Unexpected Changes...

February 22, 2016

Well as you know Cambios came and Sunday night at 10:18, justo despues de que entramos la casa, the phone rang. I looked at the name, because we don´t answer the phone in planning. And there was the name...Presidente Arrington. My mind started freaking out and I didn't know what to do. I answered and put it on Speaker phone so that Hermana Herrera could hear it too. 

"Hola Hermanas. ¿Cómo esta la obra en Cauquenes?" 

"Super Bien. ¡¡¡¡Hoy tuvimos 5 investigadores con fecha bautismal en la iglesia!!!!" Dije Yo. 

"Wow que Genial. Hablo con Hermana Poulson verdad?" 

"Sí Presidente..." 

"That's exactly who I wanted to talk to. Hermana Poulson, I am calling because God has another calling for you."

I was kinda freaking out at this point. He changed from Spanish to English to talk with me. And I was so scared that I just kept looking at my companion and crying. And she didn't understand English so it wasn't any help. 

"Hermana Poulson, Heavenly Father has called you to be a Hermana Leader. Will you accept this calling?"

A flood of emotions ran through my head. I was NOT EXPECTING THIS. I just wanted to be a normal missionary. But I guess Heavenly Father has a different plan. My brain is just a little confused and stressed and I need time to think. I have prayed and I know that Heavenly Father has confidence in me, even if that is something that I fault in myself. I want to cry. I am going to miss my investigators and my companion. I love Hermana Herrera like she is my sister. We have grown so much and I had so much confidence with her. I am so nervous, I don´t know what to think. I slept like 3 hours last night.

Anyways I just wanna talk about my week of MIRACLES. Which makes me REALLY sad that I am leaving Cauquenes. We progressed a TON with our investigators. Humberto made the hardest decision of his life. The only thing keeping him from progressing was his Girlfriend. She was literally doing everything she could to make it so that he wouldn't go to church or meet with us. So this week He BROKE UP WITH HER!!!!!! And he has been super super sad this week. We passed by his house everyday. And we helped him overcome his break up. I feel so incapable for this kind of stuff. 

Javier accepted to live the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. He is the bomb. Seriously I have never met anyone tan celestial como el.He told us his personal testimony of why he knows that these two commandments are important. Because he lived a crazy life before and now he has changed. I am so blessed that I got to know him and even though I will not be here for his baptism in 2 weeks I will know that I made some sort of an impact in his life. 

I wanna share the quote from my Mission President. Actually it is from Presidente Monson, this is how I feel,

 “Throughout our lives, we must deal with change. Some changes are welcome; some are not. There are changes in our lives which are sudden, such as the unexpected passing of a loved one, an unforeseen illness, the loss of a possession we treasure. But most of the changes take place subtly and slowly. This is our one and only chance at mortal life (or a mission) —here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive . . . future. Instead, find joy in the journey—now. My brothers and sisters, there is no tomorrow to remember if we don’t do something today. Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us.. . .  We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us. Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey.” (President Thomas S. Monson)

LOVE, 

HERMANITA POULSON

Celestial Investigators...Gods test of patience

February 15, 2016

Well it's the last week of cambios here in the mish. (transfers are next week)  It's crazy to think that like a month ago I came to Cauquenes scared to death and lost. But now I am ready to go out and take on the world of Abuelitos and Perros.(granddads and dogs) It's been a crazy adventure and I can´t wait to keep working hard. We have FINALLY been able to see progress!! We had a lot of investigators in church yesterday!! AND this week we hardly had support of the members because they are all on their last minute summer vacations.

