December 24th Update

Hey everybody!

Still working hard in Rauquen, and it just happens to be CHRISTMAS!!!!! Woohooooooooo! There´s Christmas spirit even while you´re sweating buckets, looking at the little Santas everywhere in the blazing sun! Ha ha. It´s great. Actually, it looks like it´s going to rain here today and tomorrow. And when it rains. IT. RAINS. The plumbing isn´t super great in Rauquen either, so it´s just like rivers in the street. And we go out! There´s that line from The Guardian about how terrible the circumstances are for them, with all the storms and everything, and they keep saying, "And we. go. out." That´d pop into my head every once in a while.

Christmas time is different for everybody, right? We all have different circumstances, we have different countries, different languages, different people surrounding us, but the "reason for the season" is still the same. Really, we´re all here to remember our Savior. Last night, my ward had an incredible devotional about the Savior. We watched the videos from the church about the bible and heard testimonies of others about Christ. Wow. I got to remember why I´m here. Why any of us would choose to follow Christ. It´s because of His love for us. Because of His love for us, we can find within us the capacity to give everything. We love, because He loved us first.

So whether you´re a great visiting teacher or home teacher, a good brother or sister, a parent, or a missionary, it´s all for the same reason. Because we know that He´s happy as we love His children. And the love of God is greater than anything else we can ever experience. And we serve Him doing His work, we can feel that. We can be healed, lifted, and glorified.

I´m so grateful for my Savior and His sacrifices for me. I know He´s teaching me as I draw nearer to Him. He loves all of us so much. He knows us. Really knows us. As I watched the life of Christ, I remembered some of the harder things that I´ve gone through in life. There´s this poem that talks of a man walking along a beach with the Savior seeing the events of his life, and realizing that the Savior has carried him through the harder times. I know He´s done that for me. And He keeps doing it. I love Him so much, and I am so grateful for everything that He´s done for me.

Some missionaries are pretty sad to miss a Christmas with the family. OF COURSE I miss you, and being with you, and everything. But I guess this is just part of the sacrifice of the mission. And I think it´ll be just one Christmas. The main thing is, I don´t feel like I have any regrets with you guys. You know how I feel about you, right? You know that I love you, right? BECAUSE I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!! I know that the Lord is watching over you, and that you are one incredible family. I pray for you all the time, and I hope you are having the best Christmas ever.

Merry Christmas! Now go make someone´s day a little better. Like the Savior would do. Because really, it´s His day. :)

Hermana Lovell

December 10th Update

We have a wedding this week! And a baptism! Well in all technicality it´s not of me and my companion, but of Hermana Castillo and Hermana Almeida. But I sure love them! Their names are Sandra and Oscar. They have two darling girls, and they are so excited for everything about the gospel. Sandra reminds me of you, Jess, a bit. Can´t wait!! Also, we have a conferencia of the Navidad! It´s the same day of the wedding. Which stinks. We´ll have to miss a bit of the conference. Buuuut.... That´s life.

I´m still breathing! Still learning! Patience is one of the best virtues ever! And learning to have happiness even if life is hard at the time. Because, let's face it: Life´s awesome!

Sorry this one´s a little short. Next week will be better. But I love you so much, and

Merry Christmas!!

Hermana Lovell

December 3rd Update

It was a good birthday!
And a good week :)

We had a surprise mini conference with the President and another zone yesterday. It was pretty great. All about how we can be more like Christ. And using the area book better. We did a practica of the first lesson, and President Humphrey was sitting with us. It was really neat. I think one of my favorite parts about the first lesson is being able to talk about the first vision. To finish off the conference, President Humphrey asked me to give The First Vision to everybody. I messed up some of the words, but it really didn´t matter. I have a pretty strong testimony of what happened in that grove of trees. I gave my testimony to everybody there. It was a pretty cool experience.

We also got quite a bit shock at out Zone meeting: We all lose three weeks of our mission. We are going to be getting an increase of 50 more missionaries, and for some reason this equates to everyone needing to go home a little earlier. I´m not really sure what´ll happen for me, because that puts me in the middle of a cambio, like on my birthday a year from now. But, that´s a year from now, so I´ll think about that later J

To my fam fam, I definitely was crying in an internet café in Chile when I got to read your letters, or watch your videos. I love you so much! I´m going to for sure respond to you, it just might take a bit of time.
I sure love you all. Keep being wonderful!

Hermana Lovell

November 5th Update

It is definitely getting hotter an hotter in Chile! But honestly, you´re just better off if you just embrace it. Just like there´s no heating in the houses in the winter, there sure isn´t air conditioning in the summer. And there is some serious heat going on here. But it´s okay. I keep telling Hermana Quiroga I´m going to be tanner and tanner, but she just says I´m going to get redder and redder. Time will tell. You just wait and check out the photos :) 

I´m feeling like I get the mission more and more each week. There´s less time of the feeling that I have noooo clue what is going on, and more feeling like I can do things, and help the people of Curicó grow through the gospel. It seems like in life with changes, to start off there´s that period where you just feel like you´re scared and confused and you don´t know what in the world is going on. And then, gradually, you just kind of grow out of it with time. The good news is the gospel is with us during this whole process! Heavenly Father and this gospel is all about love, trust, faith and opportunities to become better. There sure are a lot of opportunities to be better in life! But I know that as we do what President Eyring said in conference and become as little children more, we´ll always be able to conquer our challenges, and come out of them with a smile. 

This week was pretty great. We had stake conference yesterday which changed the stake presidency. Everyone was speculating like crazy all the time. I´m pretty glad it´s over. Our mission president came and spoke, too. 

Manuel, Juan Pablo, and Veronica are doing awesome. It is INCREDIBLE how the principles of the gospel, simple as they can be, can change the lives of others. They´re growing as a family. They´re healing from their mother passing away, and they´re starting to be able to look forward, instead of just tredding water. They´re going to be baptized next week. 

