Sufrir con gozo

'Suffer with joy'. That's what Pres ends every one of his letters with and I am experiencing that right now, hahaha, but here I am. 

THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS GOING ON AT HOME

HOLY CANNOLI

EVERYBODY IS TELLING ME THINGS AND I'M LIKE

WHAT

EVEN

YOU PEOPLE

but anyway sorry lol got distracted

honesty hour:

sometimes the mission is just really difficult and I feel like I'm not helping all that much with what I do down here because the people aren't receptive or hard to get along with or because it's REALLY HOT AND I SWEAT LIKE 40 GALLONS EVERY DAY but I have a strong testimony that we learn the best when we are tried, and especially when we are tried in a way where we need to learn patience. I am learning patience here, but also going through a weird time because I feel like every week flies by so fast and they just keep flying by faster and faster and faster and it scares the heck out of me because I'm in a cycle of THE DAYS ARE GOING BY SO FAST AND NOTHING IS HAPPENING

but

well

that is the mission

sometimes it is really hard and sometimes you are really tired and sometimes you get discouraged and sometimes you just want to cry but you know what

that's why we have Jesus Christ. Maybe that doesnt seem like it has a lot to do because it seems like I'm talking about two very different things, but I have learned in the mission that the healing power of the Atonement can be applied to every situation of our lives. If we didn't have the Atonement, if we didnt have a Savior, our whole lives would be full of suffering and pain and sadness, but luckily enough, we dont have to worry about a life like that. We have an older brother that has paid for our sins, and for our sorrows. We dont have to wallow in self-pity all the time. We can get up. There is hope. There is a way to get out of the rut youre stuck in, I promise. And that is probably the biggest help and hope that we have in all of this life. I dont even want to imagine my life without my Savior as a part of it. I would be nothing. I would have nothing. 

But happily enough, that's not the way it is :)

I have a loving Heavenly Father and I have a family too; I have the gospel and I have a big brother that knows everything that I'm going through, and for all of those things I am eternally grateful. 

I may not be having the best of times right now or be having the most success of all the missionaries ever that existed, but I like to think of my good friend Abinadi. He preached the gospel in chains in front of the king and not a single person listened to him.

Except for yes one single person actually, one single person listened to him. Alma. 

And he probably didn't even know that Alma heard him and went home and changed his life because shortly after that Abinadi was killed, but HEY, we all know that Alma went on to change the lives of so many more people; more people than Abinadi probably imagined. 

I feel a little bit like Abinadi this week. Like I talk with a lot of people and try to help them but that nobody wants to listen ever and probably theyre going to burn me alive soon but IT'S OKAY

[To learn more about Abinadi and Alma, click here.]

Sometimes we have to go through our own little Garden of Gethsemane so that we can understand better the Atonement and better teach it to the people and better help others to use it and be cleaned from their sins. 

Really all of everything ever goes together and for me, it all leads back to the love of our Heavenly Father. He loves us so much. And if that is the only thing we know, we have reason to be happy.

And that, brothers and sisters, is why we suffer with joy here in the mish; that's why this week I am suffering with joy. Because Heavenly Father loves me and there is a plan and I have a Savior and because I LOVE THE GOSPEL AND I LOVE PREACHING IT even if the people don't always want to hear me. It's all good. They've got us covered. 

And that, even though it's a little scattered and everything, is my testimony for this week. God exists and he loves me and he loves you and he loves everyone and this gospel is true. And I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

also i am suffering with joy because i know the broncos are going to the superbowl GO BRONCOS WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

also this week was a week of really yummy chilean food

like watermelon everyday

that's not super chilean but we have it everyday lol

and also humitas [similar to a tamale]

and tomatican [honestly, it's described very similarly to Swiss Steak]

and also empanadas [small, fried meat pies]

and porotos masamora [a cold, corn-based chowder]

and that

BUT THEYRE KICKING US OUT OF THE CIBER [internet cafe] SO HAVE TO GO LOL LOVE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK

LLLLLLOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE YYYOOOOUUU

CCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

sweeter than manjar

well

THIS WEEK WAS MY BIRTHDAY IT WAS SO FUN AND ALSO WE DID SO MANY THINGS BUT I DONT HAVE A LOT OF TIME SO THIS IS GONNA BE A SHORT LISTY TYPE OF EMAIL

so monday

pday

basically nothing

i dont remember

maybe something

tuesday

we worked and worked and went places and did things and had lessons and stuff

wednesday

we had district class and my district leader bought a cake for my birthday

District Leader - Elder Castillo
Zone Leader -Elder Christiansen
Elder Cuadra

but the tradition is to bite the cake

and then they just shove it in your face

and i had three people helping with the effort

and i was very cakey afterwards

but it was a really good cake let me just tell you

also we had a noche de hogar [night at home - family home evening] and it was way awesome and also we had a lesson with *Ana, the old lady that we know from the preexistence, and she accepted a baptismal date! she wasnt able to go to church on sunday because she was in santiago, but we hope to see her this week! she is precious and beautiful and perfect and i love her <3

