Ari-so-not-Chile....

...that is the best I have come up with for the blog.

¡Hola Familia! First of all, I want to thank ALL OF YOU for your amazing letters. I printed them off this morning and they've been a really big strength to me today. I've got all my things packed, and I am going to leave at about 5:30 my time for the airport. This week has been pretty emotional. With almost all my heart, I don't want to leave...but. There is a part of me that knows it's best, and I'm working on helping that part overwhelm the feelings of sadness. It's strange, but I've had almost the same feelings I had when I first had to leave my family to leave for the Mexico MTC. The missionaries here, the people, the members, the random guy selling band aids on the street, they all feel like family to me. It's something I can't describe. 

I got to go to the temple on Thursday! I didn't think I was going to have that opportunity, so I was excited when they called me and told me I could go! It was a really beautiful experience, the spirit was so strong, and...I UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING THEY SAID. HIGH FIVE ME PLEASE SOMEONE.

The next day I got to the "Final Supper" for the missionaries who are leaving the mission this transfer. Usually this meal only consists of people who have ended their full-time missions, but this time was a little different...because three of us were switching missions. There was me and Hermana Berbert (who is also headed to Tempe, Arizona!) and also Hermana Schmidt, who is headed to Riverside, California. The food was good, then we had a really spirit-filled testimony meeting.

Hermana Kenney is going to train! I'm actually really excited for her! She's going to be awesome. Ugh. I really am going to miss her! She's been such a blessing for me, because she really has become one of my best friends. I know that God put us together because He knew that I'd need a really good friend when I had to go through changing missions.

Oh, man...I'm pretty sure all my bags are going to be BARELY OVER WEIGHT. I'm only allowed to have 23 kg in each bag, and I'm telling you, if they're not over weight, GOD MUST LOVE ME because they will be BARELY AND I MEAN BARELY EXACTLY 23 kg. I'll let you know how that goes.

I love Cachapoal! I have been here for three transfers, and I think I could have been here for three more, honestly. I didn't realize how much I'd miss the members until yesterday after church, saying goodbye to all of them! I was surprised that some of them were sad to see me go, since I didn't feel I'd gotten to know them very well! I re-learned the lesson yesterday that you don't have to know everything about a person to love them so much! Because we are all brothers and sisters. Also, the wards love their missionaries...and vise-verse! 

I'm sorry, but I don't have much time left...I hope this letter didn't seem like a downer! I'm so excited to start this new adventure in Tempe, Arizona! It's been an interesting journey up until this point. I can't wait to see what more God has in store for me to learn and to grow from! 

Please keep reading your scriptures and praying every night! And GO TO CHURCH. Holy cow, go to church. I promise that next week I'll have a more interesting letter. There will be so many new things to tell you! I didn't have my journal with me since it's all packed up...if I forgot anything interesting from this week, I'll stick it in next week!

It's been real, Chile! I'll see you soon!

LOVE, HERMANA THOMAS

LET'S JUST GET DOWN TO THE NITTY-GRITTY NOW SHALL WE.

HerMama Thomas' note: We learned that McKenna will serve the rest of her mission as a Spanish Speaking Missionary in the United States. She needs medical treatment that is not available to her in Chile. It is a little exciting waiting to hear where she will be reassigned! It feels like waiting for her mission call all over again! We will keep you posted.  In the meantime, feel free to drop her a line at mckenna.thomas@myldsmail.net. She would probably love to hear from you--more now than ever:-).

Here is the letter we got today:

Well. I know I always say this, but this week really was interesting. Kind of...an emotional roller coaster. I still don't know exactly how to react to everything.

First of all, I'll just say that we contacted a LOT this week. A ton. Since we divided the sector, we've done a lot of that, trying to find new people to teach, filling up our investigator pool...it was a bit of a downer, because we met these two siblings in the house of their Uncle, and they really liked our message, and asked us to visit them in their house a different day to share it with the rest of their family. Apparently they've had some difficulties in their family life, and they were excited about the promises we made that the message we share blesses families. We were really excited to go to their house...but when we walked in, their mother was waiting for us there...and she said, before we even took a step in the house, "we're catholic, we're not going to change our religion, but you can come in anyway." She was nice enough, though, told us what's been going on in her family, and gave us the big, I've-heard-this-a-thousand-times lecture about how all religions lead to God. Okay...if you really believe that...two questions. One: why do you think your parents baptized you when you were a kid? and two: then why won't you change your religion. (Answers: one: it's because THEY even believed that there's one way to be saved and return to God and it's through baptism in the right church, and two: if you really think that all roads lead to Rome, why are you freaked out to listen to us?) BUT IT'S OKAY because it's just something that happens!

We weren't too bummed about it, it gave us that much more motivation to keep searching for that golden family that's been waiting for us! We also found two other siblings. They belong to some smaller christian denomination, but they invited us in and sincerely heard our message. We shared with them the message of the Restoration, and when we shared about the first vision, Aldo (22 years old) had tears in his eyes. We asked him how he felt, and he said that he couldn't explain why, but Joseph Smith's experience made him cry. His sister, although tearless, said she felt something different, too. We excitedly told them that this was the Holy Ghost testifying of something true. Aldo said, "there's a reason you two found us. I'm sure." ...it was awesome! The spirit was so strong. They didn't go to church, but we're going to keep working with them. We have an appointment tomorrow.

Sister Kenney and Sister Thomas

Then on Friday...I got a call from President Warne. As soon as I saw his name on the phone, I already knew what he was going to say. Turns out, my blood-test results came back for Tuberculosis, and I was positive. Which means my mission is being reassigned to the states this week. It felt like a part of me kind of...died. I couldn't believe it. My companion and I had a good cry as soon as we hung up. Then we kept working.

That night was really hard, I felt like I was living in a dream. I've cried quite a few times since then. I love Chile with all my heart. I've adapted so much to the culture, really tried to embrace it. I think I've said more than a few times in my letters before that I love the Chileans. These are my people. Oh man...part of me died.

But then I read a scripture that I've shared quite a few times with people we've visited the last few weeks...and I want to share it with you guys. In this chapter, Nephi has been commanded to build a boat so that him and his family can cross the sea. His brothers began to murmur, asking how God could ask such a great thing of them. Nephi, being one of the most faithful people who has probably ever lived, gives this reply to his brothers;

49 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto them that they should murmur no more against their father; neither should they withhold their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should ^abuild a ship.  

50 And I said unto them: ^aIf God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.

51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot ^ainstruct me, that I should build a ship?

Now, I want you to go back and think about which part of his reply contains the most faith in God....the first time I read these verses, I obviously thought that verse 50 did. Nephi knows that God is all-powerful. If He wanted to change the sea into land and have them cross by foot, He could do it. After all, Nephi had never built a boat before. This would be a huge challenge for him. BUT. Then a different part caught my attention: "how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?"

THIS PART, FOR ME, CONTAINS THE MOST FAITH OF NEPHI'S RESPONSE.

Many people trust that God can do anything. But few are those who know that THEY THEMSELVES can do ANYTHING as well, with the help of the Lord. If it wasn't God's will that Nephi built a ship, He would have intervened, Himself. But Nephi knows that the Lord would "INSTRUCT" him. This experience was for NEPHI'S LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION. The Lord was going to teach him. Teach him how to build a boat.

For me...this didn't have to happen. I didn't need to change missions. Thousands and thousands of people serve their entire missions in their originally-assigned missions. If God intended that I had it my way, He could have made the blood test come out negative one last time. But...He didn't. Por algo, saliò positivo. There's a reason. It's because, through all these experiences I've had and am going to have, HE IS TEACHING ME. He's instructing me. This is part of the journey. This is part of my transformation and conversion.

I know that the Lord is preparing people for me in...where ever it is I'll be assigned. Maybe I've been here this long in Chile because He was preparing ME to help THEM.

Sister Pineda, Kenna's first companion when she arrived last September. They've weathered the TB situation together:-)

This is probably the hardest thing I've had to do in the last eight months. (EIGHT MONTHS. TODAY. Crazy.) But, if I've learned anything in the last eight months, it's that there is a reason for everything. His hand is in the work. I know He must be guiding me exactly where I need to be. Where He needs me to be.

Well, this was a heavy letter. Sorry about that...I promise I'm okay! But that doesn't mean that it isn't hard. Like I said, I don't know where I'll be assigned...I might know tomorrow. President told me that I'll get to email you guys when I find out...so...stay tuned! And now to lighten things up, here's some fantastic one-liners from my lovely companion WHO I LOVE. I LOVE HERMANA KENNEY.

