When everyday problems seem to scream louder than the Hope.

Monday, June 16, 2014

How are you all!? I am doing great! Are you watching the world cup!? that has been pretty exciting Chile won!! 3 to 1! It is way fun to be down here during the world cup. Chile is not one of the crazier countries for the world cup, but they are pretty crazy about it. Everything is red! When they play, our mission president makes us go inside and study but we still know what the score is by the reactions of all of the people.  I think it does not matter where you are, when Chile has a goal the whole world screams and blows horns. It is prety exciting. My comp says that it is even crazier in Argentina. She LOVES soccer!! When we pass apartment doors during games with Argentina, she listens to what they say to see if there is a goal. She says that they put big screens in all of the major plazas and people just go out with their chairs and watch the game. We don´t live close to any major plazas but I am sure central Santiago is pretty crazy. It is a fun patriotic spririt.  I like it!

This week was one full of ups and downs!  As a missionary I get to testify of eternal families, but I am learning that to have that prize never was and never will be easy. No family is the exception. I am learning what it really means to have faith in Christ. The missionary purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith on the Lord Jesus Christ Repentance, Baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end.  Faith is a lot more than I thought it was. It is one thing to believe He exists and that He suffered and died for our sins, but it is another thing to trust in Him enough to move forward with relationships that the sister missionaries are promising that through Him will be eternal and perfect some day, when now it looks so imperfect. Having faith in Christ that he can take a normal couple with normal problems and make them perfectly united forever is a lot of faith when the everyday problems seem to scream louder than the hope. This is the kind of faith that does not just require going to church and praying every once in a while, it is the kind of faith that goes on forever!! The kind of faith that changes every minute of every day.  And it means we make really big decsions like getting married, baptized, and sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. That kind of faith is a bigger scale.  I love P and E so much!  It is a lot of work to help them get ready for these big steps but we are excited. They are getting married on the 2nd of July, E_ leaves the next day to work in the mines on the 3rd, so that night he is going to get baptized and confirmed!  So that means that exactly one year after I got to Chile Santiago Este, Las Condes Apoquindo B, my favorite family in the world will be getting married and E_ will be getting baptized and confirmed, to prepare himself to baptize his new wife!  Wow!  God is good! It is pretty fun to think about one year ago, when I met this family and how much they have changed.  God is not asking for faith with nothing of evidence.  He has taken good care of them this year and I can´t wait to see what he does next year.  God is also good to me!  How sweet is it that I get to finish the BEST year of my life watching my favorite people get baptized. We called E_ yesterday on fathers day and I picked up the phone and said "how is my Chileno dad doing!?" he laughed and said "good, daughter how are you?" They really are the closet thing I have to family here. (don´t worry daddy you still win in every country it just so happens that while you are not here E_ is a good temporary replacement;)) It will be a really sweet ending to my time in Apoquindo. Yes, president called me and said that si o si I am going to another sector for my last four months. ;) I think that will be good ... I am getting a little tired of Pichidangui (A street we are on almost all of the time.) 

G_ family is really the biggest update of the week. B__ family keep being amazing!!  It is funny, I had to almost fight with president to win teaching rights this week. We all want to teach them;) They are a pretty amazing family! Mom sent me popsicle sticks for Easter and I made two of her famous games for G_ and B_. We played it with both families this week. It is pretty fun to hear A_ explain priesthood blessings by saying "Oh! this is what my dad is going to be able to give me when he gets the other priesthood." Or when she is explaining eternal families, she says "This is what I am going to have in a year!" God is good! He has changed that house just like he has changed G_!  I can't wait for them to get married in the temple!  What a sweet experience that will be!! A_ and M_ got confirmed this week and it was beautiful!  They are going to be a great family in this church!!  They are already driving people from our ward everywhere and are part of all of the activities.  They are such good friends!!  They have their anniversary this week and are inviting us and president to dinner!  What a change!!  I am sure one year ago their anniversary would have been very different!  But they chose faith in Christ and now the fruits are real!!

R_ continues with problems.  They are such good people but I just don´t now how to help them! The brother loves learning! It is actually fun talking to him because he knows a lot and thinks deeply about things. But it is also frustrating because now he trusts more in himself than he does in God. That makes things complicated. I like learning from God. I like learning His way, because the more I learn the more I realize how much I need Him!  It is weird because when I just trust in Him my brain seems to understand things a lot faster.  We talked about truth and wether it is relative or absolute. (Yes! I had an educated converstaion in Spanish I love it!!) (The word for relative is relativo and absolute is absoluto ... that is why I love Spanish!!) I am so grateful for the absolute truths in my life! It is something interesting to think about. Think of the world of Rodrigo´s brother. Think of what our world would be if truth was relative. 

We are really trying to look for new people now. It is pretty funny because right now we have some of the highest numbers I have ever had on my mission. But now that everyone is getting baptized I am going to leave my comp with nothing!  he he he!  So, we are really trying to step up our game to find other families to teach. We are pretty blessed in our sector.  I almost forgot how it felt to feel the urge of finding new people because we were always so worried about who we had. But now we are dropping old ones, baptizing the good ones, and getting left with like five investigators.  That is not very much for Apoquindo.  So please pray for us we are wanting to find more people to teach. 

I love you all so much! I really do have faith that Jesus really can do what He said He would.  He does it different than I thought He would but He does do it!  So many times I just wish God would carry some of these people here that I love so much out of their problems but He never seems to do it. I am starting to understand why now, He is a loving older brother that is teaching us to walk on the water.  If He did all the walking and all of the carrying, we would not learn how to walk on the water.  It shows that He loves us even more when He patently waits and calls our names while we try to learn how to do it.  Like a good parent teaches their child to walk. I am glad He does not carry me over the waters (even though I want him to in the moment the waves come) but He teaches me how to do it!!!  It gets frustrating watching other people in the waves, but I am learning to have faith in Christ just like I am trying to help other people do as a missionary. It feels good to know that his hands are as sure and as good with P_ as they are with me. We are both pretty crazy with doubts and fears, but He is always good and always mighty to save!!!  I hope you all have a great week!! I love you all so freaking much!!!!!!

Love,

Hermana Webb