Hellloooo!!
This week has absolutely FLOWN by!! It seems like they are flying by these days.... Every day is so wonderful and amazing. :) So I don't know how much time I'll have today because I couldn't print this morning (more on that later) so I'm typing like a mad woman and hope to get it all in! :P
So this week I have gained such a strong testimony on faith in the Lord's timing. Our view of timing is so warped and messed up, but the Lord's timing is perfect and we HAVE to trust Him. There are many examples of this from my mission so far, but this story is by far the "craziest" for lack of a better English word... (That's a great sign.... :P)
So two weeks ago we got a reference from a lady (Hma Luz) who's visiting her sister for about 2 months. Her sister lives in our sector, and she is attending Zapahuira for the time she's here. Her sister (Sara) is not a member, and so we went over there 2 weeks ago. Anywho we went over to Hna Sara's house and her son and his family was there and we shared the Restoration with them, but Hna Sara wasn't there for most of it. Later, we found out why she kept leaving; her husband has been sick in bed for 6 months, and he can't move or walk at all. She lives in her house and has been taking care of him with minimal help for 6 months... So Hna Luz came up from Santiago to help her sister and that's how we got the reference. Hna Luz joined the church years ago, served a mission, and now lives in Santiago with her daughter. So we went back a few times and shared with Hna Sara. It was hard, because she didn't believe that God loved her and was doubting that He even existed... So that was a struggle to explain and we prayed and prayed for her that she would know how much our Heavenly Father loves her. On Tuesday, we visited her and Hna Luz asked if we could call the Elders because she explained to her brother in law (Juan) about the Priesthood, and he said that he wanted a blessing from the Elders. He kept saying, "Where are the Elders?" Over and over and over... It was so sad to hear, because it was more of a whisper. He was so sick... So we called the Elders and they came and gave him a blessing, and then afterwards Hna Luz asked Sara if she wanted one as well, of comfort. She said she did (which is a HUGE deal!!!). So we left for the night, and set up an appointment for later in the week. We had a feeling on Wednesday to stop by, so we walked over there and I hollered "halo" kinda loud and then we peaked in the door and there were a bunch of people and a coffin... Juan had passed away 3 hours after he received the blessing... It was such a sad, but peaceful moment. Hna Sara was so sad, but she told us how grateful she was that he wasn't in pain any more and that she felt so peaceful about it all. We are going back again tomorrow (she said that she didn't want visitors for the rest of the week because she was going to recuperate and Hna Luz is there, so we'll go back for the first time tomorrow.) We're praying for her, and hope she will recognize the Lord's hand in it all. I will keep you posted!
As for the rest of our investigators, they are doing well, but we're struggling to work with their schedules because everyone just started school back up again a couple weeks ago. So we're working with that and it's been a struggle. We had a bit of a hard time getting in touch with Daniela and Lucia, and every time we went over there, their mom was really harsh and rude with us, and we didn't know what we had done to make her mad at us... Come to find out, she was mad because they got back from church later than she was expecting, so we started talking with her and helped her clean her house, and now she's super friendly and wants to start sharing with us too! YAY!! It's amazing what a little communication will do for ya... :P We don't have any baptismal dates set yet, but hopefully we can work on that this week. It's going to be a crazy week, so we'll see!
As for working with Simil (the ward list of 31 pages), we've had a lot of success with that! We're working on reactivating, and in the processing, we're working with a lot more families and most of their kids & spouses aren't members. So that has been fun to see! The gospel truly is for families and it really can change people's lives, if they will let the Atonement work in their lives and make the necessary changes. As for the family history in the ward, it's going great! The ward is going to Cochabumba, Bolivia in September, so they are getting names and such together so they can do their family's work. We've loved hearing their enthusiasm, and we're still working on a way that we can help with that enthusiasm, but haven't been too successful so far... Lots of studying and prayer. :)
And as for the area we cover, it's pretty big, but we split it with the Elders, so they have half and we have the other half, so that's cut some of the walking down which is a blessing for the little feetsies. :) (But my feet are doing great Mom. :)) The streets are the big problem! Tons of the streets are numbers (Pasaje 1, 2, 3, etc) and every time they build another block of homes, they start over with 1, 2, 3, etc... So there are about a million Pasaje 1, 2, 3, etc's. :P Makes things a little bit difficult. :) But other than that, it's fairly easy to work with!
