Didn't get robbed!

So this week was super awesome. we had transfers the other week, and my new comp is elder Nielson, and he is freaking legit! We started the mission at the same time so i met him in the MTC, And me and him are super good friends. But it was awesome he went with me to Torres Del Paine, and it was freaking awesome me and him started to have rap battles one the bus home (in english, rapping in spanish is way too easy because pretty much everything rhymes hahaha), and it was super legit, and then a bunch of the missionaries in our zone saw what we were doing and wanted in on it, and it was so much fun. But me and him get along super super good, we are pretty much just playing around all day, but it think that i have also been working harder with him than with any other comp ive had because we both are super excited to work, so everything is just going super awesome with him.

Truman i feel like i need to tell you something though, i told my comp and another elder that i live with the puke story. They busted up laughing hahaha They said ``Oh my gosh that may be the greatest story i have ever heard in my whole life`` hahaha But dude the missionary that i live with reminds me so much of you, hes blond, skinny and taller than me, and is super cool. Kid freaking trashed me today when we were playing handball as a zone, hes the first kid that actually stands a chance blocking against me, the last 3 months i was pretty much always the uncontested champion at hand ball, but this kid was wrecking me the whole game, ima have to step up my game a little.

Happy Birthday Ella!!!!!! That senor boy that you love flirting with so much is lucky that im on the farthest end of the world or else he`d have to deal with me. hahaha

So it was super awesome i went to Torres del Paine this last week right, and my favorite part there is called Lago Grey (Grey Lake) and its a big old lake that is filled with glaciers. (ICE BERGS!!!!!) But it was super awesome, we were there, and it actually felt like a pretty warm day to me (it was -20 like it was when i got here so that really isnt cold to me any more hahahaha) And so i was running around in a short sleeved shirt, most of the time, just soaking in the beautiful weather, when walk past a big group of tourists (i wish i got a photo of us) and all of them where in hardcore snow gear, In giant furry snow jackets, with big thick scarfs, with mittens, and they were still all shivering up a storm like they are freezing to death, and then i casually walk up to them in a short sleeved shirt and jeans, sweating a little bit because my comp and i decided to jog around the lake just to have more time to take pics and see cool stuff, and i walk up to those poor freezing tourists and say ``Nice weather we having today isnt it`` hahahahahahahahahahaha I got soooooo many dirty looks by those tourists all of which sent a message like ``Kid your Nuts, just go away im getting cold just looking at you`` But really i just got all of my freezing to death out of me when i first got to Punta Arenas, so im kind of over being cold hahahahahaha.

But this week was super awesome, its kind of cool, most times i have changed comps, i have had to get used to their teaching style so that i can teacher better with them. but i was happily surprised that when i taught my first lesson with Elder Nielson We already teach really well together, as soon as he was done with his thought, i got one and would start talking right when he stopped, And then we were both making questions that were exactly what the investigator need and coincided with what the other one wanted to say. Me and him are both super stoked to work together. 

 

The only really sad thing is that we are ending the mission together, so we will probably just be together for about a month, and then get changed, unless presidente plans on having us both end our missions together, and then just leave our sector empty for new elders that have no idea what to do there, but i find that super unlikely that presidente will do that so i imagine we wont be together that long. thats just great right, you finally get a comp that you get along super good together with, and work awesome together ever since day one, and you know that you will only be together for like a months... lame. But whatever i am super stoked to see what is going to happen up in here this cambio.

But i dont really know what else more to talk about, everything is going good, OH I JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING SUPER FUNNY! The other day (when i was still with elder P. Me and him were walking through, a place of our sector that is super sketchy, where im sure people get attacked and stuff all the time, because its a big valley kind of place that you need to cross to get from one neighborhood to another one without walking a really long way around it, but its super dark down there, and so someone could jump you or something, and no one would ever know. 

 

But anyways, my comp and i were in a hurry, on our way home so we decided to cross through that valley to be fast even though it was super dark, But as we start walking down one side of it, i see a group, of about 6 guys, and they all look pretty sketchy. And so i turn to my comp and say,`` hey heads up, i feel like those guys are going to try doing something, so get ready to fight`` And he just kind of jokingly says `Ehh there is only 6 of them, we could take them pretty easy`` And then we laugh. 

