Vamos, vamos, vamos! (8.8.11)

Well, we got cambios, transfers, this morning! My companion, Elder Rasmussen, is headed out to the zone thats furthest north than any other named Curico. I dont know who my companion is because I will be training! That means my companion will be fresh out of the MTC. Im really excited. Im not sure if it will be a latino or from the United States or what but we will see tomorrow!

Some bad news is that I lost my camera. Im pretty sure It fell out of my backpack somewhere here in centro last Monday. My memory card was in there too with 600+ pictures so all we have now are the pictures that I have sent home. Oh well, they were the most important!

This past week we found tons of people! We really havent changed how we work too much but one thing that we did a lot better is inviting people to baptism in the first lesson. We have put a lot of baptismal dates and I´m pretty sure the Lord blesses us with people because he sees our desire. When I got here to the mission, there was a huge focus on teaching the Atonement (the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his ressurection) and baptism the first lesson. Now, we do whatever we need to do for the needs of the people obviously so I personally love teaching of the Restoration of the Gospel. It really is our unique message so the Spirit is so strong when we teach it.

The branch here is struggling a little bit because the Elders qourum president, a returned missionary named Arturo, is going to go live where he studies. He has to come back every weekend travling anyway so it makes sense but there is barely any priesthood! The President is really good but he has two councelors that have problems of their own in the home and are a little older so the President has to do a lot himself. So, we have to reactivate, baptize, and do our part as priesthood holders.

I love yall! I hope yall are doing good!

Elder Gregory

Another week! (7.25.11)

We had an activity in the church on Saturday for the mission work! It was combined with the Elders qourum. We had them watch some videos and we all went out and contacted in the plaza for a few minutes. Everyone loved it and it was a lot of fun! I went out with a fourteen year old recent convert and when we came back, I saw two kids standing outside of the gate of the church. I asked them if they wanted to come on in to see the church and they came in! They stayed for the end of the activity and then we played some soccer after. I got their names, addresses, and I invited them to church. They came the next day with their neigbor and stayed all three hours! So, we saw immediate results of the activity for the mission work!

I did a mini-cambio (where we do an exchange with another missionary for a day) on Thursday. It was in a house of four missionaries so before we went to bed we were talking about doctrine of the church. One thing really struck out to me that I want to share with yall to finish this up...

We were talking about how eternal, powerful, all knowing, omnipresent, etc., that our Heavenly Father really is. It is something really hard to wrap our mind around but we got to talking about how he can have whatever he wants. But, there is one thing that he really wants more than anything. The one thing that he wants more than anything is the love of his children. We have our free agency so he cant make us love him. How do we show love? The Savior said, ¨If ye love me, keep my commandments (Si me amais, guardad mis mandamientos).¨ So, that is why it is so important for us to share the gospel so that people actually have that opportunity to know what the commandments are very simply and have council to help them keep those commandments. I know he loves us more than we can imagine. Thats why he sent his Son, who never disobeyed him, to suffer and die for us.

Love yall!
Elder Gregory

Update (7.18.11)

Fidel got baptized yesterday! It was awesome! This branch is small so any baptism is a huge deal for the branch and everyone is really excited about it. The Stake President came for sacrament meeting and he stayed for the baptism too. My companion baptized Fidel! I was excited for them. Fidel tried to get me to baptize him but we didnt have time to go grab my clothes so my companion had the privlege. ( I have no clue how to spell that word anymore.) Elder Rasmussen and I gave talks in sacrament meeting also. I spoke on how to befriend recent converts. Its sort of a little bit of what I talked about it my last talk in Los Volcanes so I just pulled some stuff from that.

I did a mini cambio last week and went to Chillan with another Elder for the day. We were in a small town and a drunk, agressive guy came out of a house and he followed us. He wasnt making too much sense but I stuck out my hand to shake his and he tried shaking my hand as hard as he could. I talked to his other friend there who wasnt wasted and then we tried to walk away. The agressive, drunk man came running after us and so we walked a little quicker and when I wasnt looking, he kicked me super hard! He tried to kick the Elder that I was with but I gave him a heads up and he dodged it. The man was kind of mad that he missed him so he came running after us and we finally got away! It was pretty crazy and it was a small town so there werent too many places to run to but he finally went away. So now the count in the mission is being kicked twice, having I dont know how many things thrown at me and pushed into a wall once in the mission! I think I would have been a little bit more nervous if I wasnt a missionary but I just stay mellow because we have the Lord´s protection so its no big deal.

We pretty much baptized our only investigator so we will be contacting a lot now. For some reason, I am really excited to! I love finding the chosen so we have to show our diligence and the Lord will bless us!

