I hope everyones new years is going well. Last night they had fireworks. The bad thing is they were close to us and we were on the normal schedule: trying to sleep. All we heard were explosions. I was a little frightened at first but then I realized what day it was.

The highlight of this week (and so far my mission) was the baptism we had yesterday for the Santibanez family. Elder Lizama and I were both able to be part of this one. We told them that they could choose who they wanted to baptize them and they said they wanted us to do it. So I got to baptize the father Sergio and Elder Lizama got to baptize the Mother Pilar and their son Bruno. I didnt judge Sergios hieght very well and hit his head against the wall during the ordinance but other than that everything worked out very well.

I know that this family will go very far. They have their sights set on the temple and are working to receive those higher ordinances. They are already teaching their other children so that they can be baptized and sealed together as well. I dont have any doubt that the lord has great plans for this family, and we will be working with them to help them meet these goals.

Im really grateful for this opportunity to be part of their conversion. Ive never met a family so prepared. Elder Lizama and I didnt do a whole lot, we just found them. The lord did the rest. During the first lesson we found that the sister Pilar felt a spiritual prompting when she saw us knocking doors, and as we conversed with them we found that Sergio has a brother who is a less active member of the church and he said that even though he is less active, he finds that the gospel has been a source of peace for him. Im sure that this brothers testimony was a strong impact of the conversion of this family. We also found that these are people of high values. They married young and have never been unfaithful. Neither do they drink or smoke. I know that the lord has been preparing them for a long time. I remember that the first several lessons we taught were centered on jesus christ and the atonement. I had a strong prompting that this principle is the most important principle for this family, just as for all people to understand.

I look forward to seeing what the lord has prepared for this family.

I hope everyone has a great week this week.

Until next week, I love everyone very much.

Jeremy

 

 

 

 

The christmas spirit isnt as strong here in chile, at least not in quilicura. Only a few houses are decorated. The ward organized a christmas activity, with shows karaoke and a dance. We, the six missionaries in the ward were the first show, we sang silent night in three different languages. After that we had to leave because it was a late night activity. We had to be in the house on time so we didnt get to enjoy the activity. All the same my companion and I have been inviting the christmas spirit by singing christmas hymns in every lesson, and focusing more on the birth and purpose of the savior. I have especially felt the christmas spirit in my personal studies. 

This week was a really awesome week. In Chile there is a big problem with recent converts going inactive after baptism. Our leaders have been emphasizing teaching to maintain. We have been teaching a family for the last month and they are going to break the code. Every lesson we have ever had with them we have felt the spirit so strongly. They say profound things that every missionary would give anything to hear from their investigators. The father prayed the last time and thanked the lord for guiding him and his family to the true church. Not only has he invited all of his family to hear the gospel, they are inviting their neighbors to hear from us. I feel so blessed to be part of this. They will be baptized next week. I feel that the lord has a lot prepared for this family.

I hope you are enjoying the holidays,

Jeremy

Here are a couple photos. Two from the christmas activity and one from when the missionaries from our ward climbed a hill close by.

This week we had the opportunity to go to the mission home for a christmas activity. It was really awesome. We had a christmas lunch, the mission president spoke about the life of christ and the impact it has on all of us and we watched videos that the church published of the birth of Christ. They were really powerful and Moving.

This week has been a blessed week for us. We are really excited to be working with this family. The father, Sergio, met the bishop last week and it sounds like they get along well. He also commited that he would be in church every sunday. The mother also met the representatives of the Relief Society and when she introduced herself she said she was taking steps to be a member of the church :) During the last meeting we had with them we watched a movie called together forever which shows several different people talk about their lives and how the plan of salvation has impacted them for the better. There is one story that shows a family who lost a child and they talked about how the knowledge that one day they would be able to be together with their child again has helped them. After we watched the movie the son started to cry and the father said thanks to the church of jesus christ we will be able to be together forever. They truly are golden, Im really blessed to be able to see them progress like this. We were also blessed to see another young investigator in church and when I saw her in the classes it looked like she already had tons of friends which is awesome.
Well thats all for now,  I hope everyone is having a great week.

Jeremy

I hope everyone had a great week.

The last couple weeks have been very exciting. We found some new people who are really golden. We met them tracting. One family is a family of three, a husband, wife and their son. The wife said she saw us knocking on doors and she knew that we would be coming over to their door. The husband looked like he was going to be tough. About half way through our discussion the wife said that she has been thinking that they should be thinking about being active in a church and we happened to come by. The husband had some questions and my companion who is a star with the scriptures answered all the questions he had and backed it up with scripture. The next lesson we had with them I was on an interchange so I wasnt there but Elder Lizama came to me after the interchange and told me it was a miracle. The lesson started with them saying they read and then they asked if we do things like baptism. They said they want to come to church and we invited them to be baptized on the 30th. The husband has some less active members in his family and he invited them to his house to have dinner and try to get them to come back (hes already doing his home teaching). He really amazes me. we were talking about the baptism and he said I really feel like im headed there because I like this church. Im pretty sure hes going to be the next stake president.

