It's Spring and Mother's Day in Argentina!

Happy Mother's Day Down Under 

Another great week in Villegas! Also Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. We celebrated the holiday yesterday here in Argentina and it was a great day to remember all of the daily sacrifices mothers make. It is so true that a mother's love is the most comparable to our Heavenly Father's love. We handed out carnations to the moms in our ward and, a super tender mercy, we were invited to eat asado with Graciela, a recent convert, and her family!!! We just about cried. So we had a great mother's day surrounded by some great company.   

We had a lesson this week with a couple who had taken the missionary discussions years back. They were excited to let us in and to hear our message. We shared a beautiful time bearing our testimonies of Christ and had gained confidence with them quickly because by the end of the lesson we were in a VIP concert.  The woman busted out her karaoke machine and sang about 4 songs for us. We were having a ball, just the two of us being her audience and you bet there was some awkward eye contact involved, and all the while we didn't exactly know how to bring the concert to a finale. Luckily it didn't go on out night, it all worked out, and we left her house singing the songs ourselves. I tried to throw Hermana Whitworth under the bus and say that she loved to sing but she wasn't having it. Maybe next time. 

Someone finally accepted our service offer this week! We got to plant flowers and help our investigator Magali with her yard. Service is the best and it is about time someone agreed to let us help. We offer free service you'd think people would be running at our feet. We are on the search for more service acts to do because service is the best! 

We were really craving some brownies the other day so we used whatever resources we had which happened to be hot chocolate mix to create something resembing brownies. It wasn't half bad, we miss betty crocker's mix but sometimes we just have to make do. We are still trying to figure out how to make pumpkin bread with the slim resources we have here. It is crazy the wide variety of everything that we are blessed with in the states. 

Last night we went to give a carnation to a kind woman who works in a little market we always pass on our daily walk. She had lost her only son several years back and we knew that it was probably a hard day for her being mother's day. Well she let us into her house and we were able to teach her, her sister and her sister's husband. They had questions ready and fired them off, each question leading to a different gospel lesson. We spoke of God's plan of happiness for each and every one of us. We spoke of the need to have a strong belief and faith in God in this ever moving world. We spoke of the bible and the book of mormon, and spoke of how Jesus Christ came to visit the Americas. It is really refreshing to talk to people who have questions and want to learn more. Though we acknowledged that we were far from perfect, and that perhaps we didn't explain something in the clearest way, we testified of the truthfulness of the gospel and the importance to seek God in our lack of wisdom, because there is not anything that He does not know. 

Every day we are learning something new, every time we open the scriptures and read with an open heart we are overcome by the examples of goodness and the doctrines of truth. It is a great time to be a missionary and a witness of Jesus Christ. We are promised that every time we confess the name of our Savior to others, Jesus confesses our name to our Heavenly Father. That is pretty cool-- what a promise. Share the gospel with others and do not be afraid to speak up for what you know to be true and right. Do not give in to Satan's lies nor give up when the road looks steep ahead. The Lord will fight for us, but not if we give up the fight. Keep on keeping on and have a great week. Love you all!!

Sunday Dinner with Graciela and family

Hermana Mathis 

So Yummy and prepared with love!

Peace I Leave With You

HOLA!!!

Miracles in the Mission:

To start:  Miriam from my first area, Parque Field, just got married to her boyfriend and he is getting baptized this weekend! And they are doing SO good. Hermana Whitworth and I were crying tears of joy when we heard this news. 

You all might be watching the leaves change colors but here in Argentina it is Spring!

We had a pretty funny moment with a family this week as we began to talk about colleges in the US. Somehow Hermana W and I both heard Hogwarts when she actually said Harvard, to which she continued to say that she hear when she actually said Harvard, to which she continued to say that she hears that "its very hard to get into, but all that she knows about it is from movies." We froze not knowing how to break the news to her that Hogwarts did not in fact exist, but then we just broke out in laughter. It was then cleared up that she said Harvard. Whoops. silly us.

