We are here to teach, for crying in a bucket!!

Dear Familia!

My week was busy too, but at the end of the day I didn't get to jump in the pool:( Missionary work is super, super, super hard!  There are so many times when I think it would just be easier to give up and go home.  But I don`t, and sometimes I don't know why I keep going.  But I do.  The only thing I can do is get on the path, and just keep going, and never give up.

So like I said, this week was super busy.  We are teaching a joven se llama J**, but she doesn't have ganas to go to church, so we were thinking that she needs a friend.  We started thinking through all the young woman in the ward, and no one came to mind.  We have tried so hard to work with members, but everyone is to busy, and no one knows anyone who wants to hear the gospel.  It was been frustrating hearing the same excuses, and same stories from everyone!  We should not have time to knock doors!!  We are here to teach for crying in a bucket, and all we are doing is walking and wearing out our knees! Anyway, I will vent later.

Back to J**.  As we were thinking of who could be her friend, I thought of a ward member who recently came back from the mish.  His name is Milenko (funny right?) Well, I mention this name to Hermana Leyva, and she said "Yeah, but he`s a boy."  I paused and gave her a look.  Then she understood!  She said, "Oh, I get it.  He`s a boy."  So basically we are playing match maker!  Flirt to convert right!

Well, we had an amazing lesson with Milenko and J**.  After the lesson she started saying things like, "I want to bring this book of Mormon with me WHEN I go on a mission."  Yeah, plan was successful!  Also, we have been visiting O* again, but he still doesn't want to get baptized.  He is super old, and sometimes just doesn't understand.  We really want him to accept a fetcha, cause he really doesn't have much time left on this earth!

Also, we found out that R** is actually a member!!  It was super funny.  We were looking through the member list and we saw her name and just started laughing!!  So now we are planning another wedding between R** and O*.

 

This week we also found a new investigator.  We taught her the first lesson and than invited her to baptism.  Well, I was the one who invited her, and when she said yes, I really didn't know what to say!  Hermana Leyva and I were so surprised, because it was the first lesson we had taught her, and no one accepts baptism on the first date without at least a little convincing!  But, she is older and we don't know if she really understands, so we'll see.

We have also been revisiting some of our old investigators and we started teaching one of the old investigators that the elders before us had taught.  Oh, and we found M** again!! We met him about 6 weeks ago, at the beginning of the last change.  Its a super long story, but he is super bueno, and we could never find him again.  So we kinda gave up passing by. Well, last week we were walking in the street and we saw him!!  So we set up an appointment which fell through three times!  But on Saturday we finally taught him and his wife!  And he accepted fetcha!

So basically we did all this work this week.  Plus we knocked doors, and tried to work with members (Who NEVER SHOW UP) and all the other stuff missionaries do.  So guess how many people we had in Church?   . ..  NO ONE!!

Yesterday was super super discouraging.  We really felt like we had done so much, and tried so hard, and we had nothing to show for it.  J** lost her fetch because she didn't go to church, and now she is leaving on vacation and we don't know when she is coming back, and if she will still want to get baptized.  None of the old investigators that we have been teaching are keeping there compromisos, and none of the new ones are either.  We just felt like failures.  WHY DOES THE MISSION HAVE TO BE SO HARD?  Sometimes I ask myself if I have really learned anything, because here we are starting from square one again. How many times do I have to come back to this point?  How many times will I trip over this same rock and reopen the same wound?

But, yes, we got to see the broadcast yesterday and it was just what Hermana Leyva and I had been talking about.  We had been saying that there is only so much we can do, and if the ward doesn't step up to help us than we will have no success.  Its just so hard because they too have there agency to choose if they will help us or not.  We understand that the only successful way to do missionary work is through the members, but if the members aren't willing to help us then there is nothing we can do.  And I don't know if the message from yesterday is going to change anything.  LATIN AMERICA IS SO SO SO DIFFERENT THAN THE USA!!