 

But as we get down there, they all look at us, and whisper in between themselves, and then all start walking towards us. And so i think to myself, alright here we go, and then i clench up a fist and get ready to fight them all off ( in normal fight circumstances we would just run, but its not really possible from where we were) But then they get really close, and then all at the same time they all turn around and start walking in  a different direction as if trying to avoid us. And i thought that was weird, but keep walking, when i hear one of them say ``Dude what just happened, i thought we were going to rob them, why did we just walk away?`` And then one of them replied ``Did you see them???? They were freaking huge!There was no way i wanted to even risk a fight with one of them`` Hahahahahahahahaha 

 

Good move on their part though i think that was like the first time in my life when i knew there was going to be in trouble, and was one hundred percent ready to fight 6 people, and was not even a little nervous about it. I was just reminded of that just because the other night we were all telling each other mission stories, and i told the other missionaries all of my getting robbed, and getting in fights, and other such stories. Hahaha 

Welps i gots to bounce but i love you all keep me posted on how you are allz doing!

    

Advice for Truman mostly, but good for all

Truman the reactivating the less actives is literally the best way to find new investigators, honestly almost every single person that i taught that was baptized, almost every single one of them was from a less active family, where part of the family wasnt a member, so we reactivated that family and would baptize the kids or the wife, or someone in the family. So work hard with those less actives,

 

 there is one thing that we do in my mission that helps them alot to want to come back called ``Assignments`` and they talk about it a little bit in chapter 13 of PMG there is a quote by gorden b hinckley that talks about how every new member (or recently reactivated member) needs a friend, the good word, and an assignment, and what we do is we find out something that needs to be done in church (like bring bread to church for the Sacrament, or set up chairs, or a spiritual thought, anything really) just look for a need and fill it with an assignment to a less active for them to do that thing.

There is also something called A ``New convert and recently Reactivated member Report`` I just translated it from spanish but it should be something like that. Ask you bishop if he has those papers, they show key steps from the first day the reactivated or new member comes to church. up until they are sealed in the temple. Those help so much too with working better with the members to help reactivate the members. Also in your Ward Council, ask specifically for members who have recently went less active, the members should know, and they are generally one of the easiest to come back. You can also ask for ones that have a member in the family that isnt a member.

I have so many things that i could tell you about reactivating less actives, because that has been pretty much my whole mission, in chile only 10 percent of all members are active, We literally find less active members all the time just knocking doors, it is so rewarding to work with them, help your companion see that helping them come back to Christ is just as important finding investigators to baptize (and honestly the best tool to find more people to baptize)

Dont forget the parable of the lost sheep (the one lost as opposed to the 99) and there is also D&C 18 (remember the worth of souls are great in the sight of God)

And dont let your companion think that it is only the members responsibility to re activate, the fact that there are 300 less actives in a city that has a branch of 60 shows that the members need help with their responsibility. And they cant do it alone. If you need more support watch the special conference called ``The work of Salvation`` there are multiple talks in there that specifically talk about how now the missionaries are going to be needed in the work of reactivation.

Another things that is super useful as soon as the members come back for the first time work really hard with the leaders of the origination where they belong so that they get visiting teachers, the help of the members is 100 percent necessary in reactivation, and visiting teachers help them feel loved and like the ward wants them back, 

Let me know if you need any more help about that, i can tell you about more awesome things to do to help the less actives come back, i could literally talk about it for my whole internet time (and honestly almost did.) And i have no problem telling you more things that can help you in your mission.

 

Ella dont worry i will still be there to keep all of the boys off of you, i already have plans to buy a shot gun before you turn 16 so that when you get asked on your first date, i will be there in the front room cleaning out the shot gun, just to make sure that the kid doesnt get any ideas.. P.s. dont flirt with seniors.

