Hola Familia!

 

This week was full of festivitites for all of Chile, i really think this holiday is bigger than Christmas here. People were off of work and no school for practically the whole week! Crazy! it was fun to be here in Chile to celebrate with them though, really really hard to find people to listen, but igual, we had a good week!

So last Monday was the ward activity! we had a blast. Really it was fun to interact with the ward in their prime. Everyone was happy, eating, playing games, dancing Cueca, the typical chilean dance, i learned how :) and it was just fun! Great way to spend my P-day. Sometimes i want to be selfish and spend it doing things for myself, but i realized that honestly, way more fun when there is an activity going on. It´s just like a party, and i think being new to the ward it was good to interact with the members in a more relaxed setting for the first time! We even had a couple investigators come which was good.

Tuesday was the real day, 18 de Septiembre. Honestly it´s just a huge holiday. i can´t believe it! we didn´t have lunch that day so we decided to go celebrate, there was a carnival type thing that had the typical chilean food, lots of meat for this holiday, and we ate lunch there! it was so fun. We have 1 1/2 hrs for lunch so we utilized that time to celebrate. There were tons of little stands, like a flea market, but huge, with cualquier type of stuff that was being sold. Lots of kites being flown (one including ours)! We thought we should have done our own stand that said ¨porque mormones no toman el 18 de Sept, pero igual tienen un buen tiempo!¨ (why mormons don´t drink this day, but still have fun) hahaha. Not really, but it was a joke. I really think we could´ve found some people by doing it though. May have been drunk, but still... they need the Gospel too, right? ha! This day was really hard to find people because everyone was partying with family and friends. Luckily we had a service project for a family in the barrio and we still looked for people and tried our hardest to teach!

Wednesday we had intercambios, I was with Hna Riggs! It was so fun to be with her again. She´s such an example to me of someone who can have lots of fun but is SUCH a good missionary. She loves the people, the people love her, and her knowledge and love for the Gospel is just huge. I really look up to her and can´t wait to be in BYU together after the mission. We taught people in her area that seem to be progressing so thats good! Yay for investigators that are progressing!

This week we´ve taught lots of menos activos. it´s a push in our mission right now to find news, but reactivate the old. Really, my heart hurts for these people. It´s just sad that they don´t get it. they think they do, but they don´t, they´re menos activas and not fullfilling the commandments. I just want them to come to church, and some of them have the strongest testimonies, but still don´t come to church! ahhhh!

We taught this family, Familila Paulaza, menos activas, and they know they are. Hno used to work with the menos activas and go out and find them and help them and now, he is one of them! super sad, his wife, Hna, wow. her testimony is one of the strongest i´ve heard. She has uteran cancer and they cant operate because she has heart problems and she really wants to go to the temple before she dies. She was in tears, i almost was too, talking about her desire to go. But her husband thinks that she´ll heal and then in more time they can go. I really just want to help them, get them to assist so she can go to the temple. This sounds depressing, but the good thing is we are now teaching their granddaughter, 8 years old, not baptized and she is so cute! I think to be able to teach her and them juntos can maybe bring them back to the Gospel. Ojala!

We got rid of the dogs! the pound came, i think it´s not really a pound, i think they just kill them, but maybe not. I´m realived to have them not following us, it was a little sad to see them get driven away in this truck, but within about 7 seconds i was over it. ha! just was a distraction and i was always scared walking in the street and contacting people with them! It was an answer to prayers that they came!

Pedro is progressing well. He told us he doesn´t want to be baptized, but still wants to learn, he is reading, praying, and came to church, so it´s just a matter of time! And his dad, the converso, we taught his Eternal Marriage this week and he has a crush on a lady in the ward but he wont tell us who! I told him we could do a NDH and invite her and him, do a little match making. he was laughing so hard! ha!

All of our fechas fell this week. So sad, it´s just getting people to come to church and this week was just hard to teach people. But this week now were healthy, no festivals, i know it´s gonna be great!

We had others come to church too, one is Fabiola! She´s been taught now for a while and wants to be baptized, comes to church every Domingo, reads LDM and prays, the only thing is shes not married! Shes waiting to be divorced so she can get married, and then she can be baptized. tan fome. The law here is so weird. if people live together and aren´t married they receive more money, its so dumb. Whoever made that law did not understand the plan of God.

I was thinking this week alot about how i can improve as a missionary and i think the thing i really need to focus on this week is what do i have to offer my investigators that can change there life? and i know it´s a lot, and i always think of this. But lots of time we teach investigators just another thing that they have to do, and promise them the blessings, which is great, but i really want to focus on how they can really see these things as a blessing in there lives and that they really WANT to do them and it´s not a burden.

