5 Baptisms Planned!

Don`t stress too much about Book of Mormon 2 stickers. I have all of the scriptures references, just not the stickers. I am okay. Don`t spend a lot on a whole set for nothing. I am going to hang onto the other that is a duplicate because it has the scriptures listed, but the wrong stickers. Don`t stress over everything and packages are surely costing a lot. Don`t stress a ton about sending a lot of them or for every little occasion. Thanks for all that you do.


I don`t know if I will have changes in a week, but it is possible. I am doing really well. I am having a really hard time when we go to teach English Classes here, because I am forgetting so much.... I can`t talk easily in English. It is so rough. I am used to talking in Spanish to the point that I can`t speak English well. I can think English when I want to, but I usually am thinking and doing everything in Spanish. I hope that you are doing well and I am doing really well. We haven`t had any baptisms in the past 5 weeks, but we have 5 planned for this next Sunday. I am really excited and we are working really hard with all of them to have them get baptized and have great experiences. There are a lot of people that we are teaching but we are working to help more people be ready for baptism. We have a lot of people that are progressing just at different rates and will be ready to be baptized in a little more time. I am really excited! There are so many blessings.


Today I had choir practices in Maipù. You`re probably confused about choir. Remember how you found the Christmas Choir from last year? Well I am in the choir for this year. My companion is as well and we have fixed a lot of our problems, but there are a few little ones. We both enjoy singing so that has helped get rid of a lot of stress. I am really excited and happy with everything. Enjoy everything and I am doing my best and time passes quickly and everything. I can`t believe that I am nearing 6 months. Time will pass really quickly and I am really enjoying serving but I get bored at times. 


If you want you could save all the money that you would use to send things to me and start stockpiling things for Christmas or other things like that for when I get back? I`m really doing just fine. Things are great and everything! I know that when I get back there will be a few things that I will want to buy and have fun doing. Also don`t forget about Newmont, to reapply before I come back from my mission. Have a reminder or something. I don`t want to lose that opportunity. I am really happy with everything and things really aren`t that hard right now. I am happy with everything. Enjoy your snow while I have summer. Thanks for everything. I will be back on a little later. We are on really early today and will be back later today to write more. Thanks for all that you do!


I was disappointed not to get any photos or the video this week.  Can you please try to get something to us this week?  Did you send the SD card yet?


No, I haven`t. I don`t think that I am going to send it. Also the password to the Wi-Fi at the church wasn`t the normal church password, so I couldn`t send anything, because I don`t have the password. Sorry, I know that I promised, but I honestly couldn`t send anything. I am doing my best..... I might be able to get it sent today during internet time. I will be back on later, but I don`t know for sure.


I looked into Dropbox and I can`t upload from these computers. Some computers can read my camera, but there are others that say that they need to format the card and they can`t format anything. These computers are newer and can`t read my camera. I don`t know... I have given up a lot on being able to send photos, because I am on a really good computer in Maipù today..... I don`t know.... I have done what I can.... There is only so much that I can do and I am having a really hard time with technology not doing what I want it to do lately. Thanks for everything and I will be on a little bit later to reply to everything but I still have to do my Family Search time. Thanks and talk to you later.


The computers all want to format my card. I don`t know and the password is not Pioneer47 it isn`t LDS Wi-Fi or however it was. It says Rama Lo Espejo or Branch Lo Espejo. I will try with my external drive, but I don`t know for certain. I am doing what I can. I didn`t send the card, because I kept forgetting to send it and I kept trying to use it to upload to Dropbox, but haven`t had good luck with it.


The baptismal dates are Francisco and Alfonso the kids of Elizabeth and Victor. They can`t get married yet, because they live in a camp, really poor and honestly horrible. You would be grossed out. They are amazing and we are doing a lot to serve them and all that we can. We are working to baptize the kids, because Elizabeth loves the church and wants to be baptized, but cannot right now. We have talked to her about March getting married and baptized and how we won`t be here and it will be other missionaries. And how she will need to continue going to church and being the strong one to help her kids stay strong. The kids really like the church, too. They don`t understand everything, but we are working really hard with them.


We have Patrick and Ashlee. Both are guys and they are our Haitians that can be baptized. All 5 have the attendances to be baptized. We are passing by to help them and teach more of the family. We were able to get a lot of stuff in French and they came to our English classes this last Saturday. It was awesome teaching and learning Creole and French from them and teaching. They are really great and really strong. We are doing all to make sure that they are ready.  We also have Isabel who is the mom of Ivan, who is a recent convert that we are verifying that she has stopped smoking and is ready.


We are going to visit them a lot this week and plan the baptismal interviews and do all we can to have them. We are planning a huge baptismal service in our branch planned for 7 baptisms, 2 from the other Elders. We are really close and we can do baptisms any day of the week. We like to do them Saturdays, but if they attend, they do the baptisms after the reunion (meetings) and the following week give them the Holy Ghost, but sometimes we do Saturday baptisms and Sunday Confirmations. This just worked out to be a Sunday. 


President Barreiros baptized all of the missionaries at the temple and the Elders that were waiting to be baptized did the confirmations. It was really awesome. I got baptized for them all, but not confirmed for all, for a few yes. They were doing their best to get them all through and it was a really awesome experience. I got to be a witness and confirm various times. It was really awesome. I really enjoyed it and the temple with recent converts is the next Saturday. We are going to verify with all of them who can go and make sure that they have names and everything. Otherwise, we are going to reschedule, but our goal is to strengthen their faith and help them be more active. They are a little lazy at times, but we are doing our best to strengthen their testimonies and help retain them active. 


I have been messaging two missionaries who will arrive in your mission in January.  Marcel Max is from Brazil.  He speaks Portuguese and English. He is really a cool kid.  I have enjoyed our conversations.  He wants you to be his trainer.  He has been reading your blog.  He went to the temple for his endowments on your birthday.  The other guy is Cole Mason.  He is from North Ogden.  He is friends with Logan Parkin.  I started emailing his mom and then I sent him a message on Facebook.  Cole will go to the Chile CCM.  I am still not sure where Marcel will go.


That`s really cool that they are coming to my mission and it will be in my 5th or 6th change depending on when they are in the CCM. If it is my 5th change it will be right when Elder Chuquel told me that I need to train. I honestly have no clue what will happen and I have learned that if it is the Lord`s will, it will happen. I am enjoying serving and looking for opportunities to serve. I don`t want to be selfish or anything but I really want to use my white tie. It is a little flashy and honestly one of my favorites and I would like to be able to use it more often.


Things are coming along slowly and as the people follow through with their commitments. There are a lot more people and as they progress I will let you know. I may change sectors so I am going to focus on the ones that can be baptized soon and if I stay I will let you know about the others that I am working with. I feel like I will stay, but the Lord knows a whole lot better than I do. Thanks for everything!


I will do what I can. We have been having a little bit of difficulties with success in the work, because the majority of the members aren`t doing much to help us have success in the work. They aren`t working well.... We have activities and other things, like this last Saturday to show the organizations of the Church to people who don`t know the church and we only had 4 people show up that were new..... And 3 of them were brought by one person..... There is a lot of difficulties with this and we are working as hard as we can. There are a few people who work really well, but overall the branch doesn`t help much. We are trying and doing our best to keep people coming, activate less actives and in-actives, keep the new converts coming and helping them establish their testimonies, but we can`t do everything.... We only had 48 people this week and we can think of so many people that just didn`t come.... I don`t know what I can do in some cases, because they are just being lazy or something. But I am doing my best to strengthen them and looking for the best way to have success and be patient with everything knowing that I can`t make it go faster. Love you!


I am trying and anytime that I use the thumb drive or camera with cables or anything it can`t read it on these computers. It is like they lack the ability to read the card. I think it is because my camera card is 64 GB. I don`t bring the terabyte drive with me each week because I don`t always take photos off. I have only found 1 cyber that can read my card and we aren`t at that cyber this week. I don`t know what to tell you to tell Brother Schneiter..... I am trying, but these computers can`t read my card. I have tried every method that I know of to connect them. Think of the computers that we used when it was 2000..... That is basically what I have to work with now..... Bricks...... A little slow and by a little really and hard to work with.... I can`t even enter the jump drive on these computers to look at my photos, because every time that I try it wants to reformat the drive and I say no, so I can`t do anything. I don`t know what to tell you..... I have tried, but I kept the card and didn`t send it, because I thought I could send it through Dropbox, but I wasn`t able to and then I also want to have both cards. I don`t know. Here they don`t sell 64 GB cards, only 16 is the largest that I have seen. Could it be something about the technology being too new for the computers to handle? There are some things like little DVD players that we have that can only read 8 GB or less drives or other things so I think it has to do with the computers not knowing how to read a 64 GB drive..... That`s all that I have.... I don`t know what to do about it, because I can`t do anything now.... The only thing that I can do is explain what I am doing and keep working hard. I will do my best, but I am going to ask our Branch President for the Wi-Fi code tomorrow or at the houses of some members that have Wi-Fi to send some photos. I will send several groups of photos and try to send new ones that you don`t have to give you photos or something because the video I can`t send.


I understand, but our attendance dropped from 74 to 48 it feels like about half was lost.... I don`t know what we aren`t doing. It was a week with less time available to work, because of reunions and temple and everything and we had more lessons than any other week. 29 lessons and we are doing so much to serve and help the people learn the way to have the blessings.


I tried sending things in Maipù with the same problem as here and I didn`t have the terabyte drive. I will look into it next week and I have Choir Practice Friday, but I don`t know the entire schedule. They only told us Friday for now, so I don`t know.... I will do my best to get what I can. Thanks for everything and I will see what I can do and I have tried every method that you have given me to send stuff. The computer that I have today is really slow so I might have to wait until next week to look at the photos on Dropbox. Thanks and I am doing what I can. I have been waiting for Family Search to load and this computer can only do so much at a time.... It is really slow. Next week I am going to use a different one because this one is awful.....


