So happy!!

¡Hola a mi familia y mis amigos!

The weeks just keep getting better and better. I'm sitting here in the internet café feeling so good, haha, and I really don't even know why! I just feel so happy. This past week was such a good week full of WORK, which always makes us happy. Hermana Carranza goes home in 7 weeks, so she just wants to work work work, and I love it. This past week we put a date for baptism with one of our investigators, Leo. He's a teenager who maybe has made a few wrong turns in his life, but wants to change so much. We're gonna try to prepare him for baptism on April 19th. Our last lesson with him, we taught him about the law of chastity, and he took it really well. He said it made sense to wait until marriage. Still, he says it's gonna be hard, but you can just see it in his eyes that he wants to do all he can to turn his life around. That's what I love about being a missionary...seeing that desire in the eyes of so many people, and seeing God change their lives, if they let Him.

We had splits with the sister leader trainers on Wednesday, and I got to work with Hermana Cluff from Mesa, AZ. She was so fun to work with. We went to the plaza here in Tal Tal and sang hymns. There was this man sitting all by himself listening to us sing, so we went over and talked to him, and shared a little bit about our purpose in life and how God loves him. He doesn't really live in Tal Tal, so I don't know what happened to him afterwards, but I know he felt at least a little bit of the Spirit.

Today, Hermana Carranza and I went to what's called La Puntilla, and it's this beach about 3 km out of Tal Tal (We walked of course. Missionaries.), and the water there is GREEN. But that pretty ocean green, and you can see right through the water. We sat there and enjoyed the creations of God. Woooo :)

Mom, I won´t be hearing for about another transfer...I lack about 4 1/2 months, and they start talking about all that stuff about 3 months left. So yeah, I'll be letting you know as soon as I know...BUT GAHHHHHHHH....4 AND A HALF MONTHS. THIS IS LOCO. I love the mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope all is well en casa. I miss you all, and I hope that you all are studying your scriptures every night!!! They are the key to finding answers to the questions of the soul.

Love,

Hermana Howell

Of Things That Matter Most

Hello everybody!!!

What a crazy week! It was so good to go to Copiapó this week, after almost a year leaving that town. After the conference, we went and visited a couple members! It was so nice to see them and talk a little bit :) 

We did splits with the sisters of the Relief Society yesterday, and that was nice to get to know a little bit more the sisters here in Taltal :)

When we did the splits yesterday, I heard about the terremoto in Iquique (and Arica). I was so worried for Hermana Quispe and all the members I JUST left 3 weeks ago! It was the weirdest feeling I had. I had never felt like that before, that feeling of "I could have been there. I was JUST there!!" I called one of the Elder's in the office to see if what the knew. They said that everyone was still up on high ground waiting for the tsunami, but that all the missionaries were safe. But wow. I was so grateful to Heavenly Father that He moved me out of there just in time.

Seminary has been going great. The teens will be teens, but they're good kids. I really like this little branch :)

Hope all is well!

Hermana Howell

Me and Hermana Carranza

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Hey everyone!

As far as the earthquakes go, we haven't felt anything at all, except for this morning there was a tiny short one. I didn't even feel it, I heard it. Weird huh haha, it sounded like there was a car accident outside or something, but I saw the lights moving, so it was an earthquake, but not much else than that.

This was a week of miracles. As a district, we fasted for the extra help from heaven :) And we definitely saw results. We had a car wash on Friday, and an inactive couple drove by and had their car washed. We asked them where they lived, and so we passed by on Saturday. They have a daughter named Javiera, who is the sweetest girl ever. She's not a member, but we invited them all to church, and Javiera went! We also had 6 other people who are investigating come to church. We had 52 people in church! This branch really is growing. And teaching seminary to the youth is super fun. I'm learning so much about the Book of Mormon that I just didn't see before. It's pretty awesome. We also had a Movie Night Friday night, and one of the Elder's investigators came!

So apparantly my email from last week didn't send or something, from my point of view it looks like it didn't send. But pretty much not much happened. I got to visit some people from Copiapó, and that was the best :) They were all pretty surprised that I could speak Spanish now haha. But also President Dalton said he doesn't want us knocking on doors anymore! Yay hahaha, nah, but he really wants us to work with the members to find more people.

Well, I just wanted to say that life is good. We are so blessed to live in a world that has so many beautiful things, like the ocean, mountains, lions, tigers, bears (oh my), horses, puppies, flowers, rivers, colors, strawberries, bikes, cars, music, guitars, pianos, temples, dresses, suites, friends, families, swing sets, slides, three-legged races, bubbles, rain (except in the Chile Antofagasta Mission), clouds, sun, moon, stars, popsicles, pools, umbrellas, cows (moo), smiles, cameras, movies, stuffed animals, drums, fun, love, happiness...and everything else. Oh, can't forget hot wings and hot cheetos haha. But life really is wonderful. And to know that God loves us and we're his children just makes life even more colorful. There are things that seem to dim that light sometimes, but we gotta keep it mind that Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, died for us, and was resurrected so that we can enjoy that happiness that lasts forever. There are two videos that help me understand that even more. They're my favorite :)

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-01-002-earthly-father-heavenly-father?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2013&lang=eng

http://youtu.be/l70e1TfN34w

I know that God has a plan for us. That He loves us and has not forgotten us. I know that He is there listening when we pray...if we're unsure, all we have to do is ask.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-06-002-origin?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2013&lang=eng

With all my love,

Hermana Howell

Loving Taltal!

