Feb 12, 2011
Thank you all for all your letters this week. I love you guys tons. I hope that everything continues to go well this next week. It sounds like you all had a pretty good week. Tell Mikey and Val and the boys "hi" for me while you´re out there. Tell Scott that I’m praying for him lots. I love that kid. I love you all lots and lots and lots.
As for the earthquake, I didn´t even know about it until I read your letters. Don´t worry, we have emergency packs ready, just in case of earthquakes. I know that we are protected, and if we do get one down here, it´ll just be another adventure to write home about. We´re safe.
This week was another really good week. I feel so blessed to be a missionary. I just can´t believe the great privilege that it is in my life. I am changed. I am addicted. I am the happiest I have ever been. We are really working hard helping those that we are teaching to progress. Life just really gets in the way...I hope that you all are remembering why it is, really, that we live in this earth. Always make sure that you have your priorities straight. I realized that before the mission I wasn´t even close to having my priorities straight. I always say that the mission is a miracle in my life...and that is one of the reasons...I feel that it has opened my eyes to the reality of life. It´s beautiful and so inspiring. I can´t imagine my life without the mission....I don´t want to.
This week we had Elder Amado and Pte Lovell in our Zone Conference....It was intense. Elder Amado is the area 70. He is very well known for telling things like it is. He pretty much called us all to repentance. As a mission we had 28 baptisms last month...we should have around 80. I think more than anything as a mission we lack a lot of faith. There is beauty in blind faith. I think a lot of times we say "I will go and do....but...the sector is a tough one...but...the people aren´t receptive...but...I can´t take away their agency...." We are happy to "go" but we don´t really believe that we can make a difference. I know I have certainly felt like that before on the mission and it is so wrong. Obviously, with our own efforts we can do very little, but we have to have faith in what we can accomplish with the Lord. We are on His team, and we can be part of the miracles. I am really trying to learn that pure and impeccable faith in the Lord. After the trial of faith, we see miracles.
Well, that´s all I got time for. I´m printing your letters and reading them this afternoon. I don´t have time to respond to much this week. Sorry. I´ll try and do better next week. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. Thank you for everything. Hugs all around.
The pictures are from a waterfall that we went to this week. So incredible. I love Chile. Come.
--All my love--
Hermana Bertagnole
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Feb 5, 2011
Hello familia bonita:
I CAN´T TELL YOU HOW GREAT THIS WEEK HAS BEEN. So remember that I was telling you all about the standard this last week. It´s the standard of excellence for all the companionships in the mission...it´s a very high standard, but it is what the Lord asks of us. We have pushed ourselves and our members to the limit this week, and I am so happy to say that we have almost met it!!!!! Obviously we still have today and tomorrow...we are working very hard and praying very hard that we get the people with baptismal dates to church...everyone really, but especially them. We´ll see how it goes. PLEASE pray for our investigators. There is a couple that is preparing for baptism, but they need to get married first. I know that if they start coming to church again, they will receive direction on what they need to do and when. Also PLEASE pray hard for the mom and sister of a young man who got baptized a few years ago and then served a mission. He is now sealed in the temple and is living in Santiago with his wife. His family has been investigating the Church for over 20 years, and we have started teaching them again. Yesterday we had a very serious talk with them about why they haven´t gotten baptized. We asked the mom if she believed that everything is true. She said she believed it in her head, but she hasn´t felt it in her heart........the woman has a painting of the 1st vision in her living room......just so you know. We explained the importance of prayer. Luckily we had an RM member with us that bore a powerful testimony of prayer, and we invited her and her daughter to prepare for baptism on the 5th of March. She said that she would really pray about it. Please pray for her that she will let her heart be touched. They need to get baptized so badly...this whole family.
We have just had a week full of miracles and blessings from the Lord. We feel very blessed to say that we are getting very close to the standard! This last Sunday for the 5th Sunday, all the RS and Priesthood met together. We took the opportunity to make them aware of the change in standard, and to remind them that the standards don´t only apply to us as missionaries, but it was the Lord requires of them as a ward as well. I feel that it touched their heart. We also organized divisions this week with some really great hermanas in the ward. As of today we have 16 lessons with members. I just can´t tell you what a miracle week this has been in the mission. I feel like it all had to do with a change in attitude and a leap of faith. I know that we are seeing this success because we changed our attitude about the work. This week the work has truly ceased to become "work", even though we are working harder than ever. I am just so happy, and I really know that it doesn´t have as much to do with the success that we have seen this week, but more with my attitude. I feel so very blessed. We have seen pure miracles this week. It has just been incredible.
We, as a mission have been focusing more on families!!!!!! AMEN! We are working with a lot of whole families in our sector right now, which is such a blessing. I know that it is so much more effective. We are working with this family...I think I already talked about them... and their 3 kids, and their son´s girlfriend. They also have shared lots with the missionaries many years before. Both of them have family that is very strong in the Church, and so they already know a lot, but I don´t feel that they have ever taken the time to really pray about it. We invited them very strongly to pray about it every day, until they know. It was a great lesson. They are very special.
Gosh. This week was just pure miracles. I love being a servant of the Lord, every second of everyday. What a blessing.
Well, this is all I have time for this week. I just want to let you all know that I love you a ton. I am so grateful for all that you do for me. I love you all. Work hard. Share the Gospel. Be obedient. And love one another.
--Les amo hasta la luna...no...el sol...hasta el sol...y mas. :)
Hermana Bertagnole
Side notes: As far as the Christmas packages go....I still haven´t gotten Mom and Dad´s, but I asked in the office and they said that some mail was held up in Chile because of strikes. These people do strikes like crazy here. There was another one this week in Osorno. Anyway. They said that it will come. They have never lost mail, don´t worry, I´ll be pleasantly surprised one day. I did get a package from Steph, so thank her for me.
Hello familia bonita:
I CAN´T TELL YOU HOW GREAT THIS WEEK HAS BEEN. So remember that I was telling you all about the standard this last week. It´s the standard of excellence for all the companionships in the mission...it´s a very high standard, but it is what the Lord asks of us. We have pushed ourselves and our members to the limit this week, and I am so happy to say that we have almost met it!!!!! Obviously we still have today and tomorrow...we are working very hard and praying very hard that we get the people with baptismal dates to church...everyone really, but especially them. We´ll see how it goes. PLEASE pray for our investigators. There is a couple that is preparing for baptism, but they need to get married first. I know that if they start coming to church again, they will receive direction on what they need to do and when. Also PLEASE pray hard for the mom and sister of a young man who got baptized a few years ago and then served a mission. He is now sealed in the temple and is living in Santiago with his wife. His family has been investigating the Church for over 20 years, and we have started teaching them again. Yesterday we had a very serious talk with them about why they haven´t gotten baptized. We asked the mom if she believed that everything is true. She said she believed it in her head, but she hasn´t felt it in her heart........the woman has a painting of the 1st vision in her living room......just so you know. We explained the importance of prayer. Luckily we had an RM member with us that bore a powerful testimony of prayer, and we invited her and her daughter to prepare for baptism on the 5th of March. She said that she would really pray about it. Please pray for her that she will let her heart be touched. They need to get baptized so badly...this whole family.
We have just had a week full of miracles and blessings from the Lord. We feel very blessed to say that we are getting very close to the standard! This last Sunday for the 5th Sunday, all the RS and Priesthood met together. We took the opportunity to make them aware of the change in standard, and to remind them that the standards don´t only apply to us as missionaries, but it was the Lord requires of them as a ward as well. I feel that it touched their heart. We also organized divisions this week with some really great hermanas in the ward. As of today we have 16 lessons with members. I just can´t tell you what a miracle week this has been in the mission. I feel like it all had to do with a change in attitude and a leap of faith. I know that we are seeing this success because we changed our attitude about the work. This week the work has truly ceased to become "work", even though we are working harder than ever. I am just so happy, and I really know that it doesn´t have as much to do with the success that we have seen this week, but more with my attitude. I feel so very blessed. We have seen pure miracles this week. It has just been incredible.
We, as a mission have been focusing more on families!!!!!! AMEN! We are working with a lot of whole families in our sector right now, which is such a blessing. I know that it is so much more effective. We are working with this family...I think I already talked about them... and their 3 kids, and their son´s girlfriend. They also have shared lots with the missionaries many years before. Both of them have family that is very strong in the Church, and so they already know a lot, but I don´t feel that they have ever taken the time to really pray about it. We invited them very strongly to pray about it every day, until they know. It was a great lesson. They are very special.
Gosh. This week was just pure miracles. I love being a servant of the Lord, every second of everyday. What a blessing.
Well, this is all I have time for this week. I just want to let you all know that I love you a ton. I am so grateful for all that you do for me. I love you all. Work hard. Share the Gospel. Be obedient. And love one another.
--Les amo hasta la luna...no...el sol...hasta el sol...y mas. :)
Hermana Bertagnole
Side notes: As far as the Christmas packages go....I still haven´t gotten Mom and Dad´s, but I asked in the office and they said that some mail was held up in Chile because of strikes. These people do strikes like crazy here. There was another one this week in Osorno. Anyway. They said that it will come. They have never lost mail, don´t worry, I´ll be pleasantly surprised one day. I did get a package from Steph, so thank her for me.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Another week in the campo
This week just flew by. I can´t believe how fast time is going. This week we got to spend a lot of time with the Hermanas in Ecuador and Rauhue (the other sectors of Hermanas here in Osorno). It was such a blessing to get to know all of them better. Monday night we had a sleep over with Hermana Larkin (my old MTC compi!!!!) and Hermana Gebara to celebrate Hermana Baum and Hermana Larkin´s birthdays, and then on Tuesday we had intercambios with the Hermanas in Rauhue. I, luckily, was with Hermana Aponte...such a great day. :) I feel blessed to get to "follow around" Hermana Aponte the last few months of her mission. I just love her. I look up to her so much, as a missionary and as a person. I am sad that she goes home in February. The intercambio went really well.
We are working hard to meet the standard of excellence of the mission (the number of lessons and everything else that we should meet every week). I know like always that the success comes through working through the members. We are trying to do it the most effectively that we can. We are going to try some new things as a companionship in regards to working with the members. We would really like to get to the point where we can do some divisions with some of the Hermanas in the ward. I am really excited to work with the members here in Ovejeria. I know that they have great desires to work, I think that we just need to organize it all better to have more success.
The other thing that we are really trying to focus on is our 5 with a baptismal date. This ward hasn´t had any baptisms in almost over a year. I know that there are people here that are prepared. I can think of eight people right now that we are teaching that could progress towards baptism and could be put with fecha. We are trying really hard right now to give them that meta and the vision for baptism so they know for what, and for Who, they are making these changes. We just need to help them understand how crucial it is for them, and how life changing it should be, and then love them and help them as best we can. I am praying so hard to just really love everyone the way Christ would.
I love this work. It is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. Without a doubt, I am the happiest I have ever been.
I am learning a whole lot from Hermana Baum. She is just great. She was born to serve a mission. She is just so organized. It is very impressive. It´s fun to serve with her here in Ovejeria.
I am glad to hear you all are doing well. I loved hearing from you. Thanks for sending pictures. I love you all so much. I hope you all have a great week. I am sending pictures of the house and our zone and a ward activity that we had this week. I forgot to take a pic of the outside of the house, but I´ll try and take it and send it next week. This house is the nicest in the mission...just so you know. It´s the bomb.
LES AMO!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
We are working hard to meet the standard of excellence of the mission (the number of lessons and everything else that we should meet every week). I know like always that the success comes through working through the members. We are trying to do it the most effectively that we can. We are going to try some new things as a companionship in regards to working with the members. We would really like to get to the point where we can do some divisions with some of the Hermanas in the ward. I am really excited to work with the members here in Ovejeria. I know that they have great desires to work, I think that we just need to organize it all better to have more success.
The other thing that we are really trying to focus on is our 5 with a baptismal date. This ward hasn´t had any baptisms in almost over a year. I know that there are people here that are prepared. I can think of eight people right now that we are teaching that could progress towards baptism and could be put with fecha. We are trying really hard right now to give them that meta and the vision for baptism so they know for what, and for Who, they are making these changes. We just need to help them understand how crucial it is for them, and how life changing it should be, and then love them and help them as best we can. I am praying so hard to just really love everyone the way Christ would.
I love this work. It is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. Without a doubt, I am the happiest I have ever been.
I am learning a whole lot from Hermana Baum. She is just great. She was born to serve a mission. She is just so organized. It is very impressive. It´s fun to serve with her here in Ovejeria.
I am glad to hear you all are doing well. I loved hearing from you. Thanks for sending pictures. I love you all so much. I hope you all have a great week. I am sending pictures of the house and our zone and a ward activity that we had this week. I forgot to take a pic of the outside of the house, but I´ll try and take it and send it next week. This house is the nicest in the mission...just so you know. It´s the bomb.
LES AMO!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Transferred to Osorno, Chile
What a great week we are having. I am loving working with Hermana Baum (from Heber, Arizona). She is such a hard worker! We are having a lot of success finding new people to teach this week. We found a few new FAMILIES (!!!) that I know are just so prepared to hear this message. I have so much faith that we are going to see some great progress in this sector and with the ward here. I have already just fallen in love with the members here in this sector. They are so loving and special. I am very excited to work with them.
We saw a lot of miracles this week. A meeting fell through and we ended up finding a family of 5 (plus the girlfriend of the son) that was just sitting in their living room talking. We knocked on their door and they let us come in. Hermana Baum already knew who they were but had never taught the whole family. We taught them, and the Spirit was so strong. The mom said that her whole family is Mormon, but she isn´t and doesn´t really know why. Her family is just so great. They are all so receptive...they just seem like a strong member family already. We are really going to work hard with them so they can get the answers that they need. Also, we found a young family...a couple that just recently had a new little baby girl. They are so great also. I am excited to help them take the steps necessary for baptism. We found qualquier cantidad de nuevos this week! I am so excited to have a huge fountain of people to teach. I feel like we have been so blessed this week with the work. We are working hard and we are being blessed. I have felt the Spirit SO strong so many times this week. I am just loving this sector.
I feel so blessed to be here in Osorno. I know with all my heart that my time here will be ever so special to me. I can feel the Spirit testifying of the work to be done here. I am so happy to be a part of this ward and to help the Saints and the Children of God here in Ovejeria. There is lots of work to do, like always, but it is such a blessing to be part of it.
Also, Mom, I got to tell you, there is an Hermana in this ward that goes out with us every Monday...her name is Hermana Ines...I LOVE her...why you might ask? Because she looks just like you...well, she´s a lot older than you, but still, she´s an older version of you. Oh my gosh, I just love seeing her because it reminds me so much of you. She´s so cute! She´s short and just so kind and loving. I love seeing her. Every time I give her a hug, I imagine that it´s you :) What a tender mercy.
What else, what else...I don´t have a lot of time left, but I´m going to try and answer a few of your questions and get some pictures loaded.
With the transfers, everything worked out well. We had to do it as soon as possible as to not leave sectors up north empty any longer than they already were. The new missionaries got to Punta Arenas ok as well. They got there and our leaders had to walk up and go get them and help them carry their stuff back down to p. arenas...but all is well that ends well. It was an adventure. The info and pictures of the new house and area will have to wait until next week, when I have more time. Just know that it is the bomb.com.
I LOVE YOU GUYS MORE THAN A FAT KID LOVES CAKE. And then some.
--Miss you. Abrazos y besitos! Thanks for the letters! Mom, I love that talk from Holland that you sent. I cry when I read it. I found that my first cambio in Ancud...and ever since I have carried it around with me in my scriptures. Thank you for sending it though...I needed to read it again. I love you all. Thank you for everything. Be faithful always. I am glad to hear from you all. Love you.
--Hermana Bertagnole
We saw a lot of miracles this week. A meeting fell through and we ended up finding a family of 5 (plus the girlfriend of the son) that was just sitting in their living room talking. We knocked on their door and they let us come in. Hermana Baum already knew who they were but had never taught the whole family. We taught them, and the Spirit was so strong. The mom said that her whole family is Mormon, but she isn´t and doesn´t really know why. Her family is just so great. They are all so receptive...they just seem like a strong member family already. We are really going to work hard with them so they can get the answers that they need. Also, we found a young family...a couple that just recently had a new little baby girl. They are so great also. I am excited to help them take the steps necessary for baptism. We found qualquier cantidad de nuevos this week! I am so excited to have a huge fountain of people to teach. I feel like we have been so blessed this week with the work. We are working hard and we are being blessed. I have felt the Spirit SO strong so many times this week. I am just loving this sector.