thursday

we went to the temple with *Rafe and *Polly and *Val and *Ira and Paulo! and it was super great! and there was another pair of missionaries there and one of them was from castle rock and it was super crazy and we talked about colorado because

well colorado duh

On the bus to the temple

Paulo - singing on the bus

and then we had another noche de hogar! and i gave the lesson

or was that 

no

yeah i gave the lesson and it was really fun and great and i love the gospel and PLEASE ALWAYS REMEMBER TO PRAY AND READ AND GO TO CHURCH

and on friday we had a suprise zone conference! and we talked about missionary things and had a really good lunch and then in the nighttime we went with Paulo to teach one of his friends and her boyfriend and it went really well and we have a lot of hope for them

saturday

we had coordination and then we also went and visited *George, our investigator that lives forever away, but he doesnt really seem to be progressing, nor does he want to progress, so we are thinking about dropping him. It's always sad when you have to drop somebody, but the people are like fruit. Sometimes they just arent ripe enough yet; we cant hurry them to grow and ripen; we have to wait until they're ready

and sunday

well

sunday was super cool

cos we got to take the sacrament which is the MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT YOU CAN DO ALL WEEK PLEASE ALWAYS DO THAT

Hermana Schomburg and Hermana Petramalo
on the way to Relief Society

and also

it was the anniversary of my birth

i've been alive for 20 years

what the heck

The only time in life that she wasn't smiling, I think.

but anyway, we were going to have another noche de hogar, right, so we were gonna do it in Paulo's house but that wasnt gonna work so then we were gonna do it in the house of some awesome members but they disappeared so then we were like, let's just do it at Alan's house (he's the right hand man of Paulo) and so we show up

and there's not another woman

and we have a rule of course that you have to have another responsible adult of your same gender in the house with you when you do a lesson or whatever thing

and so then

Christian and Alan left in Alan's car in search for a woman and Hermana Chavez (from the other companionship in Curacaví) was calling like crazy to get a woman and i was just sitting there like 'well if we cant find a woman let's just go do something else like check on other investigators or somethinig' and they were all like 'NO' and i didnt understand anything and then all of the sudden Christian and Alan come back with one of their cousins or something that didnt know what was going on and we start to go in but Christian tells me 'wait you have to go in last because youre the talles' and i was like

what

and then

they covered my eyes

and then i realized

and then we walked in the house and i didnt see anything and then they took their hands off and i saw balloons and happiness and JUST ALL THIS HAPPINESS I LOVE THE MISH SO MUCH AND THEN THEY ALL SANG HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN ENGLISH TO ME AND THERE WAS A CANDLE INVOLVED AND LIKE IT WAS JUST SO GREAT AND THEN THEY WERE LIKE SPEECH SPEECH SPEECH

and so i told them with 100% sincerity and from the very bottom of my heart

that there is no other place that i would rather be than here to celebrate my 20th birthday

i love the mission

i love this gospel

i LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY SO MUCH I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT 

it's hard sometimes

and also i'm really tired sometimes

and also it's like 100 degrees this week

but i love it

there is nothing sweeter than the gift of the gospel, not even manjar [something really yummy]

and that is the little tiny testimony that i have to give you today; sorry it's so short and sporadic, but that's what you get!

i love you all and hope you have a great week

CCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A "giant knife type thing" that she found
under her bed when she arrived in Curacavi.

She has learned to love mate.

Curacavi countryside

Reminiscent of Colorado's Western Slope

freaking

everybody (i mean the conversos [converts] that always go with us to appointments) here associates the word 'freaking' with gringos

so if we're ever in the street and hear somebody yell

'FREAKING'

we know it's them

and it's just funny

but anyway

I AM SORRY I HAVENT SENT ANY PICTURES I FORGOT MY CAMERA AND I HAVENT TRIED TO USE IT ON THESE COMPUTERS YET BUT I HAVE ONLY HEARD BAD THINGS FROM THE PEOPLE

But let me tell you a little about this week

I STILL LOVE CURACAVÍ SO MUCH

just so you know, the accent on that is on the i in the end

koo rah kah VEE

just if you were wondering

but anyway so this week in Curacaví 

it has been probably the fastest week that i have ever experienced and that makes me VERY AFRAID

because

well

i'm in the double digits now

what the HECK

TODAY I COMPLETE 10 MONTHS IN THE MISSION

one of our assistents was so nice as to tell me that now i'm officially 'old' in the mission because if we compared the mission to a lifetime, i would be like 60 or something like that

but i dont like to think about it because i just only love being a missionary and i am going to be a missionary forever chao

but anyway this week in the mission

so on tuesday

what did we do

i dont even remember one moment let me check my planner

well, we visited some people and worked and it was good and we also ate marraqueta with manjar and drank mate and we are so chilean

