My Final and Last Email

Going to miss this

So this is what it feels like to be ending the mission... weird! It feels so weird. I'm just in the silent admiration stage. Taking it all in for the last time. Every person I talk to I find myself admiring the setting no matter how cold, hot or tired I feel. Its like everything is perfect. Even the unfortunate things. I just smile and say... "I love the mission." I can´t even count how many times Ive looked at my companion in silence and just said... "ya know.. I'm REALLY going to miss the mission." and she just smiles and responds the same as always, "I know you will hermana" In the beginning of this week I woke up crying in my morning prayer. Telling Heavenly Father how grateful I am for being called to serve 19 months. This last transfer was the most rapid growth and transformation for me I think. I feel like now I know what I'm up against with the world, but now I know what I'm made of and what my relationship is with God. I know what real happiness truly is and Ive learned how to keep it. Live the Gospel. Living it is the answer to everything. I remember when I first got here, the steps of the gospel (faith, repentance, baptism etc) were just important terms that I knew. Now I can say, that Ive taught them everyday for almost two years. Ive lived them and Ive taught others to live them, and in return Ive seen the millions of fruits and blessings from doing so. I know what works, and what doesn't. My Heavenly Father has guided and loved me. My Savior Jesus Christ has walked with me, I know because Ive felt him. Ive felt the protection of guardian angels surrounding me in danger and sorrow and Ive also felt Concords of angels singing hymns with us. Ive gained a deep testimony of the faith of a pioneer and Ive felt those pioneers who have gone before me pushing me forward when I didn't want to keep going. The Holy Ghost, my constant companion, has testified to me in sacred power that this is the truth. I can say that Ive learned to put down my walls to be meek enough to learn from on high. I can say that Ive obtained my own oil for light and built a testimony that wont leave my heart. where there was pain, I feel peace, where there was sadness Ive now found joy. Ive found the most beauty in myself while forgetting myself to help others and loving them completely. What more could I ask for of my lifetime then this most amazing experience!? Its filled my heart full.

MY STUDIES THIS WEEK

In some of my studies this week, I found this to be insightful. "The great challenge of life is not to ADD on more perfection, but its to strip away blindness and corruption... to discover who we truly are!" just something for you guys to ponder... I really like that.

Preparing to partake of the Sacrament:

Something I liked that our Bishop has challenged our ward to do is prepare for the Sacrament for 6 six days of the week. I know that seems like the response should be "well obviously" but I reflected on how I can better prepare to take the sacrament with a broken heart and contrite spirit, never growing numb to the spirit of revelation and gratitude of the Saviors Atonement. Our Bishop said, " sometimes its difficult for us to make changes, sometimes change is tough, but we are going to do this differently as a ward... we are going to enter the doors by 9:00 or else we miss partaking of the sacrament. We need to be on time when the Lord asks us to be here and partake of this sacred opportunity to renew our covenants. And how do we expect to renew them if we show up late? We are going to repent of being late and show him that we are serious about our progress. May we think of the lesson worth learning with the 10 virgins and those of them without oil for their own light who procrastinated until the end. Lets sacrifice just a little more, let us give a little more to the Lord on His day. I invite you to PREPARE your hearts for Sunday"

The BAPTISMS

Bueno, so I guess I will tell you guys about the wonderful baptisms that we had! I woke up so happy feeling like so much good was waiting to be had and we planned out the whole baptism for Vilma Ponce for Friday! Satan kept putting doubts in their minds that they should procrastinate the baptism for a later time but we didn't give up. We knew what God´s will truly was and is for them so we just kept the faith to plan it and pray hard for them to feel its right. Sure enough faith moves mountains! Emiliano (who Ive been teaching for 3 months now) stood there in his doorway doubting like crazy... and then we taught the doctrine of baptism and bore our testimony. Didn't take long for him to hear the spirit speak... he looked right at us and said... " you re right, I have no reason to put it off and I know that its true... I guess I just needed you guys to help me remember." I was so happy to hear him say this! I'm grateful to my kapa companion for following the spirit to go visit him in that very moment even though it wasn't part of our plans. The spirit tells us all things of which we should do. Thank you FAITH! Hno. Ponce called and just said... "hey missionaries, come over to my house, my wife is there and we need you guys to get the plans for the baptism all figured out!" I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! all night that man just said how he was going to wait another month or two and then thanks to prayer BAM! He called and said to get it planned! so I didn't know how to respond, I just said... "what? for you? are you serious?" and he just says, " no not for me, for my neighbor... yes for ME chicas get out your balloons and bake me a cake because I'm getting baptized!" haha we were very content to say the least. We just had to have the kind of faith that President Gulbrandsen has tried so hard to convey to us. The faith to believe "the campo está blanco! Ready for the harvest! YA! NOW!" We were not with family Ponce overnight... and by the morning they had made the decision to be baptized because that's the Lords will and they know it... talk about miracles! Angels are preparing these people to accept the gospel not just us! God is rolling forth his work and we see it everyday. Long story short Hno. Ponce needs one more week to prepare for baptism but his wife Vilma is reading the Book Of Mormon like crazy and super independent with her progress, in the way that she doesn't need us anymore, shes got it all down! She understands the importance of the OLA to pray, read and come to church. So It was a very busy crazy hard and fun week for us all! Friday morning, we finally attended the wedding of Emiliano and Evangelina!!!!!!! it was AWESOME!!!! then Friday night was Vilma's baptism and she was so cute. She had a huge grin ALL night! The friend that baptized her is extremely tall. hes a very nice guy. and then Saturday, Juan Emiliano Uncos entered the water of baptism. Right before he walked into the water my comp. and I had a moment to look him in the eyes and remind him that all of his sins of the past would be left in the water for good and he would become a new person. we told him to focus on his Savior. His eyes swelled with tears and he nodded is head and said thank you and before we knew it he was walking a very happy Emiliano completely filled with light! Sunday we made sure to get our investigators to church for their confirmations and those also were very amazing! Emilianos confirmation said that he and his new wife would one day serve a mission together! We were amazed to see all of the 5 less active families we have really worked hard with, all came to the church FOR THE 3rd TIME IN A ROW!!!!! this was a huge feeling of peace. I was especially happy to see Diego and his children, and all of our baptisms in this area active and happy in sacrament meeting.

OUR FINAL TESTIMONIES:

Well since its general Conference this weekend, we are not having a despedida :( its sad that we wont be able to see all of our converts over the span of our mission and say goodbye to them but its okay. We are not here to celbrate for ourselves anyway, we are here for the Lord. And when we all go home, we will celebrate the homecoming with our families there.

