Viva VALDIVIA!!!

Hola Familia!!!!!

So I am in Chile!!!! How crazy is that???!  I am here in a place called Valdivia! It is a little north of Osorno and rains a LOT haha. My compañera is Hna. Yepez, from Peru! She speaks a little English which is good for communication, and she just barely got done being trained haha. So a nueva is training a nueva! Pero esta bien! Also, we are opening up a new area... we are the first sisters in this area in several years! how crazy is that?? It is kinda of hard, not going to lie because we don't know anyone, but it is so fun to see how excited the barrio (ward) is to have us! They are all so nice!! Seriously! We had a ward activity on Saturday night and they all treat each other like family. and yesterday when I bore my testimony in church they were all so excited to see a Gringa! haha. They all laughed and smiled when I said ¨Hola!¨ haha. But everyone has been complimenting me on my spanish here. I don't know why, because half the time I still don't know what is going on haha. My compañera does most the talking when we aren't talking about gospel related things. I can understand and speak most things relating to the gospel, but lots of other stuff I just smile and nod my head haha. But they are all so friendly, it doesn't matter! :)

Random facts about Valdivia; One awesome thing about being new, is everything in our apartment is new too! We kind of live in the ghettos, but inside is really nice! What a blessing! Also, the whole city smells like campfire because almost everyone uses wood burning stoves haha. I am fairly positive I am going to come back permanently smelling like campfire! :) Also, like I said earlier, everyone is super nice and almost always gives you food when you walk in. Awesome! The food here is so GOOD too! Man, I love it! We have a ¨mamita¨who feeds us almeurzo (lunch) everyday during the week, and then on Sunday we eat with the members.

Since we are new, we have spent a lot of time knocking on doors and finding contacts and such. Not many lessons so far, but we DO have a couple investigators! Literally the first door we knocked on that first day, a lady names Violeta let us in a talked to us for an hour haha. Most people aren't like that haha. But she loves missionaries. We taught her the first lesson and she invited us back and said her granndaughter was going to be there and wanted to learn a little English. So we went back planning on teaching only the grandma. But that second lesson, her grannddaughter, Carolina, was SUPER interested and I invited them both to be baptized and Carolina accepted the fecha!! Oh my gosh!!!!! I have never felt so ridiciulously happy and absolutely terrified at the same time haha. I am SOOO excited, but so nervous that she won't follow through. She is 15 and adorable and super curious and I really think she likes what we have taught. But what if she changes her mind?! Ahhhh lots of prayers! It is all up to the Lord! Anyway, that is by far the most exciting thing so far. 

Not much success other than that, but we have really been getting to know the ward members and they are amazing! Hopefully lots of referencias from them :)

Not much time, but I hope you all are doing super well!! I love you all SO MUCH and I think of you often. I want you all to know that I know this work is real and the Spirit is real. I feel so strongly that there are people here that need it and I want to share it with everyone! haha but I need to get a bit bettter at Spanish first. With time! I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior... I know it with all of my soul! I was reading in D&C 84 today and in verse 63, he calls his apostles (or missionaries) his friends. I love that! I know that I am His friend, just as He is mine. All missionaries need to remember that! He trusts us as long as we are faithful and focused. In verses 79-84 it goes on to talk about how we don't need to worry about trivial things or ¨the morrow¨.... all things will be taken care of and the morrow will take care of itself as long as I am faithful. I love the scriptures! I love this gospel! And I love this work! It is hard, and at times I feel really alone here with all these Spanish speakers haha, but I know that this is where I am supposed to be. You are all amazing! Thank you for your examples!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!! :)

Your Chileno hermana,

Hna. Teeples

WELCOME TO OSORNO!

Dear Family of Sister Teeples,

We are pleased to inform that your daughter has arrived safe and sound and smiling to the Chile Osorno Mission.  It was a pleasure for us to greet your daughter upon her arrival and feel her desire to serve.  Enclosed is a picture that we took with her shortly after her arrival.  After a short period of orientation regarding mission procedures, customs of the country, etc., we assigned Sister Teeples to work in the city of Valdivia with Sister Yepez as her companion. 

President John E. Rappleye

Chile Osorno Mission

PICTURES!!!!!

We finally got pictures from the MTC! She is so beautiful and glows with the Spirit!

Hna. Parks, Mooney, Johnson, Teeples, Call

Her companions are Hna. Johnson & Call. Loves them both so much!

Hna. Parks & Elder Nobmann. He reminds me of Tyler & something he would do. :o) 

 Her whole district before 2 of the elders left for their areas.

 The District!

She even looks beautiful doing laundry! Smiling as always! :o)

LOVED GENERAL CONFERENCE!

Family!!!!!               4-11-13

Another P-day, the second to last one! Can you believe it?? I can't. Seriously. Okay, lots to say and little time so I am just going to tell you know that I will have to write you a letter later and send that too for ya :) I want to save some computer time to upload pictures later ;) haha. Also, I am pretty dang positive we get our travel plans tomorrow, and when we do, I get to call you for a couple minutes so I can tell you when I will be at the airport to call you again before I leave! Woot woot!!!! So expect a phone call soon.... I THINK tomorrow. Mom, I will call your cell phone, so keep it handy :) And probably in the eveningish, but once again, I am not sure. We'll just have to see :)

Okay... this week. LOVED General Conference!!! Oh my goodness, was it not the greatest thing ever?? It just blew me away haha. I know you all watched it too, but I just wanted to share a couple general themes that I noticed and really loved. The first was families... I loved the emphasis on the importance of strong families and how the Priesthood and womanhood go so hand in hand. In between each session of Conference, my district and I watched a zillion Mormon Messages, half of which were on families, and it just made me so grateful for families! (Speaking of Mormon messages... random side tangent, but watch "Mountains to Climb." by President Eyring. It is seriously the BEST, most touching message ever and we watched it like 3 times in a row haha). Anyway... families! I am so grateful for you, my favorite family, and for your sweet examples! All of you! Mom and Dad you raised me to be the kid I am today, and bros and Kaci, you are the greatest little siblings I could ask for! I love you all so much! Families are so important and I know we need to strive to be as strong as we can be so that Satan can't enter into our home. There is no time for that! The work is progressing and Heavenly Father needs all of us to be a part of it :) Which leads me to theme number two I noticed.... missionary work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe it is just because I am a missionary haha but I seriously felt like very talk related back to that and how we all need to find our place in missionary work. "CATCH THE WAVE!" Haha I loved that phrase! There is a part for all of us.... full time missionaries, pre-missionaries, family missionaries, member missionaries.... we all need to find our place among the work and get to it! :) How neat is it to know that it the job of all of us, and we can't accomplish it unless we work together? Pretty neat, huh? :) I would just encourage you to make some sort of goal as a family to have missionary work always in your hearts and pray for opportunities to help others come unto Christ :) I can tell you right now, that nothing will bring you more peace and comfort :) And lastly, the Savior! He was in everything wasn't He?? I loved how almost every speaker ended their talk saying "I am a witness of Jesus Christ" because that is exactly what I am... what we all are! :) He needs us to build our foundation in Him, and then let that light shine.

If I could choose two scriptures that I think defined this past conference it would be Helaman 5:12 and 3 Nephi 12:16. We need to first, build our foundation in the rock of our Redeemer and then let our light, that light of Christ, shine for the world! :) As I was looking over my notes, I noticed how many times the speakers used the word LIGHT and it was so cool! President Uchtdorf said, "God's light is real." Oh man, I know that is true! And I feel like my eyes are just barely starting to open to that light. D&C 88:67 says, "If your eye if single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light." How awesome is that?! :) I know that as we strive to center our lives on Christ, we can receive His light in our countenances and share it with others. I love my Savior! :)

Other cool things... our devotionals this week were Vocal Point and Gerald N. Lund. Basically awesome! :) Also, I final saw Brandon!!! Woot woot! Actually I see him all the time now haha. It's funny that once you see someone once, you see them everywhere. Also, my friend Lorrain Hilton from my past ward. See her everywhere too! I love my missionary friends so much :)

Okay, one last awesome story from this week before I wrap it up. On Monday, for some reason our whole district was having a rough time. I was tired, felt unenthusiastic, unmotivated and irritable. And we ALL felt that way. Hermano Zuzunaga totally noticed and being the intensely spiritual man that he is, encouraged us to have a talk during language study later and figure out what was going on. I was listening to people share their feelings, feeling selfish and irritated still, but one of the elders wouldn't let the conversation go until he felt everyone had shared that needed too. All of the sudden, I was pulled out of my selfish thoughts because one of my companions Hermana Call was having an anxiety attack.... her family has a history of it and it is a legit medical problem. We all got down on our knees and prayed for her as a district, and encouraged her with words and scriptures, but this one elder felt really strongly that she needed a blessing. So they got the zone leaders, we other hermanas left the room and they gave her a blessing. We went to the bathroom and when we got back, I peeped through the door hole to see if they were done. I will never forget what I saw. Six 19 year-old boys, six elders called of God, six men holding the Priesthood authority stood around her in a circle, their headers bowed hands upon her head, giving her a blessing, not of comfort... but of healing. Tears immediately filled my eyes. I didn't need to be in that room to feel that immense power of the Spirit that was in that blessing. It was like nothing I have ever experienced, and to hear them talk of the Spirit there afterwards brought tears to almost all their eyes! Wow. I am so grateful for the Priesthood and the worthy men in my life that hold it. It is amazing. And Jaden, you are going to receive that soon!!! I am so excited for you, sweet boy :) I love this gospel so much!

Okay, I will write later, but kiddies thank you so much for your letters this week!! I LOVED them and nothing makes me smile more than your letters! Dad, thank you so much for the talk you sent me too. It was perfect! :) I love you all so much!!! Hope you are having a great week! Talk to ya tomorrow! (Hopefully!) ;)

Your favorite missionary,

Hermana Teeples

PS. Got to meet the new district last night and train them with the zone leaders! More training tonight. Super cool!!!! I love serving the hermanas, it just makes my love grow for them so much. There are six of them in this new district along with 4 elders, and 5 members of the district are from Arizona. Pretty neat! :)

BORE MY TESTIMONY FOR A GENERAL AUTHORITY!!

FAMILY!!!!!                                                                    4-4-13

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe another week has gone by. Over half way done! In less that 3 weeks I will by in Chile. Can we just talk about that for a second? Madness! But I am so excited!!! Holy cow, I am so excited to meet the people and start teaching them! :) I miss you guys so much!!! I about die of happiness every time I get a letter. Can I just say that I was blessed with the greatest family ever?? Because really I was. I was showing my whole district my picture book with all of you in it the other day and just kept thinking... seriously, I am so blessed! I love you all so much!!!! :)

So this week has been awesome! So many things happen at the MTC it is so hard to even know where to begin! On P-days, we always go to the temple really early in the morning and do a session and then eat a Celestial breakfast there. It is great! I love the temple so much and I finished all my family names this week! Woot woot! So Grandma, I will be sending them to you soon! P-days are awesome, but they go by so fast haha. There is always so much to do! The temple is my favorite though :)

So one of the investigators we have been teaching, Yira, is 16 and he makes me so happy!!! We had intercambios last week and I wasn’t with my comps when they invited him to be baptized (pretty much I was super sad about it), but he had to ask his parents and yesterday when we met with him after he asked them we discovered his mom was baptized a member and he didn't even know! Haha it was awesome. So we are working on a "baptismal date," and it is just the greatest. Lessons with him are always so happy and it is so exciting to watch his knowledge and desire to learn more grow! We have another lesson with him tonight and I am super excited. It is amazing to watch people, even fake investigators, start to be converted unto the Lord. That seems to have been a huge theme this past week... helping your investigators (and yourself) become converted unto the Lord. We have to teach clearly enough and with the power of the Spirit so that they desire to keep commitments on their own, without our prodding. It is super difficult to master how to do that, but watching it with Yira is awesome! :)

Easter was basically the greatest day of my life! Let me explain a little about how it went... we had a big "mission conference" for Sacrament Meeting, which means that the sacrament was being passed to over 3000 missionaries at one time. It was the coolest thing ever! I felt like we belonged in one of the Bible stories. Then the speaker for that meeting was Bishop Chause, of the presiding bishopric. He gave such an awesome talk on the Savior and coming to know him better! Then we had a branch testimony meeting... I was up bearing my testimony in lovely Spanish (baha... super basic!) and who walks in but Bishop Chause?? It was crazy! Everyone turned around and got all excited, but I kept my cool and continued with my testimony. Haha I can officially say I have borne my testimony for a general authority! :) We had an awesome afternoon, and then for devotional that night, Sheri Dew came and spoke to us! Okay, that woman is seriously amazing. And then after that, we usually watch some sort of movie and that night it was a devotional Elder. Bednar gave a couple Christmas's ago at the MTC entitled, "The Characters of Christ." Talk about a life changing day!!!!! And then Tuesday another general authority came! Seriously, I received so much revelation and spiritual upliftment that day I felt tired haha. Our whole district felt about like how King Lamoni feels after Ammon taught him and at that moment I totally understood why he and his whole house passed out for hours hahaha :) I love the Spirit so much!!

I wish I could tell you everything that I learned that day, and this whole week! It seriously has been an awesome week. But every week is like that here! The Spirit is absolutely incredible. One elder in my district said that the MTC in Provo is kind of like the epicenter of the Church... so don't you think that there are prophets of old walking the hallways and angels up in the spirit world come here to learn, side by side with us, how to preach the gospel? I wouldn’t be surprised! This place is amazing :) Like I said earlier, one of the huge things I learned this week is the importance of conversion not just testimony... and how we achieve that by striving the develop the characteristics of Christ and enduring to the end. And the more I learn the more I realize I have such an incredibly long way to go haha. I feel like I have just barely, barely begun my conversion process! A couple things that stood out to me are these: first, the Savior. Without Him, we can't change. He was always focused outward, never inward, and even when He went through the worst things he was thinking of others. I need to be so much better at this, especially as a missionary. I know as I focus on others, their conversion and mine will come at the same time. Another speaker talked about how "the most important work is done within the walls of your own home," and if so, why are we here?? Because we are preparing ourselves for that work. By enduring to the end of our mission, we are learning how to endure to the end of our lives and how to help others do that. His mission president told him he would know he was a successful missionary if the grandchildren of his convert were converted... think about that. The grandchildren! I love comparing that to our family. If I am truly converted, so will my kids and their kids and their kids and it goes on and on! It is such a cycle and I think the importance of being converted is just going to become more and more in the going years. I am so grateful to you parents for teaching my the gospel! Oh man, I seriously don't know where I would be without your examples and guidance. And because your conversion, I can go teach people in Chile who will teach their kids! It is such a huge ripple effect! I love how we all need each other to get back to heaven :) I love the gospel!

Anyway, running low on time... other news. This week I was called as the coordinating sister in my zone. Pretty crazy haha.  It is kind of like the sister equivalent to a zone leader. I am in charge of all the sisters in my zone and making sure they are doing well, and training the new districts with the zone leaders and conducting weekly interviews and such. I feel so lucky to get to serve as the sister for a little bit! I can't wait to get to know the other sisters better. There are so awesome sisters that just came in, and I can't wait to help them and learn from them! :)

It sounds like you all have had an awesome week!! :) I LOVE LOVE LOVE your letters!!! And thank you so much for my package! I loved it so much!!! And have basically been on a sugar high ever since haha. You guys are the best! Also, I haven't seen Brandon yet but I hope I see him soon! I did see Phil Babbit though! Haha he is awesome. Our classrooms are in the same building. Oh, and I got the sweetest letter from Sister Searing! Will you tell her thank you for me? It was so nice :)

