December 30, 2013
Dear Family,
It was so great to see you all, even
if it felt like it was only 5 minutes! You all look great and happy, which made
me feel great and happy!
Until Saturday night, when I was ¨with vomits¨, literal
Spanish translation, estuve con vomitos. So, that made for a lame Sunday as I
couldn´t move and my body was achy and I had a head ache. Our lovely ward sent
someone to give us The Sacrament, which I am very grateful for. Today I am
still a wee bit weak, but feeling better! At least it is Pday, so I can continue
to rest a smidge.
I took up reading ¨Jesus The Christ¨ yesterday, which
probably contributed to my headache as I contemplated deeply the meaning of all
things. What a great book, but maaaan, it is difficult to read! I thought it
would just be a nice breeze, full of lovely stories about the life of Jesus
Christ. Well. Let´s just say I felt like Brian Regan, sitting there drawing in
the air and re-re-reading sentences. My companion was laughing at my struggles.
BUT I AM DETERMINED TO READ IT. It is just a lot of big wordsies.
Here is a cool story. We are teaching a mom who had received
the sister missionaries 19 years ago. It has taken a loooong time to find her
and get into her house, but it has been worth it. She has genuine interests
now, and she loves the spirit that we bring into her home. The other day we
taught her the First Vision, and she was so touched that a 14 year old boy
would have desires to know for himself which church was true. We told her that
Heavenly Father has given us evidence, The Book of Mormon, that Joseph Smith
really is a prophet. The member that we were with shared his testimony, and
told about how the Book of Mormon was key to his conversion.
She then dismissed herself. The member asked if we had a
Book of Mormon to give her, and we sheepishly said ¨No¨ because we had just
given ours to another investigator family. Well, miracles exist. The lady came
back, and in her hand was a Book of Mormon, covered in dust.
She said, ¨I haven´t looked at this for 10 years, since the
missionaries gave it to me. But, I walked in my laundry room and started
looking for it. I turned around and there it was, right in front of me! I think
God wants me to read it.¨
We agreed that God wants her to read it.
I just am amazed everyday at how the Lord prepares people. It is so true that not everyone we talk to is ready for the message of The Restoration, but every time we talk to someone we are helping prepare them for that message. If it weren´t for those sister missionaries 10 years ago, this Sister wouldn´t have had the chance to see that mini miracle, that God loves her and wants her to know Him better.
We agreed that God wants her to read it.
I just am amazed everyday at how the Lord prepares people. It is so true that not everyone we talk to is ready for the message of The Restoration, but every time we talk to someone we are helping prepare them for that message. If it weren´t for those sister missionaries 10 years ago, this Sister wouldn´t have had the chance to see that mini miracle, that God loves her and wants her to know Him better.
Well. I do not have much to say. I will try to be more fun
next week. I will send some pictures!
Eli, happy baptism this week! I am so proud of you and your
decision to follow Jesus Christ. Make sure to send me pictures, and I want Eli
to write me and tell me how it was so that I can share his experience with the
people I talk to down here!
Truman Maxwell VanCott, you are so cute. Thank you for your card and for your letters. I love hearing about how well you are doing and how smart you are. And hey, we can be PARK BUDDIES again in a few months at Disneyland! Woot!
Grace, it was fun to make dinosaur faces with you. My companion loved it, and the members now think I am crazy. That´s okay.
Truman Maxwell VanCott, you are so cute. Thank you for your card and for your letters. I love hearing about how well you are doing and how smart you are. And hey, we can be PARK BUDDIES again in a few months at Disneyland! Woot!
Grace, it was fun to make dinosaur faces with you. My companion loved it, and the members now think I am crazy. That´s okay.
Christian, you are skinny. Send me your diet.
Mom and Dad, you look great and really tired. Thanks for all
you are doing for me through your service to the Lord. I feel the blessings
that I know come from being raised by such great parents. Also, NOT FUNNY Dad.
The only part of your letter I saw was ¨going to have another sibling¨as I was
scanning it fast....nearly had a heart attack. Thankfully it was ¨no you are
NOT going to have another sibling.¨ Hope all went well with Elder Kent F.
Richards. I am excited to hear what he shared!
Have a Happy New Year!
My resolutions?
1. Don´t drink soda more than 2
times a week.
2. Talk to everyone. 3. Be a missionary.
4. Don´t forget my nametag when we go running in the mornings.
5. Read the Book of Mormon in Spanish.
Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana VanCott
January 6, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
Ohkay. Besides getting used to
writing ¨2014¨ in my high-tech missionary planner, there isn´t much difference
between this year and the last...so far.
For New Years we went to bed at 10:30, hoping to escape the
noises of dogs, fireworks, and drunks. No luck. I woke up all through the night
to noises that were far from a ¨Soundscape¨ CD. Here in Chile, the party
doesn´t end until the hangover starts, I figure.
Also, everyone has decided that it
is a great time to go to the beach, which, it is.... but it is ALSO a great
time to sit in your homes with a little plug in fan and listen to the good news
that the church of Jesus Christ has been restored!
