The rest of January!

Hey guys!                                                                                                                         1-26-15

It has been a great week. Today I am starting my last transfer! Hermana Hungria is still going to be my companion which I am really happy about. Things are really picking up here in Villa Obispo. This past week we found some really cool people that we are excited about. One of them is a family who told us their lives are like the life of Job from the Bible minus the plagues... The son, Fabian, has so many questions about the Plan of Salvation and the mom explained to us how she just doesn't feel like she has a purpose in this world. She said she wakes up in the morning and wishes she could be excited for a new day and new adventures but she isn't and she doesn't feel a real happiness. It made me so so sad to listen to her and also at the same time I realized just how happy and blessed I am to have the gospel in my life that is genuinely makes me so happy everyday and gives me something to work for every day. Our lives have purpose and that is someting that lots of people don't have. Could you imagine that? Just not feeling like there was any reason to wake up and go to work, or go to school or whatever. Hermana Hungria and I are really excited to teach them and we have been studying up on ways to help them understand God's plan and the importance of agency.

We also found this lady, Gisela, that left the Catholic Church and is now looking for a church that fills her soul and that is really the truth. She was going to come to church but sadly her husband came home and she is scared to leave during the morning because that is when she makes lunch and she says he will get mad at her. She also smokes a TON and says she has smoked since she was 13. (Cam-Im gonna smoke when Im 10!)

We also are teaching a less active family that always gives us a bunch of blueberries because the son's wife works on a blueberry farm that ships all of their fruit to the "gringos." 

Also, we ate lunch with this other less active family on Friday and on Sunday they came to church! They showed up late and sat in the back and when I looked back behind me and saw them it just made me so happy.

I am really excited for these 6 weeks that I have left. Really I am. I know there is still so much I can accomplish and lots of people we can help so I'm going to, as Dad always says, "Take it to the next level!" hahah. It is going to be great.

I love you guys!

love always,

Hermana Chalmers

Hermano Carlos Quezada - coolest guy ever

Hey! Its Wednesday!                                                                                                          1-21-15

This week was really good. We had an activity in the mission in the Southern part of the mission in a little town called Traiguen. It was so much fun. It was like girls camp 2.0 or something like that but with missionaries. We got shirts and played a bunch of games, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, kickball, watched Meet the Mormons and had a BBQ. I will send some pics. 

(hey! shout out to Courtney, they are playing Green Day in this cyber)

It has been a little tougher this week with finding people with all the people in LA on vacations or at the river because it is so hot so we have been focusing in finding through less active members and part member families which has been pretty cool. Sunday was a harder day and we didn't see a lot of the fruits we were hoping for from the work we had done during the week. I was pretty bummed sitting there in sacrament. My companion showed me a scripture in DyC 78:77-88 that says, 

 17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in hisown hands and prepared for you;

 18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of goodcheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and theblessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

It really helped me out a lot and was an answer to a lot of questions I had had during the week. God asks that we try our best and give all we have. There are a lot of things that have happened in the mission with our investigators or with the ward that are hard to understand and are tough but we are here to learn every day, we can't have all the answers in one moment which means that sometimes things won't make complete sense, and that is when God asks us to exercise faith and confidence in Him and His perfect plan.

Also we found this family and the dad is a hard core 7th Day Adventist that has studied everything and anything that has to do with religion. He is pretty intimidating but it has been learning to trust in the Spirit and have confidence in the power and authority we have as missionaries. But I won't lie, there have been moments when I just wanted to pee my pants as he talked to us about all kind of doctrine and information.

