Happy late Christmas!! I hope everyone had a great Christmas! My first Christmas in Argentina was wonderful and very different than in the states. They celebrate Christmas more on Christmas Eve so we had to be in the pench super early and at midnight they set off so many fireworks, more than on the 4th of July.

I forgot to say this last week but all that I´ve been praying for and wanting for Christmas is investigators! Right now, we have none.. We´ve had baptisms and lots of contacts recently, but no one really wants to commit and have lessons with it being Christmas time and everything. So it´s been just a little frustrating for my comp and I. But we had a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE yesterday, on Sunday. Alejandro and Mauro, two of our friends that work in the train station showed up! It was a miracle because we had never even taught them any lessons, we just talk to them and invite them to come when we pass by! They loved church and said that they want to come back and we´re going to start teaching them this week! This was by far  the best Christmas present ever!

And then another little miracle happened yesterday. I preached all by myself and gave a man a Plan of Salvation and a Book of Mormon. That probably seems like a duh huh because I´m a missionary and all but it was a huge accomplishment for me because I didn´t have my companion there to help me out with the language.  I was flying solo while my companion was talking to someone on the other side of the bus. And the biggest miracle of all was that I was able to understand all of what he was saying! Small steps:) 

This Christmas is a time for all things new because yesterday I ate rabbit!! I guess it tasted like chicken but the whole time all I could think about was that I was eating Bugs Bunny! Good thing I´m not a vegetarian though lol. 

Happy New Year everyone! Fuah this year came and went so fast! But just because Christmas is over, still remember everyday that Él es la Dádiva (He is the Gift). Love and miss you!!! Feliz 2015!!

holaaaaa!! 

Hi everyone!! Ahh I can´t believe that it is almost Christmas. Where did the year go? I have been having a blast down here in Argentina. Today we had a activity with our zone and we did secret santa. My comp was my secret santa and she got me a mate kit!! So I can be cool when I come home and drink mate like everyone else lol. 

     This week has been crazy busy with teaching, zone conference, intercambios, family home evening, church, and tons of Christmas activites! For zone conference on Tuesday all the missionaries did a  Christmas skit and I got to eat Argentine BBQ (which still isn´t as good as yours dad:) Then right after I had my intercambios which I forgot what the word is in English lol but it´s when you go to a differnet area and have a new companion for a day. So I was sent to Alejandro Korn which was campoooo (way out in the boonies lol) and I was companions with the sweetest sister, Hermana Flores, and she didn´t speak ANY English, the only words she knew was "No problem". Lol but it was such a good experience and I learned so much! Castellano especially. 

     So I am doing this 30 day challenge called 30daydesafío, which is really 30 days of asking a question and opening to any page in the scriptures. I have found that I can find my answer every time. It is amazing how the Lord can help us with anything! I challenge each of you to do the same. It has done nothing but increased my testimony of the scriptures and with my relationship with my Savior. Being a "yankee" (that´s what they call Americans here but with the accent it sounds like "Shoonkie" and a new missionary I literally have to rely on the Lord´s help for everything! But when I do put everthing I have to the Lord and do the things that I think are impossible, He lifts me up each time. The Church is true, my friends (and family:) 

 I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!! Drink lots of hot chocolate for me, bundle up, and enjoy the colder weather! Feliz Navidad!! 

Hermana Capa Cannon :)

     

Hi everyone!! 

So I am loving Argentina!! I love my comp, her name is Hermana Toala and she´s Somoan and from the States, so yay I can still speak a little English when I need to. I´m in an area called Burzaco and I love it. We have a cute little chapel and the members are the sweetest and do so much for us. And ohmygoodness the food is to die for here. Today we had Subway and I was expecting it to be like the Subway in the states but it was way better. So don´t worry, I am definitely eating well. I haven´t had anything too weird yet. They eat a ton of pasta and steak here and other Italian like stuff! 

Ok so funny story time. So my comp likes to play jokes on me while we´re at our lunches with the members and the first time we were eating at the bishops house and I couldn´t eat anymore so I turned to my Hna Toala and I was like ¨How do I say I´m full¨and she told me to say ¨como no¨which I didn´t know at the time but it´s another way of saying ¨why not¨. So I said it and she was like ok I´ll give you more food, but she quickly caught on to my facial expression and didn´t give me more food. Hahah so they´re used to missionaries from the states not knowing much Spanish. 

