HELLLOOOO ALLLL!!!! 14 July 2013
I sure hope you get this tonight, I feel so bad you didn´t get the one last week until Tuesday! I sent it on Monday, but I think that because it was so long it didn´t send.....? That´s the only thing I could think of!
Anywho!! The work is going forth here in Northern Chile, and I am so blessed to be a part of it. I cannot express in words the feelings of happiness that I have and the love of my Heavenly Father that I feel every day. It honestly is overwhelming, but so rewarding. You may be asking about the ¨miracles¨ title.... Nothing BIG miracle-wise, but every single day I see miracles. There are in your lives too, I absolutely know it. The biggest miracle I think is when we get to teach someone how to pray, and they have never prayed before. It is such a tender moment, and no matter how simple their prayers are, the Spirit fills the room. I haven´t had the experience of having a baptism yet, but I know that will come and that that will be another HUGE miracle I have the chance to witness. I love this gospel and the happiness it brings into people´s lives.
As far as our investigators go, we have MANY, but not many progressing because they don´t go to church... It´s so frustrating!! Most of them live so close to the chapel, but Sunday is the day they get everything done, so they don´t go... Or at least that´s what they tell us, or don´t answer the door at least. We´re working with 2 girls right now, Pia and Maribel. They´re both 13 and wonderful!! The goal for this week is to challenge them both to baptism for the following Saturday. I will keep you all posted. :)
I´m very sorry, today has been CRAZY!!!!! I haven´t really had time to read your letters and answer questions, so I promise I will respond next week! We got the chance today to go to Lago Chungara (google it, it´s BEAUTIFUL!) and that took the whole day. It´s the highest lake in the world from what I understand (Lake Titicaca is the largest/highest I believe....don´t quote me on that :). We went from 5 feet above sea level here in Arica, to 13,000 feet in 3 hours in a car with 10 people. :) Needless to say, I definitely have never felt like that before... It was beautiful!!!!! I did get the chance to see my flamingos so I´d like to make a shout out to Marsha, Mary Ann, and my Cornwagon Mamitas. :D
A couple experiences this week with the culture! I tried my first completo (Chilean hotdog :D) and it was great! TONS of mayo, so I´m hoping in the future I can cut back on that, cause I don´t think anyone should ever have that much mayo in their whole lives.... :P AND helado (ice cream). So much better here... So sorry. :) It´s a lot sweeter and creamier I think and QUITE delicious. :D ANNNDDD. I felt my first ¨tremor¨on Tuesday. Kinda freaky, and kinda cool at the same time. I know it shouldn´t fit in the ¨cool¨category, but it does.... :P I don´t think a terrimoto will fit in the cool category....so I´m not hoping for that, that´s definitely for sure. :D
One thought to leave you all with today! I was reading the Allegory of the Olive Tree in Jacob 5, and reading it with missionary work in mind completely changed my outlook on that chapter. In the past, I´ve looked at is as 75 verses of one chapter that I´m too tired to read and so I never really got anything out of it... But this week! It was an amazing experience. I especially liked verse 71-2 and 75. We are promised that if we labor with all our might, we shall have joy ¨with Me¨. What a wonderful promise! And that isn´t just for missionaries, that´s for all of you too. This is the Lord´s work and we are all called to labor in the vineyard. What an amazing blessing. :D
I´m going to work on sending pictures, so I´ve got to go. BUT I love you all so much and I am so grateful for the love, support and prayers. I know I say this every week, but I really can feel them. Thank you!
Lots of love,
Hermana Tuft
=============
Hello FamBam!!
SO sorry I didn´t get to read your letters really yet, but from what I saw you all had a great weekend with the family and everyone is doing well!! I can´t wait to hear about the family vacation this week! Let me know what you all end up doing and tell me the funny stories please, because I know there will be some.... :P
ALLL my love,
Kristen
================
MOM AND DAD!!!
Sorry again.... Next week I will have lots of answers for you. :) Pinky promise. :D I sang yesterday, Dad! They talked me into it after lunch with the members yesterday... :P In English, but it was good nonetheless. I love singing so much. :D Thank you for the pancake and syrup recipe!! And for the suggestion to make cookies for my empanada lady AND about calcium. :) I am taking my prenatal vitamins as well, so I won´t worry about that. I do worry about getting fat cause they feed me so much and I can´t say no, and if I try to put it in my baggie, they give me more. So I´m still working on a tactic to say no and not offend because I will not get fat. :) The people here are so sweet. :) And Mom, yes I know Katah and Carlitos, but that´s a good idea not to add them to FB for the time being, even though they don´t speak english. :) I´ve been in touch with Jordan and a few other friends. Justina, every week pretty much. :D Exciting that Alecc´s coming home!!! And no, the package won´t get here for a couple more weeks probably BUT I¨M SO EXCITED TO GET IT. :D And I´m expecting a couple letters, and getting some ready to send home, so look out for those in the next month or so... :P
GOT TO RUN!!!! But I love you so much. Thanks for everything you do and have a FANTASTIC WEEK WITH EVERYONE!!! Give everyone a hug for me, and a little kiss and HUGE hug to my little sobrina Audrey girl. :D
All my love,
Kristen
Monday, July 15, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
A Whole New World!
Hello all!!
I can´t believe it´s been another week already! The week has flown by! Just as a random note, I realized today that it´s been 2 months since I left! CRAZY. I love it down here in the Southern Hemisphere, and up here in Arica. :D It´s not easy by all means, but oh so worth it. :)
I have so much to write this week, I´m not sure where to start! I want to answer a couple questions from last week I realized while reading Mom and Dad´s emails that I didn´t respond to! So sorry!! So my Mamita! She´s absoulutely great. :) She´s a member here in Zapahuira ward (my sector/area) and she´s been a member for 21 years. She has 2 kids that live here in Arica, and one recently got married and before, he was living in her house so she housed elders for a couple years, and now that he moved out she has us sisters! So it´s been that arrangement for about a month and a half. Her husband works in Iquique, so they switch off visiting each other on the weekends. I didn´t meet him until this weekend and he is just as great! :) We live upstairs, and yes all the other missionaries have similar arrangements. Not all live with their Mamita, all the Mamitas make lunch for us Monday through Friday (and for our Mamita Saturday as well) and then Sundays are with members. For siesta, we don´t get to take a nap unless we eat fast and sleep until it´s time to study. :) I hope that answered the questions!!