We were also blessed to see Raphael and his sister Romina come to church. With them its a little harder to see their interest because theyre more easy going but they keep their commitments. I remember the first lesson we had with Raphael. We asked if we could share a message with him and he said sure why not. Its not what I would consider to be our best lesson, Raphael was watching football and it seemed like we were talking to the wall. I wouldnt of thought that he would be one to read and come to church but he does. We left them with third nephi chapter 11 which talks about the coming of christ to the americas. It also talks about baptism and thats what seemed to catch the attention because when we came back Raphael asked us about baptism and what it means. We hooked him up with a baptismal date and now hes considered a progressing investigator.
It was neat to see the name of our sector in the mission news along with the other sector who met the norma for the amount of progressing investigators but it was truly a blessing to see these people make progress. They are making changes in their lives and I just grateful that the lord allowed me to be a part of that. I didnt do anything, the lord knows his sheep and he knows his work. Im just grateful that he allowed me to see him work.

I hope everyone is having a great week.

I love you all very much.

Jeremy

Hello family and blog readers,

por fin hay photos.

photos of the baptism weeks ago

It sounds like everyone has been doing well, and had a good holiday. I would feel a little left out but I was there in spirit. My Thanksgiving went like this. ¨´Elder Lizama who do we have lunch with today? no idea. Lets check the list. Brother lizana. lets call him. ¨¨Hello brother lizana, do we have lunch with you today? Oh yea I forgot, Well come over my wife is cooking rice.¨¨ we go to their house. ¨¨Elder Miklich, how do you like chile? I love chile. do you miss the united states? sometimes but not a lot. Today is a holiday over there today right? It is? oh yea, Thanksgiving. I forgot.

And then I thought about what yall were doing and my spirit separated from my body so I can be with yall. It would have been nice to play the game of life. I miss that game. The latino elders here arent very big on board games. I say game and they say oh you mean la palota.

This elder has a great idea to send christmas cheer. Talk to all of your friends and tell them that the gospel of jesus christ has blessed your life. Than find your nearest missionary companionship and tell them the names of all of these friends.

This week was awesome. We basically had five people tell us straight up that they want to be baptized. It was an awesome gift from the lord.

I want to apologize to all the people reading the blog for the lack of pictures. Im technologically retarted and It takes about twenty minutes of my alloted internet time to figure out how to send pictures.

Speaking of which I spent twenty minutes of my alloted internet time figuring out how to send the pictures I sent and now I have to go. I promise next week will be more detailed.

I hope Jacob is doing well and that his elbow healed. I also hope dad has a safe trip to Colombia.

I love you all very much. Have a great week.

Jeremy

(Melissa here. This is a letter from the Stake President from the Stake that Jeremy is serving in. I'm sorry I can't translate. My spanish is minimal. However, He included a picture of the missionaries serving in the stake.:D )

Queridos Padres de los Misioneros de la Zona de Quilicura:

 

Hace dos semanas tuvimos junto a su hijos e hijas misioneras una actividad, con todos los misioneros de la Zona y con los líderes misionales y misioneros de Barrio, la que consistió en hacer una actividad de servicio, preparar un desayuno con tostadas francesas, maple, frutas y jugos y luego de esto un tiempo para compartir experiencias espirituales y como podemos trabajar juntos. Fue muy bueno ver el tremendo ánimo que tienen sus hijos en ayudar a establecer la Iglesia en este lugar, son jóvenes y señoritas excepcionales y buenos, Uds. les conocen mejor que yo y ciertamente estarán de acuerdo con mi impresión.

 

Esta actividad nos ayudo a conocernos y sentirnos que somos un equipo y que si trabajamos juntos podremos hacer mejor todo lo que se requiere.

 

Se que cada semana esperan con ansias saber de sus hijos y saber como están, tome una foto de ellos como grupo y se la estoy enviando, todos están bien y contentos, queremos ayudar para que siempre estén bien y protegidos, son de mucho valor para nosotros como son para Uds.

 

Se que algunos de Uds. han permitido que sus hijos estén en esta tierra lejos de casa, posiblemente pensando que sus hijos y Uds. están sacrificando mucho por causa de esta Obra, quiero decirles gracias por permitir que ellos estén aquí y apoyarles. Puedo ver en los ojos de sus hijos y sus sonrisas el gozo que sienten de ayudar a otros a conocer a Jesucristo y aceptarles como su Salvador. Hay muchas cosas importantes para hace en la vida, educarse, trabajar, formar una familia, pero una a la que no podemos decir que no, es al simple llamado de Jesucristo cuando dijo “Ven sígueme”, esto es lo que sus amados hijos están haciendo, les felicito

 

Ellos valoran lo importante que son todos Uds. en sus vidas.

