An Amazing Baptism! Carlos!

Thanks. everything went well with changes and Elder Correa and I are staying together for another change. Carlos got baptized two days ago and confirmed yesterday and I confirmed him but his father-in-law baptized him. Soley`s maiden name is Oñate, the Oñate family. They are from Babajoyo. I don`t know which part but I will talk to them about the wards because they know the parts really well. Santo Oñate Medina is the name of the father-in-law. He is going back to Ecuador the 21st of this month.

Don`t worry about the Rubic`s Cube I figured everything out and have it all memorized. Thanks. It is nice to have something I can play with a little at times. I can solve the cube in less than 2 minutes now.

Congratulations!  I am glad that you had your baptism.  I am sorry you still haven’t gotten to use your fancy white tie, but maybe next time.  It is neat that you got to confirm him.  I will have Curtis read the blog and see if he knows the family from when he was there. 

Congratulations on figuring out the Rubic’s Cube!  You can blame your Dad for your ability to memorize and solve that.  You get much of your analytical abilities from him.  I imagine if I spent the time, I could eventually do that, but I am not sure I want to or have the time.  Someday!  Curtis just came in.  He said he can solve the Rubic’s Cube that fast or faster.  You will have to have some contests when he gets home.  That would be better than wrestling matches! 

You promised photos today!!!!  

I`m doing good. Just that in this sector time passes really fast. It is in the center of Santiago with a lot of traffic and getting to everything takes a long time. We lose a lot of time and are always low on numbers, but doing our best. I`m just tired all of the time..... I am not sleeping the best lately, but I am doing all that I can.

Why do you think you are not sleeping well?  Every area is going to have different challenges.  I am sure your Mission President is aware that this area is lower on baptisms and teaching just because of where it is.  Try to contact all those who put you off in December and see if any will listen now.  Try different places like hospitals, doctor offices, dentist offices, orthodontists, gyms, libraries, parks near elementary schools, bike and skate parks and grocery stores.  Find places where the people who live there would frequent and try to build up your teaching pool.  When you got to your last area, you didn’t start with 20 people that you were teaching.  You had to build it up bit by bit.  You will have to do the same thing here.  

I am sorry you are not training this time, but maybe next time.  I am glad you will be able to be with Elder Correa on his birthday.  The package was delivered to the post office box this morning at 6 AM.  I was hoping you might be able to pick it up when you went in for the transfer meeting.  Are any of your CCM buddies training this time?

Elder Allen is training this time. Elder Ballard is a District Leader finishing training. Hermana McQuinn is finishing training. Hermana Tolk finished the training of a companion this last change. Hermana Kioa is Senor Companion so right now 5 of 12 are Senor.

I was not able to pick up the package because Elder Bertanga hadn`t picked up mail today yet, so it hadn`t gotten there.... Oh well a late present is better than nothing.... We do a lot of contacting and things like that usually with parks and little open spaces, but in the streets everywhere contacting.

We ate with Peruvians and had Cancha that is like corn seeds but cooked and it was amazing. We had ceviche. It was really awesome.

I tried everything including the red pepper there that was really spicy but my companion was dying from the heat and I was fine. It was funny.

I am proud of you for trying the peppers.  You were not a fan before your mission.  Maybe when you get home I can cook with a few and you won’t turn your nose up at what I make.  Is Colombian food bland?

I am going to send a picture of this last baptism and explain. This is the picture with the whole family. Carlos really wasn`t sure he was going to get baptized until the 26th of December when we stayed and shared with him a little bit longer before our Skype call. Because we stayed when we could have left to talk to our families, to set the baptismal date that took 15 or 20 minutes extra, he felt our love and said that he felt the date, which he kept a secret and only told us like I told you about the papers.

He was baptized on the 10th of January because it is his wife`s birthday and it was a surprise for her that she didn`t know he was getting baptized that day until he was in his baptismal clothes. It was a really awesome experience and we had told the family the 17th of January so that they thought the next week, but we planned it all out so that it worked perfectly. This last Fast Sunday and the day he was baptized he shared his testimony of why he was going to get baptized on Fast Sunday and after he got baptized he shared again about the experience of the 26th. It was a really special experience for me.

Share this one about Carlos getting his answer about baptism and the importance through love and sacrifice of the missionaries because both my companion and I were crying when we left that lesson.   Share the experience about Carlos telling us about the importance of us staying.

I really like the salads here. It is really simple but take lettuce and you can put a little bit of shredded carrots in a large bowl with a lot and you won`t believe me but try it.... Squeeze lemons over top of the salad and mix the juice in and you can put red cabbage or other types as well but that is what I like a lot is the salads.

That is a neat photo.  I assume Carlos is the one holding the baby, Soley is on the right and her parents are on the left side?

I see a lot of Chilean salads that are just tomatoes and onions.  Do you eat that much?  Is the lettuce an iceberg type lettuce or is it more of a dark green?

I tried last week to make Marraquetas, or Chilean rolls.  I think the dough was okay, but then I put it in an oiled bowl to rise and I think I got too much oil in the bowl.  I had trouble shaping the rolls.  I am going to try it again this week.  I learned some things making it.  When it was done, I thought it needed more salt in the dough.  Do you eat these a lot and if so, what do you put on them when you eat them? 

I don`t know if I have had them yet. I have had the salad with tomatoes and onions and I don`t like it at all....

It is like iceberg lettuce, but lighter green. You can also put oils with it but I like it more plain with lemon. Usually 1 or 2 lemons depending on how much salad just figure it out and it should work out great. That is something simple that I really enjoy.

Okay.  I will try the salad with lemon. 

Here is a picture of the Marrquetas.  They are supposed to be crunchy on the outside and soft inside and pull apart in four pieces.  Have you had these?

Yes! They are the best. From the first day in Chile. They are really nice and we eat them a lot here.

What do you call them?  What do you put on them when you eat them?

Have you learned to love avocados?  Do they make a lot of guacamole with the avocados, or just slice them up to put on things?  What do you like best on the bread?  When do you eat Marquetas most?  Do you buy them in the street markets or in the evening on your way home?  Or do you just buy them at the grocery store?  Are they better when you buy them fresh and just eat them right then?

Pan Marqueta and you can eat them with ham and cheese, butter, avocado, and honey. Basically like making a sandwich but the bread is really great and it all depends on how you want it. Sometimes we would put hot dogs in them but I don´t make it like Completos with avacado and tomatoes just ketchup. Something like that but I eat them sometimes like Completos. Ya, this one you question, but Chileans love avacado.

I like avocado. They don´t really do avocados and there are not really tacos or burritos either which I miss. They basically use it like guacamole. I don´t like the bread just like that. Sometimes they put guacamole with meat on bread to make sandwiches that they call churascos. The breads are best fresh so that they aren`t too hard and I don`t eat a ton of them because sometimes people feed us bread with lunch but I don´t seek them out.

So you DO NOT like the guacamole on the bread with meat?  Is it like lunch meat?  Do they put peppers in their guacamole? What do you like to put on your bread?  Can you find tortilla shells in the grocery store to make your own burritos? 

I think I can get tortilla shells, but there aren´t a lot of them and I like it with bread and meat with guacamole. It all depends honestly. Not really like lunch meat look up what a churasco is on the internet and they don´t put peppers in the guacamole.

Okay.  I did look up Churasco.  It looks good. 

There are a lot of things like that are really amazing. I am really happy with visiting Carlos he has a gift when it comes to cooking. The food that they have shared with us has been amazing. They always want to share with us and most times that we visit them there is food.

That is neat that they are so generous.  Are they well to do?  Why are they living in Santiago?  Are they students?  Where do they work?  Is Soley able to stay at home with the baby?  Is it a baby boy or girl?

Baby boy, They are well off for Santiago and Carlos works as a Pharmacist.  They aren`t studying right now, but they could. I don´t know all the details and yes Soley stays home with Derek.

