Season 2 Episode 9 It's "Cockroach" time again, Welcome to Summer in Uruguay! (1-30-17)

Season 2 Episode 9 - It's "Cockroach" time again, Welcome to Summer in Uruguay!

This week was a little different but it was really good.  There was about one event everyday this week that was a little out of the ordinary... 

Tuesday - We had the chance to get absolutely drenched when we were out walking to visit someone in our neighborhood. I have learned that playing with umbrellas is not fun when it is really windy and raining really hard outside. 

Cockroach ewwwww

Wednesday - We were able to all get together and watch a broadcast that was worldwide for all of the missionaries. It was great to see and hear some revelation and instructions from the leaders of the church. We also received a few changes to the schedule that allow us to choose for ourselves when we do some of the things that before were on a very strict schedule. That will be nice to not feel so rushed and stressed. Then we had a little ward council meeting to talk about who we are wanting to focus on helping and how we are wanting to see the branch grow and improve.. 

Homeade "Empandas

Thursday - We spent the morning planning out the last full week of this change so that was a little weird. Also it is very weird to see the month be FEBRUARY here in a couple of days. Then we went and tried to see Raul Canela (the guy that went to the conference with us) but he was not at home so that was a bummer. We did get to have a little meeting with the Relief Society President to plan the activity that we ended up having on Friday... Once we got some ideas of what we were going to do we left to go and visit a newer investigator named Marta. She is amazing, there are a few things that she is working on but it was cool when she showed us the picture that she had with some missionaries about 20 years ago.... It was a really cool experience to see and hear that even 20 years later that they had a lasting affect on her even though she was never baptized or even a real investigator when they were here. 

Friday - We got up really early to get ready to go to Montevideo with our Zone to have a joint zone conference with one of the zones in Montevideo. We initially were going to have the conference on Tuesday but, with the World Wide mission conference we got to go to Montevideo instead. It was a great conference and we had the opportunity to talk a little bit more about Faith and how important Faith is for every single person in the world, not just the members or investigators but for everyone. We also got to eat some pizza together so that was a nice little get together while we were having interviews with President. Once we got back to Nueva Helvecia we were just in time to set up the church for our activity. We ended up playing some really simple games and then eating some chorizo (sausage) that we roasted outside on the church´s patio. It was great to see everyone all together.

Saturday- We spent the morning looking for some of the people that we had contacted the week before but nobody was home so we got to do even more contacting. It was a slow morning but once we left to visit some people in the afternoon it was a great day. We were able to visit Raul and he is doing great, he is having some health issues with his sight and is seeing everything in blue fuzzies so it was good for us to visit and to read the Book of Mormon with him because he wants to but cant. Then we were able to find Josefa and her husband Nelson and it was a crazy little conversation. We were able to share with them the message of the Restoration and then Nelson went off on a few rants about the Government of Uruguay. He is a little out there but a great guy. We ended the night visiting a new contact named Mikaela and she is INCREDIBLE.. The only downside is that she is going to be moving to Montevideo to study there in the next week or so.. 

Sunday - Church was incredible we were able to hear the testimonies of a few of the youth that just got back from the version of EFY that they have here in Uruguay. It was great to hear them share what they had learned with us and to teach us a little bit from their own perspectives. We also got to hear from a member of the old District Presidency and his wife and they shared about the importance of putting in as much effort as you possibly can. Later on we learned about how important it is to be obedient to the commandments of God and to always share our testimonies with others. It was a really good three hour block. Then in the afternoon we weren't able to visit the people that we had planned on visiting but we were able to see the family of Ponce and also to talk a little bit with a new investigator named Daniel. We were excited to talk to Ponce´s mom and to hear all about her and their life. Overall it was a great day.

Monday (today) - We woke up and got to go and have our district meeting in Colonia. 

Once that finished we got on a bus and we came home to clean the house and do some laundry. YEP its that kind of p-day this week...

W-elp its that time again where I challenge you to do something, really hoping that you do it... This week the challenge is to read and study about the Plan of Salvation. Its a pretty big and could be complex topic but it helps us to look at the bigger picture. 

The Four Hermana's January 10, 2017

We have been focusing a lot recently on looking ahead and using the different parts of life to improve and that is the ultimate goal. I know that God has a plan for each of us and even when things DO NOT go our way or exactly how we want them to, that there is Always a PURPOSE. 

