The Fruits of Chile

I don’t know how, but this week came and went before I could even take it in. Time really does fly, but we still had the opportunity to teach and learn more about the people here in San Miguel. One person in specific is one of our new investigators, Jaime. He is around 75 years old and he has a very big heart. He also has a lot of faith in Jesus Christ. We have been able to teach him on the restoration and he already has a big love for the message. He came to church with us on Sunday and he is excited to come back with us next Sunday! The members were so welcoming and made sure that he felt welcome, this was a huge help for us! It is so great to see that so many other people care and it really is the little things that help our investigators gain their own testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had a lesson with him after Church and we asked him if he had prayed to know if The Book of Mormon was true. It is a funny story because he told us that he prayed, like he does every night, but he did not pray to know if it was true because he already knew that it was true. We asked him how he knew and he told us that he had faith in anything that brought us closer to Jesus Christ; that he loves us and our sincerity, and because we are sharing this Book with him, he knows that we wouldn´t lie. We then proceeded to explain to him that we know for ourselves that the Book of Mormon is true, and we are so glad that he Trusts us, but he needs to receive his own testimony and witness of the Book of Mormon, for a true and lasting conversion. It was exciting to work with Jaime because he has such an enthusiasm for the gospel that is inspiring because he still has so much to learn. We just started working with him last week, but I am excited to see how his faith and testimony grows, to see how his efforts to learn more will change him.

Remember Lalo? He is progressing but a lot slower than we know he can. He had a baptismal date for May 11th but he lost it this week because he still has not come to church with us. It is so sad because he has everything else going for him, he has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and he wants to be baptized. He understands the importance of it because he has seen the blessings in his life since we have been teaching him. He knows the church is true, yet he lacks the desire to do the little things that in the scheme of things are BIG things. Hermana Fuentes and I are working hard with him because we love him so much and know that he is ready. We just need to figure out why he is struggling right now and figure out a way to help him. I'm learning to have faith in the Lords timing! It´s hard because I know that he can have so much more happiness in his life if he would just do the little things, but he also has to put his efforts in to receive those blessings. Lalo is un amor de persona, and I am so grateful to be able to be apart of his conversion process.

I am doing great and am so happy to be serving here in San Miguel. The people of Chile are amazing and so loving. I cannot get enough of their love. It makes the hard days sweet. I was blessed with a tender mercy this week when we traveled to Pedro de Valdivia, a sector about 20 minutes away from San Miguel. We went to go visit a sister in the Hospital, but after that we(or should I say I) experienced a sweet treat! As we were walking down the street, there was a SUPER tall building in the distance. We were with one of the sisters from my ward, Hermana Jazmin (she is like my Big sister here on the mission), who works in that area and she was telling us that we needed to go visit that building. I didn’t know why until we got there, because she wanted to surprise us. Supposedly the building is the tallest building in South America…and you know what it was???? A MALL…….I just about died of Pure Happiness when I found out. If you know me well, you would know that something as small as this (or in this case BIG) would make my entire week! We only went window shopping because well, missionaries don’t have money, but it was enough for me! It was 6 stories of heaven, including stores like H&M, Gap, Banana Republic, Bobby Brown, Michael Khors, ect. I promise that I am on a mission and the work makes me so happy, but this experience was a little refresher of all of the stress that accumulates as a missionary.

I hope that you guys had a great week! I´m gonna pray that this week doesn’t pass by as fast. Too fast for comfort. Im marking 3 months as Hermana North tomorrow! I told you that time disappears.

picture 1: The tallest mall that I've ever seen

picture 2: there is too much to love about Hermana Jazmin.