En la Valle del Rechazo

Hermana Ferrin and Hermana Schomburg

this week though

let me tell you a story about this week

this week

if i had to name this week i think i would name it something like

En la Valle del Rechazo (In the Valley of Rejection) 

because that's how this week has been

lots and lots of rechazo

and lots lots more rechazo

this week has been

just

so

much

RECHAZO

let me just tell you because really and truly

holy cannoli

we have worked so SO hard and diligently this week, but for some reason, the people in our sector just really are not receptive to the message

i dont know what it means

and i dont know why

because in contrast to what we had of a week, the sisters from the other side had BILLIONS of lessons and found BILLIONS of new people

and that really had me wondering

what the heck we were doing wrong

if i was doing something wrong

if we were being disobedient or something

and of course everybody makes mistakes, but i was somewhat sure that that wasn't why we were having so much rejection

and still i'm not 100% sure

probably God is just still trying to teach me patience

but anyway, yesterday we had intercambios and we had one lesson programmed, but it didnt work out, so, we spent about 3 hours contacting. The entire intercambio basically. We contacted about 30 people and of those 30

we got about 3 appointments

and about 3 enemies as well hahaha

but anyway, so then before we left after our dinner hour, i felt strongly that we needed to go to Challaco, but I feel that way a lot and i thought that it was just a want to go to Challaco (oh yeah, that's a part of our sector that is farther away from the rest and we have to cross the highway and stuff and a river and yeah but anyway) because I love Challaco and always want to go to Challaco, but then I was like

you know what

we don't have citas [appontments]

and I want to go to Challaco 

let's go to Challaco!

so Hna Ferrin (it's so fun to have intercambios i CANT EVEN TELL YOU) and I went to Challaco! AND EVERY SINGLE PERSON WE TALKED TO NOT ONLY OPENED THE DOOR BUT INVITED US TO GO BACK AND WE HAD TWO UNPLANNED LESSONS AND FOUND 4 NEW PEOPLE TO TEACH AND THEN I WAS LIKE

THE LORD

THE LORD WAS TELLING ME THE WHOLE TIME

HE WAS LIKE 'GET YOUR BUTT TO CHALLACO' AND I WAS LIKE

'NO'

AND SO THEN NOW FINALLY

I JUST

I WANTED TO SERVE THE LORD AND SO HE WANTED ME TO GO TO CHALLACO AND SO I WANTED TO GO TO CHALLACO BUT I DIDNT CONNECT IT ALL TOGETHER BECAUSE I'M A SILLY SLOW HEAD

BUT ANYWAY SO WE WENT TO CHALLACO AND HAD ALL THESE COOL THINGS HAPPEN AND I DONT EVEN CARE THAT CHALLACO IS FAR AWAY I AM GOING TO GO THERE EVERY DAY BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHERE THE LORD WANTS US TO GO

View from the bus

so there

also 

a fun story for the day

the other week we contacted somebody when we were buying fruits and veggies and when we asked for her address she says, 'I live in the río' [river] and we were like

'is that a place or a calle [street] or what'

and she says

'the río...? that goes under the puente [bridge], you know that río' 

and we were like

the... actual... río...? so we wrote it down and gave her our card and then we were riding over the puente one day and i looked out in the río and 

i saw it

i saw her home

it's a very interesting place let me tell you

it's like

open concept to the extreme because they love living with nature and stuff

it

was so interesting

so i was like 'hey Hna Petramalo do you want to go visit the lady that lives in the río?' and so then we turned off the road and rode as far as we could and then had to grab our bikes and climb down some rocks and over some sand dunes (the río is dry, i should mention that) and then we arrived

at the lady that lives in the río's house

and we taught her and her husband and her son and her three grandchildren and it was really interesting... quite... interesting

but we're going to go back to visit them on Thursday so i'll let you know more next week. they had never heard that Jesus Christ came here to the Americas, and were very interested in hearing about that and in reading the Book of Mormon and the mother really loves reading, so she said she would read the BoM and the Restoration pamphlet that we left to her husband and yeah

so that

so we're excited to see what happens with the people that live in the río :) 

and what else happened?

