He Changes Willing Hearts

                                                                                            June 9, 2014

Hola mi familia!!! Gracias por sus cartas! I´m glad to know that you are all doing well. I´m so sorry to hear about Uncle Wilf! He is amazing and is sharing the gospel with those in the Spirit world. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation that God reveals through His prophets. I know that it is true and we can be with our families forever! It is amazing! I am so proud of all of you and the testimonies that you share with everyone! I love you all!

 

Highlight of the week!!

 

MARIO AND YOCELYN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

They are so cute and we are so happy for them! 

 

 

Mario shared his testimony at the end of his baptism and testified that this is the true church and the spirit was so strong! They received the Holy Ghost yesterday. 

 

 

 

This week was quite the adventure. On Tuesday when we had transfers it began to rain. Hermana Martinez had had a bad cough for 2 weeks and so we got permission to go to the Clinic. The doctor said that she needed to be in bed for at least 3 days so that she wouldn´t get pneumonia. That is the worse news that missionaries can here. We had a baptism to prepare and people to visit.

 

Well we tried our best to take care of her and stay in, but sometimes we went out to work and sometimes I went with a sister and another sister came to stay with her. The worse part is that it was raining all week and this did not help at all. Then, I started getting her cold haha, but I don't have a cough. On Friday we worked out in the rain and then her cough got even worse. Our doctor had told us not to go in the rain and we got in trouble so Saturday we stayed inside. We figured it was better for Hermana Martinez to get better so that we can work this week, instead of staying the same and having to be in the house again for another week. We had specific instructions to not work when it was raining.

 

Well on Saturday it would rain and then stop and I would look out the window and say, Hey it´s not raining, we can work now! And then it would start raining. ha ha

But we had to go out for the baptism of Mario and Yocelyn.-- It was the highlight of our week!!

 

Our week was hard because we weren't able to work very much, and I don´t know why but I was super tired this week. I felt like I was losing energy. But Presidente Arrington received inspiration for the whole mission that we need to be more exactly obedient in every way. So as a mission he asked us to study the Atonement every day this week and apply it in our lives and then fast as a mission from Saturday to Sunday so that we can have the desire to be exactly obedient. I knew I was losing the energy that I needed to be exactly obedient, so I prayed earnestly to have the desire to do so for the rest of my mission, and after the fast, I know that God has changed my heart. I have the renewed desire to be exactly obedient like before and I am so excited for this week. It was hard to be exactly obedient while sick, but the Lord still blessed us on Sunday. 

 

Remember Crelia? Well, we started teaching her and her two daughters, Katti and Martina again. And they came to church on Sunday and are preparing to be baptized on the 28th!!!!!!!!! We are so excited to work with them!

 

No one else came to church, but we are still working with Cesar and Jasmin, and Anet and Angie. Thank you for your prayers in our behalf and in behalf of our investigators! Please pray for my companion so that her cough can get better. And please pray that it won't rain. And most importantly, please pray for these people! I know that God is watching over them and will continue to do so! Thank you for your faith. 

 

 I learned again this week that God can change us when we let him. I am so grateful that He has changed my heart and desires again so that I can keep becoming who He wants me to be.

I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ.

 

This week I read in Jesus the Christ about the Atonement. I have been reading it throughout my mission and I am almost done, but as I have been studying His life and His mission, I have come to know Him better. I love Him so much and I am grateful for all that He suffered for us. I know He did it because He loves us. Everything He does, He does with love. I am grateful that I can represent Him and help others come unto Him. I am grateful that He can change me, and I am grateful that I can work along side Him as He changes other people. This is His glory. Every baptism is His! I am so grateful!!! I love you all! I know this is the church of Jesus Christ! The only church that has His name, and all of His gospel. It has His authority, and His truth that blesses us and everyone! May we always represent Him! Have an amazing week!!!! love you all!!!

 

Love,

 

Hermana Harris

Mind Over Matter, Spirit Over Body

                                                                                                    June 2, 2014
Hola mi familia!!!!!!!!!!!! Estoy super feliz para saber de su semana! Sounds like you have all had an amazing week! I sure have! I am so proud to hear about your missionary work. You are all amazing! Keep sharing with everyone! They all need the gospel! 

