Rain, rain, rain

Hola familia y Amigos,

por favor perdonanme because I left my camera in the house this week, so I don't have any photos, but tons of awesome things happened.

first, I wanted to mention a couple of things from the past week that I forgot to write. number one, my companion is super awesome. before the mission he studied music and he plays the violin. he brought his violin with him to the mission, and 2 sundays ago he played in church while the other missionaries sang. it was super beautiful. it is a huge blessing to have a companion like Elder Munoz who loves to sing and loves music. Iove singing with Chilenos. they love to sing (despite wheter or not they can do it in tune). 

I should explain what our ward is like here in Quinta Normal. the ward is called Simon Bolivar. the chapel is two stories tall. the sacrament hall is in the second floor with the gym and kitchen, and the first floor has all of the classrooms. there are 6 missionaries in our ward. 4 are hermanas and the rest are us. our ward has about 150 in it that assist regularly, and is super awesome. it is also very cold in the chapel in the winter. I never used to wear sweaters underneath my suits or gloves in the church, but now it is necessary.

I want to talk about a person that we met the other day. his name is Alejandro, and he is a ninja. we were in the neighborhood, knocking doors, and he answered, and told us that he had actually been baptized when he was 8 and then after that didn't go to church again. he told us that we could stop by a couple days later, because he was a little busy, and while we were setting an appointment with him, he told us that he attends a martial arts class. fast forward 1 week later, and we stopped by his house and he answered the door in ninja clothing. he had been training, and he was wearing those cool footsy ninja pants that have a split toe like a turtle. He is super awesome, and wants to learn more about why we are here in this life.

also, the past Sunday we were returning home from a church meeting when Luis, a recent convert to the church, called us and asked us if we could give his wife, Carolina, a blessing. we arrived at his house and saw that Carolina was in a lot of pain because of a headache. we placed our hands upon her head and gave her a priesthood blessing. after the blessing Luis was dissapointed because nothing miraculous happened immediatley. the next day we got a phone call from them saying that Carolina had been able to go to sleep, and when she woke up the next morning she felt really good, and had a lot of energy. she said that she felt that the lord had blessed her for her faith. for those of you who are reading who are not members, a priesthood blessing is What Christ and his apostles did when they were on the earth. those that hold the priesthood of God can place their hands upon the head of someone who is sick and leave them with a blessing of health. this power or priesthood of God was restored through the prophet Jospeh Smith.

on Thursday we did something super fun. there is something here called Ferria, which is basically a farmers market but huge and takes up the whole street. this week we set up a stand with tons of fliers, pamphlets, DVDs, and books, all of it for free. it was super fun. we talked with a ton of people, and got to experience part of the culture here. it smells a lot in the ferria because you have stands with vegetbales, fish, and fruits. you can buy anything in the ferria. I mean anything. I walked by a stand that was selling Billy Joel CDs. that was fun.

on Friday, we helped an hermana pick Oranges off of her tree (because Gringos are taller than chilenos). it was super fun, because her son Kevin was on the roof of the house helping us and throwing oranges and us too. la hermana gave us a huge bag of oranges too, which we shared with the people we met in the streets.

On Friday night we had a family home evening of our ward. my companion and I were in charge of the refreshments. we didn't know what to do, so I decided that I was going to make pancakes with M&Ms in them. it was a last minute idea, and I thought it would fail. I forgot that Chileans have never eaten pancakes. THEY LOVED THEM. we now have a problem because they think that I can cook...Luis y Carolina invited us to their house on Sunday to teach them how to make pancakes.

On Saturday it rained a ton. that made me miss home a little (shout out to all of my Bothell Cougars out there). we had an activity in the church that night where the different age groups in the church had prepared food, presentations, and dances from different south american countries. when we arrived we were in the second floor of the church, in the gym. all of a sudden, the ground started to shake, and I thought that there was a car that was driving beneath or something, but the shaking didn't stop, but kept going for about 15 seconds, and it got more powerful. it turns out that there was a 6.4 earth quake that happened nearby. my first Temblor in Chile. Im officially a missionary here! there was a huge earthquake here in 2010 and the people are still sensative about it, so when the temblor happened, people started to scream. there are some pretty harsh memories from 2010 that are still lingering in the back of peoples minds, but don't worry, everyone is ok from the earthquake here.

