HOLA!!

This week we did a lot of contacting but it was a very big test of faith because we didn’t have ANY success with finding new people to teach. We started out fine in the beginning of the week but on Wednesday we had about 40 contacts and only one book of mormon and zero new people. It was a very hard day because everyone we talked to didn’t want anything to do with us no matter what we said or tried. They all seemed very... angry. So we cried a lot on Wednesday night and Thursday.  On Friday we ended up finding 4 new people to teach this week so was a great blessing :) We are going to fast tomorrow and again on Thursday so that we can have the spirit with us to find new people to teach. 

We found Kimberly and she is awesome. Her mom is less active.  She wants to be baptized so we talked about it and told her that she can be baptized in 3 weeks, she then came to church with her mom yesterday!! So we are doing some really great things with her. I know she wants to be baptized and she seems to really know a lot of the gospel, but I want to make sure she knows what she is doing and not only doing this because her mom is a member or for some other reason like because she thinks the church is pretty.  So we will be going there today to teach her and we will find out a little more about what she feels about the church and talk to her about the lessons. There is a problem that she has a boyfriend and we will need to teach her about living the law of chastity and she isn't living the word of wisdom. So there are a few things we need to work with before she can be baptized. 

I´m trying to stay positive and work hard. There is still so much work I have to do with improving myself. I still feel like I have so much to learn and so much to grow. It’s frustrating sometimes.  I´ve been reading a lot lately in Jesus the Christ. 

I´m serious if you haven't read that, READ IT! So amazing and I´m learning soo much about Christ and His life. He is such a perfect example of missionary work and I´m studying how patient he is with the people and the love He has for them. I realized that if I´m a representative of Christ I need to be like Him in every moment. Not only when we are in a lesson or when we are in the street but also when we are with the members or when we are in the house. I´ve known that the whole time but I really know now how important it is to always be a representative of Him in all times. 

Well that´s basically all we have for this week but I´ll write more next week because I want to give time to write letters for birthdays :) I love you all so much and I´m so proud of you all. Keep working hard and keep doing the things to bring you closer to Christ. When you do that you will always find happiness :)

Con amor,

Hermana Tycksen

p.s I was in a small earthquake last week. It was at about 3AM and my companion said she was really scared but the whole time i just felt peace. It was a really cool experience and so cool to say that I´ve now been in an earthquake (even if it was a small one).  Don’t worry about anything! Love you all!!

Family!!

WOW a lot has been happening here. This week was really, really hard. I´ve been taken from my sweet home of Miramar and I am now in Troncal, Quillota.  I have not cried yet in this area but my heart aches of not being with my investigators or with my branch family in Miramar. I wasn’t moved with my daughter and I´m now moving on to my 6th companion. It´s so hard to switch companions every 6 weeks. I get soo close to my companions and then I have to start all over again with a new one. 

On Monday morning we got Hermana Nichols, who´s companion finished her mission, she was with us for about 2 days or so. We had a great time together and we worked really hard. We went to see Hernan who is still struggling with smoking but we set a goal to keep working with him on getting rid of the habit. I told my companion to send me pictures when he is baptized in 2 weeks. I´m so sad that I can’t be there but I know that being there is not the thing that is important. I´m so proud of the work that I did there in that branch because I feel that I gave it my all and that I really was an instrument there in changing lives. Even if it was not in the way of baptisms, I know that there were lives that were changed for the better. 

We went to see some of the members to say goodbye and get pictures because I had the feeling that I would be leaving.  I wanted to make sure that I had some of them before I left.  A lot of them were not home and that was a bummer but when I talked with President Gallegos he told us that we will never forget the branch there or the members and then told me that in the end of my mission his house is open for me to come and visit as well as after my mission when I come back to visit.  He told me that his house is my house. That meant a lot to me and I really do miss the love that was there. 

We got changed and my new companion is Hermana Comán. She is from Argentina and is really great. She just finished her training and so this is our first time leaving earlier because we don’t have the same amount of time to study anymore. It´s been good, but she also doesn’t know where she is going in the area and has a lot of concerns about areas that are dangerous or dogs that she says will bite you. I keep trying to explain to her what to do with the dogs but there are a few things that seem to be a little problem that we need to work out.  We have a lot of work to do together to get used to how the other teaches so we will be working more on that this week. 

This area is so pretty. I feel so close to home here because it´s a big town but feels small.  We are also really close to the mountains that surround us. I´m so blessed to be here because I know that this change would have been really, really hard if I didn’t have a little something to comfort me (the mountains). I´m always looking at the mountains and admiring them because it´s been about 6 months since I´ve been close to the mountains. This area is all flat, so I won’t be walking hills anymore. But it’s green and pretty hot here. 

