Week 77 - October 31, 2016

Its been a week of finding new investigators, we have 7 new investigators!!! The trick, now, is finding them again hahaha uhhhh 😑. BUT we had three dates for baptism! We are teaching a new convert´s sister and she is willing to go to church and everything, shes just really lazy hahaha. We also found Jazmine and Karina who know basically nothing about Jesus Christ so we have been teaching and helping them, and they are very receptive they just need to go to church!!!! 😭 AHHHH! Make sure to pray for them. 

A new family moved to our sector and they are really motivated to work so we have been working with them a lot. They are a huge blessing for this ward. There are over 2000 members here and only 80 that are going to church:P Sooo I hope that it helps. 

Something that I have been studying a lot lately is Pride its basically the cause for everything that goes bad in the world: its the way Satan wants to dominate us because that's the way he went from the level of Jesus to the devil. It's the cause of contention. All the fights, grudges, etc. 

The way to stop being pride is to recognize it in ourselves first. It's really easy to see it in the people around us but its hard to admit it in ourselves. We need to be humble and trust in god. When we realize that and actively try to improve, we will find happiness even in the hardest of times. But thats what we have been doing this week! Thanks for the support and stuff haha. Have a good Halloween!! CHAO!

Week 73 - October 3, 2016

This is what I learned from the Conference: 

I really liked the talk from Elder Uchtdorf about being grateful. I cant remember exactly what he said but I related it with less active members. Because God gives us sooo much and we get upset when somebody doesn't say hi to us or with the leaders of the church. STUPID THINGS. We just need to be grateful for what we have! He has given us sooooo much. The scriptures, the Book of Mormon in particular, the church, prayer, the Holy Ghost, SOOO MUCH and all we do sometimes is complain. We get soo used to having soo many blessings that we start to forget the diamonds that we are walking on and only look at the pebbles. I loved that part. The way to be active in the church is to never stop being grateful for what you have. And I know that we will be able to find joy even when we have lots of problems. 

That was one  of the main topics for the conference: Long-suffering with joy. We had a Zone Conference and the President`s wife talked about the difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is for moments and nothing more. Joy is eternal. Its the reward for being faithful in the church. So if you want happiness then do whatever you want. But if you want joy: Follow Christ. 

Even when we aren't feeling happiness or we have lots of problems, difficulties, afflictions, trails, etc., we can still find joy, and its by knowing that we have problems to progress and that we have a loving Heavenly Father that will never leave us if we don't leave him. We can only find joy through our faith in Christ and being grateful for everything he gives us. I love you!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!! CHAO-ITO!

Week 71 - September 19th, 2016

So I was writing a really long email but about 2 seconds ago the iPad I was using to write this died.

NOOOOOOO. Dang it. Soo as I was writing before. Yesterday was the Independence Day of chile so we ate a lot of BBQ. It was amazing hahaha we ate empanadas de pino (which are basically bread filled with meat, hard boiled egg, an olive, and onion), churiso (mini sausages), BBQ lamb, chicken, cow, etc. YUUUUM. It was great, but today everything is closed that's why I'm using an iPad because we received permission to use the computers of the members.

A miracle happened this week!! We were contacting some houses without luck and I was just saying how in this time of the day there is nothing to do, WHEN all of the sudden a black suburban pulled up to us and a lady said to us Hola! And we were like how are u? And she said would u like to know? Uhhhh OK. And so we went over to talk to her and she told us that she is Colombian and said that she was baptized in the church over there. She has been living in chile for about 11 years and just moved to this sector because she got separated from her husband. And she told us that she saw the church and felt the strong desire to return and that was what she was thinking when she saw us!! She lives here with her 3 kids and has a Colombian restaurant in Valparaiso. She went to church yesterday with one of her kids and we have an appointment this Tuesday! WUUUMP. Haha so I'm really happy, she has a strong testimony.

Weeeeell, that's about the most exciting thing that has happened. We had to be in the house 8 because of the holiday so we got to study a little bit longer. Something really sad happened yesterday, a recent convert died. He has been struggling with alcohol for about 2 years now and it finally took its toll. It's really sad to meet people with addictions because they aren't bad people. But that's about all that's happened!!!!!! Pray lots for us this week so that we can find more people to teach!!!! Have a great week! Chao!!!!!!!

Week 67 - August 22nd, 2016

This is the last week of the change(transfers)! It went by really fast! 

Well, these past couple of weeks have been really good. We have found a lot of good people to start teaching. Yesterday one of our investigators, Jocelyn, went to church for the first time!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!! We found her about 3 weeks ago. She is the partner of a less active. Soo they aren't married but they already have 3 kids together. We did a really good lesson with her. I'm sad to say that I just understood this recently but we have been really trying to see who are the people that want to find the truth and not who are just reading and praying out of curiosity. We asked her why she has been praying and reading and she said that she was really trying to find the truth and than she said, "even if my mom doesn't want me to go I feel like I really need to go to church now." And I was like WUUUUMP there it is! 

