Week 39

Week 38

Week 37

Week 36

Week 35

Week 34

Week 33

Week 32

Week 31

Week 30

Week 29

Week 28

Week 27

Week 26

Week 25

Week 24

Week 22

Week 21

Week 20

Hola!

Most importantly.... J---- GOT BAPTIZED!!! He was also baptized with one of the elder’s investigators in the same ward. So F----- was also baptized! I didn't teach F----- but we got to know him pretty well, so the double baptism was awesome! They both bore their testimonies after and it was really neat. J----- talked about all the support he had received and said, "Thanks Hermana K---- and Hermana Sullivan, you were fundamental."  I was so happy, and he had the biggest smile. At the baptism there were 69 people, 12 of which were missionaries, 7 family members and the rest were ward members. Incredible support! His family was there to support him and his wife told me she was emotional because of the spirit she felt. She now has a baptism date for July!  Also my mom sent a package with a bunch of Haz Lo Justo (CTR) rings for when people get baptized, so i gave one to J----- and to F-----.

On Sunday, we had stake conference which included Elder Clayton (President of the quorum of the 70), Elder Viajar, and the Santiago Temple President Elder Wilhelm. I only understood about 50 percent but it was cool, and I got to meet them after for a few mins. It was a cool experience.

Cool fact: The presidency of the 70 doesn't have counselors. Rather, it has 7 presidents and there is one President that presides over the rest (Currently Elder Clayton) Read D&C 107:93-94 to understand why.

Well...where to start. We had "emergency" transfers on Tuesday. A set of hermanas were fighting (like one threatened to hit the other...) and it's been really hard because my comp doesn't understand that it takes a lot of time to be the nurse especially with the problems we've had this week. So she kept getting upset when I was on the phone with the doctor, my president, or a sick missionary. We would have been fine and found a way to work through the difficult things but another Hermana was demanding transfers so president switched with my comp and I. So my new companion is Hermana T----- from Uruguay! She also speaks zero english but I think she'll be more understanding with the time it takes to do the nurse stuff. Also I now get to lead the sector and I've only been here for 2 weeks, it's also  the biggest hermana sector in my mission...good luck to me!  When we had transfers, my comp got to go and say goodbye to the members, one of them decided to make her a pie, but her little toaster glass is broken so my comp stood and help a cardboard box over it for 30 minutes to bake the pie, it was funny, and the pie turned out great!

The nursing side of my mission took up a ton of time. For example, this week an elder had to have surgery for a 6mm kidney stone that got stuck, another elder had to have his toe worked on because of an infection, another elder had to have a tooth pulled do to an infection, and an hermana was so sick she could barely walk. All of which were going on for 2 weeks-2 months before they told me they even had a problem. Which made the problems a lot bigger. But I ended up going on divisions with the Hermana who was sick. I took her to her dr appt and stayed home with her for a day. That way both our comps could work and I could work on things at home which turned out really nice. I may have also taken a guilt free, much needed, 2 hour nap. But this week has been insane!

STORY THIS WEEK:

Pushing Against The Rock:

              There once was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared to him. The Lord told him He had a work for him to do, and showed him a large rock explaining that he was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, and for many days he toiled from sunup to sundown; his shoulder set squarely against the cold massive surface of the rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling his whole day had been spent in vain. Seeing that the man showed signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture - placing thoughts in the man's mind, such as ``Why kill yourself over this?, you're never going to move it!'' or ``Boy, you've been at it a long time and you haven't even scratched the surface!'' etc. giving the man the impression the task was impossible and the man was an unworthy servant because he wasn't moving the massive stone. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man and he started to ease up in his efforts. ``Why kill myself?'' he thought. ``I'll just put in my time putting forth just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough.'' And this he did or at least planned on doing until, one day, he decided to take his troubles to the Lord. ``Lord,'' he said, ``I have labored hard and long in Your service, putting forth all my strength to do that which You have asked of me. Yet after all this time, I have not even budged that rock even half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?'' To this the Lord responded compassionately, ``My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you to push against the rock with all your strength and that you have done. But never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. At least not by yourself. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed, ready to quit. But is this really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled; your back sinewed and brown. Your hands are calloused from constant pressure and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your ability now far surpasses that which you used to have. Yet still, you haven't succeeded in moving the rock; and you come to Me now with a heavy heart and your strength spent. I, my friend will move the rock. Your calling was to be obedient and push, and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom, and this you have done.''

