AJ's emails from 11/5 & 11/12

November 12
      the weeks just seem to be blurrying together more and more now as im getting closer. i swear i cant tell the difference during the week in days. they just all seem like the same with some small naps at night cuz i dont even feel like im really sleeping either. and i dont think that it will change much before getting home. its just gonna be one long day for the next 3 months with little naps in the middle lol but its all good.

       tuesday this week we went to do a baptismal interview. elder nilsen did it so i just walked around the huge church and took a video of it to remember how big it is. i would send it through here but its too big to send so youll all just have to wait til i get home to see the size of this church.

      wednesday we had our district meeting but we started it a little differently. we did a little breakfast and brought pictures so that everyone could get to know each other better. it was pretty nice cuz we could just chill and talk to all the missionaries in our zone. also we did divisions that day so i was with elder merino in our sector. it was funny seeing us together cuz he is from peru and is the smallest missionary in the mission. i honestly dont think he is taller than 4`6 so you can just imagine that one. it wasnt the greatest day for us either cuz everything just fell through but we were able to get a lot of stuff done at the church that night with coordination meeting and then making sure about things with presidents from the different organizations and quorums that were there.

       thursday we had our capacitacion especial and learned more about how to work correctly with the members in asking them for references and helping those people share the gospel with their family and neighbors. we are really really starting to focus a lot more on working through members which is good but also kinda sucks that we are doing it right at the end of the mission when i most likely wont see anything come from it in my time. im just excited that i get to be a part of the beginning and help start everything.

      friday we had the leader meeting in maipu and they changed it around a little so it was different. i got kinda bored after its my 4th time but the good thing about the day was that i was able to see elder vilar and elder sanchez who are both finally leaders. so it was nice talking to them and seeing how they are doing and all that. it made me miss the time that i had in el monte too when i didnt have to worry about so much.

      saturday we finally had the kind of day that we had been used to from the beginning of our time together. we taught several good lessons and got around to several people. we were able to teach both of our baptismal fechas, 2 less active families, found 2 new investigators, and got our weekly planning done. it just felt good getting so much done. and if we do the new mission plan right, thats how every sector should always be. thats the kind of vision pres has for our mission.

       sunday was also a good day at church cuz we had more people from our retention come that normal do and cuz we had segundo and freddy (both of our fechas) and also 3 from family gomez parada come to church so that was really good and made us happy. also after church we went to the baptism of the lady that elder nilsen interviewed and it turned out alright. the only thing that made us mad was that the bishop of that ward, 5 min before it started, called all the leaders from the ward into a meeting about something random. and so then when elder nilsen and i went to tell them that it was gonna start and that they needed to come, the bishop got a little heated and told us that they were talking about something that had to do with the new plan in the mission and how they can do it. and that made us really mad and i thought elder nilsen was gonna hit the guy in the face but we just left and went to watch the baptism. it just made us upset cuz they are supposed to be there to support this person who is taking a big step in their life but they had "more important things to do" which really didnt even matter. so we are gonna talk to the stake president about that. (i like having the power to do that too) but in the afternoon we had everything fail again like before so it was just another trial. but i think we should start getting back to normal more again cuz we have seen some good things from some people lately here.

        so that was basically my week. im doing well, just counting down the time while trying to keep working hard. i hope that everyone is doing well, take care.

November 5
      sorry about this but this letter is going to be kinda short this week. i just dont have time right now and really there wasnt a lot that happened that was real exciting, just a normal week of work for us, with lots of heat.

Concillio at president's house

      wendesday we did divisions so i went with elder gambini to his sector which is lo errazuriz. he is from argentina and i had a lot of fun with him cuz we have about the same amount of time in the mission and we are alike in lots of ways. so we just joked around pretty much the whole time and laughed. and on top of that it was also halloween so we saw lots of people dressed up. there arent a lot of people who put things up on their house cuz half of chile doesnt even like halloween cuz they say its an american holiday but the others try and imitate it as best they can. they still have to work on the concept of costumes cuz they all just dress up as ghosts and demons and witches and all that scary stuff so thats funny. but another different thing is that they dont go out in the afternoon like we do. most people start trick or treating around 930, 10 at night and are done by 12. partially cuz they have a day off the day after but still that was weird for me.

Silly boys!

       friday we had concilio in presidents house again. it was interesting trying to get there in the morning cuz the subway system was shut down til 8 for the holiday and we did know what bus would take us closest to waste time til we could get on the metro. so we just took a random bus and stayed on it til 8 came and then got off and jumped on the metro to the stop that we had to take. and then it was just a fun day there hanging out with the other leaders. the food was good again, we had mexican food. enchiladas with beans and rice. it was really good and it made me excited to go home and eat real food again like that. also during one of the breaks, i had a funny moment with elder brady (who is also my "nephew" in the mission cuz elder keogh trained my "brother" elder clark and then he trained elder brady) but anyway we were standing outside the bathroom waiting and talking about doing exercises in the morning and he felt my abs to see if i was doing them. and so right as he is rubbing my abs and saying oh thats good, president comes down the stairs to get something out of his room and just walks between us and says "excuse me, i hope im not interrupting something. if you want, you can feel mine" and elder brady and i just looked at each other and started laughing cuz it was such an awkward moment but it was funny.

      sunday we had stake conference which was alright cuz we had a few investigators there. the most exciting ones though was the gomez parada family who we have been teaching a lot lately. i think fernanda (16) and florencia(12) could get baptized in december cuz they seem pretty excited about church right now. so that could be good. and then in the afternoon we had ward council. the most interesting thing from there is that our bishop (who is absolutely amazing by the way to reaffirm that point) told them all that the stake president was asking if they could sell the land that is church owned that was originally bought 13 years ago to split the ward and build a new church but has still never happened. but he told the stake president no, that he wanted 2 more years. and so his new huge goal for the ward is building it up strong enough by the end of 2014 to be able to split it. that way they dont lose the land. its gonna take a lot of work but our bishop is good enough to do it. but us starting with the new mission plan is gonna have a big role in the whole process cuz we have to baptize like crazy and the ward has to retain them all so that the attendance goes up. but i think its possible.

       anyway that was my week. i hope that everyone is doing well. take care

Quote by Harold B. Lee

This quote by President Harold B. Lee had a huge impact on me when I read them Wednesday morning after what was a frustrating night of election results. The words are just as relevant today as they were when they were spoken in the early 1970s. I hope they help you focus and bring you some peace as they did me when I read them.

"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the New Jerusalem. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. We are living in a time of great crisis. The Country is torn with scandal and with criticism, with faultfinding and condemnation. There are those who have downgraded the image of this nation as probably never before in the history of the country. I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. . . . It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through. We must be on the optimistic side. This is a great nation; this is a great country; this is the most favored of all lands. While it is true that there are dangers and difficulties that lie ahead of us, we must not assume that we are going to stand by and watch the country go to ruin. We should not be heard to predict ills and calamities for the nation. On the contrary, we should be providing optimistic support for the nation. We must tell the world how we feel about this land and this nation and should bear our testimonies about the great mission and destiny that it has. If we do this, we will help turn the tide of this great country and lessen the influence of the pessimists. We must be careful that we do not say or do anything that will further weaken the country. It is the negative, pessimistic comments about the nation that do as much harm as anything to the country today. We who carry these sacred responsibilities must preach the gospel of peace, and peace can only come by overcoming the things of the world. Now, we must be the dynamic force that will help turn the tide of fear and pessimism."