A day in the life as a missionary...

 Hermano Brett Judd is from Arizona (actually about a half hour from Hna Severtson's house!) and he brought us back candyyy. :D Sour Patch Watermelons and Almond Joy is what we asked for... Thank you Brother Judd!!! :D  [Brother Judd works in Copiapo apparently and travels back and forth some.]

Hermanas Brewster, Delgado, Tuft and Severtson Nov 2013 with special order candy from Brother Brett Judd

Hello Family!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! :) It's been a fantastic week, although it has been SO fast!! I feel like I was just here writing... :) We have had a lot of things to do this week, so it was SUPER busy, but everything turned out very well, we're just a couple of sleepy sisters over here... :) I LOVE Copiapó. I love Chañarcillo, and I love my sector. :D Transfers are next week (ALREADY!!) but we both think that we'll probably stay. But obviously we won't know until Saturday night... Pucha... But I guess we'll just have to make the most of this week and hope we'll have 6 more super great weeks to follow. :D

Speaking of cambios, things will be mixed up we're thinking! We know that a companionship of elders is coming to Chañarcillo, and the other companionship of hermanas is leaving (our sector will stay hermanas). So we will likely be switching houses this weekend and that'll definitely be an adventure! So. We shall keep you posted on how things work out... We're sad we won't be living 4 hermanas anymore, but it will be great to have a set of elders in the ward.

Aaand as you all know we got to sing yesterday in church, and that was a lot of fun. :) I love singing. :D It was such a neat experience to be a part of and see because truly music invites a special spirit. It was also great to be able to do it together as a companionship. Hermana Severtson is so fantastic! I love her lots. We have learned so much together and she is a great missionary. This week we got to go get her Chilean ID card, so she will officially be Chilean in about another week! :) Temporarily at least... Now just to wait for mine. :) But we're already Chilean at heart anyway, so I guess an ID card doesn't matter in that sense... :)

Okay so a little news on investigators that I haven't shared much about the past couple weeks! (So sorry...) But I am going to do it in a different way, because my Dad requested to have a day in my shoes from when I woke up to when I went to bed, so here goes. :)

This was this past Friday. It was a fantastic day! We got up at 7:30 (very tiredly because Thursday was the day we woke up at 6ish to get Hna Severtson's id stuff done) but we got up. :) We said our personal and companionship prayers, and then I headed downstairs to do yoga with Hna Brewster. Then showered, ate breakfast, and got ready to study at 9. From 9 to 10 we studied personally and then at 10 we all sang a Christmas hymn and split to do companionship studies. At 11:15 we went to do service for an hermana in the ward named Irene. She's older and can't clean or do much that way, so we helped her wash her windows for a couple hours, and then we ate lunch with her and her daughter. Her daughter isn't a member and lives more downtown, but she stopped by to visit. We had a nice lunch of chicken and rice, and then shared the first lesson with her and her daughter. We passed on the reference for her daughter to the other elders in our district (the ones that will likely be coming to our ward and the other hermanas will likely go to their sector...but that's just speculation... :P). Then we went back to have language study, and left to work for the afternoon.

We first had a lesson with an investigator named Roxana. She has been progressing very well, but is still hestitant because she is Catholic and is hestitant to change... But we had a very powerful lesson with her. She's been reading the Book of Mormon, and this past time we left her Moroni 10. She read and prayed before and after she read it, and said she knows that the Book of Mormon happened (in her words). Now just to know that it's a divine and inspired book from God. :) So we talked about the Restoration again, and the priesthood. Lots of people don't understand that without the Priesthood, we wouldn't have prophets, or apostles, or revelation to help them guide the Church of Jesus Christ in the way He needs and wants. The Spirit was really strong.

We walked around to a couple of visits that fell through and also had a lessson with a less active member named Ingrid, and then we headed over to meet the Bishop and his wife at the church to head over to Benjamin's new house. We have been working with Benjamin, and this week he moved to another sector in Copiapó. :( We were really sad to see him go, but he had to go for a reason, and there is something he needs to do or learn from the other ward. Everything happens for a reason. :) He is SO ready to get baptized, he just has to wait for some divorce papers to come back and then he'll be ready. He's dating a member of the church, and they are already preparing to be sealed. He is so great. So we talked about the set up of the church, and that we're still in the same stake, so he can see the members of Chañarcillo at stake activities and whatnot, but he understands that he'll go to the other ward and such. He came to church yesterday for the last time with us, and then we passed him off to the other hermanas in his ward. :)

That ended the night and we planned for the next day, got ready for bed, and chatted a little bit with the other hermanas. :)

So! That was Friday in my shoes. :) We also found a couple new families this week that we started teaching that were member references and they are golden. :) I shall definitely keep you posted, but we're really excited. :D

I love you all so very much and I'm so grateful for your support and love. If I was there and had my little piece of candy corn this year (which by the way, THANK YOU to Hna Severtson's parents that sent candy corn back with Brother Judd... :)) I would say how grateful I am for the gospel in my life and for this opportunity that I have to be here on a mission. It is the best decision I have made in my life, and I know it will bless me for years and years to come. I will never forget the love and gratitude I have for these people here in Chile. I am learning so much and the time is flying by so very fast, so I want to make the most of it. :) That is what I am grateful for this year, and also for all of you and that through this gospel, I can be with my family forever. I am here to help people partake of those blessings as well.

Con todo amor y gracias,
Hermana Tuft
====================
Hello Mom and Dad!!

