Last Weekly Letter

HOLA!  Por la ultima vez!

 

So this week has been another crazy week as normal haha. So ya let's start with Monday.  So we went bowling with our district and it was really fun and I loved it, but as we were getting on the bus to go home I got a call from the mission president's wife, Sister Essig.  She asked me if we could be in the office in a half an hour so my companion could have an interview with president to figure out what he was going to do. So we got to the office at about 6 PM.  We left the office at like 7 PM and we still had to go back and do our shopping for the week, but at that time it was rush hour, and getting into and out of Quilicura is crazy.  We sat on the bus for an hour.  We finally got to Lider (WalMart) by 8, and got back to the house by 9.  Ya, so then we had to go work for an hour so it was a pretty crazy day.

Then during the rest of the week my companion was "meditating" on if he was going to stay or go. All that meant was that he wasn't focused on the work so it was even more difficult to do things.

So then Friday night, I got a call from President telling me that we were going to have special changes, and that Elder Pinilla would be going to a different sector.  It was funny President said, "we are sending you reinforcements".  So I thought it was pretty funny, but then we had to be in the office again Saturday morning.

So my new companion is Elder Nathan Rhees.  Yes, we are both called Nathan.  He is from Heber, and he has like a year and a half in the mission.  He was the historian of the mission before coming with me.  We get along really well and I am glad that I should have an awesome last week to finish the mission. 

Well other than that all the other stories I can just tell you when I get home next week! Not going to lie I am excited, but at the same time I am going to miss things here in Chile, but that's ok.  Chile will always have a piece of my heart!

Finishing Up Strong

Hola!

 

So another crazy week as normal.  I don't know when I'm going to get home and have a normal week, but it was a good week too!

On Monday I finished up with the shopping.  I think I now have everything that I want to bring home with me.  Then after that we taught 3 lessons.  On Mondays we almost never teach so many lessons, so it was a good start to the week.

On Tuesday we had a special zone conference with President Essig.  It was great because all of my friends and ex-companions were there so I got to see all of them. President changed a whole bunch of stuff... again... but that's ok it doesn't really affect me much because I am leaving.

On Wednesday we taught a lesson to an investigator and we invited her to kneel down and ask if what we are sharing is true, she did, and the spirit filled the room.  She is now talking about everything she is learning with her extended family and she wants to read and go to church.  We are pretty excited about that.

On Thursday we had interviews with President.  We were there for about 4 hours.  My companion has been having a lot of difficulties, so it was a long interview for both of us. My whole interview was pretty much talking about him.  That same night he then told me that he wants to go home, but he has good reasons, and he has plans to come back out.  I guess we will see what happens.

Friday and Saturday were pretty normal days.  We went around and invited everyone to come to church.  We had a total of 8 that said they were going to go and in the end 3 showed up Sunday, but we were happy for that, and the rest are going to go this next week.  So I am happy and I know that I am leaving the ward in a good position.

But that is pretty much it for my week.  Hope you all have a good week!  Love you and miss you tons!

Surprise!

Hola!

Well not much has happened since the last time we talked, but it was a good weekend.  We ended up having 3 investigators in church this Sunday which was a miracle because we didn't think anyone was going to come. Then Sunday in the afternoon we did divisions with the ward missionaries.  It was awesome.  We were able to get twice as much done and we got to help some of our investigators receive and recognize God's answers.  It was a pretty good weekend. 

On Friday 2 families threw me suprise birthday parties.  Let's just say I ate a ton and still have a ton of cake! 

But that's it for now.  See you soon!

For My Birthday We Went to the Temple

Hey everyone!

 

So this week was a long one!  Not having p-day on Monday really got me messed up in the week.  But it was a good one none the less.

So pretty much nothing too exciting is going on in our sector.  We are starting to find more people to teach, and we are teaching a lot more so we are happy about that.  I guess I will leave this sector at least in a better way than how I found it.

I had an interchange this week.  It was pretty fun!  The both of us are really old in the mission so it makes it really easy to teach and work together, but we had fun.  Also the other elder has some of the same stomach problems that I have so we could relate really well.  But it was fun in general, and I thought that my sector was rich.  I was wrong.  His sector is a lot richer!