"...well, I think you'd poke Superman's stomache, too, if he was standing right next to your bed!" (After I freaked out when she poked me while I was wearing my sweet superman shirt and cape.)

"I need to orden all mi crap." (Some fantastic spanglish for you.)

"I'M GONNA DIE. RIGHT HERE." (rolling around in agony.) (ten seconds later:) "Okay I think I just needed to rest a little."

"I'm hungry are you hungry look ducks no wait that's a dog." (Sometimes our brains melt.)

(Trying to describe an animal in a movie I've never seen) "It's not a dog...but it's not a gopher, either..." (Yes, because the first animal I thought of when you said "dog" was "gopher"...??)

I LOVE BEING HERE IN CHILE. I'M GONNA SOAK IT UP. I'll update you guys later on the status of my llamamiento.

I LOVE YOU GUYS. KEEP READING AND PRAYING AND ALL THAT.

Love, Hermana Thomas

PS: looks like we'll have to change the title of my blog a bit...

FELIZ CUMPLIAÑOS A MI...¡A MI! ¡A MI!

February 24, 2014

HELLO, WORLD. I'M TWO DECADES OLD. ¡Que traumante! En serio. No lo puedo creer.

Yep. Once again, I'm done with the Spanish. I'm just self-conscious that all the Spanish speakers are snickering, and they're like "ha she thinks she speaks Spanish" and I'm like YO HABLAR BIEN ¡CACHAIS?

Well, this week has been quite interesting. The highlight? I got in a full-on-full-blown-big-fat-fight with the PUNKIEST LITTLE PUNK ONE YEAR OLD CHILEAN the other day. This kid...he's the son of a family in our ward. this family is...a...little...difficult. The parents both have very strong personalities and...their kids...have...well...the apples don't fall too far from the tree. Anyway, the other day we went to do service at their house, and then we were going to eat lunch with them after. 

Now, I know this kid. This little kid. He runs around in la Sociedad de Soccoro (Relief Society) and just terrorizes. Absolutely terrorizes. Anyway, we're at their house, and the mom suddenly tells Juanito (THAT IS HIS NAME. JUANITO) she tells Juanito that I am going to feed him lunch...and he comes over to me all smiles, and is leaning his head on my lap all cute, like he loves me, and I'm just thinking..."yeah, yeah, Juanito. I have a feeling we're about to have a really fun moment, here..." 

Yeah, it was awful. At first it was all fun and games, we were dancing to the music together, he took a couple bites of food...well, then he decided he was done, and he was climbing out of his high chair...I strapped him back in, and he started screaming. I asked his mom what I should do, and she told me to grab his face, pry his mouth open and shove the food in. So I did. AND HE WAS NOT. GONNA. HAVE IT. He just starts screaming. Screaming. And his mom comes in and picks him up, and he's glaring at me just crying, giving me this evil, EVIL glare...and I was glaring right back, I was like, no, I'm not breaking eye contact with you, because you offended me just as much as I offended you...and he was looking at me over his moms shoulder while she's bouncing him up and down, just glaring at me, but I refused to break this eye contact power struggle we were silently having...then all the sudden he sits his head up and shouts, "CALLATE!!!!!!!!!!" (Not sure if I spelled that right, but it means "shut up" in Spanish.) And everyone looks at me like, holy cow what did you do to this child, so I wait till everyone stops looking at me, and I wag my finger very disapprovingly at this kid (we're still having this fight,) and he shouts "CALLATEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and his face is turning red, but I just keep eye contact, wagging my finger at him...it went on for another minute before his mom left the room with him. And she's all laughing like, "oh, isn't my kid funny," and I'm doing this feigned "yeah he is" laugh, but every time she turned her back I just kept glaring at him and wagging my finger at him. 

PLUS CAN WE JUST DISCUSS THE FACT THAT THIS KID IS NAMED JUANITO.

.....YEAH. Okay. So I guess the point of telling you all this story is to show how Christ-like I'm becoming. Afterwards, Elder Favila was asking, "and HOW many kids do you plan on having, Hermana Thomas...?" 

Another quick story: Dad, you know that big pink monster story about that guy feeding the rinds of a watermelon to the monster? Well, I told it in Spanish, and it was a hit. (If you'd like to hear the joke, as my dad.)

