Here in the mission, it's supposed to super go time right now, with a lot of baptisms happening in the time of the year. But, that's not to bad for me, I think. So it's all alright, I hope. The good thing is that you are kind of following the prophet's idea for this holiday season, that being that we shouldn't overstress ourselves with the holiday season and instead just try to enjoy what we can while we can in a family. So, simpler gifts, simpler activities, is an actual goal you should have for this season.

I think that this time of my mission I won't be too active in the mornings, being in charge of the office and all. But, that's ok I think. I am having some fun with it all, and while my comps are struggling a little bit with the idea of being "stuck in the office and not working," I am ok for now. I went to the temple this last week, so I think I've done more sitting now than in any part of the mission. And hey, I'm working on some office skills in time management, typing (I now mainly do it while looking at the screen and not at the keyboard, so I feel more professional now, and spellchecking is quicker), and some other things to help my future career.

I think though, that my position in the office may do something crazy with me. Since I am in charge of sending missionaries home, supposedly this position I will hold will make it where I end up super distracted with home instead of the mission. I have no personal idea, but I hope that doesn't happen to me. I just have to prepare for the situation if it comes up.

That's the hidden blessing of being here, is that you see all of the mission, and in some ways in the eyes of the president. I've gotten to know my mission pres more in this last week than in the full first year of the mission. And while I have fewer chances to invite people, the few times we've gotten out it's turned out to be a really good experience, so that's pretty dope I think. Lots of people here and the majority are just as receptive as those up in Catemu.

On that note, in Catemu my previous comp is training someone there. That basically means that someone else's first experience of the mission is going to be Catemu. I wish him all the luck in the world. It should harden him up a little bit more, I hope.

This time I'm close to the middle of the New Testament and in the Book of Mormon, so I hope to finish one or the other before the end of the year. It shouldn't take to long, I think I will have some time at the very least.

If I understand correctly, at the end of April, the ward should have 3 active missionaries in the field. The 3 being Me, Megan, and Thomas. That's kind of crazy considering that when I left I was the 10th in the field. 

By the way, I finally succumbed to the inner man and now on the candy calendar, I am on the 23rd. 3 days ago I was on the same day and not eating ahead. I think it just kind of came in out of stress in the office (I don't usually realize it, but there are many times where I am quite literally stressed and my comps need to tell me about how I am stressed so I can calm down). So, that's fun. I can't really explain what exactly are the causes of the stress (church privacy policy), but the good news is that the majority of it is slowly, slowly, going away. I should be fine soon enough since I have fewer stresses and I am adding some techniques to deal with the stress as well.

Also, a neat thing that went on this last week was how I have been in a 4 person companionship for the last week or so. There is a missionary who injured his knee this last week and has had to stay in the office, helping in the paperwork while he recuperates. Since the president didn't want to split our trio into 2 companionships, we instead just made it where we are a companionship of 4 that splits when it needs to. It's been a little crazy at times, but it's fun too.

Love oyu XOXOXOXOX

Yeah, this week we didn't really have much to do. Protests are still a thing going on and we couldn't leave the city because the only bridge is currently with a burning barricade... I'm safe though so don't worry.

Here in Chile people sometimes get upset with me because I insist on eating meat with a fork and knife. They always want you to eat meat with the hands, and not with a fork. Definitely allowed here.

Have fun trying to survive the rain, and see you next week

Love you

XOXOXXOXOXXOX

For me, here in Catemu things have been calm. We are teaching a family in the Southern tiny town called Chagres- it is made up quite literally of just 1 street and a mining plant. It was fun because we helped them plant their backyard for a garden and a lawn that horses can eat. Because the horse is still used on occasion here. THe wife literally could name all 54 inhabitants of Chagres, one by one, so that is a feat I found kind of amazing.

We are also finding a lot of good people and people willing to receive baptismal dates and be baptized, but the repeating obstacle here has been going to church. With the time requirement of being AT church at 10, we have to leave at 9:15, with waking up even before that. For people who are very occupied during the week and Sunday is their only rest day, waking up early is not something they want to deal with at the moment. We've had mild success so far, but I have a lot of faith that the people we've met can be baptized soon. We are working 100% at full thrust for a baptism right now, because the last thing we want after 3 months of work is no baptism. I know we can do it, but it is a huge mountain to climb in 4 weeks.

The best prospect is C-----. She is a 70 year old woman with diabetes, which keeps her from walking sometimes, but is really friendly and her son's girlfriend are very friendly. So, we'll be able to see their growth hopefully.

Thanks for the update! Things are pretty normal over here, even though the city of Santiago is in chaos.  We were going to have an activity this week, but it was canceled with all the stuff that is happening here in Chile. One of the quorum of the 12 (Rasband) called the mission president not to long ago. If the riots keep up for a good long while, we may switch missions to finish the 2 years.

I don't think there will be a primary program here in Catemu, but in my 1st sector there was a program, so I guess only som do it, others no.

Cheers- Elder MacGregor 

Hey everyone!

This week was a fun week for us all in the mission, since the 18th of September is the independence day here in Chile. Actually, the president asked us that we stay with members and investigators to party on the 18th, because he knew that not a lot of work would be done. So, we got together as a wawrd and had some fun getting to know each other. I ate way too many empanadas (it's like a calzone but different) and lots of steak and meat. It was all delicious, and at the end of the day I ended up with this huge sack full to the brim with bread. I still have some bread to eat from that sack, actually.

I also learned a bit of the national dance here too, called Cueca. Notable things about it is the use of a hankerchief and that most of the dance is in the legs. There is a really good dancer in the branch here, he taught me a little, but I am still very lost on how to dance it.

Aside from all of the parties and whatnot, I still managed to work this week, and found a couple of miracles along the way.

The first would be Juanito. He is the town friend- a dude who loves to socialize and knows just about everyone in Catemu on some level. We found him last week, and taught the restoration. It was a real powerful lesson, and he accepted to listen to us again after the 18th (everyone was busy until after the 18th). The 2nd lesson we invited him to church, and he actually came! It was kind of suprising, expecially condsidering that he usually goes off to play soccer with his friends sunday, but he decided to go to church instead! I saw that he was really interested in everything that was going on, and he is reading the Book of Mormon a lot. He truly has a desire to learn and progress, it makes me happy to see.

That's important to me because Catemu is a difficult area- it actually doesn't have it's own church building, and there aren't too many active members. The main member here is named Leonor. The next story will be about her, but the point I want to make is that to go to church is a real sacrifice here. It's a poor working town that doesn't have the time or money to go to church in another city too often, so if anyone comes at all it's a real blessing.

Now on to Leonor. She is this caretaker maid that is very loving, and has been a member for around 5 years. So far, I think she is the only member I  have seen at church. Yet, she is very strong in the faith, and cares for the missionaries here. She gives us lunch for like half of the week. The first week we arrived here in Catemu, she decided to invite a neighbor of hers to church- without our help. The neighbor came too! So far, I have yet to have a week without a person in church. I can see the lord working with each one of these people to guide them to us or to guide us to them.

Last miracle I want to mention for the week. We were working yesterday, when my companion says "hey, I want to go up the hill."There's a hill right next to the center of town here, and there are some houses there, but we hadn't gone up yet. We climb the hill, talk to a couple people, and head back down. We get down and literally the first person we shake hands with within 30 seconds mentions how he wants to change his life and to feel happy. His name is Elias, and he just wants to come closer to god and to stop drinking. If we hadn't changed plans in the middle of the day, we most likely would not have found this man, who had moved to Catemu literally 2 days earlier. I know the lord inspired my companion and me to climb the hill- not to meet people up there, but to put us in the path to find this other lost sheep.

Anyway, that's all I got for the week, see you next time!

Elder MacGregor

Hello from Chile!

This week is a special week for the country here. The 18th is their version of the 4th of July- the independence day of Chile. So, our mission president (the man in charge of the Chile Santiago North Mission) actually asked us to stay with members or in the house that day, because of the large amounts of rioting and drunks. Most of the people here are normal with their partying, having BBQs and whatnot, but a few bad apples in the bunch kind of ruin the experience for the rest. I plan on spending the day eating a lot and getting to know the new ward I have.