 

Que tengan un buen día

 

Hno. Pedro Correa

Pdte. Estaca Quilicura

 

 

Elder Donohoo tiene la asignación de traducir este mensaje para los queridos padres de habla inglesa.

 

I was at a members house for thanksgiving. We had rice and meat, which is pretty common here but it was good all the same. They said ´todays a holiday in the united states right´ lol I had completely forgot. Oh yea todays thanksgiving. I have a horrible memory for dates.
As far as how my week went, we were excited to see two of our investigators: Karen Lopez and her mother in law Nancy come to church. We met Karen about a month ago and she is golden. She said she wants to come to church in the first lesson without us even talking about church. When we invited her to be baptized she said she was already baptized but she wants to be baptized again. Her husband also shares with us and hes also awesome but hes a little more anxious about going to church has in the past been a barrier because he always has chores and things for the family to do on sundays. His mother Nancy is also great and she is grateful to us for coming to share the word of god with her son who apparently has been distanced from god for a long time. He is off traveling for his work and Karen took the opportunity to come to church :)The little child of Karen was also with her. He is two and a half years old and kind of a little monster. During the sacrament he went off running through the pews and stood on the front pew in front of everyone for about two minutes and then came back. Luckily theres a member who always gives the missionaries juice and snacks(not exactly sure why) but I used it to share with little alexander and it seemed to help him sit still. Luckily its a family ward and it happens sometimes. The ward seemed to understand. I really hope Karen wasnt embarrased. It reminded me of me when I was a kid haha. We separated for priesthood and releif society and after that they just went home, we couldnt catch them before they left. it was kind of weird but were going to visit them this week to see how their experience was. I am praying they had a good experience.Well thats pretty much it. There are other people were working with but as of right now theyre the ones Im most excited about because they actually came to church.Thats all for now. I hope every one at home is doing really well. I love you all very much. Have a great week.

Jeremy Miklich

P.S. still having trouble sending the pictures from the baptism. sorry...

I dont actually remember when thanksgiving is =/ if its on a weekend, Ill be eating with a member and we usually eat well with the members, theyll have no idea about thanksgiving though.
Living on my own has brought with it this challenge, I dont know how to cook. Ive been living off hamburgers for the last couple months (At least I learned to cook that myself). Elder Lizama (my comp from mexico) used to work at a shop for fast mexican food (Tacos, burritos, I imagine its what Im used to calling taco truck) so hes off pretty well on his own. He makes his own tortillas, and then he makes tacos from them, sometimes he shares :) Quick food is pretty easy, yes they still have panaderias on every block and sometimes in unlikely places (In the middle of the street). In these shops they also sell cheese and ham, also potato chips, soda and candy. Sometimes a quick lunch is a sandwhich and chips, Its not bad. On weekends we eat lunch with members and they stuff us.
Elder Lizama is a strong missionary. Hes a convert. He left for his mission a couple months after he and his family was baptized. This coming year he will have more time as a missionary for the church than as a member of the church haha. Something pretty cool is he was sealed to his family the day before he left on his mission. For his short time as a member, Im surprised by how much he knows. He says he studied nonstop while he was in the MTC and for that he knows the Bible really well and he knows almost the whole history of the church. During the months he was preparing for the mission, he read the book of mormon all the way through (I finished it during my third month here in Chile). His personality is kind of a mix between Julio and Alex from the YSA branch, I found it kind of easy to get along with him, and its also kind of a refreshing reminder of some of the friends I had back home. I get a sense however that hes used to running with a more talkative crowd than me. The language barrier is part of the reason although I would say thats not really so much of a problem anymore, Im pretty confident in spanish. I should probably try talk more. He also works really hard. He has a real passion for helping other people and sharing the gospel, hes always talking about what people need and what we need to be doing as missionaries.
That said, I must say that I dont always agree with some of the decisions he makes. lol Its comforting to know that Im not the only missionary in the family who has trouble working with his comp. I feel like I have some really good ideas about what were doing wrong to change to help this sector but in his fire and flare he usually just follows the momentum that comes from his own head. Its a problem of communication really, Ive voiced something in the past and he shut them down quickly without discussing it and for that Ive been more timid about voicing my opinions. Its something were working on. Changes happen on the second of december, well see what happens.
As far as the work is going, its going slowly. For the last two sundays, we have had no investigators come to church. This seems to be the hardest thing to invite someone to do. Were teaching various new people, Im waiting to see who will progress. One lady we met knocking doors accepted a baptismal date but said she doesnt want to go to church, were not sure what her doubt is. Shes really nice and she gets along with us well. we teach her in the door because we cant enter her home because theres no man in the home. Another family really enjoys talking about joseph smith and some deep doctrines of the bible with us, we have to be careful or well find ourselves there for hours. They dont want to come to church either. Im sure were doing something wrong or there is something we could be doing better. One thing ive noticed about the people that have prospects of progressing is that they seem to have a good experience with us. I figure thats the most important part. If they simply have a good experience with us, They usually let us come back. Im thinking about how I could do more of my part to invite the spirit so they have a good experience.
Well thats all for now. I hope all is going well for everybody and that you have a great week :)
I love you very much
Jeremy

