Week #2

This week has been a blur! It is so true what they say about the mission. Days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days!! In many ways I feel like I just got here yet I feel like I have been here 6 months. Crazy stuff I tell you. But I have so much to tell you guys!! (Also please ignore all the typos in here. Spanish keyboards are the worst.) So Thursday was Christmas Eve and my companion and I started throwing up. hahahha So yeah all night long we just threw up and laughed and cried and it was so special. Christmas morning was so great though!! All of the senior missionaries and President and Hermana Doll made us breakfast and we all ate together. After breakfast I got to call you guys which was honestly the best/worst thing ever. But I am so glad you are doing okay! We are told that when we think less of home God will think about you more. I hope that is true. So Christmas night we got to skype with Elder David Bednar and the Ghana MTC. SO DANG COOL!! We got to ask him all kinds of questions and discuss concerns as missionaries. He said things that I had been praying for and had needed to hear sooo badly. Something I have been struggling with is patience while learning the language. I just want to be fluent already gosh dang it!! The teachers here tell us that each week we are here stands for how old we sound while speaking Spanish. For example, I am starting week 3 so I currently sound like a 3 year old. Pretty accurate. BUT ANYWAYS, Bednar said the most amazing thing about learning a language. He said, "What you are is far more important than what you say. Many investigators say they didn’t keep listening because of what was taught but what was felt." Pretty amazing. He closed by saying, "Remember, you are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing!" And this is what keeps me going. There have been a few times (okay a lot of times) where I have wished I was sitting at home eating Chipotle.. Or listening to music other than Motab.. Or going to soda shop with my cute family. But then I remember this isn’t my time. This isn’t about me. Or my chipotle craving... Or my homesickness. This is the Lords time so I will treat it that way. I know this church is true you guys, I wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t. Okay I have the coolest story though!! Long story short, we go to the park every morning to work out. On Saturday morning we were doing laps around the park when we passed this man, I got an overwhelming feeling to talk to him but I pushed it away because… who knows. BUT WAIT. We pass him again and this time he stops us! He started asking me where we were from and what we were doing in Chile. I explained we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we were here to share our gospel with others. He told us how amazing he thought that was and kept walking. At this point I am just kicking myself because I have now let him go twice!! So I ran up to the other missionaries playing soccer and asked if anyone had a pass along card or anything to give to him. and guess what.... Hermana Moon had felt inspired that morning to bring a Book of Mormon to the park. Coincidence? Maybe but I don’t think it was. So Hermana Moon and I ran up to the man with The Book of Mormon and taught him for 10 minutes! He told us he had been praying the last few months for answers about God and feels we were his answer to prayers. THIS IS WHY I AM HERE! He gave us his name and address and told us to please send missionaries so I am begging you all to pray for Chris and hope he reads the Book of Mormon! Embarrassing moment of the week. We practice teaching investigators every day that happen to be our teachers. Yesterday I was teaching Hermano Antileo (pretending to be Marcos) and I kept saying,"Yo se que Jesucristo encanta usted." I said it at least 4 times which I thought meant, "I know that Christ loves you." after the 4th time he stopped me and started dying laughing. He asked me to never say that again because I guess it means Christ has feelings for you, or has a crush on you. So the Spanish is going greeeeeat….hahahha. I love you all! Elder Bednar encouraged all of us missionaries to start off the new year with beginning the Book of Mormon with a topic in mind you need help with. Mine will be patience as you may have picked up on. So go get a cheap BOM from Desert Book (the ones us missionaries give out) read the BOM with your topic in mind and highlight the heck out of it. When you are done, write a one  page testimony on your topic and put it inside. Then whenever you need help with that topic, you have an entire book to look at! I love you guys so much. Please catch me up on your daily lives and know I pray about you all every night. AND PLEASE DONT BE OFFENDED IF I DONT RESPOND THIS WEEK. I HAVE LIKE NO TIME! The church is true. Be good

                                                           Outdoor Christmas Concert

                                                               Christmas Stocking

                                                            Our Christmas Tree

                                                                Merry Christmas!