Hello once again everybody! 7 more days have passed and here I am sitting here writing another letter to all you guys. I am doing well here in Santa Sabina, as always. This past week we´ve been working really hard to find new investigators using the list of inactive members. We have been contacting a ton of houses where apparently members live, but they haven´t been too receptive haha. A bunch of them have had bad experiences with the church and that´s why they stopped going obviously. The 2 people I am really trying to focus on this transfer are N and J. N came to church on Sunday and stayed for all the classes and everything. She has a baptism date for this coming Sunday, but she hasn´t actually come right out and said she wanted to do it. It´s always just a if I feel right about it, I´ll get baptized. She´s the lady that´s been really sick, and when she reads the chapters in the Book of Mormon that we leave her, she doesn´t understand a single thing. We are working hard with her with members, and she´s seeming more receptive to baptism. She´s just having a hard time recognizing her answer to her prayers. We have an appointment with her tonight, and we´re supposed to get her baptismal interview set up for tomorrow. I haven´t had a whole lot of luck with investigators the week before their baptism here in Santa Sabina, but I am trying to have faith and pray a ton for N. J is the 10 year old son of a less active. If you remember, this less active had a bad experience in church with her kid running around and that´s why she stopped coming.That was like 7 years ago. She put on her calendar she was going to church this week and we have an appointment set up with an old friend of her with her 10 year old daughter as well. It should go well and we are going to try and set up a baptism date for the 10 year old kid. Hopefully the mom accepts and everything goes well. Other than all that we´ve haven´t done quite a whole lot. Friday night at 6 when Chile played, we just had to be in the house. We ordered a pizza and just chilled the whole night. On Wednesday at 3, Chile plays again and we have to be in the house again. Chile actually won their first game which was a surprise to everyone.Now on Wednesday is the big game against Spain. They´re supposed to lose but the Chileans are getting excited anyways. Mom, that lady here sent you a message on facebook, and tried to friend you but their no add as friend. We figured you had every single setting possible set on your facebook to make it as private as possible. She was really looking forward to having you as a friend haha. Her daughter leaves the 29th and I´m not sure when she´ll be in Utah. That would be cool though and wants to know if I need to send anything home or if you guys want to send anything back. Sounds like Carter´s birthday went well and that he enjoyed his Iron Man party. Hahaha such a funny kid. That´s too bad Grandma´s not doing too well. Hopefully she can keep hanging on.. I´d like to see her and I´ll definitely be praying for her. Anyways that´s about all there is to update you guys on.Thanks Mom H-Train for the letters and I wanted to wish Dad a HAPPY FATHER´S DAY! Was it Father´s Day at home yesterday? Because it was here... and you or Heather didn´t say anything about it but either way I love you FATHER JEFFREY! I love you all and I will talk to you guys next week!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
I´ve Been to that Place Before, In Spite of Luck, and you Awake a New Tomorrow
June 16, 2014
Hello once again everybody! 7 more days have passed and here I am sitting here writing another letter to all you guys. I am doing well here in Santa Sabina, as always. This past week we´ve been working really hard to find new investigators using the list of inactive members. We have been contacting a ton of houses where apparently members live, but they haven´t been too receptive haha. A bunch of them have had bad experiences with the church and that´s why they stopped going obviously. The 2 people I am really trying to focus on this transfer are N and J. N came to church on Sunday and stayed for all the classes and everything. She has a baptism date for this coming Sunday, but she hasn´t actually come right out and said she wanted to do it. It´s always just a if I feel right about it, I´ll get baptized. She´s the lady that´s been really sick, and when she reads the chapters in the Book of Mormon that we leave her, she doesn´t understand a single thing. We are working hard with her with members, and she´s seeming more receptive to baptism. She´s just having a hard time recognizing her answer to her prayers. We have an appointment with her tonight, and we´re supposed to get her baptismal interview set up for tomorrow. I haven´t had a whole lot of luck with investigators the week before their baptism here in Santa Sabina, but I am trying to have faith and pray a ton for N. J is the 10 year old son of a less active. If you remember, this less active had a bad experience in church with her kid running around and that´s why she stopped coming.That was like 7 years ago. She put on her calendar she was going to church this week and we have an appointment set up with an old friend of her with her 10 year old daughter as well. It should go well and we are going to try and set up a baptism date for the 10 year old kid. Hopefully the mom accepts and everything goes well. Other than all that we´ve haven´t done quite a whole lot. Friday night at 6 when Chile played, we just had to be in the house. We ordered a pizza and just chilled the whole night. On Wednesday at 3, Chile plays again and we have to be in the house again. Chile actually won their first game which was a surprise to everyone.Now on Wednesday is the big game against Spain. They´re supposed to lose but the Chileans are getting excited anyways. Mom, that lady here sent you a message on facebook, and tried to friend you but their no add as friend. We figured you had every single setting possible set on your facebook to make it as private as possible. She was really looking forward to having you as a friend haha. Her daughter leaves the 29th and I´m not sure when she´ll be in Utah. That would be cool though and wants to know if I need to send anything home or if you guys want to send anything back. Sounds like Carter´s birthday went well and that he enjoyed his Iron Man party. Hahaha such a funny kid. That´s too bad Grandma´s not doing too well. Hopefully she can keep hanging on.. I´d like to see her and I´ll definitely be praying for her. Anyways that´s about all there is to update you guys on.Thanks Mom H-Train for the letters and I wanted to wish Dad a HAPPY FATHER´S DAY! Was it Father´s Day at home yesterday? Because it was here... and you or Heather didn´t say anything about it but either way I love you FATHER JEFFREY! I love you all and I will talk to you guys next week!!!!!!!!!!
Hello once again everybody! 7 more days have passed and here I am sitting here writing another letter to all you guys. I am doing well here in Santa Sabina, as always. This past week we´ve been working really hard to find new investigators using the list of inactive members. We have been contacting a ton of houses where apparently members live, but they haven´t been too receptive haha. A bunch of them have had bad experiences with the church and that´s why they stopped going obviously. The 2 people I am really trying to focus on this transfer are N and J. N came to church on Sunday and stayed for all the classes and everything. She has a baptism date for this coming Sunday, but she hasn´t actually come right out and said she wanted to do it. It´s always just a if I feel right about it, I´ll get baptized. She´s the lady that´s been really sick, and when she reads the chapters in the Book of Mormon that we leave her, she doesn´t understand a single thing. We are working hard with her with members, and she´s seeming more receptive to baptism. She´s just having a hard time recognizing her answer to her prayers. We have an appointment with her tonight, and we´re supposed to get her baptismal interview set up for tomorrow. I haven´t had a whole lot of luck with investigators the week before their baptism here in Santa Sabina, but I am trying to have faith and pray a ton for N. J is the 10 year old son of a less active. If you remember, this less active had a bad experience in church with her kid running around and that´s why she stopped coming.That was like 7 years ago. She put on her calendar she was going to church this week and we have an appointment set up with an old friend of her with her 10 year old daughter as well. It should go well and we are going to try and set up a baptism date for the 10 year old kid. Hopefully the mom accepts and everything goes well. Other than all that we´ve haven´t done quite a whole lot. Friday night at 6 when Chile played, we just had to be in the house. We ordered a pizza and just chilled the whole night. On Wednesday at 3, Chile plays again and we have to be in the house again. Chile actually won their first game which was a surprise to everyone.Now on Wednesday is the big game against Spain. They´re supposed to lose but the Chileans are getting excited anyways. Mom, that lady here sent you a message on facebook, and tried to friend you but their no add as friend. We figured you had every single setting possible set on your facebook to make it as private as possible. She was really looking forward to having you as a friend haha. Her daughter leaves the 29th and I´m not sure when she´ll be in Utah. That would be cool though and wants to know if I need to send anything home or if you guys want to send anything back. Sounds like Carter´s birthday went well and that he enjoyed his Iron Man party. Hahaha such a funny kid. That´s too bad Grandma´s not doing too well. Hopefully she can keep hanging on.. I´d like to see her and I´ll definitely be praying for her. Anyways that´s about all there is to update you guys on.Thanks Mom H-Train for the letters and I wanted to wish Dad a HAPPY FATHER´S DAY! Was it Father´s Day at home yesterday? Because it was here... and you or Heather didn´t say anything about it but either way I love you FATHER JEFFREY! I love you all and I will talk to you guys next week!!!!!!!!!!
I enjoyed being at the wedding.. (in cardboat cutout) :)
June 9, 2014
Hello family and friends! We added one more to the family this week which is crazy. I really enjoyed all the pictures... I had a good laugh seeing as to how much fun you guys had with all my pictures. I really enjoyed the family wedding one that Mom sent me where I´m just in the back and you can just see my head sticking up.. haha thanks... :) no just kidding it looks like the cardboat cutout turned out well and I was even more excited and I want to give Heather a HUGE shoutout for pulling me on the dance floor during Die Young. That´s what I would have wanted... :) Haha but thanks for all the pictures and for all the videos. That´s cool I was the honorable best man.. thanks Germs.. love you! Congratz by the way.. you may be umm... too busy to read this but when you finally get the chance just remember I was thinking about you guys. From the sounds of it, it sounds like everything went smoothly except for having to wait forever to take the pictures at the temple. I enjoyed the pictures of my nephews/niece.. I saw one picture where Teagan had his Teagan face on and it definitely gave me a good laugh hahaha. Jeremy looked like a stud and I hope he´s enjoying being on the beach in Fort Lauderdale.. just so he knows I was once there in one of those beach houses. We went there for a basketball trip and all stayed in Pardoe´s beach house. It was sick and I´m sure he´ll enjoy it. I hope Haydsey Boy enjoyed his birthday too. 8 years old... so crazy. I always told him before I left.. we would be able to hang out again when he was 8. Well, he´s 8. So crazy how fast time is passing by. Also, Happy Birthday to Carter on Wednesday! I love that kid... such a goofy kid. I hope he enjoys his Iron Man party... definitely want pictures too! I ALSO want to give a shoutout to my best friend the DJ Teaskie! His birthday is tomorrow and I can´t wait to freaking hang out with that kid again. Freaking miss him but I hope he enjoys his birthday tomorrow. Also on the 14th, Happy Birthday Brayton! Hope all is well with you... haven´t heard the latest on you but I bet you´re still funny as ever. Anyways this week we have been working with N... remember her? She got really sick and we weren´t able to meet with her for awhile but she´s slowly getting better. She had a baptismal date for the 15th, but then it started raining on Sunday morning and she didn´t want to go to church because of that. We even had it all set up for a member to go grab her in her car but she still didn´t want to go. (I would just like to point out Die Young just came on and all I can think of are my nephews) Anyways, it´s been awhile since she´s been to church so we´re thinking we might need to reset the date for the 22nd and really see how serious she is about baptism. All of her life, she has wanted to see what the mormons believed in, and she straight up told us she wants to get baptized. By the way, it rains an unbelievable amount here. It´s rained every single day for the past week and a half, and it´s it´s kept me up at nights way more than I´d like. There is sooooo much wind here, and the mix of the rain hitting a thin metal roof is soooooo loud at night. I honestly didn´t know it was possible to rain as much as it has. It´s absolutely ridiculous. Anyways I´m getting used to it and I have waterproof stuff so don´t worry about that. That´s basically what´s been happening. Anyways I can´t think of too much more... we´ve been working hard with a list we have of all the members in our area. We have tried to visit them and are trying to find family members of them that aren´t members that we can work with. This transfer, we decided to really focus on that so we´ll see how that works. Just wanna give a shout out to the U.S. and to Chile! The World Cup is coming up and the Chileans are getting soooo excited. They know they´re not the best team but they´re hoping for a miracle... so good luck to my home country and Chile! It´s kind of exciting because it´s huge here and everyone is starting to buy huge flat screens and barbecues and everything. We see how it all turns out. Anyways thanks again for all the letters, pictures, and videos. You guys are awesome and I hope all is well and that everyone is happy. I´ll talk to you guys all next week hopefully and I´ll be keeping you updated on everything here!
