Week 68: Chile has more holidays than any other country in the world I think

Hi friends, 

its tuesday and I'm writing because literally EVERYTHING yesterday was closed. Everything. LITERALLY everything. 

My companion and I were walking around looking for thing to do, and then a bus going to another city in our Zone, Lebu passed by, and I had heard lots of cool things about Lebu, and that the beach there is super pretty, so we hopped on a bus and spent a day on the beach! It was super cold and rainy but it reminded me a lot of Oregon, with lots of pine trees and cold water. I enjoyed it a lot, my first time seeing the beach in my 16 months here in Chile! 

This week lots of really cool things happened. First of all, we have been having to travel ALOT. Like, almost every morning. Anddd.. the buses have started to take a toll on my back... I have been having a lot of lower back pain, which hasn't been impiding me from working hard everyday, but did have me and the Mission Nurse a little bit worried. In our District Meeting on Tuesday, my Zone leaders could tell something was wrong, because they said, "Hermana Poyfair, do you need a blessing?" I quickly agreed, and I am so glad that I did. Over and over again in the blessing, this elder promised me that my back pain would disappear completely, that this was just a trial of my faith, and that I was going to be able to finish my mission without any problems. It was probably the coolest priesthood blessing I have ever recieved, and my back pain is already starting to go away. How could the church not be true??

Also this week my companion and I had to eat in a restaurant for lunch one day. We were sitting there, eating completos and french fries, when a family of six walked into this restaurant. They reminded me so much of my family, four kids, two boys and two girls. They were seriously so CUTE! my companion and I seriously could not focus, because we just wanted to talk to this family. But we couldn't figure out how... 

We prayed and ate really fast and then got up and ran over and talked to them. It was a little nerve racking, to do that in a restaurant with lots of people, but they were so nice and we set up an appointment with them for this week. The spirit told us to talk to them, and I am so glad we did. It was a really cool experience for us. 

Also this week we had a big zone conference with a couple of other zones in concepcion! 

on the way back, we had to pile into this bus that was made for maybe 50 people, and was stuffed with about 100. I kid you not. We were the last to pile in, and it was about a 2 hour drive. I was smashed up against the window, and did not recieve a heads up when the door was about to open, and I almost fell to my death. I mean that might be a little dramatic but definitely felt that way. It was so crazy. The things that happen in chile are just so funny.

But thats basically my weeeeeek.

it was a crazy one, but this one is going to be crazier. I can feel it.

I love you all! have a good week!

love hermana poyfair

Week 67: This week I met an apostle

Hi friends.

I wrote my letter today inside of the bus terminal in Concepcion because being a sister leader is just full of craziness. Today we had to bring about an emergency transfer. Don't worry, Hermana Curtis and I are still together, but the other hermanas here got transfered and we recieved a new hermana here. Lots of problems happening in the mission, but its all good now I think. Pday passes really quickly when you're in a bus all day! :)

The week was incredible. One of the most unforgetable weeks of my mission. On friday I, along with 400 missionaries from our mission and from the other mission, had the opportunity to meet PPresident Nelson. Every single one of us had the opportunity to shake his hand, he said our names, and told us he was grateful for everything that we are doing. SO COOL.

We did like a huge IMAGINE THIS kinda thing. He said, "Imagine this. The book of mormon doesnt exist, and you dont have any of the information or knowledge about anything that it says inside. What are you missing in your life?" A lot of different answers were given, about Jesus Christ in the Americas, the proper form of Baptism, etc. Then, President looked at us and said, "There are literally MILLIONS of people living without these amazing truths that we just take for granted." It was really cool, it made me stop and think about how important the book of mormon is, and how really it is our job to help others see how important and amazing it is!

It was great. Changed my mission. haha. I started reading the book of Mormon from the beginning, highlighting all of the names of Jesus Christ, and all of his attributes, and his own words. Its really amazing, because it shows that this book really is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. I invite you all to do it! :) 

It was also super fun to see all of the missionaries, too! IT doesnt happen very often.. One of the Elders that goes home at the same time as me said, "See you in the Airport in 10 weeksHermana Poyfair!" twas kinda a slap to the face, because I still don't think its hit me yet... but maybe its a good thing.

Alsooh my gosh yesterday my companion and I were walking in the street and on the other side of the street there were like 3 big horses! We crossed the street to take some pictures because its not every day you see three horses in the road right? So then we start walking away, and this dog comes and starts barking at the horses which scares them all, so they run out into the middle of the street! Well, the first two crossed safely, but the second was a little silly and crossed even though a car was coming. The car slammed into his leg,(luckily nothing happened) but it sure scared this poor horse, and along with his two little friends, they toook off RUNNING. In this middle of this huge city! running! We started hearing police sirens and everything and it was just super scary. hahahaha.I don't know what happened to the horses but my companion and I sure got a good laugh out of it. 

I had a lot of really great experiences this weeek, and I just love the mission. My testimony is just growing more and more everyday, I am SO grateful for my sacred calling. There is nothing greater than being a sister missionary. 

I love you all! Sending lots of pictures this week!

have a great week!

love hermana poyfair

Week 66: The Prince of Peace

this week was so so so special and awesome.

First of all, Happy Easter to EVERYONE. They don't really celebrate Easter here, actually everytime I said, "Happy Easter" to someone, they said, "oh yeah, I forgot!" 

But Hermana Curtis is awesome because her family sent her some Whopper Robin Eggs in a package so we ate those and dressed up in Springish clothes and it felt kind of normal. haha!

Tuesday I got to spend the WHOLE day in the bus station, waiting for Hermana Curtis to arrive from Temuco. I was there, talking to my bff Hermana Johnson about how great our missions had been and how we have just three short months left, when all of the sudden our FAVORITE FAMILY from Villa Obispo showed up! It was such a happy suprise, they all started crying and kept saying, "look at you guys, speaking SPANISH now!" 

always hurts a little when the people say that haha its like wait what was I speaking before..

My companion finally arrived and guys she is just SO AWESOME. We have so much in common and we get along sooo good. I love her so much already. She is really organized, which has been one of my little weaknesses  here in the mission so I'm really grateful for that. She arrived and said, alright, lets organize this binder and this area and this house and everything." what. a. blessing. Living with Latinas makes for a messy house sometimes ;)

We've seen so miracles already, and I know this is going to be such a great transfer together. I am so excited!

For example, the other day we were looking at the records of some investigators from a couple of months ago, and we found the name of this girl, Gabriela. She called our attention, and we decided that we were going to go on a hunt for her, even though her address wasn't on the paper.

That day, we were contacting houses and started talking to this man, that quickly ushered us into his house. And, much to our surprise, his daughter's name is Gabriela, and she just happened to be passing by her dads house this day and at this time. GOD IS REAL.

So that was super fun!! We are excited to work with her. 

Last night we helped with an Open House in Cañete. We were there all day, doing tours and teaching about the Restauration. We left at about 7.30, and headed to the bus station to see when the next bus was going to leave.

Well, just our luck, we were able to wait for about 2 hours for a bus. We arrived in Curanilahue at like 10:30 and it was just a mess but things like that make for great stories in the future right??

It was a great week, and I know this week is going to be awesome too, because PRESIDENT RUSSELL M. NELSON IS COMING TO CHILE. We are going to have a conference with him this Friday and I am so excited. Its going to be a super cool experience, ahhh!

have a great week! love you guys!

love hermana poyfair

Week 65: Baptism Baptism BAPTISM

THIS WEEK WAS THE COOLEST WEEK EVER

first of all, FRANCISCA got BAPTIZED! It was seriously such a great day. She is so awesome, she is really sassy and told us that she didn't want us to invite anyone to her baptism and she didn't want us to do a special musical number. We did both. :)

it was a crazy day, everyone told me that Satan works really hard on baptism days... and now I am able to add my personal testimony. We had to wake up and travel to Arauco in the morning, and my blowdryer broke. So I had to travel with wet hair. Then I couldn't find my cardagain or my tights, and just everything was a mess. Then, while we were filling up the baptismal font, we discovered that the hot water wasn't working... SO. We had to boil lots and lots of water and fill up the font and it took about six hours but we did it! It was great. 

The best part was when she was in the bathroom, after her baptism, and we asked her how she felt, and she paused for a minute, and then said, "like a whole new person."

