February 16, 2015

Well cambios are a lot more stressful when you are a zone leader.

What happens is that the Tuesday morning of cambios everyone that is changing sectors, or picking up new missionaries meets in my old sector of Colloa in the Concepcion bus terminal... there we have to make sure that everyone leaves and comes when they need too.

It was crazy. I feel like every 6th Tuesday the people in the bus terminal hate us, because hundreds of missionary’s with hundreds of bags full up the place and make a missionary barricade causing serious traffic and delays.

A Hermana missed her bus, we couldn't find a group of elders, buses were delayed, disorder everywhere. BUT after a good 5 hours in the bus terminal all arrived safely to their sectors.

My new companion is awesome. He is from Oregon but moved to Utah for college. We are having a blast together.

We started insanity this week. It is a workout video that is the hardest thing in my life....

I AM SO SORE

But I am going to come back from the mission looking good! If I survive insanity... i am only 34 days into it but it is tough.

Elder Hancock my friend that I lived with in Cerro Verde ended his mission and came to visit tome with his parents. It was awesome to see him again! He lives in phx so we will definitely hang out after...

This week we revived permission from president to go to a ward activity in the middle of the forest to a river called Quillay. There the members stayed all day and swam and played... we didn’t do that. We stayed only for a couple hours to help out and plan some ward games and activities and get to know you games that were a lot of fun!

ALSO some of our investigators and a lot of our less actives that we are working with came too!

This week in tome is the week of TOMECINOS

It is a celebration of the city of Tome. We live in the center of the city and had to listen to fireworks, music and people shouting outside of our apartment all week long. The city is trashed with confetti and glitter.

We are going to have 2 baptisms on March 7 in a river! Hooray!

February 10, 2015

Well my first cambio has rolled by here in tome and the Zone is changing dramatically.

-half the zone is going to be training newbies

-Elder Ainge is going to Lianares, the farthest sector north of the mission to die in peace training (he has 8 weeks left...)

And my new companion is named elder Hoops!

 I am very excited to work with all the new people in my zone

One of my favorite parts of being a zone leader is the chance that I have to do mini cambios or exchanges with a lot of people. This way I can get to know different sectors, different people, different missionaries and different ways to teach and work. This week I had the chance to go to a very touristic city called Ditchato... it is very famous because that place was one of the most effected from the earthquake of 2010. When it hit the city it was completely wiped out and covered by the ocean, and many houses, cars and even people were sweaped back into the sea. Tragic...

But now it is back in action and a hot spot for vacationing Chileans because it is very beautiful.

I had the mini cambio with Elder Incil, from Peru! He is a great missionary and works very hard.

 But the bad part was during the cambio we were walking through the town square and I got attacked/molested by a clown mime...

I was just walking minding my own business and this mime who was doing an act in the middle of the street stop what he was doing when he saw me, ran up and hugged me and wouldn’t let go. Everyone who was around started to laugh so he went even farther and tried to kiss me. He was really going in for it so I put my mission plaque up to my lips just in time and he kissed that instead. I pushed him away and he fell to his knees and hugged my legs... and I pushed him away again and ran out of there... he then ran after me and squeezed my butt.

Mime clowns suck.

I also had a mini cambio this week with a new missionary named elder Rojas from Santiago.

He is a missionary with a powerful 7, we had a lesson with a new less active that we found and she was explaining that she couldn’t go to church because she lives far and has bad joints. Elder Rojas then explained to her that he was diagnosed with arthritis when he was six and lives with pain almost every day BUT has received health and strength through living the gospel principles... She then committed to go to church.

The knowledge of what we know of Christ and his gospel gives us power to do good and to help others that have fallen.

I love a scripture that is in Jacob 1: 7 Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest...

That is the reason why we are here.

Here are some pictures of Collao that I found during Christmas that I don’t think I posted... and of my mini cambio with Elder Rojas and Elder Incil...

And a Hermana in my zone is leaving... so after our zone class we had some cake... and even made her a grave stone... Hermana Mendoza is going back to her house in Honduras.

Feb. 2, 2015

The struggle is real with the less actives in Tome. Seems like everyone and their neighbors have their complaints and sob stories and criticisms... but none of that matters to me. I'm not a therapist I'm a missionary... if you want to talk about how unjust the world and its people are go talk to Judge Judy... 'Caso cerrado'. (Case closed)

I am here to talk about God, and his infinite love for all of us.

We can't love God without loving his commandments.

And that's all I have to say about that.

This week I got to have 2 mini cambios.

One with Elder Santos a big Brazilian black guy in my Zone, and the other with Elder Calder, the president’s assistant.

 "IF you do today what others won't, you can accomplish tomorrow what others can't.” -Dan Clark

Sorry that's all I can say this week. Love you!

Jan 27, 2015

Hello friends and family,

Hope you are all doing well. I’m doing great so don’t you worry.

This week we have been working with the members to find new people to teach and everything seems to be going rather slow to be honest.

The problem is not finding people to teach, because we could go out and talk to everyone and knock on some doors and find a lot of people. But that’s not we want.

We are focused on helping the members find, teach and participate in mission work.

Even working with the less active members is though the members, now, we don’t go out looking for members less actives but we need to go through the organizations and work through their focus group. This type of work requires a lot more planning and a lot more order, but I know it is more effective.

The right way is more often than naught one of the harder ways.

This week we had a ward activity! Karaoke night! It was a lot of fun (even though not many people here have singing skills)

Some things that I learned in my studies this week....

- Prayer is more important than sleep.

-if the consequences suck, it was a stupid decision

-if doing what’s right is hard work, does it anyway because you deserve the struggle. But don’t fear a hard task or a struggle, because after pain comes gain.

