You never know what a little kindness could do

FAMILIA!!!

Wow, that picture of Harrison with the plaque!!!  I just can't believe that he is a missionary.  I totally forgot that he was going into the mtc this week.  Well, I didn't forget . . . well, kinda.  On Wednesday we were walking home from a long day, and I asked Hermana Peralta what day it was, she said, miercoles, and I was like . . .  chuta!!  Today Harrison enters the ccm! en verdad np pude creer.  Wow, un missionero!  mi hermanito!!  que bacan! He will enjoy the ccm more than me, cause he's Harrison, and he likes stuff like that.  So don't even worry about him.  He's fine.

Our week was . .  BUSY!!!  We worked our tails off, and I loved it. That's something I love about the Hermana Peralta.  She is super obedient and super diligent. We have something to learn from every companion.

Oh, just to clear something up, I am not back in my old ward.  Before I was in primer crucero, now I am in san felipe.  It is the same stake, but different wards.  So I don't know any of the members from my first change.

So, back to Hermana Peralta.  She's great!  We get along really well.  She's a lot differnt from Hermana Leyva...  super focused on the mission.  But, she TALKS SO MUCH!!  Like more than me.  Not that its a bad thing, I guess it is better than not talking to me at all!  jajaja.  Also, her biggest weakness is that she is a bible bash!!  Like totally.  I think I would totally be a bible bash too if I was serving in the states.  But, being here in Chile has humbled me a lot, and the spirit is never present during bible bashes.  So sometimes it is a little hard to teach with her cause of that, but it is one of her goals to chillax.

But she told me a really cool story.  So as I said before Hermana Peralta was in my district before, and actually lived in our apartment for 2 days.  Simon Bolivar was her first sector.  With her last companion they were together for 3 months.  About a week before changes she told her companion this story about the day she arrived in the mission field.

She said that she was super upset cause her trainer only had 4 months in the mission and she wanted to be with someone who had more experience.  It was a hard long day for her, and when they got back to the house (where we were living also), all she wanted to do was go to sleep, but yet she didn't want to go to sleep cause she knew that she would sleep bad from all the negative feelings she was feeling.

After they were done planning she got ready for bed and started unpacking a few things.  Then, I came out of another room and sat down on her bed and started talking to her.  I just asked her about her family, and then she went on for 20 minutes telling me about her 11siblings.  She showed me pictures and talked about her home.  To me it was nothing. Just a simple conversation, but she said that that conversation changed her whole outlook of the day, and it was the one good thing that happened on her first day in the field, and she was able to sleep well.

So she told that story to her previous companion, then later in the week her companion asked her if she was worried about changes and if she had been praying about who her companion would be, she said she just wanted a companion that she could love (she hasn't had a great relationship with either of her 2 prior companions).  Then, when the office called them on Saturday night to tell them the changes, her companion hung up the phone and Hermana Peralta asked who her new companion would be, and her companion said "it is someone that you were praying for without even knowing it."  Then she said it was me, and at first Hermana Peralta was scared to be senior companion to me, but then she felt a peace and knew that the Lord really had answered her prayers because I was the companion that she could love without trying.  So that was cool to hear that, and it just shows that you never know what a little kindness could do.

I remember that night that I talked to Hermana Peralta.  I remember that both Hermana Leyva and Hernandez had gone into the room cause they didn't want to talk to the new sisters cause they were mad that they had to live in our house.  But I was like "what is all this drama for?  I am going to talk to them.  They are new and they are probably scared out of their minds" and so thats what I did.

So as I said the week was packed!!  We worked and worked and worked.  We found some potential solid investigators, but this week we will see if all our work payed off.  The ward here is super small, compared to Simon Bolivar, but the members are great!  Well, some of them.  Latin America is just so differnt than the states.  Oh, we did have one investigator in church!  C*!  Shes super bacan, and could definitely get baptized and be a faithful member if the ward would help us out!   Please be good members and always be friends with the missionaries instigators, and give them references, and invite them over to have family home evenings with their investigators, and accompany them to lessons.  Missionary work should be a ward effort, not just a full time missionary effort.

Okay, I have a quick story to tell, then I got to go. But I will come back.  What happens is that Hermana Peralta wants to come back and take our last 30 minutes of internet time later cause her boyfriend still hasn't emails .. . kinda a bite, but what can you do?

Okay, so on Tuesday we were knocking doors, with no luck.  Slammed and rejected at every turn.  We really wanted to teach a lesson cause we hadn't taught much that day.  After another door slammed, I said something like "we have to at least teach one lesson before we go home."  Then Hermana Peralta said "okay, if you say we will teach a lesson, then lets teach a lesson."  She walked down the stairs to the next floor (we were in an apartment building), and she knocked the next door.  An old man opened the door and immediately invited us in.  We barley said two words.  We both looked at each other, and recognized the blessing of the Lord.  But before we entered we asked the man if his wife was home, or if there was another woman in the house.  He said he lived solo.  We said that we could only teach him if the door was open and if we sat right in the door way.  Well, he took offense to that and slammed the door in our faces!  Like hard!!  We were both really confused, and thinking it would have been so easy to break one simple rule to get a lesson.  But, none the less, we moved to the next door.

Another man opened, this one was younger.  We told him we were missionaries and he too invited us in.  When we asked if his wife was home, he said yes!!  So we entered.  His wife was busy, so we didn't teach her, but we taught J* and his daughter!!  Wow, it was a great lesson!!  He is catholic but doesn't believe in the catholic church any more for all the stuff that happened with the pope, and he was talking about how he doesn't think that the pope has authority from God!!  We jumped in on that and taught him about prophets and the priesthood!  It was so great and he said that he would be baptized if he felt this church was true!!  Then, we went back on Thursday and met his wife.  She was busy again but super amable and invited us to come back another day.  We haven't been able to find them since, but we have an apt tomorrow, so we are really praying the they will progress!!  Hermana Peralta and I recognized that finding them was a blessing for our obedience.  It was great!!

Wow, I just love being back out here in the county!  It is just so beautiful, and the people are so different . . in a good way!!  I actually feel like I am in Chile now!!  Man, if I could I would stay here for my whole mission.  One day we rode our bike to our lunch appointment cause it was out in the country, ..   wow!!  SO BEAUTIFUL!!!

Also, we got an oven so don't worry, I will still be baking goodies.

Every night we came home dead tired, just dead!!  Just yesterday as we were walking home I was so tired and couldn't speak Spanish to safe my life.  Hermana Peralta was yacking on about something, and I felt bad cause I just couldn't understand her, and I knew what she was saying was important.  So I said a quick prayer that the lord would help me understand.  Immediately after I said amen I could swear he stared speaking English.  I UNDERSTOOD EVERY WORD!!  It was incredible.  The lord really does like, and he blesses us.  Every day I learn more about Jesus, and every day I love him more!!  The mission really is incredible.  Just the other day I was saying how when my time came to go home, I might just stay instead.,  It's been hard, but its also been amazing!  Snap I only have a year left!!  It just goes so so so so so fast!

Okay, Love you all.  Hopefully I will be back to chat a little later!

Con Amor, }

Hermana Ostler