OH FORGOT TO SAY

A MEMBER TAUGHT ME HOW TO MAKE THE MOST RICO-EST MATE EVER IN THE WORLD

and i like mate now

#nolongeradisappointment

then on wednesday we had district class and i got ANDREW AND SARAH'S WEDDING INVITATION FINALLY AND IT MADE ME SO HAPPY [hooray for speedy South American postal service] and also we taught an english class and it's just always fun to teach english because sometimes people say funny things and you can laugh because hey i understand i had to learn spanish too ya know

and then on thursday we went out and visited some people and did some great contacts and then we had a FHE in our mission leader's house and it was SO GREAT and we talked about the plan of salvation and the potential that every single one of us has (it's DIVINE) and then we played charades and let me just tell you

if you think guessing games are hard in english

IMAGINE GUESSING GAMES IN SPANISH

it's so fun

i had to act out Forrest Gump but then very quickly realized that probably the movies that i have seen and the movies that other sister missionaries have seen are not very similar

because none of my sister missionary teammates had ever seen forrest gump and did not guess it 

darn

BUT IT WAS FUN ANYWAY 

and then on friday we met a really great lady and i had a very special experience

ive found in the mission that every experience really can be special, you just have to be looking for the specialness in everything you do

so, we were looking for a house of somebody that Hna Petramalo and her last companion had contacted and she thought that one of the houses was the house but it turned out that it wasnt but there was an old lady (i accidentally wrote laddy the first time and it changed the whole sentence lol) inside that invited us to come in right away, so we went in and we talked a little bit with her about the plan of salvation and about how we are going to all be resurrected after this life and there we won't have pain or anything and our bodies will be perfect (she was telling us that she was in a lot of pain and hoped that there was something better to come in the next life) and she (and i) felt the spirit so strongly and i may have gotten a little emotional, but then when we were finishing, she told us, 'I feel like I've known you girls for my whole life; like I was just waiting for you to come and like we are the best of friends' and it got me thinking a little bit

we know that we all were together in the pre-existence, and what if... just what if we were friends there? What if Hna Petramalo and I were friends with the little chilean lady that we found by accident, in the pre-existence and what if we promised her that we would find her? What if she really has been waiting all her life for us to come by and find her? It made me think more deeply about how we are all children of God. All of us are children of God and we really should work more on treating one another like that. We should be much more concerned with all the people that we promised we would find before this life than with ourselves. We already have the gospel; we have this gift and this knowledge that is SO special and we have a whole lot of brothers and sisters our there that are waiting to hear it. What are we doing waiting to share it? This isnt just missionary work anymore, this is the work of salvation and it is the responsibility, and should be the desire, of all of us. 

I love the gospel so much! The hope and joy that i feel when i talk about it, every day that i get to share it with new people, is something that i simply cannot explain with words. We must share this news with people; after having seen so many changes in my life and in the lives of others, i just dont know how anybody who has this could NOT want to share it. It's so special; it's so sweet; it's the most precious joy that I can think of and I hope that if you all dont feel the same that you can continue strengthening your testimonies until you do feel that same desire. It's a feeling that I just can't explain but maybe with a lot of hearts and smiley faces <3 <3 <3 <3 <3< 3< 3< 3< 3< <3 :) :) :) :):):):):):) :)

that's not quite it but it's close

but anyway

shoot i've used up my time

BUT JUST KNOW THAT WE VISITED AN OLD PEOPLE'S HOME ON FRIDAY AND THAT WE FINALLY GOT OUT TO VISIT J* OUR INVESTIGATOR THAT LIVES 20 KILOMETERS AWAY AND THAT WE HAD A REALLY GREAT DAY ON SUNDAY WITH COORDINATION AND WARD COUNCIL AND A FHE AND WE'RE GOING TO THE TEMPLE WITH A RECENT CONVERT AND LESS ACTIVE AND THEIR INVESTIGATING DAUGHTER THIS WEEK AND ALSO TO ALL YOU SPANISH SPEAKERS

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RUBBER AND ROBBER

there is so a difference

BUT ANYWAY I HAVE TO GO BUT IL OVE YOU ALL AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK

also happy birthday to me on sunday lol wut

20 years

that's like

more than 19

BUT ANYWAY LOVE YOU ALL CCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jesus at the door

The second coming

blood, sweat, and tears

I got bit by a dog this week!

