Annamarie’s hand-written letter:
Good Morning Family!
It’s 6:30 a.m. and I got up to use the bathroom and now I can’t go back to sleep. So I thought I’d take advantage of this extra half-an-hour, before we gotta exercise, and write you folks yet another hand-written email!
It’s really dark in the mornings now. I can see the moon. . . well, you can always see the moon, but it looks like the fall season finally crept its way around the corner. Supposedly, fall lasts about 2 days here and then comes the 7-month rain storm =). I remember when it was dark in the mornings here back in October, then ever so swiftly the sun came out more and more and MORE until it was up at 5:45 ish and down at 10:15! I’ve lived in Francke for quite some time. Enough time to experience nearly all 4 seasons! =)
Yesterday, Hermana Gardner and I realized that summer really is on its way out, and that she arrived right in its blooming. That’s a pretty neat way to start your mission in Chile Osorno. It’s ideal!
This time with Hermana Gardner has been so ideal. We still can’t believe it. Yesterday we were remembering experiences tras experiences and work tras work and after a while we both looked at each other a little worriedly and thought “What’s the catch?” We feel like there must be something huge like a Twilight Zone twist that puts the entire story in a shock.
We concluded that really Hermana Gardner and I are just the figments of imagination of our real missionary selves, suffering in the pouring rain with no success or enthusiasm, just day-dreaming of what they wished could be their mission. Imagine that! We are day-dreamed missionaries!
These 3 months haven’t exactly been easy, but they would classify to be what I would call missionary bliss. We got along extremely well, we worked extremely hard, and we tood advantage of every moment to enjoy plain old refreshing PREACHING THE GOSPEL!
Well, I could go on forever. . . this is why I wanted to write so that I could save time in my limited time because there is just too much that happens in a day, how could I possibly give a sum-up of a WEEK!
. . .So I guess to get started telling you about my week:
I’ll start with Monday. And rewind a bit to Sunday. . .we visited Jose and he still was mas o menos with his decision to be baptized. Long story short, we tried calling him on Monday, but he wasn’t answering. Then our neighbor, and Relief Society President, Sandra, stopped by his house in the afternoon to invite him to their house for family night. She let him know we had tried calling him earlier in the day. He said, “Oh I was in centro buying some “ropita” (clothes)” and Hna. Sandra said he put on a huge smile as if he were a little boy and said, “Shall I show you?” The next thing she knew he walked into the room wearing ALL WHITE spinning (ever so slowly) and saying, “Que tal?” (How is it?) He had gone to the market to buy his own baptismal clothes! Unfortunately. . .the only pants he could find were long john thermal underwear. . .haha so the bishop made a friendly visit and gently offered to lend him some pants for the service.
All in all, his spontaneous shopping trip got him super enthused and more certain in his decision to be baptized. He passed the maximum in the Noche de Hogar (family night) with Hermana Sandra and her family. She said he brought an entire cake.
Continued from the cyber cafe:
Ah! Hola familia! I am here! And this computer is a little terrible. I have to bend down to type in the keyboard because the drawer thing isn't really working and is caved in... and just my luck. I get stuck with this thing. Well, enough with the batter. I will try to write this out.
I'll just have to limit my words and thoughts and amazement of the Goodness of God to a minimum because it is taking forever to type....
Okay so I am sending a foto of the beginning of my handwritten email--what I was able to write in half an hour. Then we exercised and studied and now we are here.
So to continue on with my letter:
On Sunday, Victor came to church and was very happy and content. Then later that evening we had a lesson with him in the church. And he was absolutely and entirely deflated of whatsoever enthusiasm or desires to learn, to participate....and to be baptized. While he was at church someone had entered his window and robbed his wallet that had over 400 dollars inside, and it wasn't exactly his money either. He works in a charity and half of that money was donated. He was devastated because his activity he was in charge of is next week and he didn't know what to do. We told him to trust in the Lord and his purposes. At the end of the lesson, he informed us that he doesn't feel like he should be baptized for another year or so because he needs to be sure that it is all true. He said he wants to be baptized not to be baptized, but to keep going. So he wants to be sure. We told him that knowing isn't so much a thing of time as it is a thing of faith to know. That all he had to do is kneel and pray with sincerity of heart to know, and trust that he would receive an answer. He said very unenthused, ''Yeah...alright.'' It was such a drastic change in him... We were worried, but we knew we did our part. On Monday, Victor called us and said he wasn't going to go to the family night because he had a terrible accident with his back while searching for his wallet in every knook and cranny and had been stuck in bed all day...and he didn't find his wallet. I mean, HE WAS PLAIN MISERABLE.
