More Pictures!

Pictures!

Ok here are more...so i cant remember which ones are which but there are some of my companion and I in Santiago, when she cut my hair, and also of a chicken and a little girl. This house was always so crazy to teach in and we almost always had the chicken with us...poor chicken I just know it is going to die soon!!!! But I love this family and I hope that I get to be there some day during the baptism of the mom Paola because she is awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

(Received May 28, 2012)

New Area: Linderos

FAMILIA!!!


So my new sector is totally amazing!!! I love it here in Linderos and my companion is really amazing as well. I was really nervous about being her companion because she only has 6 weeks in the mission and I only have 4 months here in chile, but I know that we are going to learn lots from each other and we are going to see lots of tender mercies here in Linderos. Dad I dont know what you saw on google earth but I am pretty sure that they weren't swimming pools, this I know for sure.  But the town is super small, like Shelby. We only had 47 in Church on Sunday and when I got up to introduce myself to the branch I had already met most of them the week before. haha. But it reminds me a lot of home and I understand a little bit of what it feels like to be a missionary in Shelby! I don't want to say that this sector is difficult because it really isn't. It's just that we are going to have to be more creative in teaching and finding people. In the beginning I was a little desanimada because I felt like  no one wanted to talk to us. NO ONE. It is still like that, but now I know what to expect. This is what happens in a normal day of work.

 

We have about 5 lessons scheduled for the day and we plan to do a little bit of knocking to find new investigators. Well 90% of the time our lessons fall through and we have to do a lot of knocking. Which is fine, now I love knocking doors and talking with people, but what really makes me laugh is that we know that people are in their houses but they don't want to leave because they know it's the missionaries!!! haha But we haven't knocked all of Linderos yet, maybe this week we might run out of houses! :) But there is a lot of work to do with the in-actives here because there are a lot of in-actives!! But really I love this sector with all of my heart already! We live in a little house that is rented out by members who also own the ciber that we send our emails. They are like our parents here in Linderos. They also own a little restaurant so maybe I can get on their good side and get a few recipes for you mom. Ok, on the side be expecting letters in the future, I'm not sure how long it will take to get you guys!

Well, this week we set a fecha with a woman named Gloria! I have been told that it is difficult to set fechas with the people here in LInderos and I believe it, but we are going to work really hard with Gloria. Right now she is pregnant and this means that she is not smoking or drinking. 2 problems down. She is also married which is usually the hardest part for people here in Chile. So, it should be easy right? She told us she is going to pray and that she wants to know that truth. But her husband is really controlling and she told us that he wont let her leave the house without his permission. Well, now our job is to soften the old man! :) No problem, who can deny two sister missionaries!! :D

I was reading this week a lot about faith and for good reason. But I learned a really amazing lesson in Helaman 10:4-5. Wow the scriptures have a brand new light to them as a missionary and I love it. But I know that we are going to see miracles here in Linderos because we are obedient and dedicated to the work we are going to see the Lord's hand in all things. There is never a difficult sector only different people with different needs and all of their needs can be taken care of by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ok, so a funny story this week. We stopped by one of our investigators that I hadn't met yet and they let us in for a while. Well, it turns out that only the husband is taking the discussions and the wife wants nothing to do with the missionaries.  I had no idea and thought that the whole family was open to the missionaries and I was trying to talk with everyone especially the wife. Then she looked at my companion and our friend who came with us and said, "She doesn't know anything about me does she?" And they both looked at me like...uh oh...and said, "Nope. Ella es tan pesada."  (Look it up, I don't know how to express this in English.) Well the whole night she was trying her hardest to put down every word that I said. And she almost didn't let us have a lesson with her husband. I actually felt spiritually beaten up. It turns out that it was just a joke, but she didn't tell me. My comp did after the lesson. It was such a strange feeling. I have never been in a situation that my very presence angered somebody...I HATED IT!!!! But I don't have any fear, I'm going to go to the next lesson with a white flag of surrender. I hope at least she laughs or something!!!