Speaking of that, this last week I got changed to my third area. It's in this tiny town in the middle of the montains called Catemu, the nearest town of bigger size being LLay-LLay (pronounced yai-yai) and San Felipe. It's a cute, picturesque group of homes that is now my favorite place in the world. It reminds me of rural Oregon and Idaho a lot, actually. The people here are nicer than in Santiago, there isn't a lot to do here, so people have the chance to listen to us a little bit more.

More than that, we are the first missionaries to be in the area in around 2 months. The mission president took them out for a time, and we have been put in to replace them. It's been a fun adventure, getting to know the whole area by ourselves, withoutt a comp who already knows the area.

But trust me, if there was a guide it would come in handy, at least to find out where people live here.

Not joke, one of the references in the area we had to find was the following "Lives in the Heroes neighborhood, on the only dirt street, in the house with the little birds and black puppy out front. Don't worry, they are always out front so you'll be able to find the house."

Half of the houses don't have numbers, half of the streets don't either. I think it's the closest I'll get to living in a medieval village. To be 100% honest, it's a lot of fun, and when you find the houses it feels like a bigger acomplishment.

The dopest thing is that the cities here have city shields, just like European cities. It's just cool to have a city coat of arms like that.

Also, eveen in this rural corner of Chile, there are still lots of haitians. I'm happy to report that things never change here.

This first week I also got to meet my first Chilean equivalent of a cowboy/farmer, called a Huaso (pronounced wasso). He has a horse and some cows, and the coolest hat ever. I have a photo of him and his cows if you want. He is a very happy man, who would love to have a haitian girlfriend (he told me that 3-4 times). I hope he gets one.

Oh! I also have a new companion. Welcome to Elder Rodriguez, from Nicaragua. He's a baseball fanatic, and is learning English to work in the tourism industry when he finishes the mission. He has around 5 months, so I am the older missionary of the 2, but he is also 22 years old. He was going to play baseball professionally in his home country, but chose to serve a mission instead. He likes to eat a lot, and is and overall dope dude.

We've been working really hard in this new area, and we've already found quie a few people to teach, but most of them will have to wait until after the week of the 18th, because lots are traveling out of town for the weekend. This week is basically a relaxation week (but not because I want it to, everyone is just making it a break week).

I do love my new area a lot. We also have the chance of basically starting from the ground up here, because there are only 3-5 active members in this town of about 5000. The church building is in Llay-llay, a 20 minute bus drive away. So my goal has been that in the next 4 and 1/2 months, there are enough active members here that we don't need to go to Llay-llay for church meetings, since the travel does limit the number of members here. It's basically because Catemu is a very poor town, and paying bus fares every Sunday (amounting to about 2 dollars every week) is an actual difficulty to the people here. It's kind of sad, because people here just have enough to live and work, and not much else. They just kind of make do with what they have. It's respectable.

I'm disappointed in myself this week. It has nothing to do with missionary work, but with a shirt I have. I bought a cheap ripoff Chile Soccer Team shirt for around 15-20 bucks, so not the cheapest thing in the world, but then again a real shirt runs you around 60-70. But anyways, I brought it home, happy with it all for about 3 to 4 weeks, then one of the patches fell off. My comp told me to put it back on with superglue. When I did, there was a drop of the glue that landed in a central part of the shirt and caused a stain, that I don't think will be able to be removed. I've washed it like twice since then. I'm just mad with myself to ruin te 20 shirt. But whatever. Knowing me, I'll buy a ton of shirts to take home and whatnot, so I don't worry too much. And it's not like the shirt is unusable, it's just a PJ shirt now.

Aside from that, I can't think of anything else to write for right now, but I plan on sending a couple of photos as well. Be safe everyone!

Elder MacGregor

Elder MacGregor has moved to a new area.  He is in a small town of Catemu (5000 people) north of Santiago.  It's just over the mountain range into the next valley.  He had to travel 2 hours or so on 2 different busses to get there.

His new companion is from Nicaragua.  They are opening this area together.  I'm sure they will have some great experiences.  Elder MacGregor didn't have video link this week, so he will have to be on the lookout for that.

He is excited to learn this new area and get to work.  I hope we'll have photos to share next time.

We currently have 2 dates for a baptism, and both are kind of shakey. I haven't had a baptism since May, so I'm kind of down for that. I have nearly a year and there are only 3 baptisms on my register, and 1 other where I taught someone who later got baptized. I feel upset about that at times, but I know it's what the Lord wanted from me, so I'll learn to just work more without the success. It has been a little frustrationg this last week. Literally someone canceled on us the week of the baptism, and that just put me in a tailspin for day.

I already wrote about the lack of baptisms I'm having, but I do write down everything that goes on. I'm early done with the first journal, now moving on to the 2nd. I'll probably buy it soon. I've started writing in cursive, so it's pretty dope.

I'm not sure if you noticed, but I do some Family History on P days. I go through like 1 or 2 records while my comps talk with their families. It's not to hard. A simple thing to do every day that is hard is to shave- I cut is really close, and it stays that short for 2 days, then it grows. So, sometimes I end up cutting it every 2 days instead of every day.

Elder MacGregor

Hey everyone!

My zone leader who is "dying"(AKA going home next change) has this computer retyper, so I bought it from him and these long emails can be a consistent thing from now on.

This week was very interesting. Now that we finally have a baptismal date or 2, we can focus on the other things of missionary work, or more than just finding people to teach. Both of the people are also showing lots of promise, and I truly believe that 1 or both will actually get baptized. Plus, there are a lot of people that are ready to receive a baptismal date as well.

Of these prospective dates, one is a mother of like 2 little kids. She almost got lost on the way to church this last week, and Olaiz and I had to run around trying to find her! It was fun, and it helped our recent count of 5 people in the church.

I've gotten pretty behind on my diary writing, like a full 2 months back, but I have a plan that will make it so I'm back up to the present in less than a month. I think it will work out, and the being backed up has helped a little too. It keeps my negative feelings from being to much in the foreground, and instead allows me to focus on the growth and what I actually learned each day. I just finished writing about the roughest time I've had on the mission so far, and so the process should speed up soon. I'm happy with it, and it should all be perfect soon enough.

Anyway, with all said and done, this week was very special. Last Wednesday we had this amazing lesson with this really catholic dude from Bolivia. We got to the point of the need of a restoration, and how the idea of the apostolic succession, while there may have been the ordinances, with the sins of the first bishop of Rome, Linus, the line broke. There was a need of a restoration, and any student of history can easily find MANY proofs of it. Then we testified of the truth of the restoration of the gospel and the church of Jesus Christ, and in that moment we pointed out how the Holy Ghost is testifying to him the truth of it. It was evident he was feeling something in that moment. Afterward, we had him pray to know the truth, and it was the first time in a prayer where I asked with all of my heart that they hear the truth and receive their answer. I'm sure he felt the truth, but I'm not sure if he let himself recognize it. I'll find out later this week.

A zone souvenir we are making this change is something so Chilean- a memory of my graduation photo. At all the schools here in Chile, when a class graduates from an elementary or high school, they get a group photo of the class, with individual members, and put it into this frankenstein creation of the individual with their class photo, and the names of the fellow graduates. Think of the class list you get in elementary school when it's school picture time. So, in commemoration of the 4 so-to-be "deaths"of missionaries, and 2 more leaving the area, and 2 others finishing their training, either in the CCM or in the field, we made a "Memory of my Zone Graduation"from the school San Tiago Norte (because all the elementary schools here are a "San ___"). I hope it turns out nice. It'll be pretty funny to only me after the mission, but it'll be a hilarious personal joke. I'm serious though, EVERY house here in Chile has this thing.

