Week 79

so yea im in my new sector and i think i have worked a whole like 4 hours this week...... lol we had to do A TON of traveling this week for council of the mission and elder cowley had a leadership training. so yea a ton of time on the bus. but I LOVE my new zone, but yes it is huuuuuge, we are 32 in total.

so i am now comps with elder cowley! its really funny because we do kinda look a like so to chileans we are like literal twins! i also now live with two elder romeros..... one is a big chilean who is probably the funniest person i have met in my life and the other is from the filipines! but its a great house and elder cowley and i are really excited for this next week that we'll actually be able to work! because we werent left anything.... o sea going to be knocking a lot of doors!

and i will not have p day on monday we are taking it today because it'll be more efficient since its new years eve.

but yea im happy and healthy, but just a little stressed with all the changes that happened so fast! but #letsmakelinaresastake! love you all and hope you have a great new year!!!

my branch pres has an im a mormon vid lol https://www.mormon.org/me/bfqg

la paz

Week 78

well.... cambios are here again.... and i am LEAVING........... again. so let me explain.

so elder barson (my comp) will stay and train and then i will be going back to linares.... and my new zone and old zone will be joined together into a like mega zone. and my new comp will be elder cowley from north carolina (the guy i want to room with) and btw it will be a white wash..... and it is not the same branch as where i started. yea that was a big surprise last night!

BUT it was so nice seeing all of you last night! you all look so good! and dad and greg are just so muscially talented! 

but yea as for the sector all is well! i'll probably get permission from pres to come back on the 7th to see the baptisms!

uhh yea! dont have much more to say! just hope you all have a great new year! i'll have to try to find a cool family this week to spend it with! love you all!!!!

Week 77

cannot believe that it is almost christmas! how crazy! just feels like it was a week ago in the office when i was skyping you guys!!

but yea we had a pretty good week! everything went well with zone conference! (pres didnt kill anyone!) but heh gave some very interesting counsel of how we need to just baptize everyone and rush them to be baptised, even if the do inactivate afterwards. very interesting, but it makes sence for this area. 

so with jano and jasmine..... we realized that they have a son..... that was always hiding in his room, and is 8..... so yea he now also is getting baptized on the 7th! his name is alejandro, he's just super she but now we're buddies! and with that familiy we just go over every once in a while to read the BoM with them! its really fun just helping them uinderstand the story and how to apply it to the their lives! 

Irma is all good! she just had a little panic attack when she learned about diezmo because she makes like $15 monthly sellling used clothes. BUT with the spirit anything is possible! she now understand why she has to pay her tithing and she is still super excited for her baptism and wedding! her hubby is still super bitter but said he'll start going to church in january... hay vemos.

we were working with an old dude that is like 80 and who LOVES to bike. his name is miguel. and we invited him to the adult session of district conference to see the choir (he also loves to sing) and man he LOVED the conference! he kept saying stuff like 'that is so true!' so we'll see if we can get him dunked asap!

and then the 12 yo ariel almost go to church this sunday.... but his mom was asleep and he wasnt sure if he had permission...... but he did. but this sunday si o si he's going to be there! and he just has to wait three weeks to be baptized!

but guys i am so excited to see you all this sunday! it is going to be so special!!!! hope you all enjoy this christmas! and drink lots of hot chocolate! love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

peep me and irma with our hotdogs!!!!!!!!!

Week 76

so it was a pretty great week down here in parral! but man it sure is hot!

ok so this week went sosososo well and there will be two wedding in january and 3 baptisms!! all during the same week! so that'll be fun to loook forward to!

so Irma is all good to get baptized we just need to wait for the 4th to get married! and her future hubby is warming up to us! but he recently went blind for his diabetes so he's still a little bitter... but we're going to make hotdogs with them tonight! but i do thinnk he'll come to church this week!!

jano and jasmine are also getting married the 4th! (no they dont know irma) and both of them will be baptized! we're just working with them on getting the little things down now aka reading praying everyday. but they are good to go! 

and then we found a patial family! with a 12 yo that snt baptized! and they are super receptive! and the son is already agreeing with the idea of being baptized in Jan. his name is ariel!

and then we were wroking with an old investigator from the sisters from a long time ago and she is sooooo prepared! we just have to help her with some doubts she has about what are the commandments (like she thought we cant drink coke....... oh sisters....) but if all works out this week she will most likely be baptized this month!

so i need to ask you guys a favor.... so this wednesday is zone conference. and pres isnt too happy with the zone..... please pray for the zone parral during wednesday plz! the APs told me that he will be speaking storngly to us........ so uhhh hay vemos!

but really all is well with the sector and the zone is gettting better! i just hope that i can stay here for a while and dont get a weird cambio! but love you all so much! cannot wait to skype with you all!! love you all! 

Week 75

so this week we were traveling sosososo much! but it was totally worth it because we got to hear a lot from elder packer (hijo). it was sick and in the end he basically said that we need to be baptizing every week..... so definitly made us think about how we need to step up the work!!

after the conference i did a mini cambio with the ap going around to sectors in the zone inviting people to be baptized. IT WAS SO AWESOME! we had a lesson with one woman and we wre in silence for like 15 minutes as the spirit was sosososososo strong! Also we got home late because we were ther in silence for so long oops. but it was awesome. the hermanas after the lesson were like WOAHHH!

but yea for our sector.... so irma is suppsedly getting the hour for her wedding right now! and she is doing soooooo well! and the RS pres bought her a skirt! so she was so happy and excited for church! so we just need ot see when she'll get married and baptized!

and for jazmine and jano we had a sweeeeet lesson last night! and today we will know if they will get married or separate! if they separate jasmine might be baptized this week! or we'll wait for the wedding. but we brought a youth to the lesson adn just told her basically if you want kids like this you will be baptized. it was awesome!

we found another antiguo that supposedly wants to get baptized really soon, who just seperated with her pareja........ so yea we'll see what happens tonight! 

but all is well here in parral! just SO HOT! and we might have problems with people washing our clothes...... atleast we have a tub! lol but hope you all are having a great week and hope you all see the christmas vid from the church! love you all!!

