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.