But also today is my BIRTHDAY!  and so far it has been a really good day.  We got to go to the temple! It was awesome!  I really enjoyed it.  It was a funny story.  So we left our house 2 hours early to get there, and there was a huge traffic jam.  So we ended up getting there late, and we had to wait for the next session.  But while waiting I got to speak with the temple president, President Alder and I'm pretty sure that we are related, so it was a cool experience to get to talk with him.  Then they asked us if we could help 2 guys who were going through for their first time so we got to do that as well.  It was really fun.

But other than that things aren't too new around here.  I am getting trunky now, but that's ok I only have 3 weeks left so I have permission, and I am still working hard, so that is the important part right?  But other than that things are good.

I love all you guys so much!  Thanks for all your support!

Prayers are Answered by Listening to the Spirit

HOLA!

So this week was another interesting week.

So there were changes, we used to be 4 elders here in the ward, and so the ward was divided into 2 sectors.  But with the changes we are now the only 2 elders in the ward and we now have the entire ward to ourselves which means we have a lot more walking to do, and now we have to try and keep teaching the people that we were teaching with all the people the other elders were teaching.  It just so happened that we were working at the limit of the ward in the bottom and the other elders were working at the top limit of the ward.  So we pretty much have to run to get to lessons on time.  It's pretty fun haha.

Then on Wednesday my companion had an interview with President, so we had to wait for the bus for 30 minutes and so by the time we got there we were an hour late... Oops.  But the other people that had an interview got there early so there was no problem.  Then after that we had to go to the office and do a whole bunch of stuff so by the end we got back to the house to eat lunch at like 7:30.  Then we left to see if we could at least do something with our time left.

But also this week the Lord put us where he needed us to be.  We were working up in the higher part of the ward and a member asked us if we needed to go to the chapel. The appointments that we had scheduled for that hour fell through so we didn't have anything to do.  That's when the thought came to my mind, "Juana".  Juana is a recent convert that I still didn't know yet and we had never been able to find her at home, but I decided to go with it.  So the member took us to the church and from there we went to visit Juana.  It just so happened that Juana`s family is having some troubles and that she was very upset and didn't know what to do.  That's when we got to her house.  It was a testimony to all of us that the Lord hears and answers prayers, sometimes faster that what we expect.

But hey I'm out of time.  But I love you and miss you all TONS!

5 more weeks!

It's a Tremblor, Not an Earthquake (No not the big one of 8.2)

HOLA TODOS!  Espero que disfrutaron mucho de la Conferencia General que pasó esta fin de semana.  Fue jenial!

So this week was a pretty interesting week.  On Monday we went bowling!  It was so much fun.  Oh the things that you miss when you are a missionary.  I won both games (just to show you guys how humble I am now), but everyone enjoyed themselves so it was good.

This week was a little slow for us, but we still are starting to find people and starting to help them. We had changes this week and both me and my companion stayed in the sector.  The new thing is that we were 2 companionships here in the ward, and now we are just 1 so we have to pick up all the investigators of the other elders and work with them as well. That means a lot more walking for me!

Oh, on Friday night, like 7-5 minutes before bed, I was talking on the phone when all of a sudden the earth started shaking.  Here in Chile it's called a temblor.  That means that it isn't strong enough to be an earthquake for them, but in any other part of the world it would have been an earthquake.  It was 5.8 and lasted for a good 20-30 seconds.  I was downstairs when it started and when it kept going that is when I got up and opened the door just in case it kept going.  It was way fun, and only a few things fell.  But I can happily say that I felt an earthquake while here in Chile haha.

 

Then we had GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!  I love General Conference so much! We got to see all 5 sessions.  Let's just say that I learned alot and that I loved it!  I hope that you all got to listen to as much of it as you could, and that you go back to study it later.  It was very inspiring.  But other than that not much happened this week.  I am officially in my last transfer here in the mission.  I just have to keep working hard!  and see you all in 6 weeks.

Good-bye Testimony

Hola!

 

So this week was a pretty crazy week, but it was still fun.  We had a zone conference this week with the mission president. It was a good meeting and I learned a lot.  Also this reunion happens every 3 months, so during this meeting, all of the missionaries that go home before the next one have a good-bye testimony, and I had to do it!!!  It kind of hit me then that I am actually finishing.  I only have 7 more weeks!  It is so crazy!  But I've got to finish it out strong.

