Latino District now

We are now the oldest district in the CCM. woohoo! Sunday was my last sunday in english for 18 months. agh. Solo español. District 5 left this morning, sad day... They have seriously become family. I can't wait for our CCM reunion in 2 years lol. 

So last week we talked a lot about focusing on the spirit and recognizing the spirit in our lives. We did an activity where we walked into the chapel (just our district), just sat there in silence, and tried to comprehend our feelings. Sad to admit but I don't think i have walked into the chapel before and felt the spirit like i did during that activity. I have taken advantage of going to church too often. I felt so much paz, comfort, gozo, amor, gratitud. Man.. I just let the spirit speak to me. It was really incredible. Too often i forget the feeling of the Holy Ghost. I challenge you all to look for the feeling of the spirit. We had another lesson on recognizing the evidence of God. If you seek the evidence of God, you will find it. God is everywhere in our lives; he is in our hearts, our minds, he is in others, as well as in the beauty all around. Look for the hand of God in your life and I guarantee you will find it. Even look for him in situations of doubt and confusion. He will be there and he will help you. As we were sitting in the chapel our maestro told us to think back to our baptism day. All I could really remember was myself smiling. I picture myself in my baptism dress in front of the font with my hands behind my back and I have the biggest grin showing my crocked teeth. It makes me smile now knowing what a great decision I made when I was 8. I didn't really understand fully what baptism meant but I knew I needed to follow christ and that was enough for me. 

We taught the Restoration to a couple of investigators and it strengthened my testimony so much of how much faith Joseph Smith had. This is the true chruch that was restored in 1823. He saw God. (BTW i memorized the first vision in spanish!) I know we can all receive personal revelation to know of the truth. I am so lucky to be doing this work, on this day, in this time, in this country. The gospel WILL not fail. It is my job to help people progress and I am determined to be a succesful missionary. Successful means different things to different people...I want to touch peoples lives and to convert them unto Christ forever. How are you going to continue to convert yourself?

We talked on Sunday about recognizing the spirit. (recognizing is key!) God answers prayers but we need to focus on the answers he gives us and how he answers. A lot of the time answers are just thoughts that come to mind. We must pray with real intent. I have heard this SO many times. I thought I knew what it meant until President Dahl asked us what it meant lol. Praying with real intent means praying with the intent to act in order to recieve. When you pray and ask for something think how you are going to do to obtain it. Acting is so important.

Funny story... so confort= comfort, but in Chile 'confort' is a brand of toilet paper, so if you say "confort"  everyone assumes you are talking about toilet paper;)  lol

Oh, and my comp was in Alysha DeLange´s ward!! (a good friend from San Ramon/BYU)

Last week we did our excerices with the Elders. We found this awesome park on one of our runs! They have parks everywhere here, no joke, and a ton of them have exercise equipment! No wonder the U.S. is fat. I am getting better at Volleyball! woohoo. That is pretty much the only time we spend at Alcantara (our home). We have personal study, breakfast, exercise, get ready and then we head to the CCM for everything else...every day haha. I have gotten the schedule down though. Little sleep but hey I function well! (goes from 10-10 at the CCM)

We committed Alejandra to baptism!! It felt so good. We were pumped!! My spanish is still really broken, but I am definitely improving. I need to work like a mad woman these last 2 weeks. EEK it's the real deal come feb 11. 

I will be writing at this time next wednesday.

Keep doing what you are doing! If you are struggling, pray! I promise you will feel better. God wants to hear from you!

I love you guys

Hermana Thompson

                                                  McDonald's Ice Cream for 290 pesos (60 cents)

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This week's schedule

letter from Elder Hansen

church 

mirror selfie

"Rodeo" completo! bbq sauce, cheese, bacon= Heaven

Hermano Traverso's last day teaching at the CCCM

Bomb of a teacher!

Week 3 in Spirit Prison

Hey guys!

So last week was a pretty rough week to say the least... I have had a cough the entire time i have been here; so I think it was last Wednesday I went to the doctor and he told me i had a sinus infection. I took some antibitoics and ended up back there about 30 minutes later feeling super sick. I was weak and couldn´t even keep my arms straight. I had a fever and i don't even know what else...he said it was vagas vagel (or something like that). I guess when i walked outside, the sun didn't mix well with the anticbiotic. So that ended in a 3 hour nap for the day haha. It felt so nice! I am doing much better now!! No more cough. Oh, so that night I had to take cough syrup, holy crap that stuff made me loopy! I dont even remember what happened. Apparently i fell down the stairs twice though and i was saying the weirdest things, i was crazy... 

So we got new teachers this week. Hna. Ceballos, Hno. Leva y Hno. Rossi. Rossi told me i look like a chileano! woohoo now i just need to sound like one. The spanish is coming veryyyyyy slowly, extremely. haha

We ate a bunch of humble pie this last week; we still have so much to learn. So, sabado was just rough over all. We went into to a couple of lessons and were pretty much told how much we suck. It was great:( I was just done with the day! We got on the bus and something happened...I put my head down and the tears just started falling. Lets just say I couldn't control myself. I asked the elders for a blessing; I am so grateful for the priesthood in my life. Elder Gamboa was prepared to listen to what the Lord wanted to say to me. It could not have been more perfect! As I work diligently the lord will bless me, I just need to put my trust in him.

