WEEK 21: Built on the Rock of our Redeemer

¡Hola!

One thing I have realized is that if any country is bipolar, its Chile because one day it feels like summer, and than the next day I feel like a pioneer crossing the windy and ferocious plains. I may or may not sleep with 7 blankets. But the good news is that I am still by the ocean, and the view is priceless.

Time is FLYING by here. Next month will be my 6 month mark, and it doesnt even seem real! I love my area, and I never want to leave. Especially because right now we have REALLY good investigators, and they are finally progressing. It is a huge blessing to see people really accept the Savior in their lives. As missionaries we get to see a mighty change in people, and it is something that is indescribeable. One thing I have learned is that ANYONE can change with the help of the Savior if they are submissive, and willing.

One blessing out of the many we had this week was that one of our investigators, Jaime, finally came to church. Jaime is in his early 50s and has a daughter that is 17. He lives alone with her, and had been searching for direction in his life. He didnt like mormons at all, but when we contacted him, he later told us he felt something different about us. We have been teaching him for 2 months or so, and he was progressing in every way and wanted to be baptized but REFUSED to come to church. And if they dont come, they cant be baptized. It was really frustrating. But this week we prayed our hearts out for him, and had a lesson with him, and when we invited him to come to church, he said YES! And yesterday he really went!!! This helped me learn that really sometimes all we need is faith, and if it is the Lords will, He will bless us. He really blessed Hermana Lopez and I with the ability to help Jaime progress.

I love this work, and I am so happy I chose to serve a mission. It is something that has changed my life, and because of this great opportunity that the Lord has given me, I hope to bring as many souls as possible to Him!

I love you all.

Cuidese mucho!

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." - Helaman 

5:12

PICTURES

Hermana Lopez and Hermana Watt

Ximena practicing her selfies (;

Kamryn still manages to look beautiful even when making funny faces!

My first Chilean hoarding experience!

WEEK 20 - COME AS YOU ARE

THIS WEEK'S LETTER

This week we had the opportunity to get together as a whole mission and listen to the words of one of the members of the presidency of the seventy, Elder Lynn Robbins. It was AMAZING, and one of the most inspiring messages I have ever heard. He talked a lot about missions, and how we dont need to be perfect to be good missionaries, we just need to do our BEST. The Lord makes up for the rest.

I also got the chance to see ALL of my old friends from the MTC and also my old companion Hermana Evans! It was so neat to see how much everyone is LOVING the mission. I love them all and I feel so happy to be here with all these missionaries learing and growing, and bringing people unto Christ.

This week Hermana Lopez and I focused on trying to find new investigators. We have REALLY good ones, but right now they all are at the point where the only thing we can hope for is that eventually they use their agency to do the right thing, and take a leap of faith. We had the chance to help and teach 3 new people this week and even though some of them didnt accept the gospel, it was a chance for us to share what we know. It really helped me strengthen my testimony, and remember why I am here. I saw the hand of the Lord a lot this week and I learned that He doesnt necessarily give us the things we want, but He DOES give us the experiences we NEED.

I have learned that the Lord and Savior knows ALL of our afflictions and is ready to run to us in our time of need.

Revelations 7:17 - Because Jesus gave us His ALL, He can comfort us in ALL our sorrows and wipe away ALL our tears - Brad Wilcox

Alma 9:26

"The Saviors message is no just "come unto me" but "come as you are". He doesnt say "get your act together and then come back when you fit the mold". He says in essence "Lets start right where you are and go from there". Christ is not waiting for us to be perfect. Perfect people dont need a Savior. He came to save His perfect people in their imperfections"

Con amor, 

Hermana Watt

A LITTLE EXCITEMENT THIS WEEK!

I have been struggling a bit this week because the other day two men robbed the woman in front of us, and it was TERRIFYING. We ran and I don't think I have ever been more scared in my life. 

PICTURES

MEETING WITH GENERAL AUTHORITY

The The girl in this picture is Hayley Hansen.  She is from Washington. They met on a missionary fb page after they both received their calls.  They met each other face to face in the airport on the way to Chile but haven't seen each other since they left the mtc.  They got to see each other again at the meeting with the General Authority last week.  

Kam also got to see her MTC companion, Hermana Evans.  You know how attached Kam gets to everyone she meets...just like her Nana.  

WEEK 19 - FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST

This week is living proof that Satan hates missionaries, and especially Hermana Lopez and I. (;

This week was hard, but I learned SO much. I learned to really trust in the Lord, because He always has a plan, even when it doesnt seem like it.

