Baptism of Nayibe!

This week was full of craziness and so much work! It was fantastic! First off, the baptism of Nayibe! It was yesterday and it was such a special day. Her husband, Rodrigo, (who got baptized a few months ago) baptized her. She was so happy. It was a wonderful experience and one I will never forget!

We also found two new investigators who are truly prepared! One is named Andrea. When we visited her we shared a little about our purpose in being in Chile, that we want to help and bring happiness in her life, and that Christ can help her personally. She talked about how she has always felt she has a purpose but never known what it was. And she got emotional when talking to us about Jesus Christ. It was a tender moment. We saw her later in the week on the street and she was so excited to see us! We have another lesson with her tomorrow and we are hoping she has made some more progress!

We also met Loreto. She is an older woman and very intelligent. She believes in Christ and studies the Bible but doesn't have a religion. We taught her the first lesson about the restoration of the fullness of the gospel and she got so excited. We talked about the Book of Mormon and she was so engaged. We pulled one out of bag and wrote our testimony in it and then handed it to her saying it was a gift. She had a look of shock on her face and said: A gift? Really? I can read it? And we told her yes and she got so excited. We asked her to read the introduction before our next visit. And she said she would read the entire book. She was excited to get started right when we left. Yeah... it was a pretty great visit!! Unfortunately we don't get to see her in forever.. This week is the week of their Independence Day here in Chile. So practically everyone is out of town visiting the beach or the South. 

I love seeing the miracles that are happening all around me. It is truly incredible to see the hand of the Lord so prominently in my life. It is pretty hard to do this. The language is coming.. But it is pretty frustrating at moments. 

Oh. This was a week of feeling thrown under the bus for Spanish. I should be grateful... but it was crazy. First off, I am in a district of only Latino missionaries. Second, my companion and I had to teach the district lesson on Tuesday and it freaked me out. Third, when I got to church on Sunday a counselor in the bishopric said I would be giving a talk... in 5 minutes. And play the piano.. So.. I pretty much died. But it is alright. With all of this practice my Spanish is coming along better and better. I feel very blessed and know I am having so much help from my Father in Heaven. 

I love you all! Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Flake

Pictures: One is of Nayibe's baptism, Sushi a few days ago... SO GOOD! and one of last Monday. It was Hermano Caldaron's birthday and we had once, had a little Family Home Evening, and played music. It was great!

El Parque!

Wow, another week gone! Crazy how time is in the field! This week has been fantastic! Just a lot of walking, getting to know people, and being confused by Spanish. You know, the usual! It is pretty great though! 

We had a stake activity on Saturday because the month of September is Chile's Indepence Day of sorts. It is crazy with Chilean pride everywhere! I love it!! We bought a flag for our apartment and need to buy some more stuff to decorate even more! On Saturday we had a bunch of empanadas and it was great! But unfortunately I got some kind of bug. Because for the next 2 or 3 days I was sick with the flu. Ugh, it was pretty miserable. I tried to go out and work a bunch but my body couldn't really handle it. Shoot. But I feel way better now, so it's not an issue!

Today we went to San Cristobal. It's a big hill where you can see most of Santiago! It is so beautiful, I'll attach some pictures. Of course there was a bunch of smog, there is always smog. But it was so beautiful! We met up with a few other sisters. It was fantastic! Then we had pizza... oh how I miss American food. I am quite happy with the food here. But there are times where I just crave my mom's cooking.

Next Sunday I have my first baptism! I am so excited! The woman's name is Nayibe and she is so awesome! Her husband got baptized 5 months ago and they have two sweetheart boys. They are so awesome and I can't wait to see her get baptized! She is so ready and it's so exciting! I am hoping our other investigators can come and see! It has been a great week. And I look forward to the work we can do this next week too! Love you all!

Love,

Hermana Flake

First Week in the Mission Field

Friends and Family!

Wow! I am actually in the mission field! I have been here for a week and wow it is so crazy! My companion is Hermana Altamirano! She is fantastic! From Peru and goes home in December! She can understand and speak pretty good English, so it is way helpful. But there is definitely a language barrier. We are in El Parque! It is about 45 minutes from Santiago, but is still considered Santiago. It is pretty awesome! The people are so great here and I have loved it! It is a completely different world here. I don't even know how to describe it. I have never been anywhere like it. People are in very humble circumstances here. There is graffiti everywhere and some streets have houses made out of tin and have no electricity. It is very different. The church building is definitely the nicest place in the entire area.

Hm, where to begin? My last week in the CCM was great! I went on splits to the Santiago Sur mission! We went to a city called Ciudad de Niños. It was a lot different than this area too! Way poorer. I was really sad to say goodbye to my district when we got our trainers on Tuesday. They were definitely like my family. But I can't get over how great it is! It is super hard here. I cannot speak Spanish at all... But it's ok! I can usually get my point across. And during lessons I teach a point as well as I can and then my companion explains it more. It works pretty well. Each day gets better and better.

We live in an apartment building, on the 10th floor. It is so great! I wake up every morning and study. And I look out the window and see the beautiful Andes! They are gorgeous! I can't get over how pretty of a country this is. I love this area. The ward members are fantastic! Everyone is super nice about my Spanish. There are some members who speak and I have no idea what they are saying. And then others speak and I can understand almost everything. My companion said it took her a couple months to understand the sueper Chilean Spanish.. and she is from Peru! They just speak super badly sometimes haha. I live in an apartment with my companion and one other companionship. They are in the same ward with us. They are Hermanas Chavez and Leishman. Hermana Leishman is from Lehi! She graduated a year before me. 

I am getting accustomed to everything. I have definitely been humbled this week. I feel pretty unintelligent a lot. It is something I had never really experienced before. I feel frustrated that I cannot even express my feelings the way I want to. But it is ok. I am relying on my Heavenly Father more than I ever have before. It is a learning experience and I am grateful for it. I love being a missionary! I love teaching people! We have a baptism on September 14. A woman named Nayibe is getting baptized. Her husband Rodrigo got baptized in April and she couldn't because she was pregnant. But she had her baby and can get baptized now. She is the sweetest. Their family is from Columbia and they are just great! We also got 2 more dates for baptism. Elsa and Carlita, a mother and daughter. We taught them the first lesson and felt inspired to invite them to be baptized on October 12 and they said yes! I am so excited to continue teaching them and help them prepare. This is a wonderful area. There is so much work to do!

Sorry this was such a crazy long letter! So much has happened! Oh, and today was my first Pday! We made Peruvian food and it was so good! Fried Sweet Potatoes, pesto pasta, and some super good meat. I love the food here. Some isn't my favorite.. But I have been able to eat everything. 

Love,

Hermana Flake

El Parque Here I Come!

Dear Family!

I'm actually in the field! I have so many feelings, but the most prominent is excitement!  My trainers name is Hermana Altamirano! She is from Peru and I already love her!  We are going to get along so well!  The name of the sector is El Parque. I am so ready to get to work!  I love you so much!

Love,

Hermana Flake

 President and Hermana Wright

 New missionaries

Trainers with new missionaries

One Week Left in the CCM!

Hello Everyone!

Life in Chile is still fantastic! The weather is starting to get super warm! Spring is finally coming. The sun is always out and they have turned all of the fountains on around the temple and CCM. It is so beautiful here! 

I have had a super good week! It started out with all of the missionaries going to Santiago North leaving for the mission field! And we got a bunch of Latinos living with us in Alcantara! It is so fun! Hermana Stokes and I have two new roommates. Hna Ponce from Mexico and Hna Alcantara from Peru! They are the sweetest! They help us so much with our Spanish and we teach them things in English. Sometimes we have to do charades to figure out what is going on, but it's alright! We learn so much! On Sunday we taught them how to say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! It was hilarious hearing them pronounce it! We also got new teachers. Hermano Retamal, Hermano Torres, and Hermano Rossi. They are all awesome! 

This Sunday was the first one that was in complete Spanish! It was so difficult. We listened to a MTC Devotional given in June by D Todd Christofferson.. and I did not understand any of it. My mind was in a fog and it was so difficult! But its ok. Because then we had a discussion and I was able to make a few comments. The whole day Presidente Doll kept looking at me. And I stupidly kept making comments.. So I should have known that I would be the first speaker in Sacrament Meeting. I had prepared a pretty good talk. I think. Haha, it was about Faith in Jesus Christ. I just talked about how faith is action, not only belief. I think it turned out pretty well. The Latina Hermanas said I didn't pronounce anything TOO wrong. I was able to share a few experiences which is a huge accomplishment for me! Because preterit and imperfect are super difficult for me! 

This next week is going to be crazy! We are going contacting on Thursday. So it will be me and hermana stokes.. alone! We get to go on the metro and go to a park and just contact people and try to get some referrals! And then on Friday we actually go on splits with missionaries. We aren't sure what mission yet. Probably West or South! It would be cool to see somewhere that Hyrum and Devin were! I am super scared! But it will be so great! One week from today I will be with my mission president and he will be introducing me to my trainer! And then I get to go to my new area and get started on the work! Things are moving so quickly. Life is so great here! I love missionary work and being here! It really is the best thing in the world! I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Flake

One Month Down!

Hello Everyone!

Well, today marks my first month on the mission! Where has the time gone? I really feel like I just got here! This week was full of good food and learning a lot of Spanish. So... pretty much the usual!

We have been learning a lot about grammar and wow, it all pretty much goes over my head. But it is so helpful! Today we went shopping and we were talking to a woman named Ruth. It was so great! It was my first full conversation with someone out in the streets. We talked about her name being from the Bible and meaning faithful. And then we told her we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was exciting to try to talk to people! 

This morning another group of missionaries left for the field. It is crazy! We are now the oldest group here and we'll be leaving in 2 weeks! I can't wait! 

We met our mission president on Sunday! President and Hermana Wright! They are so so great. They were giving a devotional for the young single adults and we asked if we could see them. So we got to go in a classroom and talk for 15 minutes. They talked about all of the different things we do in our mission. And it got me so excited! I cannot wait to go out into the field! 

I have no idea how, but the Spanish is coming. The fact that I can have an actual conversation with someone on the street is so insane. But I definitely know it is the gift of tongues. I feel so much help!

Tomorrow a new group of missionaries come. They are all Latinos and most of them are going to the Santiago East mission. There will be 9 new hermanas living with us! It will be packed. We will have to start speaking a lot more Spanish. But it will be really good for us! 

That pretty much sums up my week! It has been great and I am excited for this next one! A week from Thursday we get to go out on the Metro and contact people in parks. And the next day we go on splits with missionaries in a different mission and spend the whole day with them! It is starting to feel real! I love it here so much. I am learning so much and growing so much!

Love,

Hermana Flake

                                                           

Chile is the Best!

Wow, I can't believe I have already been here for three weeks. Time is crazy here! So this week was a little interesting. Hermana Eaton went home. It was super hard and difficult to have her go home. But I think it was for the best. She left on Thursday and Hermana Stokes and I felt so weird for the next couple of days. We were constantly feeling like a part of us was missing. We miss her so much still!

I have also been super super sick this week. They sent me back to Alcantara one afternoon because Hermana Doll, the CCM President's wife, said I looked like I was dying. I felt like such a baby not being at the CCM and working hard. But I have been sucking it up and getting through the days! I love it here so much!

I had my first fast sunday in Chile this week! It was such an awesome experience. A lot of Sacrament Meeting was in English because people were bearing their testimonies and couldn't say them all in Spanish. I am so exhausted from learning Spanish. But it is coming along! I have days where it goes super well and I understand and can speak. And then somedays where I can't do anything. But it is incredible how much help I am receiving from my Heavenly Father. I am learning so much!

On Tuesday we went to the temple. It was so fantastic! I love how much better I feel after going. It gives me the motivation to continue working hard even though I am so tired! 

All in all, this week was a little crazy. But so many good things happened! We taught a lesson to one of our teachers and he said he could tell that we were trying to apply everything we had learned from the CCM into our lesson. He said we did great. Things like that give me hope that the language will come. It might take a few months, but I'll be fluent soon! I love you all! Thank you for writing!

Love,

Hermana Flake

                                          Eating a Completo

 The Gilberts who ran the Alcantara

 On the bus to the CCM

On the street of Pedro de Valdivia in Santiago

Two Hermana Flakes! One from Utah and the other is from Washington D.C.  Both are descendants of William Jordan Flake.

   In front of the CCM

                                                             

New group at the Alcantara