It has been a FANTASTIC week that has absolutely flooowwwwn by. But we have loved ever single second. :) First of all, FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS A MI MAMI!!! I love you so very much and I am so grateful for everything that you and Dad do for me, and all of us. You are an example to many, and especially to me. :)
And second of all, ERMELINDA'S GOOD AND READY FOR HER BAPTISM ON THE 11th! :D We had her baptismal interview on Saturday and she was just so happy and Elder Pakar said that she answered everything perfectly, as if she was already a member.... She truly is a miracle. And miracles happen every single day here in the field, but she is a miracle bigger than big. :) They also announced her baptism yesterday at church, and had her stand up, etc, and everyone came up afterward and was congratulating her on her decision, etc. And it was absolutely fantastic. She is amazing.
This week has been a week where I have just felt every single day such gratitude and love for everyone and everything. Honestly, I feel like if someone slammed a thousand doors in our face I would just have said, "Well, at least they opened and we got to say hello!" Luckily....that didn't happen. But I have just been so happy and full of gratitude to my Father in Heaven, who loves me, and you, and every single person down here living in Chile so very much. So that, my friends, is the reason that I have had the song, "Te Damos, Señor, Nuestras Gracias" stuck in my head. :) And I want to include the words in Spanish and good ol' English. :)
1. Te damos, Señor, nuestras gracias
que mandas de nuevo venir
profetas con tu Evangelio,
guiándonos cómo vivir.
Y gracias por todos los dones
vertidos por tu gran amor.
Tenemos placer en servirte
a ti, nuestro gran Bienhechor.
2. Al sobrevenirnos peligros
que amenazan quitarnos la paz,
tenemos en Dios gran confianza;
vencido será Satanás.
De Dios no dudamos en nada;
probamos ya bien Su bondad.
Los que a Sión se opongan,
al fin sentirán su maldad.
3. De Dios cantaremos la gracia,
bondad, compasión y amor.
Gozamos de Su Evangelio,
alegres de ver su fulgor.
Así, a la dicha eterna,
los justos y fieles irán,
mas los que el mensaje rechacen,
tal gozo con Él no tendrá.
1. We thank thee, O God, for a prophet
To guide us in these latter days.
We thank thee for sending the gospel
To lighten our minds with its rays.
We thank thee for every blessing
Bestowed by thy bounteous hand.
We feel it a pleasure to serve thee
And love to obey thy command.
2. When dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us
And threaten our peace to destroy,
There is hope smiling brightly before us,
And we know that deliv'rance is nigh.
We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness.
We've proved him in days that are past.
The wicked who fight against Zion
Will surely be smitten at last.
3. We'll sing of his goodness and mercy.
We'll praise him by day and by night,
Rejoice in his glorious gospel,
And bask in its life-giving light.
Thus on to eternal perfection
The honest and faithful will go,
While they who reject this glad message
Shall never such happiness know.
Dad, you asked me what song I would sing, and this is it. :D We'll see if we can't sing it tonight.... I LOVE the message that this hymn holds! I realized what most people don't have in their lives is gratitude for the things they do have. So, just as a little food for thought, make a list of all the things you're grateful for, and when you're having a hard time and don't think that things will work out or you feel like complaining just look at your list of blessings, and things seem to work out a little bit better. :)
We had a great experience this week. We were making copies of our progress record for our ward mission leader, and we've made copies there before, but we usually are just there in passing and are running here and there, but we had a little humbling moment as the lady that works there asked us who we were... We had just given her the money to pay for the copies, and she asked us where we were from. We told her "Peru y los Estados Unidos," (we thought that's what she was referring to, because she, too, is a foreigner here from Colombia) and she said, "No, like where are you from? The paper you copied and your badges have the same symbol/name. Where are you from?" A little embarrassed we responded that we were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we were here as missionaries to share a message of happiness with everyone, and we would love to share it with her. It was a strange little moment. We finished saying that, and in walked a friend and his son, and we also talked to them and they invited us over, and two seconds later in walks her pololo, so we met everyone in just a matter of seconds. :) Come to find out, Liset (the girl that works there) is 4 months pregnant with her first, and it was great to talk to her and hear that she is wanting something sturdy in her life so that her baby has two good parents and a good life. We watched an "I'm a Mormon" video with her, and talked about the plan that our Father has for us, and it turned out to be a great little mini-lesson. The Lord truly does prepare the hearts of many, and there are so many people around us, even as missionaries, that we don't realize sometimes that they're just looking for a bit of sunshine and truth in their lives. More to come with Liset! We're excited about her and Santos (her boyfriend). :D
GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEKEND! How fantastic. I hope that you all get to watch it! Can't wait to hear all your thoughts from what will be said and taught. :) I know this church is true and that we truly are led by a living prophet, President Monson. I know that Jesus Christ lives and He is our Savior. I love you all so much! Thanks for your prayers and support always. :)
Love,
Hermana Tuft
====================
Hey Mom and Dad!
