Santiago Chile

Santiago Chile

Monday, December 15, 2014

Dec 14 - Changes

hola familia y amigos,

cambios were this week and I have changed sectors. I am now in the zona of Quilicura. I am in the ward lo campino. My new companion is elder Huarca from Peru. He has been here for about 3 weeks so we are both pretty new here in the mission. Elder Huarca has been in the mission for about a year now, and he is great. he is very nice.

Im not going to lie, I was a little bummed that Im not going to spend Christmas in Simon Bolivar. I have a lot of friends in that ward and I had been with elder Muñoz for a lot of time, so it hurt a little bit to uproot what I had established after 6 months there. 

This week we did have a lot of time to work in the sector which was a little lame. the reason is that on Wednesday I went to the doctor to see about my big toe which was hurting a little bit. I had an ingrown toenail and he chose to operate on it right then and there, so I had to be off the ground for two days. we were in the apartment for two days straight which was really boring, but I definetly learned more about the scriptures in those two days. 

We also had a lot of holiday concerts. when your companion is a talented violinist you get invited to play a lot of christmas activities. on Friday and Sunday they have a huge program in the temple gardens here in Santiago where the youth of Santiago dance, play music, and they even flew in Marvin Goldstein and Amanda Joyce from the united states to play the piano and sing. it was a lot of fun. Elder Muñoz was playing in the orchestra on friday and sunday because saturday we were at our ward christmas activity where he was also playing. 

On Sunday I said goodbye to the recent converts and investigators. it was really sad to say goodbye. We stopped by Luis and carolina, Lucila, Lucas and Ivonne, and then Felipe came with us to the temple concert. I am going to miss a lot of people from that ward, but I am excited to be here in Quilicura. Ive heard great things about this sector, so we will see what is going to happen. apparently there are two baptisms scheduled for this Sunday so that will be fun. 

so you know, Elder Muñoz is still in Simon Bolivar. the other elders that were in the hospital are there too. they operated on Elder Lefalle´s shoulder and he was in the hospital until friday with elder Birch, but they are back in the apartment, but they cant really leave because Elder Lefalle has to rest.

Something cool that happened this week was that Luis and Carolina went with elder Muñoz and Elder Saldivia (we were on an exchange) to a lesson with jorge and katherine. jorge and katherine arent married, so they taught them about the law of chastity which went really well. they want to get married, but with Katherine´s husband it is going to be hard to work out the divorcement. It make take a little while, so keep praying for them. anyway...the cool thing that happened in that lesson is that Jorge has been without a job for a really long time, and he mentioned that to Luis who talked with his boss, and now Jorge is working in the same place as Luis! Jorge was really happy and he and Luis get along really well now.

I am so glad to be a missionary. Im glad that the lord has blessed me with the chance to see people change. I have done nothing to cause a change in these people. it is the spirit of God, Christ, and his atonement that changes these people, and it has changed my life to see these people demonstrate their faith and act in accordance with the commandments of God.

Love,

Elder Williams

Dec 8

hola familia y amigos,

this week was a ton of fun with a lot of traveling. Elder Muñoz is a very talented violinist, so in this time of the year with christmas concerts and church activities he is in high demand. yesterday we traveled to the city of Quilicura where we had a huge concert with a missionary choir and lots of musical numbers to celebrate christmas. it went really well. it was a lot of fun because it was an opportunity for the people of Chile to see the missionaries in a different light. usually we knock on their doors and talk with them in the street, but this time we were singing for them. 

I want to talk a little bit about some of the new people we have been working with. Jorge and Katherine are a couple that live in our sector. one day we were walking in the street and we saw a man walking his dog. we stopped and talked with him and he said that his wife was a member of our church and that she hadn´t gone in a while. we stopped by a while later and we met his wife Katherine. we have met with them a lot this week. their family is going through some hard times financially because he is without a job. before, Jorge didnt think much about god, but now he wants to learn how to communicate better with him and serve him. he is doing really well and went to church yesterday.

We had a lesson with Mario, the less active guy who is heavenly involved in the catholic church. it was an awesome lesson because we were going over what he read in the book of mormon and my companion asked if he had ever felt the spirit when he read the bible. he said yes. he said there is a specific chapter in Juan that he loves. we then asked him if he feels the same when he reads the book of Mormon. he said that he feels like that a lot when he reads the book of Mormon. He then realized that if he feels the same spirit with the bookf of Mormon as he does with the bible, the book of mormon is true. he has been trying really hard to get an answer and he finally did!

today we went bowling with the assistents to the president. one of them is going home and is really good friends with elder muñoz so we got to spend a little time with them. I bowled a 64. It didn´t go too well for me.

on Wednesday I was in an intercambio with elder Saldivia. he is from Angol in the south of Chile. it was a ton of fun. the ward mission leader in the ward was really awesome. we were talking with a lady outside of her house and he all of a sudden came around the corner and interrupted us saying to the lady "you have to listen to what they are saying, you have to do it". then he gave us two bottles of water and walked away. 

this week it has been really hot. I think that because of the heat I still havent realized that we are in the christmas season. I hope that you all take the time this christmas season to reflect on our Savior Jesus Christ. I highly recommend a video that the church has made recently called He is the Gift. you can find it on youtube this month.

Love,

Elder Williams

Dec 1 - Turkey Day

hola familia y amigos,

this week was a lot of fun. I dont have a ton of time to write, so Ill just state the big events from this week.

we had a nice thanksgiving here. we at a big lunch of pansito, mashed potatoes, and hamburger patties and juevos. we hung up some stalkings too (old missionary socks). we also bought a pie and ate it.

on Monday night we taught a new guy named Ivan. he is a 7th day adventist. we talked with him and he basically was trying to convince us that we were wrong because the sabath day should be on saturday. he was really nice about it, but he wasn´t very open to listening to our message.

on Tuesday we had an awesome service project. we have been teaching an older couple where the husband is less active and his wife isnt a member. Francisca y Ariel are very friendly. the other day we saw Francisca in the street and she told us that she needed help with a service project. she a had a lot of old clothes that she was trying to get rid of. the thing that was really cold was that we found another man whose wife is a member who has not been able to find work who sells clothes in the ferria (farmers market). we told him that there was an hermana that we were going to help by moving some clothes that she didn´t want anymore, and we were able to give him the clothes so he could sell them in the ferria. as a result of the service project we were able to help two families at once and then teach the two families later the same week.

on Friday we stopped by the house of a less active man we have been teaching. Mario was baptized at the age of 22, and after he got married to his wife, he stopped going to church becuase she didn´t like it. He now is 70 years old, and he works as a financial secretary in the catholic church. it was interesting because we were teaching him this week and he has had some problems with asking God specifically to know if the book of mormon is true, and he said "something I dont understand about the bible and my church is how my wife and I aren´t going to live together forever". we were able to testify to him that yes, families can be together forever, and that he could know for sure if he prayed to god and asked him. we explained that if the book of mormon is true, the doctrine of eternal families is true as well. I am so thankful for the book of mormon. it really is the keystone of our faith.

sorry the letter is so short, but please know that I am doing well, and that I love you all.

Love,

Elder Williams