4-25-11

Monday: We got up this morning and weent to the Villa Acero chapel to
play soccer as a zone. The whole zone came! We played so hard there,
and my legs have been in agony all day. Elder Kemp is so awesome at
soccer. I was clumsily dribbling down the court and he swooped in and
stole the ball and I fell down, and as I was tumbling around, I was
laughing and telling him good job. I realized that a true friend is
someone who cheers for you, even if they are on the other team. I
thought it was very profound of me to think that. We went to FOOD OK,
the local restaurant, to eat our last lunch together, and say goodbye
to the employees. We have actually gotten to know them really well. We
tried to write the family but the internet cafè was still closed. So
we both went to get a haircut. There were only two customers in front
of us, but as it turned out, they were both getting an extreme
makeover. So we ended up staying for two hours. It was lame, `cause
(<-----just figured out how to do an apostrophe) after the first hour
we were like, "We waited an hour. Let`s just wait a little longer.
"But I got it done and I look sharp again. Daddy says he and mama
enjoyed their anniversaryWe said goodbye to Hna. Marìa and Hna.
Soledad. they really loved Elder Bernal. My favorite visit was with
the Soliz family. We had a lesson about being more like Christ. Then
we had empanadas from Colombìa with some really good pebre salsa. I`m
gonna miss Elder Bernal. He and I have been really good friends. I
hope he has a good time in Tirùa.

Tuesday: Today was a magical day. I mean REALLY incredible. I still
can`t believe what happened this morning. As we were getting ready to
leave, Elder Bernal realized he couldn`t find his wallet. We looked
for ten minutes before we found it in his suitcase. We got to the
terminal and Elder Bernal went off to Tirùa. It hurt, watching him go.
I really learned how to work diligently, even when things look bad. I
spent the day at the terminal with Elder Plmer. He`s from Blanding,
Utah. I know, sounds exciting. He`s now one of my close friends. He`s
almost as good as Lisonbee, but he will have NO equal. I heard people
say hi to an Elder Corliss. I went over and asked where he was from.
He said he was from Highland. His eyes went to my nametag and he
FLIPPED! He was like, "Brigham! NO!" And he started backing up and
freaking out. Turns out he`s ANDREW Corliss. He was my first Childhood
best friend. The kid who taught me to spiral a football. His sister is
married and has 6 kids. Elder Jacob Calaway is my comp. from
Washington (state). We got to meet some members with im. Our
companionshop is so great. We`ll get along so great. It was a good day
and we did about 20 contacts. I called Elder Lisonbee to seehow he`s
doing. He moved up to District Leader! He still loves me. I still love
him. He lived in Highland with Elder Corliss before the mission.

Wednesday: So today was our first Distrizona as a new zone. Elder
Steward brought his hacky sack that he`d had hid away in his suitcase
for all these months. I was a bit rusty, but everyone was still
impressed. THer`s an Elder Gonzalez in our District and he`s a jerk.
He`s like, "I`m gonna baptize `cause I want to. Not for this District
or Zone, but for me." I was like, "WOOOOOOOOW. You`re a toolbag...I
mean `not very Christlike." Anyway, after we got on the bus to go
home, Elder Calaway asked me if I was always so happy. I said yes. But
I`ve had to practice at it, and it`s worth it. Elder Calaway made a
cool observation. SAtan never makes us do obvious bad things. Just
little things. If satan were to change our object of worship, what
would it be? Jesus getting killed. That was a mind bomb that blew my
mind. We saw a drunk guy go screaming through a puddle. Then through
traffic. Then back through traffic. Elder Calaway told me he beats
himself up a lot. I think he`s such a great guy. At least he`s got
girl experience going for him. He`s really nice and jokes with the
people. He reminded me of me at the beginning of the mission. But he
trusts me and looks to me for strength. I looked back in my journal
and saw myself wishing for that, `cause I did it with Elder Barajas.
I`m so grateful for the changes the Lord and his spirit are making in
me.

Thursday: The days here are steadily getting colder and colder. The
sun is so hot during the day, but the wind in the night is about 45 F.
Brr. We got up and did our exercises and studies together. I`ve gotten
a lot out of my personal study time. I enjoyed my time this morning
talking with Elder Calaway. We went to drop off the clothes. We had
our weekly planning session and it was really hard for me. Actually,
all of today was hard for us. There just aren`t people for us to plan
for. Elder Calaway is my first comp. that has a girlfriend. He REALLY
misses her. He`s getting really beat up about being away from her. I
can see the blessing of not having one during the mission. It took me
a few extra minutes to find our lunch. It was emarrassing. Merta
wouldn`t let us teach her because her cousing was watching TV. I was
like, "What does that have to do with you?" Chileans are weird. We did
contacts the rest of the day. I feel like I`m starting the mission
again. I feel a bit lost. I remember thinking I could only progress so
much as a junior comp. and also that the mission is like life. I
wonder if being a dad will be as disorienting as being a senior
companion. My comp`s really struggling with who he is and what he
wants. I`m glad I fixed my goals of who I wanted to be. I`ve prayed
for deliverance--to be delivered to where I want to. Lisonbee and my
comps. have been telling me thigns that I wanted to be. The mission`s
changing me! But being here is so hard.

Friday: So the mission has officially gone to the next level. Being
Senior Comp. is just really hard for me. We don`t have any people
besides Valentina and we found out we can`t pass by when her dad`s
home. He was home today, so we couldn`t go by and teach our only
investigator. Not being able to teach peole on the mission just makes
me feels useless. Being held accountable for that lack of lessons
makes me feel like I`m failing, and it`s awful. I`ve never been that
good at walking up to strangers and just creating a bond of trust to
talk about Jesus. We are just not able to find any new investigators,
it seems. I`ve read examples of missionaries in the Scriptures, and
I`ve examined Preach My Gospel trying to learn how to get new
investigators, but the people are so hard here. We just did contacts
all day. We talked to people in the streets and they would just hurry
away from us, saying they were in a rush. WHow can we talk to them?
I`ve tried being their friend, I`ve tried testifying in the name of
Christ, and I`ve tried offering service. And all of the members give
their references to the assisstants. I don`t know what I`m going to do
for 5 more weeks, here. I guess I`ll have to practice my contacts. I
have to be a good example for my comp. now. We`re getting to know each
other really well and helping each other out and to be better. P.S. I
saw a dog that was a boy AND a girl.

Saturday: Today was something that I needed. Supposedly there was a
Stake activity for all the Young Men where they got to leave with the
missionaries. We didn`t go, `cause we don`t have any investigators to
visit. Right when we were about to go, I made a cup of Ecco and
accidentally put too much sugar in. I liked the flavor, but when I got
to the bottom, I was dizzy from a sugar rush. I felt positively sick.
So I threw up a few times and felt worse. Because of disorientation, I
was forced to lie down until lunch. We ate with Hna. Teresa. She
REALLY enjoyed talking to us. She told us about her life, being
married to a non-member. It`s been hard for her. I felt a love for her
that I was sure was coming from Heavenly Father. When we left a prayer
with her, I tried to let her know how he loved her. When I ended, she
mentioned the blessing I had gen Hna. Wioleta that had made her cry.
Apparently, the whole relief Socity knows. Sheesh! We had a crazy
preacher (not a pastor) talk to us. Actually, my comp. spoke to him.
He wouldn`t listen. When I asked where he was from, (`cause he spoke
weird) his eyes got big and he pointed at me and said, "I say unto
thee. God loves thee!" My comp. was like, "What about me?" He said,
"He loves you too, but HIM," (pointing to me agian "He`s gonna have a
dream of Jesus." Then he slowly closed the door while still pointing.
It was funny. Then we had our ward FHE. Our eyes got big when our FHE
class started talking about Kolob and the garden of Eden. Some of the
assisstant`s investigators were confused. All of us missionaries were
just in pain.

