I might not be moving mountains, but step by step, I am climbing them

Familia,

First of all, Jefferson, you are a Rock!  We should change your name to Peter or something cause you are just solid!  The Lord is preparing and UNSTOPABLE, and you are a part of it! If I could be at your basketball games this year, I would be calling you Peter for sure!

Second of all, I feel Harrison's pain.  Emotional abuse in the mission is the WORST! Especially so young in the field.  But, I know he will get through this and he will be stronger for it.  It still brings me great pain to think about my time with you know who. I have seen her a few times since, and it literally makes my stomach hurt.  But, I wouldn't change or trade my suffering, because I am a better person.  So mom, don’t try to fix this, because you can’t.  The only person that can fix this for Harrison is Jesus Christ.  You know why?  Jesus died and suffered for Harrison.  He knows this pain, and this frustration like no one else does.  Yes, it is completely wrong what the companion of Harrison is doing, but it was also completely wrong what the Romans did to Jesus.  Who is Harrison, or me not to suffer?  The Lord will make it all right someday, and Harrison is learning something that he won’t be able to learn at any other time in his life.  So pray for him, and let the Lord take care of him.

Third of all, I don’t know if you remember when I told you about Iy* but she taught us how to crochet.  Tell Wilson he is lucky he gets his classes in english!  JAJA.  Our grand success this week was when she and her inactive husband came to church!  It was branch conference, and the theme of every class was Temples.  It was so great for them.  The teacher in Principles of the gospel was talking about how one has to be baptized to enter into the temple to be sealed, and the husband leaned over to her and said "So when are you going to be baptized!"  So we will see what will happen with this family.  She is really amazing, but she is slower to understand, and she doesn’t complete with her commitments. So we will see.

Crochet Class

Also, Ca* came to church, like always, and after learning about baptisms for the dead she wants to baptize her whole family!  She was just on fire with the spirit of Elisha.  She gave us a list of family members that needed to be baptized into the true church! BUT SHE STILL DOESNT WANT TO BE BAPTIZED HERSELF!  What is up with that?  So we are going to teach her about family history on Tuesday and tell her that she can do those baptism for her family if she gets baptized first.  Maybe this will be the push she needs to get into the baptismal font.  We'll see.

But, other then that, we had a pretty hard week.  The people seem more hard hearted every day. The first contact I did this week yelled at me.  I just hate that.  I hate when the people yell at me.  Harrison will probably never suffer that in Brasil. Hna Lima says the people are just so kind there.  But, hey, I got called to the land of the amalakites, I’m just happy they aren’t trying to kill me . . . yet . . . jajaja.

I hit a couple low points this week.  Honestly, I had no desire to continue, and I started wondering if I had the faith to get me through to the end.  I remembered that quote that mom sent me a few weeks ago from Gordon B Hinkley, and I read over it in personal study. He says that faith "Enables us to do what we said we will do."  It is the power we can draw from to "press forward when we are tired, or hurt, or afraid."  Right now I am tired in mind, body, and spirit.  I have never felt this kind of exhaustion before.  My knees hurt every time I kneel down to pray, and my throat is so dry from yelling 'allo' at every door.  I am afraid, afraid that we won’t find anyone to teach, that we won’t complete with our contacts, and that I won’t become the missionary that God needs me to be.

Now, I ask myself one question: Do I have faith?  Am I willing to finish something that I said I would do?  Will I "keep going when the challenge seems overwhelming and the course unceratian"?

Do I have faith?

I don’t know how to answer that question.  Yes, I know that Jesus is the son of God and I accept Him as my Savior.  But faith goes so much further than knowledge.

Faith is that small spark that lights a fire within you, then it is the fuel to keep that fire burning.  Faith is what pushes you beyond what you can do.  Faith is the first principle of the gospels.  Without it, your testimony falls.

Faith is not measured by what you achieved in this life/mission, but rather by the diligence in which you worked.  Was Ammon more faithful than Abinadi because he baptized thousands when Abinadi died before seeing the fruits of his labor?  Faith can’t be measured in numbers, but rather by what is inside of you.

Faith is your conviction to follow Christ even when the reward is undefined.  Faith is taking the one step beyond where you thought you could.  Faith is closing you eyes, hearing the masters call, and following Him even when the path is uncertain.

"Faith is something greater than ourselves."

So I ask again, Do I have faith? 

The answer is yes.  You know how I know?  Because I am still out here, struggling down this road, and it doesn't matter if I baptize one person or thousands as long as I keep going, cause that is faith.

I might not be moving mountains, but step by step, I am climbing them.

So, even though it was a tough week, I’m going to go back out there and do it all over again, because that is all that the Lord asks.  Just keep Climbing.

I didn’t take a pic with Jose Leiva, but I hope that I see him again so that I can.  Also, YES I WANT TO GO TO MAUI!  About college . . . can you look up to see if there exists a BYU Chile, cause that would be my first pick . . . jajaja.

Okay, I love you all, and I hope you are all doing fantastic!

Con Amor, 

Hna Ostler

My first, and proably last thanksgiving eating watermelon!  Better then turkey!

He preached the back wall out of that place

Dear Familia, 

Thanks for the letter.  I’m glad that my letter got to Harrison and that it helped.  Wow, that is crazy about the Philippines, just crazy!  But the Lord protects His servants.