Elder Christensen and I were asked to share our final testimonies and the emotion didn't hit me for a while. I was super strong until the counselor Hno. García looked at me and then nodded me to come up and said, "hna. Gillum.. Your last testimony" then as I walked up, I hinted for Elder Christensen to go first... As i sat on the stand behind him... hearing his testimony... and seeing all those faces looking up at us.... the tears couldn't be held back any longer. I just got up to the stand and sniffled and cried and laughed about telling them to pray in that moment for me to have the ability to speak now and cry later... they all laughed. But half way through my testimony... I felt the presence of my Savior standing directly behind me and I looked into the congregation and saw that 70 percent of the people were crying with me and I wasn't alone. I think Its sufficient to say the spirit was felt. I thanked these people for changing my life. I thanked my savior for the ability to be forgiven and to serve others. I thanked these people for their humility that I just couldn't have learned any other way in my life other than living among them long enough. I felt so much peace in my heart. the assurance that my Heavenly Father is proud of me for the testimonies of which I've given. I feel peace in that assurance. Ive come, I've served, I've changed.

Ive cried tears of joy, happiness, sorrow, sympathy. Ive cried with the young and the old, the rich and the poor, I've cried with lonely and broken hearted and abandoned. Ive fed, clothed, nourished and cared for the sick and the weary. Ive been a good Samaritan and a sincere friend. Ive found my greatest potential in the work of the Lord. There is a time for everything right?

This is the time to work until my plane leaves Buenos Aires at 9:00 pm. Monday, reminisce

I'm very grateful. To you all for your support and love. To my family in the U.S. and my family in this beautiful country of Argentina. I know this is the True church, I testify that God knows and loves us so much that his plan for us is much better than our own plans for ourselves. i testify that repentance brings healing and comfort. I testify that there is no problem to small and insignificant that the Lord doesnt want to heal, I testify that there is no problem too big that he cant heal or take care of when we just let him. Hes the master potter and we are the clay in his hands. When we are humble, we are easier for him to shape into a better and more beautiful masterpiece. I testify that true beauty doesnt come from material or popularity but it comes from within. And when the whole body is filled with light it shows in ones eyes. I testify that We need not worry of burdens too big to carry. He shapes our backs to bear them and he prepares the way to accomplish all good and prepares the way to escape all evil.

I leave my last testimony as a missionary with you all in this time in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I'm grateful to be able to say....

I left my nets behind to follow Him, it was the best decision Ive ever made, I'm proud to say that Ive served a full time mission as a servant of the Lord.

Once a convert to the church not too long ago, and NOW I can say

that I was, and I am a Sister Missionary of the Lord, and I shall always be.

I love you more than you guys will ever comprehend....

...SISTER Ashley Ann Gillum

Buenos Aires Norte Argentina Misión

15th of September 2010 -- 1st of April 2012

Full of Love

Hola Queridos,

Bueno no tengo mucho tiempo, tampoco muchas cosas decirles. Este semana era buenísimo. El Señor Jesucristo es tan misericordioso de bendecirnos tanto. Gracías a Él y sus oraciones, tuvimos 3 bautismos! Despues luchando muchísimo por los bautismos de Lautaro, Agustina, y Gustavo, este Sabado pasado finalmente llego! Fue un bautismo hermosísimo! Sergio necessita un poco mas tiempo de preparacion. Queiro contarles que este semana es muy emocionante para mi. Todo este trabajo era muy difícil de cumplir. Era loco corriendo en todos lados cada día pero tenemos una "VISION" bien claro gracías a nuestro Presidente de la misión y sus consejos. Aun que todo esta loco, estoy muy tranquila. Tengo bastante paz en mi corazon. Estoy mirando los momentos con mas valor y meditacion ya. Es hermoso el cambio puedo sentir en mi corazon. Sé que estoy en la obra del Señor y ÉL me guía siempre. Sé que Argentina estará en un espacío muy importante en mi corazon. Las Famílias ha cambiado mi vida para siempre y las amo. Sé que mi Salvador esta en la misión. Sé que Él nos ama por cada sacrificío. Mi testimonío esta craciendo aun mas con el tiempo volando.

We have had many opportunities this week to help the sick and the old. Its touched my heart being in the service of them.

I never knew it was possible to love these people as much as I have come to love them. Its in the little moments that we give them hope and speak light to their mind or offer service or help or comfort. Let me tell you that I have been overwhelmed by the spirit testifying that the little things make a big difference. If this is what I feel for Gods children here in Argentina I cant imagine how much

I will love my own children. A whole lot. I Also know that the love we offer and feel as imperfect mortals, cannot even come close to the comparision of an infinitely glorious and perfect love of a perfect Heavenly Father. His love is too good to be felt all at once. It must be felt in parts, here a little there a little, and we must do our part to help call that love down into our own lives.

Trusting him to open the future for us as he sees is best. In losing ourselves doing His will, is truly when we find ourselves. I have come to know this. I now know why I was called to serve 19 months and not just 18. The Prophet and god himself knew that I needed this last transfer and that I had more work to do here at this time. Its been amazing.

Thank you for your prayers. As a witness to build your testimony of prayer, I testify that we feel your prayers

You are all being heard by our Father in Heaven and these people are being blessed by your prayers!

I will be seeing you guys in 2 weeks....

keep being the missionaries the Lord needs you to be.

Until I can show you all my love in person,

I send it to you through my words.

All the way from Argentina...

Besitos!

Hermana Ashley Ann Gillum

Being grateful brings much more, of that which we can be thankful for

Im so tired. All the time. SO tired. Ive come to know its a good thing. Means we´re working hard. Theres so many great and wonderful things that have happened this week. Miracles! Hard work sure paid off. All the fasting and diligenec and submitting to Heavenly Fathers will were all helpful with increasing our goal of investigators in Sacrament meeting in church! We doubled our goal! Theres nothing better then sitting in a row full of our investigators in the church for their first few times and then seeing more and more walk in the door all dressed nice and ready to join us in their best outfits that they have. Its so cute! And they all ask... "is this shirt okay?" and I just get so happy and say yes ofcourse, the important thing is that you and your family are here where the Lord wants you to

be! We have been praying so hard for Emiliano, Family Ponce, Family Dominguez, Sergio, Lautaro! and all of the less actives too!

THANK YOU GUYS FOR PRAYING SO MUCH FOR OUR INVESTIGATORS!!!!!! WE KNOW THAT THANKS TO YOUR PRAYERS THEY ALL CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!! You guys are so awesome for including them in your prayers!!!! you are all great missionaries! once a missionary always a missionary!

As far as me and my companion go... HORRIBLE.... JUST KIDDING! She is the most amazing girl. I really cant sum up how blessed I feel to have her in my life but we definately bring out the best in eachother and I love her so much. We are making the most of all this.

