Familia!!!!
Don't have much time this week so I am gonna try and be speedy fast! :)
First off all, we had cambios but Hna Howell and I are both staying!!! Woot woot!!!!! We are so excited! There is still so much to do in this sector and it is just bursting with potential this week! :) The first couple days were crazy though because with cambios and being in Osorno, the centre of everything, we were super busy Monday and Tuesday, going to the bus station and bringing sisters to our house and the mission home to stay the night as they were all rotating around. Because we are the only sisters in Centro, when there are extra sisters that need somewhere to go, it is always with us haha. So we spent a lot of time at the bus station those two days. And that included being there when the group that went home this cambio was leaving.... oh my goodness, it was the saddest thing!!!! To see a bunch of missionaries we know all choked up because they are going home. It hit us big when we realized that is going to be us in just one short year. Holy cow!!! We made a new resolve to work our hardest and give it all to the Lord! Because I know that time is going to come faster than I think! It was also fun to see the Ericksons, the other matrimonial couple. Haha I love them so much!!! They remind me so much of gram and grandpa and he taught me how to chop wood! :) Basically i love the Goodmans (our bishop and his wife) and the Ericksons so much. I am gonna miss them tons when they leave in December!
With that new resolve to work hard, we have seen so many miracles this week! Starting with Ivan.... he has a fecha!!!!! FINALLY!! We met with him Wednesday and talked about his smoking...he decided to give it up ahora and we set his baptismal date for the 28 of Septiembre. We have been calling him every night to check up on him and poco a poco he is giving them up! Tomorrow he wants to give them up completely and some of the elders are going to give him a blessing. I am so grateful for the Priesthood and the friends and family I know that hold it! And we are so stinkin´excited for Ivan!!! He is gonna get baptized soon and we get to see it!!! Woot woot! (Brandon... my Ivan is better that yours hehe).
Also, we had a cita with Claudia and her friend Coni yesterday, and he pareja Cesar was there for the lesson too. Turns our when he was little he and his family listened to the hermanas for over a year, but then they left really suddenly and he has been kind of bitter about it. But last night as we talked about the Plan of Salvation, and read the scriptures he was so so excited and so eager to learn more. We gave him another copy of the Book of Mormon and he just thanked us over and over for bringing the gospel to his family otra vez and giving him that book. Oh my goodness, it was such an amazing lesson! They are both so excited to learn and Claudia is right there reading their homework assignments with them from the BofM and helping them understand. And they are going to come to church on Sunday with their little adorable 5 year old daughter Augustina! We have a family!!!!! I am so excited! :)
Another miracle we that happened this week was with another recent convert, Huayupe. He is 21 and got baptized a year ago but is the only member in his family. He is awesome and accompanies us lots and ever since I got here I have been wanting to teach his family too. So last week we decided to fast with him for the opportunity to teach his parents. He has been giving us pointers and stuff (his dad is like this famous judge here is Osorno) and we finally passed by his house this week (during the week when Huayupe is in Valdivia for school) and his dad let us in!!! We didn't talk for very long, but we did talk about God and his beliefs and such. It was so easy, he basically just told us everything without us asking! Haha and then said we could come back another day! There is still a long way to go before I think we can get the rest of his family to think seriously about the religion, but we are opening the doors for us or future missionaries. The power of fasting, I tell ya! :)
Speaking of which, I wanted to share Helaman 3:35 with you all. I don´t know if I shared it already but I just love it so, so much! I have been reading more of the "4th Missionary" like I told you last week and it is just changing my whole perspective on the mission and life in general. This week I read so much about how important the desires of our hearts are. We can be doing good things and be exactly obedient but if it isnt what we want to do, we wont be happy. He said. "It is up to you. You cannot be changed to become more like God if within your heart you fight against God... and hold fast to what you rather would do... Your world is in your head. Get your head right and your heart will follow and you will be right." Oh man, it hit me so hard haha. If my desires arent the same as Heavenly Father, then really it doesnt matter how obedient I am. I wont be happy. And so... we have to change our desires! And we do that through lots of praying and fasting and praying some more! That is why I love LOVE Helaman 3:35. We have got to give our hearts over to Heavenly Father :)
Love you all so much family!!! Loved your letter and sounds like things are going great with the kiddies in school and Ty in Alaska (so fun that you got to Skype!) and I loved the pics of Carter´s bday! I need to be better at sending pictures haha. I hope you all have fun with grandma and grandpa this weekend! And I cant wait to read all your emails! I love you all so much and miss your faces! Choose the right but more importantly WANT the right things because eternal life is waiting!!!! :)
Your Chilena,
Hna Teeples
No comments:
Post a Comment