We teaching a jovencita named Natalia. She´s 15, and her mom is in the hospital now, and she lives with her 22 year old sister. She is a pretty strong girl! Her fecha is for the 24th. She has so much faith, and has a really strong testimony of prayer. I love her! A small part of me thinks of you, Natalie. Happy birthday, soon! She´s strong, like you, and it´s so cool to think that I could help somebody like you have you have right now!

I catch myself comparing people to my family. Getting past the language barriers, they really are just like us :) People remind of Jess, and Ben, and Clark, and Nick and Jacob and Meg and Jamie.... Probably just because I love them like I love you guys!

 Speaking of things about the fam fam, we´re going to be planning a wedding!!!! Well, not planning, but helping. The other hermanas of our house, Hermana Castillo and Hermana Almaeda, are teaching a golden couple. They aren´t married, but they want to be so as soon as possible, and then baptized. Things are going pretty good here in Rauquén. 

Today we visted siete tasas, or 7 falls. It was so fun just to play around in the forest! It looks a lot like our forests in Utah, but there are some interesting animals around. Check out my photos of my spidey friend! It was so fun, like a dream, really. But I´m excited to work and to teach and to find. 

I love you all so much. I hope life is simply wonderful. Calan Yost, this is me, asking you from Chile, to write me and tell me how in the world you are doing. And Em, and everybody! I just hope you´re doing awesome, and I would write you, but I don´t have your addresses. 

Les quiero! 

Hermana Lovell 

November 25th Update

Hola!

I hope you're all recovering from Thanksgiving nicely. We sang Count Your Blessings here at my request Thanksgiving day, so it's basically the same thing.

It was a great week! Do we have many people we are teaching? Why no! But did we work hard? Why yes we did! Sometimes people drop you that you were teaching, and it's pretty rough, because you start to care for these people like they're your family. But! You just keep on running :)

I LOVE a talk that Erica sent me. Shoutout to all my incredible friends prepping for missions. It's called The Fourth Missionary by Lawrence Corbridge. He was actually in the area presidency for my mission a while back. It's all about how we as missionaries can choose to have our hearts, our very character changed while we are on our missions. But I think it's a dynamite talk for anybody, just take out the contexts of missionary work and think of it of how to become more Christlike. I have loved studying it, and realizing how more and more I can give everything for this short time of my life to Heavenly Father.

Did you know that it sure doesn't matter what is going on in our life, we've just gotta choose to be happy, and focus on the things that matter most? Whenever I feel a little down, it's because I'm focusing on the wrong things. As soon as I can realize it, I snap out of it by doing everything I can to humble myself, and to focus on how much Heavenly Father loves me! Do you realize how many avenues of happiness Heavenly Father has given us? Just pick one of them and go for it, whether it be flowers, or family, or hiking, or cualquier cosa! Just take it in and love it!

One thing I did love about this talk, though, is that sometimes we don't feel like doing the things we should. Like if it's a blazing hot day, we don't have to be dilusional and say, "Hoorah! Can't wait to go outside! How wonderful!!!" Maybe every once and in a while to be silly, but it's okay that sometimes that it's hard to do the right thing. Sometimes that's what makes it all the more meaningful that we do do it. If that doesn't make sense, just read the talk :)

Be accountable with your fate. That's the way to be happy. It's always just you and Heavenly Father. Take what you've got, and run with it!

Love you all :)

Hermana Lovell

November 19th Update

¡Hola!

For all my friends that are prepping up to serve some missions, I´ve got some advice for you: You fill up the font for your baptisms. And call everybody to verify they know what time they are supposed to be there. And keep your keys to the church!

The baptisms of the Quiñonez family was a success! Success meaning any of the other circumstances don´t matter, because the ordinance was carried out. But it was sure close! Our mission leader is 18 years old named Nicolas. He was going to fill up the font, so we gave him our keys. We got there, and the doors were locked to the chapel. Manuel, Vero, and Juan Pablo came, and the doors were still locked. Then the Bishop came walking up with keys. That was good. Theeeeen, we were frantically trying to prep the food, show our converts what to do and take pictures, when we realized that the floor was wet! Nicolas had left the font running, and it was overflowing everywhere. We had to clean it all up. Then one of the people that was going to baptize, Patriarca Nuvoa, thought it was an hour later to show up. But it was really great, honestly :)

The part coolest to me of course was the baptism, but also seeing them after. That night, Manuel played futbol with other members of the Priesthood, while Vero and Manuel were watching. That was cooler to me, seeing how normal it seemed that they would be there. That they´re part of this ward/family now.

Natalia kind of dropped off the map. We´re thinking maybe her mom didn´t want us to teach her anymore, or something.

Something cool I realized while reading "Of Regrets and Resolutions" by President Uctdorf is that there´s a difference between being productive and being busy. During my life, I think back of some of the times when I thought how great it was that I was just soooo busy. So busy. Because, of course that meant that I was being productive with my life. But I love the comparison President Uctdorf uses. That he can´t picture the Savior bustling around, worrying himself about things of little importance. We don´t have to be uptight and stressed to be able to be super productive. Sure I have a pretty tight schedule right now, but when I stopped and thought about it, I don´t really think it´s going to slow down anytime soon, on the mission or after. But I can start figuring out how to be happy and productive, but now uptight and stressed out all the time. There´s a big difference. And if I really am wanting to follow Christ, I can have the faith to let go of all my pointless worryings. It doesn´t solve anything to worry!

I love you all so much, and I hope you take advantage of every moment in this life to happy. This life isn´t about waiting for that phantom of a perfect life to appear. It´s about taking what you have and loving it with all you´ve got!

Happy thanksgiving. I´m sure grateful for all of you!

Hermana Lovell

PS WELCOME HOME JOEL MORTENSEN!!!!!!!! 

Pics from November 19th

17.11.2012 Curico Norte


Veronica, Manuel, y Juan Pablo



Veronica, Manuel, Hermano Orellana, y Juan Pablo








Hermana Ponce. I just think she has the coolest Chilean Grandma face.



Talent with Grafiti!

November 12th Update

¡Oiga!

