Valentine's Day

Dear Family and Friends,

So this week was the week of cat calls.  Every week in Argentina actually, but this week was worse than normal.  We decided it was thanks to Valentine´s day.  Tuesday was especially bad and I decided that Hermana Ihler could not wear her boots again, and she decided that I couldn´t wear my black skirt again.  I think it´s just because two americans are together.  It was always bad with Hermana Smith and Dean.  I think it´s also because Hermana Ihler is tall...

So besides that we had a great week.  We started teaching Brisa, the girl getting baptized this Sunday.  We had to teach her almost everything in a week, her interview is today, and then we have to teach her everything else this week.  And then her younger sister also wants to get baptized, but I think she´ll have to wait a few weeks.  That took up most of our time because they don´t live in our area and they don´t even live in the city!  So we have to take the colectivo there and then walk about 15 minutes on the freeway to get to their house.  She´s great though and so ready.  All of her efy counselors are coming for the baptism and a lot of her friends too!

Alejandra´s doing great.  This week we went with a member in our ward to her house and she loved it!  The member gave her a Liahona to read and a living christ sheet!  But she didn´t come to church and we don´t know why yet.  Really, all that´s laking with her is the smoking.  She just can´t give it up!  We don´t know what else to do!  We taught fasting this week and she´s even willing to fast!

We weren´t able to see Jonathan this week because of this work but we have an appointment for today! 
The mission is starting a new thing.  today until easter we´re trying to get 500 baptisms.  Crazy!  Considering we have like 50 a month usually...  But there´s a plan and I´m pretty excited about it!  We know Alejandra, Brisa, Brenda, and Jonathan can be baptized soon, but we still have to find a few more.  Yay for contacting.

Saturday I felt really homesick.  Probably the most I´ve been on my mission.  I just really wanted to be at that wedding, but it´s done now.  Hermana Ihler´s cousin married her roommate on friday, so we were both thinking about weddings all weekend.  I hope at least some of my friends will wait until I get home to get married.  I just want to witness a sealing I guess, and have friends when I get home.

Sunday I was asked to play the piano again.  I should have never told the elders I play.  This week went a lot better though.  And since I don´t know any sacrament hymns, I got an excuse to just play with one hand!  And it was the best hymn I played! 

So that´s it.  Mom, could you look into when I have to sign up for classes?  I have a question on whether my Bio 130 lab covered the bio lab I have to take for dental school or if I have to take molecular bio lab.  Thanks!  You´re the best!  Happy Valentine´s day and every other holiday they don´t celebrate here!
Hermana Borup

More Food

 10 Feb 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

So this week I got lots of letters.  Thanks!  I love letters.  But mom, I still didn´t get either of the packages.  I´m worried too.  I´ve noticed that the envelopes have a harder time getting through than the boxes. I don´t know why.  But I did get the calender from weston!  I love it!

So I really don´t have time today. But some of the highlights.

This week we became best friends with the bishop.  The elders were in Rosario at a zone leader capacitación and so us, the second couselor and the bishop met on wednesday night without them.  I brought banana bread with dulce de leche on top (request of the bishop) and we talked about what was going on in the ward.  He gave us a few names of less actives to visit and we planned an activity for the less actives to come to church.  It was very productive and fun.  Turns out our bishop is super cool and funny.  And now he loves us.  he even gave us his own key for us to go and get a copy.  Awesome!  We´re going to have a key to the church finally!  

After that we updated the elders and then the four of us cleaned the church on friday.  I have a new respect for these elders.  They were good cleaners.  And we seem to be working as a team now with the bishop rather than all of us doing our own thing.

This week was rough for getting lessons, but we did have some good lessons.  One was with Jonathan, the less active´s pareja.  We went with a member and the member was just awesome.  Taught priesthood better than I could have.  But Jonathan couldn´t come to church again because of work.  We´re praying that he can find another job.  

Hermana Ihler and I made every day special this week.  As in every day has a theme.  On thursday we bought little candies and ate one every 30 minutes.  And on friday the theme was pictures and saturday was grido (ice cream) day.  Tomorrow is fruit day and wednesday is chocolate.  Sometimes missionaries just need a little ánimo to keep going.  Especially on the days where no one will let you in and you just walk and walk and walk.

At church I was asked last minute to play the piano.  it was a disaster.  Hermana Ihler was asked last minute to give a talk.  I would have rather given the talk.  I was shaking so bad that all the notes were off.  Oh well.  I did my best.

