Monday, December 28, 2015

Chile - Osorno - Week 56 - Feliz Navidad / Baptism

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Bueno, we had a baptism on Saturday! It was awesome! Laura was so prepared and I know she is only going to keep progressing from here. Her whole family came to support her which was awesome! 
Her daughter and grand-kids are also investigating the church a little bit so we are going to start focusing on them now! They all came to church yesterday too to see Laura receive the Holy Ghost! 
We are so excited for her and we know she is going to be a great example for her family!

Christmas here was good, not like it is at home, but you do what you can with what you've got! 
Christmas eve we were supposed to go eat dinner with a family, but they didn't show up to pick us up until like 10:30pm that night and we had to be in the house at 11:00 so that didn't really work out as planned, but a Christmas Miracle happened and a member of our ward showed up at our door at 11:00 with a bag full of Chicken and Potatoes! We ate it on the living room floor in our PJ´s while listening to Michael Bublè  Christmas Music. Then at midnight we opened our presents we got from the members! 
it was a Christmas I won't forget! 

Hope everyone has a good week and a Happy new year! 

Here is to 2016!!

Hermana Segura

Laura's Baptism

We were at their house and they let us
use their computer so we could Skype our families.

Me and my comp Christmas night at our house
celebrating Christmas !!

Skyping with the family !!

and this is what they looked like from my side..



Monday, December 21, 2015

Chile - Osorno - Week 55 - Chaupo Punta Arenas, Hola Osorno!

Bueno, officially one of the worst weeks of my life. Okay maybe not, but leaving Punta Arenas was so hard. Never have I cried so much in my life. I love Punta Arenas and the people so much. Literally tore my heart out. When the plane took off, Hermana Mota and I just sat there and cried together for about half an hour. So, so, so hard, but we both made it to our new sectors and were able to find ourselves with some old friends on the way so that was fun! I got to see some old comps and district leaders! 

I also found out that Maria, one of my investigators from Pucòn that we found in a collectivo (taxi) one night, was also baptized recently in another city close to Pucòn! Amazing how after all the time I spent in Pucòn, I am now starting to see the fruits of our labor! After her baptism, she was called to be ward missionary! She is gonna help baptize all of Coñaripe! Super stoked for her!

So far so good here in Osorno! I forgot how green it is here up north! (bueno, not really north, but more north than Punta Arenas...) I'm trying to get used to the "big city life". My whole mission I've been in Pueblitos, so for me, this change has been a little crazy. Even more for the climate change! I am dying of heat here and it isn't even officially summer yet.....pretty sure I'm gonna get cooked.  It reminds me a lot of Pucòn but bigger and with more people. The smell of smoke from the fire that people use to heat their houses brings back so many flashbacks of walking down the street in Pucòn! It's the weirdest feeling, almost like memories from another lifetime!

My comp is Hermana Davila from Argentina! This is her last cambio (she leaves in January), so we will only be together for a short time. We get along pretty well and I think we are gonna have a good time together! 

There are so many people here preparing for baptism! We will be having a baptism the day after Christmas! Her name is Laura and she is awesome! So prepared! 

I miss Punta Arenas with all of my heart, but I'm excited to be apart of the work here in Osorno! 

¡FELIZ NAVIDAD DESDE OSORNO CHILE! 

Hermana Segura

​My comp and I eating ice-cream because it's blazing hot here.
6 months since I have felt the heat of the sun.
Not sure what to do with it!

Monday, December 14, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 54- Transfers... to Osorno

Well can´t say I'm surprised, but yes I am finally leaving Punta Arenas. I have been called to serve in Osorno as an Hermana Líder (sister training leader), where I will be in charge of helping "train" 14 sister missionaries (not sure who was drinking what when they called me to that position) but I had a feeling that it was coming. 

Should be interesting. Super nervous, but I'm sure it will be a good experience. 

All is well here in Punta Arenas! Friday we had a conference with Elder Texeira of the area presidency! That was an awesome experience! He helped us a lot in coming up with ideas to find new people! Those men are truly called of God. His wife also taught us a lot. It ended up being about a 6 hour conference! Super awesome! I know that the work here is going to explode!

