Feliz Ano Nuevo

Hey Family, friends, dogs, horses, and rocks,

Big kids, fluffy kids, kids that climb on rocks... guess the movie! Ahaha.

This week has been a crazy one! It was Christmas time and so that means that things are crazy. I had the opportunity to talk to my family for a little while! And let me tell you that was awesome and a miracle in itself. They are pretty awesome if I do say so myself. :)

On the 24th it was a day that I will never forget because well a lot of things happened. Here in Chile they celebrate Christmas at twelve at night just so you know. But, yeah so we had our usual routine in the morning of waking up and exercising and then getting ready for the day and then studying. We then studied and then we went to our district meeting. And I have the best district leader in the world. He is so kind and so caring. Elder Hurtado is his name. He received a bunch of candy and brought it to the meeting in his stocking and shared it with us. :) We then had our zone meeting and one of our zone leaders, Elder Cummings shared an experience about faith. And let me tell you that is one of my goals this year is to have more faith. :) After district meeting we went to our lunch appointment with la flia Correa and they gave us gifts! Tan tierna este familia! And then after we went to an inactives house and shared a message with them about the condescension of Christ. And then after I told my family before that we were going to talk on the 24th at 5 my time. And so we went to the Plaza here in Maipu because we usually have to pay to use the internet here, and so that is what my plan was. I was just gonna google plus chat with my family in the internet area. But, the enemy is very astute. I forgot my password to my gmail and it asked me for cellphone number, and let me tell you, I don't have a personal cell as a missionary. :/ So, we were in a little bit of a pickle. And to top it all off we didn't have a lot of money. So, I quickly ( I will admit, I kind of paniced) wrote as many people in my family to tell them that I would not be talking to them that day, but the next day. So, we left the internet area, Hermana Buiza y yo, and began making our way home. We decided to take bus because it was less money. But we ended up taking the wrong bus and so we were super far away from home. We got off again and took it back and made it in time for our dinner appointment, because Presidente let us take dinner with a family 24. But, yeah, oh and then after arriving at the family's house. We arrived around like 7:30. We thought we were okay because we had permission to arrive at our house a little later, at 10. So, we were calm for a while but then 8:30 passes and still no cena, at 9 we finally ate and had to eat fast... And then the hermano told us that he could take us home so we were like okay yah, works out perfectly. But turns out he didn't have his license andwas beginning to learn to drive recien. But yeah, that was my Christmas. We came home and stayed up till twelve to open presents, and I would just like to thank my family for their package and for their love! That is one of our experiences that we had. I have a few more, but I don't have time to tell you!

I love you all very much,
Con mucho amor,

Hermana Durfee

Mosiah 26 yo creo, es tan buena!

It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas... Does Rain Count?

Hey 'yall,

This week has been such a great one! I have been learning everyday how to apply more and more the atonement in my life. It is amazing how we are able to unite the birth of the Savior with His atonement. I am so thankful for the atonement in my life and for the opportunity I have to make mistakes. It is hard to make mistakes and be wrong, but that is what the atonement is for. I am learning to recognize my faults and then try everyday to be better. I mean what else can I do. This is why I am here on the earth to be wrong and to make mistakes.

So, one thing that I have been learning from Hermana Buiza is to have more fun in the mission. My brother Jeffrey told us, my sister Sharlee and I that if we are not having fun in the mission we are doing something wrong. Don't quote me on that because I don't remember the exact words. But, I have been having a lot of fun with Hermana Buiza. And we have been having a lot of success here in the feild. She is pretty much amazing and I hope that I will be able to treasure up all that she has been teaching me!!! :) She is super buena!

Some things that have happened this week are last Monday we had a Noche de hogar con una familia and they are super great! They told us that our zona was needed for a service project on Saturday and Hermana Buiza and I said that we would talk to them and verify with the family if we were able to do it. We were able to do it. Oh, and before I start telling yall about the service. We had such a great family home evening. We showed a mormon message se llama mi nueva vida. Es super buena. And then we played some games and had once (onsay). It is kind of like dinner but not. I forget if I have told you all about once. In Chile there is breakfast, lunch (which is the main meal), once, and cena. They have four times of day to eat. haha. We then left and did proselitismo for the time we had left before we had to return to la pension.

Then on Wednesday we had a miracle, un milagro!! :) We were reveiwing la restauracion con una de nuestras investigadores. And Hermana Buiza challenged her to be baptized and I set the date! We have a baptizm for 27 de Diciembre!! AND se llama Ricy Nataly, and she came to church yesterday! She is nineteen and is super buena!! I love her very much! I am so excited! I just need to rely on the Spirit for her! :)

On Saturday we had our service project and let me tell you, I am so happy to be from Missouri, to be a part of a family that has taught me to work and to not be afraid of dirt and what not, because that was what our service was all about! I will send pictures next week. But yeah, I felt a little like I was back on the farm working in the yard. :) Oh I have made a new discovery of myself, I am a country girl. :) Lol. But yeah, here are some of the miracles that have happened this week!

Here is a spiritual thought, you are going to have to look it up if you want to know what it is about.

Alma 36:5-24

I will explain a little. This is when Alma the younger is remembering his conversion and the pain that he went through. The very hard pain that he went through, but then after all the pain that he went through, the joy was just as great, even more. It is super awesome!

I love this story!

Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic, miracle veiwing week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Durfee

Wonders of wonders, miracles of miracles

Hey 'yall,

This week has been such a great one! I have been learning everyday how to apply more and more the atonement in my life. It is amazing how we are able to unite the birth of the Savior with His atonement. I am so thankful for the atonement in my life and for the opportunity I have to make mistakes. It is hard to make mistakes and be wrong, but that is what the atonement is for. I am learning to recognize my faults and then try everyday to be better. I mean what else can I do. This is why I am here on the earth to be wrong and to make mistakes.

So, one thing that I have been learning from Hermana Buiza is to have more fun in the mission. My brother Jeffrey told us, my sister Sharlee and I that if we are not having fun in the mission we are doing something wrong. Don't quote me on that because I don't remember the exact words. But, I have been having a lot of fun with Hermana Buiza. And we have been having a lot of success here in the feild. She is pretty much amazing and I hope that I will be able to treasure up all that she has been teaching me!!! :) She is super buena!

Some things that have happened this week are last Monday we had a Noche de hogar con una familia and they are super great! They told us that our zona was needed for a service project on Saturday and Hermana Buiza and I said that we would talk to them and verify with the family if we were able to do it. We were able to do it. Oh, and before I start telling yall about the service. We had such a great family home evening. We showed a mormon message se llama mi nueva vida. Es super buena. And then we played some games and had once (onsay). It is kind of like dinner but not. I forget if I have told you all about once. In Chile there is breakfast, lunch (which is the main meal), once, and cena. They have four times of day to eat. haha. We then left and did proselitismo for the time we had left before we had to return to la pension.

Then on Wednesday we had a miracle, un milagro!! :) We were reveiwing la restauracion con una de nuestras investigadores. And Hermana Buiza challenged her to be baptized and I set the date! We have a baptizm for 27 de Diciembre!! AND se llama Ricy Nataly, and she came to church yesterday! She is nineteen and is super buena!! I love her very much! I am so excited! I just need to rely on the Spirit for her! :)

On Saturday we had our service project and let me tell you, I am so happy to be from Missouri, to be a part of a family that has taught me to work and to not be afraid of dirt and what not, because that was what our service was all about! I will send pictures next week. But yeah, I felt a little like I was back on the farm working in the yard. :) Oh I have made a new discovery of myself, I am a country girl. :) Lol. But yeah, here are some of the miracles that have happened this week!

Here is a spiritual thought, you are going to have to look it up if you want to know what it is about.

Alma 36:5-24

I will explain a little. This is when Alma the younger is remembering his conversion and the pain that he went through. The very hard pain that he went through, but then after all the pain that he went through, the joy was just as great, even more. It is super awesome!

I love this story!

Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic, miracle veiwing week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Durfee

Yo Tengo una nueva companera

¡Hola gente! So, this week has been a great week! I had the flu at the beginning of the week, but that's okay! No importa! :) The work is the work, and let me tell you it is a great work! We visited Maria Cruz and her brother on Monday. She is an inactive and has a problem with the word of wisdom, but let me tell you something I beleive in miracles. So, if she has a true sincere desire to quit smoking she will be able to do it. Tuesday, was a fantastic day. We had a meeting as a mission, and Presidente Barreiros introduced the video He is the Gift. IF you have not seen this video you need to, go to this link christmas.mormon.org and you will be able to veiw this video. Or you can go on youtube and look it up se llama He is the Gift. It is super, super bueno! We taught Roxana and her sons on Tuesday too. It was a great day!! Then on Wednesday we had aa great day as well. We had our district meeting which went well and also had our zone meeting which went well too! I really think the second best thing about the mission besides teaching are the meetings. They are super great! I am also so thankful for the opportunity to walk in the heat too, because this is how Christ feels sometimes too. So, now I am going to go off on a tangent. The missionaries need members to work with them, and so I have a question for all of you How are you able to work with the missionaries? that is my question. Really, I am serious about this. We live in the last days and the work is hastening so find a way to work with the missionaries in your home ward! :) On Thursday we had a fantastic day too! We planned for the week and then went to almuerzo with la flia Diestra. They are tan buena!! I love them so much. And then we had some lessons! We taught Angela. She is an antiguo investigadora, but she still has interest in the church and so right now we are teaching her! I love her! :) And then we taught one of our menos activas, about the ten commandments. It was a great lesson! :) Then on Friday we cleaned in the morning because this last week was the week before transfers. So, we cleaned super hard. and then went to almuerzo with la flia Alvarez. They are awesome! This family is the family of my mission leader. He is super, super, super, BUENO!! We taught some lessons and had a great day!! :) Then on Saturday it RAINED!!!!! WHOOO HOOOOO! I loved it so much! Hermana Flores did not like it that much because when it is raining the people are not as receptive, but I was so thankful, because Chile is a desert, and so there is no rain during the summer, but it rained on Saturday! What a great day it was, and all the people were in their houses so we contacted the snails! :) Jaja! We had a lesson with Nataly. She is a great investigator! She really has interest in the church! :) Then Saturday night we found out who was being transferred and found that Hermana Flores ws being transferred. It was super nerve wracking because on Tuesday, Presidente told us that we were going to have a lot of white washes. A white wash is when both the missionaries in the area have transfers, and let me tell you a lot of missionaries are doing white washes now. I have a new companion. Her name is Hermana Buiza. She is from Peru. She is super loving and kind. I hope that we will be able to work hard together and be a positive tool in our sector de los Heroes. On Sunday, we went to a lot of members houses for Hermana Flores to say goodbye. Oh and I contacted someone in english. He is from Australia, so it was super cool I was speaking all kinds of spanglish when I was contacting him, and he tried to talk to Hermana Flores, but she was like no entiendo ingles. Jaja. It was funny, and super cool! But yeah! This was my week! It was a fantastic week! I love you all! Matthew 18. and remember to look up He is the Gift! What will be your gift to the Lord this Christmas? Con amor, ciao, Hermana Durfee

Estoy Agredecida para el Sacerdocio (I'm grateful for the Priesthood)

Hola Familia,

So, I just want to say that this time is really fast. Today my sister Sharlee is coming home from her mission! How crazy is that?! The time is really fast! And this is my last week of training! Saturday is cambios! Wow! We will see what happens! 

Josie's weekly email(:

So this week has been a great one! Let me just clear something out of the way, I have the flu. I am not exactly sure what kind of flu I have, but I have thrown up and my body is achey. So, this leads me to the title. I received a blessing this morning and I could feel the power of the preisthood come into my body. I am so thankful for those young men, my zone leaders being worthy to come to my house and give me a blessing. I still feel yucky, but better. 

Anyway, so that is enough of that. On Monday, last week we slept a lot. I slept for like two hours which is really rich for missionaries because we don't take naps throughout the week. We were able to teach Maria Cruz on Monday and it went really well! We showed the video Having faith in Christ and let me tell you I just love that movie so much!! Something that my sister told me just barely in an email that I received is that the Savior is always there when we need Him, and when times are tough. His hand is always on our shoulder saying to us that we can do it. We are able to do this. Which leads me to something else, a couple weeks ago Elder Neilson came and spoke to Oeste and Sur misiones de Chile and his wife, Hermana Neilson said something that is quite amazing and I think about a lot these days. Our premortal selves knew that this life here on earth would be hard and we were like yeah, bring on the heat and everythng. And then we went through the veil and forgot what our premortal selves were like. She then told us if we could just see ourselves in the life before this for ten minutes we would remember that when times are tough that we are able to do anything. And then she said that if we wanted to, we could begin praying to see ourselves before this life. And let me tell you I have not begun to do this, but I really do want to. So yeah! :) 

On Monday we were able to find Rosa and set a date for baptism with her and she accepted! Her name is Rosa Basquez and let me tell you the challenge with her is finding her because she works a lot. And doesn't have a phone... so yeah, we hope to be able to find her again! 

So, yeah that is some of the stuff that I have learned this week! Oh this weekend we had la conferencia de estaca and let me tell you it went really well! I really enjoyed it! I received a lot of revelation for our investigadores and for myself! Presidente y Hermana Barreiros were there too! I love them so much! They had such great things to say too! One thing that Hermana Barreiros shared with us is that every member is a missionary and that we need to be friends with everyone! :) It was super great! I love Presidente y Hermana Barreiros!! 

I love you all very much! Have a fantastic week!!

Hermana Durfee

Change, It Can Happen

I think if I were to sum up what I learned on my mission is that people can change. Their very nature. I've changed. I'm still dorky Charlee Durfee but I know the past Charlee Durfee would look at where I am now and wish and want it. Its happened and its never going to stop. HOWEVER, we can't change by ourselves. The reason we can change (aka repent and be forgiven) is only through our Savior Jesus Christ. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve it. I've seen others feel the same way too. I know there are those who still feel this way. But that is just a bunch of nonsense. No matter what we may have done or who we might have been in the past, it can be washed clean and forgotten because the suffering of our Redeemer. Not only have I seen it myself but in all of those I've taught here on the mission.

It doesn't end there, the change isn't immediate. Its always going to require work. But He's not going to leave us alone. I can tell all of you, that this wonderful gospel, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true church on this earth that has the proper authority to baptize, perform miracles, give blessings, and perform those sacred ordinances like sealing families for eternity. That through this power and the gospel in its fullness we can unlock that changing power.

I seriously cant wait for making more mistakes (because its going to happen, I know, I'm not perfect, weird right?) to continue to progress, to grow, to be happy, to cry, to be scared, to be strong... Its going to be a wonderful ride, a crazy one, but a wonderful one none the less. And of course it isn't going to be easy. Life is hard, we all know this. We all have loads to carry, but we don't have to do it alone. My favorite scripture is Mosiah 24: 14-16.
"14. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease,and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying:Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage."
To have the burdens on our shoulders eased, we must do what Alma and his brethren did, that is submit cheerfully and with patience to ALL the will of the Lord. He knows better then I do, then we ALL do. I learned that last night while having dinner with my wonderful cousin Lindsey. I want to do a lot of things and I was getting overwhelmed. I had the feeling to tell her what had been on my mind and she said what I needed to hear even though I didn't want to hear it. Since I read that scripture I liked to think that I was putting the Lord's will over mine but I guess I had forgotten for a little bit.

Its definitely a humbling experience, warning: some pride might have to be swallowed. Its worth it! The change and the blessings afterwards, maybe not right after but they do come, are incredible! I love you all thanks for what you have done for me, supporting me, encouraging me, making me laugh, being there if I needed you.

I do have one more time to e-mail but I thought I would make this one the last big one. This is my testimony that I say in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Hermana Charlene Durfee

Green Go

Hola Familia y amigos,

This week has been a bit of a crazy one! :) Monday not much really happened, I mean I enjoyed my p day if that is what you are wondering. We had barbeque chicken for almuerzo which was super, super good! And I wrote in my journal because I was a little behind.

