The power has gone off twice already while I´ve been emailing and all I´ve been doing is trying to load some pictures on to send them to you. We can´t get it to work, I´m sorry. I´ll send some next week, I will try very hard to do so anyway.
It was so nice to be able to see you all! Grandma, I´m sorry I couldn't wait to talk to you at dinner, I wish I would've been able to. As our porteño Elder Fiabane would say it would be ¨legit.¨ You´re all amazing and I love you all so much.
We had a great Christmas. It was hot and snowless, but we had a good one. Spent lunch with the Flía Sayas which was amazing and we couldn't eat it all. Pizza Empanadas and surprisingly good chicken. then on to the Duartes to talk to my amazing family, We had dinner with them the night before, that was also really really good. They don´t get too excited about it until the day of, the people down here, and if they decorate it looks like someone in the states who was too lazy to take it down from the year before.
Work this week has been tough, yesterday was an adventure and a half and Hermana Allred and I had the most awkward of moments SO MANY TIMES! they just kept coming. We walked for at least three hours strait looking for new people because all of our investigators were dropped or had dropped us the week before. Dogs almost ate us, people opened their doors right before we clapped/knocked, some guy talked our ears off about nothing important, we got rejected by a 10 year old, and chased by a cloud of these crazy huge bugs.
So this country is really fun. We had a power outage in the middle of our writing, and we don´t get a ton of time to do anything cause of the stupid ciesta and the freakin heat. We've been a little on edge with Argentina these days. Especially on p-day, we look forward to it so much cause we get to write and hear from everyone, but it ends up being so stressful cause EVERYONE IS CLOSED FROM 1-6! This would never happen in the states.
Well, I wany to tell Aunt Laura, Aunt Karol, Shelby Jorgensen, Taner Spalding, and Trevor Carter a Happy Birthday.
Love you all and I´ll have to tell ya´ll more about what´s going on later. Keep Safe, pretty please.
I´m excited to hear from you all again next week.
Love Hermana A. Johansen
Thank you to President Heyman for posting pictures from the mission's Christmas party on his blog. Hermana Johansen is in the front row on the far right at the end.
So I get to talk to you all tomorrow :) and I get to email for a little bit today!! Surprise to me!!
I got my package yesterday. I could've gotten it on my Birthday, but I´m not going to say much about that, poor Hermana Healey would feel so bad. None the less I´m going to open it tomorrow. I've waited this long I can wait till tomorrow.
News about transfers! I´m still in Bella Vista but I am in Bella Vista 1 instead of 2. Hermana Amanda Allred from SLC is my comp and we are HLCs together. Hermana Healey took over my old area and is working with Hermana Peterson from Twin Falls Idaho and has served in Washington waiting for her Visa for six months. Hermana Lund is over in Reconquista and I highly doubt that I spelled her area right but she is now working as an HLC with Hermana Gimenez de Buenos Aires. We worked in a trio Hermana Allred, Healey and I form Thursday until yesterday.It´s been fun, it´s been really hot, and we´re in the coldest spot in our mission. It´s supposed to be up to 105 on Sunday, and the Air in the apt wasn't working. Turns out all we needed to do was clean the filter. So I did that and we all froze :) I couldn't be happier.
The Christmas party was a blast and you will never guess who I saw! First off I met someone who knows Steven! Her name´s Hermana Fullmer. She lived in Creek Side, was in his ward and is studying to be a kindergarten teacher. She´s shorter than me and has very pretty red hair and light coloured eyes. She said she talked to him once and he didn't remember who she was, so don´t sweat it if you don´t recognize her description. I told her that he still probably thought she was a sweet girl. SECOND!! I FOUND ELDER COATS!! Actually he came and found me, which was interesting, but I guess when you have four days in a foreign country you´d be happy to see almost anyone form high school. He looks so very different! He´s doing well though and has a good trainer and will be working in Saenz Peña, Chaco which is where my old comp Hna Hernandez is working still as an HLC.
