Hey Family and Friends!

Can’t write much so I will write fast.

I finally completed 6 months in my mission on the 10th!! Wow… a third of my mission over and I still feel like I reported to the MTC yesterday. And it came without even thinking. We were in the calle caminando a nuestra pensión and ella me dijo, “Feliz Cumplemes!! and I did not believe her. I had to look at my agenda to make sure. But sure enough its been six faithful months since that life changing day at the MTC.

Today Was one of the best P-days ever because we finally got permission to go to Iguacu falls. I am so exited that we got to see it. I took a mom-size amount of photos. It’s the second largest waterfall in the world, and it was rather a miracle that we got permission to go and see it. It was an all day activity, and for this this letter is rather short. It was awesome, we got soaking wet.

I will write more about it later but I am running out of time before we have to get back to work.

Love ya.
Hermana Tritsch

Hmmm…. What to say and so little time to say it…

Hope I find all of you in good health as life continues here in Ituzaingó. We were recently informed that the way we were counting our lessons, and the way practically the whole mission has been counting their lessons is wrong… Needless to say, many missionaries will, if they are not already, be frustrated. Before, we could count any instance where we taught a principle as a lesson… now, we have to, si o si, pray to count them.

I understand why, but many are frustrated, because contacts in the street, or contacts tracting where we don´t really have the opportunity to pray don´t count. Our numbers are going to drop dramatically, and it makes my companion and me anxious.

We are also going to do divisions this week with the other hermanas in our district, and I am really nervous because I have never done them before. The thing is that Hermana Araya wants to be with Hermana Galbraith, who used to be her companion about a year ago, leaving me doing divisions with her mini.

For those outside the missionary sphere, a mini missionary is a local volunteer that works with a missionary when there are not sufficient missionaries to form a complete companionship. Otherwise, they would have to close an area for a while until they get a new missionary to fill the gap, this way they can fill each area with missionaries, and avoid having to do trios and closing an area.

Hermana Do Santos (the mini) is 17 years old, from Buenos Aires by way of Apostoles, Misiones, and I only got a little less than 6 months in the mission, and only 4 in Argentina… can you smell disaster waiting to happen?

Well, It’s only for a couple of days so It can´t be too bad… can it?

Our investigators are doing fine… we had to move algunas fechas, because they still were not married, but Griselda and Noemi both still want to get baptized which is always a good sign. We were getting kind of nervous because Débora stopped keeping her commitments for a little, but we think everything is alright now. We probably won´t reach our yearly goal, but at least we know we worked hard and are doing everything in the Lord´s time.

In other news, we put up the Christmas tree today, and it looks awesome… We found a fake tree bought by missionaries who knows how long ago, and decorated it with cutouts from the Liahona, random objects around the house, a star that really took too long to make, origami, and my tag. It’s kind of awesome though… Like, if I have to be away from home for Christmas, at least I have a tree. The lights we found looked too dangerous to use, so, our tree is lightless, but its cool in a geeky missionary way.

We also received good news that next P-Day will be a good one, because our zone leader received last minute permission that we could have a Zone activity at…..IGUAZU FALLS! I am so exited we had a mini fiesta when we found out. Iguazu Falls is the biggest waterfall in South American and possibly the world, but I am not really sure. President never lets anyone go that are not in the areas closest to the falls, but everyone wants to go… so it’s a Christmas Missionary Miracle! Hermana Schmutz is going to be so angry when she finds out and she got transferred just before.

I miss you all and I am going to take a mom-size amount of pictures.

Love you much,
Hermana Sarah Tritsch

Queridos Familia y Amigos,

I hope that you are all well in the states as I continue to work hard here in Ituzaingó. I miss you all dearly and I want to let you all know that I am thinking of you and missing all of my friends and family very much. Today was a real homesick week as I finally became infinitely aware how long it will be before I see my whole family together again… My brothers are in the “mish” too, y´know. (see their blogs to find out more. Elder Jared Tritsch and Elder Zack Tritsch)

But the thought of all of us doing the same thing at the same time gives my a little bit of comfort. I mean, I know they aren’t in trouble, smoking, drinking, or in jail… so I guess it could be worse.

