Fantabulous Week

HOLY SHRAPNEL, the blessings are just too much this week!  

 Vanesa had her baptism and for some reason I can´t send pictures AGAIN this week! Sorry.  The "specialist" part was that we did the baptism in combo with my first ward, Camino Real- and Amanda, the daughter of Victoria and sister of Deisy (my two first baptisms) got baptized.  I did the musical number and just died of happiness to see everyone again.

Elder Scott came...most. awesome. experience. ever. I don´t know how I´m ever going to write everything I learned, felt or heard in that conference.  The entire mission (except Punta Arenas and Collaque) gathered together to welcome him in the stake center in centro. So the meeting with Elder Scott started...we were all lined up, ready and waiting to take a picture with him.  Right as he walked in, one of the Elders fainted from locking his knees...we all worked to cover it up as we sang ¨somos sois llamados¨...what unity!! It was hilarious.

  When we finished, he yelled ¨fantastico!¨ We all got to shake his hand before we sat down.  He started his remarks with a joke and he was just so wonderful and loving, then he announced we were going to do a practice... I knew right then that me and my compie were going to do it (out of 120 missionaries)...but I was filled with peace.  Elder Scott asked if there were any volunteers and two pairs of Elders went and practiced...then he let president pick the Hermanas to practice...and of course, out of everyone, Bourne and Whisenhunt!  We taught a five minute lesson about the Book of Mormon in front of Elder Corbridge (presidencia de la area Chile), Elder Scott, President, and our entire mission...HOLY SHRAPNEL.  They all got to raise their hands and give us compliments or advice.  As we were to go sit down from the stand, Elder Scott said...¨Hermana, tell your parents I said you did a beautiful job.¨ Wow. Booyah!

 I was feeling super awesome and super weird because I was participating a ton in the conference...directing all the hymns and practicing in front of everyone...like it was the Hermana Bourne show.  Just wait, it gets better.

 Then, he gets up after our break and says ¨now I´d like to give you some advice for after your mission¨ I KNEW it!! The marriage talk...and oh, what a marriage talk it was... anyways, so that part of the talk ended and he said he was going to speak to us as an Apostle...the whole feeling changed.  It was dead silent.  As this apostle of God bore testimony of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, I felt the Spirit whisper to me that yes, he is an apostle called of God.  I started praying for him that he would be able to receive revelation as to what he should say to us a missionaries.  His testimony of the Savior sunk deep into my hear and I´ll never forget it.  

We finished by singing the mission hymn ¨con fe en cada paso¨- I was on the stand directing and was so grateful to look over this huge group of missionaries that I love and are great people.  The song came to a close and I turned to make my way down the stairs, when I almost ran into Elder Scott.  whoops.  He was very gracious and it was such a blessing to be near an apostle of God.

Fantabulous week. The mission is the single best thing in my life and I´m just enjoying every minute.  Now all you people, go read your scriptures,+ pray,+ serve someone else and = happiness.

Hermana Bourne

 

ps WRITE ME!

Hermana Bourne

Casilla 7-0

Osorno Chile

Simple as that.

 

Best Birthday Ever!

Okay people...let me just say HOLY SHRAPNEL! I´m going to have a birthday every week so I can get 23 emails.  I´m going to say it again.  HOLY SHRAPNEL.  Thank you all so much for the letters and love and hilarious pictures (Tuck, Noah, Brookie, Richie, and other kid who I probably know but can´t remember and now I´m embarrassed (which means ¨pregnant¨ in Spanish...which I´m not)) (Blob, Tiff, Thayne, mom, dad (who wrote the world´s best letter from Mike Bourne!) Katie, Mikey) and testimonies...it really means a lot.  I can´t get over the OVERabundance of absolutely phenominal people in my life.  I love you all!  Best birthday ever!

Everyone keeps saying my blog entries are generic.  LAME. I think I´m just getting lamer and lamer (eg.  my favorite Coldplay song came on and I started singing ¨Soy un hijo de Dios¨) I absolutely LOVE having no color or style to my hair, I have calouses on my knees from praying so much, I wear really long black socks over wool tights, , putting on makeup is ¨worldly¨, polyester is the new silk, Dansko is the newest Gucci, and the pictures of those sisters in my call letter are starting to look really stylish. I AM A SISTER MISSIONARY! AHHHH!! When did this happen?  ha ha.  People, I love being a missionary. 

