28 April 2014
Hello!!
It's been a fantastic week here in Calama. :) It has been quite an adjustment the past few weeks running frantically por todos lados, BUT it's been a fantastic 3 weeks and this week was great. :) We worked hard and found and taught lots of people. It truly is incredible how the Lord puts so many people in our path. I love when I know that for sure that people have been put in our path, because truly that shows us as a companionship that the Lord trusts us and confides in what we are doing. I love that feeling, that I know the Lord is pleased with our work. It doesn't mean that we should ever stop working, or stop trying to work harder, but truly it is incredible to feel that way. :)
This week, we have been planning our ward conference that will be this coming week, and we've been following up with lots of contacts. There was one in specific named Glenda that caught our attention. We started talking to her in the street and she told us to stop by the next day in the morning. So we headed by, and had an incredible lesson with her. She has been raised Christian her whole life and believes in the Bible and Christ, but wants to learn more. She was one of those that we got out of the lesson and thought, "Meesh!" Just one of the examples of miracles that we truly see every day. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. :)
We've also been working with a lady named Agustina. Her 3 sons were baptized last year, but she never really joined in on the lessons. Her husband is inactive and doesn't want anything really to do with the church, but has no problem if his family does... So we're working with them, and been focusing on teaching the lessons again to her kids, and teaching her at the same time. She has a few things to fix before she can be baptized, but she has a baptismal date for July 5th. It seems far out there, but it's better to have a goal than to not have anything at all... :D So we're working with Agustina and her family. :)
There was another lady that I met this week, that had been listening to Hna Morales and Hna Richins before I got here, but she's pregnant and has been having a few complications... So we stopped by this week to see if we could find her and she was home and invited us in! She has 2 little kids, one that's 11 and the other is 2. She and her son have been reading bits and pieces of the Book of Mormon, and we shared with them the importance of prayer. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson. There are many times still that my words get jumbled, but I know without a doubt that when I can speak perfectly is when I'm truly not speaking at all, and the Spirit completely takes over, and that was what happened with Kimena on Friday.
The last little experience that I wanted to share from this week is about a lady named Jaqueline. Jaqueline is a mom of 2 - her daughter is 22 and her son is 11. Her two kids, Florencia and Heribeto, got baptized in Santiago about a year and a half ago. When I first met Jaqueline, I thought she was a member. She knows everything there is to know about how the church is organized, the lessons, etc. But the incredible thing is that she is still humble enough to learn and be taught. She has a few things she needs to do before she can be baptized as well, along with her husband, but by the end of the year they have the goal to be married and baptized. :) Yesterday in church, the teacher in Relief Society said something to the effect of the people of our day have been held in reserve to come forth in the latter days. We stopped by in the afternoon to visit them and Jaqueline made the comment about that comment, and how she was truly impacted by that comment. She then shared with us a very special dream that she had had, that had a lot to do about being the last and chosen generation. We left her D&C 138 to read, and promised that we would talk more about it in the next visit.
It truly is incredible that even though Jaqueline isn't baptized, that she knows she has to prepare herself, and that the Lord truly has prepared her in her life.
In Doctrine and Covenants, here is what is says that we wanted Jaqueline to read.
53 The Prophet Joseph Smith, and my father, Hyrum Smith,Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and other choice spirits who were reserved to come forth in the fulness of times to take part in laying the foundations of the great latter-day work,
54 Including the building of the temples and the performance of ordinances therein for the redemption of the dead, were also in the spirit world.
55 I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God.
56 Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.
Her daughter, Florencia, has been to the temple, and is getting ready to go again to do baptisms for her ancestors, and her mom is helping her get them ready. I don't know if we truly understand the complete and great importance of doing the work of our ancestors, and that truly they are waiting on us. Temple ordinances are something that has been held in reserve for our days, and look at all the help and technology that we have to make it possible! The new family search website is incredible with that.
