.
I learned something interesting this week. I learned that I am really bad at recognizing and following the promptings of the Spirit. People say that sometimes it's hard to tell if it's the Spirit talking or it's our own brain. Twice this week I had "a feeling" that I just shrugged off as my own and later found out that it was the Spirit trying to prod me in the right direction. How much time could I have saved if I had listened? How much pain could my companion have avoided if we had listened? I think that sometimes we have "feelings" that we just shrug off as our own or thoughts that we think are just plain crazy that are really impressions from the Spirit. And we should follow them. If this thought or feeling doesn't hurt anyone, why not try it out and see what happens? Who knows, it could be our imagination or it could be the Spirit whispering to us, trying to guide us. Preach My Gospel isn't wrong when it says that the Spirit doesn't talk to us by shouting at us or shaking us. We have to be listening and ready to act on any little whisper that could be the Spirit. And I think that, more often than not, we will find that the feelings and thoughts that we have are the Spirit guiding us. And that's my super spiritual thought for the week.
This last picture is of our beach buddy. I have no idea where he came from, he's probably just another stray, but he met up with us as we were going to the beach and he hung out with us until we left the beach. Isn't he cute?
We met a family of gold the other day and we had our first lesson with them some two or three days ago. They are perfect. The father is a less-active member who isn't on any of our lists. Every time he passes by the church, he tells his daughters that that was where he went to church as a boy. When we had our lesson, they turned off the TV without us ever asking them to. And the 14-year-old boy told his father at the end of the lesson that he liked what he had heard. If you all could pray for them, I would be ever so grateful. I don't know if I could ever describe how much I want to see them get baptized. It's not everyday that we find a family that is so ready to hear and accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Especially not in La Costa.
And... That's all for this week.
Hermana Crotzer
Monday, April 7, 2014
General Conference and the Beach!
Well, it's been yet another week. (I can hardly believe it!) What did you all think of General Conference? I'm really really hoping I can get my hands on the General Conference issue of the Ensign magazine. I watched almost all of General Conference in English but I would still like to be able to read the talks and write what I think and stuff like that in the margins of the magazine. If any of you didn't get the chance to watch General Conference, I recommend watching it as soon as you have the time. You can even watch it just one talk at a time on your fancy-smanshy phones.
For P-day today we went to the beach. I took photos but I forgot my camera in Elder Flores' back pack. (Don't worry Mom, he's going to give it to me tomorrow when we see each other in Zone meeting.) Soo... the pictures of the Argentine beach will have to wait till next week.
Time is a little rushed. Sorry I don't have more to say.
Until next week --
Hermana Crotzer
For P-day today we went to the beach. I took photos but I forgot my camera in Elder Flores' back pack. (Don't worry Mom, he's going to give it to me tomorrow when we see each other in Zone meeting.) Soo... the pictures of the Argentine beach will have to wait till next week.
Time is a little rushed. Sorry I don't have more to say.
Until next week --
Hermana Crotzer
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