Week 2 en Padre Hurtado

Well, I officially finished my first full week en el campo. Oh how I love this work so much!! Yesterday I woke up to the hermanas singing feliz cumpleanos to me. They made me waffles and omelets. great start to the day! We went to church and walked like an hour away for almuerzo haha. Everyone here eats a big lunch and then at like 8 or 9pm, they eat an evening snack called 'once', usually just bread, ham, and ecco or matte. yum yum. People give us free fruit all the time, so good. I have consumed more fruit here than ever before! Anyway, we had a couple of lessons yesterday, though did not all go as planned. eek. We have a family of investigators. We taught the restoration and they believe joseph smith was a prophet, but the father is superrrrrrrrr evangelical and doesn't see the need to leave his church and join ours because he  says christ isn't going to save just 1 religion, he is going to save people. guh. frustrating! We talked about the proper priesthood authority and all that but he just doesn't get it. We are going to keep working on them though. I have faith! I know God can works miracles. There are tender mercies of the Lord in all of our lives every day. I ended my birthday with cake and ice cream thanks to the lovely ladies I live with! 

This week we talked a lot about faith. Fear is the opposite of faith. I was reading in the Liahona during personal study and I read some stories about acting in faith. In the exact moment when we put our trust in God and take a step of faith is when he blesses us and our faith increases. But we have to ACT. Alot of our investigators believe the message is true, but won't do anything about it...they don't to go to church or whatever; it is super frustrating. Ether 12:6 reads, 'After the trial of our faith comes the miracles'. It is scary, but we have to act. God is all powerful and through him all is possible. We must show our trust though.

I have some sweet shoe tan lines hah. I love the buses here, they are so fun. We ran in the middle of the highway to catch a bus haha. oh and we did a service project on Saturday and 9 of us squeezed into a car that seats 5 because the work was in Santa Monica which is pretty far. Talk about squished;)

Every Thursday and Saturday we have recorridos or tours of the church and on saturday there are not many people on the streets walking around so we started waving to all the cars and tried to get the buses to honk. lol  well a biker passing by stopped, he happened to be a less active member. He has been sturggling in life, so we got his direction (address) and are sending the missionaries his way. It was just proof to me that the lord places us in certain places to help people with their needs. People are placed in our path for us to find and help, but we must have our eyes opened to see and we MUST open our mouths. I love that no matter where you go around the world the church is the same. The gospel is the same here in Chile as it is at home in San Ramon, and in France where Cole is, and in Australia where the Bollards are. It doesn't matter where you are you can find the truth, the gospel.

Our mission has a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 6 months. which is 4 pages a day in spanish. My companion and I are trying to finish by the end of my training so we read a lot in the book of mormon every day. It has already blessed my life. I may not know every word because we are reading in spanish, but I do know of its truth and the spirit testifies it to me. I can feel the power of the words. It is so great. The scriptures are true and I know you can turn to them in times of need for guidance. I want to challenge all of you to try to read the book of mormon in 6 months, I know that it will strengthen your testimony and bring you closer to heavenly father. 

The gospel brings hope to people's lives; Hope that is needed to get through day to day life. People are seeking this hope and we have that hope!! The gospel gives me so much hope! Increase your knowledge of the gospel by reading the book of mormon. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to bring this hope to people here who are searching for it. I know this is God's work and I know he will place people who are prepared to hear it in my path. I know he leads each of us every day. He is our guide in this life. Talk to him. Tell him the concerns of your heart so he can more fully help you. When he does help you, recognize him, and give him thanks.

passion. desire. courage. 

Desire to always know more.

