Noche Buena Colombian style!!!

Man, another craazzyyyyy week! I am so exhausted people, seriously I just want to spend all my p-day sleeping y punto! The highlight of this week was Noche Buena aka Christmas Eve, our mission president has a lot of trust in us cause we`re one of the most obedient missions in Chile and let us stay out till 12:30 am...WOOHOOO!!! PARTAAAYYY!!! And as our gift he let us sleep in till 9 a.m. DOUBLE PARTAAAYYYYY (and he gave us these awesome leather bookmarks)!!!!! As a missionary you are greatful for every minute of sleep you can get, a nap on p-day is rare, in fact I can count wiith one hand how many naps I`ve taken on the mission and all day you just gotta go go go no matter how tired, it`s especialy difficult now that it`s summer and the sun just sucks the life out of you! That being said, we spent noche buna with la familia Muñoz de Colombia, they are my favorite famiy in the branch, so loving, and made us BOMB colombian food! Platnos maduors, tajaditas, asado, agua de panela y buñuelos, yummm!!! They put on music and we watched them dance to all my favorite songs de Celia Cruz, Marc Anthony y Aventura, WOW that took a lot of self control to sit calmly during all that, anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE to dance! So I went to the bathroom and let it all out while no one was looking haha ;D

This week we had our new companion Hna.Waters my comadre from Nicaragua, it was so great to be with her, she is one of my idols in the mission and ever since I met her when I got to Chile my 1st day I`ve wanted to be companions with her, she is just HILARIOUS! But she was also finishing her mission and would not SHUSH about going home, and seeing her family, and her friends, and shopping for new clothes, and the food, etc etc. Ugh I was ready to knock this chick out with her trunky talk, it was bad, but we got through it! Now we have Hna.Flores from Peru, she is a total sweetheart and has such a special spirit about her, seriously I`m pumped to finally have a stable companionship and if president changes us I am going to SERIOUSLY flip a switch!

Skyping the family was so great, seriously I love you all and miss you so much! My nieces and nephews are all so friggin´big! Oh my gosh I couldn`t believe how much they`ve changed since May! But it was great to see all your beautiful faces and know that everyone is doing well back in the states :) 5 more months till I get to see you all again!!! This week we also got to sleep over Hna. Stanger`s apt the office secretary and we had a christmas meal, chicken casserole with potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce (thanks sis!) And I got to see my daughter Hna.Dodds!!! We talked all night and caught up on life and her past areas and what she`s gone through these last months in the mission. She has gone through so much and is such a powerful missionary, she is totally ready to train even though she denies it and it`s her greatest fear, but it was so great to talk to her again.

Well, basically that`s been my week, crazy changes in companionship, parties and lack of sleep. These next 2 weeks are gonna be hectic as we wrap up the transfer and have to do 5 more exchanges plus we got new years in the middle of it all which is gonna be terrible cause holidays are a missionaries worst enemy! That and the J dubbs...the evangelicals are pretty crazy here, too...Love you all and have a BOMB NEW YEAR!

Spiritual cookie: "Faith is always pointed towards the future."

Xoxo,

Hna.Ibarra

Missionary mayhem!

SHOUT OUTS: Ian Patton- hopefully you have internet but I got your post card from Africa and yes I did get your Dear Elder. Hopefully you`re back in MIA by now, if so hit up Nathaly she has a letter for ya!

Christian McOmber- A single tear ran down my cheek as my eyes feasted upon the box of candies and best of all CHEEZE ITS!!! Marry me?! hahaha No but seriously THANK YOU SO MUCH for sending that package of goodies, it was every craving I`ve ever had on the mission and more! I don`t even want to know how you payed for the postage, but I am SO SO SO SO GRATEFUL! You are the beeeeezz kneeezzzz :D

