I just have to let you know I loved your letters this week. I am so excited to write you all and tell you about the great, great week that just happened. I know the Lord loves me. He has blessed us so very much this week.
Well, as you know, we had Elder Scott come and talk to us. It was a 6 hour conference...it felt like 30 min. It was so great. He is hilarious, by the way. I know that you all would be looking at the picture on the blog, so when we lined up for the picture, I made sure I got to stand in the middle....my height really helped too (thanks, momma). It was so neat. We got to shake his hand and talk to him for a little bit. And then we had a 20 minute break during the middle, and during it I noticed that he was just sitting on the stage by himself, while all the missionaries were talking amongst themselves and what not. I grabbed Hna Kelley, and I told her, "An apostle of God should not be sitting by himself talking to no one." So we went up there and we welcomed him to Chile and we thanked him for coming, and he talked to us about how special it is that we are sister missionaries. He said that there is no better place to prepare for being a mother and wife. It was so neat to talk to him for a little bit. He´s so, so nice. He was telling us that his wife served a mission, and he said she always told him it was the best thing she ever did. Not really mentioning the fact that she married him :) It was a very great special day.
READY......THE VERY BEST PART OF THE WEEK: KAREN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes that´s right, we had our first baptism! It was such a testimony to me that the Lord´s hand is so very much in our lives. Karen was prepared before we met her to hear and receive this world changing message. She latched on to it, even when it didn´t make sense to her, and I am telling you there was such a great change in her after it happened. I could literally tell that she was a different person. She was so happy. She´s a happy person anyway, but I am telling you she was SO happy. Gosh. I really can´t do this justice in an email. It was just so powerful. Also, her mom was there--who has been menos activa for most of her grown life, but she was there and she was crying. Before she left, she pulled Karen, and us aside and asked to say a prayer with us. We were all in the chapel standing in a circle (holding hands...some people like to do that here) and her mom thanked our Father in Heaven for letting us find her daughter and showing her this path of happiness. She prayed for the work, and she prayed that Karen would seguir adelante en este camino and that she would maintain her heart clean and pure like it is right now. It was so neat to hear her mom pray and remember how she felt many, many years ago when she was baptized. We are going to work hard with her family to help them come back to church.
I gave Karen my red skirt to use for her baptism and to wear to Church (she hates the fact that she has to wear a skirt). But I am telling you she looked just like a missionary. We even put our name tags on her just to make sure it fit right. She really could be a missionary...and a very excellent one. We are going to tell her to pray about it. She´s kind of dropped hints that she has been thinking about it. She´s 20 years old, but she has been going to tons of citas with us just because she wants to learn more and more. We told her now that she is baptized, we are going to teach her how to teach little parts of the lessons so that she can practice "just in case you should decide to go on a mission" :) She just smiles at us. I would love to see her serve. I think part of her really wants to. Whenever we slip it into the conversation, she just smiles. She so, so great. I am really going to have a hard time saying goodbye to her. She really wants to go to the temple. Gosh, she´s just so perfect. It´s so great. I just love her so much. It was neat, yesterday we went to a cita with her and without us even asking, she just started teaching and explaining things, and then she´d turn to us and say, "Cierto?" It was fun. She´s so great.
Side note: also this week I might have gone swimming...it wasn´t my fault. There was the worst storm that I have ever seen in Ancud, and we had to walk along Costanera to a cita (the street that is right next to the ocean.) and the waves were so big that they were splashing up over the wall onto the sidewalk that we had to walk on...we got a little soaked that day. But now I can say that I have been surfing. :) It was pretty funny. I am sure that anyone that drove past just thought to themselves, "Man those missionaries, they must get paid a lot to work in conditions like this." It was pretty funny. I took a video of it, I´ll have to send it to you or show you when I get home. Funny stuff.
Well, I love you all so very much. Thank you to infinity for all your love and support. I really couldn´t do this without you all. Thank you for being such a blessing in my life. Tell the brothers that I love them so very much. I miss you all. I pray for you all often. Mom and Dad: you are so so, so wonderful. I can´t express how much I love you both. Gracias por todo que han heco en mi vida. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
Les AMO,
Hermana Bertagnole
P:S. oh answers to questions: It is hard learning Spanish with a gringa. :)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Almost six months in the mission. No puedo creerlo!
Hola familia mia. Hey ya´ll, Hermana Kelley and I (apparently) are the two Hermanas in the missions with accents. I think President (being from Oklahoma and all) thought it would be a good thing to put us together to enhance each other´s accents...nice....I say ya´ll a lot more now...it´s kind of dangerous. Who knew I would pick that up in Chile, hahahah... I hope all is well back in the good old United States. It sounds like from the letters things are going pretty good.
