Happy Father's Day

And I really didn't forget--

HAPPY FATHERS DAY, DAD

Love you

Week 53: Goodbye Guadalupita

This week was crazy. 

We had our own chapel open house, capilla abierta, here in Guadalupe this Saturday! It was a great success! I love being able to give tours and share with so many people at a time! It was a happy day and a long day, but it was fun to work with the members as well! The people here are stellar!

We also received our cambios Saturday night! I am leaving Guadalupe/San Fernando! I heading south in the mission to the famous Talca, where it is a lot colder (whoooohooo)! My new sector/area is called Jardin del Valle and it is a ward! My new companion, though I have yet to meet her, is an Hermana de Queiroz from Brazil! I am excited for these changes and I am sure this cambio will be fantastic, but I will keep y'all posted. 

This week our favorite investigator came to church too! He even came to a baptism the elders had right before church started! It was a sweet experience, right up until the actual ordinance. He disappeared and we couldn't find him. Turns out he went to the bathroom and literally missed the baptism by 10 seconds. It was so frustrating but also funny and just a disaster. But the baptism was sweet, and they are the cutest family ever! Love them so much, and was happy to be there and participate! Definitely a highlight of the week. 

My thought of the week: 

Jesus
Others
You

When we got our focus where it should be, we will find real joy. Lasting joy. Not momentary happiness. 

Love you all! Have a great week!

Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert

picture: one of my favorite familias, familia Castillo! feat. Hermana Little, Elder Pead, Elder Bartel

Hello Parental Units of Hermana Little and Hermana Eibert!

I snapped a picture of these two lovely ladies this week at Zone Conference. I love to pass along pictures of missionaries. These 2 are a great pair! My favorite moment #1 of this Conference was which ever relative/friend sent the package in an adult diaper box wins the prize for most awkward moment at Zone Conference June 2018. The Hermana pair bolted quick to take the package home. I´m relieved they live close to the chapel we were meeting in.  Favorite moment #2 was also provided by Hermana Little I suggested a photo for ¨Mom¨ and Hermana Little said, “Wait! Let me take off my coat. I look cute today!”

I love these Hermanas and wish I could get to know them better.  Hermana Little´s time is short but I'll have a few more chances to visit with Hermana Eibert though that time will fly by as well. Elder Black and I are also Utah County residents so I hope to bump into these ladies again someday. I know the world is a small enough place for even Utahns and Washingtonians to bump into each other again. Hope springs eternal.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

     Hermana Black

        Historiadora

Misión Chile Rancagua

Oficina: (72) 223-2750

The shoes and laundry soap finally arrived!!

Celular: (9) 58112340 

Hermana Eibert's package from Aunt Gale with 4lbs of peanut and lots of popcorn and treats!!

Week 52: Dang Straight We Are

Hi guys! How is it going?

This week was a bit crazy! We had zone conference with President and Hermana Harris, which was absolutely wonderful! It was perfect and it was amazing how they answered all the questions I didn't know that I had. 

Hermana Little serving up the Anniversary treat on June 14, 2018

Thanks to Aunt Gale for the Popcorn!!

This week I also hit my year mark! Crazy!! I am not sure where the time went! But we celebrated with popcorn and a candle (courtesy of my sweet companion!!) and we have enjoyed us some classic Chilean sushi a couple times this week! I am not a huge fan of fish and such, but when it's chicken sushi, it may sound weird, but it is amazing! I am trying desperately to enjoy every minute I have this name tag on! It is going by too fast!

Chilean Sushi is awesome!

Our zone activity included a ping pong tournament and playing mafia (I'm killer at that--hahaha) and we made s'mores, which is hard to do in Chile--haha! It was fun. 

Also, fun story, we have something here called preguntas del alma, or questions of the soul, that we use with contacts and investigators. It is great, because the latinas like to abbreviate it in their agenda when we are planning what we will be teaching someone. They don't understand why the gringas die laughing when the lesson plan includes us teaching ¨PDA¨. I have taken to writing it too! 

This week was full of craziness! But I adore the members here, the people we teach and the people I have the opportunity to serve with! I am so blessed and so happy! 

My thought of the week:

We had an awesome noche de hogar this last week where this was the message shared and I absolutely loved it! It is from Joy D. Jones talk entitled ¨Value Beyond Measure¨.

