Week 54: Two is better than 1 but 3 is definitely not better than 2

hi friends and family and everyone else up north :)

its so freaking hot here  I can't even HANDLE IT.

this week was so so so freaking crazy I am not even kidding.

my mission is just so crazy.

First of all, on Tuesday I recieved a call from my President letting me know that my "mini-missionary" canceled and that I am going to be in a trio for three weeks, unless they can find someone else to be my companion. It was a little bit super sad, but I just keep telling myself 

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON AND GOD HAS EVERYTHING FIGURED OUT AND ITS ALL GOING TO BE OKAY.

Hermana Chavez is training Hermana Brandao, from Brazil. She is SOOO crazy and so funny and barely speaks any spanish and sometimes I have no idea what she is saying but I love her so much. I feel like I am training too and its been fun. 

We have been working like crazy! one day, we work in my area, in Llaima.  And then the next day, we work in their area, in Cautin. We have been walking so much and its been so hot, but we have seen so many miracles and its so cool.

Like for example. The hermanas in Cautin have a 14 year old investigator who is seriously GOLDEN. But, they taught her one time and then lost contact with her and haven't seen her for about a month. But last week, we felt impressed to pass by her house and see if she was there! andddddd she was. We taught her about Jose Smith and she accepted a Baptismal date AND went to church yesterday!!!! It was so stinking cool. Miracles.

also in Llaima we have found lots and lots and LOTS of really great people and I know things are about to start progressing her. Its gonna be so cool.

Yesterday, I went to Church by myself! The hermanas had investigators, so they needed to go to their own ward, and I had investigators that were going to come to my ward, so I had to go to Llaima! All by myself. Without a companion. I had special permission from President. I FELT SO STINKING WEIRD! everyone was like, "I have never ever seen a missionary without a companion!" Its crazy because for 13 months I have been with someone 24/7, but yesterday I was all alone! It was crazy and I never want to do it again hahahaha...

so basically thats my crazy life. 

but I love it.

I mean if God thinks that I can do this than I can do it right?

piece of cake.

I love you so much! I hope you have a fabulous week,

love hermana poyfairrrrrrr

Week 53: oh transfers. good old transfers.

hi friends.

this week was probably the second saddest week of my mission...

the first was when I had to send Hermana Loor home because of health problems.

this week I had to send Hermana Alarcon home because of health problems. 

I don't think there is a single tear left in my whole body,

here's a little bit of the crazy story:

We recieved a call from President on Tuesday, saying he wasn't sure what was going to happen but that we should pray and pray. I spent the week going on exchanges with the Young Women of Llaima, and with other missionaries. My companion was in lots of pain all week, and could barely walk or leave the house. It was super sad. 

On Friday, president called and told us he was outside of our house and that we needed to open the door for him.. imagine our panic hahahaah! We rapidly cleaned our little house (inside all week=messy house).

he wanted to have interviews with the both of us! I was second and i was super nervous. But, he told me that he was going to send my companion home so she could rest and get better. He told me that he had already made all of the transfers, and that he was planning on keeping me with Hermana Alarcon this next transfer too. But, God had a different plan. So my companion was going to head home, and I would be left... Companionless. 

great.

so here's whats gonna happen with little hermana poyfair: 

On January 22nd, I am going to receive a member from Los Angeles who will be a "mini-missionary" for two weeks with me. then, on February 7th, I am going to send her home, and receive another mini-missionary. yes. this is serious. 

and for this week I am going to be in a trio with Hermana Chavez, and she's going to train a new missionary.

would you expect anything else from me? My stake president told me my mission was going to be a great adventure for me, and I am definitely a witness of that. 

I am actually super nervous, but I know that God's plan is perfect and that everything will just be okay, 

So anyways.. I don't really have much else to say apart from the fact that I know that this Church is true and that God really is in the details of our lives, and that maybe right now we don't understand the reason as to why some things happen our lives, but it's to help us grow personally and become the people that God wants us to become!

I'm excited for this new adventure! bring it on!

love you all so much 

have a greaaaaat week :)

hna poyfair

Week 52: This letter is short but just pretend it's long

this letter is going to be short but of course written with lots of love.

this week was a lot like the last week... inside the house. :)

I'd love to say my companion is doing better... but she's not. We were barely able to leave this week at all, and when we did leave we had to walk slow and take lots of breaks because her hips and knees just don't want to cooperate lately. 

its really sad.

but until we recieve a call from presidente, there's not much we can do but pray that every thing will work out like God wants to!

yesterday was funny because a less-active member came to church with us! He's like 30 years old and mildly autistic. Well, he fell asleep during the sacrement meeting and began to snore. My companion and I tried everything in our power to wake him up, like rocking the bench back and forward, tapping him on the shoulder, make lots of noises with our bags, sneezing loudly, and seriously NOTHING worked. We were laughing so hard. My companion took her hymn book and smacked him (kind of lightly) on the arm and we like woke up and looked at us, and then fell back asleep. Oh my gosh. sososososo funny. 