Week 74

so the weather has been super weird here and it will be blazin hot and then the next day is really rainy..... but the work still must go on!

so we had a pretty good week here, tstill trying to build up the sector a little more. but we have a cool couple that were antigous that we are working with and they are now super recptive! the only problem is they need to get mariied or separated........ so we have a big chastity lesson planned with them for this week! but hey they came to church! and they are sososososooooo ghetto it cracks me up! and jano still has a little weed problem or atleast i thinks so becuase he had a big ol bush in the back of his house.... pero bueno.... they have the deseos

then we started working with the sister in law of a recent convert named irma. she went to church a couple weeks back but it turns out that she never came back because she was a nervous about what to wear...... lol but we talked it through and now she is good to go! and she was really excited to get baptzed! so we had a SICK noche de hogar and comitted her for th 11th! and she accepted BUT............ on the car ride back she told us that she is not married............ and she has like 25 years with her pareja........... but they said they willl talk it over this week..... so please pray for Irma!

other than that we have some other peeps but we really are just looking! but i love you all so much and hope you all had a great thanksgiving!!! chaito!!!!

Week 73

well guys i am now with the farmers! and i litterally live on a farm! i wake up every morning to the roosters at 5:30.... but it really is a cool sector. but the zone sure does need some work lol. we found out that some missionaries stayed out late at a members house dancing -_______- but we're working with them!

so yea this sector is HUGE! and our bike are still broken so we have to walk a lot. and this sector needs a lot of help, there are like 2 people in the focus group, AKA gunna be touching a lot of doors thhis week!

so this week we had a sick council of leaders where we whent to the conce temple and president catala re dedicated the mission! WOW that was a super spiritual day! and after he re dedicated it he got a call from elder packer saying that he wants to visit the mission!!

But yea not much to tell here because we dont really have many people to teach yet and this zone sure needs some help, so please pray for us out here!!

ps we had a BBQ with the elders today!

love you all!

peep elder barson my new comp!

Week 72

so yea cambios came................ im moving AGAIN! im pretty bummed out about this cambio because seriously when i got here there was nothing...... and now its such a good sector!!! and also the zone is now on fire!!! but well.... gotta go where the lord wants me! and he wants me in Parral! o sea a super rural part of the mish!!! and im going to be comps with elder barson! but yea im going to be teaching start up farmers!

but yea we had stake conference this week and it was in another chapel, but as God provides a way we still got a good number of peeps in church!

so that girl that we found,victoria, came again and we still ahve only had 1 i repeat 1 lesson with her....... shes just super busy during the week but really likes the church!! so she'll probably get baptized this month....

we also got a cool `partial family there! its kinda weird cause the mom speaks perfect english.....

but yeatoday i have to go say goodbye to paola and guillermo......... but im like 99% sure that i'll come back to visit them! tey keep telling us how they have two extra rooms and to come whenever!!

but yea not much more to say with cambios! all i know is that ive got my work cut out over there in parral! love you all so much!

Week 71

so yea sorry i forgot to send a group email last week!! i was writing a members house then they made pizza..... so yea i kinda forgot lol. 

but yes all is well down here! but man it is stinkin hot! im seriously pondering the idea of working in a fedora.... hay vemos. but things are going really really well in the sector!!

so paola ALMOST went to the temple to do baptisms!!! BUT they were a little tight on money and she couldnt go in the end... but they do have plans to go during december!!! so not too worried about them! and they are so cute they keep saying that we can come back and visit whenever! and paola keeps calling us her prodigal sons..... dont know if she understands that story lol.

butr yea so we found a sweet dude the other week! his name is jorge! and he has been feeling like he is falting something in his life! and then we showed up!!! and he came to church last week but not this week (the member forgot to look for him......) but he has fecha for the 25th!! and he enjoys reading the BoM! so hopefully all works out with him!

we also found a girl touching doors and we had like a 10 minute lesson with her and she came to church!!!!!!! it was sick! we called sunday morning and she was like yea im reading are you guys waiting? and her name is vitoria she has 27 years. but we'll see how it goes with her! seriosuly weve onloy had one cita with her!

also we have been working with some antiguos and they are super receptive and some even stared coming back to church! one we think might be able to get baptized after she finishes her thesis. o sea like in december, plus she makes really good cakes!! and then another one was an old lady that legit hobbles and she walked all the way to church alone!!!!!

and then we are still working a lot with maria! she is really colse to taking a decision on moving! and she is so ready to be dunked! we just read the BoM with her now!

but yea this is the last week of the cambio! and im like 99% sure that one of us is going... kinda hope its not me because i want to pass christmas here! but whatever we'll see!

love you all so much!! and hope that you all are reading the BoM! have a great week!

Week 70

so yea it was a pretty sweet week here! first of all paola gopta baptized!!! and i am so sorry but my card reader broke and this computer is acting up..... so pics will have to come next week....

but the baptism was sososos sweet like almost the whole ward came! so it was a great experience for her! and she is so ready to share the gospel with her fam! she already has some plans on how to share with her sister! and now we are wokring on getting guillermo the priesthood! and also we are like now paolas 'sons' lol she brought us chocolate milk at church and made us fried fish last night!

well other than that we are still looking for people to progress...... but i do have the hope that we will have someone ready for a november baptism this week!

other than that we have been just trying to keep the zone animated! one elder is like almost dying with asthma attacks..... so we'll see what happens there...

but yea all is well! i am just super tired, we seriosuly walk so much.... might try to find someone to give me a foot massage! but i love this work so much! it was really nice being able to baptize someone myself for once! love you all!!!

Week 69

another pretty good week down here in hualpen! but man it was really stormy and rainy..... so it made it a little harder to get people to church...... but other than that it was a good week!

so yea we are wokring a lot still with paola and now she is all ready! and man she really has opened my eyes to see how the gospel blesses families... because before they knew the gospel they were not happy people. and they did not have a happy marriage... but now they are so giddy and happy and you can really see the changes. and yea her bautismo is this friday and she asked me to do it! so por fin time to see if the white pants still fit me! but it should be a sweet service!

other than that uhhhh..... we are just trying to find some good partial families! but that means working with some LAs and oh man i am pretty tired of LAs. but we did find a couple of famillies that have some decent potnecial! 

so we found out this week that pres catala is like in love with our ward mission lider because of how well he works with the organization (wich like never happens in chile...). pres is thinking about like filming how he does stuff LOL. or like filming a pep talk! ps my ward mish lider is the little guy in the temple pic! 

