Week 68 Time Travel

Hello all. I somehow seem to be speaking to you from the future, or twice in the same week or something, because one week could not possibly have passed by so very quickly.

But aside from jokes, it is really true. I thought that the last transfer went by quickly and now we are beginning Week 5 of this transfer. I found myself looking for the pictures that I am going to put on my last Missionary Agenda yesterday while waiting for my companion.......

But other that the fact that the time went by so very quickly, we had a really great week. A very busy week. But a very great week. :) In fact I am very happy right now. I love just everything. 

We taught a ton of lessons, but few with members so we are going to be working on that. But we sent up a couple baptismal dates that look very promising. The work continues to move forward here in Antofagasta! 

I feel bad saying that there really isn't a ton to write. Because I feel like there really isn't much. Because honestly I'm not sure if I already told everyone because I'm thinking about last week instead of this week. They are all just the same LONG week now. 

One thing that was fun and funny at the same time, Saturday we got a call from Sister Marquez the coordinator of the Open Chapels (who just so happens to be in our ward as well) asking if we could go and do the Open Chapel that they had THAT afternoon in the other Stake. It requires 4 sister missionaries to do an Open Chapel, and the other Stake has 6..... But 4 suddenly couldn't do it..... So we got the call as the sisters with the most experience in the whole mission to come to the rescue. We had to cancel a couple things. But we went to the other stake and had a great time teaching the gospel and helping out with everything. There is a sister in the other zone that is from Finland, she speaks pretty good English, but she is still learning Spanish. She only got here about 4 weeks ago. It was rather beautiful to hear her try to communicate. Because although she want speaking a lot of Spanish, the spirit was there as she struggled to share her testimony. 

Also, there is a new hashtag for Christmas approaching! It looks like it is going to be a really good new initiative. So be on the look out for it. (Christmas seems a lot closer here in Chile because there really aren't two holidays in between. Halloween doesn't really exist all that much here. And Thanksgiving not at all.) 

So I hope that you all have a great week and that you are able to accomplish  many things and show your family that you live them a little more everyday. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Hermana Randall

Week 67 General Responsibility, General Conference

Hello everyone! Can I just start out by telling you all that I love you so much!? I am just filled to brimming with the amazing happiness that the mission brings. :) I know that sometimes I am so tired that it is hard to get up in the morning (even harder now that the light bulb burned out and we need to get up in the dark), but EVERY SINGLE DAY is worth it. I LOVE the mission.

This week was a hard one in the way of finding new people to teach, but we are making progress with some of our investigators and we think that there will be a baptism headed this way soon. He is a great kid. Very sincere, and very honest. The story of Joseph Smith has him fascinated. And he came to ALL FOUR sessions of General Conference this weekend. How cool is that?! 

General Conference was super amazing as well! We were spiritually edified and enjoyed every moment of it. :) I watched the first session in Spanish because we got there late, and I didn't know that they had a separate room for the Gringos to watch in English. But I got to watch the last 3 sessions in English. I can understand in Spanish, but all of the talks hit more close to home when i hear them in English. Plus when I listen in Spanish I cant watch the people talking or trying to read their lips throws me off. So I have to look down and take a tone of notes or draw pictures so that I don't loose track of what they are saying. But I love being able to understand Spanish. :) I had the realization this week that I am now bi-lingual and I felt really cool. :)

The Gringo Elders were Fun/Annoying to watch conference with. We the sisters were reverent and took notes quietly and had our little snack on the side. But a couple Elders literally brought bags of chips and a liter of soda or so. It was crazy. They cleaned it all up okay. But it was certainly interesting. (At least they shared a little.) And every so often one Elder would shout out, ¨Ya! Preach it Elder!¨ Or something else like, ¨That´s a quote! Write it! Write it!¨ And then they all realized that I write quickly, so when they weren't able to copy down a name or a quote they all asked me what it was. So there were a couple things we missed as sisters because of obnoxious Elders. But then you have to have a little mercy on them because they haven't been to a sports game in like 2 years, and these are like their favorite church stars throwing out their two pointers or a field goal to win the game (you go BYU). So I get it . :)

But that brings us to today. There weren't many things utterly exciting this week. There were always moments to remember and my journal has the details. But I get here and start writing and everything just gets so difficult to write about. So all that I can say is that I love the church. I love Christ. I love being a missionary. I know that I cam called of God to be here and this moment and in this country. And this city. There are people that we are called to find here in the world. People that we talked to before this life began. And we promised that we would find them here. We would share the gospel with them here on Earth. I am always looking for them. Just like conference said, ¨This is the truth, and I feel like I knew it before.¨ The seed of light inside of all of us begins to grow, because these are just truths that we have forgotten. They are not new. They are just forgotten. We need to remember them we need to remember that we are children of a Heavenly Father and Mother, and that we are loved every one.

