Week 33 TWO Baptisms and ONE Conference to Rule Them All

Hey there ravid readers and rabid fans!

This week was certainly one that will go down in not only my own personal history, but the family history of two families, and the world!

I say the world, because on Wednesday we had a worldwide missionary training broadcast from Salt Lake city to every missionary! Over 75,000 of us! It was the first time that they had ever done this, and it was amazing to see it and realize that we were all there as a huge army of God, learning to help our fellow brothers and sisters know that Jesus lived and died just for them. It was a great experience. 

Then we came home that night, making out trip total to see the conference over 9 hours in a bus....

But the next day was amazing! We started filing the font at 5:00PM so that it would be ready. And setting everything up in the church. Practicing the specail musical number, making programs, etc... It was a very full day. We almost didnt have time to eat anything. WE eventually had lunch with Karen and Mauricio (one of the men who was going to be baptized that night). Karen, his wife had as a surprise flown in two of thier best friends fro Santiago, and they are both members, Hugo, the husband flew in so that he could baptize Mauricio. It was a really cool experience for both of them.

Everyone started arriving at about 8:15PM, and that is when we knew all the stress was worth it. It was a beautiful little moment. We took a mountain of photos (the best three are attatched, and I will send another email with the ¨after¨ photos), and the the baptism began. 

The wives of José and Mauricio, (Viviana and Karen) gave beautiful talks about the principle of baptism and the Holy Ghost that made everyone cry, including the Branch President. And then we did our special musical number. Karen couldnt even sing through some of it because she was crying so hard. But after that moment, we all adjorned to the teeny room where the font was and prepared to watch baptisms.

Mauricio went first and he was super nervous. But as soon as he was in the font, all of that seemed to melt away. Hugo said the prayer, and he went under the water and back up without a hiccup. We quickly ran to meet him as he came out of the font, and he was just smiling from ear to ear. He didnt really know what he was feeling though. When we asked him how he felt, he just looked kind of dumbfounded, and said, ¨Wet¨. It was pretty funny. 

And then it was José´s turn. President Santelices is sort of short, and José is pretty tall. So the image at first was a teeny bit funny. But when he started praying, you could almost see the authority that he held. And then José went down as well. And when he came out he was smiling more than I had ever seen him smile before (and he is a smiley person). President only told him one thinge before they got out of the font, ¨Now is the time to be happy¨. And boy did he tak that to heart. I couldnt even get a good picture of him because he was moving around so much and crying and kissing his wife and crying some more. It was also very special. 

And when everyone was dried off and the font was draining, we went back and listened to them bear a quick testimony. Mauricio spoke of how he was very skeptical about everything church related before one of the lessons that we had with him. We had gone over and watched the Joseph Smith movie. The full length one. And then right after the dramatic ending with his death in Carthage, we watched Jeffery R. Holland bear his testimony of Joseph and Hyrum. We stopped after that, and we gave two very simple testimonies that we knew all of this was true, and we left. He said that after that moment he knew that it must be true. Because two men would not blaspheme before God in the very hour of thier deaths. It was a very humble telling of how a man of science and logic, learned to trust his own feelings a little more. 

José also bore a beautiful testimony about how his whole world was his wife. How she was not only someone that he loved deeply. But how she was the person who brought him the gospel.  He was crying, and his wife was crying, and we were just all crying. It looked like we all had been baptized. 

The confirmations yesterday were just as beautiful. THey both showed up a little early and they were wearing white shirts, ties, slacks, and dress shoes. And then after songs and prayer, they both were confirmed members of the church, recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost, and were also given beautiful blessings. They both walked away from church yesterday as the newest members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I am so blessed and privledged to be a missionary. To be a part of the lifes of these wonderful people. I know that I am right where I am supposed to be doing what I need to be doing. Life if beautiful, and i am so glad that I had the opportunity to be a part of José and Mauricio´s lives. 

I love you all. I know that this church is the only church that has all of the restored gospel and I know that God loves each and every one of his children. That´s right. Even you. 

