December 14, 2015

SO HEY :) 

Transfers are here!

Hermana Olvera is officially gone. Can't believe it! 

She is going to byu and living in Liberty Square.. so all you people there.. look for her because SHE IS AWESOME. I love her. I am so lucky to have had this transfer with her. 

So.. my new companion is Hermana Murphy. SHE IS MY FAVORITE. We have been friends in the mission for a while now. Actually since the first day I got to the mission I met her. SHE IS THE BEST. I can not wait. She is so fun and just great. She is ending her mission this transfer as well.. so that should be interesting. It means that I'll be staying in my area for quite a while I think. But I'm excited about it. I love my area.. and the people and just everything there.. so yeah. 

I am so grateful for the transfer that I had. I can't believe we are almost as CHRISTMAS. Isn't that crazy?! To be honest.. here.. it doesn't really feel like it. It's just really hot.. and it's not as big of a deal to people here. But yeah. It should be great. 

This month I have been studying about christ. and just learning more about him. It's changed my view on things and how I work. I think everyone in their mission hits a point.. where something just "clicks" and they are changed. I don't know. Where they are just able to connect the dots, and just kind of change. I think that happened for me this transfer. Not a specific moment or day.. but things just clicked for me this transfer. I have a different perspective.. and a different view on things. The work is more apart of me.. of who I am.. and what I am.. and not just something that I'm doing. Does that make sense? 

This week we had an amazing lesson with Claudio. It's been the same experience with him.. that I had with Liz a few months ago in La Paloma. The spirit is just teaching him. Not us. And it's an amazing and incredible process to watch something learn so much and just change before your eyes. He understands and just learns in incredible ways.. and is so excited for this change in his life. He accepted a date of January 2 to be baptized and is excited.  I am so excited for him. 

I am SO lucky to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to help and find and search out people like Claudio. Who are just waiting and ready. 

I love this work. And I love my Savior.. and I am so grateful that I have been called to represent him personally in this part of his vineyard. 

Anyways.. sorry it's a shorter email this week.. I don't have much time. 

I love you all though. Thank you for your prayers and support and emails. 

And remember.. 2000 years ago a Savior was born.. and here we are still thinking about him and celebrating his birth. Remember him this week. He has changed the world. 

love love love 

Hermana Ehlert 

December 7, 2015

SO HEY FAM BAM :)

What a crazy week it has been. 

We started out the week doing divisions in a area called Apostoles with some hermanas that are in a trio. It was SO fun. I love being with other hermanas and working with other people.. and getting new ideas and stuff. its really fun. 

Wednesday we had a miracle thing. We have been trying to get referrals from members.. and we got an awesome one on Sunday.. and wednesday we met up with a couple that are members and they drove us out to a family that they had recently given a book of mormon. They are the Gonzalez family.. and are amazing! They are just SO ready and prepared for this message. They are awesome. They live really far away.. like an hour walking from where we are.. but they are totally worth it if members cant drive us. But I will keep you updated on them. i am so excited for them. 

Also.. update on Claudio. He is doing well.. we had two lessons with him this week. He said that he doesn't feel ready for baptism yet, but maybe in the future when he knows more. We will keep praying and working with him. He has his doubts about the apostasy and thinks that christs church was always on the earth and that if he really loved us he wouldnt take it off the earth. But he is awesome. He wasn't able to come to church this week because he had to work.. which was sad. Because that means he wont be able to be baptized before christmas. The rule in our mission.. is that someone has to attend church atleast 3 times before they can get baptized.. and he was our only hope for that goal.. but its okay. we will push on with faith.. and trust in the Lords time. But I know that goal that he set with faith helped us to find him and find others. 

Something that is really funny that happened with him this week.. we were teaching him.. and we were on his porch outside.. and it was dark. And there was a light bulb right above us.. and we were talking about christ and his life.. and all of the sudden something GIANT swooped down and like attacking the light bulb.. I thought it was a bird at first.. but DONT WORRY.. just a bird sized MOTH. It was seriously HUGE. Like easily as big as my face. The body was enormous. I couldnt believe it. He ran inside his house and put a glove on and then proceeded to swat at it with his hand. Then Hermana Olvera started joining in on the swatting with the pamplet of the restoration that we were teaching with. I was just covering my head and freaking out. Finally claudio caught it.. and  threw it out. Oh my gosh.. I was laughing so hard after that. we all just laughed and laughed.. and then hermana olvera said to weave us back into the lesson.. Ï dont know if Christ ever had problems with bugs when he was teaching but...." and then continued. it was so funny. We laughed and laughed. BUT SICK RIGHT?! Yeah... thats what happens when you are literally in the middle of the rainforest. 

I cant believe this transfer is almost already over. This is the last week. Hermana Olvera goes home next week and then I will have a new companion. President already told me that I will be in the same area.. but I am just anxious to know who my new comp will be. 

anyways..  I AM SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS. 

We are trying to spread the christmas cheer and spirit around.. because people here aren't as festive as they are in the states. 

 But it's okay. I love this work.. and my Savior.. and this special time that we have to think of our savior even more. 

