Heyyyy!

Welp...I know I told ya'll I wasn't gonna get on email today...but...here I am!! Hahaha...I'm in Comodoro. Last night at 9:30PM I left Rio Gallegos....it was awful. Cried like a baby. Today we're in the offices.  I have my final interview at 2:00PM con Presidente...then we have some time to visit around comodoro and we have testimony meeting tonight TWICE...yep that's right. Once with members and other missionaries that are invited...and once with the missionaries no mas. Then we have a good argentine dinner and we were told that we'll go back to the Carter's home at like midnight. Awesome. Tomorrow we're gonna be waking up at about 4:30am to get ready to be at the airport at 7:00AM ish...should be fun.

Anyway...that's my schedule until I get home. We would have been able to go to the temple, but it's CLOSED! That's bad luck...pucha. Oh well..I think we'll go to take pictures at least. See you soon! I love you all!! :):):)

Hermana Heath

Love from above:)

Hola Familia,

Sorrryyy it's a little late for the usual weekly email...but I've got a good excuse! Today as a zone we went to Cabo Vírgenes to see the penguins!! :) It was super fun. We left at 9:00AM and got back to the chapel around 6:00PM. It was a blast and a half...penguins are so cute!

This week was FANTASTIC!! Mario got baptized on Saturday. It was one of the biggest miracles I've seen in my mission. The baptismal service was really nice and the entire branch was there to support him and his family. He was sooo happy. His t-shirt said, "take time to make a change" He told me that he chose to put on that shirt saturday morning because he was gonna take some time to make an important change in his life. Mario has Parkinson's and some other problems from a surgery that went wrong a few years back..but his faith in the Lord is unshakeable. He is an incredible example to me. I love hanging out with him and his family...on Sunday we ate an asado to celebrate! Their family goal is to go to the temple next year to be sealed for time and all eternity. That's really what it's all about, isn't it? I love this gospel!

Well, this is the last email you'll be getting from me in Argentina. That kind of breaks my heart, but I know things are gonna be okay. I have loved every second of my mission. It's been hard...but mom has always taught me that I CAN DO HARD THINGS! Looks like she was right! The mission is one of the hardest things...but definitely one of the best:) I have learned so much...and will never ever be able to stop thanking Heavenly Father for this time he gave me to serve His children in Argentina. I'm not ready to come home, but I know it's time. My mission is coming to an end...but it doesn't have to be a bad thing. My life has been changed forever. I have seen the Lord's hand time and time again, I have seen him work miracles...in me and in other people...I feel confident enough to say that my testimony is unshakeable. I know that this is the only true and living church on the earth today. I know that God lives. He loves us and knows us perfectly. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. He suffered for each and every one of us. We are never alone. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. The Book of Mormon is the word of God...I am so thankful to know these things.

Thank you for all the love and support you've given me throughout these 18 months. I've always been able to feel your prayers...and there were days that those prayers made all the difference for me. Thank you! I love you all soo much. I'm sending lots of hugs and kisses from Argentina...I hope they make it to you all before I get home!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Lots of love from the bottom of the world!

Hermana Heath

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRAIG!

Hola querida familia mía,

Soooo...I swear I did NOT forget Craig's birthday...but last monday I didn't realize how far into february we are...how did that happen so fast?! I thought about Craig all week and I hope he had a veeeeery good pre-birthday celebration...cause it doesn't sound like the actual birthday was that great. I'm so glad he's safe and okay. I prayed for him soo much this week. God really does listen to and answer our prayers:)

So...this week we don't have much to report. I'm out of time because I spent lots of time reading...I've almost got all of the things I'm gonna bring home with me...now I just need more room in my suitcases! Hahah...just kidding. I'm leaving lots of things behind:)

We have a baptism planned for Mario this weekend. Please keep him in your prayers! He's progressing really well..after the loss of his son last month the Lord has really softened his heart and he's readier than ever to be baptized and in a year from now seal himself to his wife and three sons. I love the gospel!!

Okay..that's all I've got...I'm sorry. Well actually I'm not. You'll be seeing me all really soon.

I LOVE YOU! Keep being excellent people. Have a wonderful week!

Oh...and Em..I don't mind sharing the bed with you! Haha...and Kim have a great and SAFE trip to Vegas and California...I'm a little bit jealous..not gonna lie.

Hugs and kisses from Rio Gallegos!!

Hermana Heath

Another week in Rio Gallegos...

Querida Familia,

...

...

...

I'll be honest. I don't really know what to say. Monday has become my least favorite day of the week because it's the day I remember just how little time I have left. With my district leader this morning we were talking about how the mission feels like a dream. The time has passed so quickly...I'm sure tomorrow I'll wake up with all of my suitcases in my bedroom and you will all drive me to the MTC where I'll get out of the car and slowly walk away wondering what exactly I got myself into...some lady will give me my black nametag that says "Hermana Heath"...and in that moment I won't really know how much getting up every morning and putting it on will mean to me over the next 18 months, I won't know exactly how much I'll love being a missionary. I won't know really how hard the mission is, I won't know how much it will change my life, I won't know the names of the areas, the investigators, the members, the people, and I sure won't know how much I'll grow to love them...I won't know anything! This is the best and biggest dream of my life... and I never want to wake up. The good new is, when I come home, my mission won't stop being my dream, and it won't become any less important to me...but I'm gonna have to find a different dream..a BIGGER one! And that kind of scares me. In the mean time...I'm gonna enjoy every second of this one...because pretty soon I'm gonna wake up...and I LOVE sleeping:) Haha.

