p-day # 19

dear family and dearest fans,

well, tomorrow is transfer day! and my companion is leaving me, so i will be getting a new companion... probably a Latina! it's weird to think about doing missionary work without hermana krites, but i know that change is good, and it's time to learn something new. :)

This week was awesome. We currently have 2 investigators who are preparing for baptism on the 12 of august.

Jessica moya has had a couple of dates before, but they fell through because she didn't go to church! just like every other investigator in the world. haha. But this week, we talked with her husband too, and we read with them from Ether 12, and talked about how the only way to see miracles in their family is if they exercise faith and take this next step. Jose opened up and shared that even though he has been inactive for many years, he has never lost his testimony and has never stopped knowing the church was true. It was the first time Jessica heard him bear his testimony too, and yesterday, she went to church. :)

And pablo... holy wow. Seriously, if you could have a model investigator he would be it. haha. yesterday, we talked to him about the word of wisdom. He told us that he has problems with drinking every once in a while, but that he would work on trying to stop. When hermana krites reminded him that he has a goal to be baptized the 12 of august, and that he needed to stop drinking for 2 weeks before his baptism, he looked at us with a mad face and said that he would give it up today. haha. what faith! it is incredible to me that he is ready to be baptized, and he decided that that was more important than having that one last drink. :) I love being a missionary!

We visited the bishop's wife this week, because she had surgery a couple of weeks ago and has been recovering in her house. She loves to talk to us about all of our investigators and tell us how the ward is doing and stuff... and this week, before we knew that we would have changes, she told us that all of the sisters in the ward that she talks to have been telling them that they don't want either one of us to leave, and that they think we're one of those special companionship's that god only calls every once in a while. I cannot even tell you how good that made me feel. :) It means that we are doing our job as missionaries, and that the ward can feel our love and know that we are here to do the work of the Lord and serve with everything we have. It was one of the most rewarding days of my entire life. :)

I also decided that i am going to teach piano for the rest of my life. haha. this week, I had a lesson with my 2 13 year old students, javiera and Sofia. and as they played the songs that i left them the last time, and did them so well, and i could see their improvement, I seriously just wanted to shed tears of pride and joy. It is incredible to watch someone who knows absolutely nothing about something you know, and teach them how to know it like you do. They were so excited to show me their songs, and to show me that they know what they are playing, and that I have been teaching them well! ah. I love teaching! never going to stop. :)

i also decided that I am so grateful for my journal, again. because there are just so many things that i want to share with you all that it's impossible. and for that, i am so grateful that it is all in my journal, and i will be able to talk with you about all of my experiences and investigators and ward members when i come back because I'll have it all written down. :)

To finish, I just want to tell you about the special meeting we had as a trizone this past week. Our president has been thinking a lot about how we can help our investigators be truly converted. he talked to us about using the book of Mormon more, and to read with our investigators and use the words of the scriptures rather than our own words. to find answers to their questions in the book of Mormon, and to bear testimony of the things that we read with them. I know that it was inspired, because we have started reading out of the book of mormon and focusing on specific verses to help them understand, and our lessons have been 100% more focused and had the spirit way stronger. I am so excited to continue to study what passages will help what specific investigator, and help each of them to gain their own testimony of the book of mormon. because that is the key: when they read from the book of mormon every day because they know it's true and they love it, they are converted. :)

I love this work so much! and i am so grateful to be here in chile sharing this gospel. because it's true. and there is nothing more joyous in the world than that knowledge. :)

changing the world one person at a time...

hermana spencer.

Another p-day:)

dearest family, and esteemed fans, :)

Well, I'm doing wonderful. :)

My week was incredible, and my desire to be here is SO strong. I decided this week that I'm actually jealous of elders that get to do this work for 2 years. because there is nothing greater than sharing the gospel with those who don't have it, and strengthening those who don't realize what it is they have. We have the tools to gain exaltation with an eternal family, and everyone needs to know that! I wish I could just teach my whole life. haha. good thing you can still share testimonies with those around you when you aren't an official missionary anymore. and that you can teach your children... :) ah. i just love this gospel so much!

we started a new initiative this week to end our lessons with a homework assignment: for the people to teach us a principle of a lesson the next time we come by. and I have been absolutely amazed at the progress that our investigators have made in the past two weeks! they do their homework! and they know what they are teaching! and they answer our questions... and it's just incredible. haha.

We found a mother and daughter last week named Karla and Meri, and seriously guys, Heavenly Father prepares his children for this gospel. They are from Ecuador, and the mother, meri, had a few friends who were members of the church there. she never had the missionaries over, and never went to church, but she loved how the family was, and that the children had good values and such. they just have this hunger in their eyes when we go by to teach, and when we invited them to church, they decided to come! Meri didn't end up coming because she had to go somewhere with her husband, but karla came with us and loved it. :) It's so hard for these people to want to come to church because it's at 9 in the morning, but we went by her house 20 minutes before 9, and she was ready and waiting for us. I am so excited to continue teaching them! They are the cutest ever.

