The Blanca Beat

Hermana Voss reporting live with the last weekly report from the Blanca Beat down here in Argentina.

The next time this reporter sends an update (if there even is a next update) it'll be in the United States and without the Lord's name written on my chest (but always in my heart).

But that's enough melancholy, lets get on with the week...

H Jorgensen did this painting for me on the back of a Book of Mormon.

Veronica's Baptism

This week our friend Veronica was baptized and it was a joyous day!! She was so excited and nervous! The majority of the ward was in the temple that day so we had a small baptismal service for her which was great cause the baptism was a little long since the water was too hot.

You heard that right. Too hot. Bet that's never happened to you in a baptism before. Usually we have the opposite problem. But since it's summer here the hot water dropped her blood pressure and she felt faint so we had to cool down the water. We all poured in buckets of cold water, the elders threw in ice cubes (which more than anything just lightened the mood rather than actually helping the water cool down), and we used broom handles to stir the water (one of them was red and the other blue so I will admit there was a Lightsaber fight initiated.)

Baptism

Veronica went from stressed to amused, and I've never seen a baptismal service so jolly. We all laughed a bit and the water cooled down enough that Veronica felt good enough to get in and she was baptized!

After receiving the holy ghost she shared her testimony with everyone and it was so cute! On Sunday she was well received as the newest member of the ward!

Divisions with Pringles

On Tuesday we went to Pringles (the area not the chip?) which was super fun! I was with Hermana Chullo and we had a super fun day with lots of lessons. We shared an area in the past so we talked a lot about that which was fun! We saved a baby bird as well which was great!

It randomly started raining extremely huge drops of rain for like 10 minutes then it stopped just as suddenly as it started. Which led to the double rainbow we saw which was super pretty! And as always we finished it off with Grido.

Gridos!

Divisions with Punta Alta

Punta Alta came here for some Divisions, I was with Hermana Santos and we talked a lot about the mission in general. The truth is like no one talked to us the whole day and all our lessons canceled so we learned a lot about patience haha

Hermana Santos and I

Spiritual Thought

Well I guess it's time to reflect about the fact that I have 2 more days in the mission then I'll be on a plane back to the United States.

If I had to name one thing I learned about the mission I think it would be Love.

I learned how to love, God, difficult people, companions, etc. And I learned how much I am loved and seen by God and Jesus Christ.

A scripture I really like is in Genesis 29:20,

"20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her."

I like to think of it as, "20 And Audrey served 18 months for God; and they seemed unto her but a few days, for the love she had to him."

The time has gone by way too fast. I can't believe it's coming to an end. The truth is when we love God, everything we do has so much more purpose and joy. My mission has been the most joyful 18 months of my life. It wasn't easy, but that's what made it so happy.

If ever you don't feel happy I can promise you the solution is to just get out there and serve God, because it makes every moment so much better.

My mission taught me to love God and put him first in my life and that's something I'm going to do forever. Like Baptism, this mission is not the end of the journey, it's the door to start it.

I know the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true Church that Jesus established when he was on the earth. The Book of Mormon is the most correct book on earth, and in it's pages we find the answers to the questions of our soul. Joseph smith was a prophet of God and thanks to his question and prayer, we have modern prophets on the earth today. God loves and knows each one of us individually.

That's my testimony that I leave of him.

Cat picture for Jimmer

Companions

Last PDay with this awesome companion!

Español

La Hermana Voss informa en vivo con el último informe semanal de la Blanca Beat aquí en Argentina.

La próxima vez que esta reportera envíe una actualización (si es que hay una próxima actualización), será en Estados Unidos y sin el nombre del Señor escrito en mi pecho (pero siempre en mi corazón).

Pero ya basta de melancolía, sigamos con la semana.

El Bautismo de Verónica

Esta semana se bautizó nuestra amiga Verónica y fue un día muy feliz. ¡Ella estaba tan emocionada y nerviosa! La mayoría del barrio estaba en el templo ese día, así que habria un pequeño servicio bautismal, lo cual fue genial, ya que el bautismo tardo un poco porque el agua estaba demasiado caliente.

Sí, lo oíste bien. Demasiado caliente. Seguro que nunca te ha pasado en un bautismo. Normalmente tenemos el problema contrario. Pero como aquí es verano, el agua caliente le bajó la presión y se sintió débil, así que tuvimos que enfriar el agua. Todos echamos baldes de agua fría, los elderes echaron cubitos de hielo (que, más que nada, solo aligeraron el ambiente en lugar de ayudar a enfriar el agua), y usamos palos de escoba para mezclar el agua (uno era rojo y el otro azul, así que admito que se inició una pelea de sables de luz).

Verónica pasó de estar estresada a estar divertida, y nunca había visto un servicio bautismal tan alegre. Todos nos reímos un poco y el agua se enfrió lo suficiente como para que Verónica se sintiera lo suficientemente bien como para entrar y ¡fue bautizada!

Después de recibir el Espíritu Santo, compartió su testimonio con todos y ¡fue tan tierno! El domingo fue muy bien recibida como la miembro más nueva del barrio.

Divisiones con Pringles

El martes fuimos a Pringles, ¡y fue divertidísimo! Estuve con la Hermana Chullo y pasamos un día divertidísimo con muchas lecciones. Compartimos un área en el pasado, así que hablamos mucho de eso, ¡y fue divertido! ¡También salvamos a un pajarito, lo cual fue genial!

De repente, empezó a llover unas gotas enormes durante unos 10 minutos y luego paró tan de repente como empezó. ¡Lo que dio lugar al doble arcoíris que vimos, que fue súper bonito! Y como siempre, terminamos con Grido.

