Lagunas and Blessings

This week was a lot better than the last!  For one, I wasn´t sick!  YAY!  We also found a family of gold!  They live in the sketchiest part of town but for a long time now I have felt that there was someone there that needed to hear the gospel.  It was the Ortega Ramirez family!  I love them so much even though we just met!  The dad has just started to change his life around.  He stopped using drugs and is completely focused on his family.  His family is the most important thing for him and he wants to be a good example for his hijito (little boy).  Rosa (mom) is looking for God in her life. She can feel that something is missing and wants a good, safe foundation to raise her kid.  The Lord has really prepared them to accept the gospel.  We invited them to attend church and right off the bat, they agreed to come.  Unfortunately, they had a family emergency and couldn´t come this Sunday but we´re going to visit them and see how they´re doing.  

Today, we went to a laguna chico with a member from the San Pedro ward.  She has connections so we got to visit a private park!  It was so beautiful!  It reminded me a lot of Canada with a deep lake surrounded by pine trees. It had a ¨olympic sized pool¨ which was more like a section of the lake closed off by a floating dock.  The cool thing is you don´t have to worry about waves or currents and get to swim in lake water at the same time!    

We took a lot of pictures and our member friend brought her professional camera.  When she send me pics, I´ll send you some more.  

We also has a capacitación de Hermanas (training for Sisters).  We had a big focus on patriarcal blessings. En Verdad (In truth), patriarchal blessings are personal scriptures for our life. It´s like a letter of love that the Heavenly Father has given you personally to help you understand the path back to Him and the plan that He has for you. Just like how we should read the scriptures often, we should read our patriarcal blessings frequently.  

If you continue to live the way you are living, will the blessings in your patriarcal blessing be fufilled? 

 

I invite you all to read your blessings, to study it and make a list of the gifts, blessings and conditions of those blessings.  I promise that you will come to a greater understanding of your purpose and understand the strengths that you have.  You´ll also come to see the way that Satan attacks us and the lies that he uses to make you feel less than you´re worth.  

Love you all lots! Until next week!

Hermana Jakob

Nice sunsets.

Mediating with our new mission sweat shirts.

Tropical Storm!

Hola queridos! (Hello dear ones!)

This week was ummm...interesting to say the least.  I´ve been sick since Wednesday that started out as the stomach flu.  Apparently it´s been going around.  But I continued to have complications for about five days, three of which we had to stay in the house because it was impossible to leave the house in the state that I was in.  I asked for a blessing of health from one of the members and afterwards he said that he felt I needed to go to the hospital.  We went and they medicos (doctors) set me up with some medication to take and I´m doing a lot better now!  Don´t worry!  I´ll be fine. It wasn't fun to lose valuable time to work. I don´t like being stuck in the house all day.  It made me very frustrated but I did have the opportunity to study the New Testament more, together with Jesus the Christ (a book on his life and mission).  

One thing that I noted the most during my studies of the life of Christ is that he does not like hypocrites and chastised the Sauducees and Pharisees many times for not practicing what they preach.  It made me think about my actions, thoughts, words and habits.  Am I practicing what I preach?  Are there things I need to change?  

This week we had a tropical storm!  I have never seen so much rain or wind at the same time.  It was almost a hurricane!  The neighbour´s tin roof was sent flying and it sounded like our was going to follow suit!  Hermana Lockling´s umbrella turned inside out and she was pretty upset about it but bought a new one today.

Last week we also got hoodies stamped with our mission logo and our names.  We´re such nerds!  jajaja!  I can´t wait to pick them up and see how they look!

Matís, our investigator, is doing really well.  We visited him to see if he had read the Book of Mormon and said that he gets a feeling of peace when he reads it.  I invite you all, if you havent already, to develop a habit of reading the Book of Mormon every day.  It will bring into your life a peace and help you come to know Jesus Christ and the plan that God has for you aún más (each one).

Love you all!  Until next time!

Hermana Jakob

 

Following the Spirit

Hola mis queridos!  (Hello my dear ones!)

Esta semana fue genial (This week was awesome!)!  Matís, our new investigator came to church this Sunday!  He´s a 15 year old youth with a lot of profound questions.  It was cool because we were sharing the story of Joseph Smith and he said ¨Wait! I have the same question!s Why are there so many churches and which out of all the churches is true?¨ I know that a lot of people have doubts and questions like Matís.  A lot of times we´re scared to voice them or feel that no one can answer them but there is one person that can.  That person is Heavenly Father.  He is the source of all truth.  I promise you that if you ask Him your questions, voice your doubts in search for an answer,  He will respond.  Through feelings in our heart, through reading the scriptures and through the words of inspired leaders (profetas, obispos, padres/prophets, bishops, fathers) He speaks to us.
 

