Feliz Navidad y un Feliz Año Nuevo

Dear Family (that includes everyone because we are all hijos de Dios!)

I LOVED talking to you guys through Skype. For some reason I cant find the exclamation points, so sorry if this letter has a lack of enthusiasm. It seems like hours arent hours anymore. They are more like 5 minutes.... I loved just getting to see your faces and hear Scottys super deep man voice. That is super loco. I see also that Derek has probably grown 7 bajillion inches more. You all look super happy and I am so grateful for you guys and the wonderful support you are to me. President was glad to hear that you uplifted me instead of making me homesick, so you guys are great.

First, we had another miracle day. I went with Hna. Mendez for divisions and that day, ALL of our citas fell through. It was like 6 pm and we had no one. We called a bunch of people and contacted, but nothing was really going. Then we found a cute little house and the lady, se llama Amanda, was super receptive. She already knew about us and asked us por un libro de Mormòn. We gave her one and planned sometime for us to come sing her a song, which is our sneaky way of saying we are going to come teach the gospel and you will love it. Then despues Amanda, we found Maria, who is the mother of Benjamin, un investigador, pero ella no quiere eschuchar a nosotros antes. But we said hi to her and just started a casual conversation. She opened up and started asking question and her eyes got real big when she asked why I wanted to be a missionary and I answered with my experience of watching Pres. Monson change the missionary age. She couldnt believe there was un profeta en la tierra hoy dìa. CRAZYYY. It was super cool and she ended up wanting a LdM tambien, pero I had given mine that was in my bag to Amanda, so we went the next day to give it to her. Despues Maria, we went to Isabel who is Evangelist, but her daughter has cancer, so she was super open to us when we paid interest to her. She said she was an answer to her prayers, which they pray very.... interestlingly as I found out. But I loved just listening to her and uplifting her with the scripture in Alma 7 about la Expiacion and how Jesucristo sabe que she is going through. Then after her, it was time to run home. The work is awesome, even if you have no idea what the day may hold. Thats how you know it is Christ who is over this work ;D

So we have about 3 golden people right now.

Ana is Christian, creo. And her son died from suicide earlier this month. She has already said she wants to come to church and read el libro de mormòn. Then on the day of divisions, Hna. Hellbusch put una fecha por bautismo en Enero 12, creo. She is so cute and sweet, I wish we could visit her everyday, but we need to let people feel a difference of Spirit when we arent there, so yeah...

Also there is Rina. I havent seen her in a while since we always seem to be working super far away from where she lives. But Hna. Hellbusch says she is doing super good.

Also, there is Isabel who found some scriptures in the park, brand new, and now wants to learn more about them. That is super awesome. Its cool to see how Heavenly Father has been preparing people for us to just come and help them along the path to salvation. Truly He is conscious of EVERY human soul everywhere, and loves us all.

I refound Pres. Uchtdorfs talk about Gratitude this week. No matter what circumstances we may be in, we should give thanks to God for our blessings. Have an attitude of gratitude! :D If nothing else, be grateful that one day everything will turn out magnificent and amazing, because that is how much our Heavenly Father loves us. This life is not our destiny. We are not made for endings, but for everlasting beginnings!!!!!! I love you guys so much. Finally found the exclamation point button!! And be grateful that you have snow, because there is nothing but sun here ;)

Hna. McCubbins

A completo (hot dog) in the CCM

Christmas Dinner, beautiful tomatoes and avacados

Christmas Present 2014

Hermanas Hellbush, Mendez, and McCubbins in twinner shirts

Cumplimes! I have 2 Months en la Mision :) (We celebrate every month completed, its great!)

First off, Feliz Navidad! I can`t wait to talk to you guys en Navidad! Just so you know, we will be calling around 6 pm (Chile time) so keep an eye out ;) I think that is like 2pm your time, but I am not sure. Just be ready for anything I guess ;) Thank you for the Skype info! It will make it so much easier to call you guys and everything. I have an hour exactly to talk to you guys, so make it good! I can even blow your minds with my crazy testifying Español if you want... Anyway, now for the week!

I am gaining weight. Yes, mom, you were right. However, HELP! If you have any advice or help for me to not grow my body sideways, I will love you forever! Because I do not want to go shop for new clothes. They don`t have people my height here! Sino, hombres, but I can`t wear men`s clothing... So I will love you for any food advice or exercise that can be done in a house to get rid of fat. Lots of love!

