One Year Mark!

January 20, 2014

Dear Family, 

This Week’s Happenings! 

So this week was good, but a little rough - but hey look who is still standing hahah but ya here are some highlights -

I hit my year mark this week and of course I have to be a traditional missionary and I burnt a skirt cause you just do that when you reach your year mark.  It was quite an adventure and what better place to burn stuff than Pirque in the middle of nowhere!  I enclosed a sweet video for ya’ll don’t worry nothing caught on fire but made for some good fun!  We needed some cheering up cause one of the other missionaries that lives with us went to the hospital for a week and now has to go back home so Hermana Huber and I are living alone.  It is weird and I love her to death. It was sad not to come home to someone but something neat we get to have one of the sisters in our ward be the comp of Hermana Portillo and she is 20 and is way awesome.  It’s fun to have her be a missionary with us for the week but we sure miss Hermana Sommer. 

We are starting to work well with the ward leaders so that is fun, but we still could see some more progress.  That’s like cool motivation to get up every morning to try to do a little bit better, right?

So funny story - sometimes things so don’t go as planned. This week we were going to visit a sister in our ward who is less active and to get to her house you have to walk about a mile and half in a road that pretty much is a river so we hauled our rain boots there so we would not get wet.  Of course that day was the only day that there was not any water!  haha Yes sometimes you carry heavy rain boots in really hot weather and then get attacked by mosquitos haha! It’s always an adventure here in Pirque, but ya I love my country experiences. 

This week we got to visit a ton of great people.  There is this family of Renato, Andres and Paula that I just love. They are like family and we can just show up any time.  They want to progress in the gospel so pray for them that they can come to church and get ready to be baptized.  I sure love the people here; they have so little but they have the biggest hearts and have taught me so much about life and love and about enduring to the end and about doing what’s right even when others are so in the wrong. 

Something that I have learned is that we need to remember that everyone is doing the best they can with what they have.  You know cause so many people get offended and freak out because something happened.  We need to stop and calm down and forgive.  Forgiving can be a really hard thing to do but also we need to stand up for what is right, even when we might lose a lot for doing it so. Stand for right and emulate our Savior and have mercy on those around you. Well sure do love you guys have a great week and remember that I love ya’ll and ya’ll are in my prayers

Hermana Jennings

Stomach Ache and Relying on the Lord

January 13, 2014

Dear Family, 

So this week was an adventure with tons of highs and lows, but it’s all good we got a new start coming our way. So something I learned this week. 

This week my stomach has hurt every night for 4 days which was been interesting but I’m doing great don’t worry.  The first night it was really bad I could barely walk. This is what went down.

We were at a lesson and in the lesson I felt it start to hurt and by the time we ended I was in immense pain and we had to walk 2 miles to get to the bus stop. It was the longest walk of my life but my comp was right beside me and she had linked arms with me and was my strength to go on. The pain would come so hard sometimes my knees would buckle out from under me but my comp caught me and helped me go forward cause there was no choice to stop and rest I had to go forward.

Later that night I sat in my bed writing in my journal and started thinking a ton about the Atonement.   This is what i learned: Our journey through life is a long one at times (we have to walk 2 miles in the dark with shooting pain) and we have trials that seem too hard to bear and that is when the Atonement comes in. I guess I always thought the Atonement takes all the pain away but I think it actually gives us the strength to keep pushing through and Christ is there with us the whole way (just like my comp was there when I literally couldn’t go on by myself she caught me and pulled me forward) that is like Christ. We get these trials and we must go forward but we aren’t alone because I know that through the Atonement we can feel the love of Christ helping us go on either through others or a feeling but we know He is there just like i knew my comp was there to catch me if I fell. Sometimes we fall and we can’t do it by ourselves and we have to rely on the Lord. Just like when my knees buckled my comp steadied me and literally carried/dragged me till I could walk again.

I think sometimes we try to do things by ourselves and if we do that we will fall but if we lean on the Jesus during our trials through reading our scriptures, fervent prayer and going to church we allow Him to catch us and He can carry us through our trials.  The pain might not leave for a while but we will receive comfort and we will learn the lesson that is there for us to learn. I know that everything that happens to us is to make us stronger and to learn and grow. I know that if we turn to the Savior during these times we will make it and the trial will be for our good, but I also know that if we let them the trials can break us.  So my plead with all of ya’ll is to turn to the Savior. Maybe the pain won’t be gone with a snap of a finger it may take a long time but the tender mercies of the Lord will be found and you will receive the strength to go on - to put one foot in front of the other and Christ will lead you through the storm.

