Well, to start off, I´ll just let you know, I thank you for your letters this week. I had every intention of reading them to respond to them, but I started crying, so I´m going to print them off and read them when I get home. (I´m turning into a cry ball like mom. :) Hahaha. Oh geeze. I think I have become more like Mom and Dad, more than ever in the mission! It frightens me sometimes when I say something, and then I think to myself..."that is exactly what Dad would say to me...." Hahaha.
Well, anyway. I just gotta tell you all how very much I love you. I thank you with everything that I have for all that you have done for me in making this possible for me. Thank you for your prayers, and your letters, and your support. I love you all so much. Can´t wait to see you all.
Mom and Dad. I love you. Thank you for everything. I can´t wait to give you both a huge hug. I have missed you both a lot, and I am excited to talk to you all about the great things I have learned. Thank you for all of it. I love you more than I am even able to say. (Dangit I can´t stop crying! que vergúenza! shoot!) Yeah, but anyway...I just love you a lot, ok?
It didn´t set in until yesterday that the mission here in Chile is coming to an end. While I am very happy to see you all, it´s been hard to leave my beloved Chile. I am unable to express really what or how I am feeling right now. My heart is heavy, but at the same time so very full of gratitude for this, the biggest miracle in my life. What I feel is overwhelming...the love of my Heavenly Father. I know He lives. His Son Jesus Christ lives. I want to tell the world. I want to tell them of the boy Joseph that prayed in faith and received an answer. I want to tell them of the Restored Gospel and eternal families. I want to invite the world to read the Book of Mormon, and let it change their existence. I am so grateful that the Lord will still bless me with tons of opportunities to share His Gospel. I am grateful that the mission doesn´t end here. I am just sad that it won´t be in Chile anymore. These people are incredible. I want you all to know them, and learn from them as much as I have. They´re miracles, I will miss them so very much.
Well, enough of this mushy stuff. We got a lot to do, and if I do it crying, it won´t be very graceful. :) I love you all so much. See you soon. Wow. See you so very soon.
LOVE,
your daughter and your missionary,
Hermana Bertagnole
p.s. we had a very great 18 de septiembre...I´ll show you all the picts when I get home.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
So little time! (to write...obviously)
Sorry this email has got to be pretty short...poco tiempo tengo!
In response to Dad´s question, "bakan" means cool...in Chilean...or should I say "chevre" en Columbiano.
WOW...cualquier gossip this week! I can´t wait to participate. Hahahahaha. Just kidding. What great stories. Congrats all around. Keep up the good work everybody. Love you all. (However, Scott...I´m pretty sure you already stole my car...don´t steal my Marilyn. Please. I beg of you.)
Anywho. Things are great in Rahue. This week we had a triple baptism!!!!!! Marcos was our investigator and there were two other companionships that had a baptism in our zone, so we did the baptismal service together. It was amazing. Hermano Marcos, was just so excited. And yesterday when after he got the Holy Ghost, he told me "this is almost just too much excitement for a weekend!" (He´s made a big change in his life from being a bit of a "weekend at the bars" kind of guy to a church going man...so I thought that his comment was perfectly stated. The Gospel gives real joy...and he gets that now. Let´s just say the last few days have been soul warming.)
Well, we are still trying hard to find new people to teach. That´s what we struggle with more than anything here in this sector. I am praying hard to be able to leave here with a good teaching pool ready for the next missionaries that come in.
On a trunky note, I had to give my farewell testimony in the Zone Conference this last week....it was hard. That´s all I´m going to say about that.
Oh! I wanted to know if Scot-bro was going to be at home when I get home...? I want to see that son of a gun. Just let him know...if not maybe we could roadtrip?....Sorry, trunky, I know. That´s all as well.
Well, like I said, not a lot of time. I love you all SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. I miss you. Pray for me lots this week, ok? Thanks. Love you.
In response to Dad´s question, "bakan" means cool...in Chilean...or should I say "chevre" en Columbiano.
WOW...cualquier gossip this week! I can´t wait to participate. Hahahahaha. Just kidding. What great stories. Congrats all around. Keep up the good work everybody. Love you all. (However, Scott...I´m pretty sure you already stole my car...don´t steal my Marilyn. Please. I beg of you.)
Anywho. Things are great in Rahue. This week we had a triple baptism!!!!!! Marcos was our investigator and there were two other companionships that had a baptism in our zone, so we did the baptismal service together. It was amazing. Hermano Marcos, was just so excited. And yesterday when after he got the Holy Ghost, he told me "this is almost just too much excitement for a weekend!" (He´s made a big change in his life from being a bit of a "weekend at the bars" kind of guy to a church going man...so I thought that his comment was perfectly stated. The Gospel gives real joy...and he gets that now. Let´s just say the last few days have been soul warming.)