¨I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums, oh what a shame that you came here with someone, so while you´re here in my heart, let´s make the most of the night like we´re gonna die young.¨
p.s. There´s this family that I´ve gotten to know here that is awesome. He was our old ward mission leader and they´ve got a son in Peru on his mission. Anyways, she really wanted to write mom a facebook message. Their daughter is going to California soon, and then to Provo, and she wants to know if I want to send anything to you guys, or if you guys want to send anything back with her. I´m not exactly sure when she´s leaving, but I think it´s within the next month or so. All she asked was for a telephone number to get in contact with someone at home if that´s the case. We´ve been joking around a lot that she´s going to marry a gringo while she´s there, and I told her I still have one more single brother... hahaha :) I love you all!
Hello family and friends! We added one more to the family this week which is crazy. I really enjoyed all the pictures... I had a good laugh seeing as to how much fun you guys had with all my pictures. I really enjoyed the family wedding one that Mom sent me where I´m just in the back and you can just see my head sticking up.. haha thanks... :) no just kidding it looks like the cardboat cutout turned out well and I was even more excited and I want to give Heather a HUGE shoutout for pulling me on the dance floor during Die Young. That´s what I would have wanted... :) Haha but thanks for all the pictures and for all the videos. That´s cool I was the honorable best man.. thanks Germs.. love you! Congratz by the way.. you may be umm... too busy to read this but when you finally get the chance just remember I was thinking about you guys. From the sounds of it, it sounds like everything went smoothly except for having to wait forever to take the pictures at the temple. I enjoyed the pictures of my nephews/niece.. I saw one picture where Teagan had his Teagan face on and it definitely gave me a good laugh hahaha. Jeremy looked like a stud and I hope he´s enjoying being on the beach in Fort Lauderdale.. just so he knows I was once there in one of those beach houses. We went there for a basketball trip and all stayed in Pardoe´s beach house. It was sick and I´m sure he´ll enjoy it. I hope Haydsey Boy enjoyed his birthday too. 8 years old... so crazy. I always told him before I left.. we would be able to hang out again when he was 8. Well, he´s 8. So crazy how fast time is passing by. Also, Happy Birthday to Carter on Wednesday! I love that kid... such a goofy kid. I hope he enjoys his Iron Man party... definitely want pictures too! I ALSO want to give a shoutout to my best friend the DJ Teaskie! His birthday is tomorrow and I can´t wait to freaking hang out with that kid again. Freaking miss him but I hope he enjoys his birthday tomorrow. Also on the 14th, Happy Birthday Brayton! Hope all is well with you... haven´t heard the latest on you but I bet you´re still funny as ever. Anyways this week we have been working with N... remember her? She got really sick and we weren´t able to meet with her for awhile but she´s slowly getting better. She had a baptismal date for the 15th, but then it started raining on Sunday morning and she didn´t want to go to church because of that. We even had it all set up for a member to go grab her in her car but she still didn´t want to go. (I would just like to point out Die Young just came on and all I can think of are my nephews) Anyways, it´s been awhile since she´s been to church so we´re thinking we might need to reset the date for the 22nd and really see how serious she is about baptism. All of her life, she has wanted to see what the mormons believed in, and she straight up told us she wants to get baptized. By the way, it rains an unbelievable amount here. It´s rained every single day for the past week and a half, and it´s it´s kept me up at nights way more than I´d like. There is sooooo much wind here, and the mix of the rain hitting a thin metal roof is soooooo loud at night. I honestly didn´t know it was possible to rain as much as it has. It´s absolutely ridiculous. Anyways I´m getting used to it and I have waterproof stuff so don´t worry about that. That´s basically what´s been happening. Anyways I can´t think of too much more... we´ve been working hard with a list we have of all the members in our area. We have tried to visit them and are trying to find family members of them that aren´t members that we can work with. This transfer, we decided to really focus on that so we´ll see how that works. Just wanna give a shout out to the U.S. and to Chile! The World Cup is coming up and the Chileans are getting soooo excited. They know they´re not the best team but they´re hoping for a miracle... so good luck to my home country and Chile! It´s kind of exciting because it´s huge here and everyone is starting to buy huge flat screens and barbecues and everything. We see how it all turns out. Anyways thanks again for all the letters, pictures, and videos. You guys are awesome and I hope all is well and that everyone is happy. I´ll talk to you guys all next week hopefully and I´ll be keeping you updated on everything here!
