Season 3 Episode 17 "SPRING has sprung" ;) (9-25-17)

SPRING!!!

Season 3 Episode 17 "SPRING has SPRUNG" ;)

This week we jumped into the springtime season and to tell you the truth I think Uruguay decided that it was Summer already here. It has been super humid and it is starting to get hot enough that we are getting a little sun burnt... BUT that means that more people are outside and we get to see even more miracles!! 

Women's Conference

We were able to go to Paysandu for a tri-zone conference where we talked about how as a mission we are progressing and how we have plans to progress here in the upcoming months. It is always helpful to hear from a big group of missionaries and to all share ideas that we can try in our own areas. We also found out that we will be having a full mission conference in November combined with the other mission here in Uruguay. We also found out that the pants that we all LOVE so much will be back here November 1st, así que (so)we are happy about one less months summer in pants...                                                

We had a great chat with Bishop Selios and his family this week where we talked a bunch about the ward and the missionary mindset that they are trying to have. They are such an amazing family, both Obispo and Hermana Selios served missions in different parts of Argentina so they are willing to do just about anything to do with missionary work. They are trying to do everything and it is interesting to see how much they need our help and how much we need theirs. The church really is just a "BIG TEAM"of all of us working together to help God with the work of salvation here on Earth. It was time to go and we told them that we wanted to help them with anything that they needed and we were shocked when they told us that no one had asked them that in a very long time. It is easy to see how a family that is strong in the Gospel, can sometimes be over looked. We are so Thankful for them and all that they do for us and the ward here that we want to help them with everything we can.

One of the biggest miracles this week was finding the Leon family. They live in one of the smallest houses I have ever seen in Uruguay and there are more people there every time we visit. For now we are teaching the mom, and her three kids. They are a little crazy but when we start talking about  Christ they all sit down and listen. This week we were teaching them about the Book of Mormon and we taught using the pictures in the front of all of the copies of the Book of Mormon that we have and they were mesmerized by it. We invited them to be baptized and they accepted the invitation, we are excited to work with them to achieve their goal. The best part was when we went to say the closing prayer and the 4 kids and their mom were all huddled together sitting on their dirty bed surrounded by a pile of clothes and they all just bowed their heads reverently they were quiet the entire prayer. To see the power that a simple prayer can have and the amount that it changed the entire room as well as the atmosphere was INCREDIBLE! 

Me and my Buddy

Challenge - this week we have 2 parts ready? 

1. pray and ask God the questions that you have going into this Conference weekend (the ones from last weeks challenge) they apply every week?  2. WATCH Conference... do it!! There are so many different ways to be a part of it that really it is a blessing to have the Apostles come to us when and where we need them.. 

I am looking forward to this week and enjoying Conference and also the craziness 

that I am sure is ahead of me...

*Thank you for coming with me on the Uruguay Express every week. 

**Thank you for the love and support that is constantly expressed!! 

***I truly have the BEST FRIENDS and FAMILY around!!! 

                        Hermana Cassidy Sanovich 

Uruguayan BUG

Tucker (my dog back home) Uruguayan twin...

Coke Floats - they don't have root-beer

Elders with their bowls of Cereal for the trip

Street sign

View of the Street

The Crew eating some lunch

Elder Pettit in the TREE

The River

The Catholic Church in the middle of Town

The Museum 

ME!

                               ME!                                                                   

Season 3 Episode 16 "That was Random " (9-18-17)

Season 3 Episode 16 "That was Random"

First Day with Hermana Taylor

So this week the weirdest array (I am trying to speak better English!!) of events ever happened. The best way to explain it all is just giving you a list so here we go... 

Tuesday - morning (3am) we get a call from our District Leader asking if we had any ibuprofen because he has not been able to sleep lately because of a toothache. At around three am we had a little drug exchange outside of our apartment, if our neighbors didn't think we were weird before they do now!! Later that day we found ourselves with a talking parrot, we tried to have a conversation with it but...what does one say to a parrot in Spanish? We at least got to record it saying Hola and we were pretty happy about that.  

Our Talking Parrot

We contacted a new part of our area and found the cool little almacen (warehouse) with the name "Hermanas" and decided to take a selfie. Yes, we were judged just a little bit by the owner who thinks that we are crazy Americans but it was worth it. We also got to talk with some of the youth in our ward at an activity and they were really confused about American culture. So if someone would explain to me how exactly we greet each other in the United States so that the Uruguayans do not think that we are cold people that would be appreciated. Oh cultural differences are always funny. 