We just need to look at the Bigger Picture.

I love you and am wishing you all a 

Happy Week and a Welcome into the lovely month of February... 

Love, Hermana Cassidy Sanovich  

Season 2 Episode 8 " Colonia craziness continues" (1-23-17)

Season 2 Episode 8 " Colonia Craziness Continues" 

Cassidy with the Cabrera's
I just LOVE her Smile it makes me Smile!

Hermana Cabrera Hermana Sanovich

(*no pics from Hermana Sanovich this week so, 
I decided to put in a couple from when we Skype on Christmas)

      This week was full of all kinds of crazy and different adventures for us this week, each day had something going on that was a little out of the ordinary. Starting out this week was 

Tuesday - So we started the day completely normal, we were able to go and to talk to a few people before we went home and ate lunch. We made our lunch and then hung out for a little bit in our house before we started to study. So during that time we were sitting at our desks and all of a sudden we hear our doorbell and I look outside of the big glass windows and all I can see is none other than President Olsen. So we open the door to have President Olsen and the two Assistants standing on our front porch, so we shake their hands, say hello and then they left. It was the weirdest thing ever, and to make it even funnier - we were hanging out in our t-shirts and shorts. So that was a little embarrassing, but just another average day here in Uruguay... Then to make the night a little crazy we almost were hit by a car that was coming way too fast. TOO Much excitement if you ask me...

Wednesday - We took a half day today because Hermana Kahn was not feeling too good. So when we did go out in the afternoon we really didn't have much luck in finding people to teach today. However, on our way to visit an investigator we did run into the same less active member, Laurentino (the guy with the puppy), and it turns out that the puppy died so that was really sad. 

Thursday - We had planned on seeing this guy named Julio that lives really far away that we found a few weeks ago. So we trekked out to his house and he comes to the door and steps outside and basically explains to us that he is not interested at all and then he gave us the Book Of Mormon that we had given him back. So that didn't go as we had planned. But we kept on walking and looking for other people to teach and to share the Book of Mormon with. We ended our night in the church because we were going to have an activity to do some family history on the computers. However, nobody ended up coming to the activity so after about an hour waiting for people and working on some of Hermana Kahns family history we decided to call it a day and we went home.

Friday - We got to visit with Macarena Nuñez (a less-active youth) today and we shared a little bit about the importance of having a strong and individual testimony to be able to make it through life. Then we made a pit stop at the house of our Relief Society President and we helped here paint some cabinets that they had just made. While we were there I got to see about 10 seconds of the Presidential Stuff that was going on. We were hoping to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir preform but we didn't have the opportunity to see it. Then we ended our night talking to a different less active member named Silvia, she is amazing and I loved being able to feel and then to testify of the love that God has for each one of us. 

Saturday - We went and taught Raul more about the Plan of Salvation and that was really exciting. I love seeing the hope that learning more about Christ and the plan that God has for each one of us brings into the lives of the people here. Then we went out to visit Yamima, she is kind of crazy and we are pretty sure that she is actually a member (we are working on finding here information from a different department of Uruguay). Then later that night we were walking to contact a little bit and then to go home and we ran into a contact that we had made an appointment with this week to meet with her this upcoming Friday. She told us that she wanted to reschedule because she has to go to the doctor that day and wants us to visit her really bad because her niece is a member and she was able to talk to her a little bit. She then asked us where she could buy one of these books that her niece had talked to her about so, I showed her the Book Of Mormon that I had in my hand and then we gave it to her. Her entire face lit up with Joy and it made us both really happy. 

Sunday - We went into Coloina all together today because we were having our District Conference. It was really fun to be able to have our entire branch (and Raul) together in the bus to laugh and have fun on the way to a Conference. At the Conference we were able to hear from President and Hermana Olsen as well as to hear the new District Presidency that we are going to have speak to us. It was a great Conference and all of the missionaries from Colonia were there. We were able to sing for the special musical number it was amazing to see the happiness on the faces of the members all together because, they were able to be united, it was incredible!!! I was able to really recognize how special it is to live in a place where there are members of the church all around me and that we can be united often. 

Desafio - Well it is almost the end of January but I want to challenge you to do something that maybe you have already done. In the Ensign this month there is a talk about the new youth theme that they are going to be having this year, which is found in James 1:5- ASK . The challenge is to read this talk and then to listen to the song that the church also has to go along with the new theme. Then to apply one of the many different things that you learn from it into your daily life. I know that God answers prayers and that we can all grow and be strengthened when we pray with a sincere heart. 