I love you all! 

xoxoxo 

Hermana Ehlert

November 30, 2015

HOLA FAMILY :)

wow HEY! This week was just SO fast. Well kinda.. the days just fly.. but there is just so much that happens every day and week it seems like things have happened two weeks ago when in reality it was only like 2 days before if that makes sense. 

But this transfer is just flying by. Its so fun.. and so great.

So we did divisions with the hermanas in Obera last week. It was a blast. It is a big city.. so it was a good and different change to be working in a bigger city again.. compared to the two teeny tiny towns that I work in. It was just so fun. 

Then we were back in our area working our butts off. 

Hermana Olvera and I have nicknamed this transfer.. "The Kick Butt Transfer".. we just want to go out every day and kick butt. haha its fun. 

So wednesday.. I hit 9 months. CRAZY RIGHT?! 

We went and bought ice cream. During my time in paraguay I really didnt know what I was missing until I ate argentine ice cream.. and let me tell you.. it is divine. YUM. so that was a fun celebration. 

Then thursday was thanksgiving. And even though no one here knows what that is.. and I wasnt with my family.. i dont think that I have ever had such a marvelous thanksgiving. I was just filled with the spirit that day. Like I said last week.. gratitude is a characteristic that I am trying to develop.. and it just completely changes my days and my perspective and how I work. I am trying to just LIVE gratitude.. instead of just having it. Does that make sense? 

We also had chicken empenadas that day for lunch with a member family.. and if you didnt think too hard.. it kind of tasted like turkey.. so basically we ate thanksgiving in an empenada. It was good enough :)

Friday nothing párticularly special happened.. except we contacted a guy named Claudio. We ended up talking to him for about 20 minutes. Its kind of amazing. As a missionary.. people just start telling you problems they have.. its kind of weird.. but happens very often. For some reason they just trust us and start opening up... it definitely doesnt happen with EVERY person.. but with lots. anyways.. we talked to him.. and invited him to church..I really didnt think too much about it. But we planned to go back. and then we got to church on Sunday.. AND HE CAME. We told him that church starts at 9.. but he told us that he had been there since 8 just because he didnt want to be late. He is great. and is the only person at this point that we have that has the option of being a convert before christmas. So we will be praying and working with him really hard. His name is Claudio. 

We had some other amazing miracles this week.. but I just dont have time to explain all of them. shoot. 

Something I am working on every day.. as cheesy as it sounds.. just loving and living in the moment every day. Something I heard recently is that humans have a disease.. we are constantly obsessed with what has happened on what will happen.. and we just cant take time to love and enjoy the moment.. I am working on that. Just loving and living the moment. And not letting my thoughts leave that moment. Does that make sense? I think if we as humans can master that.. we would be a lot happier. But it definitely requires work and faith. 

I have also been studying faith. It is the most fascinating topic I think. You can never stop learning more. 

Anyways.. I hope this made sense. This transfer is flying. I cant believe it. 

I AM SO EXCITED AS WE ENTER INTO THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON. Today I bought a green poster board thing and cut out a tree. I plan to decorate it somehow too. But we will see. :)

I love you all so much. I am so so grateful for you all! 

xoxox 

Hermana Ehlert

November 23, 2015

ELLO! 

Fastest week ever!!! Time is flying. 

So wednesday was our first day of work.. and we were doing divisions in a city close to posadas called Garupa. We were with two hermanas there all day on wednesday, and then travelled back to our area Wednesday night. Divisions were a blast! It's so fun to work with other hermanas and help them in their area. I always learn different ways to explain and help people. Its awesome. And we also made french toast that morning with my maple syrup that I brought.. and it was just my fave. YUM. 

So thursday we were back in our area. This week was hard because we only had 3 days working in our area.. so that's really hard. But I feel and know that the Lord is watching over and protecting our area. Even though we aren't able to be there a lot, we truly are seeing miracles. This work would be impossible if we were just doing it ourselves.. thank goodness we aren't. I am learning more and more to see and recognize divine help and guidance in my life. It is there.. and it always has been.. I think I've just failed to recognize it. 

So thursday.. or maybe in was Friday.. we had a lesson with a man named Antonio. He was a contact that we had last week.. and we were finally able to go back and have a lesson with him this week. He refers to himself as a christian and his church solely believes and uses the bible. So going back we knew it would be hard to teach him the restoration and the book of mormon.. but we went in with faith. I have never met anyone like him. He understands doctrine almost EXACTLY the same as we view and see doctrine and the teachings of christ. It's amazing. Incredible. I've never met a none member that has such a sound understanding of christs teachings.. and he truly tries to live them. There are just a few holes in his testimony and beliefs though because he doesn't have the book of mormon. He read the entire pamphlet that we left him though.. and had many questions. It was my favorite first lesson that I have had up until this point on my mission. Hermana Olvera and I were completely guided by the spirit. The spirit is normally always present in our lessons.. but this lesson.. it was just on fire. And sometimes we have those special ones.. and when we do.. its amazing. We testified and taught of joseph smith and the book of mormon. We used a few versus from his bible and read a few from the book of mormon. and at the beginning of the lesson he was completely shut off to the idea, but by the end.. he said that he would read it. 