So that is where I am at right now.  I guess I feel like I am running a race, but the only person I am racing against is myself, and I have been stressing out because Ive been trying to win, but it is impossible to win against yourself. 

Also, we didn't get mail this week cause it was change week. I love the picture!  And I have a list of things you can send if you feel like it:

1. my setting apart blessing

2. the blessing dad gave me before I left

3. tinted moisturizer from clinique

4. baby hymn book in Spanish, I lost mine :(

5.  Yep, that's all!

I love you all so much!  That is one thing I have learned on my mission.  How much I love my family!!  I miss you all so so so so so much!  But, I'm okay.  Really.  Most of the time I am okay.  

Con Amor, 

Tu Hija, y tu Hermana Ostler

So the letter from president was short, and I didn't send a very long letter to him this week, which means I have extra time to write you!  I'm sure that will make you happy.

Well, I don't really have anything else to say.  But here is some random stuff that happens. Basically I am a profressionaly brownie maker.  I have made a name for myself here in simon bolivar.  Um, I can't really think of anythign else.  I am just happy casue its pday and I get to talk to you guys.  Basically it is the best!  I can just picture all of you sitting around the dinner table reading my email and mom starting to cry, so she passes the phone to chubs to read, but chubs can't keep the tears from coming cause we are like super tight, and he misses me a lot, so than harrison mans up and finishes reading!  Jajaja. 

 

Sometimes its super weird to think that I am actaully a missionary!  Like weird  and that I llike speak spanish and stuff, and that I'm in chile!  Like really?  I know I've said it a lot, but a mission is hard!  For me, anyway.  And everyone tells you to enjoy it, but sometimes it is hard.  I think our hardest moment in life are the best, but we don't realize it until after. Basically, if I were to go home right now, I would tell all you guys how amazing Chile is, and how much I loved my mission, but the truth is that I haven't loved every second of it, but I haven't hated it either.  I'm not really sure what I am trying to say . .. maybe I'll figure it out later.

Hey Wilson . . . you're awesome!  Just thought I'd tell you!

Hey Benson . .. I love you!

Hey Chubs . .. can't wait to talk to you again!

Hey Harrison . . . you're like leaving on a mission soon!  Dont be scared . . . just be happy! Haha, yeah, its impossoble not to be nervous.  But thats okay.  Remember you are awesome, and you are amazing!

Hey mom and dad . . . congratulations, you just won the best parents of the year award! Love you both!

Oh yeah, and Amanda and Jackson, my two siblings who forgot about me cause they are married . . . I guess you guys are okay too.  No really, you're like amazing!  You both were probably better missionaries than I will ever be!  I think about you two a lot, and wonder if you were ever passing through situation that I pass through, or if you were just super missionaries and never had any problems.  I love you both!  

Okay, I hope you liked my rambling.  Sometimes it is good to ramble.  I like rambling . . . well, actually I just like talking, and its good because Hermana Leyva like listening . . . jajaja..  Hey, I love Hermana Leyva, Harrison if you were a little older you could marry her, cause she really wants to learn Portugues!  She is teaching me a little.

Love you all!  

I just keep saying that becuse it is true! 

Hermana Ostler

One flower at a time

Dear family, 

I would like to start my email with a story, or I guess it is an experience.  The following account happened on Tuesday.

We left the house that day at 12 and started passing by our citas, and they all fell through!  So we went to our plan Bs . . . no ONE WAS HOME! Our last ditch effort was knocking doors, and contacting in the street, but no one wanted to listen.  We had completed 2 hours of plans in less than an hour.  We were sidanimoed, tired, and ready to give up.  We took our 20 minute break, hoping to gain animo by pleasing our physical bodies through food and a moment off our feet.  I sat on that bench in Alcerreca, watching the dogs pass by and thinking it would be so much easier to be one of them, without a real care in the world.

