To mail letters:
Sister Mindee Sharp
Chile Santiago East Mission
Pedro de Valdivia 1423
Providencia
29 Santiago
Region Metropolitana (Santiago)
To mail packages:
Sister Mindee Sharp
Chile Santiago East Mission
Pedro de Vadivia 1423,
Providencia
29 Santiago, Region Metropolitana
CHILE
She would love letters and emails, no matter how long or short.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Many Miracles
Hna. Hunter's faith has been working miracles here in Ñuñoa 1! She extended the baptismal invitation to Francisco so that we could set another baptismal date. The Spirit was so sweet in that moment, and he accepted to be baptized this Saturday, the 20th. Also, Hna. Hunter made a connection with a less-active man, Javier, whom we had not been able to contact until this week. We taught him about the Restoration, and we were able to trade off teaching much smoother than in previous lessons. There was a notable difference in the Spirit when compared to lessons where I had dominated too much in the teaching aspect. I trust in Hna. Hunter's teaching skills, and she is gaining confidence as we practice in our studies and on the street. (My Spanish has gone down in quality a bit because now I speak English probably too much with her...we're working on speaking more.)
Other less-active members are also making progress. Nora is finally stopping smoking and is excited to pay tithing when she receives her paycheck this week. Andrea, who came to church last week, exstatically served us lunch this week, and is begining to read the Book of Mormon again.
Daniela (15 yrs, investigator) attended the Stake Youth Camp this week. She says that as soon as she pays off the debt she acquired by purchasing a Justin Bieber concert ticket, then she will stop working on Sundays and come to church. :)
Spoke with an atheist man in the street. In the past, once someone told me they didn't beleive in God I didn't know what to say. But this time I felt the Spirit giving me confidence to keep talking even after he said he didn't want a pass-along card. I tried to follow Aaron's example (Alma 22) and asked him why he didn't believe, how he thought all the wonderful things around us had been created, and bore my testimony that God really is our Heavenly Father. That I believe that the world isn't just an accident of evolution. And that we have a greater purpose here on earth. I don't know what will come of this conversation, but I do hope my words will echo in his ears until he realizes that there is a God who loves His children.
I would like to testify that Heavenly Father answers our prayers, no matter how small. All of our plans fell through on Friday night, and it was cold and we needed a bathroom quite badly. We passed a member's house, but no one was home. Continued a bit, sat on a bench to pray and ask for comfort. We also asked that we might be able to find a bathroom...The situation was desperate! We made an unsure plan, stood, and then Hna. Hunter said "Let's return to the Reyes family," the house where no one was home. Ok, so we went in faith. And what do you know, Carla opened the door and cheerfully received us. Her bright attitude lifted us up and she gladly let us use the bathroom!:) A simple miracle, but I do beleive that it only came to pass because we had prayed and asked. Pedid, y recibireis. Llamad, y se os abrira.
We've been trying harder to make sure our lessons aren't longer than 45 minutes (to be obedient to the mission rules--it's hard because there is so much to teach and people like to talk!), but it has resulted in the ability to have more lessons at the end of the day. However, we need to find more investigators who will actually progress towards baptism. This week our goal is to continue searching for the Lord's prepared children. One tactic we are trying is drawing the plan of salvation by bus stops. People rubber-neck a bit as they drive past, but two gringas walking the street in long dresses calls attention anyway. So why not teach at the same time?:)
I have made so many friends among the ward members, the other missionaries, and the people in my area that I never feel alone. I love the people, and often forget that my hair isn't black and my eyes aren't brown.
With Renewed Faith,
Hermana Sharp
The favorite spread here is "Manjar". I realized you can make it by doing the following--Boil a can of condensed milk for 45 minutes. Then flip it over (so the top is now on the bottom) and boil for another 45 minutes. Let it cool a bit, and you have Manjar! It's delicious on toast, cookies, apples, or just about anything. Have it for a family home evening treat!
