BACK ON THE EMAIL TRAIN AGAIN. GOOD WEEK FRIENDS AND FAMILY!! ahhh what a wonderful and hard week in good ole Piduco!!!

Wonderful and hard are 2 perfect words to describe this week because it was a roollleerrrr coassterrr of emotions and of good times. So extremely grateful for the good and the bad seriously.

So this week I have just had strong constant headaches every morning. Monday night we had to come back early because I was dying. Never quite had that kind of pain and we had been walking for 3 straight days because every single appointment of ours from Saturday to Tuesday cancelled on us or weren't in their homes. We went a straight 4 days without entering a single house and teaching a single lesson in the hot sun (because it's getting hot here) and tired feet. Me being a terrible example to my trainee was just feeling a lil pitiful. With a bad attiude and tiredness. I was complaining and just giving in to Satan's ways and straight up murmuring. So we went to our zone training Wednesday moring and I was just beat and tired. Then we just had a lesson about diligence and following the spirit in our clase de districto. Man did I feel like Heavenly Father was teaching me a lesson. But being the bad human I am I still had a bad attitude after the reunion and was just not feeling the whole work thing.  Especially because the lesson we had planned was an hour a half away and it was beating down sun and we weren't really sure if they were going to be there. But my cute comp said we should pray and then go forward with faith.

So we prayed and with little faith I followed my determined companion. As she was practicing Spanish the whole way to our lesson I was thinking about how I needed to change my attitude and go with faith. So we finally arrived at the apporintment and they were there. We taught an alright lesson to the mom but then when her husband walked in at the end of the lesson both my companion and I felt the spirit so strong and we both just got the prompiting to bare only our testimonies that family's can be together forever. Tears filled his face as he told us how he had been praying for his family this whole week and wanted to give them more. They are "our miracle of the week". Our new investigators Maricel and Roberto the most humble farm people that live in the boondocks that have been looking to be closer to God.

Both my companion and I left that lesson in tears so grateful for the diligence we put into serving our Lord. After 4 days of not teaching a single lesson and being outside all day, I am so grateful for the opposition we faced so when we felt the spirit lead and guide us we could feel it so strongly. And the week just got so much better from there.

Hermana Blake(one of my sweet old companions) and I got to do divisions this week and I got to hear about all the old people I worked with in Indpendencia. If you remember Patty the mom of Yolli. She and Christian have been going to church and listening to the missionaries. She said they have invited him many times to be baptized and he hasn't said no. They just have to get married and get in that water! BLEESSSSISNNNGGGSSSS!

We had a noche de hogar with Loreto and her family and we talked about the temple. One of the member's who smoked and had a really hard time quiting bore her testimony of the power of the temple and how important it is to overcome obstacles and enter worthily. Ahhh it was so great. Also I had been working with every 9 year old in our ward to invite Cristobal to primary this week. I had a team of (3) 9 year olds come in to principios del evangelio and invite Cristobal to the primary class and HE WENT. HE WENT TO THE PRIMARY AND HE REALLY LIKED IT. The primary teacher came up to me after and told me that he read a scripture and was participating and talking to all the other kids in primary. GOD WORKS MIRACLES HOLY COW.

Ahhh seriously I'm just so full of grattitude for the good and the bad times. Because the beginning of the week was so rough we really could appreciate the good when it came.

There's opposition in seriously every single thing, God wants the best for us and he is so willing to help us if we ask and if we do our part.

I'm so grateful to learn about the grace and power of the atonement in our lives. It has blessed me and shaped me in ways I can't even describe. Thanks for all your prayers and thanks for your faithfulness. I'm so grateful to have you all in my life.

Have a good one:)

Hermana Hilburn

So fun to go on divisions with this sweet girl ole comp(Sister Blake) of mine

Our zone did a service project at a cemetery and we were given flowers for our service

The Power of a Testimony

AHH I AM SO SORRY FRIENDS AND FAMIILY THERE WAS JUST A LOT OF EXCITING NEWS THIS WEEK AND I LOOKED DOWN AND BOOM OUT OF TIME. 