Kay. I hope that's a better letter for the week. :) I liked doing that day in the life thing... I think I'll do it every once and a while... :) I don't have much time left (we have to go grocery shopping still :)) but just to say hello. :) I couldn't open the videos, I don't know why! I was sad about that, but I think they might just be too big of files... So maybe next week try again with just a couple of them...? I'd love to hear! :D Also, something random that I thought about this week, but Dad could you check my laptop to see if it's still all charged? It's been about 6 months. :) And with my teeth, I've just been wearing my clear ones cause those seem tighter... The other ones were adjusted at the same time I got the new clear ones, but they seem to be loose... So I wasn't quite sure what to do with that... I do NOT want braces back on. So if I can do anything to help that I definitely will.... :) Please keep me posted on the baptism this weekend! HOW EXCITING!!! :D That doesn't happen too often there... :) And I forgot to mention in the letter, for Thanksgiving, we're just making mashed potatoes, having chicken, and green beans and cheesecake. :) So that should be exciting. :D I feel like that's all the questions.... If I missed anything...just put them in one place if they're really important next week in your letters and I will answer them I promise... :) I love you both so very much. Thank you for everything, and your love and support, todo. :)

¡¡Les quiero TANTO!! :D

La Fe, la Esperanza, y la Caridad

Hello all!                                                                                                                   

I know I say this just about every email, but....  It's been another great week here in Copiapó!  :P  It's so crazy how much I feel like I learn every single week, and I wish I could share it with you all, but I just can't.  You'll all just have to go on missions I guess to find out. :)  I love the mission.  I just can't say that enough.  Some days are hard, some days are just fantastic, and some are full of both!  BUT every day I learn something new and look forward to the next day to learn all the more.  I love the mission. :D

So I had another "first" this week!  I thought I was about done with firsts, until the bishop called and asked Hna Brewster and I to give talks in Sacrament Meeting.  So that one scared me, I'm just not/never have been a talk in big groups type of person.  But that didn't seem to matter too much, because yes I did give a talk in church in SPANISH yesterday.  You know those moments of pure joy that you realize you actually can do something??  Yep, that was definitely one of those moments. :D 13 minutes baby. :)

On the more serious side though, it truly was a great experience!  I learned so much and wish I could share all those thoughts with you.  I decided to speak on faith, hope, and charity.  In reading the Book of Mormon during the mission, I have come to realize how much it talks about all three in just about every page.  I love Ether 12, and how much it talks about all three.  If we have faith, we have to have hope, and without faith and hope we can't have charity, which without charity we are nothing.  Charity is truly the pure love of Christ.  When I was studying for my talk and whatnot, I got caught on that thought that charity is the pure love of Christ.  The Savior came to this earth to save us from the fall of Adam.  He atoned for our sins in the most painful way imaginable, and even then we can't even imagine it.  He laid down his life for his friends, for you and for me.  So that was just interesting, that without charity we are nothing, and the greatest act of charity the world has or ever will see was the Atonement of our Savior.  So this is a sum up of my talk: it is necessary to have faith in Christ to have the hope of the Atonement work in our lives, and without charity, without the pure love of Christ (or in other words, without the Atonement working in our lives) we are nothing.  It's something that has been on my mind for quite sometime (as Mom and Dad know) and I found such great peace as I studied and prepared to share those thoughts with the people here in Chañarcillo.

We continue to find and work with the members and talk to everyone about the message of this restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I love this sector, and I am so very grateful for the opportunity that I have to work here with Hermana Severtson!  She is so great. :D  I am so very grateful for all your prayers and love and support.  I pray for you all in return.  I know this church is true!  Pray for your own missionary experience this week! :)

Con mucho cariño,
Hermana Tuft
=======================
Hello Mom and Dad!

I feel like my letters are getting shorter and shorter.... Lo siento!  I loved hearing about your weeks and reading your thoughts and experiences from the week.  The fact that Michael Buble is singing yet again and I can't go was lamepants, but he'll just have to come again. :)  And I loved the last little thought Dad, that you mentioned you had gone to the temple just made my day.  I love hearing about anything temple related.  I get so happy inside it's crazy.  :)  I love the temple so much, and the members here do too.  This ward is very temple oriented.  They love going and planning for every trip.  The goal for our mission here is to work towards getting a temple announced in the next 3 years.  We're working our hearts off. :)  Miracles happen if we have the faith to believe and the actions to work towards it.  I know it's going to happen!  I just hope I can be here when it does.  If not...I'll just have to come back I guess when it's dedicated I guess... :D

I had to laugh Dad about the water situation that Rob shared with you.  I wouldn't be surprised... I feel like it's gotten a tad bit better from when he was here... :)  Let's hope!!!  I'm also glad to hear that the play and recital went well, and I can't wait for the videos next week of their voice recital.  :) Aaand I am VERY jealous of the cold weather season/snow...  I do like the heat though... I can't believe I'm saying that, but I do.  I do miss the snow like crazy though. :)  Disfrútenlo for me. :D  BUT we drink the gallons of water bottled and use the tap water for only cooking, brushing teeth, showering... :P  Also, I did love your "battle plan" district lesson!  We seem to have similar ones every Tuesday for our district meetings. :)  The elders do love the battle plan idea, and it does seem to get us more animated. :D  Thank you both for your thoughts and impressions about service, charity, and I loved the thought this week Dad from Elder Ballard.  I truly feel that support and the words just seem to flow.  That's not me, I cannot take that credit.  Through small and simple means though, great things are brought to pass.

