Well this week went by so fast! 

This past week my focus has been to immerse myself in Chile. I really want to love the people, the culture and the language but for some reason it doesnt come natural to me to just love new things. This week Imade the goal to speak only in spanish....it was really hard and thankfully I have a very patient companion. I also have been really trying to learn everything I can about the chilean culture like their foods, sayings, traditions etc. It helps me remember I am in a different country haha because sometimes I forget. It really has been helping. It helps me love the people more. 

I have been realizing how easy it is to judge people who are different than me whether it is culture, backround, ideas etc. However it is impossible to love someone if we judge them. It might not even be a big judgment but little thoughts like "oh in my country we do it this way" or "its easier if you do it like this" they dont hurt the person because they dont know what I am thinking but it hurts me because it seperates me from fully loving them. As I have replaced any negative thought about the language or the culture with a positive thing I have noticed or why I am serving a mission it is soooo much easier to love the people. In just on week my love for our investigators and really my mission has grown! 

Things I love about Chile! The people are so close! They are friendly! I love that they are honest about the way they live, they dont pretend to be perfect and they love freely. 

Things I love about the language. The scriptures are beautiful in spanish. There are different words in spanish to express feelings.

The word escudriñar means to search dilligently with all purpose of heart or with yearning. This is such a beautiful word because it expresses how I feel when I am really desiring to learn something in the scriptures.

This week with our investigators was a lot of trying to understand what their true needs were and not just what we thought their needs are. (Hopefull that makes sense) It is a lot of listening to them and to the spirit. Ana maria had a baptismal date for this week however we prayed and felt we needed to talk with her and see if she felt ready. She admitted to us she has been smoking again and not reading the Book of Mormon. I was so so sad. In my mind I was a little impatient because she has been working with missionaries for almost 5 months now. I then had the thought " I have been so patient with you" come into my mind. I then remembered that everyday my Heavenly Father is so patient with me and my weaknesses. How could I lose patience with her. I then started to think of Ana maria and what she needed to hear. My companion and I changed the course of the lesson to her needs and I think she is going to be just fine we just need to be patient. Elder Holland in a response to the questions many missionaries ask of "This is the true gospel so why isnt the only trial of a mission having pneumonia because of standing in the font all day baptizing people?" "Why doesnt everyone flock to font?". He answered that it is because Salvation is not cheap. I love this. It is so true. When I feel my testimony burning in my heart I sometimes think these exact questions, but when I remember how precious the gospel is and that it is the most important thing in this world I understand why is it so hard to find people and to teach people. It is definitley not impossible.

Well the work here is continuing everyday! I am so grateful to be a part of it! 

Thank you all for your emails!

Love Hermana Egbert