Feliz Año Nuevo! (week 19)

Hello my dear ones,

Well another week has flown by. Literally! Time goes so fast here! At first not so much, but I can't believe how fast this last tranfer has gone by! Kind of sad, becasue now Hermana Wilson is going to be going home.....sad day. We may have to talk to the President about it. Apparently Mom and Dad are going to her homecoming the 25th. I will be sending home some stuff with her Mom so just so you know and pick it up! So Maria Angelica didnt get baptised on Saturday, sad day. The Elders were all what happened, oh how sad, but in an annoying way. They were just trying to be funny, but, well, it just wasn't.

So I let the Hermanas cut my hair this week. I was holding onto my last Devron cut, but it was exceptionally long and it is really hot some days, so they cut it. It doesn't look bad, but it is no Devron's cut. Its okay though, because there comes a point in time in the mish that you just don't really care what you look like haha.

We had a great week here in Graneros. I love this place. There were a couple of rather frustrating days when it seemed like we did a whole lot more walking than teaching, but I guess that happens on occasion. Our animo is still really great though because we saw many miracles this week. Last night Hermana Wilson and I were walking around and both felt we needed to go and visit our investigator named Maria Angleica. When we got there, there was already a member at her house! It was awesome! Things like that I don´t think typically happen. The member whose name is Jenny and the best person I think I have ever met, just decided that day to be her friend, without us even asking her (we had invited other people to be her friend). She invited her to have ´once´ with her and her awesome family even though she was still fasting. Then she took her home and that is when we came on the scene. She helped us teach her during the lesson and said everything I was going to say right before I tried to say it. I could tell the spirit was already there when we got there and it made it so easy to teach. She can be a challenge to teach sometimes because she talks a lot, but she just was mostly quiet. Then at the end of the lesson we asked her to be baptised this Saturday and she said yeah, I know I need to do it. Hermana Jenny was all wait seriously? (But in a supportive way.) Then she said she has the whole week off and is going to help in whatever Maria Angelica needs. We had both felt when we were talking to Maria Angelica at church that we needed to put another fecha for her. We had had a lesson with her already, but we didn´t want to invite her for a new fecha, because we just didn't feel it was the right thing to do.) It was a miracle. I felt as though God was using her as an instrument in his hands. She is one of the best people I have ever known. ( No one get jealous.) Being around her for just a short spurt of time has a serious impact. It just makes you want to be so much better. Then I think about how people must feel to be around Jesus, and it is overwhelming. I just want to be her when I grow up.

I just feel so blessed and grateful to be a missionary. Some days are more challenging than other, but I know that if you choose to have a good attitude and count your blessings and have faith that God will help you, you recieve miracles. (Oh and you have to be obedient too.)

I miss you all lots, but I know the time will go by before two shakes of a lambs tail. Be good!

Read and Pray Everyday (I do ;) )

Love and lots of it!

Hermana Makin

I cut Hermana Sheehan and Hermana Canos hair!!!!!!!!! (week 18)

Yeah I cut peoples hair and they are going to do mine next....it is getting soooo long and it is really hot and my hair is thick and heavy......hopefully it turns out. I need to do some touch ups on Hermana Sheehans hair because the layers are a little dramatic, but it turned out pretty well I think.

 

This was the week of miracles. We are feeling really blessed here in Graneros. I love love love working with Hermana Wilson. She is amazing. We are doing really well and I am also dong really well. I thought I would be sad after the phone call on Christmas, but I had no trouble at all refocusing. Another blessing from God. I was praying a lot that I would be okay, and not be sad.

 

Anyway onto the miracles! This Saturday Maria Angelica is getting baptized!!! I am so happy for her. She was suppossed to get baptized the following Saturday, but she invited herself for this Saturday instead, which is fine with us, because there is nothing keeping here from doing it that day. Apparently she was all ready for baptism with some other missionaries last year or something but didnt end up gong through with it, but now she is really gung ho about it. 

 

Miracle number two. Our investigator and menos activa went to the registro civil this week to pick a date for marriage! We invited them to and didn't even have to remind them or anything. The soonest one is for April, so its sad because I probably won't be here :/ but I am so excited for them. Then we went to theri house this week with our AWESOME mission leader and had a lesson. The investigators mom and sister were there. They are catholic. They sat in and listened and after said they wanted to have other lessons AND they came to church on Sunday. The cool part is they live in Codegua, so its a slight drive.