We found a lot of people this week who kindly welcomed us into their homes and were very receptive to the message of Jesus Christ! The people who have fallen away from the church that we have contacted have received us warmly as well and we have great hopes that they will soon return.

But, the greatest miracle was with our investigator Natalia whom I wrote about a few weeks ago. We tried to teach her about every day this week, knocking on her door but never having any luck. We passed by a few times and her boyfriend would answer the door and say that she was still working and to try again later. Well, as we set out to go to one of our planned lessons on Saturday, the woman we were going to teach told us that she was going to run errands and to come back later. Though a bit irritated at the time it made sense later as we walked to Natalia's and found her walking with her boyfriend back to her house. We caught her at the exact, perfect moment.

At church with Natalie

Well, Natalie shared quite a story and I think that she was in a state more broken than I have ever seen someone in my life. Yet the spirit filled our hearts as we began to cry with her and tell her that though she cannot see it now, she is a loved daughter of God, with a purpose on this earth. Yet, it still seemed as if no words could mend her heart. After being with them over an hour we left them in a bit of a better state we found them, yet as we said goodbye, Natalia still had that look on her face. We contemplated in the street what we should do, if we should call the cops, our mission president or leaders. Ultimately we called our leaders who were able to return with us to Natalia's house about a half hour later and give her a blessing of comfort. Luckily when we returned her boyfriend had left. As we all talked, Natalia through tears, our hearts were heavy. We sought to take away this pain that she was experiencing. The Elders laid their hands upon her head, acting with the power of God, and blessed her with peace and comfort. The peace they offered is as Jesus explains, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." This peace can only come from God. As the blessing was pronounced, we all felt the hope that she was going to be okay, that she has a bright, bright future, with so many blessings in store. Her countenance changed as the blessing came to a close, and her fears were replaced with peace. She slept the night in a different house and we were blessed to walk with her and bring her to church Sunday morning. As I bore my testimony in fast and testimony meeting, I could not help but look her in the eyes, and explain that God does not want us to suffer alone. He wants to comfort us. He wants us to find peace in this world of turmoil. More than to have peace, He wants us to have joy and to live by faith and hope. The Lord says, "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you." I know that this is true. He came to Natalia in the moment that she needed it, and He continues to come to us. This gospel is so true. There is an undeniable power in it, a power that truly can save lives. 

I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful wonderful week! 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Mathis

Soaking up all the Spring we can!

Give Thanks to the One Who Gives Us All!

The Mighty Team of Whitworth and Mathis continues together!

Transfers this week and Hermana Whitworth and I are staying in General Villegas!!! I am so so happy. It was another great week, dominated by rain but that does not stop us from going out and preaching the gospel! Also it is true that when the rain pours, the blessings follow. People are extra receptive to our message when they see two young girls soaking wet on their doorstep. We had a little dog friend, well quite the opposite, follow us around literally an entire day. When it first came to us, we commented on its surprisingly ugly features and its annoying nature. Well that came back to bite us because it would not leave us alone... and I'm pretty sure He is Villegas most hated dog because every street we went down every dog was drawn to him and we ended up in the middle of many dog fights. It was a little less than ideal and you bet we were pulling our hair out and saying some choice things to that dog by the end of the day. Yet by our side it walked, and waited outside houses as we would have our lessons. Hermana Whitworth sang the song from Annie, "dumb dog, why are you following meee?¿ We are rethinking any desire we have to ever have a dog, haha.  We met a love named Sol this week who was baptized about 2 years ago. A few other members of her family were also baptized and through the years their family has slowly fallen away from the church. Sol is almost 12 years old, and she just radiates the light and joy of Christ. She is counting down the days until she can go and do baptisms in the temple! She has all of her books, pictures, memories with the missionaries and with the church all kept neatly in a bag and she shared her memories with us joyfully. Though only 11 years old, and in a family of members who havent been too steady in church attendance, Sol is reading the Book of Mormon personally and is praying regularly. She also told us that she wants to be a missionary someday. This amazed me, and though she may not understand quite now, she is a huge example to her mother and her siblings. This really made me think of the power in one righteous example, who is doing the things they know to be right, no matter their age or circumstance, while at times they may be the only one standing.  We had an interesting experience this week as one of our investigators named Ailen told us that she did not want to continue taking the missionary lessons and that she did not want to be a waste of our time. This was a huge surprise to us because she was one of our investigators who was progressing the most, attending church and actively engaged in the lessons. We asked if we could stop by her house to talk to her in person because we wanted to understand her better. We passed by later and as we talked we were able to understand more that she was just overwhelmed with the commandments and the "requirements" so to speak, of the church. She is a perfectionist, and did not like that at times she was not keeping her committments to read or to pray. Luckily, we were able to tell her that she can take things one step at a time. She is making a huge effort which is so evident to us but invisible to her. We promised her that there is greater happiness and joy, and more blessings ahead, and that the great thing about this gospel, in the words of Elder Holland, is that we get credit for trying, even if we do not always succeed. Her heart was softened and we are blessed to be able to continue to teach her. But as we talked to her that night we were both overwhelmed for the love that we felt from our Heavenly Father for her. We were able to catch a glimpse of the patience and the hope that He has for us, and the desire that He has for all of his sons and daughters to follow Him and to return to Him.  We also watched General Conference this weekend which was so, so good! How lucky we are to be able to receive guidance in these modern days! One of the messages that stood out to me was how this life is one of joy! Of the many words that could have been used to explain this life, Lehi writes, men are that they might have joy! Joy comes through work and sacrifice. It comes through putting God first and trusting in His perfect love and plan. It comes through quality time shared with God's precious children who are our brothers and sisters. I hope that you all have a week full of joy and happiness, and remember that you are loved beyond measure. God is watching over you with patience and with love, waiting for the time that He can embrace you in His arms of love. Take each day one step at a time and don't forget to look up and give some thanks to the One who gives us all. Love, Hermana Mathis

So Many Reasons to Celebrate!

The Stapler was broken so these 2 hand stapled this bulletin board display!!
I think they forgot about thumbtacks

Haylie has taken "Preaching to a Tree" to new heights

HOLA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS
This week was a great one! It consisted of making a variety of great foods(cinnamon rolls, pigs in a blanket, alfahores de maicena), traveling another time to Venado Tuerto in the middle of the night, interviews with our mission president, singing disney songs in divisions at 6:30 am with hna whitworth to the hnas who wanted nothing to do with us haha, laughing through the many miles we walk, eating a real taco(!!! this was a great find- the argentinians don't believe in tacos or hot foods,) celebrating today and yesterday as if it were Christmas and Christmas Eve because why not¿¿ many spiritual lessons, many direct lessons, and many lessons dominated by some local locos. Also 3 months in the mission and one week left of this transfer-- whaaaat how does the time fly?

The Best District Ever!!

We have really been focusing on work with less actives here in Villegas. There are a mountain of less actives and it has been years since some have been to church. As I talked about this in my interview with my Mission President, he advised me to read the Book of Mormon with them, and bear testimony of the Sacrament. There is an undeniable spirit that is in the Book of Mormon. At one time in all of their lives, these individuals felt the power of its message. Perhaps they have forgotten, maybe they have made it to be something they believed they created in their head, but the power is there. The stories are not just words written to fill empty paper They are a history of things, miracles that actually happenend. The more we read this Book, the more we undertand our purpose, our relationship with the Savior, how we can ultimately return to live with God and Jesus Christ, and how we can be happy in this life amidst darkness and affliction. Their story truly is our story. And when we go to church we join with others who have received personal accounts of the truthfulness of this book, and others who are in the process of receiving an answer.

