Six

Hola from Quinta Normal,

This is the comun that I have been assigned to.  It is a sector in the city, and I am loving it!

So I have a lot to say so here it goes!

Tuesday I left the CCM..whoot whoot.  What a graduation that was.  I am so grateful for the time I had there.  Most people say they serve 2 missions, one in the CCM and one out in the campo.  Now I know what they mean:)  We drove to the mission home where President and Hna Essig welcomed us.  Paperwork, orientation, and then we got to meet our trainers.  My first companion is Hna. S.  She is from Argentina and is Awesome!  She talks with an Argentinian accent which is different and she speaks very little English, but we are learning very quickly how to work together.  This week we are going to get a new Mission President.  Neither him or his wife speak english, so I better learn quick huh;)  I am learning how to have patience with myself.  Knowing what you want to say is one thing, but saying it is another.  My brain is getting quite the work out each day jaja. 

The first couple days in the sector I was like a deer in the headlights.  But I am slowly learning the life of a missionary.  We walk everywhere!  Lots of homes are make shift dwellings, or there will be a door that opens up to a hallway of single rooms dwellings where entire families live.  I feel so humbled by the happiness and joy these people have, when some have so little.  It makes you really reflect on what is important in our lives...family and love.  I love seeing how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has given many people so much hope and purpose. 

Funny things:  already got called Hermana Cerveza (because Duffy is a beer I guess on the Simpsons???) Barbie Hermana (officially reached Gringa status jaja).  But I have never met people so giving and willing to listen, or at least talk to you!  Oh guess who gets to eat prieta this next Saturday...blood sausage.  Ill let you know how it goes! 

We have an investigador Paulina who has an amazing amount of faith.  She is ready and wanting to be baptized this next Sunday, so we will be working with her every day this week.

CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE VIVA CHILE.  La Mundial is happening and it has been a little loco here.  People here love their Futbol! 

Calls from missionaries for medical issues have gone well so far!

So much I want to tell you, but know that I love you.  I am so grateful to give my all to sharing the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ here.

Much love,

Hna Duffy,

Five

This email might be a little random because I have a lot of things I want to tell you.  Here we go..

I leave the CCM exactly one week from today.  The CCM has been a spiritual boot camp on how to study the scriptures, and how to invite the Spirit more into your life.  I wouldn´t give this experience up for anything..but I definitely wouldn´t want to repeat it.  I have officially sat in the same chair studying for about 10 hours almost every day for the past 5 plus weeks.  I might miss my desk...or not.  I was blessed with an amazing Distrito, Distrito #5!  All of us are getting ¨cabin fever¨though and are ready to serve the Lord outside the CCM fence :) More misioneros arrived in the CCM this last week.  More Hermanas came thankfully, and a couple of them are going to Santiago Norte too.  

Yesterday me and Hna B were able to street contact again.  We were able to talk with this Austrailian man named A.  We started speaking spanish to him, and he said that he didnt speak spanish.  You can only imagine how happy we got.  It is still hard speaking in Spanish because I am not able to fully express myself.  So our conversation with him went well, and I understood everything he said:)  He said that his wife is Chilean, and that she fell down stairs in January and sustained some major injuries.  He said he wouldn´t make a good Christian, but he has visited SLC and has a lot of respect for Mormons.  We were able to give him a pass along card, and we said we would pray for his wife which he seemed to really appreciate.  Trying to plant seeds of faith!  Everyone has a story (yes Dad I´m quoting you) and when you sincerely talk with others they will open up about their miedos, problemas, y deseos.  I love contacting!

I got two new Latina Hermanas in my room.  Love them so much!  Last night, Hna. S came up to me while I was writing in my journal in bed, and asked me what Peruvian coin I thought was prettier..I pointed to one and she said ¨this is for you.¨I know money is a concern for her...and this token really made an impression on my heart.  What great humility these people have for the church, the gospel, the Lord.  They are sacrificing so much more to serve.  I am so grateful that I can serve by their side.  What great people live down here in South America.  They shine the light of Christ in so many ways.  

For La Noche de Hogar, we were given the opportunity to tutor the Latino misioneros in ingles!  They have the opportunity to take ingles classes while they are here, and they receive books etc to study ingles during their misiones.  So much fun.  We all sung ¨Called to Serve¨in ingles together.  Some of the Latinos know some ingles due to video games...very impressive!

Tomorrow we are having a devotional by a member of the presidency of the 70!  So excited.  Then on Friday I get to go out with Hermanas who are serving in Santiago Sur.  It is definitely winter here.  The Andes Mountains are snow covered and stunning.  If I could only go skiing on my P day jaja.