But yea not too much new stuff here! just wokring hard out here! but we are seeing a lot of good progress with our zone! we got the averagelessons with members to 17! so we were pretty pumped about that! but i love you all so much!

ps read the good word!

Week 68

so we had a pretty full week here! we had an awesome consejo with president! and there were some big changes in the mission!!!so before we had to do 20 contacts in the street as a companionship everyday..... and por fin pres catala changed the rule!! oh man that was nice to hear!! because chileans do not like being stopped in the street to hear about how much Christ loves them. so that was an answer to prayers (JK). but it will be a big change!

so this week we were really wokring with paola on getting her ready for her baptism and we had a great time helping her search for her answer! towards the end of the week she kept saying how she felt like J smith! and to top it off we went to the temple grounds with like 2 other families and them! and oh man she litterally rean to the fence and like closed her eyes and envisioned herself there............. uh yea it was sweet! and now her biggest worry is 1. getting a frame for a picture of christ she has and 2. sharing the gospel with her now grown up children! yea God has been prepping this family for a long time!!!

then we are still working with maria, but amn she'll probably get baptized in november IF she does, because there are a lot of problems with her fiance and she cant just move. but we'll see what happens...

but yea other than that we are just searching for more families.... please pray for us that we can be guided to another prepped fam!! other than that we are just out here wokring as much as we can! love you all so much!!

Week 67

so cambios came again........... i finally get to stay!! and im staying with elder hayne for another cambio aka 4 1/2 months together.... prettylong time together lol

but yea so we had an interesting mini cambio this week where we brought a more 'troubled' missionary to our sector and i worked with him for the day. man that was interesting lol. the poor kid didnt get up till 8.... but atleast we were able to have a sweet spiritual experience with the wife of guillermo during the mini cambio and put her with fecha for the 22 of october!!!! and after putting her with that fecha the other day i went back with hayne and she was so pumped because thats a birthday weekend!!! and her kids will be home that weekend and she is snow pumped for he baptism!!! seriously paola did like a 180 with guillermo`s baptism!!! and we are going to the temple grounds with them next sunday! because they are really interested in doing work for the dead!!!

and maria is doing well too. she wont get dunked this week because her fiance had another realapse!! so they are waiting for some tests to see if he has to go to the crazy house.... so we'll see if we can get her to move out, because that wont really fix the sitaution, since he would just come home after a while and they would be sinning.... but she still has a lot of hope!

other than that not much happened this week.... i had to stay in one day because i got seriously the worst headache (probs from dehydration...) and i slept for like 12 hours, oh amn it was sososososo nice. but all is well now. we just have a huuuge sector and we walk a LOT.

But i lvoe you all and hope you all enjoyed conference!! besitos!!!!!!

Week 66

so he got dunked!!! and man it was a sweet service! plus his wife came and now is super interested!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

but yea this was an interesting week as there was an emergency cambio in our zone and my old ward got two more elders. so they were lost as could be so we had to do a couple of mini cambios to help them find some people to teach! plus i had another mini cambio with another sector. o sea.... i only worked with elder hayne like 3 days this week! weird right!! but it was pretty fun doing that and plus it helped get a lot of excitement in our zone!!

so yea guillermo is all good we are just now woroking on getting him an asignment! and now we are string to work with the wife!

maria had a CRAZY week! last night he fiance overdosed on random drugs and ran away... and i still trhink they havent found him.... but oh man she is so firm in the gospel right now! we explained that as she gopes to GC fasting that she will get her answer as to leave him or stay. cause its always safe to put the money on the prophet :)

other than them we are just teaching like anything that walks! its pretty fun because i think now i have learned every 'excuse' not to listen. but still it really makes me feel like being a witness and bearing testimony in every moment!

oh yea we had a sweeeeet sacramewnt meeting called the sunday that no one missed! pres catala came and gave a sweet talk that got us a TON of refernces! plus guillermo got confirmed! 

oh and we went to the temple grounds with a partial family! the temple here has really progressed!

love you all! have a great week! 

ps the church is true

Week 65

sorry im writting late...yesterday everything was closed... everything so we even had to buy food today! but its like a second pday! but wow this was a pretty interesting week here!

so we first had zone conference. which again ate up the whole day. like i had the last interview and it was at 9:30pm...... i couuld just see that prez was tired but still he is the man! but yea it kinda ate up a day of wokr....

then we had 18!!!!! so on saturday we were basically at the church all day for activities! it was pretty fun and chill, but it felt weird... and then the attendance on sunday ...... yea it kinda hurt, but maria and guillermo both came!

so guillermo is all ready! he get baptized this friday! we still are looking for pants that fit him... yea he's a big guy. but he is so ready! he spends his afternoons watching talks by president monson! so were hoping that we can starting getting the wife ready to be baptized too soon!

and maria.... wow she is doing sosososo well! she had a great spiritual experince this last domingo and she is feeling really good for the 7th! her husband to be is still kinda a punk but we'll see what happens with him. he still has some kinda drug problems.....

but yea all is well here just got over a cold that really jusst zapped all my energy... like all the members this last week kept telling me i looked tired. but im feeeling better now and ready to find some more choosen peeps! love you all so much! have a great week!!

Week 64

look him up.... youll all laugh i promise most members call me the little frog, just look him up youll understand,

so wow this was a long week. but it has been paying off! we were able to finally complete the standard of excelence in our sector. but man it literally meant that we were running around sunday night to finish up everything!

so guillermo is doing so well! we just talk now about what kinda suit his going to buy! but he is all good for the 23rd!

ok so the pareja of maria came back....... so her fecha fell....... BUT they got a fecha to get married! so she'll get baptized the 7th! and were still working on the boyfriend, but hey atleast he came to church!

Really not much to tell here! really we are jsut trying to find more chosen peeps here! love you all so much!

Week 63

Wow these are longer weeks here in bio bio! We still really are just focusing on finding people aka a lot of walking a talking with whoever will listen! But we are starting to see some good fruits from our labors! 

So a family that we found out first week knocking doors has started to progress pretty well! They read the fillets together as a fam! And the best thing is, that they're married!!!!!!! And they our both super receptive! The father has already accepted the idea of getting baptized so this week we're shooting for getting them all with fecha! And the dad came to play soccer with us on Saturday night! Their names are Ana and arnaldo 

So Guillermo is still doing great! He just short swamped with work but he still is good with the 23rd!!

