THIS WEEK. No words.

Hey friends and family!! Mis seres queridos!

How is everyone? You all sound, look, and seem wonderful. Especially Camille and Collin. :)))))))) CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN. Idk when I'm gonna stop talking about you two, haha. I think everyone and their dog in Chile knows that Hermana Cannon's best friends just got married. So yeah. Y'all are famous. 

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED THIS WEEK. And all amazingly good things. 

I have had so many spiritual epiphanies this week. Ahhhhhhh my brain. My heart. My soul. They are overflowing.... I've realized that as we live according to true principles, our life changes, and we gain a testimony. We can say we know that such and such principle is true because our life changed. That way, our testimonies are based on actual experiences and nothing can change that. No matter how weird the stories of Joseph Smith get... no matter how many people hated Our Savior... no matter what kind of whirlwind comes our way... nothing can shake a testimony that actually happened. I know that the principles Christ taught are true principles because as I have decided to put them in practice, the beginning of His promises have come true. He tells me to follow Him and I will have eternal life. As I live according to the principles He taught, I have never felt more alive. That is the beginning of His promise coming true today. These current blessings give me the hope necessary to be able to continue acting with faith and choosing to live according to His principles. And then my attitude, perspective, energy, and life keep changing... my life keeps getting better... I keep getting happier... making the cycle of faith spin faster and faster until I no longer have any doubts about the kind of future I can create... the kind of person I can become... always trusting in what Christ told me through His prophets and scriptures. ITS THE SECRET TO LIFE AND WE HAVE IT. We need to share it. We need to experience it. Its okay if we don't understand everything. We can share and testify of the parts that we do understand and have experienced. And in the process, LIVE LIFE. Not just go through the motions.... not just say hi to strangers out of obligation.... not just laugh with someone to fill an awkward silence.... but actually LIVE our lives and reach the fullness of our joy. Christ made this possible. His teachings made this live-able. He made this understandable for our weak minds.... gave us a sacrifice so that we know to trust Him. He is familiar. He is our brother. He wants our well-being and has given us every tool we need to figure out why we are here and how to be happy. And then leaves it up to us to help our other brothers and sisters understand it too. 

So when I saw Jorge Vilches enter the waters of baptism.... all of this and more was running through my mind and heart.... and I couldn't believe God trusted me enough to let me participate in the change of a life. Another soul has now permitted Jesus Christ to save him... and our other siblings up above are also rejoicing.... the ones that understand. And as we--down below--understand these things more and more, we can enjoy them more and more, and figure out how to LIVE our lives. 

I've gotten to know Christ so much better these days. I love Him. It's okay that I haven't met Him... I still love Him. And I will wear His name on my heart without fear. Because He is my brother, friend, Savior, inspiration, and reason. He is the reason I am here and He is the reason you are too... wherever you may be. 

I can't believe how vital my mission has been in letting me learn these things. WOW. I highly recommend serving a mission. Whatever your reasons might be for serving, it's okay, just get out there and then you will learn how to serve for the right reasons... "love for God and for His children" as stated by my President Wright.

Figuring this out has changed my mission and my life. I have learned how to feel happiness regardless of the situation. The love I feel is deeper. The worry I feel has been noticeably diminished. As of today, I have no fear for the future. And if the fear creeps up on me again, I can remember this experience, snap myself out of it, come back to Christ and let Him save me. I hope you can all let Him save you too. Everyday. 

Alllll my love,

Hermana Cannon II      

Baptism :)

Family and friendssss!!!

Hope everyone's doing great. :)

First of all, GIANT SHOUT OUT to Camille and Collin cuz MARRIAGE!!!!!!! yayayayayayaay eternal love. beautiful. :)

ANOTHER GIANT SHOUT OUT to Cali for turning 12!!!! Happy birthday to my baby girl!!!!!

ANOTHER OTHER GIANT SHOUT OUT to The LoveStrange for releasing their album this week and being AWESOME. ahhhhhh music. 

All of these things are just adding to the awesome happiness that is filling my life right now. :) So happy to be part of your lives, exitement, progress, and love. :) SENDING MINE YOUR WAY. 

And yes it's true, we get to witness a baptism this weekend! Our investigator, Jorge Vilches (not the Jorge you have all been praying for for 6 months haha) has chosen to follow Christ and be baptized in His name. Incredible right?? My favorite part of teaching Jorge is looking in his 80 year old eyes and seeing a brand new spirit inside. Maybe his speech is slow, but his smile communicates how much he has learned to trust in Christ to wash away his sins. It's inspiring to spend time with him. Breaks my heart that he doesn't know how to use Facebook because I have no idea how I will have contact with him after I'm gone. :( Hopefully snail mail pulls through!!