well, i'm officially really chilena

i can sit down and eat a whole bowl of tomatoes

and enjoy it

#waysthemissionhaschangedme

i can also make a variety of chilean dishes 

But anyway, I dont have any more time, but that was my week and I just have a testimony of Jesus Christ and of the love that God has for every single one of us. He loves us and that is why I preach the gospel. Because he doesnt just love me, or my family, or my friends, he loves EVERYBODY and everybody has worth and everybody deserves to live with Him again. And for that reason, I'm here to preach the gospel, even if 27 out of 30 contacts rejects me, I know that there is somebody that is ready to hear the gospel; somebody that I can help rescue. I LOVE THE GOSPEL SO MUCH and I Love my Savior and i love my family and i love the mission :) and these things i leave with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

now i gotta go CCCCCCHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

P-Day travel with Hna Ferrin and Hna Schomburg

JESUS LOVES YOU

We don't talk about my tan line no no no

helloooooooooooooooooo everybody

this week was so interesting and just

so

interesting

SOOOOOOOO

this week we had to go into Santiago a whole bunch to do Hna Petramalo's trámites [processing], or... like the stuff so she can get her carnet... her... legalness card [registration card so that she can be in the country] and visa stuff haha, so yeah. We had to go into Santiago two days to do that.

This week has seemed so long. And I think it has to do with how much we were in our sector. Because we basically didn't have very much time at ALL to work in our sector, so everything we did seemed to take billions of years. I find when I'm working, time passes faster.

But anyway, so Tuesday was p-day and I don't remember what we did... and Wednesday we had district class and then we went back to the sector and had a couple lessons with a couple of people and then on Thursday we went and did trámites and then on Friday we went and did trámites and then on Saturday we had to get the church all 100% ready and everything and we had to clean ALL OF THE CHAIRS (we don't have pews, we only have chairs, and the chapel works as the cultural hall as well, that's how it is a lot in this stake) because they were yucky

just think of all the butts that have sat on the church chairs

we cleaned them all

and so yeah we did that and we have to buy our fruits and veggies from the feria [fair,market] on Saturday  mornings so we did that after and then we had rehearsal for the choir we did in the afternoon and it took forever, but we managed to squeeze a couple of lessons in between feria and choir and the night time and then on Sunday there was a baptism and presidente went and stuff so we stayed extra time afterwards and then we worked the afternoon and night away and we talked with some of our investigators, A and F and they accepted a baptismal date! WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

but we still are struggling to find people that want to listen to us. Which seems so silly because it seems like there are so many people and we talk with EVERYBODY but... well, who knows. I'm just gonna keep working and doing my part and improving in everything I do and follow the Lord's timing. He knows a bit more than I do, so, I'll let him take care of it.

and what else...

did I say I was going to talk about last week?

because I forgot what happened last week, hahahaha

BUT THIS WEEK WHEN WE CAME TO DO TRÁMITES we went and had food at a Colombian restaurant

and it was so wonderful

I love Colombia

I'm going to live there

I could live on arepas [corn cakes]

always

forever

pls

but anyway what else

I'm kinda boring this week

I'm becoming more Chilena every week and learning how to make Chilean foods and stuff

but what else

I have no clue what else I can tell you people this week, it literally has been such a long/short week and nothing of importance happened... OH WAIT

I SAW HERMANA CABRERA AGAIN AND SHE'S TRAINING I HAVE A "GRANDDAUGHTER" [in the mission that means that a sister she trained is now a trainer]

I am too young to have grandchildren

wait did I already say that

I feel like I said that the last time but

maybe not

literally

have no clue

but anyway, also I heard that Tata has had a couple of heart attacks in the last weeks and is not doing super well :S but we'll see what happens

I guess I just only have to tell you all that the gospel is true, no matter what the people say and Jesus Christ is our Savior and he lives. And that is the simple truth, and I will never deny that. I love this church and even though it's difficult, I love the mission too :) I love teaching the people; I love helping them, I love telling people that Jesus loves them because HE REALLY DOES and too many people don't know it. JESUS LOVES YOU ALL. And that is my simple testimony for this week and I share it in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

BUT THAT'S ALL THE TIME I HAVE TODAY FOLKS

hopefully my next week is more exciting

but not too exciting

because tranquilo is safer, haha

but anyway

CCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jesus blessing the children
Jesus Loves You

[infinity symbol]

I WAS TOLD

THIS MORNING

THAT

WE

WON

THE

SUPERBOWL

AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS CCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

lol that's not all that matters but basically lol our mission leader called us this morning before we left and was like 'the Broncos won the superbowl' AND I SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED AND I AM SO HAPPY HOLY CANNOLI I AM SO HAPPY

but anyway

let me tell you a little bit about this week

so 

i already dont remember what happened this week

OH WAIT YEAH I DO

we had exchanges on Tuesday and I went to be in Los Mares with Hna Lopez and Hna Nielson for the day and it was way fun and somebody guessed my age

want to know how old they thought i was?

twenty-

seven

like what the heck literally wha-

but then a little boy later told me 'you look just like an angel' and that made it better

and we also surprise cleaned a lady's house and it was really great... and then... i dont remember what else happened now. I've forgotten everything. It was such a long week and such a short week at the same time. 

well, we had a noche de hogar [home night - family home evening] with one of our investigators and she really is doing great; she is progressing so much. She was a referral from our mission leader; her name is *Anna, but we started visiting her and she wants to get baptized and is so excited to go to church

and by that i mean to say

that also they announced on sunday

THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE IN THE CHAPEL NEXT SUNDAY WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

but anyway

Anna is so great and she just... she's just so great. We're very grateful to have found her and to have the privilege to teach her. 

