He battling for our time

Hola Familía y amigos, todo bien? Estoy tan felíz por decirte que tuvimos éxito este semana aprendiendo el area y encontrando nuevos que estan preparada! Caminando a ful! The highlight for us was when Karen Marina Carrari recieved her answer that the Book Of Mormon is a true word of God and another testament of Jesus Christ. She said the feeling of peace and happiness overcame her and she couldnt stop smiling because she knew with all of her heart that it is. She was baptized this last Saturday at 2:30. And she was confirmed yesterday in Church with the gift of the Holy Ghost. We have become very close to her family (Flia. Carrari) and we care greatly for them. In fact we have become very close to everyone in the ward in this short time so far. Its a blessing to be here doing the work of the Lord with the people of Chacra.

FAMILY OF 8

Elder Bond which is the assistant to President at this time, traveled down here to help out the Zones of the South and the establishment and leadership. It was a blessing to have him here in Rio Grande because he helped us out a ton. He thought it would be best to have our whole zone go work in Chacra 13 (the area of E. Christiansen and E. Lemo) to find them new people to teach and tract to get the work going over there. It was a big success! My comp and I were in charge of area San Martin. Let me just put it this way... I thought OUR area was super ugly... then we got here and couldnt believe people live here! Each person we talked to asked us if we like how ugly it is here... so they even think its the ugliest place but they all come here for working in factories and we work here to bring them the Gospel. Despite the deserted black soil and wasteland as far as the eye can see, the people are beautiful! We contacted the list of old investigators. While we were doing that, we were walking down a dirt road and I saw a little black puppy on the porch. As we pet the puppy we heard a boy in the window, then saw the face of the mother. Covered in tattoos and piercings we have to say it was slightly intimidating and we couldnt tell how she felt about us petting the puppy so we just smiled and as if we could talk to them and share our message about JesusChrist... she walked away from the window with a mad look and I thought to myself... ok shes mad maybe we should go... and right then the door opened and she had a huge grin on her face and said, ofcourse, come on it right now and sit at the table. I was so amazed! These people almost never say, come on in right now! Turns out shes never heard of our church or anything and never seen missionaries. We taught her the restauration of the Gospel and why there are so many different churches and how our Father in Heaven doesnt want us to be confused about His plan and purposes. He wants us all to return to him with our family and there is a plan prepared for us to do so. She explained alot of abuse that shes gone through her whole life and how shes been on her own as a single mother because the father has left them long ago. A single mother of 8 KIDS! She said she knows God sent us to her! We were amazed... she said, "well I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet, because God loves us and wants us to be guided. So why would we only have prophets in Bible times and not now when the world is the worst?" We were like... "EXACTLY!" She promised to read the Book with all of her 8 children and we invited them all to be baptized together the weekend after conference! (2nd weekend of Oct.)

We were very excited to have had success in being led to them just as Elder Bond knew we could. My Companion asked him for any counsel that he might have for her in her mission and he said... just keep fighting the fight. Find the obstacle and go to the Lord to surpass it. Trust in Him with all your heart.

NATI

Here in our own area of Chacra 4 and 2... we found another miracle... Natalia... shes a very beautiful girl of 21 yrs and her father just happened to introduce us when we found him at his work. Turns out hes a less active and has been for many many years. Nati has been to church when she was very small and has always seen the book of mormon in her fathers house growing up but was never taught anything. Long story short we invited her to practice singing at the church with us for a baptism this weekend. She loves to sing so this was perfect. We ended up teaching her about the first vision and about our Prophet we have today. We asked her to read the Book of Mormon and we read with her. She desires to be baptized also on the 2nd week of October... She also has mentioned that she desires to serve a mission one day and wants to help people in the world. As we taught her she asked if she could tell us something... She said... " you know what, When you two showed up at my house, I was in my room stretching on the floor listen to my music really loud on my headphones... and I just started talking to God in my heart and asking him to respond. Then my dad came into my room and said, hey theres two mormon missionaries here and I want you to talk to them. So then I pulled my music out of my ears and right when I saw you I felt a change in my heart like I was waiting for you to show up. It was a feeling like it was already planned before and I just forgot. Then when you sang a hymn, I felt so happy. I knew with all my heart you were messengers of God. I have always seen the Elders walking around our town but have never felt the desire to talk to them, Ive never Sisters, and when I saw you I wanted to hear what you had to say. I feel like theres a connection with you guys like I have a work to do, and you were sent here to teach me how." I started to cry. I couldnt speak for a good amount of time after she spoke... I just told her thank you for sharing that because I could really feel the power of the spirit testify to me that WE were sent to Natalia because she needed US specifically! I felt my faith grow because I had pictured all the different things that led us up to finding her and in that exact moment! I testified that it was designed to happen even before this life and thats why she feels a connection. She told us that she feels a presence around her that is protecting her when we are teaching her and It really strengthens my faith in the spirit. We are preparing her for her goals. PRAY FOR HER!

VICENTA

When we were looking for some old investigators... we ended up needing help finding an address and the lady who answered the door happened to also be a miracle. Her name is Vacenta and she looks like shes from Miami. She is all bronzed and blonde hair and looks about in her late 50´s. I felt prompted to ask her... so how many are in your family? and she looked really sad at us and said... none... so I asked... well what about your kids? ... I have none... Well what about your mother?... I dont even have her anymore... Im alone and have been for a long time. So this was the key. This told us... that we got lost right there at that time to find this daughter of Heavenly Father that loves her and wants her to know it. We set an appointment to visit her at her own home and that appointment was very good. We entered her home that is filled with countless pictures of what appeared to be a daughter in her 20´s. She told us that she had died due to a gas leak in her apartment in Capital Buenos Aires four years ago and she was studying in school, only three months away from graduation. Her brother had died, and then a month later her Mother. She doesnt want to even talk about the father. We taught her the plan of salvation, we found an answer to each difficulty she had, in the Book of Mormon. We read Alma 40 and explained that her loved ones had gone home to see our Father in Heaven and rest from cares. Then we explained opposition in this life from 2 nephi. Then we spoke to her about how faith (Ether 12) gives us the power to endure til the end of this life and recieve eternal life with our family forever. She has a baptism date for the 2nd week of October too! Please pray for her to recieve her answer and keep preparing! We love her very much and we know the peace this will bring into her life and the comfort she can feel knowing these things.

