Bautismo

This week we traveled to Castro twice. Once for district council and again for zone council. There are three new elders being trained in the zone. One is from Hawaii, and we have clicked super well. Once he found out I have 7 months in the mission, he asked me how it felt. Why are you asking me?!?! Haha. Ask the other dude who has 1 cambio left! I feel for the new elders so much because the beginning of my mission was the hardest time of my life. Just like it is for everyone else.

We are working with Richard and Paula. We are helping Paula get divorced with a former husband so she can get married to Richard. Richard is investigating. He came to church yesterday. And in the gospel principles class, he said he wants his 4 year old son to serve a mission!!! Richard wants to be baptized. We are helping him stop smoking. The only downer is the process with the lawyers to get them divorced takes time and we don’t have any control over that so we can’t put him with fecha. But he is so good!

We are helping Luis and Julia get married. Julia is the investigator. She has prayed about marriage and is waiting on an answer. Luis wants to straight up get married. Yyyyyeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh buddy!

This week we passed by a member of our branch. She is a widow. We cut her wood every 3 days. She is 84. We talked with her for a while this time. She told us that she is struggling with depression, she misses her husband, her son is a drunk that gets angry fast and she does everything for him (he is like a little kid). Her daughter left the house and her mom with lots of bills and debt to pay off.  This sister can’t leave the house because of her health. We cut her wood, and then pulled out some chairs and shared something with her outside. Right when we ended, the rain started. Not a coincidence. It was so good to hear her testimony. She cherishes this gospel. Great lady, and I felt the Spirit super strong.

Yesterday we visited a less active. Her husband works in the sea, so he is gone a lot. She can’t read. Which means she can’t read the scriptures. She has a very complicated family situation, but we were able to share Doctrine and Covenants 100:15 to help her. She just needed someone to listen to her and read the scriptures with her. Such a blessing to be a missionary and do what Christ would.

Nicole is progressing well. Still going strong for the 27 of February for her baptismal fecha. She read the law of chastity, word of wisdom, and gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlets in one sitting!!!!!!!!!! No one reads ONE. And she read THREE, and all in the same day!! Crazy!! So prepared. She stopped drinking coffee when she heard it was wrong, even before we taught her. So she started drinking tea to replace that, haha. Once she found out about tea, she stopped drinking it in a heartbeat. Her evangelico parents are happy that she is getting baptized and support her decision. They will come down for her baptism from Puerto Montte.

On Friday, a man called us up and asked if he could come out and work with us. Turns out he is from Coyhaique. Turns out he was the zone leaders’ investigator. Turns out he was a guy Elder Lawton and I contacted!!! Crazy! We found him outside of our house. He has back problems and walks with a cane. He fell one day, and couldn’t get back up. His cane was out of reach, and dogs were biting him. Elder Lawton and I found him, and helped him up. As we were working, he said he knows the church is true. But he still isn’t married with his pareja, so he can’t get baptized. But way good guy. He helped us out Friday with citas and all of Saturday cleaning the church and filling the font.

The familia Carrillo-Lemus. LOVE THEM. This is a family I will never forget. This week we were with Hno Mario. HE ASKED US FOR THE SPIRITUAL THOUGHT!!  Then we talked about him going to the temple with his family. He committed to begin on that. Complete miracle. We gave him a form that the Church has that shows all of the steps to get to that point. The form is called the “hoja del templo”. The next cita with him, we planned a welcome home party for Catalina, Benjamin, and Claudia for when they go home from their travels. When they got home, we showed up an hour after. Hna Claudia told us that when they went to buy their bus tickets to Quellòn from Viña del Mar, there weren’t any until the 9th, 3 days after Catalina’s baptism. A few minutes later, she got a call saying that there were EXACTLY THREE SEATS AVAILABLE. When Catalina heard that, she told her mom that she had offered a prayer and asked Heavenly Father if he wanted her to get baptized on the 6th that He would give them seats home. Right after the prayer, 3 seats became available. Miracle. Anyway, we were with them in their house after they got home, and Hna Claudia told us that her inactive mom told her about how women aren’t appreciated in the church, how they are slaves to the men, they don’t have rights, and other ugly things. Claudia said a prayer. The next day they went to church and the bishop in Viña del Mar gave a lesson to the Relief Society about a talk from President Hinckley about the value of women in our lives. THE TALK WAS JUST FOR HER. Miracle. Anyhow, we are with them in their house talking. Catalina tries on the baptismal clothes and they fit perfect. Then we talk more. Then Elder Torres says, "Oh, Hno Mario isn’t there something that you wanted to show to Hna claudia? (wink wink, hint hint)." He then stands up, grabs the “hoja del templo”, hands it to Hna Claudia, and tells her that he wants to be sealed in the temple as a family. MIRACLE. She bursts into tears. The Spirit was so strong. I cried. I have never been more happy in my life.