Thanks for everything!

Hermana Randall

Week 32 Interviews, Smiles, and a Whole lot of Faith

Hello there World and Beyond! 

I hope that things are just going well with all of you, because things are heading uphill here. It means, yes we are working hard to wak all the way up to the top. But up here the sight really is something beautiful to behold.

We are seeing a lot of miracles in El Salvador right now. It really just goes to show that as long as you have faith and are working hard, you really can find prepared people in any sector of the world. Even if they tell us that we will never baptize in this sector. Fatih and hard work really bring miracles!

Because we are going to have TWO baptisms on Thursday! Our Mission President, President Dalton, came on Sunday, and he interviewed our investigator Mauricio. They talked for over two hours. And when they both left the room, the Spirit was incredibly strong. Mauricio told us that he knows that he is making the right decsion and cant wait to be baptized. José is basically a member at this point too. He offered the prayer in Sunday School and it was just a really great experience for both of our investigators to meet the Mission President. He even addressed them directly in his talk and then in the Sunday School class that he was teaching. His testimony and instruction were amazing and the Spirit was there the whole time. 

Long story short, this week was an amazing week of miracles and love. We are excited for this next week. Wednesday we are traveling to Copiapó for a world-wide missionary training that will be broadcast all over the world. And then on Thursday two baptisms. The first baptisms here in El Salvador for over 2 years. Miracles really do happen. 

Also we are getting a new Mission President in July. He is a member of the 70 right now, and he will be released in order to be my mission president! AND his wife actually served her mission here in Chile Antofagasta! How cool is that? :) He and his wife are also both Chilean, and I am super glad that I speak Spanish now. Haha. 

Many good things are happening here. I hope that these things are just as good for all of you where-ever you are. Love you all! 

Hermana Randall

PS. Go watch this video about the new Provo Temple. It is super gorgeous and a wonderful story. 

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/provo-city-center-temple-public-tours?cid=HP_TH_1-14-2016_dPAD_fMNWS_xLIDyL2-2_

Week 31 The Vision to Baptize

Hello there World!

This week has been one adveture after another.... I wish that I had time to tell every single detail... But I dont. So a rundown will have to do!

So first of all our investigator José finished taking all the lessons and is now married! He has overcome all of his trials and is ready to be baptized! We did have to change the date to next week though, because he suddenly was called into work this week (he is an EMT, we understand different situations). But is is more than ready! And we are so happy!

An investigator Mauricio, progressed leaps and bounds this last week. He went from being really sort of rational and scientific about invstigating the gospel, to having a fight with his wife (who is a faithful member) and realizing that there really are things in the universe that are more than you can actually measure in a test tube. So he took the plunge and read the Book of Mormon a little and prayed about it..... He told us, ¨I cant explain it. It isnt something logical or rational. But I know that it is true.¨ It was an amazing answer to so many prayers. 

He is set to be baptized on the same day as José! He has come to church a lot, and we are finishing the last lesson in the next few days. We are so happy to be here in El Salvador. Everyone was telling us that the work would be really slow over summer. And it really has. But it just proves that if you leave and work as hard as you can anyways. Even if all you do is walk in the sun, you are doing your job and the Lord is going to help you in your dedication. And as a reward for the years of hardwork by faithful sisters and elders here in El Salvador we are seeing the fruit. Next week we are planning on TWO baptisms. 

I love being a missionary and I know that the church is true. What I am sharing in the true doctine of Christ as a whole. Not only a couple parts. But the whole thing. I am so gratful as well that I have been called to serve in a Spanish speaking mission where I have to learn a lot more about myself, my faith, and my Heavenly Father, before I can ever communicate something clearly. 

I love this gospel. I have literally been a witness to the types of happiness and love that it brings into the hearts of the people. Seeing that change in their eyes make all of the ups and downs and heartaches worth it! Thank you all for supporting me. I love you so much. 

Until next week,

Hermana Randall

Week 30 ¡¡¡¡¡2016!!!!

Here we are! Another year, another opportunity to make the world and our lives a little better. 