Then last night, we were walking to an appointment, but we had a half hour to spare, and randomly, one of our less active members was outside. We went in and talked with him, and it was like night and day from the last time we saw him. His name is Luis, and he got meningitis at the beginning of this year. super scary... and it left him losing his vision. He was absolutely without hope the last time we saw him. :( but last night, he was just beaming. You could feel his testimony radiating! He told us that he knows that we passed by just when he needed us, and that he will never leave the church again. It was such a special moment for me because I know that we are tools in the Lord's hands, and that he uses us to help his beloved children. :)

well family, I'm out of time. but I love you all so much! Thank you for all of support.:)

love you all!

dev.

p-day # 16

dear family,

ugh. i feel like my time to write gets shorter and shorter every week! sorry this is going to be so short!

But... i had the best week ever! I received a piano, and all of the materials to start teaching piano. I am the only missionary in my mission that has a piano in her house... cool right? haha. i had my first lesson on saturday, and it went super well. :) i think i'll proabaly end up teaching when i get home too. because it really is such an incredible thing to teach someone something that you have a knowledge of. I'd never done it before my mission, but i've completely fallen in love with it. haha.

this week, i have definitely gained a testimony of what it means to sincerely pray with real intent, and to see God answer your prayers in such great clarity based on your faith. last week, I was really discouraged because all of our investigators just seemed to not be progressing and stuck in this rut where they knew the gospel was true, but they didn't want to make the commitment to God to live it for the rest of their lives. and it just broke my heart. :( My personal prayers in the morning and the evening were getting to be longer and longer because i was just begging heavenly father to instill in these people the desire to be baptized. I begged for the spirit to be with me to be able to witness to these people the importance and power this gospel is in our lives. And He listened. :)

Pablo accepted our invitation to be baptized for the 29th. :) He told us that he wants more than anything to know that this gospel is true. He has watched his girlfriend be so happy for the year that they have been dating, and he is so ready to have that in his life. :) ah. it was so amazing!

And then, we bore testimony of the power of this gospel and the book of mormon, and asked maureen and her mom viviana if they wanted to have this happiness and the guide of the holy ghost in their lives too. they told us that they do, and accepted the invitation to be baptized for the 29th too. :) and maureen is currently looking for another job so that she can come to church on sundays, because she wants to be baptized and be a member of htis church. .)

and then, we asked claudia, and she told us that she is ready. :) she is also going to be baptized on the 29th! She has been waiting for a stronger testimony to feel like this is the right decision for her. I bore my testimony to her that she has enough testimony, and that God doesn't expect more than that to be baptized. It was such a cool lesson!

and then, to finish it off, Jessica asked us when she can be baptized. we didn't even ask her if she was ready. haha. She's going to be baptized the 22nd, and she seriously just has this light about her. haha. We are going to start working with her spouse, jose, who is an inactive member. she wants more than anything to make it to the celestial kingdom with her husand and baby girl.

and so, to go from seeing these people not have any desire, to seeing them want this, and seeing the light in their eyes when the spirit touched their hearts was such a huge testimony to me of the greatness of this work! I am so lucky to be able to be participating. I am trying harder and harder every day to do all i can to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and do my father's will. It's hard to hear sometimes, but when you are searching, it is always there. :)

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful 4th of july without me. listen to david archuleta to carry on the tradition, and get sunburned. :) muah

hermana spencer.

p-day # 15

hola family!! and esteemed fans.

well, this week was another week. haha. i'm starting to teach piano lessons this next saturday. i'm super excited. :) i'm getting all of the materials today, so yeah. :)

well, this week was... another week. haha. my first few days of the week were not the easiest. but i was directed to a talk in the Liahona called the atonement and the journey of mortality. you should look it up. its by elder bednar and it's awesome. It talks about applying the atonement to strengthen us, not just to cleanse us from sin. when we pray to God that he will not take away our struggles, but that he will give us the strength to conquer them, that is when we grow and become great. After that, I had an incredible week. haha.

 

well, monday, we went to an appointment that we had, but it turned out that the family was sick. but liliana gave us a reference and told us that we should go see if she was home right then. So we went over Yeni's house, and knocked on the door, and started to talk with her... and she asked us if she could be baptized like this sunday. we were super shocked. haha. shes from peru, and i guess had been going to church there for years, but never got baptized. she's having an operation on her throat tomorrow, so i don't know how things are going to be with her after then... but it was definitely a miracle. haha.

Then, we decided on saturday to visit the part of our sector that neither of us had ever been to. we walked and walked and walked and walked... until we got to the last house and rang the doorbell... and i gave my little schpeal into the machine. usually, the people either ignore us, or tell us their not interested. but the guy was like yeah, i'll be right down. i was shocked. haha. turns out that they are an inactive family that just moved in, and their son who is 10 was never baptized. they told us that they would love to get reactivated and start coming to our ward, and they gave us a reference of a nephew that also lives in our sector... haha. it was a complete miracle. they asked us why it had been their door that we knocked on that night. because we only had time to knock one. all i can say, is that the lord was guiding us. :)

The rest of our investigators are kind of staying the same. :( no one is really progressing, and our baptismal dates fell through again. ugh. I was reading this morning in mosiah 27 about fasting and prayer, and i think i need to have more faith that when i pray sincerely and with real intent, the lord will accomplish his miracles. and so that is what I will be doing. haha.

 

 

i'm sorry this email isn't really that long. I don't know where the time goes when I am on here... haha. But I want you to know how much I love you and that I am so lucky to have family who supports me and is so faithful at letting me know how they are doing. couldn't do it without you! Have a wonderful week, okay. :)

muah!

hermana spencer.