Hanging in There!

Well hello mi familia!

So, dad, that´s really cool that you´re helping that lady with her genealogy, as missionaries they´re always trying to get us to use it when contacting people because it can catch their interest really fast.  i can´t believe that its that warm in Utah, everyone here´s always asking what its like during winter in Utah and i guess i´ve been lying when i said its pretty cold with snow...

I can´t believe Brynlee´s walking! that´s impossible, she´s still a tiny newborn to me.

so transfers are in 2 week and yes i am quite terrified & positive that i´m going to be transferred. :(  its almost positive. but honestly there are some really strange transfers here so i have faith that i can stay here one more cambio. i hope! i love this sector and my ward with all my heart!

Well it was another interesting week but we´re keeping up our animo, honestly at this point i feel like teh world is on my shoulders. i have to maintain my animo/determination or everthing/everone´s gonna fall.  i have to be strong for Hna Rhees who´s still struggling a bit, i´m even trying to help all of the elders maintain their faith. i´ve never seen them so discouraged before, all 4 of them.  so basically by the goodness of God i´ve been able to keep up my energy to suppor our whole district. i pray i can keep it up....

Awkward moment of the week: (for a first I didn´t do anything)  we were buying groceries on monday, Hna Rhees was puishing (more like pulling) the shopping cart.  i turned around for 1 seconds and hear a huge crash behind me. i turn back around and Hna Rhees had ran the cart into a shelf of soda pop and 3 big bottles fella off, & 1 exploded all over the place. literally there was soda all over the floor.  and Hna Rhees is just standing there with the most priceless face of my life.  so i was the one that had to go and try to explain what happened and as i´m offering to pay for it the worker is all, in english ¨just go, go¨  so yup, we turned and got out of there as fast as possible.  haha it was so embarrasing. 

We had another really embarrasing story that yes, was completely my fault. but honestly it would take 3 hrs to write so just know that i struggle at life. In a nutshell, I can´t recognize faces at all. And I thought that 3 different people were the same 1 investigator therefore causing a terribly uncomfortable moment for me (for the record it was a new investigator so we had only met with her once).  so i need to learn how to remember faces, i don´t know exactly how to go about learning this but its kinda necessary.

well i love you all! take care this week! & keep smiling :)

-Hna Hebdon la segunda

Creepers

Hola mi familia!

so this morning we woke up to a HUGE thunderstorm! :) my life is so happy right now, i´ve missed thunderstorms with all my heart.  It may rain practically everyday for 10 months of the year but rarely is it accompanied by a thunderstorm. i couln´t even study this morning, i was just staring out the window for an hour straight :)

We had zone conference this week with President Obeso and 3 other zones. I love zone conference, we got to have lunch with all the missionaries and our animo is back up.  My zone leaders had a part in the conference and they surprised me by calling me up to give my testimony.  they would do that to me. gracias elderes. but it was actually great to be able to share my testimony with all the missionaries and presidente.

So latest news....our creeper now wants to be baptized.  it literally is always the last person that you think that ends up progressing.  So we had this creeper about a month ago that i didn´t tell you guys about cuz i didn´t want to worry you. but now that the situation´s dramatically changed i guess its alright.  so Hna palma and I contacted this guy a while ago and taught him just once, he started coming to english class and was a bit strange. he asked me for my address in Utah and i tried explaining i couldn´t give it to him but he doesn´t understand the word no, so i gave him a fake address just to please him.  the when we sang at the plaza for christmas he randomly shows up, telling us that we need to go with him to the registro civil (i don´t know why.. but one of the only things you do there is get a license to be married......)  so the elders then interfered luckily and got him to leave. so we were a bit freaked out.  Then that sunday he stocked us to church, we avoided him like the plague.  So to make a really long story a little shorter, he continued to stock us to church but for the past 3 sundays he hasn´t even tried to talk to us. so the elders talked to him and he´s interested in the church and wants to be baptized.  So basically the mission is very unpredictable.  who knew.  stocker becomes convert, thats one for the books.  

and now the elders are telling me that i need to find more stockers so we can get more baptisms.  well, i might just be completing that goal.  yesterday i had the most awkward lesson of my life.  some 70yr-old man wants to be my boyfriend. so maybe if i invite him to church he´ll come... he asked us about the church so as i start teaching him every 2 seconds he´d throw in random questions or comments so here´s our conversation in a nutshell:

¨We believe that God has restored the true church on the earth¨

¨do you have a boyfriend?¨

¨no, we don´t have boyfriends for this time so we can completely focus on our mission¨