This week I've focused a lot on the letters of Paul, and I can't believe how good his rhetoric is. He took such complex concepts of the gospel and makes them seem so simple, even a baby could understand it. Definitely the Elder Holland of his day. Also, it's odd on occasion to find parts of the bible that so easily contradict basic "Christian"beliefs. How people support dealing with it, I don't know. I mean, there has to be a doctor of theology who explained away how Paul railed against forced celibacy in a clergy (AKA the priests and bishops can't marry) in 1 Timothy 4:3. But I digress. What I like most in his letters is his ability to use allegories and examples so cleanly. I've tried it on occasion, and it's hard, man.

Anyway, this week has been special with the ward too. The Elders quorum finally got a 2nd counselor, so we have someone specifically involved with us finally. It'll be nice to have a person who can coordinate with us and the ward while we go out and work. The asking of just like 6 people to do work can be worrying, because I have no idea if we are pushing on that part of the ward a little too much, y'know?

We are prepping for this amazing baptism that should come right at the end of this change. She has an active brother who is sealed and everything, but is the only member in the family. I know that he has prayed and fasted for his family a lot, so that they can know the truth of the gospel, and I have the luck of carrying out those wishes from god. It is amazing to spend each lesson with her and to help her, since she understands quickly and reads a lot of the book of Mormon.

This week has also seen quite a bit of progress with our other investigators. There are 2 couples that individually have said that they want to get married! I probably won't see the marriages, but I helped 4 people find their eternal companions over the course of 3 days, so I'm happy with my work. I believe (nothing's confirmed, but the writing's on the wall) that I leave this next change. I do think that I'm leaving the ward in a good shape missionary-wise. We've had more than 4 people in church for 2 weeks in a row now, and quite a few people are getting ready to get married or to receive a date. Once people get a marriage date, they can receive a baptism date as well.

The marriage process here is different than how it runs in the US though, I think. You have to go to the town hall, say you want to get married, and then they give you a day 3 months down the line to come back so they can marry you. Why there is that wait period I have no idea. Maybe it's the same in the states, but I don't think so. I'll have to go to the town hall this week to get the dates (you can have a friend do it in your name, so Olaiz and I will just take the 2 dates our for our investigators), so I'll have more info on that next week.

I have spent the last week studying more from Preach My Gospel, specifically with extending the commitments during a lesson. A common mistake I made for a while was to teach all of the restoration and afterwards stick 4 or 5 commitments at the end, being a "will you do this, this, and this?"So, I've tried spreading out the commitments, like in the first lesson saying "the prophets wrote the scriptures, and part of our visits will require learning from these writings. Are you willing to read from the scriptures in between our visits?"Or something like that. That way, there is only 1 or 2 commitments at the end of the lesson, and it makes things smoother and seem less like an inquisition.

Also, this letter is covering like the last 3 weeks or so of work, but this latest Sunday over 9 investigators attended church! I was really worried about 2 weeks ago that I would leave the sector in a really bad shape, but there is a good number of progressing investigators, and 1 baptism that should happen either the last week of my time here or the first week of the time after I leave. So, I'm just a happy person for right now. I do think a good number of them are progressing well, to the point where they bring the reest of their family to church.

Anyway, I love all you guys, I hope you all have an amazing week as well with me. I spend time thinking about yáll and the experiences we could have together!

Chao chao!

There are a couple people ready for baptism that will be accepting their fechas this week, but nothing more. We have been focusing on working with teh members in the ward.

We talked a little about the american cup that is going on right now. Ian said that he only focused on the mission, but we do need to know because when Chile is playing, there is literally NO ONE in the streets. As such, we take our studies at that point so we don't lose precious time in the other productive parts of the day. So, keeping up with the tournament actually helps us a LOT. The lastest matches are the semis- Argentina and Brasil today, Peru and Chile tomorrow. I bought a Chile shirt, but I still have the cheap Peru shirt Ian bought me after his mission.

I have helped my comp a lot in being 100% obedient to the rules. He wasn't SUPER lazy, but there has been a few times where I have to say "alright, time to get out and to work," or "hey, we have to do more contacts." It's helped me learn how to get people to change without offending them.

Happy birthday to Keegan! They have the sweetart straws you bought a lot at Plaid, so I'll buy one and eat it in memory of you. 

Elder MacGregor was able to google chat with us and told us they were having a solar eclipse.  It was only 90% in his city, but he got to use special glasses and take a peek.  He has seen 2 solar eclipses in his life now. (2017 and now). LM

I wasn't able to write much this week, but here is a nice experience. 

We found a family of 5 this last week, who all live together. They are really religious, but you could tell that a chord struck with them concerning the restored gospel. They understood everything right at the start, and we were able to help them understand things like the Book of Mormon in a flash. They did have some nice questions as well, including about the nature of the Trinity vs. the godhead. The best part is how the lesson started with a son, then the mom joined in, then the other sister and brother, and finally the dad. So, it was nice to eventually have everyone in on the conversation. They were also watching the American Cup for football, but they were even willing to turn that off to listen to us. The spirit was strong, and it was a moment of rejoicing. It was a nice simple moment that helped my struggling comp. He's had issues with working the whole day, and the constant rejection can get to him at times, so having just a nice simple 1st lesson really helped him.

Picture with Elder Andersen

This week has been pretty neat. Last pday my comp had to go to the mission office because he left his debit card in an ATM, and had to get a replacement. He coordinated with one of his old mission friends to send him a violin he had in his last area, because the friend had to go to the office as well that day. So, now my comp has a violin and he lets me try it out. So, now I'm learnig a little of violin. Mind you, I sounds absolutely horrible, but it's fun to play and actually simpler than what I thought it was. I only play it on the p-days, which means I'll probably have 6 more times to try it out before one of us leaves, but it'll be fun while it lasts.

This week we found our one person with a date again, she is sometimes a little hard to get into contact with. She was REALLY sick last sunday, all of her family, so it makes sense why they didn't come. She has plenty of support from the ward, so that's good at the very least. Her brother wants to reactivate himself to be able to baptize her when she gets ready for baptism, so it oculd turn into a convert-reactivate double deal. Or a triple deal, since the mom wants to come back as well.

We had interviews this week, and I think I'm staying for one more change (so at least until the end of July) before I change sectors. After that, I have no idea. He said some faint hints of "filling in the next generations of leaders,"but I don't think it really has any significance. I'll just keep working and see if something comes out of it this next change or not.

I've been reading in the book of Acts a lot this week. I think my 2 favortie chapters are 6 & 7, being the martyrdom of Stephen. I still kind of don't understnad why they got angry with him (they being the Scribes and Pharisees) before he saw Jesus on the right hand of God, since beforehand he was literally just retelling Jewish history, then how all the prophets were killed, and how Jesus fufilled this prophecy. I don't know. Maybe the fact he was condemming their unrighteous actions and they didn't like that.

In ful truth, I think I like the Bible more as the Reina-Valera (the spanish approved bible) than the KJV. I don't know why, since they bascially say the same thing, but something about it I like more.

I got to have an interchange this week with another Elder, this one from Brasil, in the south. It was fun finding out  how exactly Portuguese and Spanish differ, because they are real similar languages (like German and Dutch).

Also got a nice life story out of the day, and I found an old missionary who served in the Chile Santiago North Mission in 1983-1985. So close to dad's 1986-1988. But, he did have similar souvenirs to what dad had. He showed us the small face shots in black and white that dad told us about this last video chat. It's like a school ID photo (you know the style, with the head tilt and the facing to the right but looking at the camera). He had a good 30 of them, if I remember correctly. He said he was an active member of the church after his mission, for a good 20 years, getting married and sealed, working with missionaries, being a friend to converts, the whole 9 yards. Then, after some marital problems, they got divorced. Then he lost his job. then he left his house. In all of that, not 1 member came to him to give him support, to help him, to give a friendly word, nothing. Now, he's inactive. He told us that the church is true and he knows it, reads the Book of Mormon, everything, but "[He] will never cast a shadow through the Branch's meetinghouse for the rest of his life."That bit's not so neat of a life story. Hopefully he eventually decides to return. I think not a single person he knows still lives int he branch. It constantly cycles members because no one has permanent housing in the boundaries of the branch, so no one can fill a gap of Bishop or Counselor for more than 3-4 years.

It's funny though, because I mentioned that dad served near the same time in the same mission and

One to happier stuff. We found a lot of good people this week as well. Some of them near golden, some of them not as much. We are trying now to get to the point where they actually come to church. Even the family with a date of reactivation and baptism is having difficulty going, and they live 5 minutes walking from the church!

To invite some people to the church, this week we held an pen house at the church. We all invited at least 3 people, and 1 inactive member. Some came, most didn't. But, we got a few good commitments to come the Sunday afterwords, there were free sopaipillas, and 2 other companionships were there to help Olaiz and I in the work, so in the end it all kind of worked out.

I do feel like I could get a 2nd baptism in this area, but it's difficult getting peopleto progress. Just come to church, people!

This Sunday (the one after the 0 church arrivals, this blog update covers 2), we had to do divisions with the ward. Why? Becuase between 3 o clock and 7:30 we had 14 appointments, close to  2 every half hour. 1 every half hour a companionship cna keep if they run and keep lessons short. 2 is just stright up impossible unless 3/4ths cancel or just aren't there.

ELder Olaiz has helped me get better at a lot of things. He can go real effective contacts, he can give a lesson quick and easy (something I sometimes struggle with is letting the lesson drag on and on). There are other things he's helping me with too, I'll make a list next update.

This is the last email before changes. Considering what president told me, I think we'll stay together for at least 1 more change. Hopefully I get at least 1 more baptism before I leave. I do have time, I believe

As for the 2nd sunday, 6 people came. So, things are looking WAY up. Spirits are high, and the gruntwork we did this last week finally came to fruition. Hopefully we keep the momentum. In fact, of the 6 who attended, none were expected to come, and the 2 expected to come investigators didn't show. How odd. 

After the better sunday, we found an odd family. It{s a mother and daughter, with teh roles switched. The mother wants to find truth and light, but the younger daughter is the more reserved "well, I'm a catholic"one. Usually the roles are reversed, so it makes teaching a little differen't. That 1st lesson lasted over 70 minutes, becasue we were with there witha member and the lesson kept getting off track with odd questions. Like, "What is the church's view on Mary?"and "Have there been any feamle prophets?"(The answers are she was special and chosen among women, but we don't pray to here and she wasn't a virgen after Jesus'brothers and sisters were born; the other is women can prophecy like Ana in the New Testament, but don't get the priesthood and be a prophet in the calling sense). A challenge for me, and I think for most missionaries is to keep a lesson in line while using a member. Something I'm getting better at little by little.

Aside from that, there is just always more people to find and teach, and I've seen miracles in the changes possible for peoples lives, and cried when some have stopped progressing towards baptism. I have the luck to be in this area for 6 more weeks, at the least.

That's about all for the week and a half, see you next time!

Elder MacGregor

Hey Everyone!

Kind of a weird week this week. We had a lot of good lessons with our investigators, being led by the spirit, with 1 accepting a baptismal date and 1 or 2 others accepting the idea of baptism, but without a date for now (those'll come next lesson). Not only that, we found a lot of people willing to hear the gospel for at least a first time as well. So, how did it pan out at sacrament meeting?

No one came.

Kind of depressing, but we are working on it. The sad thing is that all the interest in the world won't get you far if you aren't willing to act on that interest. That is the one paradox of like half of my investigators have. They say Ï'm not sure if I want to get baptized."

"Well, why?"

Ï don't know, I just think I'm not prepared yet."

"We aren't asking you to get in the waters today, but in about 3 weeks to a month. I know you can be prepped in that time because I asked the Lord and he said you could."

But, I'm not sure if I'll be prepared by then."

"How are you going to get prepped, then? By going to church."

Ï don't know everything yet."

"To be fair, I don't know everything about the church either. But, how will you learn? Through reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church."

I just don't get it at times. They want to know more and to prepare themselves, but they won't do the more important part of that preparation. Going to church. The conversations don't always turn out that way, but it does on occasion.

Anyway, Aside from the sad result at church, this week was actually pretty great. The people we found were from all types of backgrounds, and I met my first Bolivian this week. I think I've now met someone from most of the 10 big South American countries- Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay. I'm still missing a dude from Uruguay.

I finally got to that point in the mission where I can really teach to people's needs as opposed to just giving lesson 1 everytime. For example, the Bolivian dude got taught the Law of Chastity in conjunction with the post-mortal life, because he said he had issues with looking at women. It actually went prety well considering what the lesson material was.

We also met a dude who painted the Concepción temple before the dedication. He always had questions about Joseph Smith and if the Book of Mormon replaced the Bible (hint, hint, it doesn't)..

ALSO, a random dude came up to us this last thursday and said to us (in Spanish) "Do one of you guys know English?"I said I did, and he gave me the weirdest book I've ever seen.

It was a black book, that with gold lettering on the front said "BOOK OF MORMON"on the side it said the same, with a ZB below. I open ot the first page and it has the title page of the book of mormon with it being published by Zion Bound Inc.

It was a copy of the Book of Mormon from the Community of Christ, known earlier as the Reformed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I got an apostate book of mormon in english here in Chile. Why? Because the 2nd temple (now sold to an evangelist church) of the RLDS is right across the street from my apartments. It was sold because of mismanagement, but they still have the occasional supply of RLDS things in the area. By the way, that 2nd temple was the only 2nd temple of that church. They're back to the only one in Missouri.

Anyway, back to the book. It doesn't have footnotes, and instead of shorter chapters of 30 verses each, it has longer chapters of around 100 verses that are usually the size of 2 or 3 of our chapters. Did you know that 1 Nephi 3 has 256 verses? I didn't. It also doesn't have overviews.

Anyway, mot much else for this week. Didn-t have a lot of time to write, I-ll do more next week.

Hey everyone!

This week was a very good week. We had spent the last 2 doing a lot of contacts, but without a lot of success, and not a lot of people were listening to us. But, this week was way better because not only did we beat the goal of the mission of new investigators for the week, we did it in the best way possible, being that EVERY SINGLE ONE of the news were very interested in us, and a couple are ready to even receive some baptismal dates, going from not know what the church was to near-baptism-goal ready in 1 week. It might have been more common in Ian's mission, but here in Chile it is a little rare. When Elder Anderson of the 12 came here about a month ago now, he mentioned how the Chile Area, and the country, is starting to fall behind other Latin American countries, especially Argentina. When Dad served here, Chile was the promised land of Latin America, and now it's changed over to Peru and Argentina instead. So, that's why they sent me here. To return the title of Promised Land to it's proper owner.

Anyway, I don't think I've ever mentioned to you guys the most amazing video that exists here in Chile. The first missionaries to the country of Chile were 2 young men in 1956. So, in 2012, in honor of the coming of the 50 years of la Misión Chilena, the Santiago to Concepción area made a video called "Creemos"or "We Believe."There is a copy of it in ever missionary house, and it is the best thing ever. It goes through the Church History in Chile, from the times of the Book of Mormon, to Christopher Columbus, to the Wars for Independence, to Elder Parley P. Pratt's visit in the 1800s, to the opening of Chile as a mission in 1956, to the modern day. Imagine a Nauvoo pageant, but Chilean, and it is sooo amazing. Lots of jokes for the missionaries to talk about.

As for P___, it looks like he won't be able to get baptized on the week that we are planning, but he is making progress. We are finally able to focus on the rest of his family as well, which is nice. Supposedly they will be all going on a hiking trip to a nearby hill with the rest of the Young Men here. The YM president reminds me of Brother Holwege. I don't know why, but he just does. 

Speaking of which, the bishop here is amazing. He is a 5'5"short man, but with a huge heart and a disposition to work and be a friend to the missionaries. His name is Bishop Tasso. He also likes basketball, so he's told me how Portland has gotten pretty far this season. How cool is that?

I finally got through the 4 gospels in spanish. I'd been focusing more on the book of Mormon, of course, but learning about the pre-resurrection teachings of Christ are great as well. Though, I do fully understand the need of a restoration the more I read it in Spanish. My favortie bit is when Peter says "Lord, these things surely shouldn't pass"(talking of the future crucifixion and death of Christ) and as a response, the God of Love decides to say "Get behind me, Satan."The JST then mentions (along with Jesus the Christ) that this is more attacking the idea of not having to be the savior than Christ attacking Peter for being sympathetic.