Also, the Chileans know how to make food! And really good food tambien. I am hopeless! As a runner, and even more so as a misionera, you just want to eat everything in sight. HELP!

Okay, màs. There is snow for Navidad! But its in the mountains, which are basically in the sky cuz they are so tall, but at least I can see snow ;) Mi compañera said it does snow here in the winter (June and July) but it never touches the ground.... It melts before it touches the ground!! I can`t wait for that... The other day it rained and I was happy the whole day, I might have freaked some people out with how happily I waved and said Hola to them.... So yeah. 

Speaking of the rainy day, that was the day one of our investigators got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her name is Marite, and she isn`t really ours since she lives in Hna. Mendez`s sector and we basically taught her one lesson which was about what she had to bring on the baptism day, but we still count it ;) She was so nervous! She is one of those people that es muy frio at first and has to get to know you really well, but then she es super chistoso (jokes around alot) despues you get to know her. The other day she rubbed tons of bloquedor (sunblock) on Hna. Mendez because we all got sunburned! She doesn`t want us to get cancer, so she made us (I cant remember the word for people that are really really white, but those people) into those white people. Her baptism was super good. Hna. Mendez cried and I got to lead the music. Then we got to clean the font after everyone left. I sent some pics for you ;) Elder Lazterson, uno de los asistentes, baptized her. She had to give up smoking almost 12 packs of cigarrettes to get baptized, so if you think you can`t get over a bad habit, just call up my friend Marite, and she will tell you how hard it is to give up something the natural man wants super bad! Anyway, the work is awesome.

Okay, ready for some random things? I want to just tell you guys everything, but my fingers don`t type that fast and you would get bored probably. 

Mis compañeras sometimes call me Mickey. Not sure why, but that is why when we found a Mickey en la calle during Pday, we took a pic with them! There is some super cool graffiti here and one that occurs the most often is Falta Luka, which means you don`t have money, so we always say Me falta luka! Because we are poor missionaries living the disciple life ;) Los hijos del Obispo estan locos! They are the cutest and funniest ever, but super crazy and ALWAYS full of energy. There are 4 and all boys. The other day they were shouting funny English phrases at us and Hna. Hellbusch and I could not stop laughing! Also, their spanish is faster than the speed of light! Literally all I see from the movement of their mouths is a blur. It`s no lie that Chile has the fastest and most worst Español than any other country. They just get going and won`t stop till they have said every word that exists in the Spanish language and more (cuz there is a lot of slang) in 5 minutes. It is awesome ;) I can understand 50 percent of what people say though, and I`m not even half way through training! Hopefully I will understand 100 percent at the end of 12 weeks. Also, dad, if you have any Spanish tips for studying that would be SO amazing. I want to learn this language the best I can and come home sounding like a Chilean ;) I love these people. One more random, I was in a Choir! And my voice sucks now cuz I don`t practice, but it was fun! We sang for una devocional de Navidad and tons of people loved it. We sang the classics in the hymn book (en Español por supuesto) and it was super fun. We bought each other regalos de Navidad which was way fun, and people have given us a couple cute things. I got a mug with a cute Santa on it today! LOVE it!

Oh mom! The day you sent me your email, I had actually read that scripture about how beautiful are the feet of them......etc......!!!! Man the Spirit works in miraculous ways! I have been reading the scriptures en Español, and truly have felt the Spirit working through me to understand both las palabras en las escrituras y las palabras de la gente. I have a goal to read el LdM, DyC, Pearl of Great Price, y Santa Biblia all en Español before the end of my mission. It will take a while, but I get better everyday.

Man, I wish I could introduce you to everyone that I have met here, but there really is no time! So each person gets a sentence, but know that I love each person I talk about, TONS!

Alejandra y Nancy are the cutest couple and are working to be active and Nancy wants to get baptized again.

Benita is MA (less active) but is coming back too and is the sweetest great grandma en la mision ever!

Rosa we met en la calle today and has a mom in the hospital, so we are praying for her. 

Anna was our miracle contact at the end of the day when we prayed for someone to be put in our path.

Cecilia y Elisa are MA, but are also coming back and we are super good friends with them. We help them with service all the time.

Rina is INV. and asked a golden question today about why there are so many churches and which one is true. Vamos a enseñar la Restauracion!!!

