Happy Birthday!

Oh how the time flys!

Can you believe that I will be a year in 3 days! It is so crazy to me and that my birthday is this week. In someways it feels like I have only been out here for a couple of months. But I am officially old in the mission now. lol

My new companions name is Hermana Garcia and she is from Texas. Her first language is Spanish which is sweet but it is a Mexican Spanish. It makes me laugh because Mexican Spanish and Chilean Spanish are very different. During lessons she says words that I have never heard before and I know it is because they are Mexican. I just have to keep my laughter inside though. lol The Mexican accent is so different though! I like listening to her speak in Spanish. But she is learning very quickly because Chile has A LOT of its own words. It is funny because sometimes we will be in a lesson and she will say how do you say this or that.. and usually I know, but its funny because Spanish is her first language. But I need to take advantage of that so I can better my Spanish with her. Training is fun and it reminds me of my first change here. I remember being so lost about what was going on and what we were doing. But I am trying to help her feel more relaxed about everything and letting her know how well she is doing.

On Saturday we went to Santiago for the 50 years of missionary work celebration. It was so good! Latins love to dance and so they had youth from all over Chile dance the dances of all the Latin countries. They all had different costumes from the countries and dances for a good 2 hours. It was cool. They had all the missionaries that could come from the 4 missions in Santiago and then us from the Viña mission. We all sat together and sang I´ll go were you want me to go. It was really good. The Area Presidency from Chile came too and gave three talks about the missionary work. 

Oh and guess who I saw there.... Elder Croft. What a small world. He was pretty excited to see me there so we took a picture together. 

It weather is starting to get hot. It has been a nice change. I am slowly putting all my winter stuff away. Probably I need to think about giving it away because it is going to be hot here until I go home. It is crazy to think about.

But our area is doing really good. We have a couple people that we are working with and we are on the search for more. But I am not worried because I know there are people here that are waiting for us. We just have to find them. One thing that I love about training is that we have more study time so that my companion can feel more comfortable and have the knowledge needed to teach. It has really been helping me too. I am so happy to be training :)

It looks like you guys had a very successful trip. I loved all the pictures! I am excited to hear more about it when I get back. How is Stephanie doing? What is she doing for her Birthday? I need to write her a letter or two. Will you tell her happy birthday for me and I will have a present for her someday. lol Most likely when I get back. lol  How is dad doing? Have they started any new projects. It is still really weird to me that Zach has a girlfriend. How is all of that going?

As for the primary song.. there is a primary song that the kids her are practicing that talks about a heart or something.. do do do do en el corazón. lol But they have not done a program yet. I think they are practicing for one. lol  The plugas are okay. Still am using that lotion that you sent me and I can buy other lotion here so no worries. I think I am good.

Thank you for all the updates and everything!

Love you!

Hermana Lichty

Hi -Villa Norte

Changes....
So we just found out about the changes and I am............... training! I am really excited about that because that means that I will most likely have another two changes here in Villa Norte. I won´t know who I am training until tomorrow afternoon but I do know that there are only two new Hermanas coming in and they are both coming from the Provo MTC. Our pension has been kind of crazy the last couple of nights because one of the other Hermanas is ending her mission today and Hermana Ellsworth is trying to pack all of her stuff up. I totally feel their pain because packing is the worst! It is crazy because you start packing and think.. wow I don´t have that much stuff but then as you continue all of that little stuff adds up and all of the sudden you don´t have any more room in your suitcases and still a ton of stuff. It is a little rough. lol
Anyway this week was a little rough for us. My straightener broke and I was really bummed about that. I had to take a minute to mourn about that. I am just going to have to wait until I get back to buy another one. And then the next day my mirror broke. Remember the mirror that we bought right before we left. It was like a dollar mirror from walmart but I used it so much. They don´t have any mirrors like that here. So if you could look for one like that to send me I would really appreciate it. Pedro finally had his baptism but it was horrible. He got into the water and then couldn´t bend far enough down to go completely under. The bishop and our dirstrict leader tried like 3 different things and nothing worked. And then he started choking on the water. It was so bad. Hermana Ellsworth and I cried and cried. We just walked back to the pension and cried. But Pedro is doing okay, we have been visiting him and is back to normal but I don´t know what we are going to do. It was bad and I don´t know if he can do it again.
But I am still really excited for this change because you never know what will happen. I am happy for a lot of different reasons. I am glad to have had two changes with Hermana Ellsworth because I learned a lot. I learned more about Jesus Christ and my testimony has really grown. I am really grateful to be here learning about all of the things that are the most important.
I am glad that you had a good weekend with Ramona. Tell her I said hi. Also how is Stephanie doing? Does she have a new boyfriend or the same one with the dread locks? Who does she live with right now?
The pulgas are okay.. I am getting bites still but I think I have learned how to cope with it better so it is not such a huge deal. lol The weather is starting to get nice. We had two cold nights this week but it was kind of random. Also we had a little earthquake again this week. It is so funny how that is become normal too.
I hope that you have a really good time with Grandpa this week and that you guys take some pictures!
I love you!
Hermana Lichty

October 3rd

Hey....