Also yesterday we found another less active member that lives close! We were talking to her and she looked at me and said, "how long have you been on the mission?" I said, "one year" and she said, "you've been here for a whole year and you're that skinny???" hahaha so she pulls out all this food and said, "I'm on a mission too. A mission to make you fat." 

good times. 

this week is going to be a lot better! I am going to do lots of exchanges with some of the young women in this ward so that I will be able to work and not have to be stuck in the casa all day. so that'll be good.

oh also this week we finished painting the school so that was fun! 

and yeah. thats all that happened.

have a great week!

love hermana poyfair

Week 51: I'm so lame, I haven't written all year!

new years puns, they're the best. 

yesterday was some weird undeclared holiday here in Chile and so everything was closed and it was super lame. Thats why I'm writing today, yay!

this week was a little roughhh. but it was good. but rough.

we had three doctors appointments, two physical therapist appointments, and three days stuck inside the house resting. Its funny because in the mission, there are some days when I all I want to do is take a nap. But on the days when we have to stay inside because my companion is sick, all I wanna do is go outside and work. funny how that goes, right?

my poor companion is not doing to well, the physical therapist isn't helping and its sad but she is super strong and super great and she keeps working hard. I know it can't be easy for her, but I really admire her example of perserverance. we are waiting to hear from president, and what he thinks she should do. Scary!

This week we had a Sisters Conference with a couple of Zones here. I was asked to speak in front of like 50 hermanas in SPANISH. I was definitely shaking and super nervous as we arrived at the Stake Center. I walked in, and standing there was a member from my favorite ward, San Martin! Her name is Xiomara, she got baptized about 8 months ago, when I was in Avenida Alemania. She was engaged and living with her boyfriend, but she dropped everything to be baptized. She is super great and I love her! while I was in San Martin, she told me that she felt like she was lacking something in her life. I asked her if she had thought about serving a mission! She told me

that yes, but she was scared. We talked and talked, and finally she told me she would think about it. Well, this week one of the sister missionaries here in Temuco had to go home because of health problems, and she was called to serve a mini mission for a couple of weeks! It was SO COOL TO SEE HER. We cried and she told me that she was working on her papers so that she could serve a real mission in four months, when she completes one year as a member. 

So anyways, I was so happy to see her and it really helped calm my nerves and I really just believe in tender mercies and that God just loves me so much and knew exactly what I needed. 

New years was so funny. We weren't allowed to be outside after 7, so we ordered a pizza, moved all of our mattresses into the living room, and stayed up talking about funny mission experiences. Our apartment is right across the street from a University, and there was this huge concert all night, and at midnight they lit off about a billion fireworks. It was sick, right outside of our windows! it was fun night. 

can you believe its 2017? what happened with 2016? I remember setting goals in the CCM one year ago. My goal was: STAY IN THE MISSION. I wasn't able to put the same goal this year, which is a little intimidating and sad. 

but these next six months are going to be so great and I am so excited to see what new adventures are waiting for me.

Love you guys! have a great week!

love hermana poyfair

Week 50: raise your hand if 2016 was the fastest year of your life

this week was so special and definitely one of my favorites of all time. 

it started off bright and early wednesday morning as we painted a whole entire elementary school. BRIGHT ORANGE. It was probably the ugliest color I have seen ever but we didn't choose it. :) we were there for about 5 hours, and it was great. All of the teachers and workers there were so nice and were so impressed with our hard work. My clothes are destroyed but we left a nice image of the church and missionaries, and we helped scatter a little Christmas spirit and service, so its all good. :)

the next day was thursday and it was a crazy day! My companion had an appointment with a Physical Therapist for her hip! As we left, it started to hurt her super bad. We headed back to the house, and I made her sit and rest for a couple of hours until it felt a little better. Then, at about 8, we decided to head out and work and trust the God would help us. We decided to pick an inspired street to go and knock doors! Together, we picked 5 names. Then we prayed! I felt one street, and my companion felt another. So we prayed... AGAIN. I felt a different steet, and my companion, a different... hahah! We were a little frustrated, and then I

remembered the talk by Jeffrey R. Holland, about when we was driving with his son and they found a fork in the road. They both felt to go one way, but it was the wrong way! they were confused, but Elder Holland said that sometimes God shows us the wrong way so we can find the right way faster. We decided to head to the one street that neither of us had felt. The first door we knocked was oopened by an older lady named Ana, who informed us that she was super sad and wouldn't be spending Chrsitmas with her kids because they were mad at her. It was cool to know we were guided to her to share a message about Christmas and the families, and to lift her spirit a little bit! happy day! We have an appointment with her today and so it will all be great. 

Yesterday was so great. Such a Merry Christmas! it was so great to see my cute family and talk to them, I feel like it charged my batteries a little bit and now I'm pumped up and ready to conquer the world again ;) 

after we finished skyping, the rains came down and the floods came up. I have seriously never seen so much rain in my whole entire life. it rained SO SO SO MUCH. It would have been easy for us to just stay in the house of these members all night, but we felt like we should head out and work, and sing Christmas Carols and help people recognize the importance of Christ! Everyone always talks about all their Christmas miracles during their missions, and we were anxious to see a few of our own. Well. We knocked doors. And more doors. and more doors. And they all were closed in our faces. I was a little frustrated and sad, because no one had time for Jesus on Christmas Day! but, with my companion, we reflected about how Mary and Joseph must have felt! There was

no room at the inns, and there wasn't time for Jesus here in Chile. My appreciation for Jesus Christ and the real reason as to why we celebrate christmas grew so much this year! I really am so happy to know the Christ lives. I know this church is true, and I love being a missionary with all my heart.

I hope you all had a great christmas! 

happy new year!

love hermana poyfair