Santiago East, Chile Mission

Santiago East, Chile Mission
January 16,2013

Week #41 Nope We Don't Celebrate Thanksgiving!

wow! can i first start off just by saying I cannot believe kyn is gone. She is going to be such a good missionary.and i know she's killing it. it will be exciting to share experiences together. sounds like the boys are killing it in europe and so cool kels got to go over. enjoy london for me boys!! (i loved london, harry potter, hehe) but to answer your question mum no they don't spend thanksgiving here and if they did i would be scared because they give enough food as it is. hehe.

ok so this week was a bit crazy, we had a fantastic week though. we had the most lessons i have ever had, and we are just talking to everyone we meet, its fun, i like talking to random people in the street (now hehe) i love hearing their story... the chileans love, i mean LOVE to talk. i don't know if you guys remember milagros.. from a while back? well, we started teaching her again and she is so special. she has come to church two weeks in a row now, and she loves it. she is the cutest, i mean cutest little lady and just always has a smile on her face no matter what. she recently found out that she has cancer and is struggling a bit but you would never know because she is always smiling. we are working a ton with her and she loves to ask lots of questions, which is fun because we have a good conversation answering them. we pray with her. also, we finally, after working with maria ugaz for my whole time here, got her to come to church also, we are going to pass by her house this week to see how she like it. i hope so bad she felt something special. it was so funny because during sacrament i was trying so hard to distract these 3 kids of theirs and they are crazy kids like I'm pretty sure they are above average ADD... and so i thought it would be a good idea to bring markers and paper. bad idea! alejandro 2 years old, starts scribbling all over everything! i had the paper on my lap and when he was done my whole skirt was just covered in scribbles..haha it was funny i couldn't help but laugh, the only thing i wanted was that the moms could focus on the talks and feel the spirit, so we'll see this week if they felt anything, and my poor skirt is probably going into the garbage hehe.

it was cool this week because we did divisions and i was talking to the hermana i was on divisions with, and we were talking about how in divisions miracles always happen and it was true. it was probably one of the most successful days in all my mission, and everything just seemed to go right. this week was good! i realized this week how very blessed i am to have been I'm my sector for so long. yes, sometimes it's boring and really sucks, but it's been so cool to see the changes in the people here. benita and florencia came to church this sunday. florencia had bought a cute little skirt and little high heels for church and benita put on makeup and was all dressed up again. it was neat to see how they are becoming faithful members of the church and it was just a so fulfilling to see, and my heart just wants to explode with joy and there are so many other people i have seen change and i just am loving it so much. i feel blessed to be a missionary and be serving here right now. i know god loves me and even on those days that are hard he is always with me, and i think the most on those hard days. i knows he's with all of us and sometimes we just need to humble ourselves and ask for his help and he will help us. well that's it for me this week.

i hope you all have a great thanksgiving! and send lots of pictures i love you all so much and miss you all tons have a fantastic week and ill talk you, next week. oxoxox
con mucho amor,
hermana godfrey
your lil missionary

Photos for Week #40!!

Our Newest Member Paulina

Check out my shoes!!  They are hardly worn

Waiting for Elder Holland!!!


Cupcakes!!

Es Premabvera Aca... Week #40!!

 ok so i am sitting here writing you all and there are dogs from the street sleeping under the computers... there are so many dogs here!! hehe gotta love chile. well, first off, i cant believe the time has come and kyn is leaving. wow! i don't have words, i'm so proud of her and i know she is going to do such a great job.

so this week was a crazy week.  we had the opportunity this week, all the mission here in chile got together and elder Holland came and talked to us.... it was so cool! missionaries woke up at 4:30 in the morning to have front row seats when it didn't start until 10... haha we ended up getting there at about 7and it was full, but i talked to some of the missionaries and we ended up sitting 3 rows behind the pulpit, and squished together… hehe it was fun and it was such a neat experience. elder holland is an amazing person. it was so crazy because when he entered the room it was like getting hit by a wall with the spirit and i just love the way he talks — he talks so strong and so blunt....it was so neat. it was cool because he talked a little about the age change and how we have to be more prepared then the missionaries before and that there is a lot more expected of us then before for that we must learn faster, study hard and grow faster then ever. also that us being at such a young age is a benefit because people have to believe us because we are so young.

elder holland lived here in chile 10 years ago for about 5 years helping the church grow here. he is a funny guy... he talked a lot about how us as missionaries are making history, and that this marks a moment in history just as high as the restoration of the church, the book of mormon and the restoration of the priesthood... pretty cool huh. but because of this, a lot more is demanded of us as missionaries, for that we must be prepared. he also talked very strong that we are not just here to say what we need to say and then go home... we must speak from our hearts and take what we learn and use it in our life at home...a mission is meant to change us, to help us become better people. also how we are just like the investigators we are teaching — we are learning with them and if we don't put our part how do we expect the investigators too as well (makes a lot of sense.) one thing he said that i absolutely loved was that the world is full of great starters but not very many finisher, and this world needs more finishers. he told us i can't promise you a million baptisms, i cant even promise you one... but i can promise you 1 strong convert and that is YOU! if all you do as a missionary is save yourself that is ok with me, because your soul is just as important as any other. he also told one thing i loved so much ¿why is this life so hard? because salvation was hard, it never was easy, so life will never be easy...but it will be worth it in the end. so true!  i love elder holland and it was incredible to even just be able to be in the same room as an apostle... i feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet him and the words he said have entered my heart forever and it just made me want to be that much better of a missionary. how incredible is it that we have 12 apostles and a prophet to lead and guide us here on this earth i don't know how after meeting him and hearing his words, people can doubt that he is a servant of god.

