Week 65 1/2

Hi again,

I know it has literally been 4 days since I wrote, but I actually won’t be able to write next week because of el dieciocho.  BUT, in case you were wondering I’ve been great, hahahha.

No but I can’t believe that Kevin is leaving the CCM already....or that you read the Book of Mormon in Spanish all of the way!!!  WHAT!!  Legend.

Well...I mean I don’t really have much to write because not much has happened.  Oh hahha. I forgot to tell you I chipped my tooth on a fork like 2 weeks ago (I can already tell this email is going to be super random). This Sunday we find out if we have cambios or not, so next week when I write I may be in another sector--or maybe not. 

I completed 15 months yesterday and that was crazy.  I only have the time of Kevin´s training left.   What in the world??

Well...Today we are going to have an activity to celebrate el 18 and we are going to dance la cueca (well like a choreographed dance that’s not actually the cueca but has the steps cause we are missionaries) But we are excited. I also have learned how to make lots of Chilean food these past two weeks so that’s been good haha.

Lately we have done lots of good contacts and we are excited to be able to start teaching them.  Thanks for your prayers!!  Ok hahhahah I literally have nothing to write about so I will just share something that I learned in my personal study!

In John 15: 13-16 it says

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

As I was reading that the other day its really hit me.  Christ calls us His friends.  He died for us, His friends.  He has chosen us, not the other way around.  So what makes us Christ’s friends?  I was thinking about what makes someone my friend.  Why are some people acquaintances and other people my friends?  The people that are my real friends love me and I love them.  We have similar interests and goals.  We serve each other and spend time together.  So what makes us Christ’s friend?  We love Him and He loves us.  We serve Him, spend time with Him, and we have similar characteristics (we are trying to be like him) and goals.  We defend Him.  So Christ chooses us to be His friends when we are trying to be like Him and doing what He teaches and commands us to do. 

We are His friends, we are on His team, we work for the same goal.  He also died for His FRIENDS.  He died for everyone, hoping that they would choose to live righteously so that they could be called His friends, but His atoning sacrifice only can work when we do what He asks us.  Which is have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end.  Continually working towards becoming more like Him.  If we do those things, we are His friends, and His sacrifice then saves us.  So He died for us, His friends. 

I don’t know if that makes sense. Hahah, I feel like I can explain things in English anymore, but I’m sure you get the gist of it. 

So, I invite you guys to do something to be better friends with Christ.  Try to develop one of His attributes, repent, and spend time with Him by reading the scriptures, praying, going to church, and going to the temple to work at the goals you both have.  Love you all!! Have a great week!!

--Hermana West

Week 65

Heyyy fam!!

First of all...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN AND KYLE!!!  I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH!!!

This week was great!!  We had lots to do!

Zone conference was on Friday and that went well.  The zone leaders talked about how consecration is giving who we are, not just our time and money.  They talked about how God called us here because of who we are and what experiences we´ve had.  It’s great to give time to the lord and knock doors sure, but it’s a better use of time to use your talents and find ways to help people. Right after that we had to travel to Aysen for a baptism, but we had like 15 minutes waiting for the bus.  We walked to the plaza and saw a group of like 30 guys rapping/having a rap battle.  I immediately remembered in college we would do "rap battles" in our apartment (Adria and Lizzy and my friends) that were just super stupid but we had fun.  Anyway, I thought about how the zone leaders talked about giving of your experiences and I decided to go challenge one of them to a rap battle!  What better use of 15 minutes than testifying to 30 or more people about Jesus Christ? hahahah so I did it!!  It was suppperrrr funny and I definitely lost, but we all had fun and I was able to share our message with all of them.  hahahahah still can’t believe I did that.  Actually, apparently I'm on Facebook!  Some members from the chapel in the other sector were showing the Elders a video that there is of me.  Hahah, so even more people can see my message! Hahah, but it was super funny.

We are in a finding period right now.  Looking for more people to teach and doing lots of contacts.  Please pray that we will be able to find the people that the Lord has prepared!!

Also this next week it will be fiestas because of the 18 de Septiembre, so we will see how it works with emailing and stuff....don't be worried if I don't email on Monday please(:  LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!  Have a great week and keep reading the Book of Mormon every day and learning to receive personal revelation!

--Hermana West

Week 64

Hello!

This week has been good.  Some random things...

