Week 48.... I'll go where you want me to go!!!

Baptism Day: Jessica and Camilla Andrade

 For those of you who have been reading my weekly letters, you will all know about the family that we have been preparing for baptism: Family Andrade. After much praying, fasting, and many miracles; we were able to baptize the Mom Jessica, and her daughter Camilla. With these baptisms it completed the family. I am so happy to have gotten to know this family. They are such incredible people.

I wish all of you could have seen the changes they have made. I was a very spiritual day and a very spiritual baptismal service. You could see the happiness this family now has, the smile that the husband gave me when he wife went under the water will be an image I will never forget. The husband has wanted his wife to be baptized since day one. And when she was going through a lot of trials and hard times, he was very sad and upset. But as she started to progress you could see his love for his wife grow, you could see how much he wanted this happiness for his wife and his daughter. I was lucky enough to have the privilege to baptize Jessica. When I was in the water with her, I looked up and saw the whole family right next to the glass, all of them grinning ear to ear. 

The spirit immediately filled my heart. Knowing that this family is going to be complete and now they can continue on and become an eternal family. It is amazing to see all the blessing a missionary receives in his time here in the mission. I have been so blessed as a missionary and a person.
It is so awesome bringing this message of happiness to the lives of these people and seeing them make dramatic changes. I don’t think I have ever been so happy in my life!

So this morning we got the news for transfers. I was totally expecting that my companion was going to leave and I would stay here in Mulchen and continue working here in this sector. But President Bluth called me and the Lord has a different calling for me. He asked me if I would go to another sector and be a Zone Leader. I was not expecting that at all. I was completely surprised by his call. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have been given. I know I have only been here 6 weeks in Mulchen, but I have met a lot of great people and it is going to be tough saying goodbye to so many great people.

I am so excited for the new assignment and all the new people I will get to know. I WILL GO WHERE YOU WANT ME TO GO DEAR LORD. 

This week for my spiritual thought I wanted to share a story with you that comes from the book of Mosiah. This is the story of Abinadi. Abinadi goes to King Noah and tells him of the wickedness, and unless him and his city repents God will visit them with His Wrath. As I was reading this story I put myself in his situation. I then read these 2 scriptures:

8For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me and my people. 

9 Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands. 

King Noah tries to tempt Abinadi. He tells him is he will take back his words, if he will reject the words of God he will not be put to death. For many this is a very great option. To just say you know what King Noah I was kidding, I didn’t mean to say that and then continue on with your life. But that is not what Abinadi did. He stood face to face with the King and Said I WILL NOT TAKE BACK MY WORDS!!!!  I WILL NOT REJECT MY TESTIMONY… Not one of us will have to give our lives like Abinadi did, but we can still apply this into our lives. If Abinadi was willing to give up his life for his testimony, WE SHOULD BE WILLING TO STAND UP FOR OURS. There are many wicked things of this world and Satan is tempting us in every possible way. So stand up against Satan and say

I WILL NOT REJECT MY TESIMONY!! Show him that you are a child of God, and that you love our Savior. Many of have friends that may not be doing the right things. But we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ should be like Abinadi and Stand up for our beliefs, stand up for our testimony. 

I hope all of us can have the courage as Abinadi did and always stand up for our testimony and as we do, we will be blessed and God will show His love for us.

"These are my Baptism clothes..."

Chile Concepcion South Mission ....Mulchen Zone

Week 47... The Power of Prayer!!!

This was another week of miracles here in Mulchen. My comp. and I have really been so blessed to see these miracles. I will tell you a few of them. So this week we started off by fasting for all of our investigators. We have a ton, but none of them were really wanting to make the next step and be baptized. So we started off my fasting and making a goal to put 100 % trust in the Lord, to make it a priority to pray and look for new ways to teach. That is exactly what we did. It payed off!!! 