Oh, Friday the assistantes called us! and whenever we can see their names its like... ¨uh-oh, what did I do wrong?¨ even though i know nothing is bad. But they called and the asked me to be part of the Choir for when Elder Oaks comes!!!! (did i tell you he is coming in Oct?) I was so excited. there are 5 Hnas and then some Elders, we´re singing Creo en Cristo, we had practice and i´m so excited to participate. I´ve had some incredible experiences singing for apostles in my mission! it´s just crazy. I love it!

also i am reading the Bible more steady and love it because it´s ALL about Christ! i feel like i´m learning lots from His life just from reading. He lives, He is our Salvador, our brother, our friend, who really cares for us, who sacrificed His life for us. He is amazing.

well family, I am doing good here in Limache! I really feel like this week to come is just gonna be successful. Nothing stopping us now and I am feeling more comfortable with the people, the ward, the area, ect. Know that I love you lots! Thanks for the letters and love. I love reading them even though i don´t respond to everything!

The Church is True. Keep Going and share the Gospel. We can´t be shy about it, it´s who we are!

LOVE YOU ALL. xoxoxoxoxoxoxx

Keep Smiling,

Hna. Sargent







Happy Birthday to my little gus gus this week! 19... what what. big year ahead. Hope you eat lots of yummy food because who knows what you´ll be eating the next birthday! ha!

 

This week has been good here in Limahce, minus that every single person en our house was sick. Started with Hna Gatica, then Hna Riggs, then me, and now Hna Mamani. So bad. and not just a little sick. We all had fevers of 101-103... no fun. and when we have fevers we aren´t permitted to leave because it can make others real sick. no fun. I just feel bad, all i want to do it go work and when i can hardly get out of bed there is no way i can walk miles a day. but today i am feeling better. not 100% but better. Still gonna take my meds and vitamins and lots and lots of water, as if i don´t drink enough already! ha! but this week to lots and lots of work to catch up for what we missed.

ok, Limache, it´s totally campo here. way diferente than Viña. I miss Viña but i like it her alot. It´s more humble and I honestly like that part of it. more people are willing to listen and try to figure out how they feel. The house we live in is good. there is just lots of disorder and the hnas i live with aren´t the cleanest which drives me crazy at times. Maybe why we´re all sick? but i´m trying to order it up everyday and they know that we need to, when we have time and everyone feels good we´ll do it good. the bad thing is that there are these dogs that are ALWAYS outside of our house. and they follow us in the day all day long sometimes. I HATE IT. seriously i have no heart for these dogs. they aren´t bad or bite or anything, just annoying. and they have an owner, but she lives in Santiago in the week and is never home so they just decided to stay with us. I think it was because before there were hermanas that gave them food and everything, but now NO WAY. we´ve tried to call the pound, but they never came, so i think we´ll just have to keep calling. ugh. but oh well. life goes on!

Lots of investigators here in Limache. We have 5 con fecha. thats awesome. our zone on Thursday had 24 con fecha. super bueno. recap of those that we´re teaching!

Matéas. 15 years old. Drug problem. (here lots of people have drugs problems) He told us the other day that ever since he´s been praying and reading that his life is different. He doesnt have the desire for drugs like he has had, his mom is better with alcohol, ect ect. it was so great to hear that he is really recognizing it! At first, he didn´t accept a fecha, said.. no sé, but then we explained the proposito de bautismo y he accepted and if he feels that its what he needs to do, he´ll be baptized! yay. i can just see him in a few years on a mission!

Silvana- also has fecha. she´s super smart, dating a RM, but inactivo. I just don´t get that. RM and inactivo. So sad. but she´s really really smart, and just always wants to know. she likes to read, but doesn´t want to ask in prayer. ugh. the other day she was like... ¨define perfecto¨ I honestly have never thought of it before, but she is just in depth, at times hard to teach people like her, but it´s all good.

Sandra and Javier- sandra is the mom of javier and her husband doesn´t do anything to help her. Seriously just treats her bad. pobrecita. he just wants her to do everything and he is lazy. but the problem with ella es she doesn´t have a steady work so every sunday is a huge faria (farmers market) and she goes to sell at that to have work and to have money. we passed along to her some jobs from the church so hopefully on of those works out, because she wants to be a member, but can´t just be baptized because, she needs to really understand the imprtancia de dia de reposo!

Irma- ha. this lady is so funny, but is solid. She´ll be baptized one day. She´s been looking for a church her whole life, and really likes to read and listen, whenever we ask her questions she asks the same back to us, she´s just funny. I think there is something more with her that she´s not telling us but is hard to get to open up! She sells perfume and i bought some because i needed some. super yummy!

Pedro, yes another pedro. He is a SOG. He is the son of a converso and slowly but surely we´re teaching him! ha. It´s hard because its always in his negocio with his dad and sometimes people come and they need to help their customers and such, but it´s good. he has a real interest in the Priesthood so i know that he has questions and the desire to learn!

