Raincoats and umbrellas

March 19, 2011
FAMILIA HERMOSA:

Thank you for the letters this week. I just love hearing from you all. I love you so much. I know I say that every letter...but I feel like I love you all more every week. De verdad. So thank you for all you do. Thank you for your prayers and love. Thank you for thinking and praying for me. I can feel it. If ever the work gets a little rough, I just think of all your prayers, and I am cured. Just love the missionaries. Spoil them. Treat them like their part of our family. They need it. I feel sometimes very spoiled here in the mission...I just hope every missionary in the world is spoiled by the members in the wards in which they are serving.

Well anyway, the rain has begun! I am teaching Hermana Hunt to do contacts in the rain....a whole new technique. She is really continuing to progress well. I enjoy being her companion. We are really working hard to apply what we learned in the training that we had this week with President Lovell. We reviewed the other trainings a little before and after the training this week. As we have been applying these next two points of capacitation, I can tell a difference in the Spirit of our lessons. I feel very bad that we have not had baptisms in so long. I know that if we don´t improve or change what we are doing, nothing will change or improve in the work. No matter how hard we work, if we don´t work effectively, nothing really changes. I know, and I have faith that there are people that we are teaching and finding that can progress and be baptized. At least one a month. I know it. We just have to apply the Spirit in the teaching and make sure that we do our part. I know that the Lord is and has been preparing people to enter the waters of baptism, and I am 100% positive that if we improve our teaching, and most importantly we teach more with the Spirit, they will be ready and excited to take that step.

This last zone meeting we had a pretty intense talk about what we need to do as a zone. We are so short on the thing that matters most, which is the number of souls we are saving. Our zone leaders presented to us that as a zone we have 5 baptisms for this year so far...we should have 24. When they presented that I felt sick. I know that there is a way that is prepared...sometimes I think there is some magic thing that we are missing, and if I only knew what it was, and applied it the work would suddenly transform. I know there´s no "quick fix", but I have been able to tell that we aren´t teaching people as much as we are teaching lessons. Hermana Hunt and I are trying to practice every day at getting better at that. We fasted yesterday. I think part of my fast had to do with a bit of repentance...to help me change my attitude and have more faith, and to truly love EVERYONE that crosses my path. It is easy to get frustrated sometimes in the work...and I felt like this last week I fell a little bit into that Laman and Lemuel attitude, rather than the Nephi attitude. I have felt a lot better after I have fasted. I know that every time we humble ourselves, we are blessed, and our Heavenly Father is pleased. I am so grateful for His perfect patience with me and His perfect forgiveness and love.

We have really had a hard time the last two weeks finding the investigators that we have or have had with a baptismal fecha. We still haven´t been able to find Orlando...(breaks my heart), but we are going to try and pass by again tonight...pray for us. I know he´ll be there. I know it. We have seen so many blessings this week in finding new people to teach. We have found 2 families, and a young couple to teach! They are all really great. I am excited to continue teaching them, and seeing them progress.

Well, that´s all I got time for this week. The picture I am sending is of a prank that our Zone leaders played on us. They stole everyone´s nametag and then gave them back to us...in jello. Hmmm Mmm...

I am growing and learning everyday...I am so grateful for all the lessons learned on the mission and in life. I love you all so much. Be good.


-Hermana Bertagnole

Nothing to complain about….

Mar 12, 2011

Welp, here I am, loving life in Chile.

Thanks for your letters and pictures this week. I loved hearing how everyone is doing. I hope that you all have a great week next week. You are all in my prayers. Thank you for your encouragement and advice and prayers. It means more than you might realize. What can I say, I just love you guys :)

This week we had a great week. Pretty normal, but as you know, normal in the mission is just full of miracles. We feel blessed and well cared for in this sector. The work with the members was a little slower this week, as well as finding new people to teach, but when you put the numbers aside, we had a great week of really great lessons. The only sad thing is that we couldn´t find Orlando AT ALL this week...but even with that we saw miracles. I think sometimes as missionaries we are a little bit like stalkers...jajaja. We passed by everyday this week to try and find him, and he just wasn´t home. However, we did get to teach his brother (menos activo) and his sister (not a member, but is just awesome). So that was great. I hope that we can see some great progress with this family, and really help them all get to church this Sunday. Please pray so that we can find them, especially Orlando.

The other family that we are teaching that is just AWESOME is Juan and Paola...I don´t remember if I have told you about them or not. But they are just great. They are working on getting married. I love this family so much. This week they came to church and loved it and said they are making arrangements so that they can come every Sunday. He bought a tie, and they asked if they could order the Reina Valera Bible and the Triple combination, and the hymnal from the church so that they can be prepared in all the classes...Just so you know I ordered it for them as a surprise. It was really cheap though...like 16 bucks for all of it. And I got their little girl the Book of Mormon picture book that we used to read when we were little. I am excited to give it all to them . They are just so great. His mom is a really active member in another ward and I know that for her, having her son come back to church after almost 30 years of being inactive is just a miracle. I am happy to be a witness of it. It´s really special.

Also, funny story for the week... the other day we got out a collectivo and we heard someone whistling away at us...usually when that happens we just don´t pay any attention to it, but my companion, being new, isn´t quite used to it yet...we exchanged a few eye rolls at each other, thinking that it was some jerk man. A few days later we walked down the street that it happened on and we saw this parrot. Whistling away! HAHAHAHAHA....oh so vain we are :) We didn´t realize that the parrots found us so attractive!

Well, That´s all I have time for. I love you guys. The mission is the best thing that has ever happened to me...except for the Gospel in general, and a family like you guys :) Thank you for the life and love that you have given me. I love you guys so much. I miss you and pray for you always. Thank you for everything.

TONS of abrazos....

-Hermana Bertagnole

March 4, 2011

Well hello there!

Well, I hit the year mark. It still doesn´t feel like it, but es lo que hay. I am just loving every second...even when it´s hard. I have noticed that when we are working our hardest, we don´t have as many "hard times"...not that everything comes easy, but it´s just we don´t pay attention to ourselves. I am convinced that if ever we are having a hard time...in whatever aspect of life...if we work hard serving others, we´ll forget about it and we´ll be much more grateful for what we have.

One thing that I was very grateful for this week was a referral of an Hermano in our ward...Hermano Caro referred us a man that he met...he´s the blind man that I told you about. We talked to him about the Restoration and baptism......he accepted to be baptized the 2nd of April... (!!!!)....He accepted full-hearted. I just feel so blessed to know him. He and the deaf woman that I taught in P. Arenas...gosh, they truly have such a blessing of feeling the Spirit so strongly. It is amazing. They remind me a lot of one another. What a blessing to teach them.

I am out of time, but one fun fact....our kitchen sink pipe busted this morning and we had about a 1 and a half standing water in our kitchen this morning :) Hahahaha! Oh the adventure of the mission. :)

Well, I love you all so much. Sorry this one´s kind of short...short on time.


Love you!!!!!!!!!

Hermana Bertagnole