CAMBIO 2, SEMANA 1
Place: Hualqui
Companion: Hermana Sanchez
Date: 12/03/2012
Buenas Tardes Mi Familia,
How is everyone doing? I hope everything has been going well! Things here this week are going great! Good news! MARYORY SE BAUTIZO!! Woohoo! I uploaded the pictures from the last two weeks, and there are pictures from the baptism as well. Her baptism was really great and she really enjoyed all of it! I actually played the piano for her baptism, we needed a special musical number, and we hadn´t practiced a hymn like we usually do in the morning, so thankfully I had the music for the song "The Power of His Love" in my scriptures and I was able to play that for her, and they whole congregation loved it, it really brought the Spirit very strong before the baptism. The whole thing was amazing! Just like every baptism is!
We are continuing to teach the same amazing people, we are preparing Carlos and also Elizabeth (Jeremy´s mom) for their baptism on the 24, and they both are continuing to do very well with everything! We are also still teaching Adrianna y Louis, who are doing great! They are so receptive to everything we teach them, and are willing to do the commitments that we leave them, they are gold! Then there is Maria y Cristen that we have been teaching for the past few weeks, we were only able to see Maria this week, but oh boy this lady is pregnant, she is due any day she is that pregnant. She was due around the second of March and we didn´t go to see her last week cause we thought we was going to have the baby, but when we went to go see her this week, she still hadn´t had the baby! You can see the baby kick and move around and I was at least 10 feet away from Maria! We are hoping that she has the baby this week because she is definitly due! But we have asked Hna. Erica to help her, who works in a hospital her in Chile, and she has her number and everything, but please pray for Maria that she can have the baby this week and that everything will go well. But there are many wonderful people here, and we continue to find more people each and every day! :) So there is this really cute little girl named Antonnella, this is a different Antonnella, this is the daughter of one of our ward memebers, there are some pics. of her, but we love playing together, and on Mon. we had a Noche de Hogar with them, and she drew a picture of a house for me, and told me it was my house at home, and she also wrote her name and drew a little heart, and told me that the picture was "con amor" from her, but here is the cutest part, she asked if looked like my house at home and I told her yeah it looks a little bit like my house, and I showed her the pic. I have in my scriptures of you guys, then before I put her picture in my scriptures, she told me to wait, and then took the pic, she handed it back to me, and I saw another heart, and this is what she told me, the other heart was "con amor" for all of you! Isn´t that so cute! I love her and just letting you know she loves all of you! :)
Things are going well with all of us in the house. Hermana Carmona has been sick this week, on top of her ankle, which hasn´t been fun for her, on Saturday I stayed home with her for a few hours while Hermanas Kraemer and Sanchez went out to teach, haha I was ironing the baptismal clothes and listening to music, and let´s just say Hna. Carmona likes a lot of the songs from the singles ward! :) Probably cause she hasn´t hear them before, and she liked the upbeat hymns, especially because it had her favorite hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints" But after I was done ironing I was sitting there studying, and Hna Carmona asked if I knew any jokes, so I told her quite a few and she really loved it, she loved it so much that she keeps asking me for jokes and I have to really think hard of all the ones I know, so if you know any please, help, cause I´m running out! :) Oh so Hnas Carmona and Sanchez have hit their nine month mark in the mission! haha so they drew a sign, grabbed a couple of the pillows from the couch and took a pictures as if they were pregnant! :) These two are crazy but I love them and I thought it was really funny! :) Oh something really cool, since I have gotten here, I have lost 7 kilos! (Mas o Menos 14 lbs.) haha lets just say the Hermanas keep asking me how I did it, and to tell you the honest to goodness truth I have no idea, I haven´t really been doing anything special. But we have been talking it out and we think this is why, so I get my cardio by chasing after Hna. Sanchez cause she walks super fast! and also playing with the little kids in the ward. Then I get my muscular work out by again chasing after Hna. Sanchez but you have to remember I have a 15 or 20 lb. backpack, and then there was the fact that last week I had to boot Hna. Sanchez over a 9 foot gate, because we forgot our keys! :) Again I really am not doing any special, but I´m not complaining! :) this week though Hna. Kraemer and I are going to start running though! So wish us luck, hopefully I won´t die! I´m not a runner, but this will be good, we are going to start slow and build up.