Oh and the bishop announced a baptism on sunday for the 23rd.  It´s a 14 year old from an incomplete family and she was just waiting for her dad to baptize her.  Her dad just started coming back so now she´s ready.  Except, she hasn´t had any of the lessons.  The bishop asked us to teach her even though she´s in the elder´s area because she felt uncomfortable with the elders.  We feel bad for them because they did nothing wrong, but the important thing is that she´s getting baptized right?  Hopefully we can get her 10 year old little sister on board for the same day.  Shouldn´t be a problem.

Well have a great week.  Also, the creek flooded.  That was fun.  And a lot of people have water in their houses.

Hermana Borup

Me killing the fungus  and it didn´t work.  Hermana Giuliani told me I had to have rubber gloves, goggles, and a mask.  This was the missionary version of that.

And pictures of the flood disaster.  And it´s still raining!

Orange Fungus and Rain

 3 Feb 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

Oh how I love Argentina.  Actually, this morning I told the other sisters, "I´m done!  I´m going home and being a missionary in the states!"

Let me explain,

So our apartment has been without hot water for the past transfer and without water in the kitchen for the last 3 weeks.  That´s been a pain because it all of a sudden started to rain and the water´s been freezing.  So our showers have become less and less frequent and our apartment more and more smelly.  All of that is fine.  I can deal with it.  Hermana Ihler was quite upset about it, but she´s new to the apartment and will get used to it as well.  But this morning, due to the flood from a couple of weeks ago we discovered a new problem.  Orange fungus.  I´ve never seen it like this before.  Last week I cleaned out our food cupboards and I found it, but I thought it was a weird powdered food Hermana Garbin ate.  So I didn´t think much about it.  But it grew again and got on a lot of our food.  We had to throw a lot away.  But I´m just so grossed out.  Why!  I guess it´s time to call Hermana Giuliani to tell her about the flood, the hole int he wall, the no water, and the fungus.

This week was awesome!  Hermana Ihler is my new companion and she´s from Pocatello, Idaho.  She´s a nurse yes, but that´s because at BYUi it only takes two years.  So she´s going back and studying more.  But because she´s the nurse, we get to take the phone with us everywhere!  Missionary work´s going to be a lot easier.  Other missions get ipads and we don´t even get our phone on the streets.

So we had great lessons this week.  I don´t have a lot of time but first Alejandra.  We were having a normal lesson and then she told us she had something to tell us next time but tshe didn´t want to say it right then.  We continued and I felt impressed to say something to her.  The first time I felt impressed to say something that specific to anyone.  She started crying and told us that morning she heard a voice say the same words to her.  She said she knows it´s all true and she wants to be baptized now, but she has to quit smoking first.  It was amazing!

Then we found a great new investigator.  The contact from the other sisters I talked about last week.  He wants to feel forgiveness in his life.  His pareja is a less active and feels super guilty for living with him without being married.  Basically, they´re ready to get married, repent and feel peace in their lives.  He wants to be baptized and is looking for another job so he can come to church and meet with us more often.  His name´s jonathan.  

Also, this week we got hit on a lot.  Hermana Ihler´s too pretty for this place.  A man on his bike stopped to talkt o us and said he wants to be baptized so that we´ll start going to his house because we´re pretty.  Uh... well if he comes to church that will be a miracle so until then, we´re safe.

And that was the week.  I´m eating healthier because I´m scared the nurse will tell on me.  But she´s awesome and really doesn´t care.  

Hermana Borup.  Oh!  And I saw pictures from the Narducci baptism this week!  They are so cute!

Pictures: Getting soaked in the rain, the fungus, and our district last transfer

Great News

 28 Jan 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

Remember the Familia Narducci from Arroyo Seco?  They got baptized!!!!  Woooo!!!!  Probably not Eve yet because they have to get married, but all the kids!!!!  I´m so happy.  Yes, yet another baptism I was not there to see, but it doesn´t matter.  I was able to teach them and be in their lives and see the change in them.  I will never forget saying goodbye and seeing Lucas, the 13 year old, cry.  Ahhh!!!  I´m just so happy right now.

So another transfer done.  I have a new companion.  Of course.  I only last one transfer with each companion.  Her name´s Hermana Ihler and she just turned 11 months in the mission like me!  It´s going to be a blast.  She´s also the nurse.  Ha, I think this assignment was inspired.  Hermana Mueller and Romero are staying and Hermana Garbin goes to Venato Tuerto.  This change is for the best, but it´s still hard to say goodbye to yet another companion.

