Monday, November 4, 1:17pm (No subject - no time)

(after attempting to send us several pictures that did not come through, this is her email...)

and that is all the comp(uter)  will let me send right now... its all maxed out i guess. alright this was a week of milagros (miracles) ! okay more accurate weekend because honestly our week ....well we had 3 lessons with members and our goal was 10.... but we are talking milagros...well during the week we could not get a hold of ANYONE!!! okay we could but the people we really wanted to teach our investigators with a baptismal date...we tried soooo many times to visit them and couldnt....so saturday because we didnt have any appointments we contacted poeple on the street and "knocked on doors" (actually you yell aloe really loud at their gate and they open the door and tell you they are busy so hurry up and convince them this message is worth their time) and we found 5!!!! new investigators that were interested in our message that we will begin teaching....

word to the wise...ask the people if you can sing a little song for them in their home for them and their family....then you are in their house sitting down, can talk about the gospel can turn off the TV, invite all in the house to listen to you,, and best you can sing a hymn and invite the spirit...best technic ever to bring the Spirit in fast!!! 

and more...this is a part of the letter i wrote to my mission president this week because i dont have time:

loosely translated her spanglish:

"(yesterday, our bishop told us and the other missionaries that our less active mission leader was going to return to his calling and help us with the work. and also that they were inviting us to help the ward counsel.  It was a miracle because our efforts with Hermana Gallardo and I to receive the confidence of the members in the branch (and help them gain a desire for the missionary work) worked, we have more help from the ward in the work of the Lord.  I am very happy except for one thing...  you know about our two investigators and our new investigators.    But our companionship is fantastic.  One of the highest compliments I can give Hermana Gallardo is that I trust her judgment completely. "

I love you all Im sorry I can't write more... and Mings I will read your letter later and respond

Stay strong and be missionaries now :)

Hermana Konrie Ming

Monday, October 28, Week of Change of Mind

i like my title. because it fits.

this week i experienced my first splits (24 hours with a new sector aka area and new companion) and i am not going to lie, it was difficult. i didnt really look at the good in the day until after i regrouped with my companion. we had a lot of ppl say too busy dont want to  listen to your message and even a creeper (guy only wanted the sister missionaries to come over to his house....not necessarily interested in the gospel) but we also have 2 miricles  we fgound an investigator that had moved and desired to have the gospel but was lost in the cracks when she moved and 5 people in a store that seemed like they were going to have a whole bunch of people come and listen to the gospel at onces (just ilke the missionaries in the 1800s with joseph smith)

D--18 year old, lives with grandma (less active) and takes care of her. he has a baptism date. we were thinking he no longer wanted to hear the gospel but turns out when he skipped church and said he was busy for our second appt it was because he really was busy and also because he didnt have church cloths and so felt inadequate...hes all good now....kinda...he decided to hand over his green tea so we could destroy it :) one of my fav e things to do! destroy things that are bad for other people!!!  

Ma "I" a 27 yr old mother of 2 (M-7? A-3?) been investigating the church for a few months now and has a desire for an eternal family only problem....her husband is no longer interested in the church (totally broke hna Gallardos heart when the dad said he didnt want to go to church and when he would leave our lessons with the family to go clean the car)

H- 26 yr old mother of 3 (14 10 ...and another child) she is awesome and we started teaching her when i arrived. shes sweet and her daughter LOVES the Lord and to show us her love for the Lord :) she just needs a desire past liking to hear and agree with our words

C and F (15 and 12 respectively) they have my heart...not sure why, but they totally do. they are just so sweet and innocent i just want to take them under my wing and guide them through life. sadly though they may not be as interested in the gospel as we thought...but we will keepp trying...

its hard when people dont see the importance and urgency for the gospel NOW. because you never know how long you have and this can bring you happiness now and forever...yes its hard...but doesnt that make the reward sweeter?

i am working on looking for the good otra vez and laughing more and enjoying the moment...because honestly life is good. i really appreciate all the supportive emails. they really helped. (ps for pday the missionaries in our zone aka like 320 or 30 of us went to the chile beach in case your wondering it looks very similar to CA they even had a sign claiming they had the best surf in the world LIES!!)

