Cambioooosssss.

Hello All!

Okay so let's just first say that I absolutely love the mission. And I love every single aspect of it. Some things a little bit more than others.... One of the things that I LOVE are transfers, but they always seem to come when least expected..... And cambios came!! So I'm here writing from Antofagasta, my new place of residence for the next few months. :) And I'm super excited! I am super duuuperrr sad to leave Calama, but I am excited to watch the miracles from afar...3 hours away to be exact. :)

It has been QUITE the adventurous week. We're actually just here in the bus terminal waiting for the bus of an hermana that's leaving, sooo things are a little bit shaken up in the boat but quickly to be back to normal again. :) I'm excited to get to know a new ward and a new sector with all the investigators and people that I will meet and help and in return learn from all of them. DID I SAY I JUST LOVE THE MISSION?! :D My new ward is called Angamos and it's the southern part of Antofa. My companion is Hna Arenas, and I just told her, "Well, I'm going to be writing my family about you and the only thing I know from the past 10 minutes is that you have 9 months in the mission and you're from Peru." So that's literally all I know. Details to comeee. :)

Okay starting from Monday. We spent the day with Hnas Smith and Wisrock for Hna Smith's last P Day! (We just dropped her off at the bus this morning in fact.) I'm sure going to miss that girl. And we got right to work. Tuesday we had our zone training and did intercambios/exchanges that afternoon. I loved Tuesday. It was a very spiritual filled day as we visited Yobannely, Jaqueline and family, and Yalile. Wednesday was similar, and I truly loved every second. One thing that we really have been focusing on as a companionship, and as a mission in general, is the Book of Mormon, and our investigators and less actives are really learning to love the Book of Mormon and are developing their own testimonies.

Tuesday evening, we got a call from Katty saying that she was headed out of Calama on Friday, cause she hadn't found work. And I just about died. We started praying like crazy. So we went on Thursday morning with the intention of saying goodbye (cause Thursday night we were headed to Tocopilla), and she said she wasn't sure if she was actually leaving.... So we did say our goodbyes JUST IN CASE, and headed out to a conference with President that evening. He was in town, and said he'd love to meet with us, so for the next couple hours we talked about gospel questions and it was such a neat experience!! I sure learned a lot, and it was great to be with him and Hermana Dalton for a bit.

We were all pretty anxious for transfers, and as we were getting ready to leave, President said, "Well, I do have a couple minutes before my meeting; would you like to know your transfers?" Ummm. YES PLEASE. So he had us come into a room as companionships and President himself gave us our transfers and explained a little bit as to why. So I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen very often and so that was cool. :)

And from there we were headed to Tocopilla, which was quite the visit. :) One thing super cool is that I met a returned missionary, Marcelo Zuñiga, that served with Tom in Concepción! So that was a verrrry small little world moment. (And from what Dad said he had sent the picture that we took... :P) I love Tocopilla, but seriously there are just some super funny things that happen every single time we're there. :) This time, Hna Fontenot and I were walking down the street, and a lady walked up behind us and was sniffling. Or we thought she was, and Hna Fontenot asked if she was alright. Well, we started talking to her, and her name was Gina, and she was a gypsy. And she was pretttty drunk. But she did talk to us for a bit, and we gave her an I'm a Mormon card, and she said she was going to go to church on Sunday. HOPEFULLY she did. :) Oh Gina. :)

The hermanas from Tocopilla ended up coming back to Calama with us and will be there for the week, but in the bus ride we had quite the "terror movie moment". But luckily in the end it wasn't anything. :) We were about an hour out of Calama and all of a sudden a BUNCH of people from the back of the bus started coming forward and a couple went downstairs, and two seconds later a Tur Bus guy came up, so Hna Albornoz and I turned around and sure enough. There was SMOKE coming out of the bathroom. And lots of it. So that was the first red flag. Then two seconds later the bus guy yelled, "CUIDADOOOO!" And superrr hot water flooded the bus, so we all scrambled down and there we were in the middle of the desert. :) Bueno, moral of the story is that Tur Bus is just fantastic and the bathroom pipes overheated and we had a good smelly ride back to Calama. :) Bahahaha oh la misión. :)

And then we got back to Calama and started working lots and it was a SUPER great Saturday, incluso. Katty accepted a baptismal date and is reading the Book of Mormon!!! :D She is getting baptized on August 29th. :D She was a super duper hard one to leave. We've known each other for just 3 weeks, but it has been a fantastic 3 weeks and I feel like I've known her my whole life.

