Week of CONFERENCES

Hola Todos!

Wow! What a week! It has been wonderful, hard, and fun. We put a baptismal date with Liz! She told us she knew she had to get baptized and wants her daughters to get baptized too. She even broke up with her boyfriend so the law of chastity is no longer an issue! We also found some good new investigators. We have been hiking hills like crazy and are SUPER tired. My poor companion. But we have seen miracles. 

This week we watched a area missionary conference from Elder Bednar. HOLY PALTA! What an amazing amazing conference! He didnt speak. He asked the missionaries what the spirit was telling them and expounded on that. He also had the missionaries ask questions. Now I wasnt actually with Elder Bednar. It was a broadcast for all of South America. So no, I didnt shake his hand or anything but it was really really powerful. He is a master teacher. I loved that he explained that the SPIRIT is the teacher and that we must grow in a process. He told us not to take notes on what he said but on what we felt. My favorite part was Sister Bednar. Someone asked how we can be humble and keep relying on the lord for our whole mission. Sister Bednar explained many times in her life when she said Ï just dont think I can do this¨. (pregant with baby 3, when Elder Bednar was called into the stake presidency, when Elder Bendar was called as pres of byui, and when Elder Bednar was called as an apostle). She said that every time that happened she would fall to the floor and cry but that through CHrist she could do it. She says she regrets saying it the final time because she had seen the way he had strengthened her in the past and knew he would do it again. I have falled to the floor many many times and cried in the mission. It is really hard. But you know what? He strengthens me daily.

My sweet companion is an angel. My Spanish is improving rapidly. I love her. I feel bad that she got stuck with me as a trainer because I am learning more from her than she is learning from me but she is wonderful and we cry together daily. One thing we kept saying this week was ¨Why didnt anyone tell me a mission is like this?¨She has a sister that served a mission in Bolivia and she was frustrated at frist because her sister never explained how hard a mission is. But I explained that no one truly can. A mission is hard but it is also wonderful. Truly wonderful.

We also had Stake conference this Sunday. The hard part was that our investigators didnt show so our baptismal dates fell. That was really really heartbreaking and my eyes have never been so dry from crying. But the coolest part was hearing the talks in Spanish. This conference was for all of Chile! (A broadcast) It was awesome!! Mary Duham of the general primary, Dean M Davies of the bishopbric, Ulisses Soares of the 70, and Presidente Russell M. Nelson all spoke. The only talk that was translated was that of Mary Duham. The others all spoke in SPANISH! It was so cool! I made me realize that I need to keep up my SPanish skills. :)

I have learned this week that our challenges are very specific to us. He knows us perfectly and personally and thus our challenges will help us grow in the way that He needs us to grow. Sometimes you are so exhausted that you dont think you can keep going but He will lift us up to help us do His will. I know that He is there every step of the way and sees every tear that we shed even when no one else does. 

I love you all. I love this gospel. I love my Savior. More than words will every express.

Olay!

Hermana Leah Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 

Viña del Mar, Chile

Miracles, Pulagas, and Legal!

Wow! What a great and hard week! We have worked like crazy and seen some wonderful wonderful miracles. Hermana Camargo came trained and it is so fun to get to know someone from such a different country and with a differnent culture. I love it!

This week we found Renata. She is 16 and let us into her house when we knocked on her door. It had been a long day and we decided to knock one more house. It happened to be hers. She lives in a one room apartment thing next to her family. Its kinda weird but okay. :) We gave her a LDM and invited her to pray. The next time we saw her she said she read, prayed, and felt a feeling of relieve. I asked her if she thought that was an answer from God. She looked and me and said, ¨Si¨. WOW! Que milagro. She has a baptismal date for 27 of March. We invited her to church and told her we would come get her. The morning of we passed and knocked and knocked and called and nothing. I was really really down about it. During the sacrament I cried and prayed and asked, ¨WHY!¨ I just couldnt understand why it isnt easier to have people come to church. THis is the literally hardest thing as a misisonary. I was comforted by a hymn (I think number 62 in Spanish) and felt better when Conny, our antingua investigadora bore her testimony. It was beautiful. She should be baptized in April. 

