Pictures, Pictures and more Pictures

 Happy SinterKlaas, since Katie's mom is from Holland her family has carried on the tradition of Sinterklaas, which is basically the celebration of Santa Claus. Here she is with the package she received for this occasion.

Mum, enjoying bread with chocolate sprinkles. Yes this is a dutch treat.

The Hermanas with their Christmas tree.

Celebrating Christmas at a Mission activity

Katie with President and Sister Laycock and a couple of other Sister missionaries.

Last week Katie told us about her visit to the Temple in Santiago. Here is one the nativity scenes on the temple grounds.

Katie and Hermana Verastegui with Ronald (standing next to Katie) is a investigator who hopefully will be baptized soon , Camilo (in white, whose brother was baptized two week ago) and Felipe who is now baptized but was an investigator.

Temple at Night

Felipe's baptism

Look they have Starbuck's in Chile, Katie stopped to get a strawberries and cream frappuccino. This is active she likes doing at home with her brother Kevin. In the background you can see the Cinica Indisa ( medical clinic that she and her companion had just visited because her companion is struggling with knee problems). Katie was so excited at the visit because she could understand the spanish medical terminology the doctor was using.

Presents under the tree.

Christmas at the Hermosilla Family's house. This is were Katie went to Skype with us on Christmas Eve. They are a wonderful family. Katie told us it was about 90 degrees that day and this family has a pool in there backyard. Of course Katie obeys the mission rules so she stays away from the pool.

Katie opening her Christmas package back in her apartment. She was initially planning on opening while she was using Skype but the home they went too was up hill and a 30 min walk away from here apartment. She decided that the package was to heavy to carry on that walk.

Yummy gluten free food.

  Katie is looking a Steve wedding pictures that he sent her for Christmas.

Lucia got baptized.

Skyping with Katie

It was so good to see Katie's face and skype with her. These were screenshots her brother took during the visit.

Katie, enjoying some food as they were at a members house and getting ready to eat dinner after she was done with our visit. We had a wonderful visit. I really think we got to see her better than she could see us but at least she got to hear us.

December 19, 2011

Hola,

Well I was hoping to be able to send photos but I may not have the opportunity to send them this week so here´s the run down.

Last Sunday we went to the temple to see the lights and many nativities they put up. It was so beautiful. There was a Christmas tree with a bunch of gifts underneath but the gifts were unique they all had words on them. Words like, meekness, service, forgiveness, love and many others along that theme. There are some many traditions and things that we do during Christmas time that I think we forget the things that are most important. Christ did so much for us in his life at this time of year we should focus on the gifts that we can give to him to show our appreciation for what he did. But what kind of gifts can we give to our savior? surely it´s not a new cell phone, or gift cards, or the the latest technology (i´m very disconnected from the world so I can´t come up with good examples. haha). The best way we can give to Christ is by humbling ourselves and looking for opportunities to help others.

Wednesday we had a Relief Society activity to celebrate Christmas. Us Hermanas sang a few musical numbers and corrdinated a get to know you game like speed dating. :)

My 9 MONTHS!!! I´m getting SO OLD!!!! We didn´t do anything special for my nine months other than what the pictures show. (if there aren´t pictures wait with anticipation for them :) )

FELIPE GOT BAPTISED!!! This week has been so amazing with teaching him. I have really seen and felt the change he has made in his life. He seems so much happier in the church. I pray and hope that he will continue strong and live the gospel everyday of the rest of his life. I know it can bless him so much and I´ve already been able to see how much it´s blessed him.

Yesterday we went to Ñuñoa to watch the Christmas devotional and Hna. Verastegui participated in a Choir of missionaries that sang right after the devotional. I loved the devotional. President Laycock bore his testimony right after. He mentioned that each one of us can find ourselves in Christ story. I´d like to think that I´m like one of the shepard who knew that Christ would come. They waited for his coming and during that time tended the sheep. Then once Christ came they RAN to the light to find their savior and learn more of him.

I love you all and I promise I´ll send the pictures next week.

-Hna. Howe

December 12, 2011

Hola,

 

Alright so today we had changes, well for I didn´t. I am staying here in the ward Lo Cañas with my companion Hna. Verastegui. In this sector there are two other hermanas, Hna. Castellón and Hna. Mancia. I am very excited for this change one of the main reasons being that Christmas is in this change. This Christmas is going to be very different for me, instead of being in the cold winter in Utah I am in the Hot summer in Chile. 

Monday I celebrated my own Sinterklaas, thanks to the package my family sent me. I made some gluten-free bread and ate some dutch food. OH MY GOSH I don´t think I can even express how happy I was.

 

This last Tuesday (Dec. 6) We had an activity as a mission. We all went to a park where we played games, ate, and had time to sit and talk, we then went to a chapel where we had lunch, a devotion by President Laycock and we watched "A Christmas Carol" I really enjoyed the activity. President and Hna. Laycock gave us all 3 things for Christmas. 1. A pillow case sown by her kids, they have a tradition in their family where they sew pillowcases each year and the kids use them for the month of December to help remind them of their savior and dream of him during this time of year. It´s really cute. 2. A journal that has Chile Santiago Este engraved on the the outside with the mission logo. 3. A book about Christmas that Pres. and Hna. Laycock.

