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