Grrrr...Wet Wood Doesn't Burn

Hi family!!!!!!!

How’re you all doing?  Good I hope.  I have funny siblings. You all write me the same thing every two or three weeks:  "Dear Sister Wood, Sorry I am a bad brother/sister and this letter is short I will write more later."  Out of curiosity what exactly is your definition of "later" and what is your plan of action to improve?  Come on, you are all returned missionaries for crying out loud.  What happened to your daily planning session!

Anyway, I am good.  I mean, I could be better, but I could be worse so it’s kind of just a nice equilibrium.  Except I have a confession.  I am kind of angry at the man who sells us firewood.  He was like, "Ah, don’t worry hermanas the wood is dry."  The wood is NOT dry.  I have burned my fingers more than once trying to start a fire and it isn’t from the fire it is from the water that boils off the wood...I feel like that is just stupid.  We should not have water sizzling off the wood.  How is the fire supposed to start if it has to fight against all that water!  It doesn’t.  Ok it does but it takes me forever.  I probably look like a smoker now because my fingers are yellow from burning them so much.  By the way Dad, yes I really chop wood...I chop wood like every day...How else do you think I start the fires?  Also, I am not dumb and I am very safe with the axe.  Okay one time I chopped off one of my toes but it’s okay because I walked to the clinic afterwards:)  Haha...just kidding, the mamita drove me.

Anyway, I like hearing about all the funny things at home...plastic on the stairs, a lazy little boy who is not waking up to go swimming, what you ate for dinner.  I love my family you are all awesome:)  Yeah for my awesome family!!!

Oh, I remember another question Dad had about whether or not I can communicate with Hermana Núñez or not.  I hope you realize that my other companion didn’t speak English either...so yeah...I have been communicating for the past two months...but I still have to draw pictures and grunt when I want something sometimes.  Haha, just kidding.  I may not be a pro with the language skills but I am a trainer so the Lord gives me extra help.

I am so excited for Dominica!  She will be great.  Also, I sent a letter to Liz and Sarah about 3 months ago and it never got to them...because I got it last week.  Can someone communicate to them that I love them?  It would be nice.  Maybe you can make Alex do it and tell Alex that I love her too!!!  Hi Alex!!!!  I love you!!!  Do you like Costa Rica???  I am sending you a beautiful letter but it probably won’t reach you until October...

Love,

Lexie

1st Week as a Trainer

You probably want to know about transfers.  I got my new companion Hermana Núñez.  She was born in Ecuador and has lived in Spain most of her life but she does not have a lisp thank heavens...sorry Dad...She lives in Madrid.  She is 19 and has been a member her whole life and has two older sisters one a returned missionary and one currently serving.  We are getting along great and both of us are learning lots.  The spirit is so ridiculously strong between the two of us.  She´s got all the fire from the MTC and we pray like every 10 minutes together because she doesn´t know what´s going on and I only kind of know what is going on...okay sometimes 30.

This week has been pretty eventful.  Lots of emotions go with being a missionary... Graciela our recent convert is doing really great.  She feels so happy and it makes me so happy.  We are finally starting to teach her husband now and I feel like that is just huge progress because before he said he didn't even want her to keep visiting with us.  The problem is he doesn't live the word of wisdom and he is a lot healthier than his wife so we might have a hard time convincing him he needs it too!

Right before transfers one of our "golden" investigators said she didn't want to keep visiting because she’s not going to get baptized.  Then another family we've been teaching told us the exact same thing...except they both scheduled return appointments so I am still very hopeful.  It reminded me of something very important though: We are at war.  We are at war with Satan and every time we find receptive and prepared people he is working just as hard as we are.  We have to treat every one of our investigators like the precious and valuable souls that they are and we can’t give up on them.

Yesterday we visited one of the less actives and his wife (not a member) was in the other room on the phone.  We explained that we couldn't be alone with him and she had to come into the room or we could come back later.  He said no..."Don’t come back, don’t call me, I told you my wife doesn't want to sit in on the lesson and right now she’s talking to my son and it is a very important phone call, if you don’t have any trust in me I don’t want to have anything to do with you etc. so just leave."  So we did.  We were outside the gate and his wife ran out to call us back.  Turns out she had wanted to go to church that day but things got in the way and she wanted to talk to us because she felt a need to do so.  When her husband told her what had just happened, we explained the need to be obedient and she said, "I agree" and let it go.  I am awfully grateful for these tender mercies of the Lord.