I hope that you all had a great time ringing in the New Year! Things here in El Salvador were a little boring. But I still got to experience some Chilean New years traditions!

One of the things that people love to do here is make scarecrows out of old clothes and newspapers from the last year, and then at midnight they drench it in alcohol and light it on fire. And then set off like confetti cannons and drink a lot. Seriously. There was a lot of drinking. When we went out in the morning, there were piles of ashes and stakes where the scarecrows were burned, confetti and glitter everywhere, empty beer bottles and wine bottles everywhere, the occasional vomit pile in the street, you know. The regular. Haha. 

When midnight hit, Hermana Handley and I were acutally already in bed with the lights off. But we heard the sirens, cannons, fires, people, and a whole BUNCH of dogs, go off at midnight. Then the conversation went something like this, 

¨Happy New Year Hermana.¨ 

¨Yeah, Happy New Year.¨

We really lived it up. 

The best thing about this week though, is that our investigator José finished all of the lessons and doenst have a problem with anything! He told us that he used to drink coffee all the time, and he still doesnt see how it is bad for him, but that he knows Joseph Smith is a prophet so he knows God told him to not drink coffee, so he doesnt. He carries an herbal tea packet with him so when his friends all are drinking coffee, he just asks for hot water and drinks his tea. It is a great way to resist temptation. He is so excited to be baptized! He is has his interview tomorrow, is getting married on Wednesday, and baptized on the 14th! And to top it all off, my Mission President is going to come and visit El Salvador on the 17th, which is when José gets confirmed! The second time my Mission President has ever visisted El Salvador, and there is going to be the first baptism and confirmation in 3 years! We are so happy!

This week really has been amazing. We are working harder than ever, Hermana Handley ends her mission the first week of February, so we are determined to send her off in a spectacular fashion. :) 

I love you all so much. Thank you all for your emails and your prayers. They all really make the difference. I wish you all the best of luck for this new year. There is a great little video that the church made about a New Year. Im not sure what it is called in English. Im gonna go look and post the link. One sec.....

Found it.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/new-years-look-not-behind-thee?cid=HP_MO_12-28-2015_dPFD_fMRMN_xLIDyL1-A_

Happy New Year everyone. Remember, the future is what is ahead. That is what we can change, what we can shape. The past is past. We cant touch it. But we can give it to God, and he can use it to make something amazing. 

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!


Hermana Randall

Week 29 Merry Christmas from Chile!

Hello everyone!

Hope that this email finds you all well and happy, and ready for the Christmas season!

I still stand by the fact that if it is not freezing outside with snow and such, it is not Christmas. I miss my mountains and my snow! Haha. But there is something charming about being able to eat ice cream and listen to Christmas music. 

Not a ton happened in the way of the Work this week. We still have a baptismal date for José on the 16th of January, and other people are slowing progressing. The problem is that we just officially hit summer this last week here, and all the people in El Salvador are leaving. Not even joking, half of the branch and more are going to be gone until March. Yesterday was the saddest day of church in my life. 11 people showed up, not a one a person who was in charge of teaching a class, and then they ALL left after sacrament meeting. It was just two sister missionaries staring at an empty chapel, and two hours with nothing to do. That will kill your spirits pretty quick. But we are determined to help the members want to stay. And we are excited to start really working with the members. At this point it is almost like everyone in the Branch is a Less Active member.

We also had our Christmas conference this last week! I got to go to Copiapó with my companion. We met up with both of the zones in Copiapó and had a great day. Lots of Christmas stories and singing hymns. And there wasnt a musical number prepared, so I was nominated with another sister who is an alto to sing a song.  Hermana Handley played the piano and then we sang Silent Night, it really turned out beautifully as well. We were very happy with it, and President loved it. Always a good sign. And after all of the spiritual things were done, we traded gifts. I recieved a really cool gift, that won the Most Chilean spot. Its one of those toys where you have to flip the top up onto a stick that is attatched by a string. The one I got though is basically artistic only. The Elder that gave it burned the mission logo into it. It is really cool, and I totally forgot to take a picture. (Next week).