We had an awesome Sunday! We showed all of them around the church and introduced them to all the church leaders and that made a big difference. They were all warmly welcomed. Our meeting with the ward council was the best ive seen yet. I highly believe that it was better than ever because after our day of weekly planning we decided to visit the bishop and give him our report record on all of our plans and progress and what our investigators needs are then on Saturday we went to the bishops grocery store that he owns and we did service for his family by scrubing and mopping the floor. He was very appreciative and in return he was excited to help us with our work as missionaries!!! Saturday after our service we went to see each family and followed up with them that they would come to church for sure. We called all the members to help. The Bishop during our meeting was so excited to talk about his new plans with our investigators. He is getting the ward together to help Diego with his addiction recovery and home teachers, hes getting the ward to do a service project for a family that has a tiny home in a very bad condition. He wants them to redo some of it and repaint everything for them! The two sons are scheduled to be baptized next Saturday! I wanted to cry because of all that the Bishop had helped us with! My companion and I decided we are going to fast again and pray often to show Heavenly Father how thankful we truly are for these blessings. We wont be like the 9 leppors who didnt come back and thank Christ. We are going to remember our Heavenly Father and that this mission is His, not ours. I feel his love for us each day as we work hard.

I pondered to myself and came up with a list of reasons for why we had so much more success this week and these are the things we came up with...

1- exact obedience

2- charity and love of christ

3- specific prayers

4- giving the informe de progresso (progress report) to the bishop the same day that we plan!

5- Serving the bishop and church leaders

6- contacting each investigator daily and fasting for them with humility and desire for the welfare of their souls

7- Reading Presidents weekly letters and applying them

8- Thoughtful planning and setting up the right members of the ward to accompany us.

9- visiting the leaders, teachers and members of the ward at least once a day to express our love and gratitude for what they do to fulfill their callings and feed the Lords sheep (which also excited them to do more)

10- using the Book Of Mormon to resolve all doubts, problems, sorrows and to strengthen the faith of our investigators and ourselves.

These things have brought us so much more success and we know that they were revealed to us by our Heavenly Father who desires that we always seek to do His will in His way and not our own. He desires that we seek out the answere of the HOW and WHY and WHEN and WHERE we do things so that he might teach us a higher better way of doing the work hes given us to do.

We have found more happiness in this formula. We are learning so much in this time.

We are not just teaching individuals we are teaching families together and asking that each member participate in the discussions. We say that we are "un equipo" (one team) and we cant make it to the Celestial Kingdom without a single team-player. We focus the goal on getting there as "A FAMILY" and not seperated as the world would have us be.

Sergio is progressing incredibly!!!! Hes gone from heavy metal, several piercings, all black clothes, long black hair, tough skinned, smoking drinking and violent personality traits to a SAINT!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! This kid amazes me! I knew from the moment I met him that he was special. He is slowly but surely changing alot! Yesterday he promised to completely stop smoking, drinking, and strictly promised to obey the Prophets council on the word of wisdom. He asked if we could cut his hair next week to look more professional. He says he will be taking out his piercings one by one this week! we shared the scripture of 1 corrinthians from the bible chapter 12 vs. 30 where it says: "when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." I explained that a bunch of piercings in our face is taking Gods greatest art of all and tacking it with fish hooks and worlkliness that takes away from all the beautiful understanding of our value as sons and daughters of God. He agrees that its worldly he plans to take them all out for good! im so proud of him! I know Heavenly Father is even more!

He will be baptized on next saturday with his little brother Lautaro. Please pray for them! This week we would like to visit these two kids that are not yet baptized (incomplete family) and we want to invite them to be baptized this saturday. All the rest of our baptismal dates are scheduled for the 24th of March!!!!!! one big white march! im so happy to see these families progress so much! please keep praying for them all month! they need your prayers! We will also need your prayers. The weather all month has been full of rain storms and flooding streets. But we continue working and complaining isnt even an option because this is so worth it.

I love you all so much. I cant even express how grateful I am for each of you individually but its a lot. You all make a huge impact on me and my life. Thank you for your support and love and care for us!

So mom, you telling me that I get released at 8:30 makes me wanna cry. I cant imagine coming home and finally not being a missionary anymore because ive never experienced that transition before... yet... but it will be wierd. However, I will be so glad to hug and hold all of you guys again! I know how everyone goes to do the traditional CAFE RIO lunch after they get home but When I get to the airport, the first thing we gotta do is one last temple session before im released. Then the next day we can all do something. I still think its so sad to think of be released so I just dont think about it. I just work and pretend like its never going to happen so that when it does it will just be another thing that I say... okay lets get it over with before I cry too much. haha I love and miss you guys and im excited to see you. Pray for us! remember that the attitude of GRATITUDE makes all the difference!

Bye loves

Besos,

sister gillum

MARCH "Gladness" is going to be all white

Hna. Dunn is so awesome. Love this girl. Life is good. The mission is amazing. Im just soaking the last of it up while I can. Thursday we had a conference in San Fernando with President Gulbrandsen. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of all of my mission i think. I was asked by Pres. to go up and do a practice with him in front of the zone for one of our investigators that had doubts about the Book Of Mormon. So we sat facing eachother and he looked at my eyes while he prayed in his heart to know what I needed in that moment and then he asked me inspired questions.

"(name) do you believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ?"

" umm... good question... im not really sure... my mom says so but im personally not sure if he did or not."

Then we read the invitation in the introduction of the book to READ, PONDER, and PRAY about it.

" so what is the promise there that you can know about Joseph Smith?"

"That he was a Prophet of God."

" Have you prayed specifically to know this?"

"Yeah by myself, but I just feel normal, I dont get an answer."

(then President tells me aside of the practice... by the way, she DOES have a testimony that its true.)

He just knew it as if God had directly told him that she does. It was so inspired.

then he said, "(name) what did Joseph Smith do to know the truth?"

"he read in the bible, went to a place to kneel and pray and ask?"

"exactly. So what must you do to know?"

"the same that he did."

(then handing me the Book Of Mormon again, he said)

"(name) the Book Of Mormon contains all of the answers we need, no matter what it is. You can know for yourself. Open the Book to any place and wherever it falls open I invite you to started reading aloud the very first verse you find."

I paused for a second wondering if he was sure that I could open it anywhere and then I did.

I had faith that I could find an answer and therefore I proceeded to do so. Miraculously the pages fell open to Alma 32 (perfect chapter for this circumstance) and Then I looked at him feeling that the savior was standing by me. Then he invited me to read aloud the very first scripture I found in front of me. I just began reading in the middle of the page and I couldnt believe the spirit that I felt so powerfully. The words I read are found in Alma 32: 35-36. If you guys want to know what it says.. its a good scripture study that you can do personally :) I could only say the first sentance.... which reads:

In castellano: "Luego, no es esto verdadero? .... os digo que SI!"

and in english: "O then, is not this real?..... I say unto you YEA because it is LIGHT. And whatsoever is light... is good..."

after only reading that sentance I paused for a long while because I was filled with emotion. tears swelled my eyes. This was an answer to not only our investigator but to MY personal prayers! It was inspired because of the moment and the way that I felt when I read it. It hit my heart and testified to me... that God hears me. That He hears all of his children and he speaks through the scriptures and through feelings in our hearts. President began to kneel. He invited me to pray to my Father and ask if the Book of Mormon is really true. As I knelt and prayed.... I was filled with emotion of peace. I was filled with the sure answer of "OFCOURSE it is.... my dear daughter you know very well.... THAT IT IS the truth and the light!" I felt with all of my heart that the room was completely filled with giant protecting angels. Guarding the missionaries and the sacred records of the scriptures that they held in their hands. I felt as if the very humble presence of Joseph Smith himself was standing near me with in his humble way of testifying of truth without even having to speak any words at all. I opened my eyes and Presidents eyes were filled with tears. I felt as if President could feel the same in the room. Presidents spirit connected with my spirit WITH the Doctrine of Christ... and when we make ourselves instruments to connect with someones spirit WITH the DOCTRINE... that person becomes moved, enlightened, filled with peace and with the desire to align their lives with Christs teachings. I learned so much in that pracitice with our humble President that Ill never forget the way I felt or the answer I recieved and it will be something I teach all of my children to search and find for themselves.

