An Example of the Believers

Thoughts and things about my mission in Chile:

Wow. Where to start? So many things to say!

I am so grateful for the time I have had to be able to serve my Heavenly Father and His children here in Santiago Chile. I knew before coming that this would be a good experience for me and that I would learn a lot. But I never could have imagined all the ways that God would bless me, shape me, and use me as an imperfect little instrument in His hands to bless the lives of others. I think there are two adjectives that just wrap my mission and me up into a tidy little package: happy and grateful.

I have never felt so happy in my life. I have never felt such joy in tribulation and trials and triumphs. Everyone says that you can't be happy all the time, but I think that I am an exception. Even when I'm sad I am happy... didn't know that was possible but it is! There is an unextinguishable joy that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it just grows when you take time to share it with others. I am happy.

I have never felt so grateful in my life either; grateful for challenges, grateful for hard things, grateful for happy things, grateful for little things, grateful for big things. Most of all I am grateful for my Savior. I thought I had a testimony that Jesus Christ was my Savior before my mission, but wow has it grown. And I hope that it will continue to grow throughout my entire life. He is so important...for all of us! Thanks to Him, we can find comfort in the hardest times. Thanks to Him, we can overcome our weaknesses and the things about us that we would like to change. Thanks to Him we can leave behind our mistakes and start over again, never returning to our old habits. Thanks to Him, we can be a little more like Him every day.

What an honor it has been to be a representative of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the past year and a half. And something that I love and that is giving me a lot of comfort as my full-time mission comes to a close is that it doesn't really have to end! I can still follow Him, I can still be "an example of the believers", I can still spread His light and love, even without my name tag on my chest. Sweet, right? 

Another thing that I love is that I have a long list of people I have met here in Chile who have changed their lives to know Christ (see Alma 22:16-20), and my own name is on that list. I am changed and I love it. I am happy and I am grateful.

This is a list of things I like to think about and might expound on later. I don't know how much time I will have. If not now or next week, when I get home:)

• there is nothing that changes a life like the gospel of Jesus Christ
• repentance is beautiful and it is an opportunity and a gift that we should take advantage of every day
• there are so many beautiful people in this world who need to be loved and need to have the eternal blessings of the gospel
• Christ is at the head of this church and He inspires his leaders
• we can receive personal revelation every day if we are worthy to have the Spirit
• Heavenly Father is aware of us and is always looking for ways to show us His infinite love for us and for all of His children. He truly wants us to return to Him and receive all the countless blessings He has in store for His children. Close your eyes and remember a time when you felt God's love for you.
• The Book of Mormon is the word of God and has the answers and solutions to our questions, inquiries, and doubts. It testifies of Jesus Christ and His holy mission on every page. If we sincerely read it and apply its principles to our lives, we will gain eternal life.
• prayer is such a huge huge blessing

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Siebach

PS: We have two friends getting baptized this week! Stay tuned!!!

We went to the temple this week to accompany Rodrigo
on his first ever baptisms!! Go Rodrigo!

We also had zone conference and I saw some of my friends :)

And finally, we hiked into the clouds this morning

and it was cold and misty and lovely.

Alive and Well

Hola! No words from our Hermana this week, but a couple of photos to prove she's alive and well somewhere in Chile! Have a great week!

Trainers' training meeting

German pancake peanut butter surprise?!?

Our Own Flame of Faith

Our new trio 💙

Bueno, guess what! I'm training again for my last 3 weeks and we just picked up our new friend from the offices yesterday! Her name is Hermana Harmon. She's from Provo, Utah and she is awesome. She studied chemical engineering before the mission, she's super easy going and I love her already. Hermana Hawkes and I are training together so we'll be in a trio for these last three weeks of my mission, and then Hermana Hawkes will finish off her training without me. It's gonna be fun!!

Thanks for your comments about Abinadi! I love him and his teaching. The trust that he has in the Lord and His promised blessings astounded me the last time I read it. I want to trust so completely in the Lord.

