I'm Going to Be a Murderer...

Hola mi familia y amigos!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE!!!! I LOVED YOUR MESSAGE AND DON'T YOU WORRY, WHEN I COME HOME WE WILL SPEND ALL OF GPA´S MONEY AND BUY YOGURT AND HAVE HOT CHOCOLATE WITH MARSHMALLOWS!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEVON! Just so you know I have been praying for you and your interviews so you better study hard! :) But I know you are going to do AWESOME! And whatever happens is what the Lord has in mind for us!

 

Ok so this week wasn't a very productive one :( The people here in Chile don't do ANYTHING when they´re sick, which is weirrd cuz in America if you´re not dying- you´re working! Lol. So many of our investigators and people we contacted didn´t want us to teach them, couldn´t come to church, or blah, blah blah... yeah so that was great... but on the other hand we got to listen to the General Womens broadcast! But I couldnt really understand it cuz it was in spanish:(( But the music was in English and that made me cry, lol. So even without the talks it's powerful! And we had an investgator come! Which was really awesome because two lessons ago she had a TON of questions about prophets, etc. Her name is Maria Jesús and she said she liked it and would come to General Conference this weekend so yay! We think that she will be baptized next month! And I should be able to listen to General Conference in English so that will be a LOT better! Also, I REALLY LOVE CONFERENCE because we get to invite a ton of people to listen to it! And it is something SO special and unique that people are super interested in it. So basically I friggin LOVE this church and General Conference!

 

If you´re wondering what I mean about being a murderer, it means I am killing my compañera next week! In mission language when your companion goes home and you were their last companion you "kill" them. lol. And pretty much this entire day we spent in central getting her passport and papers, etc for her leaving. So this is her last week and I am super nervous because I have to train my next companion with our area and investigator, etc. Which I do NOT know all that well! So yeah, but on the other hand I´m super excited to see if I get a gringa or a latina... either way I will be helped IMMENSLEY!

 

ALSO, EVERYONE I HAVE A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT! I HAVE OFFICIALLY HAD MY FIRST DREAM WITH SPANISH! Ha! Mom said it would happen at six months! TRY TWO! Lol. It was super weird, but Mom, Ron, Dad, Ryan, Jen, Jane, Ronnie, Kelly, Marshall, Kaden, Kieren, Raechel, Taylor, and Andrew were all there and I remember talking spanish with Raechel. I dont remember what we were saying or what my dream was really about but, yeah! It happened! Lol. And Raechel was the lucky person I spoke Spanish with, lol. Yay, Raechel:))

 

Also, this week I have my first Zone Conference and I get to recite the first vision in Spanish... yay...

PRAY FOR ME!

 

Have I mentioned that I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE the book of Alma? Because let me tell you, I LOOOOOOOVVEEE it! I have been studying it and You should see how marked up it is in my Book of Mormon! I just love Aaron, Amulek, Ammon, the sons of Mosiah, Alma, and the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi! I just finished Amla 27 and when the A-N-L all just let the Laminites kill them because they buried their weapons and refused to defend themselves, I just cry! And then the Laminites are SO astonished and just fall to the ground and beg for forgiveness because of the thousands of innocent lives they just murdered! And the A-N-L are SO forgiving and humble! Gosh, I LOVE THEM! And I love ALL the AMAZING examples of missionaries in the book of Alma! It has helped me to know what I need to do to improve my teaching! So I can teach with "power and authority" like they did. The Book of Mormon is freaking true! I know it with all my heart! And I KNOW that we have modern prophets today like unto the times of old because we follow the same order of God that has always been. I KNOW that Joseph Smith was a prophet and saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and that he restored the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ after years without it! And we invite ALL people to read the Book of Mormon and pray and ask God to know if it is true. Because it is either true or it is not. And you can know for yourself the answer.

 

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YOU ALL SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH! You are forever in my prayers and I know that Heavenly Father is blessing you!

 

con todo mi amor y corazón,

Hermana Logan

The hill of death!

This is Catalina, she is a recent convert and after we were teaching her she got out the cookie monster and put a cookie in his mouth, lol! I was dying!

Fourth Week in Chile

Hola!

HAAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRTTHHDDAAY TAYLOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I realized after we left the computers last week that I forgot to say it, but I did remember and I actually said Happy Birthday to you on your birthday... maybe you heard it??

AWWWW Jane looks awesome! My district leaders and my compañera and I have been praying for her health and looky here! Man someone give her a big hug for me!

So this week wasn't very eventful... the days are starting to pass by faster and I can't believe my compañera is leaving in two weeks and I am going to have to teach my new compañera about the investigators and where they live, where everything is, really... yeah, wow.

My spanish... hmmm... well it seams to come in waves. There will be times and certain people where I get everything they're saying, and then others where I got nothin. Also, there are a lot of times where I understand the words but not the meaning of their sentence... I dont know it's wierd. But my ability to understand improves everyday:) Thanks to a very loving and merciful Heavenly Father. Not going to lie the hardest part of my mission right now is the language. And so its pretty frustrating. But I know that it allows me to humble myself and that way I can feel and share the Spirit easier. So it evens out... but they say it takes about 3 months to finally start understaning and speaking the language pretty fluently... so only two more months! Yay...

This week was the Fiestas Patrias (Independence day of Chile: Sep 18th) and so the 17, 18, 19. and 20th was pretty hard for finding and teaching people because they were visiting with family and there were like NO people in the streets! But we had Almuerzo with some recent converts (for about 2 months) and the big thing to eat on the 18th is bbq! So we had bbqed beef and pork which was super yummy! And then the next day we had Almuerzo with them again and they make a stew with the bbqed meat called "ajiaco" which was frapping good, too. And my compañera made no bake cookies but here they are called "caca de mono" which is monkey poop hahahahahahha.

Oh and we found some new investigators this week but we can't visit them until after this week with the holiday. Its really amazing how accepting the people are of the BOM and with speaking with us. Even if they aren't interested they will be really nice about it. And last night we were contacting and we came across this woman who was not interested and yada-yada and my compañera asked if we could come in and sing a song for her, so we went in her house and she started telling us about her work, etc... and she started crying! And I don't know why because I couldn't really understand her crying voice, but we were able to sing and share the BOM and a scripture with her. And it's amazing sometimes how the Lord does prepare people for us to teach and also for us to listen to!

Gosh, we receive tender mercies from the Lord EVERY DAY! My testimony of His hand in our lives has been strengthened this week a LOT! So I challange all of you to start writing down a tender mercy or miracle that you receive every day! I promise you that if you do this, you will be overwhelmed with how much the Lord has you in mind! I love my Heavenly Father with ALL my heart and yes, this work is hard, but also my testimony has been strengthend SO much. I love all of you SO SO much and I know that Heavenly Father KNOWS and LOVES each and every one of you!

I hope you all have an amazing week and that Jane continues to improve!

con todo mi amor,

Hermana Logan

Our District

Me and my compañera

My Week of Firsts and Milagros!

Hola everyone!

SO GLAD JANE IS IMPROVING!! MY PRAYERS FOR HER HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!

Also, not sure I mentioned this, but one of the rules of our mission is we cant drink Coke! I KNOW IT KILLS ME!!! Man it's like one of the biggest sacrifices cuz coke is EVERYWHERE here!

Also one of the goals in our mission is to read a certain number of chapters in the Libro de Mormon (LDM - Book of Mormon in Spanish) every day. And so I was reading the LDM and the BOM side by side so I could understand it. Then one Elder told me I should read the LDM only with my dictionary for all the words I don't know and then it would help me with my Spanish. So I started doing that and the first day I read 3 verses in one hour... yeah I know, LAME. So that was about 5 days ago. This morning I read 12 verses! I improve with my reading every day and now I can understand the wording in the scriptures SO much better! 