Divisiones con Punta Alta

Punta Alta vino aquí para algunas divisiones. Estuve con la Hermana Santos y hablamos mucho sobre la misión en general. La verdad es que nadie nos habló en todo el día y se cancelaron todas nuestras citas, así que aprendimos mucho sobre la paciencia, jaja

Pensamiento Espíritual

Bueno, creo que es hora de reflexionar sobre el hecho de que me quedan dos días en la misión y luego estaré en un avión de regreso a Estados Unidos.

Si tuviera que nombrar algo que aprendí sobre la misión, creo que sería el amor.

Aprendí a amar, a Dios, a las personas difíciles, a mis compañeros, etc. Y aprendí cuánto me aman y me ven Dios y Jesucristo.

Un pasaje bíblico que me gusta mucho está en Génesis 29:20:

"20 Así sirvió Jacob por Raquel siete años; y le parecieron como pocos días, porque la amaba."

Me gusta pensarlo así: "20 Así sirvió Audrey por Dios 18 meses; y le parecieron como pocos días, porque lo amaba."

El tiempo ha pasado demasiado rápido. No puedo creer que esté llegando a su fin. La verdad es que cuando amamos a Dios, todo lo que hacemos tiene mucho más propósito y alegría. Mi misión ha sido los 18 meses más felices de mi vida. No fue fácil, pero eso es lo que la hizo tan feliz.

Si alguna vez no te sientes feliz, te prometo que la solución es simplemente salir y servir a Dios, porque hace que cada momento sea mucho mejor.

Mi misión me enseñó a vivir para Dios y a ponerlo en primer lugar en mi vida, y eso es algo que haré para siempre. Al igual que el bautismo, esta misión no es el final del camino, sino la puerta para comenzarlo.

Sé que la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días es la verdadera Iglesia que Jesús estableció cuando estuvo en la tierra. El Libro de Mormón es el libro más correcto sobre la tierra, y en sus páginas encontramos las respuestas a las preguntas de nuestra alma. Joseph Smith fue un profeta de Dios y, gracias a su pregunta y oración, tenemos profetas modernos en la tierra hoy. Dios nos ama y conoce a cada uno de nosotros individualmente.

Ese es mi testimonio de él.

Christmas Conference!

On Tuesday we had the grand Christmas Conference! We had to give gifts in the Conference so on Monday we went shopping downtown and I think it's safe to say we saw every other missionary in Bahia Blanca. I think we saw literally every single missionary from 3 different zones so that was crazy.

But the Conference on Tuesday was so awesome and fun. I of course received lots of revelation and learned how to be a better missionary, and there were lots of fun games! We played Kahoot with 2 teams, President Antuña and all the elders, and Hermana Antuña with all the Hermanas. Team Hermanas won obviously, it was easy.

Then we had a gift exchange, I got a nerf gun and used it quite a bit. We also had a jewelry exchange between the Hermanas and I got such a cute bracelet from Hermana Armstrong.

It was a great super fun Conference and it was almost my last which is scary.

Divisions with Hermana McCombs

Woah, random comp switchup for a Day since Hermana McCombs and Hermana Cordero were in Bahia doing legal paperwork for a day (Hermana McCombs passport has a different name, I don't even know how she got here).

So in the afternoon I left with Hermana McCombs and we had some super fun divisions where we taught some great lessons, got horribly rejected by some people in the plaza, and put a baptismal date with our friend Pablo! Didn't end up eating Gridos at the end though so that was disappointing.

Service

On Thursday almost lost an inactive member to the Jehovahs Witnesses. Just worth mentioning.

We spent Friday morning painting a school! That was super fun and one of the few times I've gotten to participate in a service project so that was awesome. After we finished we ate Choripan and drank coke with some of the YSA who went to the service activity.

Painting

That afternoon we went to Veronicas house and put a baptismal date with her because she said she wanted to receive the holy ghost!! Finished that day with the long awaited Gridos ice cream.

Gridos!

Weekend Parties

On Saturday the 2nd ever temple sealing preformed in the Bahia Blanca Temple was done for our sweet little more than a year converts Raquel and Julio. They are a sweet old couple and they had the best day ever! It was so amazing!

Then on Sunday we pull up to church in a car with our sweet 86 year old friend Susana (skrskr). Veronica came and they announced her baptism!

Pablo also came and felt the spirit so strongly he started crying and left after the first hour. That afternoon we went to his house and asked him about his experience and he was just so overwhelmed. He'd never felt before what he felt in church.

He is so determined to get baptized and wants to do whatever it takes. Unfortunately whatever it takes means stopping smoking which he's been doing since he was 11 years old. He promised us the day of his baptism he'll stop smoking for good, but he's gonna have to stop smoking a little before that since,

" they were not baptized save they brought forth fruit meet that they were worthy of it." Moroni 6:1

But yeah, prayers for Pablo please.

Spiritual Thought

In the Conference (spoilers) we talked a lot about being Valiant.

It made me think about the part in Doctrine and Convenants where it describes the people who go to the terrestrial kingdom as being people who "are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus."

What does it mean to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus? In this context I think it means diligent. Doing everything in our power.

I've found that in general, people are pretty lazy. I think it's super easy for us to not be valiant. To be complicit with what we know or what we do. A lot of the times people lose their testimonies just by forgetting to do small and simple things like praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church.

Valiant is not just courage, it's diligence, a good attitude, and integrity. When we are valiant we put God first, and in the mission that's something I've learned how to do.

Stat Check

Days left in the mission: 9

Days we played Truco and ate cookies: 1

Emails/blog posts left: 1

Amount of times we sang the Rhett and Link song Are You Gonna Eat That: too many to count