And then we were back at bishops house yesterday after church for lunch and when the bishop´s wife left to go get something and Hna Toala told me to say a phrase to compliment her on her food, she was like, Hna Cannon say this, ¨Que rico su porqueria¨ and bishop just nodded his head too and was like yeah yeah say that. I was like yay I can look somewhat smart for knowing a new phrase. So I said it to bishop´s wife and she just looked really confused and a little mad. So what it really means is ¨how good is your trash.¨So lesson learned from these past two weeks, never say what my comp tells me to say. Hahaha

The members know that I am super new and know nothing so they like to pick on me, but I can understand quite a bit. But I just win them over by telling my jokes:) When people meet me I get one of two things, I get, Cannon like the camera, or like a type of matress haha. 

And not yesterday but last Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and I knew that I needed to bear my testimony. And a member of the bishopbric got off the stand all the way to where I was sitting just to tell me that I had to get up there and bear my testimony. So it wasn´t a choice it was a demand. I eventually got up there and talked, I don´t know how but I did. At times like those I know that it is completely the spirit and not me. 

We haven´t had many lessons but when we do I mostly just sit and listen and then when I do talk, they ask how I can speak from only being here such a short amount of time, and the answer is always the spirit. That or they say that I can´t talk but I can sing. We are ALWAYS singing hymns in lessons and on the street, which I love.

Since I´ve been here we´ve already had 2 baptisms and another one this Saturday and on Christmas! The work is progressing so much here and it´s so exciting! The baptisms have been the highlight of my 2 weeks here. 

I can´t believe that it is almost Christmas! and I´m going to be having a hot  Christmas too!!! But we got a tree for our house and decorated. I´m excited to have my first of two Argentina Christmas´s! If you haven´t already yet go watch, He is the Gift. We´ve been focusing a lot on it and Christmas is such a good way to start up conversations about the gospel. So tell everyone you know to watch it! 

I am doing great and I am loving Argentina! Even though I can´t understand or speak too much I feel the Spirit so strong and I am reminded each day that the gift of tongues is so REAL And this is His work. Don´t forget to remember Him this Christmas! Thanks for all the emails this week! keep em coming! 

Hermana Cannon

Feliz el Dia de Accion de Gracias a todos!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

I am almost Argentina Bound!! Just 4 more days in the MTC. Which is sooo crazy!! It feels like I just got here yesterday! But I am so excited that I get to stay for Thanksgiving. It is better than being home (no offense) we just get to see TWO apostles this week. Dallin H. Oaks was the speaker last night and his talk was so good. There is so much power that comes from an apostle! He spoke on losing yourself in the work, because when you lose yourself in His service, that's where you find yourself. I loved that and that can apply to EVERYONE not just missionaries. Even though I am a full-time missionary, it is more than enough to just be an example and live and love like the Savior. And tomorrow we get ANOTHER apostle again so I am way pumped to find out who it is going to be. This is more exciting than Christmas. #missionarylife lol. I wish all of you could be here and experience being so close to an apostle. Ah so amazing! 

Anyway so one of the Hermana's in my district (Hermana Feldermann) came up with the idea to celebrate an early Christmas (since yesterday was the 25th of November) so we all dressed up in Christmas colors and she was so cute and put stockings on all of our desks with candy inside. And since yesterday was such a good day with Dallin H. Oaks coming and all we called it a little Christmas miracle. 

I love being in the MTC but I am way excited to leave and be out in the field! One of my favorite things ever is to bear my testimony in Spanish. I say a lot of things wrong in Spanish but when I bear my testimony it is so easy! It doesn't matter the language, there is a special and strong spirit that comes with testifying of the truth. So everyone please bear your testimony at every chance you get! No one can deny the spirit that comes with it. La Iglesia es verdadera! The Church is true! 

My writing address is listed below! Please write me if you get the chance and I promise to write back! and I can always email every week, but I can't promise that I'll have enough time to write a lot so please if you can send me a letter or an email with your address so I can write you a super long detailed letter!! 

Have a happy and filling Thanksgiving everyone!! I love and miss you all! 

Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission 

Quintana 447

1846 Adrogue

Argentina

Argentina

Hola!! 

