Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Eleven



A week of changes and miracles.  Presidente V changed the daily schedule for the missionaries.  His vision for the mission is to have a mission full of joyful, energetic missionaries.  Entonces,  the new schedule is that we wake up an hour earlier now...have dinner as part of our schedule...an hour of studies during the afternoon...to bed earlier...emphasis on exercises in the morning...and an extra our for our p day but now we only have an hour to write letters...so if this one is a little short there is a reason:)  I am excited to see how these changes affect the missionaries.  I think the health and excitement for the work will increase, because before the schedule was basically that we would leave the apartment at 12 in the afternoon and return at 9 or 10 with an hour for lunch.  This change will make it so we will need to plan our time even more effectively!  I am learning a lot about trusting the counsel of leaders.  When we have faith in the dirrection of our leaders, we are showing our faith for the power of the priesthood, and that Christ is over the work.  I am thankful for the time I will be able to serve with Pres. V. I feel like I will learn a lot from him!

This week was a time of reaping.  So many new investigadores...Hna S and I are running around trying to visit all that we can.  There is also a big push to work more with the members also.  A very tender mercy...A sister in the ward..Hna C called us crying one morning...she was sick and nobody in here family was home.  The next day we were able to visit with her...sing..pray...talk about her doubts and trials.  This last Sunday..she bore testimony about this experience.  Small acts of kindness can change lives.  It was not us, but the Spirit that comforted her heart, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to have a first row seat to watch the Spirit and the truth of the Gospel of Christ change lives.  Dios es un dios de milagros.  

We are going to have a baptism in 2 weeks.  A sweet sister who is so ready to enter through the door of baptism.  So many changes she has made in her life to prepare, and I know there are tanto bendiciones ahead for her.  

The craziness of the flu and cold season is dying down.  I have my Chilean drugs for congestion down pretty well;)

Funny story...so there is a dog that lives in the sector we have been spending most of our time in.  The perro de Hades..I am pretty sure it has rabies..if no it something else is going on in that scruffy head of his.  Last week..I almost busted through a persons door because it was charging us.  I now have a deeper understanding why so many RMs are not to keen on dogs.  Anyway, I was on a intercambio with a Sister Leader.  She said what she does is she carries bread with her, and will throw bread at the dog to eat if it is bothering her.  So we bought bread that night, but by the time we were around his territory we had already eaten the bread...there went our plan jaja.  I also found out that she has been bitten twice by dogs..so maybe I should not trust her advice;)  Perros are always a topic of conversation...Dad you were gummed by a toothless dog on your mission..right!?!

Miracle contact in the street..her name is M.  She is my same age, and she was super receptive to the invitation to be taught.  We were able to teach her the first lesson yesterday...she suffers from depression and during the lesson she stated that she felt so much paz.  She accepted a fecha for baptism with fuerte and estoy tan animada por ella.  

The Gospel is true. 

Dios es nuestro padre celestial

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Ten



Hola,

This week was busy with traveling!  On Saturday we organized a meeting for the doctors (both physical and mental health) of all the missions in Chile to meet with Presidente y Hna Vi y yo in the mission office to talk about the sistema medical in our mission.  I am excited to work closely with Hna V to ensure the missionaries are taken care of.  What a blessing it is to work closely with the leaders and to learn from their examples.  Presidente y Hna V son bakàn!  So chileno and they know the things that the people who live here need.  They have huge hearts and are going to do great things for the mission.  