We have been battling with an investigator for 3 weeks now. She is the wife of the man and the 2 kids we just baptized. She was supposed to get baptized, and also her daughter, but at the last second they cancelled and said no. We were so confused why. We figured out that she was scared because when she was pregnant with her daughter something terrible went wrong. The baby was going to die, and most likely she would have died to. So she being Catholic, went to the Virgin Mary and did a contract. Long story short, she and her baby were saved. This happened about 10 years ago. So we asked her why she didn’t want to be baptized. She told us that she was scared that if her and her daughter get baptized, the contract will be reversed and that her and her daughter will die. She has been super scared. For three weeks she has ignored us, she didn’t want to talk to us. So when my comp and I started the fast, we prayed for the opportunity to talk to her again. Well that opportunity came on Tuesday. We went over there expecting to teach the family and the little girl like always, to have another excuse why we couldn’t talk to the mom. But when we got there, the mom Jessica was down stairs. We took that opportunity and began to ask her questions. We began to teach her about Faith in God, but there was something different. We could not feel the spirit in the house. I was so confused why. So I began to pray in my head and asked that we could know the reason. At that moment the family began to argue and fight. That father and the mother began to yell and the kids got into it too. The whole room was filled with contention; and as everyone knows contention is of the Devil. So at that moment we knew why the spirit wasn’t there. We helped resolve all the problems with the family. I asked if we could kneel down as a family and say a prayer to bring the spirit into the house. So that is what we did. During the prayer you could feel the spiritual shift. The family went from super angry and contentious to loving and accepting. After we got done praying, we continued on teaching about Faith. The mom then looked at us and asked us so many questions about baptism. We began to teach and answer all her questions. I have never seen someone change so fast. She was so ready for baptism, she just couldn’t have the spirit testify of these things, because there was too much contention. In that moment we invited her to be baptized on the 22nd and she accepted. She is now preparing and is super excited for this weekend. It was such a miracle for us. We will be baptizing her and her 10 year old daughter, Camila. I have the privilege of baptizing her because she is 8 months pregnant and there is no one that is big enough to baptize her, so I get the privilege to do so. I am super excited ;) ANOTHER WEEK OF MIRACLES!!

    

 
This week I hit ONE my year mark! I cannot believe that I have been out here that long. It has been such a great experience. I was able to burn a shirt and have a great time.

 

    












 I just wanted to share with all of you a little bit of what I learned this week. I was really studying hard this week and began to study a lot about prayer. I have been thinking a lot lately on what I can do to become closer to God, and be more receptive to the spirit. I started studying about prayer. I read talks and scriptures on the topic. So I just wanted to say a couple things that I learned and hopefully it can help some of you guys.

     First off, how many of us take time before a prayer and think about what we are going to say? How many of us as we are saying our nightly prayers find ourselves falling asleep? How many of us, say quick prayers right as we wake up or are going to bed? I will raise my hand and say I am guilty of all of them. But as we are praying we are showing God a sign of how much we love Him. Do you think we are showing love if we are falling asleep, repeating the same things in our prayers? Prayer should be a time of communication with your Father in Heaven. Prayer should be a time where you thank Him, make plans, and talk with your Father. Many of us take prayer for granted. Prayer is the most powerful gift we have. We literally have the Power to talk with God and receive answers from Him. I read a quote that says “Without prayer it is impossible to return to our Father in Heaven." I know that to be true, because as we pray we will be directed in the straight and narrow path, always choosing the right.

 I want to share 2 scriptures with all of you:

 3 Nephi 19: 9 "THEY PRAYED FOR THAT WHICH THEY MOST DESIRED." 

3 Nephi 18:20 "Whatever thing you asketh in the name of Christ if it be just, 

it shall be given unto you."

I want to bare my testimony that the power of prayer is real. Each one of us have the power to talk to God. The next time we pray we should think of the sign we are giving God, we should pray for the desires of our hearts. 

I promise as we better our prayers and take more time in prayer to God, we will find greater blessing and promises, from the one who created us. 

P-Day Fun!!

