09.23.13 5 meses y 5 dias de nada

Hola mis amigos y familia!

How goes it back in the U.S of A? This whole week was filled with red white and blue.. and strangely enough stars and stripes as well ha  ha. We celebrated fiestas de patrias, which is like a whole week filled with patriotic parties, asados  (barbecues), dancing cueca, and lots and lots and lotttsss of drinking. For the missionaries in Chile this week is by far the worst week ever in the entire year... We got a quarter of the lessons we usually get and we found zero new people! It doesn't help that our sector is mostly rich people, so they all leave to their other houses by the beach for this holiday :( wah wah. Nevertheless it was a fantastic week because we worked hard to get as much as we could :) 

So remember when last week I told you that Mauricio was going to get baptized? Well we went to his lesson on Wednesday to set a certain date, and he said he would get baptized this Sunday. Seriously we about fell off our chairs. It is crazy that he has been investigating the church for almost 3 years and he had about 3 days from the time he set his date to the time he got baptized.... I will get to the part about his baptism really quickly. Don't you worry. :) 

Tuesday: We walked. a lot. and even more. and more. lessons taught : 0 . Blisters on my feet :2 . Tights worn through to the very thread : 4.

Wednesday: BEST DAY EVER!!! this day was actually the 18th of september, which means it is THE holiday. We got invited by Mauricio to go to his house for a barbecue. We were super excited because we absolutely LOVE his family :) It is super crazy to think that the first like 4 times we went with them we thought that they didn''t like us and it was really awkward becuase no on  talked. Goes to show that we can't judge people before we get to know them. Anyway so their house is literally up a mountain, so we were hiking past the other houses built on the hill and when we just were about to make one more switchback to get to their house we heard a very ominous humming noise. I looked up to see what was making it and we realized we were 2 feet away from a giant swarm of bees. Okay when I say giant. I mean giant, I was scared for my life, and I have never seen my companion run backwards so quickly in her life. We called Mauricio and he said that it was okay just walk past them quickly but don't move our hands. We took about 2 minutes to build up courage and did as told. We were okay. Turns out the guy next door (kind of next door) is a bee keeper, and the queen bee had escaped its box so the  other bees followed her. Just happens that she loved the tree in the Cortes' yard. I got an awesome picture of all the bees settled down in a huge lump and of the bee keeper coming and trying to get the queen bee back. Mauricio suffered from one bee sting. and we said if he was allergic we were going to stop at the church on the way to the hospital to baptize him. It was funny. Also we played with their baby goat. So cute! But it tried to eat my skirt. Goodness, I am realizing how funny my sector is when I start to write you guys. It is awesome that I get to see goats and bees and horses and all kinds of nature.. I never want to leave Pirque! Well. yeah I kind of miss America, but as long as I am on my mission I want to stay here!

most important thing about today. Mauricio accepted a date :)

Thursday: We had a zone conference which was amazing. Elder Zabellos from the seventy came and talked to our zone. There was one parable that I loved that he and his wife told. She cut an apple in half and said "How does this relate to your mission?" There of course were many diligent missionaries that had their own theory, and finally she told us "You can count the seeds in this apple.. but can you count how many apples come from those seeds?" It was a great analogy to the mission. Yeah we can count our baptisms, how many lessons we teach, and how many people we contact, but can we count how many souls we are actually affecting? NO. It was a great lesson to me to not get worried if I am not having "success" because I don't baptize every month ,but as long as I am trying my hardest  I will be able to make a difference here in the mission. It was pretty cool. Also.. I opened up the most amazing package I have ever recieved in my life. Thanks Mom and Dad and ash, bubs and aubs. I seriously was soooooo happy to open up that package! It made my whole week :) 

Friday: divisions. pretty cool. with sis jackson she is awesome. but we had zero lessons.. just lots of good convo about life.