But if I had to pick the most spiritual experience for the week, it would definetly be during the conference when we were all singing Christmas hymns together. Just the fact that about 40 missionaries were all singing songs and testifying that the Savior is born, it really brought to my mind the scripture in Luke 2, when the Angel testifies to the Shepards that Jesus is born, and then around him are suddenly all the hosts of Heaven singing and praising God. That is really what we are doing as missionaries during this Christmas season. We are the angels sounding the trump to tell the whole world that ¨Ha Nacido un Salvador¨, A Savior is Born. As much as I love my snow, my mountains, my family and friends. I wouldnt trade anything right now, to be in Utah. Here I am doing the work of the Lord. The work that I have been called to do. 

There are people here that I have been called to meet and to teach, and even if they dont initially accept the church they have been given the opportunity. And that is my purpose  here. Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo. (Invite others to come to Christ.) Thank you all for the love and support that I feel from all of you, and for the many emails with Christmas wishes that I recieved this last week. I love you all and I pray for you always. Merry Christmas all, and may you remember the reason for the season. Remember that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ filled a manger, and emptied a tomb. Today my Savior, your Savior lives, and he loves all of us. And during this time of Christmas, remember the perfect baby, even the Christ, that was born to save the world. 

God bless us every one.

Hermana Randall

Week 28 The Christmas Season Begins....

Hello There Everyone!

Seeing people with Christmas lights in the windows and fake snowmen in the front yard feel almost like the world is lying to me that it is December. When broiling from the inside out is the state of your body during the day, it is not Christmas. No matter what the Calender says. Although Homesickness isnt a thing, because it doesnt feel like Christmas, which I guess is a blessing in disguise. Haha. For one of the neighborhoods here, they did a Christmas party, so they pulled a trampoline out into the middle of the street, set up some inflatable pools and had a big water party. It was really fun, and I got squirted with a lot of squirt guns while proselyting, that was a new experience for me. Here when it is Christmas, it is water fights and heading to the beach. That is super different. 

Things are going really well here in El Salvador though! I did have a pretty miserable 24 hours when I  caught a stomach bug and was throwing up all night. And it just happened to be the night of Companion Exchanges, so BOTH of the Hermana Leaders were there, so I recived way more support than was necessary. I appriciate that they love me and all, but sometimes you just want to throw up and be miserable in peace. 

But our investigator José is doing great! We were expecting to have a pretty frank conversation with him and his Less Active girlfriend this week about the Law of Chastity, but we had hardly began our conversation when they announced they were getting married the 6th of January! And then they asked us if he could be baptized on the 16th of January! (My baby sister´s birthday, that will be a good day for me.) Everyone is really excited, but no one more so than José he is super excited to be a part of this Church and to have the opportunity in a year to go to the temple and be sealed to the woman that he loves. 

We taught a good number of lessons this week, had intercambios (companion exchanges) and prepared for the Mission Christmas conference on Wednesday. We all are preparing a White Elephant gift to give in 3 categories, 1. Most Missionary 2. Most Funny and 3. Most Chilean. Im going for Most Funny, Im giving a carefully written Dear John letter (Querido Juan) a pack of tissues, a type of candy called Guauitas (which are shaped like little babies), and then an acutally good Candy bar.

I would also like to point out I found a bag of Reese´s Peanut Butter cups here! I did not buy them, because converting Pesos to Dollars, it was about $9.00 I was NOT paying that much.

Anyways! That was about my week! Ups and Downs and all arounds! Hope you are all enjoying snow and the spirit of Christmas. If you havent already I highly recommend you watch the new Christmas videos that the Church put out, they are beautiful and powerful. You can find them at christmas.mormon.org . I love them!

And I love you all! Have a great week! Godspeed and stay strong!

Hermana Randall

PS. I found a fabulous manaquin that I had to share with you all. I laughed way harder than I should have.

Week 27 6 Months Has Never Been so Quick....

Hello there everyone!

