World Wide Training and Interviews

Hola Todos!

I love Chile and I love you all!

 

Bienvendios a the craziest week ever! It was also a VERY very good week. 

So we had a world wide missionary training this week. It was GRAND! There were members of the 12 apostles and other leaders that spoke and did training. When they speak to the missionaries it is different. There is SO much power and they trust us dweeby young adults so much! I also got to hear it in English so that probs helped. Haha. The theme was TEACH REPENTANCE BAPTIZE CONVERTS. Yeah, talk about power! I loved what Elder Anderson said. He said that ¨¨the Doctrine of Christ can only be recieved through personal revelation.¨ As missionaries we teach the gospel of Christ unto repentance but unless the people we are teaching are recieving that through the Spirit they CANNOT progess and come unto Christ. This is powerful because through my own personal revelation in my 1st 6 weeks I was realizing that I have to experience the doctrine of Christ in my own life before I can help others do so. Wow. It was just awesome. Also Elder Bednar was great! He did this discussion thing with about 12 missionaries about the role of the Spirit in conversion. It was really powerful. I can try all I want to help people feel the spirit but they have to let it in. And you know how? Through ACTION. Ugh! It was so so great! And Elder Oaks! What a man! We are here to preach REPENTANCE! Woot! Anywho.

I also had my first interview with Presidente Diaz. He is the literal sweetest, happiest, most angelic man ever! He reminds me a lot of my dad. The interview was short and he was just checking up on me. He told me to not stress out and to be happy. He said not to worry about numbers and to enjoy it. He also asked me to share what I had been reading in my scripture study and I of course cried and he wipped out a tissue oh so sweetly. He is definitely meant to be my President. Haha. I LOVE HIM!

So Maria read from the beginning of the LDM to 2 Nefi 28! Wow! There are changes with her. Slow and steady. We read with her in the LDM and her son was there reading with us. (Alex Eduardo about 50 years old) and he was totally testifying of the things we were teaching to his mom! Wow! We were really really excited! We have hope for their family. We are still looking for new investigators but  we have lots of appointments with new ones lined up. Pray for us to find a family!

I gave my first talk in sacarament meeting in Spanish! I talked about missionary work. Afterward there is this sweet older lady in our ward that walked up to me and said Ï understood everything. It made me want to cry. YAY! #makingprogress

 

 

In 1820 the church was restored and ITS TRUE!

I love this gospel. I love this church! I love Spanish! (usually) I know that it is true and that as we do His work he blesses us more than we could ever imagine. This goes for all you at home too! If you need answers, blessings, comfort, or help, then do the work of the Lord and He will bless you with those things and more.

I love you all!

 

 

Hermana Leah Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 

Viña del Mar, Chile

Staying in Valpo!

WOOT!

What a week! First of all I want to thank you for your prayers on my behalf. I have felt them so much this week. I have been raised far above the trials of a mission and have been so happy. Also, thank you to everyone for the Christmas cards and letters you sent me. I finally got them this week! I was so touched a shed a lot of tears. Thank you so much for all your support.

 

We are trying so hard to find people to teach that we have even started talking to Statues. Sometimes they are more receptive than the people. HAHA :) 

So we had transfers this Wednesday and I am staying here in Valpo! With Hermana McKendrick! WOOT! Blessings! I have become more myself this week. I have been so much happier. I think adjusting is definitely a process and now I am figuring it out bit by bit. I am blessed to have Hermana McKendrick again. We have high hopes. Man, she is the coolest. I am so sad to say goodbye to Hermana Alvarez but luckily she is in the same church building in the other ward so we still see her. :) The only bad thing about a mission is saying goodbye. I am no longer the newest newbee. It helps lift me to lift others and help them know that it gets easier. I am learning to relax and be me!

So this Monday my companion and I were late to meet Hermana Alvarez (we have been working in both our sectors) and I fell and scraped up my leg. WOOT for battle wounds! Haha. 