I gave a talk in my ward yesterday.  I´m always the ward pianist because the only people that play instruments are the Evangelicos who all play the guitar (and attack Mormons).  Their meetings sound like rock concerts next door on Sundays.  I always sit up on the stand at the electric piano (I´ve forgotten what a real piano sounds like) and there is always one Sunday where I look over my ward and I feel a burst of love for the ward.  I had that this Sunday.  I love where I am.  I love every single person in that congregation...I know them and I´ve seen them in hard times and not so hard times.  They are loving, they are hilarious, they are Chilean...the best race ever!

I spoke in church about something I absolutely love.  Okay, so the Bible ( we have the Book of Mormon, hello! not translated five billion times) but there is something that I love more than anything right now. When Peter was fishing and Christ calls him to be a" fisher of men. " It says he leaves his net IMMEDIATELY- STRAIGHTWAY- to follow Christ.  I spoke about this concept.  I talked about how Kathy left her schooling and jobs to serve a mission because she understood who called her.  I spoke about Hermana Eva (a member in Ovejeria) who drops everything and comes RUNNING to come out with us even though she doesn´t have one of her legs-  because she understands who is calling her.  Peter understood who called him.  In the end, it´s Christ.  When we really understand who calls us...that it is Christ...we drop everything and we go running.  I´m beginning to understand this concept out here.  Even though I saw someone I babysat at the MTC, when that little Elder leader asks me to do something, I do it...not because I want to impress him or prez, but because he is called of God to lead me and my comp in our sector.  When prez asks us to do something, we do it, because we understand who called us. When I´m tired, sick, rejected, wet from rain...I keep talking to people, knocking doors, or helping because all of this is between me and God.  I´m understanding who calls me and it´s beautiful.  I have a feeling that in about 6 months, a whole bunch of nets are going to get heaped up on me and I¨ll have to wade through that shrapnel, but for now I´m enjoying the simplicity of mission life!

Another food thing.  We ate with members on Sunday and a convert from a year ago, Carolina, made us a big bucket of Pichanga.  For those of you who don´t know, Pichanga is the most Chilean food I´ve ever seen. First, you take 3 pounds of french fries, 5 pounds of cut up hot dogs, 90 hard boiled eggs, and whatever other greasy meat you want and then you fry ALL OF IT together.  Then you serve it with pop and eat the mixture with mayonaise. 

 I´m a happy camper.  I know it sounds gross,  but even the scriptures say, judge not, lest ye be judged!

Oh yeah, shout out to the BEST MOTHER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! THank you for the package...not one of the videos works on my camera, but that´s okay...I still love you and all the good sweaters...they are WAY too cute and nice to wear down here. I will make good use of the pink one. Elder Scott is coming tomorrow...and you all know what that means...Hé´s going to tell us all to get married!   Shrapnel!!!!!!    Good thing I´m still a missionary...whew!

Family, friends, blog stalkers, I love you all! Thank you thank you thank you! I realized I hardly write about investigators, but they are there, I promise.  We taught 28 lessons this week and Vanesa is getting baptized this Saturday...she has the hardest life I´ve ever seen in my entire life and the gospel has changed everything.  It changes everything...it always does.

Hopefully this wasn´t too generic for you all! (at least it's not a post-it- right mom?)

Hermana Bourne

 

Hi family and blogstalkers!

This week was all work, all sun, NO rain!  HOLY SHRAPNEL!  Beautiful, beautiful, brautiful!  We are (as a zone) all about to get on a bus to go to entrelagos (beautiful country with lakes and shrapnel)...we planned this paseo all week because down here in the dead of winter it felt like spring in Utah for one whole week...not a cloud in the sky.  And guess what it´s doing right now? raining cats and dogs.  But thats okay because the gospel is still true!

 

Shout outs go to TEEF and BLOB and my FAM for remembering.  Love you all! Thank you.