So the other elders in this sector passed us an eternal investigator that was not progressing. And literally after they did that her boyfriend moved out aka she can get baptized!!! We had a sweeeeeet lesson with her and put the goal for her to baptized the 23rd also!!! She feels really good with the fecha! Her name is Maria and she is from Uruguay!

But yea we're just working hard out here! And ps I'm actually writing you all from my bishops phone lol. All the cibers are closed for some reason. 

love you all!!! Have a great week! Enjoy fall! It's warming up down here!

Week 62

ok so the new sector that i am in is litterally right next to my old sector. the chapel is like half an hour away walking from where i live. but yea this ward is DOPE. i would dare to say that its better than villa acero.

so our first day the ward had correlation, and man they were really pumped to be getting zls in the ward. but this was probably the best correlation i have ever seen in my whole life. leaders from each organization were they and actually contributing and thinking about the people! it was sick!

But yea we are starting from a pretty clean slate! we only got one investigator from the other sector, BUT we already have a had a great miracle with him! his name is guillermo and we got to knwo him right away and he seeme pretty decent. then we had another cita later in the week and he had a dream!!!! a missionary came up to him in his dream and told him that he has to fast and then get baptized!!!!! so he has fecha for the 23! and he came to church! talk about miracles already!!!

But yea other than that we have just been knocking doors trying to find receptive peeps. it was a tougher week but we really have been focusing on how we need to be pacient with the sector. and it really was a clean slate we didnt even have a map in the house! so we have been wopkring on making a nice big map, and we made little pocket size ones for ourselves. 

But yea all is well in this ward! it really is soooooo sick! and we got like 20 members comiited to leave with us this week! soooo hay vamos a ver lo que pasarà!!!!! love you all! this work only progresses because it is the true church!!! love you all!

Week 61

well you guys remember elsa right.... yea so she did not get baptized........ soo uhh yea. she was at her sons house for part of the week like she alwas does, so we were not able to have contact with her till friday. there as we passed that day our hearts broke. turns out a catholic priest from her old church heard that she was going to get baptized.... and he filled her head with all those evil catholic lies... now she wants nothing to do with the church.... and now she has a new little saint that she prays to in her house. ugghhh it was pretty killer.

pero bueno..... so cambios came....... me voy! and so does elder hayne! we are both going to open a new sector in our zone! so it is a complete white wash lol. so please pray for us that we can make back home each night lol! but yea i didnt sleep last night thinking about all that we now have to do, lol we were not the most diligent with our area book so today we gotta do a lot of stuff to do lol. and then this sector is going to be only hermanas... and oh man they are so lucky! but the hermanas that have been i the sector already have been working really hard and have no one... so im glad that they'll get a nice pool of people to dunk.

so yea after elsa's baptism fell we took a moment to mope a lil and drink a pepsi express then we decided that we had to find some new chosen peeps. and we did it! we found a ref from a member that is GOLDEN and she really wants to get baptized and another ref from some othe missionaries of a super ghetto chick that was really interested in baptism and already has gone to church once!

But yea it'll be good for the hermanasthat get this sector. and supposedly the ward we are going to is one of the best in the mish but the elders that were there kind of ruined it....... so we'll see what happens! But i love being a issionary and working so hard! thanks pandres for the new kicks! im pretty sure i have the fanciest shoes in chile!

ps i caught i frog the other day! love you all the church is true!

Week 60

wow this sector is dope. we really have been just working as much as we can. but man oh man am i tired, cant wait for that nice sunday afternoon nap that is waiting for me in summer 2k17. but until then...

so this week elsa will get baptized! we did find out that prez is going to have to do the interview.... but we explained the situation and he said that all is well and she should get baptized this saturday! she is so funny she keeps saying (as a joke) that she is going to swim on the 20th! but yea she is doing well and te ward loves her. i still cannot believe that we knocked her door only 2ish weeks ago.

So we also have been working with the LA soledad that has two kids that can get baptized. they techincally can get dunked this saturday but we're going to wait a little more because the parents are seperated and we want to get some support from the dad before the baptism. so they should be getting baptized late august or early september.

we found a recent convert that have a little sister who is 11 and is pretty interested in baptism! we talked to her dad (who isnt member) last night and was pretty receptive. so we are hoping that atleast the girl will be able to get baptized and then with more time the father. 

we still are working with this awesome family that we found recently. they ALMOST got to church. but on saturday night the mom's kidneys liked failed or something and went to the hospital.... so they couldnt make it....... it was kinda a bummer but now she is doing better! and the mom like seriously understands all that we teach SO SO WELL. so we'll hope to see her at church next sunday!

I thinnk i found the equivalent of mom and dad in this ward lol. theyre names are juan and gladdys. they are awesome members that help us out sooooo much. the mom gave us a sick ref of an old lady that is super interested in getting baptized and learning about the church! but seriously theyre just like chilean mom and dad that are just willing to help out the missionaries and love cooking for us! PLUS gladdys made us pokemon ties (because pokemon go is here in chile) so i have a psyduck tie lol.

But yea all is well here in hualpen! we went with a member to go eat papa johns earlier today, and hiked a cool hill. i just love being able to consecrate myself to this work! hope you all have a great week!! love you all!

Week 59

so this was probably the most efficient week of my whole mission. we worked oh so hard. and we might have gotten the mish record of lessons with members lol. But it is awesome just seeing the progress that comes with working hard!

So our girl Elsa is sososososo funny! she is a little crazy and keeps saying on the 20th im going to swim!!! but she is super excited to get baptized! still cant find a hearing aid but we found her a fellow old lady to be her friend!!! and in stead of drinking coffee she drinks hot chocolate LOL! so shes golden!

We also have been working a lot with niños and their families! we have been activating this one family that has 2 kids that can be baptized! one of them will also be baptized the 20th with elsa!! and the other we have to wait a lil longer cause hes only 10. but still the familiy is so so so much happier keeping the commandments!

so here in our sector elder hayne and i have liked perfected the door approach! its like 4 questiones and you def get in the house! its sick doing it iwth the members! they alkl are really pumped now to participate in the obra!!

Those families that arent married arent doing the best.... so were going to pass them over to the ward, but hopefully with time they can get baptized but its just complicated.....

But for real. the work has been hastened! I love being able to work my heart out here! love all of you! have a great week!

Week 58

so it was a pretty good week here in hualpen! it was full of random things but it was a pretty stinkin good week!

So this last tuesday we had minicambios with the APs. which was pretty fuin because i got to go back to the office for part of the day! it was fun seeing the senior couples again! plus there was a birthday in the office so we got cake!! but it was a pretty fun minicambio, learned some good stuff.

Then on wednesday we had zone conference! and oh man that was a headache we were in our chapel from 8 am to 9 pm...... yea it kinda killed our day but it was fun having my first interview with pres catala! he's really cool and is super pumped about getting concepcion ready for the temple thats coming real soon!

This week Elder hayne and i just went to town on our sector really just trying to be with a member every moment of the day and just getting into houses! it was really fun seeing the members get excited as we just enter in random houses. But we found this awesome old lady that now had fecha! her name is elsa and she has 86 years!!! but we told her that she can get baptized the 20th and she is so excited for it! and we went to look for her on sunday morning witrh a member in his van and she was there waiting for us ready to go to church! and the funny thing with her is that she is kinda deaf.... so when the meeting is starting we kinda whisper yell 'can you hear' and she kinda yells back no... so i run over to the secratary and tell him to boost the volume and still she couldnt hear.... but she just sadi ohhh dont worry about me im old. lol but she still liked it! and she said she'll bring her hearing aid next time!

other than her we are working with a lot of couples that are not married..... which is kinda a pain. all of the want to get baptized but there is a longer process of getting a marriage in before.... so please keep the following peeps ina family prayer or 2: andrea, luis; juan manuel, paulina; beatriz; Ilda, cristian.

But really all is well here in hualpen! it didnt rain as much this last week so i was able to de mold my boots lol. but really its so great here! This last week i really have been able to become a a witness of that the work has been hastened and that if we work with all our heart might mind and strength that we will have miracles all the time, and we will be guided to the chosen people. I love this work! and hope that you all have a great week! love you all!!!

Week 57

yea so a little info about my new sector is that it is literally in one of the most rainy and windy places in chile............ it rains sososososososo much here. i have been wet for the past week lol. but all is well in villa acero!

So with that rain no one came to chruch.... so we were pretty bumbed about that but also we have a new found fire to get these peeps to church si o si!!!

but other than that it was a really good week! we have this really good routine that we do to get into houses when its raining! its kinda funny at points because some people are still not letting us in and they say stuff like dont get rained on lol. But one day theyll acept the gospel.

so we are working with this one partial family that is SWEET! they have two niños that can be baptized! they couldnt come because they were with their dad this synday but the mom came! it was the first time in like 10 years! and she really enjoyed it!!! so that was a nice tender mercy!

WE found this one dude after we forced our way into the house and we started to share anout baptism and he was super excited about it once we told him he could have a new start to his life!!! BUT we found out that he colives :((((( and he didnt come to church, but we foundhim saturday so that was kinda expected...

we found this super nice old lady last week and we came back for or return appointment and we found out that she efll really bad!! but we were able to give her a really sweet blessing! so we have a lot of potential with her! plus she wants to makes us empanadas! lol

But yea this sector is really fun! we are just working really hard to find more of the choosen people! its hard work and im sosososso tired but i love it here! plus the members are siiiiiick! we work a lot with them! but yes the church is so very true! i would only do all of this if it were! love you all so much!! have a great week! enjoy being dry!

Week 56

so yea im in my new sector and it is BOMB! This sector is huge, like really really big and it is just full of houses that have middle class families! aka like the perfect sector! and this is one of the biggest wards in the mission so there is plenty support from the members! like this next week we almost are doing divisions everyday.

so this week we had a lot of meeting with president for this new cambio about what is the new vision of th mision. and what he says is needed is 20 lessons with member every week! ok i dont knwo about you guys but that is a high number i think the highest i have ever gotten is 9. But we are accepting this challenge!!! and we are trying to animate the missionaries of our zone to do the same!

So my new comp is Elder hayne. he's from san diego! and we actually got to the mission together at the same time! so its really fun because we both have a lot of energy and new ideas. 

i still dont really knwo that names of the investigators because ive had to learn so many new names this week lol sorry.

But last night we had a really cool find! we were looking for an antiguo but this guy cam out and was like  nonono no no no, but then he gave us 3 bomb references! and one was just down the street of an old lady who's husband had dies recently. and we go over and she works in a negocio (like a supermarket in her garage) and we were like uhhh dangit shes working.. what do we do. so i just go in and tell her hey we felt like we needed to come here and share something! she loved it! and is thinking about the B word! 

But yea life is awesome here! just risin and grindin everyday! love you all so much! this is the true church!

Week 55

well its that time again.... and it turns out that...

IM LEAVING! what the heck!

yea im getting shipped out to talcahuano sur! so it was a really short and sweet time here in valle hermoso! but looks like im needed somewhere else! but this new ward im going to is like the biggest ward in the mission! so im pretty pumped about that! and there will be a lot less drunk evangelicos! But yea i got the call last night from the APs and it was funny because pablito was working with us that night and he did not belive me one bit that i am leaving. but now he knows and hes making a big lunch for this afternoon! but yea gonna miss penco! 

so this week we really tried to get those peeps we found progressing. and man oh man it was kinda frustatring because some of this people just change! one day they were super nice and we had a return appointment and everything but then we went by again and were super rude... so it was easy to discern them as unchosen peeps. 

so jose had a pretty good week! he didnt come to church.... but he is living the WoW and LoC! it was really raining and he was sick, so it was a kinda valid excuse. (but the whole ward used that excuse too lol) but he is still looking good to get baptized this month. so tobarcito will probs baptize him!

so this week i really realized just how much the bible is lacking, like really so many people justify the most random things with the bible. its kinda sad. and they just have their minds filled with so many lies about the church from their patores. but we still just kept pushing and we were able to get this really old lady to think about baptism! hopefully she can really progress her name is rosa.

But yea looks like i'll be packing my bags tonight! love you all so much!!