I am glad everything is going well for everyone! It is fun to hear all the news. That trip with Ramona sounds like it will be fun. Is it only on Saturday- Sorry I don´t think the question mark on my computer works or if it does I don´t know how to use it. lol Sometimes I have problems with technology. Today has been a bit of a cold day which is weird because it has been pretty hot this week. Yesterday it was so hot outside but it was alright because we were inside watching conference all day. That is sweet they are building a temple in Wyoming. I was pretty excited yesterday when I heard them announce it on Saturday. Did you know that I am the only one in the mission from Wyoming- Kind of crazy and whenever any of the people here ask me where I am from they always think that I say Miami. This computer keyboard is really hard to write on so I don´t think this letter is going to be very long... sorry!

But this last week was really good. We are working on getting Pedro baptized this week. That last baptism kind of wiped out our pool of investigators (which we are really excited about), so we are in the finding phase again. I actually like contacting and talking to people so it is good. We found a really good couple last night that we are really excited about and we are finally getting references from the ward. I think it took a little while to win their trust but we have it now and the members are calling on us to teach their friends. It is great. I am learning a lot about love and how important it is in this work. And if we love people we will call them to repentance even though it is hard and they might get upset. If we love them and are not thinking about ourselves we will ask them the hard questions and help them to feel the peace and love that we feel. This last week on Thursday we had a lesson with this family that I just love but they are not all members because the parents aren´t married. They started talking to us about being frustrated in the church because they felt that they could not progress. My companion tried to make them feel better by telling them they could still have ¨asignments¨ and be of help. I was quiet for awhile just listening to them but I could not stop thinking about their situation. So finally I spoke up and started telling them very bluntly but with love that they were right and they can not progress if they are not living the commandments of God. God is a God of order and He gives us laws and commandments to help us to learn and grow and to be able to return to His presence. They are for our benefit and because He loves us, and never will He give us a commandment or law that we can not keep. He will always provide a way. It was quiet afterwords and they didn´t have much to say but I feel good about it because I told them something they needed to hear. Even if it was very uncomfortable to say. BUT we don´t come on the mission to be comfortable so its okay.

How is everyone else doing-  Are you and grandpa excited for your upcoming trip-

Tell everyone I love them and miss them

Hermana Lichty

11 Months in!

This last week went by so fast! We were literally running from cita to cita again this last week. It is a lot of work to get people prepared and to still have time for all the other appointments and meetings that we have. But we loved it. The baptismal service went SO good too. There were more people that came to the service than come to church on Sunday. It was amazing. We normally have around 45 people that come(including 6 to 8 investigators) and that number was more that doubled at the service. It was crazy because when it was time for the actual baptisms I felt like I was directing traffic in and out of the font. I have never experienced anything like it before. It was a little hectic but at the same time there was a calm that filled the air. And our new converts really felt the spirit. Right before the service ended they had a chance to bear their testimonies and it was so amazing to hear them talk. We held the service in the chapel because there were so many people and when they got up to the pulpit and started talking I was so proud of them. Ramon, the older man got up and was pretty emotional. He talked about feeling like a burden had been lifted from him and that he just felt happy.

Then on Sunday they were all confirmed members and received the Holy Ghost. I am so excited because in Ignacio´s confirmation they talked about him going on a mission and serving the Lord.  It was really cool to hear that. They are all such good people and they are all so excited about the church and love learning about everything and coming on Sunday.  My companion and I have been seeing so many miracles here in Villa Norte. I still remember when I got here and we had nothing. Not one investigator and not one cita. We didn´t even have a study desk, chairs, blankets for our beds, or a place to put our clothes. This ward had been closed for months because there had not been progress for almost 2 years and all the members were known for being a ¨cold ward¨. It is crazy because I never once sensed that. I have loved every day here and we have been experiencing so much success. I love this ward and I love our investigators, the ward families, and our converts. I am crossing my fingers that the president will leave me here for a least 2 more changes. :)

It sounds like you guys have had a lot going on lately. That well be fun to get new carpet upstairs and to tile in the basement.  Thank you for all the pictures of everybody. It is fun to see how much everyone is growing. It is crazy that I have been gone so long! It sounds like the ward vision is really good! Here in Chile we have a really hard time with people going inactive... we could look for and teach less actives and inactives all day everyday and never get to them all. It is really sad. But it is good the ward is working on that because it is so much better for the members to bring them back so that they will stay.