Hermana Konrie Ming

THE NEXT WEEK:    and that is all the comp(uter)  will let me send right now... its all maxed out i guess. alright this was a week of milagros! okay more accurate weekend because honestly our week ....well we had 3 lessons with members and our goal was 10.... but we are talking milagros...well during the week we could not get a hold of ANYONE!!! okay we could but the people we really wanted to teach our investigators with a baptismal date...we tried soooo many times to visit them and couldnt....so saturday because we didnt have any appointments we contacted poeple on the street and "knocked on doors" (actually you yell aloe really loud at their gate and they onçpen the door and tell you they are busy so hurry up and convince them this message is worth their time) and we found 5!!!! new investigators that were interested in our message that we will begin teaching....

word to the wise...ask the people if you can sing a little song for them in their home for them and their family....then you are in their house sitting down, can talk about the gospel can turn off the TV, invite all in the house to listen to you,, and best you can sing a hymn and invite the spirit...best technic ever!!! 

and more...this is a part of the letter i wrote to my mission president this week bc i dont have time

yesterday our bishop told us and the other missionaries that  our less active mission leader was going to return to his calling and help us in the work.  And also he invited us to help with the ward council.  It was a miracle because of the efforts of Hermana Gallardo and I to receive the confidence of the members in our ward and and help them gain the desire for the missionary work.  We have more help from the ward in the work of the Lord  I am very happy except one thing:  our two investigaors and new ones,, but our companionship is fantastic.  One of the hightest compliments I can give Hna Gallardo is that I trust her judgment completely.

I love you all  Im sorry I can't write more... and mings I will read your letter later and respond
stay Strong and be missionaries now :)
Hermana Konrie Ming:

If you Look Hard Enough You Can See the Miracles!

(This is the newbies to Rancagua Mision with President Warne)

I love Chile, I love the branch, I love my companion I am just so filled with love. 

This week was interesting. we really didnt teach as much as we did last week but we talked to a lot of people about the Gospel and I feel like a lot of the people that werent home when we tried to visit was Gods way of sending us to our plan D  (yes we had a plan a, b, and c too) but oftentimes the plan D was someone who needed us. whether it was a ward member that needed consolation and to know that God hears our prayers or it is a less active mother and her daughter that have a Hunger to come back to church.

its incredible, many times when the members provide lunch for 1 or 2 or all 3 sets of missionaries it is because they greatly desire or need the blessings that they have Fe (faith) will come through their sacrifice and service. I really am so humbled by the faith of the people here...and at the same time soo extremely saddened when ward members or investigators do not see the great importance of church attendance. it is a Huge difficulty here...they have work or are sleeping til 12 noon or have chores to do or dont feel like the ward members practice what they teach or some other reason. I cannot count how many times i have born my testimony on the importance of church attendance. 

chilean words: vacan=cool 

Po (pronounced like poe)= used for emphasis at the end of a sentence like  sí, po. or no, po. are the most often uses

ok it is really dangerous (do be nervous i am fine keep reading) there are tiendas (stores) like mini convenience stores EVERYWHERE....my companion and i a couple of times a week go and buy chocolate in the nearby ones of where we are at the moment like in between appts...its good and bad :) its a good thing our area (sector in spanish or chilean) is large and we walk all day. 

okay some of the people here totally talk like they have MARBLES in their mouth ...its like a mumble in the back of their throat...they are definietly the hardest for me to understand :)

ok what else? oh, dinner and breakfast are just jwhatever i feed myself, generally the normal cereal and herbal tea (for some reason i actually like the herbal tea....even though its the same as back home and i didnt back home) and crackers or an apple for during the dayç.....i dont really have much time for dinner at night so i just snack more. 

One thing i really love about my companion is that she is always complimenting me, telling me my strengths and super patient with my questions and language learning. also she respects my opinion, and if i feel like we should talk to someone that we passed she enthusiastically agrees. It is definitely something i will try to learn from her. 

thats all for now love ya!

keep your heart open (notice i didnt say eyes) for people that might need your help or your testimony  you never really know if you are an answer to a prayer until after you act

Hermana Konrie Ming

First Week in Chile- Can it be?!!!!

October 14, 2013    1:15pm

EEEEKKKKK!!!! so I am officially a chilean missionary with so many blessings!!!