Anyway. This week was good. We found two new investigators and I bought some cool stuff last monday to bring home...I've still got TONS of stuff to buy though. With my companion we're working really hard and having a blast! We had lots of lessons this week and several families came back from vacation so yesterday we were 78 in sacrament meeting! Our investigator came too!! :) I love being a missionary. It's the best in the world. I started my 4th journal last week...can you believe it?! I sure can't...

Tomorrow is my last district meeting. It's all winding down...I try not to think about how little time I have left...but that's all everyone and their dog talk about...and do you even know how many dogs there are in the PATAGONIA?! All I hear all day long every day is questions..."are you excited to go home?" "are you gonna get married fast?" "what's the first thing you're gonna eat?" "are you gonna sleep in?" ...just LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY! Haha...it's okay...it really doesn't bug me...but sometimes it stresses me out a little bit. A couple days ago I was walking home from the chapel and I just started crying...I was walking down the street taking everything in...the trees, the sky, the half-paved roads, the little stores, the crazy argentines everywhere, the dogs...I'm gonna miss it all so much.

Well family. Have a great week. I love you all so much! Craig, drive safe and don't forget to send mom and emily a text when ya get there;) Emily, keep taking good care of baby higgins til I get home...and I wouldn't mind some more pictures! Hahaha...Matthew...er..Elder Heath...keep tearin' it up down there in Texas...I hope you get to stay in your area! And Kim...I honestly think you can convince mom to keep the kitten...I'm counting on you!! (we all know she's a sucker for the puppy eyes and cute animals!! It worked for me with snickers years ago!)

See you soon!

Hugs and kisses...(but really...I'm blowin' ya'll some kisses...with the wind here in Gallegos they should get there sometime tomorrow...)

Hermana Heath

Happy Valentine's Day!! :)

Hola Familia,

Soo...the mission offices sent me my itinerary...my reaction was the same as mom's...didn't know whether to cry or smile. Puuucha. This week was great. We had the zone conference in Calafate...Elder Viñas is a capo. I loved his insights about the atonement. I love being a missionary. It's ending soo quickly. I try not to think about it but it's all I hear all day every day. Everyone knows I finish this transfer. It makes it hard to push it out of my head.

Umm...this week Elder Velasquez and Elder Benitez came through Gallegos for a conference in Comodoro. They told me they're trying to convince president to let them leave a day early (Saturday) from their zone in Ushuaia to spend their last sunday of the mission in Caleta Olivia. They told me they're taking me with them...I guess we'll see what president says...but I would love to go! I would get to see Maxi and the Zampa's and all the wonderful families there before leaving. :)

Umm...I can't really think of anything else that happened this week. We had zone conference on Friday which was good...we did lots of practices...I don't know...life is normal! I'm just workin' my little behind off down here in the patagonia...dont' know what else to say. I promise I'll tell you all about everything when I get home...but I can never come up with anything good when I'm at the computer.. oh..this morning my comp and I saved a baby bird. It was in the middle of the street and still learning how to fly...so we picked it up and put it in the bushes. I've got a picture of it sitting on my hand. We're good samaritans:) We've done our good deed of the day! Hahaha...it was sooo cute though.

Anyway...that's all for this week. I'm really tired. Calafate is about 4 hours away..we went in a huge van...it was a loooong ride...I couldn't sleep so we mostly just talked the whole way...and back. It was worth it though..the conference was great...really spiritual. I got roped into singing a musical number with another hermana. I hate public singing and due to the fact that I don't know how to say no, I ended up at the front singing...once again. puuucha. It turned out okay though:)

Have a great week! I love you all! The church is true...and remember to share the love this week:) Read 1 John 3:1...the greatest love in the world! As Elder Heath put it...we sure are lucky to be loved by them!! :) Couldn't have said it better myself.

I LOVE YOU!

Hermana Heath

Happy February! :)

Hola Familia!!

¿Cómo andan? This week was really weird. I'll be honest. I'm suuuper tired. My body is falling apart I think...my shoes too! Haha...there is a chance I'll be walking barefoot for the last week of my mission. It's a real possibility...I really should have bought new shoes in Caleta when they broke the first time...but you know me...stubborn as ever! Hahaha...whatever. One way or another I'll make it work out.

Heyyy..today I'm gonna buy a flag!! It's pretty big...but I decided I want a big one:) It's soo pretty. I'm gonna miss seeing the Argentine flag everywhere. Other than that I haven't bought anything yet to bring home...well...besides the little things I've picked up on the way:) I'm in denial that I'm ever gonna actually have to go home I think. Haha.

