28 July 2014

Si La Vida Fuera Fácil....

Hola Familia!! 
Crazy how today's email, then next week's, and Ill be home! The time has gone SO fast, and I can't believe it!! 

This week, we had interviews with President Dalton. Mine was short and sweet, and "How are you feeling?" and "How are you ending...?" haha ;) But it was great! 

We also had 4 more Hermanas living in our pension this week, because they were repairing some things in their pension. Going fom 2, to 6 in one day (for a week) was a big change! We definitely got to learn time management, patience, sharing, ... ... :) haha. But they are all great Hermanas, so it was also a lot of fun!! 

We were going to go today to Lago Chungara. Its up in the mountains, about 4 hours away, and super pretty apparently ;) Part of the lake (lago) is part of Bolivia, and part is of Chile. The Stake President here was going to take all of us Hermanas here in the stake, and rented a van. But, the guy he was renting from had to take an emergency trip, so probably next Monday we will go. SO, heads up, I WILL write you my last email, but it'll most likely be later in the day ;) 

This week, we have a fun week! Everyone was still on "winter break" so it was hard still. BUT, we found a new family!!! 
When we had English Classes in the church, we put a flyer on the door of our apartment. We never heard anything from anyone, and we stopped the classes, and that was that. BUT, last week, a guy stopped us in the street, seeing if we still did the classes or if we could help him. He lives in our apartment building with his wife and 2 kids. We set up an appointment, and they are great! Turns out, the dad, Rodrigo, is a member who got baptized almost 20 years ago, and stopped going because he didn't have much time since he's in the military. His daughter Tamara is 10, and she loves us, and we help her a lot with her English. His wife, Pamela, too. They are a great family, who seem like they are already members ;) They already have a lot of confidence in us, have interest in the church too, and are so great!! We pass by 2 or 3 times a week, and its great ;) We will see how they progress, but I won't be here :( 
Our other people that were going to be baptized, are also being postponed. Marriges still need to be done, going to church more, ... but the important is that ONE DAY they will be baptized ;) 

I talked to the boys about the jerseys they wanted, and Im going to try to get them. Like I had mentioned, they are cheaper in Peru, so depending on if someone can get out there and get some, Ill send them with the errand. But itll just depend ;) Theyll also be about $10 each, so also depends on if i can get that much cash to send ;) hehe Ill try :)

Remember that no matter what, serve the Lord first. Do your duty and responsibilities, and put the Lord first, and all things will fall into place. He has a greater plan, He knows best. Ending my mission now, I've realized so much of that. This is God's work. Even if you're not on a mission, it's God's plan. He puts everything where it needs to be, in the time it needs to be there. And it's perfect. We can't change his will, or if we put ours above His, it doesn't work. We are only truly happy, when we put Him first. 
Now that you're all starting school, remember that. Always make time to read your scriptures, at least a chapter a day. Pray daily. Always make that time. And study hard. And when you do, I promise you, that if you ask the Lord for help, He WILL help you! If you do your part and remember him, he will help you! Something that I've been remembering, is something Dad says, "If life were easy, it woudn't be hard" I know is super obvious, but life is supposed to be a little hard, so we can learn. BUT, it doesnt need to be extremely difficult either. It's always easier on the Lord's side ;) Always easier, happier, and with more reason. ;) 

Les quiero mucho! Y estoy muy MUY animada verles en dos semanas mas! Gracias por su apoyo y su amor, por recordarme y escribirme cada semana ;) 
Tengo la mejor familia que hay ;) Y no dudo eso por nada. Les amo, y les extraño por un tiempito mas ;) 

hasta luego! 

<3 Hermana Severtson

21 July 2014

Ningún testimonio hasta después

Helllllooo!! 
Wow, this week was an interesting one!! We worked our hardest, got exhausted, and kept working hard. And, at the end of all of it, we didn't meet our goal. 
This was really hard for me at first. WHY, if I set a goal, and did my part, why didn't God bless me with the miracle? It was something good, something possible. But we needed his help... why didnt he help us?

