Week 34: Eight is Great. So is Kate.

hey hey holaaaa.

I am not even kidding, this week felt like the fastest week of my mission so far. I feel like August just started and now its over! Time in the mission is so funny.

This week was good! not a ton to report. I got to have an intercambio with Hermana Rico this week, she's so cute and she's from SPAIN! Well, we had an appointment scheduled with Francisco, and we were planning on teaching about the plan of salvation. As we arrived, he quickly informed us that he needed help because he wanted to pray but he didin't know how. Even though we've taught him a BILLION times, we decided to switch our plans and help him understand better. He was so cute, he started crying because he didn't know the correct words to pray. awwww. He's awesome, he came to church again yesterday. miracles. so close to BAPTISM.

In this same intercambio, something super cool happened. We were walking and felt super prompted to go and visit a less active family. They are less active only because its cold outside and the mom doesn't want to bring her new baby in the cold. Well, we stopped by their house, only to find that both the brand new baby and her sister were both super super sick! The mom was super stressed, and told us, "Don't worry Hermanas, I am coming to church this Sunday because I am going to ask for a priesthood blessing for my daughters." This poor lady had no idea that its okay to ask for a priesthood blessing whenever! We made a couple of phone calls and a few minutes later our bishopric was there, giving a blessing. so funny. :)

okay but for reals this is the cool story of the week: so gabriela and segundo are recient converts. Gabriela is 58, segundo 78. They live super humbly, Segundo has been sick for a couple of months and can't leave his bed too often, and Gabriela makes and sells bread every day to support themselves. They're so so awesome and haven't missed a sunday since their baptism. They don't really have a ton of money, and Gabriela has been struggling this week to sell her bread. No one is buying. Well, Saturday we had lunch with her! Even though she hardly has any money and her house is tiny, she fed all 4 of us, this HUGE LUNCH.  She told us, "its a privelege to serve you guys, you do so much for us!" 

Well, that night, we passed by her little stand to see how her bread was selling. She prepared 15 loafs the night before, and when we arrived she only had 5 left. We had our money, ready to buy whatever we needed to. But as we sat and talked, person after person came and bought her bread, and there was none left. A couple of tears may have been shed as we walked home that night. How incredible, seriously. It reminds me of the scripture in Mosiah 2:17, when we're in the service of others,  we are in the service of God!

Chile is awesome. I love the people here.They are so humble and have so much faith. I am learning so much from their examples every single day.

THIS CHURCH IS SO TRUE OH MY GOODNESS

tomorrow i hit 8 months in the mission woooooo

thats it from me friends. 

have a sick week 

love hermana kate

Week 33: 'Do your best, God takes care of the rest.'

Hola hola holaaaaaa. :)

Its funny, this week I was thinking about how this time last year I was working on my mission papers and getting ready to send them in. Time sure flies, aye? feels like it was yesterday, but I have been here in Chile for almost 8 months now! What the heck. 

August in Chile is SUPER WEIRD. Like, weatherwise. We're getting to the end of winter, beginning of spring, so one day it will be literally pouring rain, and the next day it will be super hot and sunny. Sometimes we even get rain and sun in the same day. Sometimes, its super sunny and raining at the same time. I don't even understand it.

Something very happy happened this week. Finally, after 5 months, this apartment has hot water again! Its been real nice, Although I have gotten really good at washing my hair in less than 2 minutes, I think I am going to enjoy hot water. 

Cool story of the weekkkkk. On Tuesday our Zone leaders informed us that there is a new rule in our mission, we're not allowed to enter the home of a single male, regardless of his age, without another woman with us. Before, our rule was that if the man was older than 40, or if another man was in the house, or if we had a male member with us. But now, no. Well. This is a little bit of problem here in Angol, because there 1) aren't alot of members 2) aren't a lot of women 3) aren't a lot of women members willing to come with us. SO. Francisco, our investigator, lives in the house of his daughter. But, his daughter works late every night, so he's alone all day. Well, first we tried to schedule an appointment, hoping to bring a member. but everyone was busy. Second, we decided that since he lives on a big hill and members didn't want to walk that far, we would do it in the church. But, Francisco was sick that day. The third time, we felt like we could just teach him outsid of his house. BUT IT WAS RAINING. Oh my gosh we were so frustrated. It was hard, because we were trying to be exactly obedient, but in doing so felt as if we were losing out investigator. 

Well, yesterday, FRANCISCO CAME TO CHURCH! what a testimony builder to me, exact obedience really does bring miracles! I learned a super powerful lesson, that God really doesnt ask too much of us, and when we do what he asks, he makes up the difference. I got a cute note from my cousin Taivan this week that says, "Do your best, God takes care of the rest." Thanks Taivan for your inspired words :)

Lets see, Que mas. Saturday was the birthday of this cute super old recient convert that we have. We passed by in the morning with some banana bread we made, and he told us we had to come back at 4 to pick up our plate. We agreed, and then hurried off to our Lunch. Well, after lunch at 4, we headed back, only to find them all sitting around their table, waiting for us so that we could all eat another lunch. ooops. Since it was his birthday, the meal was hugeeee and my stomachs still angry at me. oh the mission.

