Week 17 - I'm getting fat

First off, shout out to Brother Bennett and Brother Lowder, my mission prep teachers. Doing the practices are the things that have helped me out the most.

One night we sat on a bench to eat a sack dinner. I left my bag on the ground. The next thing I knew there was a dog with its mouth in my bag and it ran off with my bread! DOGS ARE VULTURES.

Right now, to just spice up life I’m writing a poem about dogs and reasons they bark. I’ll publish it in a week or two.

More about dogs: Those two dogs I wrote about forever ago that follow us everywhere, when they follow us, all of the dogs in Coyhaique go crazy and we can’t hear people when we are talking to them. And other dogs attack them, so they try to hide behind us, which means we get an angry dog up in our grill. So we are still throwing rocks and locking them in our fence so they can’t follow us around all day. We call them Dill (brown one) and Squirtle (black one).

Today, we did some chores to get my visa coming along.

We are teaching two menos activos English for service.

It’s now week 6 in the cambio. I’ll find out if I’m getting transferred on Monday of next week. Pretty sure I’m staying. It is also week 12 of my training. After this week, I will be fully trained! Spanish is always coming along. Sometimes when I’m speaking English, Spanish words slip in which is pretty frustrating and cool at the same time. I had a conversation about the political viewpoints of a project for water and electricity going on in Aysen, in Spanish. I understood enough to get the gist of it.

So many times this week, I have crashed onto my bed at the end of the day. My feet and back kill me from walking all day, but I feel happy because we are doing good things. Missions are hard. I’ve never walked for about 9 hours every day before.

Many times throughout the week, I feel down or super happy. When I’m down, I know that means I’m going to have an awesome experience pretty soon, or the Spirit is going to comfort me, or I’m going to feel energized. God is so good. Life is always really good, or only going to get better.

An investigator said she wants to be baptized and is going talk with her pareja to see if they will separate or get married. But she didn’t come to church.

In a conference talk we were listening to, I heard the line, "it will all make sense in the end." The Spirit comforted me with the amount of success I’ve had in my mission to this point. I know that God fulfills His promises He has made to us. It will all make sense in the end.

In our zone leadership meeting we all shared our testimonies of Christ at the end. So powerful. All representatives of Jesus Christ testifying of Him and all living in a selfless manner and keeping their temple covenants equals POWER. Tangible power.

On Sunday, as I took the sacrament, it felt like I was in the temple. Even though I can’t go for two years, I felt like I was in the temple during the sacrament. It felt that way because I thought about my covenants throughout the week, about Jesus Christ, and I prayed for help to be prepared to take it and renew my baptismal covenant.

Yesterday, we taught a woman and her son-in-law. His wife left for Santiago for emergency chemotherapy. We showed up to teach them about the restoration and baptism. But the lesson went a different direction. They unloaded to us all of their stresses, doubts, financial burdens, and everything that is just weighing them down. Then the asked us, US!, what to do. We are just two 20 and 18 year old boys from Utah. But the spirit magnifies us in our calling. We just listened to them and shared with them comfort and strength scriptures. I felt the spirit testify to them when I spoke.

I prayed and asked God to bless me to know that He is aware of me. We were waiting to see if a door contact would answer, and I looked at a wild rose bush. The leaves were so detailed. There was little fuzz, divots, they were so green, and the Spirit struck me and told me: “if God has SO MUCH concern to design and detail a little wild and unkempt rose bush plant that is growing outside of a fence in southern Chile, then HE IS AWARE OF ME. HIS SON.” He will not forget or forsake us. Just like he detailed and designed that plant, he will do the same that much more for my life.