So, it has been a long long week.  I can’t believe that Elder Holland came this week, because it feels like year ago.  But it was amazing!!  Just amazing!

We had a 6 girl sleepover in our house for two ....  jajaja that was fun!  Not!  Two of the sisters arrived close to midnight, so we didn’t get much sleep cause we had to wake up at 4! But only our district was in the bus . . well, it was actually two minivans.

We got to the chapel at about 7:30, and it was already packed!  We decided to sit up on the stage in the back, back, back.  We could have sat closer, but then we wouldn’t have been able to see over all the tall elders heads.  So we sat front row on the stage.

This is where we were.  Back in nose bleed . . but it was stil amazing!
I swear that they could hear Elder Holland in Switzerland.

Elder Holland showed up at 9:30 and we started right when he got there.  Obviously we all stood up when he came in, and he shook a few hands of the people on the stage, then goes over to the mic and says "no more, k, sit."  It was so funny.  An area seventy and his wife talked, then Sister Holland talked, then finally Elder Holland talked.  He spoke English with a translator.  But sometimes he would get so excited, or just so full of the spirit that he would cut the translator off. .  jajaja.  It was so funny.  I was glad I speak English though, cause a lot of it got lost in the translation.  Basically he preached the back wall out of that place .. .  it was amazing!  A few key points I will share with you.

He said that this moment in the work ranks with the first vision, the restoration of the priesthood, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon!  Wow .. . thats pretty incredible. He said that the mission is demanding more of us than missionaries of the past, and that we needed to step up.  Oh I forgot, the first thing he said when he took the mic was "I am so pumped up.  I should be popping off the wall and taking down the curtains.  I am just so pumped."  Bahahaha . . . never thought I’d hear an apostle say that.  So funny.

Another key point he talked about was that we will always be missionaries.  He said we have to do this forever.  Maybe not knock doors, but we are committed to this work for life. This isn’t a 2 year 18 month thing we do until we can return to real life.  THIS IS REAL LIFE!

He also talked about how we are all Gods investigators.  Then how we need to be powerful teachers.  You don’t get a second chance to teach a first lesson.  But the best thing he said was "Go asombro someone."  So funny!  He mixed Spanish and English all the time - loved it! He also talked about how the Book of Mormon is our best missionary tool, because before there was PMG there was only the BOM.  SO USE IT! He ended with saying that we should stop wondering why our missions aren’t easy, because it was never easy for Jesus. The Road to salvation goes through Gethsemane and we will all spend time there. Basically, it was just amazing!

I found Hermana Peralta at the confrence with Elder Holland!  So WONDERFUL!

So, also this week, was my hump day, and I got the package on Nov 13th!  Wow, good timing.  We had intravistas that day with president and he told me that I have progressed so much and that he can tell I am giving this my all.

I have been doing a reflection on the first half of my mission and thinking about the significance of "Hump" day.  Hump day means that you have reached the top of a hump, or a hill.  That you have gone halfway, and the struggle, the hard part is behind you, cause now you can just coast down for the next 9 months.  WRONG!  THERE IS NO COASTING IN THE MISSION.  I realized that the whole mission is up hill.  Heck, your whole life will be up hill.  When you choose to follow Christ, you leave the coasting to the followers of the devil.  You take up your cross and you follow Him UP to gothal.  If you ever find yourself coasting in the mission, or even in life, then you are doing something wrong.  Like Elder Holland said "Salvation is not a cheap experience."  Its a fight, its a struggle.  So yeah, I might be half way done with the mission, but I am no where near done with the constant up hill struggle.

Also, I have been thinking about when president told me when he said that he can tell I have given my all.  As I have read back over the first few entries in my journal, and read over some of the most difficult time in my mission, I realized that I really have tired to give the Lord all, but it has never been enough, and it never will be enough.  I only have 5 small fishes and two loafs of bread . . .  thats not enough to feed a family of 9, let alone thousands.  But the incredible thing that I have seen throughout the course of my mission is that when I gave the Lord all, He multiplied it and made it enough.  I have nine more months, and I will have to dig down deep to find more within me that I can give to the Lord, so He can multiply it can get me to the end.

We didn’t knock doors all week, but it wasn’t the greatest week we’ve had.  Ca* is still great.  K*, our neighbor we saw one time this week, and was asking about baptism!  What? We won’t get to see her until next week cause we passed by yesterday and she said that this week she has a million things to do and she won’t be home much.  So we are just going to pray our hearts out for her.

E*, the investigator that gave us the reference of K* took a leap toward progression.  She has always been a mas o menos investigator, but this week we went by and taught in depth the apostasy.  She was very thoughtful through the whole thing, and at the end when we invited her to pray to ask if Jose Smith really was a prophet she was quite for a moment, then she said "Jesus said we need to beware of false prophets. . . . (Pause .. . in a quite voice) But I really want him to be a prophet.  I want this book (the Book of Mormon) to be true.  I want it to fill me."  I then promised her that it would.  She had to be diligent and patient, but that his gospel was exactly what she was looking for.  She then offered a very powerful prayer, pleading with God to guide her, and to let her know if Jose was a prophet. It was just amazing.  The spirit was so strong.

We found a few people who have potential to be investigators.  We took out appointments with them for this week, so we will see how that goes.

Yes, Hermana Lima and I were matching this day.
We didnt' realize it until after we left the house.
We had a good laugh.
These are kittnes of one of the recent convert in our area.
They look like rats . . but in a cute way.

