It's the final count down.....

The horrible reason why that song is stuck in my head is thanks to our Zone Leaders. They gave me a wonderful good morning call singing that 80's song for me. 

I really do not know how I feel. I could only sleep maybe 3 hours on Saturday night. I thought I had gotten over tearing up giving my testimony having to testify in the mission by the hour but on Sunday when I shared it and looked out over their faces I couldn't even complete the first sentence saying that it was my last Sunday in Chile with out having a hard time getting it out. 

I have been studying the Bible a lot lately and Christ's life. And I feel that there are a few verses that do a good job explaining how I feel. A pray that I have done a good work for God. A hope that I did all He sent me to do. That I found all my friends that I committed to find in the pre-existence. Maybe not all in all.....but all in Chile. And that they will always be watched over. 

John 17

 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: 

I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own selfwith the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

 9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

 10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition;

 that the scripture might be fulfilled.

 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, 

 but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Wonderful news.....Collao will have 2 baptisms in the next few weeks :) Which leaves so much peace in my heart knowing that my comps are left with lots of good work going for them here. 

Bueno......I love being Hermana Lance and with so much pride I get to say bye as her one last time.

With lots of love,

Hermana Lance

Going back to my first streets

I got a phone call from President on Saturday. He informed me that he and his wife had been invited to go to a big fireside of return missionaries. Supposedly it was because they were all kind of lazy return missionaries and they were not completing their responsibilities they have as returned missionaries. President and his wife were invited to go speak and they wanted me to join them. He wanted me to share experiences of the success of the work I have seen from the help of the members. It was something more motivational than anything. But I did not know it was going to be in my first ward in Lirquen until they came and picked me up on Sunday. I got to spend my 2nd to last Sunday in Chile where I had my first. It was awesome!!! I always told them at times I wished I could have gone there to serve when I had more experience with Spanish to be able to really express my love for each one of them. It was a bit overwhelming to have them all remember my name and to hug them. It is a different hug when you hug someone you never thought you would hug again in this life time. And then as I was sitting up on the stand it was overwhelming to remember all of their lives....their hardships, moments when they cried, some were fatter others skinnier, others had become parents. But what I loved the most was being able to remind them of the heroes they were in their missions and really invited them to live worthy of this title. 

I also got to see a family I taught. But now they are all members. I remembered so clearly every lessons we had together when I saw them. The husband is who we taught. Of course I was not there for his baptism. It was much after actually but it was still a joy to see them both there in the church happy with their little baby. His wife was a less active. He broke down in tears when we shook hands. I had already sent them a card with my home email hoping to stay in contact and they thought I already was home. I do not know what I did to enjoy that surprise but the thanks is constantly being given in my prayers for it. 

But this fireside really got me thinking. 

The mission really lacks couple missionaries. Like REALLY lacks couple missionaries. They are a huge influence but they are very few. To be real, serving a couples mission should be treated just as mandatory as the others, that is,if the situation permits it. It is a goal of mine just as serving a full time personal mission was. Elders specifically have treated this goal with such care. Even to where they will not let anything get in their way of completing it. Nothing distracting, no excuses, living a life so when the time comes you are ready. The task never ends :) 

A Vision In White

This weekend was pretty awesome! We had a ton of baptisms on Saturday. The services was beautiful but something happened that no one expected but that we all should have expected. I do not know how we thought that we were not going to face any problems in the baptism, baptizing so many. 

We had the baptism font all filled almost up to the tip top perfect. We started with all of the talks, prayer, and songs and then when we went to do the baptisms - there was nothing.......no water.....it was all gone. No one understood. Everything was double checked too just so something like that wouldnt happen. But it did. 

The font usually takes up to 2 and a half hours to fill up......so there we were with a bunch of people waiting to be baptized and their families waiting to see them be baptized......

You would never have guessed what we did next. We got a hold of a fire hose and blasted the font with water from the fire hose.......haha it was so stinkin funny. 

But instead of waiting 2 and a half hours more we only had to wait about 30 minutes.....everyone was pretty chill though. Our Mission Leader is awesome and was saying stuff like dont count the victory until they are in the water!!! It was a trial, but we should have known that Satan was going to throw something at us. 

It was pretty cool because Gerald the convert who was baptized just in October was a witness for the baptism :) 

I love Collao. We are going to be in a trio with another Gringa now. Her name is Hermana Godown. It will be my second trio but I am excited for more hands in Collao. It looks like we are going to be doing lots of divisions. Oh and there was another investigator in church with a baptism date. She has been coming to church for a good while and will be for sure getting baptized the 26th of Dec. 