Well, we are still trying hard to find new people to teach. That´s what we struggle with more than anything here in this sector. I am praying hard to be able to leave here with a good teaching pool ready for the next missionaries that come in.
On a trunky note, I had to give my farewell testimony in the Zone Conference this last week....it was hard. That´s all I´m going to say about that.
Oh! I wanted to know if Scot-bro was going to be at home when I get home...? I want to see that son of a gun. Just let him know...if not maybe we could roadtrip?....Sorry, trunky, I know. That´s all as well.
Well, like I said, not a lot of time. I love you all SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. I miss you. Pray for me lots this week, ok? Thanks. Love you.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
A labor of love
Well family, it´s been another great week of letters. I thank you all for that. I love you all so much. I want you to know how grateful I am for all the support and prayers and love that you all send my way. It means more that you know. Well, the highlights of this week are as follows:
1. We are preparing for the baptism of Marcos this Saturday!!!!!! WAHOOOO! He is great. We are really trying to get him a good strong support group in the church because he found out this week when he told his family, that they are zero happy with him. They aren’t even going to come. SO, he´s taking this step/leap of faith pretty much solo. He´s got us, and a few members that are obviously very happy for him, but no one that is outside of the church. His family won´t even let us come in and teach him, we have to teach him in the members’ homes. But I realized this week that that it has actually been a blessing in disguise, because he´s already got a pretty good relationship with a few of the members because of it. Yay. We are really happy for him.
2. The 3rd of September I turned 18!....well, 18 months old in the mission. Boo... but my comp bought me a Berline to take away some of the pain. :)
3. REMEMBER THESE GUYS?! This is Juan and Paola and Isidora...from Ovejeria!!!! The hermanas told them where I was, and they left their meetings a little early in Ovejeria to come over to Rahue to see me before the meetings got out here! IT WAS AMAZING TO SEE THEM!!!!! They are getting married and then she will be baptized! They have been going to church every week over there. They are just so happy. I don´t know, and they don´t know exactly the dates of the wedding and baptism yet, but I was thinking that it would be SO cool if it was in November when we are going to be here! Oh man, I would just die. I really want to see them when they get sealed as a family, too. Oh, que bakan. I love this family so much. I was SOOOOOO happy to see them.
The other picture I sent you is of me and my compi. Hermana Herbert.
Well, that is pretty much all I have time for. Time flies. I love the mission. I love you. I miss you. Be good. I hope everyone is doing well. Congrats on all the cool stuff that´s been happening! Love you all.
1. We are preparing for the baptism of Marcos this Saturday!!!!!! WAHOOOO! He is great. We are really trying to get him a good strong support group in the church because he found out this week when he told his family, that they are zero happy with him. They aren’t even going to come. SO, he´s taking this step/leap of faith pretty much solo. He´s got us, and a few members that are obviously very happy for him, but no one that is outside of the church. His family won´t even let us come in and teach him, we have to teach him in the members’ homes. But I realized this week that that it has actually been a blessing in disguise, because he´s already got a pretty good relationship with a few of the members because of it. Yay. We are really happy for him.
2. The 3rd of September I turned 18!....well, 18 months old in the mission. Boo... but my comp bought me a Berline to take away some of the pain. :)
3. REMEMBER THESE GUYS?! This is Juan and Paola and Isidora...from Ovejeria!!!! The hermanas told them where I was, and they left their meetings a little early in Ovejeria to come over to Rahue to see me before the meetings got out here! IT WAS AMAZING TO SEE THEM!!!!! They are getting married and then she will be baptized! They have been going to church every week over there. They are just so happy. I don´t know, and they don´t know exactly the dates of the wedding and baptism yet, but I was thinking that it would be SO cool if it was in November when we are going to be here! Oh man, I would just die. I really want to see them when they get sealed as a family, too. Oh, que bakan. I love this family so much. I was SOOOOOO happy to see them.
The other picture I sent you is of me and my compi. Hermana Herbert.
Well, that is pretty much all I have time for. Time flies. I love the mission. I love you. I miss you. Be good. I hope everyone is doing well. Congrats on all the cool stuff that´s been happening! Love you all.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Exito
Aug 29, 2011
An excerpt from my letter to President this week:
" I love the mission...if you are willing to put up with me for awhile longer, I would be happy to extend the mission for a few more years... :)"
.... sorry, Mom.
Well, Family (and friends...obvio) on that note, I thank you for your GREAT letters this week! I loved hearing from you all. I just love you guys...(I miss you all too, but we won´t talk too much about that). I am glad to hear that all is well. I love hearing the mission stories, and the adventures of life. Keep up that good work. Be good!
Things are so great here in Rahue. It seems like it has been a pretty slow sector in the past. When I got here there were super poco people to teach. But we are seeing some great progress. This week we found some awesome families! FAMILIES!!!!!!! FAAAMILIIIIIES!!!!!!!! YEay! The mom of one of them, accepted a baptismal date already...in the first visit. She is SO prepared. She is a single mom, with two boys. She is working hard, and has so very much faith. She has been so prepared, it´s just incredible. I am participating in the process of her conversion. Also, we found another family, with mama, papa, and hijo. They are great...we found them yesterday. As we were teaching I asked the Mother, how she has come to have so much faith in her life....She told me all the blessings that she has seen in her life, a few difficulties, and then she just said, “I just believe so much in God.” Her little boy, 6 years old, pipes in..."But Santa Claus doesn´t exist." I busted up laughing. It was soooo funny. I then asked him, "Well, where to the presents come from then?!" His response..."el supermercado." Hahahahaha. But in the end, he and I both agreed that God exists and that he loves us :) SO funny. I am excited to teach this family.
A ver, what else happened this week....OH! I have got to tell you all the coolest thing ever. We are teaching Marcos, right? He is preparing for baptism on the 10th of September. (PLEASE pray for him). We went over to his house on Saturday morning and we were talking about his baptismal plan. He got really excited, and we set the interview date and what not. We closed with a prayer, and then he said "Oh hey, I wanted to show you all something cool…." He pulls out his cell phone and he pokes around on it and then shows me...I see the words "El primer libro de Nefi...." HE HAD DOWNLOADED THE BOOK OF MORMON ON HIS PHONE!!!!!! He was all excited that he would be able to read anytime, anywhere. I was pumped! I gave him a high five, and then was just so excited I gave him another. What a cool thing to see. He´s awesome.
So all is well here in Rahue. We are happy. I hope that you all are found happy and healthy (spiritually and physically). I love you all so, so much.
-HUGS AND KISSES!
-Hermana Bertagnole
Oh, and this is for Roddy (hermanito from Ovejeria). He´s reading my blog.-- Hermanito!!!! Estoy super feliz para saber de usted! Que bueno las noticias de su trabajo neuvo aya en Coyaihque...(deletreado mal...proablamente jajaa) Ojala que le vaya super bien en eso. Igual, sigo orando para usted y su familia. Mire, se que la iglesia esta aya en este parte de Chile igual. Busquelo para que puede seguir adelante con su progreso ayi. Conozco algunos miembros aya, y son super buenos. De hecho la Hermana Carolina (from Ovejeria) es de aya. A lo mejor pueda contactarla para poder saber mas de los datos (donde esta, a que hora empieza, etc)....que se yo. Bueno, gracias por escribirme, y siga adelante aya. Hay mucho oportunidades para usted a servir aya. Los santos aya nesicitan muchos buenos lideres y ejemplos tambien, asi que a lo mejor, eso es porque El Senor le mando pro aya. :) Que este super bien, hermanito! Nos vemos!
Ok, Family...I love you guys. Have a great week. Keep those prayers up. Be good!
An excerpt from my letter to President this week:
" I love the mission...if you are willing to put up with me for awhile longer, I would be happy to extend the mission for a few more years... :)"
.... sorry, Mom.
Well, Family (and friends...obvio) on that note, I thank you for your GREAT letters this week! I loved hearing from you all. I just love you guys...(I miss you all too, but we won´t talk too much about that). I am glad to hear that all is well. I love hearing the mission stories, and the adventures of life. Keep up that good work. Be good!
Things are so great here in Rahue. It seems like it has been a pretty slow sector in the past. When I got here there were super poco people to teach. But we are seeing some great progress. This week we found some awesome families! FAMILIES!!!!!!! FAAAMILIIIIIES!!!!!!!! YEay! The mom of one of them, accepted a baptismal date already...in the first visit. She is SO prepared. She is a single mom, with two boys. She is working hard, and has so very much faith. She has been so prepared, it´s just incredible. I am participating in the process of her conversion. Also, we found another family, with mama, papa, and hijo. They are great...we found them yesterday. As we were teaching I asked the Mother, how she has come to have so much faith in her life....She told me all the blessings that she has seen in her life, a few difficulties, and then she just said, “I just believe so much in God.” Her little boy, 6 years old, pipes in..."But Santa Claus doesn´t exist." I busted up laughing. It was soooo funny. I then asked him, "Well, where to the presents come from then?!" His response..."el supermercado." Hahahahaha. But in the end, he and I both agreed that God exists and that he loves us :) SO funny. I am excited to teach this family.