but it didnt even break skin hahahaha just thought i would freak you all out with the title THERE WAS NO BLOOD INVOLVED IN MY WEEK but yeah i did get bit by a dog and there is still a gross bruise but dont worry i'm fine really and truly 

but let's talk about sweat now

because it is SO HOT HERE

AND JUST

WE SWEAT SO MUCH BUT LIKE HARD WORK SWEAT THAT YOU ALMOST DONT EVEN MIND JUST LIKE

HARD WORKIN

BIKE RIDIN

GOSPEL PREACHIN

SWEAT

love it

and tears

there actually werent any tears involved in this week either lol but i couldnt leave the title just blood and sweat

maybe a better title would be sweat, sweat, and sweat

because there is a lot of that

i'm considering buying a handkerchief today to carry with me hahaha because SERIOUSLY IT IS A PROBLEM

but anyway

so

Curacaví

I LOVE CURACAVI SO MUCH IT IS MY FAVORITE PLACE EVER IN THE WHOLE WORLD and it is very similar to western slope towns I would say. There are lots of fruit trees everywhere (including the peach tree we have literally two steps out of our house and also the branches come in the window when we open it haha) and it's really tranquilo and really beautiful. It's closer to the coast than the mountains so I actually see the mountains less than when i was in the city *super sad face* but there are lots of hills and lots of other pretty things and it's just a little tiny town and i love it so much :3 

and 

i 

love

the

members

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH ALL OF THEM I ALREADY LOVE THEM SO SO SO SO MUCH BECAUSE THEYRE ALL SO SO SO GREAT AND I JUST LOVE THEM

SHOUT OUT TO ALL THE LOVELY FAMILIES THAT GIVE US LUNCH AND THAT DO COOL THINGS YOU'RE THE ACTUAL BEST

and let me tell you about the recent converts from my ward

they 

are

awesome

they all got baptized within the last year and some of them shared their testimonies yesterday and it was SO BEAUTIFUL and they cried and stuff and it was just so great. One of them is our mission leader, *P, and his best friend *A helps us loads also, and then there's also *C and *D and they do contacts with us and stuff and go to lessons with us and they are all just SO COOL and a couple are getting ready for the mission and they just

they're so awesome

SHOUT OUT TO THE AWESOME RECENT CONVERTS

They are a HUGE blessing for this ward and especially for missionary work. They make me want to be a better member and try harder and do better at everything; they are such inspirations and examples for all the youth we have in the ward and in this town. LOVE THEM SO MUCH

This ward

I just cant even say

it is so great, the people are so great

and theyre almost all chileans

WELCOME TO CURACAVI WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY CHILEAN (my other wards had a lot of foreigners in them [especially los olivos]) 

the attendance is about the same as Vivaceta, 70-75, but actually, in this moment we arent meeting in the church building because they were doing renovation things or something, so we're meeting in a school and we also have a 'casa capilla' which is a house that the church rented to do church activities in and stuff when we cant use the school because they have classes or things, so yeah. There are some people that dont want to go because we are meeting in a school and they all say that we should meet in a church building and things, but we have to realize that it doesnt matter where we meet: the building isn't the church; the people are the church. The building just helps to get everybody gathered in the same spot :) 

but the church building officially will be finished in March, BUT THEY ALREADY PUT THE STEEPLE ON AND THAT IS ONE OF THE LAST THINGS THEY DO so we'll see what happens... :) 

our sector is gigantic

it's like

not quite defined exactly; only the line between our side and the other sisters' side

other than that, we just have everybody out until we meet the mission boundary with misión Viña del Mar or something like that hahahaha. One of our investigators lives 20 kilometers away

which is like 12 miles

hahaha, we still havent made that bike ride, but *P says he's going to figure something out so we can go out in a car with somebody to visit him. He has been going to church for like 5 months or something like that and President actually visited and said that he wants to baptize him, but we have to finish his lessons and stuff first but to get to him is a little complicated. BUT WE'RE GONNA DO IT AND WE'RE GONNA GET HIM IN THE FONT IF IT'S THE LAST THING WE DO

and what else can i tell you...? i dunno, that's all, haha :) 

just know that i love this ward so much and i love my companion and i love my bike and everything is just really great (even when dogs chase you on your bike and then bite you in the leg, haha, it's all good) and I love being a missionary :) I have ZERO doubt that this church is the true church of Jesus Christ and that he lives and loves us, and that God also loves us. I love the gospel and I love the privilege i have to share it with the people here in my sector. And I hope that in this time of making new goals and new beginnings that everybody remembers to take into account Jesus Christ and the will of God and that everybody can align their will with His so that we can make this year absolutely amazing. I love you all SO SO MUCH and I will talk to you next week :)

also i had figs straight from a fig tree this week

they look like monsters inside

but theyre so rico [rich, delicious]

CCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO