Chile

I found myself rereading some of my old blog posts today....bad idea! I shed a few tears as I relived some of the sweet sweet memories. It's funny--time generally weakens our memories, but even now, just a few months shy of being home for two years, it still seems like yesterday that I was changed for good. There is certainly a piece of my heart that was left in Chile with those amazing and wonderful people that I met there. The miracles that happened in my life were so incredible and huge, that I can't even begin to comprehend them.

Today is a day when I miss it so much my heart aches a bit. 

Funny how all us missionaries seem to have days like this. It just goes to show how real the work and the love is. 

If anyone out there reading this ever has one of those Mormon missionaries with the black name tag show up at your door...let them in and listen. You'll forever change each others lives....

what a guy...

Can I just take a minute and brag on my husband for a second? Thank you.

I came home from work today (longest day ever...) and guess what I found:

-All the laundry neatly folded (no small task)
-The bedroom spotless
-The bathroom spotless
-The kitchen spotless
-The living room spotless
-A clean car

-A husband studying OCHEM like some sort of genius boy

Have I got it made or what?! :)

#besthusbandintheworld

a year ago yesterday...

One year and one day ago, life changed forever. So much has happened in this past year! I decided I had better keep documenting it...it is all too exciting to miss! As I thought about all that has happened in the last year of my life, I feel so very grateful for all the blessing that have been so abundantly poured out upon me....

Homecoming - Sept. 23, 2011

Went back to Chile with the family - November 2011

Spent Christmas in Kansas City - December 2011

Brought in the New Year - January 1, 2012

Got Engaged to Mr. Jimmy Sweeney (!!!) - January 13, 2012

Engagement Pictures - March 2012

Bridal Shower - April 2012

Sealed for time and all eternity - May 8, 2012

Honeymoon to Cancun, Mexico - May 2012

Trip to San Francisco - June 2012

Spent the summer in Washington and Oregon

....and then back to Utah!

As of now, I am working full-time in the BYU Admission Office and finishing up my last two classes to graduate. Jimmy is taking full-time classes and rocking them!!! He just got a 97% on his first test of the semester...yes I am bragging on how smart my husband is. ;) 

Life is good and we are oh so very happy. 

Bittersweet

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.

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.

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.

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!