I'm thankful for MIRACLES :D

Okay so miracles!! 

Oh yeah also HAPPY THANKSGIVING this week!!! haha. Its not celebrated here in Chile obviously hah but luckily we have an awesome family in our ward who spent time in the states and understand Thanksgiving who invited us over for dinner that day. They told us on Sunday they already bought the turkey so I guess it'll just be super awesome! haha. We're excited. Plus they invited a non member and a less active member so we're even MORE excited! haha. It'll be great. Also today we had a Thanksgiving zone activity which was super fun. :) It was the first zone activity of my whole mission because my other mission president didn't allow them haha. It was super fun! :)

Anyways. Miracles! Remember Fabiola? Well she just accepted a baptismal date! That lesson was so incredibly amazing. The spirit was soooo strong. She started describing a feeling she had been having and she asked us if we had those feelings too or if she was just crazy haha. We said OF COURSE we've felt that before and we taught her about how to recognize the spirit. Then we taught her about the gift of the holy ghost and how she will be able to receive it when she is baptized. Then she just said, "about that... when can I do it?? Do I have to wait a few months or something??" And then my heart basically just exploded and I told her that Hermana Maxfield and I had actually been thinking and praying about her and we felt that she would be prepared to be baptized January 2 and then we invited her to be baptized that day and she said yes! New year new life. It was sooo amazing. Her testimony is incredible and will just deepen every day as she reads and searches The Book of Mormon. 

Sooo amazing. 

Then today we ran into Adrian on the way over here to write you guys haha and we just got talking and all the sudden came up with this amazing plan where he is going to talk to his brother about the church, give him a Book of Mormon, then he will get back together with his wife and they can get married and then they can both get baptized together with Adrian and then go to the temple and get sealed! So that is our plan now haha. After saying all that Adrian was just like, man, that would be such a dream for me. Then he said he would talk to his brother so hopefully something amazing comes out of that! We're excited. :) 

Okay so I just love you guys soooooo much. Next week I'll be starting my second to last transfer which is CRAZY. Soooo crazy. Time is just flying as always but I am soooo happy. So life is good. :) I hope you guys are all happy tooooo! I pray for that soo much. I hope you can feel my prayers. :) I love you guys so so much. Have an amazing week! :)

Hermana Cannon II 

1. The best zone ever!

 

 

2. Our district

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. District again

 

 

 

4. Hermana Young and the weirdest gluten free pasta you will ever meet. She takes care of me :D

 

 

Charity :D

Sooooo this was the best week ever!!! :) 

Adrian finally accepted a baptismal date! Miracle time. We weren't even planning on teaching him that day but the other appointment we had fell through and for some reason we just both felt like we should go visit him. Idk if I mentioned this before but he lives in our same apartment building, so we just took the elevator up to the 9th floor and rang his doorbell. He came out, and we went downstairs to the lobby for the lesson since he was home alone. Hermana Maxfield and I talked before and decided this was the moment to try, yet again, and see if he was ready to accept a baptismal date. We asked him what baptism meant for him and he said it was a renovation, a restart. He talked about the life he had before he met the missionaries and how he needed to put it all behind him and start over. He told us about how when he met the missionaries in the elevator so many months ago, he was in the middle of a pretty big conflict with some people and was actually planning on doing some things he would've regretted. But since he started recieving the lessons, he changed his mindset. He's changed a lot. Even more than I realized. He said he no longer has bad thoughts. He no longer drinks. He has since given up coffee even though he doesn't completely understand the why behind it. He has been praying for support from his family and really wants at least one of them to join the church with him so he doesn't have to do this alone because he has every intention of enduring, and realizes that it will be hard once the missionaries leave. But he wants to. That's why he was putting off a baptismal date--he had been trying to talk to his family about it but just hadn't found quite the right opportunity yet since they live a couple hours away. After that the spirit changed the date we had already planned to extend to him which was november 28, and my companion asked him if he would be willing to be baptized January 1st of 2016. My gut reaction was like whatttttt?!?! haha because who knows if I'll still be in this sector by then. But then I let the spirit work in me and I realized it was kind of perfect. It would be a new year, new beginning, fresh start, clean slate. Plus then that would give his family time to hopefully learn and accept the gospel in their city, and give him more time to really get comfortable in this ward and make some good friends who can support him through this. 

That was the last lesson of the day and when we got home and I just threw myself on the ground and just laid their for a while with a GIANT smile on my face and Hermana Maxfield and I took turns saying "I can't believe it......." "finallyyyyyyy" haha. I was SO happy. I'm STILL on a cloud about it just writing this haha. Seeing that change in him was so sacred to us. The series of events of how he met the missionaries flashed through my head, the experience he had with them, with Hermana Vega and I, and then finally with Hermana Maxfield and I. I saw a replay of his progress and just sat there marveling at how far he's come. I felt the whisper of the Spirit teach me once again that God loves his children and truly does have a plan for each one of us. He puts things and people in our path for a reason and as we strive to be sensitive to the Spirit and follow his promptings, he will usually teach us why. That's true for all of us-- not just missionaries. Miracles can happen every day if we just look for them and ask God to let us be part of them. We'll find ourselves seeing people through His eyes, which makes us suddenly aware of the lense we've been wearing that was put on us by the world and all its unrealistic standards and false definitions of beauty, success, love, happiness, etc. We stop classifying people and begin loving them. Love being an action word. We start finding ways to communicate that love in ways that are more fool-proof than words like giving service, time, listening, understanding, ministering, sacrificing, and so much more. We can read about Christ and pattern the way we communicate love after His. And if for any reason we get scared or nervous to show that love, we can remember what it says in Moroni 7-- "charity never faileth" because it's true. 

