Christmas, Calling Home, Getting Transferred, etc.

Well I thought I would just write really quickly and just say hi—we just talked like two days ago so I don’t have much to share. That’s it so hey, bye!

Joke! Haha! No I have lots to talk about.

#1 I am being transferred to Chillan , Chillan Nuble zone. It is 2 hours south from Cauquenes but I will still be in the upper half of the mission. I am so happy! I will miss the members and my converts but I am happy to be able to see a different part of Chile.

It was so great to be able to talk to you all on Christmas. I had so much to say and forgot it all in the moment we got on the phone—I was just too excited! The time seemed to fly by so fast. I am sorry for my broken English. Believe it or not I did get all A´s in English in high school. It was so great to talking to you. I wish we had had more time but even so, it was just good to hear all of you.

During my companions’ call home I went and played the piano in the chapel. I need practice but I can at least play the right hand. After we had finished our calls the elders from Estacion came and we watched a church movie! We played ping pong and I shared those awesome Oreos you sent with my Christmas gifts—they were amazing! It was a good day. The day after Christmas, the 26th, was a tough day because of all the resting we did so I was super out of it but I fought through it and had a good day and finished the week strong.

Today will be a busy day of packing for me and such. I have to find out how to put all my stuff and food in my bags—yeah right! But oh well no biggie! I have decided that I need to go shopping and get some stuff that reminds me of this place and just spend money on random stuff. It is my fun day. Tonight we will visit members and my converts to say goodbye and then in the morning then go to Parral and from there I will go to Chillan. Busy days, I am happy though. I have a 50/50 chance to have a Latin companion again. I heard that the house has four elders living in it so that will be interesting.

I am glad to hear Wicked was fun and that you had a great time with out me… L but its is all good. I don’t like that dirty city anyway.... I hope y’all grill clay really well for me—please he needs it. (That’s a joke Em.) Tell Clay there is a $9000 buy in to the family and that I only take cash non refundable haha jk, no really, haha jk.

I wish I had cool stuff to say but my mind is focused on packing right now and stuff, sorry. I hope tou all enjoyed my stories about Chile and cazuela...I will be sure to make some for y’all when I get home. They don’t put hair in it but all the old ladies that make it just happen to loose their hair while making it…mmm…I love you all so much hope you have a good day and a great New Year. Give hugs and kisses all around love you all!

I know the gospel and these things are true—I wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. I loved the photos of Christmas and the new gnome in the family. I need to fix Castidad again he broke again so I will do it when i get to my new sector. Our gnomes are twins mom!

I love you all so much! Cuidense e amo mucho!

Love,
Eric

PS: I uploaded some new pics including some of Christmas morning and me opening my Awesome gifts!!!

Me Voy!!!

Hola! Hola!!!

Well the big news is......I am being transferred to....CHILLAN. I will be in the Chillan Nuble zone which takes up the upper part of the city of Chillan. I will still be in the northern half of the mission. I am so happy!

I won’t find out who my new companion will be until I get there tomorrow but I am stoked. Chillan is close to the mountains east of Concé. If I am there during winter (5 mos or so) I will see snow for sure—that makes me super happy. Just wanted to write quick and give you all the update.Love, Eric

Christmas phone call instructions

Hey everyone how are we all doing today? I hope good and feeling better from the sicknesses and illnesses.
I will start this email with the important info first about the call on Christmas
I have planned with my companion and I have a 2 hour window to do the call. I will be waiting between 2pm and 4pm Chile time which I believe is 10am and 12 noon your time in CA, but please check the time difference.2:30pm Chile time here in Cauquenes(Santiago time) +++++++10:30am CA time+++++++ I think but check and make sure please!
That is the important stuff for this week I hope to fill you in on stuff when we talk.
This week was super hot and then all the sudden on Friday it was super cold for one day but it is back to hot again. My companion is trying my patience. I try my best to help him but whatever, I lost my patience with him the other day and blew up a little. Believe it or not I am more patient....a little at least. I think the weight loss has helped, and yes day I have a very tough AB routine in the morning with push ups too. I have 2 yrs to get the beach body I have always wanted, I doubt I will get it but I am trying.
I am so focused on what I want to say on Christmas that I can’t think of stuff to write right now. I am not trunky or homesick this week I am still focused on the work I have to do. I am still trying to get some people ready for baptisms on the 27th but it doesn’t look possible they have too many doubts and it has been hard to find times to teach them. This is the last week on the transfer and it needs to be good because this whole cambios has been up and down and I don’t want President Chavez thinking I am not working because I am trying my hardest. There is only so much I can do because my Spanish isn’t perfect. I am praying to be transferred but I don’t know if it will be answered. One more cambio with Elder Palacio might kill me or send me into the crazy house.
This past Tuesday I had a mini cambio with my district leader and it was such a good day. My companion kept calling and checking up and the 3rd time he called I didn’t pick it up, I just turned the phone off. The elderes in Estaciion had a mini cambio too so that night we went to their house and had a sleepover and stuff. It was super fun. I will tell you the good details on the 25th. I have some great stories.
I did get Heidi’s letter. I sent Isaacsons, Donny and Nick letter last week. I haven’t heard from Donny, I miss the guy.
That is about it for the week I always think of stuff right after I get off the computer. I love you all so much. Have a great heart attack Christmas Eve. I will miss that the most for sure, best part of Christmas. I will wrap this up for now cause it is time to get off email. Sorry it was so short but we have an hour to talk on Christmas.I love you all so much and have a great Christmas I will make sure to take lots of photos. I love you all and I have a testimony of all the things I testify of. L
Love you all. Love, Eric