Well, I have the most amazing news EVER!!!!!! KAREN IS GETTING BAPTIZED! She is a miracle in my life. If you´re wondering why you haven´t heard tons about her...well it´s because she had her baptismal interview exactly only one month after we contacted her in the street. She was so utterly prepared, it blows my mind. She is such a sweet girl. She is 20 years old, but looks like she is about 15 years old just because she is so tiny. She is a spit fire though, and she is always correcting our Spanish...it´s pretty funny. But she is so, so smart. She is very intellectual, and she told us the other day that she can´t believe she is doing this because it all doesn´t make perfect sense to her yet, but I just laughed and told her...well, everything doesn´t make perfect sense to me either yet, but that´s the Lord´s way of showing us that we have to work with faith more than intellect. I love her so much, and I am so grateful to get to see her change and evolve and understand more and more the past month. She is amazing. She just gets it. It´s so beautiful. She´ll be baptized the 28 of August. Please, please pray for her and her family. She means so very much to me. I think I am just as nervous as she is for this, but I didn´t tell her so. She is so, so ready and prepared. It´s so cool!
Also this week, we talked to Marcelo about baptism again and he really wants to get baptized. We found out that he is attending seminary and basically any other church activity he can get his hands on. He knows so much already that we haven´t even taught him. He´s going to get baptized the 11th of September. The only problem is that he has to get his parents’ permission to do it, obviously. We have taught his mom and his sister, and they are awesome. I think his mom doesn´t have any problem with it...she´s just happy he´s so happy, but I have yet to meet his father. Marcelo tells me he is very active in another church and is not happy at all that he is attending all these Church things. So please pray for him that his heart will be softened and that we will be able to teach his whole family these things.
What else is new....OH. Some really cool news: Tonight we travel to Puerto Montt (on the continent) and then in the morning we will head to Osorno to have a Mission Conference with Elder Richard G. Scott! We are so so, so excited. (I´m going to try and take a picture with my arm around him like Eric and Steve Young....just kidding....about the arm around him...I´m a missionary). Hahah. But anyway, we won´t get back to work until Wednesday, so that will be a little hard on our goals next week, but I´m not complaining at all :) I´m so, so excited. I am pretty sure he can speak Spanish too, so that will be neat to hear him speak in Spanish. Yay!
Oh mom, in reference to my little black jacket...it is getting pretty worn out just from being wet all the time, so I have been thinking about finding something else here to wear underneath my rain jacket. They have some really nice jackets here that are really warm, but still thin enough to layer under rain coats and great in the rain. I´m thinking I am going to try and find one of those. They are pretty pricey...I think like 80-100 dollars or something, but let me know what you think. A lot of the Elders have them and they say they are the best thing since sliced bread....a very good investment. Anyway...let me know your thoughts. I´m thinking I could probably get a month or two more out of mine, but I need to start looking for another that looks a little nicer. I am so glad that I brought my black jacket though...it´s like having two rain coats on at one time....HEAVEN. Eventually with all the rain..."waterproof" isn´t as waterproof as you might like...so it´s nice to have a double layer.
Anyway I love you all tons. Tons and tons. Thank you for everything. Dad, thank you for the pep talk at the end of your last letter...I needed that today. You are so great
Oh and momma, after the mish you and I need to road trip it to Alabama and hang out with Hna Kelley and her momma. We are making plans. From what she´s told me ya´ll (hahaha) will get along great. It´s going to be great.
Oh and Hna Aponte called me on Hna Lovell´s cell phone the other day during a conference and she told me that she is using cualquier ropa; hahaha pobresita! (I have a feeling that I might go there next....ummm yeah.)
Welp. Love you all tons!!!!
Well, I have the most amazing news EVER!!!!!! KAREN IS GETTING BAPTIZED! She is a miracle in my life. If you´re wondering why you haven´t heard tons about her...well it´s because she had her baptismal interview exactly only one month after we contacted her in the street. She was so utterly prepared, it blows my mind. She is such a sweet girl. She is 20 years old, but looks like she is about 15 years old just because she is so tiny. She is a spit fire though, and she is always correcting our Spanish...it´s pretty funny. But she is so, so smart. She is very intellectual, and she told us the other day that she can´t believe she is doing this because it all doesn´t make perfect sense to her yet, but I just laughed and told her...well, everything doesn´t make perfect sense to me either yet, but that´s the Lord´s way of showing us that we have to work with faith more than intellect. I love her so much, and I am so grateful to get to see her change and evolve and understand more and more the past month. She is amazing. She just gets it. It´s so beautiful. She´ll be baptized the 28 of August. Please, please pray for her and her family. She means so very much to me. I think I am just as nervous as she is for this, but I didn´t tell her so. She is so, so ready and prepared. It´s so cool!
