This week went by unbelievably fast, i cant believe that this upcoming week is the last before transfers.
I met an hermana in our ward, Hermana V, who has been gone this whole time for vacations and she loves to sing. i think she took classes and she was trained a little in opera. she has the best voice here in chile that ive heard. She is absolutely hilarious, she speaks broken english to us all the time and her favorite word is freaking. we were sitting in a meeting together and she heard me sing during the opening hymn and then afterward grabbed me and a hymn book and said "Your voice is freaking amazing we need to freaking sing together right freaking now" haha so we harmonized to a whole bunch of songs, she sings alto and i sing soprano and everytime i see her all she wants to do is sing its fun.
we had intercambios this week! I went to the sector of the hermanas leaders with Hermana P from santiago chile! she was really sweet and i learned a lot from her. but I missed hermana Conde! it made me realize that we're like best friends now and i wouldnt want anyone else as my companion right here right now. she is so funny and we get along really well, we`ve adjusted to one another and formed our own little family with our own little traditions. i have a lot of fun here with her everyday.
with the other hermanas missionaries in our ward we planned our ward family home evening. it was valentines day themed and we decorated the cultural hall with hearts and streamers and balloons and everything. we invited all the members and all our investigators and went to pick people up and everything but in the end only 2 families came.... Hermana V and her son and an investigadora de las hermanas and her daughter. 4 people. but we had the noche de hogar anyways and it went well.
we werent able to teach A this week, but we did call and talk to him. he didnt remember hermana condes name but he remembered mine and he said "oh yeah the rubiasita, yeah i wouldnt forget her name, hermana williams" yeah.... we're pretty sure hes a snake. but we're gonna try to teach him with a member and see what happens.
With J we were finally able to finish teaching him the restoration. it took us two weeks to get through everything because there were always people coming into his store, interrupting and he has a hard time focusing and remembering things so we had to explain the apostacy like four times. but we invited him to be baptized and he didnt say no! haha we put him on date for march 14, with the promise that he can recieve an answer to his prayers whether the things we're teaching him are true. so he just has to keep praying and seeking.
During the week we take our clothes to a laundry mat (where people wash the clothes for you) where a less active member washes our clothes for free. His name is R and he hasnt gone to church in 2 or 3 years. we dont know the whole story of why not. but hna conde didnt actually know he was member until recently, hes a returned missionary and everything. so everytime we go to drop off or pick up our clothes we invite him to church or a noche de hogar and every friday we go to his lavanderia to see if he can come with us to the noche de hogar. he never can, but he is always very grateful that we come to invite him.
this week when we picked up our clothes, in the house we found two bags of candy and a note tucked in the bag. he wrote us the cutest little note ever. how grateful he was for us because in the 2 years hes been washing the missionaries clothes we are the first to invite him to activities or show that we care about him. before, all the missionaries just came to drop off or pick up and that was it. he said thank you for helping remember that he has worth in Gods eyes. it was so sweet we almost cried! we taped the letter to our wall!
This week an elder returned home from his mission to our ward. so that was the big deal in the ward all this weekend and he gave his homecoming talk. his name is A and he served in England so of course when we met he started speaking english to me. he was a really good missionary and we're hoping that the bishop will call him as ward missionary or something.
theres a family in our ward who just moved here from california! the mom is from santiago and the dad is pure gringo and doesnt speak spanish. they have three kids under the age of 8 and they are the cutest, they can understand spanish a little because there mom speaks to them in spanish but they cant speak or read it. so i helped out the dad all during church to translate and i translated for the little kids in primary. it was so fun i loved it! theyre a great family and we`re super excited to work with them and help them learn spanish!
hermana conde got sick again on tuesday but other than that we're doing okay. im being eaten alive by bugs... its like mosquito bites that itch and never go away. and i dont have any itch cream me with me, its all in my other suitcase that hasnt come yet. i should be getting it this upcoming week.
im having fun here and enjoying Valdivia. its still hot but there have been some more cooler days this past week. it should start getting a lot cooler in march.
It is amazing to me how much the Lord blesses us. In ways that we cant even imagine or even in ways that we dont see until later. so often i want an answer or a solucion in the very moment i want it but most of the time Heavenly Father gives us still small voices and tender mercies and feelings of comfort when we really need them, not necessarily when we want them. we really have to keep our eyes and hearts open because we cant control when or how God gives us answers. but i know that he always answers His children. he loves us.
i know that this church is true. and sometimes i feel like such an imperfect person that i dont do this gospel justice but i know that the God can work through me and it is a huge blessing to be able to be an instrument in his hands.
im so thankful that families can be together forever. and im so grateful to be a missionary.
love, Hermana Williams
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