Oh...before I forget, next week my p-day will be tuesday...on monday we're going to Calafate again but to the city no mas...we have a conferencia with Elder Viñas. It should be great. I'm really excited. I love when general authorities come. They're pretty hardcore.

Mmmm...I can't really think of what else to say. We're having a really hard time finding investigators...right now we're working with Mario...the husband of Hermana Arriola. They're the ones that lost their son recently. He has never joined the church and is finally starting to soften his heart. Yesterday he bore his testimony and he has said that he wants to get baptized. He listened to the missionaries before...as you can imagine...afterall his wife has been a member for like 30+ years. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

My companion is great. We're having a great time. I LOVE her. I'm so glad we're companions. I'll be honest...I never wanted to train, and I still don't really like the actual training part...but my companions is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better one!

Soo...that's pretty much all I've got. But...I do have a couple questions...when does Craig leave for South Carolina? If I remember right he wont be there when I get home...but is he gonna be there for his birthday?! Well...okay that was my question. I've been thinking a lot this week about transfers...well because it was transfers. I really dont' want this one to end EVER. I love being a missionary. It's such a blessing and a privilege to get up every morning and put on a name tag that marks me as an official representative of Jesucristo. It's the best feeling in the world. I'm so thankful that I decided to serve a mission. I love Argentina with all my heart...and the crazy people that live here too. I think my whole life I'll miss it. Being a missionary has to be the most rewarding thing in the world. The church is true...and Jesus Christ is at the head. I've never been more sure of it than I am now.

Have a great week! I love you all...and...see you soon I guess. Weird.

Chau chau!

Hermana Heath

Transfer #13...

Hola Family,

So...today's a pretty depressing day. It's Monday January 26, 2015. Today I started transfer 13 of my mission...for those of you returned missionaries... Elders have 17 transfers...and Hermanas have 13. Six weeks left. I'm trying my best not to think about it because my heart already hurts when I rememeber how little time I have left down here in Argentina. I'm gonna make the most of it! Luckily I'm staying here in Rio Gallegos to finish with Hermana Solórzano. Lots of missionaries are leaving...and most of them I'll never see again. This weekend has been harder than I thought it would be. Pucha.

Anyway...no more pity party for me. This week was great. On Tuesday morning we left for Calafate!!! An Hermano from the other branch drove us down in his bus...there were 18 of us I think:) We arrived at the glaciar at 2:00PM and had until 4 to walk around and enjoy ourselves. We split off as a district and walked around. It was INCREDIBLE. I've never seen anything like it in my life. I wish you all could have been there. It's BEAUTIFUL. I could have spent all day there. Every now and again a big chunk of ice falls off into the water...it's sooo loud...it sounds like thunder and you can almost feel the earth shaking. It was really neat. As I sat there looking at the glaciar I couldn't help but feel tiny and insignificant next to something like that...but then I remembered that I'm a child of God...we all are. We are God's supreme creations. Isn't that amazing?! We are of infinite worth to our loving Heavenly Father:)

Sooo...other than that the week was pretty normal. We did lots of contacting this week. Sometimes it's boring...one day we knocked like 20 houses in a row and not a single door opened. I'm tellin' ya...there's no one here in Gallegos. But the weather was great this week! It was sooo sunny...I started getting my tan back along with the awkward tan lines that scream sister missionaries... but as dad always says, "beggers cant be choosers." (...how do you spell beggars?...beggers? beggurs? oh well. you get what I mean)...I was getting a little bit too white for my liking. Haha...I love the sun:):):)

Soo...I don't remember if I ever mentioned the obsession Argentines have with mayonaise...they put it on everything...literally everything. It's weird. The mayonaise here is yummier though than what we have back home..but still. Crazy argentines!! :)

Mmm...I don't really have anything else to say. Today we're gonna be in the terminal from about 4:00PM until 10:00PM...wish us luck! Have a great week! I love you all!! Don't forget to read and pray!

Hugs and kisses from the bottom of the world!! :)

Hermana Heath

El CALAFATE!!

Hola Familia!!

I have nooo time. Puucha. So...real quick. This week was pretty crazy. We don't have any investigators with baptismal dates which is always a bummer. This week we're gonna find nuevos a full! Lots of contacting ahead:)

Hmm...so...this week I went to the clinic here in Gallegos to have them look at my eye. Last thursday while walking in wind a little rock flew into my eye and I couldn't get it out..but don't panic friends...on saturday morning it was still bugging me so Hermana Leiva took me to the clinic and the doctor looked at my eye and pulled it in a whole bunch of weird ways and then he just gave me some eye drops..he said the rock was no longer inside..it was just a little red and irritated. the drops burn...but I'm okay...and the doctor didn't leave me blind. that was a legit fear when I went in:) hahaha. I don't like argentine doctors.