I love you and hope that you have a great week.. 

ALSO ---- Happy Birthday to my amazing Sister Carley who will be turning 17 this Saturday  

Hermana Sanovich 

Season 2 Episode 7 "Drenched in Sweat to Soaking Wet and Back Again" (1-16-17)

Season 2 Episode 7 "Drenched in Sweat to Soaking Wet and Back Again"

This week has been crazy because the weather has either been insanely hot or a complete down pour and it is still working out what type of weather we are going to have today so that is why we have been really sweaty and then really really wet... Not the most glamorous of times but we have been having fun so here's what happened this week. 

Plaza De toros - Colonia

Tuesday - We went and did some divisions in El Real and that is where we visited the plaza De Toros and to also see a different part of the river. We took some cool pictures where you can sort of see Buenos Aires, Argentina so that was a little fun trip. We also got to be with Hermana Orán and Hermana Maldonado and help them to find some new people to teach in their area so it was a good day filled with talking to new people. Including a lady that spoke to us in Portuguese and a couple of people in English so its always an event contacting.

Kahn, me, Maldonado, Orán

Wednesday - We visited this guy named Raul who cant read and it is a little hard to help him because he wants to read and knows how to read he just cant see and is waiting for the end of summer vacation to see the Doctor and to get some new glasses so until then we are his eyes and we get to read the Book Of Mormon to him when we visit. 

Thursday - We found a less active member named Laurentino this week and wanted to be able to talk to him about the importance of coming to church.  As we were talking to him in front of his door his puppy comes up and I start playing with it and then out of nowhere he just gets mad. Not only does he basically yell at the poor thing to leave him alone, he threw a rock at it and nailed it in the head, it was awful!!! 

Oran, Kahn, Me, Maldonado (Peru,Peru,USA, Argentina)

Friday - We had the chance to go and visit Valdence with Hermana Rohrer, it was good to try and see the other half of our branch that we don't see very often because they live kind of far away. Sadly a lot of the people that she had wanted to visit were all on vacation and so we ended up not actually talking to a bunch of people but we tried really hard. When we came back home we talked with Nelson and in the end he told us that he didn't want us to come back anymore because he doesn't have any desires to change right now. That was quite the end to a really long day, but its his decision and he was really thankful for everything that we had helped him learn, so it still was a blessing to meet and teach him. 

Saturday - We visited with Raul again and his niece today, so that was good because she can help him read just a little bit and that made things run a little more smoothly. We also all got together and cleaned the church so that it would be ready for Sunday. It was good to have some support from the members in the branch this time and we got the cleaning done a lot faster this week than we have in the past. More hands = light work 

Sunday - We got to come to church today and it was nice to see a couple of people that we all have been visiting recently because their family situations are great and it is always exciting to have them come to church. We learned more about the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel, then we talked about President Hinckley and started those lessons off this year. We went home and ate some lunch, and to our surprise when we were outside we got drenched. I should now by now to always have my umbrella but we didn't so we got soaking wet and had to go back to the house and get all rain geared up. With our boots, pants and rain jackets we felt just like the people that live on their farms here. 

Monday (today)- We went to Colonia and had a District meeting. We got to teach the Restoration to the other missionaries in our District.  Then we got back on a bus and came home. 

OHH... but while I was at the District meeting I received some letters from my AMAZING WARD!!!!!   Thank you so much for all of the cute notes and the drawings that you sent me, they made my day!! 

Desafio "Challenge"- Okie dokie so this week the challenge is going to be... 

To be AMBITIOUS! I read the talk from General Conference By Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita

Of the Seventy and absolutely loved it.  I loved the fact that he was telling us to be BOLD in our beliefs and to be willing to share them. 

So the challenge is 

1- To read his talk and then... 

2- To do something bold related to the gospel and to share it in someway with those around you

I hope that you are all having a wonderful start to the New Year, and I want you all to have a great week and to be BOLD and full of ambition. 

Love, 

Hermana Cassidy Sanovich 

Season 2 Episode 6 " The one with the dog" (1-9-17)

Season 2 Episode 6 " The one with the dog"

Hermana at the River

So this week was a bunch of contacting and being able to talk to a lot of new people here in Nueva Helvecia so not a lot of really exciting things happened,up until today when we had the chance to go to the river/beach and take some pictures and see the ciudad vieja. (old city) But before that...here are a few of the things that happened this week. 

