August 24, 2015

Hola a todos :)

My memory of this past week is kind of a hazzy fog, partially because I can't remember too many details, and partially because with all the houses using their wood and fuego there is a lot of smoke.  But it's all good, because I just remembered a few details :)

- The members helped us out a lot this week visiting lots of people and sharing the gospel.  It's awesome to see their enthusiasm!

- Our investigator Carolain said "I'd love to!" when we asked her if she would like to be baptized :)  She's super awesome and she's already reading a ton in the Book of Mormón. Woohoo!

- My companion got sick this week while adjusting to the weather.  Pres. Obeso told her "I was waiting for any one of the new missionaries to get sick... all exept a Chilena!" and she responded "But my Chile has sun."  Haha, but she's all better now

- Had an AMAZING Stake Conference, with lots of awesome talks.  I particularly like the ones that talked about the importance of Members and Missionaries working together.  M&Ms are going to be the new favorite candy in our Stake (... get it? M&M... members and missionaries... or miembros y misioneros en español)

- After the Stake Conference session Saturday night we needed a member to help us get back to Frutillar from Puerto Montt because the buses were a little sketchy, so we went with the Stake President and his wife because they live in Frutillar. They stopped so we could all eat a hamburger, and 5 min later Presidente Obeso and Hermana Obeso showed up at the fast food place because Presidente Obeso was hungry.  Wow. that was a lot more explication than I thought it would be, but basically we ate hamburgers with Pres. Obeso, Hna. Obeso, the stake President and his wife.  It was cool.

All in all a pretty good week :)  Love you all tons!  Keep being the best and keep on keeping on

Con amor,

Hermana Coombs

August 17, 2015

Well to start out Hna Barrios is from Viña del Mar Chile, specifically Con-Con, and she's 23 and super excited to be in the mission :)  She got baptized 2 years ago and her testimony is incredible.  Wow. For real.  We're working super hard and learning a ton too :)

This week we talked with lots and lots and lots of people, and found a lady who is awesome!  She listened to missionaries before, but stopped because some people told her we don't believe in Christ.  When we met her we watched "Gracias a que Él Vive" ("Because He Lives" in English.... I think), and it was really powerful.  The spirit filled the room with a peace that I can't really describe, but she felt it and we felt it, and she's really excited to start listening to the missionaries again.

Oh, and this week is the week of companions past, haha.  When I went to the mission home to pick up Hna Barrios Hna Calderas was there to pick up her new companion too, and it was so awesome to see her again :D just as loca as always, haha.  Then later that day all the missionaries who were finishing the mission were meeting up close to the mission home, and I got to see Hermana Bretón again :D it made my heart happy to see them both again

And, a scripture for the week:

John 8:12

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

Love you guys!

Keep on keeping on,

Hermana Coombs

Helping out an abuelito in the street with his sack of wood, haha

August 20, 2015

Ok, this week I finally decided to take notes about what happened in the week so I could fill you in on some of the things that are happening in my life.  I always mean to do it but I usually forget, and then I stress to remember details, and in the end I'm never actually sure what it is that I say to you all, haha.  But it's all good. Ya live and ya learn :)

I'll start out with the sad news..... we found out cambios and Hermana Findlay is headed to Osorno :'(  It's been super fun with her and I'm going to miss her.  I'll be staying in Frutillar, and this is the info I know about my new companion:

- se llama Hermana Barrios

- she's Chilean

- I'm going to be her first companion in the mission

I'm super excited to get to know her :)  It should be a ton of fun!

On top of all that exciting news here are some of the other things that happened this week:

- well this is actually from last week, but we saw a dog EXACTLY THE SAME as professor Lupin in werewolf form.  We got out of there lickity split because no we didn't want to be attacked by a werewolf, not today (or that day for that matter)

- someone told me my accent is a cool mix of central america with spain.  Not sure how that happened, but it's cool I guess

- spent an afternoon in Llanquihue with some other missionaries, spreading the gospel with everyone, woohoo!

