I Love To Look For Rainbows

We had a FANTASTIC week this week! 

It went by FAST, but it was a good one! 

NORMA GOT BAPTIZED!! Sorry, Im on a computer that I cant upload pictures.... so next week. But it was a great baptism! She's really amazing, already such great testimony and great faith. Telling us of family and friends that we can teach. She's an amazing convert! ;) 

We started English classes again this week too! They were fun! Everyone that came is excited to learn, and happy about the classes. And excited to bring their friends too this week! 

I made chocolate chip cookies, and brought them to the bishop, our mamita, the district meeting, and everyone LOVED them!! asking for the recipe, for me to make more... haha 

I also started my Personal Progress in Spanish. I want to do the whole thing again, but all in Spanish! I got 3 or 4 experiences done this week, and Im working on a couple more. 

I also this week... tried.... stomach. haha Not as bad as I thought, the texture was bad.. like eating pure fat. ha but hey, I tried it! ha 

The conference with Quentin L Cook... I was wrong. He's not actually COMING here. haha its a transmission, but just for the north of Chile. I assume he will be in Antofagasta or something. But still, just us Northerners ;) 

SO happy to hear Garrett and Maizey went on their first dates! ay ay ay!! everyone is SO OLD 

Speaking of OLD, I "turn" a year this week.... oh my goodness, fastest year of my life! hahaha  

This week with the baptism, I remembered the Primary song, When I Am Baptized, and how it starts "I like to look for rainbows" and wow, I thought of how great that phrase is. Looking for rainbows, looking for the good in everything. Everything has color, everything has positive. and after the rain, after the darkness and hard times, this rainbow always comes. we have that promise. 

Thats my goal for this week, LOOK FOR RAINBOWS. notice the good in everything! And I encourage you to do the same! 

Sorry for this short-ish email for this week! But I hope you all have a greeaattt week! 

LOVE YOU LOTS!

--hna severtson

Si Te Sientes Alegre...

Holaaa!! 

I must say, this week was a very great, full of learning week. 

First off though, Happy Birthday to Maizey and Jonah this week! Man, I havent even been gone a year yet, and everyone is already getting so OLD! hahaha but hey, me too.... another couple months Ill be 21... ay ay ay! I was thinking how weird it is... none of you even "knew" me when I was 20... haha 

Anyway.... yes. It was a great week. During study earlier this week, I came across a scripture that I instantly loved. Doctrine and Covenants 136:28-29. I dont know exactly what it is in English, so I wont use the exact words. haha but I really liked how it said, if you are happy, show your praises to God, but if you are sad, pray that he will help you change that and be happy! God wants us to be happy because we are his children. He has given us SO many blessings, we should always be thankful and happy. But as humans, we will have these times where we feel sadness... but we dont need to feel it, because we are here to have joy! 

I really liked those verses, and thought about them a lot this week. 

This week, we had a death in the ward. A lady, Gladys, had cancer, and had been suffering for quite a while. My companion and I had visited her once, and had passed by a few times to visit her again. She lives with her mom, husband, son (21ish) , and daughter (18). Every time we stopped by, someone would tell us she wasnt feeling good and was resting, and that we should stop by another day. 

We stopped by this week on Wednesday, and she wasnt doing very good at all. We were talking with her mom, and she starts telling us that her husband was killed by cancer, and now its killing her daughter, and she was just really down for that. I mentioned to her that I too, had lost my mom to cancer, and that I understood how she felt. She told us to try back on Friday, and if the daughter still wasnt feeling good, she would like to talk to us too ;) 

Thats when it hit me. I realized it was Garrett's birthday, and it was his birthday, 4 years ago, when we found out that mom's cancer couldn't be healed this time. I remembered at first, how we had "snow" in the backyard, and how everyone helped, served, and loved us so much during that hard time. But then, I just felt different. Not sad, not discouraged, just "off". Those next couple days, I just kept thinking about all of that. I couldn't get it off my mind. I don't really know why. I honestly think it was just Satan coming in to distract me, and he was doing it. I really couldnt focus. 

On Friday morning, we stopped by to visit this member. She wasn't home, because the daughter had died that morning... they were in the chapel getting ready for the funeral and viewing. That hit me worse. I was already having a hard time remembering what it was like, and now I saw it happening to someone else, right before my eyes. We decided to go down to the church to see if we could help anyone there. The walk over there, my mind kept racing... I knew it was going to be hard. We walked it, and seeing that family, I couldn't help but cry! I don't even know them very well, but just understanding their feelings, it was hard. 