 

Miracle number 3! This is probably my favorite one. It is the best thing that has happened so far on my mission by far. We have a menos activo named Carlos and after 18 years of not going to church, and many sets of missionaries he went to church yesterday! He has a medical condition because of an accident he had at work. I dont remember exaclty what happened, but something hit him in the head and he was uncounscious and all that for awhile and now he gets panic attacks and anxiety at the thought of leaving his house. He came to church! Not only did he come, but he stayed for all three hours! His eyes were so full of the light of Christ at the end of church. I asked him how his animo was and he said that he had arto, and the day before he said he had none. Also on the way to church he told us he was so sick, his whole body started hurting and lack of air etc, but at the end of sacrament meeting he told us that he was feeling a lot better. This week we had an AWESOME lesson with him about the parable of the frogs (Elder Garzon gave us the idea) it was awesome! Basically it is about how the Pharoah asked Moses to pray to get rid of the frogs and Moses says when do you want them gone and Pharoah says tomorrow, which is crazy. If my house were infested with frogs I would want them gone right away! Anyway we told him not to let frogs get in the way of following the commandments of God. At the beginning of the week we set the goal with him to go to church yesterday and I told him that he would have to read and pray everyday to get the spirit to help him to be able to do it. We kept checking up on him throughout the week and he was not being all that diligent. I told him that he needed to do it especially when he felt that way so he could feel better. We visited him on Saturday and he said he hasnt been able to because he has had too much anxiety this week. I told him that because at the beginning of the week he let the frog get in his way it started duplicating and made it even harder the rest of the week. I think this frog lesson helped him so much. I could see the spirit teaching him and it was amazing. HE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! I am really excited about it haha

 

There were of course many other miracles this week, and I just can't write them all down. I feel so incredibly blessed and dont quite know how to show my gratitude to God. His love is real.

 

The only real peace and happiness we can find in life is through Christ. 

 

Read and Pray everyday!

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!

 

Hermana Makin

Merry Christmas!!!!! (week 17)

Hello Family,

I LOVE YOU!!!! Just thought I would get that out there right off the bat. So we had a rather strange week this week. Working just as hard, but didn't accomplish quite as much as we normally do. That's okay though, we have more goals this week and are going to work hard to accomplish them, not that we didn't last week, but so it goes I suppose.

So the coolest thing happened today. The Zone Leaders called me and asked if I would teach about contacts this week. Now wait for it, that is not actually the cool part. You have to know what happened last night. Well in my nightly prayer I was talking to God about how I dont like doing contacts. I can do them and all that jazz and they arent usually awkward, which I mean is some type of accopmlishment, but I just really dont like them. You have to stop some random person on the street and try and form a conversation from nothing.....its just uncomfortable is what it is. Also in another language, which is fine, because its totally doable, but yeah....uncomfortable. Anyway so that is the cool part, God answers prayers! Of all the people they could have asked to do it in the zone and some probably a smarter choice, because they know more, they chose me! I am excited to learn more haha

So we had a baptism planned for this Saturday and we were rather jazzed about it, but it fell through :( Sad day. We rescheduled it for January. If you could please continue to pray for Gloria (down to 2 cigarettes) and Maria Angelica, and Maria de los Angeles, God would really appreciate it, and so would I!

This week is Christmas as you all know and I am looking forward and dreading talking to you. Okay that sounds really bad, but I just dont want to be sad after......its going to be a challenge. I obviously want to talk to yo and see your faces and hear your voices, but it is going to be hard to say goodbye. I just remember the airport and walking on the plane crying......that was really hard. I know I will be fine, but I just love you all as previously stated. ANYWAY, I am actually more looking forward to it than anything. But not in a not focused on the work kind of way.

Well I have two minutes left and I have to go. Talk to you on Wednesday (if that is not the 25th and I have mistaken the day dont start freaking out) wow that sounds weird!

Read and Pray Everyday!

Hermana Makin

Hi Mom! I miss you! (week 16)

Hi Mommy!

Sometimes I think my letters must be kind of depressing...I hope not! Being a missionary is a wonderful experience and it has changed my outlook on life forever! Sometimes it can be a challenge, as it is pretty much all about personal growth. So there are lots of blessings and good things, but that just means you fall harder....not sure if that makes sense. There is always so much I want to share with you, but can´t :( I will have to fill in most of the details when I get home. The time is flying by!

Last week we had a mission party with President and Hermana Warne. We played sporting games outside and then watched that video I think I told you all about. It was so embarrasing. Everyone was laughing really hard. The next few days and even today I was/am so sore! Pathetic! I walk around all day, and I was sore. Its probably because I was using muscles I don´t usually use. BUT, my endurance for running is now awesome! It was still fun, and I look forward to next years party haha Hermana Warne made cupcake and they were chocolate, so Hermana Villanueva gave me hers. I didnt even feel guilty about eating two cupcakes haha. DELICIOUS!

Being a missionary in Graneros is great! I love my companions and it is wonderful to work with people who want to work! Hermana Villanueva is going home this week, which is sad, but it hasn´t hit her yet that she is leaving, so it hasn´t quite hit me either. We keep working hard just like usual. It will be weird to adjust to new companions, but I am excited to learn from everyone. Hermana Wilson hit the ground running! She is amazing, and well there just aren´t words to describe her, but I am so excited to spend the rest of the cambio learning from her.

This week we had some awesome experiences! We did lots of exchanges with ward missionaries. We were able to have more teaching opportunities because we could be in opposite sides of the sector. Our sector is HUGE!!! Its exciting because there are just all that more people to find. We had an experience with an investigator who started to cry during a lesson because his desire to be baptized is great. His name is Cristobal. He told us that he wants to get married before he gets baptised (we haven´t taught him about the ley de castidad yet) and then his pareja who is menos activa was asking about long you have to wait to be sealed. I am not sure if I told you about Angelica who is a long time menos activa with a big testimony. She has had many struggles, and if I were her I don´t know that I would want to return to the barrio I attended before, just because of the things that have happened; anyway she had her interview this week. I don´t know what will happen with her, she has a fear she may get excommunicated. It would be more exciting this big step she took, except the lesson before her attitude was terrible. She was being super condescending and was not treating us very nicely. It was more annoying than anything else.

We are preparing a woman named Maria Angelica for baptism for the 27th. Anyway her daughter has down syndrome and she is eight. I am trying to think of how to help her adjust to primary so her Mom can focus on the other meetings.

Anyway we have had an awesome week, and I am really looking forward to the next one!

Read and Pray Everyday! (You´d better be! One wimpy verse at the very least people!)

So I think I got bit by a dog today.....(week 15)

Hello Family,

 

My new companion arrived this week. She is great! Her name is Hermana Wilson. Her mom and dad are coming to pick her up in January when she leaves. This is her last cambio. Her mom said if you all want to send something with her when she comes you can.

 

I received two packages in the mail this week. Thanks for sending a little piece of home to me here in Chile. I managed to wait a whole 5 days to open them haha. Don´t worry everything in wrapping paper is still in wrapping paper. PS Hermana Compaño is like saying Sister man companion haha, but thank you! I love you all, and miss you like crazy! I miss you as much as I want to be here which is like literally being torn in half. 

 

So we have so many great investigators! I am super excited about teaching them, but none of them came to church yesterday which is disheartening. I try and do everything in my power to be obedient and prepared and such and then they still have their agency and such. It can be pretty disheartening. Now is the time to work even harder!

 

We have this awesome new video called el es la dadiva that the church produced. We have been using it to teach during our lessons. It is amazing. I would encourage all of you to watch it. I am guessing the title in english is He is the Gift. It gives me chills. It has made our lessons that much more powerful!

 

So did I tell you I teach english classes every week, and am in charge of music in sacrament meeting, and teach in the primary? The people here work harder to make the church run than they do in Utah. Lots of people have more than one calling and some more than two. Be grateful! For example, the president of the young mens is also the president of the young single adults. He also has a full time job. 

 

Anyway, I don´t feel much like writing anymore, but I hope you are all doing well. Love you!

 

Read and Pray Everyday! 

 

Hermana Makin

 

Its official, I no longer go around telling everyone I like myself. Big strides forward! (week 14)

Hello Family,

 

We had another good week here in Graneros, and it was actually week 6 which means cambios. I am....drum roll please......staying in Graneros! Hermana Villanueva is also staying and the other Hermanas too. My comp is finishign her misión in two weeks and then she will be going back home to her family. We found out that Hermana Wilson will be coming to take her place, but we will be in a trio for two weeks. Hermana Wilson will be the coordinadora for our zone this cambio, and then she too will be going home to her family. Let me just say it is challenging to be around people that are all thinking about how they are leaving the misión.....really hard. They talk about going home and their family and such.....and it is the time of holidays also, so lets just say this week has been kind of slow. Anyway, it was still a good week. I completed three months on Thanksgiving! Did you all remember? Cause I almost forgot haha. I only remembered because I looked at a calendar.

 

Hermana Noakes and Hermana Parker are going home this week :( I know you probably don't know who they are haha, but they are wonderful. Anyway you only here about 7 percent of what actually happens during the week....

 

So we had some cool and funny experiences this week that I will share with you all.

 

1. Carlos, remember the weeping willow man? He is awesome. When we teach him he always asks questions. It is awesome, because you never have to wonder what he is thinking or if he is understanding. We were teaching about the Book of Mormon and my comp shared her testimony and then kept going on with the lesson, but he stopped her and asked if I and Hmna. Fanny could share ours too. We are going to invtie him to baptism this week. Pray for him.

 

2. Conni and Alexis- A pareja we found. (Pareja is like a couple that live together). Anyway when we saw Alexis outside I didnt think too much about it, but my comp started talking to him and then they let us come in and teach a bit. She said when she saw him the spirit told her that both his paretns had died, and well, yeah we found out that was true. So that was a couple of weeks ago and then yesterday we went to teach them again. (They spend a lot of time in Codegua with work.) They told us that there was a special feeling after we left the last time. It was kind of awesome! We invited them to be baptised too. Pray for them too. It is especially hard because time between the appointments leaves a lot of room for the adversary to work on them. During the lesson I was major struggling with the language, like more than usual. It was really really frustrating.

 

3. So after Connie and Alexis yesterday we went to find a reference, who wasn't there, so we knocked on their neighbors door. A woman answered. She told us they didnt believe in God, and Hna. Villanueva was all podemos pasar? Which is like can we come in. Well I was all ready to leave and such, because I just dont even know how to respond to that. We went in and started talking to them, and they were talking and we were suppossed to respond (duh cuz thats what you do in a conversation) and well IDK kind of an awkward situation right? Two definite beliver in God missionaries and two who dont and they are sharing their opinions and you have to think of something to say and say it in another language and not offend someone, and respect their beliefs. Lets just say I was very aware of my inadecuacies in that moment, very aware. In moments like that all you have is your faith and a prayer. Yep pretty much it. It ended up being a good experience, though I didnt do much of the talking. The spirit was there and you could tell they could feel it.

 

4. The RS dinner was a beautiful experience. I cried haha. We had an investigator come to the dinner which was awesome, because we hadnt even taught her a real lesson yet and we didn{t call to remind her. We are inviting her to be baptised this week too. She is a single parent to a cute little girl named Esperanza who has down syndrome.

 

Well I love you all very much. I miss you too! Give Grandma a big hug and kiss for me.

 

Read and Pray Everyday!

 

Hermana Makin

I shout at houses now, did I tell you that? Doorbells are not very common here.... (week 13)

¡¡¡¡HOLA!!!!

PS that is not my favorite word anymore, probably because I say it about ten trillion times a day haha, but good news, my hola TOTALLY SOUNDS LIKE A CHILEAN HOLA. Like if I wasn´t a giant and blonde people wouldn't think I was Chilean. There is a hope that I won´t sound like a total gringa by the end of my misión haha

 

We had another awesome week this week. Not sure what else to say....it was awesome......I really like working, I probably learned that from mom. (Let me just add, working not in the home aka cleaning.) Someone told me that the misión was going to be so hard, harder tan my first year of teaching, and I got really worried, because my first year of teaching....well I haven´t ever done anything quite so hard in my whole life. While misión work is challenging, I wouldn´t call it hard. Maybe because it´s all you have to think about.

 

I feel really bad about the returned package, that is so weird! You all don´t have to send me anything.....except the boots haha. I won´t be offended or sad if you don´t send things. You are all so sweet to think of me though.

 

Okay so I will share one really funny thing that happened over the past few weeks. It was the day after the stomach bug and we were walking back to our house along this alleyish type thing (there just aren´t words to describe it....but not an alley, but slightly sketchy at night....so alley) It is a dirt path wide enough for a car and a half to drive down. Anyway this alley is lined with weeping willows which provides amazing shade. Hna. Villanueva told me I should try and swing from the branches. I told her I was going to break it because...well I mean you know they aren´t that thick. She was all no it won´t break. So I told her to do it. Well she started to try and then said it hurt her stomach.....yeah. Anyway so last Sunday, the Sunday before last we were walking back from church and I was all, okay are you going to try now and so she started to try.....it was pretty funny. Anyway this man starts up the path on his bike (don´t worry its a good ending). He stops and asks if we are trying to break it off and Hna. Villanueva explained the funny situation, then we talked to him for like 30 min haha and now we are teaching him. He has like a thirst. It is kind of cool. We taught him in the plaza the other day and a man (who may have been very drunk) interrupted our lesson to tell me that I needed to be a model. So that was super awkward haha Then the man (Carlos) after he left said that he had to agree with him.....even more awkward. And then I bore my testimony about the plan of salvation...it was great. 

 

Anyway I love you all, and I hope you are having a lovely time there in Utah. I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving this week! Eat some banana cream pie for me. We are going to a relief society dinner that night, and it is based on Thanksgiving haha so that should be fun. Probably not traditional though. PS did I tell you that the bishop in the Ward in from Alaska. He served his misión here and married a Chilean haha. Kind of funny.

 

Read and pray everyday

 

LOTS OF LOVE!

 

Hermana Makin

 

PS This week is my Em J´s birthday. Love her and squeeze her until she gets embarrassed or annoyed, just for me!  LOVE YOU MORE THAN LIFE EM!

November 2014 pictures

Daniela's Baptism

Hermana Cano

Leaf



Landscape

Hermana Dana who is from Argentina. Almost as tall as our Clucky.

Hermana Noaks. (She completed her mission about a week after Ciara sent these pics.)