This week we were teaching a man named Ricardo and we invited him to come to church with us and were explaining to him all about church and he goes, ya, i want to go, but i don´t want to go in a white shirt and tie, i want to go in a tunic (dress) because that´s how Jesus Christ dressed. SO funny. who thinks of things like this... i love chileans.

Lots of fiestas this week because 18 de Septiembre. today is a ward activity and tomorrow is just a huge party for everyone. i think it might be hard to find people willing to listen tomorrow, because it´s just a day to be with family and friends, drink, eat, and be merry! but it´s fun to see all the traditions here. everyone has a flag up in there house and is so excited. there is a huge carnival here in Limache tambien . it´s like 4th of july times 10!

We had a conferencia with Elder Viñas who is in the presidency de Chile. It was super good. President Kanhlien spoke first on really working with the menos activas to reactivate them and help them understand the importancia de la iglesia. it really got me excited to meet the menos activas here in Limache.

Then Elder Viñas spoke on the Atonement and the Sacrament and how the fruits of repentance is baptism and that people need to understand that. but for us as members that have already been baptized, for us the frutas de arrepentimiento es the sacrament! it was so good. He said a quote I really liked ¨ Faith in Jesucristo is the confidence that leads us to obey¨ (that was hard to translate into enlgish ha) but it´s so true. If we didn´t have faith is Jesucristo, we wouldn´t obey one commandment. It´s really our way to show our faith!

Hna Gatica is great. we get along really well. Honestly, i´m learning tons from her. She is an incredible missionary and it´s only her 3rd cambio! She just really wants to work and find those people and that i love about her! We get along well with personality as well. Also laughing and stuff! it´s good.

cant believe that is the 17th of septiembre. super fast this month. Augosto was a little long, this month, tan rapido! crazy!

Well Family, I am happy here in the campo de Limache! This week i hope to recoporate and that i can have all my strength to work work and work. I really know that people are here waiting for us and it´s just a matter of practicing our faith to find them! The mission is great. So much to learn and to preach to other people! The gopsel is true. Brings us so much happiness. and i just know people are waiting for it!

Love you lots think and pray for you always!

Keep Smiling,

Hna. Sargent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hna Mamani, Gatica, Riggs, y yo en la conferencia!

Hna Tamayo y yo. Love her!  

hna Gatica y yo en la conferencia con Elder Viñas  

 

18 de Septiembre. our street is filled with flags. actually, every street! I love it! 











 

First off.. happy birthday to the best mom in the whole world tomorrow! I wish that i could be there to celebrate with you, but know that i´ll be thinking lots and lots of you and that i love you more than you know! :)

and also, happy birthday to Ryder on Sunday! give him a big kiss for me :)

well, transfers came and i got transfered. I was very very surprised to say the least. Sad too because i just felt lots for Agua Santa, loved the area, felt like people were waiting for me, but i was there for a short while and enjoyed it lots. I told the R.S. to pray that i´ll return one day! its great there. But I am now in Limache, it´s the interior of Vina, about an hour away in micro. It´s definitely more campo here. reminds me of Paraguay a little bit. I have only had about half a day here... not even, but i love it already. It seems that the people are more receptive, more humble, ect. My comp is Hna Gatica from Santiago, Chile. She has one transfer LESS than i do. So we´re both new in this. But honestly, i´m SO excited to work with her. She has the desire, the attitude to work and i love that about her. She´s a convert of 3-4 years and has a solid testimony! Talvez, no sabemos todo. but we´ll learn together. Also, Hna Riggs lives in the same house as i do as well, so it´s WAY fun to be with her again :)

well, recap of the week with the investigators in Agua Santa.

Hna Parada was sick a little bit again (i think that´s why she stayed in Viña, closer to medical, but one day, i knew that she could leave if it was just for 2 hours because the pills she was talking were helping and she seemed just fine. I asked her, Hna, can we leave for a couple hours, bring the pills and if you don´t feel good, we´ll come back, she didn´t want to and i was talking that we have citas and that these people are waiting for us and i started to cry. Felt so dumb, i was just frustrated more than anything and wanted to work and help people. We didn´t end up leaving that day, I think she felt bad because she apoligized for not being able to do it, but we still got some work done this week so that was good!

Ivana, went to mutual with us, and met the mujeres jovenes. She enjoyed it. She´s so great. We taught her on saturday as well and really focused on church attendance. She told us she didn´t want to go to church so we asked her why, she said, she doesn´t want to go solo, we told her we´d pass for her, ect ect... but she just didn´t want to go. I think it´s because NO ONE in her family asiste so why would she? Her grandpa was there too and was just like, we can´t go! I wanted to say.. YOU hermano can walk just fine, maybe not your wife but you can take your granddaughter to church!! but i refrained and said it in a nicer way! ha! I think with Ivanna it´ll take time, she understands and wants to learn, but just time she needs.

Pedro came to church! oh, i was SO happy. we went to talk to the Bishop and then entered in the Chapel and he was sitting there with his mom! My smile i think was so huge. but my heart just felt so happy that he was there. As for his drinking, still doing it, but for him to actually come to church and sober was HUGE! oh, i hope he sobers up and really understands the importancia de the gospel.

Elizabeth. i can´t get over how solid she is. She is a golden investigator. We weren´t really sure if she´d come to chuch, and we walked outside to see if we could see her walking and right at the moment she walked up the stairs. SHE CAME! She stayed all 3 hours (which is also hard for chileans because they all think they need to prepare lunch) and took notes the whole time, asked questions, ect. Later that afternoon we taught her and she had lots of questions about baptism for niños so we left her with Moroni 8 a leer and i know she´ll read it. She is amazing. Understands everything, wants to learn, just needs to accept a fecha.I think it´ll help to have more friends in the church too. lots of mujeres su edad.

Omar- he didn´t come. that little stink. but i love that his wife is so open about the gospel with him. We passed by to say chau to him and his wife was saying, when they get sealed, they want to go to salt lake and that i´ll come to their sellamiento. I´m gonna write him a letter and really really invite him to read the book of mormom and be open to change. thats one thing i´ve learned here on the mission. If people don´t want to change, they´ll never recieve their answer. but if they have a heart open to change and recognize that they can be happier, thats when the change happens. and it´s SO fome (lame but a little stonger) because we can preach and teach but we can´t force them to do anything! I just wish we could sometimes but everyone has their agency.

Here in Chile September is a huge party. 18 de septiembre is just a grand festival and everyone is off of work and school and stuff. lots of Chilean flags up this month, i love it. the typical dance, called Cueca (i think). It´s fun. The ward here has a big party next monday and it´s good because it´s our pday so we´ll go to that after studies and internet and todo! also this area, it´s only one ward, but the area is so big that there are two sets of missionaries in different parts! kinda interesting, but it´s fun because we have lunch together and everything!

we had a noche de hogar last week and the little girl with the fam was conducting. and she goes, ¨la primera oracion por... no las misioneras porque siempre son largas, entonces..you lo hago¨ (la first prayer by... not the missionaries because they´re always long, so i´ll say it) it was SO funny. it was Laura, the pic i sent. her and lexi need to be penpals. Laura to practice her english and lex to learn spanish. if you want to jac, get on my facebook and can do it from there.. she added me, just have to accept her! ha!

Also, my new comp, like to run! oh, i am STOKED. and there is this little park super close to our house and it has exercise equipment. it´ll be go great. seriously to leave in the morning for exercise make all the difference in the day!

This morning during studies we were talking about the difference between the word Preach and Teach. To teach is just to talk, people can learn, but to Preach is to put committments and really help them change. I thought it was interesting that the word Preach is used so often in D&C and not teach, and also Preach my Gospel, not Teach my Gospel. food for thought.

Well family, next week i´ll know more about the people here! I´m excited to meet them all and start working with them. Right now there are 3 fechas and we´re gonna put more! I love you all, think of you often and am so thankful for this knowledge that we have of this gospel. It´s true.

Keep Smiling,

Hna. Sargent



 

 

 

 

 

 



hna parada and i en el micro

Laura en agua santa.. she was like my little Alexa!  

this street had two different names... hard to find the house for sure!

Omar and his wife. i´ll miss them...  

 

 

Hna Gatica and I

Can´t beleive it´s September this week. This week I will hit my 6 month mark in the mission. Crazy!

 

This week was good, Hna Parada was sick again, some ovary infection, they thought it was appendisitis at first, but luckily it wasn´t and now she is feeling much better, however we weren´t able to work for a couple days so that was a bummer, but igual tuvimos buenas citas!

This week we saw some success with menos activos. Really, my heart just hurts for these people that they don´t have the knowledge or understanding, but at the same time i just love them. I really do just love these chileans and want the best for them!

Familia Astudillo, we´ve been visiting them for a few weeks now and teaching there granddaughter, Ivana off and on when she´s there! good news, they can´t go to church because her leg is bad, can´t really walk (the grandma, not Ivana) but we talked to the ward and they decided to bring them the Sacrament every week. So they are now able to take the Sacrament! ah, it made me so so happy to hear that. They have such strong testimonies and I was so happy to hear that they can take the Sacrament. They will reach there goal for an eternal family, i just hope all there family can be reactivated.

Ivana is solid, she always reads when we leave her something and is praying. The other day we asked her why she wants to listen and what she expects to get from us teaching her. She said, to know that todo es verdadero! Que Bueno! She wants to know and this week shes gonna come to mutual with the mujeres jovenes. She´s great, i think she´ll accept a fecha soon, just paciencia y fe with her! :)

The other menos activa family is the Familia Tapia (reminds me of the fish that we eat sometime, Talapia?)

