Maura baptism, working through illness, forgot it was Thanksgiving

Hola familia!!!

So this week for sure was a week of miricles. MAURA WAS BAPTIZED!!!! Oh that sweet girl... I just love her so much!! Her father not only changed his mind completley and but tried to come to the service. Unfortunatley he was an hour late and missed the baptism but its the thought that counts right?? Maura was so happy and it really was just a great day!! There was a lot of people there in the ward to support her and she is so excited to start progressing. It was a miricle to see the full progression of someone. From the first day we contacted maura... her mom was outside smoking. To the day of her baptism they both we up, awake, and ready for church. Mauras mom (yolanda) even bought a new dress and high heals!!! WHAT!!! They are such a special family for me. THE CHURCH IS SO TRUE!!!

So this week I was really sick. On monday after p day I got the flu really bad. I ended up throwing up 3 times... in the street. It was still my first week with my companion and she thought I was crazy. She kept asking me if I wanted to go home... hahaha we couldnt go back until 930!!!! That is just crazy talk. so we just kept working. It really made me realize that only if the church was true would there be crazy white girls in the street throwing up and then getting up and contacting the next person they see. Hahaha one old grandpa just looked at me... said teenagers these days... and kept walking. But luckily we were able to teach Vianco. He really wants to get baptized but wants to go to the other chapel that is in our same area. Tonight we have a family home evening with him. Please pray that he can understand that the church is a church of order and he needs to come to our chapel... thanks!!! 

Oh God is just so merciful. This week we have seen so many miricles and so many tender mercies have come to us. Yesterday I felt as Alma or ammon. JUST SO FULL OF JOY!"!!! There are no words to describe how much I love the mission. 

This week was thanksgiving. I didnt realize until everyone in the street started telling me happy day of thanks. I was so confused... then I remembered. hahaha guess what I had for my feast??? hahaha taco shells and beans. It was DELICIOUS!!! hahahhaa definentley writing that one in my journal. 

This week we will travel to viña again for a leadership conference. I am so excited!! I think that is the thing I love most. Learning, hearing the words that our misison needs first. Sitting at the feet of president and just wanting more. Not in a bad way... I just have such a hunger to learn. Then to go and to apply. 

I am so glad to hear that all went well with your family trip to Jamaica. I am so glad the missionaries recieved a tender mercy and someone bought them food. I know that I would be blown out of the water if that happened to me!!! I dont think it will... but you never know!!! 

Thank you so much for your continual prayers. I can feel them so much all day everyday. YOU GUYS ROCK

HERMANA Cook

How Beautiful the Feet...

Hey everyone!!!

I hope that everyone's week was fantastic! This week was awesome! We had zone conference with our mission president this week and IT WAS AWESOME!!!! He talked a lot about work and courage! I loved all the learning that we have had this week!!! General conference was also very good and very cool that people were able to hear some talks in their own languages! So how is midway? Hope that it was awesome for you guys. I noticed a trend of prophets, revelation and the santa cena... what is it in english... its the bread and water in the church. I am sorry I really cant think of the word right now... Oh well. But yes our mission president talked a lot about courage and strength and the gift of work. His talk reminded me a lot of dad. Dad is always such a hard worker and I know that we can learn a lot from him on that. Mom is a great example of courage. She is never afraid to tell what she knows to share the gospel with all the world! 

I loved the general conference talk by Elder Robbins the best. He was the one that came and visited our misison. HE spoke very clearly and I loved it. I would love to tell all my feelings about conference but there is something else I have been thinking about this week that I would love to share with you more.

How beautiful are the feet are those that declare peace. This scripture has stuck my heart this week. Because frankly our feet are the most ugly looking things right now how could they be beautiful! And as I pondered this I became aware of the underlying principle that is being taught here. How beautiful is work... How beautiful is it to see the blisters, the blood, the sweat and tears all mixed together. Dedicating all that we have to the gospel. To declare this peace. To leave our home for 2 years so that others can have theirs for eternity. I love this gospel. I love my mission. I am not even half way done and I will thank my heavenly father forever for it. 

I have realized a difference in missionaries in this aspect. Ones that return home saying that "I have paid my debt to god... my tithing, part of my life. and now I can do what I want to do." Were good missionaries who worked fought and did their best.

But those who come home and feel more in debt to god than ever before allowed god to change them. To make them into something they could not have been without the mission. 

I am so thankful for my mission. I feel more in debt to my heavenly father than ever before. I say that not in pride or in saying that I am an amazing missionary that is good. That is not my objective. My objective is in gratifying my god. I know that I will forever be changed by this experience, the people that I have taught, the people that have taught me. May we all become more indebted to god every day and work harder so be worthy of those changes.

I love you family have an amazing week!!!

Hermana Cook

PS thought I would send a picture of my beautiful feet... proud of these things!!!

Called as a Sister Leader / More lives changed / Dreams

Hey family!!!

SO much to tell you all about this week. So as I told you I have been called to be an hermana leader, and I am so excited about it. I was very sad to part with my companion hermana day after such a short period but she is in the great hands of a new trainer. I am now with hermana page and she is training me how to be a great leader. We have 2 exchanges planned for this week and I am so excited. 

So EVEN BIGGER SURPRISE!!! Paulina ended up getting baptized! Ya we had a meeting with her and the bishop and she completley changed!! She told us she was ready to be baptized and changed her entire life so that she could do it this sunday. She is an AMAZING WOMAN!!! I hope that she can continue to persevear and find a new man who can treat her amazing who she can go to the temple with. 

Another miricle investigator is named alex. We came accross him in the street and he needs a lot of help. He has been an alchoholic most of his life and drinks 10-20 beers a day!!! wow right!!! But we started to teach him. At first I was very hesitant about teaching him because he was just so drunk all the time. We told him to quit drinking and that through that he would be able to feel the spirit... and he accepted!!! He also promised my companion that he would never never buy any more beer!! Yesterday he only drank 2!!! I am so so so proud of him!!! Please pray for him and his body especially with the consequences and side affects of quitting his addiction.

The third and biggest miricle is a new investigator we have named Suge. She is from colombia and hemana page started teaching her and she ended up coming to church yesterday! That in itself is a miricle that a street contact that they met with for the first time came to chuch after a lesson but that isnt the only miricle with her. She told them in her first lesson that she had a dream of going into the church and she said she has had it many many times and it is very vivid. But she walked into a church with big windows by the enterance, she then walked down to a room with a pulpit and people bearing their testimonies... they then walked up the stairs to a baptism... She said she tried to take picutres but couldnt because it was a sacred moment... and that confused her. But then people opened up doors and she saw a font with crystal clear water and then the person walked down stairs to get into the water. 

and after words she met gringas who told her how to make this real...

SHE WAS DESCRIBING OUR CHAPEL!!!! WORD FOR WORD. when she walked into the church for the first time she thought it was just a coincidence but then after sunday school because of paulinas baptism the font was full of water. They opened up the doors to let her see the font and guess what.... She feel to the ground sobbing all she could say was ¨this is my dream¨. it was like something out of the book of mormon. She has a family and we are hoping that all of them can come into the church. She is so amazing. Please pray especially that her huspands heart will be softened and they can be baptized. 

I was so glad to hear that convention went so well and please send my reguards to dr hill. I am so proud of my dad and mom for all that they do. That takes so much courage to stand up and talk to so many people. GO DAD GO!!! 

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

Love hermana Cook

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