Thursday, December 19, 2013

Hermana Mercado's Last Letter from Chile!!!!!


Well, Maria officially died. When we went to go visit her Monday, she wasn't home. And she didn't answer her phone. We were able to find her a little later in the week, and from the conversation we had, she just isn't ready yet for various reasons. It made me really sad, but I know everything will be ok in the end. 

Juanita is still going strong, and excited to prepare for her baptism in January. Love her. 

We also found a few new people to teach, my favorite being Alejandro. He's a 60 something year old single ex-hippie who takes care of his 80 or 90 something year old mother, Sara. She is a hoot. The cutest little old lady ever, who doesn't follow the conversation very well, but she gives a lot of love. "Cuando ustedes quieren, pasen no mas!" She was caressing Hna Venegas's arm through the whole lesson, asking if she was cold and wanted a sweater, and telling her she wants her Mamita to come by and visit her. 
Alejandro had had a friend who had become a member of our church a while back and has gone on to be a bishop. Still, he didn't know much about us and was interested in learning more. It was a great lesson and he was very receptive.

Since it was my last Sunday, Hna Venegas and I offered to do a musical number in sacrament meeting. We sang a duet of "What Child is This?", a mixture of english and spanish. 
And I had my despedidas, where I can invite all my converts, members from each of my sectores, to come to the mission office to officially say goodbye. A little testimony meeting and "once" despues. Also recieved a few going-home gifts. It was good.

So this is it folks. This week is going to be a little crazy. We, the "campeones", (missionaries finishing the mission) have a temple trip tomorrow, a special trip and lunch with President Wednesday, and then a Christmas Conference with the whole mission and getting on a plane Thursday. 

Hna Venegas convinced me to get a haircut before I come home.
I'll probably write one more entry when I get home to finish this thing off, but for now, just know it's been great, and I'll see you all soon! 

--Hna Mercado  

Monday, December 9, 2013

Hermana Mercado with her Chicken for Thanksgiving!

Hermana Mercado, Hermana Venegas and Alexandra at the Santiago Temple!

Hermana Mercado and Hermana Venegas

Hermana Selk and Hermana Mercado at Zone Conference

Hermana Venejas made Sopapillas

With Cecilia and Sofia making cupcakes at evening RS

Hermana Mercado's 66th Letter from Chile!


We were able to get in contact with Maria again. She had smoked so we had to push her fecha back. Then we lost contact with her again. When we were able to reconnect, she said that she was unsure if she should be baptized, since she still struggles to not smoke sometimes, and she also feels that she might actually be leaving her husband behind by being baptized since he was baptized Catholic. We did what we could to help her resolve her concerns and in the end invited her to pray to know if she should prepare to be baptized. Things are a little tense, but we trust that we've done everything that we can and it is in the Lord's hands. We have to respect her agency. We'll be verifying with her today to see if she feels that she should move forward. We hope to be able to help her to continue to progress towards a fecha. 

But, miracle, we were able to put another fecha with one of our new investigators last week! Juanita! She is a sweet abuela in a wheelchair who's been handicapped her whole life. We shared the plan of salvation with her. As she shared with us the challenges and difficulties that she's had in her life due to her disability and her relationships in her family, my thought was, she is so humble and prepared, which made me think of Alma 32:6. After the lesson, she said that before, life didn't have meaning to her, but now it all makes sense. She readily accepted the baptismal invitation. And she came to church! She was warmly received by the members and loved it! Not to mention it was our primary program, so that was a bonus.

Found quite a few new investigators this week with the help and guidance of the Lord. I know he is leading us to these great people. 

We were able to meet Cecilia and Rodrigo, Sofia's parents this week and share a little bit with them. And then Cecilia and Sofia came to the Relief Society activity on Wednesday to learn how to decorate cupcakes for Christmas!

