"You Are Now Baptized"- Nacho Libre

This week was absolutely incredible!  I can't even describe how amazing it was.  I probably say that every week....but I think that every week is great!  Ha!  So many things have changed in the mission.

First, I want to share with you all about my experience that I had at the ZOO.  Yep, I went to the zoo.  I was a tourist for a day and I loved it!  I wouldn't say it was like the San Diego zoo, or the Hogle Zoo, but then again, I don't remember them too well.  This zoo in Argentina was great!  There weren't any giraffes, but there were tigers and gorillas and monkeys and all the other great animals!  I hope you enjoy the photos.  I have lots of videos, but I cannot send them.

You will never believe it, but this missionary fed a lemur.  Yep, I did!  I have the most hilarious video, but I guess you'll have to wait 10 more months.  Sorry!  Also, I fed a toucan!  So that was probably another highlight of my life :).

Even though I went to the zoo and had the most amazing time there, I still found more joy when I was out teaching and helping others come unto Christ.  I never thought I could find so much joy in the mission!  WE still have a baptism date for "R".  Yes, it's true!!  I AM GOING TO HAVE MY FIRST BAPTISM!!!! :)  I don't know if I should scream, cry, pray, read my scriptures, go to the bathroom (too far?) or just run the streets of Argentina and say, "You are now baptized!"  (nacho libre anyone?) ha!  Then I pause and remember I am a missionary and people are always watching.  So, I think the best thing I can do is just to celebrate in my apartment when nobody is watching! ha!

We had zone conference this week as well.  I can now say that I understand now that the mission is changing!  How lucky am I to be a part of this change?  So lucky!!  One thing that President told us is that since we changed the schedule of studies we have seen our numbers ROCKET!  They have never been so high in the mission.  I know it is because this was revelation from God and He is blessing this area each and every day.

Also, we were told that we need to email separate.  For example, my companion can email and I have to sit and watch until she is finished...then I can start emailing while she does the same.  There have been problems and the adversary is working harder than ever.  A lot of missionaries were bummed because we lose time on P-day, but I know that this is going to be such a blessing.  We are going to save a lot of lives this way...a lot of missionaries lives will be changed by this new rule.  I can truly see the Lord's hands working through President.  It's such a beautiful work!

We also will have an hour once a week to go to the Cyber and research talks, videos, family history, and all good things from church websites to help our investigators.  The church is going technologiacle...yeah...I don't know the word! ha!

The Lord is changing the way we work.  The way I see it is that there is something great in store that the Lord is preparing for us.  If we are obedient we will see these blessings .  There is not a rule or a change that is to tie us down.  If we follow the rules of the mission and have faith, we will see the blessings. :)

Best wishes this week!  Hope you all have a great day!! Thanks for the prayers and thanks for the emails.  You are helping me keep the great attitude! :)

Hermana McChesney

Shoutouts:
-Shout out to all those who got married or are engaged!!!  CONGRATS!! I love love! :)
-Shout out to all those who got their mission call!  I love getting emails of all the new missionaries who have been called to serve!
-Shout out to Judy Clayton for the letter.  It made me so happy!!  So good to hear from you!!

Funnies of the week:
--Well, my companion almost peed her pants...but really.
--We did P90X and I about died when we had to do punch uppercuts..hahahaah!  Seriously 4 missionaries doing karate moves...KILLS ME!  hahahah!
--I have ran to the bus more times this week than normal.  It's always the same street.  I can just hear the people saying , "The missionaries are coming, the missionaries are coming.."!

Short Updates!

Okay.  I have no time to write today.  I am sorry!  I probably should have read all the emails after writing you guys....oops.  Sorry!  I just get so excited to read all the emails. :)

So to those who wrote me and if I haven not gotten back to you yet, I'm sorry.  Give me another week.  I have not avoided writing back! :)  I am so lucky to have people email me still.  I thought you would forget me by now.  HA!

This week was so great!  I can say that we have seen so many miracles with the schedule change.  President just sent us an email and he said that our numbers have never been so high!  So WOW!  That's just incredible!  I'm so lucky to be a part of this change in the mission.  I know that things are going to happen, for things are already changing.  This is going to make history.  I can see it in the church headlines:  NEUQUEN ARGENTINA MISSION.  BAPTIZING MILLIONS!

Ha!  Okay.  Too far??

Well really.  Things have been great for the mission.  We have a Zone Conference with President on Thursday and I cannot wait to hear what he says. :)

This week we saw miracles.  Just like every week.  But, this week I'd like to focus a little on the investigators I haven't mentioned much.

