Getting to Know our New Area

Hello!  

So this week was a good week.  The first week in a new sector is always a bit difficult because we have no clue where anything is, or where anyone is.  So pretty much we have been walking around with a map trying to figure out where the members are, and deciding where we want to try and work.

On Monday we got to know the bishop, and pretty much he was really nice.  We asked what we could do to help him, and he told us that they needed a house painted for a brother in the ward, so on Tuesday morning we went and painted a house.

But I'm a little short on time, so there is a new convert here that got baptized 2 weeks ago, and yesterday he got confirmed.  But on Saturday we went to visit him and talk to him a little bit about what is going to happen now and his mom was there.  She had listened a little to the missionaries before, but she didn't really have much interest, but as we started to share with them about the Holy Ghost, the spirit filled the room so strong it was impossible to not feel it.  We explained to her that she was feeling the spirit, and she promised that she would go to church to see her son get confirmed.

So on Sunday her son woke her up to go to church with him.  There she felt the spirit too, and when we went to visit them that night, she told us that she had a new energy when she left church, and she then told us that she was going to go next week too with her son!!! Miracles do happen, and the Lord is leading his work.

I'm out of time, but next week will be better!!!

I love you and miss you tons!!!

New Area: Renca 1

Hola, como están todos?

So this week was another crazy week, but more than anything for changes.

So this week work wise was a pretty slow week.  We were blessed to find a few new people and on Wednesday, my companion was going to go on an interchange for the day, but I didn't want to have to stay in my sector, because being away for a week, a lot of stuff happens.  So we decided that it would be better for me to go instead, and it was pretty fun.  I was able to help the Elders there find some more people to teach, and to set up some appointments for them.

So there is a new leadership structure in the mission.  There is now a new leader that is called a Baptizer.  That person is also zone leader 1.  Pretty much the top 10 elders that baptize are going to be these leaders and they get to do a lot of interchanges with all of the missionaries.  I personally don't like the idea, but I happen to be one of those lucky elders that is now a baptizer.  I guess that means that I am going to be getting to know a lot more people right?

Also I got transfered to a new sector.  Renca 1.  That's the name of the ward.  So far for the 30 minutes that I have been in the sector it seems like a good ward.  I am in a trio again, and the 3 of us are new in this ward, so we have to get to know all of the members, and pretty much we are going to be a little lost for a couple days.  Also in this ward, I am going to have to wash my own clothes, but at least they have a dryer, so that should make things easier.

This week we are going to have a tour of our mission.  Which pretty much means that a 70 is coming to talk to us, and teach us and because I am a leader, I get to go to 2 meetings with him, so that should be pretty fun.

Elder Riches stayed in Vespucio.  He will now be a trainer, and hopefully one day we will get to meet up again in the mission.  He asked to stay, and I asked to leave, so we got almost everything that we wanted. 

But that's all I can think of for now.  More info about my companions and all that stuff next week. But I love you all and miss you tons!!!

Out of My Sector for a Week

Hola todos!!!

 

So I made it back to my sector alive!  In the end it was a pretty fun week.

So this last week I was out of my sector for the whole week with another elder.  His name is Elder Linco.  He is from the south of Chile, and we got along really well.  I went to his ward which is called Pudauel.  While I was there I became friends with a lot of the members, and at the end I didn't want to leave the ward, but here are a few things that happened during the week.

 

 

So the first couple of days I got to know some of the members, and the investigators, and I was able to build relationships with them really fast.  They all thought it was great that I am a dancer.

On Thursday that zone had interviews with president, but because I already had mine, I just had to hang around. I had a pretty good conversation with Sister Essig, and I'm officially coming home in May.  From what we figured out with Sister Essig, I should be coming home around the 19 of May. But other than that we had our district class, and there were so many people coming in and leaving that we just decided to play a game because the class wasn't working.  So that was really fun.

On Friday I did the interview for Rodolfo.  He was the investigator that got baptized this week, and so I was able to get to know him and participate in his baptism.  Then we also had a family home evening with the ward, and we were in charge of it.  So we did a desert night.  We taught a small lesson, played pictionary, and then ate the deserts,  it was really fun!

Then on Saturday we had to go do an interview for the sisters that are in the district. The thing is that their ward is an hour out of Santiago, so I got to go on a field trip!  It was really fun, and really pretty once we got out of Santiago. It was my first time leaving Santiago since I went to the island, and it was awesome.  The funniest part was, on the way back to Santiago the two of us fell asleep on the bus, I was awakened by someone accidently bumping me, and when I woke up I realized that we were back in Santiago, so I quickly woke my companion up, and we were able to run off the bus exactly where we needed to be haha.  Then that night we found a spider on my pillow, and Elder Linco killed it with Raid while screaming as loud as he could.  It was the funniest thing I have seen!

Then on Sunday we had the baptism of Rodolfo!  It was really good.  Then we went and taught some people, and I said goodbye.  I really didn't want to leave that ward, but we will see what happens!

 

 

That was pretty much my week.  Love you and miss you tons!!!

 

 

Nate and Camilo, a member who helped them alot

 

Elder Holland Came to Visit

Hola!  So this week was a really crazy week!

 

Where to start.  Well as you know on Monday I got a new companion, Elder Jorge.  He is awesome. We all get along really well, and he is still learning a lot. We went to knock on doors, and the first door he came and stood next to me during the contact. That's when I realized that he wasn't used to doing contacts alone.  So that's when I did what my second trainer did to me. I asked him to knock on a door while I stood next to him, and then when he did, I walked away to talk with someone else.  He quickly realized that he could talk with the people and do the same thing that we do.

