mentes firmes

                                                                                                                                          March 24, 2014

                                     We went to the lookout last week and took pictures of the river.  :)

¡Hola!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA!!  This year I'm not gonna be able to whisper-sing happy birthday into your voicemail, so I hope this email will suffice.  :)  I love you so so very much and I hope that you can feel that even though I'm far away!  You closed your last email with "I love you THIIIIIIIISSSSS much!"  I remember that in the moments when I feel overwhelmed...when I was really little and I sat in your lap and you told me that.  And I know that as I got bigger, more emotional, or whatever else, you still loved me that much and the love you share with me through these emails gives me a lot of strength.  I hope that one day when I am a mom I can love my daughter or son as much as you love me....because the love I have from you and Daddy is one of the biggest blessings in my life.  

I'm sorry about the whole situation with the wood stove.  I talked to my zone leader to see if someone could come look at it, but it really seems that no one is concerned.  Everyone here heats their homes with wood stoves, so it must not be that big of a safety risk.  One of the mission rules is that we can't use it until May to conserve wood for the really cold months (June, July, and August), and then when May comes we really will only use it for a couple of hours in the morning so we are not ice cubes while we study.  We have to put out the fire when we leave in the morning, and there's really no point in starting one at night because we can't sleep with a fire going.  It's not too cold yet.  We've had a couple of really cold mornings and nights, but for the most part we have been enjoying a really gorgeous fall.  I LOVE fall!  I had almost forgotten how much since I really haven't had fall since October 2012.  lol.  My favorite, favorite thing in Río Bueno is the stars at night.  It is a tiny little town almost in the country, and we can really see a million stars.  I love to look at the stars...always have, ever since I was little and we would come home from family walks and lay in the grass to look at them.  The stars here are stunning.  I wish you could see it!  My camera can't capture just how gorgeous it is.

So, we have transfers this Wednesday....and I'm not leaving!  Yay!  And what's better?  Hermana Núñez isn't leaving either!  This will be my sixth transfer, and in my first five transfers I had 5 companions.  One for every transfer.  So I am really excited to stay with the same companion a while longer!  We have really learned so much together this transfer.  We are becoming masters at contacting, we work really hard to teach through the Spirit, and we are learning to be really brave in committing people to do things--pray, read the scriptures, come to church, etc.  With all the work that we have done together this transfer, we just know that there are special things to come in the next one.  We are learning to have more faith that we really can see progressing investigators.  We get along so well.  I love Hermana Núñez!  The other two sisters are staying another transfer, and the four of us are so excited.  We have become really good friends.  There are moments of missionary work that are truly so joyful.  I love teaching the gospel.  I love speaking Spanish.  And I am so excited to have another transfer in Río Bueno!  

                                             Hermana Latham & Hermana Nuñez at the river

This week I read a scripture that was really fabulous in Jacob 3.  I am continually amazed that even if I am just reading the Book of Mormon chronologically, every day there is something that I read that I really needed to read that day.  This particular day I read Jacob 3 and the first two verses really stuck out to me.  In these verses Jacob explains that we should have faith with "mentes firmes," or firm minds.  In this life, everything changes.  Every day can feel like an emotional roller coaster (especially as a missionary).  There are moments when I have a lot of faith, when I feel really hopeful, and happy.  But there are moments also when doubt creeps in, when I feel sad or frustrated or stressed out, and those are the really hard moments.  I think the key is in having a firm mind.  You sent me a quote the other day about how one thought can change your whole day, and it is really true.  But I don't want that one thought to be a mean one or a hurtful one.  If we can learn to become the masters of our thoughts, with firm minds, then Jacob says that we can forever enjoy the love of God.  Wow!  What a promise!  If we have faith to kick out the mean thoughts or the doubts, then we will forever enjoy the love of God.  

I am so happy that everything went so well for Nana & Buster's anniversary!  What a fabulous way to celebrate.  They are honestly such examples to me and to so many others.  50 years of trials and joys that they have gone through together!  Did you give them the card I bought this summer?  

I hope that you all have a wonderful, wonderful week!  I hope that you always search for and feel the love of God in your lives.  I imagine Him looking at us from heaven and watching how everything is going.  We are so blessed to have prayer so that we can talk to Him!  I love you all so much.  I miss you a lot!  I am sending you big, big hugs from Río Bueno.

Love always, Hermana Latham   

 Hermana Latham with an Easter decoration in Espanol. 

All of the hermanas in our zone went to the lake nearby (an hour in bus).  Yesterday one of them straightened my hair, so that is why my hair looks different the picture :)

cosas pequeñas y sencillas

                                                                                                                       March 17, 2014

¡Hola!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!  This is a holiday that does not exist in Chile.  But I am still wearing my green shirt in remembrance.  :)  And wishing that I wasn't lactose intolerant so that I could drink green milk.  lol.  