My Savior. :) Loving him more and more everyday. And all of you. :) 

Have the best week ever. Fill it up with charity. :) 

xoxo

Hermana Cannon    

Pics from last week that I couldn't send haha:

1. Me opening the awesome halloween package y'all sent me :D I downed that bag of candy corn sooooooo fast 

 

2. Me and guitar reunited AT LAST. Happiest week of my liiiiiife
 

 

Falling With Styyyyyle

Hellllooooooo!! :)

So it's been a pretty great week. We found some new investigators on the street who have all accepted to receive the discussions so we're excited about that. :) I love breaking social norms haha. People on the street think we're strangers but little do they know we're siblings :D

Speaking of family and the human race.... this week I've been studying a lot about the fall of Adam and Eve, the mortal existence, and our need for a Savior. I learned again that there are two things that we cannot overcome alone... sin and death. So when we talk about salvation, that is what we are being saved from--sin and death. Thanks to Jesus Christ we can LIVE again. After we die. Be resurrected. That is how we overcome death. He will make possible for us what would otherwise be impossible without him. 

Then there's sin. We have all sinned. But Him--never--which is why he has the power to forgive us, if we live his gospel. Those are his conditions. Faith, Repentance, Baptism in his name by his authority, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. That's it, and we are saved. He will forgive us and we will overcome our sins. Again, making possible that which would otherwise be impossible without him. 

I think before my mission I sometimes would let myself get angry or frustrated by my questions and things I didn't understand, that I wouldn't just let myself accept the simplicity of the gospel. But now I have. :) I feel like I've reconnected with the faith I had as a child, even with all the knowledge and questions I still have. It's pretty amazing. It feels like the fear of free falling mixed with the constant reminder that I have a working parachute. That fear is actually dispelled when I remember Christ. He truly is the light and the life of the world. 

As for the work and lessons and stuff, we've had some really interesting experience this week! haha 

So we taught this man who after being raised in a Catholic family has now stopped believing in God. His reliance on physical evidence and scientific proof has prevented him from having a relationship with his Father in Heaven which was pretty sad to hear about. He rejected our testimonies and there was really nothing we could do for him. Nothing we said would make him sit and think until we asked him why he didn't want to believe. He didn't really have an answer to that one. I still really liked talking to him though because he was really upfront and honest with us about what he believed. My favorite part was at the end of the lesson when he opened up enough to ask us what we thought of him and his beliefs and way of life. I told him I thought he was missing the purpose of his life and his divine potential as a child of God. He thought that was interesting and from the look in his eyes I could tell that was the first time he had ever realized that not believing in God might actually be closing doors instead of opening them. But then after a moment he returned to his same doubts and we all ended up agreeing that it would be better not to make a return appointment. But we let him know that we would still be there for him and that he could call us if he ever changed his mind. 

It was a pretty intense experience. But also a landmark for me in my spiritual progress. I came out from that lesson undented which probably wouldn't have been the case before my mission. But I'm different now and Christ is the reason. :)

Love you all lots and lots. :)

Hermana Cannon II       

            

1. So Leonardo is an investigator from my first area, Nunoa, who I taught with Hermana Andersen. He got baptized on Saturday and President gave us permission to go back to Nunoa for the baptism even though I'm not in that area anymore! It was magic. 

 

 

2. My companion with her old companion, who is now in Nunoa. :)

 

 

3. I got to see Paola again while I was in Nunoa! Hopefully you remember her haha. She got baptized in Februrary. We hugged and she cried.  

Milagros :) from Sept 29th

Hey everyone!!

Lots of miracles this week!! First of all, Hernan got baptized on Sunday which was just beautiful. When he came up out of the water he wiped the water off his chest and said "estoy limpio" (I'm clean) with the happiest smile ever. He's about 55 and says even though he would've liked to learn about the gospel earlier in his life, he's happy to be able to start a new phase of life now. He has a lot ahead of him and is just full of faith and hope. He was a miracle from the start.

Adrian came to the baptism which was sooooo good for him. He's been receiving missionaries for about 6 months but had never seen a baptism because Hernan's baptism was the first one that had happened in this ward in a year. We tried to set a baptismal date with him last week but he said he wasn't ready to commit. But after the baptism we were talking about Hernan receiving the priesthood and Adrian said, "so does that mean he could baptize me?" we've seen so much progress in him it's so amazing!!! He's awesome. 

Joselin, another investigator, also came and asked us after about what do the girls wear when they get baptized?? Another sign of progression! The baptism was just so beautiful and full of the spirit. We had 2 musical numbers and the talks were just really humble and focused on Christ.

We're also teaching  a man named Ruben. Not sure if I've told you about him before but anyway he's been investigating the church for 2 years and would be baptized right now but he can't because his girlfriend doesn't want to marry him. But every time we meet with him he says he just wants to endure to the end because he believes in miracles and that one day his girlfriend will marry him. They've been together 12 years already. She just doesn't believe in marriage. But we are hoping to talk to her this week about her beliefs and see if we can help them with that. So please pray for them! Ruben and Amada. Seeing them get married would be SUCH  a huge miracle. I believe it can happen!! We just gotta pray lots and lots and follow the spirit lots and lots and the rest is up to them and God. 

Also teaching a girl named Ignacia. She was raised Catholic but said she never really felt the spirit there. Last week she wanted to know how to receive revelation so we gave her a talk by Richard G. Scott called "Agency and Answers: Receiving Revelation" and then the next time we met with her she said she had received her answer and wanted to be baptized. She's 21 years old and her spiritual independancy is so inspiring. She only lives in our sector Monday-Friday though so she'll have to get baptized in the ward she lives in on the weekends. 

