T Minus 6 Days

hola familia! ¿como estai? 

This week fleeeeeewww by! The weather here is really bipolar. One day it is pouring rain and the next it is stinking hot! But I guess that is how the south of Chile is because it’s been like this for my whole mission. And I’ve come to the conclusion that hot showers don’t exist either... oh well at least we aren’t wasting a lot of time and money for water! 

This week I want to share with you two experiences that were awesome. 

We were teaching a woman for the 3rd time. The lesson was The Plan of Salvacion. When we began teaching about the mundo de los espiritus (world of spirits), she began to cry and then began to tell us her story.

About three years her dad passed away and then right after her mom suddenly passed away. She was really angry and fell into a severe depression. She hid herself in her room for months, practically abandoning her children because of the sadness and pain of her parents’ deaths. Her husband and sisters tried to help but she told them that if they ever talked about God again in front of her she will never talk to them again. Her sister sent missionaries of another church to her house and she stopped talking to her sister.

Then one day, three years later, still depressed but doing a little better, we knocked on her door. Her first reaction was to hide and so she did. We knocked one more time. She remained hidden. One more time we knocked, and something deep inside her told her to open the door, so she did.

After we left, she felt at peace for the first time in many years. After the second time we passed by and left, she began to smile. Her kids and husband noticed a difference in her and asked her what was happening. Her youngest son of 3 told them that his mom was receiving two tìas (sisters) that are helping her be happy.

The gospel of Jesucristo is HAPPINESS. It changes peoples’ lives, their perspective, it gives them hope. I love this gospel and I testify that it is true. Miracles happen. They occur according to our faith. We can choose to open our eyes and believe or not.

When she told us this, my comp and I just about cried. It was such a tender moment and to know that we had been guided by the Lord to find one of His daughters that needed help.

But the thing that was the most awesome was the fact that her 3 year old son saw a difference and knew that it was because of us (our message and the Holy Ghost).

The second experience was very similar. We are teaching another woman and she said the closing prayer. In her prayer, she thanked God for sending us, acknowledging that we are His servants. She said that she has been feeling really depressed and alone for the past couple of months and that her fears have overtaken her, but now she feels a new hope and peace about her. 

I know that this church is true. Every single day my faith is strengthened by many awesome people that desire to change their lives and desire to grow closer to Padre Celestial. I testify that it is only by acercandose mas a Cristo que podemos obtener la felicidad que dura por toda la vida (getting closer to Christ that we can obtain the happiness that lasts for the whole life).

Igual, Eduardo got baptized this weekend! It was so awesome! He got really emotional in the beginning and cried a little during the talks. He is awesome and I am so blessed to know him and am grateful for all the other hermanas who have taught him and helped him get to this point. He is such an example of charity and humility. I could go on and on with stories of what he has done for others... but time is always my enemy...

Today we went on a beautiful hike in Puerto Varas... but both of our cameras died early on.... luckily it’s free and we live about 20 minutes away so we are going to go back in two weeks. It reminded me of my high school grad trip/ 20 anniversary trip when we went canyoning. It was super green and forestry and smelled soooo good.

Welp I love you all and can’t wait to talk to you and see you in a few days!  Cuidense mucho!

¡hurrah por israel!

Padre Celestial is so awesome! hna Hoskins was my first comp in the CCM and we were in a district with Elder Feagai and Elder Greenwood. Now one year later we all saw each other for the first time in a year. And hna Hoskins is in my district and Elder Feagai is my district leader. Elder Greenwood is in our zone! And we’re all together for the first time exactly a year later for a zone activity.

Dan Jonesing it!

a bunch of gibberish and random thoughts

hola familia!

So just a side note, this letter is a compilation of my thoughts, well-being, experiences and reflecions of the past 3 weeks of being in missionary in a huge city. 