1-we started going to the gym!  We got permission from president to wake up a little earlier and we go take a exercise class with all the hermanas.  I have never felt better in the mission.  My mind and heart have been way more receptive to the Spirit and I have been learning a lot better and easier!  (we have always exercised btw but now we have permission to do it for an hour instead of 30 minutes and we have the gym now and it makes a huge difference!) It’s been great therapy for my knee that has been starting to have a few problems.

2-We made Haitian food with John Miracle this week with all the other missionaries.

3-As weird as it sounds we knocked doors in the pouring rain for 4 hours and nobody let us in, but it FELT SO GOOD!!!  I mean its sad nobody let us in, but it felt good. hahah I love the mission!

Anyway, it’s been a great week and I keep learning a TON!!  Honestly, we need to study the scriptures EVERY day.  There are sooo many things we can learn from them and so many blessings we can receive!!  This week I have learned once again that you can serve wherever you are.  Most importantly, those in your home.  I love this quote from conference, “What good does it do to save the world if we neglect the needs of those closest to us and those whom we love the most? How much value is there in fixing the world if the people around us are falling apart and we don’t notice? Heavenly Father may have placed those who need us closest to us, knowing that we are best suited to meet their needs.”

Keep loving and keep serving each other!! I love you all so much!!! You’re always in my prayers!!!

--Hermana West

Week 63

Hellooo again!

Love you all so much. I love reading your letters.  That's so fun that Tyler started kindergarten!!!  And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!! Love you so much!!

buenoooooooo que paso esta semana?.....

Oh!  We had intercambios with the Hermanas de Aysen!  I went with la Hermana Lubomirsky from Argentina!  She´s in here training and it was so fun to be with her!  It reminded me of how much I loved being new to the mission even though it was hard.  I had flashbacks to Punta Arenas and Chiloè the whole time and it just made me really sentimental for the mission.  I love being here, I love being a missionary, I never want to leave Chile!!!

There was also a multi stake conference for all of Chile!  Elder Christofferson and President Oaks both spoke.  It was super special. This week as I was inviting Vanessa (someone we are teaching) to the conference I said, "...and two of Christ´s apostles are going to speak to us".  In that moment it just hit me again how blessed we are to have Christ´s church on the earth again.  Its not His ancient apostles that were coming to speak, they are HIS ACTUAL APOSTLES.  Special witnesses of the Savior TODAY. Do we realize how big of a blessing that is???

Buttttt I love being a missionary can I just say that again???  I have been learning a lot about repentance and baptism for the remission of sins.  Its such a blessing to be members of Christs church.  We can be baptized by someone who has Gods authority to do so, and when we do that we are completely forgiven of our sins.  Clean and new!  What a blessing to have that every week as we take the sacrament!!  The definition of remission is " the cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty."  So literally when we repent and then are baptized and confirmed by someone who has the authority of God, and/or when we take the sacrament every week, we are washed completely clean.  Without that authority, we can repent, but not have our "charge or penalty" cancelled or forgiven.  Once again, what a BLESSING it is to have been baptized in Christ´s church, and what a beautiful message we have that we need to share with EVERYONE!!  Everyone needs to know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that we can be completely clean!  I love being able to teach people that!

Here is something that happened last week that i forgot to share with you guys...I copied it from Hna Weber´s email because she already wrote about it, but I say "amen" to everything she wrote hahahah.

"We are still teaching Jasmele (Carlos's sister-in-law) and she is still progressing so well.  She told us the cutest story yesterday!  Right before reading the chapter in the Book of Mormon that we had assigned to her, she was holding it in her hands and then bowed her head to pray.  Isabela (Carlos' 3 year-old daughter) was sitting right next to her watching cartoons on Jasmele's phone when she looked at Jasmele and asked, "Are you praying?"  She responded, "yes" and kept praying.  Then the most precious thing happened.  Isabela took the BoM out of her hands putting it in her own lap and then covered her eyes with her little baby hands and started praying too.  I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and everything it does to bless the family.  That moment for me was so powerful.  It made me realize just how aware little kids are and that they really do follow the example of their parents.  It made me remember and thank my Heavenly Father for the example of my own parents who taught me how to pray and study the scriptures. "

I love you all!!  Have a great week and keep being examples to everyone around you!! Lift where you stand(:

--Hermana West

Week 62

Wow.  What a week its been.  First of all, I LOVED Kevin's letter!!!  I'm so happy he is a missionary!!  