I could tell you a million other stories from this week, cause like I said, it was long, but the one I will tell is of Jose Leiva.

Jose Leiva lives alone.  His wife dies of Alzheimer about 9 months ago.  Hermana Lima said that they had shared with him one day, but then he left Lampa for about 5 months and they could never find him again.  We see him in the streets all the time, but whenever we pass by to visit, he is never home.  Finally on Friday we took out a cita with him for Saturday. When we passed by on Saturday he was home!  We spent about 50 minutes with him, honestly just talking.  We had planned to teach the first lesson, but we ended up just talking about life. He has lived a lot of life, and it really an amazing man.

One thing he said that really called my attention was "The world is the way it is because the men do not take care of their wives anymore.  So the women have to leave the home to work, to support their families, and the kids are left alone.  Then the kids get into drugs and all sorts of bad stuff cause their mothers are not home to raise them.  So the world raises them, and in this way the family is destroyed and the world has come to what it has come to and Men are to blame.  If men would only take care of their wives, the world would be a better place."  Wow, what wisdom.  He talked a lot about his wife, and got a little teary eyed a few times.  Then before we left, we sang him a hymn, lead kindly light, and he read us the lyrics to a song he sang to his wife on their wedding day and just lost it.  (He married his wife when she was 15 and he 19)  He then asked me to pray.  Pray that he could find his way in this world, and that the Lord would lead him to the correct path.  It was a very special experience for me, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it all through the night. Talking to Jose Leiva that day will probably be one of my most memorable experiences of my mission and I have no idea why.

Well, I hope you are all well.  I don’t want anything for Christmas, so whatever you send will be great.  Thanks for the package, and all the support.  Jefferson, it is so great that you are so excited to serve a mission cause it is the best.  You know what the best part is?  It’s when you remeet someone that you already knew, and you spend 50 minutes just talking to them about life.  I love this so much.  Even when it is hard.

Con Amor, 

Hna Oslter

I wanted to make the Lord cookies

Honestly, today I realized that I forgot how to play the piano

Dear Familia,

First of all, LOVE THE PICTURE!  Now, that is awesome.  Second of all, I don’t think I am all the way solid.  I still have a few cracks, and chips around the edges, but I’m working on it.  With the Lord, I am mixing up some cement to fill in the cracks, but it is a work in progress, and maybe someday I will be solid, pero, alli vamos.

Second of all, thank you for all your prays, your support, and your fasting.  At the end of last week, I really didn’t want to go back out there and knock more doors, and get them slammed in my face all over again.  Hermana Lima and I didn’t know what else to do, so we fasted.  Probably one of the most difficult fasts I have ever done, cause it was so hot, and we were so so so thirsty, and almost had no energy to keep going.  But we did it, 24 hours of no food and no water.

We fasted for our sector, and I was just hoping to have the energy and the ganas to keep going, but the Lord had different plans.  I have never had a solid testimony of fasting before.  I have fasted in the past, cause I usually feel closer to God, and feel peace, and because it is a commandment, but . . . wow, I LOVE FASTING!  Basically this last week we were so busy!  We had so many people to teach.  Well, not like in my other sectors, but . . . well basically we got to the end of Wednesday and had only knocked 4 doors!  WHAT? The blessings just came pouring down.  I really don’t have time to talk about all of them, but I will tell you about my favorite.

So, on Wednesday, we were visiting an investigator we hadn’t seen in like 2 weeks, and we were starting to think that she was done with us. But, that is another story.  Basically she was honestly just really busy.  We had a good lesson with her.  She loves the bible, but has really accepted the Book of Mormon.  We had a lesson where we compared the bible and the Book of Mormon and she loved it!  Then, at the end of the lesson she said "Hey, I really want you two to pass by for my friend." FREE REFERRAL!  We said, of course, where does she live.  She said "She is your neighbor.  She lives in front of your house.  I saw her today in the ferria and told her that you two would be coming by today, and she asked me to send you her way."

We finished the lesson, then went to see if she was home, repenting that we had knocked almost every door in our sector minus our own street!!!  Well, Ka* was home and she invited us right in!  Wow, she is amazing.  She wants to understand the bible, she wants to come closer to Christ, and she wants to find a church!  WHAT?  Where did this woman come from?  Oh, right . . SHE LIVES ACROSS THE STREET FROM US!  It was a great lesson.  We gave her a Book of Mormon, and she said she would read it and pray and everything!  She also wants us to meet her husband.  We were going to meet him on Friday night, but justo, their primo came over so they couldn't attend us.  The devil is fighting hard . . . but hey, so are we! We are going back by to see them today, so I will let you know how everything unfold next week.  But, after the lesson we were just  . . .  wow I can’t explain it. It was more than happy.  The Lord really is leading us.  He is with us.  I know it.  All this time we have been looking for someone who is prepared, and all the time she lived across the street from us.  But, the Lord has a time for everything.

At the end of the day on Wednesday I was just so happy, and of course, grateful for all the blessings we had received in the past three days.  Honestly, we had found 4 new investigators in 3 days, the last week we found 1.  We were riding our bikes home, and I was praying in my heart, just thanking the Lord.  I was so full of gratitude I didn’t know what to do.  Honestly, I wanted to make the Lord cookies or something to express my gratitude.  But, all I can do is work, work WORK!  And this week we worked so hard!  We never had a moment to rest.  It seemed like there was always something to do!  I LOVED IT!