Okay… back to Ituzaingó…

We had a VERY impromptu zone activity which was kind of a bust today. We wanted to go visit the Yacyreta, a dam that is co owned by Argentina and Paraguay with the Hermanas, but when we called the zone leaders to ask permission for the hermanas in Posadas to come here, he made us feel bad for not inviting the elders… soo… everyone is here. We did not get to go to the represa (dam) though. Because it is co-owned with Paraguay, technically we would go to Paraguay and needed our passports to go. We had certified photocopies of our passports, which we were misinformed would work to let us go to the represa. But when we got to the office, they told us that we needed our real passports to visit it. So… all of us gringos did not get a chance to visit the represa.

We actually catch a lot of flack for being American. It's not the first time that we got cut off for being from the United States (see the Ruinas of San Ignacio incident). We are getting rather sick of it, and many people won´t listen to us when we say that we are from the states. Hermana Kretchman and Hermana Borchart are starting to tell people that they are from Germany. Everyone thinks that they are because of their names. Everyone thinks I am Polish for the same reason… Although I don´t feel comfortable lying about it.

It's always been a little bit of a problem, but it has been worse in the past week or two… the tension, I mean… for all the Americans. Something must have happened. I don’t know what it was… I wish I did. Luckily I have a Chilena companion to vouch for me.

Back to the work…

So… having Brother Cabrera baptize his daughters is kinda a bust. He won´t even talk to us, let alone come back to church to prepare himself to do the baptism. But on the flipside, Hermana Cabrera, the mother, is listening to us more. Maybe we can activate her and it won’t be a complete and utter wipeout. If we can manage to reactivate her, we won´t have to ask permission of Presidente del Castillo to continue the baptism of Débora and Melina, their daughters.

We also had a charla franca (frank discussion) with Itati Acosta (una investigadora eterna [eternal investigator]) to find out what is preventing her from being baptized. She has been taught by the missionaries since forever… since before there was Hermanas in Ituzaingó, and has had more fechas bautismales (baptismal dates) than I can count. But we decided to work with her again because we were reading her teaching record, and the other missionaries that came before us said some fairly unfriendly things about her, saying that she was “trucha” and that we “shouldn´t waste our time” and Hermana Araya and I want to prove them wrong. The good news is that our risk paid off and we are going to work with her for baptism for the 26th of Diciembre [December].

Emilio and Griselda are still progressing rapidly… Normally we can only pass by los fines de semana [on the weekends] because she works in la Isla, a part of Ituzaingó we can’t go because we have to cross the water and the Isla is in Paraguayan waters. But Emilio nos permitó que podamos pasar y enseñarle [Emilio allows us to go and teach] during the week when she isn’t there. This is a good thing, because this means he is willing to listen to us independent of his pareja [partner]. If he accepts a baptismal date within the next week, we are going to move Griselda’s date to match up with his.

So… Theoretically we could have 5 baptisms in December… Achieving our goal of doubling the baptisms of the previous year. Its all coming down to the wire though… It might be that we have a massive baptism of everyone together on the 26th – the last Saturday to do baptisms in this year. I just hope I don´t get transferred before I can see the baptism.

Time´s up for this week.

Chao Chao, y les quiero muchisimo.
Hermana Sarah Tritsch

Its time for Bad News/Good in the life of las Hermanas Misioneras de Ituzaingó!!!

Bad News:

We worked harder than ever to push through to the baptism of Débora Cabrera esta semana (this week)... and all seemed to be into the clear, until Presidente del Castillo suggested we reactivate her father to do the baptism. Great idea... Brillant... but who knows how long that's going to take and we know for sure it will take more than four days to reactivate a man who´s been inactive for 14 years. So, we can´t baptize her this Saturday like we planned.

Good News:

But if it can go through, we can reactivate the dad, baptize Débora and and her sister Melina, and get the family to the temple, its best for all that is involved. If we can pull it through, by the end of the year, hopefully, then that would be concrete evidence that there is a God, because we will have witnessed a miracle. Thankfully, Presidente del Castillo said that if we can´t manage to reactivate the dad to do the baptism, we can baptize Débora and Melina igual (together). Takes a little pressure off... but not much.

