Week 7

Hola from the bottom of the world!!  I have so much to say, I have no idea where to begin!  Getting here was really long.  I basically traveled for about 3 days. But I made it and I’m doing great!  Chile honestly feels like home!  I am so grateful to be here!!  My mission President and his wife are incredible!  They are so full of love and rely on the Savior!  I can’t believe how blessed I am to be able to serve with them! Hermana Isom doesn’t speak any Spanish.  It’s hard for her. But she said she does it because she loves the Savior.  They received this call to serve because the other mission president got cancer and had to leave.  When the call was extended to them, they had 2 weeks to get ready, and then they left.  But they said they accepted the call because they love the Lord.  That would be so hard!  They are so full of faith and love, and they are incredible!!  I love them!!  I think this goes without saying, but it’s hard being thrown into another culture and completely immersed in a language that you don’t understand.  BUT, I still love it here!!  It is absolutely freezing here, beautiful, and incredible.  The kids here are SO cute!!  It is still a little hard getting used to dogs everywhere. But apparently Punta Arenas doesn’t have as many dogs as some other areas.  So I’m grateful to start here!  I love the people!!

My trainer is amazing!  Her name is Hermana Egbert, and she is from Utah!!  We are pretty similar in a lot of ways, and she helps me out a ton!  She went to school in Hawaii before she came here and worked for an eye surgeon!  She is so great!!  There is such a special spirit here in Punta Arenas!  The people are so kind and loving, the members are great and so willing to work, and there are a lot of people here that Heavenly Father has prepared.  We get to walk along the ocean every day, and its beautiful!!  We get to see dolphins every day, so that’s fun!  And the sunrises and sunsets are beautiful!  Also, apparently penguins get here in September. So I hope I’m still around for that!

I’ve already seen so many miracles here!  I wish I had more time to say everything that I would like to, but I will just share one experience!  Yesterday was hard but good!!  I couldn’t understand anything in church, and then every appointment we had fell through!  We tried going to this cemetery here that is pretty famous and passing out plan of salvation pamphlets, but we found out you can’t proselyte on Sunday.  So we are going to try that another day this week. But anyway, basically we were knocking doors in the cold and walking all day!  Nobody let us in.  But we weren’t discouraged.  We knew that as long as we were trying and had the Spirit with us, that everything was going the way that Heavenly Father wanted it to.  We had time to knock one last door.  It was a reference we got from the Elders a while ago.  They had knocked the door probably 3 months ago, and the girl told them they could come back another day.  The name kept popping into my trainers head, so we went!  We knocked on the door and a guy answered!  We asked for his wife and she was excited and let us in!  They are in their early 20s and live here because he is in the military!  She is from Mexico, and he is Chilean!  But she said that she has been having problems with her church because she doesn’t like that some people justify being mean using God as the reason.  Anyway, she knows people that are Mormon and loves them and wanted to know more!!  They were asking lots of questions, and it was way cool to see God put things into our minds to say to them!  He really knows them perfectly!  She shared some personal things, so without going into too much detail, God knew exactly what she needed to hear and used us to say it!  It was an incredible lesson!  But what was also a huge blessing was about half way through the lesson we found out they both spoke English!!!!  So I was able to teach and listen in English, and I can’t tell you how big of a blessing that was!!  In that moment, I was so grateful we had shown our faith in God that day by continuing to work hard and stay hopeful!!  Because we exercised our faith, God produced a miracle!  And I know we didn’t do any of it!  We were just instruments in His hands.  I’m so grateful I get to be here seeing Him work miracles!  Anyway, they are golden.  We are going to go by next week and continue to teach them!!  But this is not our work.  This is God’s work!  He is in charge.  As long as we are being good people, living worthily so we can have the Spirit to be with us, and exercising faith in God, everything happens how it is supposed to!!  I love you all so much!!  Have faith, be patient, and see God work miracles in your life!!  I love you!!
--Hermana West

