Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Hermana Choc, Hermana Mercado, Hermana and Presidente King

Goodbye to Presidente King y Hermana King and these missionaries

the sign Hermana King made

Baptism of Matias, Constancia y Max

Hermana Mercado's 42nd Letter

Interesting week. Good week. On Monday, we taught the Restoration to Venuz and her husband Cristian. The spirit was very strong. They committed to reading the Book of Mormon, and praying about the things we had shared to know if they are true. When we invited them to be baptized if they came to know that these things are true, they said, "Oh, we've already been baptized in your church". Surprise! We had found some inactive members. They were baptized some 20 years ago, but it's like that don't remember anything. Well, we found them for a reason. Bringing the lost sheep back into the fold. 

Tuesday we had our last Zone Conference with President and Hermana King. They leave our mission this week and we get our new mission President. It was a good conference. More of a farewell with each zone singing a song and giving them good-bye gifts. They also gave us farewell/pep talks, reminding us of our responsibilites and encouraging us to press on. President showed us a video from youtube called "La Expiacion y La Obra Misional" that has talks from President Eyring and Elder Holland. Super powerful. 

We also found a family to teach this week! So I have this goal to talk to at least one person in the street everyday. I can knock doors all day long, but when it comes to stopping people in the street, I don't know, I just freak out or something. The goal is to keep aumenting the number every week. Anyway, one day we were contacting, and I saw this woman coming towards us so I began to pray, "Heavenly Father, please help me to talk to this woman." No sooner had we stopped her to say hello than we quickly discovered that she was Jaqueline, an antiguo investigator we had been trying to find. She said that she didn't have a lot of time in that moment but that we should pass by her house the next day. We did and met with her, her husband Omar, and their children Karin, Fabian, Cesar, and their new born baby Emily. They had lost contact with the Elders a couple of months back and were very happy that we had found them again. 

The best thing that happened this week would have to be that la familia Aguirre Pratt came to church! We were visiting with them Saturday night, but when we invited them to come to church everyone became uncomfortable. El Hermano Juan said he didn't want to go to church because he had no interest in going to church (he is not on the best of terms with some of the members) and la hermana Karina said she didn't want to go to church alone. She had done that for a while and had gotten tired of being the one trying to motivate everyone and then just ended up going to church upset and alone. She didn't want to go back unless her husband would go with her. Then their daughter Anais said she wanted to go. She said that she didn't want to go for the people, but that she wanted to learn. So Hna. Karina said she would go with Anais. Sunday morning, to our surprise, all three of them walked in! I don't know what changed his mind, but I'm so glad Hno. Juan came with his family. I know the Lord still works miracles.

And I hope everyone was able to see "The Work of Salvation" broadcast thing. This is the Lord's work. He will help us do it. 

--Hermana Mercado

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

With Hermana Moody at the Santiago Temple

All the Trainers at the Temple

Meeting her new baby:  Hermana Choc

Hermana Choc and Hermana Mercado

With President and Hermana King

Goodbye Hermana Moody and Hermana Selk

Hermana Mercado's 41st Letter from Chile!


 Whitewashes are slow, but we have seen miracles already. We have five new investigators! Alejandra and her son Ignacio have friends who are members and became interested in listening to us because of a baptismal service they went to. Ana is an antiguo the elders were teaching before, and she is great. She has a wonderful testimony of prayer. Denis is the wife of a less active hermano, Mauricio, we found contacting the SIMI. He let us right in to meet his wife and their newborn son. And Venuz. We found her kocking on doors. She has friends who are members and has a lot of respect for what we do, so she is open to listening to our message. 
       We've also begun to work with the less active members, one of which was Natalia Mena, a special request from the bishop. She is a returned missionary, but became inactive after her mother died. Since she lived alone with just her and her mom, it was a very trying time for her. But after our second lesson, before we could even invite her to come to church, she told us she wanted to go and asked if we could come by to pick her up! And she came! It was great. And the ward welcomed her back with open arms. 
       Some days are hard, especially with the cold that's coming (our health is fluctuating a little bit, but we've managed to stay on the more healthy side), but I know that as we press forward, things will get easier. 

--Hermana Mercado

Hermana Mercado's 40th letter from Chile!