I forgot to talk about how I am doing. My allergies are acting up a little more than normal, but I am okay.  I have a little bit of a cold.... I am doing fine. I have been trying to use all of my medications, but I am not using them nearly as quickly as you are sending them. I will keep using what I have, but I will let you know when I am running low. I don`t need any more right now. I have plenty. I am not using them perfectly, but I am trying to remember every day, but I forget to use them. I am not perfect at remembering all of my medications, but I am taking my allergy and vitamin every day.


Thanks for all that you do. I love you and hope that you are doing well. You should tell me a little more about the other missionaries that you have found that are going to come. I will have plenty of opportunities to get to know them in the mission. Thanks for everything! I am still trying to look into Dropbox and I haven`t done any Family Search I can`t with this computer. The sites use too much and the computer is so slow this week. I will keep away from this one next week, if I am still here.


Ya, I know it has been annoying. We go to the church that is the center of our mission, the church in Esquina Blanca in Maipù. The office of our mission and everything is there. I could ask to send them, but it isn`t my Preparation Day. I really don`t want to be a bother to everyone. President isn’t always there and he is usually really busy. I will do what I can, but things are limited and I have been trying to do my best with the principle for our mission. When there are problems of any kind is You Fix It! We have a lot of little things that happen every day that we have to solve.


We were in a service project and all the hard work and diligence that you and Dad always taught me pay off, because I never get tired during services and am working the whole time and the other Elders don`t know how I can do that. They are a little bit pampered in some ways, but I am grateful that I know how to work hard, but because of that I lack patience when things don`t work out or go fast or there are problems. But I am learning a lot and doing my best to do better.


Thanks for everything that you do for me and I am still looking into Dropbox, but I will probably just have to look next week. I will let you know what happens with the changes. They call us the Saturday night of week 6, so this Saturday night we will know for Church on Sunday.  I will do what I can to remember everything and keep up with everything. If someone leaves, they always talk here in this branch, so we will see what happens. I am basically certain that either I or Elder Vasquez will go and for some reason I feel like he will go, but I don`t know for certain. Thanks and I will let you know how things go for next week. 


Thanks for everything and I will try to get you some of my best photos tomorrow. I am a little forgetful so there aren`t tons of photos, but I have more than 100 in my time.  I will do what I can to have good ones. I just get going and forget to take photos. Thanks for everything and for all that you do. Enjoy Thanksgiving and the time with Family. The time passes really quickly for me and will be gone before I know it. Thanks and I will talk to you next week! Love you! Bye!

 

 

 

Lots of Gratitude!

I got the package this week. They moved our reunion to Thursday last week. It was really nice and I have been marking with the markers. I am a little frustrated though because Book of Mormon 2 has the same stickers as Book of Mormon 4. They accidentally put 4 in a 2.... So I have double of one and none of Book of Mormon 2. It`s fine though. I am doing really well. I don`t think I can send the video today..... I don`t have a good computer or time to do it..... I am really sorry.

Also I really need your help today. Do you by chance have male names ready for baptisms? We are going to the temple as a mission this Wednesday and we can only go to do baptisms if we have names. We can get baptized if we have our own family names. Can you email me a print sheet or something so that I can get the cards at the temple. I don`t know exactly I might be able to print it here if you email me an attachment of the names ready to have them printed for the temple. I really appreciate it and I only need male names for baptisms. Love you so much and I will keep writing, but if you can work on that I really appreciate it!

Hi Braxton.  I am glad you got the package.  I will try to find another set of Book of Mormon 2 stickers.

I do have some male names ready for Baptisms.  I have already printed them off once, so if they ask about it tell them that we will destroy the other copy of the cards.  I was hoping Clain would take a date and go do some, but it hasn’t happened yet.  He misses out and you benefit.  How many names do you think you will be able to do?  I think I have about 15 male names.

If I have them I can do them. I don`t know if there is a rule on how many. I don`t think they are going to stop me from doing them if I have them. Why would they want to keep people from the blessings of Salvation?

They shouldn’t.  I just wondered how much time you would have.

I need them today so that we can let the Asistentes know that we are going to the Temple for Baptisms. I need to have that paper printed from here to have it ready to go. Thanks for all that you do and for the help in everything and the photos. I really enjoy hearing about what is going on. We still haven`t had any of our baptisms and we are working really hard to help the people progress. We are working really hard with Patrick and Ashlee our Haitians, Elizabeth, Victor, Francisco, and Alfonzo, one family that isn`t married yet, Miguel, Javiera, and Angelina a family that is married and Javiera is the older sister of a recent convert of the other sector. We are doing a lot. We also have another couple that aren`t married Juan and Maria. There are a lot of people slowly progressing. We also have Francisco and a bunch of others that we are working with to help them be baptized, but it is really hard to do it all because we can`t make them progress just invite them and have them agree to do it and follow through on their own will. I know that the results will come, but they are just a little slow and it will happen. We are doing our best though, in this moment to help them reach their goals. Thanks for everything!

