"On Thursday we got a call from President Jones, telling us that Elder Mcbee has a herniated disc in his back, so he is getting changed out of here. He will leave tomorrow. President called again last night and told me that Wednesday morning I will go to the temple and then go eat lunch at President Jones` house and meet my greenie! I am going to start training this change. I am pretty sure that I now have the same amount of time that Elder Butterfield did when he started training me. President told me that he considers training to be the most important calling a missionary can have, since how a missionary is trained will determine what kind of missionary he will be, and what kind of missionary he is will determine how the rest of his life will be. That seems like a lot of pressure. I am nervous but I have faith that the Lord will help me in my calling.
"Funny thing that happened though: ever since we got the call from President on Thursday informing us about Elder Mcbee`s back, we haven`t had a single appointment go through correctly. Interesting. Elder McBee sees it as a sign that his work here in this sector is over, and he is convinced that conditions in the sector will improve as soon as he leaves. I think he is right, it doesn`t make any sense for the work to die.
"So here is a little run down of what is happening to our investigators, and why none of them came to church tomorrow.
1. Liliana VIllegas (the hair stylest and our neighbor): got very sick and had a high fever, still recovering today.
2. Rafael (the inactive man whose family we are teaching): his three month old baby Gaspar is sick and can`t leave the house. We visited them this morning and gave Gaspar a blessing and I have faith that he will be better soon. The other son, Emilio, who has a baptismal date, had to go visit his dad in a different part of Santiago.
3. Pamela (Liliana`s friend): has a yoga class Sunday mornings, and hasn`t been able to change her schedule yet.
4. Fan-Fan (the Haitian): continues with his Spanish classes Saturday and Sunday morning until the end of august.
5. Susana Mella and the girls: we haven`t seen them in awhile, seems that Susana has gotten a little cold with us and never has time for us to visit her.
6. Daniel (a reference from the ward mission leader Hermano Costa): has work on Sundays.
8. Diego (some guy that randomly came to church two weeks ago): had to go to another part of Santiago for Father's Day
9. Pedro and Cristina: Pedro`s work schedule continues complicating his church attendance.
"I`m pretty sure that is it. so as you can see, the powers of fate have aligned to fight against the progress of the investigators of El Rosal 2, but through our faith and hard work i am confident that they will continue progressing.
"The weather has been colder, but my missionary mall coat keeps me incredible warm. The rain hasn`t been too strong either. Plus one of the hermanos tells me that it won`t be raining today, since he can feel in his joints when it will rain or not. So that`s good news. Also there sadly was not a baptism on Saturday, since Susana Mella hasn`t come to church in two weeks. We`ll have to work with that. We also visited Felipe, Javier and Cristian, since they moved to the hermana`s sector. They are doing well, and the missionaries are teaching Cristian and he have a baptismal date. So that is good.
"Well that`s about all of the news for this week, I`ll be sure to let you know more about my greenie next week! Love you!"
Showing posts with label transfer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transfer. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Special Transfer to 5 de Abril
"So I`ve got some pretty interesting news...I had special changes again! Long story short, the assistants called me Wednesday night and said that Thursday at 4 I would have to be read to leave. So I packed everything up, had enough time to say bye to Flia Guerrero, Flia Araya, and Flia Marìn, then Elder Carpenter and I got in the van with the assistants and we arrived to my new sector. Which is...........(drumroll, please)...........Rosal II! So I am back in 5 de Abril, which was the same stake that I started the mission in, but I am in a different ward. It is so cool to be back in this part of Chile, I like it better here than La Cisterna and San Miguel. We are in Maipù (my-poo haha) and the computer that I am sitting at right now is the same one that I used to email you about 8 months ago. Weird huh. p.s. it is also super really really cold now. It changed in like a week. It might also be the sector that is colder. But now we go out to the sector we go with gloves and scarves. And when I say we I mean me and my new companion........(drumroll please)............Elder Michael Bryant McBee. We are getting along really well. He is from Florida, but his mom is Peruvian, so he speaks Spanish and English perfectly. He also speaks French, since he learned it in school. He went to Harvard and U Penn. so he is way smart and stuff, which is cool. We have a few guys that we are teaching from Haiti, in the Carribean Islands, and they are black and speak French and only a little bit of Spanish and English. So Elder McBee teaches them in French and I just sit there trying to understand. It is actually very similar to English and Spanish, but the accent is hard to do. The Haitian`s names are Fan-Fan, Billy, and Reuben. Billy is a member of the church. Fan-Fan and Reuben are investigators, and Fan-Fan has a baptismal date coming up. This ward is huge. There are about 240 people that come to church each week, and there are two companionships of missionaries in the ward, Elder McBee and I, and Sister Ortega (from Argentina) and Sister Supelano (from Colombia). I just like it here a lot though because it reminds me so much of my first sector in Rivas Vicuña.
