First transfers!

HOLA!

I am so sorry that I was not able to write yesterday! My first transfer, first 6 weeks in the mission field, is officially finished! Yesterday, I had to travel to Tres Cruises, near Montevideo, to sign some papers for my visa. So, today is Pday! Last night, our district leader called us with the news of changes....and the news is...I am staying in PROGRESO with Hermana Harris still as my companion! We are really happy because we have some progessing investigators that we hope will be baptized sometime within these next couple of weeks! Our time here in Progreso is not finished!

Speaking of investigators, I want to tell you about a few of them...

1.) Monica and her two hijos, Carlos y Angel. Monica is the sweetest lady. I wish you could all see her house. For work, she sews things at the street markets. We have been teaching her for about a month now, but her progress is very slow. She believes and knows el Libro de Mormon is verdadero, but she is struggling with her compromisos of reading everyday. BUT, she did come to church on Sunday, which is a HUGE step! We were so happy!

2.) Graciela. Graciela is living in pareja with a menos activo. She has two of the most darling little kids and she has been angry with God all her life because her mother died when she was young. We have had lessons on how God is our LOVING Heavenly Father. Very powerful. We are hoping she makes the right decision to move out of the house or to get married to her boyfriend.

3.) Melanie and Frederico. There mom is a menos activo of 11 years. They are such great kids!

I really wish that I had more time this week to write. Thank you SO much for your emails this week and for your encouragement and love. I LOVE YOU!

¡Ciao! Besos!

Hermana Coon!

Before I forget, mom, could you send me some stamps to write letters? Also, I definitely am in need of some dietary supliments or something. They dont eat vegetables here or anything healthy for that matter. I am dying...my poor intestines! Also, could you get Megan Rowe and Old Man Marv´s address for me so I can write them some letters? And could you put some more money on my debit card? I dont really know how much I have on it...could you maybe tell me the amount? Cant believe Grant, Elder Boyd, is 21 years old! Grandma wrote me and said she wants to knit me a hat...I WOULD LOVE THAT! Cream wouuld be awesome! Tell her thank you and that I love her!

I wish I could reply back to all of your emails, but one hour is so short! LOVE YOU ALL! xoxoxo

I'm singing in the Rain

Kathryn Coon	10:27 AM (19 minutes ago)
to me, Grant

¡Mi Familia!

It has been a week full of rain, prayer, conferences, wind, and even more rain! It has literally rained for 5 days straight...it doesnt stop here. I have never ever seen weather like this before. In Arizona it rains for like 5 minutes and then stops, but here in Uruguay, it rains buckets! I LOVE IT! 

This week for service, Hermana Harris and I cleaned two members houses. Goodness, the people here are so poor. One sweet sister whose house we cleaned literally lives in a cement house probably the size of our kitchen. Its so dirty and unorganized, so we began to help her organize and section and sweet all the dirt off the cement ground. Then, she asked us to wash her greasy dishes. She took us around to the back of the house, and there was a water faucet! i was so humbled...this family didnt even have a kitchen with running water inside. So we washed the dishes the best we could outside in the backyard! It felt just like Girls Camp all over again! So when you wash dishes today, mom, just soak in every moment of all that hot running water for me. Boy, we are blessed. The next sweet sister is named Olga. She is a menos activo and just the sweet as can be. She gives us kisses on the cheek and really treats us like we are her own. She is probably 70 years old and has hair growing out of her chin. We love her. We dusted for her and she fed us lunch. It was probably the best meal that I have ever had here...rice and no meat! haha.

This week has been probably one of the most difficult weeks I have had since being here and I have had to really rely on my Heavenly Father for help. I have found myself many, many times on my knees asking for help because I literally had no strength to carry on. I have earnestly prayed for Heavenly Father to give me the strength and to bless me with the ability to listen to those quiet prompting of the spirit, and to have the courage and faith to open my mouth and to know that I will be blessed with words to say in spanish. Trying to learn a language is the most draining experience. I am struggling with patience with myself. I said, ¨Heavenly Father, I am exhausted. I am in a foreign land. I miss my home and family. I dont know what people are saying to me, and I dont know how to communicate well. I dont know how to teach in spanish. But, even though there are lots of things that I dont know how to do, what I do know is that these weaknesses that I have will be made strengths if I just humble myself and submit myself to thy will. Please help me to love these people and to feel of thy love.¨ Amen. That was my prayer, and you know what, Heavenly Father ALWAYS answers my prayers. The next day, was Sunday, and we picked up Aurora, a recent convert for church. We walked in the little church building and inside the sacrament room was a member of the ward, Brother Moreño, tuning the old piano! I just wanted to burst into tears, I was so touched, so touched that someone would be that thoughtful. I am the only one in the branch that plays the piano, and he was tuning it just for me. It felt like my heart literally grew 2 sizes bigger for love for these members. I was able to play the piano that day for the branch on a nice, somewhat tuned piano. I was so happy!