This week has probably been the craziest of the mission! It all started out great, we had a special christmas lunch with our mission president and 2 zones. It was delicious and Hna.Ireland let me borrow her sexy red dress, but the best part of all was that I got a ton of mail!!! Thank you to all my friends who were thinking of lil ole me this christmas :) After that I went on exchanges  with the sisters from Simon Bolivar and Los Mares, another trip to the city and it was SO MUCH FUN! But a call from President changed everything, whenever you see his name appear on the screen your heart can`t help but skip a beat. He said I had to be in the office at 11 after the exchanges and turns out Hna.Hernandez`s knee problems were only worstening, they were home all week and couldn`t go out to teach and so she was getting emergency transfered to another area with another sister who also needs rest because of knee problems and we were getting a new companion, mi comadre Hna.Waters from Nicaragua!!! But it`s only temporary cause she finishes her mission this thursday and goes home! So then we`re gonna get ANOTHER companion. So my days of going out and doing exchanges and fun are over, I`ve been called as Sister Training Leader 1 aka "La Bautizadora" (the baptizer) and have to stay in my sector and do exchanges with the Senior companions of my group :( Although I`m excited for my new-new calling I`m also a bit scared to try to teach the sisters how to baptize a lot because the sister who knew the sector and investigators is now gone and we barely know what`s going on with the investigators and what needs they have, but I know the Lord will help us out so we can continue to be an exampleto the other sisters and help them help others come unto Christ. So it`s been a pretty crazy week, but so much fun! That`s the mission! Merry Christmas to all!

xoxo,

Hna.Ibarra

Week of fame and fortune!

This week was full of so many crazy things! Seriously, I think it´s been rare when I have a week in which not a lot goes on. I did my 1st set of exchanges with the sisters and had my first taste of working in the city! Bustling cars, people walking really fast everywhere, dogs barking, horns beeping, and lots of tall buildings (which is nice cause they give a lot of shade). It was a crazy wild adventure and I got to meet people from Peru, Colombia, and even Croatia which was so cool! There´s a lot more diversity, but the one thing is that I barely got any sleep at night from all the noise even though we were on like the 15th floor of an apt building.

It´s been tough asdjusting to my new area in Renca, it´s really different, the area is more "cuico" aka wealthy so the people are comfortable with their lives and not receptive at all to the gospel. I went from an area where I was just flying and baptising like never before on my mission to getting doors constantly slammed in my face. But I know that I´m doing all I can and that with time and after some long suffering the Lord will bless us with a miracle. I feel like my calling here isn´t one to necissarily convert anyone, but to support and aid my companions. One of my comps has tendonitis and it´s been really tough on her, she´s had to rest all week while my other comp and I go out and she´s the one who knows the sector best so we´ve been getting lost and learning on our own which is good and sometimes really funny! But she´s really scared she´s going to have to go home and the Dr recommended another week of therapy so we've had to go to the German Clinic in Providencia which is the California of Chile, very rich area and makes me feel like I´m back in the states haha. It´s been fun but very exhausting on all of us to travel 2 hours there and 2 hours back every other day. We haven´t had our normal studies in the morning so we try to read something while we wait for her in the lobby, but it´s just not the same. Also my other companion recently suffered a heart break, her ex-bf who she was goig to marry but decided to go on a mission instead has another gf and she was just a sob fest the 1st couple days and super depressed and down on herself. We weren´t able to teach well and it was hard to have the spirit and unity between the 3 of us. She´s doing a lot better now, but in a companionship when one person has a problem we all have a problem, so imagine 2 companions with problems! Its been a struggle, but I´m trying to do all I can to serve them, uplift them and love them so they can finish strong. It´s funny cause they actually have more time than me on the mission, so I count my blessings daily that I don´t have health problems (besides my shoulder but I´ll live) and boy problems (ladies if you´re going on a mission, don´t make anyone wait for you, just don´t, too messy and will make you lose focus) hahaha! So due to the complications mentioned I´m now Sister Training Leader 1 and have to take charge of things for a while in this sector while my companion tried to recover from her knee, it was a nice break 2 weeks of not having to take the lead, but the Lord knows what I´m good at I think and is having me take hold of the reigns again.