Soo we started asking all of our investigators this and we are finally progressing with them. Yesterday, we found Gustavo again after a long time of not teaching him. HE IS EXCELENTE. Haha he has been reading the book of Mormon everyday for the past couple of weeks and is already in the middle! He also said that he really wants to go to church and everything! THAN after him we went looking for some people that we contacted in the street last week and we found Angelo. He already has the Book of Mormon, D&C, the pearl of great price and the bible from the church! He has a friend that is member and has been sharing lots of things from the church with him so he knows a lot about the church. He told us that he is catholic but he doesn't really like it, and that he really likes the story of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. And sooo we were like, "What is stopping you from getting baptized?" And he was like..... I smoke and my work doesn't let me go to church. The smoking part is really easy to fix, but the problem is finding time to go to church. Because even if he is reading everyday and praying, he cant progress. Make sure to pray lots for him that he will be able to go to church!! We set a baptismal date for Sept 15th so pleeeeeaaaase pray lots for him! But thats the latest news. 

OH I'm also going to start learning Portuguese I've decided. There is a new member in the Branch who is an ex-missionary and he is from Brazil sooo I'm going to practice with him. But that's about it! Today we are going to visit Jocelyn and make sushi with her and her partner. Hahaha soo that's always good. Have a great week! Thanks for all the support. CHAO!!!

Week 53 - May 16th, 2016

Ayline was confirmed yesterday!! WOOHOOO! hahaha She was really happy. I was so content to see her and her family. They have had a lot of problems but everything worked out great! AND this next week we will have the baptism of Manuel!!!!!!!!! 

This one is kind of a miracle because everyone thought that he would be a forever investigator Hahaha. He has been attending church for the past 6 MONTHS. He also goes to the activities and comes with us to lessons hahaha. He is going to be a great member. Anyways, make sure to pray for him A LOT because he is going to have his interview this Thursday!!! Im feeling pretty good about it now but still keep him in your prayers. 

This last Saturday it started raining really really hard and it destroied the umbrella of my companion haha so I gave him mine because he didnt have a hood on his jacket and I used my waterproof jacket haha I love that thing! Hahaha but then after like 5 minutes it stopped! and then there was sun! Its like Utah here haha. BUT ANYWAYS, thats about all thats been going on this week! 

Oh, we also got to go and play soccer with the Elders from my zone last Monday! Its really fun because almost all of the Elders are green-goes (north americans) Hahaha and green-goes are known for being terrible at soccer hahaha. Soo Im like one of the best players now hahaha. Oooh Its really funny to watch. We are terrible hahaha. BUT thats all! Have a great week! ¡Hasta Luego!

Week 52 - May 9th, 2016 (ONE YEAR!!!!)

WOOOOOO so these past couple of weeks have been pretty good!! First of all (Im not sure if I have already written it or no) But María got confirmed and now is super buena in the church!! Hahaha she went and had an interview with the bishop this past Tuesday and helped with an activity for the Relief Society. Sooo she is really good now:) AND AYLINE GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Hahaha yesterday was really good, we also got to talk with our families which was nice I guess haha JK mom hahaha. BUT ANYWAYS, we also set another date for baptism with a forever investigator!! Hahaha he has been attending church for like 8 months now without fault, he also goes to all of the activities, he comes with us to lessons with investigators, and everything. The thing is is he is really really funny and doesnt take things very seriously. But he also has cancer and had to have his throat removed. We had a lesson where we bore our testiomonies and the Elder who I was with told some experiences that were really good too. Soooo we set the date for May 22nd!!!!!! Pray A LOT for him please haha. Because I really want him to come through with this date for baptism! But thats all that has been happening lately. Today we are going to go play soccer with our Zone! Hahaha so Im pretty excited for that because almost all of the missionaries who are in our zone are green-goes (North Americans) And green-goes are TERRIBLE at playing soccer sooo Im like one of the best players now hahahahaha. Thats why its fun:) Hahaha but thats all for this week! CHAO!!!

Week 49 - April 18, 2016

María got baptized!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!! But dang that was stressful!! Hahaha soooo she got her interview this last Thursday which was 3 HOURS LONG. It turns out that Maria has been taking Marijuana oil stuff for pain relief sooo the district leader didnt know if that was against the word of wisdom so he called the zone leaders and then the zone leaders called the Assistents to the Pres. and then they talked to the President of the Mission. Sooo while all that was going on, my companion, the companion to the district leader and the granddaughter to Maria watched Meet the Mormons all the way through and almost finished Ephraim´s rescue. IT WAS SOOOO LONG. BUT in the end it turned out that it wasnt against the word of wisdom, but she should find something else to use. Its not like she is an addict. The last time she used it was in December and you can buy the stuff in a store. BUT ANYWAYS, she got baptized this Sunday and will be confirmed next week. It was such a struggle with the water too!!! In the end it turned out to be kind of warm:P Haha BUT everything turned out good in the end:) We also have another date for baptism!!!! May 7th! Her name is Ayline. Her parents are sealed in the temple and she never got baptized because she is afraid of the water. So we decided to do a practice in the baptismal font full of water and everything. Hahaha it was basically a baptism but it turned out really good!!! She accepted the date right after! WOOHOOO!!!! So that was the good part. Haha its really funny here, there are A LOT of members in Chile, but almost all the them are inactive. Soo it just about everyone of our contacts in the street are members of the church! Im not even kidding. We have been contacting apartment buildings and in every sigle one there is atleast one member! Hahaha that is what has been going on lately!! Its also starting to get cold here! We just got a TON of rain yesterday. But today is sunny haha. Im not sure how it is going to be this week!! Make sure to keep my investigators in your prayers!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!! CHAO!!!!