Dear Familia,
This past week we had a conference with President Díaz and also mini interviews. It was awesome to get to know him and his wife and hear more of their life story. Something that I LOVE about Pres. Díaz is how absolutely loving and kind he is. Someone can feel the love that God has for them just by talking with the guy! That is what I want for my investigators, contacts in the street, less actives...pretty much everybody to feel when I talk with them. I want them to feel how much their Father in Heaven loves them and is aware of them. Yesterday Hna. Day and I knocked on this little cottage-looking house and this sweet old lady came out. We gave her a photo of Jesus Christ coming out of the tomb and asked her if she believed she could be with her loved ones after this life. She told us she wasn`t really sure, but that she would like to know. We testified of our Heavenly Father's love and how he created a plan that allows us to live with our families forever. She told us that her husband had passed away over 40 years ago and that she would love to listen to our message. She told us that she wouldn't be able to receive us that day, but that we could pass by on Tuesday to share more of our message. We asked if we could pray before we left and she agreed. In the prayer we prayed that she would feel peace and understand the plan that God created for her, and when we finished she looked up at us crying and said that for the first time in 40 years she really believed she would be able to see her husband again. It was such a sweet and tender moment, and such a powerful reminder of how many of God's children are living without a knowledge of his love, or have forgotten or become numb to this love.
This week I challenge everyone to go out of their way to share the gospel with someone. I love Dad's example of writing a letter to Uncle Pat...someone who’s life so very rarely feels that love and sweet peace that comes with sharing such a simple testimony. The love and peace that everyone needs. Obviously it doesn't have to be a letter to someone in prison, so often it's the next door neighbor that needs a reminder of this message. But make sure to go out of your way to do a little more, and I promise you, you will feel the love and peace of God working through you.
I love you all! I love this work! I love my Heavenly Father!
XOXO-Hna. McKenna
Scripture: John 3:16-17
Fun Fact:
I ate squid during lunch! It was actually pretty dang good.
One of the policemen stopped us while we were walking and we thought it was to see if we had our Chilean ID with us. We were both pretty scared, but he ended up asking if he could schedule a time to meet up with us. We then became very excited thinking we had a great new investigator. Only to find out that he wanted to schedule a time to meet up and have sushi and that he was asking us out on a date....awkward....
Monday, July 27, 2015
Monday, July 20, 2015
How Much Do You Want For the Birds?
Dear Familia,
This past week I've been studying a lot about sacrifice, and how we sacrifice for the things we love, but at the end of the day, we love the things we sacrifice for. (Inspirational thought from Megan Brindley :) In the Old Testament, they offered animal sacrifices. In the New Testament, it was the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. What God asks from us now is the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I just LOVE that! Last Sunday in our Principios del Evangelio class, the teacher shared an AMAZING story about sacrifice that I'm going to try and translate and share with you guys.
"One day the young Bishop of the Limache Branch was walking through the park on the way to one of his meeting when he saw a little boy playing with a cage. As he grew closer he saw that inside the cage were 4 trapped birds and that the little boy was poking them with a stick. He asked the boy what he was doing, and the boy replied, "I tricked these stupid birds into coming into the cage and now they are mine!" The bishop asked, "And what are you going to do with them?" "Whatever I want," he replied, "They can't do anything! I like to poke them with my stick and see how they jump and squirm, and I'll entertain myself with them like that until I get bored or they're almost dead, and then I'll feed them to my cat, he loves birds." The Bishop looked down at the birds, and then at the boy, and said, "How much do you want for them?" "No sir, you don't want these birds. They are ugly, and they don't even know how to sing." The Bishop with a firm resolve asked again, "How much do you want for them?" "Give me 20 bucks and they're all yours." The Bishop passed over the money, took the birds over to a near by tree and set them free.
---------------------------------
Jesus looked down at Satan and the world he was playing with, and asked him, "What are you doing?" Satan replied and said, "I've ensnared this world filled with people through my tricks and cleverness and now they're mine." Jesus asked him why he had done this and what he intended to do with the world he had trapped. Satan replied, "I like to make them fight, I like to see the different ways I can make them upset and see how many wars I can cause, how many families I can destroy, how many lives I can ruin. I do it just to entertain myself. I don't really care what happens with them when I'm done, they don't matter the least bit to me. My only objective is to make sure they aren't happy." Jesus looked down at the world and asked, "How much do you want for them?" Satan laughed, and then replied, "Trust me, you don't want this world. They're selfish, and rude, and won't even appreciate you. They'll mock you, and reject you, and in the end, they'll kill you." Jesus looked at Satan and said again in a voice firm and determined, "How much do you want for them?" Satan laughed again, and then told Jesus, "Give me all your joy, all your love, all your time, all your life, and in return I'll give you all their sorrows, all their anger, all their sicknesses, and death." And with love in his eyes Jesus accepted the deal and sacrificed his life for us.
I love that story! I love the idea of sacrifice! I love my Savior who sacrificed EVERYTHING for me...a little bird who can't even sing (ha and that's 100% true in every way!). I love that I have been able to spend the past year in Chile, sharing with this amazing country the infinite love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ! I feel so blessed and so loved, and couldn't imagine spending these past 365 days doing anything but sharing this life changing message!
