End of February- 2.28.11

This week went great! The whole week we did splits with some youth of the ward and they helped us a lot. My companion is really laid back and we get work done effectively without stressing over numbers or anything. Hes going to finish up his mission in less than three months so he will probably finish up in Los Volcanes. Its also awesome to be able to speak in English during the day again with my companion too!

We are starting a program with families in the ward. Its a four week program and we took it from the dream of Lehi in the Book of Mormon. The iron rod (word of God) leads through darkness to the tree of life. So, we left scriptures with them to read everyday as a family and pray after. There is a goal every week and the first week is just to complete with the scriptures and prayers everyday. The second week, there are more scriptures and the goal is to do service. The thrid week, more scriptures and the goal is to share with a family for their needs. The fourth week, bring a less active family to church or get a refrence for the missionaries! We started with almost fifteen families this past week and we have a list of 15+ more. So, we are pretty excited about that because every missionary knows that working through the members is soo much more effective than knocking on doors (or yelling, here in Chile)!

I didnt tell anybody pretty much about my birthday! Its honestly not a huge deal to me and its just unneeded attention. But, some people had remembered from when they asked me weeks before so investigators, more than members, all wished me a happy birthday. One of our investigators had a cake for me and bought a tie for me! That was awesome. Its crazy to think that I am 20 but even crazier to think that I am 10 1/2 months through the mission! But thank you for all the birthday wishes! I obviously appreciate it a lot!

Luis got confirmed yesterday and I did the confirmation, which was a first for me! His sister has gone to church 4 times and goes to all the activities but their mom still doesnt want to give her permission to get baptized. Elizabeth and Victor, the couple we have been teaching, went to church again and I was really happy. They arent progressing according to numbers, since they dont have a baptismal date, but are really progressing spiritually. Victor would never pray in his old church but now does it almost every time we share with him! Elizabeth has been getting long visits from her Baptist pastor of how wrong she is by sharing with us and going to church. But, she is staying strong and has felt that the Book of Mormon and the church is true so that is all she has to tell him!

Thats it! Love yall!

Elder Gregory

Pictures this week- 2/21/11

Hey yall! Ill give a quick update but more than anything, Im just going to send some pictures this week.

Luis got baptized yesterday! His mom gave him permission a few days ago. We did the baptism after stake conference. Elder D. Todd Christoferson and President Packer spoke, from the states of course and we watched it through satelite, and it was directed at all of southern Chile. Elder Christoferson spoke in spanish and he speaks really well. They spoke on two things that Chile really needs to hear- the importance of young men serving missions and the law of chastity. I enjoyed it because they didnt beat around the bush and adressed the topics right on. A seventy and the president of the young women spoke also. At one point they said, ¨Is it okay to have sex before marriage.. NO!!¨ I dont think you can get more direct than that!

We have cambios, or transfers, tomorrow and my companion is headed out. An elder named Elder Horton is coming to be my companioin here in Los Volcanes. Ive heard good things about him and I hear he has a laid back personality so we will get along good.

Thats about it! Love yall!

Elder Gregory

February 14, 2011

Weve been feeling a few temblors the past few days! I still havent felt a really strong one but its fun to feel the ground shake every once in awhile. Last Friday we were walking and a man stopped Elder Gil and I to tell us that there was a temblor. We stopped walking, looked up, and a sign with a steel pole was shaking back and froth! Everyone says it was a 7.0 in Concepcion so I guess it was a pretty strong one.

Something really funny and awesome happend last Thursday. I did a mini cambio and stayed in my sector with Elder Hafen, an Elder that works in a branch of 15 +/- assistance named Yungay. We were told to fill up the baptismal font in the church in the afternoon for a baptism for a lady that was coming from another mission to be baptized where her family lives. So, thats what we did because that was our only job! We taught an investigator while it was filling up and everything was going fine. Then, the whole family got there. The started asking me, ¨Where is the white tunic? Who is going to baptize her? Where is the councilor of the bishopric? Who is going to say the prayers and give the messages?¨ I was surprised because I thought that it all had been taken care of! Elder Hafen and I went into problem-solving mode and when it was all said and done, Elder Hafen conducted, we got a councilor of the bishopric to come, we got ahold of a tunic, I baptized Maria Paz, and it all worked out! The few times that I have baptized, its been amazing! I had met her an hour before baptizing her but its so amazing, when I have the opportunity to baptize, to see them come out of the water with a pure look in their eyes!

