All time favorite

and sheeeeeeeeeeee's safe!!!!

This is my all time favorite picture from Madi playing high school softball.  She slid into home plate so hard that the catcher dropped the ball and Madi scored!  It was so awesome as it was a state championship game against rival Spanish Fork.  Oh how I miss watching little miss feisty play!

Madisyn's Email October 26, 2015

WOW what a week it has been here in Rio Bueno! it is starting to get really hot here and am i loving it? YESSSSSS my compy however is dying she hates the hot and loves the cold. the only bad thing is its warm for 2 days out of the week and the rest is freezing and cold or its hot in the afternoon and raining in the night and morning... everyone says utah has bi polar weather you have never been to Chile (:

We found so me really amazing investigators this week knocking doors but guess what..... LESS ACTIVES. ahhh so right now we currently have 15 less active familys that we are trying to re activate and help assist the temple. however the president of our mission sent out and annoucment that we are not super visiting teachers or home teachers we are misisonarys and need to focus in finding new investigators... we are currently trying to get the ward more involved in helping us and taking the load off our shoulders with so many families and recent converts

We did however find a new investigador named Victor Javier. He has 2 daughters and a wife that we have yet to talk to. He is really interested in the church and this isnt the first time that he has listened to the missionaries so we are hoping that we can help him improve. we have an appointment with him today.

Next we found Dolmitro! he is the coolest old man that has a lot of questions about all the churches and when i asked him what it was that he wanted out of his life here on earth he said I want to find the true and perfect church. i smiled and testified to him that i had found that church and i was now a missionary preaching the gospel for that church. he agreed to meet with us again this week so we will see what happens this is the second time he has met with misisonarys but he said before he didnt really pay attention.

the sad news of the week is our cute little recent convert cristel is having a hard time right now well her parents. Christian the dad was doing really good in the beginning and trying to assist all the classes in church and live a good life however recently he has started drinking with some guys from his work. Now during our visits he is very indifferent and is very angry most of the time and says he doesnt think we need a prophet and apostles in front of cristel. we tried to calm him down and explain things but he wouldnt listen and i soon lost my patience with him and we left. Sunday he met with the president of the branch and i think it helped but we will see what happens this week when we visit. i lost patience with him and i felt really bad after.. i feel bad for cristel because she wants to live the gospel more but her parents are struggling spiritually and it has affected her a lot. the good thing is that the mom cecilia has called us asking for help and we have a brother from the ward that is helping us with them.

the spiritual part for this week. i want you all to try 2 activities for me in the book of mormon. the first is i want you to think of a doubt, problem, affliction, question you have about the gospel or anyting happening in your life right now and i want you to read 3 nephi 11: 1-17 while reading have this thought in your mind and find one of these verses that stands out the most to you and there is your answer. The next... pray... pray for the ability to find something you need in the book of mormon and answer of peace or help with current things in your life when you are done praying just open your book of mormon and randomly and the first verse your had is one or is marked and stands out to you read it. i can promise you with all of my heart that it will answer and help you in all that is going on in your lives right now. my sector is currently going through some hard times. a lot of people have severe and mild depression and i have watched it tear families apart as well as tear a person apart spirtually. do this activity and spend time with your family. if you are not currently reading the book of mormon as a family and praying as a family everynight i encourage you to do so please (: the family is so important in this gospel and when one in the family is trying to be better and the others are not satan is attacking your family and you need to fight back. when the family is all doing well satan is even worse than before and will do anything to end it. nightly family prayer and scripture study allows the spirit to enter the home more i have witnessed families on the verge of seperation become one again. i have seen families suffering the death of a love one feel more peace in the home. i love you all so much and pray for all of you. i konw a lot of you ahve difficult times right now and are passing through things difficlut. the savior is here for you and he lives for you. he suffered all for us all he asks is to come unto him. reach out to those around you and express your feelings seek the guidance of the savior

D&C 121: 7-8

 7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

D&C 24:8

 8 Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; butendure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days.

xoxox

Made Brownies with some investigators

Adriana and her boys

We ordered french fries and had them delivered at 10 p.m. one night.  Sausage, tomatoes and egg.

A little bird that Madi almost stepped on

Eating french fries

I love my Husband!

Another photo to add to my list of favorites.  This picture accurately depicts all that Mike so passionately loves. 

