Good Week for Teaching

¡¡¡¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!! ¡Hola todos! 

So, let's just get right into my week!

Lunes. Was our p-day. It was raining so we really didn't do anything haha. We tried to watch The Testaments, but that didn't work because we didn't know how to turn the tv on. Stupid reason right? But really what tv needs more than to be plugged in and to hit the power button, but somehow we still couldn't get it to work! Haha so we slept. Sounds lazy, but it was totally worth it! After that we went and contacted some references that we had received from some members, and set up some appointments with people.

Martes! We had our first clase de districto here on the island. Usually this is where all the missionaries in your district get together and practice stuff, but when it's only us two on the island it was a little bit interesting, and it went by a lot faster that it normally does haha. But that's ok. I'm leader of districto and of my zone mainly because we switch off teaching stuff each week haha. But after that we went and met with a member whose wife isn't a member. His name is Gérman. They are this elderly couple, and he has cancer, but is still coming to church and doing everything he can. We went to teach them both, Gérman and Monica, but Monica was sick so we shared with Gérman a little bit. It was a good lesson, and he knows a lot even though he says he isn't capable to talk about the scriptures and share stuff.   He told the First Vision perfectly. After that we went and talked with the lady who owns the church building, and who is renting it to us. Her name is Maria, and it ends up that she knows English!  She lived in California for 4 years and so she talked to us in English. We talked to her, and shared a little bit of the restoration and she was very receptive so we are going to continue teaching her.

Mircoles. We had lesson after lesson! Finally we have someone to teach, and every lesson was a good one. One lesson was with a reference that a member gave us that had shared with the missionaries before. So we went and taught her, and then after that we ran to the church to teach a lesson to the cousin of the only missionary on the island. She is a recently returned missionary and she helped us teach. It was an incredibly spiritual lesson, and Manuel (that's the investigator's name) said that he had already prayed and was pretty sure that the church was true, and that the Book of Mormon was true too. It was very cool! After that we went and taught Paloma. She is an old investigator too of the missionaries on the island before, but she left to the continent and never was baptized.  So we are sharing with her, and she had a doubt about how she was going to receive an answer, so we explained to her that it wasn't going to be anything big or crazy, but more her thoughts and feelings.  That's when she started to think about how she feels when she prays and asks about the Book of Mormon and feels peace. So we invited her to continue praying and reading. So we´ll see what happens!

Jueves. We went and shared with German and Monica again, and it was a really good lesson. We tried to set up a baptism date with Monica but she already has plans to get baptized on the continent.  So she is planning on getting baptized so we are going to continue teaching her and stuff, but it was cool that she was already planning on it. After that we went and visited a less active family to share with them. We still don't know why they are inactive but we will keep visiting them.

Viernes. ¡I SURVIVED THE END OF THE WORLD! Haha that was fun. I'm pretty sure we saw every religious leader out preaching. It was interesting haha, but we just went and shared with people as well.

Sabado. So we were going to teach an English class... that was until nobody showed up... but that's ok. We then went and sang Happy Birthday in English to a youth in the ward, that embarassed her pretty good, but it was fun. We also had a family home evening de branch and watched the Christmas Devotional.

Domingo. We had 12 in the church and I'm still playing the piano.

Out of time! Love you all and miss you tons!!!!!!!

Lots of Failed Appointments, How Disappointing!

Nathan Alder

¡HOLA TODAS LAS PERSONAS! Lunes. We were going to go on a hike with Angel, a youth in the ward, but it was raining all day, and we really didnt want to go do anything in the rain, so we slept for a good hour or two. after that we went and met with some of the

8:04 AM

¡HOLA TODAS LAS PERSONAS!

 

Lunes. We were going to go on a hike with Angel, a youth in the ward, but it was raining all day, and we really didn't want to go do anything in the rain, so we slept for a good hour or two. After that we went and met with some of the members that were here, and other than that we really didn't do much.

 

Martes. We did our normal studies, ate, and then went to teach seminary. We had 2 hours of seminary; one to teach him the New Testament, and the other to teach Book of Mormon. I was teaching the New Testament. It was fun, but we had to teach it really fast because he was leaving on Sunday and so we covered only the really important parts of every lesson. After that we had a whole bunch of appointments, (for the first time ever) and every single one of them failed... that was a little disappointing. But we had plans for Wednesday don't worry about it!!!

 

Mircoles. Same schedule: studies, food (we had a soup with cow tail in it), seminary, every single appointment failed... but at least this time we were able to fill the time doing different types of service. We carried a stove to a ladies house.  We pushed some kids up a hill on their little car things. We helped a lady move a bunch of beds around, and then also we went and taught a less active member who wants to come back to church but has to quit smoking  She won't go back to church because she doesn't feel like she can, but we are working with her. Also we received a call from President answering some questions we had, including why he chose me to come to the island. He said, "Well I prayed about who I should send to the island, and yours was the name that came to mind." Talk about your inspiration!  But ya that was fun.

 

Jueves. So to try and finish seminary before Sunday we decided to do 4 hours of it;  2 hours before lunch, and then 2 hours after. With this schedule we should be able to finish teaching everything. We went and taught some lessons, and then everyone went down below to wait for the giant battle ship that came to the island to bring all of the students back for summer break. It also brought 400 other people to visit for a few days. So once again, nobody was home.

 

Viernes. We got a call that morning from Angel, who said that he was actually leaving this day. All of our plans to finish were gone! But at least he is with his family on the continent. Other than that there were just people everywhere!

 

Sabado. So there was a funeral because I guess that someone from the island that was coming back on the boat slipped and fell and hit his head, and ended up dying on the boat.  So once again half the island was at that. We went and started talking to some people down below, and also then went and shared with some members, and helped them put up their christmas tree. It was an interesting day.

 

Doming. We had 10 people in church this week. me and my companion gave the talks! That was interesting haha, and then we finished all 3 reunions an hour early so we just left haha.  Well, not us because we had to put the tithing and stuff in, so we had to stay, but I now know the behind the scenes of the church life, and boy is it crazy haha. But ya then there was a giant BBQ from like 5 until past 10, so we went down there for a little, got some food, and talked with some of the members, and set up appointments with some people.

 

But ya that was my week! Hope you enjoy! Love you and miss you tons!

Trying to Sort Everything Out Here

!Hola, Hola! ¡Está lluviendo mucho aqui pero todavia estoy animado!

 

Lunes. So there are some hikes that we want to do while we are here on the island because we will never get to do them again in our lives.  So on monday, we went and hiked up Salsipuedes which translates to "leave if you can", but it was a really nice hike. We ran into some horses half-way up the trail, and pretty much they just went up the trail in front of us. Maipu, the dog of the family that we live with, comes with us on every hike we do. He is a crazy dog and super funny, but the hike was awesome. I got some really good pictures that I wish I could send you but sadly, that is a little hard here on the island... but ya.

Martes. We did our normal studies and lunch. After that we went and visited Angel or David as I found out he likes to be called, but he is the one active youth on the island. So he helped us with a bunch of information about the island. The records here are horrible. Most of the addresses of houses are wrong. It says that people don't have the priesthood, and so on. So we are trying to fix all that and get as many dates correct as possible. Also there are a lot of people that aren't even on the island anymore. So we are working on updating everything, and it's a pain in the butt. We ended up having Angel come with us to some of the lessons that we had.  We went and taught Maria and also we went and saw Michel. Yes, she has been trying to leave for more than a week now, but the weather here on the island has been bad and raining all week so she has not been able to leave.

Miércoles. So we went and taught Rodrigo. We finished the plan of salvation, and taught him a bunch of weird stuff because he just has all of these weird questions. Finally my companion just asked him, "What does any of this matter if you don't believe in God?" That got him to think.  We then asked him pretty much why he doesn't want to pray, and how we could help him. It ends up it's the science versus religion argument in his head, and I was able to say that I am studying Biology, and I have studied a little bit.  I was able to testify about my view of evolution and science and all that stuff. It was a really good lesson, and it got him to think even more.  Also this day was the day that I must have ate something bad, because my stomach was going crazy! So we took it easy. Haha.