Also...tomorrow we're going to calafate as a zone to see the glaciars!! I'm suuuper excited! Next week there will be pictures I'm sure:)

Also...if you can keep Hermana Myriam Arriola and her family in your prayers. Her son Juan Gabriel Balado left the house last saturday...9 days ago...and never came home. they think he had a panic attack and lost his memory. it has happened in the past but he was always at home. please pray for them and ifyou can put their names in the temple. I LOVE YOU ALL!

until next time,

Hermana Heath

16 months down...2 TO GO?!

Hola Familia!

Sooo..how's it going? I hope you're all doing good. I love hearing about how things are going at home. It makes me miss ya'll a little bit less! It seems like you're all doing well.

This week was great!! Stella got baptized. I still can't believe it. Haha....the bad news? The branch president said her name wrong when they gave her the holy ghost so they have to do that ordinance again. Puuuucha. Ooooohhh she's halfway there...ooooohhh livin' on a prayer!! Hahaa...we're gonna try to get that done as soon as possible. But the baptism was really nice. We had a great time. I love being a missionary!  I love seeing how people change when they accept the gospel. It's a miracle! I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am for the restored gospel in my life. I never truly understood or realized just how different my life would have been if I had grown up with different beliefs or without the knowledge and testimony I have. We are sooo incredibly blessed...do we even know it?! I don't know...sometimes I think we take it all for granted. My mission and the people I have met have completely changed my life...but not only that...my understanding of life and the gospel too. Missions are the most amazing thing ever!! :)

Mmm...other than that...this week was pretty normal. I was sad to hear about Spencer. I hope he can get feeling better so that he can finish his mission. I'm so grateful that I haven't had any health problems while I've been here. There are soo many missionaries that have problems with that.

This week we had several lessons...but mostly with less actives. Rio Gallegos is pretty much a ghost town. Everyone leaves for vacation. Yesterday we ate asado with the Elders and their investigators. It was really yummy...we ate cordero...lamb! And it was REALLY good. I probably never would have eaten that before the mission. Hahaha. The investigators are named Paola and Ricardo. They're awesome! They're gonna get baptized next week...the 24th I think. They're super excied. Ricardo's brother Leo and his wife Veronica are our investigators...but Veronica is about to have a baby so things are a little bit complicated with visiting them. We'll just have to wait a little bit:)

Okay...that's all I can come up with for today. I think we're gonna play pool today as a district. Not really sure...but Elder Huffstutler from Alabama is cooking lunch today...guess what he's gonna make...CHILI! My life is made:) Have a fantastic week family! I love you all sooo much!!

Hermana Heath

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Querida Family,

It's 2015! What?! I can't even believe it. 2014 was the best year of my life... and the hardest. I love being a missionary. I learned so much and had so many incredible experienes that have changed me and my life forever! I've never been so happy in my life! I wish I could stay here in the Patagonia forever. Life couldn't be better! :)

This Saturday my comp and I have a baptism...Stella. She's great...and a lil crazy...but it's common among these Argentines in the Patagonia so dont worry! She's super prepared and happy and excited for her baptism...we're just hoping and praying that it doesn't fall through...again. Other than her, we're looking for new investigators. I love Rio Gallegos...it has practically transformed into a ghost town...everyone is on vacation...so that makes things hard...but I really do like the city and the members are awesome!

I dont' really have much to say this week. On new years day we got to watch monsters inc 2...monsters university. It was suuuper cute. Then we played in the chapel as a zone. It was super fun. I love my zone:) I love missionaries. So many friendships that will last for a long time:)

On saturday we had zone conference with President and Hermana Rogers. It was awesome. I love learning from them. President said he'll think about sending us to EL CALAFATE in two weeks if we work hard. I hope he lets us gooo....I wanna go sooo bad. It's a huuuge glacier and the pictures are GORGEOUS! I think he'll let us go:) anyway...we're gonna keep working hard in the mean time:) i love my companion...she's an absolute angel. Couldn't be happier! Hahaa...

Well family...have a great week! I kinda missed you last week...that was a little bit werid. Homesickness hasn't really been a problem for me in my mission..what's happening?! hahaha...but don't ya'll worry...in a few days I'll go back to not missing you anymore...hahahaa just kiddding. I think about you all the time..you're always in my thoughts and prayers. I love you all sooooo much!!! Thank you for your love and support! The church is true friends so keep going every sunday. Read the book of mormon...we're currently reading it together as a mission...we have to finish by april 6th. It's the best book ever...especially in spanish! :) ok...bye!

Hermana Heath

FELIZ AÑO NUEVOO!

Hey family...

It was sooo good talking to you all on Christmas! I was suuuper happy I got to talk to Matthew...err...Elder Heath too:) That made my day. I didn't think I was gonna get to talk with him:)

This week for new years we're gonna be with the same family...the only difference? The four Elders from our branch are gonna crash our party! Puuuucha. All six of us are gonna be together which will actually be really fun. I love this time of year in Argentina:) Oh...and we're gonna watch Monsters Inc 2...I'm super excited. I've also never seen that movie. Frozen was sooo cute. I've been singing the songs all week long.

