Week 93...Happy Birthday America!!!

Well first things first...

 HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE! I sure miss America!!

I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th. While all of you are in 100 degree weather, I will be here in my scarf and winter coat!

It is funny to me that I am freezing and all of you are out swimming and playing in the sun!

Well as far as this week went, we had a really good week. We have been super focused on finding a lot of new people to teach. It was actually quite a crazy week. We started teaching English classes, we taught a basketball class and we also got a Branch soccer game going. 

All of the activities were very successful! I will send more details later, as I don't have anytime left to email.

Week 92... New area, New Companion, New sector.....NEW Miracles!!!

Elder Glach

NEW… that is everything that has 
happened this week!

 I have a NEW Companion, Elder Glach, from Colorado. This is his first week in the mission. He is super awesome. He has a lot of faith and is willing to work. I love his desire to share the gospel. We are already really great friends. I am really excited for this NEW cambio (transfer). 

I am now in a NEW sector called Gorbea. It is a really small town in the middle of nowhere.                                               

It is super cold!!!!!! I don’t think I have even been this cold in my whole life. It is pretty sad when it is colder in your house than it is outside.  We have to sleep with a ton of blankets and sweatshirts. It makes for a great experience. 

I got to meet all of my NEW investigators this week. There are some really awesome people here. This town is super small, so everyone knows everyone. They all know the missionaries, so it is pretty awesome because they already know who we are. 

We had some crazy experiences this week. The coolest of all the experiences happened yesterday. The Lord always teaches me new things each and every day. So yesterday we were out walking around trying to find new people to teach. It was freezing cold. I had no feeling in my hands and feet. We knocked on door after door, searching for someone who was willing to talk to us. We had people yell at us and tell us to never come back. So just a lot of negative things were happening. Yesterday everything seemed to be going on a downward slope. I could feel as the sun began to drop below the mountains, my excitement and happiness dropped with it. At 6 o’clock it was completely dark and I was just about done with everything. I had no hope left. I began to tell to myself that it wasn’t worth it. It would be better in the house. I told myself that no one was going to receive us today because it was a holiday, and the day after Chile won the American Cup. No one was going to listen to the missionaries. Finally, when I thought all hope was lost, I did a last desperate prayer in my head. I began to flip through my agenda and I was prompted to pass by this guy named Jaime. So, we made the walk to his house; this was the last straw… if he didn’t accept us, no one would. So, we knock he door and he looks out of the upstairs window. I turned to my comp. and made a joke and said "this is our next baptism", not really believing that is was going to be. He came down and opened the door. He then began to explain to us that he didn’t want anything to do with us. That he had listened to the missionaries before and he didn’t like the message. I tried all I could do to get in the house. With my last effort, I asked him if he would give us 2 minutes. I promised him that if he gave us 2 minutes of his time, the Lord would bless him. He grudgingly let us in. Well, we started off and he began to tell us that he doesn’t believe in God, that there is no purpose in life. He is all alone and that no one loves him. My comp and I began to testify and teach of the love our Father in Heaven has for us. It was only supposed to be a 2 min lesson, but he had so many questions and wanted to learn so much that we didn’t get out of his house for an hour and 15 min. The Spirit that was in the lesson was incredible. I have never felt so much love for anyone.

The best thing was that my new comp began to teach in his very broken Spanish. As he did, the guy said in perfect English, “you can speak in English”. My comps eyes gleamed as we began to teach him in English. The Spirit filled the room and testified of our words. By the end of the lesson, he believed in God, he knew his purpose in life. The very feeling in the house changed, it went from very dark and dreary, to a house full of light and hope… as did this young 25-year-old man. 

At the very end of the lesson, we offered to pray. He immediately interrupted us and said that he wanted to say the prayer. He felt the need to do so. 

I was so shocked. I don’t think I have ever seen so much progression in one lesson. I know that great things come only after a trail of our faith. If we would have been sad and forgotten to pray, we would have never known Jaime. We would have never passed by. 

I know life gets hard some times, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel. We are here so we can be happy...... SO LET’S BE HAPPY!!!! 

There are miracles that happen every day... we just need to look for them. 

Week 91.... WHITE OUT in Boca!!!

Wow this week has been one crazy week! There is no other way I could have imagined my last week in Boca Sur. This was probably the best week in my whole mission!!

First off we had the  marriage of Eduardo and Luz, and immediately after we did their baptisms! 

They were accompanied by a few others...

 It was so amazing because here in this Ward there are 6 missionaries and each person got to baptize someone. We had a "white-out" in Boca! 

I won’t lie, I have never been so happy. To see this couple holding hands (me being a Witness in their wedding), to them getting baptized was one of the coolest things I have seen. 

I just received word that I will be leaving Boca Sur and I will be going to my last sector, Gorbea. 

I will also be receiving my new companion tomorrow. He is a newbie, so I will be finishing my mission opening a sector and training.

It should be a great experience. I am so grateful for this opportunity.

week 90... Love the Atonement!!

Nephi 26:27

27Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance. 

As I was pondering the scriptures this week, I came across this verse in 2 Nephi 26. In this chapter Nephi talks about Christ’s ministry upon the earth, as Nephi is explaining Christ’s ministry, he asks this question..."Hath he commanded any that they should no partake of his Salvation?" No but he hath given it free for all men. He then goes on to explain to us that our Salvation is Free, if we just do a few simple things.... COME UNTO HIM WITH BROKEN HEARTS AND FOLLOW HIM: He is the light and the way. There is no other path that brings happiness. 

As I read and pondered this scripture, I was again reminded why I am out here. Sometimes in the mission, I have seemed to forget the real purpose why I am here. God always seems to help remind me of my true purpose. 