Sunday: So today was the first day of May. I can`t believe it! So much
time has passed away. Today we had a Seventy come to our WArd. Just
ours. His name is Elder David Fereira. He`s actually from the WArd of
Hualpencillo. He spoke to us about a lot of things. I can`t remember
any right now, but I just felt so GOOD. I finally got it! I finally
got the whole mission thing. I want to be here. I thought of home and
I didn`t want to go. This is my life. This is normal. I want to help
people. It`s such a lighter feeling. I remember something the Seventy
said. He said that ANYONE who hears the Prophet is blessed--member, or
not. I discovered today, that my comp. likes to play pranks on drunks.
He did some fun things. So I tried it too. In the middle of a
conversation I said,"Someone just robbed you!" He started patting
himself and looking around for about 5 seconds before he forgot. We
completed with our 200 contacts. First week as Senior
companion=awesome. Fernanda called and said that she`d had a dream
about me, that I had been covered in dirty water and was all muddy.
She dreamed I was really weighed down and wanted to see how her
"hermanito" (little brother) was doing. I have been pretty depressed
because of the lack of investigators. I really appreciated that call.

4-18-11

Monday: today we went to the office and found that not one letter had
come for our whole zone. That was the first time it happened. We went
to use internet and write the family. Mama had written me an email,
noting that it sounded like I wasn`t feeling well. She`s always had a
fine-tuned "mother`s sense" that alerts her when the evil juju of the
universe decides it`s my turn in the batting cage. She said they`re
trying to sell our blazer to buy a Dodge pickup that won`t sling oil
all over the place. I also got a message from Grammy. she sent it from
her ipad, too! That made me want one really badly. In the evening, we
went by Hna. Marìa. We talked about the people/members who live in
Utah. Hna. Marìa is about 75 years old and she said that those people
are lame. She thinks it would be bad to be surrounded by members
because there wouldn`t be opposition. I tried to tell her that just
LIVING is a trial. No one escapes it. Then she went on about the Utah
missionarieis that left because their parents would disown them if
they didn`t. I`ve found that the reason for leaving doesn`t matter, as
long as you leave. God does the rest. At the FHE with the Soliz
family, I taught how to improve relationships with God, our family,
our fellowman, and ourselves.

Tuesday:As the last (zone) District meeting of the transfer, it was
seen fit by our Zone Leaders that we have a Zone breakfast. They
bought 90 eggs to made all the breakfast burritos. While we were
there, one of the other Elders gave me a letter from Alan! The things
he said to mejust connected with me on a level that no one else has
reached yet. When I talk with him, it is just so easy to trust him. I
feel like he`s my brother. I`m so grateful to have him for my best
friend. He pretty much PWN`d my heart in his letter today. We went to
lunch with Hna. Marìa. Elder Bernal had won the "rock, paper,
scissors" to decide what to have for lunch. We had mashed potatoes and
pork instead of completos, which is just as well, because it`s his
last week. The grandaughter of Hna. Marìa, Melissa, was there too.
Sheps really cool. but when Elder Bernal asked how she was, she said,
"fine" in a sad voice. When she asked him, he said, "I`m fine, but not
as fine as you." He was going for sassy sarcasm, but it came out
wrong. Later, I had a similar experience when I tried to explain that
men run around wearing little...barrier(forgot the right word in
english)...against the cold because they have girls to warm them up.
The translation they understood was "because they have girls to turn
them on." Woops. We went to the Esmeralda (means emerald) sector for
an interview. While there, I learned how to do a Rubik`s cube. I did
it 5 times before the interview finished. My brain felt bruised. Then
we jaywalked 2 freeways to get home. I imagined mom kiling me if she
saw me. But I lived. then we did contacts to finish.

Wednesday: We woke up this morning to a crisp autumn breeze and stormy
overcasts. We also had to go to the other side of the sector to lend
some service to a Sister in the ward. She had us chop off some
branches from a tree out back that had been blocking her sun. She
invited us in afterwards to have some sopaipillas and pebre salso with
a cup of ecco. While enjoying that piece of heaven, she told us about
her son, who`s serving in Peru. He says that there`s no nature. Just
cold grey concrete. How depressing it would be, to live in a place
like that! One of my favorite things of Chile is the land. There are
always rolling green hills and beautiful landscapes. We went to a
Pharmacy to buy medicine for Elder Fernandez, who is in Bernal`s
district. I measured my health while there. I`m the same height, but
I`ve gained 5 lbs. in the past two weeks. Yay! It said that only 1
pound was fat. LOet`s hear it for muscle (and a steady diet), people!
We had lunch with Hna. Rebecca Vasquez, and a member from Concepciòn
who rents a room there for college. We had a good time telling jokes.
But when we got back to the house, I got really dizzy...and clammy. I
tried to go out and work, but almost tipped over every time. I felt
awful. Our numbers are going to be awful. It`s getting so hard for me
to be happy. I`m not teaching anyone and no one wants to listen. Elder
Bernal told me not to be sad if my life isn`t a rose garden. I should
remember who wore the crown of thorns.

Thursday: Today wasn`t as wet as it was windy. Today both sucked and
blew. We got up to a particularly freezing chill and an ominous
overcast. It was a dramatically dark day (alliteration!). I did about
400 push ups through sets of 30 and I`m regretting it. But maybe some
good will come of it. When the time came for weekly planning for all
our investigators, I got depressed. We just don`t have any people. So
I helped Elder Bernal learn some hymns in English for a while. Elder
Gomez saw me being sad and said he had heard from a reliable source
that they might be closing the sector soon. I MIGHT get to leave
early. When walking in the whiplash wind (another alliteration!) we
wet our weather wear which we woefully wore (say that 10 x fast). The
wind blew against us at the beginning, but later in our journey it got
behind us and helped us. I likened it to our challenges. It can be
hard at first, but when we get our perspective right, it can really
help us. We went to Merta, but she was sick. Her granddaughter (also
Merta) let us teach her the 1st lesson. At the end, she understood
everything (I know `cause I quizzed her. Bwahahah!). She said she
doesn`t like to read, but said she really wanted to read the Book of
MOrmon. Then, we went by Marìa Poblete, the less-active that we`ve
been trying to visit EVERY SINGLE DAY since the first day and who
never answered us. After 6 weeks of hiding, she invited us in, all
smiles. She`s a bit crazy `cause she smokes and drinks tea and coffee,
but she`s nice. She really likes me. She says I`m funny. Thank you
Elder Montoya! Her daughter, Valentina, who`s not a member came in. We
were just inviting Marìa back to church. She asked her daughter if she
"wanted to go to the Mormon Church." Valentina was like, "yeah."
Sweet! She really likes us. Really. She tried to get our address so
she could watch movies with us. she`s 13. She also worships Justin
Bieber. Seriously. She knows the hour of his birth and how much he
weighed. Creepy.

Friday: So it`s EArth Day, and I think it went pretty dang well. The
first awesome thing was waking up to our snazzy gas stove. I read in
the November Liahona that I had picked up last pday. I read all of teh
talks from the Priesthood session. My favorite was by Elder Patrick
Kearon. He spoke of the sting of sin and how EVERYONE can be healed
by putting their desires at the feet of our Spiritual Physician, the
Savio Jesus Christ. I`m so thankful for the miracle of forgiveness.
And I was pretty much psyched to go our and tell it to everyone else.
Unfortunately, for the catholics and evangelicals (aka the rest of the
world) it was the Holy Week and today was a Holiday. Which wasn`t so
groovy because they were all out preaching and mainly crowding our
space. FORTUNATELY, it provided us with a TON of people that didn`t
have a door to hide behind. Bwahahahaha! Which was a really good
answer to prayers. Due to Leadership duties and sickness and
miscellanneous activities involving chipmunks and birds of prey (don`t
ask) we had 20 of our weekly 140 contacts done. We did 87 today. PWN!
And, this is the best part, we found GREAT People! Susàn heard the
missionaries 2 or 3 years ago and LOVED them! She doesn`t want to
change religion but wants to come to our church along with her kids.
She was really excited to tell her daughter about the FHE activities.
Lucky for us, there`s one tomorrow night. I`m so grateful for the Lord
for GIVING us investigators right when I needed it. Like the children
of Israel going into the Red Sea up to their necks before it was
parted. Alma 26:22 says that our people are given to us, not earned.
I`m thankful for my personal blessings.

