September 23, 2013

Hola familia!!!

I hope things are all well there in the great ole US of A!!!

So September 18th is really huge day here in Chile because it is there independence day, but it is a week long celebration. This week we did not find quite as many people in their houses or on the streets, but it was fun!!! People did not work for a full week and basically eating for a week straight! Empenados and asados (kind of like a barbecue) is what everyone did this week. Some members invited us over and I ate the meat inside of the empenadas haha. It was delicious!!! Wednesday we also had zone conference with Elder Zeballos of the seventy which was really fun! He and his wife and our mission president and his wife talked to us and basically pumped us up! Elder Zeballos talked about learning a language too and that it is important to NEVER lose it because the Lord will have use for us one day in the future, especially those speaking Spanish. That was kind of fun! He also talked about D&C 4 and the qualifications to be a missionary. He then showed scriptures that basically showed that love, love love and love qualify us for the work. I am learning a lot about what love really means. It is good that love is the biggest and most essential thing in missionary work because I lack a lot of other things.

Oh random story, we had to take a taxi to the meeting because we had to be there really early in the morning before the metro opened up. We had a little bit of confusion with the taxi, but finally found one. We were a little frustrated, and I think he could tell and got us there REALLY fast. We were going 60 kilometers per hour. That is REALLY fast. Lets just say we were the very first ones there :).

I was studying about Charity this week and in Moroni 7:45 it says, "no piensa el mal" or doesnt think the bad or something (I only know it in Spanish). This is why we always should have a positive attitude!!! we all are working on charity and part of it is having that hope, optimism and trust in the Lord. It is not easy to learn this sometimes haha.

This week was pretty great!!! Unfortunately, Hermana Skabelund got transferred this week. I am sad, but excited for my new companion!!! Tomorrow I start training a greenie or new missionary and I am pretty excited!!!

Keep up the great work family, and show that love you have and share the great news of Christ!!! I KNOW there are people prepared in every person´s life and that every person can share the gospel!!! You just have to open your mouth and do it!!

Con mi amor,

Hermana Taylor

September 17, 2013

Dear familia,

Hola! How is everything going? How is school going for everyone? Is it still super hot there? It warmed up for a few days here, but then it cooled down again. I am pretty excited for spring to finally get here. The trees are blooming and it is all really beautiful.

Funny thing of the week is that we started feeding a dog that lives in the street. Hermana Skabelund named him Flakucho (flaca means skinny). She has a huge heart for dogs. So most days now, we buy him dog food, go find him in one of his usual spots and give him the food. He is kind of old, and now responds to his name. Sometimes Hermana Skabelund reminds me of Lindsey, or I could see Lindsey doing the same thing.
This week in la capilla or church we had my best week of the mission!!! We had 8 investigators and a couple of little kids!!! We are teaching two families right now that are really promising. Marisol brought her brother to a ward activity (barbecue type thing for 18 de septiembre or independence day here) and he loved it! She also brought him and her three daughters to church. It was great!!! Also, we were going through the list of members and visiting them and we found a lady named Jessica. Her daughter was baptized at 8 years old and has never been to church since. It happens that her boyfriend is a less active member, and that her other daughter is really interested. Almost all of them came to church too. There is a scripture in Alma 26 verse 22 I think that says the Lord will give them to chance to bring many souls unto repentance. It is true that the investigators that we have are just given to us. A lot of time when people are given things or given "success" it is a gift from God. Just because they received a gift and someone else didnt, doesnt mean that they are more righteous than the other. It means that God gave them that blessing.This is kind of hard to learn, but I am learning it a little at a time. He is giving me the wonderful opportunity to be here in Chile serving these amazing people! He is giving me so much more than I could ever give Him, but I am grateful for the opportunity to serve for a year and a half.

We have zone conference this week, so they changed our p day. Tomorrow is our Zone conference with one of the members of the 70, but I forget his name. I am pretty excited!!! Tomorrow also is Chile´s independence day. This whole week (literally) is a big long holiday. Independence day is huge here! Basically for a whole week, they eat all day, dance, and have fun!  It is all pretty fun! They eat a bunch of empanadas, and barbecue a TON of meat!

The mission is amazing!!! If anyone is ever doubting whether or not to go, the answer is to go! Sure, it is extremely difficult in many different ways, but it is a life changing opportunity where you receive a lot more than you can ever give! Oh, I got on familysearch.org today to check out the new page so that I can help people out, and there are still a lot of ordinances not done. How is the work going? It is a lot easier to add pictures now, and even family stories. It is super cool!!! Thanks for taking those name to the temple! I know they are grateful too! Les amo un MONTON!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Taylor

September 9, 2013

Hey familia!