This week started with an interview of one of our investigators, Fresia. She is in her 70s and she had an accident earlier in her life which makes her forget a lot of things. She is SO receptive, and wants to be baptized, but she can never remember Joseph Smith, or why it is important to be baptized in THIS church. This makes it REALLY hard for her to pass an interview, because these things are crucial for a person to know and have a testimony of. We finally got her to the point where she could remember enough, and so we felt that she was ready to be interviewed. We waited in anticipation only to find out that she forgot everything... and this isnt the first interview she didnt pass. It was so hard for Hermana Lopez and I, because we kept feelin like it was our fault. After she left, we knelt in prayer asking Heavenly Father to help us know how to help her. As we were praying I felt SO much peace and love for Fresia. I knew that she would be ready, just not right now. It was humbling because it is the Lords will, not ours.

Also, this week it POURED rain. And when I say pour, I mean pour. Like there were lakes of water in the streets, and we couldnt go see some of our investigators, and many of our appointments fell through, so we spent a lot of time contacting and no one was receptive. But in these moments I remembered that our Savior suffered much worse for people who wouldnt recieve Him either. In these moments I remembered that there was one person who knew EXACTLY how we felt because He knows what it is like to be standing in the pouring rain recieving rejection after rejection. And because He suffered that for me, I was grateful to be able to do that for Him.

But because we have a loving Heavenly Father, when the storm gets rough, He is there to calm it. ALWAYS. We just need to rely on Him, and recognize that He wants us to rely on Him. We are His joy. And when we are happy, and keeping the commandments, He is happy. When we have trials, he knows we are strong enought to use them as a way to grow. That is why faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is and always will be the first principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love you all, and I invite you all to recognize the miracles in your life!

D&C 121: 7-9

CUIDESE MUCHO!!!

Love, Hermana Watt

Pictures

(Picture: Me and Hermana Lopez with the daughter (Josefa) of our investigator Alejandra)

Look at the email I got from a member in Kamryn's ward that she is serving in!  Makes me happy!

Hello dear sister Watt, my name is Claudia and hermana Watt, asked us to send you some photos of her and her companion hermana Lopez, are the rainy day ... greetings and thanks for having such a special and strong daughter in the gospel ... 

Greetings Family Dinmarca Castro ...

Pictures above were taken and sent to me by a member in Kam's ward.  

Kam and Hermana Lopez by the new church bill boards.

  Kam and her broken umbrella outside an apartment building

WEEK 18 - VIVE CHILE!!!!!!

Este semana fue marvaillosa!!!!

This week was amazing!

Every week is great here in the mission. (:

This week we had a ward activity scavenger hunt. It was so much fun and so hard! Especially in Spanish, but I will say, that I am learning spanish a LOT faster now. I can finally communicate more with the members and my investigators. It is a HUGE blessing from the Lord, and I KNOW that the gift of tounges is real. I just needed to be more patient. Anyway... They tied our legs together, and we had to hop around the chapel and find the treasure using clues. It was perfect for the kids in the ward. Also the elders we serve with had an investigators there, and they are AMAZING. We know them really well because they ALWAYS come to church. Gloria is in her sixties and her grandson Martín (marteen) is seventeen. Martín will be baptized this coming Sunday. (: We are so happy for the Elders. Our ward is growing! We are so excited.

Also, I dont know if any of you have seen what the church is doing with their missionaries to get more people intersted in the church. We have stands now that have questions on them, and people come up and ask us how they can recievce the answer and we give them a card with the iphone scanner thing the the mormon.org webpage. It is WAY neat! So we have been doing that and I really love it. The church is awesome. We had one girl who came up to us, we talked to her for a bit, and then asked her for her phone number so we could visit her, and she said, yeah its 22232425. Me being the naive person that I am totally started writing it down, not realizing that that number doesnt exist here, and that OBVIOSLY the chances of those numbers in that order being a real number were slim. I have no idea what I would do without Hermana Lopez! haha.

Also, this week I am done training, so now I am a real missionary! haha. It is scary, but super awesome. We have transfers this week, and I am excited to see what happens! I will be fine either way, but I have a feeling I am staying in this area, because the missionaries in this area usually stay for a few transfers. So we shall see!

This week I was really focusing on how to make my prayers better. More meaningful, more special and more personal. Prayer is SO important. It is how we communicate with our Heavenly Father. It is our only means of communication with Him in this life, and I know that if  we pray with faith and humble ourselves before the Lord, He WILL answer our prayers. I know because I have seen the power of prayer work miracles in my life.

I love you all!!!

Cuidese mucho!

Love, Hermana Watt

This Week's Pictures

 Kamryn and investigator, Fresia

Fellow Missionaries

Note from Amber:  In my chat with Kam today she told me about this 19 year old girl with a baby who didn't have a coat.  Kam gave the girl her coat.  I put money in Kam's account so that she could go get a new one.  Kam acted like it was no biggie but I know that Kam loved that grey coat.  Anyway, the last pic is Kam with the girl and the girl is wearing the grey coat.  :)

Missionaries in her district 

Mickey in Chile!

Hermana Lopez and Hermana Watt