It is SO hot here in LA but I love it! I would definitely prefer it to the rain and cold in the winter here. Cambios are this Monday but I am pretty sure I am staying here to finish my mission with Hermana Hungria. At least I hope so.

love you guys!

love always,

Hermana Chalmers 

The group I got to the mission with

pics from the activity

1-12-15

Hey team! It was a great week, Eduardo got baptized! Yahooo! The day of his baptism we had to fill the font in the morning and the heater didn't work so he got baptized in freezing water, but its alright because its like 100 degrees here every day. Also his grandma, mom and two friends came to his baptism. That was a big one because Eduardo is a pretty quiet guy and he kept telling us he didn't think anyone would come but they did and they really enjoyed it so that was a miracle in itself. President Martinez baptized him and it was pretty funny because he came out of the bathroom in all his white clothes except his pants and said, "Hermanas... we have a small problem. I left my white pants at my house." hahah. It was a really simple and short baptism but it was so great. The spirit was strong and I know Eduardo was happy and content. When he was getting baptized I remembered the first time we taught him and all the questions he had and doubts as well. It is so cool to see how the gospel can put our lives at ease and bring us so much peace and hope. I know that is what it has done for Eduardo and what it will be able to do in the future for the rest of his family. On Friday before Eduardos baptism we taught him about baptisms for the dead and temple work and he loved it. He told us he didn't know why but all of what we were teaching him was really familiar and also that he had been thinking about what happens to the people who don't get the chance to be baptized the night before. It really is such a miracle that we are a part of the true church. It gives us all the answers. I love teaching the plan of salvation because it really does fill in all the cracks and takes care of everyone, every situation.

Thanks for everything! I love you guys!

Love,

Hermana Chalmers

p.s i will write you next wednesday instead of monday because we have a mission activity next Monday.

The freezing water in the font

Eduardo's Baptism

some grafitti

Pictures from Zone activity on the 1st of January and from the mission P Day activity on January 19th!

HOLA 2015!

Hey!                                                                                                                                     January 5, 2015
2014 was definitely the quickest year of my life. This week was really good. We ate dinner on New Years Eve with The Quezada Family. They are the funniest people ever. They have two little daughters and both served missions and love anything that has to do with missionaries. We ate SO MUCH. In Chile, the holidays=meat in all shapes and forms. We stayed up until midnight with the four of us girls in the house to celebrate the new year so it was good stuff.

New Year's Day we planned an activity with the two zones in Los Angeles at a cabin that a member has. We played games in this huge field, 7 on 7, frisbee, soccer and a ate chorripan (mini sausage hot dogs, a Chilean favorite) and pebre. It was super fun. We all got super sunburned, too.

Friday was one of the hottest, hardest and best days ever for Hna Hungria and I. Everyone was out of town for the holiday weekend and we were fasting and it was about 1000 degrees outside. It was just a show. The first house we got into the guy kept trying to make us soda so we had to explain to him what a fast was and he just said our church was trying to hurt us, hahah, then when we left he tried to kiss us on the cheek and we had to refuse that too so that was just the cherry on the cake. Later, we contacted this lady outside her house and I think she was having a bad day because she just blew up on us and told us that we don't respect Chilean lives, people flee from us, we try too hard, and while she was going off and we were trying not to laugh her taxi passed by and she missed it. She stared at the taxi driving away and then turned around, stared at us and said "I missed my taxi and it's your fault! Look what you do!" hahah oh man! She told us get far away from her house but we were just hysterical afterwards. The best part was even though it was a hard day, it was a really great day ,too. There genuinely is a lot of power in smiling through hard things, laughing it off and just keep working hard. When we pass through hard days or trials or whatever it is, God is mindful of it and blesses us and we really did see the blessing because the next day, Eduardo came to church! and he is going to get baptized on the 10th! AND President Martinez (our old mission pres. who is in our ward) is going to baptized him! Earlier in the week he came with us to teach him and it was the coolest thing ever to watch him teach and listen to Eduardo and answer all his questions. 

