August 22, 2016

Hola familia!!  

This week has been really great!! 

In our zone we have been working afulaso(a lot/so hard)!! We had 959 contacts 47 new investigators and 21 investigators in the church in one week! We have ten companionships in our zone. We are leading the mission by far and we can really see a difference in our areas! We were super excited! Hermana Harpole and I had to plan a zone activity and it turned out super well!! We did minute to win it games! Then at the end w did toilet paper dress up with the zone leaders and played ultimate Frisbee! It was a blast and everyone seemed to like it!  

I can't remember if I mentioned this last week, but we found a new family to teach. The thing about Uruguay is that NO ONE is married so of course this cute little family is not married. Well we had our second charla(lesson) with them this week and in the first charla the dad said that he didn't believe in marriage, right? So when we had our second charla we invited them to be baptized and they said they had already talked about it and that they wanted to be baptized. So I explained what the requisites(requirements) were and they said okay we will get married then. Just like that! Then they came to church on Sunday and stayed for al three hours!! Talk about miracles right!! 

Also, Antonio received the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday and he was soooo happy!  

Another fun adventure that happened this week is that my companion and I got lost in the middle of Montevideo at six in the morning this week! We had intercambios (Kim here...exchanges-this is where they change companions for the day) in another area with our sister training leaders and I didn't know how to get back. Well they told me any bus going to Montevideo would end at the bus terminal and from there I knew how to get home...Well it turns out that was a lie. But we were able to find our way to another bus terminal and get home. I was actually quite impressed that I knew enough about Montevideo to know what to ask and how to get there!! The mission is always an adventure to say the least!  

So that is about all that I have for you this week! I have just really enjoyed working with the members and talking to EVERYONE! My comp and I did 81 contacts this week and we have sooo many charlas lined up! We are just flooding the earth with the gospel, I guess you could say!! But I love you all very much and I hope you all have a great week! 

Love, 

Hermana Rich

 

Hermana Rich in Meronas

Zone Activity

More zone activity fun

Hermana Rich & Harpole




Hermanas Peay, Rich, Harpole and Paul

Hermana Rich & Harpole

August 15, 2016

Hello Family!! 

This week has been full of some fun adventures!! It started out with a letter from my mission president asking if I thought that it was safe to have hermanas in our area because of some things that have been going on. He wanted to put elders in last week but after a few phone calls and letters we were able to make a deal! We get to stay in our area as long as we have a memeber with us every where we go and we do our studies in the night!! I was really grateful because we have sooo much progress in our area! We had a baptism this week and we fouind 4 new investigators!!  

Yesterday one of our investigators dropped us and I was really feeling a little stressed because we don't have anymore investigators that are progressing. So we said a prayer right there in the middle of the street that the Lord woudl help us find at least one new investigator. Well after knocking on doors for about 45 minutes no one wanted to listen to us. But we felt impressed to talk to a couple doing laundry outside. So we went over and they invited us in to have a lesson!! They are a cute little family with two little kids! They said they want to start going to church and are so grateful that God put us in their lives!! Crazy right? It was really a testimony builder for me that this is really the Lord's work and that he really is preparing people for us! 

Speaking of preparing people, Antonio got baptized this week!! It was a great baptism and in his testimony he even quoted scriptures from the Book of Mormon! A great ending to a contact no? He was literally the last contact before we went in for the night and the first thing he told us is that he would never go to a church!! I was sooo excited for him!!  

So this week I have started reading the Book of Mormon only in Spanish! I tried doing it at the beginning of my mission and I really didn't feel like I was getting a whole lot out of it scripture wise because of the language barrier but now I am learning so much because I understand but have to pay attention to every single word! It made me think about how I am really studying the scriptures. I think sometimes we take for granted the tools that the Lord has given us. If we aren't really reading and meditating we aren't going to get anything out of it. Meditation really is key! Just look at Nephi when he had his own tree of life vision he was sitting and meditating what his dad had told him and that is when the spirit taught him! (1 Nephi 11:1). 

So my challenge to you all is to think in what way you can better your scriptures studies. I promise as you do so you will learn so much more and feel the scriptures come to life in your life! The Book of Mormon was written for us in these times! I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week full of miracles!! 

Love, 

Hermana Rich

 

Hermana Rich



Liliana and Hermana Rich making milanesas



Hermana Rich and her homemade milanesas.  She loves them!

 



Hermana Harpole and Hermana Rich at Temple Conference

August 8, 2016

FINALLY!!!!  We got pictures this week!  I'm so grateful for things that I took for granted before, like pictures!  Mackenzie has been  busy and had a great week!  Thank you to all of you for checking in to see what she is doing!  Love you all and have a wonderful week!
Kim

 

 

Hello everyone!! It is crazy to think another week has come and gone!! We have had a crazy week! We have been working really hard and as a result we found three new investigators!! 

Something else exciting is that Pokemon Go has finally come to Uruguay and is every where! We had to kick a stranger off the church grounds during a charla(lesson) because he was searching for Pokemon! It was really awkward, not going to lie! But it was pretty funny too!  

I had my cumplimes this past week, 8 months!!(This means she hit her 8 month mark.  In the mission it is like a birthday) We had lunch with the familia Echaves and they made me asado with vegetables and apple cake!! It is my favorite food here and it was sooo good! Then one of the sons drew me a picture of the LA temple! It was a really good cumpli mes! 

This week was also full of miracles! We have been working with Antonio for three months now and he had always had doubts about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Well two days ago I asked him how he felt and he sat there for a little bit and then told us that he knows it is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God!! The next day we asked about tithing, something we have been fighting with, and he says he is going to pay it because he knows it is the right thing to do. MIRACLES!! He is getting baptised on Saturday and I am soooooo excited for him!  

He really made me have a testimony in the Lord's timing. He had listened to missionaries before and had even lived next to the temple before but never wanted anything. And with the Lord doing his part he is going to make an eternal promise with God and receive all of these blessings that He wants to give him! 

I want you to know that I know this gospel is true and that Heavenly Father loves us! The Book of Mormon is true and is a map for how we should live our lives. I love you all and I hope you have a great week! 

Love 

Hermana Rich

 

 

August 1, 2016

Kim here....Another week of no pictures!!!!!!!!!  Such a bummer!  Hopefully we can get it rectified soon!  But here is this week's email.  Thanks for reading the blog and have a wonderful week!

 

 

Hello Everyone!!

 

So this week has been full of rain, miracles, and the temple!!

This week we received a red alert with the weather. That means that we can't go out and work because it is wayyy too dangerous. We got soaked on the way home...I mean completely soaked which then led to the flu. It was great!

 

One of the greatest miracles this week was Antonio. He had a disagreement with our ward mission leader in Sunday school last week and left church early. Well when we stopped by on Monday and he told us that when he left the church building he told himself he was never going back. But then he started to pray and he kept praying until he felt better again! He said he prayed all the rest of the day. Then on Sunday one of the speakers shared an experience from their baptism and he came up to us after church and said he wanted to know how his baptism program would go so he could be prepared!! It was so great! We also had our convert's dad start listening to the charlas(lessons) with his wife this week as well as the sons of one of our investigators! They are two great families and we are so excited!

 

This week I have really learned to trust in the Lord's plan because He knows so much better than we do. For example, on our way to the temple today Hermana Peay forgot her temple recommend so her and I ran back to get it. Well when we got back to the house we realized we had left the stove on and for some reason there was only gas leaving from it. Really, the Lord's plan is perfect and there are not coincidences. He loves us so much that he plans every single detail for us. I hope you can all try and see the bigger picture a little bit more and see the Lord's hand in your lives. Like Proverbs 3.5-6 trust in the Lord and lean not unto thine own understanding!

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Hermana Rich

July 25, 2016

Hello Everyone!

It was another good week for Mackenzie, but unfortunately still no pictures!  That's a little rough on the mom, not gunna lie!  But I'm keeping positive thoughts that next Monday will have pictures!  So here is this week's letter from Hermana Rich!!!!!

Hello family!!

This week has been a very interesting one to say the least!! It was full of water problems and of course miracles!!

 

As for the water problems...we had our kitchen flood with water from our sink and we had no hot water for four days. So we boiled hot water to shower and I got down saw we had some pipe problems with our sink. I tried to fix it but couldn't so our Ward mission leader came and fixed it for us hahaha. I am definitely learning a lot on the mission! 

 

This week we had three investigators at church and this past week we found four investigators. In total we have seven really solid investigators! Two have a baptismal date for August and we plan to put two more this week! 

 

The Lord really does pull his weight out here! We had an investigator that said she didn't want to get baptized and didn't know if she ever would and in our second charla (lesson) she asked what she needed to do to be baptized!! A complete change of heart, and I know it was all because of the Lord!