I´m starting my 3rd cambio in the field tomorrow. I´m with Hermana Quiroga in Rauquen. This cambio is only 5 weeks because of Christmas, and the next cambio is going to be 7.

We´re going to have a baptism this Saturday! Maunel, Juan Pablo, and Veronica. It has been a little stressful at times, but it´s been pretty incredible. What they say is true! Something crazy always happens to your investigators right before their baptism! But It´s pretty much straightened out.

I´m still learning and working hard. I don´t really have much time to write more, but I know that my Savior lives! I know that He loves me, and He loves each one of you, too. Thanks for all your support!

Love,

Hermana Lovell

Nov 5th Pics - Rauquen

Hermana Castillo, Hermana Almaeda, Me, y Hermana Quiroga















Elder R

October 29th Update

Hello everybody!

Did you know that there are bars around most of the houses, and instead of knocking, we need to yell Allo! At every house? Fun fact about Chile number 1.

We had our first set of interviews with the President. It was pretty great! He got to see Mom and Dad in Buenos Aires for an Area Conference. He and Sister Humphrey said they are such good people, they´re probably already translated. I´ll agree with that :) 

We´re teaching this family, Manuel, Juan Pablo, and Victoria. They´re doing great! They came to church yesterday, and Juan Pablo is all set to do activities with the Young Men.  Members are SO important in missionary work. As missionaries we can do all we can to  teach people of the gospel, but it´s really difficult for both missionaries and new converts if there´s not a good support group of members to help them understand more about being a member of this church. 

We also are teaching Juana and Pedro. They´re a nice old couple. Half of Pedro´s body has paralysis, maybe from a stroke, but they´re learning more and more about the gospel. 

There´s no time for craziness in this world, folks! We can get discouraged, but we never should stay down for long.  There´s too much joy and beauty in this world that we can embrace instead of clinging on to our problems and the past. Also, something else that I´m learning is that there should be a lot more "doing" in this world. Sometimes, I´ve got to make sure that I have everything niiiiice and plaaaanned out before I feel like I can try something out. But there´s really not time for that, sometimes. Sometimes you´ve just gotta go with what you know and feel is right at the time, and make it happen. No matter how long you plan, life will never be perfect. But it can be pretty incredible if we work to enjoy every minute of it! 

Read the Book of Mormon. It makes everything better. :)

Love you all, a whole lot.

Hermana Lovell

PS Happy Halloween! I´d love to see your costumes!

PPS Celeste, Camile, and Kat! I just got your letters. I´m pretty far away from the mission home, but I got them, and I´m sending you letters today!

Press release statement about lowering the age for mission service:

“As Church leaders had anticipated when the change was announced, the number of individuals who have begun the missionary application process has increased significantly. Typically approximately 700 new applications are started each week. The last two weeks that number has increased to approximately 4,000 per week. Slightly more than half of the applicants are women."

Can you believe it!? I sure can. It´s pretty exciting to be apart of mission work right now :)

October 22nd Update

Holan!

That`s Chilean for hola. They´re craaaazy around here. But I love them. One thing pretty funny about Chilenos, is that most of them will just start bearing their heart and soul to you about all their problems even when you don´t even know them. I´m getting some good practice in how to tactfully cut people off. Jaja :P 

But! Things here are good. We were teaching this family, Tito, Elana, and Moses, and it was going pretty great! Then they called us Saturday night and told us that they "loved us a lot", but they didn´t want to waste our time. That they talked it over as a family, and decided that they were Evangelicals. I answered the call first, and I was pretty sad. I confirmed with Elena twice, "But you know it´s all true, right?" She said yes, but didn´t want to divide the family. ¡Que foame! It was rough, because that meant we really didn´t have anyone really progressing. But during the tough times is when we can humble ourselves and focus on the things that matter. Block out all the other distracting things, and just do what the Lord wants us to do. That night we found this AWESOME 15 year old, Natalia, who came to church yesterday. And last night we found a husband with his two kids that are great, too. His wife died a year ago, and he loves her so much. It was really beautiful to teach about the Plan of Salvation to him and his family. 

We´re just working in here in good old Chile! Britt, I bet that rain is no match for your red raincoat! I just am sporting my green one here pretty often. And it rains here, IT. RAINS. But I love it, because right now it´s not super cold, windy rain. It´s just a lot of rain. I actually love contacting in the rain. Can you all believe it´s almost Christmas!? Well yeah, there´s November, but it feels suuuper close. I have over 2 months in the field. I can´t really believe that, either. 

Love you all, you hooligans! I hope everything is fantastic and wonderful in your lives, and you find happiness in each day. Because why in the world would you wait to be happy later?

The Savior lives. He knows us, and loves us. The atonement is perfect, and can heal our broken hearts and give us courage to surpass who we are now to become who we want to be. Who Heavenly Father knows we can be. If there are times you can´t quite see who that person is, get right down on your knees and pray. Because Heavenly Father knows you better than you know yourself. As we trust Him, and have the Holy Ghost to be with us, we cannot fail.

Have fun with your fall! I´ll stick to my spring down here :)

Hermana Lovell

October 15th Update

Well! It was another week.

We had a zone conference with President and Sister Humphrey. It was awesome! It´s pretty inspiring to be hear them and talk with them. 

We had a bit of a crazy time with Raul. He´s 84, and he is the dad of one of our new converts, here. He wants to be baptized, but he just can´t quite understand things because of his age! Plus, he and his wife are topsy turvey about moving or not moving this week. We´ll see how that plays out. 

We´re teaching a mother and son, Tido and Elaina, too. They have a lot of questions, but they both got an answer that what we were teaching is true. 

It´s mid October! ¿Que raro, verdad? Time is so fast here. It´s still working up to being super hot... ha ha. Rumor has it that my part of the mission is the hottest part! I´ve already bought my sunblock to prep for it. 

