Pictures

Confie Confie Confie Confie!

This week felt like Christmas but better--I love General Conference more than any other time of the year. The Spirit inspired me to listen to Conference on behalf of our investigators. Sacrificing this opportunity for personal revelation brought blessings that are visible on the 6 pages of notes I took (that´s not to say I didn´t recieve personal direction as well--only that I tried to focus outward instead of inward). These notes contain messages and teaching ideas for each person we are working with. My desire and direction has increased exponentially, for now I have specific revelation as to how to act as the Lord´s hands in our sector. As I have shared these notes with Hermana Camargo, I am amazed how similar or complementary our ideas are. My testimony of the importance of the Spirit in our companionship is growing right alongside my testimony of the living prophet and apostles. 

Two of our investigators watched all sessions of Conference--Yay!! 

We are extremely grateful for the fruits that are finally appearing after our weeks of sewing. We have five pretty solid investigators. And I'm seeing how vital members are in missionary work. Recently we've taught two families with the help of two member families, and the  friendship and support of the members has accelerated our investigators' progress more than I ever believed possible.  We pray for and anticipate many baptisms in the coming month. With Elder Holland's message in mind, that all things are possible to him that believeth, I go foward with faith. 

I am excited for Hermana Camargo´s assignment as Training Leader. It means that I'll sporadically be leading in my sector during her exchanges. While this frightens me a bit, I know that faith can overcome fear, and I am grateful for the opportunity to prepare more realistically to train in six weeks (because 50 Hermanas are on their way next transfer and practically every sister will be training.) 

This week I've pondered the connection between the commitment people have to their work or hobbies or whatnot and their commitment to God, to the gospel. What are you committed to? Why? Is your commitment to the Lord the strongest, and if not, how are you going to turn more fully to Christ this week? 

Hope on; Journey on.

Hermana Sharp

P.S. I meant to write to my friends at BYU today, then realized that the addresses I have will be invalid by the time the letters would arrive...Good luck with finals dear ones!!! 

P.P.S. In other news, we traveled to the center of the city twice this week to get Hermana Camargo's visa. Wow big city! I found myself thinking "I want to travel the world!" and then realized that I AM traveling the world (kinda) and I should absorb every moment I am here. Live in the moment. Also, in an office there we met Norma, who approached us and pleaded for comfort because her 16 year old son was killed two months ago...People really need this gospel. Please help the Lord share it.

Pictures

 Hna. Camargo

Santiago Mountains

Easter (c)Andies

Chocolate here is bland, if you can believe; but I was still incredibly, surprisingly grateful for the few chocolate huevitos I receieved from some members after church. The people are giving, giving, giving. Charitable beyond belief. Veronica gives us breakfast and lunch on the days we help her organize her house, and the young family Hinojosa offers to feed us lunch once a week instead of just once a month. The only way I can express my gratitude is to work harder in that which I have been called to do.

 Autumn has arrived, and the streets were deserted this weekend because everyone was on vacation. A homeless man gave us dried flowers and we knew he, too, is a child of God. 

The conserjes (men who call the apartment you want to visit to ask permission for you to continue on to the apartment) are usually hard and blank. But Enrique asked us who we were, and Hna. Camargo proceeded to share a bit of our message to the world. He listened intentely, then turned to me and asked, "And what would Y[OU like to tell me?" I knew that it was a golden opportunity to bear my testimony. I paused, then opened my mouth, and the Spirit filled it. I am amazed by how much more fluently I am able to speak Spanish when I am teaching or testifying. As long as I trust in the Lord, sentences spill from my mouth like a cup, overflowing. I bore my testimony that our message is true, that it has blessed our lives, and that as long as Jesus Christ lives we will share this message of joy and peace with all of God´s children. Since I have been here I have not seen someone´s eyes glisten with the Light of Christ so much as Enrique´s did at that time. 

I see the same Spirit in the eyes of the members of our ward. It is often said that the Church is the same all around the world--it is--and how it feels like home even in a ward that it not your own. I never knew the profound truth of this until I came here. The Bishop, who sang "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" on Sunday, is like a friend I´ve known all my life. Hermano and Hermana Gomez remind me of my grandparents (in their eyes, their food, and their devotion to attend the temple each week.) And the Young Women are like sisters. 

But just as I´ve learned more of the Spirit, I´ve also seen more of the darkness in the world. A woman passed us on the street, asked us who we were, and proceeded to tell us how no one can know what is truth. She accused my companion of being a soothsayer and me of capturing people with my blue eyes. How sad it is that people can´t see the truth when it is presented to them. We bore testimony to her, yet she stayed in her own world of confusion and darkness. 

In other words...during dinner (´"once," pronounced own-say) with a member, her daughter and friend joined us and they ultimately asked us questions about the meaning of life and of Christ´s Atonement. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and I extended the invitation to read the Book of Mormon to the friend, 50 year-old Irma. She was elated to recieve it:) 

Also, we walked past an investigator´s house one night before our scheduled visit. I had a thought to stop by an confirm our time for the next day, and instead she invited us to teach her right then and there. Just as Elder Bednar has said, sometimes you won´t recognize right away that the Spirit is inspiring you to do something. But if you are keeping the commandments and living worthy of the Spirit´s companionship, you don´t need to worry if a thought is of the Spirit or simply your own thought. Act on it, and you will either be re-directed or blessed for choosing the right. In my case, this day, we were blessed with a lesson after an entire day of walking and walking. 