We have a detector in our house for smoke of different types.  I'm pretty sure that it detects for carbon monoxide.  But yesterday when they finished installing the fire stove we called the secretary of the mission, and he told us that we should check out the pipes and everything to make sure it looks good...I don't have any idea what looks good and what doesn't, so I think we will ask one of the senior couples of missionaries to come by and look at it to make sure that everything is safe.  oh, the things that we worry about as missionaries in southern Chile...these past weeks Hermana Núñez and I have become meat for fleas.  So every few days I change my sheets, spray down my mattress with bug spray, and shake out my blankets, and the other day I put the flea collar at the foot of the bed.  Today I'm going to buy a good flea killing spray.  Since I started really treating my bed things have been better, so that's good.  Flea bites are really no fun.  The cold and rain are starting, and people have been telling me that it's somewhat like winter.  We still have some good days (today it's really nice out), but I think pretty soon we'll be in winter.  I pulled out all of the winter stuff from my suitcase, and now it's cool enough that I can wear my scarves!  :)

So the theme this week is "cosas pequeñas y sencillas."  It comes from one of my favorite scriptures, in Alma 37:6 & 7, where Alma teaches us that by small and simple things (cosas pequeñas y sencillas) are great things brought to pass.  Yesterday in sacrament meeting, one of the talks was based on this scripture.  It hit me in a different way than it has in other moments when I have studied it, because I applied it to missionary work and to the Atonement.  At the end of the verse, it talks about how by these small and simple means, the Lord brings to pass salvation of souls.  The missionary stories that we always hear are the kind that you read in Church magazines, or the kind that people tell in General Conference talks, and I think that subconsciously we start to think that missionary work should bring about results like those, or that the Lord always works in incredible, powerful ways.  But I believe that sometimes the ways that we see the incredible power of the Lord are in the simple, sweet moments.  The salvation of souls is achieved by a long journey of small and simple things.  Now to compare it with the Atonement...the Lord gives us a new day every single day.  And with each new day, we have a new chance to be a better person, a better friend, or in my case, a better missionary.  It is by these small and simple things that we can bless the lives of others!

This week the small and simple thing that Hermana Núñez and I have been doing is contacts.  We have really been making an effort to talk with every single person that we can, to share our voices with the people here.  And we have discovered that we LOVE contacting!  As we talk to people in the street, we really get to know and love the people of Rio Bueno.  We have talked to so many fabulous people, and some are really, honestly interested in learning more.  I believe that one simple contact can be the start of their process to salvation.

I find myself loving the people of southern Chile more and more as I am here for more time.  I find myself thinking, "I love little old people (Amo a viejitos)."  "I love little kids."  "I love talking to people my age."  "I love young families."  And I realize that the Lord is teaching me charity.  He is teaching me to love all people, and to really care about how I can help them.  Here in Chile there are a huge number of less actives.  In every sector, we have a list of all of the less actives that need visits.  At the beginning of the mission, I wasn't excited to visit less actives.  I just felt like if they had the gospel and let it go, that was their agency.  But I have learned that it is so important to serve all people.  I was called here to invite others to come unto Christ, and that includes the less actives!  Christ is a good shepherd, and He goes searching for His lost ones.  And as a representative of Him, I must search for His lost ones and strive to bring them back to the fold.  Now I love visiting less actives.

I love you all so much!  Mama, I wish there was a way that I could hug you for real!  I miss you so much too!  Being a missionary is a really interesting phenomenon.  At the same time as you love the work, you also miss things about your old life.  I really feel like I live in a different world.  My brain is so confused.  I have dreams about people from all different phases of my life....I think my brain is trying to make a connection with this life and everything else that I have lived when there really isn't one.  Haha the other day I had a dream that Tyler from elementary school was serving as a missionary in Chile.  I really appreciate the love that you share with me.  It helps me to remember where I come from and that I really am a normal person, and there is a land far away that I call home!  I hope that everything goes fantastic with the 50th anniversary and visit from Jeff!  

Love you so much, Hermana Latham  

Hacer y Correo Corto

                                                                                        March 10, 2014 

"Our favorite Carrito"~Hermana Nuñez and I crack up every time we see these little things.  These are vehicles you don't really see outside of Rio Bueno, Chile

                                                                                                                       

¡Hola hola!

Thank you so much for all of your emails.  And for asking other people to email me.  I got mail from Sister Walker, Brackin, Nana, Benjamin, Abby, Daddy, and you.  I really appreciate all of the support that you give me!  You guys have talked a lot lately about coming home early, but I wouldn't imagine it unless I really, really had to.  Some people get sick without warning and have to go home.  But I am here to stay until the end of February 2015!!  I committed to the Lord 18 months of my life so that I could help Him in this work!  The mittens are cute, but I think that I will be good with the gloves.  Thank you for thinking of me with the box and the Easter card!  haha!  The other card got here the day before Valentine's Day, I just forgot to tell you.  It was so fun because I got that card and a card from Grandma right before Valentine's Day.

