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.