Friday, August 17, 2012

hey everyone!!!!

how is everythig?  i hope everything is good. 

so i found the coolest thing that i wanted to share with you guys.  I found a talk in the april 2011 conference by M. Russell Ballard. and i just LOVED a story that he told that helped me refocus myself again.  (ive gotta do that like once a week.... its funny how we can relearn the same thing over and over again and stillneed to learn  the same thing...)  but it says:
"Oftentimes we are like the young merchant from Boston, who in 1849, as the story goes, was caught up in the fervor of the California gold rush. He sold all of his possessions to seek his fortune in the California rivers, which he was told were filled with gold nuggets so big that one could hardly carry them.
Day after endless day, the young man dipped his pan into the river and came up empty. His only reward was a growing pile of rocks. Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, “That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.”
The young man replied, “There’s no gold here. I’m going back home.”
Walking over to the pile of rocks, the old prospector said, “Oh, there is gold all right. You just have to know where to find it.” He picked two rocks up in his hands and crashed them together. One of the rocks split open, revealing several flecks of gold sparkling in the sunlight.
Noticing a bulging leather pouch fastened to the prospector’s waist, the young man said, “I’m looking for nuggets like the ones in your pouch, not just tiny flecks.”
The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold.
The old prospector said, “Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.”"
I was trying to find a way to help my companion feel better and i was reading this and i realized how as missionaries we pray and pray for miracles.  we want to see the great big miracles like "we found a family that wanted to be baptized and they had gone to church all the times they needed and had a testimony of the book of mormon so we baptized them saturday..."  I know that these miracles exist... but there arent a whole lot of them. theyre like the nuggets of gold.  but more times than not we have the little miracles.  Like when they read the book of mormon its a little miracle. or they go  to church. or when you see a change in their lives ad you just know they are progressing.  And i realized that as we pay attention to these litte things and try to have them more. help them progress little by little- in time they are going to turn into baptisms but also into happy memories. and you are going to be full. as ive been paying attention to the little memories i dont remember a whole lot of the bad things. 
we had a mini missionera this week.  (we have people who are preparing to go on missions come and work with us for like a week ... well she was just there for a weekend.. but we study with them and teach tem ad its kinda fun...)  but the purpose is to do more work.  we go on splits with them. but we only had her sunday so she was going with us to all of our appointments and she asked where was the worst day of the mission... and i realized that i have no idea. there are hard days but no bad days.  well im sure i thought they were bad when i had them but right now i dont remember a whole lot. and i know that as we focus on those little miracles. the little happy things everyday in our lives. we are going to be happy and we are going to not notice the bad things as much. and i think that god wants us to be happy... what do you think?
I love you all!!!!
have a great week
hermana applegate

Monday, August 6, 2012

Hey everyone!!!

I hope you all have had a great week!!!! I know I have... especially today... :)  we got together as a district to play vollyball but there wasnt a volley ball... and soooo we played basketball.. I havent run around and played basketball in so long. it was so much fun.. Hermana Franco (one of the hermanas in my district/apartment)  is a blast... she didnt know how to play and Elder mullenaux said that she just needed to keep me from getting the ball... and she doesnt really know the rules of basket ball so she would grab me so that i couldnt move... it was funny... :)

Thank you everyone for your love and support on my mission :) I really appreciate everything that everyone has done for me and my family..

This week we had a baptism!!!!!! oh man it was sooo happy! we found out thursday when we were planning for the night (or was it wednesday.....)  but Malena is this 10 year old girl that the missionaries have been teaching forever.  Her parents are divorced and inactive and she lives with her mom in santiago. but for hte weekends she comes to visit her dad and her grandparents (the grandparents are active) and she always goes to church with them. She knows a lot and has wanted to get baptized for a LONG TIME.  but the mom always said that she couldnt.  she wasnt ready... and the hermanas before tried everything... but the mom didnt want any of it. and then this past week we called the elders and they went and the mom gave her permission!!! woo hoo!!!! so we baptized her saturday. and oh man baptisms are the best especially when the people are so valient to get baptized.  the water was cold and we started late. but she did it anyways.  with a big huge smile on her face. 

sooo i just finnished my email and the computer stopped working and sooo it erased a whole lot... dang it... so that must mean i need to write something else....

I love the people here sooo much. I love to see the valient people. the members who come no matter what  The people (like malena) who have such a strong testimony of the gospel that they do everything they can to do everything.  There is this man, Nelson,  and he had a stroke and then got baptized.  he doesnt talk well but he can talk now and he knows that it is because of htis gospel. he is such a sweet person.  and is always worried about others.  he is studying computers now (hes like 60 something...) to help the church and every sunday rain or shine. hot or cold he walks to church.  He lives in one of the furthest barrios (neighborhoods.) and he gets up and walks because the buses arent very reliable sundays (they come like every hour or 2 hours...)He went to the temple recentlya nd he is just amazing.

And also there is Alfredo and Antonela. and they are a couple but they arent married.  for reasons im not exactly sure... but they cant be baptized until they are married. nad they are some of hte most active people in the church. they go to all of the activities. they have little assignments (like put the hymns up so everyone knows the numbers) and are so friendly nad amazing.  They have burning testimonys that this church is true and are waiting anxiously for hte day that they can get married nad be baptized. they bring all of their kids etc... They are really amazing too

This makes me think a lot about how faithful of a member am i? Would i be willing to walk to church every sunday? and have callings that i dont feel adequate for adn try my best happily? how willing am i not to murmur when something happens? when i cant do soemthing that i want?  Am i really willing to stand as a witness of God at all times, in all things and in all places? Do i even understand what that means completely?

Ive been thinking lately about how sad it is when people lose their faith. when they decide their problems are bigger than anything else and give up... I dont want that to happen to anyone.  that would make me really sad. 

that was just my thoughts this week.. and i had a lot more... but thats just what came out...

love you all sooo much. thank you for everythign!!! for all your love and support :)

les quiero!!!
hermana Applegate