A Letter to Dad

Zone Conference

Hey DaD!! 

I absolutely cannot wait to see and talk to you in 3 DAYS!!!!!!!!!! Please make sure you have a christmas mate to celebrate the occasion and connect with those Argentine roots! 

Que bueno that the Gilmore is home! It's so great seeing missionaries return home and the differences within them. If they were good before, they are exceedingly better and it's like (Name of missionary here) 2.0. Tell me how his talk goes! 

My companion and I have had such a good week! We have really been working on being more diligent, and the blessings have been coming as a result of our efforts. We are teaching one mujer named Maria Isabel who is de oro!  She absorbs everything we are teaching and has such an eagerness and willingness to apply everything we are teaching.  We also found a family this week!  We haven’t been able to meet with them again, but they are prepared to receive the gospel and hopefully we will see more progress from them!  We are really looking for more people to teach since our sector doubled in size and the elders who had it before was not teaching anyone.  Our sector is tan cuico (rich) so sometimes it’s a little more difficult finding people to teach, but there are people prepared everywhere and we just have to look hard and be diligent to find them! 

I don’t have any breastfeeding puppy stories, but one thing that was kind of funny that happened this week was when we had divisiones.  Our coordinadora is new and she told me she was nervous for this because it was her first divisione as a coordinadora. I kind of thought to myself (why are you nervous Im the one that has to lead the sector!!) so I told her she had nothing to worry about.  At the moment, the bus arrived to take us, and the other 4 elders in our ward back to Machali from Rancagua.  We all climbed in the micro like normal and I gave the driver my pesos.  The bus then lurched forward and started driving and as I looked behind me I saw that the micro had left WITHOUT. MY. COMPANION. 

My mouth was hanging open and I was just in shock that that had actually happened, that my mind just froze and I couldn’t remember how to say stop in spanish!  I was thinking, chuta, do I jump off the bus to stay with my companion or wait for her to try and jump on the micro....all while watching her face of disbelief grow farther and farther away from the micro. Luckily, the elders say my dilemma and yelled "Pare! Pare!" for the bus to stop. She got on the micro, and just looked at me with a face that said  "this is why I was worried".  I just started laughing and laughing along with the rest of the missionaries.  The rest of the division went great, but now I always make sure my companion is on the micro before me! :p 

Hopefully you thought that story was a funny.  I thought it was, but sometimes you just have to be there! 

The missionary work is going so much better. They actually don;t have a lot of pan dulce here! For sweets they eat these really light wafers that have manjar (dulce de leche) a dentro and are always snacking on cookies and crackers! They also have an obsession with jugo and bebida to a point where they actually get kind of offended if you ask for water.......and they usually give you one of the 2 anyways!  It reminds me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding "you don;t eat no meat?!?!?!   Thats okay I make you lamb". Here in Chile "You don;t want bebida?!?!?! That’s okay I’ll make you jugo".  It’s been really fun getting to know the members, they LOVE the missionaries. We have several viejitas in our ward that are like our grandmothers. They always bring us dulces in church, and sign up all the time to make us lunch. We also have a ton of go to families that are like our older friends. Don;t worry, I don’t have a replacement mom, dad, or brother here in Chile, you guys still have those titles down pat :) 