Things are going well.  We are working hard and we were blessed by being able to put 4 people with a baptismal date.  Also we had a very good experience.  We were trying to find people to teach, so as we were walking down a street I was praying in my heart to find someone that the Lord had prepared to receive the gospel.  As I was walking, we passed by a house and I had the feeling that I needed to go back and knock on that door.  Usually I don't go back to houses when we pass them, but I went back and we knocked on the door and a man came out saying that his family was passing through a very difficult time, and that he was searching for the truth and the purpose in life.  We asked if we could share with him and he let us in. It was a testimony to me that the Lord hears and answers our prayers always, if we are willing to listen to the impressions that he gives us.

Other than that it was a pretty normal week of working hard and trying to find people. We are going bowling today so it should be pretty fun!

Learning About My New Sector

Hola de nuevo!

 

So this week was another pretty normal week.  I am getting used to my new sector and I am pretty caught up with where people live and stuff so it's not too hard.  We are trying hard to find more investigators, because when I got here there weren't any, but we are seeing the blessings that come from hard work and are excited for another new week.

I spent quite a bit of time cleaning the house this week, and let me tell you it now looks spotless. There are still a few places that need some organizing but it is a ton better than before.  Also while cleaning I found a recipe book, and some measuring spoons, so I have been cooking like crazy.  I did muddy buddies, no bake cookies, today I want to make lemon squares, and I am going to try to make a cheesecake so I am pretty happy.

On Sunday the other elders in the ward had 2 baptisms, so we had to help them with the preparations and stuff.  It was a little chaotic, but it's always like that.  If it went perfectly it wouldn't be normal, but in the end everything turned out good.

Other than that nothing else exciting happened.  Hope next week will be more exciting.  

 

 

Playing soccer  (Yes, we always play on the cement)

 

 Mom is just glad the goal didn't fall on my head again

 

Moving Again

VIVE LA VIDA LOCA!  Haha so crazy!

 

So this week was a rather interesting week. On Monday we went to patronato to buy some more ties, and go looking around with Elder Scott.  We then taught a girl about the spirit world and how it talks about that in the Bible, it was fairly interesting, and in the end she believed us,so it was good.

 

 

My tie collection

 

Then on Tuesday, we taught people the whole day.  We went running from one appointment to another.  I haven't had a day like that in a while so it was fun.  We taught a lesson to some less active members and it really got them thinking about the importance of the sacrifice that both Jesus Christ did and Joseph smith, and the sacrifice that is asked of us in return.  I love seeing when the people understand the importance of the church and how we are offering them eternal life!

Then on Wednesday it was a pretty typical day, knocking on doors and trying to find people to teach. It was fun.  We taught the Folatres, a less active family that we activated, and they are doing amazing.  The oldest boy is doing everything, going to seminary, getting ready for the priesthood, and the mission, so I am happy that I was able to take a part in that.

Thursday was a pretty interesting day.  We had our weekly planning as normal and then we went to get lunch and ate it in the house.  As we left the house to go to work, I got a call from President asking me a couple questions and then asking me if it would be ok if he changed me to a different sector.  I told him that it's up to him where I go and sure enough that night there were changes.  I then had to pack until 3 in the morning to get everything ready for the new missionaries that got to the sector.

On Friday I got to my new sector, it's called Lo Zañartu in Quillicura.  I just so happen to be in the richest part of Quillicura and let me tell you, it is rich!  But in this sector when I got here there was nothing.  Pretty much there isn't a single investigator here. Last week they didn't have a single lesson teaching people, I think one of them was sick, but I am excited to have to start working and helping this ward out.  It should be fun.  Pretty much Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent getting to know the sector and the members and recent converts.  So nothing too new, but next week should be more exciting!

Travel Plans

"HELLO, HOW ARE YOU MY FRIEND" (another quote from when the people yell stuff at us" )

 

So this week was another fairly crazy week, but then again every week is crazy haha. On Tuesday we pretty much just worked all day like normal, knocking on doors, looking for people to teach, and we were blessed to be able to find a lady and share a little bit with her.  We also went back to try and teach a drunk guy that we had found last week, and he wasn't there, so I was kind of disappointed. But that's ok.