I want to share another experience where Heavenly Father answered my prayers. I spoke in church yesterday, and lets be honest, I hardly know spanish and I speak like a gringa. I stood up there on the stand, knowing that the Lord would help me. I spoke on the Atonement and repentance. I spoke about the hijos de Mosiah and Alma the Younger and how they were the vilest of sinners, but they were able to change their lives through the atonement of Jesucristo. I said some other things which I dont really remember haha and then at the end, I shared my testimony. I remember saying,¨You probably dont understand anything I have said, but I hope that you notice how you feel.¨Mom and Dad, the spirit was so strong and I began to get emotional. I looked down at the members and they were mouthing, ¨No, we have understood everything that you have said!¨ It was definitely the gift of tongues going on right there. My heart was so full of love for these people and for my Savior. And I learned through this experience, that we all have difficult days, but Christ is here to lift us up. I had some frustating days this week where all I wanted to do was to be home laying on our carpet speaking in english, going on a family bike ride, and taking a nice clean hot shower, but I could feel the strength of Christ helping me to push on a little more. Gosh, I am thankful for experiences like these to help me recognize how much I have learned and grown in just these short 2 months. The branch just loves their hermanas. All four of us hermanas sang a musical number, ¨Lead Kindly Light¨in spanish of course. The spirit was so strong once again. Afterwards, we were given lots of kisses on the cheek.

Hermana Harris and I are working hard every moment of the day. We are here to forget about ourselves and to devote ALL of our time and talents to the Lord and to these humble people of Progreso that dont even have running water in their kitchens. Mom, dad, james, annie, and hannah...I love you! Thank you for your love, support, and PRAYERS! I really needed them this week. Time to walk in the pouring rain and while we do, ¨I will be singing, SINGING IN THE RAIN!¨ because I am so happy.

Love you all. Until next week!

Hermana Coon

p.s. funny fact...A less active was asking me the names of my parents the other day and I said Grant and Jill. They looked at me like I was crazy and the funniest part about it was they could not even pronounce your names! haha. Thought that would make you smile! xoxo

Photos of Hermana Harris and I ready to embrace the storm! It was literally raining buckets outside, and the wind was howling, but you know us missionaries, we work no matter what weather...rain, shine, snow, sleet...the show must go on! (from Singing in the Rain.) I actually did burst into the song Singing in the Rain from my favorite movie while proselyting one day. I couldnt help myself! The weather is NEVER like this in Arizona...i have NEVER seen weather like this in my life! Rains non stop!

The cute hat was given to me to borrow by a sweet menos activo (less active) named M. She was worried that i didnt have anything to keep my head warm. Its actually a really cute hat, but in the photo you cant really see what it looks like. (I hope I dont get lice!)

Pictures of us hermanas having fun!

And a noche de hogar (FHE) with a family in the ward!  Familia Correa. We played a fun game, thats why we have marks on our faces!

The rainiest day of my life and sporting my recently purchased RAIN BOOTS! (They are bright, type 1 blue! Thought of you mom!)

Some hermanas and I at our conference with a member of the seventy.

Farm Girl!

Photos of my awesome experience of MILKING A COW! Boy, I was meant to be a farm girl. First the pig, now the cow! I am a natural...the animals love me! Too bad I dont like them! haha just kidding.

I am going to be a vegetarian when I come home, seriously!

Hello my loves!

I FINALLY GOT THE PACKAGES AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF DEAR ELDERS AND LETTERS!!!! Best moment ever! I never realized how great it was as a missionary to receive letters and packages in the mail...but its the best thing EVER! I even got letters from the Shumways! I loved them all! Thank you so much for the 2 packages and for the letters! It was like Christmas...literally. Since it is finally Pday, this morning I read all of my letters. I was so excited and could hardly wait..it was so tempting not to read them during the week! Not going to lie, as I was reading your letters I ate a few York mint patties and my eyes became very moist, just something about eating something that I love from America and reading sweet, kind words from those I love made me a little emotional. 

