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.)