Friday - was a bit rough. Didnt go how we planned but it was still miraculous. Zuni and her family cooked us the most tasty asado Ive ever had in my mission and I really dont like meat usually but this was fancy stuff! Ill never forget it because it was amazing! We have had to drop a few investigators that we have been working with forever because they just hit a brick wall and we cant get past it. They flat out told us that they know this is the right way to go but they dont want to live righteously yet. They told us that they dont want to talk to God and do what he wants them to do (even though his will is always better for us then our will) so that was way hard for us but we moved on to those ready to progress. We have a lot of back up plans when things fall through so we decided to go to a less active incomplete familys house and we found the kids playing outside. One named jasmin so we were like "JASMIN Hiiiiiiiiiiii" (Nijeli... its just a joke from the district movies we always have to watch) anyway we went inside and found out that the grandma is the only member and we asked all of the family if they wanted to be baptized if they recieved an answer from God that its true. We put 4 fechas with the older kids and the parents are planning to talk about marriage and baptism after! So we have 9 baptisms planned for March 24th.... At home I used to LOVE march madness but right now... im LOVING so much more that we are going to be having a very white March! Please pray for all of them to come to church each Sunday and be baptized on this day! Pray for Emiliano, Jessi, Family Ponce, Family Dominguez, and Luciana!!!!!!!!!

This last Sunday a member thats been helping us walked in with one of our toughest investigators and let me tell you it was a miracle because he is pretty gothic and told me he would never even be caught dead in a white shirt... but lo and behold there he was long ponytail and all with his nice pants and white shirt!!!! He participated in all of the classes and it was a miracle!!! Jessi´s dad was also able to give a blessing which means... hes able to baptize her now I think.. but we will have to ask the bishop. And Emiliano who is usually later came bright and early to be there with a smile! it was awesome! I love seeing my investigators happy and prepared! All in all we are working our heads off and praying like crazy to follow the spirit. We are being exactly obedient and bringing out the best in eachother and in our companionship and its been so good for the work we are doing. My companion is great at teaching so its good to have the both of us on the same page and with the same fire to help these people. We are super focused on our investigators that we talk about Them all day and how we can help them. This is the BEST LAST transfer I could ever ask for!

Now we are going to play volleyball and futból with our ward and our district so I gotta go but I love you guys!

QUE LOCO...Ill see you in 5 weeks... crazy crazy... pray for us ... love you all chao!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxox besos

love hermana ashley gillum

6 weeks left!

Bitter sweet... thats just how transfers are! Sad to say goodbye but so happy for whats in store. I truly loved Hna. Marchant but shes been called to another area and Ive been asked to be the companion of Hna. Dunn who is a total sweetheart and I LOVE her! I can just tell that we are going to work some magic in our area her in Sarmiento! We have been teaching the ward our new revelation of having a personal vision for our area and the people here and how we can help. We are planning for a lot of baptisms this month and one wedding! Im so happy for this month. My last six weeks of the mission... cant believe it! We went to the last despedida yesterday and said goodbye to hna. Bray and Olsen... I was really sad to see them go. that was wierd because they were in the mtc with me. I feel like the last leaf on the tree... its about my time too and I cant believe it. And technically I completed my year and a half mark on this last Wednesday. the 15th. so this last transfer ill be hitting 19 months in the mission when I go home. I just wrote in my journal about all the memories over these last two years and how much I love my converts and the families here. Since theres general conference we might not be having a despedida (farewell) for my group thats going home with me. That was way sad news. I feel like all my friends from the mission have all gone home so now I hardly know any of these new groups. The transfer with Hna. Marchant I think is safe to say was the all time hardest time of my mission I feel so bad that everything seemed to go wrong but we laughed through the troubles and im glad. I want the best for Hna. Marchant. she and I have a friendship that will last forever. I dont even know her family but I feel like I do. I really love her and it was kinda sad when we got the call to change, to see her packing and laugh about all our memories together made me sad. She looked at me all teary eyed and said... "but I cant even say bye theres not enough time. You were my trainer... I feel sad to leave you." I know that I already taught her all that I could and now she has other stuff to learn. my heart like physically hurt for a second to say goodbye to her when we both feel we have unfinished business here but then after we switched comps today we were all smiles and happy as ever because when the Lord makes changes... its for a great purpose. The Lord knows that we needed a change to progress in other ways and Im glad. Im following that. I prayed really hard last night to give my whole heart to my heavenly father in this work these last 6 weeks so that I can truly say I walked with him and gave it my all. Im sure I will be so tested but im going to give this all Ive got to do whats expected of me so I can go home happy knowing ive left this ward better than I found it. I want to show these ppl how much they really mean to me everyday. I love hna. Dunn shes an amazing person and we plan on doing great things here. The same old families that we have been working with are getting so close to their baptism dates and we are very proud of their faith in the savior and faith to follow him.

 

Mom, look at you being saving people from fires and what not! you never cease to amaze me. You are looking to be everyones hero and help everybody you see! can you see if I can go through the temple before im released or not? and about easter weekend... whats everybody doing? its heavy rain and storm season... my allergies or horrible im sneezing all the time! The rain has ruined all my clothes and bags for my scriptures so Ill have to get all new ones when Mom is there some way you can send me medicine from the states that can get here quick? I can never remember what else I need to ask to respond to but I love you guys and Ill see you soon. talk to you next week. I love you all so much! thanks for the support and not forgetting about us out here! We feel the prayers and they really help.