We were walking the other day on a street, and there were some teenaged gangsters sitting on a bench. They called out some stuff at us, and the only word I could hear was "Mormons." They must have that that Elder West was going to keep on walking and that he would be embarrassed. And they would have a good old laugh and then slap and tickle each other. But NO. Before my mission, I was passive a bit, but I have now come to have some red personality in me. When they said that, I was not going to let them mock representatives of Jesus Christ. We hadn’t talked to enough people that day either. I walked right up to them and they started laughing. I shook their hands and told them why we are here and what our message is about. They all turned out to be like 14 or 16 years old. They laughed so hard to blow off their discomfort. I felt guided to tell them that God loves them and he wants to give us guidance in our lives. They just laughed and said that is the kind of stuff their grandma believes in. I could tell one kid was uncomfortable. He probably had good parents teach him. He will remember that experience with us. I could tell that they were all really uncomfortable. But I felt power in that moment because I defended the truth. I looked at my companion Elder Lawton, and I saw a man, a priesthood man. And none of those "cool" kids could even touch that. This is the Lords work. I testify of that.

1 John 4:4

Elder West

Jacob's missionary planner with a President Hinckley quote

Weird Week--week 16

This week was straight weird.

I was actually bitten by a dog this week. He was a shrimp though and it didn’t even hurt. But hey, a bite is a bite.
We contacted this guy in the street. As we approached him we saw he was limp walking, which means he had a deformity or was drunk or both. I thought he was drunk. When we shook his hand he looked at us, and his face looked kind of torn up and bloody a bit. He was like "I’m going to my house. I just got hit by a truck." Then he left us there speechless.

We also saw domestic violence in the street. A guy and a lady were fighting. The lady was hitting him and screaming and he was trying to make her go to his house. There was a little girl with them and she was just screaming and crying. The lady came up to us and kept telling me "ayudáme, ayudáme." At least I knew that phrase from Dora the Explorer. I had NO idea what to do so I just said a silent prayer. The ywere arguing their cases in front of us. They were all up in our grills, and we just stood there. They left when the saw that we had no idea what to do. We called the carabineros [police] after.

We talked with a Jewish man. His parents left Germany when persecution got bad in WW2. We also talked with a Muslim from Algeria. He speaks Spanish, French, Arabic, and English perfectly. He was super cool. 32 years old. Way chill.

Last p-day, we made completos [Chilean hot dogs].

Completos

I’m now exercising 30 minutes every day. Hermana Obeso told us we should all do that. I’m rushing so hard in the mornings.

There is a little girl in a park that we pass by often. We stopped to make phone calls and she came up to us to talk. She is 6 years old, and looks just like my little sister Rebecca, except Chilean. We talked. She rode her bike away. I cried a bit because she was Just like Rebecca. Such a tender mercy. No, I’m not homesick, no sarcasm there.

An antiguo investigador [former investigator] let us in to talk. Her name in our phone contacts is "gato lady", but I didn’t know why. I now know. There were 9 cats, but only 17 eyes. One was like a cyclops. During our lesson they were climbing all over me and scratching me. It was hard to focus. But as we focused, we felt the Spirit and we invited her to baptism. She didn’t accept, but she wants to learn more before she says yes. I felt the Spirit testify to her. She understood profetas [prophets] really well and she commented on how excited and happy I was as I shared.

As I have put more focus on studying for questions our investigators might have, I feel the Spirit so much stronger in my study, especially with Moroni 9 and that whole context of that chapter. And then vs. 25 and 26 hit me so hard, and I was crying.

Lee told us that even though he has a critical mind, he is convinced that it was prayer that helped him be happy with his situation here in Chile.

We are now eating lunches with members. The members here are golden and so faithful.

We are teaching Ricardo and Lorenza. We taught them the plan of salvation and shared Alma 7: 11-13. They loved it. I kept thinking throughout the day that we needed to visit them even though they weren’t in our plans. I now know it was the Spirit.

God loves us. He hears our prayers. Even when it doesn’t feel that way. I know that is true.

Elder West

Somebody's pet rock (in espanol)

'Notha week en Octubre

Horse drawn cart in Coyhaique.