We also found Ela. She is someone we contacted back in Enero but we passed for her this week and she let us in. We gave her a LDM and on our next visit she told us our hugs had given her a sense of relief that she couldnt explain. Que milagro! She prayed with us and is excited to continue. The interesting part is that she didnt read the LDM but her husband did. #chaching. Vamos a trabajar con eso.

It is getting colder in Valpo. My body is like ¨What¨cause I have had eternal summers. :)

Funny story: As we were walking to church there was a lady in the street with a broom. Kinda crazy. As we passed by she greeted us ¨Hola Señoras.¨and then began to say a bunch of things that didnt really make sense until she said ¨Señoras con vestidas de abuelitas¨. AKA She told us we had on grandma dresses. JAJAJA. Yeah, I know we look like granmas but whatevs. :)

Also I have pulgas (AKA fleas) again. Ugh. And today we did all my legal paperwork to make me legal in Chile! WOOT!

THe church is so true. Heavenly Father blesses His children daily. Sometimes the hard days are the best days. NOt because we are happy in the moment but because we learn the most.

I love you all!

Hermana Leah Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 

Viña del Mar, Chile

Babies Training Babies

HOLA!

What a crazy crazy week. I am officially a trainer. Yeah, I cant believe it either. And neither can anyone else. My new companion is named HERMANA CAMARGO. She is from Lima Peru and is literally the best. She is training me. :) She came with lots of excitement and tons of motivation which is exactly what we need. We have seen miracles in her first 5 days here. And my Spanish is getting better by the second. :)

We found a family. Granted, the Dad is ateo but we have hope for them. We also found a grandma and her 2 adult grandchildren and have hope for them as well. Ernesto, a contact from before accepted a baptmismal date for March 20. Vamos a ver. Conny is progessing. We had the biggest assistance in all my time in the ward yesterday. WOW. Miracles. Literal miracles.

Hermana Camargo is amazing. She danced before the mission. She is 20. Her older sister served in Bolivia. She has 2 younger brothers. Her mom and siblings are members. She is always happy. (pretty much :)) I love her so so so so much.

I am still getting rabies shots. Yeah. Thank you devil dog. But it is all grand.

Your prayers would be appreciated. I am definitely stressed with this new responsibility. But I am realizing that the Lord qualifies those whom He calls. And He calls all of us to one responsiblity or another. I know that He loves us all very very much. I am learning to trust in him completley. I also love Preach My Gospel SO incredibly much. READ IT!

I love you all! Thank you for everything!

Hermana Leah Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 

Viña del Mar, Chile

4 Months!

 Hola Todos!

This week has flown! It is so fun to see all the mission calls from people at home! CONGRATS YALL! You are entering the coolest work of your life. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Our Last district pic. Elder Passey (sitting) goes home this week to Utah.

This week we had a Noche de Hogar with the Bishops family and played ´Quien Soy¨. Like where you put a person from the scriptures on someone´s forehead and they have to guess. Super fun. Also, the ovens are different here in Chile and I totes burned a pan of brownies. I also made mac and cheese on the stove with a frying pan. Yeah, this is how missionaries do it. .)

Please appreciate this typical Chilean meal that we had this week: Chilean version of tamales (se llama Omitas, like a tamale without the meat), fried eggs, pork chops, french fries, rice, ¨salad¨( which is tomato and onion), and cantalope and watermelon for dessert. Yes, I love Chile.

Our English class is attracting lots of people and it is SUPER fun. I stinking wanna be an English teacher. 

This week we knocked a TON of doors. No bites. We contacted a lot. No bites. Liz is changing stuff in her house so it is hard to teach her. Nico is really willing but may have some mental health issues because he doesnt make sense half the time. Conny is good but has some fears for baptism. I never thought I would cry so much about other people. But I do. You learn as a missionary that you really want to be worthy not for yourself but for these people you are teaching. It is incredible.

Hermana Mckendrick and I sang in church this Sunday. We sang ¨Soy un Hijo de Dios¨ with harmony of course, acapella. It went well. :) I miss singing so so so much.