On Tuesday we had a really good day! We were able to find one of our menos activas and she let us into her house and we read the Book of Mormon with her. It was super good! We were also able to teach a few more lessons. One was with a lady who doesn't want to change, but we were able to testify that the gospel is true and that the Plan of Salvation is real. We then had a lesson with Javier. I don't know if I have told you all about him, but he is a bit of a stubborn mule. He says that he wants to be baptized but then he doesn't let us know if he really does. We then had a lesson with Lolly. She is the best person in the whole world in my opinion. I just love her to death. What she needs is just to have her testimony strengthened! :) And then we had a lesson with Alejandro and taught the Restoration. It was a good day! :) I just love Lolly very much! She was the highlight of my day on Tuesday! :) She is like 60 or so and is very Chilena! :)

We then had splits on Wednesday which went really well too! We were able to visit one of our menos activos with Hermana Bustamante. Our sector was her sector before. We were also able to have almuerzo with one of our menos activas familias. And it went really well! :) We then had a new investigator lesson which went welll too! This day actually went really, really fast! The highlight of this day was probably being able to spend it with Hermana Bustamante. I really like her. She is one of our leaders and she is super nice! I hope that before she goes that perhaps I could be her companion. :) Jaja!

Thursday we had a reunion with Presidente Barreiros and let me just say I love it when we have reunions with Presidente! I was strengthened so much!! :) So much. This past week I have been learning alot about the atonement and myself. It has been a great experience and when we had the reunion with Presidente I was strengthened even more! :)

On Friday we had our reunion de distrito. And Hermana Flores taught the class and one thing that I learned was that we need to be direct with everyone with the gospel. They need to know that they can repent. They need to know that they can change and that the only way for this to happen is that we are direct and forward. We were able to have a great lesson with America ( yes her name is America :) ). She is pretty great! She just needs to come to church because she is reading the Book of Mormon and praying. She lacks church!

On Saturday we were able to have our planning for the week which went really well! :) And we found two new investigators! Jorge and Maria Jose. They are both super great! Maria Jose is a miracle!! :) She is very willing to listen to us! I am very thankful!!

And now Sunday! You are probably wondering why my title is  ^green go^ Well I will tell you. I was curious to why people in Latin America call us gringos and so I decided to ask the family we had almuerzo with. And so they looked it up on google and it means that we, those of us outside latin america are strange and need to go back to our country. It was interesting. And let me tell you the term gringo does not offend me. I actually kind of find it a little funny! :) jaja!

So yeah that is a watered down version of my week!

I love you all!

Here is a spiritual thought Alma 13: 14-16

Con amor,

Hermana Durfee
Or Hermana Durfeeta (as Hermana Flores calls me)

La Obra Misional es Maravillosa!!! ES VERDAD!!

HOLAAAAAAA!! Familia!!!!!

Hello! I am now in the feild!! I have a latina as my companion! She is from Honduras and this is her first time training! Es muy muy loco! When Presidente assigned us our companions the assistants were reading who we were with and the said ¨Hermana Durfee with Hermana Flores¨ And I just had this feeling inside of me that I was going to be with a latina. Padre Celestial was preparing me. I am very greatful for the opportunity to be with her cause she doesn´t really know English so I have to speak Spanish to her to be able to communicate. And so far we have been getting a long great! Su nombre es Hermana Flores. Ella es muy genial. Genial es cool en ingles. Ella es muy patiente y el mejor entrenedora en el mundo. The best trainer in the world.

So, I have had the opportunity to teach lessons with people and to bear my testimony countless times. It is so cool! Two of my favorite lessons so far have been with Oriana we taught the Plan of Salvation and with Alejandro we taught El evangelio de Jesucristo. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Oriana asked me where I was from and I told her that I was from Estados Unidos and so then she asked me to translate this ¨Me gusto conocerte¨ Which in ingles means I want to get to know you. Haha! She wants to get to know me which is a good thing! :) lol. I love that everyone here is so kind I really appreciate that about the people of Chile. Especially the members. Anyways so we had a lesson with Alejandro on Saturday and it was super genial. I loved it. I got to teach like half of the lesson this time, and it was a struggle cause sometimes I will accidentally sometimes say english words and the person I am talking to will just smile kindly and wait for me or try to guess what I am saying. Haha! Which I appreciate cause most of the time it is what I am trying to say.

Yesterday, was my first Sunday in the feild and it was so cool cause el obispo, the bishop asked me if I would bear my testimony. And of course I did. I feel that it went really well and that the Holy Ghost was able to communicate to them in the ward my desire to work with them and for them. In my patriarchal blessing it says that I will be able to bear testimony to others and they will want to change because of my testimony and I have only been out for un mes y media and I have already been seeing the results of my testimony. I am so greatful that I have that blessing from Padre Celestial. It is on of the thing estoy agradecida por.

I love this work so much. I am living my childhood dream. I feel that I have the opportunity that not many people have. Oh, I forgot to tell you all Alejandro came to church yesterday!! Any Elder White is my zone leader. Garret White from South Jordan. Garret is this kid that I grew up with for those of you who do not know and I have experienced an earthquake during my fourth week in the Ccm. and I saw Daniel Argyle who is also serving in Santiago Oeste. But Elder White being my zone leader, whoa!!! WHOA!! CRAZY!! When I saw Elder Argyle I really wanted to hug him but of course could not, because Soy una misionera!! lol :) Entonces lots and lots of crazy things!! Ahaha! I am so excited to just work hard. Mi papa es el mejor porque el enseno me este principio en me vida. Trabar duro. DURO, Work hard!!

I love you all very much!! TRABAJA DURO!

Hermana Durfee. :)

P.S. La obra misional es maravillosa. I am so blessed to be a part of this amazing work.

...So yeah, Kidney Stones... cont. And A Little More.

So last e-mail I got kicked off so I'll quickly finish then tell you all about how awesome this week was!

Wednesday, while passing the kidney stone, Sister Mendenhall (my mission president's wife) came to check up on me. After a little bit she says she needs to talk to me about something other then my kidney stone. She then tells me that both her and President Mendenhall feel inspired that I should go back to Spanish... but here is the big part... that there are three Spanish sisters coming in my last transfer and that they want me to train. Honestly that didn't help me feel any better. Here I was having served a whole year in English out of my year and a half. They're asking me to go back to Spanish for my last two transfers and my last one they want me to train in Spanish. I felt sooo... whats the word, unqualified. Why me? Why was I called Spanish? Its been so hard for me to learn. I want to be able to teach. She asked me to pray about it and let her know.

After she left it wasn't even an hour later (and I hadn't even prayed about it) when I felt this crazy strong feeling of "You can do it! I'll help you! You'll dominate this next transfer and when it comes to your last you'll be ready to train!" I knew that was my answer to my unasked question. I called her to let her know and she was so happy! It so cool to see how the Spirit will help us in our lives. I suggest all of you work toward getting that haha. ;)

Come Friday, I felt really bad for Sis Claros. She just seemed so bored. So Sis Pitchforth asked Sis Mendenhall if we could watch Disney movies and she said yes! So guess what I watched?! Frozen! hahaha It was really good! Saturday we watched: Prince of Egypt, The Jungle Book, Ice Age, and a little bit of Up. It was pretty enjoyable (made me feel less of a missionary but again I was really sick soo... haha).

Saturday we also found out what was happening. I was indeed transferred to Spanish, back to my old area where I was before the YSA with my mom (trainer) Hna Espinosa. I was super excited. (still am!). AND that night when I woke up to take my pills i wasnt in pain so I waited for next alarm. Still wasn't in pain. Well! That was seriously anticlimactic. haha. So I went to church. The Branch was so sad to see me go. President Lloyd (second counselor) cried and had me bare my testimony which in turn made me cry. President Johnson, the stake president (my stake president for a whole year), was there as well and wasn't happy I was leaving either. BUT, the Lord knew that I needed to be here.

Its been so amazing to be back in Downtown Denver. Always a party like usual and since its Hna Espinosa last transfer we have all of our p-days planned with crazy fun stuff so I'll have some exciting e-mails coming up. (Speaking of that and not at all truncky comment ;) After this only 10 more e-mails). We have been working on finding investigators that "inquire of us diligently" instead of us "inquiring of them". Its been pretty awesome to see the crazy miracles that happen. We found... 4! investigators that already inquire of us. Its so cool! Plus I have been able to teach in every lesson and then last night we had an AMAZING lesson where I totally killed it! I wanted to cry because of how amazed I was. The Lord truly has helped me this last week.

