Week #19

Everyone,

Wow this week has gone by so fast.  We have been working really hard and we have seen it. Our numbers have like tripled! It is crazy!  We are working a lot with this Christmas video that is called, “He is the gift”.  We have been able to get into so many houses with this video, that would not have said yes otherwise. It has been really cool.

My new companion is really great. She is really hardworking and direct, which has helped our sector a lot.  I have loved working with her even though we only will have a short time together as she goes home on the 18th. I am going to be put in a trio with the other girls in our house.  It will be interesting to see how that goes, as we will have to work in both of our sectors and we are going to have to trade off going to different wards. But I know there is a reason for all things and it will all work out great. 

Okay so this week we taught Victor twice. The first time we taught he said that he wasn’t sure about somethings and that maybe in 2 years he would be ready for a baptism.  We told him that he needed to pray about it. When we returned he had completely changed and asked us when he could be baptized. We set a date for the 2nd of January as he has to quit smoking. But he hasn’t smoked since and is doing pretty good.  Please pray for him.  We are working with a lot of people and I am really excited to see how this week goes.

I am so sorry my letter is really short this week, as I don’t have a lot of  time to write. Sorry!  I love you all so much and I a praying for you all.  I will write more next week.

Love ya,

 Hermana Stringham

Home Sweet Home!

Home Sweet Home!

In the Rain!

Herman Stringham and Hermana Nokes
Playing in the Rain!

Zone Tupahue 1

My Zone

My District

P-day at Safari - November 11, 2014

We rode in these trucks!
The Lions were bribed with meat to climb on the trucks!
Then the visitors could touch the Lions!

They could touch the lion's tongue and paws!

Week #18

Hey everyone,

Yesterday I completed 4 months in my mission! It is all going by so fast and I am sure it is just going to go even faster.  This week has gone by so fast.  Today I had to send home Hermana Nokes which was sad, but she lives in Utah so I will get to see her after my mission so that makes it a lot easier.  As for my new companion her name is Hermana Butler she is also from Utah, but I don’t remember what part.  I was really surprised because I really thought I was going to be with a latina this transfer, but it looks like the Lord has something else in plan for me than I thought.  I haven’t met her yet as transfers happen tomorrow, but I am excited.  I believe that she going home in like 3 weeks though, so I will be having another new companion here really soon.

This week we had divisions as Hermana Nokes had a lot of things to do her last week, so I got to learn from a lot of different missionaries which was really fun.  It was a little bit of a harder week for lessons, but I am excited to get working this week and hopefully find some new people to teach.

Belen and Jonathon-  They were going to move but now they aren’t ,and I am so excited that I have the opportunity to keep teaching them.  This week we taught Belen twice and she just seemed so different.   She is so happy and she basically said that this is what she wants for her family and she feels really good about it but she wants to wait until Jonathon is ready as well because it has to be a family decision. They are progressing so well and it has been amazing seeing the changes in their lives.  We had a lesson with a the president of relief society, with her, that went so well.  It was so cool to see how they were instantly friends. I was able to see what a huge difference it makes when investigators have real friends in the ward who can support them.  Belen told us that she was going to go to church no matter what this Sunday because things always seem to happen, but then their 6 month old got pneumonia and they were in the hospital with her Friday night so they couldn’t go.  Satan is working so hard against them right now as they have had whatever thing pass that has made it so they can’t come to church.  Please pray for them.

Jacquline-  She isn’t going to move either, which is really exciting.  Every time we teach she has been studying and praying a lot, but she still hasn’t asked if this true is true and if baptism is what she should do.  It is really hard because she can feel a difference in her life, but because her family is catholic she knows that to join the church would be a hard change.  I think that she knows it is true or she wouldn’t be going to church and studying the scriptures. She is just afraid because if she gets her answer she has to change a lot in her life.  Please pray for her as we try to help her to move past this challenge.

I had a miracle happen Saturday, that I would like to share.  As missionaries and as members in general we have the amazing opportunity to have lots of miracles, but we often just don’t recognize them because we aren’t looking for the Lord’s hand in our lives.  I have been working hard to look for the Lord’s hand in my life and I have realized that we have so many miracles that happen each week.  Earlier this week I lost the map of our sector.  I was so frustrated because I could not understand what could have happened to it and I was looking everywhere and could not find it.  I was praying that I could find, it as with transfers coming up I really needed it and with no success.  Saturday morning I prayed specifically that something would happen when we were walking in the street and we would find it.  Saturday it rained and so the streets were very muddy and when we were walking to an appointment, my companion found the map covered in dirt on the side of the road.  It had been there for three days and miraculously hadn’t been swept up by someone.  I know that the Lord answers are prayers and I am so grateful for his hand in my life.

I love you all so much and I hope you all have a great week and know that I am praying for you!

Hermana Stringham

Week #17

Hey Everyone,

This week has just flown by.  It has been a little bit of a harder week, as we didn’t have anyone in church Sunday and a lot of our lessons fell through, but this just gives us the opportunity to work harder to find new people to teach.  This week we are going to have Changes and I will be sending my companion home Monday.  I am so sad to see her go home and to be honest a little nervous to find out who my next companion will be.  I am hoping to have a latina companion to help me more with my Spanish, but I guess we will see.  I know that the Lord will send me a companion that will be the best for me.

This week we had ward conference so we had an activity with the ward almost every night.  We had once (dinner here but it is really small),  with the ward, family history night, and a family home evening with the ward.  It was really fun to work with the ward and spend time with the members.  The family history activity was fun to see here because their family history is a lot different. Where we already have a lot of information on our families on family search, they have to start at the very beginning, as a lot of them our converts or their parents were converts.  I hope that I will get the opportunity to work with family history more here and help people to do theirs.

Everyone here is starting to put up all their Christmas stuff and there is a lot of Christmas music in the stores.  It is kind of weird to see all the Christmas decorations up without snow and in the heat.  I am looking forward to see what Christmas is going to be like here in Chile!

As I am coming to the end of my training this week, I have  been looking back on these past 17 weeks and I have changed and grown so much.  I know that I am not the same girl that left Utah 17 weeks ago.  When I first got here in Chile I could not hardly understand anything that anyone said let alone speak the language.  Although my Spanish is not perfect, I can now at least communicate and I understand almost everything that people say.  I know that I would not be where I am today were it not for the help of the Lord.  More than anything my confidence has grown a lot.  Learning a new language is hard and it definitely made me a little more timid than I would have been if I were speaking English, but I have grown to be a lot more confident and as I have done that, my Spanish has become a lot better.  It is amazing what a difference confidence makes.  I have learned to rely on my Heavenly Father a lot more as I have had to trust in Him, that he would help me to say the right thing when I needed to say it.  I love being a missionary so much and I cant wait to see what other adventures and trials are in store for me now.  I know that I have a lot more growing and learning to do here in Chile.  I love the people here so much and am so grateful for the opportunity that the Lord has entrusted me with to teach and to serve them. 

I love you all so much and am so grateful for your support for me while I am here on the mission!

Love ya,

Hermana Stringham