YOUNG LONDON

Hello everybody back in good old Utah! How´s everyone doing back in my favorite state in my favorite country? I hope all is well and that everyone is happy and enjoying life. Life here in Concepcion, Chile is treating me well. It´s getting a little colder but here in Concepcion it´s not as cold as some other places so I can´t really complain. Anyways, this is my last winter here so that´s always fun to think about :) Let´s see.. an update on the investigators. Neither C nor N were able to come to church. I was so frustrated with C... I don´t think I´ve ever been as upset when as investigator didn´t come to church haha. We´ve been working hard with him lately with members as well, and we have taught him the Word of Wisdom and also tithing recently. He said he stopped smoking, but hadn´t given up coffee yet. He said he needed to buy Ecco, which is a drink just like coffee here almost but it´s okay to drink. Knowing that he´s way poor, we went and bought some for him. Hopefully all is well with that... we haven´t had an appointment with him since Saturday. He was all good to come to church for sure, and then we go to his house in the morning and he´s not there. We then call him and he says he had to leave real quick and wouldn´t be able to come. 2 weeks in a row now. Anyways he´s got a baptism date for the 4th, which is this coming Sunday. He´s got 2 attendances in church, so he´s able to be baptized that day after church because you need to go to church 3 times first. He said he just wants to keep reading and learning more, so his date isn´t for sure. I will keep you guys posted on what happens. He´s really difficult sometimes because he works a lot and is always leaving to go to his brother´s house and stuff, so I¨m not sure if he´ll be ready by this Sunday. N keeps complaining about headaches and pains in her neck. She admitted that living the Word of Wisdom would help her have less headaches, but I know she hasn´t given up coffee yet. She´s really nice and we´ve worked hard with a certain member, but we´re not sure if she really wants to get baptized. We will be figuring that out this week so like always, I will get you updated next week. If she doesn´t want to progress, we will have to stop visiting her and spend our time finding someone that wants to progress. Basically those are our only 2 people that are actually progressing. Yes Mom, I am still District Leader. I still have all the same people in my district, and we ended the month with 4 baptisms. Pretty sure out of the 3 districts in our zone, we were the only ones to have baptisms, so that´s pretty cool. We still have not heard from A.. we haven´t put much effort into getting into contact with him anyways. It´s just sad seeing someone receive their answer and then they don´t make the decision.  This Sunday, we brought 10 less actives to church. That is extremely extremely good and we have a mission plan with the bishop here to reactive all these less actives. Anyways, that´s one thing we felt good about this week. There´s this less active family that I like where the Dad isn´t a member and doesn´t want anything to do with us.. but the other day told us there´s some weird things going on in the house. Random doors keep opening, and apparently he saw like some weird thing in his house that sounded like some troll. Haha apparently in the other house the same thing was going on, and that´s why they moved. But it started up again.. and he asked us if we could do anything about it. He said, ¨I´m not a member and I´m not going to be a member, but I want to know if you guys do blessings on houses and stuff like that.¨ Anyways, tomorrow, I think we will be going with the bishop or the 1st counselor to do that and see if we can continue to gain his confidence. I did end up getting that package from Hna. S... haha she also sent like a letter with a rose, but the winter stuff she sent me was cool. I have not gotten my tie yet, but will keep waiting. That´s good you guys got back from St. George alright.. sounds like it was an adventure! Congratz to Kelvin for being cancer free! That´s cool they´ll get to go to Disneyworld. The Jazz let Corbin go.. and are now thinking of Boylen?  Haha where is Boylen at right now? He´s an assistant somewhere in the NBA if I remember right. Some team in the East? Haha Teagan and Carter´s soccer jerseys are pink? That´s funny... I guess for awhile they won´t be ballers :) Anyways that´s about it for this week... can´t think of much else. I´m supposed to make sure everything is all good to go for Skype with you guys which I imagine it is... I´m not sure where I´ll be doing it yet or at what time... we still have to figure it out with some members. I´ll let you guys know next week.. but thanks for the pictures and for the letters! I love you all and I´ll talk to you all later!