Ok well before I end this letter, here comes the weekly spiritual thought from your favorite missionary! So this week I have been reading a lot about Christ and the Atonement, and we have also been teaching a lot about it this week too! but I would like to share with you something that I read in Elder Ballard´s book "Our Search For Happiness" (which just a side note, is a great book) but I would like to share a few things from this book that I marked, first a story and then a explaination by him:
"I remember reading about a firefighter in the eastern United States who ran into a burning house to rescue several children from an arson-induced fire. While his colleagues battled the blaze to keep it from spreading to other structures in the neighborhood, this man dashed into the building again and again, each time emerging with a chiled in his arms. After rescuing the fifth child, he started back into the inferno once more. Neighbors shouted that there were no more children in the family. But he insisted that he had seen a baby in a cradle, and he dove into the intensifying heat. Moments after he disappeared into the fire and smoke, a horrifying explosion shook the building and the entire structure collapsed. It was several hours before firefighters were able to locate their colleague´s body. They found him in the nursery near a crib, huddled protectively over a life-sized -- and practically unscratched -- doll"
"In a very real sense, all of humanity -- past, present and future -- was trapped behind a wall of flame that was fueled and fanned by our own faithlessness. Sin separated mortals from God and would do so forever unless a way was found to put out the fires of sin and rescue us from ourselves. The way would not be easy, for it required the vicarious sacrifice of One who was sinless and who was willing to pay the price of sin for all of humanity, now and forever. Thankfully, that most significant role was heroically played by Jesus Christ on two different stages in ancient Jerusalem. The first act was performed quietly, on bended knee in the Garden of Gethsemane. There in the quiet isolation of gnarled olive trees and sturdy boulders, and in some incredible way that none of us can fully comprehend the Savior took upon Himself the sins of the world. Even though His life was pure and free of sin, He paid the ultimate penalty for sin -- for your sins, my sins, and the sins of everyone who ever lived. His mental and emotional anguish were so great that it caused him to bleed from every pore. And yet He did it, willingly, so that we might all have the cleansing opportunity of repentance through faith in Jesus Christ, without which none of us would be worthy of entrance into God´s kingdom."
"The second act was performed just hours later in the torture chambers of Jerusalem and on the cross at Calvary, where He endured the agony of inquisition, cruel beatings, and death by crucifixion. The Savior didn´t have to go through that. As the Son of God, He had the power to alter the situation in any number of ways. Yet He allowed Himself to be battered and abused, humiliated and executed, so that we could receive the priceless gift of immortality. The Atonement of Jesus Christ was an awful yet indispensable part of Heavenly Father´s plan for His Son´s earthly mission. Because Jesus died and then conquered death through His Resurrection, all of us will have the privilege of immortality. This gift is given freely through the loving grace of Jesus Christ to all people of al ages, regardless of their good or evil acts. And to those who choose to love the Lord and who show their love and faith in Him by keeping His commandments, the Atonement offers the additional promise of exaltation, or the privilege of living in the presence of God forever."
"I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me. I tremble to know that for me he was crucified. That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died. Oh, it is wonderful, that he should care for me, Enough to die for me! Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!"
As I have been studying about this topic this week, my understanding of the Atonement and been strengthen, I don´t have a full understanding, and I don´t think I ever will, but it is stronger, and I´m very grateful for the sacrifice that has been given to me. Remember He has given each of us a piece of his heart and has a spot for each of us, what are we willing to do to show that we will give him a piece of ours back?
Remember how much I love you all! And again I really hope things are going well for all of you and that you continue to have lots and lots of fun! :) Until next week, with more fun adventures!
Con Amor, Para Siempre, y Toda La Eternidad!
Hermana Aubrey Jo England