So I wanted to talk a little about the city and food and culture and whatnot. :) There are soooooo manyyyy doggsssssss. Holy smokes. And they seem to clump together and it´s a little intimidating sometimes.... I have named them dog mobs. :) They don´t bother you unless you look at them, so I just ignore them altogether. But I do still carry my little doggy protection device Mom. Just in case. :) (Kristen has a doggy stun gun if one is coming at her in attack mode.) The people here are really accepting, and are really interested in the church, but not very good at committing to things. They will listen once, and then we never hear from them again/they don´t answer the door when we come back. So that´s a challenge we´ve been facing this week especially. :) We did have 2 investigators at church though, so we were really excited about that!! The food. MMMMMmmmm. Me encanta emanadas con queso. A lady makes them on the street here and we get them every once and a while at night. Delicious. :D And the produce is to die for. I wish I could bring tonsss of mangos back for Mom and Lindsay. They are delicious. And they say they´re even better in the Summer. So I´m even more excited. :D I am so glad that I got that coat right before I left, because if not I literally would have frozen to death by now. It´s so cold at night!!! Not Logan cold, but cold when you´re used to the hot during the day. Which makes me 0% excited to return in the winter. Because it will be 5000000x colder than it is here right now. BUT I know there will be snow to greet me. I HOPE THERE WILL BE SNOW TO GREET ME! :P Hahaha I´ll be praying for that. In 16 months from now of course.... :P It is definitely a city here in Arica, not a little town. Most of the little towns are in the middle of the desert, and there aren´t missionaries clear out there. We have, I think 5 or 6 cities in our mission, and there literally is nothing in between but dirt. SOOO much dirt. I didn´t think it was possible to have this much dirt/sand in one place. It´s crazy. :)
So we did get to meet President and Sister Dalton finally on Saturday!! :D They´re so great. We had a meeting with 2 of the zones here (there´s only 3 in Arica), and our 3 month interviews. Sister Dalton is learning Spanish as well, so we talked a little bit about that. Her Spanish is much better than mine though, because they were on another mission here for the past few years working with the Area Seventy I believe... Not quite sure because it was all in Spanish, but almost positive. :P They have 8 kids, and the oldest is 30, youngest is turning 21 soon, and getting back from his mission to Mexico in September. So that´s exciting for them! He´ll come visit in November, I believe. I can´t believe how hard that must be for both of them to not be there when he gets back! I really am so grateful and humbled by the sacrifices all of the missionaries, their families and especially our leaders make for this great work. So thanks to you all as well!!! I honestly couldn´t do this without the love and support I feel from my family and friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
A few interesting stats for you all from our mission! In 2009, there were 500 baptisms here in one year. The next year there were 670, 2011 there were 1,039 (HOLY COWWW) and last year there were 1,047. This year our goal iss.......drum roll please..... 1,400. And thus far we have 689, and we have 6 months left. So we´re right on track, and will just have to work a little bit harder this end of the year. It´s sooo exciting how fast the Lord´s work is hastening. There is hardly a person here that hasn´t heard about the church. Some are not so good things, but we´re there to help them see the blessings and resolve the rumors they´ve heard. We met a golden investigator last night. She´s been to church 5 times, was taught by the missionaries, but then she moved and didn´t know where to find us. (She lives right across from the chapel though soo.....) But she is only 11, so está bien. :) Aaand she´s been reading the Book of Mormon! Her parents are divorced though, so she lives the weekends here with her dad, and the week with her mom in Arica Centro. So that might be a bit of a challenge, but we´ll work something out because she is so ready for this gospel. :D
This week´s challenge: go back and reread Nephi and Lehi´s dreams about the tree of life. I KNOW you will find something you haven´t noticed before, and I would love to hear about those experiences. :) I realized this week (it might seem simple, but I never realized it) that the great and spacious building had no foundation. Think of the difference between the Tree of Life and the great and spacious building. I imagine the Tree of Life as the most grand and magestic tree you´ve ever seen. Think of the roots it has, and all of the wonderful fruit it produces! Then think, just across the river is a building so large and dark and full of evil, that they look at that beautiful, magestic tree and mock the people there. How is that possible?! Just remember to never heed their mockings, just like Nephi and his family. Because if you notice, when the people would listen to them mocking, that is when they fell away and followed. We can´t be followers anymore. We must be leaders. In a world full of filth, and darkness, and evil, we are called to arise and shine forth, that our light may be a standard to the nations. The talk, ¨Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep,¨ by President Hinckley helped me realize all of this while I was reading the dreams of Nephi and Lehi at the same time.
I can´t think of anything else I need to say this week!! I love your letters, and it´s crazy to be reading letters of summer activities, but it´s cold here, and totally not summer! :P We did have a little 4th of July ¨Celebration¨, but it consisted of singing the Star Spangled Banner at our zone meeting, the 4 natives not understanding what was going on, and the elders wanting to get a game of baseball going. We didn´t think that was the greatest idea however, because we would have been using a golf ball and club. So we ruled out that idea.... :P It´s so great to hear from you all and your wonderful weeks!! I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your love, prayers, and constant support. This is the true church. I know it with all my heart. I know that we have living prophets on this earth, and I was called by my Heavenly Father to be here in Northern Chile. Some days I´m not quite sure why Heavenly Father trusts me enough to come here, cause I don´t speak the language, and it´s a totally different culture, and everything is completely new, BUT I know that this is where I am supposed to be. And I am so excited for all of you preparing to serve. Know that it´s hard, but since when was anything that´s actually really worth it been easy? :D
Lotttsss of love,
Hermana Tuft
=========
Hello Family!!! :D
I love you. I love you all soooo much. It´s great to hear about all of your summer adventures and the things you´re doing and learning!! I can´t wait to hear about the family vacation in Midway/Heber City. I love it there. It´s so green and little and wonderful. :) Here, it´s definitely not green or little. Wonderful? Definitely. :D But not clean or green. :P
It´s also great to hear about your 4th of July happenings! Haha I was missing the fireworks that night, but from what I hear, and Megan reminded me, is that the Independence Day here in September is crazy awesome. So I´ll be excited to tell you all about that and get to spend TWO of them here! :D Spencer and Lindsay, I can´t wait to hear about EFY!! You´ll love it. And you won´t read this until you get back, but watch out for each other. :) I loved EFY. :D A mission is like EFY in the sense that you learn and grow so much in such a short amount of time, but for a much longer amount of time as well.... :P
Happy Anniversary to Grandma and Grandpa Tuft!!! I´m going to write them personally, cause I was going to anyway this week and then I got on and Grandma had beaten me to it! :P Tell the family I said hello! And Happy Birthday to Aunt Julie and Uncle Scott!! I would love to know all the birthdays each week, cause I don´t quite remember everyone´s but I like to know... :) Aaand congrats to Natalie & Ryan and Kim and Chris on their new additions! Very exciting for them. Mom, do you have a picture of little Edward Wolfgang?
A couple questions. How is Uncle Glenn doing? Did they ever find out what was wrong? And how Miranda doing? I haven´t heard from her since I wrote her back in the MTC. And is Britney back yet?? How was her trip to Africa?! :) I also was wondering, I don´t believe I´m getting any calcium in my diet these days, because the milk is always warm and is powdered and I don´t know if I should find calcium pills to take or what...? Not super important, just curious. :) And when is Mar´s wedding??? So exciting, and I can´t wait to see pictures!! (Yes, I do get pictures, I keep forgetting to say that :) And it looks like the Trek was great. And that Spencer and Lindsay had a great time in the rain!! I miss rain, that is definitely for sure. :) But I don´t pray for rain, because if it did it would ruin everyone´s houses. They´re not waterproof, and lots are just tarps over cinderblock walls. So that would be a very large problem. And it would be awfully muddy and gross. So please don´t pray for rain down here. :)
A couple last things, just so you know, the orthodics are saving my life. I think my feet would have fallen off by now if I didn´t get them, so thank you Mom and Dad for being wiser than I, as always, and helping me get those last minute. :D Aaand last thing that I had.... Is it possible to get a pancake recipe Mom? :) I want to make pancakes.... :P
Condolences to the Walker Family with Grandma Colton passing away... She is such a sweet and wonderful lady, but I know that she is in a much better place, and I KNOW she left now just in time to be there for Megan as she leaves on her mission. She will be there to help out on the other side. SO exciting for Megan! She emailed me, so I´ll shoot her a quick note back. :) And I hope Janet´s mom is doing okay.... Is she still in the hospital, or living with Scott and Janet now...?
LOTS OF LOVE FROM CHILE!!! You are the best family in the whole wide world and I mean that with all my heart. Talk to you soon and have a fun weeeeekkk!!! :D
Love,
Kristen
===========
And now for my Mommy and Daddy. :D
The best is always last. :) I am so grateful every single day for both of you and the things that you have taught me and continue teaching me from thousands of miles away. I love you so so much. To the moon and the stars and the sun and back times 1000000000. :D
My heath is great. I drink bottled water, but I brush my teeth and they cook with the tap water, but it´s not a problem. No one drinks from the tap anyway.... I do have a little cold that´s been going around, but no big deal. :) I also had to tell Mamita that I can´t eat as much, cause when I do my stomach goes crazy. It´s still a TON of food, but she was very nice about it and didn´t have any problem feeding me less. :) Facebook is on hold for now, I don´t think we´ll be using that during my mission.... Little by little it will be introduced throughout the world, but for now we´ll just wait to hear from the church what they want us to do. :) (She's referring to one of Kyle's friends, Rachel who was piloting during her mission and using Facebook to contact and proselyte.)
Thank you for that little tidbit on Peter Shirts, Dad! That´s a fun little tid bit of information. Please keep me updated on what Jack says. President Dalton is a really big family researcher too, so when he was talking about that I couldn´t help but think you two would hit it off really well. :)
I´ve got to run, but I really will send pictures next week!! An hour is just not enough time!! And tell Spencer and Lindsay I´ll write them next week as well, and I´d love to hear how their week at EFY went. :) I´m sorry if I´m missing anything!! I try my best to answer everything and it´s helpful that your questions are in one spot. :) Saves a little searching time.... :P I love you both. I am so blessed and I know this church is true. Thank you so much for the examples you are to me, and the love I can feel every day. I can´t help but smile whenever I think of my family, and when I read your letters. :)
Lots of love from your daughter,
Kristen
I can´t believe it´s been another week already! The week has flown by! Just as a random note, I realized today that it´s been 2 months since I left! CRAZY. I love it down here in the Southern Hemisphere, and up here in Arica. :D It´s not easy by all means, but oh so worth it. :)
I have so much to write this week, I´m not sure where to start! I want to answer a couple questions from last week I realized while reading Mom and Dad´s emails that I didn´t respond to! So sorry!! So my Mamita! She´s absoulutely great. :) She´s a member here in Zapahuira ward (my sector/area) and she´s been a member for 21 years. She has 2 kids that live here in Arica, and one recently got married and before, he was living in her house so she housed elders for a couple years, and now that he moved out she has us sisters! So it´s been that arrangement for about a month and a half. Her husband works in Iquique, so they switch off visiting each other on the weekends. I didn´t meet him until this weekend and he is just as great! :) We live upstairs, and yes all the other missionaries have similar arrangements. Not all live with their Mamita, all the Mamitas make lunch for us Monday through Friday (and for our Mamita Saturday as well) and then Sundays are with members. For siesta, we don´t get to take a nap unless we eat fast and sleep until it´s time to study. :) I hope that answered the questions!!
So I wanted to talk a little about the city and food and culture and whatnot. :) There are soooooo manyyyy doggsssssss. Holy smokes. And they seem to clump together and it´s a little intimidating sometimes.... I have named them dog mobs. :) They don´t bother you unless you look at them, so I just ignore them altogether. But I do still carry my little doggy protection device Mom. Just in case. :) (Kristen has a doggy stun gun if one is coming at her in attack mode.) The people here are really accepting, and are really interested in the church, but not very good at committing to things. They will listen once, and then we never hear from them again/they don´t answer the door when we come back. So that´s a challenge we´ve been facing this week especially. :) We did have 2 investigators at church though, so we were really excited about that!! The food. MMMMMmmmm. Me encanta emanadas con queso. A lady makes them on the street here and we get them every once and a while at night. Delicious. :D And the produce is to die for. I wish I could bring tonsss of mangos back for Mom and Lindsay. They are delicious. And they say they´re even better in the Summer. So I´m even more excited. :D I am so glad that I got that coat right before I left, because if not I literally would have frozen to death by now. It´s so cold at night!!! Not Logan cold, but cold when you´re used to the hot during the day. Which makes me 0% excited to return in the winter. Because it will be 5000000x colder than it is here right now. BUT I know there will be snow to greet me. I HOPE THERE WILL BE SNOW TO GREET ME! :P Hahaha I´ll be praying for that. In 16 months from now of course.... :P It is definitely a city here in Arica, not a little town. Most of the little towns are in the middle of the desert, and there aren´t missionaries clear out there. We have, I think 5 or 6 cities in our mission, and there literally is nothing in between but dirt. SOOO much dirt. I didn´t think it was possible to have this much dirt/sand in one place. It´s crazy. :)
So we did get to meet President and Sister Dalton finally on Saturday!! :D They´re so great. We had a meeting with 2 of the zones here (there´s only 3 in Arica), and our 3 month interviews. Sister Dalton is learning Spanish as well, so we talked a little bit about that. Her Spanish is much better than mine though, because they were on another mission here for the past few years working with the Area Seventy I believe... Not quite sure because it was all in Spanish, but almost positive. :P They have 8 kids, and the oldest is 30, youngest is turning 21 soon, and getting back from his mission to Mexico in September. So that´s exciting for them! He´ll come visit in November, I believe. I can´t believe how hard that must be for both of them to not be there when he gets back! I really am so grateful and humbled by the sacrifices all of the missionaries, their families and especially our leaders make for this great work. So thanks to you all as well!!! I honestly couldn´t do this without the love and support I feel from my family and friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
A few interesting stats for you all from our mission! In 2009, there were 500 baptisms here in one year. The next year there were 670, 2011 there were 1,039 (HOLY COWWW) and last year there were 1,047. This year our goal iss.......drum roll please..... 1,400. And thus far we have 689, and we have 6 months left. So we´re right on track, and will just have to work a little bit harder this end of the year. It´s sooo exciting how fast the Lord´s work is hastening. There is hardly a person here that hasn´t heard about the church. Some are not so good things, but we´re there to help them see the blessings and resolve the rumors they´ve heard. We met a golden investigator last night. She´s been to church 5 times, was taught by the missionaries, but then she moved and didn´t know where to find us. (She lives right across from the chapel though soo.....) But she is only 11, so está bien. :) Aaand she´s been reading the Book of Mormon! Her parents are divorced though, so she lives the weekends here with her dad, and the week with her mom in Arica Centro. So that might be a bit of a challenge, but we´ll work something out because she is so ready for this gospel. :D
This week´s challenge: go back and reread Nephi and Lehi´s dreams about the tree of life. I KNOW you will find something you haven´t noticed before, and I would love to hear about those experiences. :) I realized this week (it might seem simple, but I never realized it) that the great and spacious building had no foundation. Think of the difference between the Tree of Life and the great and spacious building. I imagine the Tree of Life as the most grand and magestic tree you´ve ever seen. Think of the roots it has, and all of the wonderful fruit it produces! Then think, just across the river is a building so large and dark and full of evil, that they look at that beautiful, magestic tree and mock the people there. How is that possible?! Just remember to never heed their mockings, just like Nephi and his family. Because if you notice, when the people would listen to them mocking, that is when they fell away and followed. We can´t be followers anymore. We must be leaders. In a world full of filth, and darkness, and evil, we are called to arise and shine forth, that our light may be a standard to the nations. The talk, ¨Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep,¨ by President Hinckley helped me realize all of this while I was reading the dreams of Nephi and Lehi at the same time.