At the beginning we were using scriptures and facts, but toward the end of the lesson, the spirit reminded me that it didn't matter how many facts and scriptures I knew if he couldn't feel the spirit. Hermana Olvera and I just stopped for a minute, and then bore testimony. Just personal, simple testimony about the divinity of the book.. and how it has helped us personally. Although the scriptures and facts are good.. there is nothing like just bearing simple testimony that we know it is true because we have prayed and felt it from God. And that it has helped us.. as it promises us.. to know our Savior Jesus Christ and his teachings better.  It was a powerful lesson. I am SO excited to see what will happen with him. 

We are working SO hard to work by faith. President has set a goal for every companionship to have a baptism by christmas.. and that gives us about 3 and a half weeks.. and as of now.. we don't really have anyone progressing or heading that way.. so we are just working our hardest and with faith to find someone who can be prepared and ready for before christmas. We don't just want a baptism though.. we want a convert. Who will be strong.  Never in my mission have a said so many prayers.. both silently and audible with Hermana Olvera. I love it. We are seeing little miracles every day. Especially in finding new people.  I have said it before.. but I feel SO lucky to be in an area where missionaries have never been. It is so exciting to search and find people who I KNOW are waiting and ready for this message. 

haha.. something funny though.  We had a contact this week.. and we got into the house and we sat down. She was a young mom.. maybe in her 20s and we were talking.. and she was like "God is great. I always let everyone in" She was referring to missionaries in general. LOTS of missionaries from other religions have been here.. but never us. So she was explaining to us that she receives everyone and its just great to hear to word of god. And she was like "I let everyone come and share with me.. but the mormons. If mormons ever came to my door.. I wouldn't let them in". hahahha I almost fell out of my seat. It was so funny. We were dying inside. We president ourselves as missionaries from the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. so she didn't know. We shared a brief message with her about the restoration.. and she really seemed to be interested and like us. and then at the end.. hermana olvera.. bless her heart.. had the courage to tell her that we have the nickname as mormons. hahaha. The lady you could tell.. was clearly embarrassed. but took it well. We set a time to go back this week.. so we will see what happens. hahha so funny. People just have the worst reputation about us here.. so it's nice to be able to go about and show people that we really aren't that crazy and weird. haha. 

What else. 

presidential elections for all of argentina was yesterday.. so we went to church and ate lunch with some members.. but we weren't allowed to go out and work that night. So we journaled and watched 17 miracles on our little DVD player. It was a fun night. 

I am actually in another area right now. We travelled again and are doing divisions with other hermanas tomorrow. We are in a city named Obera. It is BEAUTIFUL. 

I studied Gratitude this week. I don't have anymore time.. but I hope you all have an amazing thanksgiving. and truly take time to think and reflect about all that we have. 

I am SO grateful to be a missionary. I am SO grateful to represent my Savior for this period of time. I am SO grateful to get to know people and teach them about the Savior and his healing grace. 

I am SO grateful for all of you. I love you all so much. 

I hope you all have an amazing week. 

xoxoox 

Hermana Ehlert

Consejo and saying goodbye to members in Hernandarias

November 17, 2015

Hi all!

WHAT A FAST WEEK.

I am just SO busy this transfer the weeks are FLYING by to me.


A while ago I was noting down things throughout the week that I wanted to share in my email.. but I have gotten lazier. I am sorry! I will try and do better this week.


So I am emailing today because yesterday we had a zone conference with President. So we have Pday today. Man I love president.. so much. He is seriously an incredible man. He is amazing. He bore one of the
strongest testimonies of the book of mormon that I have ever heard last week. but the most simple at the same time. 

This week. Hermana Olvera and I had meetings for the mission in Posadas tuesday and wednesday.. so we were only working in our area from thursday to sunday. Its also hard because we have two towns that we are trying to work in.. so we have to work quickly and effectively and take advantage on every second that we have when we are in our area. 

Corpus.. it is a little town and missionaries have been there forever.. so EVERYONE has been talked to atleast once by missionaries. It seriously has 24 roads and thats it. It is so small.. so finding new people and peaking interests is very hard. But this week we were trying to find new people.. and we found not only 1 person that had
never talked to missionaries before BUT 4. Hermana Olvera has been here in this area for 5 months now.. and she has never found someone that hasnt talked to missionaries until this week. It was a miracle. So I am really excited to see where things can go with them this week coming up. We also have some solid investigators in Corpus.. Romina and Rumilda. I wont go into details.. but they are DARLING. And they accepted the invitation to be baptized. I love seeing how the Lord is preparing people to recieve this message. Roca... As I explained before.. missionaries havent been here until recently.. so almost everyone we talk to has never even heard of the
church. It is exciting work.. and we are trying our absolute best to give a really good first impression. We are teaching the COOLEST couple. They are so poor actually. They live in a tiny TEENY house with a dirt floor.. but they truly have desires to change. I absolutely LOVE that I can be a tool in the hands of the Lord to bring his children the restored gospel. I am so lucky to be with Hermana Olvera again. We have both really grown as missionaries since our last time together... and we are both bringing out the best in eachother I think.
Never in my mission have I felt the spirit so strongly and peacefully and calmly. I have felt the spirit MANY times in my mission.. but never like this. Its just a solid and background thing.. but always there. pushing me further and helping me along. I dont really know how to describe it. I am loving argentina more and more. It is distinctly different than paraguay. We are trying to work more by faith. we are setting higher goals and trying to stretch and grow our faith. I have been studying a lot about the brother of jared recently.. and his amazing faith.
Um.. what else. Have I mentioned that I am serving in the most BEAUTIFUL AREA IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Every day I have to remind myself to appreciate the beauty around me. Its amazing. I truly cant believe it. I wish you all could see it. this week it rained a TON.. and one afternoon we were walking.. and it stopped raining and all of the sudden a HUGE FULL complete double rainbow appeared.. it was amazing. We just stopped for 2 minutes and just stood and appreciated it. incredible. Downsides of living in a rainforest though.. there are bugs bugs bugs. of EVERY shape and size. But speaking of bugs.. fireflies. THEY ARE AMAZING. And everywhere at night. I wish you could all see it. Tonight we are going to do divisions with two hermanas in a city about an hour away. It should be really fun.. but again.. another week that we wont have tons of time in our area.