On Sunday I was able to give a talk about the Espiritu Santo (Holy Ghost).  I talked about by going on a mision we give up lots of distractions like phones, tv, etc. which clear our minds to be open to the Espiritu Santo.  My favorite part of the CCM experience has been my personal hour for studying the scriptures every morning.  Best way to start off your day.  Remember specific prayers receive specific answers!  

What a wonderful work!

Love you with all mi corazon.

Hermana Duffy

Four

Another grand week here at the Santiago CCM!  If my spelling or grammar is off, I´m blaming the spanish keyboard I´m using...okay plus there is no autocorrect so you can see how bad my english spelling is getting.  One plus to Spanish...the spelling is identical to how it sounds!

My week was going fine, but yesterday was definitely the highlight of my whole CCM experience thus far.  I PLACED MY FIRST BOOK OF MORMON/ LIBRO DE MORMON.  One of our teachers surprised us and said that we had 20 minutes to go contacting on the street right in front of the CCM.  This is a hard area because most of the people really ignore you because they are so use to seeing tons of missionaries on this street.  However, I had been praying for the a while now that I would be ready for such an opportunity..(we get really exciting when we get to pass through the CCM gate jaja). Hna. Berrio and I started walking maybe a block from the CCM when we made eye contact with this guy.  He smiled but kept on walking.  I looked back and say though that he had stopped maybe 15 feet from us and seemed to be hesitating.  So we went up to him.  His came is A.  He is from Colombia (shout out to Elder Duffy) and I was actually able to talk to him about mi hermana serviendo en Bogota.  From what I got from talking with him...nice thing was he talked a lot slower than the Chileans here....was he has seen the angel on the temple in Bogota and the one here in Santiago, he has a close family member that joined the church, and that he has been attending lots of chapels trying to fill the void in his life, but nothing has satisfied his spiritual hunger yet.  He was so patient with me and my companera as we explained to him the Libro de Mormon, that there are modern prophets, that God loves him, and that he can find more peace and purpose in his life, by reading the LDM another testimony of Jesucristo.  In my broken spanish all I could really say was I know this Book is true and the peace it has given me in my life.  We gave him a Libro de Mormon and a pamphlet on the Restoration.  We got his contact information and have passed it on to the CCM leaders who forward it on to otras Hermanas who speak more spanish:)  This work is not of man but of God.  Christ lives.  I was having a hard time trying to process missionary work...how to open your mouth so all can hear...but I know with the guidance of the Spirit, I can be lead to those who are being prepared to hear more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I love being a missionary in this great work!

This last Sunday I was able to bear my testimony during Fast and Testimony Sunday in Spanish.  I definitely brought notes up with me, but I know my simple spanish sentences in testimony are true.  My love of the gospel has grown so much.  My forgeting myself, I have found myself.  

Right now in the CCM there are probably only 20ish missionaries.  I guess tons of missionaries are going to the Mexico CCM instead.  It has been fun though.  It is like private language lessons here jaja en serio.  I have learned to be in a classroom for about 12 hours every day with guys about the same age as Cam and a little younger then Caden.  These Elders are working so hard, and it has been really fun watching them figure things out their first couple weeks being independent.  They try so hard to be respectful around Hna. Berrio and me...sometimes I feel like the Motherly/Medical Consultant in their life...but their desire to serve the Lord is so pure.  

Yesterday I worked with Dr. J for a couple hours and he taught me how to assess basically most body systems both in person and over the phone.  I am so thankful for his willingness to teach me.  He said he is hoping that the nurses will be given iphones to use so we will be able to text him questions/get medication recommendations etc instead of playing phone tag with him.  He is really shaping the medical work that is being done here.  I found out that one of the nicest hospitals in all of South America is in my mission.  So blessed.

I am so grateful that the Lord has entrusted me to be a representative for Him here in Chile.  

With much love,

Hermana Duffy

Three

This has been another fabulous week here in the CCM.  The saying goes...days are long, but weeks fly by.  I 

don´t know if I will totally feel 100% prepared to face the real world of missionary work (especially the spanish aspect) but I am excited to soon be tracking.  

I was so blessed to have my dia de preparacion on my birthday!  Best present ever:)  This morning the Mission President´s wife, Hermana Doll, gave me cookies and all the norteamericanos and latinos sang me happy birthday.  What a wonderful group of people to be surrounded by.  I have loved being here at the Chilean CCM, because it is really close knitted.  I get personal language help from teachers and I have become good friends with the Medical Senior Couples here.

