Transfers. New Comp!

HELLLOOOOO EVERYONE! 

Ahhhhh well where do i begin. Well this week was basically the BEST EVER! Down here in Argentina they celebrate whats called "la noche buena" or christmas eve more than actual christmas day, so this was the day where we ate with the members. We then had normal christmas which was pday then on sunday a testimony meeting of missionaries because Hermana Christensen is leaving! WEll i dont have too much time so ill just send a pic of my new comp! Hermana Pardo! shes awesome. Shes from concepcion chile

Ill say more next week! the work is great! the church is true the book is blue!

Love Hermana OStler

So the day has (almost) come! Its almost christmas! How crazy!!!! My companion and I keep thinking about the hawaiian christmas song (mele kelikimaka or something like that) because its so hot down here! Well it has rained the past 2 days but besides that.... But yeah. It almost doesnt seem like christmas is so near but it is! 

So i guess Ill just share some thoughts about christmas. 

Christmas is a time of JOY. Whenever I think of christmas, I think of people smiling and having fun. Take this time during christmas to be with your family and have some fun! Laugh, make jokes, enjoy each others company. 

Ok im just going to skip to the chase cause this letter is already all over the place. Its ChristMÁS or in spanish more christ! He is the first gift. He is Love. He is the Christ, and he came to this earth for US because God loves us. REMEMBER HIM! Through Him we can do anything. Through Him I can live with my family again, forever. Through Him, I can be forgiven and find peace. Through Him, I have true happiness. And through Him, SO CAN YOU! Remember the baby in bethlehem, but not just when he was a baby. He still lives! 

I know this hasnt been my greatest letter ever but my thoughts are just all over the place and there are so many about christmas that i cant organize them. Just know that I love CHRISTMAS AND I LOVE CHRIST! 

love always

Hermana OStler

ps. heres the christmas card from hermana ostler and hermana christensen from the núñez ward in buenos aires argentina! :) MERRY CHRISTMAS! FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Trust in the Lord

So not too much happened this week. Lots of meetings. Lots of finding people. Lots of miracles. But here are some notable things! 

christmas.mormon.org If you havent seen it yet, go see it! Its awesome! Remember that He is the reason we celebrate christmas and that He was the first gift!

I continue to realize how much the lord is in the details and how when things arent the way we want in our life that we just need to be patient and do what we can. He always will help us. Just pray and look for things that you can do better. Like my cousin carrie wrote me once "breathe and change" He knows what we need and when we need it. Just trust in the Lord!

Hope everyones week was great! 

Love 

hermana ostler

A Drowned Rat to Shoot a Pirate?

 it rained. again. im all wet because hermana christensen told me not to bring the jacket that im wearing when we first left the apartment

  a peruvian pasillo that i think looks like pirates of the carribean ride

they had weird signs along the river so i stuck my nametag to it

Field Trip with the Zone

 zone selfie in the colectivo!

 ummmm yeah our zone leaders hahaha

 riding a camel!

 looking into the distance. yeah were dramatic

 hey whats up

ok heres a nice one

Its not about the missionaries.

Ohhhhh where do i even start! So this week we had a baptism. He is soooo great and have literally seen such a change in him. The missionaries have been teaching him off and on for about the past year and apparently just about every hermana who has passed through the area has wanted to baptize him. He knows soooo much about the gospel. Probably about as much as a normal seminary student who was born in the church. Maybe more. Anyways, so we have been trying to get him to accept a date for the past 2 months while we have been teaching his family (his mom was baptized a few weeks ago) and he has put just about any excuse in the book. So we have a family home evening with another peruvian family to help them have more friends in church and the dad shared his testimony which was so awesome. We then had to go home cause curfew for missionaries but they stayed for another 2 hours! We woke up to a text from the dad saying that our now convert wants to get baptized! We went to talk to him the next day and he wanted to get baptized this sunday! It was such a miracle. The whole week instead of being shy and closed off he was so happy and excited! It was amazing. He is so great! 