Also, we have an investigator named *Joana, and Joana has a husband that is invalid and has been restrained to his bed for 4 years and she has to do everything for him, but she likes when we visit her, but she doesnt have any intentions to keep going in the church or to go to church or anything, but she doesnt have anybody else; it's just her and her husband and she doesnt leave the house for anything, so we visit her as a sort of service and sing with her and read the book of mormon and all that, but the last time we went, we first went and bought her bread because she needed some and then we sang and then we read the book of mormon and in the end we asked her to say the prayer, but she doesnt like to ever say the prayer either, so Hna Petramalo said the last prayer and then suddenly, when she finished, Joana started to pray and it was a really beautiful prayer and when she was done she thanked us and she said, 'I know the Holy Spirit is here with us. I can feel it; I can feel it in my heart and on my skin' and she had goosebumps and stuff and it just

it was really special and at the same time frustrating because she FELT THE SPIRIT AND SHE KNOWS THAT WE WERE SENT AND CALLED BY GOD but also because SHE FELT THE SPIRIT AND KNOWS THAT WE WERE SENT AND CALLED BY GOD BUT SHE 

ISNT

DOING

ANYTHING

ABOUT

IT

just

everybody just needs to ACT on what they feel; that's where verdadera intención comes into play.

There was an article in the Liahona called Verdadera Intención (Real Intent), and that would be to what i am referring and also Moroni 10:4 and also just yeah everything that has to do with that. 

It is so important to do things with a purpose. If not, why are we doing them? We talked with a man on our exchanges that said that the point of life is to be a good person and that was all and i was like 

but why

para que

why do we do this? why are we good people? why do we do these things if there is no reason to do them? 

it makes me think a lot about the plan of salvation. We have such a privilege to know of the plan of salvation; to know that we have a purpose here on the earth and it's something bigger than only this life. There is more involved. We dont just get born and then live a good life and then die. What would happen to our spirits? What would happen to... me? To my essence? To whatever you want to call it from a not church perspective? What would my life serve to have done? What's the point?

Thankfully, we have the answer.

We know why we are here; we know where we came from; we know where we are going. I existed before this life! I did! Me! My alma! (reading this over i realize that that is a spanish word... and it means 'soul' lol sorry) I am a spiritual being; an eternal being that existed before this life and that will exist after this life too!

And so are all of you.

We are God's most important creation. 

You, whoever you are that is reading this, you are God's most treasured possession. You have worth! You have a purpose! You are an eternal being and that's why all this matters; because this life isnt the end, nor is it the beginning. 

We dont just get born and then get dead. 

We chose to come here. I did. My very self; my very spirit that is inside of my body, my very ME chose to come here. And so did your very YOU that is what makes you you. And while I am here, I need to behave myself because you better believe that just as surely as there was a before and there is a now, there will be an after and we have got to be prepared for that, because my very ME and your very YOU are going to have a very eternal home and it very much counts on our choices that we make in this life and the things that we do. That's why we're good people. That's why we follow Christ. That's why. Because we don't have a whole lot of time here in the whole big scheme of ALL OF TIME AND ETERNITY so we better get a move on! We dont have any time to lose! We've got to realize who we are, what we are doing here, and get working RIGHT AWAY. 

And those of us who know have got to help everybody else to do the same BECAUSE WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. We are all important and special and children of God and God wants us ALL to get back to him. 

We are His most important creation. 

and (get ready for a really hipster phrase)

we are infinite. 

so GET IT TOGETHER PEOPLE. We're not just here for kicks and giggles; this is serious eternal salvation stuff here! 

that's not to say that kicks and giggles are not allowed tho lol we all need kicks and giggles 

but just remember that we also have a very important job while we are here. 

God loves us! He loves my very me and your very you! And he has a plan. We just have to keep going! And keep doing things! And keep acting on our faith! And that big weird blob of somewhat spiritual things is what i have to share with you all today and I do it in the name of Jesus Christ, the one who made all this possible, amen.