And on another side note, no mom, I still don’t know what time we will be calling on Christmas....but IF YOU ALL CAN SEND ME QUESTIONS OR THINGS YOU WANT TO KNOW FOR NEXT WEEK I CAN HAVE SOMETHING PREPARED BECAUSE WE ONLY GET 30-45 MINTUES. I’ll send my questions next week so that way we use our time effectively :)

And it looks like we’ve been celebrating birthdays AND Christmas wrong all these years. Here they celebrate the 24^th and the big day. On the 24^th, everyone is eating and celebrating. Then at 12 midnight, Viejo Pascuero (Father Christmas) comes and delivers the presents. The kids open all the gifts and then go outside and play with the toys. All the neighbors are outside celebrating until the sun comes up.

Then on the 25^th everyone is knocked out and asleep for the day... should be a fun day of knocking doors and disturbing the peace :) 

This past week, I won’t lie, was really difficult for me. Like I said the week before, out of nowhere the routine of doing the same thing every day got to me and I was trying to fight the feeling of discouragement.

Luckily I have an amazing comp and she was able to help me. It’s hard because in the city everyone has things to do and people to see. When we visit other towns, it’s a loong walk and I felt like we were wasting so much time walking. Also, the ward is huge and I still see new faces every week. There are so many names so many streets so many people.

On the plus side, there are many streets where the missionaries have never knocked and many times we talk to people and they say that they have never talked or visited with missionaries. What?? You never hear that in Futrono or Punta Arenas!

With its ups and downs, I turned to the scriptures and learned an amazing lesson. I love the Book of Mormon. It is the book of secrets and holds the answers to all the questions that we have. I was reading in Alma 49. The dos (two) chapters before it is the story of Lehonti and of Capitan Moroni.

49 talks about how finally the nefitas (Nephites) were enjoying the peace and instead of being still and enjoying not having to fight, Moroni caused that the people should be busy constructing and fortifying their city. Then, it says that the Lamanitas came to attack and they started with Ammoniah (ciudad) because it was less strong than the others. To their surprise, Moroni and his people had worked long and hard to protect the city and the lamanitas couldn’t find a way to enter and attack.

So the Lamanites decided to go attack the city of noe (Noah) because it was known for being the weakest part of the land. Much more to their surprise, the lamanitas found that the land of noe was more strengthened and fortified than the land of Ammoniah. We read in vs. 20 "y asì estaban preparados para defenderse contra os lamanitas" ("and thus were they prepared to defend themselves against the Lamanites")... 23 "y asì los nefitas dominaron en todo a sus enemigos" ("Thus the Nephites had all power over their enemies"). 

I love the war chapters because there is so much that we can learn. What can you learn from this chapter?? I’ll share with you what my liahona said.

I learned that we need to continue to strengthen and fortify our testimony during times of peace (no problems, trials). ¿Do I pray to God in peace as sincerely as I pray to Him during a trial? ¿Do I study the scriptures like I do when I need comfort, guidance and hope? Or is it only during those trials that I really pray and really study the scriptures.

During times of peace, am I preparing myself for when Satan comes and attacks? Am I preparing now? Many times in our lives, we have highs and lows. I have noticed that during the lows is when I really pour my heart out to Padre. That’s when I really study the scriptures. What a hypocrite am I!

I need to be preparing myself for the trials (studying, praying with real intencion) in times of peace. There is never a moment of relaxation from prayer and the scriptures. If we act as the people of Moroni, we too will be prepared for when Satan attacks and we too can dominate in todo (all). 

As a new covert said in sacrament meeting this week "I have a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. But it is still in construction and will be for the rest of my life." He and his wife are awesome. They were baptized about 7 months ago and are two of the strongest members that I have seen on my mission. 

Yesterday as well, we had an interesting experience. There is a lady in our ward that we reactivated. Right now she is passing through a very difficult family crisis. She suffers from diabetes and yesterday she was so worried that she forgot to eat breakfast and take her medicine.

I was sitting next to her in soc soc (relief society) and she started moving around weird. Her body could not support herself. I knew that she hasn’t been sleeping good, so I thought that she was just really tired. I put my arm around her to let her sleep on my shoulder and found that she was drenched in sweat. I asked her if she was hot and she looked at me and couldn’t talk. She was becoming unconscious.