Thank you also for your prayers and for your examples.  I have such a fabulous family!  Sometimes I can really imagine your hugs through the computer!  My companion is really great and gives me lots of hugs.  This transfer is more than halfway over, and I am starting to get sad because I will miss her so much if she's not my companion again next transfer!  Our area is tough, but it is not as tough as I made it sound last week.  I was having a tough afternoon and a more than emotional moment when my letter to you guys disappeared.  :(  We have so, so many investigators....the thing that we are working for now is that they can progress.  Because they can listen all they want, but if they don't do anything about what we have taught them and the Spirit they have felt, then nothing changes.  That is actually the theme of this week's letter....hacer, or to do.

Okay, so last week I had written about a whole bunch of things I always forget to tell you.  And the email disappeared.  So I am going to write them again.  haha.

I am teaching English classes here!  It is so much fun.  It's also a challenge.  I've never taught English before, much less to people who speak Spanish.  But the classes are going pretty well!  I love teaching.  One of the elders here is also from the U.S., and we are thinking about what we can do to invite more people to the classes and help people to learn in an inviting, fun situation.

In this Chilean summer, we have SO enjoyed the fruit!  There is so, so much great fruit here.  Cherries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, apples, plums, peaches, grapes, everything.  People give us fruit all the time.  The fruit is so fresh and SO good.  It's all grown here.  So we are trying to soak as much out of it as we can before it gets cold and the fruit goes away again!  haha.

I love the Book of Mormon so much!  Studying it in Spanish is a really great challenge for me.  As I study it, I really have to pay attention and meditate to understand what the words are saying.  And because of that, the Book of Mormon truly means so much more to me this time around reading it.  It is slow going.  haha I started around Christmas and right now I am at the end of 2 Nephi.  But I am really enjoying it and loving how it is truly another testament of Jesus Christ.  It means exactly the same thing in Spanish.  And it is in over 100 languages around the world so that people can read it in their native tongue and come to love and understand their Savior more.  How BLESSED we are to have it!  We live in a district here (instead of a stake) and our district has been really focused on reading the Book of Mormon lately.  So we have been talking about it a lot and thinking about how we can incorporate it better into our lessons and invite people to read it.  This week we had a lesson with a couple who we really love.  They have a tough time keeping their commitments, and it's tough to invite the Spirit into their home.  But we read Alma 32 together with them, and it was really beautiful how the Spirit came into the room!  They truly understood the concept of faith, and the young man said that the ways that he can "water his plant," or strengthen his faith, are by praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church.  He really understood!  I love the Book of Mormon.

So this past week was so crazy!  I feel like I say that every week.  Basically it has been 6 months of crazy weeks and I guess I can look forward to a year more of them!  You would think that with our strict schedule and everything that missionary life would be pretty predictable...not really.... :)

Last Friday we bought 4 cubic meters of firewood and brought them all into our shed.  It was hard work!  I really appreciate central heating and never realized it!  But here in southern Chile, everyone heats their homes with firewood in little stoves.  The handiman came to our house yesterday to install our fire stove.  I'm not sure what the missionaries did last winter to heat the house, but I am really glad that our owner is putting in a fire stove!

 Here is me with the mountain of firewood after the guys threw it in our front yard.

Then me with the firewood all stacked up in our shed!

On Monday we went to a viewing and on Tuesday the funeral of a less active lady in our branch.  It was just on that day when I emailed y'all with the short email and I was feeling pretty crummy.  I talked to my companion and felt a lot better.  Then when we went to the viewing, I felt a prompting that I should offer to play some hymns on the piano.  It was so sweet to feel the Spirit that came in with the hymns.  The elders sang while I played and it was really nice.  I also played at the funeral and all of us as missionaries sang, as well.  I actually really enjoyed the funeral.  It made me think more about the plan of salvation, and how I am sure that there is a life after this one.

We had zone conference this week with three different zones, and President Rappleye came to speak to us. (Mom's note:  President Rappleye is the man who is in charge of all the missionaries in Melanie's mission)  We also had district conference yesterday (like stake conference) and President Rappleye spoke about the same things that he shared in zone conference.  It struck me both times, so I wanted to share it with you all.  A couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Ballard, and we have all been trying to be better according to what we learned from him. (Elder Ballard is a church official based in Salt Lake City who has responsibility for several of the missions in South America) But I really loved how President Rappleye applied it.  He centered it all in hacer, or to do.  We all heard the words of Elder Ballard.  We all listened and took notes.  But what are we actually doing to make those words make a difference?  President talked about the power that lies in the words to do.  He shared the story from Matthew 7 with the wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man who built his house upon the sand.  He said that we usually focus on the difference between their foundations, the rock of Jesus Christ or the sand.  But if we read carefully in verses 24 and 26, both the man on the rock and the man on the sand heard and listened to the words of Christ.  But the one who builds his house upon the rock doeth them.  He listens to the words of Christ and doeth them!  Then the other man doeth them not.  So what difference does it make to us to listen to the words of Christ if we don't do anything about what we have learned?  Like you were saying about how faith is a principle of action, we need to listen to the words of Christ and act upon them.  President asked us what we are going to do to apply the words of Elder Ballard and to be better missionaries.

