Earthquake Scare - "I Love General Conference!!!"

                                                                                             April 7, 2014

Hola Querida Familia y Amigos!!! Wow, this week went by so fast, but so many things happened, and each one seems like it happened forever ago. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying Spring!

 

Isn´t it amazing! We are enjoying fall here, because it is not so hot. Good news! It didn't rain this week! Let me start at the very beginning so  that I can tell you everything that happened or as many things as I can remember.

 

So, Tuesday was April Fools Day. In Chile, they don't celebrate it, they celebrate el día de inocentes, which is another day of the year.  But I was watching out just in case anyone tried anything. Ha ha  

 

We worked all day with success and then returned home. After planning, we received a call from our zone leader that there had been an earthquake up north and that it might affect us at around 11:00 p.m. so we had to be ready. It was 10:45 p.m. so we had to act fast. Hermana Blau does really well in emergency situations. So under her direction, we packed our backpacks with lanterns, matches, candles, water bottles, some food we had, and other needful things, and then we changed into really warm clothes, skirts of course haha. I put on my boots and was ready for action. Our plan was to get under the metal door frames if it started, and if it got worse we would get out. All ready and with time to just wait we began to get anxious. And what do we do when we get anxious, well usually we eat. so we started eating whatever we could get our hands on. Really not the wisest haha. Not going to do that again. When nothing happened at around 11:30 we decided to go to bed. So we slept in our clothes ready for action if anything came haha nothing happened. I was pretty convinced that maybe it was an April Fool's joke that our mission president was playing on all of us, but sadly the next day we saw on television that there was an earthquake. We felt so blessed  to be okay. I know the Lord was watching over us, and I pray that the people in Arica are doing well. Im glad it wasn't a joke because it's not very funny to joke about earthquakes in Chile. 

This week was General Conference weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were so excited here! I love Conference so much! We worked hard to get investigators, less actives, and new converts to come to listen to Conference. We had 4 with a baptismal date in the Sunday morning session!!!

Cesar, Carolina, and Carolina came and their baptism will be this Sat. the 12th of April!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited! Please pray that everything will be okay and that we can get everything ready and finish teaching them the last couple of things. Please pray that Cesar can get off of work so he can be baptized with his family. I know the Lord answers prayers and that everything will be perfect!

 

We also had Eugenia in church. She is a little abuelita who we have set a baptismal date for the 29th. We taught her and she really wants to be baptized, but in the past she has shared with missionaries that she only wants to be baptized to have financial help. We are trying to teach and help her have spiritual experiences so she can love the gospel and want to be baptized for the right reasons. Conference was perfect for her, because she is passing through a ton of trials. She has diabetes, and is almost blind, and she is struggling financially and with her family. We are going to keep teaching her, but please pray that she will want to be baptized for the right reasons. 

Speaking of Conference, what were your favorite talks? I had about 7 questions that I needed answers to, and the Lord answered them all!!! Prayer totally works! I loved all of the talks, but I especially loved Elder Uchtdorf´s talk about gratitude, and the Prophet´s talk and all of the talks about loving people more and being a true disciple of Christ. The most important thing  we can do as disciples of Christ, is love others just as He did. Not with a superficial love or liking, but with a deep true love. This is something I am going to be striving to develop for everyone. We talk to so may people every day, but I want to love them more deeply, and help them to feel that love so that the can receive the true gospel and have the joy that we have! I love this gospel!!! It is so amazing!!!!!

 

I am grateful for a living prophet through whom we can hear the sweet words of our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. I have never cherished Conference so much as I have on my mission, and I will always cherish it this way forever! We are so blessed!

 

Something I heard the other day, a member was teaching the gospel principles class and he said, if the bible disappeared, how many church organizations would fall apart? And if the Book of  Mormon disappeared, would we fall apart? No, because we have a living prophet who receives direct revelation from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The church will never fall because they guide and direct it through their servants. I love this church and this gospel! I know it is true with all my heart! We must love others and help them find the truth too, through our actions and through our words. 

Last night we had some interesting ways to serve. As we were working after conference, (it ended around 7) we were contacting by some houses. All of a sudden we see a cat attacking some small animal like a rat or a mouse. As we got closer, we saw that it was a hamster! I frantically shooed away the cat and tried to pick up the hamster who was so frightened that it was scrambling everywhere and when i got it, it would jump out of my hands. I finally caught it, and I wonder how weird Ï must have looked scrambling around for the hamster. Hermana Blau could not stop laughing. We knocked on the nearest door, and I weirdly explained the situation, that we had found a hamster being attacked by a cat and we wanted to return it to its owner. The lady told us it was her neighbors. So we went to the other house, and Hermana Blau was still laughing haha and I explained the situation again and returned their hamster haha and then, I contacted them and asked if we could return another day to share a message about Jesus Christ with them. They said yes and we wrote down their information and went on or way.

 

A little while later, we were talking to another woman, and her cat escaped. We chased it and brought it back and while talking, again it escaped. So we chased it and caught it and gave it back.  She said we could return as well. Haha such weird ways of finding people. By catching their pets and giving them back, but it is a way to serve  It's also just a funny moment of the week.

 

We had some strange encounters this week with a few drunk men. One man was asking about our church while he was really drunk and we kept walking in front of him. We turned and went another direction, and about a block later he was beside us again talking about the church. He was really creepy and moved really fast. We quickly crossed a street and lost him. We will have to be careful and to only talk to them when they are not intoxicated.  

Today for preparation day we went to play soccer for a zone activity! It is so much fun! I love playing in Chile!  This week was so amazing and we are excited for the upcoming week and that Easter is getting closer. This time is a great time to teach about the Savior and His restored gospel! I love my mission so much! I am so grateful to be here and I am so grateful for all of you and your prayers! I hope you have an amazing week and know I am praying for you! Love you!!!! Hasta luego!

Love, Hermana Harris

A Light Shining in the Storm

                                                                                                   March 31, 2014
Hola mi familia!!!  This morning I made pancakes with instant oatmeal  and egg whites and a little vanilla. It works!!! And on top I put vanilla yogurt and fresh peaches! What are you all enjoying there?  I am so excited to hear from you!! 

 

This week was crazy!!! So many things happened! Guess what!!! We found 12 new people to teach this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The standard of excellence is 10 and we found 8 on Tuesday, 2 on Wed, and then 2 on Sat. It is the first time I have ever gotten it on my mission!!! And they are families! They are all amazing and we are praying that they will continue to progress! We taught Francisco and Elizabeth, who are so interested and love learning about the gospel. Elizabeth is praying for her answer! We also found Crelia and her daughter Martina, who have shared with missionaries before but never were baptized. Crelia wants her whole family to share with us! We also found Marcela and Connie, who is a mom and her daughter who are also interested. And we have a family of 3! Joel, Carola, and Maria really want to learn and are so great, their schedule is what makes it difficult to visit because they both work late. We also have Gerardo, who is a young man who wants to know about the church and has so many questions. And finally, we have Eugenia who is an elderly lady who needs the gospel, and we have Jorge, who is the husband of a less active! We had a ton of great lessons with each of them, and we hope to be able to share more and help them progress towards baptism. I know we were blessed to find so many people to teach because we have been striving to talk to everyone we pass.

 

We are still teaching Ignacio, and he had an amazing experience when he prayed! He received an answer and had a baptismal date for the 19th of April, but he didn't come to church. His aunt Jaqueline, is reactivating and we want to teach her son, Diego as well. We also had a great experience with Javiera, she is the cousin of a young woman in the ward, and she is reading the Book of Mormon and will go to conference this week! I am so excited!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the Women's broadcast on Saturday, but they will rebroadcast it this Saturday in the morning and we can go then! Crelia and Martina, Fransisco, Ignacio, Carolina and Carolina were all going to come to church yesterday, but they didn't come :( Carolina(hija) was sick and her mom had visitors come last minute and she forgot to watch the time, and missed coming. but they are still doing amazing and are excited for Conference this week. They switched their date to April 12th  FOR REAL THIS TIME!!! It will be easier because Cesar will have finished working out of town (the elders where he is are teaching him!), and it would be difficult to have their baptism in between Conference sessions. Also, Carolina the younger isn't reading and praying, and so we are going to work more with her this week. We will have a family home evening with them tonight! Please pray for them that they can be ready in time, especially Carolina (hija)! But, Mirta came to church! We hadn't been able to visit her during the week, but she showed up to church. She had been waiting outside of the home of her neighbor who is a member and they came to church together!!! We are going to visit her! The work is progressing so much and I love it!!!

 

This week we went to Seminary at 6:30!!!! Woohoo!! So many memories! That was Tuesday, the same day we found 8 people to teach!!! Seminary does bring blessings!!! It was so fun to be with the youth. They are each taking turns giving a Book of Mormon to a friend! 

 

All of the members in the Ward had a temple trip this week, and it was so special! They were gone on Friday and Saturday and they shared their experiences yesterday. The Spirit was so strong! I am so grateful for these faithful latter-day saints who do everything they can so that they can go to the temple. There was a family who was baptized 2 years ago that was sealed, and they had 2 weeks full of trials before and they weren't going to go, but then they did! They made it!

 

Another young woman was struggling to get permission from her mom, but she did everything and with miracles, was able to have the money and the permission to go. I am so grateful for the temple. It is our light in the storm and it helps us and helps others. It is so important that we remain worthy to enter the temple and help others receive the blessings!!

 

There was another light in the storm this week! We had a huge storm here on Saturday. Sadly, the weather suddenly changed from summer to fall/winter. It rained all day here on Saturday. We worked through it and we were soaked through, but we kept shining our light and sharing the light of Christ and the light of His restored gospel! We were smiling and laughing as we saw so many funny sights and had funny experiences. At one point, we were trying hard to not step in puddles, and we weren't paying attention and walked into a huge puddle. Our feet were soaked, but it didn't matter, now we could walk in all the puddles haha

 

It is amazing how happy the gospel makes us! I know that we have the light that Christ has given us, so that we can be a light shining in the storm. We can be a light in our own storms/trial, and we can also be a light in the storms and trials that others have. it is because we have the Savior and the light that He gives us. He wants us to share that light with everyone. I know that everything about His restored gospel is true, and all of it is light! As we go about our everyday lives, I hope and pray that we can shine the light of Christ 24/7, in all that we say and do. May we look for the opportunities to be a light to those who are passing through storms.

 

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!!! Be a light to everyone especially when it rains!! We will enjoy the rain together!!! Love you!!!! Hasta luego! 

A Week of Adventures!!!

                                                                                                          March 24, 2014   

Hola mi familia!!! So good to hear from you! We just had a 2 hour nap and we are finishing up our amazing relaxing preparation day by writing our wonderful families! Thank you for your letters and your prayers.

 

This week we had so much going on that it feels like a month has passed since I wrote last week. Let me give you the recap!

 

On Tuesday we had our district meeting like every week, and then on Wednesday we had interviews with our Mission President. Later that night, we had English/piano classes and only Carolina and her little sister Emiline came...but next week is going to be even better!!! On Thursday we just worked a normal day. On Friday we had a conference in the morning about working with the list of less actives and helping them and their families, and then we had mini-cambios. In my mini-cambio, I got to stay with a sister training leader in her new area. She and her companion are opening a sector and while waiting for a house, they are living in the apartment of a cute senior couple that actually finished their mission today. So I got to stay in their apartment and they made us french toast in the morning! Best mini-cambio ever!! I also learned a ton of things that I can do to help our investigators progress more.

