Her Name is Irma

February 2, 2015

Dear Familia,

This week I want to share a miracle story about a sweet lady named Irma. We found her contacting while she was working in her garden. We started talking with her about how beautiful her flowers are, which led to God is the most incredible artist. When we started talking about religión she told us she didn't want anything to do with us because she believes that when Christ died, the church he established stopped being his church and man started to interpret the scriptures and his teachings in their own way. When she finally ended her beautiful rant about the apostasy (Chilenos talk SOOOOO much!) We told her that the message we share answers all her questions about how the church of Jesús Christ was in a period of darkness and we bore testimony of the restoration. She invited us to her house the following day and we were able to share more of the amazing story of Joseph Smith and the góspel of Jesucristo. During the lesson the spirit was so strong and I had the amazing opportunity to witness the Holy Ghost and the gift of tongues working through me to testify of the truth to my Chilean sister, Irma. After the lesson, Irma just looked at us and said, "I want it to be true...I want all of this to be true." We told her of our experiences with prayer and how through our personal study of the Book of Mormon and sincere prayer we can know these things are true.

The experience with Irma really made me reflect on how amazing this góspel is. God loves us so much and has provided us with the opportunity to know these amazing truths. The promise of the Book of Mormon is real. The invitation to ask God if the the Book of Mormon is true isn't a one time invitation. It is an invitation that we should constantly be acting upon. We don't have to wait until we finish Reading the Book of Mormon to kneel down and ask God if it truly is his holy scripture. I invite all of you this week to really read and ponder the Book of Mormon and find a time to kneel down and ask God if the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith really was the prophet of the restoration.

Also, our investigator Luis moved to another city...still part of the misión, but no longer in our área. We sent his address to the missionaries that are over that area, hopefully they can help him better understand the beautiful power of personal revelation.

I love this work, I love being able to testify of these truths, I love the misión!

Scripture: Luke 13:21 The kingdom of god is "like leaven," whose function is to raise the whole mass by its influence.

I love this scripture because this week I learned how to make the delicious bread of Chile!!!!!! And it's true, to make bread you just use a tiny bit of leaven, but it is so important, because it's what makes the bread raise and not be a stale cracker. As members we have to be the leaven of the world. Yes our numbers are rising, but in comparison with the world there's not a whole lot of us. Through our testimonies and the way we live our lives we can help lift all those around us.

Fun Facts:

Chileans don't have vacations throughout the year, they have them in verano (summer), solo en verano! The entire world is on vacation here in Valparíso!!!!!

In Chile everyone eats dessert with tiny little dessert forks and spoons, I'm in heaven.

One of our investigators is in love with Downton Abby!

A Little girl that we met this week was so excited when she found out I was from the United States because in her sweet little mind, that naturally means I know Justin Beiber on a personal level. Ha! I did the best I could to explain to her I have never talked with him a day in my life, but she is still convinced I won’t give her his number because I want to keep him all to myself....kids these days!

Love,

Hermana McKenna