Week 15

Hola!


This week was fun, not a ton of success, but we still had fun. One thing we did was we took a whiteboard down to Gran Avenida, the busiest road in our area, and we wrote the questions, "Que le hace feliz?!" (What makes you happy?") We set up the board right next to where people come out of the metro. It was interesting to see how people reacted. Some were excited and took no convincing, others glared and shook their little pointer finger at us as they walked away, and the best people were the ones who said no, but then as they read the board they convinced themselves to go back and write something. One mom first said no but I offered her little girl (maybe 3 or 4) a marker and as she watched her daughter get excited I offered her another pen and they both wrote something. People wrote everything from friends, family, music, rainbows, playing, spouse, Sleep, soccer, food, life, my mom, etc. We also passed out "pass along cards".  We got a couple of referrals but for the most part we just planted a bunch of seeds. If all we did was help people take a moment to think about what makes them happy, then that's exactly why we're here. To share the joy.

This week we taught A----- (J-----'s wife) the first lesson, "The restoration of the gospel."  She pointed out a cool fact. No other church has the restored gospel, this is a well known fact. This is why we are the only true church, we have the restored gospel which includes the keys to the priesthood. "Restored Gospel" is a common phrase for all of us to hear, but do you realize what it means?  When I was growing up my gpa Merlin had an old chevy truck he used on the farm. With holes in the bed of the truck, paint worn off, and parts and pieces falling apart this little truck pushed on.  Years later when I was in my teens gpa decided to "restore" the truck. The truck was taken apart, repainted, new engine, new bed, spiffed and shined up. He restored the truck back to its prime, the way it was when it was brand new on the car lot. Restore literally means to bring back the original quality. Now, in gospel sense "restore" means to bring back the original truths of the words of the prophets. Now, we believe that there was a long time when the gospel and the priesthood keys were not on the earth, this was because of the great apostasy.  And thus the reason the church had to be restored. Many others believe the gospel never left the earth, and therefore no reason for it to be restored. What a blessing it is to us to have the restored gospel, the truths of all the prophets who came before us, and who received revelation directly from Christ and his apostles. Like the little old chevy was made new again, so was the gospel through the divine revelation to Joseph Smith. The gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter where you go, is the same. Truth never changes, and neither will the foundational principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

So last week we were working on the "Kieffer" list, trying to verify addresses and members when we found the M----- family. The mom seemed very annoyed at us being there but agreed to let us come back, although she didn't seem too thrilled. So this week we went back, and ashamed to say, we didn't have much faith of her letting us in.  But they let us in! The whole family was there and we were able to verify their records and visit with them including leaving a scripture and a thought. They also invited us back next week! It was cool to see, something changed during the week, and we are ready to help them in whatever way possible.  I can testify that the spirit changes the hearts of those who are ready to accept help. This family seems ready, so we're going to have faith and see how next week goes!

The Lord Always invites. Nothing is a rule, it's a simple invitation or a council to guide us to the best lives we can have. I read the story of Christ walking on the water. His disciples are first scared thinking he is a spirit, but then the Lord says, "Be of good cheer. It is I; be not afraid." Peter being filled with faith asks the lord if he can come to him on the water. The lord says, "come." Peter too began walking on water, but when the wind gets bad he doubts his faith and begins to sink. I find it interesting that peter gets a lot of crap from this story because he doubted his faith. But remember, Peter is the ONLY one who got out of the boat. All the others stayed and watched. I think to myself, do I have the faith to leave the boat? Or am I just along for the ride?

So on Monday we were riding the bus to district meeting. Somehow we ended up on the same bus as 4 elders and 2 other Hermanas. All of us were joking and laughing when the other hermanas got off the bus early...an elder asked, "Where are they going?", as they were headed in the wrong direction. I said, "probably to the bank to pull out their money." And out of nowhere, Elder M-----r says, "HUH! It's closed!" We all busted up laughing then called them to remind them that it was closed. Monday was Chile's Labor Day so everything was closed! It was really funny how M----- said it. 

A few funny nurse conversations I had this week:
         Elder: "Hermana, I think I have an eye infection...".
        Me: "Elder, what happened?"
        Elder: "Well I climbed in a stack of tires and then everyone pushed me over and some crap got in my eye...."