Also this week, we talked to Marcelo about baptism again and he really wants to get baptized. We found out that he is attending seminary and basically any other church activity he can get his hands on. He knows so much already that we haven´t even taught him. He´s going to get baptized the 11th of September. The only problem is that he has to get his parents’ permission to do it, obviously. We have taught his mom and his sister, and they are awesome. I think his mom doesn´t have any problem with it...she´s just happy he´s so happy, but I have yet to meet his father. Marcelo tells me he is very active in another church and is not happy at all that he is attending all these Church things. So please pray for him that his heart will be softened and that we will be able to teach his whole family these things.
What else is new....OH. Some really cool news: Tonight we travel to Puerto Montt (on the continent) and then in the morning we will head to Osorno to have a Mission Conference with Elder Richard G. Scott! We are so so, so excited. (I´m going to try and take a picture with my arm around him like Eric and Steve Young....just kidding....about the arm around him...I´m a missionary). Hahah. But anyway, we won´t get back to work until Wednesday, so that will be a little hard on our goals next week, but I´m not complaining at all :) I´m so, so excited. I am pretty sure he can speak Spanish too, so that will be neat to hear him speak in Spanish. Yay!
Oh mom, in reference to my little black jacket...it is getting pretty worn out just from being wet all the time, so I have been thinking about finding something else here to wear underneath my rain jacket. They have some really nice jackets here that are really warm, but still thin enough to layer under rain coats and great in the rain. I´m thinking I am going to try and find one of those. They are pretty pricey...I think like 80-100 dollars or something, but let me know what you think. A lot of the Elders have them and they say they are the best thing since sliced bread....a very good investment. Anyway...let me know your thoughts. I´m thinking I could probably get a month or two more out of mine, but I need to start looking for another that looks a little nicer. I am so glad that I brought my black jacket though...it´s like having two rain coats on at one time....HEAVEN. Eventually with all the rain..."waterproof" isn´t as waterproof as you might like...so it´s nice to have a double layer.
Anyway I love you all tons. Tons and tons. Thank you for everything. Dad, thank you for the pep talk at the end of your last letter...I needed that today. You are so great
Oh and momma, after the mish you and I need to road trip it to Alabama and hang out with Hna Kelley and her momma. We are making plans. From what she´s told me ya´ll (hahaha) will get along great. It´s going to be great.
Oh and Hna Aponte called me on Hna Lovell´s cell phone the other day during a conference and she told me that she is using cualquier ropa; hahaha pobresita! (I have a feeling that I might go there next....ummm yeah.)
Welp. Love you all tons!!!!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
My rain jacket smells like feet, but I'm still smiling!
Well it´s starting to rain everyday again...everything that I own is beginning to just smell mildewy...but all is well. So is the mission.
Another great week of letters. Thank you for all your cartas. They were great, and I am glad to hear that things are going well. Eric....I have the coolest story to tell you. So the world is so small. We brought pictures of our families to a zone meeting this week, and one of the Elders in my zone is from Constitucion...as he was looking at my pictures, I mentioned that you served in Concepcion, and he took a closer look and yelled "No!! Elder Perez!!" and I was shocked that he knew you!!! He began to tell me how awesome you are and that you were so great and on and on and on. His name is Elder Cisternas. He must have been about 9 years old when you were there, but he totally remembers who you are and says that he has a picture of you in his house. He said that one time you came to his house with a big ‘ol hole right in the front of your rain pants. I´m going to try and send a picture with him next time so you can see him and his family. It was pretty neat to know that my big bro was such a great missionary that a 9 year old boy would remember him and serve with his sister 10 years later. Pretty neat!
Anywho, this week was AMAZING. It started out really pretty difficult. On Wednesday, we had a grand total of only 3 citas for the entire week. We were really frustrated, because all of our meetings were just falling through left and right. We came home on Wednesday night without entering a single house to teach. We reported our numbers, and pretty soon our Zone Leader called us and he gave us a really big pep talk, which helped, but he gave us some great advice. We applied it the next day and we went home Thursday with 5 citas and 2 new investigators. The rest of the week went the exact same way. We were so blessed. We found 14 new people this week and a really, really great family---in fact you know who it is--the family of MARCELO!!!!!! He´s back from vacation now and we went and taught his mom and little sister and they are just as ready as he is to receive this great message. They are the family that we have been praying for. We are hoping the next time that we teach his dad will be home to teach as well. Also, this next Saturday, Karen is going to be having her baptismal interview. We have been seeing her progress so much every time we talk to her. She still has a few little things that she is not sure about, but we taught her a lesson on faith and obedience, and she said that she received a testimony very strong of that that very night. Gosh. She is a miracle. So are Marcelo and his family. We have been so, so very blessed this week.