So this week I call my week of firsts because I had a lot of firsts this week, lol. And milagros means miracles. Everyday Hermana Maldanado and I write in our agendas like at least one miracle a day! There´s a lot so here I go:

Firsts:

• Zone conference. There are five Elder companionships and only us Hermanas in my zone. But yeah it was a pretty cool thing and I cited the missionary purpose in Spanish in front of them... good thing they pounded that into our heads in the CCM because my compañera didn't tell me I was reciting it until like 5min before the meeting started... lol. MILAGRO!
• Intercambios. Or splits with the sister training leaders! Oh gosh did I LOVE that! I was with Hermana Page (whose brother also served in Tucson at the same time as Taylor, spanish speaking, and so she is convinced they know each other! So Taylor if you know an Elder Page from your mission it's her brother!) and she is freaking AWESOME! First off it was nice to just speak English a little bit! That day I had SO many milagros from Heavenly Father it was crazy! And her spirit and confidence in me, made me more confident in myself! Which brings me to my next first...
• El Libro de Mormon. Thats right everyone I place my first LDM with only a little help from Hermana Page but it was mainly my doing:) It was pretty great!
• Rain. That wasn't too big of a deal... but the Chileans are like super freaked out by the rain and they like WON'T go outside lol.
• Service project. So it was changed because it was raining so we just helped set up the ward activity for independence day. AND I GOT TO WEAR PANTS OUTSIDE MY HOUSE! WOOOOOOO!
• Ward activity/Fiestas Patrias. So the day of independence isn't until the 18th but they have already started celebrating. Our ward activity was awesome, lol. They had dance competitions, karaoke, and costumes. It was awesome! They take this holiday pretty SERIOUSLY!
• Baptismal service. No not with our investigators, but with the Elders'. But it was still really nice! It was a sister and brother. One 9, the other 11. 

Ok now for my day of MILAGROS:

• On the way to meet the Sister Training Leaders we couldn't get a cab for like 20min and then out of nowhere this totally empty taxi honks at us and so we get in.
• 5min into the ride the taxi gets a flat tire, so the driver pulls over and fixes it. Then when he's done he goes to start the car and it won't start. So I said a prayer in my heart that it would start PLEASE and the next try it started! MILAGRO! 
• Then for Hna Page and my goals for the day we wanted to pass out both of our LDMs. And it was 9pm and she still hadn't passed hers out. And we were going to a less active´s house so there wasn't a chance she was going to. Then as we were talking the women said she wanted a LDM to give to her dad! MILAGRO!
• Then by the time we left her house it was 9:57. We had THREE mins to get home! So we RAN OUR BUTTS OFF and guess what? Made in the door by exactly 10pm! 

The church is freaking true! I love you all SOOOOO much and I know Heavenly Father is watching over you for me! 

You are all forever in my prayers!

The cast of one of the member's hands - he wrote "Me gusta" on his thumb, lol! (Like a Facebook like)

Me and my compañera

Sombreros!

This dog looks just like our old dog, Billy!

Ward activity decorations

Cute little Chilean boy

Week 2 in Chile

Hola everyone!

Well my first whole week in La Serena is over! Man what a week! All I can say about my Spanish is that it improves every day... and I can understand now a whole lot more than I could my first day, lol. Which I am SUPER grateful for because Heavenly Father knows I need it! I am SO glad that Jane is doing better! I fasted for her yesterday and I pray for her multiple times a day! It really sucks not being able to hold children on your mission! It makes me miss holding Jane and Kieran a lot! But esta bien! 

Ok well I am being tested here. The members here drink this drink that is coffee but it's wheat based, so not exactly coffee, but it tastes super nasty! And we have to eat or drink whatever people give us, right? So I have had three full mugs of the nasty fake coffee, thats right be proud! lol. Oh and the bread! The bread here is fabulous! In fact the food here in general is pretty great! But my companion says that this area is the area with the best food and everywhere else it isn't that good... so I guess I'll find out! Oh and a new thing I tried this week was pasta with avocado as the sauce... it was actually pretty freaking good, you should try it! 

Anyways, so yesterday was fast Sunday and in our district we HAVE to bear our testimonies EVERY fast and testimony meeting... so I bore my testimony. It was short, sweet, and to the point, lol. But on a happier note one of our investigators came to church with us! Her name is Amanda and she is a very old and interesting lady hahahaha. And she smells just like Grandma- smoke and perfume. And one of our other investigators, Luz Maria (who doesn't like to keep commitments!!!) came to church for the last hour... But she said she was late because of the time change (the hour was changed one hour ahead) but who knows? At least she came with her two kids, too! 