I love going to church above all to take the sacrament. President pointed out something I hadn't really thought of before: As we take the sacrament each week we promise to keep God's commandments, to take upon us the name of His son and always remember Him. If we do this we will ALWAYS have the spirit to be with us. Always is a pretty big word. The people who haven't gone to church for any number of reasons have been living without the spirit. Just as faith without works is dead, when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism and if we do not attend church to renew our covenants, the gift is in vain.

We always seem to meet someone whose situation is harder than the last. But it is truly remarkable how the gospel of Jesus Christ can apply to any person in any circumstance. I know that there are people all around the world who are suffering or confused, and sometimes at first glance they are not the people you just run to talk to. As a missionary you don't have much of a choice. I am trying not to judge and to love people as Jesus loves us, forgetting appearance, physical abilities, or age. Forgetting how smart they may be or who their friends are...at the end of the day we are all brothers and sisters. We are all loved equally and are therefore equal. Listen with love to the ones who need it the most. Be humble and faithful. Pray often, and God will pour His Spirit upon you. I love you all! Watch conference this weekend. It is going to be so great! Check is out on lds.org.  Everyone can watch it! Have a good one! 

Magali comes to Church

Les amo!!
hermana mathis

Tacoooooos!

Is it just me or do several of Haylie's pictures involve food?

Lunch with Investigators

Whatever you do, don't step on the dog!

So I guess Haylie is a little sick today so while she was hugging the toilet, her companion Sister Whitworth wrote home for her:

The beginning of this email is provided to you by Hermana Whitworth because she is a doll:

SOOO... this week we had a lot of fun times... I personally think we have too much fun this Hermana Mathis and I... 

Here are the highlights:

I completed 15 months and Hermana Mathis made me doughnuts! What? I just died they were soo good. Poor thing... she always burns herself cooking things for me. 

We ate lunch with 2 investigator´s families... tears of joy! Canelones- look that up. It is straight from the Celestial kingdom.

We had a fun activity family home evening in the church where we made popcorn and watched meet the mormons! Some investigators came and it was soo fun!

It's much better to hold the dog and not step on it.

We went to our investigator´s house for lunch and she has the cutest puppy you have ever seen in your entire life. It looks like a stuffed animal and it´s so fragile because it is newly born. So what do you think we did? We took a million pictures with it! Then as we were going to leave... Hermana Mathis steps on the poor little guy and turned bright red... she kept laughing and making gestures to leave quickly. (I had no idea she had stepped on the little guy). I was taking my time saying goodbye and thanking them. As we left the home, she looked like she was going to cry because she felt bad about stepping on the little guy. But he is fine so don´t worry. We were laughing about it all.

Then this morning, we thought we´d take a little adventure and make torta frita... about the easiest thing you could possibly make. 3 ingredients-flour, salt and oil... but somehow we managed to destroy them. hahaha... and poor Hermana Mathis ended up hurling in the bathroom! Oh adventures of the mission.

Yesterday, we... well I opened a black gate (identical to that of a less active member), but it was on a different street and this one opened up to some crazy dogs!  I am not scared of dogs... but these ones were big and mean. Hermana Mathis was cracking up and backed away as I just stood there dumbfounded. Luckily the owners were right there and we were fine. Oh Argentina, oh dogs!... No one was hurt, just my pride.

Haylie finishes the letter here:

Well this week was actually a really spiritual one as well. We taught a woman named Natalie who was a contact from the elders. She is the most prepared person I have met so far. She has had quite the rough past that still continues. The missionaries found her in a time where she was contemplating the worth of her life. She is currently in an abusive relationship in which she is constantly living in fear and longs to feel safe and calm. Her daughters are living with her mom and she longs to have a family united in love. It is so sad to see her in this awful position because she is honestly a love. She is the sweetest, kindest person I have ever met, yet somewhere along the way she settled for a man who does not see her the same way our Heavenly Father sees her. Tears came as I was able to look her in the eyes and tell her that she is a precious daughter of God and that she deserves so much more. She has a purpose here on this earth. She says she just feels a huge peace when we come over, something that she has never felt before in her house. We told her that what she was feeling was the Holy Ghost, and she started crying because what we were telling her was true. This gospel truly is one of hope and peace. It can heal any broken soul. It can bring life to a soul that contemplated its existence. I am thankful for every day I get to testify of Christ and the life and light of the gospel. I love being a missionary. I love being companions with Hermana Whitworth here in General Villegas, and I love this opportunity we have to see the gospel work and transform peoples lives.

les amo un monton!! 

