This week we had our paseo del barrio (ward vacation or something) where our whole ward rented a place where people could swim and eat. It was out of our zone so we called our Mission President and got permission to go. We brought some of our investigators and they really enjoyed themselves; swimming and playing soccer and talking with people. We got to stay there for some good hours before we went back to our area. It was very very fun and awesome.
We had a good week of work this week: lots of lessons, lots of new investigators, lots of people reading, and because my area is small, lots of running into investigators in the street. Its nice when that happens because you get to talk to them for a bit and ask them how they are.
Its very common in a normal day to see the same person sitting in the same store at least five times a day. I've gotten to the point in my area where I say hi to them by name and ask them about their family. I still have a lot of more time in my area (I'm pretty sure) and my goal is to get to know even more people.
There is an elderly man who is always sitting next to a fruit store called Daniel. He is the sweetest and is always looking out for us. Sometimes we see him walking to the clinic. But he loves to talk to us about God and helping out the people. He's over ninety years old and takes care of himself, going to the doctor and everything.
I only realized it was Valentines Day an hour ago. Happy Valentines Day to everybody who celebrates it. Or as one of my brothers always says, happy single-awareness day.
Anyway, this week was also really good. We have a paseo del barrio planned for this Saturday, which is a day that the whole ward goes somewhere to have a fun time. We called our President and got permission to go for 4 hours, so we are pretty excited too. Some of our investigators are planning on coming and are pretty excited to come. I'll let you guys know what happens.
We had some great lessons this week. I would love to go in detail, but I ran out of time and now its time to go and trabajar en la obra.
There is a really funny version of Hello by Adele made for missionaries. You should find it or something because my companion has it in her music. I don't know who made it but its funny so you should find it.
I had such a great week! Wednesday was full of miracles! One of our investigadors accepted a baptismal date and is just the best ever. Her name is Miriam Pardo and it would be great if you guys could pray for her. She has cancer and she finished her chemotherapy a couple weeks ago. Her tests came out really good, but she is going to continue to have tests and everything. She has been reading and came to church one time, but will just have to keep coming to be baptized. She's awesome.
We also had another miracle happen with one of our other investigadors named Astrid Cerda. She has a daughter who has the mental capacity of a 5 year old. She's suffered through a lot of hard things in her life. When we first started meeting with her she didn't want to come to church. But a while ago we made a huge step in finding out the real reason is that she has trauma with large groups of people because of her daughter and people harrassing her. We promised to help her out and everything. This past week we taught the ten commandments, and she recognized that she does not live the Sabbath day. So we invited her to church and she committed! We brought her to church, and it happened to be fast Sunday full with testimonies and a baby blessing. Everything was just so great and she even talked in Gospel Principles and Relief Society. It was awesome and she really liked coming.
Also another small miracle that happened this week that I find pretty significant. I was in intercambios with another hermana in my zone when it was near the end of the day. I consulted with her on whether we should go try to find our investigadors who live on the other side of the area, or stay in the area we were in and visit someone closer. She suggested we stay closer, so we went to visit some neighbors of some members. As we were on our way, I noticed a family I had talked to, so we took the opportunity to talk to them again. They hadn't been receptive before, and that day was no exception. Silvia, the abuelita who lived in the house, said she respected us and everything but didn't want anything more, but then somehow we ended up talking about the temple and the promises of an eternal family, and set up another appointment. When we left, the other hermana and I talked how we viewed that the granddaughter was more receptive and everything, but there was still a hope that even someone super Catholic like Silvia, to listen to us.
So we went back on Sunday to talk to them with two of the kids of the LDS family who lived right in front of them. We started teaching and the member kids testified of how they gained their testimonies. It was so great! They could see how much the kids had grown and immediately let us know their needs. They had even asked the father of them to give blessings to their own child who had cancer, and the following day the child was 100% better. As Silvia shared some experiences I could see how God has slowly opened her heart. I left the cita feeling amazed seeing a completely different person that we had known previously. This is how I see that God is Almighty. Like the experience of Elias, he stayed behind the rock and refused to come out not for the storm, not for the earthquake nor the fire, but for the still small voice. God really shows his power in the small things he does to open our hearts again.
It also bore testimony to me to keep working hard. Sometimes I get frustrated trying and trying, but the more I lose myself in the work and the joy of serving, the more I can see God's miracles.
Something that has made me know even more the power of God is the testimony of our investigadors. When they come to church, they have had the opportunity to bear their proper testimonies and have testified how we as missionaries appeared in their lives when they needed us, and how we have made a difference to them.
This week, we had the great miracle of having one of our dear investigadors, Miriam Pardo, come to church. I told you guys about this last week, and she came! She was there for all the three hours and really enjoyed it. She actually bore her testimony valiantly in one of the classes about her experience with cancer and how my companion and I have helped her when she needed it. It was a huge step for her and both me and my companion are really happy.
The other day we also left to work with a member. We visited a friend of hers and the member, Hermana Marlen, was really excited. She couldn't stop talking because she was so excited. We then tried to visit other people with us, and Hermana Marlen did everything she could to talk to people in the street and took every answer with stride. Her example really impacted me to be not just a missionary in my mission but to always represent him in my life like she does.