The ever faithful Hermana Leyva took out her scriptures and began reading.  After 20 minutes of silence passed, I turned to her and asked, "well, did you find the solution? How we should find people to teach?" She said, "Yes, we need to pray." Doubt crept into my heart as I thought a simple prayer was not going to solve our problems.  Here is the scripture she read:

"And it came to pass that they turned upon the lamanites and they cried with one voice unto the Lord their God, for their liberty, and their freedom from bondage.

"And they began to stand against the Lamanites with power; and in that selfsame hour that they cried unto the Lord for their freedom, the Lamanites began to flee before them; and they fled even to the waters of Sideon."

Hermana Leyva said that the very moment that the Nephites prayed, the Lamanites began to retreat.  She than asked me if I would offer a prayer.  I really didn't want to, and I was low on faith that the Lord would immediately bless us like He did the Nephites.  But as I prayed I was overcome with a feeling of love, and a true desire to do the work.  I knew that the Lord was perfectly aware of my situation, and I realized that He had just been waiting for me to humble myself and turn to Him for guidance.  I felt my faith grow.

Immediately following the prayer we contacted 3 people who were all old investigators who were all willing to listen.  That day we taught a total of 6 lessons.  I needed to say that prayer so that the Lord could remind me that He truly is there, and I just need to have a little more trust, a little more faith.  I think in life, we often have to relearn the same thing over and over again until it finally sticks, like Spanish.  I don't know how many times Hermana Leyva has told me how to say "I'm confused," and I can just never remember it.  The phrase is in my mind, sometimes its just hard to find.  But the Lord is ever patient, and ever willing to reteach, and reteach until we finally get it right.  Until it finally sticks.

This week was anything but easy.  But I learned so so so much.  I was thinking a lot about what it means to be happy.  I always hear all the apostles say, "forget not to be happy now," or "find joy in the journey," or "one of the peoples biggest regrets in life is that they didn't let themselves be happy."  I've thought about how I can be more happy, but I think I was pushing myself to be happy all the time, and when I failed to do so, I got frustrated.  I have realized that when the apostles tell us to be happy they do no mean that we should be happy every moment of everyday, but that we should find moments everyday to be happy.  As we do this we will learn how to be happy instead of pushing ourselves to be happy.

Sometimes you have to let yourself feel pain and sorrow so that when the joy comes into your life it will be sweeter.  But you cant let yourself stay in the pain and sorrow, because it is easy to do so.  There will always be bad days, hard weeks, and trails, but if you fail to smile, and to laugh, then you will forget how.  It is impossible to be happy all the time, but it is not impossible to find time to be happy.  I think that finding joy in the journey means that you pass through the hard times with a hope that you will be happy again.

I also learned a lot about humility this week, and that I really am NOTHING!  I figured out why I have been constantly in and out, up and down,  Why I could laugh in one moment, and the next be bubbling over with frustration.  Why my happy moments never seemed to pull me completely out of the gloom.  And here's the reason: I was trying to prove to the Lord, to you guys, and to myself that I could do this-  That I had all the answers in my bag of metaphors.  But what I failed to truly realize is that I AM NOTHING:  I thought that I was developing Christ like attributes, but really all I was doing was looking inside myself for answers that weren't there, and solutions that couldn't be found.  I was just an empty flower pot trying to grow a garden.  But without a gardener, a flower pot is just a pretty decoration with no purpose.  The Lord is the gardener, and He is the one who fills us.  He puts the dirt, than the seed.  He adds the nutrients, and He waters us with His word.  But all we are is the pot.  We just hold what he gives us .  Everything, absolutely everything we have comes form Him.  I can't develop patience or humility on my own, just as a flower pot can't grow a flower.  But once we realize our own nothingness and let the lord fill us, He can grow a garden in our flowerpot, one flower at a time.