Week 46.... Guess what day it is? ...HUMP DAY!!!

WOW!!! I cannot believe that I hit my one year mark this week. On Thursday it will be the one year mark. It has not felt like I have been out that long.

 I started to think back to the things I have learned and I was amazed by the progress I have made as a person and as a missionary. The mission is by far the best decision I have ever made in my life. I am growing into the person that God wants me to become. I now realize that when I first got to the mission I was just one big punk. I only wanted to do what I wanted to do, and if anyone got in my way... oh boy, you best be watchin’ out.

My friends and I always had the joke that I had The Rage, or that I would get super angry all the time. And that was true. I want to take this short little time to apologize to everyone out there that had to experience my attitude. I now realize I had so many weaknesses and I was so far away from being Christ like. So sorry again. :D  

The mission really has changed me for the better. Each and every day is a new challenge, but every day is a new day to change, learn, and grow. I like to think of the change a little bit like working out. I know I have shared this before but I love it so much. It explains it perfectly. When we work out, it hurts! We are literally tearing down our muscles. When I first got to the mission it was exactly like this. I was a very weak person, I wasn’t very Christ like and I had a lot of pride. So from day one, Christ began to break me down. Just like when we are breaking down our muscles, it hurts. When we give more effort it hurts even more. As missionaries, we are required to give all our heart, might, mind, and strength. So when I began to do that, it began to hurt even more. Christ literally began to break down my weaknesses, my bad habits, my faults, and everything that was not in line with Him. There have been many days where I have been so beat down I just wanted to sit there and cry. Just like after a workout, there is nothing better than just sitting there and taking a break. But when the next day comes, and your muscles have healed, what do you do? You break them down again. This has happened so much in my mission. I rise up, or heal my spiritual muscles, and then Christ breaks me down again showing me that I need to humble myself and give everything to Him. But each and every time this happens…I get a little stronger. Each and every time we go to the gym…we get a little stronger. If we give it our all… we get a little stronger. Here in the mission it is the same; for the missionaries who give it their all they change. They become a little stronger. I have seen so many blessings that have come from Christ and His atonement. I have been built into the person God wants me to become. I have been giving it my all and God is literally reshaping me into a better person. I know I still have a long way to go, I am not done, and this process will not be finished in this life. But, I am becoming stronger in this Gospel each and every day. I am so grateful for my decision to give up the World, and serve Christ.

 This week I studied a lot about giving up the world and loving God. I started to read Scriptures like 2 Nephi 9:50:  

 Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; and he that hath no money , come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted.

I began to read scriptures like this; where Christ is inviting all men, to come unto Him, to drink of His fountain, to be perfected in Him. To give up the things of the world, (The bad habits, the bad thoughts, Pride, bad friends, bad music, bad shows, anything you can think of, etc.) To not have your mind set on the things of the world. The things of the world do not satisfy us; they cause instant happiness that only last a minute. Christ has invited all of us: brothers sisters, whoever we may be, to come unto Him and give up the Things of the World, and BECOMETH A SAINT THROUGH THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST: (Mosiah 3:19)

I want to challenge all of you to think of the worldly things that each one of us have, and make a list. Take this list of worldly things and do as the Anti Nephi Lehites did:

17And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth. 

BURRY THEM DEEP IN THE EARTH!!!

Take these worldly things and get rid of them, burry them in the earth and never partake of them again. That is the biggest thing I think I have learned in the mission. Is to put 100% of my Trust in the Lord. To take the things of the world and burry them deep in the earth. I testify to all of you that Christ lives, and that He blesses each and every one of us. He has an active part in our changes. For those that think you cannot change, you can, YOU CAN DO IT!! I never thought I could, but I have have!!! DID IT HURT?? YES IT DID; but WAS IT WORTH IT??? BY FAR THE BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!
 I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Week 45.... Another week of Miracles!!!

