Our miracle baptism

7:57 AM

Okay, so I haven't read your email yet, I am going to print it out and read it while I am in the office waiting for my new companion! Yep, changes happened, and I got changed. I'm going back to Los Andes!!!  I'm so excited.  Still, it is going to be hard to leave Hermana Leyva, we were both crying last night.  She is staying here.  My new companion used to be in my district, I'm not sure how I feel about her.  She is from Argentina and has a super strong personality.  She has one cambio less than me in the mission but she will be my senior companion.  Don't know what to think.  I'm scared to be honest, and I know I am walking into another very humbling situation.

Hopefully I will have more time to email later, and tell you about our miracle baptism!  I love you all, and chao Harrison, you'll be awesome!  Love you!

Hermana Ostler

2:39 PM

Familia,

Guess where I am?????  LOS ANDES!!!  Wow, I am so so so happy to be back here.  Really, when we left the bus station to go to our house we passed the chapel, the same chapel that I had district class in, and I looked down the road that Hermana Chamberlain and I always walked and I thought, "wow, I'm home."  

So, lets get the basics down.  My companion is Hermana Peralta from Argentina.  She has about 4 months in the mission, and she was just as surprised as me when they told her she would be my senior companion.  But honestly, I don't care.  Hermana Peralta was super nervous about the whole thing, and she talked to her old district leader in the office and he told her that sometimes president sends missionaries with more time to new sectors where there is a younger missionary, and the younger missionary is the senior companion because they know the sector.  Hermana Peralta told me that and then said that that means that really I am the senior companion . ..  jajaja.  But, so far, Hermana Peralta and I really get along.  I think this is going to be a great cambio.

We live in a cute little house, but we don't have an oven so I can't open my bakery . ..  pucha!!  But I am just so happy to be back here.  Saying goodbye to Hermana Leyva was super hard, I almost started crying in the office!!! But we will meet again, in BYU!!  Yeah.

So, this week was just full of milagros!  Like I said we had a baptism, JC a joven of 12 year who is super perperadad for the gospel.  But I have walked a rocky road coming to love this joven.  Let me start at the beginning.

So we met C* about a month ago.  He didn't live in our sector, he was visiting Hermana M* for the weekend.  He came to church that week.  Then, about 2 weeks later he had vacations from school for about a week and a half and stayed with the Hermana M* again.  We continued to teach him, but since he didn't live in our sector it didn't really count. But, C* is super distracted.  He has problems paying attention, and whenever we would teach him it just seemed like he wasn't interested at all, and I had little patience for him.  Teaching him was honestly a chore.

Then, about a week ago he told us that he and his mom where moving to our sector!  WHAT?  We met his mom and she is super awesome, but not ready to make the commitment of baptism.  They found a room to rent that is in our sector, but for now they are still living with Hermana M* until the end of the month.

We went to teach him one day and Hermana Leyva put him with fetcha for 28 de julio.  I was surprised because I didn't think he was interested, and I personally wanted to stop teaching him, and I thought Hermana Leyva just wanted another number.  But about two days later I was praying about him, wondering what we should do, and I prayed for patience while we taught him and that I could be able to love him.  That day when we went to teach him, the moment I saw him I was overfilled with an immense love for this boy.  I honestly cannot describe it.  I saw him differently, not as a teenage boy who cared less about our message, but as a young man who has had a hard life, has a rocky relationship with his mom, his dad doesn't live with him, and who has a learning disability.  Hermana Leyva must have been praying for patience too because from that day on our lessons were so much better.  We were patient and considerate of his disability, and saw his honest desire to change and learn and improve.

One week he came to church all by himself because Hermana M* and her family didn't come that week.  But we told him that he had to come, so he did!  Also, the day of his baptismal interview his mom and the family of Hermana M* left him at home alone . ..  well Hermano C*s was there but he didn't know about the interview.  So we were waiting at the church for him, and when he didn't show up we call the house and were devastated when he answered.  He told us that his mom wasn't there, only C*s.  We talked to C* and explained the situation.  He said he would explain to C* how to get to the church.  Then we talked to C* again and told him he had to come running to the church cause our district leader was already there waiting.

About 5 minutes later we went outside to wait, expecting him to arrive in like 10 minutes cause his house is about 15-20 minutes from the church.  Well, about 2 minutes later we see this skinny teenage boy booking it toward the chapel!! He literally came running!!!!  Oh it was amazing!  I want to hug him so so so bad but I couldn't.  He passed his interview with flying colors, after about 10 plus times teaching him what tithing, fasting, the word of wisdom and the restoration are.  But he diligently learned each one, and our district leader said that he was super prepared and super special.  That he was quick to feel the spirit.

This is C's baptism, if that wasn't obvious!

This has come to be known as the Hermana Ostler pose.  JAJA.
These are all the missionaries in our ward.

So on Sunday, I finished my time in Simon Bolivar with a baptism.  But, I can honestly say that I did NOTHING!!  It was all the Lord.  There are not words to express how much I love C*. I think I learned more from him than he did from me.  I'm going to miss him so so so much!

So that was the miracle of the week. Other stuff happened, but all I remember was when C* came out of the water.  I made him a cake for his baptism, and we went to Hermana M*'s house for lunch afterwards and had my favorite Peruvian food!  Then when I was saying goodbye I started to cry.  Man, I didn't realize how much I loved these people.

This is the cake I made for C* the mornign of his baptism.
It's not as pretty as the wedding cake, but he loved it!

Yesterday we visited E*, Hermana M*, and a few other people to say goodbye.  Its so crazy . .  life!  I've only known these people for 4 months, some less, and yet saying goodbye is super hard.  Each of them has taught me something beautiful, and I am not the same person coming back to Los Andes than I left.

This is E*
 Man, I'm going to miss her.

HARRISON!!! Hey, I love you tons!!  Here is my mission advice for you . . . PUT YOUR MAN PANTS ON!!  Dude, the mission is going to be super hard, I won't beat around the bush, but everything you need to succeed is inside you, and if it's not than it is beside you (aka, Jesus!).  I love you, y que le vaya muy bonito a su mision y que tenga experiencas lindas!

I really don't know what else to say.  Um . .. I guess I will send pictures!!  Well, I love you all.  Thanks for the letters, for the support, and the love!  

Con Amor, 

Hermana Ostler

Wedding Cake - Take 1

Wedding Cake - Take 2

This week we helped a sister make tamalies for a huge activity the ward had for the independence day of Peru!  It was an amazing activity.  We missed half of it cause of C's interview . . . but it was great!  And the tamales were amazing!!  Basically I am one third Chilean one third Peruvian and one third American!!

ll