Another thing I've learned here in the mission- that just like me pre-mission, literally no one here reads the epistles regularly. They have the first 4 gospels and Revelation down pat, and maybe the Acts if they are well versed, but to most, the Epistles of Paul are a dark hole where only Pastors and Clergy read. Yet, they are actually pretty good.

Also, the books of Isaiah, 1 and 2 Kings, and Jeremiah are actually SO nice to read. I know why the Isaiah Chapters are a hump for members, and why not even a speeding bullet can't go through Isaish, but if you take the time to think about his words, they are pretty dope. Sometimes a good guide is required, but is can make the chaptetrs a lot more interesting, instead of the 2 where Isaiah sends a angel to kill 185,000 Assyrians, and the other 1 chapter where he moves the sun 10 degrees back, to show that a king has 15 more years to live before he dies.

Look, what I'm here to say is JUST READ THE BIBLE WITH THE BOOK OF MORMON. THEY'RE BOTH AMAZING.

Anyway, back to the mission. The mission as a whole has been trying harder to get members to do their own missionary work, where each week they pray, read a couple verses, invite a couple people, and get at least 1 to come to the church and start receiving the missionaries in their houses. I do think it will work out, seeing as the mission president promised us that at least 1 baptism will happen a month if we put out full efforts into the new idea. Me and my comp are working with it hard, so hopefully in June we can see the fruits of our labor, all the way to the end of my time in this sector.

But, it does look like a lot of people are willing to start progressing. We found an old inactive member who wants to return, with his newborn baby and his nonmember wife, and there is another who feels the presence of his ancestors in his house, and I told him that it was his ancesotrs waiting to receive their ordinances in the temple after he has been baptized himself. He is willing to prepare himself, but thinks that a date is a little to early to set. But, I do think he can turn into a sure baptism. He works a weird schedule, though, so..... it will be a hurdle to cross.

A snack that I like here is one that dad mentioned to me in the Christmas call, that I'll send home in the package htat I promise I'll send. They are called Alfajores, or an Alfajor. Since poptarts don't exist here, except for 1 candy store in a mall close by, this is the closest replacement, but they are a little richer. Take the cookie covering of a poptart, but make it SUPER soft and crumbly, so much so that if you aren't careful it'll get crushed by gentle hand holding pressure, and in the middle put conensed milk, the super swwet caramel like kind. Then, make it a circle, cover it in chocolate, stick it in the fridge so it's cold, and viola. A simple, Chilean (and Argentinian, according to my comp) way to get obese in the matter of days.

But, sadly, I have actually NOT gainged weight on my mission, as far as I can tell. At the very least, my belt at the start of the mission was on the 2nd smallest belt hole before I left, and now I'm on the smallet. So, I may need to but a new belt if I get any skinnier. To all who knew me before the mission, I'm confused too. I thought I couldn't get any skinnier either. Maybe I should eat even worsse than I am or I should work less, and yet I don't think I'll be doing either of the 2.

This week has just been really spiritual as we are finally seeing the work of the past 2 weeks, and it literally feels like I've been lead to people who WANT to recieve the gospel. PMG tlaks about having faith that the Lord will put people prepared to receive the gospel in the way for you. With the last 2 comps, I don't think I fully understood it fully, but know I do. The Lord really does direct his work.

Also, here is a bunch of photos from the last few entries. Sorry for not uploading them earlier. 

Another thing I realized out here, but I don't think I've told you guys, is that I knew that some my friends had never read the Book of Mormon, but I don't think I ever fully realized it. I think it's because as a kid I knew more about the BoM than the Bible, especially the Old Testament. But, if I went up to my friends now and asked them about Alma, or Nephi and Laman and Lemuel, I'd just get a buch of blank stares. One of my old comps had an 80s church video called "How Rare a Posession,"talking about how the Book of Mormon realy is still an unknown book to many people, though it can be such a blessing.

Other than that, I can't really think of anything else to tell you all for this week, see you next with more stories!

Well, this week  been very great! I finally got the packages you guys sent me for Easter, right in time for my birthday. Since we get the packages from home in the same system that they deliver all the things to the missionaries, PBM (para bautizar más or to baptize more in english), I didn't just get my package that day. My companion took one look at our home and basically said älright, we got to change everything here."He asked for a ton of things this PBM round, so it almost felt like christmas. The older couple that drives the van saw my comp and I, and said ÿeah, half of this car is for you guys."I didn't even care about half the things in the house that he ordered. Like a toilet seat. We had one for the 2nd bathroom (for this house we have 2, it's nice) but it was broken and stuck under the sink. I guess it's just a testament to my willingness to live in filth. I don't make new filth, I have made myself be organized with my clothes, desk, and food and whatnot, but I came to the house and the toilet seat was already ripped off. I just didn't care enough to fix it on my own. My new comp is better than me in that regard. He also asked for a vacuum (I just used a broom), blankets (I don't know why, we have like 5, but they are too dirty apparently), and lots of pass out cards. That one we actually did need.

But anyway, that wasn't the favorite bit of PBM I had today. Instead, it was the packages from the family. I'm grateful for the family chart of Nana and Val. I finally have them all organized and straight in my mind. I don't know where I got the 9 kids of Nana number, but that is soo off. Whoops.

The candy is amazing. There is a candy shop in the nearest mall that sells some imported candy, but it is super expensive and out of my budget range. Plus, they only have Mike and Ikes, and not my favortie Hi-chews. I made sure this time around to make it last for a while instead of eating it all at once. The peeps though, I am sorry to say, have already gone to the endless pit of my stomach, though.

The flag, photos, stickers, and calendar of Oregon were great to have. I finally have something to show the latinos that come by and ask from which part of California where I'm from. My current comp, elder Olaiz, was pretty surprised about how Oregon has a 2 sided flag. I now have it hanging above my bed, but you can bet that I am not letting anyone write on it like other missionaries do. It's too precious to me to let that happen to it.

but, the best thing that I got that way was the ties from the family, and the notes you guys sent me. I did read them all in the right order, being Mom, Keegan, Aiden, and Dad. Why? because mom's is the most spiritually related, then Keegan talking about how great he is, then Aiden mentioning how he is better and that Keegan isn't the favorite son, and ending with dad mentioning the other parts of life going down back home. Also Aiden, the talk mentioning the Cheerios and Diapers, and later telling Dad to get there on time was none other than Elder Holland himself. I liked that talk too. I am super happy to have you guys as my family, there really could be none better than you all. 

Anyway, on with the week. This week we have had quite a few appointments with P__, and he is progressing really nicely. He esaily could be in the waters of baptism in 3 weeks. I would say 2 but there is a conference that get in the way of it all. Sadly, though, he is willing to stop drinking beer and wine, but he doesn't want to stop drinking his morning tea and coffee. We're still working on that, but he doesn't really have a reason aside from that to not be baptized, and has real intention to read the book (being already in 1 Nephi 14, the chapter that talks about how there are only 2 churches in the world- the church of the Lamb of God and the church of the devil. 

The other baptism, B_____, will have to wait nearly 3 weeks to be confirmed because this week is conference, then his dad has custody for a week. That's kind of bad, but I'm sure he'll do alright. He is an amazing kid, just like Keegan in some ways.

Anyway, Dad asked for a list for the report- here it is

October 9 to Nov 19, CCM with Elder McDaniel from American Fork, Utah, in Mexico

November 20 to February 10, with Elder Lewis from Mapleton, Utah, my trainer, in Barrio Carrión

Febraury 11 to March 24, with Elder Cuenca form Ecuador, in Barrio Carrión

March 25 to May 5, with Elder Untch from Kansas City, Missouri, in Barrio Conchalí 10

May 6 to June 16 or more, with Elder Olaiz from Argentina, in Barrio Conchalí 10.

