Share the Love‏

This week we got to have lunch with one of the cutest little senior couple, Hermana Maria and Don Nelson. I love hearing about member conversion stories, so I asked Anita how she came to know the church (Practically everyone over the age of 40 here is a convert. The church is really new in Chile). I was actually a really funny story because Anita and three kids went on a trip to Florida for 6 months and in that short time, they had the privilege of hearing the missionary discussions from the stake patriarch and his wife. When they returned home to Nelson, they were Mormon! According to Nelson, he said that he didn’t really think a whole lot of it just because he is a wishy-washy Catholic- he believes in God, but in his own way. So out of the entire family of five, Nelson was the only Catholic. Over the past years the missionaries have come and gone from that house, teaching the lessons to him, but he says that he only likes to escuchar y compartir, he said that he doesn’t feel a need to ask for more from God. Hermana Leavitt and I started taking about the importance of the Book of Mormon. He has read parts of it and has gone to church, but the only thing that is keeping him from progressing any further is praying and asking God for an answer of the truth. We asked him what was keeping him from doing so and after he made up a few excuses the answer popped into my head- “He doesn’t know how to recognize an answer.” In that moment, I asked him if he had ever felt an answer to his prayers before or if he knew how the answer would come and he said, “No.”  And from there I shared with Nelson of my own experience with this exact thing.

For a very long time in my life, I struggled with asking God for things because I had never understood how to receive an answer, or I should say recognize an answer because my Heavenly Father has given me many responses. It was always confusing for me to hear other people talk about their answers to their prayers and their relationship with God because whenever I would pray I never felt or heard anything. I have always been a believer in all things good so I never doubted that there was a God, I really hoped that there was, but the thing that I lacked was knowing for myself. I always knew that believing in what everyone else told me that they knew was not enough, but I did have something essential and that was FAITH. Only three years ago, did this belief or faith that I had turn into knowing that God lives.

 I remember that I was at a devotional and a sweet sister named Sheri Dew was speaking to us. She talked with us about how the Sprit of the Lord speaks to each of us differently, which makes sense right? We are all different and have different needs. Heavenly Father knows how to speak to each of us so that we can understand perfectly and clearly. She told us that if we don’t know how God speaks to us that we should JUST ASK HIM- “God, how do you answer my prayers?” and then she counseled us to ask him for help to recognize our answer to that prayer. It’s that simple! As I put her advice into action, I found my own personal conversion to the Lord and this gospel. I found my testimony of the Book of Mormon, of Joseph Smith and of my Savior Jesus Christ. I finally RECOGNIZED how the Lord communicated with me. It changed my entire way of living and it helped me understand better my potential as a daughter of God. As I continue to receiver answers to me prayers, my testimony becomes stronger and I continue to progress.

As I shared my experience with Nelson, I knew that he was able to feel the Spirit of the Lord. I think that he was having a very similar experience to mine as well. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to act; he just didn’t know how to act. Nelson told us that he liked the idea of asking God plain and simply how He tutored him and he told us that he would do it!

Hermana Leavitt and I had a pretty crazy week with all of the festivities. We had the opportunity to commit two people to baptism after teaching them the Restoration- one being a delinquent and the other being and an ex Black Water employee. Long story short, we passed both of them off to the Elders. It might sound a little crazy to have these kinds of people as investigators and some of the elders doubted us, but I really do believe that they have potential to change. And as long as they are willing, the atonement has the ability to wipe away all sin and guilt- It is INFINITE.

Love you guys with all of my heart! Xoxox

Hermana North

picture 1: A pound of potato salad brought to you by your truly, Hermana Leavitt and North

picture 2: Go Big or Go Home

picture 3 : Spending our 18th at with la querida familia Raigan

picture 4: empanadas Chilean style

picture 5: Churi pan and steak. 

picture 6: The most busy street in San Miguel was empy the day after el 18.

picture 7: Love this grafitti

 

picture 8: broke the Word of Wisdom this week, we literally had meat every day

picture 9: I love this little, Danielo

Picture 10: french toast with peanut butter! My companionshowed me the light

 Picture 11: I hope that you guys arent tired of this view yet. 

