Week 100

so this is the last week.....

this last week was super full becaue we had zone conferences!!!! it was fun seeing how president tailors them to each zone specifically. but that ate up most of our week! 

there was one funny moment where i had to go with Hna Catala to go pick up medication for a missionary and i was driving and there was no parking so hna catala tells me to just do a vuelta..... SOLITO. so i got to drive around alone for like 15 mins..... man that was wierd!

and Elixon is doing super well! his wife Isable is getting dunked the 17th...... but I'll just skype them that day :)

other than that just getting stuff ready for the white wash!!!!

so pumped to see you all soon!!! 

UN ABRAZO

Week 99

wow time is just flying by this cambio! only two more weeks in the cambio! ah!

so this week was super super crazy for us.... i got a call from pres on tuesday morning basically saying we need to get in some more baptisms before the month ends.... so elder murillo and i had to runa all over getting people ready to be dunked! it was quite fun! 

and also because of that call we prepped elixon (the miracle venezuelan) to get dunked on sunday morning! it was super easy because he was already investigating in venezuela! and we also started to teach his wife and she'll probably get dunked the firday when im home :( but still it'll be a cute fam in the church! 

We also got that couple (jorge and francisca) to put the date to get married! so they will be baptized the 1st of july!! 

but yea all is well here!!! loving these last weeks! hope you all have a great week!!!!

Week 98

wow so its really cold over here! But all is well!! but man it is funny finishing the mish with someone that is finishing the mish lol! 

But yea we had a sweet miracle this week a venezuelan came to church!!! he showed up on his own and was like yea i came bc i want to be baptized....... i about cried when i heard that! BUT we then found out he lives in a neighbouring sector but we set him up with fecha and everything for the 3rd! 

and then we had a funny experience when pres came to our house..... and our house is kinda rough...... but yea! all is beter now! i got to fix a shower, sink,  and a toillet! 

Love you all so much!!!!!

Week 97

lol kinda funny that we just chatted!! but it was so good seeing all of you last night (well almost all of you)

so last week we were on the road a lot like i said! we kinda live out of our suitcases for like half of the week. but it was a lot of fun working in the little towns! 

so i got to go to one small town called bulnes, and there its interesting because only 30 members come every sunday! but ther we taught like a colony of haitianos! lol they all spoke french except for one! so uhh yea that was a new experience! 

then we got to work in quirihue. and there they meet in their house for church. so its kinda funny because the church looks like any other random church! but its a super small town lol.

but all is well here! hard to think that this mission thing ends in 4 weeks!!!! love you alll

Week 96

wow things are really coming to an end! like i had to give my 'dying' testimony during consejo. and it only makes it funnier that elder murillo also ends this cambio. we keep joking about how we'll do things next cambio. 

so this week was a super full one! we finally got back to our sector here in chillan on saturday morning, and we had to make up for a weeks worth of work! so i was in divisions for a good part of the day just touching doors lol. but it was fun this week being with pres so much, the man is super ambitious! he literally has plans to get the mission split before he ends..... 

so we kinda found a mom and daughter on saturday that came to church on sunday, lisett and coni. and they loved church!!! but it was super funny when we went to look for them in the morning because lisett had washed conis jeans the other day  and they were still wet...... we were just there on their doorstep stressin like uhhh what if we go to members house that has a dryer etc... in the end we got a blanket from a member for coni lol. they have the goal to get dunked this month!

we also are working with francisca, she is going to get separated from her pololo this week supposedly, so she could get dunked real soon, but man her kids are CRAZY! they literally run around the sacrament room during the meeting. and the boy, miguel, we gave him a folleto and he drew mustaches on every single person (except for Christ) lol. 

But yea all is well here just a lot of work to do! we have to do a ton of mini tranfers and show off our sector, so ill actually have 2 straight days in other sectors!

Love you all so much! cant wait to see you all on sunday!!!!!!!

