Week 10: Happiness is a Choice

Hola family and friends!
 

I woke up one day this week and realized that I can speak Spanish. Obviously my vocabulary is not perfect and I'm still learning, but I can comminucate just fine. Miracles, honestly. Studying Spanish in High School is one thing, but being here for only a month and being able to speak, I feel incredibly blessed. That being said, I couldn't figure out why in Relief Society class this week they were talking about chicken. (Pollo is chicken in Spanish...they were really talking about support which is apoyo, oops--hahaha). 

No more dancing wookies, but we did see a dancing Iron Man juggling fire, so that was pretty cool. I have so much love for these people. I absoultely adore the ward members especially. They are so amazing and endlessly kind and loving. The Chileans are hilarious too, which is probably why we all get along so well--haha. 

This week we are all a little anxious. We are awaiting cambio calls, transfer notices this coming weekend and to see if me and/or Hermana Tapiero will stay in or leave Curico. I will let you all know next Pday. I hope we both stay. Curico is amazing. But we had intercambios, which are exchanges (in English, I think), and I had to lead our sectors, which went surprisingly well. There was one time when I first got my license and my mom asked me to go to the store and I questioned whether or not I actually knew where Fred Meyer was. It was a little like that this week. But I surprised myself and I know the roads and places better than I thought, especially being in the city only for 5 weeks. 

It was a great week and I am so looking forward to a meeting we have this week where all my MTC people are going to be in one place. Love them and love that we have to opportunity to serve together.

My thought for the week:

 

Happiness is a choice, our choice. 

´Happiness is the object and design of our existence, and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it.´

Elder Holland has a new talk in the Liahona for September entitled ¨The Gospel Path to Happiness,¨ which, as always with Elder Holland, is absoulte gold. His insights on how we can find true happiness is brilliant and powerful and I love it. You should all read it.  

Happiness is a tricky and elusive thing, I think. Elder Holland shared a quote by Henry David Thoreau that I abosuletly love: ¨Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.¨

I love Thoreau and how true this it!

 How often do we get stuck in the mindset of ¨I will be happy when...¨

I know I have been guilty of this, I'll be happy when summer comes, when I finish high school, when I start college, when I, when I, when I... you name it. Job, marriage, life in general. Fill in the blank. But we shouldn't wait. We shouldn't have this mindset when we are all perfectly capable of having true joy and happiness now. 

This doesn't mean don't look forward to things in the future. There is lots of goodness to come. It is important we just don't base our happniess in the events or people. 

 

Elder Holland oulined 5 steps or ways we can live after the ¨the manner of happiness¨(2 Nephi 5:27).

 1. Live the Gospel.

--It is through Christ we find real joy. 

2. CHOOSE Happiness

--We have the power to choose to be happy. Nobody can take that away from us. 

 

3. Be Kind and Pleasant

--Nobody mean and nasty is going to be happy. Be kind always. 

4. Work At It

--Goals are fantastic things. Always room for progress and improvement.

5. Reject Transgression

--Wickedness never was happiness. How often do people of this world relish in wickedness because it is temporary pleasure? This world has a lot of things to offer that often appear good and is not. We need to be careful not to jeoparadize true happiness with temporary things of pleasure. 

Another thing Elder Holland talks about is the fact that we are not meant to be happy all day, everyday. This life is an opportunity for us to learn, to grow, to progress. The only way we can accomplish these things is through experiencing sorrow too. How on earth are we going to know a good day without having experienced a bad one? There are going to be storms in this life, but we can take comfort in knowing that after the storm ends, there will be a rainbow (cliche--I know). 

I know we have the ability to be happy. It is our choice. We can choose to be miserable, or we can put ourselves to work and choose to be happy. I have seen this so much with the mission. A mission is so hard, but when I focus on the reasons why I am here and I put myself to work...I am witnessing miracles. I can't say that enough. This is such a blessing and I am so happy I have the opportunity to serve. 

I know that it is through Christ that we can have true joy, true happiness, true peace. And how blessed I am to have the knowledge I do. 

 

Have a great week. I love you all and appreciate all you and your emails!

 Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert

 

PS!!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD!! Everyone wish him a happy birthday! Love you dad!!

 

AND SHOUT OUT TO MY GRANDPARENTS! 50th wedding annviersary this week on September 1st! LOVE YOU!

And proof the food isn;t that different, but still delicious.

 

 

Week 9: Have you ever seen a dancing Wookie?

Hola family and friends!

Have you ever seen a dancing Wookie and a dancing Darth Vader?? Haha, I have! I love that on most corners here in Chile, there are street performers, who, during the crosswalk time, put on some sort of show. My favorite, by far, was the man in the Wookie costume and the other in a Darth Vader costume break-dancing and messing with each other. 

 

This morning, as a zone, we had an activity. Not what I thought it was going to be at all. We went and took a Ju-Jitsu class and learned some moves. Definitely an interesting experience, one I didn't think I would have on my mission. But it was fun and interesting and our zone is pretty awesome!

