Confirmations and Power Outages

Hey everyone!!

SO this week was week 6. We have transfers again tomorrow. What!!! CRAZY RIGHT!! So yesterday Monica and mariana were confirmed!! Their confirmation was just perfect and completley with the spirit. The bishop confirmed them and in their blessings said things about their lives he had no idea about and was so specific to them!! 

Another miricle happened Antonia her mom is completely changing!! She now is going to be baptized on the 6th of september. Her mom is activley participating in the church and is a NEW PERSON!!! 

This week we also found a new family. The moms name is luz maria and she has 2 kids. They are awesome. For some odd reason they didnt come to church yesterday but we really want them to come and be baptized so please please start praying for them. Another investigator is Maria Jesus. She is very very religious and we have been teaching her a lot about the plan of salvation. She has tons of questions but is starting to pray and to read and to progress. We would love for her to come to church and be baptized as well so please pray for her too!! 

Something funny that happened. Coach hamilton (my spanish teacher at PGHS) lived here in my area for 2 years. I am serving where he lived!! WHAT!!! So jenna if you could tell him that that would be awesome (if he still remembers me)

Another awesome thing that happened this week is we didnt have electricity. WHOHOOOO!!!! It was quite the adventure and so the pictures are of us planning in the dark. 

Hope you all have a great week

Love 

Success!!!

Hello family... greetings from chile!!!

So it is official I have 5 months in the mission and am a weirdy missionary. This week was CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY. So much happened

On Monday Monica and Mariana confirmed that they would be baptized. I WAS SHOCKED!!! But here is why. 

Monica has had a long history of abuse with her husband 25 years. He has controlled her and her life so that she couldnt do what she wanted. Including going to church. But tuesday she made her decision clear SHE WANTED TO BE BAPTIZED. This is a miricle of massive proportions. She then gathered up all her stuff and moved out of the house so she could be baptized!!!! AFTER 25 YEARS and many months of hearing of the church. SHE JUST MOVED!!! She is now living with her mom and friend and is very happy. But here is what happened next. Her husband then said that Mariana couldnt be baptized. In order to be baptized you only need one parent to say yes but Monica didnt want to cause problems for her daughter so then only Monica was going to be baptized. He also told his other son that the church was for mentally insane people and that he wanted nothing to do with it. But then ANOTHER miricle happened. Monica went and talked with him so mariana could be baptized and his heart was softened compeletly. He not only gave permission for both of them to be baptized but came to the baptism and wants to know about the church!!! WHAT A TURN AROUND!! Not only that but her other son and his daughter and newborn baby came as well. They want their baby blessed and are now taking the discussions!!! This family is making a 180 degree turn around.  I am so so so grateful to heavenly father for this blessing and miricle. Never has my joy been so great in one moment. 

Other than that another funny story...

There is a recent convert named Catalina. She is just a crazy little 9 year old. We were reteaching the 10 commandments and she thought that adultery is growing up and becoming an adult. hahaha I was laughing so hard. 

Thank you so much for all your prayers, fasting, and constant thoughts in my behalf. I know that Heavenly father is so mindful of each of us and knows our needs. I love you all and hope you have an amazing week.

Love Hermana Cook

Transfers, Cold Showers, Spiritual Thoughts

Hey everyone!!! 

So this last week I got transferred!!! BUMMER RIGHT!!!! And to the surprise of hermana alvarez and I, I was the one to leave. I am now in a place called La Serena! I am now in the exact oposite of Casa Blanca. Casa blanca was the very very very most sothern part of the mission and now I am in the most northern part of the mission. I got transferred wednesday and didnt get to my new area until 2 am in the morning and then woke up at 7 the next day to get to work! Casa blanca was like fields with very very humble people with very little and now I am in the richest part of the mission. and when I say rich I mean rich. Our living conditions our about the same as casa blanca though... MORE COLD SHOWERS!! WHOOOOO!!!  It is a really really hard area and the people dont really want to listen but no importa! In the agua they will go! I am now with Hermana Magdolena. She is awesome. It will miss hermana alvarez. She was really one in a million. We both cried a lot lot lot when we seperated. I will never forget hermana alvarez and cant wait to skype her when I get home. But things with my new companion have finally gone to normal. The first few days is kinda like... I dont know this person... what is she like,,, figureing eachother out. But things are awesome! This ward hasnt had a bishop in over 6 months and yesterday they finally got one. Well kinda. They split the ward and 1/2 of them are going to the other ward and 1/2 of them are going to another. In the ward previous (the one I was in for 4 days) had 4 hermanas and now the other hermanas are in a different zone and we are in a ward with 4 other elders. 2 of them our zone leaders! This bishop we have now though is AMAZING!!! He is a really really hard worker and we are so so so excited to work with him. But that means we have a whole new ward with new members and everyone is a little quessy about the change. SO we need to know our new leaders and unify the ward and gain their confidence so they can give us new investigators. We have an AMAZING plan. including cookies!!! 