We passed by last monday night to visit them and they accepted us right in there house!

We shared something short with them and really just wanted to get to know them better, they have a large family, live in a humble home, and just kinda lost there animo to go to church, and they live seriously, 30 seconds from it! but we had another cita with them this week as well and the mom told us, ¨quiero y necesito regresar, este Domingo! ¨(i need and want to return, this sunday) but she didn´t come... bummer. Her Husband did though so i know its just with time and she´ll come too. they are so willing to let us visit them and really enjoy it!

Silvia and Pedro, Siliva is menos activa that came to church sunday! We put a fecha with her son, Pedro (yes dad, i thought of you and my bracelet). The only thing is, he is an alcoholic, so its just harder to find him sober, he didn´t come to church because he was drunk, but everyone can change! and we have a cita to teach him this week.

Elizabeth, she read 14 chapters of el LDM in one week. 14 CHAPTERS! I honestly just couldn´t believe it! I was like... what? Shes not ready to accept a baptism date yet, not sure why because she beleives it, but that´s our goal is to find her need and then resolve it with baptism. She´s also a physical therapist and works with the respiratory system lots with niños. She just soaks everything up when we teach her. I just am not sure if she really understands why we´re there or if she likes to hear the word of God. Either way, shes good. Told us that she´s gonna come to church, so i really really hope that happens! Gonna pass by for her!

oh, este semana we met a lady in the street named Rosa, she is almost 90 but seems like 75... she was talking to us for a while, kinda crazy, but she was so pleasant and kind to me and then she turned to my companion and goes ¨tiene un alma terrible¨ she then goes off how she needs to learn to be more humble and that she´s worked with lots of people in her life and knows when she´s met someone who has Satan in them and that she´s gonna pray that satan can leave her soul... it was SO weird. Hna Parada and I were both just trying not to laugh because she was just loca! ha. needless to say, not going to return to her... Hna Parada felt a little sad, but mostly just was funny!

I was studying Mosiah 2 this morning Rey de Benjamin! i loved verses 25 and 26, 25 says something like... Can ye say more of youself? No. and then says that we´re created by God and everything. Then vs 26 Rey Benjamin dijo, Not even I, your king is more than you. I just loved it because these chapters are tan poderoso and really he is speaking the word of God so strongly but in vs 26 shows how humble he is ahd knows that really we´re all the same and all hijos de Dios. I loved it. Just a reminder to really be more humble and not think that I´m better than anyone!

oh, here in Viña there is a chucky cheese.. how funny is that! I want to have a zone activity there the next change. it´d be hilarious! and a starbucks.. big surprise, huh? Everyweek i find something that makes me feel right at home!

dad, i was in a members house for lunch and i went to the bathroom and they had perfume and cologne, I almost always smell them in every house, not sure why but i do! ha! But i smelt a cologne and it was the same as dads! made me think of him and i told the Hermana and she was so pleased to know that people in USA have the same cologne. yes, her husband is....¨Classy"

Well, that was about this week. Lots of good. This week i´m really hoping and praying for lots of work. Fill the week with investigators for the next change. Transfers are next week so P-day should be on Tuesday, I think. If neither of us gets changed i think it´s still Monday though. not sure what will happen, but either of those two days! The church is true family. Jesus Christ Lives. God loves us. It´s simple. I love this Gospel and this opprotunity I have to serve a mission and the things that I´m learning!

I love you all, miss you, and pray for you always!

Keep Smiling,

Hna Sargent

p.s. oh...michael buble just came on the radio over the internet place... love!

 



Hola Familia,

 

This week was good, we were in the apart lots i felt like, Hna Parada just isn´t so good with health, sometimes i wonder if she´s trunky, or really sick because once we leave, she seems fine for the most part and it´s just in the mornings or when we don´t have citas planned so who knows. Lots of lessons to learn and patience to be tested, right? Kinda a bummer to be in the apart lots... I just want to work. i love this area. lots of people just waiting, i know it!

this week we´ve taught a few people that are still accepting us and reading.

Isabel- we went and she told us that the mom of her nietas doesn´t want them to listen and participate and that they need to be reading their school books and not the LDM. SO SAD. she said that they all read 3 chapters together and felt really good about it. But she had to stop because her daughter. She promised us that she was gonna come to church, but no. Triste. She´s really good though, i think with more lessons and time to really teach her that it´ll come. The other good thing is that her daughter works in the shop our Bishop owns. I gave him homework to win her over! ha!

