HOW TO LOVE YOURSELF, or 2 Years Lost AND FOUND!

Even the dogs are pumped to win the World Cup!

 

 During my mission I have missed:

• 2 World Olympic games
• Donald Trump´s election and entire period in office so far
• A hurricane and several terrorist attacks
• 2 Birthdays, Christmases, New Years, etc.
• the birthdays of my loved ones
• 2 Years of schooling at USC with my best buds
• Movie releases of Mohana, Coco, etc.
• Music releases of some of my favorite artists
• My childhood dog passing away
• My parents sold my car
• My parents moving houses
• My best friend going on a mission of her own ♥
• etc

How to Love Yourself. 

 

Before my mission, I used to worry a lot about people being hard on themselves.  I have seen people suffer and it makes me very sad.  I still worry, but I have found something that gives me great hope.  I understand now that we have a choice, and that evil influences us behind our backs.  I have found something that helps me tremendously in my own life, when thoughts or negative influences come.

I have seen the cure, and I've seen it work in my own life.  This cure is so powerful, it can be the cure to almost anything.

Jesus explains in the 10th chapter of Matthew, verse 39:

 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

 During these past 2 years I have missed a lot of really impactful events.  I have left a lot of friends questioning and a lot of loved ones wondering where I am and what I am doing with my time.

And in those 2 years, I have lost my life.

And I hope to keep losing it for His sake.  

I know Christ´s promise is real.  I know and have felt the power of those words.

I know forgetting yourself, your problems, your worries, is the secret to getting rid of them. 

All I know is that when I am serving the people down here in Argentina, I don't think about my problems.  But I do find happiness, I FIND PURPOSE.

And I know that promise is available to all.

I have seen people suffer from negative ideas, and I have even seen people go home because of their problems that they couldn't leave in the past (the life they couldn't lose).  This breaks my heart, and I know it will always be hard to reject our lives for what He wants, for His sake. But I know I have found my life through losing so much.  I will continue.

Christ is my redeemer.  He is my Salvador.  He is my life and my light.  He is my eternal hope.  I know He is Love, and I know He is the cure.

What I've learned is that you don't need to love yourself in order to love others.  Just love others to the point where you forget about yourself, and you will find your life.  Do what they want. Do what He wants. Be selfless.

You´ll start to see how good you are at it.  You´ll find your own worth.

You´re worth it. You´re good at it.

I LOVE YOU ALL

ELDER AMANN

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The door Jesus knocks in that one painting:

 

 

How to make empanadas (also how to love yourself) ♥

 

 

 

WANTING TO BE BETTER

It's so cold!  I miss warm bear hugs.

  

 A lot of times missionaries talk about how hard the mission is.

What could be so hard?  We literally just hang out with people all day!  

So what are all these missionaries talking about?

In my experience, the hardest part is me.

I love talking to people all day.  I love setting up meetings, I LOVE teaching, I love getting to know 

strangers, I love walking far distances with my companions.

But man, I am difficult!  Here in the mission, I am constantly reflecting on myself.  I am looking at my faults, at what I can do better, at questioning why I´m here.

For example, If my companion and I differ on opinions, I wonder what I can do to better understand.

Don't get me wrong, I am NEVER negative about myself.  I know I am doing something great, and that I stand for right and light.  The hard part is how I can emulate that light better.

I have been blessed with a spiritual gift of loving learning, an constantly wanting to get better.

I dont ever take a negative approach.  I am very happy with who I am, but I recognize that 

I have more to become!

I think the first step to progression is realizing that there is room to grow.  

I think everyone has something to teach me, and I value people extremely for that!  It helps me 

love and be interested in everyone.

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This can all be summed up:

I LOVE LEARNING.

Its one of my priorities and I enjoyed this talk from Elder Teh

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/where-your-treasure-is?lang=eng

Last January my sweetheart, Grace, and I received an assignment to visit the members in the Philippines who were devastated by a major earthquake and a super typhoon. We rejoiced because the assignment was an answer to our prayers and a testament to the mercy and goodness of a loving Father in Heaven. 

Most of the members we met were still living in temporary shelters like tents, community centers, and Church meetinghouses. The homes we visited had either partial roofing or no roofing at all. The people did not have much to begin with, and what little they had was swept away. There was mud and debris everywhere. However, they were full of gratitude for the little help they received and were in good spirits despite their very difficult circumstances. When we asked them how they were coping, everyone responded with a resounding, “We’re OK.” Obviously, their faith in Jesus Christ gave them hope that everything would work out eventually. Home after home, tent after tent, Sister Teh and I were being taught by these faithful Saints.

In times of calamity or tragedy, the Lord has a way of refocusing us and our priorities. All of a sudden, all the material things we worked so hard to acquire do not matter. All that matters is our family and our relationships with others. One good sister put it this way: “After the water receded and it was time to begin cleaning up, I looked around my home and thought, ‘Wow, I have accumulated a lot of garbage these many years.’”

 I know that if you pray for the gift of loving learning and wanting to be better, you will become a better learner!  You will look at things differently, and not see things as negative, but as everything as an opportunity to grow.

How can I become better?

I love you for who you will become.

