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