 

Then on Saturday we had a ward activity that we were in charge of. The members brought the refreshment and we taught a lesson about our Heavenly Father and His love for us, and what He has given us to help us. We are going to have an activity every other week to strengthen the Ward, and we are going to teach all of the principles from the lessons, one ever week. So the week before conference we are going to teach about how Heavenly Father always calls prophets!!! We also played games, like do you love your neighbor? It was so fun! 

 

Then Saturday night we went to visit a brother who had a suffered a vascular stroke. He and his family are very strong in the gospel. The stroke caused him to lose a lot of his coordination and has been really hard on him and his family. A few weeks ago we had a sweet experience visiting him and singing a hymn and sharing a scripture about how much the Lord loves him and his family and he and his wife just cried. The Spirit was so strong and I was so grateful to be there witnessing and feel the love that God has for him. We decided to visit him again on Saturday after the activity, and as we walked in, they were celebrating his birthday! We were able to sing a hymn for him and he was so cute. His father told us the next day that he knows that Heavenly Father loves his son because He sent two artists to sing the night before. It was so cute! 

On Sunday, Carolina (sr.) and Carolina(jr.) came to church. Also, Cesar drove straight from work in another city far away and was able to get there in time for priesthood. Jaime/Benjamin also came and he stayed for Sunday school!!! Cesar, Carolina, and Carolina changed their baptismal date for the 5th so that Cesar can get work off and they can all be baptized together. It will have to be in between sessions of general conference, but it will be so sweet! They are so prepared and are living all of the commandments. It is amazing!!! Please pray for them and all of our investigators. Please pray that we can help them progress and accept baptism.

 

This week we received a reference from the office, of a woman who is less active. Her name is Jacqueline, and she has a son and a nephew that aren't members. We are teaching her nephew, Ignacio, and they were going to come to church, but accidentally slept in. We will be teaching them this week. Please pray that they can make it this week! The work is progressing and gets better every day! I love it! Please pray that we can continue to find and help others prepared for baptism.

 

We are working with a part member family, whose dad is not a member. His name is Marco, and he was going to get baptized but didn't have a firm testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, and so he wasn't able to, and he really wanted to get baptized so now he is offended. We are working with him and his family, and I know that he will accept it as we keep working with them. Please pray for him! 

 

Funny stories for this week. We were walking down the street this week and all of a sudden a man passed us with a cart full of parakeets and hamsters that he was selling. So random ha ha love it!

It is so Chile!

 

Today we ate at a restaurant with all of the sisters. Hermana Blau and I had brought some food in our back packs for dessert. We quickly made a peanut butter and honey sandwich when the workers weren't looking. I brought honey in a tube, it looks like it is a hand cream haha. I love it!  Right now in the cyber they are playing the song: "We like to Party," that we use to dance to at Especially For Youth. Ha ha--Yay!!! 

 

I love you all so much! Thank you for your support and your prayers. I know that Heavenly Father loves all of us so much! we are His children and He works for us daily! I love you! Have an amazing week!!! Hasta luego!

El Don de Suenos - "The Gift of Dreams"

                                                                                                            March 17, 2014

Hola mi familia!!! How are you? Thanks for your letters!

 

You all make me smile so much! I love you!!!! 

 

This week Hermana Blau and I are trying new fun things and really enjoying every day! We are learning a lot, just like every day.

 

Sadly, this week Carolina and Carolina didn't come to church. Cesar is gone and Carolina(sr) has a stand that they pay to have so they can sell artsy handmade stuff. She and her mom run it and they have to have someone there on Saturdays and Sundays or they could lose it. Usually her mom goes on Sunday so that Carolina can go to church and keep the Sabbath day holy, but Carolina´s great-grandmother passed away and so her mom was at the funeral. Carolina had to work, and she didn't send her daughters alone. They were still asleep. :( But they are still progressing amazingly. Carolina (hija) wants to be baptized and has a date for the 29th of March. But, we heard today that Cesar will be working until April 8th outside ;( We need a miracle. Please pray that they will be able to be baptized on the 29th of March. I know that Heavenly Father will help them.