I feel so blessed to be here in Osorno. I know with all my heart that my time here will be ever so special to me. I can feel the Spirit testifying of the work to be done here. I am so happy to be a part of this ward and to help the Saints and the Children of God here in Ovejeria. There is lots of work to do, like always, but it is such a blessing to be part of it.
Also, Mom, I got to tell you, there is an Hermana in this ward that goes out with us every Monday...her name is Hermana Ines...I LOVE her...why you might ask? Because she looks just like you...well, she´s a lot older than you, but still, she´s an older version of you. Oh my gosh, I just love seeing her because it reminds me so much of you. She´s so cute! She´s short and just so kind and loving. I love seeing her. Every time I give her a hug, I imagine that it´s you :) What a tender mercy.
What else, what else...I don´t have a lot of time left, but I´m going to try and answer a few of your questions and get some pictures loaded.
With the transfers, everything worked out well. We had to do it as soon as possible as to not leave sectors up north empty any longer than they already were. The new missionaries got to Punta Arenas ok as well. They got there and our leaders had to walk up and go get them and help them carry their stuff back down to p. arenas...but all is well that ends well. It was an adventure. The info and pictures of the new house and area will have to wait until next week, when I have more time. Just know that it is the bomb.com.
I LOVE YOU GUYS MORE THAN A FAT KID LOVES CAKE. And then some.
--Miss you. Abrazos y besitos! Thanks for the letters! Mom, I love that talk from Holland that you sent. I cry when I read it. I found that my first cambio in Ancud...and ever since I have carried it around with me in my scriptures. Thank you for sending it though...I needed to read it again. I love you all. Thank you for everything. Be faithful always. I am glad to hear from you all. Love you.
--Hermana Bertagnole
Saturday, January 15, 2011
What a crazy week!!!
Hey there family,
Hey there, how are my beautiful family and amazing friends? You´re probably wondering why you are getting this email from me on Saturday...well, I am in my new sector in Ovejeria in the Osorno Zone, and this is the zone that all the office elders and the APs are in, so they have to change the P-day to Saturday (every Saturday) for some reason...but here I am. Don´t worry about not writing...you didn´t know. Hehehe ...but I expect the letters this next week. Hehehe.
Well, anyway...this has been the craziest week of my life...no exaggeration. I don´t know if you all have heard or not, but the entire cities of Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, and Por Venir are on strike...aka our entire Zone. What do I mean by on strike? What the deal is, is the Chilean government wants to raise their gas prices so they don´t use as much, and the Magellonicos are really angry because they use gas for everything year round...it´s kinda cold there. Anyway, so there is big drama. What do I mean by big drama? They have shut down all transportation in the city. The collectives (taxis) and other protestors are all parked on the streets in blockades every few blocks around the city. Everything is shut down, and they aren´t letting any cars go through, in, or out of the city. It´s causing serious problems for all the tourists down there, because they are coming or going from vacations, but there is no way they can leave or enter the cities. It´s just crazy. It has been a fairly calm protest. The only thing is that they would light cars or tires on fire close to the blockades just as demonstrations. So that was kind of crazy...but not that dangerous...I guess. Anyway, the strike started on Wednesday...the day of transfers.
Wednesday to Friday night we were trying to figure out how to get to the airport. Our flight out on Wednesday afternoon got canceled, so I got to work with Hermana Byam in Ovejero for one more day. That was a very strange day...we couldn´t really leave our poblacion...neighborhood, because there were protests going on blocking off the entrances. So we worked within our little Villa las Nieves. While we were doing contacts, we found a woman that had escaped from the mental health hospital and was lost in our neighborhood. She had walked all the way there, but she didn´t know where she lived or where she was going. She was really nice, but just pretty crazy in the head. Her name was Maria. I knew we had to help here because if we didn´t I knew that probably no one else would as the city was shut down...so we called the Police. The first time they hung up...on me. The second time they said they would send someone, and then they never asked for the direction...I told them, and then they confirmed that "they would let someone know"...they never came. So we walked little Maria to the hospital. There they figured out who she was and where she belonged. So then we went back to our neighborhood to work. We found a man and a woman standing outside smoking. We had contacted the man before. His name was Vladimier...yeah, he´s Russian. The woman was Chilean and they invited us in to teach. While we were in there we figured out that Vladimier is a Russian Orthodox priest or authority or something...needless to say it was the strangest lesson I have had in my mission. A Russian and Chilean and two Gringas talking about the Gospel. He was pretty crazy, too, though. I am grateful that in our church the leaders are called of God, and are not leaders only because they have been in a "special church school" for their whole lives. This man was the furthest thing from an example of Christ that I have met in my life. It was regrettable. But then Wednesday night we taught an investigator of ours named Jose. He has been investigating the Church for awhile, but has never felt the need to get baptized. We had a really great lesson with him, and we invited him to get baptized on the 29 of January. It was a very powerful lesson, and it felt good to end that crazy day on a really good note.