 

I guess the only thing I want to share this week is that I finished the Book of Mormon again.  I did it in English this time.  It was a challenge that prez gave us 8 weeks ago to read the Book of Momron in 8 weeks...he gave it to the whole mission.  As I finished up, I felt so grateful for the opportunity to read this marvelous book again.  It really contains the ANSWERS and if we would only REALLY read from it more frequently, we could solve a whole lot more problems.  I did the classic kneeling prayer to ask if these things were true and didn´t feel anything.  I went through the qualifications in my mind....okay...with real intent...check! I really want to know because my increased testimony would help my investigators.  With a sincere heart? Check! I love God and know He will answer.. Faith in Christ?  THAT was when it all changed. Something unexpected happened.  I was lead to think, I mean REALLY think of my Savior and what He did for me and what He is still doing for me.  Something inside just welled up inside of me and I felt like Nephi when he cried ¨O wretched man that I am¨.  I was just filled with this godly sorrow for everything stupid, or mean, or lame that I do.  I won´t go into details, but I proceeded to sincerely repent for like 15 minutes.  After this happened, I reflected on the experience.  Wasn´t I suuposed to have received an answer that the Book of Mormon is true?  Why did I feel that, then? 

 

As I pondered,  I was lead to profound gratitude for this experience.  There is no question that this book is the word of God...because it lead me to ACT...and more than that it lead me to act upon my faith in Christ and to trust in HIS merits and HIS mercy and HIS atonement.  I really believe that everything that that book says is real and good and true and that we really SHOULD repent and come unto God because that´s what every page of that book says.  I see and feel the fruits of that book and because I know that the fruits are good and godly, I know that the book is.  I will look on that experience as a very special and sacred thing for the rest of my life.

 

On a lighter note...I think I found my new favorite scripture.  Can´t remember where it is in Mormon, but he says that MORON did that which was wicked in the sight of the Lord.  I thought it was funny.  That´s what you get for being a sister missionary.

 

Fam, friends...I love you all.  Sorry I don´t write that much or that often, but I just like it too much down here...and anyways, I´ll see you all soon enough.  Just do what is right and PRAY, STUDY your scriptures, and GO TO CHURCH (and serve others and go to the temple) and YOU WILL BE HAPPY!  Love you all.

 

Hermana Bourne

 

I haven´t written a good ole´ fashion letter to just the fam in a really long time. 

 

Dad, thank you for everything.  I love seeing worthy priesthood holders.  The one´s down here are far and few between, but they give their lives to God.  I can think of 3 Chilean men that I admire more than almost anything.  And then I think of you and what you do and you are at the top of that list.  Thank you for repenting and giving your  life to God.  I don´t know if any of us will understand the ramifications of your personal decision to follow the Savior.  It is the greatest thing you could´ve done for yourself and for us, and you undisputedly did that right (I know you´ll debate over the whole privileges slash responsibilities jazz your whole life). Grandpa Hal, I´m putting you right on the list too of absolutely phenominal priesthood holders.  You and Grandma are the two best things that have ever happened to the family.  Thank you for your prayers, concern, love, and years and years and years of just putting up with us! I LOVE YOU. Your examples do NOT go unnoticed.

Mom, Could you and Haven look any cuter?  YOU get the Holy Shrapnel of the week.  It sounds like this summer has been kind of a ¨whirling around the head¨ type of summer.  I hope you know I´ve been praying for you a lot.  Our last zone conference we spoke a lot about change.  It´s inevitable and unavoidable...it will come...and most times, it will hurt.  But I was thinking as I was looking at that picture of you and Haven all the changes that have taken place this year. Weddings, missions, testimonies, baby, progression, weight loss (seriously, you and dad look awesome!), weight gain (Sophie looks awesome too!), deaths.  Life truly is the grand university where we come to learn...where we come to fall, where we come to overcome.  I read a talk by Elder Wirthlin about living in thanksgiving daily.  I thought back to when I read that talk for the very first time and how that combined with your grattitude journal inspired me to make my own.  That was the turning point in my life.  I am truly happy, I am truly grateful.  WRite down the things you are grateful for.  Mom, you are the best mom I could ever imagine. (not to mention the prettiest)...and YES I am using all the product you sent me...I look female today!