Speaking of animation!  (Animo in Spanish seems to make more sense, and the word isn't coming to me...so I hope I make sense.... The English is getting worse and worse.... :P)  Mom!  That SONG GUESS WHAT?!  We sang that for the FIRST TIME ever from the hands of Janice Kapp Perry in the MTC.  She came to speak to us and we sang that song.  We were the first ones. :D  There was not a dry eye in the whole MTC sister missionary Relief Society.  Ask Sister Caywood if she remembers that. :)  Thank you for the words!  They brought back great memories. :)

We are planning to do 'something' for Thanksgiving but we shall see what... :P  Haha and guess what?! We bought a tiny little Christmas tree today. :) Stay tuned for pictures in the future......:) And thanks Mamita for resending those pictures of my roommates, me and Justina and my friends going on missions. The Christmas package is already here in Copiapo! Crazy how that works....guess I'll just have to wait with it staring at me in the face for the next month...  Haha guess it's about the same at home... :P The quilt for Mamita Tita was beautiful! She will love that and your little note.  :)

I will keep Sister Staheli in my prayers.  Poor lady has had such a rough go with her cancer.  I hope all will be for the best this time around. I also will pray that things with Uncle Mark will work out.  It makes me so very sad to hear that there are more problems in that regard.  :(  I love you both so much!!!  Tell everyone hello for me and I love them lots!

Until next week,
Your little Chilean missionary happy middle child,
Hermana Kristen :D

Ward Conference & A Great Week. :D

Kristen getting her package from home sent July 29 - November 4th or 5th - so over 3 months, and a postal strike!

			L-R: ?, Hna Delgado, Hna Severtson, Hna Tuft 11 November 2013 at Caldera Beach playing frisbee Earlier today to Mom: Hello Mom!  I'm here in Caldera right now (like an hour from Copiapó) with my district so we're just waiting for the bus and I'm printing, but I don't know if I'll have too much time to write today... BUT I love all the videos and pictures and Spencer is so amazingly wonderful at singing!! I want a duet with him and Lindsay. :D  I was shocked!! That's so awesome, good for my little buddy. :) And SHANNY AND SEAN ARE HAVING A BOY AND GIRL - THE SAME (family configuration) AS US.  That's so exciting and little Ashlynn's not so little!  She's beautiful! :D Also, I GOT MY PACKAGE AND HAVE MY CAMERA AND AM SO HAPPY IT CAME!!! :*) Thank you SO much!!!  I love you Mom!  Talk to you in an hourish... :) Love,  Me :D Hello All!! I feel the need to apologize in advance, cause today will be kinda short I feel like, but it has been a fantastic week here in Copiapó. :D I love it here, and I love Chañarcillo. We had Ward Conference yesterday, and it was so great. We have been inviting and visiting so many people this week, and we had a great turn out! Last week (it was a long weekend for holidays, but still...) we had 63 people come to church, and yesterday....we had 117!! :D We were so so sooo happy. :) I love being an instrument in His hands, and that is something I work at every day. It feels good to do good. :) The conference was wonderful. We had the privilege of singing in a small choir as a ward. Hna Severtson played the piano, and we sung Abide With Me, Tis´ Eventide. It was very beautiful. :) I love singing, because it truly brings a special spirit to every meeting, in church or even in lessons when we sing. Music is a very powerful tool when used in the right way. :) We heard from our bishop and the stake presidency, and they talked a lot about being the helping hands of the Savior to bring souls back to the fold. It was a wonderful meeting to top off a great week. :) A fun experience we had on Saturday was a Relief Society fair that they set up in the city plaza. The missionaries were invited to do contacts while they were all set up and such, so we got to do contacts for a few hours! I was so amazed at the acceptance of people as they saw real members and the work/projects they had and then they were a lot more open to talk to us. We got a lot of references for people in different cities, because a lot of people come to Copiapó to work, but they were great people and I hope that those contacts will help other missionaries here in Chile. It was a really fun thing! I have struggled just stopping people to talk in the street, but Saturday helped me a lot to come out of that shell and just talk. :) Overcoming my shyness... :) I got exciting news from Arica! Hermana Matias wrote me this past week and told me that Jazmin and her brother Nacho are getting baptized at the end of this month!! :D That was very exciting for me to hear, so I thought I'd share. :) And that's about it for the week!! We had a great time today as we went as a district to a city about an hour away and we played a little bit of beach frisbee, so that was fun. I'll send a couple pictures hopefully BECAUSE I GOT MY CAMERA!!! :D That was a happy thing. :) Sé que este iglesia es verdadera y me encanta este oportunidad que tengo a compartir esta paz y alegria con todas las personas acá en Copiapó, o sea en la misión. :) Sé que Jesucristo vive y nos ama tanto, y tenemos que compartamos este mensaje con todas. Les amo MUCHO y espero que ustedes estén bien. :D  (I know this church is true and I love the opportunity I have to share this peace and joy to all the people here in Copiapo, and in the mission. :) I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us, and we to share this message with all. I love you A LOT and I hope you are well. : D)  Thank Heavens for Google Translate! Con mucho amor, Hermana Tuft P.S. And Happy Birthday to my beautiful little Audrey!! I can't believe she's 1 year old tomorrow, and can't wait to see how much she grows this next year. Dah. What a doll. :D Happy Birthday!! :) ======================== Hello Mom and Dad!! Thank you for your wonderful letters and thoughts this week! I loved reading all your thoughts and impressions. I wish I could share all my thoughts on charity as well, but time is short and there is so much I wish I could share and just study with you both. :) I loved how you both talked a lot about service. I know that being here as a missionary is service in itself, but I feel like those little acts of kindness that we can do will make a big difference. I was thinking about how Mom was talking about making cookies and such, how we could just make a pan of brownies and take them with us to people during the day. Just something that would show them we really truly do care. So I hope that will be something we can do this week. :) Service and love have a lot to do with it. We've been studying a lot in Moroni 7 about charity, so if you get a chance, that's where a lot of my thoughts and impressions have come from. I do want to thank you both though so much for being such wonderful examples of charity to me in my life. I have learned and continue to learn so much from your examples. It made me so happy also to just see Spencer and Lindsay loving each other, and serving others. Spencer said something about helping and reaching out to others this year, and I just love seeing how much they both are growing and learning. I didn't see too many questions, but what I did see I'll try to answer. :) The water here for one is terribleeee. That's part of the reason why my hair is changing colors, because the chemicals in the water, and the sun mixture. Down south they all have natural water and everyone says it's sooo good, but up here in the desert....we have nothing.... :P Then our district is 8 of us, 2 elder companionships, and us sisters. I'm honestly not sure about our zone because we don't meet together every week so I haven't even met the whole zone yet, but I know we have 3 zones here in Copiapó... So yep! :) I love you both and I've got to run, but thank you for all and I'm glad to hear you had a great week and hope you have another great coming week!! :D All my love, Kristen

Lots of Learning...

Hermana Kami Severtson and I dressed up for "Halloween."

I had just barely arrived in Copiapo and met Hna Severtson October 2013

We had a district activity this morning and played football....I guess I was more into it than I thought.... :P

The District football team.

The Projected WINNERS of the District football team.

Eating PEACHES!!! (Kristen's favorite thing, almost!)

We matched! And we didn't even plan to.

Hello All!

It's been a great week here in Copiapó! We've learned so much and grown a lot this week. :) I love how the little things it seems make the most impact. This week has been a hard week, but we learned a lot and things are looking up. A change of heart and a smile can go a long way. :)

To answer a couple of questions! So we live in a house, and we pretty much have the whole upstairs and the other hermanas have downstairs. It's 2 bathrooms so that helps with getting ready in the morning. :) There are 4 of us missionaries in our sector here in Chañarcillo. We only work in one ward, but it's pretty big! It takes about a half hour or 45 minutes for the other hermanas to walk to their sector... We live in our sector though, so I am very grateful for that. :) I love our ward though!! They are all so wonderful, and I love our bishop. He has a daughter on a mission in southern Chile, so he loves working with the missionaries, and he is just so supportive and helpful all the time. We got the chance to eat lunch yesterday at his house with his family, and they are just so wonderful. He told us about a million times if there is ever anything we need to just be sure to tell him and he will help out in any way possible. The ward is great. :D Small, but it's just those small things that seem to make a huge impact. :)

Okay so now for a couple experiences for the week. :) It seemed like this week we just had a lot of opposition and it was just starting to get us down and a little bit sad. We came home one night and just had a good long talk about all our investigators and less actives, because it seems like they are all just standing there on the fence, ready to make the decision to completely jump in and accept the gospel, or to jump the other way and completely reject it. It is so crazy to me the effect the adversary has on the hearts of people. The adversary is always there tempting and just waiting to get us at every opportunity, but we must not fall. If you're standing on that fence waiting to make the choice of which way to jump, jump towards the Light and Life of the world. Every single day, we must make the choice to follow Him.

Benjamin is doing well, and he wants to get baptized, but has a few things to straighten up first. He is so strong and so prepared to receive this gospel, and he truly was placed in our path. The Lord always places the prepared in the paths of those who are willing to share, so share with anyone and everyone that you can. :) We are also working with a little girl named Muriel. We are really working with her family and trying to get her parents to come to church with her as well. They know that religion is important, so we will continue to pray for them and visit them, and hope that they can make it to church next week. :)

Hermana Severtson and I were really excited to have Fast Sunday this weekend, and it gave us a lot of peace and comfort. We are just trying everything we can to find, find, find. That was a topic of our fast, and that afternoon we had an awesome experience that I'll share quickly! We found a lady named Karen my first week here, and we stopped back by her house almost every day last week. She never answered the door, so we wondered if she just didn't want to meet with us anymore so she just didn't answer the door, OR she was traveling. So we were diligent and stuck with the "she was traveling" option. :) Yesterday we stopped by her house again, and she wasn't there... I just felt like we should leave her a little note, so we did, and then we left. We started walking down the street behind hers, and this little girl starts running after us yelling, "¡¿Pueden venir mañana?!" over and over and over. So we started walking back towards her thinking, Well yeah of course we'll come by tomorrow, but not having any idea who this little girl is... AND come to find out, her mom was walking out of a house, and it was KAREN!! :D She was laughing and told us she was at her mom's house and she saw us walking by and told her little girl to chase us, so we found her again and she seemed very excited to hear more! We were really excited and hope all goes well. :) Miracles truly happen. :)

It's been a great week and I truly have learned so very much. It made me think of my plaque scripture in Alma 26. With the strength of the Lord, we can do all things. :) I know that as we show our Heavenly Father our broken hearts and contrite spirits, he will guide and lead us. He loves us so very much, and I love having the happiness and joy of this gospel in my life. Even in the times of trials, as we look to him with gratitude, he will help us learn and we will become better and happier people. Be an example of the believers. :) I love this gospel, and I know it is true. I know that my Savior, Jesus Christ lives and suffered for us all. I love being a missionary and special witness of Him!!

With all my love,
Hermana Tuft
===============
Hello Mom and Dad!