...and then came Thursday. So Thursday morning came, and Hermana Reyes, the owner of our house and the best member ever, took us as far as she could to the Church in her car, but there was another blockade right outside our neighborhood, so for the rest of the way we were on foot, walking with all my luggage to the church to meet up with the elders. We walked right by the protest and through the blockade with all my luggage...I took videos, I´ll have to show you when I get back. But like I said, it was a pretty calm protest...I don´t know if that is contradictory to say “a calm protest”, but let´s just say I didn´t once feel in danger during it all. Once we got to the church we had a member that took us as far as they could to the limit of this city, where there was another blockade. The entrance of the interstate where you have to go to get to the airport was also blocked off to all cars. So there we were walking down the empty interstate with our luggage. We were supposed to meet up with a member that lived on the other side of the blockade in the country that could take us the rest of the way, but when she picked us up we only got a few kilometers further before there was another blockade that we couldn´t pass. We knew that by walking the rest of the way we wouldn´t get there before the plane took off so we got permission to stay at the same member´s house that night. Bless their hearts. This family, Familia Contreras, took on 5 more kids for the day and night. They fed us and gave us beds...it helps that they have a VERY nice house to accommodate us, but I was so impressed with their willingness to help us. They were a miracle for us.
...then came Friday. We got up early in the morning and we started the 24 kilometer trek to the airport with all our luggage. Thank you for buying me luggage with wheels, Mom and Dad. :) We walked through various blockades and everything, but the interstate is right on the coast so it was a pretty walk at least. Every once in a while a local farmer would see us and take us a kilometer or two until the next blockade, but pretty much we walked the whole way. It was quite an adventure. We made it to the airport in time and we found ourselves with lots of angry tourists that had been stuck there since Wednesday. It was all a big mess, but I was grateful that we were all safe and protected. It could have been worse. The good news is in the airport I contacted 3 Japanese people, 1 Israeli, and 2 Brazilians....it was pretty neat.
I got here to Osorno late last night, very tired, but with many stories to tell. I forgot to bring my thing to send pictures, so I´ll have to send them next week. Get excited. :) I am loving this new sector. It reminds me of a little less pretty version of Ancud. I am excited. My compi is great and we are going to have a very great and successful cambio, full of miracles.
Well, my fingers are tired of typing and my hour is up anyway, so I love you guys like crazy, and I´ll write to you all again next Saturday. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
Hey there, how are my beautiful family and amazing friends? You´re probably wondering why you are getting this email from me on Saturday...well, I am in my new sector in Ovejeria in the Osorno Zone, and this is the zone that all the office elders and the APs are in, so they have to change the P-day to Saturday (every Saturday) for some reason...but here I am. Don´t worry about not writing...you didn´t know. Hehehe ...but I expect the letters this next week. Hehehe.
Well, anyway...this has been the craziest week of my life...no exaggeration. I don´t know if you all have heard or not, but the entire cities of Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, and Por Venir are on strike...aka our entire Zone. What do I mean by on strike? What the deal is, is the Chilean government wants to raise their gas prices so they don´t use as much, and the Magellonicos are really angry because they use gas for everything year round...it´s kinda cold there. Anyway, so there is big drama. What do I mean by big drama? They have shut down all transportation in the city. The collectives (taxis) and other protestors are all parked on the streets in blockades every few blocks around the city. Everything is shut down, and they aren´t letting any cars go through, in, or out of the city. It´s causing serious problems for all the tourists down there, because they are coming or going from vacations, but there is no way they can leave or enter the cities. It´s just crazy. It has been a fairly calm protest. The only thing is that they would light cars or tires on fire close to the blockades just as demonstrations. So that was kind of crazy...but not that dangerous...I guess. Anyway, the strike started on Wednesday...the day of transfers.
Wednesday to Friday night we were trying to figure out how to get to the airport. Our flight out on Wednesday afternoon got canceled, so I got to work with Hermana Byam in Ovejero for one more day. That was a very strange day...we couldn´t really leave our poblacion...neighborhood, because there were protests going on blocking off the entrances. So we worked within our little Villa las Nieves. While we were doing contacts, we found a woman that had escaped from the mental health hospital and was lost in our neighborhood. She had walked all the way there, but she didn´t know where she lived or where she was going. She was really nice, but just pretty crazy in the head. Her name was Maria. I knew we had to help here because if we didn´t I knew that probably no one else would as the city was shut down...so we called the Police. The first time they hung up...on me. The second time they said they would send someone, and then they never asked for the direction...I told them, and then they confirmed that "they would let someone know"...they never came. So we walked little Maria to the hospital. There they figured out who she was and where she belonged. So then we went back to our neighborhood to work. We found a man and a woman standing outside smoking. We had contacted the man before. His name was Vladimier...yeah, he´s Russian. The woman was Chilean and they invited us in to teach. While we were in there we figured out that Vladimier is a Russian Orthodox priest or authority or something...needless to say it was the strangest lesson I have had in my mission. A Russian and Chilean and two Gringas talking about the Gospel. He was pretty crazy, too, though. I am grateful that in our church the leaders are called of God, and are not leaders only because they have been in a "special church school" for their whole lives. This man was the furthest thing from an example of Christ that I have met in my life. It was regrettable. But then Wednesday night we taught an investigator of ours named Jose. He has been investigating the Church for awhile, but has never felt the need to get baptized. We had a really great lesson with him, and we invited him to get baptized on the 29 of January. It was a very powerful lesson, and it felt good to end that crazy day on a really good note.
...and then came Thursday. So Thursday morning came, and Hermana Reyes, the owner of our house and the best member ever, took us as far as she could to the Church in her car, but there was another blockade right outside our neighborhood, so for the rest of the way we were on foot, walking with all my luggage to the church to meet up with the elders. We walked right by the protest and through the blockade with all my luggage...I took videos, I´ll have to show you when I get back. But like I said, it was a pretty calm protest...I don´t know if that is contradictory to say “a calm protest”, but let´s just say I didn´t once feel in danger during it all. Once we got to the church we had a member that took us as far as they could to the limit of this city, where there was another blockade. The entrance of the interstate where you have to go to get to the airport was also blocked off to all cars. So there we were walking down the empty interstate with our luggage. We were supposed to meet up with a member that lived on the other side of the blockade in the country that could take us the rest of the way, but when she picked us up we only got a few kilometers further before there was another blockade that we couldn´t pass. We knew that by walking the rest of the way we wouldn´t get there before the plane took off so we got permission to stay at the same member´s house that night. Bless their hearts. This family, Familia Contreras, took on 5 more kids for the day and night. They fed us and gave us beds...it helps that they have a VERY nice house to accommodate us, but I was so impressed with their willingness to help us. They were a miracle for us.