I nudged my comp and we lifted her out of the room and took her to the foyer to get some air. Some others came out too and we began asking her questions and found out that she hadn’t taken her medication for the day and her body was going into glyco shock.

We got her some cookies and the elders lifted her into a car of a member and we raced to the hospital. I was in the back with her trying to keep her awake. By the time we got to the hospital she was unconscious. Two hours later, the doc came out and told us that she was okay just really low in blood sugar. It was an interesting experience.

I was frustrated because I don’t remember anything of first aid that I learned. It started when I entered the field, and with all my comps it passed the same. I don’t remember any of my studies, songs that I liked, bands, movies, what I used to do to pass the time.... haha nada. I hope it comes back when I get released... :) 

We are going to have the baptism this week of Eduardo! He’s the one that I spoke about last week that stopped smoking. He is amazing and like a little grandpa to us. 

Welp... I have a lot more random thoughts and life changing experiences that has happened but I am out of time. I see the world in a whole different life, from being here in a big city and from having another comp from Colombia and this time being able to understand everything she is telling me. I’ll just say that we are soooo blessed to live where we do. We are so blessed that all our family is still alive and well. We are so blessed to have the freedom that we do and the safety that we enjoy. We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives and know who we are and why we are here. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!  Sorry for the randomness... this week has really changed my perspective with everything and I’ve had a lot of deep thoughts so it’s hard for me to concentrate. haha you should read my journal... it’s pure random thoughts. But I love you all and can’t wait to talk to you in 3 weeks!

Don’t forget your questions!!!!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!!! I LOVE YOU!!! 

I CAN’T BELIEVE I’LL BE COMPLETING A YEAR THIS WEEK. 

love ya!

hurrah por israel!

our lunch for the past week

us and HNA HOSKINS!!! and her wonderful compy

always be prepared with a rain jacket. we leave in the morning  and it is really hot....and in the afternoon... anything can happen

ILUMINA el MUNDO

Hola familia!

This week was very interesting... out of nowhere I was hit with extreme “I-just-want-to-wear-pants syndrome....” I hope it will pass soon.

I want to share with you guys a few experiences that I had this week. First a funny one, second a sad one, and third a triumphant one.

1. We were knocking doors for about 3 hours and finally someone lets us in. We were very tired and I think Padre Celestial knew we needed something to laugh about so He whispered in this woman’s ear to let us in.

She’s Evangelica. They are very religious and their way of expressing their beliefs is a little different that how we do it. When someone prays, and they say something you like (for example, please bless this family) they shout their agreement with an AMEN! or HALLELUJAH! or SÌ. Or if it is something that they really like, with an ¡AMEN HALLELUJAH OH SEÑOR JESUS!

…and keep in mind, we are still praying. It’s fun praying with them, haha and hard to keep your focus if you’re the one praying. Soooo my comp prayed and the lady shouted and then we started to teach about how we can be a light and light the world this Christmas.

I guess she really liked what we were saying because we would be talking and then she would shout “¡AMEN!” or “HALLELUJAH!” jajaja we they asked her how she is going to be a light this Christmas and she starting talking and getting really tense and passionate and then she started talking really loud in a different language.

For the evangelicos penticostal, talking in tongues happens when you "feel the spirit." It sounded like she was talking in Slytherin or the language of Voldemort. My comp then nudged me and gave me the let’s get out of her look. We thanked her for her comments and time and asked if she could leave us with a prayer. She did so and began speaking in tongues again. jajaja it was a fun experience. 

2. After we had the lesson with the penticostal lady, we were walking down one of the streets and saw a man passed out on the sidewalk. This is a common scene and as we walked by he smelled heavily of liquor. We stopped for a moment because we weren’t sure if he was breathing.

Then one of his neighbors came out and began tapping the man’s face to wake him up. We decided to help because it was super hot outside and he was in all long clothes and was lying out in the sun. When he came to he was very disoriented and looked like he had heat stroke. We got water to cool him off and called the police. They said they would come but never did.

