Holaaa! 

This week has been absolultely crazy! With ward activities, lessons, and TRANSFERS! Yes I finally had transfers after 3 months of being back in the mission! I´m in the same area and my new companion, or not so new companion is Hermana Winfield! What is super insane is that she was my companion in the MTC. It is a crazy coincidence but really cool at the same time. It has been almost a year since we were both in the MTC and we have both grown and have learned so much in the past year! 

This week we have also had the oppurtunity to help a sister in the ward with some of the problems that she is going through with her family and with her husband. She was at the point of leaving her husband completely but then came to us and through a lot of love, support, and with the help of the Spìrit, we were able to give her comfort and peace. The experiences and testimonies that we shared helped her to stay with her family and try to work things out!

 

We are not perfect, but we can trust in God with all our hearts, and with his divine guidance we can never take the wrong path. If we are doing all we should be doing, He will not let us go down the wrong path or fall. This week was also a testimony builder to me that The Lord puts the right people in the right places in our lives for a reason and when it is needed. Either these people bless our lives or we in return can be that blessing for someone else. And the smallest of acts or the tiniest of conversations can bring about miracles in the lives of others! 

The church is so true and the Gospel is so good! 

Have a great week! 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Cannon 

This past week was another hard and discouraging week. Yesterday, the mom of Erica (one of our investigators) passed away. And not a week ago, her aunt passed away too. We passed by her house this morning to share a scripture with her and give her some comfort but to my suprise, we found her to be totally at ease. We shared the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants about those who die without a knowledge of the gospel and that they have the opportunity to accept the gospel in the Spirit World and obtain Celestial glory. I felt prompted to share my own experience about my Grandma Dot and how when she passed away that how special was the day when I was able to do her baptism and the rest of her work in the temple. These things were so close to home for me and my heart truly broke for her. But the Spirit was so strong and truly testified the truthfulness of the things that we taught. With everthing that has happened in so short amount of time, she is just as strong as ever and instead of stopping she is already up and running. She is truly such an example to me and is so strong.

 This week I really questioned why the best of people have the hardest lives and I came to discover that it is all in accordance to the magnitude of our faith. If we are strong, of course we will have to go through great trials. How can we ever be strong in the first place without them? The Scriptures literally are perfect. Just like it says in 3 Nephi 18 that if build our houses on a firm foundation instead of sand we will never faltar or be carried away. The key is  to always be strong, firm, and ready for whatever comes our way. Now is the time to be already prepared. 

Here is the new address for the NEW MISSION Argentina Buenos Aires East -spells out A BAE lol ;) 

Hermana Carly Christine Cannon 

Argentina Buenos Aires East Mission
Rivadavia 599
Quilmes 1878
Argentina

Hasta Luego! 

Hermana Cannon (Colchón) 

When it rains it pours! So much has happened this week! The mission is officially divided and we got to meet the new president and his family! I´m really excited to be the pioneers of a brand new mission! 

This week has been a super sad one because on Thursday the family that lived in front of us, the Bianchini´s moved to Paraguay. It was hard to say goodbye because I had gotten so so close to them. They basically felt like family. So we had our last dinner with them. My companion made tacos, the food was so good but the situation so sad! 

And a small but grand miracle happened last Monday. After we had finished emailing we came back to our apartment, and we found that we had no electricity. None of the lights would turn on! And it was already dark. We had no idea what to do. The family (The Bianchini´s) that lived in front of us had already moved out of the house in front of ours so we were completely alone. We called the owner of our apartment who is also a member in the ward but he wasn´t answering his phone. At this point we were super scared because it was dark, we didn´t have any form of light besides our cell phone, and its a little dangerous at night. My companion turns to me and asks, "what do we do?" And I replied, "Let´s pray." So we said a frantic prayer and not ten minutes later the parents of the member who owns our apartment come through the gate and the lights magically turned on. We came to find out later that they had done nothing to turn the lights back on and  had no idea that we had been trying to call their son. They had just come by to take care and feed the dogs that are in the yard. What a great miracle and answer to our prayer, that we were able to sleep that night with electricity and lights and that the owners of the house were able to come by and give us comfort and help with the situation. Good is so good, The Church is so true! 