Jueves. Weekly planning. Ya it's fun here on the island, but there is a freaking party every single week! and it sucks because everybody on the island goes to them! So we wandered around, visited a menos activo. After that we finally gave in and went to see who was at the party, but it wasn't really a party.  It was a celebration to welcome their new mayor of the island. Literally everyone was there. We didn't stay for very long.

Viernes. So we went to set up seminary with him.  We also called the mission president to see what he wanted from us because we have no clue what we are doing here!!!!!! But he told us what he was expecting and it was pretty much what we were doing, so it made us feel better. We talked with him with us standing in the street with him on speaker phone. It was fun.

Sabado. we went and taught Rodrigo again. This time we talked about prayer and got him to really think about everything we are teaching him. After that we went to see when Michel was going to leave. She is supposedly leaving today, but it's raining, so I doubt that is going to happen. Then we had Seminary. That's pretty much all the cool stuff.

Domingo. It was still raining so only 6 people were in church. I'm still trying to play the piano, and was the teacher in priesthood. It was fun. We finished like 30 mins early and then we had seminary again to try and help him graduate before he leaves next week. So ya that was my week.

It was fun, and crazy, and cold but I'm here, and I'm working hard. Jacob 6 Servants of the Vineyard. Gotta be diligent. Love you all and miss you tons!

The Work Here is Slow

¡Hola FAMILIA Y AMIGOS Y PERROS! ¿Como estan ustedes? Haha one day I will write something in Spanish for real.

 

So Monday, P-day, we went on a hike straight up the mountain! Haha literally looking at it from a distance it is straight up the side of the hill, and it only took us like an hour to do it. I got some really good pictures of it though which is good haha. Ya other than that that's pretty much all we did on Monday.

Tuesday, we are teaching this new lady, Elena, she is like 70 or something, and she has trouble remembering things that she has recently done, but we are trying to teach her slowly and clearly, but I don't know how well it is going to work haha. But we much try! Then we went and met a member who had just got back to the island that day. His name is Angel, he is 18, and he is going into the Chilean Navy or something like that, but we got to know him, shared something small with his family, and then invited them to church. (They didn't show up...) so after that, we went and saw one of our other investigators. Her name is Maria, like the mother of Jesus (that's what they always say when their name is Maria) but we shared the restoration with her, and answered some of her questions that she had, and I think if we can explain things clearly to her we will be able to help her see the truth of things. She also is reading in the Book of Mormon which is really good so we will see what happens with that.

Wednesday, we did the normal studies and eating and stuff haha, and then we went around to see if we could find people in their houses.  That didn't work very well, but we finally went and visited the sister of the member that we live with. Her name is Blanca. She was married and sealed in the temple, but now her and her husband are separated, and neither of them go to church anymore. So we shared with her while she was drinking tea, and ironing peoples clothes (including underwear). So we shared with her, and she said that she was going to come back to church soon, but first she has to change a lot of things in her life, but she said she is going to do it. I guess we´ll see what happens. After that we went and visited Rodrigo, our other investigator. He says he doesn't believe in God, but he agrees with everything that we have been teaching him. He was raised off of the island and has been here for about a year or so. He doesn't like the Catholic Church (he straight up called them a mob, a little much if you ask me), he doesn't like the Evangelicals (they just tell him he is damned because he doesn't believe in God), and he likes the Mormons because they don;t get up in his face about things. But ya we went to visit him, and he was in the shower, so we talked with his grandma who is also a member, and oh my goodness she would not stop talking.  We walked in sat down, and she just went off about how she wasn't going to come back to church because the people there are hypocrites and they don't really do what they say, and then she started talking about Romney, and how a member shouldn't be involved with politics, and on and on, and whenever I tried to say anything to answer a question she asked she would just start talking right over me. No joke. So finally her son came out and we taught him about the plan of salvation. It was a really good lesson, and he is reading in the Book of Mormon, but he still doesn't want to pray so one step at a time.

Thursday, we went and taught Elena again. After that we went to try and find people... again, and we found this house that had a huge garden. Like the entire yard was a forest of cool flowers and plants and trees and stuff. They let us in and were really nice, and we are going to be teaching them. Then we went and met a guy named Gido. He is one of the very first members on the island, and he is inactive. He says he knows that the gospel is true, but he has another mission in life so he doesn't need to go to church. He then showed us his cave. His house is built right next to the mountain so he dug a cave into the mountain where he goes and plays music every day. It's really cool and has a really cool sound, but a little crazy at the same time.

 Friday/Saturday.  We did service for the family that we live with, and tried to find people, and ya they were having a thing called the Teleton here Friday and Saturday so nobody was home, literally nobody.

Sunday. Fast and testimony meeting with 8 people in church is interesting because everyone gets to bear their testimony, and once everyone does that you end the meeting and go to the next one. But I played the piano in church, with all of my piano skills! Good thing I stuck with piano lessons... or at least I wish I would have stuck with them now haha. But it wasn't too bad, and at least it was something. After that my companion taugh the gospel doctrine class, and then for priesthood it was the branch president and us so we read from the Teachings of the Prophet book and said what we liked about what we read. Church then got out half an hour earlier haha. But it was fun!

The work here on the island is slow, and it's easy to get unmotivated, but I'm trying my best! Love you all and miss you all tons!

Our Island Home

¡Hole de nuevo Familia y Amigos!

So I don't remember if I wrote about Monday, but Monday we went through Narnia, it was awesome. We went on a hike on Monday with Elder Waldron before he left the island. We went up to a little campsite thing, and there was a side trail that said self leading trail, so I decided to follow it, and it no joke took us to Narnia! There were these bush tree things with leaves bigger than me no joke! It was so cool, the island is so pretty and so different. Pretty much on this tiny island there is a desert part, a rain forest part, a normal forest part, valleys, and a lot more stuff. But ya Monday we did that, and we welcomed a boat that sailed from the island to the continent in 4 days in memory of some guy and now they are back.

 

Tuesday we saw the Waldrons off, and went and studied.  After lunch, we moved all of our stuff into the missionaries home which is where the Waldrons were staying.  It is a 1 room little house thing with a bathroom, but at least now we have our own bathroom. After that we went and moved the computer from the branch president's house to the chapel. When I say chapel I mean little house that we are renting and using as a chapel, but hey at least we have something and that's when we realized how slow the computer really was. There is something wrong with it, but it still works, and at least now we can see the ward stuff.   Also we can imput the tithing. That's right I am the secretary, and I do all of that fun stuff. After that we went and found a new investigator, his name is Rodrigo, and he says he doesn't really believe in God, but he is still willing to listen, and he has a lot of questions, so we are going to work with him.

 

 

                                Our Island Home

 

Wednesday so also on Monday a big boat came in that has all the supplies and stuff on it for the month. Ya so Wednesday after lunch we helped Nana unload a bunch of boxes of meat and stuff for the next week to eat.  It was pretty interesting. After that we went and started giving out Liahonas, that's our excuse to get to know people right now haha. The problem is that after the tsunami 2 years ago, nobody has really kept track or changed their addresses on the programs that we have, so we kind of just get a guess and then go start asking people, but the thing is that we can't enter houses unless there is another guy there. Well most of the people here are fishermen, so they go fishing early in the morning until about 7 at night, and then really they don't want anything to do with us they just want to sleep. We also are trying to work with some of the less active members, but they are so stubborn, and we are on an island, so if they get offended then they are just never going to go back to church because then they would have to see the person that offended them. It's pretty much just a drama island and I make enough of my own drama that I get sick of it really fast. But we met this singer girl that is a recent convert of about a month that is here to sing. and she wants us to start teaching her mom. No joke this girl is awesome. Her name is Michel, and she is a fireball of the gospel. She wants everything and anything that has to do with the gospel. It's crazy.

Thursday. ¡DIA DE LA ISLA! We had studies as normal. We then had weekly planning! Woo!!! Except for half of the stuff we plan for involves working with the ward committee, and since we are the ward committee we kind of got to skip a lot of that stuff. It's really interesting and different being on the island. After that we went to try and visit some people but there was a big party thing going on for the birthday of the isla so we didn't get very much done, which was kinda a bummer but we still had a lesson with Rodrigo again, and we taught him the first lesson, and he accepted to read the Book of Mormon, but he still won't pray.  We are going to have to work on that with him. Other than that we just tried to figure out where people live, and what they are doing on the island, but no joke pretty much the entire island was down partying. so at about 8 we finally went down to the party, 1 to see Michel sing, and 2 to get to know people, and see how many would be drunk. It was fun. They had a fake Elvis sing, and Michel is amazing at singing and it was really fun.