I was reading a talk, and there´s this quote by Elder Maxwell that I really like: "There is a difference between being ´anxiously engaged´ and being over-anxious and underengaged." There´s so much we can focus on and try to control in this life, but we sure can´t do it all perfectly! I know that things here are busy, but I´m figuring out a little bit that I don´t need to be over anxious in order to have things work out the way they should here :) 

Also, if we want to be better people, or if we want the help of Heavenly Father in our lives to help us change, we need the Spirit with us! The Spirit speeds up spiritual growth. It sure is difficult to grow spiritually without it. 

I love you all! Hope everything is fantastic!

Hermana Lovell 

October 8th Update

General. Conference. Was that epic, or what!?! 

I don´t think anybody saw that announcement about missionaries coming! I think that is the coolest thing ever, personally. Shout out to all my friends who now can go instead of waiting till their 21! Did that blow your minds a little bit? Not sure how to choose what you´re going to do? Well, I know how you feel. But GO! Lizzy, and Calan, and all you crazy wonderful friends. I´ll love you either way, but I know you´ll be fantastic missionaries. But of course it´s your decision. I´d love to know what you choose to do! 

Conference was incredible. There is so much strength hearing our leaders, and having the Holy Ghost teach us exactly what we need to hear. There are so many ways we can be better, find more happiness, when we actually apply what we learned! There´s so much power in faith, and in prayer. I think sometimes we forget how much we become better when we just have the faith to seek it! I want to be better at quieting my mind a little better, and taking advantage of the Gift of the Holy Ghost more.

In between sessions on Sunday, we had a baptism! Everything worked out so that Osvaldo could be baptized and confirmed on the same day. It was a little nerve wracking, but everything worked out. Osvaldo has very advanced cancer, and had to have three people to baptize him to make sure everything worked out okay. It was pretty incredible to help him make this covenant. Now he´s in Santiago at a cancer hospital. He is a pretty incredible example of faith, and the "mighty change of heart."

New companion! Hermana Quiroga from Bolivia. She is awesome. We get along pretty wonderfully. She reminds me of Jessica Ainscough a little bit, for all you Woodscrossians out there. We get lost sometimes because I don´t know the sector 100% awesome yet, but I´m working on it. And she´s great! She just laughs it off. 

I´ve been out away from all you folks for over 3 months, now! Crazy crazy, right? I´m not sure if it feels that long or if it doesn´t. But I do know that I´m so grateful to have this opportunity to grow and to change. Because that is what life is about, right? Life is about changing. Repentance is not something to be afraid of. Repentance is progression. Repentance is our ability to become better than we were yesterday. Thank goodness we have it. 

Thank you so much for your prayers. I feel them, and your love and support. I´m so lucky to have such incredible family and friends to share this life with like you guys! I love you, and I pray for you. Don´t ever forget how incredible you are. I invite you to look back at conference and pick one thing to change, how you´re going to progress in one way. I sure have a lot of ways I want to change! But I know that that is the gift of life. The ability to change. 

Nos vemos! 

Hermana Lovell 

October 1st Update

Wow! 

1 cambio down. 6 weeks of being here in Chile. Wowzas! I´ve learned so much. 

It´s kinda crazy, but we´ve had quite a few investigators find us. One of which is Osvaldo. Osvaldo is the brother of Hermana Iliana, the Relief Society President. He has really advanced cancer, and a tumor. We knew about him, because it´s been hard for Hermana Iliana. Then Tuesday or Wednesday night after we were done working, Hermana Iliana and her family were waiting at our house. Osvaldo had been sent back to live at his home because the hospital said there was not much else to do. Hermana Iliana and some of her family had talked to him about the gospel, and the Plan of Salvation. They were there waiting for us because he wants to be baptized. We´ve been giving him a crash course of teachings for the baptismal questions, and we´re working with our District Leader to make sure everything is good and proper. It´s pretty incredible. He´s very lively and happy! He and his family has some incredible faith, too. It´s so great to teach him. Everything we teach and explain, he always ¨Exactamente¨, like he knows it´s supposed to be that way.

We also are helping Raul, a 84 year old man, prep for baptism. He is the Papa of one of the nuevos conversos. He´s a character. I´m pretty good with understanding, but sometimes with the elderly, and lack of teeth sometimes.... ha ha. But one time he stood up and did this funny little jig. Do I know why? Naaaah. But he´s pretty funny. He wants to belong to a church, and have faith. Good thing we´re missionaries and we can teach him about it :) 

So it´s cambios (exchanges/changes) and there is a cambio in my little casa of 4 hermanas. My trainer, Hermana Risco, is heading out! She´s going to San Javier, and I´m staying here in Rauquen B. She has 8 months here, so she pretty much knows everything. A lot of what we did was from her memory. Buuuut! Heavenly Father never gives us trials that we can´t handle. So man oh man am I pumped to figure this all out! My new trainer is from Argentina, and I´m meeting her tomorrow. It should be just fantastic! 

Something I´ve learned this cambio is that people want to be loved. Respected. Understood. Appreciated. Yes, you can work along side people and work with people and accomplish what needs to be done, but if they don´t feel like you have these things for them, it makes things a looot harder. President Monsen was right! (Of course) "Never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved." 

Speaking of which! I love you all. I pray for you. I hope everything in your lives is magical and wonderful and special. Not perfect, because it can´t be. But I know that through this gospel, we´re able to find all the happiness we can handle. Love it! Live it! Let it become a part of you. 

Nos vemos!

Hermana Lovell 

This is our zone, right before our last cambios. What a bunch :)

September 24th Update

Hey everybody!

I´m still in Chile. I´m still preaching the gospel. It´s still pretty great here. 

Spring is starting to come here, and then summer! It´s funny when people talk about how HOT it is going to be here in December, but I´m excited. I like hot rather than cold. I´m probably saying that now because it sure can get cold here.

This week has been good for me how to love people a little more. Everything is better with that, right? This probably sounds a little bit silly, but I think people forget to show their love sometimes. 