The amazing thing i learned was that its NOT ABOUT THE MISSIONARIES. We do NOTHING. Seriously. We run around like chickens with our heads cut off, doing our best and the lord does the rest. Usually through the members. The members make the difference. ESPECIALLY IN FINDING AND MAKING FRIENDS. Our testimony only does so much because as missionaries were in a bubble and are only so relatable. The members on the other hand make the difference.

Other awesome thing about the baptism is that his older brother baptised him! His brother joined the church about a year ago and now got to baptize his brother before leaving on a trip to peru this week! What an awesome experience. 

Other side note on the whether side of things. Minus yesterday when it was raining, ITS STARTING TO BECOME SUMMER HERE!!!!! AHHHHHH. And that means that the sun comes to be right over one of the biggest holes in the ozone in the world! Whooooo! Hot and humid here i come! But its all good. Im drinking lots of water :)

Anyways thats all i can think about to write right now! Love you all!

Love
hermana ostler

The Gift

a nativity set that a member made

From Elder Kupferer:

Speaking of Christmas, if you haven't already, drop everything and go to:

christmas.mormon.org

or if you prefer in Spanish:

navidad.mormon.org

or if you prefer Mixteco, you're gonna have to wait sorry. 

Anyways the video is super cool. Its a good reminder about why we have Christmas in the first place and reminds us why Christ is really the reason for the season. Since God so loved the world, he gave his Only Begotten Son as the first gift of Christmas. So this season, discover the gift in the Bible and Book of Mormon, embrace the gift, and then #sharethegift. It'll be worth it. 

My Peruvian Family

 to remind our investigators to pray, we wrote "orar" in big letters on a post it and stuck it to their brother/sons forehead to remind everyone haha

such a stud

our baptism yesterday :)

 the family :)

Missionary Activity for the Primary Children

the hermanas with missionaries at the activity

i went back to the mtc for a primary activity hahaha

 our zone leader and 2 elders in the background reliving their mtc days haha

Around Town

 at caminito in la boca

Que es at caminito in la boca? caminito is this street where all the houses are painted cool colors. its probable that papa gee and grandmommy went there. its also a place where they tango in the streets

 puerto de frutos

what im pretty sure is a port close to caminito

Fried Fish

So my times really short right now cause were going somewhere for pday so im just including something that is a story from this week that i really liked. it has to to with standing in holy places because the choices you make now will determine the rest of your life. This week we had a stake primary activity where the primary kids were missionaries. In the opening part of the meeting there was a speaker who gave advice to them about how to prepare for a mission and he shared this which i loved. (side note milanesa is a typical food down here and it is meat covered in bread crumbs and then fried) "I was in my 20s and in the military going to a formal dance and my parents were cooking fish milanesa in the kitchen for dinner. I was all ready to go. I had my uniform on, hair neat and tidy, I looked perfect. I walked into the kitchen to where they were cooking the fried fish to tell them good bye then left. Later at the dance, I was having a great time when the girl i was with asked ´gustavo, you smell like fried fish, what did you have for dinner?´ embarrased, I remember saying goodbye to my parent and being in the kitchen for less than 30 seconds. 30 seconds! I didnt even touch the fish, yet i reeked of the fried fish and everyone knew. even if you are in the place or doing something for 30 seconds, it will change your life." now in spanish the word for fish (pescado) is very similar to the word for sin (pecado). Sometimes things that cause you to sin look like fun or delicious "fried" if you will. It looks good. Looks like fun, but it smells. BAD. Remember that the things you do now will change your life. 

And heres a last piece of advice, also from the same speaker at this priamary event talking about starting a new chapter in life, making some changes: start a new chapter in your life today. start it praying. 

Its so true! Miracles happen. If you work hard through trials you will be blessed! Be patient! 

Love you all!

Love hermana ostler

The Peruvian Version of Sister Kupferer

 so here are some pictures that a member took of us when we were eating at her house :) shes basically the peruvian version of sister kupferer 

Happy Thanksgiving!