Mikey, Ashley and Havey, You two have officially created the world´s most attractive baby! (That´s what you get when you have the world´s most attractive parents (and by default the world´s most attractive grandparents, right?)).  MIkey, I think you start year 2 of med school.. I always tell elders and comps about you two and how you are both so incredible.  It makes me happy to know that you two are doing everything right.  AAAASHLEY...I´m not going to lie, I did the david dance and thought of you.  

James, YOU WOULD!  You look so happy and free skydiving.  Sophie is next! Isn´t it the most incredible feeling of freedom, fear, and happiness? I´m so proud of you for doing that.  How the heck are you? Did I tell you that your letter really helped me a few weeks ago?  Never forget the lessons you learned on your mission!  Keep working and doing what is right.  It sounds like you are just becoming the world´s biggest stud...I´ve had to stop showing pictures of you to sisters and Chileans because they are all falling in love with you.

Katie, GO ON A MISSION.  Well, first, go skydiving and THEN go on a mission.. Oh wait, you already went skydiving?  HMMMM!!! Your pictures look awesome.  What the shrapnel are you wearing?  The fun part is if you turn in papers in December and get your call, you can go to Lizzie and Jessie´s sealings for me!  Mom said they were all worried about me not being there, but seriously!  Dont´ put off temple blessings for anything!  I´m so happy for Liz and Jess...what babes.
I have an assignment for you today...read your JRu journal, remember how you felt and why you felt that way and then put into practice what you were doing there. Love you. ps you have a birthday present coming in the mail....best. thing.ever.

Sophie girl! Out of everyone.  I miss you.  SERIOUSLY.  I have three pictures of you in my scriptures and I almost can´t look at them anymore cause I´m just dying without you.  Sophie, keep being good.  I expect you to be the kindest, smartest, singingest 10 year old on the planet when I get home. (you have a present coming in the mail too!)

Overall family, I´m just happy.  Me and the Whismeister were chatting yesterday.  We experience life´s biggest dissapointments out here...people let us down minutely.  But through it all, we are happy.  More than that, we are joyfull.  When I was in Camino Real, I remember at 7 pm every day it didn´t matter WHAT we were doing or where we were or how hard it was raining because a wave of delerious happiness would come over me.  This week, it started up again.  Beautiful sunny day with people progressing and all that incredible jazz.  We knocked a door of a bitter, hardened, and kind of evil lady who yelled obscenities and horrible things at us and then asked us what the last miracle we performed was. I testified that I had experienced a change of heart through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ and that was the greatest miracle I could hope to have.  The wave of joy and delerious happiness flooded over me as she continued to yell at us.  I told her it was a pleasure to meet her and that she would always be invited to listen to missionaries.  Then I sincerely felt the desire as I prayed in my heart that God would give this little old lady the chance to hear the Gospel again, maybe in a different way or at a different time.. It was beautiful. 

I love this and I love you all.

Love em.

Another day...another mud puddle...

Okay people, call to repentance. SOMEONE  showed my mother a picture of me and I´m calling that SOMEONE to repentance.  This week I received a ten pound package full of every product ever invented to: firm and tone skin, blast blemishes, whiten my teeth, keep me from smelling, make me look like a girl, loose weight, and moisturize.  ANYTHING to keep the inevitable mission deterioration from occuring, right?  I think my mom fit everything in there but a personal trainer and a bowflex...even though I´m pretty sure she tried.

Just kidding mom.  That package really was awesome! Thank you so much for your love and concern and all the letters from the fam...Biggest shout out EVER to my mother! She is the best mom on earth (and all the Chileans vote that she is the prettiest too)

Well people, I fell down in the mud twice this week.  The chilean mud is the slipperiest stuff I´ve ever walked in and is usually a mixture of cigarette butts and dog poop.  A really good combo that I had to walk around in all day (it was all over my skirt) because we were far from the house.  But the Chileans don´t mind...we taught a ton of lessons...hmmm, maybe I´m onto something!

Okay weird food thing.  I´ve found the world´s weirdest desert! I got served shredded carrots in pink jello yesterday.  Ate the whole thing.

Found another human Chilean equivalent.  Blob LeBaron, your TWIN is in my ward.  I´m serious, I can´t even talk to this hermano because my face goes all weird or I start laughing.  His name is Wili (pronounced gweelee) and he´s an RM.  Yes, his head is ginormous and he wears courderoy.

James, your email last week really helped me.  Thanks for being such a good big brother!

OKay, I think that´s all the random hilarious Chilean stuff for the week.  Thank you Noah, Katie, Grandma, Halsy and mother!  I love hearing all the updates, encouragement, and advice.  Oh yeah! Grandma, this week I officially ended the Bourne Family Challenge.  It was a great experience that I am really grateful for! I did it in 98 days (ha ha! and in Spanish) and next week I´ll be finishing the Book of Mormon again because president extended the challenge to the entire mission.  I can´t tell you all what a blessing it is to be able to read and study the Book of Mormon.  I had the distinct impression this morning while I was reading that this is all true and this is all right and this is all wonderful.  I can´t even describe how many times a day I feel the gentle whisperings of the Spirit.  They are real and they do help us if we let them.  READ FROM THAT BOOK EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE PEOPLE.

God is working MIRACLES in this sector.  We haven´t had a bishop for 7 months now (and we are the biggest ward in Osorno!) but God is softening some really hard hearts and we got two baptisms coming up this month. WOw, we don´t deserve this kind of happiness.

Once again, if anyone ( hi Katie) is even thinking about serving a mission, just do it.  There are NO negatives. Best time of my life.

Read D and C 4.  Don´t worry if you don´t feel ready.  We never will be.  But if we have desires to serve God´s children we are literally CALLED to His work.    Isn´t that a nice thought?  You are already called because you are feeling these desires...all you have to do is make it official and thank Heavenly Father that you did the rest of your life. 

Then it lists all sorts of attributes like faith, love, patience, humility, diligence....all of which you already have and all of which you will develop and develop on the mission like no other.  Nothing will change or bless you more than serving a misison.  Holy Shrapnel.  I wish you could all come to Chile and see what it´s been like and meet the people and the converts and the evil dogs and drunks and the president.  I like what Sarah said to you- that there is NO negative from serving a mission.  I can not think of ONE thing that could even compare to the goodness of what I feel right now.  Keep working.  Develop a relationship with God, listen for the spirit and then go out on the street and randomly talk to people for 8 hours a day.  (joke!) nah, you are preparing if you are living the gospel of Jesus Christ and have the Spirit with you.  Knowledge and teaching and language come as you go. I LOVE YOU and pray for you every day.  Can't wait to see you.

Hermana Bourne

RAININ' MIRACLES!

Before I forget, we´re having P day this Saturday.  So all those people who KNOW that I´m calling them to repentence for not writing me....REPENT! And then write me before this Saturday because that´s when I´ll be doing email.

People, it didn´t rain once this week.  Someone get me a tamborine to celebrate!  It DID, however, rain down blessings all day, every day last week.  I´m going to go out on a limb and say it was the mas genial week of all the weeks here.  Lets give this week a big HOLY SHRAPNEL!

Ive always heard the classic mission story about how the woman opens the door and says ¨I´ve been waiting for you.¨ I´ve always given it a big role of the eyes as well.  So anyways, we get into this house that we have been trying to get into all cambio and we began to teach this family about the baptism of Jesus Christ and why we should be baptized exactly in the manner that he left us.  The father interupted us and asked us why we were teaching about that.  We told him that it was the door to salvation and 100% necesary for our progress in this life and in the life to come.  He then listened to everything else and asked very insightful, appropriate questions.  We felt the Spirit all the way through.  At the very end, we challenged him to be baptized and he said he wanted to pray.  We pulled out a Book of Mormon and started to explain it and he said ¨I already have one of those...I´ve read it from cover to cover and prayed about it and have been praying for you two to come for a long time. I have some questions about the Lamanites and Nephites¨ He has never shared with missionaries but is a very well read man with a wife (legally wed), two kids, and one on the way.  Hermana Kelley started to tear up and I tried to act like this happens to us every day as I scheduled citas for every day of this week.  (He works a lot and wants to ¨aprovechar¨ his vacation.)  We invited him to church and he said he wasn´t going to be able to.  But wait a minute! He randomly walked into sacrament meeting with a giant smile on his face and loved the whole thing.  I don´t know.  That is just one of the miracles of the week.  We met three other married couples who want to share with us and the skies were blue and our teaching is improving and everything is just getting wonderful!