LOVE YOU ALL,

ELDER AMANN

Something I love about Argentine and latin culture, is that husbands and wives call each other  "gordo" and "negro." Coming from the states, calling your husband or wife chubby might be offensive, but Latins are super close and put relationships first, and they use them as terms of endearment ♥

Mi gordo compañero :)

Even the clouds are looking more like airplanes.

Hear no evil.  See no evil.  Speak no evil.

SITTING WHERE MESSI SAT

This is a stadium where Messi played, and this is the locker where he sat! 

A long time ago, my old mission president, President Goates, told us about a missionary who loved video games.  It was all he did before his mission and during his mission, it was still a struggle for him.  President Goates worked with him and tried to help him overcome his tendency towards something so worldly and relatively unimportant.  He helped him realize that now is the time to overcome it.  He felt good and he understood that videogames were wasting his time.  In his final interview, the missionary talked about how he wanted to keep good habits.  A time later, President Goates got an update that he had gotten back into videogames and was devoting much of his life to it.  President Goates was disappointed in him for not taking advantage of his time here better.

I like what this story teaches.  During my time here, I have learned a lot about what things are important and what things just don't matter as much.  This time has been so important in my life, because it has been time where I can finally focus on the most important things.  I hope that I do not go back to old habits that waste my time.

President Goates was talking about Self-Mastery, and it is something so important.

He talked about how a lot of missionaries were having problems with music... something relatively unimportant.  During his mission, he couldn't listen to any music at all!  And he came out glad because it helped him learn self control.  

I know that if we have the constantly companionship of the Holy Ghost we will have better self control.  I know that if we have better self control, we will be better worthy for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost!

We as missionaries do a lot of comparing to one another, which is super silly.  I've been learning a lot about comparing with my two friends Elder Banks and Elder Richards.  Both are SO different and both have amazing talents.  It is silly to compare talents.

A lot of times we make jokes.  One time Elder Richards and I sang during a lesson, and to this day, the family still says we sing like dying cats.... hahaha so we don't sing any more!  We realized that it isn't our strong suit as a companionship.  Also, we joke a lot about how when we knock doors, we scare people as 3 ugly misshapen foreign kids, when the sister missionaries probably get everyone to open their doors... They´re less scary than 2 kids who played football in high school with their one weird comp (me).

We have different talents!  It's ok!  We should work together instead of comparing ourselves.  We might not be the best lookers when you open your door, but I guarantee you´ll have a great time with me and my two hilarious companions, and we do great service with 6 hands to work lifting things or mixing concrete!  I love my comps a lot.  I'm getting better at not comparing myself.  We are all amazing!

LOVE YOU ALL,

ELDER AMANN

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Tres Amigos

MENDOZA!



We bought a waffle iron for my first waffles in a long time... ♥

Us doing a bunch of service!

Carpet!

Sunset

ART-GENTINA

 

SIX WEEKS

It's finally cooling down here and its super great!  And by cool I mean 2 degrees C in June.

The best part of Spanish is how the word for winter is Invierno, and the word for Hell is Infierno.

It's basically the same.  I hear people here who say they way rather prefer the cold because when it gets too hot they feel sick.  But I have NEVER been hotter than when I have 5 layers on because its freezing and then we walk into a car with the heater on full blast.  Heater + 5 layers = my love of winter. ;)

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Holy smokes, I´ve got six weeks left here.

:(

We had a great week.  We got one of our investigators, a 20 year old named Abel, back after he dropped us a couple weeks ago!  We kept passing by his work just to say hi, and one day we passed by his house, and he invited us in.  We shared a message with him and shared the happiness of the Spirit with him.

This week we had exchanges and I went with my good friend Elder Burnett from that one city in New Mexico no one can spell.  We spent probably 5 hours with the legendary Hermana Banffi.  Waste of time? Absolutely not.  Every now and then you just meet someone you feel like you´ve known forever.  You just get along amazingly from the moment you meet, and you just understand each other.  

Hermana Banffi and her family ran away from Syria when she was 9 years old.  Both of her parents died in an accident when she was 19.

And This is just the beginning of her. She met the missionaries shortly after.

But something I thought was incredible, she thought this past year was her toughest year yet.  And she has had some serious fights.  She is a fighter and has a testimony the size of Jupiter.  She is a spiritual powerhouse, and I truly needed to learn a little from this amazing woman.

I know it doesn't get easier.  I know it's going to get harder.  I know the world is tough, and will try to shake us.  It will try and tear us apart.  But if we follow the gospel, we will win.

That is our promise.

I know it´s only just begun for me, 

I know it´s going to get harder.

But I´m willing to fight.

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We had MY LAST TRANSFER CALLS LAST NIGHT.

I LOVE YOU ALL,

ELDER AMANN

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Hermana Aban and Hermana Patiño making cheesy potato balls !

I'm now in a trio, in my same area, with Elder Banks from Minnesota! (who looks like Biff from back to the future but like actually a great guy).

THE COUCH OUR FEMALE INVESTIGATOR MADE WITH HER TWO BARE HANDS???

Elder Burnett and me

Hermana Banffi and my comp cleaning a tree on intercambios.

Our lunch calendar with members every day #popular #theyloveus