Hope this email finds you all well and happy, preparing for the Christmas season no doubt!

As the title says this last Thursday I completed 6 months in the mission. A third of my mission is gone, and I closed my eyes for just one second. I have to say that if the time continues to pass as fast as it has, I dont know if I will even have time to do all that I want to do.  It really spurred me onto new heights this last week.

Companion Update: Hermana Handley and I are getting along famously. She told me yesterday that I am the first companion that she has had in 16 months that she genuinily likes and considers a friend, not just tolerates. So that was nice to hear, haha. We are both trying to prepare for Christmas in the cheapest, prettiest way possible. Something tells me that we are going to end up having a lot of paper snowflakes and handmade things on the walls. We did splurge and spend mil pesos on some glittery garlends, we plan on decorating a little bit today if we have time. 

Things here in El Salvador are progressing day-by-day. We are working as hard as we can but I got to say, walking all day in the heat (it is about 85 degree weather and the sun is really strong up here in the mountains) uphill, really manages to kill your energy level. I have learned new meanings to the saying, ¨The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.¨But despite everything we leave, and press on, and work all the days! 

We were able to find quite a few new families and investigators this last week. The only problem that we are really facing right now, is the school gets out for summer vacation next week. And here in a little mining camp.... No one actually lives here. So next week, the population of El Salvador is going to go from about 5,000 people to like 2,500, and most of them are just going to be the men that have to work over the holiday. Our chances of finding people are dropping like a stone in a lake. But we have been praying and fasting faithfully to be able to find the people who are looking for the gospel truths this holiday season, and we know that if we stay valient, we are going to find exactly who we are meant to find. 

The one story that I feel the need to share with you all this week is about a family. The mother is named Elizabeth, and the father Juan Carlos. They have 3 children, 19, 13, and almost 2. They have been sharing with the missionaries for a very long time. A couple of years actually. The problem that they have is that they have lost faith in a loving God. 14 years ago Elizabeth was nursing their brand new baby boy. And he began to turn purple, they rushed him to the Emergency room, but things here in Chile, medical wise work a little differently. It took them a long time for a doctor to have time to even see the baby, and then he refused to treat him, he said they were wasting his time and that he didnt want to look at the baby. And because of that, their son died. They had the doctor thrown out of the medical profession, but it didnt bring back their baby. So for 14 years they have been in mourning. They havent celebrated the birthdays of their other children for 14 years. It is so sad to see two people, with young children, so hurt and affected by the past, that they cant appriciate what they have.... Breaks my heart every time. They are always receptive, they say what we share is beautiful. That they want to believe it with all their hearts, but they just cant find the faith in God to believe it. 

So the question I have for all of you is this: How do you get back your faith, when you feel like you have lost it completely after such a long time? We have shared all of the typical stories and scriptures, we are working with them as much as we can, and really concentrating on the love of the Savior, plan of Salvation, all of that. But you, my family and friends, how do you go about finding the faith you used to have?

I want to leave you all with my testimony of the Savior. I know that during this time of year when the world is so commercialized we need to remember why we give gifts in the first place. Because the greatest gift to mankind was given to us over 2000 years ago in a quiet part of the city of Bethlehem. Where shepards testified of the birth of our Lord, your Savior Jesus Christ I know that Christ lives, I know he was born here, he lived a perfect life, he suffered for our sins, he gave up his own life, and then he took it up again three days later. And I know that in our days he has once again raised his church. We have a living prophet today to testify and guide each and every one of us through the trials of these last days. I love my Savior and I know he lives. I invite all of you to go to lds.org and watch the new Christmas videos that the church has produced. I also want all of you to watch the sweet little Mormon Message, The Spirit of Christmas. I have had the privledge to share  that little video with many people this week. And every time it touches my heart. Not just because I get a little glimpse of my angelic little sister at the age of 6 or so. But because it is a poignent reminder that Christmas is more than a box under the tree in pretty paper. 

I know my Savior lives. And I love him. May he bless each of you. I love you all,

Hermana Randall