I love you all! Hope to hear from you all next week! The gospel is TRUE!

Hermana Randall

PS. Played soccer today! And taught a group of Young Women this week :)

Week 66 Capilla Abierta and Interviews

Another week has passed by faster than I could look at it. I feel like I´m driving on the highway, and everything is passing by too fast to concentrate on them. So I'm just starting at the mountains in the background so I don't get sick. Only in this case, the mountains are appointments and things on my To Do List.

I hope that this week has treated you all well. I know that a few of you wrote that you had a hard week. Just remember that for every hard week there are always two good ones waiting.

We had a good week here in Cerro Moreno. We´ve been working hard and we are seeing the fruits of our work. The problem is that this week was a week of vacations and a ton of people were out of town. Including the majority of our teaching pool. But the good news is that they should all be getting back sometime today or tomorrow. So our numbers should be on the way back up again. 

The Women's conference was something very special. We brought an investigator, and she was taking notes the whole time. It was such a fun experience to see the progress that she is making in the gospel. She told us that she knows that these things are true. And after experiencing a bunch of different churches, she said that she has found something that she WANTS to participate in. She WANTS to be a part of this. I love the gospel. 

This weekend we weren't able to do a bunch of proselyting. Basically we were in the Visitors Center. I cant remember if I have explained the ¨Capilla Abierta¨ before. But basically what it is, is we bring the temple visitors center to different chapels. We have banners, and we have sister missionaries leading the tours of the chapel and explaining things. And then two Elders dressed in white in front of the baptismal font explaining baptism and the Holy Ghost. And all of the other Elders leave to bring and invite people to the church to come and see. :) It is a great program. And we did two different ones this weekend. One Saturday morning, and the other Sunday Night. And the one on Sunday was wonderfully attended. It was fun, spiritual, and enlightening. 

But that was basically the week. And now we are heading into the middle of the transfer. I cannot believe that I am almost done training my companion. She is more and more able to do things without me now. Every so often she still looks at me with questions, but more often than not she participates and does everything just like a super missionary. I am so proud of her. :) 

I hope that this next week is wonderful for each of you and that you are all able to accomplish various tasks and goals. Keep the Lord in mind and you will be able to do everything that you need to do. Just keep in mind something that President Uchtdorf said on Saturday, ¨Faith cannot change two things. The agency of other people, and the will of God.¨ So pray with everything you have for the things that are necessary. And then remember that if they don't happen, then they really weren't that necessary for your progress. He will always give us the things that we need to progress spiritually, sometimes the spiritual things need to come before the physical comforts of life. 

I love you all! Have a wonderful week, enjoy another day of life, and I hope to hear from you all next week!

Love, 

Hermana Randall

Week 65 ¡¡¡Feliz Cumpleaños Chile!!!

Hello from Chile!

Yesterday and today are the independence days of Chile! So we are just filled to busting with barbecue, empanadas, and chilean folk music. It was such a cool week! The new sisters that are living with us are sure nice, one I met before because I was her Hermana Leader last transfer, but Hna MacDonald is super fun. It is an enthusiasm boost to live with two other sisters. And they are clean as well, so that always helps. 

But the week went by rather normally here, but Wednesday was a little different. We had a visit from Elder Brag of the 70 and a member of the Area Presidency. Maybe the President. Not sure. And he had a special meeting with all of the leaders in the mission right before as well. We talked about obedience and how we, as leaders, help to set the ``Culture`` of the mission. It was very spirit filled. And the meeting that followed was also really cool. He speaks Spanish and his wife speaks a bit as well, so they were able to communicate with everyone that was really fun. 

And then on Saturday we had the ward party for Independence Day. It was filled with typical Chilean food and dancing. And we also played a good number of typical Chilean games. I will proudly tell you all that I won the sack race! I did however face plant it after touching the finish line. It wouldn't have been so bad if I were on grass. But cement is a different story.... My hands and knees were all bleeding and such. Ouch.... I managed to make it to the bathroom before I cried though. Haha. 