    Elder: (while on the phone) "Hold on a second Hermana, I'm trying to put my pants on and talk at the same time..."
   
        Me: "Elder, on a scale from 1-10 how bad does your knee hurt?"
        Elder: "12 like the apostles, it's really bad"

Well it's been a fun week, I've laughed a lot, and had fun. Life is good and the love of God shines forth. Take a moment to realize what makes you most happy and have a great week!
Love you all,
Hermana Sullivan

Ps. The elders try to tease me about being from Kanab....I'M NOT! Sorry mom and dad, it's just not Leeds.  Anyways my nicknames as of right now are Queen Kanab & Hermana Enfermera.

Hermana Sullivan

Mission Nurse Specialist 

Chile Santiago South Mission

Week 14

Hola!

This week has been crazy!  For starters, Elder C----- got switch mid change to be an office elder to help his knee heel, so he's gone.  Elder S----- joined us in Departamental, and he is great! He will bring a lot of energy to the ward!

We had 3 earthquakes in 3 days.  The first I was laying in bed super late and everything started to shake.  When it finished i asked an Hermana that lives with us and no one else felt it. The second was on Sunday during lunch at the bishops house, little stronger, but still just a little shake. During the third we were visiting a less active 86 year old who lives alone.  We found him while doing the "Kiefer" 5 Minute Visit list.  This one was a lot stronger, America said it was a 7.1 on the rictor scale.  I was way too excited about it, but funny thing is, here all the locals freak out about a tiny shake.  I'm sure its because they have lived through a really big one, but the poor guy was a little scared.  I think we found him in just the right moment that he wasn't alone, I think it made him feel a little better.

The nursing side of things has picked up a ton! I'm currently helping 17 missionaries, which isn't a ton, but its hard to keep track of everything.  The office elders finally got my iphone, so that will make communication and setting up appointments so much easier.  But I love being the nurse and getting to know all the different missionaries. One missionary got chickenpox and because not many people in Chile are vaccinated for chicken pox, he has to stay in his house until they are totally gone. We wouldn't want to start an outbreak, bad PR for the church...anyways he is going a little crazy at home, its been 5 days already and he still has a couple more, so my comp and I decided we are going to take them some treats tomorrow.

Also, our mission, health wise, if having a lot of issues because people aren't eating enough fiber....So I created a competition for increasing fiber.  It's zone vs zone and the winning zone gets brownies and popcorn, and a movie on pday with the projector.  But the results are great!  One elder came to me and said, "Hermana Sullivan, I bought wheat pasta and crackers with lots of seeds in them!" Another hermana was eating an apple and i told her that i liked her snack choice and she said, "Gotta Increase that fiber".  The missionaries all have a list of basic food that they get points for eating, all super healthy options.  And on Sunday the first round of scores came in, every zone is within 100 point average of each other.  The WHOLE mission is participating!  Anyways its been fun.

Last night we were visiting a very less active family, and one of the sons who is struggling with church and connecting with people pulled out his guitar, and we messed around on it for a little bit.  We played "Im Yours", and he was so happy.  I by all means cannot play the guitar, but the three songs i can play we had fun with. The family is in the Elders sector but they respond a lot better to us, so we decided it would be best for us to work on them, and i think we had enough fun that when i asked if they would come to church, at least the one said yes, but we will see on sunday!

Today for Pday we went to the stake center and had an activity with a bunch of different missionaries. We played basketball for 2 hours and it was basically the best day of my life!  Also my team played 7 games....and we never lost. So that was also fun.  Then we mae hawaiian leis out of candy and watched the movie Moana....SUCH A CUTE MOVIE! The office elders brought the movie for us and one said, "Sister Sullivan i brought the movie in english for you."   YAY FOR ENGLISH!!

Spanish....well my spanish sucks, but its fine, life goes on and learning is increasing....

We have had a really hard time finding investigators, so this last week we decided to try strengthening the ward and gaining their trust.  So we passed around a sign up paper on Sunday, and for the members that sign up we went to their house and shared a 15 minute message including a 5 minute Mormon message and a few thoughts. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and we have had great response from the members.  Still no investigators, but we are definitely building trust with members.