CHURCH

We hope to fill every seat in church but I will have to admit the hardest thing by far for us my entire mission has been getting people to come to church on Sunday. Especially with the Argentine custom of "siesta" where they like to nap and drink matte from 12 to 4. All of our investigators struggle with getting up in the morning and its been tough because we can only do so much in the mornings to go around and pick them all up. When we take members to pick them up they dont answer because they are dead asleep til noon. We are going to do all we can to focus on getting them to church to General Conference this weekend. Our Branch President has said that he plans to help pick up some investigators for us and we are so grateful, he is such a great person to fill his calling. He is full of kindness and charity and always making sacrafices to serve. We feel blessed to be working with him and his family.

Well we have to get going... but I love you with all my heart and hope that you are all enjoying the last of your warm weather... I have yet to feel warm weather still, this is the longest winter weather ive ever experienced in my life! Soak up all that sun and keep being the great missionaries that you are with all the sacrafices, service and love you bring to those around you in your sphere! Thank you for your support on my mission! Thank you for your prayers, your love and everything that makes the world a better places with all your simple actions! You guys are the best! Hope to hear from you all next week! Send me pictures and let me know how things are going! LOVE YOUUU Besos!

Con Amor, Hermana Ashley Gillum

TIME IS PRECIOUS

Just something for you to ponder and apply this month...

We had an amazing Branch conference this past Sunday and I was amazed with all that we learned! There was alot of talk about the preparation for the end of the world and using our time wisely.

"whats more precious and valuable then money... our TIME... and although Satan desires to make us miserable, that is not brought to pass simply by tempting us to do something very wrong... but he also does this by stealing away our time, little by litte. He is battling for our time and attention."

This lesson really had me thinking pretty deep about things. In life we go to work, we go to school, we go home... we each have our own routine of things... almost all of us spend all of our time focused on ourselves and enjoying ourselves. How often are we going through our routine... bringing the most important "good news" there is to others? How dedicated are we to inviting others to church to feel this peace and truth, how often are we holding back all this richness that we hold for ourselves? Skyler sent me this quote about being a Disciple of Christ and what it really means. What kind of faith it takes for us to be a true disciple. I have had in the back of my scriptures my whole mission... but now it has more power and I hope that you can benefit from it.

I’m a part of the fellowship of
the unashamed:
The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line.

The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I won’t look back, let up, slow down, or be still.

My past is redeemed. I will do His will.

My present makes sense. My future is secure.

I’m finished and done with low living, small planning,

smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions,

worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions,

plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right,

first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.

I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience,

am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is Heaven.

My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few,

my guide is reliable but my mission is clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away,

divided or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice,

hesitate in the presence of the adversary,

negotiate at the table of the enemy,

ponder at the pool of popularity,

or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, or let up

until I have stayed up, stored up,

and paid for the cause of Christ.

I must go until He comes,

give till I drop, preach till all know,

and work until He stops me.

And when He returns,

He will have no problem recognizing me.

My banner will be clear.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Coolest Experience of my whole life!!!

HEY EVERYBODY!!!!!!!! WOW this is the coolest experience of my whole life!!!! I wish I could share every moment with all of you! Ive learned that you must be visionary if you want to see miracles. You must have a vision. You must want to achieve it with all your heart and you must know your greatest source of power to achieve it. (The Lord) I have learned a lot!

So heres the update. Im in Ushuaia, Argentina!!! I left Caballito with so much love for all of the ward and our investigators and ill never forget them! Elder Bond called to tell me to pack up cause im now heading to the South part of our mission which is just above antartica, surrounded by huge snow capped mnts. and gorgeous crystal blue water and islands! Penguins and animals, and the mnts are covered with these communities of cabins and bridges. Its an area for lots of tourists and people that have a lot of money so things are more expensive here but theres also the community on the mnts that all live super humble and build their own little homes out of whatever. The trees are huge and the sunsets are incredible! Its the most beautiful place in my mission so far! Theres a dock or port that is covered in big boats and the other day we were able to go on a tour with President and his wonderful wife to the different islands with animals and sea lions and stuff! Ill attach a video for you guys. These people are super sweet here. Super receptive to our message and all of these children here are the prepared generation to carry this gospel we just know it. My flight was really good. I dont know how but the two missionaries that I was with, Elder Olivos and Hna. Malhue got first class seats and i got the back which we laughed about but two pilots were sitting by me and I ended up explaining to them about our church. When they spoke to me about their love of flying planes and they taught me how the planes wings work as we flew over the clouds and Im not sure how, but I tied that in with the gospel and how Elder Dieter Uchtdorf is also a pilot and an Apostle of the Lord. That kept the conversation going for a while and they gladly accepted the pamphlets I gave them to read. You could really feel the difference in the cold outside just by the window. everything outside was covered in pure white snow it was so pretty. So as I bundled up and we all headed off the plane all the pilots in the front of the plane were talking together about what I had told them and we went our own ways.

