Silver Lining

The sky is literally gray (welcome winter!), but the General Conference "Liahona," English practice, a dance competition, and a baptism line the days with silver. 

First, the baptism was perhaps the easiest one I'll have my entire mission. Why? Because literally all we did as missionaries was fill out the paperwork! The story: Francisca is 10 years old; hence she counts as a baptism for the mission. But her parents are members and she has Downe Syndrome. Technically, she didn't need to be baptized, but her sister turned 8 and they wanted to be baptized together. Thus, two little angels dressed in white graced the chapel with their presence yesterday:) 

Second, the gym became a dance floor this Saturday for the youth of the Stake as they competed in salsa, tango, merengue, Rock´n Roll, you name it. I very much enjoyed seeing real Latin culture for a moment before we retired to the Bishop's office to escape the music and teach Francisco (25 yr old policeman from southern Chile) the final lesson in the series. His original baptismal date was the 9th of June, but he had to work two Sundays and said he had some personal issues to resolve...This produced mucho worries and stress for us. But as we asked him questions and resolved his doubts, it was clear that he has come to know that this is the true Church and has a sincere desire to follow Christ by being baptized. So he will be the 29th of June:) The Cancino family, in who's home we almost always teach Francisco, has come to love him as "their very own investigator," like his family away from family. 

Third, I tried my hand at translating when Hermana Camargo was assigned to deliver a presention to all the new missionaries about how to study more effectively. I helped her, mostly by translating for the gringos, and discovered that I was able to speak more quickly and clearly in Spanish than when I had to translate to English...It reminded me of the difference between the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues... Also taught a lesson in English to Renato, who started out only wanting to practice English with the missionaries but is now investigating. I think I had to rely on the Spirit even more in that lesson to loosen my tongue than I do for lessons in Spanish:P Don't laugh at me when I come home not knowing how to speak English.

Fourth, thank you all for letters, emails, prayers that I have received on your behalf. I can't express how grateful I am for your support, your love, and your thoughts. If I run out of time to respond to anyone, read a General Conference talk instead of a letter from me, haha:) I know the words of the prophet and apostles are true, powerful, and just for us. 

Love you!

Hermana Sharp

Photo's of Hermana Mindee Sharp in Santiago

 On the streets of Santiago

At a corner Market.

 The street of downtown Santiago

She burnt her rice, so she just used it as a tortilla shell.

This is from a tourist view point of Santiago .

This was one of her baptism. The lady in the chair.

All caught up!

Ok, We are all caught up as of today June,13. Tara showed me how to post and now i just have to figure out how to do the pictures. Everyone write or email Mindee when you can, she will love to hear from you.  mindee.sharp@myldsmail.net.

June Bug

Hi Family, 

I can't beleive it's June already. I've been in the mission for 3 months (and and 6 days)!! I can't imagine how much more I am going to learn, because so much has happened and I have grown so much in just this time. 

Let's see, to respond to the news first...

Yayyyyy Tara!!!!! Congratulations and Happy Birthday!!! The cake looks like it was so yummy (Oreos are really expensive here) and you are going to be a great dancer/SBO. I'm sure Lexie has lots of great tips for you on how to rule the school. Wanda, can you please make sure the blog is updated?:) Thanks! 

Cool cross country for Lex!! We don't have enough time to go running in the mronings, sometimes we have to run back to our apartment at night, but that's not enough to keep up my cardio ability. Run lots for me, and when I get back we're going to run a 10K, ok? Ok maybe I'll start with a 5K. But it's your job to make sure I start running again when I get back. Thanks:) Even my companion says Lex looks like me. She refers to my sisters as ''the one that looks like you'' or ''the littlest one,'' haha. I love the picture collages! 

Jordan really got married already?! That was fast! I didn't know he was dating anyone. Congratulations to him. The weather is cold cold, especially since we're outside almost all day. Between 35 and 50 degrees. It rained, poured, on Tuesday and cars splashed us and the gutters were filled with water that reached up past my ankles. But we proselyted anyway! 