Love love love love love you all

 

hna. Gillum

That's better

Okay so last two weeks: really really rough, but this week... wow! We found some very special families! We had interviews with President and it was so inspired, that man looks more and more christlike to me each time I see him and it shows in his character. He taught me the most in this last interview that ive ever learned in my mission and i will never forget his counsel. I will apply it the rest of my life. He truly is a disciple of Jesus Christ. I felt a wave of peace come over me and extra strength this week just by applying what he invites us to. I feel so blessed to be here. Its interesting training someone new to the mission because they talk alot about home or how different it would be to serve in the United States but I told my comp that serving here gives us more opportunity to do the little things that christ would have us do. For instance all the little tribe looking children that run around in their little underwear all dirty in the streets and shack homes, and we can just go up to them and feed them bread and candy. or when we find them lonely and crying and the parents no where to be found we run up and wrap our arms around them and hug them and the first thing they see is our mission plaques with Christs name on it. They can sense that we are sent from God. Children move me in a way i cant describe. They really inspire me to be better and give more. We have found some great people that are super awesome! I cant wait to tell you guys about them more later. we gotta go but thanks so much for your letters of encouragement. it shows a lot of love that you guys have to comfort the lords missionaries and keep us motivated. Mom, im very proud of you and cannot wait to go to the Temple with you when I get back! Im so excited to hug all of you guys in my arms again. Im going to squeeze the breath right out of Jocelyn. And yes i will love to be at Dylans baptism i wouldnt miss it for the world! Remember to not just Pray to stay good, but Pray to keep far from tempation, and pray with all the energy of your heart to do so. When you stay away from tempation its impossible to sin and when we aligned our lives with the Lords perfect example and teachings, we find the most happiness! Do the little things and everything great will fall into place! President has really taught me alot about this doctrine throughout my mission and im very appreciative. We are most happy when we are serving others as Christ would. See you guys soon,

love you all

Oh and p.s. I forgot to tell you guys, we had a huge flash flood when we were riding our bikes and far from home and the street turned into a mudslide and rushing river of water! we got soaked and it was a disaster but we just laughed really hard the whole way home because we said " NOW THIS IS A MISSION!" haha ill send you pics next week! they are pretty sweet!

hermana ashley ann gillum

We are officially survivors!

Humor happens just gotta see it! One adventure after another. If my mission were a t.v. show it would get some pretty high ratings I think. With Hna. Marchant, its even better. I swear we have been friends since the pre-exsistence because we can already read eachothers minds. I love to laugh and im laughing alot with my new greeny. Shes such a doll. and is so very entertaining to me because shes so worried about a few bug bites she has on her ankle and worried about getting dirt on her skirt and she makes me laugh. So we have bikes now and we put pics of christ on them so we have luck with not getting them stolen from us haha... but let me tell you that just when we think we are pro and riding all smooth the funniest things happen. My comp was worried about the leaves touching her helmet when we passed under a tree on the sidewalk and she put her head down but looked up too late and screamed all high pitch and her left handlebar took out the bark of the tree and she amazingly and gracefully landed hands down without getting her skirt dirty haha she just hopped up and looked at me like... uh oh im sorry, but look im okay, and look my skirt doesnt have a spec of dirt on it! haha shes so funny! Well the news is we have gotten lost less, we are having lots of success and working very hard each and every day but its like 200 degrees plus humidity and rising. Sometimes its so hot we have to pause in the middle of studies and step into the shower with our clothes on just to cool off. (air conditioning doesnt exsist) Except this week as we were washing all of our clothes in the sink our water stopped... we were completely out of water for almost three whole days! We couldnt wash our dishes or shower or anything. We would come home so tired from working all day and so hot and sit down and laugh at eachother for how horrible we looked. So I just told my comp, dont worry hermana, not having water will one day be a story for us to laugh about and we can tell our kids... sooo back in the day... haha. She eventually went to our neighbors yard who wasnt home and she stood there with the old hose in her hand and her hair all a mess she said... hermana im serious this sucks and I want to shower so bad. im going to figure something out! haha I love her! so we got creative and endured through the drought haha we finally have water... and you can bet that we rejoiced over it! Water ... BLESSING!

So Jesi is progressing incredibly! her family is now active again as of this last Sunday!!! whooo! Jesi will be getting baptized this coming weekend. The ward council was completely shocked that we helped this family back in the church because they said for over 6 years everyone tried and no one could get through to them even once. We care so much about them though that it wasnt hard, we just love them enough and then the work is easier. Also we contacted a reference from a member in the ward his name is Ignacio and he has lost his father, and brother and had lots of trauma in his life. He came to church this sunday and he has a baptism date set for feb. 11th. The same day we are baptizing Emiliano which also came to church. And all of family Diaz is progressing now! They all came to church together and are reading the book of mormon together as a family. We have a lot of progressing investigators that we love and care about. We worked hard all week to have them all in church this sunday and they had a great experience and came to all the classes. We have two couples planned to get married in the month of looooove FEBUARY! Valentines is my fav! and im so excited to see these families completed. SPEAKING OF FAMILIES COMPLETED!!!! guess what!? Family Medina from the first of my mission with alexis david maria and luis and them .... THEY ALL TOLD ME THEY GOT SEALED IN THE TEMPLE this last week!!!!!!!!!!! nothing better than that news! I feel so happy to know that family is so strong. David leaves on his mission when I get home! and another David from almagro leaves right before I get home! SAWEET! We are seeing lots of miracles.

Elder Foster from the 70 came here and spoke to all of us and it was so amazing! President Gulbrandsen is getting more and more inspired by the days because we are really growing as a mission. I feel the impact all of the teaching has made on my life and im amazed at how much ive learned. Elder Foster spooke about the billions of numerous galaxies in the universe and our relationship to God and our potential. We studied our Personal blessings and we all learned so much about selflessness and focusing on all of our generations to come and the generations here that we are saving. We expanded our vision. He asked if we were visionaries in all things of this work and if we were doing right. Real growth of the church, strengthening everyone around us in all of our conversation and deeds. How important it is to be mindful of our value and relationship with Heavenly Father. He spoke about knowing each and everyone of our investigators by name and knowing them deeply like the savior knows all of us. It was some really great stuff we learned.

Anyway... we have another training meeting coming up this week in san fernando and interviews with president.... my last interview until I go home... crazy... I look forward to it. Im learning a lot in this last of my mission. I feel like it all sinks in different now.

I really miss all my converts so bad though. I wish they could all come up here for my despedida and they cant. I really miss Natalia. I really struggled when i had to say bye to her. She will have to come see me in the states though sometime. Im so excited for the day that she gets married in the temple! The mission is so amazing!

So Mom, im glad you got my flight plans but please dont tell anyone because I really just rather have the family there at the airport. Ill talk to everyone else later. Jocelyn you should totally try out for that dance audition and tell me how it goes! Im so proud of you! and depending on school and stuff mom but if I have to Im pretty sure i can fit a trip to Disneyland into my schedule haha. Especially for joces birthday! I wanna spend every second with the fam! I miss you guys like crazy! It will be wierd to be home and not have a companion 24/7 haha. Mom please check with the temple and see about a session that day! and I know you wanna run around and do a bunch of stuff but Im exhausted at this point so we all need to hit the spa first and then the gym then we can do whatever you have planned. Thanks for your emails and questions and all your love, I hope I answered everything. LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!! have a great day and keep being missionaries! Its the best thing to be!

Love,

Hermana Ashley Ann Gillum

New Gratitude: American Street Signs

What an adventure this has all been...