Ca* came back form Argentina. Man, we missed her a lot.  We invited her to be baptized, again.  And again, she said that she doesn't feel ready.  But, she said "I will get baptized before you leave Chile!"  Although, it fills me with Joy, that she will be baptized someday, I am a selfish human being, because I want to be here for it!  I want to see her get baptized. Hermana Lima pointed out that we got to see Hermano Lu* get baptized even though someone else found him.  Which is true, but this is totally different, cause Hermano Lu* was so far from being baptized, that obviously those who found him weren’t going to see it, and also he went about 8 months without contact with the missionaries until about 2 weeks before I got here, and that's when he started to change.  But Hermana Ca* is ready!  She doesn’t need 2 years . . . heck, she could get baptized tomorrow if she wanted.  So, on Saturday to Sunday, I am going to fast for her if you want to join me.

Also, we finished the week with a baptism.  A nina named Sa*.  We have been teaching her for about 4 months and helping reactivate her mom.  Her mom is a member but hasn’t gone to church in about 4 years.  She has now been assisting regularly for about 2 months!  So Sa* got baptized and it was great!  Hermano Lu* gave a talk at the baptism, too.  Also, Sa*'s abuela is a member, and she bore her testimony and started crying.  It was really a beautiful experience to help bring this family back to the church.

The baptism.
Check out my feet!

Sorry, I don’t really have any good metaphors this week, and my email is all over the place. I didn’t really have time to plan it.  But, next week it will be better.

About Elder Holland, there will be 4 missions there.  I don’t even know if I will be in the same room as him cause it will be packed.  We have a bus coming to get us at 6:30 in the morning.  It starts at two.  4 sisters from another sector are coming to stay in our house tonight, cause we live closest to the chapel.  I’m excited, but . . . well, Hermano Lu*'s baptism and blessing the sacrament will probably be more memorable for me.

Okay, well, I love you all.  Thanks for the email, and all your support.  Also, no matter what anyone says, Ben, Brennen, or President Monson, I know I have a long way to go before I am the missionary that God is trying to make of me.

Con Amor, 

Hna Oslter 

I wondered if God knew . . . . .

Dear Familia, 

Okay so I haven't finished reading your email, it was kinda long, and I have a lot to say.  But I loved it all the same and if I don’t have time to finish reading it I will print it.

The sky on Halloween!
I have never in my life seen anything like this.
It was literally a wave of gold.

So this week was probably the hardest week I have had in Lampa.  Hermana Lima and I were very low spiritually and emotionally and physically just done!  It is so hot I can’t describe it.  I know where Harrison is it is hotter, but he at least has the humidity.  Here it is just dry.  Drier than Richland.  This is the kind of heat that burns.  So yes, good quality American sunblock for the face would be much appreciated.

So, Bens words have been on my mind all week.  They humbled me greatly because I don’t feel like the missionary he painted me to be.  I looked for ways to improve and better myself.  I realized that in the beginning of my mission I used to worry about getting ahead.  I wanted to be the best.  I wanted to teach more than everyone, baptize more than everyone, be a trainer, or a sister leader. This world wants you to get one step ahead of your brother, but I realized, over time and many humbling experiences, that God doesn’t want you to get ahead.  He wants you to get behind to lift up the hands that droop.  To find someone who is struggling on the path, or who is about to give up, and to get behind them and push them forward.  God would rather have you cross the finish line hand in hand with your brother instead of two steps ahead of him.

This week we knocked a lot of doors.  We have almost knocked every door in our sector.  No joke. And this week seemed to be the battle of the Jehovah Witnesses.  We ran into them everywhere! I hate contacting testigoes, and in our companionship study we have been practicing what to say to them.  They are just so disrespectful, and tear you apart.  But something that I realized this week is that testigoes fight with the bible, but we fight with the truth.

On Saturday we contacted a testigo who was just ripping up jose smith and the libro de mormon. He was saying that we should really be careful of what we preach, and just other really disrespectful stuff.  I wanted to say so many things to him, but in the end, I don’t have all the bible knowledge he has to fight in that way.  So, when I finally had the chance to speak, I gave a short spill of lesson one, and then testified with all my heart that I knew that jose smith was and is a prophet.  And that God doesn't change, and so we will always have prophets.  I said I know the book of mormon is true, and that the church of Christ was on the earth.  He was quiet for a moment, then went on about saul changing his name to saul.  Honestly I don’t know what his point was, but what I did notice, was that he could not testify that what he was saying was true.

The testigoes were not the only ones fighting with us this week.  I am pretty sure that satan had it in for us.  I almost cried three times on Friday. The first was when a very rude lady yelled at me while I was trying to contact her.  Honestly, it surprises me that there is such a lack of respect in the world.  It wasn't the first time I have been yelled at, but this time it hurt more, and I don’t know why.  But, I tired to joke to keep the tears from falling.  But it hurt a lot.  Then, later that day I crashed on my bike.  Like bad.  I’m fine, but I remember while everyone was asking me if I was okay, I put my head down, cause I just wanted to be alone so I could cry.

