La Hermanita came home from Chile on the 16th and we all met her at the Salt Lake Airport. She was all smiles as she deboarded the plane, and kept us all in anticipation by being one of the last ones off. We spent the weekend catching up on her last 18 months, and it was a real treat!

Coming home!

It's hard to believe that La Hermanita has been gone for 18+ months, but she has and is coming home on Sunday. I will be there at the airport in when she gets off the plane in the morning, so I will be posting photos when I get home. Welcome home sis!!

Christmas day was nice. We had lunch with a nice family. We ended up eating BBQ. And it was yummy! Then we went to go visit another family right afterwards, and they gave us more meat! Very nice of them, but I was stuffed. Then we were able to go and sing to a few more people. What a blessing. I could really feel the spirit of Christmas…being able to help people build their testimonies in Christ on Christmas…it was a wonderful Christmas. Then to finish the night we had planned to go dinner with a family. I was stuffed, but we couldn't back out. So we ate more meat, and spaghetti. I was stuffed…but felt fine.

My companion was throwing up throughout the night. I threw up at 5:30am Sunday morning. We had to go to church…as missionaries…you just don't miss church. With church starting at 9 am, I get up to get ready. At 8:30am, I throw up again...followed by my companion...there is no way we were going to church! We were in bed practically all day, recovering. Never in my entire mission have I been sick like this, nor have I stayed in an entire day. We got a blessing. And we feel much better now. I lost 3 lbs!

This week was full of activity. Thursday, we had our Christmas activity. We played soccer and did relays, ate food, I got to sit next to the (Mission) President and his wife; we had a great devotional talking about Christ, and we ended by eating kettle corn and watching It's a Wonderful Life. We had an activity for the Relief Society (an organization for the women of the LDS church). We brought an investigator and learned how to make Christmas bags from wrapping paper. Then, on Saturday, we went to the temple. There are nativities there, lights, choirs, etc. It was fun and great to go. Then we eneded up taking a (member of the LDS church that doesn't attend very often) again last night. I know that the spirit was there and will hopefully help the people that we are working with. The most unusual thing is that we had a rain on Saturday night. It is almost summer here!

"This week was full of adventure. I met my new companion on Tuesday and we started to work. Her name is Hermana Humphries. She is from California, the Los Angeles area. She is pretty much awesome. She talks to everyone. She has no fear whatsoever. She is has the sensitivity of the Spirit (of God) with her. And lots of times she has just gone right up to people and started talking to them. I am just kind of there to help her when she needs help. She is really capable. She has to take over our area in 5 weeks...(crap, thats how long I have left) so like the last two weeks...I am going to need to give her more responsibility. I don't really find training her hard...she is great. I just have to tell her about the rules, etc. She has a really good Spanish base too. And she takes me running in the morning...awesome. I already feel skinnier. The President (of the mission) told me today, "Hermana Cornelius, I wish I had 12 more of you!" What a compliment!

"The coolest thing that happened, happened yesterday. As we were working in our area speaking to someone about the gospel I got a call from the assistants to the president (male missionaries that work closely with the president of the mission). They tod me that they were in our area and wanted to know where we were. I told them. They came up to us and filmed us descretly, as we were speaking to this person. Later they interviewed us for a video that they are putting together for the misson. But how freakin' awesome: just as we were doing a contact, they showed up and filmed it! It couldn't have been more perfect."

"Thanksgiving Day, eating a meal made by my companion from Honduras. It was delicious!
"Missionaries in action......and me with some of the gorgeous flowers they have here in Chile.

"Today was change day (the missionaries may get moved around to new areas and switch companions). But it has only been 5 weeks since the last week. Many missionaries left today to be home with their families for Thanksgiving. So, we had changes a week early. I am still with my companion…but only for one more week. Next week, I will be training a missionary from the United States. I doubt she will speak much Spanish.

"How do I feel? Excited, nervous, and positive. I will have six weeks to train and really enjoy my last change. Even if training isn't fun (I will try to do everything within my power so that it is) I am going to love my last six weeks…I have to work until the end! I worked hard this week. I am losing weight, eating better, and trying to improve my Spanish. I have been relying on the Lord more…I feel positive. But none of our 6 baptisms happened. They all fell through...that just means I am going to have to work harder. I hope I get an excited companion...I am so ready to work really hard my last change. I want to get home...feeling exhausted."

Here is a picture of me....with my hair a lot lighter...what do you think? And one of my companions...she isn't my real companion, but I live with her. Her name is Hermana Nava. She is from Mexico. She, along with her other 6 sisters, are all serving missions. All within Central America and South America. Amazing right? We had training this past week. I chose to sit in front and for that the President (of my mission) called on me. He said, ¨Hermana Cornelius, you have had a lot of success in your mission; what has helped you to be able to make bautismal dates (with people who want to join the LDS church)?¨ What a compliment! Wow, and he said it in front of everyone. It felt REALLY good afterwards. The freakin' Mission President told me that my mission has been a success. Woo hoo!

We watched a video with our investiagators this week. There is a scene when Christ is carrying his cross and the people are spitting at him, people are mocking him after being whipped, etc. I realized in that moment that I have nothing to complain about. I had had an experience this past week when someone made fun of me for my spanish and for being North American. It hurt. I have been mocked a lot on my mission. But all that pain went away when I realized what Christ went through. What a privilege! To walk the footsteps of Christ! Even though our scale compared to his is VERY small, but still, I am doing this for Christ, and what a priviledge it is to walk in a part of his life. So, we have an investigator that has massage beds...2 bucks for 40 minutes. Its like this jade rock or something. Wow. I was/am so relaxed. We went this morning. I really needed it. I think it relaxed me too much though, haha. I didn't really care about anthything today. I was in bed most of my pday (my preparation day to prepare for the rest of the week)....just relaxing and resting. I need it so much!