This week was also a big boost of confidence.  We had an intercambio (exchange) with the Hermanas capacitadoras (trainers) and it was my turn to work in their sector.  I shared my struggle that I have with the language here and Hermana Arce was giving me some council as we talked about how the most important thing is that we teach with the Spirit because the Holy Ghost is the real teacher. Luego (then), we were in a lesson with a less active member and her kids.  She was sharing the problems and doubts that she had and I felt inspired to bear my testimony of the First Vision and how I came to receive it. I prayed in my heart that they would understand and I began to speak.  I thought that I talked for about 30 sec-1 min and I saw in their eyes a kindle of light and everything grew still and quite. The Spirit was so strong in the room.

After the lesson, Hermana Arce and I were walking and she said that I had talked in perfect Spanish, without an accent for about 5 minutes straight. El don de lenguas es real (The gift of languages is real!)! I know that Heavenly Father blesses us with these spiritual gifts with the goal to use these gifts help bless others .

 

Here I have a picture of what we did for an activity.  It´s call (roughly translated) Indian with a tattoo or mark.  It´s lots of fun. You sit in a circle and every person has a number.  You have to call out the number of a person in the circle and the number of marks on their face.  If you mess up, the person gets to draw on your face with a marker (washable I hope).  This is the outcome of our game.

 

This is a pic of Matís, (another Matis) the son of a member.  He is 5 years old and takes selfies.  He also stole my rubber boots...jajaja!

 

Love you all!

Hermana Jakob

Moving Houses!

This week was a little crazy but we saw a lot of miracles too!

On Thursday, we moved houses.  This one is a lot bigger and a lot nicer for the same price!  Members of the ward here built it with the missionaries in mind.  It has three huge bedrooms.  We all sleep in one room and study in the others.  It also has a wood burning stove, which is a luxury in the mission.  It´s really humid here because we´re so close to the sea and it´s impossible to dry anything without a wood stove (gas stoves do nothing). Our old house was so full of mold that the walls were black!

Unfortunately I don´t have any picutres because something happened to my SD card (again!) and I have to find someone who can save all my picutres. I´ve now learned to valuable lesson to back-up everything on a pen drive. 

This week we decided to pray to find someone who needed help from the Lord.  On Tuesday, we knocked on the door a youth named Matis. Through the window we could see that he was praying on his knees in the living room.  He got up to answer the door and when we introduced ourselves, he let us in and told us that he´s searching for a proposito de la vida (purpose of life).  We shared about the love Heavenly Father has for him and he had a bunch of questions about Mormons.  He´s a really smarth youth and wants to come to church.

I´m running out of time but I promise I´ll give you a lot more updates next week!

Love you all! 

Hermana Jakob

 

 

(Mom's Note... *sigh!*  More blackmail photos this week!)

 

Picture from her mission photo shoot.... innocent trouble!

Winter 2012 - Hermana Jakob and her friend Jess soon to be Sister Baker who will be leaving us in less than a month to serve her 18 month mission in Edmonton, Alberta.  Congratulations Jess!

Cactus Roses in full bloom from the neighbour's garden.  They are gorgeous when they bloom!

Modismos and a New Companion

We had transfers this week!  I´m with Hermana Lockling.  She´s from Santiago Chile!  Woohoo!  I´m with a Chilena!  I´m working on brushing up my accent.  Sometimes our district leader can´t differenciate between us, jajaja!  She´s also teaching me modismos (jargon) so I can communicate with people a little better.  Here are some of them:

 

 

Pato malo:  sitting duck

Ando pato:  I´m broke

embarao: dumb

I´ll send more as I learn more, LOL.  In the end, I´ll be able to talk to all the flaites (gangsters) in our sector!  

This week was a test of our faith.  I´ve learned a lot about the meaning of paciencia y amor (patience and love) over the past 3 months.  My campanion, poor thing... we had the worst ¨Welcome to La Marina¨ ever!  I think every person we contacted yelled at us.  It doesn´t bother me anymore.  I´ve come to understand how the Saviour felt when He was teaching the Pharisees and the Saducees.  They yelled at Him and rejected Him too.  I feel that as representatives of Jesus Christ, we sometimes have to pass through some of the same trials as He did with the end to become more like Him and to develop the love that He has for all of us.  

Despite the difficulties, we met a woman named Elsa.  Her mother was Mormon and she has a lot of interest to learn what her mom believed.  She lives alone without any kids but loves her brothers and sisters a lot.  She´s a really sweet lady.  

This week we have the challenge to teach as much as we can with the members here. It´s going to be a lot of fun to have them help us out!

I invite you all to read ¨Finding Joy in the Journey.¨ It´s a talk that helped me out a lot.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/finding-joy-in-the-journey?lang=eng

Love you all lots.  Until next week!

Hermana Jakob

 

 

 

My new companion Hermana Lockling

 

On the Spot in Spanish

This week was a little bit of crazy, a little bit of sad.

 

We prepared my companion Hermana Martínez for her voyage home.  She has served an honourable 18 meses (months).  We were working so hard up until the very last moment that we kind of forgot to pack her bags.  Last night we were up until 1:30 in the morning trying to get it all done.

 

 

Hermanas in our house.

 

I know we shouldn't have favourites but she has been my favourite compañera (companion) to serve with.  She has a special place in my heart.  I learned so much from her: what it means to be a missionary, how to love people unconditionally, how to work with all the diligence and energy of your soul.  She is a living testimony of what she believes; a reflection of Christ.  I wish her all the best. 

We had a family home evening with our investigators Carlos and Cristóbal and we had a miracle!  Before, their mom didn´t want to talk to us but we invited her to join us and she opened up we got to know each other a little better!  We´re focusing on inviting them as a family because en verdad (in truth), the gospel was created by a loving Heavenly Father for families.

También (Also), a familia (family) Torrez Mellado came to church!  Jario is a menos active (less active member) and is wife is Catholic but he wants his daughter to be baptized so we started teaching them.  On Satuday, we invited them to attend church with their daughter to help support her in her decision!  They agreed! There was an especially sweet spirit in the church on Sunday and the whole time Tatiana, the mom, was smiling!

 

 

The Torres Mellado family with Hermana Martinez.

 

On Sunday, I had to give a 20-30 minute talk, without any notice beforehand.  I was freaking out a little because my Spanish is still a work in progress.  My words were all scrambled (I think) ..I don´t know if anyone understood but I must say, I feel like it was a success. There is no way I would have thought 9 months ago, that I could give a talk on the spot in Spanish...let along carry a conversation!

The Lord has truly blessed us in so many ways.  There are little miracles every day.  I invite you all to reflect at the end of every day this week, to look back on some of the little miracles that you´ve seen throughout the day.  It will truly brighten up your heart, no matter how bad of a day you´ve had, and help you to see how much Heavenly Father really loves you.  

¡Hasta el proxima semana! (Until next week!)

Les quiero (Love you all)

Hermana Jakob <3

And the Winner of the Copa America is......

¡Hola familia y amigos! (Hello family and friends!)

Entonces (Well), this week was a bit of a crazy one.  It was a week full of partidos de Chile! (football games).  We watched the finals at Hermano Cesar´s house with other members and menos activos (less actives).  Hermana Reyes cooked up a scrumpcious buffet of carne asado (roast beef) and longaniza (sausage) with papas (potatos).  During the beginning of the game, Hermana Ivonne painted all of our faces to show our Chilean pride!...aaannnd...Guess what? Chile won the Copa America!!! I have NEVER seen so much patriotism!  People were running in the streets waving flags of Chile, honking horns and yelling.  I didn´t get a picture of it but the light poles and telephone lines were full of confetti and streamers!  

 

This week we were focusing on searching for people through the Spirit.  We found a man named Nelson.  As he was telling us about his life, a light was shining in his eyes and the Spirit prompted us to share with him about the plan of salvation and the love of our Heavenly Father.  The Spirit was so strong and I know that he felt it too.  Creamos que el es un escogido (We believe he is "golden" or a chosen one.)  I´m glad that Heavenly Father could help lead us to Nelson and his family.  That we could be an instrument in His hands to bring tidings of joy and repentance.  

 

This week was a little tough for me.  I still feel like I´m not that great of a teacher. I still struggle with the language amoung other things.  Hermana Martinez was my saving angel and was the answer to my prayers for help.  She shared her testimony of her experiences in the mission. She's helped me realize that this in the ONLY time that we have to serve the Lord full time, day and night, 24 hr 7 days a week, to declare repentace to the world.  Sure, after our missions we can continue by helping the missionaries teach, befriend investigators and conversos recientes (recent converts) but it won't be quite the same.   

 

Alma 26:28-31

 

28...we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.

 29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills… 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul…  31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us."

It is truly a gift to be here.  I´m here because I love my Saviour, I love my Heavenñy Father and I love his children.  

Les amo mucho  (Love you all lots)

Hermana Jakob 

 

 

With Hermano Raul

 

 

With my companion Hermana Martinez

With Hermana Ivonne who painted our faces.

 In the tv room watching the final game.

 At the home of the Soto family for BBQ

Hermana Martinez showing her Chilean spirit.

Chile is doing well!

Chile wins the Copa America!!!

Lots of patriotism here.  Look at all that red white and blue!