Many times we are far too close to the subject to really understand the big picture. But God knows. He knows me and He knows you. He knows exactly what we need. Satan also knows us. He knows our weaknesses and he knows how to break us down. The decision is; will we let him? God never once asked the man to move the rock. He simply asked him to push. In the end God said, "I'll move the rock." In the words of Elder D Todd Christofferson, "Let your covenants be paramount and your obedience be exact. Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer. He will sustain you as you work and watch. In his own time and way He will stretch forth His hand to you, saying, "Here am I.""  Our father in heaven is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will always be there to say, "Here am I." But that also means we must have faith and say, "Lord, help me."  Faith and obedience are key in life. Without faith, obedience is almost impossible. And without obedience, faith is hard to find. It takes an effort on both parts.  When the Lord asks something of you, take a moment to see the bigger picture. Step back, pause, and ask "What is it im really supposed to do or learn from this?"  This week especially with emergency transfers I've taken a step back to ask "why?" and although I don't know the exact answer I know the lord has a plan for each of us. I know he doesn't ask more of us than we can handle. And although sometimes I feel like missionary work is the same as pushing a big rock that isn't moving, I also know my testimony is stronger, my scriptural knowledge is far greater than it was when I left, and my Christlike attributes are increasing (far from perfect but I'm better than I was). The Lord isn't asking me to move the rock by myself, he is asking me to be obedient, have faith, and give it everything I've got. And I am.

Have A Wonderful Week!

Hermana Sullivan

ps. No pics with my new comp yet.....sorry

 

Week 19

Hola!

This week was crazy... My comp is really sweet and quiet! She speaks zero English, but we're working on that.  To be honest, is insanely difficult.  We cant hardly communicate, so planning for our day is hard.  However we do language study together, I help her with English and she helps me with Spanish. I taught her the word "freakin" on day one. (Why? Well....why not?) On our second day together we were standing outside a house and at the same time she yelled "Alo" (that's how you get people to answer their door here) two cars drove past completely overpowering her voice. I said, "perfect timing" and she said, "freaking autos!" I'm so proud of her English improvements...haha

My area is really big with some fields. So in this area we get bikes!! It is really cold but it's fun. Also I thought I knew how to ride a bike, but when my skirt got stuck on the seat the first time and I about ate the ground, I was humbled. I must learn to ride a bike in a skirt now.  This is a much nicer (wealthier) part of my mission so our house is really nice! There's no mold, broken ceilings, or gross kitchen. I live with Hermanas B----/R----, and each companionship has their own study room. We all share a big room, and there's two bathrooms. I live in a constant state of frozen. We have tiny heaters and bed heaters but that's it. Hermana B---- gets up super early and she just stays in the study room. The other day I opened the door to see what she was doing and she had "hot boxed" the room! She turned on both heaters and shut the door, it was soooo warm! Genius!

Last Thursday we taught a guy named J----. We stood in the streets for almost an hour and taught him lesson one. When we talked about the Book of Mormon we asked if he would like a copy and he replied saying, "yeah, and can you write down a part for me to read too?" Ummm YES WE SURE CAN! Ha it was perfect. 

My Spanish is getting a lot better really fast. Saturday X----- (from Departamental) called me and we talked on the phone for 10 mins. I understood everything and was able to have a more normal conversation with her! It was a great feeling!  This week I found a quote that made me feel so much better about my Spanish! It said, "I throw my Spanish in the air sometimes, saying AYYYYOOOO NO COMPRENDOOO!" (Sing it to the tune of Dynamite by Taio Cruz). As silly as this sounds, that quote has kept me smiling and when I say something with awful pronunciation, I laugh. Because what more can you do?

The Ward is great, the bishopric does a ton and we have a really good Ward misión leader who helps a ton! We meet at his house on Monday nights and have potlucks snacks while discussing all our people who we are teaching/visiting and who we need help with.  It was really fun and productive which is a step up from my last ward where we didn’t have a ward mission leader…

We did a service project this week at a home for the elderly in Quimey.  When i first got to the place it looked like a nice garden area with broken down buildings.  After about 20 minutes the elderly in wheel chairs and walker started coming outside and i learned we were at a home for the elderly.  It was really sad.  The place was beautiful but there were far more people to take care of than there were people working there.  I would never put my family there, and the sad thing is....its one of the nicest places for the elderly.....we weeded a bunch and cleaned it up a bit, it looked a ton better! At first we were just shoveling the weeds into a pile....making it look better, but more or less just planting seeds for it to all grow back, not really helping the situation.  One Elder laughed when I said, "What is the purpose of this? To make it look good for a couple week until it all grows right back cause were just spreading seeds?"  His response was...."Poor missionaries who come in 9 months....theyll be here doing the same thing."  Kinda  funny and sad thought, we just created another service project for future missionaries....but in the mean time it looks great!