Saturday: I`m feeling so many things right now. This morning we got up
late-- all of us slept through our 5 alarms... I don`t know why one of
them has 2 alarms. We huddled up in our blankets in front of the
heater, and we just...talked. It was nice. Bio Bio was going to have a
baptism today, but she came to our door (we don`t know who told her
the address) and said she had to go out of town for her son. We went
and did contacts in the morning as well as picking up our clothes. Our
afternoon included a lot of walking around, trying to find people to
come to the WArd`s baptism of Thyàre. We didn`t find anyone. But we
found a few references that the members had brought. Pablo was one of
them. He`s about 25 and has a leg handicap on both of them. He uses
special crutches or a wheelchair. He`s so cool. He swims ( I don`t
know how) and plays paralympic basketball in wheelchairs. He said that
he has a whle team of wheelchairs and wants to play with us. Sweet! I
challenged him to baptism when he gained a testimony of the BOM. He
acepted. We watched a lot of church clips after the baptism. One was
of a boy whose father died. I hate how being away from home gives me a
an orphan`s pain. I feel a loss that makes me feel scared. We found
out the transfers. Elder Hickman`s training here and Elder Gomez is
going to another part of this zone. Elder Bernal`s going to Tirùa!
WOOT! I told him all about it. Maybe not all of it. I don`t want him
to arrive depressed. Just kidding! Montoya said that they have 5
people with baptisimal dates (3 that I taught), and 9 attending
church.I`m staying here (it`s not being closed. 3 days ago, I would`ve
been depressed by this. Now I`m happy!) and Elde rCaloway will come
here and I`m gonna be Senior Companion! DOUBLE WOOT! There will be
more responsibility but I`m ready.

Sunday: Today was a really good day. We got up and headed out to pick
up Marpia Poblete and Valentina. As we were on our way over there, I
was praying so hard that they would bereak from the Chilean mold and
be up on time. They answered on the second knock and were just
finishing getting ready. I could hardly believe it! All of our
previous "investigators" had always staye din bed late. We all walked
to church and even ran into some other members and introduced them to
Valentina. She already knew some of them! We explained things to her
during Sacrament Meeting. Pablo slept in, but we`re gonna swing by on
Tuesday. Valentina participated in Sunay School and everything. We had
lunch with Hna. Cabrera. After lunch, while we were sharing a
Scripture, she asked us for some advice for her family. She said she
gets angry easily. Most of the things I told her were given to me by
Alan. I`m so thankful for him! We taught the Restoration to Valentina
before Elder Bernal said goodbye. It went really really well! She
finished a few of my sentences, she understood it so well. She`ll read
and pray about the BOM and she acepted a baptisimal date for May 14th.
And her mom`s gonna give her permission. Marìa Poblete gave Elder
Bernal a mini cactus as a gift. Funny. Elde rBernal realized he`ll be
in Tirùa when he has to call his family, which is awful. Just awful. I
thanked Elder Montoya for all the things I learned from him. thanks to
him, I`m able to be a better teacher. P.S. I asked Valentina if she
wanted to hear a joke. She said yes. I said, "Justin Bieber." She
didn`t get it.

4-11-11

Monday: Today was a super-fabulous-awesome day! And as such, I thought
it deserved noting. We got up and went to the office to get Elder
Hickmans and Elder Gomez s packages with them...because we had nothing
else to do. But when we got there, lo and behold! There was a package
for ME as well! (and it was the biggest) Inside was a ton of stuff. I
got some polos, fruit snacks (with juice inside), pringles, beef
jerky, hotamales, pop-tarts, popcorn cereals, shorts, and the Holy
Grail itself: Velveeta Shells and Cheese...with a captial "C." That s
about as good as life gets for a missionary, next to baptizing.
Included was an audio tape from Cassie (sister). It was so nice to
hear her voice ramble on. She told me of her life and her hopes and
dreams. I was delighted to find that the other side contained Devin
talking. At least, they SAID it was him. I really couldn t believe it
at first. Not only was his voice deeper, but all of his pronunciation
nuances (say that 10x fast) were gone. He anunciated very clearly. It
was disorienting. It was a long tape. It made me happy. The mission is
like a very slow time machine. I dig it. We did contacts in the
evening, and found two potential news. One even started reading our
"Restoration" pamphlet as he went in the house. We had the FHE with
the soliz family again. When we get there, they had already started
and the Bio Bio missionaries weren t there! The worst part was that
the Grandpa was scolding everyone for not fulfilling their goals. But
after he got done, I added my own counsel, so we weren t just visiting
furniture-warmers. After that, things were normal again. They`re
really great. We had rice pudding.

Tuesday: So yesterday, Elder Hickman got Disneyworld pamphkets from
when his family went. Elder Bernal said, "Who needs Disney World, we
ve got Chile World!" Then we proceeded on our halting journey in the
exciting buses with the extreme swerves and g-force acceleration.
Crazy stuff, that. At the District Meeting (not a Distrizona) Elder
Arjona gave (sold) me a brand-new triple for $22. Expensive! But now I
have HALF of my scriptures again. I realized that we finished our 4th
week today. I thought we were STARTING it. This transfer s flown by!
It rained a lot today. A TON! There was so much water that I couldn t
see more than 20 feet. And it blew a lot and it was dang cold. I would
have been in trouble without my gear. Elder Argueta left me a neck
tube and leather gloves. It made all the difference. The tube blocked
all of my face except my eyes--and they weren t bothered because they
don t have nerve endings in the cornea. Something interesting is how
the wind was always in our face--no matter the way we faced. We
visited a less-active member. She didn t want to come back because she
d had a hard life and a member had been a part of it. She wouldn t
listen to the scriptures. She said she couldn t return. I asked why.
She said she didn t want to. I asked a lot of unique questions I d
never asked before. They just popped into my mouth when they needed
to. She doesn t want to change now, But she doesn t want us to give
up. She said if our parents were here, she d tell them to be proud of
us.

Wendesday: Today was a good day, and not just because I learned a
Spanish tongue twister about a painting hobo. I think I m used to this
sector, finally. The down side of this, of course, is that I haven t
taught an investigator in forever. All we have are the practices in
our comp. studies. We carried our laundry to the Sister that helps us
with that. We did contacts in the morning and then went to lunch. It
was rice and a lot of sauteed veggies and chicken. It reminded me of
chinese food, except it didn t have any seasoning! While we ate, Toy
Story 3 was playing. I hadn t seen it before because it came out after
I left. I really liked it. All of our appts. fell through again. We
walked around, talking to whoever would listen. While we were out, it
started raining again like yesterday. But today I didn t have my rain
gear. I had a thready sweater. Needless to day, I got a free way to
break the ice on my contacts: "Do you have any shampp?" Haha.
Actually, I was happier today than yesterday. I took it as a sign that
SAtan was trying to stop us from getting to someone. So we worked
harder and appier. Alberto wasn t home again. wE really need to talk
to him. In the night, we stopped by the church and the youth asked for
a ping pong challenger. They got PWN d! P.S. I saw a lady trying to
smoke in the rain. I thought it was so ridiculous that I walked by and
said, "You shouldn t smoke." She didn t even look at me.