Picture 12: Sunrise

Picture 13: they danced la queca together

Picture 14: Cute little chilean babe

Picture 15: eMaking freach toast for Alejandra- she came to church for the first time in 10 year yesterday

MERRY Everything & HAPPY Always!

So I kind of really sort of loved this week! It is fun to see the fruits that are finally starting to come from all of the work that Hermana Leavitt and I have been doing here in our whitewash sector. We have been looking for those investigators everywhere and for a while it just seemed like it wasn’t meant to be, but we kept at it and this week we were able to teach some new loves and see MIRACLES. Aren’t those just the best? Yesterday, one of my favorite missionary experiences happened. Hermana Leavitt and I went on splits with two girls from our ward because, get this, we had too many appointments to go to between just the two of us! At the end of the day, we all got back together and talked about all of our citas in detail and it was easy to see that the Lord was with all of us and He truly gave us some miracles.

The first cita of the night was with a reference that the elders passed over to us. Her name is Lidia Santa Maria. She is about 60 years old (even though she only looks 50) and she is a mom of 3 sons. Her hubby passed away only 3 years ago and over this time she has found herself drawing closer to God in a way to be close to her husband. When we started the lesson, we talked a lot about the importance of prayer and the tool it is in our lives to be able to have a relationship with our Father in Heaven. What surprised me the most was after we invited her pray, praying with the heart and not recited prayers; she told us that she already was doing that. This only surprised me because she is Catholic. Then she said, “I have grown up Catholic my whole life, and l love what I have learned from going to mass, but the only thing that I don’t agree with is reciting prayers. I find it boring and if it is boring for me, can you imagine how boring it is for the Lord. I love to ask him for things and I know that that is why he wants me to pray.” I couldn’t help but smile and my companion, Melisa aka Hermana Ramirez, and I both looked at each other absolutely touched by her words. So because she was already actively developing her relationship with the Lord, we began teaching her about the Atonement and the blessing that daily repentance brings into our lives. There was a scripture in the Bible that kept popping into my head throughout the entire lesson. I didn’t remember where it was, so I brushed it off the first couple of times that I felt like we should share it. Right before we were about to end the lesson, I felt a HUGE prompting to just open my scriptures and attempt to find it. In that moment I knew that it wasn’t just me that wanted to share the scripture with Lidia, but that Heavenly Father knew that she needed to hear it. I opened up my Bible and there was the scripture, I looked right at it. Matthew 11: 28-30,“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” As Lidia read the scripture, a big smile came on her face. It was perfect. And thanks to that experience, now I will never forget the reference. Before we left, she put her hand over her heart and said, “I am so grateful that you guys could come today. I felt something really special.” I know that the Lord is so aware of each one of his children, even when it’s something as small as helping them to find a scripture.

                This week we are going to be celebrating the independence day of Chile. The Chileans go all out for this holiday. The actual independence day is on the 18^th but the festivities last all week, which mean that it is going to be really hard to find our loves- they are all going out of town and drink like crazy (I’m nervous for that part). In fact, our golden investigator, Marco, was MIA all week. He called us last night when Hermana and I were planning and he told us that work has been crazy and that this week he is barely going to have time to breathe with all of the gigs that they are playing at. After I made him promise me that he would not drink or do drugs, I told him, “Make sure to read the Book of Mormon everyday. Even if it is just one verse.” And then he said, “Okay North, but can you please read me a verse right now, because I’m so tired.” Ha ha. That was a fun mini lesson that I got to share with him over the phone.

I hope that you guys can find some things to make you smile this week like I did.

“A merry Heart maketh a cheerful countenance.”- Proverbs 15:13

Have a great week! VIVA CHILE.