 

 My comp and I tried Honeydew melon with Sprite. SO GOOD! The melons are all the rage right now in Chile.

One thing that completely changed me as a missionary this week was the talk ¨Becoming Perfect Through Christ¨ by Elder Gerrit Wong. I suggest that EVERYONE read this talk. It is incredible. It helped me realize that we often have a skewed view of perfection. The truth is that perfection is a process not fully reached on this earth. Patience is required. 

I hit 4 months yesterday! Wow. Crazy. 

Thank you all for you kind words and love! I can feel your prayers and love daily. MUCHO AMOR A TODOS!

Hermana Leah Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 

Viña del Mar, Chile

Elder Texiera of the 70

Hola Yáll!

What a week! I have grown so much spiritually and physically. Haha. It was such a wonderful week and I am floating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First of all, we had intercambios this week and I was with Hermana De La Torre from Argentina. She is great and really helped me realize that I just stinkin need to be myself. :)

 

This Friday Elder Texiera from the 70 came and spoke to us. It was one of the most powerful meetings I have ever ever been in. He gave us the challenge to teach 21 lessons (investigadores) a week. Wow. That is a high goal but we are excited to do it! He was very down to earth and so so nice. He told stories about His time as a mission president in Brazil. I think he speaks like 5 languages. (yeah, I am glad I dont have to learn more than 1). He also asked us what we were having trouble with as a mission in the work and then he, his wife, our President, and his wife all took turns answering our questions. (like a pannel). HOLY AWESOME! Hermana Texiera is literally thebomb.com. I want to be like her when I grow up. She said that sometimes we, as fishers of men, are spending too much time preparing our lines instead of just going fishing. (refering to a quote from Elder Oaks). She gave an equation that is A(O+D)= PE. Translated into English it says that Authority multiplied by prayer and worthiness equals spiritual power. Yeah, she is so awesome. ¨Dont be afraid to change what you need to change¨ is one of my favorite quotes from that. I think it aplies to all of us. We cannot be afraid to change the things that Heavenly Father wants us to change or we will never progress. 

 

Elder Texiera was very powerful and very happy. He is a missionary in the flesh. I want to be more like him. In the end they all (Elder Texiera, Hermana Texiera, Presidente y Hermana Diaz) all shared their testimonies. It was one of the most powerful meetings I had ever ever experienced. Our President never served a mission as a 19 year old missionary. He joined the church as a youth. He told us about how he baptized his father 2 weeks before he passed away. The spirit was so so so strong. I was asked to lead the music in this meeting and the closing hymn was Called to Serve. We sang it with solemnity and there were very few dry eyes. Elder Texiera asked us to leave in silence and with the Spirit still with us. We did and it was incredible. Imagine every youth conference, girls camp, efy, and whatever else mashed into one with a bunch of missionaries and a member of the quorum of the 70. Yeah, it was that powerful. 

After that we have literally been floating. We set another bapismal date with Nico! A man we met on the street. We are excited. Maria has been traveling this week so nada. And Liz is stressed out so nada tampoco. But we are seeing miracles! Especially with less actives. We woke up early and went to a less active family´s house before church and woke them up. They came with us. The daughter is 12 and had never been to young womens. SHE LOVED IT! She came home and asked her mom to buy her skirts. She felt bad because she didnt know the answers to questions so she read 2 chapters in the Book of Mormon that afternoon. Wow. Miracles. 

We also had our friend Simonne, a preparing missionary, accompany us to many many citas this week. She is already an amazing missionary and a key in so many of our lessons. PLEASE go out with the missionaries in your wards!!

This week as I sat in sacrament meeting from the piano I could see the whole ward. As I sat there during the sacrament I couldnt help but feel the greatest happiness I have ever felt. I love this. I truly do. It is so stinkin hard and there literally hasnt been a single day I have not cried but I love it. I truly do. I love these PEOPLE!!!

 

 

 

Thank you all for your concern about my dog bite and rabies. I am doing fine. :) I am healing quickly and have been able to walk every hill this week which is good. :) (we have climbed SO many hills this week). The rabies shots still hurt but I am doing fine. :) At least I dont have rabies!!!