I can´t think of anything else I need to say this week!! I love your letters, and it´s crazy to be reading letters of summer activities, but it´s cold here, and totally not summer! :P We did have a little 4th of July ¨Celebration¨, but it consisted of singing the Star Spangled Banner at our zone meeting, the 4 natives not understanding what was going on, and the elders wanting to get a game of baseball going. We didn´t think that was the greatest idea however, because we would have been using a golf ball and club. So we ruled out that idea.... :P It´s so great to hear from you all and your wonderful weeks!! I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your love, prayers, and constant support. This is the true church. I know it with all my heart. I know that we have living prophets on this earth, and I was called by my Heavenly Father to be here in Northern Chile. Some days I´m not quite sure why Heavenly Father trusts me enough to come here, cause I don´t speak the language, and it´s a totally different culture, and everything is completely new, BUT I know that this is where I am supposed to be. And I am so excited for all of you preparing to serve. Know that it´s hard, but since when was anything that´s actually really worth it been easy? :D
Lotttsss of love,
Hermana Tuft
=========
Hello Family!!! :D
I love you. I love you all soooo much. It´s great to hear about all of your summer adventures and the things you´re doing and learning!! I can´t wait to hear about the family vacation in Midway/Heber City. I love it there. It´s so green and little and wonderful. :) Here, it´s definitely not green or little. Wonderful? Definitely. :D But not clean or green. :P
It´s also great to hear about your 4th of July happenings! Haha I was missing the fireworks that night, but from what I hear, and Megan reminded me, is that the Independence Day here in September is crazy awesome. So I´ll be excited to tell you all about that and get to spend TWO of them here! :D Spencer and Lindsay, I can´t wait to hear about EFY!! You´ll love it. And you won´t read this until you get back, but watch out for each other. :) I loved EFY. :D A mission is like EFY in the sense that you learn and grow so much in such a short amount of time, but for a much longer amount of time as well.... :P
Happy Anniversary to Grandma and Grandpa Tuft!!! I´m going to write them personally, cause I was going to anyway this week and then I got on and Grandma had beaten me to it! :P Tell the family I said hello! And Happy Birthday to Aunt Julie and Uncle Scott!! I would love to know all the birthdays each week, cause I don´t quite remember everyone´s but I like to know... :) Aaand congrats to Natalie & Ryan and Kim and Chris on their new additions! Very exciting for them. Mom, do you have a picture of little Edward Wolfgang?
A couple questions. How is Uncle Glenn doing? Did they ever find out what was wrong? And how Miranda doing? I haven´t heard from her since I wrote her back in the MTC. And is Britney back yet?? How was her trip to Africa?! :) I also was wondering, I don´t believe I´m getting any calcium in my diet these days, because the milk is always warm and is powdered and I don´t know if I should find calcium pills to take or what...? Not super important, just curious. :) And when is Mar´s wedding??? So exciting, and I can´t wait to see pictures!! (Yes, I do get pictures, I keep forgetting to say that :) And it looks like the Trek was great. And that Spencer and Lindsay had a great time in the rain!! I miss rain, that is definitely for sure. :) But I don´t pray for rain, because if it did it would ruin everyone´s houses. They´re not waterproof, and lots are just tarps over cinderblock walls. So that would be a very large problem. And it would be awfully muddy and gross. So please don´t pray for rain down here. :)
A couple last things, just so you know, the orthodics are saving my life. I think my feet would have fallen off by now if I didn´t get them, so thank you Mom and Dad for being wiser than I, as always, and helping me get those last minute. :D Aaand last thing that I had.... Is it possible to get a pancake recipe Mom? :) I want to make pancakes.... :P
Condolences to the Walker Family with Grandma Colton passing away... She is such a sweet and wonderful lady, but I know that she is in a much better place, and I KNOW she left now just in time to be there for Megan as she leaves on her mission. She will be there to help out on the other side. SO exciting for Megan! She emailed me, so I´ll shoot her a quick note back. :) And I hope Janet´s mom is doing okay.... Is she still in the hospital, or living with Scott and Janet now...?
LOTS OF LOVE FROM CHILE!!! You are the best family in the whole wide world and I mean that with all my heart. Talk to you soon and have a fun weeeeekkk!!! :D
Love,
Kristen
===========
And now for my Mommy and Daddy. :D
The best is always last. :) I am so grateful every single day for both of you and the things that you have taught me and continue teaching me from thousands of miles away. I love you so so much. To the moon and the stars and the sun and back times 1000000000. :D
My heath is great. I drink bottled water, but I brush my teeth and they cook with the tap water, but it´s not a problem. No one drinks from the tap anyway.... I do have a little cold that´s been going around, but no big deal. :) I also had to tell Mamita that I can´t eat as much, cause when I do my stomach goes crazy. It´s still a TON of food, but she was very nice about it and didn´t have any problem feeding me less. :) Facebook is on hold for now, I don´t think we´ll be using that during my mission.... Little by little it will be introduced throughout the world, but for now we´ll just wait to hear from the church what they want us to do. :) (She's referring to one of Kyle's friends, Rachel who was piloting during her mission and using Facebook to contact and proselyte.)