Well that's it for this week!

As my mother would always say, "Be Good, Have fun, Remember who you are, and Return with honor"

Hermana Sullivan

Week 13

Hola Familia y Amigas!

J-----'S FAMILY ARRIVED IN CHILE!!!!!!!

I have to start with this!  It's been a really hard week since J-----'s family was denied coming.  For his family to come it is a 10 hour drive to the airport and the first time they were denied leaving the country of Venezuala.  Well, Saturday they tried again and were able to come!  Sunday on our way to lunch J----- said, "Hello!" We didn't recognize him cause he was in casual clothes but the second we did we both freaked out! We met his wife and daughter who are both so beautiful and they are both really excited about taking the missionary lessons.  J----- looked so happy.  It's really cool to not only see his happiness but share that same happiness with him.  

First, we have this super cute lady we visit every week.  She is older and can't really leave the house anymore.  Her name is R----- and she is a convert of 2 years.  She is so cute, she used to be Catholic and whenever someone asks why she joined the church she always says, "well my church was 3 blocks away and yours was only 2...." But she loves the hymn book and the Book of Mormon!  And when we say a prayer, she always adds, "Si Senor" after every sentence that she agrees with, and sometimes at the end of the prayer she just starts praying, adding her own little thoughts.  She is so adorable and we love visiting her!

This week Hermanas D----- and H----- moved in with us, after they set up their beds they found out real quick that one bed was warped and the bars to hold up the mattress just fall through....after them complaining for a while.  I got frustrated and got a piece of wood that came from an old dresser and I pulled out my pocket knife, which conveniently had an inch and a half long saw on it...I sawed a 2.5 foot wide board in half, using that ridiculous saw.  As I was sawing the Elders called and one said, "What is going on? It sounds like someone is sawing...."  My comp starts laughing and says, "well my companion is doing exactly that."  Finally, 45 minutes later I finished.  And my companion said, as I was going to put it on the bed, "watch it be too long.... " IT WAS 0.5 in TOO LONG!!! So I started over, meanwhile the Elders came to bring us some stuff from our old house and we gave them rice crispy treats.  I enlisted them in helping me cut the board cause I was getting a huge blister.  In the picture they are eating treats while I was cutting and because they can't come inside but we needed the light they are standing on the board in the doorway to keep it from moving....and my comp took the award winning picture of the elders eating treats and the Hermana working...well, finally got done and the bed was fixed....2 hours later and a big blister.  Next time someone says that the hermanas are spoiled, just remember, I fixed the bed. And thank you Zak for telling me to bring a leatherman....

Saturday the Elders called and wanted to meet with us because we are all struggling to find people to teach.  They had a couple ideas to bounce around and I'll say, I'm pretty stoked for our plans.  First, on Sunday we passed around a sign up sheet to the active members.  We want to go share a 10 minute thought with each member that's active to help build trust and get to know people better.  We got about 16 appts, which is way worse than we thought we'd get, but that's still 16 people we will get to know better.  Then Sunday night we went "Easter Caroling"....we went to J-----'s house and sung to them for Easter and introduced them to C-----i (we refer to them as the "Power Couple").  After we took the "Prince of Peace" pass along cards and rode the metro!  We passed out 500 cards in about an hour.  We didn't want to bug or trap people into listening to us, so instead we told them Happy Easter and that the card was for a cool video of Christ.  People were actually a lot more receptive than I thought they would be.  Also we wrote our number on the back of each card, it will be interesting to see if we get any calls....

I am officially the only nurse for our mission! Its so nice! I feel like its been a little chaotic up until now, but things are going good.  Also just found out that our area medical adviser has been reassigned to Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Ill still be able to contact him....just not in person and there will be a time change, so that'll be fun.

Cool fact.  I hit 3 months on the 17th, crazy how fast time has gone!

Stay safe! Love you all!

Hermana Sullivan
Mission Nurse Specialist

Week 12

Hola!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

First off, its fall here! Everything for Easter is decorated in fall colors, its sooo backwards!!!