as for my sector this week it was a pretty good week! we had 2 lessons with lana the russian girl and it was good. she got really mad and the gate guy one day and started screaming at him in russian... russians are scary when there mad... good luck kyn!! hehe.. but she said that she was really having a bad day and after our lesson she said that she felt 10 times better and that we had changed her day... that was cool... i hope so bad that kyn can meet her in russia. how freaken cool would that be! as for benita, she came to church with florencia and it was so cute! they came in the dresses (always came in pants before) and benita was a different person. its been such a blessing to be here to continue to see how much she has changed. we had a new investigator come to church this sunday her name is milagros. she is so adorable and just always has a smile on her face. we are working with her and we'll see what happens this week. well that's about it for this week. president holland def. was the highlight as it would be for any missionary. hehe

 i love you all so much and i hope you all have an amazing week. oxoxox
 con mucho amor,
 your lil missionary.

Photos of Week #39

New Dress From Mom for Hermana Guevera

Our Less Active practicing his baptism skills

The Sisters!

Week #39... Start of a New Transfer!

ok so you all now know that i am still here in los platanos one more transfer and then I'm sure i will be going. im a bit bored but im here for a reason... it was interesting because before the other hermanas left, (hermana adams and hermana zelaya) hermana adams was telling me how she knows that im here for a reason and that something is going to happen and i didn't believe her. well, this week interesting things happened and i dunno if i am the one to be here for these experiences, but i feel blessed to be here. but first off, the new elder came into our sector so me and hermana guevara live alone, witch was a bit difficult to get used to, but now we are good. but the new elders that came to our sector were out working their 3rd day and they were here when one of the elders was hit and ran over by a motorcycle and was in the hospital and now cant walk...he is training another missionary and the poor new elder couldn't speak a lick of spanish and was trying so hard to talk to all the cops and emts....  then we were sitting in church yesterday and we were getting everything ready for relief society, and all over a sudden the presidenta shrieked and fell to the ground crying uncontrollably ... she finally told us that her mother had died just then. the worst part it is most of the ward in los platanos is part of this family (La familia alegria y saldaƱa) so me and my comp went looking for the rest of the family, and then we all left to the hospital... it was probably one of the saddest things i have ever seen and the worst to see was the husband of the lady who died, he was just balling hysterically, and after then, they brought his body to the church and it was just full of people there to support the family. it was cool to see the support that they have, and i started to think that i feel so blessed to have the knowledge that we have as members of the church. the funeral is going to be tonight.

so the other day it was so funny because my comp was dying of alergies so i wanted to help... so i grabbed the benadryl mum sent me and on the baggi it said 2 pills so i handed them to my comp right before bed and told her to take them... well they didn't work till the next day and she was completely drugged. she couldn't even hold herself up! (i think our drugs are a bit strong for latinos) it was hilarious!! i couldn't understand why she was so tired and neither could she! she was like, hermana im so weak i don't know what happened. i then remembered that i had given her the benadryl and started laughing and then told her, and we know have this joke that i drugged my comp. hhahahah it was pretty funny.

as for investigators this week was a good week. we had a lesson with a women named elizabeth, her mom is the one who died about 3 weeks ago. we asked her where she thinks her mom is now, and if she thinks she will see her again. she told us no, and that she only believe in reincarnation.... and super hard headed, this woman. she said she doesn't like god.  she believes in him, but hates him because he is a cruel man that made her mom suffer for 3 years, and said, don't tell me it was a challenge in my life because I'm a good person, why would god do such cruel things to people like me. i really in this moment didn't know quite what to say. i told the only thing i could think of: "pray" elizabeth!! i cant make you believe me, i don't know all things but there is someone who can. god! i invite you to pray and ask him ask him your doubts. ask him if your mom is ok and most important ask him if he loves you... she told me she would do it and that that made a lot of sense because the only one who knows is god. so well see. we also had a fast this week for all of our investigators so well see fingers crossed. well that's about it this week!! all is good and well, and we are just working our butts off and trying to kill it out her in los platanos. our presidente only wants elders or hermanas in each sector, :/ bla so we will probably leave this next change... we are the only two sisters left. but ya that is about it life is good, loving the mission and miss you all tons and love you all so much!!! have a great week kyn, enjoy your last week as a normal person!! hehehe. OH!! and Finn is sooooooooo dang ADORABLE!!  he is the perfect mix of emily and brent!!
oxox
con mucho amor,
hermana godfrey

PHOTOS Week #38

Florencia's Baptism

Such a special day


It's a Harry Potter Plant!
Viva Peru!!



WEEK #38 Lana the Russian...

FIRST OFF KYN im so proud of her i knew that she would do a good job oh my lil sis im so proud of her she is going to be such a great missionary. and chan and all the boys are leaving to travel that world. haha that's awesome! i cant wait to hear all about it. and i loved the picture of chan as jack for halloween. everyone looks so great thanks for all the photos I'm so glad everyone could be there to support kyn.

