Week 41

What a week.
This week was good!!  We had to drop a few investigators which was really sad, but other than that the work is progressing!!  I'm so excited for general conference!!  I know that what they will say is what Christ would tell us.  So, if you could ask Jesus Christ one thing, what would it be?  Bring that question to conference and you will receive an answer!! 
We had lots of activities this week which was really good and we were able to find lots of people.  We had intercambios as well and I went to Ancud with Hermana Dougal.  We found a family who wants to learn more and they actually asked us if they can be baptized.  WHAT.  So cool.
I have been struggling a little bit to feel like my mission has been successful.  And I know sometimes we feel like that in school, work, being a parent, or whatever it else we are doing in life.  But, to quote President Hinckley, " You are doing the best you can, and that best results in good to yourself and to others. Do not nag yourself with a sense of failure. Get on your knees and ask for the blessings of the Lord; then stand on your feet and do what you are asked to do. Then leave the matter in the hands of the Lord. You will discover that you have accomplished something beyond price.  “You never know. You never know whether you do any good. You never know how much good you do.”
I know that's true even though it's sometimes hard to see it!!  I love you all!!!  Have an amazing week!!!
--Hermana West

Week 40

Some random things from the week...

1- We went to the huge waterfall again because Hermana Hyland hasn't been

2-It has been pouring rain every day and it’s so cold.  We don't have money for wood and the mission is going to change from wood to pellets, so in the meantime we wear sooo many layers in the mornings.  

3-I don't think I've told you this but there are so many Haitians here in Chile.  They make for golden investigators because they are very humble.  All the missionaries love teaching them, and we love to look for them because 100% of the time they want to listen. We found a house with like 20 Haitians in it yesterday and they all want to listen and come to church!  WHATTTT

4-We had zone conference and that was SO good!!  I had to speak yet again (I'm telling you, Heavenly Father really loves trying to develop my public speaking in a different language skills)

5-I completed 9 months in the mission!!  That was wild!

6-We have been chopping wood a lot for other people and that's always fun!

7-One of our investigators wanted to drink coffee with us and we explained that we didn't drink coffee, but we offered to just drink hot water.  She was confused but ok with it. Then I looked over and SHE WAS DOING THE SAME THING!!!!  I was so excited and commented about it and she said, "well if the Lord knows its bad for you, I'm not going to drink it!!"  That was incredible!!

This week was great!!  We have seen soo many miracles!!!  They just keep coming!!  I feel like we have been very guided by the spirit.  We have tried our best to make sure there is nothing in our lives that would impede the influence of the spirit in this work.  As we have done that, Heavenly Father has been able to transform us and this sector.  I know it’s the same with you and your personal lives, with whatever situation you might be in!!

The sector is doing great!  I love it here.  There are lots of people that want to listen to our message or at least who are willing, but the challenge always is getting them to act.   Actually, this week I was stuck on thinking about what more I need to do to get our investigators to come to church.  I was thinking about it all week and yesterday the answer came super unexpectedly.  In my personal study I was studying the Sacrament and I was reading about when Christ institutes the sacrament among the Nephites in the Book of Mormon.  I have read it like a hundred times but for some reason this time it hit me hard.  Christ says, "And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my spirit to be with you."  I know that as a missionary if I have the Spirit with me and I act on the promptings I receive, I will be doing exactly what the Savior wants me to be doing with these people.  So, I am constantly praying to have the Spirit with me in everything that I do.  But this hit me and helped me see once again the key to success.  The more we remember the Savior, the more we think about Him and what He would do, the more we will have His spirit to be with us.  So, If I want to help people come to church, I need to look to the Savior even more.  If I do that I will have His spirit to be with me and in turn, I will say the things He would want me to say and do the things that He wants me to do with His people.  So, then I thought about what type of missionary the Savior is.  He is very calm.  He is relaxed and tranquil.  He never takes away people’s agency at all.  He teaches them and testifies of himself and the Father, and when the people don't understand, He doesn't beat himself up or think "dang, how can I make this person come to church or understand?".  He is sad, but He doesn't become discouraged or self-deprecating.  He lets people fully use their agency.  He doesn't try to force or persuade anybody.  He presents the message and lets them choose if they want to take part or not.  Then He respects their decision and moves on. It doesn't matter how sad he might be, He completely respects their agency while still loving them and being there for them when they want to accept.  It’s the same with us as missionaries.  We can present the message and do our best to present it in a way that the spirit can teach to their hearts, but in the end if they choose not to act we need to move on and keep looking for those who are ready and willing to accept the gospel.  We shouldn't try to convince or make them do something.  Then we should keep praying for those people that they will one day be ready and willing to accept and act!  The work is urgent!!  There is so much to do! (:  I love being a missionary!!  I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

--Hermana West

Week 39

Well...this week was full of miracle after miracle.  

The work is starting to boom here.  

We had such an amazing experience last Wednesday.  There was an investigator that we hadn't visited for a while because the last time we went, her son was drugged and acting weird and the Spirit told us to leave there fast.  Anyway, we had had a lesson fall through and we had a small thought to visit this investigator.  We went to her house and she was there!  She let us in and we started asking her how she was doing.  She had lots of pain and had been in the hospital for the past 15 days.  Her son was also causing her lots of problems and she kicked him out of the house.  Anyway, that was a miracle because we couldn't keep passing by as long as her son was living there because it was dangerous.  Anyway, she wanted a priesthood blessing to help her feel better, so we called the Elders and they were able to come over.  The blessing was absolutely beautiful, and she is so full of faith.  Afterward, we started teaching her the Restoration along with the Elders and it was the smoothest lesson I've ever had.  Every single person listened to and acted on the Spirit and the lesson just flowed.  Right when my companion was about to explain about when Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, people knocked on the door.  Her sister and her family all walk in and start talking.  At first we were all like "dang.  That just killed the flow of our lesson and it might not be as powerful now."  But one of the Elders did an amazing job of pulling all three of them in.  They were all very receptive and at the end, each one of them accepted the invitation to be baptized.  It was incredible to see! None of it was us.  It is God's work and He was the one who prepared these people and inspired us to know what to say.  He is leading His work. I know that the Lord is preparing people to receive the message of His restored gospel.  I know that each of you plays a critical part in that preparation as you follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and share your testimony with others.  You never know how much good you do!

Hermana Hyland is doing well!  We get along really well, and we laugh a lot.  The extent of our "rude” comments is when we are in someone's house and we have just eaten a ton and she tells me that she hopes they give me another piece of cake. Hahaha, we love each other a lot and she is so awesome.  She is throwing herself out of her comfort zone and in lessons, if I set her up for it and tell her what she is going to teach, she will take it and run with it.  I'm honestly so impressed by her.  I never wanted to do that when I didn't understand what was going on.  She works hard, she's obedient, has a great attitude, and follows the spirit.  The mission is lucky to have her!

I also feel like I am finally becoming more focused on my missionary purpose and I am loving it.  I have really learned a lot about the importance of inviting people to be baptized and making that the focus.  I finally realized this week that we can do lots of things as member missionaries that we do here as full-time missionaries.  There are lots of really good things that are part of missionary work such as finding, re-activating, sharing scriptures with people, praying for and with people, etc.  But there is one difference between us as member missionaries and full-time missionaries, and that is the authority to invite to baptism.  I can keep staying involved in all the wonderful other parts of missionary work after my mission, but I can't go around inviting my brothers and sisters to be baptized. That is something that I can only do for this year and a half.  That is our PRIMARY purpose. That realization has changed my focus completely and it has helped me become a more effective instrument of the Spirit this week.  By being worthy of and listening to the spirit this week, my companion and I were able to invite 5 people to baptism and every single one accepted.  Of those five we were able to meet with 2 of them again and put them with a baptismal date. That was a pure miracle that we recognize had nothing to do with us and everything to do with Heavenly Father.  We were also able to realize the huge need to work with the members and help them do the other parts of missionary work that they can be doing because WE NEED THEM! WE NEED ALL OF YOU.  Keep trying to find ways to help the work progress!  You can do so much(: Basically I feel like Heavenly Father just helped me see a lot clearer where my focus should be.

Anyway, sorry this email is all over the place, but I'm learning a lot and enjoying the mission!  I love you all!  Have an amazing week!

-Hermana West

Week 38

Weeeellll this week was nuts!!!  We had to move houses so basically 2 full days were spent cleaning, packing, moving, cleaning, and unpacking again.  It was wild.  Then there was a series of super random/ unexpected events that occurred.  I wish I had time to write you and tell you about everything that happened.  But, I want to share just a few experiences with you.  We saw TONS of miracles this week.  Some were more noticeable than others and I'll have to tell you about the rest of them when I have more time after my mission.  But...here are a couple..

1-The Elders and some hermanas from a sector that was 2 hours away came to help us move even though we thought we didn't need them.  We ran into lots of problems and ended up needing each one of them and things all worked out on time.

2-There were almost lots of problems with legal things like the contract and papers and stuff, but Heavenly Father provided a back up plan for each one.  He is really taking care of His missionaries.

3-I could go on and on and share lots of details, but one of the coolest ones was this:

After we had just spent all day changing houses and cleaning, we were in our new house and we had soo much to do.  The gas tank from our old house had just ran out, and the gas tank from this new house had just ran out that morning as well.  We were starving but we didn't have time to leave and buy food and all we had were eggs and pasta, both of which require gas to cook them.  We didn't have time to buy new gas either because we only had 30 minutes to try to eat something.  Anyway, we were tired and hungry and had no gas to cook so we were kinda sad, but we were going to be ok.  I decided to just start cleaning again and I went over to the sink to start washing the dishes.  All of a sudden, hot water started running instead of cold--The gas was working!  At the time, we thought "sweet, maybe the owner was confused and just thought it ran out but it actually had some left". I told my comp to hurry and start cooking the noodles and I would hurry and cook the eggs.  We were using gas for a good 15 minutes without fail.  Then we had time to eat our food and we had to leave.  When we got back to the house that night, I went to start washing the dishes.  The water was cold again and the stove wouldn't light.  Suddenly I realized that we had had a pure miracle.  There was absolutely no gas left, and there hadn't been any gas that morning either.  But, Heavenly Father was merciful to His missionaries and provided us with the gas that we needed to cook some food.  Even though it wasn't something super important, He still wanted us to be happy.  Then as we started looking back on the day we realized about a million other things like that that had happened and we were in awe.

  I know God loves me and He loves you.  He wants us to be happy.  He is involved in the details of our lives and wants to bless us.  We need to be obedient so that He can bless us.  I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

--Hermana West