Thursday - we had interviews with President Olsen and it was great to talk to him and get some advice about how to keep Fray Bentos growing. We then bought frozen canelones and milanesas for lunch, DON'T try this at home because they are really gross... 

US at 3am

Then we taught Maria Nuñez and she is amazing!! She told us that she wants to get baptized and that she wants to stop working on Sundays. She made two little missionaries day that is for sure!! We are excited to help her with her goal. Then we were off to the neighborhood that is really far from our area where we went on a little hike and made friends with a dog and a horse. MY COMP talks to just as many animals as I do!! POR FIN!!  (AT LAST)

Beautiful Horse Picture

WE LOVE ANIMALS...

Friday - we had a big missionary Choque de Fuerza...(Power shock?) Sorry no English translation... Basically all of the missionaries from our zone come and we all do missionary work in one area. This week we were lucky enough to have them all come here, we were able to go a little further away than we usually do and saw all of the river and these cool buildings...oh and a bird pooped on Hermana Taylor, I laughed but she wasn't thrilled 
about it.

Saturday - saw a FAT DOG...enough said... 

The cute Fat Dog!

Sunday - we had this really cool experience with a guy that was from Colombia he just decided to come to church. He is not a member and is not even living in Uruguay, but he saw the church and decided to come. We talked to him for a minute after Sacrament meeting and are hoping that the missionaries that find him next can help him actually get to know more about the church. 

We found an older lady that was stuck inside her house and we tried to help her get out. 

We heard the screams from town when the biggest Uruguayan Futbol rivalry game finished... 

FUNNY STORY- WELP we had something a little different happen this week. 

We contacted this guy who was super duper cool. Up until he tells us that he killed a lady. WHAT????? So we were not planning on teaching him. However, he wanted to get closer to God, we decided to give him a chance and ask him if he would like us to teach him and come to the church.  But he he didn't come to the church, so we were just going to move on. Then we saw him and he told us that he was going to come to church for a different lesson. When he texted us and told us he couldn't come we got a weird response when we asked about having another lesson with him. "Sí amor" (YES LOVE) We decided to text back scheduling a lesson and then he responds "Estan solas amores" (THEY ARE ALONE LOVES) WE did not respond and are not going to be talking to him ever again... Sometimes little weird things like that happen here in Uruguay... Lesson learned - when people tell you about their past like his, you may want to STAY away...(no offense just a little scary)

DESAFIO/CHALLENGE - This week has been full of many different adventures and it was so funny to see what happened every single day. During the week we discussed a goal that we have made as a mission to read the Book Of Mormon starting right now and finish before Christmas... I am challenging you to do it too!! I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that the lessons that we can learn by reading it will help us in our lives growing closer to God. 

I hope you have a great week!! 

Love , Hermana Cassidy Sanovich 

Cool Factory we found

The River

More of the River

Monday night with the Curbelo family and churros!!

Wednesday we found this almacen (warehouse) called "Las Hermanas"
we thought it was cool...

Livingston and Hibbert

Me with Livingston & Hibbert

weird Uruguanan steak on the table

Season 3 Episode 15 - "27 hours of Terminals" (9-11-17)

This is what a BUS ride looks like at 3am

Season 3 Episode 15 - "27 hours of Terminals"

How to lose an entire day in a terminal... Brought to you by Hermana Sanovich and Hermana Mattos.  Well you got it folks this change it seems that the buses are just going to continue being a huge part of my life. However, this time they also include more hours in a terminal. So this week was changes and as many of you know that Hermana Wagner is now safe and sound in her home in Lindon, Utah and with her family. What you may not know is that she left me in a bus terminal at 3 am to get home... 

Wednesday - we sent her on her way to Montevideo and I stayed in the terminal with Hermana Reyes and Hermana Galvez until around 6:30 in the morning, when Hermana Reyes left to go to her new area. Once everyone had left me and Hermana Galvez were able to go to the church and to stay there for a few hours before going back to the terminal to wait for my new companion HERMANA TAYLOR!!! She is from California and is absolutely AMAZING!! 

Thursday - we were able to work a little in our area before we were back on a bus and in the terminal again...so that Hermana Taylor could go with Hermana Galvez to Dolores so Hermana Mattos and I could travel to Montevideo Friday morning. They left at around 8 at night and once again we were in the terminal, and the funny thing is that all of the food places in the terminal close at about this time of night so we were just sitting in a terminal doing the most random of things until 3 am when our bus left to go to Montevideo.