So i will just share a cool experience that I had this week with you all!

So my cute little comp says Hi to everyone, literally everyone and as we were walking past the evangelica church as it was getting out of a session, she decides to say hi to a man that I knew was the pastor. He started talking to us and started just bagging everything we hold true and especially how the Book of Mormon is all a lie and that there's no need for a prophet in this day and age. So in this very moment there were so many things I wanted to say to him. I wanted to show him scriptures and I wanted to debate all thte things that I held true. I just had so many good things to say that would have helped him really think about what he was saying was wrong and that he needed to change his mind. 

But then my cute angel companion just told him her testimony. She told him that she knew that the Book of Mormon was true and that Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God. She said it with her cute broken Spanish and the pastor's face changed just a little. He all of the sudden didn't want to talk any more or listen to us, but in that moment he felt the holy ghost testify of truth to his heart, I am sure of it. 

It's incredible what our testimony's can do. They just invite that spirit strong enough to testify of His truth.

Well soorrryyyy I am lousy. This day has been a lil nutzo!!!

Jsut know I love you and I love God even more!!!

Have a good one!!!!

Hermana Hilburn

Love these Hermana's

Gotta have a Completo When in Chile

Exercise your faith

This cute little Philipino's first Chilean rainstorm

First Week As a Trainer!

Well MAGANDANG ARAW (good day in tagolog) FAMILIA WAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO WHAT A GREAT WEEK!

DAYS GO BY WHEN YOU ARE HAVING FUN. AND BELIEVE ME WE ARE HAVING A BLAST IN PIDUCO HERMANA MENDOZA AND I. 

This week has been seriously the craziest and awesomest week so far in the mission. I am so excited to be training and I love my cute little Philippino trainee Hermana MENDOZA!!!

We have just been having a hoot of a time. She is the greatest human in all of the world and has the greatest desire to serve. In just one week she has literally brought so much laughter and joy into my life. Heavenly Father knew exactly what I needed and he sent me the funniest and cutest angel. 

So this past Monday, Hermana Cook and I had to go for a conference for trainers after pday to Rancagua, which is a 3 hour bus ride. We haven't seen each other since the CCM so we were chatting and chatting until we realized that we should've already gotten to Rancagua. So we went and asked the bus driver when we were going to get there and he said that we missed Rancagua and we are 15 min away from Santiago!!! oops... So I did a little repenting because of course I was the one who bought the tickets. So we had to take 2 other buses to get back to Rancagua. It was a whirlwind of a night, but we made it finally to Rancagua. Unfortunately we missed the training so I still have no idea what I'm doing!!! But it's okay because I'm pretty sure my companion is the one who is training me, because she is INCREDIBLE. She literally talks to every person we come in contact with and has such a strong desire to share with everyone. It's inspiring especially because I've gotten used to blending in with the Chileans but she is hard to miss with her cute strong accent and her complements to everyone. 

Hermana Mendoza has had one cambio in the Philippines before she came to the CCM in Santiago because she was waiting for her visa. So I really am not training her that much but mostly working on the language. She's got 3 VERY DIFFERENT languages in her ear (English Spanish and Tagalog) but she can speak fluent English so it hasn't been too hard to help her. She is the cutest and I was even able to teach her how to ride a bike this week!!! Wow, do I feel accomplished! 

I'm pretty sure she is a lucky charm because this week we have found a new investigator every single day and we had 4 investigators in church!!! Loreto and her son and 2 others we found this week. We also had 3 of our menos active families come to church. IT IS A MIRACLE THAT THESE SLEEPY CHILEANS GOT UP IN TIME TO GET THERE BOOTY'S TO CHURCH so it was such a week full of miracles. 