Man, the people here are strengthening me way more than I am strengthening them. This week, Jessica (convert of about 2 years, 21 years old) participated in a lesson we had with Ana on Sunday, a progressing investigator. She shared her experience of why she decided to be baptized, and the reason she is still holding on to that decision today. I think she might've helped me more than anyone else in the room haha. Sometimes I think myself into a corner and end up feeling scared, confused, lost, frustrated, or even angry, when it comes to my purpose in life, but she helped me remember that life is simple and our purpose is to be happy. Hermana Young also helped me remember that. We had a really special experience in the temple this week (Jorge Bazaes received his endownments! the one who came to Utah!). Afterwards she told me that the phrase "and they were created to fulfill the measure of their creation and have joy" stood out to her. That also helped me remember that life isn't complicated. It's about having joy. :) Maybe learning to have joy is the complicated part. But the core of our existence is quite simple. And that was very comforting for me. :) 

Oh and good news I'm staying in Ñuñoa another transfer! Still in my first area! Been here for 6 months now! So crazy. Time is flying. In a good way. I feel really good about the work we're doing, the people we're meeting, and the lessons we're learning. :) I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Love you all so much!!! 

Don't forget to pray... it makes us humble. :)

Sending all my love,

Hermana Cannon II :)

 

 

Sarah entitled this one: abusadoras de mi tamaño....!!!! jijijijijijij

Miracles :)

Hey fam!

This has probably been one of the most special weeks so far of my mission. 

Me and hermana Gil have been extremely privileged to participate in the lives and progress of these people here in Ñuñoa.... en serio. Story time. 

Our investigator Paula, has committed herself to be baptized Feb. 28th, and another, Jorge Vilches, has committed for Feb. 14th. 

Jorge is about 80 years old. Very humble. Very willing to learn and to change (rare to find in people of his age and with so much experience). We taught him the law of chastity last week which brought him to tears because of past sins. But we then asked him if he believed that God could wash away his sins when he is baptized. He said yes, I believe, with tears filling his eyes. It brought me to tears as well and we got to share a really special, soul to soul moment. 

Paula is about 50 years old. Was Evangelica but now already considers herself a Latter-day Saint after only 2 lessons and 2 times attending church. She stayed after church to socialize with members for about 45 minutes after the meetings were over to shed tears and tell her story of how we found her. She said she had been praying to find the truth and then we showed up at her door. While we taught her about priesthood authority during the second lesson, she said, "oh, so that means I need to be baptized over again doesn't it?" and that day she committed to stop smoking marijuana and follow her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding His authority. She has become great friends with her neighbors who are members who brought her to church last week and invited her to a family home evening that we will be having tonight! They also invited another friend, Christian, who we're gonna start teaching this week. :) 

This is the most progress I have seen so far on my mission and I pray that God's will is to keep me here with Hermana Gil but if it's not so, of course I'm only here to serve Him and I'll go where He wants me to go. (I say that because transfers are coming up this week......and I've been here almost six months)

We've also had a lot of really interesting contacting experiences this week. We contacted 2 guys named Fabricio and Miguel and ended up teaching them all of lesson 1, right there in the street for like 45 minutes!! haha. It was really cool. Miguel identified as atheist and Fabricio as agnostic. We all had a really great time because we well are willing to listen to one another. Fabricio accepted a Book of Mormon and we made an appointment to come back for this Tuesday.

During companionship study we've been focusing a lot on how to recognize the spirit and follow it... and not rely on our own opinions or anything.... just the spirit. So we'll see how that goes this week! Expecting some awesome spiritual experiences to come our way haha since we'll actually be paying attention. And I like it better that way anyway ´cause what do I know?? I'd much rather rely on someone else than myself. 

We were also focusing a lot on just teaching right away without waiting to set up an appointment haha. The conversation we had with Fabricio and Miguel was born from that goal. And it has turned out to make life much more interesting! Because even if all our appointments fall through, we can almost always find someone on the street willing to hear us out. Especially if we're praying constantly to find those people. It takes a lot more energy but it has made me a lot happier. :)

Also learned an AWESOME life lesson with my companion during inventory haha. Again... love is born from communication. I LOVE HER. She told me that when she was 15, she made the commitment that whoever she loved, so would never let anything they said or did give her an excuse to stop loving them. And that commitment has help our relationship a ton and I know it will help her for the rest of her life, and for my life too because I'm trying to apply it now too! It's the secret to life. Love before anything. Love for God, then absolutely unconditional love for others. ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE. I find myself singing that phrase in my head like constantly, especially with Hermana Gil as my constant example. I am literally so blessed to have her as my companion. I might be training her in the mission but she is training me for life. 

Love you all so so so much. :) 

Hermana Cannon II