Mom so i am already decided that i want to marry a desert girl, that speaks english, i dont know who it will be, but i have just traveled around the world and around the states enough that i know that Az is as good as it gets, so i dont want to have to have something pulling me away from paradise. p.s. how on earth is alison not married yet, thats just a miracle shes so cool. you`ll have to keep other guys off of her while i am gone hahahahaha just kidding

I got D's letter this week, tell him i love him, im going to try writing him back but honestly i dont know when ill have time, freaking being a zone leader i have no time ever to do what i want hahaha

 

 Heads up so next week i definitely wont be able to write you on Monday, and honestly it may be possible that i do not write you at all, if i can i will write you on Tuesday, As a zone we are going to go hiking in a place called Torres Del Paine (google it) but to get there we have to leave at 5 am, and we have permission to not come home until 9:30pm so i wont have not even one second to write you guys ( on monday that is) i talked to the mission president and its possible that we are going to get permission to write on tuesday but i dont have a for sure answer yet

So quotes from the week 

``So i know that the members tell us all the time that winters over and it should start heating up, but it has been snowing non stop for multiple days now so i dont know how right they are``

Actually another funny quote from before it started snowing again, but back ground story last week ( i just forgot to write about it last week we had a heat wave where it got all the way up to 50 degrees, boiling hot right,) but one member said 

``Ahh i feel like im burning in hell its so hot today!!!! 50 degrees is just unbearable`` And then i thought to myself ``I hope you get to go to Arizona someday...`` hahahaha granted we do kind of live a snows through away from Antarctica, and so if its not below freezing its a pretty nice day outside hahaha, I am happy though we havent had sub zero temperatures here in a little while, and i doubt they are coming back so i am pretty stoked about it.

Another funny quote

``Hey elder p, how hard is it snowing right now ?``

``Its not bad at all,``

``Awesome i has hoping to work in a light jacket again this week!``

Another funny quote. Today it was freaking freaking cold, and it was snowing. And me and my companion walked past a group of girls wearing short skirts and i said to my comp ``it is so cold that it literally feels like my face is burning right now, and i can no longer feel my fingers, I hope that them trying to look attractive is worth it because only my face is showing and it hurts, i cant imagine how their legs feel right now.`` hahahaha 

Ok well shoot i am all out of time i love you all, youll have to keep me posted with how you are all doing. Ill keep you all in my prayers!

No more secrets

So i loved general conference so much, and we saw a couple of awesome miracles that came out of it.

First we have one investigator (i am pretty sure i talked about her before) but she is super awesome, the only reason she hasnt gotten baptized yet is just because her mom is a less active member that is super anti mormon, and her dad hates mormons as well, so for the past while we have been teaching her secretly in the church. But she is awesome and has a super strong testimony. But hasnt gotten baptized because she is afraid of talking the her parents about it (shes 17 so she cant get baptized without their permission) But she came to general conference this week, to both of the saturday sessions. And then told us that she really wanted to come to the sunday sessions but wasnt sure if she would be able to. 

And then the next morning at like 8am we get a call from her, and we see its her and me and my comp both think ´´Dang it...Its probably her calling to tell us that she isnt going to be able to call´´ And so we answer the phone and she shouts ´´ELDER!!!!!!!! MY MOM IS GOING TO LET ME GET BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!´´ 

 

And then she told us the story of how after general conference she felt like she really really needed to talk to her mom about her meeting with the missionaries, and she was afraid to do it, but she knew it was the spirit telling it to her so she decided to do it. And when she talked to her mom, the mom just just super feliz that the daughter was meeting with us, and then expressed how she supported her 100 percent, and to show her support, has started reading the book of mormon with her and helping her to understand it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats so awesome. im so happy for her, because i mentioned her before about how when the mom left the church she started burning all of her church books, and thats when the girl rescued the book of mormon when her mom wasnt looking.

But yeah im pretty happy about that. 

She hasnt been able to talk to her dad yet, and frankly im more worried about her dad that i was about her mom, but we shall see what happens

The invesitgator that had his hands burned off came too, and he really liked it, we had an appointment with him too where we were going to invite him to be baptized but the cita fell, so we are going to swing by later today, and are going to invitarlo.

But ok i have to confess something though, when i was in general conference i thought that i shouldnt keep my returning date a secret from you. I should be coming home on January 3rd. I really want to talk to the mission presidente, and in fact am going to talk to him today about letting me stay until the 11th, or some date close by there. I know that MCC starts on the 12th and i want to be here the absolute most time possible. 