Alrightyyyy this week....(lets see if i can remember what happened hahaha)...

We had our leadership conference and that was great.  We talked a lot about teaching by example and about the importance of love in the work.  If we want to be effective missionaries, leaders, teachers, whatever, we need to do all things with love. 

I also was just so blessed this week for lots of reasons but one of them is that I GOT TO SEE HERMANA HYLDAND!!!!!!  That was suchhhhh a blessing.  I love her so much!!  Heavenly Father really just made things work out and I was able to go to her consejo de distrito which was taught by Elder Dickson (the zone leader that just left) which was also fun because we got to see him again too.  And of course it was incredible being able to stay with Hermana Slabaugh for a few days!!  I love these people so much.  What a blessing the mission is. 

 OH speaking of that......I GOT TO TEACH WITH HERMANA SLABAUGH!! That was super fun to see our progress!!!!  We had extra time on Tuesday so we went on splits in their sector and I got to go out with her.  We taught a family the restoration and it was one of the best lessons I've taught in my mission.  The spirit was there, we worked in unity, and the best part is now we speak Spanish.  Hahah it was so much fun being able to be her comp again for a second but this time be able to communicate in our lessons.  Oh man.  I love the mission.

Also this week Carlos y Dayana told us they bought their tickets and they are moving to La Serena next week.  That's sad, but it'll be good.  they will be able to focus more on church up there because they will be working less.  We are happy for them!

I have been learning so much lately.  I really have learned to LOVE searching the scriptures.  Its become something I crave.  Something Hermana Weber and I have been doing lately is we tell each other scripture stories and when we don't know something we look it up.  That's really helped us focus more and learn a lot more.  I'm so doing that with my kids for bedtime stories (is that a really missionary thing to say? idk...but no importa jajaj). 

I've also been learning that when you are feeling tired or wanting a break, you have to give double of what you've got.  There is so much to be done and we cant be lazy!!  Actually yesterday I was feeling tired and kinda burned out and a little overwhelmed and I opened my scriptures looking for something that would tell me its ok and that I could rest for a second or something but instead all the scriptures I read were about diligence.  Actually the one that really stuck out to me was in doctrine and covenants 127:4

And again, verily thus saith the Lord: Let the work of my temple, and all the works which I have appointed unto you, be continued on and not cease; and let your diligence, and your perseverance, and patience, and your works be redoubled, and you shall in nowise lose your reward, saith the Lord of Hosts. And if they persecute you, so persecuted they the prophets and righteous men that were before you. For all this there is a reward in heaven. 

Anyway, I thought about it and its really true.  We cant ever let up.  We are too close to the end and there is too much to do.  The Lord is counting on us and He needs diligent servants.  So when we feel tired we need to run to the Lord and receive our strength from Him.  He will give it to us.  Then we need to redouble our efforts and keep going so that His kingdom can keep growing!!  I love being a missionary!!

Also I've been really trying to do what Christ asked us to do through His prophet President Nelson which is increase my capacity to receive personal revelation.  I have really seen how important it is in my life and I have grown more in this short period than in any other time of my life.  God wants to talk to us!!  Like he said it wont be possible to survive spiritually in the coming days without it (and id like to add physically as well).  Hahah this week I was feeling super sick for like 2 days.  I felt weak and I don't know just really off.  One morning I was praying and telling God that I needed help because I wasn't feeling well and didn't know what to do.  As I  was taking time to listen during my prayer, the words came to my mind in the voice of mom saying "you're lacking protein".  I recognized it as the spirit talking to me and so i made myself some eggs.  Shortly after, I felt completely better and since then we bought protein powder and I've had lots of energy!!  So I know that revelation is super important for so many reasons, and especially when you're a missionary without google hahahahah.

Anyway, I love you all so much and I hope you have a great first week of school!!!  Remember to take time to talk with God and converse with him!! Love you all!!! 

--Hermana West

Week 61

Hello family!!

I imagine you guys have had a wild week of emotions with Kevin leaving, I mean ELDER WEST!!!  AHHHH that makes me so happy!!!  I'm 100 percent sure he is having a great time right now.  I loved the ccm.  Its crazy but so fun. Like I said, we are traveling today so I don't have lots of time to write, but the good news is I might see HERMANA HYLAND ON WEDNESDAY!!  I'm so excited.  She's in Puerto Montt now so if we have time in the morning we will go to her consejo (council).  Fingers crossed I'll be able to see her!!