The next time you take the sacrament please think about this little story and remember the sacrifice Jesus made for you, because he loves you, imperfections and all! And all that he wants is for us to accept His sacrifice. The efforts of the bishop wouldn't have made any difference for the little birds if they didn't accept his sacrifice and fly out of the cage. I hope you have a great week!
XOXO-Hna. McKenna
Fun Facts:
I now don't just drink the weird milk out of a box that they sell here in Chile, but I've been drinking warm powdered milk at night to warm up before bed....and I like it! Who would have thought powdered milk was so good!
We went another 24 hours without light this week...what else is new?
This past week I've been studying a lot about sacrifice, and how we sacrifice for the things we love, but at the end of the day, we love the things we sacrifice for. (Inspirational thought from Megan Brindley :) In the Old Testament, they offered animal sacrifices. In the New Testament, it was the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. What God asks from us now is the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I just LOVE that! Last Sunday in our Principios del Evangelio class, the teacher shared an AMAZING story about sacrifice that I'm going to try and translate and share with you guys.
"One day the young Bishop of the Limache Branch was walking through the park on the way to one of his meeting when he saw a little boy playing with a cage. As he grew closer he saw that inside the cage were 4 trapped birds and that the little boy was poking them with a stick. He asked the boy what he was doing, and the boy replied, "I tricked these stupid birds into coming into the cage and now they are mine!" The bishop asked, "And what are you going to do with them?" "Whatever I want," he replied, "They can't do anything! I like to poke them with my stick and see how they jump and squirm, and I'll entertain myself with them like that until I get bored or they're almost dead, and then I'll feed them to my cat, he loves birds." The Bishop looked down at the birds, and then at the boy, and said, "How much do you want for them?" "No sir, you don't want these birds. They are ugly, and they don't even know how to sing." The Bishop with a firm resolve asked again, "How much do you want for them?" "Give me 20 bucks and they're all yours." The Bishop passed over the money, took the birds over to a near by tree and set them free.
---------------------------------
Jesus looked down at Satan and the world he was playing with, and asked him, "What are you doing?" Satan replied and said, "I've ensnared this world filled with people through my tricks and cleverness and now they're mine." Jesus asked him why he had done this and what he intended to do with the world he had trapped. Satan replied, "I like to make them fight, I like to see the different ways I can make them upset and see how many wars I can cause, how many families I can destroy, how many lives I can ruin. I do it just to entertain myself. I don't really care what happens with them when I'm done, they don't matter the least bit to me. My only objective is to make sure they aren't happy." Jesus looked down at the world and asked, "How much do you want for them?" Satan laughed, and then replied, "Trust me, you don't want this world. They're selfish, and rude, and won't even appreciate you. They'll mock you, and reject you, and in the end, they'll kill you." Jesus looked at Satan and said again in a voice firm and determined, "How much do you want for them?" Satan laughed again, and then told Jesus, "Give me all your joy, all your love, all your time, all your life, and in return I'll give you all their sorrows, all their anger, all their sicknesses, and death." And with love in his eyes Jesus accepted the deal and sacrificed his life for us.
I love that story! I love the idea of sacrifice! I love my Savior who sacrificed EVERYTHING for me...a little bird who can't even sing (ha and that's 100% true in every way!). I love that I have been able to spend the past year in Chile, sharing with this amazing country the infinite love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ! I feel so blessed and so loved, and couldn't imagine spending these past 365 days doing anything but sharing this life changing message!
The next time you take the sacrament please think about this little story and remember the sacrifice Jesus made for you, because he loves you, imperfections and all! And all that he wants is for us to accept His sacrifice. The efforts of the bishop wouldn't have made any difference for the little birds if they didn't accept his sacrifice and fly out of the cage. I hope you have a great week!
XOXO-Hna. McKenna
Fun Facts:
I now don't just drink the weird milk out of a box that they sell here in Chile, but I've been drinking warm powdered milk at night to warm up before bed....and I like it! Who would have thought powdered milk was so good!
We went another 24 hours without light this week...what else is new?
Monday, July 13, 2015
Rebecca Got Baptized
Dear Familia,
Ok, so we're sending photos right now while we are close to the good computer place, and then we'll get back on later today to write the real email. I hope you all are doing well, and if anyone has a really simple and easy "no-bake cookie recipe" please send it my way! Winnie looks SOOOO cute! I think I'm more excited about her than I am to be an aunt....ok, that's not true, but she is pretty stinking cute! Also, before the next time I get on could someone please send a photo of Leesi and Shane's new house and let me know if I'm going to have a niece or nephew? I love you all and will talk to you soon!
Love,
Hermana McKenna
Photos:
While you were playing with your cute little Winnifred, we also bought a cute little puppy....ok, we didn't buy him, we found him dumped off outside our house super late at night. It was FREEZING and he wouldn't stop crying, so we made him a little house out of one of the boxes you sent me and then in the morning we dropped him off at Rebecca's house. She LOVES dogs! We named our little lurgnom Po, ha, he's not exactly a pure bred, but he does have that "you’re so ugly your cute" look going for him.
REBECCA GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! It was sooooo beautiful! Her son was able to baptize her, and it was so neat to see his family growing into an eternal family! In 4 Nephi 1:11 it talks about how being married brings blessings. Rebecca got married about a month and a half ago and baptism is just one of the AMAZING blessings she's been able to receive.
Thanks to all the fasting, we have been getting a ton of rain, which is great...if you're not missionaries serving in Olmué. Every time it rains our electricity and light get cut...Needless to say, I've really come to appreciate the BYU blanket Mom made me!
Umbrella problems.
Rebecca playing with my hair while we wait for English Class to start.
Monday, July 6, 2015
It Rained and the Saints Rejoiced
Dear Familia,
Ok, so I have been terrible about sending photos home.....I know! Only a couple computerss here in Olmué let me send photos and of those I only trust a couple to attach my camera to. Sorry for the photo drought and then the photo overload, but I hope you enjoy them! This week went by sooooo fast but has been really good! Thanks for your prayers. Rebecca has a baptismal date for this Sunday! Yesterday right after church, when all of Chile finished their fast for rain, it started raining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was AMAZING and such a testimony builder of the power of the fast. I love you all and will write more next week! Enjoy the summer vacations for me!
XOXO-Hna. McKenna
Scripture: Alma 46:12-13 …remember how many people have died for the cause of liberty and how important it is for God! Just like Moroni, we should make sure that we are always making our religion, family, liberty, and country the most important things in our lives!
Fun fact: we made the Anuncios!!!
Also, I got your package with the year gift and the red skirt!!!! Thank you so much Mom!!!! LOVE YOU!!
Photos:
I had videos of all of it, but it's not letting me send any of them! Lo siento!
1. I don't know how much you guys know about Pres. Díaz, our new President in the mission, but he played professional soccer, and gave us permission to watch the Chile vs. Argentina game!!!!!!!!!! It was AMAZING!!!!! Chile has NEVER won La Copa America so it was revolutionary for them to beat Argentina!!! And after, even here in little Olmué, the streets were crazy and we got permission from our leaders to go back to the house right after the game. CHI-CHI-CHI LE-LE-LE VIVA CHILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
2. This is la Familia Amuada, and they're AWESOME! They're reactivating and we're trying to help them get callings. They both lived in Orem, Utah, for 18 years but hardly speak any English...pretty amazing! But they wanted to spend the 4th of July with us so after lunch we passed buy to visit them and read a couple scriptures.
Beautiful pictures of Olmué!!!! I love this town!!!
3. We spent the 4th of July lunch with Hna. Paraguez and she made everything with little American flags and a sweet American meal! It was pretty dang close to the real deal....ha, or at least it's been so long since I had a real hamburger I couldn't tell the difference!
4. To answer Mom's question, yes, I'm still an STL here in Olmué with Hna. Day, and during one of our intercambios, one of the sisters that was in my zone in Valpo showed me a pic of one of her baptisms...I don't know if any of you remember Javiera from my first sector. I taught her with Hna. Cabral and Hna. Prates, anywho, she had a few problems to overcome. When summer vacations started for the college she went home to live with her family...which was out of our sector. We gave her address as a reference to Las Hermanas over there and it turns out that Hna. Chavez, the hermana I did intercambios with, got the reference and ended up baptizing Javiera!!!!!!! It was such a sweet tender moment!
Hna. Day and me walking the streets of Olmué with all the fruit people give us. I don't know if you can see in the photo, but there is nothing but fields here! We walk, and walk, and walk, without seeing people for hours! Ok, maybe not hours, but for sure 30 minutes!
Crossing a sketchy bridge...thank heavens it hasn't rained in forever so there was no threatening water!
5. I'M ENGAGED.....to the Mission Viña del Mar ;)
The little primary class we taught that thought all missionaries did was eat and receive fruit from people!
The semi-finals with Chile vs. Perú!!!! They set up this giant screen in the middle of the plaza! It was CRAZY!!!! We could her the people screaming all during the night! Apparently it was a really heated game! Here in Olmué it's pretty calm because it's a small little mountain town where all they do is farm. But in my old sector in Valpo, the missionaries couldn't leave their house for 4 days because the crazy college students were doing a bunch of crazy college student stuff!
6. El Bautismo de Esther!!! All of her family that lives in our ward is from Ecuador and they are SOOOO funny!!!!
7. Saying "adios" to Tierras Blancas, and taking the 6 hour bus ride to La Reunion de Cambios to be compañeras with Hna. Day de nuevo!!!!
8. Saying "hasta ver" to mis amigos in Tierras Blancas. The little girl wearing my name tag was the sweet daughter of a member that lived in our building, and was always wanting to be my companion. She is SOOOOO cute!
9. Being in a trio with Hna. Carlson and Hna. Mariscal back in Tierras Blancas! On P-day we went to visit La Cruz again because Hna. Carrlson had never been!
Conquistando La Cruz.....it's very symbolic that we're dominating the Catholic influence here in Chile!
Más de La Cruz!
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