I love it here. everything is really green and the mountains are really close, I would share pictures but i forgot/ran out of time to take some. next week...sorry! 

where to start?

my first comp is Hermana Gallardo of Mexico and she is PHENOMINAL the best I could ask for. this is her last transfer before she goes home :( but boy am I lucky. she wants to work hard and be obedient and actually walks faster than me!! She has such a Christlike love for the people and they can just feel her love too. she is also so patient with me always answering my questions about who is who and where we are going ( i think she takes a different way to get places every time and if she left me I really don't think i would be able to find my way home :) but I absolutely adore her and she helps me to be a better missionary!

the other WAYAWESOME blessing is.....

I have been given the gift of tongues, i have heard all kinds of stories about how even spanish speakers cant understand chileans, how they are in the top 3 fastest speakers and it takes people 3 months to get it, how they dont pronounce their {s{ so like more than one brother  should be hermanos...well its actually hermano for many poeple here...and mas o menos (so-so) is ma o meno...anyway...I can understand a most of what the people say. in my first week....and before the mission i had native spanish speakers repeat themselves 4 times with lots of slowness (cant speak english) ...but seriously! i have been blessed with the gift of tongues...dont get me wrong I have been working hard for this gift since I took spanish in high school, and speaking spanish whenever I can at the CCM and here, but God truly has blessed me.

one think I love remembering is that everyone is a child of God. EVERYONE. and God wants his children to be happy, that is why he blessed us with families and the gospel (my favorite way to start teaching people) but my point is, I try to look at people in the street and driving the taxi (we take it like once in a while) and give them the opportunity to hear the word of God :) I lof being a missionary!

now...its committment time...who is a child of god near you that needs more happiness in their life? refer them to missionaries :) because everyone can use more happiness and is a child of god :) I love you all. and I feel your prayers. thank you and stay strong!

hermana konrie ming

I'M FINALLY IN CHILE

Tuesday Oct 8, 3:11pm

safe an sound in the beautiful country of Chile. The flight was long
and tiring, but I am so glad to be here. I have an amazing companion
that is going to be done with her mission after this transfer, I am
already so excited to work with her. I get to serve in San Fernando
first, and I already know I have so much spanish and teaching styles
to learn, but it looks like we are blessings for each other. my new
pday is monday. her name is Hermana Gallardo. Love you all!!

Take faith in God. and when in doubt mosiah 2:41

Hermana Konrie Ming

FINAL EMAIL FROM THE CCM!!!

So I leave in like 3:30 from a place I have called home and been in for the last 6 weeks and it is just insane to believe. the CCM is absolutely breathtaking and so much bigger than it seems the trees are just like ones i have seen in CA and everything is so extremely green. the buildings are neat and so unique. The rainbow houses are just awesome. its kinda funny we are in the middle of a valley with mountains almost surrounding us so we can see the various houses on the surrounding hillsides and most of them are a cement brown-grey color but like every 10th or 20th house is painted a pastel color. outside the CCM mexico looks very  different from anything in the USA. for one you can tell they dont have a community service clean up crew if you know what i mean, and the streets and traffic...i dont think i will ever be able to drive here...its confusing and crazy, but I really have grown to love this place and am excited to see more of the world and cultures

 

The CCM really is amazing though

 

The food is unique. I completely surrendered to not comparing the taste of things to american food and that really helps me to appreciate it more. dont get me wrong it isnt gross it just isnt always stuff I recognize or would consider putting together...now you want examples right? um....they often will have veggies as a side dish...like carrots, green beans, and cubes of white cheese just mixed together interesting...not bad...but different as well as the chips they have at the tienda...they have doritos nacho flavor right? well they look just like the ones at home but the nacho flavor is more like thepremelted nacho cheese you buy from a concession stand with a bit of pepper kick to it...or they have lemonlime kick...different but not wrong...

 

things i miss nuts (salted almonds,cashews, peanuts, etc), mounds/almond joys, normal chips like bbq flavor, beef jerky...i am not saying this because I am begging for packages...i am saying this so you understand more differences between american and mexican food....ok maybe i am begging a litle....but i dont need everyone to send me stuff....then i will get overwhelmed! i am positive...so just...kinda....actually i have no idea what i want and am considering deleteing this paragraph....