This week has been such a great week here in Mulchen. Literally we have been seeing so many miracles. I have never been so happy in my life. I have never seen the Lords hand so much in my entire life. I am so in love with the mission. It has been so awesome helping so many people come to understand about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the blessings they can receive when they begin to use it. 

This week was seriously full of miracles. We have been working super hard with the members here and been gaining their confidence. This week we received a ton of references of family members, friends, and neighbors. We began to visit these people with the members and all these people are so ready to enter into the door of baptism. 

I wanted to share one story with you guys, a complete miracle that happened this week. So on Monday last week, we went over to our ward mission leader’s house to have a meeting and talk about our investigators. When we got there to his house, there was this girl there that I had never met. I began to talk to her and ask her who she was. She began to explain to me that she is the girlfriend of our ward mission leader. I asked her if she has ever had talked to missionaries; she told me no. I asked her if she was attending or going to another church; she also said no. She went on to tell me that she hasn’t attended a church for more than 3 years. I really felt strong to ask her if we could visit with her one day. She said that we could. So I then went and talked with our ward mission leader, and we set up a family home evening for Saturday. So Saturday came around and we show up to this family home evening and the whole family is there. This family is so strong in the church. The mom is our mammacita and a counselor in the Relief Society, the daughter is the primary president, and the son is a returned missionary and ward missionary leader. We get there and we had a great family night. We had a lot of fun. We taught a little bit of the restoration of the church. At the end of the lesson my comp. bares his testimony and finishes the lesson. Usually after the lessons we just continue on. I felt inspired that I should ask the family to bare their testimonies about their conversions. So, we went around and each one of the family members and us missionaries bore our testimonies. I have never heard stronger testimonies of the church. The room instantly filled with the spirit. You could see on her face that she could feel it too. We ended with the testimony of her boyfriend. He finished his testimony with such power. This really touched her heart. She began to cry, she looked at me, and said Elder, I know these things are true. I feel so good right now. So in that instant I asked her to be baptized on the 22nd. And she said of course. It was such a miracle. I am so grateful that the spirit was able to testify of the truthfulness of these things. The next day she came to church and she loved it. She is so excited to continue on and experience the blessing and make the changes necessary for baptism. I am so excited for this week. We also have had many other miracles that have happened. And I am so excited. 

This week for my spiritual message I wanted to share with you guys this scripture:

                        D&C 112:22:   si se humillan delante de mí, permanecen en mi

                                                    palabra y dan oido a la voz de mi Espiritu.

 This scripture talks about that if we humble ourselves before God we will have His spirit to be with us.  I have seen so many blessing that have come by giving 100 percent of myself to the Lord; doing His will all of the time. We have to submit our will for His. If we do this we will have His sprit, and we will be blessed.

Week 44.... The Three Gifts!!!

This was such an amazing week here in Mulchen. First thing first, we had Ward Conference this week, so everyone knows what that means: activities every day in  church!

This was so good for me, because I was able to go to these activities and get to know the members and really get to gain their trust. I was able to get to know the members who I am going to work with and really have a good time with them. It was also really successful because we were able to bring a lot of investigators to these activities and the members here were so good with our new investigators. The investigators had a great experience and were able to overcome their fear of not fitting in, or being a little weird. 

On Tuesday I went on a mini- transfer and I went to Santa Barbara, a little town outside of Los Angeles. I got to work with Elder Montecinos from Santiago. We had a lot of spiritual lessons. I went there to get to know my district a little better and to know their investigators. I was blown away by the spirituality of the investigators they have. They are all so good and so ready for baptism. One lesson we had was seriously amazing. We walked into this one house and Elder Montecinos tells me that we are visiting a recent convert, but also we wanted to talk to her mom about baptism, because she is scared and has never accepted a baptismal date because she is Catholic. We went in there and began to teach the daughter. They daughter was a little unfocused, so then we turned our attention to the mom. The good thing about inter-cambios are that as the new guy you can ask a bunch of questions and really get to know the investigators needs. That is exactly what we were able to do. Me being the new guy, I went in there and just started to ask questions. She really opened up to us. She told us that she was scared to change her religion because all her family is Catholic and that she just wants to live and die catholic. We were able to share really powerful scriptures with her. We were definitely guided by the spirit in this lesson. We were able to explain to her that if she puts her Faith in Jesus Christ, she will be able to find her answer, and that Christ says COME UNTO ME. We were all overcome by this overwhelming feeling. At the same moment my companion and I looked at each other and we both had the same idea. In that exact moment we challenged her to be baptized. She looked at us for a second with a look that was like Elders, I have already told you no many times. But then she began to talk. She at the end accepted the invitation. She is now going to prepare and really give it her all in finding an answer. It was such a great day!

