WEEK 15 - BAPTISM!!!!

¡HOLA!

This week was so great! Especially yesterday. Hermana Lopez and I had a baptism! It was my first, and seriously one of the most amazing experiences in the world! I wish I could describe the feeling, but there aren´t even words.

Flor was baptized, and her whole famiy came. It was amazing to see how many people were there to support her. None of them are members... YET! (; hahaha. But it really was so neat to see someone make the decsion to come unto Christ. When I saw her be baptized, I wished that I could be baptized again, but then I remember that we have that opportunity every Sunday when we partake of the sacrament (: What a blessing it is!

Also, I had the chance to talk to my beautiful mama, and I feel so blessed to have such an amazing and supportive family. The Lord is really watching over me (:

This week we were knocking on doors trying to find new investigators and a man answered the door. I started to talk to Him in Spanish, then after I introduced us and told him that we have a message about Christ, He looked at me and said, I dont speak English, so I cant talk to you. Then I started laughing because I totally was talking to him in Spanish! What a punk. I need to work on my spanish pronounciation for sure. But still!

Also, we are still meeting with our investigator Alejandra who found us. She and her boyfriend are both listening to our message, and BOTH want to be baptized! They just need to get married first. haha. So we are working really hard with them! And they have the sweetest baby ever!

I love my area, and I hope that I stay here forever. I am finally comfortable, which means next change I am probably changing areas. hahaha.

Oh how I love you all and I am so thankful for your examples.

Love, Hermana Watt

Pictures

Hermana Watt, Flor, Hermana Lopez

Flor

Kam loves kids and they love her!

Talking on Skype

The missionaries are allowed to Skype their families on Mother's day and Christmas!  We got to talk to Kamryn and see her too!  She looks so happy and sounds so excited about her mission.  She told us about her daily schedule.  They get up at 7:00 a.m. and exercise, eat breakfast, individual scripture study and then she studies with her companion for two hours a day and then they are ready for the day!  If only I was that  disciplined!

She told us about the poverty of the people and the area she is serving in.  She said she loved the people so much.  

She spoke to us in Spanish and you can tell she is getting comfortable in the language.  She said the people speak so fast there.  As a matter of fact, Chile has the fastest Spanish speaking people!  She said she speaks Spanish with an American accent!  She also bore her testimony in Spanish.  

She spoke about the fire clean-up and how devastating it was.  She said it was very sad and humbling picking up bits and pieces of the people's homes and belongings.  She said the fire was a very scary thing for her because she could see flames all over the place and she told us about their first baptism, Flor.  

It was so great to see her happy, smiling face and to know she is happy in her service to the Lord and the people of Chile.

Kam on Skype on Mother's day

WEEK 14 - HOLA!

Not much has happened this week, and it has been a tough one, so I dont want to write much, but I do want to bear my testimony. 

I know that my Savior lives. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who never wants us to give up. This life is really hard. We face many challenges, and sometimes I know we feel like it would just be easier to quit. But dont EVER quit. Keep moving forward. Keep living. And by living I mean BE HAPPY. Find happiness in the blessings we have through our trials. Be grateful for the opportunity to have opposition so you can grow. I know I wouldnt be half the person I am today without my trials. And I wouldnt be able to progress if it werent for my Savior. Whenever I feel like I cant do something, I remember the sacrifice of my Savior. If he can do that for me, I can do anything with His help. How blessed we are to be alive and to have this experience. How blessed we are to have a loving brother, our Savior, suffer for us not only so we could return to live with our Father in Heaven again, but also so we would know that we have someone who knows EXACTLY what we are going through. I love my Savior, and I have such a strong testimony of this gospel, and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to bring souls unto Christ.

I love you all.

Love, Hermana Watt

PICTURES!!

Is this little girl saying "I love you" ?

Making funny faces!

Hermana Watt and Hermana Lopez

She is all set to be a missionary!  She has her Book of Mormon and her name tag.  (If she can pass for Sister Watt that is!)

WEEK 13

Happy to be Serving

Time is going by wayyyy to fast here! I cannot believe that it is almost May already. I am so blessed, because I am staying in my area for another month and a half with hermana Lopez, and I am so happy because we have so many amazing investigators! (: This work is a huge blessing.