Ah things are getting real! I got my travel itinerary today and I officially leave on Dec 1st!! And they even put me as the travel leader, not a smart move considering how ditsy I am with directions and stuff lol. But I'm super excited to finally leave the MTC, but superrr nervous to actually leave. I have no idea what to expect down there.. But ready to start this new adventure.

Anyway so this week has literally flown by. The weeks keep going by faster and faster and it feels like just yesterday was Sunday. So I didn't hurt myself anymore this week! yay! But still crossing my fingers lol. On Wednesday my district got to host the new missionaries coming in to the MTC. It was such a nice break from class, but so fun to help and reassure the nervous new missionaries coming in. It was also super awk that I was front row watching us rip the new missionaries away from their families, pero esta bien. That was pretty much the highlight of my week, sad but true lol. 

For a spiritual note, the relief society general president, Sister Linda K. Burton came and spoke at Tuesday's Devotional. She is such a wonderful lady and her talk was amazing. It was on the Savior and the Atonement and that's probably why I loved it so much. That is my FAVORITE church topic. So one thing that I really liked that she said was that bad things are going to happen to all of us. No matter how faithful or unfaithful we are.. Instead of blaming God or asking God "why me" we need to thank our Heavenly Father for these opportunities to grow because the hard times are what brings us to our knees and closer to Him. He is the master healer and the Atonement is so awesome, it covers EVERYTHING!! So love the Savior, and be grateful for the hard times!! It'll all be worth it in the end!

I love you all and thanks for all the support in letters, emails, and packages!! I appreciate it!! 

-Hermana Cannon 

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!! 

So I have had a crazy week that will hopefully make you lol at me. So Sunday night we have devotionals, and lately it's just been members of the 70 but Tuesday it was the Presiding Bishop of the church, Brother Davies. Anyway so after each devotional they have us clean the gym/ devotional room to get ready to transition it back into the gym. So they put down this huge tarp on the ground to cover the floor and they had all the missionaries put everything away and roll the tarp back up. Well I was one of the many missionaries who was dragging the tarp across the gym/ folding it up and while we were walking backwards with the tarp, I totally biffed it and fell on my butt, AND I WAS THE ONLY ONE TO FALL. Sooooo embarrassing! But it doesn't stop there. Along with being the only one to fall, they kept bringing the tarp to the other side so I was being trapped and drowned in the tarp and couldn't escape. One of the sisters in my district had to yell, "We've lost a sister, we've lost a sister." And then everyone realized that I was underneath the tarp and they stopped and I was finally able to breathe and get out of there lol. So typical me, I would be the only one to fall. 

So besides embarrassing myself in front of half of the MTC, I also slightly injured myself on Saturday. It was during volleyball and the ball came down weird on my hand and smashed my thumb (because I am sooo not good at volleyball) anyway so after the game I noticed that it was all bruised and swollen underneath my thumb. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and the doctor said that it was just torn muscle in my hand. Weird right? It's harmless, but annoying and will heal on it's own but just take awhile. Leave it to me to not only embarrass myself but to also injure myself in just one week. Go me:)

So on a more spiritual note, the MTC is freaking awesome. For those of you who have never experienced the MTC, I wish you could just be here on a Sunday because they are the most amazing Sunday's I have ever had. Well every day feels like Sunday but Sunday's are my all time favorite days here. They call them "Magical Sunday's" for a reason. Another thing that I absolutely LOVE here is that the Spirit is always here. The Spanish is getting so much easier and it is truly incredible how much more I am able to understand and speak day by day. They drill it into us here to teach by the Spirit and it makes soo much of a difference in a lesson. The Spirit is the teacher, not us. I come out of lessons not knowing how I spoke and understand Spanish for a 50 minute lesson. It is a miracle. Especially that the people we teach are able to understand my terrible, broken Spanish! That is the biggest miracle of all. I don't know how I am able to say the things that I do during lessons and share personal experiences but I have learned that I need to say exactly what the Spirit prompts me to say. Even though I am in the MTC and we do teach a lot of lessons with our teachers who are pretending to be investigators so they are technically "fake", the Spirit however is not, it is so real even in a fake lesson. It is amazing. I am always crying in lessons here. imma mess. But it's awesome. 

