correct mailing address is:
Hermana Kayla Moon
Misión Chile Santiago Norte
Maria Graham 312, 8420164 Recoleta
Region Metropolitana Santiago
Chile
After visiting Silvia, she asked us to fill up water for the dogs and going to the back of her house we see THIS view.
Breathtaking Christmas Eve
This is Nielson.
Before entering the house that Christmas Eve night, we stopped to take a pic with the Christmas tree of the neighborhood and asked him if he could. We got talking about our message and ended up sharing a spiritual experience with us. We decided to give him a Book of Mormon and promised him that he would find this peace that he's felt before every time he reads this book. He started to cry and held it up to his heart and thanked us and promised he'd read it. He has jewish ancestors so we told him about Lehi's family :) very special end to the night.
And then Antonil pops up with a huge watermelon for us.
We were so grateful on Christmas morning to eat watermelon (because we literally didn't have food)
reading Luke 2
Merry Christmas Eve!
lunch with Hna Caroti and Luna (the dog we rescued!)
caroling with the Hnas Christmas Eve
so cute
The only precious Colombians here in Los Andes.
Hna Molina loves talking with them
We finally almost got to get back to our sector
and then Hnas wheel comes off!
Italo saves the day!!
and then Hnas wheel comes off!
Italo saves the day!!
We're excited about making pollo with CFA sauce
and the new mate thermos for cold cucumber mate
she stopped to take a pic
so i will too
she's all like, Well Merry dang Christmas!
All the contacts with LIGHTtheWORLD we we're going to do
One of the abandoned couches we pass every day
One of the abandoned couches we pass every day
lang study in the park
This is Ayllen, daughter of a recent convert Miriam.
Miriam runs a shop and makes the best pan amasado of the neighborhood. She takes care of her mom with Alzeimers and struggles with that, but she always has smile. Ayllen also wants to be baptized but hasn't been able to go to church because her mom's always taking care of her grandma. We visit her in the little park with her amigitos and they love singing Lead Kindly Light and Families Can Be Together Forever.
Hna Caroti who didn't want to take a picture but is still glamorous.
She was the secretary of Elder Holland when he was here in Chile, knows just about ALL the doctrine you could imagine, is the President of RS and gives us lunch on special occasions such as her birthday and Christmas Eve...
and when the other Hnas don't want to give us lunch, haha.
This is Jhomara,
Johnny's daughter who came with us to church on Christmas.
She wants to be baptized but her mom won't let her just yet, but we know her heart willl be softened. Ward members showered her with gifts for Christmas, including this li'l dress she's wearing.
Here are the Palacios.
They were converted as a couple a few years ago and always help us by picking up people when we need.
He's quite a jokster and she just laughs nervously.
Here are half of the men of the ward plus Hna Reyes
Hermana Nielson from Utah, Hermana Park from Tremonton, Utah, Hermana Molina from Cali Colombia, and Hermana Mone de Tejas
This is the Bishop and his wife Elena.
He also tells a lot of jokes, but she doesn't laugh nervously...
just glares at him..HAHAHA!
The Covarrubios!!
The gospel doctrine teacher, Belen, and Valentina.
They're quite fun and like inviting us over.
Christmas day lunch with them!
Merry Christmas!
JOURNAL:
21 Dec 2016 I'm completely horrible and haven't written in eternity! But so happy to have 20 minutes now to think and catch up. Like I wrote in my weekly email, and as you all probably could tell, I feel good! The difference? After having been tested these past weeks, wondering if I had to go home, getting used to the idea, needing to be in the house for a week and rest my brain, only get so much time to be a missionary (in the bus, street, taxis) and feel like my being a missionary would be cut short, so I got to all of a sudden freak out and act like I was in my last transfer and work my tail off. I KNOW now I NEEDED this and have new energy to thank Heavenly Father for letting me finish my mission and promise myself and Him I will make Him proud by proving I'm here for Him. I'm so grateful for the ability to repent, because I'm just now starting to feel worthy to be forgiven because I'm getting over bad habits and becoming who I've wanted to be. I still lack a lot, but I'm so grateful for second, third, and 50th chances.
As far as the people go, we had a grrrreat 1st-lesson-after-stuck-in-the-house with Marta, taught Li and she accepted to be baptized for January! We visited the kids Cata, Carla, and Nicolas with Hermana Fraizer and they were all weird, but I still have hope for them. Cata read (marked/colored the scriptures/all of ch 4 of 1 Nefi...wow!) and Carla feels like she knows Nefi is a 'what's it called?' :D prophet, ha!! Nicolas always has the deer in the headlights look to a T. But there's hope!
22 Dec So today was pretty productive in the morning and afternoon teaching Olga and kids, Victor, Carla and Reflato (who feels peace since we've come, ahh!) And Rut and Zaris and Claudia and other daughter. We spent Once helping decorate the chapel pretty for the Christmas dinner tomorrow and had choir practice. LOL, we sing so so terribly and with me fasting with the zone, it seemed to accentuate the imperfections, but at one point, I looked out past the chapel into the cultural hall all decorated and remembered mom responding to me in the beginning of the mission that no matter how off-key we are here, we'll still sound beautiful to me...I pictured the chapel filled with smiling Chilean faces on Christmas day, maybe a few crying...I'm so grateful to be here. I'm also so grateful for the call I just got from Elder Santos (Zone leader) saying that...y'all remember when I was in Quilycura? tons of beautiful Haitians? And us teaching that one who just got to Chile and didn't speak? who randomly showed up to church glamorous? Who my last day told us she was pregnant and was going to move? Well, she is going to be BAPTIZED THIS SUNDAY! ON CHRISTMAS!!! I CAN"T BELIEVE IT! AAAAHHHH!! 'And if ye shall bring me but one soul...great shall be your joy :D Baby's gettin' baptized.
26 Dec So, how's post-skye life going? Haha! We woke up this morning soooo tired, like uggg...I want to be a missionary forever, but right now I wish it were pday because we felt so drained. All of a sudden, it was SUPER cold and rainy, so I was in study all bundled up trying to concentrate on 3 Nefi 1 and it was hard, but I finished it and learned. I then reviewed the counsel you'd all given me and the thing that touched me the most was what dad said...just FOCUS ON PEOPLE. And about Hna and I realizing the other day that we should love Chile more, so as we left into the drizzling day on foot, we thought of things we like or that's different about Chile
--so many fences/gates everywhere!
--dogs! and I surprisingly don't hate them but like them more
--the accent and slang,
--mapuche, the natives and the soccer team w/them ColoColo
--the weather--not humid, not too cold ever
--everyone has flowers in their yard
--lots of foreigners--Haitians, Colombians, Peruvians, etc.
--good food and culture
--good at soccer
--many different climates/vacation spots, islands
--different type of people because the country is so long
--pastel de choclo
--all the missionaries :D
--'micro'
--good amount of members
--more up-to-date on technology than many other countries
--church building's really pretty
--the CCM!! [MTC]
--la cueca [national dance], empanadas, pie de limon, and MORE!
So we're working on that...it made me feel grateful and filled with pride to be HERE!
Our appointments weren't home, so we looked for old investigators; had some good contacts then went back home for language study (which I'm so grateful for), then off to the Zunigas and then the Reyes, to make another lunch. :D LOL, every time we go she's not ready, so we make lunch...then we stay so late, but today was cool and weird/interesting/sweet. Hna Reyes told us about why she's so faithful to the church...[she then decided to take this part out...too personal for someone that she probably shouldn't share]. I wanted to visit her but something came up, but I feel like we'll be able to visit them in the future. After that, we went for Silvia and finally got to look at her 'My Family' booklet for family history. She had surprisingly filled it out a lot.
I have 5 minutes to let you all know that this Christmas was awesome!!! As you all can see, we went a little crazy with the pictures (and there are more with Hnas camera that I'll have to send next week), but it was very special!
I'm so grateful to have seen little miracles here and there and to have felt the love of the Savior, of the people here, and especially of you all back home. I wouldn't trade being home for Christmas for being here, being able to see the light on peoples' faces when they are served. And to feel served from those here!
The gospel is true. It's all worth it.
And I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a
Happy New Year!
#GOAAAALSS.
Love,
Hermana Moon
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