I know that this church is true. I know that the work of temples is so vital and important for our days and I know that there are so many who are on the other side of the veil that need our help. This work is true. Christ is leading and guiding us through a living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I love this work. I love being a representative of Christ, and I love Him.
All my love,
Hermana Tuft
====================
Hello Mom and Dad!
I just remembered that I was supposed to write about Hna Morales a bit, but I forgot until now and I truly don't know what else to tell... :) She is fantastic!! :) If you ask questions, I will respond... :)
This week we have interviews with President and we have consejo in Antofa, so it will be another busy week. :) I'll be sure to keep him updated with Grandpa's condition. Thank you both for keeping me updated.
Mom, I don't know those 2 people you said... So please don't add them... :) And we can't see into Bolivia, unless we drive a couple more hours west... :P And Dad thank you for reminding me about the apple pie idea! We honestly have apples that we were thinking about making a pie out of this week, but didn't have a recipe, so I asked Mom for one. :) Thank you for the mission call news!! Crazy stuff. I'll wait until next week to hear about Spencer's... :P
I also loved reading Grandma's story! I had never heard that experience before, and it was very special for me to read. I love that you guys have been sharing those experiences with me, thank you. :) ALSO I'm very glad to hear that things have worked out with Elder Shirts. :) I will be anxiously awaiting the book, because truly he is an interesting man, that Peter. :)
I feel like you both asked more and commented on more that I would like to respond to, but time is short! I love you both and thank you for being my parents. :) I will check on skype stuff this coming week.... CRAZY it's already been 5 months.... What!
Lots of love!!
Kristen
Send my love to the little chiquillos there at home. :D
Monday, April 28, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
"Después la prueba de vuestra fe" ("After the testing of your faith")
Hello All!!
What a week it has been. Honestly, if I could truly explain all that has happened this week.... It has been WONDERFUL and full of miracles, but also full of road bumps that have helped us grow together as a companionship and work more with the ward. If it wasn't for a fantastic companion and a bajillion prayers, we might not have made it.
But we did! :D And we finished it with a great Easter Sunday (which by the way is almost not celebrated here...that was a big strange...) and Maria's baptism! So all in all, it was a good week. :)
I wrote her really fast back, and asked her what was up after reading that first paragraph. And this paragraph is what I got, and I laughed SO HARD: It was just all the stress with going to Tocapilla, having a mini earthquake there, :P and the whole baptism stuff!! But we're great truly!! Just lots of stressors. :) BUT I AM FINE. DO NOT WORRY. :D Love you Mom! Truly that is the truth. I haven't ever lied to you. Except for when I ruined the iron. And a couple other times, but I have been forgiven for those other times that you now know about and I promise I'm not lying. :) It just been busy and stressful. :D LOVES!! :D
So to start the week off. We had a Zone training meeting (we have them after every consejo that we had in Antofa that we went to a couple weeks ago) and the Zone Leaders told us we were headed that night to Tocapilla. Tocapilla is a little port town that is about 3 hours from Calama, but it's still part of our zone. :) So we headed to Tocapilla to have intercambios (exchanges....?) with the hermanas there. :) Hermana Cluff and Hermana Fontenot are the hermanas there, and we had a great intercambio with them. I learned so much from Hna Fontenot. (In intercambios, we spend a day working with another hermana.) I got the chance to work with Hna Fontenot and she is fantastic. They both are. :) Anywho. We had a great day in Tocapilla, and Thursday morning we were on the bus back to Calama. It's been a cambio full of traveling. :)
Thursday night was the night we had a Tree of Life activity planned, but last minute we changed it to a Bingo Cine Night. It turned out GREAT!! We had about 30ish people that attended, in the which they had to listen for phrases in the video "Finding Faith in Christ" and mark their bingo card. We had great participation from everyone and we received a lot of references, which was fantastic.
And jumping to Saturday to the baptism! So this story is long and complicated and will have to be a little bit shorter than it really was, but wow. What a day. :D On Tuesday, we were meeting with Maria and we talked about Ether 12, which we had left for her to read. We talked about faith and how we have to act in order to exercise our faith. Faith without works is dead. We also talked about vs 6:
6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.