I recently finished Mormon in the Book of Mormon and it really hit me how much and how deeply Mormon loved the people, even though they were wicked and going down the wrong path. He wanted to do everything for them to help them return to the covenant path, and you can feel the pain in his words as they are destroyed. I think that is both sad and beautiful and a lot like real life. We love people so much, but we cannot save them. We cannot live on borrowed light forever. At some point, we each have to foster our own flame of faith and take the steps along the covenant path ourselves. Kind of a sad study, but an eye opening one as well!

I love y'all. Keep being awesome! Don't forget to hug someone who might be lonely!

Love,

HERMANA SIEBACH

Don't Lose Steam!

Hola Familia y Amigos!

There were a lot more miracles this week! Every night I have started thanking Heavenly Father for letting me be a part of this work, for having the confidence in Hermana Hawkes and me to work with these amazing people, and for letting me be a witness to so. many. miracles. I feel so humbled and honored and grateful to be here and to be a missionary. I love love love it. And as excited as I am to see y'all and hold you reeeeeeeeal tight, I don't want this to end! It's starting to hit me now how fast these next few weeks will go by and it makes me nervous! I have to do all the things here first!! But I know that God is directing this work and that I will do all that I need to do before I go.

Yesterday I had my interview with President Brotherson and he gave me a pretty great promise. He said, "Hermana Siebach, I can promise you without a doubt in my mind, that if you stick to the mission schedule - don't sleep less to be able to do more, but don't lose your steam - you will receive a sure confirmation that you have done everything that the Lord hoped for you to do here. You will go home feeling fulfilled, and without a single regret." I thought that was pretty great. I have found that I can be kind of hard on myself and always think I could have done more. But I love this promise and I trust it.

Gotta run! Love you all!!! Give someone an extra squeeze today!
Love, 
Hermana Siebach



Here are a lot of random pictures!! 

The streets flooded yesterday and we had to hitchhike to get across hehe sorry mom!

This cute girl with the beautiful red hair is Lindsay and she is amazing!! We read 3 Nefi 11 with her yesterday and she shared her testimony of God's love for us and that he has given us a Savior and the ordinance of baptism to be able to return to live with Him some day. She is so excited for her own baptism! Vamos Lindsay!

Eighty and Fabulous!!

Hola! The computer is being insanely slow so I am only sending a few pictures and happy thoughts!! Pero para que sepan, this was a great week. Maybe the greatest so far! 

On Saturday we hopped in a car with our friends Miguel, Maria and Patricio and scooted on up to Las Condes to see my cutest friend INES MONTOYA get baptized!!! Review: Hermana Briggs and I found Ines back in April and she was NOT interested, but little by little she felt the spirit and the truth of our message, and this week she did it! She got baptized!!! She is 80 and fabulous!!

Hermana Hawkes had her first feria (outdoor market) experience today and it was exciting! Our favorite shout that we got was "Oye Barbie, aqui estoy, tu Ken!" Also a man shoved a knife with a piece of cheese teetering on top in her face and and insisted that she try it. We also bought these headbands, ¡Muuuuuy barato! 

If the missionaries ever ask you if they can have a family home evening with you and one of their friends, say YES!! Maybe you could even offer it to them! Miracles can happen and amazing friendships can be formed!

Love y'all, you're in my prayers always! Besitos, un abrazo!

Love, Hermana Siebach

Our gratitude turkey, Felipe Osvaldo, is really blooming :)

We Can Help You With That!

We found real milk!

Holaaaaaaaa! What a wonderful week!

First of all, the Concepción Chile temple was dedicated and it was so awesome to be a little baby part of it! By a little part of it, I mean watching the broadcast from a chapel here in Santiago, BUT STILL! It was the 160th temple to be dedicated. I think that is amazing. Now, fun fact, 85% of all members of the church are within 200 miles of a temple. What a blessing! Something Elder Stevenson said in his talk is that the world was created so that man could be given the power from God to seal families. Families are so incredibly important - to us AND to Heavenly Father - and desperately need the blessings of the temple. I have been able to feel the power of these blessings my whole life, but especially now as I am far from my own cute family and sharing this powerful message everyday. I am grateful that God has given man His power to be able to unite families for eternity. That is truly a reason to rejoice!