well second off all they don't celebrate halloween like we do in the states chuuuta!!!... but its all good.. ok this week hum i really don't remember let me think, these weeks are just flying by so fast. we had a really good lesson this week with lana the russian girl. she told me she wants to be a member and she comes to church every sunday. she is our investigator most faithful.. but she said in her time she will be a member, she has things she needs to think about right now, but she told me she loves the church and wants to have a family and be apart of the church. so we were in her house and i felt like i needed to show her a video i found last p-day on imamormon.org about a russian girl and I'm not sure exactly why, but i did. and no se, but the spirit was so so strong and i know she felt it. she really kinda closed off with her feelings but i could see it, and it was a need experience for me to see her feel the spirit so strong. and its getting a lot easier to communicate with her too, her spanish is progressing. we had a great lesson with a menos activo and the lesson was so strong and we were very direct on inviting her to come back to church, but most important to go back to the temple. and she looked at us and told us yes, i know you guys are right! im going to talk to my daughter and we will set up a day to go too the temple she hasn't been in 3 or 4 years (well of course she needs to talk to the bishop first). but it was a neat experience for her to realize what we were saying was right and she knew it. we also had a lesson with benita and her husband, and her son for 10 mins was there and listened, and florencia. and this was huge because they never all listen to us, and it was really neat because the spirit was so strong and the dad had many questions for us! it was neat because i can see the dad being a stronger member then benita, and so we are trying to work on him now, so that one day they can be a complete family of members. but most important is that they can enter the temple one day and be sealed. ya im trying to think and nothing super exciting happened this week, just a super normal week. but we have changes this week so we will see what will happen... anyways so glad to hear everyone is well and that everything went well with kyn!! i love you all so so very much and miss you all tons!! oxoxox.

from hermana guevara

hola abuelita como esta, bueno mi mami me ha hablado mucho de ud y aunque no la consca quiero decirle que le amo mucho, su hija es muy especial para mi.

con mucho amor,
hermana godfrey
your lil misionary


SO for the first big secret FLORENCIA was baptized on sunday..wahoo it was beautiful experience wow!  so ya that's the big news

Week #37 photos

Pig leg anyone?

Changes

Hangin at the Internet Cafe

Week #37 It was a DEAD week!!


so, sounds like you guys had a really good week, and kyn!! oh kyn, i am so proud of you for going through the temple that is so neat and i just don't have words, but so cool to hear she is all ready to go... wow i cant believe it!!! my lil sis is growing up so fast hehe.

so for my week, well we get a phone call at 7 in the morning from the bishop telling us that our menos activo died!!!... so we got dressed really fast and ran over to her house and there she was ... well, her body... it was the weirdest thing i think i have ever seen, to see a dead body!!! and when we walked in, it smelled so awful, i just wanted to cry... i felt so bad for her daughter because she is the only one left in her family now, her dad died, her brother and now her mom, but it was her time to go. she was very old and super sick. but it was a crazy experience... elizebet, the daughter, asked us if we would just keep her mom company while she started calling people and doing paper and stuff, so we were sitting there, and i was just staring at her mom, and i just starting feeling happy! i know!! weird, right? but i started to think, she is with her husband and with her son. she is in the spirit world waiting for the resurrection and she is happy!! and then I had a thought come to my head... we need to sing!!.. i pulled out my hymno book and started to sing, and my comp followed. our voices were not beautiful in anyway, but the spirit was so strong, and i could feel juana lara there with us and i know she was happy!! ( it was her favorite thing to do when we would come to visit, she always wanted us to sing) all the people in the other room where elizebet was all went silent and stared, and the spirit started to grow stronger. we were there for about 4 hours singing and just trying to help,(we also helped put her white clothes on, that was a trip) ! it was really sad to see, and i can't even imagine going through something like that, but my testimony grew so much in the plan of salvation - that we are all going to see each other again some day, and life is very short and we need to live to our full potential, doing all that we can do, right! my comp. told me something and i really liked it: "there is more time than life" life is short we need to live it up BUT doing the correct things. i'm grateful for the knowledge i have and what we are trying to teach to the people here every day.

but ya!! this week went by so fast! i completed 9 months in the mission! wow, i cant believe how fast time is going. i feel like i have so much to do and not enough time. wow, wow! but ya, that was about the most exciting thing that happened this week to me! life is good tho i am loving the mission, and loving being a missionary. i feel like i'm growing so much with my new comp and we have just been putting tons of goals on ourselves to work harder. it was actually kinda funny the other day, i was so so tired and at lunch my body was convulsing because i was so tired. it was weird, but i kept working because i can't not work! i feel really bad when i don't!! OH MY GOSH i'm a missionary. hehe! oh and the russian girl, lana she is great!! she told me that we wants to be a member but she just needs time, and i was thinking how cool would that be if kyn met her and taught her too!! she goes home in december... would be so crazy. well family and friends and everyone, i love you all so very much and miss you all tons. i hope you all have a great week and know i am sending lots of prayers and love for all of you from chile.

con mucho amor,
hermana godfrey
your lil missionary.

More Photos for Week #36...

Paulina's Baptism...a ward effort!

Tyler's admirer

Viva La Mexico...oh wait...I'm in Chile!

I love this lady!!!


Week #36 An Awesome Week!!

hola a todos!!

Sounds like you guys had a blast at snowbird! i loved the picture of the whole family!! i can't believe how big everyone looks!! i sure am a bit bummed i missed out on that one, but next year :) haha

so this week? hum... it was a really good week me and my comp did something pretty funny. we made goals, that if we didn't complete our goals this week then i would have to dye my hair black and she would have to dye hers blond. well obviously we didn't want to do that, so it was cool because we ended up keeping our goals, but not even keeping them we ended up passing them up!!! so this week we are trying to think of another competition we can do... hehe it was pretty funny. we ended up working really hard and we found 6 new people to teach this week!  fingers crossed they will stay interested haha. my comp is great, we are really getting along great. its so funny, she calls me "mom" (because in the mission im her mom) haha so cute.

so this week we took one of our investigators to the temple and she loved it, and it was a really neat experience and the spirit was so strong, especially when we entered into just the entrance of the temple... and i bore my testimony about the temple and how much it has blessed my life, and just being in there and testifying of my testimony of the temple, it was incredible... and she said she felt so peaceful inside and it just was a testimony to me on how powerful temples are and how inside the temple our families can be sealed for time and eternity. I love the temple!!

we also had divisions this week and it was fun to get out and see another sector for a little bit. i was so proud of my comp because she had to guide the sector all by herself and she did a great job, which makes me feel good, because i kinda am training her right :) haha. but she's great and its not to hard to pick up on what you need to do to be a missionary. but time is going by fast and i am half way through!! so weird. but ya we are just working our butts off and looking and looking for people to teach!! there are so many crazy people here, but i love it!! i have a lot of crazy amigos who are always standing on the corners of the streets and love talking to us, but a lot of them aren't to right in the head but its fun i love it. well that's about it for my week!! sorry, it's a bit boring but i love you all so much and miss you all tons talk to you next week.
con mucho amor,
your lil missionary.