Holaaaa

I have come to find out that each day here in La Plata, Argentina is literally an adventure. Let me tell you about this week´s adventure.. 

Tuesday- We sent a baptism date with one of our investigators!! It is crazy, I know that we are put in the exact places at the right time becuase this whole week I have been able to share personal experiences about my life or my family´s that I haven´t shared in years or have never shared out loud! Her name is Rumilda and she has the cutest family! Ah I´m a sucker for the little kids. But we just hope that she is already married so she can skip that step and go straight to baptism. That has been our theme for this transfer, getting people to the altar! 

Wednesday- INTERCAMBIOS (exchanges) with the very beautiful Hermana Browning from Utah. aka Yankee-ness round too! I got to go to their area again and probably had too much fun with her in City Bell. 

And on Wednesday I huge miracle happened for me. So before I left I thought I had packed a huge bottle of my favorite lotion (the same lotion I have been using my whole life). Anyway but when I got here I found out that I had brought fash wash instead of the lotion. But when I was in my exchange, in the lunch with a member, I saw the brand of lotion that I loved and had forgotten at home. The sister who we were eating with saw the look on my face and when I told her how much I loved this kind of lotion gave me a whole box full of samples, without hesitation, enough to last me my whole mission! Turns out that her husband works for the same company of the lotion and they get them for free all the time. I know this may sound vain and like a lame miracle, but for me it is huge and just a HUGE testimony builder and eye opener that God cares and understands that smallest of details in our lives and if living right, will answer and provide for the tiniest of things that you may need. Prayers work people! God is so good! 

Friday- Was a blast! We had our Father´s Day activity went so well! So many members, less actives, and investigators showed up! It´s true in any country, if you want people to show up just say free food and games! My game of real life fusball was a hit and all the dads loved it! 

Monday- My favorite and cutest Mexicana made me tacos today! And I baked a cake but there´s no skill in that! Sorry United States but these tacos were WAY better than any of the tacos there. 

My sister training leader, Hermana Small gave me this quote which I love! 

"Good timber does not grow with ease. The stronger the wind the stronger the trees." -Thomas S. Monson 

This next week is going to be crazy because it is finally crunch time!! By this weekend I will find out my fate, if I´m in the new east mission, or going back to the south. How sad but exciting of a time this is. So stay tuned for next week. So nervous! 

Shoutout to my dad for Father´s Day. I love you dad! 

Have a great week and enjoy for the sunshine and summer for me while I FREEZE in Antarctica! 

Love the Arizona girl who is so not used to the cold,

Hermana Cannon (Colchone) 

Holaaaa from the freezing Argentina! 

This week has seriously flown by and it´s the weirdest thing to be this cold in the middle of June (Summer!!). Just to get a picture of how cold we are here .. me and my comp study in all our winter clothes, jackets, and all, and even our gloves! To sleep, I literally sleep in every piece of clothing that I have, from fuzzy socks to a hoodie over my head. Anything to keep buddled up. 

Besides the freezing cold this week has been a week of miracles and progress for our investigators!! Last Monday was the anniversary of our investigators, Carlos and Angelica, who have a date set for both their marriage and baptism!! They have never had brownies before so I told them I´d bake some and they were so good! I put dulce de leche on top (which everything is better with dulce de leche) and oreos on top. They were de diez!! But most importantly, Carlos and Angelica loved it! 

Wednesday, I had my first intercambio (exchange) again! I was with the Hermana Small from Pennsylvania! It was so great to see new things and meet new people. But I have come to find out that it is bad when two Yankees get together because we end up bringing out the Yankee-ness in each other. Like talking about all things American lol. 

Then the greatest thing ever happened on Saturday! Our other investigator, Erica, in our lesson with her told us that she knew that The Book of Mormon was true. We just barely sat down to start the lesson when she couldn´t help but jumping up and opening up her Book of Mormon to show us what she had read and learned. And when we talk about her baptism, there is no hesitation and it is a serious yes. This is so night and day difference because the very first lesson with her she was very timid and told us many times that she just wasn´t interested. But the Gospel and the Holy Ghost works in wonderous ways! It has been the greatest thing to watch her life, everything change for the better. These are the moments I live for in the mission. 