Lastly this week we went to the Christmas Concert in the Santiago Temple and had a celebrity appearance by none other than ELDER DAVID ARCHULETA!!! Oh yeah you heard right!!! HATE ON IT!!! He´s serving in the Chile Rancagua mission and performed at the concert and we got to go with a family of Colombian Recent Converts and their sons baby momma who´s an investigator and it was AMAZING!!!!! He has a great voice and we felt the spirit super strong as the choir, and other singers and dancers performed. Speaking of famous people and celebrity appearances, I am no celebrity, but if you miss me check me out on Page 30 of this months December Liahona! I gasped in the clinic lobby as I saw the print screen of the mormon message I´m in, it´s a tiny picture, nothing crazy, but my fame continues to spread in the mission, in fact an Elder this week asked if he could take a picture with me, I kindly said no, but it just cracks me up haha!

Anyways, love you all! Till next week!

Spiritual Cookie: "He who was  the greatest of all made himself the least, the Heavenly Shepherd who became the lamb."

xoxo,
Hna.G-unit Ibarra

Nueva Renca

So I`ve been in my new sector for a week, and it`s actually not as flaite aka hood as everyone said it`d be! It`s actually really pretty and all new houses so it`s called Nueva Renca, but the elders have the more humble part of town. I really like it and it`s totally different being in the suburbs instead of out in the country, mainly besides everything actually being clean and pretty the people live comfortable lives and are less receptive to the gospel. Our sector belongs to a branch called Jose Miguel Infante which split off from a ward so there`s 2 groups that meet in the same chapel which is a 1st for me in the mission and it reminds me a lot of home when I was in our branch in Silver Lakes. Being in a trio again is really fun, but hard because we each have such different teaching and proselyting styles and have to adapt to eachother and organize ourselves well. Hna. Hernandez is from Bucaramanga, Colombia (it`s fun to say the name!) and is super tiny and literally talks like a disney princess, haha! I love it! AQnd Hna. Ireland is from Springville, UT, and had a lot of food problems since she`s been in Chile so she can`t eat any animal products like eggs, milk, butter, cheese, any kind of meat and also sugar. I feel bad cause the members judge and think she`s a picky eater and anorexic, but I got her back and always defend her and try to help her explain her situation. Being a sister training leader is fun, this next week we`re going to start doing exchanges, but as you move up the leadership latter the responsibilities and stress increase and the amount of sleep you get decreases since we`re the last ones to go to bed.

This week we had what was called the tour of the mission. An elder from the quorum of the 70 came and spoke to our entire mission about FAQ`s and common challenges we face in the mission and gave us awesome advice and tips. Then we had a huge lunch and took a ton of pics with all our friends in the mission especially those going home soon. Later this week I had to go to the doctors. In the beginning of my mission you`ll probably recall me falling of my bike, well ever since then my left shoulder goes numb and tingles when I`m sitting in a bad posture for too long or carrying anything on my shoulder. There`s not really much they can do, they gave me some NSAI pills and told me to not use my left arm for 10 days...awesome...the pills haven`t really done anything so I guess I`m just doomed to have a tingly shoulder the rest of my life, the good news is that there`s no nerve damage which would require surgery to fix, YAY! We also went on splits with sisters in the ward which was a 1st for me in the mission since I`ve always been training and my companions didn`t know enough to fly solo. It was super fun and it`s a great way to get a lot of work done in little time especially since we`re 3! We ended the week with my lovely companions making banana pancakes and Hna.Hernandez actually washed my feet and gave me a pedicure, after a day of proselyting your feet are filthy especially since it`s summer and we don`t wear tights anymore, now THAT is christ like service at it`s finest, I owe her a big one!!! It`s kinda weird that christmas is around the corner especially since it`s BLAZING hot, but I can`t wait to skype the fam in a couple weeks and we`re planning a branch activity with desserts (again) and it is going to be a hit!