The earthquakes are becoming a little bit normal, but not big ones like last week. They have little tremblers like everyday but big ones that last more then 5 seconds are a little bit stressful for us.lol

Saturday night almost the whole country of Chile lost power for like 3 hours. It was pitch black and we could not see a thing! We were literally running in the street when suddenly everything went black. It is was alright because we have all of our emergency stuff which includes flashlight and candles. lol

Anyway sorry I am pressed for time and I still have to write the president. Love you all,

Hermana Lichty

Celebrations in Villa Norte

Well hello hello!

We are so excited for this week! Almost all of our investigators are getting baptized this week and the ones that aren´t this week are getting baptized next week! It as been such a wonderful week. We have been so so busy getting everyone prepared for their interviews and making sure everyone had white clothes to wear and everything. This week is going to be the same way. It is just great. And the ward is getting so excited. Did I tell you Villa Nore has not had a baptism in over two years and that is why they closed the area? Well anyway we are pretty happy and are going to have to do some service work to get the baptismal font clean and shiny for the baptisms.

The celebration this weekend was pretty fun. Usually they do a little more as far as activities go but this year they didn´t do so much because next month they are having a big celebration of the church in Santiago. But they eat a lot of food during this holiday. Tons and tons of BBQ. So that was really good and of course everything had mayonaise on it. But I am actually really starting to like mayonaise. Also the weather was so so nice! They also have this food that is dried peaches in this sugar water with this wheat rice in the bottom. It is something that you have to get use to but it is good. Also a lot of Choripanes which are really good, especially with mayo. lol Also I am learning a lot about the fruit that they have here. They have a lot of fruit that we don´t have that I have never heard of. They have one that they call of sweet bell pepper but it is not like a bell pepper at all and inside it is kind of like cantaloupe.

They are all about games here too during this celebration. They love flying kites here. They have places that only sell kites and there are just tons of them flying around in the air. Also they make their own kites that resemble the Chilean flag, those seem to be very popular too. It was really cool though because they have a lot of Chilean pride here and there were flags in every single house. Little ones, big ones, banners of flags that go across the window, flags and ribbons on almost all the cars, and just about every other thing you can think of that they can put flags on. It was funny because one day my companion wore the flag colors and the next day I did and EVERYONE commented on it and how we were looking so Chilean. haha  Also they have this game where they have these tops(you know like the spinning tops) looking things... but they are heavy duty wood and metal bigger then your hand tops. You spin them with this long piece of string and they have different object games your can play with them. They have another typical game but I don´t really know how to explain it with out using hand gestures. Just remind me when I get home to explain it.

I am glad everything is going well in Casper and that Zach is having fun with his car. Do you have any plans of the next couple of months? Oh yeah you have that honor flight right? That will be fun.

OHHH I almost forgot! So we had an earthquake this last week. Did you know that right before an earthquake there is this noise. I can´t really explain it but its like the earth screams right before it happens or something. Anyway, I woke up to this sound like 30 seconds before it started to shake. It was 4 in the morning. So I was just laying there and my bed just started to shake, pretty hard, I could hear all the dishes in the kitchen shaking too. And it lasted like 30 or 45 seconds. It was crazy and in the morning everyone was talking about it. They said it was like a 5.9 or something and they technically don´t classify it as and earthquake until 6 so we didn´t have to deal with them shutting off all the electricity and water for days so that was good. But it was for sure interesting. We are wondering if anything else is going to happen or not.... hmmm who knows?

Anyway thank you for the letter mom and for all the updates. What is this stake vision thing for? Does it have to do with missionary work?

Love you,

Hermana Lichty

Summer in Villa Norte

Its summer here! All of the sudden Saturday the weather turned into summer and it is hot! We are loving it! It is nice because September is the month of wind here, so even though it is hot it is not miserable because we have a nice little breeze. And this next weekend it is a huge weekend in all of Chile. The 18th of September is like our 4th of July but from what everyone said bigger. When we ask people about it they all tell us the same things. That there is going to be lots and lots and lots of food all weekend, lots of parties, and lots of drunk people. I am excited because it is all of the typical food from Chile like the Empanadas, and Choripanes.

We are so excited for the week though because we have so many  investigators that are progressing and three different baptismal interviews for this weekend. So please if you can keep these three people in yours prayers this week especially Saturday that would be wonderful: Ignacio, Alicia, and Cathalina. We are so so so happy with Villa Norte and all the miracles that are happening here. This last Sunday was wonderful because almost all of our investigators are coming to church which is one of the hardest things for the people here in Chile. The best thing happened at church though. We greeted two lady's that we had never seen at the church and when we started to talk to them they told us they were not members but would like to be! When things like that happen you know for sure that this is the work of the Lord and He is always preparing people to receive the gospel. These ladys are wonderful and when we stopped by their house that night they were so happy to receive a Book of Mormon. We are very excited about them and about the other investigators that we have. We have literally been running from cita to cita because just don´t have enough time during the week. It is the best feeling!