Hey Everyone!

Hola familia mia,How is everyone doing this fine day? Well, just so you all know the heat is killing me here!!! This week it has been in the 80´s and 90´s and it is bound to get hotter. The worst thing is my apartment is on the third floor and we have no fan! So, it is not only hot but stuff, but that’s okay. What would be a summer in the mission without suffering in the heat? (haha) This week was a regular week—no más—nothing special besides yesterday. Yesterday were the elections for president, etc. We only had sacrament meeting because everyone had to go and vote. Attendance was horrible, it was kind of depressing but I guess people have to so and do their civic duty.

The work this week was super slow and the lessons were way down from last week. I went on a mini cambio with the zone leaders on Tuesday. Troubles with my companion persist; I am working on my patience and praying for an increased amount of love and understanding—I guess that’s all I can do. I have committed to following the mission rules and I will continue to do what I know if be right despite what those around choose to do.

I am hoping to have a baptism on the 20th if the young lady passes her interview. I still have high hopes to hit our goal of two this month but we need to work hard and help prepare both of our investigators for baptism. This week wasn’t very exciting and I don’t have many cool things to share. I am trying to save my good stories for Christmas day. I am trying to stay focused on the work but that is hard during free time. I often find myself thinking about home and all the goodies, food and lights and all that good stuff but when it is time to work I am all business.

This has been a week of working on patience and love for others. Some days it is easy and others very hard But I find the more I submerge myself in the work—thoughts and deeds—it becomes easier to forget about of the hard stuff.

Thanks for all the emails this week I really enjoyed hearing about your lives and what’s going on with all of you. Just keep plugging away. There is an end to everything, and when you look back you will be amazed to see how much you have grown and accomplished. God doesn’t give us struggles to hurt us or punish us, it is to help us grow and learn. If it doesn’t kill us it helps us. It is a simple concept but hard to grasp in the moment of struggle. If we hold strong to our faith and keep pushing forward we will see the blessing and the Lord’s hand in our lives. We must act first then receive. So keep moving forward y’all, you can do it. Sí se Puede.

I keep loosing weight and with this heat it seems to be even easier. I drink 2 or 3 liters of water a day to try and stay hydrated, the worst is when we go to lunch and we eat soup, ugh, that is the worst, to be eating hot soup when it is 90 degrees plus outside and with all the walking missionaries do it is even worst. It is hard but you’ve got to eat. I am down to 85 kilos (aprox 187 lbs), yes, I know am skinny! When I wear my suit it is like in that one Primary program when I wore Dad’s coat and sang I hope they call me on a mission, not that extreme but it is really noticeable. I feel great though. I have so much more energy and spunk and having the missionary work spirit adds to that too. I hope you all enjoy the Christmas goodies.

Ally, Em, and Tyler, work hard on your finals and study and ask the Lord for help to remember those things you have studied. Lisa, Mom and Dad keep plugging along at work, vacation time is close and then you can relax. I love you all so much and thanks for all the emails and prayers. I know you are all busy and I understand when you don’t have time to write, but I know I am in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you all.

I know the church is true and the best way to get through tough times is to hold even stronger, be a rock and when the winds and waters of the world beat upon you stay strong, stay true and faithful. If we exercise faith and hold on to Cristo he will be there with us every step of the way, and when we can’t walk he will carry us. Feast upon his word and spirit. I testify these things are true I know the gospel is a guide, we have a prophet and apostles and leaders to help guide us and best of all we have a 24/7 everyday free hot line to our heavenly father, prayer seek his guidance and help. i love you all have a great week

Love Eric

Eric's Challenge. . . What will be your gift to Jesus Christ this Christmas season?

hola ¿cómo estamos todos? ¿cómo les fueron en la semana? haha my horrible spanish haha
Warning this letter is all over the place because I have lots to do today and stuff so I am sorry if you have questions about stuff put it in an email and I will clarify next week
Anyway, how is everyone doing this fine Monday when the sun is out and it is hot, the birds are out singing horribly and as usual the streets are filled of dogs with every type of disease and bug and there are signs for elections all around? Well just thought I would describe how Cauquenes looks today. Summer is coming the heat is off and on but of course when it is work time it is on. I am doing well and everyday just plugging along trying to love my companion.
Christmas here is coming slow but that is missionary work. Chileans don’t like to decorate much. I enjoy my Christmas music and stocking, just looking at it, brings back the good memories of fires and the house with the smell of sweets and cookies, the dog eating the Christmas tree and ornaments, and of course the street lit up from end to end with lights and holiday cheer.
I got the package and card from the Spencers. I had thought it was from them. I uploaded a lot of photos today just random stuff from the past little bit of time. I have lots to send still but this will get it started. It is in the folder "7 Dec upload" enjoy.
Well about the music I have I have been having problems with some of the cds, It looks to me either it burned bad or the cds have scratches. Because when I play some of them it works good till the last 5 tracks or so and them it is all jacked up. I will check it out and figure out the problem and them tell you next week but the Christmas music is fine.
Don’t send anything I can wait if they need to be replaced till my birthday and next package no big deal. I am loving the food and I am making sure I do my exercise in the morning so I don’t get fat.
My suit is really big on me I might take the pants to a member and get them taken in a little bit I also need to find a places to get it cleaned.
Sorry I am all over the place I just have a lot to do this week and not a lot of time today. This week was a busy one. I had interviews with President Chavez, district meeting and a zone activity, last monday. Lots of work and bad numbers this week but I can only point at myself. Interviews were great.
Hermana Chavez did a class and she loves to talk. She is a PE teacher for elementary children so she sometimes treats us like we are between the ages 4-10. My interviews with President Chavez are always short this time my prayer was longer than the interview. I knew that is good but it is nice to just get to talk to him. He just has such an awesome spirit about him. He is a great man. Hermana Chavez´s class ended with treats and goodies, but not as good as mom’s. She had us take a piece of paper, on one side we wrote what we wanted to give to others this holiday, on the other side we wrote what we were going to give Jesus Christ for Christmas.
It got me thinking, we get so caught up at this time of year with gifts and goodies and tangible things for people, but when have we stop and think about what we were going to give our Lord and Savior for Christmas......I thought back my 19 yrs and not once did I ever do that. On that piece of paper I wrote "Traeré 4 almas perdidas a Cristo" I will bring 4 lost souls to Christ. Right now I have 2 baptism set for this month.....I am missing 2.....I have to work as hard as I can this week and the rest of the month to complete what I promised. Because if people miss church this Sunday I have failed, I cannot complete my gift for JesuCristo.
I want to invite you all to do the same this Christmas, on a note card write what you will give JesuCristo for Christmas, put it somewhere where everyday you can see it. it doesn’t have to be a baptism or save some ones life but maybe following a commandment better or being more charitable, looking for a certain number of service activities, something that on Christmas day in you personal pray in the morning you can give to our Lord and Savior. I just wanted to invite you all to join my in giving a gift to Jesus. This is the best time of year to give and not expect anything. I know when we serve others we serve God and Jesus. I guess this is my invitation this week seems like every week I ask something new, but this week this something isn’t for me it is for the person who gave his life for us all.I love you all so much.
This week was up and down with my companion and some of the new converts in my branch. I can see Satan working on them. It is hard to see strong members starting to fall because of worldly things and to see the effect on their families.
This fast Sunday the whole mission was fasting for the work in the mission to grow. I thought all week of how I can better myself to help people and help the work. I am trying to be as obedient as possible to every rule and try to work as hard as possible. I can up with a long list anyway. It just opened my eyes to everything that makes a good missionary a great one. I am not perfect and never will be but I can sure have that goal and work towards it.
President Chavez has been teaching us that when we teach people we should not focus on the baptism, we need to focus on THREE TIMES IN WHITE..... now what does that mean? It means this, 1st baptism in white, 2nd Temple in white, 3rd the celestial kingdom. That is my goal for all those who I help to accept the gospel. 3 times in white, and how do I do that by having the same goal for myself.
I want you to know I know this is the Lords work, this is his glory. I know JesuCristo is our Savior, He died for us. I know the church was restored through Joseph Smith. I know with all my heart that when we follow the commandments God will bless us, we still have trials when we are obedient, yes, but it is a test of faith, as it says in Ether 12 we gain a testimony after a test of our faith. Be obedient, be bold, be witnesses of Christ at all times. I know this is His church and we can live with Him again and wrap our arms around Him one day and say thank you. But until that day we can say thanks through our actions, don’t just believe, live the gospel, try to be like Christ. We will all fall, we do everyday. Pick your self up repent and start walking again. I love you all so much. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Read the scriptures, pray, and serve others. It is the little things that make the difference.
I love you all. One last reminder, What will you give Christ our Savior this Christmas?
I love you, cuidense
Love Eric

The Packages Arrived and a Christmas Challenge!

hola queridos padres, hnas, y cuñado,¿cómo estamos? jaja
Well first off I want to tell you how excited and happy I was to walk into district meeting last Tuesday and see two huge packages with the name ELDER ERIC KUYKENDALL, I had to check my plaque twice to make sure I was the one. All 17 missionaries in my zone were super jealous I had to remind them of the 10th commandment haha just kidding. Seriously it was such a happy day for me, like a 19 yr old boy on Christmas morning haha in Chile I took videos and look forward to uploading them for all of you to share the joy.
I love all the music and the speakers work great. The card reader is awesome just plugged it in and copied the pictures to my pen drive quick and easy. I won’t have time to upload photos today because I don’t have much time today on the computer but for sure next week with out fail or in Spanish "sí o sí". My companion was happy to receive his stocking but I told him he had to wait and there was no peeking. We hung them on the wall and I took a video so it is pretty funny. I turn on the Christmas music every chance I get it just reminds me of the good times and memories but I am not trunky or homesick just remembering good memories.
I have enough peanut butter to last me forever and that is good. I hope I don’t gain weight though I would hate to have to ask for new pants for my birthday but whatever. I have added two notches in my belt in the past 2 wks and yes I am eating but we walk a lot and ride our bikes a lot and now that it is hot it is even worse but don’t worry I am staying hydrated.
But seriously thank you so much and thank Mike Spencer for me too. It was nice to get 2 big packages with American food!!!!!! I haven’t opened any of the wrapped stuff or stocking, I am being a good boy. Thank you so much love yal
We were in Parral today for a zone activity and we played volleyball, chilled, had hotdogs and hamburgers for lunch. I brought the brownies from my package to share and everyone loved them. I could tell it had been a while since most of the gringos had tasted something so American and good. I was the kitchen master I felt bad that the Hermanas were cooking and they were having a hard time with the crappy pans and stuff so I jumped right in and showed off my skills in the kitchen and saved the day..... I have grease burns on my arm from the burgers but better me then the Hermanas. There are two super cute Hermanas in my zone, but I am focused on the work, my (future) wife isn’t in Chile, I am just commenting. I got some pics of me manning the stove. We played volleyball and I totally spiked the ball in Hermana Williams face, I felt so bad. I went up to spike and she went up to block and BANG right in the face, I felt so bad...she kept telling me it was no big deal. She played volleyball in college and school so she said she would be okay once she got feeling in her face back. I feel super bad though oops. Minus that it was a super fun day with everyone.
I have interviews with President Chavez tomorrow and we had conference last wed. It was super good conference. I really enjoyed it. It was even better because I could understand more. Spanish is still a struggle but I can see my improvement. I have a long way to go but with time and practice I will get there.
We didn’t have a baptism yesterday, she wasn’t ready. She was unsure about some commandments so we will teach them this week and she should be ready for this Sunday. She is super awesome but she keeps saying I cannot promise to keep the commandment because I might mess up and break one. So we just need to teach that we all break commandments because we aren’t perfect but if we try our hardest and repent that is all God asks of us. She will be ready next week. We have another golden investigator, Dariolet, she is the granddaughter of a member and she wants to get baptized so badly. She reads the Book of Mormon and comes to church. Her date is the 20th but we might move it up.
I am super excited for Heidi next time you see her tell her I am excited. I was waiting to read Chile Concepción but I guess the Lord has work for her in Boston. She will have to deal with all those Bruins and Red Sox fans haha. That is awesome though, I am going to try and write her next week but I will see.
Hey do you know if Grandma and Grandpa got the letter I sent them? and I think Ally and Lisa said they sent me letters, I haven’t gotten them yet so hopefully this week but if not I hope they didn’t get lost. I had so much to ask you all and ask how stuff is going but at the moment it is all gone.
OH ONE THING I WOULD LIKE: Mom can you send me you recipe for banana bread. Members have been asking how to make it because when they make it I tell them my mom has an awesome recipe so I told them I would ask you for it.