This week has been an interesting week. We had a baptism on saturday yay Alexander Maita!!! I met Alexander during the first week when I transfered here. From what I understand he has been investigating the church since before I started the mission. When I got here he already had been to church ten times and was pretty active in the YSA program here.
Hes 23 years old, his family is from Peru. They moved here when he was a kid I think. It was kind of cool to be a part of teaching him, it was a little strange because hes so close in age and usually the young adults here arent really so receptive. He plays guitar and spends a lot of time skating. It reminded me a little bit of working in the YSA branch back home. Hes really a cool guy, hes really smart,  and knows a lot about the culture in many countries including the united states. Hes quick to correct my spanish, which Ill admit bugs me a little bit because he talks so fast that I cant understand him when he talks. Hes pretty laid back too and hell joke around when were teaching which helps releive the tension from some of the bigger commitments we extend and at the same time he talks openly so we were able to talk about the doubts he had, it was refreshing to be able to teach someone like him. That said he was really a roller coaster of an investigator. I remember when I got here we were only able to meet with him once a week because of work and his girlfriend. His girlfriend seemed to be against him meeting with missionaries. We didnt understand why. We did what we could with one visit a week but it wasnt much. We invited him to be baptized and he told us he didnt want to and he talked about his doubts but i didnt really understand them. His mother than got into the advanced stages of pregnancy and told him that she doesnt want other people in the house while she is there. We had to drop him because there was no time at all anymore to meet. Two weeks later he calls us and tells us that he has more time to meet because things have been changing at work and he can meet during the week. We went and visited him and he accepted the baptismal commitment right away. I dont really understand the full story of what he didnt tell us but I have my theories. During the two weeks when we werent meeting he broke up with his girlfriend. He also told one of the girls in the YSA program at church that he had a crush on her on facebook, she didnt respond. My theory is that he was afraid that he was interested in the church for her and when she didnt respond he found that he still wanted to be part of the church. It would explain why the ex girlfriend was so against it at the time. Anyway I dont know all the details of what happened with these girls but Im certainly glad that he has a spiritual testimony over all.
The baptism took place on a saturday because he wanted it to be small. He got his wish, we gathered with about eleven saints from the Lo Campino ward and held a small low profile service. The calefont was out which meant that the water was ice cold. On top of that my companion who was to baptize him forgot his baptismal clothes so they found a tunic in the baptismal closet for him to use. He looked like the angel Moroni. I have pictures but im still trying to figure out how the system works here, I dont have a cable of my own so I have to borrow my comps. Ill try and include them next week. Other than that it was a very spiritual meeting. After the meeting we went to a members house for a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) to celebrate quietly. It was a nice night.
The next day was a stake sacrament meeting. They told us that he would be confirmed the next week because that was the policy, but the stake president has the power to change that. The representative from the stake asked us to come forward for the confirmation. We were completely surprised as we walked up with Alexander. When we got to the front, they asked me to do the confirmation O-o. So I gave my first baptism of fire in the spanish language on the spot in front of hundreds of chillean saints. Im sure they noticed Im a foreigner and Im sure I grew from this experience. More importantly, the spirit did direct me to bless Alexander to be a strong member and I know he will be.
In other news, we dropped about five other investigators and are brainstorming ways to find people more commited. Im trying to focus on the good news.
Anyways, I love you all very much. Until next week.
Jeremy

Here there were a good number of little kids dressed up to get candy in the rich part of town. It was neat to see the families together with their kids doing something. Most of the people we talk to dont really understand the tradition. One woman said she thought it had to do with devil worship. To me a day to honor the dead makes more sense but its still a lot of fun to get into the halloween spirit.

Here things are going well. We will be having a baptism this saturday. His name is alexander, hes the guy who wanted to be baptized on wedneday, we came to a compromise that makes it possible for people to come. Im really excited for this one because it will be the first time I assisted in baptizing an adult lol. The missionaries have been teaching him for a long time and so this is a fairly big event.

In other news we have been teaching several people that show a lot of interest. some came to church. others accepted a date to be baptized. We have had trouble however finding them. It seems that we can get one good lesson in with someone and then they disapear, theyre not there for their appointments, theyre not there whenever we come by they stop answering the phone. Theres not much we can do in situations like this, we will keep trying, coming by but other than that, we cant do anything. it seems like this is one of the biggest obstacles to the missionary work here. Its frustrating but we keep moving on giving thanks for the success that we do have.