On Wednesday it was pretty much the same, we were knocking on doors, and we were lucky to find another person to teach because it was during a soccer game, and when there is a soccer game nobody is in the street, and nobody answers the door.  It's pretty funny. I'm glad that I'm not going to be here for the World Cup.  The missionaries are going to have a hard time finding people.  Then that night we went with a sister here to visit a less active family and I finally got to meet the dad of the family. So we got to know them a little bit more, and I think we had a very spiritual lesson with them, and I explained to them the reason why we were there and that they would have to make changes in their lives.  I was so good they asked when we were going to pass by again.

On Thursday it was another weird day where we pretty much knocked doors trying to find people all day, but with little success.  But there are days like that sometimes.

Friday we had Fase 1, which is a training meeting for my new companion to help him. It started at 10 and ended at 3:30, so it was a long day.  Ater that we came home and tried to visit some people.  We were going to go visit a recent convert but they called us and said to come in half an hour, so trying to figure out what to do, we went to visit the parents of our Elders Quorum President, (the parents aren't members)  and as we were talking a little bit with her. she told us that at the end of the month she was going to stop working on Sundays and she was going to come to church because she wants to get baptized!  So we were very excited about that, but she wants to keep it a secret from her son, so we are going to have to be careful with what we say to the Pres.

 

On Saturday it was another long day of trying to find people, and teaching the people that we already have.  But it was still a pretty good day and we got some stuff done.

And on Sunday, we had to go to some meeting after church so we couldn't work as hard as we wanted to, but that night we went to go visit people with the Elders Quorum President, and we did divisions. My companion went with a member, and I went with the Ward Secretary, so it was a pretty fun experience for my companion, but they were able to do everything, and he enjoyed the experience.

Oh and this week we were awakened several times by various temblores (mini earthquakes)  and these weren't the average earth vibrating,  these were the earth shaking.  It was pretty awesome, but a little scary at the same time.

And the most recent news!  I got my travel plans!  I am officially coming home on May 20, my flight leaves at 7:30 PM on May 19th and I should get to Atlanta at like 5:30 AM. Then from Atlanta at 8:15 to Utah and I should arrive at about 10:30.

 

My New Greenie

HEY!  How is everyone doing?

 

This week was another crazy week.  I will never have a normal week, but that's ok then I would be bored right!  

 

So on Monday I was with another elder that was training as well, and we worked a little bit in my sector and a little bit in his sector.  Then on Tuesday we had our normal studies, and had to go get our new companions at 12:00.  So we got there and had a little devotional meeting, there were a total of 10 new missionaries, one sister, and one latin elder.  I got my new companion.  His name is Elder Scott, he was born in Utah, but lived in Arizona for 7 years, California for 7 years, and is currently living in Washington (the state).  He has 14 people in his family, he is the 7th.  He is a diver and likes track and field. He knows how to play the piano, the guitar, and the banjo. He did a mini mission in Nauvoo before coming here to Chile, and he understands a lot more Spanish than I did when I got here.  The first person that we talked to with him, just happened to be a less active member that is living in Spain but that is mad at the church because she wasn't keeping the Word of Wisdom so they wouldn't let her take the sacrament.  Then she told us that she got into a huge depression, and went bi- polar.  I think she still is a little bit bi-polar, but my companion didn't understand anything she said, and I don't blame him, because I didn't understand most of it myself.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty much the same, we knocked on doors all day and tried to find more people to teach, and we set up a bunch or appointments for the weekend and for this week. So we are excited about that.  My companion isn't afraid to talk with people so that makes it really nice, but sometimes when the people talk too fast, or they don't want to talk with us, I cut in and say that we just want to say something really fast and that my companion has a message, and then he talks with them.  It's pretty fun.