This coming Friday we are doing a cooking activity and I am making French Toast to share with the youth. I just wanted to make sure I have it right...super easy I know. I am thinking of taking one of the things of peanut butter but I will only let them have some if they like it cause I don’t want to waste it haha it is my precious haha.
We are doing a branch fast for missionary work in my branch to try and help the work keep moving up and not take a drop. Last year they only had 3 baptisms and this year so far they have 14 which is awesome but there is a lot of work to be done with less active and in-actives and that is where we need the members help to find them and get them to church. Some members have every excuse in the world why they can’t help us and even suggest how we can improve. Sometimes I want to say when you get your family reactivated then you can criticize me, but best answer is charity and love, that is something I am working on a lot with my companion, the people here members and non members. We were doing contacts this week and this guy I talked to told me(in Spanish but I will translate) " I know what you are doing in a different country learning a language, I know how you feel, but I don’t need what you have I am fine with my church and my beliefs" at first I was upset after he said that because he doesn’t know how hard it is being 10´s of thousands of miles from home learning a different language, he has probably never left Cauquenes, my sector, I was really mad and in my head I thinking bad things about him but, as I thought about what he said at the end and not the beginning, I truly felt sorry for him, the pride went away and the charity and love kicked in. The fact is that he isn’t okay with his beliefs and church, he needs the message of the restoration, he needs to be baptized by the proper authority and if not he cannot enter into God’s kingdom. I seriously felt sorry for this man because he didn’t know that he wasn’t rejecting me, he was rejecting Christ, the person who died for him. That experience helped me this week because every time someone rejected my message I wasn’t mad or offended, I felt sorry for those people, because they were rejecting Christ’s blessings and eternal life.
There is a reason why the spirit prompted me to knock on that door, and it was to help me. It was perfect because last week Hermana Chavez spoke about charity and as I looked over my notes from her talk it helped me realize that it is something I need to work on. I don’t hate people but I could use more love and I can show love for the people by giving them all the opportunity to listen my message, the Lord’s message. I guess that is kind of my big Aha moment for the week but it has helped the past couple days. People yell some mean stuff sometimes but instead of getting mad I should love them more.
I cannot wait to hear back from you all next week. I love Monday. I love you all so much and promise to get pictures up next week. Thank you so much for the packages and everything. I love you all so much. This is the best time of year to show the true spirit of the season, love, charity, and service. Instead of believers of Christ we need to be followers of Christ and we do that by our works and actions.
I encourage you all to look for opportunities to serve, lend a helping hand or a smile or a simple hello how are you what a better time of year to let the light of Christ and the spirit shine from us. We have the truth, we have the spirit, let’s share it with those who need it. My goal for December is too look for an opportunity to serve or help someone everyday. When we serve others they will see that we are FOLLOWERS of our Lord, Savior, King , and Friend the Only Begotten Son of our Heavenly Father. I love you all so much. I cannot wait to get the conference talks and December Liahona, we were supposed to get them last week but they haven’t come yet.
I know this is the true church and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. What a better time of year to remember His birth and help others to find the truth. I know the Book of Mormon is another witness of Christ.
I had a great experience in a lesson this week when I was saying the first vision and the spirit filled my body when I finished it, I lost all my words, I had a huge smile on my face and all I could say was this" yo sé que josé smith vio dios el padre y JesuCrist el hijo, yo sé que sin duda él fue un profeta de dios" I know Joseph Smith saw God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ, I know without a doubt he was a Prophet of God, simple I know but to me it had power. I felt it throughout my whole body, at that moment I knew, I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and I know he translated the Book of Mormon, without education he did it by the power of God. This is the work of the Lord.
I love you all so much have great weeks and cannot wait to write again next week, love you
Love Eric