Thank you for that little tidbit on Peter Shirts, Dad! That´s a fun little tid bit of information. Please keep me updated on what Jack says. President Dalton is a really big family researcher too, so when he was talking about that I couldn´t help but think you two would hit it off really well. :)
I´ve got to run, but I really will send pictures next week!! An hour is just not enough time!! And tell Spencer and Lindsay I´ll write them next week as well, and I´d love to hear how their week at EFY went. :) I´m sorry if I´m missing anything!! I try my best to answer everything and it´s helpful that your questions are in one spot. :) Saves a little searching time.... :P I love you both. I am so blessed and I know this church is true. Thank you so much for the examples you are to me, and the love I can feel every day. I can´t help but smile whenever I think of my family, and when I read your letters. :)
Lots of love from your daughter,
Kristen
Monday, July 8, 2013
More photos when Kristen first arrived in "Anto".
 |
| Hermana Tuft with Presidente Leland Bruce receiving her "transfer" letter upon arrival June 18th, 2013. |
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| Hermana Tuft learns where she will be serving and that Herman Delgado will be her companion. |
Monday, July 1, 2013
PS - one more thing...
MOM - PS -
Please tell Haleigh Bills good luck this week and I love her so much and she will do great!! I´ll email her sometime, but I didn´t know if you could write her on Facebook or something....
Also, Kenna´s famous down here!! Hahaha honestly though, the missionaries listen to her and Erin´s EFY song every day. I literally hear it every single day!! :P I´m so excited for her, and she is going to do so great. Can you get her email for me please?? And also, anything new with Megan Walker?? Are her papers really in?? I´ve been dying all week to hear. :P
Lots of love,
Kristen
Please tell Haleigh Bills good luck this week and I love her so much and she will do great!! I´ll email her sometime, but I didn´t know if you could write her on Facebook or something....
Also, Kenna´s famous down here!! Hahaha honestly though, the missionaries listen to her and Erin´s EFY song every day. I literally hear it every single day!! :P I´m so excited for her, and she is going to do so great. Can you get her email for me please?? And also, anything new with Megan Walker?? Are her papers really in?? I´ve been dying all week to hear. :P
Lots of love,
Kristen
Another great week here in Northern Chile!
Hello All!!
It´s been another great week here in Northern Chile! I´ve loved hearing about what´s going on at home, and I love all the pictures! Thanks so much! :D This week has been so great. I feel like I have more of an idea of what´s going on, I´m understanding a lot more, and things are great! :D
I wanted to tell you a little about my daily schedule! Our mission has adjusted things to the culture a little bit, so we get up at 7 am in the winter, and 7:30 in the summer, and bed it 11 and 11:30 accordingly. We study until 10:30, and then for the first 12 weeks of my mission we do an additional hour of training where I practice teaching and whatnot. Then we proselyte for 2 hours, go back to our pension for lunch, and study for another hour after that (language study). (Adjusting the schedule for siesta :) Then we go back out until 10 pm and start over the next day! :D Mom, you asked about how we get around and such; we take taxis or buses everywhere if it´s far away, and we walk when it´s just around our sector of course. :) Megan, we´re in the Zapahuira ward, but our zone leaders are over the Arica Central ward! I´ll have to ask them tomorrow if they know Paulina´s mom! :)
Just a couple stories for you all from this week! So, I haven´t changed much, as you will be able to tell from the following stories... :P We had just gotten back to our "pension" and I took off my shoes so I was in my slippery little footlets, and went to walk downstairs....yep. Totally missed the first step and slid all the way down...... Hahahahaha I was laughing so hard! My bottom is a little sore, but we got a great laugh out of that one. :P Hna Delgado was already downstairs, and because the stairs are wooden it echoed a TON and she was so scared because she thought it was an earthquake.... Hahahahaha. It was really funny and it´s still making me laugh days later. :D Other story is I was trying to blow dry my hair (which I´ve done once here before) but apparently the power here is twice as strong, so all of a sudden I smelled something smokyish, only to look down, and the socket was smoking!!! I quickly removed it, only to find that it had started to melt the plastic of the converter.... So that was a little sketchy. Not quite sure what to do, because I don´t know how to explain that I need a converter, or if I should just buy a new blowdryer.... My district leader is from here, but speaks English, so I´ll have to have a little chat with him. :)
One last story, on a little more spiritual note. I had a really hard day last Tuesday, because I wasn´t feeling too well, and I was practicing teaching the first lesson with Hna Delgado, and when I got to the gospel blesses families, I just started to cry. I was trying to explain to her I was fine, I just missed my family so much, and I´m so grateful for the gospel because I know I can be with you all forever. The quote in the kitchen came to mind, and I know that I´m away from my family for a short time so that others can have the blessing of eternal families like I do. So that kind of spilled over into the next couple days, and my body´s just getting used to the newness of cooking & water I think, so I wasn´t feeling good... I asked the other elders in my district to give me a blessing, and they had no idea about missing my family, etc I had been feeling the past couple days. So they gave me a blessing of healing and comfort. One of the things he said was, "Kristen, your Heavenly Father wants you to know he is very pleased with your efforts, and he knows this is the hardest thing you have experienced thus far in your life. He wants you to know it will be but a moment, and to press forward in faith." It was such a testimony builder to me that the Priesthood is real. I am so grateful and blessed to have had access to it my whole life through worthy Priesthood holders. Needless to say, that blessing has helped me so much these past couple days, and my whole mindset has changed. I´ve started talking more and contributing in lessons, rather than sit there and be frustrated about how much I don´t understand. Always focus on the good things in life!! It honestly makes everything better. :D
We have been trying so hard the past week to find investigators, because we were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday, but she called on Tuesday and said she didn´t want to be baptized because she wasn´t ready and that she was going to Peru and didn´t know when she´d be back so not to come by... So that was a bit of a let down, but we are praying that she will see the importance of the gospel, and that we can find more investigators. :)
Hermana Delgado is amazing! She is from Chiclayo, Peru and is 22. Her family is all members, and her parents were married in the temple, but separated when she was 14. She´s 22, and is the oldest of 4, one younger sister and 2 little brothers. She wants to get married in the Salt Lake Temple, and I told her I would be more than happy to come if she does! :) Sometimes we get a little frustrated with each other when we´re trying to convey what we want, and the other doesn´t understand, but for the most part we are getting along just fabulously! :)
Time to go for this week, but I love you all so much, and as always I am so grateful for your love and support! I love this gospel so much, and I am so so sooo grateful for this opportunity that I have to share it with the people here. I know it can bless their lives, as it has and continues to bless mine more and more every day.
Lots of love,
Hermana Tuft
Arica, Chile
==============================================================================================
Hello Fambam!!
It´s great to hear that the Trek went so well and that the garage is clean!! :P I´m so sorry, I wish I could have done that before I left.... Thank you so much! :) As I was reading Dad´s letter about the Trek, I couldn´t help but remember the time we got to stop by the visitor´s center at Martin´s Cove, and the spirit that was there. That will be something that the whole ward will never forget. I hope you all have written about it in your journals! I´ve become quite the journal writer out here, because every day you forget things that could be helpful later on in life, or for future generations! :)
I´m sad to hear about the fires and heat you´ve been having.... That´s really scary and sad! I will keep all of those involved in my prayers.... :( (She's referring to Shannon and Sean Reed living in Prescott, AZ and having two friends there who passed away, of the 19 firefighters who died yesterday in the Yarnell fire. SO SAD.)