Love yall!
Elder Gregory

July 11, 2011

Last Wednesday we got up at 6:15 to go to Concepcion. It was for leadership training and the assistants and President gave us a lot of good council. They told us a little bit about how to do baptismal interviews better, about key indicator numbers, how to do district classes more effectively, and a lot of things that helped. Us four from the zone got back to our sectors in time to work the whole afternoon there so I was happy about that. Its amazing how when you are assigned to a position that has to do with being a ¨leader¨, the love for the people you serve grows a lot more. That definentely has happend.

Fidel, an investigator, is doing amazing and he wants to get baptized next Sunday. A recent convert family has helped him a lot and they care for him since he comes from a rough background. Also, another investigator named Barbara is doing really good. She is ten years old and wants to get baptized but her mom will only give her permission when she sees a change in her. When I saw Barbara this past week for the first time, I felt that I had already known Barbara from somewhere. Its really hard to explain the thoughts and emotions that I felt but I really feel a big resposibility to help Barbara get baptized.

Here are a few pictures from Los Volcanes! There are pictures with a lot of great families from the ward and some converts and investigators.

I love yall!
Elder Gregory

First week in Coihuec (7.4.11)

I love my new sector! I get here on Tuesday and I was so excited. I really feel like this is where I need to be and it hit me as we took a bus in on Tuesday. The town is small and there is a plaza in the middle that is the center of everything. The chapel is there at the plaza so everyone has seen the chapel before and they recognize the church. There were 35 members at church yesterday and it was fast and testimony meeting so about everyone gave their testimony! The branch president, Presidente Pacheco, is about 30 years old and his brother just got back from a mission and is now the elders qourum president.

There really arent too many investigators but there are some really good converts. One investigator, a friend of a convert, Fidel, went to church for the first time and loved it and wants to get baptized! He comes from a rough background so Im sure he feels something different in the chapel that he hasnt felt before. My companion, Elder Rasmussen, is a humble missionary. He is about 11 months into his mission and he is from Utah. He is a shy person so I really want to help him open up and express himself more. He is obviously here on the mission for the right reasons and wants to be a better missionary so Im really excited to try to help him. The relationship between the Branch President and the missionaries hasnt been too good lately so I really want to work on that. For a branch to grow, its so important for the missionaries and branch president to be able to work together well.

I really feel that I can help this sector out a lot and Im really excited. It brings joy to me to think of what this branch could be by the time I leave here and even after.The sacrament room is really small but I like to envision all of the seats full and have an extention of the church be in conversation because there is no room for everyone! That will take a lot of working with less actives and finding really good people to be baptized into the church who will endure to the end!

I talked with my last companion, Elder Jack, this morning and he told me some bad news. The investigator that we were working with and was close to baptism named Oscar, had two heart attacks and maybe a stroke so now he has no short term memory at all. If he walks five steps down his street, he forgets what house is his. He now remembers nothing about baptism and church. Its really unfortunate but the Lord is in control so he will judge Oscar on the desires that he had.

Love yall!
Elder Gregory

Leaving Los Volcanes! (6.27.11)

After seven months in Los Volcanes, Im leaving. Im headed to a small town really close to Chillan, the city Im already in, and I hear that it is a small branch named Coihueco. Im pretty excited to be in a small town and branch because I never have been. My companion is named Elder Rasmussen. When we went to go play paintball a few weeks ago, we played with the zone that I am heading to and he was there on the bus. He was sitting by himself and I decided to sit by him and he was really quiet. We talked a little bit but he was little timid and I was thinking that it would be cool if I could get to know him more. Well, now he is my companion!

My talk went well, I think! I spoke on retention and I split it into three parts. The first is what the members have to do to help the converts and less actives. I took it from a talk from Elder Ballard and he says that they need to do three things- 1)Be an example 2)Informal teaching, and 3)Integrate. The second part was what the members need to do to stay active themselves. I spoke on not critisizing leaders and to just live to always have the guidance of the Holy Ghost. The last part I spoke on was of why we do it. I said that we need to do it because we love them. I shared some examples and I closed with the example of Chirst washing the feet of his disciples. It says in the first verse of the chapter that he ¨loved them till the end.¨ I repeated that a few times. I was happy that I was able to talk my last Sunday because it was my way of saying goodbye to the ward! Los Volcanes is a great ward and Im really grateful that I was able to serve there.