So this last week was great.  I don´t have any time to talk about it.  But a few highlights:

On tuesday we contacted a boy.  He opened up and we asked him if he believed in God.  He had dreadlocks and at first I thought he was on drugs.  Because he didn´t answer our question but just smiled and told us that he plays the....  I didn´t catch the name.  And then he started playing this instrument from Australia.  it was super weird but then he answered our question and told us that God is energy.  And a lot of other stuff that I had no clue what he was saying.  It was awfully fun though.

Saturday we ate rice and french fries, ya we´re healthy.  But then we had dinner with Beatriz, an investigator.  And she made meat and french fries and fried eggs for us.  I thought I was going to die.  I think I need to cut back on dairy yes, but also on grease.

Sunday we were asked to be with the nursery.  Yikes it was a disaster.  about 6 kids and a big mess.  And then I gave a talk in sacrament meeting.  I chose to speak on the holy ghost and little did I know, the other elder, Elder Higginson, spoke on the same thing.  It was the spirit.  I guess it´s what the ward needed.  Following those promptings. 

Thursday we didn´t have light.  And it was the hottest day of the year.  So there was no air.  I thought I was going to die.  But we had to walk in the night without light and it was kind of fun.  I told Hermana Garbin, because she was super happy that there wasn´t light, that good thing I knew how to get home.  She still doesn´t know the area after 4.5 months.  Ha, oh boy.  Good luck Venato Tuerto. 

Yesterday it rained.  Hard.  Super fun.  We got soaked, ran home, changed, and then got soaked again.  But it was a good day.  We have a new investigator named Elsa.  And we have a golden referral that we tried to contact but he wasn´t home so we´ll try and go tomorrow if my companion gets here early.

The mission is great!  I love life.  Pictures next week!  Keep up the missionary work Dad!

Hermana Borup

P.S.  the situation with the plumbing has not been fixed.  Still no hot water so when it´s raining, we choose not to shower.  Our apartment smells lovely

Disaster Week

Dear Family and Friends,

So I´ve often thought on my mission, missionaries never can have bad weeks.  When we have bad weeks, we get leaders on our backs asking us why we didn´t work.  But this week was the exception.  Here´s what happened... (by the way, I don´t blame my companion in this story)

So Tuesday we woke up with a message from our district leader changing our district meeting to the afternoon.  So we started doing all of our studies.  Ten minutes to 11, or ten minutes before finishing everying, planeamiento, estudio personal, estudio de compañerismo, e idioma, our district leader changes the meeting to Wednesday.  No!  What are we supposed to do during siesta entonces?  So I helped Hermana Garbin with her English and washed clothes but that was a big bummer.  We couldn´t even make calls because everyone yells at us for waking them up.

So Wednesday morning was district meeting.  Then, right before studies during siesta, Hermana Garbin made arroz con leche.  Yum!  I ate a nice bowl and then we studied.  We went out at 4:30 to a less active´s house.  While we were there I felt something funny in my stomach.  I gave Hermana Garbin "the look"  so that she would stop talking and we could get out of there.  In the back of my mind I thought, I just need fresh air.  So we leave and we start walking.  All of a sudden I was in a lot of pain.  So we went back to the pench.  I tried sleeping but that wasn´t working.  And then I went out to our kitchen and talked to Hermana Garbin.  De repente I threw up.  Weird because I haven´t thrown up really since 5 years ago when I had the flu and I was home alone.  While I was throwing up, Hermana Garbin called Hermana Giuliani who said it was because I had milk and then went out in the heat.  Who knew?  So I spent the rest of the day throwing up.

Thursday I woke up and didn´t feel all that well.  And then it started coming out the other end about every 15 minutes.  So we stayed inside until our appointment in the afternoon with Augustina.  The member didn´t show up but it was still a really good lesson.  And I bought fruit salad because it was the only thing that I could get down.  Oh and crackers.

Friday I woke up good.  We did studies and we were ready to go out when we noticed our termo tanque was losing water.  So we had to call a plummer and he said it was the building´s problem and he couldn´t do anything about it.  All morning we had to try and fix everything because our apartment flooded and water was coming out of the walls.  And of course everyone was on vacation.  Eventually by lunch time everything was fixed.  A faucet broke upstairs.

