Member-missionary work

Great things are happening in Macul.

Stephania Alarcon, who's preparing for her mission, accompanied us for five hours on Thursday. Wow! What a miracle--we taught six lessons (our weekly goal) in one day! But we did our best to keep teaching with members--Sister Piña is a convert of 4 years, and she is the best member-missionary I've ever seen. I felt overwhelmed with joy when Elisa, the investigator we had visited together, came to church with Sister Piña. During testimony meeting, Sister Piña stood and exhorted all the members to "go out with the missionaries, because there are so many people who need our help!" Elisa tends to stay in her house all day, alone and depressed, but Sister Piña repeats often that her life is going to change. During Gospel Principles class, the teacher Angelo Cataldo made Elisa feel very loved and special. She told multiple people in the chapel that she's going to be baptized:) 

While Elisa is sailing along in her progress, Eduardo Donoso is being kept back by his Catholic wife. Eduardo suffered a stroke a few years ago, and is still learning to talk and walk again. Members brought him to church last week, but this week his wife put up a fit and said that he can't go again. When we ask HIM if he wants to go and if he wants to be baptized, his eyes light up and all signs are go. I feel like all we can do is keep praying and fasting and visiting until Eliana, his wife, softens her heart. The advantage we have is that their daughter, who lives with them, is a recent convert, so she is on our side:) 

I know that the Lord answers prayers--in His own time and in His own way. Never stop praying. The answers will come if you're looking for them. 

Love,

Sister Sharp

Let the Holy Spirit Guide

This week I remembered the importance of letting the Spirit guide, whether it be in studying, teaching, or deciding where to go. If I were to describe all of the experiences I had this week, you would be reading this letter until next week's letter arrives.

 For example, a young man who's family members are members of the Church would listen to us on his doorstep, but never seemed interested in what we had to say. This week, I felt prompted to ask him if he'd ever wondered where we go after death. His face immediately lit up and he said, "Yeah! Actually, I asked myself that yesterday when I found old pictures of my father on Facebook. My dad passed away two years ago and I cry when I remember him. What happens after death?" Right then and there we layed out the Plan of Salvation for him and he soaked it all up. Often, people don´t take quite so much interest in the Plan when we mention it--or they say that they already know the answers--but I know that in this moment with Elvis the Spirit was testifying to him of the truthfulness of our words. He WILL see his father again. :) The Gospel, the Plan, is REAL, not just a good theory. It's true, and there are so many people who need to know about it!

I went to Trinidad with Hna. Taylor. I love going on exchanges with her because her postive attitude and enthusiasm for the work always inspire me. Her motto is: "We're going to see miracles!" There, their work with the members is impressive--in just one day we accomplished three of the four lessons that were planned! Their area is an example for ME. In my sector we've gone way down in lessons with members, due to my own doubts or forgetfulness I'm sure....I know we need to lengthen our stride. I'm doing my best, despite apparent opposition and afflictions, and I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. This week Alma 34:40-41 helped me get through:

"40 And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions; that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them;

 41 But that ye have apatience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions."

...The beauty of this week's challenges was what I learned from them. There's not a fix-it-all-immediately solution to our struggles. (Though reading the scriptures and praying help a ton!). Although I felt great reading Alma 34, it didn't completely wipe away the difficulties, I'm certain that it gave me strength to push on. Despite doubts, frustrations, impatience, and stomachaches, something kept me going. And that something is the enabling power of Christ's Atonement (Mosiah 24). Thus, the sorrow of my tribulation was swallowed up in the joy of the Son.:)

Keep on keepin on!

Sister Sharp

We are Christians

Blog: We are Christians

During Zone Class, President appeared (we were grateful to have arrived on time!) and participated in the class. I felt like his teachings of the plan of salvation were just for me: many of my questions were answered and my testimony of the plan increased ten fold. I know the Plan is true! And real! And perfect. Christ made it possible.

On the street, a man accused us of not being Christians, and refused to hear our testimonies. I felt awful, but remembered 3 Nephi 12:11 and 12, which says that we are blessed because the prophets, too, were persecuted and rejected. How hard it must be to be a prophet...

We carried out our first English class in the chapel. I was nervous and felt unprepared, but Heavenly Father helped me to go forward with faith and teach what I know. I love teaching! Two investigators came, and Hnas. Allred and Alvarez also accompanied us. At first we thought both of the investigators were ours, but it turns out that one, Leonardo, actually lives in Hna. Alvarez's sector. Sad for us, happy for Hna. Alvarez. I felt a special spirit when we helped the investigators read from the Book of Mormon. Leonardo (who originally said he was only interested in learning English, not religion) was fascinated by the chapel and came to church the next day!

