Peter the Apostle :)

Lots of miracles this week!! We started off the transfer really well with 4 new baptism dates for our investigators Mica, Claudia, Caro, and Aníbal.  Of course not everything is set in stone and they are just dates, but with faith we will be able to help these 4 children of God come unto Christ and be baptized!  I am super excited for them and even more grateful to be able to help them enter on the path to return to their Heavenly Father.

This week I have studied a lot about the apostle Peter and I really have come to love him and the great faith that he had.  In the Bible Dictionary it says "Peter was one fo the greatest of men.  It is true that the New Testament recounts some mortal weaknesses, but it also ilustrates that he overcame them and was made strong by his faith in Jesus Christ."  Peter was a simple fisherman who with his brother "straightway left their nets, and followed him" after the Savior had called them to be His disciples bye the sea of Galilee.  Working side by side with the Lord, Peter tried his best to exercise his faith- Christ "saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God."- but Peter still fell short due to his mortal weaknesses.  Some of these well-known incidents are when Peter "was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind boisterous he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"  Or when "Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.  And he (Peter) went out and wept bitterly."  Of this incident Elder Uchtdorf in a recent instruction to new mission presidents said, "Perhaps Peter overestimated his own ability to withstand oppostion.  Perhaps he underestimated the severity of the trial of which the Savior warned him.  Perhaps he simply needed to learn to trust himself a little less and trust the Lord a little more."  But our merciful, forgiving brother Jesus Christ overlooked the weaknesses of Peter and put Peter's faith to the test once more as Christ and His disciples were dining at the sea of Tiberias after His resurrection.  "He saith to him the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?  He (Peter) saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.  He (Christ) saith unto him, Feed my sheep."  And that is exactly what Peter did.  He baptized 8000 people in one day, and was even selected by the Lord to hold the keys of the kingdom on earth.  But more importantly, Peter was able to do these things because he overcame his natural weaknesses through his great faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  

And that is the invitation I want to extend to all of you as I do to myself, that perhaps we need to "learn to trust ourselves a little less and trust the Lord a little more."  As members of the church we as well have chosen to "leave our nets and follow Christ."  To leave our worldy habits behind and do the best we can to follow the example of our Savior.  But if we truly want to overcome our natural weaknesses, and work miracles in our personal lives and the lives of others, we need to have a powerful testimony of the living Christ.

I love you all and I hope you all have the best week!!! Smile! :)

quote of the week:

Not what I have but what I DO is my kingdom.

-Thomas Carlyle

xoxo

Hermana Anika Van Boerum

pics:

-the baptism of one of the elders' investigators! I am now in a district with pure latins:  Two Mexicans, two Argentines, and one Peruvian!

-my comp and I startin off the new transfer!

-found this cute puppy so I just had to take a pic :)

-us in the bus on our way to Zapala last night!

Hermana Van Boerum you are going to....stay in Chos Malal with Hermana Vilca!

Well this is just the biggest surprise ever, I am staying in Chos Malal for one more transfer!  After writing 15 goodbye/thank you letters, packing up all my things, having everyone tel me that for sure I was going to be transfered somewhere else, and being really excited to serve in a new area, the zone leadres called us Saturday night and told me that I will be here for 6 more weeks with Hermana Vilca!  I gotta say, at first I thought it was just a joke and so did everyone else but nope! I´m staying here in Chos Malal!  Later that Saturday night the assistants to President Casariego sent me a message that said, "Hermana Van Boerum, there is a very specific reason that you have to stay in Chos Malal.  We don't know it, but we feel it.  Find the reason :) Ask your Heavenly Father and we promise you he will answer.  He lives Hermana, we love you."  As for now I have been praying hard to know the reason that I am still here but I look forward to what my Heavenly Father has in store for not only me, but more importantly for the people here in Chos Malal.  I just have to humbly have faith and trust in Him :)

Last week we had conference with President Casariego and he is really changing lots of things in the mission!  He has a very interesting vision for the Neuquén Mission and the big focus is going to be on those who are not members.  If we eat lunch during the week with families who aren't giving us references we have to change that and find a different family to eat with who will give us references.  President also said that less active members and recent converts aren't our job as missionaries.  They have already had the opportunity to partake of this gospel and we shouldn't worry because it is the members job to visit them, and the members will also one day be accountable with the Lord.  President doesn't want us to completely stop working with less active members and recent converts, but we now have to focus more on our investigators and those who aren't members!  That is definitely a lot different than what President Lovell taught us but I know that President Casariego receives revelation from God as well so we will see how his new vision for the Mission Neuquén works and I have faith that these changes will wrought miracles! :)

Yesterday we had two new investigators, Caro and Anibal, come to church!  I will tell you more about them next week but pray lots for them!!

This week I really liked the scriptures in Moroni 7:35-36 which say: Sometimes it is hard to see the hand of God in our lives, but the miracles to this very day haven't ceased.  God truly has provided us with everything we need in order to see his miracles; ministering angels, the Holy Ghost, and more-but it is only through our faith that we will be able to see His great work in our lives.  It is our decision :)

quote of the week:

We carry upon our shoulders the reputation of the church - each and every one of us.

Heber J. Grant

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!! have a good week!

xoxo,

Hermana Anika Van Boerum

Fries and Fanta (Haven't had fries in forever!)

Group soccer activity

Our District

Happy Day :)

Sorry I am on a little late!! Today, Dante-the elders' investigator that was baptized a few weeks ago-wanted to take us on a tour of the outskirts of Chos Malal! I will be sending lots of pics (sorry) but it was absolutely a blast and we all had so much fun!  In the back of his van he put chairs and a couch for us to sit on because the back part doesn't have seats but we spent a couple hours just driving around taking pics.  When we got to a city that is about 45 minutes away called Andacollo, Dante and his wife had brought a bunch of snacks for us to have a little picnic.  So we also got to just hang out in a nearby park while playing cards and soccer together!  It was a blast and the "tour" was SO beautiful.  Definitely a day I will never forget! :)

Whelp we still don't know transfers until next Sunday but I am pretty sure this will be my last week in Chos Malal.  I truly love this place, and love the people here even more.  In my 4.5 months here in Chos Malal I have had some of the greatest experiences of my mission and created some of the best relationshiops that I know will last throughout the eternities--I sure am gonna miss this place.  Although it was a bit overwhelming coming to an area so new which then added on even more responsiblities then I already had, it was such a growing experience for me.  Not only being here in Chos Malal, but the opportunity to train Hermana Vilca as well have both twisted, stretched, and challenged me in so many different ways, but I have grown in more ways that I could have ever imagined.  It has been such a blessing to be here and also training Hermana Vilca, who I have grown to love so so much.  I am more than thankful for all the personal and spiritual growth I have been able to experience her in Chos Malal and I look forward to the next adventures awaiting me.  

quote of the week:

"Happiness doesn't come from external circumstances. It comes from the inside—regardless of what is happening around us."

—Dieter F. Uchtdorf

p.s. family I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxo

Hermana Anika Van Boerum

Merry Christmas in July! and a Happy 9 months in the mission!

Well this week was just a little bit crazy!! Tuesday we got a call and we were told that we would be heading to Zapala again in order to help the hermana leaders in their area.  We packed up four days of clothes, and then right away hopped on the bus for the 3 hour bus ride to Zapala.  During those 4 days we did exchanges with the hermana leaders, we had great lessons, contacted tons of people, and even had a mini "Christmas in July" celebration with tacos (because this cold weather makes us Utahns feel like it's Christmas time)!  It was a fun experience and we had a great time with our Hermana leaders, Hermana Bitton and Hermana Espinosa!

While we were gone, we obviously weren't able to teach our investigators but they are all still doing really well!  The elders had a great lesson with our investigator Mica and they invited her to pray again about if she should be baptized!  This week we have a lesson scheduled with her so we will see if she was able to receive an answer from Heavenly Father.  She wants to wait until she finishes reading the Book of Mormon but we will see how things go!!  My comp and I got back Friday night and then the next day we spent all morning helping the elders get ready for the baptism of their investigator, Dante!  Luckily we got back to Chos Malal on time because the baptism needed a "woman's touch" haha.  Not only that, the elders hadn't even filled up the giant baptism pool we have and there was only one hour left until the baptism!  So luckily my comp and I were able to get the fire station to come and fill up the pool haha.  But everything turned out wonderful and it was such a special day for the elders and Dante!

I am officially halfway through the mission and time is just flying by!  I have been reflecting a lot lately on the first half of my mission and I have realized that I truly wouldn't want to be anywhere else.  I am so so happy and so grateful for all the opportunities I have had to share the gospel each and every day for the past 9 months and I absolutely love my mission.  Yesterday as I sat there in Sacrament meetin, I looked at all the beautiful, smiling faces around me and realized how glorious this gospel truly is.  I love being a missionary and I am so thankful to be here serving the Lord.

Family, have the BEST time in Newport!!!!! I love you guys so much!!! Eat lots of Bear Flag for me and go to the donut shop :)

Quote of the week:

The best thoughts, affections, and aspirations of a great soul are fixed on the infinitude of eternity.  Destined is such a soul, for in mortality it finds all that is not eternal too short, and all that is not infinite too small. 

-the Memorial Church at Stanford University

P.S. watch this video, it is sooooo cute!! one of my favs.

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/music-videos/im-trying-to-be-like-jesus-emily-brown 

xoxo,

Hermana Anika Van Boerum