It really is true, what it says in D&C, about how great our joy will be if we can bring one soul unto Christ. I have loved being able to watch Francisca progress and grow this testimony of hers, she really is converted and has changed soooo much. 

Also this week was great because our other investigator, Raul, proposed to Rachel! We helped him set up this huge romantic dinner and we even picked out their wedding rings. They are going to get married on the 13th of June, and he HOPEFULLY will get baptized on the 17th of June. Fingers crossed! 

On Saturday after our Baptism, we recieved our cambios! I am going to be staying here in Curanilahue, and Hermana Guibarra is heading to Los Angeles! My companion is Hermana Curtis, she is from Utah, and she also has about 16 months in the mission! We were in The CCM together, so we are already really good friends. I am excited and i know this next transfer has lots of changes and exciting things that are going to be happening, miracles and stuff!

thats about it! :) my camera is struggling again but I'll try to send pictures later. 

I LOVE BEING A SISTER MISSIONARY.

THE MISSION IS SO GREAT AND SO FUN.

I LOVE YOU ALL.

BYE!

HERMANA POYFAIR

Week 64:What's shaking in Curanilahue? oh you know, just THE EARTH

hiiiii everyone!

oh my gosh this week was just a week of pure miracles. 

but first, the coolest part. This thursday at 3:58 in the morning, my bed started to shake. Like, alot. I don't know what its called in english, a Tremor or something? anyways, the earth was shaking and even though it wasn't a whole lot it was STILL so AWESOME. The members are worried that a big earthquake is coming because there have been lots of tremors. But it was super awesome. 

Also this week is going to be great because FRANCISCA IS GOING TO GET BAPTIZED!!!!! She is so excited for her baptism and the other day while we were teaching her she said, "yeah, how many more lessons are there? I just wanna get baptized already." I may have shed a little tear. She is so ready and her testimony has grown so much and it has been such a blessing to see her progress. 

This week while I was planning with my companion,we both felt strongly that we needed to go and knock doors in one specific part of our area. As we left, we said a prayer, asking for God to lead us to a family of 3 who needed our help. 

We started knocking the doors, and NO ONE wanted to talk to us. It was awful, slam after slam after slam in our faces. 

Well, I had to go to the bathroom and was about to pee my pants and I was dying hahah so we knocked a door and I said, "I'm sorry, but could I use your bathroom real quickly?" 

and this nice sweet lady opened and let me use her bathroom and that was one miracle. The OTHER was that, while I was in the bathroom, my companion discovered that in this humble house lived a family of 3. I KNOW RIGHT. 

to show our thanks, we sang the hymn "Families can be together forever" and testified of the truthfulness of the song. This family is so awesome and we were SO HAPPY as we left. If there is one thing I have learned here is that when we are specific with God, he is specific with us. 

Also another miracle! While we were walking, my companion felt that we needed to go and visit an hermana and her boyfriend., who isn't a member. We arrived, asked how they were doing, and they informed us that Raul, her boyfriend, had just lost his job. They said that they knew they needed to make some changes in their lives, and that they were going to go to church on Sunday. They need to get married before he gets baptized, but he told us that he was going to go to Conference with a question in his mind, and if it got answered, he would make the changes necessary in his life so that he could be baptized.

I KNOW RIGHT

They assisted the Sunday Morning Session, and we know they had a great experience. It was such a blessing that the prophet spoke in that session, and I have faith that he recieved his answer. We have an appointment with them tomorrow, so we will see how it goes.

Oh and one more miracle. 

We got to watch the conference in our own chapel, which was super awesome. BUT. They only had it set up in Spanish, there wasn't anyway to watch it in English. But I was like, its fine, I'm a big girl, been here for 15 months, I can understand everything now, it'll be okay.

WRONG. THEY TALKED SO SO FAST AND THE FIRST SESSION I BARELY UNDERSTOOD ANYTHING. 

I was so sad and maybe shed a tear or two.

I started praying really really hard for the gift of tongues so that I could understand and take notes and recieve revalation and everything.

and the coolest thing happened.

I UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING. IT WAS LIKE THEY WERE TALKING TO ME IN ENGLISH. 

I don't know how God did it but I am so so grateful for my Heavenly Father.

andddd yeah. thats my week of miracles.