So I'm loving Taltal. It's s super small town where everyone knows everyone, kind of like Hurricane, but even smaller than that. It's super quiet and lovely. The people here are so excited to finally have sister missionaries!! The branch is full of really great people who want to do what's right. And since it's a tiny branch where this Sunday 45 people went to church, the missionaries have a lot of callings! We've been called to help with visiting teachers, Young Women, and of course, teach seminary. GAH. TEACH SEMINARY. I'm so excited as well as challenged. It's gonna be hard, but we're gonna learn so much!!!

So I'm writing super late today because we've been traveling all day!!! Ok, not all day, but let me tell you what happened. So we've got a conference tomorrow morning in COPIAPÓ...WHOOOOO!!!! I'm so excited to be back in Copiapó after almost a year! So our bus left Taltal at 3:30, but there was no internet in the whole town all day (hahaha oh tiny towns) so we couldn't write! But we're here in Copiapó! :) All is well.

Hermana Carranza is the bomb. We have so much fun together. Honestly, I thought having a companion who's 32 years old would be boring or even hard to get along, but she is hilarious and super smart, and we get along great! It doesn't even seem like she's 11 years older than me.

All my missionary girlfriends are great from what I hear! Tayler is freezing up there in Indiana, along with Tomi and Megyn! Hahah but I'm sure they manage. Chiedu is loving it down in the Phillies, getting eaten alive of course hahaha. Sandra of course is eating it up in Brazil! I love being a missionary, and I'm sure that can understand that.

I hope all is well at home! I love you all so much!

Hermana 

PS - I'm gonna stay with Hermana Tuft while i'm here in COPIAPÓ! yay! :)

Taltal

I am so happy. This week was the best/most interesting week of my mission ever. Hermana Carranzea is a super hard worker, and really hilarious. All we could do is laugh about all the crazy things that happened to us this week.

So we finally arrived Tuesday night to this cute little house in the very corner of Taltal. But at night we didn't see it for how it really was. It really is a nice place, but UNBELIEVABLEY dirty. Disgusting. Remember all those commercials about scrubbing bubbles or some cleaning product and we always say "Nobody's house is THAT dirty." No guys, there are people's houses that are THAT dirty. COCHINOS. And you wouldn't believe how many spiders are in our house. We've killed about 5 a day or something like that. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. But don't worry. This morning we bought like a million dollars worth of cleaning stuff and started with the kitchen, the worst part. You'd think the bathroom would be the worst, but it really wasn't that bad, so that got cleaned up pretty quick. Oh, but the kitchen....ewewwwwwwww I have no idea what they did in that kitchen, what they made that blew up all over the walls and down the side of the stove and inside the cupboards and bothered not to clean up, but it was bad. And we still haven't finished. BUT we cleaned up a ton this morning, and it's seriously a different place. We just need to finish up with the stove and under the sink. But now I understand the importance of doing your chores every week! You cannot let it get that way! But we're good to go now :)

On Wednesday, we had mutual, and since we're serving a tiny branch where only like 35 people go to church every week, we have a lot to do in the branch, like presidency of Young Women, Relief Society, and Seminary teacher. Well, the mutual was pretty sweet! About half the branch is the youth, so a lot were there. They're all converts, and super nice! I already love it here.

We had a talent show on Thursday, and immediately asked me to do something. So I sang a song haha. I think I like serving in a tiny branch a lot more!!! The people here are hilarious and warm and happy. Taltal is a great place :)

Yesterday, we passed by a less-active who's husband isn't a member. Apparently he hasn't allowed missionaries in his home...ever. Only one year ago (well, and his companion because he had to) but as long as he's home, missionaries can't enter. Well he let us in. The very first thing he said (literally the FIRST thing) was that he would like it if his kids served missions, and that it'd probably be better to have both parents in the church. The only bummer is that he works for like 2 months at a time, depends sometimes, and he left today. But you can count on us getting over there as soon as he gets home! He said he notices that we're the first sister missionaries in Taltal, and he thinks it's a good thing that we're here to help unite the branch and help a lot more people than the Elders could. Wow.

So, as you can see, I'm loving Taltal. We still get lost sometimes, but it really is a tiny town, so we can't be lost for long! 

Love you all!

Hermana Howell

More of my adventure.....(February '14)

In my last post I mentioned that I was afraid of dying young and my mom said to me "your fear comes mostly from missing out on things you want to do more than dying itself"...that was it, the fear of dying thing...not that I doubted in the plan of salvation, just the fear of not being able to live my life, go home, study, get married, make babies, stuff like that. But this last Wednesday we had interviews, and I talked to president about it. He had something super interesting to say. He said that throughout his life, when he sees that someone is about to pass away, they seem peaceful, like..."Yeah, I lived a good, full life" or along the lines that they're happy with God's will or I don't know, something like that. But what he saw in me was completely opposite  and he told me that God knows that he, President Dalton, couldn't handle a missionary dying on his watch, and then he looked me dead in the eyes and promised me that I would finish my mission, come home to you all, get married, have kids, and be a grandma. I felt completely calm after that. Cool experience.

Not much happened this week. Just the same ol' same ol'. I hope all is well in casa, and remember, the will of God is always what's better for us, even if we don't understand it. Don't doubt. Doubting? So ask.

Hermana Howell

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Hey everyone :)

Well, this week was kind of a bummer and slow. Not much happened when it comes to progressing investigators. We had to cut almost all of the people we were teaching for one reason or another. We didn't find anyone new either. Oh well, have to start over that's all.

This morning we went to Humberstone, a ghost town more inland. It was so sweet to see the whole town all old and what not. Aside from the millions of houses, they had a theatre, hospital (creepy), grocery store, school, church, hotel, dance hall, pool, EVERYTHING. It was creepy and old, like Grafton, but HUGE. I took TONS of pictures, but I'm only sending the coolest ones. And everything there was original! All the same stuff has been there since it's been abandoned. SWEET, cool place to take pics :)

Sorry this email is so short, but really, nothing happened this week. This week will be better :) 

Love,

Hermana Howell

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Hey y'all!

Well, we officially have no one to work with. This last week, our final hopes of progressing investigators went down the drain. We visited that family I told you about that we met in the Registro Civil...yeah well they told us that we're always welcome in their house, but they'd rather not continute with the lessons. They said they don't see themselves in church or really doing anything we believe in....NOOOOOOOOO they were so perfect too. So then we really had ZERO investigators. Boy this sector is tough. But we did have a lesson with an investigator yesterday that we kinda left alone for awhile...I hope and pray she feels the Spirit, and that we're teaching with it too! We have transfers this next week...and the rumor is I'm staying. You really never know, it could just be a rumor to get me stressed, but hey, if I gotta stay another transfer, there's something I gotta do here that I still haven't done yet.

Well, I completed a year this last week. Weird. Never thought this day would come haha. Thursday was like, oh yeah, a year ago I went to the MTC....cool. Not much different. But my lovely missionary friends here did give me a cake and sang to me! Well, another Elder "completed" his two years, so that sang to him too. He's ending his mission this...Saturday??? CRAZZZZYYYY. But really, I can't believe how fast the time has flown. We gotta enjoy every minute we're given, because we can't get them back.

Wow, look at those blessings of tithing and having a missionary. God really does help out in every facet of life. 

Lots of love!

Hermana Howell

Happy one year to me! (and two for Elder Oliva)

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Cambios!

Well, would you look at that. Another transfer went by, and I've only got 4 to go. FOUR. The time passes by way too fast. I guess by now that you can see that I'm writing Tuesday morning because, yes, I got transferred. FINALLY GOT OUT OF IQUIQUE. Man I was there forever. It was a good forever, but still, I was relieved to hear that I was leaving. And technically, I'm STILL not in my sector, and probably won't be until tomorrow morning....

I've been transferred to Taltal. It's this super tiny town on the coast, and me and my new companion, Hermana Carranza from Argentina, we're the first sister missionaries EVER, in the history of that town, to serve there. GAHHH. I've never opened a sector before, but it should be really good. I'm so excited. And I met Hermana Carranza while serving in Arica. She leaves in 2 transfers, and she's so awesome. I'm really excited to work with her.

So Hermana Pack (a sister who was in the MTC with me) and I left Iquique about 10 in the morning yesterday. She's going to El Salvador, another teeny tiny town about two hours from Taltal. (Sidenote, me and Hna. Pack went to Copiapò together too when we first got to Chile. It was like good ol' times!) So we got on the bus and headed down south. We stopped like 4 different times, and FINALLY got to Chañaral about 9:30 last night (almost 12 hours!). Well, we stayed the night here in Chañaral (Hna. LeFevre's here!!!! Yay!!) and our bus to Taltal was at 6:45 this morning. So we woke up early and everything, and got to the bus station RIGHT at 6:45, and the bus had already left. Great. The next bus for Taltal leaves at 6 in the afternoon, but there's only one seat open. We're gonna go in the afternoon and see maybe if someone misses the bus, but if not, we gotta wait til TOMORROW morning! Oh, what an adventure. SOOO I might be in Taltal by tonight, but hopefully for sure by tomorrow! Chañaral is also about 2 hours away. The crazy part is that we're all part of the same zone! Because we're all these tiny towns in the middle of nowhere, so every week we have to travel to Chañaral to have district meeting. That should be fun :) But really, I'm super excited. This was the change I needed I think. Hermana Quispe is staying in Iquique training! I hope all goes well with that!

Well, that's pretty much what happened this week! I hope all is well at home. I love you all!!!

Hermana Howell

me saying goodbye to the first counselor and his wife in Iquique

saying goodbye to my good missionary friends of Barrio Renacimiento, Iquique