Week 24-January 12, 2015

Week 24-January 12, 2015

hey everyone! sounds like everyone is doing well :)

this week was interesting for us. it was great and busy. but i like being busy, so it was good :)

today was change meeting and it was in English! haha that was fun. but president decided to call me out for something i had written in my email to him last week so that was interesting. the past few weeks weve had quite a few tests of our obedience. they say ¨obedience brings blessings and EXACT obedience brings miracles^ so we have been trying to be obedient with everything but it seems like the Lord is trying us to see how obedient we are willing to be...but we are excited because if we pass the test hopefully we will see some miracles in this sector! we certainly need some...

anyway we had a few experiences that left me wondering if we had done the right thing because our obedience had left a member crying and the elders mad at us and i ended up asking the president what he thought and he decided to answer me in front of the entire mission and to thank hna flores and i for our obedience. i wanted to hide and then afterwards i wanted to cry. it was an interesting experience..haha but we have been asking everyone about their ideas on what exactly is the ¨´spirit of the law´when it comes to mission rules. many people claim to follow it but hna flores says this is apostasy.haha pretty funny. anyway, does dad have an opinion? or mom? haha just curious...

but also, funny story, the other day in the street a man came up to us while we were contacting another man and shouted at me ´tu eres pobre?´¨ haha i was like, what? no! why? haha so he went on to tell me i didnt look like a gringa beacuse my shoes were viejos.he told me i couldnt be from the US because i was poor.  lol super funny. i guess my shoes are more of a disaster than i thought..haha he offered to give me shoes and i turned him down saying, no no no i have money i just like these ones! haha also im pretty sure i have a weird disease on my feet or something.maybe mom could look up athletes foot and how to cure it for me? haha

also im trying a new diet of mate, which is a weird herb drink they drink in south america that i really dont like but am forcing myself to get used to becuase it helps you lose weight :P we will see what happens..

also the other day was crazy because one of the menos activos that we visit had a panic attack and we had to leave in the morning from our pension because she posted on facebook that she was alone and needed help. it was kinda crazy. guess she had an arguement with her husband and was so stressed out about everything in her life than she collapsed. luckily the members beat us to her and were already helping when we arrived. it was super funny because all the ladies helping were like, sisters dont worry marriage is a good thing!. haha we decided God is trying to teach us something about men here or something. one of the main things ive learned in the mission is that men are bad and marriage is trying. haha

also im in the sector for another change with hna flores, so we are excited about that! :)

but anyway, glad everyone is good! love you all!!! miss you!

also if taylor gets his call someone needs to video it on their phone and send it to me!!!

Week 23-January 5, 2015

Week 23-January 5, 2015

hi everyone!!! sounds like christmas break was a success!! our news years was good :P we went to bed early and in the morning i made cinnamon rolls :P our apartment was super quiet and chill since everyone left to parties and such in the houses i think. we had to be in the apartment early  ( at 8) so we were pretty excited to sleep :P but the rest of chile danced all night (until like 7 in the morning)! 

and wow taylor submitted his papers!!!! exciting!!! let me know when he gets them!!!!!

and about printing emails, i think its ok for now but im definitely going to print them all out at some point to save them all in my journal..

and what is mandy planning on saying about me? haha

by the way i found root beer and brown sugar here!!! good news:) 

anyway, this week was good, lots more divisions and such but its fun to get to know the other sisters. the only thing is that there are still some people i cant understand super well in spanish or things i dont know how to say so that was a little frustrating. also its super hot. haha but im much happier with sun than clouds so its really a blessing :) its just that the pool outside our apartment is so tempting...haaha no just kidding. anyway, about the people. we have a 9 year old boy who is AWESOME and is reading the book of mormon and comes to church with his grandma who is reactivating and he plans family home evenings and invites us, so it has been super fun to teach him lately, but we cant baptize him cuz hes only 9 and his family doesnt want to participate in church.  also we are helping one of our investigators quit smoking right now and this week we are teaching the law of chastity and he told us his weakness is women, so that will be interesting :P haha but he is super awesome.

anyway, the other thing we thought about alot this week was the influence of members. we have been really frustrated with the members here lately because they tell us they will accompany us and then cancel and its super frustrating for us since we literally cant teach some investigators if we dont have a member. its so hard to find people who can come with us. its like the talk in general conference about how there is a church of the missionaries and a church of the members and unless they become one church nothing can happen. our investigators cant progress without the members!  the funny thing is that recently reactivated members are the BEST for missionary work. all our recently reactivated members are much more willing to accompany us and invite people to listen to us and such. it makes me think about how us members sometimes take for granted everything and forget what blessings the gospel has given us and why we should share it and people like Hermano Borquez and Veronica and silvia understand everything way better becuase of their life experiences...i hope someday i can be more like them.

anyway all is well and have a great week everyone!!!