¨I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums, oh what a shame that you came here with someone, so while you´re here in my heart, let´s make the most of the night like we´re gonna die young.¨
p.s. There´s this family that I´ve gotten to know here that is awesome. He was our old ward mission leader and they´ve got a son in Peru on his mission. Anyways, she really wanted to write mom a facebook message. Their daughter is going to California soon, and then to Provo, and she wants to know if I want to send anything to you guys, or if you guys want to send anything back with her. I´m not exactly sure when she´s leaving, but I think it´s within the next month or so. All she asked was for a telephone number to get in contact with someone at home if that´s the case. We´ve been joking around a lot that she´s going to marry a gringo while she´s there, and I told her I still have one more single brother... hahaha :) I love you all!
CONGRATULATIONS JEREMY AND STACI- Happy Birthday HAYDEN!
June 2, 2014
Well, this is an exciting week for sure. First of all, I´d like to say congratulations to Jeremy and Staci on their wedding this week. I´m not gonna lie, it sucks I have to miss it, and I´m a little sad, but I know they´ll be happy. Good luck and I hope everything goes well. Also, Hayden, happy birthday this week! Also a quick heads up in case I forgot, Happy Birthday too Carter next week! You guys are such ballers and I love you guys. I don´t have a whole lot of time to write this letter since I did the thing for Jeremy and Staci and it took me awhile, but I´ll get a little something sent off here. Thanks for all the letters and for everything. By the way, we had transfers today! I will be staying here in Santa Sabina, again. Haha when I´m in an area, I´m definitely in that area for awhile. After this change, I will have been here for 6 months. I love Santa Sabina but some of the people sure are hard hearted. There are a lot of rich people, which makes it hard but I know we can do it. Nothing more to report on our investigators, just the same old same old. We are going to work hard to find new people that actually want to progress. Oh also, I will be staying here with Elder B. Elder R, my son that I trained, will be leaving to go be with Elder P, my MTC companion. Elder F will be staying, and another gringo that is in Yungay right now will be coming. It sucks to see Elder R leave... we´ve been here 3 changes together and we get along really well. But it´s all good, that´s the mission and I´m used to it. We also had an appointment with a family last night that moved here in February from a different ward. The missionaries got permission from the president to come to Santa Sabina from that old sector to kind of help start the transition to us. They have family there in the other ward and she started crying saying how hard it´s been to adjust and build up the courage to go to the new ward. They are an awesome family, and are just really nice. We will definitely be passing by with some members to help them build up the courage to come to church. I know once we get them to come once, everything will be fine. I´m glad that my cutout should be getting there in time... I definitely want to see some pictures of it. By the way, next week I am expecting a LOT of pictures to go through of the wedding and Haydsy Boy´s birthday. Please please please, I want details and those pictures. That would be awesome. That´s basically all I have to say.. I hope all goes well and everyone has fun without me... :( haha just kidding I´ll be fine. Thanks for everything and I´ll talk to you all next week!
Well, this is an exciting week for sure. First of all, I´d like to say congratulations to Jeremy and Staci on their wedding this week. I´m not gonna lie, it sucks I have to miss it, and I´m a little sad, but I know they´ll be happy. Good luck and I hope everything goes well. Also, Hayden, happy birthday this week! Also a quick heads up in case I forgot, Happy Birthday too Carter next week! You guys are such ballers and I love you guys. I don´t have a whole lot of time to write this letter since I did the thing for Jeremy and Staci and it took me awhile, but I´ll get a little something sent off here. Thanks for all the letters and for everything. By the way, we had transfers today! I will be staying here in Santa Sabina, again. Haha when I´m in an area, I´m definitely in that area for awhile. After this change, I will have been here for 6 months. I love Santa Sabina but some of the people sure are hard hearted. There are a lot of rich people, which makes it hard but I know we can do it. Nothing more to report on our investigators, just the same old same old. We are going to work hard to find new people that actually want to progress. Oh also, I will be staying here with Elder B. Elder R, my son that I trained, will be leaving to go be with Elder P, my MTC companion. Elder F will be staying, and another gringo that is in Yungay right now will be coming. It sucks to see Elder R leave... we´ve been here 3 changes together and we get along really well. But it´s all good, that´s the mission and I´m used to it. We also had an appointment with a family last night that moved here in February from a different ward. The missionaries got permission from the president to come to Santa Sabina from that old sector to kind of help start the transition to us. They have family there in the other ward and she started crying saying how hard it´s been to adjust and build up the courage to go to the new ward. They are an awesome family, and are just really nice. We will definitely be passing by with some members to help them build up the courage to come to church. I know once we get them to come once, everything will be fine. I´m glad that my cutout should be getting there in time... I definitely want to see some pictures of it. By the way, next week I am expecting a LOT of pictures to go through of the wedding and Haydsy Boy´s birthday. Please please please, I want details and those pictures. That would be awesome. That´s basically all I have to say.. I hope all goes well and everyone has fun without me... :( haha just kidding I´ll be fine. Thanks for everything and I´ll talk to you all next week!