This week our investigators who are refugees from Haiti received news that they could bring their 4 year old son to Chile.  Up til now they haven't seen him for over 7 months and had no plans to bring him here, so this is super exciting!  The plan is for him to come in May.  They are already seeing the blessing that come from the gospel and following Christ's plan.  They are so awesome, M---- came to church for the 2nd time and brought D----- too! It was fast and testimony meeting which was awesome for them to hear!  They are so excited to be baptized, and as long as we teach all the lessons (we go really slow because of the language barrier) they will be baptized on May 6.

As for J-----, his wife and daughter were supposed to come Saturday night.  We checked with him on Monday and after packing their bags, going to the airport, and prepared to leave everything behind and start life over, the country of Venezuela wouldn't let them leave.  We are so sad.  My heart is broken.  J----- hasn't been with his family for over a year and he has worked really hard to get his tiny 2 room home ready for them, we found clothes (including winter clothes) for them, and they weren't aloud on the plane...

Last p-day my comp and I got home at 10 and we were both so tired that we were in the state of everything is funny so we were laughing super hard all the way up til we went to bed.  First, I was getting a drink of juice and I was intentionally trying to be sassy, but my comp started laughing, then I was laughing and i started choking on my juice and it hurt so bad that I had tears running down my face. Then we walked into our room, and their was the biggest freakin spider above my bed on the ceiling, I don't know why I started crying, but the spider scared me so bad that I started freaking out and crying/laughing.  Purely out of habit I was trying to climb up a chair to get away from it, which my comp thought was ridiculously funny because the spider wasn't even on the floor, it was on the cieling.  But in my very stressed out mind, it made sense. PS. If you don't know how much I hate spiders, this story has no relevance....

So this week was transfers, which I'm still in my training, so no transfers.  However, president told us that two more hermanas would be moving in with us.  As we were rearranging our house we learned that if we plug in two heaters, it cuts the power.  The electric guy came and apparently there are only two electric lines in the entire house.  Meaning all the lights tie into one and everything else is basically on extension cords to the other.  So Tuesday night at 8 at night we got told we were house swapping with the Elders.  Wednesday we moved.  My stuff is really organize and easy to pack, but my comp took forever! Ha our new place has a big room and two tiny rooms and a huge open living room, it's nice, but it has old creaky wooden floors so I feel like I'm at the cabin!  It was quite the job to move, but it'll be nicer here.

Well not much to talk about, Elder C----- got transferred and Elder C----- is now in our ward and it'll be super fun.  He's gringo, so it'll be a blast!

Hope all is well and safe at home!

Til Next Week!

ps sorry no pics, forgot my cord at home..

Hermana Sullivan
Mission Nurse Specialist
Chile Santiago South Mission

Week 11

Hola!

Thanks for all the pics from last week everyone!!  Wish I could have been there with all the family!

W----- came to conference!  He is a really hard investigator to teach, he has so many questions and tells a lot of stories that take us way off topic for a solid 15 minutes.  We have taught him 6 times for 1-1.5 hours each time and he would never come to church, so this week my companion and I decided that if he didn't come to 1/4 sessions we were going to have to be done teaching him. However, HE CAME, and he came Saturday afternoon which was the sustaining of the officers of the church and Holland spoke, it could not have been more perfect! I wrote this Saturday, then we taught him yesterday and have decided to stop teaching him.  He gave us a lecture that were not old enough and in 20 years we will understand that this book (The book of Mormon) isn't really important.  In seven lessons we cant get the message to him that God loves him (He sees god, but with Satan like qualities) or how important the Book of Mormon is....so until is heart is softened, we cant do anything more...

J----- is our investigator from Venezuela and this week he got great news! He's been attending the wrong ward, but in the ward he's been going to a member has loaned him the money to bring his wife and daughter to CHILE! He was supposed to be baptized on April 29, but he asked if he could wait a few weeks longer so that they can get baptized as a family! I don't know the member that loaned him the money but I have a lot of respect for them.  Also now when he does get baptized, planning for May 23, there will be 3!  We're sad to push his back, but so happy that this conversion can be a family event.  I think it's crazy that they had to flee Venezuela and completely start their lives over, but in the process they have found the gospel! The Lord truly works in mysterious ways!