Thursday: Elder Bernal woke up sick today. He started groaning about
his tummy anbd went to bed again. When he got up again, he went to
throw up. It was really funny, actually. He was really vocal. He would
make loud gagging, shouting noises and nothing came out. But he got it
out, eventually, he said he felt a lot better, and that something
white had come out. We spent the morning time cleaning up the house.
It really needed it. We had divisions with Cerro Verde because Elder
Bernal had to interview their investigator. I got to spend the day
with Aaron Cotrell. He is from Layton, Utah and pronounces his "t"s.
He is living proof that I m a bad judge of character. I was a little
nervous for the divisions, but we got along so well! Turns out that he
studied/majored in English and wrote 8, 900-page books before the
mission! I mean GOOD FRIGGIN GRIEF! He is such a good guy. He has an
honesty about him that lets me know that he is sincere just to be that
way. He gave me some pointers on writing, and I asked him a lot of
questions. He reminded me of Elder Oversby, but with more inhibitions.
All of our appts. fell through and he handled it well. We just kept
talking. We tried to testify to people, but they just wouldn t listen.
I just love meeeting good people on the mission! Elder Cotrell said if
we had been comps, it would have been his favorite transfer ever.
REally he talked and I just listened. It is just as well. It makes
sense to have bad comps. I have learned from my difficult transfers.
Cotrell knows Lisonbee, too!

Friday: So today was wholly unproductive. We left to Cerro Verde to
meet up with our comps. again. They have a dart board, and I played
with it while Bernal packed up his clothes from last night. My skills
were between "horrid" and "slightly above a 10 year-old s high score."
We had enough time to drop Bernal s stuff off at the hosue before
heading off to lunch with Hna. Marìa. She made egg drop soup and
lasagna. This was GOOD lasagna. I was stuffed after the first piece,
but she forced another one on me, threatening to take offense. So we
both shoveled down another piece each. As we left, Elder Bernal told
me that, although he had been feeling better for a while, that the
second piece of lasagna had been fatal for him and his belly started
hurting him again. He also started running a fever and he had
convulsions in his bed. I started doing things to help stabalize and
he eventually nodded off. I remember having confulsions when I got a
really bad sunburn. The day passed us as we stayed in the house. We
were "invited" (forced again) to come to a BBQ with the Soliz family
in Bio Bio (at risk of offending). While there, I practiced my
pronunciation with Bernal. I couldn t do it. I couldn t make the
difference between "y" and "ll." I was so frustrated I asked a member
for input. They tried and couldn t do the colombian accent either.
When I said it, she said I sounded chilean. For some reaason, I was
sent to Chile. I can learn to speak it, because I was called here. I
have the gift of tongues for Chile, specifically. It is a real
testimony-builder for me.

Saturday: Today was an interesting day. It started when we went out to
visit less-active members. We could not find a few of them, so we went
to Hna. Violeta on a random visit to ask for directions. There, I
learned something that had been one o fmy fears in the MTC: "How can I
follow the Holy Ghost?" Hna. Violeta, her daughter, and her neighbor
cecilia (Our investigator who has been avoiding us) all needed
blessings. I was chosen to bless all 3. After I blessed Hna. Violeta,
she stood up crying. She said I had given her what she needed. I had
told her that Heavenly FAther was pleased with how she is raising her
kids and blessed her with strangth to continue. She said that was what
had been worrying her. She said I was inspired. I felt very reverent
after that. I got frustrated later, when Elder Bernal kept saying
something to me, and I couldn t understand. I apologized for being
frustrated and he said, "Hakuna matata." He doesn t speak English, so
that was funny. We jaywalked on a freeway, today. We had to walk to
the other side of the sector at about 6:30. On the way, we decided/
felt like we should go by our 8:00 appt. early. We did, and she said
we had caught her right before her nap. On our way to the gangster
neighborhood a punk kissed his girlfriend. They both puckered up and
closed their eyes, but before the kiss, he opened one eye to see if we
were watching. We were. It wasn t anything romantic. We had missed our
8:00 appt. But we randomly found him in a side street and taught him
anyway. We didn t meet with Alberto this whole week.

Sunday: So today was a bit depressing. It all started when I tried
coughing up one of my lungs. I gave up after a while and settled for
merely wanting to die. Then my cough died down, and fate left me
fatigued for the rest of the day. On the plus side, I walked around,
sounding like Darth Vader. (Luke. I. am. your. ELDER!!!) In Church, I
was challenged with a leadership "obstacle." A sister came up to me
and told me of another sister that ahd done something bad. This put me
in a delicate situation. I didn t know her intention--if she wanted to
help, gossip, or to meaningfully hurt this other sister--and therefore
didn t know how to act. I couldn t ask what she expected me to do--she
expected me to act. I think my response was appropriate and was
something that I wouldn t have thought of a year ago. I asked, "What
are WE going to do to help her?" I hleped her feel recognized and
emphasized the fact that we were going to help the sister. This sister
eventually reasoned out that she should go to the person authorized to
hlep: the Bishop. I ve been practicing my pronunciation of my "ll" and
"y" sounds. I finally figured how to do it! I asked Bernal what else I
could work on. He said there wasn t anything. MAXIMUM PWNAGE!!! We
didn t have any investigators in the church, and all of our appts.
fell through. We found some boys playing soccer by the church. One of
the boys went to get a ball from the bush. He was crawling frantically
as we passed. I recognized him as Pablo, our old investigator (that we
never taught). I said, "hi" and he hid even more. I was so sad because
he WANTED to hide from Christ.

4-3-11

Monday: Today was a good day. It really was. We got up and went from our home in hualpen to concepciòn, so we could renew Elder Bernal`s VISA. It involved a LOT of walking. But we finished up soon enough, and went to the office. All of the mail was for just two elders. We met up with the Zone Leaders and went to the mall here. It was SO pretty! Too bad my camera was out of batteries again. I got to eat McDonlad`s for the first time since NOvember. I also got to show Elder Bernal the iPad, but he wasn`t impressed. His loss. When it was time to leave, I asked Elder Bernal which bus to take home. He didn`t know. But we guessed and got lucky. At internet, I got letters from Mom and Dad. I was so relieved to hear form Daddy! He DOESN`T have cancer. He has, however, been working a lot. I don`t think I would be strong enough to work as much as he has been. His letter was just what I needed. He said how proud of me he was and happy he will be for me to come home. We`ll eat at Fuddruckers. At the house, we discovered we didn`t have toilet paper. I told Elders Hickman and Gomez to be men and use their hands...so they did. Then, they played a prank on me. They had a carton of eggs that were all hard-boiled. Hickman even proved it by eating one first. He offered one to all of us, but we had to open it with our foreheads. I was down, and did it. Turns out that out of the whole dozen, they had left one uncooked. Three guesses who hit their face witha raw egg. Yours truly. We laughed so hard!

Tuesday: We woke up and hustled off to Talcahuano for the Distrizona. Let me tell you that that fishing town is FRESH! It has quite the potent odor. There, I received a letter from Jess. During lunch, I decided I am really excited to go to institute after the mission. We had veggie lasagna today. The dough had spinach in it and the beef wasw beggie burger. Not too bad, actually. The mission is so short. As I get closer to my year mark (not like I`m counting or anything), I just don`t feel like I`ve been here for very long. If that`s all I have left, then dang. And double-dang. It`s speeding right along. All of our appts. fell through again. This makes two weeks since I`ve taught. We make appts. and the people just ignore us. One of our contacts, a yount woman, told me I was hot. It doesn`t mean much here. If you`re white or have eyes of a color other than brown, you`re a model. We also taught a catholic pastor. I did badly. I taught WAY too much info. I wanted to answer all his questions. Bu tinstead of helping him, I think I condemned him. Triple dang. Tonight, Elder HIckmanand I wrestled. This man is built like a bear and, unlike me, can gain weight. 60 lbs. more than me. I couldn`t go offense but he couldn`t pin me like alan used to. I miss him.