Yesterday, we were knocking doors, not getting many results, so we did the stop and say a little prayer technique. Next door, the lady (Isolina) let us in. We were able to share with her, her husband, Octavio, and her little nietos. They're from Peru. After the closing prayer, she shared with us that her father is seriously ill. He's never been ill. She had been in the shower before we had come, thinking why is this happening, and had started to cry. It was just a little bit later, when she was drying her hair that she heard us calling at the door. She says she thinks God sent us to her from heaven. :)

I know God loves all his children and is mindful of every single one of our needs. I know that the fulness of his gospel is found in this church. There is no doubt in my mind. And he gives everyone of his children the opportunity to hear it. 

--Hna Mercado 

Monday, December 2, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 65th Letter from Chile!


Good week. Wednesday we went to the Relief Society activity with a couple of our investigators. We learned how to make sushi. It was quite delicious. 

 The weekend was a little slow, and the sun was a little strong, but we kept on truking. We were in contact with Maria almost everyday since her baptism is coming up. We had great lessons on the law of chastity, word of wisdom, and tithing, and she humbly and willingly accepted all the commitments. We were going to go to the temple gardens with her on Saturday, but at the last minute, she called and canceled because her daughters came to visit and didn't want to go. So we just went with Alexandra, one of our recent converts. It was a good experience. But we were definitely bummed that Maria couldn't come. 

And then she didn't come to church. She didn't answer the phone when we called and was out when we passed by her house. So we haven't heard from her since Saturday. We're going to try and get in touch with her today. We hope she's ok. 

But, tender mercy. We were out knocking doors in the hot sun on Sunday, not getting any results really, when a car stopped by the side of the road and low and behold, out came la familia Torrejon and Rocio from Ciudad Satelite! It was great to see them. And Rocio is going to be heading out on her mission to Brasil in February! So proud of her! Then Sis. Torrejon pilled us into her car to meet her uncle and aunt (who aren't members) who live in our sector. So we had a nice little get to know you and message with them. They're not very interested right now due to health problems (her aunt just had heart surgery a couple of months ago) so she's resting most of the time, but they said to pass by in the future. Maybe not a "golden" family for now, but a seed was planted. And seeing friendly faces and being able to get into a house definitely lifted my spirits.

--Hna Mercado  

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 64th Letter from Chile!

It was a great week. Working hard. Made lots of "new friends" (aka contacting). Found a few new people to teach. Sofia and Cecilia (daughter and mother) who have family in the states who are members, so they want to learn more. They have a cute little dog named Puffy. We also met Suad (Arabic name supposedly) but she is 100% Chilean. She's a yoga intsructor, and very in touch with the spiritual and accepts all religions. She would like us to teach her son, to expose him to more spiritual instruction. And on the way to internet, we met Rosa. She actually stopped us to ask if we were Jehova's witnesses. We presented ourselves, our purpose, and offered to say a prayer to bless her home. She invited us right into her home because they are having a challenging time. It's amazing how Heavenly Father is putting people in our path. 

The best part of this week had to be that Maria accepted the invitation to be baptized! We are going to be helping her prepare for the 7th of December. And we had a very special moment with her in gospel principles on Sunday. She is widowed and loved her husband very much. The class was on eternal marriage. In the middle of the class, she started to cry, and said, "Can what I'm hearing really be true?" She had been told after her husband died, that his memory had been taken away and that he wouldn't remember her, so she should just let him go and try to move on. How grateful I am to know that we continue to be the same people after we die and that we can be together with our families forever. And now Maria knows, and she has her eyes set on the temple. 

--Hermana Mercado

Monday, November 18, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 63rd Letter from Chile!

Highlight of the week. Conference with Elder Holland. It was so good! We had the conference with him Tuesday in the morning  in the city and since we are on the coast and hours away from civilization, we went into Maipu Monday evening to stay the night. We got to stay the night with Hna Selk y su hija, Hna Puchi! It was so great to see her! I love that woman. It was a little weird because she is living in my first pension but working in a diferent ward.

So Tuesday morning we got up at 4am to get ready to leave and get there early (we wanted to get good seats). Elder Holland is very funny and very passionate. Take away message I got: the Lord doesn't want 14 month or 16 month sister missionaries. He wants the full 18 months. So working to the end my friends! 