On Friday we finally started finding people.  Funny story.  We went to visit a house that I had contacted earlier in the week, and when we went, nobody came out for a very long time.  So we turned around and were thinking about where to go when a guy came out and told us that he was going to let us in because he talked with his dog and his dog told him that we were good people so he should let us in.  It was funny.  Then he told us that he had been drinking, that's nothing new for me, but I didn't realize how much he had been drinking until we got in his house.  That's where I saw 2 giant beer bottles empty and about 10 beer cans empty, and on his coffee table he had 2 little pistols and so I quickly checked to see if they were real or not, but they were just lighters, so it was ok.  That and before saying yes to entering the guy's house, I did a quick prayer to see if it was ok to go in, or if it would be dangerous, and the spirit told me that it was ok.  But I made sure to tell my companion that so he doesn't just go in every house without seeing if the spirit says it dangerous.  But it was funny.

Saturday we had a meeting with the executive director of the missionary department, Elder David F. Evans.  It was really good, but it was like 4 hours long, and there were all four Santiago missions there, that means that there were more than 1000 missionaries,  but it was fun to get to see all of my companions and all of my friends.  I realized how many of us are close to going home. But that's ok. Just gotta keep working hard!

 

Oh and I reactivated a family.  The dad quit his job so he could start coming to church, his oldest son now wants to serve a mission and he is preparing to be ordained to be a priest so he can baptize his little brother. So a good week.

Family Search is Awesome!

HOLA!!!

 

So this was another pretty crazy week, but less crazy than last week.

Monday was a pretty normal day, we did our normal p-day activities after the district activity, and went to try and find some people to teach.

On Tuesday we had a pretty cool experience.  An investigator that we are kind of teaching had asked us for help.  I guess a couple years ago a cemetery here got partially destroyed, so they moved all of the people.  Well his grandma was in this part and she got lost.  They had gone to many different places looking for information and couldn't find anything. So someone told him in one of these places to "Ask the Mormons"  so that's what he did.  He gave us her full name and that was all he had. So we decided to check FamilySearch.  I didn't think we were going to find anything, but I put the name in and sure enough, there she was!  I had found her birthday, her parent's names, and everything in less than 5 minutes.  So I printed the page and went to take it to them.  When they saw how much information there was about their grandmother they were surprised!  They thanked us for the time and effort that we put into finding information (all 5 minutes of it) and with that information they should be able to try and figure out what happened with her.  I was very impressed and grateful! FamilySearch is awesome!!!

On Wednesday it was a pretty slow day.  All three of us got sick and so we didn't have very much energy, but we still worked hard and did the best we could.  There have been a lot of people sick recently so that has been pretty fun.  Oh and fun fact while I remember about it.  There have been several missionaries that have gotten the chicken pox for the second time.  The only way that they can explain it is that the virus is starting to mutate that's why they get it again.  Oh and on Wednesday we had district class.  After the class we had all brought stuff to make tacos so we had a taco party.  It was pretty fun.

Thursday was a pretty normal day.  We had our weekly planning.  My companion and I fought a little, and we tried to find people to teach.  On Friday we had an interchange with one of my favorite elders in the zone.  Elder Verón.  He is from Paraguy, he is 27, one of the oldest elders in the mission. We had a really fun time.  It's interesting to see that when you get along with your companion how things are just more fun in general. Of course we were knocking doors, and the last door that I knocked they let us in. Just goes to show that you just have to keep on kicking even if you don't want to kick.

On Saturday we had quite a few appointments, but in the end almost all of them fell through.  I'm quite used to that now, so it was another average day.  But that night we got changes!!!  I am no longer a zone leader "Bautizador".  The baptizer thing came to an end.  So I am now going to be a district leader and a trainer!  I'm going to be a dad! Of course just to show how nerdy I have gotten I instantly found 2 scriptural references, the first Alma. He was the chief judge and the high priest. when the land was doing well, he gave up the seat as chief judge and went to preach with his son.  I am the modern day Alma haha.  I was zone leader 1 and everything went great.  Our baptism goal for February was 4 and the zone baptized 9!  It was awesome.  Now I have passed that on and I am going to go teach with my son!  Ok maybe not haha. And the other one, I am becoming a trainer at the end of my "life" (in missionary terms), and so like Sarah I will have a child in my old age and pass on all of my knowledge.

On Sunday my companions wanted to say goodbye to some people so we visited them.

Right Place, Right Time

HOLA!!!