Later, when we got home, Hermana Gardner realized she had been robbed about 200 bucks, because just that day in centro we had taken out our money for the month and she had taken out personal money. It was a bummer and we felt pretty bad. But anyway that's another story.
On Tuesday, we wanted to find Victor because the interviews were going to be on Thursday, but we needed to know if he was going to baptized, and he wasn't answering his phone. So like any missionary, we were worried. Well, we stopped by the tiny cyber to enter in some referrrals and POP! There was Victor!
He told us he needed to talk to us. So he did :)
To make an incredible story more normal, he said that that morning around 3 am he was sick of being in pain and confusion. He hadn't slept for two days and all he did was lay there on his bed. So he decided to finally do something about it. He got up, went outside and knelt down in front of his trees ''like José Shcmidt'' and said a prayer for Heavenly Father to help him know and recognize an answer to know that what we had taught him was true and if he should be baptized on Saturday. He said after the prayer he opened his eyes, saw the trees and got scared because he didn't want anything big to happen, like what happened to Joseph Smith. So he skidaddled inside....hahahaha Oh, Victor.
Anyway, he said that when he went inside, he got the impression to recheck his bed for his wallet. So he did. But to his dismay, there was nothing. So he sat down to try to recognize an answer to his prayer. But all that entered into his mind again was ''recheck your bed.'' So he did! ....and yet again there was nothing. He said he got a little bummed out and decided to just try to sleep and not think so much. Then he said all he remembers is having a dream of someone knocking on the door and him sitting up in his bed, but not answering because he was freaked out that someone was at his door so early in the morning, so he laid back down. That's all that he remembered. And then. . .
He woke up, it was normal morning. The first thing he remembered was his prayer he said. Then the first thing that happened was he moved his hand. AND THEN, there, in his hand lay his wallet. He told us that he knew he was prompted to check his bed twice because his normal more doubtful self might have excused this miracle to be a coincidence. He knew, and testified to us that Heavenly Father answered his prayer and that everything we had taught him was true. And there in his heart, he recieved his answer.
There was so much joy when we heard that. This measley typed up story doesn't do the way he told us justice. But the best line of it all was what followed right after, ''Así que, hermanas, vayan a calentar el agua, en sábado, me bautizo.'' (So, sisters, go warm up the water, Saturday, I'm getting baptized.)
And the great circle of life just so happened to put us there in that cyber in that moment where it all began. We invited him to an English class and he came. Hermana Gardner and I started this class to find people. And well, we found Victor.
He and Jose were baptized this Saturday. It was so special.
There is so much more to tell you. But here is when the clock ticked too fast and I must end.
I know I am leaving Francke. It's been the greatest time of my life. I treasure this ward more than I even know. It's difficult to describe my feelings, so I won't.
But I will say, I never felt more calm in my life, a pesar que los lideres no nos van a decir los cambios until tomorrow! (even though the leaders aren't going to tell the transfers until tomorrow.) So we know something is happening. I guess you'll all find out next week!
I love you all!
Pictures:
What a happy day
The picture of them walking above was so awesome. Jose was so giddy and said, ''Me voy en avión!'' (I'm flying in a plane!") After his baptism he said "I feel so light! ...but it seems like the water may have been a little to hott because I leave a little balded." hahaha he has a good sense of humor
Someone got a candid shot of when I dropped Victor's camera.... yeah the picture explains it all. The lens went super chueco and it looked pretty bad. Victor was patient and loving...thank goodness. hahaha
AND we all said a billion prayers in our hearts and I smacked the lens sideways and bAM! WEehee it fixed.
This is him in his suit that he saved especially for his confirmation. And that tie is from California he was pretty thrilled about all that!
Hermana Olson
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