Machali 3/2/15

Hola! 

Wow, this week has been a crazy week. I feel that I am in a whole different world here in Machali. Our sector here in Machali is all the cuicos (rich people). Also its a ward not a rama and there are so many people that it is overwhelming. In my other area I knew all of the members and super super well but I don't know if we are going to be able to get to know all the members so well here. My companion is super great! She is from Herriman Utah. She is the first companion that I have had who is younger than me. I have always been the youngest in my sectors so it's really weird to not be the youngest. Hna Chapman is in the process of learning spanish. But she is really trying, she almost never speaks english. She tries her best to speak spanish. It was hard though because this week we had a lesson with a member Dani and Hna Chapman told me and Dani that in the last cita they had that they watched the video and I asked her if it was the video of the restoration and she said yes so in the lesson Dani and I were making references to the video of the restoration and the menos activo Nicol had no idea what we were talking about, and we were like, wait, you didn´t see the vid of the restoration and she told us no. And after the lesson, I was like, wait, hna Chapman what vid did you see and she was like the one with Elder Holland. It had nothing to do with the restoration. It made us laugh. But everyday her spanish is getting better. 

Well, this week our mission president challenged us to read the book of mormon from the begining and we need to finish it before april 30. I am really excited about the challlenge. I started over this week and it is amazing how every time you read the book of mormon you learn something new. I love the book of mornon and I love how as I read this book I feel closer to my savior and I learn what He needs me to learn if I am listening. 

Funny story for the week, we got home to our house on thurday night and when we walked in the house, I realized that I didn't have the cellphone and I was praying in my heart that Hna Chapman had it but she didn't have it. I left it in the house of an investigator. and normally I would just borrow the cellphone of another hermana in the house but we live solas and so we had to go to the neighbors house who isn't very happy with us because our grass is dead in front of the house and borrow her cellphone. Luckily we had written the number of the woman but the next day we had to go to the mission house and neither of us knew how to get their so I needed to call the elders but we didn't have their number and I had no idea what to do but then I remembered in my other agenda I had the number of the zone leaders in Santa Cruz so I had to call the zone leaders in santa cruz to get the number of the zone leaders here and then call them. I felt so dumb! I have a goal to be more organized because this isn't the first time that I lost the cell phone. But the good news is the next day we got it back so at least I didn't have to buy a new one this time.

 

Well hasta la proxima semana! Les quiero! 

Hna Ayre

Transfers 2/23/15

Hola Todos! 

Well, we received transfers this week and I will be leaving Santa Cruz. I'm sad because the people here have become like my family. I have lived so long here that its hard to imagine what it is going to be like without them. Yesterday in church la Hna Nadia came up to me crying because I was going to leave. It's amazing how much you can love the people you serve. I will be going Machali in Rancagua. Supposedly its the heavens of the mission. I will be going to finish the training of Hna Chapman. This will be the first time that I will live with one other Hermana no mas. It will be interesting but I have heard great things about Hna Chapman and we are going to be great friends. 

This week was a week of miracles for us. We will be having a baptism here March 7. An Hermana of our converso Oscar called us the other day and told us that she needed to talk to us today, and she lives far away so we were kind of hesitant in  changing our plans to go over there but we went and she told us about how she has just been feeling really down and how she feels that she is kind of stuck in her life so we talked to her and we told her that God wanted her to get baptized that this is what is going to help her get out of her slump and she was really excited and said si! And she came to church Sunday so all there is left to do is prepare the baptismal service. We are so excited for her. Im bummed because I won't be here but thats not what is important. We also have had our converts who have been super menos activo come to church this past week and our other convert who has been super menos activo came too! I am so happy that at least I am leaving the sector looking uphill even though it's a bummer because I would love to stay and work with them more. 

On Sunday, I had to give a talk super last minute and then afterwards, the teacher of Principios didn't show up and the elders told me that they would give the class but that they needed me to open the class because they had to give a blessing and talk with President Warne so I started the class and they didn't show up and so I also had to give the class. It was on exaltation. It actually didn't go so bad. Its amazing how the Holy Ghost can speak through you. Scriptures were coming to me off of the top of my head and we had really good participation it was great. 

I love the mission and am so greatful that God gave me the opportunity to come here. I have changed so much as a person and am becoming the person the God wants me to be. I love that in serving others that you can completely forget about yourself but then at the same time become a better person. This church is true and His hand is in the work! I love you all!

 

Love 

Hna Ayre

Faithful Servant 2/16/15

Hola Todos!

This week was a great week here in Santa Cruz! My companion and I continue working hard! We are loving being together and we are afraid that in this next week when we have transfers they are going to split us apart. its amazing to see how each one of us changes as we pass through the time in the mission and how we begin to see things differently. The mission is the best, even with all the problems there is nothing better that I could imagine doing with my life right now. 

We had a new member that moved into our branch this last week that taught the class in relief society and she talked about something that truly impacted me. This women is a single mom that has two little daughters and one of them has health problems. She also lives with her mother who is in the starting stages of parkinsons disease. She works all day to provide for her family and has passed through very difficult things in her life, but she is the most faithful servant that there is for the Lord. She talked about the importance of carrying our loads well. It truly impacted me that for someone who has all the reason in the world to complain about her circumstances doesn't do it. She puts on a good face and she does what she has to do to provide for her family every day. It was such a good reminder to me that no matter what the trial is, we can support it well. We don't have to be sad people. we can always choose to be happy. Also everyone should read DyC 64:33-34. its one of my new favorite scriptures. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Birthday Week 2/9/15

Hola Todos! 