Hola!
Hola a todos!
My new companion (my "daughter," as you say, although she is three months older than me) is Hermana Hunter from Boise, Idaho, fresh from the Chile MTC. I consider it a sacred responsibility to not only teach her the ropes of the mission field, but to really fortify her Spanish as well. I knew all those Spanish classes I took would be worth it one day:) And I know that the gift of tongues makes it possible for me to talk with and teach my Chilean brothers and sisters. This week I've noticed a miraculous increase in my ability to understand the language (partly because I'm paying more attention since I don't have Hna. Camargo to explain what someone said, but mostly because the Lord is qualifying whom He has called.) Hna. Hunter boldly approaches every and any person on the street, and then all I have to do is open my mouth and the Spirit helps me preach, bear testimony, and invite others to hear more. It's not easy to begin a conversation, but once the ice is broken--literally, porque es invierno aquì--the fact that we are all spirit brothers and sisters can't be denied.
Training has presented me with the opportunity to increase in charity, faith, obedience, and diligence. Hna. Hunter reminds me to pray, to love, and to remain humble.
Fast Sundays are my favorite day of the month. Francisco made it to church (in a suit, even!) and he's excited to start preparing names to take to the temple a week or two after his baptism. His enthusiasm for family history work is inspiring, and it strengthens my testimony that we are responsible for the salvation of our kindred dead. I know the temple is the house of the Lord, and I miss being able to go every week. "You are never far from home as long as you can see the temple." I've hung up five more pictures in the temple in our apartment:)
Guillermo also blessed the sacrament, and I teared up seeing the fruits of our labors--his spiritual progression--and my heart was full as I considered the truthfulness of this Church.
Jimena also came to church, along with Andrea, a less-active member who we encountered by miracle. Her address was incorrect in the ward list, and for that everyone had forgotten about her. But this is how we found her...We felt prompted to surprise-visit Jimena on Friday. We talked outside, and a neighbor passed and said, "I've been waiting for you, missionaries!" Huh??? Jimena told us he is a member so we knocked on his apartment door. He and his wife immediately invited us in for cake! The Moras have two houses and technically are part of the ward near the coast, so we had no idea they lived here, too. But Brother Mora immediately started talking about how he shares the gospel with his neighbors (including Jimena!) and he took us to Andrea. All she needed was an invitation to come back to church! And look what happened, she came back to the fold:)
Miracles are happening in Ñuñoa (thanks to Hna. Hunter, I know). What miracles can you see in your daily lives? With whom have you shared the gospel?
Always Learning,
Hermana Sharp
P.S. Fun fact: There are three members in the ward that share my birthday, including the Bishop, and it just so happens that we are going to have a ward activity that day, the 26th:) Feliz Cumpleaños!
I'm Senior Companion
First thing's first; I'm staying here in Ñuñoa, but Hna. Camargo is leaving:( And I'm going to train a new missionary!!! Wow, I have only been here 3.5 months. But the Lord and President Wright trust me enough to carry the load of this sector AND teach another sister how to work in the mission field. Now I just have to trust that I have learned enough to be able to handle the responsibility. Deep breath... We've heard that 14 American sisters and only 4 Latina sisters are coming...so tomorrow I'll find out if my "daughter" speaks Spanish or not. Please pray that Heavenly Father will bless us with the gift of tongues!
Second; Once again Francisco's baptism didn't happen. He had to work this Sunday and he found out Saturday night. :( Basically, the entire ward is waiting on the Sunday in which he will finally be free from the police station so that he can be freed from his sins and be baptized!