Its obvious that the only way to see success is by working with the members. Ive never seen anyone baptized who didnt have a friend in the church. When missionaries share the gospel, it can be a wierd experience, but when members share the gospel, its not weird, its like sharing a neat experience with a friend. Its hard for me to understand what I can do to help members do missionary work but this is where my thoughts are.

Things are going well here, Ill talk about the details of the baptism when it happens.

I love all of you very much. I hope you have a great week.

Jeremy

I was just thinking about where I was a year ago: helping with setting up the pumpkin, watching old timey halloween movies that grammie sent us, helping the family pass out candy in the front yard. Ahh good times lol. It seems as if nobody is that festive here I havent seen any decorations or anything except in the grocery stores and I saw one kid walking around with a hat that looks like a knife through his head. Other than that its like any other time of the year. I found out recently that chile just recently adopted the northamerican tradition of passing out candy within the past five years. Another effect of globalization. I asked people what they did before this tradition was adopted and they said nothing, it was just another day.

I figured I would ask dad how it was when he was serving in Vina del Mar. What did they do for halloween? Did they celebrate it? I have another question: whats a filmina? Ive been meeting with several members who served around here in south america during the late seventies and early eighties. Most of the people here in chile served in other parts of chile and I got to talk to an Hermano Araya who also served in Vina del Mar I forgot what year he said, I think 80 and 82 or something. It was pretty cool I showed him the token of the vina del mar mission that dad gave me. He was like oh yea I remember this and he started reminescing. He said that they had to memorize the charlas and they had a flipchart with pictures for each principle. He said they used something called a filmina which beeped every two minutes or something which meant they had to move on to the next principle. Is that true? hahaha. that must have sucked.

Needless to say the mission is a lot different now. There are principles that we have to teach but we can do it whatever order and spend as much time as we want on it. Sometimes we teach just one principle at a time each lesson. It all depends on the spirit and the trust of the investigator. At the same time it leaves a lot on us to be able to teach clearly simply and powerfully. Ive spent some tears as well thinking I was completely inadequate at it.. Ive come to the conclusion that its part of the missionary experience. It comes with practice and time.

This week was pretty interesting. We were blessed to come back into contact with Alexander who we had to stop teaching because he was working to much. He told us that he has more time now, he also told us that he is basically ready to be baptized. Its strange with him. He overanalyzes his doubts. Hes like, knowledge wise Im ready, Im also there spiritually, emotionally Im almost there and I still need to progress in my comitment. It didnt get it. Than my companion was like so will you be baptized and he said yea of course, but I want to do it on a wednesday. The bishop is against doing it on a wednesday. Were going to have to see what happens.

Were also teachng a guy named Javier. We talked to him in the street hand he said yea come over. Hes really interested. He recognizes that he needs to make changes in his life and he accepted the baptismal invitation in the second lesson. He needs to get married first though:/

This sector is progressing a lot. Its really a blessing to see the people here progress. This week will be filled with baptismal invitations. Im excited.

Have a great week.

Jeremy

Hello all,

Its great hearing about the preparations for halloween. Here in chile I dont know that it is such a big deal. at least here in quilicura. I here they have the same tradition here as in the united states. the kids dress up and knock doors and shout ¨¡dulce o travasura!¨ and the people give them candy. One family we visited was talking about it but not many people really seem to be preparing for it. Well see if our own knocking doors will be a different experience that day.

Its funny to hear about the football issue in alabama. Its true proselyting is harder when a game is going on. Here futbol is one of the main assets of the culture as well and im pretty sure they play all year long. lol yesterday was one of the big games for one of chiles main teams colo colo. We tried to visit someone and right when he opened the door he told us he was desperately busy and was pleading with us to let him get back to the game. the next visit we did was pretty much the same. The things of god and spirituality get pushed to the side when the U or colo colo are playing.

I also hear sam is praying and thinking more fervently about serving a mission. It would be a pivotal and lifechanging experience. I hope that from my letters it doesnt sound like everything always a fun and awesome experience. That was one of the false impressions I had as I was preparing. Ive never been more tried than here in chile. Its through these experiences that the lord changes us into the people he needs us to be. When we recognize that this is happening, that is when the joy and awesome experiences come. I hope you continue to consider it as part of something you want.

Anyway, this week was exciting. Elder Bednar came to our mission and talked with us. I imagine this was an experience that will be very rare in the coming years as the church continues to grow. He is an amazing person. Hes sixty years old but he acts like hes twenty. I imagine he prepared something and didnt give what he prepared. He asked us a series of open ended questions and we answered finding the message of his talk for ourselves. He than answered questions that we had for him. the message was that this is how we should teach our investigators, help them find the faith to act for themselves rather than teaching a lesson.