The plans in changes of my companions were interesting. Everything kept changing and changing and I was on my way with sister Malhue who is from Chile and has 6 weeks in the mission, to our house to meet the other two sisters: Hna. Gonzales from Chile who has 9 months in the mission and Hna. Milmont from Wyhoming who has like 3 months in the mission. It was so neat to see all the different lifestyle here as we drove up and down streets in the mountains. SO DIFFERENT THEN CAPITAL! Ushuaia is like Park City Utah but third world country version of it I guess, with water all around. Our house is the smallest in the mission but its a cozy little tiny home full of love. We had a great time having a sleep over all together and telling the funniest stories that we have had in the mission. we laughed all night til we fell asleep and then we were woken up to hear that Sister Milmont and I needed to leave and head to Rio Grande to open the area. Looks like they need the Hermanas there and not just any hermanas but they for some reason only known to Heavenly Father need US. Hna. Milmont was a bit nervous but I was surprised how much faith the Lord gave me. I was ready to take it all on and I was brainstorming all morning with all the different ideas that I have for the area and all the work we need to do. So saying goodbye to everyone, the group headed to Rio Grande filled the van and we headed up and over the beautiful mountains for almost three hours until we wound up in the flat boonies and I was like... " oh.... its.... pretty..." haha yeah its not the most pretty, and nothing like ushuaia but the people there are growing in the gospel and we need to work with them. We headed to the Senior Couples home Family Downs from the U.S. and they are pretty new still in the mission. They are so sweet! We had lunch with them and then we got another call... I was heading back to Ushuaia to help the Hermanas there first, Hna. Milmont was heading to Rio Gallegos to be the companion of Hna. Salva until we all waited for a new sister missionary from Peru who was waiting for her visa.

I told Hermana Milmont I loved her and Id be back to open the area with her and I loaded back up in the van and fell asleep from all the traveling. Wow ushuaia has been an incredible experience! We have been climbing this mountain all day everyday this week and we have found countless opportunities to serve these people! We would walk down the mountain and find these families here with buckets and jugs that they would use to hold in the tube in the ditch from all the melting snow for water. then all of the little children would carry these things thats twice their size clear up this mountain to their home and do it over and over all week. The homes on the mountain are not well established so they fall apart sometimes when the wind is blowing hard enough. So everyday we have helped these children carry water to their families and we end up teaching them the lessons. I feel so good helping these people and showing how much we love them! The Lord knew I wanted to go were I could serve like this and then He sent me. So cool! Almost every family that we have found was from talking with the children first. These boys were in the street playing futbol (soccer) and we started playing with them on our way to contact a reference we had, sure enough the goalie was the boy of the family and he was so happy that we were fun and nice to them that he invited us to meet his family that we were looking for. We ended up teaching his family and his neighbor. The Ward is actually a branch, and so the bishop is called President of the branch. (for those that dont know) And he is so awesome. He lives in our same complex with his sweet wife Emmi. They are young converts of only 2 years in the church! Ironic! I only have 2 years. The branch here in Ushuaia is sooo beautiful! the Chapel and the people are amazing.

CONFERENCE

President Gulbrandsen came down and we had a conference with him. It was so inspired as always. He talked alot about how we need to not just take the sacrament but PREPARE for it all week. That we need to be repenting and praying all week for forgivness and for miracles in our work. So he had us all seperate and pray about the changes we need to make and the faith we need to have. He spoke alot about how we need to bring all of these people to sacrament meeting and how we need the help of having a member in EVERY lesson. Thats what everyone struggles with is getting these people to church because of the weather, the mud and snow and they just dont want to take their kids out early in the morning. So we were really inspired with what else we need to do. He was proud of us as Hnas. because he is attentive to everything that goes on and he knows and sees that we are working our butts off. We are not competitive, we are just determined to get the job done. We feel like the older sisters to the elders because they mean alot to us and we joy in their success but we also hope to set the example for all of them.

SUCCESS IN SERVICE

We have been obedient. We have been full of faith and we find new people to teach in every opportunity. When someone is carrying something or working we jump in and help and then we teach them about the Savior and how much he loves them. We are finding families like crazy and its been a miracle. We have 10 baptisms planned so far for this month and Armando is our first baptism next Saturday at 6:00. There are so many people here that the Lord has prepared that I can totally invision the south having a temple sometime in the future. We pray before every single house, we are not afraid to talk to anyone and everyone about our testimony and why we are here and because we have a happy hopeful energy nothing gets us down. We see rejection from those that dont want to listen but our success far out weighs the rejection and thats all simply because of our attitude and unity.

IM CHANGING

I have never worked so hard in my mission than I have here and my desire just keeps on growing. Our goals and numbers this week were outstanding but our joy in the progress of these people blew our numbers out of the water. I am learning so much! Maintaining a pure life in heart and mind spirit and body, we recieve more light. I feel this transformation and this wisdom changing my heart every day. I used to think that spending alot of money and going to all kinds of fancy places held my happiness, and I was so wrong! I recieved Gerlann and Ricks card for me in the mail and the words you wrote Geralann meant SO Much to me! Thank you! its so true... I "have found myself" here in my mission of Argentina! I have found my happiness in the most humble of homes when these families had only a loaf bread to eat and they desired to give it to us for bringing them the gospel! I have never cried and laughed so often and so hard in my life as I have as a missionary. Im so overwhelmed by these people, who they are and how they live everyday with so much joy and have so little! I will never open the cupboard in my moms house and say "mom theres nothing to eat here" haha I have had my eyes opened to other parts of this world. Ive lived among these people and they have changed me for the better. Each day its still so unreal to me as we are walking together to say wow, we are missionaries! this is so cool! haha Im lovin it!

EARLY TRANSFER

Our connection is not like any other! Hna. Malhue is such a happy little hippie and so is Hna. Gonzales. We are all a bunch of hippie personalities that just like to laugh and love and help. We have alot in common and from completely different places but its an eternal friendship. Just as we were getting comfortable... we were informed that we need to make changes again because the new sister from Peru came. Well its still in the air right now, for what exactly we all are going to do, but President is brainstorming and thinks that i need to still go to Rio Grande this Wednsday with Milmont and do work there, but then he wants the four of us to run both areas and help eachother between here and there. We are powerhouses together and get along so perfectly that I have no doubt that we will bring about success in the service we are called to. We read eachothers minds practically which really helps our efficiency in this work. We have the spirit. We obey. We do whats best for these people and what the Lord wills. We are always laughing, and always full of love and helping one another. I feel so blessed to be here with them. Being the oldest in the mission in our group is an interesting pressure for me. Ive really looked hard at myself to make sure im teaching them whats right. Im not perfect but Im doing all I can to be an example for them. We are always enjoying ourselves and soaking up every minute.