So it was a week of learning.  All the concepts I knew before my mission.  But I guess humility was more like a necklace that I put on every morning.  It wasn't really a part of me.  But, now, I am learning how to make the Christ like attribute a part of me.  Like my fingers.  Something that is me. I was talking to Hermana Leyva about all the things I had learned, and how I finally felt like I understood that I really am nothing, she said she felt the same way.  That it took six weeks of painting picture of flowers on the outside of our flower pot to realize that we weren't growing anything, we were just pretending to.  En verdad, all we are is an empty flower pot, and we have to let the lord fill us, so he can grow the attributes, and talents He needs us to have.  We talked about how it was a bummer we finally learned all this stuff THE DAY BEFORE CAMBIOS!

So, I am sure you are dying to hear about the cambios, and if I'm going or staying.  Well, here's a hint, after this email we are going back to the apartment to pack . . . . . but, because we are changing apartments . . . NOT SECTORS!!!  YES, Hermana LEYVA and I are staying together here for 6 MORE WEEKS!!  When we heard the news we were just so so so so so so happy!! 

This is a sweet lady that we visit. She is 96!!!

Okay, now to respond to your email.  YEAH HARRISON!!  You are templed!!  Isn't it amazing!!  Go to the temple as much as you can before you leave, cause you will miss it so so so much!  Also, Happy Faths day . . . pops!!  Love you!!  I glad Wilson took good care of you on your special day.  Also, Harrison still needs to accept L* on facebook!!  This is urgent!!  And go ahead and accept all those people for me . . . thanks!!  The shoes fall on me a bit big . . . but so much better than the last ones. Also, I cant believe that Matthew is home!  HAha, there is an elder in our zone that is practically his twin!!

So, A few updates from Simon Bolivar.  

1. R* is great!!  Also she makes the best bread in the whole world!  Man, I love her!

2. P* still wants to get baptized, but she is working out some problems with her marriage . . . pray for her!!

3. J* finally ACCEPTED A BAUTISMAL FETCHA!  She knows the church is true, but she doesn't think baptism is essential.  Also, I think she is looking for an angel to come down and tell her she needs to be baptized.  She has a fear that if she gets baptized she might regret it one day, and so she doesn't want to.  But she accepted a tentative date.  She said "I'm not promising anything, but if I fell like getting baptised on the 30th, than I will"  Except she said it in Spanish.

4. Hermana M* has seen the blessings of tithing.  She told us that one day she bought food for four, to feed her family.  But they had four unexpected guests, and she said that she fed everyone until they were full!!  God multiplied the bread and the fishes for her!

5.  We passed by O's, and he was SO happy to see us!!  We are going to start teaching him again and we are so happy!  We also passed by two other investigators that we had dropped at the beginning of the transfer that now have a lot of potential to get baptized!!

Hermana Leyva and I have lots of goals for this transfer.  We are going to baptize!!  Because we finally get it . . . WE ARE NOTHING!  Just the flower pot.

Basically I love you all so so so so much!  And I hope you have an amazing week full of just good stuff!  Remember to let the Lord fill you with whatever he wants to grow, and stop painting pictures on the outside of your flower pot, cause it will never compare to the real thing.

Con Amor, 

Hermana Ostler

Ps.  Jackie Creer, I am so happy for you that Brennen is coming home!

This is Hermana A* that is inactive, but has come to church the past two weeks in a row!!
She now has the goal to go to the temple and be sealed with her husband who died.
The other sister is her daughter and the kids are her grandkids.

"Stress is a lack of trust that God will help you"

Familia!

Sup?  So, to answer your questions . . . actually I will just answer them in the course of the email.

But, the first item of business is that you need to get into my facebook and accept L* as my friend!!  Everyday we go over to her house she says "Hermana, su familia todavia no me aceptaron en facebook!"  And, Harrison also needs to enter his facebook and accept her as a friend and then send her a message because she is set on marrying him!  jajaja, its really a funny situation.  Note: She doesn't speak English, so brush up your Spanish skills, Harrison.

So this week was just weird.  Yes, we were super busy, but with weird stuff.  It all started on Monday night.  We finished up our study, and had our backpacks on getting ready to leave for the night to work when a knock sounds on the door.  Odd.  I looked through the peep hole, and saw a white shirt and black name tag.  Hmmm . . . what is an Elder doing at our apartment?

Well, I opened the door and it was Elder Waldren and Elder Chase, two of the couple missionaries assigned to work in housing.  They had with them bed frames and mattresses.  I was super confused.  But they started asking us how many beds we needed and if we had enough blankets for the new sisters.  New sisters?  We told them we had no idea what they were talking about.  Well, apparently 5 new sisters had arrived in the mission and there was some emergency changes happening and two sisters were coming to live in our apartment for the rest of the change.  So, we spent the rest of the night reorganizing our apartment to accommodated for the two new sisters.  They arrived Tuesday morning, two sisters from our district, and it was been weird having them in our apartment.  But, the emergency changes just reminded Hermana Leyva and I that nothing is secure in the mission, and that real changes are just around the corner.

So that was the first weird thing.  The second is that on Tuesday we had to go to the East mission to go to a clinic, because Hermana Leyva had a doctors appointment for her knees. Well, we took a bus, and we basically passed through most of Santiago.  Wow, Santiago is huge!!!  It took about an hour to get there, and the clinic is like straight out of the USA.  It was super weird to be out of our sector and in the "real world".  The East mission is super different than here.  The people are richer and are all on their IPhone, in their nice cars, with there brand name clothes. While we waited to be seen by the doctor, Hermana Leyva and I talked about how we forgot what if felt like to have a real life, and to actually worry about yourself instead of who you are going to visit, or how you are going to get your investigator to read the book of Mormon.  It was like, for a few hours we stepped out of the mission and saw how much our focus had changed.

After the appointment, we had to eat, obviously, so we walked around looking for a place to eat.  Guess what we found?  AppleBees!!

We couldn't resist, so we got AppleBees to go, then got back on the bus and back to our sheltered, focused life.  Back to where we knew what to do, where to go.  Back where we had a purpose.  If I am this accustomed to the mission in only 4 months, I am going to be a freak show when I get home.  Sorry, I apologize in advance.

The bus ride home took extra long because of the traffic, and when we finally got home it was too late to drop our stuff off at the apartment then go back to our sector to work, so we took our AppleBees into our room and ate delicious American food on our beds as we talked about boys . . . jajaja.

Also, on the bus ride home, Hermana Leyva almost convinced me to finish my mission a transfer early with her and go to BYU Provo.  We made a plan to ask president to put us back together for our last transfer on one of the islands, then we will leave the mission together and first go to Peru, then I would go back to USA, find an apartment at BYU where she will join me after a month and the national language of our apartment would be Spanish. Also, we will catch up on all the Spanish soap operas that we see bits and pieces of, and watch Thor once a month . . . at least. Good plan, but I don't know if I can give up BYU Hawaii, but she hasn't given up trying to convince me.

Oh, and on Wednesday I got PackageSSSS . . . like four!!  We could barely bring them all back to the apartment.  The shoes are great!  They help so so much!  Plus, all the baking stuff just made me so so happy .  . like brown sugar and baking soda!  Yeah!  Also I got the pills and all the face stuff.  Plus a package from Grammie filled with goodies!!  Thanks so much!  Basically, you are the best family ever!!

So, the week was difficult for the work, we didn't teach that much, and all the people we found last week were not to be found again.  M** didn't come to church, neither P** or her son.  He really doesn't have a testimony and we just can't convince him that this is true.  He has got to want it.  P** still wants to get baptized, but her wedding is going to take time.  So its just disappointing that she won't get baptized with Hermana Leyva and I.