This week was also changes. For the first time in my mission, nothing changed for me during changes. Im still here in lo campino quilicura with my companion Elder Lizama. 

We had a good week this week, we started teaching the son of a less active member we found doing public contacts. Hes super smart. He shared with the missionaries before and we dont know what happened, were going to find out this week. He came to church with his dad and it sounds like he had a good experience. We have also been teaching a man named patricio for more than two months and for the first time he came to church. that was really cool. We were considering dropping him because its really hard to find him and teach him and he hasnt been following through with commitments but this was really big for him. I feel like he can really progress now. He said hes going to try to come more often. We also found a woman in the street who has several friends and family who are members but not here in lo campino. We taught her the restoration and she said at the end of the lesson she was sure joseph smith was a prophet. golden!! She also showed her faith by coming to church. We will be setting up a goal for baptism in the coming weeks.

Thats all the time for now. 

I love you all very much.

Jeremy

Hello Family,

Wow wow wow, what a week it has been for you all.

Thats so exciting to hear the news about Melissa. Shes engaged. Thats so exciting. My sister will be married the next time I see her. Thats so weird to think. I want to hear all about how the preparations go. 

Jacob is now in the mission field. I remember when I first got to the field I got pretty stressed out too. The MTC is very different from life and the field  very different from the MTC, it kinda feels like you are reborn and into a strange world. As time moves forward he will get used to being a missionary and he will love it. I look forward to exchanging stories with him. I saw the pictures of him with his group arriving at the mission home. He looks different... like a missionary... lol

It seems like I have to look forward to a completely new world when I come back home... but I am really excited for it. Everything is really moving forward in our lives and as a family.

Things here have taken an interesting turn. We were dissapointed last week to see a lot of investigators dropped so inevitably we have retuned our eyes to finding. We decided to try something we havent before, something our president reminded us that is in preach my gospel and promises will result in always having people to teach. Ask references from EVERYBODY. I used to think that we would only ask from members but I find that investigators are an even better source of references. We have even been asking for references from random people we talk to in the street... and it works. Theres something about the culture here, they care about their friends and family and neighbors and even if theyre not interested in what we have to say, they feel good referring us to their friends. Sometimes ill talk to someone who I dont think will be receptive just to ask for the names of their friends lol.

The fruits have been amazing. We once again have a handful of investigators. Two of them are golden. We taught the plan of salvation to Karen and she told us she really wants a path of hapiness for her family. She accepted a baptismal date in the first lesson and she took the initiative in asking where our church was. Another is Isabel, she has family members who are members of the church but she had doubts about a living prophet so we taught the restoration and by the end she said she was sure joseph smith was a prophet. Some of our old investigators are actually showing some progress as well. One person whose mother told him that we cant teach him in her house but he has been coming to church for more than two months has been telling his friends in the church that he is almost ready to be baptized. Were going to meet with him today in the house of one of his friends in the church to talk about baptism. Im really excited about the coming weeks, I really hope I dont get transfered out this week. Well see.

I have been coming to understand what people need to recieve that Sincere heart that the scriptures say is esential to recieve a testimony. So many of the people we teach simply dont care. They dont care if Christ established a church or if the heavens are open for us to recieve revelation. Its part of my job to help them understand why its important. I had the opportunity to talk to two women this week who had recently lost children. It was humbling to be in this situation, to be in their homes, to pray for them asking the lord to give them comfort, and then to offer them hope, bearing testimony that the family can be together forever, and bearing testimony that in this life that is full of afflictions, the heavens are open and there is a prophet who can give us guidance to tolerate the things of the world. I certainly feel that I am doing much more with my time than I was before the mission lol.

I hope everyone knows that I love you all very very much.
Until next week take care.

Jeremy

10/08/12

Its really good to hear from everyone and Im glad everyone is doing well.

Wasnt general conference amazing? I really enjoyed it, I thought it was awesome... even though I only understood about forty percent of it. I had to watch it in spanish and I couldnt keep up. Altough I could feel the spirit from the leaders of the church.
I enjoyed hearing about the bike ride you did. It sounds like being in a companionship doesnt become perfect even after several years, lol. My companion and I dissagree quite often we still have some rough arguments. Were really working to make sure it doesnt interfere with the spirit. I feel impressed that I need to talk it out more openly with him, I havent done that yet. Im glad you have been able to work out your differences.

This week has been a little rough for us, we had to drop several investigators that werent progressing and one, who we had a lot of hope for who told us he knew the book of mormon was true, even told us he didnt want us to come by anymore. Many of the people here simply tell us their busy when we come by for our appointment and after three times we realize they are wasting the lords time. We have decided to start focusing in a different part of town where a lot of members live and can support us and our investigators. It has been humbling to know that everything must be done in the lords time. We have a lot of hope for the next couple weeks.

