BYOB - September 26, 2018

Hey fam! Sorry my email last week semed like I was really tired (thanks Gar bear), but this week im feeling tons better! I am not the best writer but I hope I get across to you guys just how amazing the mission is! A lot of little funny things happened this week like Hermana Cutler mistaking the word Utensils for beer in Spanish (Servicio, cerveza... super similar) and telling our recent convert to bring his own beer to the ward party. Yeah, it actually happened, thankfully he was taught well the Word of wisdom. And I introduced Cutler to her first energy drink. She liked it so much we are now going to kick off the week witha bang and start having "Monster Mondays." The mission has been a rollar coaster. There is a new obstacle every week that we have to face. I have never been attracted to anyone here in my entire time that I have been here but for some reason this week Heavenly Father gave us a really cute boys (who speak english) to teach every day. The spirit was there, and I stayed focused on my purpose so im not complaining about that obstacle. 

I have been studying a lot about repentance this week. I have always focused more on baptism and making that the center point of every lesson but the atonement of Jesus Christ is central and the most important part of Gods plan for us. Sin is the only thing that seperates us from God, and we are baptized for the remission of our sins

I kind of just came out on the mission because Heavenly Father told me to. I had no idea what I was doing, I just went out for pure obedience. In the first few weeks of my mission, I had no clue what anyone was saying and I tried my hardest to say something during lessons even if it was just my testimony. And i have always been greatful for the little testimony i have always had. More than anything, it was a testimony of Jesus Christ and the way I felt when I went to church.

 One lesson, my trainer had just got done teaching about the grand apostasy and it was my turn to teach about Joseph Smith and the first vision. As i began to recite his vision, the only thing i could think was, "Did this actually happen? This is actually the craziest thing." I felt so confused, i felt like everything i had been taught and known to be true was maybe not true. I felt so silly, I didnt feel like teaching those things if i didnt know they were true. So i did as Jospeh smith did, ask God. That night, I prayed... Nothing. The next morning, i prayed again... nothing. I did this for a couple days, until one day while my companion was in the shower I locked myself in our room and said a prayer outloud. I told Heavenly Father that I was getting tired of feeling confused and that I needed to specifically if Joseph Smith was a prophet called from God. Immedietly after my prayer, i remember feeling an overwhelming amount of comfort and peace. It was exactly what i needed to keep studying out my doubts. That morning, I was studying in 2 Nephi 2 about the atonement of Jesus Chist. When I got to the end of the page, i felt the same spirit that i had felt that morning testify to me that the Book of Mormon was true. Joseph Smith could not have written that book and I really do know that he saw Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father that day. Through these 10 months i can confidentely say that the Chruch of Jesus Christ has been Restored one the earth through Joseph Smith. That we can only live with God and our families again through the atonement of Jesus Christ and saving ordenances. My love and gratitud for my Savior and his atoning sacrifice has grown imensely. I love you guys so much, i pray every day that you guys can be blessed to have spiritual experiences and continue to grow your testimonies of the restored gospel! 

I would really love it if you guys could send me your experiences or a moment in your life when you knew the church was ture or that Jesus Christ lives! I would love that tons! 

I hope you all have a stellar week, kill it for me!

Hermana Pulsi

Peanut butter and honey Sandwiches for Christmas - September 19, 2018

This week was full of so many beautiful and amazing things!

On thursday we started to teach someone from New York! He has a chilean girlfriend who talks like Gloria from Modern Family and he doesnt speak any spanish so we are teaching them in english and its so weird, its actually really hard to teach in english surprisingly. He came to chile looking to get away from the world and finding himself. As we taught him the restauration of the gospel he stopped us so many times to ask good questions and was so receptive. He told us that when he made a peanut butter and honey sandwich for her for the first time she told him that it was so delicious that they needed to make it for Christmas dinner for her famil! They are real cute.

