BIG-TIME cambios!

This past week we saw huge changes in the mission. There were lots of surprising transfers and changes (things that are exciting for us :)

I'm excited to be with Hermana Corbett! She's awesome and we're getting along great. The first week was crazy but things are settling in now. 2 new Elders also came to the ward so it's been like a good jump-start for everyone. We've got some great activities coming up and we're starting to be more united with the ward (that's what happens when you have 2 new Elders who need help from the members to find where people live, etc - everyone is obligated to get involved!)

So the other big change/news is that we now only have 1 hour of internet time instead of 1.5 hours. This is just to let you know that it might be harder for me to respond to my "abundant" *cough cough* emails. Ha. You get to this point in the mission and everyone forgets about you...nah, I don't feel forgotten. I'm just glad that it's at this point they've changed the rule. 

I would just like to take a moment to give a shout out to my little brother who is a STATE CHAMP! Good job, man. Like I have mentioned several times - I'm determined to improve my sports abilities after I get home, and I have great siblings who are going to be able to teach me :)

Well, I love you all, keep working hard and doing good things! 

Love, 

Hermana Glashzieier

p.s. I shouldn't have promised photos of this week because I didn't take any ha! Here are some surprise-attack-while-on-the-computer attempts and a shot of me and H'Meyer eating amazing home-made bread, a kind relief-society president's way of saying thanks and goodbye.

Goodbye Hermana Meyer!

Well, it's happening - cambios again. Hermana Meyer is going to Chillán, and Hermana Corbett is coming! I will miss Hermana Meyer but Hermana Corbett's great too. I'll send pictures next week. I'm always nervous about walking around with another blonde hermana (we get a lot more attention and "hello"s) but I guess we'll just have to tough it out :) I'm also nervous because the other 3 missionaries from our ward are leaving - I'm the only one staying! My memory will definitely be tested these coming weeks.

This week we had stake conference and wouldn't you know it, I was the only person in the stake qualified to play the piano. They called us about 2 weeks ago with an urgent request for someone who knows how to read music to help with their choir rehearsals. I accepted, thinking that they just needed someone to help fill in for a couple practices. I ended up playing all of the hymns for both sessions of stake conference. I'm about 98% sure that it will be the first and last time I will be asked to accompany the hymns and choir at a stake conference because I know there are MANY other people who play a lot better than I do. But I'm grateful that I at least had the ability to fill in where I was needed! 

This also relates to what Hermana Arrington (mission president's wife) spoke about in the conference - how her sister once had to help deliver 3 babies in a medical clinic in Africa. She was shocked when they asked her to help, because she had no experience and thought there surely was someone else more qualified. But there are times where we really are the only ones who can help. Each of us is needed somewhere - even when we think someone else could do the job better or that we aren't up to the task. But as we trust in what the Lord is asking us to do, we will see that our past experiences really have qualified us for what we're about to do. And if we alone don't have the ability to do it, He knows exactly how and will help us. I love that message because it's so true in every part of the work - the Lord needs us to help even when we think someone else must be more up to the task. The truth is, He called and needs US. 

I love the work and I love all of you who are patient and kind enough to read my letters, write me, pray for me, etc. 

Love, 

Hermana Blazer (as they announced my name in stake conference)

The Smallest Cupcake

This week we were given the smallest cupcakes I have ever seen. They were so so so small. But that made me love them even more. Now I'm sure you're thinking, okay, Hermana Glazier, you might be obsessed with tiny things, but it's not as interesting to everyone else. But don't you worry, there's a lot more meaning here than you might think. When the Lord says "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass," he means it.

I've been thinking a lot about the little things this week. The small and simple and how it makes us great. In Relief Society yesterday we talked about some of the small acts of kindness that President Joseph Fielding Smith was remembered for - buying a coat for someone, letting a small child sit by him in conference, things like that. I was so touched by that as I realized that when someone is in a position of fame, wealth, power, etc. it's those tiny things that everyone judges them about. One uneducated or impolite statement could label them forever as ignorant and bigoted, while these small acts of kindness from Pres. Smith left him remembered as a great example of love and Christian goodness. The church provides unmatched amounts of aid for natural disasters and other situations around the world, but most people's impression of the Church comes from their one Mormon neighbor or classmate. Just like a tiny cupcake is fascinating because it's so small, the President of a worldwide church worrying about one child is touching because of its simplicity. The cupcake, or the act in and of itself is so small, but it actually probably takes more effort, more patience, more humility, more creativity. 

We may not be in the spotlight like the "important" people of the world, but we have chances to be important every day! We are important to that person we invite to sit next to us, that person we hug, that person we call, that person we sincerely listen to and pray for. These small acts of service are the lifeblood of the church and the kind of love that the world needs more than ever. A warm greeting from other people means a lot more to someone coming to church the first time (or returning after some time) than a perfectly executed activity or lesson ever could. 

I can testify of all this because I experienced it this week. The members of the church are always serving us - feeding us, driving us home, helping us teach, etc. But there was one small act that impacted me more than a lot of those other things. We were walking to an appointment and I stopped to talk to a man waiting at the bus stop. We started to introduce ourselves and he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with us. He said he was atheist and didn't want anything to do with our church. Having recently heard the words of Elder Holland reminding us to be persistent, I calmly explained that the truth we share has really blessed us and we know that God wants all of His children to have it. I'm not sure how he segwayed into it, but he starting talking about the United States and how they're going to close the borders and that we're terrible people because of Obama and we're discriminating against immigrants and how we should go back to America and...I'm not sure what he said, in all honesty. That's basically the impression I got - but, after being in Chile for over a year, I have absolutely no knowledge of anything even closely related to politics. I tried to explain that to him. I said we have no idea what's going on there because we've been in Chile for a long time and that we're only here to help our brothers and sisters. He wasn't having it and kept insisting that we were somehow responsible for the injustice and that we should leave Chile, so I told him that he was always invited to share and that it really would bless his life. I assured him that whether he believes it or not, we are brothers and God really does love him. At this point the bus came so we shook his hand and started to walk away. I didn't feel bad because he was attacking us for something we have absolutely nothing to do with, but I did feel sad that people let themselves get so confused sometimes. As we walked away from the bus stop, a woman that had arrived while we were talking was also getting on the bus. She was a little bit rebellious and grumpy-looking, but if she hadn't been getting on the bus we probably would have talked to her as well. She had a large cart of things that she was most likely going to sell. I thought to myself, for a split second, what she was probably like. I know her type. Has talked to the missionaries before, is willing to talk for a second, but will say that she's too busy and that maybe in the future she'll visit the church. She had overheard the whole conversation with the other man, and probably saw the concern in our faces as she turned around to pull her cart onto the bus. She said loudly and sincerely, "Que les vaya bién, chiquillas." (Doesn't translate but just wished us well). I felt that she said it sincerely and from the heart and that she was really concerned for the discourteous way we had been treated. That moment changed my view of her. It was something so, so small, but meant so, so much to me. It was a tiny little cupcake that was just what I needed to keep going. 

I'm grateful for the little things that happen and for the little opportunities I have. 

Now go out and do some good!

Much love, 

Hermana Glazier

Halloween

Halloween was celebrated by eating a few halloween-themed cookies (basically a 5 minute party). It was a great week.

I hate doing this, but I literally have no time left! Just know that I'm well, it was a great week, this week will be greater, the work is true, amen. 

Love you all!

Hermana Gla