P-Day with President Wright

I had a fantastic week full of work! It was crazy with two divisions and travelling over the mission and not being in my sector. But it's ok! I am alive :)

This week I started learning how to do Family History! My companion is starting to teach me so that I can help others do it too! And guess what! I found a name to take to the temple! It is so crazy! I thought that all of my work had been done. 

We are pretty excited for the progress of Carlita. She was confirmed on Sunday and we had dinner with her and her parents. Her mom came to see her get confirmed and wants to get baptized so bad! She just needs to get married. When we went to lunch we saw Carlita's dad, Carlos. He was super sick with a cold and is having an operation today. He asked for a blessing of health so we brought Jose Manuel and Joaquin with us. They are two young men preparing for their missions. They gave him a blessing and later we said goodbye and he looked completely different. He said he felt incredible and knew it was from the blessing! Yes! Miracles happen :)

We have been working a lot more with Bianca and her son Nico. We went to see her on Saturday night and keep trying to get her to church. She just won't budge. She has never been to a church before and is so scared of it. But it's ok, she is slowly progressing and I know she will get there!

Today for Pday, the four hermanas from my ward went to a volcano with President and Hermana Wright. It was so fun! It was in San Jose de Maipo. We went to a beautiful waterfall and were super close to the Argentine border! It is so awesome to think I am on the opposite side of the world than my family! So crazy, seriously.

But that's about it for the week. Just keep going. My comp has about a month left in her mission now. She is extending for like 3 weeks. So we have until December 9th together. And I don't know what will happen with my next companion because it is in the middle of a change. But it will be great! Love you all and hope all is well in Los Estados.

Love,

Hermana Flake

Carlita's Baptism Oct. 27, 2014

Hello Everyone!

This was one crazy hectic week! But it turned out so well! It was the baptism of Carlita yesterday! Ah! It was such a special day. She is 13 and couldn't be happier in the church. We have been teaching her mom and her for about 2 months. We started just about when I got here. They are so awesome! I sang When I am Baptized with Hermana Ximena Calderon and then Carlita bore her testimony after being baptized. There were so many miracles! Her dad has been super anti for the church, but has supported her. But he said he wouldn't come to her baptism. We prayed and prayed that his heart would soften, and he came! When she bore her testimony he was crying and so was her mom! The bishop spoke to her parents about getting married and coming to church. At the end of the baptism her parents came up to us and said they want to come to church every week! We are so excited to get started with teaching Carlos, the dad of Carlita! Her mom, Elsa, is ready for baptism, she just needs to get married!

The rest of the week was great too! We had craziness in downtown Santiago for two days. Waiting for you know, like 7 hours in a building with no AC for a dumb visa paper. And then having to go back the next day. They really don't have much organization here with this stuff. It was all for my comp's papers. And we have to go back in about a month to get my visa, ugh, it is such a waste of time.

But it's ok, because the time we had to work was spent super well! We found two new families to teach! They are so awesome! The Acuña and Folsch families. With the Folsch family we had an awesome lesson! They had elders come and help them with service about 5 years ago and have good memories of Mormons. They invited us back and kept saying what a blessing we are to their life in this moment. We also found a woman, Norma, who is really interested in the church. 7 new investigators this week! We are so excited to work hard and see them this week and hopefully have great lessons! I am so happy to see how the work is progressing here! There are always appointments that we have to get to and we end up running through the streets to be able to get everywhere in time! I love how busy I am. I can truly feel Heavenly Father helping my companion and I with this work!

Love,

Hermana Flake

P.S. Sometimes you end up cleaning the baptismal font with a trash can.. and then you find a cat that has been living in the chapel.. Chile is just full of interesting adventures!

Trusting the Lord Oct. 20, 2014

Well, another week gone! Crazy how quickly time passes here! I can't believe it. This last week I hit 3 months in my mission. I honestly feel like I have been here for 3 weeks! But oh well, I am going to enjoy every moment I possibly can!

This week has been one of lots of faith. We have two investigators, Elsa and Carlita. They had a baptismal date for October 26th, next Sunday. It has been a crazy roller coaster of emotions this week. Full of prayer and fasting and trusting in the Lord's ways. I went to see Elsa and Carlita when I had divisions last Tuesday. We got to the house and Elsa started by saying she wasn't going to be baptized. She said she knew it was true but wanted more time, like a year, to be sure that it was right for her. My heart broke. I was so worried! I wasn't with my companion, I can't speak Spanish, yeah, I had no idea what to do! But I prayed and somehow the words came. I told her about Alma 32:21 and faith. She goes to church every Sunday and I asked her why. She said she goes because she knows it is where she should be and she feels peace there. I told her that I couldn't tell her that she is ready to be baptized, but that the only one who can, is our Heavenly Father. When we closed the lesson she said: Ok, I want to be baptized. It was so great! But this isn't the end. We went back on Friday to finish teaching the lessons required before baptism. We had to teach the Law of Chastity. We had been introduced to her and her "Husband" but apparently they weren't married. She can't be baptized if she isn't married... Her heart was broken. She pleaded with us to see if we could make an exception. We told her we could pray and fast, but that we couldn't change the guidelines. She asked her husband if they could get married and he said no. We are still praying for her and she is figuring things out. Her daughter Carlita is still going to be baptized, so that is great! But we are going to work hard to get Elsa there someday!

Besides that this week was pretty calm. We made banana bread for a few people who have helped us in the ward, We are always trying to bake little American things for people. Everyone is always so amazed at how different the cooking is in the U.S.

Life is still going on down here in Santiago. I really cannot think of a time that I have been happier in my life! Yeah, going out and working everyday in the heat is hard at times. But seeing the change people are making in their lives is so worth it. I love every second I am here. I love the things I am learning and applying to my life. I cannot even imagine "normal" life now! I haven't even worn jeans in months.. Super weird, right?! But it's all good. I love it here and I know it is where I am supposed to be. 

Love,

Hermana Flake

Photos:

-The Lepe Family! Hermano Lepe is our ward mission leader and their son, Jonathan, got his mission call for Cordoba Argentina! They are pretty much our parents here. Every time we don't have lunch we just show up at their house and they feed us! They're the best!

-My companion and I in the elevator in our building

-The four missionaries of El Parque with Jonathan when he got his mission call.

Summer Is Coming Quickly Oct. 13, 2014

Ok... I'll be honest. I am pretty sure my body was not made for the heat. I am dying!!! And it's not even really summer yet. My little Peruvian companion was wearing a cardigan and saying she was freezing and I was sweating to death. Oh dear, I do not think that is a good sign. Oh well. I'll just eat up on ice cream and ice.

This week... was great! Not too much happened. Just the normal with teaching lessons, bloody heels from walking so much, and yep, that's about it! Nah, but really it was great. We started teaching some muslims. They are sisters who live here and we are teaching them spanish. It is great, I just get to speak in English the whole time. We started talking about their religion and it opened the door for us to talk about our beliefs. It went pretty well and are actually progressing. They are from Afghanistan and had to flee their country because they were in danger from the Taliban. Scary, right? I feel so bad for them. Their culture is so different than from here in Chile. They just want to move to the States. It breaks my heart when they say things like, "Please just put us in your suitcases and take us home with you." But I know that if they have the Gospel the quality of their lives will be so much better!

We had some really great lessons with one of our investigators, Bianca, and her son Nico. They came to mutual on Wednesday and really liked it. I love when our investigators find the courage to come to activities! It is so great when the ward can help them feel welcome.

I started teaching piano lessons to a woman in my ward, Hermana Aceituno. We had a keyboard in the apartment and a simplified hymnbook. So I am teaching her once a week. That way when I am gone someone will be able to play the piano in the ward.

Today for P-day we went to Providencia (AKA the super rich part of Chile). It was so crazy to be in a place more similar to the U.S. We went to a super market there and guess what I found... Cranberry sauce!! For our Thanksgiving dinner we will be making in a month or so. AND... Mac&Cheese.. Kraft!! Oh my goodness. I just about died and went to heaven. I am so excited. I never imagined they would have that here!

In two weeks, on October 26, we have two more baptisms! A mother and daughter are getting baptized, Elsa and Carlita. They are so sweet and we are working like crazy to teach all of the lessons before their baptism. We taught them the word of wisdom lesson last week and when we asked if they would follow it. They said: of course! And we will throw everything away in the house that doesn't abide by it! It was so great! I love seeing the people that the Lord has prepared for the missionaries. I know that this sector of El Parque is super blessed! I feel super humble to have to opportunity to be here.

In November Elder Nelson is coming to speak to the Chile Santiago North mission and we get to go too. I am so excited to hear from him! Conference was so awesome. I just want more and more! 

Love you all!

Hermana Flake

Photos: One is with me and my investigator Andrea and her son Fernando. Fernando looks sad.. but he's such a cute little kid! 

The other is of me and Martina, she is the daughter of another one of our investigators, Lili. martina is just like Isabel! It is so fun to be around her.

The other is of the four missionaries in El Parque. We were at the ward mission leader's house for his birthday. His son, Jonathan has his mission call and we are going there later tonight to open it with him! I am betting that he'll go to the states :)

General Conference

This week was pretty darn good! Pretty sure it was because of the past weekend! GENERAL CONFERENCE! Oh my goodness! Those talks were just the best, right?? Elder Klebingat's and Elder Bednar's were by far my favorites! But they were all awesome! It was so nice to be able to listen to it all in English and understand everything! I have to give a talk in church on Sunday and I am going to use some of the talks for my talk. Tonight we have a lesson with Andrea, an investigator, and we are going to show her Elder Bednar's talk. Unfortunately, none of our investigators were able to come to the Conference. Our stake center is super far away.. But it's ok. We are going to watch talks with them in our lessons!

All in all this week was great! We made "Galletas de Los Estados" AKA Chocolate chip cookies... for our investigators. They were all in shock at how good they were. (Let's be honest, they weren't even that good. Cooking is kind of hard when you have an oven that is used by lighting a match.. You never know how hot it is in the oven!) But it was great that everyone liked them! We are hoping that we can give cookies to people and they will let us teach them haha! We have some great plans :) 

Today is the last day of my first transfer! Hermana Altamirano and I are still together! But Hermana Chavez, an hermana who lives with us, went home! I can't believe she finished her mission! And tomorrow Hermana Leishman is going to train a new missionary. So there will be someone newer than me here! Pretty sure she'll be Latina though, so I will still be the one who can't speak! 

Everything down here in Chile is great. Just working hard. The weather is warming up and I can already tell I am going to die in the summer.. We'll see how my super white skin does with this sun.. Haha! 

I love you all! If you didn't get a chance to watch conference.. go watch it! It was the best. Especially the second session on Saturday!

Love,

Hermana Flake

Divisions Alone in My Sector ~ Sept. 29

Okay, this week... was, a little different. My companion is a sister leader. This means that she is a leader over 2 other companionships of sisters. And because of this she goes on divisions with the other hermanas. So either I go to a different sector with a different hermana or she leaves. Well, so far I have always left... because well, I can't speak Spanish and I don't want to be alone in my sector with another hermana who doesn't know the area. But this week my companion decided that I would stay in our sector... I just about died! It was so scary! I was in charge. I had decide who we would visit. The people knew me, so I had to talk the whole time. And I had to remember where everyone's houses were. And my companion was Hermana Alcantara, she only has a month in the mission field too. And she speaks no English. But guess what. I did it! It was great! We had a bunch of lessons, went contacting, and found new investigators! It was fantastic! It was super hard to be the one who was making the plans and deciding what we would do next and planning everything. But I had so much help from my Heavenly Father. It went super well... I was so exhausted afterward!

Sunday was pretty great! We had 7 investigators at church. It was awesome! We feel like the Lord is truly preparing the people in our sector to receive the gospel. There is a lot of work to do. We are waiting for the weather to warm up. We are both sick.. pretty sure I am destined to be sick my whole mission. 

On Saturday I got pretty homesick. We watched the Women's Conference and I just wanted to be there! And when the choir sang "Ï know that my Savior loves me" I just thought of mom playing it for me. 

My investigators are doing super well! There is a 16 year old boy, the son of Andrea, who wants to learn everything. He wants to go to mutual on Wednesday and go to conference. His mom said that after we taught him the first lesson he talked to her and said "I have to learn more about this. I want to know if it is true for myself" His name is Fabian and he is great! We are hoping to see him right after we get done writing.

Conference is this weekend!!! I am so so so excited! I have been reading the Liahona from May with all of the talks from the April conference. It is my goal to read all of it before Saturday. It is an incredible experience to tell the people we are teaching about conference. We tell them there is a prophet on the earth today and that he receives revelation for us, personally. They all want to come and here what he has to say. It is making me feel so much more grateful for this special opportunity we have. I hope all of you will take advantage of this weekend and listen to the word's our Heavenly Father wants us to hear. I love you all! Hope you have a great weekend!

Love,

Hermana Flake

P.S. So sorry that I forgot my camera cord and can't send home any pictures. I will send a bunch next week!

September 22, 2014

This week was pretty great! Oh yeah, and it was the 18th! Chile's Independence Day! So let's just say there were a lot of drunk people the whole week and weekend. It was pretty...interesting. 

On the 18th we had a meeting for the new missionaries. It was so awesome! We listened to the testimony of a woman named Victoria. She is getting baptized in December and has this incredible testimony in the Book of Mormon. It was so awesome! We then got to ask her questions to try and help our investigators. Hermana Leishman, who lives with me, found her in March. When I got back to our sector I told her and she was so happy! 

After the meeting we went to the church for the party. Unfortunately a bunch of our investigators didn't come.. But we had a few there! It is so different from a normal ward party in the U.S. There was a table of "salads" haha they call potatoes with mayo on top a salad.. Eh, its alright. So many empanadas, churipan, and meat. It was good!! I have also decided that they don't believe in dessert here. Weird, right? Then they started dancing and singing karaoke. It was hilarious! They dance the Cueca and it is super cool! Everyone here dances. I am so glad we weren't allowed to dance. I'm so awkward... haha

The next day we had divisions with the hermanas in La Reina. I went with Hermana Huber and went to their sector. Oh my goodness, it was so much nicer than our sector! I was shocked. I have gotten so accustomed to our little sector. But I love my sector so much :) Hermana Huber and I had some... adventures together. We went to a crazy party.. and didn't know how to escape. There were a lot of drunk men and a couple of members who kept us safe. Let's just say my blonde hair makes me stick out like a sore thumb in this country. But, there was a plus to this sketchy party, we got chocolate cake! The next day we got yelled at by a drunk man who almost started chasing us when we ran away from him. Yay for drunk people..... 

All in all, this week was great. We couldn't find a whole bunch of people because everyone was out of town. But we are excited to meet up with our investigators this week! 

Love,

Hermana Flake

P.S. Sometimes you spill something on your skirt and then a Chilean family insists they pour salt all over you. And sometimes you eat food and think you're doing well. And then they bring out more and you think you might die. That's my life now! And it is fantastic! 

Lorraine on the balcony of her 10th floor apartment