 

This week has been a really busy week. Hna. Verastegui and I have had a lot to do outside of our sector which unfortunately means we haven´t had a lot of time working in our sector. We do have an investigator name Felipe that´s progressing really well and is going to be baptised this coming Sunday. :)

I love you ALL SO MUCH!!!

Thank you for all your support.

-Hna. Howe

November Activity with the Mission

During District and Zone Classes in November, we took the opportunity to review what Elder Quentin Cook and Sister Cook taught us during their visit in our Mission. We will be better Missionaries because of their wise counsel and good example.

November 28, 2011

To all,

This last week has been pretty interesting but I´ve got to back up a little bit first. The week before last I was pretty sick but of course I didn´t tell you because I didn´t want you to worry. The doctor told me that I have an ulcer but it´s due to stress instead of my celiacs. I was in a lot of pain and in my bed a few days. Don´t worry I am doing a lot better now. President called us up on Tuesday and began to ask me about my health to make sure I was doing good. He then told us that we were having special changes and that my new companion is Hna. Verastegui (from Bolivia). Hna. Castellón and Hna. Humpries are now companions. I am now a senior companion and I feel a lot like I´m training. Hna. Verastegui is a lot happier now and loves being my companion. I love being her companion too, I just feel a whole lot more responsibility. I want to be a good example for her and teach her how the mission should be. Hna. Verastegui and I are focusing on trying to find new investigators because they really didn´t have that many. I am hoping that we can finish this change really great even though I think we´ll be together the next change too, but ya never know.

This week there were TWO baptisms. One of them was an investigator from Ñuñoa 1, Lourdes. She got baptized on Friday. I was so happy that got baptized and even happier that I could attend. It´s was such an amazing experience to hear her testimony and see the fruits of my labors in Ñuñoa. Even if she were the only one in my entire mission to be baptized it would all be worth it. She had a lot of doubts and problems a long the way but was able to gain a testimony. Her kids were able to attend her baptism and she told them in her testimony that this is just one of mom´s crazy things but that she has a testimony that it´s true.

The other baptism was on Sunday. His name is Ronald, he´s 9 years old. His mom was an inactive member but  is now active. Hna. Castellón and I taught him a little bit but then we had the changes so Hna. Castellón and Hna. Humphries finished off his teachings before the baptism.

Alright well I love you SO MUCH!! I am so grateful for all your prayers, letters, and support.

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Well today we had changes but nothing changed here in Lo Cañas the 4 of us are Hermanas are staying put. I am pretty happy about it and I am excited to still be companions with Hna. Castellón. We have grown so much closer this last week and I think that we are really going to enjoy this change. I am also glad that I didn´t have to worry about packing and changing.

Hna. Wojciechowski "mi mamá" goes home today. It´s weird to think of the mission without her and I don´t think it will really hit me until we get together as a mission and she´s not there. That leads me to my next topic. Saturday we´re getting together as a mission with the North mission for a VERY VERY special devotional. Someone very special is coming. I really have no clue who it is but I´m pretty positive it´s an apostle. An elder asked President today who is coming and president said that he couldn´t tell us because he promised the area presidency that he wouldn´t tell. So I´m very excited for Saturday and it´s going to be a very special spiritual experience.

We didn´t have the baptism yesterday. Something happened last week that made it so she couldn´t be baptised but instead she is going to be baptised this coming Sunday. That is another reason I am glad to be staying in this sector so that I can see her be baptised.

On Friday Hna. Castellón and I went to visit an investigator. As we entered the house there was a coffin in the living room and nothing else. I thought to myself "is this for real or is it something for Halloween" It was for real. The investigators mother had just died and the mom was right there in the living room. Not going to lie I was a little creeped out, but I also thought what a great opportunity to share the plan of salvation. The whole time I was thinking about Opa and how it´s almost been a year since he passed away. I can´t imagine dealing with someone dying without knowing what happens.

I love the plan of salvation. It´s perfect and it really is centered in the atonement of Jesus Christ. Through Christ we can receive a forgiveness of our sins and enter into the presence of our loving heavenly father again. I love testifying of how God is our loving heavenly father because I know WITHOUT A DOUBT that he is. He is our father, he knows each of us and wants each of us to find eternal happiness, a happiness that the things of this world can´t give.

I love you all!!!

-Hna. Howe

October 24, 2011

Hola,

This week has been a pretty good week. This coming Sunday we have a baptism. YEAH!! it´s for a woman named Lucia and honestly I don´t feel like I´ve done a whole lot to contribute to this baptism it was pretty much her. She came to church two weeks ago and said that she had talked with some hermanas a few months early and that she now wanted to be baptised. I´ve always thought that having a baptism would feel a little different and that it would be something that I did. I realized yesterday that isn´t important at all. The thing that is important is that the people are coming unto Christ and really I feel so happy thinking about her and other people doing that. I don´t look at this baptism as a baptism that I got but a baptism that the Lord got and that´s really how it should be. I think this baptism goes along perfectly with Alma 29:9, the scripture that I chose for my mission plaque. 

We also had an experience that was exactly the opposite. Hna. Castellón and Hna. Fabrizio had been working with a mother and a daughter for like all of last change. They got the ward really involved and they were progressing. We´ve taught them once a week during this change and last week we had an amazing lesson with them and their family. We went for our lesson this week and they told us that they had made a decision and that they didn´t want to be baptised or take anymore of our time. Honestly the daughter wants to be baptised and I think that when she´s a little older and can do more things for herself she will be. I also am not giving up hope on the mom. She´s really great and if she can find the strength inside of her to keep the commandments she could be baptised as well.

Well changes are next week. This change has gone by so fast. I´m not sure what next change will bring but I´m pretty sure that I´ll still be here in Lo Cañas. This sector´s great and I still hope to get to know the ward and the people better. If I am here next change I hope to work even harder than I did this change. 

I love you all so much and miss you tons.

-Hna. Howe

October 17, 2011

OK so this one is going to be short because I only have 10 minutes.

Hola Everyone, 

This week was the celebration of the 50 year anniversary of the mission in Chile. My mission had the opportunity to go to the stadium and watch the whole thing. It was an awesome celebration and at the end all of the missionaries sang part of "A donde me mandes iré" (I´ll go where you want me to go) It was really fun to get together with the whole mission as well as other missions and just enjoy a fun time as well as seeing the importance of our work here. Unfortunately the prophet didn´t come and neither did any of the apostles. I´m not going to lie I was really hoping they would. But the Area Presidency was there and they spoke again.

We´ve been working really hard in this sector and finding a lot of people. It´s a lot easier to have lessons here than Ñuñoa but I am grateful for Ñuñoa and the time it gave me to learn how to really work hard. I love Lo Cañas and I am really excited that I still have two weeks left in this change and I hope to get to know the people in the ward better especially since I think I´ll be here longer. 

Love you all

-Hna. Howe

October 10, 2011

Hey Everyone!!

I LOVE ENGLISH. Don´t get me wrong I love Spanish too but sometimes there is such a relief that comes from speaking your own language and expressing yourself the way you want to. This week has been pretty great. There have been so ups and downs but the ups in the mission ALWAYS outweigh the downs.

On Saturday there was an area devotional where Elders Kent Richard, Jorge Zeballos, and Lawrence Corbridge spoke. The devotional was to celebrate the 50 years of the Chilean mission and there will be another huge celebration for that this Saturday. The talks were great and talked about the growth of the church here in Chile in just 50 years. It´s amazing there are now over 500,000 members here in Chile and it just continues to grow. Elder Richard announced some pretty amazing news. He announced that the youth here in Chile can now serve missions when the get to the age of 18! that includes the young women too. I think it´s awesome. I think part of the reason they did it is so that the youth won´t get distracted by things of the world and also so that they can go gain the knowledge that the need and come back and be a great strength to the church. The mission is an amazing time to learn SO much.

Lo Cañas is much different than Ñuñoa it is so much easier to have lessons and there definitely isn´t as much rejection. I feel a little at home here with the mountains so close. We´ve been working with quite a few people but no one is really progressing right now. Hopefully that will change. The goal for our mission is to have a "White Christmas" that may not seem like anything different for you who are on the other side of the hemisphere but here that doesn´t really happen. Anyways we are going to have a white Christmas by bringing FAMILIES in their white robes to the waters of baptism. :) Pres. Laycock Loves Christmas and is always talking about it. You can ask him any day during the year how many days are left until Christmas and he can tell you.

I LOVE MY MISSION, But I want you to know that I LOVE YOU TOO!!!! and I MISS YOU A TON!!!

-Hna. Howe

Special Testimony to the Young Women

Katie sent a little message to the young women in our ward last week and with her permission I'm entering it in the blog because we both agree that this really can apply to anyone. I hope you in enjoy this special testimony.

Young Women:

You have no idea how important you are and how much power you have. Through your example you can CHANGE the world. The world is getting worse and worse every day. God sent you here at this time because you are STRONG you have the strength that is needed to fight off Satan and save the children of God. You have the power to set the example that will save the world. Especially as young women from Utah, you were born and raised in the gospel. You KNOW it. You KNOW the church at it´s best. The church is just beginning to grow in different parts of the world and needs the help of those that know how it´s suppose to be. The world needs you, God needs you! God is preparing the world to send his priesthood army. He needs strong mothers to send them to. The mission is the time to learn how to be that strong mother and to grow in the gospel so that you can be strength for the church and raise this priesthood army that God has to send. (there´s a really good quote by pres. Hinckley that goes along with that but unfortunately I don´t have it with me.)

October 3, 2011

Hola,

General Conference was obviously the big thing this week, but hopefully I can get to that at the end.

