Finding up a STORMMMMM!

I know I probably sound like a broken record but the Lord HAS ONCE AGAIN BLESSED US WITH SO MANY MIRACLES THIS WEEK, where to even begin!!

So I told you about the special fast last week, and this week I will tell you about the FRUITS OF THAT SPECIAL FAST WHO ARE CALLED ROSA CRISTINA AND ELENA!!

Bueno Rosa is STRAIGHT UP PREPARED and already has 2 best friends in church that 1 is now living with her and has a baptismal date and is enrolled in the self sufficiency class and wants to go to the temple with the ward this Saturday...... WHAT THE MIRACLE? THANKS HF. But she has been such a light becuase the first day we found her she wouldn't stop crying and now she is just filled with joy. It's incredible what the gospel can do for someone in one week. BLESSINGS....

So with Cristina and Elena we have been working a lot with the members and they are super receptive and we have just been finding up a STORMMMMMM!!!!!!

Also this week we had a MIND BLOWING training with president where he taught us how to study more effectively and to really study, apply, and love scripture study. And WOW DID HE DO A GOOD JOB BECUASE THIS MISSIONARY FAN GIRLED IT UP AND CHANGED EVERYTHING AND IS JUST LEARNING SO MUCH!! The scriptures rock!. They are so cool and as we study them every single day we grow and learn and become the people He wants us to be and we help others do the same.

But I just wanted to share a li'l with you guys from a scripture I studied this week in 1 peter 5:7

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

I know that is true. As we cast our cares upon the lord he really does take the time to listen and care to help us. I have felt that so much this week as we have really thought and done everything to help these people progress. I know He cares and sometimes all we need to do is tell Him what's up! 

I love this gospel and the scriptures with all my heart. I repent all the time for taking them for granted and I invite you all to do the same. Our loving father in heaven has things to say to us. but we can only know through his sacred scriptures.

I know this work is true and important and I love it with all my heart!

Have a great week!!!

Reunions are awesome!

Huh?

Just Work!

What a CRAZY WEEK OF GOODNESS. I am just so grateful for the miracles God allows me to see and for the people he's had me meet. For the things he's helped me learn and for His wonderful plan OF HAPPINNNEESS!!!

So to start off the week my comp and I decided to do a special fast becuase we hadn't had an investigator in the church the whole month and we hadn't been finding new people to teach so we fasted Sunday for 2 specific blessings. 1 to have at least one investigator in church and 2. to find 7 new investigators in the week. We also fasted to know how to better help our investigator progress and to be better focused in the work. As we ended we put on the ugly missionary shoes and went and HIT THE FLOOR RUNNING!!!!!! AND WHAT A WEEK!!

We found a new investigator every single day this week and they are all SO AWESOME!! At the end of the week the lady that we found came to church with us and all the members made friends with her and even one invited her to lunch!! It was seriously the craziest thing ever!! My companion and I were literally so filled with gratitude and JOY to have literally received the blessings we asked for and more!! Because in the event of excersizing so much faith to find, we too were blessed with our own faith increased and our testimonys grew as well.

I really am just so grateful to have the gospel in my life and to be here spreading it with others. Our mission prez always says, if you are ever upset, work. If you are ever discouraged, work. If you are ever lonely, work. If you ever don't want to work, WORK.  I have really seen the power of WORK in my mission. Getting up and going to work has been the answer to every challenge I have faced!!! and by doing so I have grown so much and have developed a great love for my Father in heaven. 

I am just so grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve my Lord and Redeemer. I really do know He lives and I will share it till the day I die!! He lives and He loves us. His atonement will shape us if we have faith that it will. 

Well friends and fam I leave you with this scriputure we all know and love:

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

It's true so just DO IT!

Hermana Hilburn

WINTER IN CHILE

READ THE BOOK!!

I just feel so extremely grateful and full of SO MUCH LOVE in my heart right now for the opportunity to be here in Chile sharing this great gospel with people I have come to love with all my heart!!!

This week has been INCREDIBLE!! Like really I feel like the luckiest human alive and I just love my Savior and I'm just burning with the testimony that HE LIVES!! and His gospel is restored on the earth!!

So this week flew by with so many wonderful experiences. Finding new investigators, interviews with president, training's, relationships with ward members growing. Let me tell you there are some HAPPY MISSIONARIES UP IN HERE!! It is just a huge JOY to be in Chile with my comp and with the strong desires we have to talk to EVERYONE and share this good news. 

