Best Week Ever!

Lamest email ever. Best week ever. VICKY IS GETTING BAPTISED and we just got back from a mansion on the side of Lake Llanguehue with volcanoes all around us....but better than that VICKY IS GETTING BAPTISED! I have prayed and fasted for this girl basically for 12 weeks now and she called us out of the blue and told us she made the decision even though the parents will kick her out of the house. This Friday, please keep her in the prayers! I can´t send pictures this week because this computer is ghetto and I have ten minutes left, but I love ALL of you! Shout outs to the parents, the amazing grandparents, mikey, ash, luz, Mary Driggs!, TEEF, the Porters, Lexi, and Katie. Thank you everyone for you love and support. I´m writing a good email next week...but for now..Just know the work is progressing, I love being a missionary, and I love all of you. Everyone read Alma 37-42 and just glory in how amazing the gospel is. Its real...It´s the most important thing. Love you
Hna BourneB

I'm Gonna Be Wierd...!

(excerpt from a personal letter to Emily’s parentsJ)

Mom and dad, I’m going to be so weird when I get home… I’ve reached a state of wonderfulness (not me of course – but I’m IN a state of wonderfulness.)  I feel so removed- out of the world.  It’s like my brain, heart, and soul are on excellerated mode.  It’s such a beautiful thing to eliminate all distractions and focus on other people and their needs.

 (Dad, there is not monotony out here!  Every day there’s a new dog to bite me, a new drunk to attempt to kiss me, and a new Evangelical “sister in Christ” to cruelly reject me..) All I think about is the Savior or scriptures, goals or investigators…I want the best from myself and my companions.  I feel really, exceedingly comfortable in the language and teaching.  I have so many goals- and even though day by day I see my progression at a glacial pace- I look back to even September and know that I am different.

My testimony makes living and understanding others so much easier.  To me it just makes sense to live the gospel and it’s teachings.  Sometimes I would just like to wear a T-shirt that reads “OBVIOUSLY”.  The gospel is so simple.  Our covenants are so important- they are everything and they are sadly so easy to forget.  I know I am in a state of unnatural spiritualness and I love it.  To see so clear the only things that matter-  namely God, Jesus Christ, the gospel, my family, my covenants and other people.

I think it’s possibly the most beautiful thing in the world to be a missionary. So thank you for raising me-everything you guys did helped lead me down here- to one of the most important works I will ever do.

Not only am I coming to a greater knowledge of my Savior, but I’m in a small way helping others do the same.  Sometimes it just hits me that I am literally helping to save souls.  I’m not “serving a mission” it’s more like…I wake up every day and pray that I can do God’s will- and He always shows us the way.  He always leads us into people that need this…or if not this- a hug, an arm around the shoulder, a reassuring word (in a funny accent) or someone to sing happy birthday to them because their mother is drunk and can’t remember.  I’ve had so many moments where I’ve gotten to nurture another person.  I think sisters serve very different missions than Elders.  The Elders have authority and power to teach and baptize- I think we have love and perspective that nurtures and prepares the way for those harvesting Elders to come in and reap with all their might.

The mission isn’t some “program” or “experience” that one has.  I think it is one of the most complex things a 19-21 year old can do.  It has been an eye-opening welcome to human nature…. I’ve never worked harder or been happier or more filled with purpose and direction.  I love this.  If the price of feeling this way all the time is being a weird missionary then “pass the panty hose and nix the make-up!!

I love you, Em

JANUARY 23, 2010

(Note- Em had an extremely tough week this week, and only wanted her testimony shared on the blog.  This would be a great week to blast her with e-mails...)

sister.bourne@myldsmail.net

Mom and dad, you know I love you both more than almost anything (God, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel being first up there) President is right up there after you guys! He´s really one of the best men besides dad and grandpa I´ve ever met. Thank you both for everything. You have a letter coming in the mail. The pitures you can put on the blog with an appology. The one at dinner is with a less active who was in the church for 30 years. Shes really stubborn and likes to ¨live¨now, but we´re slowly breaking her down. The other is me at the ferroquarril (train tracks) in the middle of our sector on a beautiful day. I love the mission, I´m thinking of asking president to extend my mission past February, but I won´t do anything until I hear if you already have your travel plans. I adore serving. Everything is so clear out here. I love not having the distractions of the world cloud my vision or making me apathetic or lazy. I have an infinite number of ways to improve, but I know I can improve in little ways day by day. Alma 37:6-7 are some of my favorite versus about this. The little things we do are going to bring to pass the great and marvelous things of our life. Dad, absolutely ADORED your talk and Im sure you touched many lives with your testimony. man, if we could all just see a little clearer. The gospel is true, I have no doubts about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, the fact that God and Jesus Christ live and love me, nor that everything good in life comes by and is 100% meaningless without the atonement of Jesus Christ. If we could just choose good and hold onto our covenants, the world would be a better place. There is no doubt, just knowledge now. Now I can develop faith and knowledge in other things and I´m so excited. I love you guys, but I don´t want to ever leave this. Love, Emmy

WRITE TO ME!!!!!

Family and friends!  Let's hit Emily hard with millions of e-mails this week!  She is getting testy!
sister.bourne@myldsmail.net

Check in with Katie in Jerusalem at: katiebournesadventuresinjerusalem.blogspot.com

Lovin' life...

Familia!

Shout out to Hal Waldo. Halsy, I wish I could write you a real email, but its against mission rules sorry love. Just know that I LOVE hearing from you...you write just like you talk and it always brings a huge smile to my face to hear from you. I know you are an incredible missionary and I really want to have the passion and love for the mission that you have.

Shout out to Katie! Jerusalem looks like PERFECTION. You and your stylish clothing that you stole from my closet...it´s okay because I wear your ensemble sweatpants to bed every night here. Bwah ha ha ha! You look so happy and I´m sure you´re learning and experiencing a ton. Make sure you write to me dangit!

SHout out to the extended fam who donated money to the mission. President sends his gratitude and LOVE and I do too. That will help a lot of people! Love you all!

Mikey and Ash..WRITE ME! HOw the heck is little baby!!!!???? I can´t believe you´ll be parents a month from now. Mikey, read genesis 49.20. I DIED laughing and then thought you´d like it.

Normal week. What am I saying? No week is normal here. This cambio has been hard to get in touch with people because Christmas, New Years, and now the second round of presidencial elections are upon us. Everyone has to vote where they were born, so nobody is home...just one of the frustrations. But never fear! We´ve been meeting a LOAD of families where the parents are actually married. Unless you served down here or are Chileno, you don´t understand how rare that is...

Something really special happened this week. Found out that none other than the brother of my Seminary teacher, brother Hemming, baptised my companion...Hna. Aponte. She´s awesome and I love the little blessings and tender mercies that the Lord gives!

BRAU. It happened. Sunday was going along just fine, until the Bishop stood up and said..and now, Hermana Bourne will speak to us for 20 minutes...looked at me...smiled...silence. Alrighty! I´ll speak to these people for twenty minutes in a foreign language...GOOD! The bishop is hilarious. We are really close to his family and I´m sure he just relished calling me up like that.

This week, we found out that one of our investigators (David, brother of Juanito) had his birthday and his mom didn´t do anything because she was drunk. We ran right over there with a box of ice cream and some pitiful balloons and sang our little hearts out to him. He is possibly the cutest thing in the entire world. He turned 10 and Juanito is 13. They know this message is true and have defended it amongst their friends. We´re making sure they come to church for three months before baptising them just to make sure they are really sure. so that means I probably won´t get to be at the baptism which I´m sad about. I love these chichos. It was so fun to have a little impromptu birthday party for David...cutie pie.

I don´t think I´ve really described Osorno. Just mix Alaska with Idaho. There you go. Done.

Family, I know this letter is super lame, but your letters to me were just as lame. So lets just call a truce this week and promise to be better the next one. I love you all!
Hna Bourne

JOEY BOURNE'S CHRISTMAS LETTER FROM EM! 
Joe,
I´m sorry I took so long to write this letter! Merry Christmas! I think the only thing I want to let you know is that when all is said and done in life, although it doesnt appear like it now, the only thing that matters is the gospel (and included in that is the family). Having a testimony of this gospel is the only way to have a really happy and deeply fulfilling life. You have incredible parents that have left examples to follow. I know that if we follow in the footsteps of Christ and give our lives to Him, He will make so much more out of us than we can. I want to challenge you at the beginning of this next year to really think about where you want to be in 50 years...You have SO much potential to do SO much good and I know you can and will choose that which is good! You are the best Joe! Keep developing your talents, but more importantly, develop those things of eternal worth! I love you and Merry Christmas!
Em

HAPPY P-DAY

FAMILIA,
So much to say as always...not enough time to write. Katie, you sound fantastic.  I´m looking forward to hearing about your experiences in J-RU! Shout outs to mikey, tiff, sierra, bund, hal, mom, dad...everyone. Thank you for your continued support and love for me. Keep them letters comin! 

Some shrapnel that happened this week...wow. Yesterday we woke up to a swarm of Testigos (JWs) in our neighborhood. We were in the middle of personal study when they knocked. It was the cutest little old lady with her granddaughter, who saw our plaques and then looked a little scared. We chatted a bit and the older lady didn´t understand that we were missionaries so she bore her testimony and it was just beautiful. We had zone conference and I spoke two times in front of everyone. President calls people up out of the crowd of about 30 missionaries to give talks and it fell upon me this time. DUN DUN DUN! I turned bright red, but I did it and people understood what I was saying. The second time, the Hermana called us up to bear testimony about something we´d been trying that is new in the mission. 