And then she sends this at the end of the letter as if it's an afterthought…so much for a boring week!!

So the big new this week is that well we had a baptism well it really was a ward effort baptism, but it was so special and just to see how happy she was. it was so funny because she told us that she didn't want the day to end she wanted to live this day forever. i told her she needed to write her feelings down because she's going to forget and whenever she is having a bad day she can look back and read how she felt!! she is so adorable tho, i love her so much!! she, at the end, told us thanks for being her missionaries and that just sunk so deep into my heart!! i love being a missionary and the best part is to watch people change and not have a desire to smoke or do the things they use to do. and i think the best part was when we went to see her that night, she was just glowing, she had a light with her and she was a different person. so beautiful!! i cant explain it in words but the spirit was so strong and i am just so happy for her.

Photos Week #36

Our investigator at the Santiago Temple

Luckily we made our goals...

This is our goal contract and it says if we don't meet our goals,
 I will dye my hair black and my comp will dye her hair blonde




My investigator made me a skirt!

So my companion didn't want to go on splits!

Week #35 Conferencia

Oh!!! you guys are all up in snowbird!! haha i about died when you said that you're going to put my face on finn hahah but now he is part of the family too!! haha. but, snowbird... ahhh i cant believe that it is already snowbird time and it has come and almost passed! i cannot believe how fast time goes!! it just blows my mind. as for the letters everyone wrote, thank you so much!!!! i don't know if they understand how much 5 lines mean to a missionary!!! I'm SO, SO excited to get them, thank you!! but it sounds like it was a good week for you guys, kyns farewell is in 3 weeks ¿WHAT? and things are just going to get crazy from there. good luck haha. I'm so glad that everything is coming through with you and dad and his work, and i love what you said that it is in the Lord's hands because it is so true, we can do the best we can and Heavenly Father will help us with the rest.

as for this week, for us it really was a great week watching conference... really, it was the highlight. i think it was the first time in my whole life i never wanted it to end! haha. i feel fully recharged and ready to kill it out here. i feel inspired and just ready to go. it's crazy to me how inspired all the conference talks are. i loved well, like all of them!! haha but i really like Uchdorf's talk about members and how things are going to happen.  people will offend us, but we need to remember what is most important and how Christ invited all to come back, and there is a place here in our church for everyone. i also liked, i don't remember who it was, but they said our church can be described in two words "GOD SPEAKS" and it is so true! Heavenly Father is here for us even when we don't think he is, well, he is he loves us and the love will always be there if we want it or not. and we now in this time have the ability to have communication with him and he will help us with whatever we need, even if we think it's the stupidest thing ever, nothing is stupid to him. Oh, also i loved how much they talked and dug into the help of the member and helping the missionaries, and it is so true!! we need the member's help we cannot do it alone. i love the goal they put on the families to find one reference for the missionaries by Christmas. i started to think if every member in my sector takes on that challenge, how many new investigators we can have!!


Oh i could go on and on, conference was just amazing. it was crazy, because i was thinking about it yesterday, and 1 year ago... 1 YEAR ago president monson changed the age, and 1 year ago i got down on my knees and asked if i needed to go on a  mission, i received the answer so strong in my heart that that is what i needed to do. 1 year ago that i called our bishop with kyn being the only one that knew!!! hahaha and told him i wanted to go, and from there started my papers, and now look where i am, Im in CHILE Santiago este as a missionary for my Heavenly Father, and i know without a doubt it was the best decision i have ever made in my life.

as for our sector, it is doing really good. i have just really noticed such a change in the people that we have been teaching, they're progressing! i have seen this in our a menos activo, and investigators. it was cool because this week we had a really strong, strong lesson with a menos activo called pedro. he is such a stubborn man... so stubborn, but i love him so much! we have a strong discussing about the church and why he has given up on it, he came up with whatever excuse, and it was incredible the things that came out of my mouth during that lesson, i told him, pedro, " one day it is only going to be you standing in front of God and Jesus and he is going to ask you, pedro how do you think you lived your life? do you think you are worthily to live in my presence?"  i then made him a promise that if he quits working on sundays and comes to church, he will see more blessing in his life, more then the extra 5 pesos they pay him to work sunday. ¿What? where the heck did that come from? i asked myself, and the spirit was so strong and incredible. then yesterday, on our way to conference, we ran into him on the bus and he told me he has just been repeating over and over again what i said and he told me that he is going to come back to church and has just been thinking over and over what we had said to him about the promises of going to church. and he said that he made the decision to come to church every sunday. i cant even explain how i felt in that moment, it was incredible. and how the spirit can work within you if you listen. and most important, don't be scared to say the things that need to be said.