Tuesday - We visited this less active member who is also a recent convert to the church and we testified to her about the love that God has for each of us. It was a great opportunity to bring the Spirit into her home and for her to remember what the Gospel is really about. We heard there was going to be a lot of rain these next couple of days so it has been humid and really really warm. 

Camilo our house dog...

Wednesday - We spent the morning looking for a lady named Isable who I am absolutely convinced that her street does not exist so that was a little bit of a bummer. But when we were walking out of the neighborhood where we thought that her house was we ran into a stray dog. Now dogs just on the streets is something that we see everyday, but a dog with a leash wandering around is not common. This dog ended up leading us to her owner who is now one of the people that we are teaching :?  Dogs are great people!!!! 

Thursday - We taught this guy named Raul and his niece about the Book of Mormon and they both said that they were going to read it because they think that it could help them in their lives. Later on that night we went and visited Nelson, and it is really hard to tell where he is at. We talked about the plan of Salvation and he just kind of looked at us and then asked some questions about God and how we are all connected to him. We are going to be talking to him more about his questions to be able to know what he is thinking. 

Hotel Uruguay

Friday - We killed a bunch of flies that are slowly but surely coming into our house every single day. We also had a really good laugh when we ran into this guy named Louis who we had contacted before. When we ran into him he was not wearing anything but a "speedo." Needless to say that it was a very odd encounter and it left ALL of us a little embarrassed. But we had a good laugh because sometimes these things happen and they are a good break from being so serious all the time.

Saturday - We walked and walked and walked our entire area and we did not have much luck finding anyone who wanted to listen to us or even give us the time of day. But we did get to talk with President Hurst when we went to his house for lunch, so that was really good to have a minute to talk about the branch and how it can progress. Then we were walking down the street and we ran into this guy who told us that he had talked to the missionaries before, but it was a little odd because he was only there giving us compliment after compliment. SO that was a little awkward. 

Sunday - We had our Fast and Testimony meeting this week and it was great to hear the members share their testimonies with us. We then heard about the Restoration of the Gospel in our classes.  Then later when we left the house we got taught someone exactly that. It is an amazing blessing that we have that we know that the Gospel has been restored. 

Monday - We are in "Real" to do some divisions, we had the chance to go to the river that is nearby and took some pics... 

The River

Challenge - This week we have focused a lot on making goals and sticking to them!  I hope that you haven't given up on the 2017 New Years Resolutions you have made! 
(YOU CAN DO IT) To go along with this I was thinking that we all need to have a theme for the year (an idea stolen from my mom which is a great one) This week the challenge is to look at the Goals and Resolutions that you have set and the big events coming up this year. Then to make a theme to guide you throughout the year. It could be even just a simple phrase or just one word. (my mom has chosen the word SUCCESS) I know that if we can keep our focus on this we will accomplish great things. 

Love you and I wish you a GREAT WEEK, 
Hermana Cassidy Sanovich 

Hermana Sanovich - Enjoying the RIVER

Road Heading towards the River

The Hermana's 

Hermana Sanovich looking so CUTE!!!

The STREET on the way to the RIVER

          

Season 2 Episode 5 "2017 New Year, New (eva) Helvecia" (i tried anyways) (01-12-17)

Season 2 Episode 5 "2017 New Year, New (eva) Helvecia" (i tried anyways)

President and Hermana Olsen with their family & The Hermana's of course!

This week we had changes and............. 
 - COLONIA NO MÁS!!! 

And my companion is............. 

 - Hermana Kahn 

from Peru (we are still companions) 

We are going to be together this change here in Nueva Helvecia and we are stoked!  So more than that here are a few of the highlights of the week....

Uruguay - Montevideo West Mission

Lunes - We had our p-day like normal and then we found out about our changes and then the funniest thing happened. So remember how we got a dryer from the senior couple? Well it was a cloudy day so we decided to use it and we also might have been using the fridge and the microwave all at the same time. AND we burnt out the socket and also killed the power in about half of our house :) But lucky for us we have a member in our ward that works with electricity and he was able to come and help us out with everything and so we have power in our entire house now, but that was a little adventure for us. 