We keep having experiences everyday that remind me that this is God's work. I LOVE being a missionaryyyyyyyyy. This is the happiest transfer ever haha. Just praying as hard as we can so that all this progress we've seen can keep going. :)

Love you all so much and am constantly thinking and praying for you!

xoxo

Hermana Cannon II 

1. Hernan's baptism! :)

 

 

2. Me and my comp at the doctor for her foot probs. Yeah she has a boot now haha. pobrecita.  

Conference Weekend

Hey everyone!

So a little bit about what's going on right now.

Hernan is doing great! We taught him about his upcoming confirmation (he has to wait another week to be confirmed because this week was conference and next week he'll be out of town) and what it means to receive the gift of the holy ghost. I had a lot of memories flash back from my childhood of times I had felt the spirit. I told him about how many times as a child I would receive warnings or promptings from the spirit and would act because of them and be blessed. The spirit was also the reason I finally decided to serve a mission. I had been receiving gentle yet persistent nudges from the spirit just about everyday for a year before I finally surrendered and said okay fine I'll go haha. He's super excited to receive that same spirit as his constant companion and we are too. :)

I love seeing the way people react to hearing about the things for the first time that I have known all my life. It makes everything fresh and new to me and I really see the sweetness of the gospel and remember what it means to be a Latter-day Saint. I don't think I would've quite understood that without serving a mission. It helps to step outside the box and see yourself from the eyes of those outside. Seeing the way the gospel changes people and gives them a new light is beautiful and probably the most fulfilling thing I've ever done. 

We're working with someone named Eduardo (the one who is in a wheel chair and half blind) who has already had a notable change from realizing the existence of God. Ever since his accident 30 years ago he's been pretty angry. But we taught him about God, eternal life, and resurrection and even though he still hasn't developed full faith, the hope of having a perfect body someday has really lit up his countenance. We taught him how to pray and every time he does he can't stop smiling. 

Adrian is also doing super great! He came to all four sessions of conference! He is awesome. During one of the talks when it started talking about baptism he looked over at us and pointed to himself as if to say, "this one's for me." We are hoping that he will accept a date to be baptized this week. 

Were seeing lots of good things right now in Cristobal Colon. I just wanna stay here forever haha. I would love to spend the rest of my mission here if possible. We'll see! Plus I have the best companion ever. Hopefully she'll be the one to kill me haha (the one I end my mission with). 

Hope you guys are all doing amazing. I said a nice long prayer for lots of you last night so you're welcome haha. :) Love you sooooooo much!!! 

xoxo

Hermana Cannon II 

1. Haven't changed a bit

 

2. Me and my compy!! XD

 

I'M ALIVE

So this was the craziest week everrrr!!!!! hahah I'm sure most of you heard about the earthquake right?? Yeah that was the craziest scariest thing I've ever experienced ever!!! hahaha. Me and Hermana Maxfield were just sitting there in the apartment doing weekly planning as usual, when all the sudden we feel the room start to quiver a little bit. We just sat there still for a while and didn't really think anything of it since we had already felt a few small earthquakes since being in Chile. but then after about 20 seconds right as I was expecting it to stop, it starting getting wayyyy stronger!!! hahhaa  So of course I start freaking out and Hna. Maxfield's just like "Get to the door frame! Get to the door frame!" So I get to the door frame and am just gripping the sides of it for my dear life and just start praying harder than I ever have before!! I literally saw my life flash before my eyes!!!!! hahahah It was so crazy. I have never felt so vulnerable ever in my life haha. Then when things calmed down we peaked out side and saw our neighbor Isabel who was out of breath and trying to calm down her dogs. She told us to get out of there so we got out of there haha. When we got down to the bottom floor (we live on the fifth floor) we saw that the majority of the residents had also come downstairs and among them we saw one of our investigators that also lives in our building. When I saw her I just hugged her as hard as I could and was so happy that she was okay!! But then we had to leave because we had an appointment with Hernan haha. Missionary in any weather!!! So then we went to teach Hernan and he was totally calm and just like, hey if it's our time to die it's our time to die! haha. Then during the lesson there was like two aftershocks!! haha but they were just small. Since then I've felt two others in the middle of the night and another small one during the day. People are saying that we are still waiting for a bigger one so I'm just getting my last confessions in! haha. Nah I think we'll be fine. Santiago is built for earthquakes. Nothing fell and no one was hurt over here. But there were about 12 people in northern Chile that died but its super far from where we are. But I was pretty shocked to hear that. Calling all prayers for northern Chile! 

But yeah so that was the craziest thing from this week haha. But don't worry I am totally fine and even though I was scared out of my mind for a second there I thought it was overall the awesomest experience ever haha. XD

An another note, Hernan is doing awesome and is getting baptized this Sunday! :) He is so awesome and is amazingly prepared. It's been a really great experience teaching him and has been amazing how readily he has accepted all the new commitments. We were a little worried about tithing so we had our ward mission leader teach about that during gospel principles. Another investigator, Ruben, was also there that day to hear the lesson and last week, our ward mission leader said he saw him filling out a tithing envelope. 

The faith of these people is so inspiring and strengthens me every day. We're also teaching someone named Adrian who is just amazing. We asked him to share his testimony with us and then found out that he had been receiving little signs every few days that made him think about us, The Book of Mormon, and baptism, and let him know that this was the path for him. He went away on vacation for the Idependance Day weekend (Sept. 18th in Chile) and when he got home he told us that he had brought with him 2 books-- his Book of Mormon and another novel he was reading but that he couldn't read the novel because all he wanted to do was read the Book of Mormon. We went through the chapters he read and he showed us the connections he had made between the stories and his own life. I saw something in him that I had seen before in myself and it brought tears to my eyes. It's amazing to see someone discover their spirituality and to feel a personal connection with God. I felt such a deep love for him and knew in that moment that when I opened my call back in Provo in April 2014, God wasn't just calling me to Santiago, Chile, he was calling me to Adrian. It's something I haven't always felt out here but something that I keep feeling more of as my conversion runs deeper and deeper. There is something eternal about the relationships I'm developing out here, and I can't deny the feeling that tells me we've always been a family and that these people are truly my brothers and sisters. It gives me an amazing sense of identity no matter where I am or who I'm with. And it is amazing to testify of that to the friends we are teaching, feel the spirit, sense in their eyes that they felt it too, and flash back for an instant beyond the veil and feel the love that has always been between us, regardless of age, gender, race, or nationality. Its so incredibly beautiful. 

I love this gospel. I love this work. I love being a missionary. I love being a disciple of Christ. I love all of you. I love Chile. I love everything!!! Even earthquakes haha. :)

Sending allllllllll my love,

Hermana Cannon II   

1. Me and my cute companion :D

 

2. Unclogging the nasty drain that had never been unclogged since the beginning of time

 

3. We love food. Gluten free pasta. 

 

4. Elevator because why not

 

Transfers!

Hey everyone!!!

Well I'm staying another transfer in Cristobal Colon! Yay!! But I'm getting a new companion which is super crazy!!! Hermana Vega and I only had one transfer together which is suuuuuper short for this mission. So we'll find out tomorrow who my new companion will be! I'm super excited :) Definitely gonna miss Hermana Vega but change is always good. 

So last week we contacted a few young girls in the street and made an appointment to come back a few days later. Then at church on Sunday, a member from the other ward that meets there came up to us and said, "Hey you guys met one of my students in the street!" Turns out she is a local high school English teacher and the girl we contacted was her student! She said that once everyone found out she was Mormon they all started asking her questions and made a pretty big deal about it, haha. She also said that the girls we contacted started passing around the cards we had given them to the other kids in their class. So now the whole school knows about the church all because we contacted those two girls in the street!! Super cool. I loved hearing about that because sometimes its hard talking to so many people and never really knowing the effect we are having on them. All we can do is just pray every night that the people we gave cards to can just open their heart and start their search. And when they do it's pretty incredible. 

Lately I've been telling people about how I've been growing my testimony that the gospel is true. I realized that before my mission, I would pray to know if the Book of Mormon was true but hadn't felt that I really received "the answer." I had had spiritual experiences and felt that it was all true, but it seemed more like a "I hope this is true because I've spent my whole life following it so far and the blessing of an eternal family would be pretty amazing!" instead of a truly secure feeling of truth. I've realized now that before I don't think I was really praying with "real intent." I just wanted to know so that I could say that I knew. But out here on the mission I realized that I need to have an action plan, or feel an urgent need in preparation for some future happening if I want to receive a more direct answer. It was the same with Moses. God wouldn't have parted the Red Sea if there hadn't have been an urgent need--saving lives. After realizing that I contemplated my life and told God that if these things were true, and if he really was going to give me an eternal family, I was willing to do "such and such and such" and I told him specifically the direction I was willing to take my life and the sacrifices I was willing to make. It was kind of scary and I was nervous, but I told Him. Then later that day I received another witness, but this time stronger and more dawning, that this gospel is true. Those moments and feelings are usually the only things strong enough to keep me on the path when my doubts seem to get the better of me. They fill me with hope and reassure me that tomorrow the light will reappear. And it always does. Sometimes it takes longer than just a day haha but it always comes back. 

The security that I have felt during this transfer through this spiritual growth have been pretty incredible. I hope to always always always remember how powerful diligent, sincere, and direct prayer is for the rest of my life.

Wish I had time to write more but that's it until next week! 

Love you guys! :)

Hermana Cannon II

1. Got to see a bunch of people from Ñuñoa at a huge multi-stake devotional we had with President and all the missionaries! Soooo good to see them again. 

 

2. Me with Juana and Leonardo from Ñuñoa. Hna. Andersen tells me that Leonardo is on date to be baptized next month!!

3. Our last P-day together with Hna. Vega. (me, Hna. Vega, Hna. Bajaña, Hna. Mendez)

 

4. Me and Hna. Vega :)

 

 

Hey fam! (from Sept 1, 2015)

Hello everyone!!

hope you're all doing great as usual. :) 

This has been another great week! We went to the temple again but this time with a newly married couple named Jaime and Evelyn. Evelyn is a member and Jaime is Catholic, but has been totally supportive and willing to listen to our message. He even comes to church with Evelyn almost every week. It's pretty awesome teaching them because all Evelyn wants is an eternal marriage and family and is constantly bearing testimony to her husband about that possibility for them. Hoping to see more progress in him this week!

We're actually teaching 2 other couples like them, so we've been teaching a lot about eternal marriage and family these days. It has got me thinking about what and who is really the most important in life. I've also been studying a lot about repentance lately--it just keeps jumping out at me haha--which has made me take a look back into my past and see what I've done wrong. It's been kind of heart-wrenching haha but also incredibly eye opening. As I recognize the things I've done wrong, it gives me an incredible hope for the future. It's super frustrating to know you need to change, but not know how. But by having awesome companionship inventories and being slapped in the face by the scriptures, it has helped me to figure that out. I still have a long ways to go but each time I make progress, I feel a LOT happier and hopeful. Moroni 8:25-26 and Alma 5:26 are becoming some of my favorite scriptures because of that because they describe how someone feels after having a change of heart. And it's sooooo true. 

We also taught Hernan this week who is on track to be baptized Sept. 20! We're also teaching Jose Jimena, Sergio, and Patricia who have also accepted baptismal dates. Not sure if I mentioned them before... but yeah it'd be awesome if you guys could all pray for them so that they can keep progressing and make it to their baptismal dates. :) They're doing great so far, but some of our appointments have fallen through which is never good. But I know they'll be okay if we do all we can to help them. :)

Hope you all have the best week ever!! Love you!