AND we have so many friends that are so happy to be learning about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!!! 

There is Patricio, the cutest little grandpa who started out coming to our English class and now he's learning English and gospel truths. His wife passed away and he especially likes that we have the opportunity to live with our families for eternity. 

There is Franco, whose brother was baptized awhile ago (I think I have mentioned him?). This week we walked into his house and he said "Hermanas, creo que voy a hacerme Mormón!" Translation: "Sisters, I believe I'm going to make myself a Mormon!" Correction: "Sisters, I believe I am going to make myself a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!". Listo Franco, we can help you with thatI 

We have Pablo who was a little lost before but he is doing everything in his power to make changes in his life now! 

We have Lindsay who is so sweet and so great and told us, "Without a doubt, I am getting baptized before the year's end!"

I could keep going for quite awhile, honestly, there are so many amazing people here, but what I want to point out is that HOLY COW I have a testimony that the work truly is hastening and the Lord is preparing His children to receive the message of the restored gospel. He wants everyone to hear it!! Your uncle, your neighbor, your friend, your mom, literally everyone. And he uses us as His messengers. Not just missionaries, ALL OF US. So get on out there and share your testimony! A member told us yesterday "I cant read the scriptures too much anymore, and if you ask me a question about the gospel, I might even answer it wrong, but I have my faith, and I cannot deny the blessings that I have received from my Heavenly Father through this gospel." Maybe we don't know everything yet, but we have our testimonies and we should never be afraid to express and share them with those around us.

I love y'all so much! I hope you're dancing and smiling and happy. Hug your mom or make cookies for your neighbor this week. O los dos! You decide!

Besitos! Un abrazo grande!

Love, Hermana Siebach

Prepping for our zone activity

Cutie! <3

Zone activity

Preparation for the entire month of November!
There are four of us in the apartment so this turkey is gonna have
lots and lots and lots of 'thankful' feathers, lucky guy!

The sweetest garbage chute you will ever see :')

FELIZ😊!!

Another wonderful week here in LA FLORIDA!!!! 

Firstly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARNIE YOU ARE THE GREATEST AND I HOPE YOU HAVE THE HAPPIEST, MOST DANCE AND SMILE AND HUG-FILLED DAY! Sending little love waves across the miles; do you feel them? 

Well. This week an old man tried to kiss me right on the mouth. I have not come this far just to be kissed now, UH UHHHH ☝

We also have seen some crazy things in the streets. Hermana Hawkes and I just kinda stare in awe sometimes and then we look at each other and there's nothing to do but laugh.

We had a zone conference with our zone plus one more and it just so happened that it was the zone where all my cute happy past companions are!!! So I got to see them all and give 'em some tight squeezes. This transfer as a mission we are focusing on receiving revelation in the work. There is a quote by Joseph Smith that says something like "You can not have received the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations". I thought that was so amazing!  I think sometimes we see revelation as something huge or something that only the prophets can receive, but I love love love the emphasis that we have seen - especially since the last General Conference - on the need to seek personal revelation and to do it frequently. Also with this quote, we know that if we have been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives, and are living worthy to have him as our companion, there is NO WAY that we are not receiving revelations. I love that and it has really made me stop and think. Looking back, there have been so many times that I have received revelation and guidance in my life, but I didn't even recognize it in the moment!!! Heavenly Father truly loves us and wants to help us and give us the answers and the guidance we need.

I love y'all and I hope you have a super duper week. I hope you hug more people than usual!!!! <3

Love, Hermana Siebach

My whole posterity, woah!

 Here's a whole bushel of pictures!! Mostly of my friends:)

¡¡¡La Semana de Mil Milagros!!!

Oh my STARS I cannot even tell y'all what a wonderful week this was!!!!

I love my new area with my whole heart and Hermana Hawkes is a superstar. We have come home dead tired every day but so so happy because never have there been so many miracles in one tiny little week! 

