Sunday, January 31, 2016

Letter to President Warne

Presidente y Hermana Warne,
Thank you so much for the amazing work you have done in the Chile Rancagua mission.  You have make an impact on so many lives and truly changed the mission Chile Rancagua.  You have touched and changed so many lives including mine.  I feel so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to have you as my mission president.  Thank you so much for all the advice and always being there.  Your advice and weekly letters were always so inspired and always came just when I needed them.  I have learned so much from you that not only helped me a ton in my mission but has continued to help me as I am returning home.  You two are huge examples to me.  My mission were the most incredible 18 months in my whole life and I wouldn't trade them in for the world.  The things I experience and learned changed and shaped me into the women I am today and are things that I will refer back to for the rest of my life.  You two were a huge part of that experience.  I truly know with all my heart that my call was inspired as well as being sent to your mission.  I know that you were both called of God and exactly what the mission Chile Rancagua and all of its missionaries have needed.  You have truly touched my heart and I will never forget you.  Thank you for being life parents to me in a time when I was far from home.  I hope that we never lose contact.
Thank you for everything you have done for me!

Hermana Danielle Stringham

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

She's Coming Home!

Hermana Stringham will return:
Friday, January 29!
She will be speaking in Church on:
Sunday, January 31st at 9 am.
The address to the Church is  9750 South 2200 West.
You can visit with Danielle in our home anytime Sunday,
 after the meeting!

She has had an amazing 18 months
serving the people
in the Rancagua Chile Mission!

Well done, Hermana Stringham!


Monday, January 25, 2016

Week #78 *January 25, 2016

LAST LETTER

Hey Everyone,

Well I am in the mission home right now and it is so weird seeing this all coming to an end.  These have seriously been the best 18 months of my life.  So many amazing things that I have learned and people that I have met.  I am so sad to be leaving behind this beautiful country and all of the people that I love.

This week has been very special.  My companions and the members here are so sweet.  They threw me a surprise going away lunch.  The familia Escarate came home from the beach for the day just to throw me a bbq it was very kind of them.

We also found Gabriela this week. She is moving to Santiago to study and she promised to talk to the missionaries there.  I am so grateful that we could find her and say goodbye to her she is so special.

Yesterday was Coni’s baptism it was so special.  She was so excited.  She came out of the water after the baptism and came and gave us a big wet hug with tears running down her face and told us that she just felt an overwhelming happiness come over her.  Jazmin was also really emotional. She says that she is really excited for her baptism.  They are all such a special family I am so excited for him.

I couldn’t have asked for a better last Sunday.

Well I just want to thank  everyone for all their support while I have been on the mission. I love you all so much and I cant wait to see you and share more experiences with you on Friday.

I love you!
Hermana Stringham 


Monday, January 18, 2016

Week #77 *January 18, 2016


Hey everyone,

Wow I cant believe that my mission is coming to an end it just doesn’t seem so real.  Our sector right now is doing amazing and I just feel so blessed to be hear in this sector with my companion as they are just a dream come true.  Definitely a good note to end on as we have just been working so hard there is not time to thinking about the fact that my mission is coming to an end.

Oh so with Gabriela she has basically just disappeared. She doesn’t answer her phone or come out the times we went to her house and we don’t know what happened so please pray for her.

Fabiola came to church this week again she is doing awesome and she says she feels really good.  We are planning on putting a baptism date with her this week so she could really use your prayers. Caroline her daughter didn’t come she is struggling with something but she didn’t want to talk about it please pray for her we are really worried about it.

We taught a less active this week who is almost activated her name is Ana Maria  she is doing so good she has been doing so good.  she just sent her sone and now she is preparing to go to the temple, so we have been helping with that it has been so sweet. So Jazmin and Erik are doing awesome.  I just grow to love this family more and more each day.  They went to go get married this week, but the soonest date they could get is for the 9th of March, and so they are pretty bummed on that, but they both agreed that it must be for a reason and now Erik will probably be able to baptize Jazmin.  Her new baptism date is for the 13th of March.  We are so excited for them.  Seriously they are just so special. kTheir daughter Coni has decided that she doesn’t  want to wait, so she will be ba[tized next Sunday!!!!She is sow sweet.  We helped them move this week and so we really got to know them better.  It was fun;.  They live on the fifth floor and so they needed a lot of help.  We finished exhausted but it was fun.  Toni (Constanza) is just so special and so excited.  We did the pre entravista and she started to cry and she told us that she just felt so happy.  She is a very special 10 year old girl.  The family is doing awesome as well.  They have just such a strong desire to learn.  We taught about tithing this week and they accepted it immediately.  They have been really struggling with money to the point that we have taught by candle light because they couldn’t pay the power bill.  So, I was a little nervous.  I knew that they would accept it, but I thought it would be hard as well.  However they accepted it immediately and she said that it is incredible how the gospel works and the Lord asks so little of us to be able to build His kingdom and in turn He blesses us so much more.  Seriously they are the best.  Seriously we just feel so blessed to be in this sector, as this family is just so incredible and we have many other incredible investigators.  I could not have asked for a better way to finish the mission.
I can’t believe that this is all coming to an end,  It has been such an incredible experience and I guess I still have a little time left!  It is so heart braking as I am excited to see you all, but I am going to miss the people here so much!!!  Thank you for all that you guys have done for me in supporting me throughout my mission.

I love you all so much!

Love ya,

Hermana Stringham

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Week #76 *January 11, 2016


   
One of the most amazing weeks

Hey Everyone,

Wow this week has been just one full of amazing things and I don’t have a ton of time so I hope I can get to everything.

First of we started the week off in an amazing way, as I go to the temple.  The temple here in Chile was absolutely beautiful and it just felt like coming home after soo long.  We are so blessed to have a temple close by to get to go whenever you want.  We take it so much for granted. I just want to go back as much as I can when I get home.

When I was in the temple waiting, I was able to finish the Book of Mormon as my mission President had challenged us to read it .  It was a very special experience this time and I was newly assured of the truth of the Book of Mormon. It is such a powerful book and I am loving reading it again. Each time I just feel like I have a completely different perspective.

So this week we put 4 baptismal dates with a family. They didn’t come to church and have a lot of changes to make, but the have the desire to change. Their names are Vasna Michele Valentina and Nicolas. They are really special but need a lot of help please pray for them.

Right now we are teaching the most amazing family, Jazmin and Erik, that I told you about. Wow we went by this week to teach the word of wisdom and they instantly accepted it. In fact Jazmin said she really feels like it is true and she immediately went to the store after to buy some other types of drinks they can drink instead of tea and coffee. She is awesome.  Last night we went by to teach about the law of chastity and they aren’t actually married. So it may have come to a surprise to them that they need to get married, but the agreed and they are going to talk about it,  but they still want to be ready for that date and their kids were cheering them on to get married too. So that was cute. They told us we can be the witnesses at their wedding so that is really exciting.  They are just flourishing in the ward making friends. Their daughter Coni is already in 2nd Nephi after one week and is only ten years old.  Each time we go buy she has a new scripture she wants to share with us.  I just can’t explain the spirit that is in the lessons with this family they are so amazing and I love them so much please pray for them.   Erick is a less active and he is trying to give up smoking. He hasn’t smoke for 3 days and is praying a lot so please pray for him.  my companion and I are both giving something up with him.  My companion is trying to stop biting her nails and I have given up all sweets and sugar up to the baptism date with the sugar and honeslty it has been hard, but it has been so special doing it with him.  the baptism is on the 24th with Jazmin and Coni, my last Sunday here and they are just so excited, but we still have a lot to teach so we could really use your prayers.

Wow so I am running out of time, so  just to sum things up we had 7 investigators in the church, which was a huge miracle I will tell you more about them next week.    They are Marcelo which I have told you about, Fabiola and Carolina and Carla and Gustavo. So pray for them as well.  Today we went to 7 tazas to visit some water fall. It is so beautiful here in the mountains I will have to send pics   Well I am just about out of time, so I love you all so much and I will share more with you next week.

Love ya,
Hermana Stringham     



Monday, January 11, 2016

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Monday, January 4, 2016

Week #75 *January 4, 2015

Hey Everyone,

So this week has just been another amazing week here in Curico.  I am just loving working in this sector with Hermana Bishop. Seriously our sector is doing so good, and Hermana Bishop well she is just awesome she is such a blessing to have as my companion.

Our sector is doing amazingly well.  So Jazmin and Erik are doing so well. We went on Saturday and taught them the plan of salvation and we invited Jazmin to be baptized on the 24th and she said yes without hesitating and then they all came to church and loved it they already downloaded the church app and wanted to new manuals to be able to prepare for the lessons each week. They are just golden I am so excited to work with this family they are just so prepared and the spirit is just so strong in every lesson.  

Marcelo is doing pretty good he keeps asking really good questions and the Elders went by last night and they told us that he said the closing pray and asked God if getting married and baptized really is the right way to go.  They are so awesome.

It has been so amazing. Actually working with families in this sector is just such a huge difference because they are all together and they are more motivated as they all have the goal from the start to be sealed in the temple. Oh I just feel so blessed to be a part of all of this.

This week we had an awesome lesson with Fabiola, one of our investigators. We went with a member and it went really well. Then Fabiola told us that she has been searching all over for the true church and nothing has filled her and she feels like this actually fills her.  We read in the Book of Mormon and she just asked, “why doesn’t anyone else have this?” And she suddenly realized why. It is just so important, the work we are doing, and so we invited her to be baptzied on the 24th as well and she said yes and promised to come to church, but she never came. So please pray for her as she really struggles with making it to church on Sunday.

Gabriela is also doing pretty well she gets really emotional every lesson and comitted to being baptized but without a date.  She struggles a lot to feel worthy to pray and she is scared to go to church because her parents will make fun of her so she could really use your prayers as well.

We have another couple we are working with named Carla and Gustavo. They are awesome and have a ton of interest and want to be baptized, because they say that they feel like it all just makes sense. But they struggle going to church due to their busy lives. We taught about the commandment of the Sabbath day and they understood a lot better and comitted to come. But they also didn’t show up, so please pray for them.

Well that is about it. I am just loving the people here and working with them. Oh also on New Years day we went contacting in the morning because there was nothing else to do and as I was on divisions I forgot sunscreen. It is burning hot here and lets just say that I just burnt my back and the rest of me so that was fun hahaha.

Also I forgot to tell you that I will be going to the temple tommorrow! I am so excited. I miss the temple so much and I have never been to the temple in Chile.  We only get to go one time in the mission right before we go home, so I am just so stoked.

Well that is about it but, I love ya all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love ya,
Hermana Stringham