This week we've got some more service planned as a district:) We're really excited. Yesterday was Elder Boyd's birthday so we had a small party in the church...we told him it was a meeting with the Elders quorum president. It was fun. After we played that game where you tie the balloon around your ankle and have to pop other peoples. It was fun...I took second place:) Hahaha.

Sooo...I think I pretty much to you everything on Thursday. But...I'm sure you've all seen the video the church made this year for Christmas..."He is the gift" Remember, Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He is the gift. I love the video. It's really powerful:)

Yesterday as a district we took some time to share with each other our favorite scriptures...it was really cool. I came across seccion 31 in D&C...the section mom shared with me before the mission. Last night I read it again... inserting my own name and remembered lots of promises and blessings from my setting apart. How quickly this year went by! Puuucha. I'm not ready to come home yet friends. I'm determined to stay foreverrr! :)

Well..have a very happy new year! I love you all! Em and Craig...watch some good disney movies for me...it looks like you got a pretty good colection:)

I LOVE YOU ALL! Have a great week:)

Hermana Heath

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!

Hola Familia,

¿Como andan? This week is Christmas!! Can you believe it?! I sure can't. What happened to the year...I think we skipped half of it. But anyway...I hope ya'll have a very merry christmas this year. We'll be talking soooon!

So...this week was crazy. Remind me one day to tell ya'll what happened cause I don't have much time. But basically Hermana Rodriguez didn't end up leaving until Tuesday morning. On Monday night we were at the pension of the zone leaders until about 11:30PM with all the missionaries wrapping up suitcases in plastic bags and tape from the missionaries that had traveled north...the people from the colectivo wouldn't let them take more than one on the bus. Anyway...we had like 30 extra suitcases to deal with. Then we ended up eating hot dogs cause we hadn't eaten anything all day. We didn't end up going to bed until like 2:30AM that night. I love transfers. Let me tell ya. Earlier that day we played soccer at a field that we rented for two hours. It was fun...and Hermana Heath scored two goals. Ya buddy! It was a good day... Tuesday we got up at 5:00 so that my comp could be at the terminal at 6:30AM. Then  I was on splits with the other hermanas until that night when I got on the colectivo and couldn't sleep due to the man next to me snoring suuuuper loud. On Wednesday morning I was in the pension of the hermanas in comodoro for about 3 hours...there were 7 hermanas training...we had a great time talking and toward the end we started stealing each others phones to call people from our old areas. I got super lucky because Hermana Salazar is currently in my area in Rawson and Hermana Villela is in my area in Caleta Olivia so I got to call Mariela, Agustina, and Maxi!!! :) Then with Hermana Zanuttini we called the familia zampa. It was sooo good to talk with them. They're all doing great:) At about noon we went to the offices and met the new missionaries. 5 gringas and 2 latinas. My new companion is Hermana Solorzano from Guatemala. I'm soooo glad she speaks spanish. As of right now...training is NOT fun...but my companion is great so we're doing good. We had a looong bus ride back...somehow I was able to sleep for most of it. Then we worked in our area the rest of the week. We put 4 new baptismal dates this week and found two new investigators! I'm super relieved because we lost pretty much everyone we had last week and the week before. Anywayy...on Saturday morning we did service in san benito as a zone. We had to clean out a garage..it was filled with lots of...well...the only word I can come up with is crap. Yep...it was filled with crap. I'm pretty sure this lady is a hoarder. There was an opened bag of lays chips from 2008. Puuuucha. There were also car parts...couches...baby strollers...clothes everywhere...anything you can think of was in that garage. I impressed everyone with my ability to carry heavy things. It was actually just because the Elders never let us do anything so they're always surprised when they find out we can open a door by ourselves and everything. Who knew, right?! Hahaha...the Elders are great! Such gentlemen. Hahahah.

Well...that was my week. I left lots of things out...but that's all I can come up with right now and my time is running short...like always. But...on Thursday we'll talk! :) I LOVE YOU ALL! MERRY CHRISTMAS! :):):)

Hermana Heath

TRANSFERS CAMEEE! ...por fin! :)

Hola Familia,

Soo...I'm pretty much out of time. Again. How does that happen so fast?! Beats me. Anyway...this week was really long...but it was good. We had lots of fun activities in the church. On tuesday we had district meeting which was awesome. I had to talk about christlike attributes...I've learned a lot about them this transfer. On wednesday we went christmas caroling as a district...an hermana in the branch made us santa hats and everything :) On Friday we had our christmas dinner as a branch. We did the live nativity...but it looks like you already found that out...the members here are really good with facebook apparently. hahaa. Anyway...I was Maria...and i got to hold a baby...for all you RM's you know that we're not supposed to hold babies...but what was I gonna do? Make Joseph hold it? No way Jose! I definitely took advantage of that opportunity...and I loved it...i almost didn't give little baby benjamin back. he's the son of the elders investigators. Soooo cute. I was in heaven. Best day ever...it made the embarassment worth it:) On saturday as missionaries we sang at seminary/institute graduation. it was fun! then they told us transfers. I'm gonna be training. I go to comodoro tomorrow night to pick her up...another loooong bus ride. wish me luck! Hermana rodriguez is going to ushuaia with hermana reyes. she's got awesome zone leaders down there so she'll be okay. Well family...I don't have much else to share this week. Griselda and Miguel didn't end up getting baptized. Puuucha. They're soo close. keep praying for them. the elders are gonna take over now...so i've gotta find new investigators!! I love rio gallegos. the families here are AMAZING! There's one family in particular the familia fernandez that takes such good care of me. I LOVE THEM! :)