We talked a lot about how we receive no witness until after the trail of our faith. We talked about how truly making the decision to be baptized is a trial of our faith, but that we are so very blessed in making that decision in this life, and in the life to come. Her daughter shared that she had her dad's temple work done, and that Maria would be able to go in a year from now to be sealed to him. We talked a lot about how truly, that death is not the end, but that truly we have the faith and knowledge of the things to come and that we must look forward with faith, enduring to the end until we reach our final destination in the presence of God with our loved ones. (I loved your thoughts from your talk Mom, they went exactly along those lines. Thank you for sharing!!)
So with that, Hna Morales and I also had many trials of our faith on Saturday and we just kept smiling all day and thinking and repeating that scripture. :)
First off, we studied and got ready for the day, and left the pension at 9:30 to go the chruch and make sure that the font was good and ready to be filled. Well, at noon things were finally worked out and we were done emptying the font, that somehow was left half full at the last baptism a monthish ago... :) Then we had to have good, hot water because Maria doesn't have great health, and can't be in cold water. So the calefont wasn't working and we went to get batteries at the mall. An hour later, we got back and put the batteries in the calefont and got the water filling up in the font. PS the baptism was at 4 and it takes a few hours to get the font filled.....and it was 1:30. So we left it running, went to eat lunch, long story short, we got back at 3:30 and it STILL wasn't even half way so we starting acting in our faith and putting trash cans full of water from the sinks into the font. And then we had pots and pans of water heating up the kitchen and in boilers, etc. And another long story short and a cellphone falling in the water later, the baptism started at 5 and Maria ended up having to sit down on the ground in the font and be baptized.... :) I truly admire that lady. After all the trials she has been through with her health, and then to have 2 elders helping her in the font, and then having to sit down to be baptized, she never once complained. She was confirmed yesterday and had to leave quickly after sacrament meeting because she wasn't feeling well, but her daughter came back from dropping her off at their house, and said that she was just glowing and had her hand on her chest and kept saying, "I feel something inside me right here."
It is for that reason that I am a missionary. To have the chance to help people like Maria to have the opportunity to feel this feeling, that glowing, warm feeling inside all the time. A pesar que todos las cosas esta semana fue en contra de nosotros, yo sé que realmente estamos en la verdad y que realmente el Señor prepara los corazones para recibir esta felicidad. Yo no cambiaría nada de esta semana. Conozco mi compañera mejor, conozco mi barrio mejor, y lo más importante es que conozco mi Salvador, Jesucristo mejor. Sentí de Su amor tan fuerte esta semana. Es por medio de la humidad y la caridad que podamos conocer nuestro Salvador mejor y en una manera mejor. Lo amo y soy una representante de él. Realmente vive y resucitó para que podamos regresar a nuestro Padre Celestial.
Translation: Despite all this week things went against us, I know we're really in truth and really the Lord prepares hearts to receive this happiness. I would not change anything this week. I know my companion better, I know my ward better, and most importantly, I know my Savior, Jesus Christ better. I felt His love so strong this week. It is through humility and charity that we know our Savior better and better. I love it and I am a representative from him. He really lives and was resurrected so that we can return to our Heavenly Father.
Con muchoooo amor,
Hermana Tuft
==================
Hello Mom and Dad!
I loved hearing about your week and how things went with Easter, all the pictures, etc. :) I am SO happy to see that the little Bella bunny lives. :) I haven't heard much of her in the past little while... :) Thank you for all the pictures and such! And also THANK YOU BOTH SO VERY MUCH FOR THESE FAMILY HISTORY STORIES I LOVE IT. Truly I do. I take a few minutes in the night or in the morning to read them and they are great. I love hearing about how my family joined the church and because of them I get the chance to be here today. I also love knowing that they are here with me, and know that because of the legacy that they left, their posterity and that of MANY others can and will be blessed. Thank you thank you thank you.