We found a daughter of a less active member and commited her to be baptized on the 16 of august and SHE IS READY!! Her name is Antonia and she is the sweetest thing ever she is 9 and cant wait to be baptized. Whoooo baptism! I hope that she can continue to come to church and be baptized. 

I will miss casablanca so much and all the members there. Especially Hermana Marisol, She and her husband we so kind enough to drive my luggage and I to viña so that no one would steal it on the bus. SO SO SO nice. But now I am ready to work in this new area and GET TO WORK.

My spanish right now is quite literally out of this world. Pure gift of tounges. People think that I have over a year in my mission. I am now at the point where I can understand EVERYTHING and speak with little accent. I KNOW RIGHT!! President was amazed. I am so thankful for my heavenly father and all he has blessed me with especailly the language. I know that he gives these gifts to his children to bless others and to help others progress. 

Spirirual thought. 

I have been reading in 1 nephi this week and this is what I would love to share with you. 

Nephi and his family were commanded to go into the wilderness and sometimes we are as well. We are commanded to go into our own deserts. Where we are isolated, lost, and alone. But we go. God doesnt promise us these times will be easy but that we will recieve help. In 17 verse 13 says- And I will be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that you shall keep my commandments ye shall be lead toward the promised land and ye shall know it is by me that ye are led. 

When we are in our deserts or wilderness the places god leads us to go. They can help us to be strengthined and to grow. But we are not alone. He is with us. he is our light. When people say to us you cant do it. Why are you here? You are crazy! We can respond with confidence because we know why we are here. We know our purpose. We can do as Nephi did and do the impossible. Build our ships, and do ALL things with the help of God. 

I love you all so much and I hope that you have an amazing week. You are always in my prayers ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS. 

Love Hermana Cook

I feel lost in the work :)

Hola familia!!

So this week was nuts! SO much to tell! 

So on tuesday we had Elder Lynn G Robbins come and speak to our misison. He took questions from us and it was amazing! One thing he told us that we need to teach others is instead of asking what can we do to help you? asking What are you worried about right now. THIS IS SO HELPFUL and I encourage you when you do your home and visiting teaching to ask people what they are worried about. But one thing that I also loved is he said the key to LIFE is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm! And that we need to have more faith and EXPECT miricles! SO that is my goal for the next month. Also this week we had companion exchanges this week with hermana leaders. And I was left in Casa blanca by myself! well with a leader but I had to plan the whole day and know where everything was and IT WAS HARD BUT SO MUCH FUN! The hermana leader hermana barros said my spanish was perfect and that I taught so amazing she thought I had 1 year or more in my mission. She was blown away! 

This week we committed 2 people to baptism! One is maria Christina and the other is just maria. They are both amazing! I hope that they can come to church so they can be baptized. They werent able to come to church yesterday because of fathers day. The reason is Maria Christian has her husband in the hospital and needed to visit him and the other Maria needed to visit her father. Very hard to get people to come to church when there is a holiday. But good news Isabel and her husband came to church again yesterday and during the sacrament oswaldo (the husband) started crying! We are going to their house tonight for family night and we wont leave until they have a baptism date!!! So any extra prayers you could say would be very very apreciated! 

We also found a lot of great new investigators this week and hope we can really start teahcing them. 

One problem we have right now is I dont know if you all kno this but right now is the world cup. And when Chile plays it is absolutley nuts! I have never never never seen anything like it. If you think the super bowl is huge you have not seen the world cup in chile. There is not one person not watching it. It is absolutley crazy!! So that right now is a challenge we are having. but we will keep working. 