The Spirit is in our lives to clarity, to enlighten, to simplify. We can feel the Spirit stronger when our minds our clearer, too. Satan tries to distract, to clutter our lives with things that take us away from our purpose. It´s our job to make sure we take some time every so often to take a step back, and realize what things actually matter, and what things don´t. This gospel is all about happiness, right? Sure there are hard times. But there´s not really a reason to not choose to be happy. Because the hard times are going to come either way. You might as well find a way to smile through it. 

One of the ways I´ve figured out to make it through the hard times is to focus on the love Heavenly Father and Christ has for me. Letting it fill me up. Think about this life, and about the life to come. It´s great, and marvelous, and breathtakingly exquisite. So why  not choose to be happy? Maybe for just for this day, or this hour. But why not? :) 

Still not fluent. But I´m working on it. 

I love you all. Keep being awesome. Hold on to the good things in life as tight as you can!

Hermana Lovell

For 18 de Septiembre we weeded our lawn. Weeded? Or took out our lawn? Something about that it will make us not have as many bugs. I´m still not really sure why we did it. Sometimes stuff doesn´t really cross the language barrier, but for some reason it was part of the cleaning. 

I´ll have more pictures once I figure out a way to upload them faster.

September 17th Update

Happy 18th de Septiembre!!!

It´s tomorrow, but it´s HUGE here. Chileans love to party, and there´s
basically just Chileans here, so the country is prepping to close up
stores and go crazy. I know how to dance a bit of the Cuaca, the dance
of Chile. Look out, I´m almost Latino.

I still am not fluent, but I can get my point across. Probably a bit
better than a 5 year old, but hey, it can only go up from here, and I
have way more time to get better!

I got to see VERONICA WILDEN, which was pretty crazy. She is like my
sister, and she´s going to be LIVING here, in my ward boundaries! Talk
about a miracle.

Don´t ever forget the words of our Savior

¨Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: Not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let
it be afraid.¨

Love you! More next time, promise :)

Hermana Lovell

September 10th Update

Hey everybody!

Another week done and gone. This one went a little faster than the others. It´s probably because I´m starting to be able to understand people better. I´m still not fluent in Spanish, but the gift of tongues sure is real. I compiled a list of some of the things I´ve learned this week, and I´d like to share it with you:

1 The times where the night is darkest and it´s rainy and cold, that´s the best time to give everything you have. You have to make room for miracles in your life, and they´ll come!

2 Sometimes there´s a whole bunch of clutter that can cloud up our minds. It makes it hard to think, and hard to remember the things that matter MOST. That´s the time to take a step back, and get on your knees. And that´s where ¨your spiritual balance can return¨. (Elder Andersen)

3 As long as we´re trying to make every day our best, and doing all we can to follow Heavenly Father, we can be happy with our efforts everyday

4 Life is a zillion times better when you´re a hardworking optimist

5 Be an active listener, and really seek to understand what people say with and without words

6 Even if you don´t agree with other people´s points of view, you can still teact them with love and respect

7 Pride stinks. Get rid of it STAT. 

I memorized this and say this sometimes.

¨If only we could glimpse what the Lord has in store for us, not only in this life, but in the next. Our hope would be unshakable and despair would never overcome us.¨ 

President Uctdorf and ¨The Infinite Power of Hope¨

This helps me see all the wonder and magic that´s right in front of my face everyday. There´s no reason to fear, because I know everyday that Heavenly Father knows me. He sees me. He loves me, and as long as I do my best to follow His will, my life will always be something incredible. I know this is true for you, too. Pray. Love. Enjoy this life to the fullest by keeping the commandments. 

I love you, and I´m praying for you. 

Love, 

Hermana Lovell

PS Shout out to Bailey for being the first person to utilize Dearelder! Bailey, you´re crazy! And my companion thinks I´m a little crazy too for how much I laugh when I read your letters! I´m not sure how long letters take from here to there, but you better believe I´ll write you back. 

Me and Hermana Almaeda! We are bffs for life. She can speak English and she knows American culture. Who knew I´d miss having girls around me who knew what pinterest was, and understand all my super funny English jokes? :) <

September 3rd Update

Hey everybody!

Another week has come and gone. I´m starting to get a little more used to things here. I´m sure not fluent in Spanish, but I´m working hard at it, and it´ll come with patience. I struggle with the patience aspect of it sometimes, but it´s going okay :) But, no matter how many things I do NOT know around here, I do know and will always know one thing for certain: Heavenly Father knows I´m here. He knows and watches over me, I´m sure even more than I realize now. In 1 Nephi Chapter 1 in the last verse, Nephi closes by stating in The Book of Mormon he´s going to point out the ¨tender mercies¨of the Lord. I want to just mention a couple of mine since I´ve been here in Chile:

-The first day I got here, there was a street performer playing ¨Nearer, My God to Thee¨ on the Cello. I love that song, I love the cello, and we sang this song as a district right before we left to Chile. Is that not incredible or what!?

-My first member almuerzo I went to, the kids were watching Harry Potter 2. No! I didn´t watch it. But it was good to see my good friends Harry, Ron, and Hermione for a second! It was nice to see something familiar.  

Life really is good here. Sure, some things can be super super stressful, but really it´s just like normal. It´s all what you focus on. And there are many incredible things here to love. The work is awesome. It´s different than I thought it would be. There are so many people that tell you about their missions, and you start to paint a picture of what you think yours is going to be. It´s like life, right? But, like missions, life really never is the way you picture it to be. But there is always the opportunity to make it greater than you even thought it would be. 

Prayer is incredible. Prayer. Prayer. Prayer. There is incredible power in prayer. Heavenly Father is always there for you, if you open your heart and are willing to listen. 

I live in a little house with three other Hermanas. It´s really another tender mercy the way our living circumstances are. I pretty much speak Spanish all day, but Hermana Almaeda from Brazil speaks English, too. That way if something rather urgent needs to bridge the language barrier, there´s a way it can happen. Sometimes she explains my jokes. I feel like the humor is different down here, but I´m trying to aclimatize to it :)

My sector is Rauquen, near Curico. It´s at the tippy top of my mission. I tract in basically Chilean suburbs. Some places are definitely more well off than others. Some people have floors and nice things and some don´t. I have hot water, I eat cheerios like nobody´s business. Spring is on it´s way! :) Just learning, here, in good ol´ Chile. I´m still trying to figure things out, but I´m figuring out a little better every day. I hope you are doing top notch! 