We had lunch with a family yesterday and the dad LOVES the American Flag. He is just obsessed with it for some reason. So I gave him one of the mini ones mom sent me and when I handed it to him he shed a few little tears. Haha. It was the sweetest thing ever. Also yesterday, we visited a less active member, Gladis, and we were trying to get to know her a little and see how we could help her out and as I stood up to put in my USB to watch a mormon message I stepped right on her little poodle's foot and the dog screamed and starting barking at me. I felt so bad! and Gladis was trying to keep it cool but I could tell she was a little bugged. My compaion was just cracking up and you guys know I'm not a huge fan of dogs but I was trying real hard to be nice to that dog to make up for it but to no end...he is so scared of me now. 

1 Nephi 9:5-6

Love you guys!

HNA MEG

at The Quezada's for New Year's Eve dinner

Happy New Year!

Chorripan!

New Year's activity...

Feliz Navidad

Hey guys! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!                                                  Dec. 29, 2014

This week has been a good one, a little tougher to find people in their houses for the holidays, but still great.

As I told you on Christmas Day we went to Salto de Laja, that is about 30 mins out of Los Angeles and then ate lunch with some members that live out there. They are this old couple that are constantly fighting or making jokes or teasing so it was hilarious. 

I love Christmas here. It is so cool to be able to experience it in such a different way but also be able to feel so happy and content serving others and seeing their lives change. We went and visited a recent convert, Audelina, who is in her late 70s and lives alone, on Christmas Eve and gave her a gift and sang her some Christmas hymns. She was so happy and told us about her conversion story and how she learned to read with the Book of Mormon. We read some scrips with her and she was so pumped to read, even if she couldn't do it too fast. I love to see that we can find joy in simple things and also that if you can feel the spirit with people you love and serve, even in such a simple moment, it is so fulfilling.

On Christmas Eve we ate dinner with a young family in our ward and before we ate we watched "He is The Gift." I have seen it a lot of times, but it was so sweet to watch it there with that family with their little Christmas tree. There was a really sweet spirit present. I love when it says, "He is the Christ. He is Christmas." The joy that everyone feels at this time of year is because of Jesus Christ and His love for us.

Also, Eduardo, our investigator who we are really excited to be baptized the first week in January took a complete turn when we went to see him on Sunday saying that he just doesn't know about the church with all the stuff about Joseph Smith and the 12 apostles and such. That morning I read a General Conference talk from the last conference, "Joseph Smith" and it talks about how in the world there is so much opposition right now against the prophets and the truth especially in these latter days and that it is our responsibility to strengthen our testimony of Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon and the living prophets because it will be tried at some point. Remember those things and that the Book of Mormon is so strong and has the power against all the opposition.

I love you guys!

Love,

Hermana Chalmers

Zone Gift Exchange

Christmas morning

Salto de Laja

                                                                                                                                    Dec. 22, 2014

I don't have a bunch of time but it's all right because I will be talking with you guys this Thursday! Christmas really snuck up there. This week was awesome. I am so happy with my companion Hermana Hungria. She is just the best and we work together really well. This past Friday we had leadership council in Concepcion and we Skyped with this guy, Hermano Donaldson, who gave us a training that just blew my mind and changed my whole perpestive of teaching in the mission. He did a practice where he taught us the restoration super simplified using the pamphlets we have and it was just so awesome. He talked about how when we invite people to be baptized really we are inviting them to accept the redeeming power of the Atonement in their lives. So great. So that same day when we got back to our area we went to an appointment with some future investigators, Connie and Miguel, they are 20 and 21, brother and sister, and we applied what we had been taught that day in the training with teaching the restoration and it was one of the coolest things ever. They accepted the invitation to be baptized and The Spirit was just so strong. Hermano Donaldson said, " When we participate we allow The Spirit to teach us" and I just love that. I have been talking way too much in lessons. When people can come to their own conclusion and we just ask questions and guide their thoughts, miracles happen. 

Also, I have been teaching my comp some English phrases. Right now we are working on, "take it easy" and "don't mess with me." I taught her "see you later aligator" "in a while crocodile" last week and it's a hit. We are testing it out with all the North Americans.