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to go to our good friend Nerva's ceiling! Nerva is a haitian in my first ward that helped us translate during our lessons with Lucie. He is kind of the man. But it was so sweet and so special to witness the last convenent they made with God.

Later that day, we ran over to the church for Rodrigos baptism! It was one of the most special baptisms ive ever een apart of. His big brother Pablo (our ward mission leader) baptized him! Pablo was the only member of his family and always comes to church alone, but now he has a buddy! Helping families move one step further into becoming an eternal and make covenants together has definitely been a highlight of my mission.

This week has been so sunny and nice but yesterday we left from the bishops house and just got poured on (hail and everything) for a straight hour. Cutler and I were so upset but also laughing so hard. I turned to her and told her that I love days like these because we are going to see a miracle. An hour later, we run into a chinease man. He points to our tags and says to us in english “Church! Where?”Turns out, he got baptized a year ago in Malaysia and came to chile alone to learn spanish and experience the culture here. With there being so many foreigners here, in the beginning of the change Cutler and I made a goal to help bring the first chinease man in Chile to church. We did it fam.

These week we definitely had a few curve balls thrown at us but I have been able to learn to rely on the spirit and working with whatever comes our way. At first it may seem like it is the hardest obstacle to overcome but in the end, it is easy to look back and see how inspired it was by the Lord!

Who run the world... Girls.

Hermana PulsiPer

Finally putting out a good letter - Alphasmart - September 12, 2018

Jueves, September 6^th

 Hey guys! Here I am sitting on my bed Thursday night writing to you guys on my comps alphasmart!  My comp told me I could use her alphasmart to write my mass email this week! This is pretty much the best invention ever for missionaries who don’t have tablets and don’t have time to write out good mass emails everyweek. So mom, an alphasmart is what I would like for Christmas this year.

                Yesterday, we went to visit Thalie. She is a recent convert from Haiti who has been struggling to pay her tithing. She lives in a small room with a little stove, bed, couple shirts and dresses hung up on the wall to wear,and a bucket which functions as her bathroom. She really wanted to go to the temple this month but didn’t pass the interview because she didn’t pay her tithing. It was a commandment really hard for her to understand the importance of because of how little she had and how much she needed that money. Last week we were able to teach her about what a privledge we have to pay tithing because we need those blessings from our father in heaven! We reassured her that it would take a lot of faith from her and that Heavenly Father would bless her with big blessings even for how little she had to offer. Yesterday,she was so cute, right as we entered her house she told us that she has decided to pay her tithing this Sunday! Even though she does not make enough to pay for everything she has, she has faith that He will provide a way.

                Also, this week I put a goal to do more things that scare me.Its weird because I feel like the mission is making me more inverted so I decided to put a goal to do something out of my comfort zone everyday. Today,I started off my goal with a bang and approached a group of gangsters playing ping pong in the park. We challenged them to a game with the prize if we won being that they had to go to church with us on Sunday. They instantly accepted and then we instantly lost the game and then lost our dignity when they posted a video of it all on youtube 5 minutes later. So you guys can go check that out.

Viernes

Today we told Catherine that her and her boyfriend have to get married before she gets baptized. Right when the words left our mouth, her jaw literally dropped. It broke my heart but I feel that I have to have just as much faith that teaching her the hard things will be difficult right now but will bless her for the eternities. We are praying that she can understand what Heavenly Father asks of her will bless her forever.