 

Friday we did service for a member. everyone on the island is starting to build green houses, so Teresa asked if we could come help her with hers. She is building like a 2 level thing to plant in, so we helped her build a box to plant stuff in. That took like 2 and a half hours, but it was fun, and we got to know her a little more. After that we went and visited Michel and her mom, and we talked with them for a little bit and then we got ready for the noche de hogar at the branch, and at that we watched The Testament.  It was really good, and every one that was there was crying by the end of it so it was good.

Saturday we went and passed out more Liahonas, and got to know some more of the members. Everyone only ever complains about everyone else here and it is really annoying but it's what we got to live with. Then we had a noche de hogar with a less active family, and had a lesson about the Book of Mormon that was really good, and then after they wanted to play a game, so we played some short games, and then played home made ping pong. It was really fun and we got to gain the families trust, so now they just need to come to church.

 

 

Sunday we watched CONFERENCE here on the island. They had not seen it yet so we watched the Sunday Morning session and the Saturday Morning session. We had a total of 9 people in the church, but ya we are trying to fix that. Other than that we sat down with the branch president and started updating some of the records of the branch so that was good. But ya that was my week, and now we are going to try and go do a hike so we´ll see!

Love you and miss you all a lot!!!

More About My Island

Ya ok so I have a little bit more time today to finish my letter.

So on Thursday we packed up all of our stuff and sat in the office
until 1:30. At that time we loaded up and headed off to the airport,
and something that was funny is that Elder Wilson my companion from
the MTC was there, and helped take me to the office.  It was pretty
interesting to see him, and to get to have him drop me off at the
airport. When we got to the airport, it was just a bunch of hangers
with little planes in them, so we found our place and checked in.
They weighed our bags, and we were both within the weight so we didn't
have to pay any extra. It's a good thing they weighed our backpacks as
part of us because that was really heavy too. From there all we had
to do was wait for the captain and we were good to go. It ended up
just being my companion and I on the plane with the pilot, so my
companion got to be the co-pilot. But I sat in the back all by
myself. I got a video of the take off and landing on the plane. In
the air we had a little bit of turbulance, but nothing much. The
plane only had 4 seats in it, so that's how small it was. When we got
to the island to land, the runway has cliffs on both sides of it, so
you have to be careful. The pilot landed hard and fast and then
instantly started slowing down. It was a little bit scary, but
everything was ok. Once we got off the plane we realized how cold it
was going to be with the wind, so we put our coats on and stood there
for a little bit. From there they loaded us up and drove us down to
the little dock thing. There were a bunch of sea lions just sitting
on the rocks there. Some of them came over to see what we were doing.
We then got on a tiny fishing boat, and headed off on the hour ride to
get to the people. It was fun, and one of the only times I´ll ever
get to be on a boat in my mission so i enjoyed it. When we got to the
city, Elder Waldron was there waiting for us. He and his wife were the
couple missionaries that were on the island for the past 10 months.
So he took us up to the house, and we unpacked a little and then had
dinner. FISH!!! The fish here is amazing. We live with the familia
Lopez, and we call sister Lopez, Nana. She is an amazing cook, and
everything I have eaten from her has been amazing. All of our meals
are made for us;  breakfast, lunch, and one (snack dinner thing). So
we don't have to buy food, and the church pays rent, and pretty much
it's like we live in a cabin hotel, it;s so amazing!  We are definitely
spoiled here. We also have a dog named Maupo, that will follow us
everywhere if we call him. The only bad thing is that they have fleas
here, so all of the animals have them. Pretty much we just followed
Elder Waldron around all that night looking at stuff.

Friday we studied in the house, and ya there were always people coming
in and out of the room that we were studying in, so we decided next
time we were going to study in the chapel. We have our own keys to
the chapel, and so we can use it willingly. After studies, Elder
Waldron took us up to the library to set up a time for email, and to
get to know where it is.  That's where I am now and it's free. A lot
of stuff is free for the people here.  The doctor is free, the
dentist, and soon I think they are going to get free wifi for the
whole island. I'm not sure, but the people here are really blessed.
There really aren't any poor people here.  They are all fairly well
off. Nobody is super rich, but nobody is poor.  To buy stuff in
the stores here it is very expensive. Good thing we don't have to buy
much,  and we can only pay with cash, so I have a lot of cash and no
where to put it. The people here are pretty much all related, and so
nobody really locks their doors, because it would be pretty obvious to
know who steals your stuff, so they don't even worry about it. Pretty
much the rest of the day we just went around learning where people
lived, and where all the stores are, and all the basics of the island.

Saturday we went and studied in the church. I liked it because there
was a heater in there that we turned on. The weather here is a little
bit chilly in the mornings, and then perfect the rest of the time,
not too hot and not too cold. Elder Waldron continued to show us
around. He took us out to the five star hotel that is on the island,
and we got some really good pictures. Let's be honest I can't think of
a view that isn't beautiful, but you don't walk here on the island, you
hike everywhere you go. It's either straight up, or straight down. So
I´ll be in really good shape here. Also you can breath here! The air
is so clean and fresh. I love it.

Sunday, we had church! There were 12 people in the church, and that
includes the 4 missionaries. The branch president here has been
branch president for 27 years, and there was only one other guy in
church. When we met the branch president, he told us that we were his
counselers, secretaries, teachers, and pretty much everything else in
between. The church also has a computer, but right now it is in the
branch president's house. Don't worry, I'm getting it out today, but he
is a really good guy, and church was good. The sacrament took all of
3 mins., then the Waldrons talked a little because they were leaving,
and then we talked, and then there was one other talk that she had
forgot she was supposed to give, and then sacrament meeting ended...
half an hour early... so we started our next class, and pretty much
it's just read out of the book, but it was still a good lesson, and I
learned something. But they are going to finish the lessons 4 weeks
early because they don't have general conference, or stake conference,
but we brought general conference in audio, so that's what we are doing
next sunday.

P-DAY!!! finally p-day, and the first thing we did was go down to
welcome the boat that brings all of the food, and also there were some
islanders that built a boat and sailed all the way to the continent in
it from the island in rememberance of Nana´s grandpa who had done the
same thing when he was lost at sea in a storm. So we went to meet
them because the capitan was a member! He is a really awesome guy!
and I'm going to get to know him today haha.  Ya pretty much we are
going to go around and deliver Liahonas to all of the members today so
we can get to know them, and to know where they live, but after that
we had lunch, and then did one of the shorter hikes here on the
island. It was incredible. There were giant leaves and the craziest
plants I have ever seen. It was so beautiful! This place is
amazing!!! But ya it was fun. Our internet time was cut short, so we
got permision to come Tuesday and finish writing, and ya here I am!
On an island! With only my companion, and limited comunication from
the outside world! but I'M ON THE ISLA JUAN FERNANDEZ!!!!!!!!! Don't
worry I have taken a lot of pictures!

I l;ove you all and miss you, but I'm having a blast!

I'm on an Island

FAMILIA Y AMIGOS,

I'M ON AN ISLAND!!!!!!!!!

Ya don't have much time and the internet is really slow, but  my plane
didn't end up leaving until Thursday, so I sat in the office for 2
days, we then got on a tiny little plane and rode for 2 hours over
the ocean.  My companion and I were the only passengers so that was
fun.  The landing pad on the island is small with cliffs at both ends,
so that was fun, but the pilot landed hard and braked fast.  We then
went down to a little bay thing where there were a bunch of sea lions
and a tiny little boat.  We rode the boat for an hour until we got
to the town. It's a tiny little thing. We then went up to our house,
which is more like a cabin and is very beautiful.  We met the members
there. The mom is named Nana, and she made us some dinner, and fish.
It was really good, and everything is really good she makes. She
makes us every meal so we don't have to worry about food. Then I have
been pretty much wandering the island for the past couple days
figuring out where everyone lives and pretty much I hike everywhere,
there is no walking, but it's fun. The branch is tiny, and ya I'm out
of time so... there is so much I want to tell you but ahh there is
not enough time. The island is very beautiful, the people are really
nice, they only get a big boat of food and stuff that they order once a month.
The birthday or something of the island is next week.  Everything is so pretty.
I'm going to try to send some pictures next week, but I love it here, and
I'm very glad for the opportunity that I have to be here. I have taken over 3 hundred pictures in the last 3 days haha so I have a lot of stuff for you guys to see. But ya that's all for now.