Week 54

UUUUUSSSSSAAAAA

happy 4th everyone! we had a zone activity where we with pablito made pulled brisket sandwiches to celebrate the 4th!!!

so this was a pretty good week! seriously we went really hard trying to find new people to teach this week and we found 11 in total! it was really fun teaching tobarcito how to just get into houses and finding a need and then just inviting them to be baptized. but man it is so funny trying to invite these evangelicos to be baptized! the apostasy was so real! like one old guy last night told me that baptisms had to be in rivers so the current would wash away the sins....

So this week was kinda sad with janet... we lost contact with her for like 4 days... then we finally get contact with her on her doorstep, and she tells us she doesnt want anything with the church.... and that she is going to start attending and evangelico church.... so yea. she did NOT get baptized.

But! we had a huge break throiugh with jose! so like this guy is super good with the bible like super duper good. kinda intimidating. but he always gets confused when he thinks about what the bible is saying ans what he should do. SO we shared alma 32... and now he has fecha for the 16th!!!! and he came to church!! so things are working very well with him!

Other than him we just are working with all the news we found. just trying to see who will really progress and who was just nice enough to let us in. 

but yea this is the last week of the transfer!!! we'll see if i will get to stay here another cambio or if im needed somewhere else! love you all so much!!!

Week 53

so this was another awesome week down here in valle hermoso! we really have been seeing the fruits of our labors! 

So with janet we had an awesome lesson! she is really funny since she does not talk a lot, just a lot of one word answers, BUT we were realñly able to key into baptism and help her raelly realize that a baptism is to follow christ! so if everything goes right she will be baptized this saturday!!! it was sweet this last sunday because she brought all three of her daughters! but we are really just trying to make sure she can remember how she felt when she committed herself to baptism!

That was pretty much the biggest highlight of the week!! 

jose is still truckin along but i think were going to stop teaching him this week... he just confuzes himself with the bible too much...

also another small miracle we had was with lis's pareja, this dude is totally athiest like he doesnt feel comfortble talking about God since he just does not believe in it but we have ben able to get him to start reading and praying!! so we'll see where that ends up! (hopefully baptism)

I had an awesome minicambio with one of the zls this week. He is finishing in 2 weeks so we talked A LOT about BYU lol, but still we went hard that day.

But yea all is well here! just working hard! now that i'm training ive realized how much faster i walk than i did before the mish lol!

Love you all! the church is true!

chao Prez arrington :(

Week 52

so just an FYI but i turned 1 year old in the mission this week... it was pretty weird to think about how much has changed in one year and what my life consists of now! BUT i love it so much and i hope that this next year is even better as im now a little more prepared to teach and testify of our Savior.

So this was a pretty good week. We were able to leave with a member every day this week!! so we were pretty pumped about that and that the members actually worry about the investigators. one hermana even visted janet just for fun!!

So this week we were working a good amount with janet. but her family has been bothering her about joining the church.... right?!.... so we finally got to meet her husband and he was like ok for her to go to church, but janet told us that he said not before.... so we are kinda confused with them and who is telling the truth and who isnt...

with jose we had an awesome lesson this week where he had some doubts about the fall and then we used 2 nefi 2 and everything was clear for him in the end. it was awesome explaining to him how the BoM clarifies stuff and then showing him that it really does. 

Lis is kinda stopping to progress. we had a super direct lesson with her on the law of chastity where we litterally said you are in sin, BUT you can get out of it by getting married... but her pareja is athiest and doestn want anything with churches nor weddings. 

So this week we found like a like of preachers.... oh my gosh i kinda dont like the bible anymore, because one preacher just teared us apart with it.... i got kinda mad so my spanish just would not work... but what we learned is that when this happens we just testify of the BoM and our personal experinces and then they listen more intently. But this did spur me to study the new testament a little more, but still you can just tell it's lacking basic truths. 

Really all is good here in penco city! we are working hard and just trying to find that golden family that is in our sector! I am so glad that we have the restored gospel and another testament of Jesus Christ! I knwo that He lives and He loves me! love you all so much!! see you all in a year!

Week 51

man oh man do i love it here in penco! this sector literally consists of so many drunk evangelics! it just cracks me up! these people litterally set up huge speakers on the streets just calling people to repent! i still strive to have their boldness ;) 

But really this is an awesome sector just full of houses and people! like we found a ton of new peeps this week, it is just awesome!! ive just leanred that if you ask enough times people will let you into their house and then they are usually pretty open to hear! 

So this week we were working with jose a lot! we actually watched the chile copa america game with him on Friday! CHI CHI CHILAY! and he came to CHURCH! and he brought his wife! but at the end he said he didnt like it... boo but we remebered that at first he didnt even like the BOM but now he reads it almost every day. i just think it was different. no guitars nor tamborines (lol). but we learned this last week that right before missionaries found him he was praying to know where the truth is. so he is growing in his testimony!

we also worked a bit with janet! she is super funny because she like doesnt talk. for reakl just one word answers... but she really likes everything! and she has been saying that she feels good about baptism and has prayed about it a lot! so we are hoping to put he with fecha this week for the 25th! 

we still are working with Lis who was a reference from her neighbor! she really has started to ake good friends in the ward and said 'when my baby is born i want to baptize it in the mormon church!'  lol so we explained that she would be the one getting baptized and we could present the baby... she still doesnt really have much of a testimony yet so she doesnt see much of the need right now... so just with time and prayer i believe she will come around!

but really doe.... this sector is awesome! it is so much fun to have good member support with members that leave with us and host FHEs! i hope that all of you have a great week!!!! love you all so much!!

ps ill have to send pics next week.... this ciber kinda stinks

Week 50

so cambios happened... AND I GOT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am now in a sector called valle hermoso (beautiful valley) and i hae the beach in my sctor :) and man oh man they are not joking about that name everywhere in my sector has a sweet view of the ocean/bay!  I just love it here so much already!

So i got my new comp.... Elder Tobar!! he is a chilean! from antofogasta! and i am finishing his training! but man oh man he is soooooo soso so so chilean its so funnypo! but he is awesome he has so much animo to be a missionary and work. plus its been really good for my spanish which has been suffering a little bc of the office. but we get along really well bc were both super chill slow guys. But really he is awesome and has a strong testimony of the gospel!