One of our new investigators of this last week isn't so new to me. His name is Justino (can't exactly remember if I told you guys about him since that was 6 months ago). He's amazing and he had to drop us because his wife was getting jealous but he came to church tour (loved it) read to 1 Nephi 11 (loved that as well). He was doing so well but then had to stop seeing us. When I left the missionaries tried to contact to him but with no success so they put him aside. Well my first week back, guess who we were able to contact and see? Justino. He's still as amazing as ever and is getting a divorce with wife (which is not the best but he was really unhappy). And even remembered me! (The reason I say that is because hahaha there are a handful of people that remember the quiet missionary that was with Trujillo. Not even the Bishop. Dont worry I'm not upset about it but this time its going to be different.) Espinosa really likes him so I'm really happy and excited to see what happens.

Then on Friday unexpected we get a knock on our door. I opened the door too see a package and didn't even pick it up and ran to the window. It was my wonderful mom and dad who were in town for my cousin/sister's daughter's baptism. All we got was a wave at each other but it made this amazing week even better.

Alright friends and family. I love you all! Sorry this is so long(:
Stay Sweet
Dont Do Drugs
Write me if you can (1250 Main St, Broomfield CO 80020) especially since I only have a few more weeks left!(:

Hermana Charlene Durfee

...So yeah, Kidney Stones...

Man guys, I can't wait to go back and read in my e-mails how many times I say this but, missions are crazy!!!

Last week starting Monday I was feeling a little weird but I didn't think too much about it. Of course slowly but surely it got worse. I thought maybe it could have been... that time of month (haha sorry). We go to FHE and it was so sad because here it is my last FHE with the branch (I had a very strong guess I was being transferred) and I couldn't even play volleyball... I pretty much was laying on the stage stairs curled up in pain. It was awesome though to see how the branch took care of me. The following day I was still in a lot of pain. I took some ibuprofen and we went to have lunch with Justin.

When we get there he had taken his dog to the vet but Sis. Pitchforth was there. She happily let us in and made us lunch (which actually I didn't eat). She saw how much pain I was in and told me to go lay down downstairs. I did but that wasn't helping. Justin came home and started taking care of me. He got me water, midol (just in case), got me a hot pad, made me toast, played games with Sis. Claros. Around 3 I was still in a lot of pain and Sister Mendenhall told me to go to the hospital. Sis. Pitchforth sacrificed going to the temple to take me to the ER.

They took a blood test and urine test, and we waited... and waited... and waited. Keep in mind I'm still in a ton of pain. I thought maybe I was just being a wimp and here I was at the ER making a big deal out of nothing. Then they came in and took me for a cat scan because my white blood cells were high. Then we waited some more... and waited. Eventually Sis. Pitchforth pushed my pain button because I didn't want too. They came in and told me I had a kidney stone. That it would take 2-7 days to pass and I would be in a lot of pain during that time. So they gave me drugs! Oh thank goodness for wonderful technology haha. (Promise I'm not still high on them).

Sis Pitchforth insisted on taking me to her house and having me stay there, which Sis. Mendenhall approved. So the next 5 days consisted of drugs, sleeping, card games, Justin entertaining us and a ton of peeing. hahaha. If they were taking the dogs to the park they would drag me along on a long board to get some fresh air. I didn't feel like a missionary. I did feel lazy but what could I do about that?

Ugh. out of time. Okay so all you need to know is that I'm back to normal! (I'll finish the story next time! These computers kick us off).

Love you
Don't Do Drugs
Stay Sweet

Hermana Charlene Durfee

No journal, no organization! Uh oh...

Hola familia y mis amigos y everyone else... haha who am I kidding we're all friends here.

This week has been awesome! I have been so busy with learning el idioma y learning how to teach and follow El Espiritu Santo, I know there is supposed to be an accent in there Jeff, so don't correct me. Hermana Harden and I got lost today in Santiago so if you are wondering why I don't have a lot of time that is why... lol. We have been learning how to teach with unity cause that is the point of being in a companionship. If there is no unity there is no Espiritu. Anyway. So, I don't have my journal and I usually refer to that when I write emails, perro I forgot it today. I know, I know. Why did I forget it you tell me.

So, we got new teachers this week and they are muy great!! I love them so much. Hermana Araneda teaches us in la manana and she is so good! The investigator that is with her is named Lucia. Lucia is a golden investigator. She is so great! The next teacher is Hermano Cifuentes, I don't like him as much cause he has a such a great latn accent. He is great though. Then, mi favorito maestro es Hermano Ceballos! He is awesome! That pretty much sums up his whole personal ity. I love him!! He is so caring and wants to help so bad. He is always talking Spanglish which is so fun, cause he says things like muy great, and muy quick. Or like perro I am not going anywhere. He is my favorite! On Sunday we had such a great day! We had a devotional in the morning by Elder Ballard and he talked about not getting caught up in the news. One of the stories that he shared was about Joseph F. Smith and how he stood up for himself when a bad guy on a horse came up to him and asked if he was Mormon. He was like Yessiree! Diet in the wool! True blue! Through and through!! I want to be like him! I want to be that bold when I do missionary work!! We then watched the video about Thomas S. Monson  being always on the Lord's errand! I want that too, especially as a missonary! So a quick funny story the other night Hermano Ceballos was teaching and all of a sudden he was like what is that smell and no one really knew what he was talking about and then Elder Brush is bright red in the face telling him that he really needs to go to the bathrooom. It was hilarious. Hermano Ceballos explained to us that in Chile they are not that shy about farts and what not. And then we told him that in America especially if there are girls around we would not say anything! It was really funny!!! Ahhh, ay no mucho tiempo! I gotta go! I will talk to you all next week.

Hermana Durfee!! I love you all! I pray for you! And think about all of you! Have a great week!

Enferma, El Espiritu Santo, Learning, having fun.... That't the CCM. :)

Hola mi familia!

So, this week has been an emotional rollercoaster. That seems to be the theme for missionaries. One minute you are so happy and laughing so hard, and then next minute you are so discouraged. Monday I was in a really good mood. And to top it all off the latina hermanas were so funny when I was talking them. I had my¨The feild is white already to harvest¨ necklace on that a dear friend had given me. And one of them comes up to me and asks where I got it, and they immediately are all like ¨Su novio!!¨ ¨Your boyfriend!¨ And I just bursted into a fit of giggles!! They were so funny and since I have a language barrier I couldn't really explain! lol!! It was really funny!!

Here is another funny experience so my companion an I are in our discussion with Marcos (Hermano Antileo) and he is telling both of us that due to the limited time that we have been here in Chile we speak really well. And I was so taken a back that I was like ¨Gracias!!!!!¨ And if you can picture it Hermana Harden and Marcos both look at me and we all start laughing cause I was so enthusiastic!! :D

So, Then on Tuesday I had p day. I emailed y'all and then we explored Santiago. Hermana Harden and I were able to see some sister missionaries from our mission! It was the coolest thing, I don't know why they were in the East mission, but we were able to. It was really fun! We then were able to have a great opportunity and blessing to go the the temple. It was a such an amazing experience! I was so happy that we were abñe to go. Here at the CCM we are able to go to the temple three times in the six weeks that we are here. And I just felt so empowered and strengthened by being able to go to a place that is the same even in Chile. The temple whereever you are is constant just like the gospel. It is amazing! In class and at church we sing hymns and they are the same even in a different language! It is the coolest thing! I love that Heavenly Father loves us so much that He would do that for us. When we were in the temple, I was so overcome with the Spirit when I saw the Elders in white. It just cemented my testimony that I am so thankful for worthy preisthood holders.