Thank you so much for those pictures Dad! I got those sent off to Hno Thomas, and I'm sure he'll be very grateful. :D
It was great to hear that all is well there in good ol' Springville! If you could just send some of that moisture this way please.....? Or just keep it all there so there will be LOADS of snow this winter. I think that might make up for things alright. :) Don't let me complain about the cold weather, ya? :) It has been more "Springish" here in Antofa. In Calama, it's a freezer at night and an oven during the day, so we didn't get much of one thing, rather we had to carry around all of our winter clothing, and here it's gradually getting warmer and warmer, with more sun and longer days, so that's fun. :) More sunscreen that's for sure.... :) My freckles are REALLY noticeable, and they were fading. Plop....
I couldn't believe that Cesar's headed out so soon!! Actually, that poor kid's been waiting forever, so I guess that's great that he finally gets to go. :) And JUSTINA. She'll be home tomoorrrrrroooowwwww. PLEASE GIVE HER A HUGE HUG FOR ME. :D She was "complaining" in her letter that she wishes that she wasn't the first one going home cause she said she's going to be all alone and her friends will all be on missions....or married. :P But I'm pretty sure she'll be great company to that mom of hers that's missed her lots. :) Fun stuff. I'm glad to hear that things went well with the talks and what not. Do you have a copy to send me, Dad? I'd love to read it. I was also VERY happy to hear about the Sargent's doing family mission plans, and yes I would love to be part of that. :)
It's interesting that you would mention that account of Heavenly Father and Adam, cause Elder Bednar also addressed that. However, when you worded it, "Brian, where art thou, what desirest thou?" made me think instantly in how I would respond to that, and I've been pondering it all day. Thank you! Also, thank you both for the talks that you sent last week. I enjoyed reading those throughout the week and studying them.
Mom, would you tell Hna Delgado that I said hello! I don't have her new email I'm thinking, so I haven't been able to write her and hear things here and there on how she is, but just let her know that I'm thinking about her and love her lots. :) Thank you also for that note from Facebook from President Bruce. :) Even though he was my president for a short time...2 weeks.... :) I feel like he was it for longer cause it was from January until July technically that he was my president, even though I didn't get to work much as a missionary with him here. :P
PLEASE TELL THE TAPIA QUEVEDOS HELLO AND THAT I LOVE THEM LOTS!! They are just two very special people, along with their whole family. When do they head back here? I guess I could just email her....but I would love to see them. :) Chile is very, very up to date with technology, so yes mostly everyone has phones and iPads and laptops and SmartTv's, etc.
I put new pictures up on Skydrive, so you can go look at those.... :) We made a special video today, so I hope you get to watch that one super duper soon, like today. :) ENJOY OLIVE GARDEN. :P
Lots of love,
Kristen
P.S. President gave me my money this week, so he took out $250. Did you get that sent off okay to his mom? And I got the suitcase today, so that should be there as well....thank you!!!
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