Love you tons and miss you!

BIG NEWS!

¡Hola familia y amigos! Ya this week is beyond crazy so here we go!

First, I HAD A BAPTISM LAST WEEK!!! Her name is Belén, she is 9 years old and her family is less active. I have pictures and all, but I can't send them right now because I am writing this letter in the mission office, ya more about that to come.

So this week started out normal. Same problems as last week trying to get my companions out of the house and ya pretty much the same old struggles. We had some very fun lessons, the first was with a new investigator we found named Angelica, (as of right now we are teaching 4 different Angelica's). So we had taught her up to prophets of the first lesson, and we went back to teach her a second time, and we decided to repass over the first stuff. As we were repassing we realized that she didn't remember anything. No joke it was like teaching a little kid, even though she is 30. But ya that's the thing about a mission we get to work with all types of different people. So while teaching her there is a song that says pretty much "give me more patience". After teaching Angelica we went to teach Belén, she is always fun to teach, and always a trial of patience. ya but it's always fun to try and teach here.

Also I learned that my companion is a braggoholic. No joke he brags about everything, how many contacts he has, how he brought his jacket when it was going to rain, and then never did, no joke whatever thing that he could brag about he does. But ya now time for the big news, I don't have to deal with them anymore! Haha!

So one of the dreams of every missionary that comes to this mission is to go to a very special place. That dream is to go to one of the islands. The thing is that President only calls Senior missionaries there to take care of the islands. Well... one of the senior couples is leaving and there isn´t another couple to take their place, so 2 lucky missionaries are getting to go to the island. So... out of the 200 some odd missionaries in our mission... I am one of those 2 that get to go to the island!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW FREAKING LUCKY AM I!!! I´m going to the Island Juan Fernandez! President called me Saturday and asked me if I was willing to go the the island, and that he was only sending missionaries that he trusts will continue to be obedient and do the things to take care of the island. My companion is Elder Beeson from Arizona. If you ever want a repeat of the feelings of opening your mission call, a phone call saying this will do it!

There are about 1000 people on the island, so I have a 4 hour flight to the island, and then a boat ride to the people. I can only bring 22 pounds of stuff with me to the island, and the rest of my stuff will stay in the mission office. I am only taking the necessities. We will be living with a member that will cook and wash our cloths and stuff. I will be there until another senior couple comes to the mission. It shouldn´t be more than 2 changes, or about 3 months for a maximum, kinda. So I will be there for Christmas and stuff. I'm super excited and all, but I would still appreciate your prayers for a safe trip. I leave tomorrow morning some time, and ya I'm going to the ISLAND JUAN FERNANDEZ!!!!!

Love you and miss you tons!

If you want to take a look at Nate's new home check out these YouTube Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCgITT5QTJs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_vurlfXkEM&feature=related

Will the Drama Ever End?

¡Hola de nuevo mi familia y amigos! The Lord wants me to learn something from this right? Oh boy here we go with another drama story!!! AND A BAUTIZMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ya so Monday we were told we were getting a new companion, so they were going to send a bunk bed and all this stuff. No problem except for the fact that our house is a disaster, and I was buying the stuff to clean it that day. Ya well one of the senior couples came to drop the stuff off 10 mins after we got back from the store so I didn't have time to do anything minus hide some of the worst of it. But they came in we put the top bunk in, and while we were doing this the husband accidently turned on the space heater that we have, that a tie had fallen over. We went to get the mattress for the bed and when we came back in I pretty much got chewed out for leaving the heater on, and how that could start a really big fire, and if we would spend some time on p-day to clean the house it wouldn't be so messy, and what ever other thing she could say. So I explained politely that it wasn't on before, and that I'm careful about all of that stuff and that we would clean the apartment that day. After I finally got her to leave, I cleaned the entire apartment and that night we got our new companion Elder Lemo.

The first 2 days were good. We were working hard and doing the things we were supposed to be doing. We taught a lot and we found a lot of good people to teach. It was Thursday when things started to go down hill fast.  We pretty much stopped planing as a companionship, which left me to plan for the day by myself. So when we didn't have plans in the afternoon before lunch we started to leave later and later in the day. We would find stupid reasons to go back to the house, and then it would take us another hour before we would leave again, or they would fall asleep and so I would study.

 Friday we had a lesson with a family that one day will get baptized. We went in to teach them, and we started asking them questions trying to figure out what this family needs to get baptized, and that's when it hit me, I knew exactly what to ask, how to respond, and what scriptures to use. The lesson was amazingly spiritual, and in the end they said they were fine where they were for now, but one day they will get baptized. I don't think we will be going to teach them any more, but it was cool to be able to teach. After the lesson, my companions asked how I knew what to say, and the answer was simple, I didn't... the Spirit did.

Through the struggle to be the desire and energy for my companionship I have seen the blessings from being obedient. I know what to say when my companion is floundering because I have listened to the investigators, and then to the Spirit. I can see the lack of Spirit in my companions because they are struggling to teach, and their studies aren't as good as before. Obedience is important in the mission!!! I had another lesson where my companions were trying to put the people with a baptism date, but they hadn't listened at all to the problem of the investigator.  They were way too focused on the date. So finally I jumped in, answered the question, and they accepted the date. I'm not saying this to brag about myself.  It was all the Spirit, and what I had studied in the morning that was able to help me know what to say.

Now I am trying to come up with ideas to animate my companions.  I am talking with my district leader to try and find ways to get them excited.  I know that my loyalty is first to the Lord, second to the Mission President, and third to my companions. It's not my time to waste so I will be doing what I know I need to do to keep the Spirit. That's all for today and once again I am out of time... oh well.

Love you and miss you all tons!!!

Learn to Speak English by Watching Friends

¡Hola familia y amigos de nuevo!

So my first week in a new sector! Ya so the first day was interesting.  We went and pretty much wandered around, and I tryed to get to know my new companion a little.  His name is Elder Concha, he is from Chile, and we get along really well. The strange thing was he knew a lot of random English words, ya well Tuesday I figured it out... HE SPEAKS ENGLISH!!! Haha ya he finally told me that he speaks English, and the best part is how he learned it, ya by watching Friends with Spanish subtitles! He speaks freaking amazing!!! Oh and I also found out that he is 26 and already has graduated de universidad. So that was crazy!

Next, the house that I am now living in is tiny, but at the same time it is an actual house thing, so that is ok.  It has a bathroom, a bedroom, and study area, and a kitchen area.  The water heater is different here than in my last apartment.  Before all I had to do was turn the hot water on and it turned on and did everything, but here we have to attach the gas, turn on the gas, and light the fire to get the water working  The thing was my companion and I didn't know how to do it, so we went 4 days with a freezing cold shower until the other elders showed up and taught us how to do it, and now the shower is wonderful, a little getto, but wonderful none the less.

With only the 2 of us living in the house I have found a lot more time to do nothing haha. Before there were 3 other elders to keep me busy, and now there is just my companion who usually goes to bed early, so it's interesting, and in the mornings with only 2 people to shower we have extra time to sit around and study more.  It's interesting.

One thing amazing about my companion is that he literally asks for references from everyone! This is good because when we contact them we get more numbers which is good, and we have found some really good people that way.

Ya so this new sector has a lot of little streets, a lot of parks, and not as many druggies (but all of the druggies here are like hard core druggies that are scary), and the dogs. For some reason the dogs here are a lot meaner! I don't know why but they all want to eat us, and ya it's fun.