So this is going to be a really short letter. Sorry in advance. Haha

This week. Wow has been a blur. I dont even remember half the things that happened this week. What i do remember is that we have dropped at least one of our investigators every day this week starting on wednesday. Crazy. Were a little stressed out about it but we know the lord will bless us with more people who are more prepared to hear our message. :) WE ARE EXCITED FOR MIRACLES! 

Its crazy to think its almost the end of the year! We are sure to see miracles, and we have been every day. I am always shocked about how much the lords hand is in this work! He truely knows every one of us individually and what we need at every momoment in our lives. Nothing is a coincidence.

I love you all and i am thankful for you all this thanksgiving :) 

love

hermana ostler

Im going to be a murderer!

So this week went by SUPER fast. Dont really remember much cause it was just all a blur. Haha 

So i guess the first thing is that we had a member of the 70 and the quorum of the 12 come to visit. THEY WERE AWESOME TALKS! Wow. Elder Christoffersons talk was great and I learned so much about the atonement, repentance, baptism, and the sacrement and how they are all connected! It was amazing!

The other big thing is that we had a baptism this week! She was such a miracle and we love her so much! I honestly believe that she was waiting for hermana christensen and I because we are such great friends! Were so proud of her and excited for her family! Her four year old after the baptism was like, I want to get baptized too! after the service. It was so beautiful and we were so happy.

And lastly to explain the title, HERMANA CHRISTENSEN AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER FOR ANOTHER TRANSFER! AHHH. Were so excited. And this being her last I will be "killing" her because she will be "dying" here in Nuñez. 

Anyways thats all folks!

Love you all!

love

hermana ostler

Hermana Ostler with her Peeps

 baptism! we love her so much!

 before leaving for church :)

with elder valerdi at despedida! he goes home this transfer! :(

Hermana Ostler Around Town

 i was super tempted to buy this shirt. it says california boss but the "boss" part is hard to see cause its bedazzled haha

 Christmas selfie! yes christmas is different here but there are some stores that still have the same!

we were on the train coming home from despedida and there was this guy who was just drawing people and he ended up drawing me! i didnt even know! (im the one on the far right)

we went to see the river last pday :)

 a building in "la UBA" (the university of buenos aires)

THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN

Wow i have just been FLOORED with how much we have been blessed this week. I cant even describe it and I am still in shock! We have met sooo many AMAZING people this week. Man just the people here are awesome. 

But anyways, our big day was on thursday. Literally i dont think i have ever been so blatantly blessed in my life at one time. Seriously I felt like we had some magic going that nothing could go wrong! It was amazing.

It started off with weekly planning that went a lot longer than I usually like because it feels like we have none of the day left after that but anyways we left the apartment after that and we had not been out more that 3 minutes when someone runs up to us and starts talking to us. They said they had been looking for a church to go to thats like a tight knit community and to learn more about Christ and the scriptures. We were just in shock because she was basically describing our church and the message that we share. We talked with her a bit more and set up a return appointment.

After that just more and more people just came up to us and started talking to us. We just were in complete shock because this had never happened to us and whenever we had talked to people they never had wanted anything. We then went to a less active members house who wasnt there and started teaching his wife who wanted to learn more and go to church! Then a whole bunch more happened that day that would just take way to long to type out and probably would get boring for most people. BUT SERIOUSLY MIRACLES HAPPEN!

Ok and the last thing is so were teaching this lady who is the mom of a member. SHE IS SOOO GREAT and WE LOVE THEIR FAMILY. Theyre peruvian and they live in this house with 3 or 4 family members and their kids. So basically theres a ton of people who live there and they have all been listening to the missionaries off and on for just about forever but only 2 of them are members. So were teaching the mom and she is just getting everyone to become interested and start to listen to us! Shes the cutest and we will start talking about her baptism and shes like oh yeah and (s)hes getting baptised with me too (pointing to the nearest family member then calls them to listen to what were sharing). Its so great. We can feel the lords love for this family so much and we just want them to be together forever!