Nidia is INV. smokes tons, but felt the spirit when I told her la primera vision.

Lissett is MA and has the cutest baby girl Panchies that always says HOLA to us.

Jannette is the pres of Mujeres Jovenes and needs help alot.

Claudio is MA and came to church by himself out of no where when we thought he was dead (like not progressing)! MIRACLES EXIST!

Margarita is the sweetest usedtobeCatolica lady and is working to baptism!

Diego y Karina are MA and plan to be married en Febrero and have a baby on the way, they both served missions and want to come back. I love them so much!

Fam. Godoy, the wife was the one I met en Santiago, and they are like 1 of the many 2nd parents I have here. They are super active and help us tons with the work since their son is serving en Columbia right now.

Armandina has cancer, with 6 months to live, so we visit and service her. She is MA and we are working to get her to come to church, but its not going anywhere. I love her though.

Alejandra y su esposo are the cutest and funniest. They are MA, and read LdM lots, and last lesson, their sobrino Juan was there who is INV. and I gave him a LdM!! He was super interested and I have much faith in him.

Marjori is a friend of Marite`s. She smokes lots, but thinks we are nice and listens to us. I hope she did her committment...

Anyway, that is just some of the people we think about throughout the week, and that isn`t even everyone! We work super much, but often don`t have many numbers because MA don`t count, but they do!!! I love them all! And they all take care of us, so don`t worry mom, we are doing great!

Anyway, the last I wish to leave with you is the best ever. Go and read La Expiacion y el trayecto de la vida terrenal by Elder Bednar. (The Atonement and the journey of mortal life, or something like that). I think you, mom, told me about this a while ago, but I probably was thinking about stupid boys or something. Now that I am out in the mission, it has seriously changed my life. I can`t tell you guys enough of how much Jesus Christ is to me. He`s my best friend and I love this chance to preach His gospel of hope to people that have very sucky lives here. His grace is all that matters. We can`t do anything of consequence without Him. We are to not only purge ourselves of sin here, but become saints through His grace. La Expiacion helps not just sinners to repent, but good people to become amazing bomb.com people. Please go read that talk and truly live it! Though I have been feeling inadequate lately (and I AM inadequate) I know that through Him, I can be ennabled to do things beyond my power and be the missionary He needs me to be for His people here in Chile. I LOVE this work and smile every day I wake up and get to go study for the people, then walk in the blazing hot sun for the people.

I love you guys so much and hope you can soak up this love for the Savior, especially for Navidad.

He is my best friend!

Love,

Hermana Jessica McCubbins

Hermana "Micky" and Micky Mouse

First Baptism!!!!

Sister Marite at her

Tan line in December!!

The bathroom is clean!! Shock and awe!!

Rainy day. Snails and first picture in her awesome coat!!

Awesome food in Chile!!!!

Week 2 in The Hardest/Best Mission EVER!

Hola hola! (I say it twice because people here do that sometimes.)

So this has been an interesting week. I have to laugh because I might cry! ;) It started out with us having special changes, so now we are in a trio. Hna. Mendez, Hna. Hellbusch and I now work in 2 sectores. It is SO hard, but it just means we get more people to love!!!

Also, we put 3 dates for baptism en Lunes!!! Flor, Leslie and Cristoval are the cutest little family ever! Their date WAS Dic. 27 (an early regalo de Navidad), but they didnt come to church this Domingo, entonces la fecha fell through. It is okay though, because we feel they may need a little more time to learn any way, so in a way, it is sad, but happy!!

Javier is our other investigator, and he is the quirkiest 14 year old you have ever seen. Love him to death! We took him to la noche de deportes del barrio and he had tons of fun with us y los elderes jugando hand ball y fútbol y NINJA y ENERYGY BALL (energy ball is the funnest!!). He really wants to be baptized, but his dad won´t let him. We told him he needs to pray and read every day AND talk to his dad about how important this is to him. But Javier hasn´t done it yet, so we might have to do a DO or DIE lession soon.... :/

Our menos activos are so cute tambien! I love the fact that baptisms aren´t everything here! A few years ago (like 15 years pienso) a ton of missionaries just came and baptized cualquier persona en cualquier lugar, just random people sometimes, so yes they had amazing numbers, but no one is active ;) silly people.

So we get to reactivate all of the people and get no baptisms!! Which I am COMPLETELY fine with. I have come to realize that missionary work is about strengthening people in the faith of Jesus Christ, no matter where they are on the path to Eternal Life, whether it be before or after baptism. I LOVE strengthening the less actives because they usually know they have to come to church, and all we have to do is be awesome friends with them and find them friends in the church. That means I have a whole barrio of best friends!! ;) That doesn´t mean I dont miss you guys, but it does mean I dont feel alone, like ever. It also helps that they are my best friends, cuz that means they will criticize my horrible Spanish with love! ;) Also, some of the members know Inglés, so they like to practice it on me tambien.

Okay, I will know switch gears a little bit. Missionary Work is hard. I need you all to realize this because if you don´t accept it, it will be harder! There is DEFINITELY a reason it is called Missionary WORK. Whenever problems arrise (is that a word??) in the mission, it is usually because someone is not working in the Lord´s way, or they arent working to the max. And I don´t just mean working out in the street, but working on focusing on the people always, looking for ways you can help them, for me it actively listening to the super speedy quick Chilean language (I swear they don´t speak real Spanish here ;) ) and ALWAYS looking for people. Contacts are the hardest. However I have a cool story!

We were contacting houses and found a cute lady in one that was kind of hidden from the rest. My two best friend comps decided to make me (the newb) take the lead. The lady came out and I asked her for her name, She said it, but I cant remember it cuz I was freaking out a little bit. She also said she was a little busy, but we gave her an Él es la Dadiva card and she started listening to my horrible Spanish explanation of how we are missionaries of the church......She was way nice and listened to me, then said she was already baptized!! Then she said she had been wanting to come back to church! I was so surprised! No one would have noticed her little house, but for some reason we got there and found her. We have plans to go see her, and hopefully my Spanish will be better by then.

Okay, super quick cuz not much more time. I LOVE all of you! Thank you for writing me happy letters! This week I read all the letters I couldn´t read last week and all your funny stories and things made me laugh and smile really big. This week has been the hardest, so I thank you so much for being my saving angels with the words you write! I read a story in the Dic. Liahona about missionaries singing to people in the hospital and one patient said they were angels. Then one of the sisters said, no they are Latter day Saints. Well you are all Saints to me and I hope you spread that happiness and joy to everyone who may not have that in the moment you see them. I definitely needed your guys´ uplifting words, so gracias gracias gracias!

I love you all! I will try to make my letter next week a little better! 

Le amo!

Hna. McCubbins

Her apartments Christmas Tree

Jessica, Hermana Spencer (MTC companion) Brother and Sister Doll in the MTC

First group of missionaries out in the field. Hermana Hellbusch, her trainer

Hermanas McCubbins and Hellbusch

The ubiquitous tongue picture!!

Hermanas Hellbusch and McCubbins with an investigator.

Hermana Mendez the third missionary in their trio.

Selfie Day in Rancagua

Green food

Jessica's desk is in the middle. You can tell by her bulging scripture bag.

Jessica's bunk bed. She got that pillowcase from her dad before she left.

Random picture of the closet. She's trying to show us where she lives.

All her clothes drying.

Rancagua is the BEST Mission on the Planet!! Enserio!

Okay, so I have tons to tell you, so por favor, be patient and forgive my randomness! I have a list and it has no organization...

So I LOVE my companion! Sorry I cant figure out the pictures right now because the computer is all in Spanish. I will figure it out for next week. My companion is Hna. Hellbusch de Highland Utah!! She has 8 months in the mision and know Spanish SO good. She only talks to me in Spanish, unless I dont understand, so I have been progressing super fast. I also love our roommates Hna. Mendez de Guatemala (she looks Gringo though, so I call her my Gringita), and Hna. Rodriguez de Columbia. I can already understand simple conversations in Spanish. 

It was SO sad to say good bye to my distrito 4, especialmente Hna. Spencer, but I know I will see them again in the Gathering of Israel, so I put them in the Lord`s Hands and dont worry about them. I know whatever happens is what happens and everything will be okay if I work hard and be obedient. 

So, it is summer here! I love it tons. We sweat and walk and visit people, and sweat and walk and give sweaty hugs, and sweat and walk and sometimes get really good food (actually there is ALWAYS good food, love it!) and then we sweat and walk and teach cool lessons. A few days ago we had a water fight with a menos activo family which was way fun and they came to church this week so it payed off!!! ;) We`re sneaky like that. 

