The Work is Great!

I know I say this about every week....but this was the best week ever!!! I don't know, but somehow it gets better every week :)

On Tuesday we went to this house for a FHE. The couple aren't married (but they don't live together! WOO!) and the man isn't a member. The woman was inactive for YEARS, and get this...HE activated HER, and he's not even a member. We listened to their story....wow. We all ended up crying. It was so perfect in that little house. He's definitely ready to be baptized, the only thing is that he lives in the other sector....oh well, doesn't matter. All he wants is the best for his 3 little girls. He works 7 days and rests 7 days, and he says in those 7 days he's working, he misses his family too much. He needs to know if they can be closer and be an eternal family! PERFECT. The Spirit was so strong. They are my favorite family :)

We also have a new investigator (referral from two different members). She as well is looking for the true church. She's been studying the Bible for 6 months. She didn't believe in God before, and she still hasn't shared with us her experience that made her believe that God existed, but now she's looking. And we're there to answer her questions. She asked if there was like after death, and we said YES! and that families can be together forever. She perked up when we said that. She's a great investigator.

On Friday, we went to the house of a less-active (that we didn't know he was a less-active before we went). We taught them the first lesson, him and his wife. He cried 2 times during the lesson, and went to the baptism we had this week! One sister from the ward recognized him. She came up to us all excited and said "We were baptized the same day 40 years ago!!!!!!!" and she went and was their friend.

Carla's baptism was perfect. The Spirit was the strongest I've ever felt in a baptism. One couple from the ward sang and that was when the Spirit just hit everyone like a ton of bricks. Afterwards Carls bore her testimony, and you just KNEW that the Spirit was with us. It was perfect!

All this is why I love being a missionary. I have a front-row seat to the greatest miracles in the world! I see people's lives be changed and blessed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There really is no other feeling like it. I'm gonna miss this.

Con amor,

Hermana Jennifer Howell

¡¡¡¡CHI-CHI-CHI, LE-LE-LE, VIVA CHILE!!!!

So this week was a pretty good one. First things first...there were two games this week for Chile. The first one they won and the one today they lost. GAHHHHHHHH. But President gave us permission to watch the game today (with conditions of course), and it was sad because we lost. Not ONE goal. LAME. Ah well, at least Chile still doesn't go home. People told me yesterday that the States tied with Portugal. Apparently it was a surprise for all. Hahah. These Chileans are sure passionate about their futbol.

This week we recieved 4 references!! 2 from a sister who's inactive, another one from that man that stopped us in the street last week, and get this...one sister from the ward gave us this referral that is her friend in the salon. Afterwards, we went to a baptism in the other ward and a sister from that ward gave us the SAME referral...sooo, she's pretty much gold. We're gonna stop by her house tomorrow! WOOO HOOOOOOOO

Our investigator who got married last week, Carla, had her interview. OF COURSE she passed. So her baptism is this Saturday at noon! Woooo I'm so excited for her. She is very ready. We finished up the lessons the other day, and she shared her testimony...the Spirit was so strong. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

Friday we had zone conference! It was a really good conference. We did this one activity with the Book of Mormon where they pulled questions out of a box and we had to find scriptures only from the Book of Mormon to answer them. Some of them were easy, and others we had to look a little harder to find, but it was cool because it showed us just how many answers we really CAN answer with the Book of Mormon.

Funny quote of the week: "Our country isn't that big, but we expand like ants." It was so funny because Hermana Maldonado was talking about how if you look at events that have happened in history of the world, there's ALWAYS a Chilean somewhere in there. Hahaha.

Well, that's about it for this week! Hope all is well!

Hermana Jennifer Howell

 ¡¡¡¡CHI-CHI-CHI, LE-LE-LE, VIVA CHILE!!!!

Two Weddings and the World Cup

Hey all!

This week was perfect. There were two weddings in the ward (one being our investigator). It was so wonderful to see her get married and work on aligning her life with the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This week we had a new investigator, and we put a baptismal date with him in the first lesson. He's prepared. He stopped us in the street and asked if we could help him answer his questions. Then, the next day, another man stopped us in the street and said we wanted to meet with us and that him and his wife and son will be waiting to recieve us. I can now see that God really does people in our paths and that THEY find US sometimes.

So, it's the World Cup (????) for soccer (I don't remember if that's what it's called in English...it's the MUNDIAL in Spanish...bueno. that.), and Chile is NUTS for soccer. So whenever Chile plays, the streets are crazy! It's kinda fun to hear everyone screaming and cheering on their country. GO CHILE. Oh, and go America...haha

So these next few weeks we're gonna have a couple baptisms! The ward is growing and getting excited to help us out! I love this work! :)

¡CUÍDENSE!

Alms for the Poor

So, I tell you about this great week? Yeah, so we were able to meet with our investigator, Karla, you know, the one who's gonna get married and then baptized? Well, this week we taught her the Law of Chastity, Word of Wisdom, and Tithinng and Fast offerings...she took it so well. She was all like "I guess I gotta quit drinking tea. Oh well. Fun while it lasted." hahah, but she is perfect! We just can't wait! The days don't pass fast enough!!

Yesterday, we went with this couple in the ward (the husband is Elders Quorum Pres and she's Relief Society Pres) and with another brother from the ward, and we went out and gave food to the homeless. It was so fun and awesome to meet and talk with people and hear their stories. A lot of them were surprised to see us because people don't just give them food....and hope for a better life! One lady started crying, and another young man was really touched and almost cried. I really liked it.

There's not much to report this week, but I just wanna say that serving a mission is the best!!!! I hope you're all having a great a time as I am!

Love,

Hermana Jennifer Howell

Referrals! Woo hoo!

So let me tell you about this week.

You know those bags they gave the whole mission to use instead of backpacks? Mine already broke. Good luck to those missionaries who just started their missions. Mine lasted 3 weeks. Good thing Hermana Garcia left another bag in the house, so I'm using that one.

This week, we received about a million referrals! Okay, I wish, but more like 5 or 6, and that's a lot! The ward here in Antofa is really getting motivated about missionary work! Our prayers are being answered. And we finally have a ward mission leader! He just returned from his mission in Brazil. Literally JUST returned, on Wednesday. Hahaha he still speaks weird. I'm now able to hear different accents. It's fun!

This last Saturday, the ward had a baptism of an 8 year old boy, and we found out his dad isn't a member. There's a lot of sisters here in the ward where the husband isnt a member, so we've been working a lot with those families! A few of them have great potential!

So all day yesterday and today I was sick. Yesterday I woke up with an upset stomach and this morning I had chest pains, but not like heartburn. But it was like a burning in my lungs. My whole body hurt and I had like no strength. I asked my district leader and his companion to give me a blessing, and afterwards, I immediately felt better. Now, I feel fine. Just hungry cuz I haven't eaten much of anything for the past two days! The priesthood really is the power of God! Woo hooo! :)

Hasta luego,

Hna. Jennifer Howell