My companion and I have really been fighting to do everything with exactness and give every ounce of our efforts in cada cosa and finish the day knowing we gave everything. One huge blessing that has come from this, is Maria Isabel.  We contacted her our first day as a companionship and it had to have been one of the most awkward contacts of my life, but by some miracle she let us in her house and we have been teaching her ever since!  She is so eager to learn everything, and even more importantly apply everything into her life!  She even made a flow chart about the relationship between various people in the Book of Mormon as she studies!  We absolutely love her and I have learned so much seeing her grow. One of the things that has really hit me about her is how much she treasures the Book of Mormon.  After reading it, and when we returned to her house to talk about it, she got really emotional and said "I just had no idea....why didn’t anyone tell me this before?".   Well, that’s kind of the whole purpose that we are here in Chile and specifically Machali!  Maria Isabel treasures the Book of Mormon, and recognizes it as the guide to help her in her life like all of us should.   I have learned so much about the Book of Mormon, but especially how much we need to place it as a priority in our lives.  I seriously have no idea what I was doing before the mission and think all the time why the heck did I NOT study it every single day for an hour???  It was always something good in my life and something that was always there, but it wasn’t placed in the highest regard as it should.  It is a gift from our Heavenly Father, specifically for us and for our benefit. There’s a lot of people that wonder why they haven’t received answers to their questions, and usually its because they aren’t also diligently reading the scriptures.  I love the line from the hymn "what more can He say than to you He hath said?".   Our Heavenly Father has blessed us with another testament of Jesus Christ to guide us and receive answers, and if we aren’t doing our part to study it, we only miss out on the blessings and knowledge of what He has already given us.  I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true, and that through it we are able to receive the revelation we need to aid us in our lives.  We have everything we need to attain a fulness of joy in this life and the next, and the Bible junto with the Book of Mormon give us the blueprint on how to do so.  I love this gospel, and know with all my heart that it’s true. I never want to go back to the way I was before the mission, but that’s why we always keep moving forward and always look up :) I love you padres and cant wait to see you IN 3 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) 

DOMINIQUE'S ADDRESS:

SISTER DOMINIQUE NICOLE TEMPLE
CHILE RANCAGUA MISSION
ALCALDE EDUARDO MELERO 883
CASILLA 2-C
RANCAGUA
CHILE

A bunch of changes.

 I've been thinking alot this week about the things I learned specifically from Hermana Rodriguez (besides basically everything about the mish). She was one of the sweetest and most humble people I know. 

Thank you so much for the package!!!! I got it last week, and was going to wait to open it, but Hma Rodriguez LOVES opening packages so we opened parts of it. JUSTO that you sent AMAZING boots, because the next day we had a freak rainstorm and it would have ruined my other shoes, not to mention I would have been way cold! THANK YOU. I'll thank you more over skype when I open the rest, It has been so nice having all of my favorite treats and they are all things I haven't seen here in chile so its like a piece of home is with me :) One more thanksgiving and then I'll be home with you, that's a definite brightside and I hear it goes by faster after the first 6 months so thats a plus too :) 

Today has been hard. We just dropped off hma rodriguez at the mission home, and there has been a lot of crying this whole week, but especially today. She was so much more than my trainor, she was one of my best friends and I love her. She is going to be taken care of in Peru and has solid plans for the future, but it still hurts to see her go :/ Ive been thinking alot this week about the things I learned specifically from Hermana Rodriguez (besides basically everything about the mish). She was one of the sweetest and most humble people I know. She was ALWAYS serving others and making little things for people to let them know that were loved and remembered. She taught me more about how to have patience and humility. I have always faltered in the things she excels in, and I know that I had her specifally to hellp put me on the path to develop these christlike attributes. Still have a looooong way to go, but there's a start! Really everything in our lives hangs on our ability to develop these attributes and for this we were given the example of Christ to follow. I am so grateful for my compie and feel so bad all the time that she had to have me!  But it is what it is and she has given me the knowledge and example to apply with the people I am with after her :) 

So this cambio brought a bunch of changes.  I'm going to receive my new companion tomorrow.  I only know this: her name is Hermana Ribeyro and she's from Brasil. She has the same time out on the mission as I do and I've heard she is insanely sweet and has a really good heart. Can't wait to get to know her and work :)  It will be hard though, because our sector has also changed.  I will have to direct the sector in Machali which is rough because I'm still figuring it out, but in addition to this also our sector was expanded so there's a large new area I am not familiar with AT ALL and there are no investigators or anything from the elders that had that part before so we are starting from the bottom up to get it working...this is called "whitewash".  Been a little stressed out anticipating this change, but it will be better when she gets here and we are able to jump in and start working.  I'm glad you liked the pictures! :) Haha right?? They really grow from boys to men during the mission! 

They really grow from boys to men during the mission!