A ver, what else happened this week....OH! I have got to tell you all the coolest thing ever. We are teaching Marcos, right? He is preparing for baptism on the 10th of September. (PLEASE pray for him). We went over to his house on Saturday morning and we were talking about his baptismal plan. He got really excited, and we set the interview date and what not. We closed with a prayer, and then he said "Oh hey, I wanted to show you all something cool…." He pulls out his cell phone and he pokes around on it and then shows me...I see the words "El primer libro de Nefi...." HE HAD DOWNLOADED THE BOOK OF MORMON ON HIS PHONE!!!!!! He was all excited that he would be able to read anytime, anywhere. I was pumped! I gave him a high five, and then was just so excited I gave him another. What a cool thing to see. He´s awesome.
So all is well here in Rahue. We are happy. I hope that you all are found happy and healthy (spiritually and physically). I love you all so, so much.
-HUGS AND KISSES!
-Hermana Bertagnole
Oh, and this is for Roddy (hermanito from Ovejeria). He´s reading my blog.-- Hermanito!!!! Estoy super feliz para saber de usted! Que bueno las noticias de su trabajo neuvo aya en Coyaihque...(deletreado mal...proablamente jajaa) Ojala que le vaya super bien en eso. Igual, sigo orando para usted y su familia. Mire, se que la iglesia esta aya en este parte de Chile igual. Busquelo para que puede seguir adelante con su progreso ayi. Conozco algunos miembros aya, y son super buenos. De hecho la Hermana Carolina (from Ovejeria) es de aya. A lo mejor pueda contactarla para poder saber mas de los datos (donde esta, a que hora empieza, etc)....que se yo. Bueno, gracias por escribirme, y siga adelante aya. Hay mucho oportunidades para usted a servir aya. Los santos aya nesicitan muchos buenos lideres y ejemplos tambien, asi que a lo mejor, eso es porque El Senor le mando pro aya. :) Que este super bien, hermanito! Nos vemos!
Ok, Family...I love you guys. Have a great week. Keep those prayers up. Be good!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Great news
Hey beautifuls,
Thank you so much for your letters this week. I love hearing from you all. It sounds like all is well...glad to hear it.
I hope that you have had a great week. We are happy and working hard in Rahue. We are seeing some great progress with our investigators. There are relatively few investigators, in general, here in this sector, but we started finding some great people to teach. We are trying to focus on inviting everyone to be baptized, and we have seen real miracles. We are still working hard with the members to try and help them participate in the missionary work. We have many, many hermanas signed up to come out with us this week, so hopefully we will be able to get quite a few investigators that will benefit from their testimonies.
We are happy. As a zone we are doing a "purification" so that we will be more able to have the Spirit. It is something that I have been praying for. I have heard that many missionaries lose focus their last cambio, and I have been praying that I will be strengthened against such temptations. I am grateful for the commitment that our zone leaders gave us to "purify" ourselves. It´s given me great direction and good goals to keep me focused on powering through to the end. I am grateful for the small miracles that our Heavenly Father provides for us.
I pray that this week will be another successful week. We are working hard with a young man. He´s seeing real changes in his life, and he is enjoying coming to Church and meeting new members. He will be getting baptized on the 10th of September. We are pleased to see his progress. HE IS AWESOME! He told us on Saturday that he was working the night shift at work, so he would get home at about 7 in the morning, sleep for an hour and then get up and go to church. He did! And even though he almost fell asleep during gospel principles, he said that he loved it. :) We are excited for him. He has wanted a change, and has now found where he can find it.
Other good news from Villarrica (Hermana Chamorro wrote me to give me all the new news). Diego got baptized on Saturday, and RUTH IS GETTING BAPTIZED THE 10TH OF SEPTEMBER, TOO!!!!!! I was so excited to hear her progress. She deserves this happiness so much!
Anyway, that´s all the news I have got right now. I am happy...in fact, never been happier.
Oh, and one other thing, Pres. Rappleye has a mission blog too: www.chileosornomission-rappleye.blogspot.com
Oh, and just so you know, I have started a wish list of the things that I want to do when I get home...such as FHE with the neighbors, washing the elders clothes so they don´t have to take it to a laundry mat, bringing the missionaries food, teaching Saturday morning English class to the Latins in the ward, buying a box of BOMs to give away, a list of inactives to go visit, people to go pick up for church, etc....if you want to get a head start for me, you are more than welcome! YAY MISSIONARY SPIRIT!!!!!!!! Hahahahaha. I might be a pain in the hiney when I get back. (lo siento) :) Sorry if this was a trunky list.