I really don´t remember much of what happened much this last week. We were working in both areas and I was learning new streets and meeting new faces. I met our investigator Van...... and her family, they have a really interesting story. The Hermanas prayed that day to find someone who needed the Gospel ¨That day¨ and they met them. Turns out that day a friend of theirs had died. But they've come a long way and want to change so much. Van...... has even full out quit smoking. Their family´s cute and I´m excited to work with them.
I love this time of year even though it´s hard to tell that it´s Christmas. Estamos buscando por milagros. I know this gospel is true and was established by Christ himself, and that he was born for a reason, and that reason is us. I will be forever grateful and never be able to fully express how grateful I am for Him and all he´s done for us.
Love you all! Take care and keep safe. Go play in the snow for me!
Merry Christmas!
Hermana A. Johansen
Guess who got a Hamáka for her birthday!!!
I did :)
Hermana Lund and I were checking out a little store in our area that looks very american, and I thought I saw a little throw blanket in there that I wanted to get so we made sure to go in and check it out today, the blanket wasn't what I´d expected, but we were looking around and in a little basket in the corner Hermana Lund found my Hammock!! I can´t hang it up in my house or anything but if I'm ever able to I'll give it a shot for sure.
I don´t know where I´ll be going or if I´ll be staying until tomorrow night. If I´m staying we have hopes to either talk from the church or from the Duarte´s computer. I keep trying to think of what time would work the best for everyone so I can get all of you together. We went to our regular cyber today and it was closed! We were all so very scared and I had to try so hard not to cry. It would've been the worst if it were a surprise holiday today and everything was closed.
We've been on Operation: Save the Rama all week, I can´t tell you more than that but it was very exciting, I've never felt more like I was a super agent on a secret mission to save the world before in my life. Other than that the Vargas family is still so amazing. Beti is still coming to church every week, and the girls come with her. Cat...... was having a hard day and looked really sad. She didn't really want to come to primary, but I gave her a hug and let her sit by me all day. She got feeling better and participated in class.
What is there to talk about that happened this week? Well if all else fails I could tell y'all in a week :) By the way, right in the middle of writing if all else fails everything failed! when it gets really hot here all the power kicks off. We all kinda spazzed for a second. The story of our lives!
I've got letters coming to people, but they´re going to be late for Christmas, so please don't think that I've forgotten about you! I just am really bad at writing and the post office going on strike doesn't help much either :)
Love you all!! Have a wonderful week and a Merry Christmas!
Hermana A Johansen
Just a couple days left of being a teenager! What better way to spend it than by being a missionary :)
Today estamos en Corrientes Capital. We got here to work with Hermana Lund´s visa stuff and we lost our bus and have to wait 5 hours to get back to Bella Vista which is two hours away. So We get to go on an adventure today! And here is the only place that I know of where I can buy a Hamaka. I´m so excited! I´m actually just really happy that we get to write today, that´s what I was most worried about.
Our baptisms went very well. They were successfully baptized and confirmed this weekend. They are very quiet children, they weren't exactly jumping off the walls excited, but for them they were fairly animated :) Hermana Lund and I were so stressed out about it all week, but that´s just how things are when there are baptisms, and were sad to not see their dad there when he said he would be. They were so cute though, and were so happy. Hermana Sayas has to be the best Primary Pres ever, she tried to hard to be sure that all the girls felt welcome and knew that someone really cared about them and the choice they made.
Transfers are coming up soon! and we don´t talk about them. one: they´re on my birthday, two: we don´t want to be separated!
Jessi!! oh my goodness! I´m so excited for this little boy! I love your conejo! I love those pictures! Especially the one with dad and the girls.
I´m trying to send letters for Christmas to family and friends, but there is a bit of a dilemma, the post office has been on strike for a good while, and if they get to you it´ll be late. Sorry about that, but it´s more important that they get to ya :)
Love you all!
Hermana A Johansen
