mis-sion-ary (noun)
someone who leaves their family for a short time so that others may be with their families for Eternity.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Hello Hello

f any of you have a secret for how to slow down time down, I would love to hear. thanks!

Bueno... This week we have been focusing on helping Javi y Agust find la respuesta  (the answer) if they should be baptized or not. Agust has been so excited. He came up to us "Tia Tia Tia me voy a bautizarme, estoy tomando leche" (auntie auntie auntie, I am going to be baptized, I am drinking milk)!! hahaha It was hilarious, he knows the Word of Wisdom :) We have had some awesome experiences with these families. Wow. I know I can't express it through words but I have seen such a change in every single one of them.

This week Car told us that she knows this church is true. WHAT. I can't tell you how awesome it is to hear and feel the words of an investigator say those words in a sentence. And Cesar has shared with us a little bit about his conversión. He has noticed the spiritual change in himself. I know we have definitely seen it, but for him to recognize this change within himself is so awesome. And yesterday in church, they both shared their testimonies. I know the spirit touched everyone's heart through their words.

So, we have been passing by for Javi like I said earlier because she has been feeling scared, she is not sure quite what she wants to do. She knows the church is true but doesn't know if she wants to get baptized. I believe it is for fear of being different. But I also know how strong she is. She has been praying and reading but just feels like God hasn't answered her prayers. She is turning 15... I think for everyone, it can be difficult sometimes to figure out how the spirit speaks to us individually. Well, on  Saturday she went to a stake mutual and then stayed for a baptism which we attended with her mom and brother. Car got really emotional during the baptism and told us she wants to be baptized... but for algunas cosas no puede hacerlo por ahora (some stuff is not able to do it now). After the baptism we were all just kind of chatting and Javi comes up to us and says "I am going to get baptized." AH!!!! Seriously it was so cool. The baptism made the little change in her heart that she needed...that Little prick of the spirit. They are so ready and they have so much support from the Ward.

Yesterday we also had a menos activa Pauli asisitió con su hijo (less active attend with his son). I just love when families come together at church, it is the best feeling.

I know how important the spirit is in everything we do. In my scripture study this week, I read a lot about the spirit and it is seriously so important to recognize when the spirit talks to us. Denying the holy ghost is the one unpardonable sin. I have really focused on the Trinity. They are 1, so when we deny the holy ghost, we deny god and when we deny god, we are denying the other 2. I just love the knowledge and enlightenment the holy ghost gives us! It provides so much understanding.

Mosiah 24:10-15 God is listening, turn over your load to Him.

Happy Birthday Crew bug!! <3

Hermana Thompson
a day in the life of a sister missionary's p-day!

Monday, January 19, 2015

Look up, christ is there

Bueno...

Nuestros investigadores están progresando bien rápido.. un día por el otro. De verdad este sector es oro... siento parte de la villa y el barrio... nunca quiero salir de aquí.  (Our investigators are progressing very quickly...one day at a time.  Really this area is golden… I feel a part of this area and the ward… I never want to leave here.)

Entonces (then)... We have been passing by for J_____ every day to see how she is progressing. and everything looks good :) She seriously is so awesome. i have grown so much amor (love) for this family.. i just want to take them with me to the states one day. So they are not doing really well financially at this moment as they have been changing jobs and their old job didn't pay them what they should have...money is very tight. But instead of going to work in the feria (market) yesterday like they usually do they stayed firm in their promise to God to grow closer to him and go to church. I love seeing them there, they just fit right in. They sang the songs and commented on everything. I love sharing the gospel!!

I think a lot of times we are too scared to confide in the lord...many times it seems we try  to do things our own way. But I know that when we put our faith and trust in God, even when it is difícil (hard), he will bless us and life will be 10 times better than if we did it our own way. God and Christ should be included in every aspect of our life. Religion is not just saved for Sunday, it is a way of life. It is this life. It is our purpose here.

Hey Dad, you are always asking for food stories... this week we went to lunch and the hermana (sister) asked if we eat everything and we said yeah and as soon as we said that she pulled out a cow stomach and cuts it open...and then serves it to us with rice and beans. My comp always says "rice and beans and Jesus Christ are all the things you need in life"...PERO quatitas (but stomach) NO! I am not sure exactly what we ate but I am pretty sure it was like the lining of the stomach... I don't know, but it was quite funny. My comp and I looked at each other and said "quatitas (stomach), ay ay ay!"

Las semanas están pasando muy rapído... quiero que el tiempo para. (The weeks are flying by… I want the time to stop.)

The misión is the best. Christ has seriously become my best friend. This week I have been studying a lot about the plan of salvation and the key role of Christ. If Christ even messed up once or gave into Satan just once, then we would not be able to be saved. But because he WAS perfect and loved us so much, he completed all that he was sent to do. Think about how many times Satan tempts us everyday and how many times we give in. Satan tempted Christ even more... and He NEVER fell. He is our Savior and for that I am extremely grateful. Christ lives. He gave us the perfect example to follow. Follow in his footsteps as He too walked through this crazy world.

I know that Christ restored his gospel through Joseph Smith. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ holds the keys to do sacred ordinances here on earth.

Happy Birthday Ty, Ryan Cody, and Rachel S. this week!

Remember Christ every day... He remembered us every second of his life!

Besitos.
Hermana T



Monday, January 12, 2015

Miracles happen!!

I am going strong strong with 5 cambios (changes) in this sector!! I absolutely love it. I feel part of the Ward, haha, it's awesome. So yeah, that's it with cambios. It was so weird to be in reunión de cambios tranquilla (quiet meeting changes)... haha I always have changes, either sector or compañera (area or companion). But this time I am sticking with El Conquistador y Hermana Gonzalez.

