Let me clarify...

So I'm sure many of you have seen some photos on the fb and are curious as to what they are for, but probably don't question for too long because they look like engagement photos and so you just assume that I am engaged. 2+2 usually equals 4 but in this case it equals like a 3 and a half. Let me explain. 

The boy in these photos is my boyfriend. We've been dating for about 2 months. I'm sure you're thinking "wow and they're already taking 'engagement photos'....that's fast!" And yes it is fast BUT what most people don't know is that this faithful little boy wrote me for the last year and a few months of my mission. He also served in Argentina and was leaving to go home when I was just starting that fabulous journey of mine. So I wrote in his journal to tell him good luck on getting married and such...like all missionaries do when someone is leaving and left my email, because that's just what you do ;) So he wrote me, and I wrote him, and he wrote me, and I wrote him...and so on and so forth until I finally got to "meet" him in person.  It's been natural and comfortable and normal ever since.

When people say "you just know" they aren't lying. I now am a firm believer in the famous "you just know" phrase. So no, these aren't engagements BUT I am falling in love with this boy and will most likely end up falling for him for the rest of my life and all of eternity.

Just a few more random facts that most people don't know that make our story even cuter. 

1. Our mission president and his wife met on their missions.
2. His parents met on their missions.
3. My dad waited for my mom to return from her mission.

1+2+3=two faithful missionaries following in their faithful and valiant parents and leaders footsteps. It was inevitable. But we all knew that when God has a plan it usually is.

So the rumors are true...I'm Home!!!

 

 
It has been an eventful week, lot's of people, lot's of hugs (and most of them completely awkward because people here in the states don't hug very much...we are REALLY touchy over there in Argentina), lot's of food, lot's of family time, which I think has been my favorite. Especially because we received a little baby into the fam!! I got to the airport, hugged all the family that was there and then face timed with my 1 day old niece!! She's darling and I love her more than anyone right now!

I loved my mission.  It taught me so many things about myself and who I now want to become.  I am so grateful for that experience that I had in my life and will forever cherish the people, country and experiences I have in Argentina.  

I was scared to come home (I can tell you this now because as a missionary you can't really tell people that you don't want to come home...it makes them sad), but I was scared because I had heard from so many people how hard it was, how awkward everything is and how miserable I was going to be for the first few months. MONTHS!!! Geesh. I was nervous. Well turns out everyone is different (thank goodness) and we all have different ways of adjusting. I have loved every second of my return home. I'm sure I'm a little odd when it comes to the social life, but I feel so normal, I feel like I just picked up where I left off. It's like when you hang out with a best friend...you don't have to introduce yourself every time you see them, you just pick up where you left off. It's been like that. I give all the credit to my parents and what I learned on the mission. To my parents because I'm starting to realize that I didn't have to CHANGE that much when I got home. I didn't have to become a completely different person, because of how I was raised and chose to live my life before the mission.  To the mission because it helped me realize what really is the most important or should be in our lives. 

I love this gospel and am so grateful to be a member and a returned missionary. It has been a year and a half that I will never forget. Thank you so much for your support while I was gone (and even though I'm not in a different country the support would still be nice...) but seriously I love you all so much and am so grateful to have you in my life.  

Enjoy the little things :)

The final letter from Argentina

Hey guess what......I'M COMING HOME!!!! It's unreal that I've finished the mission. It still hasn't hit me that I finished...maybe when I see your beautiful faces it will finally sink in!!!

Love you all!!!! See you soon!

Love, Hermana Bosco

The final countdown...

Family!! Friends!! Loved ones!! and Everyone else!!

Can we just say that I´m stoked!! I am loving the mission. Its been so incredible and we have seen so many miracles here in Rio III. The most incredible part about it all is......I will be (with the help from the Lord) completing a family before I go home. The last daughter of the Hermana Torres, the inactive member that we helped reactivate, will be getting baptized on the 10th!!! We couldn´t be more excited. The mission has really been focused on families and preparing them to enter into the temple that will be ready in about a year. It has been such an honor getting to know this family and being able to help all of them make the covenant of baptism so they can ALL enter in the temple. 