I am now en el Barrio El Mansano in Padre Hurtado. We're in the stake of PeƱaflor. I am now with Hermana Choc, fresh from el CCM. She's from Guatemala. A little shy, but really sweet. And really tiny. And 19! She won't be turning 20 till next year!

Well, this week has been interesting. It was a little hard to get to work in the beginning because we didn't have a map, a ward directory, and the ward hadn't decided what the limits were going to be (we're sharing a ward with elders again) . But the ward is amazing. Obispo Alvarez is really proactive and involved. Our ward mission leader Hno. Conejan seems really good as well. And I love that we have consejo de barrio twice a month! This is my first ward that does that! I think we'll be getting a lot of work done here. And the members have been really helpful, showing us around (since we didn't have a map) and giving us references. It took till the weekend, but now we have a map, a ward directory, and our sector limits established. So we're really going to get to work this week. 

Things we're still working on: getting a shower curtain. We're also still missing  a lot of cleaning supplies (broom, mop, dustpan), and missionary materials (Predicad Mi Evangelio dvds, dvd player, folletos, pass-a-longs, Carpeta de Miembros, Carpeta de Area) but we talked to the office the other day and they said they should be bringing everything today.

Hna. Selk is still in Ciudad Satelite with Hna. Marquis (from Argentina) and they both are training a new Hermana (don't remember her name). I'm a grandma already! The sad thing is that Hna. Moody got sent to the zone of La Cisterna, which is going to become part of the new Santiago Sur mission at the end of June. So this was probably the last time we're going to see her  until after the mission! But she's in good hands. She's companions with Hna. Mora now, my "sister" (She was also trained by Hna. Nelson). 

Crazy things going on, but it's going to be good. I have a feeling that this might end up being one of my favorite sectors. 

--Hermana Mercado 

Friday, June 7, 2013

Hermana Mercado with Alejandro and Alejandra!

Hermanas:  Selk, Moody, King and Mercado

Hermano Vegara mans the Bar-b-que

Yum!

Eating the bar-b-que

Missionaries with La Familia Vegara!

Hermana Mercado's 39th Letter from Chile

This week has been insane! Tuesday we had interviews with President amd Hermana King. They were good. Seeing how we're doing, what we're learning, and Hermana King always gives us cookies. It was my last interview with President King. They will be leaving the mission June 28, and we'll be getting our new mission president.

Wednesday, we went to the temple! We took the metro and a few micros to get there, but it was worth it. My first time doing initiatories and a session in Spanish.It was really cool. I felt so blessed that I understood everything and I was able to do it in Spanish. 

Thursday, we had the first special training meeting just for Hermanas. All the Hermana Lideres Entrenadores each gave a mini-class. It was so good! There were some really powerful classes from the Hermanas. My favorite had to be from Hermana Godoy, from Argentina. She talked about inviting with power and authority, and talked about how we can have more power as we seek to obtain the spirit.She is a maquina! 
I was in charge of teaching a class on the importance of service and love for people. To me, service is what describes the mission. All that we do is service, seeking to help people in anyway we can; in their temporal as well as their spiritual needs. And love is the thing that drives our desire to serve. And then it's just a cycle. When we learn to love the people, we desire to serve them, and when we serve them, our love for them grows. The mission is amazing, because we get the opportunity to serve 24/7, thus the opportunity to develop the ability to love other people like no other. I never thought I could love so many people so much. And as we develop that love everyday, everyday we come a little bit closer to becoming more like Christ; we're learning to love people the way Christ loves them.

Friday, we deep cleaned the house to get ready for changes. President King called us that night to let us know about changes. Hermana Moody and I are leaving Ciudad Satelite. I will be doing a whitewash and training again. Hermana Selk will be staying in Ciudad Satelite, will be getting a latin companion, and they both will be training a new Hermana. 

Saturday, we had a big barbecue with the Vergara Familia to send off Elder Rivera (our district leader. He finishes his mission today and is going home to Ecuador).It  turned into a farewell for Hna.Moody and I as well since we are leaving the sector. 

Then Sunday was the happiest and saddest day oy my life. Matias, Max, y Coti got baptized! And the baptismal service was beautiful! After, we made the rounds to say our goodbyes. 

Today, we have changes. Hermana Isabel dropped us off at the stake center and now we have some extra time till the changes meeting starts. We'll see where I get to go this time. A new adventure begins!


--Hermana Mercado