 

So this week was supposed to be my peaceful week, and in the end it was the craziest week of them all.  On Monday, we had the zone activity.  I had to do all of the cooking and cleaning and all that fun stuff so in the end I didn't even play soccer, but it was still fun.  After that we did the normal p-day stuff.  When we went to proselyte we learned that an ex-ward member had died and that he was going to have his viewing here in our chapel instead of his ward where he was at now.  But we had a cool story about it. We were walking in the street trying to do contacts, and I was doing a ton.  Suddenly I saw this old lady walking down the street, and something said to me "talk with that lady".  So I did.  It ended up that she was trying to go to the funeral in our chapel, but the thing is that she had passed the chapel and was going in the wrong direction.  It was interesting to see how the Lord puts us exactly where we need to be to be able to help his children.

Then on Tuesday I had to go to the doctor.  This time we didn't get lost, and when we got back to the apartment we threw our stuff down and went to get lunch and bring it back to the house.  Well as we were entering, the pencianistas were getting in their car after doing a house inspection (remember cats peed on everything on Sunday, so I was still cleaning all that up)  so they told us that a worker was going to come and change one of the bunkbeds because it was old. 

Wednesday we had an interchange. Thursday we had the worker come and interrupt our weekly planning session, so things got really backed up.  Friday we had another interchange.

Saturday was another crazy day.  I had to do a baptismal interview, our lunch got very behind, and it started to rain.  We also had stake conference and during the Saturday night session I had to give a 30 minute talk.  But it turned out really well, and I had to cut what I had prepared in half.  I also had to direct the Missionary Choir.  That was pretty fun as well.

Then on Sunday we had the normal session of stake conference and the stake president talked, and then by satellite we heard from Elder Cook.  It was a pretty cool day.  

Next week we have changes so we will see what happens!  Have a great week!

 

 

Making Empanadas

 

My Cat Trap!

 

 

Apartment Full of Cats?

As the gangsters in the street say, "Hello my friend!"  That's all the English they know; that or swear words haha.

 

But this week was another crazy week just like normal.

Monday was pretty normal like always.  We kind of just bummed around in the afternoon until it was time to go to work.  On Tuesday we had interchanges with Elder Bruna that got here at the same time I did, so it was pretty fun to be able to remember the olden days when we first got in the mission.  It was a pretty normal day with him. We are still just trying to find more people to teach because pretty much a lot of people are still on vacations.

Wednesday we had another interchange with Elder Muñoz.  It was pretty fun.  One cool thing about doing the interchanges is that I get to know fairly well all the elders that are in my zone, so we become pretty good friends. 

Thursday we had a normal day, besides having to get ready for the interviews on Friday.  I was in charge of the schedule of all the missionaries in my zone so that was pretty interesting trying to figure out where everyone needed to go so that they could all be there without any problems.  Friday we had the interviews.  Mine was the second to last interview.  It was a good interview except that I guess my companion has not been behaving the best when he isn't with me so President was asking me a bunch of questions and I just had to answer them honestly.  Let's just say I don't get along very well with this companion.  He reminds me a lot of the companion that I had in the MTC that I didn't get along with.

Saturday was pretty normal.  Just trying to find more people to teach.  That and we had to prepare for the zone activity that we had today in the morning.  We played soccer and ate hamburgers.  I spent the whole time cooking in the kitchen, but I enjoyed it. So it was fun.  Then Saturday night some cats got into our house and they peed on all my stuff!  my suitcases, my clothes, my extra blankets, everything!  Let's just say I was not very happy. So I spent most of my "Freetime" Sunday washing all of my clothes.  The room still smells like cat pee...  but don't worry I set a trap so they can't get in again.  

But that's it for now.  I love you and miss you all tons!  Have a great week!

Service and Some New Investigators

Hola!  

 

So this week was a pretty crazy week for us! 

 

On Monday it was a pretty normal day for us. Tuesday was a pretty crazy day.  In the morning we had to go to the doctor, but we got lost on the way, and ended up getting in a taxi hoping that the driver would know the street names and stuff, but he didn't. So I then had to call the secretary, and ask her to look up the direction for us on google maps and tell me how to get there.  We made it there exactly on time, so we were pretty lucky.  In the end everything ended up longer than expected and we showed up an hour late for lunch, but the sisters here in the ward are all really nice, so they didn't get too mad.  After lunch we had to worry about being prepared for the zone conference on Wednesday, and we had to teach it too so that was fun.