Rio Bueno

I am in Rio Bueno it is a pretty big city and sector because it has two parts. one part is for the elders and one is for the sisters. whenever we want to enter into the sector of the other we have to call and ask for permission and if it is not given you cant enter the sector needless to say sometimes the elders like to be stinkers and not let us in. I am by a really big river! its a gorgeous torqouise color and the water flows really fast. in the morning you can see the steam of it in huge clouds. We havent gone in a while to where it is so we will try and i will send some pictures. Here in chile all the people have fenced in yards and houses. its not quite a 3rd world country but it is close especially the area here in the south there is a lot of poverty so everyone has gates and the doors to enter the house dont have handles like at home. you put your key in the door unlock it then put your weight in the door to open it. When we want to knock a door we have to hit a rock or our pens on the fence and yell HHHHALLLLOOOOO and the persons then come to the door or window it makes it so fun sometimes i like to sing. almost everyone has a dog in the yard that barks and barks at us. i have never wanted to kick a dog more in my life. my house that i am in right now is so tiny in the bedroom i am about as tall as it so that goes to tell you something.

where Madi lives

inside Madi's house

okay as far as investigados we dont have a whole lot right now because we had one but it turns out that she is a less active member which go figure. here in chile almost everyone is a less active member that has gone to church in years after moving or missionarys leaving it is so sad.  Her name is Adriana she is so nice and realy wants to come back to church and have her 2 sons baptised because she know sit will only help them in there life. we talked to the 10 yr old son Miguel Angel about baptism he is super inteligent and says he wants to pray first and the 8 yr old son alex really loves the idea about baptism.  she also has a 6 yr old grandson matius! he is the sweetest thing and loves us he always wants  us to come by so we will work more with them.

next we have gladys. she came to church not this last sunday but the sunday before but didnt take the sacrament and is now bad again, she doesnt want to get out of bed so i was very direct with her about her daughter that she can not have her daughter for eternity without her will to get better and do the things necesary. she got dressed and got out of bed and these last days has been doing really well so we are hoping to see a permenant change in her. she is really like a mom to me here and my heart aches for her. she has suffered for almost 2 years with depression over the loss of her daughter and feeling guilty for not helping her.  my wonderful mother shelley sent me a article from the ensign a few months ago tht helped me but i really didnt need it, however when i met gladys i knew why my mom had a feeling to send it to me. she has read it and now understands more that the savior is here for us. 

your love and letters help push this work along too! i hope you all know that when we follow spiritual promptings we help others and can change there lifes while changing ours i know this is true because i hav eseen it more than every here in  my mission. alot of people in my sector suffer from depression and other mental illnesses. we are working so hard with them to recieve the light of christ and understand more their convenant of baptism to have the light always with them the holy ghost. know how much i love you and the savior loves you. the preisthood is here to help us and guide us. we are never alone in this life only if we choose to be. You have your ward to be there for you too! a scripture really helped me this week D&C 121: 7-9. 

I want to encourage all of you to help those in your ward who are struggling and need help. help give them meals and things because things are not always has they seem people who may seem weathly are struggling finanacially but worse spiritually. i have learned here that time has no importance when its someone else is struggling and needs my help. our savior helped everyone it didnt matter the circumstances so ponder that this week i love you so much xoxo 

 i will try to send more information about other less actives and investigators next week (:

the bedroom

'Sixcessful in Wyoming!'

One, two, three, four, five and six mule deer down.  The Hendricksons' and one Mirabile are happy hunters!

Jase's 1st Mule Deer Hunt

Jase drew a Wyoming Mule Deer tag this year.  He had a good time hunting with his Dad, Brothers & Uncles.  He was going to hike and not ride a horse but changed his mind when he got to Wyoming.  He now no longer wants to go hunting if he has to hike.

Madisyn and CRAZY DOGS on her mission!

this is a CRAZY LOCO DOG IN OUR SECTOR!  its ridculous!

Madisyn's email today

My loved ones, how are you all doing? 

This week was one of much stress and excitement! Because we were teaching cristel everyday of the week so that she could be ready for baptism and SHE WAS BAPTISED!! WHOOOO i had my first baptism in the mission. its really interesting to think that i helped a young girl grow her faith and want to follow the example of our savior and recieve a very important gift the gift of the holy ghost and be cleaned of all sins. words can not express the joy i felt for her and the memories that flooded to my mind of my own baptism.