Loreto is having a hard time leaving smoking so put her in your prayers. She's been a bit distant form us this week because I think she feels a lot of pressure. So we are just going to get back into her heart and help her realize all the blessings that come from the gospel.

ahhh I think I learn more from menos activia's than I do from my Scriptures. jk But really, I am learning so much of how to be strong in my testimony because we help so many people that leave the church for the dumbest reasons. We are working with a new menos activia family that have a hard time with some history of the church and they watched videos on youtube that were full of lies. They had a lot of questions that I didn't know how to answer. They were so wrapped up in doubt that they didn't even feel the testimony they had of the Savior. So we read Helaman 5:12 with them and helped them to rediscover there testimony of Jesus Christ. We reminded them of how He is the base of our testimony and how we need to focus all our faith in Him. It was such an incredible lesson and I haven't been able to forget the importance of our Savior and Redeemer. He has helped wash away all my worries, doubts, fears and sins. All we have to do is put our faith in Him.

I love these Chileans so much and I love the opportunity I have to serve them every day. I love you all and hope to hear from you!!!! *hint hint My Brothers!!!

Hermana Hilburn

Gotta have the ritual name tag picture

Hermana Hilburn and her new trainee Hermana Mendoza from the Philippines

All the New Hermanas with their new comps to train

This cute little Hermana had never learned how to ride a bike. But thanks to her Trainer Hermana Hilburn she knows now!

I Have Joy in My Soul Today

GOOOOOOD DAY FRIENDS AND FAMILY. 

WOOOWWWW AND THERE GOES THE CAMBIO. WHAT IS HAPPENING? ANOTHER MONTH! 8 MONTHS IN THE MISSION WHERE IS THE TIME GOING?

Ahhhhhhh welll cambios are in and I am staying in Talca (shocker)! Hermana Revolo is heading off to Rancagua and I am........TRAINING! YES. TRAINING. HOW? I HAVEN'T A CLUE. MAYBE PRESIDENT IS GOING NUTZ. hahaha No, but really I am going ot be training a newbie. I don't know who it is until tomorrow so more to come about my new compi in the next email. 

This week went by seriously so fast. Well this cambio went by so fast. We have been so dang busy there has been absolutely zero time to think about anything. We've been super busy with services, general conference and finding new people to teach.

About Loreto, she is doing well. She just has so much fear and not enough faith to find an answer. It's been really hard becasuse both my companion and I can see that she really is the person that is getting in the way of her own progression. But we have been fasting and praying for her to just get it one day and take all the lessons we've taught and really accept a baptismal date and choose this eternal family over the stupid world. But the Lord is really doing all he can to teach me patience. Because with Loreto we need a lot of it. He is also teaching me how love really is the best motivator.

This week we also have been serving a lot of our menos activas. Which is honesly about half of Chile. There is a true statistic in Chile that 1 out of every 4 contacts we do here is a menos activa. My companion and I are witnesses of that truth. Oh boy this conference was so for all of the millions of menos activas in Chile Rancagua mission. Thank you apostles for addressing that problem..

Conference this weekend was SO DANG INCREDIBLE! HOLY COW WHY CAN'T EVERY DAY BE CONFERENCE. It was so INSANELY GOOD.  I now have a new favorite apostle and I just love the joy that comes straight from living the gospel.

It is so insanely amazing how much joy comes from the gospel. I really felt that joy as we were leaving conference this weekend. My companion and I got in a collectivo(Chilean bus) to head home with huge smiles on our faces. We both looked at each other and I asked my compi what her deal was and all she said was "tengo gozo en mi alma hoy" (I have joy in my soul today)

Ah it's so true. We can feel JOY through Jesus Christ. 

So have joy in your lives and follow our Savior and Redeemer.

Lots of love,

Hermana Hilburn

God is really a God of miracles

BUENAS DIAS AMIGAS

This week has gone by seriously so fast and I honestly can't tell you what happened. haha the weeks are all just falling together and I am just loving life here in TALCA CHILE. 

But really this week did go by so fast and it was just a tonnnnn of work. We basically contacted the whole week and were in search for new investigators. We've had to kill off about half of our interior becuase they weren't progressing so this week was a search and let me tell you it was a good one.

My companion and I put some goals for the week in order to have the spirit with us in every moment of everyday to really find the people that have been prepared to hear the gospel, and God put 4 new people in our track!!! We got to teach and help all these people and it was just so incredibly good. 