I´m definitely glad I am a missionary. I´m still figuring things out, but I´m starting to see how some of the happiest times of my life so far can be here. It´s coming :) Keep being wonderful!!!

Hermana Lovell 

Our Hasta Ver, for all of you familiar with MTC traditions :)

Our District 2A with our Branch presidency and their wives

 The wonderful wives of our Branch presidency!

Me and some good looking mission presidents at the MTC!

Me and Hermana Almaeda, my English speaking buddy

Me and Hermana Risco. Why yes, there is a tad bit of a height difference.

Our lovely house

August 27th Update

Why yes! I´m here. In Chile. I´m alive :) 

It´s been pretty interesting thus far. I don´t really think anything could have helped me understand what a mission would be like. The MTC helped a little, but it sure is different to be out in the field. Well, so far I´ve had plenty of memorable experiences. Tracting is theeee best! Some people here will invite us in their home with no intention whatsoever to convert. They just respect missionaries. One older couple did so. They´re evangelicals. That was cool. I said the closing prayer, and oh man. They were praying with me. Outloud. Kind of similar to what churchs like that would say in the South. It was great. The food here! I just don´t quite get. It´s like I have the opportunity to get fat here without even enjoying it. They´re really big into olive oil on everything, but they don´t really like sweet things. The milk here tops the States milk by far! It´s awesome. 

Two days ago, we were teaching a progressing investigator, an old man named Carlos. I couldn´t really say much, so I wrote down a scripture and a quick testimony. During Church he pulled me aside just to show me all my gramatical errors he had corrected in red pen. That was it. Yeah, I´m rocking Spanish :) Soccer is intense here. It´s my intention to learn and go pro during P days.

Annnnnyways. Those are some of my...different experiences while being here. But! Let me tell you about my trainer. Her name is Hermana Risco. She´s from Peru and doesn´t really speak English. I live with her, and a companionship of a Brazilian and a Chileno in a house in some suburbs. I get plenty of time to speak my language! Hermana Risco works super super hard. She´s a convert of 2 years, and she´s great! We understand each other, most of the time. On top of soccer, I also will be gold metal material in charades. I brought the wrong cords for pictures, but next week I´ll show you my companions and my little house! 

It honestly feels like another world here. The people, the food, the culture. I am The Gringa. It´s pretty submersive as far as language and culture goes. The Brazilian, Hermana Almaeda, speaks English, so that´s good if I ever need a break! I´m not going to lie, it´s pretty tough work. But as hard as it is, that´s how big the miracles are, too. 

Let me just tell you a pretty big thing I realized, and I want you to do: Cherish your membership in the church. Cheris the opportunity to be with so many strong church members. Cherish your testimonies. Le them fill your whole hearts. Go to the temple, and claim the blessings that are yours by living the gospel and being close to God. Spend time to do the things you know are right. Pray, and give your heart to God. Live your testimony. Be converted to what you know. I KNOW it is the happiest way to live. Is it the easiest? Not aways. But I know it is the happiest. 

Heavenly Father is real. You better believe He is strengthening me each day. I know He can do this for you, too. Thank you so much for you letters. I´m not sure how fast they´ll come, I´m a six hour bus ride away from the mission home. I know I´ll get them some day! Keep smiling, and keep praying. I love you!!

Hermana Lovell 

August 13, 2012

Hola everybody!

 

I have my flight plans! I leave Monday the 20th at 6 AM. My flight from here to LA starts at 10. I´ll be in LAX till 1:25. Then I'll have a flight from 1:25 PM to 5:40 AM to Santiago, and then from 8:20 AM to 9:35 AM I have a flight to Concepcion, Chile. It's here. I'm going out into the world and spreading the gospel with anybody and everybody. I can't wait!! I've learned quite a bit here at the MTC. Like my wise twin Brittany said to me, "The MTC is not a place to be perfect, it's a place to change." I'm definitely not perfect, but I am working hard to change myself to become a better servant of the Lord. Being this means more to me than anything else. Some things I've learned here.....

 

When you're teaching others, or even just trying to get to know people, you have to try to relate to them. Understand them. And NOT judge them. Everybody wants to be understood. Sometimes, when it feels like I can't quite do that, I think of the Savior. I pray for the strength to look past how people are right now, and see them how they could be as they come to understand the truthfulness of the gospel.

 

You'll never know what the blessings of sacrifice are if you don't ever sacrifice anything. It's so easy to want to keep everything the same you have now. My quirks, my sarcasm, my pet peeves. My little things that aren't 100% awesome, but aren't bad. But I know that I'll never know how much better life can be unless I let go of what I am now to become something greater. It's been hard, but I definitely am recieving the witness after "the trial of my faith".

 

I got a package from the fam this week. Oh. Man. I cannot tell you how much that means to me. I LOVED getting all those pictures. I can never have enough pictures of you all. I love you all, so much. You are so wonderful, and I can't believe how lucky I am to have you all in my life! Thank you so much for that. Honestly, YOU, fam-fam, is what gives me a lot of my strength. It's such a blessing to have you, and I want others to have forever families, too. Thank you for who you are, and being in my life!!

 

Well, I guess I'll talk to you from Chile next :)

 

Hasta luego,

 

Hermana Lovell

August 8, 2012

Hey everybody!

 

Oh my goodness. I can't wait how quickly time flies! We get our travel plans in a couple days. I CAN'T WAAAAAAIT!!!!!! I am fully ready to have no idea what anybody will be saying, but I know it's going to be incredible. I can just picture my mission president coming to shake my hand, and just smiling away. And then maybe not much else :) But it's okay. I know I have a testimony of what I have to teach, and I know why I'm going there. Oh man. Prayers are totally welcome, though.