In the meantime we are making ourselves at home in the
streets. We have learned the best times and places for shade, and we are making
new friends left and right...they are just hard to get in touch with again!
I personally (well, and with my companion, of course) have decided to focus more on the members this month. We, as members, need to hear the lessons just as much as the investigators. Plus, it gives us a great chance to show them how we teach and help build trust.
I personally (well, and with my companion, of course) have decided to focus more on the members this month. We, as members, need to hear the lessons just as much as the investigators. Plus, it gives us a great chance to show them how we teach and help build trust.
The quote of the week from the one and only Hermana Tibbitts
is:
¨Warm water makes my tongue feel weird...¨
and that being said whilst walking in silence in our ghost town sector for 2 hours. I died laughing. That shows you my mental condition right now. EVERYTHING is funnier than it should be, so forgive me if my humor is a little off.
¨Warm water makes my tongue feel weird...¨
and that being said whilst walking in silence in our ghost town sector for 2 hours. I died laughing. That shows you my mental condition right now. EVERYTHING is funnier than it should be, so forgive me if my humor is a little off.
ELIJAH! Welcome into the Church! Congrats on your baptism, I
hear it was great and I heard you sang very well! I can´t believe how old you
are.
It´s good to see pictures of the George´s, and hear that
Shannon and the kids and grandparents made it to the baptism! Awesome, sounds
like a party!
So, I have been thinking. You guys, as members, have it
good. Wanna know why? Well, because you can do things missionaries can´t.
1. You can be in homes of people for
more than just an hour.
2. You can invite people to YOUR
house.
3. You can invite people to
activities that aren´t so ¨churchy¨, but still be examples and build
relationships.
4. You can ¨Focus on the ONE¨ during
your visiting teaching and home teaching time.
5. You can testify, as a NORMAL person, who relates to the
every-day struggles.
I´m not saying missionaries don´t do these, but they are SO
much more powerful coming from a member! Especially with less actives. A lot of
the time, all they need is for their Brother or Sister to say ¨Come to church
with us! We miss you!¨ It means a lot more coming from someone who has been and
will be at their side all the time, not just the missionaries who are changed
every few months.
Well. I am trying to think of funny stories. It´s a bit of a
struggle. A semi-funny story is that we brought an investigator to church and
she literally slept through the whole meeting....at least she was peaceful?
Being with my companion for 5+ months has its´ ups and
downs. We are getting good at the lessons. We can switch and keep it
interesting and keep a good flow. We never fight. We know (almost) every name
of each other´s extended families. I am planning on going to all the Workman
family reunions that I can hit when I get home.
Downsides are that we have told every story. Sometimes, we
begin a story and the other one jumps in and tells the rest. ¨Oh yeah! ...and
then you.... and then she....and then the corndog slipped....is it even
possible to fit twenty marbles in your mouth?... and I can´t believe that he
thought mammoths didn´t exist!¨ Really. We know everything and everything.
I am starting to think eternity is a long time to be with anyone. Hahah. Just kidding.
I am starting to think eternity is a long time to be with anyone. Hahah. Just kidding.
HUGE NEWS FOLKS: I am 1/3 of the way done with the mission.
That means...I will be rolling in the next New Year in the States! Weird to
think that I will be home before Eli´s next birthday. Also, parents, ya´ll are
1/6 of the way done! Whoa!
A new game we play is called ¨Speaking Spanish¨. Since my
companion is gringa and since the little Chileans are playing hide and seek
right now, we end up speaking a lot of English when we are outside. This week
the rule is ¨NO ENLISH OUTSIDE OF THE APARTMENT!¨ It´s going to be rough. We
bought candy bars to reward ourselves every night when we complete a day of
only español...so that should be motivating!
Well. I love you all. Jason Patterson, if you are reading
this, and anyone else that has written me a handwritten letter that I haven´t
responded to, please send me an email at lauren.van.cott@myldsmail.net! I don´t have a
mail office in my area, and I forget to send things when I am out and about!
So, thanks! I promise to email back! But, thank you for all of the letters and
encouragement! It is appreciated and very much so needed!
Say your prayers & read your scriptures!
Love,
Hermana VanCott
Hermana VanCott
Dear Family and Friends,
This past week started with the worst Pday in the history of Pdays (nothing we wanted to do worked out) and ended with an Hermano´s sacrament talk which, in essence, stated that if you don’t go to EFY you won´t gain a testimony. haha. I just sat their wishing Christian was there to laugh with me. I know that EFY is a great youth program, but $400 to go to EFY does not guarantee salvation.
This past week started with the worst Pday in the history of Pdays (nothing we wanted to do worked out) and ended with an Hermano´s sacrament talk which, in essence, stated that if you don’t go to EFY you won´t gain a testimony. haha. I just sat their wishing Christian was there to laugh with me. I know that EFY is a great youth program, but $400 to go to EFY does not guarantee salvation.