Last Monday we had an activity for the entire mission. Since my mission is so small it´s not too difficult for all of us to get together. This activity was to celebrate the 18th of Sept. (Chile´s Independence day) even though it was a week later. Each of the zones did a fun little skit that either had to do with the missionary work or Chile. My zone did a funny skit on the reactions we get when we knock. Another zone sang a chilean song in classic chilean costumes. It was really fun. Afterwards we watched a little movie of OUR mission and then had the wonderful opportunity to listen to a devotional by Pres. Laycock. After the devotional we watched A MOVIE!! We watched remember the titans. There is a lot of cultural differences in my mission as there are many gringos and latinos. However we can and should be all united as ONE. We also found out during our activity that all of the missionaries in our mission will be able to go to the stadium in Ñuñoa on the 15 for a big Celebration that the church is having to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the mission in Chile. It´s going to be like a days of celebration type thing and I´m so excited to be a part of one again. :D That also means there will be people here from Salt Lake including the prophet so we have to look our best!

In the beginning of this week I was still having a hard time getting used to having a different companion. It´s not that Hna. Castellón isn´t nice or anything, actually she is so incredible and loving. I just haven´t had a different companion since I´ve been out here in Chile let alone a latin companion. We have adjusted pretty well now, and now we´re good friends and are always joking around. I try to be considerate and always speak spanish also I was taught by Hna. Wojciechowski to speak spanish as frequently as possible. Well Hna. Castellón really wants to learn English, which is great, but now she only wants me to speak English. Oh my being bilingual is difficult sometimes. ha ha. I hope that I can really help her out with her English but I also hope that I can really improve my Spanish. 

Alright Conference!! First off once again I really missed my mom´s delicious homemade cinnamon rolls. It´s alright it´s worth it. There were a lot of talks I loved. I also had the great pleasure of seeing my mom and Emily along with the women of my ward on TV during the end of the Relief Society session. It was a wonderful tender mercy of the Lord! Oh where do I begin...

I loved how much they talked about the use of technology. We really have everything at the touch of our fingertips and we can do so much through technology. Everyone is always so amazed when I show the family names that I have. I know that Family History is so important and the gospel is made more real as we do the work for our own ancestors. The gospel is so amazing and so clear. I love how simple it is and how all of it can boil down to if the Book of Mormon is true or not. If it´s true and I KNOW IT IS. Then everything else that is taught by the leaders of the church is true. I also loved how much they talked about the Holy Ghost and how he can be our constant guide to help us through our lives. 

Well unfortunately I´m out of time. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

-Hna. Howe 

 

September 26, 2011

Okay, so this weeks message from Katie is really really short. Mainly because she got to look at wedding pictures from Emily's wedding and a couple for Stephen.

Sorry I had a lot of pictures to look through today and I don´t have a lot of time. I still have to write pres. so I am going to do that. Just know that I am doing great. My spanish is growing and amazingly I haven´t had a hard time understanding my comp or the other Hermanas here. Half of my sector is the mountains which really makes me feel like I´m home. I do miss Ñuñoa like crazy!! and there have been a few difficult situations for me here but I am great and I am excited to help this sector out. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I hope I have more time to write you but I may not.

-Hna. Howe

September 19, 2011

Hola todos,

 

Alright A LOT happened this week and I really hope I don´t forget anything.

First off Tuesday we had a cita (appt.) with our golden investigator, Lourdes. We went in planning to teach about the Holy Ghost and well... that didn´t happen. Instead she told us about all the doubts and problems she has with the church. The young man that passed the sacrament to us on Sunday was laughing a little bit as he was and she found it very disrespectful and all of her problems just started to spout off of that. She was saying how things about the Book of Mormon and how we´re just like all the others bringing along this new book. She also said she feels like she´s wasting her time but she´s willing to listen to us a little bit more. That was a complete turn around and I was not expecting that. We know that this IS what she´s looking for we just have to work really hard to help her see it. Thursday we had a lesson with her with our district leader, his companion, and one of the young men from the ward. We though it would be good to bring them along to help her understand more about the priesthood and why it´s given to young men. Unfortunately I won´t be there anymore to see how the lessons go... Yes I was changed but I´ll come back to that later. I know that Lourdes loves Hna. Windous and I so much so I hope that she´s not too sad or offended that I won´t be there. I really hope that she gets baptized and I really do KNOW that this IS what she´s looking for. She just doesn´t quite know it yet.

Friday was the next big day. Thursday night everything seemed surreal and it just seemed like another day and not like something big was happening, like a wedding or something. :) That didn´t last for too long because I definitely felt the realness of everything Friday. We had an amazing time at the temple. It was really special there was a couple there at the same time that was being sealed I don´t know if that made it easier or harder on me. haha.

Yesterday was the 18th of September, shocker huh?... No I know that has no significance in the states but that Chile´s independence day. It really felt almost exactly like the 4th of July. Saturday we had a very festive lunch with empanadas. I gave into the peer pressure of the Hermanas and ate two empanadas. It´s alright I´m good... now.