 

On Monday night I received my Easter package!!! haha finally! I CAN´T BELIEVE I RECEIVED A CHOCOLATE FROG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was so amazing!!! haha I love my life! All of the package was amazing! I especially liked the bunny glasses. We put them on right away as we saw what else the package contained. Happy Easter!!! 

 

Today we found out the transfers for tomorrow. Hermana Martinez and I are going to be together for another transfer!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!! She is so much fun!

 

 

We are going to have the baptism of Mario and Yocelyn this Saturday!!! They are so cute! They were struggling in their marriage, but now they are changing so much as the gospel of Jesus Christ is improving their relationship and changing them personally. Mario stopped smoking and drinking and they are going to family home evenings with the members. I love being a part of helping them, but I truly know that the Lord is who helps them! 

We had them come to church,and Cesar and his daughter Jasmine, and also Anet, the daughter of a less active member. They are all preparing for baptism. Fernando also came, and Maria Eugenia, who is the wife a member. We are working with her and she finally came to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for your prayers! Please keep praying for them! We need the power of your faith.

 

We had an amazing week, and we worked hard to talk to everyone and help Hermana Woodbury work in her sector too. We had so much fun in our little trio, that sadly is going to end tomorrow, but good news! Hermana Call is going to be Hermana Woodbury´s companion so I will be seeing her a lot! 

 

This week we had a ton of adventures!

 

On Wednesday we had a conference with all of the sisters from the mission!!! I got to see all of my old companions and it was so fun!

We had blueberry muffins for breakfast (that never happens!)

 

We had a conference in which they spoke about us as sisters and gave us ánimo to know that we are doing great and to not be too hard on ourselves. Hermana Arrington, our Mission President´s wife, has wanted to have a conference like this since a year ago and it finally happened!
She is so sweet and works so hard to help us.

The Spirit was so strong in the conference and I learned a lot. One thing  I learned is that when it comes to obedience, it is all about Spirit over Body. We need to let our spirits rule our bodies and not the other way around. We need to choose to listen to the promptings that the Holy Ghost whispers to our spirits so that we can control our temporal desires. That is why we are here on earth. We need to learn to control our bodies with our spirits. This can apply to obedience to all of the commandments. When we break a commandment it is because we let our bodies rule our spirit. We must strive to be constantly obedient to our Heavenly Father and His commandments. If we do His will and not our own, this is ruling our bodies with our spirits. The Savior gave us the perfect example of this! I am going to strive to be exactly obedient always, and to do what the Lord asks even if my natural man wants to do something different. I am learning how to do this in the mission and I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn this.

 

My invitation this week is that we can thing about a commandment we may be breaking, and that we can rule what our natural man desires with our spirit and strive to obey this commandment constantly. I know that with the Savior´s help, it is possible to put off the natural man and change to become like our Heavenly Father. I have seen this with my converts and investigators, and in my own life. 

So after learning this an other things, we then played some games in the conference. They were so funny! I will have to teach them to you after the mission because its hard to explain. We also had lunch at the conference and some members from our ward Coyquén served lunch!

 

The conference was amazing and really helped us feel the Lord´s love for us! I want to invite all of you to take time this week to feel His love. Sometimes we move to fast and we don´t take time or we dont remember to just stop and feel His! His love is amazing! It is the most desirous about all other things. Please take time to feel it. I know that He loves you!!! He knows you and He is so proud of you! Thank you for helping others feel His love too!!! 

I can't remember everything that happened this week but I have a funny story from last week. One day it was raining and when it rains all the streets flood. The problem is that some of the streets have holes that you can´t see when it floods. Well last week we were about to cross a street and I was reassuring Hermana Martinez. I said, "I know these streets, don´t worry, there are not any holes here." And I bet you can guess what happened. As soon as those words left my mouth I took a step and fell in a hole. The water was up to my knees and my skirt got wet. haha but it was so funny that it didn't even matter. Another funny thing about Hermana Martinez and I  is that we are constantly bonking heads. When we did that dance of the pillow people, we were dancing and bonked heads and we do it all the time by accident. It's horrible but we can't stop laughing. haha The mission is so funny and I wish I could tell you all of the funny moments that we have every day because there are thousands, but you would have to live it to understand. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for everything! I hope you have an amazing week and do your best to rule your body with your spirit, and to feel God´s love for you!!! Hasta luego!!!