During that incredible lesson with that family (named Victor), I just kept sneakily looking around looking for Mormon camera men that were filming us for an MTC video or something...unreal, seriously.

Grandma Cynthia, my comp really wants to do the Bourne Family Challenge and we´d love if you could send us another one of those!

Funny: We were knocking this new street in our sector and we started singing the Mario Bros theme song and I was jumping around like Mario (Bau, bau! Bling, bling!  sound effects) and I landed in front of this door and knocked the theme song of Mario.  THe man opened the door clad in a bright red shirt, black hair and moustache and a smile and says, Hola, me llamo Mario.  Almost couldn´t do the contact I wanted to laugh so hard.  Luckily, I´m a sister missionary and I´m ALL business so I got composure and we got in that door.  Taught him the Book of Mormon and he´s loving it.  Now only if he has a friend named Luigi to baptize.

People, Hermana Kelley is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  The last few weeks were a little rocky...no one opening OR listening oR coming to church OR completing their commitments.  On the billionth day that it rained last week, it was 8pm and we hadn´t sad down, gotten in a house, or stopped for five hours.  We had really bad cramps in our legs (someone take your treadmill outside in the rain and walk uphill with dogs trying to attack you for five hours) Hermana Kelley looks up into the dark, rainy night and said ¨Heavenly Father, is today a fat joke?¨ She makes everything (even the hard moments) awesome and I just love her.  Cambios are coming up and we´re praying that we stay together (which means that we´ll be separated, of course!). Shrapnel.

Anywho, a few of the things that have been happening this week.  REALLY a good one.  I love all of you.
Hermana Bourne

I'm a frozen popcicle...

Dear people,

A big HOLA from Osorno! Yet another hilarious week in the Grand Mission Chile Osorno. We started off the week right.  WE were out in the street talking to people, about to pick up a member to go to an appointment when we received an urgent call from the Elders...that we had to run to the church that very instant.  Naturally, being the very obedient sisters that we are, we took off running in our giant rubber boots to the chapel.  After about five minutes...we made it.  We probably should´ve been a little more reverent as we flung open the door to the chapel because all twenty people that were seated in front of the casket looked over at these two out of shape gringas breathing really hard.  THe elders gave us the smile-with-really-wide-eyes look that seemed to say... ¨Hi, Hermanas...us four are in charge of a funeral right now.¨  I slowey and solemnly made my way over to the piano where I had to play the hymns and then make up a special musical number on the spot with another girl right after one of the Elders gave the eulogy of this man we had never even heard of. (blob, thank goodness I followed the law of practicing!)

It was a very strange thing we were called to do on the spot, but the funeral turned out really nice and everyone thanked us after.  I felt really good to be able to go to and help out in a funeral because I wasn´t able to make it to Bette´s.

Other than that, we are working really hard here in Rahue. The sector is just like my very first one, except we have (for some reason) an overabundance of incredible young men who are all preparing to serve missions.  They are just the force of this ward and I´m excited to see what they´ll do in their lives.  Investigator-wise, we´re getting there...we have faith that if we do what we´re supposed to and stay worthy of the Spirit, God will lead us to those who are chosen, ready, and willing (and hopefully married!)

Shout outs go to SBLOOD! Baby sblood is on the way and I just DIED! Congrats my friend! Blob, congrats on a great talk...you WOULD use puns in a sacrament meeting talk...Dad and SOph...PHILMONT! How fun was that? I wish I could go camping! (Oh wait, it´s how I live all day, every day :) ). Mom, don´t get dizzy reading this.

Me and the Kellster were just talking about how blessed we are to have the families that we do.  MOm and dad, a public shout out of gratitiude goes to you.  The gospel of Jesus Chirst makes everything so much richer and happier and more wonderful and more meaningful.  Thank you for teaching me and more importantly, thank you for being examples for me....most people in the world don´t have it, and I don´t deserve it.  Love you both.
I really do love the work and feel incredibly grateful to have this mantle at this time in my life. I´ve seen many people changed as a result of God´s hands...it´s beautiful. The mission is a gift. LOVE YOU ALL.

Hermana (¨I´m a wet, frozen, popsicle 16 hours a day because the other 8 I´m sleeping¨) Bourne