I am learning so much here in the mission!!! We had interviews with President this past week, and it was really insightful. I asked him a question and he gave me a story in the Bible to read, in Luke 10 about Mary and Martha. It did not quite answer the question I had, but it answered a different question that I did not know I had. Reading it in Spanish is a little different than English. In verse 41 it has a couple of words that I did not know, so I looked them up. Afanada y turbada, which have different definitions than just to be worried. One definition is to be confused. I realized that I had been a little confused. I was so caught up in trying to obey with exactness, that I forgot why I was obeying in the first place. There truly is a letter of the law and the Spirit of the law. Ya, we should obey all the rules, but we need to realize why we are obeying, because we love God and are trying to love him, serve him, and become more like him. Sometimes, the Lord gives us a ton of things to do like food storage, family history, fellowshipping, etc. that it can get overwhelming, like Martha. It is times like this that we have to look at what and why we are doing these things are realize that we will not be perfect in this life. The Lord sees and knows our hearts and knows that we are trying, and sometimes we need to give ourselves a break (or at least I needed to).

OH, something super cool that President talked about was that our mission is going to focus a TON more on family history now!!!! All I can say is, I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! Chile has really great records and ways to search, so I think a lot of people are going to be able to get their work done! We went to one less actives house, and normally she is pretty dense and doesnt listen to well. We mentioned family history, and she woke up (a promise we have from doing this) and also her husband. We will be going over this week to get them started and hopefully get them a goal to come back to church so that they can take these names to the temple.

Other quick story, Marisol (our reference from a family in the ward) is progressing. We meet with her every friday and this last time she said the Book of mormon is starting to convince her and that it truly is a great book!!!!!!! I had to keep myself from cheering out loud when she told us haha. We have high hopes for her!!!

I love you all UN MONTON!!

Con amor,

Hermana Taylor

September 2, 2013

Hola familia!

Sounds like the school year is up and running for yall. Tell Brent that I said Congratulations and Good Job!!! That is super exciting that he is home!

This week was super cool! We did two divisiones this week, which is always a little crazy. I learned a lot, and am extra grateful that I am junior companion and not training haha. This mission is hard, but absolutely amazing! There is a quote in the first part of preach my gospel that says (sorry i have to translate it so it isnt exact) that as our understanding of the Atonement increases, our desire to share the gospel increases. This applies to EVERYONE and not just missionaries. These people out there NEED the gospel, NEED it!!!
Funny story of the week. Tuesday we have our appointments fall through, so we decided to do a little bit of street contacting before we had to go back to the pension. The second guy we contacted was older, and super receptive to everything we said. We were excited! The only problem was, we we asked if we could take down his information, he said he did not remember. We could tell he was being honest, but wasnt drunk or anything like that. We asked some more questions, like where he was going and how long ago he left his house, and it was pretty evident that he was lost. He was going in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go, and we think he had dementia or alzheimer o something like that. We did not want to leave him alone in the street, so we took him to a couple of small stores trying to get help and get someone to call the police. Eventually we ended up in a pharmacy similar to Walgreen´s (called Cruz Verde) and the guard there helped us. The store did not want to be liable for this old man, so we had to sit and wait with him until the police came. It was about nine twenty or nine thirty when we actually got help from someone, but the police were not going to be there for 20 or thirty minutes. We waited with Elías (the old man) and read from the Book of Mormon with him, but the police were late getting there. We had called the zone leaders since we couldnt leave this man alone in the pharmacy and we did not know when the police were coming. Eventually at 10:25 elders came to take our place with the old man so we could get back to our apartment. They took a taxi with him to the police station, and we found out the next day that he got home. That was kind of a fun experience haha.

We had a great lesson with one of our investigators, Marisol, this week. She also came to church on Sunday. One family in the ward invited her (they invited her for years before she accepted) and are doing most of the work. We are there to teach and that stuff, but the family makes all the difference. We have big hopes for her!!!! It is ok to invite people and they say no. As with Marisol, after lots of persistence one day they will say yes!!!! I know this knowledge changes lives. I also knmow how much the Lord needs us in this work.
I love you all!!! Have a FANTASTIC week!!

Love

Hermana Taylor