Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Sixty-Five



Hello Everyone,

To answer right now....sì I am safe and sound.  As you all have mentioned in your letters..we had a big surprise this last Wednesday, but I am so grateful for the experience and I will explain por què.  

So Wednesday for the majority of the day we had a mission conference, where all of the missionaries were together.  We had a great day, with a visit from Elder Viñez from the seventy, a chilean lunch with a concert (we watched the typical dances from chile...search a video of the queca), and we learned a lot from our leaders.  It was interesting though because the first thing that was mentioned in the conference was about the importance of having a emergency backpack.  Which was interesting because last Sunday the wards here received a letter from the area presidency about the same thing...and this week also I was feeling really strongly about the topic (even had a dream about an earthquake in the mission) so my comp and I reviewed the emergency instructions and everything.  So when it happened we were not that surprised.  

It is amazing to think how Heavenly Father and the Spirit gave us time to prepare.  He guided us and calmed our hearts.  

Yes, I am living on the 14th floor of a apartment complex, but we were out in the streets pretty far from our house when the first temblor hit.  It was super weird, an experience that hopefully I will not have to experience again, but one I can check off my list as things that I have done in my life …right?

So we noticed that the cables above began to shake, and than the street was moving side to side, and than we began to move.  We picked a site in the street that was not close to any cables, grabbed on to a fence, and waited it out.  It felt like eternity....we are use to small temblors here 3 seconds here and there, but this one kept on going.  Then the lights all got cut.  Al tiro we felt the need to go to our apartment (thanks to the emergency plan).  In camino we tried to call our hermanas from our group to make sure they were okay, but the phone connection got swamped so it was impossible to get through.  When we got to are apartment everyone was outside.  We thought we needed to enter our apartment so we started to enter the stairwell to do so (because the elevators were not working) but we felt strongly again to wait for a second...and right after we paused, another aftershock hit.

From this experience I learned to trust even more in the spirit...the spirit literally is our companion to protect us from harm ...not only spiritually but also physically.  
Still we are having after shocks (for example this morning we felt a big one..especially because we are in an apartment).  The only harm is that we still are walking around a little dizzy, but grateful for all the miracles that we saw.  

A funny thing that happened was that I decided that night to randomly open up the Book of Mormon to read one scripture right before I was going to bed, and when I pointed to a random scripture it ended up being Alma 12:1.....I could not stop laughing.  It was a gift from my Heavenly Father to calm my mind.  Read it to see if you get the joke.  

I have soooo much I want to tell you guys from this week, but you guys will have to wait to hear the rest.  

In the conference with Elder Viñez we talked about the chosen spirits D&C 121.  Love this topic.  We are here to search for the people who are going to build up the vineyard and to be the leaders.  It really changed me in how I am doing my contacts and my attitude.  We are not here to just increase the numbers, but literally to prepare this earth for the coming of Christ.

I love the mission.  I love the Spirit and the peace I feel every day.  

El Evangelio es mi vida y punto- a quote from Elder Holland.

love ya

super abrazo


Hna Duffy

Sixty-Four




September...the month most celebrated here in Chile.  It is one day, but they celebrate for a month here..seriously.,.,.we need to change how we celebrate the 4th of July there in the states.

So this morning we were returning from Liders (like the spanish version of Walmart), we were carrying our many plastic bags, trying to keep our balance as the public bus was weaving in and out of the street, a lot of people, a dog from the street was resting on top of my shoes, a boy was playing his saxophone, and a man was saying ELDERS at us...and I thought to myself...I love my life, I love the mission, I love Chile.  Really, when we take a step back, we have moments so remarkable, funny, happy, sad, exciting, etc, in a day, and we need to appreciate each moment.  

We are going to have a WEDDING!!!!!!! J and M are going to have the wedding the 3rd of October (yes with General Conference) and then they are going to be baptized the 4th.  I can not even put into words how blessing I feel to have seen this conversion, this change of heart.  

Today we had our group activity with our hermanitas.  We played basketball, football, other games, and ate completos.  Seriously we have the best group of hermanas ever!

This week we also got to support a mormon helping hands project..planting trees.  Imagine a line of missionaries carrying trees done a main street.  It was awesome, but a good workout at the same time;)

Spiritual thought for the day...my testimony has really grown in the way to receive answers to prayers through the scriptures.  It amazes me how Heavenly Father through the spirit answers us with our specific questions.  Les desafio to read the scriptures but with specific questions in mind.