So ill be happy to update you all on the latest news by starting off this way... ive never been so lost in an area in all my mission. Its the little things in life that we as Americans can easily take for granted. Such as organized addresses, phonebooks, street signs and so forth haha. The majority of our area is made up of dirt roads and the regular random housing of Argentina, we are lucky to find numbers on the houses or fences or sometimes spray painted on their trees but more then half are without the name of the street. Our area is pretty huge so we were given permission to use bikes. Im not sure if bikes were a blessing or not because the chains are always falling off and these are not bikes made for mountain climbing so its an interesting way of travel... especially when my sweet new companion has all of the boys in the street yelling blonde woman at her. (not the typical latin hair color) haha shes a great sport. Getting completely lost so many times now has actually led me to get the hang of this place a little better. Ive found all the ways NOT to go so now im narrowing things down to the correct streets to get to our destination. Apart from the disorder in addresses the majority of these streets will cut off on a dead end and have a huge field in between until the same street continues miles away... thats what makes the altura or numbers even more tough to find haha. I dont see why they dont just go around putting the names and numbers on all the same places and changing the street names when they cut off. No because that would make sense. haha Gotta love it! Its an adventure and no im just that much more greatful for the things we have at home. We need to see how much we have. Ill never complain about being lost again. I feel like I can find my way around anywhere with the experience of the mission.

So heres some news... the last two weeks have been full of changes and new things. Last week with Hna. Gonzales I kept complaining for how white I am from being in the south so long and so when we were doing studies out on our back patio I chose to bask in the sun while she stayed in the shade on her half of the table.... I figured Its going to take a week or so before I actually get enough sun... wrong.... I have never been so burnt in my life and Ive got the pictures to prove. I have quite the nice farmers tan mom you would laugh. My comp was laughing when I had to sleep all wrapped up in frosted towels from our freezer. Shes like "I told you not to sit in the sun" haha thats sooo like me, not listening and then finding out why I should have! I always have to find out the hard way. BUT its finally tanned out this week and im so glad! Hna gonzales and I were just focused on our baptism of Diego the first week, the next week was spent teaching him and his family and going to training meetings in San Fernando and then San Isidro to get our greenies to train. Ofcourse I should have known I wasnt going to have to JUST open the area, but train at the same time.. that made things fun.

We all marched in singing "called to serve" and it was crazy watching my comps face and remembering my first day and how lost I was haha. She is so much MORE than I ever could have hoped for in a companion. She is loving and full of life and love and ready to get to work. She has had lots of life experience and is similar to me in many ways and she is always asking questions and wanting to progress and learn. I love her with all my heart. I feel as if we were friends before the mission. She grew up in Michigan, (near aunt teresa) and moved to BYU Idaho for school, then went to L.A. (where our family is) for hair school and now her family lives there too. Her name is Abby Marchant and I am doing everything I know how to do to be a good example and loving companion for her. She has struggled just a bit with the big culture shock and missing her family but I bore my testimony to her that the mission is the best thing in the world for her life and family and after a few quick pep talks shes up and at em and ready to work again. I love her energy and we are seeing so many miracles. Its hard but its kinda fun training. Hard because I have to translate 75% of the time for her and pay attention to everything going on, but its fun because I know that I can greatly impact her and help her to become the missionary the Lord knows she can. In the beginning we just dont know what we are made of exactly, and in the end we have a much more clear perspective. Its also fun because she notices things that are NORMAL to me and she says how strange they are haha. I remember when I used to think those things were all strange and now im used to it. She was really suprised at how many wild dogs are roaming the streets all the time  and how crazy the bus drivers are. Shes always wanting to take pictures but i told her that she will have plenty of other time throughout her mission. She comes from a very sweet family, her father served here yrs ago and her mother served in the states. I am more than happy to be her companion and this companionship has been very great for me. Its keeping the fire of my testimony going. But nearing the end of the mission is a very emotional time... for your guys´s info, I have kept myself from crying to be strong for her and focus on our time here and now so I havent let any of this emotion show dont worry. But it is a very wierd transition. I have dreams about when Im going to come home and its a wierd feeling but Im going to love being with the family again!

So our new zone is awesome, E. Bruce, Arrowchis, Stronks, Pino, Lemo, and Burga and me and hna. marchant!

We have seen many miracles. We have been talking to everyone we find. We have been focusing on gathering whole families as President has asked and we have had tons of success. We went to contact a family that was a reference from the bishop and THEY ARE SOOOO AMAZING! They have a date to be married on feb. 17th and be baptized with their 8 yr old son on Feb. 18th! Then we have a couple with a marriage date for feb. 10th and baptism Feb. 11th! They are progressing greatly! whooo ITS ALL ABOUT FAMILIES!!!! We found a ton of new ppl this week and we are super stoked to work with them. The members are gaining so much confidence in us and giving us references everyday. We are working really hard! Last night was one of the most spiritual nights of my mission. So theres this guy named Guillermo, hes been less active for 6 yrs and used to be a great leader in the church. Him and his whole family stopped going to church 6 yrs ago and their daughter was never baptized. Well in our ward council we asked our bishop to pray with us all on our knees for families that need to be completed and who we all need to work on bringing back and the family of Guillermo kept coming into our minds. After much prayer and discussion over this family my companion and I walked all the way to their house share with the entire family how important they are to the ward, to the Lord and to us. It was a very spiritual lesson. I was so impressed with what the Lord had me share with them. I could feel the saviors love so strong for this family that we were all in tears. I asked the father to read Doctrine and Covenants 6:20 and put his name in the beginning and he could hardly read it because his emotion was so strong. It built up my testimony even more to hear him say, "you know hermanas, we have felt all of the prayers for us this last week, we have truly felt each one of them, so thank you." I was so happy that Heavenly Father heard our prayers. Then I asked the little daughter (not a member) to come stand by me. The spirit prompted me to have her express how she felt about her father while she looked at him... then her mother... then how they felt for her.... all of them were in tears and full of gratitude for one another that I knew it was the time to commit them. I said, " familia, this is not me or my companion asking you, but this is the Lord inviting you with open arms to return back to him, to forsake your sins and renew your covenants you made with him by attending church with us this Sunday and every Sunday that follows so your sweet family can be eternal!" They all said that they wont miss another sunday and that they want their daughter to grow up in the church. We have faith that the Lord will help them recieve the answer in their heart that she can and should be baptized this weekend according to the will of Heavenly Father. We will be seeing them tomorrow and asking them to pray to know if its right and we will make sure that she is well prepared and has met the bishop and his counselors so they will be welcomed back with great love! We are also very excited for the progress we are having with Diego and teaching his children that he brought to church this last sunday. Also the daughter of Zuni finally came to church and we are seeing her progress more each week.Theres a lot of work to be done and we are always trying to improve and find more to do.

Damian is a great help to us, flia. garcia, flia. maidana and flia. chen are all such a great help because they are all married returned missionaries and they are awesome when it comes to helping us out! We are seeing the work grow each and every day! Keep us in your prayers so we can continue finding these families!!!!!!!!!!!!

