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.