Have a great week! sorry for the short unorganized letter. I love you all...next week we're gonna skype! shoot. I forgot..I haven't checked on times with members or anything. i'll let you know the time...it'll probably be in the afternoon...like 6:00 my time...2:00 your time. when are you gonna talk with matthew? christmas came fast! next monday i'll let you know for sure :)

Hermana Heath

17 daysss:)

Hola Familia,

Sooo...it's officially the Christmas season here in Argentina. On December 8th everyone starts to set up their trees and decorations and weird Santa dolls with stringy beards. I think it's a catholic tradition...and Argentina kinda adopted it. Crazies! I can't believe how quickly this year went by. Are ya'll excited to talk to meee? :)

This week was reallly long..but it was a good one. Remember Griselda and Miguel? They're supposed to get baptized this weekend! Keep them in your prayers please! They're amazing..the only problem is they moved to the area of the Elders yesterday...puuucha. We're gonna keep visiting them until their baptism and then we'll start to have visits with the Elders and eventually they'll take over with the retention lessons. I'm gonna miss visiting them...we go almost every single day. Such a great family:)

On Friday we had zone meeting...Elder Ramos and Hermana Judd gave their last testimonies. Soo weird. Elder Ramos was one of my first zone leaders in Trelew...over a year later we were put in the same zone again. Elder Kern is finishing this week too...he's the one from Provo that I met playing volleyball in Wyview before the mission. How the time flies...I can't believe that I hit the 15 month mark this week. NO PUEDE SER!! Anyway...the zone meeting was great. I love being a missionary. It's the best ever. I learn so much every single day.

On Thursday we went out as a district to carol! We visited the menos activos and invited them to church and a chirstmas dinner we're gonna have this friday as a branch. The missionaries are in charge of the nativity...I got stuck with the role of Mary. Normally I would be okay with that..but this is not as simple as walking in with a fake baby and listening to uncle David or uncle Russell read the christmas story...this is acting...and there's a real baby involved. Acting is not my thing people. Oh well...it should be good I guess.

Oh...so here's mostly for dad...my district leader always tells me jokes to keep me sane this transfer with everything going on...the other day I told him the "what do a duck and a bike have in common?" he didnt' find it very funny...I think it was cause he didn't understand.

Okay..well I have to go! Have a great week!! :) I LOVE YOU ALL! The church is trueeee:)

Hugs from Rio Gallegos!

Hermana Heath

No email today.  It's going to be a long week... :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Mi queridisima familia,

So...what's up? I have about two seconds to send you an email...it's a holiday in Argentina (surprise! surprise!) and the only ciber open is super expensive asi que your email is gonna be short..that seems to be happening a lot lately...

First we had interviews with President and Hermana Rogers. Can I just tell you how much I love them! They're amazing...and they both motivated me to keep going. They love me:) Hahaha I'm so excited for ya'll to meet them one day.

...HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I totally forgot...but  I hope you have a splendid day. Make sure Shaun doesn't eat all the banana cream pie...I feel like we always had a battle for the last piece...haha. Man, I'm gonna be missing home on thursday..but honestly not that much. Give everyone big hugs for me!! :)

This week I got to talk for a few minutes with Hermana Hundley...benefits of being friends with the assistants. She's doing good...it's always great talking to her. It pretty much made my day...plus everyone in Gallegos LOVES her and so they automatically love me too. It's the best:)

On Thursday two investigators Griselda and Miguel got married!! Yahooo... they're 24 and 22 years old and have 4 kids...on Friday Griselda told us she's pregnant with the 5th...anyway...they're super poor, but they are the cutest family. We're working toward baptism with them. I LOVE them...Miguel reminds me sooo much of the Craig-meister...it kinda makes me wanna give him a great big hug every time I see him. They're awesome.

Ummm...last but not least...sketchy Argentina water is finally starting to affect me...or I should say my hair. My hair is FALLING OUT. As you can imagine...I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS! Someone do some research and tell me what I have to do to keep my hair in my head...remember back in the day when my hair was long and pretty and thick? Well..those days are no more. Puuuucha. Someone help me please!  :(:(:(:( Hahahhaa...okay so I might have exaggerated a little bit...but really someone tell me what to do!

Yesterday in church we talked about what it means to be a true disciple of Christ..I LOVED IT! It's never gonna be easy...but it's worth it every time! Our first loyalty should always be to the Lord...in relief society we talked about taking the beam out of our own eye before trying to get rid of the mote in someone elses. So..it all tied together really well. It was an awesome day in church!