Monday, May 26, 2014
No drivin, no sleepin, live it up like it´s the weekend
May 26, 2014
Family and friends, what´s up? How did everyone enjoy the annual Pocatello trip? I saw a few of the pictures and wow it´s like I´ve been there before.. so weird ;P Haha just kidding but it looks like you all had a good time with the 1002 kids under the age of 12. Haha so many now I don´t even know all their names. I was looking at a picture of all the kids and couldn´t figure out why Staci was in the picture.. but then after looking at it a little longer I realized it was Brinley hahaha. Anyways this week has been a bit of a downer. C.G. was progressing so incredibly well. She had her baptism interview and passed it so easily. The zone leader said she is the most prepared investigator he had ever seen on his mission. Anyways the next day after the interview, we get a call from her saying she had decided not to get baptized yet. Freaking Satan works 25/8. She had talked to a friend of hers that had been inactive for a really long time, and she told her she didn´t agree with what we did in the temples. She told C.G. that she had to think things out really well before getting baptized. When it was all said and done, she said she wanted to get to know the church more and would get baptized later. She was all excited to come to church and everything, and then she didn´t show up. We have an appointment with her today, but it´s just disappointing. I feel like my faith has been tested to the max here in Santa Sabina. A total of 3 investigators that had their interviews or were 95% sure of baptism, and then backed out. I´m trying to figure out what we need to do better but wow I was just so upset. Everyone else like has investigators come to their church saying they want to get baptized and we here working our absolute butts off to get these people to church, and then to their baptismal interview which they pass, and then they decide not to do it. Mom, I don´t know if you´re still reading Preach My Gospel, but the last section in chapter 1 about A Successful Missionary has really helped me. I´m just here to raise the warning voice and it´s up to them to accept the message or not. I don´t know what page it is in English, but you can find it I´m sure. That basically sums up this week, or all of my time here in Santa Sabina I guess I could say. I still love it here, and love the ward and all the members, but it´s been tough. We are working well with a less active family that I believe I have told you about. V.M., and her kids. She has a kid that´s 9 that really wants to get baptized, another daughter that´s 7, and a daughter that´s 22 that´s already a member. She had a bad experience in church a long time ago, but she´s got a really strong testimony. The 9 year old was running around church when he was like 3, and a member screamed, ¨Whose kid is this!?¨ She was also with her husband that´s not a member, and he never wanted to go back. We have been visiting them but she keeps saying we´ll think about coming back. She wants to but is a little scared. We shared lesson 1 with her and she really felt the Spirit, and said, ¨Elder, I know I have thought about it for a long time, but next Sunday, we´re going to church. The kids were so excited haha. We just need to keep in contact with them and make sure they keep with their promise. They are Chileans, so we need to keep committing them to church so they actually come. There´s the update on our investigators. We do have transfers next week, and I can see it going both ways. I could be leaving, or I could be staying another transfer. Don´t ask me what I would rather do, because I have mixed feelings about it haha. I´ll let you guys know next week in my letter :) I had a few doubts about sending those pictures... I sent some compressed ones and some normal ones just in case, but sounds like neither of them really worked out. Hopefully all goes well and it turns out okay. The face on President Bush sounds kinda dumb so I would rather not have that at the wedding haha. I didn´t hear an update form you so I´m guessing the guy didn´t get back to you on the quality. Thanks for those bridal pictures.. not gonna lie one kinda creeped me out hahaha it had me laughing because it just was kinda creepy. The one where they switched the little white bridal hat and the suit.. do you know which one I´m talking about? Haha I was just looking at it and just felt awkward. Hahaha but I liked the other pictures :) How did Jon´s date go? Sounds like he had a good time.. she pretty cute? So Teaskie is going to what´s most likely his last sector... that´s crazy. Is he happy or did he want to stay in his other area? Anyways that´s about it for this week... thanks for writing me Mom and Trevor for the picture. The kids sure seemed to enjoy Idaho! I´ll let you guys know what´s up next week about transfers.. I hate transfers by the way. Haha but I love you all and I´ll talk to you all next week!!!
ELDERRRRR NAYLSEWN (like the Chileans call me) :)
#goutes #ava #memorialdayshoutouttomyancestors
Family and friends, what´s up? How did everyone enjoy the annual Pocatello trip? I saw a few of the pictures and wow it´s like I´ve been there before.. so weird ;P Haha just kidding but it looks like you all had a good time with the 1002 kids under the age of 12. Haha so many now I don´t even know all their names. I was looking at a picture of all the kids and couldn´t figure out why Staci was in the picture.. but then after looking at it a little longer I realized it was Brinley hahaha. Anyways this week has been a bit of a downer. C.G. was progressing so incredibly well. She had her baptism interview and passed it so easily. The zone leader said she is the most prepared investigator he had ever seen on his mission. Anyways the next day after the interview, we get a call from her saying she had decided not to get baptized yet. Freaking Satan works 25/8. She had talked to a friend of hers that had been inactive for a really long time, and she told her she didn´t agree with what we did in the temples. She told C.G. that she had to think things out really well before getting baptized. When it was all said and done, she said she wanted to get to know the church more and would get baptized later. She was all excited to come to church and everything, and then she didn´t show up. We have an appointment with her today, but it´s just disappointing. I feel like my faith has been tested to the max here in Santa Sabina. A total of 3 investigators that had their interviews or were 95% sure of baptism, and then backed out. I´m trying to figure out what we need to do better but wow I was just so upset. Everyone else like has investigators come to their church saying they want to get baptized and we here working our absolute butts off to get these people to church, and then to their baptismal interview which they pass, and then they decide not to do it. Mom, I don´t know if you´re still reading Preach My Gospel, but the last section in chapter 1 about A Successful Missionary has really helped me. I´m just here to raise the warning voice and it´s up to them to accept the message or not. I don´t know what page it is in English, but you can find it I´m sure. That basically sums up this week, or all of my time here in Santa Sabina I guess I could say. I still love it here, and love the ward and all the members, but it´s been tough. We are working well with a less active family that I believe I have told you about. V.M., and her kids. She has a kid that´s 9 that really wants to get baptized, another daughter that´s 7, and a daughter that´s 22 that´s already a member. She had a bad experience in church a long time ago, but she´s got a really strong testimony. The 9 year old was running around church when he was like 3, and a member screamed, ¨Whose kid is this!?¨ She was also with her husband that´s not a member, and he never wanted to go back. We have been visiting them but she keeps saying we´ll think about coming back. She wants to but is a little scared. We shared lesson 1 with her and she really felt the Spirit, and said, ¨Elder, I know I have thought about it for a long time, but next Sunday, we´re going to church. The kids were so excited haha. We just need to keep in contact with them and make sure they keep with their promise. They are Chileans, so we need to keep committing them to church so they actually come. There´s the update on our investigators. We do have transfers next week, and I can see it going both ways. I could be leaving, or I could be staying another transfer. Don´t ask me what I would rather do, because I have mixed feelings about it haha. I´ll let you guys know next week in my letter :) I had a few doubts about sending those pictures... I sent some compressed ones and some normal ones just in case, but sounds like neither of them really worked out. Hopefully all goes well and it turns out okay. The face on President Bush sounds kinda dumb so I would rather not have that at the wedding haha. I didn´t hear an update form you so I´m guessing the guy didn´t get back to you on the quality. Thanks for those bridal pictures.. not gonna lie one kinda creeped me out hahaha it had me laughing because it just was kinda creepy. The one where they switched the little white bridal hat and the suit.. do you know which one I´m talking about? Haha I was just looking at it and just felt awkward. Hahaha but I liked the other pictures :) How did Jon´s date go? Sounds like he had a good time.. she pretty cute? So Teaskie is going to what´s most likely his last sector... that´s crazy. Is he happy or did he want to stay in his other area? Anyways that´s about it for this week... thanks for writing me Mom and Trevor for the picture. The kids sure seemed to enjoy Idaho! I´ll let you guys know what´s up next week about transfers.. I hate transfers by the way. Haha but I love you all and I´ll talk to you all next week!!!