This week we took a little trip up to Los Angeles to pickup my ID. Good news, after 8 months, i'm finally legal. woooo.

but yeahhh. thats about it from me!

hope your week ROCKS.

love hermana poyfair 

Week 32: This is what dreams are made of...

This week gets 2 big thumbs up. 

I dont even know where to begin! okay. First of all, Sunday was so so crazy and so awesome. Our bishop called us at 9 o'clock and told us we needed to go and pick up a family of recient converts for church. So like ya, okay cool. The only problem is that this family lives on the very largest hill in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING YOU. Andddd we were running a little late. So we basically had to run up this huge hill to pickup this family. Well anyways, we finally arrive at this house and they were all sleeping, no one answered the door. lameeee. So we're walking to church, and I suddenly felt like we needed to call Francisco (our investigator) to make sure he was on the way to church. Francisco informed up that he was super sick and would not be able to make it. double lame. The whole way to church, I was seriously praying for a miracle. My companion was a little bummed and we just needed something happy to happen. 

WELL. God sure is a God of miracles, right? We arrived at the church, and two crazy screaming girls come running at us. The girls are named Josefa and Valentina; Valentina is 10 and was baptized about 6 months ago, and Josefa just barely turned 8, and hasn't been baptized yet. Their mom isn't a member, but has been listening to the missionaries for quite some time and we're super close with her. But anyways, these cute (SPOILED) little girlies got dropped off by their dad so that they could come to church. So cute. Seriously is such an example to me, seriously it would be hard to come alone at that age. But they did it! Josefa whispered to me during the reunion. "when is it my turn to be baptized?" I about died. so cute so cute so cute.

Ohhhh also yesterday I gave my first talk in Spanish in the mission and I've been here for almost 8 months. I think it went well, apart from the fact that I was supposed to speak for 15 minutes and I spoke for maybe 6 oops. 

 

Oh also! yesterday we were walking and knocking doors when all of the sudden my spiritually awesome companion shouted, "WE NEED TO KNOCK THAT DOOR!" scared me half to death haha! But yeah, in this house lives a lady who recently moved here to Angol a few months ago. She had been listening to the missionaries in her old town and was super close to baptism, but moved here and didn't know where to find the missionaries! She told us marriage had never been important to her, but the more she listened to the missionaries, the more she realized just how essential it is. She and her husband are married civily but not in a church. She told us she and her husband had been talking about our church literally the night before. WHAT A STINKIN MIRACLE! They have a ton of potential, and we're excited to see whats going to happen with them.

Also this week, were contacting on top of this huge hill, when all of the sudden we see this little old lady struggling up this hill with two huge bags full of vegetables. We quickly ran to her rescue, figuring she must live at the top of the hill. Well, she did. But not this hill, a hill about three miles behind this one. hahahah. When we got to her house, we asked if she had a couple of minutes to listen to our message, to which she replied, "no, thanks, I am super busy. thanks for your help, bye!" shooooooooot. Well, we're planting seeds, right? maybe in the future she'll accept the missionaries in her home.

Something funny. Oh, on friday our district leader called us to tell us to change our clocks, because of the change in hour or whatever. We were all a little confused, because its always Saturday night, not Friday, and we didn't want to lose an hour of sleep! But, being the obedient missionaries we are, we did what we were told. Well at about nine o'clock the next morning, we recieved a call telling us that he was wrong, and that it WAS saturday night. Funny, right? I was the only one laughing for a couple of hours.

This week is going to be another good one, I can tell. The weather is better, so the people are nicer.

have such a good week! I love y'all.

love hermana poyfair

Week 31:FIRST WEEK IN ANGOL WOOOOOO

Oh, hi everyone. 

hope your week was FABULOUS. 

what a week I had..

First of all, Angol is great. It really is SO BEAUTIFUL! Its this little city located in the middle of 2 big hills. Its super green and whole lot smaller than Los Angeles! 

I remember when I first got the call that I was being transferred to Angol, I was super relieved because I have only been in the big city for my whole mission and I am just a city girl now, so it would be okay because i would still be in the big city right? well. Got a little reality check this week when I arrived, because the sector is divided into 2 parts, one part that is all of the city, and the other part that deals more with the country side of Angol. More houses, less city. It also means HILLS. LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF HILLS. 

my knees love it, really. 

guess I've been a little bit spoiled up until now. hahaha also our microwave is broken and we haven't had hot water since before I got here but its SO FINE because the mission rocks and life is so good and happy and its so fun to see a different part of this beautiful country. 