I really hope I don´t get transferred this at the end of this cambio. I don´t want to leave this place. The work is so strong here right now. And everyone is really starting to progress like crazy. I love working with Hna. Kelley. We teach really well together. We are really working hard to keep our Spanish up. We also want to get really good at asking questions so that the people that we teach can teach themselves through their answers. I like asking questions a lot, but I still struggle with the wording in Spanish a little bit, so that is something that I´m working on. Good stuff though. I just want to dominate teaching, but I´m learning more and more that the key is to teach with the Spirit. Hecho.
I just feel so blessed to be trusted enough to serve this mission. I am not even close to a perfect missionary or teacher or anything, but I am just so grateful that the Lord gave me this opportunity to serve in the Chile Osorno Mission, and to wear a name badge everyday that has my name and His name on the same plaque...sometimes I really don´t feel like a missionary...missionaries are supposed to be perfect...they are the people that are basically like the Bishop. (Dad, we both know now that neither of the two parties are perfect, huh) But we just try our best to do what the Lord will have us do and to remain worthy of the call. Gosh. I love this work. I am so humbled by the lessons I learn every day. Sometimes I just really can´t figure out what I did to deserve such a grand blessing in my life....actually most of the time I wonder that. I do love this. I have never been happier. Thank you family and friends for your love and support. One thing that I have realized so strong is that I am so blessed to have a family that is faithful and strong in the Church. There are so many here that do it all by themselves. Some struggle outwardly and many struggle inwardly, but they are faithful and trying, just like all of us. We are blessed. Don´t ever forget to share your blessings with people that need them too. Share the Gospel. It is our sacred duty. Help the missionaries. Offer to bring people to Church for them. Offer to be their "last minute" person...our lives are crazy...don´t get upset if they call you at the last minute. Offer it. Offer to help them teach. Offer to share your conversion story to their investigators. Be a missionary. The only reason that missionaries have the Spirit with them more often is because they share the Gospel with everyone they see every day. They have to have the Spirit...it´s a requirement of sharing the message. That´s the only thing that makes them different than anyone else in the Church. This is such a beautiful and exciting message. Please share it.
I love you all so so so so so much. Never ever forget that. I pray for you all every day.
LOVE YOU ALL TONS:
BESOS and ABRAZOS!!!!!!!!
Another great week of letters. Thank you for all your cartas. They were great, and I am glad to hear that things are going well. Eric....I have the coolest story to tell you. So the world is so small. We brought pictures of our families to a zone meeting this week, and one of the Elders in my zone is from Constitucion...as he was looking at my pictures, I mentioned that you served in Concepcion, and he took a closer look and yelled "No!! Elder Perez!!" and I was shocked that he knew you!!! He began to tell me how awesome you are and that you were so great and on and on and on. His name is Elder Cisternas. He must have been about 9 years old when you were there, but he totally remembers who you are and says that he has a picture of you in his house. He said that one time you came to his house with a big ‘ol hole right in the front of your rain pants. I´m going to try and send a picture with him next time so you can see him and his family. It was pretty neat to know that my big bro was such a great missionary that a 9 year old boy would remember him and serve with his sister 10 years later. Pretty neat!
Anywho, this week was AMAZING. It started out really pretty difficult. On Wednesday, we had a grand total of only 3 citas for the entire week. We were really frustrated, because all of our meetings were just falling through left and right. We came home on Wednesday night without entering a single house to teach. We reported our numbers, and pretty soon our Zone Leader called us and he gave us a really big pep talk, which helped, but he gave us some great advice. We applied it the next day and we went home Thursday with 5 citas and 2 new investigators. The rest of the week went the exact same way. We were so blessed. We found 14 new people this week and a really, really great family---in fact you know who it is--the family of MARCELO!!!!!! He´s back from vacation now and we went and taught his mom and little sister and they are just as ready as he is to receive this great message. They are the family that we have been praying for. We are hoping the next time that we teach his dad will be home to teach as well. Also, this next Saturday, Karen is going to be having her baptismal interview. We have been seeing her progress so much every time we talk to her. She still has a few little things that she is not sure about, but we taught her a lesson on faith and obedience, and she said that she received a testimony very strong of that that very night. Gosh. She is a miracle. So are Marcelo and his family. We have been so, so very blessed this week.
I really hope I don´t get transferred this at the end of this cambio. I don´t want to leave this place. The work is so strong here right now. And everyone is really starting to progress like crazy. I love working with Hna. Kelley. We teach really well together. We are really working hard to keep our Spanish up. We also want to get really good at asking questions so that the people that we teach can teach themselves through their answers. I like asking questions a lot, but I still struggle with the wording in Spanish a little bit, so that is something that I´m working on. Good stuff though. I just want to dominate teaching, but I´m learning more and more that the key is to teach with the Spirit. Hecho.
I just feel so blessed to be trusted enough to serve this mission. I am not even close to a perfect missionary or teacher or anything, but I am just so grateful that the Lord gave me this opportunity to serve in the Chile Osorno Mission, and to wear a name badge everyday that has my name and His name on the same plaque...sometimes I really don´t feel like a missionary...missionaries are supposed to be perfect...they are the people that are basically like the Bishop. (Dad, we both know now that neither of the two parties are perfect, huh) But we just try our best to do what the Lord will have us do and to remain worthy of the call. Gosh. I love this work. I am so humbled by the lessons I learn every day. Sometimes I just really can´t figure out what I did to deserve such a grand blessing in my life....actually most of the time I wonder that. I do love this. I have never been happier. Thank you family and friends for your love and support. One thing that I have realized so strong is that I am so blessed to have a family that is faithful and strong in the Church. There are so many here that do it all by themselves. Some struggle outwardly and many struggle inwardly, but they are faithful and trying, just like all of us. We are blessed. Don´t ever forget to share your blessings with people that need them too. Share the Gospel. It is our sacred duty. Help the missionaries. Offer to bring people to Church for them. Offer to be their "last minute" person...our lives are crazy...don´t get upset if they call you at the last minute. Offer it. Offer to help them teach. Offer to share your conversion story to their investigators. Be a missionary. The only reason that missionaries have the Spirit with them more often is because they share the Gospel with everyone they see every day. They have to have the Spirit...it´s a requirement of sharing the message. That´s the only thing that makes them different than anyone else in the Church. This is such a beautiful and exciting message. Please share it.
I love you all so so so so so much. Never ever forget that. I pray for you all every day.
LOVE YOU ALL TONS:
BESOS and ABRAZOS!!!!!!!!
Monday, August 9, 2010
I am just loving the heck out of this...
Thank you all so much for your letters this week. They were just awesome. And as a sidenote to friends, I am getting really bad a writing and then not going to the post office....so just so you know you´ll all be getting letters soon. I just always forget to send them. Lo siento! :)
I am so glad to hear about your experiences this week. I loved hearing about your spiritual experiences, and also about the fact that you all get to house the missionaries for a few days! YAY! What a blessing. Also, Dad, when I heard about the fact that you were not sure you had enough people for them to teach, I thought to myself that you need to invite the neighbors over to the house and invite the missionaries over and have a Noche de Hogar (FHE). Seriously though, do it. :) If you can´t do it this week do it sometimes. I am learning that we cannot be the ones to hinder the work. The members are so so so very crucial in this work. The missionaries really are the worst friends ever to the investigators, because in the end we all leave them. They have to have trust in the members. You have to invite people to your house and have the missionaries come teach them in the house. That is where the success is. The Spirit is different in the houses of members, we all know that, we just have to take advantage of that. We learned something this week that amazed me: if every member brought one friend into the Gospel every year, the entire world would be members in 9 years. Why should we wait? There is no time to wait. There is work to be done. I promise that if the entire ward´s focus was on missionary work, the entire ward would have more success (more active, happier, less family problems, whatever the case may be). The only thing that makes missionaries different that regular members is the fact that they are baring their testimony all the time. Because we are doing that we have the Spirit with us all the time...and we are so so so happy all the time! Gosh, I just am learning so much. I told President in my letter to him this week, that I really just feel like I am getting the behind the scenes of success in life and in the Gospel. It´s living what we are teaching...but really we gain an undeniable testimony of these things by teaching them. I am begging anyone who reads this letter to please please please pray about your friends and family and pick someone, invite them to your house, and invite the missionaries to come over and have a Family Home Evening with them. This is important, and you will see miracles in your life and theirs. BE A MEMBER MISSIONARY. Those are the best missionaries that exist. Missionaries like us are not able to do this work without members...it is so very impossible without you.
Well, enough of my preaching. Can you tell I am working on trying to be more bold when I teach? This was my goal for this week, and I finally feel like my Spanish is to the point that I can carry on pretty well in conversation, and so I am using that in my teaching. I am trying to testify and teach with more boldness. It has been really cool this week. I am realizing that there has to be boldness in this message...it is a message that will change lives. It is different because Jesus Christ was different...and so is His message. We can´t treat it like it is just some book on a shelf. The Book of Mormon is the journal of Prophets who saw and touched the hands of Jesus Christ Himself. We can know how that is to see His face; we have all this at such easy access...why would we keep that to ourselves?
Well, some really great things happened this week. I don´t know if I told you all about Karen, but she is getting baptized at the end of this month! I really feel so so good about her. She was prepared, and she had so many perfect questions. We are so excited about her.
Also, I got to eat McDonalds this week! We were in Puerto Montt for our Zone Conference on Wednesday so we went to the mall food court...I got a Cajita Feliz (Happy Meal). It´s pretty legit.
Conference was spectacular, as always....so good that I don´t have time to write all my notes or feelings, but it was about working harder and having faith that we can meet our goals.