Okay that's all I can come up with this week! I love you all! Have a very happy thanksgiving! Hugs and kisses from Rio Gallegos!

Hermana Heath

Heyyy...

Hola Familia...

So...this week was EPIC. I didn't have time to read your emails...internet time is SUPER expensive here....soo...I'll read them later. Anyway...this week flew by...kind of.

On Tuesday I was in divisions with Hermana Johnson in centro Rio Gallegos. It was a good day...and a nice break from my companion. President Rogers wasn't kidding! Haha. I also hit 14 months in the mission...can ya'll believe it? I sure can't. The time is going by wayyy to fast. We're already half way through november!! Que LOCO!

On Wednesday we were at the dentist all day...my comp had to get a root canal last week and this week they did some other stuff. That night at 6:00PM we met up in the chapel and went to the terminal together...at 8:00PM we were boarding the bus that took us to Comodoro! It was sooo fun. I was sitting next to Hermana Garavito but Elder Ramos was in the other aisle seat across from me (my old zone leader in Trelew) It was the first time I had seen him since I left Rawson (he's in Calafate now which is about 3 hours outside of Gallegos) We talked until about 1:30AM about the mission and remembering good times in Trelew Sur. Hermana Garavito was also in that zone so she didn't get left out:) Haha. We only slept a little bit here and there...bus rides are impossible!

We got to Comodoro at about 6:30AM. We passed through Caleta and it pretty much ripped my heart out...I almost got off there. I could have made it to Maxi's house in 5 minutes running. Temptations. Anyway...we went to the mission office...the first Elder I saw that I recognized was Elder Alvarez...it was soo fun to see him. Then I saw Hermana Rasmussen, Hermana Zanuttini, Hermana Tumbaico...I had 7 of my 9 companions there. CRAZY. Haha...it was super fun. I finally found Hermana Hundley...it was the best reunion EVER. I love her with all my heart. We just kinda stood there stunned...neither of us knew what to say so we just hugged each other...from that moment on we didn't leave each other's sides all day. She's doing really well. I was happy to talk with her:) Elder Christofferson showed up with Presidente Gonzalez and Presidente Rogers and their wives at about 10:00AM. The conference was GREAT...and Elder Christofferson wanted to shake our hands...you can bet I wont be washing my right hand ever again...it's my apostle hand. I shouldn't have a hard time with that goal because in Argentina they rarely have soap anyway! Haha. Crazy Argentines.

We ate lunch after and then just had the whole day to chill in the church. It was the BEST. The other missionaries all left before our zone...which was sad..I cried when Trelew and Puerto Madryn left...and then again when Caleta Olivia left...but right before getting on the bus Elder Dunford asked for my agenda he knows my companion and that she's a little bit hard so he wrote on the front page "you're better than the whole bunch of them put together old sport" apparently it's a quote from the great gatsby...but it always makes me feel better during the day when I see it:)

Have a great week! The church is true...Elder Christofferson said so! I love you all!!

Hermana Heath

Rio Gallegos...

Hola Familia!!

Hey friends. So...my first week in Rio Gallegos was an ETERNITY. My companion is Hermana Rodriguez...she's got about 6 months in the mission and from Peru. She has lots of sicknesses including severe chronic gastritis and a couple other stomach problems so we don't get to work as much as I like... President Rogers is watching her closely which also means that I talk with him way more than I'm used to over the phone...which is probably good. Hermana Rodriguez has been labled as one of the "hard" companions in the mission for lots of reasons only one of them being her health...president told me if I can get throught this transfer I will have magnified my calling... haha...I think it was mostly a joke...at least I hope so!! Apparently she has a really strong personality. BUT! I don't tell you all this to complain about my companion because that's not cool. Mostly I'm just gonna send out a quick reminder...something one of my seminary teachers always said, "There are two types of people in the world...the ones you love and the ones you don't understand." I can tell it's probably gonna be a hard transfer...my companion is one of the people I don't understand yet. I'm gonna have to understand her to love her, and love her to understand her. We'll see how this goes! Wish me luck...and remember...don't judge people...because usually once we get to know them we love 'em!

I love Rio Gallegos so far. The members here are awesome. I love the familia Fernandez...and thanks to Hermana Hundley...they love me! Everyone here loves Hermana Hundley...and I get to see her in 3 DAYS! I'm sooo excited. It should be a great conference with the apostle. It's gonna be a looong bus ride though....

I can't really think of anything that happened this week...the Elders in my district are great. My district leader, Elder Rendon, is from Colombia...my zone leaders are great..I've met them both before...Elder Benitez...the kid that I sat next to for 5 hours during that protest in Caleta when I was headed to Grande? Good times. And Elder Mamani...don't remember where he's from... Chile I think.

