CARTA!!!

With two-headed cow

August 11, 2014

Hola familia!

Greetings from Uruguay!  So this week has been a fun one!  Our week started out a little slow...on Tuesday and Wednesday, we tried to visit a million people, but none of them were home.  So we did lots of walking, clapping (you guys know we clap here instead of knock, right?), and talking to people in the street.  A mission sure does teach you the value of hard work! 

On Thursday, Hermana McMurray had a leadership training meeting in Montevideo, so I stayed in our area with Hermana Argao who is from BRAZIL!!!  I totally thought of Linds.  She is serving in Mercedes right now, an area in our zone.  Let me just say...bless her heart.  Hermana McMurray and I carefully planned the day, but we didn’t really have time to go through where all the houses exactly were.  As you know, directions aren’t really my thing, so we did A LOT of walking looking for all the houses.  We always ended up finding them though, and Hermana Argao was such a good sport! Anyway, Hermana Argao and I had a great time together.  She taught me a bit of Portuguese, we made a yummy pizza for lunch, and it was so great to see how she taught.  Ìt’s hard when Hermana McMurray is gone, but I always learn so much because every missionary does things a little differently! 

On Friday, I had the opportunity to attend my first baptism in Uruguay!  Our bishop’s mother-in-law’s records were found, so that was a huge relief.  But an eleven-year-old girl named Judiht who the elders have been teaching was baptized!  I ended up playing the piano last-minute for her baptism, so tell Sister Ashcroft thanks for me.  Anyway, her baptism was so cute.  She got all done up, and our Relief Society president made little cards to hand out and a beautiful, white cake!  Judiht looked so happy and it was also a cool experience to see her be confirmed yesterday in church!

So in Uruguay, there’s this huge holiday called Dia de Niños.  We celebrated on Saturday by having a ward activity!  The ward put on this circus, and all the adults dressed up and danced to these little songs.  They also gave Hermana McMurray and me clown clothes so we got to dress up as well!  It felt so weird to wear pants in public!  Afterwards, all the kids in our ward got their faces painted, jumped in a bouncy house, and ate caramel apples/popcorn.  It was a hit.

Yesterday, church was great!  As I’ve mentioned previously, it’s been difficult for Hermana McMurray and me to find investigators who are willing to attend church (especially in the winter when it’s cold).  We invited all of our investigators to church, but unfortunately, none of them came.  However, it’s been great because Hermana McMurray and I have had the opportunity to meet some awesome less active members who are beginning to be reactivated!  It always makes me so happy to see them, and yesterday, a lot of less active members came!  Yay!

Today has been quite the P-Day.  We walked to the beach and saw this giant building in the distance.  We decided to walk to it, and guess what it was?  A meat packing factory museum!  I guess Fray Bentos had a bunch of European owned factories during WWI and WWII because it was difficult for factories to be built in Europe.  Anyway, the museum was AWESOME.  We saw a two-headed cow and a ton of machinery and pictures.  We even got to talk with some of the museum workers about genealogy (they want to see if the Church can help them with some microfilms or something)!  It was a super fun adventure, and I’m so glad I’ve got a companion who likes to do fun stuff on P-Day!

Anyway, it’s been a good week, and I’m really beginning to love life as a missionary.  For some reason or another, these past two nights it’s been difficult for me to fall asleep because my mind just can’t stop thinking about Fray Bentos.  I am learning so much from everyone here, I honestly think Fray Bentos is just so beautiful, and I’ve got an awesome trainer.  I am really beginning to gain a testimony that Heavenly Father truly sends missionaries where they need to go.  There are a lot of hard things about Fray Bentos, but I’ve found myself feeling like this is really where I need to be right now.  I am one lucky gal!

Anyway, I love you all lots, and thanks for all you do!

Hermana Dixon