Hermana Cannon 

1. Yayyyyyy finally got your package Momio!! thank youuuu! 

2. Us at the temple with Jaime and Evelyn :)

3. Me with my sister training leaders and bffs :D Hna. Aponte who I've been together with since the MTC and Hna. Clawson (oh and I forgot to tell y'all that I got released this transfer from being an STL)

 

 

4. Me and my cute comp. We did our hair today. Go us. 

 

:D

Hey everyone!!

It's been another great week here in Cristobal Colon! We're already in week five out of six of this transfer which just blows my mind. Hna. Vega and I have already been through so much and I feel like I've been with her forever even though I'm technically still new in this sector haha. Time is flying. I had like a kind of sureal time warp experience today haha. We went to some other hermanas apartment so they could cut my hair (yay my second trim during my whole mission haha hooray) and saw some missionaries walking down the street so we stopped to say hi. Turns out this was like their last day in Chile because they were all finishing up their missions and as we got ready to say goodbye they were like, "ahhh the last six months fly by sooooo fast!! Enjoy every second of it!!!" And I was like, "YEAH IT DOES." So that gives me anxiety haha. But not really though because Hna. Vega is teaching me a lot how to really live in the moment and absorb every bit of happiness the moment has to offer. Also I've been studying repentance a lot this week and that has really opened my eyes to a lot of things I was missing out on before. I feel like my eyes have opened up like on the Claritin Clear commercial when they peel away the fuzzy film and everything brightens up a little. IT'S SO COOL. That's what a change of heart will do for you. Aka repentance. Pride is so funny because you truly do believe you're right, but then when you open yourself to the possibility you could be wrong, and then you actually learn you were wrong, and then you change, life gets soooooo much better. But when we are still blinded by pride, we honestly think there could be nothing better than our own ideas, and we end up missing out on a whole bunch of awesome happiness. I feel like I accepted Alma's invitation in Alma 5:26. It talks about how when we experience a change of heart, we get filled with this awesome desire to just sing the song of love at the top of our lungs because we feel redeemed. Then we asks at the end, if we haven't felt that way yet, can we feel that way now?? If we have a heart and it's still beating, the answer is a yesssssss! :) As long as our clocks are still ticking, we can just go ahead and be redeemed as much as we want. 

So yeah. I love the gospel. :) And I love teaching it. We had a really cool lesson this week with a girl named Jimena. She's 17 and we were explaining the plan of salvation. She had a lot of really great questions and by the end she said that she had received a lot of answers that she had been wondering about for a long time. She accepted to be baptized on Sept. 27. :)

We were also teaching Hernan this week, who was a reference from the mission office, who also accepted to be baptized. We also went on a temple tour with him this week which was really beautiful. They let visitors stand in the reception area so we just stood there for a while to look around and feel the spirit. I swear it's tangible in the temple. It was a really cool experience being there with him and getting to see it through new eyes. I think sometimes we take the temple for granted, especially if we live in Utah and there's five temple in every city haha. But by seeing the temple through the eyes of our investigators, it's really opened mine up too and I've really come to appreciate and marvel at the temples. Not only are they magnificently beautiful but they're the house of God. 

Hope you guys all have an awesome week! Also go to the temple if you can because it's the best ever. Or even just to the grounds if you don't have a recommend just to sit there and feel the spirit. It's almost just as tangible in the gardens haha. 

Love you guys. :)

Hermana Cannon II  

1. Hna Vega hit 9 months in the mission and the baby's showing ha ha

 

2. We went running! Woohoo! Go us.

 

 

3. Temple tour with Hna. Vega, the other Hermanas, Hernan, and Danny

 

 

 

 

4. Gettin' my hairs cut XD

 

 

 

House Upon a Rock

Hey everyone! :) 

Wow, what a week it has been. I've learned sooooo much this week. I knew progress was awaiting me with transfers happening, and now that I've been here for about 2 weeks, it has come true haha. 

There have been a lot of challenges this week--new sector, new companion, new everything. I felt like I started my mission all over again haha, since it was my first time being transferred after a year. And through it all, I've learned now more than ever what it means to rely on Christ. I have never felt so strongly the strengthening power of the Atonement. It makes me brave. It makes me endure. It makes me not worry about what other people think. It gives me a reason to believe I can and should do difficult things. And as I do the right thing, no matter how difficult, no matter how much it seems like I should be suffering, I feel extremely happy. And that happiness is overwhelmingly reassuring because it's undeniable. My faith is becoming unbreakable. And wow is that something I needed to learn. This for me, is a testimony of many things. That God really does inspire the transfers, that I can learn more through the spirit, faith, and action than I ever could just through study, the power of Christ is real, the spirit really is a comfort, everything that Jesus taught in Matthew 5 is true, and so much more. 

So now I'm just praying with all my heart that I can stay firmly built upon Christ, because if I can, I won't fall. I know that, not just because it is written in Helaman 5:12, but because I've lived it. 

Love you all so much :). Keeping you in my prayers.

Hermana Cannon II   

Starting from scratch!

From August 4, 2015

Hey everyone!

Just finished week one in my new area--Cristobal Colon. I loooooove the area. Seriously so beautiful. Trees, green, the sweetest apartment buildings ever, and really nice people. It feels like a completely different world haha. My new companion is Hermana Vega from Peru! So far I've had 2 Peruvian companions (Hna. Gil and Hna. Vega), 1 from Guatamala (Hna. Garcia), and 1 from California (Hna. Andersen). Just in case you wanted an update haha. And this is my second area. We'll see if I finish my mission here since I was in my first area for 11 months! haha. We'll see. I'd be happy with that. 