I dream in half and half Mom. Hahaha that made me laugh because the other day I was having a dream that I was still here in the mission, but the whole family was here, along with all my MTC teachers too. Talk about random, but I would talk in Spanish to all of them, and English to all of you. :) So half and half. Funny you asked and I literally just had that dream the other night... I don't dream too much... :P I loved hearing about Halloween and all the festivities! Halloween is an adopted holiday here, so we had a few trick or treaters, but not too many... I would love to see pictures of all the costumes you all wore! And Spencer for his dance. :) That's so odd, we had Senior Ball in January.... Fun though!! Crazy he's a Senior.... And I laughed really hard about Lindsay and Lauren Walker dressing up as Brother Caron... Hahaha. So funny. Little Audrey looked ADORABLE. She is just growing up so fast. :) I was also glad to hear that all went well for Rob and Maralee. :D So funnn for them. :D

A couple things. :) Mom, could you send me a picture of the roommates?? :) And also maybe a couple fun and easy recipes...? :) And the lettuce wrap recipe please... :) Also! If either of you see President Caywood, tell him that Hna Severtson was in his branch in the MTC as well! We realized that the other day, so that's kinda fun. :)

I just want to thank you both again for your love and support. I did realize that today was the day in a year I'd be home, and that was such a scary thought to me. Not scary to be home, just scary that the time has been passing by so quickly, and there is so much still to do. It gives me a pit in my stomach because I love this work, and although I obviously will be happy to see you all, I don't want to come home. I hope that makes sense to you both... :) I love my mission. I love this work, and I know with all my heart that it is true. This is the best thing that I've ever done, and I am already looking forward to when I can go again in about 40 years. :) This gospel is so true. I love you both so very much, and I love my Savior. I love the thoughts that you shared Dad, thank you. The Atonement is something we will never fully understand, all we need to know is that He did suffer for us, for our sins and pains and all. He knows our trials and also our moments of happiness, and we learn and grow only when we trust in Him.

I've been studying a lot about Charity, and I would love it if for next week you could both share your thoughts with me on Charity... :) LOTS OF LOVE from here in Copiapó. :D

I love you so much!
Kristen

PS...I talked to an elder that lives with our zone leaders this morning and he said we have a couple letters and packages in their apartment, SO I think it's FINALLY here!!! If not... I don't know if it'll ever come... :) LOVE YOU MOMMY! :D (She sent this in a separate email that we got to talk back and for, for a few minutes, but I'm so happy to put it in with the rest of the email cause there's HOPE that the package arrived-after 4 months!)

La Vida en Copiapo'!!!

Hello all!!

It's been such a great week here in Chañarcillo! I have learned so very much and everything is so new and different, but I love it. :) I'm excited for the time that I'll have to be here!

I'm going to try and explain the last week well, but it seems like there's so much, so we shall just see... :) Okay. :D So here in Chañarcillo, it's a ton different from Zapahuira, but in a good way obviously. :) It's kind of a newer sector from what I understand, because there are a lot of new houses and little developments here in our part of the ward. It's shocked me how different everything is from Arica... I can't really describe it, but it's just different. :) The ward is a lot smaller, and we're working really hard as a ward to get 100 people at church every week, or they'll have to close the ward. So that's the goal! The ward is really aware of that fact, and so I think that's been helping people do their visiting and home teaching, inviting people to church, and all around missionary work. We have lots to do, but we can do it! Yesterday we were feeling a little discouraged, Hna Severtson and I, but when we realized that we were getting down, we took a step back, looked at the blessings we did have, and that seemed to give us the energy needed to keep going forward with mucho ANIMO! :D (And animo in spanish just doesn't translate the same... Kinda like excitement and courage and a bunch of words mixed into one... :)) I am really excited to be here though. We have lots of work to do, but with God, all things are possible. :)

Okay. Now for more of the in's and out's of life here in Chañarcillo. :) Hermana Severtson is so great. We are getting along fabulously and learning so much from one another. She's 20 and from Arizona (no Mom, I had no idea that that's where Megan was born, but SUPER weird small world moment again. :P She lives 15ish minutes away from the base... :P). It's been interesting having a gringa companion, but it's been a lot of fun. :D We've been laughing at our spanglish we've been speaking while we're out and about. :) In the pension though, we do speak Spanish most of the time because Hna Delgado (YES we're living together again! :)) doesn't speak English, but she is learning. :) It's fun living with 4 hermanas. :) We do not have a "mamita" and I miss Mamita Tita madly, but I'm excited for her and Hna Matias in their new adventures. Hna Matias is training a sister from Brazil, so that should be fun for her! :) She was nervous, but I know she'll do so great. :)

Dad asked about how the travel was, so I'll skip back to that. :) We were in a bus like we had when we went back to New York on the BYU tour, or choir tour, that kind of bus. At about 2 in the morning we reached a customs stop so we all had to get off with our luggage and send it through a scanner, like at the airport. It was freezing cold, but we survived. :P Hahaha and no Dad, it wasn't like Romancing the Stone, although that would have been an awesome adventure... :D When we got here to the bus terminal, our companions were waiting, and Hna Delgado was waiting for Hna Brewster to arrive. We waited for a couple hours, went and did grocery shopping, unpacked, etc and got right to work. :)