Week 95

so sorry i didnt write yesterday... it was a little crazy and a holiday! and i had to travel to the office lol. so i spent most of my day on the highway trying to flag down buses!

so yes i got transfered for my last cambio! and i am going to be with elder murillo! he's from logan utah. and he also is finishing this cambio..... lol so hopefully we dont get too trunky those last weeks!

so my last week with elder cowley was pretty great! we found a new family!!! the mom and daughter are super recptive and we got the daughter to church and she loves it! and is actively reading the BoM! 

but yea its been pretty crazy here and it looks like i'll be in the office this week and go to the sector on saturday!

and it was pretty weird having to leave the sector so fast i didnt even get ot say goodbye to peeps... but i have planned an intercambio for later!

but so glad to hear from you all of you!!! and cannot wait to talk to you all soon on mothers day!!!!! love you all!!!

Week 94

so this was a pretty crazy week here! we had our pday changed for the census that happened here in chile and we had the conference with pres nelson! it cut away quite a bit of time from the sector but still it was a great week!!!

so the conference with pres nelson was sososososososso cool! the whole area presideny was there too! and they all spoke with their wives! and so sister nelson talked about praying to find people whose ancestors are ready and axiously waiting on the other side for their baptisms! and then pres nelson talked a lot about the book of mormon! it was a really motivating conference and we got to shake hands with pres nelson and he said my name! ah! 

so we still are wokring on rebuilding the teachingn pool... but the girl estefani that we found in the pueblito.... we found out that she is super prepared! we had a cita with her pon saturday and as we enter her house she shows us an old copie of the BOM that she found in her house.... she was really pumped and she accepted baptism! and then she made it to church!!! and now she hasa fecha for the 13th of may! and she loved the YSA group here! 

we also started teachinga a lil old granpa named juan ( i call him juanito cause he's just too tierno) and he is 87!!!!! but he was really good and we went to his house and sang him hymns while elder cowley played the guitar! super cute old gramps, and he asked us when he's baptized if he can still watch soccer lol. 

but yes all is well here in linares city! its sad to think this might be my last week in linares! but we'll see where the lord wants me for the last transfer!!!!!!!!!!!

love you all so much!!!!!!

Week 93

so yea this pic pretty much describes our week!! AURORA GOT DUNKED! and caros baptized her! man it was a pretty stressful baptism! we had to try like 4 times! and it was kinda cute cause she would just keep saying things like 'ohhh bendito señor' but she was oh so happy!

other than that not muched happened in the sector, we did realize that a lot of the people we are wokring with are kinda slowing down and dont really want to progress,so we are going to be finding a lot this week!!

and i realized this year chileans really dont do anything special for easter... its just another long weekend lol

so in the small pueblito that we work i every wweek, we taught a girl at the door and you know just a normal door lesson. and then the next week we passed by and she wasnt there, BUT her mom was there with the folleto. and i was thinking dang it she's going to reutrn it and get mad... but she had done the questiones on the back of the pamphlet..... i think that is the first time anyone has done that in my mish! and her answers were really good, BUT she couldnt make it to church bc it was easter weekend....

but yea all is well here in linares city! and pres nelson is coming this week!!! ahh! 

but love you all!!

Week 92

well this was another interesting week on the mission! so due to interviews and helping other sectors i was outside of my own sector for 2 straight days lol. and one of the m was my bday. so we just pushed back the celebration for a couple of days. and we made milkshakes! but then elder cowley got kinda sick after oops. 

so ignacio was supposed to be baptized this weekend but there was a crazy story and basically his brother was in the hospital in another city and he wanted to be with him and then ignacio enters the army on tuesday...... and guys it was going to be a river baptism! but he said he'll be able to come back in may to visit and he'll get baptized then... bu

But the good new is that AURORA is all good to get dunked! and never have i seen someone so pumped to get baptized! the only problem is that she has not leg strength at all.... so we are still thinking how can we get her into the font... but she is super pumped!

but yea other than that we are just trying to get someone ready for the 22nd, it'll probably be abraham, but we'll see! but it is getting scary how fast the time is flying by! like in 9 weeks it'll be over!! 

but i hope you all have a great semana santa! and you guys share the great video that the church made!!! love you all!!!

Week 91

wow we had a wonderful week down here in linares!!