Safe arrival in Chile

Week 6

Chile Here I Come!!  We leave to Chile in a couple hours so today is technically our new p-day!  This week has been so good!!!  Saying goodbye to people rips your heart out, but at the same time you are just so grateful to have met them!!  The mission has already been such a huge blessing!!  Last night when we were going home after our devotional, fireworks were going off outside of the wall and they were super high so we could see them!!  It was like they were sending us off to Chile with a celebration haha we loved it so much!!  Since I just wrote a few days ago this email is going to be super short!  I just want to share my feelings about Jesus Christ with you guys!!  I know for myself that Jesus Christ died for us, was buried, and then was resurrected on the third day and still lives today!!  I love my Savior Jesus Christ SOO much!!  Without Him, my life would be miserable! I would not be guilt free, I would not have this profound peace in my life, I would not be able to experience the pure joy I feel everyday, I would not be allowed second chances, and my life would be so dark.  BUT, the BEAUTIFUL thing about our Heavenly Father´s plan for us is that HE DID provide a Savior, our oldest brother, Jesus Christ!  And because of Him, because of Jesus Christ, we can have everything that is beautiful and good!!  We don't have to feel despair, helplessness, guilt, heartache, or any other thing that we don"t want to!  Because of Him, because of Jesus Christ, you can feel a peace and joy in your life that YOU CANNOT HAVE WITHOUT THE SAVIOR!!!!  I PROMISE that you can have it in your life because I have been able to have it in mine!!  ALL of your mistakes can be washed away!!  You can have a clean slate in life and with God!!  Don’t you want that??  Come unto Christ!  Do what is required to have His atonement work in your life!!  He can take your burdens and make them light!!  He can take your heartaches and turn them into JOY!!  He can clean you from all of your sins, past and present, and He can transform your life into something beautiful that you could never do on your own!!  I PROMISE you that you can have this in your life!!  EVERYONE who chooses to can have this!!  So I BEG you with every part of me to COME UNTO CHRIST!!  Make the necessary changes in your life so that you can have this peace and Joy everyday!!  He is waiting for you with His arms outstretched and He loves you! He died for you!!  Even if you were the only person to come to this earth, he still would have come to atone for You!!  The atonement is a very personal thing!!  Please let the Savior heal you, help you, love you, and help you have a fresh start in your life!!  This is why I’m on a mission!!  So that I can share this beautiful message with people who sit in darkness!!  I can’t wait to help people come to the Savior so that they can experience the happiness and peace that has come into my life and will come into yours and theirs as we run to the Savior!  He loves you.  Your Father in Heaven loves you.  I plead with you to come unto them.  They are waiting for you and want you to be close to them!!  I love you all!!

-Hermana West

Week 5

Hola!!!  This week has been so incredible!!  I have felt the Spirit so much, and they have really been focusing on getting us ready for Chile!  We have been practicing teaching so much, and even though we have a long way to go, we are getting better every day!  Last night for our personal study time, we decided to all get priesthood blessings!!  It was such a powerful experience!  What a blessing it is to have the priesthood restored on this earth!!  Nothing confirms my testimony more than the priesthood!!  Hearing the Lord tell you things through another person that has no idea what you're struggling with but knows, through the Spirit and through the power of God to say exactly what you need to hear is incredible!!  Also, I leave on Monday for Chile!  Woohoo!!!  I'm so excited to serve other people!!  This past Saturday in TRC (where you teach real people), we had the opportunity to actually teach a nonmember!  Her friend had invited her to come!  Our Spanish isn't very good, but we taught her about the Book of Mormon, tried to answer her questions as best we could, and invited her to read it and ask God to know for herself if what we were saying was true.  We taught her how to pray and she gave the closing prayer!  She started crying and told us that she felt the Spirit.  She thanked us for helping her feel God’s love.  She told us that even though our Spanish isn't very good, she felt something different and good with us!  She told us she thinks we are doing a good thing, and she is glad to hear we are going to help others!  She also told us that she will read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it’s true.  It was a super cool experience because we didn't know she wasn't a member until we were in the lesson and I asked her how long she had been a member.  She said she wasn't and that she was Catholic.  So the lesson we had planned, we just abandoned.  It was cool having to rely completely on the Spirit to know what to teach and being an instrument in the Lord’s hands.  We also had another devotional this week, and I felt like the speaker was saying everything that I needed to hear!  He talked about how you may not have wanted to be assigned to labor in the mission we were, but that is where the Lord has called us.  The apostles look at your face and missionary application one by one, and the Lord tells them through the Spirit what mission you are to be assigned to.  I was sobbing.  It's not easy, but I know that the Lord has called me to Chile.  He told us that the Lord trusts us.  He trusts us enough to represent Him and His church, and He has placed his confidence in us!  I love being a missionary!!  Even though it's hard, I sometimes wonder how in the world life could get better!!  OH!!  Also one of my teachers this week was a missionary that served in Danny´s mission!!  His name is Hermano Lopez, and he just got back in December!  He says Hi to the VanCott family!!  Also when we were packing, I found all the notes you guys hid in my suitcase!!  They were so sweet, and I loved them so much!!  Thank you!!  I don't know how I got blessed with the best family!!  I love you all!!  Keep living the gospel!!  This time next week, I will be in Chile woohoooo!!