Martes - We decided to mix things up during our language study time and we are working together, for Hermana Kahn to learn English and for me to learn some Portuguese. SO we started with the alphabet and we also have gone over how to introduce yourself and how to pray in Portugese. Eu sou Sister Sanovich uma missionera da Igreja de Jesus Cristo!!! Making some Progress Folks!  It rained a little bit during the night and when we finally got home, I just went outside and sat on our front porch with our home dog Camillo, up until it was time to go to bed. It was a very peaceful way to end a very long day. 

Miercoles - The highlight of the day, other than being able to teach this little elderly lady Juanita about the Restoration of the Gospel, was making Chaja with Hermana Cabrera. Chaja is something that is from Paysandú and that they eat here as a dessert. For me it is a little like a mix between tres leches and peach cobbler. So we were able to learn how to make that with her and it was delicious. 

Jueves - We did our planning this morning and we are looking forward to getting our new agendas, because I cant plan in this tiny little space anymore... But it was good to set some goals for this coming week. Then we were able to visit Ana and her kids, she is not really progressing and we are staring to visit her a little less than we were before. However we were able to visit them and to share about how important Faith is in our lives and how big of an influence our Faith has - in how we view life. We were talking while her kids were playing with their new little puppy, it is SO cute and it was really fun to see them with it. That was until her three year old son starting basically throwing it around and to make it worse Ana says " The poor thing, we will see how long it lives, He almost killed the bunny the other day." There was part of me that just wanted to bring the little guy to our house. 

Viernes - We started our morning off by visiting 2 elderly ladies and singing them a hymn and then sharing a scripture with them. It was incredible to see their faces light up and to see the JOY that they could feel when we were with them just by hearing a song that testifies of Christ. We then met this lady who was sitting outside of her house named Maria and Maria cant talk very well because she had surgery after an accident so it is really difficult to understand what she is saying, despite all of that we were able to talk with her and she told us that she wanted to go to church with us on Sunday so we are excited about that.

New Years Eve cake!!!

Sabado - Its New Years Eve and it is HOTTER than I think it has ever been in my entire life because it is more humid than I think I thought was physically possible. But we were able to talk to a few people today, Yamima and Nelson. Yamima fell the other day and is now in a wheelchair and we were able to lift her spirit a little bit because she was feeling a little down. Nelson had been reading the Book of Mormon so we talked to him about all of his doubts and questions that he has had so far. Then we went back to our house to ring in the "NEW YEAR." We had the opportunity to be in the Cabrera house once again, but this time without the Cabreras because they went to visit their daughter in Colonia Centro. We still had fun, we made a cake, we watched some Mormon Messages and then we saw some more fireworks!!! 

Domingo - Church was really good, there weren't a lot of people here because of the holiday and everything but it was a really good meeting. We were able to learn from the District Presidency a little bit and then to start the year off discussing what we will be studying this year in the other meetings. After church we were able to visit a less active family and get to know them a little better and we are hoping that having people here that they know will help them to come back to church. Then we went to Maria's house to see why she didn't come to church this morning and the weirdest thing happened. When we got to her house she was sitting outside, so we walked up to her and started talking to her about everything. The whole time she was just looking at us really confused- so Hermana Kahn asked her if she remembers us and she said "NO", then we asked her what her name was and she said "Ines." AND in that very moment I was scared off my rocker!! To make it a little creepier she also had a knife in her hand because she was cutting up watermelon, but it was a weird experience and we both wanted to book it far away from her house. But it turns out that her name is Maria Ines and she has a hard time remembering things, so we are going to talk to her husband this next week and find out a little more about them.

DESAFIO (Challenge) --- We just ended the year 2016, and I finished reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish!! How did your reading go? This week is a challenge that is going to be a very vague one with some follow up so be prepared. This week I challenge you to make a list of 17 goals that you want to achieve this year, BUT wait there is more we are going to make them a little more specific. For this challenge there is a catch, there are 3 categories and they are... 

- Health (mental or physical)

- Spiritual

 -Family 

Make 5 goals that apply to each category and then one little thing you want to do every single day and then a BIG goal that will be more of a project for you during this year.

I know that making goals will help us all to progress and to learn more about ourselves and to push ourselves to become better people. I love you all and hope that you have a fantastic week and that 2017 will be a year of "Success" and many "Blessings." 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! 

Love,

Hermana Cassidy Sanovich