Bad News:

Church was utterly chaotic Sunday with lessons and talks ranging from the priesthood, to baptisms for the dead, and tithing, making first time comers Griselda and Emilio Dominguez confused and scared for the church. Every speaker mentioned them, placing them uncomfortably in the spotlight.

Good News:

After a 2 hour lesson with them to explain everything they are still interested, Griselda has a fecha (date) for baptism and accepted our challenge to pay tithing, and whether Emilio will admit it or not, he´s interested too.

Also, the fact that everyone took interest in them at church is a good thing... It means that they like them, and that when they get baptized, they will be a welcome part of the rama (branch).

Bad News:

Yoli, (don´t know if I have mentioned her in the past or not) who once was progressing, dejared us (spanglish term for asked us to stop coming by). Its really too bad because Hermana Schmutz and I had high hopes for her. I think when Hermana Schmutz left for Formosa, Yoli´s interest went with her... I hate it when that happens.

Good News:

On our way back from the royal rejection, we got seriously lost and stopped to ask for directions, and it turned into a fairly promising contact. Two ladies were kind enough to offer us ice water, (which Heramana Araya and I faked-drunk because we were fasting) and we talked about our key beliefs, and gave them a tarjeta de obsequio (gift card) about the Articulos de Fe (Articles of Faith), and they seemed genuinely interested. We are going to pass by later this week to see them and teach them. Hopefully we don´t have to get lost to find them again.

Bad News:

Thursday, it reached 50 degrees celsius here, which is like 122 degrees farenheit, factor in another 10 or 15 degrees for the humidity, and I think we have found my eventual cause of death.

Good News:

The schedule changes at the first of December and we study in the afternoon, so we don´t have to work the hottest hours of the day. I just gotta last until then.


Love you all and would love to hear if anyone actually reads my blog... Please drop me a line at sunrisenightingale@myldsmail.net.

Hasta la proxima semana, (Until next week)

Hermana Tritsch

10th of November marks my 5th Cumplemes… Meaning that I completed 5 months in the mission. *GULP* it feels like I got my mission call 5 days ago.

Nevertheless, Here in Ituzaingó, my madrasta teaches me new things every day, and she and I have been doing really well. She and I have been trying to work better with the members this transfer, and so far, our efforts turned up plentifully. This week, we found 15 new investigators, contacted 7 references, and had 6 lessons with members… Numbers that Hermana Schmutz and I only worked to achieve and never saw.

The rain has been pouring and pouring this week, and on Saturday, normally a big work day for us, we could not work because it was so dangerous… and it was like another P-day. (Seriously, people were trapped in their houses because a river ran were the street used to be.) We spent the extra time memorizing scriptures and learning the provinces of Argentina. Hermana Araya has this puzzle map of Argentina, and I almost got it down… except we lost Cordoba… Hermana Araya likes to remind me of it every once in awhile.

We have also become eminently familiar with the extended works of LDS composer Michael McClean. She has officially taken over my zune, and we constantly listen to church music... she doesn´t seem to mind that its all in English. Hermana Araya likes to sing along to our favorite eighties hits like, “We Can be Together, Forever Someday” and “I Got to Find out Who I Am” and is consistently singing them in calles (streets). Too bad noone knows what in the word she is singing about.

We have to do this mission long homework assignment throughout our mission called Atesorad la Palabra (Treasure the Word), which consists of Predicad mi Evangelio (Preach My Gospel) study and memorizing like 200 different scriptures. Hermana Araya is almost done… I want to complete mine so badly, but me cuesta memorizar en Castellano (I have trouble memorizing in Castilian). Hermana Araya is helping me though. The rainy day really helped my atesorad progress… and hers too.

The rain aside, the work still moves forward in Ituzaingó.

We are working a lot with the youth, because two of our progressing investigators are teenage girls: Débora Cabrera and Mariana Triay. Débora is working steadily toward her baptism date on the 28th and we are so exited for it. The Mujeres Jovenes have kind of taken over planning her baptism, and we are going to let them.