The rest of the week we had great activities. Wednesday we had Karaoke night, Thursday we had a Talent Show, Friday we had a night of food, and on Saturday the best of all we had a baptism. We finished off the week with the best thing possible. We had 3 baptisms this week. It was definitely a gift to me. I recently just got to this sector and these people were ready. THANKS TO ELDER ZACHARY NELSON; (all girls that are 19-23… he will be returning home from his mission here in 4 weeks. He will be returning to Holiday Utah, so be on the lookout for this incredible missionary.)

No, but for real, this family is so awesome. When I first met this family they were amazing. But in my time here they did go through a few trials. The mom and the daughter decided not to get baptized because when the daughter was a baby she was on the verge of dying and them being catholic took the daughter to the Virgin Mary and she was saved. Now they are scared that if she is baptized that she will be going against the virgin and the virgin will take away this contract and that she will die. So it was a really big challenge for the Dad to hear this, it had a really big effect on him. On Thursday we went to his house to make sure he still wanted to get baptized. In this lesson, he told us why he wanted to get baptized. He began to get emotional and told us all the changes her has made in his life. He went from a drunk that never loved his family to a person that spends all his time with his family. I have never heard such a powerful testimony. Even though he doesn’t understand much and it is difficult for him to read, he has changed so much and really has the desires to grow and follow Christ.

This weekend with a lot of prayer and fasting we were able to overcome all the doubts and we were able to baptize him, and his 2 sons of 12 and 14. Alejandro, Alejandro and Ricardo. It was so awesome to see how happy they were after their baptisms. Then on Sunday at their conformation they were able to be confirmed in our Ward Conference. There were so many people there loving and supporting them. I was able to confirm Alejandro the dad, during the middle of the confirmation I was hit by the spirit and knew that he was going to stay in the church for a long time. It was a great end to a great week!!

Week 43... MULCHEN!!!

Mulchen is so awesome. I have only been here 7 days but it has been a great sector. It is a pretty big sector. It is still a little city but it is super awesome. Mulchen is set in a valley. Surrounding all parts of the city are huge hills. The city of Mulchen sits in the Valley of these hills. There are a ton of people  here; over 8 thousand people. I am super excited to work here and help people come unto Christ. This week was such a great week.

 On Tuesday I got here and I got to meet my comp. Elder Alvarado.

 He is from Cordoba, Argentina. He is a super awesome comp. He is really funny. He is a lot like me. Both of us are really good at being jokers and getting people to like us really fast. When I got here everyone would come up to us and talk with my comp. He loves helping the people and loves helping people progress in this gospel. I am super excited to work with him. I know it will be a great cambio. It is the best when you really get along with your comp. 

I also got to meet my housemates. Their names are Elder Fowlks from West Jordan Utah, and Elder Ludeña from Peru. They are super awesome. Usually it takes some time to get to know the Elders in your house and joke around. On the 2nd day, we were all joking and we are having such a fun time. I know we will have a great cambio. I am really getting along with all my housemates. I will let you all know more about them and more stories.

 I am also so excited to be here in this ward. It is my first ward that I have had in the mission. My first day at the church was so amazing. I was not used to so much organization. It was good to see leaders and good to see how they worked. The Bishop and all the leaders have so much excitement to work with the ward. I am super excited to help this work go forth and help people come unto Christ.