Final thing, yesterday we received two free empanadas from some members in our ward, and we left them out on the counter during the night. this was a mistake because I forgot that sometimes we have a visitor at night. there is a cat that loves to squeeze himself through a slit (and I mean a slit) in our sliding glass door to sleep in our "warm" apartment. we woke this morning to empanada crums on the floor. I was angry. I love empanadas.

Thank you so much for your emails, pictures, prayers, and all that you do

Love,

Elder Williams

It's getting hotter

Hola familia y amigos,

I hope you are all doing really awesome! shout out to Evan and Lizzie On Their anneversary! 

This week WAS crazy. Elder Boelter Went home this past monday so I Was in load of the sector Abebooks web have. This has-been the hardest week of my life. my companion elder Munoz has-been Heavily Involved in my survival this week. he is from Chile and Does not speak much English, drank His goofy personality and patience, is just what I needed.   

It Was weird at first to stop by the houses of our investigators sans Elder Boelter, it felt like someone WAS missing becuase Elder Boelter HAS Such an awesome personality and present, people are thankfully goal inside letting us Their homes.

Because elder Munoz is new here in this sector, I Was in burden of getting us from house to house to the chapel to the grocery store to our apartment in one piece. I got lost only 2 times, so I'm going to call That a win.

this week aussi WAS pretty rough with our lessons. ; many of our investigators Were Either sick, out of town, or nowhere to Be Found. We were walking in the street a lot, and I felt like We Were not really helping the kingdom a lot. I want to share a story about how though the Lord works in mysterious ways. We Were in the southern portion of our sector on Tuesday and stopped by We had 4 or 5 houses and HAD beens not reliable to teach a lesson. I felt terrible. We Were stopping by to see if door Reviews another person WAS the home When We Heard someone scream "Elderes!" we turned around and saw one of the miembros from our ward That Was try trying to carry her daughter to her house agatha All which WAS 2 or 3 blocks away. Agatha WAS standing goal unresponsive and having trouble breathing WAS. Quickly we ran over and Agatha Helped carry to the house and Then We left thinking "That Was really wierd." A couple days later we Passed by to see how That House WAS doing the family, and the mom Told us "I am so thankful for you two. praying to god I Was That Would he send me someone to help me carry my daughter to the Then I saw house and you two around the corner. "  

To me it is evidence That There is more to being white a missionary than just numbers. We had-been walking in the street for hours with a lesson, and Because Of Abebooks web Were reliable phrasal preposition the right time in the right place to help this hermana and her daughter.

This week has-been the hardest of my life, I have never seen aim So Many miracles. I have Learned what it means clustering to pray this week. I remember walking in the street one day praying to God That Would he bless my companion and I with the Opportunity to share the Gospel. We Were tired and thirsty and HAD Walked a tone already, and when to door we knocked on Reviews another After about 5 HAD That We Were Rejected us ble to teach a lesson.

I will never take lightly the Opportunity to Teach After agian this week. I have Learned this week what my purpose as a missionary is. Focused as we are missionaries in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith, repentance, baptism, the holy ghost, and perservering Until The End. we teach lessons to people so They Can Understand more about this doctrine of Christ, so That They Can develope the faith to follow this pathway to god, the only pathway That Ensures happiness in this life and hope in life after death.

Realization this really hit me when we HAD meeting for all of the new missionaries. this meeting WAS annoncé to us Wednesday night and it WAS to take up all day Friday . We had tons of appointments HAD Planned for That Day and I remember thinking "what the president is doing. going to teach We Were a tone today." I Know That now our president Videla s'intitule of God. the meeting was exactly what I needed. I Learned a tone, and I got to see my friends from the CCM. I Was Edified so much from His inspiration to Have That meeting at That Time.   

Thank you all so much for your prayers, your emails and your faith in our Savior Jesus Christ

Love,

Elder Williams

Gone Gone Gone

hola familia y amigos

this week has been absolutely crazy. this is the week of cambios where companions change to different parts of the mission. I am staying here in Quinta Normal. Elder Boelter left (Ill talk about that in a little bit), and I received a new companion. His name is Elder Munoz. he is chileno which is awesome. this will give me a ton of practice with my spanish. he is from a city that lies in the mission santiago west so he is actually serving pretty close to home. he is very funny. every missionary that knows him loves him. 