Wednesday: Today we walked a lot. We got up and got ready for the day. For comp. study, I suggested we read in Preach My Gospel to learn how to better find people. We didn`t get through all of it before we had to go drop off our laundry at Hna. Nuboa`s house. So we did that and wandered around, talking with everyone and their mom (not leterally. Literally, we contacted everything that moved.). We found an inactive member from another ward. He doesn`t go because of a member that bothers him. I bore him testimony about how imprtant it is to take the Sacrament to renew our baptisimal covenenants and remember Jesus Christ. In my personal personal study, I also enjoyed reading Alma`s explanation about justice and the Plan of Salvation in chapter 42. We ate lunch with a family in Bio Bio, the sector next to ours. Elder Gomez is just a smiley little guy. I think of Elder Calhoun from "The Best Two Years" when I think of Elder Gomez. All of our appts. fell through again. Surprise. A real shocker there. We did a LOT more contacts and nobody opened the door until the last one. That last door opened and there were some really receptive people. We have an appt. with them tomorrow! We`ll see how that goes. I`m tired of hollow primises. But I`m not giving up. We had set up an appt. with Cecilia on Sunday to come by with a member at 8:30 in the gangster neighborhood. We risked all that, and she doesn`t even get off work until 10!

Thursday: We woke up this morning and my comp. had the flu. Or, at least, he threw up, but he felt better by noon. We finished reading the chapter on Finding People in Preach My Gospel. I read in Alma 43 about how Moroni PWN`d the Lamanites. It was pretty epic. It was a noticeable effort by the Lamanites in numbers, but the Nephites were better motivated, prepared, and had their armor. We planned out our week and the few new people we`ve found. But all of those news have been "too busy" to actually sit down and talk. During our planning, the Bio Bio Elders made brownies from scratch. Mmmm. In the afternoon, all of our appts. fell through. I mean GOOD GRIEF! We set up an appt. for today just yesterday! We pretty much just wandered around aimlessly for hours, talking to people. In the night, I called Fernanda to congradulate her on her Patriarchal Blessing. It was really good to talk to her. It brought a lot of nostalgia for the beginning of my mission. I just LOVE the Millahual family. Papà Joel is going to leave in May for five yars, because of his job in the Army. Kamila also is going to live with her mom, down in Coyaique, after 11 years here, with her aunt and uncle. I was so sad to hear that. I didn`t get to say goodbye. After I hung up, Fernanda called me back to talk with Kamila. She told me she`s actually staying! She said she loves the red hoodie I gifted her.

Friday: I feel like my time here is being wasted. Nothing happened today. All of our appts. Fell through, all the doors we contacted stayed closed, and all of the people in the streets were too busy, in a rush to go do whatever gobbledygook they were in the middle of. This morning, I came out of the shower, and a scoop of flour fell on my head--courtesy of Elder Hickman`s April Fool`s Day tomfoolery--and promptly turned around and reshowered. We walked all over our sector, trying to invite people to the coolest thing ever--conferenc3e. But no one listened at all. Which is bad. I`ve learned a lot of things in the mission that I wouldn`t have learned in my protected life in Utah. I`ve seen single mothers, 13 years old. I`ve seen bruises from a beating given by a drunken father or husband. I`ve seen corpses filled with bullets because the wife wasn`t faithful. I`ve seen alcohol turn calm proffesors into red-eyed fiends. Why would anyone willingly do this to themselves? It`s so sad. But I won`t be like that, and I know WHY. Love is true and eternal. Where it is, obedience follows and blessings will come. When we came home after another long day, we found various objects of ours taped to the ceiling with electric tape, including my journal. I took off the tape, and, with it, parts of my journal cover. So now it has splotches. I felt a bit upset, but when Elder Bomez found out what he did, he felt so bad I didn`t feel upset anymore. It wouldn`t help anything to blame. But now I can remember all the good pranks we had!

Saturday: Today was a really good conference. None of our investigators came, but I had a spiritual feast. I had a real one, too, consisting of flavored water, fruit snacks, homemade bread, brownies, and tostitos. I feel nautious, but in a good way. It`s because we just got home from the Priesthood session at 11:20 PM...at night. As we listened to the opening choir, I saw their beautiful smiling faces and heard their angelic voices and thought of mama singing. She`s always had a beautiful voice. I found the cure for sleepiness during conference: taking notes. It really made a difference for me. I loved listening to the stories that everyone told. Elder Eyering advised us to lend service. He commented of a time his Dad had volunteered for him to weed, and how happy it made him. I remember my Daddy volunterring me to weed at Grandfather`s. I made them so happy. President Monson spoke on how we men should act as holders of the Priesthood. He spoke a lot about marriage. He said that men have to stop waiting and get married. Good women are waiting. He said we need to "choose our love and love our choice." He gave us consejo of ways we con show our love and devotion for each other. I felt good as I mentally checked off the things on the list that I`d do. That I WILL do.

Sunday: So I felt bad last night. Really bad. I even dreamed that I was lying in bed, feeling nautious. Then I realized I wasn`t asleep yet. My stomach had been hurting me so much that I had gone dizzy with pain and lost track of time. I got up and threw up. But I didn`t feel better until I had done it four more times. Ugh. I realized that conference is just as much a family time as Christmas. We went to all our few investigators that we had. It was about 12:30 and they were all still in bed. Argh! I`m so tired of lazy Chileans! The whole country`s like that. When we got to the church, they wouldn`t let us listen to conference in English. They said, "You`re in Chile, you should learn Spanish." We had carried that TV 6 blocks yesterday from another chapel, specifically for us. The Secretary wanted to use it for the moms with kids to retreat to. I can understand Spanish, but not in the cultural hall with an echo. It would have been a waste of time for me. It was the first time that I was really angry/frustrated in a long time. I felt bad afterward. Thankfully, we had senior missionaries to whom the secretary listened. I found out how I feel the Holy Ghost. I feel chills on my back and arms. But no burning (or chills) on my chest. Why not? I really don`t know. Instead, I`m filed with a deep love and a feeling that seems too big for me. I have happy thoughts and want to do good. A lot of the talks had recurring themes. A big one was young men to stop waiting and get married. As I`ve said before. I`m different. This seems to be a big need in the world. I`m always part of the minority, it seems. What do I need? For me? I think it would be selfless service. I`m grateful that I have the mission to help me in this. It`s like my own personal counsel. Elder Scott spoke of his wife in such a wonderful way.

3-27-11

Monday: We got up this morning to play soccer as a zone. About half showed up, but we still had about 10. Elder Hickman, one of the Elders with whom we`re living, was the best goalie out of everyone. Our Zone Leader, Elder Reeves, is a prideful little fella. He whined when he lost, and rubbed it in our faces when he won. But the worst was when he wo0uld take shots at a goal. Today, he hit Elder Hickman in the face twice, kicked his thumb, threw the ball incredibly hard at his face, and in the Nether regions. But after all that, Elder Hickman never complained. He`s a good man. We went to the mission office. It was my first time since my first day. It was a lot less scary. I tried to order new scriptures for a long time, but never found out how. In my email, I got letters from Mom, Dad, Kevin, and Alan. The family is planning a lot of vacations! Blessings of the mission! Kevin asked me how I can be so happy on the mission. I think it`s just attitude. When I wrote how hard it was at the beginning of my mission, he thanked me for speaking abou thow the mission "really is." He expects it to be bad. But Alan? Alan is having a blast. His trainer`s ill-mitivated and Alan just keeps pushing him along. He wrote a long letter, just for me. I sent my reply to his hand-written letter today.