So we have lunches with the members, or the members make us lunch, the first 3 days we took the lunches back to the house and ate it, so when we finally had a lunch that we were going to eat with the members we were very excited, that was until we got there haha. They are a great family, but ya we have to work with them... first there was a lady with cuts all over, like self-inflicted cuts, that was a little scary, then we watched them as they tried to sneak beer past us, the little kids were entertaining as usual, and one of them had a mini skirt on that was ya... don't know if you could classify it as a skirt even... so it ends up that pretty much all of them are members, but there is only one of them that is active.  So after we finished, everyone scattered except for the active grandma, and one of the grandaugters, and that's when I shared my scripture. To be a missionary you learn to love people really fast, so you want to share with them the happiness that you know they could feel. Well this lady kept saying someday she was going to go to church and read the scriptures and all of this stuff. Well ya that's when the spirit starts working and I know exactly what I need to share even though it's kinda harsh, but then the other scripture comes to mind that the wicked take the truth to be harsh, so I shared the scriptures anyway. Alma 5 is really good for less active members, especially when it asks "if you died right now would you be able to lie to God?" but then it goes on and I make it really spiritual with the shepherd is calling you, and is still calling, and in the end she was in tears... and then the grandma started talking and would not shut up... everything I did to invite the spirit was ruined, and so I had to do it all over again... and then the grandma started talking again! Ya phrase of this week, Obuela, SHUT UP!!! Ya that was the lame fast version of this story, I'm almost out of time so...

Just got off the phone with the mission president, and I am now in a trio... but it's ok. I'm now with 2 latinos!!!  This elder is returning to the mission, he had to go home because of some knee problems but now he is back.  He is from Argentina.

Sunday I got to talk in church!!! But before that happened... I got to... CONFIRM SOMEONE!!!!!!!! That's right my first blessing ever, and in Spanish... it was interesting to say the least, and the best part is we only had one lesson with her so I didn't really know her, but that the whole loving people really fast thing. not going to lie being a missionary is awesome!

 

 

Nate, Oscar, and Elder Nichols

 

Out of time!!!! AHHH I have more to write about so hopefully I remember next week, but chao for now!!!

Special Face?

¡¡¡HOLA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS!!!

Ya first of all, this week has been absolutely crazy! Ya where do I
start? Ok I don't have my list of cool things that happened this week
so it might be a little fome, but that's ok, and fome is a Spanish
word for like a lot of things. so ya get used to it haha!

Primero! OSCAR WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, Oscar was my very
first ever lesson in Chile, and he was baptized last week with one of
the strongest testimonies I have ever seen. Pretty much it was, "Hey
Oscar we have this commandment that we are freaking out about you
accepting" within 3 minutes of the lesson he just says ya I understand,
it's a commandment, I may not know exactly why I have to do it, but I'm
going to do it. Can you say OH MY GOODNESS!!! Ya, but I love that man,
and am so glad that I was able to see him get baptized!

Segundo! We had a conference with Elder Bednar, and it was amazing! I
learned so much, and let me just tell you, first they do not look the
same as they do on TV during conference, and second, they do not talk
or act the same as they do on TV during conference.  I swear they are
competely different people! But none the less it was so much fun, and
he really knows how to teach people, which in turn is going to help me
teach people.

Tircero! We had a recent convert of before I got to the sector say
that she was done going to church. So we spent a long time with her
trying to figure out why. Then after about an hour of trying to
explain where these feelings were coming from (aka Satan), I went all
blunt on her. I asked her some questions, figured out what she
thought the importance of the sacrament was, and she said the first
time she took it, it was like a forgiveness, a salvation. So with the
fact that she recognized this I told her straight up that she was
exactly right, and that when she didn't go to church to participate in
the santa cena (sacrament) she couldn't receive this forgivness, and
in the end, she couldn't get the salvation. Now of course all of this
I was getting from the spirit, but I think it worked pretty well to
kind of make her think about what she was doing.

Cuarto! Ya I don't know what else happened this week cause I don't have
my list, but today we had changes!!! Ya so my new companion, his
name is Elder Concha, he is Chileno, doesn't speak very much English,
but he is very nice and I think we are going to get along very well.
Now I don't mean to sound mean when I say this, but I think it's
important for all of you to know. He has a little bit of a lazy eye,
and a problem with his leg so he walks a little funny, and a little
slow, but that just means that I will get to serve him that much
more! But he is really humble and I really do think we will get along
well!  I am in a sector called Dorsal 1.  We are now living in a little
house thing, but the best part is, I'm opening the sector, which means
both of the elders in the sector are new so pretty much we have to
start over with everything!

I finished with the rabies shots today, so I'm good for the next 3
years with that.

I need you to tell people that I love getting letters, but it's really
hard to write back, but I will write back eventually. To send letters
home we have to go into the center of the city, and we can't do that
every week, and we haven't done it for several weeks now so I haven't
been able to send anything to anyone yet, but tell Sister Kanaval that
I got her letter, and the letter from the little girls in the ward, and the
book from someone, and yes I got Brian's Diablo letter!

Pictures of everything to come next week, of the baptism, my old
companion, my new companion, the new house thing, all of that fun
stuff. Oh ya how could I forget!!! So I went on an intercambio this
week with Elder Hjelm. It was an interesting little change, and
pretty much all we did was contacts, but I got a new nickname, we
knocked this one door, and halfway through our conversation she looks
at me and says, "you have a special face"... WHAT!!! Ya I didn't know
how to take that, I still don't know how to take that, but ya apparently I
have a special face! Ya so it just gets better, we were waiting at
a bus stop, and this guy comes up and gives me this newspaper, so ya
I start looking at it, and next thing I know this lady comes and
starts taking pictures of me reading the paper. Not that I really
care, but ya special face moment number 2. But ya after that I kept
being called special face!

That's all I can remember for this week haha, love you all and miss you tons!!!

Earthquake!

¡Querido Familia y amigos!

 

Ya so straight to my week.

This week was crazy! First of all we finally found someone that let us help them!!! This is a big accomplishment here because nobody wants your help, but we finally found a lady painting her fence and she just so happened to have 2 more brushes.  Talk about following the spirit, but ya we helped her paint her fence, taught her all of lesson one, and part of lesson two because she was asking questions about it, and we are going to go back Wednesday to teach her again. The problem is, the paint she was using doesn't come out of clothes so... one shirt down, not many more to go haha but it was totally worth it. Her salvation for my shirt, sounds like a good trade to me.

Ok ya so we are teaching this guy named Oscar, I love him to death! He is this really funny guy that I doubt I will ever have an investigator like him again! So we taught him the restoration like 6 weeks ago, and since then he has watched probably every single movie the church has made about Joseph Smith ever! Like on his own, he just goes onto the church website and reads stuff, and watches movies and stuff it's crazy.  We were worried about teaching him the law of tithing, so we fasted for him the day before we taught it, and we went in and within 5 minutes he had accepted it! Talk about prayer and fasting testimony booster! We also taught him the Word of Wisdom.  He thought it was ridiculous that he couldn't drink tea and coffee, but he was willing to do it, and now for the bad news... he was supposed to be baptized this past Sunday... but because of a miscommunication on our part we didn't know he was drinking wine everyday for a heart problem. His doctor prescribed it for him and we never taught him it was bad so we had to pospone the baptism, but he is completely willing to give it up, and he understands that we are not perfect so he is getting baptised next week!

We were led by the spirit a lot this week. For some reason we just always seem to be in the right place at the right time. One day it was with an investigator that is 8 1/2 months pregnant and she isn't married, so we are trying to get her and her boyfriend married. They work every day, and one day I said to my companion, hey we are close to Dalila, let's stop by and see is someone is there, and she was. We talked with her for a little, and then had her say the prayer, and in her prayer, she said thanks for sending me someone to talk to, I really needed it. AHHH!!! Ya the Lord knows each of our circumstances, and what we need. The same thing happend with another guy last night, but he lives out of our bounderies so the other missionaries are going to teach him.

Now for the craziest news! I officially can say that I have been in an earthquake!!!!!!! That's right, on Thursday there was an earthquake. Ok ya so apparently according to everyone here it was only a tremor, but to me the ground was moving and I wasn't doing anything so it's an earthquake! But apparently it was a 5 something and ya pretty much I was just a little freaked out, but everyone else acted like it was normal. Guess it happens a lot so don't worry I'm ok, nothing even fell over. It was boring,  but it still was an earthquake haha!