Ok i think thats all for now. OH BUT WE MET SOMEONE WHOS ARGENTINE BUT HAS LIVED IN THE US FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE AND HE GAVE US A PB&J SANDWICH!!!!!!! AHHHHHH. the small things in life. (for those of you who dont know there is basically no peanut butter or jelly like they make in the states down here although i do have a secret stash that im dragging out to last my whole mission) so basically for those of you whos mom makes you a pb&j every day for lunch and youre sick of it, savor it because when you come to argentina you wont have any. :)

Anyways thats all. Well not really. Cause a mission is awesome and so much happened this week but thats all im going to say about this week. haha love you all! have a good week!

love

hermana ostler :)

Pueblos, Personas, y PB & J

the hermana entrenadoras (training sisters) area. you can see the villa in the way back. the big long brick building thing

our area as seen from our roof at night. the big bright light that isnt the moon is the cancha de river. aka the river soccer teams stadium (they were playing that night. we could tell from the yelling outside)

 secret pretty places in argentina :)

my companion and a member and her son at a lesson

 hi were cute

Our zone this transfer :)

PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!!!

OH BUT WE MET SOMEONE WHOS ARGENTINE BUT HAS LIVED IN THE US FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE AND HE GAVE US A PB&J SANDWICH!!!!!!! AHHHHHH. the small things in life. (for those of you who dont know there is basically no peanut butter or jelly like they make in the states down here although i do have a secret stash that im dragging out to last my whole mission) so basically for those of you whos mom makes you a pb&j every day for lunch and youre sick of it, savor it because when you come to argentina you wont have any. :)

Heat Miser and Cool Miser (actually Snow Miser) are obviously fighting.

Alright alright so you know how last week i said that it was getting really hot here? 

my companion taking a selfie... can you see the beads of sweat?

yeah. i take it ALL back. haha with the acception of monday and tuesday, it has rained all week. And by rained i mean poured. haha But hey im not complaining. Its better than the heat anyday. Especially because even though missionaries rarely want to go out and work on a rainy day, we´re always blessed for it because as my companion says, the rain brings miracles! (and seriously it does)

us in the elevator the next day when it started to rain...

Just for kicks here are some funny things that happened this week. So down here we take these things called colectivos everywhere that we dont walk. Basically theyre city buses. And usually there are quite a few people who are trying to get on them so they have to stop for a little while while the line of people gets on. So this week, at least 3 times I have been at the end of the line and the BUS STARTS TO PULL AWAY (the doors are still open, were in argentina they dont care) so im sitting there and have to take a few steps and jump into the moving bus! Makes for fun in the rain, never a dull moment hahaha 

The other thing is the other night I was on the phone with the district leader recounting our day and i was just chilling and started talking about the 2 people who we had visited in this short period of time. So i said "y despues hablamos con dos personajes." my companion bursted out laughing to which i realized what i had said. dos personajes means 2 personages in english, and i had subconciously started using phrases from joseph smiths account of the first vision. I really meant to say dos personas. But yeah. I dont think my district leader caught on. 

Man this week we have seen so many miracles. But a lot of the times these miracles arent things that are big or maybe to other people would be, but they are things that you cant deny happened because the hand of the lord was in it. It makes me so happy to think that this is His work and that I am only doing what he wants me to and as such i am being lead where he wants me to go. Besides it is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass. The small miracles eventually turn into one big great one. The members are great, our investigators are awesome, and the hand in the lord is in it all! ESPECIALLY the details. I am so happy! 

I have also included a picture from halloween! I was my companion for halloween! haha

 Have a great week!

Love

Hermana Ostler

ps. mom the title is meant to be based on heat miser and his brother from the movie a year without a santa clause... i cant remember if his name was cool miser or what it actually was so if i did it wrong can you fix it? haha

How We Do Halloween in Argentina

I was my companion for halloween!

 a member who owns a kiosko gave us the frozen stickers for halloween :) 

a super attractive picture of me with my comp. yeah we went to a cemetary last pday. its our scared face in case anyone was wondering.

me in front of the big cript. maybe its a chapel. i dont know we couldnt tell. its not like we can read spanish or anything..

some cripts. pretty sketchy. its basically like the haunted mansion on halloween right?