We also had zone conference this week that was really inspiring. my mission president is such a good man that is really intune with the spirit and truly strives to help us. i was able to feel more confident and more ready to work harder here in Rio Bueno and helps others come unto christ.

Now i would like to talk to all about something that has been on my mind a lot this last week along with the atonement.

OBEDIENCE

This week i studied a little of the story of Saul, the king of Isreal. The lord commanded Saul and his people to UTTERLY destroy the amalekites- every woman, child, man, and animal. the lord wanted 100% obedience from Saul in this commanment. Saul performed about 95% because he saved the best animals for sacrifice. In his mind he thought it was best to do this for the Lord than to just destroy them. When Samuel the prophet saw Saul he told him ´I have performed the commandment that the lord wanted¨ In his mind he must have thought similiar to our thoughts when following the commandments of the lord, following the spirits promptings, parents, cooking, boses, rules, laws, etc. For me its the rules of the mission. We usually have thoughts like this 1) i have done it good enough or followed it close enough 2) the little things do not matter 3) the lord or parents or recipe dont care about the small things 4) i did the hard part 5) if im 100% obedient what will others think? what if im not cool? what if this person yells at me? what if they say no?. How many of you have thought this? How many of you have at some time or another not fully completed the task at hand?  how did you feel? How many of you have tried hard to complete the task at hand following everything exactly or tried to follow exactly but didnt and fell short?

In the eyes of the lord obedience comes first. we may sacrifice big or hard things in our life but if not done with 100% obedience it has no purpose. BUT obedience... exact obedience does not mean that we have the ability to follow all the things perfectly all the time because we are human we are motal and we will fall short. Satan is stronger than ever and smarter than ever he knows how to try us and to get in our minds and make us feel so unworthy and so bad over little things. Our lives can get so crazy even here in the mission. At times i want to rip my own hair out trying to be obedient but constatly in one area i fall short. 

In my mission i have very much coe to learn and you can to that exact 100% obedience is our desire to follow our savior. Having a heart and mind that is truly trying to live all the things and all rules in the eyes of the lord is 100% obedience when we fall short. we have the atonement that cleans us and helps us restart completely clean the next day. its only okay when we during this time had a heart truly focused on doing the task with 100 percent obedience. however it is easy to fell so bad and so frustrated with yourself when you fall short i have many tiems wanted to throw myslef on the ground and have a tantrum like a 2 year old girl that could accomplish somehting she wanted. i know that the days i dont leave the house right on time that my savior knows that my heavenly father is chuckling a little when i am so mad at myself and that he just wnats to hug me and tell me he knows i am trying. Our savior truly knows us perfectly and wnats to help us. he has his hand reached out for us and he must take it. i have tried more this week to focus on this and my awesome companion that is so dear to my heart gave me a quote i want to share with my love for all of you to have a good week and never give up and always know we can be clean from sins and start a new life again more obedient.... the quote is from president hinckley..

¨Please.... Do not NAG yourselves with the thoughts of failure ¨SIMPLY DO¨ what you can do in the best way you know how and the Lord will acept your effort¨

pres. Thomas s monson 

Gods love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. it is simply ALWAYS there

p.s photos of the baptism and a lady i am teaching english and lessons

Much love Hermana Kogianes 

Way to go Louis!

My husband with his younger brother Louis.  This is the bull elk that Louis got this year.  I love this picture because my husband is smiling.  He only smiles in hunting pictures......imagine that!

Take me out to the ballpark

The 2015 baseball season is winding down.  Jase has one more Saturday and one more tournament and then we will be done with baseball games for this year.  It has been a lot of fun to watch him these past couple of months.  He has grown so tall and he is so strong that he can really hit the ball good.  He is playing on a new team called the Mavericks.  Jase loves to play baseball and will look forward to indoor practices through the winter.

Giddy up Rusty

Indie 11 1/2 months

My granddaughters love to ride horses.  They beg and beg to come over to our house to ride.  Today they were riding our horse 'Rusty'.  Indie was content to play in the sand and eat the sand and gravel.  Hayvn isn't wearing her shirt because I gave her spaghettios and her shirt was a mess so I took it off.

Nayvee on Rusty



Aisen on Rusty

Aisen 4 yrs

Nayvee 5 yrs



Aisen and Hayvn on Rusty