Hey long time no writting, and that`s because I`m just such a diligent missionary that I haven`t had time to write. (It`s a joke)
Arauco is getting A LOT colder, and maybe it blows your mind but south america isn`t all tropical sandy beaches. It`s kind of like Oregon (acording to how my mom described it.) We may be on the beach but it is definatly below zero right now. Our house doesn`t have any kind of built in heating, and so we have a gas heater in our bedroom that we wheel around from place to place as we do stuff. At night sometimes I touch my face with my hand while I`m sleeping and wake myself up because it`s so cold. (It`s not a joke.) But apart from that, the mission is AWESOME like always. And why is the mission so awesome? Apart from being able to help people make convenents with Heavenly Father (The #1 reason the mission is bomb), you actually, through your own personal effort, progress and become a better person. I was thinking about that this morning a little bit. Before the mission, like in High School and stuff I was what one might call bi-polar. SUPER energetic some days and SUPER emo depressed others. It was a way for me to express myself. But I just realized that I don`t really do that anymore. It`s more natural for me to just calmly talk and listen, still happily, still energeticly (spelling?) but a lot more.... normal, I think would be the word. In other words, the person who I am is different, and I would definatly call it better. It`s WAY easier for me to talk to other people. I`m not afraid of trying new things. I`m not so stubborn haha. I look to be productive and do more good. I`m much more flexible and uneasily peterbed. The mission culitvates, through and active and consistant effort on ones part, to become more like the savior. It`s incredible. I will not be returning the same person, nor will I ever be.
Hermana Scholl is an awesome missionary and is coming along really well in the work. We`re best friends and It`s a very fun experience to be so focused on someone else and look so far into the mission future. It`s keeping me from being trunky for sure ;)
Monday: We went and ate PIZZAAA!! Epic. Kind of lazzed around. I read a talk thing called the Riccardi papers, which were incredible and very inspiring. Merp.
Tuesday: No sé. A lot of appointments fell through. Poor hermana Scholl, the other night talking with our district leader she said "I`d just like to actually have someone be home when we get there." Haha, uhh, the mission is an adventure.
Wednesday: We had an AWESOME multizone conference. It was incredible and I learned soooo much, but the best/worst part was sharing my "last testimony." It was nerve wracking but I managed to say what I wanted to. The other testimonies were incredible and very inspiring. Elder Bauserman, whos in our zone, gave an AWESOME testimony about the development he had in the mission and the testimony he gained. It was all in all a really good day, but I took up the entire night. It got out at 7! (It was supposed to end at 5) and the bus ride back finished off our day. But at least contacting in the bus is my favorite =)
Thursday was pretty cool. We finally had an apointment that was home haha. Luisa Hooper is an investigator we`ve got whos married with two children. We had an awesome disscussion about the restoration of the church and what a prophets role is God`s plan. She shared some interesting details about her life. Chilean people have a very different idea of God and of churches than most americans do, and it makes teaching an adventure. She`s not very able to come to church though, because every weekend she goes and visits her family who live WAAAy out in the country, about 2 hours from Arauco. She`s very sweet but maybe not so prepaird right now to fully accept the gospel.
Friday: Intercambio! I don`t know if any of you guys are looking up what`s going on close to arauco ever, but on friday I went to Curanilahue, which is a small city about an hour south of Arauco. It was raining soo much that the river that runs through the city overflowed and flooded some parts. (the sisters sleep in a 3rd floor apartment that`s a good ways away from any part of the river.) We just spent the day helping out people and trying to serve. I`ve always wanted to serve in a place with extreme weather and my wish came true! I was with Hermana Da Silva, who was also an old companion of mine! We had a super fun time =)
Saturday and Sunday: Not much to mention here apart from more spiritual experiences and growth. It`s fun to work as hard as you can, no matter the results and know that you did your best.
Hope your week is a good one and you can do small things to come closer to the Savior. CHAO!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
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