I testify that our Savior lives and that we are here on this earth to change and to become more like Christ and develop his attributes. I love being a missionary it’s the hardest thing I have ever done and I have felt Christ carrying me a lot but I have learned so much and have changed. I definitely feel like a different person and I will thank the Lord every day for this experience that I had to serve a mission. There is always something to learn and there is always our Savior to help us through it all.  That my friends is what I learned this week. 

Some  Funny Stories

1.      During sacrament meeting Sebastian,  the son of Nicole, (a less active that came to church for the first time this Sunday!!! love her so much) was hungry and i was giving him some crackers I had in my backpack. After church I was sitting with his family when little 3 year old Sebastian walks up to us and is holding my tampon.... i guess in its colorful bright orange wrapping it looked like candy.... ya I was  - no that is so not candy - and grabbed it and put it back in my backpack hahah So embarrassing!  Ya got to love kids they do the funniest things. 

2.      Sometimes when I talk in front of  people I get nervous and mix up words.... like I did in zone class this Tuesday.   We were talking about some ideas we could do to help more people come unto Christ. I meant to say we should be more bold and let people know why we are here – it is to prepare them for baptism right... but instead I said we should have more barbeques  - yes  so I said in front of the whole zone to get more baptisms we need to have more barbeques haha  Ya, but that might actually work!  .. Gotta love embarrassing moments they are the bes.t   Hope ya’ll got a smile from these haha

 

Crazy stuff - One of the sisters I live with went to the hospital last night and stayed the night and will be there for tonight too! The poor thing had an asthma attack so it’s been hectic around here. 

Pierre got baptized after a ton of bumps in the road but we figured it out with the help of the Lord and President Wright. 

Well love ya’ll have a great week and keep on working hard at whatever you do!!!

Love ya,

Hermana Jennings

New Years Goals

January 6, 2014

Hey there ya’ll ( I miss the south haha)

So this week was full of all sorts of adventures so here they are:

1.  Directions Pirque Style

So earlier this week we were looking for someone we have in our area book and we were lost because my comp and I really don’t know the area that well yet because we both are new, so we just asked someone. The lady then gave us these set of directions- ok so you’ll wanna go straight and then take a right at the cow, cross 2 bridges and its on the other side.... I was like say what?  “right at a cow”. . .  Well we followed the directions to the best of our abilities and of course we got lost, but Pirque is the prettiest place to get lost in.  We ended up in a field with a mom horse and her baby with the mountains as their background. Definitely took some pictures. I sure love the country folk here!

2. Temple with Patricio y Pierre

So this week we got to do a tour of the temple with a recent convert Patricio and his son Pierre, who will be getting baptized this Sunday.   It was such a neat experience because they are so awesome and they both have such a desire to learn and to stay strong in the gospel. I am really lucky to have been able to meet them and help them come unto Christ . It’s weird cause I went to a 15 min trip to get to the temple to a 1 and a half hour trip to get to the temple, but it so worth it

3. Met my first really, really drunk guy on my mission - it was really sad cause all he does is drink every day.   It hurts his family cause we talked to his mom for a bit and she is so sad and doesn’t know what to do cause she is like 80 and her 40 year old son is still drinking every day for 20 years now.  It’s so sad and we tried to go see him but I think the drinking has done something to him. So moral of the story - don’t drink your life away. 

4. New Year’s goals

Ok so we all need to make goals they are way important and my challenge for ya’ll is to write down some goals for this year 2014. Here are mine. I did it a little different this year - I did a “quote goal thing”  Here they are:

1. The longer I live the more I realize the impact of attitude on life, attitude to me is more important than facts. it’s more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success,  than what other people think or say or do. It’s more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill, it will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is that we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way we cannot change the inevitable. the only thing we can do is play on the one string we have and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it and so it is with you, we are in charge of our own attitudes.

2. Observing the Sabbath is not a restriction but a protection and a source of strength.

3. God has a purpose and plan for us we need to put our will in line with Gods will then we will understand the plan He has for us.

4. It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

5. When we serve others our own burdens become lighter.

6. To love is to risk not being loved in return, to hope is to risk pain, to try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. 

7. If life gets too hard to stand. Kneel.

8. It may not always be easy, convenient, or politically correct to stand for truth and right, but it is the right thing to do – always.

9. A minute of self-control leads to a lifetime of discipline.

10. Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain and feel the wind.

11. Don’t cry because it’s over smile because it happened 

12. Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift that the power of work is a blessing that the love of work is success.

