Good Intentions

Hola Todos!

I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to help me change. Goodness. I have learned so much this week. He takes us out of our comfort zones and makes us become more like him.

Meet this little dragonfly we found!

This week we found a new famliy to teach. The mom is named Maria and her daughter is Franchesca. Maria is the hardest worker I have ever met. She has 4 daughters that she provides for, is single, and didnt even finish elementary school. She has such a positive attitude aobut life. Even though she cant read very well she has been trying to read the Book of Mormon. We taught about temples with their family (a new tatic we are trying to invite people to be baptized which is AMAZING!) and we inviting them to be bapitized. The Spirit was SO strong and they said yes if they feel it is right. Straight up milagros!!

This week our toilet got clogged and went WACKO! I wont go into details but lets just say it was GROSS! We had to buy a powder that I am pretty sure wouldnt be legal in the US without a license because it has a chemical reaction and explodes. You ahve to use a mask and gloves to use it. Which I didnt have so we improvised. Pictures included. :)

This week we used the bikes a lot. It has been a while since I have been on a bike and my tushy is feelin it but it has been really fun too. I got a break from the bikes when we did exchanges and I got to know even more wonderful hermanas! It was Hermana Hill´s (she is in the picture with me) birthday this week so we decided to make her brownies. Our only pan was a circular one so they cooked really weird and looked a little burned on top. We decided to put powered sugar on top but only had normal sugar. We put it in the blender and put it on top without trying them because we just trusted that it would be alright. Turns out the ¨powdered sugar¨ was actually salt. Talk about nasty! I was thinking about how many times I do that in my spiritual life as well. Sometimes I have really good intentions and do the work at hand but not the way that is asked. Thus the results are less than desirable. We see this in scripture study, saying our prayers, visiting teaching, schooling, etc. . . We do the task at hand but without the necessary ingrediants. For example reading our scriptures but just opening to whichever palce and reading 3 verses and calling it our scripture study. It doesnt work like that. LIfe is SO much sweeter when we follow ALL the directions that God gives us. Luckily, He still sees our good intentions and blesses us still. He is so merciful. 

Also conference was the bomb and I have lots of things to improve. 

I love you all dearly!

All my love,

Hermana Kelson 1

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

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Beggining of The End

Hola Todos!

What a week! Let me just go day by day
Monday: We had a Zone activity in Valpo and went to an art museum and ate the best churrasco of my life. (its like a heartattack on steriods) That night we went to visit Claudio: the husband of a wonderful member. He has heard about the church his whole life and suddenly this week decided he wanted to be baptized. (he got his answer) We showed up on Monday and he said he wanted to be baptized and we put the date for Saturday! HE WAS BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY!! Miracles in Placilla!

Tuesday: I had to say goodbye. I never thought I would love Placilla so much but I did. And all those people. I am crying now just thinking about it. 

Wednesday: CAMBIOS! Here I am in Olmue with Hermana Cordova. She is from Chile! You might recognize her because we were in the CCM together. SHe goes home the next transferr though. She is 25 years old, a convert of 3 years, and spunky, funny, and amazing. AND I get to be a real Chilean for my last 6 weeks. YESS!

Thursday: I got to know the sector. Its a little on the downlow so we are trying to pick things back up. But the house here is the ritziest of the whole mission. IT IS LIKE BEING ON VACACION!

Friday: CONSEJO de Lideres. It was amazing. My favorite part was when Presidente talked about Emma Smith. I gave my farewell testimony which is weird because I still have 6 weeks left but thats okay.

Saturday: Ward party. The ward is great and the people are so loving. Its a little pueblo so everyone knows each other but it is so fun. We ate lots of Chilean food and watched the Cueca. 

Sunday: I got permission to go to Carlas baptism.After speaking in my ward then I went and spoke at the baptism. Carla just glowed. I love that woman so much. It was so happy. Then lunch with hermana y Elder Gould. :) And ended the night with a NDH in the capilla. 

This week I am learning that Heavenly Father loves us enough to let us grow. If He didnt let us change, we would never become like Him. I am grateful for changes however hard they are.

I love you all!

Hermana Kelson

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

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Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 
Viña del Mar, Chile

Leaving the Comfort Zone

Hola Todos!

CARLA IS GETTING BAPTIZED! I AM BEING TRANSFERRED! Goodness glaceres what a week! We have literally seen more miracles this week than in my whole mission! I am so incredibly happy and so incredibly sad at the same time. Let me explain.

On Monday Carla calls us on our way to a NDH and she says she wants to be baptized. My companion was on the phone while I was talking with our investigator. When she gets off the phone she asks [What day of the week is the 24th and 25th of March?] My eyes got wide but we didnt talk about it until we got home and she said that Carla had made the decision to be baptized!!!!!!! The joy I feel is not even describable. I love this woman so much and am so happy that after 8 months she is making this big step. This was right after we had fasted on Sunday for Carla and for many investigators. It was the easist fast I had ever done because I was so focused on these people and in such need of miracles. FASTING BRINGS MIRACLES. She will be baptized this Sunday.

Julio recieved the Priesthood and goes to the temple the first time this Saturday.

 

Look at this weird tasty thing. Don't even know what it is called but it is a literal leg of dried meat. Talk about presentation!

 

 

Another miracle: in the morning we were walking and being rejected by everyone and their dog (because there are so many stinkin dogs here) and I just had a breakdown and started crying. It was a hard morning and I was just stressed out. After sitting and talking it out with my companion and being like [what is even my problem!? We do this everyday! We got this!] and getting back on our feet this guy in his car stops us and says [HEY ELDERS!] We walk over and try to explain that we are Hermanas. And he goes, [Oh sorry. I am less active and want to go back to church. Also my son here in the backseat is 10 and wants to be baptized.] I think I had to catch my jaw before it dropped. We took down their info and scheduled an appointment. My companion and I waited for him to drive out of sight before doing a happy dance and laughing and crying like fools. 

Carola twisted her ankle hard time this week. :( Right when we were helping her go to so many members homes (by walking) and she was progressing so much was right when the opposition came. She got really dehearted by it too. She is on rest and cant even work right now. But she recieved a blessing and is doing better. 

 

You know you are missionary when you eat celestial food. jajaja

In thinking about Opposition this week we also saw the new Joseph Smith first vision video (https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-06-01-joseph-smiths-first-vision?lang=eng).

 Es impresionante. Joseph, too, had to experience opposition while looking for the remission of his sins. We will all experience opposition. Especially when trying to repent. But that just means we are doing the right thing. Repentance is always the right and best thing to do. 

I am sadly being transferred from Placilla and my dear companion hermana Olsen. My heart is literally breaking. I have already bawled my eyes out but I am so excited for new adventures. Even if it is just for the last change. Heavenly Father will always take us from our comfort zones to help us grow and change.

Sorry for the novel today. I love you all!

Hermana Kelson 1

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

WRITE LEAH!

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 
Viña del Mar, Chile

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

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

WRITE LEAH!

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

WRITE LEAH!

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

WRITE LEAH!

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

leah.kjeldsen@myldsmail.net

WRITE LEAH!

Hermana Leah Kelson

4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631 
Viña del Mar, Chile