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