May 10, 2016

Hello everyone!  Kim here.  You've probably noticed that I've been a little behind in updating the blog...sorry!  But it's up to date now and just to keep you all in the loop, our Mother's Day Skype Call was fantastic!  Mackenzie looked great and her Spanish was like WOW!  It looked like her and the voice sounded like her, but the words coming out were like a native Spanish speaker.  It was crazy!  She is still absolutely loving her mission and is growing and changing by leaps and bounds!  I am grateful for all she has learned so far in this last 5 months. And in case any of you are counting like I am, we are almost 1/3 of the way there!  We love you all and are so grateful for your love and support of Mackenzie!

Love,
Kim

Hey guys!! 

This week was pretty great! Let's be honest, every week in Uruguay is fantastic haha! But we had our Mother's day call, changes, miracles, and everything else in between! 

Let's start with the miracles. We found a new investigator this week! She is really awesome. We were walking home from the bus terminal and decided to go contact a reference before we went home! Well this reference gave us another reference and that is how we found Sara. Sara is an older woman and when we clapped at her door she immediately let us in! She said she had been going to an evangelical church and now she was going to listen to us!! It was really cool. Then we went back for our second lesson and she had a full blown tea party ready for us!! We weren't complaining..it is really cold here and who is going to deny a precious old lady with warm cake who wants to learn about the gospel? Haha anyways that was one of my favorite miracles of the week! 

Then our skype call was so great! It was amazing to sit and talk with everyone, even if it was 20 minutes later than expected. We had some technical difficulties but that is okay! It was really fun to see all of Laynie Bug's fun tricks! Plus seeing everyone just gave me more motivation to work harder!!  

Now as for changes!! Me voy! I am going to Maroñas, Toledo! I am going to be with a Valiente ( that means this is their last change in the mission!), Hermana Davila. Yes, the time has come for me to have a latina companion. Let's face it, it was long overdue. I actually had ALOT of mixed emotions. I love Florida and all of the amazing people here. I love my companion, my district, my zone, everything! I really didn't want to leave my oro area para nada. I was really nervous at first! I didn't think my Spanish was good enough to have a latina companion yet. I had just learned all of my area and didn't feel like I was ready to learn another one! But then Proverbs 2:5 and 6 came into my mind. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. This scripture brought me so much peace of mind.  I can't rely on my own knowledge. Heavenly Father knows so much better than I what I need and what the people of Uruguay need. I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me and that I am meant to go to Maroñas with Hermana Davila now! I am excited to see what the Lord has prepared for me in my new area! I guess you could say I am a real missionary now!  

I know that we don't always get what we want in life but we just have to trust in Heavenly Father and HIS plan. I know that he hears and answers our prayers. I was actually thinking alot about prayer this week and how my prayers have changed and developed just in my mission and it made me think of Grandpa. When Grandma and Grandpa lived up the street from us we would have our Friday night sleepovers. Every night without fail Grandpa was there on his knees praying and I remember thinking..what is taking him so long!! I always had some random thought to tell him but I would always have to wait until he was done praying. Now I understand what took him so long! We can literally talk to our Heavenly Father about whatever we want! We can talk to him about what happened in our day, what we are going to do tomorrow, what we are feeling, literally anything. And the amazing part is he WANTS to hear about it. I know that we can always find answers in the Book of Mormon. I know that we have prophets on the Earth today to lead us and guide us! I love this gospel with all my heart and I am so grateful for the peace and comfort it brings to my life. I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week! Maroñas here I come! 

Love, 

Hermana Rich




Hermana Rich sporting the Hawaii shirt Kellie sent her



Hermana Rich & Familia Torena

Hermanas Rich & Paul and Familia Torena



Hermana Rich & Angelina



Hermana Rich & Juan



Hermana Rich & Familia Rodrigues

Hermana Rich & Familia Leal

Hermanas Rich & Paul and President & Sister Tabo

Hermana Rich eating her favorite milenesa!

May 2, 2016

Hola family and friends! 

This week was really good! We had our baptism on Saturday!! 