I love you all. Im sorry if my email is boring. Ill try and do better next week.

I LOVE being a missionary and representing my savior.

xoxo from argentina.
Hermana Ehlert

Argentina!

Hi FAMILY :)

Wow I love you all SO much.

So I will just start right off. First of all. I am in the most ghetto computer place EVER. It is terrible. I swear the computer that I am typing on is CERTAINLY from the 70s or something. Yeah. So yay for that.

So this week was just crazy and a blur! I left Hernandarias. I was actually VERY sad to leave that place. I felt like there was still things that I could have done there. And I was also VERY sad to be leaving Hermana Lopez.. but that is the mission. At the same time I was very excited to be going to Argentina finally.. and being with
Hermana Olvera again.

We are Hermana Leaders together.. and we have 7 hermanas in our zone that we will do divisions with together. so that will be super great..to be able to learn from them and work with them. So I got to my new area on Thursday night. We travelled all night wednesday and then crossed the boarder and we were on our way. I´m
about an hour from Posadas. SO.. Corpus Christi is my area. It is the smallest area in the mission. kind of. I´ll explain that in a second. But its very VERY tiny. and literally in the middle of the RAINFOREST.

So bugs. Bugs are a very real thing here. Mosquitos like CRAZY. and all sorts of fun cochroaches and other things that are GIANT. Yeah. Lots of bug spray. I have been here not even a week.. and my legs are destroyed. shoot. I´m flying through bugspray like crazy. so corpus. there is one road that leads to corpus. That is the one way in and out. Its crazy tiny. BUT.. something that is totally incredible that I have the chance to do is that Hermana Olvera and I are opening another area called Roca..that is a little city about 15 minutes by bus. We have a pension in Corpus where the branch and everything is.. and then we have a pension in Corpus. Hermana Olvera started opening up Corpus last transfer.. but they didnt have a house there. So it was really difficult. But we now have a house there.. so we travel back and forth every other day.. and we are working in both areas. Its crazy.. and complicated.. but I feel SO lucky to be one of the first missionaries opening up a new area.

Umm.. ARGENTINA. I´m so so excited to be here.. but its very different from Paraguay. I miss Paraguay. There is a bit of an adjustment. Especially because last area I was in a big city with lots of things and people and stuff going on.. and here there is literally nothing. It is so tiny and different. I´m so grateful to be with Hermana Olvera though. She seriously is an incredible missionary.. and we are working better than ever together. I have grown as a missionary since our time together.. and so has she.. and we are literally just ready to set Roca on fire. President wants us working hard and smart there.. and we have already seen miracles in contacting and finding prepared people this week. I´m so excited to see where is can go. The hardest part is.. is getting people to church.. because MANY people dont have cars.. and buses dont run on Sundays. There is one family of members in Roca..and they have a car.. but they dont have extra seats because they have kids. So that is going to be a hard thing for us.. but we are working on finding and contacting people that will be prepared. (and contacting the houses that have cars... :) hahhaha

Anyways.. that is all for now I think.

I will hopefully have more fun updates next week.

I love you all. so so much.
xoxoxo from ARGENTINA

Hermana Ehlert

Transfers!

Hello all! 

Well it's been the CRAZIEST week. 

I will just jump right in. 

So... this week we had interviews with President. I don't know if I have told you before but we have interviews every 3 months. Man... he is seriously amazing. I love that I am getting to know him more and more. He is incredible. My interview with him was my favorite yet. Seriously. I don't really know how to describe it but he is one of the most spiritual men that I know. This interview was more personal for me as well. I love him. yeah.. I don't know what else more to say.. just that it was great. I LOVE his wife too. They rock. I have the great mission presidents. 

Umm.. what else. This week was the last week of transfers.. and the office called us and told us that we had to find a new apartment and move before the end of the month and move because the apartment that we are in right now.. the rent is REALLY expensive. So yeah.. this week we went apartment shopping. It was fun and crazy. So we found one close.. about two blocks away.. and the rent is HALF of what we were paying before. So we had to pack and clean our old apartment, clean the new apartment because it was a disaster.. and then move everything (with the help of our zone leaders) to the new apartment. Crazy. So that took about 2 full days. Also.. the old apartment came completely furnished.. and the new one doesn't have anything.. so we also got to go shopping to buy a fridge.. beds and dressers... haha. we are basically a married couple. It was so funny trying to decide and comparing prices and stuff. So yeah.. that was crazy. 

All of that craziness aside it was a good week. It was EXTRA long it felt like.. maybe because I was anticipating transfers and it was just weird.. but yeah. Extra long. We were able to find some great people though. Not a TON of people.. but a few select ones that really have interest and potential. I'm excited for them to see what happens with them. 

So last Tuesday we had a lesson with Isaias. It was sad.. we invited him for the second time to be baptized.. because the first time he declined.. and this time he said no again. We are at the point with him that we don't know what more else to do. We can't keep teaching him things if he isn't going to commit to baptism or ATLEAST come to church. It's sad. We told him that we would leave him for a week to continue praying and reading the book of mormon.. and if he really wanted to know if the church is true he needed to come to church. And sunday rolled around.. and he didn't come. It was really sad. We will visit him tomorrow.. and let him know that we probably won't be able to keep visiting him as often and stuff now. It's sad. My heart literally broke for him. But the thing is.. and what it tells us in preach my gospel.. I'm not sad or disappointed in myself. I know that I put in my effort. I did everything I could. We fasted and prayed and invited and bore testimony with the spirit.. and then it is up to the people to use their agency and act on what we have given them. I still continue and praying and hoping for him. And if he doesn't accept it now.. i know that sometime he will accept it. I think personally that he has recieved an answer and that he knows... the problem is, is that he is scared to completely change. To change his entire life around. His entire family is catholic and not interested.. and it would be hard. and scary. I know that. It's not an easy thing that we are asking people to do. The path to follow our savior and redeemer isn't an easy one. It was NEVER easy for him.. as elder holland says.. so why would we expect that it wold be easy for us. 

But yeah.. that's the update on Isaias. I love that boy.. he is very special.. and I really am lucky to be one of the first missionaries to teach him. I know he will do amazing things. 

Ummm.. what else. 

OH YEAH. TRANSFERS. So yeah.. I felt like I would be leaving.. even though I sincerely didn't want to. I wasn't ready and I feel like there is still things that I can do here.. but oddly enough I had TWO dreams last week where I got transfered.  So yeah.. the AP's called me this morning.. and let me know that I'm getting transfered. I'm going to ARGENTINA. I little tiny town called Corpus. It's the smallest area in the mission. And guess who my companion is.. YOU WILL NEVER GUESS. HERMANA OLVERA. AGAIN. TWO TIMES. WHAT?! I was absolutely and completely in shock. I can't believe it.  She is finishing her mission. It's her last transfer.. so I will be with her when she finishes. CRAZY. As far as I know.. this has never happened before.. but seriously. yeah. I was shocked. I'm still shocked. Crazy. But I've heard TONS about corpus and I'm really excited to serve there. Hermana Finlinson.. my other companion has also served there and LOVED it. I'm also really excited to be going to ARgentina. Until now.. I have only been serving in Paraguay in my mission. And I LOVE paraguay.. SO SO much. I love this place. I think it's the greatest country in the world.. but I've been really curious about how argentina is.. so it will be a good change I think. 

I've heard from other missionaries that it's really different in argentina. teaching. finding. everything. So I'm really excited. 

At the same time though.. I'm also really sad to be leaving Hermana Lopez. I LOVE her SO much. But her new companion will be Hermana Jackman.. my companion from the MTC. Crazy right?! 

So yeah.. I'm going to argentina. I'm going to miss this place. 

But yeah.. that's my week. I'm so happy to be a missionary. I love bringing this amazing message to others. 

I love you all. Have the best week! 

XOXOXO 

Hermana Ehlert

Hna Lopez and I cleaning in the old apartment. 

October 26, 2015

hello lovelies :)

So I don't really have two truths and lie this week.. sorry. I am running out of ideas! 

haha. 

umm. This week. It was really REALLY hot. Like seriously.. sorry if its tmi.. but seriously never sweated so much in MY LIFE. woah. yeah. You basically don't stop sweating. It's just hot. And we haven't officially even started summer yet. We freeze big water bottles to take out with us.. but within at hour they are melted and the water in warm. and to top it off.. it's seriously like 100% humidity. like its killer. woah. 

so yeah. Weather. 

Um. It was kind of another slowler week number and lesson wise. Ugh.. We are trying SO hard and trying to be so obedient and faithful and not get discouraged and just keep going. Me, personally.. I have been studying lately and one of my personal goals is just working on giving everything little part of me that I have to these people, and to this work, and to the Lord. I want to give everything. i'm working on not getting distracted and just giving myself over to this work. It's exhausting, but honestly, but it makes the days go by faster when I'm not thinking about myself.. and honestly, at the end of the day, I'm happier too, because I can look back and honestly say to the Lord and myself that I gave everything and that is all that he requires. I'm no where near perfect at it yet.. Self mastery is a hard thing... but poco a poco. :)

Something crazy this week.. we were visiting a less active.. and he claims to not have gone through the veil when he came to earth.. and he knows everything from the end to the beginning. It was funny.. and very strange. 