Something I learned this  week from a conference we had was that love is the "because" of everything. God loves us so he sends us commandments and we keep the commandments "because" we love him. Everything that we do is an act of love for Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. When I heard this I thought about Mosiah 2:41 when it talks about the happy state of those that keep the commandments. I know that if we keep the commandments we will be blessed. I actually have a funny story to go with that. My companion and  I were doing a contact in the street and at the end this lady said she had a question that she had always wanted to ask the missionaries. So then she asks us why we are always running to our house at night haha. It was a great opportunity to bear testimony of keeping the commandments or in this case the rules of the mission! But I know that as we keep the commandments we will not only be happy in this life but in the life to come! I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Hermana Rich

 

July 18, 2016

Hi everyone,

Kim again.  Unfortunately, no pictures this week.  The computer at the church wasn't working right so Mackenzie couldn't get any of the pictures to load.  Such a bummer!  And she said she had some great ones of their "Missionary Carnival."  Oh well...I'm hoping it's fixed so we can get pictures next week!  Keeping my fingers crossed!

Have a good week,
Kim

Hola familia!!  

This week was a very cold one but full of miracles!!  

Unfortunately we lost our baptism for this week but it was probably for the best. He wasn't willing to live up to the standards of the gospel but plans on trying again when he gets back from vacation in a month! But in return we got another baptismal date with Romi. She is the mother of my convert, Marcelo!! We also had 4 investigators in church this past week!! Antonio, Jorge, Fernando, and a friend from a member. This week we also found three new investigators!  

Last night we had quite the adventure. We came home from work and the lights went out immediately... so we planned in the dark...and got ready in the dark. Our bishop came and come to find out the electricity in our house is a disaster so we have to get it all redone! But at least we had gas to heat our study room while we waited for him to come!  

Today we had the GREATEST activity! We did a carnival with bounce houses, cotton candy, sports, and lots of food! It was so awesome and we had a HUGE turn out!! We are really changing the feel for missionary work in our rama!! So far we have three baptisms planned for the next three weeks, we will see if they turn out!! But either way the work is progressing a ton! 

This week we had a workshop...I can't think of the right word in english right now, about when Christ asks peter Do you love me? The elders then showed a video from Elder Holland explaining if we love our savior we can never go back to who we were before the mission. It really hit how that is so true. But not just for me, but for everyone. Every single one of us have been called to the work and we can never go back. Once we have had a spiritual experience we are changed and we can never go back to being that same person again if we truly love the Savior. I would like to invite you all to think of how you can show your love for the savior a little more as you work on your own personal progression. Change is never easy but it is necessary. I know that my mission has changed me forever and honestly, I never want to go back to the person I was forever. This calling that I have is eternal and I intend on magnifying it to the best of my abilities for the rest of my life. I didn't really understand that when I came out on the mission but now I do. I do and always will because I have a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us and sent his son to atone for all our sins. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and brings us closer to Jesus Christ. I know that this is His church and He sits at the very head of it leading and guiding his Leaders to help us achieve the goals that our Heavenly Father has set for us. I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!

 

Love,

Hermana Rich

July 11, 2016

Hello Everyone!

Kim here.  So along with all of the amazing missionary work that took place this week,  all of the sisters in the zone got permission to do a little sight seeing so they went to Maldanado and had a great time!  Pictures at the end!  Hope you all have a great week and thanks for checking the blog!

Kim

Hello Fam!!

This week has been so great!! A week full of miracles, adventures, and rain haha. But overall a fantastic week!   

The biggest miracle of the week is that ANTONIO CAME TO CHURCH!! The first thing he ever told us was that he would never go to church and then this week after a lot of work he committed to come! In the end he told us he absolutely loved it and is coming back next week! After a month the man finally came and it was nothing like he thought! I didn't know whether tro smile, cry or sing for joy!! The Lord is so amazing and defintiely does his part out here! 

This week we also found two new investigators! They are both getting over drug addiction and have such strong desires to change their lives! 

We have also had a lot of rain in the last few days and I didn't think I would ever see dry land again, honestly. But the Lord pulled through and it was actually an amzing day out yesterday!! To celebrate we made a confetti cake from the states. We were all so excited we didn't wait to frost it and just ate the frosting with our cake from a spoon. Haha the life of missionaries... it's great! 

This week I have been thinking alot about Alma 26:12. I love this scripture so much. It relates to my mission sooo much. I am far from perect. I am not the perfect missionary, member, daughter or person. But yet, the Lord has allowed me to be an instrument in his hands and as a result I have had a front row seat to the miracles that the Lord is performing. The Lord is so aware of us and what we need in our lives. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows us each personally and loves us. He knows exactly what we need to learn and grow. He will never give us a challenge that we cannot overcome. That is one thing I have learned on the mission. My mission has not been the easiest thing in the world but I have learned sooo much and I wouldn''t trade it for anything in the world. I know I am not perfect but the Lord is helping me develop the attributes I need to be able to do his work his way. I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week! 

Love always,

Hermana Rich

Hermana Rich & Harpole in Maldanado

Uruguay Montivideo Mission