Last Letter home... I will see you next week! Saying goodbye is hard.

Well this is it. To be honest I never really thought this day would come. My last pday. I remember in the beginning of my mission thinking my mission would never end or that is was WAY far away and now it is a week away. It is a bitter sweet thing. I am so excited to see my family and be able to move on to the next part of my life but I am sad to take off the plaque and stop being Hermana Showalter. But life is always changing and I just have to roll with it. 

So here is what happened this week.

Tuesday. Hermana B Silva and I received our new companion. Everyone say hello to Hermana Marquis (mar-key) from Lindon, Utah. She speaks super well and is awesome. I am pretty sure she came pretrained because she is an amazing example to me.

Wednesday. We had a meeting with president and the trainers and new missionaries.

Thursday. So we had a lesson with a Josefina. Her friend from work had to pass by to pick up something and guess what? Her friend is a member of the church and even better a returned missionary! So Coni ended up staying and teaching Josefina. Then we went to visit Jorge and Maribel with our mission leader and we invited them to be baptized. They accepted! Their date is for the 3rd of September! Then they gave us pupusas and hot chocolate. Then correlation.

Friday. Studies. Lunch with the nanny of some members because they were working. They just got a REALLY cute puppy named polo (see pictures). We visited Juan Sepulveda. Spent the rest of the day walking and contacting. But a reference that we received from the first counselor in the bishopric gave us a reference, his niece, Valentina. She went to mutual!!

 

Saturday.We had lunch with Familia Fernandez. They are such a sweet family. We visited Hermana Veronica and helped her start her family history.

Sunday. Church. Lunch with Hermana Cobo. She made us pie de limon. It is one of my favorites here on the mission. After all our citas fell. But we did visit Familia Ampuero and they gave us completos. 

Monday. Zone class. It was good. We ate lunch and then planned. We visited Hermana Juana Diaz. It is always very humbling to visit her. I am reminded how blessed I am truly am. I know my life isn't perfect but I am grateful for the good life that I have. 

Tuesday. Had a little good bye Hermana Showalter party. With Hermana Jacinto, Wright, Alderete, Gonzalez, La Serna, Araújo and my comps. 

A quote that I love from Elder Holland is "I am not asking you to pretend to have the faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith that you do have." And another quote I love that my mom sent me is "Prayer does not always change my circumstance but prayer always changes me."

Well I imagine that I will see most of you very soon. I know it sounds cheesy but this past year and a half was really the best. I have come to know my Father in Heaven and my Savior on a very personal level and I have been able to become a better disciple of Jesus Christ. I love this work with all my heart and I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church that can help us return to our Heavenly Father.

I love you.

Signing off once and for all as

Hermana Showalter

Helping paint a house and 2 WEEKS left!!

ALOHA. hahah just kidding I am in Chile, here we say HOLA.

So here is the run down of my crazy life.

Tuesday. So we walked some more and contacted.

Wednesday. We had lunch with Hermana Gilda. She is so sweet. I love hearing her mission stories. Then we visited Jorge and Maribel with Javiera Palma. Jorge and Maribel had a friend over who is from Colombia and we were also able to share with her too!  Then we found a new investigator named Josefina. She looks ten times more gringa than me but she is one hundred percent Chilean. She has four little crazy kids and makes a killer kuchen.

Thursday. So Hermano Aldo and Hermana Patricia called us and asked us if we could help them paint and we said YES of course. I think I might go pro because I really love painting houses and my technique isn't too bad. They gave us completos to say thank you. Then we had a meeting with our new mission leader, Nicolas Tidie from Argentina. He is great and super pumped to help us. WAHOO missionary work.

Friday. Day of honor in the temple for all the missionaries that went home on the 1st and me. We did a session in the temple. What a blessing it has been to have the temple in my mission. Then we went to  President´s house to eat lunch. We had sloppy joes and ice cream sandwiches. Then President gave us some advise, we read some scriptures and then wrote in a book for the Morgans. It was a little strange because it was a very relaxing day.

Saturday. Lunch with the family Ampuero. They are really sweet. I don't know why but they seem to like me a lot which means I must be doing something right. Then there was a Relief Society activity on healthy food (with free samples) and when there is the words free food the missionaries are there. But Hermana B Silva and I went to support the Relief Society... Also I had an impression to call the Hermanas in Ñuñoa 1. I gave them a call and they told me that they were so happy I called because something had happened to them that had scared them and that they were grateful that I was there to help them. I know it was a little thing but it just showed me how much heavenly father cares about us and that he puts people in our way to help us.

Sunday. JORGE RODRIGUEZ came to church. And our teacher of gospel principles is an RM who is awesome. Jorge really loved it. Then we had lunch with familia Galvez. They are another family that I love. They are so dang sweet and one day going to visit me in New York. So then we visited Gozalo and Fabiola. They are super awesome and have like a million questions. After we went and visited Hermana Veronica and she is doing a little better.

Monday. CAMBIOS. Transfer. So I only have 2 weeks left and I am going to spend them in ÑUÑOA 2 with HERMANA B SILVA and Hermana B Silva is going to TRAIN A GRINGA. So I am going to be spending my last 2 weeks in a trio. ​A scripture that I really like this week is in Mosiah 2:34 "knoweth that ye are eternally indebted to your heavenly Father." I think something that I have come to learn on the mission is how much my savior and father in heaven have done for me.

Love you all. Have a great week.
Hermana Showalter