Last Letter from The Mission!

The last one......

It seems to be passing by so fast, it seems like just yesterday it was Monday! This week was so good and full of crazy things. We really have been working hard to find people and help the investigators that we do have progress. We have really found some amazing people that we are teaching right now and I know that in the next change they will progress a lot and be baptized so that is pretty exciting. We are teaching a family and this week they excepted a date to be baptized in April. But the saddest thing happened this weekend. One of the kids, that is 16 went missing on Friday. She never came home from school. So right now they have everyone looking for her and they are so worried. We are praying for them but it is frustrating because we can’t really help them. And they are such an amazing family. :( So pray for them please so that they can find her.

Also this week the pulgas have been biting me like crazy! I wake up multiple times a night because the bites itch so bad! I think I started getting bit again because we had a pretty big earthquake the other day, like a 5.9 or something and it changed the temperature. So my theory is that aggravated them. lol 

Also the other day somebody stole our gas tank... it was so lame because then we had to shower with cold cold water for like 3 days. It was a little rough but we did okay. :) Our area is very interesting to say the least. I have some good stories for you when I get back. 

So this week we have so many appointments, it is awesome! The only thing is they all want to feed us ¨once¨ so I think I am going to gain some weight this week. But that is the Chilean way to show love so it’s okay. :) I will just need to take up running again when I get home.

But this week should fly by because my last working day will be Saturday. Then Sunday I leave La Serena during the middle of church to get to the bus terminal. Then a 8 hour bus ride to Viña del Mar. Monday I have my last interview with the President and then that afternoon I will travel 45 mins to Villa Alemania to visit converts. Tuesday morning super early we travel to Santiago which is about 2 hours from Viña to visit the temple and then to the Airport for about 18 hours of airplane time. lol SO I am going to be traveling a lot and I might be a little tired when I get home. :) 

But I love you and I am very excited to see you all!

Hermana Lichty

2 Weeks 2 Days left

Hello,

Everything here is going good. Trying to stay focused these last couple weeks. The trio is going good, its a challenge, but we are handling it very well I think. We had the conference which was really good. I met the doctor that is in charge of the missionary health here in Chile. His name is John Welch and his is from Lovell and he knows grandpa. He and is wife are from there and they know his whole family. He said that the Nicholls boys were ¨free spirits¨.... that they were very spiritual but did what they wanted to. lol His wife really talked highly of them and said that the Nicholls were a very good family. John Welch said to tell grandpa hi. He said that he worked for Aunt Jennie and her husband for awhile. So that was a fun experience, it's such a small world. There are pictures of them here    http://web.me.com/richandann/GillespieMission/Mission_Blog/Entries/2012/3/6_North_Zone_Conference.html  at the conference. :)

The weather here is getting cold! I think you guys stole our warm weather.. its kind of a bummer. I like being hot more than I like being cold as a missionary. I really haven't gotten very far with the book because I am trying to write all of my converts before I leave and I have a couple of other papers that I have to fill out and have ready for my final interview with the president. So I am working on that. Although it is pretty easy for me to speak in Spanish writing it is whole different thing. lol 

This week was so interesting because the first half of the week was so trying! We were walking all day everyday for three days.... but because we were diligent and because God loves us the next couple of days we starting finding all of these new people to teach, and they are so good! SO I am really excited to start this week. It is funny how our trio works because out of all of us I have the most dominant personality and am the least timid. So I have noticed that all I have to do is initiate a conversation and then my companions follow and finish it for me. lol The other day I told them that I needed them to initiate things more because I was feeling bad that I was directing everything and Hermana Carcamo said that it was a good thing because it is keeping me focused and not trunky, :) That could be true...

I am glad that everyone is doing better and feeling better. I like the picture of the quilt that you sent, it is really pretty. I hope that everyone continues to do well! I love you all and I am looking forward to receiving the very last letter of my mission from you next week. Ahhhh how fast the time goes by.

Love you all,

Hermana Lichty 

Week 3

Hey!

 The week was good. We are working a lot with the ward right now trying to help retain the members that we have. We are planning an activity for the end of the month that should help the members to be more involved in the missionary work and recent converts to stay active. In Chile retaining the members that we have is a battle. But we are still working really hard with that. :) The ward of Brillador is huge so with are working with all of the organizations to pull it off. The only sad thing about this activity is it will be the night that I leave, so I won’t be present to see it. But it is okay because the activity will go on and the purpose is for these people to stay active for all of their lives :)  We had a very humbling experince this last week that really made me feel grateful for the blessing that I have to be able to serve. We have a convert who has cancer pretty bad and is not doing very well. She called us the other night and asked that we stop by because she was not feeling very well. So we went and after teaching her she told us about how she was in a lot of pain because of the cancer and needed to take meds for it but had not eaten all day because she had nothing. When we saw her it was our last cita before heading to the house because it was 9.15pm. After talking to her and realizing her situation we looked at one another and told her we would be back. In silence we rushed to the pension and collected our food and then returned to her house with it. I felt very humbled and a sense of gratitude that we were able to help. Being able to serve those around you, bring a happiness that is very hard to describe and I can only pray that more opportunities like that will present themselves so that I can help.

I really hope that Steph is feeling better and that she will be able to make it to Casper. Thank you for all of the updates on everyone. I hope that Dad recovers fast too. How is Zach doing? Is he still a little depressed or has he bounced back already? lol

We have a mission conference tomorrow that should be good. It is a little sad though because it is my last. Dang it.

Everyone is starting to remind me of the time I have left which makes it hard to focus but I am doing my best. I got the book Daughters of My Kingdom so that will be something to help me keep my mind here in the mission for the next three weeks.

:)

I hope you are all having a great week! Thank you Mom for everything that you have done and everything that you are still doing! Love you

Hermana Lichty

4 week mark!

Hello hello,

Everything here is going good and passing by really fast! I can’t believe that we are already entering the third week of the change! Being in a trio is definitely something different. I like to think of it as a refiners fire. Like from everything I have learned in the mission about getting along with my companions and being a good companion I have to apply right now, and then take it a step further. It is a challenge but something I know that is helping me become a better person. Also my companions are really great so we are all learning a lot. 

The work is progressing and we are walking a TON! We are planning a big activity for the end of March to reactivate all of the converts of the last two years. I have been able to see how the Lord works though us to answer the prayers of his children. I find it very interesting that nothing is ever just a coincidence and that things happen all because heavenly father planned it to. I was in divisions with a one of the young women in our ward this last Wednesday and we were looking for inactive members when we knocked on a door looking for someone and ended up finding an entire family of inactive members. They said that just days before that they had said they would like to go back to church and then we ¨just happened¨ to knock on their door two days later. Kinda cool how that all works out. That day we were lost in a neighborhood that I had never been in before and the girl that was with me was new to the area too. It is nice to know that we are guided in all that we do even if we don’t always know it.  

I hope you are all starting to feel better. Being sick never is fun. Luckily we are all healthy and doing really good. Even though we are physically drained by the end of the day the morning always gives us more energy to continue. Sundays are the same as any other day but I like it because we focus a little more on the members and the recent converts. It is funny that you mentioned about my talk because I was just thinking about that the other day and how I am really not looking forward to it. lol It is so hard to talk about gospel stuff in English. I might need an interpreter on the stand to help me. :) And thank you for talking to Jana, I am very excited about that appointment. Have you talked to the stake president about an appointment to release me? Thank you for everything Mom!  Love you all,

Hermana Lichty

5 Week Mark

Hello!

So being in a trio is a little complicated. but I am learning a lot more from it than I was expecting. I think that Heavenly Father put me into a trio because I was praying for patience. lol But I have good news because our new companion is Hermana Szuch. She was in the MTC with me and she is the most patient person that I know. SO that has been wonderful because when I start to lose it I just have to take a deep breath and when she talks it just calms me down. But it has been interesting having such a huge area to work in. We have been physically exhausted at the end of everyday because of the amount of walking we have to do. I wish we had a car or a bike or something. I feel like we lost so much time because the distances are so far. But we have a lot of really good investigators that are progressing so that is exciting. Also we are trying to do divisions everyday with the youth so that we can cover more area and see more people. And an interesting fact that I found out yesterday that I never really realized.... Our ward and area is the farthest away from the mission office and all the other areas in the mission. And our Zone is in an area called Las Compañias and our sector takes up half of las Compañias. So when everyone asks how our area is and we say huge they just shake their heads and agree. lol

The weather has been HOT! I am not sure why this week the temperature seems to have gone up but that has been a little tricky to work in. I am trying so hard not to burn but it seems almost impossible. But its okay I have only gotten one bad burn in the last couple of weeks. My tan lines are ridiculous. lol Good thing it will be a little chilly when I get back so I can hide them a little bit. :) And I have really good news I took the ¨bug bomb¨ this last week and my stomach is feeling a lot better and is not so swollen anymore.. I am parasite free ;)
Thank you for all the pictures this week, they are always fun to see. I am glad everything is going well. I hope you start to feel better. Being sick is never fun. SO do you all have the day off today? Love you all,

Hermana Lichty

Happy Valentines Day 2012

This week has been crazy... So our ward is huge and the other Hermanas side of the ward is SO much bigger then ours that there are places they have never been until last week. There area goes clear out to the beach into this little area called San Pedro. You have to take two taxis to get there and it is really hard to find transportation out, but its huge. There are so many houses and people that live there, they are all fishermen. Anyway we decided to go down there and open the area and it was amazing! We were there for 3 hours and we didn’t even make it down one street because everyone was talking to us. Nobody down there has ever seen missionaries so they were very interested in who we were and what we were doing. It was sweet! And the beach is just right there. Just picture being in Hawaii with little beach houses and the white picket fences, and sand full of broken white seashells. It is amazing!