Ah. oh my gosh this week... ay ay ay... where to begin! We have seen so many miracles! We can definitely see the Lord blessing us for our diligence and patience. Seriously an unbelievable week! We are just going to skip to this saturday, alrighty...

So Friday the líderes de zona nos dieron una referencia (zone leaders gave us a reference named) se llama Javier, ellos están enseñando su primo (they are teaching her cousin). However, the only information they gave us was his name and the Street name saying he lives in a blue house... let me tell you a little about our sector, half of the houses are blue haha. We were determined to find him so we just decided to knock all of the blue houses asking for Javier and if they say "no'  just contact them lol. Well, we were getting to the end of the street and kept asking for Javier... there were some little kids out front playing in the pool and we asked if Javier lived there and they said his whole name, haha not knowing if it was him, we said yes lol. As it turns out it was him. His cousin who the zone leaders are teaching was even there so we taught both of them and his mom... and guess what, he accepted a fecha (baptismal date)! for the 31 of january. He was born with an enfermedad (infirmity) where the right side of his body is paralyzed, and it turns out his mom's aunt is a member...any person you talk to in Chile has a family member that is a member of the church!

After the lesson with Javier we went to look for Cesar, Carla, Javiera, Agustine,y Máximo to go to the ward Family Home Evening. On tuesday, we took the 2nd counselor of the bishopric with us to give a blessing and on our way, we found carla y cesar en la plaza... we talked with them a little bit and went back with him the next day to give a blessing on their house. Well, the counselor has gone back a couple times now to visit them! The ward members are such big helps in conversions!! Anyway, they came with us to the FHE and margarita (ma) came with her daughter también. Seriously, it was just amazing to have so many people participate, it was fun and spiritual. These people have become my family. And then Carla y Cesar had an interview with bishop...even better!! I can't even tell you how giddy I was this week to see the progression of these people that I have come to love so much, absolutely amazing. Seeing the changes they are making in their lives to follow Christ is unbelievable... usually cesar y carla trabaja en la feria los días domingos (work at the fair on sundays) but they told us they have decided not go to work but to come to church! oh yeah, I neglected to mention that last week Carla asistió con su suegra en (attended with his mother in) Rancagua! Sunday we went to church with all 5 of them and Margarita came with her daughter that isn't a member! I can't express the felicidad (happiness) there is sitting in the sacrament meeting surrounded by people you love that you know are making big sacrifices to be there. Javiera told us today that they are even going to stop buying tea to start keeping the Word of Wisdom. Miracles Miracles Miracles.

Oh, Emily who has a fecha for the 1 of feb, also went to church with us. We ended up having 8 investigators at church with us!! Seriously amazing. I love this work. I love the Lord!!

Congrats Max on your baptism!! and Happy Birthday Navy beans!!

xoxox
Hermana Thompson

Ailene, Hrna G., Javiera, Carla, Agustine, Cesar y Maximo, Ailene, Cynthia, Margarita, Ghisleyn, y Jujunis,
my little daughter, 
Karina y Amanda
Thanks Mimi, Grandma, y mi Papas for the christmas packages!
Javiera y maximo

Monday, January 5, 2015

2015=8 infinite makes this year unforgettable

Okay okay okay...

Let's start this year off great!! I put a ton of goals for this year, things I really want to implement in to my day to day life, goals that will help me grow throughout my life. I loved taking time to sit down and really think about the things I want to accomplish this year. 

This week I did a lot of reflecting on what I did well in 2014 and the things I can definitely do better. I also asked myself  "what am I doing right now to become a better disciple of christ and what I am going to do right now to become a better disciple?" 

Oh my gosh, so on Monday we had a lesson with a menos actova se llama (a less active, her name is) Z at 8:30, she wants her daughter who is 9 to get baptized. (I think I talked about them last week) But anyway, we went to show her the restoration video so she can gain a testimony of José Smith, and oh gosh, cualquier oposición a verlo (opposition in all things)! I was going crazy, praying and praying we could get the dvd to work...the DVD player was rejecting the DVD, then we tried looking for it on youtube and the internet connection wouldn't work, then the volume on the computer wouldn't work, aye aye aye aye aye. Por fin (at last) we got it working at like 8:55; it's a 20 min video and we have to be in OUR house at 9:30 at the latest. We shared our testimonies quickly after the video and ran home with seriously 30 secondsa to spare...woah...the devil does not want us to have success here! He knows as well as we know that God is preparing hearts for us to teach. I just really don't like satan... 

Yesterday we had a great asistencia! Let me tell you a little bit about P... She has 29 years and a little boy that has 3. She got baptized when she was 15. She went to Seminary, Institute and was even prepraring for a misión when satan influenced her until she stopped going to church. Hermana Salazar and I talked with her outside of her house one day to see if we could teach her about an awesome message we have :) When she told us she was a member and actually tiene ganas a regresar (wants to return)!! Dios prepara los corazones de las personas (God prepares the hearts of the people)!! She came to church yesterday for the first time in years! She came in a cute dress looking all pretty, she even beat us to church. We passed by her house to walk with her and her paraje told us she was at church. We were panicking that she forgot about the time change from 9 to 11, we walked quickly to church to find her sitting in relief society with a smile on her face. I love this work!! 

This week I feel like we have talked a lot about obedience...obedience to the commandments, obedience to the spirit, to that quiet little voice in our head. Obedience truly allows us to do well in this life with success. This week try to be obedient to every rule to every prompting you receive from the holy ghost. 

Happy Birthday to Max and congrats on your baptism! It is such a big step in your life, make it a special day. You will never forget it :)
Happy Birthday Luke y Norah y Navy!

If the Savior stood beside me...
Reflect, Change and Act

sending my love across the miles...
Hermana Thompson


Feliz Año nuevo!