 

We have a cita with hermana Carolina tonight! Woohoo!!! Jaime couldn´t come to church, but Mirta came! I hope she liked it, we need to visit her this week! Claudio didn't come either, we were unable to visit him this week because he is never home until late at night and it is hard for us to get there. But we will continue to work hard to help all of these amazing people! We found 9 news this week!!!! Just one away from our goal! We found Mari, Isable, and Edith, Catarine, Franco, Jeremias, Fernando y Ruth, Jenifer, and Genardo this week! 

 

They are all awesome and we are excited to work with them! Especially Catarine who had returned from the hospital the day we met here after being there for 2 months. Genardo is an older man suffering from cancer :( They all need the gospel so much! Franco and Jeremias are the sons of a family of less actives that has a ton of people that aren't members! Fernando and Ruth are so great! I will tell you about them! They are a cute older couple that have been married for 64 years! We taught them about how they could be together for ever by taking some steps, and Ruth started saying, What are the steps? She said if she had to be mormon, she wouldn't do it, haha but I know that she will :) We asked if they wanted to be together for ever and she said yes and Fernando just laughed, he is a little deaf. He said, well maybe there is another life and more women haha but it was just a joke...hopefully.

 

Ruth then told us that she dreamt about us. She said, I had a dream once, in which two little bees came into my house. She said, there were two, and then a 3rd little one appeared in the middle. ha ha it was funny because we had met her the night before, and then the next day we brought a Chilean young woman with us who is 17 ha ha. Then she said, the little bee was singing the Chilean national anthem, and the other two bigger bees were humming. She said she tried to get rid of the three bees because she was afraid they would sting her, so she tried to let them out the front door, and then out the back door, but in the end she just decided to keep them inside the house with her. She asked us, "what do you think that means?" ha ha I loved it! Obviously it means she should listen to the two humming bees and the little Chileana one :) We are going to visit them again this week! 

 

So, there is one example of the gift of dreams, or el don de sueños. My companion and I always joke about it because we have such weird and bizarre dreams and so whenever we share them, Hermana Blau says, El don de sueños!!!!! ha ha its too funny. We don´t have the gift of dreams but some people really do and its amazing!

 

Something Funny: This week I started to go a little crazy and as we were saying hola to everyone we were passing by--without realizing it, I said hola to a dog. I think I need a nap--ha ha.

This week we are trying so many new things. We are really going to work on unifying our ward and helping the members. We are going to do mini family home evenings every night that are just really little and strengthen the members! It is going to be great! This week I was reading Jesus the Christ and I read about the parable, like the parable of the treasure, and the pearl of great price! I love it! In the parable of the treasure, a man happens upon the most glorious treasure, the gospel, and he sells all he has to buy it. In the pearl of great price, a man searches and searches to find the greatest pearl, and once he does, he sells all he has and buys it. I was thinking about it and I really relate to the one where the man just happens upon the treasure because I feel like being born into the gospel is such an amazing blessing that Heavenly Father gave me, and now I must do all I can and give Him all I can. I have the amazing opportunity to help people who are  searching and searching like the man searched for the pearl of great price. I can help them find the same treasure so that they too can find it and sell all they have to buy it and enjoy the gospel. That is the amazing role that we all have. Whether we came upon the treasure, or we found it by truly searching, we all have it, and we must do all we can to share it with others. That is what I am going to be working on this week, and I invite all of you to do the same.

 

I know that this is the Savior´s true church and living gospel. It is the greatest treasure of all. May we all share it with others! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!!!!! I love you! 

 

 

Choose to Change!!!

                                                                                                      March 10, 2014

Hola mi familia!!!!!!!!!!!!! Les Amo muchísimo!!!!!!! Thank you for writing me and letting me know about your week. You are all doing so well and I am so proud of you and your strength, especially in difficult times. It sounds like you all have amazing opportunities awaiting you. I can't wait to hear about them!!

Guess what! We had cambios (transfers) today and I am please to announce that Hermana Blau and I are staying here in Coyquén!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I am sad to think that I only have 4 cambios more in the mission :( Time goes by so fast! But I have been so blessed to be here! I have a ton to tell you about this week, so let's get started!   

The wonderful Elders and Sisters in our Zone





We can be fun and a little crazy!!

This week was absolutely amazing!! So many things happened!!!!

First, my companion let me read the 4th missionary which a friend had sent to here. It is an amazing talk about the 4 types of missionaries that exist. It is amazing!! You all have to read it, individually and as a family. It is such good preparation for the mission. I wish I had read it earlier. The 4th missionary is the best kind of missionary to be because he is exactly obedient, and does the Lord´s will always, to the point that because he gives everything to the Lord, he is changed completely by his mission (applies for sisters too). It reminds me of the verse Ben shared with me this morning, Helaman 10:4. The 3rd missionary is similar, is exactly obedient, but doesn't give the Lord everything, and so they are not changed by their mission like Heavenly Father wants to change them. I know that Heavenly Father has a goal for who we should be. He tries to form us, like a masterpiece of clay, but He can´t unless we give Him all of the clay to work with, unless we give Him our whole heart, might, mind, and strength, and always do His will. I have been really trying to apply this this week, in everything, even the little choices and decisions. I know that I can become the 4th missionary, and I want to do it because I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and I want them to change me to become like Them.

 

I only have this next 6 months to walk with Them and learn from Them every day. Í will give them everything! I don´t have regrets, or feel like I didn't do my best before, because I did do my best. I had not learned this lesson yet like I did this week, and so now I will apply and become what He wants me to be so that I can help His other children. I am so grateful for this article, please read it!!! 

This week we had a conference with Elder Zaballos, who is in the seventy.

There were three separate sessions with three different groups of missionaries in our mission.

You will find me in the first group. 









 

It was amazing!!! I don't have my notes with me, so I will have to write more later. But the topic was very similar to what I had learned from the 4th missionary earlier in the week.

 

Hermana Arrington, the wife of our mission president, spoke at the beginning. She said, there once was a man in the Book of Mormon. He followed his dad out of Jerusalem when the Lord told them to flee. He suffered many afflictions in the desert. He as angels and learned from his father. He was commanded to build a boat and did so to cross the waters with his family, and he was led to the promised land. Who is it? We all said Nephi!! She said, nope, its Laman. He did all of these good things just like his brother Nephi, but what is the difference between them? She said that the difference is that Nephi was changed by doing all of these things because he gave his whole heart and mind to the Lord, but Laman didn't. He did all of these good things, but he didn't give the Lord everything, so he wasn't changed by the good things that he did. This applies to us. We must choose to give the Lord everything!, We must choose to let Him change us. We must give Him everything so that He can change us. We may keep the commandments, we may be obedient, but if we do not give the Lord EVERYTHING, He cannot change us to be what He wants us to be. We can do every good thing, but these good things wont change us. The Lord can only change us, and He can only do it if we give Him everything. I know this to be true! This is what I am going to apply now, and for my whole life. 



I challenge each of you to give everything to the Lord so that He can change you. His power is the only thing that can change us so we can become like Him! Next week, I will share more from the conference! 

This week we saw great progression! We had Cesar and Carolina and Carolina, their daughter, come to church!!! Their daughter even invited her friend. Carolina (hija) doesn't like church that much because we haven't taught her a lot and she feels like she sticks out. We are going to be working with her. They had a baptismal date for the 15th but we just found out the Cesar has to travel for work and won't be back for two weeks. They now have a date for the 29th, but it is amazing because in the beginning they didn't want baptism and now they do! They read the Book of Mormon all the time! Cesar is going to receive the lessons where he will be working. We are going to send the elders. But we are so happy and so proud of them! We have a noche de hogar with them and a member family tonight! Thank you for your prayers! please keep praying for them that they can keep progressing and that they can be ready for the 29th, that Cesar can make it back in time.

 

Jaime also came for sacrament meeting!!!!!!!!!!!! wooooohoooooooooo! He also came to a baptism the Elders had on Sat. and he is reading the Book of Mormon everyday! We will continue to work with him. We also have Claudio that we are working with. He was going to come, but didn't show up. This week though for sure! We visited a reference from a member. Her name is Javiera and she is 14. She is really great, we will keep working with her. We are also working with Mirta, and she needs to come this week! We found a family of 9 children on Tuesday!!!! crazy right, only 4 of them were there though. We will keep teaching them. Gloria is the moms name. Thank you for your prayers!!! 

Funny moments this week. I contacted an older man who couldn't hear and he told us that his wife had passed away. I then testified that he could be with his wife again because Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to be with our families forever. Misunderstanding my Spanish, he then said, no, no, no! marriage at my age??! I am way too old to remarry ha ha I think he thought I was proposing to him or promising that he could find another wife ha ha We also had a drunk man kiss us on the hand yesterday. That was awkward ha ha. oh well, we gave him a pass-along-card.

 

Oh, and I had invited Claudio  to baptism and a baptismal date the first lesson, but he didn't accept. The next time we went back this week, we somehow got onto the topic of marriage, and his girlfriend, Patricia, said that I am going to get married quick because I'm so fast to put a date. haha got to just laugh at that one though I felt a little embarrassed. It has been a great week! We had pizza today at a really great pizza place! And I got my hair cut! I am excited for this week and for all that I can give to the Lord. I cant wait to let you know how it goes. Have an amazing week and know that you are all in my prayers. Love you!!!!



 

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!!!

We Must Put Our Trust in the Lord!

                                                                                                       February 24, 2014               

Hola mi familia maravillosa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for your letters! I am glad to know that you are all doing well. Wow, such exciting things are happening to each one of you! I will be praying for each one of you and the opportunities that you have ahead of you. Thanks for sharing about your missionary experiences. I know that these people will be blessed because of everything you are sharing with them. This gospel changes lives and it is everything that Heavenly Father wants to give us! Thank you for your examples and your service to the Lord.  I had an amazing week too, with a ton of blessings. Hey, Can you believe that this week I will have 1 year in the mission! It´s crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time just passes so quickly.

 

This week we were so blessed. Something we have been really working on is being exactly obedient in everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every little thing. I have to admit that I use to think it was impossible, but it´s what Heavenly Father asks of us in the mission so of course it is possible and He will prepare the way. We have to work hard every day to accomplish it. but it is so worth it. He really blesses us as we are obedient so that we can help Him bless His children. 

 

Guess what??? Cesar and Carolina came to church with a baptismal date! They are preparing for the 15th of March. It was so hard to invite them to a baptismal date because they don't like pressure. But we promised Heavenly Father we would and He prepared the way! Please pray for them that they will be prepared and receive an answer from the Lord. Their daughter who is 13 comes home this week and they have signed up to give us lunch on Sunday. They used to work on Sundays but they stopped and the are going to come home early from work so we can visit them earlier in the night. Carolina told me she has to leave on Friday for work and will be back Saturday night so they can go to church on Sunday! They are so amazing!!!!!!!!! Please pray that we will be able to teach them simply and completely so that they will learn and understand the gospel. Please pray that they can have good friends in the church to help them in the transition. They are amazing!! Their family is so cute, and they are so prepared to receive the gospel. They were really Catholic before, but they love the church!!! They have had good experiences both weeks and we will be praying that they keep progressing. We love them so much! They are so special to us! 

 

We are also working with Mirta, who is also Catholic. She feels the Spirit in every lesson, but she is hesitant about baptism. Please pray for her! Also, we are teaching Teresa. She is a little grandma who doesnt have any legs, she wants to be healed by Heavenly Father and she wants to see her husband again one day. He passed away recently. She has difficulty coming to church because I think she is embarrassed about her wheelchair and everything. But I think she will come in the future!