But I got your package this week!! Untouched everything inside!!! Words cannot describe the gratitude I have. Thank you thank  you thank you. My companion and I especailly enjoyed the sweedish fish!!! They were so so so delicious. I also just kissed all the oils! Horray!!! Thank you thank you thank you thank you. You are seriously the best family ever. I cannot tell you how much I love you all. Emma and mom especailly thank you thank you thank you for your letters. I am sending you responses this week. Thank you for the package really words cannot describe the joy and love I felt. It was so so so so so enjoyed. 

One quote I especailly loved this week 

You only get one chance to serve a mission. It is your responsibility, your duty, to use it to its fullest, to give every last ounce of energy until you collapse in exhaustion at the end of it. All of the hardships, all of the tests, all of the hard work will be looked back upon as the best things you have ever done. Not because you enjoyed it, not because you baptized everyone, but becuase you gave everything you had, even when you didnt think you could and ESPECIALLY when you didnt want to.

Come out of your mission proud of what you have done and this experience will guide and bless you the rest of you life

Jeffery Holland

I love my mission. i feel lost in the work. I love you all so much and know I think of you always. You are always in my prayers. I LOVE LOVE LOV EMY FAMILY

Love Hermana Cook

Working hard, RAIN, and Elder Robins

Hey family!

So good news I didnt get transferred. I am still in Casa blanca with Hermana Alvarez. I am so so so excited for the work we are doing here. We really really wanted to put Isabel on date this week but it didnt happen. Her husband was there and both of them felt the spirit so strong, told us they knew they needed to get baptized, that the church was true, but wanted to get baptized as a whole family all 5 of them. We will keep fasting and praying for them everyweek. We also found a lot of new investigators this week one of them is named Maria C. She is so awesome and loves the BOM but wasnt able to come to church yesterday. Oh my gosh we want a baptism so badley it is unreal! We work day in and day out with lessons and people but no one wants to make the changes necisarry to be baptized. But we are never discouraged! Siempre con animo! 

This week was really hard to contact new people though. It rained every day this week. And when I say rain... I mean rain. Not just for a few hours on and off. When it rains here you dont see the sun for at least a week. The streets literally turned into rivers and it is just pouring rain. We were soaked head to toe every day. Which makes it difficult because very few people want soaking wet hermanas in their houses. Luckily at night time we were able to go into members houses and dry off. But everyone thought we were crazy to be out in the streets. But we need to work day in and day out!

Tomorrow for the first time ever we have a member of the seventy from the US coming to our mission! Elder Lynn G. Robins. I read his talk from general conference, What manner of men and women ye ought to be, And it was so good!! Please please read it! It talks about the need to do and to be. I sent a letter today that includes part of what I learned so I wont spoil anything. But tomorrow we travel to vina early early early in the morning to hear him speak. ALL THE MISSIONARIES IN OUR MISSION! CRAZY RIGHT! 

Well I hope you all have a great week. I love you all and pray for you always!!!

Love the wet 

hermana Cook

Helping Hands, The Mormon Stand, and Wonderful Investigators

So this week marks my first transfer!! What!!! I really really hope that I dont get transferred I love love love Casablanca and feel I have so much more to do here. We are really just getting started on the work that needs to be done. I love my companion, I love my investigators, I love being a missionary, I love it all!!

This week we had the I am a mormon stand. Our zone has this little quad stand with pictures of members in latin america with questions of the soul, Such as why am I here on the earth? How can I create a strong family... etc. Each companionship gets it for one week and we all rotate.

To be honest... It was really really hard. The point of the stand is to have others show interest so we couldnt talk first they had to come to us. so we just stood there and smiled most of the time. But the reason why it was so hard was that most people  just outrightly mocked us. They made rude jokes, threw things at us and it was terrible. Churches even sent their best bible bashers to contend with us. All through it all I thought of Lehi´s dream and how some ate the fruit and were embarrassed. I did not want to be embarrassed. I ATE THE FRUIT WITH PRIDE!! (in a good way) I will participate in the gospel without embarrassment or fear!!

We have an amazing investigator. Her name is Isabel she has been coming to church for 6 months and knows with her whole heart the church is true but wants to be baptized with her husband so they can be sealed in the temple together. She is so hungry for knowledge! any LDS chuch book in spanish she can get her hands on she reads. and this past thursday we talked with her and she told us that always she thought her baptism was far away but now knows that it needs to be really really soon!! What!!! I love this woman so much and honestly could think of nothing better in the world than to see her baptized. So any extra prayers for her would be awesome! Or putting her name in the temple. Anything! She is amazing!!

