GLORIA!!!

February 20, 2017

Hoooollaaaa familia! 

Well this week I just wanted to sing a Christmas song to you all..... Gloo-oooo-ooo-oooo-oooo-ria, Gloria se bautizó; Gloooo-ooooo-ooooo--oooo-ria, yo estoy muy feliz :) hahaha!! ;) 

GLORIA GOT BAPTIZED!!! Yay!  So I don’t really know what to say about all this... haha.  Saturday Gloria came to the church at like 5pm, we helped her get ready, took some pics, had the program - my comp and I sang "Teach me to Walk in the Light" for a special musical number - she got baptized, and on Sunday she was confirmed!  Haha I’m awful at this story telling thing. ;) 

Gloria!!!

Getting Gloria ready for her big day

Hair Salon in the Church Restroom :)

But really, everything went well!  Gloria's mom, sister and two nieces were able to come the baptism service, along with her dad who is a recent convert from another ward in our stake.  

Gloria's Family - Sister, Mom, Nieces, and Dad

The cutest thing that happened was after the baptism.  I asked Gloria how she felt and she was like, "Eh, normal.  I guess I didn't have any crazy demons in me...." 😂  That's Gloria for you!  She really is such a sweet, innocent, pure girl and even though she wasn't in dire need of becoming clean from sin, she showed her faith in God and willingness to be obedient in following the example of our brother Jesus Christ and was baptized.  She has really opened up and changed lots these last few months and we are so happy to have her be part of our big family - here in barrio Puerto and in the church worldwide.  This girl was so prepared by our Heavenly Father and we are so grateful that we were able to play a small part in her conversion.  

Eternal Friends

YAY FOR GLORIA!!! 

Other than that we've just been super busy trying to find new investigators, still.  

Today for P-day, we had a man who is an investigator being taught by the Elders here in our district, take us in his truck to a cool ocean lookout and then made us asado for lunch.  It was beautiful!  Today it’s like 90 degrees out, so after I finish writing ya'll, I’m probably going to cool off with some ice cream, like always, before heading back out to work.  

I hope you all have a great week and know how much I love you!!!! 

Con mucho amor y vistas del mar, 

Hermana Bartholomew 

Pictures from today's P-day adventure:

Piled in the back of a truck!

Ocean Lookout - So Pretty!!

Asado de cerdo - YUM!

Witness of God

February 13, 2017

Hola Familia y amigos! 

Another week has come and gone along with another month of my mission. That's right... 16 months down, 2 to go. :(  Don't worry, I'm not getting trunky or anything... but it is pretty darn hard to not think about how fast the time is flying when all day, every day the members and investigators remind me how I’m almost done.  UGH! Like stop... ;) please!  

Speaking of getting older in the mission, Hermana Davidson hit her halfway mark this week!!! WOW.  You know what that means... my first daughter, Hermana Ahlmer is now 9 months old too!!!! WHAT?!  Wow, they really grow up fast don't they? ;) 

So this week I got to go on divisions with Hermana Castillo in a small little town just south of Mar del Plata called Miramar.  It’s a cute beach front town, with lots of campo.  It doesn't have any stop lights if that tells you anything. ;) It’s super cute and calm though!  It took me back to the good old days in my first area, Villa Floresta, walking around on the dirt roads all day.  Good times.  

Hermana Castillo is so great!! She's from northern Argentina – a town called Tucuman and has been on her mission for 5 months.  We had lots of fun and walked a TON.  It’s really great to be a sister training leader and get to work with the other Hermanas here in our zone.  I've learned so much from her and from working in other areas. 

Celebrating 16 months in the mission with, you guessed it, ICE CREAM!

Bueno, this week we've been helping Gloria get ready for her baptism this coming Saturday!!!  Todo va bien!! :) She really is a miracle!  She may be 20 years old, but she is really just like a little girl on the inside, so sweet, innocent and shy!  Poor thing might have a heart attack on Saturday with all eyes on her. ;)  Please keep her in your prayers so that everything turns out well! 