One of the coolest things that happened this week was an experience we had contacting yesterday in a new publacion. All of our citas had fallen and we were trying to figure out where we should go when I saw a lady outside of her house so we went over to talk to her. The second we started talking to her we just started feeling attacked as she and her husband both just fired questions and doubts and attacks on us and our beliefs. Whenever this happens in the mission I know I'm not supposed to fight back or to bible bash with them but IT'S SO HARD FOR ME TO CONTROL MY NATURAL MAN!  But as I took a deep breath and thought of the way we could bring the spirit, a small voice of the spirit through a thought in my head, asked the couple to talk of their testimonies of Christ. As we all started talking about our gratefulness for Him and His atoning sacrifice the spirit filled each one of us as we all realized we loved and adored the same person. In this moment the couple softened and they opened up and told us they were so worried about their son who was starting to fall away from their beliefs and how they weren't sure in what to do. I remembered my parents who tried so diligently to read the book of Mormon as a family and testified that this book could be the thing that helped her son. Both my companion and I testified of the truthfulness and the power of the book of Mormon and the ability it has to change lives. I have seen so many changes in myself and in my life by reading the book of Mormon and the gratefulness I had for my lovely family that tried to do the same thing. 

Even though this sweet couple didn't accept the book of Mormon we left the contact burning with the spirit and a sence of peace that when the Lord was done preparing them they would accept the joy of the gospel and find the peace they needed in their family.

I am just so grateful for the wonderful news the gospel has to bring and for the person my Father in heaven has helped me to be. I'm grateful for the second chances and for the loving support He brings us when we are weak and trodden down by the world.

I know that this is the true church of Christ on the earth and the only way to return to our Father in heaven. I konw that He loves us so much and He wants every single one of us to return to Him. I know that the book of Mormon allows us to understand more of this divine love and opportunity He has given us by sending His son and His gospel to the earth once more.

I, like President Monson BEG that you all can read the book of Mormon and find out for yourself the power and peace it brings to our lives. I know that it is true and that we can become the people our Father in heaven needs us to be and knows we can be.

Have a great week and READ THE BOOK!!

Hermana Hilburn

Read, Pray and Do the Little Things...

OH HAPPY DAY TO BE A MISSIONARY IN CHILE SERVING THE LORD AND HIS BELOVED CHILDREN UP IN CHILE!

Well this week was a super AWESOME ONE. We have been just finding machines and contacting up a stormy to get the good word out!! It's incredible seeing the change in my companion and how when we first got here she was so afraid to talk to others and now I'm not even the one telling her to do it she just does!! We both have grown and done everything we could, studying in our free time, practicing while walking to appointments and sharing our testimonies so we could grow and be the missionaries our Savior needs us to be and he has been with us every step putting the words in our mouths leading us to His prepared people and having the best time doing it!!!

Then I had the MOST LIFE CHANGING INTERCOMBIO THIS WEEK WITH HERMANA GARCIA IN RECREO!! Okay so back story. My companion a couple of transfers ago told me a story about a lady named Patricia who has been having EVERY SINGLE HARD TRIAL THAT ANYONE COULD EVER HAVE. When she told me her story I cried and was a so grateful I didn't serve there because I would have no idea what to say to this lady. Then 4 months later I'm in that same sector and we just happen to have a cita with this lady. OH I GOT SO NERVOUS and we said a prayer and I just begged for the words of how to help her with her pain. We went to home and she told us that she had gone 5 days with out smoking and was going to church this Sunday and we were able share with her a scripture that is in Mosiah 2:41 

41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.  

As we read this beautiful scripture I have never felt that promise burn so strong. This sweet lady, because she was starting to live the commandments of God, again would be blessed with all the things she needed. That her Father in Heaven knew what she has been going through and that He loves her and becuase she is keeping the commandments she will recieve the blessings and help she needs. 

I just love the promises that are found in the scriptures, because I know they are true with all my heart. The Lord gave me the confidence I needed to help her understand the love He has for her despite the trials she has faced.

also this week we had a SUPER AWESOME stake conference that just BLEW MY MIND like out of the water!  So good. The stake leaders challenged EVERYONE to read the Book of Mormon in 6 months and see how much closer we become to our Savior Jesus Christ.. and I wanted to stand up and say AMEN TO THAT because I have truly felt that promise in my life.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and truly helps others come unto Christ and leads them throughout their lives. I know with out a doubt that our Father in Heaven has restored His gospel once again on the earth because He loves us and wants us to return to Him. 

It truly is His work and His glory and I'm happy to be working in it.

Read, pray and do the little things.... LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

Hermana Hilburn

Hermana Hilburn and her new Companion

Chilean Treats

New Area, New Companion and More Happiness

Well it's true, I think I am truly THE happiest missionary in the whole wide world. I LOVE Garneros with my whole heart and Hermana Cabana my trainee EVEN MORE!!

So a little about Graneros. IT IS ZION. We have been finding people so prepared. The members DO THEIR CALLINGS and GIVE US REFERENCES. I felt like I was in a dream when I got here the first week because there's a BISHOP that is a REAL BISHOP and has a huge desire to help. Like what??? That exists? After being in a struggling branch I FEEL FREE HERE IN GARNEROS HOLY COW!  It's so incredible and the sector is super awesome. The best part is that literally every single day we leave our house and it smells like CHOCOLATE, becuase there is a huge nestle chocolate factory. It's legit. I'm so pumped. We are going there one day to see if there's a chocolate river inside! HAHA

AND MY COMPANION!!!

is so dang cute. We are learning so much together. She is so humble and teachable. I feel like we where meant ot be together!! She's so awesome and fun! She is from Argentina and doesn't have the annoying shaa accent so EVEN BETTER!! haha

Our sector is OH SO GREAT. We are just seeing miracles left and right!!! One experience I want to tell you about is the sweetest family we just found this week and HOW INCREDIBLE Gods plan is!! So my comp and I were looking for some Antigua investigators and went to the house of whom we thought would be the people we were looking for but instead came out a young dad with his sweet daughter who has down syndrome. Me FALLING IN LOVE SO FAST WITH THE DAUGHTER started talking to them and she invited us in like 5 times. But her dad said the mom wasn't there and that we could come back the next day. We did come back the next day and they are SO PREPARED! They told us that when she was born they felt a little abandoned by God and strayed away from Him for a time but as their other daughter grew up she would always ask about God. So this year they started looking for a way to  become closer to Him and then BOOM WE SHOWED UP. Can you say MIRACLE!!!!?  It was such a sweet moment along with many other ones this week.

Well I'm so happy to be here and I just feel such a strong desire to shout at the top of my lungs the peace that comes from the gospel!! That there is a living Christ and that He loves us and that His sacrifice is real and really can change us. I am a living, walking, breathing example of that change!! He has changed my heart to want nothing more than to serve Him. He has brought me peace, forgiveness, understanding and JOY AND I LOVE HIM WITH ALL MY HEART. I know that things get better and that He has a perfect plan for us to follow, if we really submit to Him and walk in His ways, we will find peace.

Well friends and family I know my Savior lives. I know He loves us and His work is HASTENING, faster than anyone can imagine. His peace is real and His joy is true.

Have a great week and remember He lives!! Search for yourself how this statement can change you! because it's changed me.

Hermana Hilburn

Saying Goodbye to Santa Cruzzzz....

Well you heard it! Transfers are in and I'm out! My heart BREAKS JUST A L'IL BIT, but "I will goooo where you want me to go!!! And the new place is.....

GRANEROS RANCAGUA!!

A cute little branch on the outskirts of Rancagua. I will be serving there as a trainer and not sister training leader!!!

AND I'M SO EXCITED. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve my companion and all the good ole Chileans. Man I just love the mission and for the incredible people God has put in my path to help me grow and learn and for me to help them grow and learn. What a blessing it is!!!

Sorry this is going to be a short one but so much on the mind. So many things happened and I left my journal at home. BUT just know I'm a happy helper who is just grateful for the Lords peace in my life. I can't even begin to say how grateful I am for the devine love and joy our father can give us and also for the strength He gives me in every moment of weakness. I know that He has been by my side every step I've taken here in Chile. 

I love you all and I'm grateful for the love and support that I receive. I hope all is going well and there will be MORE NEWS  NEXT WEEK FROM THE NEW SECTOR WITH MY NEW COMPI AND ALL. BUT HERE' S A MILLION PICS SO I HOPE THAT THAT MAKES IT UP TO YOU ALL. 

I Love you all!

Hermana Hilburn

A Little Beach Time for our last p-day together

Many happy and sad goodbyes this week

The Cool District

So many Lovely Chileans from Santa Cruz

There was an earth quake in Chile..So we needed to get stocked up on water

Really going to miss this awesome comp!

So Grateful for this Gospel

WELL the weeks are seriously just flying by I can't even begin to believe all that is going on and everything is moving so fast. But it has been a week of growth and I am just ever so grateful for the spirit and for the gospel in my life.

This week we had a special reunion with president and the assistants and we talked about the restoration and how INCREDIBLE AND TRUE IT IS. We learned so much.

But I just want you to know that the church really is true. That even though we fault faith sometimes, we are weak and we don't always know what to do it is true and our Savior really did suffer for our sins and our infirmities. He knows everything and he's the only one who can really help us. I know this through the power of the holy ghost and I konw he can really heal us. He has healed me and He has been with me every step of the way. I love my Savior with all my heart and that is why I will serve Him till the day I die. He is my Savior and redemer and I can't wait for the day I see Him face to face. 

Keep strong, do the little things and stay true to yourself and to God!

Hermana Hilburn

Happy Hermana's

Lovely Chilean's

Chile Is Beautiful