Also Hermana Boud left this week! It was so hard to see her go. We had to take her to the terminal yesterday in the middle of sacrament meeting :( She was in the MTC with me... it is crazy how the time passes. AND then there are the changes. We got the biggest shock ever when they called about changes. SOOO they put Hermana Carcamo and I in charge of both areas of the ward making it our 3rd change together WITH another Hermana that is coming tomorrow. Yeah that’s right... we are going to be in a trio in charge of of the biggest ward I have ever been in. CRAZY These next 6 weeks are going to be so interesting. I am not sure what to think about it all right now. I have not heard any good comments about trios in all of my mission but I think we could really make it work. Also there is this new rule that we don’t get to know our new companions until they arrive and we are face to face. So Hermana Carcamo and I won’t know who our new companion is ‘til tomorrow. I have a feeling it is Hermana Szuch, she was in the MTC with me, I am praying for it. :) So a lot has been happening and these next 6 weeks are just going to be busier.

Also my trainer, Hermana Amaya wrote me last week and she is engaged! SO crazy because she just got back three months ago. Oh and they split the zone up here in La Serena. So now there are two and we are in La Serena Norte.

And I got the package from Grandma Nicholls this week. Thank you so much for the package. It was awesome. It had candy, sunscreen, shirts, the medical refill, and socks. It was perfect and I was able to share with my companion too! Thank you thank you thank you! I loved it!

Thank you for everything, Love you all

Hermana Lichty

Super Bowl Sunday

Hola!

 How is everyone doing this week?  It has been a week of trials for me so I am really glad a new week has started. :) We are going into the last week of the change. It is so crazy how the time is passing by. I feel like the days have gone by slow but the weeks are gone in a blink. I am working on staying focused on everything that is happening here.  This whole ending the mission is a lot harder then I thought it would be. I want to be here and focused on the work but during the day when we are walking my mind starts to wander back to a small little town called Casper.  So I have taken up reading lots of different things besides the Book of Mormon to keep my mind busy. D & C has been good and I am also reading Our Heritage. We are contacting a lot and looking for more people to teach. But although its been a week of a lot of walking I still have to smile because our converts are doing so well! They all came to church this Sunday and Oscar is progressing so much. He is the talk of the ward! During testimony meeting people were bearing their testimonies about how much his testimony had affected theirs.  It was great. I am so proud of him, and he should receive the Priesthood this coming Sunday.

It sounds like you have a lot of projects going on at the house and Jasper sounds like fun. I am very excited to meet him. How is Zach and his girlfriend doing? Hopefully he can get is truck fixed fast. And Dad is looking for another car? How many does he need? lol I am glad that Ramona is doing so well! I would love to go to the temple with her. When is she planning on going? 

I am sorry my letters just seem to get shorter and shorter every week but I feel like I am running out of things to say and everything has become so normal I don't know what to talk about. lol Thank you for all the updates with everyone that is having babies and everything, it doesnt make me feel old or anything. j/k 

Well I hope you have a great week! I will try and think of something good to write next week since this week was a little lame. 

Love you,

Hermana Lichty

2 months left!

Good Morning!
I am doing pretty good this week. We had kind of a rough week last week because all four of us got sick. Apparently there was a bug going around or something. It was the same thing I had like 6 months ago in Villa Norte with really bad stomachaches, headaches, and a fever.So we spent a little more time in the pension trying to recover. But we are all doing a lot better now.:) This week was good. We are working with a family of five, the littlest is 9 months, the next is 3 and the oldest is 5. The biggest challenge that we have is the mom and dad are not married. So this week we really focused on that, which was a little bit awkward for us but it turned out great. They actually talked about getting married but never saw a point to it.... until we explained to them about how families could be together forever and then of course the ten commandments. :)  Also something really cool is that the mom has a twin sister that is almost exactly the same as her, only a little bit bigger. lol She was over visiting them this last week and we had two really good lessons with them both and we are 100% sure that her twin sister is going to get married and be baptized. So really I think it is just a matter of time. They all came to church on Sunday which was great. Her little kids love primary. It was funny because we went to primary with them and turns out the teacher didn't show up so we had to give the lesson. But primary here is a little different because they only separate the kids into two different groups. So we got to teach a huge class of kids from the age of 3 to 8.
Also Oscar was confirmed on Sunday which was great and is preparing to get the priesthood soon. We have a lesson with him tonight to help prepare him. :)
It sounds like you talked to a lot of people this week. I am glad everyone is still thinking about me, I haven't been gone too long. :) I really liked the pictures that you sent from your cruise. I am surprised that Dad let you take a picture of him. lol So is Stephanie just working and hanging out or is she taking classes? We don't have too many plans for this p-day. My companion has somethings she wants to do so I think mostly today we will being doing things off her agenda. But its good. I am starting to realize that after so many p-days the stuff we do isn't that important to me anymore. I don't know if that makes sense. But I remember always wanting to have me time and do things I want to do but after time it just doesn't really matter all that much. It is just another day and next week we will have another one. 
But I am glad everything is going well for everyone. And that is sweet about that girl getting called to come here. You will have to fill her in on everything because the papers really don't tell you anything. lol
Love you all,
Hermana Lichty

Jan 24

Hello!
How was your trip? It sounds like you guys had a really good time and had lots of things to do. Did you come home to snow and cold weather? How is winter going there?
Things here are going great. Oscar was baptized on Sunday afternoon and it was amazing! He has such a testimony of the gospel even though we found him and started teaching him less then 9 weeks ago. It really helps me to see what a power there is in this work that we do. Oscar was prepared to receive the gospel long before we knocked on his door. All we did was connect the dots to all the knowledge that he already knew. In the meeting that he went to last weekend they made him get up in front of every pastor in Chile and explain why he was renouncing.... and he did it! Also we had a lesson with him and our zone leader to talk about how we can help him start sharing the gospel with all of his people. Unfortunately his church and all of the members live in the Elders area so we won’t be teaching them but its okay. :) The important thing is that they get the chance to hear about the gospel. Whether it is us or the Elders it really doesn’t matter.
We had the conference and interviews this week which were good. I learned a lot about the atonement and the creation. It is crazy how fast the time flys, it seems like just last week we had the Christmas conference. Oh and I got your package of candy! Thank you! That was really fun to get. My companion loves the almond brittle that you made. And I just like candy so everything was good for me. :) The weather here continues to get hotter and I actually got a little burned yesterday. But it’s not too bad, I actually like the heat more then the cold. The pulgas have taken a little break with is nice. It might have something to do with the flea collar at the foot of my bed... but who knows?? lol The lotion seems to help too. :)
Other than that everything is going good. We have a lot of things to do here which is nice and I am still SO grateful to live in my area.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love,
Hermana Lichty

Jan 16

Well that cruise sounds like it will be a lot of fun.. how did you convince dad to go? I thought he didn't like them because he gets motion sick. But that is sweet, you will have to take a lot of pictures! I am sure that will be nice to get out of the cold weather for a little bit. :)
Everything here is going well. We are waiting on news from our Pastor. We are SOO nervous because this whole weekend he has been in Santiago because...... he is renouncing his title and pastor and all his leadership in the church so that he can be baptized this coming weekend. My companion and I have been praying a lot for him because we know that people are going to say a lot of really mean and negative things to him. Also because so many good things are going to come from his conversion. We are getting ready to start teaching his congregation. This week we hope to make plans to start going from house to house with him :) SOO please keep all of that in your prayer this week.
This week we have another mission conference which should be good. I always look forward to them. We have also been having luck finding people to teach which has been great. It is crazy how fast this change is already going by! By the end of this week we will be at the half way point. My companion is doing really good at practice and learning English which has been fun. So cracks me up because she is always saying the most random things. She read a lot of things in English and studied for years before the mission so its funny to listen to her put things together. She is the only companion that I have had that has really tempted to learn learning English. Sometimes it is frustrating though because I have had a time remembering how to say certain things in English and when she asks question my mind is just blanks out. But it’s okay :)
And yes I got the shoes this last Tuesday. They are good but give me blisters and I have a horrible tan line on my feet from my other shoes. So I am embarrassed to wear them because my tan line is SO ugly. One day I will take a picture and send it to you. lol But I have been using the soles of the new ones in my old ones and that works really well too. SO thank you!
I hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy your cruise!
Love you all,
Hermana Lichty

Jan 9 2012

Hello!

My week was good. Yes I am still enjoying the weather here although there are a couple of hours in the afternoon that are really hot. My tan lines get darker by the day. lol I think the ones on my feet and legs are the darkest and most ridiculous. It will be kind of embarrassing to come home and wear sandals and shorts. I think the biggest trial for me this week has been the pulgas, all of the sudden they started to bit me a lot! So I went and bought another flea coller for my bed and I am back to wearing a lot of lotion to try and prevent them. I was really glad I still had allergy pills because there were a few night that my feet and legs itched so bad from all the bits that I couldn´t sleep. But the allergy medicine really knocks me out so it was okay. lol Also our house has been getting attacked by ants! I don´t know if I told you about that before or not. But we have been having to use a lot of sprays to keep them under control. I have never seen so many ants in such a concentrated space. Today we woke up and there was a line of ants that went from a little crack in our bedroom, up the stairs, into our study room, and all the way around the boarder of the wall. There were hundreds and hundreds, it was kinda gross. But we sprayed them all and the crack so a least we have one less place for them to enter.

We found a family yesterday that we started to teach. They are so nice and they really listened and responded well. I was really excited because I feel like my companion and I teach really well together and she has really helped me to improve my Spanish. We are still teaching Oscar and he is going to a conference this coming weekend. He said he wants to renounce his title and power in the Church so we are praying for him. It is not an easy thing to do. We also presented him a lesson about the need for a Restoration only using the bible. He said he is going to teach it to his church this Wednesday. :)

So what is a fuzz buster? I really have no idea what it is. lol So Adam has a girlfriend too? That is so weird to me! When I left all they did was work on Zach´s car and watch TV. It sounds like Steph had fun in New Orleans. What kind of plans does she have with this boy though? He seems to live awfully far away.

No packages yet... but I am crossing my fingers for tomorrow.We have our zone meeting in the morning so it is very possible that I will get it then. The Zone leaders went to Viña last Friday for a leaders conference. Thank you for sending that oil, I am excited for it to get here so I can try it out. :)

But we have been staying busy this week and finding new people to teach which has been wonderful.

Are you staying busy at your office? How is Dad doing at his Job?