This weeks spiritual cookie is an experience we had visiting a sick sister. Hermana Enriqueta is a grandma who suffers from parkinsons, she can hardly speak and has a hard time getting around so she threw us the keys from her bedroom window and we went to go visit her. We sang her a hymn which she requested "Nearer my God to Thee" and she just sobbed as she looked out her window up to the sky. It really pulled on my heart strings and it was evident to me that she has been suffering for a long time in this condition and wants nothing more than to leave this mortal life and be nearer to Him. No matter where we are, there are people, not just people, but sons and daughter of God, children of our heavenly father, suffering, sad, disheartened, and lonely. My prayer is that we can pray to be lead to them and reach out to them as the Savior did.

xoxo,

Hna.Ibarra

Till we meet again

Sooooo last night we got the oh so waited phone call to hear about transfers, we were all CERTAIN that Hna.Broadhead would be transfered out since she is now done with her training, we went to members homes to say good-bye, and ate a TON of food (empanadas, choripan, mmmm) But as usual the changes were what we least expected. La Hna.Broadhead is staying and I´m leaving!!! I couldn´t believe it! I´ll be going to Renca aka the hood with all the flaites and will be with Hna. Ireland who came into the field with me from Utah and Hna.Hernandez who I have no clue who she is cause there´s more than one Hna.Hernandez in the mission hahaha but she´s colombian so she should be legit! To top it all off I´m going to be a Sister Training Leader! It´s basically like being a Ditrict Leader but for sister´s, I´m in charge of a group of 17 Sisters including 2 sisters in Robison Crusoe Island which is also part of our mission and I have to do exchanges with them, teach them some of my skillzzz, inspect their housing and learn a lot from them. It is going to be a lot of crazy fun!!! I´m excited for this new chapter in the mission but sad that it came so soon, I really wanted to stay in Curcavi another 2 transfers AT LEAST! I stayed up will 1 am packing and this mornng we had to be in the office at 1pm so I visited 2 members to say my goodbyes and my converts, Jose Miguel and Enrique y Victoria. It was seriously the hardest thing ever. I was trying to be strong and optimistic and keep it under control, but when Enrique started crying I just couldn´t hold it in anymore. I just hugged Victoria and bawled my eyes out and we all cried together. Leaving a sector behind is harder than leaving home on the mission because at least you know you´ll see your family again, but you´re never going to see the people you serve on the mission again and it just breaks your heart. The bond between a missionary and their converts is so special and it´s perfect, because both have sacraficed everything to follow Jesus Christ.

In other news, this week was pretty crazy, we had to go to Santiago twice so Hna.Broadhead could get her carnet done, we stayed over Hna. Stanger´s apt which was so fun cause she´s super cool and like one of the girls! haha! We also stayed there thanksgiving night with the sisters who were finishing their mission and going to the temple the next day and Hna.Stanger made us a special thanksgiving dinner with chicken, potato casserole,palta and bread so it was thanksgiving Chilean style, we made due with what we had, but it was still very special. Thanksgiving isn´t celebrated here but there was a family in the ward who lived in Utah several years and so they had us over for a special thanksiving lunch and made turkey and mashed potatos with gravy! It was soooo goood! We were super grateful, they put a lot of time and effort into making it special. We also had some fun activities this week to pump up the embers for ward conference, we handed out Liahona´s with the young men in the neighborhood and invited people in the community to our activities, we had a ward FHE and Enrique our recent convert directed the FHE and did such a great job!!! Then on saturday we had out BIG activity por la obra misional, and we had a dessert competition! We decorated all day, and at 7:30 the members started pouring in. There were all types of desserts, cakes, fruit cups, chocolates, fruit taco, wontons stuffed with jelly, the members got super creative! Us 4 missionaries were the judges and we had a special guest judge, a non-member who is the friend of a member and she´s an expert in culinary arts and made the whole thing super legit! The grand prize was a completada (chilean hot dogs) and everyone had a blast! Another recent convert of the other sisters played the guitar and sang to entertain the crowd  meanwhile everyone ate and then we had a spiritual thought at the end with a tree of life we made out of tree branches and hung candy off of it as the "fruit". It was all a big success! Then yesterday we ended the week with Ward Conference, Enrique y Victoria got confirmed and the patriarch confirmed Victoria so it was very special. They were sooo happy! We had a full class in Gospel Principles and the stake leaders congratulated us for our work. Even though my time in Curacavi has been short I know that I did my part in bringing others unto Christ, the ward had never had so many baptisms in so little time and the Lord has truly blessed us and guided us to his chosen vessels that were ready to accept this gospel. The happy part is that it´s not good bye forever! Curacavi is one of the areas I´m over so I´ll be back to do exchanges, YAY!!! Well until next week!