Love,

 

Hermana Harris

Trio Again--Fiesta!!!

                                                                                                 May 26, 2014

Hola mi familia!!! I am so happy to read about all of your fabulous news! I hope you are enjoying your day off! I am! Hermana Martinez and I are going to take a nap later today! We are a bit tired after our mountain adventure last week.

 

This week was super crazy!!! We were in a trio again because a sister who had extended her mission went home at a weird time during the transfer. We have one more week until transfers and her companion, Hermana Woodbury is with us for that week. She is one of the sisters I will be living with in Provo after the mission. She works in an area next to ours, and she is our sister leader, so we work in her sector and in our sector! It is crazy and hard but it is fun!!

 

We started playing women`s soccer on Thursday nights this past week. You know how all of the churches in the U.S. have basketball courts. Well in Chile they all have canchas de fùtbol (street soccer courts outside) It is fun! But it is just starting so not many came, and then the lights outside didn't work so we ended up playing ping pong instead!

On Friday night we had an activity that we put on for missionary work. We organized it with our Mission leader and it was a like a advanced 18 de Septiembre. We had everyone come to enjoy a folk dancing night. So people danced la cueka, and ate sopaipillas and we had a folk dancing/singing group come and perform.

 

Javiera´s dad has a group of singers and dancers who play instruments and sing while others dance. They are all firefighters, or family members of firefighters. Their performance was amazing and the activity was so much fun! As missionaries we also did a funny skit! Everyone loved it and so many investigators came!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Relief Society provided all of the food! It was a great success and really helped Mario and Yocelyn who were able to come. 

Mario and Yocelyn came to church this week! As did Mirta, and old investigator, and Fernando. Fernando is struggling so please pray for him, we are going to teach him this week and help him prepare but he might not be baptized this Saturday.

 

Mario and Yocelyn are progressing but they need lots of prayers, as does Felix. We weren't able to visit him a lot this week because we need members to enter, but he didn't come to church. Please pray for him!

 

This week we found a less active sister whose family inactivated when she was 12 and now she is grown up with a husband and 3 kids. She wants to come back to church and so we are teaching her and her 10 year old daughter. Her husband is not a member but he is never home when we go because he works out of town, but we are working on helping their family. The mom is named Angie, and her daughter is Anet! Please pray for them! We are working on finding more people and helping them all progress, but we need to focus on these people right now. We also couldn´t visit Cesar and Jasmine this week because they were out of town, but we are still trying to work with them. Thank you for your prayers! 

The best thing that happened this week is that Cesar received the Aaronic Priesthood!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting because now he can baptize his other daughters!!! I am so grateful for the Priesthood that our loving Heavenly Father restored to Joseph Smith. I know that this power and authority is only given to men who are worthy members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! This is the church of Jesus Christ, the only one that has His authority and His revelation. I am so grateful to be a member of His church and to have the opportunity to share it and help others come unto Him and enjoy the richness of the gospel!

 

There are so many things that I learned this week, but what I loved most is that in personal study I read a little of preach my gospel that will help our investigators, and I read the Book of Mormon, and the Bible, and Jesus the Christ. This week I was reading 3 Nephi when Christ comes, and I just was able to read and learn from our Savior and His example in all 4 of these books. I am so grateful for our Savior and for his forgiveness.

 

On Sunday, my companion gave a talk on forgiveness. She challenged us all to think about someone that we have not forgiven yet, and to ask for the Savior´s help to forgive. I want to challenge all of us to do the same. We cannot receive forgiveness if we do not forgive. Our Savior and our Heavenly Father can only forgive us if we forgive others. The best part is that they are so willing to help us forgive others. I know that sometimes it is hard, but as we look to the Savior,  and we ask for His help and His strength to forgive, He will help us. I love you all so much! You are so amazing and I and so proud! Have an amazing week and know I am praying for you!

Love, Hermana Harris

Climbing the Mountain of the Lord

                                                                                              May 19, 2014
Hola Familia!!! Les amo con todo mi corazon y estoy emocionada escribirles hoy.
This week was amazing!!

First things first, Javiera was baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooohoooo!!!!!!!!!