"I don`t really know too much about how things are in Parque Subercaseuax, since I am not there anymore...we talked to Liliana on Wednesday about baptism, but she said she didn`t feel comfortable about it, so we explained it a lot and it was apparent that we would have to re-teach the restoration. So hopefully Elder Carpenter and Elder Stevensen will do a good job of explaining that. Elder Carpenter and I also found a new family last Tuesday, and they invited us to their house for a bbq Friday (labor day) and since we didn`t have a lunch planned we said it was okay. I wonder how that went... hopefully well."
"I don`t really know too much about how things are in Parque Subercaseuax, since I am not there anymore...we talked to Liliana on Wednesday about baptism, but she said she didn`t feel comfortable about it, so we explained it a lot and it was apparent that we would have to re-teach the restoration. So hopefully Elder Carpenter and Elder Stevensen will do a good job of explaining that. Elder Carpenter and I also found a new family last Tuesday, and they invited us to their house for a bbq Friday (labor day) and since we didn`t have a lunch planned we said it was okay. I wonder how that went... hopefully well."
Monday, January 12, 2009
Semana 1 en Parque Subercaseaux
"Yes, that is the name of my new sector. Very French.
"So I got transfered, but I am only about four metro-stops farther north from where I was, and I am still in the same zone, La Gran Avenida. Our sector is pretty cuico (rich/classy) and there are a ton of apartment buildings, which makes it hard to make contacts/knock doors, but I really like the sector.
"My new companion is Elder Luis Angel Noguera. He is from northern Argentina, only four blocks from Brazil, so he is fluent in both Portugues and Spanish, and is also studying English because he wants to be a pilot (he also secretly wants to be a gringo). He is a black belt in martial arts and has had some problems in the past with fighting with missionaries and/or contacts in the street. He is honestly a great missionary and works very hard and he is helping me to learn how to listen to the spirit more, since I tend to rely on myself too much. He will finish his mission in March (he was going to finish in February but extended). He is the oldest of six boys, and the only member in his whole family.
"We have a baptism coming up this next Saturday. Her name is Maria Marìn. She starting taking the discussions because first her niece, Valentina, then her sister, Claudia, got baptized. She is 63 years old and has been single her whole life. We are also teaching Maria Eugenia, about 50 years old. She starting taking the discussions because her son, Sebastian, was baptized about two years ago. The date for her baptism is the same day as Katy's (the 31st of January) but we are kind of worried because she left this Saturday on vacation and won't come back until next Saturday. We are hoping and praying that she will still have the desire to be baptized when she gets back, because a lot of times people get back from vacations and lose interest.
"There is a family in our ward that had missionaries living in their house for ten years and they are really cool. The dad is the ward mission leader, the mom is the Relief Society president, one of their daughters is the primary president and her husband is the first counselor in the ward, and their other daughter is one of the counselors for relief society. The daughter that is married has two daughters, and one is 3 and the other 4 months. The 3 year old, Gabriela, likes to tickle me a lot and she also likes to try talking very expressively (using her hands, making gestures, etc) but no one can understand her because she doesn't make any sense when she talks haha. I told them you were sending me a package and I asked if they wanted anything. They said they want Twizzlers, m & m`s, and Mint flavored orbit gum, the kind that comes in sticks, not the kind that you pop out of foil wrapper. Oddly specific I know, but if you could find it I would appreciate it because this family does a ton for us. The mom reminds me of Mom very much, especially in the way that she talks to her 4 month old granddaughter. She is exactly the same as mom is when she is talking to a baby.
"We live in a pension that is just outside of our sector. Every day we have to cross the freeway on one of those walking bridges. We can see Cerro San Cristobal, it is in the foto I sent. We live with two other elders, Elder Fuentes from Honduras and Elder Jambo from Peru. So there is some basic info about my new sector I will let you know more next week. Love you all!"
"So I got transfered, but I am only about four metro-stops farther north from where I was, and I am still in the same zone, La Gran Avenida. Our sector is pretty cuico (rich/classy) and there are a ton of apartment buildings, which makes it hard to make contacts/knock doors, but I really like the sector.