As far as investigators; when I got here I was able to meet a family that we have, a family of 5. They are so awesome. They are all so ready for baptism. They will be baptized on the 25th of this month. This was like a free gift. I get here and they will be baptized next week. I feel like I didn’t have to teach them anything. We have been passing by every day making sure they are ready. And this Tuesday they will have their interview. I know they will pass. They are so good. I love them so much. We already have such a great relationship. I am best friends with all of their kids. To get baptized, we have the Dad Alejandro, the Mom Jessica, 14 yr. old son Alejando, 11 yr. old son Richard, and 10 yr. old Camilla.

(not sure what Tyler is doing in this picture...) 

I am super excited for this weekend. As far as other investigators, we have been able to find a lot of new people. It is so easy here to find people who are interested in our message. We just need to help them progress. I love Mulchen!!

Funny story this week: so my first day in Mulchen, I get here and my comp tells me that we have an appointment with the family of 5. So I was super excited to go and get to meet them. So we get to the house and I start introducing myself. They ask to see a picture of my family. So I show them a picture of my family. The 11 year old kid then looks at me all weird and then looks at the picture and then at me again. He then says Elder Boyer, did you eat pasture before your mission??? I said no why? ... Super confused. He then said because you were a cow... And everyone began to laugh. It was really funny. Their culture here in Chile is way different than in the states. Everyone here is so direct and there are no limits. But it was super funny ;)

Ok now for my spiritual experience for the week.  I was reading this week in 2 Nephi.

2 Nephi 25:23:

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our 

brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

I just wanted to bare my testimony about this scripture. I know that if we turn our trust in the Lord and work in all diligence we will be saved. I know that God will make up for the rest, AFTER ALL THAT WE CAN DO!!! We must do everything we can and then the power of Grace will come into play. God is a loving God and if we push forth with a firmness in Christ, always looking for ways to grow, He will shape us into the people, children that he wants us to be. And one day we will live in complete happiness. 

Week 42... 20th Birthday, New Area, New Assignment: Mulchen District Leader!!!

What a crazy week it has been. We really worked hard this last week of the cambio to get it ready for the next one. It was kind of sad knowing I was going to leave, but we had a great week with the Branch.

 They threw me a surprise party to help me celebrate my 20th Birthday!

This branch, by far, is the best branch. I am going to miss everyone so much. I have really gotten to know everyone so personally, and it is amazing the love the missionaries get to feel for the people they serve. Yesterday in church was a bitter sweet moment. I gave my last talk in the Branch Los Sauces. I was thinking a lot about what I wanted to tell them, and what I wanted to leave them with. I gave a talk about hope and faith.

 I wanted to share the scripture with you guys...

            Mosiah 23:22

       "He that putteth his trust in the Lord will be exalted in the last day". 

I know as we put our trust in Christ, He will lead us to the straight and narrow path. He will lift us up from all of our affliction and all our troubling times. As we suffer the Lord will always be there to help us get back on our feet and become the people that He wants us to be. I read one time in a talk, I can’t remember where, but it said everything we have is from God. Literally God is in control of everything we have, EXCEPT our heart and desires. If we give Him our heart and turn unto Him, He can shape us into who He wants us to be. I have seen so many miracles that have come through putting my trust in Christ. I have loved the changes that the mission brings. I love helping others and bringing them the message of happiness.   So last night was a real big surprise. I entered in the house expecting to relax a little bit, when all of a sudden I got a call from President Bluth. He called me and thanked me for the time I had in Los Sauces, and he asked me if I would go to Mulchen and be a district leader. When he told me this my heart started to pound. I am super nervous, but I know the Lord will guide and bless me in this new assignment. 

I am so grateful that I will have this experience to learn and to grow in this Gospel. I know I will be able to grow so much with this new assignment. I am so excited to go to a new Sector and get to know new people and grow even more as a missionary and a member of this church.

More Birthday Party pictures: