Hello All!
We've had another great week here in Chañarcillo! The dance was great, the people are fantastic, and we are continually finding and talking to just as many people as we can every day. :) Hermana Millaquipai has taken off and is a fantastic missionary! We are learning lots from each other, and I think I will continue learning so much more from her than she ever will from me... :) I love having this experience to train and to look back at all the things I've learned along the way and how much more I have to look forward to learning. :) I love love love missionary work. :D
I was happy to hear that the Hastening the Work stake conference went well and that Spencer did a great job, especially in embarrassing little Lindsay. :) I doubt she was embarrassed, but that did give me a good laugh. :) That also made more sense that we had a pair of sisters for the stake, not the ward.... :) I was running that one through my head and thinking....how in the world does our little ward have a set of missionaries....? But the stake makes more sense. SO exciting still though! :)
[Just decided to ADD this insert: I thought I'd let you know what Kristen was meaning regarding Spencer's talk in stake conference yesterday. They had their youth meeting at 8 am and then they came home to grab something to eat, and Spencer had gone in the bathroom and left his prepared talk outline inside his Preach My Gospel sitting with his scriptures on the counter. So Lindsay was saying to Brian how it would be so funny to take his outline OUT of his PMG and put in blank pages so when he got up to speak he'd have NO NOTES. (I don't know where she gets this streak from!) But she and Brian had a little laugh over that one and then she actually took his outline out and wrote on the top SPENCER LOVES HIS LITTLE SISTER, LINDSAY SO VERY MUCH! SO...when he got up to speak he didn't look at his notes for a couple minutes and then when he looked down to see them, he saw that and chuckled and announced to everyone that his sister had written that on the top. So everyone was cracking up! So that's what we told Kristen. The FUNNY for the day! :)]
Hermana Millaquipai is great. We have worked good and hard this week. It's been a little bit more of a struggle with people continually leaving for their family vacations, but we continue to find and teach, which is the most important, right? :) From what Bishop Martinez keeps saying, February gets a little worse, but it's all uphill from there. :) Roxana will be headed out for the month, as well as Jorge (I think I mentioned him last week....?). Anywho, I was going to say that Hna Millaquipai yes, is Mapuche, which is a native tribe here to Chile. Her mom is from Spanish decent, and she is a native Spanish speaker, although she does know a few words in Mapuche. So I am learning lots more Spanish, as well as a couple words in Mapuche, and she is starting to learn English. :) So we're having a lot of fun with our language abilities. :)
There was a couple thoughts regarding the Book of Mormon that I wanted to share from the week. We went to Roxana's on Tuesday and had a great lesson about prophets and their importance here on the earth. We challenged her last week to start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning, and she accepted. So when we went on Tuesday, she had only read a tiny bit of the first chapter, which was a little disheartening, but we talked about the importance of daily scripture study again, with the importance of prophets, and how the Book of Mormon was the words of prophets. So we set an appointment for Friday, and headed out. On Friday we got to her house, and she had read 7 chapters in those couple days! We were thrilled!! She started out by saying, "Well, I liked most of it, but I got to that part about Nephi and cutting off that guys head, and I didn't like that part." ("Me choqué.") And then she continued to say that after she read that she didn't want to read more, but she was so interested to see what happened that she went back a couple hours later and realized that he had to do that, or else all of his posterity wouldn't have had the gospel in their lives. I was just overwhelmed with gratitude, to my Heavenly Father, and to all of your prayers in her behalf. Please continue to pray for her. She continually needs them, as do we.
That got the both of us thinking about the deep importance of the Book of Mormon in our lives. Roxana still is a little stuck in her ways, but she is reading the proof of what we are telling her. The Book of Mormon truly is the keystone of our religion. I have been overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity and blessing we have in our lives to have the Book of Mormon. I testify that I know that it is true. I know that reading that book will help us grow closer to our Savior, and that through its daily study we will become the instruments that the Lord needs us to be.
We ended the week with 2 baptisms in the ward. It's been quite some time that the ward has had a baptism, and we had an 8 yr old little boy named Maximo and a convert of the Elders, name Rosario, be baptized on Saturday. How blessed we are to live in these times where the Priesthood power of God has again been restored upon the earth! I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God that is leading and guiding our church in the way the Lord needs. I am so very excited this week as we help Isabel prepare for her baptism next week. She is so excited, as are we. Please keep her in your prayers. :)
Sé que esta iglesia es la iglesia de Jesucristo aquí en la tierra. No hay ninguna duda en mi mente. Estoy tan agradecida que yo tenga la oportunidad y poder compartirlo día tras día. La vida es el tiempo para nosotros a prepararnos a volver a la presencia de un Amoroso Padre Celestial. Sé que El ama a cada uno de uds. Espero que tengan una semana genial y lleno de sonrisas. :D Les quiero muchísimo. :)
Translation by Google:
[I know that this church is the church of Jesus Christ here on earth. There is no doubt in my mind. I'm so thankful I have the opportunity and sharing it day after day. Life is time for us to prepare to return to the presence of a loving Heavenly Father. I know that He loves each one of you. Hope you have a great week full of smiles. : D I love you so much. :)]
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Tuft
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Hello Mom and Dad!
I think I pretty much covered everything in the main letter. :) The week has been pretty calm and I have just felt such peace and love. Thank you both for your prayers and support. I feel of that love every single day. I sometimes wonder if Heavenly Father prompts you both and me to study the same things at the same times, because sometimes we have the exact same experiences in the same week. For example, this week Dad, I just studied that talk "We Never Walk Alone" from President Monson. That poem brought tears to my eyes as I reflected back on moments of the mission where I have felt so alone and afraid, but then as I focus on the love of my Savior, that loneliness and sadness seems to disappear and I have all the more drive to share this glad message with those around me. If they all just felt of a tiny bit of that love, they would gladly and happily accept the gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives. That is our tarea, to help them feel that infinite love and change their lives. Thank you for sharing that with me today. :)
I also teared up as I read that part, Mom, about you worrying about me in the middle of the night and praying until morning. I don't know if something would have happened, or if was just a bad dream, but thank you. I have the best parents, and I am so grateful for the both of you and your example for me, for raising me like you did. Thank you thank you thank you.
We haven't been in touch yet with the stake genealogist, but it's on the to do list for sure this week. The days seem to fly by, even with to do lists.... Also! I have gotten behind, so this week I will be focusing on memorizing the 5th and 6th Articles of Faith, but they are coming. It's not hard to memorize something, but the remembering it part on the spot is where I struggle. :) Hahaha "it's not hard to memorize, it's just the remembering part...." That's a Kristenism at it's finest... :P
How have Grandpa and Grandma been doing? Hermana Millaquipai mentioned this week that she was missing the temple, and then we got to talking about how she hasn't seen the old video, only the new one. So apparently it's gotten to Chile! And then I got to thinking about how Grandma/pa got to go see it in Logan last week. Anywho. A little roundabout. :) I love you both so very much! Have a fantastic week and give everyone my love. :)
All MY love,
Kristen
P.S. And, Mom, we got back safely in a taxi from the bus station last week at 2 AM. :) Aaand last thing, promise Dad, that girl that left for the summer our investigator, Tamara, is from Rancagua, and she lives in Kenna's zone! So we're in the process of working that out so Kenna can pass along her address! We don't have any media access permission for our mission yet... With time... :)
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