March 11, 2011

Ok, I´m keeping this short this week so that I can really get around to sending some pictures. Some of them are from Osorno that I never got a chance to send, but the one from of the beach and the volcano as well as one of Hermana Kelley and I are from here in Villarrica. I think the ones from Osorno are of us with the Familia Lillo and Fernando, me with one of the members who faithfully accompanys us often, Coni, and me with la Familia Sandoval just before I left.

We´re teaching a lot of awesome people, I´ll tell you the story of this one guy, Alejandro, when I have more time to write, but to sum it up, he´s a miracle. He just got out of jail and I guess while he was there he met the son of a member who decided to take him in because he didn´t have anywhere else to go. Now he´s really excited about learning the Gospel and has a baptismal fecha for next month!

Love and miss you!

March 4, 2011

Sorry that it's taken so long, I've been busy... but I'm trying to catch up!

-Camille




I love this branch so much. I am now the branch pianist, which is interesting since I don´t really play piano, but we´re also starting a piano class that I will be teaching...

Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting. I really just have to tell you this amazing story of the jovenes in this branch. They all come from less active families, but a few years ago one of the girls in the young womens got a list of names and walked right up to one of the kids at school, Pato, and said: "You´re a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints... we need you to come to seminary." So he came, and he came back super strong, and brought all of his friends with him. He left on his mission about a month ago (He´s in the same mission as Allie Yost!), but before that he was serving as both young men´s president and branch secretary, and I´m pretty sure we here a story from one of the members about something great he did every day. So anyway, in Sacrament meeting yesterday 4 of these other jovenes were all lined up to bear their testimonies about how excited they are to serve missions and how grateful they were for their friend´s example and for the Gospel, and right before one of them walks up to start speaking, his mom and his sister walk in. To top it off, the next kid goes up to bear his testimony, saying that he had always been really shy and had never had the courage to get up to bear his testimony before, but his friends talked him into it and he was grateful that his mom was there to see him do it for the first time. Pretty much everyone was crying the entire meeting.

I was thinking about this yesterday, so here´s a story... About 3 or 4 months ago, after reading the talk that I told you about, the one about the 4th missionary, I remember making a dedicated effort to not only work hard with my time, but to focus my thoughts more on the work as well (I´ll admit, I was still really missing singing). As I made the effort to do so through starting to memorize the scripture mastery scriptures in Spanish while we were between appointments so that my mind wouldn´t have time to wander, I remember one day walking down the street Cervantes in Osorno feeling so unbelivably happy, so unbelivably dedicated to serving the Lord and His kingdom just completely out of love and desire to do it, not just because of the blessings I would get in return. I have made it a goal to try to regain and retain those feelings for the rest of my mission and the rest of my life. Part of my fast on Saturday was to help me to refocus and re-find that desire, and as I was sitting in Sacrament meeting, I couldn´t help but be filled with a desire to serve the Lord with everything I am and in whatever way I can for the rest of my life. I was eccstatic. I was and am thrilled for the opportunity I have to be here in Chile helping to strengthen the faith of the members of the Lord´s kingdom. I´m trying my best not to waste a minute of it. I know now I´m just babbling and my grammer has probably stopped making sense and I sound kinda crazy, so I´ll just leave it at that and send some pictures!

February 25, 2011

Ahora para todos:

So I am now in Villarrica and it is GORGEOUS! We´re right on the coast. Last Thursday we did out lesson plans on the beach. It´s the furthest sector north, so it´s really really REALLY hot, which makes the pulgas (fleas) come out in full force, but I´m surviving. I´ll try to send pictures. My new companion is Hermana Kelley. She is from Alabama and she´s AMAZING. She´s finishing her mission in May so I´ll be her last companion. Did I mention she´s amazing? I love her a ton, she´s really funny and a great missionary. The house is... bigger. Let´s just leave it at that. This cambio they joined our sector with a sector that belonged to Elders last cambio, but they took them out and doubled the size of our sector. It´s gigantic, and it´s strange because we have a lot of investigators now that we´ve never met, but I´m excited for the challenge, I think we´re up to it. The branch president asked us to think of some activities we could do that are focused on encouraging people to read the Book of Mormon, so if anyone has any ideas... please let me know. Villarrica is right under an active volcano, it´s cool because sometimes at night you can see the lava sparkling in the sky. They say we´ll get a lot of earthquakes here, but I´ve only felt one this week and it was pretty small. One of the things that amazes me about this branch is that they have so many jovenes that are so excited about missionary work, even though their families are completely inactive, they love to help us and are preparing to serve their own missions. It´s aweseome! I have learned so much about what it means to really give everything in the service of the Lord. I think from being a missionary, I´ve learned a lot about how I should be as a member.  The miracle of a mission is far more than the baptisms. There´s a lot of work to be done! Speaking of baptisms, I was pretty bummed at the end of last cambio because Fernando had been traveling so his baptism kept getting pushed back, but he came back RIGHT before I had to leave. When we asked him if he had any concerns about his baptism he said "Just one... where can I buy white pants?" He is so prepared. Elizabeth and la Familia Sandoval also said that they really felt like the message we had brought them changed the way they look at their relationship with God, and this guy Juan Carlos told us that he really feels like we helped him to find a faith that he never had before. I might not be there for their baptisms, but I will never forget the influence that Heavenly Father has allowed me to take part in in their lives. It´s hard leaving a sector and all the people that you love there, but I know that I´ll grow into that here too, and I can´t wait. Hermana Nakayama was transferred in to Osorno, so I know that they´re in good hands. I´m going to go ahead and finish this up so I can have time to send pictures, but I want to say thanks so much for all of your letters and support, it really helps!

Love,

Jamie