Week 18 in Chile - 05/28/2012

CAMBIO 3 SEMANA 6

 

Place: Hualqui

Companion: Hermana Sañchez

Date: 28/05/2012

 

Hola Mi Familia!!!!

 

     First of all I´m just going to tell you that this letter is going to be a little bit short, I don´t have a lot of time today because it is the wonderful time again called Cambios!!! So we are busy running around, Hna. Sanchez is getting things packed, and we are going to be going all over Hualqui today so that she can say goodbye to our conversos and other people in the ward. It is so crazy that she is leaving, but we both knew this day was coming soon, because 18 weeks together is such a long time, and rare. But Hermana Sanchez is leaving to Constitucion, Hermana Kraemer is going home! (That is nuts the mission has gone so fast!) Hermana Joglar and I are in Hualqui, and two new Hermanas are arriving. Hermana Bahr will be with Hermana Joglar, and then Hermana Keil with me; there will be three gringas in the house! This will be a lot of fun! But I will be honest I´m a little bit scared because my spanish is not completly there yet, but I´m working on it, with lots of prayers and faith I know I can do it, I´m also thinking about waking up an hour earlier so that I can study a bit more, we´ll see how it goes.

 

     Well quickly this week has had it´s ups and downs, the down we will start with, is the Denise wasn´t baptized this week, it is kind of a long story, but we are continuing to teach her, and hopefully soon, she will be baptized. But this cambio has been so amazing with Hermana Sanchez we have had a lot of success together, and she has taught me wonderful things that I will never forget, but it is time to move on from my mom, seeing how I´m 18 years old! Lol :) But this week has been crazy! There has been so much rain!!! It is raining and raining and raining and raining, well I think you get my point! The other day we got soaked! not a joke, and then we were in the Familia Colla´s house to have lunch and we stood next to their heater they had and I´m not kidding my skirt starting smoking, well, vapor from the water, but it looked like smoke, there is pictures, and like always with the wind, my umbrella turned inside out time and time again. The wind was so hard the other day that the power went out in all of Hualqui, and it was pitch black! We actually had to enter back in to our house at 7:30 instead of 9:30 because it was too black to work, but luckily with were with a member when it happened, we ate empanadas, and pan which was so delicious, then they took us back to the house. It was a good thing we had bought candles a week ago or we would have been in trouble. But it was a good night we drank ecco and just had fun together. 

 

    So much has happened this week, we have worked very, very hard as always! I´m sorry that this letter is a little short but I will write a better one this next Monday with cambios and everything we are very very busy today, but I will have more adventures from Hualqui next week. Remember how much I love you all, I hope that you all have a wonderful Memorial day in the sunshine! :) Enjoy it for me please! lol :) I pray for you all always, please take care, and like I said, more adventures next week. Love you all!

 

Con Amor Siempre, y Para Toda La Eternidad!

Hermana Aubrey Jo England

Week 17 in Chile - 05/21/2012

CAMBIO 3 SEMANA 5

 

Place: Hualqui

Companion: Hermana Sañchez

Date: 21/05/2012

 

Hola Mi Familia!!

 

       How are you all doing this wonderful day? I´m doing really good, but I can tell you now this week seemed like it was forever! I felt like I talked to you all a month ago, when it was only just last week, talk about crazy! I guess that is why they say that each week in the mission is one year, because by the end of the week that is what it feels like, and you have to ask yourself if what you did on Monday, was a month ago or not, I don´t know that is just what it feels like. So apparently yesterday was the end of the world here, I don´t know about you but I´m thinking I´m still alive and kicking here in Chile? haha but apparently there was suppose to be a really big earthquake here yesterday, and well it didn´t happened, I slept like a baby, so it wasn´t the end of the world :) 

 

       So some wonderful news! BARBARA SE BAUTIZO!!! Barbara is such a wonderful girl, she has been waiting over a year to be baptized, and her mom finally gave us permission. It was after a new beginnings for the young womens that her heart changed a bit, because she saw that Barbara was working hard, and loved this church, because Barbara has been working on her personal progress, and had recieved faith, and the kicker, she wasn´t even a member yet! Wow, she is such an example for everyone. But so she was baptized, but the downer just a bit was that she wasn´t confirmed this sunday, because they had problems with the car and just a lot of things happened that they showed up after the Sacrament and they weren´t able to confirm her, but no worries she will be confirmed this next Sunday along with Denise, who is another little girl we are teaching and she has a baptismal fecha for this Saturday! We are all very excited and looking foward to helping her! 

 

       Things are going really well with everyone here in the house! It is a little weird because cambios are this next week, and we are all a little, what in the world will happen!? The only cambio we are sure of is Hermana Kraemer because she is going home, but other than that, we think, (and that is we think) that me and Hna. Joglar will be staying here in Hualqui, and two hermanas will be coming here, and Hermana Sanchez will be going to a new sector, because she has 7 and a half months here in Hualqui! So it is time for a change, but you never know, so I´ll have to let you know next week! It has been SOOO COLD here! aaaah and I have been warned that it is going to get even colder. There have been so much rain and wind and with the humidity and wind it just makes is much colder ( I can´t tell you how many times by umbrella turned inside out because of the wind.), and the thing is we are walking around all day in it, so yeah lets just say it´s freezing, and at night, I just might have to buy another guatero to put by my feet we will see, are maybe I can not be so stubborn and wear socks, haha but I don´t see the point because I kick them off in the middle of the night, we´ll have to see what I do. 

 

        Haha oh and also this week we had a little fun, our power went out, and usually it does this in the morning, because you can´t take a shower (because it is an electric heater) and have the heater, or anything else on at the same time or the power goes ZAP! and then we have to walk out front and flip the breaker switch to turn it back on. Well the other day it went ZAP and we went out front to flip the switch and the power didn´t go on, so long story short we were pretty much doing our daily planning at night with candles, and in the middle a neighbor came over and helped us turn it back on, there was a switch inside the house we didn´t know about, so all is good now; but it was kind of fun to plan with the candles, felt like in the old times before electricity, kind of cool! :) Yes I know I´m a dork! :)

 

        Well that is pretty much all this week, it has been really good, and lots of adventures, but I really can´t think of much else to write about so I guess that is going to be all for this week, but I hope you all remember how much I love you all and I hope that everything is going really well for each of you! Remember you all are always in my prayers and I hope that you all have an amazing, fantastic week! I´ll send you another email next week, with the amazing adventures from Hualqui! Until then!

 

    Con Amor, Siempre, y Para Toda La Eternidad,

     Hermana Aubrey Jo England

Week 16 in Chile - 05/14/2012

CAMBIO TRES SEMANA CUATRO

 

Place: Hualqui

Companion: Hermana Sanchez y Hermana Castillo

Date: 14/05/2012

 

Hola Mi Familia!!

 

         First off can I just tell you all how wonderful it was to see you all yesterday!!!! I love you all so much and it was so wonderful to hear your voices and to be able to talk and see you all! It was awesome is all I can say, you have all changed so much, especially Danny and Amy and what is crazy is it has only been six months, well, six month this Wednesday! It will be so weird to see what they look like this Christmas, I´m sure Danny will be the one who changes the most. Oh my can you believe that it is almost six months already! Time is passing by so rapidly, before you know it I´ll be home! CRAZY!! So because I talked to you all yesterday this letter will be a little bit short, but I´m sure you will all be fine with that since we talked face to face through skype! :)

 

        So like I told you yesterday (I love saying that) Adrianna was baptized on Saturday, and than was confirmed yesterday! It was such a miracle this baptism! So as I have told you she had about 10 Santos in and alter in front of her house, so we had to explain to her that she couldn´t have the Santos in an alter, it was ok to respect these people because they are great people, but not to worship them, because it is a commandment not to, so little by little we have been removing them, and on Wednesday, we went and bought a huge thing of flowers, and that night we talked to her, and we took the rest of the santos out and put the flowers in the alter instead, and she accepted it, which was nice, we didn´t know if she would get mad for removing them of not, but she has taken a big step to change, and this is why I said this baptism was such a miracle. Haha as well, so we have to fill out a registro for each person that is going to be baptized, so that the church has information and than you can use this information for family history and stuff, well the problem was that Adriana can´t read or write, so she couldn´t sign her name at the end or the registro, so I just looked at Hermana Castillo, (we had a mini cambio) and was like what do we do, and then we talked and figured to just put her thumb print, and we called Elder Morales to find out if that would be alright, and he said sure. So we got a marker and colored her thumb and put her thumb print and then I wrote her name, haha it was just funny, cause that is very rare.