I'd better be going, but I just want to wish my little MWalk (Megan Walker) luck this week with her talk! You'll do so great and I'm so excited for you!! Send me your email and mission address when you get it! Love you cute girl! I love you all so much, and it sounds like although things are SUPER hot there, that you are all doing great!
Lots of love!!
Hermana Tuft
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Hello mi Familia!
Congrats Jess on your Graduation!!! :) I'm so happy for you! :D And it was SO great to hear from Spencer and Lindsay!! :) I will write you both back next week, I think... :) Good luck with starting school, I know you will have a great time, just remember to smile and find the good in every situation! I can't believe Spencer is a Senior and Lindsay is in 9th grade!!!! Holy SMOKESSS. So excited for both of you. You are in two of my favorite years. I have so many memories of those years! :D Let me know how things go! When does school start back up for Kyle?? I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your love and support and everything you all do for me, even from thousands of miles away. :) Have a FANTASTIC week for me!! :D
Lots of love,
Kristen
P.S. The reason why I couldn't print this morning was because I went to Lluta (Yuta) with Hna Jessica and she taught us how to make empanadas! SOOO I'm very excited to make them for you when I get home... :) Lotsss of time to go still, but all the time to improve my chef skills so they will be perfect when I make them for you all! :P I´m so excited to share. :D LOTS of love. :)
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Hello Mom and Dad!
This will be short, but I just wanted to write you a quick note to finish answering your questions. :) Dad, we had quite the experience with the empanada lady that I was going to share with you last week, but didn't get the chance! We were walking to an appointment, and passed their house and they weren't selling them that night for some reason. Her husband was sitting outside, so we started talking to him, and come to find out he was VERY drunk and I had no idea... (Yes, I have grown up in Utah my whole life and am learning lots....some that I would be fine not learning, but oh well. :P) His wife was in their house, so we went in for a short little visit with her, but as soon as we got in the door we got the WORST feeling ever and couldn't leave fast enough... It reminded me of the book we read together Return From Tomorrow, how all the spirits were trying to get into the bodies of those that were drunk in that bar... It was such an awful creepy feeling that we haven't gone back... It's sad, but we can't teach them anything if there is that kind of spirit there... We can invite them to church and continue to be friendly, but I feel like that's the extent of what we can do at this point... :( Thank you for the thought from Elder Scott, Dad, I love reading those! And thank you for sending the story! I printed it so I can read it later. :) And I'm glad to hear that you are headed back to NM!! Please keep me posted with how things go. I will be praying for all of you. Tell Elder Davies hello for me!
Also, I will definitely give Mamita a hug for you, Mom! She is such an amazing lady, and has been my mom away from home here in Chile. :) Every morning she has breakfast ready for us (bread, jam, and hot chocolate/strawberry milk/things like that) and makes us lunch and always puts something in our study room for us when we get home at night. :) She is an amazing lady and says to tell you all hello every week, (but sometimes I forget!) So hello from Mamita Tita! :) I was dying laughing at Lindsay's pinterest experiment... :P Tehehehe I can just imagine how that one turned out. :P And thank you for writing Sage and Sierra! Sage wrote me. I love you both SOOO much and I hope all is well. I love hearing from both of you every week, and I hope I answer everything/give enough details and such. :) Time is flying by and I love this work. It was so much harder in the beginning, but every day I seem to be more and more lost in the work and love it more and more. :) I am growing so much and I know that this is where I am supposed to be right now. Thank you so much for teaching me this gospel and helping me gain my own testimony. I love you!!! :D
Your little Chilena,
Kristen :D
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