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!