Super bummed that I'm headed out. I love Punta Arenas with all of my heart, but I know someday I will be back! Looking forward to new adventures in Osorno! I imagine these will be my last adventures of the mission! 

Love 
Hermana Segura



The revelation of Hermana Mota when we were companions.
She was right. Hermana Mota has also been called to be
an Hermana Líder in Puerto Varas! Crazy.
(Revelation #2 to finish as Hnas Leaders #Success)

I'm going to miss all these girls!! they are the best !!

Monday, December 7, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 53- Jessica and Damian

LOOK AT THIS PICTURE!!! one of the families that I taught the whole time I was in Pucón, Jessica and Damian, finally got baptized this week!!! I have seriously never been so happy in my life! 

They have been waiting a year and a half to be baptized, and finally their moment came! It doesn't matter that I wasnt there to see it, the feeling is just as amazing. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to help them through the process and that now they are on their way to eternal happiness! 

THIS IS WHY I AM A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     

Hermana Segura


Monday, November 30, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 52- Thanksgiving dinner..

My Thanksgiving dinner. It looks like a hot mess, but it was actually delicious.
#eatingabowlofchiliinchile #amihipsteryet

Monday, November 23, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 51- Fast and Prayers...

Wow, this week was awesome!

This past transfer, our Zone set the goal to fast every Saturday for one transfer and ask the Lord to help us find people to invite to be baptized. This week we were able to find three new people and invited two others to be baptized! They both accepted and are preparing for baptism in January! The others that we found are awesome and I know they are going to progress! Hopefully this week we will be able to set them with a date! 

I've never really had a personal testimony of fasting. I believe that it worked, but I've never had personal experiences.  This week I formed my testimony of fasting and prayer. I know that together, miracles can happen.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I've had to strengthen my testimony about so many things here on the mission. Things that are going to help me so much throughout my life. I'm convinced that this mission has been more to help me than for me to help others. I will never be able to thank the Lord enough for this blessing he has given me to serve. 

Hermana Segura

This is "La Esmeralda" (The Emerald) an old war ship that travels around
the world, we were lucky to see it since it is always gone..






We visited one of the Cemeteries here in Punta Arenas 

If I die young..build me one of these...

This is an Indian that grants wishes...  I wanted to ask him for
more baptisms, but the lady took way too long..

Last Package... 

Hna Mota is very happy with what you guys sent her.. 

El Ovejero.. (The shepherd)..

Feeling a little sheepish...


Preaching repentance to everyone.. it's fine..

We were asked to share our experience with the school system in the USA
with these class at one of the local Universities.. I had to do it in English and
it was hard.  Afterwards we were allowed to speak about the Church and what
we do as missionaries.  It was a great experience.

Making popcorn for our ward activity.  We showed "Meet the Mormons"
We had 11 investigators attend the activity.

What your face looks like when the wind is blowing at
150 Kilometers per hour.


Monday, November 9, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 49 - No blog letter just pics..


"Look Simba, everything the light touches is our kingdom"...
just kidding this is my sector! Yes I have knocked just about
every one of those doors.....

This is Paulina.. a member in the ward
(not my comp..she is wearing my name tag)

Need someone to weed wack your lawn? call me! ;)
(service project)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!

Monday, November 2, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 48 - Exito (Success) in Ovejero

Okay this last week was awesome! I will start from the beginning:

When I got to this sector, we had 2 families progressing. The mission standard of excellence is 10. 
Our 2 families were progressing really well, but they were all that we had and we didn't have a very long list of other people we could visit. It was a bit of a hard transfer, walking around in circles and knocking the same doors over and over again that never opened, and by the end we only had 3 families progressing. Better, but we were still short.

The next transfer I got a new comp and we decided to break the bad habits of the previous sisters and start knocking doors in other neighborhoods. We knocked quite a bit for the first few weeks, but without a lot of success. We felt that no one was ever going to let us in the door, so slowly we went back to knocking the same doors as before that still never opened.

I knew there were people in our sector that were prepared, there always are, but we weren't finding them. I decided that we weren't finding them, because they weren't in the places where we were looking. We needed to look a little harder, walk a little farther, be brave and talk to more people, and knock the giant houses that everyone has always been afraid to knock. We needed to do something different. So we did! I took my little trainee and told her we were going to find the people that the Lord has prepared, but that it was going to be hard. Our feet were gonna hurt, and our boots were going to get dirty. We fasted, we prayed, we walked, we knocked, we contacted, and I am happy to say that we ended this transfer with  6 new families and we met the standard of excellence of 10 families progressing. 