So it has been such a crazy but awesome week. I am so excited for this next transfer. I know we will see so many miracles. I seriously cannot describe the joy I feel in knowing that I am a missionary and disciple of Jesus Christ. I know He lives and I am so very grateful to be His representative at this time in Chile. I'm not perfect, and I learn SOOO much every day. Something that I need to work on that I've noticed this week is listening and acting instantly on the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I do listen and act, but I'm sometimes a doubter and don't act in the exact moment of receiving the prompting. I read this quote from President Monson that I wanted to share. "The sweetest experience that I know in life is to feel a prompting and act upon it and later find out that it was the fulfillment of someone's prayer or need. And I always want the Lord to know that if He needs an errand run, Tom Monson will run that errand for Him."

It made me reflect a lot, and it was perfect with the story that Grandma shared (via Dad. THANK YOU GRANDMA!). We must always act according to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Of course we don't know better than He does, but lots of times we think we do, at least in the moment.

I love you all!! I hope you have a fantastic week! I hope Spencer's had a great first week in Honduras! Can't wait to hear all of your adventures, bud! I hope everything goes super great with Lindsay and that she's feeling better for her volleyball try-outs! I would love to see pictures from the baby blessing of little Milo yesterday. What a doll he is. :) Aaand I hope that Megan and Tom and little (bueno no tan chica ahora) Audrey are doing super great. I love you all lots. I hope you never ever forget that! :D

Love,
Hermana Tuft
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Hey Mom and Dad!

I love you both first off. Thank you for your love and support. :D As I was packing, I was looking at a few notes I have from you both from the MTC and I was reading through those thinking how much everything has changgeeedd. I don't feel like the scared little girl anymore from the MTC. And I like that feeling. I like feeling that the Lord has trusted me enough to help me grow, and you both are a little part of the help of that growth with all your love and support. :)

Okay so no, Hermana Albornoz goes home at the end of this transfer that's starting. :) She goes home with Hna Matias and Hna Rindlisbacher in September. :) There are 23 new missionaries that are arriving tomorrow, so we're seeing lotttsss of changes as we make room for the little army of missionaries to get here. :) One of the new hermanas will be here in Antofa, so we'll get to know her. :) Hermana Arenas and I are the sister training leaders here in Antofa and have a few more hermanas to look out for. But it should be great. :)

And also! Hahaha Mom, that bus accident wasn't the one where all those people died, etc. There were 2 that died, and I don't know about any injuries.... So anywho, just so that doesn't freak you out toooo much. :) And no, I haven't used the doggie stun gun.... There have been 2 times that I have wanted to, but the dogs freak out so fast that there isn't time anyway. But we're safe from harm and bite free. :P

Dad, I was also thinking about how AWESOME that would be to go back to Arica, in a different area, but to be able to see my first ward there in Zapahuira. :) The Lord needs me here in Antofa though, and I know we will see many miracles. It would have been AWESOME, but I guess Arica will just have to wait until I come back and visit....algun dia.... :)

We actually just barely received new instructions from the Twelve and the First Presidency that we will be teaching all 5 lessons before baptism, and then again after. And the missionaries will take the initiative with that, so that's an interesting but cool new change. :) Funny that you should ask JUSTO this week. :) I also was curious if you would be getting the chance to speak this coming Sunday... I'm glad that things went well, but it's a shame that you got things all ready and couldn't... For the next time.... :)

I loved your principle 6. I love rereading those, and applying them to the current circumstances. :) I think learning to accept God's will is one of the most important and powerful tools that we can develop in our lives. I also am going to study Alma 5 this week! I love that chapter, but I've never thought about writing down the questions... :) Thanks!

I'd better run! The bus will be here for the other hermana pretty soon. :) I love you so very much! Have a fantastic week and we shall we talking soon! :)

Love,
Kristen

P.S. Hey Mom, lots of people sent me requests on facebook this week....could you send me a list of who and I'll tell you who yes and who no for now....? THANKS!! :)