Sat: I can't remember

Sunday: BAPTISM DAY BABAAAYYY!  So Mauricio got baptized today. Best day ever! I seriously cannot explain the joy that I had in my heart to see Mauricio be baptized and to hear a beautiful talk from his wife. Mauricio is a miracle. If you guys could just understand how many missionaries have taught him, and how far away from accepting the gospel he was 4 months ago, you wouldn't believe that he was being baptized. The members were SOO surprised. They didn't believe it. It really goes to show that if we are working sooooooooooooooooooooo hard and praying and fasting and doing all we can.. The lord is going to bless us. . It reminds me of Ammon and Alma in the book of Mormon when they convert the lamanites. It seems impossible, and they endured lots of hardships and pains (a lot more than me of course) But finally the lord blesses them. I think it is in Alma 20 something ha ha. Anyway, When Mauricio was baptized I got this new excitement to try as hard with everyone I talk to as I did with Mauricio. I want to work so much harder! So his wife shared her testimony after we gave a special musical number  "families can be together forever." and there was not a dry eye in the chapel. She thanked us as missionaries and said it is crazy that it just took two hermanas to soften Mauricios heart. But the sweetest part of her testimony is when she started to cry and said that now her family can be together forever. I was crying so much to think of her son in the mission that is going to recieve an email today of a picture of Mauricio being baptized.... I think the Lord has blessed him for being out on a mission. I am so excited for their family and I can't wait to attend their sealing as a family  :) Seriously guys I can't express to you the joy I feel to know that there is a complete family now in the gospel :) I know it is a happiness that I have never felt before. A happiness that only  the gospel can bring.

Ohhh yeah!!! Another bit of info!!! I got a phone call on friday from President Wright, the mission president. it went like this.

Me: Hello President how are you?

Pres: Hey sister sommerfeld I am great. Hermana, are you up for a challenge?

Me: I am always up for a challenge... what is it?

Pres: I want you to train.

Me: of course! (my heart pounding increasingly faster and a lack of confidence in my voice). 

Pres: Awesome, you are going to be great. We have changes on Monday.

Me: It is a latina right?

Pres: would you still say yes if it was a gringa?

Me: Yes, but I would have to pray a lot harder.

Pres: ha ha ha I hope you still pray, but it is a latina.

Me: okay!!!! sounds good!

once off the phone I am thinking ... What the  heck!? I don't know spanish yet! Or how to teach yet! But I am going to train! Crazy.. So I am  getting my new companion tomorrow! Hooray!!!!!! So excited but nervous! I will send pics and let you know how it goes!!! :) At least I will still be in PIrque!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you guys like nothing else! You are the best! Remember that God loves you and that you are his children, and that if you serve one another you can feel that special witness :) 

Hugs and Kisses

The church is true

CTR 

all that good stuff...

Mwah!

Hermana Sommerfeld

hailey.sommerfeld@myldsmail.net

Mission Chile Santiago Este

Cristobal Colon 6824

Casilla 27.144 Las Condes

Region Metropolitana

Santiago, Chile

09.16.13 Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. It is cold again :0

¡Hola po!

Hey everyone! I just want to start this letter off with a huge GRACIAS (for those of you that don't know any spanish whatsoever.. that means thank you :)) You all are amazing and you really keep me going while I am here on my mission! There are days that are super hard and where I think that I can't go any further, but I think of all of you back home and of the support that you give me and I feel 100 times better! I am so blessed to have the  friends and the family that I have and for all of your love.. I couldn't do it without you. Seriously! So I just want to start off with the most important news of this week.

MAURICIO IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!

Yep. Now that that is out there, I just want to share the things that I have learned through teaching him.

1. Sometimes it is okay to be a little tough and say things the way they are.

2. Nothing beats praying, fasting, and lots of hard work.

3. We need to accept the Lord's timing.

4. The longer you teach an investigator, the more love you feel for them, and the harder you will try to make sure that they can be with their family forever. (sounds suuuuper cheesy, but it is a truth.)

5. Not everyone here cooks bad.

6.patience. patience. patience. patience. and patience.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to teach Mauricio, and to learn all these things from him! Besides that awesome news this week was pretty good. I mean there were some hard days, but I feel like I am really improving personally.

One other thing I have learned here is "It is better to look up.". I read that talk from October 2011 general conference, and I have kind of taken it to be my inspiration and support when I am feeling down. All of you that know me know that my moods change oh so quickly. That is why I am so grateful to be here on the Lord's mission, to know how to change that about me. I have learned that as long as I am always keeping the situation light and keeping positive thoughts in my mind, and a smile on my face, I feel great! Seriously. Try it. It is awesome. I feel like it is contagious and it is so fun to have that power over people. That when I smile they do to. Power baby :) ha. Well I challenge you guys to read this conference talk and to look for ways to apply it in your life.

It seems like in these days when we have so many forces pushing against us and we have so many tribulations, the only way to get through them is through Christ. I just want to bare my testimony to you guys that I know that the scriptures can help us through any trial. I think the strongest form of comfort I have ever recieved is when I have read a passage in the scriptures and felt the Lord put his arms around me. Sorry that it sounds cheesy or cliche but that is the only way I know how to put it in words. So my advise to you is that if you are feeling depressed, unimportant or insignificant, unhappy, or just plain grumpy.. Pray and read a chapter in the book of Mormon and ponder on it. I promise you that you will feel the spirit testify to you that Christ knows exactly how you feel and that you are not alone :) 

I love you guys so much and I just want to let you know that I know that Christ lives. I know that this is His mission, and that I am here to help my spirit brothers and sisters remember the plan of salvation. I am so grateful to have the wonderful loving family and friends that I do, and I want you to know that I feel stronger because of your prayers. 