Thank you to all of you for your support and love. I really appreciated hearing about your weeks, and thank you for the advice and encouragement. Hahaha I had to chuckle about little Audrey and I learning a language together comment, Megan. :) And yes Kyle, I went back and reread your letter in Spanish, and it made more sense these days. :) And to Dad and Tom, thanks to you both as well for advice! I´m becoming Chilean more and more every single day. :)
I really don´t have much time today, it just fliessss!!!! I´m glad to hear the birthdays went well and I will have to try the gnocchi soup when I get home! :D Lots of love to you all!! And one last thing, Kyle and Jess, when do you go up to Washington, and how is it having Nicole here?! Very exciting. :D
Mother and Father!! :) I haven´t had a date with Ruby. She´s a little difficult. So I´ll keep trying.... :) I love you both so much, and I´m so grateful to be your daughter. Thank you for being such wonderful examples to me always. I am so blessed, and I am so grateful to know how I want my marriage to be someday. Happy Aniversary! Again.... :D
LOTSSS OF LOVEEEE!!!!! :D :D :D
Kristen
It´s been another great week here in Northern Chile! I´ve loved hearing about what´s going on at home, and I love all the pictures! Thanks so much! :D This week has been so great. I feel like I have more of an idea of what´s going on, I´m understanding a lot more, and things are great! :D
I wanted to tell you a little about my daily schedule! Our mission has adjusted things to the culture a little bit, so we get up at 7 am in the winter, and 7:30 in the summer, and bed it 11 and 11:30 accordingly. We study until 10:30, and then for the first 12 weeks of my mission we do an additional hour of training where I practice teaching and whatnot. Then we proselyte for 2 hours, go back to our pension for lunch, and study for another hour after that (language study). (Adjusting the schedule for siesta :) Then we go back out until 10 pm and start over the next day! :D Mom, you asked about how we get around and such; we take taxis or buses everywhere if it´s far away, and we walk when it´s just around our sector of course. :) Megan, we´re in the Zapahuira ward, but our zone leaders are over the Arica Central ward! I´ll have to ask them tomorrow if they know Paulina´s mom! :)
Just a couple stories for you all from this week! So, I haven´t changed much, as you will be able to tell from the following stories... :P We had just gotten back to our "pension" and I took off my shoes so I was in my slippery little footlets, and went to walk downstairs....yep. Totally missed the first step and slid all the way down...... Hahahahaha I was laughing so hard! My bottom is a little sore, but we got a great laugh out of that one. :P Hna Delgado was already downstairs, and because the stairs are wooden it echoed a TON and she was so scared because she thought it was an earthquake.... Hahahahaha. It was really funny and it´s still making me laugh days later. :D Other story is I was trying to blow dry my hair (which I´ve done once here before) but apparently the power here is twice as strong, so all of a sudden I smelled something smokyish, only to look down, and the socket was smoking!!! I quickly removed it, only to find that it had started to melt the plastic of the converter.... So that was a little sketchy. Not quite sure what to do, because I don´t know how to explain that I need a converter, or if I should just buy a new blowdryer.... My district leader is from here, but speaks English, so I´ll have to have a little chat with him. :)
One last story, on a little more spiritual note. I had a really hard day last Tuesday, because I wasn´t feeling too well, and I was practicing teaching the first lesson with Hna Delgado, and when I got to the gospel blesses families, I just started to cry. I was trying to explain to her I was fine, I just missed my family so much, and I´m so grateful for the gospel because I know I can be with you all forever. The quote in the kitchen came to mind, and I know that I´m away from my family for a short time so that others can have the blessing of eternal families like I do. So that kind of spilled over into the next couple days, and my body´s just getting used to the newness of cooking & water I think, so I wasn´t feeling good... I asked the other elders in my district to give me a blessing, and they had no idea about missing my family, etc I had been feeling the past couple days. So they gave me a blessing of healing and comfort. One of the things he said was, "Kristen, your Heavenly Father wants you to know he is very pleased with your efforts, and he knows this is the hardest thing you have experienced thus far in your life. He wants you to know it will be but a moment, and to press forward in faith." It was such a testimony builder to me that the Priesthood is real. I am so grateful and blessed to have had access to it my whole life through worthy Priesthood holders. Needless to say, that blessing has helped me so much these past couple days, and my whole mindset has changed. I´ve started talking more and contributing in lessons, rather than sit there and be frustrated about how much I don´t understand. Always focus on the good things in life!! It honestly makes everything better. :D
We have been trying so hard the past week to find investigators, because we were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday, but she called on Tuesday and said she didn´t want to be baptized because she wasn´t ready and that she was going to Peru and didn´t know when she´d be back so not to come by... So that was a bit of a let down, but we are praying that she will see the importance of the gospel, and that we can find more investigators. :)
Hermana Delgado is amazing! She is from Chiclayo, Peru and is 22. Her family is all members, and her parents were married in the temple, but separated when she was 14. She´s 22, and is the oldest of 4, one younger sister and 2 little brothers. She wants to get married in the Salt Lake Temple, and I told her I would be more than happy to come if she does! :) Sometimes we get a little frustrated with each other when we´re trying to convey what we want, and the other doesn´t understand, but for the most part we are getting along just fabulously! :)
Time to go for this week, but I love you all so much, and as always I am so grateful for your love and support! I love this gospel so much, and I am so so sooo grateful for this opportunity that I have to share it with the people here. I know it can bless their lives, as it has and continues to bless mine more and more every day.
Lots of love,
Hermana Tuft
Arica, Chile
==============================================================================================
Hello Fambam!!
It´s great to hear that the Trek went so well and that the garage is clean!! :P I´m so sorry, I wish I could have done that before I left.... Thank you so much! :) As I was reading Dad´s letter about the Trek, I couldn´t help but remember the time we got to stop by the visitor´s center at Martin´s Cove, and the spirit that was there. That will be something that the whole ward will never forget. I hope you all have written about it in your journals! I´ve become quite the journal writer out here, because every day you forget things that could be helpful later on in life, or for future generations! :)
I´m sad to hear about the fires and heat you´ve been having.... That´s really scary and sad! I will keep all of those involved in my prayers.... :( (She's referring to Shannon and Sean Reed living in Prescott, AZ and having two friends there who passed away, of the 19 firefighters who died yesterday in the Yarnell fire. SO SAD.)