Copiapó is a lot bigger, from what I can tell, than Arica. It's a big mining city, and little fun side fact, this is where those 33 miners a few years back were trapped. Just my little "Copiapó claim to fame" moment. :) So lots of people from other cities come here for work and such. It's interesting because the language here is the same, but not. Hahaha obviously they still speak Spanish, but it's more "Chileanized". It's faster and more slurred together. They've been telling me the farther south you get, the harder it is to understand, and that's been true as far as I can tell. :P (Just a little side note though, people keep saying that I can speak really well and clear for having only a few months! YAY!!! :D) Arica is so close to Perú and Bolivia that it has a lot of foreign influence in culture and language and such. It's a lot greener here!! I know, that's a shock. :) You'll all still see the pictures and think, "That is not green at all...." But trust me, for the mission, it's really green. So that's been happy! :D It does get hotter here actually. It's really cold and windy at night, but during the day it's super hot and dry. So I will be using more sunscreen. Yay for sunscreen. :P

We have been finding new investigators these days. Obviously as missionaries, we are always finding new investigators, but it's been a lot of knocking doors this week. We decided yesterday however, that knocking doors, as fun and effective as it is, will have to go. Preach My Gospel talks a lot about how we need to work with and through the members, because they know a lot more people than we do, and they are the key to helping us help other people, as well many apostles and President Monson emphasized in these past couple conferences. We have planned a few family nights with members, in the which we invited them to invite a family that's less active or not members to join us, so we're excited for that this week. :) We do have a couple great investigators, one of which has a baptism date for the middle of November! :) Benjamín is in his mid-fifties, and his girlfriend is a member, so he wanted to learn more. His second time he met with us, he accepted the invitation to be baptized and he just kept saying how much happier he has been this past week or so. It truly is amazing to see the change in people's lives when they accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'd better get going, but I am so very grateful for your love and support. I'm glad to hear things are well at home and I love the letters and news that I get every week. You are all in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope and pray that you all will take a moment this week to ask our Heavenly Father who He has prepared to accept this gospel. I would love to hear thoughts and impressions you receive, and I hope you will act on those thoughts and impressions. You are vital in this work. It's not just for us missionaries. :) I love you all so very much and I know this church is true. I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ lives, and that he guides and directs this church through his living prophets.

Con todo mi amor y cariño,
Hermana Tuft

Hello Mom and Dad!

I love you both. I miss you both lots, but I am soooo very glad that I am here at this time. It is such a blessing to be here and I am more and more grateful for this opportunity every single day. Thank you both so very much. :) I was so glad to hear that everything went well this week! I loved hearing about Grandpa's birthday party and that almost all could join. :) And I'm glad he enjoyed getting that little note in Spanish! :) I wanted to do something. :) It's so crazy to me to be hearing about things getting cold there! It's so hot here, so it's weird to imagine Fall starting, and HALLOWEEN is this week..... That's a weird thought. :) Halloween was adopted here, and they even say Halloween... :P So that should be fun: "Trick or treat! We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints..." :P Hahaha :) And from what I've gathered Dad, I don't think they celebrate the Day of the Dead, but we shall see... :P I love hearing about the family and that all is well. :) I love that Spencer and Lindsay went to the stake dance together. :) I love hearing that they're getting closer and closer. :) I hope that Spencer can do a semester of school before he leaves though... I just keep thinking about how sad, but obviously excited, I would be if he wasn't there when I get home... :( It would be great for him, just selfishly I would love to see him. :) I would love if he and Lindsay would write me and tell me about their happenings. :) I know you can't force them, but I want to hear about their school lives, activities, friends, etc. If they get a chance this week... :) I'd better run, but give everyone a BIG hug from me, tell Kyle and Jess hello and I love them and that's crazy that Kyle's Elders quorum president and I'm excited for them :), tell the ward hello, and congrats to Mar and Rob this weekend! :D I love you both so much, my true Mamita and Papito. :D

To the sun, the moon, the stars, Chile and back,
Kristen :)

HELLO FROM COPIAPO'! - (Transfers! ...more to come!)

(I just got this note from Kristen this morning (Monday 10/21). It made me tear up just a tad because I know how hard it is for her to leave "her people." But she will bloom where she's planted" and love Copiapo too. AND...I just found out via a mom on Facebook I'm 'friends' with and her son is Chris James who has been in Arica with Kristen, and he is going to Copiapo today too. I'm sooo happy she won't be traveling alone!!!!) Phew!

MOMMMM!!!! I'm leaving Arica today. :( It's been a sad but very wonderful couple days. I'm headed to a city 20 hours away named Copiapó. I'm excited, but really sad too. So I'll write a little bit later, and I think tomorrow a little bit too. Sorry! This week's letter will be choppy I'm thinking... I love you so so very much. :D Talk to you in a couple hours if all works out as planned... :D LOVE YOU!!!
=====================
Hello All! (10/22)

I've been transferred! It's been quite a weekend, but I'm really excited to finally be here and get to work. :) We left yesterday at about 4:30 pm from Arica, and traveled through the night to get here in Copiapó this morning at 11am -ish. There were 4 of us that came together, so that was good. :) My new companion is Hermana Severtson and she is so great! (HOW did you know she was my new comp, Mom? A little bit creepy! :D MM's?) We've only known each other for a few hours, but I feel very good about this transfer and for the work that we will get to do together. I know there's lots to do and we're going to work our very hardest and rely on the Spirit to help us do the things the Lord needs. So it should be another great adventure! :)

Leaving Zapahuira was definitely a little struggle, but it's for the best and I felt very calm about it all. Usually change is really hard for me, but I felt super tranquilo. :) I loved the time that I had to work there. It was hard to leave our investigators, less actives, the members, los Papitos, and of course Hermana Matias. We shed a few tears, but así es la misión. :) There were so many special experiences that we had this week, but they're hard to explain because they're just personal happy moments. Let's just say that I feel like I left Arica with no regrets. I feel like we found, taught, and did all the things that we were meant to do together, and that I did the best that I could to help the work progress in Zapahuira. Hermana Matias will stay in Zapahuira training a new sister this transfer, so that should be a lot of fun and she will do so good! She is such a wonderful missionary and I have no worries for her. She was a little nervous, but all will be well. :)

I know this week is super short, there are just so many things swimming in my head that I can't seem to put them into words! :) I am so excited for this change and for the new opportunities that will come. I know this church is so very true. I know that Joseph Smith restored this gospel to the earth, and that it is led by our Savior, Jesus Christ. He loves us, and I know that He lives. I feel so much love and comfort as I rely on Him in my life and the many blessings that I receive as I follow Him.

