Time Is Weird

Hola Todos!

Time is so weird. It goes fast and slow all at the same time. I cannot even explain it .

So Julio got confirmed! And has already been given assignments. THis man is amazing. Also CAROLA was another huge miracle this week! I think I have talked about her before because we taught her with Hermana Stauffer. This week we talked about the WOrd of Wisdom because we sensed it may be hard for her. She has gone from smoking 30 cigarrettes every day to 1. ONLY 1! That is incredible! She has also stopped drinking tea and coffee: a really hard thing for Chileanos with the tea. She came to church on Sunday and LOVED it. She even stayed for the Elders baptizm and just cried through it all. And the members were amazing and already invited her to 2 NDH. Yesssss. . . 

We had Zone Conference this week and learned about FAITH. Faith starts from your thoughts. If you want miralces you need to THINK miracles. If we walk around with this [pucha, I am never going to see a miracle today because its raining and no one wants to hear] then obviously you wont! OUr thoughts show our deepest desires. SO I am trying to correct my thoughts and have more faith.

There was in big fire in Viña that cut our power for a few hours. We are all good though. We started teaching English Classes again and when I teach I feel like I dont know Spanish nor English. Its a weird sensation. 

The church is so true. I hope you all know that. And if you dont, GO PRAY ABOUT IT!

Shout out to Adria Vancott that is comin to CHILE!! #bestcountryever #sipo

All my love

Hermana Kelson 1

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Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 
Viña del Mar, Chile

Remember Who You Are

Hola Todos!

This week was a little slower but still awesome! My body is slowly dying but I am happy. :) 

So this week Carla has been going through some tough stuff but it has helped her grow closer to her Heavenly Father. We are always wanting to talk about baptism with her because she is so amazing and just needs those amazing covenants in her life but we have been a little hesistant to do it. But this week we talked about baptizm and my amazing companion asked her to pray for a date. She said she had already been thinking about it! Sometimes its even cooler when an investigator takes a little longer because you grow to love them more. I want nothing more for this woman to be baptized. Not because we are baptizing robots but because I want the best for her.

We also had MAURICIO. Another miracle. So we were walking  a lot this week and our inspired district leader called to challenge us to contact all the people with blue shirts. So off in the opposite direction we see a guy with a blue shirt so we go that way and find it is Mauricio. We, hermana Stauffer and I, had taught him a few times and had lost contact. He is 19 and has so many questions. We ended up teaching him and inviting him to Stake Conference the next day. AND HE CAME! What a miracle because it was really far away! There are so many prepared people in our path.

Like I said it was stake conference and it was amazing. Our Mission President and the Temple President from Satiago came and spoke. It was phenominal. But the part that really stuck out to me was what the Stake President Said. He told a story of Elder Rasband. He came to Chile to meet with the goverment. The authority said [Hello, I am Mario Lopez. I am the Vice President of Chile here representing the President. It is nice to meet you.] To which Elder Rasband responded [I am Elder Rasband, apostle of Jesus CHrist and embassador of the Prince of Peace. Nice to meet you too.] WOW! If we all really understood who we are we would act much differently than we do.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Kelson 1

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

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Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 
Viña del Mar, Chile

The Best Week of My Mission

Hola todos!

This has been the best and craziest week of my mission. I am literally so happy right now. It scares me actually.

Anyway heres how this week went
Monday: We taught Julio and he told us he is writing a book of his conversion! What the?! He is amazing. He gave us the introduction to read and we cried. He has been through so much but is SO prepared for the gospel. I love that man. We also taught Carola and she was SO willing to do whatever she can to be clean and pure again. TEACHING REPENTANCE!

Tuesday: We taught like crazy people. Lots of powerful and exhausting lessons. Teaching as a missionary is emotionally and spiritually and physically so exhausting. But so worth it. ONe family we taught is Sebastian (12), his mom Pamela and his grandma Rosa. Satan always tries to ruin lessons when we teach the restoration. So first of all my companion had the hiccups the whole first half of the lesson. Then right as we are sharing the first vision a FLY GOES UP THE NOSE OF THE 72 YEAR OLD GRANDMA! Sometimes Satan is in the form of a fly. After gaining the peace again we finished and it was a powerful lesson. We laughed so hard afterward.

Wednesday: It was Cristobal´s birthday!

Thurday: Hermana Olsen (the best companion ever, she rocks my world) and I were asked to come to a special meeting with Elder Texiera from the 70. We were 2 of 20 missionaries (besides the office) and 2 of 7 sisters there. WHAT AN HONOR! He talked about the new moto that we have and a lot about the importance of the temple. If everyone did there family history and took names to the temple regularly then no one would be inactive. I strongly believe that. 

Friday: Intercabios with my lovely hermana Lundgren in Placeres! The hills killed me but we are good.

Saturday: CAPILLA ABIERTA in my first ward! I cried that whole afternoon and just loved seeing so many people I love so dearly. It brought back many wonderful memories and we saw so many miracles. Including many people who were invited off of the street to participate.

Sunday: JULIOS BAPTIZM! It was beautiful. He shared his testimony and said he knew that God was real and that he loved him. He brought us (the zone) on a tour of the Lagoon today and told us he couldnt remember much of what he said but that he felt so calm. He is the biggest miracle! If I could progress as fast as Julio I would already be in the Celestial Kingdom. This man makes me want to be better.