SO aurora.... sisnt get baptized this weekend because she went to go visit her family out on the farm. so she is now getting baptized on the 15th. and she is sosososo pumped. i just talked to her like 30 min ago outside lol. we are going to make her brownies tonight!

but ignacio, a 19 yo that we got as a reference from a member is going to be baptized this weekend! and he is super sper good! he so was prepped to be baptized we just had to teach him the commandments! 

we also startd working with a super ghetto MA fam. and the son, abraham, hasnt been baptized yet. and we got him to church and he also is going to be baptized the 15th! he's super funny, but super flaite lol.

and this weekend we aprovechared a lot with GC and we got a really cool guy named jorge to church for the first  time! and he loved it! and it was the talk about the bronze plates that got him, because he's right at that part of the BoM!!! so we are planning on committing him to get dunked this thursday for the 22nd! plus turns out he's part of the linares choir and nows some memberes that are in that same choir.

and so we made a list of friends to pray with with a little grandma in our branch named teresa. and we gave her some cards to invite those friends thatwe had been praying for, and her neighbor came! her name is rosa, super nice lady that is just super lonely. we're really pumped to start teaching her!

so for GC elder cowley and i had put a goal to get someone in every single session and we were so close!  we were just missing someone for the last session! and that one in my opinion had the best talk for inv! but atleast the other talks were very well fit for the specific people that came!

ALSO this week we got the mandate from presidente to start working in a pueblito near linares, its called  yerbas buenas (good herb?) and it was so cool bc there we found a member that said i have been waiting for you!!! plus people are really nice there! everyone will listen lol. 

but yea all is well here! thanks for all the love and support! hope you all have a great week!!!!!!!!

Week 90

well it was another full week here!

we lost two days of work with the counsil of leaders... but it still was a pretty good week!

so aurora the grandma that just wants to get dunked came to church!!!! we had to literally pick her up and put her in the cab lol. but she loved church! and we found out that she had already gone to church.... o sea we most likely are going to baptize her this weekend! but it was kinda funny cause she just slept the entire meeting and then was like OHH IT WAS AMAZING! lol

carlos, elizabeth, and camilo didnt make it because carlos is super busy with his taxi.... so they didnt make it.. and we havent really been able to teach them..... SO we are starting to give PMG classes to the Gma so she can teach them when they come over for breakfast lol. she's super pumped to do it

so we found out that marcelo's tio just got out of the hospital. and man the guy wants to get dunked too! and now the whole family is on board to help him get baptized! so yea we're pretty pumped!

and then we still have emmanuel, he went to santiago for the weekend so he'll have to get baptized a little later!

but yea all is well here! i really love my sector and my comp, but the time is passing by too fast!!

plus this weekend we had such a cool conference! the two ditrcits in my zone were joined together into one big ditrict!!!!! it was awesome! and now it will become a stake in spetember!!!!!!!!

but love all you guys so much! hope you all have a great week!!

Week 89

so we had another pretty full week down here! we had zone conference on wednesday. and then we had to run all over doing interviews. so we didnt get to work too much in our sector this week.... but still it was a great week!

zone conference was super fun and we ordered mexican food froma real live mezican that lives in chile! i about cried when i ate that little donkey (jaja) and then we made brownies in our microwave for the zone lol. and then i had a great interview with pres! i actually asked him if i could stay in linares this cambio that is coming up. and he said yes!! but he did say that i'll probably be moved out for my last cambio....

so marcelo got confirmed this sunday so he was really excited and he has an interview for the aaronic priesthood on tuesday! so now we are working more on his mom and her pareja..... but they both want to get baptized its just sole (the mom) gets money because she's a widow and looses that money if she gets married.... but nothing the spirit cant change!

and CARLOS! so he got set apart as a branch missionary! nd he is sosososososo excited we even did divisiones with him! he litterally just wants to baptize everyone!

and then we are working with a grandma that lives near us that is member and we are working with her son and grand kids. a whole complete family (understand why i asked to stay lol) but they all love church so much! and we have a cita with them this tuesday and they are going to have fecha for the 1st of april (no joke) 