Also the coolest part of this week is that our investigators are really starting to progress. This is really the first time that I can see people really changing...a lot. Gosh. The best part is that it is happening with a lot of our families that we are working with. We are so so blessed right now. I am in love with this. I don´t remember if I have talked to you all about Jose and Cecilia but Cecilia joined the church maybe 6 or 7 years ago, and was inactive for much of the time...her husband never joined, and now they have 3 little girls. Cecilia is starting to come back to church, and Jose is showing great progress. So we are pumped about them. Also we are going to try and start working with the husband of the RS president who has been working with the missionaries on and off for a really long time, but is afraid that a year after he is baptized he will be branch president (yeah he is that great...I would believe it too.). Also the COOLEST thing that happened this week is that we have been working with a family that is the family of the District President´s daughter´s boyfriend (if that makes any sense). We found them knocking doors, and they let us in and then we found out who they were, but we have been working with them for about 2-3 months now...Erna and Roly. Roly has been really sick with a tumor in his brain, and we went over last night with President Pinto (the district president), and he gave him a blessing. Roly and his family have changed completely. Roly offered to say the closing prayer...in all these months I have never heard him pray. His pray was of gratitude for the Spirit he felt when the hands were on his head. It was the most beautiful and sincere prayer I have every heard. It was so powerful. We are going to see lots of progress with them, and they are going to be a great strength in the Church.
Well this is all I have time for. I wish I could write more...I always do. But you´ll just have to read my journal when I get back! Love you all so so so so so very much. Take care..
I am so glad to hear about your experiences this week. I loved hearing about your spiritual experiences, and also about the fact that you all get to house the missionaries for a few days! YAY! What a blessing. Also, Dad, when I heard about the fact that you were not sure you had enough people for them to teach, I thought to myself that you need to invite the neighbors over to the house and invite the missionaries over and have a Noche de Hogar (FHE). Seriously though, do it. :) If you can´t do it this week do it sometimes. I am learning that we cannot be the ones to hinder the work. The members are so so so very crucial in this work. The missionaries really are the worst friends ever to the investigators, because in the end we all leave them. They have to have trust in the members. You have to invite people to your house and have the missionaries come teach them in the house. That is where the success is. The Spirit is different in the houses of members, we all know that, we just have to take advantage of that. We learned something this week that amazed me: if every member brought one friend into the Gospel every year, the entire world would be members in 9 years. Why should we wait? There is no time to wait. There is work to be done. I promise that if the entire ward´s focus was on missionary work, the entire ward would have more success (more active, happier, less family problems, whatever the case may be). The only thing that makes missionaries different that regular members is the fact that they are baring their testimony all the time. Because we are doing that we have the Spirit with us all the time...and we are so so so happy all the time! Gosh, I just am learning so much. I told President in my letter to him this week, that I really just feel like I am getting the behind the scenes of success in life and in the Gospel. It´s living what we are teaching...but really we gain an undeniable testimony of these things by teaching them. I am begging anyone who reads this letter to please please please pray about your friends and family and pick someone, invite them to your house, and invite the missionaries to come over and have a Family Home Evening with them. This is important, and you will see miracles in your life and theirs. BE A MEMBER MISSIONARY. Those are the best missionaries that exist. Missionaries like us are not able to do this work without members...it is so very impossible without you.
Well, enough of my preaching. Can you tell I am working on trying to be more bold when I teach? This was my goal for this week, and I finally feel like my Spanish is to the point that I can carry on pretty well in conversation, and so I am using that in my teaching. I am trying to testify and teach with more boldness. It has been really cool this week. I am realizing that there has to be boldness in this message...it is a message that will change lives. It is different because Jesus Christ was different...and so is His message. We can´t treat it like it is just some book on a shelf. The Book of Mormon is the journal of Prophets who saw and touched the hands of Jesus Christ Himself. We can know how that is to see His face; we have all this at such easy access...why would we keep that to ourselves?
Well, some really great things happened this week. I don´t know if I told you all about Karen, but she is getting baptized at the end of this month! I really feel so so good about her. She was prepared, and she had so many perfect questions. We are so excited about her.
Also, I got to eat McDonalds this week! We were in Puerto Montt for our Zone Conference on Wednesday so we went to the mall food court...I got a Cajita Feliz (Happy Meal). It´s pretty legit.
Conference was spectacular, as always....so good that I don´t have time to write all my notes or feelings, but it was about working harder and having faith that we can meet our goals.