I love the mission. I love this gospel. I am so happy. And i am happy because I experience his grace every single day. And I share it. And I see it work in the lives of others. The atonement is so real. We just need to use it and learn to use it to reach our full potential. I love this gospel.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Hermana Kelson 1

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

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Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 
Viña del Mar, Chile

Feeling Froggy

Hola Todos!

What a week! We have had some fun things like the training for the zone, exchanges with new missionaries, and HERMANA GOULD who came to stay with us for a night. We have seen lots of miracles and also walked a lot. I just cant even express how much I love being a missionary.

Julio is doing amazing. He is SO willing to obey every commandment and just is so happy. He cracks me up. We taught about the law of chastity and talked about having clean thoughts. We said he could sing hymns when bad thoughts come into his mind. (like the primary song). He said [But then when you guys hear me singing hymns you are going to think I have bad thoughts!* Haha. We died laughing. He also chears us on in English when we play the piano or direct the music in sacrament meeting. He is amazing and has a strong testimony and will be baptized this week!

Carla is also doing well and came with us to a baptism for our hermanas in Placeres. She is progressing and really seeing the blessings of the Word of Wisdom. If only we could all change our lives so quickly, right? I find myself being so stubborn and in my own ways sometimes. 

Edwin blessed the sacrament for his first time. I felt such joy to hear him say those sacred words. He looked up at grinned at me afterward any my eyes filled with tears as I grinned back. I love the word WILLING in the sacrament prayers. It helps me remember to prepare my heart.

We said this was a froggy week because people were JUMPING to listen to the message. Obviously lots of rejection too but it was a great week. 

My companion is the best. The church is so true. This is the best work in the world. If you want to be happy, involve yourself in missionary work!

I love you all!

Hermana Kelson

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Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 
Viña del Mar, Chile

Blessings From Above

Hola Todos

I dont even know where to start so much has happened. First of all I had to say Goodbye to Hermana Stauffer. :( It was tough but change is good. I know we will be friend FOREVA!

So Katty and Edwin taught us how to make empanadas and sopeipia before she left. (best foods ever.)

My new companion is Hermana Olsen! SHE IS THE BEST! I am more than happy. She is from Vegas and went to Hairschool in Utah before the mission. She is a 5 foot 9 ball of spiritualness and is so funny. I have already have better abs thanks to all our laughing.

JULIO! Remember that self reference? Well he is perfect. This week we taught him the first 3 lessons and he already has a baptizmal date  for the 26th of this month. He is so excited. His first prayer that he did was just a spiritual moment. He prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for finding peace and for helpíng him find the light. He said that prayer changed his life. He said he was like Joseph Smith searching for which church to join. At our second lesson we brough a member and Julio asks him at the end [Dude, do you drink coffee?] To which the member says no. So Julio says [Yeah, Ive been trying to drink herbal tea instead but its a little tough. Oh, and Im going to fast on Sunday.] WE HADNT EVEN TAUGHT HIM THAT YET! He just does a lot of homework on the church page. HE IS AMAZING! Such a blessing from Above.

Susana also is doing well and we love her so much. Carla is also progressing and is just trying to get over a few doubts but we know that if she just takes that one little leap of faith that she will get her answers. I have realized that a lot on my mission. Sometimes I just need to knock the last door, walk a little further, or talk to the last person on the street and that is when the miracles come

I love the mission and I love this gospel so much. IT IS SO TRUE!

All my love,

Hermana Kelson 1

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

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Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 
Viña del Mar, Chile

WHO DOES THAT?!

Hola Todos!

What a week of miracles! We had some people drop us. . normal. And some people TOTALLY flurish. Susana, for example is So excited for her baptism and going strong. She even volunteered to help the Relief Society at 6 am! WHO DOES THAT!? She is awesome! She needs your prayers!

Also we found some other great new investigators and have had some great miracles! I just feel so happy and so blessed! One of these miracles is Julio. We got a text from the offices in Salt Lake for a reference named Julio. He has a few LDS friends and he is a SELF REFERENCE from the webpage of the church. WHO DOES THAT?! Anyway, we called him and he was like [I am working but Ill be at church on Sunday]. And Sunday there he was! In a shirt and tie and so happy to be there. LITERALLY GOLD! 

Also we found out yesterday that my companion is leaving. They are breaking us up right at a moment of miracles! WHO DOES THAT?! But we are excited for change and new adventures. It was crazy to help her pack after seven and a half months!

Also Hermana Stauffer and I sometimes read things in British accents just to amuse ourselves and then they turn out like a latino british accent and then we laugh ourselves silly. WHO DOES THAT?!

The truth of the matter is that sometimes miracles happen. And we think WHO DOES THAT!? And its Heavenly Father. And sometimes we make mistakes. Even big ones and we think WHO DOES THAT?! But we all do. And sometimes we use the atonement that was a priced payed by a perfect brother. And we think WHO DOES THAT?! And He is our Savior. I know that Heavenly Father blesses us. I know that the atonement is real. I know I am wholly imperfect but that His love is wholly perfect and fills every empty space of me.

I love you all!

OLAY!

Hermana Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

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Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 
Viña del Mar, Chile