Since it was the last week of changes the whole week Hna. Windous and I were talking about what could happen in changes, let me just say it wasn´t quite what I was expecting but I think it is even better. I finally left Ñuñoa 1 which now I´m actually a little sad about it because we finally had people we were teaching and I had connections with a lot of people there. Both Hna. Rios and I left Ñuñoa 1 and Hna. Wojciechowski and Hna. Windous stayed and got different companions. I am now in a sectore called Lo Cañas. My new companion is Hna. Castallón, she´s from Nicaragua. and I am also going to be living with Hna. Humphries who will be training an new Hna. from Bolivia. I am the only one who isn´t fluent in Spanish but I know because of that my spanish is going to get so much better and I´m so excited for that. I am also excited to get to know the people in this sector and it seems a lot calmer than the city life of Ñuñoa. I am so excited for this change and can´t wait to see what the Lord has in store for me. 

I Love you all!!! and I hope that you are all doing well.

 

-Hna. Howe

September 12

¡Hola! 

So I hear there´s a wedding or something of that sort this week.. Well congratulations to the happy couple. I´m assuming that their happy after all I can´t really see it for myself. 

This week has been pretty great. It´s been busy and everyday was full of things to do, which is really nice because in this sector it´s usually difficult to find plenty of things to do. I´m pretty sure I´ve told you about our golden investigator. (the one we contacted when Hna. Windous rolled her ankle) Well we´ve taught her a few times. On our second visit we asked her to be baptized on the 18th, she said she wanted to learn more and didn´t think that she´d be ready for the 18th. We teach her about twice a week and during one of our visits this week she asked us what other day we will be having a baptismal service. She said that she can´t stop thinking about it. We told her whenever she´s ready we have a service. We extended to her the meta (goal) of Oct. 2. I really think that will happen. She came to church with us on Sunday, she stayed for all 3 hours and other than the crying babies in sacrament meeting I think she liked it. I am so excited for her and I just love seeing more people come unto our father in heaven. I know he loves each and every one of his children and just wants more anything to see them come unto him so that he can POUR out his blessings upon them. 

Thursday we had capacitaciónes (trainings) where Pres. and Hna. Laycock talked to us again. Pres. focused more on the things he talked about during zone conference, things like how everything we do should be helping us to have the spirit with us more. The Holy Ghost is the perfect teacher, I´m definitely not. That´s one thing I´ve loved about my companionship with Hna. Windous. We have always got along so well and we´ve never even had the slightest bit of tension, that has enabled us to have and teach with the spirit. We also listened to a talk that Elder Holland gave in the MTC in Jan. 2011. He mentioned that one of the main reasons why they came out with PMG was that they realized there was something wrong with the missionary program when the missionaries that were coming back weren´t changed by their missions. It was such a powerful talk, I want to be a missionary forever! maybe not in the way I am right now and maybe not even preaching everyday but living with the missionary spirit.

So Thursday night Hna. Windous and I were walking back to the house when we got a call from the Hnas. in Ñuñoa 2. They said that the assistants to Pres. Laycock called and that Pres. wanted the Hnas. in my zone to go to the temple on Friday. Well I wasn´t going to fight with that. :) I was so excited to go and I was even more excited at the thought of going to the temple two weeks in a row. :D. I really can´t imagine what I would do if I didn´t have a temple in my mission. 

This is the last week of the change and we things to do almost everyday so I know that this week is going to fly by. I´m kind of sad about that because I´m pretty sure I´m going to get a new companion. Hna. Windous and I have been together for 3 changes and it´s rare for a companionship to be together longer than that. There are a lot of fantastic Hnas. in my mission though so I´m excited to see what changes bring. I am also interested to see if I´ll change sectors. WE´LL SEE!

Until next week!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

-Hna. Howe

September 5, 2011

Hola,

Well I don´t really know what to write about this week. I think the big thing of this week was Zone Conference. The talks were based on PMG (Preach my Gospel) ch.2 How we can study more efficiently. I honestly have forgotten a lot about it but good thing I´ve got two full pages of notes. I just remember afterwards how inadequate and weak I felt. I want SOOOOO much to do everything right and to give all my heart, might, mind, and strength to the Lord. I don´t think I realized before the mission just how difficult that can be. I really want to be the best missionary I can be but I always feel something holding me back. I talk to Hna. Windous in the streets a lot and mention all my weaknesses and the things I could do better. She just turns and says "you´re too hard on yourself." I think I always have been. I´m learning right now how to have patience. I always thought I had patience and out of all the Christlike attributes that was the last one I needed to work on, but I didn´t realize how I need to have patience with myself. I´m not perfect and never will be. Everything comes in it´s own time and it it´s own way. That´s a big part of why they say line upon line, precept upon precept. As I look back I can see improvement I´ve made and I know that throughout my mission I will continue to improve. I can´t expect to do it all at once or to all the sudden in one day know everything. On thing President Laycock always says it "Al Proximal Nivel" (to the next level). Usually he follows it by saying don´t compare yourself against others but just try to improve yourself. Improvement is gradual. But If we can gradually improve one thing at a time then we can gradually reach where we want to be. He also Always Stresses the importance of making goals. That´s something I need to work on a lot. I always say I want to do something but unless I make a goal and WRITE it down I usually don´t do it. 

Sorry I don´t really have more to say. just not a ton happened this week. 

I love you all and miss you more than ever!!!!! 

Have a GREAT week!!!!!