I love those pictures that you sent from San Fran! Looks like A BLAST! You are all so beautiful. Your letters made me laugh out loud and made me really happy. I just really really really love my family. So happy with your missionary efforts. And James! Big news about football. I am so proud of you for making that decision and I know that you will see many blessings from this decision. Love you bro!

This week has probably been the fastest week since being on the mission. It has been a trying week. I have had to make a contious effort to be patient with others and especially myself. This whole spanish thing is HARD. People talk so fast and I speak like a Gringa. Its a bit frustrating when I build up all this courage to talk to someone and then they just ignore me because I cant speak well or when they know that I am from the States and they make fun of me and answer back in English very poorly. But, everyday I try really hard to speak because I know that someday I will wake up and will be able to communicate and understand in Spanish. I feel like I pray 1,000,000 times a day for help. I can feel your prayers and it means so much to me...so thank you!

I have been studying in Alma and I was reading about Alma and how he was preaching Ammonihah and no one wanted to listen to him. They were all prideful and stiffnecked. That is exactly how Hna Harris and I felt this week. Everyday we hablamos con todos and NO ONE wanted to hear our message or even give us the time of day. The nicest person that we talked to one day was a Satan worshipper! We tried everything to get peoples attention, we even sang hymns in spanish on a street corner by a bus stop! haha people just looked at us like we were crazy. Its great reading about the awesome missionaries in the scriptures because I can relate. This morning, I studied in Alma 17 about the Sons of Mosiah and their example, how they had patience to bear their afflictions and courage. Thats what I pray for everyday...patience and courage. 

Hna Harris and I had the weirdest experience a few days ago. It was raining...like pouring so hard. I have never experienced rain like this before. We went out in the pouring rain to work. We were in a town in our area called Juanico. No one was in the streets, except for a really drunk man. We walked past him, but he called us over, and we felt like we needed to talk to him, so we did. He reeked of beer, had no teeth, and was homeless and dirty. He began sobing and crying and telling us how his 10 year old daughter was killed. He didnt have any belief that he would see his daughter and he kept asking us, ¨Where is God?¨It was so sad, but all we could do was testify to him about the Plan of Happiness, that he will see his daughter again. I hope he felt comforted, probably not because he was so drunk. We left, visited a less active that has 11 CATS (I died). There is a lot more to the story about this man, but I will just tell you that we saved him from commiting suicide. It was the weirdest experience of my life!

I love my mission president and his wife! They are amazing! His theme is ¨Hoy is el Dia!¨

I am going to be a vegetarian when I come home. or maybe a vegan. Haha seriously though. Yesterday, we ate dinner at the branch presidents home and I have never seen so much meat in my life. Carne asada i think. He just kept slathering meat onto our plates. Heavenly Father has quite the sense of humor. He sent me to a place that is obssesed with 3 things that I am not a big fan of

1) Meat and Mayonaise

2) Soda pop

3) Animals

But, yesterday, I accomplished a life long goal of MILKING A COW! Presidente Dotta lives on a farm and it was time to milk the cow yesterday, so we did! It was awesome! Look at all these life skills I am learning on my mission! haha.

Well, family. I love you all. Thank you again for the packages and letters. Keep writing me on Dear Elder. It was the best to receive all the fun! 

Until next week...

Hna Coon

Life in Uruguay

Some great photos from Zone Conference, my companion Hna harris, and my new friend named Bertha the PIG! In spanish pig is cancho, like in Nacho Libre. Such a funny story about Bertha. We were walking through the campo and all of a sudden, this HUGE mama pig just randomly appears from one of the vineyards. Its snorting and making a huge scene. At first, we were a little scared it was going to eat us, but then it kept following us and became our friend. Too funny!

Oh, and of course I cant forget the cockroach picture...Hna Harris and I holding our RAID! Guaranteed to kill every cockroach! You better believe we spray that stuff around our doors and windows every night to protect us. haha.

My dearest family!

Hello my wonderful, amazing family!

 

How fun you are all on vacation!!! It sounds like you all are having a blast! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE!!!

 

Wow! What a week it has been. I have had so many tender experiences this week where I KNOW that Heavenly Father is looking out for me. He takes care of his missionaries, that is for sure! I have lots of stories to share this week.