We waited for about 20 minutes and then he passed out again so we called an ambulance. They finally came about 30 minutes later and took him to the hospital.

I can’t tell you how many passed out drunk people I have walked passed, without thinking. But it was when we were helping Alì that I really felt God’s love for him. The spirit testified to me that he is a loved son of God that has had a really hard life, and for the trials and temptations has fallen. But he is still valued and loved.

He came to again and started hallucinating. We tried to calm him down and he began punching. Another man came by to help us and finally the ambulance came.

I know that we will never comprehend really the love that God has for us. It is so real and so pure. No matter what we do, He will always love us. I was able to feel that love for Alì, a poor drunk man with 3 yellow teeth that smelled like a porta potty. 

3. We have an investigador that’s called Eduardo. He is going to be baptized on 17 of diciembre. He is awesome!!! He is willing to give up everything to follow Jesus Christ.  He is 60 and has been smoking for 40 years. About 10-15 cigarettes a day. That was before the missionaries knocked his door (he’s been investigating for about 6 months). Now he only smokes 1 every other day and is working on quitting all the way. miracles happen!!!

Eduardo said that it’s because of the Book of Mormon and going to church that he has been able to quit smoking. I am so proud of him. He is a great example to me that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and works. I testify that it is true. There is so much power in studying the scriptures, praying., and attending church. Not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. 

I love this gospel and I know that it is true. I love the Book of Mormon and I love the person that I am becoming. Never have I felt more confident and more sure of myself. Never have I felt more confident and more sure of my Father in Heaven. He lives and He loves us oh, so much. 

Have a great week! And smile! Because we are the light of this world!!!

sooo.... things might get a little expensive... just outside of Puerto Montt there are TONS of hiking and waterfalls and awesome stuff. And it costs money... to rent a bus and enter in the national parks. :) As a district we went (rented a bus about $10 mil cada persona... $15 dollars) and hiked to the Los Saltos de Petrohue. It’s about an hour out of Puerto. Soo cool!! 

It was a guided tour and part of it we got in a boat and went around one of the islands. I’ll send more fotos of it.

And dad, you’re distracting me.... I’ve already dicieded that I’m going to change my major to Rec Activity and minor in business. During the summertime, we’ll be working our family run guiding company :)

Paraiso (Paradise)

hola familia!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We had district meeting on Thanksgiving and celebrated with banana bread. 

Can I just say that I love my new sector! It is huge and we aren’t able to have as many lessons in the week because we spend a lot of time walking, but it is gorgeous! I have been so blessed. In all of my sectors, I have been able to see the ocean or a huge body of water. I love CHILE. 

I want to tell you a few miracles we saw this past week. 

On Wednesday, a member told us that it was forecasted to rain the entire week. When it rains, it pours and we are outside for hours because no one wants to let 2 soaking girls in their house. Thursday it was my turn to pray before we left for the day. I prayed and asked Padre that if it be possible, and His will, that it could only rain when we were inside a house. We walked over 6 miles that day and it poured... every time we were in a house! And every time when we were closing or saying the last prayer, the rain would stop.

It was awesome to see this miracle and have it confirmed that yes God  is real, yes He loves us, yes, He knows our needs and when we pray in faith, EVERYTHING is possible. Jaja the next day, we didn’t have as much luck, but we had a fun wet day, enjoying the beauty of a wet world, the smells, sounds, and tastes of pouring rain.

Another miracle; we were late to get in for the night because we were in a lesson and we decided to take a taxi home. We were outside in Centro (downtown) Puerto Montt waiting for a taxi to pass by. About 15 passed in the space of 40 minutes and all were in use, so they didn’t stop for us. It was now even later and downtown isn’t the safest at night. I said a quick prayer that a taxi could pass by in the next 10 minutes that was free. 8 minutes later a free taxi passed by and we were able to make it home safe and sound.

Some many call it coincidence... some many say that it is chance, but I am here to tell you that it was a blessing from a loving Padre Celestial. He hears our prayers. He knows our circumstances. I testify that He answers our prayers when we pray in faith.