I had a mini cambio with the Hermana liders in Parral and I stayed in Cauquenes. It was lots of fun. Hermana Santos (de Sao Paolo Brazil) came to be with me. We had about 5 citas fijas (fixed appointments) and the curse of mini cambios came and ALL THE CITAS FELL THROUGH. But no fear we walked a lot (15 miles) and lost a LOT of weight ;) I just wanted to cry and ask God why this was happening. But I learned the importance of a good attitude and praying for patience. God always will answer my prayers. Just not immediately. We had several good contacts and we talked a lot about the miracles of a mission. Even though there are unsuccessful days, it just proves that Heavenly Father is trying us to see if we have the Faith. And if we can do it. He has people prepared. 

Like my Progressing Investigators...

So we have a lot of investigators. But only a few are progressing. And those that are progressing are CELESTIAL!!! Humberto (who we found my first Sunday knocking doors) has fecha for this Saturday, but due to a slight complication... we need to change the date for March....But he has come to church every week. Even when his Girlfriend cut his hair ugly so that he wouldn't go. And now he has the Choice between Heavenly Father and the Restored Church of Jesus Christ and his Girlfriend. We are fasting and praying for him. He told us that he would call us and if she doesn't want to marry him that he is going to break up with her and get baptized anyways! I don´t know what I would do in a situation like that. He said something funny Saturday. He said that Hermana Herrera and I were sad because we left our pololos (boyfriends) in our countries to come here to Chile. And Hermana Herrera said "I am not sad. My love for Heavenly Father is greater than the love of any pololo."...Oh my email just doesn't convey the message.

Javier!!! CELESTIAL INVESTIGATOR!!!!! He is seriously PERFECT!!! He came from Iquique and works in Santiago. This week he just lost his job and is going to live in Cauquenes forever!!!! He came to church and felt the spirit so strong. He said that we came in just the right moment. He calls us the saving angels. And not in a creepy way, but that we saved him from the sadness that he would be experiencing. His family doesn't like the Church but he shared his testimony with them and stood up for us. I know that Heavenly Father has his people prepared to receive this gospel and that I am just an instrument in His Hands.

That inspired my favorite mission scripture. 

Alma 29

 9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

 10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me.

¡¡¡¡¡LES AMO CALETA!!!!!

Hermanita Poulson

Today we went to the beach.
Gangster swag ;)

The parable of the Chilean Talents...

February 8, 2016

I can´t believe I have almost been here in Cauquenes for a month!! Its been such a miracle and I have learned so much from this sector, from the members, from my companion and of course from the spirit!! I love being a missionary and everyday I thank Heavenly Father for this opportunity to be here in Chile and teach these wonderful people more about Christ. We talk a lot about Christ. My companion and I made a promise that we wouldn't leave the houses of the people without bearing our testimony of Christ. We were reading the conference talks and every single one of the apostles share their "special witness" of Christ. So now we are copying them ;)

We have seen MIRACLES and I am not just saying that to make you all happy at home! I really mean that I have seen MIRACLES! We found this guy contacting and he is from Iquique (in the north of Chile) and he just barely got here. And then we had a cita with him and it was so spiritual!!! He cried during the prayer and sent us a text (we didn't respond obviously) that he really needed to hear the message. He called us later because I left my hymn book (may or may not have been on purpose) and He tried to find us to give it back. He also said that he read the hymns and loved them. How much of a miracle could I ask for?!?!?! We met up at our ward activity, the Talent show (hence the cheesy title) and he got to know the members. IT WAS AMAZING!!!! The other miracles are that we always somehow find new people to teach. New people that are amazing and are just waiting for the blessings the gospel brings in their life!! How amazing!!! 

Well here is the activity. The obra misional goes all out for the activities and we do it SOLO. So we pretty much planned an entire talent show by ourselves and called every family menos activos and invited everyone and their dogs (there are many Chileans who have dogs...) to come to our activity. And it was a success!!! Everyone came on Chilean Standard time (an hour late) but still who cares right?? The branch participated!! We found a Clown who came to do a show and it was so legit!!!! And we had a completo eating contest! I won!!! (hahaha NOT I don´t like completos) Then one of the youth wrote a rap about missionary work and it was so sick!!! And then the obra misional did a skit about Real Missionary Work. We did improv it was really freaking awesome! 

So the parable of the Chilean Talents is that EVERYONE has a TALENT and when we share our talents we make the world a better place! Through this activity we gained the confidence of the members and we also had a total of 11 INVESTIGATORS in the CHURCH!!!! the majority of whom we are teaching!!! One day we will get more referrals from the members...but that is the parable and the blessings that I wanna share with you:)

LOVE YOU

Hermana Poulson

P.S. Is it weird that I don´t wanna leave the mission? ;)

Also since I can´t look up meals, what is something quick and easy that isn't noodles or box mashed potatoes....Don´t worry about me I just haven´t eaten with members for most of the time I have been here...they are really poor and can´t afford it. I am not complaining I just need ideas ;)

Spiritually self reliant

February 1, 2016

I am pretty sure that is how you say it in English. But anyways I have thought a lot about the things I am learning here on the mission and how I could help you all at home to see what I am learning and how it applies to other aspects of the life, and not just the mission. Here's this weeks summary and then I´ll apply the spiritual self reliance.

This week was a week of ups and downs. We found a couple new people to teach and we tried to help the people to progress. One of our investigators decided that she doesn't want to be with her pareja (its her boyfriend and father of her children) so she kicked him out and canceled their wedding, but is still preparing to be baptized the 13-02. She has passed through really hard times with him and I guess they just thought that eternity wouldn't be worth it. How sad right? Well she has lots of faith and wants to change her life so Baptism it is then:) 

Humberto CAME TO CHURCH! We talked about the plan of salvation (in 4 parts because he doesn't understand very well...the people here are not very educated so it's hard to teach. We teach like we are teaching little kids) and at the end he told us that God doesn't have a plan for him after this life. We just kind of stared at him and had a moment of silence. Then my companion bore a POWERFUL testimony and told him that he didn't need to believe us, but that he needed to get his own answer. We invited him to church and went to look for him. IT WAS AMAZING! He said that he would get his answer in the church. AND he did! 

We also found a MIRACLE. My adopted sister missionary, Sasha, came with us to visit people. All our citas fell through and so we prayed and went to an area that we were the day before. We asked Sasha to pick which door to knock and she chose one that we had knocked the day before. We knocked anyways. And a lady came out. She was AMAZING!! She accepted baptism and has read the Book of Mormon before (de hecho (in fact) she brought out 2 copies of the Book of Mormon, one was highlighted and everything) because her son shared with missionaries before he died of cancer! It was amazingly spiritual. Sasha started crying when we left the house. AHHHH I was so happy I wanted to hug Sasha! That is the POWER of Missionaries and the Spirit!!!!!

Well here is the spiritually self reliant part. We all need to be committed. It's not the old Sunday mormon busyness or when you only go to church because it is a commandment. No you are doing the little things everyday and you are building your relationship with Heavenly Father. That doesn't mean you are reading your scriptures 24 hours a day and always be praying. But it means that you are doing what Heavenly Father wants. We talked about how people that are self reliant spiritually are the people that go to church every Sunday and keep the Sabbath day holy (before and after Church). That have a temple recommend, even if the temple is HOURS away,or if the temple is close to GO THERE often. it's like you make time for God because he is the most important. WOW my mind is blown this week with all the spiritual knowledge I have gained. I challenge all you at home to read the scriptures, and this week read 3 Nephi 27 which talks about the doctrine of Christ and what it means to be members of His church. And that will help you to be spiritually self reliant. 

Besitos,

Hermanita Poulson

I'll be a Sunbeam for HIM!

This is our Friend and Adopted Sister Missionary, Sasha!! We decided to match one day. My companion and I by accident and Sasha freaked out and went and changed so that we would match! I love her so much!!!!

Don't even ask about this picture. We had to walk 10 km to get to Cauquenes one day....not my favorite part of the week. But it makes for a SICK picture!!!!