And a member made us typical dresses to wear! I got to pick the colors and she made it. It was so nice of her. :) And blue is my favorite. 

Yesterday to prevent all of the missionaries from just wasting time eating things with members or investigators, President called the whole mission and said that the Zone that had the most lessons with a member yesterday in the afternoon would win something. So we called our ward mission leader and he set everything up with his mother running us from place to place in the car, and members going for a couple hours with each of us. We taught 4 lessons in the afternoon all with members. And the other sisters as well! We had 8 altogether, and we destroyed the competition! We also found a really great investigator, new people to teach, and had a ton of fun! I love being a missionary!

Basically it was a great week filled with empanadas, fun, and miracles. A member can really make a difference in the enthusiasm and progress of the work!

Love you all! Do a missionary a favor and go spend an hour with them. They will love you for forever! Just like I do!

¡LES AMO! ¡FELIZ 18!

Hna Randall

Week 64 Nothing Like a Suprise!

Well world, we have reached a milestone this week along with a few other miracles!

Today I write you as I begin my last 12 Weeks in the field. I say this not to be trunky, but because the office is officially doing all of the paperwork to send me home, and BYU is starting to bug me with registering again and etc.... I have a lot of mixed emotions about it to be honest, happy to see everyone at home again. But more of the truth is that I have really grown to be Chilena. This is my country now. I also am not sure if I can remember to speak English. I know that my grammar skills have lowered considerably. So I´ll have to relearn how to do some things. Haha. 

But this week was AMAZING. We have a couple investigators who are younger and they were going to be baptized on the 17th of September, but they changed the date and they were baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!! M. and her little brother A., it was one of the most spiritual experiences that I have participated in in my mission. It was amazing. Their parents bore their testimonies and the spirit hit us like bricks. I was crying and the ward mission leader was crying, and we were all super emotional and filled with love. It was beyond words, I truly felt my Savior in the room with us that afternoon. 

The Elder that baptized A. (9 years old) is 6´4, and A. couldn't stop looking at him. He´s like a super hero, when he came to their house to to the interview A. left and brought a friend to show him how tall Elder Court is. It was hilarious to see him looking up at him. And during the baptismal service he bore his little 9 year old testimony to tell us all that he felt just like a Super Sayian (from Dragon Ball Z, don't know how to spell it in English) with a new level of power. And that he was grateful for the tall Elder and the small one too. It was hilarious. 

All the rest bore wonderful, short, powerful testimonies of the gospel as well. And how they know that the church is true. I know that their mother ( a non member) is not too far behind them now. She told us so. :)

We also were able to spend the weekend with the President´s daughter Gina. She is 18 years old, and she is super cool. We had some great lessons together and really bonded. It was nice to have here there. I really feel like all of these young women remind me of my little sisters, and it is nice to have someone like that with me after so long. (Hear that Cassidy and Emma? I LOVE YOU!) 

It was just an amazing week. I am without words. I love the mission. I love my companion. I love my calling as an Hermana Leader, I love my eternal friends, I love everything. Everything is amazing. I hope you all know that.

I love you all! Have a fabulous week!!!!!!!!!!

Hna Randall

PS. We are having 2 new sisters move into our apartment and I am their Hna Leader, they are going to be opening a new sector in the other side of our sector, which before was my sector. So if they need help I am going to be living with them. That is going to help them not get lost I think! Haha.

Week 63 Smile That Frown Away!

I would like to honestly confess that I don't know where the week went. I do believe that I lost it. I tried to find it. I looked everywhere. But I believe that I have possibly dropped this week in the street somewhere with one of my sweaters, and it is irreplaceably lost. So here I sit, writing once again.

This was a phenomenal week. We have set some goals as a companionship to be more focused and such, like leaving lessons faster, setting baptismal goals in the first lesson, etc. And we have really seen the difference. We had a bunch of lessons with a member this week. We are focusing on training the Ward Missionaries on how to really fulfill their callings.  And with that we are releasing and calling new ones. The ward missionaries that we have right now, aren't really much help. They don't do much, or don't follow through on the promises that they make. Which is sad, but we are picking up and moving on. 