I love you all so so so much! I pray for you always, and I thank my Father for the amazing family he has given me.
Be good!
-Hermana Bertagnole
Monday, August 15, 2011
Ya'll Are Soooooo Trunky!!!!
Hey trunky little family of mine! (wink wink) I love reading your emails every week. Each week you are more and more trunky...I hear that there are countdowns? Hahahah I LOVE you guys! I am really just loving and trying to enjoy as much as I possibly can. I am trying not looking too far in advance, and I am just happy to be a missionary everyday when I wake up. Gosh. I love it so much.
I have to admit that I have thoroughly been enjoying my time here in Rahue. Hermana Herbert (my new compi) is just so great. I think I spend most of the day laughing. She is super funny, and we have a pretty good time together. It's great. She definitely has a very special, lovable personality. She is AWESOME! We are also seeing great things happen in the sector. We put the mother of one of the recent converts here with fecha this week. She will be getting baptized the 27th of this month!!!!! She is so prepared for baptism. She will be a great and faithful member of the Church. This is a great family.
The ward seems very, very welcoming. I am sad that I won't be able to get to know them a whole lot in just one cambio, but there is great work to be done with the members here. It's a big ward. They are a great group of saints. I am so excited to be here and to meet all these new and great people.
Well, THANK YOU for all the great letters, everybody! (Scott, your house ROCKS! felicitaciones...I want a movie marathon or something there when I get back...get working on a projector or something.) I am going to try and send pictures now...maybe from a different city it'll work better. Pray hard.
LOVEYOUSOMUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
I have to admit that I have thoroughly been enjoying my time here in Rahue. Hermana Herbert (my new compi) is just so great. I think I spend most of the day laughing. She is super funny, and we have a pretty good time together. It's great. She definitely has a very special, lovable personality. She is AWESOME! We are also seeing great things happen in the sector. We put the mother of one of the recent converts here with fecha this week. She will be getting baptized the 27th of this month!!!!! She is so prepared for baptism. She will be a great and faithful member of the Church. This is a great family.
The ward seems very, very welcoming. I am sad that I won't be able to get to know them a whole lot in just one cambio, but there is great work to be done with the members here. It's a big ward. They are a great group of saints. I am so excited to be here and to meet all these new and great people.
Well, THANK YOU for all the great letters, everybody! (Scott, your house ROCKS! felicitaciones...I want a movie marathon or something there when I get back...get working on a projector or something.) I am going to try and send pictures now...maybe from a different city it'll work better. Pray hard.
LOVEYOUSOMUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Hermana Bertagnole
Monday, August 8, 2011
Need for repentance...
Hello family of mine...
Well, the theme of my heart is a sad one....cambios are this week. I thought I would be finishing my mission here in this sector....but the Lord had other plans. I am getting transferred back to Osorno...a part of Osorno that is called Rahue. I can´t lie, when I first heard I was half-way devastated to leave this sector, right when things are just going so well. But don´t worry, I have tried to humble myself...hahah. This morning I asked for forgiveness. Hahaha. I understand and I realize that I just gotta do it with the best attitude ever, and with cualqueir fe and animo! WAHOOO FOR TRANSFERS!!!!!!! I am still in the process of figuring out tell our investigators. I feel sad for them, more than anything. I don´t want to leave them, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I am, however, excited to go back to Osorno, maybe I´ll get to do some intercambio´s in Ovejeria!!!!! Keep your fingers crossed for me.
The work here is really going great. One of our investigators is reading and praying so much! It makes me so happy to see her desire to learn. I am worried to tell her that I am leaving, but I know that she´ll be fine, and will continue to progress...she´s in it for real. Also, a young man is getting baptized soon. His interview is this Saturday, and his baptism will be next Saturday. He´s excited, as are we and his family. They are saving up little by little to be able to go to the Temple. I hope that they make this process as quick as possible to be able to receive the blessings as soon as possible. They are a great family.
Well, apart from this, things are pretty normal here. The work is progressing every day. It´s the most rewarding part of the mission work, to be able to see progress in your sector. I hope to be able see progress in Rahue as well. That´s the idea, right? Leave everything better than you found it. En eso estoy.
It´s another short letter, but it´s going to be a very, very busy day. So for now, this is all. I love you all so much. Congrats on the new houses, bro´s! I am getting decorating antsy already! :) Thanks for the updates and the letters. I love you and I miss you and I pray for you all every day. Take care, and be good.
Love,
Hermana Bertagnole
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