I just want to share one last thing with you... last Friday, on intercambio day, this hermana and I were having a pretty rough time haha. But our awesome teacher, Hermano Zuzunaga shared this scripture with us and I just loved it so much! Read 3rd Nephi 17:7 and then verse 10 too. I know that we all have wounds and things that we want to change in our life, but through Christ, He can heal us of anything. Whether it is a sickness or trial or characteristic we want to change. And just like the people of Nephi in verse 10, we will be so happy and thankful when we see him again! One general authority (can’t remember who) said, as he was close to dying, that he wouldn't know his Savior any more when he finally saw his face than he does now. That made me realize that I have a long way to go to get to know my Savior!! I love you all so much and I know that the Savior loves all of you too and no matter what you are struggling with He can help you if you come to Him. This gospel is amazing! And so are all of you!!1 Have the greatest week EVER! :)

Until next week, your favorite missionary

Hermana Teeples :)

ANOTHER WEEK FLYS BY

FAMILIA!!!!!!!

I can't believe another week has flown by! I have been here in the MTC for 2 weeks... it is madness. So good to get your letters and your email, Mom! You guys seriously have no idea how much it means. Every day, we all wait in anticipation to see if the district leader has a letter for us at the end of the day, and if he does... it is the greatest thing ever. So anyway, thanks to those who have written! I love you all :)

So this week has been kind of crazy. A lot of people have been sick in my district and I was doing so well at staying healthy until Sunday rolled around. Then my turn came, and it still isn't over haha. I lost my voice hard core and just barely got it back yesterday! Lots of sneezing and coughing still, but I am feeling much better than I was! Two of the awesome elders in my district gave me a blessing on Sunday night when I was starting to feel pretty nasty. They are so great! It was amazing because my hermanas and I had just had a discussion earlier that day about how grateful we were for the Priesthood, and the worthy boys and men we know that hold it and then I got the opportunity to feel that power in my life. What a blessing! Brothers... don't you ever forget that! :) I am so eternally grateful to you and to Dad for being worthy to hold the Priesthood.

Anyway, the rest of my week has been really great too! We got two new investigators, Alan and Yira. Okay, so in answer to your question, Mom, this is how teaching in the MTC works. Our first investigator, Daniel, we taught through the end of last week... and then he ended up being our second teacher! They are all actors here in the MTC. His real name is Hermano Zuznaga and Daniel is someone he baptized on his mission. Hermano Zuzunaga is seriously one of the coolest, most spiritual people I have met. His eyes glow with the spirit, as do all the teachers! He is really strict and wants all of us to be exactly obedient, but we totally need that and he really makes us all want to be better teachers and Spanish speakers. Teachers and investigators! We have only met with Alan and Yira once, but I am so excited to meet with them more!

On Sunday, my companions and I taught the district lesson (they did most of it cuz I had no voice haha). We were assigned to talk on enduring to the end, and it ended up being the greatest discussion ever with our district, so I just wanted to share some of it! :) As we were preparing, we came across the story of the Ammonites and their sons the 2000 stripling warriors and were amazed at how they faithfully endured to the end, and how that endurance spanned across generations starting with the sons of Mosiah who converted them. It is amazing to me that once they were converted, "they never did fall away." Think of the faith they must have had... and about the faith that their mothers would have had to have to send them into war. It is so amazing! The spirit was so strong as we discussed that story, and talked of how we can help our investigators endure to the end as a district. I love my district so much!

I also love my Savior so much. My testimony has grown leaps and bounds since I have been here, and I know without a doubt that he is my Savior and Redeemer. I am so grateful that I get to serve a mission for Him. There are so many people that need His help in Chile and I can’t wait to bring them to a knowledge of Him! :) I know He is so pleased when we remember Him and pray to Him. One of my favorite scriptures, 3rd Nephi 19:25 says, "And it came to pass that Jesus did bless them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus." I love that scripture so much!!! I know that Jesus literally smiles upon us when we pray to Him and that one day, if we endure to the end, he will encircle us in the arms of his love and we will be able to see that smile shining upon us once more :)

Okay, I am out of time! Sorry I didn't get pictures this week. I need to figure out how to do it haha. Also, I can't believe Emily is engaged!!! So crazy!!!! But I am so excited for her!!! (If she is reading this though, she should really REALLY dearelder.com me and tell me about it herself too! ;) Love you family!!!