 Katie with Pink Eye

-Hna. Howe

August 29

¡Hola Todos!

 

Well this week has definitely been interesting. We had some pretty big ups and downs, the roller coaster they call the mission. Tuesday Hna. Windous and I went knocking and we got the hardest rejection I´ve seen so far and people were really making fun of us. Then we went to visit some people that we had taught lesson 1 to. The first person that we stopped by is a woman that´s in her 80´s we had given her a Book of Mormon but she returned it to us and said she didn´t have time for it but rather needed to focus on preparing her self to die. ha ha. I know if she really understood she would know that this would be the way to prepare but she just wouldn´t listen to us. We then passed by a little family the mom wasn´t there but the daughter let us in and we began talking to her and her brother. About 10 minutes in the mom got home and pretty much kicked us out. I realized that night just how much I love the people and how much it hurts me to see them reject eternal life. The rejection doesn´t hurt me, what hurts me is just seeing all the people stuck in their pride. 

 

So last week Hna. Windous and I were going to visit a recent convert and as we were walking we passed this lady we were just going to walk right passed but Hna. Windous rolled her ankle (which she always does) but we decided we would contact this woman. Yeah she´s pretty much golden. We passed by for her this week and she was totally ready for us. She told us she doesn´t have a job right now and she´s really grateful for that so that she can spend her time reading the Book of Mormon and investigating the church. She´s amazing and already loves what we´ve taught her. It´s funny she´ll go off for a while bashing the catholic church and the Jehova´s witnesses. 

 

We have also found a family their pretty strong catholics and right now we´re actually only teaching the mom but I have pretty high hopes of teaching the rest. We´ve taught the mom twice now and last time we talked to her about the Book of Mormon. In the end I invited her to pray the way we do (instead of the written prayers) and she told us that since the first lesson she had been praying like that with her daughter. Oh my gosh little things like that just make me so happy. 

 

Yesterday we had a sector slam in Ñuñoa 2 and I went on divisions with one of the Hermanas from that sector who has less time on the mission than I do and actually I was FANTASTIC I learned so much about myself and I really just loved the experience. But I do still hope I´m not senior companion anytime soon. 

 

This morning we had a zone activity where we all got together and played soccer, ultimate frisbee, and ate churipan (it´s like hot dogs but with chorizo). Of course I only had the chorizo but it was so good and so much fun. My zone is awesome and I love the opportunities that we have to come together!!!

 

This week we have Zone Conference on Thursday and I´m SUPER excited!!!

Well until next week. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

-Hna. Howe (or as they say it here Hna. House) :) 

August 22,2011

Hola,

Well guess who woke up with pink eye this morning? Yep me! esta bien I just look a little funny without makeup and with glasses.

This week has been fun and exhausting. There was still all the regular stuff that we do each week but this week we had a few more lessons. Finally!

Saturday we had a sector slam in Macul 2. They were having their ward conference yesterday so we went to help them spread the word the the less actives. Hna. Windous and I had time so we decided that we would walk, after all we walked to Los Platanos last week and it´s just about the same distance. It took us about 45 min to walk there and then the names that we were given lived at the very south of there sector which took us probably about another 20 min. After the sector slam we got back to our sector and we had a cita (appointment) all the way north in our sector and that took us about 30 min. I really wouldn´t be surprised it we walked like 10 miles that day. The cita that we had that night went really good and it was like a little miracle. It was with a 16 year old girl. We knocked her house last Monday and when we passed by she welcomed us in and was really receptive. At the end of the lesson we were giving her a Book of Mormon and she asked what does the word Mormon mean. I told her that He was a prophet that wrote it the book but that his name doesn´t really have any meaning. She then asked if we and the Mormons had the same book. We then explained that we are Mormons. She told us that she would always make fun of the Mormon missionaries with her friends. Had she known the second we knocked her door that we´re the ones they call Mormons I don´t think she would have let us in, But now I have such great hopes for her. She just has to read and pray. Saturday night after all the walking I was pretty much dead. I got into my bed and I literally hurt from head to toe. I was thinking though I hope this is how I feel when I get home. It´s hard but so rewarding. The real unfortunate thing about Saturday night was it was daylight savings and since it´s going into spring I lost an hour. Oh well.

I talked with Hna. Laycock last week and she was telling us that out of all the missions here in Chile our mission is the one that needs the help from members the most. It´s the richer part of Santiago and there´s places that we can´t knock (like apartment buildings) and just people that would take the time to listen to us. The stake mission leader told us this week that the stake is going to start something to get the members more involved in the mission work. The stake is going to try and get every family a copy of PMG and they want the families to teach their family home evenings based on PMG. Also they are going to make calenders for each ward and the idea is to have one family sign up for a FHE each Monday and on the Monday that they sign up for the missionaries are going to come and teach the lesson and they have to have a non member present. It is going to be AWESOME! I know that the members can do it and I know it´s the real way missionary work should be done. I know that I am going to be a completely different kind of member when I get home. I continue to learn each day more and more about the importance of the members.