This week we have accomplished nearly nothing.....because of the Day of the Young Fighter we couldn't teach Tuesday or Wednesday night.  Conference took away our Saturday and Sunday too....so there's that.  Most our investigators all request lessons after 7 (All except W----- and he asks for 6), so it's hard to schedule lessons, most the time we can only teach 2 each night because of walking time.  It's hard but we make it happen.  

On a spiritual note, my companion and I thought of a question this week.  The question is, "What covenants did Jesus make at his baptism?" To take upon him the name of Christ? We asked my mission president and he said, "I don't think he needed to make any." But, if he didn't need to make any covenants, then why was the priesthood necessary and what was the point of the baptism if no covenants were made? What do you all think? Was it simple because Christ was the perfect example in every way, therefore he gave the example of being baptized?

This week I wanted to study the accounts of Christ healing the sick and raising the dead.  I started in Mark and Luke reading about Christ raising the daughter of Jairus.    I recently wondered why the scriptures contain all three points of view (Same stories in Mathew, Mark, and Luke) but I read this story in all 3 books and each gives a few more details or clarifies a little more of what happened.  For example, in Mark it talks about how it was the daughter of Jairus, but in Luke it adds that it was the only daughter of Jairus and she was 12 years old. While Christ was on his way to heal the daughter, a women touches his robe and is healed by her faith.  Christ takes a little longer getting to Jairus's home and states to the women who touched his robe, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.  Go in peace, and be whole of they plague."  After, a man comes and tells Jairus, "Thy daughter is dead, why troublest the master any further?" Christ hearing these words said, "Be not afraid, Only believe."  The daughter is raised from the dead.  

The amount of faith that this would require is incredible to me.  Many times in the scriptures faith like this is depicted through miracles.  "But Miracles do not produce faith, but strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ, in other words, faith comes by righteousness, although miracles often confirm ones faith." (B.D. pg 641). Many times I hear people say, "It would have been so easy to have a testimony while Christ walked the earth and did miracles."  This is not true, many people watched him perform miracles and still never believed.  That's because faith is confirmed by miracles not built by seeing miracles happen.  Having faith allows us to see and recognize the miracles that happen every day.  "Where there is true faith there are miracles, visions, dreams, healing, and all the gifts of God that He gives to His saints." (B.D. pg 641)

In John chapter 5 Jesus heals an invalid on the Sabbath.  Back in the time there was a belief that an angel would come and trouble the waters of a pool and the first person to set foot in the pool would be made whole.  There was a man who had been sick for 38 years, every time he would try to get in the water, someone else would beat him.  Christ saw him and knew how long he had waited to be healed and said unto the man, "Wilt thou be made whole?"  The man explained that he'd tried but someone always beat him to the water.  Christ replied and said, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.  And immediately the man was made whole.  Working on Sunday's as a CNA was always hard for me, there was always a part of me that felt guilty for missing church.  One day I was working on Sunday, everything was calm, and at the same time I should have been in church my patient crashed. With an entire team of doctors, nurses, CNAs, and respiratory therapist we were able to perform CPR, get him stable, and transfer him to the ICU.  I remember thinking to myself, "this is why it's okay to work on Sunday."  Now I'm not saying it's okay to work every Sunday or pick up extra shifts on Sunday, however for me I believe that my fair turn is okay. And Christ understands.  I believe that the hand of the Lord is in everything we do.  Every decision we make, every person I take care of, every happy moment, and every sad moment.  If we will allow him, he will be there to say, "Arise and walk."

Final story... In John 11 Christ raises Lazarus from the dead.  Could you imagine hearing the news that your close friend has died, then having the opportunity to go a raise him from the dead? In this story I find it interesting that when Martha went unto Christ she said, "Lord, if thou hadn't been here, my brother had not died."  Then when Mary goes unto Christ a short time later she says the exact same thing.  Christ responds saying, "Where have ya laid him?" He goes unto the tomb and Christ weeps.  This was a painful experience for Christ, his friend had died.  When Christ asks for the stone to be removed from the tomb he says, "If though wouldest believe, thou Shouldest see the glory of God?" How many times in life does the spirit whisper to us, "Thou should see the glory of God?" And we don't pay attention long enough to see the miracle right in front of us?