I love you all so much! have a great week!

hermana poyfair :)

Week 63: 15 months is a long time hahahaha

This is a big hill look you can see the church AND the ocean.

hi family and friends and other people reading this letter!

this week was a little calmer than the last few weeks... a LITTLE bit no mas

First of all, its offically fall here in Chile, which means its REALLY cold already. I think we are in for a real cold winter. Especially here in Curanilahue, we are close to the coast so there is lots of wind and that makes for some real cold days. But its okay, I like fall because the trees are all pretty colors and stuff. 

This week was fun because I got to do exchanges with Hermana Bazaes. While I was in Temuco, she lived in the same house as me, and she's basically my best Chilean friend. We had a great time, and we saw lots of miracles together! We were knocking doors, and both felt the need to knock one specific door. So we did, and A lady opened the door. This lady is a less-active member, and no one in her family are members of the church either. AWESOME. 

Actually, this happened a couple of times this week. Once, I was with Hermana Guibarra, and we were getting ready to leave the house. We said a prayer, asking to be guided to find a less-active family, a family incomplete (not all of the members of the family are members of the church). So we headed out and started knocking doors, and wouldn't you know it, the first door we knocked was an Hermana who has been a member her whole life, but is living with her boyfriend and they're not married, so she's embarrassed to come to church. AAAAAAnd her husband isn't a member of the church. 

this was a super cool experience for me because I learned that when WE are specific in our prayers with God, he is specific with the answers he gives us. rockinnnn

Something funny that happened this week. Let's see. One day we were walking down this HUGE hill that they have here in Curanilahue (ITS HUGE) and I wasn't really paying attention (OF COURSE) and soooo I tripped and fell and scraped up my knee pretty bad. So that was embarrassing, but of course I'm a big girl and I don't cry. Well, we kept walking and as we stopped and started talking to someone in the street, they stopped us mid-sentence and pointed at my leg with a look of disgust. My knee was a little bit covered in blood and it was super funny because we didn't notice. My companion started freaking out, so we knocked on a door so that I could clean it up. anddddd we found a new investigator in this house! Her name is Ginette, and she lives there with her two kids. She was super worried about my knee, and then she started asking questions about our chuch and it was a super cool experience. God sure works in mysterious ways, right?

thats my week! I hope you all have a great week and that you enjoy General Conference, I know I sure will!

love you all!

love hermana poyfair

ps this week I complete 15 whole months in the mission WHAT

Week 62: shoot I've run out of good titles for my emails.

This week FLEW BY. I can't believe its already Pday again! I feel like the days are like minutes and the weeks are like days and they all just kind of blend together. But hey, its fun. 

This week we got to do exchanges with the hermanas from the other zone! It was scary because I had to lead the area and I have only been here for a couple of weeks,  and our area is HUGE. We only got lost a lot of times. But it was really fun, I love doing exchanges because I get to know other missionaries and the way they work. Its such a blessing for me. 

We had the coolest thing happen this week, something that has NEVER happened to me in the mission. So, we are working with a couple who just got married and have been preparing for baptism for about a month. The only thing impiding them from being baptized is that Maximo wont stop smoking. boo.. Francisca, his wife, told us she wants to get baptized at the same time as her husband. 

BUT. she called us this week telling us that he had been thinking and praying a lot and decided that she wants to get baptized as soon as possible, she doesnt want to wait for her husband. She feels that Maximo will see her example and will make the decision to stop smoking. We were SO HAPPY! 

the only problem is that, this week we have our District Conference, and they can't do confirmations during conference, and the week after is General Conference, and they can't do confirmations that day either. So, she wont be able to get baptized until the 8th of April. Boo.. Also Miguel, our other investigator, isn't able to get baptized until the 8th of April either. We were a little bit disappointed at first, because 2 weeks is a long time to wait, but we know its what God wants, to see if these investigatores have real desires to endure until the end! Sooo. We're gonna wait. 

Its starting to get cold here! The nights are so cold. Winter is coming and that scares me.. But bring it on! life is good down here and I just LOVE being a Sister Missionary.

 sorry I don't have lots of cool stories but

have a great week! I love you!!!

love hermana poyfair

something happened with me memory card and I lost a lot of pictures so I don't have any pictures to send but next week I'll send some okay bye