I had such a great birthday this week, thank  you for all of the birthday wishes! Last night, one of the members had a noche de hogar with a convert family and invited us and they celebrated my birthday. It was so sweet of them. Also in the house the Hnas were so kind to me, they turned off my alarm and woke up before me and blew up balloons and woke me up at the hour singing happy birthday. We also found betty crocker cake mix and frosting here so I got a chocolate cake for my birthday. It was a day that I will not forget. I will try to send photos. 

This week something that has been on my mind a lot are the two first great commandments. That I think us all as human beings aren't fully obedient to. I think we all should try a little bit harder to love God and to love our neighbors. This world would be such a different place if we could all be a little bit more charitable. We had an experience this week that one of our investigators were kicked out of their home and had to move down the street to live with their mother in law. We went to go help them move all of the things out of their house. If it weren't for us two, they would have been left alone to move all of their stuff and it would have been something really difficult because they have two little girls that they have to take care of. As we were moving stuff around I thought, what a blessing it is to be able to help them. Later, we went and visited one of their neighbors who said I would have helped them but the husband isn't a good guy so I don't think they deserve the help. It made me so sad. The real charity of Christ is helping those that who have done or can't do any good for you, but you still help them because they are still our brothers and sisters.

 

I had such a great birthday present yesterday, we found a woman who is so special. Her name is Marina. She is living with her sister right now because her world was turned upside down this last year, Marina left her house to go live with her boyfriend at the age of sixteen and they lived together for six years but in the last year together, she got pregnant and her boyfriend left her. So she continued on but at the same time she lost her stable job that she had had. So she was left without her pareja and without a job and she kept preparing for the birth of her baby and when she was seven months pregnant she lost her baby. This was as of four months ago. This week, we were walking in the street and we passed her and I just felt that we needed to stop and talk to her and she told us that she had sundays free, so we taught her sunday night and she confided in us so much with the things of her life and she is really interested in our message. I know that she will get baptized, she is so prepared to hear this message, I am so excited for her. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Con amor

Hna Ayre

The Power of the Fast, 2/2/15

Hola! 

This week has been a good week here. We are starting from zero with investigators and trying to find new people to teach, I know that there are many people here who are ready for this message, we just need to find them.

Yesterday was fast sunday and we had the coolest experience. We started fasting Saturday after lunch and we were fasting so that we could find new people to teach and we started our fast and then left the house to go visit one of our converts. As we were walking to her house there was a man that passed us on his bike that said Hola Hermanas and passed. I turned to my companion and I was like, I have no idea who that is. We kept walking and the man returned on his bike. He started telling us how he hasn't been to church in 5 months due to that he has been sick and I realized that I did know him, he is a returned missionary that the missionaries had always told me was helping in the obra. He told us that he had a cousin that he wanted us to teach. She has been to church before and he thinks that this could be her time to join the chruch. She was in San Fernando so we couldn't visit her right in the moment but we have an appointment with her tonight and I am so excited because I think this is who the Lord is preparing for our message.

This week I have also thought a lot about our baptismal covenant. What we promised at baptism. All of you should read in Mosiah 18:8-10. We knew that when we got baptized we were submitting to ourselves to a life long of service. BUt we did it because we love the gospel and we love the Lord. What I have learned in my life is that as we serve others and think less about ourselves, we are happier people. Hopefully all of us can dedicate ourselves even more to the Lord and we can serve him with happy hearts! 

I love you all! 

Con amor

Hna Ayre

Un Temblor 1/26/15

Hola a Todos!

How is everyone doing? Sorry that I haven't written in awhile, I always end up running short on time in the cyber. But I am doing well here in Santa Cruz! I have been here for five months now and I still love it! 

So exciting news for this week, there was a super strong temblor on Sunday morning. It was at about 5:45 in the morning and I was laying in bed and I had never felt anything like it before, I was thinking in my head, shoot, I have read the emergency plan like 3 times and I can't remember for the life of me what we are supposed to do if it gets any stronger than this. It didn't get any stronger, but it made me realize that I never want  to feel a real earthquake. 

We also had entrevistas this week and I am so grateful to have such a great mission president. I love him and his wife so much. They truly are so inspired and know what is best for this mission.

 

I love the mission, I love being able to see how the Lord touches the hearts of the people in His own timing. We have a family of converts and menos activos who for my whole time in Santa Cruz have not been receptive to us, but these last weeks there have been huge changes. One of them started reading the Book of Mormon and is almost done with Nephi! 

I know this gospel is true and I am so grateful that the Lord gave me this opportunity to be able to serve Him and His children here in Chile!

 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 

con mucho amor

Hna Ayre

The Festivities 12/29/14

Hola Todos!

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas! This Christmas for me was very special. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be able to pass the Christmas here in Chile. We had a great week full of Christmas activities. We 6 missionaries here in Almendroza and the jovenes went caroling the 23rd. It was so special because we visited some of our investigators and the members who needed a little bit of help this Christmas. It was so great to see the smile on the faces of these people, you could see the spirit of Christmas working in them.

 

Then the 24th we had a dinner with our lider misional and his family and us 6 missionaries. We ate so much that I literally thought I was going to die. The Chilenos love their meat. But overall we were so grateful for this family that let us pass this special time with them. 

Then the 25th, we had our reunion de zona and we woke up early and the 6 missionaries from Almendroza made the whole zone pancakes for breakfast. Afterwards, we had another asado. Seriously just thinking about meat makes me a little bit sick. If you all at home think that we eat a lot for the holidays, you're wrong. But the best part was that the 25th I was able to speak with the fam. It was so great to see all of them.

 

Sorry this letter wasn't so great, I don't have so much time, but I love you all and hope that you all have a great new year! How blessed are we to be able to have this time to reflect on what we have done this last year and to think in what we can do this year to become better people. All of us should think about our spiritual goals and what we can do to be able to become more like Christ this year. 

Con mucho amor

Hna Ayre