Here is a list of just a few:

- Probably a month ago Hermana Hawkes and her last companion got a reference for a man named Franco. They passed by every day for weeks and could never find him, so they moved on. BUT! We got back on the reference page and saw that his number was there too! So we called him and he said in english "Oh yes, you can come tomorrow at three o’clock.” Long story short, we taught in spanglish!!! Franco is a cute little old man whose brother got baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints six months ago and Franco is trying to figure out why his brother is so happy now. WE’VE GOT THE ANSWER! IT’S THE GOSPEL!

- We were walking in the street and about 20 yards in front of us, a woman stopped walking, turned around and waited for us smiling. When we got to where she was she asked us what we believe about the resurrection. We told her that we believe that everyone will be able to be resurrected and ademas we have the possibility to live with our families for eternity! She said that she loved that and that she would see us at church on Sunday :)

-Arepas. Oh my goodness. There is a Venezuelan hermana and she made us arepas and they actually changed my life. It’s all Hermana Hawkes and I are going to eat anymore

- We were walking in the street and a man came up to us and said, "Hey I know about your church!!" Turns out, his name is Waldo, he was baptized 27 years ago, has been inactive for a long time, but has been wanting to go back to church. Vamos Waldo!

-Ingrid is our friend who has been listening to the missionaries for eons. She lives with the father of her 3 children, but doesn’t want to marry him because of the benefits the government gives to single mothers. Well, ya can’t get baptized if you’re living with someone that you’re not married to, so we were very direct with her and testified of the blessings of eternal families. We cried, she cried, and then she said she would see what she could do to get married now. Vamos Ingrid!

- We had 4 lessons with a member present in one day!! 

-Hermana Karstulovic (my companion from Viña who went home in March) came to Santiago for the weekend. She just HAPPENED to wander into the sacrament meeting of the ward next to ours. She asked the missionaries where I was, they gave her our number, and she came to be a missionary again with us for a few hours!!! It was so so so so so happy to see her!

I could keep going but I gotta stop at some point!! I have really gained a testimony of trials and the faith and hope that we always need to have present. We are going to see and pass through hard things in our lives, but there is always hope, and we learn and grow as we go. I wouldn't trade my trials and challenges for anything easier, because I know that I would not progress without them and I wouldn't recognize the greatness that is life either. I hope that we can always keep an eternal perspective, look for the good in every situation, and remember Heavenly Father's immeasurable love for us.

I love y'all! I hope you have a super week!!!! Let someone know how much you love and appreciate them!

Love, Hermana Siebach

The Happiest Place

Last General Conference without our Gracie Gurrl!

BREAKING NEWS: Hermana Siebach will be released on December 12th and she will give a report of her mission on December 16th. Home for Christmas with the family--Yay!!

Hellooo!!

I am in the happiest place!!! This past week was tough. I was taking care of my sweet companiera until she went home Saturday afternoon, and a lot of that time she did not want to be taken care of. But what am I to do when she is my companiera? I stayed with her even when she didn't want me to. I am praying that everything works out for the best for her and that she will get all the help and care and love she needs at home! We spent the whole week in Apoquindo (to be closer to the offices and president and everything) with two other hermanas who are two angels sent from heaven quite honestly. I felt so lifted and like a huge burden was taken from my shoulders just not having to be alone all the time. Blessings :)

My old area, Enrique Olivares, was white-washed again when I got, newsflash...transferred out! I really love the members and all the people there. I will miss them!! Right now I am with Hermana Hawkes!!!!! She's my new companion. She is Hermana Ence's (a companion I trained) trainee here on the mission, which makes her my granddaughter in mission lingo, and she is the cutest thing. We are going to work so hard and have so much fun here, I could not be more excited! 

Now... CONFERENCE!!! Last week you asked me if I would be watching it live so that we could watch it together and the answer is yes!! We were basically sitting right next to each other I'd say! But I didn't get to cuddle or eat any of the tasty things y'all were eating...la proxima!!!