¨President Spencer W. Kimball explained in these glorious words: “God is your Father. He loves you. He and your Mother in heaven value you beyond any measure. … You are unique. One of a kind, made of the eternal intelligence which gives you claim upon eternal life.

“Let there be no question in your mind about your value as an individual.The whole intent of the        gospel plan is to provide an opportunity for each of you to reach your fullest potential, which is eternal progression and the possibility of godhood.”

Let me point out the need to differentiate between two critical words: worth and worthiness. They arenot the same. Spiritual worth means to value ourselves the way Heavenly Father values us, not as the world values us. Our worth was determined before we ever came to this earth. “God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever.”

On the other hand, worthiness is achieved through obedience. If we sin,we are less worthy, but we are never worth less! We continue to repent and strive to be like Jesus with our worth intact. As President Brigham Young taught: “The least, the most inferior spirit now upon the earth … is worth worlds.” No matter what, we always have worth in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.¨

I love this. Nothing we do can change our value. The worth of souls really is far more than we can understand in the eyes of God. However, we still have the responsibility to strive and be worthy. We will be a lot happier when we are more worthy, and we will recognize our worth and the worth of others more when we obey God´s commandments! I love that we know that He loves us! My favorite New Testament scripture still is Romans 8:35, 37-39.

Have a great week! I love you all!

Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert

Quote of the week: ¨You are servants of God!!¨ 

¨Dang straight we are and we need a bathroom!¨

¨They totally poked the dragon!¨

Week 51: All Hail Broke Loose

Hi everyone!

Lots going on this week! We had the blessed opportunity to have intercambios with the San Vicente hermanas again and also the hermanas from Cachapoal. It was great to work with Hermana Garcia (who I have been in the same zone since she got to the mission, 7 months ago!! She is awesome) and Hermana Barney (we arrived together, so much fun catching up and being in awe that we arrived in Chile a year ago!). I always learn so much and I love so much the people I serve with!

This week was full of beautiful miracles! Saturday is started pouring. And up until that point...I thought I had missed the rain, ha! I do miss the rain, but I am not sure if I am fond of it as a missionary. But I love putting on the boots and rain jacket and opening up the umbrella and going to work! Rain or shine, the people are waiting! It did get a little intense, with thunder and lightning and we had to retreat a little bit, but we waded through lakes and the raging rivers that the streets became. Also, it started hailing yesterday, and also the Chileans were all expecting snow, though we had no such luck here in San Fernando, which was a little bit of a bummer! But we just heard it snowed in Chimbarongo so the hermanas there had all the luck.

But it was beautiful to arrive at an appointment we had with an investigator and to see the surprised look on his face. He didn't think we would come with the storm, but we arrived and it was a beautiful lesson. He committed to coming to church the next day, rain or shine, because he saw how dedicated we were and how the rain didn't phase us. We did look a little bit like drowned rats, but we were there and the Lord provided the way. AND he came to church yesterday! We are so excited for him, it was the third Sunday he came and he has loved it and is progressing along so well! He learns so quickly and has so many good questions, which we love! We are excited for him!

Thought of the week: 

Heaven really is cheering us on. Like I have said, we have never lived a moment without being loved, perfectly. I love that. 

We have to keep trying. We have to keep trusting and believing and growing. It is the only way. Life gets hard, but the heart ache is only a moment and the blessings we receive and are going to receive, the miracles and the tender mercies, are more than we could ever imagine or understand. God loves us so much. 

And I love you all. Have a great week!

Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert

PS. Quote of the week: ¨Sleep, it's like death without the commitment.¨

Honorable Mention: ¨Don't try and distract me with Jesus.¨

ENJOY THE PICTURES, DROWNED RATS

Week 50: No Vale

This week flew by!! It is so cold now. Freezing, but that's okay, better than blistering hot. Winter has set in.

We started off with our interviews this last Tuesday with President Harris! As always, I learned a lot. I am so grateful for fantastic leaders to lead and guide us, and for the counsel I have received. I also enjoyed the opportunity we had to teach both zones that participated in interviews that day. We taught about the faith, and we decided to put a spin on things. Instead of talking at everyone for a half hour, we decided to turn it into a game. It was fun, we played chutes and ladders, with scriptures and quotes about faith. It was fun and they basically taught us. I love that. I always learn more from others than I think I could ever teach them. Hopefully, I will send a picture...it was a cute game board and it went very well. 