It is getting super cold here.  It hasn't been raining the past couple of days but that actually makes it colder.  My fires have been so lame too...sigh...I really need to be more awesome...Today I am going to chop lots of wood so I don’t have to do it at 9:30 at night and I can’t see anything...

Well, that’s about it for today...keep praying for me:)  I LOVE YOU!  

Baptism and Healthy

Lots of good things happened this week.  First, one of our investigators got baptized!   Wooo!  It was beautiful:)  I cried.  Okay, tears didn’t fall from my face and I didn’t make any weird gasping noises but it was a silent cry like Karrie Beckstead does.  Anyway, Graciela is the little abuelita that quit smoking and that had a dream about me that I was dressed in white and blessing her like a Catholic priest.  I love her she is so funny:)  Her baptism was so awesome.  She said it was the best day of her life.  The other sisters had an investigator the same day and we had tons of support from the ward.  It was sweet!  I will try to send a picture if it will work.  All my other pictures kind of got erased...

This week President called...I am going to be training. I finished my training this morning...and I am going to be a trainer on Wednesday...Agh!  That is scary.  My companion is from Spain. A few extra prayers for me would be pretty awesome...also a few extra for my new companion...

This week I have learned a little bit about the nature of prayer.  We always say that specific prayers receive specific answers but sometimes we don’t fully apply that principle.  First, we’ve been praying to find more families and we’ve been finding more families.  Second, one of our investigators told us she can’t believe Joseph Smith was a prophet and she’s not sure that listening to us more is going to change that.  We left and said a prayer in the street and she called us 10 minutes later to schedule an appointment.  I am grateful for these little tender mercies from the Lord that shows us how to be humble while enabling us to do the work.  Pretty cool stuff.

Being a missionary is so cool...and nobody got sick this week!  Did I mention that?  It was a week of health...almost...one of the other sisters was sick, but nobody threw up.  Thank you, Dad for letting me know to wash my hands...unfortunately God has given us all our agency and I can’t help it if nobody else does.  Alex is funny.  In her letter she told me if I wasn’t on my mission we’d be in Alaska...but then she said South America was way better than a non-contagious state...she has a way with words right?

Chile is awesome...it has been raining a lot lately...like every day...and getting colder...The good news is I am staying in Puerto Varas and it’s not too bad here.  I am getting really good at building fires.  You would be proud.  Ok, I cheat and I use petroleum sometimes but you would too if all your wood was wet.  I am also losing feeling in my fingers because I burn them so often...but it is worth it when the wood catches:`) Sigh...I’ve got to get better at chopping wood now.  It is hard when it is raining and dark...but I can do it!  No worries.  

Okay I’ve got to go. I love you all loads!

Love,

Lexie

A Week of Flu

This week I thought would be normal.  Hahaha, sigh.  Then I woke up at 5:30 on Tuesday morning and threw up.  That was fun.  It was even more fun when Hermana Arias threw up.  Haha...oh the flu.  Tuesday morning I was lying in bed and all the sisters came over to do splits and all the Latinas were freaking out and analyzing my symptoms and saying "That’s not normal!  That’s not normal!"  And then they said, "Oh well at least she knows where the clinic is."  I’m sorry...if I am healthy enough to walk a 1/2 mile to the clinic, there is no way I need to go to the clinic.  Anyway later Hermana Zortman came into my room and talked some good sense about how I had the flu and even though having a fever and throwing up is not fun, it is normal when you have the flu.  I love that woman.  I thought I was better on Saturday, but I threw up again last night so clearly I am not better...sigh...