 

 

ok on a more spiritual note:

WE HAD GENERAL CONFERENCE THIS WEEKEND!!!! whoo hoo!! what a wonderful time to listen to the counsel of modern day prophets as they tell us the words of God. I know that MANY of the prayers in my heart were answered especially in the first session! if you havent watched it yet go to lds.org it was so inspiring (AND DONT JUST WATCH ONE OR TWO! you never know if the talk you need to hear is in the session or talk you skipped...watch them all)

 

i loved all the talks on Member missionary work. We cannot do it without you guys...open your mouths and help us out! send referrals and share with others what brings you more jjoy that anything else in the world!

 

and ONe last thing: NEVER EVER LOWER EXPECTATIONS. when you lower your expectatonsyou will miss precious opportunities to touch lives and live up to your full potential. I have regained my goal to convert, baptize, and confirm 1000 people on my mission, if you tell me i cant or that is hard I will only tell you of the many other miracles that occurred with a faith in christ and an alignment of our will with GOds....I will do It!

 

keep the faith

 

Hermana Konrie Ming

THIS WEEK ...idk I don't really even have a phenomenal title for it...it was just POWERFUL :)

I love being a missionary...I just want you all to know that. and the many times a day that I pray to God for His help and inspiration, I also include requests for blessings to my Family in Friends, so that means YOU....yes, if you are reading this...you are my family and friend...because we are all Children of God...yep its true...look it up...preferrably at mormon.org or lds.org...or in a mormon songbook...like the first page of the childrens songbook...or hymn 300 in the english version and a different number in the spanish one....

ANYWAY, sorry...a little distracted i guess :)

so as missionaries we go to the temple every other week and I LOVE it there...the temple is a place of worship where worthy members of the Church can make covenants and feel much closer to God it is a very sacred place. and I literally started crying when I thought how as a missionary I may not have the opportunity to go for the next 1.5 years of my mission...but I also know that I have the important task to bring people to christ and then later (when theyre ready) they can go to the temple and bring themselves closer to God :) but they have to come to christ first -they need me and all my efforts

okay funny moment...elder cook is TERRIFIED of spiders well the elders found a spider the size of a quarter and "drowned" it...its in quotes because it didnt die...just went into shock.... ya gross right...well they had so much fun poking the spider and playing with it while it was ...."asleep" and poor...well funny...Elder cook was so terrified. he makes the best facial expressions so it was hard to feel too bad...he makes us all laugh...and the poor guy couldnt even be in the same room as the spider...

sorry that probably wasnt the funniest story....if i think of a better one ill send it your way...

Members of the Church this weekend is General Conference an opportunity to listen to MODERN DAY PROPHETS!!! that recieve revelation from GOD!! I encourage you to tell people about this opportunity and have them come over and watch it with you in your home in the traditional attire (PJS) hey who doesnt love a pj party ?! invite them and tell them....BECAUSE WE HAVE MODERN DAY PROPHETS!!!!!!!!!!! in our DAY!!!!!! ALIVE!! its phenominal! and if you dont believe me then talk to someone that doesnt know about it yet...i guarentee you will appreciate it way more. (oh and if you arent mormon then look on lds.org they will broadcast it and tell you what days and times) i challenge you to watch it at the exact moment it is happening...to adjust your plans as you need to because this is important...so very important.

dont forget to fellowship investigators of the church and new converts or inactive members of the church...you do not understand how extremely vital it is to their ability to stay active in the church.

it looks like i will leave here next week mon oct 7th idk the time yet but i will get to email the day of or day before I leave and up date you more

i misplaced my list of items i wanted to tell you...so I may either send it handwritten to my family or email it next week...ps dear elder.com is pretty cool...me gusta..

oh! apparently its not normal for it to rain for a month straight...it was because of the hurricanes on both the east and west sides of mexico that the weather was so bad...just random bits of rain...yep..so...ya...

ummm...something funny.....elder cook also calls Hermana young and I Herman (pronounced very american) Ming and Herman Young....possibly due to a family story that i hope my mom will tell for me...

ok im out of info! WAIT!!! Hermano silva totally ditched our class on wednesday...guess what he did instead....went to a beyoncé concert....guess what he brought us back...pics and glitter...its currently in Hermana Youngs journal...yep it was awesome...he is the cutest little mexican I totally just wanna put him in my pocket :) (torra- more than i wanted an action figure of my efy counselor jake remember?)

love yall

Hermana Konrie Ming

(Note from Stephanie:  Sorry I just realized I didn't update her blog this week.  Good thing I have a year and a half to get this perfected)