CHURCH AND THE CHILDREN

Well this Sunday was really rough. We prayed so much for good weather and the weather was horrible. Windy and raining with snow outside. We bundled up and headed up really early to wake people up out of bed and get them to church. Some houses were blowing apart from all the wind and the rain was blowing against us but we just continued from house to house asking them to come. out of the 30 that said they would come to church, 4 came and the others used the excuse of the cold weather to not come with us. But it was definately a test of faith because in the midst of the chaos I became very quiet inside to pray and ask for the weather to clear. As we were getting our last family we were amazed to watch the wind stop, the sky clear and the sun come out immediately after my prayer. Our investigators loved church. We taught our Gospel Principles class and then the primary asked us to share our mission experiences and they sang to us "we are as the armies of helaman and we have been taught in our youth.." my comps and I were all in tears when we watched all their bitty eyes looking at us and their precious little faces sing the part "and weee will beeee the Lords missionaries... to bring the world His truuuuth!" OH MAN I BROKE DOWN! haha that gets me every time! I have always loved children but this time here has been a beautiful experience to feel their love and their spirit even more. These children are our future generation and we need to embrace them and learn from them and their innocence.

This was a great week and Im super excited for the rest of the transfer! We are going to see miracles! Pray for these people! I love you guys so much!!!!! take care! WITH ALL MY LOOOOVE chao til next week! Besos!

Con Amor, Hermana Ashley Ann Gillum

I'm at the airport

Sorry for not having time to write last week. I wrote a pretty lengthy email to President and wasnt able to write anyone else! My birthday was fun. We just went with our zone to Versalles and played indoor futból with everyone. The elders had their pirates of the carribean soundtrack going and it just made me laugh because they get so serious when they play. It was fun! I baked two big cakes for Elder Leavitt and Davis because it was also their birthday. Elder Davis´s was a vanilla cake with whip cream that I made and peaches on top and in the middle. And a delicious chocolate three layer cake with dulce de leche and chocolate on top. I was pretty proud of my little inventions they came out really good! IM 22 YEARS OLD! wish all of the family could have been there but its ok, the mission is a good place to be. Made my birthday wish short and simple but its a good one! This week the weather has been hot and then cold and rainy so we are still having a bipolar climate here. My companion really started to open up to me this week. It was a pleasant surprise and I was so glad that we were able to finally speak a little more. Our district meeting went a little rough, we are supposed to get to a store and fax the baptism registers to the offices the next morning and everywhere that we went to didnt have their fax working properly and the only one that worked didnt have ink. We had to travel all over our area to find a way to send it and once it went through we were thirty minutes late for our district meeting! I was so frustrated getting there because we accidently got off the wrong stop and ended up having to walk another 10 quadras to the church. Ofcourse President and his wife were there waiting for our meeting to start and I felt so bad for all of our bad luck. I was glad President came because he helped us with our paperwork and checklists that we have filed and told us how to organize everything better. He cleared alot of my questions up and we all wanted to do better afterwards. We ate lunch that was cooked for us by this guy in the church who knew Elder Hansen and Griffeth were leaving so he spent his time making pizzas all day for us to have lunch. we said our goodbyes and wished Elder Griffeth good luck heading back home to Georgia and went to work. I was really getting the feel for Caballito this week. Things were just evolving beautifully and the work was rolling. We were finding people everyday that had sincere desire to learn and progress. We ended up praying for a baptism for the end of the week but then when we met him, (esteban 13 yrs.) and he wanted to be baptized that sunday but I felt the spirit tell me that we should take our time for one more week and teach him patiently and get to know him better. Im glad that we decided that because our lessons with him and his family have been extremely spiritual. and we have really upped our numbers of lessons with members present to insure our investigators with more than our two testimonies. Members make such a difference! Esteban will be baptized this saturday at 3:30 pm. Im so happy for him and so is the Bishop, he was a reference from the bishop and they are good friends that family and him. Also we have seen success in many other people so greatly prepared to hear our message. The sister of esteban wants to be baptized by the time she turns 8 in november, a couple that have been assisting the church long enough now have decided to get married next month to be baptized. and when we were waiting for collectivo this sweet older woman asked if I could change her for coins. I said that im sorry but I only have three coins but as I kept speaking with her she looked at my tag with my name above Jesucristo, and she smiled. I handed her the three coins for her and two grandkids and we had a very great conversation about our beliefs. ironically shes been looking for truth and a church that brings her family peace. We rode on the collectivo and taught her lesson 1 about the restauration of the gospel. Then we got off at the wrong stop with her and since we had an appt. soon I offered to pay for our taxi and explained... " our church is not just a good group to bring peace for the end of the week or like any other church. Our church is distinct. Its beautiful and the doctrine is very clear. We believe in revelation, we believe in our prophet Thomas S. Monson and support him and his 12 apostles and we contain the priesthood power to perform sacred ordinances in the way of the Lord. Our focus is that families can be eternal forever and live with our savior and heavenly father in pure happiness. We are all a family and take good care of eachother. We are missionaries of jesuschrist who have come here to share this wonderful message and to be examples of him in good works." I explained, " if you really sincerely want to know that this is true then you can personally know for yourself and pray to God, your father that will tell you in your heart that it is true. I have also recieved this answer countless times in my life and I know he wants you to feel the truth of it too. And when he answers you and you really feel this message is true, will you follow the example of jesuschrist and be baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority of God?" the three of them pondered and replied yes we would. Sunday morning we had a meeting early with the ward counselors and the bishop and it went so well. The feeling of love that I felt this Sunday for Caballito was unexplainable. We met with the bishop and He explained how he is very happy with us and with all of our hard work and success. He humbly bore his testimonio of how he is striving to be better in all things, as a father, a bishop, a friend, and that started a flame in my heart that was beating like crazy until I couldnt resist sharing my testimony with our ward either. I walked up with Melani who we baptized when I first got here and wanted to share her testimony too. I let the spirit guide me, it wasnt my words that I spoke. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I expressed how much ive struggled, how much Ive learned and how far ive come in life and in my mission. I expressed how grateful I am for my family, my friends, those that love and support me and the ward of Caballito who has become family to us! I felt their approval and some of them also cried. I know they felt the spirit touch them personally and thats all I desired. Talking with everyone we decided not to go to the despedida because we had people to teach and so we went to work. In the end of our lesson one of the assistants to president called me... "hola hermana eso es Elder Bond, como esta hermana?" I let him know that we were in a lesson and we would call after. I had NO CLUE he would say... "we are going to have some changes in your companionship, President has recieved revelation through much thoughtful prayer that you are needed in the south at this time. and you will be companions with hermana gonzales. so you need to get home and pack to be at the offices at 11:00 in the morning." Walking our member home that was with us, he explained how the Lord calls us where he needs us most and how change is forever constant in the mission and in life but we will be fine when we trust in him. We said goodbye to our mission leader and some other friends from our ward and they wished me luck. In the morning they dropped off a scarf and a hat to take to the south because they know I didnt bring warm clothes for the south and that was so sweet!