We were at lunch last Friday and we got a phone call from the zone leaders. They said that we needed to go to the hospitol to give a blessing to a man and they gave us his name. They didnt give much information but we were going to go after lunch. I got another call a little bit later from the other zone leader and he gave me the full story. It was a man who was suffering from depression and was in the hospitol because he went to the third story of the mall and jumped to commit suicide. He lived through it and was in the hospitol unable to move. We went and gave him a blessing and he wasnt able to talk but just able to barely move his head up and down and move his eyes. The Spirit was strong as we gave the blessing and it got me thinking the rest of the day. I was thinking of how it would be without the knowledge that I have of the Gospel. If I was depressed, where would I go? The Gospel of Jesus Christ heals if we are willing to accept and act.

Love yall!
Elder Gregory

this week (6.20.11)

This week went flying by. We had one investigator, Oscar, good to go for baptism this next 25th but unfortunatley he didnt go to church yesterday so he cant get baptized that day. (An investigator has to attend church atleast three times before his baptism.) But, we are going to see if he can get baptized the 26th after church. Soledad, Felipe´s mom, wont be getting baptized anytime soon probably. After having an intense lesson a week and a half ago we have just been going over a few times but not too much. We went over last night and I asked her what she thinks of getting baptized this Sunday. She said no. I asked her what she would do if the way her family feels about the church never changes. She said that she would get baptized anyway so I asked her why not this next Sunday! She said no. So, that pretty much sealed the deal with Soledad, atleast for when Im here because Im probably headed out of Los Volcanes in a week. But, an investigator named Pamela went to church for the second time in a row. She is really good but the only thing is that she goes to a house that she is building in the country on weekends sometimes. She didnt go yesterday to that house because it was raining really hard so that was a blessing!

We have been teaching a family of five and they know an amazing family in the ward, familia Orellana. We had a family home evening last Monday night with both the families and it went really good. Richie Orellana, a returned misisonary, teaches extremely well and so he taught the lesson and it was really good. He basically taught the Restoration of the Gospel and of the importance of a prophet, twelve apostles, and the priesthood. We gave each of them a Book of Mormon and they were really grateful for that.

Ill be giving a talk next Sunday about retention and Im pretty excited about it. Actually, my companion was assigned the talk but he talked to the councelor and he passed it to me. I think Elder Jack wants to see me drop some hammers before I leave! Of course I will do it with love but I really want to say some things that I have seen over the seven months that I have been in the ward here. At night before I go to sleep, I like to read church books that wouldnt necessarily be books that I would read during my studies but still help a lot. Ive been reading the teachings of the Prophet Brigham Young and a qoute just jumped out at me. It basically says that one of the first steps down to apostasy for a member is when they critisize their Bishop. That is honestly a huge problem here. The Bishop really does what he can but members go inactive for what their leaders do a lot of times. In the end, they wont have that excuse at judgement day! But anyway, Im going to talk about some things like that and do it with love because this is an amazing ward. Ive grown a lot here. I still dont know if I am headed out next week but its really likely. Ill know next Monday.

I really am grateful to be a missionary. In my letters I try to show how it is in the mission field as much as I can. Its not all flowers and butterflies! But, it really is an amazing experience. As we always teach in our lessons, if we dont have opposition, how are we supossed to grow? I thank the Lord for the blessings as well as the opposition. To say that these are the best two years of my life would probably be a little inacurate, but to say that these two years are the hardest and most rewarding two years of my life would be the truth.

Love yall!
Elder Gregory

1 year in Chile! (6/13/11)

Ill hit one year in Chile this next week- pretty crazy!

Last Monday we were contacting and we got to a house where a middle aged man came out. He was smoking and had a really deep voice and was really nice. We didnt have to say much before he let us in and once we were in, we talked casually with him and he was asking us about what we do as missionaries and about the church in general. In the end, he said that he really had not heard much about our church before we came. He told us that he had a radio talk show and he invited us to come on and explain some things about the church! We told him that we would love to so I asked President Humphrey for permission and he was completely supportive. We told people through the week to tune in and appearently the person who invited us, Julias Cessare Montolivio Garcia, is pretty well known in Chillan. We went to his house a few more times and now he is an investigator! We invited the zone leaders to come too so we did it last night from ten to twelve and it went great! For forty five minutes we explained about the structure of the church, the Gospel, and a few other topics. It ended up really positive and I think it helped the work a lot!

Soledad didnt get baptized this past weekend because her family would pretty much disown her if she got baptized. We tried to testify of the importance of baptism and that is why there is so much opposition. But, she is too scared and doesnt want to so we havent passed by for a few days. Its good every once in awhile to drop someone for a few days to have them be able to tell the difference of the Spirit in their lives. She has recieved her answer that its the true church, she just needs to act with faith now.