In my studies today in chap. 4 of Preach my Gospel, it talks about praying in faith. Many times we only pray with real intent when we want something to happen or we need something. All the other times that we pray, we pray traditionally: it’s time to eat, so let’s pray, it’s time to sleep so let’s pray, it’s time to go so let’s pray.

We pray A TON in the mission and I have made the mistake many times to pray traditionally, saying words without real intent, without pre-thought, without sincerity. If we really believe in God, if we really believe that He exists and that He is our Father, we ought to talk to Him as we talk to our earthly fathers, mother, friends, family. Because He is a person too. I’ll never forget something that one of my comps said to a member,

“Do you believe in God?”

“Yes!”

“Do you believe that He hears your prayers?”

“Of course!”

“Then why do you pray the same way every time you talk to Him?”   

If we really believe that He is real and hears our prayers we ought to pray in that manner!

Another little miracle

We have an investigator that is living with her boyfriend. She wants to get baptized and in order to do so, she has to repent of breaking the Law of Chasity and get married or stop living together. They had plans to get married but her boyfriend wants to do it in May so they have more time to plan and save for the wedding. She doesn’t have a house to move to nor money to rent a house for 6 months. Her family kicked her out because she is taking the lessons and listening to us.

That’s the real reason why they began living together in the first place.

Last week, we talked to the boyfriend about getting married next month and doing a little fiesta and then having the real wedding fiesta when they get sealed in the temple. He said he would think about it. hna Cordoba and I decided to fast for them and that something could happen so that she could be baptized 17 de Diciembre. We met with her yesterday and she told us that her mom had an accident and has asked that she return home to take care of her because the dad works outside the city during the week and is not home.

Obviously not the idealist situation, but it was awesome, because now she is welcomed back home, she has a place to live and her boyfriend can take the 6 months he needs to save and plan the wedding.

It’s been a fun week of miracles. I love you all! Hope you have a great week!

HURRAH POR ISRAEL

Hey Hey Hey

hola famillia! 

So that happened…just a normal day in Fitz Roy... walking along the sideway, when a dog came over and decided to taste hna Valle’s leg. I kicked it in the side but it still did some damage... yeah, I’m definitely a cat person now. We went to the hospital and she has to go back every 3 days for shots... for the next 3 weeks. Not fun.

Our old district in the Patagonia. Two of the elders lived on an island and have had to skype for district meeting. 

 My birthday was fun :) The elders from my district bought me a cake and sang me happy birthday. Then I went to bite the cake and my wonderful comp slammed my face in it again. Only this time is was a soft cake :) life’s good here. 

I love my new area... it’s very different. It’s a huge city and my sector is ginormous! There used to be 4 companionships in my sector but now there’s just one... I love my comp too. Se llama hna Cordoba y es de COLOMBIA! I think that the Lord is trying to tell me something... I love Colombianos. Woop woop! She’s awesome… has lots of flavor and spice. It’s cool because she was just comps with hna Braithwaite (who is now en casa!!!). Life’s good... 

I’ll be hna leader until pres. releases me. Hopefully I will get to train my last two transfers instead of being hna leader, or be a missionary normal. That would be awesome. 

We have 2 zones that we are in charge of my ward is HUGE!!!! I don’t know how to act! There are 150 members that attend. There is a bishop AND two counselors. There is someone to play the piano, lead music, we have a ward mission leader... had correlation meeting for the first time in my mission... haha it’s really weird. I kind of don’t like it. I like small wards. We get to serve more and actually know all of the members. Here I feel lost. Pero bueno! 

I haven’t received the birthday package yet... 

What am I doing for Thanksgiving? What’s Thanksgiving? jajaj I’ll be working :) 

The other hnas are awesome! DAD there is a girl here from New Zealand! She’s cool. 

With the problem hna... it’s sad... she went home the same person she was. A sad waste of 18 months.... I wish her the best of luck. 

