The Best Way to End

The parents are on the way here as I type this, so they'll probably hear what I'm going to say in person instead of reading the email. I'm so glad I get another week here in Chile, I feel like there's always more unifished business to take care of. 

This last week was awesome - we tried to be as diligent as possible, since I have another week to say goodbye, buy souveniers, etc. I didn't have to worry about those things. We had a beautiful baptismal service for Ariel and Erica (the couple that was married the week before). They're so great - they've basically been like members for a long time. I'm so glad I was able to contribute and help out with that. 

I'm surprisingly calm - with a little nervousness in my stomach but I'm not as sad as I thought I would be. I think it just hasn't hit me yet that I'm really ending my mission. I guess it's because I know my mission never really ends. Like my President reminded me in my last interview - the Lord will always have other missions for us to fulfill in our life. I'm so excited to go to the temple, keep working in the church, keep studying and learning, and keep being a missionary as long as I live. 

I love my Savior and His Gospel and I'm so grateful for this time. I will never be able to express all that I feel right now, but I just want you all to know that I know the things I've been teaching for a year and a half are true, and I know that it's the way to true happiness. 

Thanks for all the love and support -

Con amor eterno -

Hermana Aubrey Glazier

The Final Countdown

Would you believe me if I told you that my district leader started singing "The Final Countdown" over the phone when we called to talk about our investigators, etc...? Everyone seems to keep talking about and reminding me that my time in Chile is coming to an end. Yet, I don't really feel like it's happening. Oh well, I just gotta do my best to be un-trunky and not think about it when I should be thinking about other things. 

This past week was awesome, do you want to know why? Because one of my life-long mission dreams was fulfilled. Ariel and Erika, a wonderful soon-to-be-members-of-the-church couple, were married. You've all heard before about how many people we teach who are living together and not married and have to either separate or get married before being baptized. Well, a lot of people get hung up on that part and end up pulling away because they can't make a decision. That's why I always wanted to see someone get married so they could be baptized, and it happened! They've already been going to church for months so I really had nothing to do with helping them decide to do so, but we helped out with the wedding and this week we'll be having a lovely baptismal service. I'm so grateful for the chance to work with them and to see them taking important steps in their life. They already have 2 kids together, and for the world it's easy to say "what's the point of all this? why go through all the trouble just for a paper?" But that's the amazing thing about the Gospel, we don't care about what the world thinks and we know what's important. I'm so grateful for that knowledge. 

Now that my life-long mission dream has been fulfilled, I just need to give my all for one more week. I've never been great about sprint finishes, but I'm going to do the best I can. 

"I can do all things through Christ." -Philippians 4:13

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Aubrey Glazier

Tummy Ache

Every time I think about how close I am to the end I get such an anxious feeling. Excitement, sadness, fear, happiness, gratitude, love, nostalgia, and many other emotions fill me as I reflect on how far I've come and how far I have to go. My only goal now is go go go go go right until the end! 

This week the branch president's daughter was married. They had a small ceremony in the chapel for those who couldn't go to the temple. We went because they asked me to help with piano. Some of the family members gave talks and talked about how happy they were to have always lived with the Gospel in their family and how that blesses marriages and families. It was amazing to see how happy that branch president was to see his final of 5 children being sealed in the temple. The next day one of the daughters mencioned how everyone was so amazed that the wedding was so fun even though they served no alcohol. The people working in the reception venue commented about how happy and kind every one at the party was. Later another sister talked about how the only weddings they ever go to have been members of their own family because no one else gets married anymore. 

It's amazing how different and how much happier our lives are with the Gospel. Every day the deep crevice between the way God wants us to live and the way the world wants us to live grows deeper. How hard it is for people to understand why we're on this side, why we would choose to be so "limited", why we would be so "closed-minded", or why we would believe so much in things we can't see. What a blessing it is to be a missionary and invite people to come, see, feel, and understand why we do what we do. It makes us so, so happy and we wouldn't sacrifice that happiness for anything. The small amount of service I have done here in Chile will never be enough to thank the Lord for how much He has blessed me - but he accepts it anyway. That's what so great about the whole thing. 

Thanks for always reading my letters, writing me, praying for me, etc. I love you all!

Con amor, 

Hermana Glazier

photos: A beautiful spot in Parral, and thrift shopping in Chile...something I will truly, truly miss.

Heat!

I've never been a lover of hot weather, and let me tell you...it's not even THAT hot here, but there's no air conditioning anywhere. It's sometimes frustrating that something so out of our control, like the WEATHER, is one of our biggest obstacles.

If I could,I would run all over Parral and do a million 20-minute spirit--filled visits with as many people as possible. But that usually isn't possible.