I am sure there will be a LOAD of stuff to tell you all next week, but for this week this will just have to do! :) I love you all and thank you for your love, support, and constant prayers.

With all my love from Copiapó,
Hermana Tuft

==========================
Hello Mom & Dad!

I just have to say, both of your letters made me cry, because I had that feeling that I was leaving too, I just didn't want it to happen, so I was in denial the whole week, until Saturday night when leaving was a reality... I truly am excited to be here, but Zapahuira will always hold a special place in my heart. I was in the taxi going back to the house as I was reading your letters and I got to the part Dad, where you sent your "letter". Thank you, both of you, for your loving and comforting words. They truly did help me, and I am excited to learn and grow from this new experience. :) Thank you Mom for the pictures! That's CRAZY that Alex Knowlton is home, and Spencer looked so handsome for Homecoming. :) Thank you also for telling me about Kenna.... I will keep her in my prayers. That's really a scary thing!! How did she catch TB, and what exactly does it do?? I was thinking if that happened to me...how awful it would be to sit in the appartment for a month straight doing nothing.... I hope they can bring in laptops or something and do the mormon.org skype thing that they do at the MTC with people that can't go out tracting on a mission. That would be a great experience! And for all the news and stories. :)

I really enjoyed the thought about the letters. I loved the thought that the scriptures are our letters from our Heavenly Father, because it is so very true. I honestly can say that there has not been a day that goes by that I haven't not found something that has helped me personally throught the day, or in one of our lessons. I know that Heavenly Father speaks to us through His holy words. And the dream that Brother Wilcox shared was very special. I have found that the most powerful tool of conversion is through the Book of Mormon. There are so many experiences of less actives, and investigators, that I have experienced already, that when they start reading the Book of Mormon, and truly reading it's teachings, is when they truly change. It's the proof of the gospel, and it does change lives. It has definitely changed mine.

These past days have been really reflective and peaceful for me. Like I mentioned in the other letter, I feel like I finished all that Heavenly Father needed me to do in Zapahuira. I love that feeling. Every time I think about how far I've come from starting my mission 4 1/2 months ago to now, I am so humbled and the growth that He has aided me in and given me the opportunities to learn and grow. I wish I could just bring you both with me inside my head so you could see the things I am seeing and experiencing. One person at a time, we truly can change the world. Thank you Mom and Dad, for raising me in this gospel. Thank you for your love and support, and for helping me gain a testimony of my own. I love this gospel and I love my Savior. Every day I am so grateful that I can be His special witness to bring this happiness to the people here in Chile. I love you both so very much. I hope you have a wonderful week and I promise to send more details next week. :) Be safe as you head up to Brigham, and give the family a big hug from me! :)

All my love,
Kristen

=========

P.S. Mom, I honestly think that if you can send my package directly here today it would get here faster than if you sent it with Paulina and then she sent it to the mission offices. We only get packages once a month when the zone leaders go to their training meeting, so if it got here by the first of December I could get it... :) With the Virgin Mary stickers on it, I really think it'll get here faster, and less hectic for Paulina, and I think faster... Just my thoughts. :) THANK YOU! Lots of love. :D

The Missionary Life :)

Hello All!
 

It's been another fantastic here in Arica. I love this city so much, and especially Zapahuira. These people will always hold such a special place in my heart. :) We had a few changes with the ward yesterday, and it was so sad, but so happy at the same time. The wards split and we had a good chunk of our sector taken out, with many members and less active families that we've been working with, and Andres. :( I think our ward was one of those least affected though, because we probably had about 4 or 5 families that left from our ward, but the ward of our district leader had 50 ACTIVE families taken out, including the bishop and the family that they live with. So that was a big change... We knew it was coming, but just didn't know how soon or when it would be. And that is the missionary life. :) Because cambios have come yet again TAN RAPIDO. I can't believe it's been another 6 weeks. The time literally flies when you're having fun and working even harder. :) So we'll see what happens there, but we both think we'll stay once more. Who knows... Stay tuned.... :P

This week was pretty normal. We've been working a lot with the less active families, and families in general. I have loved being able to share talks from conference with people that didn't get a chance to go, and to talk about their insights and thoughts. A couple of these experiences were with the families Toledo, Tapia and Quezada. (Every time I say/write their name I think of my family Quezada across the street and little "Hermana Quezada". :)) Anywho, we had the impression to share the talk by President Uchtdorf with them from conference, and the experiences we had were wonderful. There truly is power in sharing the words of the prophets, and how incredible it is that we can do it almost anywhere!