They have all named themselves their Hermanadoras, and its awesome that they have friends in the rama. Gospel Doctrine was nearly all teenage girls last week.

Funny story: We have been trying to get Mariana, a daughter of some of our recent converts to come to church forever… and we can´t seem to do it. Mariana and one of the young women in our rama Adriana are schoolmates. Adriana loves doing missionary work with us, and we have been trying to get her and Mariana to be friends forever.

Last week, for an unidentified reason, they got into a fight at school and Adriana punched Mariana… Then, the parents get called in, and now, Mariana is going to church and Adriana is her biggest friend at church. Who knows if the two events are related or not, but it’s a funny chain of events.

Today, P-Day, we went to Posadas to hang out with the other hermanas in our Zone, Hermana Galbraith, Hermana Do Santos, Hermana Zevallos, Hermana Bourroughs, Hermana Kretchman, and Hermana Borchart. We really did not do much, we made tacos and hung out at the apartment of the Rocce Saenz Peña Hermanas (Downtown Posadas) and ate tacos. It was a real treat, because people don´t believe in seasonings really here. Herbs sometimes, but seasonings, no. Hermana Bourroughs had some taco seasoning from the states, and it was awesome… Still wanted some Cholula Hot Sauce, but it was so awesome anyway. The apartment smelled like home.

Now we are hanging out in Posadas waiting for our collectivo (bus) to take us back to Ituzaingó and back to our mission area.

Hope everything is well and happy stateside, and know that I am thinking and praying for you.

Love,
Hermana Sarah Tritsch

Hola, Everyone!

I´ve officially graduated from training!! Well, of sorts. Hermana Schmutz, my trainer got transferred and will bake all summer in Formosa, and I am still here in Ituzaingó. Its weird being without her… But I guess I knew this day would come. Here, turning everything I learned about how to do missionary work on its head is Hermana Camila Alejandra Araya Casanova from La Serena, Chile.

They say that Hermana Araya is my Madastra, or stepmother, because she is the companion I have directly after my trainer, or my mission mother. I am her 12th companion, third stepdaughter (yes… that’s a lot of companions for a Hermana) and probably her last, as she goes back home to her friends and family in the Chilean coast. If we stay together this transfer and the next, then, as they say, I will kill her. (not really… it just means that after me, she won´t be a missionary anymore.)

She is sooo awesome though. She is the queen of getting references from people and getting prople to come with us to lessons. Two days ago, we had an almuerzo with Familia Rodriguez and she got 4 references and 4 lessons with member scheduled in a matter of 10 minutes! That’s more than Hermana Schmutz and I would get in a week! She is also very knowledgeable about the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and I feel lucky to have her as my companion and the chance to learn from her more.

She´s also loca.

Her favorite pastimes include, eating, making fun of people´s accents in Spanish, Singing the English hymns (but she can´t pronounce the words, and she knows it, so she just makes them up), and teaching me Chilena. She also likes to infuse English slang into her Spanish words. Its kind of funny because she sometimes uses them incorrectly. She also likes breaking out into random songs in the middle of conversations. Yes, my companion has a soundtrack…

She refuses to teach me Castellano, the type of Spanish they speak here, but everyone says that as I learn Chilena, the type of Spanish they speak in Chile, that my Castellano has improved by leaps and bounds.

I am also helping her with her English. I am still teaching English Classes, even though Hermana Schmutz is not here anymore, and my companion is one of the students. She is constantly asking me the English words for things, and when we read Manual Misional (Missionary Handbook) together, she reads in English and I read in Spanish.

I rarely speak English now, or at least, not nearly as much as I did with Hermana Schmutz. Nearly my whole day is in Castellano, and I even surprise myself in how much I have learned and can understand of the people when they speak.

A few days ago, we were having lunch in a restaurant, and overheard a conversation where it was mostly Spanish, but every so often, I would hear the same thing repeated in English, and knew that they were tourists. As we were leaving, I said, ``Enjoy your time here!´´ In English and his head jolted and he was so relieved that someone spoke English. He was from Canada, and I couldn´t believe it! I COULD NOT HAVE A CONVERSATION COMPLETELY IN ENGLISH!

