We Should Be Receptive to the Whisperings of God

This week was super great(:  We had to stay in the house for a full day because Soccer games are HUGE here in Chile and every one is busy and some are not in their right state of mind.  It is so fun (:  And I was super sick for 2 days straight.  So we only had a full 3 days of work this week :/ Monday we went on a hike and we brought our investigator with us!  His name is Gonzolo and he is 24 years old.  We thought it would be fun for him to see how the elders were, since there are 24 of them in our zone, and hang out with a good group of people.  Funny story.  He decides half way up the trail to take is shirt off and one of the elders offered him a lighter shirt and he took it and tied it around his head..... then at the top of the mountain, due to the fact we have not yet taught him the work of wisdom, decided to smoke some weed.  It was a fantastic experience and we were all, not going to lie, cracking up. We had to give him a little lesson at the top of the mountain (: It was fantastic lol But that was the funny story, now on for what we did productively this week...  We had a meeting at the Bishops house this week and we were just talking and he told us a story that I wanted to share with you guys!   He was telling us about a time when he was first bishop and he felt a very strong impression to give a lady member a hug and he didn't know why so he kind of brushed it off, but the voice came to him stronger the second time, and he is kind of a huggy guy so he walked up to her and just gave her a hug. She looked at him contently and said "Bishop why did you just give me a hug?" and he said, I don't know I just had a feeling to! and she told him that at that moment she was praying to God to give her a hug because she had had a very stressful week... When we are living our lives how we should be living then we are receptive to the whisperings of God.  Because Heavenly Father cannot be here to help each one of us personally, he allows his children, US, to be tools in his hands, to act in his place.  I believe you do not have to be a member of the Church in order to do this, yes, as members of the Church we have more opportunities to act, but I believe if we are living our lives with virtue and value, we can be chosen to be tools in his hands to help other people, his children, in times of trial and need♥ I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve.  To read and think about the life of Jesus Christ and be a tool in his hands for 18 months here in Santiago Chile. 

I love you guys and hope all is well :)

Be smart, be obedient and be happy♥ 

See you in 7 more fast Sundays!

have a super sassy week!!

xoxooxoxx

Hermana Danielle N. Cook

"The Natural Man is An Enemy to God

Every week that goes by I realize more and more what the phrase ``the natural man is an enemy to God`` means.  My natural self wants to sleep in and be super lazy and unproductive, and I thought as time went on in the mission, it would get easier... that my body would get used to the schedule of early to bed and early to rise, that my desires to dance would vanish and that any thoughts about swimming and lounging on the beach would disappear....  but it does not.  Every day I still have to fight♥ But... I do feel stronger spiritually than I have ever felt at any other time in my life.  Fighting the natural man brings a spiritual strength I don`t think I would have felt if I had not made the decision to come on a mission.  The more we fight the natural man, the more we work, the more miracles we see and the happier we are (: I am so grateful for my mission!

This week was a bit slow with lessons but we found 5 new people to teach through following the spirit.  Walking to Zumba with an investigator (Gilda), we stopped to talk to some of her friends that she knew and I had a feeling to go back after Zumba to see if we could teach them.  Zumba ended up getting canceled so we went back to this house and got let in because of the investigator we had with us (Gilda) and found 4 new people to teach and found out that the father of their family was a member and in the hospital so we called the Bishop and had the mom ask if he wanted a blessing.  We shared a prayer and a few verses in Helaman and she started to cry. It was a precious experience I hope never to forget!  We have a lesson again with them tomorrow and I hope all continues to go well.

Concerning my precious companion, she is doing better.  I realized the more I fought her on things, the harder it was for her to be obedient, so I let her do her own thing this week and she seems to be figuring things out on her own.  It's a blessing we get along so well and both have a lot of energy. Once again I feel this companionship was very inspired and we have a lot of potential together.  We work hard and have fun and people in this sector are very inspired.  This week I had trouble sleeping though!  I have a bear under me (my comp snores like a bear, bless her heart) and rats building a temple above me.... seriously I think they are building a building!!! They scamper and scurry above my head ALL night!  Why do they have to be nocturnal?!?! anyways... The Lord has blessed me with a lot of happiness and patience this change!  I have been so happy (: 

Well chiquillos, I am grateful for the work and am so grateful to be here in Chile sharing with these people ♥

hope you all have a super sassy week!

xoxoxoxoxoxxo 

xoxoxxo

♥Hermana Cook



Me and My companion making a Fathers Day Cake!



after our studies we had 2 hours left to be in the house for the
Chile football game so here we are being goofballs!

We are the only Hermanas in the zone out of 24 of us!
The Elders take good care of us.

 Elder Bickle carried my backpack for me
all the way up the mountain

We hiked to the Catholic monument thingy where the giant virgin Mary is... and other catholic things, it was a good fun and funny time!

Another beautiful statue on our hike

Here is our recent convert Byron! Well.... he's not ours, he's the Elders but he's way awesome! Here he is with a Book of Mormon and... Saint... Pablo Not sure but yeah! haha

Our zone... they Rock!

View of Santiago.. So Chilly in Chile, Haha! 
This photo complimentary of Waldo!

Me and My Fun companion

A visit from Waldo!

ONLY PHOTOS! No time for an email :)

Since Danielle hasn't sent pictures in over 6 weeks she sent a ton today and she said since she was sending so many pictures she wouldn't have time to write an email.  I'm a little sad.. but I am grateful for the pictures :)

Isn't pictures worth a thousand words anyways?? :)

First Rain!

 

hermana Lepin, I and Elvira

hermana Lepin, I and Elvira

hermana Lepin, I and Elvira

hermana Lepin, I and Elvira

hermana Lepin, I and Elvira

hermana Lepin, I and Elvira

hermana Lepin, I and Elvira

Pretty toe nails!

Hermana Earl y yo

Hermana Rix and I lived together for 5 months and I learned mountains worth from her. We practiced obedience, humor and dance movies at 7:00 AM in the morning. I learned some New Years Eve traditions that I plan on practicing when I get home and We are going to go to BYUI together and divertirnos♥ 

I miss her so much!

Hermana Rex and I before we changed sectors♥ we lived together for 5 months and gained a bit of weight! lol

My good friend Cezar

mission mommy Leavitt and Elder Allin in his Chile attire

Me and hermana LEPIN

Santiago Temple trip

LUNCH IN THE HOUSE ♥ SALAD WOOHOO!!

Elders messy hair after being in the Hurricane Simulator

ELDER ALDERIGE LAST DAY!

last day in El Parron

BOWLING LAST P-DAY WITH THE ZONE LA CISTERNA ♥

cherry tomatoes we are growing

I LOVE DOOR CONTACTING!!

WELL! This week was very interesting..... I am learning a lot of love, patience and charity.  This is my first change with a disobedient companion.  We get along SO well, she is practically the Latina version of me, but... disobedient.   This week she pretended to call presidente and tell him that she didn't want to be a missionary any more so we could go home early.  We had a very long talk about this because we missed a family home evening and another appointment. You can all be assured that I was not happy. After some scriptures, and a ´´you need to not be selfish´´ lecture she apologized and we are back on track again... for now at least. UGH pray for me haha This week we had to go through and clean out all of the non progressing investigators... which happened to be all of them so we get to start from scratch! WOOHOO (: 

Wanna know a secret??  I LOVE DOOR CONTACTING.  It is my favorite way to find people... call me crazy, but you can really see who has been being prepared by the Lord and who just isn't ready quite yet.  We got invited into three houses this week that's a record!!!! ♥  This sector is a sector of HOPE! Also, I had another opportunity to fall in love with the Plan of Salvation.  This week a friend from back home passed away from high school and the day after I found out, we went to a members house and their father was laying on the couch looking half dead and warn out.  He has blood cancer and doesn't know how much longer he has on this earth.  He is full of faith hope and says every time his pain takes his breath away, he thinks of the atonement and it doesn't seem so bad.  Safe to say I was bawling thinking about Chris, grandpa and Austin (another friend that had passed away) and the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ and the perfect Plan our Heavenly Father has for all of his children. Rough week this week but we saw many beautiful blessings.  5 non/less actives were at church this week and we found 3 awesome people last night.  Also, a less active from my other ward El Parrón found me and brought me tights, pens, super cute boots, gloves and a super cute note.  Her name is Katy and we are actually going to go back to my old sector today (With permission of course) to have lunch with her.  The love people have here for missionaries is something I actually didn't know existed until I came on a mission.  I did not know a single name of a single missionary that served in the wards at home in Vegas and I assumed it was the same every where.  And I plan on knowing them better when I get home haha but this week was full of every emotion that I think I have ever felt all in one week.  I love the mission.  I feel so peaceful and happy in this sector.  The Lord has blessed me with a lot of love for my companion and for this sector (: We are doing better and I only hope things go uphill from here♥ 

I love you all!  Hope you have a super sassy week (: (: 

Chao! xoxoxoxox

Every chance you get, share the Plan of Salvation with someone

A note from Danielle's Mom:  I believe Danielle's email was so short because she found out from a friend of hers that another friend she knew was killed in a snowboarding accident.  She personally messaged me this note:  I am in an awkward mood right now.  I'll tell you why in a few weeks ♥
Don't worry though.  Just know I love you a lot and I'll send pics next week.