Scripture sections:
1. Christ heals the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:22-24 & 35-43)
2. Christ heals the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:41-42 & 49-56)
3. The women who touched Christ's Robe (Mark 5:25-34 & Luke 8:43-48
4. Healing the invalid on Sunday (John 5:1-9)
5. Christ raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-46)

Hermana Sullivan

Mission Nurse Specialist 

Chile Santiago South Mission

Week 10

Hola!

This week has definitely turned around in comparison to last week! It has been incredible and the work is finally moving forward! 

My companion and I have created a moto for our time as companions.  Our moto is, "Never Shovel Twice!"  When the bakery/home burnt down a couple weeks ago, we were working hard to shovel the rubble into a wheel barrow and then dump it outside in a big pile.  One man was a little too impatient and wouldn't wait for the wheel barrow to come back, so instead he would shovel the rubble into a pile, then when it came back, we would shovel his pile into the wheel barrow, therefore doing two times as much work as necessary.  I was getting really frustrated at how stupid this system was, so when the wheel barrow came back, I grabbed it and drove it up and over his pile.  When he turned to throw a shovel full he was surprised to see the wheel barrow right in front of him, but started shoveling into it.  This was a lot more productive.  My companion and I thought about how many circles we were going in because of poor planning or wasting 5 minutes here and another 5 minutes there.  We have since been so much more productive with our time, and we're not "Shoveling Twice" or back tracking to get to another house.

On Thursday we taught K-----. We taught her about baptism and about the word of wisdom.  She smokes, a lot.  But she wants to quit and wants to be baptized.  She is a great investigator when we teach her, she keeps all commitments and gives her full focus. However, she owns a business out of her home, so she is crazy busy and half our lessons fall through.  But our lesson went great, and if all we do is leave an impact and help her stop quitting, she will eventually make more time for the missionaries.  Also she is moving next month, so that sucks.

On Friday we taught E-----who is a recent convert, he was baptized 1 month before I got to the sector.  He is an Haitiano and lives in the place with lots of rooms and we teach on the porch.  While teaching him two new people joined the lesson this week, M----- and D-----.  They are refugees from Haiti and are so excited about the gospel.  Their lives are really hard. M----- moved to Chile 9 months ago followed by his wife D----- 3 months later. They have a 4 year old son who is still in Haiti with her mom until they can save the money to bring him to Chile. The Chilean borders are closed, so the only way to come is by flying and it's really expensive.  With Haitianos we've learned that they either progress really fast, or take a lifetime of teaching to get anywhere.  This couple is perfect, if they could be baptized tomorrow, they would.  However, they have to attend church 4 times and that means 4 weeks until they can be baptized.  On Monday, we taught them again, but separate from the others to make the lesson specified to them.  We talked about prophets and baptism.  We asked if they wanted a goal date for baptism.  They said yes, so we let them choose between April 29 or May 6, and they chose May. They are so excited, and so fun to teach! Also M----- came to church on Sunday for sacrament and we were able to give him a tour of the church and show him the baptismal font! He is my first investigator to commit and attend!

Saturday we taught J----- about the plan of salvation.  He is progressing so fast and has such a strong testimony!  In the middle of the lesson I had a really strong impression to share my experience with gma passing and bear testimony of life after death.  By the time I finished arguing with the spirit in my head about not knowing how to say it in Spanish, I had completely lost track of the conversation.  A break came and out of nowhere I said, "Do you believe that there is life after death and you can live with your family forever." J----- said that he hoped in life after death but he didn't know.  I explained that gma had passed away and how it's been hard for me to not be home, but that God created a plan by which I can live with her and see her again.  As I spoke J----- began to cry and explain that both his parents passed away about a year ago, and it was all connecting in his head.  The spirit was so strong!  After the lesson I told my companion I was sorry if my question was off topic and that I had no idea what was going on when I asked it.  She laughed and said, "Really cause it went along perfectly with what we were talking about."  The spirit works in miraculous ways, and I am truly grateful for the knowledge I have of the Plan of Slavation. 