13. May your efforts to develop Christ-like attributes be successful so that His image may be engraved in your countenance and His attributes manifest in your behavior.

14. Who you are in the hereafter depends on who you are after here.

15. A true friend makes it easy to life the gospel.

16. The day obedience becomes a desire and not a burden is the day you gain power.

5. The crazy huge spider

So last night we had quite a fright cause this spider decided to join us who was the size of a half dollar... ya we screamed like girls and somehow Hermana Huber killed it!  hahah

6. Saved the Best for Last

So Pierre is getting baptized this Sunday and I am so very excited.  He really studies the stuff and wants to follow his Savior. I love teaching him and his dad who is a recent convert.

Well I hope all is well with ya’ll and that you are excited for this new year. Make the most of it cause it’s going to be a great one for sure! Well love ya’ll and see ya’ll in 6 months.

Hermana Jennings

2nd Week in Pirque

December 30, 2013

So this week was great. It was Christmas and the New Year is coming. I am not going to lie Christmas was weird here cause it was so darn hot and I was sweating, haha but I like to think we can remember our Savior everyday so Christmas wasn’t that different.  I know that God sent us His son Jesus Christ and I know that I can come to know Him by being obedient to the commandments and through the scriptures. This week I was just randomly opening the Book of Mormon to random parts and really studying them and no matter what I read it applied to my investigators and me. So I testify that this book is true and that it is enjoyable to read because you can feel the spirit that comes from it and it really is a way that God speaks to us and helps us find answers to our prayers. 

So we are teaching a 12 year old named Piere and he is so cute. His dad just got baptized in November and  Piere has wanted to be baptized since then but his mom and dad are divorced and the mom won’t let him be baptized, but now his dad has custody of him.  

He only has custody till the 15 of January when they have the court date so we have till the 12th to teach him everything and then he will get baptized. He really has a testimony and knows a lots since his dad has taught him and he has been going to church. He really is the sweetest kid I feel so blessed to be able to teach him and I always leave our lessons uplifted with a desire to just go out and live and smile and be happy.  You know and that my friends is what I live for out here cause you know that life isn’t like that all the time, but it’s those moments that make all the sweat and tears worth it. So don’t get discouraged you just need to keep on swimming and remember the good times and try to help other have a good time and just smile and focus on the people and that is when we will be happy.

So guess who gave a talk this Sunday, this girl did!  The lovely branch president gave me 5 minute notice to my comp and I that we were going to speak.  It went well. I even pulled out a joke or too. Here’s what went down. So he was like, “The first speaker will be Hermana Huber and then the other Hermana,” (yes he wanted me to talk and hadn’t taken the time to remember my name... ) but ya i got up and was like hi I’m the other sister.... they laughed.  Dad you would have been proud -  first joke start of a talk in my life. Don’t worry Autumn I am funnier than you now. heheh 

Sure was great to talk to ya’ll on Christmas.  It was neat and ya’ll made me cry and I watch ya’lls advice all the time. 

So love ya’ll and have a great new year don’t forget to write down some goals. 

Hermana Jennings

First Week in the Country

December 23, 2013

Dear Family,

So this week goes like this

So living in the country is fun we walk about 8 miles every day so not too bad.  haha  If we are lucky we get to hitch hike - but like backwards people, really nice country folk stop and ask us if we need rides. Like this week a lady, her 4 daughters and us went to our destination.  It was so nice and reminds me of the good  ole South, miss that place so much!

This week we walked a ton and there is no shade!  Tuesday night I passed out... yep it was so weird.  We prayed and I was giving my comp a hug and after that I nailed the floor, but to me it was all in slow motion. Hey I’m just great now so don’t worry mom, but it makes  cool story and that would be a first for me.

Another first for me was when we were eating once (bread avocado and cheese) with this family we just met and their cow escaped... yes we were sitting there and the grandpa goes, “Aw, there goes the cow, Juan go get her...” bahaha it took all I had to not laugh to watch this cow try to sneak away haha it was way to big to sneak! haha

So we have lots of little doggie friends here and we have adopted one we named Kolipoki - he is so cute! Sorry I might have bought dog food for him cause he is so skinny,  but I am just feeding the poor right? haha   When we go out running in the mornings the dogs run with us it’s so funny.

Something not so funny is that the Elders and the other Sister before me were way lame and did nothing in this area but go chat and joke with people.  The area book is a joke so we have been trying to change the image that missionaries are here to teach about Christ not to chat for 5 hours.  We have been doing a tone of organizing too - which I like to do and since my comp was sick one day this week we got lots of stuff done so that’s great. I am really excited to be here cause I learn a little more every day.