"M" was a referral from an hermana in Neuquen.  We have taught her about 4 times and she has never wanted to pray.  One lesson in the past when we taught her I told her that she had a light about her and that she is going to bless many people with this light.  Ever since then she has been asking "what is this light that I have"?  We have tried to explain to her a little about the light that she has and about the light of Christ.  She loved it!  We had the hermana with us and she was a great help.  "M" accepted to pray at the end of the lesson.  WOAH!  Miracle.  She never accepted to pray.  But, she did.  I think I may have cried a little...but...what's new?  HA!

Also, We had a lesson with "J".  He has so many questions and has done a lot of research on the computer.  Yeah, that's the hard thing about the mission these days.  The internet has so many things about our church.  But, when things come up all we can do is testify.  So, that's what we do.  We answer his questions through testimony and always tie it back to Joseph Smith.  Just the last lesson we had a member with us and he started talking about polygamy, word of wisdom, and just a lot of questions.  After answering these questions, we invited him to pray to know if the church was true.  With us.  Right then.  So, we knelt and prayed, an all he said was "Heavenly Father, is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the true church"?......We paused and sat in silence.  He felt it.  I felt it.  And he knew it was true.  Once again I bore testimony that the spirit was with us then and he needed to make the next step of baptism.  He said no.  But, he knows it's true.

One last story, we changed the baptism date for "R".  She is getting baptized FOR SURE February 1st.  YAY!!!  This will be my first baptism in the mission!  YAY!  I couldn't be more happy.  She will forever be remembered in my heart! :)

Ah, I have to go.  Things are GREAT!  We are going to the Zoo right now!  :)

LOVE YOU!!

Hermana McChesney

                                   Me with my companion and another hermana in my district.

              A sign that pretty much says, "Don't knock our door during siesta or we will kill you"!

We had a lunch appointment with an investigator yesterday...she wasn't there...we called...we knocked on her window....and finally she texted us and said that she couldn't do it.  We went to the pension...in a bus....and fixed rice.  YUM.  We didn't have much food because it was Sunday and we rarely buy stuff anyways.  HAHA!

Happy Birthday to me!

Hello family!!  I have so much to write and I don't know where the time went?  Thanks to you all for the birthday wishes and emails!

Okay, Por fin, yo cumple 20 anos!!

Can't believe just last year I opened my mission call...Now here I am on the mission.  how quick does time fly?

It was such a great day!  It started out with a little futbol in the morning.  Every morning por medio we play futbol with our district!  We wake up early, but it's always well worth it.  As we ran to the park, we sat down waiting for the other elders and then out of nowhere there was a CAKE!  Yes, a real life cake.  It was vanilla with frosting of nutella (yes, nutella) and dulce de leche.  I almost cried!  How nice is my district leader?!

So, we cut the cake and ate it all..at 6:30 in the morning!  It was great! We took a picture and my district leader Agee printed it out for me...so I will send you a pic of a pic so you can see it!  It was the sweetest thing ever!

That whole day I just got fed so well.  It's never like that!  ha!  We had lunch, then stopped by a less active to wish her daughter a happy birthday, too.  Thinking it would just be a quick things, she gave us a slice of cake and then we were able to have a lesson with her and another less active!  It was awesome!  Working on the birthday.  Nothing better, FOR REAL!

We then visited with some investigators, but still, nobody really wants to progress.  One man did say that he wanted to go to church because he is looking for comfort in his life!  WOW!  So, we will see how that goes.

Also, best part of the whole day.  "L" and his family invited us over to have ASADO!  My first Asado in todo mi mision.   Yeah!  It was the best thing ever!  We had a great lesson with them as well.  We love teaching them!  I love seeing their progress.

"L" is such a great example for his family.  When we had the asado at his house, his nephew was there.  He has 14 years and is just the sweetest.  They walked us to the bus to make sure nobody robbed us and then the nephew said he was going to come to church!  WHAT?  Sure enough, he was there early, before us!  He and "L"!  It just brought tears to my eyes!  How amazing!!

These people are progressing.  I know that we are soon going to have a branch here in Fernandez Oro.  It has been slow, but these less actives are progressing.

I have developed a strong testimony of the work with members and missionaries.  It's the only way to get work done.  It's true.  We have tried to have a member with us every day!  It's been so great!  We have seen so many miracles!  So lucky to have members here who want to work and come out with us.  It's such a blessing.

Overall I had a great birthday week!  People are still giving me presents and cards.  It's just the sweetest.  I don't know how the word got around, but it's nice to know that I have family here on the mission who are looking after me :)

We had such a great week!  2 investigators at church.  Got in with many less actives.  Found 6 NEW INVESTIGATORS.  And the news that will shock you all.....dun dun dunnnnn...

THE DAILY SCHEDULE CHANGED!!

Yes, you heard correctly.  We changed the schedule for the whole mission.  We get to stay out later, get to sleep in a little more,  and use siesta time for our personal study and language.  HOW AWESOME!  I feel so privileged to have been a part in this experiment.  I know we saw miracles and I know that the whole mission will see them too!!!!