 This is our entire zone (Zona La Union) at Zone Conference.

This is all of the sisters from three zones.  There are so many of us in these three zones!!

This week we also had the blessing to go to the baptism of an old investigator!  Hermana Núñez and I both served in Los Laureles (she was companions with Hermana Johnson before I was), and so we both taught José.  We received special permission to go back just for the baptism.  There are some moments in life where you feel so much happiness that it fills you up and there aren't words to describe it.  This was one of those moments.  A celestial experience.  A beautiful, beautiful moment to see how glowing and how happy he was, and how committed he is to follow Christ and to teach his family.  It was wonderful.

Throughout the week Hermana Núñez and I have taught so many wonderful people, and after the baptism, now we are just thinking, "Okay.  Who can be next?  How can we help people to really change their lives for the better?"  We are so excited.  ¡VIVA RIO BUENO!

I love you all so so much.  I miss you!  But I am so happy to be here and to be inviting people to make the steps to have an eternal family.

Love always, gigantes abrazos, Hermana Latham

                                                                                           

                                                                                             Monday, March 3, 2014

Hola...

This email is going to be super short (correo corto is short email).  I wrote a really long, good letter like normal, but I have had SO many problems with the computer today and it said that it was sending my email, but never actually sent...so now 30 minutes worth of writing is lost.  I think a couple of the pictures I tried to send got to you.  I would try to write again, but P-day is over and we have appointments.  I feel SO frustrated.  Next week I will send a really good letter.

Thank you for all the love that you send me!  I miss your hugs a lot too.  This area is not an easy one.  I have never prayed harder in my life.  But the Lord is teaching me a lot of faith, hope and patience.  I am working really hard to be a better missionary every day.  I'm SO proud of Abby and Benjamin that they want to go on missions, and of Mama for leaving with the missionaries!  (mom's note:  She means going on visits with the sister missionaries serving here in GA!) That requires a lot of bravery!

I am having a rough time lately with feeling like I am not doing a good job as a missionary.  I am trying to give it my best, and I know that the Lord calls imperfect people to do His work.

One interesting thing, this week we bought firewood.  That is something I will probably never do again outside of Chile!  I'll share more details next week.

I love you all.  I pray for you every day and hope you are doing well!  My testimony of the Book of Mormon grows every day.  I invite you guys to keep having family home evening with Preach My Gospel and also to read the Book of Mormon!  It is an incredible source of fire for our faith.

Abrazos, Hermana Latham

Hermana Latham and Hermana Johnson (companion in her previous area)

Dios es nuestro amoroso Padre Celestial

¡Allo!

Mama, thank you so much for your letter.  You always find a way to share so much love for me...and it's like a hug on a piece of paper!  I love your sweet Primary class!  They are so lucky to have you for their teacher, just like I am so lucky to have you for my mom.  And my visiting teacher.  lol.  If you would like to send me something else, that's cool.  If not, that's cool too.  You always share with me your insights from the scriptures and quotes and things (which I really honestly love!), so to me that seems like a pretty great visiting teacher.  I love the quote from Pooh and Piglet.  Winnie the Pooh is so great! 

Thank you also for helping me feel more normal about my weird stomach pains.  I called the mission nurse and she told me that I might be lactose intolerant.  So I tried going without cheese and I even bought lactose free milk (which is actually not that bad), but it didn't really make a difference.  So it is still a mystery if I am lactose intolerant.  lol.  It would make sense!  There are a lot of lactose foods that make me feel kind of icky.  But at the same time I really hope that I'm not because I love cheese SO much.  lol.

I'm glad that you could see Rio Bueno on the Internet!  Isn't it cute?  Little by little I love it more.  We are starting to have fall here, with cool mornings, hot afternoons, and cool evenings.  The trees are starting to turn colors (YAY!  I haven't had fall in a year and a half!) as well.  My favorite thing here is that the skies are so clear.  We can see so many stars at night!  My camera isn't connecting to the computer today either, but hopefully next week I will be able to send pictures.

I think our fall will be chilly because the summer here really wasn't hot.  It got into the low 80s on occasion, but never got super hot.  I have heard that it starts to be pretty cold in May and then June, July, and August are "pleno invierno" or basically just plain winter.  So I'm expecting a super cold birthday.  haha.  Today we got permission to come to Osorno because I want to buy new shoes and some boots for the winter.  Soon I'll also be looking for leggings and more pantyhose to keep my legs warm in the winter, and one thing that I would love for when winter comes is slippers of some kind.  Warm socks are great, but the problem is that because the bottom isn't plastic, the cold seeps in when your feet are on the floor.  

This week Hermana Núñez and I have been working really hard to apply the things that we learned from Elder Ballard.  I don't remember if I told you last week, but one of the things that he told us is that there are a lot of people in this world who really don't know who God is.  He told us that God is our Heavenly Father, and we are His children, and it's that simple!  So we have been trying to teach more in contacts, lessons, and at any appropriate time, that God is our loving Heavenly Father, or "Dios es nuestro amoroso Padre Celestial."  This simple truth resonates with people.  We can see in their eyes that they recognize it and they really want to know how they can become closer to their Heavenly Father.  We have had some cool moments this week with contacts and investigators simply by focusing on this truth.  Elder Ballard challenged us to really internalize the doctrines that we teach from Preach My Gospel.  I have read the first lesson about a million times, but I don't think that I have ever really studied it the way that I have this week.  If y'all have a copy of Preach My Gospel, I would invite you to read the lessons in Chapter 3...but not just read them.  Really ponder about what they mean.  My deep study of the first lesson this week has strengthened my testimony so very much, and I have been more able to offer the beautiful truths of the gospel to people who need it.  God truly is our loving Heavenly Father.  He has a body of flesh and bones.  And He misses us!  He loves to talk to us in prayer, just like I love to talk to y'all in email! He watches over and blesses us and has a perfect plan for each of us, because He wants to live with us again someday.  

As Hermana Núñez and I have been studying, working, and praying so hard, the Lord truly guides us to the people who are ready for the gospel.  We have taught a lot of great first lessons.  One of my favorites this week was to a little boy whose mom is a less active member.  He is eight years old, so he could get baptized if he decides to.  We went by to visit his mom, but Hermana Núñez asked him if he would like to be in the lesson.  We taught him about God as our Heavenly Father and he understood so well!  I love to see how little kids really grasp onto gospel truths and believe them easily.  We taught him how to pray and he offered the prayer at the end.  It was such a wonderful experience.  I hope and pray that he keeps listening!

We have also had a lot of fun moments this week.  Outside of Rio Bueno a part of our area is campo.  The direct translation of campo is field, but it basically means "the middle of nowhere."  It's really pretty out there, but one place we went this week....there were literally more cows that people.  And we decided that it is better to teach the gospel to people than to cows after we had to wait for the bus for over an hour.  haha it was frustrating but at the same time funny, because the people who live en el campo (in the middle of nowhere) really aren't worried about anything, so a bus schedule would be at the bottom of their list. The buses are more regular on Saturdays, so we think we are going to go to el campo only on Saturdays (we have some great contacts there).  One elder in our branch celebrated his birthday this week, so we had a little activity in the chapel. There is this dog here who is probably my favorite dog from my three areas.  Her name I think is probably spelled Puppy, but in Spanish the letter "u" says "oo." So, it sounds like Poopie when people say her name.  She is this really small, really fat dog with tiny feet who runs all the time and is SO happy. Sometimes she starts following us and then we get happy too.  What a crazy, little fat and happy dog.  lol.

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

Love always, Hermana Latham

experiencias celestiales

                                                                                                                 February 18, 2014

HOLA from Rio Bueno!

After 6 short weeks in Los Laureles I got transferred!  I was pretty shocked that I was leaving so quickly.  Hermana Johnson is staying in Los Laureles and training a newbie.  I hope that she can see how lucky she is to serve in such a fantastic area!  That young couple we found did go to church, and I got to teach them one lesson before I left.  They are incredible and I just know that they will be wonderful members!  Leaving Los Laureles was really hard for me.  I work so hard each day to be a better missionary, and I had prayed so hard to have charity for the members, the investigators, and everyone else...so naturally I CRIED so much to leave!  I don't think I've ever loved people so much in such a short period of time.  I took so many pictures (my camera won't connect to the computer today, though) and said so many goodbyes.  The sweet young women we worked with made me a memory box, the Relief Society president gave me some souvenirs from Osorno, my favorite less active wrote me a letter, and JXXX and GXXX (our golden family) gave me a beautiful necklace.  I really could not believe the bonds that I made...how much I loved them and how much they loved me.  But I really trust in the hand of the Lord and in His plan...and here I am in Rio Bueno!

Rio Bueno is a little town about 40 minutes outside of Osorno.  It has a sweet little town vibe and kind of reminds me of Because of Winn-Dixie.  Our sector is really bursting with potential!  We are working with a lot of part-member families and young investigators...a lot of people who can really be blessed by the gospel in their lives.  It's a branch here, but we have a chapel.  There are 6 missionaries serving here, 4 sisters and 2 elders.  So I say that Rio Bueno is a little town because there is not much here...but there are a ton of people who live here!  It's kind of like a suburb.  A lot of people work in nearby Osorno or La Unión.  

