Aventura de Chile!: Week 74

So this week...

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness. I can't believe you're 12!!!! You're going into Young Womens now! How crazy is that! My goodness you've gotten so big since I left.

Today for P-day we had a "California snowball fight." We filled socks with flour and played dodgeball rules. There was flour EVERYWHERE!!!! But it was so much fun!!!!

Anyways, so this week, we found a new investigator named Loli. We had a very short lesson where we talked about the Plan of Salvation and we left her with the pamphlet. Then we found out in the next lesson that she doesn't have good eyesight. She didn't read the pamphlet, but it was okay anyways because we really felt that we should share The Restoration with her. So we did. When we got to the part with the First Vision, she told us that she had never heard that before, but she loved the warm feeling she got from it. She said that she would pray to find out if it's true. =) We're going to go visit her today and see how that went.

Next we have Bruni.

Ohhhhh Bruni. How I love her. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to come to church on Sunday because one of her kids showed up from Santiago and dropped their infant off with her. So she had to stay home with the baby. But she says that she'll be there next week.

Bruni is so awesome. She has kept all of the commitments to read, and she understands SO MUCH! She even looked up some of the scriptures from the pamphlets! And the awesome thing is that we know that she really wants to learn because she's doing all of this with a broken pair of glasses. She just kind of holds the lenses up to her face and reads. I love her so much. We're going to have another lesson with her on Wednesday, and she always expects us on Fridays as well. She hasn't accepted a baptismal date yet, but we're working on that. We've been trying to get her a friend in the ward as fast as possible.

And then there's Javier.

We called him on Saturday night and asked if he would be coming to church, and he said he would. But we were starting to feel pretty disappointed when the meeting started at 10:00 and he still wasn't there. But lo and behold, the bishop got up to give the welcome, and Javier came in!

Hermana Christensen and I were so excited. He told us that he has been reading the Book of Mormon in English as well. But we still feel that he doesn't really understand it.

We introduced him to some members and he took a look around the church building. Hermana Solange - a friend of ours - welcomed him as well and told him that he'll always have a family in the church. =) It's so true. Javiera, the Young Single Adults leader, introduced herself and other YSA talked with him as well. Javiera invited him to the next activity as well. We're anxious to see where he progresses from here.

Anyways, with the church meeting, Javier didn't understand a lot of what was said, but he said that nothing was weird for him. So that's good. There's a ton he still has to learn, though. We have a lesson planned for tonight to see how we can help him progress. We're trying to create an environment where he can have a spiritual experience. He says he's prayed, but he just talks. He hasn't asked for anything. He won't pray in front of us because he's embarrassed to. We'll see what happens.

Noelia´s baptismal date fell through. We weren't able to get ahold of her this last week because she had been working all day until late. BUT we did finally get a phone call to her and we scheduled an appointment to meet with her on Wednesday. So we're going to see where she's at spiritually right now.

We haven't been able to get in touch with Aileem at all. We think somebody in her family said something to her because they really don't like LDS missionaries. We know that she still wants to receive us, but it's complicated. We're going to keep trying, though! We're going to stop by today to see if we can see how she's doing and get an appointment with her.

So this last week I was thinking about the millions of ways that the Lord has blessed me, and I really am in awe because of the changes that I've seen between the beginning of my mission and where I am now. It's crazy looking back and seeing who I was and how different things are. I'm still me, but I feel newer. Like the old me is somebody else. It's kind of hard to describe.

I'm so grateful for my Savior and the strengthening power of the Atonement. I'm so grateful for spiritual experiences and for the opportunity that I have to serve a mission. I thank my Heavenly Father for each and every day and I wake up feeling ready to face the day's challenges and surprises. The perspective I've gained because of the Plan of Salvation, the scriptures and various testimonies has helped me immensely and helped me to gain a more complete perspective of who I am. It makes me wonder what the Lord has in store for me. =D

Anyways, I love you all and I thank you so much for all of your love and support.

CHAUUUUUU!!!!!

-Hermana Darley