Monday, February 24, 2014

Two Little Very Lost Missionaries



That's basically the only thing I have to say about this week. We spend most of our time wandering around all of Cauquenes looking for people whose addresses actually don't exist (we have a list of all the members of the church and it hasn't been updated in a while). So that was pretty unproductive. We're starting a revolution here. At least that's what we're calling it. We realized that we urgently need to start working with the members of this branch and getting them excited. We didn't do very much teaching this week but we did have an awesome activity! It was a night of desserts. Everyone brought their favorite to compete, and we did dessert themed games. Please refer to the embarrassing photos of me below.

That's basically all I have to say (or in other words time to say. . . oops don't hate me) so please enjoy the pictures! LOVE YOU ALL!

Hermana Glazier

Photos:
With the branch mission leader and his famous papas fritas!

Happy b-day Hermana Peterson!

Sometimes we still get invited to little kid birthday parties...

Me trying to eat a doughnut on a string

More photos from the activity! 

Our competition dessert . . . it's brownies with a lovely Trix pattern
















More photos from the activity! 


















And some fun photos from this morning. I never thought of myself as very tall, but...


Monday, February 17, 2014

La Vaca / Albahaca



Words that sound similar and kept getting confused this week. (The Cow / Basil).
I would like to tell the story of this week through photos. 

1. Las vacas (cows in the distance). This day we decided to take some tourist-y pictures in this great view of the country. I was reminded of when my brother sent a photo preaching to a cow because no one else would listen. We basically felt like that this day. 








2/3. CAUQUENES!
Beautiful place. This week I was really thankful to be here. I feel like there's a lot of potential in this branch and in this area.

4. Valentine's day is somewhat celebrated here, depending on who you talk to (just like all the other holidays). The other hermanas left us a nice little surprise!

5. A lovely surprise Valentine's day package (full of Altoids mostly) from the fam! Didn't get it until Saturday but still. Thanks for all your LOVE! 












6. Do you notice anything wrong about those pass-a-long cards? Yes, I was giving out pass-a-longs in English all day without noticing. Don't know why those were in the house. But at least I understand why one guy looked really confused when he started reading it!


7. The Scholes (senior missionary couple in Cauquenes) had another pancake breakfast today to celebrate the b-day of one of the hermanas. This time we went casual-style which was so weird! I'm getting really really used to missionary life. Am I starting to sound weird? I know I don't have any hope of being completely normal when I get home.

Well, that's about all for now. This week had some depressing moments, but it's okay because we're learning a lot. Things are a little different being in a companionship where we're both newer, but I know it's because the Lord wants me to progress. 

I love you all so much and think about you a lot! (not too much though, gotta stay focused!). 

Con amor, 
Hermana Glazier

Monday, February 10, 2014

Beautiful Feet?

Sometimes Hermana Marroquin and I share scriptures that are funny when applied in a missionary setting. For example: Mosiah 12:21, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,"
My feet are less than beautiful these days. But I do my best to bring good tidings!

This week was interesting (okay every week in the mission is interesting). I won't go into a lot of detail but I will just say . . . the 4 of us hermanas that live together all ate a melon that was on the little-bit-too-ripe side, along with several days of consistently too-large-lunches, and our stomachs suffered for a couple days. Chilean food is delicious but it sometimes gives the digestive system quite the challenge! I have included a photo of the herbal remedy that a member gave us. One of the herbs is mint and the other I don't know how to say in English. I wasn't so confident that I wanted to drink it but I felt a lot better afterwards. I'm gaining a real testimony of the Word of Wisdom these days. I'm also learning to use discernment to be able to trust people. For example when people say "some other day you can visit me," I usually don't believe them. But when a member's like "hey put hot water on this plant matter and drink it and you will be healed," I'm like "yeah sounds good". 


Well my dear people the time is too short. I hope everyone's doing great and keep doing your best in whatever you're doing! And enjoy the Olympics without me...



Much love,
Hermana Glazier

Photos: 
sketchy herbal tea
Breakfast with the Scholes (senior couple missionaries in our area). Real American pancakes with syrup and all!

Monday, February 3, 2014

God is Great, [Change] is Good, and People are Crazy

If you understand where that title comes from, please don't judge me. I promise I only listen to mission-appropriate music. It just occured to me for some reason. 


The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. This change to Cauquenes was exactly what I needed to get re-excited about being a missionary! I was always excited in my first area, but sometimes it was hard to kick habits I had formed as a newbie. It was hard sometimes to remember that "oh, yeah, I can talk to this person, I don't have to wait for my companion to do it" or little things like that. That's why I'm incredibly excited to be here in Cauquenes, even though our house is a little bit more sketchy than the last one (see photo below of where we wash the dishes). 

My new companion is Hermana Marroquin. She's from El Salvador and I call her my "compañera chicitita," because she's tiny! But she has a big heart and is a great missionary despite having less time in the mission than me. I'm really excited to work with her!




One thing I've noticed about the mission is that a lot of people initially are impatient with us, but as we continue talking to them happily and excitedly and as we are interested in them as a person, they start to open up. They always open the door like "Yeah? What do you want? Talk to me fast I'm busy right now." And then after talking to us for about 5 minutes they've told us their life story and say they hope the Lord blesses us and we can find people that want to listen (that's if they don't let us in their house). Turning the other cheek really does work. But usually it doesn't go any farther than just a conversation. If a person is not willing to soften their heart, we can't force them to accept anything. That's not how the Gospel works. Like the woman we talked to last night that had lots of questions . . . we thought she was interested but she actually just wanted to argue. After answering all of her questions and doing our best not to argue, she said that she would be praying a lot for us. She also said afterwards that it's great what we're doing, we just need to erase any idea of Joseph Smith from our minds because it's not Biblical. 



Her words didn't make me angry, just a little bit sad. I know we can't argue with people because it gets nowhere. Sometimes I just really want to ask people, "Have you actually read the Bible? Because if you did you would realize that everything we're saying is true." BUT don't worry I never say that. We have to love everyone if we're going to be representatives of the Savior. I already love the people of Cauquenes and I'm so excited to be here in a little branch (first time in a branch not a ward WOOT!). 

Love you all, please pray that someday we can have a kitchen sink that is actually inside the house (joking but kind of serious). 

Hermana Glazier

The photo with my toothbrush: symbolism that I have already completed 6 months in the mission cause I had to start a new toothbrush (one for every 6 months).