OH and we found an old lady named aurora and literally all she wants to to is get dunked! its so funny whenever we pass by she just talks about how awesome her baptism will be! and she's all good with th commandments! 

but yea life is so good here in linares! we  have our area president coming down this week to do a big conference! so we like wont be able work in oursector becuase we have to travel a LOT. 

i love you all so much! hope you are all having misionary experiences!! love yall

Week 88

so this week was suuuuweeet!! we have been working a lot with member and references and teaching them how to be missionaries and this weekend at church was sososososo good!

so we have been working with this one grandma (amelia) for a while and we got her to bring her son and his whole family to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHH! and they loved it! and they are super receptive and theywere going to move away but now they want to move closer lol. haaalaa!

and then we worked with another lady that has a ton of sons and we were able to fins ignacio, he really wants to get baptized now and he is going to get dunked either the 18th or the 25th, but we'll see this week! but he was really excited about getting dunked!

OH and marcelo got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wohooooooo BUT oh my goodness. themission is not for the weak of heart. we were waiting in the chapel for him to arrive for the interview and he was like half an hour late..... so i called his dad and his dad was like 'oh yea he got hit by a car he's in the hospital.....' so we run   to the hospital and we get there and we cant see him because the doctor was looking at him, in the end he was fine and walked out of the emergency room and asked 'uhhh are we still going to play uno?' lol

and carlos got the priesthood! so he's real excited to pass the sacrament this sunday!!!

but yea all is well here in linares! but cambios are coming up sooonnn...... so we'll see what happens! love you all!!

Week 87

well it was another super hot week here! let me explain just how hot it is...

we sleep on bunk beds. elder cowley and i sleep on the top bunks.... we no longer sleep there. our mattresses are on the ground now because it is just too hot at night in our house lol. 

so this week we were still super focesed on the zone and helping one sector out. so we worked there with the elders for a while to help animate them and help find new people to teach! and man it was soooo hot over there! but they had a great week in the end!!!! they got like 49 lwm in the end!! lol we had to bring some members from other branches to help out but it was a sweet ecperience!

so this weekend was kinda lame for elder cowley and me. marcelo and all his family (o sea our teaching pool) all went to the beach for the weekend...... soooo yea but we are still trying to baptize marcelo this weekend! we'll just have to do it after church! and then we'll be working on his aunt that is super excited about baptism too but just went ot the beach with them...

carlos got confirmed!!! and he has his interview for the priesthood on tuesday! PLUS he bought a suit!!!!!!!!! so he's doing super well! now we have the goal with him that he can baptize his brother!!

but also we got some big news! so our zone is two districts and they are going to fuse the districts together!!!!! elder bednar gave the ok. and now the goal is that we becom a stake in september!!! so that was exciting to hear AND we also found out that President Nelson is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in april........ so yea i'll be begging pres in my next interview to stay!! lol

but love all ou guys and hope you all have a great week!

Week 86

well fam i think that this was one of the BEST WEEKS of my mission.

first i think i might brag a lil about my zone :)

so this week as a zone we all put the goal to 20 lessons withmember present. o sea 300 lessons with member in one week. AND WE DID IT we got 336 in the end! but yea i just love my zone oh so much, i hope i finish my mission here!

so in our sector we had a killer week too! so yes carlos GOT DUNKED! and i got to baptize him! he's super funny because he used to be kind of a drunk lol. like when i first talked to him we got mad at each other lol.

also this week was awesome because i got to a mini cambio with elder hayne! remember him when we were together for 3 cambios¿ it was fun beingtogether again for a day! 

and then marcelo the 12 year old he is doing really well! he still is gettingdunkedthe 4th! and his dad came! and they really liked church! (just got to get the mom and dad married.......)

and then we found the tia of marcelo! and she gotsupersuperexcited when we invited to her be baptized! and then she came to church also! but like 40 mins late lol. i left the meeting to check the font and i called her like 30 mins in and she was like 'im stilling ironing!!!!' lol

but yea life is super good here in linares! i just get more and more scared of jubne 13th. but love you all!!!!!! have a great week!