I remember so well my birthday 2 or 3 years ago when EVERY SINGLE member of my family entered the temple. My mom, sister and brother in law did a session and the rest of us went to the baptismal font and did baptisms. It was one of the best birthday presents I have ever received. I´m not trying to brag or anything but not everyone has this special opportunity, I am so honored to have this huge blessing in my life. The temple means so much more to me now that I´ve been on the mission. 1. because I haven´t been able to go for like a year and a half. 2. we are always teaching about eternal marriages and how families can be together forever (I can´t wait to meet my bestest friend so he can take me to the temple for time and all eternity. Trunky I know but I´m allowed to be trunky about things like that). and 3. I have really strengthened my testimony on the work that is being done in the temples. Our families need us! The people on the other side need us! They cannot do it by themselves. We have to be going to the temple often. If you are worthy...go. There are no excuses. There just aren´t when it comes to salvation. I love the temples and heard that we might get to go through the Buenos Aires temple on our way home. We will see...if we do that would be the best!!!

We have also been teaching this family. A whole family!! I won´t be able to see them get baptized but I just know they will! Hugo is a recent convert and his oldest daughter and her husband and two sons are who we are teaching. they are darling! and they came to church and everything and want to know more. I am so excited for them and its perfect because her dad will be able to baptize her and then in a year when the temple in Cordoba is ready they will be able to get sealed!! I´m so so so happy for them. There just aren´t words in Spanish or English that can describe this feeling. It´s celestial.

This may be my last email that I write as a missionary. I might write again next week but I just don´t know the details of the day and what we will be doing but I guess you´ll find out next Monday. But I just want you all to know that being a missionary has been one of the best things I could have done with my life. The experiences that I´ve had are numberless and incredible. The testimony that I have now is just unbreakable...there is nothing that will ever take it away. I´m still Karissa Dee Bosco...don´t worry. But I´m changed. I´ve been changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I´ve realized that really there is no other way to live. Before the mission I thought that being a member meant reading your scriptures every once in a while, going to church and being a good person. Its so much more. We are disciples of a loving Savior who died and gave us the perfect example to follow. We must be like him! Its our duty! Its not easy...its never been easy, but no one ever told us that it would be easy. But its worth it, it will always be worth it. I fell in love on the mission. I fell in love with the Book of Mormon. This book is so powerful! Its incredible and when we really take the time to read it and apply it to our lives, that is when we will know what do to . Its all in the book. Seriously i love this book so much. I am so grateful to be here in Argentina. Its my home away from home and i have found so many family members here, who knew that we had family in Argentina ;) I have thoroughly enjoyed my mission and am a little sad that it is coming to an end. But I am ready to start the next one. I´m ready to give it my all this last week and just be the best Hermana Bosco that has ever hit Argentina. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the atonement and for the fact that everyday I can repent and be a better person. I couldn´t do it without him. None of us can. He is there, with is hand out stretched to us and all we have to do is humble ourselves and grab it. I promise you, it will change your life. Give up your bad habits, let go of the dumb things that are stopping your from being the child of God that your Heavenly Father knows you can be. Its not easy, but I promise you, because I´ve seen it in many of the lives here in Argentina that it is worth it. Its so awesome when you can literally feel the Savior changing you. Its incredible.

I love you all so much! My love for each of you has grown so much more. I am so grateful for your prayers and your thoughts. I literally have felt them throughout my mission. I am grateful that we get to be together forever. All of us. I will be seeing you all so soon. I can´t wait. Ah. I just love you guys so much. You truly are the best. 

Enjoy the little things.

Love, Hermana Bosco

ps. I got to go to Capilla Del Monte and say goodbye to some of the people who I love dearly. It was the best. Thats what these pictures are from. 

Just a few weeks remaining...

The time IS ticking...its crazy!

So this week was incredible! So last week (can´t remember if I told you guys about the family Torres/Ferreyra) but we found an inactive family. They are incredible. We truly were sent by the Lord because the hermana had been praying that week before to know which church really was the true one. Next thing she knows two missionaries are standing on her doorstep. That´s right hermana...The church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints is the only true church on this earth. So we had been teaching them that whole week and they came to church!! Incredible is how you would describe my feelings that Sunday. It was so good seeing them there at the church. So anyway...that next wednesday hermana Willson and I were thinking and decided that the little girl Selva could get baptized this next Sunday (note that it was already Wednesday) and we would be going to their house Thursday. We were way excited. So we go to the house, teach a lesson and then the hermana Willson says "and now we have a surprise for you guys (because we had told her that she was going to be baptized the 3rd of Feb) the mom got all excited and was like "SHUTUP!!" haha then Hermana Willson says "Selva is going to get baptized this Saturday!!"