You are making great progress.  You have a huge teaching pool right now, which is great and will help the work continue in that area long after you are transferred.  You may not be there when the baptisms happen, but you have helped to plant the seeds of testimony and that is a very important thing.  Did any of them come to church this week?
  

Patrick and Ashlee our Haitians. We have more in the family but our goal is their baptisms in the next 2 weeks and a few other people. We need to teach a few lessons and make sure that they are ready to make covenants with the Lord. I am doing all that I can, but I can`t change their agency just do my best to love them and work with them to help them progress. Because if they aren`t progressing we have to stop visiting them, because we are losing time if they aren`t progressing. It`s hard at times, but we are really focused on the Temple in our mission. Our president will let us go to the temple with converts and sometimes less actives that become active and can go. For example, if Elder Chuquel`s converts invite me to the temple I can go. I am doing my best and I am really excited. Enrique that you found on Facebook with Vanessa received the Melquezedec sorry can`t remember how to spell it..... Priesthood yesterday and he is paying tithing and they are excited to go to the temple. They are really strong and we are doing a lot here, but we are progressing a little at a time. Patrick added me on Facebook because he asked me what my account was and I helped him find it. Keep up with the newly added people from the mission there will be a lot as time goes on. Thanks and when will I get the form for the baptisms?

I talked to Brother Schneiter.  He understands the frustration you are having with the video.  He said other missionaries are also having problems sending the video.  He said if you could send about 20 photos and your written testimony he could work with that.  I was hoping you would have sent some photos from the church this week using the Wi-Fi and I kept waiting for the video, hoping it would come from one of the members there.  When you go to the office, could you possibly send it from one of their computers?  Please send it to me and I will get it to Brother Schneiter.  Then I will know it is taken care of.  Plus I am excited to see it as well.   We still have a couple of weeks, so keep trying to find a way to send it.  I think the Dropbox solution is the best, but that requires a good computer.  How far away do you have to go to the other cyber with faster computers?  Did you mail the SD card with the photos yet?
  

No, I haven`t mailed it and I forgot to upload it to Dropbox when I was teaching Family Search to a family that is preparing to go to the temple in less than 2 weeks with us to do baptisms. We are doing what we can right now. I am really busy and a little forgetful with some things because there is so much to do all the time and I can`t do it all..... I am doing my best. Thanks for everything! I will do what I can and thank you for all of your support and help with everything.

There are 23 on this Family Ordinance Request.  There might be more if I searched under Elijah Daniel Goode that I haven’t reserved yet, but I am not sure I am finished checking everything on those yet.  Hopefully this is good for now.  I hope it is okay that they are under my name and not yours.  Do I need to move them to your account and then print it off?

I don`t know if it needs to be under my name. Was the last one? Because Elder Gilbert printed off the last set so I really don`t think it matters that much. I will print it off and it shouldn`t be a problem. Thank you so much! 

I can`t send photos today. I tried I will send some tomorrow through my camera when we have our correlation meeting in the church. I am doing my best and there is only so much that I can do. Thanks for all that you do for me and I have a little bit of time still. I really am enjoying everything that has been happening lately. It is just crazy and really busy. The time passes quickly, but still feels really long. I am doing my best and there is a lot to do and so little time to do it. I know that the Lord has a plan and that sometimes we have to suffer our afflictions before the Lord gives us success. I am suffering a lot in many aspects but I am learning a lot of patience in my trials and to work hard all day long regardless of how exhausted I am. Time as a missionary is really short, but it is so important to use every moment the best that we can. I am doing my best to always do that and serve the people. Thanks for everything and I will keep writing what I can each week and doing my best. Love you!

I just went through the descendants under Elijah Daniel Goode.  There are a couple of male names that you could do, but a lot are female names. Then there are lots of them that were born between 1904 and 1920 that we are not able to do yet because of the 110 year rule.  I will try to finish these names up and then if you get another opportunity to do baptisms in the future we will have some more ready for you to take.  I just want to take time to clean up the places and make sure birth, death and marriage information is verified with sources.  You have done a lot to get them to that point.  Thank you.  I know they will all appreciate your efforts.
  

I know and I am doing what I can. Today I won`t be doing any I am focused on doing my best to get them printed and writing you a little more. I can take a little break from the records. I know that cleaning up the records makes it a whole lot easier for you to prepare them for the temple and that is part of my goal to have the names ready so that you always have a source of people to serve when you go to the temple every month as a family since I can`t always go. That`s part of my vision for doing the clean-up. If someone is willing to prepare everything people have the opportunities to serve. Keep going and drag the others along. Use Preach My Gospel Chapter 11 and practice the commitments with Dad and Clain and Curtis and Alex and have a great time. Go as a family and commit them to going and I will do my best to make sure that there are people ready to be served. Thanks for your help and love and support. I love doing the technology side and with a few weeks of work and only a couple hours there are more ancestors receiving the blessings. Thanks and keep doing your best and I will do the clean-up work! Love you! I am going to enjoy doing temple work on my own time table after the mission. Thanks! Love you! 