we have a familia incompleto who have a date to get married and she wants to get baptized after the marriage. i have really see so many incredible changes here it blows my mind and the difference in the way hermana guevara works, and wants to work, and us working together. so different then hna vale. i love hna vale, but hermana guevara is more aggressive, which i like, and I'm learning a lot from her. but ya, we have also a cool experience the other day... we were planning for the week and we had an investigator, and i had no idea what we should teach her. i had no idea what she needed, so i asked my comp and she had no idea either. i then suggested that we kneel down and pray for the inspiration to know what she needs. we knelt down and gave a prayer, when we sat up the first thing that popped into my head was repentance... i then asked my comp. what do you think? she looked at me, repentance?? she ask questionably. a smile began to spread across my face, that was exactly what i thought... i told her. we then were looking through our scriptures and both found the same scripture to share. it was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father listens to us and he is here for us and to help inspire us in the simplest things, like what we need to teach. also, he knows his children so well and what they need to hear.

well sorry it was kinda a lot this week but ya it was a great week. i just feel so happy and full of life. i love chile and the people here, and I'm excited for the more adventures to come. thank you so much for all your support... i love you all so very much you have no idea. sometimes people don't understand what they have until they are far away from it. but you guys are the best!! have a great week. les extraƱo, y les amo mucho.

con mucho amor,
your lil missionary

Week #34 Photos

Study, Study, STUDY!!

Love doing service!

Cheers!

One of our members decided to teach me to knit!

Week #34 An Attack and a Golden Investigator!

ok so this week you guys are all going to be up in snowbird ahhh im so excited you guys are going this year!! one of my favorite traditions we have.

FELIZ CUMPLEAƑOS GRANDMA POPCORN!!! I love you grams hope you have a great birthday.

bueno this week hum what happen its crazy because time is going by so fast i cannot believe it is already oct. ¿WHAT? so this week we had some interesting experience we found this new family and i was so so so excited because i just felt think they were going to be new investigator and we are sitting in there house talking and it was super great she was so nice and sweet we then asked her about the church and she just started to attack us you guys are liars how can i believe that some man who had no education could have written some book and if i pray i can now if its true liers i went to your guys church for 7 months and i don't believe a word you guys say and testimony sunday what a joke and just went on and on and on i thougtht to my self what can i do, testify so i did and it was just more for her to use against me so we listen to her chew us out told her thanks invited her to church again and left it sucked to be hear all those things but it didn't fase me much because theres people who are like that and i just smiled at her and left her house happily there was nothing we could have done but i know what this gospel has done for me in my life and i know for myself it is true and it that moment i realized when people talk to us like that i actually strengthens my testimony of this gospel and i feel sorry for them because i know that this gospel can change there lives. i think were going to stop by again tho to try and talk to her daughter i felt something really strong with her daughter so we`ll see what happens with that. we had a really neat experience last night first one of a incomplete families the mom paulina is progressing so much she is reading the bom every night and she loves it she says i read it and  i know its true she is amazing unfortunately for her boyfriend practically husband she cant get baptized till she is married to him and his is still married to his other wife. but they have to goal to get married this next year and she told us she knows its true and she wants to get baptized. I am so happy for and i know the day will come.
anyways last night was a neat experience because our mission leader called us and told us i have some really good new one of his good friends texted him and said i want to get baptized. so we had a lesson last night us  4 sister missionary and her friends (shes single, and has been listen to the missionaries for almost 2 years) the lesson was so powerful and bore my testimony to her and the whole room was crying (me also) i could feel this spirit working so strongly inside and to tell you the truth im not sure exactly what i said but it was incredible we then invited her to be baptized and she said yes!!! i was so crazy how the spirit just completely took over the lesson and with 4 missionaries it was incredible so this week she is going to not smoke and then she will be baptised we promised her that if she only smokes one cigarette today and a half tomorrow that no more will she smoke again. (she has been smoking all her life). i was such an amazing experience i cant even explain it in words but it definitely market a moment year for me in my mission.
well ya that is about it for me this week! i hope you guys all have a great week and enjoy snowbird and conference, we will be watching it at the same time haha. I love you all so much and miss you tons!! Les Quiero
Con amor
your lil misionary

Photos for week #33

I am mama to Hermana Guevera

She loves me as her trainer, ya know
Our District


Week #33 I HAVE A NEW COUSIN!!!

¡¡¡¡¡WHAT!!!! i have a new baby cousin wow i cannot believe that there is a new person in our family how crazy is that! he looks so cute im in shock i cannot believe it!! congratulations to Em and Brent please give them a big hug for me and the baby!! super crazy and so awesome congrats congrats!!!
sounds like it was quite the week as well with the boys in pala im glad no one was hurt. made me thing about the last time we were all there next time ill be there flipping with the boys hehe!! but what an experience the boys have so awesome!! giver hell right! haha

18 de septiembre is the Independence day here in Chile!! i was quite a week a bit hard for us missionaries because everyone was celebrating but thats not important. but it really was such a great we they had an activity in the church with games and the classical chilean food "empanadas, y mote" and everyone was dance the typical chilean dance "la cueca" i was really fun and cool to see the culture of chile i´ve decided when i get home i want to take salsa lesson also. hehe im an idiot!! haha but this week was good we had family night with lana la russia and it was really good and then we had a lesson with andrea and we are going to put a date for her and her boyfriend to get married in was kinda a cool experience because the other day we were talking with andrea and her little boy comes in and says " mis padres van a casar" (my parents are going to get married) i sat there in shock and i took a second  for it to register but when i finally did me and my comp and the same time said "que" (what) and they told us they have been thinking about it i will seriously cry my eyes out when this couple gets married!! This was neat to because i was praying a lot that i could feel the spirit more and i just found myself all week so happy and i just felt this warm feeling in my heart all week and i was thinking about i today and it hit me that i have just been feeling the spirit all week long and the love heavenly father has for me I really just felt so happy and the thing that normally would have bothered me like door slammed in my face or someone who didnt want anything to do with i could just look at them with love. its not that i never did it just it was a lot more powerful this week and i feel so grateful for the holy ghost and how the simplest thing like my experience this we he is there for us. i found it a lot easier this week also to know who i needed to contact and what i needed to say in situation i normally wouldn't know what to say. I was a really neat experience this week for me i know heavenly father loves each and everyone one of us and i really feel like i have a purpose here in los platanos i will have 10 month in the sector when we have the next changes... crazy but i love it, love it, love it. every change is different. so that's good!! well that's about it for this we im sorry it wasn't much more exciting like last week but there you go!! i hope you all have a wonderful week i love you all so much and miss you crap out of you all!! its getting warmer here finally!! hehe
Con mucho amor,
your lil missionary.