...silence...and Selva is shaking her head no. (oh geesh)

so I nod my head at her and give her a thumbs up..then she was like...OK yeah and nods her head. haa

The mom got way excited and was like "oh that will be so wonderful!" We were possibly the two happiest missionaries on planet earth in that moment. haha it was so great! so this Sunday Selva got baptized and it was so cute! When she was being lifted out of the water i looked at her mom and seriously saw a glimpse of heaven. She was just glowing and you could tell that she was so proud of her daughter. I was so honored to be there in that moment, I had to leave to help Selva because I started crying it was so cute. So then we were all sitting in the bathroom waiting for Selva to change and the mom was just standing there in silence smiling. It was so cute. I just love being a missionary and have loved every single minute of my time in Rio III. its such an incredible place and is so prepared to hear and accept the gospel!

I realize my time is coming to an end but I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for me. A close friend told me that "the mission isn´t the end of anything..it´s only the beginning." That statement couldn´t be more true and I´m so pumped to see what lies ahead. I love this gospel and will forever cherish the things I have learned on my mission. It will be hard leaving this place i have grown to love, but it definitely won´t be the last time Argentina sees their Rubia. 

I love you all so much and am so proud to call you my family and friends. I´m so proud to be a member of this church and to know that my Savior, Jesus Christ, died for me and was resurrected so that I can also resurrect and live forever with my loved ones (you guys!!).

Take care! I´ll see you all shortly. Seriously shortly. 14 more days! no lo puedo creer!! Ba. 

Enjoy the little things!

love, hermana Bosco

ps. This is hermana Rios. She is from Buenos Aires and is the first 19 year old missionary in Córdoba!!!!

I am so stoked!

So let me explain to you how I'm feeling. I can't...there aren't very many words that can describe feelings like this. Imagine every emotion that has to do with being excited and happy and THAT'S how I feel. For many reasons. I am loving being with Hermana Willson. I don´t think i´ve prayed so much thanking Heavenly Father for a companion in my life. She is so awesome and we are just working so hard that there isn´t even time to think about you guys...(haha ok kind of false. I think about you guys all the time, but you get it). But seriously. We have planned to have at least 4 more baptizms together and there definitely could be more. I´m just stoked. We are just a fool here in Rio III. I love it here. Minus the dog that we have to take care of because the lady who lives in front of us (member) is on vacations and she won´t be back until Feb. So i´ll be finishing my lesson with a dog. Ugh...he´s so annoying. But luckily that's the only bad thing about Rio III. The rest...perfect.

So when you come to get me in the airport look for the girl who went fake baking and dyed her hair a ridiculous blonde color, with a name tag. That will be me. haha i´m going to stand out so bad! I´m so tan and my hair is just whatever color of blonde. That really doesn´t have anything to do with anything but thought i´d just add it in there. haha

So we had a family come back to church. They have been inactive for 10 years. We got them to come to church and one of the little girls now wants to get baptized. I can´t even tell you the joy we felt as missionaries to see them enter the doors of the church. They are incredible and we found them in the right moment. God loves us. Every single one of us and knows exactly when we are ready to take the next step in our lives. If  I've learned anything is that there are NO coincidences in the world. None. Nope. They don´t exist. They just don´t exist. God is apart of our lives and even though we have our agency he, if we let him, can and will play a huge part in our lives. I love knowing that. Especially as a missionary we are always put in the perfect situation to find that people that in this moment exactly need us. I remember when we were planning in the night for the next day we were like, hey we´ll be in this area, who are the inactive families that we can visit. We looked and there were like 6 or 7 and so we picked 2 or 3 to pass for and one was this family. So we passed by one of the families and we weren´t very welcomed, the next one wasn´t home. The third one was this family and when she opened the door she was like, "who sent you?...do you know who sent you?" We of course were so confused thinking...um no one? we just came by ourselves on the bikes. The she was like "God sent you. I have been praying to know out of all the churches which one really was true, come in".  We walked in with the biggest smiles on our faces. The next week they came to church, in Feb the little daughter will be getting baptized and we will be working with the two sons that can be preparing to go on missions :) This gospel is the best. Don´t ever regret being baptized in the church of Jesus Christ. Its true and there is no doubt about it in my mind. 

I love my Savior so much! I love the Book of Mormon and seriously could sit and read it all day. I have learned so much about myself and my future and the person that i want to become. I am so grateful for this gospel and couldn´t have asked for a better opportunity than to serve a mission. Those of you who are preparing. Do it. Serve a mission and you will not regret it. Its incredible. Ah i just love it so much. I can´t even describe how incredible i feel. 

I love you all so much. Take care! I´ll see you all so soon! I´m stoked. I love it here in Argentina and it will be the worst to leave but I also know that I have served to my fullest and now its my time to start my next mission. I love you guys so much. 

Enjoy the little things!

Hermana Bosco