I hope that this letter was better.... Since coming to Calama we've been running like crazy and I've been trying to catch up with writing friends and family back. I want to end this quickly so that I can write a quick note to Grandma and Grandpa....
It was crazy to hear about all that are leaving and getting ready for missions!! I am SOOO sorry for not responding to the where I bought my things question. I seriously bought most of my stuff on Amazon, and Zapos. If I remember correctly.... I just searched messenger bags and I'm not sure about what I searched for the shoes, but Amazon and Zapos is the way to go in that sense. But do NOT buy a backpack. SO many people here still have backpacks, even though President has strongglyyy suggested not to, etc. And it's very informal.... Anywho. There's my little soap box. :)
Looking through the letter, I THINK that should be it. OH! And we live in an apartment seperate from the Mamita Angelica, and she's the mamita of our clothes/washing. We have a different Mamita for the food (Mamita Ely). And Hna Brewster's name is BreAnn(?) and she's friends with Chaidee Woods. Small world. :) Just kidding there are a lot more questions. :) The ward is pretty HUGE land wise, and the attendence is rising... :) The families are GREAT though. We have the stake president and one of his counselors is in the ward. And being a sister training leader, we have to do intercambios with the other sisters once a transfer. We only have one other set here in Calama, and then in Tocapilla. Okay. I think that should be all. :D
I love you both so very much. Thank you for your prayers. I feel so very blessed because (to answer Mom's question) no, in the mission I have never been so sick that I couldn't work. I was blessed in my setting apart blessing and my father's blessing that I would have health and strength, and I truly have. Thank you for all your prayers!!! I know that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for each of us and that His will is always better than ours. :)
Love,
Kristen
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER!! And I wrote Jess a little note. :) Glad to hear that Lindsay's up and doing well AND that she's doing great with her science project :P Lots of love. :D
P.P.S. If he gets his call this week, don't forget to tell me. Please. :D
What a week it has been. Honestly, if I could truly explain all that has happened this week.... It has been WONDERFUL and full of miracles, but also full of road bumps that have helped us grow together as a companionship and work more with the ward. If it wasn't for a fantastic companion and a bajillion prayers, we might not have made it.
But we did! :D And we finished it with a great Easter Sunday (which by the way is almost not celebrated here...that was a big strange...) and Maria's baptism! So all in all, it was a good week. :)
I wrote her really fast back, and asked her what was up after reading that first paragraph. And this paragraph is what I got, and I laughed SO HARD: It was just all the stress with going to Tocapilla, having a mini earthquake there, :P and the whole baptism stuff!! But we're great truly!! Just lots of stressors. :) BUT I AM FINE. DO NOT WORRY. :D Love you Mom! Truly that is the truth. I haven't ever lied to you. Except for when I ruined the iron. And a couple other times, but I have been forgiven for those other times that you now know about and I promise I'm not lying. :) It just been busy and stressful. :D LOVES!! :D
So to start the week off. We had a Zone training meeting (we have them after every consejo that we had in Antofa that we went to a couple weeks ago) and the Zone Leaders told us we were headed that night to Tocapilla. Tocapilla is a little port town that is about 3 hours from Calama, but it's still part of our zone. :) So we headed to Tocapilla to have intercambios (exchanges....?) with the hermanas there. :) Hermana Cluff and Hermana Fontenot are the hermanas there, and we had a great intercambio with them. I learned so much from Hna Fontenot. (In intercambios, we spend a day working with another hermana.) I got the chance to work with Hna Fontenot and she is fantastic. They both are. :) Anywho. We had a great day in Tocapilla, and Thursday morning we were on the bus back to Calama. It's been a cambio full of traveling. :)
Thursday night was the night we had a Tree of Life activity planned, but last minute we changed it to a Bingo Cine Night. It turned out GREAT!! We had about 30ish people that attended, in the which they had to listen for phrases in the video "Finding Faith in Christ" and mark their bingo card. We had great participation from everyone and we received a lot of references, which was fantastic.