 

(The earthquake epicenter was off shore 130 miles away from Santiago.  It was a magnitude 5.2)

But ya I think that's all for now. I only have one more rabies shot left next Monday! So that will be over with. Changes are this next Monday so we´ll see where I am next week. But I love you all, and miss you tons!

General Conference

 

This is the street where Nate lives in the Alberdi Ward

 

 

Nate's First Apartment

 

 

¡Hola familia y amigos! Well haha what a crazy General Conference!!!

Ok here we go. So first of all I just want to say that its Conferencia General in Spanish so that was fun, and we got to watch conference in Spanish so that made it even more fun, and then the Profeta totally just changed the world with one annoucment.  Let's just say that the entire first session of conference all of the missionaries were going crazy. It was fun haha. But ya who knows how many thoughts went through my mind at that point and then we had how many talks about missionary work after that annoucement. Haha ya I think the Lord wants more missionaries. The best part was the press conference after the first session, it was in English so we could understand it, but to quote Elder Holland, "I'm on the edge of giddy!" Haha ya I'm right there with him. He couldn't even talk he was so excited, and then he said that there were only 15 people in the world that knew about this announcement. I wanted to see the MTC presidents face so bad. People all over the world getting shocked by the news. Oh how much fun that must have been for the Prophet to announce that. Ya well here is my little input for those people who are now trying to decide what to do about a mission. The Lord is calling. A mission is by far the hardest thing I have ever done; by far the most draining spiritually and physically;  by far the most emotionally and suspenseful thing, but by the farthest of the far, the most rewarding and best decision I have made in my life so far. If you have doubts or if you want to go at all, my advice, reread the conference talks, and then make a descision. If you choose to go on a mission you won't regret it I can promise you that.

Ya so what else happened this week. Let's see, we went on divisions this week with some members because we had way too many people to visit! Yay, but that meant that I had to teach people. Ya I discovered this week at our zone conference that I can actually do stuff and teach people. So ya it was a fun little experience. I taught a guy in the middle of the sidewalk because he said he didn't believe in God, and by the end he admitted that he believed in God, and that he knew that there was something special about our religion. So I felt pretty good about being able to help him realize the existence of God.

So it has been raining the past couple of days and when it rains here it rains nonstop for a couple days and then nothing, so people used the rain as an excuse not to go to conference. Ya that didn't make me very happy, but I got to wear my boots! Too bad it was my first time wearing them and they gave me blisters.  The exciting news, I got kissed by a guy on the cheek, and when I didn't kiss him back he got offended so then I got another kiss and had to kiss him back. It was a fun little adventure, but other than that pretty much the same old stuff happened. Ya and Oscar, he is one of those people that you can't read how he is feeling which is really frustrating!!! Ya but that's ok he is getting baptised si o si, we just are still trying to figure out if we need to move his baptism date or not.  If we move it the chances of me not being here for it are extremely high which is fome (Spanish Chilean slang word). But ya changes are early this cambio because Elder Bednar is coming to talk to our mission so that will be fun! Ya pretty much everyone everywhere is freaking out about the new annoucement with the changed ages, and we are starting to see the effect of it now with all of the new letters we are getting asking if there is room for more missionaries in our ward. Haha oh this is going to be fun. Glad I'm out of the MTC!

Missions are awesome! I recommend it to anyone that is thinking about serving!

Guess that's all for now, love you and miss you all lots and lots!

The Lord Blesses Us For Our Work

 

Missionaries in the Huelen Stake

Hola familia y amigos!!!

 

Goodness where to begin... this week was crazy! So ya I went to the hospital to get a rabies shot, wasted all of my p-day last week trying to figure out what was going on, but that night I almost cried. We got back and went out to teach Oscar, our progressing investigator that is awesome and has a cool mustache, and he said that he was super busy and had a ton of work, but we could talk to his son. We  taught his son a lesson, and let me tell you this kid is very interesting to teach. He says he is Catholic, but he doesn't believe in the church. So pretty much he is his own contradicting religion, but we taught him and at the end of lesson Oscar prayed and said that pretty much he knew this church is true. It was amazing. Then as we were walking away he said, "ya I´ll walk you to the corner".  As we were walking he told us that he didn't really have any work he just wanted us to teach his son. Ya my love for this guy is huge, he is awesome.

Ya later that night our next lesson failed and so we did contacts back and forth the same street, when we got a phone call from Sebastian's dad, (recent convert Sebastian) saying that his wife needs a blessing. Good thing the street we were on was his street and we were no joke 30 seconds from his door. So we gave her a blessing and everyone was crying including us because ya I love this family too. But the Lord put us where he wanted us to be. He really does know everyone's needs and he is taking care of us.

Next, we pushed a bus!!! Haha it was so funny! We were walking away after lunch and suddenly there is a guy waving us down. Turns out he needed help, so we helped him push his bus. Ya it was fun. We also pushed another car out of the street too.

So Thursday I woke up with a fever of 100.7, a massive headache, sore throat, and a cough. I took some drugs and went to the doctor for my second shot. The problem was we didn't know where it was so it took a while to get there but it was fun. Ya so I have been getting over being sick, and getting rabies shots. It's been a fun week haha, but the Lord has blessed us for our work, and we have had a lot of sucess this week! 27 lessons with 150 contacts. That's a lot. One of the blessings was being able to get to all of our lessons one day. We made a random stop for Oscar, and it ends up he had gone searching for more stuff about us, he found the mormon.org website and had been reading testimonies, and then he had gone to youtube to watch the restoration movie, but his computer froze so he wasn't able to finish it. Ya we didn't ask him to do any of that. So we had a good lesson with him and answered a lot of questions. But that made us late for our other lessons. Just turns out that our next lesson had read the pamphlet that we gave her, and she loved it and wanted a Book of Mormon to start reading... ha ok. After that we went to our next lesson and they cancelled! Ah how rude... so we some other investigators to see if they were home, and they were! Like they got home 2 mins ago! Haha ya where and when we are supposed to be I'm telling you. So we had a good lesson with them. When we got home for the night we had a very long thank you prayer.

Ya the other day my companion was robbed. some guy stole his pen it was so funny! Oh ya and the father that I baptised, Hermano Quispe, ya his work got robbed, and so while he was attacking the guy with a shotgun another robber hit him on the head and he had to get stiches and everything.  It was scary, but he is ok, and getting hit with a gun is better than getting shot right?

Well that's all for this week, love you and miss you tons!!!

Rabies?

Hola Familia y amigos

Ya not much time so here we go!

This week we celebrated Independence Day of Chile! Woo! We had a ward activity on Monday with a lot of dancing and food and just having a good time. They invited a group to come dance from not the church and the girls were practically not wearing pants. Like pretty much their skirt came down to... well ya pretty much they weren't wearing a skirt haha. But that took up almost all of our p-day which kind of sucked.

Ya so for this Independence Day stuff pretty much all of Chile shuts down.   There were no cars or people in the streets, and if they were, they were drunk so that was pretty fun, dancing and talking to drunk people, and ya we were invited to several drunk parties, and ate a lot of empanadas. It was really hard to teach our investigators at this time because most of them were out of town or partying and didn't want to hear from us, so we taught our recent converts the lessons again.

Then the highlight of the week, well 2 things really. Oscar came to church and loved it!!! Oscar is an investigator that we have been working with for a while. He has a baptism date, and we are working away. He came to church and loved it and can't wait to come next week too!!! Haha we didn't even have to invite him; it was awesome!  The second thing... I went to the hospital today! Woo!!! Haha ya don't freak out, it was nothing. On Friday I got bit by a dog.  It randomly attacked me out of nowhere and it barely broke the skin where it bit, but because it was a wild dog and we couldn't watch it for 10 days to see if it got sick, I had to go to the hospital to get it checked out and to start getting rabies vaccinations. It's a series of 5 shots over a 4 week period. It doesn't hurt, and really it's just a precaution. I'm fine don't worry. Well my p-day was taken up with my trip to the hospital so I will write more next week.

 

(Of course Mom researched the rabies shots and found out that the long needles into the stomach 21 days in a row and very painful was a thing of the past (1970s to be exact).  They now use this vaccine to prevent rabies in veterinarians, their staff, animal control people, etc.  It really isn't a big deal and he should be protected for about a year against another bite.  It is a good precaution to take though because rabies is 100% fatal if you get it.)

