Hiya Mom and Dad! :)
I hope you are enjoying your time in Missouri! That is so neat that you were able to go and enjoy a few days together with friends! I bet the kids have missed you though! I know I would!
So as you both know, transfers were today and I am staying in Chacabuco!!! :) But Hermana Lobo left! :( She is going to a place about 4 hours from here called San Pedro and will probably finish her mission there. She did not want to go there because it is super cold in the winter and pure country and far away from everything (or so i hear)! I am here in Chacabuco still and I have a new companion! Her name is Hermana Matamoros and she is from Honduras :) She only had 7 MONTHS on her mission and was called to be a sister training leader! That is so incredible! I am so excited to work with her! Each companion has something so important and special to teach me and I know that the Lord is the one who puts us together. I have come to love every one of my companions and i know that I will learn so much from Hermana Matamoros! She is 24 and has 2 other siblings. Her mom is a bit less active and her dad was killed 4 years ago. She is amazing and I can tell that she is such a strong person and has a stong testimony. I guess i will training her how to be a sister training leader which is a bit scary considering i still don´t really know what i am doing haha. It is like the blind leading the blind! I am just grateful that i can rely on God and do my best and know that everything will work out. I am super nervous once again and feel like I have a great responsibility and don´t want to mess up. It is kinda hard sometimes because areas of the leaders should be example areas for the other missionaries. This area is a bit hard but last transfer we saw so many miracles and were able to see God´s hand. I hope that this transfer will be that same and that all will work out how Heavenly Father wants it to. :) And guess what!?!? Hermana Jensen is a sister training leader now too!!!! And she is companions with Hermana Vivas, my mom and first companion here on my mission in Argentina!! I am so happy for her and they will have so much success together!! Hermana Vivas is know for baptizing lots and is super amazing and just a wonderful missionary and Hermana Jensen will be so happy with her!! :)
This week was so amazing! I don´t even know where to start. I never know where to start. I never remember what I tell you and what I don´t tell you and if I have already told you something haha.
Ususally when we do exchanges we do them for only 24 hours. Exchanges are when one of goes to the area of an Hermana to work with her for 24 hours and the companion of this hermana comes to our area to work. We have to do them each week to see how the hermanas are doing and all that jazz. I am always nervous to do exchanges because sometimes I feel like I don´t help the hermanas like Heavenly Father wants me to, but i am learning to trust in Him more and rely on the Spirit to know what to do. I am really starting to like doing them and it has been very rewarding in many aspects. I learn so much from the hermanas and can really feel so much love for them and i love it so much! It is hard because I still don´t know what I am doing half the time, but I love it :) So anyway, the exchanges are usually 24 hours but we have permission from Pres. to do them for longer if certain sisters need it. There is a pair of hermanas that we wanted to do exchanges with for 3 days because of some things that are happening with them in their area and as a compship. After praying about it, we decided that I would stay in our area and that Hermana Lobo would go to the other area. I was nervous like always because even though I had been in this area five weeks, i am still learning it and it is always easier when you have your companion with you to help ha. The hermana that came here with me was having some difficulties and i really wanted to help her feel the joy that being a missionary and working hard in God´s work can bring! I know that God answers prayers and that He wants us to succeed! I know that He provides a way for us to accomplish our goals and righteous desires and that He is a God of mercy! I realized these things more during these three days because I was praying that everything would work out and that we would be guided and directed and that Hermana Hemi would feel happy and successful with the help of the Spirit. We saw many miracles in these three days and I learned so much from Hermana Hemi! I don´t think I have laughed so hard in my entire mission either! I wanted to help her feel happy and lift her spirits, but she helped ME feel more happy and lifted my spirit so much! She is from New Zeland and has an accent by the way! :) But now her family lives in Austrailia! I can´t wait to tell you more about her and our experiences together! Anyway, these three days we worked super hard and there were times when we had already scheduled to do our visits with a specific member but when we went to meet the member, they never showed up. That happened a few times but each time it did, Heavenly Father helped us think of someone different and each time we were able to have a member come with us in our visits! Lots of little tender mercies like this one were seen and i know that Heavenly Father was helping us each day. During this exchange we went to go see Yoselin (sister of Alejandra that was recently baptized) because she was preparing to be baptized
on Sunday and we needed to teach her the rest of the lessons. One night we were talking about her baptism and she tols us that she knew that the church was true and that Jose Smith was a prophet but that she felt like something was missing and didn´t know if
Sunday she would be ready. We then talked about the Spirit and how he speaks to us with a still small voice. She told us that maybe she was expecting a huge answer to know if she needed to be baptized and that maybe it wasn´t going to come like that. So that night we commited her to pray and to read the book of mormon and pay attention to her feelings and thoughts and to remember how the spirit talks to us. The next day we passed by her work (she was making chocolate easter eggs and didn´t have a lot of time) just to have daily contact with her. We asked her about how she felt about her baptism
on Sunday and she said "I feel good and want to be baptized
this Sunday." She told us that she felt ready and that she knew it was true!! :) I really wish you could know this amazing family. They are going to be such strong members of Christ´s church. I get emotional thinking about how the Gospel has blessed their lives and how blessed I have been to know them and help them know the correct path. Yoselin was baptized
on Sunday and once again it was a bit of a struggle but it worked out like always! She works on Sundays usually and had someone that was going to work for her (this was sat. night) but when we went to her house
Sunday morning to go to church with her, Alejandra, and Roberto, she was still working and Alejandra told us that no one could cover her because all the family was going to Moreno (2 hours away). So we went to the bakery to see what we could do and in the end, Alejandra stayed to work for her sister so that she could come to church and have her baptism. Alejandra was able to close at 1 and make it just in time her sister´s baptism :) Alejandra and Yoselin are two of the greatest women I know here on my mission. We have had so many great experiences with them and it really has been so amazing seeing their progress and their faith in the Lord and His Atonement. Yoselin wants to serve a mission and help people come to know about this church and that it has been restored to the earth throught Joseph Smith. She has a strong testimony of him. Oh I forget to tell you! It was so amazing! We taught the law of chastity and the word of wisdom
on Monday a week ago and found out the Yoselin drank coffee eeryday and that it was hard for her to not have her coffee. But after talking about the word of wisdom she said " i know that this is a commandment from God and if it is a commandment, I need to obey it." And since then, she has not had one cup or sip of coffee! AW!! I love being a missionary and seeing these miracles!! :) Alejandra told us that she too would have liked to serve a mission like her sister but can´t because she is going to have her baby. We talked about missionary work and how she can be a great member missionary and that got her really excited. She wants to come with us on out visits and when we asked her what she could do to help with missionary work she said "i can tell people by telling my experience and how this church has helped me and changed me and can give my testimony to them." Then she told us that even though she would have liked to serve a mission, she knows that it is a great blessing to have a son so that she can teach him the gospel and help him have the truth!! :) :) I am so happy! We felt the Spirit so strongly in this lesson. We were also with Roberto and he accepted a baptismal date for
this Sunday the 27th! The member that came with us really helped him. We found out that he didn´t want to be baptized because he was afraid to go astray after baptism. It was so powerful because Alejandra, his sister, told him of how she felt the same way before baptism but finally realized that she needed to act and endure to the end but couldn´t until she was baptized. So she just decided to do it and feels like a new person after receiving the Holy Ghost. Oh my goodness it was just such a powerful lesson with them and i will never forget it. So now we are working with Roberto so that he can be baptized
this Sunday. We hope all goes well! Yesterday we went over to their house and helped them with the clothes that their mom sews and they made rice with milk and tortas fritas with dulce de leche! Then we watched a few mormon messages and once again felt a sweet spirit with them! Last night they came to say goodbye to Hermana Lobo and were crying because she was leaving. I hope that the will still allow me and my new comp in their home without Hermana Lobo :/ she will be missed! But I feel like they are becoming converted to Christ and that they will continue to progress! We are so grateful and excited to see waht happens with this family!
Well I have to go. This email is super long with lots of detail so sorry about that :/ sometimes i don´t realize how much i am writing. Love you so much mom and dad and thanks for everything!! I am very happy and will always be as long as i am serving God in His work. I know this is true and that the gospel brings happiness! I know that the Holy Ghost touches the hearts of God´s children and brings them to the truth! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! Have a great week!
No comments:
Post a Comment