¿que es un milagro?

                                                                                                                                                 November 3, 2014

Angels!

¡Hola!

Some funny things I forgot to tell you guys about...a couple weeks ago we were having issues with our toilet, and the plunger we had was totally broken.  So it was a fun experience to try to explain "plunger" in Spanish without knowing the Spanish word for plunger...lots of arm action and everything.  lol...  Also recently our Relief Society had a workshop one Saturday and asked us to come, so we went thinking we could learn more about how to have better mental, emotional, and physical health...and there was a lady who came to teach about women's health.  So we sat through an hour of information about when you should have the pap test and what happens when you go through menopause...all in Spanish.  Hermana Wadsworth laughed at me because I was really struggling to pay attention and I fell asleep for part of it...things you do not expect as a part of missionary life...

This week has been a long one.  Hermana Wadsworth was feeling bad for most of the week, and I had some period symptoms, so I was all emotional and irritable and out of energy and bloated and super hungry all week.  Blech.  But, finally, I have felt better.  Also we have just been trying really hard and not feeling really successful in the missionary work.  We only have the one investigator I told you about last week.  So we are searching for people who would like to know more.  We are trying to do our very best, and praying to have the Spirit to guide us.  I am hoping that we will find someone!  I am here to help and to teach, and I want to serve!  So we are doing the best we can.

Friday was Halloween and it was definitely a Halloween to remember!  The bad news first...we were at the chapel all day for the activity, so there wasn't anyone at our house to hand out candy.  And somebody egged our house.  So that was super fun to clean up.  Blech.  But the good news is that the activity was fabulous!  The elders in one of the other branches planned everything and invited all three of the branches in La Unión.  We had games, food, music, costumes...everyone had a great time.  Our mamita helped us to do our "angel" costume, which was really fun.  Our wings are wire with pantyhose stretched over them, and we glued on quilt batting and feathers.  :)  That's the best costume I've had in a long time!  

 Our Mamita Hna Angelica who helped us make our wings!

Halloween decorations the Elders put up for the party (It was all pretty impressive for four elders!  They're awesome!)

This weekend was district conference (which is like stake conference, but for all of the branches in our area instead of wards).  The talks were really good...and a lot of people focused on how we can see miracles in our lives.  So I put the title as ¿Qué es un milagro?  What is a miracle?  Here, the miracle we are all hoping for is that our district can become a stake.  But for us to see that miracle, we need to act on our faith.  A miracle requires faith, service, and prayer.  It requires diligence and hope.  Hermana Wadsworth and I are striving to apply that to our area to find the miracle...people who are prepared to listen to the gospel.

I love you all and I hope that you are having a great week!  I hope Abby feels better soon!  And I wish you a very happy November!

Love always, Hermana Latham 

mi yugo es fácil y ligera mi carga

                                                                                                                                   October 27, 2014

¡Hola!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!  :D

I sincerely am trying to send pictures.  This week I took some with Hermana Wadsworth's camera so that it would work.  But no.  :(  Sorry!

It's funny that you have dreams about when I'm home...I'm doing the same thing, trying to keep going and keep focused, but I find my mind wandering so much.  I feel like it is going to be so weird for me to be home because everything here is so completely different.  I don't worry that things will be weird...I worry that I will be weird with the things that used to be normal for me.  Does that make sense?  I don't know.  And it doesn't help that all of my stuff is ready to die...or already died.  This week another pair of shoes gave up the ghost.  Missionary shoes are so valiant!  They just go and go...but when there is a big hole in the bottom there is no solution...hahaha.  Also my body just doesn't handle the hard work as well as it did in the beginning.  I get tired more easily.  But I am still not ready to come home!  I have four more months!  Lots of things left to do!  So I am trying to focus and give as much as I can while I still have the chance.  This week I ate too much lactose and had a lot of stomach pain for a few days.  And today Hermana Wadsworth's stomach doesn't feel so good.  But we are pushing through it!

This week we had a really special visit with AXXX.  She is golden.  She reads the Book of Mormon and knows that everything that we teach her is true.  But she is just scared about changing everything in her life and her family.   They always say that the Lord is preparing people specifically for you as a missionary.  This week I really felt it.  With my experiences and stories, I could help AXXX to come closer to our Savior.  Also, one day a bunch of our appointments fell through, so we went to visit a sister who we hadn't visited for a while.  When we went by, it was exactly the moment that she needed to feel her Savior's love.  I thanked Heavenly Father for guiding us to the person who truly needed Him.  It is such a special opportunity to be able to devote all of my time to serving others and helping them to progress and feel happy.

Hermana Wadsworth and I are really enjoying this companionship.  I feel like I am learning just as much or maybe more than she is from the training manual.  This week we studied a lot about prayer and the centrality of the Book of Mormon to our message.  I felt so much more prepared to teach this week!  I know that the Book of Mormon is the key to having a testimony in Jesus Christ, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the Church is true.  Last week you asked me if we will be together for Christmas.  I don't know because we have transfers on December 3.  But that made me think of the flash drive Abby is doing.  I didn't mean for her to freak out about it!  I know she has a million and one things to do.  All she really has to do is just upload the CDs to the computer and copy them onto the flash drive.  It should be pretty quick and easy.  I feel really bad about stressing her out over this; it's not even that big of a deal.  Can you ask her and Benjamin to write me?  I miss hearing from them!  It sounds like they had a great time at Trunk or Treat!  If you could send pics I would love that.  I love the picture of you and Daddy for the football game.  You guys look so cute!  Your hair is so different!  I want to send you a picture of my hair.  You would not believe how long and blonde it is.  I'm thinking about cutting it, but my companion says it looks fine.  I'm still not sure, but I kind of want to grow it for these last four months and cut it when I get home.

This week we are having a Halloween activity and inviting everyone, members, investigators, contacts, everyone!  It is for our branch with the other branches here in La Unión and maybe the Rio Bueno branch too (I'm not sure).  So it should be really fun!  The zone leaders planned it and they are really excited.  They called to tell us all the details and told us that we should plan costumes but still remember that we are representatives of Jesus Christ...haha it's a bit difficult to have a costume as a missionary, but we are thinking of dressing all in white and making wings out of panty hose and hangers to be angels.  haha.  

I hope you have a lovely week and enjoy your Halloween!  Thanks for the picture.  Can you send me one of the jack o'lantern if you make one?

I wrote the whole email and forgot to explain the title :)  It comes from a scripture in Matthew 11:28-30, and my companion shared it with two different families for a spiritual thought this week.  It is so beautiful to think about how the Lord helps us to handle our trials.  He is always there to help us.  "My yoke is easy and my burden is light,"  "mi yugo es fácil y ligera mi carga."

Love, Hermana Latham

buscar a este Jesús

                                                                                                                                                             October 20, 2014

¡Hola!  

Thanks for looking up all that stuff on my Facebook.  It's fun to hear about what people are doing.  :)   I am so happy for Kristyn!  She is fabulous.  You can accept the friend request from A.  She is one of my investigators who just got baptized about a month ago.  Of course Daddy isn't taking his allergy medicine.  :P  I have been taking some because it helps me wake up with less headache.  With the flash drive...the thing I have is just a speaker with a USB port.  So whatever flash drive works to listen to music.  Abby is so sweet!  If she just copies the CDs onto the flash drive, it'll be good for my speaker.  The Relief Society meeting sounds awesome!  I don't know President Galt, but his wife was our stake YW president when we first moved to Georgia and she is awesome.  So I am excited to get to know him when I come home!  I'm sad that K came home early.  :(  Honestly, being a missionary is such a special, sacred time.  How sad to cut it short when it is so short to begin with!  It is hard.  But it is so, so worth it.

We have transfers on Wednesday, but since Hermana Wadsworth and I just started out together 2 weeks ago, I really don't think we are going to have transfers.  But it's just crazy because I only have 3 transfers left!  That's only 4 months!  AhHhHhH!!!  How CRAZY!  I can't even believe how fast this last transfer went by.  Every transfer goes by faster.  I told Daddy in my email that I feel the opposite of the people who come home early from their missions.  "Can I have more than 4 months left in Chile?"  But I know that there is a reason that the Lord called me for only 18 months, and that I need to finish this mission to be able to continue to progress in life.  But today I talked to one of the senior missionaries, and he told me something that made a lot of sense to me.  He said that we have to take the next step in our lives just as we have taken the mission...with faith in the Lord, and trust that He will help.  There is really no use in worrying, or wondering what the next phase of my life will bring.  I just need to give it all I've got for four more months, and then come home to do the very best that I can in my new life.  I have learned so much on this mission.  It is completely priceless and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Even the hard days are memories that I treasure and times when I could come closer to my Savior.  I'm doing really good right now.  I feel stable.  I am more patient and loving with myself, which makes me more able to do the work that the Lord needs me to do.  Of course life can never be perfect and there are still tough days or moments.  But I just have a happier outlook and a lot of hope for every new day.  I feel like with the Lord's help, I can handle whatever comes.  I told the senior missionary today that I feel better than I have felt in probably years!  I feel so happy with the progress I have been able to make and I thank my Heavenly Father and Jesus for all of the experiences and people They have sent me to make it this far!  