Tuesday: We had our distrizona in the city of Talcahuano. It smells like fish there. Elder Kemp is in my zone now, so I get to see him every week. While we were there, i read something, and I wasn`t sure if it was in English or Spanish, but I understood the meaning. Words are just meant to communicate ideas. I missed the temple. I miss going to the quiet, time-free place. Elder Mcconkie actually said that the temples are a direct connection between us and God, and that our spirits are strangers to the concept of time. I want to attened again. The mission and life are the same. We come in, knowing nothing (maybe a little preparation) and having a trainer, good ones and bad ones, to help us. We progress and learn up to a point as a student. But eventually we have to be the trainer and teacher. We start to learn things all over again. Then we come home to the open arms of our parents. But if we`re thinking of our family all the time, we get distracted or sad. I think we can find the solution to happiness in the mission by looking at the example of life that God made for us: the veil of forgetfulness. If we forget our life before, we can have joy in the mission. Also, Faith and love are the same. A drunk guy (one of six) told us he was saved because he had love for God in his heart. I asked how he showed that love. FAith without works is dead. So is love. We have to share that love by thoughts, words, and actions. That love for the lord takes us to repent, and that leads us to baptism, and the Holy Ghost. All 8 of our appts. fell through today. Pablo`s going to enter into the First communion in the Catholic church because he`s been too busy for us to teach him. Ugh!

Wednesday: Today, we had our Zone Conference with the President and all the Zones of the North. before we left, Elder Gomez complimented me on my cursive. I encoureaged him to start practicing and develop that talent of HIS. He committed to start writing in cursive from now on. And he has been! I was so proud of him. We had a really good confearence today. Our assisstants are really good. Elders Vincent and Rubilar. They have a really effective and entertaining way of teaching. Sister Swenson spoke of the Passover. She taught that it`s to remember when Jehova delivered the Children of Israel from Egypt. When they had to cross the red sea, they had to enter the sea a little. Past their knees, their chest, and when it got to the point when they were about to be submerged in the ocean, Moses was commanded to part the sea and allow passage. Sometimes, in life, we have to give everything we have, EVERYTHING, before we can receive the blessings. Whenever Moroni spoke with Joseph Smith, it was always about Elijah`s coming. When he was 17, he couldn`t have understood. Even when he was 23, when he translated 3 nephi 24:8-11, he couldn`t have understood, much less invent, this prophecy. But when Elijah came in Section 128, he explained work for the dead. Turning the Fathers and sons to each other, linking all humanity. Sealing is the whole point of EVERYTHING!!! THAT was Joseph Smith`s life work. He didn`t know that from the beginning. HE. WAS. A. PROPHET. OF. GOD.

Thursday: Today`s been a pretty depressing day. We worked all morning, planning out the next week after a really cool comp. study. We made a really good reference system to better find the ancient investigators from the Area book. During one of our contacts, an old Grandma came up behind us and yelled at the contact, "Don`t listen to them! They`re liars!" We were like, "Hey! What are you doing?!" She left, and during another dcontact, 20 min. later, she came back and started yelling again. I know that there are lots of cool missionary stories like that, but when you don`t have ANY investigators it`s really hard to face. Elder Bernal had to go to the other Elder`s sector to interview a convert and we went on divisions...for about 10 min. until Bernal called me back and said there was a change in plans. One really funny contact was an old Lady. We asked where she was off to in such a hurry. She told us she was going to church. We thought for a minute, then we were like, "Do you want to come to our church on Sunday?" haha. Another lady was like, "I can`t attend to you right now, I have surgery on my hands this monday." I thought, "What about today?" All 4 of our appointments fell, as well as our 12 backup plans! That`s how little we trust Chileans. 3 backup plans each. I heard, the other day, that Elder Mckonkie said that spirits are strangers to time. We always want things to come sooner or stay longer and vice versa. It makes sense to think that a way to make happiness eternal would need not only a body to last, but maybe take time away entirely. But how would progress work if all things were before us? Would everything be instant gratification because we`d have everything we`d ever get? strange.

Friday: Today was pretty hard for me. I`m not sure how I`m going to be able to stay in this sector for another 2 1/2 months. We got up on time and did all of our studies and planned out our day. We went out in the morning to find less-active members, and invite them to church. Out of the 8 addresses, we heard 8 people inside but not even one came out to answer us. We did find a possible new named Carolina, but she told us that she already had her religion. We had completos for lunch. I fit 3 into my stomach before the sister was satisfied. It rained while we went from appt. to appt. as each one either ignored us, didn`t have time, or wasn`t home. We did contacts for 6 hours, and only 20 people talked to us, but not one of them wanted to listen. Today was another bust. We don`t have any investigators that listen to us or have time to. My thoughts turned to home, where I don`t have to feel guilty if I`m shy. Where I don`t have to force myself into people`s lives. I read through my notes in one of my notebooks and found some of the literate photographs that Elder Barajas and I made that night in August where we couldn`t sleep. A wave of homesickness came over me so suddenly that I had to throw up. I don`t know what I can do better. After I threw up and Elder gomez came up to me and we talked. It was just nice to have a friend. I said a prayer of thanks to Heavenly Father and my emotional Roller-coaster came to a halt. I felt at peace. I hope that we can teach someone soon.

Saturday: Last night, I couldn`t sleep. I almost did, until Elder Gomez asked me what my favorite moment was, that didn`t involve girls. I said it was seeing my dad as I got down from the plane after being in Iowa for a month. I don`t know why, but I had a "vision" or image of Daddy having cancer and dying before I got home. I said a prayer, asking Heavenly Father not to take him. Anything but that. I couldn`t take it. I stayed awake with my nightmare until 3.30-ish. Then i dreamed about Daddy yelling at me. but I woke up feeling better. We planned and went out to do service to the Fuente-alba family. We painted their fence and garage door. Then we got some medicine for an Elder in Elder Bernal`s district. Pablo and Celinda, our last investigators, both told us they didn`t want anything more. Well, Pablo just ignored us for the umpteenth time. But I spoke directly to Celinda when she told us she didn`t like our teachings. I looked her in the eye and said, "You are mistaken." She never listens to our explanations, so this got her attention. I bore her a powerful testimony about baptism. She said that this wasn`t the best time for her. We were depressed for 5 sec. and I decided not to be. I told Elder Bernal we were gonna kick Satan`s butt. We had a lot of slammed doors, but I felt a fire growing inside. I taught with more power than I ever had before. We found a historian/racist/ atheist that insulted me a lot. After my testimony of Joseph Smith, he was speechless. We found 4 little kids that want to come to church, and they came to the ward FHE. We also found other new people to teach. Today, I was a missionary.

Sunday: We got up this morning and went to the ward/mission correllation meeting. We had a stressful time thinking of who we could put as progressing investigators. It was a short list. We worked so hard this week, and it wasn`t our fault that the people wouldn`t even open up their doors to receive us! Nobody was in the Sacrament Meeting for the first half, but then Cecilia, a lady that attends every week (except last week), but has yet to be baptized. We put up an appt. with her and coordinated for a member to come with us. There`s hope! We went to our appointments and they all fell through. A hobo came up to us and asked us for money. He was hungry. We offered to buy his food. On the way to the store, we found a drunk guy that claimed we were trying to let the world see our good works. He talked about random things. He told us to cast out the demons from the starving guy. He suddenly put his hands on my comp`s head and pushed down, hard, yelling, "Get out of there, Demons!" It hurt my comp, but I was laughing. I didn`t feel bad about buying on sunday. I`m not gonna be like the Pharisees that got after Jesus for healing on a Sunday. So if a starving hobo wants some cheetos, I`ll get `em for him (he asked for cheetos, but we bought him a ham sandwich...much more healthy.). We visited Hna. Marìa and Hna. Soledad. They made pancakes and it smelled like Halloween with the air. Hna. Soledad told us about how good her kids are, in comparison with Catholic kids. How he holds up his hand and respects women. I felt her mother`s love for her son, and i felt like she was talking about me. I cried a lot as she bore her testimony. She and her mom gave me hugs. She reminds me of my mom and Aunt Becky mixed. I felt the love of my family tonight, and it doesn`t bother me that our investigators let us down as much as it had. I won`t let myself let THEM down.