Love you all,

Hermana Lichty

Happy New Year 2012

Changes!

I have really good news! I get to keep my companion for another change! I am really excited because she is a great companion and very patient with me. The sad news is Hna Norton is leaving for the interior.. So I wont see her again until we leave. But Hermana Cárcamo and I have a lot of things we would like to accomplish in this new changes so we are very excited.

The new years was really good! It was completely different from last years experience. Here they have this tradition to make scarecrow like people, like they stuff clothes with burnable materials and then make heads for them and then stick them in posts in the ground. Then a little before midnight they burn them. It was fun to walk around and look at all of the stuffed people. Right in front of our house the neighbors made a stuffed family with a mom and dad and two little kids. So we got to watch them burn. lol

We had a special dinner that night with a family that is in a different ward. But it was fun and they gave us a lot of food! I am not use to eating meals at night so it was a little much, but it was really nice of them. We had a baptism Friday before the New Years eve activity in our ward so that was nice. It was a little girl that we found at the beginning of the change who´s family is struggling a little to stay active. But I think she will really be able to help them. Her name is Juliana.

As far as mail goes, I know that I have a package in Viña but I won´t get it until next Wednesday. Because we are really far away from everything even if our mail gets to the office we still have to wait weeks until someone goes down there or someone comes up. But I am very excited for the shoes. The ones that I am wearing are getting a holes in the bottom. :)

I am glad you guys had a good Christmas and new years. It is still weird for me to see pictures of Zach and his girlfriend. As far as Steph and her dreadlocks boy go... that should be interesting. Is she thinking of moving down there with him?

It is starting to get even warmer here which has brought the fleas back... SO SAD! For some reason they are leaving welts the size of quarters were they bit me! I am trying really hard to pretend that they are not there and that they don't itch. But it will be okay, no worries :)

Well everything else here is going good. I am really enjoying my area and the people here in the ward. Oscar the pastor is doing great and has started to teach the people in his church about the need for a Restoration. Little by little :)

Con Amor,

Hermana Lichty

Merry Christmas!

Hello... tanto tiempo! :)

It was great to talk to you all yesterday! It was great to hear from you all. Just remind dad that if we go to the zoo I am going to start talking in Spanish to him. lol I am glad that you guys had such a relaxed Christmas, but a bummer that Steph didn´t want to drive down for it. Hopefully she is doing well. I still think that is weird to hear about Zach and his girlfriend. How long have they been dating? So is Steph dating this guy in New Orleans or are they ¨just friends¨. It is going to be so interesting to meet all these people when I get back home.

So as I told you all on the phone last night we had another baptism yesterday. It was a boy named Ian. It was a good service and the other Hermanas had a baptism too so we had a double baptism. It was a really neat way to spend Christmas. Also there were a lot of activities that they had in our ward.

We taught the pastor Christmas eve and showed the José Smith movie and he felt the Spirit so strong that he changed..... AND he can hardly wait to be baptized next month. That man is like a walking miracle for us. I have never met nor taught a Pastor that was so humble and ready to receive the gospel. He is still teaching a lot of people at the evangelical church so we are going to see if he will let us start to teach them. :)

Other then that everything is going good. This is the last week of the change so it will be interesting to see if I get a new companion or not. I am hoping not. :)

I love you all and it was great to hear from you all!

Love,

Hermana Lichty

Christmas Week 2011

Well Christmas is coming fast here in la serena.. We can´t believe that it is this weekend! But we are excited. The package that you sent with the Christmas presents arrived this week. We are very excited and it is a huge temptation not to open them. My companion is really happy about it too. It is so good that you sent her a Christmas package too. It is the only one that she will have this year. Nobody sent her anything. :( But she has been talking about this present that you sent her and how she is going to write you a thank you card in English. She is so nice. So today we are going to do an interchange in the morning so I can go buy her a Christmas present, I am thinking of maybe filling a stocking for her or something. I planned it with the other Hermanas so that it will be a surprise.

The work here is going great. It is fun to be here during the navidad. There are a lot of programs that the ward and stake have been planing so that has been fun. And we have our Christmas conference tomorrow. It is so crazy that I have been in Chile for an entire year! I remember last year we had the Christmas conference three days after I got here and I didn´t understand anything! So this year it will be a very different experience, I am looking forward to it.

The ward here is doing good and we are having a lot of success as a companionship. I am really happy about everything that we are doing and the progress that we are seeing. We are planning a baptism for the 24th and two confirmations on the 25th. So that will be part of our Christmas. ;) And the pastor that we are teaching is doing so good! We had a stake activity Saturday that he went to were we watched a video with Thomas S Monson and did some Christmas things. Then the next day he came to church again AND accepted a baptismal date! SO crazy, but everyone is so excited about it. He is still teaching people at the evangelical church, BUT he is teaching them the lessons that we are teaching him. So this is going to turn into something great. :) My companion and I are amazed and so excited!

We have some other people that are progress too and one that should be baptized new years eve, so that will be fun. Our ward is huge so there are two companionships working the area. My companion and I have the smaller poorer part and the other Hermanas have the other part that is like 3 times as bigger and closer to the beach. But I really love our little area! The people and families that we have here are wonderful. Also we got a new ward mission leader that is so much better. So I know that is really going to make things easier for us.

