It's All About Service!!!

                                                                                              March 3, 2014  

Hola mi familia marvillosa!!!! I am so happy to read all of your exciting news. I am so grateful that the Lord is blessing you and I know He is watching over you! 

Since I am in the souvenir city of Chile, I decided to buy a traditional Chilean Ceuca dress.

The national dance of Chile is called the Cueca. This dance has rich historical roots in both African and Native American cultures. Even though Chileans have been dancing the Cueca for years, it wasn’t declared the official dance of Chile until September, 1979.

The Cueca is a parody of the courtship of a chicken and rooster. The dancers wave handkerchiefs above their heads during the dance. These handkerchiefs can symbolize the feathers of the bird or the rooster’s comb.To celebrate Chile’s independence, many Chileans will dance the Cueca.

I love the Chilean culture and I am grateful for the freedom of this great country. 

This week was truly amazing!!

We are working really well with the members. They are giving us a ton of referrals and so now its up to us to do our best and work with the Spirit to help their friends and neighbors feel the truthfulness of the gospel.

 

This week Cesar came to church with his oldest daughter who is 13. She had been in Santiago the whole month and so this was her first time. Carolina couldn't make it because she got stuck in Santiago waiting for a bus home. The transportation is crazy because school starts today for all of the kids after summer break, and so everyone and their dog were traveling this weekend (they don't actually use that saying in Spanish so don't ever try to use it haha but you could use it in Chile because there are so many dogs here). So, she couldn't make it :( but they are still doing amazing! They even gave us lunch yesterday!!! Please pray for their daughter, Carolina, because she felt a little overwhelmed switching from the Catholic church to our services on Sunday. I firmly believe that she will love it, it will just take a little time. Please pray that we can teach them everything before baptism! Thank you for your prayers because Heavenly Father always answers them. 

 

We taught Jaime/Benjamin, and his parents this week. His parents are also Catholic. He is reading the Book of Mormon and was also able to watch the Restoration movie with them. He is progressing really well and we are exciting to keep teaching him. Please pray that we will be able to do so because school starts now.

 

This week we found Claudio, Gabriela, Eliana, Olivia, Maria, Rosa, and Carmen. They are each really great and we are hoping to teach them all again this week, as well as Mirta and a few others. Rosa is the grandma of a referral, but we will contact her grandaughter and teach her this week as well. Maria is also a referral. Tonight we have a noche de hogar with a family of members who are going to invite their neighbors. The members here are on fire with missionary work and are so willing to let us teach their friends and family. I pray that we can continue to work with them! 

 

Something my companion taught me this week is that when we don't have very good plans or plans fall through and we are going aroud talking to everyone and trying to teach, we should look for service opportunities. Sometimes we focus too much on the numbers, just trying to reach our goals. But the real Spirit of missionary service is the service part. We need to love the people and serve them at every opportunity and as we do so we are going to see success as more people feel the Spirit and accept the gospel. This week we are going to really try to look for ways to serve in every moment. I know that we will see miracles as we do this because thats what the Savior did in His ministry! I am so excited to apply it! 

 

This past Saturday night we played soccer with investigators! I am so sore!!!!! haha But I love it and it is a great way to help people become interested and feel more accepted in the church. Jaime/Benjamin came and his parents came to cheer us on. Hermana Blau and I were the only women to play but our friend Nicole cheered us on. Next week we will have more women come.

 

We are also thinking about starting English and piano classes and involve less actives who can help teach! It is going to be great! We will also have a noche de capilla, or a family home evening for the whole ward, every thursday night. Last time we had it, Hermana Blau and I made a ton of sugar cookies. This week we are making chocolate chip! We are going to be the cookie ladies. But I'm not going to eat them all, just share them :) It is so fun to be a missionary and find new ways to further the work. This week we are going to do a street contacting challenge! I will let you know how it goes! 

 

We had a lot of funny moments this week, but mostly "you had to be there moments" which are kinda awkward to share. I think the best part is that we went running this week for exercise in the morning and we were running around a dirt soccer field by a park and at the end Hermana Blau turned to me and said, lets go on the swings! So we did, and we also played on the teeter totter. It was the best work out ever! We never get to do those kind of things. 

 

I love this work so much! I wake up every morning, so excited and so grateful to be in the mission field. This is the best time and I love every moment of it! Thank you all for your prayers and your examples! I am so grateful for this true gospel and the happiness it brings! Keep sharing it and shining your light! I love you all!! Have an amazing week!!!