3-20-11

Monday: I`m done with Tirùa! I got to baptize Diego and got to find some really good people this last week. We got up this morning and turned on the gas heater, and just laid in bed for a while. It made me realize that we should have done it more often while we had the church buying the gas. haha. It was wonderful, though. I got up and packed my bags. It was really hard. I swear my high score on Tetris would go up by at least 500, if I ever played it. Eventually, I got past the snaggled zippers and finding things I was sure were alrewady packed, and escaped to lunch. We had a really rich vegetable soup that warme dm up despite the rain. On the way back from lunch, a young man asked if it was true that we had a ping pong table and if he coul dplay. We said yes, thinking to give him a lesson after. He said, "Great! I`m just gonna get a beer and come back." We waited for an hour, but he never came back. Then we went to teach Javier, the adventist boy. Turns out that he doesn`t want to hear us anymore, but thinks that we`re still awesome. But his mom may be interested. We went to cañete to use internet and sleep. Fernanda Millahual had written me, asking if I was okay after the Tsunami on behalf of her family. Daddy wrote me, telling me a few stories of his mission. He sounded like a really good missionary. I found out Elder heiser took my letters to the CAssies with him when he went home!

Tuesday: We woke up at 6 because of our trip up to Concepciòn. It was raining and it was cold, and all of my coats and sweaters had already been packed up. We went up to the terminal, and I was just so happy to have left my sector. It had been really hard for me there, but I also learned a lot from my comps. and my personal trials too. Because of those, I`m growing to be a different person that I was. It`s exciting. We got to the terminal and I got to meet Elder Pemberton and Elder Glover. They`ve got less time than me, and it was really good to have some friends that respected me again. I met up with Elder Bernal. He has skinny arms and sinny legs, with a wide torso. He looked like a little brown spongebob. He`s super happy and likes to help others. I think I`ll get along with him well.. We did contacts for a while. It`s so cool to be in a big city again! There`s technology! Our sector is a little mall and everyone`s so tired of missionaries. But I`m excited to show them what I`ve got for them! We met a kid that asked us a lot of interesting questions, but it was just to fight. things like, "Shouldn`t women always wear skirts so they`re not just being saints on Sunday?" ¡Nada que ver! We don`t have hardly any investigators. The members are really great though. When we left the terminal, I realized I`d left my Spanish scriptures at the terminal. Nobody found it. Someone had taken it! And my english ones are in Cañete. I live with my comp. and two gringos. One was a friend of Elder Mcconnell, my first comp. before the mission. The house is poopy. It`s about 5 1/2 feet tall. boo! And the front of the toilet is 6 in. from the wall which makes for an...acrobatic time when nature calls.

Wednesday: I felt really good this morning as I got up and wasn`t the only one doing exercises. Elders Hickman, Gomez (gringo), and Bernal all were up and going. We had a great comp. study and left to go work. I felt like I was back in the mission again. Tirùa was so separated. But I realized that we kind of determine our own worthiness. When we sin, we fail in our own eyes and won`t have that confidence that we would have otherwise. But if we know our stuff and work to earn the company of the spirit, we can promise things, knowing that they`ll be true, because we`re authorized to make those declarations. elder Bernal and I talk in equal amounts and he tries to learn from me as I try to do from him. It`s really a pleasure to work with him. I met Hna. Marìa Cruz today. She`s the Sunday School teache rof the 12-13 year-olds. She`d been excommunicated for 10 yrs. before . She`d lost her job and her husband and her daughter was prenant. Some members offered her work. She`d work all day for 1/2 kg. of bread and a little sugar for her family .One day she was so tired she fell. But because she couldn`t provide for her daughter well enough, th eBishop exommunicated her. She started crying from the memory. I cried too and thought, "Heavenly Father`s so happy. I don`t think she should feel sad." Then I realized how strong the thought was. I told her my impression, as a rep. of Christ. Her grandson has cancer. He retured 20 months early from his mission. I found a rock (big) in a hole in my shoe. In order to remove it, I had to tear at the shoe a little, but got it out. It`s like repentance. It may hurt sometimes, but we always feel lighter afterward. A scrip. I read in my study was just what Hna. Marìa needed for comfort.

Thursday: Itps interesting to feel homesick and miss people but at the same time feel so happy and at peace with what I`m doing. I feel the power of the Holy Ghost helping me along. I`m feeling better in my new sector of Hualpencillo. the shower`s funky. If I turn on more than a little cold water it stops and I get burned--which burns me anyway. Still experimenting. We had weekly planning today. It`s the fun part of going to a new sector: having to memorize all the people, where they live, and all of the streets. Armed with my map, I`m locating addresses better than my comp. I`ve almost memorized it all. We had lunch with the Bishop`s wife. There was a lizard in the dining room. Someone picked it up by the tail and it detached! It was so cool! We looked through the area book for ancient investigators and went to the "Emergency" neighborhood (emergency is the name of the neighborhood). That`s where all the gangs and drug dealers are--more than in any other part in the mission. That`s why we went in the day. We actually set up a good amount of appts. for later. We`ll have two people in the church this Sunday. I hope they get baptized, for their sake. I just want to help them return to their Heavenly Father. President Swenson said if we taught the doctrine correctly, people would rush to be baptized. There`s always room to improve.

Friday: Today we had a special conference with a seventy, Elder Corbridge. He gave a reallyl special talk about the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Spirit was so strong. He was like, "What was the only thing Joseph Smith had ever known or gotten in return for saying the things he said? He said it was persecution and affliction. Even the most optimistic man in the world woul ddoubt something of his own invention. Either Joseph Smith was crazy, or he was right. Because he always affirmed his certainty with an unconquerable confidence. He spoke about Chiasmas and other evidences of the Book of mormon. He spoke of the achievements and works of Joseph Smith. Any one of which would be impresssive in the life of anyone. He did hundreds. It was really special. I found out that Elder Heiser had left my letter sto the Cassies in the mission office and they`ll send them off for me. I got to know Bro. Cruz. He`s a really cool guy. we found a few of the ancient investigators. One of them had her husband die a year ago and she didn`t know wh at had happened to him. I bore her a powerful testimony of the Plan of Salvation and how it`s blessed my life. She just has to do what God has asked of her, and she`ll live FOREVER with her husband! It`s so easy! I kep texpecting Talcahuano to be really good and it feels just as hard as any other sector. I think that every place that we go to, it`s up to us to make it into what we want it to be. It`s up to us to help the people understand the Gospel. I got a letter from Alan. He said I`m still his best friend. I love him so much!

Saturday: So in the conference esterday, Elder Corbridge said that intelligence is related to our level of spirituality. So I`ll have to look at myself to see if I`m smart....or "special." But my whole life, things have always come easily to me. So that`s a good sign. We played soccer with our investigator, Pablo. While we were there, a rooster crowed. It was about 10:00, going to testify how "laid back" this country is. They`re so laid back that if they were on a bed, they`d be at 270 degrees. The daughter of another investigator said she`d pass on the invitation to attend church tomorrow. She said, "It shouldn`t be a problem. My dad wakes up early on Sundays." When we asked a what time, she said, "11." We had a reference from the Elders in Bio Bio. But when we found the house, it was actually in their sector. We taught her anyway. She was really, really, REALLY good. She`s gonna get baptized. We pretty much did a butt-load of contacts. We share a sector with the assisstants. When we were out giving pass-a-longs and lessons, a drunk guy was like, "Your compatriots just gave me this." And he pulled out a picture of christ. We looked to the left and saw the assisstants 40 feet away. Soccer totally killed my legs. I`m dead.