Dogs: we saw a dog jump 20 times like a kangaroo about 4 feet into the air. At one point, we had 10 dogs within 5 feet of us. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't experience it. At another point, we had 4 dogs and 2 cats within 3 feet of us. On an intercombio with AP Elder Nogales at a door contact, a dog was barking at me. It was on a hill right by the fence, and our faces were 1 ft. away. His barks were like concussions through my body. I could feel its breath on my face, and its breath reaked. I'm feeding Judas hotdogs now. He still barks like crazy and tries to eat me through the fence, but my feelings towards him have changed. Service lesson of the day for you right there.

We contacted a lady in the street, and the top of her head reached the bottom of my rib cage. 

I pause so many times here because it is so beautiful. Just like Walter Mitty. So blessed to preach the gospel in PATAGONIA.

We found a golden family. We meet up with them this week. They are teaching their kids to pray.

We have been challenged to read the Book of Mormon in three months. I'm reading it before the end of the year. That book is so true. I started on Tuesday to read the scriptures in only Spanish. I understand maybe 80 percent, until I arrived at the Isaiah chapters, haha. I had two conversations this week with Chileans that I walked away from and went "Whoa, I understood all of that, an d they understood me!" Spanish is coming.

Elder Lawton is so great for me. He is helping me with my Spanish, dealing with stress, being myself at all times, and speaking up. We've had to run to the house a bunch at nights to get home on time at 9:30.

Jordana is now living in our sector again!!! Joel is completing his compromisos.

Experiences: At one point there was a Chile soccer game. NO ONE would even come to the door. One guy did, and he was evangelico. He just went off on this rant about "the gospel". I was just standing there, and my mind was elsewhere. Then I realized he is a child of God that is precious to God. I couldn't help but love that guy so much. He didn't know what he was missing, how we could help him. I loved him so much. We left, and, afterward, I felt like crying. I'm so grateful I can help people here.

We talked with a guy, and he just told us all of his marital problems.  Then he asked me what he should do. In that moment I felt like "Whoa, I'm just 18 and I have no marital experience and no idea how to help him". Then the Spirit reminded me that I am a representative of Jesus Christ. And if I open my mouth, it will be filled. I did, and it was filled. We counseled him to pray. He has been, and a completely new light has come into his life. He now has perspective, happiness, and patience.

We were rejected a lot one day, and that night I read 1 Nephi 2: 18-20. The Spirit rocked me and told me that these verses apply to me and I don´t need to worry about anything. I have been faithful, and God will take care of me.

I love you all so much. Ponderize 1 Nephi 17:3 with me this week.

Elder West

sent from a rented Chilean computer

After having to run home at night.

A model dog.

Week 14, Conference

Eating Nalca Root (a type of Chilean Rhubarb)

After trying nalca

For missionaries, conference is bigger than Christmas. I've never had a more enriching conference experience. And conference made me trunky for all of my conference memories with family, priesthood session, and going to it last April.

Last preparation day we made stir fry. Elder Watson bet me I couldn't eat my whole bowl. Well I put him in his place and he is now washing my dishes for the month of October :).   [Jacob later added that he will never actually require him to do them, since his mom's teachings are to engrained in him].

I ate horse.

After the session of conference where the apostles were announced, we watched the press conference with a question and answer session. A reporter from the Associated Press asked them what the biggest problem was that the Church faced and what they were going to do about it. Then he sat down with a smug, arrogant smile on his face. Then Elder Rasband answered that this is the reason why we have conference, and all the answers are there. It was an answer guided by the Spirit, and it wasn’t contentious.

This Friday we have zone conference with Presidente Obeso. Joel is progressing and Lee came to conference.

I can understand more now. Not everything. But it is only getting better. I’m grateful for what I can say and for what I can understand.

I had the question in my morning study today of how can I be happy even when I need to do something hard. All of the scriptures pointed me to Jesus Christ and how through Him we can have joy in every situation. My invitation to you all is to look to Christ when you want to feel happy. Ponder on His sacrifice, what you can do through His atonement, what blessings we can enjoy because of the atonement, His example, and His love for you. Things will get better. I testify that Jesus Christ is exactly who He said He was: Jesus Christ, YOUR redeemer. He did what he said He would do. And that gift to us is priceless. I testify that He works on a personal level.

Elder West


P.S.

Dad: in conference with Elder Bradley D Foster and his talk about “I was once your age. I’ll tell you what you might experience. And then I’ll help you through it”, that talk hit me like a load of bricks. I thought about you so much. I. LOVE. YOU. Last letter you talked about maybe hanging back on advice after my mission because I’ll be my own man. But I love you, and I want your advice and help. I’m opening up right now the line for all of your advice. Please let me know what you experienced and how it helped you. I love you.

Mom, Grandma, Allison- thank you for being the kind of women in my life that Elder Nelson talked about.

Mom and Dad- birthday stuff. Chao no más. Anything is good. I just want to hear from each of you individually. Thank you for your prayers. Dad, thank you for playing with the kids even when you are tired. Mom, thank you for sending me the emails about what experiences the family is having. It makes me feel at home. Mom, Dad: I want to charge this with as much emotional energy as possible- the Spirit hit me so hard during conference with gratitude for you both. I am on my knees every morning and evening pleading on behalf of my beloved mother and father and thanking my blessed Father in Heaven-without words strong enough to communicate- for my parents. YOU. ARE. EVERYTHING. TO. ME. I love you. I am blessed above all to call you my parents.

Mom, I just want to cook with you when I get home. I love you so much. Elder Holland’s mother talk is on point. I love you.

Allison- I needed your email last week. Every week I almost cry when I read yours because I’m so happy about the woman you are becoming and the good choices you are making. You are an example to me. In what ways have you seen our family be blessed while I’m serving? I’ve never loved you more Allison than I have while I’m out here. Look up "Trust in the Lord" by Elder Scott. It is a great talk. Family is the most important thing. The Lord has drilled that to my core while I’m out here. I will be different with my relationships when I get back. I’ll put more into them. Before your mission, strengthen them too. I love you so much Allison.

Then the rest of the niños- listen to and obey mom and dad, even when it seems dumb because they know what´s up. Don’t wait until you are on a mission in southern Chile to see that. I love you all. Thank you for your emails. I pray for you. Please be kind to each other and spend time with each other. Laugh together. Go to the park together. Play games together (not video games, I mean the old school kind of games), and cook together.

I love you family!!!!

Week 13, Cambios & Such

Elders Lawton & West

Hola! ‘Sup! Que Tal! And other rookie Spanish phrases...

A few weeks ago when we had the world of service activity, there was a baptism right after it in centro. We didn't have time to change. So we went in our hoodies and jeans and I felt really uncomfortable, ha-ha.

Elder Ryan and I were also laughing about how as missionaries we are like that kid no one wants to hang out with.

Some Elders with a really nice house up north barely escaped their house with their lives. It caught on fire and burned down on Sept. 18.

Yesterday, my new trainer, Elder Lawton (hi Lawton family!!), and I talked to a man who was drunk. We shook his hand about 6 times. And he had an ax in his backpack. While we were talking to him, he almost fell over backwards because he was pretty sloshed. That ax would have done some damage to his back.

Yesterday, this super evangelico guy let us in. We talked about God, and he was super open and everything and said how we were inspired to teach the word. We tried to tell him about priesthood authority, but it went nowhere. He said the closing prayer. I closed my eyes and the next thing I new he was standing over us, all 5 ft. something of him, with his arms raised to the heavens, and then he pronounced a very evangelico blessing on us. Pretty cool.

Last week before Elder Ryan left, we tried out running for our exercise time. We can sprint walk everywhere. But after running a hill, I was bent over and open-mouth-fat-guy-breathing and all. Ha-ha Wow, I’ve come a long way since ultimate frisbee season.

This last Sunday, our church attendance was 63!!! Normally, it is about 40. We are working hard, and the members are working through branch council with assignments, and we are seeing some legit growth.

Yesterday on our walking home, after unsuccessfully knocking a lot of doors, Elder Lawton and I sang hymns on our way home. I was choked-up with the Spirit. I loved singing. The words brought me comfort, refreshed perspective, hope, faith, and the Spirit. I felt relaxed. I´m grateful Elder Lawton is willing to sing with me. There is power in the hymns. Elder Lawton is from Utah. His mom is from Central America. He went to a year of BYU before, and I know that the Lord has a lot for me to learn from him. He his super humble and a hard worker. He strongly desires to be obedient. He is a good missionary. He will finish up my training.

Elder Lawton has helped me a lot with stress. This week has been the most stressful of my life. I´m basically like senior companion because I was using the phone, paid the bills, lead the planning sessions, and worked with the members. None of that because I’m great and all, but just because I know the area better. I've done a lot of growing up this week.

Yesterday, we made contact with a guy from England who married a menos activo in our ward. He is super cool. He is super ready to come back to the truth. And he can´t speak Spanish, so we are going to help teach him that. We also just got the info from a girl living here from the US. We will visit her too.

Other than that, I´M AMPED FOR CONFERENCE!!!  I have never been more excited in my life. It is like Christmas. We are going to watch it (hopefully in English) in the church in centro. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, and the Apostles are literal apostles. I´m super pumped to hear the new apostles too. I think we will have a competition in our house to see who can guess the 3 new ones.

Helaman 3:35 helped me a lot this week. I have been working on humbling myself, because I’m getting humbled again, and I want to help the Lord help me and teach me. And that can only happen if I’m humble. Helaman 3:35 says if I humble myself, and strengthen my faith in Christ, then I am yielding my heart to God which will bring me joy and consolation in any kind of situation I am in. I know that is true.

I love you all! I need your prayers for my stress. I´m praying for you all!!

Love,

Elder West

Sent from a rented Chilean computer.

To the family:

Dad- PMG makes me so happy. You are being blessed for reading it. Keep sharing it with the kids. I’m praying for that. I love Kyle’s games. Allison brings me SO much joy with all of the good decisions she is making. I just learned how to copy and paste. So I’ll hit you up with more stories if I write them to others. How is BYU football? I heard to only send packages through the US postal service. Kevin better keep playing that guitar! I love you!

Mom- that’s way cool that you talked with Abby. She mentioned that and said you are such a great person. Thanks for the updates with the kids. Allison makes me so happy. Sherri is a great manager, actually the greatest. I don’t know about all of the prices for food, but I’m learning. Thanks for all the recipes. I don’t really have time, even on p-days to make it all, but I’m learning more how to cook. Elder Peterson’s comp that lives in the house with me knows how to cook really well, and he has promised to teach me.

Rachel- Congrats with your sports and thanks for the letter to me this week. You are a dang athletic guuuuurl!

Allison- we were safe on the 18th. Thanks for your prayers. We couldn’t feel the earthquake here. Keep being a great example. I like seriously want to cry because of all the good things you are doing. I love you so much and keep it up.

Dad, Wendy sent me a kind email, please thank her. Aunt Katherine too.  Please thank her and tell her that I almost cried with the Spirit when I read that all the dozens of little cousins are praying for me daily.

Love Elder West      

          

La familia Quintero

Another Chilean dog

Week 12: Dieciocho happened, and cambios

I´ll begin with some less spiritual things: our neighbors got robbed, we had two guardian dogs follow us around everywhere, I´m working the companionship phone right now (AHHHHH), and Happy Birthday Christian.

For Sept 18, Presidente Obeso told us to go to the activity in Puerto Aysen. The drive there is beautiful. It made me think a lot of the countryside in Walter Mitty and Lord of the Rings. 

At the activity we played dodgeball, listened to storytelling, watched people dance the Cueca a lot, and ate like crazy. We even played basketball!!! I dunked it and the Chileans were like "woooooooooow!" For the food, they had three half barrels filled with meat. They had tons of potatoes, soda, beef, chicken, sausages, hot dogs, Chilean salad, and everything else. We said a blessing, then it immediately turned into a brawl. I thought we would have an orderly line with plates, knives, spoons, cups, and everything. But no, how you do it is you attack the table, eat with your hands, and fend for yourself. We had meat juice running down our chins, and our hands were covered in it too. I ate till I hurt. It was awesome.

Cambios are here. I think they are called transfers in English. ELDER RYAN IS LEAVING ME. He will be a zone leader in Rahue. My new comp will come Wednesday. His name is Elder Lawton. When we found out that Elder Ryan would be a zone leader everyone in the house went berserk. Elder Ryan jumped and hit his head on the ceiling (Chilean ceiling) and the light fixture dropped and shattered on the floor which immediately silenced our energy. Haha, so funny.

Familia Opazo in our rama [branch] is amazing. They hold family home evening every Sunday night with someone who isn't a member.

God helped me feel I´m being successful when I read in Preach My Gospel that a successful missionary loves the people and desires their salvation. God also helped me see that I´m enjoying success, even if it isn't in the form of baptisms, because Elena and Evangelista came to church, and Josaline wants to be baptized, and Jonathan and Veronica are returning to church, along with familia Ovando.

I love my mission because I get to fulfill some of my deepest desires. I get to help and love people. I get to help them feel God’s love.

Heavenly Father helped me see how far my Spanish has come. We visited a menos activo that I visited in my first week here. I can understand her now. Yeah, come at me Spanish! I've been blessed to see that. Sometimes I absolutely know the gift of tongues is real, and then sometimes God lets me see my absolute dependence on him.

The two things that I've learned on my mission so far that Heavenly Father is teaching me are: Family is everything, and the atonement is real. Before my mission I knew that Christ suffered for us and knows exactly how I feel. But I didn't really see a point in why knowing how I felt was important. I now know. It is because in my first two weeks in the mission, in my little Gethsemane, that’s the only comfort I had. There was no relief for me. I just had to drink the bitter cup. But the only thing that gave me comfort was knowing that Christ was feeling it with me. I love my Savior.

3 Ne 5:13

Elder West

To the family:

I’m sharing a blessing I got this week.

God knows what I need to do to be who I need to become. He knows how I feel. He loves me. As I am obedient and do all I can with learning the language I’ll be blessed tremendously. God knows my desires. My very strong desires. As I set goals and make plans he will support me in every aspect. He knows my desires to communicate, speak, teach, share thoughts, feelings, and all. He is so proud of me. Just like Dad. I was sent here to become who God needs me to become. I will have health and strength through my whole mission. As I lose myself in the work and do my best, my family will be taken care of. I don’t need to worry about that in anyway. They’ll be just like normal when I get back. The Lord will provide a way in all things.

I love you all so much.

Mom: thanks for updating me about Kevin and the family. I really appreciate your example to me. You have prepared me so much for my mission and for loving the people here. So many times I have doubts, or fears. And then I remember your counsel to me. I have a stripling warrior mother. I don’t doubt anything because I know you know it. I love you.

Dad: last week you told me you see me as a man now. That’s really all I could think about for a few days. That means the world to me. I love you so much. Thank you for the BYU updates. I need those. And yes, your disappointments sound familiar. More people listen to us than to you, but I’m hungry and putting on weight at the same time haha. I’m learning a lot out here. Thank you for your example. I’m humbled that I can help carry on the missionary legacy in our family. I want to help you complete your goal of this. I have remembered so much of your counsel and it has helped me. Thanks for always cleaning stuff. I’m like you in that sense out here. You’ve prepared me to be a man and mature for the mission. I love you.

Week 11: My p-day was cooler than yours

We went to Cerro Castillo! But it was super snowy and cloudy so we couldn´t see it but we visited some other cool places. Chile is beautiful. Sometimes it hits me so hard that I’m serving in Patagonia. #blessed

Elena (less active) and Evangelista (investigator) came to church! That’s huge because it is hard for us to get them to read or pray but at least they are starting to form an identity of themselves as church going people.

Hermana Isabel (less active) is basically active now which makes me so happy!

Jordana moved out but she will be baptized in Centro. I just know it.

Josaline cancelled a work trip so she could start going to church so she can be baptized. 

Victor Vargaz is a member that is just golden. He never fails us. He sacrifices so much. He just moved back to Osorno with his family. Happy for him but he was such a strength.

Jose is a recent convert with a heavy accent. He said something to me and I didn’t understand. We had him repeat it back slower, and it made it that much harder. Hilarious. Sometimes I feel so lost, but the language really is coming along. I can understand the direction of a conversation now. I can talk well enough, and I can teach. I may not speak perfectly but they understand. Yesterday I asked someone if they wanted me to close their gate, but I didn’t use subjunctive, so it literally translated to "do you want to close me?" ha-ha. I laugh at myself sometimes. 

I´m so happy. I´ve never been happier. I´m growing more and more focused on the people we are helping, and that just makes me so much more happy.

Missions are awesome because of that.

Someone said they were stressed and I told them "I just pray for patience, eat manjar, and everything works itself out." Elder Ryan and Peterson thought that was funny. I was half joking.

Our zone leaders that we live with (Elder Bustamante and Peterson) have a ringtone for when president Obeso calls. It is O Fortuna. Which is that dramatic doomsday choir song. They’re like "OH NO, its President!" when it goes off and I die laughing.

The weather here is a lot like Utah, it’s alright and then it’s snowing the next. The stars here are BEAUTIFUL. There’s not really any light pollution and they are so clear.

I´m kind of like the mom of the house here. I always do everyone’s dishes. :)

It hit me so hard that I´m almost 19. I forgot about my age.

The other night elder Bustamante and I sang hymns and played the guitar and I harmonized. I haven’t felt more relaxed on my mission. I love singing.

For the day of world service the church had on the 12^th, we did all of the yard work for a health clinic here.

The other day the spirit comforted me because I was frustrated with the language. It basically boiled down to "Jacob, you don’t need to speak Spanish in order to walk, serve, knock doors, eat, exercise, get ready, love people, study, prepare for lessons, plan, or really anything. And when you need to speak in lessons, you´re blessed with the gift of tongues." That comforted me. Also Ether 12 vs 37 when it says “you have been faithful, therefore your garments shall be made clean, and because you have seen your weakness, you will be strengthened." that hit me so hard in church when I read it. I know it is true.

I want to share with you Alma 32. Use it. I read the chapter with the desire and question of how can I have the faith to see people and myself change. I now have my answer. Take your righteous desires and questions to that chapter. 

I love you all! Please read your scriptures, pray every day, and go to church. 

Alma 38 vs 5

Elder West

Sent from a rented Chilean computer

[Explanatory note: Jacob and his companion sometimes get emails which have the “Sent from my IPhone” message at the bottom.  This is a humorous play on that message.]

Answers to Mom’s questions:

Breakfasts for me are rice, or egg sandwich, or oatmeal.

Thanks for the 200. I need to pay for a district sweater, our trip to Cerro Castillo, and so I will use the money for that.

They have stuff like Pero here. We drink herbal tea or that stuff like Pero.

Our branch has 1500 members, but 40 come on average.

We haven’t found a house and the members say it’s dangerous to live alone. About 3 years ago an elder woke up with a guy on top of him trying to stab him. So that’s why we live together.

We buy food at Unimarc which is a small grocery store.

Please, please send meal ideas and also recopies that can be made fast and cheap. Thanks! love you.