Week 51: Adjusting

I am adjusting to the change from Penco to Talcahuano. Everything has been going well, and I feel hopeful. My new companion, Hermana Dietz, is great. She is way more courageous than I ever was at the beginning of my mission. I’m excited to work with her in these coming weeks. I think we will do well together and help the ward.

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed this week was a program we got to participate in. A choir and a group of live musicians performed a presentation on the Restoration and how God loves us all. It went really well, and quite a good number of investigators attended.

New Companion

Restoration Program

National Flags

More Awesome P-day Explorations

Week 50: Last Week in Penco

I AM BEING EMERGENCY TRANSFERRED! NOoooOOoooOOo!!. I was so sad when the assistants called Saturday night to tell me I’m leaving Penco in the middle of the cambios. It’s a sad thing to leave, and I cried quite a bit. I have been quite content here. I have loved my zone, the members, the area and my roommates. I figured I would leave at the end of the cambio, so I was mentally prepared for that. But in the middle of the cambio? No.

My companion here will become companions with Hermana’s Baturite and Corbett, and they will be a trio. I leave Penco tomorrow, and I will be going to Talcahuano. I will be the older  companion for the first time ever in my mission so far. My new companion is from Chile and has only been in the mission for about three months. I’m a little nervous for the added responsibility, but I think I can do it. The hard part is that she is new to the area also. She arrived only two weeks ago, and therefore we will know very little about the area or the members. Tonight I have to pack like crazy and say good-bye to as many members as I can. Tomorrow I will go to my new sector.

Yesterday a ton of less-actives and even two investigators came to church! It was awesome. It felt like God was helping me see that I really have helped the area.  A lot of people are progressing now. :)    

Week 49: Creepy Crawlers

This week it is already becoming better weather. Yay! I love Spring. This week was more successful than the last, and I feel good about our efforts. The only bummer is these past couple weeks my migraines have been getting worse again. :( This week I had 4 in 7 days. It stinks, but I have a patient companion and some meds to help. :)

Three less-actives and an investigator attended church on Sunday. It is ridiculously hard to get some people to come to church. It doesn't matter how many times we explain why it's important. They say they will come, and then don't for some excuse or another. It's always exciting to me when we help people come to church.

We found a huge bug this week. And yes, I did touch it and pick it up. I almost stepped on it actually, but my companion pointed it out just in time. She's a pro at noticing bugs, especially spiders because she hates them. According to one of the less-actives we're visiting, the bug is called "madre de la culebra", and they grow a lot bigger. O.o

 We did a service this week for a member. She bought a mini trimmer, so I cut down her lawn. It made me happy. :) After cutting down the grass there were a ton of lizards and I almost caught a few.

Madre de la culebra

Lawn Mowing - It's in the Blood

P-day Activities

Week 48: It’s Not About Numbers

Overall, it was a pretty good week. We didn’t have much success by the numbers and I can’t figure out why. I feel like we’ve been working harder yet the numbers just seem to be getting worse. We keep changing people to visit, doing our contacts, calling lots of people to accompany us, having appointments, being obedient, trying new ideas, and yet everything seems to fall through lately. It’s very frustrating even though I know the numbers don’t matter as long as we are working. I guess it just means there is something else that God wants us to get better at, and we need to keep working hard and trying to figure it out. We have another cambio together to improve!  

I loved General Conference. It always makes me sad when it ends because it goes by too fast. I especially loved the talks by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. It was fun to hear people speaking in other languages. When the two Spanish general authorities spoke, all of us gringos left the English room (where it was being dubbed into English) to go listen to the original voice in Spanish. It was so funny to see a horde of us entering just for these talks and then leaving again.