Xox, Hermana North

p.s: It's official, Cecilia (my love from San Miguel) is getting baptised in 2 WEEKS!!! This news could not have made me any more happy. She is just so great. And this is so right. Also not like I'm counting down or anything but in 3 weeks is General Conference aka Missionary Christmas

picture 1: Our fridge on P-days make me so happy to look at! YUMM.

 

picture 2: My chilean companion, Hermana Ramireaz. She is going on a mission some day.

 

picture 3: Time to fill her up again! 

picture 4: We had a day of cooking because we were banned for leaving our apartement- Chilean Riots= Mexican Empanadas


picture 5: Heaven in a skillet

picture 6: Esquisito :)

picture 7: The flowers are making everything so pretty here! Im obsessed with la primavera

picture 8: We covered everything and anything in chocolate. 

picture 9: Last minute planning after church

Highlights and Photographs‏

Monday: Shopping trip to the Florida Center aka mini America. But really, the mall looked like it came straight out of the U.S. Also we got to start our evening lessons by seeing the most beautiful Rainbow that I have ever seen. You should have seen our reaction when we walked out of our apartment and saw it. It was as if we had never seen a rainbow in our lives before. Like kids waking up on Christmas.

Tuesday: I got to spend the night with Hermana Blanca Nieves or if you prefer, Hermana Morra (we did divisions). She is the best Peruvian missionary that I have ever met. We definitely had our share of adventures and we also got to teach so many loves that I am actually quite jealous that she gets to teach.

Wednesday: After our zone reunion that we had in San Miguel (my old sector), I snuck over to see Marita since I was in the area. Of course it was a huge surprise for her to see me, but I’ll never forget the smile that she gave me when she first saw me standing in the doorway. Absolutely priceless. I miss that funny little love. Xox And to make the day even better, we got news that the mail strike is finally over! I got mail. Yess (there is really nothing better).

Thursday: Hermana Leavitt and I decided to finally start knocking on doors to find investigators. We met some very interesting people to say the least. We made some games up that made the time go by fast.

Friday: The hermanitas from the MTC came out with us. I spent the day with Hermana Earl. Even though she couldn’t speak a word of Spanish, we found a lot of miracles, one including our new golden investigator- Marco. He is awesome! He has a bunch of tattoos all over his body (including on his head…OUCH!) and he told us that he wished that he never marked up his body. Because in the bible he read about how our bodies are temples. Also, he is a musician.

Saturday: I played Sleeping Beauty at a member’s house while my querida Hermana Leavitt went out and taught our golden investigator, Marco. It was a huge bummer for me but I was excited to hear that the lesson went really well! Marco was so excited to receive the Book of Mormon and to start reading it.

Sunday: I got to speak at church and Hermana Jasmine made a surprise visit! Double blessing. Then I spent the rest of the night in bed. My immune system just crashed this week. Say a little prayer for me!

xox, Hermana Sleeping Beauty....I mean Hermana North

picture 1: On a happy High

picture 2: Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

picture 3: Rainbow!

picture 4: notice the purple corn...SO COOL!

picture 5: Our friends from the Feria. Loquitos

picture 6: The signs that we made for our table at the feria :)

picture 7: Hermanita Rosa. She makes her own home decorations

picture 8: Hermana Morra. She wears bows in her hair and her name is Blanca...just like Blanca Nieves

picture 9: Happy Zone!

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want"‏

It has been so awesome this week being able to see changes actually beginning to happen in the lives of our loves here in Departamental. Heavenly Father really has been listening to our prayers- SO COOL! It was a week filled with a ton of really awesome lessons and studies that I wanted share with you guys and I have no idea which one to bring up; they were all just so great. So bare with me if all of my thoughts seemed a little scattered. But I promise that they will be sweet! Just like sprinkles on a cupcake (excuse the cheese, I’m a missionary).