So miracles. 

Literally such an awesome sector. 2 weeks ago, Hna. Vega and her other companion (before I got here) were walking down the street and met Evenlyn. They just randomly said hi to her and then she stopped to talk to them. Turns out she was a less active member and wanted to know where the church was. So they gave her the address, got her contact info, and made an appointment. She came back to church that Sunday for the first time in about 15 years. Then I got here and we had a lesson with her and her husband Jaime, who is Catholic. We talked about the temple and eternal marriage and my heart was literally about to melt off my chest when Evelyn testified to Jaime about how she wanted to be with him forever and how grateful she was to have met the sisters. He's been totally supportive to her about getting reactivated but has been kind of closed off himself. Until the other day when she told us that a friend had asked him if he was going to join the church and he said "ya never know." Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh they are so incredible. Her example is so inspiring to me.... coming back to the church after 15 years of no contact whatsoever. Her faith is so strong. 

So yeah! It's been a great week despite the fact that I feel like I just started my mission over again haha. It's okay though. Growing pains. Change is good. I can't let myself think about Ñuñoa too much though or my heart starts to hurt haha. I had to leave behind a lot of people I love and a lot of progressing investigators who I still think about and pray for constantly.... But Hna. Andersen and her new companion are AWESOME and I'm excited to hear about the miracles they're gonna see. :)

Love you guys so so much!!!

Hna. Cannon II 

Here Comes the Son

Helllllooooooo everyone :)

It's has been SUCH a great week. I've finally resurfaced and am breathing fresh air again haha. And learned a TON. I've realized yet again that the only one I can truly trust is Christ. He is stable. Unchanging. Constant. Perfect. And the only one whose footprints we can follow without getting dizzy or confused. I keep learning that no matter how well-meaning people can be or how hard we try, we just fail haha. We truly do need Jesus Christ because he is the center of our lives, whether we realize it or not. He is the center of the universe and all the life in it. I learned a little bit more about that when I was reading about Astronomy in the guide. Did you know theres a whole section on astronomy in the topical guide?? Yeah. It's awesome. 

But yeah! So realizing this again made for a good stream of self progression, and companionship progression, which was reflected in the progress of our sector. So weird how that works. Carlos, Paola's father in law, finally came to church for the first time and I got to sit by him. It was so much fun helping him through the hymns, explaining the sustainings, etc. We even got to take the gluten free sacrament together. It was a really great experience and he seemed happy and nervous all at the same time. 

Emilio also came to church and we had a really great lesson with him last week. It was the first lesson I've ever given as a missionary in ENGLISH. It was soooo cool. He lived in the states for a while and actually requested that we do it in English so that's why we did it. But it was so refreshing to hear my testimony in my native tongue haha. It was somehow more personal. I could really just reach inside and express more acturately what was going on in my heart. And Hna. Andersen did the same. We made a really special connection with him that night and were happy to hear of his intentions to join the church. Now we're just hoping to be able to explain to him that being baptized is much more than that. 

Love you all soooooo so much. Hope you have the best week ever and that you can remember where the center of the universe is and keep your eye fixed on Him and that way feel more balanced. 

All my love,

Hna. Cannon II  

Progress, sucking, rock bottom, and charity

Hey everyone!

 

So I had kind of a defining moment last week. We went to go teach an investigator and we found her in the street outside her house, grinding marijuana for her dad. He took the container of weed, took a nice long sniff and shoved it towards my face and said, "you guys don't take this do you?" I immediately backed away and said no. He said that was a shame and went on to roll it, lite it, took the first drag, and then handed it to his 15 year old daughter who followed his example and smoked it as well. It broke my heart. I told them that the weed was controlling them, but that Christ could free them if they would let him. I asked them if they wanted to stop smoking and the dad initially said no, but then thought twice and said, "well if I could start my life over again I wouldn't do it, but I'm 50 years into this now and I don't want to stop." I told him that if he really has the desire, he can start over. That he can start over and this time, in Christ. He refused and we walked away with my heart still beating--feeling a little short of resources as far as how to help him. 

I don't think I would have stood up like that at the beginning of my mission. So even though I felt bad about him not wanting help, I felt happy because of the progress I saw in myself. 

Still trying to stay focused and motivated every single day. Sometimes it's hard to be in one sector for such a long time, but that just means I need to pray harder and search deeper, passed the failed attempts of the past and try to see these familiar streets as untouched possibilities and open doors. But I also love being here for such a long time because I get to see the progress from start to finish, like I mentioned with Jaime the other week. Contact, lessons, baptism, confirmation, and then the temple. And that has been SO cool to see.

Also have been learning huge lessons about charity. Trying to wash my window instead of viewing the world as the dirty thing. Trying to be like Christ. Trying to learn more. Pray more. Trust more. Believe more. Everything more haha. 

It's crazy the difference in my life when I really pray verses just chatting. Or reciting. For me I've seen that sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom to bring me to my knees in such a way where there is nobody else in my world... just me and God. Even though its kind of painful--falling from such a high place to rock bottom (aka realizing I suck and developing humility haha) those experiences are some of the most sacred and special times I've had on my mission. It's exilarating and touching to see other people make covenants and change lives, but there's nothing like realizing the necessity of my own salvation. And the sensation of being rescued. Even if I have to learn it on my knees on the bathroom floor of our apartment.

So my prayer is that God can use my lame-ness in such a way that these people really can get the help that they need. I know He will. It's his specialty. Making miracles out of the weak and dismal. 

I'm down for that. :)

Love you all more than gluten-free anything.