We are so pumped for Father´s Day because the ward and us are planning a huge activity. We are in charge of the games and I am stealing a game I played in singles ward once, human real life fusball! It is actually like how it sounds. Theres long poles that everyone holds one to. But no one can move forward or backward, only side to side. Just like the table game of fusball. I´ll be sure to take tons of pictures!! 

For a boost of spirituall coolness I found a super awesome quote by the super awesome President Monson that has pretty much summed up my life the past 4 months. It says...

"Our Heavenly Father, who gives us to much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we MUST pass... Such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were- better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before." 

Trials are a blessing! Life is way to short to be miserable. A motto that I have for my mission this time around is to be happy everyday! To find something that makes me happy, every single day. In the midst of trials or not. Smile because God is in control! 

Have a happy week! Love you! 

Hermana Colchone

Hola!!

   I can´t believe I´m almost at my one month mark, again! This transfer is flying by but it also feels like I never left and that I´ve been in this area forever! I first just wanted to say happy birthday to my little trev trev. I can´t believe that you´ll be 7 this week!! Words cannot express how much I want one of your little hugs right now. I love you! oh and Ellie too hahahaa. 

This week has been crazy! And lots of things unexpected and out of the ordinary. And dont worry I have plenty of funny stories (well I think they´re funny). 

1. Baja La Caña 

The first has to do with a family of the ward that we eat lunch with every Wednesday. As missionaries of Romero we were planning a Jeporady activity for the ward game night. And the question of how many continents got brought up. Well in the ward theres me and Elder DeYoung who are from the States, and my companion from Mexico and the companion of DeYoung is from Chile. Me and Elder DeYoung said that there are 7 continents (obviously) BUT the other two, Hermana Ramierz, and Elder Torres both thought that there are only 5 and that South America and North America is just one continent, one big America. So I was curious to see if this was just a latin thing and if they taught the same thing here in Argentina. So I asked this one member who was a returned missionary and long story short he made it into an hour long lecture, which they call it "baja la caña" here. He went on to explain to me why theres only 5 and then went off way into World War 2 and crazy politics stuff. And even longer story made short, I will NEVER bring up continents here again and if someone asks me how many there are I simply will say "I don´t know". 

2. Crazy Domingo 

Yesterday, Sunday we had stake conference at the stake building in La Plata. We were all set and ready to go, a family was going to drive us in their van BUT they called us and told us that their van had just broken down. So we ran to catch the bus and waited forever because buses don´t run too much on Sundays. Anyway so after 30 minutes of waiting we finally got on a bus, and not 10 minutes later our bus broke down!! So we were just going to be 5 minutes late but we ended up arriving almost an hour late!! We snuck into the back and then President Thurgood in his talk, asked for all the missionaries to stand up. It was super embarrassing because we were way in the back away from all the other missionaries! And then after the conference a family in the ward invited us to eat lunch with them. We couldn´t say no to free food so we got in their car and we ended up at a restuarant! More specifically a buffet! It was too late to leave now and it would´ve offended them so there was nothing else to do but stay. So yesterday we messed the sacrament and ate out. Such sinners but what can you do, the life of a missionary. 

For spiritualness.. We are still working hard with the few investigators we do have! We have a couple that has finally agreed, after 6 months of listening to the missionaries, have set a date in August to get married so that they can both be baptized! 

And we have just started teaching this one young girl, Erica. She has a baby and lives with her boyfriend. And the past 3 times we´ve taught her she has told us that it just isn´t clicking for her yet. She loves what our church is about but she doesn´t see the need for it in her life. So this past lesson, after we were done I asked her to say the closing prayer. So we all knelt and she said the sweetest and the most heartfelt prayer. By the time she had finished praying we were all crying. And slowly but surely we are seeing huge changes in Erica. The power of prayer is so awesome! 

The Church is true, the mission is the best, and not gonna lie, this is wayyyy better than being at home. #sorrynotsorry 

love you all! have a great week! 

Hermana Colchone

Hollaaaaa!! 

Oh my goodness this has been the craziest week of my life, again. I arrived back to Argentina on Tuesday and what an adventure it has been since then. So right now I am in a city called La Plata but my area is called Romero. It is a tinnnnyyyy town in the countryside. They call it campo here lol. I already love it. Just so you can get a picture of how small town it is, the closest grocery store is 40 minutes away! The chapel is way nice and my apartment is behind a members house, again. lol. But they are the sweetest and cutest little family ever. Being back in Argentina has brought back SO many memories and I´m SO excited to be back here and to be a missionary again. I forgot how much I missed it and how precious this time really is. I am  100 percent content that  it was the right choice to come back because I know I have work to do here.

My companion is Hernama Ramiez and she´s from Monterrey, Mexico! She is the cutest little thing! I call her fiesty all the time because that pretty much sums her up. She knows completely nothing in English but I love it because I get to speak Castellano (Spanish) all day long. It´s the best. I am so surprised that I am able to understand and speak for being home for so long and being way new in the mission. It´s true what my stake president said in my setting apart, that I would be able to return and pick up right where I left off. I am still nowhere near fluent but I have time. I am able to express myself and show my real personality which I´m happy with. But my companion helps me out a TON and has so much patience with me which is what I hoped for. It´s like I´m I get to start my mission over again, except this time it´s a little bit better lol.

This time is also super crazy because in just one more transfer, so in June, the mission is going to split! So as of now I am in the east mission, which is the new mission, so if I stay here or move back to the south mission, that´ll be the mission I stay in! So crazy! I don´t know much about the new mission but my mission president right now, President Thurgood told us that the new mission president for the east mission is from Chile. I´m excited to see what happens! But what will be neat if I stay in what will be the east mission, we will technically the very first missionaries ever in that mission! 

So technically, I´m still considered as being "in training" even though I was only a week or two short from finishing my training. Which I don´t really mind because I´d rather take things slow instead of moving full speed ahead. I got to see some of the hermanas that came to the mission with me from the Provo, MTC, and they are all already TRAINING for the first time or second. So in just 7 months in the mission and they are already training someone else. So I am just fine with where I´m at. But it´s fun because Hna Ramierz and I have almost the same time in the mission from before I left, she has three months and I had four before I left so it´s almost like we´re new together. 

Either Heavenly Father has a ton of trust in me or He is really testing me because our apartment is two stories and the stairs are so small and sketchy! It literally is the tiniest staircase ever and looks like it should be for midgets. And since I´m in the countryside we have bikes! They are so fun and is so different from Burzaco, which as wayyy more city like than where I am now. Almost all of the members and the people that live here aren´t even from Argentina. Half the ward are from Bolivia and Paraguay so now I have to get used to not hearing the Argentine accent! 

Oh I have a funny story. So theres this dog that lives with the people that live in front of us and whenever he breathes, it sounds like he´s coughing up a hairball and a million other things. And this goes on all day and all night non stop. Even when we´re having the most spiritual of moments in the pench, we just hear that dang dog coughing up his lungs just trying to breathe. Poor thing. Anyway so one day this week I can´t remember I sorta told him sternly to stop breathing like that and he did for a few minutes and started back again. Well that night I left my boots outside because they were all muddy and I couldn´t bring them inside. The next morning one of my boots was gone! I found that same dog carried my boot away and chew out the sole. So I learned my lesson to only speak nicely, even to dogs that sound like their dying 24/7. 

And on a more spiritual note, I just can´t believe how happy I am. It´s like a dark cloud hovered over me when I was home. I am way happy here than I ever was at home and I truly am so glad that I chose to come back and that I can finish my mission where I started, in Argentina!! The first night here I was lying in bed and I just started balling. Not because I was frustrated or overwhelmed, but because I was truly happy. And when I thought about how much The Lord has blessed me already, I couldn´t help but cry. He literally has been there every step of the way and has given me exactly what I need exactly when I need it. The Lord´s hand in my life was so evident that I couldn´t help but be grateful, and even know I see it still, everyday. And for that I am deeply grateful. 

Well I just scratched the surface but that´s been my first week in Argentina, AGAIN. You truly do love me if you do end up reading all this and I apologize that it´s so dang long. And no pictures today. I forgot my cord, but next week expect lots! Love you all 

Hermana Cannon