Week 85

wow so i hit the 20 month mark this week.... it scares me how fast time is flying! 

so it was a pretty good week here! we didnt get to work for 2 days because we had leader council. and it was really good, pres was just focusing on the new mission standard. and then E cowley and i had to fill up our big suitcases with supplies for the zone. one of the wheels on my suit case broke off becaue of the weight lol. i just use it sideways now. but atleast we have supplies!!

so... we finally made contact with carlos, well first with his  brother. and then their neighbor (who is the ward mission leader) invited them to church. and supposedly in the morning a big truck parked by carlos' house and it woke him up.... just in time to go to church...... oh my goodness we were so happy to see him! and now he is all good to get baptized the 19th! next sunday. and he's super excited about it. its just that he was really busy build rooms for his nephew. but it was so great as he knocked on the sacrament room door like halfway throught the meeting lol. 

so andres... he was progressing sososososoosososo well..... BUT he broke up with his girlfriend thats a member................................................................................................................................................................. so we havent been able to talk to him in like 3 days.... so we'll see what happens, he still can get baptized the 25th, but we're just not sure if it was a flirt to convert....

so we had found a joven last cambio named marcelo that was ¡really receptive but we never met with him again, until one day during the week we just felt like we needed to pass by. we met his mom, soledad. and she literally said 'oye una consulta, ustedes pueden bautizara mi hijo?¿' so yea... they both went to church and marcelo is getting baptized the 4th! BUT WAIT THERES MORE apparently last night soledad was telling her other kids that live in another house, and they want to be baptized too..................... #blessings so we have a ndh with them tonight!

but yea it was a pretty good week here and this week will be a fun one, were going to some sectors where missionaries are desanimated and we going to boost up their sectors! 

But i love you all so much thanks for all the love and support! have a rgeat week!!

Week 84

i get to stay!! wohoo!

so it was a pretty full week here with the last week of the cambio! the only fire here is our sector lol jk. but we did have a really god week!

onh tuesday morning as we were biking to an appointment i got a call from our branch president and was i got the best reference for you! he's  going straight to the water! we found out that this guy (andres) called our BP and asked for permission to be baptized in the branch.............................................................................. wow. so he's getting dunked on the 25th! and he's super good! and his girlfriend is an RM! so yea he's good to go lol.

then on an intercambio elder cowley found a lady that had just broke up with her pareja of 9 years and was looking for a way to restart her life...... so she was going to get dunked on the 25th BUT!! when we went to look for her on sunday morning there were a ton of cops. someone had stolen her rug............ and they were stillk looking for the guy...... so she didnt come :(

and then carlos was having such a great week! we had a FHE and everything but then one of his nephews houses was broken into... and then they moved in and they had to build a room for him..... so we werent able to talk to him this weekend...... so we still are not sure if he will be able to be baptized the 18th

and then LUUIS! we were kinda starting to visit him less, then we heard from his neighbours that he was hospitalized and then out of nothing he still showed up to church!! and he said he wanted to get baptized next sunday... but he still has a small smoking problem. so we're still working with him!

but yea it was a great week here! this new schedule is great because we get like and hour extra of work! love you all so much!!

Week 83

so yea this has been one of the more digamos full weeks of my mission...

so as all have heard chile is literally on FIRE. let me explain... on thursday it reached 43 degrees cel. like 109F. and there are people that are light random forests on fire. so on thursday while teaching a lady we start smelling smoke..... and we go outside and it looks like heavy fog.... but it was SMOKE! so we had to have to whole zone go inside and make sure their emergency bakcpacks were ready.... luckily all was fine but we couldnt work that night because the smoke was so strong!

and then the next day we had zone conference............... AH but i had an AWESOME interview with pres! it made me super sad that i'll be done in like 4 months..... but we were talking about how the change in key indicators with SLC and how we had to adjust the standard of excelence. (which is btw 4 with date, 4 in church, 20 lwm) ughhhh made me want to start the mission again!

so luis is doing super well! we took him to a baptism and he was so happy after that he just hugged us! BUT he smoked so we had to sun the date back a little bit..... so he is no good for the 11th

and CARLOS!! so he is doing sososososos well! he's now reading the BoM every day! and we've been doing a lot of FHEs with him! and even his brother is really excited for him (who isnt member and gets back this week) so carlos will be baptized the 18th! and then his brother (hernan) the one who received us first will most likely be baptized the following week!

but yea it was a pretty stinkin hot week here! but just gotta keep grinding! love you all so much!!!

btw please register for my classes the 1st!