"My new companion is Elder Luis Angel Noguera. He is from northern Argentina, only four blocks from Brazil, so he is fluent in both Portugues and Spanish, and is also studying English because he wants to be a pilot (he also secretly wants to be a gringo). He is a black belt in martial arts and has had some problems in the past with fighting with missionaries and/or contacts in the street. He is honestly a great missionary and works very hard and he is helping me to learn how to listen to the spirit more, since I tend to rely on myself too much. He will finish his mission in March (he was going to finish in February but extended). He is the oldest of six boys, and the only member in his whole family.
"We have a baptism coming up this next Saturday. Her name is Maria Marìn. She starting taking the discussions because first her niece, Valentina, then her sister, Claudia, got baptized. She is 63 years old and has been single her whole life. We are also teaching Maria Eugenia, about 50 years old. She starting taking the discussions because her son, Sebastian, was baptized about two years ago. The date for her baptism is the same day as Katy's (the 31st of January) but we are kind of worried because she left this Saturday on vacation and won't come back until next Saturday. We are hoping and praying that she will still have the desire to be baptized when she gets back, because a lot of times people get back from vacations and lose interest.
"There is a family in our ward that had missionaries living in their house for ten years and they are really cool. The dad is the ward mission leader, the mom is the Relief Society president, one of their daughters is the primary president and her husband is the first counselor in the ward, and their other daughter is one of the counselors for relief society. The daughter that is married has two daughters, and one is 3 and the other 4 months. The 3 year old, Gabriela, likes to tickle me a lot and she also likes to try talking very expressively (using her hands, making gestures, etc) but no one can understand her because she doesn't make any sense when she talks haha. I told them you were sending me a package and I asked if they wanted anything. They said they want Twizzlers, m & m`s, and Mint flavored orbit gum, the kind that comes in sticks, not the kind that you pop out of foil wrapper. Oddly specific I know, but if you could find it I would appreciate it because this family does a ton for us. The mom reminds me of Mom very much, especially in the way that she talks to her 4 month old granddaughter. She is exactly the same as mom is when she is talking to a baby.
"We live in a pension that is just outside of our sector. Every day we have to cross the freeway on one of those walking bridges. We can see Cerro San Cristobal, it is in the foto I sent. We live with two other elders, Elder Fuentes from Honduras and Elder Jambo from Peru. So there is some basic info about my new sector I will let you know more next week. Love you all!"
Monday, January 5, 2009
Last Semana en Los Arcos
"I have changes tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!! ah!!! so I am going to hacer como un àrbol y hoja. (make like a tree and leaf hahaha...) which really just is not funny in Spanish. So tomorrow I will go to the chapel at 9 in the morning and they will tell me where in the world I will be going. could be a fun experience. Elder Becerra is going to stay here with a new companion. However, I won`t know where I am going, who will be my companion, or any other of the details of my life for the next 6 weeks until tomorrow morning. I will let you know where I am next week in my email.
"Last week we set a date for Katy`s baptism, for the 31st of January. She and Erick are getting married the 30th and she will be baptized the next day, and confirmed the day after (assuming that everything goes well). For new years eve we ate dinner with Familia Cancino. The mom is separated and lives with her daughter, Maria Jose (19) and her son Ignacio (10) they are all really active and a great family. Her oldest son is about to finish his mission in Argentina Buenos Aires North in 9 more days and she is really nervous haha. but for new years eve we got home the same time as always, 10:30 and got to stay up until 12:00. At midnight they cut our power and set off fireworks outside, which we could not see because they were behind our apartment.
"We are still teaching Fernando, Angel, and Angela (kind of). Fernando already read the entire Book of Mormon, and he and his dad are coming to church every week. The only problem is that we can never get into their house to teach. We need to teach them about baptism and set a date but it is kind of hard if we can`t enter their house. But that is Elder Becerra`s responsability now. We have a cita with Katy and Erick tonight so I will have to say goodbye. There will be tears. haha probably not but I just hope everything goes well with them."
"Last week we set a date for Katy`s baptism, for the 31st of January. She and Erick are getting married the 30th and she will be baptized the next day, and confirmed the day after (assuming that everything goes well). For new years eve we ate dinner with Familia Cancino. The mom is separated and lives with her daughter, Maria Jose (19) and her son Ignacio (10) they are all really active and a great family. Her oldest son is about to finish his mission in Argentina Buenos Aires North in 9 more days and she is really nervous haha. but for new years eve we got home the same time as always, 10:30 and got to stay up until 12:00. At midnight they cut our power and set off fireworks outside, which we could not see because they were behind our apartment.
"We are still teaching Fernando, Angel, and Angela (kind of). Fernando already read the entire Book of Mormon, and he and his dad are coming to church every week. The only problem is that we can never get into their house to teach. We need to teach them about baptism and set a date but it is kind of hard if we can`t enter their house. But that is Elder Becerra`s responsability now. We have a cita with Katy and Erick tonight so I will have to say goodbye. There will be tears. haha probably not but I just hope everything goes well with them."