Side note. I also got to see Hna Moody in the conference because all the missions of Santiago got together to see Elder Holland. It was so good to see her!

It was a good week, but my mind is kind of a blur. That seems to happen a lot. But changes. We got a bit of a surprise. Both Hna Rodriguez and I are leaving El Quisco. But it is being left in good hands. Hna Marquez will be doing a whitewash and training there. I am now in el barrio Los Libertadores en la zona Los Cerrillos. City. Our sector is la plaza de Maipu and a little more. But I'm excited. I'm with Hna Venegas the hija of Hna Bigo. She was in my zone when I was in Ciudad Satelite and she is awesome. So she'll be my last companion to send me on home. We have a lot of work to do. It's gonna be good. 

--Hna Mercado

ps.I'll send pictures next week. this computer isn't reading my camera. 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Hermana Turville stuck in the stairs!

"The cutest Kitty in the world"

Hermana Mercado and Kitty

Kiara

Trick or Treaters

Misioneros de Quisco

Ensalada de tomates y maiz

Misioneros de Quisco

Hermana Rodriguez gets a hair cut!

Hermana Mercado gets a haircut!

No bake cookies, yum!

Hermana Mercado's 62nd Letter from Chile!


This week was much, much better. We didn't have to take any crazy trips to Santiago, so we had a lot more time to work in our sector. Found a couple of new people to teach. Lincye, a 20 year old girl we found knocking doors. She has a one year old son and is very open to talking with us. Really sweet. Also Juan Carlos, who we received as a reference. He's a 50 something year old gardener. He is an interesting man. When he took the hand of Hna Rodriguez he said she is a fearful person. When he took my hand he said I have a lot of sugar in my system and I need to drink more water.

We had another baptism in the ward this week! Leonardo, an investigator of Elder Calixto y Elder White. He is amazing. He's given his testimony twice already in sacrament meeting. He's a colectivero, 30/40 year old man with a lot of enthusiasm. His wife, children, and mother came to his baptism. I'm pretty sure they're all going to get baptized as well. Carlos came to see the baptism! it was the first time he was able to see one, so that was good. But he hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon. He says everytime he tries to read it, his head hurts. Ugh! Excuses, excuses. I really have no idea what he wants. So we are just going to press forward and see what we can do to help him.

This Sunday was the primary program. So cute! Rene came! We were able to have a tour of the church with him after sacrament meeting and as we were finishing in the baptismal faunt, he told us that he wanted to prepare to be baptized the first week of December. To say the least, we're kind of happy :) 

And tonight we have to travel to stay the night in Maipu so tomorrow we can get up early for the meeting with Elder Holland. It is going to be amazing! But I have a feeling I'm going to be very tired.

--Hna Mercado 

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 61st Letter from Chile!


This past week was interesting, challenging, but also gratifying. We lost a lot of time with going to Santiago for my visa (I had to renew it), a multistake activity in San Antonio, and ugh! I feel really bad for our numbers this past week. There are no excuses. This week we are going to work even harder. Hna Carter gave us good advice to follow the steps in "Nuestro Compromiso al Señor", so we've put goals and made plans of how we can exercise more faith. 

Satan has been working really hard in our ward, especially now that we have 8 missionaries. Trying to tear it apart from the inside, attacking the leaders of each organization in a different way, especially the bishop. I have never met a man with so many challenges, so much opposition. But he stays strong. He is such a good man. But this past week we became aware of another major challenge that is occuring among the youth in our ward. My heart hurts. We are doing all we can to support and help the bishop, but sometimes I feel inadequate. Please keep el Quisco and Obispo Rivera in your prayers.

Good things. Even though going to do visa errands is never fun, it was nonetheless fulfilling. We did good contacts while waiting in the tremendous lines. I met a woman from Bolivia, and we also met a woman from the states who is married to an Argentinan. I also had some time to get to know my nieta, Hna Nelson, a little better. She also had to go to Santiago that day to take out her visa. She's really sweet, speaks Spanish very well for only being in the field for less than two changes, and has no fear in contacting people.

