Oh Boy (May 27, 2019)

This week we have two baptisms.  It is going to be awesome and I am super excited.  There is one thing that is a little sad.  I'm going to be in Illapel.  It is a few hours north.  But that's not the best part.  I'm going to be training a new missionary and neither of us is going to know the new area.  It is going to be super awesome, I hope. 

This week we tried a lot harder to talk with everyone that we could.  We did 314 contacts this week and one day we were able to contact 81. It was super cool.  We had 14 of these people give us a number or address and we are going to try to have another lesson.  We don't have many people that we are able to talk to a second time.  But the more people we can talk to the higher chance we can find some people. 

I will be going to Viña Del Mar Wednesday and then meet my new comp. then we will go to our new sector.  We will see how it goes. 

I'm going to take the advice of Alma here when he said 19 And he commanded them that they should teach nothing save it were the things which he had taught, and which had been spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets.
20 Yea, even he commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people 
I personally had to evaluate my faith while being here quite a bit.  It is put to the test a lot.  I had to see if I really know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ and if I believe that we have the priesthood and to what extent that can solve any problem.  Obviously, I don't know what you are dealing with but we all have room to grow. Joseph Smith said, "search your hearts, and see if you are like God. I have searched mine, and feel a need to repent of all my sins."

This helped me to grow my faith and draw closer to God. But we have to be willing to change.

My old district



Jonathan

My comp's pin

Last Chance (May 20, 2019)

This morning we had a little earthquake.  We are on the fourth floor so we felt it a little more but I could still hardly feel it.  I have a video of some plates moving but we'll see how well you can tell.

This week we had a baptismal date for Saturday.  But we are leaving on Friday until Monday.  And I leave the next Wednesday (probably). So we are going to see if we can do it this Thursday.  If not then we will have two baptisms the next weekend which would be awesome.

A couple times this week I made the mistake of getting too close with cats and I then continued to metaphorically die.  But a couple Benadryl solved that. But South America doesn't have Benadryl.  What a shame.

We talked to a lot more people this week.  We are talking to basically everyone that we pass in the street.  We contacted 204 people this week and one day we did 70.  It was really fun.  But we can't do that a lot or we don't have many lessons or pass by a second time for the people that we contacted.

The last few days I have been reading in Mosiah about Abinadi and King Noah.  I generally like reading scriptures that metaphorically cut and think they can be quite amusing.  you usually don't use these scriptures to teach but it is good to learn these things for yourself.

Basically, King Noah is a bad dude and is making his people be bad too.  Abinadi is called of the Lord as a prophet and preaches repentance to the people.  And if they don't repent they with become captive to the Lamanites.  Then after two years, the people are still bad. And now, instead of captivity, the punishment is being "utterly destroyed from off the face of the earth"

But I like that even though their abominations are great enough for this.  The Lord says that repentance is still an option and will prevent the destruction.  It is always an option.  But listening to prophets the first time is the better option.

Happy Mother's Day (May 13,2019)

This week we were kidnapped by a member. No, jokes. But she asked us to go with her to do a blessing and she said we had to take one of the busses. She is a bit older so we thought it was just a little far to walk.  Next thing we know is we are passing the church of a different sector.  Then 15 minutes later we finally get out and have to walk to the house for a bit.  We aren't allowed to leave our sector without permission but she didn't care too much. 


But we went to the baptism of the hermanas in our district and when we showed up they asked us to give the baptism and Holy Ghost talks.  It wasn't very much pressure with the 7 people there but it was super awesome. 

We are speaking English in our apartment now. And by we, I mean I.  So my comp can get better.  I was having some gun withdrawals so I bought a Nerf gun.  We also played bubble soccer the other week and my legs we trashed after.  But it was super awesome.

Mosiah 4:27
And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.
Running isn't super easy but we aren't asked to do more than we have strength. Only what we can and what we lack will be made up.

May 16, 2019

We are starting again with fewer people.  We have two people that can be baptized this month but everyone else that wants to listen lives together and isn't married.  So hopefully we can help these two before I leave this sector. 


This week we decided to move around our apartment a bit and organize.  It feels more roomy now which is good. We had a zone conference and we learned about new normas de excelencia.  This is things that if we complete we will have a lot more fruits of our work and we can help these people more.  This week we searched a lot of less active members and contacted a lot.  One day we contacted 58 people in two different sectors(areas of a missionary).  In this ward, we have 1700 members and about 85 active members.  So that is some pretty stark contrast. 