But everything is great. It is getting colder...but I don't think that I need anything from home. Thanks for the money I haven't gotten it yet but I will look for a place to pick it up. I love you all. I thought about how blessed I am this week to have parents that raised me in the gospel and taught me the principles that I need to have a life centered in Jesus Christ. Mom and Dad you are the best!! Thanks for choosing to raise in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!

mucho cariño

Hermana Thacker

(Recieved June 4, 2012)

A Talk with My Mission President

¡Mi querida familia!

Wow! A lot has gone on this week for everyone! We went to Santiago this week and then had interviews with President and yesterday we spoke in a JAS (young single adults) activity in Rancagua!

Ok, so I have my camera cord today to send pictures, but my battery is dead.....go figure. I have so many to send home too. But today we had a birthday party for President in the mission home and I used my camera a lot, so I think if had we not gone I could have sent them home. Oh well. I guess you just have to wait one more week. It's not really that big of a deal because the weeks go by so fast!

This week was a busy one. First of all we had some pretty good lessons this week, but then also we had some disappointing things happen as well. Our fecha Ivan is doing amazing. He is eating up the gospel and now we are helping him quit smoking! He actually told us a week ago that he wasn´t ready for baptism because he smokes and drinks and we hadn´t taught him the Word of Wisdom yet! So we got on that this week and he was already committed him before we started to teach him. ¡BACÁN poh! He came with us to a baptism this week as well and thought it was pretty neat. We gave him a Liahona...which is like the Ensign...the conference addition and left him one of the talks to read about repentance. He read the whole thing and even took like two pages of notes. WHO DOES THAT!?! He is awesome...enough said. 

Well, that was part of the good that came out of this week. One of our other fechas Margarita kind of fell off the face of the planet. She was all excited about getting baptized and we were getting excited for her date and then we saw her smoking with her friends one day in the street. Dang it.  But we taught her the Word of Wisdom and she accepted the challenge to quit. The lesson after that we talked to her about setting a date that she could work up and completely stop smoking. We wanted her to pray about it and choose a date to be her goal. After this lesson she disappeared for a while. All of a sudden she wasn´t home for our lessons and then she lost her phone and we couldn´t get a hold of her for almost a week and a half. We thought for sure that she was avoiding us. Finally we set another cita with her daughter and she was there. We talked about her goals and she knows that it is going to be difficult to quit but that she still wants to! YES! It was a little touch and go for a while there! But the key is to stay in touch with her throughout the week...not seeing your investigator for like a week and a half is like death! 

This week we had interviews with President. I love talking with President! He is so cool. My interview went a little like this: "So Hermana Thacker how is it going?" I talked to him for like 30 seconds about me and he said, "Yup, I know what to do you are leaving Graneros and going to Linderos with a newbie from Argentina......"  "......WHAT!?", was my response.  I told him that I take everything back that I had just told him. SO I am leaving Graneros in a week and going to Linderos in the north. I have heard that Linderos is a little more difficult of an area, but that it is amazing. Next week I will let you know exactly where I end up. I am also farther away from Rancagua which is kind of a bummer but oh well, it will only take a little bit longer to get your letters and packages. 

I was talking to my companion this week about how blessed I truly am to have the most amazing people put into my life. My companion is amazing....amazing and I knew the moment I wished I could have another change with her it wasn´t going to happen. But I am so grateful for the time I got to have with her. I don´t know why I am soo blessed I just know that I am. For one, my parents raised me in the gospel of Jesus Christ and gave me a chance at a young age to come to know my Savior and Heavenly Father. Two, there are so many people in my life that love and support me on my mission, those in my branch, my friends, my family! I wish I could put more that just thank you because those words are so lame in comparison to how I truly feel! Ruth and Dan I hope all is well and that things will get better real soon! Grandmas and Grandpas I love and miss you!!!!

Les amo muchisimo, más que muchisimo pero no sé una palabra que es mucho mejor. :)

Hermana Thacker

(Recieved May 21, 2012)