Let the medical questions begin.  Word has officially spread through the CCM that I am a nurse so this week included:  rule out hernia, massive canker sore, sore throat, and popping pinky toe.  Pretty intense huh;)  I am so blessed to have had the education and training in nursing so I can help others.  I met with Hermana T this week.  She is another Nurse here in the Santiago East mission with basically the same training and work experience I have had.  She was telling me how she does things....she is truly a pioneer when it comes to the work she has done here in Chile.  She told me she gets 15 to 20 calls a day..so I am hoping that I get a Smartphone because I will be charting on each phone call I take.  I also got to spend some time with Dr. J.  He is AWESOME!  He had me help him assess a missionary and then spent time explaining how to rule out if something like back pain is serious or not.  I have a feeling I am going to learn tons from him!

So I got two new Latina Hermanas as roommates.  One is from Peru and the other is from Honduras.  The one from Honduras is a dentist, and if I have been understanding her spanish correctly, she has been doing a lot of volunteer work as a dentist with missionaries prior to serving.  Funny spanish language mistakes of the week.  When asking someone to pass a plate I used the word Planchas (like the scriptural ancient metal plates ...opps).  When you are hungry say ¨hambre¨not ¨hombre¨.  Before lunch, I was trying to say that I was really hungry but instead said ´I have many men¨.  oh well I try. 

We were able to do a English session in the Santiago temple yesterday.  It was probably one of the most spiritual experiences I have had in a temple thus far.  I know that the Lord is supporting me in His work, and for sanctifying this time to Him, I can bless others including myself.

On Sunday, my companera y yo sang a song at Noche de Hogar (family home evening).  We sang ¨Be Still my Soul¨in english because there isnt a spanish version in the Himno.  The words in this song are so simple but touching.  I dont think I have ever felt more peace in my life than I do now.  The Gospel is true.  I am here in Chile to help real people with real problems come unto Christ.  His arms are always reaching out.  I love the missionary approach that is being used to really assess the personal needs of investigadors.  It is easy to just teach set lessons, but when you really get to know the desires, fears, and soul stirring questions people have, then the Spirit can guide you in what you need to say.

Know that I love you, I pray for you, and am sustained by your prayers.  I love studying the Plan of Salvation, because it makes me so happy that I can spend eternity with you,

Share the light of Christ with everyone,

Te amo,

Hermana Duffy

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Two

What a life changing week this has been!  When you think you have fully developed a certain attribute, the Spirit stretches you a little farther in order to become a little closer to Christ.  This week I have really been pondering and studying the Christ like attribute of Hope.  Hope is simple in nature, but complicated in nature.  I have lots of hopes for serving the Lord here in Chile, but in order to work towards these hopes I need to ACT in faith.  

So this last week was more classes!  It has been really fun being a student again..me and my spanish dictionary are really close friends now.  A typical day consists of getting up at 7 am (they play the song Called to Serve over the loud speaker as our alarm clock), personal study for an hour, quick breakfast, we get to run in the park, get ready and then we are in class from 10 to 10.  It sounds daunting writing it right now, but I am truly loving it!  I can truly feel the Spirit supporting me physically, emotionally, and spiritually, as I try to prepare to serve more fully.

Today a big group of missionaries left the CCM to go serve in their assigned missions.  Im going to really miss them, especially my roommates Hna. F and Hna. E.  These two wonderful sisters were so loving and patient with me my first week while I was trying to pick up some basic Spanish phrases.  Funny story.  One night I asked Hna. E to clarify when to use the word bien and bueno.  She gave me the example of saying "A good investigator" "A buen investigador." I heard her say "A buen pescador (fisherman)" I started nodding in agreement, and acting out like I was going fishing.  She looked at me and busted up laughing.  Now our inside joke is that we are going to go preach to all the fishermen in the area.  Im so thankful for these beautiful sisters and I know they are going to be amazing missionaries!

The language is coming...slowly but surely!  Yesterday me and my companera Hna. B, taught a lesson to our practice investigador "Pedro."  The Spirit was so strong in the lesson.  We were able to pray with him, testify to him, and commit him to be baptized.  Even though now all of our lessons have gone that well, the ones where you know the Spirit is truly manifesting the love of God to an investigador makes all your Spanglish worth it!  A humbling experience I had this week was concerning my ideas on teaching.  For the past year as a nurse, I was trained to know the answers, to go off my own experience and to have that professional take on teaching.  However, when teaching the gospel, I am the vessel that the Lord and the Spirit are teaching through.  To teach you have to turn to the scriptures.  Im so thankful for Preach my Gospel, what an inspired guide

The weather has been very mild this week, but you can definitely tell winter is rolling in!  Let winter begin again! 