It was a bit painful inviting people to be baptized this week for dates that I wont be there. Just kind of like a knot in the throat. But I am just as happy to leave a bunch a seeds for those who follow. The harvest is ready!

There will be lots of White on Saturday!

Cristhofer is doing awesome! He dropped his girlfriend that he had had for 4 years and coffee in the same night. He even gave her his coffee to as a goodbye gift. She was not helping him keep the commandments and he prayed about it, and gave her the boot. It was pretty dang dramatic though. I got a few nasty phone calls from her. But we just ended it inviting her to church.

He understands the Book of Mormon so well! It is insane. The first part of our lessons, he teaches us  what
he learned in the Book of Mormon and then the 2nd half we teach a new principle. He always tells us how we have to endure to the end. And he studies the missionary hand book! He is always checking on us to make sure we are keeping the rules. He wants to go on a mission. And he is always making Mormon jokes as he learns the church language. It sounds so easy, but it was a painful change for him. He says he can not deny it after all of the signs he has had that it is true. He says he does not want to end up like Laman and Lemuel.  He told us that the best thing we could have taught him was the influence of the spirit and who is his real foundation, Christ. That is what has really helped him to make it through his trials. Oh and on top of everything…..he quit his job. His boss was using some bad language and he said he was not going to put up with it. 

Sorry that is my slobby update for this
week. We traveled with a family to Chillan which is way far from our sector so there was kind of a time crunch.


Love,
Hermana Lance

6 Souls in Church!!!

(This post took place the week before the previous post!!!!)  

We had 6 investigators in church on Sunday with baptism dates programmed! Not only that but Chile finally is off of strike and is marring people! They started today! :) Mariela and Luis will get married on the 12th and we are invited :) They have to wait however to be baptized on the 28th because this weekend is stake conference and then the next weekend our ward has a trip to the temple. The same thing happened with Claudio's baptism but they are both all very committed to get to the 28th :) 

Okay before I get to the other investigators I have to brag about Geraldcito the convert from Hermana Parkin and I. HE IS GOING TO THE TEMPLE. He had beaten us to it. We were having a lesson in the church Friday night and a member from the Bishopric came in and started giving him more details about the trip and we were so surprised and happy and he told us he was the first one to sign his name up on the list to go. 

Okay so the other 3 investigators that came to church are:

Andrea: 18 years old single mom

Cristhofer: (yes that is how you spell his name) 24 years old 

Roldolfo: 23 years old

They are all pretty dang young but they are all way awesome. I wish I could say we did something way cool to find Cristhofer but we did not. He actually contacted us. We were just being diligent and obedient. We were following our plans and were we were suppose to be at the hour. I was actually doing a mini exchange with a missionary in her training still and we were contacting a guy when Cristhofer came up to us. He asked if we were Mormon missionaries and we told him yes and he asked if we could talk to him after we finished with the other guy. So after we finished talking to this guy who wanted nothing to do with us we went looking for Cristhofer and we could not find him I even asked my comp just to be sure that she saw him too. But then he got out of his car and waved us over.....a bit creepy. Plus he had a skull on his shirt and he was pretty dirty. I kept asking him comp how she was feeling to see if she had a bad impression about going and talking to him. 

We went and he had just finished working and that is why he was so dirty. He told us that his friend (who was waiting for him in the car) and him were new in town and that they are catolica but that were not happy there and that they were always interested in what we share. 

So here is the cool part. During the day I had been making calls and setting up appointments and we had a productive activity set for every hour except for 6 o clock. So every contact I was trying so hard to commit someone to having us over at 6 o clock and no one would accept. And it is a good thing they didn't because Cristhofer asked us if we could come over around 6 to visit them. 

We had the whole missionary movie of when two elders in Russia got kidnapped playing in our head but nahhh nothing like that. 
He accepted baptism a week ago but did not come to church because he said that he needed to work.....he is his own boss though so he can control that. Also he did not read or say his prayer that we committed him to do. We we met up with him the 2nd time and checked to see if he completed with his commitments and when he told us that he hadnt we got on to him pretty hard. And he even said that he knows that is why his day was horrible in work because he chose not to go to church. But the next time we met with him and checked his commitments he completed them AND MORE. And he was so excited to tell us too. We called him on Saturday to see how he was doing for church the next day and he said there was no way he was going to work because he was so blessed during the week for doing his reading that he was not going to risk any more blessings. He asked us to come visit his friend. Which is Roldolfo. He told us that he is going to bring all of his friends to church. 