We're finding that many of the less-active members in our ward have joined other churches (adventists or jehova's witnesses, to be exact), but we're trying to have lunch with them in order to at least bring the Spirit back into their home.

Many of our investigators have chronic illnesses. The first counselor gave one of them a priesthood blessing, and she felt the Spirit warmly embracing her. Balbina's never-ending tears were evidence that she had been awstruck (as Elder Holland explained) by the feeling that God really does know her. The only difficulty is getting her to church because she can hardly move...

Another investigator takes care of a woman with dimensia. During our second visit to sing to the old woman, Tulia, the caretaker, Olga, asked to see our "bible." She was fascinated and excited to read it.

Betty, who has come to church with her granddaughter, told us that she realizes she needs to choose between The Church of Jesus Christ and the Jehova's Witnesses (she's listening to both missionaries.) I have faith in Moroni's promise that God will answer and guide her to the true church!

I went to Lo Canas with Hna. Araujo for an exchange and was impressed by her courage and boldness. She knows the doctrine, is not ashamed of it, and teaches it 'al tiro'. She knows how to do her job. It's amazing how just one year working as a missionary transforms us into messangers of the Lord. I still don't believe it sometimes.

Finally, to avoid any signs of trunkiness, Hna. Urzagaste and I set the goal to not speak of things that have to do with before or after the mission. We just barely started, so I don't know how effective it will be, but I hope it helps us to focus on the work more and more.

I know that this is the only true Church of Jesus Christ. 2 Nephi 31:21. The scriptures are my best friends. (And as Hermana Urzagaste said, the Bible and the Book of Mormon are the perfect marriage, ha.) Christ is my strength, and Heavenly Father is my Guardian. I love them, and my goal this year is to serve Them, and thus come to know Them better than ever before. I only hope that I can help others to come to know Them, too. 

Nos vemos! ("Si no nos vemos, vamos al oculista," dijo un investigador)
Hermana Sharp

P.S. My companion, from Argentina, had never tasted tacos (how that can be, I don't know) so we made them for lunch today. Yum

Happy New Year in Chile

Blog: New Be-grinnings in Chile

More and more I am recognizing the Lord's fidelity to Ether 12:6--"no recibis ningun testimonio sino hasta despues de la prueba de vuestra fe." (ye shall receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" or something similar.) The first half of our week was dry--few lessons, zero new investigators, and January 1st topped it all for the trial. It was the lonnnnnnnggggggest day of my entire mission. We were tired, hot, appointment-less, and the very few people in the street all told us "no." The rest were sleeping or out of town. I can't describe how discouraging it was. We prayed all day for strength and guidance, but it felt like we were sinking into the abyss. Night mercifully fell and we had ten minutes left before curfew. The temptation to return early was great, but I knew it would do us no good. So we did what we could and started knocking doors. From the second house emerged a widow, smiling! She recognized us immediately and told us that she is a member, unable to attend church because she takes care of a bed-ridden man. Her records are not in our list, and we never would have found her if we had given up the faith. I counted this tender mercy of the Lord as the witness that came after my faith.

But that wasn't all. The next day, Heavenly Father poured out his blessings upon us without restraint. We received five new investigators by finding and teaching 3 different families (as opposed to individuals)! No one told us "no." The two following days, two Sisters overcame their fear and accompanied us to lessons. These same Sisters brought our investigators to church, and each said they'd be happy to go out with us again! It truly is powerful to teach with members. We plan on involving them more and more in the work.:)

Reviewing the week, I cannot deny the Lord's infinite mercies and blessings. He is in control of His vineyard; I just have to trust Him and do what He has asks of me--walk in the heat, pray in the difficulties, and testify in the streets and homes. 

We lost two of our main investigators, Monica and Luis, because of month-long visitors that they have, but on the bright side we found out another investigator, Betty, really IS married and so we won't have problems with the law of chastity. :) She fell asleep during her first time in church yesterday, but she's still so excited to be baptized. Her granddaughter, Dariela, made friends right away in Primary. How grateful I am that she is 8 years old...there would be no way to tell her that she isn't old enough  to be baptized if she were only 7. :)

Returning to Ether 12. If you find yourself in a rough spot, remember that trials are part of the Father's Plan of Happiness. Keep the faith and I promise you'll be blessed eventually. The Lord won't let us suffer more than we can bear--He will comfort us in the perfect moment, and that way our faith will be strengthened to withstand the next trial. This verse for me describes the roller-coaster of life:) Trial, comfort, trial, blessings, trial, strength, trial, blessings. In the end it's always blessings.:)

Love and light, looking forward to a great year,

Hermana Sharp

P.S. The photo is the view from our apartment. With the construction outside, plus the busy streets, it's always noisy. But the Spirit is still there inside. ...Can you see Las Vegas? 