The Bishop came up and talked to us, and asked me if I wanted a blessing. That was perfect. He gave me the perfect blessing I needed in that moment, with the exact words I needed to hear. That blessing reminded me of the power of the Priesthood. I KNOW its real! Without a doubt, its the power of God here on the earth. He knows us, he knows our struggles, and he knows what we need. And through the Priesthood power, he can give it to us. 

Since that blessing, I have felt so much better. Stronger, happier, more focused. Its perfect ;) 

This week too, we had interviews with President. It's always great to be able to talk to him and his wife and hear their inspiring words. I talked to Pres. about school, and we are going to talk to my counselors and see what needs to be done. They can do whatever I need to do. I just need to know what to do ;) 

They also came to our ward! They are so loving, it was a neat experience too for our ward to hear from them and meet them. 

Guess what??? We have Stake Conference in a couple weeks..... QUENTIN L COOK is coming! Cooooll!!! ;) 

I got letters this week! From Micah and family and the Kendalls! ;) Thank you so much! 

Im so jealous you get to go to the temple open house!! how fun!! I wish I could see it... but I guess Ill just go when Im home ;) enjoy it!! invite friends! ;)

This week coming up will be a good one too! We are starting English Classes again, and we will have a baptism! ;) WOO HOO!! 

Ok, thats all for now! Enjoy your week, Be happy, and be strong! 

I love you!! 

--Hermana Severtson

La Haya! Vamos a Hawaii!

HOLA!!!

Wow, Dad and Lexine on a cruise! Have fun! We should go on another family cruise ;) hehe that was fun!

Can't believe Garrett is SIXTEEN. That kid isnt old enough to be 16!! haha wow, he better get his license soon, and learn to drive, because Im not sure Ill be driving when I get home. Its been nice not to have to drive! ha AND he better date too! He and Porter could get some good double dates goin on :)

News update on Norma!! She was our investigator that I mentioned last week, I dont remember if I said her name or not. Anyway, she's Norma. SHE'S GETTING BAPTIZED SOONER! Our Bishop really wanted her to be baptized, and so we asked the Zone Leaders, and they approved it! The Bishop has "la razon" in our sectors, sorry for that spanish there. Not a good translation for that one ;) SO, since shes at work, we called her, and she was super excited! She comes home Monday the 3rd, and will be baptized saturday the 8th!! Im so excited for her!!

She also mentioned to us, that she would love to serve a mission ;) She has a younger sister preparing, so she thought it would be fun! Shes only 28, so she could! Which would be SUPER COOL!

We found some more good new investigators this week. Most we have just gone back to those we have knocked and they let us in! And are pretty interested! Which makes me happy! Hopefully they continue to progress and can go to church and want to be baptized too.

We had a fun activity this week, called Viaje Hawaii! We traveled as a ward to Hawaii! haha nah, not really ;) everyone waited in the sacrament room, then took groups to the "plane" where they watched a screen of what its like on an airplane. Then we landed in Hawaii. Everyone had a certain amount of "money" to buy snacks, games, ... and my companion and I had a both of the church. People that came to listen to us, got more money, but we didnt advertise that ;) Anyway, after, we all flew back to Chile, and the plane crashed. Everyone died. Depending on the money they had left, and what "worldly temptations" they fell into, they went to the Celestial, Terestial, Telestial (Hopefully I spelled those right... I just realized I dont remember what they are in English either..oops ha) Kingdoms. It was neat to see how only a few had enough money they didnt spend that got to go to the Celestial Kingdom.

I took some pictures too.. but this internet place we are in, doesnt have the USB or Memory slot to upload them... maybe next week ;)

Speaking of Pictures too, I have more to upload to Skydrive still... but.... same computer problem ;) next week!

My foot had started hurting a bit this week too.... :( Hopefully it gets better and not worse! But we shall see. It just feels really tense, pressured, and achey. but work must be done! :)

Haha, funny how you all thought my comp doesnt look Mexican. Shes from more south, Acapulco (no idea how to spell that either). Beach city. I dont know! but she is Mexican!

We had an activity today where she and another Mexican Sister in our district made everyone mexican food :) YUMMMM!!!

Look up on the news or something, about the Haya between Peru and Chile! Since I'm right here on the border, we hear a lot about it, but its nothing really dangerous. Today is the big day of what they decide! haha So we will see!

Well, thats about all for today! It really was a QUICK week again! The time really does FLY BY. Its sad, because I just love the mission! Its really the greatest decision Ive ever made :)

I wish you all a great week! Keep smiling, be happy, and remember who you are!! Work hard, do your best, and learn all you can in every experience!

I LOVE YOU!! Les quiero ;)

<3 Hermana Severtson

Arica JUAN NOÉ

ARICA!! 

Ahhhh its going great so far! 

But, Let me start from the beginning. 

So Monday and Tuesday, we just visited people like normal, saying bye and such. Then, at 11ish, we went down to the bus station. We left Copiapo around 12:30, getting to Antofagasta around 8am. Little sleep that night. 

We had a little meeting for trainers, ate lunch, met our companions, and waited for our next busses! My companion is Hermana Salinas, from MEXICO!! Do you know what THAT means??? I get the fulfilling of the mexican food I've missed ;) WOO HOO!!! AHH ive missed it so much! 

We were waiting in the chapel for Origines, the ward I was in when I was there in Antofagasta, and I got to see a few of the members again! So that was fun too! 

Finally, it was our turn for the bus to leave. We left Antofagasta around 8pm, got here to Arica around 8am. We are in Juan Noe, its the "down town" part of Arica. Before, there were only 2 Elders in the sector, and we came to split the ward in half. 

Our pension is NEW. We got there, and it had NOTHING. So, we stared unpacking, and the Zone Leaders went to buy us beds, kitchen stuff, a fridge... etc. 

Then, we left that afternoon to work work work. or... talk to people. haha Thats basically all we did all weekend! haha 

We ran into the chapel because it was open, and talked to one of the Sisters about going out with us. ALL afternoon Friday, she showed us around, the members in our sector, some less actives, it was great!! And super awesome to get to know her more, and the members too! VERY HELPFUL! 

Saturday again was more contacting, and visiting some of these people we met on Friday. 

Saturday afternoon, we decided to fast. We figured we cant do it alone, its the Lord's work, and we need his help! 

Sunday, we got up, and went to church. The ward is great!! Bigger than my old ward, but still decently small. We introduced ourselves and got to meet more members. Its going to be a good ward! They are all very excited to have Hermanas in the ward too...they all knew we were coming, before WE did! and they are also very excited about missionary work. So it should be great! 

Just so happens, a lady was there for the first time. Almost her whole family are members, and she went with her less-active sister...who is also trying to reactivate. She is going through a hard time, and knew she needed to have the Gospel in her life to help her. SHE WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED!! We went to visit her after church, and she accepted to be baptized! She works 10 days away, then has 10 days to rest... so with that, her date is March 1. BUT shes also wanting to change her work. So if she does, and can go to church more, she can get baptized sooner!! :D We were so happy!! 

ALSO, we went to a less active family's house that the Bishop told us about. The dad served a mission, and later went inactive. He was resting when we got there, so we started sharing with his wife and daughter. We asked about Nephi and Lehi, and they didnt remember much from them. He told us after, that it made him really sad his family didnt recognize something so basic, so he came out to talk with us. He wants to go to church, and bring his daughter, and wife when shes not working. 

Those were two miracles we immediately saw after fasting! Thats something in the mission that really, Ive learned. Blessings from fasting come QUICK! 

I love this area so far, and I know its going to be really great!! 

Im in the process right now of uploading more pictures to Skydrive, so hopefully soon they'll be finished ;) 

I got Grandma and Grandpa Porter's christmas card this week ;) Tell them thanks for me ;) It was a very sweet card :) 

So, after all the figuring about Hermana Tuft's grandma and Grandma Reed, what is our relation?? 4th cousins exact? or removed at all? I still am amazed about that, and how we just happened to figure it out! Its so cool! 

Enjoy your cruise you have this week! how fun! 

I miss you all LOTS!! AND LOVE YOU MORE!! 

have a great week!! 

--Hermana Severtson

Cousins Cleaning Floods :)

ANOTHER GREAT WEEK!! 

But, sadly, I am being transferred. I LOVED Copiapo. I LOVED being here with Hermana Rindlisbacher and Hermana Tuft...I learned SO much from both of them! The ward here was AMAZING and so helpful always!! 

BUT, Im going to ARICA! The other end of the mission! AND Im training! So we will both be new together in the sector. Im pretty scared, but excited too! Hermana Tuft is training too, so we are going to Antofagasta together tomorrow night atmidnight, picking up our "hijas" and heading to our sectors! It will be a long tiring traveling week, but it will be great! ;) Next week I'll be able to tell you about Arica! 