This week was absolutely fabulous! We had Zone Conference, with our Mission President, and him and his wife, are honestly the best. Such a great experience and we all learned a lot. 

 

We also had two of our investigators get baptized yesterday-which was so special. I have so much love for them and they are fabulous. What an important decision and such a wonderful opportunity they had to share it with family and friends. It was a beautiful service and I'm so thrilled for them. I absolutely love teaching and serving the people here. We are helping change lives, but honestly they are changing mine. Chile is a one of a kind place. 

My thought for this week:

I've thought a lot about faith this week. A lot. And my studies this week consists a lot of the New Testament--specifically, Matthew chapters 8 and 9. Everyone should go and read them. Every single miracle was extraordinary and special. Whether it be Christ giving the blind their sight or raising the dead back to life, they are amazing miracles. However before every miracle there has to be faith. Faith always, always precedes the miracles. 

My favorite thing I studied this week though happens in Matthew 14 when Christ walks upon the water. Peter then asks the Lord to allow him to walk on the water with him.

 

Matthew 18: 28-31

 v. 30 ¨But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried saying, Lord, save me. 

v.31 And IMMEDIATELY Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?´

 

Peter was walking upon the water!! He was doing it. He was walking to Christ. He had faith. But what happened? His attention turned to the things around him, the ´boisterous¨ winds. Only when the things around him were his focus did his faith falter. 

In the storms of life we need to have our focus be on our Savior. When the boisterous and crazy, hectic, awful. distracting winds of life come, we need to be firm in our faith. 

 

When our lives are focused in Christ, everything else falls into place. When we find our faith faltering, like Peter, we can always remember that Christ is ready to help. When we find ourselves sinking, there is a hand stretched forth waiting to catch us. Remember His love. 

I know that we all are going to struggle and have our downs in this life. It is a part of the learning and growing and progressing-process and purpose in this life. But faith is key. When our faith is strong, we will be able to ´walk on the water´ too. 

I love you all. Thank you so much for the emails. Have a great week!!

 

Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert



Some of my favorite people here--Carolina and Martina's baptism day--20 August 2017



Elder Olson (in the burnt orange shirt on the right of the first pic) did extensive Martial Arts all growing up. So he was super excited when he tracted into a Martial Arts instructor who had a studio near the church. He got special permission from President Harris to have his Zone (the Curico Zone) go to a free class there on pday, where the owner opened it up just for them and taught them. And it turns out the other instructor attended college at University of Utah. Neither of them are members but of course the missionaries are hoping to change that. 21 August 2017

 



Week 8: Earthquakes and more

14 August 2017

Hola!! 

Last week was a little crazy, but fun! It has rained almost everyday and I am so thankful for umbrellas and rain coats! And it feels a little bit like home-haha! 

ALSO-- experienced my first earthquake, first of many I am sure! We were in our apartment, around 10pm, and the room just started shaking. Such a strange thing. The windows and everything were rattling. Thankfully it was short!

Today we went with some other Hermanas, Hermana Sanchez and Hermana Reynoso. We did a little ¨hiking¨and had lunch up in this ¨mount¨ which is totally just a hill. But it was so fun and we could see all of Curico from the top. 

It is so funny here, the people are fascinated by Americans. And always trying to say stuff to me in English. It's a great perk though, makes it easier to talk to people because they want to ask me where I am from. I love the people here so much! They are kind and generous and open!

And we have had so many great experiences this week, teaching and serving the people! So many miracles! I am so grateful I get to serve the people of Chile. 

My thoughts for the week:

I remember this from when I was a beehive at a girls' camp fireside several years ago, and I have been thinking about it this week (and a shout out to Bishop Springer for the said fireside).  

Testimonies, (our beliefs, our faith, our knowledge) , are so important. And testimonies are like fires. There are so many benefits to a fire when you are out in the forest camping and such. They keep you warm, they keep you safe. When fires are left unattended, they can go out. When we don't do anything, they will last a bit, but they will die out. 

The same goes for testimonies. We need to be constantly adding to the flames to sustain the fire. We must be doing the little things, adding logs and twigs and such along the way. It is the little and simple things like praying regularly, reading the scriptures, loving God and your neighbors, and being kind. All good things. We need to constantly be tending to and adding to and caring for our fire. 

And I am convinced when we take steps like baptism, going to the temple, serving missions, callings and other special experiences, it is like dosing your fire with lighter fluid. 

In this life, we need to be constantly pushing foward. We can never stop growing, progressing, and learning. We are not meant to stand still or be stagnant. If we aren't going fowards, we are probably going backwards, and we can't afford to waste our time. 

My thoughts for the week! Sorry they are always so jumbled!