Hmmm.... I am trying to think what else.. the weather has been getting hotter. I have never been in a place with so much humidity! I thought is was bad in Viña. In our house we have to been really careful because mold grows very easily everywhere because the walls literally get little drops of water, because of the humidity. And there are always clouds that surround our area keeping the heat and humidity hanging in the air. Sometimes it is a little miserable in the afternoon, but it only lasts for an hour or two. But I love la serena there is always something new to see and someone new to teach. :)

Do you have a lot of plans for Christmas? Who is all coming to the house? I was thinking you guys should make a list of questions again so we wont run out of time. They want us to plan on only talking for 30 minutes this year.. so we will see. I still need to figure out all of the details with the other hermanas but I will let you know sometime this week. Is there anything else happening this week or for the end of the year? How is Stephanie doing.. is she still dating that guy with the dreads?

Love you all,

Hermana Lichty

12-12-11

Hello!

It has been a really fast week! We are doing really good here in Brillador! I really like this area. We had a baptism yesterday of a lady named Mabel. It was so great to be able to help her. She was someone that the Elders had found almost 2 years ago but at the time wanted nothing to do with them, or any of the other missionaries that passed by. But with time she was prepared to receive the gospel through a lot of personal trials and things. It has been amazing to watch her change! I have never seen a change so dramatic before! It was very humbling to see her at all of the appointments because she was always changing and talking about her experiences reading the Book of Mormon.

Oscar is doing good. We had two really good lessons with him this last week and he is thinking about being baptized because he realized that he wasn't baptized with someone that had the authority. It is crazy because we are the first missionaries to teach him that although he has talked to a lot of them. But from the beginning when we first contacted him he was very humble and had a real interest. But the last appointment that we had with him he showed us pictures of him baptizing groups of people so it will be amazing if we can get him to fully understand and he can be truly converted. So I am looking forward to watching him progress more this change.
The training that we had this week was good. Very long but we are learning a lot of things that will really help us to help the people. My companion and I are doing really great together. I am harder to get along with then she is.. lol So I am working on becoming a better companion.

So Jasper is doing a lot better with his manners. lol I am excited to meet him because he sounds really funny. How long were his classes.. like 6 weeks or something? Is the weather getting really cold? I am really loving the weather here :)

The pulgas here are not too bad, although I think that I am just use to them now. lol They have really liked biting my feet and ankles lately but it could be a lot worse. There is a hermana that lives with us that has this oil.. its called thieves oil. It smells like Christmas and it is suppose to help keep all the bugs away including the pulgas. So if you see any of that I think it would be fun to use on my bed. We have lavender spray that we are using from that lavender oil that you sent me. It seems to work but I am kind of sick of the smell. lol

We have a conference on the 20th so I am hoping the mail gets here before that!

Well I have to get going but thanks for everything!

Love you all,

Hermana Lichty

December 2011

Hello Hello!

It is so weird that I already have 2 weeks here in La Serena and that it is December! Ahh it is going by so fast! I feel like that next time I blink I am going to be in my last change. It has been a pretty crazy week. First of all I would just like everyone out there reading to know how much I hate lice and I never want to go through that again! We were up until two in the morning last Monday treating our hair and cleaning out the pension and we just finished getting all of our stuff washed. We are all paranoid now and are starting to wear our hair up more. Now when I go into bathrooms the first thing I look for and have seen are lice combs. I have a feeling that it is something very common here, that a lot of people have because they don´t wash their hair as frequently as we do. But I think right now we are doing good.

My companionship has been going very well so far and we are having a lot of success. I have been so surprised at how many doors are opening and the people we are meeting. The people here in La Serena are great! We are teaching a Pastor from and Evangelic church and he came to Church with us this week. It was sweet and he is reading like crazy the book of mormón and taking notes as we teach. I am really excited to see how he progresses. Also we had the best contact and lesson the other day. We had received a reference from someone last week and when we found the house and knocked on the door a lady came out. We found out that the person we were looking for didn´t live there but we started talking to the lady. We have a card that has a bunch of questions on it so I passed it to her and said, ¨have you ever had one of these questions before?¨. She looked at it for awhile and then said, ¨I know the the answer to this one already... (Is there life after death?).. we just die and that is it. There isn´t anything more.¨ I looked at her and then I ask ¨Did someone close to you pass away recently?¨ Then she said. ¨Yes my dad died two months ago and I know that I will never see him again.¨ I then said, ¨As missionaries we share a message about this plan that our Heavenly Father has for us and part of that means that we will be with our families forever, in this life and the life after this. And in this book, called the Book of Mormon it can tell you all about it.¨ She just  looked at us for a minute and then wiped a tear away from her face. At the end of the contact we left the book for her to read about where her father is now and made an appointment to visit her. Yesterday we went to her house and she let us in right away. We sang families can be together forever and then started sharing the plan of salvation. At the end of the lesson we went back and focused on where her dad was right now. Then I asked her, ¨If you knew that these things we taught you were true, how would that change your life?¨ She paused for a minute or maybe two, it was awhile, and then said, ¨How would it change my life? It would be a joy so immense that I couldn´t even describe it.¨ Then I started to testify telling her that I know these things are true, that she has a Father in Heaven that loves her and because of that he created this plan so she could live with her dad again. And as servants of the Lord we promised her that if she prayed sincerely wanting to know if it was true she would have a huge feeling of peace and calmness come over her. When I finished testifying she started wiping away the tears again. When we left the house I said to Hermana Cárcamo that I think she(the lady) felt something in that lesson. Hermana Cárcamo said when I started testifying at the end, the Spirit entered the room very strongly and she could see it in my eyes. It was such a powerful experience, something I wasn´t expecting.