 

       So like I said I had a mini cambio with Hermana Castillo this week, and it was great, she came to Hualqui, and Hermana Sanchez went to Lirquen, but Hermana Castillo and me had a really good time and we learned so much from eachother. And things are continuing to go really well in our house, I love, love, love, all the Hermanas that I live with Sachez, Kraemer and Joglar are amazing! And today we went to a little dinosaur park that they have in concepcion, which was so much fun I´ll see if I can send the pictures today, if not I´ll send them next week, so look to see if they are there.

 

      Sorry that this letter is a little bit short and kind of brief on information but, like I said, I talked to you yesterday! :) So I hope that you all have an amazing week and that everything goes amazingly well! I love you all and I will send you all another letter this next monday with more amazing adventures from Hualqui! Love you all and you are always in my prayers! And everyone here in Hualqui says Hola to each of you! They all love you as well! Until next week!

 

Con Amor, Siempre, y Para Toda La Eternidad

Hermana Aubrey Jo England

 

Week 15 in Chile - 05/07/2012

CAMBIO 3 SEMANA 3

 

Place: Hualqui

Companion: Hermana Sanchez

Date: 7/5/2012

 

Hola Mi Familia!

 

       ¿Como Estan Todos? I hope that you are all doing well, things here in the wonderful land of Hualqui are doing really good. So guess what, surprize, More Photos!! Sorry that it has taken me so long to upload more of them but I haven´t been by a computer to where I could do it, or the photo thing was being used, pero, you have the photos now which is really good! ;)

 

        Things are going really well with all of our investigators, Carlos is amazing, he has really changed since his baptism, and is doing his very best to help his family, it is just so amazing to see the changes in people lives; he still teases me like no other though but that isn´t that important, it is all out of fun, he must be taking the place of you mom! ;) j/k I love you! :) But Catalina is progressing really well, and the other day we sat down with them and watched the movie, together forever, and she really enjoyed that, she told us she still doesn´t feel ready to be baptized, because she is scared, cause it is a big thing, which is understandable, but little by little we are working with her, and I had the impression to leave her a Book of Mormon, with some of my favorite chapters marked for her to read, and guess what she is reading them! :) So we will see what happens!

 

       Adrianna the esposa de louis is doing really well tambien, we have been working with her on leaving her Santos, and little by little we are taking them off of her alter, and puting them in her house as decorations only, and she is progressing too. And the other day which was really fun, we made Pan Amasado with her, which is a type of bread here in Chile and it is so good!! and was really fun to make with her, she is a really great lady.

 

     We met a really cool family this week, so we have been beginning to teach Brenda and Carol who are two sisters, and their parents are menos activos, but we went over to their house this week to teach them, and their brother was there too, and the catch is, is he is deaf, and can´t hear or speak, but he was sitting there, and I gave him my picture book to look at while we talked to Brenda and Carol, and their mom. During the lesson though while Hermana Sanchez was talking I was looking at Robert and all of a sudden he came to the picture of a boy being baptized, he looked at it and then looked at his mom and as trying to ask her what it was, and in that moment I put my hand on Hna. Sanchez´s knee telling her to stop, and look at Robert, it was then in this moment that we followed the Spirit and we did the best we could to teach him, and we taught him little by little and he seemed like he would like to get baptized,and listen to us. So we are working right now to find someone who can sign for us, because we can´t and the mom only knows so much, so wish us luck that we can find somebody!

