August 11th

I need to get back to ya'll with a longer letter. 

Oh if only Da-Rell from West Haven CT was able to come to Santiago... it would bring a lot more Chile spice to our Zone Classes.. I was able to be a fill-in leader for our zone class because a few of the other Hermanas from the other sector had the chicken pox. We talked about how we could include more inspirational questions we analized a little bit of what Ammon taught King Lamoni in Alma 18 with ways to use the Spirit to ask questions and use scriptures. My comp is one of the other leaders, so I was teaching with her.

We did service in the morning for an investigating family this week. The dad makes bread so they have this giant oven in this small apartment building. The whole house smells like flour, but the house was filled with all sorts of "tresures". We were there all morning scrubbing down the house... really, really, scrubbing. It definitely needed a before/after pic. But the family was really appreciative that we could come and help them. 

 

N____,, the boy I told ya'll about a few emails ago had entered the psychiatric clinic and is now taking medicine. You wouldn't believe the complete turn-around. He is going to church with his mom now (Evangelical church) BUT we are able to come over still and he is reading the Book of Mormon. It is almost unbelievable... anyways, we have grown to care so much for him and know that we can help him make bigger changes in the future. 

The other night we were were walking and trying to find different investigators to teach. Walking at around 8:30 in the evening and no one wants to open the door, both Hermana Veron and I needed to use the bathroom. We went by a member's house. Well, a hard situation to explain, but the husband, an active member who has been a member for years, and also an expert of Biblical topics doesn't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. His wife who is a less-active, has a pretty strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. It is often the topic we touch on when we go to visit them... 

We converse as we normally do in the beginning and like I mentioned above, we start talking about the need to read the Book of Mormon. The brother is an older gentleman who is pretty set in his ways says that with the few times that he has read the Book of Mormon, he has always had a hard time believing it. and Blah blah blah almost lecturing US for an hour about how no one can prove that these places exist.. Well, my first and natural instincts were "what is the point, why are we here listening to this" but my comp out of no where asks him if he has received his Patriarchal Blessing. And he goes off for a time telling us that the church lost it and he hasn't been able to get it back... more talking on his part.  But after my companion shared with him the need to read his Patriarchal Blessing. How she has seen the need to read the Book of Mormon through her Patriarchal Blessing.

She asked him a question: Do you believe that Satan knows our weaknesses?

After that he got quiet and everything turned around. We both testified the need to read the Book of Mormon has blessed our lives and how we mush put our faith first when we read it. Even he said in the end- two young people could convince me, a 70yr old man, to make changes in my life.

I think re-telling the experience in person would be better... but I know that this question is right. Do we believe that Satan knows our weaknesses?

It got me to ponder a lot in my own life. The things that I look at as my weaknesses and think i cant overcome them, but i know I can through Christ..  Jacob 4:7

I am also praying for the .............. family. I know it is all a part of the plan our our Heavenly Father. 

In response to dad... am also coming back to phoenix if that is okay. Ill have to be set apart by the stake pres in phx. It is decided Dec 29th. I'll be home for a short time and we will see from there. 

love you all and have a good week!!

July 21st

Just a really quick email this week. Not much to inform about and actually a pretty slow week here. We didnt have changes again. My comp will complete 11 months in this sector... So shes feeling a bit like I did in el Parque plus 3 months. Really stinks, and the ward is the same. We met a man named A_____ the other day, a contact in the street that ended up talking to us for over an hour and a half. We had a lesson with him. The guy is crazy, but super funny and participated way back when in church activities. We have another lesson with him this Wednesday. 

Like Alex, I have been able to see the small miracles in the week. Nothing grand, just really really small instances where I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to be here. I appreciate the packages/letters that will be coming to me. Nothing has come yet, but I know what to expect. I love you all very much and hope everyone is well. Thank you for your weekly emails which always bring a smile to my face and keep me going. 

-

June 2nd

Hola todos. 

Glad to hear that everyone is doing well! I was super excited to hear that Alex was able to have a conference with Elder Holland, was able to baptize J__ M___ , and met A___ M____! The news about Karen and Dad and Portland. I really liked the photos, although it looks like you guys went to San Diego, not Portland with Dad and all of his Chargers get-up. And a lot of commotion in the ward. More good news than anything. Shoot! A lot of marriage announcements. 

As for me- YES the weather is super cold right now. We have had quite a week of walking in the cold. We are trying to find new investigators, and the weather just doesn´t help... A few weeks ago we were door-to-door contacting and met a woman named M__ E___ M____ who had told us that she was very busy, and would attend to us when she had time. Most öf the time this means they don´t want to hear from us and kindly shut the door. But we gave her an image of Christ and left it at that. The other night we went to her door and as we were calling out to see if anybody was home and she appeared from around the street corner. She let us in and explained to us how much it meant to her that we had given her an image of Christ. How she really needed it at that moment and that she is struggling to support her family as a single mother with her two sons attending a university. And how she is really busy with her career and at the same time very lonely. We explained to her the importance of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us and the need to have Him in our lives. We are going to continue to teach her this week. 

 

We were also able to have a family home evening with the Bishop and his family on Monday. It was pretty crazy with him and his four sons. We also had a Convert and her family with us. It was supposed to be a NDH to get to know Bishop Pardos, and his wife and family, but it was pretty chaotic. We didn´t really get to talk much with the Bishop.

 

We were able to go out with Hermana Wright on Wednesday . I mentioned that you guys were planning on going to Portland. She and my Mission President are from Oregon. She told me that the water was contaminated, but obviously I wasnt able to tell you in time. I hope you didnt drink the ocean water lol. 

 

Not much else this Monday. Les amo mucho. Yo veo las bendiciones, aún pequeños, cada día. Estoy agradecida ser misionera acá en Chile.

