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