Spread the Sunshine

25 Enero 2016

Wow, another amazing week in Potosi! Honestly, we are working SO hard and I am loving every single minute of it!!! Every night we come home exhausted and full of the experiences from the day. We have been working hard to find and teach and help the people here who are so great! I pray every day that all the work that we are doing here can make a lasting difference and truly help this area that we are in.

There is a quote that I love that says:
"No ray of sunlight is ever lost,
But the green which it awakes into existence
Needs time to sprout,
And it is not always grated to the sower
To see the harvest.
All work that is worth anything
Is done in FAITH."  -Albert Schweitzer

Sooo, just know that all sunlight, all goodness, all happiness and joy that you spread makes a difference. It just takes time for change to take place but it is so worth it. Never think that the good you do goes unnoticed, because you are truly making a difference to others (even if you don’t hear it from them).

"If we work upon marble, it will perish;
If we work upon brass, time will efface it;
If we rear buildings, they will crumble to dust;
But if we work on men's immortal minds,
If we impress on them with high principles,
The just fear of God and love for their fellow-men,
We engrave on those tablets something which no time can efface,
And which will brighten and brighten to all eternity." -Daniel Webster

YOU make a difference. Spread the sunshine and the happiness that you have to ALL those around you!

Love,

Hermana Mather

There are pigs in our area
(and if you make a sound that sounds like "kuchi-kuchi-kuchi" they come running ;D
I now know a pig call ;d hehe)

Our area of Villa Victoria with the 3 different roads

As a zone we are in Uyuni today and we are going to go to the Uyuni salt flats today!
Fotos to come!

All is Well! All is Well!

18 Enero 2016

All is well, all is well! This is the song that we have been using this week.

So, to update you on my area. I am in Barrio Centro (Centro ward) which was 2 different wards before but it had to be combined because there are so many less actives. We have 1,000 or so members and about 100-200 people who come to church every week. Most of the active members don’t even know many of the less active members. Let’s just say that we have a lot of work to do :D 

I feel like we are meeting people who have been prepared to receive the gospel in their lives and NEED the blessings that the gospel brings. It is so amazing to be doing what you are supposed to and as a result- the Lord can bless you so much!

Something that I have been saying and thinking about a lot this week is that I am putting my heart, my will, my mission and my everything in the hands of the Lord so that I can be an instrument in His hands and help the people who are here and truly do as HE needs me to do.

If you guys have the time, read the talk Becoming Perfect in Christ (it is AMAZING!) as well as Our Search for Happiness (a little long but FULL of amazing truths and clarity about the gospel of Jesus Christ.)

Hermana Mather

Going to teach one of our investigators, Hermana Susana.

My companion doing service in dried corn.

My companion made a food from Ecuador that is just toasted dried corn
with salad made of tomato and onion and soy beans.

Potosi Centro Ward Boundaries

Getting to know Villa Victoria (the other part of our area).

It rained super hard in our area and no one wanted to open the door!
FREEZING COLD!

We went to church in the traditional clothing from Otavalo Ecuador.

We went to the mine in Cerro Rico today! Super fun!

ALTO [HIGH] Potosi‏

11 Enero 2016

I don't have any time to write this week. I will be sending a bunch of pictures to explain what happened this week!

We ended up going to the Casa de la Moneda de Bolivia (Bolivia National Mint), in Potosi. We went on a tour that we thought would take 30 minutes and it took 2 hours, so I'm going to make this short.

Enjoy the pictures!

Hermana Mather

The streets in our area turn into rivers when it rains!

...and they have hail here!

We went to the VERY top of our area yesterday to find out that our area is HUGE!!!!
It has a bottom part and then the upper part of the mountain!
Its GINORMAS  (is that how you spell that?)!!!
[Actually, I like the Spanish version of "more ginormous" ; ^ ) ]

Helping weave a handmade shawl

The rainbows that we get to see! Beautiful!

The third part of our area that is behind the mountain

Dakar is held in Bolivia in the salt flats

Drinking from a coconut! Yum!

Casa de los Moneras (House of Coins)

My Will is in Thy Hands‏

4 Enero 2016

Wow! This week has felt like sooooooooooooo much time! It has been AMAZING! Wow, where to start? Well, my area is Centeral 2 and it is the second most inclined area in the zone. We live here above tree line and then it’s like hiking a 14er [14,000 foot tall mountain] every day to get to our lessons and it is FREEZING cold in the morning and the evening and the sun is SO strong during the day when it is out... I LOVE IT ;D hehe  Really, it’s great!

I love the people here, they are SO HUMBLE, they live in such humble circumstances, and yet they give so much. My new compi is Hermana Males. SHE IS AMAZING! I am blessed to be with her! She has such an amazing spirit and love for the people here. She is from Otavalo Ecuador and is a very down to earth, hardworking, obedient missionary.

There are a few of our investigators that speak only the Quechua language here... thankfully my companion knows a little bit of Quechua- so she is holding up a lot of the lessons but I hopefully will learn. It’s HARD, but I will learn!

We have seen such amazing miracles of working hard- just like our new investigator Teressa. There was one day that we were passing by a house and my companion said that she always wanted to talk to whoever lived there. So, long story short, we started talking to her and made and appointment for the next day. The next day was raining in sheets and was FREEZING cold, but we had to get to her house. The lesson that we had was so special. Life changing actually. I hope that we can continue teaching her and help her to make her goals of helping her family go to church possible.

SOOOOOO, my goal this year is very special (I hope you guys have thought about yours ;D) my goal is to loose myself in the work of the Lord. In Matthew 10:39, we find a very special scripture that says, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” While talking with my family on Christmas day, my brother asked me if I have lost myself in the work of the lord. I was unsure when I answered him, but now I am certain that I will be fully lost in this work and not holding back anything. I have put my will in the hands of the Lord and let His will be done and not mine.

Well... this email is super long and I don’t have time left, but I love you all! Until next Monday!

Love,

Hermana Mather

Potosi at night...

Me and my compi, Hermana Males! Ain't she cute?!!! ;D

Us hiding from the rain ;D

Año Viejo [Old Year]: one of the traditions from Ecuador is to burn mannequins that you make to represent all the bad that happened during the past year and to look forward to the good in the New Year.

 So, the elders did just that. They made an Elder Viejo (Old Elder) and burnt it for New Year ’s Day. ;d

We were just there cause it was in our pension ;D

The incline of part of our area... wow!!

I was cold one morning for our studies.

We went to church as Cholitas.
One of the members here let us use her polleras (skirts) and shirts to go to church and it was great!

The funny thing is that the people here have never seen a white skinned cholita (not to be racist, but it is true) so everyone was saying (from the sides of the road when we were headed to church) cholita linda (beautiful cholita ;D) It was great!

The members here can now see that we really love the culture here.