Hermana Mathis

Finding Joy in the Little Moments

This week was another great one! It is really starting to heat up here which has been nice...but it makes me scared for the summer that is just around the corner. I am not sure if I am ready for such heat and humidity ha. And just our luck after a very nice week of pleasurable weather it has been raining pretty hard today, and there was insane lighting like every 3 seconds this morning. Apparently this is something the Argentinians are used to.

My new boyfriend

This weekend we had a district conference in Venado Tuerto (about 3 hours away from Villegas). We returned to Villegas after the conference in a hot and stinky bus. It was full of our members from Villegas as well as the members of a nearby city. Also I have a new boyfriend- he is 3 years old and I think it must have been love at first sight because right from the start he was right there with me, choking me with hugs one second, getting mushy banana in my hair the next second, drooling all over me the majority of the seconds, making funny facial expressions, pulling my hair followed by his mom giving him a small beatdown, then repeating the process 30x. It was a long bus ride to say the least. But he was sure precious amidst his slobber and overflowing energy.

The bus ride to Venado Puerto

Our mission president and his wife spoke at the conference as well as many other leaders, and the chapel was so full! It was a sight to see! President Zanni is a spiritual giant, He truly does speak by the spirit, and so does his wife! Hermana Zanni talked about their time as mission presidents, and about how many times she is caught missing home, a place where she had grown up and lived all her life. Her words made me think about my home and I had the same thought of love for my home and for the people who are associated with home. But then she compared this to the premortal life, and about the time that we spent there with our Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ, and how much greater our homesickness must be. Our Heavenly Father is patiently waiting for us to accomplish the work He sent us to do, and waiting on the other side for us to return from our temporary home, to return in His presence and rest in the arms of His love. 

This week I have been studying the life and Atonement of Jesus Christ. I find that no matter how often I study this, I will forever stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me. His life is our road map, and He is our guide. There is nothing that we go through that He has not already led the way. Neal A Maxwell states, "I testify that He is utterly incomparable in what He is, what He knows, what He has accomplished, and what He has experienced. Yet movingly, He calls us His friends." He truly is our friend, wanting nothing more than to help us, to listen to us, to strengthen us, and to ultimately help us return to Him and our Heavenly Father. He cheers us on day by day, rejoicing when we accomplish something, and "the joy of the Lord is your strength." I find joy in the Lord and in this gospel. I am finding joy in this mission and in the miracle of this restored gospel. I am learning to love the little moments, and to find joy in all things: this does not mean that I wake up at 6:30 every morning with a giant smile on my face, but it means I am keeping an eternal perspective while taking things day by day. I find joy and laughter in our morning runs, when we ate ASADO in Venado Tuerto, when a plumber came to fix our leaking toilet and stayed for about an hour and then told us that it was free, when we teach English classes every friday and I am reminded that at least I can speak one language almost perfectly, when we mix up words that sounds the same but have very different meanings, when we have to wake up in the middle of the night to catch a bus to Venado Tuerto, when my pants got stuck on a members chair for a solid 5 minutes, when an Hermana had to crawl under the bathroom door because she could not get it to open, when we horribly mess up food, or when we make it just right, or when we are too poor to make food and we sneak the leftover bread from the restaurant into our bags(well more like me sneaking it in and Hna Whitworth dying from both laughter and embarassment) . This mission is full of many moments and I am finding joy in the little things. I am laughing uncontrollably a good percentage of the time, still trying to fix that, but I am just having a great time being a part of the Lord's work and being companions with Hermana Whitworth. It's a great time to be a missionary!