And jumping to Saturday to the baptism! So this story is long and complicated and will have to be a little bit shorter than it really was, but wow. What a day. :D On Tuesday, we were meeting with Maria and we talked about Ether 12, which we had left for her to read. We talked about faith and how we have to act in order to exercise our faith. Faith without works is dead. We also talked about vs 6:
6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.
We talked a lot about how we receive no witness until after the trail of our faith. We talked about how truly making the decision to be baptized is a trial of our faith, but that we are so very blessed in making that decision in this life, and in the life to come. Her daughter shared that she had her dad's temple work done, and that Maria would be able to go in a year from now to be sealed to him. We talked a lot about how truly, that death is not the end, but that truly we have the faith and knowledge of the things to come and that we must look forward with faith, enduring to the end until we reach our final destination in the presence of God with our loved ones. (I loved your thoughts from your talk Mom, they went exactly along those lines. Thank you for sharing!!)
So with that, Hna Morales and I also had many trials of our faith on Saturday and we just kept smiling all day and thinking and repeating that scripture. :)
First off, we studied and got ready for the day, and left the pension at 9:30 to go the chruch and make sure that the font was good and ready to be filled. Well, at noon things were finally worked out and we were done emptying the font, that somehow was left half full at the last baptism a monthish ago... :) Then we had to have good, hot water because Maria doesn't have great health, and can't be in cold water. So the calefont wasn't working and we went to get batteries at the mall. An hour later, we got back and put the batteries in the calefont and got the water filling up in the font. PS the baptism was at 4 and it takes a few hours to get the font filled.....and it was 1:30. So we left it running, went to eat lunch, long story short, we got back at 3:30 and it STILL wasn't even half way so we starting acting in our faith and putting trash cans full of water from the sinks into the font. And then we had pots and pans of water heating up the kitchen and in boilers, etc. And another long story short and a cellphone falling in the water later, the baptism started at 5 and Maria ended up having to sit down on the ground in the font and be baptized.... :) I truly admire that lady. After all the trials she has been through with her health, and then to have 2 elders helping her in the font, and then having to sit down to be baptized, she never once complained. She was confirmed yesterday and had to leave quickly after sacrament meeting because she wasn't feeling well, but her daughter came back from dropping her off at their house, and said that she was just glowing and had her hand on her chest and kept saying, "I feel something inside me right here."
It is for that reason that I am a missionary. To have the chance to help people like Maria to have the opportunity to feel this feeling, that glowing, warm feeling inside all the time. A pesar que todos las cosas esta semana fue en contra de nosotros, yo sé que realmente estamos en la verdad y que realmente el Señor prepara los corazones para recibir esta felicidad. Yo no cambiaría nada de esta semana. Conozco mi compañera mejor, conozco mi barrio mejor, y lo más importante es que conozco mi Salvador, Jesucristo mejor. Sentí de Su amor tan fuerte esta semana. Es por medio de la humidad y la caridad que podamos conocer nuestro Salvador mejor y en una manera mejor. Lo amo y soy una representante de él. Realmente vive y resucitó para que podamos regresar a nuestro Padre Celestial.
Translation: Despite all this week things went against us, I know we're really in truth and really the Lord prepares hearts to receive this happiness. I would not change anything this week. I know my companion better, I know my ward better, and most importantly, I know my Savior, Jesus Christ better. I felt His love so strong this week. It is through humility and charity that we know our Savior better and better. I love it and I am a representative from him. He really lives and was resurrected so that we can return to our Heavenly Father.
Con muchoooo amor,
Hermana Tuft
==================
Hello Mom and Dad!