It was Halloween, and also a long weekend because the 31st has been made a Protestant holiday. So, for the long weekend, Quisco filled up with people again. Lots of little children went out to go trick or treating in the late afternoon. There were lots of people drinking too. It was getting a little sketchy, so we went home a little early that night. Hna Turville played a prank on us where we got scared pretty bad. I thought it was pretty funny, but Hna Rodriguez was not amused.

Saturday there was a multistake young single adult activity in San Antonio. We the missionaries were there to help them do contacts and give away a Book of Mormon. Cualquier referencia! It went really well. One woman that we contacted (two jovenes and I) said that we had come en el momento preciso. I was also able to see a lot of jovenes from my first ward because their stake came out to this activity.

Victor Lopez, one of our menos activos that we have been visiting came to church on Sunday! And Carlos, one of are investigators that we had left because he didn't want to commit to baptism yet, well we felt really strongly that we should have one more lesson with him, on faith and repentance. In the lesson, his challenge/doubt came out and we were able to clear things up for him. We were so close to commiting him to a fecha. He has committed to preparing for baptism, and committed to praying about the fecha we have put for him (25 de Nov). Even though this was a challenging/frustrating/emotional week, the Lord continues to bless us for our efforts. I know I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but I continue to be amazed at how merciful he is.

--Hna Mercado

Monday, October 28, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 60th Letter from Chile!


Good things. We found two great nuevos this week! Priscila and Juan. Priscila is a relatively young mother with a 14 year old daughter. She is very open to listening to all religions and the message of the restoration peaked her interest. She is willing to find out if it is true. We were even able to give her a tour of the chapel this past week!

And Juan. When we met him, we were actually just trying to find an address, and stopped to ask him for directions. We thanked him for his help and asked if there was anything we could do to help him. Well, we could share a little bit of our message. So we started to share about the Book of Mormon, which sparked a lot of good questions from him. He says his not that interested in religion, but he is interested in learning more and in reading the Book of Mormon. He also has the cutest 5 year old son, Isaias. Good stuff.

And we had 4 baptisms in our ward this week! Two jovenes, Vanesa y Antonio and a mother and son, Ximena y Aaron. One baptismal service Wednesday and one Saturday. Although none were our investigators, we contributed with a musical number in each baptism. 

We also had divisions with Hna Carter, our Hna Lider Entrenadora. I love that woman. She is so great and gave us a lot of good advice. 

And I forget if I mentioned it last time, but Elder Holland is coming to Chile. No big.

--Hna Mercado

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Hermana Mercado, Hermana Rodriguez y Anacaren

Sunset on the Coast

The Bishop's family

Hermana Mercado's 59th Letter from Chile


Things were really good this week. We've been making good friends, finding nuevos, and teaching more consistent lessons.

We started teaching Luis this week, the man who stopped us in the street the other week to come and visit him. He is divorced and all his children live in Santiago so he's a bit lonely. He is looking for peace. He is a very philosophical man, and asks very interesting questions. Anyway, we shared the restoration with him, and he is very willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.

And Carlos died. Well, half-died. He gave us an answer this past week that he does not want to get baptized right now, but he wants to keep coming to church and learning. It was an intense lesson. We got it out of him that he knows the church is true, and he knows he should be baptized, even he has the desire to prepare for baptism, but he just says that he needs to put some things in his life in order before he does get baptized. What those things are, he did not say, but he says he might discuss them with us in the future. But he doesn't want to put a date. So, we're going to stop teaching him for a while. But he still came to church. Ugh! We don't know what to do with him.