Alicia and Amy finally wrote me emails:) I can't believe they're leaving so soon! I'm not the youngest in my mission anymore, as more sisters are coming and some have barely turned 19. 

Thanks for the quote, Mom. This week I've been thinking about which talents I have, which I want to develop, and how I can improve in order to serve other people. I know Spanish is a huge blessing/talent, and my ability to teach and talk with strangers has improved as well. It's true: the more I do something, the easier it becomes. 

I caught a tiny cold yesterday, but just my throat hurt. Now I'm better.Our investigators are doing better. Those that we have are on their way to baptism, but we haven't found anyone new to teach this week. We talk with everyone and knock on doors, but anyone who is interested seems to live outside of our area or doesn't want to give us their address. We fasted today to find new people to teach, so I hope we can find people who are prepared. Please pray for Herminia? She, especially, wants to get baptized but is scared to do so and has to work basically 24/7. 

Blog: June Bug

Hermana Camargo punches me every time we see a Slugbug. ''Ponchito!'' is the name of the game. Also, people ask us if we get to live normal lives after the mission, but I don't know what they're talking about. We live perfectly normal lives right now...We go bowling, tell jokes in every opportunity, talk to strangers, slip through usually locked gates to get to the apartment doors inside, splash in rain puddles, eat lunch in a different house each day, say hello to every person we pass on the street, have a curfew and a bedtime, and run around two by two in skirts and backpacks. 

I'd say that's pretty normal. :)

I laughed as we trudged through the rain this week because it was my turn to actually live the ''When I was on my mission...'' stories that I've heard all my life. Rain can't stop this work from rolling forward, so I won't let it stop me either. 

We are focusing on preparing Guillermo, our recent convert, to perform baptisms for his ancestors at the end of the month. Francisco and Jimena, Daniel, Valentina are close to baptism, we just have to iron out a few wrinkles this week. All four made it to church (as well as Silvio, whom we weren't expecting to come!), and although Jimena passed a moment of low blood sugar, she pushed through it and stayed for all three meetings. The members have begun to really support us in the work and immediately welcome our investigators into their homes for lessons. 

Due to Hna. Camargo's leadership position, I've been blessed to do exchanges with many sisters, from whom I have learned much. Perhaps the most potent experience was teaching a lesson with Hna. Jackson and Hna. Hollenburger while our companions were at the leadership training this Saturday. I was touched by their humility, and humbled even more when I had to lead the lesson because of my more advanced Spanish experience. I had to rely on the Lord instead of Hna. Camargo to help me understand and teach. For this I felt my ability to follow the Spirit increase tenfold. 

I know Christ can help me change and purify the desires of my heart, so I'm working on becoming ''qualified for the work'' through developing the attributes listed in D&C 4. As I study and understand the doctrine of Christ, I am learning how important it is to focus all my heart, might, mind, and strength on baptizing converts. This is my goal. 

Forward in Faith,

Hermana Sharp sharp Sharp sharp Sharp SHARP! (The Elders in my Zone chant my name for some reason)

P.S. Thanks for letters/emails! They mean a lot to me:)

De la Carte

The new Hna. in our apartment has David Archuleta's CD so we're all good there.:) 

As for me, I´m getting better at teaching coherent lessons. I still have trouble organizing ideas in my head, but in the end I just have to say what the Spirit tells me to. I realized I eat when I´m nervous or anxious so I have to work on not doing that. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARA WANDA!!!! I will miss it by one day next week. I LOVE YOU!!! Save some cake for me. 

Something we´re taught to do--as missionaries and as members--is let the Holy Spirit guide. Easier said than done, but the results are often obvious.

Each night we spend 30-40 minutes planning what we´re going to do the next day. This week practically all of our plans changed, and they changed for the better. 

Tuesday: Found out Francisco was free from work in the afternoon, so we took advantage of the opportunity to take him on a tour of the temple. He has a way of saying what needs to be said and no more, and at the end of the tour he commented, "This won´t be the last time I come to the temple."