Love you all.  Love this church :)

Hermana McChesney

Shoutouts:
--Shout out to Brock!  Happy Birthday buddy this Saturday!  I'll be thinking of you!  You're the best!  Can't believe my little boy is turning 13 years old.  Keep up the good work!  LOVE YOU!
--All those facebook friends who wrote on my wall.....hahaha!
--Grant and Lindsey, Jennifer Turner, Garrity's and Mission Prep, Hemmings, Hopkins, Harkers, Garrett Fotu, and Chans.  THANKS FOR THE CHRISTMAS CARDS!!  Loved them all.  Truly was the sweetest thing ever!

                                               Found this when I woke up in the morning.

My district futbol group with the cake they made for me.

                                       Didn't realize my hair was soooo long!  I finally cut it!

Miracles have NOT ceased

Hope all is going well for the family.  I always spend a solid 45 minutes reading all the emails from my family and friends!  You are all way too sweet to write me!  Especially thank you to all who wrote me for my birthday.  It's nice to know I haven't been forgotten ;) HA!

This week was Ano Nuevo, so we had the same schedule as Navidad.  We celebrated again in the church with all the missionaries from Cipolletti and a couple members families!  We played games out in the back, ate, and just enjoyed the time together.  They truly treat us missionaries very well here in Cipolletti.

We received transfer calls on Wednesday and guess what...I'M STAYING IN FERNANDEZ ORO!! YAY!!  And even better, so is my companion!! Woooo!!!  We were so excited!  Only 3 missionaries are leaving from Cipolletti so it was sad, but it's good to know that the majority of us are staying!

This week we made a plan of how we are going to work better in Fernandez Oro.  We had a meeting with Bishop and the Zone leaders.  We decided that we are going to focus our work on the less active members and the inactives.  We have seen so much progress from them and none of our investigators so we believe that our investigators will not progress until we have a branch there in Oro.  So that is our goal!!  BRANCH IN ORO THIS TRANSFER!!

We have been working a lot trying to find an active, worthy man to hold the service in his house...as of now we are seeing progress in one man.  He is just incredible!  We had a lesson with him and his parents.  We taught and shared experiences in the Book of Mormon.  We tested our faith and had him ask a question.  We then slid the Book of Mormon over to him and had him open and read.  NO LIE.  His answer was right there.  He then said, "Wow, I've never been able to understand the Book of Mormon, but I understood everything I read and was able to answer my question".  yeah!  It that isn't testimony that the Church is true, I don't know what is.  We did the same with his mom, and again, BAM.  2nd testimony that the church is true.  We were just on cloud nine after this lesson!

We have been trying to find a man name "P" for over a month now.  He is a member and just yesterday we had a feeling to go and knock on these cute grandparents door.  As we knocked, they weren't home, but just seconds later here comes "P"...WHAT!  The Lord works in mysterious ways.  Seriously!  If we hadn't have had that prompting we would have never found him.  He gave us his directions and then said we could come by whenever!  DYING!

Me and my comp have decided to make a goal each night for the following day and the price we are going to pay so we can receive it.  It's been the best thing we have ever done.  We have seen so many miracles this week.  I can't even begin to describe them all.  We received keys to the pension.  We found less actives.  We ran into random people that just said they want to learn more.  We had lessons with members.  We completed all of our goals.  And the list goes on!  I'm so lucky to be in the mission in this time of my life!

The Church is True!
Through the scriptures we can find personal revelation!
I know that miracle have not ceased, for God has not ceased to be God!
I know that the Lord is hastening His work.  And we should be hastening our work, too.

Love you all!!
Hermana McChesney

Oh oh oh--So I just want to give a little run down first of the good and bad news of the week (only two things so don't worry):

--So, I weighed myself for the first time in my whole mission.  Good news, I weigh less than when I started my mission..what?  Bad news, my face looks like a chipmunk! HAHAHAHA!
--Lost the phone this week/it got stolen..good news...I am really good at saving money so I have enough to pay for a new one!  HA!  yeah..there isn't really much good in this situation.

Shoutouts:
--Shout out to Cami and Grandpa.  Hope you have the most amazing birthdays!!  Was thinking of you both!
--Shout out to the one and only Brother Hobson!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  So lucky to share a birthday with you!

                                        My wonderful missionary friends in Cipolletti!

                This was our New Year's dinner and party with the other Cipolletti missionaries.

 I still have one T-Swift shirt left.  I gave my other to an elder who wanted it.  Yes, I'm growing up!

                      My companion and I found this cute shop with different types of masks.

                                                      Another picture taken on Christmas

                                 A member made me these nice scripture covers.  I love them!!

                                                                     The Hermanas

                                   I am in my new apartment, but we have no furniture yet.