...then came Friday. We got up early in the morning and we started the 24 kilometer trek to the airport with all our luggage. Thank you for buying me luggage with wheels, Mom and Dad. :) We walked through various blockades and everything, but the interstate is right on the coast so it was a pretty walk at least. Every once in a while a local farmer would see us and take us a kilometer or two until the next blockade, but pretty much we walked the whole way. It was quite an adventure. We made it to the airport in time and we found ourselves with lots of angry tourists that had been stuck there since Wednesday. It was all a big mess, but I was grateful that we were all safe and protected. It could have been worse. The good news is in the airport I contacted 3 Japanese people, 1 Israeli, and 2 Brazilians....it was pretty neat.
I got here to Osorno late last night, very tired, but with many stories to tell. I forgot to bring my thing to send pictures, so I´ll have to send them next week. Get excited. :) I am loving this new sector. It reminds me of a little less pretty version of Ancud. I am excited. My compi is great and we are going to have a very great and successful cambio, full of miracles.
Well, my fingers are tired of typing and my hour is up anyway, so I love you guys like crazy, and I´ll write to you all again next Saturday. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
Monday, January 10, 2011
Going back up north
Jan 10, 2011
Hey there familia mia:
Well, my time as a penguin is coming to a close. This Wednesday I will get on a plane and say goodbye to Punta Arenas, and then head up to Osorno to work in a sector called Ovejeria....I am in Ovejero now....que confusion! My new companion will be Hermana Baum...My companion right now is Hermana Byam....Que confusion!!!!! Hahaha. Oh well. Well, I am excited to go work in Osorno. Can´t wait. Well, I don´t have lots of time to write this week because we are doing a lot of errands today to get ready for camibos, but I´ll try and answer the questions first and then give a quick overview of the week. Mom asked which of the colorful houses is mine...lamentablemente niguno. That was just a picture of a really cool street that is in our sector. Sorry for the let down. But it is true that P. Arenas is cleaner...well parts of it at least. I think that the wind helps, but unfortunately, I am pretty sure that the wind just blows all the garbage to the ocean...the coastline around the city is pretty grungy, which is really sad, but in the campo it´s just gorgeous. The other question is what is the white machine above the vacuum for...well, that is called a...well I can´t remember right now, but it is what heats our water. It´s gas run, too. Good question.
This week we have seen great miracles. We found lots of new people to teach this week, and even a few families!!!! I am so excited. Also we have had some great success with a reference from a member. He is a young man that was agnostic, but is reading like crazy, praying every day, and attending church. The young men just took him under their wing this week, so it was really special. He was even looking up the scriptures from the talks during Sacrament meeting, and sharing his new little Book of Mormon with the member sitting next to him. I just laughed to myself. I love how the Gospel touches people and changes them. It was a beautiful Sunday. How blessed we are to be in this service and to see these miracles up close and personal.
Thank you for your letters and your love and support. I love you guys so much. I´ll write more next week and let you know how the new sector is!
I love you guys tons. I hope that you are all doing well. I pray for you always.
-Hermana Bertagnole
Hey there familia mia:
Well, my time as a penguin is coming to a close. This Wednesday I will get on a plane and say goodbye to Punta Arenas, and then head up to Osorno to work in a sector called Ovejeria....I am in Ovejero now....que confusion! My new companion will be Hermana Baum...My companion right now is Hermana Byam....Que confusion!!!!! Hahaha. Oh well. Well, I am excited to go work in Osorno. Can´t wait. Well, I don´t have lots of time to write this week because we are doing a lot of errands today to get ready for camibos, but I´ll try and answer the questions first and then give a quick overview of the week. Mom asked which of the colorful houses is mine...lamentablemente niguno. That was just a picture of a really cool street that is in our sector. Sorry for the let down. But it is true that P. Arenas is cleaner...well parts of it at least. I think that the wind helps, but unfortunately, I am pretty sure that the wind just blows all the garbage to the ocean...the coastline around the city is pretty grungy, which is really sad, but in the campo it´s just gorgeous. The other question is what is the white machine above the vacuum for...well, that is called a...well I can´t remember right now, but it is what heats our water. It´s gas run, too. Good question.
This week we have seen great miracles. We found lots of new people to teach this week, and even a few families!!!! I am so excited. Also we have had some great success with a reference from a member. He is a young man that was agnostic, but is reading like crazy, praying every day, and attending church. The young men just took him under their wing this week, so it was really special. He was even looking up the scriptures from the talks during Sacrament meeting, and sharing his new little Book of Mormon with the member sitting next to him. I just laughed to myself. I love how the Gospel touches people and changes them. It was a beautiful Sunday. How blessed we are to be in this service and to see these miracles up close and personal.
Thank you for your letters and your love and support. I love you guys so much. I´ll write more next week and let you know how the new sector is!
I love you guys tons. I hope that you are all doing well. I pray for you always.
-Hermana Bertagnole
A rainy day in Punta Arenas
Jan 3, 2011
A rainy day in Punta Arenas
Hey there family...