Special experience of the week...
We taught a lesson over the Plan of Salvation with a family ( mother and 4 children ) this week.  We have been trying to work a lot with them.  The two things that are road blocks are the parents need to become legally married and the family needs to attend church.  They have the testimonio and now they need to act.  Me encanta teaching families the plan of salvacion.  My friend Tiffani sent me a puzzle about the Plan of Salvacion in español and the kids loved using the pieces as we taught.  When we talked about the importance of baptism...the kids started jumping for joy and asking their mom if they could get baptised.  One of the daughters (9 yrs) has read more out of the Book of Mormon I think than any of our other investigadors.  When we set a meta and a fecha or date for them to work towards for baptism...the kids did a big group hug with us.  Tan lindo...I love this family and I want to do everything in my power with the help of the Spirit for this family to be baptized so they can be sealed together as a family for eternity.  The hijos or children love the song ¨Yo soy un hijo de Dios¨ and they want to sing it basically every lesson.  I love the hearts of the children...so intune with the Spirit.  Their cat`s name is GRINGO...so now GRINGA and GRINGO are friends :)  

I love meeting the people here...everyone has a story...fears...hopes.  As we center our mind and heart on Jesucristo we can find purpose, comfort, and perdon.  The gospel is true.  Jesucristo lived and lives.  I have been studying the theme of thoughts...and how to focus my thoughts to become more christlike.  Faith in Christ is not solely a belief...fe in christ needs to be in the very core of our almas or souls.  I am thankful for this time to learn.  I am thankful for the patience Jesucristo y mi padre celestial have with me as I work towards becoming a representative of them with the help of the Espiritu Santo.

I love studying the Book of Mormon in spanish because it forces me to focus on the meaning of every work and phrase.  

I love Chile.  I love the gospel.  I love this work...the work of the Lord to bring others to Him

Thank you for your letters and support.

Hermana Duffy

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Nine







So many milagros or miracles this week.  One was we were invited back to teach a family that we thought did not want to hear from us again.  The first time we taught them I felt the Spirit sooo strongly.  If they could only fully know the blessings that come from the Gospel.  The 2nd lesson the Spirit was pounding with strength in the room.  The sister of the mother was also participating in the lesson started crying...and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I had to bare testimony (still working on being about to teach in Spanish).  The Spirit is the true teacher!  18 months of serving is worth experiencing this lesson with this family.  I will never forget the love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ  I felt in this home.  The gospel changes lives...and serving a mission I have had time to reflect on how it has changed mine.

Also this week I was able to do an intercambio with the Sister leaders.  They live more in the country and it was fun traveling out their and learning from them.  So Friday night I was told that I would be giving a discurso en Sacrament meeting.  The theme was Missionary Work...and I decided to focus on the Charity behind the work.  Funny part...still most people have a hard time understanding all of my spanish.  One mom came up to me after and said that her son asked her during my talk if I was giving a talk in english haha.  Too funny.  Poco a Poco.


Hna Duffy

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Eight





I TOTALLY forgot about the 4th of July until the night before, and a investigador asked me about the holiday...oops. 
 So I´ve been asked to describe more what my sector is like.  My sector is a sliver of a section in the Quinto Normal section.  The main thing we have is Liders (Walmart spanish made store) and tons of homes.  The homes range from apartment complexes to shacks made out of tin.  Tons of dogs (all which sport clothes) no matter if they are a stray or not.  My view on dogs is slowly changing...sorry Sadie.  

Tons of people in our sector are from Peru that live here due to the necessity of work.   When it comes to contacting we do a lot of walking through the streets.  I am starting to learn the difference in the streets, because all of them looked the same in the beginning.  I am really learning to appreciate and use the graffiti art as a way of navigation.  Some people here are really good at their murals.

Let resfri y gripe season begin ( cold and flu).  This week I don´t even know how many hours I have been on the phone with misioneros, the doctor, la oficina misional, o Hna V.  I am quickly picking up more medical words in spanish. Hna S. is getting really good at acting things out when she has to translate for me some of the medical calls.   I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the misioneros here with my knowledge.  I guess some of the Elders were nervous about having a regular sister missionary be the nurse, but I am working hard to build trust and confidence with my misioneros.  Dog bites, bike crashes, rule out meningitis, carpal tunnel, psych, bloody stool, all this week...learning tons!!

 I felt my first earthquake here!  It sounds like it is usually once a month you can feel one here.

I am really loving the miembros that live in our sector.  There is an amazing hermana, Hna. V has parkinsons and seizures.  But she is so valient with her faith.  I guess the last General conference she could not find a ride so she walked all the way from her home to the Stake Center...and with her severity of parkinsons that is a feat!  It is breath taking what people are willing to change in order to follow Christ.  

