Transfer to Mirador

"So....I am not in Placilla anymore....it was hard because I absolutely love Placilla and I didn`t have any time to say goodbye to everyone but I knew my time was up. I saw a lot of miracles there, and now its time to see miracles where I am now. The bishop Erich Castro called me and told me I am like his daughter and we already planning a trip to Chile with my husband and 10 kids and his 7 kids in the south of chile. They is buying land and a house down there. I got really close with that ward and to the Bishop`s family. "

"I am in Mirador de Reñaca. Its pretty much Viña del Mar. My new companion is named Hermana Katrina Zimmerman. We already get along so so so well. She is from Oregon and she`s at BYU too. I have been blessed with really great companions. And another thing...I am still a rich missionary!!! My apartment is on the seventh floor and its stinkin nice. I have my OWN bathroom and changing room. Mom, I think you have been praying for me, because I have lived in the two nicest apartments in the mission. When I do interchanges, the apartments are always so stinky. The ward is super awesome. The Bishop is 30 years old and the Stake President is 32 years old. The ward has been alive for 3 years. Everyone is young and full of energy. I am very happy to be here and I am excited to work. And the members give us so much food! haha, one day i will eat my own food!"

The bishop and his family from the Placilla ward.

The bishop's wife.

On exhanges.

New apartment in Mirador.

On the 7th floor, with a view!

Nice clean bathroom!

New companion, Sister Zimmerman from Oregon.

September is a big kite-flying month.

Chilean Independence Day

The bishop has 7 kids 11 years and younger. So we went to his house saturday morning and helped out around the house. It was so much fun to do something different than just walk and teach. It confirmed my desire to have 10 kids!!  :)

This week was Chile´s Independence day September 18, so everybody had a huge Chile flag outside of their houses, and there was music and huge groups of families everywhere. But everybody decided to take a break from us...haha. It was like everybody died with phones turned off and everything. But we still managed to find new investigators (more families.  :))

For lunch one day, we ate 3 empanadas, they are super delicious and something different. We usually eat a ton of noodles and oil.  I love Chile!!

This week the assistants called us, and we recieved a new companion for 5 days. She´s from North Carolina, I will send a pictures next week. She doesn't know Spanish yet, but she is super sweet. We are having a lot of fun being in a threesome for a few days. She arrived earlier than her group, and so she is spending some quality time with two awesome people:) haha.

Yesterday was a baptism of a member's child. She invited her entire little neighborhood, so we went crazy contacting everybody in sight!! o the missionary's dream haha.  

I made banana bread this weekend, and it was so delicious. I thought you would want to know that.  :) 

Here are some random pictures from throughout my time so far in Chile!

JFE!

Baptism & Teaching Families

We have an investigator who is a young lady. She is adorable and comes to mutual and church every week. Her mom and grandma are receptive, but never have time to share with us. We want to baptize them all together, but we will continue to work with them on that. 

We had a double Zone Conference last week, and my comp Hermana Ortiz and I had to give a 20 presentation to our zone. We talked about the relationship between companions. It is so important to have a great relationship between companions and to have the spirit present in order to have more power in the lessons and in the streets.

LOVE Hermana Plothow

Valparaiso

 I was in the hills of Valparaiso for interchanges last week. And wow!! All it is is hills! I was exhausted by the end haha.

 I love the mission, and every week gets better and better. I cant believe I only have 10 more months. We are approaching spring which gets me very excited!! Bring in the warmth. I love Chile, the people, the food is ok...haha

Yesterday we had a baptism!! The whole family is activated and strong again in the church. He is absolutely adorable. It went super well. His brother baptized him, and right after he baptized him, he gave his brother a huge hug in the water, and we really felt the spirit so strong in that moment. The spirit is so much stronger when the family is involved. We have been teaching a lot of families as families. They are my favorite lessons to teach because the spirit is always so much stronger. 

Birthday Celebrations for my Companion, Hermana Ortiz

This week was the birthday of Hermana Ortiz, my companion. I told everybody it was her birthday. So.....we ate brownies and icecream for District Meeting that the elders brought, and then we ate Once (bread with honey) and a doughnut cake thing with Berni, an investigator with a baptismal date for next weekend, And then we ate more cake and bread with another investigators (the familia Silva) and then some recent converts had a surprise once with a huge piece of cake for her. We felt so sick and full by the end of the day. But we sure enjoyed ourselves:) we have been laughing about it everyday. And then the next day, we had interchanges with some other sisters in Valparaíso. So I was in Placilla with Sister Nichols. And....Familia Soto had a surprise birthday party for my companion, but....she wasn't with me. O the surprise when they saw that she wasn't there. all of the lights were turned off when we rang the door bell, and then they opened the door with a lighted cake. We ate more cake and bread and snacks. It was fun and sad that my comp wasn't there. Another thing to laugh about. haha

This weekend we have a baptism with a boy named Marcos. We reactivated the family and his brother will baptize him. He is super excited to be baptized, and he is the best primary missionary in the world. he is trying to convert another one of our investigators, Amanda. 

"Berni and her mom are awesome as always. Berni has a baptismal date for 21 of September. The gospel is really helping her.  Every time we come, she gives us a lot of food. And she wants us to eat a lot. Its hard to lose weight with investigators like her:) haha. It is a sign, when investigators insist on giving us food every single time we meet, it means that they are going to be baptized. Because we have given them light they didn't know existed, and the want to repay us with food."

"Mayni is 13 years old, and she is super awesome. She came to church and LOVED it. She wants to come every week. Her mom and grandma want her to come to, and will come to church when they don´t work."

"We had an ward activity this weekend of Sopaipillas, and a contest who could make the best sopaipillas. And....Maria-Isabel (the grandma who started it all) won!!! I have never seen her so happy. And sopaipillas are just like scones, but there is no yeast and they use pumpkin in the dough."

"We are trying to work with the ward and the presidents to find more results in Placilla. Mission life is super crazy but incredible."

Happy Birthday, Sister Ortiz!

Enjoying a surprise birthday cake without the birthday girl.

Baptism

"Brother Soto was baptized, the father, and WOW it was an incredible experience. I honestly think it was the most powerful spiritual experience I have had in my life. He is amazing.  He has begun a new life with God. His testimony after his baptism was incredible. He said, 'I know that this is the true church of God not because you are all so nice or that this is a beautiful church, but because of what I feel inside. I KNOW this is the church of Jesus Christ.' He talked about how we just popped up to his door one day and how we are his little angels that have brought his this knowledge. The spirit was so strong, every single person in the baptism had tears in their eyes. I will never forget that feeling for the rest of my life. There is no greater joy than bringing somebody to the knowledge of God. I am so privileged to be the missionary that God worked through to be with the Familia Soto.  I am so incredibly happy for them. Things always happen for a reason." 

Soto family

Staying in Placilla with a new companion.

"I stayed in Placilla!!!! It was such a surprise. Hermana Stott left and she is now companions with my old companion Hermana Siler.  My new companion is Hermana Ortiz, she is from Guatemala! I finally have a Latina companion. She will help me with my Spanish. wahaah!  She is so incredibly sweet and loving to every single person we meet. I absolutely adore her. She is so easy to live with.  I will send a pic of her next week!"

"Our investigator family is still strong and will be baptized next week. We made two other baptism dates last week for September so we are excited about that."

"Saturday, we went to teach some recent converts, and they were in the middle of making hot empanadas from a homemade wood burning oven. It was very delicious. Chile is quite the place. I love it here, I can´t believe I only have 11 months left...Enjoy every moment, because life passes by so quickly. 'Be still and know that I am God.' "

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Viña del Mar from the highway.

Maggie with Sis. Stott.

The posse.