At the beginning of the week we were praying a lot to know what we needed to teach Alison in order to help her regain her testimony- it’s almost harder teaching the inactive members because there is a wider range of gospel principles that we need to help them understand. We shared some scriptures from Alma 26 with her. It talks about gratitude and how there is never an end to the thanks that we can give to the Lord for our blessings. This is absolutely TRUE. Something that I absolutely love that Hermana Leavitt mentioned was that even at the end of some of the worst days, in our case-after all of our citas fall through or after everyone seems to not care about what we have to share with them, we can still smile and be grateful for the beautiful sunsets that God gives us or for the awesome trees and Andes mountains, ect. Moral of the story, there is ALWAYS something to be happy about. God always gives us a cherry to top off our day. He gives us ways to be happy, even through the crappiest experiences that life brings us. We just have to recognize those blessings because there are at least 100 all around us at all times. There are 100 around you right now, count them!

One always finds that which he searches for- Search for HAPPINESS J

               

During our lesson with Alison, I felt so strongly that this was just the message that she needed to hear. I remember my favorite part was when she smiled at a comment that we said. It’s really the little things and in that moment, I realized that a little light bulb went off in her head.

This lesson about gratitude that we all learned about at the beginning of the week, seemed to be a theme of something that everyone needed to be reminded of here in Departamental. As you guys know, we have a crazy number of inactive members that we are working with. Many of these people have decided to stop coming to church because they have been offended by someone or something that was said to them in church. It is so sad to me that these people are choosing to lose out on blessings because they are unwilling to forgive and forget. I guess this is something that a lot of people actually have a hard time with- Humility is a hard thing. Having grudges on people and focusing on the negative things about them makes it harder to forgive, and that is something that Hermana Leavitt and I have been trying to help people understand. Time (something that everyone thinks will solve their offences) doesn’t make things better or make hurt feelings disappear. If we aren’t willing to forgive and find peace then we are just going to fall deeper and deeper into our hurt. Even over something dumb like being offended by a bad look that someone gave. So for these people that we have been meeting in bulk, we just have been reminding them to focus on the good! Focus on the blessings. And as we strengthen our Christlike attributes, we will be happier.

Something else that I loved learning about this week was about the knowledge that we have the opportunity to obtain here on Earth. In the Pearl of Great price, I was reading about the creation of the world. And after all was created, God rested. But this is what I loved: In Moses 3:2 it says, “And on the seventh day I, God, ended my work, and all things which I had made; and I ^arested on the ^bseventh day from all my work, and all things which I had made were finished, and I, God, saw that they were good;” (http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/3?lang=eng). So it says that God rested after all was finished good. What a great example that he gives us here. I feel that so many times in life, we procrastinate or we take a break because we are tired, etc. And maybe this is okay in a physical sense… maybe, but in a spiritual sense we know that there is no time for procrastination or breaks. From the scriptures we can learn that after this life, we are going to leave behind everything here on earth, except for our personality and knowledge. So it’s really important that we strive to progress and be better every day, because the way that we are here on Earth is how we are going to be in the life to come. I learned this in Alma 34:34, “Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful ^acrisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth ^bpossess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.” So we can’t just procrastinate and say “I’ll strengthen my faith in the next life, ect.” We need to build up our spiritual stamina right now, here on earth, so that when we live with God again we can understand Him and become like Him. The Lord promises us time and time again that if we seek knowledge, he will give it to us. This life is short and that we need to learn as much as we can here on Earth so that we can be prepared for the next life- our life with Heavenly Father. It’s kind of like a work out- starting out the whole work out process, we get tired easily and it’s really hard. But as we exercise every day, we build up stamina, and eventually the hard things become easier and we can work towards higher goals.

               

                So I hope that one of the things that I learned can help you guys over there at home. Hermana and I have been having a lot of funny moments together. We decided to start writing them down on a quote wall. Laughing really hard is good. Even if we get weird looks from people in the street. There aint nothing wrong with being happy! Love you guys!!

picture 1: this is what my breakfast looked like this week. White diet=death. So glad to be back on normal food now.

picture 2: More bland food. 