Hopefully that's what you wanted. As for a list of facts, I guess here come some:

I have learned enough basic creole to teach the lessons, and to contact. My favorite words and phrases are (and google translate may help with pronounciation here)

Nou se misyonè legliz Jezikri pou sen dènye jou yo, ak nou genyen mensaj konsèynan levanjil la. Ekse ou gen anpil lafwa? Anfom, zanmi'm. máp anprann kreyòl pou liv yo. liv la ki m prefere se liv mòmon an, yon lòt temwayaj konsènan jezikri. Liv mòmon an te ekriti pou anpil pwofet yo, ak m konnen ki liv mòmon an se verite. Eske nou kapab vini lakay'w pou ensenye'w? Náp we, zanmi.

We are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we have a message about the gospel. Do you have a lot of faith? Awesome, my friend. I'm learning Creole by books. My favorite is the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon was written by a lot of prophets, and I know the Book of Mormon is true. Can we come to your house and teach you? See you later, friend.

I like creole, not because it's a complex language (to be honest, it's the complete opposite), but because it is just a lot of fun to speak. It's a mix of French, Spanish, and English, with some words from Africa thrown in as well. Plus, it's a real easy language to learn.

Anyway, the call on Sunday was great. I loved how Keegan just kept on making faces the whole time at the camara, hoping that I'd make one back. I did like 3 times. If you guys want to call me, just call when I'm online. It'll change from time to time, but I think Olaiz and I are planning on doing it at around 1:30 our time, so he can call his family in Argentina, while I call yáll. If the computer I'm using has skype, I'll try to use it if that's what you want, otherwise I would prefer to use Google Hangouts, it sets up just as easy and is intergrated into the church email service.Additionally, it can work with multiple computers in a multicall, so when Ian's in Utah all 3 of us can be in the same video chat.

Also, Ian, the reason the call was a little early is because Chile implemented daylight savings this year, and if I had called at 6 or 6:30 your time, it would have been 10:30 my time, which is after curfew. Speaking of Daylight Savings in this country, the cell phones here are having issues with it, and they change back and forth between 2 hour times every 3 days or so. It also doesn't help that the chilean peoplee are kind of late to everything, so it gets to the point where people arrive to things one and a half hours late and they act like it's normal. We go knocking on doors at 1pm and people say Ï'm just getting up, why are you out so early?"

So dad served in the branch El Roble, so I'll guess I'll have to start looking into the books to see where it's limits were and who were the leaders at that time. I'm sure there's a record of it SOMEWHERE, but I don't know perfectly where it might be.

Actually, speaking of American Brands here in Chile, there are quite a few. You have the standard McDonald's, but also Wendy's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Domino's Pizza, KFC, Subway,you name it. BUT, there is one difference. Only 1 of the restaurants have the US standard free refill. That is, the Carl's Jr, in 2 of the 5 malls I know of in the mission, though maybe a 3rd will come soon. So, of course, the gringos sometimes go to Plaza de Armas or my old sector just to get that free refill. Also, the idea of a public, free bathroom really doesn't exist here. Instead, you either have to pay 500 pesos (or like a dollar) or hold it to the house. Only 2 of the malls have free public bathrooms, and they are like hidden WAY in the back so no one finds them.

A recent law chile passed is that supermarkets can no longer giv e you bags for free anymore. If you want a bag, you have to pay for each one. So, as money-savvy missionaries, we bring reusable bags, and if we need plastic bags for the trash, we go to the feria (like a farmer's market but bigger and it sells all kinds of stuff. Think of the street market in Indiana Jones mixed with a garage sale). There, the good sellers usually still give you a bag, so we buy fruits and what not, for the bag just as much as for the fruit itself.

Also, because the Chilean peso is so poor, they no longer accept the 1 peso and 5 peso coins as legal tender. the 10 peso coin is the smallest unit from now on. So, everyone just kind of threw their 1 and 5 coins into the street, and I collect them if I find them. The change is pretty  recent, so there's still plenty to find. The coins themselves are smaller than my finger nail, and the 10 is about the size of a nickel.

I had a fun adventure with cooking with spaghetti. as I was putting in the salt into the broth (and looking back I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do that), the bag ripped and a LOT of salt came in. But, the spaghetti turned out alright, it wasn't to bad, so that was great. I have learned a couple of receipes here in the mission, but I still need to learn how to make sopaipillas, a native dish here. Well, it's techncally a native dish, but in reality it's just fried dough made of a pumpkin-like fruit? here and flour. It's actually really good with mayonaise.

This last week elder Olaiz and I did a lot of contacting. We've found quite a few people that seem interested in the gospel, so now we just need to get those first few appointments where we get through the door and actually teach them. At the very least, I can see that my contacting abilities have gotten better.

Anyway, that's all that I can really think of at the current time, I'll see if there is more I can share next week.

Love you! XOXOXOX

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I'll be in zone conference, but I'l make sure to treat myself.

My new comp, (yes, yet another, 3 in 3 changes) has this neat device that is a keyboard that records what you type. Then, you plug it in to the computer later and it writes it all really fast. So, basically, I can write a little more for the next 6 weeks at the least. So, I'll share a little bit more of what's been popping down here, especially I had a baptism this last week.

 B__ is a 10 year old  litle kid, and he's amazing. He has some real desire to do the best he can in the church. He's even preparing himself as hard as possible to receive the priesthood. It's good, because his parents are having a hard time. One is a less active member who doesn't want to go back to church until he is 100% worthy.  The mother of B__ wants to get baptized and join the church, but can't while she's not married, and they can't get married because he can't get divorced. At the least we hope that the baptism will get them into the habit of attending church and being as faithful as they can in the current situation.

This last change that just finished was a change full of learning about how different even other members of the church can be between each other. Elder Untch was amazing, a great teacher and user of his divine calling in regards to showing the power of god. for example, there was a lady he contacted that he promised that if she went to church that week, she would find a job the day after that would allow her to attend every week. She went, and that happened. Then, when she stopped coming and said to us Ï don't need god anymore, I have the work I need"he promised her that if she wouldn't attend that week, she would lose her job. It happened as well. He's also amazing at seeing the small miracles in things, like how when we plan for someone and they are there right as we arrive.

My new comp is Elder Olaiz, from Argentina. He comes from the South, near the border of Chile. He lives about as far away from the mission field as Elder Nissinan does from his home. He's a suprise because it feels like as if my friend E___ was an Argentinian and was currently serving a mission.  I still don't know everything about him, since I've literally spent maybe 1 day with him, but he seems like a dope dude. At the very least, it seems like he is a good worker and he does bomb at street contacting. We'll be doubling the number of contacts Untch and I did together, and I know because we hit a 50% growth on day 1 together. His type of humor is a very punny type of humor too, so I feel like this change is going to be great.

This week I've been reading in the beginning of the book of mormon again, and I spent the last personaly study reading a little in 1 Nephi 11 to 14. Reading over it, I have to wonder how long that vision must have taken, considering he seems basically all of Nephite history between Chirst and the end (though to be fair, it only is 4 Nephi to Moroni), but afterwords sees Columbus, the Revolutionary War, the Restoration, and the revealing of new scriptures via the Book of Mormon. God probably uses dreams because if he took them physically away they'd probably be gone for hours if not days. Not only that, but think about how a dude who lived 600 years before Christ saw guns. How weird would that be to him.

A neat spiritual experience this week was seeing how the gospel can literally change lives. We have an investigator named P__, who is addicted to alcohol, and has told us that he has tried very hard to get off it for many years, but he just hasn't been able to do it. So, we taught him how to pray, and told him that every time he feels he wants to drink, he will pray, and he will gain the strength to not drink and put it down or dump it out. He managed to keep himself sober for a week at this point, and he also went to church on his own, without too much of our help. If anything has truly been powerful, it must be the gospel, where it can sometimes make even that strong addiction disappear just like that.