Also, there is this old man (less active) who cant hear very well and literally shuffles (like slides his feet two inches forward back and forth to walk) and it's so sad but hilarious! We went to his house to sing and pray, etc, and we were in the middle of the first verse of the hymn when he gets up and shuffles to his bed and just lays down... lol! We couldn't stop laughing! He said we were taking to long and he didn't want to listen to us anymore! Gosh, it was so funny! The people here are pretty strange, lol. 

Oh, and don't worry about my love life- I have had at least three old, drunk men profess their love to me... so I've got plenty of options lol. 

Well there isn't much more to say... I cant send pics because my camera just died:((( 

Things to be grateful for everyone:

• Hot water that doesn't require you to go into another room and turn on a heater, that is run by gas which needs to be replaced when it's empty. 
• Carpet
• Dishwashers
• Dryers- all clothes here are hang dried and they get stiff:(
• Shower heads! Ours doesn't have one, it's just a flexible pipe thing (kind of like hose) and you have to hold it yourself...
• Heaters- our casa is freaking COLD ALL THE TIME I wear a jacket, two pairs of socks, a scarf, and gloves during study time...

Also something spiritual:

Heavenly Father hears our prayers! He is ALWAYS waiting for us to talk with Him and when we do He is overjoyed! He loves us SOOO much! More than we can even comprehend! SOO much that He let His son suffer for our sins and die for our salvation. And through Christ we are all as clean as the day we were born. ALL sins can be forgiven, if we just repent and give our will to Him. Talk with your Father! He IS there and He is ALWAYS listening! 

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are ALWAYS in my prayers!!!! Endure to the end, its NOT easy, but it will be worth it! 

Con todo mi amor y corazón,
Hermana Logan

Week One in Chile!

Hola!

Okay wow what a couple of days it has been. So the plane ride from Mexico was 8 and a half hours,but it all went pretty smoothly- one of the Elders in my district gave out two BOM on the plane lol. When we finally made it through customs our Mission Prez was right there and they immediately put us on the bus to Viña- so sorry I didnt get to call or email when we arrived:((( Then when we got to Viña my mission prez said okay we are going to put you in companionships and you need to give out a BOM, write down one contact (get their address, name, and telephone) and have someone give you the directions to this address(the mission home address) and make your way there when you are done! So the first like two hours in Chile I was roaming around the unkown city (luckily with a latina companion who spoke Spanish- and she was from Trijillo, Peru!- and another gringa who knew spanish better than me) trying to get a contact, give out a BOM, and find the mission home. It was intresting lol. But we completed the task! When we finally arrived to the mission home we had a lot of videos and information to watch, etc. The first night us new Hermanas slept in a hotel,  oh and by the way its pretty dang COLD here. I did not bring enough winter clothes! 

Then the next morning I found out that I am going all the way to La Serena which is a 7 hour bus ride from Viña and is the most northern part of our mission. My new companion is Hma Maldonado. So I arrived in my first area at around 2 in the morning and arrived at my house with my companion and was in bed by lik,e 3:30. So it was quite a lot of traveling for awhile, lol. My first day I just wanted to die. I could NOT understand ANYONE! Oh, gosh the people here talk SO fast. And my companion is Argentinian. She knows quite a bit of english which I am SO grateful for. Oh,sidenote: all the latinas in our mission have to learn English, too and take a test on it. She only has six weeks left in her mission and so I have to learn our area and the people here really well in the next six weeks! My companion is pretty awesome, she is super patient with me and will tranlate the best she can things I dont understand. But still we both carry around our dictionaries to communicate, lol.
But so far our lessons have all been great. I love the people here! And with girls you always kiss cheeks when you say hi and bye(which is Chau here). I love it! Plus the Bishop and some people know English (in fact I get to teach them English- which is a nice break for me lol.) And two of the Elders in my district are grngos so we can talk in English:)
So this week has been both great and crazy hard! There have been times where I  just want to break down and times where I want to jump for joy! Each day I can understand more and more of the spanish here and I know that the Lord is blessing me in all my efforts to improve in the language. 

Funny stories:

My companion told me my feet were on fire... found out later she was trying to say they were tan, lol. 

I told our bishop that I have 19 siblings cuz I thought he was asking me how old I was...

Well I love you all so much! Cant wait to hear from you next week!!!!
Con Dios!
chau!

Hermana Logan