Friday - we were in Montevideo and had a wonderful concilio (council) with President and Hermana Olsen along with the assistants. They taught us a lot about going back to the basics of missionary work and about focusing on the people that we were teaching so that they could progress. It was a great little conference and before we knew it we were in another terminal waiting for our bus to go back to Mercedes. We got back to Mercedes and waited only a little bit to be able to travel back to Fray Bentos and actually sleep in a real bed!! 

Saturday - in the morning we traveled back to Mercedes to get our real companions back and it was about noon by the time we were all back in our normal areas and with our real companions again.

Sunday - we were able to go to church and to feel the spirit and to learn from the different teachers here in Fray Bentos. It was also a great opportunity for us to go to the baptism of a members son  and to participate with yet another musical number. Someone really needs to tell the Uruguayans that I do not sing that well.. 

Monday - we were able to go to our home away from home in Mercedes and to be with the zone to make some delicious tacos and then to play some UNO. 

IT has been a week full of travel/TERMINALS once again and I feel like my email is more of a travel log than anything else. HOWEVER, there is one thing that I learned this week that I wanted to share with you all and it makes it as this week´s challenge.. 

Hermana Oran and I from the last change

CHALLENGE- We watched a video clip that comes from a movie where Brad Pitt is fishing, now President never told us which movie it came from however if you want to look it up it might make more sense. NOW the important thing is that in this clip he is trying to catch this fish that was trying really hard to get free. As part of this he entered into the river and was willing to dive in to the cliffs and everything just to get the fish he was set on catching. Now this applies to us all as miembro (member) missionaries as being fishers of men and being dedicated to sharing the gospel with everyone. It also applies to our goals and being committed to them...this week set a Goal and make a plan to stick to it no matter what, even if you have to get a little wet. When you accomplish your goal it will be amazing...

Hermana Oran and I from this change

Well that's all for this week. 

Thank you for all of your love and support. 

I love you,

Hermana Cassidy Sanovich 

 

Around - Fray Bentos

Fray Bentos

Fray Bentos

Fray Bentos

Duh Elders....

Elders and Tacos

      

                                                  

                                                         Hermana Taylor
                                                      (sorry caught her with her eyes closed)

Season 3 episode 14 "Wonderful weeks with Wagner" (9-4-17)

Season 3 episode 14 " Wonderful weeks with Wagner"

This week has been incredible. I am sorry that there is so little time to actually go into detail about what has been going on here in Fray Bentos but here is a little bit of the highlights...

We went to PAYSANDU!!!!!! 

I was able to visit Guadalupe and her family. I learned that her brother got baptized in April and that he is wanting to go on a mission and that was really exciting to see how the Gospel spreads and how much small simple things can change peoples lives forever!!! 

Me cleaning the font before the Baptism

Set up complete

Ismael's Baptism

We had Ismaels baptism!! Ismael Acosta Ponce, 75 year old, cancer survivor got baptized this weekend and it was amazing!! I loved being able to see how happy and joyful he was about the change he was making in his life!! I am so happy to be a missionary!!!! 

Hermana Wagner has been such an incredible comp!! She has changed how I have seen things here in the mission. We have laughed so much and we have also worked so hard!! We have been on a number of buses for over 120 hours in the past 6 weeks. I love her she has taught me so much about love and charity for those around us. I am excited for her and the adventure she has waiting for her back in Utah. 

I am also pleased to announce that I will be working with Hermana Taylor here in Fray Bentos this upcoming change. She is newer to the mission and I am excited to enjoy this time of miracles here in URUGUAY!!! 

FAMILY SHOUT-OUT!

My family is doing amazing things back home and I could not be prouder!! I have learned how important family is for sure and I am so glad that I have mine!!! 

Desafio...(Chanllenge) This week I want you to try and face all of the challenges or hard situations that you have coming up with a positive outlook. I know that we can do difficult things when we put our FAITH not only in our Father in Heaven but in ourselves.

This week is going to be a great one I promise!!  

Love you all, 

Hermana Cassidy Sanovich

Guadalupe, her brother Jorge

Guadalupe, her mom and  I

Lucia and Soledad

Resendiz and Hot dogs

Us making pizza

Elders and Ice cream

Hermana Wagner and Ice cream

THANKS FOR BEING MY JOSH TO MY DRAKE...you will be missed! 

"JOSH" #missioncomplete

"DRAKE" #15months