I really don't have a lot to say this week either, mainly focusing on getting out fo the office when I can, and we found a couple of Bolivians and a Colombian to teach. It'll be a little difficult this week though since I have to deal with a lot of paperwork this week. Turns out that our visa tracking system has been acting up lately, and I was the poor soul who had to fix it all by myself without any real coaching from my predecessors. But, I got it done. At the very least President was proud of me, so that makes it all worth it. I think that maybe because I will need experiences like this to teach my successor as well as I can.

I'm expecting around 9 weeks to teach her and to guide her through a change and whatnot, and then I'm outta here.

I had completely forgotten about MLK day until I couldn't do some of my duties because the church offices were closed. But, I guess it was nice.

Anyway, it's been a while since I really wrote about me, so I'm gonna do that now.

I never fully explained what I do here in the mission office, and that is to help in all of the legal paperwork in immigration for the missionaries. You need to be legal to leave the country, so I allow people to get home. Also, I do the flights and all the periphery things needing to be done with the start and end of a mission. So, the majority of Secretary stress comes from that, more than anything else I do.

This last week though, we received a pair of elder missionaries, the Vests, who will eventually replace me in the work, and I will go somewhere else to finish the mission. So, that'll be a lot of fun, I think. They are great people from Payson Utah, and they are pretty funny people. A little nervous with the start of their new callings, but I'm sure it will all work itself out.

 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