So for real i love this secto so much already! the ward here is BOMB like for real it is sooo awesome! Right now we are wookring with about 3 people that are really progressing. one of which (LEASE) was a refence from a member this week! That the member personally brought to church also!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! and now the whole ward wants to help her and like 2 families set up FHE's with her for this week! RIGHT?! we also are working with a yougin named josè, he is pretty interesting to teach since he litterally has so many doubts, but always is willing to listen and is receptive! we are also working with a lady named janet! and she is so sweet! she believes everything and wants to get baptized, but we still need to talk to her husband to get him on board and atleast support her, she'll probs get baptized the 18th.

But really fam this ward is sooooo sos sosososos good at helping investigators they are so nice and willing to help them feel comfortable its AWESOME! and also this sector is just full of houses to knock! last night we found a guy that is working on the construction of the temple! and a super sweet old lady named elva. Ugh i just love this sector! love you all so much and hope that you all have a great week!

BTW if you want to look up where i am on a map its called penco! 

Week 49

so this week i would like to give a very special thanks to someone that did something very dear to me... Michael Scott. who organized the run for the cure of rabies. as i now am receiving the vaccinations for rabies... because i got bit by a big ol dog. so we were walking through this one shortcut kinda fast to get to the next appointment and there was just a normal dog chillin there looking through the trash. i guessed i scared him as i walked behind him and then he jumped and bit me right on my upper back thy! so yea.... one of his teeth drew blood and there is like a 3 inch cut on my leg. BUT IM ALIVE! but i do think i'll have to retire a pair of khakis! and now i have to get like 4 more shots, but all is well.

So yea it has been a pretty rough week. The baptism fell through with Cristina.... so yea she'll probably get baptized in the middle of June so that's good.

Another apartment flooded..... I'm just ready to get out of the office.

But we did have a nice miracle with a house that i needed to find! we had been looking at moving hermanas out of a sector because it is too dangerous there. and i had found this one apartment that was just a little too expensive but we were going to get it. But on wednesday a dueña came in to complain about some bill and at the end she told us that she has a place to rent right where we needed one! and it is such a nice house! so we'll be able to move the hermanas just in time for the cambios! 

Other than that just trying to keep on working! finding news and other partial families! But man of man this week kicked my butt. we'll see where they ship me out! I wont get to email you guys till the 6th! Love you all!!

Week 48

this is it the final stretch! lol i know i've been trying to keep my atitude and mind focused on being here working in the office and in this sector to really finish strong. so literally i have been trying not to waste a single minute here before i leave. 

This week we were still working on installing more security systems in the houses of the sisters. I now quite enjoy installing them and we can do it pretty fast now! and they're pretty nifty with motion detectors and everything! 

so the one thing that i kinda dont like about being pensionista is that at any moment you can get a call that just changes EVERYTHING. on wednesday morning i got one of those calls! one of the sister's apartments washer broke so i had a guy take it and fix it and listo he then sets it up and it looks great. but the drainage hose wasn't tied down........ so that next morning i get a call from the hermanas as their whole apartment is soaking wet..... so i got to spend my day with a water vacuum drying out their apartment! yea.... kinda excited to not get those calls anymore!

as for the sector! cristina is doing well and is getting baptized in a week. we might baptize this other guy because none of his papers are showing up and i honestly belive that he also was never confirmed, but maybe baptized. so we'll see. But the old Soña that we found has a you granddaughter that we started to teach! and man it is so much fun teaching kids! at first she was super super shy and didnt want to pray ni nada. BUT after playing a few games and explaining a few principles she was yelling CAN I SAY THE CLOSING PRAYER!!?! so she has fecha for the 18th of june.  other than those peeps we have been just working on finding more!

Love you all so much have a great week!!! 

Week 47

por fin! i got the smoke detectors we ordered from saltlake! so i have been installing a lot of these during the week!!! so that's been fun! but anything to keep our missionaries safe!

So this has been a pretty full week with the alarms and we finally got the go to install the security systems! so we installed one of those in an hermanas house! That was pretty fun to do as it has like motion sensors and door sensors! anything to keep the hermanas safe! Also to help some other hermanas get out of a dangerous area we found them this sweet loft apartment! it'll probably be the coolest one in the mission! and we were able to negotiate the price down! but we'll be moving them this next week!! also next week i got permission from president to go to the super far away zones (linares) to go there and install things and stay the night!! so i might try to do divisiones with the elders up there :) but yea got a lot of work during these last couple of weeks so that everything will be set up nice and smooth for when i leave and the new pres comes!

as for the sector! We have been verifying and it looks like Christina never has been baptized! so we are going to baptize her at the end of this month! this experience has been very sweet with her as she has explained that she never has felt like a part of the church and we had her brother and sister in law testify of how this baptism will help her and her family!! gotta love it when the members pull out the big guns! and we found a super nice old lady the other day named soña! at first she was like no im busy, kinda like go away... But i was like please please please at least let us pray in your house, and she said yes. then right as we step in we ask how's the fam, then we have a nice little lesson with her about Christ! and now she will come to church this sunday! turns out that a member is a childhood friend of her, so yea we're pumped about her!

Hope that all of you are having a great week and having fun celebrating greg graduating!!!!! I love being a missionary here in the office, it's tiring but someone has to do it! even if it means installing toilet seats ;) love you all! The church is true! 

Week 46

WOW cannot believe that we already get to skype again! time flies when in the office... sometimes lol so yea i'll be here ready at 5 to skype with you guys! i get 40 mins to skype so i figured we could watch the first part of starwars now and the second half at Christmas JK!! 

But yea its been a pretty good week here. just really busy. in this next week i'll be starting up the move on three houses! so that'll keep me busy! but now it's almost east since we've done it so much. but this past week i got to do a good amount of handy man stuff! like i got to fix a shower, fix an oven, set up more curtains, and as always toilets! now i understand why dad would always try to listen for water running in the house and then check all the toilets! 

As for juan.... we kinda stopped teaching him. he told us he was going to be gone for the week working, and then we saw him in the street near his house... so yea no more juan. but its because he stopped doing the little things so the little testimony that he did have faded away. so for us that means. *drum roll* finding!!! seriosuly i have been pushing and working to find so much this week. i think its the most people i have found in one week in all my mission. But most of them really dont want to progress. BUT The Lord blesses those who try!! we found out that a member of a large Ecuadorian family is not baptized.... but she thought she has been her whole life, but it turns out the certificate that she thought was for her baptism was her being presented when she was 6! so she will be baptized on the 28th! But we are really happy that she is willing to go through with the baptism even though it is a lil awk that she wasnt. to me this miracle was just at the right time, but we still had to continue searching with faith!

