Week #13

Hey Everyone,

Sorry, My grammar is bad, because of Spanish. I write so fast to try to get it all in, as well the spell check is in spanish so the computer thinks that I spell everything wrong.

Okay here are the answers to your questions.

**No we don’t have any investigators with baptismal dates right now, since Victor canceled his, but we should have some soon.

**The Spanish is coming pretty good.  Right now I can understand the majority and I can talk alright, but it is much easier to understand than speak it.  Looking back I have come along ways and I have gained such a strong testimony of the gift of tongues, because I know that there is know way I would be able to communicate this well in Chile only after 6 weeks on my own.  As well it is amazing to see that I can always understand, and I can always speak when I have to spirit with me and I have something I am prompted to say. 

Okay so I was finally able to watch the video of the grandkids it was so fun to see all of them and hear their voices and I am so glad that you sent it tell them hi for me and that I love them.  

This week we had someone in our ward pass a way so we went to help with the funeral. It was a beautiful funeral, because the spirit was so strong.  The majority of the family are members and it was amazing to hear them speak and see how at peace they were, especially the Mom who was at peace with the passing away of her daughter. Yes, she was sad, but she was at peace because she knows that she will get to see her daughter again.  It made me feel so grateful for this gospel that we have and for the knowledge that we can be with our families forever. This knowledge brings such happiness into our lives.  I can’t even imagine how hard it would be if I didn’t know that.  There are people in the world who don’t know, and it is our job to share this message with him.  I love being a missionary for the opportunity that I have to share this message with the people of Chile.

This week we have also seen a lot of miracles, as we have been working on looking for the Lords hands in our lives.  I have realized that we have several miracles happen in our lives everyday, especially as missionaries.  A lot of times we are just to busy to notice or recognize them as missionaries.  Miracles such as we often have members drive by just when we are running late and praying that we can get somewhere on time.  One of the miracles we had this week was when we were outside contacting, not really getting anywhere and just praying in our heads to find someone that we could teach.  Just after my companion had said a silent prayer, a man drove by in a car and called to us.  At first we were hesitant but then the man called to us, “Hermanas, my mom has been looking for you.”  So we asked who his mom was a recognized her as a contact that we had made earlier. We had stopped passing by.  They never let is in for one reason or another when we used to pass by and so we assumed they weren’t really interested.  We finally got to teach her and her husband.  I know that the Lord answered our prayers that day and had been preparing her. 

This week we also had stake conference and the topic was missionary work, which was really exciting for us as missionaries.  One thing that they shared is the statistics of contacts and references being baptized. For contacts is like 1 in more than a thousand, and for references is more like 1 in 30.  I don’t remember the exact numbers, but the point was that as missionaries we are much more effective when we work with members.  I have seen this first hands many times in my mission.  Members can add a special testimony and experiences, that the people can relate to as they have more similar experiences to the people. Our lessons are always so much more powerful when we are able to bring a member.  As members we need to remember that although we may not have a missionary plaque we are always missionaries and have a responsible to help with the work.  We have such a great gift with the gospel in our lives and we need to share it with others.

I love you all and am so grateful for your support and letters!

Love ya,

Hermana Stringham