Then I felt sick after lunch and we didn´t go out.

But saturday I was all better and it was time to get to work.  A member from another ward was with us until 5 and we didn´t get any lessons!  How can it be?  Oh well, next time.  We had a lesson later with Alejandra and the less active that you met on Christmas.  

Sunday we contacted and all our investigators couldn´t let us in so it was a lot of walking.  

So ya, our week was basically a disaster, but it´s all good now.  They´re fixing the faucet upstairs, we don´t have water in the kitchen and we have a whole in the wall!  I love Argentina!  Oh and did I mention that we didn´t have water Friday morning and when the water turned on the disaster started?  So so shower... or toilet... with me being sick...  We learned our lesson and now have jugs filled with water just in case.

I´m a happy happy missionary though and it´s the last week of

the transfer so miracles!  A member in the ward told us yesterday she´s ready to get along with the sisters (us) again and she´s just the beginning.  The errors of the past sisters are slowly being forgotten!

Weston, we don´t get dinner time, but sometimes we don´t have lunch appointments so i make it then.  Or the banana bread at night instead of writing in my journal.  It´s fast and easy and delicious.

Hermana Borup

Pictures:

Our zone today at pday especial!  It´s soooooo hot!

Our investigator gave us a ton of food on saturday.  Yikes, it´s getting embarrasing.  But we have a plan so that next time she doesn´t give us so much.

Hermana Garbin and the flood.  My pictures of the water coming out of the wall didn´t turn out so well, but you can imagine.

Just keep walking and walking and walking

 1-6-14

Dear Family and Friends,

Well this area is the same as last week.  I thought I told you about the area last week but if you really want to know more...  We live in the center of Pergamino in a shopping mall.  It´s nice, but not at the same time.  It gets loud at night because everyone eats outside and there´s music.  But other than that it´s fun.  We have a ghetto elevator and everything.  Our area is Centro B which is the half of the ward starting from the train tracks and going to the limit in the center.  So that Dad can be a creeper and look on google maps.  Most of our work goes on far from where we live.  The outskirts of our area because no one likes to listen in the center.  My companion is slowly learning the area.  She´s also getting a lot better at contacting.  Now she doesn´t just hand people a pamphlet and counts contacts for the people across the street that she yells at.  She actually talks to people now.  So we´ve found some people through contacting.  The ward is good.  Nothing like Arroyo Seco.  I don´t really know the bishop because he´s super quiet and doesn´t really like the missionaries.  I want to help him out but he lives no where near our area and we´re not allowed to go into his neighborhood.  Somehow we´re going to find a way to serve him.  Oh that´s another thing.  all these members want service service service.  I love service, but I´m getting the feeling that their attitude is this, "these missionaries aren´t doing anything so we´ll give them something to do.  Clean my house!" so... yep.  But every week gets a little better.  We´ve repaired some damage done by the sister before me and we had two less active families at church and an investigator!  And the members got excited about that!  Wahoo!

 

So I feel like I´m trying to have a positive attitude about everything but this place is really hard.  And it shouldn´t be.  It´s hard because of my companion´s last companion.  No one wants to work with us.  And all the other missionaries kind of exclude us in the zone.  So that´s rough.  Today I wanted to do something for pday instead of just sleeping like we´ve done for the last two weeks and the elders said they were all getting together to play soccer, which we can´t play with them.  Lame.  So we´re having a picnic by the river with the other sisters.  We´re going to eat ice cream of course so it will be fun.  But I do miss pdays in Galvez with my last district.  

 

This week I had a near death experience with my health.  But I got a blessing and it´s all good now.  I finally got to do my blood testing and i´m going to a doctor when I get the results, so there was no need to call Hermana Giuliani.  Just know that I was protected and I know that what my setting apart said is true, that Grandpa is close to me on my mission.  

 

Quick question? Can someone get addicted to benedryl?  Because I´ve been having a lot of allergic reactions and I´ve been taking a lot lately.  Let me know if I shouldn´t.

 

So this week was the fast.  I love fasting.  With my health, I can´t do it very often, but when we do fast, it gives us so much extra spiritual strength.  We start our fast after lunch on Saturday and then break it on Sunday lunch time.  Saturday was amazing!  We finally had a lesson with a member, a recent convert named Angela.  She came with us to our investigator´s Alejandra.  We had a good little lesson and then we talked about church.  And Alejandra asked Angela if she walks to church and at what time.  They exchanged numbers and then came to church together!  It was exactly what Alejandra needed.  Now she just needs to quit smoking before her baptismal date on the first of February!