All my love,

Hermana Cannon II

Last picture with President and Hna. Wright! Our new President will be coming in the next couple of weeks (President Marty Morgan. Hear he's awesome too!)

 

 The best district you have ever seen.

These "American" chips came with ketchup. Who do they think we are?

 

 

 

Still in Ñuñoa!

Hey everyone!

So we just had transfers and I'm still here!!! hahahaha crazy right? By the end of this transfer I will have been here for 11 and a half months. Almost a year. And actually a few weeks ago I was thinking that maybe I needed a change to stay focused, but then after me and Hna. Andersen had like literally THEE best weekly planning session ever, I got really scared that I wouldn't get to see the miraclessssss. So when they told me I was staying I was SO HAPPY!!! We're teaching some really awesome people right now and are praying harder than ever so I can't wait to see what happens! 

So we've been working with a less active member lately named Juana and she finally came to church for the first time after 20 years of not going! And she brought her 21 year old son who isn't a member so we're gonna try and start teaching him. Also we had lunch with Jaime (our convert who got baptized in March) and his entire family who aren't members on Sunday. It was AWESOME. We talked about eternal families and how if they all accept the gospel and are baptized, they can live with the promise of having an eternal family. It was so awesome and so powerful. I could see in their eyes a flood of possibilities as they considered it. We've talked to Jaime's family before and always invite them to listen in on the lessons, but they've always said no. But then after talking about how important their family is to them, Jaime's sister and mother finally accepted to take the lessons and we made an appointment. Ahhhhhhhh we can't wait to teach them!!! They just kept saying they can't believe how much Jaime has changed... and that to them is proof that miracles happen. He really has changed so much. 

Oh! and Diego's friend came to church again this week-- for his third time. They both came in button down shirts. One of the members in the ward bought a tie for Diego so he's excited to start wearing it. :) Also we'd never met his friend's parents but we called his mom yesterday and she said that she was also interested in getting to know what the church is all about and to see what her son has been learning. So we're gonna meet with her as soon as she accepts an appointment! She said see was busy this week but hopefully she can next week. 

Oh yeahhhhh.... remember Jorge Manriquez?? The investigator that I was teaching with my first companion at the beginning of my mission?? The one whose baptismal date kept falling through? Well we stopped teaching him for a while but last week we decided to invite president and Hna. Wright to come with us to the appointment to see if they could help him out. I just couldn't drop him without one last push. I mean, he read the entire Book of Mormon and said he believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet!!! So we had a pretty intense appointment with President and Hna. Wright but nothing changed :(. He's a good man and doesn't have a bad life by any means but I know he would be so much happier living with the promise of a covenant and learning how to be more like Christ. That's probably one of the most valuable things I've been learning while being out here. There's a huge difference in my mood and temperment when I'm trying to be like Jesus.

So yeah it was an awesome week. :) Love you all sooooo much!!!!! 

Hna. Cannon II

Temple!

Hey everyone!

This week was so awesome :D. We got to go to the temple with Jaime for his first time which was sooooo sweet. I've been with him from the beginning... taught him every lesson, saw him be baptized, confirmed, worked with him on his family history, and now we got to see him be baptized in the temple for his ancestors. Literally the best feeling in the world. He wrote us the sweetest letter afterwards and talked about how his life has been changed and that we'll be his amigas forever. 

Felicita, another amiga, came to church for the first time finally! She cried all throughout sacrament meeting and said she felt a constant flow of the holy ghost. She shared her testimony in Sunday school about how she was about to die a few years ago from cancer but God saved her. And now she's just trying to live like her life is a gift because that's how she feels. She has a baptismal date for July 4. Hopefully I'll still be here! Transfers are coming up this week and I almost have 10 months here haha so we'll see what happens. 

We went to Cerro San Cristobal today for P-day which was fun. 

Oh yeah! Sooooo remember how I got my mission call to the same mission as the visiting teachers I had at BYU right before I left?? Well, one of them, LJ, showed up at church on Sunday to say hi!!!!!!! Can you believe that?!?! she came back to visit and stopped by to give me a visit. It was so awesome. And actually just what I needed. After being out here for almost 10 months my brain was starting to go crazy and I'm pretty sure i was forgetting my life and it was kind of giving me anxiety hahaha but just seeing her and talking to her was an answer to my prayers and let me know that everything at home was just fine and will still be there when I return hahaha. It was such an awesome day. :)

Oh yeah fun fact... the cup of America starts in like 2 weeks or something and the stadium is in my sector!! So yeah we'll probably hear the game from our apartment haha. 

Love you guys!!!

Hermana Cannon 

1. Me and Hna. Andersen with Jaime, our recent convert at the temple for his first time!

 

 

 

2. Santiago temple. hermoso.

Baptism!

Hey peopleeee!!!

Diego got baptized and confirmed this weeeeeeek!!! It was so awesome and so fun. There were like 10 people there from other faiths which was awesome because he invited his whole family and a few friends. Two of them were interested in hearing from the missionaries so we passed along their information. DIEGO WAS JUST GLOWING THOUGH. I just sat there during the talks thinking about everything that had to happen to bring us all together in that moment.... It all started when me and Hna. Garcia contacted Carlos, Diego's grandpa in the street one day about 8 months ago. Me and Hna. Garcia passed by their house like a bajillion times but they never wanted to let us in. So then one day with Hna. Gil we contacted another guy. Turned out to be Andre, Diego's brother. So we passed by and he wasn't home but then out came Paola. Then she got baptized in March and now Diego! It's the best feeling in the world knowing all those times we passed by for Carlos in the beginning payed off even though he didn't show interest at first haha. Because now he feels like family to me and MIRACLESSSSSS. Can't describe how much I'm gonna miss them once I get transferred.... tengo miedo jaja. But we don't think about that. For 2 more weeks. ow it hurts my stomach. Moving on. 

so yeah it was a great week!!! We wanted to make no-bake cookies today for Pday but they didn't have peanut butter at the grocery store so we just blended up some peanuts and MADE OUR OWN. haha so basically we're the best. We also made french fries. I think we were missing the clog-your-arteries American diet. Felt right at home. Complete with fry sauce. Chileans eat super healthy if you didn't know. And no one really uses salt haha which I've actually gotten used to. 