Last night we had a sector slam in our sector in hopes of finding new investigators. I love my Zone, we´re so united and always willing to help each other out. I went on divisions with Hna. Hudson and we had a fun time getting to know each other a bit more. Y eso es la vida de una missionera. Hasta proxima semana.

¡Les Quiero Muchisimo!

-Hna. Howe

August 15, 2011

¡Hola todas!

This week has been amazing and I learned a HUGE lesson about diligence this week. My first 2 months in Chile were a little rough but amazing! Because of all the rough times and the hard days I learned so many great and important lessons and I could feel the spirit with me almost 100%. These past few weeks have been a little different. I´ve got comfortable with the mission life and living in Chile. When I got to that point I think I stopped giving it my all. I prayed for experiences to humble me because I just wanted to feel the spirit that strong again. Well I was thinking one night about the one goal that I have for me for my mission. I came on my mission to serve the Lord and do everything for him. The only thing that I wanted to gain was to establish good study habits and what I need to change to start that habit. I thought of the one thing that always keeps me from doing my studies and that is being lazy. It´s the little natural man or woman inside each of us that always wants to do the things that are comfortable are not stretch ourselves at all. There are a lot of things in the mission that I´m not comfortable with, like contacting, and knocking. One night this week I studied the Christ like attribute of diligence. I really can´t put into words what I learned or felt. If we have diligence we will have the spirit. Oh this is so difficult I wish I could just talk to you and explain it. But I learned this lesson in such a profound way that all I want to do now it WORK. Diligence also ties into our accountability. Here in the mission all of my time is the Lords time and at the end of the day I am accountable to the Lord for what I did with my time. I know I am so much happier at the end of the day when I can pray to God and literally tell him I did all I could. We can always improve but we can´t expect to do all of our improvement in one day. We should just do all we can do and as we do that we will find over time that we will be able to do more. Pres. Laycock always says to the next level and that we should all strive to reach our OWN next level. We shouldn´t compare ourselves to others but just look at what we can improve and continuously reach for the next level.

Other things that happened this week... It was the first week of the new change so I have a new district and Zone. My new district leader is awesome and he taught a great class on Thursday about how we can be better missionaries. Also on Saturday we had a Sector Slam in Los Platanos to try and have some lessons with less actives. Los Platanos is A LOT different that Ñuñoa 1 and there are a few parts that are much more dangerous for Hermanas at night. Don´t worry we weren´t there at night and I don´t think there will ever be Hermanas there because of that. The rest of the week was pretty much just walking, knocking, and occasionally teaching lessons.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

-Hna. Howe

August 1st

Hola
Wow I can´t believe it´s August already! This week has been pretty fantastic! Wednesday we had our interviews with President Laycock. It´s always so fantastic to see him. He really just receives revelation from God and know what each missionary needs and needs to hear. After everyone was done with their interviews and we were all about to leave. Me and the Hermanans in my sector were standing outside of the room he was interviewing in. He came out and said that he wanted all of the Hermanas in our zone to go to the temple this week. There are 8 of us in the zone and we were able to go to the temple on Friday. Oh, it was so fantastic and such a great blessing. I loved the peace and joy I felt in the temple.

Also on Friday we had an activity in our ward for the youth, it was on missionary work and the purpose was to get the youth to have more desire to serve a mission. We have quite a few that are the age to go on a mission but just haven´t yet. The activity was supposed to start at 8 and at about 8:10 there were probably 2 youth there. The hermanas and I stepped out and went and said a little prayer that people would arrive. We then went back to the room and there were about 20 people there. It was muy pero muy genial! (VERY cool). On Thursday us hermanas did divisions so I went out with Hna. Wojciechowski and Hna. Windous went with Hna. Rios. we did divisions for practically the whole day. I learned all the things I didn´t know. As in I learned how many things I don´t know but should or need to know. Hna. Wojciechowski is the most amazing missionary and I´m a little sad that I didn´t have her as my companion for longer but I am very happy for the time that I still have to learn from her.

None of our investigators are progressing. We set a baptismal date for Catalina, who is 12 years old, but we´re having a hard time getting her to church so we´re going to have to push the date back. Even though we´re not having success with investigators we had a hugh miracle this week. I´ve mentioned José and Luz in my emails before, well they came to church this week!!! They have been inactive for 25 years and we´ve been teaching them for about 2 months now, and they came to church!!! oh it was awesome! They were so happy and they brought their family (the family is active). We have cambios (transfers) coming up this coming Monday and we keep thinking about it and predicting what will happen. Vamos a ver muy pronto. (we are going to see very soon).
Bueno, ... eso.
I love you all and hope that you have a fantastic week!!
-Hna. Howe

Our bags are ready to go if we need them.

Julio 18, 2011

¡Hola todo de ustedes!