The next day Catalina was baptized. Branch President Ojeda did it. Later that night, Hno Mario told Hna Claudia that he will come to church from now on and return to activity in the church. WWWHHHHHAAAAATTTT?!?!?! I can’t believe that we are seeing this miracle take place. I don’t deserve to be a part of this. But Heavenly Father is blessing me so much. I love this family with all of my heart.

The next day, I confirmed Catalina as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. A great experience.

I have no idea why I am being so blessed. This is a miracle. I am so grateful. Before my mission, I had a powerful experience where the Spirit told me there is a specific area that I need to serve in, and specific people I need to teach. I know that the familia Carrillo-Lemus is one of them.

Elder West

Estamos hecho polvopo!

This week has been ridiculous.

Monday we washed pigs. First we had to feed them. We dipped buckets into a vat of slop. Slop is water, and ANYTHING ELSE. For real. Rotten tomatoes, old french-fries, corn husks, mystery meat. Everything. Gagged when I saw it. We carried these buckets of slops to the pig pens to feed the beasts. While we are trying to pour it into their troughs the pigs were slamming their heads into the buckets so slop would fall. Sometimes more slop ended up on the pigs than in the troughs. I also now know what it means to eat like a pig. The pigs slammed their faces into the muck and made all kinds of noises. Once "the feeding" began, all the pigs started shrieking. Straight Jurassic Park. Never going to forget that.

My new companion is Elder Torres from Chiclayo, Peru. He is a straight bro! I haven’t laughed so hard my whole mission. Also, Elder Torres is obedient and kills himself working hard. We have seen a lot of success this week for our work and obedience. He is my first Latino companion. THE SPANISH NEVER STOPS. I have been getting humbled for that. But this kid is a rock star. He has about 10 months in the mission.

This week we were with a family. They let us in to teach. We chatted beforehand and laughed a lot because the grandma. Just the way she talks is super funny. She has died her hair red and says the most off colored things. Elder Torres asked if we could begin with a prayer, and she said "dèle no màs!”, which basically translates to "just give it already." We killed over laughing for about 5 minutes and after gaining composure we started the prayer. Halfway through, we lost it and laughed again. We finally finished the prayer. Funny experience.

This week, because they removed 2 missionaries, we now cover all of Quellòn. We have walked wayyyy too much. We are dead at the end of every day. But God has been blessing us with success. We put 3 people with baptismal fecha! Mattìas (16), Moisès (30ish), and Nicole (19).

Nicole is amazing. Her less active friend from Santiago told her about the church. Nicole has been investigating for a few years now. She has an evangelico background. Last week she just showed up to church all on her own. In gospel principles class we all introduced ourselves. She gave the normal info, then explained that she is looking for the truth and that is why she came to our church. We were all speechless. This week we put her with the baptismal fecha of 27 of Febuary.  Pres. Ojeda gave her a triple combination Book of Mormon, D y C, and Perla de Gran Precio. She has been calling US and asking US when we can meet with her. As we taught her the restoration and asked her if she feels it is true, she told us yes. She feels it is true. She told us that she feels her search for truth has come to an end and she wants to be baptized in our church. WOW. Golden. She went to Relief Society on Thursday and drank mate with the hermanas and said she feels like our congregation is a family. Perfect. I don’t know why God allows me to take part in such an amazing conversion process.

Mattias is 16 and told us that he felt super relaxed and at peace when he prayed about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. His fecha is 27 of Feb., but we will have to change it because he is leaving on vacations. Moises is a former investigator. He directs the choir and plays lead guitar for his evangelico church. He has read the Book of Mormon up until 3 Nephi before. He is set on getting an answer. With all of his time investigating, he hasn’t gotten one, but said if through his efforts God gives him one, he will be baptized for the 27 of February.

