Whitney's Misión en Chile: Week 23 - As long as I am here in the vineyard of the Lord, I will plant as many seeds as I can...

January 6, 2014

Christmas Day! Wooh, presents!

Presents from Hermana Ricks

Zona: La Cisterna

Nght after the Mission Christmas Actividad. We got tshirts. Coolio

Matching shirts for Christmas Activity

Texas Sheet Cake made in the most ghetto way possible

Hermana Cook and I. We sprayed the window with fake snow...

This is for my Ashley. Never worn my hair in a bun así

Cigarrette boxes... Disgusting. (read on to find out what they're doing with these)

This week has been a week of reflection. Reflection of life, the blessings I have, the people I've met here and the lives that have touched mine, and the miracles I witness. As you all know, last week was pretty discouraging. There are weeks like that, I apologize if it's boresome to read my letters of complaints. But the mission isn't a breeze. It isn't easy and there goes days when we feel ineffective and directionless. There are days full of hours of pure walking and nearly suffocating in the heat and sweat. There are days I know I'm driving my comp bonkers and days I wish I could have a moment to myself. Despite the down and the discouraging, there are absolute moments of happiness marred by the lack of humilidy, but happiness nonetheless. I've come to accept that I may not have immediate, recognizable success in my mission. As long as I am here in the vineyard of the Lord, I will plant as many seeds as I can, dig the holes where needed or even break the soil for some other misionery to make the hole. As long as I am helping the work along, doing the will of the Lord on the way and how I am called to, I will do it.

We found 5 new investigators, 3 of them solo through buying pan and speaking English to a lady in the tienda [shop]. A little girl, Angelica, walked right to Hermana Cook and asked if she spoke English. We told her yes and she asked if we were going in the same direction as her. Seeing as we were citaless - without a cita [an appointment] - we followed her on her bike down Las Brisas and we saw her mother standing outside the rejas [fence] waiting for her daughter. We thought we were about to be 'váyase'd [shoo-ed] from her presence, but when we told them we are missioneries, she opened up and got excited. Katy, the mom of Angelica, told us what was very close to her life story of the last few years, then Angelica asked if we had meetings in our iglesia. We told her we did, the next day at 10. She told her mom she wanted to go and her mom told us she wanted to go as well, if her pregnant dog didn't have her puppies that night. We told them we'd pass at a bit before 10 to walk with them to the capilla [chapel]. And we walked home, sort of brushed it off a bit. People have done the same and never come to church. We passed by. They were awake, excited to go, but the dog was still having her puppies, so Katy couldn't. Angelica started to have a fit, then her sister older, Carla who has almost 12, told us she wanted to go as well. So we went to church with these two girls we'd met no less than 12 hours before. Both of them bore their testimonies. In front of everybody. Like a boss!... Sorry, my comp's vocab has sort of affected mine a bit. Miracle of the week. Miracle of my mission thus far.

Remember Fransisca y Marco? Turns out they are smokers AND drinkers. Wooh! We taught the Palabra de Sabiduria [Word of Wisdom], thinking they'd accept it and we could move on, but when we asked if they had anything they needed to dejar, they told us they smoke and drink. Fransisca is a chain smoker and Marco is a DJ, so he smokes because the people around him do. Unexpected in the worst way. My heart dropped. But, we talked about the blessings of keeping the PDSab [Word of Wisdom] and they both became open. Fransisca told us she wants to stop because she feels the infection of the tabacco in her throat and lungs and can't breathe. I'd say. We asked if she'd like a blessing to apoyarse [support] and she greedily nodded and asked if we could bring somebody to her house. Well, we passed by with Hermano Roco yesterday at 9 and they weren't there. Turns out we wrote down the wrong day. But, Hno Roco gave a fantastically brilliant idea to help Fransisca. On our way home, we found cigarrette boxes. I don't know how many of you have every held or looked at them, but they are absolutely vile and disgusting. There are pictures of lungs and feet and cualquier otra cosa. Entonces, we pasted pictures of Jesus on the front and back and proceeded to make cigarrettes of our own. Cigarros de Escrituras [scripture cigarettes], we call them. Each of the papers has a scripture in the LDM [Book of Mormon] that she needs to look up every time she feels the need to smoke. We're going to give them to her tomorrow. I hope it helps.

All right. I have realized I don't have a knowledge true of the Atonement. I didn't realize it until a few nights ago when I couldn't sleep and my thoughts were keeping me awake. That is truly one of the worst curses. So much happens during the day, my brain doesn't decide to process it until midnight. But I tucked myself into bed with my iPod and speaker, clicked the shuffle button on the Artist 'Bliss', one of my best friends' group. I listened to several of the songs, and they went over my head, but then 'Gethsemane' played and my mind focused. And I listened. There is one part that hit my chest like a punch from the Holy Ghost. 'While His friends were asleep, He fought to keep His promise made long ago'.

How many of us are sleeping? How many of us take His sacrifice of love for granted or don't know the real significance of His suffering? The Atonement is sad, yes. When I first came on my mission, when I thought of Christ in the Garden, I felt guilt and sad thinking of my Savior being physically and spiritually crushed for my sins. But as I thought about it that night, I couldn't help but feel happiness. Relief, peace, joy, happiness and absolute, pure love. Christ loves me. He loves ME. One missionery of hundreds in the middle of sweaty, smoky, wonderful Chile. He spoke to me in the life premortal, looked into my eyes and told me He would carry my burden. He promised eternal life with him, smiled, gave me a hug and a kiss on my head and told me everything I will do wrong in life as an imperfect human being He can take from me. All that is required of me is my willing, contrite spirit and heart completely converted to and committed to follow His teachings. He made the same promise to each of us, individually and personally. He knows we're not perfect and we can't be, and that was His proposito [purpose] of his life. His wonderful life was meant to be sacrificed innocent and guiltlessly so we may have the means to repent, become like Him and live newly with Him and our Father.

I know that this church is His. He formed the principles and doctrines, simple and wonderful as they are, and through prophets pleades with us to do His will. He is the way. He is the life and light and all other good things not of the world. He created us to be His and He knows us inside and out. We are His creation. We are grabados en [engraved in] the palms of His hands. He never has or will forget about us. He has a plan for each of us, a purpose in the earth, that is bigger and more significant that we can comprehend in our little finite minds. I know that the prophets are the mouth of the Lord, they love us and know and do far more than regular old us people can. Thomas S Monson is His mouthpiece today. He doesn't guide the church on his own, but through the direction, approval and love of JesusChrist. And I know this Church is divine. It will stretch from this dot of a mission in Santiago Chile from all other people on the earth and Jesus will reign in His kingdom in love and perfect knowledge.

I leave you with my love of the gospel. the love I have for my Lord and Redeemer Jesucristo, and my love for each of you. Be wonderful and keep the smiles on your faces! Christ is Jesus and He is perfect. Don't forget His love for you.

Till next week!

Hermana Castleton

Hermana Cook said this about their Mission Christmas party: "We did have our mission Christmas party and it was CRAZY! I was one of the team captains for all the sports!!! bahaah!!! Funny cause sports is not my thing but it was a BLAST. We enjoyed playing soccer, football, frisbee, basketball, and volleyball and finished up with watching Remember the Titans. This was the first time I have seen this movie and I LOVED IT. Can't wait to watch it in English. haha. We also had a devotional from presidente and Hermana Cook and exchanged gifts...We had such a fun time."

Got some more pix from Hermana Cook's Blog: