Singing, Baptism, and Art

Queridos familia y amigos,

This week we have had more service but we also saw a baptism in the ward! One of the elder's investigators got baptized and its actually a funny story. My companion and I forgot that it was this past Saturday, and so we were walking and trying to find people that we had wrote down from the area book, when the elders called us. It went somewhat like this:

"Hola hermanas, ustedes van a venir al bautismo?" Elderes

"Bautismo? Cuando?"

"Hoy. Ahora en la tarde. Y Hermana Reed iba ser un numero especial."

"Ya, y a que hora empieza?"

"En cinco minutos."

"Cinco minutos?!"

For those who don't know Spanish, bascally the baptism started in five minutes and I also was singing a special number that I didn't know about, since the elders never told me. We immediately started running, caught the bus, and ran the rest of the way to the capilla. It was a good baptism and I sang "How Great Thou Art" since I only had a little bit of time to choose what to sing. Asi es el mision.

We also went to a museum today! I don't have a lot of time, so I'll upload some pictures of the adventure.

¡Exito!

Service and Testimonies

I've always read other missionaries emails and read about how excited they were to give service, I never understood why they liked talking about it. BUT NOW I KNOW. 

The missionary handbook says that we should serve in the community at least one hour minimum each week and my companion and I have been searching high and low for opportunities, but there aren't that many. But we finally asked a family if they knew of any possiblities because we needed to give service, and they said we could help them. So this past Saturday, I and my companion helped this family move straw. That's right...straw. They had about 18...barrels? Bunches? I forget English. But they had about 18 bunches of straw and we helped move them into their truck so they could take it and put it somewhere else where there was more room. And I was so happy because we gave SERVICE. YES. Sadly I don't have any photos. 

Macarena came to church again! It was cool because it was stake conference and there was a seventy. She says she loves our church and wants to know more. We've invited her to be baptized, but she says she wants to take it slowly. So we'll wait and let her think, but I know she's ready! 

We had a great lesson yesterday with her roommates though who are all investigating the church. Paula is one of them and she actually told us she didn't believe in God until she came to the Stake Conference. The testimonies and the miracles she heard about convinced her that maybe there is a God. So now she's starting to believe. We gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read. She has so much potential and I know that she can gain her own testimony. She can do it!

And personally I want to testify of missionary work. Not missionary work here out in the field, but missionary work for members. Everybody should be sharing the gospel and not be ashamed of it! The gospel is for everyone and not just for yourself. Share your testimony, because testimonies are so powerful. Your testimony is a gift to others and it can change their hearts. I know this because the only reason we have Macarena and Paula as investigators is because of the testimony of the member Claudia. She is a convert of a year and a half and she has such a powerful testimony. She always invites people to church and I know she shares her testimony with each one of them. because whenever we meet with her she tells us of more friends who are interested in learning. Last night she brought another friend to our lesson, a friend that was going through a hard time and needed to talk. Her name is Carol and she's going through a hard time. and she also wants to learn more about our church. Claudia is amazing and just the fact she shares her testimony she is bringing more and more people closer to Christ. SHE'S THE BEST. 

I hope all of you are safe and well, and I just want to testify that I know this church is true! I know that my Savior lives and loves us, and that he wants the best for you and you to reach your potential. Every person is special, and I have been given a great work to help them realize that they are children of God and he has a plan for them. The Book of Mormon is true, I know that it can change lives! I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Hermana Reed

Earthquakes and their Lack of Waking Me Up

They say that the country of Chile has living soil, because it's on a tectonic plate and its constantly moving. Because of this, Chile is prone to a lot of earthquakes, so therefore all their buildings are built to be strong so they won't collapse. Since I've been in Chile, I have been waiting to feel these earthquake they speak of...but I haven't felt any. They told me there have been two you could feel since I have been here, but they were during the night. So I was sleeping and they didn't wake me up. That's the life of a missionary, you are so tired you'll sleep through earthquakes. 

Macarena is still going strong!!! She came to the ward's family home evening again. She actually turned out to be the only one who showed up, so we gave her a tour of the church and taught her about baptism, which was the lesson we had planned for everyone. It was really good. 

We also invited her to see some baptisms on Saturday in the chapel next to the temple and she told us she could! But some things didn't work out and we got some information wrong, but we continued anyway and she got a tour of the temple. She said she felt tranquility and comfortable in the temple. It was cool to get to enter again and experience that with her because I love the temple!

She came to church this past Sunday too and brought a friend! She really likes it and likes the people. She loves talking to the members and getting to know them. And the lessons we have with her are super powerful and full of the spirit. I just hope that she gets to feel the spirit all the time. 

We also met with another interesting investigator named Ariel, who loves to read the Book of Mormon. He had met with the missionaries before and read a lot of chapters. He says he likes to pick it up when he has free time and read. He also underlines things he has questions about and doesn't understand. I hope we can teach him well, and also get him to come to church!

Well that's all that has happened this week. A cambio has passed and I am staying in my area for another six weeks, which I am excited about because I get to stay with Macarena! 

Love, 

Hermana Reed

The mountains of Chile on a clear day

We used to live with Hermana Lewis and Hermana Gonzalez, but they moved away. So we visited them last Pday and got to eat delicious Argentinan empanadas! Hermana Gonzales is from Argentina.

My companion, me and Macarena!

MILAGROS (miracles)

Hola familia y amigos,

So it's been hard to get investigators in my area, or contact anyone at all. Most of the time we call people and they don't answer, walk to houses and nobody is there, or go outside to contact and nobody is interested. But last week a member introduced her friend to us and invited us to come teach her last Tuesday. We arrived and she invited us into her work, where a bunch of people were obviously glad that the day was coming to a close. She had told all her friends about us. 

At first we couldn't feel the Spirit because everything was so loud, there was music and we sat there as everybody moved around us. I started talking to one of them named Ignacio about what he believed in (he believes in energy like everybody else who isn't Catholic here), but then one of her other friends who briefly left for a second came back and told us she wanted to know everything. Her name is Macarena, by the way. When we asked her what, she just said everything, she just said she wanted to know everything. 

So we taught the first lesson and the whole room changed. Everybody who was left listened, and I seriously couldn't believe how strong the spirit was! We invited her and everybody else there to our family home evening which is every Wednesday in our chapel. And Macarena came! She actually ended up being the first one there, before the members or we arrived. We invited her to church too, and she came to that and said she really liked it! She is so amazing and has such a strong desire to learn! We had set up a lesson with her but it didn't end up working out because of her work, but she really wants us to come back and teach more.

Also another miracle that happened this week is that we finally met a family we have been trying to meet from the beginning. Her name is Sully and she's less active, and her husband isn't a member but he's interested. We had probably stopped by at least twice a week, and called her, but nothing happened. This week we stopped by again and the building attendant told us that we could meet her at a specific time and told her we would be coming. When we came to meet her, she said she was really happy that we didn't give up on her and we set up another time we could meet. She's awesome. And she's Colombian which is better because my companion is Colombian and they are now great Colombian friends. 

Hope everyone had a great week!

Pictures!

I finally have pictures! The first is me and my companion dripping wet.

We went out to find members and it started to rain. And it continued to rain. Since we didn't find anyone we came back really really wet.

The second is the completo.

The third is what sunsets are like in Santiago.

And the fourth is outside my apartment.