This week has also been a little roller coaster con Loreto. I've been just so dang nervous because everything is like walking on eggshells with her. All week I  was just praying for help. Praying for so much love to help her and praying to feel this love and to get the fear out of me. Literally prayed in every prayer to be able to help her quit smoking and prepare herself for baptism. So Hermana Revolo had an amazing idea of doing a calendar to help her stop smoking completely 2 weeks before her baptism. We prayed to know the goals that were achievable and to really help her fight the temptation to smoke. Every day we put the number of signs with scriptures, hymns and all that jazz to get the temptation off her mind. 

She went to church this Sunday and I still was just feeling so nervous to talk to her. I just kept praying to have this love for her and to know what to do and how to help her, so after church we had a lesson with her. We explained the calendar to her and she wasn't too excited about it. She was nervous about not being able to complete the goals and failing. Both my comp and I were a little puzzled because we didn't know what to say. Then it hit me like a ton of stinking bricks.....the strongest feeling of love and compassion I have ever felt for anyone.

I just started crying and told her how much we love her. How much we pray for her and how much her Savior loves her. God answered my prayers and gave me the charity and love I had been praying for all week. The spirit was so strong and she agreed to do everything in her power to meet the calendar and to be baptized.

I am so extremely grateful for this experience. Ahh there is nothing better than feeling the true love of our Father in Heaven. I am so extremely grateful for this time I've had on my mission to really learn about this love Heavenly Father has for me. I've learned to love every single stubborn, difficult, bossy Chilean with every piece of my heart. 

God is really a God of miracles. When we live his commandments and do everything in our power to do his will he will always make up the rest.

Ahhhhhh what a good day to be alive friends. I just want you to all know that there is always light in darkness. We really can do and be anything with the help of our loving Savior.

I am a witness of His love and I am SO EXTREMELY PUMPED TO SEE THE MIRACLES IN THIS LOVELY PLACE. 

ALSO I AM SO PUMPED TO LISTEN TO PROPHETS AND APOSTLES AHHHHHHHHHHHH... 'BOUT TO BE A GOOD ONE FOLKS!

I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLL!

HERMANN HILBURN

Gotta have some mirror selfies

Hermana Hilburn with Rodolfo(He is a member in the ward and Kristen and her comp are teaching his wife Loreto)

Chilean Independencia!

WELLLL THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS TO COMMENT ON ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE HOME FRONT SO I'M JUST GOING TO SAY ONE WORD.

FEEELIIIIICCCCIIIIDDDDAAADDDEEESSSS AAAAA TOOOODDDDOOOOOSSSSS.

AHHHH IF YOU THINK YOUR WEEK WAS GOOD JUST TAKE A GOOD LISTEN OF MINE.

WE PUT A FECHA BAUTISMAL WITH LORETO, the spouse of Roldofo. It has been seriously such a miracle working with this lady. When we first met her she literally didn't want a thing at all to do with the church and now she wants to quit smoking and be baptized. Wow! God is seriously working so hard to have this family be a forever family. I am so extremely grateful to be a part of this whole experience. Ahhh I could cry. I know she will get baptized and I do not know for sure if I'm going to be here when it happens but it doesn't even matter for one second because I'm so happy either way.

Also this week we had a special conference with an area seventy, Elder Packer. It was seriously one of the most powerful reunions ever. Seriously insane. The mane focus of the conferencia was get up and get to work, take the step and just do it. I literally had such a strong desire to stand up and yell, "do it! like Shia LaBeouf", and run out of that place and invite everyone to be baptized. It was such a powerful meeting, the spirit was so strong and it was so insanely fun to see all my favorite hermanas. Han Christensen, Hna Jansack and all of my homies from the ccm. aahhhhhh such a great week seriously.

Then this weekend was the Independence day in Chile and man do these Chileans know how to party. There was literally not a person in the street both Saturday, Sunday and Monday because all were hung over in their houses being so insanely of the world. So we had to stay in and do nothing in the house. But we had a ward party Saturday and a nice luncheon with some members Sunday.