Week 22-December 29,2014

Week 22-December 29, 2014

hi everyone!!

it was so fun to talk to you guys this week!!! i was so happy we finally found a computer and such :)

and yes dad we invite people to be baptized ALWAYS. haha almost every lesson, even if we dont even teach lesson 1. and sometimes in contacts too. haha but 1400 is a ton!! and ya every mission is different, like mom said. i would love to be able to serve for a week in a few other countries just to see what they are like  :P the people here have so much love and are very social and love to listen and let us in, but they have a hard time with commitments and sometimes convert for the missionaries or something, which i think probably doesnt happen as much in the states. 

anyway sounds like you all are doing well and that you all had tons of fun in big bear!

also toffee sounds like she is getting spoiled...haha}

this week we had a miracle when one of our menos activos came to church, all three hours. for the first time in like 10 years! it was awesome :)

and mom, maybe there are some fields nearby, but our sector is all houses  so we just run in the neighborhood next to our apartment :)

anyway, i just wanted to thank you all for everything. i just felt so so so grateful christmas day when i opened the package from you guys and knew i would get to talk to all of you and i just want to thank you all for your support and love and just everything. i just feel so lucky to have the life i have and a family like you guys. so thanks thanks thanks thanks for everything :)  

love and miss you all!!

Week 21-December 22, 2014

Week 21-December 22, 2014

you got a dog??? in the HOUSE?? haha wow i guess dad really is getting older....haha older and more relaxed :P haha i knew it would happen someday, but i didnt think so soon! haha 

wow thats awesome that you guys helped the missionaries like that! and of course they talked about baptism, we invite people to baptism in contacts!! if we dont invite people in the first lesson, the president said we dont have faith! :P and you guys should definitely follow up with them, maybe invite them to church and stuff:P

our biggest frustration right now is that the members love the missionaries but never have timeto accompany us and reallyhave no idea what our purpose is sometimes. and honestly we cant even teach some of our investigators without a member and we have to leave them waiting and not show up because they are men who live alone ( for example a man named Juan whos wife commited suicide a few weeks ago). so frustrating when this happens. we call the entire ward and no one answers or they cancel at the last minute. im trying hard to develop more patience and charity as my ¨´gift para el Señor´ for christmas :P  but we have reall,y seen alll kinds of miracles lately. a couple examples:

i have been frustrated lately cuz i feel like my testimony is based on the fact that i just know the book of mormon and the church is true. i just know it, ive never had a huge spiritual experience from praying like i promise investigators that they will have 10 times a day. i have just seen and felt the fruits of the gospel in my life and there is no way they are from Satan, so it has to be true. but anyway, i was on divisions the other day and we visited an investigator that has been investigating for a lonnng time (many missionaries have taught her) and she had been fasting and waiting for an ánswer´¨ but in the lesson she said straight out that she knew it was all true at  one point and i was able to bear my testimony about how the Lord is only going to give us the knowledge we need to go forward in faith and we are never going to have a perfect knowledge in the beginning and that if we know its true we have to act and then our testimony will grow. it was awesome because afterwards she agreed to get baptized and we set a date in a couple of weeks and she wants me to be there (even though she only met me that day in the lesson!). it was awesome and a huge testimony strengthening experience for me.  

also we are teaching a family who has tons of questions and who are reading the book of mormon and everything and we are so excited for them! 

we also set a baptism date with a couple (also on divisions but i was here in our sector with another hermana) and theyaccepted immediately and even said in their prayer to end the lesson that they were willing to do whatever God asks them todo, including be baptized. unfortunately they were sick this sunday and couldnt attend so we arent sure if their baptism date is going to work and such and they are going to argentina in a couple weeks so who knows what will happen. seriously the biggest challenge here is just getting people to come to one hour of church...kills me every sunday

but anyway, excited to talk to you guys this week!!  love and miss you all!

i have an hour to talk on skype but we have yet to finalize a place with internet and cameras to do it so here is the tentative schedule for now.

christmas day: 3 pm  your time( 6 my time)

if this doesnt work or i never call,  i will try for 3 pm your time the 26th and if that doesnt work out 1pm your time 27th. haha i hope christmas day works out but we have to find a server with cameras that will open for us christmas day and the elders found one but they arent answering their phone right now, so we will see. 

Week 20-December 15, 2014

Week 20-December 15, 2014

how is everyone?

anyway my week was good. tons of singing christmas hymns to contact and using the video ¨´he is the gift´´ (el es la dadiva- if you guys havent seen it, look it up! its fantastic!).ive never sung so much in my life...haha but tons of new investigators!! still having trouble getting people to church though..

also there is so much fruit in the streets! haha there are trees of cherries, apricots, peaches, and BOYSENBERRYS! in the street. we just walk around eating fresh fruit all day off the trees..its the best!

we also had interviews with the president this week and Hna Flores is a sister leader (like a zone leader but for sisters)  so we had to do divisions, too. so i was in a different sector on thursday but its fun to get to know the other hermanas and their sectors! the hermana i was with is in her second week in the mission and is from brasil.  

also mom can you send me a recipe for cinnamon rolls? hna flores wants to try some :)

also cant wait to talk with you guys for christmas!

love and miss you all and hope all is well!!

i just barely got this and my time is up and i gotta go but i scanned it and sounds like everyone is doing well!!! ill read more and respond more next week! love and miss you all!! we live near Arauco Maipu (a mall) on the street Americo Vespucio in Maipu (pajaritos in particular)

love and miss you all!