We also found a teenager that is progressing very well! he enjoys to read the BoM and really relates with nefi. and we have had a couple of lessons where the spirit has been present and he has felt the need to do the small things. but we cannot get him to church because he said his mom wont give him permission... so we are trying to meet up with her later today. his name is vicente and it sounds like if he can he might even start going to early morning seminary!!! 

So yea a pretty good week here. just trying to be obedient and diligent! I'm excited to see you all tomorrow! love you all so much!!

Week 45

hey fam! i can't believe that i'll be sykping some of you soon!! anytime after 3pm here is fine with me, so just tell me what's most comfortable for you guys!

So this was a pretty long week for me. I am now clocking in 5 months in the office. so one more to go!! not going to lie i am getting pretty tired of the office, especially after this week.

So last week i got a call from some elders that live out in the middle of nowhere saying that their beds are awful and destroyed etc. so i finally get out to their house to find that the bolts were just loose on the beds....... 5 mins later they were fine, but also they are trying to move because their house is SO DIRTY. and since its so dirty they have rats... so i now have 4 elders that are not happy with me because i wont move them. but i made these cool rat poison things for their house out of pvc pipes. its so that only the rats can get to the poison and not the cats. we'll see if they clean it this week....

So i have had a lot of questions about how juan is doing... he is not doing so well... he has stopped keeping commitments and now he is falling away. we passed by last night and he was blasting music and drinking......  and he tells us I just cannot give up this part of my life, it's just my rhythm....  so that was a huge bummer to end the week.

we have found some other people that are kinda ok, but no one is really progressing so we still are just finding. but man i LOVE trying to find people by knocking doors. they usually are kinda mean to start but once you say a prayer on the doorstep they feel the spirit and are a little more receptive.

so yea it was kinda a hard week, but at least we have a new one coming up! now its just making sure the E sowards can be ready to be in charge of the houses! But i love you all so much! hope that you all have a great week!!

Week 44

so it was cambios this last week!! and im staying for one more here in the office... hopefully i can make it ;)

But yea it was a pretty full week here in the office with all of the cambios. there are 5 trios in the mission right now. so that means that someone had to run beds all over the mission to make sure everyone has something to sleep on. but in the end everything is ok! lol we even make a huge closet for some hermanas out of the metal cube things. 

Since we were so busy with cambios we didnt work in the sector as much as i wanted but still we got to put in some work! Juan and his family all have their baptismal date for the 28th of may (right before the next cambio ;)) and they are all excited, except the prisila... she still isnt really willing to do much, but she says she wants to be baptized... so we'll see. but juan really is excited to get baptized but man oh man he is sooooooo ghetto. i still believe that it is a miracle that we can even understand him as gringos! but The Lord always provides a way right?! 

we have also been finding A LOT! seriously i love begging to get into houses now lol. sometimes people are like really mean but once we get in and ask so how's the family? then they just open up, it's awesome! but most of them dont progress at all. so we are still looking more more chosen people.

but not much has changed here! now im the oldest in the office............ its strange. but all is well! love you all so much!

Week 43

so here's a funny thought. I now have been an office elder longer than i have been a regular missionary.It's kinda weird but... now i honestly know the whole mission, like really well.

So this was a pretty good week for juan! we finally got them to go to the registro to get their wedding date!!!!! BUT.............. juan's identity card was cracked in a part.............. so he had to get a new one..... so he cannot get a date until the 27th of april..... but there is a desire! and man oh man its sun teaching them. they always start out kinda crazy but once the spirit is in the house and they recognize it they understand and accept everything! so hopefully with all of the chaos of the wedding i can still be here for the baptism as i'll stay here till the end of May.

for the office things are going pretty well! closed that awful house for good! but as we took out the old fridge, we found another dead rat under it..... so glad the elders are in a better place!! 

oh and about my old comps E watts and E carpenter! turns out that they will be comps together this next cambio as zls lol! and they both live really close! and i have a bodega in there house!!! so i get to see them a lot!

This week i did get a killer headache one day. i was making calls trying to find a new apartment for some hermanas and out of nowhere i got the worst headache ever. so before we left to work i took a quick nap and was like we gotta put up some numbers! so we have an awesome lesson and then after we are walking out of the house i look over to my comp and say 'yea..... no' we then went back to the house where i just slept till the next day. BUT im doing fine now. im just thinking that like 5ish months in the office is getting to me. 

Love you all so much and hope that you all have a great week!!!!!!

ps the rain has started........................................ and man it rains hard in conce! so i did buy a rain suit from the construction store! man its toasty!

Week 42

First off... thank you so much for all of the letters and love! turning 20 wasnt so bad after all! My birthday was pretty fun, we all got invited to eat a president's house and man oh man it was good food!! and i got dr pepper! so that was pretty sweet!

But yea juan... so on the 5th we were going to swing by and kinda tell him, hey we arent going to teach you if you wont come to church and progress.... BUT he told us he dreamed a dream. in this dream he said there was a guy in a white robe (yea i know) sitting and talking with him. and he held up like a piece of fruit and said this is you, and then the fruit died, and then the guy said you will be reborn and be like this fruit, and held up a bright white fruit.............. yea.........so now he and priscila have a set date for their wedding!!!! the 30th! and now they are all on board and excited! so that was a nice birthday miracle!! thank you so much for all the prayers for them!

That was kinda the highlight of the week for the sector! other than that just a lot of finding, and a lot of street contacts. but hey i can now get into chilean houses pretty easily! never thought i would be knocking doors begging people for us to be let in and pray for them lol. 

As for the office things are still busy! but it does look like things are quieting done! so thats nice! i did get back a couple of security deposits! so that was nice! also i learned how to install bamboo curtains! the hermanas in that house were pretty surprised to see their new curtains lol. But yea it still keeps me busy here.

I sure do love you all! hope you all were able to see conference! I loved Elder Holland's talk! thought it was a great way to end the conference! hope you all have a great week!!! 

Video with Juan's cat

So Proud of those blinds :)