Thank you to all of you for your support and love. I really appreciated hearing about your weeks, and thank you for the advice and encouragement. Hahaha I had to chuckle about little Audrey and I learning a language together comment, Megan. :) And yes Kyle, I went back and reread your letter in Spanish, and it made more sense these days. :) And to Dad and Tom, thanks to you both as well for advice! I´m becoming Chilean more and more every single day. :)
I really don´t have much time today, it just fliessss!!!! I´m glad to hear the birthdays went well and I will have to try the gnocchi soup when I get home! :D Lots of love to you all!! And one last thing, Kyle and Jess, when do you go up to Washington, and how is it having Nicole here?! Very exciting. :D
Mother and Father!! :) I haven´t had a date with Ruby. She´s a little difficult. So I´ll keep trying.... :) I love you both so much, and I´m so grateful to be your daughter. Thank you for being such wonderful examples to me always. I am so blessed, and I am so grateful to know how I want my marriage to be someday. Happy Aniversary! Again.... :D
LOTSSS OF LOVEEEE!!!!! :D :D :D
Kristen
Monday, June 24, 2013
What a week!
Hello to all!!
This week has been absolutely crazy and full of ups and downs! Mostly ups, but a few downs for sure... :P Just as a random side note, I'm struggling to figure out this keyboard, so please bear with me... :P Its not that different, but different enough that I can't figure it out.... :P Anywho!! I love Arica! It's a beautiful city and the people are incredible. I love Hermana Delgado also! She is so patient with me and helps me in every way she can. There are times that we do get frustrated with each other, but they don't last for long and the work continues. :) I also LOVED the training meeting last night. It was so different than anything the church has done before, and I did get to watch it in English, but it was on a tiny tiny laptop, and there were 10 missionaries crammed around it trying to watch... :P But esta bien!! :D
Okay, so a few details for you all. Church yesterday was different than anything I've experienced. :) Of course it was similar to our meeting back home, but I didn't understand anything, and I have the perfect way to describe it. :) You know in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when Ian's parents meet the Portacalous'? Lots of kissing cheeks, hugging, meeting everyone? That was yesterday for me. :) Here in Chile, people greet eachother with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. It's great! As for my apartment, we live with a "Mamita" that takes care of us. She feeds us lunch and washes our clothes, and she is such a sweetheart. I don't understand anything she says, but she doesn't seem to mind. :P Some people are more accepting of my inability to speak Spanish than others, and some will talk slower, or try to say it in a different way. Some people just turn to their phones or computers and have me type what I'm trying to say in Google Translate... :P Thank goodness for google translate... :P The Chilean accent is reallyyy hard for me to understand, and it is really thick up here in Arica. They all talk super fast, faster than other Spanish speaking countries, and add "po"to everything. So I'm learning Spanish, and an accent. :) For the most part I've been doing great, but Friday was the day that everything kind of caught up to me and I was feeling sorry for myself. Kind of a "culture shock"day if you will. I was praying all day long. Heavenly Father is making me into who He needs me to be though, and I'm trying to be patient with myself, and with His timing. :) I'm learning to rely solely on Him.
I'm trying to remember everything that I wanted to tell you all! I try to write everything down, but I feel like I'm forgetting a lot... I do want to say thank you for all your prayers, and also say that you as members are CRUCIAL to the work, just as they stressed last night. We as missionaries need the members to be a greater part of the work. Share your testimony. Not just by example, which is also very important, but share it vocally also. We are all representatives of Jesus Christ. We took His name upon us when we were baptized and we are never released from that promise. :)
I've got to run, but thank you for your prayers. I love all of you and I love this work. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I wouldn't be here sharing His gospel if I didn't. This church is true! I know it with all my heart. :)
Much love,
Hermana Tuft
Hello Family!!
Kyle, Dad, and Tom, I would love to know any tips you have to learning a language. I'm trying so hard, and praying even harder, but I'm trying to find a good way to study. I've been reading the Book of Mormon out loud, in Spanish of course :) And that seems to be helping, but I feel like I should be doing more. :) Let me know your thoughts.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN AND LINDSAY!!! I hope you both have a wonderful day, and that your 14 and 22 birthdays are fantastic. :D Also, Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad. :D I love you all so much. :D
Mom, thank you for the updates with my friends and the ward! I didn't know Marley was going! Good for her! :D And MEGAN WALKER WHAT THE HECK YOU BETTER WRITE ME GIRL!!!!!!!! Last time I talked to her she was only thinking about it, but now she's waiting for her call?! Heavens. SO excited for her! Taylor W. is going to FREEZE and she doesn't like the cold... Poor girl.... :P The sun isn't really out a lot these days. Even though it's not cold here in Utah terms, I have been wearing my coat at night. I'm so excited for everyone preparing to go. :D I love this work. It is so hard Mom. I could not do this alone. I can feel all your prayers. Literally feel them... And I can feel help beyond the veil. It is an incredible feeling. It has been very hard, but somehow at the end of the day, the Lord lifts me up and is refining me. I love it though, truly truly truly I do. :) Hna Howell is in my zone! I don't know about Rindlisbacher.... And I think Elder James is...? I've met so many people, so I can't quite remember... :P Can you ask Megan to ask Paulina what her maiden name is? I'm pretty sure she said she was from Arica! And please keep sharing your testimony with everyone! Tell the missionaries about the Adams, Tom, and Stacy! :)
Dad, to answer your question about the time, we're 2 hours ahead right now, but I think in the winter for you guys we'll be 3. Thank you for all of your updates as well!! I wanted to say something about the talk from President Eyring that you sent a couple weeks back. I didn't really respond to that I realized. Totally spaced it, but I loved that talk! Thank you for sharing. I read it again this morning and I couldn't help but think about the meeting last night. The members of the church will help this work just as much as the missionaries, if not more. We can't teach as easily if the members don't find, share, and help retain converts. Good luck on the trek! I am so excited for you all! I wish I had the opportunity to go on trek, but maybe someday. :) I have been thinking of everyone I see in white. I want them to recieve all the blessings of the gospel so badly. It keeps me motivated, determined, and in tune with the spirit. Hermana Delgado is from Peru yes! She doesn't speak any English... :P She was waiting for me at the mission home, and we came to Arica together. Her parents were divorced when she was 14, and she's 22. She's the oldest of 4 and really wants to get married in the Salt Lake Temple. I told her she'd have to learn English, and she can come see me when she comes! :P
I had to laugh about Taylor's story! That's kind of how things here are going for me... :P People can understand me for the most part though. :) I share my testimony, and scriptures with members when we go visit them. There is a lot of reactivation here.