This past week I have been focuisng a lot on TRUST. We must trust the Lord in ALL we do. Trust Trust Trust. It is so essential to our success; Satan wants us to be discouraged. It is during those times that we need christ the most. Endure it well and depend on the savior. Let him be your crutch and strength in all you do. He will not abandon us so we must never abandon him. He trusts us so we must trust him. We must work diligently though and earn his trust. He will carry us through any challenge we face. Our own weakness is the only thing that keeps us from Christ.

Oh i found a picture of Mason Porter here haha super random! Oh and Elder Cameron Litza knows Amelia and Sami Day, and Lexy and Hailey Busath!! crazy small world. I love it! Elder Michael Brock knows Chris Wible who worked with me at Vivint. They are in the same home ward. 

Look up the song "I´ll find you my friend" perfect mission song. Elder Gamboa sang it and the song just spoke to me, incredible. I am here to find the people I made promises to...my purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. I am a tool in the Lord's work. 

Oh, we taught the Latinos last night... they speak no english and we were allowed no notes. We taught the restoration and man we rocked it! You have to have bad days in order to recognize the good things that make a day good. 

I love the Book of Mormon!!!! Read 3 Nephi 14:7-11 and 2 Nephi 29 7-8, 10. The book of mormon is true. I reread the title and introduction pages and they are so great. 

Watch The Legacy movie if you have not yet seen it.

The new CCM (mtc) president and his wife (Dahl) got here last night, he went to Elk Grove High... 

I know my letters are all over the place and I apologize, so much happens in a week!

I am doing well though. This place is a roller coaster. I am learning and growing each and every day. The gospel is true and I love this work. I know Joseph Smith restored Jesus Christ's church on the earth and i know Thomas S. Monson receives revelation from god for us. God loves us all so much. I love you!!

Hermana Thompson

couldn't do this without them!

The gang

Elder Brock & Me

                             

GQ Elders

just follow the sign 

hard at work...

Here I am

my companion, Hermana Truman

My chilean bed

I belong to the church of Jesus Christ...

I love to see the Temple... 

Hermanas Arndt, Weist, Thompson, & Truman

Semana dos

¡Hola!

The days are long but the weeks are short. Sorry my letters are kind of all over the place; I feel so scatter brained. We just got back from walking around the city. So last week were able to attend the temple, man what an experience! I got headphones so i I could listen in spanish. Super powerful. The spirit hit me like a brick. The CCM is not easy and sitting in the celestial room just brought so much comfort and peace to my soul. The Lord has called me to do his work and he will provide a way for me to do this. I must endure to the end. So usually on breaks Hermana Truman and I walk around the temple grounds; the garden here is unbelievable!

OH goodness, we have had some crazy investigators recently. We have a 17 year old that wants to move to california and have a "gringa" girlfriend. Therefore he was very interested in what we had to say... haha he giggled like a school girl. We have another investigator who just likes to give us a hard time and ask hard questions... we work through it in very broken spanish. We did have a class outside last week and so we sat on the grass by the temple and our teacher had us go talk to kids that were there WAITING. It was kind of awkward lol "Hola me nombre es hermana Thompson" lol; my spanish is awful, but hey that's what I am here for! Spiritual prison lol literally though. Our classes are in the basement so there are no windows, just white concrete walls. haha it's fun though, I love it!

Hermana Traverso was telling us about how the hermanas tend to gain a lot of weight here... yay. She is from here and served in Rancagua and gained 50 pounds, yes 50!! Lets just say i lost my apettite for lunch. I went to put my tray back (with the food i didn't eat on it) and yeah it slipped and the plate broke. Talk about embarrassing! haha. Luckily they said it was no importante eek. Im a klutz. 

Hermana Truman and I were walking into the dorms at temple square to meet Elders in the lobby and the temple president stopped us and said, "You ladies have such sweet spirirts and you don't even know it." sweetest thing ever, made my life!!

We watched a talk from, Elder Holland in 2011. He told the story of Peter and John after Christ dies. Peter is fishing and they see a man on land that says to cast their nets to the right of the boat. They do, and the net is so heavy they can't lift it into the boat. John says "It´s Him." I invite all of you to come to Christ and be able to recognize him in your life. I know I want to be able to say "Hey, I know i cannot do this alone, but through Christ it is possible." Look for Christ in all things. Let us be changed through Christ. We need to allow Him into our lives and allow Him to shape us into who are meant to be. Life is hard, but I know if we follow Christ's example it will be easier. The atonement is real. Redeeming, Strengthening, and Healing Power.

I gave a talk in Relief Society on Repentance. There is an anology of holding a pen. Pen=sin, there are 5 steps to repentance: 1. acknowledge 2. be sorrowful 3. confess 4. restitution 5. don't do it again. Each step corresponds with a finger; when you do each step you loosen the sin and when you have completed all five steps, you no longer carry the pen (or sin). Kind of a cool anology to explain repntance. 