Elizabeth- she´s the one who called us.. which i still find incredible. She can only be taught sundays because she works far away all the other days. but we were teaching her and she told us that she understands why the LDM was written and that it makes sense people were here in the americas. We explained Joseph Smith and asked her to read the LDM and pray to find out if its true, she said she believes it. i was just like woah! super bien,still is gonna read and pray and we´re hoping the next lesson to put a fecha with her! She´s great. super inteligent in the bible and all, but understands that Christ had his church and all... there is definite hope with her!

Conny- Conny was baptized a while back and went menos activa fast... sad, she´s just not animated to have anything to do with the church. We taught her Lesson 1 again and were talking about it all. she just told us she doesn´t know anymore if she believes it and doesn´t really want to because she wants to return to her old life... my heart just hurts for her! The YSA people are so good to her though, she goes to the activites and all, just not to church and doesn´t want to live the gospel anymore. I´m hoping it´s just for a short period of time and that we can help her realize that this is TRUE!

Omar- no one else is a member in his fam, and we passed by the other night to see if he was home, he wasn´t so we shared something short with his family and when we were leaving he showed up, i just got the strongest impression that i need to teach him and that he is gonna except! His family is so great to him, always helping him in the gospel but i just had this feeling! Hna Parada feels like we can´t be too persistent in teaching him but i honestly feel like he will except soon! I just have the mind set with him... be bold. He knows alot already. go and read the LDM with him and ask him to pray!

Everytime we have a cita with a miembro it falls through. well, almost everytime! It drives me crazy. I just know it´s because these people are perfect and they have something to say that will help the investigator. I just know its Satan because he knows it as well.

 

We had a zone meeting the other day and President showed up for about 15 minutes. he was watching Hna Parada and I teach, it´s always so intimidating, but afterwards he paid me some compliments so that´s good. He is so nice. I don´t even know him that well, but i just feel love for him and for his desire to help us improve and see success as missionaries! I love that he is a go-getter! just do it type attitude. it´s great! I wish i could know his wife more, but she is always busy with the children, they have 4 under the age of 11... crazy life for the next 3 years, right?

 

We had a ward activity that was great. we had a few investigators and menos activas come as well :) It was Lehi´s Dream. we had different rooms of tempations and everyone had a blindfold and had to ¨hold to the rod¨ when the arrived to the tree of life they could take a ¨fruit¨ marshmellow and eat it. Then we gave a little short lesson of 1 Nefi 8 and ended the night with a festival de postres! everyone seemed to enjoy it. Some people fell away from the iron rod and it was really sad to see that. seriously, so easy to intice them to come to a party or to a room with lots of sports stuff, ect! Thats life though, we always have to be strong and firm to hold to the rod!

I was reading earlier this week in 2 nefi 5 when the nefitas y lamanitas split and the nephites were all happy and i was looking for the things that made them happy and i found 7.. 1. Familia (vs 6) 2. Obediencia (10) 3. Scriptures (12) 4. Preparation (14) 5. Work (15) 6. Temple (16) 7. Church callings (26)

I was applying these things to my life and when i have these 7 things i really am happy and when i am accomplishing them all i´m even more happy! Just some food for thought!

oh funny thing.. the other day it was raining and we got in the bus and it was packed people standing and everything. I was really close to the driver and inbetween 2 men, and my umbrella popped open and the driver was like... ¨what the heck?¨ the two men looked at me like i was a crazy gringa! which might be true. but i just said ¨lo siento, no creo que hay lluvia en el micro¨ (i don´t think there is rain on the bus) and they all just started laughing. easy way to start a conversation with them all! ha.

Hna Ramos got this quote this past week that i liked... ¨sometimes were in an area to invite other people to come unto Christ, to invite our companion to come to Christ, or to invite ourselves to come to Christ.¨ Super good, right?!

Also, people have asked for my breakfast food i eat... ha! Either oatmeal with blueberries and banana or Cheerios and Herbal Tea! :)

 

the weather also is starting to get warmer. i love it!

Robs.. mission prep. Read Our search for Happiness. Just started this week. LOVE IT!

Well family,

I love you all, know that i pray for you all lots and that i am happy here in the mission. IT´s a time of trail and faith, but so much more learning and love that comes from those trials. We are blessed to have this gospel.

Love you all.

Keep Smiling,

Hermana Sargent

 

 

 

                                                                 last two from the activity!



Hola Family!

Today i´m emailing later because we had an activity at the beach today! SO Fun. We played ultimate freesbee and baseball. couldn´t touch the water, but being in the sun and so close was good enough for me! Love activities de zona/distrito. They are always just fun!

So this week we have passed by lots of menos activos/inactivos and part member families as well as others.

Lets see...