 

The other miracle: we met Viviana this week.  Saturday we had a lesson with her.  She´s been going to a lot of different churches.  She had cancer and since that trial she´s been looking for a way to be closer to God.  When we told hing to give her the Book of Mormon she almost cried.  She´s a miracle and we´ll see her again on Saturday.

 

The other miracle:  I had to call Arroyo Seco last night because I forgot a few things.  While I was talking to Hermana Dean, she told me that the Narducci kids have another baptism date for the 25th and that they came to church!  Luis Ramon moved back to the campo and walked 8 kilometros to get to church and he´s 80! and Delma is coming to church!  Ahhh!!!  I feel like the Narducci family is my family.  Everyone looks for that family to teach on their missions and they are mine.  I didn´t think I could love anyone besides my own family that much!  Now I just have to find people like that in Pergamino.

 

Well this letter is long.  I hope you´re all doing great.  Thanks for the updates on everyone in the family.  Mom, st George half is the best race, so I know you can beat McKenzie.  You´re getting old but not that old.  

Love,

Hermana Borup

p.s. This week I made brownies and taco soup because we actually had a rainy day.  Yes, I´m cooking.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

1-1-14

Dear family and friends,

So last week our pday got passed on to Christmas and we weren´t allowed to write, only talk.  This week our pday got passed on to today.  so that´s why I haven´t been writing if anyone was wondering.

So cool to hear about your San Francisco trip.  You know, you have been there twice now as a family and I have never gone.  I think we should change that when I get home.  Or we can forget about San Francisco and take another trip to Mexico.  I could use a long week in Mexico right about now.

Weston!  That´s super cool to hear you´re going south.  Really south.  Take lots of pictures of penguins for me.

 

So this week was super long.  Because of the holidays, no one wanted to meet with us, and that includes members.  We walked and tried tracting and either no one was home, or no one wanted to talk to us.  We did have a great contacting experience Friday.  We did some service for a less active that morning and since no one else in our plans were home, we went contacting.  In one street we talked to 3 people with really strong potential.  One was a man named Gustavo who set up an appointment for the next day.  One was a less active named Marcelo, who´s wife is not a member, but they were going out of town until March... they´re already in our plans for March.  And one was a guy that stopped us because he thought we wanted to talk to him.  Ya we do!  He´s an old investigator, but he doesn´t live in our area.  But the next day we went to Gustavo´s and it was probably the most awkward lesson of my life!  We didn´t know if he had a wife, but we knew he had 4 kids and that they were going to be there.  So we get there and there they all are waiting for us with the nanny.  But they wouldn´t talk to us, just stared across the table from us.  The man was standing next to me and the nanny was sitting on the floor.  I can´t really understand why it was so awkward but afterwards Hna Garbin helped understand.  She has never taught a man before!  Or kids!  And she didn´t know how to handle it.  Her comments were out of no where on whatever subject.  So it was all just a mess but we´re going to go back more prepared next time.  Also, I think she was shaking.

 

Highlights of the week, I made my first asado.  Yes, I also made banana bread without a recipe.  And it was dang good.  All that watching Hermana Smith cook paid off!  But the asado came because on Saturdays we cook for an old less active lady.  She wanted asado instead of milanesas and neither of us knew how to cook it.  So I just sort of guessed and it was delicious.  Quite the cook these days.

 

Yes, my companion´s interesting.  She´s from Peru and she´s great.  Super funny.  She´s been here for 3 months, it´s her first area, and she didn´t even know where the church was or what the bishop´s name was.  You can tell she´s a new missionary because she kind of likes to talk a lot  in the lessons and throw scriptures at the investigator.  But she´s a lot better than I was that´s for sure.  With a lot more practices in studies, she´s going to be an awesome missionary.  

 

Well that´s all.  Last night we didn´t do anything special but the fireworks did wake me up.  Also our blind investigator stopped us in the street the other day and told us that revelation doesn´t exist and that we´re teaching false doctrine.  I think she may have gotten that from her Jehova witness niece.  Oh well.  There are prepared people in Centro, I know it.

Happy New Year!

Hermana Borup

P.S. Still haven´t done the blood testing yet.  Lots of dumb complications.  Everything´s closed until after Reyes.