I started reading the Book of Mormon again, but this time I am using a black pen and writing/underlining anything that stands out.  I was reading in 1 Nephi when Nephi and his brothers go back to get the brass plates from Laban.  During the third attempt Nephi goes unto Laban and the Lord delivers him into the hands of Nephi and Nephi slays him.  Following he gets Zorem to give him the plates by dressing as laban and talking in his voice.  Many times ive wondered, “Why did Zorem go into the wilderness with Nephi?”  After reading I discovered, that Zorem first went because he thinks he is following Laban, but outside the city walls is when he learns that it wasn’t Laban and was Nephi instead.  Nephi talks to Zorem and convinces him to come with them into the wilderness.  Again I thought, “Why does Nephi want him to come?”  Then the scriptures say that Nephi wanted him to go because he was the only witness that he had killed Laban and fled to the wilderness.  If they took Zorem with them, then there would be no witness.  A few verses later it says Zorem made a covenant with Nephi, and Nephis “fears” left.  Following the footnote for “fears” it says, “Trustworthy”.  A convenant back in the times of the scriptures must have been one very powerful thing.  To simply make a covenant and then be deemed a trustworthy person would be really cool.

Well have a great week everyone!

Hermana Sullivan

Week 18

Hola familia y amigas,

Well, when one door closes another one opens! Yesterday was transfers, I left Departamental and I now live in Portuzuelo in San Bernardo! My new companion is Hermana C----- from Peru.  She speaks zero English…

I tried sushi this week....(don't worry dad, I got the one with fried chicken, not raw fish...gross), and it was...well, I wouldn't buy sushi for myself, but it wasn't the worst. I'm just saying, a cheeseburger and fries will win every time.

 X----- was walking down the street the other day with us and she said, "Como se llama?". So I said, "Josi".  She looked at me then pointed at herself and said, "Jo no". In Spanish "Yo" means "I" and they pronounce it in Chile like "jo". It was the lamest joke but we were laughing pretty hard. I wonder how long she was waiting to use that...?

Awesome scripture for everyone to ponder this week: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."  Challenges and difficulties are part of this life, but joy and peace are the ultimate goal of the father. And so he says, "BE OF GOOD CHEER; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD."  Literally through the atonement Christ made it possible for us to have peace and ever lasting life. Don't let life's bumps get you down. Be of good cheer and know that through Him everything will work out.

In Alma chapter 37:38-46 we learn about the Liahona which is a compass that was prepared by the lord. The liahona worked based on the faith of those using it. When they became slothful and forgot to exercise faith, it ceased to work. When there faith was strong and evident, it guided them in the exact direction they needed to go. In verse 44 it says, "It is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss...." and verse 45 says, "...the words of Christ, if we follow their course carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise."  Through our diligence and obedience to follow the word of God we too can have eternal life and endless happiness. Just as those of scriptural times had the liahona, we now have the scriptures and modern day prophets to help lead and guide us. But it is our choice to have the faith and walk the path to eternity.

Mormon message for this week is called, "Come what may, and love it". I don't remember much of Elder Wirthlin, but he has some wise council. Don't stop at simply watching the video, read the talk. It is remarkable!

Key points:

Learn to Laugh

Seek for the Eternal

Understand the principle of compensation

Trust the Lord

I love how he gives an emphasis on learning to laugh. In Genesis 21:6 it says, "...God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me." God wants us to laugh, and to rejoice even in times of trial or when things don't go as we want them to. A couple months after Zak and I moved to Provo we decided to rent some tubes and float down the bitter cold Provo river. Part way down the river I pulled my phone out of the safety of a zip lock bag to take some pictures. After taking a few I handed it to Zak so he could also take some. A short time passed and we hit a small spot of rapids, small rapids, but big enough to bounce us around and splash water. Zak, holding my phone high in the air to avoid it getting wet, while I managed to grab a branch to help slow us down. My hand being weak (I had surgery on my wrist just a few months before) I lost my grip on the branch and it flung forward hitting Zak's hand just perfect enough to see the phone go flying into the air and wash away down the river. Now, we did get out of the tube and search for the phone but we didn't find it. I learned a long time ago, some things are not worth getting mad about. My phone was gone, what more could be done? I don't remember if we laughed while in the tube, but I know, I didn't get mad. And that's what made the difference. I look back on the "adventure" tubing with my brother as one of the funniest days together in Provo.  Don't get me wrong I have a temper, but I'm trying to learn to laugh and so should you.

I think I made my comp a little mad this week. She kept using the word "trunky" and when she asked what I thought I said, "I hate the word trunky. To me, all that word is, is an excuse to be a crappy missionary. Missionaries think it's funny to be trunky but in the long run, they are just being lazy and dwelling on things that aren't important right now." She didn't respond...Am I wrong? Honest thoughts, because that word bugs me...

I've been asked many times, "What is your favorite part of Chile?" Well, I have an answer. Juice boxes. They are more for adults than kids here, it's fantastic. For example, on any given Sunday someone will be drinking a juice box during sacrament. If you walk down the street and don't find someone drinking a juice box, then you must have been looking down the whole time. I love it! And they have really yummy pineapple, peach, and apple juice boxes! Peach is my favorite!

                Welp, have a great week!

                Hermana Sullivan