Picture 3: the view from outside our window...fog attack

Picture 4: Chilean fancy icecream

picture 5: Guard dog: He takes his job seriously.

"No eating here tonight, we're on a Dietttt!"‏

So as you guys know a lot of the work that Hermana Leavitt and I have been doing here in Departamental is working with the less active and inactive members. This week we decided to set a part a special fast for those loves in hopes that they would come to church this week. Before we started our fast, I decided to set a special study aside for learning more about the principle of fasting. And maybe I am jumping onto this boat super late in the game but I am officially starting that tradition, that before I fast I am going to study about fasting. It made this opportunity so much more meaningful and I was able to feel the blessings more strongly of this particular fast. Here is one of the most beautiful scriptures that I found in my studies, Isaiah 58:3-12…READ IT!

On Sunday morning, we woke up early and ran over to Alison’s house, one of our inactive members, to help her get ready and make sure that she was able to go to church. When we got to her house, her sister told us that she was still in bed sleeping (just as we were expecting). We ran into her room and turned on the light and started yelling random things like “Rise and Shine!” and “Happy Birthday!”(Even though it wasn’t her birthday). She probably hated us in that moment but we were determined to get her to church. After we said a morning prayer with her, we waited for her to get ready on a porch swing outside of her house and sung at the top of our lungs the corniest songs out of the hymn book. I would have hated us too, but it was all for her own good! We wanted her to feel the blessings of going to church and especially of God’s love for her. After the circus act that we put on for Alison, we walked to church and got there just in time for church to start. It was an amazing meeting and my smile just got bigger and bigger as we saw all of our inactive loves, that we worked with this week; walk into church with their families. It was an absolute answer to our fasting and prayer. It gave me a stronger testimony of the power of fasting with lots of faith and willing heart. It kind of makes me want to fast every day, but that’s why we have prayer.

Last night was the best ever because we got to have a Noche de Hogar with the Morreno familia- an inactive/part-member family aka double whammy. During the week we had the reference from a family in the ward to visit the mom, Karina because it had been a while since she had come to church. We went on Saturday and talked with her a little bit about what has been going on with her and she told us that she was offended by some of the members in the ward, SURPRISE (that’s the story that we hear for just about EVERY inactive member). The good thing is that she had desires to come back to church, but she said that she would come after her hard feelings were gone. After we shared a little message with her, she asked us to come back the next day to meet with her entire family. It was super awesome because she was so excited to have us in the ward, we could feel her love. So last night was when we got to meet all of them, Carlos (the dad- nonmember), Ana and Karen (the daughters- members) and Jose (the son- nonmember). What surprised me the most was how open the dad was; he was so nice to us and asked us so many questions! “Do you guys teach the same lesson to every family?” “How many families do you visit in a day?” “How do you know what to teach to each family?” etc. We shared with their family the Mormon message of “Moments that Matter the Most” (One of my favorites) and then left them with the Liahona magazine, which they were so excited to receive. Carlos even claimed it and said that he was going to take it to work and read it. Then my favorite part of the night came when Carlos committed us to coming to their house every Sunday at 7PM to teach them! He committed us! Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Ha ha. Starting next week (so far away!) we are going to start teaching them the lessons. I am so excited to get to know them better; I already feel part of their family. Wish you guys could have been there!

Here is the funny story for the week: One day this week Hermana Leavitt and I were really far from our apartment and we had to pee sooooo bad! We both were really against using gross public bathrooms so when we found a super fancy Chinese restaurant we took our chance and ran in hoping that they would have a bathroom. (Of course they would!) No one stopped us when we walked in so we assumed that it was okay but little did we know an angry Chinese man was waiting for us outside of the bathroom. He started going off in Spanish with his Chinese accent (an entire different language might I add) saying, things like "you used our comfort, you used our water, you used our toilet, you have to pay." He explained this to us over and over until we finally understood what he wanted. All of that trouble and all he wanted were 400 pesos. Lesson learned, always pee before leaving the apartment.

Take care loves! Chao.

Xoxo, Hermana North

picture 1: I love having friends that know how to make yummy treats

picture 2: Big weird spikey plants

picture 3: La primavera

Picture 3: Casuela- a pretty common dish that we eat here

Picture 4: Another one of those pretty sky pictures. The air pollution is good for something!

Don't count the sheep in your sleep‏

This week Hermana and I totally rocked our menos activo and inactivo ward member visits.  It has come to an absolute shock to me of how many members are no longer active in the church here in Depatamental. We have a list of over 700 members in our sector and only about 90 of them are in church every Sunday. That’s less than 10 percent! So we have our work cut out for us here, which is actually a blessing in disguise as we have been able to get to know so many people who need our help. Elder Viñas of the seventy came to speak to us this week and told us of the sad reality of the church membership here in our mission. I know that numbers don’t matter so much, but just to give you guys an idea- here in the tiny Santiago Sur mission there are 33,561 people that have been baptized into the church. Out of all of those people there are only 3,243 members who are active and less than half who have gone to the temple to take out their endowments. It is so sad to me to see all of these lost sheep, yet realizing this it makes me understand how important my purpose is as an instrument in the hands of the Lord. The Lord needs me to help Chile step up their game. This is a work of helping people to endure to the end just as much as it is to help people receive the blessings of baptism and repentance.

One of my very favorite miracles that happened this week was meeting Juan Francisco-and inactive member for over 5 years. When we knocked on his door he told us that he was really busy and that he didn’t want anything to do with the church anymore. He began to deny everything that he learned in his whole life of being a member and he told us that the church ruined his life. Ouch. It kind of made me mad when he was saying all of these things because I knew that he was just hurt, that he didn’t actually believe anything that he was saying. Just as he was about to shut the door on us we asked him if at one point in his life, if he once had a testimony of the Book of Mormon. And that is when he cracked. The spirit brought to remembrance of the testimony and joy that he once had. He broke down in tears explaining that he made a big mistake while he was serving in a leadership position in the church and it caused him to lose a lot of trust in some members as well as his wife. He told us that he wanted to return to church and that at times he tried, but he just didn’t feel worthy enough or that his wife would blame him. We immediately stated talking to Juan about the power of the Atonement and the reality of Christ’s love for him, that it is infinite. How it allows us to change and heal us from heavy burdens and pains. At first he didn’t understand and he kept on telling us that he sinned too much or that he wasn’t worthy, but in all of these moments I felt with every fiber of my body the LOVE that Jesus Christ had for him. I couldn’t even hold back my tears and I felt so strongly 1) The love that Christ has for Juan and 2) The reality of the Atonement. I felt that if Christ was there physically that he would have been crying for Juan, hoping and praying that he would use repentance in his life and allow Him to take the burdens that Juan was suffering from. By the end of our time with Juan, he told us that he knew that the Book of Mormon was true and that he knew that he needed to get back on track with his relationship with Christ. He knew that he needed to pray for his wife to have her heart softened. He also told us that he was going to start letting Christ help in the repentance process. It was a literal change within 45 minutes. That was the power of the spirit of God. I am excited to go back with him this week and see how this change is affecting his days and week. 

Spring is on the Horizon. Hermana Leavitt and I got to leave the house without our jackets a couple days this week. And I am so excited for the sun to be a part of my everyday life again. Seriously people, I have been so deprived, I have gone through two winters in a row. I've never been so grateful to sweat. Ha ha. Gross. 

xoxo, Hermana North

Picture 1: Obsessed with this tile door

Picture 2: Totally envied this dog taking a nap in the sun. ha ha. 

Picture 2: The toy cart. It plays a song and all of the little kids run outside to buy a new toy.

 Cutest thing I've ever seen

Picture 3: Gorgeous Sunsets

Ghost Stories without the camp fire‏

This week came straight out of a scary movie. Not because it went bad, just because we experienced a lot of scary movie moments. Staring with getting lost in our sector- So we had planned to go visit some less active members in the ward, but when we got to the street, it was super dark, there was no sidewalk and there were no houses or buildings as far as the eye could see (which is super not normal for this city, there is never empty space, only tall buildings and houses). But we had an address and decided to take a chance and hope that we eventually ran into the apartment buildings that we were looking for. We walked about 2 miles until we finally found the apartments. YAY! So we walked into the apartment building and started walking up the stairs to the fourth floor…but the creepy part was there was no light AND it was super quiet. Hermana and I started freaking out so we ran super fast up to the fourth floor and finally found a light switch. When we went up to the door that we were looking for, there was a HUGE crucifix on the door. All we could think at that moment was, “Crap, our inactive member turned Catholic again!” But no worries, it ended up just being the wrong door, supposedly I can’t read my own writing. So finally just as we were about to knock on the right door, my phone rang and it was a lady from the ward asking us where we were because we were supposed to go visit teaching with her that night. It totally slipped my mind and we literally dropped everything and ran to meet her. But here is the part that Hermana Leavitt and I will never forget. When we finally got to the bottom of the stairs in that creepy, dark apartment building and as we went to go open the door and it was bolted closed!!!!! Well, not really bolted, but it was locked in a hard core way. We literally started screaming and banging on the door, “HELP!! We need to get out” (I’m telling you People, this week really was straight out of a scary movie). We looked everywhere for a way out but you needed a key to unlock the door. We knocked on a door and they pointed to a button that unlocked the door automatically. But it was so dumb because the button was on the exact opposite side of the room. How was anyone supposed to see that? And this time there really was no sign that said that. We finally got out to the apartment building and vowed never to go back again, unless the sun was out.

                This week we had the opportunity to meet with a new investigator, Carlos. We met him in the street on our first day here and finally went to go meet with him. When we got to his house, His dad, Carlos Sr., answered the door and told us that Carlos wasn’t home. But he still let us come in and teach him, which made us super happy. We got to hear his entire life story, from when he was a pilot for the Chilean Air force to now as a dad of three kids. But before we even said anything, he told us not to be scared if we see anything weird because there were ghosts in his house!! Hermana Leavit was freaking out on the inside, but I was so excited. Sadly we never saw any ghosts. ha ha. Carlos is atheist even though he said that he had a near death experience and saw the devil and saw a light that he thought could have been heaven. It was really interesting for me to hear all of this. I couldn’t understand how he could have an experience like this and not believe in God or at least in a Greater being. He told us that he had passed through so many terrible experiences that if a God really did exist, that he would not have let him or anyone else pass through those terrible times. This was super sad for me to hear. Yeah, there are really hard times in this life, but if we focus in all of the bad in this world, then we will never see all of the good, all of the miracles that God has given us. I told him, “How is there no God when you look at all of the beautiful creations in the world, when you see your family, etc.” The plan that God had for us when he sent us here on the Earth, was that it wouldn’t be easy, but it would be worth it. And all that He asked of us is that we believe in Him. Plant a little seed of faith and let Him help us understand His mysteries. Our lives may not be a fairytale every day, but it is a miracle and our Father in Heaven is a God of Miracles. I know that He lives; He had a body of flesh and bones just like you and me. He loves us and wants to bless us. We just need to believe in Him first.

                Here in Departmaental, we are so blessed with so many loving members and yummy food. Everyone cooks so yummy from pasta, to chicken, to casuela, vegetables, pizza, basalmic vinegar, ect. I’ve never loved food so much until I got to this sector. YUM! And also this week it rained, which means that we got to eat my favorite, sopaipillas pasadas. Come to Chile and try them!

                I hope that you guys have a great week! Try not to walk into any dark creepy apartments this week, totally not worth the adventure.

Xoxox, Hermana North

 Happy Bithday to my Daddy-O! I am sad that I wont be able to sing and eat pie with you but I will be celebrating all day on Saturday. xox