Seek his guidance

Gain a passion for this gospel

Have the courage to do the things you must

Much love,

Hermana Thompson

no longer a "teenager"! woohoo

Birthday girl in Chile Happy 20th Birthday Hermana Thompson 

  

         Service Project with Hnas. Selk, Parks, Bustamante

 

 Birthday Cake

My district going GQ

Roasting marshmallows over a candle flame

Valentine's Day breakfast

First week en el campo

Hello from padre Hurtado

I don't know what you guys already know lol but my companion is Hermana Parks from So Cal! She is great :) I am doing well. The spánish is definitely my struggle  but it will come with time!! little by little. So my last week in the ccm was really great. We went on splits with missionaries in the north mission. it was super fun.

so i got to the mission field tuesday. we contacted on the metro, met the president and his wife who are wonderful!  We talked about the mission field and the vision for the mission; it got me so pumped!! so yeah wednesday we has a lesson with Monica and Helen. This was Monica's 2nd lesson. I invited her to be baptized with a date in spanish and she accepted!!!!!! so awesome. Helen is 11 and she is seriously a golden investigator... she is almost done with 2 nephi. Monica, her mom, is really progressing. She came to our recorrido on saturday and you could tell she felt the spirit in the chapel. Her daughter Karen (30) is getting baptized next sunday so that will be super aweosme for her to attend.

Every tuesday night we have free english class which is a super great way to get people to the church building and thentalk about the gospel a little bit. we had more recorridos on wednesday, but we weren't having much success. we talked to this guy on the street that we did not think would be interested at all but he talked to us for awhile and then he wanted to see the church so we showed him around and invited him to be baptized...and he said yes!!! he is golden, so prepared. he wants to bring his family to church and everything. Don't judge people, they may surprise you. I know he was prepared and heavenly father placed him in our path. 

so there are 6 people in our district. 2 companionships of elders and us. We are all in the same ward. Elder Daniel is in my Zone! It is fun to see him. we had zone conference last weekend; we talked about service and it was super bueno. 1 little act of service can lead to making someone's day. kindness is contagious! it's like a domino effect. SERVE OTHERS! look for opportunities to help in any way you can. people don't like accepting help here lol it is super fume (stinks) 

We have an awesome bishop though!! he is in his thirties and he is super involved. we have a great ward too! they feed us a huge almuerzo every day. always super full haha we don't really eat dinner. there are a lot of members here in Chile but a whole lot of less actives which is so sad but we are working on getting them back to church because we know it will bless their lives!!

I am sending my love to the Bollard's!! I am so grtateful for the knowledge of eternal families and the plan of salvation. 

no tenemos problemas. tenemos desafios.

I am loving the mission!! Chile is a great place to be.

I know the church is true!!

Hermana Thompson

I love Peruvian food!!

Chicken with rice, olives, egg, and an amazing sauce topped off with an inca cola & a 'smiley face'

mi casa

my office;)

Hermana Selk
(Jordan Tall coached her freshman basketball team) small world

housemates! Hna. Bustamante & Selk

Letter from President Barreiros

MISION CHILE SANTIAGO OESTE
President Jose A. Barreiros
Correos, Casilla 149
Pajaritos 1921
Maipú, Chile
11 February 2014

Dear Brother and Sister Thompson,

Sister Barreiros and I were pleased to welcome your daughter, Sister Thompson, to one of the finest missions in the world, the Chile Santiago West Mission.  She is well and happy, and we are impressed with her enthusiasm for the work.  After greeting her at the MTC and a brief tour of the beautiful city of Santiago, we arrived at our mission office. I interviewed your daughter.  My Assistants and office missionaries then gave her a brief orientation to the mission.  We had a delicious lunch together, she met her new companion, and that afternoon she left the mission home and departed for her first area of labor.

Sister Thompson has been assigned to work with Sister Parks who will serve as her training companion.  Trainers are chosen for their competence, patience and dedication, and are selected after prayerful consideration.  With this letter we are including a photograph taken of your daughter and her new companion with Sister Barreiros and myself.

Please accept our deep appreciation for raising such a fine daughter.  We feel a genuine fellowship with you in supporting and providing her this opportunity to grow spiritually as she labors to bring souls unto Christ.  It is my prayer that the Lord will inspire us all to sustain her in this challenging assignment.  Please write her frequently, weekly if possible.  Express your love, support, and confidence in her.  You will witness miraculous changes in her life as she engages fully in the service of others.

Being parents ourselves, we understand your desire to occasionally send packages.  For your information, packages sent to your missionary through FedEx often require large duty fees which must be paid by the missionary.  Those sent through Global priority mail, marked missionary supplies and valued less than $100 usually arrive duty free and within 2 weeks.