So it was a nuts week and super awesome. I feel so insanely blessed to be here. Sometimes when I have too much time to think like this weekend I'm like dang, wonder what the fams doing with that cute sobrino(nephew) of mine, but then I get a little slap in the mind telling me that it's all good because I'm exactly where God needs me.

I love my Father in Heaven who has blessed me so insanely much in my life. I'm so grateful for the experiences I've had here in Chile. I'm so grateful for these people who have truly blessed and changed my life for the better.

Hope you have a great week friends and family and always remeber that GOD IS SO SO GOOD AND HE LOVES YOU!

PEACE AND BLESSINGS

HNA HILBURN

So happy to see Hermana Janzick

So many wonderful Hermana's

Happy reunion with another favorite and first companion while in the CCM, Hermana Christensen

Some very fun Independencia celebrations!

Special dresses for the big celebration!

Almost like twins:)

Hermana Hilburn has to throw in a funny pose

Beautiful Chilean little girl

A little flour on their faces

Sunday dinner at a member's home

Loving All the Miracles

Wellll how do ya all do!!!!? What a week of CRAZZZZYYYNNEEESSSS!

OKAY. JUST WANT TO START OUT WITH, WE ALL KNEW IT WAS COMING SOONER OR LATER....

HERMANA HILBURN VS DOG AND DOG WINS.

Yes that's right. I got bit by a nasty Chilean devil dog.  Well actually it was a clean nice house German Shepherd that got a little too excited when I was talking English to him. But don't worry I'm such homies with the  mission nurse that she said I didn't need to get the rabies shot and I was going to be okay. But we all knew it was going to happen sooner or later.. haha

But this week was so so great. I got treated and got to do divisions in my old sector in Independencia and I got to see all the people that stole my heart. Like Hermana Patty and Cristian and Marlen and all those lovely people. I know |God loves me so so much because he let me see all the people that I got to help.Great news on Patty and Cristian.. they are going to church and Cristian is recieving the lessons!!!! The missionaries put a fecha bautismal con el and he said he was going to pray about it so MIRACLES DO EXIST.

OH AND SPEAKING OF OTHER MIRACLES. WE INVITED LORETO TO BE BAPTISED AND SHE SAID YES. She said she feels like this is what God wants her to do and that she just needs to pray to make sure. We were both so happy and bawling and didn't want to leave her house. THen wer realized how late we were to our English class that I was teaching and hurried on our way. But don't worry we made it in time to find we had...3 students. But hey we still got to teach them a little bit about the celestial lang..;)

Then Saturday night at about 9:50 I got a call from the bishop asking if I could give a talk this week. Oh yes, the next day. But I was so excited because I was going to write a talk especially for Loreto. So even though I had only 45 minutes to write this talk before bed I did it. I wrote the talk on conversion and prayed all night that I would have the words Loreto needed to really know for herself that this was the true church and that the blessings she would recieve were far more great than the friendships she would have in the church.

And what do you know LORETO SHOWS UP AT CHURCH AND LISTENED, FELT THE SPIRIT AND EVEN CRIED A LI'L.

Ahhhhhhhh the church is so true. Even though I was super nervous to give the talk I loved the opportunity to give a talk for someone else. It was the first time that I had given a talk and really hoped for the words to say to help someone else.

It was a great week. We have truly been working so hard to help God's children here in Piducco. I can't even begin to count all of the many blessings I've recieved on the mission. It has literally been the hardest thing I've ever done. But I will never forget the lessons I've learned, the testimony that's grown within me and the true joy I've felt through serving God's children here in Talca Chile.

I just wanna let you all know that I know that this really is the true church. I know with everything that's within me. If I deny it now I'm going straight to outer darkness because I really do know that this is Christ's church restored on the earth.

I know He loves us so dang much and all the happiness He wants to offer us is just sitting like a fruit on a plate right in front of our faces. SO EAT THAT FRUIT AND HAVE THAT HAPPINESS.

Church is true homies and helpers:)

If you don't know. Pray.... Duh..... :)

Hermana Hilburn

Hermana Cook and Hermana Hilburn

Hermana Hilburn's Mama in Piducco

It's starting to get HOT in CHILE