Ok este semana, oh yeah English... So this week has been great. Still a lot of work but there have been some great experiences. Hna. Windous and I have still been out knocking almost everyday with very little success and with A LOT of rejection. But we still continue to have hope and faith and work hard everyday! My Spanish has been improving a lot. I am understanding and speaking a lot in Spanish. This Wednesday in correlation, which is our meeting with the ward mission leader where we discuss what we´ve done during the week and our investigators. Hermano Moreno, the ward mission leader, ask me to say the prayer. We always start off with hymn, prayer, and a spiritual experience. After I said the prayer Hno. Moreno was going to share the spiritual experience and his experience was my Spanish. He said that he was so impressed with how well I could speak and with how fast I was learning. He just mentioned how it´s really a testimony that the gift of tongues is real. And oh can I testify of that. I am so amazed with how much I can understand. Of course there is still SOOO much I don´t know but I love it when I can communicate.

Friday night Hna. Windous and I were out knocking one person came out and we got talking with him for a little bit, probably close to 15 minutes. While we were talking to him out district leader called us 4 times. Afterwards we called him back and he asked us if we had felt the earthquake? Since we were outside we didn´t but he had I´m pretty sure and Pres. Laycock did. The earthquake was actually in Valparaiso which is much further north than our mission. I pretty sure all they felt was a tremor from it and definitely nothing big. Anyways he was just calling to check up on us. He then called again about 20 minutes later saying that Pres. Laycock wanted us all to go through our emergency bags that night and see if we were had everything in them. Later in the night as we were going through them Hna. Wojciechowski called her district leader and asked when we should buy the things that we are missing. He said that we could wait til Monday. Saturday morning we got a call from our district leader and he said that Pres. Laycock said that if we were missing ANYTHING that we needed to go to the store and buy it that day. He wanted all the missionaries to go to the stores and get whatever they needed. Me and the other Hermanas ever since have been joking about how there is going to be an earthquake. Just to let you know I don´t write this to scare you and I write this to give you comfort. I really don´t think there is going to be an earthquake but you can take care in knowing that if there is me and all the other missionaries in my mission will be ok and definitely prepared. It was just a really fun part of the week. :)

Right now as a mission we are doing a fast for 40 days and 40 nights. Each companionship has a day to fast and the fast will end with Pres. and Hna. Laycock. It´s such an incredible and uniting experience. Our purpose is to find new investigators, to find those who are looking for the gospel. The assistants started the fast I think two weeks ago. Anyways a while back missionaries had been teaching a teenage girl but her father wouldn´t give her permission to be baptized. Well after the assistants had started their fast. during that day they received a call from her father saying that he wanted her to be baptized that Sunday. Elder Zeballos of the quorum of the seventy did the baptism. Oh being on a mission is such an incredible experience and I can feel the lord so close to me in all that I do.

I love you ALL

-Hna. Howe

Mission Picture

Julio 11, 2011

HOLA

Well this last week has been good. It´s definitely been a lot of walking and knocking again. Oh and studying. I LOVE the new program. The Lord really invests SO much in his missionaries. There are days when my companion and I only go out for like 3 hours because we have meetings in the morning and then have to do our studies after. It´s sad that it takes time away from working but I have been growing so much. Even in just this past week I have seen so much growth. I´m now starting lessons, actually teaching, and speaking a lot more Spanish. I can now actually understand a lot of the scriptures when I read them in spanish. I´m still really bad with subjunctive and past tenses but it will come.

We´ve been teaching a couple that are inactive. There names are José and Luz. They´re probably in their 70´s and haven´t been to church for 25 years. The first time we met with them we invited them to church Luz strongly objected. We have taught them once a week and each time invite them to church. They started to read the Book of Mormon together. She can see the words very well so he reads to her each day. Super cute I know. :) This last Thursday after we taught them we invited them to church. Each time the ¨No¨gets a little bit softer and this time it seemed like Luz was really thinking about it. I know José really wants to go but he doesn´t want to leave Luz at home alone. Luz told us that she´s getting a lot closer and really wants to go before the transfer is over so that we can be there. She also mentioned that this is the first time she´s read the book of Mormon and that she can feel the spirit more as they read and as we visit them. It is so amazing, and I am so excited for them. I love them so much and I really hope they do make it back to church before the change is over. The Book of Mormon has so much power and I KNOW that it DOES bless the lives of those who take the time to read it and poder on it´s words.

We didn´t have any investigators at church for the last two weeks so according to Preach my Gospel we don´t have and investigators that are progressing. We are working really hard though. It´s a big sector but I know that it has a lot of potential. Yesterday in church I met a new family that moved into our ward. They are actually from Salt Lake and are here for 6 months for the husbands job. The wife and the 4 year old don´t speak Spanish but they´re really excited to be here and to learn. I can´t imagine trying to learn Spanish without the help of the Lord. I feel like I´m learning it so fast but I know it´s only because of the gifts of the Spirit and because I am doing the Lords work. I am excited to be able to speak spanish when I come home and I definitely plan on developing it more after my mission.

I love you ALL

-Hna. Howe

My nutritional diet :) haha

When you have celiac you can't have flour so my cabinet is loaded with corn.

Me and my new Coat

In case you didn't hear. Katie lost her jacket on the plane on her way to Chile. Unfortunately the people in Chile are a lot smaller that she is so Mom had to find a coat and send it to her. Lucky she got just as Winter is arriving in Chile.

My beautiful feet

The feet of a hard working missionary.