Packing until 5 a.m. and then sleeping two hours to get up and pack some more and leave half of my stuff behind in boxes to be prepared for the plane south. Ofcourse the taxi driver wanted to take his own route and not listen to my directions and he got us lost this morning for almost two hours. I was so frustrated but remained calm and told the Elders waiting we were on our way. Every possible route that he could have taken that was no where near our destination he took. Finally arriving we unloaded our bags and we traded companions and loaded all of the ppl going south in the van with our bags. My comp headed out with hna Keele, and I met Hna. malhue who was all smiles and happy as can be which is fresh new in the mission of 6 weeks. Shes finishing her training with me and hna. gonzalez in the south and she is one of the happiest and sweetest people ive ever met. im very excited to work with her. They are both from chile and understand a little english so we are going to do awesome together. Packages and letters will not be getting to me for like four months now just so you know. well our flight leaves at 6 tonight and its a 4 hr flight, im resposible for guiding these two missionaries with me as we travel and they are "starving" poor things so im going to sign off and say WHOOOO the south! its an adventure! lots of mountains, lots of wind, cold and close to antartica, im going to freeze! ill let you know next week how it is! I LOVE YOUUUUUU all!!! pray for our success!

love hermana gillum

hermana ashley gillum

new start

Well this last week was a rollercoaster. its been pretty cold lately and I havent seen the sun all week. the weather started out really wierd at first. At 630 am we got up and the sky was pretty normal, then we went out on the balcony two hours later and the sun was gorgeous shining between all the city buildings of Buenos Aires. I took a picture of it and then ten minutes later the sky was covered in pitch black with clouds that started pouring balls of hail! It was gnarly! then within a half hour it was clear again! But the sky has been full of grey clouds and it rains randomly every few hours and the wind has torn up all of our umbrellas haha so its funny to run to all of our appointments and be soaked all the time. I cannot wait to be warm again!

I struggled this week with the negativity that was going on in this area. I asked myself where has everyones faith gone? The bishop struggled with trusting us and so did our mission leader so with much prayer and fasting I just decided to prove with sincere love and hard work that Im here to do whats best for the ward and my investigators because I LOVE them and not because I expect anything in return. That seemed to work. God is still a God of miracles and even more than that He is our literal Father in Heaven who listens to our prayers, waits, watches over, lets us decide what to do on our own and then when we humbly depend on him enough He reveals to us his tender mercies. He surely has answered my prayers. I prayed and fasted for my companion and I to just be able to love and understand eachother. Theres nothing worse than being with a person every second every day that shows you in everyway that she rather be somewhere else without you. Ive tried so hard to make her smile and love her but she didnt like when I hugged or touched her. It was tough to find peace within myself with this wall I couldnt seem to get passed with her. So our district leader Elder Griffeth had us do an inventory together with him and get out our feelings and struggles to make things all better. That was the best thing for us to do. We both spoke the truth of how we were feeling. she wanted unity, I asked her to show more charity and act as if we are companions and not seperate or divided. She Agreed and admitted that its not natural for her to be kind or loving. He asked her how many times I say good things about her and to her... she responded... alot.... and he then asked and how many times do you have good things to say to her? and she paused... and said... well... I cant think of anything nice ive said to her. I thanked her for admitting that. that was tough for her to do I could tell but it was the first step to changing for the better. We figured out a solution. After that there were times I would find her yelling at me, rolling her eyes or throwing a fit about something again and I would just pause and look at her with a smile and say, its going to be alright hermana, we are companions, we can communicate better remember. Then she would loosen up again. For example we were on collectivo and she was behind me to get off with me at this stop but the bus driver quickly drove off closing the door and I turned around to see her face furious! So I ran to the next bus stop to get her and I was laughing so hard I could hardly breath because I knew she was so mad over this accident. When we met up she yelled and yelled about how it was everyone elses fault that she couldnt get off in time and I looked at her and said, hermana, its ok, its actually really funny you just gotta laugh about it, it happens sometimes! so since then shes been more and more calm and patient. Last night was rough, we got to each and every appointment early and by the time we got there, no answer or they would cancel. We must have walked all over our entire area without any success and I looked up at the sky and said, why? why do we have to struggle when we are trying our very hardest to do everything so right? I started thinking how I tried everything within my power to help our bishop and our leader to see our efforts are sincere. I offered to put in an hour of service for cleaning the church, I made colorful cards for all the members and cookies and brought facturas from the bakery. I spent so much time making a big calendar that has all the members on it and I have tried so hard to make them all happy. I started to cry on the way home thinking about all this responsability of our ward and so many other ppl and how sometimes I dont want it. sometimes i want to relax and gather my thoughts for a new game plan but we are always in an immediate rush to keep going. as we got home I cried on my bed asking heavenly father to comfort me and help me to feel like im not so alone out here. Right then, the bishop called, he said that he was happy with us for introducing this new family to him after church to meet them in his office and he was happy with our efforts here. He then gave us two references that he says hes has confidence in us with! Then after that our mission leader called us... here i am thinking oh great hes going to be mad about something or need something else from us because its usually negative. But it wasnt at all! He called to thank me for my sincere letter, to coordinate our next meeting, and to offer to help us clean! I was shocked! A lot of weight lifted off my shoulders but with my face still streaked with tears my companion came over threw her arms around me and squeezed the breath right out of me in a huge bear hug and wiped my tears off my face and gave me a big kiss on my cheek and said stop crying, its ok, your working so hard, i know you are and I see it everyday! who cares what others think, they dont know how hard you are trying but I do and heavenly father does. I love you, i love you i love you. ok? my jaw was dropped, eyes all wide... i was shocked, stunned! i COULDNT BELIEVE that my companion who has been so mean to me this whole time kissed my face and said she loved me! I laughed with her and said, "um... is this a dream... did you honestly just kiss my face and say you love me?" and she pinched my arm SO hard and laughed and walked away to the other room saying " well you didnt wake up, so I guess not!" hahaha but then she said... " dont think that Im going to ever do that again ok... because its hard for me to be that nice... but i dont want you to cry so dont." haha I was so happy!!!! God answers prayers and sends those ppl we need to love and care about us but it is only AFTER the trial of our faith that we may be blessed! This is evidence of all of that!