 

On Monday night we had a family Home evening in which a member family invited a friend and the members taught about baptism!!! It was amazing!!! I'm am so proud that you are helping your friends too! Their friend is named Benjamin! He is 13, but super tall and his family is really catholic but he loves the church activities. I know that if he has a testimony that it is true, he will be baptized. His parents are Catholic missionaries and we were able to teach them last night and we have another cita or appointment fixed to teach them all! Please pray that we will be able to teach with the Spirit to help them accept the gospel. I know that Heavenly Father is blessing us to find the people who are prepared. We also found another family this week. The mom is named Andrea, and she has two daughters who are 9 and 11. We had a first lesson and they loved it. We are going to go back this Saturday. We are excited to teach them!!!

This week we worked a lot with the members, and they are giving us more and more referrals. I know that this is what Heavenly Father wants us to do, is work with them to help His church grow. We are doing are best and getting better every week!!! We are excited for this week and the amazing experiences ahead! 

We had an activity on Thursday and we tried to make sugar cookies. They almost worked, but it was so hard because we didn't have an oven ha ha. We had to go to the church early and bake them all in an oven that wouldn't light and then it finally did. Ha ha it's not that funny, but you know those kind of experiences where you just have to laugh because it was ridiculous.

 

This week we just had a ton of cool experiences. We are planning to play soccer one night with the youth and invite a ton of nonmembers, especially young women!!! That should be awesome!!! 

 

I learned a lot this week! But something I learned that was really special to me was from church yesterday. One of the elders gave a talk about trusting in the Lord. He told a story about a man who trusted in himself more that in Heavenly Father. This man wanted to climb a mountain which was really cold and really high and he wanted to do it in the shortest time possible and so he climbed all day and all night and all day and all night until one night he was climbing it and one of his picks slipped in the ice and he fell. As he was falling he saw his life flash before his eyes and he felt something catch onto his bungee cord so that he stopped falling. He was hanging in mid air and he started to pray, Heavenly Father please save me. And he heard a voice that said, "Do you believe that I can save you?" He said, "yes, You can do anything." The voice came again, "Do you trust me?" The man said yes!!! The voice answered, "Cut the cord" He was afraid and so he waited and didn't cut the cord. After a few minutes he prayed again saying the same thing, and he heard the same voice answer, cut the cord. Still fearful, he didn't listen. Once more he prayed and heard the same answer but didn't listen. The next morning he was found frozen clinging to the rope just 6 feet above the ground. I don't know if this story is true, but I loved how the elder applied it. He asked if we trust the Lord enough? Do we trust Him in everything? While he was telling this story yesterday, I was frantically praying that Carolina and Cesar would have a good experience in church. I was worried because I don't think the members welcomed them very warmly when they entered, and  because we sang Praise to the Man for the first hymn, and we had taught Cesar the restoration but we hadn't taught Carolina yet and I was sure she was going to think that we worship Joseph Smith because that's what everyone says here haha I was so worried about that and so I prayed over and over in my head that they would have a good experience. I was praying as I heard this story too, and then all of a sudden I thought, do I really trust in the Lord. We had done everything we could to get them to church, and to help them have a good experience. I cannot control the hymns or the members or the talks or the classes. But this is Heavenly Father´s and the Savior´s church. They are in charge. Of course They are going to make sure that they have an amazing experience at church. And so, i stopped worrying. And they had an amazing experience because their Heavenly Father and their Savior were watching over them. They were in Their hands and there is no better place than that. I am going to work on trusting in the Lord for everything. He knows best, and when we trust in Him and do His will, he will guide us in the right way, and take care of us. He will provide the way and the blessings. I am so grateful for this lesson. It is my prayer that we can all trust more in our Heavenly Father and our Savior. I love you all so much! I hope you have an amazing day and an incredible week! Hasta luego!!!!