I have another secret that i should probably tell you about. It was one i have been keeping for pretty much my whole mission, but ill tell it to you in story mode,

So generally speaking i have always had like one conference talk that i felt was just written just for me. But i was doing some self analysis, and i realized that there was/is pretty much nothing bothering me, and i wasnt/am not really having any big struggles in my life right now, and so i was just expecting that this conference would just be a really good one, but just not have anything directly pointed toward me. And there wasnt, up until i think it was the last session of conference when there was a man who gave his talk in Portuguese, and he spoke about making decisions. And immediately when he started talking i could feel that it was the one that was going to be focused on me.

And i dont have my conference notes with me right now but there is one thing that he said which made me want to tell you about something.

I am pretty sure that it was the 3rd point in things you should do when making an important decision. And it was talking about telling your plans to your loved ones. And he talked about how if you do that they will be able to help you and support you, and help you see things out of a clearer scope. And honestly i want to still keep the secret from you of about what i want to do, but i knew the spirit told me i needed to tell you so i will.

After the mission i really want to join the Air Force, and almost every talk in general conference made me more sure about my decision. but now i want to tell you why and i would like to hear feedback.

Ive actually wanted to join the Air Force since even before i was a missionary actually. But one thing that i always told my self each time i wanted to find out more about joining was ´´I will do my duty to my God and [then] to my country´´ And i always wanted to help others win the freedom that i had enjoyed for so long.

But as i served a mission that desire kind of changed, or at least was more focused, later in my mission i wanted to serve in the military to become an even more spiritually mature person, i would remember that before the mission i would often sing the song ´´How can i be´´ And i would reflect on how the men like Nephi Moroni Alma and other men from the book of Mormon, how they became the man that they were. And i realized that almost every single one of them fought with their lives to defend their faith and their freedom and their families, and although there are some that it dont specifically say that they fought in a war who became the men that they were, i assumed that their testimonies became so rock hard unshakable is because that even in the face of death they help onto their testimonies and it turned them into strong disciples of Christ.

But then that desire also went or even more refined as i kept going on my mission, and one seed was planted by a really dear friend of mine, she wrote me telling me about how she was part of a choir that went around to military bases and sang, and she told me about how many many people who while serving in the the military came to believe in the restored gospel because their member service men preached them the gospel when they were living pretty hard lives, and they got baptized

Now all of you know that i love preaching the gospel, i see that as really one of the biggest reasons of why i am here on the earth right now, and i am going to tell you probably one of the biggest fears i have (had). I have been terrified of the idea, that one day i am going to end my mission, and am going to lose all of the spiritual progress that i have made, all of the desire that i have gained to preach the gospel, and i will just turn into ´´Just like everyone else´´ 

 

I know all return missionaries say that they are going to get home and leave with the missionaries all the time, and they are going to give the missionaries a million references and what not, and then do..for about a month, and then when schooling and jobs, and girls come back into the picture they fall into a state that is just slightly less iniquitous than how they were before the mission, and they lose an incredible amount of who they just were a few months earlier. 

 

And i am terrified of that. I have seen in happen so many times, before the mission, during the mission, have had friends write me, that shows that its happened to them, and i am positive that i am going to see it after the mission to. And i will not let that happen to me.

And i see joining the Air Force as one of the few things that can keep me on a higher plane of thought, of being, and a greater chance of sharing the gospel than the so common ´´Flirt to convert´´ that most idiot return missionaries do. And i could explain why the air force but that part of my thought process is not as important.

But summing it up, that is why i want to join the Air Force after my mission, to do my duty to my country (and my God at the same time) To continue with my spiritual progress, and last but not least to preach the gospel to souls that are probably more spiritually distraught than most.

Im still planning on Entering MCC on the 12th, and i will wait at least as semester before enlisting. And i have alot of things written down in a notebook about what i want to investigate about it before i make any serious choice. But i would really like to hear your feed back. 

Welp thats my secret...both of them. I think my only other secret is i think i might be addicted to oreos hahahaha Just kidding, but dang it is so hard to only eat one.

Welps i have to go now. But i love you all. Keep me posted with how you are all doing