This is a fruit of the spirit. Wanting to share the gospel with others. 

There is so much more great things to say about them all but time has run out like always.....chauito!

We had a BODA!!!!!!

(This post happened a week after the following post!!!!)

Mariela and Luis got married. They got married at 9:30am Thursday morning. We were invited and it was so great to be able to be there for them on this great day. They invited us all out to lunch afterwards where they invited all of their non member family members to their baptism on the 28th. I was so stinkin happy I can not even explain it. I woke up so excited and could not stop smiling for even a second. I had sweaty palms during the whole ceramony. They were so happy. Of course it was nothing compared to a temple sealing but they already know that that is where they will be this time next year. 

So that definitely wins the most exciting news for the week. I know I have always been a bit bummed for having all of my sectors being so stinkin close to one another and not seeing much of Chile. But it has been a huge blessings. I see at least one person from an old sector if not every day, every other day. And being the neighbor to Nonguen and living with the Sisters there. They are always bringing me goodies and cards from the members there to pass on to me.

I am not blind to the time I have left in the mission. I know it is ending quicker than I think and usually towards the end of the mission everyone starts to measure how well did they do....did they do enough....number wise....talent wise. But I have found that there is one question that really rises above the rest. 

How well did I love? Did I leave the world any better than it was before?

These are the questions I like to ponder. And I invite you all to ponder daily. They invite us and drive us to be better disciples of Christ. Something that will never have a time limit....you can not count down the days to the end of this glorious title.

Les quiero harto,

Hermana Lance

Finish Strong

So they sent me off to this capacitacion of the mission with all the missionaries who are finishing soon. It use to be called Trunky Training but now it is called Finish Strong. It is suppose to help all the missionaries that are finishing to talk about their fears and concerns and not with their companions who are no where near finishing the mission at times. It was more interesting for me to hear the comments of other missionaries. 

To me it all has to do with enduring to the end. It is not just making it to the end but doing it well. No one starts anything to just start something. A race, a project...nothing. I did not come on a mission to start one but to complete one. No one ever really remembers how you started but they remember how you finished. 

President talked about something that really caught my attention. There are only two real questions we have to face...will I finish or will I fail. There isn't too much in between. 

This week I had been studying a lot about Christ's final hours. He was tempted. But he resisted. A lot of missionaries finishing seem to find more temptations with obedience. They have been doing the same thing for so long and a change in the schedule they tend to look for. But just like Christ we have to resist. 

Also, Chirst never feared death. Why not? Death to him was only a requirement for resurrection and to return to the Father from whom He had come. Something beyond what he had before possessed. This is what gave Him power to lay down His life voluntarily. 

From my Finish Strong I basically came out with the impression of the importance of setting goals for after the mission while still in the mission. The spirit we are promised as missionaries is so strong and it is important to take advantage of it for all of the hardships and choices that will soon come after the mission. 

Have an awesome week. I love you all! 

Hermana Lance

Meet Claudio

Claudio has a baptism date for the 7th of Nov. He is a pretty cool dude. He is 26 and we found him through his sister. We were on a bus going to this part in our sector way far a way. I started to talk to this girl next to me named Javiera. She wasn't too interested in anything about religion. So we just started talking about her studies in he university. I asked her if I could come over one day to help her understand this book she is reading in English. She said yes :) We set up a day to go see her but she wasn't there. We went again and this man opened the door....it was Claudio! He let us come in and we committed him to baptism. He loved it. He has never been baptized and he felt as though we was lacking something with his faith. He has always had such a strong faith but has never really known what to do with it. He is finishing his college degree and expressed that he needs something more, but he never knew what. We shared Helamen 5:12 because he is into architecture. He was so into it and explained the symbolism to us. 

He recently stopped drinking coffee and is progressing well. We would love to teach his sister too but she does not make the time to meet with us and is never there when she says she will be. But the baptism of her brother could definitely spark something in her. 

His favorite lesson has been the plan of salvation. We taught it with the temple and the role it plays. He kept asking and asking to just double check that these temples are found on earth and not in heaven. It seemed so heavenly for him like too good for this world. It was such joy for him to find out that Conce would soon be receiving a temple. 

As a missionary to have success you really just have to TALK TO EVERYONE. Talking to Javiera on the buss I could have easily passed up. Use the buss ride as a break from walking and saying hi to everyone. Maybe make a few calls to prepare for the next day. It makes me sad to think that he may have had to wait more to receive these blessings if  his sister and I never got to talking on the bus. 