I have found there is a difference between Spanish and Chilean.... There is so much jerga (slang) here, and we, as missionaries, have to be careful to use good wholesome Spanish, which isn`t hard for me because that is all I know.... ;) But anyway, Rancagua is SO much better than Santiago!! I feel at home here, is that weird? The culture shock (which I will talk about later) has worn off and I know this is where I am supposed to be. We are going back to Santiago for my comp`s passport renewal this week, so I can go visit my teachers!! But Rancagua is the place!! We are in the sector Tupahue C and it is honestly the best. We are doing a whitewash (starting over) because my comps last comp was super sick a lot, so we get to start everything over!

I met one of the members here who I saw in Santiago!! She had asked me about a CD in the dist. center, and then we visited her here, so it was like a small world miracle! We also had a miracle when our key wouldnt work to our apartment, so we went back out until the other hnas got home, and we ended up meeting a man who was SUPER open to our message, we even gave him a book of Mormon and marked Ether 12 for him ;) but he isnt in our sector!! :( so we have to give him to someone else, which es muy triste! But that was a super awesome miracle, if I have ever seen one.

So there are so many awesome people here, I wish I had time to tell you about all of them but let me tell you about Flor, Leslie and Christovo. They are our new investigators!! I love them tons!! We had ONE lesson with them and they accepted the invitation to come to church!! My companion also made me invite them to be baptized in that lesson!! It was SO powerful!! My broken spanish didnt matter because the Spirit was talking and they could feel it! Then they came to church and I swear, EVERY meeting was exactly for them. They heard about the Doctrine of Christ and how it gets us to live with nuestro Padre Celestial and our familias. then Soc y Soc, we talked about how Christ is our anchor. Flor thanked us for finding here, Christovo LOVED primary and Leslie loves the family message. This week I am practicing Spanish to set a date for Dic 27 for their baptism and hope they accept! They are seriously a huge tender mercy right now. I cant believe my Savior has trusted us with them. I love them so much!!

Anyway, there are tons of other people I wish I could tell you about, but I am super disorganized, so next week you have a long letter again. AND pictures!

Key to missionary work: WORK and FUN!! OBEDIENCE tambien.

Tell everyone I love them so much and hope their lives are full of laughter and work! Because I feel like that is what this life is all about. Men are that they might have joy!! So be happy everyday and work hard with what He has given you, even if at first it may seem dull or boring. I love you tons!!

Hna. McCubbins

Jessica and Her Mission President

La Misión Chile Rancagua

Casa de la Misión,  Los Girasoles 1720, Rancagua, Chile

Oficina de la Misión,  Alcalde Eduardo Melero 883, Casilla 2-C, Rancagua, Chile

November 3, 2014

Dear family of Sister Jessica Christine McCubbins,

Sister Warne and I just finished welcoming the missionaries that arrived this week to serve our Lord in the Chile Rancagua Mission. Here is a photo for your family.

It is clear that these missionaries are very dedicated, that they love Jesus Christ, and that they have desires to share the gospel with the Chilean people. This work will make them happy, and the Lord will bless them for the service they give.

The people here in Chile are very kind, and the missionaries have opportunities to share the gospel every day. Thank you for the support that you provide, it is very important to your missionary.

Sister Warne and I love the missionaries and we will take care of them during their time here. We ask for blessings from the Lord for all of you.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Warne

Hermana McCubbins with President and Sister Warne the day she arrived in her mission.
(You can see her missionary tag!!)

I´m in Rancagua!!!

Hey!! So I left the CCM this morning and safely made it here to Rancagua!

I met my mission presidents who are so sweet, and the APs are super cool too. I LOVE my new companion. She is from Highland Utah, but has told me we will try to only talk in Español so I can learn super fast. Already we are on the job. I met the stake president and we talked about the ward and the many menos activos aqui. Tenemos mucho trabajo, pero estoy animado! 

I will have Pday on Lunes, and be able to write longer then. I love you SO much and know that I am safe and super well. I am already loving this area and the mucho caliente aqui. I have already heard I might see Hna. Squires y Vorwaller and I cant wait. Also, mi compañera le gusta correr, entonces mañana, vamos correr!! I cant wait, porque el CCM me da much peso!!

Les quiero mucho!! Hasta Lunes!!! 

Hermana McCubbins!