Wednesday: Stricken with "no-bathroom-in-sight" syndrome, we painfully walked for an hour to an investigator´s apartment. She wasn´t home. Ah! Prompting to go instead to a less-active member´s house and ask to use the bathroom. Once there, they so kindly gave us dinner as well, and we were able to teach the daughter, who when we first arrived in this ward refused to listen to our message. Mini-miracle.:) 

Thursday: Referrals from members lead to much more success than knocking doors, but we recieve few. Hna. Johansson advised us to pray for referrals, and boy what a difference it has made. Just two hours after we prayed for said blessing, the family who gave us lunch this day gave us the name of their barber who had expressed interest in the Church. Prayer is powerful! "Ask and ye shall receive," this I know is a true promise. 

   Also, we hadn´t panned to visit Herminia (a contact weeks ago), but we passed her house by chance and she had time to let us in. Her nephew is a bishop in another ward. She recounted a dream she had had--she described being in heaven, I think--and knows baptism is a important, serious step in her life. She´s been looking for the true church all her life, belives this to be the one, and will be baptized. Just, she didn´t accept a specific date. A special daughter of God, indeed. So docile and precious. We talked softly and slowly as we taught because her demeanor was that way. 

Friday: Nora still says she'll never be a Mormon, although she was baptized four years ago. But she didn't smoke during the lesson this time, and she is quick to say that each time we come she feels peaceful, happier. :)

Sunday: Francisco came to church for the first time! Yes! And the members were so great in befriending him right away. Member support is key in the conversion process. If the investigators don´t feel welcome, noticed, helped in the Church they´re not going to want to join. I wish I had known, when I was in my home ward, that the people the missionaries bring to church are in desperate need of the Gospel, and as members we have the duty to share this blessing with them. Help them understand; they are  your brothers and sisters:) 

Miracles continue. I wish I could write them all. 

Today I completed 3 months in the mission. Still loving it!

Hermana Sharp

P.S. Mindee-After-Midnight has a new name: The Sharp Syndrome, and it happens at every 9:30 when we make our way home. Giggles come out, I crack jokes as best I can in Spanish, and all the fatigue from the day is washed away. 

In the Mouth of Two or Three Witnesses

What a thrilling, drilling week! I think so many of our appointments fell through because Satan was angry that Guillermo was going to be baptized this Sunday. Though the week was rough, all went smoothly with baptism. I feel blessed to have been part of Guillermo's conversion story and to have experienced this fruit of our labor so early on in the mission.  

Our abundance of investigators has dwindled to only a few toughies, but Fransicso is our wish upon a star. We met him in the subway--later found out that he was listening to gospel music in his headphones at the time--and taught him about the Restoration this Friday. He's 25, from the south of Chile, and lives and works in the police station. It seems that each lesson we have in the house of a member is more powerful than the last. Hermano Cancino's testimony of the prophet and eternal families excited my soul   and Fransisco was on the edge of his seat as he heard for the first time the truths of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

"I've been praying to ask God if what I read in the pamphplet and the Book of Mormon is true, but I don't know how God answers prayers," he said. As we explained the uplifting fruits of the Spirit, his eyes lit up and he responded, "Yeah! These past two days since I met the missionaries I've felt happier, more excited to get up in the morning and do my work, and I don't feel so alone anymore." Wow:) At the end of the lesson, after he accepted the baptismal invitation, he said, "I had so many questions, but I didn't know how to ask them or where to find the answers. But now they've all been answered." The Spirit's presences testified to him and to me of the power of the Lord's omnipotence; He really does know each and every one of His children. 

As this transfer finishes out I am pleased with the personal progress I have made, as well as the progress we have seen in the ward. 

Hna. Camargo continues to push me to be my best--including helping me to improve my problem-solving, telephone-conversation, and cooking-in-Chile skills...I still have a long way to go, a lot more to learn, but she reminds me to not run faster than I have strength. 

With faith in the promise of Ether 12:27,

Hermana Sharp

Changes, Ranges and Rain

Cambio = Only the missionaries who will be transfered receive a phone call from President; awaiting this call was worse than hoping for a date on a Saturday night. 