Sad side note.....my camera got stolen.....

Just weeks before finishing the mission. I did however save some on a flash drive....all of them...not at all. But that is my reason for no pictures this week. 

But say a prayer. It will show up.

Noche de Country!

We had the best activity Friday night. We did a country night! It was so fun! We needed to get the members excited for the activies and started with a fun one to have them excited for the next to come which will be focused on the missionary work.

For the country night we made fried Oreos!!! They were delicious! It was one of the number one things I remembered from growing up in Kentucky and being down by the river. We had them go bobbing for apples and blow bubble gum for competitions and of course a pie eating contest that was so intense! There was lots of cheering. We also organized the type of clothes that people use to take like old school pictures with top hats and long gloves and what not. We had a photo booth there for them and a funny cat walk. And to finished we taught them all how to dance the cotton eye joe. Everyone participated which made it turn out well. 

 As for the work! Gerald is doing well. We got to talking about the missionary work and she showed him our manual and he got way interested. I told him he could have one and he said but I'm not a missionary. I told him he could be. He did not say no, all he said was, "mas adelante" that is not a no so there is some interest there :) 

We have also been working with a couple that is not married. They have a date to be married the 12th of Nov. Mariela y Luis se llaman. They have been coming to church for a few months now. The only thing is that ALL of Chile is on a strike....and no one can get married! We really need some specific prayers so that this strike ends before the 12th of Nov. They want to be baptized the 14th and go to the temple the 20th. Mariela is so happy. They have been together for 15 years and they just had never thought about being married. I can not remember if I have mentioned them before but all is well with them just a strike problemita. 

On Saturday Concepcion had the ground breaking for the temple!!! It was a beautiful ceramony and my companion from the MTC got to play the piano for the event! It makes me so happy for all of the people in the south of Chile and even Argentina. The sacrifice will not have to be as big to be able to participate in the blessings of the temple. They do have a lot of work to do still. The temple wont be ready for another 3 years. It is perfect though. To find and rescue a family in the next few years and help them prepare to enter the temple together in the small time period of 3 years. 

It is kinda a lot of random thoughts today but I also get a new companion. She is from Mexico and we will make the switch tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful week. I love you all and pray for your success! 

Hermana Lance

Brutal Collao

I love Collao, the members and the size of the sector. It is crazy big and we talk to people every day who have never talked to or seen missionaries before which impresses me so much. There is so much to do. But Collao has been a sector where I have probably had the most brutal rejection. 

I feel as though I do my best to always tell about the best parts of my week and that I am pretty well at finding the positive side of all the experiences but I wanted to be a bit more real about the hardships that we have had recently.

Almost a solid third or more of the people we talk to just in the street do not believe in God. I would say that it is a college city and that could have a lot to do with it. A bunch a young people just trying to live while they are young without thinking about tomorrow or consequences, but it is still surprising.

Some houses just let us in to yell at us or challenge our faith. And all you have to hold onto is your burning testimony that sometimes doesn't even get to them because they are so turned off from the spirit.Or they do not even breath between what they say to hear you. I have really had to adjust how I teach with people that do not believe in God. And it is very hard to extend a commitment to pray and have them reject it completely. Explaining how it would be pointless and they did not even want to try to see what they could loose. At the start of my mission things like that would really frustrate me but now it really just gives me a lot of "pena".....sadness, worried about what will happen to them, pain from thinking how sad our Father in Heaven must feel when others reject the chance to communicate with him.

It hurts but I know that I have already chosen who I follow. I have crossed the line. I do not need applause. I live by faith. I am edified by prayer. My path is hard, my mission is clear. I will not complain about the sacrifice. I will be obedient till my last day. I feel as though I can speak so boldly because this road has brought me the most happiness in this life. We are not promised an easy road....just a destination. I invite you to ponder this destination. Eternal life, a happiness that does not know an end.....forever, with God and your family. Do you want to be happy? --- Live the gospel.

3 Nephi 5:13

Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life. 

(As my sister would say) FUN FACT: I had already met Gerald's dad. He was lost in my old sector, Hualqui. We helped him find the way to where he was going.

My comp and I also got asked to go out with the 2 new sister missionaries this transfer and so a mini exchange with them for the new missionary conference. I got to be with a friend of a mutual friend from BYU! That is the cute blonde girl in the selfie with me.

The baptism picture is of a man I taught all the way back in my first sector who was fighting addictions. He finally did it!!! His wife was so diligent with him and us.

There was 4 investigatores in the church Sunday with a baptism date! We are committed to have 5 next Sunday!