Anyway, this week was good.  It was transfers so we received new missionaries.  They are so cute and full of energy and ready to work!  One of the sisters is brand new and so sweet.  So we traveled to Aysen on Yhursday to go do the training for trainers.  I've just been thinking a lot about my training and how much I love being a missionary.  There is nothing better. I love this work.  Helping someone become converted is honestly the BEST thing in the world.  I never want to leave!

There was also a training this week for seminaries and institutes and they invited the missionaries here to go. Then the next day the hermano asked to have a private consejo de distrito (district council) with us for a few hours. We learned sooooo much.  Basically the Savior´s second coming is VERY soon and He is hastening his work.  There are lots of changes coming to help us live more by the spirit and strengthen our homes.  We all need to learn so that we can act.  That's something I've learned a lot these past few months of my mission.  Learning is so important.  The scripture "It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance" has really come to take meaning for me.  We need to learn so that we can make covenants, learn so that we can do things the right way, learn so that we know God's will, learn learn learn.  We are so blessed to have a living Prophet and the scriptures.

Ok I gotta go...have a great week and keep learning to receive personal revelation!!  Love you all!!

--Hermana West

week 60

Helloooooo family!!

This week was crazy and fun!!!  We had zone conference which was great!!  I realized again how much I just love the mission and how much I will miss being a part of the work when I go home.  But I still have 4 months!!  Such a blessing!!  I love you guys so much.  I'm so excited for you KEVIN!!!  THE MISSION IS THE BEST!!! WOOHOOO!!!

I'm finally back with Hermana Weber!!  Cambio calls were last night and we are safe!! We are sticking together another 6 weeks!!  (I remembered this time.  Next week is the leadership conference so I might not write a ton..  Just a heads up.  But I’ll read everything you send).

Soooo want to hear the craziest part of my week??

When I was on exchanges with another sister, she asked me to cut her hair before district meeting.  Her hair is super thick so to cut it we needed to get it a little bit wet.  We had a spray bottle with bleach in it and I put the bleach in a cup and water in the spray bottle.  Then we had to leave to district meeting really fast and didn't have time to put everything away before we left.  After lunch we went back to the house real fast to grab some things.  I went to the bathroom and like 2 seconds later I was pounding on the door.  I thought she had to go to the bathroom, so I went out really fast. But she was throwing up in the sink.  I went over to her and started rubbing her back cause I thought she was sick and started throwing up.  Then I realized she couldn't talk and wasn't breathing!!  I thought maybe she was choking (I know she was throwing up so obviously wasn't choking but in the moment I didn't realized that)  so I started hitting her back and trying to help her get it out.  But then she started pointing to a cup over and over again and then I remembered this morning I had put bleach in there.  I realized she drank the bleach!!  In that moment sooo much panic went over me.  I had no idea what to do.  I just told her over and over again to gag herself and keep throwing up, and I just prayed so hard while I tried to think about what to do. We didn't have anyone to call.  I just called a taxi and the zone leaders and told them to go to the hospital immediately.  We didn't have a poison control number or ambulance number or anything.  While we were waiting for the taxi and she was throwing up a ton, I remembered that the week before an Elder told me that before his mission he accidentally drank bleach too.  I called him and asked him what he did.  He was able to help us know what to do in the meantime (eat bananas and drink milk)  and then we got to the hospital and she was taken care of.  But holy cow, I thought she was going to die.  I mean, I knew somehow everything was going to be ok, but I didn't see how.  But in the end, it was.  What happened was she got to the house and was really thirsty and just looked for the first thing to drink.  She also has a stuffed up nose so couldn't smell that it was chlorine.  She said when she drank, it tasted salty and she thought I was crazy and had made salty water.  Then her throat started closing off and she couldn't breath and started throwing up.  She said though that in that moment she felt something like a power wash over her from her head to her feet and knew that because she had been endowed in the temple that she would be protected and ok.  She felt strength and peace and new she would be ok.  Anyway, we laugh super hard about it now. But in the moment, it was terrifying for everyone.  The thing is, the Lord takes care of his missionaries and the work goes on.  Hahaha.  But I know that prayer is real, the Lord knows us and loves us, and that the blessings from the temple are very real as well.  What a blessing it is to have temples on the earth!!!  I hope you all have a great week and don't drink bleach(:  Love you!!!!!

--Hermana West