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

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.  

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  

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

Hermana Mercado's 52nd Letter from Chile

Yep. In the coast now. It is beautiful here! It's a mixture of Florida and Maine. Beaches, palm trees, but also forests. We have a lot of old people in our ward. And our sector is HUGE! We have to take micros or colectivos to get around. We have 6 missionaries in our ward, and there ar rumors that we might get 6 more! It's going to be insane! But there aren't a lot of people here. It's mostly vacation homes. But we hear that in the summer time, it is full of people. But the ward is great and our bishop is aweome. Bishop Rivera. He has a son and daughter on a mission right now too! And he has another daughter that will be heading out soon to serve in Peru.

Yes, my companion is Hermana Rodriguez from Cordoba, Argentina. It's fun to listen to the "sh" accent. She just finished her training, so she's still pretty new in the mission, but she's a champ already and helping me out a lot to get to know the sector and members. 

It was a little bit of a rocky week. We were only able to find one nuevo this week, but it was a good one; Eduardo. He wants to be baptized. I think we'll put a fecha this week. 

I think I'm probably going to die here, but I'm glad I get to die in the coast.

--Hermana Mercado