Oh funny side note I was talking in my sleep like I always do and I was talking in Spanish.... yes!!!  Sorry mom I opened a Christmas present every day this week.... since they were labeled Monday to Sunday.  It really has been a tender mercy for me cause it’s been a weird, hardish transition to leave the place where I knew everyone and all their stories and the streets to here where I know nothing.  It was something small that got me going every morning and I loved all the clothes! I would be walking down a pretty country road and look down at my new skirt and think my mom sure is thoughtful and loves me and that makes me smile.  Thanks mom - I love you so much for all that you do and cause you are one of my bestest friends!!! 

But ya it’s pretty country up in here but I’ll send tons of pictures so ya’ll can see what it’s like and meet our dog hehe.  Ya we are teaching a bunch of great people but they have a hard time coming to church so we are working on that. Merry Christmas to all! I want ya’ll to know that I know my Savior lives and that he really loves us and through him we have hope. I know that this gospel is the only way and it brings joy and direction in my life and that hard work is really important too. So this Christmas season think of something you can give the Savior because he has given us everything.

Well love ya’ll

This is where we live - a big change from Santiago high rise apartment living!

Hermana Jennings

Flooded Apartment

December 9, 2013

Dear Family and  Friends

So this week was an adventure as always. 

So I guess the most recent story first... yep our apartment flooded.... so last night we were sitting on my bed Hermana Leishman, me and Hermana Diaz and we were like what is that weird noise? So we leave the room and I step into water and lo and behold we were swimming (exaggeration....) but ya we opened the cabinet under the sink and water was gushing out.  I did the only logical thing to do – I started screaming and pulling stuff out of the cabinet. I had no idea how to make it stop.  Luckily we live in a high rise with a concierge  and I was like call the concierge.  Meanwhile as I am getting soaked and trying to save all the stuff under the cabinet Hermana Talbot wakes up (she is our mom here like seriously haha  I don’t know what  I would do without her) and she runs in - being interrupted in the middle of her prayer by my screaming.  She knew how to turn the water off so then we just looked around and parts of my room the  other room the whole bathroom and the hallway were wet.... I may or may not have done some sweet slip and slide on the towels to dry things up, but we  got it all cleaned up!  haha  I thought it was a fun adventure !  Got to love the random things that happen. 

So you know how like appointments fall through and we can’t to visit people to teach well all of our people we are teaching the gospel are falling like literally !  It’s so sad.  We are teaching these 2 old grandpas and they both fell, so they are in bed now.  It was sad cause they really have a desire to learn and grow but now they are confined to bed and we can’t go see them.

We are teaching this really great guy named Roberto.  How we found him is a miracle in itself. First we helped reactivate someone who then went to a funeral of a relative who met Maricella, Roberto’s cousin, that is an inactive member. Maricella  happens to live way close to Roberto. We just started teaching Marcella’s husband but they aren’t married.. bummer. Roberto is so great -  he was like,  “Can I still come to church every Sunday even if I don’t know if I want to get baptized?”   He was like; “I love how your church is family oriented and how we get to be involved and it is not just someone talking the whole time. “  He was so neat. We had a lesson with him last night and it was so amazing we had a plan to teach him about prophets but as always the Lord had something else in mind and we talked about what it really means to pray.  He is very scientific and he has a hard time believing something he can’t see, but understands that this is something he wants to find out for himself if its true. He just has such a good spirit about him and I know that we will come to know that it is true.  Pray for Roberto and this family cause they are so amazing.  I know that the Lord has placed us in their lives at this time for a reason.  

So being a missionary is the best in the world but it’s hard (as life is sometimes) and lessons like that and people like that make all those hours walking around in the sun (it got to be 100 degrees here whoohooo sorry yall are freezing right now hahah) and having people not want to talk to you worth it.  I think this life is hard BUT we can smile and laugh and help others out and find joy in little things and then life is great and rewarding and especially with the gospel.  We need to remember that we have a purpose and that is to return to live with God and to one day become like him. SO think of that when times are hard and just keep trucking along.  Another thing is that this week I was having a hard time, but I was like, “I should go pray” and I did.  Before I even started my prayer I felt a sense of warm comfort that let me know that God is aware of me and that he loves me.  I know He is there for us always all we need to do is to pray. 

All and all this week was great! Thanks for all all do!   I love you!!!