Then, as we were riding bikes again, I just wondered if God knew I had crashed my bike and that now my arm was all scraped up.  After that, I almost cried again when another door contact yelled at Hermana Lima.  This time it was worse.  We walked away, and I could tell Hermana Lima wanted to cry too, so she called Hermano Lu* to make her feel better . . . jajaja.  But I just felt so bad.  I wondered again if God knew that I was suffering.  If he knew that I had been hurt, and that I really didn’t want to contact another person that day.

But, on Sunday, I did cry, and I was able to answer those questions.  On Sunday I have the grand privilege to see Hermano Lu* break the sacrament bread, and when he blessed the water, tears of joy and gratitude slipped from my eyes.  I was filled with such love, and I knew it was God telling me: "Yes, my daughter, I know that you crashed your bike on friday, and I know that now your hip is bruised.  I also know that your spirits were low, and that you’re feeling were hurt.  I know that you wondered if I was watching.  But I was.  I was always with you.  And now look.  Look at this blessing right in front of you.  Your dear friend, and my prodigal son, is blessing the sacrament.  He is now worthy to hold my priesthood.  My dear daughter, I love you.  Look at your blessings and know that I love you."

I did not hear those words, but I felt them.

I realize that this past week Satan was out to get me.  But, I would like to inform him that he has engaged in a very dangerous battle if he wants to fight with me.  The harder he tries, the stronger I will get.  The more he tempts me to come down from my high place, the higher I will move up, and the more he tries to pull me away from Christ, the stronger I will cling to Him.

So yeah, I had a tough week, but Satan didn’t win, and he won’t win.  Honestly, he is wasting his time if he thinks he as a chance with me.  These are the last days, he is going to do everything he can to pull as many souls as he can down to hell with him, but he won’t have mine, he won’t have Hermano Luis's, or Hermana Carmen's . . . because we are with the Lord, and the power of the Lord is greater than that of the devil.  

Stay strong, and stay true.  

Con Amor, 

Hermana Ostler

Hermana Ostler and I were online at the same time today and got to 'chat.' The following is part of our conversation.

Hermana Ostler:  Okay, I sent my email, but I don't think I answered your questions, so if you want to know anything, just ask, i will be here for a few. Elder Holland is coming to our mission on the 12th.  So excited!!!!

Mom:  I'm here. What an email! How bad is your arm?

Hermana Ostler:  Just a few scraps.  Its a flesh wound on mas.  But, my hip hurts . . it's not bruised but it hurts

Mom:  I'm feeling so sad for you. Are you feeling okay? And tell me the truth. When people are mean it can affect you for a long time.

Hermana Ostler:  Oh, i am fine.  The mission is hard, but I am fine.  Satan is going to have to try a little harder if he wants to keep me down for too long.  Jajaja.  Hermana Lima and I have whole heartily laughed about all three situations.

Mom: In your email you said Hermano Lu* was not worth to hold the priesthood. Did you mean he was NOW worthy to hold the priesthood?

Hermana Ostler: Yes, I meant now . . jajaja. That moment for me can not be put into words.  I kept my head down after the prayer cause I was just crying so so hard.  Hermano Lu* is . . . he is a miracle that people can and do change, and God exists and loves us, that no one is too far gone to be saved.

Okay, I have to go, but I love you!  Tell dad thanks for the mission stories, they always remind me that it could be worse . . . jajaja . . . love you all!

I felt we should talk to her, but didn't! Stupid!

Dear Familia,

Well, yes, there were changes and I am no longer in Lampa, so I don't know what is going on with Hermana Car*.  I am so sad.  Even though Lampa was so hard, I miss it more than any sector.  I am in Ranca, and I don’t really love it yet.  I want to go back to Lampa!  But the Lord has called me here for a reason and . . . ..  JK I’m still in Lampa with Hermana Lima!  jajajaja . . . got you!

We were so happy when our district leader called us to tell us that we were staying together in Lampa.  I love my companion.  I know I don’t talk about her a lot, but that is because there are no problems EVER!  Well, there are always the little things, but I have never gotten along with someone so well.  I usually don’t write about her because I have so much other stuff to say.

Larapinta is the name of our sector

Yeah, Ben sent me an email and told me almost the same thing. I remember writing that letter.  I thought, hey, I’m going to write Ben.  I started writing the letter and I had really nothing to say to him.  But then I started talking about the atonement and Christ and the words just flowed from my pen and thoughts came to my head faster then I could think them.  That is a sign that it is from the holy ghost, so I knew that Ben needed to hear it.  I sent you guys something very similar to what I wrote to him.  I loved it so much cause it was straight up inspiration.  It was the email from about 2 weeks ago that had a lot of scriptural references.  I am honestly so surprised that it touched him so much, and that it got to him so fast.  

Wow, that kid is am amazing writer!  We need to write a book together!  

So we had an okay week.  These past few days were pretty rough.  We've been in the streets, knocking doors for about 4 days straight now with little luck.  But the Lord blesses us for our efforts.  On Thursday we were knocking a street that we knocked at the beginning of last transfer (cause we have almost knocked every door in our sector) and out of about 50 houses, 10 people came out, and every one of them slammed the door in our face.  But we tried to laugh about it and keep our heads up.  It was hard though.

