Dear Familia,
I love the double email thing. Its a little longer, but I can know a little of whats going on with Harrison! Wow, he's a DL? CAPO! BACAN! Just go baptize some good priesthood out there in the jungle . . I’ll stay here in my apartment on the 20th floor and drink smoothies made from my blender every morning . . jajaja.
Okay, so my new comp arrived on Tuesday. Her name is Hermana P and she is from Mexico. Apparently there wasn’t a sister from Chile. I'm not going to lie, this week has been hard as Hermana P is adjusting to the mission life. We got back to the apartment Tuesday afternoon, and I know she probably wanted to unpack, or get settled, but we left five minutes later to work! Maybe I’m a bad companion for doing that, but that's what missionary work is . .Its WORK! After every contact we do she is already planning the baptism. But, my patience has been tried as I have had to explain every aspect of missionary work. It doesn’t annoy me, I mean, I’m her trainer for crying in a bucket . . that's what I am supposed to do. I have to tell her not to talk about deep doctrine after EVERY lesson we teach. The people have never heard about the priesthood, so you can’t go in and start talking about preparing them to enter the temple so they can be sealed. For crying in a bucket, WE JUST MET THEM! How about we teach them about the priesthood that is on the earth, then invite them to be baptized by someone who has that priesthood. There is an order to these things. So my work is cut out for me.
I feel like Hermana Morley came pre trained, and we just lived it up! We had so much fun last change, and yet worked our butts off at the same time. But this changed I am training. For some reason, God sent me Hermana P. Maybe I can learn something from her.
She had her first breakdown on Wednesday. I love her. Honestly, I feel an unexplainable love for her as my companion. I am just going to try to teach her what I know, help her learn, and hopefully learn from her experiences. I just hope she doesn't confuse all our investigators.
That's so crazy about Kraymer not being able to speak English. I still feel like I can speak English well. But of course I have been in Chile for less than a year, and he was there for 2 years. But, this week my Spanish was suffering. I don’t know why. I felt like I couldn't speak, or understand, but maybe that's because Hermana P speaks SO DIFFERENTLY than los chilanos, and because I was so mentally tired from explaining everything x number of times.
Mom, I love your study on enduring. The principle of Endurance is one I have become very familiar with throughout my mission. Being with Hermana P has reminded me a lot of the beginning of my mission and the tree I planted so long ago. You have been reminding me of that tree, and that I should go back and look at it, but I haven't seen much change in the size, stature, or strength.
Now, Hermana P recently planted her tree, and I am teaching her how to grow it, and how to care for it. I am telling her what I have done to grow my tree, or in other words, to develop myself, and in the process I have gone back to my tree to look at it, to see if there really has been any growth, and OH MY WOW! That thing just shot up and I don’t know when. I know that there is still much I can do as I continue to develop myself, grow, and change to become more like my Savior Jesus Christ, but I cannot deny the progress and growth that has taken place over these past 11 months. I am far from my potential, but I am headed in the right direction.
Oh, guess what W* told us? Remember W* the Agnostic? Well, last week actually, he told us that he actually believes in God . . WHAT? That's cool. So we are seeing progress with him. Slow, but it is there. He is just so awesome, and he is really starting to open up to us. I pray that he will be baptized someday.
So, I miss Hermana Morley a lot. So does the ward. We were meant to be sisters. I am grateful for the change we had together, but it went by way to fast. I think I learned more from her than she did from me.
Ma* y A* got confirmed on Sunday! It was so great! We also had three investigators in church, which was a miracle! This week was a little difficult, just with being in charge of everything and not really having a companion to help, but I have felt very close to the Lord and I have felt Him guide me through this week. I made mistakes, but that's okay, because I am trying to be better, I am trying to learn. I have a great desire to become more like my Savior every day. Can I have a missionary moment? Okay, I’m taking one.
I love this work so much. I cannot describe to you how difficult and tiring it has been, but I love it. I love being the hands of the Savior here in Santiago, and wearing His name above my heart. I always say that I only have 18 months for that name to sink through the tag into my heart, and I feel Him there more every day. I know he lives, and I know He loves each of us. I walk the streets and testify of Him every day. I tell lonely people that they really aren't alone. I tell broken people that they can be healed, and I tell suffering people that He has suffered for them so that they don’t have to. I love doing this, and even though it is hard, and there are many times when I wonder if my blistered feet can carry me to the next door, I know, that at the end of it, I, like Kraymer, won’t want it to end.
Thank you for all your support, packages, and love. I love you all and I pray for you every day!
Con amor,
Hna Ostler
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