Um.. to keep going with the theme of last week of jehova's witness.. 3 people asked this week if we were testigos..... dangit. We happily claimed no.. and were actually able to make a few good contacts though. so that was great :)

Another funny thing.. people always think that I look like movie stars from the states.. this week I got that I looked like first... wait for it.... Hannah Montana.... and then the lady who told me that was with her sister.. and he sister disagreed and told me that I looked like..... wait for it.... Lindsey Lohan. So that was funny too. we laughed and laughed about it. 

Hermana Lopez and I laughed a lot more this week. Hermana Lopez is missing her family a lot so I am trying extra hard to be happy for her. It's hard when you miss your family.. and if your companion isn't happy, it's even more miserable. Even though it was a hard week, it was a happy one too. 

One way that I am focusing on giving more of myself to this week is charity. Wow.. I have been studying charity this week.. and it has just been the best thing. Truly we have all knowledge and faith to move mountains.. but if we do not have charity.. the scriptures tell us that we are nothing. It really hit me this week.. and as I talked to people this week.. I constantly was trying to focus on loving them like christ would and say the things that he would say and do the things that he would do. 

We are in the last week of this transfer. crazy right? Time is flying for me. I'm just about half way. woah. 

Saturday we planned an activity. As of now on my mission I have planned a total of 2 activities.. and both of them were in La Paloma.. and both of them were utter failures.. but this week we planned an activity and invited the entire world.. and it actually turned out GREAT. It was SO fun. We had a lot of members and less actives. Like LOTS of less actives. It was great. We only had 1 investigator come.. but it turned out to be a great Saturday night. Everyone loved it and it just felt so good. The spirit works in great ways. 

and then Sunday.. we had the highest asistence that we have had since we have been here!! So that was a great improvement too!

So isaias. He was very busy this week with work and school.. so we were only able to meet with him once.. but when we got to his house he was so happy to tell us about what he learned from nephi and what he was reading. My heart was bursting with happiness. It was awesome. He didn't come to church though. so this week we will be focusing on that and trying to help his realize that to recieve an answer he needs to come to church.. and that even though it's hard.. Heavenly Father will bless him for his faith and sacrifice. 

I want to leave you with that this week. 

I love the quote from "Praise to the Man" that says.. "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven". I can't remember how the rest of the song goes in English to save my life.. but that line has kept me going through my mission. And it is OH so true. 

Sorry this was the most random and scattery email ever! I'll try to do better next week! 

I love you all! Have the greatest week! 

LOVES! 

Hermana Ehlert

Also.. this is a family home evening we did. It was super fun!! 

I LOVE THESE PEOPLE. 

that is typical for lunch. Rice with beans and fried meat. hahha 

thought it would be fun to show you all. 

so we carved a watermelon for halloween. Hermana Lopez has never done anything like it.. haha it was super funny. 

Our pumpkins name is wilson. Hermana Lopez named him. hahha

October 19, 2015

 hola mi familia :)

Two lies and a truth!

1. I got proposed to this week. 

2. We were on a bus and a car hit us. 

3. Isaias has told us that he doesn't want us to visit him anymore.

1. TRUE. hahhaa.. and believe it or not it's actually the third time that someone has asked me to marry them on my mission. YIKES right? It's usually from drunk guys.. and this week he was especially drunk. shoot. 

2. False. But everytime we ride buses I think it's a miracle that people don't crash here. It's so funny.. the traffic here is nuts. If there are traffic rules or laws.. no one follows them. It's just so funny. But as of now.. we are safe and haven't been in an accident :) hahah. don't worry mom!

3. FALSE. And thank goodness. He is doing very very well actually! I love him so much! He is reading the book of mormon still. We studied and read with him 1 Nephi 8 this week about Lehi's dream. It was so great. He is drawing connections and applying the things that he is reading in his life now. and telling us about it. We also had another charla with him about the spirit and how we can recognize answers from God. It was very neat and we left him with the challenge to truly try and find out for himself and to have real intent. We explained to him that if he wants to know that the Book of Mormon is true just because he is curious.. he won't actually get an answer. But the Lord will only answer us if we have the intentions to ACT and do something about it after we get an answer. he still hasn't come to church. We don't know what more we can do to help him come.

hmm.. what more. This week was kind of hard number wise again. We are TRYING trying trying our best to be obedient and follow the spirit and do our best and work hard and love the people.. but our plans keep falling through. It can be discouraging with long days.. but we are working through it together. Hermana Lopez is so great. I'm lucky to have her. 

We did have some good miracles and found some people will some good potential.. but we'll see what happens this week! 

Something funny that happened this week is that we were going to visit a less active.. and we were walking up to their gate.. and there was already someone there. We quickly realized that they were missionaries!!!...... but from Jehovas Witness. or here.. they are called testigos de Jehova... great.. now we are competing with the testigos. boo. But it was funny. We laughed and laughed. we initially thought they were elders!!.. but we realized that obviously it couldn't be and they didn't have name tags.. and then we realized who they were. It was funny. hahaha. 

This week also was EXTREMELY HOT. but also we had some rainy thunderstormy days as well. Crazy weather here.. but always an adventure. Love paraguay. 

Anyways.. I'm working hard. I am seeing growth and change in myself every day.. and every day I am more grateful for my mission. For all the things that I am learning. I love this gospel.

We talked, this week, in district meeting. I gave a capacitacion.. I don't know what that word is in english. But like a little talk thing. and I talked about when we are rejected we are becoming more and more like our savior.. because he was rejected throughout his whole life. 

Anyways.. I love you all. I hope you have the greatest week. 

xoxo 

Hermana Ehlert

Our zone made zone jerseys! Arent they sweet? Here is Hermana Lopez and me.

when we made them.. we put the number of how many months that we had at the time. When we ordered them I had 6 months.. and Hermana Lopez had 1! so they are even more special. haha.

hi family!

hi family :)

so its only been a few days since I last wrote.. and not much has happen that is worth telling. 

We had a lot of our planned lessons fall through. so we ended up contacting a lot.. it was kind of rough. on friday.. we didnt have one lesson. not one. but we contacted some really great people that day. we walked and talked to the entire world it felt like. lots of rejections.. but a few gems.. so we will see how they turn out this week :)

We did have a lesson with Isaias this week on Saturday. We taught the plan of salvation. he is reading the book of mormon and is half way through 1 nephi. I love this kid. 

I just wanted to tell you all a little bit about the lesson with him though. it was incredible. the spirit was tangible.. and it was so cool to see the spirit working in him. I heard one time.. I cant remember if it was in the mtc or before my mission.. but I heard one time that we arent really teaching this people new things. they learned and accepted these doctrines before this life.. and what we are doing is just bringing this truths back to their remembrance.  Thats what it felt like.. and he even told us.. "This just makes sense doesnt it?"

The spirit was testifying and bringing these things back to his remembrance. 

The spirit for me in that lesson was just this peaceful calm feeling. I havent stopped feeling that way since we left that lesson. Even though it wasnt a great week number wise.. the lord has blessed me with the spirit and I know that we are working hard and doing his work and his will here in Hernandarias. 

I have felt his peace and assurance and love in my life and I know that he is real. I am so happy and I know that he is happy and proud of me. 

I have been working on this week.. trying to see others through christs eyes. it was something that they talked a lot about in conference... and it is changing the way I see things and people and the way I work. 

I am so grateful for the spirit and this work and the love that I feel for my Savior, his gospel, these people, and this work. 

I love you all! 

Have the best week. Thank YOU for your prayers. 

xoxo from paraguay! 

Hermana Ehlert

HI... finally :]

Ah! What a crazy week it has been. You all just have no idea. 

1. I'm no longer in a trio.

2. I have been out of my area more than I have been in my area this transfer. 

3. I wasn't able to watch conference because the power went out. 

1. okay.. true. crazy right?! Right now it's just me and Hermana Lopez again. So last week.. on Wednesdaywe were eating lunch with a member.. and we got a call from our zone leaders. They told us that we had to travel BACK to Posadas that night because there was emergency changes and Hermana Palomares was going to be with another Hermana in Argentina. We were all dying. It was crazy. We had just gotten back to our area and hadnt even been there for more than a week.. and we already had emergency transfers. To rewind a little bit.. when I first got the news that I was going to be in a trio.. to be honest. I was not that thrilled. I had been in a trio doing divisions before and it's hard and just not that fun. But we were just getting adjusted to eachother and everything was MUCH better than I thought it would be.. and then boom. changes. So we went back and started helping her pack and everything and then we left. Another 6 hour bus ride back to posadas to drop her off and then just turn around again to come back to our area. man.. I love LOVE my mission.. but travelling is definitely a downside to the mission here. we travel LOTS. So yeah.. it's just us now. I was very sad to say bye to Hermana Palomares. she is a light and I learned SO much from her. I was really lucky to be able to be her companion even if it was only for a short time. and I know that I will see her again in the mission!! So that was comforting. So now Hermana Lopez and I are back and getting back into our normal routine of things. Man.. I love Hermana Lopez. She is amazing. But yeah.. you never know what is coming next. 

2. true. It's just because we have been travelling so SO much. To do paperwork to be legal here.. or drop off or pick up companions.. there is always a million things going on. It's really hard because it's really important to be in constant contact with the people we are teaching.. and it's hard when we aren't in our area. but we are praying like crazy to help them not forget what they are learning and feeling and how they are changing. 

3. false. THANK GOODNESS right?! Okay.. conference. wow. I loved LOVED it. Because I'm in a Stake now.. we were able to go to the stake center and watch it there.. and guess what?! There was an option for all the gringo missionaries to watch it in English. YES. It rocked. I loved it. It was such a blessing. Some themes that I picked out from conference were 

-Sabbath Day observance. I actually wasn't surprised with this one. We, as a mission have been focusing and talking so much about it. In our wards and branches and stakes.. the leaders have also really been stressing the importance of the sabbath.. and how it helps us remain more unspotted from the world. 

-For more.. there was also a lot about the gospel of christ.. and how it helps and protects us. whether it's commandments or peace or strength to keep going.. or consuelo?.. (I don't know what that word is in english).. but yeah. And just following christ.. and how if we are living the gospel and being true disciples of christ it doesn't matter.. everything will work out. Like Sister Marriott said.. it doesn't mean it will work out right now.. but it will work out" and that ALL things are for our good. 