Great news this week! So Hermana Tuft and I were talking, and we came across Nauvoo, pioneers, ancestors.... and we share the Webbs!! WE ARE COUSINS!! How cool is that?? How cool to think that Gpa Webb would have 2 great great great (...) granddaughters serving together in the same mission?? ;)

Yesterday in church, us 4 missionaries spoke on Faith, Hope, Charity, and Love. I had Hope. It was cool to read up more about Hope and learn more about it. Hope is just waiting for the blessings that will come because of our faith and action. In Spanish, hope is Esperanza, which comes from the word Esperar, which means "to wait for or to hope for" So its neat in spanish that wait and hope are the same word. :)

then sadly, after my talk, I had to say bye to the ward. I really had enjoyed being in this ward and learning so much from all of them! 

I also did a musical number in Sacrament Meeting... this time by myself. I did that Joseph Smith Medley, the mix of Joseph Smith's First Prayer/A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief/Praise to the Man. It was too, the first time (I believe) that I did a musical solo in sacrament! weird! but it was fun! ;) 

ALSO, the Principles of the Gospel teacher was out of town, so Hermana Tuft and I taught the class. 

Missionary Sunday ;) hehe nah, I loved being able to serve this ward for the last time! 

I am so happy to her about Kenzie Stewart's mission call! It makes me so happy to hear about all the people getting their calls! Its such an amazing work, and the excitement and willingness that the new missionaries have amazes me! 

Ok, so want to know what happened this week?? hahaha 

So, Friday morning, we had our transferly deep cleaning. We got up, cleaned, and organized and cleaned some more, and finished with the house looking nice! 

So, we finish, and go shower. we have 2 showers in our house, one upstairs and one downstairs. So im upstairs, and showering, washing off my body with our cold water, about to wash my hair... nope. not with that cold water. so i get out, and lean over to wash my hair. Next thing, the tub is starting to fill up a little, but whatever. then I feel water on my feet. I just think Im dripping, or accidentally sprayed the ground or something. so i finish up, and look, theres MORE water. And it looks like its coming UP from the drain on the ground... that cant be good. I didnt have my contacts in, so i go change, put them in, and go look again. great. more water. 

i run downstairs to tell hermana tuft.... Uhh... i think we have a flood. she says "call the district leader" so i run to go get the phone... only to hear water dripping from the ceiling in the kitchen...that is directly below the bathroom. OH NO. we call the district leader, perfect timing, right as the zone leaders are stopping by their house. we turn the water off, its still dripping through the ceiling and dripping down the walls. then we call the office, and had to send them pictures. and they are going to try to call the owner. PERFECTLY 2 weeks before we are switching houses. haha 

and then, the cleanly mopped floor, was messy again. and the kitchen has a dip in the ceiling where the tub is. a member came and looked at it, and we need a plumber to come and fix it because its in the floor/walls. ay ay! this house sure has its stories and adventures! haha ;)

well, thats about it for today i believe. next week more with my new area!!! 

miss you all LOTS! and LOVE YOUU!!!

P.S. that first one only makes sense if you read spanish. but its an article in the liahona about raising kids. here in the mission, the people you train are considered your "daughters" or "sons" for elders. ;) we saw that shortly after we recieved our transfer calls ;)

a cute little girl in the ward being me ;)

the mountain we hiked last week, can you see the teeny cross? 

Quick Note...

We ran into the Internet for just a couple minutes, but we will get back on in a couple hours. But i just wanted to tell ya that I AM getting transferred! Im going to ARICA, training, so we are opening the sector together, Im pretty sure there were elders in my place before me. Hna Tuft is training too, so we get to go to Antofagasta together tomorrow night to go pick up our companions. Then she will come back here, and Ill continue on to Arica! Its a good 20 hours from here, so quite the difference ;) 

Talk to you soon! love you!!! 

How Great Shall Be Your Joy

Hello Familia! ;) Let me share you a little about our week. 

We had a less active/recent convert tell us never to come back. 

A son of a less active telling us through the door that his mom was sick and sleeping, and slapping his little brother telling us "moms fine!"

We had 9 members planned to go leave with us, and none of them did. 

We had a low church attendance, because of summer vacations. 

People dont open their doors because they know its us, and we can clearly hear them inside. 

A great investigator we have seen, with her hoping we didnt notice her, also not opening the door or calling us or answering the calls. 

There are dogs barking all night long, keeping us up. 