May 5th

Hey Famm

Sí! feliz cinco de mayo. Nadie se lo celebra aquí, pero asi lo es. Hope you were able to eat tacos, burritos, drink lemoñade, etc. This week has been a little crazy. There are days with absolutley nothing, and days with a lot going on. Hey- Guess who came to visit? One Direction... We were practically at the concert with everything that happend there where a lot of fireworks and the few YW that are in our ward all went. tons of fireworks we had a pretty good week.

 A lot of contacting more than anything and we are working harder to ask for references from everyone.  One cool experience- we noticed a hurse coming out of an apartment building parking lot a couple of weeks ago as we were going to have lunch with a member. We asked the members if they knew the person who passed away, and they told us yes, not that they knew them very well, but that they knew them. We ended up contacting a person who lived in the same apt building as the family with the person who passed away. we went with a member to visit this contact that we had after our first plan failed. the plan de respaldo also fell through, but we contacted a woman in this apt buildng- at first the woman was pretty stubborn and didn't want to hear us, but the member who came with us has so much excitement for the obra misional. She pretty much gave lesson 1,2, and 3 to this lady who didn't want to hear us. But her heart completely changed in the end. She told us that her mom had passed away. the daughter of the lady who passed away just a week earlier. Although she didn't accept our invite to teach her or for her to come to church, we had a great lesson with the member who came with us and the member bore her testimony. I was very impressed and grateful for this member who was so persistent in sharing the Gospel with this woman who is a great example to me. A lot more has happened this week. Not too many progressing, but incentive to find more people to teach. 

 

........

I received good news from my old sector. that A____ had her baby and that J_____ that i have mentioned in a few letters came to church with all of his family. He has pretty much been attending alone for the past 6 months. hermana salazaar told me the good news today, :)) I am so happy for this. 

I wish I had a bit more to tell you. time always escapes me, but hey I will talk to you all on sunday hopefully. 

I am grateful for so much... and although the results don't always follow, I know that everything works out in the end and that Heavenly Father knows what is best. I am here to do my best, and to share what i know and believe. I love you guys. 

 

Yes if you can i would be so grateful to receive something warm. I am planning on buying more warm clothes. Depends on our pdays but in the next few weeks. ....... I love them so much :) 

 

cool to hear congrats to ELDER CLARK! and to the new bishop lol!!!!! how cool

ELDER B. such good news i will be praying for ____ as well cool with your ward in prov. how awesome is that?? 

 

 

a few good views fromm my apt and our faithful Menos Act hno Cofree. Very stylish. 

........

have a good week i will talk to you sunday!!!!!

April 7th

Hola Family

I don't have a lot of time to write this week. I LOVED conference. It is that much more special as a missionary and listening to the talks and thinking of how some pertain to the people we are teaching. It was a blessing to hear our Prophent speak to us. An ongoing topic from what I heard was the theme of the love of Jesus Christ. There is never an end of learning or knowing more about our Savior and our Relationship to Him. There is not an end to knowing what the Atonement is and how to apply it. And I am taking on the challenge of studying it and applying it more. I am so grateful to know that I am a daughter of Heavenly Father. And that as a missionary, I can testify of this truth. 

This might be the shortest of all of my emails, but I hope you continue on this week and ponder on the truths we´ve heard from the servants of the Lord. I love you all and am grateful for your examples of faith. Faith is an incredible divine attribute. 

pics- A___, P____, V_____ (holding her cousin____) F____, her friend and C______

baby shower for A____

pic with my comp after conference

Please keep in prayers also the people in Northern Chile. very terrible earthquake. Don't worry about us here. We are safe. We do get some cool temblores though :)

Acts 17:27

Hola Familia

Wow, sounds like yall had a good week! Alex in Nashua, and Karen and Dad in Phoenix w the Borrowmans. Very nice! I liked the pictures as well. ........

 

And Congratulations to Devin!! Wow! There are a few missionaries here from Salta, Argentina. Yep, Hermana Salazar got it! He sure will come back with a different accent haha- And I bet, Dad that you were living it up with your old comp and your mission president- What a cool experience! 

 

I told you last week about M____ and A____. We were able to have the recorrido (travel) with them in the temple. In the end, she was in tears and was able to feel the Spirit. Later in the week, a member was able to come and help her with her house and was able to give her sick grand-daughter, A____, a blessing and we took her to meet the president of the Relief Society. She doesn´t leave her house very often, but she took a few very big steps in letting us help her, especially with getting to know some of the members. We are close to getting her to come to church. We know it will happen soon! Also, Hermana Wright (Mission President's wife) was able to do divisions with us one day this week. We taught a part member family where the dad is not a member. We were never able to have a lesson with the family because the dad is always working, but we are going to start teaching him and the family this week :)

We were able to teach R____ a lot this week. Keep praying for her because it has been hard to get ahold of her for the past couple of days. We have constantly been trying to get in touch with her, but with little results recently. 

Not much else has been going on. The hermana that we have been working with for months- R____- was able to come to stake conference con su amiga de Peru- M____ A___who we have been teaching. She isn´t one for listening, but we have some crazy stories about her. The conference was nice and it was a broadcast. Elder Cook was able to give a talk as well as two members of the 70 and a counselor in the Primary. 

 

Look up this scripture-. I have a note that I made for myself this week that says FEEL AFTER HIM. The Spirit will guide us in knowing who our Heavenly Father is. And we are the ones that need to seek.. or feel after Him. Because He is very, very close.  Keep me updated with how everyone is doing.

 

......

A picture with Hermana Wright

 

 

 And a picture of our Stake Center, Javiera Carrer

 Marisol (blue shirt) with Anita and Alicia in the stroller

 Rosa and Maria Angelica