Fishing

3 March 2014
Hola a todos!

Haha I'm not sure that sounds completely grammatically correct, but ya know...the Spanish nor the English sound grammatically correct to me anymore.... I'm not quite sure which is which these days. Which could be a blessing I guess. :P The point of this rant is that my Spanish speaking skills definitely are improving with Hna Millaquipai. Along with learning all my Chilean "dichos". :) I have loved having these past 7 weeks with her, and look forward to the next little bit as well. :D

This week we had a couple of very important experiences and moments to learn and grow. One has to do with Peter becoming a fisher of men, and the other has to do with the Book of Mormon. Both of which I value very highly and meant a lot to me this past week. :)

To be open and honest, the past couple weeks have been rough when it comes to finding people to teach. We were searching and searching and searching (it's an ongoing process throughout the whole mission, of course) but this week I learned a very important lesson. We were sharing what we had learned last Tuesday in our personal studies, and I had been reading in Luke 5. I have always loved the story of Peter being called by Christ to be a fisher of men, so as I was reading, I kinda just skimmed through because I thought, "Well, I've read this story a million times." But that is something that we shouldn't do. That is why Heavenly Father gave me a second chance to learn the lesson I needed to from that story. I skimmed over it in my personal study, but I had a strong impression to read a part of it to my companion in companionship study. I'm going to include the scriptures for you to read, too. :)

1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying,Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not;from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

I was reading that to Hna Millaquipai and started to cry as I was reading the part where Simon Peter is talking to Christ. He was probably tired and exhausted from working all night and not having anything to show for it. He probably wanted to go home, to forget the night that had just passed, but the Lord asked him to toil a little longer, and to thrust in their nets one more time. As Peter showed his faith and said, "Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net," the Lord blessed him and their nets were so filled that they did brake! Here he was, after 12ish hours of working and trying everything he could think of to earn his living, that when the Lord walked along in the morning he said, "Just one more time, cast in your nets." When Peter handed it all over to the Lord, he was blessed. Why was he blessed? Because he showed his faith. I felt so humbled as I read that out loud to Hna Millaquipai. I felt a little like Peter, tired of casting in the net and not getting anything, but when I read that, I remembered that it is His work. He has asked us to trust in our nets, to show our faith, and hand it all over to Him. As Peter realized that it was all in the Lord's hands, he repented, left all of his workings behind, and followed the Lord. It doesn't even mention that they did something with all that fish! They forsook it all and followed the Master. That was my own personal lesson this past week, and it has made quite an impact on me. I have tried so hard to remember that my hands are working for the Master; they must do what He needs them to do. So with that in mind, we found 3 families/different houses this week that we have started to work with. I am very excited to see what the Lord has in store for them and their families. I will keep you updated... :) But for now we are continually fishing. :)

The second big lesson that I learned, is once again, the power of the Book of Mormon in our lives. There is a training handbook that we follow to train new missionaries, which is an incredible book, and this week the focus was on the Book of Mormon. As we focused on the Book of Mormon this week, I have been continually amazed at the power that it brings. We had quite a few incredible lessons in which we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon. One that was especially impactful was from last night. We have been working with a lady named Evelyn, who has been inactive, and her daughter named Lucia. Lucia is 22 and isn't a member, nor the rest of her family, but they are the 2 that have stuck with us and continually wanted to learn. They were talking to us last night about a show they watched earlier that day on the TV that talked about the evolution of religion, and really how religion is just a thing we've invented, according to the "experts". They were saying that they talked about the Book of Mormon in the documentary and that there is absolutely no way it could be true, because it has no "proof". And that was about that. They just left it at that, without much explanation. It made me think of a talk by Elder Holland a few years back entitled, "Safety for the Soul". He said,

“For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history, perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died - - - from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.” I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work – and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times – until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies.