We have our first baptism on Mothers Day and I am beyond words excited! It is for a woman named Flor. We had a date set for her in April, but she called us a few days before and changed her mind. It was super hard, but now she really wants too. It was neat to see the spirit work, because this last lesson we had with her, we invited her to be baptized, and she said no. We asked her why, and she told us she doesnt want to pay tithing, because she barely has enough money to get by. Normally I would have left that to Hermana Lopez, because she is awesome, and actually knows spanish, but then, Hermana gave me the Its your turn! Look. I was thankful that in that moment I had always been a full tithe payer. I bore my testimony on the amazing blessings I had recieved from paying my tithing, and as I did, I started to see the spirit work in both of us. The Lord gave me the words, and She felt in her heart the importance of tithing. After I bore my testimony, it was quiet. Then she walked over to her calendar, and said, Mothers day is the day I want to be baptized. It has been one of my most happy moments here!!!

Last monday, we had the chance to explore some beautiful places in Valparaiso with a couple in our ward. It is beautiful here, and I feel blessed to be in such a beautiful area with such amazing people!

Until next week my friends!

Love you all, Hermana Watt

Exploring Valparaiso with Members

WEEK 12 - FIRE CLEAN-UP

FIRE CLEAN-UP

Hello everyone!

This week was very eventful! 

Lots of disasters require lots of service, lucky for us missionaries, because we love to help! We had the opportunity to go help clean up some of the remains of the fire, and it was the most humbling experience. These people already have nothing to start with, then to go see that everything that they did have was gone, broke my heart. But the faith that these people have is amazing. It was a priviledge to be able to help them! I love this church, because whenever something like this happens, we are the first to help, and we come with many hands! It was amazing how many people showed up to help these people. 

We had the neatest experience this week, and honestly, it was a huge answer to our prayers. Hermana Lopez and I have many investigators, but the problem is they dont come to church. We have been doing everything we can to try and help them progress, but they just arent. It is the hardest thing. So at one point this week, I just wanted to give up. I felt like I was failing the people. So I decided to pray. I asked Heavenly Father to help me find purpose for being here. I asked Him to help us find someone who was ready, and needed our help. Literally 5 minutes later, a girl came up to us and said, Please come teach me. I have been praying for help, and I felt like I should talk to you. Please come teach me what you know." That never happens. Really. It was a huge answer to my prayer. She is 19 and has a baby. She doesnt talk to her family, because they dont agree with the fact that she has a baby at this age. She had been searching for a way to raise her daughter in light and truth, and she found us.

The mission is amazing! Also, I got some things to celebrate Easter here with Hermana Lopez! She loved it. She has no idea what it is, but it was fun to share the experience with her! 

This week was amazing, and the mission is so rewarding. 

Thank you for all of your love and support!!!

Love, Hermana Watt

MISSION PICS

Hermana Lopez and Hermana Watt paint a door for a ward member

FIRE CLEAN-UP

EASTER 

Beautiful Easter Baskets!

The hearts on the door were for their Mission Mom....not sure what that is.

WEEK 11 - FIRE IN CHILE

FIRE IN VALPARAISO!

I don´t think I have ever been more scared in my life then I have been the past few weeks! A lot has been happening here in Chile. Many houses have burned down in that fire, and they are sending missionaries in to help the victims, and do some service in the safer areas. It is so hard for the people here. Many people we know have family members that lost EVERYTHING in that fire, and it breaks my heart. I ask for your prayers for the people of Chile. They have really been suffering.

I am grateful that we have been safe so far! The Lord has really blessed Hermana Lopez and I. They had to move some other missionaries, but we are all safe (:

I am finally starting to understand the people here. It is hard at first because they speak so fast, but I am getting used to it. I just need to learn to respond! haha. It is coming with time (: And I am lucky to have a companion to help me! She is so great. 

We have a really amazing investigator. His name is Manuel. He is about 50 and he LOVES the gospel. He is amazing, and he always loves having us at his home. He doesn´t have very much, but he always is giving, giving, giving. He is such an amazing example to me! He also speaks really slow for me, which is perfect. We taught him about tithing, and he kept asking us when he could pay it because he wants to help all the people in the church, and he wants to help build the temples because they are beautiful! I loved his attitude, and it inspired me to have a better attitude about tithing.

I encourage you all to read D&C 58:2-4. It talks about how we can recieve blessings when we keep the commandments.

I love you all, and am mindful of each one of you! Thank you for helping me become the missionary I am today!

Love, Hermana Watt

Kamryn's plaque on the wall at Church

Hermana Watt & Hermana Lopez

FIRE IN VALPARAISO

Her Investigator and District

WEEK 10

NOT TO WORRY.....ALL IS WELL!!