I started teaching piano lessons here to some of the young women! PIANO TEACHER FOR LIFE! It felt so so wonderful! Except I realized that Good Boys Do Fine Always doesnt really work in Spanish. HAHA.

I have so many flee bites people think I have an alergic reaction. Its grand. Or something like that. :)

 

Here is a picture of Noche de Hogar with the bishops fam. (My Comp and I and the bishops daughter)

So we dont really have any investigators yet. We are seeing miracles with being led to the people that need us though whether it is members, menos activos, preparing missionaries, or potential investigators. There are miracles in every day! It is so so great! I just love this! 

I realized something this week. When Christ came many did not recognize Him as the Messiah because they wanted Him to save them from their government problems. But really He was here for a much greater purpose, to save us from our sins. We often do this now. We expect HIm to save us from our financial problems, school struggles, relationships, etc. . . But He suffered for our sins and pains and affliccions. He will comfort us in these situations but He does not save us from these things. I hope we focus on the things that He can help us with instead of what He choses not to.

Thank you a million! I love being a missionary! En serio. And Spanish is coming. Slowly but surely. I love seeing the changes in myself and others that the gospel brings! 

Love you all!

Hermana Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631

Vina del Mar, Chile

Take that Satan!

Hello All!

It is so good to see that you are all doing well! I love hearing from you! Thank you!

So this week was hard. Like really hard. But you know what? I am still here! I am still doing this! I keep reminding myself that it is supposed to be hard. But there have also been many blessing this week.

So first of all, we have to drop Maria and her granddaughter Luisangela. Last Monday we taught them a VERY powerful lesson of the Restauracion. My companions and I bore powerful testimonies. The room felt like it was on fire. And we were hopeful. Then a few days later we returned with a member, I returned missionary that teaches our Gospel Principles class with a talent for teaching. She was very powerful. Members are such a powerful tool! Go out with the missionaries! We taught the Plan of Salvacion. It was very powerful and we answered all their quesitons and we got to the moment to ask them if they would be baptized and Maria said no. She said that no matter what we did she wouldnt change. This is hard. Why dont people take what is right in front of them?! I love these people so much and it breaks my heart. But it was a powerful lesson in agency. We have that gift and not even Heavely Father can take our will. We also have to have broken hearts to feel the prompting of the Spirit.

Thus we are without investigators and I have been a little discouraged. This week Satan really hit me hard. I didnt know if I could get through this week. But my companions have been so wonderful and helped me keep going and keep smiling. And then as I was getting ready I listened to a talk by Elder Holland called Cast Not away thy confidence, or something like that. It was EXACTLY what i needed to hear. Wow. SO POWERFUL! I testify that there is an adversary. But you know what? I testify that Heavenly Father is bigger than any problem or thing that Satan throws your way. Satan is our brother and thus knows us as a brother does and will get you in the ways he thinks he can. BUT HE CANT! He cant if you dont give him permission! So dont give Him permission! Heavenly Father is there EVERY step of the way. Promise.

I am grateful for companions. I realize that each companion is to be loved. And you know what? I love both my companions so so dearly. They are so amazing and I have learned loads from them! 

We have made lots of progress with the members here. They trust us! Yay! That is our big success. I am impressed to see our progess. It is everything for a  missionary to have the trust of the members. Part of our job is with the members and I wish I would remember that more. Strengthening members is critical. 

Funny moment of the week. The toilet paper brand here  is COMFORT. None of the Chileans know what that means. We were studying our scriptures and Hermana Alverez was studying in English. She turns to us and says, Consuelo is comfort in English? And we were like yeah. And then she started busting up laughing. ¨LIke the toilet paper?¨. We all died because she had just realized what that meant. We have some goofy moments together and its grand. 