The baptism was seriously so smooth! Our bishop Presidente Tabo planned all of it! All we had to do was show up and do a musical number with the elders! The following day Franco was confirmed and received the sacerdocio (priesthood)! The really exciting part was that his parents were there for all of it!! It was really amazing. We had youth do all of the program! We also had our investigator Raquel there! She said she loved seeing all the youth there and she is going to try and bring her son! The Lord really is just preparing people for us every where we go! 

On that note we also found a new investigator this week! It was a reference that we contacted! Her name is Sara and she is an old woman. We clapped at her door and when we explained who we were she said invited us in and told us she wanted to hear about the message that we had! What? It was so fantastic and she is the sweetest old lady!  

We also had our entrevistas(interviews) with President cook this past week! He told me that pretty much all of the Hermanas this change are going to be switched up and to be prepared because I am most likely not staying in my area! I was sooo sad. I mean I know it is coming but I just love my area and the people so much. We are finally starting to see so much progress here and we work so well with the members. At church yesterday we had three menos activo families in the church and three investigators! And every single one of them were sitting with a member! Then to add on top of that every person who bore their testimony welcomed Franco into the ward and said something to his parents! But I know that where ever I get sent to next is where the Lord needs me!  

So this week I wanted to share a scripture in Mosiah 7:33! I really just love this scripture. But something that really stood out to me this morning as I was reading it is that the Lord will help us according to HIS will. The scriptures don't say that we will get what we want when we want it. In the Lord's time and in the Lord's way will get what we need. I have been thinking alot about how to align my will with the Lord´s because that is an obvious part of consegration ( I think that is what it is in English). But the law of consegration..or maybe it is consecration...? Anyways, that law doesn't just apply to missionaries we can be consecrated in any moment in our lives if we choose too! But like the scripture also says we have to serve him with all diligence of mind! I know that as we strive to align our will with the Lord's we will become better instruments in the Lord's hands. I have seen that so many times in my mission and I know I will be blessed to see more as I do my part! I love this gospel, I love my mission, and I love my savior! I hope you all have a fantastic week and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! 

Love, 

Hermana Rich

Franco, his parents, Hermana Rich & Hermana Paul

Franco, the Young Men from the ward, Hermana Rich & Hermana Paul

Hermana Rich, Franco, Juaquin, Hermana Paul

 

April 25, 2016

Hello Dear family!

 

Another week has flown by and I am still loving the mission and all that it entails! Every week when I reflect on what has happened and what all to tell you guys I realize sooo much has happened. Good, bad, and in between, we get it all out here on the mission! But that is what makes it so fun and one part of why I love it so much!  

So to start off our week last Monday... TORNADO PREPARATION. So we were supposed to have a tornado in our area last Monday and as a result the city was going to turn the water off for 4 days. Our area is right on the edge of a big river and they were worried about water contamination. So we went on a water hunt around 7 at night. It was literally a hunt because everyone was buying water. Luckily we were able to buy some drinking water because we definitely cannot drink the water here! Then we filled up every Tupperware container we could find and old bottles for showering and that stuff. The next day, thank goodness it didn't happen we just couldn't leave the house! But we still have been getting a lot of rain so we still have a lot of water sitting around the house just in case! Better to be prepared than sorry right? But it was such an eye opener for me because let's be honest, that does NOT happen back at home hahaha!  

Now...FUNNY STORY. I don't know how many of you watch the show Friends but I definitely pulled a Rachel. There is an episode where Rachel is in a wedding and walks down the isle with her dress tucked into her underwear...yes, I pulled a Rachel. We left the house to go get our lunch (we had been in the house because I had gotten a slight flu cold thingy) Anyways I had thrown a slip under my skirt cause you know, modest is hottest. Well in my attempt to be modest I ended up doing the EXACT opposite! Nothing like a 15 minute walk to get lunch with your skirt tucked in to show the world my garments! Hahaha it was actually really funny. My companion walked behind me for a second and just said stoppppppp and fixed it hahaha. Just wanted to tell you so you all can no I am the same old me!  

