#hagamoslopo

WOWOWOW on the mission, there are some weeks that, while living in the moment, I already know I will be talking about these moments forever, and this was FOSHO one of those weeks.

So much happened, but here are the two highlights:

I had an intercambio with Hermana Black in her area, and we saw a ton of miracles. One of these miracles was a part-member family that the hermanas recently began to teach from Venezuela. The mom, dad, and sister have all been baptized; however, the youngest son, Isaias, has not.

The members of the ward don't let the missionaries go to their neighborhood of this Venezuelan family alone because they say it is extremely sketchy and unsafe for two gringas. I didn't completely understand why until, while driving, I realized that this family's neighborhood is hidden behind a huge factory, and the houses are basically cardboard boxes mixed with random planks of wood. We got a lot of interesting looks from people for my blonde hair and the red hair of Hermana Black, BUT THE ADVENTURE WAS SO WORTH IT.

When we got to the Venezuelan family's house, they were MORE than happy to have us. The spirit we felt from hearing about their humble conversion helped us to FEEL the power of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ in OUR hearts. We invited their son Isaias to be baptized, and he said YES.

Two weeks ago, while Hermana Dos Santos and I were walking, a lady who clearly was not Chilean crossed the street to talk to us. She started speaking broken English and asked if I was from Sweden. After a long conversation, we came to find out she lived in Sweden her whole life as a member of the Church but then fell away from the church, got married to a Chilean man who had been adopted into a family from Sweden, and they had moved to Chile to find the original family of her husband.

Their house got destroyed by their neighbors (I still don't quite understand what happened there), and now Rosita (our new Swedish friend) lives in the house of the elderly woman she takes care of, which is 10 minutes from our home. Her husband lives in Santiago Centro during the week and comes to visit her on the weekends.

We have met them in a park multiple times in the past 2 weeks, and the spirit is so strong EVERY TIME. Manuel (Rosita's husband) accepted a baptismal date and has his baptismal interview this Sunday. We found Rosita's church records, and she is SO excited to come back to church and to be an active member again.

They have attended church with us twice, and last Sunday, I looked over to see what Rosita was doing on her phone, and I saw her typing into Google Translate her testimony from Swedish to Spanish. SHE IS SO PRECIOUS.

These people (the Venezuelan family and the couple from Sweden) are so special. They both come from EXTREMELY humble and challenging circumstances. However, instead of hardening their hearts, they realize they need God's guidance in their lives.

1 Nephi 17

13 And I will also be your light in the wilderness, and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.

I am so lucky to be able to see the lives of so many change as they keep the commandments and harken to the light and guidance God gives us in return. It is such a beautiful thing.

Highs:

-CARLOS GOT BAPTIZED

-Isaias wants to get baptized

-Manuel wants to get baptized

-Gonzalo wants to get baptized!!!!

-Our Miracle Fernanda asked us to be baptized

-FAST WAS ANSWERED, AND KARINA WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED AHHHH

-Going to the temple with my district

-Singing "Grand Eres Tú" with the ukulele in our lesson with Karina #wemadehercryjeje

-Hermana Dos Santos has my heart

-Intercambios with Hermana Cepa 🇦🇷

-Intercambios with Hermana Black 🇺🇲