Im going to start at the beginning of the week. in order to train me better Elder Boleter put me in charge of the cell phone this week. Im not going to lie. it is so hard to talk to Chileans. it is even harder to talk to them by telephone when you are walking briskly by a busy highway. There are some telephone calls where I answer talk for 2 minutes and then I hang up and elder boelter asks me "what did they want". usually I respond "I have no idea but they said ok todo esta bien when they finished so I think the problem was resolved".

A mission is a lot of fun, but it is also really hard. I keep on thinking about how a sword is made. the blacksmith has a giant hammer and anvil and he sticks the steel in really hot fire and hits the sword a ton. i Think it has something to do with getting rid of impurities or something like that. I feel like I am sword in the making. Im in hot fire, and Im getting hit a lot by big hammer. but hey, one day Ill be able to pierce people with the spirit of the Lord!

Wednesday we had lunch with la hermana feli. she works at a restaurant so she is a really good cook. we stopped by her house to get the lunch, and we ate a ton. we were stuffed. we then got a phone call from la hermana Abarca. she said that we were scheduled to eat lunch at her house that day. she said that the food was getting cold and that she had prepared it especially for us. she also sounded a little angry with us. if there is one thing missionaries do not want, it is members that are angry with them. we told her that we would come and eat. We had to eat two lunches and Elder Boelter didn't have room in his stomach to do it. I had finished all of my Lentejas and he still had half of his giant plate to go. Aqui in Chile if you don't eat all of the food they give you its rude. I was so full, but Elder Boelter was worse off. that was when I got the idea to ask the hermana to please bring us more tomatos. she did it, and when she left the kitchen Elder Boelter scooped his food on my plate so I could eat it. It was so funny. we were laughing and trying not to throw up, it was hilarious.

Friday, Elder Boelter went to the temple so I was in an intercambio con Elder Nelson. Elder Nelson is from Provo Utah and he is going to be the next assistent to the president. we visited some of his converts when he was here in my sector. we also taught Lorena. Lorena is suffering from a lot of back problems recently and it has been hard to meet with her, but we were able to do it the other day. We found out that her son Camilo who lives in the south of Chile is also going to be living there. Lorena is awesome. She really wants to follow Jesus Christ, and she knows that Baptism is the way to do it.

Firday night we received a third companion. Elder Call was serving in the Robinson Cruso island but he goes home with Elder Boelter, and he needed somewhere to sleep, so he spent time with us. he actually spent two weeks here 6 moths ago in the same sector. he is awesome and really nice. it was fun to be in a trio like back in the old days in the CCM. 

This weekend there were a lot of trunky thoughts. having two missionaries that are finishing their missions at the same time is not easy. it was hard to keep my thoughts focused when we stopped by families from the ward last night to say goodbye. they all said something like "that is so great that you get to see your family again and hug your mom, and hang out with your old friends". I was sitting there thinking "Hey, there are still some of us here that have 1 year and 9 months left!"

I am so glad to be serving a mission here in Chile. I am learning a ton about my Savior Jesus Christ and about his Gospel for all of us.

Love,

Elder Williams

almuerzo con la familia estica con Elder Boelter y Elder Call

​clase de distrito!

The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning

Hola Familia y Amigos

I have good news. I am typing at a computer that actually works this week so I can actually tell you what happened this week

This week has been rough in the morning because our water heater broke. its amazing the things that you take for granted in the United states like hot water. we also had the light in the bathroom go out, so I was showering in the cold by candle light.