This week was especially awesome. We found a neighborhood that I have never knocked before and we knocked every single door. It took about 2 hours, but we found 10 other families that were receptive and said that we could come back another day! A few days after that we went to another neighborhood that I haven't knocked much and found 4 other receptive families. I seriously have no idea where these people came from, or where they have been the last 4 months, but I am so happy that we found them! 
I knew they were out there, we were just in the wrong places, or we weren't willing to go the extra mile, (literally because all of these people live super far away). But it was worth it! And it is going to be worth it because I know that at least one of these families will be baptized soon. 

Many have said to me that this is one of those miracles that happens when someone is in the process of training and then after that the big miracles go away, and maybe that is part of it, but I don't think that its true. Any missionary who is willing to work hard and go the extra mile, to knock the doors that no one wants to knock, or contact people in the street even though they don't like to (like me...) is worthy of the same miracles as any other missionary whether they be in training, are leaders, or missionaries that have been out in the mission field for more than a year. Success is not limited, success is not conditional.

I am so excited for the work that we have ahead of us! It is going to be tough, but I know the Lord is right here along with us! This next transfer is going to be awesome and we are going to have a baptism! 

Heres to the last 4 transfers of the mission! Lets go!

Hermana Segura

Monday, October 26, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 47 - No blog letter.. but a Release Letter ( La Carta Moroni)


Hermana Segura received her release letter already -- She is coming home April 22nd, 2016. One year and 6 months exactly after she left.  1 year down.. 6 months to go.

Noooooooo 

Hermana Mota and I with our release letters
La Carta Moroni..


1 year.. 6 moths to go..

This is my "I made it" stance

My one year Kuchen!



Monday, October 19, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 46 - No letter this week, just picks..

The primary's artistic interpretation of the missionaries in the ward!
So cute! =)

The dogs are the only ones that listen !!!

This is Tyson, the dog of one of our members! He is the best!!
So old though, think he is going on 14!

Monday, October 12, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 45 - "I got bronchitis! Aint nobody got time for that!"

You may be wondering about the title of this letter......indeed I am suffering from bronchitis. (Don't even know if that is how you spell it but you know...) I have spent this whole week without a voice. My poor comp has had to talk a lot, but it's good training! =) Tuesday I had a sore throat and by Wednesday I was without a voice. Lovely. Thursday I really didn't have a voice and my chest was killing me. I had to call the nurse the next morning to get some meds and she told me it was most likely bronchitis. Lots of missionaries here get it. Friday I stayed in the house to rest up a little and the next day went to work as usual. I'm still without much of a voice and I'm hacking up a lung every 5 seconds, but I'm better than I was a few days ago! 

These past few weeks have sure been full of miracles! Last week we found a man named Juan. We were walking in the street and he stopped us and said "Hey are you guys Mormon?" We said "No, why?" he,he just kidding... we said, "Yes, we are missionaries!" he said that he was renting out an apartment and wanted to rent it to a Mormon because we are good people and he can trust us. He gave us his number and told us to call him if we knew anyone who needed an apartment. We said okay and then he told us that he went to the Mormon church a lot when he was younger because his neighbors were Mormon and took him to primary every week! After that they moved, so he stopped going. He said he has good memories of the church though! After he told us his story he said "Well, call me if you find anyone." And then started to walk away. I said "Wait! Could we pass by your house another day and talk more?" He said " Yeah, I'll be home Thursday if you want to pass by". Super! We passed by the next Thursday and started teaching! He had so many questions, we went right into the Restoration and the Book of Mormon, and then invited him to be baptized. He said yes! We went and visited him the other day and he is reading and praying and has so many good questions! We are hoping that he can be baptized sometime in November! He is so prepared!