This week we had intercambios/exchanges with both the hermanas from San Vicente and Chimbarongo. It has been a little crazy, but also amazing! San Vicente now has a trio of hermanas! We welcomed a sweet sister who is from Paraguay but was serving in Nicaragua. She is about halfway done with the mission but had to be reassigned here. We are excited to have her, and working with a trio is always interesting! I got to go on intercambios with my trainer again, Hermana Tapiero, and life is always a party when we are together! It was a wonderful opportunity and she is still teaching me so much. 

We had a crazy week that ended with a crash. Unfortunately, I have a sinus infection and head cold stuff going on and have been sick the last several days. And my companion has not had good luck either. We have had a rough go, but we are choosing to positive still. It keeps up going. We have seen so many tender mercies this week though, and we are well taken care of. 

One of our investigators came to church this last Sunday and I was so excited about it! It was amazing. He loved it and though he is scared of the changes he is making in his life, he also says that he likes how he feels and where the changes are leading him. With sacrifices, we really do receive so many blessings. We just have to make the right choices. 

Also, fun fact: I found chewy sweet tarts here in Chile and cried with joy. Miracles really do exist guys! 

Cool experience of the week: we were walking in the street and we heard two people speaking English and immediately stopped to talk to them because we were so surprised! They were two exchange students and were so excited also to find two English speakers! It was awesome! The guy was from Germany!! And....the girl?? TACOMA WASHINGTON, like 30 minutes from my house and goes to a familiar high school. I have never met someone else from Washington here in Chile, but that was cool. She was sweet and it was a cool experience. 

My thought of the week:

I think the question we receive the most as missionaries is usually a very angry or defeated question, ¨If there is a God, how could such awful things happen in this world?¨ Most people ask this but aren't really willing to hear or learn/look for the answer. They choose to sit in darkness and sadness or anger. It drives me crazy sometimes because I would love to help them. While I was studying this week, I came across this part from Elder Ballard's book Our Search for Happiness, that addresses this question exactly. I love it. Here is what he says: 

¨The answer isn't easy, but it isn't that complicated either. God has put His plan into motion. It proceeds through natural laws--which are, by fact, God´s laws. And because they are His, He is bound by them, as are we. In this imperfect world, bad things sometimes happen. The earth´s rocky underpinnings occasionally slip and slide, and earthquakes result. Certain weather patterns turn into hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and drought. That is the nature of our existence on this planet. Dealing with adversity is one of the chief ways in which we are tested and tutored. 

Sometimes, however, adversity is man-made. That is where the principle of agency again comes into play....We tend to think of agency in a personal way. (Moral agency means I am free to make choices for myself). But we forget that agency also offers that same privilege to others, which means that sometimes we are going to be adversely affected by the way other people choose to exercise their agency.¨

I love this. Something I have learned is that when we walk through affliction and hardship, it is usually caused in 3 ways. Circumstance/situational issues, our own choices, or the choices of others. God does not want us to suffer. And it simply is not fair, when things don't go our way, to blame Him. Trials are inevitable, but what really counts is our reaction to life's curveballs and our choices in general. We can choose to be happy, we choose to trust in God, we can choose to have peace and light and calm, even while walking through a storm. 

I also loved this part from the book too:

¨Heavenly Father feels so strongly about protecting our moral agency that He will allow all of His children to exercise it--for good and for evil. Of course, He has an eternal perspective that helps Him to understand that whatever pain and suffering that we endure in this life, regardless of its origins and causes, it is only a moment compared with our entire eternal existence.¨

How cool is that? Agency is so important. If only we could recognize the worth of this grand gift. Our Heavenly Father was willing to sacrifice a third of the host of heaven to maintain our ability to choose. He loves us and wants us to choose, to choose Him, to choose happiness. He won't force us into seeking light and love and joy. 

When we are ¨illuminated by the light of faith, adversity becomes a vehicle for growth¨. When we choose wisely, we can grow in ways we didn't know were possible. He loves us, He knows us, He is guiding us.

Anyway, my mom will be happy this emails a bit longer than usual.

I love you all. I hope you all have a fantastic week. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert

ps. random quote of the week: tallerines sin queso es como el amor sin besos, no vale

I hope somebody speaks Spanish and can laugh along with me. It doesn't really work in English, sorry.  (I love being bilingual.)