today is a holiday so everything is closed. theres like 5 holidays every month here and literally EVERYTHING closes. its so wierd.

may you all be greatly blessed this week and please pray for Amelia, Geraido, Adrian, Facundo, Y Kiara Romero to be baptized this coming saturday and recieve the gift of the holy ghost on sunday! Its my birthday on Monday (next pday) im looking forward to it. We are having Elder Leavitt (from idaho) Elder Davis (from ohio) and My birthday all on that day since were all a day apart anyway. It should be fun with our zone. pray for us to have warmer weather please!!! hahaha send me pictures of all you guys, i miss you!

you are all in my prayers I love you all!!! xoxoxox

con cariño,

hermana ashley gillum

3 baptisms

Well... Dont have time to say much or to respond to some letters... sorry! i will have to next week!

We went and played futból today at the church and it was a blast. I love playing futból with the latinos because I can learn more from them and they are all great missionaries and people.

Learned alot about myself this last week. Alot about my companion and how to work better with her. Shes tough to figure out. I feel a lot like the girl on the movie Errand Of Angels who just cannot seem to make her companion happy no matter what she does or tries. I cant figure out how but im going to continue to try. She is a wonderful person, but... she is a hint dropper.... I am a communicator... If I think or feel something... I explain it. She just drops me hints and is frustrated when I dont understand. That is the hard part for me. 80 percent of the time she doesnt like talking and im a talker... and the other percent she talks its usually only a few words. Im a huggy-lovey person, and she really dislikes to be touched or people in her space... so this for me is also new. Im just learning things from her that Ive never understood before. Im not going to try and change her because shes special the way she is but I am going to adjust my ways to make her more comfortable... I feel like this is preparing me for the tough spots in marriage in the future. haha. Its all fun in the beginning without complications but with everyday life, things happen that are not so fun and marriage to me, is all about giving it 150% not just 50-50. So this is where I adjust my habbits to do more to serve her. Yeah its tough.... but its needed. It will be better for the both of us and its what the Lord wants so Im going to do it.

Its just that we are very opposite people and its very hard for me to get used to but im completely depending on the lord and he has been guiding me. Im super happy to be doing His work. We have seen so many miracles! Thats the one and only thing we have in common... we are missionaries. We have a desire to serve in this work and put the things of the world aside to serve these people. I feel so different then before I left. The Lord has changed me for the better. I have never been this happy and grateful for an experience like this. People have been hacking into my facebook because the members here who are waiting for my acceptance tell me when things pop up on there and really im just going to want to delete my entire facebook when I get home because I dont ever want to be wrapped up in that. I want to live my dreams and bring back a better person then I was before, with greater faith and confidence.

I learned a valuable lesson from our zone leaders which called us to see if they could help my comp see things differently and be more happy and I learned a lesson about leadership.

A leader takes more fault and blame then neccessary, and less credit then what is due. I definately learned to pray more fervently for the gift of chairty and patience. I have learned that when people are new into the mission field and fresh out of the world, they lack the knowledge gained on the mission and they have a vision of "a perfect missionary" for their leader. When that "perfect idea" they have in mind doesnt match up to what they expect they very quickly want to critique and pick you apart. Its amazing how they will try to find every single flaw you have and magnify it even more. Ive learned to just let it go and instead of explaining how we sometimes do things differently when the spirit directs, I just nod my head and say, "yes hermana, thank you ill work on that." Then like our district leader said, when she sees my example to constantly strive to be better she will follow my lead more and the lord will help guide me.

Im really impressed by the gifts of the spirit im recieving... its incredible to recognize, that when the Lord calls us into a higher position of responsability he shapes the back to bear the burden placed upon it just as our Prophet says. I have a much greater memory, strength, patience and calmness that I can do this with the Lord as my guide.

I have really been impressed with the blessings we have seen for being exactly obedient in all things. We watched three young girls step into the waters of baptism and I was full of joy. We watched them all get confirmed with their father and It was a beautiful sight to see that family and picture them all together in heaven with pure happiness. I said a prayer in my heart to be able to bring all the families to this happiness. Thats my true desire. I want this peace and happiness for everyone.