But anyway it has been a good week and we are expecting an even better one this week. Senor companions have a training this week for two days, so tomorrow and Wednesday Hermana Norton and I will be training and our companions will be out working. Did I tell you that we live in our area this change. I am so happy because for the last 7 months of my mission I have had to do A LOT of extra walking because we lived outside our area. So this pension and area have been a huge blessing in my life. :)

Well I have to get going! Love you all and I hope you are all enjoying the snow!

Love,

Hermana Lichty

La Serena

Oh what a week it has been! Can I tell you the worst news ever! Not only do we have a flea problem here but yesterday we found out that..... some recent converts have lice AND the other Hermanas think that they have it as well. So all morning we have been washing everything in our pension and when we get back we all have to use the special lice shampoo and comb. Yeah I am not too excited about it I'm not going to lie. We stripped all of our beds and sprayed them down, some members are helping us wash some of the clothes, we are hand washing clothes, and we have a lot of stuff in big trash bags tied up and sitting in the sun(to fry them), and all of our hair stuff in a big bucket of bleach water. Oh the things that happen in South America!  But I would like to clarify that  I am like 95% positive that I don´t have it. We are just trying to be cautious. :)

But other then that things have been going really good. My companions name is Hermana Cárcamo and she is really nice. I think we are really going to enjoy our time together. This area is great! I have been so surprised because the people here are different then those in the interior. They seen to be much nicer and receptive. I love it because almost everyone stops to listen to you. So that has been great. We had a lot of success this week and even my companion who is going into her 3rd change here was surprised. We already have a couple of people that are progressing and will be baptized this coming month. But we are looking for a couple more :) The bus ride was good,but a little long. It was great though because we got to see so many parts of Chile and the coast almost the whole way. We only stopped once for lunch and a bathroom break but it was good. I was the only Hermana coming here so I got to know a couple of the Elders. Out of the 200ish missionaries that we have here only twenty are here in La Serena.

La Serena is wonderful! It is so beautiful. It is the coast. That is the only way to describe it. It think it is like the size of Casper. You can see the sea line from everywhere in our area. But when you look in the opposite direction it is mountains and hills. It is great! The temperature here is a lot different here. It doesn´t get so hot like the interior. It usually is cloudy because of the sea so it is just a cool temp. Perfect for a skirt, short sleeved shirt, and a sweater. So that is going to be amazing for the summer! I am looking forward to that.

I loved the thanksgiving pictures. It looks like it was fun. I don´t ever remember making rootbeer though. But that's cool too. I totally noticed that Steph was wearing my shirt! Did she take all my clothes. Oh dear, what will I have to wear when I get home? Well it will be okay. How is everyone doing? Zach is getting bigger!

Well I have to go do a lice treatment.. lol

I love you all, thank you for everything!

Love,

Hermana Lichty

Happy Thanksgiving!

That is so funny you already heard that I was leaving Villa Norte! But I am really really bummed about it. I thought I had least one more change here. I almost started crying when we heard the news! I just sat there at my study desk staring at my wall. Both me and Hermana Garcia have been in a state of shock about it. We had talks yesterday in church that went really well but at the end when I told everyone that I was leaving I had to take a couple moments to collect myself so I wouldn’t start crying in front of everyone. It is so sad. I am just praying that I a can have a positive attitude about where I am going right now because I just don’t want to leave. Everyone in the ward has been really sad to but really good about it.

But on a different note I a going to La Serena! It is the most talked about Zone in the mission. Every that goes loves it there and everyone that hasn’t gone wants to go there. So it will be good. I will be with another companion from El Salvador. It is kind of funny because she will be my 3rd companion from there. I have heard I lot of good things about this area so I am excited. But it is far from here. It is like 7 hours by bus. So I will be traveling all day tomorrow to get there.  I think almost for sure that this will be my last area because it is so far from everyone that the president keeps the missionaries there for a longer amount of time.

But this week has been a good week in Villa Norte, we found a lot of new people to teach which means the Hermana that will be taking my place is very lucky. :) This morning I was starting to pack all my stuff and it is so hard for me... I have too much stuff. SOO I am going to try and mail 1 package home with my coats and some other random things.

So are you all excited about thanksgiving? They don’t celebrate that here so it will probably be another normal day here in Chile. I actually forgot about it. lol But you will have to send me some pictures of everyone that comes to celebrate with you guys. Then send me them on Monday.

Zach got is wisdom teeth pulled? How is he doing with that, no swelling or anything? How unfair,when I got mine pulled I got so sick and swollen. lol How is he doing with the girls? Tell him that dating is overrated and he should just focus on something else, like another project with dad or something. I was telling a member about how my brother had started dated and how weird It thought it was and he asked me if I was jealous. I was like.. what?? No no. haha But it has been weird because random Elders that I have met throughout the mission have started trying to write me. It is kind of funny but weird at the same time. One from Mexico and one from Peru.

That is crazy it is already getting so cold there. I can’t really remember that type of cold because it has been so long and it is getting so hot here. But I have heard that la serena is not as hot because we are right next to the beach. How sweet it that. It is a very touristic lugar because it is so beautiful and because of the beach. I will have to send you fotos. Also I have heard that the pension is sweet! Like a castillo(castle). SO I have a lot to look forward to but a lot of people to say bye to as well.

I am glad everything is going so well! I hope you have a very happy thanksgiving!

Con amor,

Hermana Lichty

Last week of the change

Did I ever tell you that I love Villa Norte? We had another baptism this weekend and it went great. Everything just fell into place and I really feel like it was just Camila´s time to get baptized. I am so happy for her because she is going to be such a great example to her family. Right now her parents don´t want anything to do with the church, but I feel with time that will change. Camila has been changing for the better since we started teaching her and her grandpa told us her mom had noticed what a positive effect the church has had on her. So anyway I am praying for at least one more change here so I can continue to help my converts and the investigators that we have. I don´t feel like my work is done here yet. I think there will be at least one more baptismal service here before the end of the year. 
I have been learning to trust more in the leaders here, especially the bishop. He has been the key to all the success that we have been seeing here. Recently we had a big problem come up that could have turned our really really bad and the bishop was able to handle it very smoothly, I was very impressed and grateful. It is one of those stories I will have to explain in person because it just has so many aspects to it. But it gave me a greater appreciation for all the rules that we have as missionaries and a better understanding to why we have so many. It is to keep us protected.
Elder Cook came and talked to us. It was really good, he talked about how we are ¨branch builders¨ and we need to be helping the members first and from there we branch out and help their families and friends. He talked about how we need to be more loving and gracious in our words and actions so that everyone can see that and have a trust in us. It was a really good conference and the whole mission came. It was so fun to see everyone from my old Zonas.
I can´t believe this change is coming to an end, this is the last week! It seems like just yesterday I picked my companion up from the office. The time is passing so quickly. But I am really happy because my Spanish continues to get better and sometimes I have to tell my companion what the people are saying because they talk so fast. lol
I am glad you are having such a good time in California, it sounds like you found a lot of good food to eat! Oh how I miss the good good. But its okay, before I know it I am going to be back and in Casper and missing the food here. lol I am starting to really love sunscreen again. It is getting hot! The good thing is my companion is use to the hot weather so the only comments about the hot weather come from me. :)
How is everything else going? Anything new and excited happening? I have been hearing a lot, from the members about new movies that have come out since I have been gone. I feel that I am going to have a pretty good list of thing to watch when I get back. haha
Anyways, sorry this letter is so short. I will try and make the next one better.
Love,
Hermana Lichty

Nov 7 2011

What.... Ashely´s dad got baptized? That is so crazy! I would really love to know how that all happened, the story behind that and how the sister missionaries started teaching him. I don´t want to brag or anything but the Sister missionaries bring a little something different to the table. lol We can touch people´s hearts a little differently than the Elders can. :)
The work here is going very good. We are preparing for a baptism this Sunday. I have been very humbled by the work here these last 5 months ( can you believe I have been here since June??). I have been noticing more the work of the Spirit in the work and how much we are being directed to knock certain doors and ask certain questions. I have really been trying to humble myself these last couple of weeks. This week especially I have been trying to become a better teacher, to focus more on listening and asking questions. I have been very touched by what a difference it has made in the work. The people we have been teaching and talking to have really started opening up and talking from their hearts. I have noticed that it is really our job as missionaries to show people the love that God has for them. My companion and I have made it a goal to share that with all the people we teach and talk with and it really makes a difference in their attitudes and words.
Camila the investigator we have that will be getting baptized this weekend has completely changed since we started teaching her. We hit a point with her where she just was not progressing anymore, she stopped going to church and stopped ¨having time¨ to see us. So we had a very straight forward talk with her. While we were talking we shared about the love that God has for her and why we were here as missionaries. We told her how much we loved her and how huge of a plan God has for her in her life. After that she just opened up and has been progressing so fast. We are so excited and happy for her.
I am trying to think of anything else that is going on here... Oh we have a conference on Friday and Elder Cook is going to be the guest speaker. SO we are very excited about that. It is a long conference from like 8 in the morning until like 5 at night so that should be fun.
It is getting really hot outside! But its good, the evenings are really nice to work in.
I like all the pictures that you sent. Zach looks so different and so does Steph! That is so crazy. Thank you for all of the updates and everything. SO much seems to be happening!
We /I have to get going but I love you all and I am glad that you like my letters :)
Hermana Lichty