Ashley with Hermana Flores (2nd companion)

Mission Christmas Lunch

Week 19-December 8, 2014

Week 19-December 8, 2014

wow sounds like a good week as always, haha tell benjamin i miss him too!!! 

and glad lydia is healthy and natalie is a great teacher for YW and that mandy is still a super star in all her activities :P 

 my week was awesome :) Hermana Flores is fantastic. she seriously is awesome. super fun to be with, we are already friends and she is super funny and super patient with my spanish and the spanish 24/7 thing is awesome for me. i feel like im improving tons.she doesnt speak any english but because she is from honduras her spanish is more clear and slow than chilenos. basically every other spanish is easier than chileno. haha  i can understand everyone now except young men haha and i can say most of the things i want to say, its just still a little choppy in grammar and sounding natural i think lol but its all good.

also funny story for dad, we are doing practicas of interrupting now because hna flores is super good at interrupting chilenos and i am not haha but its completely necessary here and not offensive like in the states haha. these people just talk and talk and talk and if you want to teach you just have to jump in and take control haha but i told hna flores that you had always taught us not to interrupt and we laughed about how when i get home you may have to retrain me not to interrupt...

we may have also contacted a couple of drug dealers this week, one who was named Fu, so that was fun :P

also i am learning that missionaries are very annoying but its a good thing :P its the funniest thing to wake someone up for church and they are mad at you and then a half hour later when they are in the chapel they are teasing you and worried about how they saw you walking with some sketchy guy in the street. its our JOB to be super annoying and not leave people alone. haha hna flores even told off an old man yesterday because he said he didnt have time to share with us but his wife just died so she said that NO this was not just a product we were selling, it was his salvation and that YES we were going to come back and teach him the plan of salvation and if he listens and reads the pamphlet and doesnt feel anything we will ¨´leave him in peace´ but not until he gives us a chance. lol he was like ´then you will leave me in peace?´¨ haha it was super funny but you could see in his eyes that he understood that we cared about him and he wasnt mad. i learned that i need to be persistent because that way the people see how important our message is and know that we care...  anyway all is well and cant wait for christmas! and ya maybe ill be home for the next one! and to answer moms questions..

yes we eat with members every day. our bishop is fantastic and our ward is huge (200 people yesterday in church). the primary is like 30 kids or something and they bless babies every week haha and ya there are members that we know better than others or who work with us the most or who make us pumpkin pie for thanksgiving and we stop by their house all the time to use the bathroom :P i think because there are so many missionaries in the ward and everyone is a convert (the church has only been here for like 50 years), the people know and are connected to the missionaries much more. its totally different than our ward where we sometimes knew who the missionaries were but we never really talked to them and we only ate with them like once a month. but anyway, im doing well :) miss and love you all!! can we skype chirstmas day or is another day better? and no i havent gotten the small package yet..

love,

ashley

haha i still have a stocking! haha and you have pictures up of me?? haha also i really wanted to send you guys a nativity from here, there are some really pretty ones here and hna osterloh bought a couple for her family, but i will have to bring one home next year..

soooo we recorded a video this morning singing for you in spanish and everything but the computer wont let my camera work so we cant send it :( and now i have like no time left..but know that i love you and will be thinking of you and hope you have a fantastic birthday!! thanks for all your love and support always and your fantastic example for me all my life..you are amazing. love you tons!!!

Week 18-December 1, 2014

Week 18-December 1, 2014

wow sounds like a busy and fun week!!! lots of thanksgiving stuff and more soccer and taylor being home :) glad to hear it was so good for everyone :)

this week was crazy for us, it was hna osterlohs last week so she had to go do stuff for her visa, classes to get a job when she gets back, her farewells and such, so basically the week was a blur of divisiones and such. but i got to go with her to visit her former sectors saturday, which i was super excited about because we got to visit the coast!!! it was raining so basically we just drove to the beach, took a picture, visited one family and left , but i was thrilled to see the beach!! ill try to send pics next week..

friday we said goodbye to people in our sector and basically everyone gave us food lol they say if you come home fat its because the people loved you :P but it could be true because we got a lunch of all of hna osterlohs favorite chilean foods from Sara (our investigator) and then pizza from a menos activo family and then Hno Borquez, our other recently reactivated member, made us french toast because i guess some gringo elders taught him how and nobody makes it here :P it was a lot of food but was fun to feel the love from so many people here. i think that really is a huge blessing of a mission, you get to personally get to know so many people and the people here are so loving..its the best :) then sunday the 8 yr old daughter of our menos activo family that we have been working with got baptized :) it was a great way to end hna osterlohs mission ..

but today we had the change meeting and i was super nervous about hna osterloh leaving but my new companion seems super nice, so we will see what happens .we were just really happy our sector didnt get white-washed (when both missionaries get replaced by new missionaries). her name is Hermana Flores from Honduras. i will send pictures when hna osterloh emails me them ...anyway, it was a good week, just kind of crazy, so it will be good to get back into the regular groove of things this week..

love you all and miss you tons!!!

also i got your package!!! the big one! should i open it or wait for christmas?! :)