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!!!