You are welcome Bud!  I love helping you.  I know you are doing all you can and working hard to be the best missionary you can be.  Are you writing things in your planner that you need to take care of?  Then you won’t forget as easily.  That is really neat that you are teaching Family Search to a family there.  How awesome that they can go and do baptisms with you.  What are their names?  Are they recent converts?  Is it easy to find records for Chile?  I have never done any research in South American countries so I don’t have any idea how easy it is to find the records there.  There is so much to learn, but you are making a huge difference to them to be able to teach them the things you have learned.  I am so proud of you.
  

I have the ordinance request. Thanks so much and it is just a little bit harder because they are recent converts. Yessy and Alfredo Soto Flores. They are a marriage with 3 kids. They are Yessy`s and Alfredo married her afterwards. They are amazing. They can go as a family. Hector is 11 which is hard because he can`t so he will go with us but can`t do baptisms. Our goal for them is at least one person for the 4 that can do them. 2 and 2 and if they can get them ready and I helped them create their parents and they are going to work to put the information in for grandparents and everything but we are doing our best with them. The temple will help them with goals and to have the vision for the temple. They were baptized 8 months ago and just barely started paying tithing. They are Chuquel`s converts. I am doing all that I can with them to keep them strong through the temple. They are really amazing and great. Thanks for everything and I am doing my best to explain everything.

Thanks Braxton.  I love you, too.  You are amazing.  I will excitedly wait for the photos tomorrow.  It will be an awesome Tuesday, too!
  

If you were to have gone on a mission and everything was easy and simple with no challenges or trials, you would not have learned all that the Lord wants to teach you.  Always remember that we came to earth to have trials and tests.  That is how we prove our worthiness and commitment to God.  Just remember these trials won’t last forever and you will be able to endure them.  Try to find ways to be optimistic and happy.  A talk I read from President Uchtdorf yesterday said to Live the Gospel Joyful!  I liked that.  There is so much joy in the blessings of the gospel.  You have more blessings than you could ever count.  But when you are discouraged, start counting a few and you will soon realize that you are incredibly blessed and loved.  Share your blessings with others through your testimony and by teaching them to use Family Search or by using your amazing talents.  Find ways each day to love and serve your companion.
  

I forgot to tell you.  Kelsey got her mission call.  Did she email you?  She is going to Texas Houston South Spanish Speaking and leaves on March 25^th.  She will go to the Mexico MTC.  She is so excited!

I got a message from her and wrote her back thanks for remembering to tell me. Thanks for all of the photos and sending me photos when you get them. It really helps me feel updated. Thanks for everything and for being here to help me with everything. I am doing my best and hope that you have success. I am basically out of time. Sorry, but I have to go. Thanks for all that you write and do for me. Love you so much and for all of your help! Enjoy the Ogden Temple I can`t, so you need to!

I will try out Chapter 11 and see if I can get them to commit.  I keep hoping and praying that they will develop a love for the temple on their own and will have the desire to go and serve.  I know Clain and Dad had a good time on Wednesday and we were able to get a lot of help with the names we had.  Dad had 6 male names for endowments and other members of the ward took them and helped him by doing an endowment for them.  I had 7 names done for me that night.  Plus Alex and I did 2 the week before.  We each have a few initiatory ordinances that need done.  That is what Dad likes to do best.  Soon we will have another whole set ready to take to do sealings.  It is exciting to see the work go forth. 

I am so excited that you have a love for the work and will carry on with it after your mission.  I think it is so awesome that you can do some while on your mission.  I love you and I know your ancestors are appreciative of the work.  I think that a great missionary effort is going on in heaven among the Goode Descendants.  That work will increase when your Grandfather joins his brothers in heaven.  Because of that, I know it will not be quite as sad when he dies and leaves this earth.  For now, he is still hanging on and actually seems healthier now than he was a year ago.
  

Don`t forget to verify. That is the most important step. Always do your follow up! :) Make sure that they are willing and remind them. We as missionaries are supposed to be in contact with our baptismal dates in Spanish (fechas) every day. So don`t forget to keep reminding them, but not annoyingly. Make sure that it is a part of their schedule like going to church each week. Make it a habit! Love you!

Thanks Braxton.  Have a super awesome week!  The Lord will bless you.  I put your name on the Temple Prayer roll.  I will keep it there as often as I can because I want you to have those extra blessings and prayers to be able to work through your trials and problems, especially those with your companion.  I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you and I know that the Holy Ghost will guide, direct and comfort you.  I love you more than you can even imagine.  Take care.

