Week 43

Hello Friends and Family!! 

It is so much fun working with Hermana Snyder again!!!  We are super excited for this transfer and have been talking to EVERYONE in the streets.  Something that happens in the mission is that after a while in one area with one companion, you start to get comfortable and have less and less enthusiasm to talk to everyone.  It's like... we feel like we have already spoken to every person there and knocked every single door.  But when you get a new companion or change areas, it gets you more excited to talk to everyone physically possible.  I think that is a big reason that we don't stay in one area for our entire mission. So change is good!! :) We are working hard and having a blast!! :D 

We have found a lot of new people to teach! One of which was a girl named Barbara who we found knocking doors this week.  She is 18 and lives with her family.  We started talking to her from behind her gate and she little by little came out more and more to talk to us in the freezing cold.  We shared with her part of the Plan that God has for us and shared out testimonies with her of the love that he has for her individually.  The spirit was super strong even right there in her doorstep and she said that she could feel something different with us and that she wants to learn more.  We left her with a pamphlet to read about the Plan of Salvation and we have an appointment to visit her today!! We are so excited!!

Another is a man named José Luis.  He had cancer and is recovering from his surgery right now.  The doctor recently told him that he is now cancer free! But he is still working with the recovery process from his surgeries.  He is very receptive, especially after being humbled so much by this experience.  ANOTHER is named Enzo!! Oh my goodness!! Enzo is one of the most humble, loving souls that I have ever met but he's always working.  He says that he wants to become a better father and he wants to be able to go to church and help his sons to grow up with belief in God but he doesn't feel worthy to enter into a church building.  We talked with him about the Atonement of Christ and that through him, we can all be made clean of the sins that we have committed in this life and we do not have to live with this guilt.  We invited him to pray for himself to know if it is true that Christ loves him enough to suffer, die, and be resurrected for him and if he can really become clean through that atoning sacrifice. I know that it is true and that we can all be made clean through Him and ONLY through Him!!! I am so thankful that I have this gospel in my life and that I can share this knowledge with the people in Punta Arenas!! 

I love you guys!! :)

Hermana Harvey

 

Hermana Snyder and I together again in the rain, wind, and cold of Punta Arenas.

 

 

Week 42- Big Changes!

Hello friends and family!!!

Sooo I have been here in Punta Arenas with Hermana Jenkins for three transfers now... 4 and a half months... and now it is time for change.  Hermana Jenkins is headed to Equador which is a town inside of Osorno.  Her companion will be Hermana Wadsworth, who came to the mission the same time as me!! And I will be receiving a new companion.  AND YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHO IT IS!!! ..................HERMANA SNYDER!!! Yes, it's true. Hermana Snyder is going to be my companion AGAIN!!! :DD For those of you that don't know, Hermana Snyder and I were companions in the CCM (MTC)!! I am so excited to work with her again now that we're in the mission field and we can both speak Spanish and know what it means to be missionaries!! :D haha it's going to be a lot different to have her as my companion this time because we have both changed so much in these months that we have been in Chile! It's really weird because our district leader is also going to be with a companion who he was with before! He TRAINED his companion and now they're going to be together again! What is going on the the Chile Osorno Mission?!?! haha 

We've been visiting with Madeline and Gonzalo a lot and Gonzalo is still progressing a lot!! I love that family so much!! We are going to go over to their house today to spend p-day with them :) FUN!! Hermana Madeline taught me how to knit (I knew before but I forgot) so I made Hermana Jenkins a... Uhhhh... I forget what it's called..... Hermana Jenkins too.... she says "head wrap"? Uhhhhh.... it's like a beenie but only half of the beenie haha! And it has a flower and everything! :) haha I would send a picture but I don't have one. I'll have to take a picture of it to send it later :)

I have also noticed that I have an addictive personality. All I want to do when I get to the house at night is knit... it's like my bread stage that I passed through a couple months ago where I always just wanted to make bread... but now I just want to knit... haha yeah.. I'm weird... :P

Other than that... I really can't think of what to tell you guys because that's really all that's on my mind.

Love always,

Hermana Harvey

This is a mural that people made out of bottle caps on the wall in front of their house. Pretty, right? :D I like it.

 

Week 41!

Hermana Jenkins and I could not believe how many miracles we have seen this week alone!! We have found so many new people to teach and set up a bunch of appointments for next week and have high hopes for them!!

One of these experiences was when we were knocking a doors and almost EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM was interested in learning more and we set up appointments to come talk to them!! That does NOT happen to us so it was unbelievable!! (seriously... hermana Jenkins and I were almost positive that we were both in some sort of crazy dream) and then we were passing by a little store that is owned by a less-active that we know and I felt like we should go in and buy something.  I thought... okay... no problem... I like eating :) So we went in and bought some crepes and manjar and were going to just take a few minutes to eat outside but Hermana Jenkins suggested that we go to eat in a little covered waiting area where people wait for taxis.  When we got there, there was a young man sitting there waiting and Hermana Jenkins offered him a crepe and manjar and he said no but then accepted her orange.  :) We started talking and after a while he told us that his mom had passed away a year ago and that he never believed in God but when his mom died he started questioning whether it might be true that there is a God and life after this earth.  We testified to him that we have a loving heavenly father and that we can live with our families for eternity.  He said that he wants to know more so we left him with a pamphlet to read about the Plan of Salvation and he gave us his number to be able to contact him to set up an appointment to visit with him!! We are so excited to teach him more!! :DD

Have a great week!!

Hermana Harvey

Week 40

Hello Friends and Family!! Gonzalo got Baptized!!! Ahhh!!! He was sooo happy!! Everything worked out perfectly this week! It's funny how when God knows that the people really are prepared to take this step into baptism, he lets everything just fall into place! :) Hermana Jenkins and I had fun cleaning out the baptizmal font, and then filling it up :) We pretty much spent all day on Saturday getting things ready for his baptism :) It was great!! haha I cannot even express in words how happy I am for him and for his family! He was literally glowing after his baptism and his confirmation! He said that going down into the water and coming back up was very fast but he felt like it went very slow. He could feel every moment and when he went down into the water, he was a different man than when he came up. He bore his testimony afterwards and the spirit was Super strong. He explained that as he was being baptized, he felt a burning in his chest and a happiness that he had never felt so strongly before. He testified that this church is true and that this was one of the best decisions that he has ever made in his life. I am so happy for Gonzalo and his entire family!! This covenant that he has made will continue with him for eternity and open the door for him to be with his family for eternity!! He now knows how to recognize the Holy Ghost or the Spirit testifying to him of the truth. That is the feeling that he had as he was baptized telling him that he is on the right path! :) I love this gospel and all of the blessings that I can see that it brings to my life and into the lives of the people that I have grown to love here in Chile!! I love you guys so much!! Have a great week!! Hermana Harvey

You know you're in Chile when.... You're walking home from lunch and there's just a random horse who likes to follow you. :)

The group from the invasion that we had in our ward! :)

Our ward is Ovejero (which means, pretty much, sheep herder) because of this monument called Ovejero! :)

You know it's starting to get cold when you can break pieces of ice off of the puddles outside!

This picture was taken before Gonzalo was baptized!! :) This is from Hermana Jenkin's camera... I have some pictures too but none of them turned out very good... you cannot trust Elders to take your pictures of you :P haha