Hermana Jennings

Letter from Hermana Coburn  Yay!!

Tough Week

December 2, 2013

Last week was the best week ever and this week I learned that there is opposition in all things.

Literally last week was the best and I was on cloud 9 and everything was working out but this week has been interesting. Out of the 6 of us who live together 3 of us have had a mental breakdowns.  I got in a fight with Hermana Talbot who is one of my best friends I haven’t been that angry for a long time.  The house is either full of silence because someone was breaking down which means they won’t talk to anyone or loud sobs cause I guess she can’t deal with the silence. My comp sprained her ankle but ya that’s just the background of this week. I’ve been thinking that last week you could say was a glamorous week and this week so far from glamorous it’s not even funny.  It’s made me realize that sometimes in life we get to be glamorous, but sometimes we just have to push through, help mend those that are broken, do the dirty dishes, go go go on.  Like - no sleep and function with tired eyes.  Even though this week  was so very hard and most of the time I was not feeling happy go lucky haha but the thing was that I did it even when i didn’t want to.  So I guess you could say I am building some character out here and I am still laughing my way through life and even though this week was hard we helped a lot of people and laughed a whole lot to get through the hard times. I thought I would share this story with y’all  just to show you that life is hard for everyone - no one is exempt from hard times, but we all know how to laugh. We all have times when we don’t want to do anything but we all have the choice to do it anyways and use laughter to get through it all. So go out there and make someone laugh and lighten their load this week. 

      Just another Embarrassing story with me mixing up words in Spanish...still...

So funny story so I was telling this Brother how my mom cooks the turkey for Thanksgiving.  Well she puts the turkey breast facedown or on the bottom so the juices will stay in the turkey breast so the turkey isn’t dry.  Well I said pecho (which is boobs....) instead of pechuga (I hope that’s how you spell that in Spanish but that means breast like you would use for talking about a turkey breast).  So I said put the turkey boobs on the bottom so they can soak up the juice... ya after saying turkey boobs like 5 times this Brother raises his hand and was like “Hermana its pechuga.”.... yep we laughed so hard and that is how I do it.. hahhhha

  The miracle of members in this work

It all started when we were sitting on a bench eating some dinner. Yum chilean bread... Hermana Jennings turned to her companion, Hermana Leishman and said “Can we pray cause I really don’t feel like being a missionary right now.”   We then bowed our heads as people passed us by and asked for the strength and desire to continue on. Right after we said amen, we got to our feet and got to work.  We started contacting everyone but no one wanted to listen. Right as Hermana Jennings was about to throw in the towel she contacted one last person, Ylana -  long story short she was looking for the truth but she didn’t know where to find it so the Lord brought us to her. we taught her the main points of lessons 1 through 5.  She had a lot of questions and we were all too eager to give her the answers.  She started reading the Book of Mormon and came to church the next day and that is where she met Tiago.  They both happen to be from Brazil and speak Portuguese , English, and Spanish .  We set up an appointment with Ylana the next week and Tiago asked if he could come too.  This lesson was like none other it was a mixture of Portuguese, Spanish, English, and a whole lot of  the spirit. We could even understand the Portuguese.  The spirit was over whelming when Tiago bore his simple testimony in English "I know this book to be true it changed my life and all we are asking  you to do is read it, think about it, and pray about it" Ylana accepted the invitation.  She will be heading back to Brazil in a week, but the miracle is that Tiago has friends in the town she is moving to who will continue fellowshipping Ylana.  We couldn’t have done that without Tiago. Members are essential in this work and as they say in high school musical “We are all in this together. 

I was going to send a picture of our Christmas tree but this computer isn’t working.  I love it cause it has pictures of Christ  on it.  It helps us remember the real meaning of Christmas every time we look at it. I want to tell you  the story of Rada this week. We are teaching this old man and he is so funny -  like the whole lesson he stops after every point to tell us how beautiful we are or to ask us to marry him while his dentures fall down and he puts them back in .... yep he is  a hoot.  He really is searching, but we could use a break from the excessive complements. haha It’s hard to get a word in, but all and all he is reading the Book of Mormon and praying and searching for the truth too.

So we have been teaching a  lady named Adrianna and she is working toward a date to be baptized .  She is so sweet and I love her. Pray that we can find her more than once a week and that she will come to church.It’s hard cause we teach her and she leaves on Sundays only to go to her sisters house.  So it’s like this weird teamwork think with the elders that are there but with the Lord all things are possible.

All and all this week was hard but we smiled our way through it. 

Love ya’ll

Hermana Jennings