Anyway so on a terrible note, it snowed yesterday! I was so mad and definitely not ready for the cold! But it's crazy to think that in just a little less than 3 weeks I'll be in America but South enjoying summer! Yay for endless summers lol. 

Another cool thing happened this week. So me and this sister in my zone just realized that we both lived at Tuscany Apartments at BYU-I last fall and even cooler is that she lived in the apartment directly underneath me!! And we were in the same ward and everything. But I had no clue who she was and didn't recognize her. Small world. 

And I can't upload pictures from my camera because the bookstore doesn't have a converter for mine(they have mad blocks on all the computers), but I will try to send pictures from my companions camera. I'll just have to post all my pictures once I get down to Argentina!

Well that's all for this week! Sorry it was so long but hopefully I was able to make y'all laugh!! I love and miss you all! Thanks for all the emails and letters! Keep 'em coming!! 

Hermana Cannon

Hi Everyone! 

        There hasn't been too much that's exciting going on this week. Just the same routine of eating, 9 hours of class, and teaching. But Tuesday was the best!! We had two devotionals that day and got to leave the MTC and go to BYU Marriot Center!! It was so nice to be able to go into the real world and to get out of the "box" that is the MTC. It was sooo nice and I guess pretty rare so I was lucky for that hour of almost freedom lol. That night for Tuesday Devotional we had a member of the 70 come and speak! It was Cristoffel Golden and his talk was awesome. He talked about women and the priesthood and how when sister missionaries are set apart that they have priesthood authority to teach. Cool huh?! I also loved the quote he gave from Elder Holland I think but it says, "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day." I love that quote because it doesn't matter who we used to be in the past, we just need to be a better person than we were the day before. We just need to focus on the person we want to be NOW and in the future. 

       That's pretty much all I have for this week. The language is getting A TON better. It's not easy but so worth it. I am able to understand and speak so much more just after a few weeks which is incredible. I can bear my testimony and pray en espanol. yayayay! That's the easiest part. Even though my Spanish is still muy mal, when the Spirit is there in the lesson, it doesn't matter. And man is the Spirit always so strong here in the MTC. I love being a missonary!!

      Thanks for all the letters and packages!! and you can write me on dearelder.com and I'll get it the same day so I can write you a super long letter back! 

Love you!

Hermana Cannon

and it was exactly what I needed to hear. She is so awesome and she talked about how we need to slow down and go back to the basics of our testimonies. She said that it is not important that we count or stones, rather we should fortify them. I couldn't agree more! I forgot why I was where in the first place, for the love I have for my Savior and my testimony of Him is that He truly is my best friend. After the temple today I picked up the scriptures and turned to Enos, I love this story because Enos had so many worries and burdens and He gave them all up to the Lord and because of his faith, The Lord made him whole. I have found from this whole week of teaching that you do NEED to put your whole trust and faith in Him and He will lift you up and carry your burdens and worries for you. Just taking that first step into trusting him is the hard part.
I can testify that after this week that the gift of tongues is so real!! ok story time...
So we have this thing called TRC where there is a 60/40 percent chance that we could be teaching a REAL investigator from off the streets or a member pretending to be an investigator. Scary right?! Anyway so our first lesson with our TRC was on Monday, and just keep in mind that at that point I'd only been speaking Spanish for 4 DAYS!! And we're like 90 percent sure our guy is a real investigator! He is from Peru so he had a different accent, talked fast, used huge words, and mumbled, sooo yeah I came out of that lesson feeling so discouraged! But we taught him again yesterday and it was going so much better and it's crazy how after just a few days I was able to understand soo much more. So things were going good until he asked why we would ever want to come to this earth where it is so hard, why didn't we just stay in heaven. My companion and I were stuck. We knew how to explain it to him in English but he wasn't understanding us as we tried to tell him in Spanish! So I said a really quick prayer and I opened to Mosiah 4:9-10 where it says that we should believe in God, believe that he created all things, and believe that we cannot comprehend all things. That was such a small miracle. After reading that scripture, he then said that things were getting very interesting and he wanted us to come back because he had to go. I seriously hadn't been this happy all week. After teaching him, it confirmed to me that this is why I want to be a missionary, because sharing the gospel makes me SO happy! This really is the gospel of happiness!!
I can't believe that it's already Halloween! It obviously doesn't feel like Halloween because everyday is the same in the MTC but I didn't even remember that it was Halloween. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
I'll try to get pictures uploaded but all the computers are being dumb! sorry I don't have much time but thank you to everyone who sent me emails, letters, and deareldres! they made my week. If you can please write me a dearelder or a letter because I have more time to respond and I can actually write you a good letter back! and a dearelder is like email except I can get it the same day!

