I Believe…

I was born in Argentina in 1970 in a middle class family, I have two younger sisters, Cynthia and Veronica.

We grew up in a very conservative society, where catholic church was the domain church. We went to church every Sunday in a  small town where my dad grew up, very pretty, there is a beautiful lake in the middle of downtown surrounded by old buildings and museums and a big clock, which is the main attraction. The catholic church was one if the old buildings across the clock.

We did go every Sunday as a family, but in 1885 things changed. The economy situation in Argentina started to decay leaving a great part of the population without employment things were very difficult for a middle class families. Without mentioning the poor class. My father decided to come here, to the United States for better future for his daughters.

Time goes by and mom had to start working full time jobs including Sundays. So, even though she couldn’t come with us anymore, still, she sent us to church every Sunday and she will put us in Christians organizations for good causes.

When my mom had to stop going with us to church because she had to work on Sundays, it made us sad, but we went anyway. We prayed for her and my dad, so that we could be together some day as it was before.

When I saw my mom working hard and my dad sending us money to keep up with things we need it at that time, it made me sad.

 I was 19 years old, I started to go to the University. I couldn’t go full time because of the transportation. It was expensive and had to copy most of the books and notes. I saved the money only to to campus and give the tests and all my Hospital practices.

 One day I was on my way to a hospital to do my practices, I used to wait for a church to open its doors very early in the morning, I always liked to go and pray before I start my day working or studying, well, while I was waiting I had this special feeling, it was hard to describe at that time, but I felt like I wasn’t alone, and that there was something else about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that I had to discover or find it. Immediately after that I had this special feeling with me all the time.

Time went by I earned my degree as a Physical Therapy in April 1993, I was 23 years old.  In 1995 my Dad invited me to come to this country. He was leaving in New York, I liked it, I wanted to stay with him, but things changed, a friend of mine, who is from Argentina was living in Salt Lake City, Utah at the time I was visiting with my dad. She invited me to stay with her for a week.

While I was there, her nephew worked with three young men, ex-missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints. Two of them went to Argentina as full time missionaries. My friend invited them over, we had mate (a very popular drink in Argentina)we talked, we listened to music, we had a great time.

 Later that week Sergio called me to invite me to an activity they were having with the singles adults of the church. They were going to Temple Square. That was the first time I heard of Temple Square.

When we arrived I was astonished by the beautiful sight and the magnificent view of the Salt Lake City Temple. I felt so humble and like a flash I remember that special feeling I had back in Argentina while I was praying in that church.

Everything was so clear, so pure I felt tranquility that everything was going to alright. It was like Jesus grabbed my hand and helped me to do whatever needed to do at that time. I went and I fill out a form for the missionaries in a Spanish branch, becasue I could not speak english when I came to this country. So, the missionaries taught me the discussions and after they finish teaching me I dicided to get baptized.

When I called my mom, she supported me, she was happy and she said; if that is what you feel I am with you.

 The next day, back in Argentina, my mom saw the missionaries riding their bikes, she stopped them and told them;” My daughter is getting baptized in your church, and I need to know more about it”

So they went to my mom’s house and they starting to read the Book of Mormon that my mom had it for a long time, but she never paid much attention to it,and two weeks later my two sisters got baptized and mom wanted to get baptized here.

 Meanwhile, Sergio and I started dating,(Sergio was one of the three ex-missionaries I met that night at my friend’s house) and in August 1996 we got married.

 My dad left everything in New York and my mom and two sisters left everything behind as well. They all came to Utah for our wedding and they were reunited after ten years. Sergio, my husband baptized my mom and my dad waited a little bit longer and he joined the church six months later.

Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints has been a great blessing in my life. I can feel the Savior’s love stronger everyday. His company it has been in my life always.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share this special part of my life with you.

Carnaval…what I remember

Once upon a time was a great time to remember in this far, far away country. This country had many, many towns. Every one of them had its own culture and unique ways of expressing itself. However, there was a few things that the habitants of these unique towns celebrated the same way, and at the same time. One of those things was….the Carnaval!

The Carnaval was a time to share with family and friends. It was celebrated  during summer time and around January and February. Even with only the sound of the word Carnaval, anyone in the country would feel happy and full of joy. It was truly a time to enjoy family, friends and good food. Extended family members would travel from far away distances to join the festivities. During the Carnaval; the main attractions were the Carrozas, Costumes, Corso and Parade.

The Carrozas were one of the main attractions during this event. The Carrozas resembled big stages on wheels, or, some times, they would be tied to pick up trucks. Either way people would get very creative when building these big floats. The Carrozas were built based on different themes. For instance, book characters, important people at the time, nature, countries around the world, etc. One time the theme of the entire Carnaval was “Around the World” so the designers of the floats got very creative and excited about this theme. Every float had a country to represent and it was a magnificent sight to behold.

There were many elaborate costumes worn by the direct participants of the Carnaval. When the theme was “Around the World”, every town had its own country to represent, and the people and color and songs and everything was exclusive of the country the town was representing g at that time. The costumes were super elaborate, and usually the family members had hand-made these costumes from scratch. It would take them an entire year to finish. Usually the children within the family were involved and mothers were the ones making these extraordinary pieces of clothing. I am talking about a time when sophisticated sewing machines did not exist, and if they did, these talented and creative people could not afford them, and yet the sight was breath taking.

Corso was always at night and it was during this time when the host in each town would give the big opening and with loud music, controlled traffic and families gathering, he would open the Corso! At the same time, and with one goal, the hosts around this far, far away country would give opening to the Carnaval! Before the Carrozas and colorful clothes of the people would start the parade, there was always some important and famous singer invited to the event to make the evening sparkle even more! People that were not on the stage were eating in the restaurants along the traffic controlled streets. Children would be playing with water or with foam. It was the custom during Corso , among children, and sometimes adults, to play with water and/or foam. When the parade started it was a delightful sight. It always began with the Fire Department, with the loud sirens along with the police on horses.  There were feathers, shiny clothes, big hats with different colors, clowns, ballerinas, smiling faces and children everywhere. There was music and dances they choreographed themselves and had practiced all year long. The whole feast would last for hours and even more.

Everybody knew that the parade was ending when the kids would shout, “I can hear the Firemen’s siren, mom!” Nobody wanted that time to come. But, it did. While the Firemen were leaving, the little children followed it running, trying to touch the Fire truck. It was the sign that everything was over. Each family  started to head home thinking about next year’s Carnaval, where the magic would come around again!

Oil

Suddenly, there I was going down the hill on my scooter, totally out of control. I could here my puppy, Choco, barking in desperation. He was riding in my seat; I was helplessly looking around  for somebody to come to my rescue, but in vain. I had to get control of my scooter myself.  I knew that if I frantically tried to hit the brakes. My situation was not going to be a very fortunate one.

I let my unfortunate event follow its own direction. I was scared. It looked for a moment as if everything around me stopped; yes, it seemed so unrealistic. I remember exactly how scared I was, going very fast without control. I glanced at my surroundings. The trees around me looked very green and people were getting out of the cars ready to go to the big supermarket on my left hand side. I also remember the school where my tia taught, located next to the supermarket.

 I had more situations like this one. My sisters and I had a blast riding Mom’s scooter everywhere. It was refreshing and exciting! However, the oil on the street story was not one of my favorites, however my sense of calmness in emergency situations, I think, was born that day.