When will the mission NOT be crazy...NEVER! But not complaining because it`s what keeps me pumped and motivated to keep going and on my toes for what the Lord`s gonna throw next at us!
This week we started out doing exchanges with my sisters in Curacavi aka the sector that is the love of my life! Hna.Stum came with Hna.Flores and I, this is her last transfer so I was eager to learn from her experience and get advice to help me in my last 6 months in Chile. We headed out to a street to knock on doors when all of a sudden I hear Hna.Flores scream and a dog barking. Dogs bark at us all the time and she is super super scared of dogs so I didn`t think it was anything unusual until I saw her limping and crying and blood on her foot. Some dog from the street bit her foot, it wasn`t too bad, only one fang tooth punctured the skin so she had a little dot but since it was a dog from the street protocol is that she get the rabi`s shot- did I mention her second greatest fear after dogs are needles? We were near a store and the owner came out and made a huge show and kicked the dog and gave us a bandaid and directed us to the nearest clinic. So we walked over but they told us the vaccination clinic opens at 2 again after lunch and we were too early, so we went home, at lunch and then returned. They directed us to 5 different places before finally telling us that the emergency hours are at 5pm and they can`t attend her now so we just cleaned her wound again, made sure she wasn`t foaming from the mouth and headed out to our lessons. Later that night while we were getting ready for bed we got a call from out mission president. I thought he was just checking up on the dog situation, but then he switched from talking spanish to talking english-this usually means he wants to be understood and that it`s something serious so I listened attentively as he told me that another sister had to go home because of knee problems and that Hna.Flores was gonna get emergency transferred to Lo Ovalle in Quilicura- nooooooo!!!!! We just got her a couple weeks ago! She`s been emergency transfered 3 times already because of similar situations and I knew she`d be upset now that she was getting used to the sector, so I let president break the news to her. She was super sad and cried it out a bit, but Hna.Stum and I assured her that this shows the confidence that not only Pdt. Essig but the Lord has in her to help when there`s a problem. So the next day we helped her pack and took her to her new sector and finished out our exchanges. I was relieved to have my companion Hna.Ireland back after 4 days without her, she was said though cause she didn`t get to say good-bye to Hna.Flores, but I`m sure we`ll see eachother around sometime soon.
Later in the week we had interviews with President.YAY!!!! I love having interviews with him, he asked about my concerns with the sisters in my zone and sent me off with a scripture. Usually if he doesn`t have much to say it`s a good thing cause he`s not worried about anything and moves on to the next missionary. That same day we had what`s called an Ataque de Sector aka Sector Attack, where missionaries from the MTC in Chile who are soon to go to the field go on splits with us for a couple of hours to see what it`s like. I went with Hna.Truman from Las Vegas and we knocked on doors and visited a less active and I had her practice contacting and bearing her testimony and offering the prayers. In the beginning that`s usually the only thing the gringos can do since they`re still learning the language, but she did a great job and it was fun to show her what the mission is like.
Lastly, we had some AWESOME lessons!!! One was a newly wed couple who are expecting their 1st baby, Betty y Alejandro. They were a referal but we don`t remember from who, but they are SUPER receptive! Their new baby and the death of a relative has influenced them to want to be closer to God. They we`re so normal during the prayer (usually people will have their eyes open or feel awkward) and when we invited them to be baptized they immediately said yes that they`d love that cause they`d never been baptized! WOHOO! The biggest perk is that they`re already married so it`s gonna be a lot easier to help them progress and enter the waters of baptism. We also had a lesson with our golden family David, Carolina & their son Benjamin. We taught them about prophets, it was about our 5th lesson but they still hadn`t been able to ask if the Book of Mormon is true, so at the end of the lesson we kneeled in prayer and invited David to say it and ask if it was true. Afterwards, there was a pause, the spirit flooded the room, I opened my eyes to see all of them in deep meditation, listening, and waiting. I knew they were asking with real intent and after a couple minutes we all sat down and I asked them what they felt. Carolina had tears in her eyes and couldn`t even speak. She couldn`t explain the feeling she had inside nor why she was crying so uncontrolably, it is what EVERY missionary wants their investigators to feel and we testified to her that it was the Holy Ghost confirming to them that these things were true, that that was what it felt like. It was incredible.
There is no greater call, rank, position, job, or status than being a representative of the Lord. There is no greater thing I can be doing in my life right now than this. I thank God daily for the privilege to wear the name of His son on my heart everyday and to be a part of miracles weekly. Thanks everyone for your love and support!
xoxo,
Hna.Ibarra
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