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!

Today I went to buy food at the local UniMarc. They didn't pass my credit card right, so I had to wait for like 20 minutes while they tried to fix it. As the situation was happening, a human being would want to get annoyed and frustrated. I felt it, but didn't show it. And moreover everyone was watching me. One, because I am a blond and stick out like a sore thumb and two, because I am a missionary. I realizad I had the opportunity to be a representative of Christ. I remained calm. When the problem was fixed, I told her thank you, that it was ok and not to worry. I would not have done that without the (Holy) Spirit…without saying my morning prayer. The Spirit is so wonderful…it is the only thing that helps us progress, without it, we don't progress. I am grateful for this opportunity to have been a representative of Christ.

I thought yesterday would be just a normal day, a normal Sunday. At church we had the priviledge of hearing a great talk. For awhile, I have been praying for something, and have not yet recieved the answer, until yesterday. I just haven't felt the love of the Lord in my life, that he loves me. I have been praying to feel something of His love, like a hug or something. I haven't felt it each time I have prayed. As he talked, he said something that answered my prayer and the Spirit started to grow inside of me. He shared a story about how much God loves his children. I started to cry...but not just tears. I was crying hard…but from happiness and the Spirit that was in me. I felt SO loved. I can't explain that all encompassing feeling of love that my spirit felt. I was trying not to cry afterwards, but I felt so happy. Members were coming up to me, asking me if I was ok. It was a wonderful experience. The Lord always answers our prayers…but not always in the way we expect. I wanted to feel like a hug or something…He gave me much more than that. Answered it in a much more powerful way. I can't deny now that He loves me…nor will I ever be able. That feeling made such a lasting impact on me…never to be forgotten.

"I went to lunch yesterday and the hermana (the lady we were eating with) asked me where I was from. I told her the US and she was surprised because she said my Spanish was so good! What a compliment...that made me feel awesome.

"Well where do I start? With the festivities? The 200 year mark in Chile wasn't that bad. The festivities lasted for four days. So the first night, there were losts of people out in the street. One group invited us to dance with them and some guy gave us cheezits on the street. Haha. Then I'm thinking, "Wow, this is only the first night, tomorrow, the actual independence day will be worse." Haha, I was wrong. I think people got tired of the festivities, because it really quieted down after that.

"So, last Monday night, well, I should say Tuesday morning, I get a call at 1:50 in the morning from the Hermanas (the other sister missionaries) that sleep in the room right next to mine. I thought to myself how strange that they are calling. I didn't think much of it and didn't answer it. I put it on silence and wanted to go back to bed. But not long after, both Hermanas came into our room and told us that someone was downstairs. They had been hearing things for like 10 minutes: drawers opening in the kitchen, rustling in the living room, etc. Wow, your mind just goes crazy fast in those types of situations. I was super calm (thanks to the Spirit of the Lord), and we closed the door, tried to put a chair under it, and said a prayer. We felt that we needed to call our leaders, so we did. Then we waited, listening. We heard nothing. About 10 minutes later, we go down the stairs (me, with a comb in my hand to protect myself). No one was there, except they left the sliding glass door open. Nothing was taken. It was obvious that someone had looked through a couple of the drawers in the kitchen, but nothing was out of place. I didn't feel fear. The next day, we called and told the Mission President what had happened, and the Elders (the male missionaries) came over to see what needed to be done in the apartment. We left them there and went out to work. As we came back in the night, probably about 6 of the neighboors were bundled outside of our house. They asked me to explain what had happened. I did. One neighbour just says, "It could've just been a cat!" They tried to convince me, being a little contentuous, that nothing happened, that the guy couldn't have gotten in. I had to be patient and calm with them. No one believed us! So the Elders, being awesome, re-inacted the "break-in." They got in from the street and into the house…perfectly. Totally possible! So, I have been living in another area all this week, taking the bus everyday to my area. Then, the landlord wouldn't answer his phone…so we couldn't do anything to secure the apartment more. Finally, on Saturday, we got a hold of him. In about an hour I will be moving back in the apartment. No worries, it is safe and secure and I feel at peace about it. This week has been crazy."

Another 6 weeks has passed....can you believe it. I only have 18 more weeks left. I was transferred from my area, after being there for 4 changes (24 weeks). Crazy!

I am with an Hermana from St. George, Ut. This is only her third change here (she's only been here 4 1/2 months). I am excited to work with her and that means that we will be depending on my spanish....:) Hope that goes well. It makes me feel good. The Lord has confidence in me. We are up in the mountains. I haven't seen a level part of the area yet. Oh fun, summer is arriving....I am excited to work in another area. I am up in the north of the mission...it is different from the south where I was. People are a little harder here, but its ok, the spirit is what softens them up.

We didn't have baptisms this past change; the first time that I have not had a baptism in a change. Its ok. I had to learn that it didn't mean that I was a failure. My companion from the MTC (the missionary training center) is now there, in my old area. She is going to rock it and everyone is going to love her.

We had an activity as a Stake (a geographic region of LDS members) celebrating the indpendence of Chile, the 18th of September. We had a sack race as all the missionaries in our Zone...I beat all the Elders :)