You all are amazing! 

Hugs and big Chilean kisses! 

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX 

Hermana Sommerfeld

hailey.sommerfeld@myldsmail.net

Mission Chile Santiago Este

Cristobal Colon 6824

Casilla 27.144 Las Condes

Region Metropolitana

Santiago, Chile

09.09.13 Spring!

¡Buenas Dias!

Hello from here in Chile! This week was absolutely beautiful and I was actually warm for the first time! It was a hard week to find people because the holiday week is next week. It is literally a week of parties, barbecues, dancing, etc.., and NO ONE will be home! :( But we have already had a delicious asado(grill)! And I am hoping that next week we will get some good food too! It is the week to be fat! It is a bummer that we won't be able to teach as much, but hopefully we will find opportunities! This week we had a lot of lessons and I think we managed our time a lot better than usual. It is so hard in our sector because of the distance between houses and neighborhoods but we are beginning to master it! We had a lesson with Mauricio and he kind of admitted that he knows the church is true. We just need him to commit! We had to leave Miguel for awhile :( I just pray that some time he will be more prepared. ... I guess that now wasn't his time. My spanish is doing a little bit better.. of course I am not perfect but I feel like I am closer and closer to carrying on a conversation. what else? Our time changed here.. so I am sooo tired because we lost an hour of sleep :( The upside is that it is light until 8 or 830. Umm... que mas? nada. Sorry this letter was pretty boring! Oh yeah some kid tried to kiss me on the lips and I had to fight him away.. He kept asking if I had a husband and finally I said Yes so he would leave me alone. One of the most awkward experiences of my life. I would tell details. but it is on a need to know basis. Um. yep. I feel my testimony growing every day, and I feel really blessed to have the gospel and to be here sharing it. I shared my testimony on Sunday in sacrament, and I was able to do it without a problem in Spanish.. finally!!!!!!!!! ha ha.. now I just need to get better at the rest of the language! I didn't get my package yet Mom, but I should have it tomorrow!!!!!! YAY!!!!! so excited! My companion got a package from her family that was a GIANT box and they sent it two weeks ago..... I was pretty jealous, but she shared her treats with me :) I think she is as excited as me to get my package so she can eat American candy ha ha. Everything else is great here. I have absolutely no complaints! Oh except for now that it is hot, I look like a buffet to mosquitos. My hands alone have 13 bites.. from yesterday. Time to bring out the bug spray! I don't know what it is about my blood that they like! I guess it is sweet... just like me! ;) just kidding. um. yep. sorry but that is it for this week! giant hugs and kisses! I will send some pictures next week! Oh yeah. next week my Pday is on Tuesday, so don't expect me on Monday ;) Love you alllllllll :) hugs, kisses, xo,xo xoxoxoxxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxox hugs kisses. 

Love

Hermana Hai

hailey.sommerfeld@myldsmail.net

Mission Chile Santiago Este

Cristobal Colon 6824

Casilla 27.144 Las Condes

Region Metropolitana

Santiago, Chile

09.02.13 I made it through August!

Hey everyone!

So these last couple of weeks have been kind of crazy! Here in Chile they have parties the beginning of September for the old people that lived through August. Because August is the month where the most people die from being sick! I am happy to say I made it through August! Barely. Last week was kind of adventerous... I found out that I am allergic to Chile.. Which is why I have been sick with bronchitis the whole 4 months I have been here. This last Monday I went to the Doctors because I was coughing lots and lots and I couldn't breathe. Then he sent me to the emergency room place here and we were there 7 hours. Worst P day ever! But thankfully I got medicine to help me breathe.. seeing breathing is kind of important and all ;) Also I had to rest Tuesday and Wednesday except for studying and appointments so I got some sleep in! This week was really hard with our investigators. Miguel doesn't want to be baptized any more, and we are working with him with his doubts. When he told us that he wasn't sure anymore it was the hardest thing ever. It felt like my stomach dropped to the floor. It is crazy how Satan works with people and puts so many doubts into their minds. He told us it is because he isn't sure that he will be able to follow through with his side of a covenant because he hates going to church :( It makes me so sad! We are praying and fasting so hard for him! Mauricio is this close to having a baptismal date... and his son wrote from his mission and told him not to wait, but to prepare for them to get sealed in the temple. We were praying for a letterl like that from his son, and It was amazing that he sent one :) Best day ever :) Here it is really rainy, but it is supposed to warm up really nicely! woo hoo! everyone is getting ready for 18 de Septiembre.. and I am so excited to see them dance the cueka and to try new foods :) I am going to try on the traditional dress and send a pic to you:) My spanish is still aweful, but it is getting semi better! Lets see what else.. Oh yeah!!! We are finally getting floor in our house!!! woohooo! It is a good thing too because now that it is warmer there are more and more bigs in there.. and i don't think I could handle seeing another spider on the floor or wall! It is getting warmer here and things are starting to be green again! I am so blessed to be in this beautiful part of Chile :) We have changes in 3 weeks again.. Insane how fast these weeks go by!  But I am pretty sure my companion is going to go open another sector so I will still be in Pirque. Um.. Not sure what else to write.. because this week was unproductive to say the least. but now that I can breathe I am sure this next week will be so much better! I love you guys tons and tons! Hugs and big huge kisses! 