No Thanksgiving Holiday in Chile

Hello my beloved family,How is everyone doing this week? Hopefully alive and kicking still...if not well I am sorry, at least try to twitch or something haha. Well mom I can tell the solo time with day is wearing on you when I started to read your "poetry" I had to check and make sure it was really from you....Dad’s crazy imagination and story writing is seeping in Mom, repulse the monkey...lol no I am just kidding, Pops has a way of doing that huh? haha love you Dad. I hope all works out for the 4th of July next year for you and if not well you will get used to singing “God Save the Queen” and celebrating her birthday, it just takes some getting used too.
Well some sad news I hear is that the American dollar dropped in price to around 436 pesos to the dollar which explains why last month I received less money in my mission account. The church puts American dollars in and I take out Chilean pesos so since the dollar is down I get less money. I want to exchange some of the American bills I have but I will wait till the dollar goes back up...I hope it goes back up. 600 pesos to a dollar would be nice haha but whatev, so if youl could just give me an update here and there that would be nice.
If only you all could have seen my face when I saw that Heidi should be getting her mission call soon, I think my heart skipped a beat....I hadn’t heard anything...I know she was considering it but I didn’t know it was actually going to happen. If she leaves in Febuary or January we will get home within 2 or 3 months of each other...pretty cool, but I am not thinking about that it is too far away and I need to focus on the work and Spanish...I cant go home till I speak and understand Spanish.
I am glad my letter got to Nick Price, I just had a feeling I should write him. He needs to serve a mission, I won’t let him miss out and I hope you all give him encouragement when you see him. It will be hard for him but as I can already see myself, growth is good when it comes from hard things that test you. You just have got to push through and rely on the Lord.
I went and registered my visa today and had to pay 7,000 pesos super expensive for some stupid papers. I should get my carnet in 2 wks, id card, my picture is super good, GQ status haha not. We had to wait forever because my comp didn’t get up this morning on time so we left late and had to wait. This week has been up and down with him, I just hope this is my last transfer with him but there is a 50/50 chance I could have one more.....ugh that might kill me.
I had to go to Parral yesterday for District Conference. It was really good. All the talks were great and super powerful. My comp and I were in our Branch choir. We sounded bad because only me and 2 other people aren’t tone deaf. My comp thinks he can sing but is so tone deaf. The choir director made us wear these ridiculous ties and stuff. I was glad Pres. Chavez wasn’t there. That would have been embarrassing.
Well it sounds like Dad and Mom are going to sac town fro TG and EM to Idaho and Iassume Lisa and Tyler are in Brigham and my fav sister Allyson is with the Hofheins clan ¿sí? Well Thanksgiving doesn’t exist here so it will just be a normal day for me.
It is warm today but every other day it is a different season here. It rained for two days these week Wed and Thursday, so I got a lil wet but just my pants and shoes. My rain jacket keeps me dry on top. Alot of members have just been giving us money to eat lately which stinks but whatever so I have been forced to cook. I usually have rice with hamburger patties because they are cheap. Eating in members homes is so much better. I have some questions about stuff though:
1 How can I flavor my white rice so its not plane like herbs or spices or something just so it is not so plain?
2 How do you tell if an avocado is ripe?
3 French toast is just eggs with milk right?
If you have any ideas for food that is cheap and easy I will greatly appreciate them. This week I plan to have hotdogs. So nothing difficult but an American classic, cheese is so expense here and not good at all...it is sad I love cheese.
This week went good...have a baptism this coming Sunday the 29th and hopefully it will happen. She is ready but nervous but this week She will have her interview so her excitement should get boosted. My mission’s goal is 150 baptisms for October and I will find out on Wed at zone conference and if not well 150 baptism in Nov hopefully. It is a high goal but we have been getting closer every month. I am happy to hear the stake met its goal that is awesome. Now it is time to retain and keep finding. That is a problem here but in the branch I am in the retention is good.
This week wasn’t too special all the meetings were shifted one day cause of cambios but nothing special. I have good and bad days with my Spanish. I keep studying hard though and speaking. sorry that this letter is boring but not much happened this week it was a slow week. Hopefully this week will be a lot better. Just got to live one day at a time.
I hope you all are doing well and that you have a great Thanksgiving. Eat lots of pineapple bread pudding and all the good food for me. I am glad to hear my puppy is still a puppy...silly pups. She has us all wrapped around here paw huh?
I love you all so much I think I put all in here I needed too. I know boring but I hope to have more exciting things next week. I love you all so much oh and about my package can I open it when I get it or is all of it for Christmas?....I will wait till next week I guess to see if yes or no...I will take a video and or lots of pics so you can all share the joy I will have.
I love you all so much and thank you for the emails and prayers and letters it is so nice to know my family is behind me.I know the church is true if I didn´t know I would not be here.
I know Jesus Christ is our Savior Lord and friend. When we have tough times He is not there to just be with us or walk with us, He is there to carry us and pick us up when we are down. He gave His life so we could one day live in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father who loves us and wants us to return to Him. We need to obey and have faith, He cannot help us if we won’t help ourselves. The true church of Christ and all the keys of the priesthood and saving ordinances have been restored to the earth through Joseph Smith. He was called of God to bring forth the restoration from that we have the Book of Mormon which contains the fullness of the gospel and with the bible we have all of the teachings of Christ, We just need to study and obey them and God will bless us. I know this without a doubt in my heart. Life is hard and a mission is harder but this life is a time to grow and prepare, not just ourselves but others. I love you all so much and thank you for your examples in my life and help too. Love you have a wonderful week....remember all we need to do is ask and we shall receive.
I love you all Love Eric