My new companion is so wonderful.  I love her SO much!  Her name is Hermana Núñez.  She was born in Ecuador, but has lived in Spain for the past 13 years.  She's a year older than me and she is a science girl too, studying environmental science.  I learn so much from her every day about how to invite the Spirit into our lives more.  She really carries it with her, and she is so peaceful, happy, and loving.  I am so excited to serve with her!

I don't have quite the right words to describe the conference with Elder Ballard.  The best way that I could think of to sum it up was "experiencias celestiales," because it was really a heavenly, celestial experience.  The conference was about three hours south of here in bus but we had to be there very early in the morning, so we stayed the night with some sisters in another city.  There were six of us in the house and we had a devotional before bed where we all shared our testimonies and sang our mission song, "Fe en cada paso," or "Faith in Every Footstep."  Here is a link to the mission song Melanie is referring to:  http://youtu.be/58zKolD-CbY
Our bus to the conference was filled with sister missionaries.  It was so amazing to be on that bus!  We sang a bunch of hymns on the way to the conference, and I could hardly hold back the tears when we sang "Yo sé que vive mi Señor," "I Know That My Redeemer Lives."  It was just so incredible.  And here is a link to the hymn, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives":  http://youtu.be/uPkJaeRfIhk

When we got to the chapel, it was so cool to be there with almost all the missionaries in the mission!  Out of 12 zones, 10 were there and the other two were there through videoconference (those are the zones where the transfers are by airplane).  When Elder Ballard came in, he shook every single one of our hands.  Every single one.  He told me good morning.  It was so unbelievable to actually see him in person.  The conference was wonderful.  Elder Gonzalez, our area seventy, and his wife both spoke.  Then Elder Rasband from the presidency of the seventy and his wife.  Then Elder Ballard's daughter, and then Elder Ballard.  It was truly a celestial experience.  When I think about it now, I feel like that whole room was taken and put inside of heaven for a couple of hours.  It was like being in the temple.  Warm, spiritual, deeply happy.  When Elder Ballard spoke, it was so powerful.  He is quite the presence.  He really explained the importance of missionary work, and faith, and of fighting to win this war against the adversary.  The center of his message was that there are so many people here in Chile who don't really know who God is.  They might think that they know...but they don't really know.  He is our Heavenly Father, and we are His children.  "It's that simple," he said.  He is our Heavenly Father, and we are His children.  When I think about how this world could change if every single person really knew this, it draws me to tears.  How blessed we are to know that...and how important it is to share it with others!  

Elder Ballard bore a powerful, powerful witness that Jesus is the Christ.  I have heard apostles testify in General Conference so many times throughout my life.  But yesterday, seeing Elder Ballard in the same room as me and hearing him bear testimony of Christ, was unbelievable.  There is no doubt in my mind that Christ lives.  He loves us and He will lead us to eternal life.  He invites us every day, and all we need to do is choose to come unto Him.  In a world like this, it is so important that we defend the kingdom of God and stand up boldly for what we believe in.  It really will bless the lives of the people who surround us.  It blesses my life every day.  Yesterday was such a heavenly experience.  I got to see all of my old companions (except for Hermana Nappa) and give them all giant hugs.  We were so happy to see each other and hear about the progress that we had made since the last time we saw each other.  I really think that that is what heaven will be like.  We will be able to see everyone that we loved here on earth and give them great big hugs and hear about all of the things that they did here on earth.  I look forward to that day!

Every day I strengthen my resolve to give all that I have to the Lord.  Every day I strive to be a better missionary.  Yesterday on the bus I was reflecting...I am practically a third of the way through the mission.  And today I am not the same person that I was when I boarded the plane to Mexico City.  I have learned and grown so much.  I have loved and been loved so much.  I have strengthened my testimony of the Savior.  It seems that as time goes by I become increasingly aware of all the things that I don't know and all of the things that I don't understand.  There are a whole whole lot of them!  But what I do know is that there is a God in heaven who looks down on all of us with very loving eyes, and He is willing to help us if we let Him in.  I hope that in the year I have left as a full-time missionary, I can open my heart more and more to Him and serve Him with all that I have.

I love you all so very much!  You are in my thoughts and my prayers.