Love always and forever and ever,

Mom

I am doing just fine. We are getting along better, but not like I would like. Everything is a little distant, but that`s fine. It happens. I am doing great and working through everything. There are little things that we can do always to help us and I am doing my best to improve my abilities.

The Ogden Temple will be there for a lifetime.  Enjoy the Chile Temple while you can.  You may never make it back there again after your mission.  No matter which temple, it is always a place full of the Holy Spirit.  Soak it up and enjoy that special time.  Write about it in your journal.

I will thanks bye!

I will try!  But Dad still has his agency and overcoming his anxiety is a big part of it.  He has to feel comfortable going or he won’t. I will keep trying.  Thanks for your encouragement.  I promise I will read Chapter 11 next week.  I have to get my talk ready this week.
  

That`s fine. It is all about commitments and helps a lot. I have been studying it to help me in the work, to help the people to progress by having commitments that will help them progress and make covenants through obedience and success in their lives through our invitations that they accept and then act upon. I know it will help, but don`t pester Dad with it. Your goal is to be nice about it, but invite and commit him nicely :) A little love goes a long way! Bye!

Thinking From a Different Perspective

I do not know all the answers I am trying to upload just my video to your Dropbox but it is bigger than 75 MB so I had to enter your Dropbox site to do it. I hope it loads. The cyber we went to was closed so we are really late now.... I am doing what I can but I will be getting off early.  

We had 3 investigators come to stake conference and it was good. We use a lot of micros and I know where they all go.... It has been a really crazy week and the investigators were the Guerra Zapata family Elizabeth, Francisco, and Alfonso. We have more that are having some difficulties but we are doing all that we can now.  

Thanks for everything and it was just missions South and West for the conference with Elder Nelson in San Bernardo which is like 15 minutes from Ochagavia. We are doing well and I cannot answer all of your questions due to time sorry. 

It is uploading really slowly.... If it uploads it will only be just this video if not I´m sorry but it is in process. I doubt it will make it in time. I am doing my best I don´t think I will be able to send the photos.  

I don´t think that I have time to write a lot about the Conference. There was a lot about thinking from a different perspective during the mission. About thinking about our pre-mortal self that we don´t remember and how we were before changing our perspective of what we can do now. There was a lot of profound doctrine and scriptures. I have them written in my study journal that we have from the mission. There are a lot of things that I will be bringing home from the mission to remember a lot of things. 

I am doing great overall and I keep trying to find new ways to make things different in the work so that I don´t get bored. I have been enjoying the work and everything and it is crazy that in one week I will be out for 5 months. It will only be 18 and a half months how crazy is that? Things will pass quickly and I have been using the markers and sticky notes to mark my scriptures and have a system that I can use I am working on improving my teaching. The hardest part for me is starting the lessons. I don´t really talk a lot because I am still practicing, but I am more quiet because I am focused on listening and everyone notices that I don´t talk much. Elder Vasquez talks a lot and doesn´t stop talking most of the time, so it is hard for me to talk sometimes. I am doing what I can to improve and work on it. I can only practice and get over some of the obstacles that for me I just don´t like. I´m not the type of person who just walks up to a random stranger and starts talking. It just feels weird to me, but I am working on a lot of weak points that I want to strengthen. 

Thanks for everything and for all of your help with everything and for the information that you always give me! The next time you write Kaden tell him that he will love our mission. I love how we have the conferences and everything to have the whole mission together to learn and talk when we have time. Thanks! 

I forgot to send the letter with everything. I am trying, but if it falls through from Dropbox I will try to send it from a member´s house when I have lessons or a visit with them. I hope that it all works out. I will just have to explain to them if I can´t get it to work through this method. There are file size restrictions for missionaries and the video is nearly 200 MB. It is just under 3 minutes. I am doing what I can. Thanks! 

Do many of the members have computers? 

There are some. The problem is that there aren´t a lot of places that have Wi-Fi. I know of a few families that have Wi-Fi. I will do what I can. It is just that the video is uploading really slowly. I don´t know why, but it is really slow. I am looking at the photos in my mission folder and you remember the photo of the zoo? I know a lot of the Elders who are in the photo. Thanks for everything! 

Did you get to shake Elder Nelson’s hand? 

Yes I did. It was really nice. I have a special study journal for conferences and everything from the mission. I am going to have one for the conferences and one for my daily experiences. I will have to show you it when I get back or maybe earlier if I decide to send a photo of it. Thanks for everything. I am working on it though. It is more or less that I am just uncomfortable with talking in Spanish. There are times when people understand me perfectly and others when they don´t understand a word that I am saying..... It is a little frustrating and many Latin missionaries have said that accents for Elder Decker and I are horrible, but I am just doing my best to improve. Thanks! 