Wahooo! I am really happy and excited for this transfer.
Feliz Navidad! I love you guys a ton!
Love always,

Hermana Chalms

I love Hermana Hungria

me and Hna H.

Loving Life in Los Angeles

                                                                                                                             Dec. 15, 2014

Hey! Today is the start of a new transfer. Hermana McFadden finished the mission and my new companion who is getting here tomorrow is Hermana Hungria from Ecuador. I am really excited! We came to the mission together but she was in the Chile MTC. Also I'm staying here in Los Angeles. 

This week has just been kind of a blurr, but that is a good thing I think. I did an exchange this past week with one of the hermanas who is in her first cambio in the mission and it was one of the coolest experiences. We saw all kinds of miracles. The first was a recent convert that has been struggling lately has been almost impossible to find. She is 17 yrs old and we have been worried about her. Well we stopped by that day and she was home with her sister and starting asking us questions about her personal progress and asked if we could help her out. She has been going through a tough time lately so it really was such a miracle that we were able to have some time with her. Also at the end of the day we had like 15 minutes left before we had to go into the house and we said to each other that we were going to invite someone to be baptized before the day ended. It was so great because like 3 minutes before we had to go home we knocked on this door that is on the same street as our house and a girl answered and we asked her if we could share a short message of Christ and she let us in! She is 19 yrs old and has a 3 year old son and looked so tired and worn out. Her family was teasing her that she let us in and was talking to us but I was grateful that we were still about to feel the spirit, teach her something simple and invite her to be baptized. She said Yes too! It really is so cool to see how mindful God is of us and of all of His children. I have been thinking a lot lately about our agency and the agency of others and how much it affects missionary work and whether people have the opportunity to accept the gospel or not. It is a beautiful thing to witness other people letting the spirit touch them and being willing to learn and to change and seeing it in their eyes when they really do understand or really do feel the spirit testifying of the truth.

Also, we had the primary program yesterday in sacrament and I witnessed quite possibly the cutest primary program instance ever. This little girl, Fernanda, was asked to share her testimony of what she had learned that year in primary (she is about 4 or 5) and she walked up nervously to the pulpit, stared at the audience wide eyed for like 30 seconds and then said really slowly, "You should never hurt animals.....and always leave them alone." Her little lip was quivering the whole time and then she just stared at the congregation breathing heavily until her mom came and got her and then she started bawling. Ahhh I love the primary program and good thing it's a hit in all parts of the world

I love you guys! Thanks for everything!

Love always,

Hermana Chalmers

hermana pendley, the mission secretary. i love her!

hermana mcfadden and i at the christmas conference in san pedro

hahah trying to get hermano jose to take a selfie, he didn't understand it at all haha

SOY churrasco. i love my life

Mi querida familia,                                                                                                      Dec. 8, 2014

This week was so good. I learned a lot of good things. Lots of little miracles also.

- We ate lunch with an Hermana that is recently reactivated and after we finished eating we shared a spiritual thought with her. It was my turn to share so I pulled out my scrips and turned to Helaman 3:35.

 "Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctifcation of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

I really love this scripture and I wanted to share it with her and turn it toward missionary work but as we read it, the part where it says, "they did fast and pray oft" stood out to me and I felt like I should share with her about the importance of those two things. It turns out that this hermana has been having a hard time finding a job. She barely had enough money to give us lunch and has been praying so hard for help and not knowing what else to do. She said that it had never come to her mind to try and fast as well and that the scripture was an answer to her prayers. It was really cool for her to be able to see how the Spirit can work through us to help others and also how the scriptures hold the answers to all of our questions and help us to receive constant revelation for even the simplest problems and questions.

- Also we found a family that is awesome! It is a mom, Carmen, a grandma, Teresa and the son, Eduardo. We taught them and they were super excited about it all, especially Eduardo (he ended up coming to church and even stayed after with us to watch a ward baptism!). At the end of our lesson we invited him to pray and he said he would even though we was a little nervous but it was so funny because right before he prayed he said... "yeah... Im going to turn off the lights" and shut off the lights real quick, said the prayer in the dark and then turned them back on. hahah.