As Nephi says at the end of the verse he says "We need to persuade all men to repent", so that we can help them gain their salvation. There is no greater happiness, than that of helping others gain their salvation. There is no other work so great. 

This week I have really gained a true appreciation for this Marvelous Work. I know this is the Work of the Lord. He leads and guides this work. I have seen the light that comes into the eyes of those who truly repent.

This week we will be seeing 4 more people enter into the kingdom of God. Eduardo and Luz will be married and baptized on the 18th, also Nacho and Natalia will be making these great changes. 

We are so happy that these amazing people are making such great changes in their lives. 

I want to give advice to all those who are currently serving or who are preparing to serve.... LOVE THE ATONEMENT!!

As you come to better understand the atonement your desire to share the gospel and help others come to Christ will increase.

I have found this desire.... I have found that there is no greater happiness... even though the path is tough... we will succeed!!


Random pictures of the Elder's apartment:

       

 

Week 89... Yield Your Hearts Unto God!!!

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did 

wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God."

This week as I was sitting in 

Elder Quorum meeting, I was sitting there meditating on how I could become more Christ like. I feel like there is so much to do still but so little time do it. As I sat there pondering I was prompted to open my scriptures. As I flipped the pages my thumb fell and I opened to Helaman 3:35. My eyes were drawn the words. As I began to read my heart was filled with the love of my savior.

The very last line is what caught my attention:

 "They yielded their hearts unto God." 

The question came to my mind.... How can we yield our hearts unto God?  Immediately after, I was then again prompted to another scripture:

 D&C: 4: "We shall serve him with all our HEART might mind and Strength." 

Many of us serve in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. Many of us do amazing things. But very few of us do it with all of our hearts. Yielding your heart to God means doing HIS will. Because as we understand and do His will, we will be as the clay in a potter’s hand. He will shape, mold, and form us into the greatest person we can become. We will become great instruments in the hands of God. 

As I read and pondered these words, I made a commitment to myself to always look for and do God’s will. 

I am going to focus on becoming a true disciple and always doing His will. The heart is the only thing God doesn’t have. As we give it to Him, he will change us to be true followers and His True disciples.

Well that is what I wanted to share with all of you this week. 

As far as the work here in Boca, things are going great. We are going to see a few baptisms here in a few weeks. Maria, Natalia and Nacho will be baptized the 18^th, and Eduardo and Luz will be getting married and baptized on the 23rd/25th of June. We are so happy. 

I am so grateful to be here and be able to help these children of God make these steps back to His Kingdom.

My new scripture case!!!

Week 88... Miscellaneous Pics!!!

Elder Boyer had a busy day and was unable to send an email today, so here are some random pictures from the past few weeks:

Week 87... Service: it's not always just knocking on doors!

Well this week has been a pretty crazy week here. 

We did anything from help someone to make a marriage date to even switching comps. It was a very interesting week. 

Tuesday- On Tuesday we had our district meeting and we learned a lot about the Ammon and his example of service. In the mission a lot of missionaries just knock door by door, but there are so many better ways to find people. As Elder Rasmussen and I were thinking about what we could do we thought we would go to the Mayor of San Pedro. So after the meeting we went and began to talk to him. He was a super nice guy. We began to tell him why we were there. We told him that we had seen there is a big increase in delinquency in this area. We told him we had plans to make sports programs and teach English classes. We told him that in the area we were 28 missionaries with all types of experience from all parts of the world. He seemed very interested. He told us he wanted to talk more with us and how we can help more young kids stay out of drugs and learn more about having Christlike backgrounds. It was a very spiritual experience for me, because the missionary work is not always door by door, but it can be something like offering service. I know that through small things, great miracles occur. 

Wednesday- On Wednesday we went to Concepcion and had a meeting with President. It was awesome to see all my buddies from the CCM. We all got to talk about what we have been doing. In the meeting President Wilhelm was able to help us learn more of the Doctrine of Christ. Because the more one understands the importance of the doctrine the more willing he is to act. As we left the meeting I felt as if I could baptize the world.

Thursday- Thursday in the morning we helped a few investigators we have get signed up for a day to get married. This Family, Eduardo and Luz are the best family I have ever seen. They came to church one time and they know the Church is the true church they want to be baptized and they know they are supposed to be married. So we went with them at signed them up to get married the 23 of June. They will be married and baptized the same day. On our way home from helping them, we got a call from Pres. Wilhelm. He said, Elders I need to speak with you at 7, will you please come to my office. I began to sweat bullets. I had no idea what he was going to say. So we go into the office of Pres, and he calls my comp in first, then he calls me in after. He then explains that Elder Rasmussen will be his new assistant and that I was going to receive a new comp, Elder Gomez from Argentina. I was pretty excited.

Friday- Elder Gomez got to the sector, he is super funny. He was a clown before, so he does all the magic tricks and he is super funny. We already get along. 

Sunday- Sunday was a super good day. We were able to take a bunch of our investigators to church. It was awesome to see them all in the church with their smiling faces. After church my comp and I went out looking for new people to teach. We walked by this big new church that was being built. It was an Evangelist church. There were a few people there and they invited us in. So we went in and started talking to them. They then asked us to eat with them. So we went back and met their pastor. We then began to have a long conversation with like 30 people at the table. They all we amazed by what we were doing. It was so awesome to be there with them. It really opened their eyes to who we were. At first they had a lot of negative doubts about us, but as we left they realized we were normal people and that we really do try and live Christ like lives. The mission is a once in a lifetime experience. 

I have never felt so happy preaching the gospel. I have seen the Lord’s hand in my everyday work, in my everyday contact with the people here in Chile, and it has made me so happy to the see the changes people can make.