Photos for Week #32

Independence celebrations

Celebrations at the church

The whole town is decorated

One of the members adorned me with Chilean flags

Week #32 Chilean Holidays

hola everyone,

that's so fun you guys are off to cali tell everyone i say hi. so cool the boys get to have the experience to go you europe. so awesome im so excited for them. Em is still preggi i thought for sure she was going to have it this week but hopefully this next week. crazy that people are coming home so soon blake especially blows my mind. 2 weeks. time goes by so fast i actually have 8 months in the mission today. crazy right. we need to make the best of every moment i´ve decided because time goes by so fast.

wow this week what do i say it was a bit of a difficult one with it being the holidays here i was really hard to have lessons this week. but we kept fighting and we had a great day yesterday. so it was interesting because 11 of september here in chile is super dangerous. its a time when there was a huge outrage here and killed the president of chile. so people go crazy on this day remembering all that happened they light be bonfires in the streets like every block they burn buses and practically everyone has a gun. so president said we had to go in early that day i remember looked out the window and we could just see tons of black smoke in the air and we could just hear gun shots all night long.. of course i was eating it up the whole time. on they also cut the electricity so we were walking around the pincion with candles i loved it... i was crazy tho because there was not a car on the road and you could hear a pin drop because everyone was in the houses hiding. in a big city imagine not a sound. it was crazy i loved it.. hehe. but ya that day was very interesting. as for our lessons i was so weird because the other day we went to see on of our menos activos and she was busy so she said come back in two days. we then went by two days later and her house was gone like completely gone... i remember looking at the dirt wondering if we were on the right street but it was so weird her house was just gone and her to i could have been in a movie. but ya we don't know what happened to her haha. weird experience. Yesterday we had 2 noche de hogar and we found a new family really really great and we had a lesson with a part family i will never forget. so we went to visit the part family and i remember turning to my comp are you going to share the message or am i she said you do it... i had not idea what i was going to share so we start the lesson and i opened my scriptures up and one scripture popped into my head not thinking much about it. i read 3 nephi 18:21 pray as a family. i read it and the mom and dad just loved it and started to tell me how they have just felt lately that there family is really separated and they didn't know what to do and that this was an answer to there prayers. i then told them how we as a family would pray every night as a family and bared my testimony on how much it strengthened our family and they then told us were going to do it. i then said bueno that get we wanted to invited you guys to do that has a family but seeing that you have already made the decision perfect hehe. it was such a cool experience for me because i really felt lead by the spirit and i didn't even know in that moment until they don't me that that is exactly what they needed to hear. so i was really neat. we then had an experience with noche de hogar and i told two of the young kids that they get to be the missionaries and that they are going to teach us a lesson (there both future missionary too) the girl did really well wow she is going to be an incredible missionary the boy nicholas was a bit different nervous didn't know what to say  he then looked at me and said im embarrassed im embarrassed.. not just know but always with my friends i don't what anyone to know that i am mormon.. i told him that it happens to everyone and that it is normal but who cares what others think who care what your friends think... the only opinion important in this life is what god thinks of us and i told him in 2 year this friends what even matter anymore, i also shared experiences and my comp too. it was a cool experience for me to see that he trusted us so much.. we said all that we could and hopefully he will really think about what is more important in this life. but ya that was about our week we have changes this week too. well see what happens. well i love you all so much and i hope you have a great week!! so much love from here in chile.
con amor,
your lil missionary

Photos Week #31

Love these Chilean kids!!










CHILE Independence Celebrations

Some of my favorite costumes


Week #31 The Mail Is Working!!

hola familia y amigos

first want to start off saying that the mail is working and i got your package mum thank you so much i loved everything inside it was perfect. mum i dunno if you should send the ring gram gave me if it gets lost that would suck plus i cant wear things like that in my sector, and i the mission i dunno think i will so just save it till i get home, thank you tho. em is going to have her baby that is so crazy i cant believe it. and gav.. that's crazy hopefully nothing happens finger crossed. but glad to here everyone is doing pretty good.