--Hermana West

 

Week 4

Not much has changed around here, hahah. So I don't have too much to say about that. But I do want to share an experience or two and something I've learned!!  First of all, we've been trying to speak in only Spanish for 10 out of the 12 hours in our day, and it has not been easy.  You can't communicate, you can't really express yourself, and sometimes people don't understand you.  Sometimes it’s hard being with someone constantly.  Sometimes you don't see eye to eye, and you need to be stripped of all pride so that the spirit can be with you!  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my comp. But sometimes it wears on you being like 5 feet away from someone every minute of every day!  And I'm sure it's not always easy for her to constantly be with me either!  And just to make it clear, she hasn't done anything wrong. It's just kinda hard merging two completely different lives!  Sometimes lessons don't go as planned. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. Sometimes you can feel a little trapped, or get caught in a freezing cold downpour and realize that you will be walking in that, except with strong winds and even colder temperatures all day almost every day for a year and a half.  Sometimes you remember how much you miss your family, and all you want to do is give your parents and siblings a hug.  But then, you remember why you're here.  You remember why you put your job, school, social life, and everything else on hold.  It's because you know with every part of who you are that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored on the earth and that living the teachings of Christ has brought you more joy, peace, happiness, and blessings than anything that you could have ever hoped for!  And you know your life would be completely different without it!!  So you wanted to share that with people who don't have that happiness!  You wanted to help people that sit in darkness so to speak.  People who don't even know something is missing from their lives!  You came on a mission because you loved the Savior and you want to help people come unto Him so their lives can be changed!  And then you realize that you really love being here because there is absolutely nothing better to do in the world than this!!

 Also something that happened this week that I wanted to share with you!  We were in a computer lab using a program to study Spanish.  I don't love this thing at all, haha.  In fact, it can put me in a bad mood easily if I'm not careful!  But I was looking out the window, and President Bennett walked by!  Then a few minutes later, he started coming back from the other way.  I don't know why, but I thought in my head, “If he stops by the TALL (Technology Assisted Language Learning) lab right now, I will know God is aware of me and loves me.”  As soon as I thought that, I immediately thought, “That is so dumb.  I know better than to look for a sign.  And I know God loves me and is aware of me already.”  But the exact moment I thought that, President Bennett kinda paused, immediately changed direction and started walking toward our TALL Lab!  I was stunned at this point.  Then, sure enough, the door opens and there is President Bennett.  He asked how we were doing, closed the door, and then went back the direction he was originally heading.  Haha. So, I KNOW God is aware of you because He is aware of me!  He sent Pres. Bennett to give me a little reminder when it wasn't even that important!  So no matter what you may think or believe, I can promise you that God is aware of you individually and loves you!  And if we are worthy and trying to do what is right, we can be an instrument in showing God’s love to other people!  And at the same time, God can show His love to us through other people as well!!  I love you all!!  Please keep trying to be more like the Savior everyday!  It’s the only way to have real and lasting joy in your life!!  I love you!!!

--Hermana West

Week 3

HOLA!!! I LOVED your 4th of July letters!! I saw Adria!! (My cousin) Actually, we have the same schedule so I see her all the time!!  She is so happy and doing so well!!  She told me the only time she started to tear up was when she was sitting in class and realized how happy she is here!! So she is doing well!!  And thanks Grandma for sending me a hug through her!!  But your letters made me so happy!! 

This week has been so good!!  I'm so happy!! Sometimes I wonder how life could get any better!!  The gospel of Jesus Christ is such a blessing and brings so much joy in my life!!  Our investigators are doing so well!!  They are both preparing to be baptized and it is so cool to see the positive changes in their lives!!  Fourth of July was so fun!!  They decorated the comador and had all american food that was so yummy and then we all sang the national anthem!!  It was so fun!!  I love America!!  My Spanish is really improving and it’s all thanks to the Spirit!!  Without it, I would not be able to speak hardly any Spanish!!  The biggest thing I think I've learned this week is how important covenants with God are!!  That's why I'm here!!  To help people make covenants with God so that they can be happy and receive more blessings!!  It has also poured every night and I LOVE IT!!  And it has been hailing a lot too!! The streets flood and it is so fun!!  Also the thunder at night here is incredible!!  This week, we had to say goodbye to our best Latina friends!!  They are only here for three weeks because they already know the language!  That was hard, but they are going to be such incredible missionaries so we are excited for all the good they will do!!  I don't have a ton to say this week sorry!!  But I love you all so much!! And I can still feel all of your prayers!!  ALSO, whoever started praying that the mosquitoes wouldn't eat me alive, thank you!!  After I sent the letter they stopped biting me it was a miracle!!!  I love you all so much!!  And in the words of Elder Bednar, to try to eliminate the word "I" from your vocabulary!  I promise that as you focus on finding ways to serve others and focus on trying to help them, you will be blessed with a tremendous amount of JOY!!!  I love you all!!!