 

That moment when you get a new plunger and have to carry it with you everywhere that day so that you don"t waste time. #proudofmyplunger

Thank you all for your sweet words and love. I love you all! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! I know it with all my heart. 

Hermana Leah Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 

Viña del Mar, Chile

See more pictures on Facebook

Charity

Hola Todos!

This week was good. More rabies shots. Resting on my leg. :) The whole ward has been concerned for me and it has been so sweet.

 

This is a picture of my comp and I with an almost 8 year old preparing for baptism.

We taught Liz again about the Plan of Salvacion. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying and is literal gold. She accepted a baptizm date but it fell because she couldnt asist church this week. Your prayers would be appreciated. But really, we are seeing miracles with her.

 

Familia Diaz casanova on Hermano Rubens Birthday. (That is the family of our mamaita and they are literally GOLD)

I love learning about Charity. That is the Christlike attribute I have been working on. I know that in order to have charity we much first understand the charity that Christ has for us. The atonement was the single greatest act of Charity and will forever be so. When we truly understand God´s love for us is when we can share it with others.

This week we also met a couple from Utah that gave us American candy. #simplepleasures

 Please appreciate this street sign :)

 

The church is so true. I love this gospel so so so much. I have never felt so grateful. 

All my love,

Hermana Leah Kelson

 

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 

Viña del Mar, Chile

Miracles and Rabies Shots

Hola Todos!

Well, this was literally one of the craziest weeks of my life and I feel very much like a real missionary. Haha.

Utah meets the beautiful sunrise of Valpo. Please appreciate my photography here :)

First of all, we´ve had a miracle! We contacted a woman named Liz the other day. She has 4 daughters and is about 45 years old. We taught her the first vision and about the Book of Mormon. She was super receptive and we found out that her grandmother had been a member of the church before she passed away. She asked lots of inspired questions and we literally felt so so happy. We know that we were led to her. She, sadly, went on vacation, but we have our second lesson with her tomorrow and we hope she has read and prayed about the things we taught. WOOT!

Also. Maria is reading the Book of Mormon like a maniac! Holy! And she totally understands it. The problem now is having her pray about it. We have high hopes.

Also, Conny, an antigua investigadora who is simply waiting for divorce papers said they are going to sign the paper next week and thinks that she will be able to get baptized in MARCH! AAAAHHH!!!

So this week we were going to have our very first ward activity since I have been here. The missionaries put it all together. It was a talent show. We were super super excited and Maria and her family were all planning to come and Conny was going to come and bring her family and we were all just super psyched. It was Saturday. But in a crazy turn of events, thank you Satan, my companion and I couldnt go and thus our investigators couldnt either. 

So the morning of the activity we went to visit a less active member. Before we even got in the door their dog bit me! #officiallyarealchilean. Haha. We immediately left and called the Zone Leaders. This family is very poor and we know the dog probably doesnt have its shots so we went to a hospital to get rabies shots! WOOT! The first hospital wouldnt give them to me so we went to another hospital all the way in Viña just to get the shots. I have to go back 8 more times between now and August. Joy. :) Haha. But on the bright side, I can get bit by like 7 more dogs and not even have to worry. :) I am so so so extremely grateful for Familia Zapata. They are members that drove us to all of these hospitals and helped us with all the medical stuff. We called them and they willing dropped everything from the afternoon to help us. Wow. Anywho, I am good and we are instructed to take breaks because the bite is in my ankle and we walk a lot but all is well! Just exciting stories. :) Also, My companion drew on the gauze on my dog bite :)

I testify that the Book of Mormon is real and can comfort us in ANY situacion. I testify that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that he truly did translate that book by the power of God. I know it. I testify that God watches out for all of His children and hears their cries in moments of panic. I testify that miracles come. They honestly do.

Check out the sweet tan line from my shoes! How beautiful upon the mountains are those that preach repentance.

I love you all dearly! Keep being amazing!

Hermana Leah Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 

Viña del Mar, Chile