has for my week this month here in chile is one the craziest months of the whole year its their day of independence and chileans are very very very proud of their country so its like a month long thing. its so cool tho i love to see the culture and everything the have a dance here well like all south america but its called the quaka and it a typical dance everyone has been dancing a ton this month. we had a stake activity and all the young men and women dance typical dances from different parts of chile it was so rad i loved it. as for work this week it was a bit difficult with it being a holiday not many people opened there doors for us but we kept working... we have a new investigator i dunno if i`ve talked about her yet but she is great she is 21 years old and has 2 kids and her boyfriends is a menos activo so we have been working with them a lot we has her if she would try to stop smoking and she is really trying, this week we had a lesson about marriage and way they don't want to get married... she said she doesnt need a paper to say that she loves someone and wants to be with someone... i then asked her if she wants to be married for eternity she told me yes, so we are working with them so that they will get married lots of prays and hope that these to can make the decision to get married. they are so great tho i love them. as for benita she was confirmed on sunday as an official member of the church we saw her the tuesday after she was baptized and she was a different person i told her i dont think i have ever seen her so happy. she told us that she is so happy and her life changed after she came out of the water. it was such a neat experience for me to see how much one decision can change someones life so much, and in two days. but sunday she came straight from work and her hands were all purple and she was so tired i felt so bad for her but she came because she knew it was important. it was a great week tho we didnt have a ton of lessons but the lessons we did have the spirit was so strong and some of the best lessons i've had. things are coming alone really well here in los platanos. i feel so blessed to have the chance to work in this sector. and here in chile the mission is amazing and has changed my life, and has changes the relationship i now have with my heavenly father. i love you guys all so much and i hope you have a fantastic week and everything goes well!!
te amo mucho,
your lil missionary

Photos for Week #30

Hola!
It's a bit windy!

Week #30 Ahhh, Chile!

ok so this week was good it been a lot of work just trying to find people to teach i dont think i`ve ever been so tired in all my mission and thats a good thing!! we´ve just been looking looking looking and it has definitely been a trial of faith for me but everything is in the time of our heavenly father sometimes its hard to remember but if we but our faith in him things will work out we ended up finding 1 family nuevo who are from cuba... dont like americans and dont believe in god, im excited to teach them really!! also 2 hermanas nuevo so we are just working with them right now. one of the hermanas is a nana for an old man and cannot leave the house ever she has to running to the grocery story to buy food for him but she is really is the sweetest thing ever and is interested and listens to what we have to say. we are also teaching a 21 year old girl whos whole family of her husband are members him as well there not married and she smokes a lot a lot like 3 packs a day and not because she is addicted (which im sure she is too) but because she likes to smoke. and shes not married, so we are working with her and i have a really good feeling about her it will be a lot of work but we`re both up for the challenge! her boyfriend the menos activo actually came to church this sunday which was amazing, so little by little! as for my comp everything is going great we are working together and she has such a strong testimony she doesnt have anything in her house we actually had a noche de hogar the other night and we talked about the importance of families it was such a beautiful night the spirit was so strong but hna guevara told her story of her life how about 3 years a go her dad was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and was put in jail and the police took her house her car took everything and the only thing she had with her was her family and a little mud hut for a house, and she couldnt leave for the mision till know because she was trying to support her family well you can imagine when she told that story we were all balling. it was such a special night i will never for get, it also made me think how very blessed i am all the things i have in my life and how quickly everything can be taken away from us and the most important thing in like world is the bond we have as families, because in the end that what will be with us not our nice car not our huge house or our millions of dollars just the family we have and our testimonies for the gospel. as for the sector me and hna adams have been talking about how we can change things up because knocking doors doesnt really get us anywhere so we came up with the idea of english classes in the church at night and also setting a specific day that we can bring investigators to members houses to for un noche de hogar. we are just trying something new because well we need to spice things up a bit. me and my comp our such doors in the street throwing things at each other and always laughing i think it changes the way people look at us life is happy way not smile and laugh all the time it was actually kinda cool because we were walking and we passed this guy and he was just looking down and scowling and he looked up at us and we were laughing and he started to smile this huge smile on his face, and i was cool to see that we could change the mood of the man with the example of us. oh ya we are also trying to reactivate this family who were baptized like 20 years ago and they are awesome the old lady looks like the queen from alice in wonderland. hehe but she said she always use to hind from the missionaries when they would come by but with us she let us in!!! so we are working with them and they are so so great!! well that was about my week and ya!! oh ya benita we didn't see her at alll this week because she was working not gonna lie i was so ready to just stop seeing her (we all know i couldnt have really done it) but then sunday she came to church and she stayed the whole 3 hours miracle it really was a miracle!! oh funny story for the week this week we had a lesson with an investigator that practically lives in a house like our old tree house in the back yard im not even kidding its nothing.. but we had a lesson with her and we were reading in eter 12 and i was reading and i said genitals instead of gentiles and i looked a my comp and with both starting dying of laughter im and idiot i just kept think im poor menos activo, i dunno its one story nobody will ever let me live down oh and her 11 year old boy is in love with me and whats me to come back and marry him kind freaky ya... but ya some fun stories.
as for you guys im glad you made it back to utah finally and safe and jet lagged not gonna lie that sounded so miserable poor things!! and kyn i cant believe she´s been passing out hopefully everything ends up being ok! especially for the mission your really need to be in good health to be out her also because you just destroy your body out here being tired walking all day.. a missionary needs to have good health and strength i will definitely be praying for her. as for the mail i still think its down they say that if you send things through UPS that we can get it because its just correo de chile that is done so stupid!! im frustrated with the mail right now. thats crazy nick is home i cant believe that and that em is going to have her baby soon ahhhh so nuts im so happy for her and brent. and all the mision calls that people are getting so nuts!! and so incredible the lords army coming out her to fight the war. well thats about it for my week!! i hope you guys all have a great week and i hope you all know how much i love you and miss you all!! Te amo mucho!
your lil misionary

Photos Week #29

Our new investigators Andrea and her boyfriend

The New English Teachers :)