Look at this Flower

It is an Alien, I almost don't believe it is real/

Thanksgiving

Our thanksgiving:) Turkey sandwiches with pie and vegetables. And pizza in the evening with a member family. Ha. I was full, but it was the littlest amount of food I've ever eaten on Thanksgiving. The part that really mattered were the seven lessons we were blessed to teach that day:) Francisco, a recent convert, is happy as ever and can't stop talking about how he tries to share his belief in God with his friends at work. Marietta has been going to the Relief Society activities and finally invited us to her house to teach her. We went with a Sonia Cancino (who visited you in Utah!) and Marietta asked the perfect questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here in the earth? Where will we go when we die? I'm so grateful to know of the plan of salvation. I love teaching it to those who don't know. It's so simple and perfect! I think it surprises people when they realize that we, young women in a strange land, are so sure of the simple answers we can offer them.:) Also, Daniza approached us on the street one night last week and said, "Something inside tells me that I need to talk to you two. Call me so you can visit me." This week she came to the Relief Society activity and we taught her two times, calming her broken heart by teaching her of the healing power of Christ's Atonement. She came to church yesterday, too! In my email for the blog I talk more about Jimena's miraculous baptism yesterday. 

We're working and praying hard to help our ward meet the goal of 12 baptisms this year. Counting Jimena we have 9. It's a miracle, because for the last two years, Ñuñoa 1 didn't have any baptisms at all. And like a wave, this year we've had 9! But it's not the number that counts, it's the people. And we have this goal to help us stay motivated and really do our best to bring souls unto Christ. In this final month it will be a complete miracle if three more people enter into the waters of baptism in this ward. The more specific our prayers, the more easily we can see the Lord's love and His answers. Can I ask you and the family to pray this month?for Valentina (Jimena's daughter, who said she will be baptized, she just doesn't know when), Daniza (who needs to be healed by the Atonement) and Silvana (an investigator of the other sisters in our ward, who's husband is a member and she is so close to baptism but just doesn't want to take that step).

Alma 6:6 

We believe in miracles! Heavenly Father wants to bless us with them if we just have the faith and the actions to bring them about!

This was our Thanksgiving Dinner!!!!!!

 With Daniela, Jimena's daughter. She's wonderfully sweet and caring! Reminds me of my little sister, only a bit shorter:)

If There is One Thing

If there's one thing I've learned on my mission it is that the Lord has it all planned out. 

Everything. 

For seven months we have been teaching Jimena Navarro, 45, and her two daughters. They were referrals from a member in Los Plátanos. Daniela, the 15 year old, decided to be baptized in August:) But, despite our prayers, fasts, and efforts to read the Book of Mormon with them every day, her mom and sister stopped progressing as investigators. It was a struggle to get them to come to church consistently and they always forgot to read the scriptures.  So we only visited on occassion, and our enthusiasm especially diminished when Jimena told us she had decided to wait until April 20, 2014 to be baptized. She wanted give her younger daughter time to prepare and be baptized alongside her. Ok....great.

This week, while Hna. Araujo was here with me on a division, we went to teach Daniela and ended up focusing more on Jimena. Her health had improved drastically (from basically blind to seeing, from hardly walking to cruzing around without her cane) and she had come to church the Sunday before. I read a few verses in Alma 5, Hna. Araujo spoke of the protection of making covenants with God, and before we knew it Jimena exclaimed, "Yeah..¡me voy a bautizar este domingo! No voy a esperar más." If only I could recount the many moments that lead to this miracle---including Jimena's desire to be baptized at age 18, a desire which was squashed and distorted into rebellion due to her father's disapproval; a member's close frienship and doctrinal teaching all these years; Daniela's baptism and activity in the Church; answers to prayers that Jimena had received in the Gospel Principles class; the member who retiled their floor, which pleased Jimena's father to the point that he finally agreed to let us Mormons into their house; and the chance encounter of our ward mission leader in the park where he spoke to Jimena very boldly of the urgency and blessings of baptism. I'm sure this summary don't make sense, but it is proof to me that every child of God has a personal lesson plan. Each will come to know the Gospel in the special way that the Lord has planned it. I can't force it. I can't predict it. But I can be part of it. And for such a blessing I am grateful. 

Isaiah 55:9"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your way, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

In the photo: Jimena, with her daughters Daniela and Valentina, us,and the members that introduced her to the Church.:) Who do you know that could be receiving the blessings of the Gospel? Bring them to church, won't you? I promise they'll be grateful that you did. Who knows? You may end up with a picture in your scrapbook similar to this one.:)

Love,

Hermana Sharp