p-day # 28

dear family and beautiful friends. :)

wow oh wow was this a week of miracles. :)

miracle #1: so the saturday before last, we passed by a contact we made in the street. Her name is Maria Cecilia and she told us that she was pretty much always in the house, and she was really really receptive. so we knocked on her door, and she told us that she had been waiting all week for us to come by. she invited her whole family to come and meet us, and we got to know them a little bit and then said a prayer for their family and asked if we could come back during the week. she said yes, so we set up an appointment and left. well, tuesday, we went by to follow up with our appointment... and she told us that ever since we came by, her family has been gathering every night to say prayers together. and that since they started doing that, her husband found a job, and that she has felt closer to God. We ended up inviting her to be baptized, to which she said she would love to and that she would pray about it. :) We left her house shaking, dumbfounded. I am just amazed that there are people so prepared for the gospel, and that I am able to find them and share it with them. amazing.

miracle #2: an investigator that has been receiving the lessons for like 5 years now told us on friday that her husband finally decided that he wants to get married, and she is going to be able to be baptized. :) She was crying with joy as she told us the news. she's read the book of Mormon like 4 or 5 times, and when we invited her to join us in the challenge that we are doing, she told us that she already started. haha. I am so excited for her! we screamed a little in the lesson when she told us...

miracle #3: A less active family that we have been visiting who has had a TON of problems in the past couple years called us yesterday to see if we could come by because they needed to see us. So we went over, sang a hymn... and they told us that they have decided that their 11 year old daughter needs to get baptized, and that they have chosen to have her grandpa do it. Hno Arcos told us that he would be really selfish to make her wait any longer to make this decision, and that he knows she needs to do it now. So we are preparing her to be baptized in 3 weeks! Just out of nowhere. haha. crazy.

miracle #4: we went by to see a man named manuel this week to see what's up, because he had a date to be baptized on the 29 of september, but he didn't come to church for 3 weeks. one of the members of our ward was with us, and as we asked him how his prayers were, he told us that he's been praying and he feels like his life is changing. we asked him if he's asked heavenly father if the book of mormon is true and if he needs to get baptized. he asked us why he needs to ask if he already feels like it's true (okay, what investigator asks that questions? haha.) we told him that to be sure, he should have a definite answer from God. he told us that he would pray, read his scriptures more, and start singing hymns daily to feel the spirit in his home more. haha. seriously, i just don't even know how i am able to witness all of these miracles.

We've started reading the book of mormon, and there are so many people that we are teaching that are doing it with us. :) I have so much faith that we are going to start seeing even more miracles as these people start gaining their own testimonies of it. this work just has no end, and it keeps rolling forth among everyone! I love being a messenger of the truth of this gospel!

so viviana got baptized yesterday... :( i'm so bummed i couldn't be there and that i never received a phone call from her to congratulate her on her beautiful day. but i'm praying that everything went smoothly and that she is so happy. :) it's lame that we have to leave our sectors and can't see the people we love so much make important decisions like this. but i know that i need to be here now, so i guess i'll be okay. haha.

well, that's a pretty good description of what happened in my week. :) awesome right?

we ended the night yesterday celebrating hermana fuentes' 4 months by making empenadas... and they were a disaster. the second we put them in the oil to fry them, they crumbled apart and were unsaveable. hopefully by the time i come home, i can make the dough just right. cause empenadas are incredibly delicious. :)

i love you all so much!

hermana spencer

p-day # 27

dearest family and lovely fans. :)

ugh. once again, I only have fifteen minutes to write everything I want to tell you all! haha. Good thing my fingers are lean still, or I would be in big trouble... haha.

So, this week was a holiday week here in Chile, and seriously there was like no one here. I have no idea where all the people disappeared to, but the streets were almost empty, and the people that we did find were either grumpy, super behind, or hung over. I love this country... but man, haha. It was a rough week for the work.

We visited a woman named Alicia this week, who has met with missionaries before because her daughter's family is less active. And she told us as we taught her the plan of salvation that she wants to be baptized and that she knows that this is the way to get closer to God. The interesting part of it, though, was that the spirit was not really very present. I was extremely frustrated because normally, there is a peak in each lesson where we can extend commitments and invite people to be baptized... and it never came. She still accepted the invitation to be baptized, and is going to be baptized on november 11th. :) But I am going to be praying really hard and fasting to be able to help this woman feel the spirit strongly, because it was super strange to me this lesson.

We also visited an old folks home where 2 of our members live. I could hardly hold back my tears as we were visiting with an old woman named Emma. She has no family, and her brothers rarely come to visit her. And this week, her Internet ran out so she couldn't talk to them for the whole week. Just thinking about how that would be, to live in a home and be completely dependent on the help of a nurse to live made me really emotional. we decided that we are going to have a family night there and get to know all of these people that live in this home. because they are so lonely, and need people to care about them. i'm excited to organize it all.

Like I told mom, we had our zone conference this week and a member of the area 70 came and spoke to us about how we can work more effectively as missionaries. His name is Elder Rezek, and he is incredible. We learned all about how to involve the members more in the work, to consistently find people to teach, and to use the book of mormon more in our conversion. We have been extended a challenge as a mission to read the Book of Mormon in 85 days, starting on September 30. I would like to extend this invitation to all who read this letter, because I feel really strongly that we are going to need the strength that comes from it soon. It is going to be about 8 pages per day, which is going to take some dedication, but I promise that it will be worth it. :) we are extending this invitation to all of our investigators and our stake is doing it as well. How great will it be to be united in such a journey! haha.

Well, exactly one year from today I will be home... and I feel super weird. haha. This time here in the mission feels like it's all passed in a day. I can hardly believe that I am at this point. But I am so excited to keep running and continuing to learn and help these people, because I love every minute of it. :) I have such a strong testimony of this gospel, and I am so grateful that I am able to share it with these people here, because I know that we are making at least a small difference in their lives.

 

i love you all so much! have a wonderful week. :)

hermana spencer.