laboring in the white field

when reading a parable this morning I couldnt hel but apply it to my mission, hola that is what i have been called to do, learn apply it and rock it.   anways the parable of the house holder goes a little like this.  the house keeper goes out to hire workers.  he brings the first group in at six in the morning, throughout the day he continually brings in more until the last group works for an hour and they all finish at five oclock.  when they all gather for their days work and to receive their pay, surprisingly they all received the same.  inmediateyl those hired first were angry ¨these last have wrought but one hour and thou hast made them equal to us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.¨

when applying this to mjissionaries, I think its very common that we find ourselves in a similar situation, for example we aere missionaries for twenty four hours but of that time how much of us are really giving a hard, dedicated, obedient work.  there has been days after giving it all, I wonder why I havent received the satisfaction or blessing of other days where I have worked less or recieved more.  Or looded at other companions who dont seem as focuesed as me but are having way more success. or maybe compare myeslef with other missionaries, those who are young in the imission and ahve become leaders.  I while back I thought ot myself of a bit of a faitler.  I didnt understand why I had never become an hermana leader or why I had never trained.  Whad did I lack?  I compared my wage to my sisters mission where she did both from and early stage, so I found myself feeling a bit low.  however what I have learned from this parable and my personal experience is taht the housekeeper or God doesnt treat us unfairly.  the promise is that if we go out and preach his word he wil be with us ad give us succes, he doesnt give us a detailed contract with what type of success it will be.  I received the biggest blessing or wage by spending almost 11 months of the 15 I had here in argentina in campo in the same zone.  When we recently had a zone conference with the members of the district, it was the biggest family lreunion for me and I knew almost every single person there.  I have learned taht comparing missiony and success is imposible as your cant measuere someones conversion or blessings.  SO many are soaked up in who we are and I believe one hundred prect that the lord has given us all the same in one way or anoterh.  I love getting together as a mision because we cant help but become big old chatter boxes.  I givvle endlessly a we share common related storeis and memories.  When we left to serve missions we all agreed on the same wage and circumstances.  we were very happy to put in the work, and we have been paid in full. now the key for me is to take my pay and enjoy the blessings. 

Loyalty

¨I dont do anything for fun, rather I have fun in everything I do¨ Dallin Oaks.   before the mission everyone and their dog asked me how i felt about leaving. my common response ¨¨I am so excited, its going to be so much fun!¨ I received the common laughs from it, oh yah ¨¨fun¨ missionary work.  they all kind of smiled at me with that oh you are so young and innocent and have no idea what you are getting yourself into. Well they are absolutely right I had no idea what I signed up for but those of you who dint think its fun are surely mistaken or you are not doing it right.  because its about the best thing ever.  when asked the common question äre you ready to leave?¨ I would then go onto explain that no, I wasn't. but I was planning on giving it my all, and that if I could just find one person to convert I would be content, just one, you all know that common scripture.

¨Labor all your days crying repentance unto this (argentine) people and bring save it be one soul unto me how great shall be your joy. .. but how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me.¨ 

well little did I know that the first soul came almost as a buy one get one free deal.  when I signed up for a mission, i signed up to become converted.  I think I got the discount, don't you?  my small testimony has been stretsched, twisted, pulled, cut, shaped, sclupted, strutchered, hammered, plasterd, polished and refined.  before what i knew was more of what i hoped to be true and now that I believe is who I am and what I do.  so therefore my joy is already full for that ONE SOUL.  heavenly father just put the that scripture in for kicks and giggles.    really to me its pretty much giving us a preview to the a mission filled with lots of joy because we already have the one and after our responsibility is to saving of the others. at this point I am more focused on holding onto that joy.  not just a sugar rush of joy and than a crash after to nothing but a steady constant joy.  we dont just give people a taste of heaven and than send them on their way.  we need to bring it he souls unto Him and keep them there, always looking for second helpings or more spiritual experience.  I can better apply my  thoughts to the talk by elder holland.  He goes on to explain what it would be like to be an apostle right after christ died and their thought process... it would be something like this...  maybe coming from the mouth of paul...

poco de poco

Hello to my beloved family of mine,

so on this weeks episode of ¨what did hermana alley eat this week¨ I would like you all to think back to some very cherished moments I had with two furry animals named twitchel and nibbles... Yes that is right I was fed rabbit this week... I about died just thinking of the poor things.  Sure the meat was softer than chicken but you the meat still had the soft fur of the poor innocent creatures.  Two times eating rabbit in the same week and I teared up on the first bite.  It was a tough one for me but I made it through! 

Friday we had a reunion with our zones of chilvicoy north and south.  It was just fantastic as always, our new assistants are my old zone leaders so that makes things just a hoot.  We talked about alma 47.  The story to refresh your minds is that Amalickiah is trying to overthrough the kingdom, anyways he is trying to persuade the leader Lehonti to come down to the foot of the mountain.  the first verses shows how he was very strongwilled and determined but as we keep reading every verse he gets weaker and weaker, and after about 5 or 6 times, lelhonti comes down from the mountain and is killed with poison. It was such a small example and we only touched it in tihe meeting-  However during my personal study today I thought about it even more. small things ready lead up to big and if we arent careful we will slowly and surely be weakened without knowing it. I thought of some examples, sthe first thing that popped into my head was martin harris and the pages of the book of mor mon.  how many times did Jospeh smith have to ask the Lord with the same answer.  and look what ended up happening.  I also thought of a cake.  if you add a little big extra salt it wont make a huge difference, maybe add a little bit more, but after A while your cake isnt going to turn out right and its too a late to take out the salt.  instead you have to start completely over. ok ok one more example, if you put a frog in a boiling pot of water it is going to jump out instantly. but if you put a frog in a pot of cold water and slowly bring it to a boil it will die without knowing it.   These can all be so easily related to the mission and normal life.  for example, obedience... those little things really can add up and before you know it you arent worthy to receive all the blesings or miracles waiting for you, ¨¨dont believe me aske the dishes¨ or maybe you are only studying a little bit for your investigatores, after all you have an hour. but little by little you realze you dont have enough time to fully prepare yourself for the day spiritually and we all know that we have to feast on eht words before the spirit will  help us out. we cant just snack on them and expect the rest to come easily.  

Elder Christofferson

I am going to start with my higlight of the week...

exactly one year ago I sat down and listened to the voice of the apostle elder holland.  I was on the second row, or the wet zone... thebest you could have asked for.  I remember as if it was yesterday, when he looked me in the yeys and told lme that my savior loves me and that he did too.  I remember how much I needed to hear those three wordsa and nothingmore, as i was struggling with the life as a baby missionary. One yer has gone and this week i sat down a different person ready to listen to teh voice of the apostel elder christofferson.  I didnt feel like I have become the bst missionary in the world but when I sat there amongst the sea of missionaries I fet at peace, not anzious or scared just at peace at where I am at.. I looked around at our mission group so many new faces replaced by my old aquaitances.  millions of membories and friends at every glance, buenos aires oeste is the best mission in the world, why?  because of the missionaries... because it is my mission and I love it.  its where I have put my heart and fnought with what I have.  amongst this group satan has no power over me and I feel like i have become spirtiually stronger.  that missionaries bring an incredible fource field when we are united.  elder chrisotfferson taught tabout repentance but bringing tru repentance throught the power of the atoneent.  the very best part of the devotional was the last ten mins when he gave us all a blessing.  I wish I ould have recoreded it but allong the lines this is what he said, 

That we will eac hbe able to receive the profund testimony and knowldege of the divity of our father in the heavn that we all will feel his love for us within our hears.  that we will revieve the protectection of angels and feel their spirits aorund us.  that we will be able to effect the lives of others with our postive attitudues and that every effort wlll be recompnesed in the heavens.  that our experiences in the mission are miarcles and blessings but it is our duty to share them with others so they too can be lifted up.  he promised that JesuChrist has accepted our offering to serve him, our service and dnedication and that he knows us individually, our hearts and efforts.  that is he conetnt with what we give of us willingly for the bnefit of others salvation.  

We should count our blessing but we should also make them count

¨we should count our blessing but  we should also make them count¨

This week determined the fate of finishing up my mission... monday night I completely forgot that transfers were this week and we surprisingly received the call... ring ring. oh no panic attack begins like always.  But I was super calm knowing that whatever happed was going to be great. either way I was going to be happy. that is what we called a seasoned missionary.  Well the news was sad... hermana hale is heading out. and we had made a bucket list and everything together, I was a little bit shocked as I had it in my mind that she was going to take me out of the mission. So to celebrate we slept outside on our pourch... camping.. hehe at least we took that off the bucket list, that and teaching her to cut an apple because yup she cant do it...  lunes consisted of lots of farewells and a surprise baptism! thats right our baptism was scheduled for friday but when our investigator heard that hermana hale is taking off jumped it forward so she could be a part of it.  Hermana Marchant is the last to become a member of her family. She is a single mom of 7 kids, and all that live with her were baptised years ago. Her day was super special has her kids sang ¨the family is of God¨, a primary song, I dont believe there was an dry eye in the crowd. What better way to leave an area.   It was a beautiful baptism. 

Wednesday we headed to buenos aires, my very last transfer meeting... boooooo   it felt weird but I didnt let it sink in to much.  in the process of the trip we lost our phone, so we are now living currently amish style.  without phone, but I quite enjoy it because we dont receive pointless calls all day long from the elders... shhhh dont tell them. :)  this week we should get another one!  So I bet you are all dying to know who is my next companion.... Hermana tidwell straight from provo with only 6 months in the mission but talks better than me. haha I must say that she is completely different than hermana hale, she is super chill where as hermana hale was wild with energy.  She is great and a big old sweetie. She has only had three comps all of which are from utah and she has killed them all... kiilling machine!!!  so I guess she is good at what she does.  welcome to campo my friend.   

We had a miracle this week. I dont know the area all that well since all of our investigator pool was just baptized.  therefore I am getting to know very well the area book.  I went through and found a list of names of people that sounded interesting to me that I noted to visit. I than made another list of people who have attended to church before.  Well we head out to visit another list of less actives and we end up finding a 19 year old chicka that was on ALL THREE lists.  We went out searching for her whichout even being aware until that night when I made the connection and about died. fate or what, she is incredible!  her name is just showing up every place now.  after years she is still writing one of the elders that passed by for her house.  sometimes I just get so excited when things work out like clock work.  destiny in a book is what the area book should be called from now on. 

Receive the Promise

Up next on the series of the LIfe of missionary Alley, A week with lots of rain... and hail, nothing like getting pegged on a bike. and the weather update in the nearest town of bragado... a tornato... thats right roofs were beinig thrown off houses. but dont worry we just got rain and lots of wind. nothing that two missionaries cant handle with rainboots and hymns.

Well this week was strange.  haha we went from some really great moments and some not to great. I became nurse for my sick flu companion and tackling the puke with salteen crackers and sprite.  I think I counted nine bathroom runs in one night... poor thing.  I have never prayed so hard for my health! haha  but she is quite the trooper and we only stopped working for two hours.  atta girl, go fight win! 

The best part of the week was halloween. I spent over the week four hours of coloring and trying to be creative to throw together a halloween experiecne just like in the states.  after convincing people to not freak out over what halloween is and just come for candy and dress up, we had a great turn out! we had about 8 people we arent members come and they all loved it!  we also had a great turn out with less actives.  WE played all the classics.. musical pumpkins, pin the tag on the missioanry.  bobbing for oranges (they were cheaper...haha), torta fritas on a string, limbo (a little secret i won... hehe turns out our branch is less flexible than me) , fishing for treats, and a little bit of spooky dance off.  my comp and I went as hippies, tuned down as much as we can but still out of the skirit ;)  it was super fun and we have just been assigned to do the next upcoming activity of a talent show.   I am stoked.

Feeling hot hot hot

hello.  I am so hot... the sun came out and I think it is closer to argentina than any other part of the world.  things are cooking up and faaaast.  I have already become best friends with Lilianna.  She is our fan, and I dont think I ever stop sweating.  Its just a jolly old time! but anyways thats just a side note, now for all the good details of the week.

 

well this week was opposite of the last.  Some weeks its like the whole world has changed into a dream wonder land and people joyingful let you into their house, and then other weeks everyone just sleeps or is too hot to move and open the door to even talk to the missionaries.  but thats ok, because we managed anyways.  Like I mentioned with the pictures we did a service project for bartolo.  I loved it because if you would have seen the place before and after, its a master piece.  I have decided I like fixing things up.  everyone here built their own house and have everything to live.  they depend on themsevles, as they have their own gardens, chickens, and they do stuff the old fashioned way, not using all the convient and super up to date equiptment that saves time and energy for us in the states. however I feel like everything we do is so much more out of the heart and effective. for example after getting only slightly sunburned all I had to do was go oever to the nearest plant , cut off a piece and rub the green goo on my skin and walla. I am all good.  and who needs to buy tea when you have the bush, why would you go to the market when you have lemons off the nearest tree to spice up your salad.  Dad I think you should consider extending the garden.  Love the salsa but we could use some  fruit trees and medicine plants as well! they come in handy!

"helping bartolo. we had three of these piles of branches and parts of trees.  we did some good old hard labor.  He reminds me a lot of dad because he always has a project going on, and we always invite ourselves to help him out.. I felt a little bite like tarzan mixed with an axe man throughout the process.  it is getting super hot here and lots of SUNSHINE.  bartolo also sings tango and made up a song for me.  he surprised me and made me stand on the other side of this window so he could sing to me with this fake guitar.. he´s got my heart.  haha great service project."

 

 

This week I decided to take a vacation for half a day... okay okay it was a road trip.  I packed up my fanny pack and pulled out my cien ciens to head off to 25 de mayo.. that is right you heard correctly. last week I asked president for permission to head back to the baptism of part of my family.  Gabriela was going to get baptized and I dont know if i told you but she is PREGNANT!  how adorable is that. I already told her I had revelation for what she is going to name her.... hermana alley... haha My comp and I arrived a little bit early to surprise all of the members and especially gabreila and diego who had no idea I was coming.  It was the best moment.  all of teh members gave me a big group hug and it was like being welcomed home.  They caught me up on all the great things that are happening and before I knew it the service had begun and ended, very smoothly spirit filled and I had to say goodbyes again.  I absoltuely loved seeing so many of my kindred spirits but thank goodness it wasnt goodbye bye as we ahve a conference coming up and if I say in the area