Today we went to the beach and played volleyball and soccer. No one is at the beach I hear in the winter. It wasn't cold, but it's cold to them... :P It was with the whole zone, so it was nice to speak English for a few hours... :)
I get choked up whenever I talk about my family. I love you all so much. :) I know families are forever, and I am so grateful for that knowledge. I've got to run for this week! Have a great one, and I can't wait to hear about how the trek was! Let me know! :)
Lotssss of love,
Kristen
This week has been absolutely crazy and full of ups and downs! Mostly ups, but a few downs for sure... :P Just as a random side note, I'm struggling to figure out this keyboard, so please bear with me... :P Its not that different, but different enough that I can't figure it out.... :P Anywho!! I love Arica! It's a beautiful city and the people are incredible. I love Hermana Delgado also! She is so patient with me and helps me in every way she can. There are times that we do get frustrated with each other, but they don't last for long and the work continues. :) I also LOVED the training meeting last night. It was so different than anything the church has done before, and I did get to watch it in English, but it was on a tiny tiny laptop, and there were 10 missionaries crammed around it trying to watch... :P But esta bien!! :D
Okay, so a few details for you all. Church yesterday was different than anything I've experienced. :) Of course it was similar to our meeting back home, but I didn't understand anything, and I have the perfect way to describe it. :) You know in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when Ian's parents meet the Portacalous'? Lots of kissing cheeks, hugging, meeting everyone? That was yesterday for me. :) Here in Chile, people greet eachother with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. It's great! As for my apartment, we live with a "Mamita" that takes care of us. She feeds us lunch and washes our clothes, and she is such a sweetheart. I don't understand anything she says, but she doesn't seem to mind. :P Some people are more accepting of my inability to speak Spanish than others, and some will talk slower, or try to say it in a different way. Some people just turn to their phones or computers and have me type what I'm trying to say in Google Translate... :P Thank goodness for google translate... :P The Chilean accent is reallyyy hard for me to understand, and it is really thick up here in Arica. They all talk super fast, faster than other Spanish speaking countries, and add "po"to everything. So I'm learning Spanish, and an accent. :) For the most part I've been doing great, but Friday was the day that everything kind of caught up to me and I was feeling sorry for myself. Kind of a "culture shock"day if you will. I was praying all day long. Heavenly Father is making me into who He needs me to be though, and I'm trying to be patient with myself, and with His timing. :) I'm learning to rely solely on Him.
I'm trying to remember everything that I wanted to tell you all! I try to write everything down, but I feel like I'm forgetting a lot... I do want to say thank you for all your prayers, and also say that you as members are CRUCIAL to the work, just as they stressed last night. We as missionaries need the members to be a greater part of the work. Share your testimony. Not just by example, which is also very important, but share it vocally also. We are all representatives of Jesus Christ. We took His name upon us when we were baptized and we are never released from that promise. :)
I've got to run, but thank you for your prayers. I love all of you and I love this work. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I wouldn't be here sharing His gospel if I didn't. This church is true! I know it with all my heart. :)
Much love,
Hermana Tuft
Hello Family!!
Kyle, Dad, and Tom, I would love to know any tips you have to learning a language. I'm trying so hard, and praying even harder, but I'm trying to find a good way to study. I've been reading the Book of Mormon out loud, in Spanish of course :) And that seems to be helping, but I feel like I should be doing more. :) Let me know your thoughts.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN AND LINDSAY!!! I hope you both have a wonderful day, and that your 14 and 22 birthdays are fantastic. :D Also, Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad. :D I love you all so much. :D
Mom, thank you for the updates with my friends and the ward! I didn't know Marley was going! Good for her! :D And MEGAN WALKER WHAT THE HECK YOU BETTER WRITE ME GIRL!!!!!!!! Last time I talked to her she was only thinking about it, but now she's waiting for her call?! Heavens. SO excited for her! Taylor W. is going to FREEZE and she doesn't like the cold... Poor girl.... :P The sun isn't really out a lot these days. Even though it's not cold here in Utah terms, I have been wearing my coat at night. I'm so excited for everyone preparing to go. :D I love this work. It is so hard Mom. I could not do this alone. I can feel all your prayers. Literally feel them... And I can feel help beyond the veil. It is an incredible feeling. It has been very hard, but somehow at the end of the day, the Lord lifts me up and is refining me. I love it though, truly truly truly I do. :) Hna Howell is in my zone! I don't know about Rindlisbacher.... And I think Elder James is...? I've met so many people, so I can't quite remember... :P Can you ask Megan to ask Paulina what her maiden name is? I'm pretty sure she said she was from Arica! And please keep sharing your testimony with everyone! Tell the missionaries about the Adams, Tom, and Stacy! :)
Dad, to answer your question about the time, we're 2 hours ahead right now, but I think in the winter for you guys we'll be 3. Thank you for all of your updates as well!! I wanted to say something about the talk from President Eyring that you sent a couple weeks back. I didn't really respond to that I realized. Totally spaced it, but I loved that talk! Thank you for sharing. I read it again this morning and I couldn't help but think about the meeting last night. The members of the church will help this work just as much as the missionaries, if not more. We can't teach as easily if the members don't find, share, and help retain converts. Good luck on the trek! I am so excited for you all! I wish I had the opportunity to go on trek, but maybe someday. :) I have been thinking of everyone I see in white. I want them to recieve all the blessings of the gospel so badly. It keeps me motivated, determined, and in tune with the spirit. Hermana Delgado is from Peru yes! She doesn't speak any English... :P She was waiting for me at the mission home, and we came to Arica together. Her parents were divorced when she was 14, and she's 22. She's the oldest of 4 and really wants to get married in the Salt Lake Temple. I told her she'd have to learn English, and she can come see me when she comes! :P
I had to laugh about Taylor's story! That's kind of how things here are going for me... :P People can understand me for the most part though. :) I share my testimony, and scriptures with members when we go visit them. There is a lot of reactivation here.
Today we went to the beach and played volleyball and soccer. No one is at the beach I hear in the winter. It wasn't cold, but it's cold to them... :P It was with the whole zone, so it was nice to speak English for a few hours... :)
I get choked up whenever I talk about my family. I love you all so much. :) I know families are forever, and I am so grateful for that knowledge. I've got to run for this week! Have a great one, and I can't wait to hear about how the trek was! Let me know! :)
Lotssss of love,
Kristen
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Hello from ARICA!
Hola Familia!!
I'm
just trying to get used to these keyboards, they're a little bit
different! :) I got here safely and I'm loving it already! We got to
Santiago, we had to wait there until 2:30 and then the flight was delayed until 4:30.
Then we got to Antofagasta around 6 and the whole office was there to
greet us, along with President and Sister Bruce of course. :) They had
been waiting there for a couple hours because our flight was delayed.
So we drove back (the elders all went in the van and I drove with the
Bruce's) and we got stuck in traffic because of a mining expo that's
going on. The Bruce's said that that is probably the only time we will
ever be in traffic in Antofagasta... :) We went back to the office, had
pizza and introductions, took a few pictures and got to know each other
a little better.
My companion's name is Hermana Delgado. She's from
Peru and she is such a wonderful happy trainer! She's been very patient
with me, seeing as I speak about zero Spanish....and she's trying to
learn English, so it will work out great! :) The bus ride was 12 hours,
so it's been a long and exciting 3 days of travel... :P I'd better get
going, but it was great to talk to you all on Monday!!
I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for your prayers.
One thing
Mom, we couldn't find a mail box, it was only a UPS box that the
airport lady directed us to, so I brought the phone here to Chile and
Sister Bruce said she would run it by our house when she's in Utah when
they get home. I said she could just mail it, but she said she would
love to meet you! :) P-Days are on Monday,
so I'll be talking to you all soon with more details! :D I love this
Gospel, and I love this work. We are so blessed to be living right
now. Talk to you soon!
Con Amor,
Hermana Tuft
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