We found one menos activo, name Alicio. He lived in AZ for about 3 years and then for 40 years or so in CA, super super nice. We were talking about AZ and all. He was sealed to his spouse in the mesa temple. We asked him if we could share something with him and we started with the BOM and he said, ¨I have no problem if you want to come and converse, but dont use the BOM, i have found that there is NO evidence of that book and i don´t want to talk about it so your minds don´t change.¨ I was like... WHAT?? how about your sealing to your spouse in the temple or your baptism! Seriously it just made me sad that he was thinking that way, but igual, we shared a message from the bible with him and reminded him of church Sunday. Didn´t come, but the good thing is we now have contact with him.

Omar- his wife is a member, super active with her two daughters who i feel like are just my friends from home because we all have the same age, mas y menos. But we taught him the Restauración on monday for NDH. Fue genial. He isn´t reading the LDM which is fome, but i know it´s only because he knows he´ll recieve his answer and is scared. But his family is going to try to help him so he can read for a little everyday!

Isabel, Alexandra and Anahise- They are so great. Isabel is the abuela and the others are sus nietas. But the grandma has custody over them it sounds like... but the kids are so receptive and Isabel was assisting with the grandparents of Ivana (menos activos.. was bishop) a while back. They just ate up the restauracion and Alexandra just started reading the LDM when we gave it to her! The only thing... didn´t come to church and were SO EXCITED to come. UGHH! That is definitely the hardest thing for people here...

Ivana, still good. Her process will be longer i think but it´s good to teach her and her grandparents. Hergrandma has some problem with her leg and can´t walk to church so thats why they´re menos activa, but i know that people would give them a ride if they needed it.

This week in our reunion de zona we talked about the sacrament and how important it is for us as missinoaries to repent every night and be 100% worthy to partake of the sacrament. It was SO spiritual. There was one point that it was just silent because everyone was feeling the Spirit. For a good solid minute, silence. Honestly was a nice reminder of the importancia of la Santa Cena and to focus on the purpose and not ¨where are my investigators?¨

Also, Hna Parada is off and on sick this week. Sometimes we have to come home early because he head hurts or she doesn´t want to leave or wake up. I try to be like... one more house, another street, ect. But she´s persistent at times to return early. And one day she couldn´t get out of bed. The other hnas that live with us, one of them was sick too (has been for about 3 weeks.. some stomach thing) So they stayed at home all day and Hna Ramos and I went out to work in their ward. This day was SO GOOD!

We were walking and i just felt like we needed to talk to this one lady, so i started talking to her, ends us she accepted a fecha to be baptized. That very morning she had a LDM in her hand while looking for something else and didnt think much of it but doesn´t think it was coinscidence. She wants to know so is going to read and pray. I know she will. She was awesome. I was jealous that she isn´t in our ward. We taught 4 lessons this day. We just both wanted to work work and work so that´s what we did. SO nice to have that energy from her this day. She is awesome! I really hope that one day we´re comps!

Yesterday we had a contact, this man and we were talking about the LDM and he says... ¨Si Padre Celestial hizo mujeres tan linda como ustedes, leeré¨ (if Heavenly Father makes women as beautiful as you guys, i´ll read it) It was hilarious! I was trying not to laugh to finish out contact!

Quote of the day from Pres. Eyring ¨The words ¨come unto Christ¨are an invitation. It is the most important invitation you could ever offer to another person. It is the most important invitation anyone could accept.¨ I love it. this is our purpose as members of the church. Invite. No harm to invite!

FHE Idea: have one of your kids do a ¨cultural moment¨ and research something from another country and then teach it to the fam. definitely doing this with my future fam!

Well family, I hope all is well. I realized this week that i really love love love the people here. I hurt when they aren´t keeping their covenios o compromisos when they don´t come to church, ect.. but i am SO happy when they do these things. It made me think of the love our Padre Celestial tiene por nosotros. I just can´t imagine how he feel about ALL the people in this world. it´s amazing. The Church is true. We are blessed.

I love you all. Pray for you all the time and think of you all often!

Keep Smiling,

Hermana Sargent

 

 

presidente showed up to our district activity for about 2 mintues,

 we got him to participate in our unity building experience! ha!

my day with Hna Ramos. BEAUTIFUL here

 

 

 

activity

 

hna parada and i

 

las hermanas! 



 

 

 

Can´t beleive that its Pday again... SO FAST!

Las P-day, fuimos a la mall with the other hermanas. this mall had an ALDO!!! WHAT? I felt like i was in America. Way better than the mall in Paraguay to say the least. ha! Didn´t buy anything, just was window shopping.

This week seriously has been super fast. Hna. Parada has been a little sick and sometimes couldn´t work too hard, as well as another Hna has been sick for like 2 weeks so we did a couple interchanges so the two that felt good (Hna Ramos y yo) could leave and work in one of our two sectors! We actually found some people as well :)

As for our investigators.. this is the rundown on them:

Ivana, the nieta de los abuelos. She is SO GREAT. doesn´t want to have a fecha yet, but she is reading and praying and she feels good she says. she is so cute, always asking us, Did you guys do this... read and pray to know if it was true? She is definitely trying to figure it out and i just want to help her. I also love teaching her grandparents. Their testimonies are super strong. Just don´t go to church! I don´t get it.. he was a OBISPO. ah, i just want everyone to come to church and expereince all the joy and blessings that come from attending!