I just love you guys.
Things have been great this week. I am learning a ton. I am pretty sure I always say that, but it is true...I feel and think a lot different these days. What a beautiful experience the mission is.
Feliz Año Nuevo...(Mom, I got the "ñ"...but I cheated a little bit...I´m using a Spanish keyboard :) ) Everyone here says, "que sea mejor"...pretty much I hope this one´s better for you, but then some say it with almost a sad face....and it´s so funny because it almost comes across as "I just kinda feel like you had a really rough year...I hope this one´s better for you...". It´s just really kinda funny. Anyway...
Well, I am going to give you all an overview of the week...
We had a really rough Monday and Tuesday this week...all our citas fell through, but we just kept on keeping on. It felt good to hold on to that faith when I felt like it kinda wanted to escape. Then on Wednesday, we had intercambios with the Hermanas in my old sector in Magallanes...It was the best day of my life pretty much. It was so surreal. I got to go back to my old sector and work with Hermana Neubert (she is the Sister that I worked with at BYU before the mission and we got our mission calls at about the same time). It was so cool to go back and see the progress some of these people are making. It was such a blessing to see. So I just loved that. I got to go back and see Blanca, Hno. Balladares and his daughter that we were teaching, Daisy, and we found a nuevo DE ORO! It was just a really good day. Then Thursday, was back to Ovejero, but not before Hermana Neubert cooked up some pancakes...I didn´t realize how much I have missed pancakes these past ten months until I smelled them. Thursday we taught a friend, Gabriel, of a member, Daniella, for the first time. He is agnostic, but he got on the church website and studied about Mormons, and he said he felt something, and it really made sense to him. He told her that he wanted to learn more, so there we were! He is just great. He´s really interested in learning. Also, Thursday, Hermana Byam and I made plans to take a church tour motorcycle trip after the mission. I think that we should get one of those side car buggy-type things to ride in, and then we can take turns driving. Tell Vic that we´re going to need to borrow his bike :) It´s going to be legit. Friday, we got to teach this man that we found the other day. A testimony that when citas fall through..."it´s like God picking up and putting you right where you need to be." On Tuesday, when all our citas fell through, we were wandering. We decided to pray and figure out where we needed to go. We did, and we were led to Pedro´s door. He came out and smiled, and we asked if he lived by himself (as we generally do to men...just so we can know if we can go in. If there isn´t a woman in the house we can´t go in without a member.)...he said with a few tears in his eyes, that he does now. He explained that his wife died almost a year ago (Jan. 11). We couldn´t go in on Tuesday because we didn´t have a member, but on Friday we got to go back and teach him. He is just so humble and grateful for the message of hope that we shared. On Tuesday we left him the Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and he read it all by the time we got there on Friday. He had some good questions and hopefully we can go back and teach him soon. He has a crazy job schedule, so pray that we can find him again. At the end of the lesson, we asked if he had any questions, and he said he did..."when are you all coming by again?" :) So great. Then on Saturday, we were walking down the street and he drove by and honked. He stopped his car right there on the street to talk to us and offer us a ride. (We couldn´t accept the ride because he was by himself again, but it´s the thought that counts! :) It was so great. I felt like he was happier. Sunday, was just a good day. I just felt a huge love for the Saints and people here in Chile. I felt so happy to serve them. My compi has been pretty sick the last few days, but she toughed it out yesterday, and I was so proud of her. I know that it would have been much more comfortable in her bed, but she worked the best she could...and it was good. I love her.
There you have it the week summary. I also wanted to tell you about some of the people we are teaching so that you can pray for them...please :)
Well, we have Bernardo and Martin (his little boy). His wife is a member, and he has been sharing with missionaries off and on for 15 years. We went and had one of our Christmas dinners at their house. He is just terrified to commit to baptism, but this week, we asked him if he would at least pray about it, and he said he would...that´s a big step, so please pray for him that he will be persevering until he receives an answer. Martin told his mom the other day, "hey tell the missionaries I want to get baptized...just tell them not to asked too many questions. " It was so cute. He´s pretty shy.
Also we are teaching Pedro...I already told you about him above. Just pray for him. I can see him being a great leader in the Church here.
Also pray for Janet...She is the daughter of a menos activo member. But we contacted her right ou side the church one day...I don´t have time to explain why she is a miracle to me, but just know that she is an answer to a prayer that we said a few minutes before the contact. She has real interest in the church, and many doubts, but she is willing to pray and study. She´s going through a break-up right now though, so it´s been hard to find her. Pray that we can find her again, please.
Also we are teaching Angel, the husband of a member, Hermana Jessica. he also has been sharing on and off with missionaries, but also is (I think) scared of making the commitment of baptism. Please pray that his mind will be prepared and his heart softened. This is a very special family. I love them.
I leave it to that right now... Oh, mom asked what "once" meant. It´s in reference to the number "11" ocho, nueve, deiz, once, doce, trece...etc. But here "once" is like their dinner. But they have desayuno, almuerzo (the biggest meal), and then once (around 5pm) and then cena (around 9 or 10pm)...once is like tea and bread and jam and cookies, or ham....it´s once, po! :) Also I sent pictures of our humble little house...:) It´s so little! But it´s great...full of love:)
Today for p-day...me and my compi got into the Sara Braun palace...it´s this museum that normally isn´t open on Mondays, but we talked the guys there into letting us take a tour today...it was the coolest. I´ll have to explain it more when I get home...but just a little highlight of today .
Well, I love you guys tons and tons. I hope you all have a great first week of 2011!
-Abrazos.
-Hermana Bertagnole
A rainy day in Punta Arenas
Hey there family...