 I was able to run into my mission president and his sweet wife this morning.  They were picking up the missionaries that were leaving to go to the Norte Mission.  Hna E said that when I get to the mission I will have 10 days with her before they leave so she can train me on the medical part.  She said she is going to give me the responsibility of the "medical cell phone" probably my second day there.  Im so grateful that I will have her there to help me the first week or so.  Also this Thursday I will be meeting with Hna. T who is a Medical Nurse Specialist in the Santiago East mission, so maybe she can give me some tips also.

I love Chile I love the people here. They are so warm and loving, and I cant wait to serve them!

This is what Im suppose to be doing...I know the Lord needs me here, and I need to be here.  

Yo se que el Evangelio Restaurado is verdadero.  Dios is nuestro Padre Celestial.  Nosotros somos sus hijos.  Nos ama.  Estoy agradecida por la Expiacion, y el ejemplo de Jesucristo.  Yo siento el Espiritu Santo cuando yo ensenar.  Yo tengo paz y gozo porque familias son eternas.  El Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios y si nosotros leemos de las paginas, podemos felizidad y ser comodo.  

If anyone that is fluent in spanish and reading this their may be a few grammatical erros ;)  Give me a few more months.

I love you with all mi corozon.

Con amor,

Hermana Duffy

Week One

It has been exactly a week since I have arrived to the beautiful country of Chile!  I LOVE IT HERE.  The people are so loving and caring.  The climate is beautiful.  My dry skin has finally healed thanks to the humidity here.  The air quality is very similar to the smog in Utah. Supposedly there are mountains by us, but I can only see them some of the time.  So this week passed by like a dream, except it included many hours of sitting in classes trying to learn spanish and how to be an effective missionary.  I thought being a RN would help me be an effective teacher of the gospel, but teaching the gospel is something very distinct in itself.  It was interesting because one of our teachers was saying the North Americans sort of have an advantage because due to our limited spanish, we have to teach simply.  During the first practice lessons, I felt like I had to drive deep into doctrine, however I have learned that these simple truths are the things that really prick the hearts of the investigadors and invite the Espiritu Santo.  

Another thing I am working on is trying to view others (especially the Latinos) as nuestro Padre Celestial would.  Coming to a new place, it is easy to view yourself as very different than others, but nosotros somos todos hijos de Dios.  I am so thankful for the oportunidad I have to pray and serve the people here in Chile.  Here in this little corner of the mundo I have the oportunidad to hopefully make a difference in uno personas life.  However, I learned this last week, that with serving a mission our greatest convert will be ourself.  A mission really opens up your eyes to your weaknesses and what you need to work on to be a better disciple of Christ.  

Here in the CCM..we do something called ´"progressive investigators"  where we teach a teacher who is acting like an investigador.  Mi companera y yo tenemos dos personas...Carla y Pedro.  Right now we are able to use Spanglish to teach them...thank goodness.  The CCM right now has misioneros from 15 different countries.  It is amazing how strong the Latino misioneros are.  We were able to go to the temple yesterday, and a couple of them received their endowments during the session, because back home they live far away from a temple.  

Comida...like I said during Skype time....no me gusta esta comida, pero yo compre muchas fruta durante mi dia de preparacion.  Honestly, I´m not sure if any of the spanish sentences that I´m using in this email are grammatically precise, but I´m trying to use palabras here and there:)  

Another thing I am so grateful for is for such a support system.  I´m so grateful for family and friends and their prayers.  I can feel the support the Spirit is giving me during this time of transition and with el don del lenguas.  The past couple days I was able to make contact with Dr. J (who is over all the Chilean missions) and Senores O (who was the couple I met during my mission medical training back in SLC).  Im so lucky to have the chance to work with these amazing people for the next 18 months!  

Closing thought-  one thing that I have been thinking a lot about this last week is love and specifically charity.  1 Cor 13 sums it up beautifully.  It is something we must pray, and I know as we have more charity for others, we can feel more profoundly the love of God for His children including ourselves.

Enjoy the journey. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Familias son eternas.

Hermana Duffy

She's Off!

 Exactly 50 LBS

Mother's Day SKYPE

Dear Family,

 I'm writing to you from a computer in the CCM.  I made it to chile!  I was able to meet up with about 9 other missionaries in SLC.  And then in Atlanta met up with 15 plus more.  I am so excited to be here, and if feels so right.  I can't write much write now, but know that I am safe and happy.  I can see the temple right across the sidewalk from the ccm.  I will talk to you on Sunday.