My mailing address is:
Sister Carly Cannon
DEC01 ARG-BAS
2007 N 900 E. UNIT 66
Provo UT 84602

I love you all! and hasta la semana!
Hermana Cannon

On Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 1:19 PM, Carly Cannon <carly.cannon@myldsmail.net> wrote:
Hi Everyone!
       So this week has been filled with so many ups and downs but it just keeps getting better everyday. My brain now only works in Spanglish so I'm going to have to make sure I don't slip any Spanish words on accident. lol. The MTC isv so great. I've been here for only a week and two days but it already feels like a lifetime. I don't know how I'm going to make it to 6 weeks! But I leave for Argentina on December 1st! So pray that I don't have any problems with my visa!
I was struggling a little at the beginning of the week just because I felt so down and frustrated about not picking up Spanish like I wanted and because everything was just so stressful and chaotic and I needed a spiritual boost. On Tuesday night for Devotional we had the general primary president come and talk to us

So I never want to come home. These past couple of days have been the hardest but best days of my life. The MTC is such a great place and it is definitely putting my faith to the test. But my faith has also never has strengthened so greatly in this short of a time. I was blessed before I even got on a plane to be surrounded with sisters and elders who were also flying out to the MTC. I even knew one of the sisters, such a small ward. That is one thing I have noticed since I have been here is that I have been surrounded by friends and familiar faces. And even if I do meet someone for the first time, they never feel like strangers. The Lord has truly blessed me to feel at home. We are always kept so so so busy. When they said full-time they weren't kidding lol. We are always doing something and every second of our day is planned. There is never anytime to even think about yourself. Which is a good thing because the days are long but they are going by quick. I was so excited to find out that my branch president, President Wing is the father of Dr. (brother) Wing in Stratland ward and he is my orthodontist! Such a crazy world. And him and his wife are absolutely the sweestest. I am even more blessed because I love mi companera and The Lord knew I needed someone like her because she wants to run all the time and avoid all the sweets with me. Yay! I will say this, the food in the MTC is not my favorite part and definitely not why I am here! I have felt sick after every meal but I think I am getting more used to it because it is getting better. With my district, they keep telling us that it is a super rare situation because there are 9 hermanas and only 2 ELDERS. Crazy right?! But I am so blessed because all the sisters I am with are so strong and uplift and strengthen me. Well I don't have much time but I just wanted to share a few quotes and thoughts from these past two days:

The first day here we had a new missionary devotional type thing and in one of the talks this was said, "Don't worry about your family. Because you are here they will be kept safe and protected." that brought me much peace and I wanted my family to know that. 

"The teachers are no better than the learners." That humbled me because even though I am serving a full time mission the souls that I come in contact with have just as great of worth as I do. In God's eyes we are loved just as equally and as deeply and as members of the church we are no better than ANYONE else. We are not our sins. And they do not define or catergorize us. That is why we NEED Christ and his Atonement. 

"A testimony is necessary but that alone is not sufficient enough. We need to live it!" -David A. Bednar    I love that quote and it reminded me of the scripture that faith without works is dead. 

Well I am almost out of time but I wanted everyone to know how much I love care for you! The spanish is hard for me. I can understand 99 percent of what is being said (teachers don't say anything in english in class, only spanish) but the actual speaking is very difficult. I was asking mi maestro so many questions and he could tell that I was having major doubts and he said, "hermana, fe! Which means I need to have faith. My faith will be tested very soon because we teach our first lesson to a real person in a few hours IN ALL SPANISH. Pray for me! lol. But I know that I am not the teacher, the Spirit is. I am only the mouthpiece. Wish me suerte! (luck) 

To anyone who wants to write me emails my Pday is every Friday! Sorry I don't have time to upload pictures this week but I took a ton of cute ones. To those of you who I didn't email. Lo siento (i'm sorry- I have def used that phrase a ton here lol) I ran out of time! 

 till next week, 

Hermana Cannon