Tomas... yes, we made him a calendar of things he needs to read EVERYDAY. and he is doing it... so thats good. At the begining it´s just a little, a few verses and then this week it starts getting more. Sad news... not gonna be baptized this Saturday. We just don´t feel like he is ready. he has the lessons and todo pero he doesn´t have his testimony yet. but i know that through reading more and more he´ll do it. I just don´t want him to get baptized for his wife (who is a member). And she doesn´t either. Because she knows he won´t be faithful to the church if thats the case. but still working with him!

We found a man named Carlos in the street the other day. We started teaching him about the LDM and bautismo. He accepted a fecha on the street. I couldn´t beleive it. I hope he really understood. I think he did. He wasn´t like... si o si, baptize me, but he said if he comes to know that the LDM is true, he´ll be baptized. We haven´t taught him since then, but have a cita martes con él. I´m excited. and i think he lives with his wife and maybe grandkids.. who knows. here there are always a TON of people living in the houses. grandparents, aunts uncles, sibllings, friends, and their dogs. it´s crazy!

Elizabeth, we taught her once, and she had such good questions and everything! We set another appointment for sunday night with her, and we went but she wasn´t there. Bummmer! But this morning we had a message on our phone, and it was her and apoligized that she wasn´t home a family problem in Limache, but she wants us to call her and come back! It´s just crazy that she called us, we´re always calling and asking, ¨cuando podemos reunirnos??¨ but she called us! I know she´s a keeper..

 this week our martes and wednesday and filled with citas. SO good! we´ve just been contacting lots and putting citas so i hope they´re all home!

I just want all these people to come to church. I´m sitting there in sacrament meeting stressed that they haven´t come and wondering if they´ll come before the sacrament and then during the sacrament i try to think of Christ but my mind is on all of the people we´ve invited and i just am like... ¨why didn´t you come!?? please, come! ha! .i decided my goal this week is to study more on how people can really feel like they need to come to church!

 

Saturday Hna. Parada was super super sick.. her head and stomach hurt.. i think it was like a migrane or something, but we went to the clinica and they gave her an IV and everything to give her meds.. she felt better. off and on her head still hurts, but she says thats normal. The assistantes came and picked us up and brought us to our house.. they are seriously so great. Such good missionaries, men, stong testimonies, I was thinking of Robbie and how maybe he´ll be an assistant in his mission!

I was studying a talk by Elder Bednar in the Abril 2012 Liahona... on the Atonement. SO GOOD! oh my gosh.. i am gonna study it again this week. he was just talking about how sometimes we think the Atonement is only for sin, but it´s not. He then went on to give so many examples from the LDM and everything. REad it.

Also finished the bom this week... i´m always sad to finish, but excited to start over again! I was reading in 2 nefi 15:4 and i love the question and thought to myself.. What more can i do in this ¨viña del mar?¨ food for thought... everyone can apply it to something!

Our zone meeting this past week was 4 hours long because new president, new norms and todo. nothing too big has changed. just i can´t wear rings unless its the typical CTR ring that i don´t even like.. but thats the only thing that was really different. If anything it was just going over the rules that maybe before hand weren´t being kept super bien de la mision. But president gave us all our personal Liahona with ways to find nuevos! the new 8 ways...

1. Part member families (have a cita with one tonight!.. noche de hogar baby)

2. Menos activa familias

3. Recent Converts

4. Actual investigadors

5. Old investigadors.. in the carpeta de area

6. Young single adults

7. YM/YW

8. Returned misioneros.

With these we are supposed to pass by 5 Menos activas and 5 part member families every day! lots of work and planning but i love it. Genious way to find nuevos. these people already have the support, just have to find them and encourage them. and the others we are just supposed to pray that when we ask for references that people will come to their mind. I love it. my own liahona a encontrar!

I still love the ward. everyone is great. lots of support. dad... some main streets... San Jose, agua santa.. i live in the street Camino real, but way way arriba, closer to another chapel, the barrio Recreo.

well family!

all is well her in Viña- its gorgeous here! The Church is true. The mission is a time of lots of learning and trial, but more than that time of love and success. Even the smallest things are miracles. For instance, taught our collectivo driver today on our way to internet. Just planting the seeds are miracles!

Love you all. sounds like things are going good! can´t beleive summer is over!

Keep Smiling,

Hermana Sargent



 

 



 

 

 

 

 

hna parada and i en la calle

 

 

hna Ramos and I

 

 

Hna Parada and i en the clinica