Today we will be going to a zone activity and playing bubble soccer.  that should be really fun. 

I was reading in 2 Nephi 31 this week and several times it says very clearly to follow the example of the Savior.  No matter where we are we can follow the counsels in verse 20 and continue to grow in love and strength.

  

Elder Anderson (April 29, 2019

This week we went to Santiago to listen to Elder Anderson and his wife, and Elder Juan Pablo Villar.  Elder and Sister Anderson both spoke partly in Spanish and partly had a translator.  But they are surprisingly good considering that they have never lived in a Spanish speaking country, only other languages.  They had some very good advice and it will be good to apply.  The mission had some busses go around and pick people up.  It was all of our mission and the mission of Santiago west.  There were about 350 missionaries there.  The next day we had to return to Viña to get the flu shot.  It was fun to talk to the other missionaries and eat some stuff there too.  It wasn't all bad. 

We are making some way with the people we are teaching but I think I will be moving sectors this 29th of May so I may not be able to see their baptisms.  Still super awesome to help them and see them learn.  We had 3 of our "interested people" come to church.  That is super awesome.  It is pretty hard for them to come.  But this week has been good.  My comp and I are getting along and trying to work hard.  Hopefully, we will be able to see some fruits in a little bit.

Elder Anderson said that we need to focus on 3 things:

Being pure:  Everyone can have an impure thought.  What matters is what we do with it.  Move it out of our mind as fast as possible.  Memorize a scripture you can call to mind when this happens and focus your thoughts on the Lord

Being obedient:  It is easy to be obedient when life is easy.  When we don't have problems with our spouse, friends, school, work.  But if we can learn to be obedient when life is hardest, that is when we grow and are strengthened.  Our life will be a whole lot easier if we can master that

Being busy:  We need to constantly be looking for an opportunity to share the gospel.  Whether it is our example or talking about it with friends or family.  Laziness is one of Satan's best tools.

The booth I am using in this cyber doesn't have a functioning USB port.  So I will try to send photos another week, lo siento mucho

Merry Easter (April 22, 2019)

This week was busy and super fun.  We had the cambios and I have my new comp.  He is an awesome missionary.  Elder Lapaz is from Uruguay and is 24.  But he is very effective finding new people and is a very good example.  It will be a good little bit.  

We had a baptism this week.  That is fantastic.  It was really special.  Her son baptised her which was super cool.  It was a great experience.  And we confirmed her yesterday.  This week we have found a ton of new people and there are quite a few that are super interested and completing with the commitments.  It is super awesome. 

It has recently been pretty cold.  I may have to start bringing my beanie or a jacket with my sweater.  But it is nice to not be overheating like crazy.  Our Easter was super fun.  Nothing crazy but good things happened.  We did divisions yesterday (we split up with two members so we can go to more appointments) and we were able to complete a lot of things.  

I really like the scriptures in Jacob 5 and especially verses 71-72

71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.

72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.  

 

If we work with our might then the Lord will add his might

4 Down (April 15, 2019)

This week was super fun.  The tie-dye activity that we did was interesting.  Turns out that polyester shirts don't work so well.  So I have one extra slightly discolored shirt.  But it was still fun.  This week we have a baptism which should be awesome.  And we got the news that my comp will be going to Ovalle.  That is quite a few hours that he will be traveling by bus this Wednesday.  Other than that we don't have much info. 

Other than that, I learned how to solve a rubics cube and I took this Spanish test that the mission has for all the gringos to see what they need to focus on more in the mtc. You mainly just listened and then had to repeat long sentences as they just got longer.  We also had intercambios which was fun to do for a day.  But other than that we need to find a lot more people and start teaching them.  We are running low.  But we will see how it goes for the first little while while I am the only one who knows the area.  Should be interesting. 

2 Nephi 33:10  all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.    Reading the Book of Mormon really helps to apply the principles to your life and be closer to Christ.  He did everything for us and the least we could do is try to be a little closer to him.  And reading the book will let you know if this things are said only by the book or is of who sent Christ-Juan 7:17

I have kind of bad signal but I will send the picture I have of a big spider next week