I loved hearing about your week and how things went with Easter, all the pictures, etc. :) I am SO happy to see that the little Bella bunny lives. :) I haven't heard much of her in the past little while... :) Thank you for all the pictures and such! And also THANK YOU BOTH SO VERY MUCH FOR THESE FAMILY HISTORY STORIES I LOVE IT. Truly I do. I take a few minutes in the night or in the morning to read them and they are great. I love hearing about how my family joined the church and because of them I get the chance to be here today. I also love knowing that they are here with me, and know that because of the legacy that they left, their posterity and that of MANY others can and will be blessed. Thank you thank you thank you.
I hope that this letter was better.... Since coming to Calama we've been running like crazy and I've been trying to catch up with writing friends and family back. I want to end this quickly so that I can write a quick note to Grandma and Grandpa....
It was crazy to hear about all that are leaving and getting ready for missions!! I am SOOO sorry for not responding to the where I bought my things question. I seriously bought most of my stuff on Amazon, and Zapos. If I remember correctly.... I just searched messenger bags and I'm not sure about what I searched for the shoes, but Amazon and Zapos is the way to go in that sense. But do NOT buy a backpack. SO many people here still have backpacks, even though President has strongglyyy suggested not to, etc. And it's very informal.... Anywho. There's my little soap box. :)
Looking through the letter, I THINK that should be it. OH! And we live in an apartment seperate from the Mamita Angelica, and she's the mamita of our clothes/washing. We have a different Mamita for the food (Mamita Ely). And Hna Brewster's name is BreAnn(?) and she's friends with Chaidee Woods. Small world. :) Just kidding there are a lot more questions. :) The ward is pretty HUGE land wise, and the attendence is rising... :) The families are GREAT though. We have the stake president and one of his counselors is in the ward. And being a sister training leader, we have to do intercambios with the other sisters once a transfer. We only have one other set here in Calama, and then in Tocapilla. Okay. I think that should be all. :D
I love you both so very much. Thank you for your prayers. I feel so very blessed because (to answer Mom's question) no, in the mission I have never been so sick that I couldn't work. I was blessed in my setting apart blessing and my father's blessing that I would have health and strength, and I truly have. Thank you for all your prayers!!! I know that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for each of us and that His will is always better than ours. :)
Love,
Kristen
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER!! And I wrote Jess a little note. :) Glad to hear that Lindsay's up and doing well AND that she's doing great with her science project :P Lots of love. :D
P.P.S. If he gets his call this week, don't forget to tell me. Please. :D
Monday, April 14, 2014
I LOVE CALAMA!
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| Hna Tuft with her new companion Hna Morales from Mexico City April 2014 in Calama |
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| Hna Kristen Tuft on the streets of Calama, Chile April 2014 |
Hello All!!
Okay, so I said that this week would be mucho mas tranquilito....and that would not be the truth.... :) It has been absolutely CRAZY but I LOVE it because there is so much work to do and although it doesn't seem like there is time enough to do it, I love it. I love Calama already. :D My comp is great, the ward is great, we have some great investigators and life is just happy. :D It was interesting because last week my mom sent me a list of questions to answer.... One of them was "What is the hardest thing about your mission?" It got me to thinking about how, yes, the mission is hard. But it's not hard. It's just all in your attitude. I loved how President Uchtdorf talked in General Conference about having an attitude of gratitude, and I do have to say that truly makes all the difference. We're the ones that choose to be happy, or let life get us down. And it might be easy in the mission to let life get you down, but truly when life gets too hard to stand, kneel. And thank our Heavenly Father for all the things that you have, and life seems to look a little bit brighter. :)
With that being said, yes, I did come up with answers to the questions, Mom. :) My favorite talk in Conference was...that is a really hard one to answer and I might answer it in the course of a couple emails... :) But one that really really caught my attention was by Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge. He bore a strong testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He did it in such a powerful way that I was so intently listening that I didn't even write anything down... I loved his talk, his testimony. I am going to include the link, because truly it is worth your time to watch these 10 minutes of his testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/the-prophet-joseph-smith?lang=eng
I too, know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I know that through him we have the keys of the priesthood restored upon the earth, and that they will never be taken away. I know that this church is true and how blessed we are to know that by means of a 14 year old boy who had a question, studied the bible, decided to ask of God, knowing that he would receive an answer, which he did, we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ restored again upon the earth. And Christ is at the head. I know that we are lead by Him through revelation by President Thomas S. Monson.
And to answer the other questions quickly... :) I keep myself motivated when it gets hard because I know that there are so many others that have gone before me and done harder things to further this cause. The greatest example and strength I have is in my Savior, Jesus Christ. He knew that not all would accept this gospel, and He knew that preaching this gospel would not be easy, but that it would be worth it. And it definitely is! And lastly, I can keep my chin up on rougher days by reading Doctrine and Covenants 18:14-16. :)
This week was great. We worked on Tuesday and Wednesday, and headed out at 5 in the morning on Thursday morning to Antofa for our leadership meeting. It was great to be there and to hear from President. We were there all day, and headed back to Calama at 10 that night. So Friday was the day that I finally got to meet our investigator that is going to be baptized this weekend named Maria. Maria was very, very Catholic, and suffered an accident a few months ago. She has been recovering remarkably well, and as part of that recovery, she has listened to the missionaries and decided to follow Christ by being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost. She is an example to me, and I'm very excited to be part of this decision of her's! I also met the bishop and his family, along with other members and investigators that we are working with. This week, we are planning an activity that has to do with the tree of life. I will be sure to send pictures next week. :)
As for my companion, she is FANTASTIC. Can I just say....I honestly feel like I'm working with Justina every day... It is great. :D She is from la Ciudad de Mexico and is finishing her mission....in 5 weeks....DAH!! She is a great missionary and we are working really hard. She tells me every day, most missionaries by this point in their missions are tired and trunky, but she says do not let me get trunky or tired!! So we work very hard. :D She is also learning English. Bahaha the other day, we found an infestation of ants in our apartment, so we poured clorox on them and I went to wash my hands. As I walked back into the room, I saw her crouched down, looking at the dead ants, and pointing and said, "What now ormigas. What now." Bahaha I died laughing. I'm excited for this transfer. :)
I had better go, but I love this chruch and I know it is true! :D
Love,
Hermana Tuft
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Hello Mom and Dad!
Okay, just wanted to say THANKS for the stories!! The ones about the ancestors and also about the fam. :) I had to laugh at Spencer's picture..... :P And I am VERY glad to hear that Lindsay is feeling lots better. :) I will be reading all the ancestor stories this week, because I haven't gotten a moment yet today... But thank you! :) Crazy too that they changed bishoprics!! That will be a good change. I was looking back to when Bishop Walker got put in, and how much we have seen the ward grow and change since we split. Such a long time ago and where did all of the time fly?! Thank you Mom and Dad, for your examples and love. I am so lucky to be your daughter. :) I love you both lots! :) How are grandma and grandpa doing these days?? And how did Aunt Di's surgery go? Send my best! Also, send my best if you stop by to visit Miss Erlene, Mom! I did get that little note, and haven't gotten a chance to respond, but they are in my thoughts and prayers.
XOXOXOXO
Kristen
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Hello from Calama!!! :D
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| Kristen leaving Copiapo 7 April 2014 for Calama |
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| Hna Kristen Tuft eating dinner. Looks AMAZING! (Notice her blonde hair! WOW!) |
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| Hna Kristen Tuft y Hna Millaquipai - companions in Copiapo April 2014 |
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| Hna Kristen Tuft with a dear friend she's leaving behind in Copiapo. April 2014 |
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| Hna Kristen Tuft with another dear friend she had to say goodbye to in Copiapo. ;( SHE LOVES THESE PEOPLE! |
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Hello Mom and Dad!!