On Wednesday I caught a cold. Those of us who live in Alcantara call it the Alcantara Cancer cause every new group of missionaries catches it. It is a little pandemic. (Today, emailing you I am almost better.) My companion knew I was sick, and the elders in my district learned that I was sick too. Elder Ludeman (one of the elders in my district) gave me some emergen C. He was so nice to do that for me. I am really thankful a kind and caring district that I have. Oh, and in class that night Hermano Riutor said the funniest thing. He is always telling us that we should not act like babies, but we do anyways. We asked him if we could go out into the real world and he was like (in his latin accent) ¨How can I let you out into the real world? When I leave for five minutes and you're having baby party?¨ It was really funny! We laughed really hard!! :D

On Thursday I feel that Hermana Harden and I are finally getting it. We are both finally getting how we should teach and how we should learn the language. It is pretty cool. Hermano Antileo had us do a role play today and I was the missionary and Elder Williams, an elder in my district, was the investigator. He totally refused to speak any English, and pretended that he did not know English. So I had to speak Spanish to him. It was really good practice. I really appreciated that exercise, and was surprised by how much I knew. We then had a discussion with Pablor Bertucci (Hermano Riutor) and after the discussion Hermano Riutor was like ¨I am sorry but it was perfect.¨very sarcastically, serious. He was telling us that we did a really good job, but he couldn't offer any advice cause we did so good. Ahh, he is really funny, very latin!! :) lol. Hermana Harden was like ¨But what about our lesson?¨and he was like ¨Well you were teaching people, not lesson, which is what Preach my Gospel says to do. If you want to go against Preach my Gospel then you can!¨ again sarcastically. It was hilarious. We both just looked at eachother and laughed! :)

So, through out the week my cold got worse and on Sunday it was really bad. I mean I was basically this fountain of germs that was streaming out of my nose and my eyes, and I was super incoherrent. So, in my district meeting I asked the elders if they would give me a blessing. It was the coolest thing that I have experienced in my mission so far, because all these 18 year old young men surround me and use the power that they had been given, by God to help me get better. I could feel the power of the Preisthood in that circle. I am so thankful to them for being worthy to do that for me.

So, basically this week I have had a great time! Thanks so much for all you guys do for me! I love you all!! You all are in my prayers!! Have a wonderful, blessed week!!

Les Amo!! (I think that is right, correct me if I am wrong, Jeff)

Hermana Durfee :D

YSA + Crayons = Too Much Fun

Last Monday was zone p-day and it was finally worth it and I didn't have to do hardly any work. YEAH! We had like an 800 water balloon fight and then with flour capture the flag and had a ton of food. So all in all it was wonderful. I think what made it different was that we have some great zone leaders right now. It was great start to a wonderful week. By time Monday was up we already had 14 lessons lined up. Which was way better then the last week. We've been doing a pretty fun lesson with our members where we ask them at the beginning to draw a castle and to fortify that castle. Its been so much fun seeing the different ideas... some slightly on the strange side but that makes it more fun. After we read Alma 50: 1-6. It talks about how Moroni protects the Nephite cities. We then ask what they do to protect themselves spiritually. I love seeing the Spirit work through them. Its also a great family home evening idea [so those missionaries serving right now... you're welcome ;)]

Friday we had a fun adventure. We were weekly planning at the church (we focus better there) and we were taking our lunch break. While we were waiting for our food to heat up in the microwave I found a toy that is solar powered. I wanted to see if it work so I go out the kitchen door and hold it up the sun. I assumed that Sister Claros was holding the door open because that door is always locked. Then I hear a door close and turn around in horror. No! Sister Claros' face drops... We were locked out! Our keys, phone... and food all were in there. We walk around the whole church. I didn't know what to do. Sister Claros was laughing so much and at first I was frustrated but I couldn't help but laugh too. We prayed and decided we needed to walk to a member's home. Luckily Iniki didn't live very far cause it was super hot. He let us borrow his phone we called our branch president who came and picked us up and unlocked the church for us. Oh man. Never again but its a good laugh. I still laugh about it.

Saturday we did service for a member who's family is putting in their own sprinkler system. We helped them fill in the ditches. It was a lot of work but I actually extremely enjoyed it. I got some nasty blisters but thats cool. ;) That day two of our members got engaged to each other... Man... thats really all I can say. I cant decide whether its a blessing or a curse that we serve in the singles ward and watch all the drama. Mostly a blessing because its very entertaining. haha.

This week the Elders who live in the same apartment complex attacked us. For 5 months we have lived in peace. Not truly know what apartment number each other lived in, so even if we wanted to do something we couldn't. Well Thursday we got a text from them saying they had a referral and asked for our apartment number so they could put it in our mailbox. I should have known better. We came out of Institute that night to find a bag with our tennis shoes we had left outside the apartment to dry hanging from our side mirror and Jack (A little jack-in-the-box that we had on our antenna) gone as well. Those dang elders, we thought. We drive back home take back Jack and head up to our apartment. They left us our referral on the door. A picture of dolphins and a sticky note that said, "The Flipper Family, they are awesome!" It was awesome. I laughed(: and the dolphin picture is totally hanging in our apartment now. I just have to come up with some sweet revenge before I'm transferred.

Honestly I hope I am because its been a long time here. 6 months. I love it, we get a lot of privileges but I just feel the need to move. Transfers are in 3 weeks. Only 3 weeks! Thats some crazy stuff!

I hope all of you are well and happy!
Love you!
Stay Sweet
Dont Do Drugs.

Hermana Durfee

The Trio Has Struck Again

Okay kids, I don't get it. Things really cant slow down, but I think we can all agree that thats what makes it interesting and fun. (background info) On Friday, we got a call from Elder Pratt who is over the housing and he asked, "Can we fit another bed in your apartment?" Yes you're thinking correct... Trio but we werent exactly sure what was going to happen. Of course we had our predictions, we pretty much assumed he would just add someone to our companionship and not bring in two new sisters. But pretty much we had to exercise patience and wait for Saturday night. (in comes the other part) So this past week I've been getting bites and I thought they were mosquitos because we've done service there and had an activity. So in total I didn't think much of it... until I kept waking up with new bites. We were at a members home about to head to transfer doctrine and I brought it up to Sister Pitchforth. She said it could be bed bugs... so we look it up. It totally was/is. Ugh, kind of makes me sick still. So we decided not to go to transfer doctrine and to make some phone calls. We called Elder Pratt and he gave us things to do. 1st: look for a laundry mat that is open (it was 9 by that time) so we can dry heat all of our clothes. 2nd: Bag up everything else and wait for the morning to stick them in the sun to burn all the bugs. 3rd: Vacuum and vacuum like crazy. 4th: Take a hot shower.

During all of this craziness we also got a call from other sisters letting us know what happened during transfer doctrine. I would yet again be in another with trio with TWO new companions! And Sister Anderson would be leaving and going to Capitol Hill (aka Downtown where I served). It was such an emotional night. We were panicking because of the bed bugs, and then on top of it there was transfer info.

Sister Pitchforth armed us with quarters and garbage bags and we rushed to a laundry mat and I talk to the man who was going to close and begged him to stay open so we could go get our clothes and dry heat them because we had bed bugs. He was so kind and said we could. We rushed home and bagged up all of our clothes and ran back to the laundry mat. There was another lady there who suggested that we put our clothes in new garbage bags so we aren't using the old ones. So we rushed back home to get them and came back. The man said that while we were gone the lady had put an extra quarter in all of our machines. We thanked him for staying open and he said, "You guys are doing the Lords work, its the least I can do." We left the laundry mat around 10:45. Got back to the apartment bagged the rest of our belongings and then vacuumed (like crazy). We showered and then exhaustively climbed into bed.

I did wake up with more bites (Forgot to mention that I was the only one getting bit) and found a bug on my bed. BUT! This morning I woke up with no bites. (Mom, don't worry to much. ;) I know you are) The exterminator should be coming today or tomorrow. Sunday was pretty hard for Sister Anderson. This area and the people mean a lot to her. However, I know she's going to do amazing in Cap Hill(: So now, I have two new companions (they're pretty great so far), and an apartment with bed bugs. Its a handful and pretty stressful but I will continue to trust in the Lord. I know there are blessing around the corner.

So besides all that here are some random awesome things that happen this week: We totally shaved a cat, went to the branch's lake activity and had 3 or 4 nonmembers there, had some fantastic Cafe Rio with our recent convert RJ, learned a new game called "Mow" (totally going to teach it to you all when I get home), had a fantastic lesson with one of our investigators named Cierra. She is so golden and willing to learn. We also had a wonderful lesson with Justin. The spirit was so strong.