Mwah!

Hermana Sommerfeld 

hailey.sommerfeld@myldsmail.net

Mission Chile Santiago Este

Cristobal Colon 6824

Casilla 27.144 Las Condes

Region Metropolitana

Santiago, Chile

08.19.13 Spring is in the air!

Hola!

Hope everything is great back in gringo landia! This week has been beautiful! It is finally starting to warm up! It is wierd because usually around the time that it is my birthday, things are just starting too cool down a bit! It will be weird to have a b-day in the winter-spring! Everything this week has been going pretty well! I was sick.... again..... Seems like I never have gotten over this darn cough thing. But we all went to the doctor last friday, because we all have like a rash on our arms.. mine isn't that bad, but the other sisters' arms are. The doctor gave us medicines to see if it helps and also said we get to get new matresses! Yay! Also, he told me that I am probably allergic to Chile, so I get to take allergy medicine my whole entire mission. Woop Woop. But at least it should help! I just hope it is that, and not the fact that I just have lousy immune system. The work really is progressing more here, and it has been so cool to see how the Lord really has prepared people for us to hear the gospel! Miguel is getting baptized September 8th. He was supposed to get baptized this next Sunday, but he was really sick so he couldn't come to church last week, and the next week is stake conference. We are so excited for him! It has been really cool to see the change in the way that he acts and he even said he has a suit he will wear to church! It is cute because he is worried about people seeing the tattoos he has, but we keep explaining to him every time we see him that it is okay! It is really fun to see someone become converted to the gospel and to gain a testimony of the truth. The last lesson that we were at he told his mom, "I am not joining this church because it is just some good church, I am joining because I know that it is the true church." I wanted to cry when he said that, because it is like watching someone grow in their testimony and their love for the Lord. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be able to see his conversion :) His mom and dad are a little bit of a different story, but we are working really hard to help them too. OH yeah! also Miguel said he wants to serve a mission! SO COOL to hear that from someone who just started listening to the message, but already has a desire to share it with others! AWESOME. What else? OH yeah we found a new investigator in a really unique way! 

We have been praying so hard for miracles in our sector and for the chance to be able to find more people. This thursday was a holiday, and we were not finding anyone! We were walking down a really long road past a line of cars coming back from the mountains, and the people in one car waved us over. They said "I am Alejandro, this is carmen. We are mormons and live in Huingan number 5." Then they drove off. We were like, okay! MAybe they just moved in, so lets go visit them tomorrow. So we went the next day and we took forever to find the house, because the numbers on this street are insane. Seriously it will be like 2546 then 890 then 10 then 3468... There is no order! But we eventually found the house, and we asked the lady in the yard if Carmen or Alejandro was home. She went and got Carmen. BUt as "Carmen" was walking up to the gate, we realized that it wasn't the same Carmen we had met! She was confused too, but eventually she said are you mormons!? We said yep. and she started laughing really hard. We told her that we had gotten her address from some guy and lady in a car, and she said that that was their friend who is a member of the church and he had been joking about getting missionaries to their house. She invited us in and we got to meet her family too. She asked sooooo many questions and was super interested in learning more about the church. Her friend wouldn't answer very many questions, and said she just needs to talk to the missionaries. She said her Mormon friend is a super great guy and that she could tell he had something different about him. I am really grateful for his example! So we taught the lesson, and she expressed her doubts and her feelings about religion and how she really wants to know what the purpose in life is. She said she prays every day for answers,but she hasn't been able to find them. We introduced her to the book of mormon, and next lesson we are going to teach the plan of salvation :) She was really excited to have us in our house, and she kept asking so many questions! The great thing is that we had an answer for every single one. I am so grateful that we have this truth and this gospel to help us answer all the questions about this life. I am excited to go back and teach her this week! Anything else exciting? Don't think so.. everything else is the same old same old! Walk.. teach...walk.walk.walk.walk.walk.bus.walk teach... But it is the good life :) I love you guys and I am so grateful for your help in the mission work too :) BTW there is a great talk that would be good for everyone to read. It is called "Preach my gospel-the unifying tool between members and missionaries" by Elder Erich W Kopischke... in the october 2007 Liahona. It is a great talk that explains how members can use preach my gospel as well to help them become even better member missionaries. I challenge you guys to read it and to incorporate PMG into everyday family scripture study! There are so many tools in there that help us to find people and help us to share the gospel in the best way :) I love you all and I want you to know how much I miss you! I am so grateful to be a member of this church and to know all the things that we are able to know! Hugs and Kisses!