Then we came to the last door, a door we had already knocked and talked to the person who lives there.  A young mother who never has time, but is very amiable.  I told Hermana Lima that we should go find another street to knock, cause this woman wouldn’t have time.  But Hermana Lima said, it doesn't hurt to try.  So we knocked the door, and she came out with her one year old son.  We conversed for about 7 minutes, and I could tell that she didn't have much time.  Hermana Lima asked if we could share a message with her.  She didn’t answer.  She kept talking about her son, and just random stuff.  I felt that we should ask again if we could share a message with her.  Then I thought, that is so dumb. She obviously doesn't want to share with us.  I felt about three times that I should ask again, until I finally realized that it was God talking to me.  So I asked "Podemos compartir un mensaje con usted ahora?"  She paused for a moment, then said "Espera me."  She went into the house for about 2 minutes then came back our with the keys and let us in!  As we talked with her we realized that she doesn’t have a very strong belief in God.  Before her son was born she didn't believe in God at all because of all the terrible things happening in the world.  But after her son was born, she knew that there had to be something.  So we taught her about who God is. It was a good lesson.

Also this week, we found Iy*.  God literally put her in our path.  We were walking down a street and passed a woman.  I felt we should talk to her, but didn't!  Stupid!  Then, after she entered her house she came back out and said "Hey, chicias!  Vengan!"  We went over to talk to her and she said that she is a Mormon, but inactive, and that she wants us to come visit her, her son and her daughter in law.  We took out an appointment with her for the next day, which is when we met Iy*, her daughter in law.  Iy* recently had a baby, and doesn't know anything about God.  She is from the south and very very humble.  All her family except her mom and grandma dies in the earthquake about 20 years ago.  The only thing that she knows about God is that he created the earth, which isn't even true cause Jesus created the earth.  So that was an interesting lesson.

We have an appointment to see her today, and this time he are prepared.  We have a lesson plan to teach her who God is.  We were looking for a picture of God, but all we could find was pictures of Jesus.  The only picture he have of God is of the first vision.  But that also has Joseph Smith.  We thought that going into Joseph Smith would just confuse her beyond confusion, so we decided that we needed to cover Joseph Smith.  We looked around for a minute, then I took a post it note and stuck it over Joseph.  Oh you would have had to been there but it was so so so so so funny!

But, those are our two stories of success for the week.  But, like I said, we tried to have fun. On Friday after we had spent all day knocking doors and doing contacts we decided to buy ice cream from a street vendor before our lesson with Hermano Lu*.  As we were eating the ice cream we were talking about D&C when God gave the commandment to use water instead of wine for the santa cena.  Then, Hermana Lima said the funniest thing I have ever heard in my life. She said "Some people think that God is perfect . . . well, God is perfect." Oh my gosh we laughed for 5 minutes straight and our ice cream melted!  Sometimes Hermana Lima says stuff that she doesn't quite think through.  It is the most entertaining thing ever!  I write them all down on post its and stick them in my agenda.

But, I am doing good.  Suffering from the heat and from the hard hearts of the people.  But good.  Sorry, I don't have any analogies for you all this time.  But I will come up with a good one for next week.  I am on the brink of developing a good one.

Love you all, and hope all is well!

Con Amor,

Hermana Ostler

ps.please send chap stick with SPF, I haven't seen any here and my lips are dying!

pps.  No mater what you say, or Ben, I still don't feel THAT amazing.  I’m just normal.  A normal missionary doing what every other missionary does.

Our District

I watched God soften a hard heart

Dear Familia,

Thanks for the update on life in Richland.  Thats so great that Harrison and his friends have started that legacy of the dance thing.  Well, actually it was Jackson who got it rolling.  I am always in awe at the amazing familia I have.  Here in Chile, in the obra del senor, I have seen so much.  Satan is doing EVERYTHING he can to destroy the familia and to destroy the youth.  If he can destroy the youth, he will destroy the future.  But Satan is fighting a battle that he cannot win.  "Never get involved with a Sicilian when death is on the line . . . hahahah . .. hahaha .  . (And he dies)."  That is Satan.  He thinks he's got it, but no, he doesn't.  He will lose.

Also, I agree that Ben is absolutely amazing!  Wish I could be half the missionary he is.

So, this week was. . .  are you ready for this .  . hard!  Oh it was so hard.  It was so hot and we knocked so many doors, and I just wanted to find a nice shady spot to sit and drink ice cold water. But no, we knocked doors on shadeless, treeless, dusty streets, and only had hot hot water to drink.  I fell into bed just dead every night, and then I woke up dead the next morning to do it all over again.  But, we saw miracles everyday.

I know with all my heart that this is the work of the Lord, and He has not left us alone to do it.  I felt the Savior with me every second.  He stood by me when the doors slammed in my face to comfort me and tell me to keep going, and he whispered into my heart the words I should say to whose who chose to listen.  So yes, it is still hard, but who am I not to suffer?

Miracles in this work range from one good contact, to a baptism.  Yep, yesterday Hermano Lu* made a covenant with the Lord to be willing to take His name upon him, always remember Him and keep His commandments.  Oh, it was an amazing day! Hermana Lima and I showed up early to church and had the grand privilege of seeing him walk into the chapel in a suit!  Two ward members had gifted him a white shirt and tie, and he borrowed suit pants and a suit jacket from his primo.  Wow!  When I saw him I was just filled with joy.