Shower Repair, missionary style!

hola familia,
¿Cómo están mis queridos padres y hnas y cuñado y todas otras? ¿Cómo le fue esta semana? yo espero que todo esté bien en los estados, la tierra de mi juventud. jaja.
How is everyone doing just thought I would give you a lttle taste of my bad Spanish and even horrible typing in Spanish. Well where to start where to start, I had a confirmation yesterday so the branch is one member more. The branch needs a lot of help...sometimes they are on the edge. . .
Today is cambios and well the big huge news is.......I get to spend Christmas here in Cacquenes with an Argentinian....oh well so much for my dream of an all gringo Christmas...no it will be a gringo with an Argentinian and a bunch of Chileans. Oh well just got to make the best of it.
I am officially junior comp now. I finished my two cambio training period. I may be junior comp but I feel like senior comp. I am the responsible on in the companionship. Things are better between us....I am being more patient. but there are bad habits I have let slip into because I was tired of correcting them but now I have to fix them cause they have gotten out of hand. Such as we are only to spend a 30 min max in a member’s home. Our lunch for yesterday fell through so we had to cook at home and we were both out of food. All I had was some pasta and two hamburger patties so I ate that...I was so hungry, but I gave him a candy bar for dessert. I figure I would share one with him first because if I eat them all I will get fat again and second if I am suppose to be helping people be more Christ like I should be Christ like too....if there is one thing I don’t want to be is a hypocrite.
It is amazing to look back four months and to see how much I have grown already. I still have a long way to go especially with my Spanish but it is all for the better.
Football was a test of strength and physical stuff like mind over matter and keeping your legs moving and all of that but, a mission just as with sports tears you down so you can build up stronger and better. In these past four months I have been more tired and sore, and my mind at times has wanted to explode because of trying to understand Spanish and speak it, then I ever was playing football. A mission tests every aspect of a person but it is all for the better. I have learned so much and still have tons more to learn but I am loving it. Everyday is a struggle and an adventure... I never know when I wake up what will be the pain in the neck today whether it be appointments falling or lessons going horrible or a straight up rejection or the never failing pick on the bad Spanish of the gringo, but I know with the Lord on my side I can make it through it and can once again rest at night for the next day. I live one day at a time....when you have your head in the future you miss the present. I have just been working on staying in the moment. Sometimes when I get frustrated or tired because I can understand I let my mind wander but if I do that I miss the promptings of the spirit. It is super hard but, if it wasn’t hard to do there wouldn’t be a blessing for doing it.
Well this morning the faucet on the shower broke so again with the only thing I could find I fixed it with rubber bands...haha I cant wait to send the pictures they are hilarious. It is getting super hot here and I am starting to die. It is freezing when I get up in the morning and then it is super hot from about 11am on through the day. Since we are on the third floor it is so hot when we get home at night and with the heat and my comps snoring I barely sleep at night, and then in the morning I am super tired...oh well I need to buy ear plugs this week. I don’t have much ,more exciting stuff to talk about really just same old stuff with me, a new cambio new planner nothing else really!
I hope you all are doing great. I hope you girls and Tyler are doing well...hope work and school isn’t killing yal.....it came to pass not to stay...just keep that in mind. haha I love you all so much and thanks for all the emails and letters and everything. I am so excited to read your letters and write back sometimes I wish they were longer, I just want to have the whole play by play haha. I hope you all have a great week, work hard read the scriptures and pray, the little things are the things that can help us the most. It is something Pres Chavez is working on in the mission. He calls them the small and simple thing like reading praying and going to church and if we lack one of those it is so much easier to fall because we lose the spirit and the temptations of the world weigh heavier on us. I have seen since I have been in this branch, members who aren’t doing these simple things and have gone inactive. My testimony about prayer and reading the scriptures has grown so much because I can see the difference in the lives of people who do it and those that don’t. We challenge people to read the minimum of a verse a day and they cannot even manage that. There is only one place we can find an answer to any problem and it is the scriptures. Prophets and apostles didn’t devote their lives to God and write the teachings of Christ so the books could sit on a shelves and collect dust....the scriptures are help in every aspect of our lives. There is not one problem or hardship that we cant find help or an answer for in the scriptures and when we cannot find the exact thing we ask God....we get on our knees and plead for help. There are two people who are always there to lift us up in times of darkness, God and Jesus Christ, and if we never ask for the help and never search the scriptures we won’t find it. I know God loves each and every one of us, I know that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and suffered and died for each of us so we could have he opportunity to become like Him and receive the blessings of eternal life. The Book of Mormon is the word of God written by his profetas who had the authority and power to act in His name to save His children. I know if we have faith in the Lord and search the scriptures we will find the answer to all problems we face in life. And if we pray and ask God with real intent to know or to have help He will bless us with it. I know we have a profeta today who has the power to receive revelation for everyone in the world, Thomas S. Monson is called of God to lead us and guide us in this confusion filled world. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ, the same that he organized during His life. I know that only through the sacred covenants of the temple families can be eternal. I love you all so much and thank you so much for your prayers and letters and everything. I hope you all have a great week. Love you Love, Eric