Also the coolest part of this week is that our investigators are really starting to progress. This is really the first time that I can see people really changing...a lot. Gosh. The best part is that it is happening with a lot of our families that we are working with. We are so so blessed right now. I am in love with this. I don´t remember if I have talked to you all about Jose and Cecilia but Cecilia joined the church maybe 6 or 7 years ago, and was inactive for much of the time...her husband never joined, and now they have 3 little girls. Cecilia is starting to come back to church, and Jose is showing great progress. So we are pumped about them. Also we are going to try and start working with the husband of the RS president who has been working with the missionaries on and off for a really long time, but is afraid that a year after he is baptized he will be branch president (yeah he is that great...I would believe it too.). Also the COOLEST thing that happened this week is that we have been working with a family that is the family of the District President´s daughter´s boyfriend (if that makes any sense). We found them knocking doors, and they let us in and then we found out who they were, but we have been working with them for about 2-3 months now...Erna and Roly. Roly has been really sick with a tumor in his brain, and we went over last night with President Pinto (the district president), and he gave him a blessing. Roly and his family have changed completely. Roly offered to say the closing prayer...in all these months I have never heard him pray. His pray was of gratitude for the Spirit he felt when the hands were on his head. It was the most beautiful and sincere prayer I have every heard. It was so powerful. We are going to see lots of progress with them, and they are going to be a great strength in the Church.
Well this is all I have time for. I wish I could write more...I always do. But you´ll just have to read my journal when I get back! Love you all so so so so so very much. Take care..
Monday, August 2, 2010
Tengo 5 meses in la mision...
I feel so unable to express how blessed I feel right now. I know that the Lord had a plan for this in our lives, but I´m so grateful for the power of prayer and the comfort and blessings we receive through it. I know that our Heavenly Father will never leave us alone. He´s right beside us always. I am learning a great lesson on this mission. I hope that it´s not my last mission. I love being a missionary--it has completely stolen my heart--I have never been so happy in my life...and I just keep getting happier. It´s pretty cool.
Well, the big news this week is that I got a new companion. LOVE HER! Her name is Hermana Kelley. She has been in the mission 9 months. She has great ideas and is a really hard worker. We had such a great week this week. We were talking and we have decided that we really want to find a family...a whole family...that is prepared to hear this message. We are praying hard and we are knocking a lot of doors and having a lot of faith that there is at least one family that we are going to find this cambio. Pray for us, too, please. They are here...I know it. We just have to be obedient and follow the Spirit. We are going to find them. Oh, and she knows Elise Sherwood and Jessica Bertagnole! Jessie was her RS president in BYU Idaho
One really great thing that I found out this week pumped me up so, so much. Remember Vanesa? The woman that we taught who was living with her pareja and was in a really bad situation? Well, a few weeks ago, she told us that she was going to take the bus to Osorno and visit her mom. As much as we loved her, obviously we were hoping that she would just stay there and make a new life for herself. We didn´t know if she would end up staying or not, but we got her in contact with the missionaries there so she could meet with them, too, and we haven´t really had news since. Well, Hermana Kelley was the missionary that she has been working with, and she told us that she is getting baptized at the end of the month. She doesn´t want to come back to Ancud. She loves the branch there. And the really cool part is before she left we told her to do the Book of Mormon challenge with us...she´s through ALMA!!!!! She remembers all of it too! This is such a miracle for me. I KNOW that the Lord would make a way for her to be baptized, because that is what she really wanted more than anything. I am so so, so excited for her. I love that woman. She is so prepared to be baptized she knows so much, and studies so, so much. It´s amazing.
I have been so tired this week. Even though I´m not older in the mission, I have been kind of the lead comp for the week, only because I know the sector and the people. It´s exhausting, but it has been such a good week. I have been praying so hard that the Lord would direct me. I had tried to line up a lot of members to go with us, too, so that if we got lost, we had a crutch...luckily, we never got lost though. I am so grateful that the Lord has helped us keep up the productivity in the sector. We are so blessed.
Something really great that happened yesterday was that one of the inactive, but really strong members that we have been working with, came back to church, and he bore a very powerful testimony of the importance of keeping the covenants we make, and the blessing that we miss out on when we don´t. I am always so amazed that the Lord is ready and waiting for us to change. He knows we can...He is the one that made it possible. He knows that all we have to do is try...He is waiting for us to try and then He´ll step in, give us His hand and help us stand back up. The theme of our Zone for this cambio is change. I am so grateful for this opportunity in this life to progress and change. I think sometimes we get comfortable with ourselves and where we are at, but I realized our purpose in this life is to push ourselves to progress and grow...if we aren´t doing that everything else we are doing is for nothing because we aren´t fulfilling our purpose. All the pain, all the tears, all the happiness, all the love, all the studying...everything is for nothing if we are not progressing and becoming more like our Brother Jesus Christ. Period. That has to be and remain the priority always in our lives. Everything else will take care of itself...or should I say our Heavenly Father will take care of.
One really great thing about focusing on the family (thanks Scott for your email and advice...it was awesome!) is that we are going to start working with the family of Marcelo and a lot of incomplete menos activos families to get them baptized and get them to the temple. I know we are going to see some great success. I just have a whole new energy for the work right now. I´m so excited and happy.