Also yesterday the gear plate on my bike stabbed me in the foot and i started bleeding and went a little bit into shock and almost fainted and and it was so funny and the whole time Christian didnt believe me and Diego was feeding me icecream and asking 'you está good?' and Alan was quoting a conference talk about the Atonement by Elder Holland and it was just a big chaos but dont worry i am okay now

do not worry 

more details at another time because I'M OUT OF TIME

but anyway

love you all so much

GO BRONCOS 

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[click the highlighted links scattered throughout the blog for further information]

just keep pushing, just keep pushing

I was going to name this Robbed by Gypsies!: Curacaví Edition

because

GYPSIES TRIED TO ROB ME AGAIN

lol 

but i'm very experienced in this field

these gypsies did not know but haha THEY KNOW NOW gypsies have robbed my companions two times i am no fool

also i speak spanish

long story short they didnt rob us

hahahaha i make myself laugh but anyway

this week

well

haha, i would love to send you all an email that says 'and after much patience, we had success and it was so great and we're seeing a whole bunch of progress in our sector'

BUT SOMETIMES THE LORD LIKES TO TEACH US MORE PATIENCE THAN WE THINK WE CAN HANDLE

but it's okay

because he knows better than we do what we need and he knows what the sector needs and he knows all of everything and so, we just need to trust in Him

so what i'm saying

is that

i am still suffering with joy! 

it reminds me of a story that one of my teachers told me in the CCM

(this is the simplified version of the story) 

So, there was a man. And the Lord said to the man, 'look man, there's a rock over there; I need you to push it' 

so the man went and he pushed the rock but it wouldnt move. But the Lord said, 'push it anyway' and the man was like 'well alright i mean okay you are the lord after all' and he kept pushing it. And he pushed it all day until the night time and then the Lord said 'you can go home now, but tomorrow you need to push the rock again' and so the man went home to his kids and his wife and had supper and then went to bed and the next day, he went and pushed the rock.

And he did this for days and days and weeks and for a long time he did it with all his strength and all his might but the rock never moved and he started getting a little frustrated like, 'literally what the HECK i am just pushing this stupid rock and it's not doing anything but dangit

the Lord asked me to do it so okay but IT'S NOT DOING ANYTHING'

but then he starts getting a little bit tired of pushing the rock

and so

one day

he finishes a little early; a little before the sun goes down

and steadily he stops pushing the rock; first skimping out on a few hours... then a day... then two days... until he's only pushed the rock a couple times in a whole month and then he finally just says

'I GIVE UP'

and the Lord comes back and says

'dude, why arent you pushing the rock?'

and the man says 'well, Lord, the rock wasn't doing ANYTHING, it wasn't moving, nothing was happening, what's the point of moving the stupid rock?'

and the Lord says,

'well, man, I never told you to move the rock. I told you to push the rock. Look at yourself now. You've been pushing the rock so long that your muscles have grown; you've changed, you're a different person and you have more strength and more patience; why didnt you trust me?'

and the man probably was just like

'what have i done' in a low terrified whisper

lol i dont remember exactly how the story goes after that

BUT THE POINT IS THAT SOMETIMES THE POINT ISNT TO MOVE THE ROCK

THE POINT IS TO PUSH THE ROCK BECAUSE THE LORD IS TRYING TO CHANGE US AND HELP US TO REACH OUR POTENTIAL so if the Lord tells you to push a rock, push it! And keep pushing it! Don't give up like the silly man; JUST KEEP PUSHING AND KEEP GOING AND KEEP TRYING because the Lord is forming you into something much better than you were and maybe it's going to take a long time and it's going to be tiring and it's going to hurt, but if we do it, we will never ever ever regret it. The Lord LOVES US SO MUCH. 

but anyway

what else happened

i do not remember

OH YES this is something i've been forgetting to say; the mission is going to have changes

wait

i feel like i already did say this actually

that my finishing date is now the 12th of September instead of the 6th? did i say that? i dont remember but anyway just in case i didnt say that, there's that

OH YES

i remember the other thing that happened

but i'm not going to tell you haha nevermind forget i said anything

and i dont remember what else i did this week, it literally went by so fast. Everything is so fast and together and this OH YEAH some of the changes of the mission

our pday from here on out is going to be on TUESDAY WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO so dont freak out if i dont write on monday next week

cos i'll write on tuesday

and yeah that but anyway

shoot i'm the worst unexciting person that exists i dont remember anything that happened this week

BUT THIS IS ALL THE WHOLE TIME THAT I HAVE SO LOVE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK KEEP PUSHING THAT ROCK

CCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO