all i want for Christmas is...

AGUA!!!!!! Yup....we can no longer drink the water here in Salta...at least for a week! We received an "emergency" phone call the other day letting us know that there is salmonella in the water so now we have to buy water. And water is not cheap. Bueno, it’s not that expensive but I would rather buy chocolate if you know what I mean :) 

Anyways, we found an amazing investigador recently named Agustina. She has 18 years but has been through a lot in her life to help strengthen her faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. She recently told us that she wants to be a missionary!!!!! YAY BECAUSE MISSIONS ARE THE BEEESSSSTTTTT!!!!!! So we are helping her learn more about the love from our Heavenly Father and prepare for a sacred promise with Him. 

Dios nos na poder! FYI it is pretty hot here in South America. And riding bikes all day in the beating sun makes me a little tired BUT GOD OUR STRENGTH WILL BE! The other day we had to be in the church at 800 for a meeting but with our luck, we had just finished a lesson and were far far away from the church. When we left the lesson, we hopped on our bikes, I looked at Hermana Westra and said VAMOS!!!! And then I sang called to serve all the way to the church and lots of people were staring but I don’t care because we got to the church in a quick 10 minutes. That is a record my friends. But I know that I received that strength from the Lord because fat Kelly would have probably just stopped for some ice cream on the way! 

Hey everyone. Wanna know the secret of missionary work? Bueno, you can´t tell your friends or my president...because it’s a secret. But I trust y’all so here it is: the secret to missionary work is THE HOLY GHOST! I have learned a lot from Hermana Westra about the power that comes from the Holy Ghost. Porque bueno, this is the Lords work and we are only instruments in His hands so we have to do it His way. And they only way we can know what His way is through the Holy Ghost. I have recently set some goals so that Ï can have the Holy Ghost more during lessons, planning, everything! So all you future missionaries out there....learn the way the spirit speaks to YOU! 

Did you like my baja cana last week? I promise I won’t do it again haha! But I found this scripture in my personal study yesterday and maybe shed a tear...okay I did. But anyway, we had a rough Sunday. It is hard for our investigadores to come to church and so sometimes I get a little discouraged. But afterwards I was reading in my favorite book - the Book of Mormon and found this treasure 

2 Nephi 4:26 reads:

“O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?”

Que lindo!!!! As I think of the all the innumerable blessings that God has given and continues to give me on a daily basis, I have absolutely no reason to be sad or discouraged. AND NEITHER DO YOU! So choose to be happy! Choose to be grateful! And choose to accept the love of our loving Heavenly Father!!!! 

Spanish word of the week: Navidad - CHRISTMAS 

WOOOHOOO CHRISTMAS IS COMING AND I GET TO TALK TO MY FAM! PRAY FOR GOOD CONNECTION! 

Love you all! Have a very merry Christmas and eat lots of cookies and win all the ugly Christmas sweater contests! 

HOY ES EL DIA! 

♥ Hermana Mannewitz

rubias tienen poder

Hola!!!! Hello! Whadduppp??? (That’s what Hermana Westra and I say now. Since we are two blondes, everyone always assumes that we only speak English so they yell in their strong Latino accent HELLO. It keeps me laughing)

Anyways, crazy week here in Guemes! We had a service activity, capilla abierta (open house at the church) and ward conference so wow. I’m quite the exhausted missionary. But here are some highlights of the week...

- WARD CHOIR WENT OUT WITH A BANG!!!!! I’m sure you were all on your seat waiting to hear how the choir turned out and I am here to tell you that it was a grand success. Everyone had matching scarfs like in Pitch Perfect and they didn’t sing as off tune as usual. I would call it a Golden Trophy kind of performance! 

- Here in Argentina, there is not a single spicy thing. They have this sauce that is supposed to be spicy but is far from spicy. But gracias a la Hermana Taylor, I have some siracha sauce in the apartment and I brought it to lunch so this grandma in our ward could try it and bueno, let me just tell y’all that she almost died. I have never seen such quick reflexes in all my life. Luckily we were already outside (because it is too hot to be indoors this days) so she spat so hard all over the ground. 

- We talked to the mom of Aron!!!!! Aron is on the list of people we have been teaching that really wants to be baptized but need permission from his mom and POR FIN we found her and talked and YAY THINGS ARE LOOKING GOOD! More than anything, we testified of the blessings that come from being a member of the church and en verdad, there are so many blessings! I know that God blesses us as we keep His commandments and strive to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

- Rebecca ya esta. Our ward mission leader’s girlfriend from Brazil is finally in town and poor thing doesn’t speak Spanish and everyone thinks they’re crazy but I love the drama 

-We had a ward activity this week to clean the public hospital here in Guemes. It was a great activity and pretty successful! We gave Christmas gifts, cleaned, and painted trees. Yeah...that’s a weird thing they do here in Argentina because there are so many bugs! But it was super fun! We got to use the Mormon Hands t-shirts and talk to a lot of people about our church and what we believe! 

- Are y’all LIGHTING THE WORLD???? Because Christmas ya viene. Which means that everyone should be extra holly jolly and loving the Christmas music on replay! But don’t forget to serve others and spread a little Christ-like love! 

Bueno, I’m gonna teach you all a little something about Argentina that is called BAJAR LA CAÑA!!!!  Don’t look it up in google translate because it doesn’t make sense but it happens all the time here in Guemes. Basically it means "cracking the whip" or like "whipping them into shape". idk. I don’t like to bajar la cana but my dear companion, Hermana Adams, taught me everything I needed to know. Here is my scripture of the week and an example of BAJA CANA:

I have learned a lot about the blessings that come from church attendance. I love seeing the changes in my investigadores lives after they have felt of the love that God has specifically for them in His house. I love the promises in 3 Nefi 18 that talk about the commandment and blessing of participating in the sacrament each week. 

3 Nefi 18:9 says, “And it came to pass that they did so, and did drink of it and were filled; and they gave unto the multitude, and they did drink, and they were filled.”

I love that it says and they were filled...with whatever they need in their life. Filled with hope, filled with love, filled with patience, filled with time, filled with temporal blessings. God is all-knowing and all-powerful so I know that as we obey commandments, we will be blessed. And bueno, for those who don’t keep the Sabbath day holy (this is where the baja cana comes in), there are different promises 

3 Nefi 18:13 says, “But whoso among you shall do more or less than these are not built upon my rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall, and the gates of hell are ready open to receive them.”

YA ESTAN ABIERTAS!!!! 

hahah and there you have it. The first baja cana that I have ever done! Hahaha but go to church. It’s good for you!!! 

LOVE YOU ALL! MERRY ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!! 

Wow (Spanish word of the week): estornudar: to sneeze 

HOY ES EL DIA

♥ Hermana Mannewitz 

Awww yeah!

Barrio GUEMES represent

Woohoo!  Christmas gifts!

Demasiado gringos

Painting trees.  Yup.  That's what they do here.

FINISHED!

THAT'S A SPIDER!!

Don't zoom in too closely or you will see how terrible we are at making empanadas

I found a friend!  I think it was a small lizard but I'm not sure

hola!!!

Hola familia y amigos! Como estan???

We had a super great week here in Guemes and didn´t even get lost that much! Since Hermana Taylor left, I have had to guide this huge area but with the help of the Lord, we got around! But now I am with Hermana Westra, ANOTHER GRINGA, from Utah! Here are 5 things that I love about Hermana Westra:

1. She went to the same high school as my cousins - the Feldmans! And we have a few friends in common because she was also at BYU last fall

2. She speaks Spanish sooooo good. Like better than me. But I am more humbled by my Spanish abilities and always look for ways to improve 

3. She is super healthy! So she is helping me be a healthier person...even though I haven’t eaten ice cream for a whole week and that is hard...

4. Her testimony is so strong! I can feel the spirit bien fuerte when she bears testimony on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith 

5. Super obedient and diligent! She came on the mission to WORK and we are gonna do just that work. work. work. 

Yup. God has blessed me so so much! I don´t know why I always am so anxious for transfers because He always gives me exactly what I need, exactly when I need it. And I know He does the same for each and every one of you!  Trust more.  Fear less.

Bueno prayer warriors, send some prayers your way for Jessica and Jimena and Nico and Leo. Each one of them are preparing for baptisms and bueno WE WANT A WHITE CHRISTMAS BUT WE WANT IT WHITE IN BAPTISMAL CLOTHING. yup. That’s the goal. And we are working really hard to gain? (idk the word) the goal!  But more than anything, pray that they can have strong testimonies!  Also, it is time to LIGHT THE WORLD!!!!  Watch the video, shed some tears, share it with your friends and bring Christmas joy to everyyyoooone! I absolutely love the video and the church´s initiative to help bring others to Christ! 

FYI our district is all gringos (people from the USA aka best country in the world) this transfer so we are probably gonna talk a lot of English but also spend Christmas and New Year’s together so that will be lots of fun! 

Bueno, I have spiritual message mumble jumble in my brain that I would love to explain but I’m not sure how but I’ll give it a shot and y’all can help me figure it all out! 

1 Nefi 21:14-15 “But, behold, Zion hath said:  The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me – but he will show that he hath not.  For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?  Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee, O house of Israel.”

3 Nefi 11:15 “And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands in his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.”

We are literally on the hands of the Savior. He suffered for YOU! He loves YOU!  And He will heal YOU! I love the phrase one by one. I know that the Lord is aware of our specific needs and all the things that are going on in our life. I know that He gives us challenges He knows we can handle and the least we can trust in His perfect!

Love you all!  Thanks for everything!!!

HOY ES EL DIA! 

♥ Hermana Mannewitz 

distrito de gringos

eres mi religion

Hermana Westra

salta la linda . . . o algo asi

SALTA

teleferico salta!!!