Me quedo en Santa Sabina!‏

April 21, 2014
Hello once again family and friends. Another P-Day here and another transfer has ended. We found out about the transfers this morning and guess what? I will be staying here in Santa Sabina! I´m excited because I wanted to stay here. The house is decent, the ward is big, and I feel like we´ve made a lot of progress since we opened this sector. My companion will be leaving and heading to another part. My new companion is a gringo from California. This is his 3rd transfer, so he´s still really new.
 In church, we had "N", the lady that went to General Conference too. We are working hard with her, but she drinks coffee. I was in a mini-cambio, but my companion taught here about it and she was really receptive. She admitted that was probably she had headaches and felt sick a lot of the time. She came to church, but had to go home after sacrament meeting. She is a little short on time, and we haven´t been able to have another appointment with her. We will be passing by there soon, and see how she´s doing with leaving coffee. A member is like her best friend almost... I can´t remember if I told you guys this. Anyways we brought this member with us to an appointment and they´re basically best friends now. The member invited her to church and went and picked her up in her car and everything. On Saturday, the son of her, around 23 years old, wants to have a family night with us. He was the person we originally contacted in the first place, and through him we found her. C wasn´t able to come to church. We had mini-cambios with the travelling assistants the other day, and we taught C. Elder E, that went to Brighton, and lives over by Wal-Mart where they play baseball, was with us. He´s a pretty cool kid and we had a really good lesson with C.  We´re also working with a lady named G, who is a mom of a lady that looks just like Melissa, cousin Jordy´s wife. It´s nuts. Anyways she really wants to stop smoking and drinking coffee, and we took her coffee away from her. Obviously she can go buy more, but little by little she is progressing wanting to change her life. With the travelling assistants, we burned our 1 year shirts... the 3 of us that have more than a year now. I burned an old shirt instead because I didn´t want to burn a white shirt. I took some pictures and a video which is even better because Elder R was spraying spider spray which was extremely flammable. Haha anyways it was funny.
 The 18 year old in my ward that is about to leave on his mission on may 20th, is still getting ready to head off.  He will be going to Fresno, California, with the famous Larry Gelwix as his mission president. He is nervous, and his mom is freaking out that nobody is going to be at the SLC airport to pick him up. Hahaha going to be weird knowing he´s driving on my freeway here pretty soon. The mission president sends him letters in English and he´s just like what the heck? They had so many questions about Provo and the MTC and they were glad I knew all about it. About the package mom, yes I did get everything. Sorry I forgot to mention that. I LOVE the watter bottle lid. So much better than the other one.. much more convenient.. thanks! Also the pictures I loved.. and the tie. I honestly LOVE the tie as well. I wore it yesterday with my tan pants. The CD´s... I haven´t actually opened but I have all the music on the cell phone. They wouldn´t work on the flashdrive, but I bought a mini sd card a month ago and have put a bunch of songs on that. The CD´s will be nice too though to play in the DVD player. I love Fear Not, and Let Zion In Her Beauty Rise. Fear not is a song we always sang in seminary. It brought back a lot of memories and I loved singing that song. Let Zion In Her Beauty Rise is a song I listen to often, and it´s just dope. Thanks again Mom for the package. I´m enjoying all my Fun Dips for sure and everything else. I´m not sure about the other package quite yet. We will be going to the office after we finish up here and it might be there it might not.   I really enjoyed all the pictures of all the kids. Such ballers. I think it´s funny Carter thinks I¨m still in front of the stake center. Crazy kid! Thanks for the sports updates as well, sounds like RSL is killin it. Anyways thanks for all the updates and writing me in general. You guys are dope. Easter was awesome... always good to remember the resurrection, and what he did for us before the resurrection. A scripture we´ve been sharing a lot with members is Luke 22: 39-44 It really gives us an idea of how much he suffered, because God had to sent an angel to strengthen him because he was suffering so much. Nothing we go through even compares to what he suffered. Anyways thanks again and I love you all! I´ll talk to you all next week!!!!!