And now, for a funny story for the week. We passed by the area we have in the sector called Dr. Yazigi (that's the name of the street), which is completely filled to the brim with Haitians. The thing is, sometimes I don't think some forms of logic exist in that place. Like how the last time we went, there was a group of around 6 Haitians working together to throw a washer machine out of the window. The thing is, they were doing this on the 3rd floor, and all of the doors in the place are wide enough to fit this washing machine they have. Why they didn't carry it down the stairs, I have no idea. But, they managed to get it out and pushed it away. But, since they had it tied up to help them lower it, it came swinging right back at the wall below them, then into the window of the floor below, knocking everything everywhere. It was a pretty funny sight. It's difficult to get a baptism there, since there is a lot of chastity issues and even the faithful ones aren't legally married.

Looking at my diary, it's hard to realize that I've filled it halfway up. The diary is only meant to last a year, but still. I've hit and passed the 1/4 mark already. I did burn a tie at Elder Untch's request, but I'm not sure if I'll ever burn a whole shirt. As for which tie I burned, I found one in the back of the closet that another missionary left at the end of his mission.

I'm sure the Returned Missionaries from South America know this, but I've gotten hooked on the agenda-making here. As missionaries, the church provides us with an agenda per change, so 1 every 6 weeks. The thing is, the covers are kind of flimsy, so people take the pass along card or whatnot to stiffen them, and then put a picture on top to make it look nice. I have gotten hooked on it, and I feel like mom in her card-making room, doing crafts for other missionaries when I have that little bit of free time at the start or end of a day.  I'll usually get a funny caption, add a scripture that relates, and tape it all over to make it look nice. I can definitely see my creativity getting better as I now find random images and think "how can I make this a good agenda cover."

One thing I've learned here in the field is how to incentivize myself. there is a sushi place that does delivery nearby our house. So, when I and my comp make 30 contacts together for a whole week, we get sushi on Friday, because that's when they have a deal of 60 pieces for 11,000 pesos, or about 16 dollars. I don't know if that's expensive for the states or not, but it's the cheapest here for over 50 pieces.

Also, for the last few pdays, I've been reading Saints- a History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since my comps talk a lot with there families and call every week, I sometimes have extra time after I've written all of my letters. So, I browse the Church websites, downloading videos of the church, reading the Joseph Smith Papers (of which I understand 0%), or whatnot. But recently, I've been hooked on Saints. I'm currently on Chapter 22 or so, when the Saints first get thrown out of Missouri. It's a pretty good book, and I learned a lot of things I didn't know beforehand. For example, how during a special meeting in the Kirkland Temple, the Acts 2 decending of the Spirit like a fire and the speaking of tongues happened again, giving them the power from on high mentioned in the D&C sections preceeding the dedication.

Alright, I have alittle bit more time, so I'll talk about chilean things that were weird to me when I started but now I don't really notice. They still use horses here on occasion, like in the central plaza areas the police have a calvary group of like 2 or 3 officers on horseback.

A lot of people want to know english, so they occasionally yell "Hello! How are you?"to me, to which I always reply Ï am fine, and you?"They always say "very good, very good."It's kind of funny to me, because that was about my ability with spanish when I left the CCM, os Ican't really fault them for literally not knowing anything else in English.

When people finally realized that it isn't pronounced "Helders"and instead is Ëlders,"and that it's a title and not our first names, they always ask for what my first name is. I usually go with Malcolm, but to the occasional drunk who won't even remember the conversation, I sometimes say that my named is Aetheldred or some other weird Anglo-Saxon name. They can't even pronounce Malcolm right, so seeing them try to say Aetheldred in a drunken slur is kind of funny. I don't think I've met a single missionary here that likes giving out their first name. I barely knew my comp's first name, and he's already left for home in Ecuador (that's my 2nd comp, Elder Cuenca).

No one here get up until after 12 oçlock, and the grandmas not until 2 or so. So, here is me, a gringo, walking about at 11ish and wondering where all the people are. We usually have to take all of our studies in the morning because no one is out that early except for us and the occasional Jehovah's Witness group.

Actually, speaking of the Jehovah's Witnesses, I had no idea how popular they were here in Chile. They might have more Salones del Reino de los Testigos de Jehová (that's the spanish name, I don't know what it is in English because I've never seen one) than Chapels for the true church. So, on occasion, we'll run into their proselyting groups. It's interesting what they believe, but I think it's more because of the fact that I hear more about their doctrine through the missionary grapevine than from themselves.

A native dish here is called Casuela. Imagine a half of a chicken in a broth with undercooked vegetables, including either a whole potato or a corncob. Then, to eat it, they just give you a spoon. A spoon to eat a half of a chicken, bones and all. Then, for dessert, they give you half of a watermelon to eat with another spoon. I absolutely love both of them, though. On the occasional cold day, the broth can really warm you up, and the lots of food and fruit keeps me going, usually to the next lunch the day after. I don't need to spend a lot of money on food because the members are so genereous. They are willing to do whatever we need to. I'm 100% sure they are better member missionaries than I was.

Anyway, Olaiz is asking for this back, so here is where I'll end it for now. Hopefully I'll write more next week if I have more time!

Elder MacGregor

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

I didn't get sacrament this week because....

This Saturday we had Elder Anderson come to the mission, along with José Teixeira, from the presidency of the 70. They both talked to us on the Saturday in a special mission conference. During Anderson's talk, he got on to the topic of who wrote where in the Book of Mormon. Like how it's Lehi in 2 Nefi 2, or How it's Jacob in 2 Nefi 9. He asked who wrote Ether 12 and I got to impress him by being the one to say Moroni. So, I have that off the bucket list. Impress an Apostle of the Lord. On sunday my stake (Conchalí) had conference with just Teixeira, and that was amazing too. We got a photo with him, and just the 10 missionaries in our stake. I got to shake hands with multiple of the higher-serving servants of the Lord. I'm so happy!

Other than that, I got the highest number of news in the mission this week with 17, so they put my face in the weekly email they send out. I'm sure it's usually higher in Perú, but it's pretty good here considering.

That's all, Love you! XOXOXXOX

I'll send the photo of Teixeira in a bit. The mission took photos of Anderson, I'll see if I can forward that too.

For Easter, I had chicken and rice, which is the 2nd most common meal here after rice and beans. Did dad tell you that? Or did I mention it at some point?

Sounds your easter was great. 

The new YM YW program may at the very least, the program may work better here in Chile. Everyone works so much it's hard to have weekly mutual. 

Are sometimes things a little difficult? Sure. But focusing on them isn't going to change anything. Keep working and everything will work out. And, if I remember correctly, Pres. Fotheringham mentioned that I should focus on positive things as opposed to negative things. so, I'm just following counsel from my old stake president.

Also I met with a lady who served in the Chile Santiago North Mission in 1984-1985. She mentioned a president Glaiser. Was that dad's mission president?

Love you, XOXOXXOOXXO 

When it comes to easter I prefer to think of the 2nd cleansing of the temple (I didn't even know there was a second until I read Jesus the Christ) and then on the important stuff the day after. 

I don't think that kids can really understand things like the transfiguration at that age. but, we have to try, right?

My comp got sick this last week with a nasty latin american virus, so I reorganized our papers and read and studied. We have an area filled to the brim with haitians and they're always receptive so we don't have to do a lot of contacting. 

Elder MacGregor

THEY RELEASED MY BOY TAD!

Tad R Callister is my favorite, and they released him and had him speak afterword. They didn't even put "former sunday school president," they didn't put anything.

That's great that Ian was able to go live. I hear that when the speakers end talking all you can hear is coughing and whatnot. I'll have to see if that's right.

I liked priesthood session too. My comp, not so much. He likes the stick-beating, make-you-feel-bad-so-you-change kind of priesthood session and has been complaining about the throwaway line that a speaker said, who mentioned how women and 11 year olds are watching. He's says that it's no longer the same. All I say is that if the Lord wanted to make us feel bad, he would have done it. It's not like the speakers just choose a topic and what to say at random.

Favorite moment is when Nelson told everyone to shut up while they announced the new temples, and one with be in Antofagasta! The fact that rumors were abounding was funny. I think people kind of just expected a big change since Nelson did ministering for his first and 2 hours the 2nd, this being his 3rd and 1st without a big change.

Little did they know releasing Tad is the biggest change they've done yet.

That would be fun!  I do really want to go to the rededications of the the old temples when they're renovated.