 

Life is doing pretty great! I'm still here at El CCM. I'm still learning loads. I got to help out somebody else here, that was pretty awesome. I honestly can tell you that God does use "the simple things" to make miracles come to pass. Whew! I'm definitely believing that now! Because there's not much pride you can keep while you can barely say that you need to go to the bathroom in Spanish and nobody even knows what you're saying. Just kidding, I'm not that bad :) I just know the Lord's going to take care of me. It really is the biggest blessing to have so much time to focus on the Lord and study His miracles. They give me hope that He can work miracles in my life, too. He can work miracles in your lives too! I know He can.

 

I know that God is a God of miracles. I know has unconditional love for all of us. Something I've been realizing, though, that God is a God of order, too. The blessings He can give us are conditional on our choice whether to obey His commandments or not. If we do, we in return can recieve all the blessings He's promised. Your letters mean so much. I love hearing about your lives! I pray for you. I love you so much. I know that life's no cakewalk, but I know that the Lord can strengthen us beyond what we can do by ourselves. You better believe I believe that :) Keep smiling. Keep laughing. Keep praying. And life will turn out A-okay!

 

Love,

 

Hermana Lovell

July 30, 2012

Hello everybody!

 

Today marks 3 weeks till I'm off to Chile.... No big deal :) I honestly can't wait. Am I fluent in Spanish? Well no. But I know that the Lord will help me through whatever I might face down there. Even if I spend 6 months just smiling at people, bearing my testimony, saying prayers, and having incredibly terrible grammar, I won't mind one bit!

 

I'm still loving being a missionary. It's not easy, but it's so worth it! The more and more I work at giving my heart to the Lord, the more I'm able to really feel "the fruits of the Spirit" like it talks about in Galations. It takes courage to let go of the old habits I have, but I'm sure glad I'm doing it, and learning.

 

I love you all so much. I pray for you. I think of you all, a lot. As I learn about and feel in my heart the incredible things that make up the gospel, I just hope and pray that you're taking the time to feel that, too. Because I know the Lord WANTS you to feel safe, and happy, and loved, and peace in your hearts! And He will give this to you! All you have to do is trust Him.

 

I don't really have much to write about today, but I love you. Thanks for your letters. They're SO fun to get! And I'm doing the best I can to write you back. Keep being incredible.

 

Hermana Lovell

Meeting the Ehmkes

This week I met Brother & Sister Ehmke at the MTC.  They leave soon for the Neuquen Argentina Mission, where they will be serving with my parents.

July 23, 2012

Hello everybody!

 

Another week done and gone. This one was a little different than others. My companion and I all both got terrific colds. For some reason, I'm happier when I'm sick. I realized it probably was because I'm way more humble when I'm sick. It's hard to feel super cool when you're blowing your nose every minute or so :) I'm recovering, but it was definitely kind of weird to realize that I was happier when I wasn't even caring as much about things that don't really matter. Isn't that a little crazy? When I started to feel better, I wanted to remember something that would help me remember to be humble. Not something self depreciating or anything, but something to help me remember, because it is so much better when you're not worried about being the very most classy suave person ever! Then it came to me: I'm human :) We are humans here are so beautifully imperfect! Thank goodness! "Our church is a church of progression, not perfection". Sometimes I forget that, especially as a missionary. I think one of the things that helps me be best patient with myself as an imperfect missionary is feeling how patient Heavenly Father is with me. I know as I repent, forgive others, and look outward to serve His children, I can keep growing into the woman He wants me to be.

 

I've been gone over a month!! Isn't that crazy!? It really has gone by so fast. My district is still awesome. We have good times, serious times, spiritual times, and silly times. It's good stuff. Hermana Lish and I have gotten to be even better companions. We've been able to teach each other and help each other a lot. It's so fun to hear about everything that's happening in your lives. I love hearing all about everything! Dearelders are sweet. I would love pictures you send me, too. I've got less than a month till I'm at a different country, you know :)

 

Well, I think this is just going to be a short e-mail today. I'm a little short on time. I love you! I pray for you! I know that as you turn to Christ, therein lies true happiness. I know that the atonement literally heals our souls from the sins we commit. And oh, is it worth it.

 

Love,

 

Hermana Lovell

July 16, 2012

Hey everyone!

Another week has come and gone at the MTC. It really feels like it rockets by. It's been a wonderful week, though. Hermana Lish and I have been figuring out how to be a 2 companionship instead of having 3, but I think we are closer to figuring it out than we were earlier this week! We have fun, and each day we are learning more and more how to be fully emerged in the work. I can honestly say that I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!! :) Sure I'm not on the field yet, and I'm definitely not a perfect missionary, but I am so grateful to be here. There are so many things I want to do with my life, so many places I want to see, but right now, I get to spend a year and a half with my mind focused fully on the Lord and serving His children. How lucky am I!?!?

One of the members of our Branch Presidency for our zone here gave an incredible talk yesterday for church. Brother Goodman spoke on letting go of your past. He told the story about his little 5 year old boy learning to swim. At first he would only hold on to the sides of the swimming pool and kick his feet around. He thought he was swimming. It wasn't until he let go of the side of the pool and swam that he was able to really immerse himself and swim. That's we we need to do! He told us regarding our past lives before the mission, let it be, for a while. People will still manage while you're gone. I know that's true. I love you all so much, but I know you'll all be okay while I'm gone. I'm also working to let go of parts about me that might not be the best qualities for a missionary. Talk about a refiners fire! I'm sure the mission field will be even more hotter, but I can't wait to see what the Lord can do with me as I put my will and heart in His hands. My companion and I, nadamos :) Or at least we're learning how, and working hard to learn to let go.  

Last night we got to have Jenny Oaks Baker perform for us for the devotional. She's Elder Oaks' daughter. She studied at Juliard and plays incredible violin. It was so inspiring to hear! I miss my music a lot, but thank goodness the Lord provides world class music here at the MTC :)

Can I just tell you I love Relief Society here at the MTC? It's pretty awesome. We hermanas are always swarmed in a sea of elders, but it's so fun to be all together! We also have some pretty interesting and great speakers. Our talk yesterday was fan.tas.tic. Her name was Diane Hacking, and half of her talk was about how we need to be more lady like. Who knew I was so unpolished! :) No worries, by the time I come home, you'll have thought I've spent all my time practicing my sitting posture and eating only wheat thin-size bites instead of preaching the gospel.

You know what? The gospel's real. It's so real, and so true. It changes my life daily. We had an awesome workshop on Saturday about conversion vs the doctrine of Christ (faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and persevering to the end). One of my favorite things I loved from that workshop is that conversion is not the same thing as a testimony. Elder Bednar said that nearly every member of the Church has a testimony, but not every member is conversion. A testimony=truth+the witness of the Holy Ghost, while conversion, is consistently being true to what you know. A testimony is the first step to conversion. I have a very, very strong testimony, but that's not enough. I'm working to let the Lord replace my heart with a purer heart, one more dedicated to Him, and a mind like the mind of the Savior's, because that's what we're all working towards. Now I'm working on using my testimony to help me continually build my conversion during every circumstance of life.

Christ lives! I know it, and you can know it, too! Pray to God. Ask Him. He'll always give you an answer, because He loves you more than you can ever imagine. The Book of Mormon is the word of God! It's beautiful, and every chance we get to read it can be a revelatory experience if we let it be.

I love you so much! Talk to you later :)

Hermana Lovell

PS  Read Preach My Gospel. President Uchtdorf  LOVES it. So should you :)

July 9, 2012

Hello everyone!

Another week has come and gone at the MTC. It really feels like it goes by so fast! It's been nice to have a week with a normal schedule and just getting to be with my companions. We now are teaching two "investigators" lessons. They're really our teachers, but it still feels pretty real. Role play is an awesome tool that we get to use here to learn how to be ready for the field.

Tomorrow my sweet companion Hermana Ellingson is leaving for the Guatemala MTC. I have learned SO much for her! If we were in Pride and Prejudice, she would be Jane, because that is how so "utterly agreeable" she is with everyone :) Hermana Lish and I will be the only hermanas in our district, and in three weeks or so we'll be the only hermanas in the zone. Thank goodness for companions! Relief Society is pretty incredible here. It's a time for all the sisters to get together and be with each other. I always feel so great after them. I think it kind of reminds me of home, just being around sisters ;)

My teacher, Brother Ridge, taught us something pretty cool. He said that as we're knocking doors, people are going to open it and see either a little boy or a little girl, or they'll see the Savior. It all depends on how we live our lives. I know I'm not a perfect missionary, but I do know that as I try and put my whole heart, might, mind, and strength into this incredible work, the Lord will help me change.

We also had an awesome devotional by an emeritus seventy, Elder Kikuchi. One of my things I got from his devotional is that the best thing I can come home from my mission with, is a testimony that my Savior, Jesus Christ, and His atonement, are always with me. That I can always hold onto the atonement, hold onto the Savior's hand, and heal. Every time I make a mistake here, I get to practice this so much! Always remembering the atonement gives me the courage to change, cambiar :) I invite you all to do the same. Never forget the atonement is real, it is beautiful, and it definitely works.

Miss Mary Cannon! You asked what we did for the 4th of July here, and I am more than happy to tell you! We got out of class early on the 4th and all went into the gym. We sang patriotic songs for about a half hour or so. Go America. :) It was pretty funny, because two seats away from me was an elder from Africa, and then two rows in front of me was an elder from the UK. The UK elder thought it was pretty funny when we sang "Grand Ol' Flag", about the line that says we never boast or brag. I've always thought that line was a little strange, too. We had a really great devotional, talking more about how important religious freedom is, and how that religious freedom all around the world is letting us go forth to spread the gospel to the Lord's children. After we got to go outside (still in the MTC complex) and look at the Stadium of Fire fireworks. They also gave us Magnum ice cream bars!!!! If you don't know what those are, just know they're incredible stuff :) It was all and all pretty cool.   Thank goodness we normally have a pretty regimented schedule, though. Some of the elders got a little too excited with just sitting around, if you can imagine :)

I love my district! The elders are silly at times, but I love them. Elder Esparza is a convert of 2 years, and has served in the army and the national guard. He'll deploy to Afganistan, and it's a miracle he got to go on a mission. Elder Smithson went to the Airforce academy. He's kind of quiet in class, but he's pretty funny. His companion, Elder Wise, reminds me a lot of my brother-in-law Ben. Take that for what you will. Just kidding :) He's pretty funny. When everybody goes out for gym time, he'll just go sleep under a tree. He's a computer science major. Ben, not that you would sleep under trees. You would go play baseball! But he's got similar personality traits, that's all.

I'll tell you about the rest of them later. I love you all! Don't ever forget how much Heavenly Father loves you, and how he wants you to be HAPPY in this life. It doesn't mean everything is just perfect all the time, but it does mean He can give us peace and strength through whatever we're going through. I know this is definitely true. Try it for yourselves :)

Hermana Lovell

Hey everybody!

 

This letter has got to be quick.  I'm doing great, still breathing :).  My district is district 2, and my President is President Stone.  He seems like an awesome guy, with great counselors too.  I have 2 companions, Hermana Ellingson and Hermana Lish.  We make a good mix together, and we do the best we can to use the Spanish we know.  Es muy importante. :)  Hermana Ellingson is from Arizona y Hermana Lish is from Arimo, Idaho.

 

It really is pretty incredible here.  It is such a huge shift in life, especially compared to the two months of just chilling at home.  I'm doing my best to fully follow all the rules and get the hang of things.  I know the gospel is true and real.  I know that I'm not here at the MTC to learn Spanish.  I'm here to learn how Heavenly Father wants me to teach the gospel.  I love you all, so very much, and I know God loves you, too.  He loves you even more than I ever could! Lean on Him for strength.  He will never let you down.

 

Love,

 

Hermana Lovell

 

P.S. Use DearElder.com to write me, with the subject line being "Hermana Ashley Lovell Box 214"