 

First, we have a brand new town in our area called Juanico. I dont think missionaries have been there hardly at all, just lots of testigos (Jehovah Witness missionaries.) We walk and walk and walk some more...easily 10 kilometers a day. easily! Everyday we see small milagros, but Thursday was amazing. Hna Harris and I have made it a goal to accomplish all of our weekly and daily goals of finding people and the number of lessons we will teach. We made it a goal not to go home at the end of the day until our goals are completed. Everyday we move forward with faith that the Lord will guide us to those who need to hear our message of the restored gospel. I want to tell you about a specific day, because it was amazing! Thursday. We got off the amnibus and began walking...walking down the dirt road, headed to the campo. We just kept walking and didnt really know where we were going. Every once in a while, we would see a small little farming house. We would clap at the entrance (p.s. you clap at doors instead of knock or ring the doorbell, super different!) and then introduce ourselves and then get to know them, and then talk about the gospel. We were having so much success and people wanted us to come back another day to teach them more. We kept walking, passed a house the first time. The people of the house were on their porch drinking their mate, they didnt look interested, so we kept walking. The road ended and so we decided to go back. We walked passed this particular house one more time, the people were still outside. We both received a strong impression or thought to go and talk to them. So thats what we did! We began talking and found out that the wife, Gabriella, is a less active member and was baptized 14 years ago! We had no record of her and we found her which was so cool! The husband, Oracio and the son, Gaston are not baptized. We taught them a little about the Book of Mormon and they really wanted us to come back and teach them another day. We made a cita, appt, and then we left. We were so happy as we were walking away because we met the rest of our goals. We decided to pray and thank Heavenly Father for placing these special people into our lives, but then Hna Harris said,¨We need to invite them to be baptized, and you are doing it.¨ We both new and felt like that was what we needed to do. We walked a little ways back to the house and with my poor spanish, I asked them if he would be baptized. (Oracio and Gaston). They didnt understand me very well, so Hna Harris repeated what I said. And they said YES! The most firmest yes I have ever heard. We told them that we have a date set for Sept 21st. It was the most spiritual experience and we were so thankful that we listened to those quiet promptings of the spirit! The whole day was just full of miracles. Heavenly Father puts people in our path everyday.

 

I have learned a lot from this experience, how important it is to follow those quiet thoughts. The spirit is not loud at all. I have learned the every good thought comes from God, and is a prompting. We didnt know why we were walking and walking miles and miles, we just kept walking, there was a reason and we didnt know the reason until meeting these sweet people. And I have learned how important it is to ¨Not judge a book by its cover.¨This sweet people were so dirty and without showers, no teeth, and living in the middle of nowhere. it would have been easy just to walk past, say a quick hello, and to be on our way. But I am so thankful to Heavenly Father for placing them into our lives. It was just a miracle.

 

Speaking of the campo, wow is it beautiful! Just miles, or kilometers, of farmland. Lots of cows, pigs, goats, and sheep. I love it!

 

Another special experience was on Wednesday at our Zone Conference with President Newsome. The hermanas in my zone...ah i just love them. I had a tender experience with my sweet friend, Hermana Sandoval from Columbia. She told me that she had a secret to tell me. She said,´I don´t know, but when I first met you a few weeks back, I had the strongest impression that I knew you before, like we were friends in the Pre earth life.¨ She hugged me tight and wouldnt let go. The spirit was so strong and I knew that it was true. I remember Nettie telling me that before I left that I will meet many people that I have already created a relationship with before this life. It is so true.

 

Our sweet investigator, Monica, asked me to pray in english after one of our lessons with her. The funny thing was, was I couldnt! I could not pray in english! Monica is a great investigator. She is so poor, but so humble. I wish you could see what people live in here.

 

Mom, you are going to die! Since its getting warm outside and almost summer, the bugs are coming out of hiding!!! And by bugs, I mean COCKROACHES! And they are HUGE! like the size of my finger! It is terrifying. We have screamed several times and literally pray at night that we will be safe from the cockroaches.

 

Gosh, missions are the best thing in the world. They are hard, but they are the best. I am learning so much. I am coming closer to my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I LOVE the scriptures more than I ever have before and I understand what I read. Anne, Cami D, and Sister Wormell and more people have written me emails, and I just dont have time to email them back. Please tell them that I love them and thank you! Please send me letters in the mail, with extra stamps, if you can!

 

I love you all MUCHISIMO! Have fun the rest of the week on your vacations and have a great 11th birthday ANNIE!!!

 

Until next week,

Hermana Coon!