The video is less than halfway loaded.... I will have to try attaching it to an email sent by somebody in my sector. Maybe Enrique or Jessy. I will have to see. Both are retention or recent converts. They are great. Jessy is the mom of a family of 5, both parents and 3 kids and Enrique you talked about a little with Vanessa. They are awesome and are active. The Soto family, Jessy and all, are converts of Elder Chuquel and just started paying tithing so Elder Chuquel can go with them to the temple when it has been a year. We are allowed to go to the temple with our converts so there will be some great experiences. I am planning for sure to go with Juan in less than a year, but we need to see if he is paying tithing. If not, I am going to ask Jaime to see if he can help his brother start working toward the temple. Juan is a miracle baptism for me in this time. I am out of time. Love you! 

What if you tried logging into your gmail account and sending the video from there. 

I haven´t, but I don´t have time.

My Feet Hate Me Every Night!

Please check on the mini-SD card.  Do you have another one?  If so, send your used one home.

I have another and I am going to try to take everything off of the card and put it on the terabyte hard drive. I am going to send the other one home, but I cannot send videos home. I can send photos, but I have a video for the presentation that is about 3 minutes long, but I cannot send it. So if I send the card you will get it in a month and it will be late getting to the ward. I do not know what to do about it for certain. I am doing what I can and trying, but I have been really busy and my birthday was really good. I will write more about it in a little.

We eat with the members, less actives, or investigators. We eat all sorts of food, hot dogs with spaghetti, soups with beans, all kinds, a lot of them. I don´t remember what they are called in English, but they are all good. The food doesn´t bother me at all. I am doing really well and we had lunch with a family of 3 for my birthday named Carlos, Maria, and Isabela. Carlos is an investigator, Maria is less active and Isabela is their 2 year old. They knew it was my birthday so there was cake and everything. It was really nice. The day before we helped clean up the school of Isabela so that it was cleaner and nicer for them to play in. We painted a room in the house of an active member the morning of my birthday. We also helped level out the ground for a less active member who is working on their house and prepared it for them to rebuild that part of the house bigger and better.

The people are really poor here and they are really great, but it isn´t easy to have them in church. The farthest parts of my sector are 20 minutes walking really quickly and the people are a little lazy. We do all that we can. Sometimes we go and find them and walk all the way with them. My feet hate me every night and are more sore than they have ever been. I am doing really well and loving the work, but we didn´t have our baptism because Isabel didn´t pass the interview. We went over the questions and everything with her and she said she was doing all the correct things, but when she had her interview it turns out that she is smoking. We don´t know how much or how long just that she smoked 3 cigarettes the day before the interview. We were shocked, but we are doing what we can.... I am enjoying the work and there are many great people who are close to being prepared, but we are doing all that we can now. Thanks for everything and Becca is writing me a little.... I only get like 3 lines a week, but it is better than nothing. She remembered to write for my birthday, but it doesn´t seem like she wants to write more like she just is because I write each week...... I don´t know honestly.....

This is the photo of the baptism of Juan and he is on the right and his brother Jaime is on the left. Hope this helps a little for you.

Is Ivan also a brother of Juan and Jaime?

No. He is from a different family and his mom is working on preparing more. We are going to visit them today.

Okay. I just wanted to clarify that. 

We didn´t have nearly the attendance we wanted this week.... I was a little let down because we only had 53 people at church, 3 less actives and one for the first time and we didn´t have any investigators...... It was one of the worst attendances in my time here. I am a little let down about it and just trying to keep working hard and doing what I can, but I get frustrated easily when I can´t change how things are or do my part to change anything. Thanks for writing. I am working on my photos and everything to have them put on the terrabyte so it will be a little before another message.

Can you get more members involved with the less actives and investigators?   

We have been trying and so has the branch, but they are really slow and forgetful about it. The home teachers and visiting teachers aren´t functioning and there is a lot that we can´t change. We are working with our Branch mission leader and doing what we can, but there is only so much that the missionaries can do. We are doing the best that we can right now and there is a lot that I personally can´t change, but I have seen many changes that are starting to help the Branch to grow. When I got here there was a Branch President and a counselor who was also the Elder´s Quorum President and now there are many more callings. Growth comes with time and I can´t rush things. The branch is doing what it can, but it is struggling a lot.

Change takes time. What you do will help them in the future, even if you don't get to see the end results. It all makes a difference. 

We are having a lock down and evacuation drill done by the local police and fire departments.  I'm outside right now. It is going to be slow. They are evacuating them one room at a time. I was glad I was in my office so I could grab my jacket. It is chilly out here. 

I´m sorry! Enjoy your cold! I would prefer the cold.... I have a lot of hot...... Oh well thanks for everything and I am doing what I can right now on photos. They are all on the terrabyte now because I have a good computer today. I will send a few and I can´t send videos, but I don´t think I will be able to send the card this week. I don´t think I will pass for a post office.... I am really sorry.... I don´t know what to do. I have a card ready and the card ready to send, but not the post office. I am also going to start sending photos from the church because my companion right now said that I can as long as it isn´t giving me internet access. I feel like I shouldn´t have a problem so I will send new photos when we are in the church on occasions. Love you and I am going to do a little of Family History and things.

