September 28, 2015

Gloria got baptized!  She radiated happiness :)  She has a huge fear of being submerged in water and said that she was so happy that day that it didn't even bother her.  She's taught me so much about loving the people and serving them without expecting anything in return.  Her happiness is contagious and she'll be able to help lots of people see the joy that comes from this gospel.  And one of the coolest parts is that her brother who lives in Chiloe didn't think he was going to be able to make it to the baptism, but he did everything he had to do lickety-split and caught a 7 hour bus to make it JUST in time for her baptism.  He literally ran to the church with two minutes to spare.  It was an awesome surprise! :D

Other than that it's been a pretty chill week.  It'll be a letter short and sweet this week. We keep working hard, and learning lots. 

If you get the chance you should all watch what's called "General Conference" this weekend. We'll have the chance to listen to the Prophet and the Apostles. Wooohooo!  Take questions in mind and I promise you'll get answers; it's the best!

Keep on keeping on,

Hermana Coombs

September 21, 2015

Hahaha, so our week started out interesting when we had to run to the house of a member for our exercises to get our clean laundry because we literally had 0 clothes for the day and she wasn't going to be home later in the day.  But the good news is that we had our clothes in time :)

As for the earthquake, we didn't feel it at all here in the south, and the family of Hermana Barrios is fine.  Sorry that once again I don't have any cool stories to share.

We had a really fun week full of fiestas for the 18 de septiembre.  In our District meeting we played with an emboque (I'm an expert, ask my companion), and we laughed a lot.

The 18 de septiembre was full of empanadas and happiness because empanadas = happiness :) haha

The 19th we went with our investigador Gloria to an activity in Fresia for the fiestas patrias, and more importantly for her baptismal interview! WOOHOO! Now we've offically scheduled her baptism for the 25th at 6:00, and she is so happy.  We've seen her progress a ton in these past few weeks :)  In the activity I dressed in a vestido de china, a typical dress to dance la cueca, which is a typical dance in Chile. I guess you could say I'm very Chilean now, not counting my blonde hair or my gringa face, but they're only minor details haha :) More empanadas, I learned to use el trompo, and I made a friend with una niña from the branch in Fresia.

And last but not least we found out cambios, and we're both staying here in Frutillar :D

Hope you all enjoy your week!

Stay sweet,

Hermana Coombs

Volcán Osorno from Frutillar

With the district

With the gang in Fresia

With a friend I made in Fresia

In un "vestido de china" so i could dance la cueca, the typical dance of the Chileans for the 18 de Septiembre

Otra foto con mi amigita

Chickens in a tree.  They partied hard this 18 de septiembre

September 14, 2015

Hey guys :) So, to give you a quick run down of the week, I think I love the month of September.  The chileans are all preparing for their independance day the 18th, so almost every house has a flag put up every day, the people are giving us lots of food that is typical here for the 18th.  Basically lots of alfajores, empanadas, and happiness :)  

Our investigator Gloria is really excited to invite her family to her baptism and to keep learning more, but her daughter has been in the hospital in Puerto Montt this week, and Gloria is taking care of her daughter, so we haven’t been able to meet up with her as much as we’ve liked to.  It’s been really hard for her with her daughter in the hospital, but she’s keeping up a positive attitude.

This week the members really raised the bar and helped out a TON with missionary work.  They invited their friends to meet with us, invited investigators to their house for family home evenings, they went with us to visit investigators, less actives, and knocked a few doors with us.  It’s really amazing what can happen with missionary work when the members participate actively. 

Haha, you’ll probably laugh, but in the mornings when I eat breakfast I’m trying to learn some Portugues, so I listen to church movies in Portugues, haha :)  It’s pretty cool, but I think I’ll have to practice a lot more before anything comes of it.

I’m sure other things have happened, but my memory is failing me. Oops. ¿Qué vamos a hacer?

Keep being the best!  Celebrate the 18 de Septiembre :)

Con amor,

Hermana Coombs

Do you think they can see my name tag?

With a baby cow . . . , moooo!

The Zone

Walking the "tracks"

Where I live

September 7, 2015

¿Qué tal familia y amigos?

This week has been a little crazy.  Lots of missionary meetings.  On Tuesday Pres. Obeso and his wife and the Zone Leaders took a trip to our house to inspect how clean it was (it's ok mom, we passed with flying colors, haha) and so we could have interviews with Presidente.  They decided to stop by every house in the mission to make sure we don't die of dust or mold or something like that.  Props to them, because the mission is pretty big.  They've had a few pretty crazy weeks.  Then on Wednesday we had a Zone meeting, and it's always fun to see all the other missionaries. Then on Thursday we had a district meet, and those are always super fun.  Elder Montiel (our district leader) put me in charge of actividades de ánimo for each meeting.  Basically I think of a game that has literaly nothing to do with nothing so we can have 5 min to think about nothing and laugh at ourselves.  Not really sure if that's the real purpose but that's usually what ends up happening, haha :)

We've also started a new program with the Rama to have Family Home Evenings with the members, where they invite a friend or another family of members so that we can all be strengthened spiritually and have a good time.  It's been super fun and the members have reacted really well to the idea :)

We keep working hard and we're seeing some people who really want to learn more and progress, so that's pretty cool.  Other than that things are pretty much the same here.  Living the mission life :)  Oh! But we did have a whole week without rain. THAT was cool :)

As for some words of inspiration, "Don't worry, be happy."

Con cariño,

Hermana Coombs

August 31, 2015

Oops, I ran out of time, but here are a few things that happened this week:

- it rained.... a lot :)

- Had intercambios with Hna Oross.  She is the bee's knees

- We work hard and play hard.

The mission is the best and I love you all tons!

Que estén bien!

Stay sweet,

Hermana Coombs