My mind and my words drifted in and out of Spanish like it was nothing! I told them that I had learned Spanish here and had only been speaking for five months and the woman, who was from Ituzaingó and his wife said, ``Bob, I have been trying to get you to learn Spanish for 15 years and she speaks well after 5 months!!´´ Needless to say, I was feeling fairly confident in myself after that.

I am still anxious that I don´t know my area well enough, but I am working on it, and I haven´t found myself too terribly lost yet. I can feel that Hermana Araya and I will have much success together, and I will have a riot of a time learning much from Hermana Araya.

I miss you all so much, and Zack… its going to be okay… you are going to love the MTC. Just remember to check every so often that you are breathing normal until you get to the MTC. And just think! Every Wednesday and Sunday there is Ice Cream sundaes with ice cream from the BYU creamery. So when in doubt, drown your sorrows in the creamy goodness.

Also, When I was at the MTC, I was on the 4th floor of 18m. On the same floor of those who are ASL missionaries. So, when the cabin fever gets really bad about the 5th or 6th week in, remember that Jared and I were there… pacing the same halls… feeling the same way. And don’t forget to email me… I KNOW YOU CAN.

Love,
Hermana Sarah Tritsch

Hey all! Its me again!

Thanks for all your letters of support and love... I hadn´t got any emails, but last district meeting, I got a stack of letters through the post, I guess they all arrived at the same time. I am doing my best to write back, so please be patient with me.

Hace muchisimo calor ahora... like 100 degrees, with like 100 percent humidity. and we still have to work the hottest part of the day, during the siesta, until december. Thankfully we have our fans (Cornelius and Linus, named by Hna Schmutz) and our water cooler(Ivan). I have inherited a sun hat from Hna Glade, Hermana Schmutz´s old companion (now honorably stateside). Just trying my hardest to not die this summer. The good thing is that I have lost lots of weight, and by the time the summers over, I am sure that I will loose more.

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In our rama, the missionaries also double as activities committee. I really don´t see where that is in the job description, but ya esta. All last week, we were planning a primaria/obra misional activity for Halloween (or Noche de las Brujas (night of the witches)) We spent hours planning with Hermana Gomez to put together a night of fun and games and sweets, and for the first time in recollective mission history for either one of us, it was successful! we had investigators, community members, and church members to help. all said and done, we had about 30ish kids, and 15ish jovenes/adults.

Noemi even came with her son Augustin, and suprise! Her marido Cesar came too. Maybe him seeing the capilla will soften his heart a little.

Hermana Schmutz and I even dressed up as witches. (again the cyber is giving me problems with my pictures... grr... Its kind of touch-and-go with the machinas... I will probably send another CD pretty soon, mom.)

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We get the transfer call tomorrow. We think that Hermana Schmutz will go because during our last interview with president, he thanked her for her service in Ituzaingó and asked me if I knew the area. We are way anxious. Hermana Schmutz is way triste all the time, and I have a big fear that when she leaves, everything is going to fall into catastrophe, and I am going to do something stupid and lose all of our investigators.

She says that most missionaries that stay in one place for as long as she has, get cabin fever and want to leave, but she is different. She wants another transfer in Ituzaingó. More likely is that she will go to Formosa and bake. But who knows, Presidente could throw everything for a loop and send ME to Formosa (I shudder at the thought...)

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We put a Fecha Bautismal with Griselda. Well, half a fecha. She didn´t say no, only that she would pray about it, she wants to make sure its for her and not for us. But we have faith that everything will be okay. She accepted our desafio to obey the Word of Wisdom, and she and her marido, Emilio, are going to try to obey it together. Who knows, if the Holy Ghost will help us, we might be able to baptize her and Emilio at the same time. They still have much to learn and much to do (like get married) but it could very well lead to our next baptism. Fingers Crossed, check that, arms crossed (like prayer, get it? Get it?)

(Love that cheesy missionary humor that makes no sense)

Miss ya much. I love you all, and look forward to reading more news from the homefront.

-La Hermana Sarah Tritsch