Even the ward members here have been and are amazing. They have been the biggest help and are so excited about all of the investigators and how they are all progressing. And they just love us. It is funny because they are just like our family and they get mad at us if we don´t have a coat on, if someone forgot about lunch and we didn´t come to their house so they could feed us, if we are out late walking around, or if we are sick the entire ward knows and they are all asking about it. They are just great and they are always trying to help us in every possible way.

Oh yeah and because of the 9/11 yesterday we had to be back in the pension early, I think it was just to make sure everything was okay. But it was good for us because we were able to catch up on some forms and projects for our investigators. But I am glad everything is going well at home and everyone is doing good. Did you like the candies? I am happy that package finally got there. Those candies are really popular here and you can find them in almost every store.  The pulgas aren´t too bad yet..... but as it warms up they get worse. I think I should be okay with things. I found that lotion works the best and also a flea coller at the foot of my bed. I know that people reading this are going to laugh about the flea coller but that's just because you don´t understand how unpleasant those bites are! And the itching lasts for at least a week and the actually bite marks don´t go away for a least a month. But its okay I handled it last summer, I should be good this summer too. I think it is more of a patience/endurance thing. lol

Thank you for the songs mom! We are very excited to listen to them this week.. it is going to be an Enya week!  And thank you for all the updates and for the letter! Love you all,

Hermana Lichty

Villa Norte is Amazing!

Hello Hello....

Things in Villa Norte are amazing! I love it here. We are seeing so many miracles here it is unreal. I could be on the computer all day telling you about all the things that have been happening in our ward. It has just been wonderful. We have so many people that are progressing, preparing for baptism, and coming to church. In the last week we have seen such a changes in our investigators and their families. There is one family that we are working with that at first was very awkward to teach. Every cita was hard for us because we just didn´t know what to teach or what it was that they wanted from the church or from us until this week. All of the sudden the lessons started to change and all the members of the family. They have all started to participate, talk, ask questions, and have started preparing for baptism. I am sorry that really doesn´t do the story justice because really it has been incredible but it is just like everything has changed with them. We are so happy and excited for them. Also this week we have been teaching Pedro,,, remember that older man that I sent a pictures of? He came to church this Sunday with his wife! It was crazy because the missionaries have been teaching them for years and years and they have never once came to church. Right now Pedro´s health is the worst it has ever been, he can barley walk, has very very high blood pressure, and he cant talk. So we communicate with a notebook. It really has been such a huge blessing to teach him. He is also preparing to be baptised so we are very excited for him!
It is really funny that you asked about my feet mom because actually I had 6 blisters this week! It was kind of rough but it was manageable because of the first aid kit that grandpa and grandma got for me. I use that stuff everyday. It was just because it is getting warm here so this week was the first week in about 4 months that I have not worn tights so my shoes were rubbing directly on my heels and toes. But they are almost gone today so no worries. And I got 3 packages this week. It was like my birthday or Christmas. lol I got two from you, the one with the shirts (which my companion and I love), sticky notes, chapstick(I shared one with my companion and she was really excited and says thanks), the socks ( thank you so much for them.. I love them), band aids (which was like pure inspiration to put in there due to all the dang blisters I had), and all the other fun little things. Thank you mom! Really good job picking stuff out. It is funny because all the stuff you picked out I wear the most and that is what my companion borrows too.  And then I got a big package of popcorn from the Morris´s! It is SO good. Hermana Ellsworth and I love it. We just eat it and eat it so right now we are trying to control ourselves so when the world ends the 27th of this month we will have something good to eat. :) No... really the world is not suppose to end but we have been hearing a lot of weird stuff about something happening on that date. Normally we wouldn´t think anything of it but in the last mission conference the president started the conference talking about how we need to be prepared with our emergency kits and backpacks. So we are prepared... no worries. But it has been interesting. I guess we will just wait and see. But anyway the popcorn came with a bunch of letters from everyone too! It was so nice to hear from everyone. I am assuming that during the 4th of July lots of people wrote me notes so that was really fun to get :) SO thank you Aunt Ora! I love the popcorn and all the letters!

We have a busy week this week again which we love and are looking forward to all of our lessons. Finding new people is a little bit of a struggle but we are working on it. Thank you for all the updates and everything. I am glad that Zach is doing good and that he got his truck up and running. That will be fun to see when I get back. How is everything going at you and Dads work? So what are you singing this song for.. is it just a musical number or for something special. What song are you singing?

Thank you for everything!

Love you!

Hermana Lichty

p.s I was going to tell you..... the plugas are back.. I am kind of bummed about that but I have a lot of stuff to try and manage them.