Thankfully, the days in between were
fantastic! Our ward is realizing that missionary work is fun, and when they
aren´t at the beach they are willing to come with us to find & teach. I
love it. The change in attitude is gradual, but it is happening! I couldn´t be
more excited to see how the spirit of Missionary work will affect all aspects
of their ward. It is amazing the miracles that take place when we focus on the
basic doctrine and on serving. That is literally the life of a missionary, a
miracle!
Ok. I am done being cheesy. Now, on
to the good stuff.
You can only _____ in the mission:
Invite yourself and others into the house of a stranger.
Change a 20 minute rant about dogs, a mean neighbor, or the
weather, into a gospel conversation and end with a prayer.
Eat at a different person´s house every day.
Work 15 hour days and still feel like a lazy bum.
Have full conversations with dogs.
Make friends from 312832719 different countries at the same
time.
Avoid latino men´s kisses.
Accidently mix up scripture and movie quotes.
Get ready in under 20 minutes, every day, for 547 days.
Wake up at 7:30 every day, for 547days.
Count time by months. ¨I have been in Chile 14 months...¨
There is the list so far. Now, funny stories anyone?
We had an investigator come to church. She is great, and we were so happy to have her there! My companion and I made sure that she sat in farther on the bench and told her that she could watch our example of how to take the Sacrament. So, after we were all arranged, my companion leaves me with her on the bench to go play the piano for the meeting. She stayed up there on the stand during the Sacrament, so the responsibility fell on me to be the ¨example¨. Yeah, nothing hard, I have been taking the Sacrament my whole life. All you do is take the bread, eat it. Take the water, drink it, put it into the hole full of other mini plastic cups with lipstick marks on them....right?
Well. I wasn´t thinking much in my actions as I took the bread. I went for the bread with my right hand, because I am right handed. Then, I realized my arms was trapped by my bag and I couldn’t reach my mouth with my right hand. So, I switched the bread into my left hand.
My pause to figure out how the bread was going to get in my mouth, and then switch of hands, was then mimicked by our investigator. hahaha. It was just really funny to me. I didn´t laugh in the moment, but after church I was explaining to my companion and had a little giggle fit.
There is the list so far. Now, funny stories anyone?
We had an investigator come to church. She is great, and we were so happy to have her there! My companion and I made sure that she sat in farther on the bench and told her that she could watch our example of how to take the Sacrament. So, after we were all arranged, my companion leaves me with her on the bench to go play the piano for the meeting. She stayed up there on the stand during the Sacrament, so the responsibility fell on me to be the ¨example¨. Yeah, nothing hard, I have been taking the Sacrament my whole life. All you do is take the bread, eat it. Take the water, drink it, put it into the hole full of other mini plastic cups with lipstick marks on them....right?
Well. I wasn´t thinking much in my actions as I took the bread. I went for the bread with my right hand, because I am right handed. Then, I realized my arms was trapped by my bag and I couldn’t reach my mouth with my right hand. So, I switched the bread into my left hand.
My pause to figure out how the bread was going to get in my mouth, and then switch of hands, was then mimicked by our investigator. hahaha. It was just really funny to me. I didn´t laugh in the moment, but after church I was explaining to my companion and had a little giggle fit.
Another story about ¨mimicking¨.... Hermana Resendiz was
talking to our ward mission leader in the hall at church. Us three gringas were
standing by. He told her, ¨We are going to work on the Ward Mission Plan
today!¨and she said ¨Yaaay, Mision Plan!¨ To which, us three gringas, without
planning, all mimicked ¨Yaaaay, Mision Plan!¨ with an added emphasis of jazz
hands. We were all suprised that our reaction was the same. The ward mission
leader just thinks it is a gringa thing...but he kept asking us to do it while
we were talking later that day, so obviously he thought it was funny.
I thought that we looked like Sid (from Ice Age 2) and those little whatever animals they are. The Mexicana missionary is our leader, and we gringas are the animals.
Parents, I sent a letter to you this last week! There were two envelopes, so hopefully they get there in the next month! haha.
I thought that we looked like Sid (from Ice Age 2) and those little whatever animals they are. The Mexicana missionary is our leader, and we gringas are the animals.
Parents, I sent a letter to you this last week! There were two envelopes, so hopefully they get there in the next month! haha.
People who ask if I want things in packages...I am fine! I
don´t need packages to feel loved. BUT, if you want to be overly generous with
me, I guess I will send you some ideas. :)
Church music CD´s. Mormon Tabernacle
Choir, especially.
Family History Stories (if you are
my family)
Those footie sock things that you
wear with flats.
True to the Faith. I don´t have one in English.
Yeah. There are my ideas. Thank you for all the love!
Letters take about 4 weeks to get here as of right now, and packages about a
month and a half.
Love you all! Have a great week. Write me emails! I miss
hearing from you all. Even the things that are boring to you are fun to hear
for me! Anything. anyyyyythingssss.
Love,
Hermana VanCott
Thanks for your interesting letters. I really enjoy them and look forward to reading all about your mission experiences. I am happy that you are enjoying your mission. My prayers are with you and all the missionaries.
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