I dont have a lot of time to write today but I hope everyone is well and I hope you have a great week.

Until next week. I love you all.

Jeremy

10/01/12

Hello all,

It sounds like things have made a major transition recently and I hope everyone is transitioning smoothly. Jacobs letter really reminded me of my experience in the MTC. It can be a crazy place, but it is also a great opportunity to feel the spirit. The stress reduces as you get adjusted. I dont know if my experience was different, it might be even crazier since everything is packed into three weeks, but Im sure hell get adjusted well. Thats awesome that he got called to be district leader, hell be great.

Im really excited for general conferance coming up. Its a little different as a missionary because you prepare for it thinking about the needs of your investigators rather than your own needs. Were going to do all that we can to get our investigators to come and have a great experience. Its also going to be different because I have to watch it in spanish. It would kind of be bad if I left investigators to watch it by themselves. Ill be able to read the talks in english in magazines a week later.

Things have changed a little bit here. Elder Glazner who was my companion got a call from the president last week to work in the office of the mission. It was a special change and it happened right away. So now i am here just with Elder Lizama who was called to be the district leader here. Its the first time I dont have an english speaking companion but I feel confident enough that we can communicate well enough even if all I want to do after planning every night is sleep because my brain is tired of constantly translating spanish. Hes a lot of fun, he reminds me a lot of friends that I had back home. 

We had a baptism yesterday. (YAYYY). Pedro was someone that Elder Glazner and Elder Lizama were teaching before I got here. He was basically golden from the beginning. A friend of his in school invited him to come to church and he loved it and when the missionaries found him he was almost begging to be baptized. I havent got the opportunity to really know him since hes been on vacation but hes a really great kid. He knows a lot about the gospel and has a lot of faith. We did the pre interview with him and he answered the baptismal interview questions better than most members could answer them. He is going to be a strong member of the church.

We were also faced with a bit of disappointment as we were not able to meet with alexander at all this week who is also praying about baptism. Im pretty certain that his doubts will be lightened at general conference. We were also faced with dissapointment when the father of christian who was going to be baptized told us that he believes christian is too young and he doesnt want him to be baptized. We were so sure nothing was going to impede him. It was a humbling experience that made me realize that with christian we were pushing for our own will for the family and not the lords. We need to focus on them as a family. Its complicated because the parents need to be baptized but I dont believe they will allow their son to be baptized until they have strong enough faith as well. We are inviting them to pray and read the scriptures as a family. We also started bringing a family from columbia with us and they get along great. The father came with us and he started testifying and I knew that this is what we should have done from the start. Now they have support that comes from people in the church that arent the missionaries.

Thats whats going on here in my life. The mission is a lot bigger than me and its really strange being here and thinking so much about others and also seeing the lord work around me.

I hope this letter finds everyone in good spirits and good health.

I love you all very much. I wish everyone a good week and an awesome general conference weekend. 

Love Jeremy.

9/24/12

Things are going well here in Quilicura. Im having a lot of fun in this trio, but sometimes it feels like too many cooks in the kitchen. There are many times when Im ready to say something that I feel will really help the people we work with but Im not very quick with my words and my companions end up saying what I was going to say. There have been several lessons where I havent said a word. Im kind of known as the quiet elder. thats ok, there isnt anything wrong with that necessarily. Were working on more unity as a companionship.

This next week were looking forward to three baptisms. There will be two for sure and were hoping we can also prepare Alexander. Alexander is a 23 year guy from Peru. Hes reminds me a lot of some of the people from the YSA ward, except I cant understand what hes saying half the time, (they talk a little differently in Peru and Alex talks fast).   Apperently his girlfriend hasnt been happy with him because hes been interested in hearing from us. My companions have talked with him about baptism before I arrived and he told them he wasnt ready, theyre pretty sure that his boubt is his girlfriend. We recently met with him and his brother Isiais who has also been meeting with us. Isiais told us that he prayed to know if what we have been sharing is true, and he said he recieved an answer. Its true and he cant deny it. It reminded me of when I recieved my answer, its been a while since I asked, but it reminded me that god really does answer our prayers if we ask sincerely. Alex also shared some profound stuff but I dont know what he said... Now we just need to talk to him about baptism again, were sure hes ready.

Christian will be getting baptized this next week. We have been meeting with his family for a while, his parents are happy with our visits but they arent married and need to wait for records from peru from when they immigrated to get married. They wont be able to be baptized for some time but christian is ready and excited.

Pedro will also be baptized this next week, I dont know him that well but my companions have been teaching him for more than a month and he really wants to be baptized but he had to leave on vacation these last couple weeks. apparently he started crying when he was telling them that he couldnt be baptized on the original date. Before he left we taught him some and gave him a triple set as a gift. He was really grateful.