Love you all, thank you for your prayers! Have a great week and find joy in the little moments, and don't forget to laugh along the way!

Hermana Mathis

Missionaries are not liars or something!

Matching shirts

Buen dia familia y amigos! 

I hope that you are all doing well and that you remember how important you are to me and how much I love you, as well as how important you are to your Father in Heaven and how much He loves you. I cannot believe it's September- crazy. We spent most of our p-day inside today because it has been pretty cold here recently. The sad thing is that our little house isn't much warmer...and our hot water didn't work for 4 days so we were living off of sponge baths which was an adventure! We watched Mr Kreuger's Christmas because it's never too early to get in the Christmas spirit and because we were at a loss of things to do inside. Luckily we have enough fun just being together. Speaking of fun, this week we dug ourselves into a lie!  We usually tell people that we live with a family from our church just as a precaution(when in reality we live alone.) Well we told this to a family who then inquired what was the name of the family, how many kids do they have, are they new to the neighborhood, are they nice/old/fun... well, I left that to Hermana Whitworth to answer as I was laughing. In a small town such as this everyone knows everyone so it is best to just not say anything. We saw them two times and they asked more about the "Gonzalez" family we supposedly live with. The next time we are going to tell them the truth. I think that we can't lie or something as missionaries.

We went to Rosario again this week and I took care of my passport and legal things as far as I know, but Hermana Whitworth has to take care of something else so we will be heading down again this week! The 6 hour bus ride is really growing on me. Especially when they give you good food. We ended up staying in Rosario for two days because tramites are the worst but we got to do splits with the Hermanas in the heart of the city which was fun! A huge march was going on in the streets but we just kept our ground and went about our business. Not sure what was the issue behind that. I was able to meet an investigator the Hermanas have there who is from Haiti and is learning Spanish but speaks French and Creole. She just walked by the church one day and saw the sign of when we had church and just showed up the next Sunday! She is so kind and is embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I was able to learn a few French phrases in the process! When we returned to Villegas we were able to sleep in until 8:30 because of our lack of sleep in the prior days so that was a miracle!

We had a good week here in Villegas! We have an investigator, Maria, who is really impressing me every lesson that we have with her. Everything that we teach her she warmly accepts, saying that it is a confirmation of what she has always hoped. I know that it is exactly this- our gospel is a gospel of happiness and hope that sits well with us because it was created by God who is perfect. He is not a God of doubts or of confusion. His plan is perfect and His gospel is perfect. Though we are not perfect as missionaries, we pray over and over again in the day that the Spirit will be able to speak to the hearts of our investigator and confirm the truthfulness of our words. The only thing that Maria is lacking right now is church attendance which is very hard for the Argentinians if it is early and if it is cold. Unfortunately it has been both recently. We are praying that she will be able to come and be strengthened in our church meetings and ultimately be baptized which she has already stated she knows she needs to do.

Through a lesson with our investigator, Magali,  I was able to more fully understand the power of forgiveness, and the need to forgive. We intended to teach something different with her, but we were able to address her needs as she began to converse with us. She has had many people in her life who have done things to her that no one should have to endure, yet God asks us to forgive everyone. Luckily, we do not have to go about this alone. We can plead for charity which is the love of Christ, a love that surpasses human ability to love. A love that can only come from Christ. It is then when the overriding strength of the Lord takes hold of our broken, envious, trembling, furious, or any type of heart, and heals it, helping us do things that we once thought were impossible.

Have a wonderful week and if you are having a hard time, just remember to turn outward. Help and serve others, do a random act of kindness, forgive others, forgive yourself, let the Lord work within you. Day after day I am reminded that this mission is not for me. It is for the lives that I will touch and change here in Argentina, it is for our families and the last name that we carry, representing generations with pride and honor, it is for my friends and family now and in the future, it is for my Savior Jesus Christ and for my Heavenly Father. I love this work. This church is true.

With love,

We pass this sign every day in Villegas!

Hermana Mathis