We just hit a bump when we took turns being sick the last two days of the week. Luckily, I was able to get a priesthood blessing from the elders and I'm feeling a lot better now (just a little headache and cold now) but Hermana Rodriguez fell sick yesterday and still isn't feeling so hot. We're going to try and get her a blessing today.
Funny thing. The bishop asked us (the Hermanas) to sing a musical number in sacrament meeting, so we did. After, an investigator who is getting baptized this week came up to us to ask us if we would sing at her baptism. Later, an Hermano came to ask if we would sing a song at a ward activity they are having this week (a despedida of a couple of members who are moving to Florida), and then our lider misional asked us to sing in the other baptsim that we are having this coming weekend. Well, that was interesting. The Hermanas are in high demand this week.
--Hna Mercado


Monday, October 14, 2013

Photos from Quisco, Chile!

Hermana Mercado y Hermana Carter

Sister Missionaries' New Casa

Saying goodbye to Elder Peterson

Hermana Rodriguez y Hermana Turville

Elders playing with a stray dog.

Pyramid of Hermanas!

Hermana Mercado's 58th Letter from Chile


Well, Hermana Turville and Hermana Aspajo have joined us here in Quisco. Now we have a party in our house. Hermana Turville is from Utah and is crazy. But I like it. It keeps things entertaining. Hermana Aspajo is from Peru and is a little bit on the quieter side; likes to keep to herself. We'll see if we can help her to open up a bit more.

Things are going good. Since we've split the sector it feels like we are kind of doing a whitewash because we had been working more in the other  part of our sector where the Hermanas are now. So this week we've been getting to know our area a little better and doing lots of contacts. It's a little bit of a challenge because there are lots of areas that don't have a lot of people, but we've been becoming more familiar with where exactly are the areas that are populated. And we've seen miracles. My favorite had to be from the other day that we were in one area contacting people and looking up a reference. Well, the reference turned us down flat, so we decided to contact all the other houses in the street, which all turned out to be vacant or the people were just there on vacation so they weren't very interested. But after we came out of the street an older man with a walking stick came right up to us and told us that he would like us to visit him so he can learn more about our church. He is alone and says he would like to have a group to be integrated with. That was easy. We have a cita set up to visit him this week. I love when God brings the people to us when we're having a little trouble finding them ourselves.

Things have been a little intense with Carlos. We've already taught him all the lessons. We had a very straight forward lesson with him the other day. He says he's going to take 10 days to make a decision whether to be baptized and move forward or stop meeting with us. We'll see how things go. I feel like he knows that this church is true. He's had too many spiritual experiences with us to not be able to recognize that. But he's scared to make the commitment; scared of making the commitment and falling away. We've done all we can to calm he's fears, to teach him clearly the doctrine, testify of the truth and the blessings, but now it's just up to him to decide what he wants to do.

--Hna Mercado

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 57th Letter from Chile

This day is crazy. Today, the whole mission got together for the reunion de cambios. Hna Selk is training again (she's a champ). Two new zones were created. Our zone split. Our sector has been split as well and we have two more Hermanas coming to be with us in our sector. We moved into a bigger house this past week to prepare for them and it is pretty sweet. We were told we were going to have P-day Wednesday this week due to the meeting today, but at the end of the meeting they informed us that in reality, we would still be having P-day today. So doing internet here in Maipu (I'll send pictures next week. Didn't bring my cord or anything) before the 2 hour and a half trip back to Quisco. That's going to be interesting helping the other Hermanas with their luggage :) 

Also this past week was fun as we were finally able to return to Santiago to finish the errands for Hna. Rodriguez's carnet (registro civil had been on strike). The lines were ridiculously long. 6 hours standing! But we had some good conversations with the people in line. And on the way back we ran into some of my people from Nueva San Martin! I actually don't remember their names, but they were the son and daughter-in-law of Laura, an awesome member who was always willing to help us out with rides for investigators and noches de hogar. They had been inactive when I was there, but they informed me that they are asisting again now! And they informed me that Jose, (his dad, and Laura's husband), who's not a member, is going to be baptized next weekend! I could not believe it! When I was there, he was so hard! He didn't want to hear anything! But I remember that with Hna. Herrera, we began to gain his confidence, and started to try to teach him. It's a miracle. It's just a testimony to me that Heavenly Father can change hearts. 

General Conference was awesome. I'll give more info on what I learned next week. Love you all and the gospel is true!

--Hna Mercado 

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 56th Letter from Chile

Last P-day we got together with the zone and la zona talagante to hang out at the beach. It was a good time. I got to see Hna. Carter. She's one of the Hermana Lideres Entrenadoras and she's a champ. She must be slowly dying of exhaustion with all of the divisions that she has to do. 

Tuesday we had nothing fijo, and nobody could see us that day. We finally were able to set up a cita with one of our investigators in the evening, Carlos. He had a fecha, but due to complications with when his children could come out to visit him to accompany him, it has been postponed. But now he is having doubts. He really wants to be sure that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and know that there is a living prophet today so that he won't fall away after he is baptized. Anyway, we could not for the life of us find a woman to accompany us. It came down to the final hour and we decided to just go and see what we could do. When we went to the chapel (we always have our lessons with Carlos in the church) we found the Elders finishing a tour with one of their investigators. They were able to stay with us so we could teach Carlos. We had a great lesson on what we need to do to receive revelation, and we are helping him to prepare for General Canference to be able to hear the Prophet.

Wednesday, we did service for a reference that we received. Valesca. She has a nephew serving a mission, but she's baptist. She and her family have just moved to Quisco into a house that was abandoned, and they needed help cleaning out the backyard. Her huband, Miguel, has tattoos all over his face. She quite a few tattoos herself, but they say that they got those in their rebelious days. And Miguel is from Venezuela, but he's lived here so long (15 years or something) he sounds Chilean now. Anyway, after helping them out, they offered us lunch, which Valesca had already prepared (but we also already had lunch programed with a member). So as not to offend anyone, we just ate lunch twice, but miraculously, both places didn't serve us very much, so we didn't explode. We resurrected Rene that day as well, an investigator who had had a fecha but that we hadn't been able to see for a month or so (he was avoiding us a little bit). But we've got him reading and praying again, and he came to church! 

Thursday, planificacion semenal. Friday, we had a tour of the chapel with Carlos.That went well.

Saturday was Hermana Rodriguez's birthday, a baptism of twin girls in our ward (they asked us to sing) and a noche de hogar. To top off the day, Hna. Rodriguez got to talk with her family for 15 minutes. Not for her birthday. She had gotten had gotten permission for President to talk with them when her brother got his call (he's her only sibling, and he's been having a little it of a rough time without her), and justo, it came on her birthday. It was a precious moment. He's going to be serving in San Francisco Oakland California!  

And that about sums it up. The mission is awesome and I'm super excited for General Conference!

--Hna. Mercado 

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Parade for Independence Day in Quisco

Reunion de Hermanas

Hermana Selk and Hermana Mercado

"The Cutest Baby Ever"

"Vive Chile"

Apartment decorated for Independence Day!

Ward Party for September 18th!

More Parade

More Parade

Ward Activity!

Elder Mattinson's Chile Tie

More Parade!

Hermana Mercado's 55th Letter from Chile!


Last Monday, the festivities for el 18 had already begun. There was a parade in Quisco Centro of the students in the area in their waso attire. Hna Rodriguez passed by for a little bit to watch and take a few pictures. That day we also met Marcela, a reference we received from other Elders in our zone. She has cancer but has a faith like I have never seen. She believes whole-heartedly that God can heal her. We shared with her the plan of salvation and she is very receptive. We're going to see if we can organize una bendicion de salud because with the faith that she has, there's no doubt in my mind that God would heal her immediately.

The rest of the week was a little disappointing as far as citas go because almost no one wanted to meet with us due to the holiday. But Wednesday we had a good time with our ward celebrating el 18. We had an activity with asado, empanadas, traditional games, and queca. It was a good time. And President Barreiros and his wife even passed by to spend some time with us. 

Friday we had a reunion for all the Hermanas en la mision. It was a good time. Got to see all my previous companions (menos Hermana Nelson since she's home already) and my hijas and nietas. My segunda nieta is also Hna. Nelson, but she's from California. One of the things that I loved from the meeting was the message that "Nada es imposible para Dios". Es verdad. 