This week I was also grateful that I speak English. There aren't too many times that it comes in handy here, but it did this week. :) We have a less active member that's 14 named Yeraldine. She never has let us into her house as we pass, it's just always through the window and we always ask if there's anything we can help her with, and the answer has always been no. We stopped by her house, and the same routine as usual, but as we were leaving she stopped us, got really quiet, and asked if I could help her with English. OF COURSE, I said. :) So that was our little "in". :D We went to her house, helped her with her English homework, and study for her test that's coming up, and then we had the opportunity to share with her family. She has a younger sister and her parents, and her parents aren't members. They are so grateful for the missionaries though, their only problem is time because they work a lot. It truly is amazing though the miracles that come from tiny acts of service. I don't know if her parents will get baptized in the time that I'm here, but it's just opening doors for other missionaries. I love this work so very much! It truly is incredible how our Heavenly Father's timing is so very perfect, all we are are instruments in bringing to pass His will.

The last experience from this week was with Jorge and Fabiola. We planned a Family Night with them and Mamita's son, Rodrigo and his wife. They just got married right before I got here, and we've been trying to help Jorge and Fabiola be more integrated into the ward and have friends, etc. So we had FHE on Saturday night and Rodrigo and Coté taught the lesson on the Plan of Salvation and the importance of an eternal marriage. Hna Matias and I have no experience in the marriage department, obviously, but it was incredible to learn from them and hear their personal experiences of the importance of a temple marriage and the different reaction Jorge and Fabiola had to their experiences, rather than us just telling them. It is so important for the missionaries and members to work together, because neither group can do this work alone. They're slowly but surely getting things rolling for their wedding in January, and baptism shortly thereafter. It's been so incredible to see their testimonies grow and their lives change. Fabiola's mom lives in our ward too, but in the sector of the Elders, so we passed the direction along and hopefully they'll get a chance to stop by there this week. :)

AND a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD. I love you Dad and I hope you have a fantastic day on Thursday! LOVE YOU!!! >D

Sé que este Evangelio es verdadero. Sé que mi Señor, Jesucristo vive y él nos ama muchisimo. Necesitamos recordar Su sacrificio y la Expiación siempre en nuestras vidas. Este es la obra del Señor y estoy agradisimo por este oportunidad ser misionera en este tiempo. Les quiero mucho!!

 

Pam did a little Google Translate and this is what I got:  (I know this gospel is true. I know my Lord, Jesus Christ lives and He loves us very much. We need to remember His sacrifice and Atonement in our lives forever. This is the Lord's work and am agradisimo for this opportunity to be a missionary at this time. I love them!)
 

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Tuft
===================
Hello Fam!!

Just a couple last things. The computer's doing really strange things, so if the grammar, etc is off.... That is why. Not because my grammar really is that bad... And I can't do smiley faces... Nor frowny faces... Anywho. :) I'm so glad your letters finally got there!!! :D Just for Lindsay, CONGRATS for reading the Book of Mormon so fast! I don't know if you're quite finished, but if not, just keep going. :D It truly is an incredible book and I love it so very much. :) I hope all is well at home and that school and work is going well for everyone! I pray for you all every day and I love you so very much. Until next week! :D

Love,
Hermana Tuft
===================
Hello Mom and Dad!

I always say it's going to be a quicky but it ends up being long, so I just won't say that and see what happens... :P For a couple questions and answers. First off, when is Mar's wedding again? And Mom - I loved the picture of Justina with the bikes. :) So sad about that missionary that died though.... And the sharing time pictures were so wonderful too! I couldn't see it in detail, but it looked so great. :) I am definitely wearing sunscreen every day, and taking it with me. :) That's a must. Hna Matias makes fun of me and thinks I LOVE putting on sunscreen because I use it so much, but I just told her with my skin and my history with the sun, it's definitely a must. So yes it's a very frequent routine of mine, and I have everything that I need, and haven't needed much else, so we did great packing wise. :)

I am envying all that rain and fun weather you're having! But I am very glad that I don't have to deal with walking through the rain and snow, so that truly is a blessing. :) I wish I would've talked to you both last week about this, cause you just went to the temple this week, but I was just wondering if you both could put our investigators on the prayer roll... I don't know if that would be possible, but I would really appreciate that if you could... :) And just a little random moment Dad! So this week Elder Pizarro got TONS of Books of Mormon in different languages, not quite sure why he just said he wanted them... But he remembered that I mentioned you spoke French and I thought it would be fun to learn someday, so the next day he brought me the French Book of Mormon that he got! And then you were just talking about keeping up with your French and Grandpa asking you about it and such this week... So I have a French Book of Mormon, that I'm not quite sure what to do with....cause I'll not be learning French in the next year or so.... Maybe it'll come in handy... :P It was fun to open it though and read and be able to understand more or less because of the similarities with Spanish! And speaking of Grandpa, did he and Grandma get my email a couple weeks back...? Wasn't sure...

I was reading through the last couple paragraphs of your letter and thinking about the book I've been reading, Our Heritage. I love that book! I'm not sure if I would have read it had I not gone on a mission, but since it's in the missionary library I thought I'd give it a shot. I was thinking about the obedience, willing hearts, and love for family history that the early saints had, and then I couldn't help but think with all this Peter Shirts stuff going on as well if you, or with the family as well, could read the Book of Mormon with that topic in mind... Elder Bednar talked about reading the Book of Mormon with a topic every time, and I know you do that, so just a little thought... :)

I also wanted to thank you both for your love and encouragement every week. I love reading your letters and I'm so glad you got the letters this week! I was thinking about 3 months ago and how I was a little lost and growing leaps and bounds, but thought that my letters might have sounded a little trunky, but I also was thinking about how after that my mindset was more 'forget yourself and get to work', and that's what I've been doing. It's truly incredible what fervent prayer and service can do to one's mindset. :) I love you both so much. Thank you for your love and support always! Happy Birthday once again Dad!! ;D

Love,

Kristen