As I said before, this ward is the best. Every member is awesome and they try to help us whenever they can.
So this week we have been working harder and trying to reach more and more goals! We've had some success with some goals and have put even higher ones. So that has been a good point of the week. Some days this week have been really busy, with us going from house to house teaching, and other days we have walked in the hot hot hot sun and finding the sparse shade of the few trees. But we are going to change that and have EVERY day be a great day.
One of our investigators received an answer to her prayer the other day. She has twins that are seven months old and probably the cutest babies in my area. Our lessons are fast with her because they lose patience and start to cry. Our first lesson with her was a while ago when we were sharing the Christmas video. As she watched it, her babies were silent and paid attention, but after they were anxious and wanted to move and go outside for a walk. But as we said the prayer to leave them, they grew quiet again and didn't make a peep until my companion said, "Amen." Every lesson since has been different with them. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it was true, and she did one night after putting the kids to bed. When we came the next lessons, she said she got an answer, because she felt a lot more peaceful, and her babies slept more and have been more tranquil. It was awesome.
Another one of our awesome investigators has cancer. She has wanted to come to church for a long time but for health reasons, she hasn't been able to make it. She said she will come this Sunday so we are praying that all will be well. She loves the Book of Mormon and reads it a lot, and finds out for herself questions that she has. She's really really really awesome.
We also had cambios this week, but both my companion and I are staying for another cambio. We called our ward mission leader to tell him we were staying, and he was so happy he drove to the church during our meeting to talk to us. A lot of other people were really happy that we stayed. Again, my ward is the best.
So the pictures weren't downloading, but this isn't the first time I haven't sent pictures, so I think we are all good.
This week was very interesting. We had intercambios with La Dehesa, which is the place the Hermana Captacitadora Entrendadores are. They are hermanas who help out the hermana capacitadoras. I spent the day in a trio with my trainer Hermana Velasco, and Hermana Steed, whom I spent a little time in the CCM. It was fun being in a trio for a day, but I don't know how it would be for a transfer. We got to do service and clean windows of a free daycare center, and teach great lessons to some awesome investigadors. It was nice going on intercambios instead of having intercambios. They are much more enjoyable to go to.
Which was also sad because my trainer is going home this next week and we had one last day to work together. Its crazy how much time passes and how much you learn in a mission.
We had a unique miracle in my area the other day. It wasn't a so successful day and not a lot of people wanted us to be there, when we ran across someone we talked a couple days before named Connie. She's 13 years old, and we asked if her mom was home because she said she couldn't meet us without permission from her mom. She didn't seem to want us there, but we asked her if she could ask her mom if its okay if we visit. So Connie went to where her mom lived, and came back out after a while saying, "Pasen." (pass). It really surprised me at first, but we came in and the mom, named Marcia, was in the midst of piles of clothes that she was ready to donate. We quickly offered to help, and helped her fold them and put them in bags. It was great to see the change in Connie. At first she was not very interested in knowing us or letting us talk, but as we talked and helped, she and her mom opened up and were very grateful for us for being there and helping them out.
It was awesome and it was also great finding them. They live behind a mechanic shop and I would have never guessed someone lived there until we saw it. It just helped me realize that even though my area is small, there are still people who have never had the chance to listen to the missionaries and want to listen.
Happy New Year! As a missionary, I slept right through the new year and didn't wake up for any of the fireworks. But my companion, who woke up and sleeps right next to the window, said they were very pretty. It was also really funny seeing the stages of New Years: the excitement of New Years Eve and everybody buying things for their parties, everybody drunk the next day, and the following day that everybody is a little bit on the edge and angry. Despite the stages of New Years Eve, we managed to have lessons and work the same as we have every day and have some amazing miracles happen. One of our investigators has a fecha bautismal (a baptismal date yay!) and we have been able to have new investigators. One of them is Joseph.
He came to Chile from Haiti 5 years ago and slowly has been helping his family. His son, Jean, came to Chile 4 months ago, and he is the only member in his family. We recieved his reference, found Jean and Joseph, and have been helping them recently to know the ward (for Jean) and teach Joseph. Its a very interesting because Joseph speaks Spanish fluently, and Jean understands a little bit. As we talk he is usually silent until he understands something and gives a very big smile. When we ask if he can give the prayer, he asks if he can say it in French, and we say that is perfectly fine. They have been a miracle and I am excited to see what's in store for their family.
Its weird sometimes when I hear four languages in a day: Spanish for everybody here who speaks it, English for the random people who try to talk to me in English, Portugese when people speak to my companion, or French when we teach Joseph and Jean.
This past week has been really fulfilling for me. We have been working harder to help people and though everything we do may not turn out, miracles still happen. And this week I feel especially happy for the members in my ward and everything they do to help us, for the investigators we have, but most especially for my Heavenly Father and how he has helped me and guided me throughout my mission. There is no way I would be here without His help and continual guidance and strength he gives me. I have learned so much in these past three months that I never thought I would learn about missionary work and how I can be an instrument in his hands. I have received more than one confirmation every single day that he is there and watching over me and the people in my area.