I just love you guys.
Things have been great this week. I am learning a ton. I am pretty sure I always say that, but it is true...I feel and think a lot different these days. What a beautiful experience the mission is.
Feliz Año Nuevo...(Mom, I got the "ñ"...but I cheated a little bit...I´m using a Spanish keyboard :) ) Everyone here says, "que sea mejor"...pretty much I hope this one´s better for you, but then some say it with almost a sad face....and it´s so funny because it almost comes across as "I just kinda feel like you had a really rough year...I hope this one´s better for you...". It´s just really kinda funny. Anyway...
Well, I am going to give you all an overview of the week...
We had a really rough Monday and Tuesday this week...all our citas fell through, but we just kept on keeping on. It felt good to hold on to that faith when I felt like it kinda wanted to escape. Then on Wednesday, we had intercambios with the Hermanas in my old sector in Magallanes...It was the best day of my life pretty much. It was so surreal. I got to go back to my old sector and work with Hermana Neubert (she is the Sister that I worked with at BYU before the mission and we got our mission calls at about the same time). It was so cool to go back and see the progress some of these people are making. It was such a blessing to see. So I just loved that. I got to go back and see Blanca, Hno. Balladares and his daughter that we were teaching, Daisy, and we found a nuevo DE ORO! It was just a really good day. Then Thursday, was back to Ovejero, but not before Hermana Neubert cooked up some pancakes...I didn´t realize how much I have missed pancakes these past ten months until I smelled them. Thursday we taught a friend, Gabriel, of a member, Daniella, for the first time. He is agnostic, but he got on the church website and studied about Mormons, and he said he felt something, and it really made sense to him. He told her that he wanted to learn more, so there we were! He is just great. He´s really interested in learning. Also, Thursday, Hermana Byam and I made plans to take a church tour motorcycle trip after the mission. I think that we should get one of those side car buggy-type things to ride in, and then we can take turns driving. Tell Vic that we´re going to need to borrow his bike :) It´s going to be legit. Friday, we got to teach this man that we found the other day. A testimony that when citas fall through..."it´s like God picking up and putting you right where you need to be." On Tuesday, when all our citas fell through, we were wandering. We decided to pray and figure out where we needed to go. We did, and we were led to Pedro´s door. He came out and smiled, and we asked if he lived by himself (as we generally do to men...just so we can know if we can go in. If there isn´t a woman in the house we can´t go in without a member.)...he said with a few tears in his eyes, that he does now. He explained that his wife died almost a year ago (Jan. 11). We couldn´t go in on Tuesday because we didn´t have a member, but on Friday we got to go back and teach him. He is just so humble and grateful for the message of hope that we shared. On Tuesday we left him the Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and he read it all by the time we got there on Friday. He had some good questions and hopefully we can go back and teach him soon. He has a crazy job schedule, so pray that we can find him again. At the end of the lesson, we asked if he had any questions, and he said he did..."when are you all coming by again?" :) So great. Then on Saturday, we were walking down the street and he drove by and honked. He stopped his car right there on the street to talk to us and offer us a ride. (We couldn´t accept the ride because he was by himself again, but it´s the thought that counts! :) It was so great. I felt like he was happier. Sunday, was just a good day. I just felt a huge love for the Saints and people here in Chile. I felt so happy to serve them. My compi has been pretty sick the last few days, but she toughed it out yesterday, and I was so proud of her. I know that it would have been much more comfortable in her bed, but she worked the best she could...and it was good. I love her.
There you have it the week summary. I also wanted to tell you about some of the people we are teaching so that you can pray for them...please :)
Well, we have Bernardo and Martin (his little boy). His wife is a member, and he has been sharing with missionaries off and on for 15 years. We went and had one of our Christmas dinners at their house. He is just terrified to commit to baptism, but this week, we asked him if he would at least pray about it, and he said he would...that´s a big step, so please pray for him that he will be persevering until he receives an answer. Martin told his mom the other day, "hey tell the missionaries I want to get baptized...just tell them not to asked too many questions. " It was so cute. He´s pretty shy.
Also we are teaching Pedro...I already told you about him above. Just pray for him. I can see him being a great leader in the Church here.
Also pray for Janet...She is the daughter of a menos activo member. But we contacted her right ou side the church one day...I don´t have time to explain why she is a miracle to me, but just know that she is an answer to a prayer that we said a few minutes before the contact. She has real interest in the church, and many doubts, but she is willing to pray and study. She´s going through a break-up right now though, so it´s been hard to find her. Pray that we can find her again, please.
Also we are teaching Angel, the husband of a member, Hermana Jessica. he also has been sharing on and off with missionaries, but also is (I think) scared of making the commitment of baptism. Please pray that his mind will be prepared and his heart softened. This is a very special family. I love them.
I leave it to that right now... Oh, mom asked what "once" meant. It´s in reference to the number "11" ocho, nueve, deiz, once, doce, trece...etc. But here "once" is like their dinner. But they have desayuno, almuerzo (the biggest meal), and then once (around 5pm) and then cena (around 9 or 10pm)...once is like tea and bread and jam and cookies, or ham....it´s once, po! :) Also I sent pictures of our humble little house...:) It´s so little! But it´s great...full of love:)
Today for p-day...me and my compi got into the Sara Braun palace...it´s this museum that normally isn´t open on Mondays, but we talked the guys there into letting us take a tour today...it was the coolest. I´ll have to explain it more when I get home...but just a little highlight of today .
Well, I love you guys tons and tons. I hope you all have a great first week of 2011!
-Abrazos.
-Hermana Bertagnole
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