That happened tuesday, and we had to go the doctor to do a check up with elder Boelter before he goes home in one week. the doctors office is right next to the CCM in Chile. I got to see the CCM president again and also some of my teachers. also, while we were walking to the CCM, we saw some hermanas on the other side of the street. we didn't say hi to them because they were kind of far away. while I was in a church store buying some hymn books, I ran into some sister missionaries from Santiago Oeste mission. I had heard that Seattle Farner (from Woodinville WA) was in that mission, and I asked them if they new her. they said she was just here 5 minutes ago. it turns out that she was in that group of sister missionaries that we saw! that was crazy! Im going to email her today to verify

Something that we have really been working on as a companionship is teaching lessons in less than 45 minutes. this is a point in preach my gospel that here in Chile is really hard to follow because people love to talk. its hard to ballance preaching the gospel, and developing relationships with the people you teach. to anyone who has served in Chile, you know what Im talking about when I say that the people love to talk, and they talk so fast that they begin to sound like a turkey gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble :)

on Wednesday we were walking back from an appointment with Lorena when we saw 4 kids running in the street. they had some things in their hands as they ran. we thought they were playing a game, and then we saw 3 older (and fatter) guys chasing aftter them and yelling. apparently we had just seen a robbery. it was kind of funny to see one of the larger men hop on his bicycle to try and chase them down.

That same day we were in a lesson with an older man and his wife, se llaman benito y Maria. we talked with them about the restoration, and we were just finishing up and were about to invite him to be baptized when he told us that he had been baptized 50 years ago. you think that he would have mentioned that at the beginning. this has happened to us probably 5 times. we ask people in the beginning of the lessons if they know the church, or if theyve visited it, or things like that. they told us in the beginning that they had heard of the church, but that they hadn't gone to it. I dont understand, its kind of like "oh by the way, Im already a member of your church". but I always think its funny when that happens.

on Friday we were walking in the street, and I saw a woman that was just standing in her door enjoying some solsito (sun rays). we talked to her for a bit, and we asked her if we could share our message with her. she said ok, and we entered. when we entered we saw that there were no men in the house. as missionaries, we have the rule that we can teach if we sit near the front door, and if the door is open. in addition to this we saw that this woman had 5 daughters, 3 of whom were around our age. we taught the family about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but Im not going to lie I dont know if those 3 daughters were completely focused in the lesson, but more in my companion's eyes

sorry to you guys if the baptism of Luis y Carolina was a little surprising. there is a tradition in this companionship that we do not email about our baptisms before they happen, because it is guaranteed that if I talk about it before it happens, it doesn't happen. pero, eso. Luis y Carolina received the gift of the holy Ghost this Sunday. Luis also received the aaronic priesthood. We met with them earlier this week to see how they were doing. they recently downloaded the gospel library app on their phones and Luis told us that usually he plays mario when he is in the bathroom, but now he is reading his scriptures. that is a win in this missionary's book.

This week was a ton of fun, and I am really excited for this next week. it is the last week of Elder Boelter. because of the change of mission presidents in the beginning of my mission, this cambio or transfer period is 8 weeks. I will be getting a new companion next week, so that should be fun, but I am going to miss Elder Boelter a ton.

Last but definitly not least I need to give a shout out to the two most important women in my life. Hermana Williams, Congratulations on entering the CCM! Mama Williams: Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Williams

Twinning!

hola Familia y amigos,

please be patient with me because I am typing at a really old computer that is diferent than the usual one and the keyboar is really sticky. also, there were some change made in the mission schedule. we now only have an hour to write families and the presidet and other things, so the emails might be shorter.

Also.....BIG SHOUT OUT TO MELANIE. she enters the MTC this week in Mexico, and then she is off to Chile! I am so proud of my twin sister!!!!

The mission is so exciting. this week we had two baptisms. Luis y Carolina. I wish you all could have seen the change in Luis before and after his baptism. He was so nervous and anxious beforehand, but after the baptism when he came up out of the water, with his wet, white shirt revealing the tatoos he had on his chest, he was all smiles. A lot of people say God is a God of miracles, and that is true, but the miracles now are people. People do change when they let Christ into their lives.

in addition to the changes in the schedule, we now wake up at 630 instead of 730. also, we can now eat once (dinner) with the members. usually in the morning we eat eggs and cereal on our own. later the members here always provide us with lunch. we eat with them in their houses. usually we don´t eat dinner, but now it is in our schedule to do so.