I thought a lot this week about being happy, and why it seems that I have one amazing week, and then the next week is mas o menos.  How can one have an ongoing happiness even when things are hard?  How can you fill your life with joy even when you have so many things to do, so many things to worry about?  I started thinking about the happiest people in the world, and they aren't the people that have no responsibilities.  They aren't the people that are sitting back in their feather stuffed chairs sipping lemonade.

One person that I thought about was President Monson.  I'm sure his life is anything but responsibility free, but he is forever happy, always smiling.  How?  I realized that happiness comes when you let go of the things you can't control, when you live a simple life and only do what you can.

For example, lets say that you have to set the table for 9 people.  This means that you need nine cups.  So you go to the cupboard which containers 9 glass cups.  You look at the cups, then you look at your hands.  You know that you can carry 4 cups, maybe 5, without dropping them, but you need 9, and you don't want to have to come back.  So what, as humans, do we usually do?  We try to carry all the cups.  But then the inevitable happens. You drop the cups, now you have a bigger problem than you started with, and no cups.

We can't do everything.  There are some things that are just out of our control, and I think the people who accept that, and live each day, only doing what they can, are the people who find the most happiness.  So what if you have to take two trips to bring the cups?  Does it take more time?  Yes, but it is more effective, and less stressful.

Life gives us responsibility, and sometimes we think that we have to complete the responsibility perfectly or we are failures.  But we forget to be patient with ourselves, and we forget that most of the things we worry about do not have eternal consequences, and the things that do, God will help us.  If it was of eternal consequence to put 9 cups on the table, and bring them all in one trip, than God would provide a way.  He would send an extra set of hands to help us.  I think that stress is a lack of trust that God will help you complete what you have been called to do.

There, I hope that made sense.  Snap, I'm really losing the ability to speak English and express myself.

So, this is my last week with Hermana Leyva.  Our district leader said he is pretty sure we are getting separated;(  Worst day ever!!  I just love Hermana Leyva so so so much!  Has it been perfect?  NO!  We've had our differences, and our frustrations, but we work through them, and we just love each other more.  I'm just happy that changes don't exist in marriage. Okay, 6 weeks is up, time to find a new husband . . . FOME!  But, we've had a good run together.

Okay, now to respond to all unanswered questions;

1. I am not sure about the Salt Lake broadcast.  I hope we get to watch it.

2. And I found that picture in an old ensign, but it's okay, I can live without it;(

3. I don't know any missionaries going home this next week, but I will probably be in the office this week for changes, so I will ask.

Basically you are all amazing.  Sorry this email is kinda fome, I just don't really have much to say.  It was a weird weird week.  Also, I can't believe that Braden is engaged!  But, don't worry about Brazil.  They are about to receive the greatest missionary ever!!  And Brennen comes home in less than a month!!!  What?  Didn't he just leave?  Wow, I really can't believe that.  I bet Jackie is so excited!

Okay, well, have an amazing summer.  I am going to send pictures to make up for the lame email.  If you want to say anything or ask anything, I will be here, loading pictures ;)  

Love from Chile, 

Hermana Ostler

WE TORE IT UP THIS WEEK!!

Familia!

First, a message to Christian . . . PERU IS AMAZING!!  My comp is from Peru and I am so excited for you!!  You are going to be eating the best food in the world.  Its super spicy, but amazing!  My favorite so far is Pollado!!  Oh it´s so so so good!!  Also, Corazon is really good, but I haven't tired cuy (guinea pig) but my comp says its super good!  Also, a member in the ward who we eat with who is from Peru says she is going to make me cow stomach.  She says its super good, but my comp hates it!!  We´ll see.

Second! I didn't get a package this week, but thank you so so so so much for sending me so much stuff!!  Basically you are the best ever!  The food here doesn't make me sick. The last package I got had skittles and tights, and dove chocolate.  Sometimes the office elders don't get the mail sorted on time so it just sits in the office for a few weeks.  But I will let you know when I get everything.  Oh, have I told you that you are an amazing mother!!

This is my peruvian Aunt.  I love love love her so much!!