Thank you for everything. I can´t write much more, because I´m running out of time here, but a funny thing that happened this week is this Thursday we were contacting in centro. And after we finished the contact and were walking away, I realized that I forgot my name tag at the house, so I was looking down and I ran straight into an electrical box on a pole with my head. It made the same sound as those big tambourine drums and it nearly took me out. I was fine because I had padding from my hat, but it was hilarious and sooo loud. Everyone turned, and Hna Kelley and I were just cracking up. It was so embarrassing, but so, so hilarious. It´s times like that when I´m grateful to have a companion to laugh with. So great.
LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for everything. I am loving you all more and more every day. I´m realizing how very blessed I am to be in this family. I feel unspeakably blessed. Thank you for everything. En serio. :) I love you.
Take care. Be missionaries. Love you.
Well, the big news this week is that I got a new companion. LOVE HER! Her name is Hermana Kelley. She has been in the mission 9 months. She has great ideas and is a really hard worker. We had such a great week this week. We were talking and we have decided that we really want to find a family...a whole family...that is prepared to hear this message. We are praying hard and we are knocking a lot of doors and having a lot of faith that there is at least one family that we are going to find this cambio. Pray for us, too, please. They are here...I know it. We just have to be obedient and follow the Spirit. We are going to find them. Oh, and she knows Elise Sherwood and Jessica Bertagnole! Jessie was her RS president in BYU Idaho
One really great thing that I found out this week pumped me up so, so much. Remember Vanesa? The woman that we taught who was living with her pareja and was in a really bad situation? Well, a few weeks ago, she told us that she was going to take the bus to Osorno and visit her mom. As much as we loved her, obviously we were hoping that she would just stay there and make a new life for herself. We didn´t know if she would end up staying or not, but we got her in contact with the missionaries there so she could meet with them, too, and we haven´t really had news since. Well, Hermana Kelley was the missionary that she has been working with, and she told us that she is getting baptized at the end of the month. She doesn´t want to come back to Ancud. She loves the branch there. And the really cool part is before she left we told her to do the Book of Mormon challenge with us...she´s through ALMA!!!!! She remembers all of it too! This is such a miracle for me. I KNOW that the Lord would make a way for her to be baptized, because that is what she really wanted more than anything. I am so so, so excited for her. I love that woman. She is so prepared to be baptized she knows so much, and studies so, so much. It´s amazing.
I have been so tired this week. Even though I´m not older in the mission, I have been kind of the lead comp for the week, only because I know the sector and the people. It´s exhausting, but it has been such a good week. I have been praying so hard that the Lord would direct me. I had tried to line up a lot of members to go with us, too, so that if we got lost, we had a crutch...luckily, we never got lost though. I am so grateful that the Lord has helped us keep up the productivity in the sector. We are so blessed.
Something really great that happened yesterday was that one of the inactive, but really strong members that we have been working with, came back to church, and he bore a very powerful testimony of the importance of keeping the covenants we make, and the blessing that we miss out on when we don´t. I am always so amazed that the Lord is ready and waiting for us to change. He knows we can...He is the one that made it possible. He knows that all we have to do is try...He is waiting for us to try and then He´ll step in, give us His hand and help us stand back up. The theme of our Zone for this cambio is change. I am so grateful for this opportunity in this life to progress and change. I think sometimes we get comfortable with ourselves and where we are at, but I realized our purpose in this life is to push ourselves to progress and grow...if we aren´t doing that everything else we are doing is for nothing because we aren´t fulfilling our purpose. All the pain, all the tears, all the happiness, all the love, all the studying...everything is for nothing if we are not progressing and becoming more like our Brother Jesus Christ. Period. That has to be and remain the priority always in our lives. Everything else will take care of itself...or should I say our Heavenly Father will take care of.
One really great thing about focusing on the family (thanks Scott for your email and advice...it was awesome!) is that we are going to start working with the family of Marcelo and a lot of incomplete menos activos families to get them baptized and get them to the temple. I know we are going to see some great success. I just have a whole new energy for the work right now. I´m so excited and happy.
Thank you for everything. I can´t write much more, because I´m running out of time here, but a funny thing that happened this week is this Thursday we were contacting in centro. And after we finished the contact and were walking away, I realized that I forgot my name tag at the house, so I was looking down and I ran straight into an electrical box on a pole with my head. It made the same sound as those big tambourine drums and it nearly took me out. I was fine because I had padding from my hat, but it was hilarious and sooo loud. Everyone turned, and Hna Kelley and I were just cracking up. It was so embarrassing, but so, so hilarious. It´s times like that when I´m grateful to have a companion to laugh with. So great.
LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for everything. I am loving you all more and more every day. I´m realizing how very blessed I am to be in this family. I feel unspeakably blessed. Thank you for everything. En serio. :) I love you.
Take care. Be missionaries. Love you.
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