Other than that my comp and I have been struggling to find more people to teach.  It really is so hard when you're doing all you can and the results just don’t seem to come.  But, as we know, the answer and results always DO come.  Last night, we had a mini correlation meeting with our new bishop and ward mission leader and they were able to tell us about quite a few incomplete families (meaning that not all the people in the family are members of the church).  We also talked about how to animate the members to give us references too.  I feel like there really are lots of people that are prepared here in Puerto (wow tot was a lot of P's) and I can't wait to keep finding them and working with the ward.  

I have been reading some of the talks from last general conference this week and loved Elder Anderson's talk called "Witness of God."  I invite you all to re-read it and really try to put what it says in practice.  We as missionaries NEED your help!!  I know it’s not always easy for us to share the gospel with our friends and family members but I also know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the best thing that we have and the one thing that everyone needs in their life.  

In D y C 65:5 it says, “Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down from heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth.”

I hope you all make the effort to pray and seek inspiration about who you can share the gospel with, and to always be a witness of God.

Have a great week!

Con amor y helados, 

Hermana Bartholomew 

P.S. I got word from Hermana Quenta that Ludmila (Claudia's other daughter) was baptized on Saturday.  YAY!!!

Ludmila on her baptism day :)

Storms

February 6, 2017

Hey Family! 

Well we had another crazy week here in Puerto!  More than anything for the weather.  This place is so bipolar! We've had some really hot days followed by some crazy windy ones along with rainy storms.  

Rainy P-day with the fountain in el centro de Mar del Plata

Also to add to the madness, I had to travel to Bahia again this week for another leadership meeting.  I slept pretty well on the bus - I think I'm finally getting used to it ;).  

Stray dogs in the bus terminal bathroom ;)

Hermana Hurtado...my Bahia bus buddy :)
We are both sister training leaders here in MDP, so we get to work together...she's the best!!!

The best part of the meeting was that Hna Ahlmer just got called to be a new sister training leader so I got to see her and catch up on life!!  She said the closing prayer and it was so crazy to hear how well she speaks Spanish now!  It feels like just yesterday that she left me in Olavarria having just completed 4 months in the mission.  And now here she is training, and coming up on her half way mark!! TIME IS FLYING!! 

Mi hija is the newest hermana entrenadora!!!  :) Soooooo proud!!

With Hermana Darrington one last time...

When your mission best friend is dying :(

So this Saturday, some elders in our zone had a baptism. We invited Gloria and she was very excited to come.  We also invited Flavia and were bummed because Claudio was supposed to be out at sea fishing and wasn't going to be able to make it. (He leaves for like 5-10 days at a time, comes home for 1-2, and then leaves again. So we hadn't seen him for like at least 2 weeks.)  BUT, with all this crazy weather, they closed down the port for Saturday and Sunday and weren't letting any boats leave!  QUE MILAGRO NO?!  

So as we were waiting in the doorway of the chapel, we got a big surprise as Flavia and Claudio walked in!! They were so happy to be there and they both cried during the baptismal service. They really are so ready and so close to getting baptized!! I really hope they can finish the paperwork for their marriage soon!!! It was a very pretty baptism of a lady named Marcela that had been investigating the church off and on for about 11 years.  She said she could have gotten baptized in any moment in this last decade but that she knew God had a perfect time for her and it was now.   It brought me back sweet memories of Mayra and her conversion process.  It's so beautiful to see how God's timing works and prepares the people to be ready to make that important decision and covenant. 

I know I say this every week but I love being a missionary!! Just the fact that Heavenly Father knew that Claudio and Flavia needed to come to the baptism, so He made it so Claudio didn’t have to go back out to work until today (Monday) – it was such a tender mercy. :) 

Oh also, Elder Mardones and I played a piano and violin duet of Nearer My God to Thee for the baptism.  It brought back memories of the good old days playing with Jessica. :)  It’s been too long since I’ve accompanied someone…I really missed it!! 

Well I hope you have a great week!! Thanks for all your love and support!  You guys are the best! 

Con amor y lluvia, 

Hermana Bartholomew 

Photos from the baptism of Claudia and her family.  Also, Claudia's other daughter, Ludmilda, is getting baptized this next weekend!!!

Francisco, Claudia and Yael

With Hermana Quenta and her new companion

Other random photos:

Last week on p-day we went to a cool photography museum

Hey dad - I have a better idea for your sourdough waffle truck! ;)
Too bad it wasn't open so I could try the food.

An Argentine-sized fly! :)