                Also, really weird thing happened us tonight. When we walked into our building and got on to the elevator )im living in an apartment right now= a drunk guy got on the elevator with us and started asking us a bunch of weird questions. I instantly got a feeling that this guy was not from our building and had different intentions for being on that elevator with us. The spirit made me act so fast that I tapped floor one again and said that [we forgot to get our bills down below.[ My companion was so confused and a little annoyed with me because she just wanted to go to bed but I was not about to turn my back on this guy. I have seen way too many kidnapping movies to let this happen to me. So we stayed in the elevator where there are cameras and the guy got off on the top floor, went to the first door he saw and [looked for his keys in his pocket.[ We got back home safe and said a prayer and felt that instant comfort we needed to go to sleep without being scared. In the morning we made the report to the conceptionist and he wasn’t surprised at all. There has been someone coming in at night trying to rob the people in our building and at the moment are trying to catch the guy. Super scary stuff but its weird how protected I feel here. Not to scare you mom but we are all alone walking in the dark every night but ive never felt so safe in my life!I know that it because the Lord really does watch over us here and we can feel His hand in every step of the way! And thank goodness for that because I seriously got scared back home for the littlest things ]good times Gary and Linda=. 

                Sabado 

                Rodrigo passed his baptisimal interview! He was so cute, he raced over to the church on his bike before our district leaders could get there so that we could go over the interview questions. He was so nervous to get to answers right but he did stellar.

                We didn’t have lunch today so we walked over to the plaza and a big party just happened to be in town! 18 of September is Chiles [4^th of July[ except they celebrate it all month long! They were having a big dance and one of the Chilean men grabbed me and pulled me to the dance floor. I honestly resisted and told him no ]believe me= but he literally forced me to dance. AND right as this guy is making me do the Chilean dance I hear [Hermana!!! Look over here![ … The young womens president took my photo and ws laughing her head off saying [Wow, youre so patriotic![ Even when I try to follow this [no dancing rule[ the Chileans just force me to disobey.

Interviews with President!

Today, we cant leave the house because it is basically purge day in Chile.In the past they have killed police and lit buses on fire. Super super sad.

                But today, President came by the house to have interviews.I feel like maybe I am a little too positive in my emails but the mission is actually really hard. Like the hardest thing I have ever done. Before the mission, I had all of the confidence in the world. I could do whatever I set my mind to. But here, I feel like my weaknesses are more apparent and expections from others are higher. I talked to president a lot about how hard it is to feel like I am doing [enough[ or if I am [enough[ to do this work. I told him that sometimes I feel like I am not the best missionary and I am not meeting the expectations of myself or others. But today he helped calm my thoughts. There is this expection of the [perfect missionary[ for a reason. It is an image we have to help us improve a little bit everyday. Some people view this image and think they can never reach it and so they just shut off and don’t try. And there are other people who use this image to give them motivation or something to work towards. We are never going to reach perfection but what is important is our desire. God knows and sees our intentions and best put efforts. If we are humble enough to recognize our weaknesses and ask for His help, He will help us turn those weaknesses into our strengths.]ether 12.27

                 But it is also important that we look back at how much we have already accomplished.If we are hiking up a mountain and only focus on how much we lack before getting to the top, we will always be unhappy and disappointed. But if we can look back on how far up the hill we have already gone, we can always find joy and motivation to help us to keep moving forward.

 Even the perfect of the perfect still had people turn away from them.         Jesus Christ was the best teacher and was rejected by many people. Heavenly Father was the best father but a third of His children denied His plan. We may never reach perfection in this life but what we can do is try to be a little better everyday. And cut yourself some slack because its not easy to be a member of the church, a mom, a good friend, spouse, or missionary but our intentions and desires as we WORK to do our BEST are pleasing to the eyes of the Lord. 

Little details. Yesterday the recetionist in our apartment building took us to the top of the roof! He was so cute, he took our photos and gave us a little tour of Santiago! Today for pday my comp and I threw a party for the zone and we had an open cereal bar and played mafia. Then we hit a pi;ata after outside and the latinos almost got us kicked out. Us gringos werent accustomed to how hard they go with the pinata. I also hit a little more than 9 months! Its tradition to take a pregnancy photo when you hit 9 months... enjoy! 