The following is her sweet short note this week :)

My comp is a Latina me!  Love her so much, we teach well together.  Love my ward.  I feel like family here.  I am in love with my sector.

I love the plan of salvation.  Every chance you get, share it with someone, you don't know if they have had a loss in their family recently or someone close to them along time ago.  The Plan of Salvation is my favorite and it has become one of the closest things to my heart on my mission.  I love it.

Be a missionary.  You don't need an official missionary tag, you don't need to be 20 years old.  Have family home evenings, and invite people and the missionaries.  It's fun and a good way to share the Gospel (:

love you. hugs and kisses.
Hermana Cook

MAMA COOK! Your prayers were answered!

MAMA COOK!   Your prayers were answered! ♥   I have a Latina comp, Hermana Lepin!!  Full of energy and just how I like `em, SUPER SASSY! (:  President pulled me aside and told me that I have to work hard on her because.... well, he didn’t say wh,y but I can kind of imagine why.  So we will be working hard (:  Presidente is awesome, can I just say that?

Hermana Leavitt, Elder Smith, Allen, and Alderige, all are heading home today.  I was born into their zone (I arrived in their zone first) and now they are all ¨dying¨ I am really sad!  It is CRAZY how fast time flies.  They are all fantastic missionaries and I am sad to lose them.  But they all need to go home and live their awesome lives.  Time passes WAY to fast.... I can’t believe it.  

This week went well.  Hermana Taylor and I worked hard our last week and it turned out really well.  I said bye to every one Sunday in El Parrón and there were tears and laughter in every house we visited.  I am currently in an area called El Progresso, where ironically there has been no progresso!  YAY. in the Steak Gran Avenida.  SWEET!  It is about 1/2 the size of my other sector and we live in a house house (: It’s supèr cute like a little cottage!

But I am really excited for this change. Cambios are my favorite! 

This week went really well in the sector El Parrón. It was a long last week together with Hermana Taylor and me, but she has progressed mountains worth!  I am excited to work in this sector.  I heard rumors that this sector is pretty difficult but I am ready for a challenge.  I am excited to practice exact obedience with Hermana Lepin, I think a testimony of this will really help her and I know her previous companion, Hermana Earl, had worked on this with her while she was here training as well.  She has a great amount of energy which I am really looking forward to working with.  I hope and pray we can help build each other and the people we serve here!

This week I read a lot in chapter 3 lesson 2 in Preach My Gospel about the Plan of Salvation.  I haven`t read it really deeply since my grandfather passed away but I felt a wave of love as I read about the resurrection.  A country song came to my mind that has the lyrics something to the effect of ¨I`ll see my grandpa again and he`ll match me step for step,¨ by brad paisley and Dolly Parton came into my mind, and I thought about my grandpa and how that will indeed be the case (:  I love the Plan of Happiness! I can`t wait to find someone here to teach it to.  Service this week we helped a less active and his wife clear out their back yard of broken down pieces of a part of their house and Hermana Taylor and I got to talking to the husband and found out he has been hiding behind a wall of shame for the past six years because he declined going on a mission to Utah and I really think he wishes he would have taken the opportunity.  But that is where the atonement comes in and we forgive ourselves, move on and do better.

Elder Taffur is in my zone and I forgot to tell you all about Elder taffur but he is a prankster and this week I pranked them and told them I had special changes and had already left the sector and THEY BELIEVED ME and elder taffur apparently cried....... OOPS (:  and then the told the ward and then on Thursday when the joke was over, and they found out I didn’t leave... Everyone at the Noche de Hogar came up to me hugging and kissing me and crying thinking that I had actually left!!!!  So... it is official.  I cannot do pranks.  They never work out. (:  MY poor ward thought I had left without saying good bye so technically I had to say bye to them twice... awh :/  they are so great I will miss them so much! ♥

Elder Tafur is a super great missionary.  I had fun with him and Elder Burhoe in el Parrón.  I will miss working closely with the both of them, but I am stoked for changes.

Love you all.

Prayers are real.

Fasts bring miracles.

And Jesus Christ lives.

Have a super sassy week xoxoxox

♥Hermana Cook!

I love my calling, and am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and for repentance and forgiveness.

This week was one of the hardest weeks for me.  I felt very discouraged.  We cannot find our investigators, my Spanish is going downhill, every service activity we had planned failed through last minute and I feel fat and depressed.  But as always, after a hard week, you see the rainbow after the rain.  Last night we were able to teach one of our investigators the restoration and she asked us how she could know what church was true and she told us at least three times that there is only one loving Dios (God) and that He doesn’t have 500 churches.  We explained how she was just like the young prophet Joseph Smith, and read Santiago 1:5 with her.  She said she really wanted to read and know if it was true.  It was a really beautiful lesson and I think in this lesson, Hermana Taylor talked the most that I have ever heard her talk in a lesson.  I was not super worried about Hermana Taylor not talking much in lessons, because I did the same thing in my training, but I was a little concerned that she had not taken all the opportunities she could have to share, but last night I could really see her progression and I teared up a little bit.  It was a tender miracle from Heavenly Father :)  She is doing great! ♥ 

This week has been a really good week of reflection and deep thinking.  I read a lot about the Apostle Paul and I was blown away by his wisdom and strength. I have read it before, but it takes on a whole different meaning when you’re on a mission!  He was a great tool in the hands of the Lord, so great that when he was killed the Lord revived him!  I love the Bible and the Book of Mormon heroes (: 

I also was taught a very important lesson from the Spirit this week.  There is this man that works at a botelleria, Enrique, and he has been asking us for months to come teach the jóvenes (young),  and I have always been open to teaching who ever these ¨jóvenes¨ (young) were, but my companions had not felt very comfortable around him, because sometimes he was drinking when we would say hi and talk to him, so usually we would just try and just pass him to the elders, but finally I decided to set up a cita (appointment) with him this week.  We entered his house for the first time earlier this week and we met his children and asked what exactly he was looking for and in that moment, I saw my dad´s face in his eyes and he looked at me and said ¨Hermana Chikas, I just want peace back in my house.¨   It was a very powerful and humble request from this single father of 5 boys.  So we taught him a little about what the gospel was.  We asked his 9 year old son who he thinks God is and he told us that God made the trees and plants and sky and all of us.  It was the cutest explanation of our Heavenly Father that I had ever heard!  I love children; they are so simple and sincere.  I saw a picture of his mommy on their wall and I commented on it and asked where his mom was.  The dad changed the subject super quick and the little boy said, ¨no daddy, she asked where mommy was...¨and he again changed the subject.  The second time we entered his house he did not have time for us to be there for more than 15 minutes because he was working.  But he told us that his wife had hung herself and their 14 year old son had found her 6 years back, and they´ve had trouble ever since.. I cried all night.  He had been asking us to come by and teach them for MONTHS.. And I was ignoring the spirit and the invitation to teach him.   I felt so unworthy to be a missionary and thought that we had lost the opportunity to teach him and help.   I repented and we have been trying to work with him and his family since then, but the only thing we can do now is gain his confidence and help him find what he had asked for... for peace to return to his house.  Through the gospel we can surely help him if he is willing to keep commitments.

I am so grateful for the gospel.  It really is the biggest source of peace and comfort in my life.  I love sharing it and learning every day.  Joseph Smith was a worthy and true prophet of the Lord and I know he translated the plates of Gold.  Jesus loves us with a deep love that we cannot understand, and I know that Heavenly Father sent him here to save us from an eternal hell.  I know that He has a lot of trust in His missionaries to share His message and find all His children.  I love my calling, and am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and for repentance and forgiveness.

FUNN NOTES!!!! ♥

Talked with my family and BROOKIE DARLING, I didn’t talk to you much, people kept cutting you off. :( feel free to message me and we can talk. I love you! I had so much fun talking with you. I will be repenting for going over time talking; I literally did not notice the time. But good news, you got to meet our ward mission leader, Claudio Barra, who is the funniest thing ever! He showed you his two cats and did head, shoulders, knees and toes for you in Spanish! heehee. He is a great man, we are lucky to be working with him!

Cultural update:   music here has the same bass line, 4 notes over and over and every car is playing it.  It’s called regatona. Something like that.  Also, booty shorts and tights are super popular here.  And it’s getting super super cold!  Hermana Taylor and I are funny and her family cracks me up.  She is 1 of 9 children and we had fun talking to them. ♥

Well love you alllll!!!!

Hope you have a super sassy week (: Miss you all!

que esté bien

xoxoxoxoo

Hermana Cook

Skyping with Danielle.  Danielle and Hermana she is training (Hermana Taylor).  Also Danielle with the Ward Mission leaders Grandmother