I add my testimony to his, that I know that the Book of Mormon is true. As we shared that thought with Evelyn and Lucia, they got tears in their eyes. Here they had been looking at the world's standpoint of the Book of Mormon, but they hadn't read it themselves to find out for themselves. If we haven't read it, if we haven't asked with real intent, we can't say it's not true. I have read it, and I have asked, and I know that it is true. We have seen many miracles this past week, many similar experiences, and I know it is the hand of the Lord guiding His children back to His presence.

I love you all so very much! I wish you all a wonderful week! You are all in my prayers. :)

All my love,

Hermana Tuft
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Hello Mom and Dad!

I'm not sure what's happening to the computer but the letters got really small.... Not sure if it's the same for you, but I can't fix it, so I hope it's fixable on that end... :P To answer a couple questions before I go... :) Yes Dad, the weather has been changing here in Copiapó! I LOVE it!! At night it does get cold enough for a jacket, but the daytime is still just as hot.... But we're getting there, little by little. I think in a couple months I might be complaining about the cold... :P Naw. I love the colder weather. :D But from what it sounds like, we don't change time until the end of April...? From what we've heard. So we'll be 3 hours different again?? We haven't heard from Tamara yet, but her pololo says that she gets back on the 17th, so I'll keep you updated! :) Isabel is doing great, she's just starting up work at the school again, so she's been busy with back to school stuff lately. We actually sang as a missionary choir at a Primary activity again this past weekend, and I directed again, and it was pretty good. I thought it went well at least. :) We've been making an effort to sing in every lesson lately, and that has made a difference in the lessons, I do have to say. :) And I continue to play in Sacrament for the time being... :) Aaand we've been slow in learning the Articles of Faith, but we've set the goal this week to review 1-6. :) I am still puzzled that you couldn't find the Spanish lines, but I'll go back and check again on that....because I KNOW it's there.... Stay tuned... :) I am also SO glad that Grandpa's up with his Spanish lessons again. I'll have to write them a little note. :) And with the food, we do eat more rice, not too many beans, but we do also eat a good bit of mashed potatoes. Hna Millaquipai says they eat them a lot more in the south. I'm a little sick of the rice... :P But eat it I do! :)

CONGRATS on making Varsity to Spencer!! Good job Bud!! Hope that goes well. :) Mom just sent me a voice video of Lindsay, so I'll be sure to watch that before I sign off. :) I bet it will be FANTASTIC!! :) I'd love to hear from the 2 little stinkers. :) I have lots of thoughts on the question you asked last week about Christ coming to our houses, and what we would ask, but I think I would stick to what I said last week. We talked about it as a companionship, but I think it got lost in translation a little bit, because Hna Milla was a little confused... :) I will look up "I Stand All Amazed" though and we'll sing it. :) Thank you also for sharing that story and the progress of the mission prep class. I love that there are lots involved in the stake, it sounds like. I pray for them. We just got a little 18 yr old here in our ward that E James is training, and he reminds me soooo much of Spencer. It'll be fun to work with them here. He doesn't speak any Spanish, but he's learning quickly. :)

I was sad to hear about Sister Oldroyd.... I will keep her in my prayers, thank you for letting me know. The Lord has a plan for her and for her family, but I know that it must be hard. I hope Nate will stay strong out there and remember that it will all work out. I'm sure he will! I hope also, Mom, that you two really will serve a mission some day!! That little comment wasn't just a joke...I will hold you to it.... :P You both have always been such a wonderful example to me of service and charity. Always thinking about those in the ward and those around you, so thank you for that example you have always been and continue to be. :) I had better run!! Tell the family hello and that I love them and I apologize if I'm forgetting something!! Put it in bold if it's super duper duper important. :) I love you both LOTS!! Be safe this weekend in Arizona and send my love to the Bradfield's (hey a Sister Platt just got here from Chandler...) and enjoy the week with little Audrey Lou and be sure to KEEP ME POSTED about little Baby Tuft. :) I'll be on my toesies. :)

LOVE YOU!!
Kristen