Things are going awesome, I am doing great, and love my new companion. Love you and miss you all!

It's a Great Week in the Alberdi Ward!

 

View from Alberdi apartment window

 

 

Is that pollution or fog?  Probably both!

 

 

A 40 cm hot dog?  Did you eat the whole thing?  Almost!

 

 

 

¡Hola todos las personas que leer el blog de mi, gracias por todo, y por querer a saber sobre mi vida!

Ok here we go!

¡¡¡¡¡ I HAVE A NEW COMPANION !!!!! Ya I'm companions with Elder Nicoll from Arizona. He is way awesome! Ya pretty much the exact opposite of my last companion so we get along great haha. He is super nice, and constructive about how he tells me stuff instead of being destructive so that's a nice change. I actually feel like a missionary now, and we are keeping all of the rules, so we are having a lot of success! Ya it's pretty amazing, that and he helped clean the apartment so things are great!  He is crazy about being excited to help people and talk to them, which helps me, and the people want to talk to us because we are so energenic. There is this thing called contacts, where we go and just contact people.  We go and talk to them, well ya we were doing contacts in the street, and then next thing I know my companion wasn't next to me, but he was talking to someone else across the street, ya kinda freaked a little, and then realized that I could do it. I knew what I needed to say, and for the most part how to say it. It was awesome.

 

 

Other crazy stuff. This week we saw miracles, almost everyday. But first, when there is a soccer game on, and Chile scores a goal, you know almost instantly, because everywhere we were when they scored got really loud and crazy. It was fun. Other crazy stuff, a lady stole Elder Nicoll`s Book of Mormon, it was way funny. She took it from his hand and then everytime we asked for it back she said "what book"? Then we asked her if she was ok and she said she was sick and just got back from the hospital, so we then asked her if she was on pain meds, ya she was haha that explains it.

We were called 2 interesting things this week. One guy said that I was an angel sent from heaven to preach and to help people, he then wouldn't let go of my hand and at that point I just started to ignore him because he was saying how I was sent from God. Made me feel good. Then the other a guy said that we were prophets, ya we tried to explain what a prophet was and he wouldn't have it. We were prophets and that's that.

 

One day we contacted this lady and she said we had 5 minutes, so we started talking.  We asked if we could start with a prayer and then explained the steps of prayer. We started to say blessings that we could see in her life, and that's when she started crying. It was true, and she realized how blessed she is. so we will be teaching her later. Then we went upstairs to a family and their baby was sick so we explained a little about the resurrection and then said that we had the authority to give a blessing.  They accepted, and I had to bless the oil in Spanish, ya first time doing that, and in spanish.

 

What else. One night my companion killed the electricity in our apartment, and so we had to go ask the people to fix it.  We were without lights for about an hour it was fun haha. Oh ya! Tomorrow is Chile's Independence Day, so there are drunk people everywhere. Ya yesterday one came up behind us and brushed our butts with his coat, and when we turned around he was like "dance with me" and started dancing. When we shook his hand to leave he wouldn't let go of me and he just started dancing.  Haha I can officially say that I danced with a drunk guy.

Ya but this week was amazing we had 190 contacts, 17 new investigators, and we got the zone norma which means we made the goal for all of the stuff we have to do.  So we get a party thing. Ya I know cool. But right now everything is closed for the Independence Day so I am writing this in the Family History part of our church building, there is a ward party outside this, and ya that's pretty much it.

 

The Quiespe family that we baptised a few weeks ago are doing great.  They got the Aaronic Priesthood last week and are preparing for the Melchizedek Priesthood in a few weeks.  The father only needs an interview and Josba passed the sacrament yesterday.  The ward is great here, they try to help. There are some families that are awesome with helping the new families, and we actually have a lot a very active youth in our ward.

I figured out today that I can email whoever I want from back home so ya email me people!  I may not respond every week but I will read it and try to reply as soon as I can.  ( If you are interested in Nate's email address send your request to LaurieAlder@comcast.net and I will respond to you.)

Love you all and miss you tons!!!

Same Area, New Companion

At zone training meeting week of September 3, 2012

(NOT the new companion)

 

Familia y amigos! Hola, Comó esta. estoy super bien, con me compañero nuevo, y con la casa limpo (er), Yeah haha that's all I got sorry. Ya this past week was pretty good. Ya, here we go.

So this week was pretty normal with all of our converts baptized, we spent a lot of time trying to find new people, and we found a few, but we need more! I think this week was the most I have ever walked, but it was good. Also it was the last week that Elder Ariz was going to be in the area, so his motivation to do stuff was kind of nonexistant, but that's ok, we still got things done.

I had an intercambio with Elder Harrison this week, ya that was fun. I have discovered that Saturdays never, ever go according to plan, and this week proved that to be true. So this intercambio with Elder Harrison,  we were going to change at 1, and go to lunch at 2. Well we changed at 12, and then on the bus, going back to the house, lunch called and asked if we could come early, so then I had to try and figure out what stop to get off at, so ya that was an adventure, but I got off at the right one and we went and ate until like 2:15.  Ya usually we eat until like 3 or 3:15, so we had an extra hour more of stuff that we didn't plan, so we just walked around and did contacts, haha that was fun. After that we were supposed to have a lesson at 4, ya for the first time she wasn't there, so now there was another hour of more unplanned walking around trying to find people to contact, all in all it was pretty fun, and the crazy people really like to talk to us haha.

And now for the big news!!!  The first change!!!!!!!!!! My companion Elder Ariz already knew that he was changing, and then he got the call saying that he was going to Los Andes, which is where he wanted to go, so he was beyond incredibly excited, and then the change, Elder Richardson would be leaving to another sector too. Ya he was not very happy about that, and he beat himself up a lot. So we had super excited, and super upset about it in the same room. I tried my best to cheer Elder Richardson up, but there really wasn't much I could do. Ya all of this happened Saturday night, and it just so happened that I got sick this day.

So Sunday was Elder Ariz last day in Alberdi. So we went and said goodbye to all of the converts. Ya this is where the me being sick and him leaving thing didn't work. First for lunch, the family we ate with made 2 gigantic pizzas, and when I say gigantic, I mean the biggest pizzas I have ever seen. Ya well the people here don't know the meaning of a little bit. Ya I almost threw up.  Then we went to some people that he had baptized before I got here, but I have still been teaching them, and they made us lemonade from real lemons, tasty, but didn't help my stomach. Then we went to familia Arrigada, and they gave us pepsi, cake things, and an empanada.  Ya I didn't eat any of that, and was sent home with the empanada in hand. So then we went to familia Quispe, and they had made an entire dinner for us, ya I asked for a little, and still couldn't finish. Then we went to some members that helped us a lot, and we got more food, and ya I almost died. So it was kind of awkward because everyone was crying and saying goodbye, and I was like, "I'm still here" haha so ya it was fun, but it's hard to leave the people that you teach and baptize behind.

Now we come to Monday, Elder Ariz packed all night long, and had 4 suitcases that pretty much each weighed like 75 lbs or so, ya so guess who got to haul all of this up and down the stairs of the apartment, and the metro station. ya it was not fun. But I have a new companion! Woo!!! His name is Elder Nicoll, he´s from Arizona, and he did hurdles, and has done swing dance a little bit so he likes dancing! This is pretty much all I know haha, but we are getting along well, and he is helping me clean the apartment!! Ya I never thought this day would come, but we are going through and cleaning everything! So it should be fun. he is excited to work, and I think we will have a lot of success! So ya thats all I have for now!

Another random fact, the light switches aren't up and down, they are all left and right! Weird I know!

Well love you and miss you all! Have a good week!

My Mission is a Soap Opera?

This week on "The Drama of Nate's Mission", that's right, I'm starting to think that my life is really just a soap opera, and that there is someone filming me and making a ton of money haha.

Let's start from the beginning of the week!

Monday, P Day! Woo everything was fun, we got permission to leave our area, so we went into the city and had some crazy adventures there. Pretty much we just went shopping around, traded our American money to pesos, pretty much we just wandered around and looked at stuff because we were finally out of our area.  It was fun, I got some new music and stuff, and ya pretty much all that happened that day.