Sometimes we walk slowly to avoid heat exhaustion, everyone offers us juice or something when we go to lessons (and they end up being longer), and sometimes it's hard to focus on what the spirit is telling us to say when all I can think is "I hope I don't smell bad. This fly is driving me nuts. I am so sweaty. When do I need to put sunscreen on again? I should ask them to fill up my water bottle." etc. etc. But like I say, the weather is something that we absolutely cannot control. I don't know why we get so frustrated sometimes with things that literally have nothing to do with our responsibility. Why we spend so much time worrying, stressing, and getting upset about things we can't control. 

I've noticed that when something is really important, the Lord will help us make it happen even when the circumstances are not 100% desirable. That's what happened last week one day when we needed to teach one of our investigators. We always teach him in a member's house, and that day he wasn't going to be home. As we frantically tried to figure out where we could go to teach him, our only option ended up being an Hermana who was preparing to go on vacation. Luckily she accepted our last minute plea and we went over. We had the lesson on her patio because it was so hot inside. Her kids were all walking in and out looking for things to pack their suitcases, the TV was on, the next door neighbors were doing construction and blasting music, etc etc. but It was still and important lesson for us. This investigator has gone to church several times but is hesitant to accept a baptismal date. We knew this lesson had to be spiritual so he could feel that he really needed to be baptized. And it was! We did our best and ignored all the distractions and everything worked out fine. He's still unsure about his date but that lesson was still crucial. 

I hope everyone's doing well, enjoying the skiing (booooo), and enjoying all the other great things that life offers. I'm excited to keep working for a few more weeks and every day I regret not bringing one of those little spray fans...hahaha. 

Love, 

Hermana Glazier

fotos: 

p-day means cooking woohooo, zone conference, my excitement as I received TWO packages! So relieved that I got my Christmas package, finally...if I wouldn't have gotten it at zone conference I would have gotten it when I went to the mission office on my way home haha. AND got to go to breakfast at the Scholes' again!


                                                           

Mawage...

I've just been hearing too much about marriage lately. The mission leader in the Parral Branch just got married, many others in the branch are preparing for their wedding (including some investigators we're teaching), I've received many emails announcing engagements, etc. The curse of the trying-to-not-be-trunky-in-her-last-transfer-missionary!

Aside from all the talk about marriage, the work is going well! We've recently had some drastic changes in our mission. We used to have to keep track of all the lessons, contacts, etc. that we did each week. Now there are only a few things we have to report. The idea is that we should be uniting with the leaders of the church here and all be on the same page (we should have done that before but you know, we're slow learners). It's really cool to see the vision that the Lord's servants have. The idea for them is always to see real conversion and real growth. It's amazing to see how little by little the Lord gets us closer to where we need to be. 

I am so grateful for this time because as I see everything from the outside, the point of view of a person investigating the church, I realize all the things that I want to contribute as a "normal" member at home. I understand just a little bit better than before what it means to be a leader in the church and what that responsibility really means. I know that because of my experience here I'll be able to fulfill better my role as a woman in the church no matter where I am in my future life. 

I'm more grateful every day for my Savior and the great happiness and hope I have as a member of His church. 

with much love, 

Hermana Glazier

Utah Weather

It's been feeling like Utah weather these days (you never know what to expect). My first day in Parral I was welcomed in with a surprise rain storm. We didn't think it would rain when we went out to work and the downpour began when we were on the other side of town. Well, my always-being-prepared-for-the-rain streak had to run out sometime.

Then came the heat wave. It's a LOT hotter here than Conce, because we aren't right by the coast. But I can't complain about the weather, because the work is great! We've been teaching tons of great people and the branch (that's basically like a ward) is awesome. There are tons of great people. Hermana Romero's an excellent missionary, I'm so excited to be working with her for my last transfer. We've seen all kinds of miracles and I've never felt so much momentum in the work. I hope we can keep it up until the end! I can't think of a better place to be for my last weeks and we're so immersed in mission life that it doesn't feel like the end is coming. 

I'm so grateful every day for all that I have learned. I feel comfortable as a missionary,
I feel so sure about every principle of the Gospel that we teach, and I feel so happy to invite people to know about it. I feel like I know what to say and when and I've learned more how to recognize the Spirit. These are things that you can only learn from experience and I'm so grateful that the Lord has given me these experiences. I know for myself so many things that I wish everyone else could know as well. That's why I have to give my all for the next month and beyond. 

I love my Savior and His gospel and I'm thankful for everyone who's taught me about it. 

Con amor, 

Hermana Glazier

fotos: rainy day, and I decided to take a photo capturing the cramming everything into my suitcases at transfer time. Also, saying goodbye to a veeeerrrryyyy old sweater. It was hard, but I know it's for the best.