We also have Carmen and we are hoping to help her progress as well.

Sorry I don’t have much time to write more. We have a meeting with the zone leaders to return the stand and with transfers this week it is just crazy. I am sending photos and letters in the mail this week and I hope you get them soon. I love you all and I know this church is true with all my heart. ENJOY THE GOSPEL WITH PRIDE!!

Love Hermana Cook

Hola!!!

Ok so about this past week. It was hard. But in a good way. I truly know what it means to have love for your investigators. I really love them. I want them to grow and to progress. We have one investigator named Nicole. She is awesome! We put her on date last week and she really wants to be baptized! She got permission from her parents and all was well until yesterday when we went to go and get her for church. She didnt come! So we have to change her date from this sunday to next sunday. It really broke my heart. Because she has that desire but we just need to get her to change!

The other thing that happened this week is we are working with an investigator named isabel. She knows the church is true. she knows the book of mormon is true. She knows everything. But she will not be baptized because her whole family is catholic. It was so heartbreaking. She knows its true!! She even said we were anglelic messengers sent from god. and when she prayed she asked for forgiveness for not being baptized. I love these people so much! I want them to live with heavenly father again!! 

So we had a funny and interesting experience this week. There is this lady who absolutely not come to church unless children are banned from it. She hates hearing their testimonies especially claiming they aren't real. We bore our testimonies on the sacrament and how all needed it and so forth but we just had to laugh at how much she couldn't stand kids. They wont stop going to the bathroom and eating and so forth. Haha me and my comp just laughed that one off. 

So we had zone conference this week... my very first one and the first thing they do is have some of the missionaries bear testimony and who do they call on first? HERMANA COOK!! I was mortified! But I really enjoyed it. After they have 2 people at random give a talk about chapter 10 of preach my gospel and who did they call on. HERMANA COOK,1!! My zone leaders just really love me. I feel really good about it and it was a great experience. 

So I got the package finally and guess what? No camera cord and no essential oils.... no oils at all! SO now my oils are gold and I still can't send pictures.... boooo!!!

This week because our investigators were struggling hermana alvarez and I had a special fast. During that day I could feel the blessings of fasting. It is such a blessing that we have the opportunity to fast and my testimony of it is as strong as ever.

I also now understand what it means to feast on the scriptures. I have an hour to study every morning and it is never enough!! i always want more and more and more!! I love the book of mormon!!!

So not to scare you all this is just letting you all know... we are expecting a earthquake of 5 6 7or 8 today or tomorrow. Know that we are prepared for it and everything is ok. If I die I go straight to heaven!! 

I want you all to know that I know the church is true! it is amazing that we have it in our lives...

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!!!

Hermana Cook

10 things I have learned in 2 months on my mission

1. I have finally figured out why some missionaries don't act like missionaries when they get home. 

Changed for a mission

or 

Changed by a mission.

I wrote this in the front of my scriptures because I want my mission to change me and my life. I dont just want to change my life for 18 months.

2. Your friends really do determine who you become.

3. It is possible to know the church is true and not accept it. We have many investigators who tell us over and over I know your church is true, I know the BOM is true and I know you are messengers from god. But I cant change. It is truly sad.

4. Pride is the root of all evil. So many church leaders and investigators and the whole world will fall if we have pride in our hearts.

5. A mission is going through and feeling what Christ and heavenly father feel. When our investigators dont progress or break commandments... my heart breaks. But when it does you see your investigators and people through gods eyes.

6. Obedience is essential. Without obedience nothing happens.

7.Who my real friends are. I know who really cares about me because those who do take 15 min out of their day to write me a letter.

8. Communication is essential with your companions, ward, mission., everyone! I have learned how to communicate with others. What to tell say and what not to say.

9. We live in zion. Quite literally. Here visiting teachers and home teachers dont exist. Here your calling is only for sunday for 3 hours. the way that our ward works is quite literally a miricle. 

10. In the mission you are either up or down. There is no middle. You are either I am so glad I am a missionary! The church is so true! or satan is just on you and you want to go home. The important part is to make the good parts out weigh the bad. 

Missions are so hard! But that is why you change. I am so greatful for my mission