Lastly, we hiked the Andes today. :) Check that off the bucket list! Beautiful, and much like the Rockies, except for the cacti. 

Until General Conference!!

Hermana Sharp

P.S. This week´s challenge--Read Moroni 10 and pray again to know that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I promise Heavenly Father will answer, and no matter where your testimony is right now, it will increase. I know because I did this on Tuesday and had a beautiful experience. 

Bautismo, po

Chilenos say "po" like it means something, but it has no definition. "Si-po," they say, instead of something like "you know it" or  "duh" or "yeah." So I went to my first baptism, don´t you know it!

But I cannot tell a lie; this baptism was not one of my investigators (of the which we have two and two halfsies.) Poor Hna. Camargo was pulled out of her previous area in the middle of the transfer order to be my companion when her long-time investigator had a date to be baptized. The baptism date was set for yesterday. And so our kind President Wright gave us special permision to travel forty minutes south and attend Cristian´s baptism. Field-trip! Never before had I traveled by subway; I realized just how varied, unique, and complex Heavenly Father´s children are. The subturranean train was filled with Chilenos of the same skin color but a rainbow of personalities. To see diversity in movies (because there isn´t a whole lot in Utah) is not the same as seeing it in the eyes of the people surrounding you. And to only guess the stuggles, pains, and afflictions behind the eyes of those who have not heard the good news of the gospel is kind of crushing. How grateful I am for this universal, all-encopassing, eternal gospel of Jesus Christ that brings relief to my soul and to all those who are willing to receive it. 

...Yet I did not open my mouth to share it. Knocking doors is easier than trying to take on a train. The courage required to do so is something I´m working towards. 

When President Wright spoke the words of the baptismal prayer, the Spirit moved me to tears. I´m so grateful I was able to experience a baptism so early in my mission, for it gave me a better view of what I´m working towards and what I´m inviting people to do.

After the baptism, the family invited us to almorzar (have lunch) with them in their house upon the hill. Wow-view-of-all-of-gigantic-city. Imagine the Salt Lake valley, bigger, with taller buildings scattered throughout, all in one Santiago. And the tallest building in Chile, towering almost over the mountain it seemed. (Can´t picture it? I do believe the vista is google-able). 

Almuerzo is the biggest meal of the day. And when I say big, I mean big. Sometimes we eat with the members of the ward, and they serve us plates of salad, pasta, bread, meat, vegetables, and tacos fit for two or three people. And then they bring out dessert! Although it´s nearly impossible to keep a normal diet, I´m grateful that I am in a walking mission, and that I inherited a fast-metabolism. :) It´s tasty, "rico," food though. Their ice cream is creamier and tomatoes fresher. 

We walked and walked this week. Taught my first, real, non-member lesson to a cute 10 year old named Nacha. Her grandma is a convert and we gave Nacha a BoM in picture form to help her understand it. Her smile during the short lesson was contagious and inspiring. Later in the week, we found a woman named Maria Angelica, who said she believed in God but not religion. She let us in, and I prayed silently with all the faith I could muster because I was afraid to break the fragile confidence we had gained with Maria. As she silently looked through the pamphlet of the Restauration, the Spirit weighed on our shoulders like a pound of feathers. Heavily, heavenly, powerful. Then, with a different light in her one eye, she invited us to return the following week and teach her more.   (Wow! The blessing after the trail of our faith!) 

Now, tonight, we have a lesson with a family who was referred to us by the first counselor in the bishopric. We´re ecstatic, hoping to baptize the entire family. I´m realizing really how important members are in this great work. I invite--plead, even--each of you to search, ponder, and pray for someone who you can refer to the missionaries. If you´re scared, pray for courage (just as I am doing in order to be able to talk to people on the bus or the street). If you don´t know how to share the gospel, go to lds.org or read parts of Preach My Gospel. Or ask the missionaries in your ward: they can help you! :) You have been blessed by this gospel, think about it. Wouldn´t you want your friends to share this joy and understanding with you if you didn´t have it? Every member a missionary :)I promise Heavenly Father will guide you and bless you as you share the gospel. 

Remember this Easter that, truly, Christ has risen. 

Love,

Hermana Sharp

P.S. It´s my cumple-mes this Wednesday! Like a birthday, but it happens each month on the day that you entered the MTC. CAn´t believe I´ve been Hermana Sharp for a month already. Also, Chilenos have difficulties saying the "sh" sound, so many call me Hermana Charp. Or those who know a little English are careful not to say Hermana Shark. Haha. No matter how they say my name though, they all know that I´m from the "factory"; that I´m "of the fábrica," even Salt Lake the center of Mormonism. 

P.P.S. Friends, family: Email me at mindee.sharp(at)myldsmail.net, please! I want to write you, but I don't have addresses or email addresses. Mucha' gracia':)

P.P.P.S. Happy Birthday to all those who have birthdays, and thank you for the letters I received in the MTC!

PPPPS. I´ll stop writing soon. I just wanted to say this to my friends who have their mission calls. As Hermana Skabelund says, "Remember that you didn´t put a P.S. on your mission papers. Remember that you signed up for all the walking, the talking, the studying, the rules, and the responsibilities. Give all you have to the Lord, without complaint, and He will bless you with joy no matter what comes."