This week was a tougher week.  A bunch of our investigators all at once just lost interest, and since we are still both new here, we don't know many people.  So we knocked a lot of doors and did a lot of street contacting.  It was just a lot of walking and searching.  Then I lost my umbrella, and the next day it rained a ton...we locked ourselves out of our house one day....we had planned to go to a district Relief Society activity, but our investigator had to cancel at the last minute...so we had a lot of little frustrating things that made it a tough week.  But Hermana Wadsworth is so awesome and she just keeps saying that all of this opposition and all of the work we are putting into this means that something great is around the corner.  And I am thankful for a hard missionary week so that when the blessings come, I will recognize and appreciate them more.  It also gives me a chance to build my faith that this is the Lord's work, and He is preparing people, so He will show us how to find them.  Also, the more time we had to walk around gave us more time to talk and get to know each other better.  Hermana Wadsworth is fabulous.  I love her so much!  She doesn't go to BYU, she goes to Utah.  But it is still close enough that we can see each other once we are home too.  It's been funny that all of my U.S. companions in the mission have been from basically the same area (Alpine, then Highland, now Lehi).  We are enjoying our time together and learning to appreciate the little miracles.  This week we had one awesome lesson with a member.  We went to visit some new investigators we found and we taught them the Restoration.  We know that they felt the Spirit and we have been praying for them to remember it.

The theme this week comes from one of my favorite scriptures in Ether 12:41.  "Buscar a este Jesús" in English is "seek this Jesus."  In the Book of Mormon, the prophets tell us all about Jesus, about His life, His sufferings, and His attributes.  But I just love the invitation that this verse gives to each of us...to seek this Jesus in our lives.  Seek is an action word...and it is also a word with a promise.  Anyone who truly seeks for something with an honest heart is bound to find it.  I know that if we follow the invitation to seek Jesus in our lives, we will find that He is much closer than we ever imagined Him to be.

I love you all so much!  I hope you enjoy your autumn and think of me when you make caramel popcorn!  :)

Gigantes abrazos, Hermana Latham

el precioso don de la vida eterna

                                                                                                                                              October 13, 2014

Hna Latham and Hna Wadsworth in Osorno for Melanie's Visa

¡Hola!

Logistics stuff...still can't send pictures.  My memory card hates me.  I think I'm going to give it to the elders again to see if they can fix it.  I want to send you pictures of what's going on!  But I also sent Hna. Wadsworth's mom's email address, so maybe you can get some pictures from her.  Can you check my Facebook and see what Carrie Moll and Laura McCranie are up to?  Do you want the purple and black coat, or can I give it to the mission home?  I have a white blouse still.  Starburst, cheese crackers...can you send some Crystal Light packets or other kind of powdered lemonade in individual?  I would love that for the summer.  Other than that I can't think of anything.  I wrote to Abby to ask her about a flash drive with Christmas music on it.  Oh, one more thing...Hermana Wadsworth and I will be together for Thanksgiving and she thought it would be fun to make cornbread dressing.  Would you send me the recipe?

So it has been a great week.  :)  The bad news is that I have had a cold all week and used approximately a million tissues.  And also after a year in Chile, I finally got bit by a dog.  But don't worry about it, he didn't hurt me.  His teeth didn't even make marks on my tights.  We were just being followed closely by little persistent dogs and they nipped at us a little bit.

We had our interviews with President Obeso this week.  He is such a loving person.  He thanked me for everything that I am doing as a missionary, and especially for taking the emergency assignment.  He told me that thanks to the transfer, both of the sisters that were affected are happier.  He wanted me to remember that I am a good missionary and that the Lord is pleased with what I am doing.  It was so great to talk with him.  It has really been such a blessing for me to be able to have two different mission presidents.  I have learned so much from each one of them!  And you heard right, he told us that Elder Russell M. Nelson is coming to our mission on November 12!  I can't believe that I have the blessing of seeing two different apostles on my mission.  President Obeso asked me to play the piano when Elder Nelson comes.  So that is pretty nervewracking.  But we are so excited for him to come!

It has been such a fun week with Hermana Wadsworth!  I really just love teaching, and it is especially wonderful to teach someone everything about being a missionary.  I love being a missionary so much, and I feel so happy to have the chance to share what I have learned with someone!  She is so great.  She is focused and hardworking, and has an incredible memory.  She is working so hard to be a better missionary every day, and I love her drive and her testimony of this gospel.  She wants to learn Spanish so much!  It's fun that both of us are new to the area, because that way we can make what we want of the missionary work here.  We are working hard to help our investigators understand our purpose and keep their commitments.  We have met so many new investigators and contacts this week, and after weekly planning we just felt so excited for what we are going to be able to do here as we serve together.  It is definitely a big responsibility to be a trainer.  I have to remember a lot more things, I have to give more of the lessons until Hermana Wadsworth feels more confident in Spanish, I have to make a lot more decisions.  But I feel every day that the Lord teaches me how I should do this.  Rather than feeling weaker, I have felt so up to the challenge.  I can feel Him helping me to remember things, teaching me how to serve, and showing me how to love my companion and all the people around me.  I love this so much.

A zone activity where we made Sopapillas

This week I have been reading in Helaman (finally finished Alma!).  I love Helaman so much.  It is such a powerful part of the Book of Mormon, showing us how to really focus on our Savior and seek Him.  But the phrase that really stood out to me this week was "el precioso don de la vida eterna," or "the precious gift of eternal life."  I loved Elder Scott's talk because he explained to us the tools that we need to get from here to eternal life.  These are the tools that we invite our investigators and less actives to use every day, and I know that they are so important!  I KNOW that they are the steps that bless our lives!  If we pray, read the scriptures, have Family Home Evening, and go to the temple, we will feel His presence in our lives.  I think that one of the most important things that I have learned on the mission is how to organize my priorities.  There is nothing, absolutely nothing, more important in life than our relationship with our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ.  They love us and they want to bring us safely home to them, to participate of the precious gift of eternal life.  It is so easy in life for us to get lost in our daily activities and not make time for Him.  Hermana Wadsworth and I have talked a lot about that this week.  A lot of our investigators tell us that they don't have time to go to church, or to pray.  But what they are missing is that it is so essential to pray.  It is necessary to go to church.  We need the direction of God in our lives!  When I come home from this mission, all I want to do is live my life in such a way that I can feel His guide and His love.  

So as of Wednesday I have been in Chile for a year.  We are here in Osorno for P-day because we had to come here to renew my visa!  How crazy is that?  I can't believe how fast this mission is going by.  We went to the mall today and it was weird for me to go to a place that reminded me of the United States.  I also felt like I was breaking a rule of some kind for being in the mall and not in the street contacting.  hahaha....it will be really interesting the whole adjustment process when I come home and become a normal person again.  But since I have a short time left, I just want to give this everything that I have.  I just want to serve with all of my heart.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week!  I love you so much!  

Love always, Hermana Latham

llegó el momento.

                                                                                                                                                    October 6, 2014

¡Hola!

For the entire time that we were together, Hermana Bernel's theme was this quote, "Cuando llegue el momento de actuar, el tiempo de preparación habrá terminado."  "When the time to act comes, the time to prepare will have ended."  I didn't pay much attention to the quote.

Until President Obeso called us on Friday night and told us about the emergency transfer he needed us to make the next day.  Hermana Bernel needed to leave and I was going to be companions with an hermana who got here three weeks ago.  He needed me to be a trainer.  So, the title of this email is "llegó el momento."  The moment came.

It was crazy!  President Obeso told me that he had felt he would need my help with something next transfer, but it turned out that he needed my help right now.  I am so grateful that I had those three weeks to be companions with Hermana Bernel.  I think she has been my favorite companion.  What a blessing to be able to serve with her!  I was so sad to say goodbye!  I miss her a lot.  But I learned so much from her pure charity for this branch, for the Lord, and for me.  The hermana who was training my new companion was really struggling.  She is ending her mission and I think she just needs a companion who can really love her.  And my new companion needs someone who can help her to learn and be excited to be a missionary.  So we were the rescue team.

My last few days with Hermana Bernel were so great!  It has been so SUNNY and GORGEOUS and we just loved the sweet spring air!  I think that these past three weeks have been the happiest ones of my mission.  We had some glorious missionary experiences searching for new investigators and striving to help our other investigators progress.  On our last night together we went to a wedding for our branch mission leader and his new wife.  It was such a happy way for Hermana Bernel to leave the area.

I felt kind of scared to train since I have only been in this area for three weeks.  But I feel so strong and I know that the Lord will help me to teach her the things she needs to know, and when I prayed, I felt so surely that this is His work, and His vineyard, and He will help us to be what He needs here.  My new companion's name is Hermana Wadsworth and she is from Utah.  She is really excited to learn more Spanish and to learn everything there is to know to be a good missionary.  We have only been together for two days, but I have really enjoyed doing the extra study with her from Preach My Gospel.  It helps me to learn how I can be a better missionary, and helps me also to recognize how much I have learned and experienced in this year I've been in Chile.  This will be a really great challenge and I know that the Lord will be with us as we learn together.  So far she has been really patient with me...today I got lost trying to lead us around in the center of town where we go to write and buy stuff.  Sometimes the Lord builds us up and then surprises us with a new challenge...but I know that hard things are worth it, and that Hermana Bernel and I both have new and wonderful opportunities to serve.

I LOVED General Conference!  It was crazy for me to think that it was my last conference as a missionary.  I always put stars next to the really great talks that I want to print and study, and I put stars next to so many talks.  I think that as a missionary the talks are even better.  If it is possible to pick a favorite talk, I think it was probably Richard G. Scott's talk.  I LOVED his talk so much.  I know that we need to seek Christ in our lives to find strength.  Of all the quotes you sent me, my favorite one was about "the three things that she learned in hard times."  It is so true that in the hardest times we learn that Jesus is much closer than we realize.  I feel so much His love for me, and His understanding of who I am.  He knows each and every one of us and He is there, always.

Benjamin is so huge!  I can't believe it!  Where is the fall picture?  I can't think of anything else for Christmas.  After Christmas I will have only 2 months left, so like you said, it will be more weight in my suitcase.  A new outfit would be nice.  And I thought of another thing, I will email Abby later about it...I want to ask for a flash drive with Christmas music on it.  I have a speaker to play music from flash drives.  The caramel sauce from last week...it is called manjar (mahn-HAR).  Here they put it on bread or soda crackers or fried bread at "once."  It's kind of like Chilean peanut butter.

I love you and hope that you are having a great week!

Love always, Hermana Latham

no locas. fuertes.

                                                                                                                                            September 29, 2014

¡Hola!

Okay, first, I still can't send pictures.  The computers in this cyber are not friends with my camera.  It appears with nothing in its memory when I plug it in.  :(  I need to ask someone for help.

I love your email this week!  It is crazy for me to hear the story about Hermana Butler (a missionary in our home ward who returned home last week) and think about how I only have 5 months left!  AHH!  I can't WAIT to see the Women's Meeting and the rest of General Conference!  As a missionary General Conference is pretty much the most exciting thing that exists (well, other than a baptism, of course).  Every time it also makes me reflect on how time passes.  Can you believe that it was two years ago when President Monson announced the age change for missionaries?  It makes me feel kind of old to think that if I was still at home I would be a junior in college.  Thank you for sending the pictures of Ashley's wedding!  

I always laugh because after I tell you guys things on Monday, something crazy happens on Tuesday that I want to tell you, or the weather completely changes from what I said it was.  For example, it has been rainy and cold all week.  But we can't complain about the rain because it is what gives us so many beautiful flowers!  I still can't get rid of my winter stuff until it gets a little warmer, but I have thought a bit about what I will bring home and what I will leave.  Do you want the winter coat back, or should I leave it here?  Also as I was thinking about packing and suitcases I remembered that I wanted to ask you for one thing for Christmas.  I know Christmas is still 3 months away.  But I don't want to forget.  Can you send me a temples calendar for 2015?  I have always thought they were so great.

Despite the rain, we had a wonderful week.  HXXX and AXXX in Río Bueno got baptized on Saturday!  Last week when I played the piano at the funeral, Hermana M, one of the sisters from Río Bueno who went with us to teach them, cornered me and told me about the baptism, so we got permission and went!  It was so beautiful!  I felt SO happy.  I'm so glad that Hermana M told me so that I could go!  She is so great.  She served as a missionary in this mission 15 years or so ago.  She asked me how my new area was going and I told her it was great, but I was kind of sad that I only have 5 months left.  She told me that the last 5 months are the best ones.  I believe that!  I feel like I am able to be such a better missionary now than I was a year ago when I was just starting!

The sister training leaders came to visit us, and it was so wonderful.  We learned from them more techniques to try in our area.  I loved to see how Hermana Nielsen was so brave in teaching in whatever circumstance.  She helped me learn more how we can teach our message in a contact or with someone at their door in a simple way so that they can feel the Spirit and be interested to learn more.  So Hermana Bernel and I have been working on contacting more and teaching in the moment with pamphlets.  We have been able to find so many new people!  It is GREAT!  Every day when I wake up I am so excited for who we are going to visit and who we are going to meet.  Hermana Nielsen also helped me to recognize the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus have for me as a missionary.  Sometimes I feel sad because I wish that I could have offered something better to them in this past year.  But Hermana Nielsen helped me to remember that our weaknesses are a part of who Heavenly Father created, and He needs us to have them so that we can progress.  And she helped me to realize that what I have offered and what I am offering every day makes Heavenly Father pleased.

This has been one of the first weeks that I have truly felt like I am a good missionary.  It is such a good feeling.  I get emotional when I think about it!  The Lord has given me many strengths that I can use to help in this work, and even though I have weaknesses, He still loves me and I can still be happy.  Yesterday I gave a 10 minute talk in sacrament meeting in Spanish.  I never would have imagined being able to do that!  I have learned so very many things on this mission.  The title of this email came from a recent convert we are teaching here.  We were talking about the rain and how people must think that we are crazy to go outside in a terrible black waterproof rainsuit and rubber boots just like it was any other day.  But she said, "No locas.  Fuertes."  Not crazy.  Strong.  Surely there are people who see us and think that we are crazy.  But there are also people who see us and think that we are strong.  This made me think of the quote that "it's not what you look at, it's what you see."  When the Lord looks at us, two young women trying our very best to share His gospel, He sees strength.  I am learning to see it in myself.

I love you all very very very much!  I am sending you huge hugs!!!  I am so out of time but I also wanted to ask you to pray for our investigators, CXXX and MXXX, and AXXX and AXXX.  The two women are so excited about the gospel, but they want their husbands to listen too!  So we are praying to know how to help them to feel the Spirit.

Hope you enjoy General Conference and the snack mix!  :)

Abrazos, Hermana Latham

un amor infinito

                                                                                                                              September 22, 2014

Melanie LOVES brownies, so mom sent her this quote to brighten her day :)

¡Hola!!

I forgot to tell you a few things last week...it is GORGEOUS here!  In the past two weeks it has only rained once.  We have had so many nice, sunny, spring days.  I go out in a light jacket and regular shoes (not boots) and sometimes I only wear one pair of tights!  WOO!  That's progress!  There are so many gorgeous flowers blooming and trees budding (almost put trees blooming...thank you Spanglish).  I love the azaleas, tulips, and so many other pretty spring flowers.  We are so happy that the weather is getting nice.  Also, thank you for telling me what Ashton is doing!  I haven't heard from her since Christmas.  I don't know if you remember the story I told you back when I was in Osorno about the young couple who contacted us in the street and told us that they wanted to have an eternal family.  Well, after the first visit with them I left the sector.  On my first day here I was copying the plans for the day from my companion, and I saw a plan for "D and P."  I told my companion we had a couple named D and P when I was in Osorno...it is the same D and P!  They moved to La Unión!  Isn't that cool?  I feel so lucky to be able to see all the progress that they have made.  Other short things...the watch you gave me for my birthday last year gave up the ghost.  The glass face totally fell out.  I thought about fixing it, but figured that if a $25 watch lived for over a year of everyday wear, I could go ahead and buy a new one.  I wanted something fun, so I bought a red watch this morning.  I am so happy that you got my box!  I prayed a lot that it would get there.  :)  The souvenirs on top are for you all.  I had the box ready to go for weeks, but right before I sent it I threw in some extra things.  I think I will buy another cow magnet and little Chilean flag so that we can both have one.  How do you like the food I sent?  I wanted to send you all pictures today, but my camera is not friends with this computer.  It's kind of sad because I have good pictures this week!  But they will be just as good next week.

Hermana Latham and Hermana Bernel

This was a week I will always remember!  On the day before the "fiestas patrias" (September 18 & 19) we had a conference with a seventy named Elder Viñas.  We got up super early and Hermana Bernel straightened my hair, which took way longer than expected, so I ended up doing my makeup on the bus (remembering seminary?  hahaha).  Elder Crotzer and I played Canon in D for the prelude, and then our zone sang and we played "Onward, Christian Soldiers."  It was a really wonderful conference.  I learned two really important things this week.  One I learned from Elder Viñas.  He focused on the Atonement, and the importance for us to apply it to our own lives and to help our investigators, less actives, and everyone else to understand how important it truly is. He asked for volunteers to share their feelings about the Atonement and it was really spiritual and special.  It's indescribable to hear what others feel for the Atonement.  There were three in particular that I really liked.  A sister from my zone talked about the Atonement as her motivation.  She explained how the Atonement gives her the power to be strong and courageous, and to channel the talents the Lord has given her into the work, because she knows that Jesus is always by her side.  Our zone leader talked about the Atonement as freedom.  The Atonement means freedom from the chains of sin, pain, sadness, worry, and doubt.  It eliminates all of those things and makes us free.  My companion said that the Atonement is her joy.  So many of us think that if Christ knows exactly how we feel, He knows it when we are sad, or confused, or in pain.  But He also knows and comprehends our joys.  Because of the Atonement, Jesus feels and understands the times when we are happy and hopeful.  For me, the Atonement, above all, is an infinite love--un amor infinito.  I know that He loves me, despite my weaknesses.  I know that He understands, and that He is always there, always there, and even though I can't actually see Him or feel His arms around me...in my heart I can feel Him hugging me and telling me that everything is going to be okay.  I feel His hugs in my heart, and that brings me so much peace.  I know that if He loves me, He loves everyone I meet.  The people here are not only statistics, people to contact.  They are children of our Heavenly Father, and our Savior knows and loves each of them.  He has an infinite love for every person.  This is my testimony.  I know it to be true.

 We straightened my hair for the conference with Elder Viñas

The other thing that I have learned is that this life is only a step in all of eternity.  I know that we lived before and that we will live after.  In the conference, Hermana Obeso talked about how we knew the gospel to be true before we came to this earth.  We came here to learn the gospel again, but this time by faith.  This is why the gospel seems so familiar to us!  Our hearts recognize it and we know it is true.  We feel a peace that confirms to us the truth of the gospel without having to see it physically.  This knowledge...that we lived before this life and had a testimony of the gospel...brings me so much peace.  I love this perspective, because I have seen it in our investigators!  They recognize the gospel and know it is true.  Today I had the chance to play the piano at a funeral.  (this probably sounds weird) but I love to play the piano at funerals.  Why?  Because it brings peace and calm to the people who are there.  The music helps them to remember that death is not the end.  Death is a part of Heavenly Father's plan for us to return to Him.

After the wonderful conference we had SO much fun for el 18 de septiembre!  The branch activity was a blast.  We played traditional games...sack race, balance the egg on the spoon, tug of war, kites, and also searching for a piece of candy in a bowl full of flour with your mouth.  That one was a little gross, but the pictures are really funny!  Everything turned out well with the food, and then we did karaoke with traditional music and also traditional dancing.  I wish I could send the pictures!  

 Traditional games for 18 de Septiembre celebration

Mom:  What are you eating here, besides hair?
Hna Latham: It was a bowl full of flour with a candy hidden in it where I had to use my mouth to get the candy.

So like you thought, we couldn't get as much proselyting in this week as far as progressing investigators goes.  But we actually taught a lot of lessons, considering our shortened time.  We have been working to find new people to teach and to help our investigators to progress.  I am loving this area and this companionship!  Hermana Bernel is so great.  We get along so well!  I feel almost like I am with someone from my family.  We understand each other really well.  Sometimes it makes me kind of sad that my favorite companions are from other countries because I won't be able to see them very much after!  But on the other hand, it is cool to think that after the mission I will have friends who live all over the world!

I love you all so much and truly enjoyed your letters this week!  It sounds like you are having a happy, busy, great September.  I hope that you have a wonderful week this week!  Also thank you for the quotes and pictures!  I agree with the brownie quote. ;)

Love always, Hermana Latham  

18 de Septiembre decorations I put in our windows