So for starters, all is well here in Chile. At least where I am in Chile. It was a scary time for sure, considering the fact I had no idea what the problem was because everyone here talks so fast, and when there is a possible emergency, they talk even faster! So, when all I heard was tsunami, I almost peed my pants, but thank goodness it didn´t touch here. We have a had a few earthquakes, but nothing crazy. So, all is well and we are working harder than ever.

So this week was April Fools day, and unfortunately, they don´t celebrate that holdiay here or in Peru. So when I would play a joke on my companion and then say April Fools! It didn´t really work. I never thought I would miss it, but I do!

Also, there is this man in our neighborhood who somehow manages to find me every couple of days. He comes up to me and always asks me for money, because I am North American. But what this fella doesn´t understand is that missionaries aren´t rich at all. hahaha. Broke as a joke.

The best part of this week was genereal conference. For some reason, General Conference is like 10 million times better as a missionary. It is like Christmas here. We LOVE it. One of my favorites (They all were my favorite) was the talk by Jeffrey R. Holland. I love it because as missionaries, and even as members, we are rejected every single day, whether personally, or just in general. It is really hard, but I love how he said that it is worth it. This is ALL worth it.

We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives. I see people every single day who don´t see what they are missing, and they won´t allow themselves the opportunity to have true happiness. It is sad. But one thing we can do, for those of us who have it in our lives is to embrace it. Make the gospel a way of life, not just something that you do in your life. The gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the only true church on this earth, and through the Savior is the ONLY way we can return and recieve all the great and many blessings we have been promised if we do so. We are chosen! We are SO blessed to have the truth. There are MANY who don´t have this blessing and opportunity. Take advantage. Seriously. Don´t live the gospel half way. Don´t let yourself down. Don´t let the Lord and Savior who suffered more than any of us will EVER comprehend FOR US down. He did this for US. Why? Because He love us. Do you love Him? Then do what is right with no excuses. It is simple, yet we complicate it. Don´t give yourself up to the adversary so easily. Find strength in the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. That is what it is here for.

 I love you all!

Hermana Watt

PICTURES FROM OUR ZONE CONFERENCE

Kam and her companion

Her Zone

Kam and her companion studying

Kam and other missionaries

Kam an her companion and a gentleman

I think she loves the food!

MISSION, WEEK 9

Cold is Gone......

What was that about your leg?

So one thing I have realized is that the mission brings about many great experiences. And with that, a lot of very humorous ones as well.

The other day we had some missionaries from a different church knock on our door. They don´t prepare you for situations like that in the MTC! haha. I made Hermana Lopez talk to them because one, I dont know spanish, and two, because I can´t ever say no. Knowing me, I probably would have agreed to attend some church meeting just because I would have felt bad to say no!!! haha. 

I am finally over my cold, thank goodness. But yesterday clumsy me tripped down a flight of stairs and banged up my leg pretty dang good! It is a pretty nice battle wound. Satan hates me. haha. 

There are SO many stray dogs here. It might be safe to say there are more dogs than people. We were trying to contact a less active member at one of the really scary areas, and all of the sudden this dog comes out of nowhere and starts growling and chasing us. Needless to say we ended up not contacting that person. Maybe in the future!

We had family home evening as a ward, and it was amazing. I am so blessed to be part of such an amazing ward, who loves me even when I can only comunicate a little with them. They are so loving!

I have such a strong testimony of the power of prayer. This week we met with a woman who was very depressed. For those of you who dont know, I want to go into social work, and so talking to these people and helping these people is what I love. I really wanted to help her. I could understand her, I just couldnt find the words I wanted to say to help her. I said a little prayer in my heart and asked Heavenly Father to help me reach out to her. In that moment, I started to speak, and she stopped me to tell me that she understands english. She cant speak it, but she understands all of it. So she asked if I would talk to her in English. What are the chances? The Lord really blessed me, and I was able to help her, and help her know that she has a loving Father in Heaven, who was aware of her, and a Savior, who knows exactly what she is going through. It was a powerful moment, and I know that prayer works, and it is SO powerful.

I am grateful for this opportunity. The church is true!!!

Love, Hermana Watt

This Week's Mission Pictures!!!!

Sister Lopez and Sister Watt and some boy missionaries

Someone in the Ward or investigator?

Is this a stray dog?  They have lots of them in Chile!  I think Kamryn is trying to tell him that she is a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

Beautiful Scenery

Hermana Watt and cute little girl

Must be P-Day!

Kamryn and her companion

Out tracting!