So yesterday my comp and I were making our way to lunch, running about 3 minutes late.  We turn the corner to head down a long street when we see the Elders. We all eat lunch at the same place.  Elder C----- is having problems with his knee and is currently in a groin to ankle knee brace in order to keep it totally straight with no ability to bend, therefore they walk really slow.  They always beat us to lunch, so my companion says, "should we run and try to beat them since Elder C----- can't run?"  I said, "Lets do it!"  So we take off running down the street (Shamelessly in dresses) and we get about 10 feet behind the Elders before they turn around and Elder C----- says, "Oh this is not happening!"  We get about 10 feet in front of them when we hear someone running, thinking it was Elder C----- we start to turn around just as Elder C----- goes running past and says, "Suck it Hermanas!"  In order to run, he had to jump super high so he could swing his straight leg around.  I was dying laughing, I wasn't sure if I should keeping running or try to pull out my camera! Either way, it was super funny! The Elders are super chill and funny, so teasing him about his leg was okay, he cracks jokes about it all the time too!

Today is Day of the Young Fighter here in Chile, basically just a day when people go a little bit crazy.  I live in a super calm area and they don't normally have any problems here but because of it we had to be home by 8 last night, and we have to be in our houses by 3 today.  It's kinda inconvenient that it falls on pday....but we get to just hang out, watch movies, kinda do whatever inside.  I'll be honest, I have been so excited for this day to come since I heard about it in the CCM, I'm gonna take a glorious nap! Don't worry, I'm safe, our house is secure, and we are in super calm area, nothing to worry about!

Ive studied about Christ a ton this week! So a few of my favorite scriptures that I have come across are...
1. Mosiah 26:22 (Christ's Church)
2. Alma 5:27 Christ's mission and our part)
3. 2 Nephi 31:5 (Christ being perfect was also baptized)
4. 3 Nephi 15:9 (Look unto me for I am the light)
5. Ether 4:12 (I am the light of the world)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love,
Hermana Sullivan

Week 9

Hola! 

Firstly, it’s a hard day. I woke up early this morning and the thought crossed my mind, “I wonder if gma is still here?”  Then saw the email from my mom around 9 this morning.  Thanks to the honesty of a friend and my mom about gmas condition I was able to get permission to call gma last week.  My mission president gave me permission to call her as much as I wanted until then end came.  I was able to talk to her 5-6 times this last week. I will never forget those short but perfect calls with her.  While it is a hard day I am at peace knowing she is in a perfect body, with gpa, and all who passed before her. Yesterday I was talking to my mission president and he told me, “If it's her time to return to the father, then now is your time to put your faith in action and teach what you know to be true. You will see your grandma again.” I know grandma wouldn’t want me anywhere else, and I know she will be watching over me.

On a mission side of things this week has sucked. All our lessons fell through, no one came to church, and we have no new investigators.  However, in church, on Sundays here if the speakers end early, then they just close the meeting early and leave.  Sacrament is last and this week we got out 15 minutes early! Who knew they could do that!?

A little about my area, we live in "Departamental" in a little yellow house.  This part of Chile is really poor and kinda dirty, but the people are so humble! We live outside our sector so we walk...A LOT. Its 3.5 miles to the building that we have zone/district meetings and interviews in. We live about a 15 min walk from church, and 30 minutes or more to most our lunch appointments, the metro, or any real store. Here the houses are super close, some are broken down tiny shacks that barely have a roof, others are quite nice.  There are very few trees and dirt on the sides of the roads, so when its hot it really sucks because there is very little shade. Its kinda fun walking and getting to see all of our area, but we do spend a lot of time just walking that I wish we could spend teaching, but that's okay, I love it here! There is graffiti everywhere, but some of it is really cool pieces of art. On every corner is a little tiny store called an Almacen, its super convenient when we forget lille ingredients to cook or need ice cream. My favorite thing here is the Feria.  Everyday there is a a street fair somewhere in this part of the city that people line up tents and sell food, clothes, cleaning supplies, etc.  It is the cheapest place to buy fruit so we have permission to go on Tuesday/Fridays. Its really cool, kinda just a street fair to buy stuff you need for the lowest cost.