If you have any questions or if we can assist you in any way, please do not hesitate to write.

Sincerely,

President Jose A. Barreiros
Chile Santiago West Mission

My new companion Hermana Parks with Mission President & his wife

My guardians for the next 17 months!

My first area! Peñaflore

Listos por el campo

Well this is it, I only have 17 months left of my mission! Crazy talk. this has been quite the week... so yesterday we were taking pictures outside of Alcantara and 2 guys walked in thru the gate and stole 2 of the hermanas' bags...super sketch. it was a scary moment, we all felt super violated. My companion's bag was gone, very sad and NOT a good start to the day...

We are now the senior missionaries in the CCM, so weird. I feel so experienced haha totally different story next week though..."en al campo I go". Our last 2 weeks are solo espanol. yeah, I pretty much want to slap spanish the face half the time. ugh. We have great teachers though, they are super helpful and I am learning a lot! especially because they don't even speak english so we literally HAVE to speak spanish haha. it's good though, I am learning. oh I can roll my r´s!!!!!!! accomplishment for the week. You would be so proud dad :)

Yesterday we had the opporutnity to go to the temple again and I was an escort!! it was so cool to be able to help Hermana Davila. She is from Nicuragua. super sweet, but doesn't speak english;) Wow. it was such a cool experience. I was even able to do the ordinance in spanish... with help of course. I went to the temple wondering why I am here in Chile learning spanish. It seems pretty obvious, but as I repeated the ordinance in spanish I just knew that I am here to find someone who only speaks spanish and learning the language is the only way I will be able to help them. it was super powerful, pretty much overwhelming. this work is so true. I love going to the temple. I love personal revelation and I love that the spirit manifests the truth of the gospel to me. 

the highlight of my week was definitely on sunday when we taught the Latinos english, holy cow it was great! we sang called to serve. I love teaching, I seriously enjoyed it so much. It was funny because they were just sitting there listening to me speak english and trying to copy me. It was nice being the one to teach the language instead of the being the one trying to learn. 

In preach my gospel book there is a christlike attribute list activity... haha kind of a joke of how far I have to go...I have A LOT to work on. Definitely a humbling experience. lol this week I am working on being patient. Patient with myself, my companion, my investigators, y el espiritu santo. Patience. patience. patience...never been my strong suit, but god will turn weaknesses into strengths as long as we humble ourselves and ask for his help. Get on your knees and ask for help!!!!

We watched this awesome devotional from David A. Bednar about promptings. I don't have time to go into the entire talk, but the moral of the story was to ACT! Often, when we revive promptings, we don't even realize they are promptings. Try and recognize the promptings; focus on the thoughts that enter your mind and just act. Pray for the spirit so that you can have a clear mind to be able to recieve the prompitings. the spirit is CLAVE SIEMPRE!!!

I received a valentine's day letter from San Ramon 1st ward yesterday...Thanks for all the love and support!! :)

I almost forgot, on sunday we watched The testament in spanish (still super powerful) and afterwards we wrote down our testimonies of Christ. Wow. It like really hit me how much christ went through for each and every one of us. I know He is my Savior and Redeemer. I know he suffered the sins of the world. I know that only through following his example and being baptized can we me make it back to live with our heavenly father again. I know this church is true. I know I am doing the Lord's work in progressing his gospel. I know He is all powerful. I know that the light of Christ lives within all of us. 

Read Moroni 8:3

Signing off untill next time...next time, I will be out of the CCM!! 

Hermana Thompson

Last week and WE are outta here!

Best ice cream ever...with nutella!

I'm excited don't you think?!

lovin me a cone; always did have big eyes;)

View from church

I love Alcantara, mi casa!

Mi Tia, Cecilia

nuestros recreos

Elder Litza rolling a ring down the hallway

Hermano Rossi (mi maestro)

I love our crazy group!

Hermana Rodriquez

Hermana Davila

Hermana Limas

Hermanas Truman, Me, y Rodriquez