On Tuesday we had our special meeting with Elder Holland!!! It was amazing!!! He is such a powerful speaker, and I learned a ton!  It was crazy because we got together as 4 missions, so there were over 1000 missionaries,  but I loved being able to see him and the apostles are so different than when you see them at conferences.  He cracked so many jokes, for example, he said, "I'm older than dirt!  I helped Noah park the ark!"  It was the best conference ever.

 

Nate was excited to see Elder Newey again, a friend from the MTC

Then on Wednesday I went on interchanges to my old sector Rosende.  It was a good day, and we got a lot done.  At the end of the day we went and visited with Hector. When he saw me he started crying.  They have a picture of me on their table and were really happy to see me.  It was a very interesting experience to go back and see how much I actually did for him.

 

Then on Thursday I got a cold.  A fever with 90° outside isn't very fun.  So these past few days I have been trying to get better.  Also we had a birthday party for someone.  It was fun, but I couldn't eat anything.  

Then on Friday I had to go get my second carnet, which means I went to renew my visa.  We got to the first place at 8 in the morning, and we waited in line until 1...  after that we ran to the next police to do the thing we had to do there, because we had to be in the last place before it closed at 2.  We got there at 1:45, and had to wait another hour and a half, but at the end we did it.

Then on Saturday it was a pretty normal day.

Sunday was really difficult because it was election day here, so everyone was super busy.  But that was pretty much my crazy week, and last night I got a call from president saying that I'm going on a week long interchange, so I had to pack everything and here I am.

But thats all for now.  Love you and miss you all tons!

They Are Throwing Rocks!

So this week was a pretty fun week!

So on monday after the hike, we went and made brownies for our zone conference. We had to give the conference on Tuesday, and it was pretty fun.  We had to do an example practice thing, and the assistants of president made it a competition between all of the Zone leaders, so they recorded it and we are going to see if we won.  We did a rap, and then I shoved cake in my companions face, it was pretty good.

Other than that it was a pretty normal week, a lot of walking, but here we are used to it. Oh, something fun that happened, a group of thugs started to throw rocks at us. Also some guy tried to pick-pocket my companion.  That's been pretty fun.

The weather has been crazy this week.  It goes from being really hot, to freezing cold in no time flat, but it reminds me of Utah weather.  Also on Friday, we had interviews with President Essig.  It was pretty short, but it was still good to see President.

Other than that on Sunday we got a call from President saying that our companion Elder Perez was getting changed, and that we would be getting a new companion, Elder Jorge.  He is from Peru, he has 4 months in the mission, and for the 2 minutes that I got to know him, he is really nice.  So we will see how it goes!

But that's all for this week.  Have a good week.  I love you and miss you all tons!!!

 

Halloween Talent Show

So this week was a pretty crazy week. After weeks and weeks of knocking on doors and trying to find people to teach, we found some!  We found 7 new people to teach this week and they seem to have potential.  We taught quite a few lessons this week and we had a ward activity for Halloween, but not a Halloween party.  It was a talent show.  It was pretty fun, there were about 10 acts, and we sang.
 

Halloween Talent Show

 

On Wednesday we had a leadership meeting with all the zone leaders.  We learned what president wants us to learn, and then on Tuesday we have to teach it to all the elders in our zone.  It should be pretty interesting.

Some funny things that happened while knocking on doors.  A drunk guy came out and told me how pretty I was. He told me that at least 3 more times before I left.  There are the people that come out in just their underwear.  Those are always interesting situations or the people that are smoking drugs and stuff.

But other than that nothing really fun happened.  We went on a hike today, and I got sunburned pretty good.  But hey it's really hot here now so that's what's going to happen. I can't believe that you guys are getting snow when I'm dying in the heat.

 

Nate above Santiago

 

 

Nate, Elder Riches, and Elder Perez above Santiago

 

But that's pretty much all for now.  I'm out of time.

Elder Alder and Elder Riches Staying Together

Hey everyone!!!  So this week was a pretty interesting week.

 

So Elder Cuadros is officially in his house and he is no longer a missionary.  I miss him haha, but he went home on Wednesday.  It was pretty funny because he was so nervous about leaving, but now he

is ok.

 

Nate and Elder Quadros as Jedis

Elder Quadros, Nate, and Elder Riches

Other than that Elder Riches and I stayed together as companions, and we got another companion. His name is Elder Perez.  He is from Peru.  He is a convert of 2 years, and he is 22 years old.  He is a quiet person so that is a change from Elder Cuadros, but he is nice, and we are getting along well.

Nate and Elder Perez

 

This week was a pretty tough week.  We knocked on doors all week!  We ended up talking with more than 161 people, and we made 25 appointments.  Out of those 25 appointments, nobody was there when we passed by, but that doesn't mean that we will lose hope!!!

We were blessed to find 3 new people to teach this week that are really nice, and they understand what we teach really well.  Also on Sunday after praying for a way for investigators to come to church, we received a phone call from the father of a girl that we were teaching before.  He asked if we could stop by his house and take his daughter to church with us.  We gladly passed by and she came to church.

But other than that it was a pretty normal week.  Hope everything is good with you guys, and I love you and miss you all tons!!!