Well thats pretty much all now. Ill write next week to tell everyone how it goes.

I hope this finds everyone in great spirits. I love you all very much.

Jeremy

9/17/12

Exciting to hear about all the things that are happening at home. Im happy sam is enjoying college life and everything. I wish I could have been there for Jacobs talk. It sounds like it was really good. Is he leaving this week? wow, time really moves fast. Does he report on wednesday? Is he flying there? Be careful with the apples in he MTC, make sure theyre clean, did I tell you about the hole in the apple we found? and dont drink the orange juice. Youll understand... The chicken cordon bleu is really good. Eat one for me. Somewhere in the MTC is hidden an air freshener with Elder Miklich and the names of about four or five other Elders written on it. I will send you ten dollars (in chillean pesos...) if you find it. Hint: its in a Narnia hole, youll understand... More important than anything is just enjoy the time there, it moves fast, you wont get everything down before you leave, I was there for nine weeks, and I didnt ni cerca so dont stress out. Its really great because you can go to the temple once a week and you can hear from general authorities on sundays and tuesdays. I wish I had appreciated it more. 

I recieved the packege with the birthday greeting and the gift from Grammie. That was really great. Thank you so much. I was really excited to see that. 

Im excited to be in my new sector. Quilicura reminds me a lot of Oakland, mainly because it looks similar. Its mas o menos ghetto but it reminds me of the bay area so its a good thing. I hear there are some parts that are dangerous but we are a trio now so Im not too worried. Its also really diverse. There are a lot of peruvians and a lot of columbians here. Theyre usually nicer to us than the chilleans. Im still kind of getting to know the people here, I got here and we were already teaching a really large pool of people. Were looking forward to the thirtieth,  quite a few people should be getting baptized on that day.

My companions are really awesome. So far in the mission they are my favorites. Im in a trio with Elder Glazner and Elder Lizama. Elder Glazner is from middle of nowhere, Wyoming. I asked what he did for fun and then I realized he was from Wyoming so I dropped the subject. Hes been in the mission for a little over a year. Hes really a great missionary. Elder Lizama is from Mexico. He reminds me a lot of a mix between Alex and Julio. He speaks some english but not enough to communicate openly. Hes been in the mission for the five months, the same as me. Were going to complete six months together. I enjoy just hanging out with both of them, we became friends really quick. They both work really hard too. I was surprised when I got here. They have pretty strong relationships with all of the investigators and they are always talking with people to find new people to teach. The week before I got here they taught almost double the number of lessons that were supposed to teach each week. Elder Lizama really knows the scriptures, hes always sharing three or four scriptures in every lesson. Elder Glazner seems to understand the needs that people have and how to teach to them. It doesnt always necessarily feel that we are teaching lessons but having a conversation with the investigators about life and the principles of the lessons just flow in the conversation. I feel like Im learning a lot from them even though Im not in training anymore necessarily.

My spanish is coming along. I feel like I progressed a lot during my last change because I made a commitment to read write talk and pray all in spanish. I didnt stay perfect 100 percent of the time but I tried so I made a lot of progess. Im thinking I should keep going with that commitment because It helped a lot.

I keep everyone in my prayers. I hope all the best for everyone. I hope everyone has a great week. I love you very much.

Jeremy

9/10/12

Today is a pretty busy day. They just changed my sector. Im leaving Los Andes. Yesterday was a kind of bittersweet day as I said goodbye to the friends that I have made in the ward. Especially Mauricio who I baptized. Im sure everything will be fine here in the ward and I trust Elder Binks to keep visiting Mauricio and Gabriel to keep them active and everything.
Im going to Lo Campino in Kirikura, (I think thats how you spell it). I hear its pretty close to Santiago and Ill be in contact with Flietes (The gangsters of Chile) apparently there dont bother you if youre their friends, so just dont give them reason to think youre not their friends. Im not too worried. Ill be in a trio with Elder Glazner and Elder Lizama (Complete strangers). Elder Lizama is a latino and I dont know whether or not he speaks english which means my spanish will be coming pretty rapidly now. I bought them root beer from the grocery store here in los andes as a home coming gift, its apparently really hard to find and its coveted amongst the missionaries, especially the gringos. I hope they like it. Im leaving for Santiago right after I finish this letter to meet them. Im sure theyre great guys. This is the next step of my adventures here in Chile. I finally finished my training and Im a "normal" missionary now. Well find out what comes now.

I wish all the best for all of you. I pray for samantha and jacob as they make big steps in their lives and I look forward to hearing about what happens.

Btw if you guys want to make a blog out of these letters I think thats a neat idea. I found out im aloud to email friends as well so you can invite people to email me as well.
I love you all very much. Ill write again next week.

Jeremy