Third: A miracle happened Wednesday night; After 20 rough days of not seeing Jimena and her daughters, I felt like I should call her and see if we could have a lesson sometime this week. She answered and said she could meet with us "tonight"! But we had Ward Counsel, and any other day this week was busy for her. Chuta...Ok... Ten minutes later, we got a call saying that Ward Counsel had been cancelled. So what do we do now? Call Jimena back, call Hno. Taiba to see if we can teach in his house, and BOOM! We were able to fill our evening with a worthwhile lesson that resulted in a new baptismal date for Jimena, Daniela, and Valentina. Everything happens for a reason. :)
Fourth and Fifth: As circumstances would have it, we ended up seeing the 1st counselor of the bishopric every day this week: He invited us to take part in FHE to teach his children how to prepare for their missions, we returned the keys to the church on Tuesday, had a lesson with Jimena and her daughters in his house Wednesday, lunch with his family Thursday, and Friday he was in the church when we had Francisco's baptismal interview there, so I think he was less than amused when we showed up Saturday morning to help clean the chapel.
Bishop Rodriguez and the rest of the ward counsel have taken to heart the worldwide leadership training. We visited Bishop this Saturday just so Hna. Camargo could say goodbye, but he started talking about our Progress Report and made plans of how he is going to ensure that our investigators have friends in the ward, baptismal clothing when the day comes that Francisco doesn't have to work, and how we're going to involve the new ward missionaries. Sunday in Ward Counsel he was informed and ready to enlist the help of the members. The Relief Society Pres. offered her house for a lesson with Jimena, and the High Priests are assigning a brother to help Guillermo prepare names for baptisms in the temple.
This ward is becoming more and more devoted to missionary work each week!
Members are the key to real growth in the Church.
Open your doors to the missionaries and their investigators!
Love,
Hermana Sharp:)
P.S. Happy July, enjoy the crazy-warm summer.
Capacitacion
Francisco was supposed to be baptized this Saturday (29th) but his mom got sick so he traveled south to be with her and didn't make it to church yesterday. And investigators have to come to church 3 times before they can be baptized. So, it might be this Sunday if he doesn't have to work. I'm learning the lesson of trusting in the Lord's timing. Jimena and her daughters have been telling us 'no' to church and lessons, so we're worried about what might have happened...Herminia can't come to church because she's a maid for a 90 yr old woman who can't be left alone, and we're trying to help Esperanza understand the necessity of repentance in the road to her salvation. So we're in a bit of a rut as far as investigators go. We've had to knock a lot of doors this week, which is alright but not very fruitfull. People either waggle their finger at us and say 'no, no, no' or they say their really busy and that we should come back another day (so we return another day and they're still busy.) But sometimes we meet really nice people who listen to us outside and at least I have fun talking to them. I'm trying to be more like Tyler in talking to everyone. It's true that nobody is ordinary.
We have a washer and dryer in our apartment, and it's not so bad having little heaters instead of central heating. I'm excited for the girls in all their summer activities. They do have holidays (sometimes in the middle of the week!) and on those days there is NOBODY in the streets. Their big independence day is the 18th of September and I've heard that that week is really fun and festive.
Gracias por las fotos! Te amo!
Zone Conference this Friday reminded me of elementary school: Learning the basics in-depth from 9-4 o'clock with all my missionary buddies, and pizza for lunch:)
President talked about the importance of temple covenants in the salvation of God's children, and asked this question: "Perhaps you have passed through the temple, but has the temple passed through you?"
Sunday, I was stoked for the Worldwide Leadership Training, where Elder Perry announced that in order to adapt to the changing world, our missionary labors will experience transformations to technology-based proselyting. I agree with the leaders that the old-fashioned tracting, knocking on doors, isn't very effective anymore. The average person is not likely to open their doors to strangers to hear a message about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. But everyone likes to explore on the internet. In the coming months we may begin to use computers (iPads even?!) to help us accomplish our pupose:
Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the Restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
But we don't have specifics or details. These things are all to come:) How grateful I am to be part of this marvelous work and wonder.
Until the cookie crumbles,
Hermana Sharp
P.S. Hna Gomez, in the ward, taught us how to make sopaipillas, delicious biscuit-type treats made with squash and flour. "Rico!" (delicioso)
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