Your favorite missionary,

Hermana Teeples :)

I'M AN OFFICIAL MISSIONARY!!!

Familia!!!!!

I am official a missionary writing on P-day! Oh my goodness. It is amazing to think that I made it to this day! So much has happened in the past week and a half, it is madness. The first couple days were really crazy. They pretty much just throw you into it... the Spanish and teaching and studying, and it was definitely a bit overwhelming. Everyone just kept saying make to Sunday though, and they were so right. Once Sunday came around, I definitely felt like I got into the swing of things! I love the MTC!! :)

Okay, so where to start. My companions. I love them! There are three of us in a companionship because one girl didn't end up coming. So my companion’s names are Hermana Johnson and Hermana Call. We are all going to the Chile Osorno Mission and I love them!! Hermana Call is a musical theatre major and seriously one of the most creative people I have ever met. And Hermana Johnson is so sweet and funny and beautiful! We have lots of things in common and often break out in fits of laughter haha. I just love her! Our whole district is awesome too. There are two other hermanas and 6 elders, all of whom are awesome. We aren't all going to the same mission (some to Argentina, Santiago, and Bolivia), but we will all leave the same day. Basically... districts are the best. They are like a little family :)

Spanish!!! I am not joking when I say they literally throw you into the language haha. You speak and teach it before you even learn it. Our first lesson with our investigator, Daniel, was last Friday and we were so nervous because we hardly knew what to say! I am so so sooooo grateful I took that Spanish class at BYU last semester though. I totally underestimated what a blessing it would be! I am by no means a pro, but it has been such an amazing blessing to know the basics and such.

The Spirit here at the MTC is so incredible. I can't even describe how amazing it is to be in a huge congregation of missionaries before devotional and sing hymns together. Talk about the most incredible feeling ever! It's like a literal wave of the Spirit that completely fills the room and reverberates off the walls. It is amazing. One hymn that we have sung a lot and you hear hummed in the hallways quite often is "Come Thou Fount." I already love this song, but I love it even more now! There is a line that says, "Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it." That is exactly how I feel. Heavenly Father, here is my heart! I am here to learn and serve and bring others unto Christ. I can't do it without your help, so take my heart, my whole soul; so that I can become the missionary you want me to be :)

I have received so many blessings while I have been here! Heavenly Father just answers the tiniest little prayers. One day, Hermana Johnson and I had been feeling really discouraged about the way a lesson had gone and about feeling like we needed to "prove ourselves to the elders," especially the zone leaders who seemed to favor the elders. There were lots of tears, and things were just rough. That night we were divided up into companionships so older missionaries could come talk to us, and who walked in but the zone leaders! They gave the most spiritual and uplifting advice about teaching investigators and reminded us that the Spirit is the teacher, not us. Our job is to help others come unto Christ, and let the Spirit do the rest. They also reminded us what an amazing difference sisters make in a district and how the sisters in their district motivate them and make them want to be better. Can you say answer to prayers? Hermana Johnson and I started to cry as soon as they walked out. It what exactly what we needed to hear :)

We have heard so many times that the Spirit is the teacher, but I can feel the difference when we are trying to teach the lessons and the Spirit is teaching. It is amazing! Our thoughts are in tune with each other, and even though our Spanish is weak, we know what to say. One sister told us that we should pray for three things in the MTC: 1) the gift of the Holy Ghost 2) the gift of Discernment and 3) the gift of Tongues. In THAT order. We are here at the MTC not to learn Spanish, but to become converted and learn to teach with the Spirit. It is s amazing! I love the MTC!

Ahhh running out of time. But I love you all! Sooo much!!! I have gotten so many letters, and I love everyone who has sent them! I will respond as soon as I can! Also, read 1 Nephi 3:15. I know we all have a work to do, and Heavenly needs us to bless his children. I am so grateful for this gospel. I know it is true. I know I can do anything with my Savior. I know that this is where I am supposed to be and there are lives that I need to reach in Chile, that only I can reach. I love the MTC so much and I am so glad I am here!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!! :)

Your missionary,

Hermana Teeples