Sunday: I still really like having Elder Bernal as a comp. Hes such a little ball of energy. Whenever he talks, he bounces up anddown and doesn`t hold still. I found out today that he also is 25 years old. It`s amazing to see the difference between him and Elder Montoya. We went to the church. Our investigator, Pablo, didn`t come. He was still asleep. But I got to meet a lot of the members. They are so strong here. I`d forgotten what it was like to not have to beg the members to help. The class in priesthood wa son hometeaching. But they also said that they had a responsibility to bring investigators for us to teach and baptize. It was so neat to see. We had lunch with tthe family Nubolla. The son had every single one of the cool video games that have come out furing my mission. We spent the rest of the whole day doing contacts. We`ve spent the whole week of Sanctification tracking down ancient investigators and that took up a lot of time. We have 14 new investigators and the standard is 8! But we had 90 contacts this morning out of the 200 we needed. After being in little Tirùa for so long, my legs aren`t used to so much walking. I get home exhausted every night. It feels wonderful to know that I`m working for th eLord and my Heavenly Family.

3-13-11

Tuesday: We got up this morning and took guiltily long showers and I didn`t have time to shave before we left to the Distrizona meeting. We kind of lost our focus there ecause we were saying goodbye to everyone. I wrote a special letter to Elder Heiser to tell him how much I loved him. He had a really cool spiritual war with a convert. She wants to get baptized but her folks wouldn`t let her. So they fasted yesterday. They almost quit early, but Heiser wouldn`t until he knew it was resolved. At 2:00 he ended it. They went to his investigator`s house and found that her mom had signed the permission slip 20 min. before. Heiser`s mission ends Tuesday, but his parents are coming to pick him up and he`ll get to baptize whiel they`re here! I`m so happy for him. Tirùa was a little bit different today. We ad a lot of people we found. We got to teach lessons. We spoke with one girl who, once we explained baptism, was like, "I think I`d like to get baptized like that." But she lives with her boyfriend. Some kids asked me to lower a branch for them. I barely did when the big branch snapped and fell in the road! Woops! Montoya asked me to look at him. I did, and he inspected me closely. Then he said, "Yup, I want a latino comp." He insulted my incredibly dashing features, the fiend! Later, he poured sprite on my hot dog. aaaah! Gonzalo called to tell us he missed us. Dego too. Such good kids. I`m so proud of them. I`ll miss Elder Heiser.

Wednesday: Today our gas ran out. But it ran out during MY shower, going to prove that all showers hate me. In my personal study, came across something really cool. It`s alma, talking to his son, Helaman, saying he knows all the hard things he passed through in his mission. He said, "[He] was able to bear all things with patience because the Lord was with [him.]" I like to think that that`s why I`ve been able to be so patient with Montoya: because the lord is with me. I actually found out why he`s such a poop to me. I`m the first person to have found out his dirty little secret in the whole mission: he`s 25 years old! He`s always though he knew better than me. I guess he does, but he`s still a poop. An old one. He told me he thought the mission sucked because we have to reset our weekly numbers every week. dug! He thinks that baptisms don`t dount for anything. Yeah. I`m done venting. We got to help Luis puentes an dhis mom move things from one house to the other. We cleaned up the church because Hna. Swenson will be checking. Diego and Jassay both called me to tell me they missed me. I`m so happy to be in the mission and meet all the great people and friends! I`m glad I get to teach young men how to bless the Sacrament for the first time, and I`m grateful for th opportunity to grow. It`s hard at times, but always worth it. I mena, just being able to speak and understand is a blessing here.

Thursday: In my personal study, I found a cool experience in Jeremiah 29:12-14. It`ss talking about the Lord, and how we have to look for him, and when we do, we`ll find him. I thought of the hide and seek games I`d played with little kids and how I`d make it easier for me to be found. I wanted them to look, but I also wanted to be found, to make it easy for them. It`s the same with Heavenly Father! We just need to lok. I realized while we were doing contacts, I realized that there is only so much progress as junior comp. I need to move up in order to learn more things. We found a grandma and her granddaughter. They had a VERY hot house. But I think they have a great chance to be baptized next month. We left and the recent "heat" (really it was my sweat) made a stronger reaction to the cold wind outside. Then we found some 7th-day adventists who go to church on Saturday. We helped them understand the Sabbath day better. They`ll attend on Sunday. We reactivated a less-active member and ended by carrying a 100 lbs. gas tank 6 blocks (by myself) and eating completos (my payment for carrying the gas). In the house we had an 1 1/2 hour discussion about how we felt for each other. Turns out my comp doesn`t hate me. He just wants to help me learn. I knew that. That`s why I haven`t gotten angry with him. But i`m still happy I only have 5 more days in Tirùa.

Friday: Last night rained a LOT! It was so loud! The wind was about 50 mph. It shook the chapel all night. As we were about to leave out to work, the zone leaders called with some disturbing news. Apparently, there had been an 8.9 earthquake in Japan and all of Chile was on alert for a tsunami. I looked out the window grimly at the ocean, mere blocks away. We hastily packed up everything valuable we could find: two changes of clothes, and my journals, and all of my letters. We spent the morning passing by all the members, making sure they knew and spoke about their worries and concerns. We helped them feel better and basically ministered unto them in general. We dropped off our things at the Olivares` during lunch. They had invited us to spend the night at their home becuase they live higher up on the hill. We spent the afternoon passing by the investigators. That was good too. We fillled up water bottles and tied down the furniture. We had an FHE with the Olivares family, teaching Diego about the Priesthood. He is so good. Right now, I`m waiting for the Tusnami to come. It`s not too fun. Jassay and Diego are making me translate their favorite English songs so they can understand them. It`s 12:48. In 12 minutes, the news says the Tsunami will hit. We`ll have to see how it goes in the morning.

Saturday: So nothing dramatic happened to us during the night. We got up at 7. The country was still on alert. In northern chile the tsunami was pretty bad. It carried boats and even a few houses with the force of it. Here, the tide rose about 3 inches. At about 10 in the morning the alert went off for the whole country except for Tirùa, Quidico (little village 15 min. away), and lebu. The President of Chile flew overhead to view the scene from his helicopter. At about 3 in the afternoon, they shut off the alert for Tirùa and the rest. We had lunch with Jassay and Diego. I got to listen to them teach me chemistry elements in spanish. The climate today was about 20 degrees colder than usual. Brrrr. We taught Nikolas the Word of Wisdom and went to the Wilderness to pick blackberries. They live right on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the sea. It was the best view I`ve found in my whole time here. We found out our transfers tonight. I`m going to Talcahuano! It`s the Northernmost city in the mission. The assisstants say that it`s the best ward in the mission. Unfortuanately Everyone agrees the house is poop. The only thing good is the shower. That`s alright. Let`s pray this one doesn`t hate me. Oh! And my comp. will be Elder Bernal. They say he`s chill. He`s got 20 months.

Sunday: Today had it`s ups and downs. We walked all over town, reminding people in person that they had committed to go to church. But when church finally did start, almost noody came. It was funny when on eof the babies was offered the sacrament. She said, "no" in a matter-of-fact voice. She`s one year ole. So cute! Juan blessed the Sacrament this week, and didn`t stutter or anything. It was so cool. told him that stuttering wasn`t nearly as embarrassing as having your voice crack over a microphone. Ooph! I gave a talk on the Book of MOrmon and said farewell to the little branch of Tirùa. I taught my class on the eAtonement, and helped them understand why it was necessary. We had homemade mashed potatoes for lunch, on of my favorites! The ZL`s called to chew us out for lacking 40 contacts. What they failed to realize were all the lessons taught because of all the people we DID find. That`s what took up all the contact ttime. It was a good week. Elder Montoya still gave the Zone leaders and earfull--a small thing compared to my daily dose. I felt bad for them. I finally figured out Montoya today, or earned his trust. He said he really enjoyed our time together and that I was a good worker. He`s thankful for my patience and wants me to write him after the mission. We spent the evening saying goodbye to our new investigators we`d found. I also found out, thanks to a little puppy, that my ears are more ticklish than any other part of my body. So that`s the end of my 7th transfer. One more, and I`ll be completing my year mark. woot!