Well you have 1 photo that I sent already but I don`t know if you have gotten it yet and more information. We have 2 baptismal dates Jonathan and Camila. They are from separate families but in both cases their spouses are members and they have attended Church. Jonathan one time and Camila two times. Their baptismal dates are for the 25th of this month. I am really excited because more than anything it is verifying that they are living the gospel and that they have their testimony and getting rid of their doubts and then they will have their baptisms.

Jonathan is from Columbia and they got to our sector recently but before were being taught in the South Mission and they came to church yesterday.

Camila is a Chilean that we met in the church and taught her one time to see what her needs are and she has come two times. They are really awesome and have a lot of support, but just need to strengthen their testimonies to be baptized. Both are Catholic, but have Mormon spouses and are progressing really well. There is also another like this that is Natalia and we are trying to have more contact with her because it is like Camila because she isn`t a member either and has attended 3 times that we know of. We are working really hard to complete families and take them to the Temple.

That is exciting.  That is what the Pilot Plan is supposed to do as far as I understand it, to find part member families and bring the rest of the family to the Savior.  It will be really cool if you can baptize all three of these and if they will stay strong in the church because then in a year from now you could go to the temple with each one to be sealed.  That would be such an amazing blessing on your mission.    Keep working with them.  You are already ahead with these because they have the attendances at church which is what you were struggling a lot with in your last area. 

I know and they all pretty much know how they have to live as members and it is just verifying that they are willing to do it and make covenants which is a lot easier, but they all have doubts which I enjoy getting rid of.

There were 24 new missionaries in our mission that are going to arrive tomorrow.

That is sweet.  Just keep bearing testimony to them and it will happen.  Three more baptisms this change would be amazing!  It would be good for Elder Correa as well to experience some more success.  Has Elder Correa been a trainer yet? Is he Senior companion?

Yes he is my Senior companion and he has not trained and doesn`t think that he will. It happens Elder Vasquez never trained and today he got changed from Lo Espejo to be a Zone Leader as well as Elder Chuquel that was a District Leader in Peñaflor to be in Olimpo as a Zone Leader. Elder Smith that trained Elder Chuquel is a Zone Leader in Talagante and before was a zone leader for 3 changes in Peñaflor above Elder Chuquel. But now 2 of my 3 companions are Zone Leaders.

Well that is pretty awesome!  Soon you will be a leader in the mission as well.  Enjoy the time you have now because it becomes harder and harder as you have more responsibilities to take care of and more missionaries to be responsible for.  I hope you get to serve under one of these fine missionaries as your Zone leader sometime.  You will be a leader, I have no doubt.  Just learn as much as you can from watching your current leaders and learn what to do and what not to do.  Learn how to motivate without making others feel bad.  Lift and build others up.  Praise and congratulate and show love in many little ways.  Practice that with your companion now. 

We took pictures from the 24th floor of our pention for New Year´s with all the people outside for everything. It was really awesome you can see how large the city is and we have a good part where we serve.

Well at least you got to experience it a little bit. I am glad.  That is awesome!  Were there a lot of fireworks?  Did the people go out in the streets to celebrate?  Dancing and drinking? 

Ya, but we stayed in the pention, but took photos it was great.  It was really nice with Fireworks I will have to show you and explain in more detail a lot of things after the mission.  It will be like the Jamborees.

Yep.  I wish you would share more photos and experiences now.  I don’t want to wait for everything till you get home.  Tape your camera SD card inside a card and mail it home to me.  I would love to get hundreds of photos at once.  You have lots of backup SD cards now.  I haven’t gotten a paper letter at all from you.  It would be a real surprise to find one in my mailbox.  J

I`m out of time thanks for everything and I will talk to you next week. Thanks for everything and I will see what I can have ready for next week. I am not getting a lot of Family History done because I am typing the entire time in emails. Thanks for everything!

Thanks for answering my questions today.  Please have a happy and safe week and enjoy all that you do.  Tell Elder Correa Happy Birthday from us.  I am sorry the package didn’t arrive soon enough for a party on his birthday.  Have a late one for him when it does arrive.  Maybe one of your families can help you celebrate with him. 

I love you so much.  Hugs and Kisses!

Love always and forever,

Mom