-- 

Sarah Pulsipher

Don't dance in front of the Bishop - September 5, 2018

Okay, where do i begin? My sector right now is the nicest sector in the whole mission. There are tons of apartment buildings and everyone is always rushing from one place to another so its really hard to get a good contact in! There are also tons of young people wearing the latest trends so i get to see whats in style right now, so i LOVE that. The members in my ward are dedicated to their callings and the men are worthy priesthood holders. The Bishop scares me a little because he never tells us what he thinks and never smiles but i love the guy! Hes a machine.

My comps name is Hermana Cutler and she is the most obedient companion i have ever had, and my first american comp! She is from Bountiful Utah and is the last of 8 kids with about 50 nieces and nephews. Her parents are actually 3rd cousins too and her mom almost didnt have her but then had revelation that there was still one more waiting in heaven! So basically i can now believe Lindas story and im not adopted like how all my brothers and sisters have told me. My comp does workouts for a little bit longer every day and goes really hard, like extremely hard. And i join her but its just too much for me... like this morning i almost threw up after our workout. But im stoked, cause shes gonna help me to get the 6 pack ive always wanted. It is a little harder for her to see the "fun" part of the mission though so im trying to help her relax a little! She told me that i am the first comp she has ever had that she has felt "completely" comfortable with in such a short amount of time! I think President always send me the ones that just need a good friend and who have usually just come from someone they had a hard time with.

This week we had our ward talent show and bishop told us we could only sing a church hymn. I was actually kinda embaressed. Like a hyped up church talent show and then the missionaries come out and sing a church hymn?? So messed. But we did it and nailed it. I even threw in a dab at the end (is that still cool?). And we won an award for "best effort". #lit But our investigator Rodrigo was involved in the act of the ym and yw and he was put as John Travolta in Grease lighting. He started to dirty dancy and get REALLY into it, like REALLY into it, i was laughing so hard. He rocked it though. The relief society did a zumba dance with the crowd and i get up to do it too and accidentally got a little excited (you know how i get) and the members totally bashed me after. "Hermana PulsiPerhaahak, I thought missionaries werent allowed to dance???" Bishop wasnt too happy, so now i think i know why he only let us sing a church hymn. They were just messing with me but the way chileans joke around still scares me a little. 

We taught our dream investigator Catherine from Columbia the law of chastity this week and it went SO good. I hate teaching that lesson and we were so worried because she is living with her boyfriend but at the end she told us, "I want to live the law of chastity sisters. All the other churches tell you to live it but they dont say why, and you guys explained everything so perfect (thankyou Family proclamtion to the world). I know that i am a daughter of God and I have value" It was the cutest thing ever. Through teaching her, i truly have gained a strong testimony of the people who are seriously prepared by God beforehand! I also need to get a picture of her and her daughter because they are the most beautiful people i have ever taught. She has really good style and her 10 month old baby is a little black baby that always sports space buns and dresses better than Kim K. 

Today, we left the city of Santiago and went into the farm side of Santiago, it reminded me a lot of ramona. We went to an ostrich farm and stood on ostrich eggs and looked at ostriches race back and forth in a cage. They are the weirdest animals ever. But it was a ton of fun to skip the usual pday routine of watching a movie with the zone and playing soccer. 

Its funny how no matter how much time in the mission you have, you are always learning something new or finding other weaknesses you didnt know you had before. Looking back, my knowledge and testimony has grown so much in such a short amount of time. And with everyday that passes i know that this step in my life was so so necessary. I thank my Heavenly Father so much for that. I still have a lot of time left but it gives me a lot of comfort to know that this life is an eternal progression. Repentance is an everyday ritual. We just need to leave our bad habits behind and try to be a little better everyday. Its hard, but He never asked us to do it alone. I know that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and loves me. It doesnt matter who you are or what circumstance you are in, He never forgets about us. I love sharing this message, its one of hope, and its one meant for every one of his children. 

I love you all so much, and I pray every day that you all can continue to have spirutal experiences back home. Im so thankful for you guys, my heart is so full! Let God shape you!

Hermana Pulsipher