Overall it was a good week despite transfers and bed bugs. I'm nervous about this transfer (my companions are pretty young mission wise), stressed about our apartment and bugs. But! I know the Lord will take care of me. I just have to do my part.

I love you guys!
Stay Sweet
Dont Do Drugs.

Picture 1: Awkward cant touch photo with Justin.
Picture 2: Ricardo, Jose, Andy and me(:

So... June Is Almost Over, Just Thought You Would Like To Know

That thought, that June is almost over has been going through my mind quite often this week. I don't know if I like it. As you get closer to the end of a mission you begin to think you don't want it to end at all. It actually kind of scares me that its almost over (of course by "almost" I mean 5 months.) But whats awesome about only 5 months left? I'm going to work my butt of and totally blow the missionary work out of the water where ever I go!

We went to the lake with the branch last P-day. We weren't able to get in the boat or in the water but it was fun none the less. What was cool is lately we've been seeing a lot of members and we've been asking them to invite their nonmember friends to activities (since you have a lot of those in a singles branch). I went over to talk to one of our members and he smiles at me and says, "I took you up on your challenge," and nods to the girl sitting next to him. I was so happy to see some members actually doing what we asked. In total there were four nonmembers! Other members we have been visiting just start giving us a name before we even ask. Its been super great!

RJ is still on and good for his baptism date on July 5th. Its been kind of frustrating to try to get an appointment because he's so busy. We were talking to him on Sunday when one of our members, named Brad, came up to us and pretty easily found a time for both us and RJ. It was really great. We actually had dinner with Brad that day as well and he went out with us afterwards to visit people around his house. It went SUPER well. We saw almost all the people we wanted to see and Brad, yes, Brad set up three appointments for us. I feel like when you bring a member along the people actually want to say yes. If we were to ask them we would get an answer like, "Well... I'm really busy." It was super cool, Brad is just fantastic.

Its crazy how much you love people and how sad you are when they stray away even when you worked hard with them. We were at Kidz Quiltz doing what we do best "Quilting" when three young boys come in. I was looking down but out of the corner of my eye I could clearly see that two of them were just standing at the table staring at me. I look up and say hey to them and ask how they are doing. One of them says, "See she does recognize you!" I looked at the other and looked.... It was a boy named Jonathan who I taught in Fort Lupton. I found out he had dropped out of school and I could see that he also had a cigarette resting on his ear. I was so happy to see him and yet so sad to see where he's ended up. But hopefully he comes back. I told him that we're at Kidz Quiltz every Thursday. -crosses fingers-

The last thing is, its President Toombs last week and by next week I will have new mission president. I'm so sad yet super excited for this new mission president, President Mendenhall. (Maybe he's related to Bronco that would be sick!)

I love this area, the branch, and those we teach. I seriously believe that the Lord knew I needed this.

Love you guys so much!
Stay Sweet
Dont Do Drugs.

Hermana Durfee

I Call Them Miracle Texts

Sharlee's email

The first week of a transfer always seems one of the hardest. Tuesday could have been the worst of this week but of course the Lord is amazing and blessed us with miracle. The week before we were booked to the max. Always had an appointment to go to. This week was totally opposite. Tuesday was on of those days where we didn't have ANY appointments and we didn't have the miles to go to service, so we were at lost on how to fill our open time. Being desperate we put tracting (which is useless in a ysa branch just saying). We weren't looking forward at all for the day. We had a lesson with on of our awesome members and were heading out the door to do our tracting but got a text, a text from RJ.

(Hopefully I've told you a little about him) About twoish weeks ago RJ told us that he was really busy so he wouldn't be meeting with us or going to church. We were really sad because he was like our only solid investigator. The text from him that says, "What do you guys think about me getting baptized?" We were ecstatic! He's picked July 5 for his date. Seriously, I about cried. The day still was kind of crappy. Our only other appointment cancelled. But we just kept thinking about that text and it kept our spirits high. I still don't get why we get texts like that. Our district leader who has been here for the three transfers we've been together said, "I think you sisters just have to wait for your investigators to ask to be baptized!" And its so true!

And the cooler thing is that the Lord truly had a hand in this week though it might have been on the hard side. On Thursday we went contacting a few potentials and less-actives. One of the people we have tried before was Jackson Kasza. Well we felt like we should go try again. We knocked on the door and Jackson answers. It was a great lesson! I think the only sad thing is that he is a return missionary that hasn't been to church... in a LONG time. How does that even happen? But it went really well and he said we could come back. The following day was Friday, also known as weekly planning day. We had this awesome set up at the church: free doughnuts, music, a chalk board to write on. As we were trying to figure out who would be a good fellowshipper for RJ a thought came to my mind, Jackson. Jackson was a perfect person to fellowship RJ and it would also help Jackson become active! So we'll see how that goes. :D Seriously though the Lord totally set that up. RJ on Tuesday, Jackson on Thursday, and weekly planning on Friday.

We had stake conference this weekend. On Saturday we went to the adult session. It was so good, mostly because our mission president spoke at it. He cried which means I cried. It was the last stake conference being a mission president. We were sitting by Brother and Sister Thornton who are in our branch because Brother Thornton is the 1st counselor in the branch presidency. At the end of the meeting Sister Thornton turns to us and says "So icecream?" We are so blessed. And all the missionaries ran to the stand to talk to President and Sister Toombs. They shared with us that if they weren't in front of the whole stake President would hug the sisters and Sister Toombs would hug the elders. However, President has promised us he would come around the last week to hug all his sisters. I'm so excited for that.

Today is going to be fun! We got permission to go to one of the lake activities our branch is having. Though we can't go on the boat but we are totally okay with that(: I'll tell you all about it next week!

Love you guys!
Stay Sweet
Dont do drugs

Hermana Durfee

Picture 1: Washing a member's, Jamie, car.

A week full of emotions

This week has been exhausting, sad, happy, nerve racking, relieving, and pretty much awesome. We started it with this goal. Its our last week we want to get 20 lessons. No matter what it takes. There was a lot of costs. We were exhausted each day when we got home. We weren't able to do any sort of service this week and totally killed our miles. But we did it. We reached 20 lessons... 21 lessons actually! :D Another thing that we focused on was seeking referrals. Any investigator that we've gotten that have become progressing or baptized were all member referrals. Anyone that we've found through our own efforts have disappeared. So we taught 16 members this week. We've given 1-2 weeks to work on someone then we are going to do a follow up lesson to "collect" haha totally kidding! We'll then ask if any of those friends would mind if we visited them. It went really well. We have them write 5-10 names down in front of us. I have a feeling that miracles are about to happen. 

On Wednesday we said goodbye to President and Sister Toombs. That was so hard! President Toombs has done so much for this mission and me. I'm excited/nervous for our new mission president, President Mendenhall (sp?) but I'm still at the point where I don't want President Toombs to go. We had a mission conference where ALL the missionaries got together. It was so great to see faces I haven't seen in awhile. And yes, I totally cried especially during President Toombs' testimony probably because he cried as well. He really is amazing. But I do know that the Lord qualifies who He calls. He's done that for me and He'll do it for the new mission president. So President Toombs brought along 2 of his sons to the mission and one is in our ward. His name is Jordan Toombs. He's so pretty incredible, so is his voice. We usually see him a few times in a transfer to share a lesson and then to sing around the piano. Well, he's leaving a little earlier then his parents, he leaves this week so we wanted to sing with him one last time. He invited us to his house, which means thats President Toombs house, which is also out of our area. Jordan said it was okay for us to come over. We were a little intimidated. haha. It was super cool and super weird. We did the usual except President Toombs listened to us sing for a bit. (That was a little intimidating too).

It also was the last week of the transfer. We were trying to be patient but like Jose says, "Try maybe it will happen." It didn't really work. haha. Sister Anderson was pretty convinced she was leaving and I was in denial (I tried to convince my self she wasn't). And as always we had to wait till Saturday night to find out what happens to us. The first thing they do is announce who is leaving the area. And... Sister Andersons name wasn't on there.... and neither was mine! We would be staying together for another transfer, making 3 transfers together! We were/are so excited! 