Mwah!

Love,

Hermana Sommerfeld

hailey.sommerfeld@myldsmail.net

Mission Chile Santiago Este

Cristobal Colon 6824

Casilla 27.144 Las Condes

Region Metropolitana

Santiago, Chile

08.12.13 yaaaaaaa Po

Hey everyone!

This week was a really really busy week, but it was awesome! 

Tuesday:

we had intercambios, because my companion is the zone leader for sisters. She went to a place called Soterro Del Rio, and Hermana Nava came to our sector. It was interesting to teach with someone new, but it was alright. We had a rocky time with some of our lessons, because of diffrences in teaching style, but we figured it out!

Wednesday: 

I got my companion back :) thank goodness! I missed having my "mama" around to help me out, and translate some words for me! We went to a less active members house, named Indira, the one with adorable little girls! She is part native chilean (she looks like native american) adn she fed us like this natural fish soup. It was absolutely delicious!!! I never knew that fish could taste good ha ha! After that we had a lesson with Mauricio, the eternal investigator. He went to the store and bought meat and grilled it just for us. He told us that in Chile, the people show love with food. It was really sweet because he basically told us he loves us! Hermana Hernandez is really direct with him, because he needs it! But he usually laughs at us when we talk about baptism. We are seeing a change in him though, and even if he isn't baptized with us, we know that one day he will :) 

Thursday:

We went to Santiago central! I had to get my visa and my I.D card thing. Santiago central is where all of the awesome tourist sites are! We went to Plaza de Armas.. so awesome! I took some great pictures that I will send to you :) We listened to some folclore latino americano band.. they played the flute thingy and everything! It was really awesome. Also  there was a family from Holland that was touring there, and they stopped and talked ith us. They don't know spanish, and only a little bit of English... so another Elder and I were the only ones talking to them. It is awesome to see members from all over the world, and how the church is spread everywhere! Also cool that we had some language in common so we could communicate :) After that we went to a food place to eat. I was sick with the flu, so I just ordered a drink and a little empenada... but it was nasty! Everyone else was really upset with their food too... so we know not to eat there again!

Friday:

We had a lesson with Bertha's daughter.. Bertha is the one that has cancer. So her daughter took a book of mormon from her mom, and she nad her daughter were reading it (berthas granddaughter.) They say that they are going to read more and pray about it, because they are looking for their religion. We really felt the spirit strong in that lesson, and she is such a great person! She is so fun to talk to! I can't wait until next friday to talk to them again! 

Saturday:

Spent the whole day knocking doors in a rich neighborhood. Not one lesson. But it was fun to see the fancy houses!!!! Also we saw peacocks! Yep. pretty much explains the whole entire day! 

Sunday:

Miguel came to church! He is on the right track for his baptism on the 25th! He is awesome! I want you guys to meet him! He might go to New York to study in a couple years, so maybe you can meet him! 

and thats my week! The days are getting warmer, which means spring is coming!!! They don't have groundhogs here... so I don't know when exactly it will come ;) We are just working hard.. sharing the gospel and such. Oh yeah and Changes passed and I am staying in Pirqueeeeeeee!!!! Happiest day of my life.. I was not ready to leave! I love it out here!!!!! Okay.. yep. Love you all!° have a fantastic weeek!

Con Amor,

Hermana Hailey Bailey Sommerfeldailey

hailey.sommerfeld@myldsmail.net

Mission Chile Santiago Este

Cristobal Colon 6824

Casilla 27.144 Las Condes

Region Metropolitana

Santiago, Chile