Week 82

wow guys i am officially entering into lobster mode here in linares! it is soosososososoooo stinkin hot! and this next week is supposed to be even hotter!! like 40 degrees celcius!!! i believe thats like 108F! But dont worry yes mom i am using sunscreen, but i dont think i can get myself to use a hat #JW.

but it was a pretty good week here!

so luis...... we found out this week that he has skitzofrenia... (ojalá i spelled that right) but he's still good! basically if he wants to he still can get baptized! and he is still good for the 4th! and yes i had to wake hime up again by throwing a rock on his roof lol!

and this week we did a small activity where we invited everyone that we are working with to the chapel and we had a mini tour. and at the end we showed the bautismal font with the clothes for baptism! IT WAS SO SICK! two brothers (carlos and hernan) are super pumped to get baptized!!!! carlos made it to church this weekend but herenan couldnt cause he went to the beach since it was his only week of vacations..... but they both are going to be baptized the 18th! and they are just super nice guys that are like in their 50s and just want to learn a lot more! o sea PERMISO!

on friday we went to go visit claudia...... we had a great lesson with our Branch prez and we invited her to prepare to be baptized for her ancestors. it was probs one of the coolest lessons ive ever had! BUT she didnt come to church again......... so were leaving her. but still it was a really cool lesson lol

BTW in my zone since its so hot one sector is litterally one fire...... so could you all please pray for cauquens!? we were going to go down as a zone today but then pres catala said no one go except for the elders there..... so we'll see if we can do the service later. but yea a lot of neighborhoods are buring up.....

But i lvoe all of you so much! it is so great serving out here wqish you guys could meet these peeps!! they are so nice!

bendiciones

Week 81

yea so time is flying here in linares. i still feel like there is so much to do but the days just fly by! 

But we had a pretty good week in our sector!! we finally have someone thats getting baptized!!!!!

so one moring we were looking for some less actives when a random guy kinda approached us (luis) and we started talking to him and he was like i would love to have some friedns like you guys. at this moment elder cowley and i nearly yell 'we are your friends!' after that we started to leanr about his tory and he has had a hard life. his house burnt down 6 months ago, then his parents moved away, THEN they died. and now he live alone in the burnt house........ he lives in the back part thats kinda ok but the mjority of his house is just walls.... BUT sunday moring we went to look for him and he was snoozin (like any good chilean) so we had to throw rocks on his roof lol. but he woke up and came to church! and there we showed him the font and he accepted to be baptized the 4th of febuary!!! and he is really excited for it!!!

and claudia that other great person we found last week committed to get baptized the 28th!!!!! but she didnt come to church..... so we are thinking about runningher date to later febuary or leaving her.

but yea we have a lot more hope for our sector and we are finally getting to know most of the members!

love you guys so much1!!! have a great week!

Week 80

sothis week was a long one, but we really were workingon just finding people and man oh man did we find! people here are super nice so its really easy to get into houses! and we did find some good people that are progressing!

we found a family that had been reciving the missionaries andone of the daughters was baptized but there are still three others that need to be baptized! they are super receptive, but super lazy lol. but we gained a lot of confidence with them as we painted a couch made from paletes for them!

we also found a 12 yo who is super receptive and ws super close to coming to church, but his uncle wasgoing to take them to a city near by.... but we still have a lot of hope for marcelo!

but man oh man it is soooooo hot here in linares! i might come home black! but i love it here and it is really fun trying to save a sector that was well maintained!!

BTW i got sick on new years day..... something i ate did not settle well and sunday i had to stay home from church..... itwasnta pleasant morning, and then in the afternoon wegot permission as a zone to watch disney movies! so i now have seen kung fu panda 3 and inside out! but the huatita is all good!

love you all so much!!! hope you all have a great week!!