I'm 20 now!

July 18, 2009 (I'm an old man now)

Hello my family! It has been another wonderful week here in the mission. And guess what? I'm 20 now! Crazy how fast time flies, huh?

Thank you so much for the emails and notes of love and encouragemente. I sure do appreciate how amazing my family is!

Well, first of all let me explain the pictures. First of all, I'm sending some pictures from the 4th of July that I neglected to send the past week. Sorry... We celebrated in the apartment of Elder and Sister Steed, the couple who work in the office with us. We had a great time with great food and decorations of the USA. It was lots of fun with us gringos (the Steeds, me, Elder Hansen, and Elder Shirley), but the two latinos (Elder Brandau from Chile and Elder Galli from Argentina) seemed a little uncomfortable with all the patriotic music and US flags.

That same 4th of July night, we took pictures from the balcony of our apartment. Isn't it awesome? I thought the pictures were nice.

I'm also sending pictures from my birthday. Elder Brandau made me a card, as did Elder and Sister Steed. When we got into the office, my desk was decorated with candy and a couple gifts. I got a tie and a Mission Chile Antofagasta tie pin from Elder and Sister Steed, as well as cookies and candy. Hermana Urra (the mission president's wife) gave me an awesome stuffed Armadillo and a bobble pen, and she also brought in a cake that we ate along with the candy and cookies. Today, for my P-day, were going out to lunch to TGIF Friday's. I'm pretty excited because I haven't eaten in a sit-down restaurant for my entire mission! I should be sending some pictures the next week if I remember. :)

This week has also been a little crazy because we're changing our entire system to the internet. It will be nice when we're all done, but the process is tons of work!

Oh yeah, I also started driving this week! How crazy to drive in the streets of Antofagasta. It's actually pretty fun. I'm driving a Ford Ranger, and there aren't really laws to driving. But, if you don't drive aggresively, you'll never make it to your destination. I'm glad I've had tons of practice driving aggresively in the roads of Albuquerque. :)

We also saw lots of miracles in our proselyting sector this week. The greatest miracle is to see one of God's children repent, make changes in his life, and become worthy to return to the presence of his Father in Heaven again. The experience of the mission is literally the greatest of my life, and so the greatest birthday present I receieved is the chance to testify of the truths that I know and help my chilean brothers and sisters receive the happiness that I have. That really is the purpose of this life, isn't it? :)

Saludos de tu hijo chileno

January 26, 2009: Saludos de tu hijo chileno (Greetings of your Chilean son)

¡Hola mis padres! ¿Cómo está la vida en albuquerque? Porque la vida en Chile no puede ser mejor. :) Esta semana pasada fue un poco difícil porque todos los miembros fueron a bolivia para asistir al templo. Pero, aprendí que el éxito de esta obra misional depende en los miembros y su trabajo! Es cierto, entonces ¡sigan adelante! :) Todovía no puedo creer que estoy hablando en español y, lo que es más, yo puedo entender (más o menos). Loco... Esta semana mi compañero y yo hemos visto muchos milagros de nuestro padre celestial. Voy a contarlos en inglés más adelante. Yo sé que mi español no es perfecto, pero tambien puedo ver mi progreso. Estoy muy agredecido por las bendiciones de Dios! Es verdad, papá, Dios nos ama y siempre está. ¡La iglesia es verdad!

Here is the babelfish translation:

Hello my parents! How it is the life in Albuquerque? Because the life in Chile cannot better be. :) This past week was a little difficult because all the members went to Bolivia to attend the temple. But, I learned that the success of this missionary work depends in the members and their work! It is certain, then they follow ahead! :) Todovía I cannot think that I am speaking in Spanish and, which is more, I can understand (more or less). Crazy person… This week my companion and I have seen many miracles of our celestial father. I am going to count them in English more ahead. I know that my Spanish is not perfect, but also can see my progress. Very I am agredecido by the blessings of God! It is truth, papa, God loves to us and always it is. The church is truth!

Okay, time to change my thoughts to English. How's everything going? I hope that babelfish does a good job of translating my Spanish for dad. :)

Wow, where do I start? Thank you for all your love and your emails; they are much appreciated! I loved reading the story of dad, Jared, and the floor. It's so true that we are blessed when we strive to do all we can to be obedient to the commandments we've been given. And I'm so happy that all is well at home! :) Tell Jared Happy Birthday for me! I'm giving him the gift of love for his birthday. LOVE

I'm sending some more pictures from last week. Sorry I'm not very original. I just thought you wanted some more pictures of the llama. Also, so that you don't get the idea that my mission is a paradise, I'm sending a picture from today so you can see the mountains of sand in the background. This is the real Chile Antofagasta mission. :)

Well, the Castellano (Spanish) is going good. Everyday I'm learning tons, and though it's hard to see the progress from day to day, I really can see that I've made a bit of progress from the time I left the MTC. ;) This week really has been miraculous. We taught one of our investigators who has been having a hard time with the decision to be baptized. As we taught him this week, we felt like we should teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ one more time. As we were teaching from 2 Nephi 31, the Spirit was powerful. I gave a baptismal challenge, and he said yes! Only, he wants to wait until his parents-in-law are in town (in March). Sadly, Elder Cañellas goes home February 15 (más o menos), so he has to miss out on this one. But, I feel so blessed to have taken part of this miracle. Missionary work rocks!

Also, we have had a challenge from our mission president to reactivate 3 male members in three months. It has been hard, but as we worked to complete this goal, we saw the miracles start coming again. We found inactive members in the most unlikely places. And guess what? We had 3 inactive members attend sacrament meeting yesterday! It's true that our Heavenly Father takes care of us as we are working for Him.

Well, I love life. Thanks for all you do for me. I will try to send better photos next time. We just spent all morning today cleaning, so there's not much to send. I love you all! Take care, and stay amazing!