Elder MacGregor

I don't take too many photos, mainly because I'm working, and that in a sector a little poorer now. I will have to send a photo of all the haitians I teach. Mainly because they are all in this one apartment complex, so you go in and it literally feels more like haiti than chile, I bet. everyone speaks Creole there and only some english. So, I get my creole practice with them every so often.

This star wars ship was actually from my old sector, where a recent convert showed us his 1 year work. It's crazy big and crazy detailed. 

   

My new comp is great, and he definitely shows me how much of a democrat I really am. We sometimes talk about politics (or he lectures me and if I have a difference of opinion and explain why he says 'whoa don't get uspet') but we try to keep that on the downlow. He worked since 14, lived on his own, read the Quran and also went to every church in the area before settling on the church of Christ, 

I'll just have to follow the sustained prophets we get to hear at General Conference.

Love, Elder MacGregor

Anyway, thanks for the update. I usually jsut forget to send photos, that's all. I've sent the photo from my 2nd baptism of an lady named Isabel, and my second companion, Elder Cuenca. 

I'm now on my third, Elder Untch, who I took a quick photo with too. I'm in my second sector, called Conchalí 10. 

Also, There are so many haitians here and they just let us in to talk. We get a lot of new investigators, but also they seldom progress here.

Much Love,

Elder MacGregor

As for my use of persoanl money, I converted all of the 200 dollars I took in cash into chilean pesos. I don't use it for much, and I actually still haven't gotten around to calling for permission to use my debit card. I really just buy the zone souvenirs that they make for us. I have 1 at the moment and am getting one next week. One was a bandanna for about 5 bucks and this upcoming one is a soccer jersey with my name, and a number for about 15 bucks. I chose 0 because of the same reason as Damian Lillard (Keegan can tell you about him) and also because I have 0 soccer ability.

This week we had to watch some clips about missionary safety. If you want to watch them (new missionaries have to watch them with their parents before they leave) they are on the full time missionary portal,. They're weird because it tries to be all jokey and then at the end they share a "Let's Get Real" where they mention a missionary who had consequences of not following the rules mentioned in the episode. The tune shifts so hard that it gives you whiplash.

Also this ward I'm in I will probably be in for the next 2 to 3 months, so that will be great. You'll maybe see me in the same house twice, since I'm still in my first ward

We have our own washing machine but we hang dry. Some of my shirts are stained yellow from sweat and I think I need to use clorox on them, any tips on how to do it and not absolutely destroy my clothes? 

Love you, going to talk to Ian now XOXOXXOXOXOXOX

are the 2 Elders coming to your stake conference general Authorities or are they Area Seventies. I was looking over an old liahona that we have in the house (We have every single one for about 30 years worth on the liahona). Did you know that Elder Suares and Elder Stevenson were in the same area presidency for AFRICA during 2011?

I had a baptism this week, and the sacrament after when we confiormed her has been the biggest experience with the hoily ghost so far.

Since high school, I do really think I've changed. Things do feel different and I do feel bad about some things I did in high school (like having such a short temper, and being really prideful. There's a new missionary who had a semester in college, but graduated the same year I did. And Oh my goodness he is super prideful about things.) I don't know how people dealt with me. I sucked, man. Kind of hated myself too at the time, if I remember correctly. Not suicidal levels, but close.

I do remember the crater lake trip. We did one as a family when I was between 6 and 9, there is an Ian Show video we took during the trip.  I brag about the Oregon wilderness sometimes to the Utah missionaries, since I have some camping done, and at least 5 through eastern Oregon to go to Idaho, and 1 to the south I did to get to california with my firends.

I do think rooming with Elliot would be fun. I'll have to try his tomato bisque. Is that still the only thing he makes to eat? Ask Janamaire.

I want to say I learned a native language during my mission in Chile, it's called (wait for it) Haitian Creole. I'm sure that'll get a laugh or two. Do mention I'm with a latino comp, my spanish is coming great but I'm nowhere near perfect, and we are basically in the center of the city. Lots of apartments and street contacts. 

Elder MacGregor 

Wow! Sounds like the weather is colder than usual, lasting all the way to March.

Sounds like Keegan had fun. I never have been snowboarding or skiing, so he's got that on me.

For earthquakes, I've felt two, both in the apartment that's 23 stories up. It's fun watching the buildings sway. 

I don't really know what prepared me the most. I would say that I was prepped to share the gospel but not as much to live like a normal person. Or, in other words, I already knew the order of the first 3 lessons, and some of PMG, but as for cooking I still just by lots of candy at times and eat itin 3 days.

For testimony meeting we have a good 130 members, so I never have to speak, but we give testimony when we enter a ward and when we leave the ward too, so about 1 every 6 weeks I think, sometimes less.

As for people who are like at home, I have an investigator named J----(not the one I mentioned last week) who is JUST like my government teacher Ms. Mowry, right down to being a storng catholic. She's an investigator because her daughter C----- and her granddaughter I---- have dates of baptism.

Life's been great here, having a Latin comp is fun until he sleeps in and wants to stay up late. We have a si o si baptism this week, so it's great. A 55 year old woman, maybe older, who has a 31 year old son who just spends all day at the computer because he broke his knee and now is growing weed because it's legal here in Chile. For service we cleaned out his closet and about half the stuff had to do with drugs, half with electronics. Definitely the strongest warning I've had against spending too much time on electronics after I get back home. 

Love you, XOXXOXOXXO

I hope the others do better than me in survivor at Glencoe HS. Hopefully people are more interested in it that last year.  I'm sure they'll have a lot of fun with it too. I did. 

I clean my own clothes because I'm a man and I know how to do it all. I even scrub my collars with a special detergent because I'm a responsible adult. Lunch is usually provided by the ward, but in other sectors we buy and cook our own food. It's because Chile is richer than the rest of South America (especially Peru, people here are prideful about it, and the Pacific War when they basically crushed peru into dust) so the church doesn't do pinchenistas here.

We just made our 7th baptismal date invitation-

J----, who should be but probably won't be baptized since she wants to wait until she has work that lets her go to church

I-----, a grandma that is awesome and most definitely will get baptized

J----a Peruvian who has a really evangelical family but the mom is listen behind the wall, and he might be able to go this week to church

K----- a Colombian who is really nervous about being ready for the last days and is reading the book of mormon like a machine

C----- and her 12 year old daughter I-----, who both took the lessons but weren't baptized and have friends in the church

and S-----, a reference from the South Mission who is bomb but literally can only be met with at 10 am on our pdays.

 My comp is on his 2 to last change, so I'm either spending this change and then leaving or being his last comp and being in the same area for 5 changes (to help the elder that would come in after), or in other words, 6 to 7 months. (November to April or May)

I have yet to be bit by a dog but nearly have twice by the same devil and all I know about ecuador is that they LOVE platanos. Not bananas, platanos. The chilean money is like monopoly money, they only eat rice and chicken and have never heard of the word spice, and it is the best mission in the world by far. 

This week was tough on saturday, but we pushed through and have had a great past few days. Saturday we had 16 appointments and 15 fell.

Elder MacGregor 

All I experience here is just a ton of hot sun. Though, yesterday we did have some clouds that lead to a cooler temperaturea and that was great. I do actually miss the cold. My new comp is Elder Cuence from Ecuador and he hates the cold, so I guess we'll have to figure that out :) 

 My prayers are great. I really have a reason to focus on other more now that I can talk about issues going on at home (AKA tons of work) and also for my investigators. I really don't have any real need to blow off steam. I just need to keep working. I haven't gotten really angry at anyone yet, but I almost did at a family that wasn't progressing.

thios family we had taught for the whole of my 2 changes and came to church only once in my 3 months. They don't read the book and this last visit openly lied to us about reading (I left them with nephi 3 and they said it talks about baptism). Then we saiud howe this is the only church with authority and one literally said "well according to you guys." We aren't going back. They won't read and act as if they can be in 2 churches at once- the 2 churches mentioned in 1 Nephi 14

But, it was a learning experience.

Love you, XOXOXOXXOX