-have confidence in yourself. You are a lot greater than you think, and if you’re not, your potential is. So have confidence in the potential you.

Just some words of wisdom from a humble missionary.

Love you family.

I haven’t taken that many pic... sorry...

But let’s play a game...

I spy... the Mormon Church!

(It’s pretty easy to spot)

January 19, 2015

With this new vision that we have in the mission Chile Concepcion we have been working a lot with the less actives and members... I think that working this way is a lot more efficient and a lot more effective... We have been planning family home evenings and activities so that the members can invite their friends and less active families that they know. We have been seeing a lot of success through working this way.

I know that this is the Lords work and not our own... All usually all goes well when we look for the will of the Lord and not our own.

This week we had a zone conference and saw the movie meet the Mormons! It was pretty good but the Spanish voice over was a little off... I want to travel the world and do service projects like that guy does in Nepal. It’s officially on my bucket list.

This week we are going to have a karaoke night ward activity... get your cameras ready ladies and gentleman... it going to be huge!

This week I heard a quote that I like that said, "We are the results of our decisions"

It is a great responsibility and privilege that we have; the ability decide, to use our agency how we want to.

But we will gain traits, attributes, habits and qualities based on how we choose and how we act.

We are who we are based on what we decide.

If you want to be good decided good.

If you decide to do stupid things... your stupid

If you want to be like Christ. Decide to follow him.

Simple as pie.

January 12, 2015

Here in Tomé town we have been trooping along, doing what we do best: the Work of the Lord

This week...

I had a mini-cambio with an Elder Edwards, a new missionary from Gilbert AZ! He has about 5 months on the mission and doing awesome. He is a really great missionary and has so many desires to improve himself.

I think that is one of the secrets to the mission, and to life in general; always have the desire to learn more, do more, and gain more. Now I’m not talking about consumerism here, not more things material, but things eternal.

Remember...

D&C 130

18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

 19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

Also, just for a warning...

D&C 131:6  It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance.

-We also woke up early to run at the beach and found sea lions chilling on the shore... I got so close enough to touch it but then it saw me, turned around, roared. I was surprised how similar the roar was from what I remember from the Lion King... they really are the lions of the sea (just really fat and lazy)

- This week we worked with the members and leaders of the church to create a mission plan for the ward! We are so excited to start applying these ideas and plans into our daily work. Our vision is to have an average of 200 active members by the end of the year... that’s doubling our numbers in 1 year... difficult, but not impossible with team work and FAITH.

-I gave a talk this week in church about the importance of being nourished by the good work of God and I love the scripture found in D&C 88:76-79

 76 Also, I give unto you a commandment that ye shall continue in prayer and fasting from this time forth.

 77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.

 78 Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

 79 Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—

The work of God is the ultimate truth. What power it gives us right? I love it

- THE CONCEPCION CUP. We had a rugged tournament of dodge ball today with 6 other zones...I am sad to say our zone didn’t win but we still had fun and pegged a lot of people.

We won 4 out of the 6 games that we played... not bad right?

It reminded me of sophomore and junior year when CDO had their dodge ball tournament. Good times right.

- We have a new investigator from Colombia, named Joanna; she is going to be baptized 7 of Feb.

Her hair is so long, it goes down to her knees. She has already read half of the book of Mormon and loves it.

I have such a strong testimony that God speaks to us through the scriptures the bible and the book of Mormon. I know that WHOEVER wants to know  if the book  of Mormon is true only needs to read it, pray to God our father with real intent, with faith and with a sincere heart and He will make it known unto to you.

Millions have done it.

Millions know.

I am one of those people and will stand as a witness of the truth of this gospel forever.

I love you family and friends,

 Oh and btw… I only have 1 hour to write and do zone leader paperwork on the computer. So there is not much time to write my friends... so sorry! But I will try my best...

January 5, 2015

Now I am in Tomé and I am loving it here. It is so beautiful. But HUGE. And there are so many hills to climb. This sector is famous for having the biggest and steepest hills in the whole mission.

Seriously Google map this... there's a community in Tome called Cerro Santo. And a road that goes straight up for at least a mile. When you drive up it feels like you are taking off in an airplane and when you walk up it you just want to fall over and die. My thighs are burning just at the thought of it. But I have a goal to run to the top before I leave Tomé.

My new companion is Elder Ainge, a basketball player at BYU, His dad is the manager of the Celtics team in Boston. Sweet right.

We are working really hard in our sector and trying to unite ourselves with the members as much as possible. In our Zone and in the mission in general we are changing the focus completely. All the work we do now needs to be with the members. The stereotype missionary that knocks on doors and works alone is dying out. We need to be with the members working and strengthening from the inside out.  If we just baptize and leave we are just making room for more less actives. Just like President Hinckley said every convert needs a friend in church, an assignment, and to be nourished by the Good word of God. Only with the members we can do that.

This week with the bishop and the ward leader we created a new mission plan. It’s a good one. I am excited to get started

The stake has challenged our ward to double the attendance in church by the end of this New Year. We have on average 100 people coming every week. So by the end of the year we have a goal of 200. The secret to this is working through the less actives.

There are so many less actives here in this place. 50% of the people we talked to on the street have been baptized into the church but don't go. It’s shocking.

To give you a better idea... In our ward alone, in the records of the church show that there are 1247 members...but only 100 come every week. We got a lot of work to do boys.

This week we woke up in the morning and ran on the beach. It’s like a 2 min jog there.

Seriously this sector has on old town California feel to it. I LOVE IT

Here are some pics from the week.

Oh and happy New Year. Almost forgot