Amazing Tuesday! so we had district class, and those are always fun, get to go and talk to different people, but that was only the beginning. my companion and I were set on getting all of our contacts done that day, so I suggested that we do more street contacts, than just knocking doors. That's when we just took off. We were talking to everybody, we had a lot of lessons, and it was amazing. We were spiritally on fire and it was awesome. Never been so busy the entire time we have been here!

Wednesday, The fight! Wednesday started out good, we decided that we were going to try the same things and at first we were doing good. We had an amazing lesson with an investigator, and then we had some other things we needed to do and so we were doing that, and everything was fine.  Then we went to talk to the family we baptized that week, and they had gotten on Facebook and were looking at all my dance pictures and asking me questions (about the kinds of dances he knew, etc.).  Then one of them turned music on and so they started wanting me to dance for them, and they started asking more questions. (No he didn't dance for them)  Then as I was ready to try and share a scripture, my companion said that we were leaving. Ok? Ya so we left and he took off in his I'm grumpy walk. So I asked him if he was mad at me, ya probably shouldn't have done that, cause from there on it just exploded, and he came to the conclusion that we just weren't going to talk to each other. Ya well I didn't want that and I hate fighting with people, so when we got back to the apartment we just sat in different rooms.  So when the other elders came in they knew something was up.

Intercambio Thursday! Thursday we were both still mad at each other, and wouldn't even talk to each other, and pretty much didn't even want to be in the same room with each other, so we went on an intercambio with the other companionship (meaning I went with Elder Bell, and Elder Ariz went with Elder Richardson). I don't know what my companion did, but Elder Bell and I talked about it, and calmed me down about it. So that night when Elder Ariz and I planned for the next day, I knew what I was going to do to try and fix things. We planned and then at the end I said the prayer. In that prayer I said how grateful I was for Elder Ariz and how much he has helped me learn and grow (because in reality that is the truth). Elder Ariz really is a great companion, and I have learned a lot from him. So after the prayer, he said that he was sorry too, and that we were just going to act like nothing ever happened because it was stupid and never should have happened.

Everything's Good Friday! On Friday everything was good again, and if anything we are better friends now than we were before. We had a decent rest of the week, and we had a baptism this past Sunday, and Familia Quispe was confirmed, all 5 of them!!! A complete family into the church!!! Ya 7 baptisms in 1 change hardly ever happens during most missionaries mission. So ya I feel pretty good about that, and I am hoping that I can take that and keep on going with it.

The Quispe Family baptized on August 26, 2012

Nate baptized the mother and the father 

 

Sebastian was baptized by his father on September 2, 2012

 

Testimony meetings!
Testimony meetings here are a lot different than they are back home. Pretty much everyone who gets up is not up for more than 5 minutes.  They bear powerful testimonies about the Book of Mormon, Josè Smith, Jesucristo, oraciòn (prayer), Iglesia verdadera (true church) and ya thats it. They get up, bear testimony, and sit down, young and old. No long stories, no thankamonies, they bear true and powerful testimonies! I love it!!!

And now... some random facts!
1. In Spanish they don't have the word random. (ya I know I kinda freaked out about that, how random!)
2. They sell Duracell batteries in packages of 1. That was funny to see. They sell them in bigger packages as well but I've never seen a package of 1
3. Their jelly, ketchup, mayo, shampoo, etc. is all sold in bags. Ya I don't really use that stuff anymore, and they do have some shampoo in bottles.
4. All of their milk is in a box, and not refrigerated. You only have to refrigerate it after you open it, and it's not the boxes with the fancy top, it's just a box.
5. They have a street fair thing every Saturday and Sunday, and that's when you buy all the random crazy cool stuff.

Ya that's all for now, I'll find some more stuff.

¿Que hora es? Daylight savings time haha. so this past Sunday we had day light savings. Ya you would think not that big of a deal, well it took us half an hour to figure out what time it was, and we had to call someone to make sure we were right haha. We had diagrams and drawings and poems and everything to help us, but we still couldn't figure it out. It was ridiculous haha. The problem was we were thinking that it was the same as the US, and it's not. It's the opposite, the seasons are different here, so we are going into spring. Ya it's crazy.

Well I think that's all for now on this week of "The Drama of Nates Mission" see you again next week!

Baptisms!

Hola familia y amigos!

¿Comó estan? ¡Estoy super bien y yo tuvo 5 bautizmos esta ultimo semanna!

Haha thats all the desire I have to write in Spanish, but that's a little taste of what I know, and it probably is mostly wrong, but you´ll get over it.

Anyway on to my week!!!

 Ok so this week we started out with the sports day! It was crazy fun, and I loved every second of it. The problem was, my companion hurt his foot, and practically couldn't walk, so the rest of that day he limped around and it took forever for us to get anywhere, so we didn't get much done. He wasn't able to go to the store, so we went on splits and didn't have much time so I didn't get to buy some cleaning stuff, but I got paper towels. Then tuesday, his foot was still hurting him like crazy, and he wouldn't let me help him walk or anything so I finally convinced him to call Sister Essig, and ask what she thinks he should do. He called and then handed the phone to me because he doesn't know any of the medical English words.  So I talked with her and she said that he needs to rest it, and wrap it and ice it and stuff so I got him to do that. Then he said that he could still hardly walk so he needed to rest, and it was true he could hardly walk, and I knew it would just get worse if he didn't rest it so I sent him to bed. In all reality I wanted to do the same thing, but this was the first opportunity I had where I would have several hours to do something. Then our 5 PM appointment cancelled so I had even more time. So I cleaned!

I went on a rampage! My first target was the bathroom... that's right I cleaned the entire bathroom with paper towels, and some cleaner stuff that I found under the sink.  I found some gloves so it wasn't as bad, but I cleaned and scrubbed everything;  the sink, the toilet, and I found some scrubber thing for the tub, which had a ring of dirt all the way around it that came off, so it was super gross. But I got it cleaned, then I vacumned the entire apartment as much as I could, and I cleared off and scrubbed down all the countertops, and was almost ready to start scrubbing who knows what else, when my companion came out and said it was time to go. Then we slowly went along.

Then Wednesday was district class and interviews with the mission president, ya we were the last people to get interviewed and didn't leave the chapel until 9 that night, when we had to be home by 10. But the interview was great, and talking with other missionaries was fun.

Then Thursday his foot finally started to feel better, so we went to work. As we were knocking this apartment complex in the sketchy part of our sector, we went up to the doors on the second floor, and right as we were about to knock on the door, this huge dog started to come up the stairs behind us super slowly, and it was growling, and pretty much was ready to kill us. After about 4 minutes of us standing there frozen the dog finally got far enough past us for me to book it down the stairs and my companion was right behind me.  Then as we were walking to a member's house because we needed to calm down, we contacted this guy and he straight up said to us, "Sorry, but  I'm going to go do these drugs now," and walked away. It was the funniest thing I had ever heard.

After that crazy experience, we went to the ward activity.  Actually I  think this was on Friday, I'm not really sure. Anyway, while at the ward activity I shook the bishop's hand for the first time since being here.  It's funny because we watch all of these videos about working with the bishop in study time, and I didn't even know who he was until this week.  Then it got even crazier.  The Relief Society President came up to us and asked if we would help in a skit, ya ok I know hardly any Spanish and you want me to start acting... it was the funniest thing I had ever done. I was pretending to be a kid who was playing video games, and she came over and went off in Spanish and I had no clue what she was saying, but after she was done I just got up and walked over to where the other "kids" were. Ya then I pretty much just walked around having no clue what was happening.

 

Then on Saturday,  we spent most of the day trying to find clothes for the baptism of the Quispe family, a family of 5 and then on Sunday we baptized all of them. I baptized the mother and father of the family, and it was my first time ever baptizing people! and it was in Spanish! Haha it was great I didn't mess up or have to do it again, and the water was only slightly freezing. But we baptized an entire family!!! That doesn't happen very often, and we also now have another baptism for next week! That's 7 baptisms in one change. That's a lot, and probably won't happen again on my mission.

 

Well that pretty much is it! Love you all and miss you tons!! Stay safe and happy!

 

Con amor,

Elder Alder