It was our Mamita Andrea´s birthday this week. She is the one that puts our lunch schedule together, feeds us every Tuesday, washes our clothes, and answers all our questions when we dont know how to live. Haha. She is a literal Saint and cooks like one too. We went to her house for a celebration and bought her a small gift and wrote her cards. The hard part was that we were on a fast and couldnt eat anything. HAHA. One of the Hermanas in an older misisonary couple was hit by a car this week. Hermana Poulson. She is the one that is our nurse and she and her husband did the coro for Christmas. If you could all pray for them and their family that would be appreciated. She is going to have a surgery.

 

I love you all. I testify that hard times come so that we change. Change is a good thing. Change is positive. Change is an eternal principle. Because its real name is repentance. :)

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631

Vina del Mar, Chile

New Year and New Companions

Hola Todos!

Feliz 2016! Wowsa. No puedo creerlo. So I bet you are wondering what we did for the new year. We had permission to stay out until 11 and so we had once with a familia in the ward. *once is like dinner but really late. Then we went to our pension and had the most amazing view of the fireworks. Valpo and Vina have the 3rd biggest and best firework shows in the world. It was amazing. It was a firework show all up and down the coast. It was literally incredible. New years here is crazy though because tourists are every where. I have contacted a couple times in English this week. Its been cool. Also, I have never seen so many people passed out on the street. Also, I now have a very keen sense of what beer smells like and I dont like it. 

For New Years day we had permission to watch the Cokeville Miracle as a Zone. Wow. So SO powerful. Especially as a missionary. I challenge you all to watch it. It is so great!

 

Chile meets Gringolandia. Empenadas y Chicken Nuggets! Yes! I love empanadas! 

So new companions! So we had intercambios this week and I stayed in my area and had the Sister Training leader come here. Thus, we were lost a lot as I tried to help us get to our appointments. We ended up contacting 25 people in one day so yeah!! It was great! Then in the middle of the day we got a call from the Asistentes that Hermana Alverez from the ward that shares our church building would be coming to be in a trio with us. Her companion went home on medical release. She is so awesome. She is from Peru and goes home this May. She will likely be with us, Hermana Mckendrick and I, until cambios on January 13th. She is such a great missionary and exactly what I needed. We are having a lot of fun in a trio. Hermana Alverez is an example to me and I have learned a lot from her. Also because we are speaking with her in Spanish all day long my Spanish has gotten much better. Also, this week I did an Ingles Fast for 24 hours. I started with a prayer like I would any other fast and didnt speak or write English for 24 hours. I know I recieved lots of strength and help. He is real! *thank you Tanner Mieure for the idea.

Also we started teaching an English Class every Wednesday. Our first one was this week. IT was SO fun! It was also awesome because our investigator Maria brought her granddaughter Luisangela. This was GREAT! We saw some miracles from them this week. We think that Luisangela is the key. We met her mom this week too and she was very open and seemed happy that we have been trying to teach Luisangela. Luisangela really wants to come to church but Maria always makes excuses. Please pray for this family.

I love the new year and the opportunity to start anew. It is like baptism! My goals for this year fall into 5 catigories. Mental is to master Spanish. Emotional is to have patience with myself and others. Physical is to make good use of my exercise time here. Social is to LOVE every companion. Spiritual is to rely on Him. I have specific plans for each. I know if I share my goals I am more likely to do them. Also my theme scripture for this year is DyC 4 verse 2. I am so excited for what this year will bring. I will be here in Chile for all of 2016. 

I challenge you all to make goals with a prayerful heart. Sincerely ask what you can do to be better this year. There is a quote in PMG that says that mastering the ability to meet goals is an eternal principle. If we never make goals we will look back on our lives and realize we didnt achieve our potential. So make goals! They will bless you! And if you make a goal that has to do with missionary work then I promise you you will be happier than every before and He will help you accomplish that goal. This is His work and He loves His children. His work is eternal. His work is a plan of happiness. Dont be afraid!!!  JUST DO IT. . . . thank you Nike.

Mucho amor! Feliz Ano Nuevo! Olay!

Hermana Leah Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net