We have a BBQ planned for us at the house of President and His wife next pday and Im looking forward to seeing them. They are like parents to all us missionaries. It amazes me how much they all do. We couldnt be having this success in the mission without their guidance in the mission. Its obvious why they are here now at this time. Im so grateful for this position as a missionary. I love the mission so much.

Til next week take care guys I love all of you!!!!! xoxoxoxox

 

love ashley ann gillum

ALL IS WELL

 "All is well all is well" Theres Not a better song that I can sing than I have this last week and continue to right now.
Im so happy and blessed to have the encouraging angels around me here on earth that I do to
help me see the sunshine beyond the passing clouds. Im so grateful to know this true gospel
and my divine purpose here and where Im going.

ALL IS WELL

Come, come, ye Saints, no toil or labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
'Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this and joy your hearts will swell —
All is well! All is well!

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell —
All is well! All is well!

We'll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away in the West.
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the Saints will be blessed.
We'll make the air with music ring,
Shout praises to our God and King;
Above the rest these words we'll tell —
All is well! All is well!
And should we die before our journey's through,
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;
With the just we shall dwell!
But if our lives are spared again
To see the Saints their rest obtain;
Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell —
All is well! All is well!

 

Trust in the Lord:

Praying more fervently, faith unceasing, working diligently and honestly...

but most importantly.... Im learning ever so much... how to FULLY TRUST

in the Lord my Savior.

 

Last week we saw some very beautiful miracles. I am always impressed

by the impressions of the spirit. After a very large lunch, we were walking

home and the spirit impressed on me to go home by turning down a very

different route and down this specific street we found a lady broke down

in a car with her children. We spoke of who we are and why we are here,

and we offered to help push them all the way to their house.

With all of our hands on the back and the family inside we pushed

them all the way home. I never wanted to pass out or toss my cookies

so bad in my whole life than after that. At her destination she jumped in

the air and threw her arms around us all and with tears expressed how

grateful she was and that she couldnt believe we would do that in our

skirts and all haha. Sure enough she wants to know more about our

church and the purpose of our dedication to this work and service.

 

Also when meeting with Hermana Laura... we were amazed..

I never expected to have such a powerful prayer after our lesson

when it was her first time praying in front of us...

Sure enough all on our knees, Laura conversed with her Father

in Heaven as if we were never there. It was the most spiritually

intimately sincere prayer Ive ever heard on my mission.

She confessed all of her transgressions and sorrows to the Lord

and how she was grateful for the "angel missionaries that He has

sent to her." We were all in tears and completely silent after the

prayer. I felt the spirit of the lord impress the story of the Bible into

my heart of the woman who is brought to be stoned and the Savior

asks her to go and sin no more. I felt the love of the Atonement hit

me so powerfully through her cry for help. I felt the pain of the Savior

in my soul and how he hurts so much for us. How he cries when we

cry, and how much he desires to heal us of our pains. This was so

beautiful to me that I hadnt found any words sufficient to speak.

Ill never forget this moment in my mission and how it changed me.

 

Trusting the spirit works miracles and guides us where we need to be.

This last week I relized my struggles quickly and decided to commune

with my Father in Heaven for help. Without Him nothing is possible.

I knelt before my bed privately and poured out my heart to Him in love for

my brothers and sisters here in Argentina, for my family, for my friends,

I plead for Him to heal my heart, correct my error, forgive my faults.

I prayed to Him with all my heart to guide me with divine revelation of

what He wants me to learn from everything instead of asking Him WHY ME?

I expressed my deep appreciation for all of the beautiful ways I have felt His

hand guide me in my life and with upmost gratitude I spoke the words...

"thank you Father... thank you for making me so much more than I am."

 

Proverbs 3: 5-6

Trust in the Lord with ALL thine heart,

Lean not unto thine own understanding,

in all thy ways acknowledge Him,

and He shall direct thy paths!

 

He cannot lie, nor does He sway from this or that.

this is a divine promise that we have if we fully lean on Him

in all things and let him take us where He wants us.

Trusting completely means to not have fear, no matter how

high the tide or how far the journey.

 

Transfers:

Hna. Bray and Hna. Vargas were incredible comps and just as we got so

very comfortable together and used to everything we knew the Lord would need

to stretch us again and try our faith... so transfers came last night at 11 pm.

We said our goodbyes and assured one another we are forever friends.

Im now in Caballito... with sweet little Hermana Iñigo who is new to the mission.

Im Senior companion with trust from the Lord to guide and care for her and care

for all in my shpere with responsibility and humility. Im going to need to lean

on the Lord in everything. To always align my will with His in order to fulfill

whats expected of me at this time.

 

Where is our focus? on others or ourselves?

Hna. Bray and I were talking about something so great the other day.

We said, how its so incredible what a difference is made when we

truly KNOW WHO WE ARE. We all have the knowledge that we were

created by a higher being but to literally ponder the depth and importance

that we are actual sons and daughters of a living God defines everything

about us and the way we think and act. Without remembering this,

we stumble and we fall and we hesitate. No wonder Satans favorite

avenue of attack happens to be our self esteem.

 

So what do we do? Well on the mission ive learned,

to expect, the unexpected. Hope for a better tomorrow.

Know who you are as a child of God and the power we

have to change everything in our sphere for the better.

Pay attention to spiritual revelation and act when prompted.

Filter your thoughts and know what source they are coming

from and whether or not it is a positive or negative source.

Change what you are able to, accept what you cannot.

Trust in the Lord the master potter as we remain clay in

His embracing hands. And with all your heart...

LOVE love love LOVE.

 

 

I love my companions. They are my greatest friends. I love my leaders, they give direction,

I love my family and friends that provide unconditional love and support...

I love Argentina and these beautiful people so very much for who they are.

