Well hello
there again family! How are you all doing? From your letters it just sounds
like things are calming down after the holidays and thats always a positive
thing. First off im sorry f this letter has a ton of typos, our favorite
internet place is closed again (everything closes for LUNCH here. like really
guys? You have been at work for an hour and a half, you do not need an hour and
ahalf lunch break. I mean everything. Every store minus the bank and the
grocery store is closed from like 1:00-3:00. Haha CMON CHILE) so the place we
are at has really crappy keyboards that everything sticks. But its okay because
i type fast anyway so ill just make do with what i can! Mom maybe you can try
and fix the typos so that i dont have to worry about it and i can just type as
fast as i can. thanks.
ANYWAY. This
week was really good. New Years Eve was about the lamest night of my life.
usuaully missionaries can stay out super late on new years and go watch
fireworks or go to a members house and have a big asado, but for some reason
president changed the rules and we had to be in the hourse at 830. So that kind
of was lame but we made the most out of it and had a really fun time actually.
We just chillled and made chocolate chip cookies and since we were so tired
from that disastrous hike, we went to bed at like 12:02. Haha so lame! We have
made chocolate chip cookies at least once a week this entire cambio. How crazy
is that? We are so blessed. One time we just made the dough and then froze it
and ate it. Besides the GIANT letters on the front that said "do not eat
raw cookie dough", i didn't see a problem with it. But we found the cookie
dough mix in one of the grocery stores for 4 dollars, so we just eat it every
single week. Haha we are seriously so dumb. But the chilean stoves here are weird
because its gas and its attached, so a lot of time stuff doesnt cook evenly.
Like the bttoms will be ROASTED and then the top will be all mushy still. So
last time we flipped the cookies half way through and they turned out
perfectly. How genius is that?! Elder Wray is a boss.
Anyway, that was a super
long sidetrack, but new years was nice. Then it was nice to be able to start a
new week with a huge planning meeting in Lota with the whole zone, and elder
wray and i got really excited about that. we made some good changes to our
plans, made some charts we are going to be using to figure out where our
investigators need the best help, and really just try every week to identfy our
weaknesses and work on those. This week its asking more questions in teaching,
because there are times where people are OBVIOUSLY just nodding their heads and
have no idea whats going on. my favorite this week..."Ana, what did the
people do to Jesus Christ at the end of his life?" "the..um...tranquility." uhh....hahaha no? Clearly no. It was so
funny and we all just kind of started laughing because it was obvious that she
wasnt paying attention. But anyway thats one of my goals too - really start
trying to work on my own personal characteristics one at a time. We all know
our own weaknesses, but so often we just live wih them and say thats the way we
are. But my new goal is to start systematically improving on things like
patience, frustration, and pride. Heck, i have 2 years and the most constant
spirit I'll ever have in my life, so if i can't figure it out here I'm kind of
hopeless.
With that beig
said, this week was once again really tough. We started off the week SO strong,
and we worked our butts off 100% of the days. We had lessons set up with around
10 different members this week, accompanying us to lessons, and all of them
fell through. We had people accept fechas, have incredible lessons, and none of
them came to church. We were 100% obedient, more lost in the work than we ever
have been, made goals to not mention home or family or girlfriends or anything
and just be focused, and it ws a HUGE difference. And sunday, we had 5 people
in church, but not a single one of them was someone who we had put a fecha with
and wanted to be there. I was just heartbroken for the first few minutes. But then
i realized something - i could not have done ANYTHING more. I truly understand
that. I did everything i could possibly do to set these people up for success.
I was obedient, i was focusing on them every second i could, we tried to bring
members along, we called them relentlessly. like there was nothing that i could
look back on and say "yeah, thats where i screwed up." and amidst
this sadness of not having the success that i wanted, i just had the simplest
peace. i realized that thats one of the blessings of being a missionary. There
are days that you may not have the success you want, but if at the end of the
day you can honestly get on your knees and pray and tell heavenly father that
its in his hands, its still so peaceful. After i realized that, my attitude
changed a whole bunch. We went by to visit some of the people that had failed
us and not come or completed with their commitments, and I wasn't impatient or
angry. I was so much more patient with them and i was just so grateful that
heavenly father showed me that lesson. Obviously i still have a huge long way
to go, but it was awesome to be able to learn something like that. I am going
to keep doing 100% my part and then i know that whether the people progress or
not is between them and the Lord. It may not be their time, or for whatever
reason, but i know that i will be able to kneel down at night and truly say
that I'm doing everything I can. And thats good enough for me.
Haha but
still, there were quite a few funny moments this week. We actually had a huge
breakthrough lesson with Zaira and she committed to doing a 7 day challenge of
"being mormon". Basically she is just like "im happy with my
life right now, and i feel like god is always with me". she prays like 10
times a day, so i agree with her that he is probably with her. but there is
just something more that we can get after being baptized and receiving the holy
ghost. it is SO much more peaceful and different. But she just couldnt see it
and didnt want to commit to it. So finally we used some examples and she was
like "i guess ill never know if i never try it". so every day we have
mormon messages written down, chapters of the book of mormon, prayer reminders,
little things like that, and we are giving them to her every night this whole
week. She was supposed to go to church Sunday and was actually excited to
go, but turns out she found the most CREATIVE excuse of all time. I frankly
wasnt even mad, it was just impressive. She had to go to the hospital...because
she was standing up for too long making Humitas. There like little Tamales, or
corn meal stuff inside of a corn husk. she made 150 freaking humitas. Hahaha
she had to get x rays and shots in her back and everything! Like
Zaira....either thats the most unfortunate event ever or you are TRULY
dedicated to not going to church. But we have members working with her and
calling her and we are doing everything we can, so hopefully she comes
around.
Camila is also
coming along great. She has a few little setbacks that we still have to work
through, but she will get there. She and her brother Ricardo might be getting
baptized on the 19th, so help me out and start praying for them! She has such a
big heart and such a big desire to change, but just isnt sure if all the
commandments really come from god through a true prophet or just from some 19
year old kids in dusty shoes. So, we have left her with plenty of material and
are encouraging her to get a true testimony of the restoration. She will come
around! This is not an easy change in life, especially if its supposed to be a
lasting one. So many people change SO fast and get baptized SO fast, but those
are the same people that leave SO fast when things start going a little bit
tough. SO i really am not worried, and know that Wray and I just have to keep
doing our part and hope that the Lord helps her take these steps.
Some of the
pictures...we climbed the hill Colo-Colo again today but found the backside!
Dad you have officially cursed me. The second i got up there, overlooking this
whole coast gulf framed by pine trees and araucarias, i thought, "This
would make a great par 3." I wish i was kidding. What have you DONE to
me?!? Haha i just wanted to build a golf course. We are so pathetic.
We also made a
delicious lunch today. We made longanisa (like sausage but better, using real
intestine as lining and everything...YUM), bell peppers, tomatos, pasta
noodles, parmesan cheese, into some sort of pasta dish. it was way good though.
I am actually getting better at cooking! #yourewelcomeMary #MoreThanCerealNow
#CerealorPopTarts
One of the
pictures has me touching the point of the church too. See how close it is to
the beach? I want to do a beach baptism so bad
Also, scariest
looking dog ever. Its a RottBernard. Literally halfway across the face it
changes...scary little freak
Anyway thats
all. I love you all so much! Thanks for your support. You truly are angels to
me and are making me so happy.
Les amo y les
quiero
Elder Tengberg
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