- my hair was making me crazy because it was toooooooooooooooooooo long, so one day in the morning Hermana Findlay cut my hair, haha, it was pretty funny :)

- we played fruit ninja for 2 seconds with the apple of hermana Findlay and my umbrella, and I sliced it in two

- we saw lots of miracles during the week, especially yesterday when we had an appointment with a convert.  We needed someone to go with us because he lives alone (for this week only while his wife is in Santiago for work), and we couldn't find anyone who could help us out.  Then, very last min, a member and his wife pulled up in their car when we were looking for a collectivo/taxi and they not only drove us where we needed to go, but joined us for the appointment.  It may not sound like a super big miracle, but to us it was a MIRACLE.  

And this week I also found a quote that I really liked, so I hope you all like it too :)

"Do not expect to become perfect at once. If you do, you will be disappointed. Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you are today." -Lorenzo Snow

Keep working hard and enjoying every day.  If you go a day without laughing it's a day wasted, so laugh, haha.  

Love you all lots!

Stay sweet,

Hermana Coombs

It rained a lot

But we were still happy.

Sometimes I walk around like a rainbow, haha

From when we visited Llanquihue

August 3, 2015

Hola, buena semana a todos!

To start out, this week we ate lunch with the Famila Rojas and I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time :D  They told the story of when their son finished the mission and I was going to tell it, but it wouldn't be funny in email, so you can all just imagine a funny story,
haha.  But now I have new fears that when I finish my mission my flight home will get canceled for snow storms or something like that because Chicago is crazy.  but the good news is I still don't have to worry about that for lots of time :)

Later in the week we had Zone Conference with the missionaries in the Puerto Montt area with President Obeso and his wife, and it was incredible!  Something I really liked was when he talked about our prayers, especially the ones when we ask for help.  In the Book of
Mormon when the Brother of Jared built the boats to cross the oceans, he realized that they didn't have any light, and he got a little melancholy and said, "O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and
behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness? And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I
should do that ye may have light in your vessels?" (Ether 2:22-23). Basically, the Lord knows our problems. He knew the Brother of Jared didn't have light in the boats, but many times we have to exercise our faith to ask specifically for the things we need.  For example if we need help on a test we can ask that we'll be able to remember the things we've studied.  Or if we want to share the gospel with a neighbor we can ask specifically in our prayers that we can have the opportunity to talk with our neighbor.  Don't know if that makes as much sence as it makes in my head, but I hope you get the idea. Specific prayers receive specific answers, and the Lord is always willing to help us.

This week we also had intercambios, and I got to be a missionary in Puerto Montt for a day with Hna Dávila from Argentina.  It was super fun and I learned a ton.  We got to talk with an investigator named Gina, and WOW, she is incredible.  She's had to pass through a lot of
hard things, but she said that she was thinking about everything the sister missionaries had been teaching her since December, and she's decided to read the Book of Mormon to find out if this is all true or not.  The Book of Mormon is really the evidence that everything we
share as missionaries is true, and when we read it for ourselves and not others, we'll find our own testimony.  I'd read the Book of Mormon a lot of times in my life, but it was always for others, not really because I wanted to read it and find out if it was true, but the very
first time I started to read and study it for me, and not for others, it changed my life.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and that this really is the The Church of Jesus Christ on the earth once more. The moment I knew it was true is something I'll never forget, and I
want everyone to be able to feel the happiness I could feel in that moment.  If you don't have your own personal testimony of the Book of Mormon I want to invite you to start reading it for yourself.  The moment will come when you'll receive your answer, and it will be
incredible.

I love you all so much and hope that you all have an awesome week!  Stay sweet!

Con cariño,
Hermana Coombs

Someone told us we were pretty

With some of the missionaries in my group celebrating our one year mark at Zone Conference

Paseo con las hermanas