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!

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

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 !!

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

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.

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 41 - Lots of Tracking...

Sorry to those who read my blog! Time just passes by so fast I get behind on everything! 

Not a ton of action these past few weeks. We are still struggling to find new people to teach so its a lot of door knocking for us. We have found a few people with potential, so we will see how it goes! The investigators we have at the moment are not progressing too much right now so we just have to be patient.

These past few weeks I have learned how important the members of the ward are in missionary work. We can't do it without you! Tell us who your friends are so we can teach them! Learn how to work with the missionaries! It is seriously so important. 

This week we only have 3 days of work because Friday is 18 de Septiembre, the Chilean 4th of July! Its bigger than Christmas! We are literally have permission to eat and party with the members for 2 days! I'm kinda stoked! Should be fun!

Sorry for the short note, More next week! Enjoy the pics of "Torres del  Payne"! 

Hermana Segura

We weren't even in the park yet in this picture! 

The "Hand"

The other "Hand"

They call this "El Cocodrilo", it protects Natales,

They call this "The Devil's Chair"

There was a ton of snow on the roads so our tour van had 
to stop and put chains on the tires. We decided to get out and 
make a snowman on the side of the road! 

Lago toro with LasTorres del Payne in the background!

Las Torres (The Towers)

Lots of wind and cold! There are two big glaciers in the lake behind me!

Chile - Punta Arenas - Week 40 - No letter this week.. just pics..

#somoschilenos #flyte (we are Chile)

18 de Septiembre is coming up and our ward is gonna have a huge party!
( 18 is Chilean 4th of July) We have been asked to present the traditional dance of our country at the party.
What is the traditional dance of the states? I have no idea, but we are gonna throw on a hat and
some flannel shirts and call it a hoedown. =)

Party on the bus!! Love these chicas! 

Looking at the ocean from my sector! super cool!
The Chilean Armada is stationed in my sector so there are always military boats around!