Week #33 * March 16, 2015

Hey everyone,

This week has been really good we are getting ready for another mission conference. This time it is going to be in two  parts. The north part of the mission in one and the south, where I am, in another.  We have someone named Elder Zebellos coming to speak. I am really not sure who he is, but it is supposed to be really good and at the end we are going to watch Meet the Mormons. So I am pretty excited for that.

This week we have continued to work with a lot of less actives. Two less active families came to church and are really progressing well and we are teaching several others who want to come back to the church. We are really excited about that.  One of our investigators Maria Ulga also came to church who we started teaching recently. We were able to have a really good experience with her because she is preparing for the Thesis, which is a huge project, slash test thing that they have here that takes a lot of preparing and is the deciding factor of whether or not they receive their title after the finishing all their college courses.  We were able to go with a member, who gave her a priesthood blessing and invited her to go to church and she came! We are also working with a new investigator named Jacquline who went to the church for a whole year, but never was baptized because she was living with someone.  She stopped going when they broke things off and it has been several years but she has decided that she wants to receive the missionaries again, so we are really excited about that.

With Jaime I found out that he doesn’t even live in our ward boundaries, because we have been teaching him in a house of a different member and so we have to try to get him to go to his own ward. But my companion told me that he didn’t want to, when they talked to him about it before so I am a little nervous about that. Because our leaders have told us that we need to try to have everyone go to their own ward. So we are going to try and help him to know some of the people of the other ward this week. Please pray for him.

Other than that we are just working really hard to find new people to teach. 

I love you all and want you to know that you are in my prayers!

Love,

Hermana Stringham

Week #32 * March 9, 2015

Hey everyone,

So this week has been pretty good.  I have loved working here In Talca. The week has just flown by.  

We are working with a lot of less actives here that are progressing really well and are returning to the church.  As to investigators more than anything we are just looking for some new people to teach. Please pray for us to be able to find people interested in our message. That has been a really challenge this week.

This week we had divisions so, I got to go to a sector in Contitucion, which is like 2 hours from here. It is a little town on the coast.  That was really fun, but it is pure huge hills in that sector and so the Hermanas there get a real good work out everyday.

I have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot trying to keep up with the challenge that our mission President gave us and it has been really good.  I have loved reading in the Book of Mormon each morning and night it has been a real blessing.  I have felt the spirit in my live and I know that we are going to see a lot of success as a mission as we complete with this Challenge that our mission president has asked us to do.

Just a little look at some of the People we are teaching.  Jaime is a investigator that they have been teaching for a while he is doing well and goes to church every week and wants to be baptized one day but doesn’t want to commit to a baptism date and is struggling to quit smoking.  Please pray for him we are not sure what to do to help him to progress.  We are working with a less active named Kristina who is a single Mom with 3 kids. She has been very overwhelmed because she has a lot on her plate, but she has a strong desire to return to the church and it has been amazing to watch all the sacrifices she is making to try to get back on the right path.  We are working with a lot more less actives and recent converts that I am really just beginning to know, but it has been really cool to get to see the other side of missionary work.  It has been such a great joy helping those who for one reason are another have strayed away from the church, but now have desires to work and are working hard a making many sacrifices to return.  It has just reminded me of just how important that little things are to keep us strong in the gospel, because it can be so easy to get a little off track with something little and pretty soon you are way off track and it is a long hard process to return.  I have noticed with them, that it never starts with something big. It almost always starts with not reading the scriptures each day and then pretty soon not praying and from there things just went down hill.  That is why it is so important as it says in doctrine and covenants that we are always anxiously engaged in a good cause working on our spiritual progression!

This week really has been good but more of just a normal week so sorry for the short email.  I will try and write more next week!

I love you all and I am always praying for you!

Love ya,

Hermana Stringham

Week #31 * March 2, 2014

Hey everyone,

So this week has been full of new things.  Talca is a lot like my old area as it is a city and a nice area, but the people are a lot nicer.  Everyone told me that the further south you go they nicer they are, and it is so true.  The people here are so loving and so friendly in the streets. I love it.  My new companion is Hermana Squires. She is from Standsberry Utah and she has about 4 months in the mission.  It has been really fun working with her and getting to know her.

The ward here is really great.  This ward has a lot of recent converts and a lot of Menos activos that we are working with that are doing really good.  It has been fun getting to work more in the other aspects of misison work and get to know everyone here.  I was so excited to find out that recently the Hermana here moved to a new house that is in our sector so first of all we don't have to use bikes ( I was really nervous about that) and second our house is really nice and big.  I forgot my camera, so I will have to send you all pictures next week.  We are working with a lot of different people, but more than anything we are looking for new people to teach. I am going to share more about the people next week, when I get to know them better and when I have more time, but I ham really excited to start working in this new ward it really has been a great experience so far.

This weekend one of the members houses burnt down it was really sad.  We heard the sirens, then when we left the lesson we were in, a house in the corner was in flames and later we found out it was the house of a member who is less active.  It was sad to see how in one moment this family was doing just fine and the next they had lost everything.  The ward has really come together and it has been amazing to watch as the have been helping to clean out all the burnt inside of the house and the relief society stepping in to collect clothes and food for this family that was left with nothing.  Please pray for them as the are really struggling to figure out what the are going to do and were they are going to live.

Last night we had a ward Family home evening and they talked about prayers and how sometimes we fall in the habit of saying the same things, but we need to try to pray more sincerely and do our part.  If we pray for something we need to the maximum that we can to help those things come to pass, and that we take the time to wait for answers instead of immediately going to bed.  

Also this week our Mission Presdent gave us a huge invitation to start over whereever we are, and read the whole Book of Mormon by April 30th! I am excited to take the challenge although I am almost in Alma, I am going to start over.  I would love to invite you all to join in.  I know it is a lot in little time, but I know that it is going to be a really spiritual experience and I am really excited to do it and to invite you all to join in!

Well that is pretty much it for this week.  I am excited to for this week and to share all my experiences with you next week.   I hope you all have a great week and know that you are always in my prayers.

Love ya,

Hermana Stringham