Leaving Caleta Olivia was brutal. I cried HARD. Hermana Villela...my replacement...showed up about 2 hours before I left...awkward. I was not down to hang out with her and was surprisingly jealous as I realized that she was gonna be living in MY pension...sleeping in MY bed...eating lunch with MY families...visiting MY Maxi...I hope she takes good care of them. Anyway...Maxi was such a capo and stayed in the terminal with me until my bus left. His mom even came to say goodbye. That surprised me cause she doesn't want anything to do with religion (although she supports Maxi and is happy he's making good decisions with his life) She told me she's gonna miss me and that she loves me and thanked me for all I did for Maxi...yep...I was crying. Maxi gave me a letter and drew me a picture of a tiger...I didn't know he could draw...but wrote that the tiger was sad because I'm leaving...I try not to look at it because it makes me sad. I'm gonna get permission from President to call him for his birthday in a coulple of weeks...and at the conference I'll probably steal Hermana Davis' phone and send him a message...oh...Hermana Rasmussen is in Rawson...in my area...and Elder Tarwater is also in Rawson. I'm super jealous. Okay...so that's all I can come up with to tell you...next week I promise I'll write a good letter...I read all your letters this week so I didn't have a lot of time to write.

I LOVE YOU ALL! This week I've been singing "I'm trying to be like Jesus" all week long...what a great song. Do ya'll remember the words? :)

Have a great week! Sorry for the boring letter! Next week's will be awesome for sure!

Hermana Heath

Gallegos...here I come!!

Dear Family...

So...I made the mistake of reading everyone's emails before writing to all of you guys and now you're not gonna get a very good or long letter. Anyway... my head is spinning a little bit...but I'm not saying anything until someone confirms my thoughts.

Anyway...they told us transfers on Saturday night. I'm going to Rio Gallegos. I leave tonight at 9:00PM. I'm sad to leave Caleta and Maxi and the familia Zampa, and Natalia...plenty of tears have already been shed. Maxi is coming to the terminal tonight so I haven't had to say goodbye to him yet. Anyway... I'm excited to go to Rio Gallegos. I think. My new companion is Hermana Rodriguez I think.

This week was good. It flew by. Will the time ever slow down? I doubt it. Next week the apostle is coming. It's Elder Christofferson...but shhh don't tell anyone. Technically I'm not supposed to know that...none of the other missionaries know yet. Hermana Zampa told me yesterday(we ate cinammon rolls again yesterday!)...she has good contacts in the church:) Haha...anyway.

Well...for Halloween I dressed up as an Elder. I had a tie and everything. I borrowed Elder Dunford's name tag. Good times. Not as exciting as Emily and Craig I suppose.

We did an activity on Saturday night in the church..."trip to Hawaii." It's awesome...remind me to explain it to you one day.

Well...have a great week. I love you all. Bye!

Hermana Heath

...transfers...CHAN! oh...and Halloween. Weird...I was in Argentina for that last year too.

Querida Family,

So...Happy Halloween this week! I'm glad to hear you're all doing well. Today is another holiday in Argentina...but this time it's only for the province...every day is a holiday in Argentina. Bless their crazy hearts. Luckily the ciber is still open or we would be writing later today. Apparently though at 3:00PM a member is coming to teach us self-defense. Cool? We'll see...I'm sure I'll have some good stories for next week though.

This week was...normal. Haha. We had 4 lessons with member. That almost never happens here. The rotary is generally "too far away" for the members especially if they don't have cars...I'll be completely honest when I say I don't have much sympathy when they give me that excuse. Oh...yesterday the branch president sent me a text asking if I could give a talk in sacrament meeting about the importance of taking the sacrament. I guess someone canceled on him last minute...so I prepared an 8 minute talk in about 20 minutes....it went really well. God loves his missionaries...I never would have been able to do that before the mission...even less in a foreign language!

We had zone conference this week. It was really good. I always learn a lot from my zone leaders. I have two really good ones:) We ate lunch outside... my idea! I think it's called shepherd's pie in english...you know that thing with mashed potatoes and meat and hard-boiled eggs and cheese? pastel de papas se llama en español. I don't know maybe it doesn't exist in the states...don't really remember...I don't remember anything we eat at home besides french toast and peanut butter.

Yesterday we went to the hospital to visit the friend of a member. I really don't like argentine hospitals...probably not normal ones either...but I get a weird feeling inside when I'm there...luckily this hospital wasn't nearlly as sketchy as the one in Rawson where Elder Verges was. Still, I was very happy to be leaving!

I'm leaving from Caleta this transfer...I think. My guess is Comodoro...we'll see. I'm loving the sun in Caleta and getting a nice tan...hahaha. But really... my feet already look like they did when I left rawson in february...puuucha. Oh...and this morning my companion cut my hair...it was necessary. The wind here DESTROYS the ends. It's depressing.

Well...that's all I've got. Have a good week! I love you all! The church is true!!:) I finished the Book of Mormon this week again and started 1 Nephi the same morning...I love the scriptures! They're filled with amazing promises, blessings, and guidelines...look for them as you read and then learn to apply them!! :) For example...the very last verse of Alma 33 is one of my personal favorites that I've discovered in the mission:)

Well, bye.

Hermana Heath