The interviews with the President went good and after we finished the interview I was about to open the door to walk out but then he asked me when I go home. I told him next April and he told me that these last ten months should be the best months of my mission. Its hard for me to believe that the time is so short now that I have my mission President tell me words of encouragement to endure to the end! But, I agree with him. These last ten months will be the best 10 months of my mission.

Love yall!
Elder Gregory

(A few picutres from the baptism of Connie a few weeks ago, paintball, and the radio station last night!)

6/6/11

We just got back from paintballing with the other missionaries from our zone and the other zone in Chillan. Im pretty worn out, but it was a bunch of fun!

Last night we went by Soledad´s to talk with her but her niece was there so we ended up focusing on her. She is an adventist and had a lot of questions for us. I told her flat out that we were not going to Bible bash and she was fine with that so it went well. Her main concern was about why the day of rest was changed from Saturday to Sunday (that is always their biggest arguement!) We testified that Christ was ressurrected on Sunday and that apostles then met on the first day of the week after that. She asked us a few other things and even Felipe and Soledad had their input defending the church so I think it was really good for them. Soledad´s main concern is her family not supporting her in getting baptized. So, maybe that was an answer to a prayer to have her niece there when we got there to be able to understand our view a little bit better when we answered her questions.

We had a new investigator in church named Oscar. We had given him a priesthood blessing a week ago and we taught him throughout the week and ended up coming to church! He has terminal cancer and is a good, honest person so I know that we were guided to him at the perfect time for him to accept the Gospel.

We have interviews with the President tomorrow. Im not really a big fan of it but its nice having a little one on one time with the President every once in awhile. We will be doing practices with the assistants and Sister Humphrey too.

Ive learned a lot from the scriptures this past week. I saw a book on my companion´s desk that had some missionary tips in it so I asked to read it and I read a lot of it. Ive used a few of them in my lessons but one of them that completely blew me away is tons of facts about the truthfulness of the book of Mormon. Also, how Joseph Smith was a prophet. One of the points is that the Book of Mormon was discovered on gold plates. Nobody knew at that time that people wrote ancient records on gold plates until a hundred years later when others were found. Also, how descriptive the Book of Mormon is on currency, tools, and cultures that had been here in America. With time they have found out that those things really were that way before. There are more than 25 of those points of how factually true the Book of Mormon was and how Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. But in the end, all of that is reassuring but what we really have to do is read and pray about the Book of Mormon to know if it is true or not.

Love yall!
Elder Gregory

30 May 2011

We had mission conference this past week and it was amazing. For some reason, everything was just soooo clear this conference for me. I mean that as far as how I can teach more simply and help investigators more effectively. It was last Friday and we started by listening to the testimonies of the new missionaries, words from President, and then we watched a talk from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that he gave in the MTC. The area presidency of Chile wanted all of the missionaries to see that talk. He spoke on us teaching for the needs of investigators, getting the most out of our two years, and other things that we have heard a lot. But, the way he said it was inspired and I was impacted by it. The rest of the conference we spoke on how we can plan better, teach better, study better, and things like that. The next morning, I studied over my notes and I read in ¨Preach My Gospel.¨ Still full of the Spirit from the conference, I read over the first chapter in Preach My Gospel that talks about our purpose as missionaries. One sentece was so clear to me that totally changed how I teach and contact people. It said that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to clean us spiritually. Those arent the words but it was just as clear as that. Sometimes we make things complicated but in the end, that is the whole reason for the Gospel!

We found a lot of good people this past week. We are going to try to get tons of members to come out with us this next week so that the investigators will feel more comfortable going to church next Sunday. We also started a ¨40 days of fasting.¨ We are going to fast as a ward for the mission work. We have a sheet and we put it on a board and the families of the ward fill in their name for which day they are going to fast. We just finished the first day but we are already seeing blessings!

At church, we had a couple investigators. Soledad, the mom of Felipe, didnt go though. Felipe was assigned a talk and we practiced it with him a lot the day before but on Sunday morning he got scared and ran upstairs and didnt want to go to church to give his talk! Oh well, he is only 12 and has been a member for 2 weeks so that would be pretty crazy. We saw Felipe Sunday afternoon and we had him give his talk in front of us two and his mom and he did an amazing job! But, Constanza gave a talk and she was crying the whole time from nerves but she did an amazing job. She paused at one point and said, ¨Sorry I am crying and like this but I am feeling the Spirit and it feels so cool!¨ Everyone laughed and loved her talk.

Thats about it! Love yall!

Elder Gregory