36th B-Day coming up on 1/2 way mark!!

36th B-Day coming up on 1/2 way mark!!!!
but who is counting (right)

Hey family!!! 

(PICTURES FIRST THIS WEEK :-))  

Of us 4 in the dark... heading to the East mision in Santiago for a meeting with a member of the quorum of the 70

me, Hermana Diaz, and Cristal (a member in the ward who is 16 yrs old and is wanting to serve a mission... she went out with us this past week to teach)

me with 2 girls that i met in the CCM. we were in Alcantara together and met up at the conference with Elder Evans

Last one... today... with the hermanas from our zone. =)

me and Hermana Gollehon (the new nurse that is going to the Chile Osorno Mission... she is currently in the CCM and so she and I have talked to "train" her a little as to what she is going to see and handle as the mission nurse... I tell you what she is very frank and "this is how it is"... more than I am!! the Latinos that we talked to together just kind of looked at her with a shocked look on their face. hahah)

I have a whole lot of stuff to tell you this week. I have no idea why, but I have my page for today in my planner just full of stuff to say... so here we go. Hope you all are ready to read and smile. =)

I ate sushi this week for the first time. I don't think it was actually raw fish sushi though. I rather graciously picked out the what I was told was "chicken" ones to eat. It was okay.... not gonna say it was my favorite. But I ate it!!!

Yesterday in church I translated for a couple (in their 50s) from the states who are here to learn Spanish and then they will be going up to the North of Chile to the mines. Anyway, the brother asked me if I would translate his testimony for him. So I did. I never realized how hard it is to translate from English to Spanish. We use so many different words in English to express ourselves that do not exist in Spanish. But all went well. Then I got up and bore my testimony on being able to look for the blessings that we have in our lives and to stay positive. When I got back down to my seat, next to the couple, the sister said to me "your mom would be so proud of you".... Mom, it hit my like a rock. Right in my face. I started bawling. Literally with my hand on my mouth and it was time for me to get up to the stand to play the piano for the last hymn. The congregation waited for me for at least 30 seconds to get myself together. With tears streaming down my face, I played the last hymn and tried to forget what she had told me because everytime I thought if it the tears came down faster. It was a precious moment for me. I know I needed to hear that exactly in the moment she said it.

We learned this week in Relief Society that 2.4% adults in the church do their family history.... how sad is that!?!?! I saw these two quotes this week and they made me think more about the importance of Family History work and Temple attendance: "When you are troubled and when you have crucial decisions that weigh heavily on your mind and soul, you can take your cares to the temple and receive spiritual guidance." AND "The ordinances and covenants of the temple are the protecion for us in our day and for what we will face in the future." Don't take the opportunity for granted to serve your forefathers and attend the temple for them. We cannot be saved without them!!

So we recieved a text message on Thursday from the office stating that there was a conference going to be held Saturday in the Santiago Este (East) Mission with a member of the quorum of the 70 Elder Evans. He is the director or the head of all of the missionaries in the entire world. He was sent by the quorum of the 12 apostles to come "feel what we feel here in Chile and to report back to them". He spoke to all of us from the 4 Santiago Missions (N,S,E,W) which is about a thousand missionaries. (funny note to put here... so as we were walking... of course we met people along the way... so there were groups of these people in skirts and suits just walking down the street... the police were staring at us... and would stop in their cars to follow us for a while, then drive off.... I just wanted to tell them, "listen we are the least of your worries guys")... anyway... it was a wonderful conference. He talked to us for almost 5 hours. Nonstop. I learned so much!!! One of the things he told us was to read the talk "Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep" from President Hinckley in 1999. I read it this week. It was an eye opener to me of how much help we as missionaries need from our members. He also said we need to be "contagiously optimistic". I LOVE THAT! He said we need to focus more on our purpose as a whole than how many baptisms we have or haven't had. Especially because enduring to the end is the hardest part of it all. Our purpose as missionaries is to: invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. ALL OF THAT. Not just one part. He said if we just focus one one part we are playing one note on the piano... and it's not very beautiful.... however, if we can play all of the parts, then it can be something marvellous. Hermana Diaz and I have talked and we have decided that we need to change our focus from trying to find people to teach and baptize (investigators) to focus on the less active members that we have in our ward (over 25 just in our area). I have come to realize that if I can help reactivate a less active member it is the same as if I can help baptize someone. Soooo that is some of what I learned from Elder Evans. It was a wonderful meeting with him and I am so grateful that we have apostles and a prophet to help lead and guide us.

I know that if we are obedient and diligent with faith in Jesus Christ... there is nothing else... all that follows will naturally follow those three things. Enduring to the end isn't that hard if we have faith, obedience, and diligence. It all depends on us and our attitudes.

I love you all. So much. I wrote some letters this week and sent them off.

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

P.S. I am not counting down or anything... but this month I will hit the half way mark.