My spanish is coming along though, slowly but surely. I can pray in spanish, say the mission objective, as well as the invitation to baptism. If you haven't read the Mission Purpose, READ it. It is for everyone. We must feed Christ's sheep forever, even when we are not out serving a mission. Also watch "finding faith in christ" if you haven´t already done so. 

I love it here. The days are so long; 10-10 everyday, but we still manage to have fun! District 5 is also a N. American district and they live at Alcantara with us so we have all become like family...it is fun. Elder Brock and Elder Hansen are hilarious. Don't worry, I am working hard but it is nice to remember we like to mess around sometimes. We sing a lot and crack jokes. 

Sorry this is so long haha. There is so much that happens in a week. I love you all!!

Stay Strong. Whatever you are going through, I testify that you will get through it. Life gets rough; it is not always uphill, but we have to learn and keep going. Even if you are on the right track, if you are not moving, you are still going to get hit by the train! SO KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Much love, xoxo

Hermana Thompson

PS: The fires have really been affecting the air quality, we can smell the fire when we go outside and it is super smokey/smoggy. 

PSS: Elder Brock's mom is fron Cali, Colombia (although Cali wasn't in my dad's mission, his trainer was from Cali) AND Brock's dad love the Giants! I think they would get along well together with my parents;)

Hermanas I met up with in Atlanta

Missionaries headed to Chile 1/31/13

YES!!!

                                                                            My new home away from home!!

Elder Litza, Elder Brock, Elder Hansen, Hermana Truman, Me

"Elder leg day", "Elder 36", "Elder Wrecking Ball" with us chicas

"selfies"

Chile! Hermana Thompson

Hola from Chile!

I made it safely and man I could not love this place more! It is beautiful, not what I was expecting. SO much has happened. I feel like I have been here forever. I don´t really know where to start. I live off of campus but we come to the CCM everyday. The first day we were here, (1/1/14) we spent all day at Alcanatara (my new home) settling in, studying, getting the swing of things. The next day was the first real day at the CCM and we hit the ground running. We wake up at 6:45, have personal study for an hour and eat breakfast. Oh man breakfast is weird here!! They eat yogurt in their cereal! No cold milk, only warm, so i avoid that... Every meal is pretty much the same every day. They eat a ton of bread! but it is so good. We run around the city every morning. Then we take a bus to the CCM and have language study (rough)! We have 3 investigators right now and let's just say i struggle understanding what they even say... but I just let the spirit guide me and somehow it seems to work out and I can get my point across in as few words as possible.

My companion is Hermana Truman. She is from Las Vegas. Sweet girl and man she is patient with me and my spanish!! Oh, there are 4 of us girls who share a room and we have 40 minutes to get ready in the morning... yes that includes showering. I am a hot mess everyday!! Hermana Truman and I are the only hermanas in our district. Elder Litza is from Citrus Heights! Elder Daniel, Texas. Elder Gamboa, LA. And Elder Jepsson, Idaho. Elder Chuquel, Brazil. Elder Gambo, Daniel, and Chuquel are going to my mission! There is a district 2 weeks ahead of us that also lives at Alcantara and they are all great! 2 elders and 2 sisters from North America the others are Latinos. Elder Hansen, Elder Brock, Hermana Ardnt, and Hermana Weist(she is from Roseville, same birthday, same hospital...Crazy!).

MY days are all mixed up, but Friday was a really rough day. I was struggling big time with the language and was getting so frustatred with myself. It was bad. We taught an investigator and I just did not even know what he was saying, so I pretty much just sat there. But this was my motivation to try so much harder to get the language down; not for myself, but to benefit my investigators so I will be able to teach them the gospel. Since then I have learned how to pray and bear my tesimony in spanish. POOF! I have the best teachers! They are so great because they relate to us on a social level as well as on a spiritual level. They have so much valid advice, it's great. 

This life is not a ladder climbing competition; we all progress at different rates in different times of our lives. BE patient with yourself and always remember to only compare yourself to yourself!

The church is true and book is blue! 

I love you all and I testify that this gospel is true and I am doing the Lord's work. There is no other place i would rather be. 

Much love From Santiago,

Hermana Thompson

I am doing well. I love this gospel so much, it is great!

P.S. there are so many Latinos here in the CCM, and we are surrounded by Spanish! They have to translate for us few north americans haha. FYI, we can only take pictures on Pday while in the CCM :(

My district!

The other missionaries staying at Alcantara

I made it!

hello there! well I made it to Chile. The flight was long but i slept. I am living in Alcantara 360 look it up. It is beautiful!! The church bought it in 1961. It was a swiss embassy. There a ton of trees here. Weather is beautiful. I am staying with 3 other sisters. 2 elders are going to my mission. 1 elder is from citrus heights. I love it already! I love you guys dont worry about me!!

much love xoxo

hermana Thompson

And there she goes...

the Eve of 2014 marks the beginning of Kendal's new life as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints…

Adios Home Sweet Home

Hello Santiago Chile