- We taught some recent converts, Jose and Magdalena, (they are cousins and are both about 50 or so) and invited them to invite some neighbors or friends to a ward activity we are having next week and they ended up getting into an argument about being judgemental on what neighbors to invite and who REALLY deserved an invitation even if they would say no. Hahah it was quite the scene to observe.

- In a contact in the street the other day we talked to this really nice guy who told us, "Sorry it's just, I don't have time to be Mormon." How ironic is that one? We tried to explain to him that really the fact was that being Mormon would make all the other time he has even more worth using and really the most important thing he could be doing with his time was finding the true church and coming closer to Christ. He wasn't really having any of but I thought that was interesting what he said, such a backwards thought when you really think about it.

I love you guys a lot!

 Thanks for everything! 
Feliz Navidad!

Love always,

Hermana Megan Chalmers

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey guys!                                                                                                              Nov. 24, 2014

This week went by real fast. We were all over the zone but it was a lot of fun- some things that happened-

I did an intercambio (trade off) with one the Hermanas in the zone in my sector in Villa Obispo and it was a really great experience. We learned a ton together. The day started off and everyone all over town was hating the missionaries. We were just laughing about it because it was absurd! Two ladies in a row yelled at us and then I went up and contacted this lady and she looked super interested and then I turned a little and she saw my name tag and left practically running. Haha but at the same time we saw a ton of miracles that day. Right before we had to go home we contacted this couple that was about to enter their house and they let us pass by. Pepe and Nieve. They were real receptive and that committed to be baptized! They have to get married first but that's all right. Also we helped this recent convert clean her house a bit. She has a lot of medical problems and was having a hard day so it was nice to help her out and she was able to open up to us a little more. 

- No missionary in our whole mission knew if Thanksgiving was this past Thursday or this coming. We were really confused but we didn't want to miss it so we made a couple calls and were practically POSITIVE that Thanksgiving was on the 20th... so we bought a "pie" and celebrated it ON THE WRONG DAY. Haha it was pretty funny when we found out. 

We have had to drop a lot of investigators this past week that just aren't progressing and it has been pretty tough. We just have to exercise faith that God has other people prepared for us in the sector. We are finding a lot of news and it has been fun and now we are just focusing on helping them get to church and progress. 

One new person we found who is really cool is named Viviana. She is a Jehovah's Witness and her boyfriend, Jesus, (right?) is Catholic. It is a hoot teaching them but they really are interested so it will be good.

I love you guys! Happy Thanksgiving!
Love always,

Hermana Chalmers

Dec. 1, 2014

Hey! Looks like you guys had a solid Thanksgiving. Over here in the South we ate some oreo ice cream and brownies in a cup and at least this time we got it on the right day so that was good. haha. 

This past week we had stake conference and a member of the seventy came and spoke, Elder Nuñez. It was really awesome. In the Sunday Session Hna McFadden and I were sitting with the daughter of a family of investigators we have, playing tic tac toe while Elder Nuñez spoke about missionary work and the importance of it all. He said he had pre asked President Bluth for the help of two missionaries and then he called an elder's name and then my name and I about peed my pants because he asked us to come up in front of everyone because he was going to ask us some questions. I had no idea what was going on. But it was actually a really cool experience. He asked me and Elder Cardoso questions about the mission schedule and obedience rules that we answered into the microphone and then he asked us to bear our testimonioes of why we came on a mission. Then he talked to each of us in front of the stake and made us promise with him that for the rest of our lives, after the mission, we would continue to pray every single day, study the scrips, serve and be an example of Jesus Christ. I said I would and it was really interesting because when I sat down I really felt the Spirit and understood, at least a little, the promise I had made with Elder Nuñez, and really with the Lord, that I will forever be changed by my mission. And not just while I am here but forever after, because that's where it really counts. 

Also, this past week I was studying on how to find people to teach and where it talks about going about doing good and I realized that the real way that we can be disciples of Christ is not just teaching but more importantly living the gospel. Show others what the gospel of Christ is through our actions and who we are. The words that we speak or teach mean really nothing if we don't have the action and true testimony behind it. I know I have a lot I still need to work on to become better and a true disciple of Christ but I want to do it! Being a great teacher or missionary or whatever, really just comes down to how willing we are to live a life like Jesus Christ. To not just teach his doctrine, but LIVE like He did.

I love you guys a ton! Thanks for everything!

Hermana Chalmers

Alma 11:40

         Happy Thanksgiving                 (on the right day)!

From Angol to Los Angeles. Oct 27-Nov. 17

 LOS ANGELES 2.0                                                                                                  11-17-14

This week went by super fast. We had interviews with President and Hermana Bluth and Hermana McFadden and I did some trainings with the missionaries during the interviews. It was a lot of fun but also pretty tiring because we had to do the same one four times so I kind of felt like a wierdo just repeating myself like someone secretly really knew that I was saying the same thing I had the day before. haha. But interviews are always great. Hermana Bluth talked to me a little about the importance of the little things we do as missionaries to be obedient and how getting into that habit and keeping it after the mission is so important so we don't start a downward slope when we go home.

Also this week, we did a family home evening with an investigator, Camila and her brother's family, who are recent converts and were recently sealed in the temple a month or two ago. It was pretty cool. We watched this mormon message called "El Domingo Llegará" and her brother shared his testimony about how the gospel has changed his life and even though he has still passed through hard times he has been able to make it through and be happy thanks to the gospel. Camila accepted a baptismal date for the 20th of December! She is 20 yrs old and has a 2 year old boy.

We also had lunch yesterday with the Stake President and his family. They are the most gringo people I have ever met in Chile. They made chocolate chip cookies and we ate tacos! What?! It was wild. They have four kids all under the age of 18 and all of them want to go on missions so I thought that was pretty cool. 

We also have this investigator, Andrea, that is so close to getting baptized but everytime her baptismal date gets close she disappears or something happens. DANG. She is great though. She wants to be an example for her daughters and be baptized but Satan is working hard on her, that is for sure. She always teases me because I have baby hands and my nails are short because I bite them... She says I have all kinds of twitches. Haha I must just be going crazy over here.

This ward, Villa Obispo, has made me so grateful for the members. I think that is one of the biggest things I will take away from my misson is the importance of the members and the miracles that happen when you work with them to help others to come unto Christ. The members here are so willing and there are so many of them as well. It definitely takes an extra effort to involve the members but it is so much better that way. You guys are on the other end of that so just know that having willing members to work with is such a blessing and really how missionary work should always be done. 

Also, mom there is an hermana in our ward that reminds me A TON of you. It is wild! Her daughter is a return missionary that actually had to come home early for health reasons. But she has short hair like you and she is super awesome. It's your chilean twin.

Also, it is SO HOT in Los Angeles. Oh man. Last year this time in Temuco it was not at this level of heat yet so I should be in for a STG style summer.

I love you guys! Have a great week!

Love always,

Hermana Chalmers

LOS ANGELES 1.0                                                                                                     11-10-14

Hey! I am in Los Angeles! It is pretty different than Angol, quite a bit bigger and the ward HUGE. My whole mission I have been in wards or branches of about 50-60 people in smaller areas and now in Villa Obispo there are like 140 members in the ward or something like that... really blew me away yesterday. Members all over the place! I'm not sure how I am going to remember all the names and stuff like that but I am excited because the members here are pumped to work with us and be a part of the missionary work and everything. It is also really interesting having the old mission president's family in our ward. Hna Martinez, Presidente Martinez's wife, taught the class in relief society so that was really cool... also because she taught about missionary work. Haha.

Also, Los Angeles is REALLY HOT. YES!

There are some really cool people here as well. We have an investigator Madaline who apparently has been taught by missionaries for a long time. She is 16 years old and super great. She has a baptism date right now for the 22nd of Nov and I know she can do it. I know it! Our ward mission leader has like no faith at all that she will actually get baptized that day which is a bummer but no importa! 

I am just really excited to be here even though I do miss Angol a little. I am focused on just giving everything I've got. This may be my last area so I want to make sure I take full advantage of every opportunity I recieve to work with the members to help families get baptized!

Also this past week I did a study on the difference between confidence and pride. Pres. Bluth mentioned it and invited us to study it out. It was pretty cool. The conclusion I came to was that the difference really comes down to where we are attributing our success. To God or to ourselves. We must be confident but confident in what God can make of us and what we can do with His help. I think there really is a fine line between being prideful and having confidence but I have found that confidence is such an important thing. To be confidant is similar to having faith. Jesus Christ was confident in His mission on earth and He wasn't afraid to tell people who He was and that is what I want to focus on as well. Being confident, but confident by trusting in the Lord. Sorry I am rambling a bit.

And sorry I don't have pictures. I haven't taken any this week

I love you guys!

Hermana Chalmers 

CAMBIOS & IRIS                                                                                                       11-3-14

This week was possibly one of the best weeks of my mission. So many things happened! First off, IRIS GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY. Dang, we were not expecting that one. This week was the last week of the cambio and we had been hoping to set a date for her to be baptized later on in November because she kept refusing and refusing and anyway we went to teach her this past Tuesday and miracles happened. The Spirit was there so strong. We went with Suyay, the recent convert who was baptized in August, and halfway through the lesson Hermano Crisitian randomly showed up (the hermano that gave us the reference of Iris and her fam). It was just power team 2.0 with those two and by the end of the lesson we were talking about bringing her her baptismal dress to try on and who she wanted us to invite for Saturday. Hermana DeGroff and I were SO excited. The moment I realized that Iris really was going to take the step of faith and be baptized, when her attitude changed and she started getting excited for the baptism was one of the best feelings ever. When Hna DeGroff and I walked out of their house we just started hugging each other and jumping around all over the place. As it always happens, there were a couple of roadbumps for her to get baptized on such short notice... 1. The bishop was still in Concepción with his wife and son and 2. The counselor who we were counting on to help us out had his youngest daughter's birthday party that same day in the chapel. He met with us Wednesday night and tried to convince us to move the baptism to a week or two later. I kept on focusing on what would be best for Iris and the fact that she was ready and there was no reason at all to wait while she was so excited and peaceful with her baptism that Saturday. It turned out to be so great, everything. Iris was so excited and nervous too. We had asked her earlier if she wanted to bear her testimony after her baptism and she said no because she would be way too nervous but we asked her again right after she was baptized and she agreed to do it. When she bore her testimony something she said was just the best thing to ever hear, she said, "This was so beautiful and such an amazing experience but what is most important for me is what comes next." Hearing that she was so focused and determined on continuing faithful every day was such a blessing. Her daughter who studies in Temuco, Francisca, came up for her baptism that weekend and kept throwing in selfies left and right while we were taking pictures in the chape before the baptism. I'll send you guys some. It was so funny.

Also, CAMBIOS. I am leaving Angol. I won't lie, I am pretty sad. I love Angol a ton and I am going to miss the ward and the people and everything but I know there are things I need to do in other places, in LOS ANGELES apparently. It is about an hour and a half north of Angol. I have never been before but I am going to be comps with Hermana McFadden from Colorado. She finishes her mission this cambio. I lived with her when I was in Temuco for one cambio actually. We are going to be in the ward, Villa Obispo AND that is the ward where the old mission president, Presidente Martínez, and his family live so that will be fun haha. I leave tomorrow! Also, my hija, Hermana DeGroff, is going to train here in Angol! Wahooo!

It was so awesome to finish my time in Angol and with Hermana DeGroff with this week. My last Sunday yesterday, Iris said the closing prayer in Gospel Principles and it was so sweet and sincere. She prayed for her mom and prayed that God would forgive her of all her mistakes and all these cute little things. Every time before she prays she says something like, "Okay I'm still pretty new at this so I am going to give it my best shot. We will see how it turns out..." and then just starts praying right on the spot. Haha so great.

I love you guys! Thanks for your support and everything!

Love always,

Hermana Megan Chalmers

  Iris' Baptism!!!

 CONFERENCIA DE HERMANAS                                                                            10-27-14
Hermana DeGroff and I had a really awesome week, full of some really interesting and really cool things that happened. We found this cute little old guy, Juan, who lives right behind the church. He can't read and used to be an alcoholic and drink all the time but decided about 2 years ago that he had enough of that and so he hasn't drank any since. He was telling us all about how he wants to start changing his life and coming to church. He is missing a lot of teeth so I really love when he smiles nice and big because he just looks like such a cute little grandpa. Haha. 

We also came across one of our investigators, Oscar, with a group of almost drunk guys who we were talking to for a while. They were actually pretty nice and had some genuine questions and stuff and then one of the guys starting talking about how he had heard from someone that we worship Joseph Smith and then they all started mentioning all of their friends and neighbors who had once told them the same thing. We kept explaining to them that it wasn't true but they just weren't listening to us at all and weren't letting us say more than two words. It took a lot to not get really frustrated with them and lose my patience especially when I knew what they were saying wasn't true. But by the end we were able to explain to them who Jose Smith was and what he did and that we don't worship him but are grateful for what he did to help restore the church. 

We also taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to an investigator, Cristian, the guy who we prayed with like 4 times in one lesson last week, and it was the coolest thing. As we talked to him about Enduring to the End and having eternal life as our ultimate goal he started telling us that he believed that was true and that one day he really believed that he would be able to see God and talk with Him and he said, "I know that eternal life is real, now more than ever." And he was just smiling so big and there was such a peaceful feeling in the room. I'm really grateful I was able to have that experience to feel the spirit so strong and so simply and to see that same spirit testify to Cristian about eternal life.  So cool! The only bummer was that he told us that he has problems with insomnia (of all things!!) so he didn't know if he would be able to make it to church because lately his sleep schedules have been pretty wild and he hasn't been able to sleep at all during the night. That is the first time I have heard that reason for not being able to come to church with us. Haha.

This past Friday we also had a Conferencia de Hermanas in our chapel in Angol (our chapel is the biggest in all the mission! yeeaaahh) with all the Hermanas in the mission, Presidente and Hermana Bluth and the asistants. It was a lot of fun actually. Hermana Bluth put so much into preparing it and making sure everything was set to go. The best part was that the mission secretary, Elder Pendley, and the elderly missionary, taught us about self defense. He made sure to include the "foot breaker," the "head bonk" and of course, "the shot to the groin." He also told us that if it really got down to it we shouldn't be afraid to make them nervous with some smack talk and tell them to "run home to their mommy so she could change their diapers." Hahah. Hermana Bluth talked a lot about working in unity which helped me a lot. She used the example of bees and their beehives and how the work of one bee is so small to produce the honey we eat but that when all of the bees do their part, however small it may be, there are great results and how that is the same for us. Even if what we are doing may seem small in comparison it will make a difference. God needs every single one of us and has called us for a specific purpose. She also talked about how Jesus Christ treated women in the New Testament and the great respect He had for them. From the Samaritan woman at the well to Mary Magdalena, being the first person he appeared to after he was ressurrected. I really thought that was cool when she put it into that kind of perspective. 

I love you guys! Talk to you next week!

Love always,

Hermana Chalmers

Angol

at the conference with Hermana Bluth

cleaning up afterwards

lunch with Familia Diaz

Gabby Diaz and her bunny