Abrazos GIGANTES de Rio Bueno, Hermana Latham 

el plan perfecto

                                                                                                                                                            Feb 8, 2014

Hola!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!  Hermana Johnson and I got the box this week!  THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH!  That box was filled with so much love.  It almost smelled like hugs!  We loved the little valentines from your Primary class, and I have been enjoying the Reese's pieces and Cheez-Its so much.  It's fun to eat American things!  Snoopy is my new best friend.  I CRIED when I found Esto Les Digo (thank you so much for finding that and sending it to me!) and cried even more when I read everything on the pillowcase.  Wow.  I have the best family in the WORLD.  Thank you so much for doing all of that for me.  It was my princess box.  I just felt so special to get it!  I didn't get something in the mail for you all for Valentine's Day this year.  :(  But I hope that all the same you can feel just how much I love you!  Today I have felt just so loved.  I got emails from Tessa, Ashton, Aunt Cheryl, Michael Burlingame, and Sister Stevens from the Geneva Ward.  It feels so nice to be remembered by so many people!  Like you were saying with the birthdays, it's kind of my thing to remember people.  I just love to make other people feel special.  So this year for Valentine's Day, I hope that you all can spread the love that you have.  It feels so good to love!  And then the miracle is that when you love with all you've got, the love comes back to you multiplied by a million.  One of my favorite Mormon messages is called "Lo que es mas importante" in español.  I guess it would be called What's Most Important.  It is President Monson, and he shares some really great quotes on what it means to love.  My favorite is that he says "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved."  

Link to the message by President Monson "What Matters Most" below:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911104789001#.Uvqj-QigCtw.email

I have a strong testimony that every single person in this world is a child of God.  And as such, every one has a beautiful and special personality that was created by God!  It is so important that we love.  As a missionary, our love is very concentrated in service.  Today I read a quote from President Eyring that talked about how when we serve in the Lord's name, we will feel His love...and then eventually this love, this charity, will become a part of who we are.  I love Valentine's Day because it is such a perfect way to let other people know just how much you love them.

I love the news about Sister Opp and Josh & Clarissa!  AHHHHH!  I also love both of the quotes. (One of the quotes Mom sent this week is the one above about missionaries.)  That quote about obedience is one of my favorite quotes ever.  Thank you for sending it to me.  It is such a great reminder, especially as a missionary when at times the sheer quantity of rules can get frustrating.   The quote Melanie is referring to:  "When obedience ceases to be an irritant, and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power."  ~Ezra Taft Benson

Logistics stuff....we have transfers on Wednesday and we still don't know who is getting transferred.  I don't think that I will get transferred because I've only been here for one transfer, but if I do, you won't hear from me on Saturday.  If I get transferred, my P-day will be on Monday again, but because of the special conference with Elder Ballard, P-day is Tuesday.  So long story short if I get transferred, I will write again next Tuesday.  lol.  Also, it was only hot here the one week that I wrote.  After that it has been really bipolar.  It's turning into fall really fast!

So the title this week is "el plan perfecto," or "the perfect plan."  As a missionary, my testimony has really grown that the Lord has the perfect plan.  Not just a logical plan.  Not just a merciful plan.  The.  Perfect.  Plan.  This week Hermana Johnson and I saw a sweet miracle.  This week has been tougher.  We haven't had a lot of appointments, and it's been gray and drizzly.  But yesterday we went past a contact who wasn't home, and were leaving to visit someone else.  We walked past a young couple and waved at them, like normal.  Then out of the blue, the couple turned around and flagged us down.  They asked us, "Why don't you pass by our house?"  Then we were just kind of stunned and asked them where they lived.  They told us that they aren't married yet, but are living together and expecting a baby.  The man grew up in the Church, but became inactive as he got older.  He has the priesthood.  The woman is not a member.  But they want to get involved in the Church!  The man told us that they had searched on Google to try to find the missionaries, but didn't know exactly how.  They want to get married.  The wife wants to learn about the gospel.  And they are hoping that one day they will be able to get sealed in the temple.  The man told us that if he was going to change his life, he didn't want to just change a little bit.  He wanted to change entirely to be the man who he knew he should be.  Wow.  So we gave them the address to the chapel, and they said they will come tomorrow!  We are going to start visiting them!  If we had not been on that street at that particular time of the day, we would not have passed this couple.

The Lord has the perfect plan.  He has every single one of us in His tender, loving care.  I am constantly in awe of just how much He really loves His children.  He loves us, and so we can trust in Him.  He will never lie to us, and will always lead us in a direction to make us happier.  We just need to be humble enough to hear the voice of the Spirit and follow it.  

I hope that this Valentine's Day you all can feel the immense love of our Savior and our Heavenly Father!  I want to testify to you all that it is an actual power.  You can feel it fill your heart with warmth, and envelop you in hope and peace.  I love the Lord.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve Him and to serve His blessed children here in Chile.

I love you all so very very very much!  I carry your hearts with me every day!  May you enjoy a happy Valentine's Day and much chocolate.  :)

Amor para siempre, y abrazos gigantes de Francke, Chile, Hermana Latham

(Love always and gigantic hugs from Francke, Chile)

dulce tu obra es, Señor

                                                                                                                                             Feb 1, 2014

                                                              Hermana Latham and Hermana Johnson

¡Hola hola!