Contacting is getting a little better with my spanish.  It is funny when people just want to talk to me to practice their english though.  Funny story of the week.  So we had a Conference with the new mission president.  Hna S. y yo were in charge of the music.  For the prelude we were singing many songs.  I still have a hard time sometimes with the page numbers in spanish.  They announced the next song, but I heard it wrong...so basically I was conducting the song while making up and mouthing spanish words during it hoping that I did not totally look lost.  Good times.

I love it here.  I have so much to work on these next months, and am eternally grateful for the oportunidad to serve aquí.  The Atonement is real.  Every day there are things to repent of.  Before, I thought I just needed to repent of any huge sin, but repenting is a daily thing.  Through daily repentance, we can experience the mercy that our Savior Jesucristo gave and gives us.

Thank you for your love and support.  

Mucho amor

Hna Duffy

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Seven



This week I received my birthday package...MUCHAS GRACIAS!  I think with moving from the CCM the mail was extra slow, but now the mail system here seems really reliable.  So many things I want to tell you.  First, the gift of tongues is so real.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn spanish.  I still speak like Tarzan...very broken grammer, but it is refreshing being able to express myself more than last week.  
Heavenly Father knew exactly who I needed as my first trainer.  Hna S is awesome!  She is a hard worker, and we are trying to think of ways to have more success in our sector.  We do a lot of street contacting with pass along cards.  So really funny story.  This cute abuelita was walking by so I started talking with her, and as soon as I started talking about the gospel, she got really anxious and did not want to talk to me.  So she tried to out run (basically as fast as a shuffle in walking as she could go)...so funny because I kept the same walking pace as she tried to escape my presence.  Since then I have ran into her a couple times and I think we are good acquaintances now :)  
In my sector I stand out A LOT.  Another funny story.  I was on the Metro and this little girl was staring at me.  The abuela of the girl apologized for her nieta who was starring.  She told me that her granddaughter wanted to know why I was so tall, so she had told her that I was from France and if she ate all her food during cena (dinner) she could be tall too.  I told her especially drinking leche cada día jaja.  Me encanta the people here.  People are usually always willing to talk with you.  Everyone does have a story, and as a missionary I have the sacred privilege to really talk about the true important things of live, families, our purpose, and the amor of Christ and their Heavenly Father.
My barrio (ward) here is awesome! We had Ward Conference this week.  Seeing how recent converts are know faithful and strong leaders in the ward and stake is inspiring.  Their devotion to their baptismal covenios and a Dios is seen through their acciones.  Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ is not a passive thing.  
I received tons of medical calls this week...dog bites, tons of colds, sinus infections, and asthma problems.  The air here is pretty bad so it is triggering off lots of asthma problems.  I am so grateful for my experience working in the hospital before my mission.  This last week we got a new President for the mission.  Presidente V..I have only talked with him over the phone about medical things, but I know he is going to be a great leader for the misioneros aquí.  
A mission really teaches you humility...and fast.  It brings out weaknesses and makes you rely on the Savior more.  This morning in my studies I read Alma 26:12.  An answer to my prayers.  
I am so so grateful for the chance to serve here in Chile.  I know Heavenly Father has a plan for me and I am striving to be worthy and ready for the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives.  Miracles happen every day.  Look for the hand of God in your daily life. We met a family (mom named G and her 2 kids).  She is so so prepared for the gospel, it is incredible.  We were able to share with her the Restauración.  Keep her in your prayers.  Her sister is a vecina (neighbor) and she came in during the end of the lección and she said she will join us for our next cita.  During this lección, my soul ached for her and her family to accept the gospel.  I know how much the gospel has blessed my life, and I know it can do the same for her´s.  
Yes Chile lost to Brazil.  end of story.  A whole country in mourning.  Lets just say contacting that day was a little different jaja. 

Mucho amor,

Hna. Duffy