Also, I turned twenty! That was weird! I woke up to my entire desk decorated, made-from-scratch brownies, and a little gift from my companion! Ugh. I love Hermana Kenney! I'll send pictures. Honestly, though, a birthday is just like any other day in the mission...but, for being just-like-any-other-day, it was a good day!

As for investigators...good and bad news. Bad news...I think we might have lost Hernan. It really has broken my heart, because he KNOWS that this is the true church. He knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. He knows that he needs to be baptized in this church. But...le cuesta. He says he just can't. He said maybe when he turns eighteen in six months he will, because it will be easier, but we told him it will never be easier. Satan will never want him to do it, and there will always be a reason not to do it. Always. But God has given him answer after answer, and if he doesn't act on it, he's denying the answers he has recieved, and God's not going to keep giving it to him for the rest of his life. We told him that if God had wanted him to wait six months, he would have put us in his path six months later, but he put us here NOW, because God needs him NOW for something. And he said "I know, I know.......but I can't do it." He cried. It was so sad. He's having a really big internal struggle...anyway, we decided that we're going to leave him for a little time...because the truth is, now that he's had the gospel of Jesus Christ in his life, he can never go back to his church and feel good about it, because he KNOWS  what's true. I just wish he didn't have to learn it the hard way. I wish he'd just take a leap of faith based on the answers God has already given him.

Good news: Our investigator, Elizabeth, is getting baptized in two weeks! We're really excited! She has a really hard life, but the gospel has brought peace into it, and she has a really strong testimony that the things we've shared with her are true. We're really excited for that!

We divided our huge sector between the three companion ships her in Cachapoal today...it was hard. Before, we could go wherever we wanted and it was just really cool...but now we have just a part that Hermana Kenney and I proselyte in. Honestly, I was bummed, but I think it's for the best, because now we can concentrate our efforts a little more. But we were still a little bummed!

BUT GUESS WHAT. The work is still good! I love my sector! I love Chile! I love the mission! I love my companion! 

KEEP READING THE BOOK OF MORMON AND PRAYING EVERY DAY AND NIGHT. Are you guys doing that? Erin and Ireland. I'm talking to you guys. 

That's all for now, but thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! Can't wait to see you all face-to-face so that I can thank you in person and give you big huge Chilean hugs!

LOVE, Hermana Thomas

February 17, 2014

Hello, family and friends!

Another week, another dull letter home! Just kidding...first of all...I'M ALMOST TWENTY. UGH. OLDNESS.

Also, I will never take for granted a plain cheese pizza again. A few days ago, our lunch appointment fell through, and Hermana Kenney and I were left to fend for ourselves against the powers of starvation. First of all...may I just say, the absolute WORST situation a missionary can be in is deciding where to eat when your lunch falls through, because ALMOST EVERY SINGLE OPTION YOU HAVE is chicken and rice. That's it. Or an empanada. At first, I was so into the empanadas...I could have eaten those all day every day. But after about the fourth time someone cancels lunch on you, the very thought of an empanada makes you want to throw a boulder on the next bird you see. (OH YEAH. STAY TUNED FOR A REALLY FUN BIRD EXPERIENCE LATER.) 

ANYWAY, so we both were craving pizza...just good, cheese pizza. There's a Papa John's here, but it's about a twenty minute drive, and the next closest pizza place is this hut called "tele-pizza." (Yes. It's as appetizing as it sounds.) But we were desperate, so we headed on down there to buy ourselves something to eat. 

We walked up to the front, and asked for a family-sized cheese pizza. The lady goes, "yeah, and you get three toppings with that." So we're looking at the list of toppings, and we either decide that they all look disgusting or we probably shouldn't trust them. So we simply tell the lady that we don't want any toppings, just cheese. This LADY looks at us like we have FIVE EYEBALLS on our faces. She's like..."........just cheese?" And we're like.....".........yeah. A cheese pizza." And she stares at us for a few seconds like she's hearing this concept for the first time, and says, "....you know it doesn't come with anything else, right?" We were like, "yeah...............just cheese............" And she stares, stares, stares...it's awkward...then she says, "yeah, well...you HAVE to choose three toppings." And we're like...."...why." And she's like, "that's just how it is." So then I look at the toppings list, and I point at the topping called "extra cheese" and I ask if we can "just have that three times, please." And she says no, and by this time, we're starving enough to just go with it, so Hermana Kenney just starts naming the ingredients we recognize, which are pepperoni and bell peppers...?! Together?! And then some impatient lady behind us shouts another topping we should just order, so we just go with it, even though we have NO idea what this thing is that's going to be soiling our should-have-been-just-plain-cheese-pizza....