The people here are really nice and welcoming. They seem to have a lot of time so we find a lot of contacts each day.  We have not had any real success with finding new investigators. I feel the love of the Savior so strongly here, I have this peace with me all the time. 

Mom thanks for the part of Landon’s letter! He is such an amazing missionary, I just know it! I´m so proud of all of you with the healthy eating! That is so awesome! but I’m kinda still wanting to come home to a puff daddy, it might freak me out to come home to a skinny daddy.  Well family please keep me in your prayers. We really need some major help here and we need miracles. I love you all so much and I´m so happy to be here. I did a little self evaluation of who I was before the mission and who I am now, and I can honestly say I’m not the same person. I´m different now, but it´s in the way the Lord wants. I´m changing into the person He wants me to be and that brings me so much joy. 

Well fam, until next week!!

con amor,

Hermana Tycksen

Hola mi famillia!

This week we didn’t have a baptism. It´s been a very... stressful week. The elders had 2 baptisms this week and we almost had 2 but there were some things that happened that we need another couple weeks. So for Hernan he is doing awesome and he is now only smoking 4 cigarettes a day!!!! WOOT WOOT!!  We are sooo happy for him and he really is progressing. He smoked 4 yesterday and today is the day he needs to get rid of them ALL so we will be calling him to check up on that. He needs 7 days of living the word of wisdom before he can receive an interview for baptism.  We will be passing for him continually to teach him the other commandments and prepare him for baptism. He is doing good though!! As for the other baptism... his name is Guillermo. He´s the fiancé to the daughter of the branch president. I feel like he is ready. He has completely changed his life around and is progressing but when he went into his interview he didn’t pass so we will be passing by for him over the next 2 weeks and teaching him a little bit more about testimonies and the book of mormon and the importance of reading it everyday or as much as he possibly can.  In 2 more weeks he can and will be baptized. I know it. 

Well we had two activities this week. One just for missionary work and the other was for the married adults in the ward as well as investigators. So the missionary work went really, really well. My companion and I planned basically the whole thing and we played the chubby bunny game with marshmallows which was really fun. We showed a mormon message about repentance and then talked about the atonement with them. They all really loved it (we had 2 investigators there and one of them brought their friend who also lives in our area and we will be passing for her as well to teach her). The activity for the married couples was good, we went with the family Martinez who we were teaching a while back. In the beginning of the night they were talking about marriage and the blessings from it.  One of the less active members and his girlfriend (the elders investigator) were there. He got up and started to talk and he asked her to marry him! haha!! SO awesome. Everyone was like screaming because not everyone knew that this was all planned for him to ask her to marry him. 

It´s been a bit of a crazy week with all that has been going on but we are working hard and we are happy.   As for the octopus yes it really is an octopus (the member said they usually don't cut off the head yet but it´s an octopus). its been a pretty interesting experience to be here eating all this food, and where its coming up on summer here I´m thinking the fruit is going to be pretty interesting as well. 

Hannah Morris went on a mission!!!?? I didn't even know about that! where did she get called to go? I have not heard anything about that! That´s so great for her, I know she will be a great missionary.  One of the sisters in our zone will be working with us for the next 3 days until transfers. I´m not sure if I´ll be leaving or not.  I´m doing good and we are starting from scratch basically because we had to get rid of all our investigators because they are not progressing. So we are in the process of finding but they are really really hard to find right now, I´m not really sure why. We are trying to do all we can but I know that we can work harder and we are trying to be 100% obedient in all that we do.  We are working hard and giving it our all. I know that there are days that we can work harder but I’m feeling like we are doing what the Lord expects of us and the miracles will come. 

Thank you for your letters and your support with everything. I love you all so much and I’m always praying for you. I´m doing well here in Chile. It´s starting to feel more like home here and more normal. I realized something the other day that one of the members I was not able to understand last transfer I´m now able to understand. I’m speaking fluent spanish!! :) There are obviously a LOT of the things I don’t understand and don’t know how to say but I´m speaking to people and that is the coolest and biggest blessing ever. I´m so thankful for all the latin companions I´ve been able to have because I know that has helped me so much. I love this work and I´m so thankful for the opportunity I have to be here and serve these people and to see that their lives are changing and they are closer to the Savior as well as more happy. 

I love you all. Con amor,

Hermana Tycksen