¨so you don´t have a boyfriend?¨

¨no¨

¨Because you´re a missionary that means you´re perfect right?¨

¨no, no one´s perfect¨

¨no, you´re perfect¨

¨no, i´m definitely not perfect, but i´m trying every day to become more like Christ and follow his example¨

¨but you´re a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ, you´re perfect¨

¨no one is perfect, but with the atonement of Christ we can be clean from our sins and strive everyday to become better¨

¨Your eyes are so beautiful, they´re almost green¨

¨can we leave with a card, this has a internet site where you can find more info about our church, but it was good to meet you bye!¨

So yup, I ended that one suddenly, i was so done it wasn´t even worth trying to teach him. hahaha, just another typical day on the job.  (please family don´t worry, we´re perfectly safe here) however, i am considering dying my hair black and getting brown-colored contacts.....

so yup, my week was quite interesting.  mom, i love those scriptures thanks!  well dad, yes sadly ground-hog´s day doesn´t exist here but if it did, the groundhog definitely wouldn´t have seen his shadow cuz of this huge storm we had, so maybe this signifies only 2 weeks left of summer.....hopefully not.

Curtis and Mindy, Addie is adorable!!!! there aren´t even words to describe!

Andrew and Jenny, i got your package and it is long gone! thanks a ton, those cookies are to die for! just send me a pack of those every week and i´ll be happy :) 

well i love you all! have a great week!

Hermana Hebdon la segunda

Quick update

Hola Familia!

Dad - yeah they gave us the stuff to spray our clothes for the fleas but now the problem is time. haha, i never have time to do it!  but then the member have been giving us a bunch of random ideas that have seemed to work. for example, on member gave us a bag full of mint leaves and told us to put it on our matress.  i don´t know how well it helped but its helping me sleep with the aroma of mint in my bed so i´m happy :)

one question/ favor dad, so i need personal money cuz we go on little trips and such (and to mom, the earrings here are only about $1.00 each! how sweet is that?)  so i´m going to take money out of my account but its always good to take a bunch out at once cuz its charges you every time. so my question for you dad is how much money is on my debit card? and how much do i have to leave in my account.  oh and guess what, apparently cameras here are $100 cheaper so before i leave i might buy a new camera (maybe if you want to donate money as a b-day present or something, just a thought ;)

so there´s really not much to my week.  we walked, we talked with people, taught and taught some more.  so i´m just gonna send pictures this week.  Hope you all are doing well!

Keepin' up the animo

well its been another interesting week. i´ve decided i officially don´t like summer. all our investigators randomly decided to go on vacation until february. literally all of them. so we´re left walking in the street for hours on end but yah know, thats life so i´ll just keep smiling.

Dad, first question, how did the pie end up on the garage floor? haha, an yes please start working on making cheesecakes so you can have it to a t when i get back :) i miss desserts. dessert here consists of fruit and yogurt. i miss sugar!    and yes dad, this is the prettiest place in the world and we´re coming back here sí o sí after my mission! por favor :)

mom, thanks for the update on everyone, thats crazy that everyone´s getting back from their missions. they just left i swear!  of course how wierd is it that next week i´ll only have 1 year left of my mission?  haha, yah chile´s a bit more pretty than peru, no offense lindz ;)

the pulgas are back!  never in my life did i ever imagine that i would have fleas. but yes, here i am awake all night long scratching my flea bites.  i feel like a dog....

So we had lunch with a family this week and they have changed my life.  they had such a deep understanding of all the gospel topics in a way that i´ve never heard or seen.  lunch is only supposed to be 1 hr but i couldn´t bring myself to leave, we talked to them for 3 hrs.  Honestly i can´t even describe or say the things we talked about because its so profound and deep.  but it sufficeth me to say that now all of these beliefs that i´ve had my whole life have now solidified into knowledge.  it all makes sense if we are willing to look past these limits that our humanly minds have.  the church of Jesus Christ is true, God exists and we are his children.  he has a plan for us and all we need to do to acheive the potential that we posses, this potential to become as God, is to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully until the end of our lives.  i can´t even describe how hard it is to see all these people that once had strong testimonies that have fallen that ahve lsot their faith because they were lazy and didn´t go to church, didn´t study the scriptures, didn´t pray.  its the simple things really, that we need to do we ahve to nourish our faith daily.  they said their lives were too hard but what they´re forgetting is the best way to overcome trials is through the gospel of Christ. Mosiah 2:41, those who live the gospel faithfully are the ones that will find lasting peace and happiness.

Stay strong and never let your faith fall.  i love you all!

-Hermana Hebdon la segunda

I'm a live!

Don´t worry, i´m alive.  yesterday was super wierd. so i finish my email to you guys and then discover the internet randomly died.  but not just in the place we were at, in all of south america the internet suddenly died. how that works i have no idea.... but yeah, i´m alive. :)  ...but i did end up in the hospital this week....

So yup,  funny story.  so we´re just studying one morning when the elders called telling us that they needed our blood.  literally one of the last things i was expecting.  apparantely there was a member who was sick and needed blood so all the missionaries in puerto montt were called to help.  so i broke my promise to myself.  i promised myself i´d never give blood because of my fear of needles.  this is the only situation that could get me to give blood.  so yup, i´ve officially donated blood and i didn´t even pass out! i´ve broke the family trend.  but i did get super light headed and they wouldn´t let me leave the chair for about 15 minutes and they brought me juice and everything while i just sat there trying to get my head back.

we went on a zone trip to petrohue yesterday. it is sooooo beautiful.  chile is amazing :)

well mom, you´re asking for an update of how things are going on an interesting week.  the key indicators for the mission changed from a bunch (such as lessons with member, other lessons, less actives and such) to just 2 -- baptisms and total attendance for church  so our numbers kinda plummeted. our whole district has been struggling for a while.  we have a bunch of great people but none want to act now.  everyone here needs to be married. and we have a ton of great investigators that want to be baptized but their partner doesn´t want to be married so its kinda a problem.  but i have a lot of faith for this next transfer.  we didn´t have any transfers in our district! :)  but i am scared for the next one, chances are i´m getting switched out of puerto montt :/  i could pass my whole mission here i love it so much!

mom, thanks for the dress i absolutely love it!!!  aunt becky & uncle andy thanks a million for the package :)   and thanks everyone for the letters! 

 Alisa, thanks for the card, i love the pictures, heber´s so big now i can´t believe it!  

Cas, thanks for the pictures they were much needed! have a great time in costa rica!  

Curtis and mindy you have the cutest little girl ever! Mindy i hope you´re feeling better.

I love you all a ton! 

-Hermana Hebdon la segunda

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!  i love you so much! thanks for all that you do for me, you truly are the best mom in the world. i´m sorry i can´t be there to celebrate your birthday with you, but know that my heart is with you today!  I love you more than words can describe and i miss you with all my heart.  Have a great birthday, thanks for everything. i love you :)

love, Aubrey

Happy New Year

Curtis and Mindy! Addilyn is so beautiful!!!!!! i feel super weird right now cuz i don´t know why but i just started crying when i saw the picture of curtis and the baby so now everyone  in the room´s wondering why i´m crying.  she´s just so beautiful :) i need details por favor! 

so Happy new year! it was an interesting start to a new year. we woke up to a small pond in our kitchen.  i´m thoroughly convinced we´re going to return home one night to find our whole house has collapsed. its just one problem after another, our house is dying and the elders are convinced that i just break everything i touch. (i´ve turned into lindsey! ;)  and it didn´t help that as they´re telling me this when they came over to help with our pond problem i leaned against the part of our gate that wasn´t broken and there was a huge cracking sound.  poiont proven. haha

it was a bit of a discourageing week. its super hard to see people who are just so stubborn, who won´t open their hearts to listen to our words.  carmen luz has absolutely no desire to listen or accept anything we say and her husband javier is a member and it breaks my heart everytime we teach them. he´s trying so hard to be strong but she just shoots down everything he says.

oh so awkward experience of the week:  we´re walking to an appt and started walking with a mom and her teenage daughter. so we started talking about the church. i told them we´re missionaries of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and the mom´s all ÿeah i know the church my brother is a member¨ and the daughter told me she´s evangelista.  so we talked for a while and they were super receptive so i invited them to be baptized and the daughter´s all ¨well i was baptized into the mormon church¨ .....this is one of the moments when i wish there were a wall to bang my head against.  yeah both of them are members but haven´t been to church in who knows how long.  so i had to explain that the ¨mormon church¨and the ¨church of jesus christ¨ are the same.  haha, super awkward. i guess i need to be a little more clear what church we´re from so i don´t go around inviting members to be baptized.

well it was another super fast week. time is flying. cambios are next week but its almost certain i´ll stay here cuz i still have 6 more weeks as a trainer for hna Rhees.

i love you all!  please send more pictures of addilyn!