I miss you guys so much. I love you tons and its been hard being away from you all but I also love the mission and its made so much more out of me than I could have alone without it.  ITS THE BEST! ill see you soon anyway! Well I love you guys tons! keep being missionaries!

 

love hna. Ashley Ann Gillum

SARMIENTO

Bueno dear loved ones of mine, hows it going this week? Hope all is well. Sorry I didnt have time to write last monday because I just had to write President and then print off my itinerary for my flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires. Leaving Rio Grande after 4 months of hard work, was harder than I thought. I cried like a baby when i parted ways with Natalia. I gave one of my plaques to Flia. Tello because they are for sure a second family to me and I love them with all of my heart. They said they want to build me an extra room in their house their building haha. I left waving bye to Hna. Milmont and Hna. Gutierrez out of the bus window and oneof our really important investigators came running up to the bus to give me his guitar pic and tell me thank you for everything and goodbye. And because Elder Christensen and I have been in the same zone since july I was sad to say bye because hes taught me a lot. I just wrote on a sign "thanks for making it hit!" (talking about Gods love and the atonement) and he just gave me a thumbs up and they all waved bye. The poor lady next to me watched me read what everyone wrote in my diary and bawl like a little baby. I went through a good 5 packets of tissue or so and she just kept looking at me like, wow, what happened to her! but I could barely muster the words "im fine im just really sad to leave some of these people here because I really love them." Then I closed my book, and started teaching her about the Book of Mormon. Ushuaia was welcoming as usual. Its so pretty! Christmas was a good time. We baked all kinds of goodies, sang tons of christmas songs to everyone, exchanged christmas gifts within our zone and watched the best two yrs (which is a lot more funny as a missionary) Then after skyping the Fam we went out to work and we saw some amazing miracles that Ill never forget. I love sister Malhue and Shelley so much! They are kapa missionaries for sure. Ushuaia was so heavenly because the weather was absolutely perfect!

AIRPORT

Elder Smith and Elder manjarres dropped me off at the airport and I started teaching this grandma sitting next to me. She kept hugging me and kissing my hand because she was glad I speak her language haha. Then one stop in Calafate where I switched seats and taught all of lesson 1,2, and 3 to a guy named Daniel who sat on my left. The gentlemen on my right was a nice father and husband who spoke english and has been traveling for work. I gave him a card with our info on it and he helped me with my baggage to meet the elders in the airport. I hope to see him one day and see how his family is doing. He lights up when he speaks about them. He speaks highly of his kids and his wife. It makes me happy. I want the same for my family one day.

TIGRE

Elder Johnson and Elder Neilson, picked me up and we drove off to Tigre! seeing all the big city again was like being HOME because thats where I started the mission. and seeing them was good company. Elder neilson had to go home and return because of an accident he had and Im so proud of him for finishing. Tigre is the place I always wanted to go my whole mission! YES ROMO I THOUGHT OF YOU THE WHOLE TIME! love you! I just was there for a day with Hna. Salas whos in my group and a greeny Hna. Allen whos from utah also. They are cute girls.

MISSION HOME

Then in the morning I was off to the Mission Home where all the zone leaders were having a meeting and President called me and Hna. M. Gonzales into his office. "you two have the responsability of opening an area today and I have full confidence in the two of you to get the job done okay, Hna. Gillum will be waiting for her jr. comp in a couple weeks for the area." I LOVEEE hna. Gonzales and we work super hard together so this was great news to me. President told us of the revelation he recieved for this and asked us if we could feel the spirit as strong as he could... it was surely present.

OPENING AREA IN SAN MIGUEL SARMIENTO WHOOOO!

So having the experience of opening an area before now, this was easier... but this time starting from scratch, no carpeta, no materials, no map, no chairs or bedding we moved into our brand new cute little house and made due with what weve got. We organized anything and everything we had and went out in search for what we lacked. We as hermanas tend to organize in detail so you better believe that we have everything colored, tabbed, filed, and in alpha-betical order. haha. We work better that way. Less stress later. Elder Leiva (1 yr in mish) and greeny Elder Winward FROM ST. GEORGE UTAH whooo! met us to show us around the new area of Sarmiento, San Miguel. Let me tell you, this area is HUGE! I am really wanting a pedicure because my feet are all bandaged and blistered from walking so much. Its like 60 quads both ways. The elders have bikes in their area so we have also been given permission to have bikes for our area.

We have seen thousands of miracles in just these 6 days here! I wish I could share them all with you because its been so amazing! I absolutely love this area! Its golden for sure!