Something else happend that was really, really special this past week. Its a little more personal that emails in the past but I want to share it with yall. On wednesday (Im going backward in the week with my stories but oh well!) we had a lesson where the Spirit was felt really strong. We have an investigator that lives really close to a member that just left on his mission to Peru last month, so thats how we got things going with her since he was a wonderful example. She loves it when we teach her because she feels something ¨different¨, which is the Holy Ghost! We got the lessong going and we got to a point to where we had to tell her that her baptism wasnt valid from the church she was baptized in because they didnt have the authority to do it. It really hurt her and she started tearing up. She kept saying that she was a bad person and would not go to our church because she wasnt worthy. At one point she said, ¨Im not important¨ and rambled on. That stuck with me. The next time I spoke I declared to her that she IS important because she is a daughter of God. She kept shaking her head no and burst into tears again. My companion did a great job teaching, I tried to do my part, and the Spirit testified very strongly. In the end, we couldnt get a firm commitment out of her to go to chruch, but we did the best we could. The rest of the week we werent able to get ahold of her because of her work schedule. But, yesterday at church Elder Gil and I were greeting everyone at the door like we always do. I see her come up and say to me, ¨You didnt expect to see me here, did you? Here I am!¨ She came with her husband and two children and they were all dressed up nice in church dress and everything! It was their first time and they stayed all 3 hours at church and said they loved it! The Holy Ghost really is the key to everything in the mission work!

Thats it for the week! Love yall!

Elder Gregory

la semana pasada- 2/7/11

This last week was good. Well, its always good! But, we were fortunate to find some new investigators. I kept in the house monday night to keep from the sun but was working for the rest of the week. My face is doing a whole lot better and doesnt hurt at all so everything is good there!

We are still working with Luis a lot so that he can get permission from his mom to be baptized. Now, his twelve year old sister is listening and she even went to church with Luis yesterday. Luis is amazing. He is better than some members with keeping commitments and even knowledge of the gospel sometimes! Speaking of members, the two councilers to the bishop were released yesterday and two more called. I think its a great change because the young men need a solid young men´s president (the one now doesnt even go to church!) and one of the councilers that were released will likely be called to that. The youth really need great leaders and it makes me grateful for the amazing ones that I had growing up. It makes such a huge difference!

I think I wrote something a few weeks back about how hard it is to drop investigators that wont keep their commitments. We had to do it again this week and it really feels like a dagger through the heart. Im glad my companion is brutally honest most of the time because he knows when and when not to drop investigators. He is a lot better than me in that area. If it was just up to me without council from my companion and leaders in the mission, I would keep them around and try to help them over and over. But, we cant do that because there really are other people that the Lord has prepared that are willing to keep their commitments that we have to use our time to find and help.

Something funny that Ill end the email with is something that happend a few days ago. We were walking down a street and to our left, there was a mom with her 2 +/- year old son that came out the front door to be with her. She was cleaning and she looked back at him and started freaking out! She started yelling, ¨NOOOOOOOOOO!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!!!¨ She hit her son and he started to cry too. Elder Gil and I were a few steps away from the house by then but we stopped and looked at each other. We were thinking that he ate something that was poisonous or a cleaning product of something. The lady got up on the fence and started yelling,¨ HELP ME!!!!¨ It really was like the second coming! She was yelling at the top of her lungs and the neigbors started to come out. We sprinted back and asked what was wrong. She told us crying, ¨THE KEYS ARE INSIDE THE HOUSE AND IM LOCKED OUT!!!!¨ The boy had closed the door on the way out to be with his mom. Elder Gil and I looked at each other and laughed. Elder Gil climbed on top of the roof and went around the back to enter the back door and unlock it from inside. She kept crying even after and Elder Gil and I just left after and we started cracking up!

Thats about it for the week. Love yall and chao!

Elder Gregory

Weekly email- 1/31/11

Hey everyone! Things are going good here!

Luis, the amazing investigator, didnt get baptized yesterday. His mom wont let him. We are working real hard to find any way to get her to let him get baptized. We spoke with her for an hour the other day and adressed all of her worries and complaints. At the end, she still didnt let him and didnt give a reason. We are going to work hard and Luis is amazing so he will get baptized, just depends on when!

We have been doing tons of contacts lately. So, as a result, my face got burned really bad. It really looks like someone took a cup of boiling hot water and threw it on my face! We are headed to the doctor a little bit later though. Hopefully I dont have to stay in the house too long to keep away from the sun!

Everyone is headed out on vacations. Its hard to jump around to different investigators and work around their schedules and vacations. We did a Family Home Evening Saturday night with some members at the church and it went well. We spoke about the Book of Mormon and played some games. Our ward mission leader made a crossword puzzle and they did that and then we played a game where we act out stories from the scriptures. It was fun!

Thats it for this week! Love yall!

Elder Gregory