We had a really great lesson this week with a young woman that we have shared with one before. We shared the Plan of Salvation that our Heavenly Father has planned for us now and through eternity. And what we need to do here to make it to the eternities. She absolutely lit up when we talked about baptism. How she could erase her past and start all over again. She could show God that she wants to follow him and all that. She started crying and told us that she wants to be baptized because she knows that it is something that she needs to do in order to be saved, and something that she wants to do in order to FEEL saved. We all cried at that moment, and she gave us a hug and told us that we are the sisters that she never had. It was an amazing lesson that was just filled with the Spirit, She told us that we answered all of the questions that she had always had about life. And when we asked her mother what she thought about her daughter getting baptized, she said ^Well, I now that it is something good. Something right. And I know that it will help her with all of the bad things that are going on in the world. I think that it is a goal that we are going to work for!^  So we set a date for the 10th of September and we are steadily working towards that goal. :) 

Let`s see, what else. 

Honestly this week went by so quickly that I cant really write much more. I just hope you all know how much I love being a missionary. I know that I am not the same person that went on a mission. Now I am the better version. And here I am at the part of the race where I start to sprint to finish the best of all because you can see the finish line. 

So I love you all, and I hope that you are letting God to change you one day at a time. That you take inventory and say, ^What am I doing well? What can I improve?^ And then you act on the impressions that you receive. 

You are all the best of the best of the best (sir). (Brownies to those who get the movie quote.)

LES AMO!

Hermana Randall

PS. We played soccer with our mission president today...... He really knows what he is doing. I can tell that the way to his heart is through soccer. I'm

going to remember that. Haha.

Week 62 When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going

Hello Family and Friends!

Hope that you all had a great week watching the Olympics and enjoying the last week of summer before school starts. 

We had an interesting week here in Cerro Moreno. We worked hard, and we saw very little success. It happens sometimes, but it is always hard when it does. We had to travel a lot this week to doing things in downtown Antofagasta, so we also lost a lot of precious time where we could have been working. I realized this week that I am going to be so bored to have to work in an office again for the first little while after I get home. I was a couple hours without proselyting and I about died from the anxiety of it all.

But we did have a few fun things happen this week. We had one of the first ¨Capilla Abierta¨ here in the South America South Area of the church. That means that we had an Open House in our chapel. We had the entire Zone in our chapel, and we basically turned the entire chapel into a Visitors Center. The problem is that sometimes members are so eager to help that they scare everyone away. We had to get after a couple members for taking a lot of photos like they were in a circus and explaining doctrine that not even a member of 100 years understands. But we did contact a good number of people and the refreshment at the end were good. 

We were in charge of receiving the people that came. So they came and sat in the Sacrament Hall and we gave them a brief Welcome to the Church, please turn off your cellphones deal. We did all of this in front of a big banner of the statue of Christ that is in the North Visitors Center at Temple Square in Salt Lake. And then we listened to the audio of Jesus speaking and we bore testimonies as missionaries. 

Afterwards we directed them to the Cultural Hall where there were two other sisters with 6 other banners. They explained the 6 banners very basically with testimony, themes such as, The plan of Happiness, Jesus our Savior, The Great Apostasy, The Restoration, The Book of Mormon, and Modern-Day Prophets. 

From there the group is lead into the room which contained the Baptismal Font. There they are received by two Elders in white, where they explain the ordinances of Baptism and Confirmation by the Gift of the Holy Ghost. And testify of this sacred experience. 

Then they are lead to a table filled with copies of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, cards, etc... And are invited to fill out an information card if they or someone they know would like to learn more about the church from the missionaries. 

From there they were able to visit each of the rooms and meet the organizations (this is where, instead of letting them look and ask questions, the members had presentations of about 10 minutes each..... Some people got so bored that they were unable to make it to the dessert at the end....) And then there was dessert.

It is a pretty cool idea, and it was very fun to participate in, I felt a little like it was opening night of a show and I wasn't ready for it...... But it all worked out rather well. :) We are going to do another one in another chapel on Friday.

That was basically the week. Running around doing things without seeing much progress. But the important thing is that we did our best. Success comes when we are faithful even if we aren't succeeding. 

We are ready and willing to work even harder this week to prove it. 

I love my companion, I love my Savior, and I love my family. My real family, and my Chilean family. I hope you are all well and having success in your various walks of life. I love you!

Hermana Randall