My companion is awesome! her name is Hermana Freitas. Shes from Brazil and she's 28. Nine year age difference. pretty cool. Her conversion story is awesome and she is just a super hard worker and I really admire her alot. Also she's still learning spanish (like me) and she has a super hard time understanding me and I have a hard time understanding her but its okay because we are always laughing at the other persons accent and we are doing just fine. Already seeing miracles!

For example, last week we were contacting and we found this cute little old man that's basically deaf and can't understand either of us which is real funny but its okay because the spirit is teaching him like crazy. He is awesome, he accepted a baptismal date and was at church yesterday! wooooo miracles...

oh funny story. Last night we were walking home after a long day and Hermana Freitas was singing "I am a child of God" in portuguese so I joined in English. Well, there was this guy walking on the other side of the road, that crossed the street and asked, "Do you know English?" well, me, being the expert spanish speaker that I am, replied, "si, yo sabe ingles" which means, "yes, you know English." Which makes no sense. He turned to me with a confused look, to which I responded, "Don't worry, better than Español" hahahah oh the embarassment. Just when I think I got this language down, it slaps me in the face. :) hahahaha

but yeah! I am super happy here in Angol. Its so different but so good. The people here are so much more humble and willing to listen and accept the gospel. I love it.

THIS CHURCH IS SO TRUE

love hermana poyfair

Week 30: Angol where you want me to go Dear Lord

my title will make sense in like two seconds just keep reading.

Hey friends! Can you believe its August? what happened to July? And June? and May? How stinkin crazy. 

WELP. Transfers came this weekend. Saturday night, while we were walking and talking about cambios, Hermana Johnson recieved a call from the Assistants letting her know she was going to be a Trainer! She might have started crying. But we were freaking out and then all of the sudden I realized, wait a second, that means I'm leaving. Andddddd its true. Its a little bit lame, because I have only been here in Villa Obispo for one transfer! But, the Lord needs me in a different part! So, tomorrow I'm headed to Angol. Its this city thats about an hour south from Los Angeles. I don't know too much, but I have heard its really pretty! My companions name is Hermana Fryte or

something? I don't remember. Butttt she's from Brazil! And she just finished her training. Soooo I am going to be the Senior Companion. I'd be straight up lying if I said I wasn't scared out of my mind. But I am stoked to see what this new change brings. 

Definitely going to miss Hma Johnson though! We had the funniest experience the other day. We were at lunch with a member, who served us this huge bowl of soup full of potatoes, meat, and vegetables. superrrr

yummy. Well, we finished the soup and were getting ready to share a scripture, when all of the sudden this lady brings out these GIGANTIC plates full of pasta. We died, seriously. It was terrible! We had the hardest time finishing it. definitely crying and praying at the same time. Andddddd then she brought out dessert. I don't understand how these people think our little stomachs can handle all this food hahah! But we are just so grateful for the wonderful members who feed us. Aww. Well, directly after lunch, we had

an appointment with our investigator, Maria. What a nice lady, we perpared us some food! Our stomachs were so grateful. My dear sweet companion felt the need to give me the largest portion as well. OH MY GOSH I LITERALLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO EXPLODE. It was terrible. My stomach started making these weird noises and hma Johnson and I were dying trying not to laugh. We then had the brilliant idea to sing a hymn to invite the spirit into our lesson. But. We couldn't stop laughing. We'd sing one word and then burst

into a round of giggles. Luckily, Maria, our investigator, is 85 and a little bit deaf, so she didn't understand what was happening. hahaha stinking hilarious. 

Also this week we had a cool experience. During our planning session one night, we both felt super strongly that we needed to pass by for lots of people the next day, because someone was waiting for us. We prayerfully made a list of about 40 people that we felt were good, Well.

The next day we walked. and knocked. and walked. and knocked. ALL DAY. And we seriously had zero success. So then we started praying every couple of blocks. And still nothing. I am not kidding, we passed by for every single person on our list, and got door after door slammed in our face. It was frustrating! Well, after, we had about 15 minutes before we had to be back in the house, and I said, "hey, lets knock one more door." Soooo we picked one more house, and this cute little pregnant lady answered! We told

her we had a message, and she quickly ushered us in. About 15 minutes later we concluded the first lesson with a prayer and a return date. What a stinking miracle. We know the lord was teaching us patience! And look, the miracle came. This mission is just so so cool.

But yeah these past few days have just been so crazy. Our bishop found out that the 2 zone leaders and I were being transferred, so yesterday we all had to get up and bare our

testimonies. After the meeting, Tons of members came up to us like, "hey you have to come say bye..." sooooo thats all we've been doing. saying bye. its sooo lame. I hate saying bye. 

But, if there one thing I have learned from the mission, its that transfers are soooo inspired, and I am heading right where I am needed. BRING IT ON ANGOL!

I hope you all have the greatest week everrrrrrrrr.

love hermana poyfairrrr