Monday, November 3, 2008
Transfer to Los Arcos! & Semana 1 there
So interesting stuff happened this week. On Thursday we were supposed to have divisions with the zone leaders, I was going to stay in Rivas Vicuna with Elder Claros and Elder Butterfield was going to go to the sector of the zone leaders with Elder Wilke. But Thursday morning we had our interviews with President Jones, which we have every change. President pulled me and Elder Butterfield aside and told us he had to talk to us. He said we would have special changes and that I was leaving Rivas Vicuna and Elder Butterfield would stay. He told us at about 11 in the morning, and said I needed to be ready to leave by 3 in the afternoon.
"I talked with him about it in the interview. He said that being a misionary is like being a surgeon´s knife. To be useful, the knife has to be sharp and clean. The knife is the one that has to get dirty and messy, and when all is said and done nobody tells the knife that it did a good job on the surgery. Obviously the knife really didn't do anything, but was just an instrument in the surgeon's hand. The surgeon, of course, being Jesus Christ, since He is the one that is guiding this work. President also told me it was really important that I place my faith in the Lord and not in my own talents or abilities. He is really a great man and always knows the right things to say. So Thursday we went to visit people to say bye after I packed up. We went to see the Correa family and it was really hard to say bye to them. They made me and Elder Butterfield a dvd slide show of pictures and it was really cool. We also went by Cristian and Javiera's, but Javi wasn't there because she was with Vicente doing doctor checkups. It was really hard to leave. It is amazing how close I got with all of the poeple there in just 7 weeks.
"President told me the work in Los Arcos would be really slow and I would have to be really patient. He was definitely right. For the first time in the mission (which I admit has not been that long) we had zeroes across the board for our weekly numbers. I know that numbers do not matter but they are still a good indicator of how the work is progressing; they are called the key indicators for a reason. My new companion is Elder Becerra. He is from southern Chile. He has about 1 year 5 months in the mission. He does not speak English. So yeah i am speaking a lot of Spanish but that is definitely the best way to learn. We have two wards in our sector, Los Arcos and Lo Ovalle, and we have a lot of ground to cover. Elder Beckstead was here with Elder Becerra, I switched with him and now Elder Beckstead is in Rivas Vicuna with Elder Butterfield. Elder Butterfield said that there is always a reason for special changes, thus they are called special changes. But I have no idea what it was, and I know it doesn't matter. I am here now and this is where the Lord needs me. So I will write more about my new sector next week.
"I love you all, thank you for your prayers and support. I think I need them now a little more than I did before in Rivas Vicuña."
"I talked with him about it in the interview. He said that being a misionary is like being a surgeon´s knife. To be useful, the knife has to be sharp and clean. The knife is the one that has to get dirty and messy, and when all is said and done nobody tells the knife that it did a good job on the surgery. Obviously the knife really didn't do anything, but was just an instrument in the surgeon's hand. The surgeon, of course, being Jesus Christ, since He is the one that is guiding this work. President also told me it was really important that I place my faith in the Lord and not in my own talents or abilities. He is really a great man and always knows the right things to say. So Thursday we went to visit people to say bye after I packed up. We went to see the Correa family and it was really hard to say bye to them. They made me and Elder Butterfield a dvd slide show of pictures and it was really cool. We also went by Cristian and Javiera's, but Javi wasn't there because she was with Vicente doing doctor checkups. It was really hard to leave. It is amazing how close I got with all of the poeple there in just 7 weeks.
"President told me the work in Los Arcos would be really slow and I would have to be really patient. He was definitely right. For the first time in the mission (which I admit has not been that long) we had zeroes across the board for our weekly numbers. I know that numbers do not matter but they are still a good indicator of how the work is progressing; they are called the key indicators for a reason. My new companion is Elder Becerra. He is from southern Chile. He has about 1 year 5 months in the mission. He does not speak English. So yeah i am speaking a lot of Spanish but that is definitely the best way to learn. We have two wards in our sector, Los Arcos and Lo Ovalle, and we have a lot of ground to cover. Elder Beckstead was here with Elder Becerra, I switched with him and now Elder Beckstead is in Rivas Vicuna with Elder Butterfield. Elder Butterfield said that there is always a reason for special changes, thus they are called special changes. But I have no idea what it was, and I know it doesn't matter. I am here now and this is where the Lord needs me. So I will write more about my new sector next week.
"I love you all, thank you for your prayers and support. I think I need them now a little more than I did before in Rivas Vicuña."
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