16th MONTH
– OCTOBER
October 31, 2016
Happy Halloween!
Sorry this message will be super short! This week we took a trip to La Laguna in
Tenerife for exchanges! We went in ferry
and needless to say the trip there was awful and we sat curled about in a ball
on the bathroom floor the entire 3 hours, but the trip home was awesome! We also had interviews with President and
Hermana Pack, love those guys, I'm so grateful I have gotten to know them
better, they have blessed my life! And
last but not least, my baby Hermana Vannucci is the bomb. I love her!
She reminds me simple is better, and the great things are brought to
pass by doing the small things! Don't
know what I would do without her.
Love you guys!
Read the scriptures k!
Hermana Charlesworth
Iré y Haré y Seré
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Matching Glasses |
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Santa Cruz, Tenerife |
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Sitting, waiting for the barco. |
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The Barco |
October 24, 2016
Hey guys!
Cool little visiting teaching miracle this
week! Sunday morning in Relief Society
we heard the timbre ring at the church.
When Hermana Vannucci and I got up to see who was at the door an Elderly
woman stood in the doorway. She had big
sunglasses, brown leggings and big oversized green sweater. She pulled us down from the step and made us
assist her to the couch where we tried to figure out who she was. In a small voice she said, "I am María
José and I am here to go to church".
She pulled out letters from her colorful overstuffed bag written by her
Visiting Teachers. The letters expressed
love and charity and shared a simple but powerful message. I looked at the signatures at the bottom of
the letters, they were signed by members.
Indeed Hermana María José was here to go to church. I looked at Hermana Vannucci. Before I knew it she pulled me down to the couch
to help her take off her old flip flops and replace them with black flowery
heels. Hermana Dolí came out into the little lobby and was just as surprised as
we were when she saw her old friend.
María José held up all the letters from Dolí and her visiting teaching
companion and smiled. Hermana Dolí
joined us on the little green couches and completely adored and loved María
José. I sat across on the other little
couch and just listened. Such a tender moment when a friend comes back to
church.
I'm grateful for the whole 25 people we have in our
Rama of Telde and the example they are for me!
My life will never be the same. I
have come to deeply appreciate and love every member of the church here and
their sacrifices to strengthen, love, and reach out to others.
I testify that the Church is true, that God is our
loving Heavenly Father, and that through the atonement of Jesus Christ,
anything is possible.
Hermana Charlesworth
Iré y Haré y Seré
|
Best Buds, Hermana Vannucci |
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Breakfast on the rooftop |
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L:a Garita |
October 17, 2016
Hola Fam and Amigos!
A little girl we met on a crumbling staircase...
The little girl walked us inside with big hopes to
introduce us to her parents. We climbed
to the 4th flour and she rang the timbre to their little apartment. While we waited patiently outside the door, I
took in my surroundings. The walls were
tagged with dark spray paint and ugly words, most of the paint had chipped and
showed the bare drywall, loud rap music from below echoed up most of the broken
and crumbling stairs. I realized it was
getting dark fast, I looked around for a light-switch, the little girl caught
my looking eyes and replied they were broken. I refocused on the door (which was now getting
hard to see it was so dark) and prayed we might touch this family's heart.
We heard loud voices inside and the door swung
opened. Her mom answered and her dad
joined the woman's side, they looked at us, and then at their daughter and
asked what we wanted. We explained that
we met her daughter on the steps, and that she had been very kind to us (they
really didn't care). Again they asked us
what we wanted so we introduced ourselves and told the couple we were
representatives of Jesus Christ and we were there to share a message. It was obvious they did not care about us or
the message as they continued telling us they did not believe in God. The little girl looked at me and then at her
parents, "mom, these girls are nice." My heart was so full for this
little girl and I quickly started testifying about God and his plan to have an
eternal family in hopes of softening her parents’ hearts! Instead they closed the door, leaving us and
their daughter completely in the dark.
My feelings in this moment were indescribable and my heart sank. As we sat in the darkness for a few moments
the little girl broke the silence, "They really do believe in Jesus",
she told me, "they're just having a bad day, please come back and talk to
them."
I that moment I felt we should teach her to pray. Now it was completely black as we all sat in
the staircase. I explained prayer, what
it is and that we can communicate with our Father in Heaven who loves us at any
time. I offered a very very simple
prayer and luego asked her if she would like to try. "Yes!" she told
us, "but I don't know how". By the light of our little Nokia we
showed the steps in a pamphlet. I simply
described prayer again and asked her for two things she was grateful for, and
two things she wanted to ask God for. She
told me she was grateful for her family, and for the food they had, and she
wanted to ask God to never lack anything, and that her parents would always
stay together. As my heart melted, I
told her to repeat my words and I started the prayer. As I said a sentence, she would repeat it, and
at the end of our prayer the Spirit radiated and engulfed us in a little bubble
of warm fuzzys. The staircase felt bright, illuminated and warm even though we sat in
the chilly dark. The power of prayer!
Fave scripture this week even though I can't
remember where it is now...
"...that ye may at last be brought to sit
down...in the kingdom of heaven to go no more out." No empty seats!
Hermana Charlesworth
Iré y Haré y Seré
|
Familia Leon |
|
Sahara Desert Sand 1 |
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Sahara Desert Sand 2 |
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Sahara Desert Sand 3 |
|
Telde |
October 10, 2016
Hey Fam and Friends!
I was praying I would train again to finish my
mission, and guess what? Prayer
answered, dream come true, I'm training!
Just a fun lil fact, I found out at the training meeting in Madrid that
I have a "great-granddaughter" in the mission, lol.
So much has happened, all wonderful things of
course, and I have to say that I love the mission! I love the relationships,
friends, and new family I have gained and I couldn't possibly imagine life
without them.
My new daughter is Hermana Vannucci, she's from
Idaho, and she is la bomba. We will be together for the next twelve weeks in
the Islands! So beyond stoked to finish here with her.
Okay, don't judge my Spanish too hard but I just
wanted to share my testimony with you guys:
Testificó que Dios existe, que es nuestro Padre
Celestial. Testificó que él nos ama más
que podemos imaginar, y como un Padre amoroso, siempre está con nosotros. Nunca nos deja solo, sino que nos da
oportunidades de crecer, aprender, y mejorar.
Lo amamos a él y él nos ama! Sé
que nos dio a su hijo unigénito y perfecto Jesucristo. Sé que Jesus es nuestro mediador y Salvador
verdadero. Se que él sufrió todo para entendernos
y para que nunca estemos solos en nuestro viaje. Nuestros sufrimientos y dolores, tentaciones
y pecados son aliviados por medio de él.
Qué maravilloso el amor de nuestros Padres Celestiales y nuestro Hermano
mayor!
Church is true and I loooove you!
Hermana Charlesworth
Iré y Haré y Seré
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My Mission Ladies |
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Our recent convert Jaime from the islands at the Madrid Temple |
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US and our new mission babies in the mission home packing for the island life |
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Hermana Harper (my greenie-breaker) finished her mission! |
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Last flight home to the islands from Madrid |