BUT. You know what? that could happen all day, all week, all mission. And I wouldnt care. Because there are the moments that make it all worth it. Those moments that overpower all the sadness, all the frustration, all the stress. When we can feel this true happiness as missionaries, we remember why we are here. To invite people to come unto Christ. And when they accept, THAT is what we live for. Now, after all those "negative" parts of the week, let me share with you why this week was one of the BEST, one of the HAPPIEST, one that reminds me of our truly GREAT JOY we have in this Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We met Isabel. She is great! She has a little house behind her house that we are going to rent. We went over to have her sign the contract, and thought before hand "ok, we should try to teach her after, see how it goes". we finish the signing, and she says to us "ok, what do you guys do? tell me!" OK! so we taught her the first lesson, the Restoration, and she LOVED IT. It was amazing! and she accepted to be baptized on the 25th of january! and she is ready! its people like her that help me remember why were are here, and that there are people PREPARED and PREDESTINED for the gospel! ahh shes amazing. 

the next day, we wanted to have a lesson with her, and she was leaving or something, so we couldnt. but we gave her a book of mormon. she was SO excited, and said "oh!! this is the one the pamphlet talked about! i wanted one!" then she came to church, and loved it, and is just perfect! She calls us her best friends already (only talked to her maybe 3 hours in total.... one of those being church), talking about how she always wants to go to church, preparing for her baptism...!!! <3

Between us to companionships, we had quite a few investigators and less actives to go church. It was a happysunday all day, everything went perfect! it was the best! 

We took a chance and set a HIGH goal for lessons this week, higher than we had ever done before. And it was iffy because of New Years. BUT, we met that goal, and exceeded it by one lesson! And i know it wasnt us at all. It is the Lords work, and us being willing to work hard, and doing all we can to do it! and now, we know it can be done :)

We had New Years! We ate with a member, Maria Lydia. SHe is a great lady, and they have a great family. She and her husband served a mission in Viña Del Mar, Chile a few years back, so they are always helping us with the work. They are great!! We came home, watched the fireworks, and went to bed. Happy 2014! :) 

This one, I give no credit to us. All of this is the Spirit of the Lord. But, we have had so many people tell us about peace. That they like talking to us, because they can feel peace, and they want it. Its just amazing to me how something not tangible, can be seen. I know that only through Christ, we can have this ultimate, fullness of peace. Everyone, its a free gift to all. 

We got a house! Like I mentioned earlier, with Isabel. But we have one! We just have to wait until Feb 1 to move in! 

We have gotten a lot of family member references from Less Actives too. Really, if you just put your mind to it, and DO IT, miracles happen! Its great!! 

A random thought... this week, we went to a family in the ward that speaks really good English, the mom is an English teacher. They ALWAYS ask us to say the prayer in English.... and this time, it was my turn. IT IS HARD. probably the most awkward prayer ever. Everything I thought to say, automatically went into my head in spanish, and i had to really think of the english words! haha its funny, because we speak english together, we speak spanish together, we always pray in spanish.... youd think praying in english would be the same. its not. haha wierd experience! 

we went hiking this morning as a district, to Cerro La Cruz (Cross hill). theres a big cross at the top of the "mountain" and we went to hike to it! after, we stayed for a little bit and read our scriptures. it was really cool!! A fun activity. 

Us 4 missionaries were asked to speak in Church next sunday. I think we are going to do Faith, Hope, Charity, and Love. I really dont mind anymore speaking... kinda got used to it how many times I had to speak these last few years ;) 

We have transfers again this next week! AY! we will find out Saturday night again what happens. I would really like to stay here in Chañarcillo..but we will see!!! 

Hey! No one mentioned anything about the Book of Mormon Challenge I gave you all! Do you accept?? ;) I already have a couple ideas of a "prize" for the winner ;) So start reading!! :)

These past few weeks, we have been studying the Articles of Faith. Its great to see how basic they are, the basic doctrine of the Gospel, and they are TRUE! We especially have been focusing on the 13th. That one is about US. The others are the beliefs of the church, but the 13th, is US! We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevelont, virtuous, and in doing good to all men..... if we believe it, we need to DO IT! Its really neat! They have a lot more meaning in studying them, than memorizing them....which memorizing is another thing we are starting, in Spanish! I forgot most of what I tried memorizing in the MTC, haha so we are doing it together! 

Also, been thinking a lot about 1 Nephi this week. Especially Chapter 4, vs 6 "I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things that I should do". A lot of times, life is that way. We have a basic plan and goals of what we want to do, but we dont always know how we are getting there or what will happen in between. But with faith in the Lord, being led by the Spirit, we always get it done. The Lord has this plan for us, and it is perfect! Its individual, but it all fits into place. All of it. There are no "coincidences" there are no "chances", its all planned. 

Well, thats all for this week. ;) Remember your purpose, strengthen your testimony, and share it with others!! ;)

I LOVE YOU!!!! 

--Hermana Severtson

P.S. oh, we made grandma Porter´s home made noodle soup. ;) so there are the pictures of that too! ;) 

P.S.S. New Years Eve with Maria Lydia. She has a million wigs! haha ;)