But yeah that's whats up with me.(: Hopefully my sisters are keeping the blog updated ;) (Hint Hint) Shoot me a letter or e-mail. Let me know how you are doing!

Love you guys so much

Stay Sweet

Don't Do Drugs

Hermana Durfee 

Here Comes the Sunshine... and Snow! Say what??

Guys! The Gospel, Our Heavenly Father, The Savior, they are all just amazing! This amazing missionary work is just amazing. The greatest love that we could give is to share this wonderful gospel with our friends and family. This is probably the highest and brightest my mission has ever been. Why you may ask? Well let me tell you!

I've have always worked hard. You won't experience the miracles unless you are being obedient, working hard, and relying on the Savior's atonement. There is a scripture in John 4:36 that says, "And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." So I've worked hard to be okay with just being the planter of the seed. The only time I have ever harvest was my first transfer and that was Pattie. But this transfer... its totally different then all my others. 

Recently my mission president has been focusing a lot on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how we as missionaries can access it to its full potential. And as we do so we will be able to help others do so as well. "You cannot convert someone beyond your own conversion." I've taken that to heart. There is the redeeming power of the Atonement but there is the enabling power. "The Atonement makes bad men good and good men better." As I applied that and of course continued to work hard THAT is when the miracles started happening. 

I told you all about Skylar in my last e-mail. Well he has picked April 19th (this Saturday) as his baptism date. Every time we teach him he just seems to accept it at the very beginning. We taught him yesterday and thats what happened. We taught the Word of Wisdom (which is "the mormon health code"). He's had a hard time with it in the past but he said that all of the gospel just comes naturally and he excepted it like that. But the miracles don't end there.

I had court last Monday. It was really interesting. I might have felt like I had murder someone, even though it was just a car accident but Denver Court House was HUGE! The big pillars and everthing. But it went well so no worries. We haven't even left the building when a former, named Abe, we had dropped about 2 weeks ago (meaning we had stopped teaching him) texted us and said, "What do I have to do to get baptized?" SAY WHAT? We asked him if he had prayed about it and he said he had and that he really needed to talk to us. We met with him on Tuesday. A member, Ricardo, took him to Utah to watch conference and Abe felt the spirit so strong during the priesthood session and now he has picked the 26th as his date. 

Then come Thursday we get a text from a member that said, "I talked to Daphny she wants to get baptized as soon as possible." What are up with these texts? They don't happen to Durfee. But they have. All three, (Skylar, Abe, and Daphny) were at church this Sunday. We talked to Daphny and she is sooo excited. We plan on meeting with her in actually 30 minutes and our mission president told us to go for the 26th as well. 

Now, I want to clarify something. I'm not this happy because I can now see the miracles, or that I'm now a harvester and not just a planter. I'm happy because I've been able to access the Atonement more then I have in the past. That is where true happiness comes from. From our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ. Through that amazing gift, the Atonement, the ability to be washed and cleansed from our sins, and to become better. I'm not going to lie its nice to see the fruits of your labors some times but if you are working hard to do what is right and using the Atonement then you'll receive the happiness you seek. 

We had a great week missionary work wise and weather wise. Then of course Colorado has to send the snow. We were reaching 70-75 degrees and now we're back to 20 with snow! YEAH! I thought it was spring. I guess not. -.- hahaha

Alright, I've got to go. I love you guys! It would be great to hear from some of you! And here is a shout out to my older bro. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFFREY! You old fart ;).

Stay Sweet

Don't Do Drugs

Hermana Durfee

 

 

 

#BecausofHim

Now I've never really been the kind of person to do hashtags especially since I never been on instagram but #BecauseofHim has become a very important part of our missionary work here. For those who don't know what I am talking about check out this link(: easter.mormon.org. Our Savior has done EVERY THING for us. When you watch it let me know what your favorite part is. Mine is when Mary turns around and she sees Jesus Christ resurrected and the fact that we can have clean slates. Thank goodness for New Beginnings. The fact that even if we make mistakes we can be freed from the guilt and be forgiven IF we use that wonderful Atonement he has given us.

This past two weeks have been full of miracles! Skyler got baptized on the 19th. The baptism service took an 1 hour and a half, which is ridiculous. (The people who gave the talks... talked a lot). But of course thats nothing to complain about. It was great. Even before he was baptized he already expressed the desire to go on a mission which about made me cry of course. This following week we had a lesson with him and gave him Preach My Gospel and a pamphlet and told him to teach us Lesson 1 like we were investigators. He did an amazing job! And is already being a missionary among his peers. He's on fire! 

We also had another baptism on the 26th. His name is Abe Chavez. He is just fantastic as well. When we ask him questions he's not Skyler who would give an amazing answer right away but would ponder a little bit then answer from his heart. Of course it always is a great answer, I just loved how he would think about what he should say before he spoke. He's been investigating the church for a year now, and wanted to keep his baptism on the Down Low because he wanted it very intimate. It was pretty hard because the whole branch loves him. But this service was just fantastic. The Spirit was so strong and the talks were kept simple and sweet. 

We are now teaching a girl named Amber. She's very interesting but again super prepared. Everything that we teach makes sense to her. She struggles with smoking, drinking, and morality. So the commandments, which were super easy to teach to Skyler and Abe, are going to be a bit of a problem for her. But if she going to take this step she'll be able to overcome those things. She is preparing to be baptized on the 31st of May. Its exciting to already have another baptism on the way. Its still a little bit away but we felt like she would need that time to overcome her addictions. 

Transfers happened today but for the first time in 11 months of my mission I get a regular transfer p-day. I don't have to worry about getting a new companion, packing, dropping a companion off. This is also the first transfer I haven't had a new companion. In my 8 transfers out I have had 8 companions. That might be because I have also been in three trios but still. I'm really excited to be Sister Anderson's companion another transfer. We were well together. Not perfect but enough that the Spirit is always with us. Which is all I ask for.(: Now that most of our investigators are members our teaching pool has dissipated. So we are back to the beginning, finding new people to teach. Which is perfect. The beginning of the transfer(:

Thanks for those who write me! Missionaries really need support like that. And to those who dont write... you better! ;) Or else! 

Love you guys so much

Stay Sweet

Don't Do Drugs

Hermana Durfee 

Picture 1: This is Skyler at his baptism. The Elders in the picture taught him before handing him to us(: (We seriously appreciate missionaries who hand off investigators)

Picture 2: Abe's Baptism.

 

 

Snow!? In May?? Come on!

This was my view this morning. Crazy Colorado. Get a clue, its May. I would really enjoy the warm weather. Please and Thank you!

Hahaha so yeah. This week has been one of our slower weeks. We did service picking a TON of weeds... yeah! My favorite...-.- but we also did puppy service, so... puppy service > picking weeds. 

Even though its been slow we did have some miracles. Remember Judith from the last e-mail. Well we went to see her and Christina on Wednesday because that's when Judith said they were both off from work. Judith answered the door and immediately invited us in. I was all like,"whoa!" because she said she wasn't interested at all. We got inside and she just starts pouring out her heart. She had just got fired the day before. We were there a whole hour talking about Heavenly Father's love for us. She cried and told us of all the things that have happened to her. Which is crazy! So crazy I can't even put it in this e-mail. At the end we asked if there was anything we could do for her and she said, "Dont stop coming okay?" We can definitely do that! Poor chica. :( Put her in your prayers she needs them.

Another miracle! RJ (who I believe I also mentioned last e-mail) came to church this Sunday and he's just amazing. He asked great questions during Gospel Principles and we have an appointment with him on Saturday. It should be great! 

I also got to Skype my family! Yeah! I miss them so much! But time goes by so... fast. Not slowly.6 months will go by like that and I'll be back to facing the real world. I love that about a mission. Though its definitely stressful it's a different kind. 

Alright. I love you guys! Maybe pray that it will warm up a bit. That would be lovely. 

Stay Sweet, Dont do Drugs.

Hermana Durfee

​

The Work Continues

I am so sorry again for being such a slacker! I really do love this blog and really enjoy sharing her letters. I hope that you all, (whoever reads this) will not get the wrong idea. Anyway, without further ado!