Now for my week.  I´m going to start with a story.  So on Tuesday, we started out the day with the determination to find new investigators.  We were still a little disanimated from the week before, and everything that happened with P**, and just knocking so many doors.  We decided to change the ways that we were doing contacts. Instead of saying something like "Hi, we´re missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ, and we share a message that the Church of Jesus Christ is nueva aqui in la earth, when can we share this message with you?" We started saying "Hi, we are servants of the Lord (or representatives of Jesus Christ) and he sent us here to talk to you (or, the message we are going to share will change your life).  Do you believe in God?  What importance does God have in your life?  Can we enter your home and offer a prayer for your family?"

The first door we knocked on Tuesday, I said something like that, and we got a reference form that contact, then the second door we knocked, Hermana Leyve did the same thing and the mujer let us enter her house.  Her name is M**, which means miracles, and she was a miracle for us.  Turns out she is an old investigator that now wants to start being taught again because she has noticed a difference in her life, a lack of peace, and tranquilidad now that the missionaries aren't stopping my anymore.  We put her with a fetcha in the first visit.

That visit set the mood for the rest of our week.  Doors opened, and we enter houses.  We taught the restored gospel.  Seek and you shall find, Knock and it shall be opened.  WE TORE IT UP THIS WEEK!!  Miracles behind every door, on every street.  It was just amazing!!

As for P** . . . well ..  .. we passed by her house on Tuesday, prepared to reteach her the law of chastity, and basically be super frank and say that she was sinning.  She was committing one of the most terrible sins in the sight of God and that someday she would have to report before him, and tell him that she knowing lived in sin.  But, we got there, and started out the lesson with Mosiah 18: 10 and I asked her what impeded her from being baptized, we were prepared for her to say the law of chastity and that she still didn't want to get married.  But she answered in these words "Nada Hermana.  Ustedes saben que yo quiero bautizarme."

We paused.  Not really sure how to continue.  Then she went in and told us that she talked to the man she is living with, and that he said he has always wanted to marry her, and that she feels like marriage is the right thing!!!  I have never felt so much joy in my life!!!!  So she is still as gold as they come!  Now, we just have to convince her to put aside the part for now and just get the marriage document so she can be baptized with her son on the 16th and right before transfers.

Thank you so so so much for praying for her and for fasting for her.  I know that it helped.  Her son is starting to have doubts and fears about his baptism, but this week in church, after he listened to all the testimonies of the youth, and how all the young men are planning on serving missions, he asked me if he could serve a mission!!  Satan is working so so so hard on them right now, because they are amazing, and he does not want them on the Lords side.  But, we have seen so many miracles in this work, and I know without a doubt that they will enter the waters of baptism, and I am praying so so so hard that it will be on June 16th with both Hermana Leyva and I.

As far as transfers go, we are pretty sure that Hermana Leyva will be leaving:(  Basically I am going to cry that day!!  She is like my Peruvian sister.  I feel like I have known her forever!  And we are just such a great team.  I´ve learned so so so much from her!  Also, this week on Thursday we had interviews with President, and he told both of us that he is beyond impressed with the work we are doing, and that he has never had to missionaries as young in the field as us together.  He said that usually missionaries slowly progress, but that Hermana Leyva and I have just shot up!  He also asked a lot about how I would feel to lead a sector.  I told him that my biggest obstacle was still Spanish, but that if I was called to do that, then I know the Lord would provide a way.  He gave me some super advise that will help my Spanish.

This week I got two letters from AMY!!  Basically you are the greatest ever and I loved the pictures!! 

Here´s a funny experience for you.  So this week, we visited N**, a Vajita who really doesn't remember anything.  It was the first time we visited her, and she forgot that we had made an appointment with her the last week.  But she invited us in and offered us tea and then coffee.  We obviously denied both, but she was determined to feed us something.  But the only thing she had was milk.  So we accepted.  But this wasn't regular milk, it was powdered milk. ..  like the stuff you feed to your baby!!  So we drank warm powdered milk with her, as she asked us the same questions over and over again because she could never remember the answers!!  It was so so funny!