But, we quickly took that doubt out of our heads, and changed it into something positive. 
Its okay. No, we didn't meet our goal, but there was a bigger lesson in this. 
We learned what its like to work HARD, to really focus on what we want, and to do everything to get it. 
We learned that God does bless us for our work, but those blessings arent always what WE want them to be. 
We learned that God has his own plan, and his own way to do it. We need to submit ourselves to THAT plan, and there we will see miracles. 
We learned that even though we didnt meet new investigators, we met LOTS of new "less-actives." No, they can't be baptized, but they can be reactivated. They have families that aren't members. These people weren't on the ward list, and now we can help them better. 

We just kept thinking all week : You recieve no witness until AFTER the trial of your faith (Ether 12:6) In Spanish, the word witness is changed to testimony. I liked that a lot. 
On Monday we had a hard day, then Tuesday, then Wednesday, ...and we thought the "trial of our faith" would be trying our work untilSaturday night.. THEN we would find a family of 5. And at the end of it all, no. The trial of our faith was to keep working, when we didn't see the blessing at the end of the week. We could have easily given up, thinking if we wont have the blessing, why work? But, we have no doubts now. "If we would have done...." "If we worked harder with..." no. We honestly feel like we did our part. We set the goal, we did our part, and the miracle is up to the Lord. We recieved a different miracle. Our testimony/witness we recieved was of work. Of doing our part. Of never giving up. And that God does give miracles and blessings. ;) 

So, at the end of it all, it was a great week still ;) 

Saturday, was my companion's birthday! And that was fun ;) It seems like all the missionaries that come here to Juan Noe have their birthday when they're here ;) haha its fun! 

I cant believe Porter Derrick leaves this week, that Nicholas already left, that Brandon Gale leaves... these kids are all so young! haha ;) 

Well, see you all in a few weeks. I love you lots! 
Remember to always give your all. Even when it's hard, and doesn't "seem" worth it, give your all. God is bound to bless us, if we do what he says. He WILL bless you! ;) Work hard, never give up, and endure to the end :)

--Hermana Severtson

14 July 2014

Ora Siempre... Para Que Salgas Triunfante

Hello Family! How was your week?

We had a good week here! Lots of running around and working hard! 

We had a great zone conference this week, where the Zone Leaders talked about not being "comfortable." When we are comfortable, we aren't progressing...and when we are progressing, we aren't comfortable. So, get out of the comfort zone and stretch, learn, grow, progress! It was great! 
So, this week, we set goals to "be exhausted" haha its our last week to be able to find people, that can go to church, and be able to be baptized my last weekend. It is going to be fun! ;)

This week, we had a fun ward activity. We had a "treasure hunt" that the clues were all in code. The clues were scriptures that talked about a part of the church, where the next clue was hidden. 
for example, if the clue was "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me" for the little box where you put the numbers of the hymns, and the code was PRIESTHOOD, P=1 R=2 I=3 E=4 S=5 T=6 H=7 O=8 D=9 you'd write the clue "674 58ng 8f 674 23g7648u5 35 a 12ay42 un68 m4" haha it was fun! hard, but fun! 

We had a great experience too this week. One of the ladies in the ward asked us to go with her to visit a few members that were sick. On the way, we ran into the lady who walked down to the store. walking back to her house, we passed Mirella and Waldo's house (they're neighbors, and friends of the member). We had an appt with them around this time, but we were going to visit the member for a sec, then go. RIGHT when we passed their house, Waldo came out, and asked if we were coming to see them. We started to say we'd come in a few minutes, but the member said "yes! we'll all go!" we had a great lesson with all of us, and it was fun! Mirella was originally a referral from this member too, so it was great for her to come with us. They committed to come to church with us, finally!! We asked to see if they wanted us to stop by and go together, and she said "no! If we say we are going to go, we are GOING to go!"
Sunday, we were waiting for them at church... waiting... waiting...and it started. No Waldo and Mirella. Announcements...song...prayer...announcements...song...sacrament... still no. I was sitting at the piano (I accompany for the ward) and thinking of what more we can do to get investigators to go to church. Why didn't Waldo and Mirella come?? I said a quick little prayer in my heart, hoping that at least they'd come late, but had the desires to come. I open my eyes, and see the usher pointing to someone who's outside the door, telling them to wait a few minutes. Hmm. Someone came late. I was waiting, waiting to see who it was coming in... and I saw them pass by the window... Waldo and Mirella!! :) They came!! :) I was SO happy!! They LOVED the church, they were happy they made it. :) They plan to be baptized Sept 20 if all goes well ;) Sad I won't be here...but happy they'll be making the decision ;) 

Saturday too, we worked all day hard, to find new people. We said a prayer before we left in the morning, to be able to have help to find lessons and great people to teach, that can help us with our goal this transfer. We did it! It was a great day! We felt SO good at the end of the night, and set a goal for this week, for every day to feel the same ;) We will do it!! 