Thank you so much for all of the prayers you are sending my way!  Prayer is my source of strength through everything, including being sick.  There is a mission nurse, but she is another missionary and most of the time she doesn't answer her phone.  So it's pretty much your own judgment on health stuff.  I just rested a lot, drank a lot of liquids, and took some different pain medicines.  I did get in touch with the nurse, and she helped me a bit as well.  I would love to be friends with DXXX and with MXXX.  haha it's weird to think of MXXX RXXX because he was Elder RXXX here before he went home...that will be one of the strangest things, I think, all of the people I met here having real names after the mission!  ;)  

This week has been so, so great!  Every once in a while you tell me in your letters that it's okay if I share the bad/frustrating things that happen...and those happen every week, it's just that the good things so outweigh the bad things!  I have honestly never felt so genuinely happy in my life!  At the same time, the sad and the frustrated feelings on the mission are bigger, but the happy just eats it all up and Christ helps me to take care of the tough stuff.  I think that it is really inspired that we can't be calling home all the time, because we really learn to rely on the Lord!  This week my companion and I had a few bumpy patches, and all that I wanted to do was call you and ask what you would do.  But I couldn't do that, and so I prayed and we talked together and worked everything out...and now we have a friendship that is more valuable and we really appreciate each other.  I have been studying this week about the importance of opposition.  I really love 2 Nephi 2!  (Yes, I finally finished 1 Nephi in Spanish and now I'm in 2 Nephi.  Seeing progress, little by little. lol)  If I never had problems with a companion, I would never fully appreciate the great times we have together.  Also, if I never had someone slam the door in my face, I wouldn't fully appreciate the miracle of a humble person who makes room for Christ in his or her life.  It's a principle that can really apply to anything.  I think as normal human people we just want to see the pretty happy things....but I testify that God puts tough stuff in our path so that we can be able to recognize the good.  This week our zone leaders talked about the importance of faith and energy in this work.  We really have to put all of our hope in the fact that we can see changes daily through the Atonement...even if they are little changes.  They challenged us to look for miracles every day.  So I have been looking for the miracles....and I see them.  Every.  Single.  Day.  This week we have faced more rejection and had more problems than in other weeks...but at the same time we have seen more beautiful miracles.  

                                            "las gringas locas"--me and my crazy companion :)

I LOVE our investigators.  I LOVE this ward.  I LOVE this work!!!!  "Dulce tu obra es, Señor"  is the Spanish version of "sweet is the work, my God, my King!"  This work is so so sweet.  Our golden family is progressing unbelievably.  They discovered the Mormon channel on the Internet, and now they are obsessed with watching talks from General Authorities.  This week....they set a date to get married!!!  AHHHHHHH!  In Chile there are lots of people who live together without getting married...but they have to get married before they can get baptized.  We have been praying and teaching them and hoping, and they set the date!  We are SO excited!  They told us that they are doing this because they really believe that their family can be eternal.  What a sweet joy.  Our other progressing investigator is a man who has a hard time with the Word of Wisdom, and he is working to give up smoking.  He wants to get baptized to be born again and have a new opportunity.  We have been working so hard this week with the members of the ward.  We had a fabulous family home evening with the bishop and our golden family, and we have been working a lot with two sweet Young Women.  They are in summer break right now and they both want to be missionaries.  They are on fire with missionary work!  One day we went to visit a bunch of less active young women in the ward, and they made scripture bookmarks for every single one.  

This week Hermana Johnson and I both got packages from the United States.  Nana sent me a Valentine's day box and I got another Christmas card, this one from Sister Shultz.  Both of us got American chocolate!!  WOOO!  So we have been enjoying Ghirardelli, Hershey's and Kit Kat that all, amazingly, didn't melt in their journey to Chile.  Nana sent me a box very similar to those that she sent me at BYU, including a jar of peanut butter and a can of tuna.  lol.  

This transfer is almost over and we are getting so excited!  At the beginning of the next transfer, Elder M. Russell Ballard is coming here!  He is coming to speak at a multi-stake conference, and the next day he will speak to our mission!!  AHHHHHHHHH! There are 405 missions in the world, and this time he is coming to the Chile Osorno Mission!  WOO!  I can't believe that this transfer is almost over.  It has gone by so fast and I have learned so much.  I think that one of the best things that I have learned this transfer is the grand difference between being a self-centered person and a Christ-centered person.  There are so many things in this world competing for our attention, and they all just want us to be self-focused, self-interested, and careless.  But the Spirit whispers to us and reminds us of our Savior, who loves us so much and brings us everlasting peace.  And in the end, when we strive to be Christ-centered, magically all of the problems that we had within ourselves seem to lessen and we are filled with happiness.  Today is the beginning of a new month!  I hope that we can all work on centering ourselves more around our Savior, so that we can find real happiness with Him.

I love you all so so much!  I miss you!  I hope you are staying warm in the snow!  

Love you always, gigantes abrazos de Chile, Hermana Latham