May 19th,

Hermana Durfee:

This will be pretty short. I want all of you to know that I am doing really great! We don't have a great teaching pool but we are still teaching like crazy. We taught a lot of members and less-actives this week. We were able to get almost 20 lessons but we had some cancellations the last few minutes. It was a bummer but we'll reach it one of these weeks.

A miracle! We found out RJ's last name before he got baptized! I don't know why that is so hard for us haha. His name is Randolph Jackson. He's amazing! He wanted to try out another ward and ended but coming to ours too. 6 hours of church! Dedicated guy for sure! 

It was also zone conference. This is a picture(:

I love you guys, Stay Sweet and Don't Do Drugs

Hermana DUrfee

 

Here is a picture of my sister and her zone! :)

 

 

The Value of the Temple

Josie, here! :)

 

So, today I am going to be talking about the importance of the temple. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we consider the temple a way for us to commune and meet with God. It is the portal between Heaven and Earth. It is the place where we go to perform sacred ordinances, or a sacred formal act that is performed by the authority of the priesthood.

 

So, right now I am reading about Haggai. Haggai is telling the people how important the temple is, but they do not take him seriously. They do not value the temple like they should. So, they are cursed. In verse 6 of chapter 1 Haggai is saying that they hunger, thirst, and have no heat because they are being disobedient to the Lord. In verses 9-11 it reads that Haggai asked the Lord to have no rain and to make a drought cover the land because the people did not value the temple like they should. In verse 6 it is talking about a bag with holes in it I think that this means that they are wasting their money on things that do not have any value. In verses 4-6 of chapter 1 it says that the people do not think it is the day of the Lord. They think that it is not here yet. And they spend they time doing idle things.

 

So, the Lord had to remind the people of what they needed to do. He did this by stirring up their hearts in remembrance. The people then went to the house of the Lord which is the temple to do the work of the Lord. I make the temple a symbol of my membership because it determines the way I live. I want to live worthily to be able to enter the temple. I know that when I live worthily that I will be blessed.

 

The Lord blesses His people by having His Spirit remain with them. Also, He will bless the earth to make sure that it yieldeth fruit. They shall know what is clean and what is unclean. The temple provides peace because we are able to commune with God. It is a great concept.

(no subject) Hermana Durfee didn't come up with her amazing title this time...

This week has been full of some amazing, crazy, interesting stories which makes it just amazing! I'm a really happy missionary right now! :D The first story is about Gary that I mentioned in my last e-mail... Turns out he's crazy. We just decided to hand him over to the elders who are suppose to teach him. We saw them on Thursday after Institute and asked them what happened to Gary. The first thing they said was, "You didn't tell us he was crazy!" Apparently he was at the church all Wednesday just wandering around the church. He had no shoes on and was looking for his wife... then mentioned the name of Anderson (my comps name). He also had tally marks all over his arms (For those who have seen Doctor Who that's what I thought of). The bishop that was there finally called the cops. And that's all we know. His car is still parked outside the church. And Sister Anderson is pretty scared. The thing is I know we are protected. I had left my binder there on Monday and all Wednesday I wanted to go back and get it but each time I had that thought the Spirit would tell me that I had better things to do. I'm not very worried. We'll just continue to follow the Spirit and we'll be safe(:


So yeah that was kind of crazy but what I'm about to tell you next is just off the walls amazing! We have an investigator named Skylar. He is super prepared and loves reading and learning about the gospel  When we talked to him about baptism he said that he wanted to read all the Book of Mormon and Bible. Of course we told him that wasn't necessary to come to know oif it was true, but he wanted to think about it. This past Saturday we went back and we asked him what he thought. He told us that he wasn't ready. The Spirit told both Sister Anderson and I that we shouldn't say much. So we just started teaching Lesson #3. When we got to baptism he started to use an analogy on why he wasn't ready. And in mid sentence he said, "What am I talking about!? I am ready for baptism. I'm ready!" The Spirit hit all of us like a wall! I couldn't breath! I'm pretty sure that was the strongest I have ever felt the spirit. I almost cried(: He's now praying about a date either April 19th or the 26th. The Lord truly blesses you after the trail of your faith. I haven't had a baptism since my first transfer. I'm sooo happy! 


There are some pretty amazing people here. One is named Jose Sanchez. I knew him when I was in the Fort Lupton ward. He just started going to the singles branch when I got there. It was my first day in the branch, Sister Anderson's companion Sister Hauet was still there so we were in a trio for about a day. But I felt so left out and I wanted to cry because I missed Hna Trujillo so much. When we walked into FHE I hear, "Durfee?" It turned out to be Jose. I was so happy I wanted to hug him so bad! Don't worry it didn't happen. We just shook hands as hard as we could. We've seen him a lot since then and its been so great! I also mentioned Oscar who is doing great! He came to part of General Conference and even took notes. 

Missionary work is really amazing! I would never trade this even if I could! :D <--- Very Happy Girl! 

I love you guys! Thanks for all the support! I hope to hear from some of you! 

Stay Sweet
Dont Do Drugs 
(as always)

Hermana Durfee

The Majesty of the Lord

This is another look into what I, Josie have been studying in the Old Testament. It is in the book of Habakkuk, King James version of the bible.

 

In the heading of Habukkuk, or the summary it says that the Lord raised up the Chaldeans to overrun Israel. This troubled Habukkuk because he did not want the land to be overrun with the wicked. An exact quote from the summary is this, "...he was troubled that the wicked could be thus employed." This is very self-explanatory.

 

Habakkuk chapter 2:3-15 is comparable to one of the Articles of Faith. We as members of the church believe that Joseph Smith received inspiration from God to know what these were. The comparable Article of Faith is number 9. It is also comparable to Jacob 4:8, and Doctrine Covenants 101:32-34; 121:26-31; 130:18-19. These are all talking about the understanding and obtaining knowledge and glory of the Lord. 

 

In the verses of Habakkuk 2 it is talking about the steadfastness and faithfulness of the members and also the vanity of those who are wicked. It is also talking about the commandments and saying that those who covet are wicked. Verse nine says, "Woe unto him that coveteth and evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil."  This is meaning that those who covet are evil. The Lord is warning them.

 

Article of Faith number 9 reads,  "We believe all that God has ^arevealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet ^breveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." this is relatable to that of Habakkuk 2 because the Lord reveals his secrets to those who are righteous. Habakkuk was righteous, thus the Lord revealed some of His plan and inspiration to him. 

 

In Jacob 4:8 it reads,   " 8 Behold, great and marvelous are the ^aworks of the Lord. How ^bunsearchable are the depths of the ^cmysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man ^dknoweth of his ^eways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the ^frevelations of God." This is like that of verse nine the Lord only reveals His purpose to those who are righteous and who seek it. 

 

In Doctrine and Covenants 101:32-34, it saying that the Lord will reveal all things to those who are righteous in the end when He comes. In Doctrine and Covenants 121:26-31 it reads,

" 26 God shall give unto you ^aknowledge by his ^bHoly Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable ^cgift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been ^drevealed since the world was until now;

 27 Which our forefathers have awaited with ^aanxious expectation to be revealed in the last times, which their minds were pointed to by the angels, as held in reserve for the fulness of their glory;

 28 A time to come in the which ^anothing shall be withheld, whether there be ^bone God or many ^cgods, they shall be manifest.

 29 All thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall be ^arevealed and set forth upon all who have endured ^bvaliantly for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 30 And also, if there be ^abounds set to the heavens or to the seas, or to the dry land, or to the sun, moon, or stars—

 31 All the times of their revolutions, all the appointed days, months, and years, and all the days of their days, months, and years, and all their ^aglories, laws, and set times, shall be revealed in the days of the ^bdispensation of the fulness of times—"

These scriptures are saying the same thing. The Lord will reveal His secrets to those who are righteous, and He will reveal all things when He comes again. In Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19 reads, "18 Whatever principle of ^aintelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the ^bresurrection.

 19 And if a person gains more ^aknowledge and intelligence in this life through his ^bdiligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the ^cadvantage in the world to come." These verses are self-explanatory. They have a very significant meaning.