Daniel also has a baptismal date for July 4 but still hasn't came to church so we're working on that. Felicita, Andrea's mom also has a baptismal date and we are working on her family history which is awesome. Juan Camilo, Diego's friend also has a baptismal date, and Valentina, Diego's sister also wants to get baptized but we haven't even gotten to teach her yet! haha so we're excited to find out what her testimony is and to help her make that covenant. 

Today during personal study I was reading about the Holy Ghost and the light of Christ and how that all works. In the GEE (spanish scripture guide) it describes the light of Christ as energy that is in all of us that gives us life. So I thought of the sun and how it gives life to the plants and helps people with depression and what not, and thought hey, the son is the sun. And then right after thinking about that I read in D&C 88:7 which says "he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made." Cool right??? So now whenever we see the sun we can think of the son and remember we're not alone. :)

I love you guys so so much and hope you can feel my love!!

Con cariño,

Hermana Cannon II

Us with Diego!

American Feast

More feast

Heyyyy!!!!

Hey everyone!! 

This was a great week. Everything is still good to go with Diego so we're super excited!! He should be getting baptized this Saturday. He brought his friend Juan Camilo to church yesterday which was an awesome surprise haha. The bishop and young men's president said they're gonna do all they can to make sure Diego has a special baptism and that lots of people come. :) I LOVE YOU ÑUÑOA. Best ward ever. 

Three weeks left until we find out if I'm gonna be transferred! Weird. Trying not to think about it haha. 

SO HAPPY FOR AMANDA AND KYLE oh my gosh those were literally the cutest photos I've ever seen. And oh my gosh the card board cut out!!!! hahahahah LOVE IT!!!!!! Made me soooo happy :D :D :D

Also lately I've been thinking about the simplicity of the gospel and how sometimes the fact that it's so simple makes it hard for some of us to accept. I read a super interesting talk called "From the Beginning" by Neil A Maxwell maybe?? I think? Can't remember who its by haha. But it talked how simple truths were lost like "God is my loving heavenly father who has a body of flesh and bone" because philosophers and other deep thinkers chose to reject the simple truth and rather look "beyond the mark" to try to understand an incomprehensible relationship. That's where we get the whole--God is energy, God is everything, God is nothing, and lots of other confusing things. And while those are all interesting, it makes it hard for us to see our purpose in life as children of God because we start to lose that relationship. Its hard to explain haha but bottom line I got from it was: we should just accept the gospel truth and embrace its simplicity and be thankful that it is comprehendible and then just jump in and live it. And then when the blessings come we'll be glad we chose faith, and then want to choose it again and again until one day we find ourselves with God. 

I love the gospel. It's probably the best news I've ever heard in my entire life. I love Christ my Savior. He died, but He lives again. And so will we. Its that simple. Choose faith, witness change, live happy. 

Love you allllllllll,

Hermana Cannon II  

Fotos del reunion

Me with the other sister training leaders getting ice cream with President and Sister Wright!

Hey there people

Hehe. I quoted the Lovestrange. :)

HEY EVERYONE!

How are you all? I am in an especially good mood today. Probably the after effects of MOTHERS DAY! Thank you skype. It was so good to hear your voices and see your faces and belly hahaha. Love you guyzzzzz. :) Just wish I could've met Kyle!! Welcome to the family! :D

This last week was pretty great. We had an awesome lesson with two girls named Daniela and Genesis. I think I told you about them last week maybe? but anyways I asked Daniela if she wanted to know why she was here, if life has consequences, other questions of the soul, etc etc and she was like YES that's exactly what has been on my mind lately. So basically miracles! Super excited to see their progress. They couldn't come to church this Sunday because of family stuff but they said they would come next week.

Mothers day was so fun over here! We got to go around and deliver cute Relief society invitations for the sisters that didn't come to church and they felt pretty special when we showed up. :) I love this ward soooooo much. And I get a knot in my stomach whenever I think about transfers.... so we just don't think about that haha. I've been here 9 months now still in my first area. Crazy!

We also had an awesome lesson with a less active member named Nelly. Her husband passed away a few months ago and she was telling us how worried she was about him and if it was possible to see him again. And we had already planned to talk about the plan of salvation so it was perfect. We also talked about temples and that gave her hope. 

Missionary work is the best. :) People are the best. Even the crazies haha. But don't worry, we're being safe. At zone conference I gave a whole schpeel on health and safety as directed by President's wife. Oh yeah I forgot to tell you guys that since I'm a Sister training leader, I help teach zone conference! It's super fun! We have an awesome zone. Everyone is super nice and hard working. 

I just realized that I like never update you guys on the day to day details of what goes on over here haha sorry bout that. If I think of anything else I'll let you know. 

Love you guys!!

Hermana Cannon II    

1. Me and Hermana Jimena Navarro, Mi mam chilena. Basically the best lady in the world. She takes care of me and always gives me gluten free food haha. Love her.

2. I'm an elf! Its starting to get cold over here so just thought I'd whip out the christmas cheer. 

3. Me and my beautiful comp! Everyone here calls her "muñeca" which means doll haha. like literally EVERYONE. The community is her personalized self-esteem booster. 

 4. Us with the Familia Navarro. We spent Mother's Day with them and had a blast!!