Have a fantastic week everyone! Lots of love from Chile! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert

It's so cold at night....and so I wear my socks to bed. I miss my dogs!
For intercambios (companion exchanges), I spent 24 hours with Hermana Reynoso in Raquen. She's from Argentina. During intercambios, the whole day, Hermana Reynoso and I had a dog follow us.  He was really cute, friendly and happy. He followed us house to house, neighborhood after neighborhood.  When we went into a house, he'd wait outside and get all excited when we came back out.  He even followed us back to the gated apartments. Dogs aren't allowed and we definitely didn't let him in, but he ran around the fence until he found a spot where he could slip under the gate. We were then inside for several hours studying and lunch and thought for sure he'd be gone. Nope. There he was still outside the glass door at the bottom of the stairs. So funny. We finally took a cab home at the end of the day and lost him there. But that determined dog followed us the whole day in the rain!

I got to wear jeans today, which was so nice. I miss jeans and a sweatshirt and being comfortable. We played soccer as a zone, which was great too. It's really hard being the only "gringa" though. 

Today is P-day again. We have plans to meet with the other sisters and "Climb a hill"--the English translation of what she told me we were doing in Spanish. It was super muddy from the rain.

My favorite things I've been called is Hermana Iceberg. These people cannot say my name. Hermana Iceberg or Hermana A-ber. I've just given up. My name for now is Hermana A-ber.



Speaking of American, people are fascinated. I'm flattered because so many people have stopped us just to say "You are beautiful."  It's funny when they try to compliment me in English too. But like I said, they are obsessed with my eyes. It's a good way to talk to people and we've been taking advantage of it.

We tried (well just me) sopaipillas, which are really popular here in Chile. I've no idea what they are exactly, but they're good. The stand with the sopaipillas and empanadas has a family where the younger dude speaks English like an American teenager and his dad speaks formal English. They lived in NY for a long time and always want us to stop and talk or will holler when they see us. They're so funny and now we have an address and will hopefully be teaching them. Perks of being an American!

Week 7: The Game Changer

Hermana Tapiero and Hermana Eibert in Alameda, Curico, Chile

7 August 2017

Hola everyone! I hope all you are having a great day and have had a great week!

Cold as ever here, which doesn't feel right for August haha! My companion and I are both doing great! We had 5 of our 8 investigators from last week also attend church with us this week, which was great. The others were sick with the same stuff I'm starting to get. 

Today we met as a zone and played futbol! Which is soccer... It was so fun. We also made/ate homemade empanadas, which are SO GOOD. 

We have several opportunities to serve this coming week, lots of painting and cleaning and such. Last week we scrubbed one lady's wall, that was covered in residue from a fire that had burned part of her house.

I love teaching the Haitians! It is so fun. Remember the pescado/pecado comment from before? Well, gringos aren't the only one that make that mistake. We had an investigator who is learning Spanish too, though it is really good, and went off on a tangent about sin, but saying pescado over and over and over. If you don't remember, pescado means fish. My companion, a latina, about died of laughter. It was great and we all laughed together when we explained what it meant.

We have three people this week that committed to be baptized. They are absolutely the sweetest people and I'm so excited for them!

We talk to so many different people and I love it. Most people are so nice and kind and patient. 

Note to everyone, members of my church and not: Please be oh so kind to the missionaries. We really just want to serve. We love to help and teach and serve and love. We genuinely mean it when we ask if there is anything we can help you with or any service you need. And we share our beliefs because we know they are true and want to share the joy of our message with everyone we come in contact with. Be kind and patient, we're just young kids away from our homes and families, to love and serve God. 

My thought of the week:

Based partly off of my personal study and an interview I had with my Mission President, who along with his wife, are the absolute best! I have so much love and respect for them. This was the/a game changer. It changed my mentality and thinking and gave me a better outlook on things. 

As hard as life can be sometimes, and the trials and tribulations we have to face, things will always get better. Sometimes it is just a matter of how we carry our burdens. If we have a positive outlook, a positive attitude, things will naturally be happier and smoother. 

We must always seek the divine help. We have a loving God who is waiting to bless us beyond what we already know, and wanting to help us, we need but only ask. And we have to have the faith to receive the answers we don't want too. Sometimes the Lord isn't going to take away the trial, the burden, the heartache, but when we seek him through prayer, He will increase our capacity to bear the load. Our capacities will grow indefinitely when we have the Lord on our side. 

(Mosiah 24: 14) "The Lord will ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs."

The problems will still be there sometimes, but we have it within our capability to be happy and have the load lightened. I'm convinced that, as awesome as the Hallelujahs and praises are, the Lord waits desperately for His children to seek him during heartache and tribulation. Know that you have never lived a moment unloved. You are always loved by a divine and perfect being, with a perfect and infinite love. 

Have a fantastic week everyone! Lots of love from this missionary!

Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert

 

Curico, Chile (Alameda). It looks tropical, but it's freezing!

Hermana Tapiero cooking the empanadas after playing futbol as a zone on P-day