 

It was so sweet and she is amazing! I love watching people change as they learn about the gospel and the Spirit touches their hearts. They might be the most prepared people, but it still changes them so much, and you can see it in their countenance.

 

She was so happy on Saturday and she is going to love the church!!! We are teaching her mom, Mirza, please pray that her heart will be softened and open to the restored gospel.
We are also working on reactivating her father.

Hermana Martinez and I are working hard. It is so fun to have the same time in the mission because now we kind of know what we are doing. ha ha sometimes...

This week we had Mario come to church, and Fernando, and we also had a new investigator come to church with a baptismal date. His name is Felix, and he is an alcoholic. He has a disease in his liver and he is basically in the final stages and could die at any moment. So he is very important to us! He was a reference from member and the first time we contacted him, he didn't open his door and he yelled at us to go away, that he would never talk to the Mormons or go to church. After that, I felt like we needed to go back because that day, someone had said something about persistence, and it kept circulating my mind. We went back, and he was nicer the next time, but he didn't let us in. Then, we saw him in the street one night, and he had no where to run, ha ha and we talked to him. We asked if we could come share a message with him to help him, because God loves him and wants him to be happy and return to live with him. And Miracle! He said we could come the next day, and when we taught him he accepted a baptismal date and the invitation to come to church. On Sunday we walked to pick him up, and he was all ready, in clean clothes and shaven. He liked church, but sadly when we passed by with members later that night, he was drunk. Please pray for him. He needs to stop drinking so that he can be baptized. Please pray that his addiction will be healed. And please keep on praying for our other investigators.

We had another miracle. A young father came to church with his 8 year old daughter. His name is Cesar and she is Jasmin. They were just a contact, but they came, and we are going to teach them on Friday!! Please pray for them!! Please also pray for my convert Loreto. She is struggling and needs a lot of prays to stay active. Thank you for your faith and love!!!

Today we had an fun zone activity!
We went to the Termas de Chillan.
They are hot springs and a ski resort where there is snow.















We were so excited because Hermana Martinez has never seen snow before, but sadly, there was only a thin layer on the ground when we got there. It was okay because it was still fun, and we hiked up the mountain.


It was hard and tiring because the ground wasn't very good for hiking and it was steep but we made it!
A lot of times, the others wanted to turn back early, but I wanted to keep going and persevere until the end!



Climbing this mountain reminded me a lot of our lives. It is exactly like climbing a mountain.

We have to be steady and sure and keep going no matter what! We can't stop because we haven't journeyed this far in the gospel just to give up and lose everything!

When we were baptized, WE PROMISED GOD that we would keep His commandments, and remember our Savior always, and represent Him in all things FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!


This means forever and always!

We cannot give up! We made these promises and the reality is, that if we don't keep them, we can't have the blessings of eternal life with our families, and with our Savior and our Heavenly Father.

If we don't keep our promises and stay active in the church, then our Heavenly Father can't keep His promises to us. It doesn't matter how strong our testimony may be, we need to keep going to church EVERY SUNDAY!!! And if our testimony seems weak, we need to go so that He can strengthen us! We must always be active! It makes me so sad to see people go inactive for different reasons, because they may have made the promises before, but they aren't valid if they don't keep them.


It is my prayer that we can keep climbing the mountain of the Lord no matter how difficult. I pray that everyone will keep climbing until we can reach Him for eternity. That means we must climb for the rest of our lives!

I love you all so much! Thank you for keeping your promises. It is our calling to help those who are struggling to do so. Have an amazing week and know that I love you! 

Con todo mi amor, 

Hermana Harris

Because He Loves Us!!

                                                                                                 May 12, 2014
Hola mi famila preciosa! It was so much fun to be able to talk to all of you last night. I´m glad to know that you are all safe even though the storm ended our skype time a little early. You are all amazing and I am so proud of each of you! I am especially proud that you are all amazing missionaries and are sharing the gospel with everyone you can! It is so important that we do this, because everyone needs the blessings of the gospel! Thanks for your righteous examples! 

 

This week was amazing!!! We have so many people progressing towards baptism. Mario and Yocelyn have a baptismal date for the 31st of May and they came to church for the first time this week! Fernando also has a baptismal date for the 31st, and Javiera will be baptized this Saturday!!! Javiera´s mom also came to church!! Please pray for all of these people! Thank you for your prayers! We have seen so many miracles this week, as people take steps to come closer to Heavenly Father and to follow the Savior so that they can return to live with them. 

 

This week we were thinking a lot about how we can help more people come unto Christ through baptism. I read a talk about being the type of missionary that challenges and testifies. The author was talking about how we can´t just teach the gospel doctrine to try and convince them that the gospel is true because it makes so much sense. Instead, we need to testify and challenge them to find out for themselves and be baptized. The author asked a missionary how he was able to help so many people come unto Christ and receive the blessings of baptism, and the missionary said, ¨well we just help them feel that their Heavenly Father loves them, and that He wants them to be baptized in His restored church.¨ As I read that, I thought, that is the key!! I had been so focused on teaching the doctrine that they need to know, that I kind of forgot that it is more important that they can feel the Spirit because the Spirit converts, and then they can learn about the doctrine. My companion and I immediately put this into practice. We made sure that everyone we taught could feel the Spìrit as we testified that Heavenly Father loves them, and wants them to be baptized in His restored church. As was applied this, they felt the Spirit testify of the love of God, and they wanted to follow Him and do what He wants. I know that as people feel His love, they will do His will. Because He loves us, He gave us the opportunity to come to earth and progress and choose for ourselves. Because He loves us, He sent Jesus Christ to be our Savior, and to suffer the punishment for our sins, and to give His life for us, so that we may all return to live with Him if we do His will. Because He loves us, He has given us the gospel in our lives to bless us. Because He loves all of His children, He is making it possible that everyone can hear the restored gospel. Everything He does, He does it because He loves us. I know that as we help people feel His love, and learn His will, they will feel the Spirit and they will follow the promptings to be baptized and join the church because they will know that they are doing the Lord´s will. It is my prayer that we can all be instruments in our Father´s hands to help others feel His love, and take the important steps to return to Him. 

 

That is what I am going to do for the rest of my mission, and for the rest of my life!!!

 

We learned a lot of other lessons this week too. One night we were hungry and there was a food place on the way to a lesson and so we stopped really fast to get something (probably not very diligent). While we were waiting for the food, I noticed a bee on the wall and pointed it out to my companion. Then this guy came over that was smoking and I coughed a little, and put my hand directly on top of the bee haha. I bet you can guess what happened. That little bee left its stinger in my hand, and the next thing I knew, my hand was on fire (don't worry, not literally). I learned a great lesson that night. We are never going to buy food again at night. We are going to be diligent in every moment, even if we are a little hungry. There are people out there who are waiting to hear the gospel, and if we aren´t diligent in all moments, they may never hear it! May we be diligent in all things! Maybe then we can avoid being stung by bees. 

 

On Saturday we had an amazing activity. The youth put on a talent show for all of the mothers in the ward, and they invited the missionaries to do something. We decided to dance as pillow people. I don't know if you have ever seen that, but its when you have a pillowcase on your head (we had really big white potatoe sacks instead), and you draw a huge face on it, and then around your hips you put a shirt, and stuff the sleeves with newspaper and pin the ends to the sides of the shirt. Then you dance crazily and it is really funny because the head is huge and the body really small, and when you move your hips, the shoulders of the pillow person move. I can´t describe it really well, you have to see it. You can look for examples on youtube. We have a video of us, but it is too big to send haha it was so fun. The ward loved it!!! They were laughing so hard. And we were laughing so hard. I love the mission so much! Every day is an adventure and I love it!!! 

 

Well, thats my week! Let me know about your funny or spiritual moments! I love you all, and I am so proud of you!!! Love you tons!!!

 

Have an amazing week! Hasta luego!

Love, Hermana Harris

Give It Your All!!

                                                                                              May 5, 2014

Hola mi familia maravillosa!!!! Estoy muy emocionada para hablar con ustedes por Skype ésta semana!!!  Thank you for your letters this week!!! You are all amazing and I love reading about your adventures and stories of success. You have so many! I know the Lord is blessing you at all times. I especially want to thank you for sharing your missionary experiences with me! I am so proud of each one of you, and I know that you are blessing so many people as you share the happiness and truth of the Restored Gospel. It is the best feeling ever!!!

 

I have some good news and some not so good news. Which do you want first? Lets go with the not so good.  We had a transfer this week and my sweet hija and best friend, Hermana Blau, was transferred to Frutillares! This is great news for her because she will love it there, and I know there are many people who need her there and whose lives she can bless with her bright smile and happy personality. I am so happy because that was my last area, but it was bitter sweet to say goodbye because we were really close. Maybe now I can kinda empathize with moms out there because I seriously feel like my daughter went off to college/mission and left me at home. haha its so weird, but I am really going to miss her. The good news is that Hermana Martinez arrived here in Coyquén and she is amazing! She is from the north of Chile, and we have the same time in the mission.  I know that we are really going to help one another, and I am happy to be together serving in Chillán! 

 

 This past week was amazing! We were really able to work with the members a lot and we have a ton of plans to work with them even more!  Speaking of members, there is an amazing lady who is a new convert that we had lunch with this week. She is unable to work and has a lot of health problems. The ward helped get together some food to give to her so that she has enough, and guess what, the next week she gave the missionaries lunch! She is an amazing example to me and I felt the Spirit so strong and such a deep love for her as she gave everything she had. 

 

That is one of the lessons I am learning, to give everything, and give it our all. Hermana Blau really taught me that, and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to learn from the Savior and the people that surround me. I know that this is the greatest thing we can do is give it our all. Today for p-day, we watched the movie The Best Two Years in Spanish. haha-- I love that movie. But it meant a lot more to me because I am serving the best 1 year 1/2 right now and I want to make sure I give it my all. In the movie, the missionary for a while didn't work as hard, but in the end, he learned what Heavenly Father wanted him to learn. I know that this applies to all of us, at whatever stage of life we are at. We need to give it our all, and as we do, the Lord will teach us what He wants us to know. We will become the best we can be, as we let Him teach us. I have a little bit more than a year in the

mission right now, but I am going to make the most of it!  

 

Good news! Javiera came to church again, and is progressing toward her baptism on the 17th! Also, we finally were able to teach her mom, who isn't a member! Thank you for your prayers! I know that we will be able to help them both progress towards baptism and receive the blessings together as a family. Please pray for them, and please pray that we can help other people progress towards baptism and find new people. This week, we found Maria Jesus, Mario and Josalyn, Teresa, and Mirza. Please pray for each of them! Thank you for everything!

 

This week we had a lot of funny moments, but I can't even remember one :( But, I will for sure right them down  so I can share them next time. I love you all! Hey, please write me at dear elder if you have time! It is free!!!

 

I love you so much! I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ! He leads the church, and I know that He loves us all! It is my prayer that we can give it our all to become like Him every day. As we do, I know that our Heavenly Father will change us so that we can become like the Savior. Have an amazing week! Love you all so much!!! Hasta Luego!

The Importance of Making and Keeping Covenants

                                                                                April 28, 2014

Hola mi familia y amigos! Gracias por todas las cartas! Me encanta leer de sus aventuras y las semanas exitosas que tienen. Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

This week was great! Some highlights! We had English/piano classes that were actually successful!!! A ton of non-members came!!! Woohoo! We also had a sweet activity with the Relief Society. we ate sopaipillas!!! They are like fried bread, and you eat them with chopped up tomatoes, onion, garlic, and salt. They are so good! It was a great week with many blessings and it was so much fun!  We are so excited for Cesar and Carolina, and their family! They are doing great! Cesar didn't receive the Aaronic Priesthood this week because he went to work out of town again, but he will receive it the upcoming week. They ward continues to fellowship them and help us teach them the new member lessons. We are so excited for the blessings they are receiving! Sadly, we didn't have another baptism this past Sunday, but we were able to help people progress towards baptism this week! 

Our new companion is Hermana Montañez de México. But we have some sad news. She got transferred to another area this morning, so we are just 2 sisters again. I am so happy to still be here with Hermana Blau, because she is amazing!!!! But we are both sad that our trio ended so quickly. We had an amazing week with Hermana Montañez before she left! She taught us so much about following the Spirit, and being bold, and inviting everyone to a baptismal date... we had kind of lost the focus of always doing this. But now, we are refocused and we are inviting everyone to baptism and to a baptismal date!!! It is extremely important that we do this, because without the invitation that we have to give them, they don´t know how to repent and change, or how to find the happiness that we have. That's why it is so important for us as members to share the gospel with everyone we meet/know. They all need to make the sacred covenant of baptism, and the other covenants necessary for salvation. 

That is something I learned a lot about this week, Covenants. What exactly is a covenant? It is a promise between us and God. God creates the conditions of the covenant and He promises to bless us as we follow these conditions. For example, with baptism we promise to always remember the Savior, Jesus Christ, to take His name upon us, and to always keep His commandments. In return for our obedience, God promises us the constant companionship of His Spirit. Without making and keeping the covenants, we cannot receive the blessings. There are a lot of covenants we can make. We make covenants as we participate in all of the ordinances that we need for salvation, but there are also other covenants. I was studying the Book of Mormon this week in Alma 53, and this chapter talks a lot about covenants. Here is the story of the stripling warriors, but I want to point out a few of the covenants that were made. In verse 10-15 it talks about the covenant that their fathers has made. It reads:


"10. And now behold, I have somewhat to say concerning the people of Ammon, who, in the beginning, were Lamanites; but by Ammon and his brethren, or rather by the power and the word of God, they had been converted unto the Lord; and they had been brought down into the land of Zarahemla, and had ever since been protected by the Nephites.

11. And because of their oath they had been kept from taking up arms against their brethren; for they had taken an oath that they never would shed blood more; and according to their oath they would have perished; yea, they would have sufferend themselves to have fallen into the hands of their brethren, had it not been for the pity and the exceeding love which Ammon and his brethren had had for them.

12. And for this cause they were brought down into the land of Zarahemla; and they ever had been protected by the Nephites. 

13. But it came to pass that when they saw the danger, and the many afflictions and tribulations which the Nephites bore for them, they were moved with compassion and were desirous to take up arms in the defence of their country. 

14. But behold, as they were about to take their weapons of war, they were overpowered by the persuasions of Helaman and his brethren, for they were about to break the oath which they had made. 

15. And Helaman feared lest by so doing they should lose thier souls; therfore all those who had entered into their convent were compelled to behold their brethen wade through their afflictions, in their dangerous circumstances at this time." 

Here we see that they had covenanted not to fight against their brethren ever again. They had made this covenant and it was so important that they kept it because when we don't keep covenants, there is always a consequence. But when we do keep covenants, there are always blessings. In this same chapter, it talks about the covenant their sons made. 

"16. But behold, it came to pass they had many sons, who had not entered into a covenant that htey would not take their weapons of war to defend themselves against their enemies; therefore they did assemble themselves together at this time, as many as were able to take up arms, and they called themselves Nephites. 

17. And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage."


These righteous young men made a covenant as well, a different covenant, but one that was so important, and they kept their covenant with exact obedience and all diligence, and because of this, all of them were spared in the war, and they were victorious. We all have made covenants or will make covenants. We make covenants at baptism, we renew our covenants every week. We make covenants in the temple.  The righteous men of the church make covenants when they receive the priesthood. I made a covenant when I chose to come on a mission, as do all other missionaries. We all make covenants, and we all need to keep covenants. The most important work we can do in this life is to help others make and KEEP their covenants. That is our role. I know that as we invited others to come and make covenants, and then we work with new converts and less actives so that we can help them keep their covenants, we will all be blessed, and we will all return home to live with our Heavenly Father and our Savior. 


This week we worked hard to help people make and keep their covenants. We worked with less actives, and the Familia Alarcon is becoming active again!!! we worked with our new converts and others and were able to help them come to church! We also taught Javiera, and she is preparing for baptism on the 17th of May! We also taught Carlos, an old investigator who came to church for the first time!!! He didn't accept a date, but we still invited him! We hope to work with him and a few other news we found this week. Please pray for Vanessa and Fernando, Carlos, Javiera, Cecilia, and Marcela. 


Thank you for all of your prayers and your love! I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, where we can make and keep eternal covenants. I love you all! Thanks for your examples of missionary work this week! Keep giving away Books of Mormon! I love you all! Have an amazing week!!! Hasta luego!!!