Finished the week strong. Hna Rojas (one of the Hermanas Lideres) came to be with us Friday evening, but then she had to be heading back to her sector the next day after lunch. The shortest division ever. And Sunday we found two new investigators. Also references. Macarena and Valesca. Macarena is an older lady, lives alone and wants us to help her "sanar su alma". Valesca is a baptist lady with three little children. She has a nephew serving a mission and needs help cleaning up her yard. We took the opportunity to share about the Book of Mormon and she seems open to listening. We're going to pass by again this week to help clean up her yard. 

A little slow, but all in all, a good week.

--Hna Mercado

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 54th Letter from Chile!

Well, this past week... I don't remember much. I swear, I finish each day so tired here.The hills are killing me. What I do remember is that this past week we had to turn in early Tuesday and stay in our penison all day Wednesday because it was the 40th aniversary of the golpe something or other. Apparently, that day it might have been a little dangerous to be outside. I highly doubt that anything would have happened aqui en Quisco. It's really chill here. The city had more problems. But we stayed in to be obedient. Studied, did our weekly planning, and watched church movies with ice cream. 

It's a little challenging to find people to teach, but we've done some good contacts, and have found a few promising people that could turn into new investigators. The only problem is that almost all the people we talked with don't want to meet with us until the week after el 18. This week is party week. Chile's Independence Day. More like Independence week. A lot more people are coming into Quisco from Sanitago this week to spend the holiday here on the coast. It is going to be an interesting week. We're going to have an awesome activity en la capilla para el 18. Asado y empanadas! And we'll see how the lessons go.  

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 53rd Letter from Chile!


This week was pretty good. Tuesday,we visited with Eduardo. We had Camila, a young single adult in our ward (one of the few) accompany us. It was cool, because she told us that she had been missing her old ward and friends a lot and had been praying that Heavenly Father would give her something to do to be able to help,and then the next day we called to ask her if she could come out with us. She is a star! And Eduardo is great. We put a fecha with him that day. 

But we lost a lot of time this week. Wednesday, we had a special training meeting in San Antonio, our stake center, which is about an hour away in bus. And then we had to go directly to Maipu to spend the night because Hna.Rodriguez had to go into the city early the next morning to do errands for her visa and things. Luckily, President offered to take us from the training meeting to Maipu,so we rode in his car with him, his wife, and the pensionistas instead of having to take a bus and then the metro all the way to Maipu. We stayed the night with the Hermanas of Maipu 3 and Esquina Blanca 2. And man is their pension quico! They have two floors, three bathrooms, two bedrooms, separate study rooms, and a huge kitchen, apart from a laundry room. And one of their bathtubs is like a jaccuzi! 

So we spent the whole next day doing stuff for her visa. We didn't get to finish because there was a strike going on at the Registro Civil,so we're going to have to go back another day for that. 

But we finished the week strong with a solid lesson with Luis. He is the husband of Priscila, an inactive member. He's from Brazil, a surfer, and open to listening and learning. We got him a Book of Mormon in Portugeuse, so that's pretty sweet. Taught the restoration and the spirit was super strong. He says he is willing to be baptized if he receives an answer that these things are true. Done.
We'll see what this week holds.

--Hna.Mercado  

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Oops, missed one!  Hermana Mercado y Carlos y Felipe

Photos from August and September 2013Her

Hermanas de la Pension de Hermana Mercado

Hermana Rodriguez and Hermana Mercado 

Hermana Mercado's District

Hermana Mercado with Alejandro Romina Helen and Dafni

Hermana Mercado with Cynthia, Bayron y Familia

Hermana Mercado with Oscar, Marcela y Familia

Hermana Mercado with La Familia Gonzalez

Hermana Choc, Hermana Mercado y Obispo Alvarez

Hermana Mercado with la Familia Aguire Prat

Venus y Hermana Mercado

Hermanas Choc y Mercado

Hermanas Carter y Mercado

The Coast

Hermans Rodriguez y Mercado