I love our President Richard Gulbrandsen and His wife Karen who sacrafice so

much to be here and do all that they do for us.

I love my Savior so much that there are no words to express even a fraction of what I feel.

All this love grows with each new chapter of my mission....

Im 11 months into my mission already...

and I honestly whole heartedly

...love my mission!

 

with much positivity, love, gratitude,

& on the journey of becoming better...

Yours truly,

 

   Hermana Ashley Ann Gillum

    Buenos Aires Norte, Argentina mission

    Sep. 2010- Mar. 2012

Not Much Time

Sorry but today I actually dont know what to write for once and we dont have much time anyways. Not much is new really... other than I dyed my hair a bit darker because one of my comps is a stylist and she wanted to so I said sure. Its still really cold but at least the sky is clear and pretty most days. So this week we had to travel to San Fernando for three seperate days and have a huge Capacitacion meeting for all those newbies that just got to the mission and for all of us closer to the end or inbetween to train and step up our game plan. We recieved new revelation and were enlightened by President Gulbrandsen because he is incredibly inspired bythe sprit and we are learning so much for him. Its obvious why he is our President at this time. Hes one of the strongest people ive ever met. Him and his wife have faced some very difficult times in thier experiences of life and they both come out strong and ready to help others. Before I struggled with trust. I couldnt trust leaders or others at all and during my mission, noticing how ive evolved into a better person with the Lord and the help of my leaders Ive come to trust and to appreciate them greatly. I Love our President and his wife and I am grateful for the time spent in the mission to learn life long lessons from them in the hardest and greatest of times. President was inspired to speak to our mission on the attack of the adversary and how important it is that we are obedient and on guard to keep pressing forward in the work of the Lord. How critical this time is when Satan is probably more angry then ever that we continue to bring so many to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had a conversation with our President that I will remember for the very rest of my life. I will apply all that he said throughout my life and apply the teachings to my children. We have an incredible ward. They said that they lost trust in past missionaries here in the ward and it took a lot of effort on our part to gain that trust and love back but here we are serving the members and working with them more and more each day. We had a meeting with the bishop and the counselors and leaders of our ward and spoke about all the needs of our investigators... When we told them that our dear family we have just completed does not have a heater or warm water in their shack home... we were overwhelmed with joy to recieve a call the very next day that the ward had gone over to their house to bring them what they need and they are installing a stove and hot water. I couldnt believe the love of the ward! The tough part is getting them to go out on lessons with us because they all work very tough schedules. So we are working with the youth a little more to bring their friends and classmates to the church. We gave one girl 4 book of mormons that she wasnted to give to friends at school and she had told us some great experiences with doing so. I love Urquiza now.. I am just getting used to things and hope to be staying here long enough to finish what we started with these families. We have had several miracles but also several times that were tough. We had to say goodbye to Victor and we love and care about him so much but he doesnt want to progress. He feels that its not neccessary to choose one path to follow... he believes that all of them will lead him to Heavenly Father and all he has to do is believe. He lacks the faith to act and to change. thats the hard part to get him to see. when we said goodbye to him I walked away from his house and tears fell down my face... the hardest thing ive ever witnessed in my mission... is watching people reject a message so priceless and sacred that they never even bother to open and experience. It really hurts when you believe in something so strongly to have someone tell you that its wrong because you know with all your heart that its not wrong. But thats the building of a missionaries faith. Ill never deny what I know to be true and I plan to spend all of my life giving back to my Savior. Just like President has said... "when your heart is broken, shattered, and you feel completely utterly alone... you have never been more close to the feelings of the Savior. Now YOU decide..... You decide to give that broken heart of yours... to Him, to the master of healing. Thats what I did and it has always done a world of good. because He can make a lot more out of you than you can!" 

There are so many distractions that Satan wants us to think about... Ofcourse my distractions are good things such as passing by a baby store and thinking about marriage and kids. (we only teach eternal families EVERY DAY) and wondering about my future family and the joy I have around kids. Thinking about family back home and if my little sister is protected and happy. I have recognized in this time in my mission how much satan slows us down with the simple innocent distractions then he works on us in other ways and wants us to question our standing in the church. I remember when Sheri Dew in the MTC told us.. there are three things Satan will do to destroy you and your mission... get you to: 1) forget you are a child of God 2) forget what the atonement has done for you 3) get you to beleive you cannot recieve revelation and direction from Heavenly Father. Well ive witnessed all three of these in the same time. She was so right! I dont know what else to say this week other then this... My heart did feel broken this week, So many let downs, so many trials, i have struggled, we all have. But now I have chosen to take what my President said and what I know to be true, to change. For the better. To move forward into a new chapter of my mission, and become a changed missionary with greater strength and faith to do the will of the Lord even when it looks impossible. Even when we have had many things fall against us. I choose to change and to have the faith that Moses had while walking in the water up to his head before it actually parted... the faith to move mountains and baptize those brothers and sisters of ours that are ready. Forgetting yourself completely is the hardest task to learn to do but Its the most worth it. Forgetting ourselves literally. Try to go throughout your day and completely forget yourself... when you think "I FEEL" or "I WANT" you are thinking too much about yourself. When you are thinking "I care what others think about ME" you are thinking too much about yourself. Our confidence shines out the best when we know our standing on the side of the Lord and what he thinks of us. To completely forget yourself and to do His will and not yours is a process. We are teaching all of these things also to our investigators who are battling with Satan. Its a blessing to help strengthen eachother and share our testimony. Its this simple... I LOVE MY SAVIOR... I love Him so much and because I love Him I just need to wake up everyday and just get all that He expects done. Just do it because its the right thing to do.This was a great lesson learned. Forgetting yourself and going to work is a walk with the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Who else is better to take a walk with. I know of none better then Him.

 

I love you all and hope you remember always your worth

in the eyes of the savior and what Heaven sees in you...

love hermana ashley ann gillum