xoxo,

Hna.Ibarra

Till we meet again...

Sooooo last night I got the oh so waited phone call to hear about transfers, we were all CERTAIN that Hna.Broadhead would be transfered out since she is now done with her training, we went to members homes to say good-bye, and ate a TON of food (empanadas, choripan, mmmm) But as usual the changes were what we least expected. La Hna.Broadhead is staying and I´m leaving!!! I couldn´t believe it! I´ll be going to Renca aka the hood with all the flaites and will be with Hna. Ireland who came into the field with me from Utah and Hna.Hernandez who I have no clue who she is cause there´s more than one Hna.Hernandez in the mission hahaha To top it all off I´m going to be a Sister Training Leader! It´s basically like being a Ditrict Leader but for sister´s, I´m in charge of a group of 17 Sisters including 2 sisters in Robison Crusoe Island which is also part of our mission and I have to do exchanges with them, teach them some of m skillzzz, and inspect their housing. It is going to be a lot of crazy fun!!! I´m excited for this new chapter in the mission but sad that it came so soon, I really wanted to stay in Curcavi another 2 transfers AT LEAST!

This week was pretty crazy, we had to go to Santiago twice so Hna.Broadhead could get her carnet done, we stayed over Hna. Stanger´s house which was so fun cause she´s super cool and like one of the girls haha We also stayed there thanksgiving night with the sisters who were finishing their mission and going to the temple the next day and had chicken with a potato casserole and bread. Thanksgiving isn´t celebrated here but there was a family in the ward who lived in Utah several years and so they had us over for a special thanksiving lunch and made turkey and mashed potatos with gravy! It was soooo goood! We were super grateful, they put a lot of time and effort into making it special. We also had some fun activities this week, we handed out Liahona´s with the young men in the neighborhood and invited people in the community to our activities, we also had a ward FHE and Enrique our recent convert directed the FHE and did such a great job!!! Then on saturday we had out BIG activity por la obra misional, and we had a dessert competition! We decorated all day, and at 7:30 the members started pouring in. There were all types of desserts, cakes, fruit cups, chocolates, fruit taco, wontons stuffed with jelly, the members got super creative! Us 4 missionaries were the judges and we had a special guest judge, a non-member who is the friend of a member, she´s an expert in culinary arts and made the whole thing super legit! The grand prize was a completada (chilean hot dogs) and everyone had a blast! Another recent convert of the other sisters played the guitar and sang to entertain meanwhile everyone ate and then we had a spiritual thought at the end with a tree of life we made out of tree branches and hung candy off of it as the "fruit". It was all a big success. Then yesterday we ended the week with Ward Conference, Enrique y Victoria got confirmed and the patriarch confirmed Victoria so it was very special. They were sooo happy! We had a full class in Gospel Principles and the stake leaders congratulated us for our work. Even though my time in Curacavi has been short I know that I did my part in bringing others unto Christ, the ward had never had so many baptisms in so little time and the Lord has truly blessed us and guided us to his chosen vessels that were ready to accept this gospel. The happy part is that it´s not good bye forever! Curacavi is one of the areas I´m over so I´ll be back to do exchanges, YAY!!! Well until next week!

xoxo,

Hna.Ibarra