Not another crazy lady!

August 29, 2009 (Sprint clean-up)

Thanks so much for the emails! I really enjoyed reading them! We've been really great here in Antofagasta. I think we're finally getting into spring, but I can't really tell because it's basically the same as always -- perfect (even though it's dry and brown). We've been working pretty hard here in the office and over in our sector, and the work is going super good.

Let's see, first I think you all deserve an explanation of the pictures. Well, I think I told you about the whole incident with the crazy lady who speaks English and who was accusing the Elders of breaking into her house, poisoning her water, breaking her washing machine, etc, etc. We had to move the Elders out of the house immediately, and so this week we've been working to move everything out, close our contract, and all that fun stuff. We went over on Monday to clean out the house, and we got tons of help from all the missionaries. It was a ton of work.

As it turns out, the crazy lady fled from the city. But, she poisoned all the neighbors with lies about the missionaries, so we still had to move them. We found them a new house with one of the members, and it's all good now. The only thing is that now we have to pay about $200,000 pesos for all the repairs that need to be done to the old house they were renting (after a bunch of years, I guess things get pretty worn down, as seen in the pictures). The walls are pretty nasty, the floors are broken, and a lot of things need to be replaced. I'm letting the real estate company work with all that, and I'll just pay them the difference. We have a $120,000 security deposit on the house, so I shouldn’t have to pay too much more…

This week, we also had a random Jehovah’s Witness attend church. I think all returned missionaries know what kind of miracle this is. We started teaching him, and he is really receptive to the gospel. The thing I love about the Jehovah’s Witnesses is that they have such huge knowledge about the bible. So, we can use lots of bible stories to show the organization of the church and explain even more clearly the need for a restoration. So, when he gets baptized, he can be our new Gospel Principles teacher. :)

We also have a baptism today! I’ll be baptized Erika Oblitas. I’m pretty excited; it’s been some time that I haven’t had a baptism. It seems like there are many who are called to reap and others who are called to sow. I don’t mind sowing, but it sure is nice to reap once in a while. I really have grown to love the Chilean people and the culture down here in South America. I love the work and I am grateful for every chance that I get to help the people here have more faith and hope in their lives. I am especially grateful for all that you guys do for me and for your support – you don’t know how much it means to me! Thank you so much!

As for driving in Antofagasta, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. It scares me to death.

Well, that’s about it. Jacob, congratulations on your scholarship! You deserve tons of money for your crazy smartness. It blows my mind. Thanks Jess for your email! I really loved reading about all your adventures there in Houston. :) Y muchas gracias Jenny por tu email; me gustó mucho, especialmente porque por fin puedo entender todo. Esto es un milagro. ¡Estoy muy animado para hablar contigo en español y con mi sobrino y mis hermanos cuando yo regrese! Va a ser muy emocionante.

Amazing missionary stories

August 22, 2009 (Office/missionary work)

We've been working like crazy here in the mission. This week, we've had many things to do, especially here in the office. There's been a lot of moving after all the incidents with crazy people in weeks past. And, it's my job to make all the contracts and do all the legal work. It's pretty interesting to learn, but it sure is a ton of work.

It's always great to hear from all of you! Thanks for your testimonies and your support. I sure do love my family. :) This coming week, we are going to have 2 baptisms (if everything goes well with the baptismal interviews). Erica is the mom and Nicole is her 9 year old daughter. They were the sister's investigators before the sister's sector was closed and they had to leave. We took over the teaching, and they are just awesome! Nicole has lots of little friends in her primary class, and Erica loves taking her children to church and learning with them. They've been keeping all of their commitments, and it will be an awesome Saturday a week from today.

Another good experience was teaching an investigator named Leciram. She is 18 and has a boyfriend who is a member in our ward. She was also meeting with the sisters before they left. We taught her this week, and Leciram, who didn't really believe too much in God before the sisters found her, now has a really strong testimony of the gospel and all the truths that we are teaching. Her only real doubt was why women in the church have to wear skirts on Sunday. (She attends church every week but has never come in dress clothes). Luckily, one of the advantages of being in the office is that we can easily print of Liahona articles. So, we printed off a couple articles (including one from a New Era that I had to translate) and gave them to Leciram on Thursday. She read just a part of the translation, said, "Oh. That makes a lot of sense," and then committed to wearing a skirt on Sunday instead of jeans. Her boyfriend was pretty happy. Now, we just have to help her be baptized! She wants to be baptized, but her family is against it. She can if she wants to, but we have to be really careful because the family is super important, and we don't want to hurt their feelings or offend them in any way.

I wish I had all the time in the world to share some of the amazing stories from the mission! The people are amazing, and I am so grateful for the chance I have to serve them every day. I am sending a fun little joke that my companion, Elder Brandau, and I recorded to send to his family. It is about Pinochet, a military leader and revolutionist back in the 70s. I don't know if you'll get it, but I thought it was pretty funny. Just to let you know, there is a really famous saying from the time of Pinochet: ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!

Well, I think that's about it for now. I want to write more, but we don't have time! I'm gonna try to write more next time and have some good stories/pictures. We'll see how it goes. I love you all! Have a wonderful week, and make sure to write! :)

Pictures says 1000 words

August 15, 2009 (P-Day on the Beach)

I'm sorry I can't write to everyone individually; we just got back from our P-day activity, and my companion and I have to get out to an appointment that we have with an awesome investigator!

But, as a picture says 1000 words, I'll just go ahead and some some photos. Today, after a thorough cleaning of our apartment, Elder Shirley and Elder Romero (the APs), Hermana Urra (President Urra's wife), Hermana Zamudio and Hermana Quiroz, and Elder Brandau and I headed off to a nice little beach to have a P-day activity. Just this week, Hermana Quiroz got news from her family that her brother had passed away. So, we had this little activity today to help pick up their spirits! We played a little ball (football, fútbol, and volley ball), ate choripán (little red sausages common here in Chile), and built a sand-castle temple. It was pretty fun!

This week has been filled with work. It's pretty tough to balance all the work here in the office and in our proselyting sector, but I can feel our Heavenly Father's help every day! There are days when both my companion and I are mentally drained from our work in the morning, but the moment in which we enter a house to teach, the spirit gives us the extra energy that we need to make it to the end of the day. And what's more, we're happy! There really are little miracles in every aspect of the Lord's work. I love this mission!

Let's see, this week lots of things happened. We had to deal with angry people wanting money that wasn't theirs, I had to translate our entire Zone Conference to English (that was pretty crazy), we have tons of investigators who are progressing towards baptism, lots of inactive members have returned to church, and my companion thinks he's going to jail for writing a date in one of the missionaries passports. Ah, the mission office! Isn't it great?

Life in Antofagasta

August 8, 2009 (Crazy lady or prisoner?)

Thanks for always writing and think of me! How is everything going back in the states? Is it pretty hot? Rainy? Perfect? I was looking at google maps yesterday, and I was showing my companion Élder Brandau where I lived, and I almost forgot the street names! It was pretty weird. It seems like I've been living in Antofagasta and Chile forever. I can't believe how time flies so fast.

I'm sending some pictures, first from Élder Rivas in Copiapó of two of my investigators (and their families) who were baptized shortly after I left: Carlos and Katherine. The other pictures are in the apartment of Élder and Sister Steed, where we ate last Saturday. We watched National Treasure and had this awesome lunch as a goodbye party for Élder Hansen and Élder Galli, who both left the office this week to work as Zone leaders in the mission. That means I'm all by myself as the financer of the mission! Ahhh!

It's been a pretty crazy week. We've been super busy here in the office and in our sector, Antofagasta Centro. Some of the work here in the office is just strange. For example, there is a lady who always comes in because she shares the water and light bills with a couple of our missionaries. However, I'm pretty sure that she has some kind of psychosis because she has been telling us that the missionaries have been entering into her house and breaking things, even though there are different entrances for both parts of the house and the missionaries don't have keys. This has been going on for some time, but just this week the lady (who speaks English) came in and got really defensive when we tried to speak with her; she refused to speak to us because we are "too young to understand anything." She spoke with Élder and Sister Steed here in the office, and she told them that things were getting worse and that she wanted to speak with our mission president. She hoped Élder Steed would talk with our president, even after we explained that Élder Steed doesn't speak Spanish and our President doesn't speak English.

The crazy lady called a little bit later and said that she was a prisoner in her own home, that the missionaries were holding her hostage, that she was afraid to leave her house to go and buy bread, etc. She said that the missionaries poisoned her water, broke her washing machine, poured oil in her toaster, and the like. So, after speaking with the mission president, we've decided to take the missionaries out of the apartment and away from the crazy lady, so with only one day's notice they'll be leaving. That's what we'll be doing today for our P-day activity! :)

I'm really enjoying the mission. This week, we've been trying to work with all the investigators that the sisters left us. We haven't had too much time to leave and work in our sector, especially with all the transfers, the zone leader counsel, and all that jazz, but we have got in some good work here in the office. And today, we are going to go and teach many new families! We have lots of appointments piled up in the next couple of days. Yay!

Well, I don't have much more to say other than the church is true! Missionary work is the greatest. I love you all so much, and I really do want to send more things out by hand and to individuals, but my time is getting so limited it's extremely difficult to even write in my journal! I'm trying to make up for it with my emails, but I'll try to be even better about writing out letters and all that.

Package received!

August 1, 2009 (another week)

Thanks for the letters this week! And thank you SO MUCH for the package in the mail! It was awesome to see the pictures from Jacob and Shauna's wedding, almost like I was there. And the chocolate was amazing, though as you could probably guess, it didn't last very long. :) I think the chocolate all melted, but it re-hardened because we're in the middle of the winter here, so all was well. MMmmmm.....

The mission life is going great. I'm sending a picture of when there was a concert blasting all night right outside of our apartment in the Hotel Antofagasta. I'm also sending one of our zone here in Antofagasta and one at the mission home where we had an activity with all the Elderes learning how to make empanadas. The food was SO GOOD! I didn't take any pictures, as I forgot my camara, so I'll have to ask my companions for the photos.

Man, what a great week! We've been working like crazy this week, both in our sector and in the office. It's the week of transfers, so we have to keep that in mind as we make all the different payments and everything. It's quite a lot of work! But, I'm finally getting used to the work here in the office. This coming Monday, my financial trainer will leave to be a zone leader in Arica, so I'll be working alone. Also, the sister missionaries that were working in our ward are leaving, so Elder Brandau and I will be all alone in our sector! Our sector is huge and there is plenty of work, so now it's even more important that we finish our office work quickly and efficiently to take advantage of our time in the sector. And, we now have all of the investigators of the sisters, which means we have tons! I think we have 7 investigators with baptismal dates now, so we'll have to get to know everyone quickly to work effectively here in Antofagasta Centro.

Wow, I'm pretty tired. I really do hope this email makes sense. We were at TurBus until 1:00am buying bus passes for all the missionaries last night. And now, I have to start on changing all the info in our system to make payments to the missionaries. But, even with the trials and difficulties of this life, I can really feel the help of my Heavenly Father, especially when we get to work in our sector. We seem to be able to find investigators and teach much more efficiently so that we finish a full day's work in only half a day. It's pretty crazy.

We also have tons of amazing investigators, and we're working a lot with the less active members. One less active family came to church last Sunday, and it was a real miracle. The family had been sealed in the temple, but they moved away from the church because of an incident with one of their family members and the bishop. It was a painful experience for them. Now, the father is a minister of an evangelical church here in Antofagasta, and he carries the keys to this church. However, he and his wife stayed for sacrament meeting, and they also stayed for our gospel principles class! Afterwards, the brother told me that he had to leave to the "competition;" he had to give a discourse in his own church.

It is amazing to be here in Chile and realize how many blessings the Lord has prepared for His children. I really do love serving, and I can't believe I've already been out 10 months! Time seems to fly by way too fast. Well, I hope you all know how much I love you! Take care, and write me when you have the chance!

Rain

July 25, 2009 (...or is it a sprinkle?)

Hello family! Guess what? It rained this week!

Okay, it was actually just a little sprinkle, but that's okay. The pictures of the beach and the city are right after the rain when the sky was super clear. I thought it was pretty awesome.

With rain meant that the people here in Antofagasta suffered a lot. There are many houses without roofs, and the ones with roofs really aren't built to handle rain as much as they are to block out the sun. It was pretty neat to once again get a little wet from walking outside. It was a nice change.

I'm also sending a picture from my Birthday lunch at TGI Friday's last Saturday. Elder and Sister Steed, who work in the office with us, took all the office missionaries out to lunch for my birthday. It was awesome! Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of all the HUGE meals that we had. Some got platters of ribs and fries that made mom's huge plates look like dessert plates. I got a nice steak with a salad and vegetables. With the Beatles and Elvis playing in the background, and minus the chilean waitresses and menus in Spanish, it seemed like we were in the states during the meal (the Steeds also don't speak much Spanish, so we speak lots of English with them). To top it off, we all had a huge dessert with brownies and ice cream. MMmmm....

Basically, this is why I'm getting so fat here in the mission. Half of the day is spent on the computer or at the bank, and the other half is spent eating and sleeping. Oh well, at least I'm enjoying myself... :)

No, but really the work is going really well. We're teaching a lot and having lots of success. Right now, we have two investigators with baptismal dates in August. Also, my old investigators from Copiapó are getting baptized! One (Carlos Zepeda) got baptized a few weeks ago, and another (Katherine) is getting baptized today! My former companion, Elder Rivas, is going to send me some pictures, so I'll share them with you when I get them.

One investigator we have right now is Luis Julio. He is progressing amazingly. He's kind of gangster, but he is keeping all of his commitments and has gained a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. He has also come to church 5 or 6 times. In our next lesson, we're going to teach the law of chastity because he needs to take out his diamond-studded earings. It should be fun. :) I love the work of the Lord!

Thanks for being so awesome. I have tons of stories to tell but not much time to write. Tell everyone "Hola" and that I love them for me! I love you all and hope that all is going well for you in your lives. I have received one package so far (the one with the credit card and the wasabi beans) but I'm still waiting on the other. I'll let you know when it comes!

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? :)