Our new district leader, Elder Bliss is super funny. On the day we put Mattias and Nicole with fechas and we told him on the phone during our daily verification, he screamed. The next day when we told him about Moises he screamed again. Love him.

We don’t deserve any of this success. Doing my best to keep my head down and work.

We passed by a less active during the week. He let us in. He was ordained an elder, baptized his sister, introduced the elders to his brother and they baptized him, and was going to be the first missionary from the branch of Quellòn. But he has fallen away. He now is living with a pareja and won’t come back. It gave me great pain to see that. A man who was enjoying the fullest blessings of the gospel is now on the polar opposite side. As we talked he acknowledged what he was doing was wrong. He wants to come back. But he told us it is too hard. I told him very directly why we were there and that what he was doing was wrong and God wants him back. I felt the Spirit very strong. Elder Torres shared Alma 34 about repenting NOW. Then we left the lesson. He didn’t want to act. Walking away, I started praying for him and broke into tears. Agency is so frustrating. I want to use mine well.

During the week, we passed by a recent convert named Karen. We talked a bit outside. As we asked her about her conversion process the conversation became more personal. We asked her how she felt about the apostasy when the elders taught her and if she understood it. We were super down and frustrated with the day and with rejection. Everything she said was a home run to the heart straight from the Spirit. She said it is never our fault if they don’t accept it, and that we teach well. If the investigator is ready and prepared then they will understand it and ask questions if they don’t. She was our missionary in that moment. Elder Torres and I were crying, we sang a hymn with her (at her suggestion), and then said a prayer. That was a massive tender mercy. Such a strong convert, strong testimony. I love Hna Karen.

Hna Claudia called us this week super exited. She told us that she, Catalina, and Benjamin were at the SANTIAGO TEMPLE!!!!!  After Catalina’s examines, they walked to the temple and read their scriptures. She was way too amped. I talked to Catalina and she said she felt super good and ready for her baptism. Yesterday we passed by her dad, Hno Mario, to give him baptismal invitations to pass out for Catalina`s baptism. We ended up talking for half an hour. Then we talked about his baptism (never has been that open enough before!!!) and then shared a scripture (that`s never been done either!!). Elder Torres was bold and took the lead on both of those. Then I asked a question about spiritual experiences and Hno Mario then told us about one. I’m not going to explain it out of respect for him, but we were crying. And throughout the process, hugged like 6 times. Love that man. God has been working on him and he is opening up. Miracle. I see them as a family in the temple someday. Catalina will be baptized this Saturday February 6 and confirmed February 7.

Thank you for all of your support. I love you guys. You are important to me. And I need you. This church is so true and this is God`s work. So grateful to see it happening.

Elder West

Baptismal interview and cambios

Benjamin and Catalina

This has been a full week. As always I’ll start with the less spiritual and then progress from there on.

Last pday I cooked Reece’s, rice, and hot fudge sauce. One of my more relaxing pdays. This one has been polar opposite, haha. We have walked all day around town so Elder Weech can say bye to the members here. He is leaving for Osorno to participate in all of the activities with the missionaries who are ending. And because he extended his mission he will serve 2 weeks in La Union.

Cambios: in Quellón there are 4 missionaries. In the mission our numbers have lowered from 200 to 190, so they have had to close some sectors. They are combining the two sectors here. Elder Weech and Elder Linton are leaving. Me and Elder Torres will stay here and hold down the fort. When we found that out, we were too amped. I love Elder Torrez. During my 2 week intercambio/sobrecambio in Coyhaique with Puerto Cisnes, we changed companions. I also was able to work with him one pday in Coyhaique, and we have lived here in the same house this cambio. He is super funny and we get along too great. Really going to enjoy this cambio. We will see a lot of baptisms here. Legit though. He works so hard and is obedient. I have been blessed to have Elder Weech as my companion. He has taught me so much about working through the members and references. And it was during this cambio that I arrived to feel like a real missionary. I know now more about my purpose and how to do it. The life of a missionary feels more normal now, kind of like it did in high school. Love Elder Weech. He has done so much for the rama [branch] here.

During this week, we were in Castro. I bought a milcao. A milcao is basically mashed potatoes in a huge ball and then fried. Apparently, it is the specialty of Chiloe. So I ate one. First bite felt like a really fat McDonald French fry. Afterwards, I wanted to throw up because of all the grease. Didn’t feel normal the rest of the day, haha. Also in Castro we saw a worldwide missionary capacitacion [training] from SLC. Super good. Cool to see all the missionaries in Utah with their iPads, dry-cleaned suits, padded chairs, talking about past baptisms, and speaking English, hahah. And then us. jk. Totally jk. Well at least about the baptisms part because there are some here.

This week Elder Weech and I made a document for Catalina’s parents to sign giving permission for a baptismal interview. It might become an official mission document because our mission doesn’t have one. We made it on the fly!

After making that document, it was already late and we had like 15 minutes before going to the house. So we knocked the nearest less active’s door just to pass the time. We are just two young punks but the Lord blessed us with a cita with the less active’s daughter and her nonmember boyfriend. Totally God´s work.

Yesterday, we had an asado with Pres. Ojeda and today we ate lunch with him. His confidence in us is building.

There was some contention between some missionaries in our house, so Elder Weech and I made crepes and chocolate sauce for breakfast. Everyone is now best friends. Service works wonders.

I taught 20 minutes in district meeting. Super fun. We talked about goals.

Tonight we have a noche de hogar with Hno. Antonio and Hna. Jacklyn who live in the "kind of campo." We had an asado with them on Christmas. We are going to wash their 10 massive pigs, woot woot!

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we set a cita with a guy and he turned out to be a preacher so we didn’t go to the cita. Well this week we were talking with Hno. Dias in his carniceria (meat store) and the preacher walks in. Once we saw him, we both thought "oh crud". But Elder Weech actually said it out loud. Haha. I tried not to laugh. He told us we failed the cita and that only men fail so we aren’t of God.  I said a silent prayer in my heart. No idea what to do. I was direct with him and told him we are here to baptize and he probably won’t want to be baptized so he isn’t in our focus. I stood as tall as I could. Being 6ft 4 sometimes doesn’t hurt. :) Then I thanked him for all the good he does in the community and how he helps people. That threw us onto "good vibes" territory, but it was still tense. We told him we had to go so he left.  I guess I tell this story to explain that God put words into my mouth that were not my own to protect the name of the Church and the work of salvation here in Quellón.

This week, I was talking with an elder. He was burdened with stress because of his leadership position. He told me that he is a horrible leader. That in every calling he has had (teachers quorum president and stuff like that), no one has ever wanted to follow him. The guy before him and the guy after him, the people follow, but never him. He tore himself apart in front of me. His thoughts were obviously not coming from the Spirit. I said another payer in my heart during the silence that followed to know what to say. I had no idea but I just opened my mouth. Again, God put words into my mouth. It is a special feeling as they come out. I told him of a blessing my dad had given me where he said that "a leader is just a good disciple of Jesus Christ." I explained to this elder that all he has ever done is try his best, he has never tried to do what’s wrong. He has only had good desires. As I spoke, I watched his eyes change. They softened, and I could see the Spirit working on him. His eyes filled with tears and he hugged and thanked me. Special experience sitting in a bus terminal.

CATALINA: we just barely said bye to them. They left for Santiago. Here is the situation. We went with Hno. Díaz to a cita this week. Her dad (Hno. Mario) answered the door, and we talked with him for several minutes. That is amazing because Hno. Mario has been pretty closed off. In a cita with Catalina, we did a practice baptismal interview. I asked the questions. That girl has a powerful testimony. I felt the Spirit so strong. What joy! The next day, she passed her interview with Elder Vega, our zone leader. He told me he wanted to cry during the interview as she told him of a spiritual experience she had. After the interview, we went to their house to have Hno. Mario sign the baptismal registro to give his permission. He did it! And then we talked for 30 minutes after. HUGE.  He is a pretty cool guy. In church on Sunday, we set a cita with Claudia and she invited the other elders too. That night, we cooked arroz con leche. Elder Torres, not knowing the situation with Hno. Mario, asked if he would join us because he was hiding in his room like normal. Claudia asked him and Hno. Mario came in!!! That whole night he talked with the four of us and we all laughed and had a great time with the family. The family is Benjamin, Catalina, Hno. Mario, and Hna. Claudia. I felt like I was with my own family. Bliss. It has been a complete miracle seeing Hno. Mario open himself up to us this week because in the beginning he wouldn’t even let the missionaries in the house. With time, he will come back to church and they will get sealed in the temple. I’m so humbled to take part in the conversion process of Catalina, reactivating Hna. Claudia, and just becoming a part of their family. Catalina will be baptized Feb 6 and confirmed the day after.

This week I started to read Jesus the Christ. That book blows my mind, and rocks me with the Spirit. I love it. It has helped me a lot.

Elder West

Doctrine and Covenants 100:15

Baptismal font that will soon be filled. We cleaned it and there were spider webs. It has been too long since there has been a baptism

House rest lifted

A Chilote house (on stilts)

Mis queridos!!!!!

So Tuesday the house rest was lifted and we have been able to work normally now. Elder Weech feels better because he is taking some medication to help with the pain. They said he has "calculos" which could be kidney stones. But we don’t know.

We went to Punta Lapas this week. It is the end of the Pan-American Highway. Super cool. Reminded me a lot of the Oregon coast- windy, cold, water, beautiful, salt smell.

Punta Lapas

I had an intercambio with my zone leader Elder Hughes. He is from Nevada. He is taller than I am. We ate completos for lunch, then worked hard. We gave two baptismal invitations, but they weren´t accepted. That’s ok. We did our part. During the intercambio, an hermano named Ronald worked with us. He works in Líder and called us to see if he could work with us even though it was his only day off in the week. Golden.

A few days ago, we passed by Hno Antonio y Hna Jacklyn to visit them. That’s the family we ate an asado with on Christmas. They live on the top of a forever long hill and have a ton of massive pigs. As we were climbing the hill, we could hear pig shrieks. When we got to the house, the hermanas told us to go to the pig barn. The familia Fernandez had just come, and they butchered a pig. We all grabbed a leg and carried it to the car so the familia Fernandez could take it home. Super heavy pig.

The other day, a guy in the street said hi to us. He looked a little too happy. We were waiting for someone to come to a cita with us. After a few minutes, the guy came back and started talking to us. I’ve learned in my mission that if someone wants to talk with you, and not the other way around, it often means they are either drunk or a pastor. He turned out to be the second. He kept pulling out all of these "examples" to help him make a point which he wasn’t doing very well, and he kept telling us parables from the Bible. Elder Weech talked with him. I said hi to people as they passed. The pastor asked me the answer to a parable. I remembered the answer because Dad had talked to me about that same parable a while back. Whipped out the right answer.

This week, I asked Elder Weech for a priesthood blessing because I have been feeling a lot of stress. It helped. Mom, Dad, Uncle Josh, your advice in letters helped me out a ton this week. I’ve made little cards to carry around with me that give ideas on how to deal with stress. That way I always have a resource with me. I’m marking up my scriptures so I have something to read also. The mission is really helping me out with stress. I’ll return super chill :)

Yesterday, we taught Hna Jacklyn and Antonio about preserving to the end. We set up a noche de hogar with them. We are going to bathe their pigs!!! While teaching them, I realized that I absolutely love these people. They are so humble and have such good desires. I love them.

Catalina leaves Santiago on the 24th. We taught her the plan of salvation this week. And during the lesson, she stopped us and told us that she got an answer to her prayer about joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. She said it was a warm feeling that felt good. Her mom started to cry. Tender moment. I couldn’t stop smiling. While teaching the plan of salvation, Claudia realized the importance of the fall of Adam and Eve. It was cool to see that light bulb go on. Tonight, we have a noche de hogar with Hna Jacklyn, Hno Antonio, the family of Pres. Ojeda, and Claudia, Catalina, and Benjamin. We are going to teach the ten commandments. Later this week, we will complete her teaching. She could honestly get baptized this weekend, but we will wait until after her surgery. But I think she will get her baptismal interview this week. So grateful to witness the conversion process of this beautiful family. Catalina has been reading and praying daily and going to church. She is so good!

Until next week,

Elder West

Que tal mis compadres?!

This week, I changed my exercises. They are harder now. Tuesday morning I drank too much water before and during my exercises and then felt sick. Haha. Go hard :)

Claudia and Catalina are going to Puerto Montt this week for a doctor appointment. We are feeding their cats. But their house is at the end of a road full of possessed dogs. They all hate us, and there are, no joke, like 13. Once we get past them we have to go through a gate and 3 more dogs. One is nice. One is small and mean. And the other is black and big. It is a touchy situation. The nice one jumps at you because he is glad you’re there, the small mean one tries to bite you, and the big black one gets right up in your grill. With him, it is weird. It is like pet or get bitten. And it has an ugly snotty nose, it is dirty, mangy, and has flea holes in its fur. Pet or get bitten. Don’t look, just pet. And then gag :)

I had an intercambio with Elder Linton this week. He is from Wyoming, has a year in the mission, played soccer and worked construction. He is a good missionary. We worked all day long and didn´t teach a soul. So tired. I hurt everywhere. But I was happy. I felt we should knock a house and we found a former investigator. We made other great contacts. To end the day, we were tracting by the beach front. We stopped for 30 minutes and took pictures and just watched the ocean because it was a really long day. Then on our way home, we ran into a family from Argentina vacationing here. Their accent was thick and I felt like I hadn’t learned Spanish for a bit. Also with Elder Linton, we were in the church checking for references on the internet. A guy knocked. We looked at each other, then answered the door. He was an inactive member, 25 years old. He asked us for a plan of salvation pamphlet. Then he asked us if we could teach him the lesson because he had forgotten it all. WOW. Not a coincidence that he walked by the church and knocked at that exact time. To add to it, I had just finished making lesson 2 diagrams to help teach visually the night before. I used them to help.

The next day, we went to the doctor because Elder Weech was in a lot of pain. The nurse put us under house rest for 5 days, but we could still leave and teach citas.

The daily verifications in our mission have changed. They are more focused on helping our investigatores progress towards baptism, and on the wellbeing of the missionaries. Yesterday, the mission fasted together for a 100 baptisms in a month. That is the mission goal this year. 100 baptisms in a month. That is basically one every companionship. Last month we had 40ish.

The situation with a girl we are teaching: Her baptismal date is for Feb 6. We need about 6 citas with her in 2 weeks to teach her everything, and she needs to complete all of her compromisos. To this point it has gone great. But her dad, who is inactive, seems against the church. He took her to the beach when we had a scheduled cita. Don’t know if that was on purpose or not. We need his written permission for her to be baptized. She will go to Santiago in 3 weeks for a surgery. She will come back and needs to have her baptismal interview soon. Glad I have Elder Weech guiding us through this. We are doing our best to use the members to help open up her dad. We are doing our part and trusting the rest to the Lord. We don’t want a baptism. We want a happy active family that will help this girl in her conversion for the rest of her life.

We taught a man and his pareja the other day. We taught the law of chastity. We found out he is leaving for a month to visit family so his fecha will fall. But we will still be working with them. During the lesson we were able to ask inspired questions. I felt the Spirit really strong. They are hesitant to get married. They didn’t accept a date to be married, but they said they would think about it. I know they felt the truth of our testimonies and what we taught.  We worked and worked to get them to accept a date for marriage but wouldn’t. Just then the neighbors started booming ¨knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door¨ by guns and roses. I smiled to myself. Super true. These people are so close. Tyler Anderson also came to my mind.

Elder Weech is in a lot of pain. Right before we taught the law of chastity lesson, he asked me what we were teaching when we had just talked about that like a minute before. He is improving, but I took the lead in that lesson.

I gave a talk yesterday on sacrifice. I did my best so I know God will make up the lack of my Spanish ability and help someone. I felt the Spirit as I gave my testimony. Afterwards, I was feeling down and self-conscious about my Spanish. In the second hour class, I read Doctrine and Covenants section 100. It calmed me down. Verse 1 comforted me about my family. Verses 12-13 and 15 helped me a lot too. I know God loves me and is helping me.

I love this work. I know God is real. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. And I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored church that Jesus Christ himself established when he was on the earth. I know it is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder West

Rocking 2016’s world!

I’ll start irreverent and then make it spiritual.

New Year’s and alcohol; wooooooooooot! Story time: within 5 minutes of leaving our house we had passed two groups of drunks. I saw a guy stacking crates of beer head high. People were walking down the streets with bags full of 12 packs of beer. Drunks who live by us had a Christmas tree outside COVERED in beer can ornaments and nothing more. They screamed rookie English at us. No kidding: on New Year’s, the drunks walked the streets like zombies. Some were passed out, others curled up in balls, others were doing the zombie street shuffle, some were moaning, some were quiet, some were shrieking. World war z. I’m not in Utah.

I now have 6 months in the mission, and the burnt orange ocean sunsets with docked boats and lush green grass are beautiful.

In a contact, I opened a person’s walnut with my teeth for her, haha. We also set a cita with a dude. Turns out he was a pastor. We barely avoided that trap. It has rained exactly on every p-day I have had here, haha. Last week, I was trunky after skype. But after a few days of hard work, it left for good.

The other day, we met a guy named Jorge in the street. He just came to Quellòn with only the clothes on his back trying to find work. We taught him lesson one in the street. Humble guy. We asked another contact (turned out to be a member from Castro) for a reference and she gave us 5! I can’t remember if I said, but Silvia went to Valdivia for vacations so her baptismal fecha [date] fell through.

We visited an inactive person as a reference from a member. She didn’t want anything and it was a little contentious. I felt to ask if we could say a prayer and if there was anything she would like us to pray for. I prayed for her family. After the spirit was there and we left as friends.

As we were walking home, we passed a bus stop. There was a guy. I saw him and felt I should talk to him but we were ending the day. We passed him by. I looked back and saw he was watching us walk away. I told Elder Weech we needed to go back and he said he had the prompting to talk to him too. We went back. He didn’t want anything. But we still talked with him. He was having a hard financial time and had a crummy Christmas. He looked super down in the dumps. I don’t know why, but I was worried he would take his life. We testified of God’s love for him. I felt the Spirit. We left him with a pass along card. Great experience.

We were teaching a less active family with a returned missionary member. Elder Weech and he were doing most of the talking because it wasn’t a planned situation and I was mostly quiet. Earlier that morning, I prayed and asked God to fill my mouth so that we could bless His children. I felt to share something. I shared Mosiah 2:41 and testified of the blessings of returning to church and my testimony of the temple and how much I miss it. I felt the Spirit super strong.

In our lesson with two investigators who are living together, we were teaching the law of chastity. Attacking the need. She wanted to be married because she has a strong catholic background. He didn’t see the point. We knelt with them to pray. They both took their own turn and offered a prayer out loud. During his prayer, I had the thought come to me to share my experience of running for student council and how I made that decision. After, I shared with them that I was considering running for class president back in high school, and it was a big deal to me. So I took it to God and the scriptures. I read Moroni 7 which President Packer nicknamed "the chapter of decisions." I shared that after writing down pros and cons, and praying, and then reading that chapter, the Spirit powerfully testified to me that it was God’s will to run. And it all ended out well in the end. Being class president was a great blessing. I left them with the commitment to do the same. God gives us personal experiences to help others. The gospel has real application in our lives.

Two days ago, we were knocking doors. It was pouring rain. We had had no success. We said a prayer and told God we were going to knock this whole street, and from that, we wanted 3 people to open their doors, and one person to accept a return cita. We prayed and expressed our love for the people of Chile and that we want to help them. Then we acted. In the end, 3 doors opened and one guy was OK if we came by later. Prayer answered. I know specific prayers are fulfilled.

Yesterday, we committed another person to a baptismal fecha.

Catalina and Claudia!!!! They came to church!! Claudia is the less active mom and Catalina is our 9 year old investigator. Claudia is dead serious about coming back. She is reading and praying and everything. In gospel principles class, she shared that it is scary coming back. But she does it because she knows it is right. She told her friends that she couldn’t do something with them because she had to go to church!! Catalina has a baptismal fecha of Feb 6. Last night we had a lesson. Catalina can draw so well and she made us Christmas presents. We gifted them candy. Claudia made us arroz con leche and chocolate. During the first vision part of the lesson, Claudia was crying. Powerful. I loved teaching Catalina. So fun. I felt like I was teaching my little siblings. We were laughing and learning. We have a family home evening with them tonight.

I love this gospel. Right now we are being blessed with more success. I love you all.

Elder West

Some more pics from Christmas

 

Diciembre 28, 2015

Hey. So Christmas happened.

On Tuesday before our leaders meeting in Castro we were able to go to Líder. Líder is Chilean Walmart. I entered and I wanted to cry. The halls were clean, the produce was fresh, and they had PEANUT BUTTER. Bought that in a heartbeat. While we were there a lady stopped us. She just moved from Santiago. She has been a member for 30 years and was wanting to get in touch with the missionaries so they could have Christmas dinner with them. We exchanged information and helped her know where the church is. God knew we would be in Líder. It is cool seeing those small ways that he is involved in our work.

For Christmas Eve we had a noche de hogar [family home evening] with la familia Eramos in the branch. When we got there were two other families from the ward there. It felt like a family reunion. We sang Christmas hymns and had a spiritual thought. Then we all shared our feelings about Jesus Christ. Afterwards we ate. There was a table full of cookies, candy, soda, everything unhealthy. They made a gingerbread nativity scene. They also had a drink called colamono which translates into monkey tail. Colamono is basically eggnog. Tasted just like it. Tender mercy. They cooked a giant 3’x 3’ pizza. They grilled meat. After we were sick from eating food from the table, they sat us down and threw a massive steak in front of us with a potato, longaniza, and a hotdog. Wayyyyy too much. Throughout the whole night, Hermano Alexis kept telling me "eat" whenever I stopped. He is a super funny guy. They had the elders wear Santa hats. Mine didn’t fit over my head. Then they gave us a Christmas stocking with candy, deodorant, soap, and a pair of socks (they know what missionaries need). Super happy night. When I got home I cut the last ring off of my Christmas countdown chain.

Christmas Eve

For Christmas we visited a family that lives at the top of Quellón. Super high up. Their house burned down about 6 months ago. They have had to rebuild everything. We shared a spiritual thought. Then we cooked an asado. An asado is basically a barbeque. They had already butchered a lamb, and it was just chillin on the table right next to us. Kind of distracting during our message, but funny. We put the lamb on a giant asadadore. An asadadore is basically a 12 ft long metal shish kabob. We built a bonfire and then put the asadadore next to it.  It cooked for about two hours while we turned it. While it was cooking we explored around the house. They have roosters, ducks, geese, everything. They showed us a house [barn] where they keep 20 pigs. And I’m talking PIGS. They are more like triceratops. They come up to my belly button. Huge. As we got near the house where they keep them, I could hear shrieks, grunts, everything. It sounded like they were housing dinosaurs. I took pics with some. A beast of a pig almost bit me in the back. As we left, I had splashes over my nice white shirt. We laughed pretty hard over that. With the asado, we would spread salt water with herbs over it and then cook it again. After, we sat down to a fat dinner and just ate. Super good. Love that family.

Christmas day

This week, I had an intercambio with my zone leader Elder Vega. He is serving in Castro. It was super good. It was raining super hard, but we still worked hard the whole day. We did so many contacts and walked till my legs fell off. The highlight of the day is that we were able to visit a hermano that had recently lost his job. We shared the Christmas video and a message about how Jesus Christ knows our struggles. I felt the Spirit.

After skype, I was super trunky. We went home, and I cried and wrote in my journal. This week, I have also been seeing a lot of my weaknesses. I feel weak. The mission isn’t easy. I’m anxious to learn, apply grow, gain members´ trust, do contacts, improve my Spanish, lose weight, be focused..... The list goes on and on. I was in a hole. I had a "collapse to your knees" prayer. I told God everything. After, I asked Him what he wanted me to know. I felt an overwhelming "I LOVE YOU" course through my veins. I also felt that God could see the sacrifices I have made to be here on the mission, that He appreciated them and that He saw them. I also felt Him reassure me that He will always fulfill promises that He has made. I felt prompted to ask for a blessing. I did. Elder Weech helped me out so much. I was blessed to know that my mission to this point hasn’t been a failure; I have touched and blessed lives in big and small ways; that I have changed significantly; that my family has been blessed; that I just have to do my best and I will grow, learn, and “become” in the Lord’s own timing. This church is true. I know it is. God loves us. I know He does. And He is working with me from where I am right now. Even when I feel week. Pondering Doctrine and Covenants 123:17 is helping me.

Elder West

Mission meeting in Puerto Montt with Elder Teixeira