ELDERRRRR NAYLSEWN (like the Chileans call me) :)
#goutes #ava #memorialdayshoutouttomyancestors
Santa Sabina
Cowboy Corndogs
May 19, 2014
Hey family! Here I am again, and I definitely forgot my camera... so I won´t be able to get the picture for the cardboard cutout sent off yet. I feel bad but I totally spaced to bring my camera today. HOPEFULLY next week I will remember. Haha hopefully once I finally get the picture to you guys, he can get it printed off pretty quick. This week was a pretty decent week. We had Stake Conference and C.G. was able to come to an hour of it. After, she invited us to eat at her house that night. She has a baptism date for this coming Sunday, but isn´t 100% about it. The appointment we had with her last night went really well and she really loves the laying on of hands and temples. She understands she would be the first in her family to be baptized and how many blessings she would receive for her and for her family. She wants us to pass by every day this week so hopefully all goes well. She knows Satan will be working hard this week and said she´s going to continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray. We said she is going to be watching mormon messages when we´re not there and stuff like that. We are most likely going to have the baptismal interview with her on Wednesday. She´s really good, but I¨m a little worried she might want a little more time. I can see it going both ways, and we just have to have faith haha. If we do our part, everything should work out. Just be praying for her. Her daughter has been busy with her studies and said she wants a little more time, but said she loves when we go over. They both say there´s a distinct feeling in the house when we go there. I know her daughter too will get baptized at some point. They are really awesome and so nice, and understand the things perfectly when they read from the Book of Mormon. N. has been really sick with we don´t what, and she has to go get some tests run today. With how she is now, it´s basically impossible to teach her. She was crying the other day and I asked her a question and she said she couldn´t even think. She just explains it as feeling weird with constant pain in her neck. C. basically said he wants more time to think awhile ago and doesn´t have enough time to share and so we haven´t been able to share with him. We´ve seen him walking in the street but he just doesn´t have time for anything. Anyways in the Stake Conference we had our mission president come and also the temple president from Santiago. They both did good jobs and the mission president talked a lot about hastening the work and having the members and missionaries unite. It was a good conference and the choir too did a good job. Today we went and played soccer at an actual soccer field with turf which was alright. I´d rather just play basketball obviously. But it´s all good! That´s basically all that has happened this week. I´ve had to help the sister missionaries out a lot in my district because they´re all having a lot of troubles finding and teaching their investigators. Anyways there´s not much more to report, this week was kind of boring. Lately nothing really cool has happened haha. This letter seems to be a little short but there´s not much new stuff because we just talked last week on Skype. But thanks for all you guys do and I love you all! I will talk to you guys again next week!!! But as for right now....
ELDER TRENTON DANIEL NEILSON OUTTTTTTTTT!
Hey family! Here I am again, and I definitely forgot my camera... so I won´t be able to get the picture for the cardboard cutout sent off yet. I feel bad but I totally spaced to bring my camera today. HOPEFULLY next week I will remember. Haha hopefully once I finally get the picture to you guys, he can get it printed off pretty quick. This week was a pretty decent week. We had Stake Conference and C.G. was able to come to an hour of it. After, she invited us to eat at her house that night. She has a baptism date for this coming Sunday, but isn´t 100% about it. The appointment we had with her last night went really well and she really loves the laying on of hands and temples. She understands she would be the first in her family to be baptized and how many blessings she would receive for her and for her family. She wants us to pass by every day this week so hopefully all goes well. She knows Satan will be working hard this week and said she´s going to continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray. We said she is going to be watching mormon messages when we´re not there and stuff like that. We are most likely going to have the baptismal interview with her on Wednesday. She´s really good, but I¨m a little worried she might want a little more time. I can see it going both ways, and we just have to have faith haha. If we do our part, everything should work out. Just be praying for her. Her daughter has been busy with her studies and said she wants a little more time, but said she loves when we go over. They both say there´s a distinct feeling in the house when we go there. I know her daughter too will get baptized at some point. They are really awesome and so nice, and understand the things perfectly when they read from the Book of Mormon. N. has been really sick with we don´t what, and she has to go get some tests run today. With how she is now, it´s basically impossible to teach her. She was crying the other day and I asked her a question and she said she couldn´t even think. She just explains it as feeling weird with constant pain in her neck. C. basically said he wants more time to think awhile ago and doesn´t have enough time to share and so we haven´t been able to share with him. We´ve seen him walking in the street but he just doesn´t have time for anything. Anyways in the Stake Conference we had our mission president come and also the temple president from Santiago. They both did good jobs and the mission president talked a lot about hastening the work and having the members and missionaries unite. It was a good conference and the choir too did a good job. Today we went and played soccer at an actual soccer field with turf which was alright. I´d rather just play basketball obviously. But it´s all good! That´s basically all that has happened this week. I´ve had to help the sister missionaries out a lot in my district because they´re all having a lot of troubles finding and teaching their investigators. Anyways there´s not much more to report, this week was kind of boring. Lately nothing really cool has happened haha. This letter seems to be a little short but there´s not much new stuff because we just talked last week on Skype. But thanks for all you guys do and I love you all! I will talk to you guys again next week!!! But as for right now....