I did get to work a couple of days this week.  We knocked on the door of one house and this little old lady answered the door.  She was hard of hearing so this other guy came to the door and we were trying to introduce ourselves and the man was shouting at the woman and the woman was shouting at everyone and it was funny.  "They’re Evangelicos!" "No we’re from the Church of Jesus Christ..."  "What? They’re Catholic?"  "No they’re Evangelicos!"  "No we’re Mormons..." "I’m Catholic!"  "They’re not Catholic they’re Mormons!"  (Angry face from the woman.) "She doesn’t want anything from the Mormons, she’s Catholic..."  Oh funny stuff.

Well, I don’t think there’s really a whole lot to report this week since I have been indoors all week...Except we are having a baptism this Saturday!  Our little abuelita:)  She is funny.  There was a baptism last week from the elders and we took her to that and now I think she is a little worried about getting dunked into the water since she is 67 and delicate but she will be okay.  Besides ever since she stopped smoking she’s been getting all kinds of exercise so she’ll totally be ready for the dunking action.

Well I hope you are all being good...I love you LOTS.

Love,

Lexie

Winter is coming to Chile

This week it got cold and I got sick because we didn’t have any firewood and I am from Arizona.  I was a little bummed about that because it makes me feel so weak...

Good news.  Our investigator came to church sober:D  And she hasn’t smoked for days.  I think it must be hard for a little old woman who has smoked for most of her life and understood very little about God and His plan to change and learn so much and so quickly but she is.  I’m so proud of her.  

This week we performed service because we are trying to get this AMAZING family to come to church with us.  They furnish buses so they work at home and they have to work all the time because of the way deadlines work and it takes a long time to rebuild buses...So this week I helped furnish a bus.  Cool huh?  I do a lot of cool things on my mission.  I don’t think I’ve even told you about all the cool things I do...I mean other than normal stuff like knocking doors and preaching the word of God...Let’s see...I told you about the funeral, the Chilean hospital, did I tell you we built a cabinet thingy for a TV stand?  And we teach English classes...and now there’s the whole refurbish a bus factor...I don’t know I think that’s most of it.  Fun stuff. I learned how to chop wood this week!  Now I just have to learn how to start a fire with wet wood...I was trying to start the fire and there was one piece of wood with giant drops of water sizzling off the top...sigh

I love how every day is really hard, but no matter what the Lord sends us his tender mercies.  Of course some days are harder than others but no matter what happens there is always something good that comes out of every day.  Although, I am a little worried the Lord is going to test my patience by sending me farther south for the winter...

Anyway the language is coming along, slowly but steadily.  At least I think so because my Enlsih is getting worse.  Soon I won’t be able to say anything it will just be a horrible mix of Spanglish.  I am sure God has lots of fun listening to my morning prayers.  This week I’ve been reading in 1 Nephi and learning all kinds of good stuff.  For example, 1 Ne 2:18 Nephi "cries unto the Lord" for his brothers.  I don’t think he is praying for protection or comfort (although he could be); he is praying on their behalf that their hearts might be softened as we all do when someone we love is making bad choices.  I really love the answer of the Lord.  "Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and be led to a land of promise."  And then he says Laman and Lemuel will be cut off for their rebellion.  I don’t know, but I imagine that isn’t quite the answer Nephi wanted, and I doubt it offered him loads of comfort concerning his brothers.  But that is what he got and that is part of God’s great plan.  We can receive all the blessings of heaven but those blessings are conditional.  I’ve met a lot of broken families on my mission.  Sometimes the problems are big sometimes they are small but they are always hard.  That is the beauty of the Atonement.  All things will and can be healed through Christ.

I love being a missionary, I am learning so much.  The scriptures are just so full of light and knowledge!

Okay...I think I am done...I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Lexie

I Called Home!

Lots of exciting things happened this week.  The most interesting thoughts that crossed my mind were:  "Oh my goodness, I am running to my cabaña in a foreign country in a skirt with my gringa companion to look for the legal papers of my Peruvian companion who is in the hospital."  Who would have guessed my first time rushing to the emergency room would be in Chile?  Not me...Fortunately the hospital is pretty close and we found all the important papers that we needed and my companion is doing super duper.  She has a "preexisting medical condition" but I am not exactly sure what it is and like I said she is better now so there’s not much else to say about that.  Except that I was scared.  She had to take a rest obviously this week so we went on splits with the other sisters in the zone.  It was good practice to be in a normal companionship with only one other person.  Although I had a little bit of separation anxiety without Hermana Zortman.  Haha, just kidding, but seriously I have never been a missionary without her and transfers are in three weeks!  What am I going to do??

Anyway, this week we got to call home!!!!!  As you all know obviously.  I was in the call center waiting for Hermana Zortman and Hermana Arias (for their 5 minute confirmation calls) and this guy started talking to me.  First he asked me what university I go to.  I told him I didn’t understand so he repeated the question and then I tried to explain that I am a missionary and then he just rolled his eyes and asked me in English where I am from.  Then I told him from the U.S. and then he asked me what university I go to again...so then I said I went to BYU but I am not in school right now because I am a missionary and then he rolled his eyes again and just asked me what I studied...I don’t think he understood the whole missionary concept...But we also think he was drunk so it’s okay.

Speaking of alcohol problems I think our investigator was intoxicated when she came to church...looks like we are going to review the Word of Wisdom concept again...sigh.  I am not sure why Sunday morning before church seems like a good time for anyone to drink actually...but it’s okay we’ll work it out.

Ooo, this week I have been studying 1 Nephi.  Good stuff.  I really like how the first section of the Book of Mormon is all about a giant family divide.  As a missionary I am learning about lots of families that have that problem.  It is really hard for people to watch the people they love make bad decisions and reject the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I think that is why I like 1 Nephi so much.  Nephi and Lehi pray for Laman and Lemuel all the time.  I am sure both of them would have liked for Laman and Lemuel to soften their hearts and come unto Christ and repent and receive all the blessings of heaven.  But the Lord gives us our agency and he can’t give us those blessings unless we are obedient.  You should all go study 1 Nephi.  Oh and go study Find the Lambs Feed the Sheep by Pres. Hinckley.  SOoooooooo good.

Love you all!!!!!!!!

Love,

Lexie

New Apartment

WE MOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Oh it was so great.  One of these days I will get around to sending the pictures of our old house and the new house and you can see for yourself how wonderful this news is.  The bathroom is twice the size, the shower doesn’t leak or have mold all over the curtain, the toilet flushes the first try, the beds are in the bedroom instead of the kitchen, the tables and chairs aren’t made of plastic and we haven’t had a single slug yet.  And best of all I don’t have to duck every time I want to walk across the room.  Haha.  It is actually really good because winter is fast approaching and it is already cold and wet inside the house and would have been hazardous to our physical health in another week or so.  Phew...

We are seeing some great progress with our investigators.  We talked to one this week who is about 70 years old and is trying to quit smoking.  She said this week she tried to smoke a cigarette and she couldn’t, it tasted awful to her.  I was so excited to hear that!  Then she asked what she should wear to her baptism and it just about made me cry because 2 weeks ago she wasn’t sure she wanted to even continue taking the discussions.  She is so much more alert in body and mind and it truly is a miracle.  The blessings of the Word of Wisdom are so real!  Just picture this: 70 year old woman that has been a heavy smoker all her life, and boom the blessings of the gospel and she is a new woman.  It is amazing.  She is walking faster, communicating better, and altogether just more alert and happy.  Ah:)  She said she had a dream about me last week.  She told me that I was all dressed in white and then she said I started blessing her like a Catholic priest...She is funny...

Our other investigator with a baptismal date is 13 and we had a really good talk with her parents this week.  She has to make a few changes in her attitude with her parents and around the house and show a bit more maturity before they give permission for her to be baptized but I am confident that it can be done.  She is so prepared and she loves church.  She went to church once before we had even taught her and started talking about joining our church right there and then.  And this week she brought a friend!  It was awesome.  She and her cousin who is 9 (who will probably also be able to be baptized soon) were walking down the halls showing their friend all the classrooms and the chapel...it was beautiful.  I love children.  They are awesome.

I am trying to remember other things that happened this week but I didn’t make a list...Oh, someone tell Alex I FINALLY got her letter and I forgive her and I love her:)

Well...I think that cover’s just about everything this week.  I love you all sooooo much!  XOXOXOXOXOXO

Love

Lexie