-We can find peace and happiness and purpose in this life no matter what our challenges or problems are that we face. 

-another cool part for us as a mission was when Elder Fransisco J Vinas spoke.. I don't know if you remember.. but he came to our mission in May I think it was? We were able to meet him. He is incredible. I loved his talk.

It was so funny.. all of the gringos before conference were sitting in this little classroom waiting for it to start.. and it was so funny. It was like christmas or something. So awesome. Anyways.. I won't bore you with more of my thoughts and revelations.. but I TRULY hope that each of you were able to listen and think about what was said. i know that those men are truly inspired and prophets and apostles of God. How amazing was it to watch the 3 new apostles be sustained? I LOVED the testimony of Elder Dale G Renlund. It blew me away. 

Also.. sweet President Monson. I'm worried about him. He looked struggly. 

I was then thinking about last year.. and where I was last year listening to conference. I remember sitting in my apartment watching it with my roommates.. and it was then that I recieved an answer to go on a mission. I had prepared questions and prayed to know if I should go.. and it was then that I recieved that answer. How Grateful I am to have recieved that answer... and now here I am. I am so grateful for prophets and apostles and the love that God has for us to give them to us. 

Another HIGHLIGHT... ISAIAS came to conference! The sunday morning session! It was a huge step for him because he will NOT come to church and we are working SO hard on that. He is progressing very well. He is reading the book of mormon from the beginning and every time we pass he has more insights and is marking the things that he likes. He is almost done 1 Nephi. I LOVE him. We are trying to get him to accept a baptismal date but he is still hesitant. The book of mormon is powerful and I know as he reads he will recieve an answer. 

Anyways.. I love you all. I hope you have the best week. Sorry.. I was at a meeting this monday.. and haven't been able to write until this morning! We are busy!! But I should be able to write this monday again. I love you all! 

xoxo from Paraguay. 

Hermana Ehlert

Then there were 3!

So HI everyone :)

Wow what a week!

My fingers are flying.

1. I got a bug in my foot this week. 

2. My new companion is from the States! 

3.... awkward. I can't think of anything else.

1. TRUE. are you kidding me? Yeah it's true. I will spare you the long story.. but long story short.. there was a tiny little bug in my toe. it was black. I was travelling because I had pick up my new companion.. so I was with another hermana named Hermana Bernal. We disinfected a needle and some tweezers and she just started digging at it to get it out. turns out there were EGGS too. yeah. it's real. I was dying. I wanted to cut my toe off. we ended up calling the mission nurse and she told me to go to the hospital to get it all taken care of. So we went to the hospital and they did some more digging around and disinfecting ad got it all taken care of. It wasn't a big deal.. but yeah. SICK RIGHT? It was infected too.. so I'm taking an antibiotic for that. but it's healing good now.. and I don't have any more pain. haha. 

2. False. My new comp is from Peru! I don't have any pictures with her yet.. sorry. But she is great. Her name is Hermana Palomares. And you guys.. she has the craziest life. I can't believe it. It's very sad actually. Her mom died when she was 14 from an accident.. And then she joined the church 4 months later. So she is a convert. She is the only member in her entire family!! Her dad works a TON.. and she takes care of her little brother. He is 12.. and basically she is his mom. She raised him. he was 6 when her mom died.. so she was the mom and woman of the house. She doesn't have the support of her dad or any of her family for serving a mission. She doesn't recieve any emails or anything. She recieved one from president and one from her friend from the MTC. that's it. I could't believe it. so sad. please pray for her.. she is having a hard time and missig her home. but has a super strong testimony. she is a great teacher. I love her lots.

Umm.. so a trio is weird. but we are adjusting. I know this is where I'm supposed to be. We are TRYING to do everything we can to work better with the branch ad with members.. and find new investigators. We are working hard.

PS.. this keyboard is terrible. paraguay probs. The "n".. doesn't really work. You have to press it like 10 times to work. dangit.

We didn't get back to our area until thursday night late.. so we only worked friday and saturday and sunday. and we haven't had tons of luck. The only thing is Isaias... he is progressing lots. I love him. His prayers are SO sincere.. and he truly is looking for the truth. he is reading and understadig the book of mormon more and more. He will not come to church for the life of him.. so we are working on that.. but yeah.

Speaking of.. general conferece this week! YAY. I'm so excited. Hopefully I'll be able to liste to it in English. Can you believe that the last general conference I was in the MTC? So crazy. I'm so excited though!! I hope you all prepare this week and are able to get what you need from it.

I love you. I pray for you all. by name. I miss you terribly. 

xoxo 

Hermana Ehlert

This is during tranfers with me and Hermana Lopez and Elder Salazar from Chile. He is such a great missionary in my zone!!

  

My beautiful area 

The second one is with a family that is less active. we are reactivating them. Remember when I told the story of the lady Mirta that started crying in the middle of her prayer when we taught repentence? That is her. I love them with all my heart. 

The third one is Hermana Lopez and I trying to be artsy. Isnt my area beautiful? I'm so lucky!

This is us three. the day we picked her up. Aren't my companions darling? I love them lots.