Now...SERVICE PROJECT TIME! So at the bottom of our area we have an entire neighborhood who lives right by the river and also the irrigation for our city, which as you can imagine is not the greatest. Well we had crazy floods and had entire houses get swept away. Of course this didn't happen to the people who are well off, but to those who already had just about nothing to begin with. We hadn't heard anything about the flooding and we hadn't been down in that area for a while because we are trying to find new investigators in parts of our area that we don't work as much. Well one night my companion and I felt strongly impressed during our planning that we needed to go down there. We found out on of our old investigators lost everything besides her house. Her house is built up high for the floods and despite that the water almost filled up to the ceiling in her house. So we got the elders together and we went and spent an entire morning cleaning and organizing stuff. She had so much stuff to do. She ended up coming to church on Sunday for the first time this week and said she wants to be baptized! We are also working with Red Cross because we have another family with two little kids whose house got ruined from the rain, and another family whose entire house is just gone. But something Raquel said really inspired me. She said God is still my friend and at least I have my house. This woman has lost everything and she is still able to see the silver lining in this situation! She is so amazing.  

Then we have...Baptism!! Everything is going extremely well with Franco and we are having his baptism this Saturday! The cool part is his parents said they will come too! We are super super excited for him and he is too. This kid was just sooo prepared., I mean he literally found us..in the church haha. Our zone of missionaries are going to sing a musical number at the baptism so that should be fun! We are still working with Alejandro but we don't see him as much because he is getting ready to have knee surgery! So that is my week in a nutshell for ya! I hope you all have a fantastic week and know that I love you all! 

Love, 

Hermana Rich

Soccer wall

Hermana Rich & Paul at a single adult activity

Peace...in the rain!

The District

Easter package put to good use!

Hermana Rich & Del Compare

Torta Fritas!

Just lovin the mission!


 

 

April 18, 2016

Hola Familia! 

Once again this week was crazy!!! The weather here has been absolutely insane. We had a tornado in the mission next to ours, bordering our mission. We have been walking in at least seven inches of rain everyday, and my zone leaders and district leader were almost hit by lighting. Sooo as a result we couldn't go out and work yesterday! It really has been the craziest thing. We have water seeping in through the roof and everything in my proselyting bag is in zip lock bags. My bag is water proof but there is just so much rain that it seeps through! It is so crazy! So that has been our week but we have had a ton of success, igual..how do you say that in english? Uhhh.. despite the rain haha. 

This week we had intercambios and it was the first time I could work a full day in a very long time! As a result we gave out 17 folletos and found 17 future investigators, the majority of which were really awesome! The Lord definitely prepares people to receive the gospel! Speaking of which, Franco! We talked to his parents and they gave him permission to be baptized so we have a baptsim on the 30!! Yay! He is seriously so amazing and akward..which I think is why we get along so well hahaha. 

 So I wanted to share some thoughts with you guys! In Mosiah 2 verses 5 and 6 it talks about how all the people have come to listen to the profeta with their doors facing the temple. How can we have our doors facing the temple? Of course I don't mean literally,..it would be pretty cool if we could though! But the temple is our eternal goal. We can recieve the fulness of the gospel and all that the gospel has to offer in the temple. So how do we have our doors facing the temple always? By living the gospel right? But we are not perfect.  I have been thinking alot about what I want to improve on to be a better missionary, represenative of Christ, and daughter of God. The list started to get very long and I started to stress out a little bit, not going to lie. Then the scripture from 1 Nephi 3:7 came into my mind...I will go and do the things that the Lord has commanded for I know that the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men save he shall prepare a way for them. Heavenly Father knows we aren't perfect and we never will be in this life. But he does  expect to us to perfectly try..it makes sense in my head..and in spanish lol. But yeah! We just need to be trying our best everyday to live the gospel and slowly but surely our doors will not only be facing the temple, but they will stay there as we continue to strive to be the best we can be! I want to invite you all to think in what you can do this week to live the gospel of Jesus Christ in your lives a little better this week. It might be changing the music you listen to, or finding more time to read your scriptures. It doesn't matter how big or small it is, every little bit helps and the Lord will bless you for it!  I love this gospel and I know it is true without a doubt in my mind! I know that Heavenly Father is aware of every sinlge one of us and that we are his children. I hope you have a great week and recognize the hand of the Lord in your life a little more this week as you turn your doors towards the temple!

 

Love,

Hermana Rich

 

Hermana Rich & Paul "Chorizo changed my life!"

 

 

 

Another care package!