The same day we found Juan, we found another woman named Liliana! She was walking down the street with her two kids and I said to my comp, "we have to contact this woman!" We stopped her, introduced ourselves, gave her a card with a picture of Christ on it, told her we shared a message about Christ, and asked her if we could share it with her another day. She said yes, gave us her phone number, and told us to call another day! We called a few days later and asked if we could pass by her house during the week. She said that it would be hard to find her in the house, but that she was going to be at her kids school later in the week and that we could pass by to see her there! We met up with her at the school and started talking with her. Turns out her and her family are from Colombia and just moved here for her husband's work! She told us that she had talked with the missionaries in Colombia when she was like 14, but doesn't remember much. We also taught her the restoration and the Book of Mormon, but before we could invite her to be baptized, she had to leave! Dang it! But she was super awesome and told us that she liked everything that we told her! I know she is gonna be baptized with her family here soon too!
So awesome how the Lord is helping us find those who are prepared to recieve us! When I got to this sector, we only had 2 families taking the discussions, now we have 8 and potential for even more! I am so excited for these next few months here in Punta Arenas! We are gonna have a baptism! 

Hermana Segura

Monday, October 5, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 44 - Conference Weekend...

Our District before transfers

Las Hermanas de Punta Arenas
 
When cambios came, us three ended up having to wait
another day for our companions so we teamed up and
worked in one sector for the day!
Hermana Maready, Hermana Jopi, and I!


My new comp Hermana Leiva and I

Great people !!

Monday, September 28, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 43 - New comp !!

Oh this past week has been a little crazy, but I'm sure this week will be a lot easier. 

We had transfers on Wednesday but my comp wasn't going to be here until Thursday so I went and worked in the sector of the Hermana Leaders for the day with one of the Hermana Leaders and another sister who was also waiting for her new comp.
Thursday during our studies, we got a call that my comp had missed her flight so she wouldn't be getting to Punta Arenas until later that night! We went to the church to pick up the group of missionaries that flew in, everyone left with their new comp except me! I had to work in my sector with the Hermana Leader and her new comp, who is also an Hermana Leader, until about 6:00 that night! 
I didn't have any real plans made because I was counting on showing  my comp the new sector and introducing her to the members, so we did a lot of contacting and visiting a few random people. It was a little stressful working with my two leaders, but It wasn't too bad. 

Later that night we went to the airport to pick up my new comp, went to the house, she unpacked her stuff, and we went right to work! 

Her name is Hermana Leiva from Santiago Chile! I'm excited for the opportunity I have to train her, but a little overwhelmed at the same time. I feel like she is a lot more prepared to be on the mission than I was during my training, but maybe its because she already knows the language. She has done really well these last few days, I feel like I don't have anything to teach her! I'm not very good at telling people what to do either, so I'm hoping I will just be able to lead by example and be there  for her when she needs help and support. I'm sure Ill get the hang of it more this week. 

She's kind of quiet so I'm trying to come up with ways to make the studies more fun and interesting for her...I really have no idea what I'm doing, but we are going to see how things go. 

Wish me luck!

Hermana Segura

Monday, September 21, 2015

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 42 - Transfers - I'm going to be a Trainer..

Well the dreaded day has come. I thought for sure I would be staying with my companion on more transfer considering we have only been together for a short time, however I was wrong...

I will be training a new missionary.

We had interviews with our mission president a few weeks ago and he told me that he knew he could trust me with any calling in the mission, Senior Comp, Trainer, Hermana leader, so I had a bad feeling my time was coming....I will be training a Chilean! I'm excited and totally scared out of my mind! I swear I just got out of my training.

I am excited for a new transfer though. Even though not much changes, it always feels like a new start! I have a good feeling that this next transfer we are going to see a lot of success in our sector! It is going to be a challenge, but I'm ready for it!

That's about all the big news I have for the moment. I'm still kind of in shock so I don't have much else to say. My "hija" flies in on Thursday, so I guess we will see how this weekend goes! My old comp is going to another sector in our zone, so I will be able to see her still which I am happy about! We had such a good transfer together, I am so sad she is leaving! I know that the Lord needs us in certain places though with certain people so I'm going to have to trust in him.

Wish me luck!

Hermana Segura

Enjoy the pics from Sept 18th, Chile Independence day !!

Happy time

Plate full of "Empanadas"
Hermana Mota and I bailando la Cueca, the national dance
of Chile, with the primary kids! Super awesome!

Then, we let the pros take over..

Missionaries! The other elders in our ward and our Zone Leaders.