MIRACLE/ BAPTISM/OUR WARD

We were working on wed. and prayed to find someone who has attended church enough times that could be baptized this weekend... sure enough just for opening our mouths to talk to everyone we found in our path, miracle after miracle we came across a man running into his house and right before he went to close the gate on us, I caught him and asked if we could share our message with him.... As we began teaching through the fence we thought he was just a man who had probably never seen missionaries before... but our prayer was answered... he had gone to church many times, he had even had a baptism date before in his life... He was a miracle. So right before we wanted to asked him to follow christ and be baptized we thought it was a better idea to ask greeny E. Winward if he wanted to... he got a big smile and looked a little nervous but sure enough...he did just fine and when Diego said Yes E. Winward looked so happy we all said good job buddy! You did great! He was like wow... he said yes! haha Elder Winward is a very good missionary. Very humble. He is always writing things down in his notepad and askes a lot of questions. Hes a good example. So since Diego lives in our area we were responsible for teaching him all the lessons and commandments and then on Saturday December 31st at 2:30 pm Diego entered the water of baptism and came out a new person. we all felt the spirit really strong in his baptism. "He has recently seperated from his wife and said, I need God more than anything else in my life and if I want an eternal family then I need to change myself first for my family and kids, thats why I want to be baptized. I need a new heart to have an eternal family!" HOW SWEET! We were obedient in all things and getting to know the Bishop. He is from China his name is Bishop Chen. His wife is a return missionary from Argentina and their kids are DARLING!!! We had lunch with them one day and their love story had us all in tears. They look at eachother like they are still getting to know eachother because they are so in love and so happy in the church. She converted him to the church by taking him outside the Buenos Aires temple blindfolded and after he saw where he was she told him how important it is to her that shes married in the temple to have an eternal family. Then she left on a mission and he learned more about the church, and waited for her. When she returned He would talk to her on the phone with the dictionary so he could speak in her language better. Now he is the bishop who was recently called only 3 months ago and they are happier than ever. Honestly EVERYONE in our ward is super happy because there is a huge variety of age groups and youth. All the couples are return Sister and Elder Missionaries with beautiful kids and everyone that didnt serve missions who were converted later on are all WARD MISSIONARIES! The organization here is perfect! We are Preparing 2 other families to be completed within these next two weeks! There is a couple who has a date to be married for feb. 10th and they are preparing for baptism! Also we felt the need to sit down on a street corner and talk to three teenagers about 19 yrs of age and they all appeared sad about things. long story short we taught them a great lesson, they felt the spirit, they turned their frowns upside down, we read scriptures together, and they are preparing to be baptized on the 28th of this month! Their golden! Sunday was AMAZINGGGG!!!!!! Getting to church was interesting haha... we were stopping by the houses of our investigators to get them and at one house the uncle whos about 24 yrs old said, they are not here but I need to go to church... so we told him we would see him there... but walking behind us there he was... following us and pleading DONT LEAVE ME I NEED TO GO TO CHURCH TOO!... by the way he was walking and slurring his words he was wasted from the new years partying all night. (which in Argentina all parties start at 1am and goes til 10am) We were praying that he would just go another way or something but he followed us the whole way. So I said a prayer as we walked that went a little something like this... "oh dear heavenly father, thou art ALL powerful... please make this man instantly sober before we get to the church!" haha Well as we entered we explained to him, that the house of God is sacred and he must respect it and sober up. Seeing him slouched over laughing all goofy one minute has us worried, but ill tell you that our church is powerful haha because the second he entered the gate and walked inside and shook the leaders hands who greeted us at the door this kids spine shot straight up and wide eyed and very collected he shook their hands and said very clearly something that would translate more or less like "good day sir, beautiful sunday in the church of the lord." We just laughed to ourselves and let them know someone needs to watch him. The leaders took him to the bathroom to splash some water on his face and give him water to drink and he was happy as ever singing hymns and participated in everything just fine. Infact Diego (our new convert) was lecturing him on all the reasons why he shouldnt drink haha. DIEGO´s confirmation was absolutely beautiful! He has a light now that he didnt have before. I loved walking into the sacrament meeting as everyone whispered "ooo look we now have sister missionaries too!" haha we sang a special number and bore our testimonies about why we decided to serve and I just kept smiling as I looked into the eyes of all of our investigators that all came to church! And just as we were counting how many people came, I felt sad that Charly (a rehab recovered investigator who lives with a member) wasnt here. He has a mental disorder and so we just like to teach him slowly while we teach the whole family he lives with and he promised every day this week that he was excited for church but didnt show... The family was, but not Charly... and just then while we were singing... a knock at the window in front of the whole congragation he had a HUGE grin and waved at us all dramatic like saying, " HERMANAS! AQUI ESTOY! AQUI ESTOY!" (sisters, im here im here) I got teary eyed and we ran to the door to greet him. He rode his bike pretty far to get there and walking through the door he took his hat off that he wears everyday, combed his hair with his hand and sat with his family. I WAS SO HAPPY!!! the people in the ward all had smiles and kept telling us, great work hermanas!

NEW YEARS 2012 WHOOO

Taking the sacrament with all of our investigators is the best feeling! Especially for the new year 2012!

New yrs. night our neighbors were lighting off fireworks and had a lot to drink and when we woke up at midnight from all the noise and sirens we stepped on our porch and I just saw this huge firework from the groud flying right towards me from their yard! That thing hit me straight in the knee exploding in between my calves and I had to go to the hospital... just kidding... about the hospital part... im totally fine but my pj pants have a burned hole in the leg and my companion died of laughed when we ran back in the house. haha. She told me a was dancing like a leprechon and looked so scared. I just told her im glad I was the one that could take the hit haha My garments protected me because my skin wasnt harmed at all but now ill really never forget this new years and Ive got the pjs to prove it! The next morning we just heard how everyone had a bunch of fires and accidents... argentina for ya haha its just a lil crazy.

Our Zone leaders right now are Elder Bruce (frm cali whos parents are mission presidents in Chile right now) And Elder Nueffer (who goes home with me in 11 weeks) , and then we have Elder Brown (frm arizona) and Elder Rodriguez (frm Uruguay, whos our District leader, he goes home with us too) Elder Leiva (kapo de chile) y Elder Winward (from st geezy)

Anways... you guys all asked about the weather... bueno... im dying of heat... just like I like it. Im FINALLY GETTING TAN!!!!!! back to my normal color! its beautiful right now!

welp people, this is my update for now, ill have to send you guys photos later but ive taken a ton. I think I have 7 pen drives full now and 5 cds from my whole mission. I love you guys so much thank you for all your love and support! The miracles just keep coming so thanks for all your prayers!!! have a great week! I send you my love! BESITOS!!!!!!!

love ash

Beautiful

whats up guys!? Hope all is well. Its surprisingly hot today! I hope you are all enjoying the snow this Christmas Season. Right now my comps and I are here in GORGEOUS USHUAIA! We have a conference with our Mission President tomorrow so we are here for a day and a half. Let me tell you how amazing it is here..... AMAZING! So beautiful! The huge mountains with a little snow on top, the huge forest trees, all the different colored houses and San Fransisco up and down hills that go all the way down to the green ocean! All the ships docked and all the different tourists sure do liven this place up a lot. There is a ton of diversity. There are plenty of hippies and artists that paint all over the walls. Im pretty sure that EVERYONE here has sunshine in their heart. These are the nicest people ive ever met. We were able to go site see a bit, and get some stuff to take home! There are bright flowers everywhere! and everyone is smiling.... very different then our area in rio grande. This place is happy. im seriously considering buying a little house here one day... when im rich. haha. I want to come back here so bad to visit. The people here are very prepared to recieve the gospel. President said he didnt want me to travel north during christmas. Im greatful he thought of that. So we will be working here with the sisters here tonight. Tomorrow, is our meeting with President Gulbrandsen. We will get back home at night. This week we will be calling our mothers on skype for Christmas!!! Then Im ready to head north when the Lord makes the change with me.

Im very happy to have recieved great news today! mom!!!!! YOURE AWESOME!!!! IM SO PROUD OF YOU!!! We can go to the temple together when I get home!!!!

Hailey Wailey HAPPY BIG 5YRS dollface! You are so beautiful just like your mama! Tal thanks for everything! I LOVE YOU! Robin wish you were here to share this with me right now! I miss you! Ill be home in 13 weeks or something. I cant believe how fast time goes. I was talking with my companions on the way over here today and said, looking back over my life, out of ALL of the fun adventures ive had, the mission tops it all. It is the hardest, most frustrating, fun, crazy, difficult, amazing time of my life. Loosing myself in the work, and finding myself in the eyes of these Argentines that the Lord loves so much! Its so incredible. I will be making the most of these last two transfers FOR SURE giving this my all. The work is rolling forward and we have been doing divisions with members to get more of our area covered in shorter time. We are learning and progressing each day and greatful for the atonement that gives us the strength we need to do it. I love you guys so much! Thanks for all you do, hope you like the pics, but even the pictures dont do it justice. The mission is the best. Everyone thats preparing to go... soak it up, its the best decision in the world!

LOVE YOUUUU GUYSSSSS CHAO

besos

hna. Ashley Ann Gillum