I
got here in Calama great! Today and this week will continue being
crazy, but a little bit later I'll send a more detailed letter. :) This
is from President that we are supposed to send home and let you guys
know what's up. :) I love you both! Thank you for your letters! I
printed them off yesterday before I left and read them on the way, but I
might not be able to respond to much this week.... But I do love you
both and will write a little bit later! :)
XOXO, Kristen
================ It has been an absolutely CRAZY week and doesn't end here.... :) I got here in Calama after a 12 hour bus ride north from Copiapó, and we are here in our apartment with 5 hermanas. :) The other 3 are "visiting" from the lovely earthquake zone of Iquique :) and la Hna Johnson goes back tomorrow to meet her companion there. The other two (mi querida Hna Matias :) and Hna Richins) are headed with us to Antofagasta for a leadership training on Thursday and will follow through to Iquique from there. :) My companion's name is Hna Morales from Mexico and we are the Sister Training Leaders here in Calama! She's finishing up her mission at the end of this transfer, so we should have a great time and I'm really excited to work with her. Right now, we're taking advantage of our time and I'm writing for a few minutes....and then come back in a couple hours and write a little bit more again.... Life is crazy and great and good. I LOVE THE MISSION. I have seen so many blessings and miracles here in my life, and in the lives of others.
We were not effected by the earthquake in Copiapó, and no one was hurt, luckily. They're just not staying in the cities for precaution purposes, but the missionaries have started returning to their sectors and the temblores have stopped from what we hear.
I'm back! :P My brain is going a million miles a minute right now. Forgive me if this letter is super duper crazy! I love my comp, I haven't met anyone from the ward or investigators yet, but we have a full week of great work ahead of us and I am SOOOO excited to be here in Calama. Can I just explain for 2 seconds the reaction that I got when I told people in Copiapó that I was headed here?? "Oh, mi pobrecita linda preciosa. Hace MUCHOOO frio y es lo más feo de todo Chile." AKA en inglés... "Oh my poor little darling. It's FREEZING cold and it is the ugliest city in Chile." Bahaha but I love it so far! It is cold at night yes, but right now the sun is blazing and Hna Richins told me that she has to put on sunscreen literally 5 times every day and still gets burned. Yaaaaay. :) Just what I need more of - SUN! NOT!
I loved General Conference!! I have a million notes that I could share, but for this week I just wanted to encourage all of us to truly make the most of our 4 Minutes, like Bishop Stevenson spoke about. We are in the race of life, and what we do now determines our future. What we choose today determines if we will get the opportunity to return to the presence of our loving Heavenly Father and to be with our families forever. I know that in the eternal scheme of things, this life is muy cortito. I know that I have a lot to work on and improve on, but I resolve to be a little better today than I was yesterday, to rely more on my Savior, and to be grateful for the time that I have, that truly the Lord has given me. Our 4 minutes is ticking; how will we use our 4 minutes this week? :)
I love you all! Thanks for your love and support. Please keep those more up north in your prayers as they get back to normal life! We were not affected much, but they were a lot, and I know it will be a long road of recovery. Thank you for everything! I apologize again for the scatteredness of my little head.... :P
All my love,
Hermana Tuft
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Hey Mom and Dad!
THANK YOU for the emails, updates and the pictures. I left Copiapó with very mixed feelings, and I am very sad to have had to go, but I know that there are people here waiting for us. I'm not one for change, but I love change for the chance to grow and change personal little things in my life.... :) It will be great. :) Next week I promise will be MUCHO MAS TRANQUILO. :) Les quiero MUCHOOO!
Con amor,
Kristen
P.S. I did want to see if you could send pictures and let me know about the Provo City Center Temple! :) And also...if you could send or share stories about our ancestors joining the church and coming to America and also your study of Preach My Gospel.... :) I want to start that with you two.... :D Please. :) ALSO last random thing, I was thinking about that family, Dad, that we saw on the side of the road while heading to Moab during one of the talks in conference... Do you remember that?? And this is really the last thing, YES, Ashley Eaton wrote me - Washington DC South/English speaking is so exciting!!!! :D YAYYAY!!!! :D :D :D Lots of love, Me. :)
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