Have a great week!

Hna Duffy  


Sixty-Three






HOLA

September here in Chile is crazy!  The weather is warming up are we are headed into spring.  I love the plants here...even the trees that are blooming that smell like tuna fish are really pretty.  There are so many plants I want to put in my suitcase for the future, but I doubt they would survive!

September means it is like the 4th of July....but for a month long.  But instead of water games and fireworks, the people here eat a lot of asado (meat meat meat), dance the queca (youtube it) and eat more empanadas.  Yah I am already planning on bringing a tupperware in my backpack, because we are going to receive a LOT of food this month...oh boy.  Mom the only thing I want to eat in the house will be salad…seriously.

J and M are progressing!!!!  We are still visiting with them a ton which has been a blessing in my personal life to see hearts change.  
Some moments with them that we had this week:
-preface...it is so hard to put the moments into words to fully express them but I will try.

-J is quitting the coffee whoot whoot.  She was so proud to show us her Ecco (wheat drink)
-We planned a lesson about Family History and the work in the temple.  Before the lesson M told us since we started visiting with him he has been dreaming a lot about his best friend who has passed away...and he felt like he needs to do something for him.  Wow.  I have not seen anyone get so excited to do their family history.
-J shared her testimony in the sacrament meeting this last Sunday.  It was a moment I would have liked to have filmed.  
-We are going to plan a wedding! 

The members in the ward here have been a great support to help this family keep going in this conversion process.  LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.  It is incredible.  Literally this is not our word.  Heavenly Father does it all.  He works through imperfect instruments to carry about His work.  

Cool experience.  So we were contacting antiguos (from a list that the missionaries did 1 to 2 years ago).  We passed by a house to find someone named M.  But a jovencita answered the door and told us that he did not live there, but she let us in to share a message with her.  During this visit I felt so strongly that Heavenly Father had led us to her.  Part of the mission is to do our part in the way we know how, but to realize that Heavenly Father will guide us in the end.
Other experience.  We were passing by a family that had met with the missionaries before too, but were not progressing so the missionaries stopped passing by.  We knocked their door, and their daughter L answered.  She asked her mom if she wanted to let us in, and her mom said for us to pass by in an hour.  Which we did.  When we passed by the mom se llama Domi, told us that she had been wanting to see the missionaries again because the last week she had a dream in the which she saw two paths.  One path was things of the world, and the other path there was the Mormon church.  In this path, their was a Elder completely dressed in white teaching her.  People here in Chile are really aware and in tune with their dreams.  And for this dream she feels like she needs to open up her heart again to the missionaries.  

To end I want to share something from my studies.  I have been studying about humility.  Today I read in Alma 4:8.  It is so true.  In this day in age we sometimes are so focused in our needs, ourselves, that we compare ourselves with others rather than focusing in the worth and needs of others.  I love learning about the attributes of Christ.  My invitation to each of you is to pick a attribute and to pray, study, and set goals to develop it your lives.  

Love you more can words can express

besitos


Hna Duffy   

Friday, September 4, 2015

Sixty-two

Thank you for your letters and words of inspiration!  They mean more to me than you know.

So I don’t have much time (sorry I think I am writing that every week haha) but I want to tell you guys about a experience we had this week.

So J and M are progressing.  It is amazing.  After every lesson with them I leave feeling like I am walking on Cloud 9 (the spirit is so strong in the lessons with them).  We passed by to teach them about the Priesthood, which is a lesson I love to teach!  But before the lesson, J told us that she has been praying a lot to know if the Book of Mormon is from God, because she had doubts.  She told us a couple days ago, she prayed and opened up her Bible to a random page and the first thing that she read was a part in the dictionary of her bible that was explaining about the Eurim and Thumin (dont know how to spell that in English ahora).  And the spirit testified to her in this moment that the BOM and the Bible go hand in hand and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.  WOW!!!!  I love to see the hand of God in His work, and He knows what kind of experiences people need to recognize the answers to their prayers.

LOVE THE MISSION

Hna H and I are already seeing many miracles, and Heavenly Father is blessing us with a lot of new people to teach.

LOVE you guys tons

LIVE the gospel of Christ in everything you do.  If something that you are doing does not have a eternal importance, maybe we do not need to do it.  Pray so that your prayers reach the heavens (like it says in Enos)


Hna Duffy