• I really loved Elder Andersen's talk -- it really spoke to me. Like really. As he was talking, parts of my patriarchal blessing came to mind.
• Elder Holland's talk was really good. Heal and be happy. We don't need to carry around old sufferings and past mistakes. We can repent, we can forgive, and we can let things go and our lives will be exponentially happier.
• I feel like Elder Gong's talk was directed right at me, that was happy :)
• I really liked Elder Rasband's talk about fear. I fear so many things, but when I really think about it, and remember whose side it is that I am on, there is nothing to fear.

Something that I wrote in my notes was Don't give room for demeaning thoughts; instead do the work necessary to make yourself worthy, able, and qualified to do the things that the Lord has asked of you. Sometimes I am scared of things that are asked of me or I think, How the heck am I supposed to do that, I am just me. But I can trust in the fact that if the Lord is asking me to do something, it is because he knows that I am capable of it, OR I can be capable if I make a few changes in my life. There is no need to fear, there is no room for negative thoughts.

President and Hermana Brotherson are two angels who saved me multiple times in the past month. They came to the rescue! I love them so much. They are also really concerned about me right now, even though I don't think they need to be, but I am grateful for their concern. I know that they love me and each of the missionaries here.

I love y'all! Thanks for everything!

Love, Hermana Siebach
grace.siebach@myldsmail.net

Yes, I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me

Hello!!! I have super little time this week because we went to the temple this morning and had lunch with a few members from our ward that are so awesome. But I took pictures of all y'all's emails and I will be reading them with lots of love and gratitude in my heart later tonight <3

A little update: 

A stinkin' hard week but a good one with lots of sweet little tidbits as well...

• we went to the temple today!!! I love the temple. I had a pit in my stomach all week because I have been so stressed and tired, but all that went away as I was sitting, praying for tranquility in the temple. 
• we had a conference with Elder Bragg, a member of the Seventy and it was so great. I cried. I love this gospel and it is so important that we share it with the people who don't know about it yet.
• I found Romans 8:38-39 and it's one of my new favorites:
• 
  38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
• 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord
• 
  
• I have met a lot of people who feel like they have done so much wrong that God must not love them anymore; that they can never climb out of the pit they've fallen into. But IT'S NOT TRUE. It's not true and it will never be true. God Loves you so much.
• Rodrigo had his interview last saturday and he's getting baptized this week! WOOT WOOT!! Go Rodrigo!!!!!!
• I ate ice cream.

Okay I love y'all! I hope you have the best week of your lives!!!!!! Besitos, abrazos!!! Hug someone today!!! Please pray for me!! And Hermana Ruiz!!! And all the missionaries!!!!

Love Hermana Siebach

Hermano and Hermana J found out
 that we were going to the temple and wanted
to come with us, the little cuties!

My squish!

Hermana was sick this week so I had extra time to do all the things in the house.
I read half The Book of Mormon (almost, not quite), Our Search for Happiness, I don't know how many Liahona magazines, and I got to paint little regalos for my friends :)

An Instrument in His Hands

My Happy Birthday skirt

Helloooooo!!!

PACKAGE RECEIVED!!!!!!! Miracles!! The eagle has landed!!! Thank you so so so much. I got it yesterday and quick as a flash I ironed that cute skirt and wore it all day yesterday!! Thank you for the thoughtful things and all the letters from people that I love. 

I really like the scripture Dad shared in Mathew 28:16-19:

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Recently I was reflecting on the beginning of my mission and how I felt a lot like the disciples from the Bible may have felt. I wasn't sure if I was up to the task. Sometimes I still have moments when I feel like that. BUT, the scriptures always help me and testify of the power of God and the power of my calling, and I know that the Lord will magnify me to be an instrument in His hands. 

Puras fotos de comida no mas, pero bueno!!

The big group picture is from Saturday (the 8th ;)))))) PS - my companion, Hermana Ruiz and I have the SAME birthday. That was wild!!! The gospel principles class had an FHE and we ate all the things!! Jejej the guy with the white shirt behind me is Rodrigo, and he is getting baptized in a few weeks. GO RODRIGO!!

Besitos! Amor! Un abrazo gigante!!

Love, 

Hermana Siebach

My first carrot cake!

Double birthday celebration :)