............. 

 And I remain in Ñuñoa with Hermana Camargo:) Although I've finally finished my training program, I'm not quite ready to leave my trainer. The mission field ain't no college campus. 

We're struggling to find new investigators. What can you say to people on the street that will interest them in listening to us? "Hey, have you heard about the Mormons??" "Want to change your life?" "Did you know the Catholic church, your church, isn't God's true church?" Anything less seems to bore them, but I'm not as daring as my brother. (I wonder if he reads this?)

Esperanza's baptismal date fell through because she's moving back to Ecuador, but a miracle followed shortly. We fasted last week, and two days later recieved a referral from another ward of a mother and her two daughters who want to be baptized--remind you of anyone? (Guillermo!) 

Ximena, Daniela (15), and Valentina (12) are in love with the church. Ximena drank and smoked all through her youth and now has many health problems, but once her friend invited her to learn about the gospel (in another ward) she knew she wanted her daughters to live the standards of the Church. In our first lesson with her, she said she wanted her daughters to be baptized, but didn't feel quite ready herself. We taught the Restauration and at the end invited all three to be baptized the 16th of June. All, including Ximena, accepted with big smiles. Valentina already knows she wants to be a missionary. 

Fransisco asked the golden question at the end of our lesson on the Plan of Salvation: "And how can I be worthy to live in the Celestial kingdom?" Yes!!! Be baptized!! "And how can I prepare for my baptism?" Perfect!!! Attend church. "Oh, but I work one Sunday every month." Ohhh...pray and ask for a way to come to sacrament meeting, at least. "Ok! I knelt to pray one night and my roommates laughed at me, but I didn't care. I kept praying." Why isn't he a member already? is what I ask myself.

Finally, it rained. HARD. Trying to visit a less-active and she wasn't home. Sprinkling turned into a flash flood in a matter of seconds and we dashed to the nearest shelter. My glasses resembled a windsheild without wipers and I could only see Hermana Camargo running ahead of me. Two shopkeepers beckoned us into their store and were very kind. I dried my glasses, my Book of Mormon, and observed my surroundings...

Never before have I been inside a liquor store. But only in the mission, right?

The flash flood turned into hail, so we really couldn't leave. It just so happened that the shopkeeper was an inactive member, though, so we talked to him about the Plan of Salvation and he told us his opinions of the Church. In the end, he became inactive because he never had a testimony. He never prayed to ask if it is true. 

Please, dear loved ones who are so kind to read my rantings, get on your knees and ask God if this is His true Church. Read from the Book of Mormon and then ask if it is truly the word of God. Remember the miracles of the Joseph Smith story and ask if he really was a prophet called by God to restore the Church of Jesus Christ. If you do this with a real desire to know, I promise you that the Spirit of God will place in your heart a testimony that cannot be denied. 

I know it's true, real, and more important than anything else. 

With All My Love,

Hermana Sharp

Remember the Miracle Man

This week the reality of miracles and of the devil were made very apparent to me. Not only did two hardened, less-active sisters finally allow us into their homes, but we also set our first baptismal date!!

But immediately following Guillermo's acceptance to be baptized on May 12th, I felt the adversary throwing his shafts in the whirlwind at me. My testimony of fervent prayer and "clinging to the rod" increased as I did all I could to resist the darkness of the devil... This war is real, and I am grateful to be part of God's army. Stay strong and true, my beloved family and friends. 

Now I feel stronger and even more driven to bring the light of the gospel of Christ to all in Ñuñoa. 

We found two binders in our apartment with hundreds of names to contact; as we continue finding more investigatores and teaching those that we have, I know this ward will flourish with the fruit of our work.

I learned what hope is: Hope is the drive to continue doing what is right, having faith that blessings will come. They may not be immediately apparent, but God will stay true to His word. For every commandment there is a promise. (D&C 82:10) 

Missionaries everywhere thank you for your prayers. We need them, and our investigators need them more.

Love and Light,

Hermana Sharp