ELDER TRENTON DANIEL NEILSON OUTTTTTTTTT!
Surfin USA
May 12, 2014
Hello friends and family! It´s the day after Mother´s Day and it was really nice getting to talk to you all yesterday, as well as Tanner. Sounds like everyone is doing well and enjoying life back at home. I´m glad the internet worked out fine and we were able to get insome quality time. It was awesome seeing my nephews and niece as well, and that they haven´t changed too much, besides Dallin. (He is huge and is a shock to see walking and talking) Carter is still freaking hilarious and the other boys are as well. Hayden is still a baller, and Teagan with his Teagan face.. hahaha. That´s sweet that Brielle is crawling too! It was also nice getting to know Staci a little bit so that I could approve her :) hahaha just kidding but thanks for all being there to be able to Skype. Now... 7 more months til the next one! Anyways thanks for being such an awesome family... I miss you guys a ton and more than you guys probably know but I know we´ll have plenty more time to hang out and joke around like always hahaha. Not much to report today... we went to the beach today and played soccer. I did take some pictures that I´ll see if I can send as soon as I´m done here. Last night we got home right as I had to call all the missionaries in my district and I finished when we had to go to bed. Then we had to wake up early and go right to the beach, and from there we came here. So... I wasn´t able to get the picture :( I´ll make sure I get it to you guys next week though.. I hope that will leave enough time for the guy to get it done. I feel bad and I wanted to get the picture taken, but there honestly was just no time after Skype and before/after the beach. Sorry... but next week I´ll for sure get it sent to you guys. One thing I forgot to ask that I wanted to know... who else was at our Sacrament Meeting yesterday.. did other people go? I´m glad they had the email version since my letter didn´t arrive in time. Today we got permission to go to the mall to look at some shoes and I ended up buying new shoelaces. We took advantage and ate some KFC which was not nearly as good as in the states. Everything just tastes better there haha. Anyways not much more to report since we just talked yesterday.. just know that I love you all! I´ll talk to you guys all next week.... ELDER NEILSON OUT!!!
Hello friends and family! It´s the day after Mother´s Day and it was really nice getting to talk to you all yesterday, as well as Tanner. Sounds like everyone is doing well and enjoying life back at home. I´m glad the internet worked out fine and we were able to get insome quality time. It was awesome seeing my nephews and niece as well, and that they haven´t changed too much, besides Dallin. (He is huge and is a shock to see walking and talking) Carter is still freaking hilarious and the other boys are as well. Hayden is still a baller, and Teagan with his Teagan face.. hahaha. That´s sweet that Brielle is crawling too! It was also nice getting to know Staci a little bit so that I could approve her :) hahaha just kidding but thanks for all being there to be able to Skype. Now... 7 more months til the next one! Anyways thanks for being such an awesome family... I miss you guys a ton and more than you guys probably know but I know we´ll have plenty more time to hang out and joke around like always hahaha. Not much to report today... we went to the beach today and played soccer. I did take some pictures that I´ll see if I can send as soon as I´m done here. Last night we got home right as I had to call all the missionaries in my district and I finished when we had to go to bed. Then we had to wake up early and go right to the beach, and from there we came here. So... I wasn´t able to get the picture :( I´ll make sure I get it to you guys next week though.. I hope that will leave enough time for the guy to get it done. I feel bad and I wanted to get the picture taken, but there honestly was just no time after Skype and before/after the beach. Sorry... but next week I´ll for sure get it sent to you guys. One thing I forgot to ask that I wanted to know... who else was at our Sacrament Meeting yesterday.. did other people go? I´m glad they had the email version since my letter didn´t arrive in time. Today we got permission to go to the mall to look at some shoes and I ended up buying new shoelaces. We took advantage and ate some KFC which was not nearly as good as in the states. Everything just tastes better there haha. Anyways not much more to report since we just talked yesterday.. just know that I love you all! I´ll talk to you guys all next week.... ELDER NEILSON OUT!!!
P-day at the beach
Sand castle contest
I Saw the Sign- Dance Party in the Basement after Sherlock Holmes (B-How and SoCo)
May 5, 2014
Hey family! I´ll see if I can keep this somewhat short since we´ll be talking in 6 days anyways. This week, well C didn´t get baptized. After we taught him tithing and he had committed to it, he all of a sudden said he didn´t want to change religions yet and wanted some time to think. He said he works a lot and it´s hard to share with us, go to church, and work at the same time. Anyways I´m getting a little annoyed with investigators being really good and then either disappearing or just not wanting to progress. But I guess it´s all in the Lord´s time. I feel like we did our part with him, and are just going to give him a little time and see what happens. N has been a little tough too with time issues, but C G came to church! She is the woman that reads a ton of the Book of Mormon but had difficulties coming to church. She finally came, and loved it. I do know she smokes though, and drinks coffee. Anyways we always do work with working with the members with our investigators. We never have to pass by to bring our investigators to church. We always have members go pick them up in their cars. Anyways I seem like we don´t have struggles bringing investigators to church, it´s just after bringing them to church and baptizing them is what´s a little tough. I´ll keep you guys posted with our investigators.... we are having major difficulties finding new investigators. Even in the summer it was hard, and now it´s getting a little colder and rainy and the people are even harder to talk to. I did go buy a rain suit because I didn´t have pants, and I just use my nice coat with the pants I bought. I´m planning on buying boots for like 12 books either this week or next week. We are also working with a lady that has been a member for a really long time and her kid is 9 years old and isn´t baptized. She had a bad experience in church like the rest of the less actives in all of Chile and that´s why she doesn´t come. Her 9 year old was running around church like 7 years ago and another member jumped up and yelled, ¨Whose kid is this?¨ Haha she´s been a member all of her life and was a really really strong member too. We visited her with the bishop when it was pooring rain and she really enjoyed the visit. She said she wants to come back but it´s really hard for her. By the way the bishop here is so sick. He served in Santiago like a ton of returned missionaries here. This week we brought 7 less actives to church which is still really good for being in Chile haha. I remember Elder C, my other companion just being so surprised at how much harder and difficult the people here are in Chile. We feel really good about that and are working hard with the less actives. We reactivated 2 people, and it looks like the one we reactivated they are about to call as our new ward mission leader. We´re not sure yet.. so we´ll see. Anyways, sounds like everything is going well back at home. Where is Jeremy planning on living? From Heather´s letter, made it sound like the back of Staci´s parents house but I´m not sure. I always figured Jeremy would be living in Jon´s guest house just like on Yes, Dear with Jimmy and Greg. Hahahahaha :) Congratz to Dallin for being 2! I can´t believe I forgot his birthday... I only remember Hayden´s is June 5th because I remember that day so vividly and I think Teagan´s is November 25th or something like that... can someone please remind me of the other kid´s birthdays? I feel bad :( Yes Mom, I got my tie. So hopefully I´ll be able to get that picture sent off next week. I need a haircut because my hair is long again. Thanks for all you do and I can´t wait to talk to you guys all next week! HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY!!!!!!!!
Hey family! I´ll see if I can keep this somewhat short since we´ll be talking in 6 days anyways. This week, well C didn´t get baptized. After we taught him tithing and he had committed to it, he all of a sudden said he didn´t want to change religions yet and wanted some time to think. He said he works a lot and it´s hard to share with us, go to church, and work at the same time. Anyways I´m getting a little annoyed with investigators being really good and then either disappearing or just not wanting to progress. But I guess it´s all in the Lord´s time. I feel like we did our part with him, and are just going to give him a little time and see what happens. N has been a little tough too with time issues, but C G came to church! She is the woman that reads a ton of the Book of Mormon but had difficulties coming to church. She finally came, and loved it. I do know she smokes though, and drinks coffee. Anyways we always do work with working with the members with our investigators. We never have to pass by to bring our investigators to church. We always have members go pick them up in their cars. Anyways I seem like we don´t have struggles bringing investigators to church, it´s just after bringing them to church and baptizing them is what´s a little tough. I´ll keep you guys posted with our investigators.... we are having major difficulties finding new investigators. Even in the summer it was hard, and now it´s getting a little colder and rainy and the people are even harder to talk to. I did go buy a rain suit because I didn´t have pants, and I just use my nice coat with the pants I bought. I´m planning on buying boots for like 12 books either this week or next week. We are also working with a lady that has been a member for a really long time and her kid is 9 years old and isn´t baptized. She had a bad experience in church like the rest of the less actives in all of Chile and that´s why she doesn´t come. Her 9 year old was running around church like 7 years ago and another member jumped up and yelled, ¨Whose kid is this?¨ Haha she´s been a member all of her life and was a really really strong member too. We visited her with the bishop when it was pooring rain and she really enjoyed the visit. She said she wants to come back but it´s really hard for her. By the way the bishop here is so sick. He served in Santiago like a ton of returned missionaries here. This week we brought 7 less actives to church which is still really good for being in Chile haha. I remember Elder C, my other companion just being so surprised at how much harder and difficult the people here are in Chile. We feel really good about that and are working hard with the less actives. We reactivated 2 people, and it looks like the one we reactivated they are about to call as our new ward mission leader. We´re not sure yet.. so we´ll see. Anyways, sounds like everything is going well back at home. Where is Jeremy planning on living? From Heather´s letter, made it sound like the back of Staci´s parents house but I´m not sure. I always figured Jeremy would be living in Jon´s guest house just like on Yes, Dear with Jimmy and Greg. Hahahahaha :) Congratz to Dallin for being 2! I can´t believe I forgot his birthday... I only remember Hayden´s is June 5th because I remember that day so vividly and I think Teagan´s is November 25th or something like that... can someone please remind me of the other kid´s birthdays? I feel bad :( Yes Mom, I got my tie. So hopefully I´ll be able to get that picture sent off next week. I need a haircut because my hair is long again. Thanks for all you do and I can´t wait to talk to you guys all next week! HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY!!!!!!!!
After having our flu shots
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