P.S. I was talking to Elder E, and we were talking about the responsibility I had to open a sector, train and be a district leader all at once. He apologized, and said they had to do it because nobody else could. He said everyone always joked about how bad Yungay is, but when I was there, it completely changed. It was absolutely DEAD for so long, and then when I was there, Yungay started seeing some baptisms, progress, and overall excitement in the branch. It made me think a lot about the time I spent there in Yungay, and how much it changed me and helped me grow. Sectors are what you make them, and that´s what I learned there.

Burning shirts ONE YEAR DOWN! 

Me and Elder C

I'm hungry

Hello family what´s up? Not much new with me... just living the mission life. This week was a little disappointing to me honest with you guys. "A", did not get baptized. He came last week to the general conference on Saturday, and after that, he disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to him. He´s not answering his phone, and he´s not at home. So weird to me that after listening to the prophet and apostles, you just back out on everything. Oh well, guess it´s not his time. N and C.G. are progressing slowly but couldn´t come to church. We do have a different investigator from awhile ago. Remember C?  Yeah we finally found him again chopping wood in front of a man´s house. This man that owned this house is a man that started yelling at us when we contacted him. ¨GOD DOESN´T EXIST. YOU´RE WASTING YOUR TIME. GO HOME AND BE WITH YOUR FAMILIES. IT MAKES NO SENSE FOR YOU GUYS TO BE HERE. YOU ARE DECEIVING PEOPLE AND LOSING TIME FROM YOUR FAMILY.¨ Yes this is what he decided to yell at us and then went inside and slammed his door. Anyways we found C the other day and he came to church again. This is his second time being in church, and he´s got a baptismal goal for the 27th. He doesn´t have any teachings because the dude works a ton, and he never lets us in his house. He lives in this really really cheap wooden house, and I have a feeling he´s ashamed of it. Anyways we are going to try and call him and set up an appointment in a member´s house that lives nearby. He is so impressed with how the church is on the inside and outside and thinks it´s the coolest thing. He is a really humble guy but lives alone, and doesn´t have hardly a dime. I will keep you guys updated. Apart from that I am doing well. My health, for those of you who have asked, is fine. I´m sure you guys know that because I haven´t been complaining for awhile :)   I think either my companion or I will be getting transferred in a week.  I'll let you guys know.
  By the way, I got my easter package last week. Right after leaving after writing, we went to the office and there it was! Did it only take a week? Anyways we´ve already been to the office and I haven´t gotten the other one yet. But thanks so much! I love the tie and the candy :) We´ve been working hard with the ward mission leader´s wife. She is less active, and he is getting there too. Last Sunday he was buying on Sunday and all that stuff hahaha gotta love Chileans. Anyways they have a kid on their mission, and the wife loves when we go over there. They always have plenty of food, hot chocolate, and stuff like that. She says she didn´t want to get close to the missionaries but she always gets sad when they leave. She said she tried not to but little by little she doesn´t want us to leave. Hahaha she´s funny. We are also working with a lot more people... less actives and investigators but aren´t progressing as much as the others. I´ll keep you posted if they start progressing. I can´t think of much else this week. Hopefully everything went well with Jeremy and Staci and they were able to get back in time for Jeremy to work. Hahaha I can just see Jeremy freaking out and stuff like he would during Call of Duty... well not in front of Staci haha :)   That´s cool with the sister missionary... that you were able to pick them up. Good thing there´s not HILLS and HILLS and more HILLS like here in Santa Sabina! It´s nuts here. Dad, sounds like you need to get your braces off.. too many problems haha. So Dallin loves the movie Frozen? I actually saw that movie in Yungay, during a movie night. In Spanish.. but it was still good. Seemed pretty well made. The Jazz had a bad season huh? Hopefully by the time I´m back they´ll be a little more developed with some better players. Anyways thanks again for all the letters and packages and everything. I´ll be working on getting that picture taken but I want to wait for that other tie from Staci. I´ll see what happens. Anyways I´ll talk to you guys all next week!!!

Panda Express and Chic-fil-a

Hello everyone! I always start my letters off with thanking everyone who wrote me... so thanks again! I would like to let you all know that I am fine... I have still yet to feel even a little part of an earthquake so don´t worry. Chile is definitely prepared... they´ve had so many earthquakes so they now build all the buildings to resist them. We were in a meeting with our ward mission leader, and his phone starts beeping with everyone else´s phones. It was a tsunami alert but that didn´t affect us because we´re far enough from the ocean. Not wayyyyyyy far but not right next to it. Anyways we´re all good. The Chileans are all sick of the earthquakes... they still don´t stop talking about the earthquake in 2010. Anyways I did get to watch every single session of conference in English, along with the other gringos in my zone. I was able to take notes on each of the talks, which was awesome. Our investigator was only able to go to the Saturday morning session, where President Eyring was talking a little about baptism. He said he is going to watch the other sessions today, so we will be calling him tonight to see how it went. He still has his date for the 13th, but I have a feeling he´ll still want more time.I think he is leaving at the end of this month to go study, so if he doesn´t get baptized soon, he won´t end up doing it. I am going to set up the baptismal interview with him I believe on Thursday, and see how it goes. Keep him in your prayers! We also brought another investigator to the conference. She has a baptismal date for the 20th, but she said she wants to receive a real answer and hasn´t received it yet. She is basically best friends with a member we brought to a lesson, and the member picked her up, sat by her, and took her home after the conference. We´ll see how these 2 progress. C.G. wasn´t able to go to a conference, and I don´t know if she´ll ever go to church because it´s always some excuse she has. She loves the Book of Mormon though and loves when we go teach her. Kind of weird. I loved the talks though in General Conference. I don´t have my notes, but I loved the talk by Gary Stevenson, because it had a lot to do with missionary work. Also President Monson´s talk on charity and love. The conference was awesome and now we have to wait 6 more months...booooo. That´s cool Mom you went and got a Preach My Gospel. I had a feeling you would do that as I was listening to M. Russell Ballard´s talk. I´m glad you applied the 3 question thing....I did... and they were all answered. My district this week has a total of 5 possibilities for baptism.  I´ve been really busy with support interviews with all of them and this week will be doing some baptismal interviews if everything goes well. Not a whole lot more has been going on this week. We did just finish eating at a fast food restaurant. As I was walking up the stairs with my big sized drink and fries,who else but Trenton (the unluckiest man alive) would trip? Anyways all my fries and drink spilled and I just started laughing so hard as the whole restaurant turned to look at me. Hahaha all I was able to enjoy was my hamburger. A 9 dollar hamburger seeing as to how I didn´t have a drink or fries :( As of the rain gear, I was missing some rain pants.I only had my jacket, but I went and bought a rainsuit for 10 bucks just to use the pants. I haven´t bought boots yet, but I will soon. I might be taking another 200 out if that´s okay. I can´t think of anything else I need... basically the stuff I might need I´ll be able to buy here I think. Thanks for sending the package! I haven´t gotten it yet but I love getting packages! And written letters.... by the way Trevor and Heather, that was probably the best Family Night you guys could have done! Thanks for the letters....Carter´s definitely gave me a good laugh :) I´ll be waiting on the tie.. thanks Staci! I´ll get the picture sent off when I have the tie. I´m glad Robyn´s birthday went well...wow we´re all getting old :/ June 7th is the date... okay thanks. I was just curious. Anyways I can´t think of much else... just trying to find some more investigators to teach. We have changes again in 2 weeks and anything could happen. I really have no idea...so we´ll just have to wait and see. Thanks for all you guys do and for all the support! I love and pray for you guys every day and hope all is well. I´ll talk to you all next week!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!