Anyways, zone conference was fabulous and inspiring like always. I got a letter from BECKY SWIM and RAMROD JONES...happiest day of my life. Letters from other missionaries are so refreshing and beautiful. LIke every time I fend off a rabies-ridden Chilean dog, I know Sister Swim is on the opposite side of the world fending off a rabies-ridden Chinese dog. Or every time a Chilean door slams in my face, I can hear the Ukrainian door slam is Sister Jones´face. It´s beautiful! I love the mission, I love to serve the Lord.

So this new year, I decided to read all the standard works...I´m reading everything but the old testament in Spanish. I reached the story of Joseph in Genesis this week and can NOT get ¨go go go Joseph¨ out of my head. I´m shocked at how unlike the musical the actual Biblical account is...there aren´t singing wives, and synchronized disco slash calypso numbers....where did Andrew Llyod Weber go wrong? Anywho, senior year rocked..

Back to the mission! Mom, I have two jobs for you. One, I think my companion, Hna. Aponte, is the convert of my seminary teacher Brother Hemming. I need you to call Olympus and ask him a) if he served in Buenos Aires (or any of his brothers) and 2) if He baptised Andrea Aponte. I would DIE to have this information and I know it would be really special for him. Two, in your next package, I need my converse shoes (the ¨nerd shoes¨that you and dad hate) and herbal tea of any nature (they only sell one kind here) preferably the one with a tiger on it that says ¨bengal spice¨ or something like that.

Dad, I love your thoughts for stake conference. I´ve always loved Moroni 7:48 because it says we will be like Christ BECAUSE we shall see him as he is. When we have the ability to look at a person (flaws and all) and see them the way Christ sees them (as a son or daughter of God with literally unlimited potential and glory) and treat them accordingly...THAT is charity. I think it´s the ability to understand the reality of a person. It´s the same with Christ. Many people saw him or walked with him or hear about him in modern times...most people don´t SEE Him for who He truly is...our Savior and Redeemer. Unless we develop charity (which includes all of HIs other attributes...Alma 7:23), we will not understand Christ, we will not know Him, and we will not be like Him. Service is one way to develop charity...I think THAT combined with year after year prayer, study, and church attendance. When we come to know Christ--not as some mysterious being or famous painting--but the real Jesus Christ our Savior, through our lifelong efforts, repentance, trial, and service...then will we be like Him. I´m positive we´ll never be very much like Him in this life...maybe gleaming moments throughout our life...but we can get a little closer. 

I love this mission. I have moments when I don´t ever want to come home. I want to be caught up in the lives of others forever...I want to help people forever...I want to keep coming to a knowledge of my Savior forever...I want to study forever...This time in my life is more beautiful and undeserved than I could´ve ever imagined.
I love you all. You are all some of my greatest blessings on earth.
Hna Bourne

Ps.. mom, I´m praying for you and Bette and Bubba...please let her know how much I love her and Bubba.

Letter to "President"...the desires of my heart...

Most excitingly, we met with our zone today…it´s going to be great! Elder Merrell and Elder Poujoul took the zone into the nearest ¨forest¨, and there, we each had some alone time to pray and think about what we will offer the Lord this cambio and offer up the desires of our hearts for this cambio. Unbeknownst to the zone leaders (I think), your darling wife already challenged our companionship to do just that…to offer up our wills to that of the Lord. I´ve really been trying to do that…to seek the will of the Lord in everything we´re doing and change my heart, my thoughts, and my actions to be in accordance to that with which the Savior would think and do. We each went off alone (within seeing and hearing distance, of course) and offered up the desires of our hearts for the cambio and our offering or sacrifice to the Lord. President, I really desire to offer up my heart to the Lord. It´s more than an offering for this cambio. I want the Lord to have my heart for the rest of my mission and then for the rest of my life…that´s what I´m going to try to develop for 2010 and the rest of my life. The desires of my heart are for a few very special investigators. I really want to baptize Vicky this cambio after she finds out where she´ll go to school. Juanito and David DESIRE a baptism…Juanito defended the Book of Mormon and the church to a friend…they are incredible and we have the support of the bishop, so we put them with fecha in 6 Feb. I love Helaman 3:35 when it says they yielded their hearts to God. I really desire that and I´m so grateful to your wife for inspiring this train of thought.

But best of all IT HAPPENED! After pondering what my offering would be and what the desires of my heart were for about 15 minutes, I knelt down to pray. The first words out of my mouth were ¨Amo a los Chilenos¨ and I meant it. Love for this country and it´s people just flooded my little heart. I know that I will develop and cultivate this love for many months and years to come but I genuinely feel that God loves these people because they are His children and I have been called to carry this love to them. It was wonderful president. Yeah, there are hard or boring or super awkward times on the mission, but this little love that I feel makes it all wonderful. I wouldn´t be anywhere else if I could.