WELL THEN while we're waiting for our mutant-chilean-pizza to finish, the cook comes down and says they ran out of pepperoni and bell peppers. So then Hermana Kenney just asks for just cheese and nothing else please and the guy looks at her the same way, like he's never heard of just a cheese pizza, but he says he'll do it. 

Well. I am here to testify that there is a REASON that no one ever orders just a PLAIN cheese PIZZA in CHILE. It is because it is absolutely unbelievably UNFATHOMABLY DISGUSTING. Awful. Just awful. And on top of that, it was all...doughy.

I do not tell you this story to complain, but rather to demonstrate the differences between the American and Chilean culture. Hermana Kenney and I, as North Americans, walked into a pizza joint with a purpose--we were going to have cheese pizza whether they liked it or not. On the other hand, we have the Chileans, who regard any type of meal without meat as something unfathomable and something that really shouldn't be done. Also, they are very cookie-cutter, this-is-how-its-always-been people. I LOVE IT. But sometimes...it compromises your pizza experience.

Another example: a while ago, Hermana Kenney and I stopped to grab a drink in a little store on the side of the road (there are tons of these little stores here in Chile.) Anyway, we had just paid and were walking out when Hermana Kenney's soda just exploded on its own accord. Like, she'd barely had it in her hand for a minute when it erupted in a stick, carbonation-y mess all over her and the floor and everything. And the people working just stared at her, and half her soda was on the floor, and they just shrugged and kept on working. I'll tell you what, in America, I think I would have demanded a new one. And I feel like there's a good chance they would have given it to me.

But, do you know what? I absolutely love Chileans!! It's all this--the confused faces at the thought of cheese pizza, the indifference of the store-workers at my companions expense...the "eh, I'll do it later" attitude and the "you only get EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP EVERY NIGHT?!" reactions that make me love these people more and more every day! I wish you could all know these people I know here. You'd get a kick out of them. I LOVE IT HERE.

Investigator wise, we have a LOT of them...but they all have one desafío or another that is really holding them back! For example, we've been working really hard with this joven, Hernan. He has recieved so many answers that this church is true--even a voice one day when he walked into the church, telling him that this church was of God--and he has a ton of friends in the church, he's had interviews with the bishop, he's gotten every lesson we can possibly teach him...but the problem is, he is VERY catholic. He's seventeen years old, but he's super active in his church, and leaving it behind is really difficult for him. We really don't want to drop him...sometimes he even talks about serving an LDS mission!! But we are working really hard to get him progressing towards his baptism.

We have another investigator who LOVES the gospel...her life is really hard, and she recently left behind being a Jehovah's Witness, and she LOVES the Book of Mormon, LOVES the peace of the gospel, and LOVED the one time she went to church...BUT THAT'S THE PROBLEM. She's only been to church one time. (Investigators have to go to church at least three times before they can get baptized, so that they have a habit of going.) It's been really hard to get her there with us on Sundays. We're working with her, also.

The Lord is blessing us every day for the work we do, I know it. I know this church is true, and that's why I'm here, learning a new language, living a new culture, and becoming a new person...so that someday I can live with my family, God, and Jesus Christ forever. I LOVE THE GOSPEL. I love the Book of Mormon! I love to pray! I love church. (Church nerd.) 

Keep on keepin' on! And update me and write me letters! (Especially my sisters..........) (That's all I'm gonna say..........) I LOVE YOU GUYS!

OH YEAH. So the other day we were in Olivar contacting. The sky was really dark, and I thought it was probably going to rain. In the middle of a contact, I felt a raindrop hit riiiiight next to my eye, so I got all excited, like, "IT'S RAINING! IT'S RAINING!" And then Hermana Kenney says, "you have something weird next to your eye..."

I GOT POOPED ON AGAIN. THAT'S ALL I'M GOING TO SAY. AND THAT WAS MY BIRD STORY.

HAVE I SAID THAT I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRDS?!????????????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!??!?!?!?!!?

Con Amor, Hermana Thomas