We are working with families from Haiti that are progressing slowly and have attended before, but we are doing a lot to help many people progress and the next 4 weeks will be harder to have success. We have Stake Conference this next weekend which is really far away for the members and investigators so it will be really hard. We also have a conference with Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the 12 this week as the Santiago missions in Mission Sur (South). We are going to be really busy and I am really exhausted lately and things are a little frustrating, but good overall. Thanks for everything! 

I ran into Elder Chuquel with my brother Elder Prisbrey in the reunion of new missionaries and wanted to send this to you. Enjoy!

Also we had an activity with desserts to fellowship investigators and less actives with members. We had a few people show up and it was the day of my birthday as well. These are the desserts and Elder Vasquez likes to cook so he made them all while I was working on other projects in the evenings and helping with things. It was really great, but we still didn´t have anyone of them come to church the next day.

We are working with a family of 3 that are relatives of a recent convert from the other sector of Lo Espejo. We are teaching the older sister and her family and the other elders are teaching the younger sister and her family. We are planning on having baptisms for them in the future, but we are working through their doubts and questions to help them accept everything and progress. We have taught them a couple of times and they are doing really well. 

Elder Vasquez and I are working toward a goal of 15 baptisms before the end of the change which is the 30th of November. We have a huge goal and a lot to do and we are working hard, but the progress is slow and there are a lot of doubts and wars with Satan because he throws everything at us to slow things down...... We are making progress very slowly with a lot of our investigators and looking for ways to help them receive the truth, but things are coming along a little at a time. Thanks for everything I am almost out of time today. Love you!

When I send you a package, it takes 10 or 11 days to get from me to the mission office.  It should be about the same going the other way.  So you may still have time to get it to me in time for the program, even if you can’t get to the Post Office this week.  How far away is the post office?  Will you possibly pass one on the way to the Conference or back?

I don´t know. There is one in the mall a little ways from where I live, but we use a bus to get there and we are a little ways from there and we aren´t going there to send anything today. we have a little less than an hour to finish everything and get back to our sector with food we have bought and get our hair cut today for the conference this next weekend. I don´t have time, but I am trying. I sent a few photos today for you. I have others, but they are all on the card and I have the terrabyte with them as well. Thanks for everything and I am doing what I can. I hope that today was more information to help out. I haven´t gotten to family history yet.... and I really don´t have time....

It is okay.  Family History will always be there.  Photos are a big part of Family History so you did your part today by sending me three.  I am a happy mother.  I am glad you enjoyed your birthday.  Don’t cut your hair too short.  It looks good right now in the photos.  I didn’t like it when you had it really short.  Somewhere in between would be great.  J  Don’t stress.  Try to send it next week.  I love you so very much!  Have a super awesome amazing week.

I am doing what I can, but things are really interesting at times.... I am doing my best.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I don´t have a clue what will happen and I am doing all that I can not to think about it, but when I have spare time I think about those kinds of things. I do what I can to keep my mind occupied, but there is only so much that I can do during the day and walking gets boring.... I have a lot of thinking time.... Oh well thanks for everything Mom. Love you!

You make me laugh!  I do understand.  You will be just fine.  It is good to think and ponder.

I’m back inside now.  That was some traffic jam at the doors.  They moved the entire school to the West Parking lot so all 1200 + students were going through one set of doors to get back in the building.  Funny!

I am glad you are able to get on a better computer today and glad that you will be able to send more photos from the church.  I will appreciate that.  Try to send the video today if you can while you are on the good computer.  I can get everything to Brother Schneiter for you. 

The meeting with Elder Nelson will be amazing.  Learn all you can and soak up the spirit while you are there.  I hope you are able to shake his hand.  You are doing an amazing work and this pilot program will help many people if it goes to other missions.  Do you go to the South Mission for the Conference?

Yes we do and Elder Nelson wants to shake hands with every missionary, but he might change his mind. There will be 4 missions there.... So about 1000 missionaries..... That is a lot of time to do that...... I don´t know. We will see and I will try to send the video, but I don´t know if I can send it. I can only send things less than 15 MB.

I am doing what I can. At times we talk. Other times we don´t. It all depends, but I am doing what I can. I have been trying to have a distraction of some sort with me, but I can´t read scriptures and I get a headache if I sing a song, because it gets stuck in my head for hours and I don´t want that, so I think about all sorts of things and the time passes. But I don´t know. There is a lot that goes on and I can´t always avoid all of my thoughts. I am trying. Thanks have a great week. I will see if I can send the video but who knows. I will try.

The video is larger than my 25 MB limit.... Sorry I will have to send the card or figure out something.... I really don´t know the best way to send it to you...

Dropbox  - Read the email I just sent you instructions on how to send it to my Dropbox account.

I´m out of time thanks for everything. Love you talk to you next week! Thanks for everything for my birthday!

You are welcome.  Ask your Mission President or Zone Leader if you can drop the video in my Dropbox account next week. 

I setup a dropitto.me account with my dropbox account so you can easily upload the video file.