The Life of a Trainer!! Week #29


wow wow wow! what a week! i am training, i'm officially a mum here in the mision!! woahh!! my new comp. is hermana guevara.. good luck with saying that right hehe.. but she´s from guatemala!! she is so great her excitement for the mish is so contagious, and i really have enjoyed this first week with her.  one thing i really love most about her is she loves to laugh!! so we have a good time! it is so crazy being a trainer! im in charge of everything... EVERYTHING... it's a bit stressful at times, but it's all good.  i plan every day,  i teach her because we are doing a 12 week program, and start all the lessons and when she doesnt know what to say i fill in... it's scary but i have to do it and the wonderful thing is that i have the lord with me and if i didnt i wouldnt know what the crap to say in the moment. but i know these next few weeks are going to be so great and that i am going to grow and learn a lot.  they say you learn more from being a trainer then from when you were trained. and about being in the same sector again, the truth is i dont mind because it doesnt feel like the same sector at all... at all! we changed everything in our pincion to have something new and different; we´ve found new investigators, we work in a different way... everything is so different so it's ok with me, and also i love this sector too because i have really gained the trust of the members and people here... the guy on the corner everyday says hi to us and knows our names and i just love that. i think its good to gain people's confidence.

as for investigators, we are really trying to find new investigators right now because we didnt have many progressing and we actually had a really successful week.  (i like being about to do things my way hehe) but we are just working with that benita...oh benita my headache... we havent been able to find her all week because she started working again... but we are gonna keep trying.  as for lana, remember lana the russian girl ... ahhh i love her! i love her so much i dont think i told you guys cause i was embarrassed, but the first day we met her i tried to give her a book of mormon and she wouldn't take it. she said she doesn't need a book to help her faith, in that moment i really felt like someone had shot me in the chest... it sucked. well, let's see, its been 1month and a half since then and wed. we had a visit with her to help her with spanish, so i told her i would help her. well one of the elders in the other sector told me they had a girl from russia, so i asked if she would accompany us to visit lana (this girl is beautiful btw) so we went to meet lana and lana was so surprised and so happy they just blablblajblablablablabj in russian the whole time, my jaw was to the ground, i couldnt understand a thing... sometime to text tho, goodluck kyn it's a crazy language... but it's super bakan, you're going to learn that language!!! im a bit jealous kyn, hehe, but ya at the end of our visit, lana came up to me and said thank you so much, so much you are my angel, i needed this so bad today because i was struggling... and she just hugged me... the russian... she hugged me...??? it was a cool experience. so after she came with us to visit a part family and that was cool. she then came to church on sunday and we were sitting in class and she turns to me and says, godfrey you know that book you tried to give me a few weeks ago? i think i'm ready for it now... What??? i said...shocked "can i have that book? she asked me" OF COURSE  i said so i handed her the one in my hand... i dunno but i really think she is going to be baptized one day, but in her time. but i dunno this was just a really rad experience for me. i couldn't have been more happy then i was in this moment. the tender mercy of god is definitely real.

well, it sounds like you guys all had a wonderful week in china, you butt heads all of you!! the pictures looked like so much fun and mum YOUR HAIR!! i about died, i couldnt believe that was you! you look completely different and dad has lost a lot of weight wahooo!! but ya! It looked like a good time and i'm glad you guys finally made it to HK and you are now trapped in the airport again... hehe, im so sorry that sucks!! but it's an adventure, right? you´ll never forget that time you went to china right!! hehe and ems baby shower thats nuts she´s gonna have her baby soon right.... ahhh i wanna see lots of pictures please.!! well everyone, hope you know i am praying for you all everyday and i hope all of you have a great week full of adventures!!

oxoxox
con mucho amor,
your lil missionary

Some email replies from Meghan's last letter

Good morning Shelley.
I read Meghan's letter this morning and it made me cry! i am so happy Benita finally "made the plunge!" What a wonderful story to follow! So happy Meghan to could have this experience! Hard work does pay off! So I thought I'd pass along what Lars said this morning. I had the picture of Benita, her husband, and daughter? pulled up on my computer and Lars came out to the kitchen and said, "Oh, we did get an email from James's mission president. Is that their picture?" to which I replied, "No, that is an investigator on her baptism day from Meghan Godfrey's mission. It took her seven months to commit to baptism!" Without a seconds thought Lars said, "and because of that she'll be active in the church in seven years!" Just thought that was an interesting comment to make! Sometimes those who take the longest do end up being the most committed because they made the step not on impulse, not for welfare needs, but because after a long time on the road of learning the gospel, they couldn't deny the feelings!

GIve Meghan our love!
Lori and Lars

OH JOY!!!  Totally bawled my eyes out on this one.  So glad Megs was still in the area to witness it.  Sounds like a life changing experience for Benita and Meg!!  Her letters are so amazing!  So happy Kyn and Kenz are hanging out a bit before she heads off to Russia...ugh!! HOW are you doing it??  BTW, Cass keeps dropping subtle hints about Chanler..."Make sure and tell Shelley I tried to find Chan after the game, but, I had to catch the bus."  Today, she brought him up again.  She said she was talking to some Alta kids after the game and did a little name-dropping.  "Oh so you know Chanler Godfrey" and the kids says, "Of course...who doesn't?" So, just sayin...if he's ever desperate for a date, I think Cass would flip(;  Not that I'd like to set them up or anything(:
You're life such a big adventure, I know you're totally busy, but, let me know when you can do lunch!  I'm trying to do the temple with my mom in SL each week...she goes to at least one session a day, so, it's been fun to do my temple day with her, but, I'd love to go with you sometime...Cass came up and did baptisms and said it only took her about 15 minutes because no one else was there.  Text me, call me, email me when it's a good time for you(:
XOXO

Julie McKeon

Benita's Baptism, Week #28

WE ARE SISTER MISSIONARIES!!

Benita and her family on her baptism day

She is FINALLY ready!  It's the day!

It's a little windy today!