The other day we were eating lunch with a member of our ward, and I guess that recently their son had watched a movie from the states or had tlked with a friend who had seen a movie because when we were there he walked into the kitchen and droppe the F bomb 3 times. he was only 7, and he didn´t know what it meant, but it was so out of the blue that my companion and I had to laugh.

on Wednesday, we had interviews with the president. the thing you need to understand about president Videla is that he is so laid back. the interview was solely to get to know the elders. the next day we were at a nother meeting with him, and he gave his car keys to Elder Boelter to move his car in case the peron behind him needed to move.

on Thursday we had a lesson with Lorena. Lorena is so awesome. here in Chile, when you are greeted by a woman older than 40 she will call you 4 baby names in a row (like hola mi amor hijos chicios lindos) and then they will offer you jugito. we were in a lesson with her and it was going really well. she then asked us about the bishop from our church. we explained that he was not paid for his service. she then asked, ¨well it says in the bible that we need to pay tithes and offerings, so where do your tithes and offerings go¨? we explained that we do pay tithes and offerings that go to things like builing chapels and temples, and she said oh ok im glad you guys pay tithing. my companion and I were thinking WHAT? when has there ever been an investigator that looks for a church with tithing. Lorena went to church this week, and really enjoyed it.

that´s all I hae time for folks. thank you for your prayers!

Love,

Elder Williams

One month in el campo

Hola Familia y amigos!

man this week was crazy fun because we were spending it with some really cool people. One person that I want to talk about is Luis. Luis has been in contact with the missionaries for 15 years. during those 15 years he has really turned his life around. now, he is preparing to be baptized! he is so solid! when we visited the temple with him he told us that he felt the spirit really strong, and that he knows that church is true. He is already participating in the iglesia. In sunday school he actively contributes to the conversations, and has easily made friends with people from the ward. The reason why Luis is really cool to me is because he has so much faith. he is still working to gain a testimony of the book of mormon, but he already knows the church is true.

We tried to have a family home evening at his house last week, but only one person was able to make it. that is something that you will see a lot as a missionary: your plans will fall through. thankfuly the person that came, Romina, was a ton of fun, and really befriended the wife of Luis (se llama Carolina).

That same day we were coming out of a members home, and I saw a lady waiting in the gateway of her neighbor's yard. she had shouted "Halo" which is what you do to enter someone's house when they have a gait. the neighbor didn't respond, and so I went to talk to her about how I knew what she was feeling (rejection at the gate). She laughed, and when I came to shake her hand to introduce myself, she went in to kiss me. don't freak out because this is a common way that you meet someone of the opposite sex here, but as a missionary, we don't do it. unfortunately she kept going in and while trying to strain my head away, she kissed me on the cheek! It was funny for me and she was confused until I told her about the rule. she was really nice. her name is Patricia, and we set up an apointment with with her. 

on Wednesday I got to do an intercambio! intercambios are when missionaries switch companions and sectors. my companion didn't really explain it to well, but about 5 minutes before we left the apartment, he said "oy by the way your going to spend the night there too". that's another thing you learn as a missionary: you role with the punches and go with the flow. I was with Elder Parker. Elder Parker is from Boise Idaho, but he loves the city of Seattle, and really wants to live there. naturally, we had a lot to talk about. we got to meet with some cool members, and teach a little. it was a lot of fun, because it felt like a fresh start. I really felt like a missionary then. I was initiating conversations with people, I was setting up appointments, and I was sharing the gospel. 

your first 12 weeks in the field, you are assigned a trainer. the first twelve weeks is like trying to drink from a firehydrant, but I felt like the intercambio was like a quiz to see how I was learning, and Im pleased to say it didn't go too bad.

The next day I returned to my sector and learned a valuable lesson. when you are with someone, you need to be focused on that person and nothing else. Im not going to lie, sometimes it is difficult to stay focused in a lesson, especially if you don't speak the language amazing. sometimes your mind drifts to other things, like what you were supposed to do 15 minutes ago acording to your schedule, or how late you are for something, or if you are behind on your contacts for the day. if you don't course correct your thoughts, you don't listen to the investigators, and you cant help them. I know Fernando y Romina, who are recent converts said to me during a lesson "Elder Williams, por que esta preocupado"? I had not been in control of my mind, but instead I was thinking of another thing that I had to do that day. it is so important to dedicate your time to the people, by completly focusing on them when you are in their presence

on Friday night we had a family home evening from the barrio. Luis brought his guitar to the activity, and I got to play the guitar and sing teach me to walk in the light with my campionon. at first I was thinking, "am I allowed to touch a guitar"? thankfuly my campion assured me that it was ok. IT WAS SO AWESOME to touch a stringed intstrument again. the noche de hogar went great, and the hermanas in our barrio made brownies so that was a win.

the next day I had a really cool opportunity. there is a recent convert in our ward se llama Marta. she is an abuelita that truthfully reminds me of Grandma Jean (shout out to grandma Jean I love you). she has a son who is a percussionist in the most famous caumbia band in Chile. the Palasio family is huge here in chile with Cumbia music. Nelson, the member of the band, has two kids. Evans and Eveline. they are fraternal twins! they were so cute, but also a little sick, and so we gave them a priesthood blessing.

Sunday was crazy, because I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. I had spent 4 days preparing it, and I had it completly written down. Ive got some good news and some bad news. the good news is that the talk went really well, and everyone understood me and enjoyed the talk. the bad news is that everyone thinks I can speak spanish now. I can read spanish, I can speak it Ok, but understanding it when an abuelo without any teeth is talking to you is near imposible for me. 

That night we were just wrapping up the day, and we decided to stop by the house of a contact. her name is Rosy, and we were expecting here to cancel because it was kind of late, but when we stopped by, we saw that there were 4 other people in the house, who all sat down when we came in to share with us. THIS NEVER HAPPENS. there were 5 peruanos there that took time out of their schedules to listen to us. we taught about the restoration, and realized that we didn't have enough books of mormon for them to read. It truly is amazing to see how the Lord prepares people to hear his message. It is a miracle for me when someone says "pasen" and lets us into their home.

It is such a huge blessing in my life that I have the chance to compartir the gospel with the people of Chile. I know that through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can return to live with our father in heaven with our families for all of eternity!

Love,

Elder Williams

this week for our p day we drove an hour to the mountains to play in the snow! we had to take a really crowded car there, and it was cold cold cold, but a lot of fun tambien

I love to see the temple. . .

hola familia y amigos!

This week was awesome. On Wednesday we had our district meeting which was great because the zone leaders prepared a skit for us. they were acting like they were sherlock holmes, which was really funny because somehow they found a magnifying glass, and elder Perez from argentina had no idea who sherlock holmes was.

tambien, I received an awesome greeny package from my Mommy! it was awesome and greatly needed because I was really craving some trader Joes granola bars

This week, while we were passing by the house of one of our investigators we heard that the neighbor who is a member of our ward, recently had her mother pass away. we stopped by and talked with the family. in Chile the funerals are the day after or the night of the person's passing. the viewing is held in the house of the family. we stopped by the next day and gave a devotional and also sang nearer my god to thee.

on a brighter note, we had a great family home evening with some investigators. we like to use the mormon messages a lot here for family home evening. after we shared a video and taught about the book of mormon, the mom of the house kept insisting that we eat food. we had so much cake it was rediculous. in chile there is a meal called once where around 7 or 8 at night people get together and eat deserts, bread, and soda, and talk for about 1 to 2 hours. 

on Saturday we were able to go the temple with Luis y Carolina. it was so great and so wierd because it had been 4 weeks since I had been living in the CCM which is next door to the temple. it was wierd to return to the CCM but awesome to see the temple. there are two sister missionaries that do a tour there. we talk about the restoration of the church and of the gospel on the earth, and then we got to enter the temple. you can feel a change in the atmosphere when you enter the temple. the spirit is very strong, and the peace you feel there is the best!

that night I was writing in my journal. I felt the ground shake a little bit because I thought the apartment above was running on their treadmil, and I thought nothing of it. Elder Boelter was on the phone with members of our district and they said they felt it too. apparently there was an earth quake! it was a little one, so don't worry. everybody here is fine.

Sunday was great. Im getting way better at holding a conversation in Spanish. I can now make it 5 minutes. tambien we had an awesome lunch. hermana casejo came out with an iron plate the size of a trashcan lid full of pork, chicken, clams, oysters, beef, and sausage. that was great and not typical of here in Chile!

Thank you so much for all of your packages, letters, emails, and prayers. 

Love,

Elder Williams