Now a spiritual experience.  So Hermana Leyva´s old stake president was in Chile and he came to our ward yesterday with a suitcase full of stuff from Hermana Leyva´s mom.  The member that we had lunch with yesterday invited him to have lunch with us too!

This is the old stake president of Hermana Leyva and the family we ate with.

Hermano D* who is sitting next to his wife has terminal cancer and is amazing!  The most amazing example of faith and trust in the Lord.  I wish you could meet him.  He never ever gets down even though he knows he is dying and is going to leave his beautiful family behind.  He has a perfect hope for the future and a trust in the lord

Afterwards we told him that we would walk him to the metro.  On our way we passed the house of one of our investigators.  An old lady that we visit because she is lonely, and we always sing a song with her and share a scripture.  She is really a special woman.  So sweet and so innocent.  There is really a special spirit about her.

Well, we asked this member if he wanted to visit her with us.  He said yes.  So we passed by her house, and she invited us in.  We shared a scripture about Gods love and how he will never forget her even if she feels lonely.  Then she started telling us that her health right now isn't so good, and that she is always lonely.  She told us she always leaves her door open so that anyone who passes by can enter and visit her if she wants.  She told us that her door is always open for us, and she is so so so grateful for our visits.

We asked her if she wanted a blessing of health from the member, she accepted.  We than explained a little about blessings and the authority of the church.  After that, the member gave her a beautiful blessing, and she started to cry.  Afterwards she said she had never heard anything so beautiful before.  It was a super spiritual experience.  I then testified of Gods love for her.  I literally just opened my mouth and talked.  I didn't have anything planned to say, and I talked I knew that I wasn't saying my words.  Christ was talking through me to tell this beautiful old woman that he loves her, and that he will never ever ever forget her.  Wow, I get goosebumps just remembering it.

Then, later that night we went over to visit Hermana M** who payed her tithing for the first time this week!  She was so so so excited.  One of her daughters asked if I would make brownies for them, and I started asking if they had certain ingredients and this is how she responded: "Hermana, we have an abundance in this house because I paid my tithing.  Go into the kitchen and you will find everything you need."  Wow, what faith!!  It is so amazing to see her changing her life little by little, along with her daughters.  They were inactive for about 6 years, and they just started coming back to church within the last year and now she and her husband are preparing to enter the temple!!

So I made the brownies and they were the best brownies I have ever made.  Than we ate all of them!!  It was just us girls, and it was so so so fun!!  Of course we shared a scripture, and we taught them about patriarchal blessings, but it felt like a girls night!!  Oh, and we planned the wedding of her daughter and Harrison.  I told her she has two years to learn English.  And she wants me to tell Harrison that she loves to cook, and clean, and that she will make delicious Peruvian food for him for the rest of his life, but that he is not aloud to get fat.

So, I´m not really sure why I was on your mind all week mom, cause really, I have been doing great!!  Yeah, I still have hard times, and I pass through rough spots, but I´m great!  On Thursday I was missing you a lot, cause I talked to Hermana Essig, and she is the closet thing I have to a mom out here.  We talked about baking, and it was just so so so familiar to talk to someone in my language about something as simple as cutting back on the butter, or adding more flour so they cookies turn out right.  But, we have to have the hard times or we never change.

This week I was thinking about how different I feel.  I just feel stronger, closer to Christ, and happier, even when I'm passing through hard times.  Everyone says that the mission changes you, and everyone comments about how different RMS are.  They always say "Oh, the mission changed him."  But I´m starting to realize the mission doesn't change you.  You can serve a mission and come back the same person.  Christ changes you.

Well, I love you all so so so much!  Thanks for the prayers, and the letters and for being amazingly awesome!!

Con Amor,

Hermana Ostler