--Hna West

Week 2

First of all--sorry I didn't have time to respond a ton to people last week--it was pretty hard trying to figure out the Spanish keyboard and pictures too!  It was a struggle, haha.  Did they work? Also I don't even know what pictures I sent so sorry if they weren't even cool, haha. I can't see them.  I was doing great all week. Then we read emails, and I realized how much I miss you all and how hard it is. But don't think I'm sad for one second!! I'm so happy!! It's weird because it's so hard, and I'm tired and I miss my family, but living the gospel of Jesus Christ makes you so happy!! It’s so incredible to be a missionary!!  So it’s been a hard week, but a GOOD week!! And when it’s hard, I can't even think about it for too long because of all I have to be grateful for here!! It's so good to be a missionary!!  Also, we can only take pics on preparation-days because we need to focus on the work. So I will try to send the pic of the palm tree of parrots when I can!! Also yes, I will send pics of my room eventually. But last week was just rough, hahaha.    A bit about my comp:  she is a hard worker.  Like I said, she lived in Italy for 5 years. So she speaks Italian, and her Spanish is great!  She went to school at North Carolina and studied history! I love her!! She also plays the piano, so she plays for our branch meetings and stuff!!  We have been doing the MTC choir, and it is so much fun!!  Even though I don´t know what the words mean, I can still feel the spirit and it is cool!!  The food!!  The food here is good!!  It's funny because you never know what they are serving, so it’s fun to try to figure out what you are eating. But most of the time it tastes really good!! Especially the mangoes!!  The hermanas in my district also love to play volleyball. So that's what we did today, and it was so much fun!!!!  I LOVE MY DISTRICT!! We are all best friends, and it's so fun!! Also, we can't just check the weather. So a lot of times, we get caught in downpours, and it is so fun!! That's not sarcastic. It really is fun!! haha!  In the mornings, I hear the birds are so loud, haha. And remember how Mexico doesn't really have driving rules? So all day you hear car horns, and it’s so fun being here!!  One of my favorite things is trying to talk to the Latinas!! It should destroy my confidence, but it does the opposite!! They are so patient with my Spanish and help me out a ton!!  Also, I get eaten alive by mosquitoes at night because it’s so hot so we don't sleep with blankets and the windows are open!! But I still love it!!  You just count your blessings cause it could be a lot worse!!  When you open the cabinets in the classroom in the mornings, tons of them fly out!!  Last night the, the hermanas in our casa had a dance party [with mission approved music] and it was so fun!!  Also, read 2nd Nephi 5:25.  Even though it is hard, I'm still happy because of Jesus Christ.  Pick an attribute of his to work on each week, and you will be so much more happy!!  Also, there is a really sweet janitor here that shares weekly scriptures with us and practices his English!! We love him!!  I love you all!! Try to become like Christ each week and you will always be happy and have peace!!  I love you, and I'll talk to you soon!!

My companion and I go running at the track in the mornings now.  It helps us focus better and we can go at our own speed!! It is always super pretty in the mornings with sunrises or fog on rainy days! Also, the lights on the hill look like fairy lights, and it is so beautiful!! We are assigned temple days. We get to go twice!  And ya, we do a session!! It is so beautiful. Right when you walk in, there is a huge mural of Christ visiting the Lamanites. And it is so special because these people are the Lamanites!! I love it!!  This week there have been massive rainstorms and lightning and thunder, and I love it so much!! Also at one of the devotionals, we sang Brightly Beams, and I thought of my mom. Then we walked home in a lightning storm and thought my mom would've loved it!! It was so fun!! We have 45 minutes of gym time every day. Today, we played a huge game and it was so much fun!!  This week was a bit rough. I don't have time to think about missing you guys until I email. Also, they are emphasizing the language a lot more, and it has been a little stressful. But it’s still good, and I'm still happy.  The schedule is different every day. But breakfast is usually at 7:15, and then classes all day!  The mangoes are incredible and the grapes are huge!!! So yummy!! Oh also, since I'm an sister training leader, sometimes I have a meeting instead of gym time. But it's good that we run in the mornings!!  

Love,

Allison

From her email to the little kids:

I love you guys!!!  We saw a cool snail on our run this morning!!  There are also these super cute fat chubby birds that go crazy hopping around. It makes me want to be here with you guys!!