There were 7 people baptized yesterday in our ward.  Yep, 7.  The heavens where rejoicing for sure. Taking pictures took forever, but we were able to get a few good ones.  Hermano Lu* was baptized last, and when he came out of the water he hugged the branch president (who baptized him) for so so so long.  He just wouldn't let go.  Then, afterwards, when he gave his testimony, he made me cry!  The turd.  I don't remember everything that he said, but here is a little jist. "Everyone told me that after you are baptized you will feel amazing, but there are not words to describe what I am feeling.  I feel .. .  I feel clean.  I was born again. This is the true church of God on the earth.  The mormon church. And now I am a mormon.  I never ever in a million years thought I would be a mormon.  Two years ago I could never ever see myself here.  I’m a mormon.  I’m a mormon in my house, with my family, with my friends, at my work.  I will always be a mormon."

It was a different man standing up there yesterday then the one that I met 6 weeks ago.  I honestly don’t feel like I did anything for him.  And I am not saying that to be humble, because it is true.  I DID NOTHING!  I sat back and watched as God softened a hard heart. He took a stubborn 56 year old man, stuck in his ways, and changed him into a repented child.  It was a beautiful thing to see, and the joy that was in my heart was complete.  It started in my heart and then pumped out to my veins until it had seeped into every part of me.  That moment was worth my whole mission.  Every tear, every hard time, every moment I wanted to give up.  Seeing Hermano Lu* at that pulpit was worth it all!

This is our group.  Hermana Dominique is our third companion cause we cant enter the house of Hermano Lu* solo.  She played a big part in helping us prepare him for baptism.

Car* also came to church! She just loves church. She says she is preparing to be baptized, but she doesn't want a fetcha. I think that she is planning on getting baptized in two years . . just like Hermano Lu*!  Noo!!  She doesn’t understand that she could be baptized tomorrow if she wanted.  We had a FHE with all her family.  We met her husband for the first time, and he is very amiable, but has had bad experiences with churches, so he isn't so open to listening to us.  But her daughter is definitely ready. I believe with all my heart that Car* will be sealed with her family for time and all eternity.  I believe that one by one, each of them will accept the gospel.  I know it.  I can see them all dressing in white, in the celestial kingdom.  During one of our lessons with her this week, I honestly felt the presence of a forth member.  Someone who was there who we couldn't see.  Then I remembered her son who has passed away, and I knew he was there.  He is our third companion working on the other side for us.  I know it!

We also found a family to teach this week!  I’m not sure how it will go cause the women is practically a testigo de jehova.  There were very amiable.  The husband invited us right in, and they were interested to know what we believed.  Then, before we left, the wife asked when we were coming back!  So there is a possibility here.  She is from Colombia and her accent is like glass! Honestly, she talks so smooth, clear, and slow.  I was jealous for like three second of those who get to serve their missions in Colombia or other lugares where the accent is easy to understand.  Chilenos talk so so fast!  And well, it is my personal belief that if you can understand a chileno speak Spanish, you can understand anyone speak Spanish! Jaja.

But, I love Chile, and I would never want to serve anywhere else.  Also, being jealous means that you are not grateful for what you have.

Okay, other random stuff that happened, I got chased and bit by a dog!  He ripped my second favorite skirt. Also, we find out about changes today.  I really don't want to leave.  If I leave I will just die!  This sector is so hard.  But I love it!  The mission is hard no matter where you go.  Also, once a week we eat in the restaurant that a member works at.  And the people at the table next to us were listening to music on their ipod.  Guess what they were listening to? LES MISERABLES!!  I sang along with every song!  JAJAJA. My comp thought I was crazy . . . but thats okay. And I was speaking like an Argentine all day yesterday . . jajaja

Okay, I love you all, thanks for all the support and love.  Que Tenga una linda semana!

Con Amor,

Hermana Ostler

Ps. Hermana Leyva is going back to the mission, but not here. She is going to a mission in Lima Peru close to her doctors.      

That wasn't our Amalikite

Familia,

Wow, I cannot believe that about Ben!  Breaks my heart!  I will definitely remember him and la familia Page in my prayers.

Me and my bike

I made friends with a goat!

This is in the more humble part of our sector that we explored this week and found a few people to teach and a goat!  Super fun day!

Well, we had a good week . . de hecho fue una semana incredible, lleno de milagros!  Well, it started out pretty rough, just on pday I was pretty low.  I didn't know what else we could do for our sector, or how we could find more people to teach.  The people here rarely let us get 5 words in, so finding people is hard.  Monday night I was praying so so so hard for the faith that I needed to be guided by the spirit to find the people who are prepared.

Then, on Tuesday, we had district class and our zone leader talked about having a positive attitude.  He gave the example of an atom, and how if an atom has more protons then it is positive, but if it has more electrons then it is negative.  He said that we needed to focus on having more positive thoughts in our heads then negative.  That really hit home with me.  I realized that the week before I had just been flat our enduring, and I hadn't been enforcing myself to have positive thoughts.  The negative thoughts were winning which made me miserable. I was thinking things like "These people are so hard hearted, no one will listen to us.  Oh there is another door slammed in face.  Its so hot. etc."  All of these things were and are true, but they are negative.

Our zone leader had us talk to our companion about ways we could be more positive.  We talked about having more faith, and about eliminating the word "dificil," from our vocab. Then I read to my comp a scripture in Alma, I don't remember the reference, but it talks about the mission of the sons of Mosiah and how they converted cualquire city of lamanites, then in one scripture it says something like "But none of the amalakites were convert, SAVE ONE ONLY."

I told Hermana Lima that we are in the sector of the amalikites.  All the other missionaries are teaching the lamanites and they might have cualquire lesson, or baptism, but we were called to preach to the amalikites.  I then said "I wonder how many doors ammon and aaron knocked until they found that one, or how many times they got doors slammed in their face until they found that one."  So our moto this week has been finding the one.  Every time we get a door slammed in face we laugh and say "That wasn't our amalikite.  Maybe he lives next door."

It was still a hard week, but we changed the way we reacted, and the thoughts we had.  I tired to laugh a lot, and look for the ridiculousness in some of our situations.  For example, one day it was so so so hot in the morning, and we were doing contacts on a treeless street, so there was no shade.  I was dying, so I put my helmet on to block some of the sun and knocked doors with my helmet on.  We had a good long laugh over that.

Another time, we were talking to a man who believes that God is an energy and that the libro de mormon can't be true because God doesn't talk to us anymore.  I told him that the bible says God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and so if he talked to men yesterday he will talk to men today because he doesn't change.  Well, as we were walking away I was talking about how frustrating the bible can be sometimes and how people can interpret it in whatever manner that they want.  Then Hermana Lima said, "Sometimes people just don't understand that God is a man . . . (pause and think about what she said) .  . But a perfect man with a lot of power."  Oh it was so so so funny!  I practically died laughing!

I've realized that the mind is powerful.  If you wake up and think it will be a crappy day then it will be a crappy day because you won't try to make it different.  But if you wake up and think it will be a good day then it will because you will be looking for a way to make it good.  We decided to have a good week and we did.

Car* is doing so so so great!  She came to church and she loved it!  She really wants her family to start listening to us too!  She is our one amalikite.  We had lunch with her this week, and it was so great!  At the end of one lesson we had with her, we asked her to say the pray.  It was a simple prayer, but said with such faith that if almost brought me to tears. I love her so much.  I can't think about her without smiling.  After conference she said that she was interested to learn more about the church, so she looked it up on line.  BAD IDEA! Well, she told us that she found some terrible stuff, and we were scared that she would believe it.  But not Car*.  She said "that stuff just can't be true.  Tell me its not true."  We told her it wasn't and she was so relieved.  Then she said "How can people say that stuff about OUR church .. .  um . .. or the church that we go to."  She is practically a member. When I invited her to live the word of wisdom she said "Well, of course, I already stared.!" Blah I just love her!

Also Hermano Lu* is amazing!  He is our other Amalikite!  His cousin is living with him, and when we went over to teach him he asked his cousin to say the prayer.  His cousin didn't want to and Lu* insisted.  His cousin continued to refuse and Lu* said "No, you need to say the prayer and talk to God.  We listen."  Then he bowed his head, and we followed suit.  It was quite for a moment, then his cousin finally said the prayer.  Hermano Lu* is a missionary!

Also, he gave his testimony in church!  It was so great and all the members loved it. He always says "I found my new family.  I found my new family here in the church."  One day we went to visit him and we asked him if he had read the libro de mormon.  He said "No, but its not my fault.  I was going to read yesterday night but I couldn't find my book.  My cousin had stolen it and was reading it in his room.  Hermanas, I think it is time you got him his own libro de mormon." I took out the libro de mormon that I had recently put in my backpack (I wasn't even going to bring one that day, cause I had little faith that we would find someone to give it to.  But I felt like I should bring one, so I did)  And I gave it to his cousin.  Hermano Lu* then shook his cousins hand and said "I congratulate you for starting this journey with me."  Oh, it was great!

Noche de hogar con Hermano Lu*

This is me losing the game we played - jajaja

We also found 7 new investigators this week!  That is incredible for this sector!  There are a few of them that are really good!  Also, we found an inactive older couple, and the way we found them was so so so funny.  We had talked to their daughter one day and she said to come back another day and talk to her dad cause he was a member.  So we went by on Wednesday and an old man answered the door.  We said, that we were missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ, and said, "Really, well, I'm a Mormon."  We said, great!  Then we started talking to him about the church, and if he still attends.  He said that he doesn't go anymore for his health.  We asked if we could share a message with him.  He said no thanks.  Then we said, can we come by another day.  And he said "No, I'm a mormon.  I like the mormon church."  And then we said "We are Mormons too."  He said "You're Mormons? Well, why didn't you say anything?"  jajaja!  It was so so so funny.  We were able to talk with him and his wife about the temple, and how they can be sealed forever.  Enrique and Gladis se llaman.  Enrique is 85 and Gladis is 83.  Enrique is losing his memory and doesn't understand a lot, but Gladis does.  She wants to be sealed in the temple.  She doesn't go to church cause she has a lot of health problems.  I don't know what we can do for this family, but I just loved visiting them!  Enrique said, "We have been married for 55 years and I still love her!"  CUTEST THING EVER!

We really did see the lord guiding us this week.  We had 5 people in church!  AMAZING! One of them was a street contact that we did who said she would come to church . . .and she showed up!  What? That never happens!  Well, actually it does . . cause it did!

Honestly the mission is really hard, but it is good.  I am learning more every day how to be like Christ, and how to follow him.  This week I am going to go back out there again and knock more doors until I find that one amalikite who is ready to listen.

Con amor, 

Hna Ostler

Ps. I also did a contact in English this week!  It was with a man who lived in NY for 4 years and England for another 4.  Yep, he passed my English test!  It was great!