 

     Well as for in the house! Things are going really well, we are having lots of fun like usual. The weather here is so weird in Chile, at times it is hot, and then it is freezing in the night, but I am bundled up good so I don´t feel the cold! haha pretty much I sweat because I´m bundled up that good, your hat mom is working great! Thanks for making it for me! But at night it is cold too but we have a magical little thing called a Guatero! and it is a little bag with hot water that you put by your feet at night and it keeps warm all night, and you are warm too, it is always our feet that are cold, so if they are warm, we are good too! :)

 

     Well I really can´t think of much else to tell you all, so I will just leave you all with a thought. So as a mission we are reading the Book of Mormon together, and I have been learning a lot as we have been reading it, one scripture that I came across the other day was this, it is in Jacob 4:8, "Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him." I really loved this scripture because it just goes to show us that, yes we can´t know why things happen in our lives and for what purpose, but as we search diligently in the great depth of knowledge that we already have, little by little when the time is right for us to learn something the Lord will reveal it for us and we then can apply it into our lives. Well that is pretty much it for today! I hope that you are all doing great! and remember how much I love you and I always pray for you all! Please take care! and I will have more Adventures from Hualqui this coming Week! But guess what You will hear from me this Sunday!!!! I´m so excited to be able to talk to you guys!!! So please take care and I will Talk to you guys this sunday!! Love you all!!! :)

 

  Con Amor, Siempre, y Para Toda La Eternidad!

   Hermana Aubrey Jo England

      

week 14 in Chile - 05/01/2012

Hola Mi Familia!

 

      ¿Como Estan Todos? I hope that you are all doing a little bit better, and I know that this week has been hard for all of us, but just remember with the Plan of Salvation that all will be alright and that we can find a peace and strength through our Savior Jesus Chirst, I have been relying on  this power this week, and I can be a first hand witness that it really is amazing to rely on Him for everything, because He knows how each of us feel, and is there to bear us each up. So no worries I´m doing fine, I have a lot of support here the Elders and Hermanas here are amazing we are one big happy family, and I have the support of one more angel in my life. I´m glad to hear that the video worked out really well, and that you were able to put it on a DVD to view it, prayers are really answered, because I was praying that it would work out, because I promised her, and I wasn´t about to break my promise. But I´m glad the whole funeral went well and I hope that everyone is the family is doing well, know how much I love you all so much, and that I have been able to feel all of your prayers, and I hope that you all know that I pray for you all the time.

  

      Ok on to this week! So guess what! Drum roll! CARLOS SE BAUTIZO!!!! that is right we had a baptism and it was wonderful. The whole thing was amazing and the Spirit was very strong! Carlos´s two sons weren´t baptised with him but we are still working with them, and now Catalina his wife, little by little she is softening more. The other night we were talking to Carlos and Catalina and teaching them how their family could be together forever, and that they could have the opportunity to be married in the Santiago Temple, and be sealed as a family forever, haha when I bore my testimony I told her, that yes it seems like we talk a lot about baptism but it is only because we know that it is the door to find the path to lead to something much greater which is the blessings in the temple, it seemed something that Catalina was interested with, so as I said little by little we are working with her and hopefully, she´ll feel the spirit and she can see the wonderful blessing that are in this church.

 

      I have been a little sick this week, but you know how I usually get sick at least once a year with this cold stuff, but I´m taking care of it and things are getting better, with rest and the medicine. Haha today I slept until 9:30 so crazy cause I haven´t done that for a long time, but my body needed it, and I feel much better now, Nothing can stop this missionary from working! :) So what else? Oh so as you know we had Elder Kevin R. Duncan, of the Seventy and he came yesterday and he talked to us, and taught us about how we need to teach people and not lessons, get to know these people, and do everything we can to serve others, as well as getting the members involved in the work that we are doing in our sectors, but all of what he talked about was great and many things that I can and will apply in my life to help my become better. Today we had a zone activity and we played football (recuerde it´s soccer here) and also we taught them how to play dodgeball and it was a lot of fun, after we had completos which is pretty much is a hot dog, and they were really good.  

 

     I really can´t think of much more that happened this week, it has been kind of long, and short, and a blur all at the same time, and I´m pretty sure you can all understand why, but again know that everything is going just fine, and that I´m here doing what Nanny wants me to do, and even better now I have her help right by my side. What more could I ask than to have "Angels round about me to bear me up!" And when I speak of these angels I don´t mean just those that have passed on, I mean all of you, and the people I have here as well, I literally have many angels in my life, and I want to thank each of you with deep gratitude from my heart. I will say this again, I pray for you always, and I hope that you all are doing well. So until next week with more adventures from Hualqui.

 

Con Amor, Siempre, y Para Toda La Eternidad,

Hermana Aubrey Jo England