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 :)

Week 41

sorry this email is a little late! today has been a little crazy with conference, so thats why all the emails came at different times lol.

So this was a pretty good week. I sure am tired!!! i think like two times this week i got up to do my exercises and as i was doing 'abs' i might have fallen asleep on the floor lol. 

As for the office i finally was able to get some missionaries out of an awful house! seriously it was BAD. you could see the ground with grass and plants from the shower drain. and man oh man they had a rat problem... BUT they no longer live there now! so it was really sweet to see how appreciative this missionaries were! they even bought us super 8s!

Juan is still progressing slowly... he just has fear that he will mess up and fall into sin after his baptism. so we are working on that and making him feel more the love of God in his life. but man he has had a rough life, he had his first kid when he was 14!!!! 14 imagínate!!! but he does want to get baptized he's just a lil scared.

So far conference has been awesome! i hope you all are watching it and being edified through the spirit! i loved the talk from elder Renlund! oh man he is so direct and i loved that phrase about relief that comes from far away is often received as if they are entitled to it. and of course elder bednar, about retaining the remission of our sins! that one surprised me because i was just studying that part of king Benjamin's speech.

But all is well here! just super tired! but hay que perseverar cierto?!¿¡ but i love you all so much! have a great week!!!

Week 40

so this was a pretty full week. no it was super super full. might have almost cried a couple of times... but all is well.

So the JONES! this week i literally felt like i was on one of those home tv shows where you are flipping a house. and there is a weird kinda impossible deadline. so with the apartment there was mold growing certain parts and the whole apartment is wallpapered... so we had our usual maestro look at it and he said yea i can do it itll be easy and itll look good.... sounds a lil too good to be true right? yea when he did what he thought would work, which wasnt what we exactly agreed on, it looked awful. just bad. and this was wednesday... they came today. so i had to find a new maestro who is super capo with wall paper. so finally late on wednesday night i found jeorge. a super old man that is ssooooooo good with wallpaper! but he still is finishing up right now... and the jones are already here. so they are going to stay the night in the mission home until tomorrow. but yea it definitely was a nail bitter kinda week with that project...

But hey im still a missionary so gotta baptize some peeps right? so last sunday juan and his daughter came!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and he is progressing very well! Priscilla is still kinda in all with us but we still need to get them married soon. we might just get them to run over to the registro and do it real quick and then plan out a big one in the church for later. so im pretty sure that juan will get married. but man oh man do i love juan. i feel like we have a very similar conversion, im not saying that i was a drug dealer in a past life, but with the smaller things. plus he's taught us how to speak more ghetto. but this week he did surprise us! he bought a suit!!!!!!! and dress shoes!!!!!! so we just need to work out some little things with him and he is good to go! 

But yea it has been a pretty full week down here in conce! i love my calling! i love my assignment! and life is good. its not easy but it is worth it! love you all! and hope that you all have a great easter! and are getting ready for conference!!!!!

Week 39

so this has been another very very full week. But hey now we are half way done with this long cambio (8 weeks).

So we had one move this week which was pretty interesting... the sisters like forgot to ask members for help on the moving day... so it was just me in the van lol. and i now knwo the fullest capacity that van can take. might have even just stacked mattresses on top without rope! didnt drop a single one!! but now they live a a much nicer and safer house. that literally have bars on every single window! (thank you maria, the dueña) and we got a new house for some elders that litterally are living in one of the worrst houses i have seen. and now they will have a sweet brand new one on the first of april! but seriously their old house is bad, like rats can get in really easily! 

But one thing that jumped up on me this week is that a new senior couple comes in a week and i had a couple of apartments for the other senior couples to look at... they didnt really like them oops. so we are moving one couple into a hotel apartment for a while wile i work with some peeps to re wallpaper it and paint the walls with anti mold paint... all before next saturday!!! so please pray that all goes well with the jones! Ive learned that when you have about 6 old people on the same project they all have very different opinions. que fun!

]As for this week in the sector i came in with the attitude of si o si we are finding and bringing peeps to church! so far we have found 4!! and we took two ofthem to a baptism yesterday and they really liked it! and juan is still truckin along. he didnt go last week but he reeaaally wants to come this one. i usually have to call him because we dont have time to run all the way to the other side of the sector. he's so ghetto im surprised i understand him at all. but yea it has been a lot of work but im just hoping and praying that some come to church this week!

So yea just another full week here in the office! Literally if i lost my little Nokia phone I think i would die, maybe we'll see if prez can hook us up with an upgrade?! But all is well here. just grinding! love you all!