It is sooo hot here! I forgot that the sun is hot. Yep... it’s summer time! Puerto Montt is a beautiful city that is right on a huge lake. There are 2 active volcanoes in the distance and tons of people. My first day here I got super sun burnt... haha you know it’s too a long time in Punta Arenas when you forgot that the sun is hot. 

I’ve been walking on bruised feet for the past week because my foot tendon is so tight. I have like major planter fasciitis. The area is huge and we walk a lot. Trying to see if members have bikes we can borrow because we have a few little pueblos and to walk from one to another wastes about 45 minutes. 

Oh, yes, I print out the emails. I have every email that you’ve sent me mom and dad and bros printed out and saved :) life’s good :) enjoying the heat... ummm my brain is kind of clouded from the heat and I’m still trying to get over being sick so excuse my rambling. I feel a little better... I came down with a nasty cold... but it’s okay. No pain, no gain...Glad to see that everyone is happy and healthy! 

JAKE have fun driving! 

I think this just about sums up my life (shout out to Elder Porter. haha thanks for the poem) 

A mission is a strange experience, a trial and a test 
A mission throws at you the worst, yet teaches you the best. 
I've never been so happy, I've never been so depressed, 
I've never felt so forsaken, I've never been so blessed. 
I've never been so confused, things have never been so clear. 
I've never felt my Heavenly Father so distant, He's never been so near. 
I've never been so discouraged, I've never been so full of hope. 
I feel I could go on forever, I've come to the end of my rope. 
I've never had it quite so easy, I've never had it quite so tough. Things have never been so smooth, things have never been so rough. 
I've never been though such a deep valley, I've never been to so high a peak. 
I've never felt so sure and strong, I've never felt so weak. 
I've never had so many ups, I've never had so many downs, 
I've never had so many smiles, I've never had so many frowns. 
I've never been so lonely, I've never had so many friends. 
Boy! I hope this is over soon! Gosh! I hope it never ends! 

The Book of Mormon is essential in the conversion of an investigator. It’s the sure way to know if Jose Smith was a prophet or not. If this book is true, then he did in fact translate it from the gift and power of God. If it’s true then everything else that happened is also true. If not, then everything is a lie and we are like every other church in the world. The only way to know is to read a bit and put it to the test. But so much more than that, it changes lives. It was written for our day. It changes people because it invites the Espiritu Santo to be our guide. It is another testament of Jesu Christo. Like Jose Smith says, we can grow closer to God by reading this book than by reading any other book. Testifico que el Libro de Mormon es verdad. Es la respuesta por todad las pregunta que tenemos. El libro de mormon me ha ayudado muchisimo aqui en la mision. por mis ivestigadores y por mi misma. es clave de nuestra religion. Al estudiar el libro de mormon y pregutnar con verdadera intension si realamente es un libro de Dios, su vida cambiarà. tratalo! queire saber por que estoy feliz? Por que estoy en chile? Por que tengo amino, al pesar de todas las cosas que han pasado, cuantas personas que make fun of me, cuantas personas that slam the door in my face, that spit on us, that hate us. How many days that I have walked through snow at 8 pm with snow boots soaked, been outside freezing for 7 hours because its pouring rain no one will let us in because we are sopping wet? I would not give my time, my energy, my health, 18 months of my life for a book that is false. I am here because I know and testify that the Book of Mormon is true. Because when I was 11 years old I put the book to the test and asked God if it was all real. And 2 months later, I got my response through a father’s blessing. It is essential in conversion and it is always the first thing to go, to be put off to the side. One of my fears was coming home and becoming less active. You want to know the secret? 

Read the Book of Mormon every day. 

Say your prayers. 

Go to church. 

Your life will be so much better. You will find a new strength, the strength and power of God. I love the Book of Mormon and will seal my testimony with my blood if need be, and like Jose Smith and Elder Holland, I stand as a witness of the power of the Book of Mormon because I have seen it change my life and the lives of sooo many people. Hopeless people. Drunks on the street. People with no goals. People with pain, with questions, with regret. 

 I love the Book of Mormon.