With that, I once again strengthened my testimony on prayer. God really hears our prayers. If we tell him what we want to do, and how we plan to do it, he blesses the plans, and helps it all work out. Always! Its so amazing! 
"Pray always, the you may come off conquerer" Doctrine and Covenants 10:5. Come off conquerer!! But we can only do it with the Lord's help! Only HE can place people in our path that we need to meet. Only HE can organize it all in the right way. Only HE can help us grow and progress. Only HIM. And he will help us be conquerer. 

Remember to pray always. You have a Heavenly Father who loves you, wants to hear from you, and wants to help you!! We can only do it with His help, allow him! He's just waiting! 

I can't believe I only have one month more here in Chile... It seemed to go SO fast! I am excited to take advantage of this ONE month, and do all I can to be able to finish out strong!! 

Les quiero mucho!! :) 

--Hermana Severtson





07 July 2014

Saltemos De La Barca!

Hola Familia!! 

Like I always start my letters... This week was another GREAT one! :D 

We travelled to Antofagasta again, for our "consejo"... council?... with Presidente and Hermana Dalton and the Assistants. It was fun, because now, I get to see Hermana Albornoz, Hermana Rindlisbacher, and Hermana Tuft! 3 of my old companions! :) And a lot of other people I know ;)
It was a great meeting. My companion and I decided to exercise faith this transfer, and set a goal for 5 baptisms. (Ill mention about those we already have here after). Then, everyone that spoke, talked about setting goals with faith, faith is things you can't see but hope for, praying with faith, jumping from the boat.... Jump from the boat was one of my favorites. 
Like Peter, we all have experiences where we need to put all trust and confidence in the Lord, and "Jump from the Boat". Having 5 baptisms this transfer, will be a LOT. Its something we can't see right now, but its possible. Of ALL the people that live in our sector, how can it be that 5 of them are not ready to be baptized? We have plans to contact all the future investigators we have right now, contact more, ask for referrals, and keep our minds focused in the goal. 
Jump from the boat. Get out of the comfort zone. 
The Elder that spoke about this, had a good point of view too. He and his companion had set a goal for 8 that transfer, and got 6. BUT, he doesnt see it that he didnt meet the goal. If they set a goal for 3 or 4, they would have been satisfied with the 3 or 4, and not even got the 6. That's the mindset I want this last transfer. Reach for the 5!! But, being diligent and working hard until the last day, will be the real "achievement".

So, Waldo and Mirella... They are still great and progressing. But, according to the laws of Chile, we found out that Waldo needs at least a month and a half to be divorced (if there are no problems), then 15 days to process the divorce. THEN he can be married... so al final, I won't be here for their baptism. But, the important is that one day, they WILL do it! 

Happy 4th of July also! :) We wanted to do SOMETHING, but we ended up not having time. We did though have a FHE activity in the church like we do every Friday. Someone mentioned that it was the 4th, "Dia de los Estados Unidos" and everyone came up to me and Elder Dennett (the other american elder in the ward) and hugged us, congratulated us, all super happy and super excited. haha Like we did anything to help with the independence of our country... ;) hehe 

I saw a cool quote I liked this week... "Ya tienes el NO, haz algo por obtener el SI" (you already have the NO, do something to get the YES). Thats so true. Every person we don't talk to in the street, or every person we dont invite to go to church or be baptized, gives us the answer NO. unless we DO talk to them, and give them the chance to say YES! 
Don't be afraid to at least try! The worst that will happen, is that they will still say NO. But, at least you did your all to try, give them the chance. ;)

I was happy to hear too that dad mentioned that Garrett got his license! WOW! Congrats buddy! 
and that Caleb will be taking Spanish next year! woo hoo! Ill talk to you in Spanish and help you! ;) 

Ok. I think that's all for today. No se olvide saltar de la barca. Ponga su confianza en el Señor y Su plan. El sabe mejor ;) Sabe TODO! 

Les quiero mucho, y nos vemos prontito! ;) 

--Hermana Severtson