Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 51st Letter from Chile


I don't have a lot of time to write but just wanted you all to know that I had changes. Hermana Choc is staying in El Manzano and is going to be training! I'm so proud! I'm in the coast now. El Quisco.  I can see the ocean! I'm now with Hna. ....oh man. I don't remember her name. I think it's Hna. Rodriguez, but I don't want to lean over to try and look at her name tag right now, but she's from Argentina and she seems really awesome. We're going to have some fun. I'll send pictures next week!

--Hna. Mercado

Monday, August 19, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 50th Letter from Chile!


We started to teach Fedora this week. She is very open and willing to learn. After we shared about Joseph Smith, she said that she already knows it's true. When we invited her to be baptized if she received an answer  about the Book of Mormon, she said, "Well, that's the idea, isn't it?". Yep, she's great.

And we've committed Cynthia to baptism! She's such a jokester. After teaching her the plan of salvation, we asked her if she would be baptized, to which she responded, "No". Two seconds of silence. Giggles. "Jusy kidding. Yes, of course!". Her mother, who is an inactive member, says she's going to start coming to church with Cynthia next week.

We also started to teach Mariluz and Nicole this week. They lost their husband and father about a month ago, so they're in a lot of pain and have a lot of questions, but they both have a great sense of humor. We started to teach them the plan of salvation and after we had explained that if Adam and Eve hadn't fallen, we wouldn't be here, Nicole said, "Oh, ok. Me caen bien entonces". 

Things are good. Sorry this is so short. I'll try to be more informative next week.

--Hna. Mercado

Monday, August 12, 2013

Hermana Mercado's 49th Letter from Chile!

So I have found a new vice. After a noche de hogar we had this past Monday with a recent convert (Alex Villagra, who also happens to be in the young men's presidency; he's amazing) he served us toasted bread with manjar and cheese. At first glance, I was like "Hmm, that's interesting..." but after trying eat I think I've eaten it almost every day of this week. MMM! It's good.

We received the mission initiative this week and we are going to start opening up the chapel for tours! We cleaned the chapel this past Friday to get in ready for next week. We'll see how it goes since we have to coordinate between 8 missionaries (our building is shared by two wards, 4 missionaries in each ward) but I'm pumped. 

I think this past week we invited everyone we're teaching to be baptized, but we have no takers so far. They all feel that they are not ready yet, so we will keep pressing forward.

Saturday, we met Fedora. We had gone to visit Hna. Ana Rivera, a sister in our ward who has inactive family members. Unfortunately, when we passed by she wasn't there. Fedora, her daughter-in-law, met us at the door and told us that she had been invited to go out and didn't have our number to notify us. Since we were there I said, "Well, is there anything we can do to help you?" She invited us in. She shared with us that she would like to get to know the church of her mother-in-law. We began to share with her a little bit of the gospel message, focusing on how we all have challenges in life, but through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can find peace and happiness. She began to cry. When we first got there and found that Hna. Rivera wasn't home, I thought to myself "Man, we should have called to confirm beforehand", but after meeting Fedora, I'm glad we didn't. 

And Sunday, Romina and Daphne came to church! Romina was so happy to be there and she stayed for all three hours! Daphne enjoyed herself quite a bit too, and got gifts in her classes since it was el Dia del Niño. It was a pretty good week. 

Hermana Mercado's 48th Letter from Chile

This past week has been good. The Lord has continued to bless us with new people to teach. 

Good experiences of the week that made me smile a lot:

 We visited with Romina this week. She has the two cutest girls in the world! Daphne (5 years old) and Helen (2 years old). They remind me of Lucy and I when we were little. Daphne reminds me a lot of Lucy. I'll have to take pictures with them so you can see! But besides the cute girls, Romina shared with us that she has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying more than ever. Since she's started, she hasn't had any desire to drink or smoke! 

We taught the Restoration to Lucy, the mom of Marienela. She's met with the missionaires before. She shared with us that by reading the Book of Mormon, she was able to realize that Joseph Smith was a prophet. But she wants to be sure of everything before she commits to being baptized.

And Venus! She doesn't want to come to church yet, but she says that she's been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, and she's beginning to feel that it's true!

Knocking doors this week, we found Alicia, Paola's mom (the mom of Coti y Max from Ciudad Satelite)! She's a member, but inacive at the moment. But we're planning on continuing to visit with her to help out with that. And we can share with her partner too, Willy, who is not a member.

Taught Patricia this week, the mom of Camilo (a menos activo). She is not a member but knows that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. She is such a sweetheart. But she too wants to be more certain before committing to baptism. 

Had an awesome Capacitacion Especial with Presidente y Hna. Barreiros. Pumped us up to working harder and having the goal of 1 baptism per month. And teaching families. And that same day, we found a family! Jose and Valesca with their two sons, Jose y Gonzalo. Sacerdocio! We're excited to continue to teach them.

We started teaching Cynthia (10 years old) this week, as well as her brother, Byron (8 years old). They both are so great. Ask a lot of questions, but learn quickly. We picked them up to go to church yesterday, and on the way Cynthia was telling us how she was helping Byron to pray and that he was doing it really well. Uh! They are so cute!

Ah, mission life. One really cannot help but smile.

--Hna. Mercado

Hermana Mercado's 47th Letter from Chile

This week was interesting. And good. We had our first "divisiones" this past week with Hna. Iroz. Now the mission only has 4 hermanas in charge of doing divisions with each compañerismo of hermanas en la mision. Hna. Rojas with la Hna. Carter, and Hna. Figueroa con la Hna. Iroz are the women in charge. So Wednesday, I was in a trio again. Hna Iroz came to evaluate Hna Choc and I while Hna. Figueroa went to go evaluate las hermanas in Peñaflor. It was good. Hna Iroz gave us a lot of good advice and informs us that we work very well together. 

Then I got sick. Sore throat, stuffy nose, headache. Ugh! So after weekly planning Thursday we stayed in so I could rest. I'm still not feeling the best in the world, but I couldn't stay another day in the house. 

We worked hard this week, and found 10 new people to teach! And they all have a lot of potential. I'm most excited to teach Cynthia. We met her mother, Natalia, knocking on doors. Natalia is a member, but has been inactive for a long time. She was baptized in Argentina when she was about 13 years old. But she wants her daughter, Cynthia (9 years old),  to learn about the church. We talked to Cynthia for a while and she is excited and willing to learn more. It also made us pretty happy when Natalia asked us at what time church started. 

And Carlos y Felipe. Ugh! We haven't been able to teach them for a while, because we haven't been able to arrange for a woman to accompany us, and when we've passed because they said that their mom was going to be home, when we've arrived, she hasn't been there because she had to leave all of a sudden. Saturday, we arrived at their house, and once again their mother wasn't home (we hadn't been able to bring a woman with us because our ward went to the temple that day and the jovenes were in a seminary activity). But they shared with us that they had read the chapter we had left them, Alma 7, and that they had both particularly liked verse 14. Hna. Choc and I looked up the verse right then and there and couldn't stop grinning. Yep, that's a very good verse. Man! We have to wait till Thursday to meet with them again!

--Hna. Mercado