 

Our zone conference was pretty good.  We made up some pretty fun games to do to make it a little bit more interesting.  One of the games we made purposefully so they could not win.  It was so funny. Then that same day we did interchanges with an elder and we were blessed to be able to find someone new to teach.  She accepted a baptismal date so we will see what happens.

 

Thursday morning we did service to help a member change houses.  She moved a block away and across the street, but that means she now lives outside our ward boundaries, so we lost them.  But that's ok.  After that our water heater had been leaking for a couple days and it was getting worse, so finally someone showed up to fix it.  We thought it would be a quick fix... it wasn't.  It took more than 2 hours to fix, but hey at least it's not going to explode.

On Friday we taught the lady we put with a baptismal date and we asked her if she had read anything. The typical response is "I didn't have time,"  but she said, "yes, I read some".  When we asked her how much she read she said she was already in chapter 11 of 1st Nephi.  We were pretty surprised! but she said she liked it and that she felt good reading it.  So that was pretty good.

Saturday we were blessed again to find 2 new people.  One accepted a date and the other one we didn't have much time to get that far, but they both liked it and felt good about what we were teaching.

Sunday was a pretty normal Sunday, but a family of less actives came to church so we were very excited to see that our efforts are working.

But that's it for now.  I'm out of time.  I love you and miss you tons!

 

Just Doing My Job Sir

Hello everyone! How are ya´ll this week.  (That's my Texas accent)

 

So this week was a pretty interesting week.  Pretty much summer here is killer for being a missionary because everyone leaves for at least a month and that makes things hard for them to progress. But we are getting along well.

On Tuesday we had a meeting with the stake president and the mission president where they get together and talk about how the converts are and a whole bunch of stuff, and it was pretty interesting. As a zone leader we are supposed to ask our zone every month how the converts are doing.  Then during this meeting we can help the mission president know what's going on.  So I did that before the meeting and when I starting telling stuff to my mission president he paused and looked at me and said, "your one of the first Zone leaders for a while now that knows about the converts." I guess it really impressed him because he then brought it up in a meeting we had as zone leaders, so I was pretty happy about that.

Other than that we spent a large amount of time doing contacts.  Talking with people in the street, or knocking on their doors and all that kind of stuff and we were eventually blessed to find some more people to teach.

Then on Friday we had our zone leader meeting, it was pretty fun.  We learned a bunch of stuff that we now have to teach on Wednesday in a meeting with the zone. It should be pretty fun.

But that's it for this week. love you and miss you tons!

Summer Vacations

HOLA! 

 

So this week was a pretty crazy week.  As you know, I got new companions last Monday.  Elder Marín is from here in Chile.  He is from Viña del Mar, which is about an hour and a half from here in Santiago.  He is the oldest of 3 kids.  He has a brother that is 17 and a sister that is 15.  He has about a year in the mission, and he originally was going to go to Venezuela, but he never got his visa so he decided to change his mission and just stay here in Chile.

Elder Hall is from Lehi.  He is also the oldest of 3, with a brother of 17 and a sister of 15.  It's really easy to remember about their families because they are the same.

This week was a really crazy week.  So here in Chile it's summer, and everyone is going on vacations.  But here in Santiago when people go on vacations, it's not for a week or two, it's for a month or two! So pretty much most of the people that we were teaching went on vacations, and now we are trying to find the people that are going to still be here.  There are some possibilities for baptisms in the upcoming weeks, but it all depends on if we can find the people or not.

We had several days this week where all we did was contact people in the street or we knocked on their doors, and so far we have had little luck, but we know that we have to keep working, and the Lord is going to bless us.  

Other than that things are going well, I have more and more meetings to organize and go to now, so that's pretty fun, but things are great here.  I had to fill out some forms for BYU.  That was weird!  But I/we just have to keep working hard!

I love you all! Miss you tons!  Have a great week!

New Companions

Hello!

 

So this week was a pretty crazy week, but it was a good one.  We did 3 interchanges this week. One on Tuesday with Elder Breed. He is a fairly new missionary, but he teaches well and speaks Spanish really well.  Pretty much we just are trying to find people because everyone is leaving for vacations which makes things kind of difficult.