My comp had interviews this week and a few of us were talking about the CCM with Hermana G---- and out of know where she says, "The CCM is a psychological experiment of sorts, you put people from all over the world together, different ages, give them tons of rules, tell them to sit in a classroom for 12 hours, and expect everything to go perfect"....I was laughing so hard. That is the truest statement i have heard my whole mission!

We have an investigator named W-----.  He lived in New York for 25 years so he speaks pretty good English and wants the lessons in English, which is convenient for me cause I can actually say everything that I want to.  W---- is a unique person, he is super goofy, little weird, and gets distracted SO easy! During our very first lesson with him we asked if he would like to say the closing prayer. He said, "If i were to say the prayer i would say something like this.... So he tells us what we would say and we told him that it would be great! We made it a goal to kneel for every closing prayer in our lessons, so we invited Willy to kneel and he said no because he has bad knees but told us we could.  So we get down on our knees and say, "would you like to say the prayer now?" He said, "I already did.... " We had this super awkward moment when we realized that what he told us his prayer would be about, was actually his prayer...so we awkwardly stood back up...we got a good laugh of it afterwards.  During our second lesson we asked about his life and what he hoped for, and he told us all about how he wants his own house, he lives with his mom and brother. So during our closing prayer he asked me to pray and as i was praying, getting near the end, he adds to my prayer and says, "And please bless me to have my own home." I awkwardly add it to the prayer and end.  W----- is so funny, but he is a great investigator and even calls and reschedules if he can't make it to our meeting. 

Because of my role as nurse we visit the office usually about once a week, which means we get to know President and Hermana G----- really well and also the office Elders.  We have learned that if we give the office Elders treats through "pouch" (system for mailing and getting mail within our mission) we can get just about anything, such as, nice pens, sheet protectors, and help with translating medical papers from English to Spanish.  This week the Elders really wanted a treat so they came and dropped off some cooking ingredients and a hand beater (gift) at our house, but because we weren't home they had to jump the fence. Elder K----- hit one of the spikes on his hand, so then he had to call me and ask what to do because it was a pretty good puncture in his hand.  I told him to send me a picture and he titled the email heading, "I impaled myself for cinnamon banana bread!" We were laughing so hard! Needless to say, his hand is fine and they got banana bread this week, I also got my medical documents translated....nothing quite like sucking up!

For people who have served missions. My first two weeks here we had two investigators; E----- and J----.  We realized they weren't going to progress, they don't keep commitments, wont come to church, and one is a teacher at his church and isn't willing to give that up....so we decided to "drop" them, and spend that time finding people who are prepared.  After a week and a half, at the chapel open house, they came and they brought 6 friends! We didn't invite them, they were invited my a member friend. What do we do, we don't want to teach them if they aren't willing to do their part and progress, but they came and listened....

In my mission there are a ton of "lost members". So President G---- made a program we call, "5 minute visits". We have a list of all members in our ward and we visit every house, pray with them, and verify who still lives at the address.  It is a more organized and effective way of contacting. A lot of people have moved, so we find new people to teach, and if they still live there we invite them to come back. Well, Monday night we went to a business/house that we thought a less active lived at.  As we talked with J--- He said, "Oh! you guys are the missionaries from my church?" However, later in the conversation we asked how long he has been a member and he said, "No I am an investigator..." WHAT! He called it HIS CHURCH!

Quote for this week: "God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability; and if we prove our dependability, He will increase our capability."

-Elder Maxwell

Some of my favorite scripture sections/stories:

• Jacob 7:9-20 (Sherum & Jacob)
• Mathew 14:15-21 (Feed 5000)
• Mathew 14:23-32 (Peter & Christ walk on water)
• Luke 1:26-38 (Mary is told she will concieve)
• 1 Nephi 17:7-17 (Nephi builds the ship)
• 3 Nephi 11:8-17 (Christ returns)
• Alma 22:4-23 (Aaron teaches king Lamoni)

Work hard, love life, and learn as much as you can!

Love,

Hermana Sullivan

P.s. Sorry my emails are so long, because we spend so much time walking we stay out as late as possible, so its hard to find journal time, my emails are sort of my way of remembering the important things....