Then I had an interchange with Elder Bruna, an elder from Chile that has the same time as me in the mission.  We served together in the same ward when I was in Dorsal.  It was fun to see him and work together a little bit.  

Then I did another interchange with Elder Verón from Paraguay.  That was pretty fun, and I went out of my sector for just the last one so I could change the routine a little bit, but now I remember why I don't like leaving.

 

Other than that things are going pretty normal here.  We had changes and my companions left so I got 2 new companions Elder Marín from Chile, Viña del Mar.  He has a little more than a year in the mission, so it should be fun with him, and also Elder Hall from Lehi, Utah.  He has about 9 months in the mission.  More details next week when I get to know them a little better.

 

 

Love you all and miss you tons!!!

Cleaning the Fridge the Red-Neck Way

Hello, hello, how are you my friend!  (That is what all the gangsters yell at us in the street.  That or words that aren't appropriate.)

 

So this week was a pretty fun week.  On Monday, I spent 3 hours trying to get all of the ice out of the fridge.  It took a long time, and I made quite the mess, but I got it all clean in the end.

 

 

 

 

The results of my red-neck efforts

 

Then on Tuesday we did service for the elder's quorum president.  He is going to put grass in his front yard, so we went to help him clean it up a bit, to get ready.  We also did an interchange that day with Elder Taborda.  He is from Columbia so it was pretty fun to be able to work with him.  It was a little bit difficult because everyone was partying for New Years, and they were all starting to get drunk, but we got to see the fireworks at midnight, and the hill started burning and everything.  It looked like a volcano but it was cool.

On Wednesday we had another interchange with Elder Parker.  He is from Idaho. Everyone calls him Spiderman because that's how they know the name Parker.  It was an interesting day.  The streets were empty and if there were people in the streets they were all drunk, but we were still able to find some new people thanks to the members.  We are teaching a lot of family members and friends of people in the houses of the members so that helps a lot.

 

On Thursday we had a zone conference with President.  It was pretty fun. and we learned quite a bit. It was in our chapel so I had to clean everything and make sure that everything was locked up at the end, and then we went to work for a little bit.

On Friday we had to go to the doctor for my companion. They are going to cut out his tongue growth next week so that should be pretty fun.  We have changes this weekend so we will see what happens.

 

Saturday was a pretty normal day, nothing too exciting happened and on Sunday we worked as normal as well.  It's just getting really hot here so it gets difficult some times.

But that was my week.  Hope everyone is well and I love you and miss you all tons!!!

 

 

Root Beer!

 

Feliz Navidad! Feliz Ano Nuevo!

¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!  Espero que todos tuvieron a muy feliz navidad, y que disfrutan un buen año nuevo!

We had Christmas dinner with this couple

 

Haha this week was a pretty crazy week for us.

On Monday we had our p-day, we had our zone activity that day, and that's why we climbed Cerro Renca.  It was fun, but it kind of stressed me out because I was in charge, and I had to make sure that nothing happened, and nobody wanted to listen to me, but it was still fun.

On Tuesday was the 24th, so that was awesome.  Here in Chile it's called the Noche Buena.  Pretty much that was like another free day for us. We could just go to member's houses, and celebrate it with them, and eat.  We got to stay out until 12:30. It was pretty fun.

On Wednesday we got to sleep in until 9.  That was awesome.  Then we had our district class and then we got to call the family by Skype and talk with them.  It was great to be able to see everyone and talk with them.  After that we had to try and work like normal.

On Thursday we had to go to the doctor for my companion.  He is growing a second tongue so they are going to cut it out.  Ok,  maybe not a second tongue but yes he has a weird thing growing under his tongue so we had to go to the doctor and we lost pretty much half our day.

Then on Friday we had to wake up at 5:30 to go to the doctor again for a different test.  We had to go before our leadership council, so then we lost another half of the day.  But I got to see all my friends in the council so it was ok.

 

On Saturday we had interchanges and it was pretty much the first normal day of the week, and Sunday was a normal day as well.  Yaritza got confirmed, and this next Sunday we should have another baptism!!!!

Other than that things are going well!! Love you all and miss you all tons! Have a Feliz Año Nuevo!!!

 

 

Nate and Elder Bishoff