A German Town in Chile?

Hey Yal,How is it going? How are the lives of my beloved parents and sisters and brother in law and last but certainly not least my cute clean flea-less puppy? I hope all is well and you all had good weeks full of work school and little sleep. Just kidding, no really I hope all is good and you are taking a rest or a nap now and then. Don’t be like me, take naps.
Well about last week that was just me spicing stuff up I have my own newspaper in my head, a "diario" here in Chile is like those gossip magazine newspaper things that come out each week but here on Sundays and mid week and so during sacrament mtg you can here the guy in the street yelling "diario" its funny. So its all in my wacky mind.
Had another baptism yesterday and it went super bien. She is 9 yrs old daughter of a less active we are reactivating and her name is Siham. and .......................I baptized her, she asked me to do it cause I am her first missionary. My trainer and I found her last transfer and we taught her and she asked me to baptize her. I was super stoked again and less nervous. but she was super nervous. Before getting in the water we told her what was going to happen and we had to wait a bit for her nerves to calm down and we got in. I said the prayer and went to baptize her and I could feel her whole body tense up and the min she went under the water she freaked out and popped up, so I had to do it again then I got nervous.....we took a couple seconds and I just told her with my bad Spanish "tranquilla, tranquilla, la tengo" , calm, calm I have you, she was calmer and I asked if she was ready and she said yes I could feel her still a little tense but the second time was a success. It was one of those experiences that I felt like a dad...this 9 yr old girl was super scared and it was my responsibility to calm her down and help her through it and it worked out after she just had this super bright glow about her and I could just feel the radiance or the purity. It was so awesome. Baptisms pump me up, this is the Lord’s work to help his sons and daughters become clean and prepare to see him again. It is awesome. I am so happy I got to do it.
Things with my comp are a little bit better, I am being more patient, he seems to feel sick every Friday when it is comp inventory time though and I know why. The other night I was talking about how important it was that we follow the rules and commandment because how can we call people to repentance and commit them to obey if we ourselves aren’t. I have a feeling next week I will hear “Kuykendall you are staying", I wanted my first Christmas here to be with a companion I liked but oh well I will live.
We had a zone activity today and we went to a German village. Again there were 17 missionaries in a very small van. Lets just say I couldn’t feel my legs at all and it was and hour trip each way. It was fun took a tour and stuff played an awesome game of ultimate Frisbee and my team won. It was super. I had 5 touchdown throws and two catches and Hermana Williams had 5 interceptions. We were the stars of the team haha it was super fun! We have lunch there it was super good, pork tenderloin with rice and like stir fried peppers and onions and for dessert some gingerbread cookies and a german cake, super good. I will send pictures when I can. It was super fun. The Germans fled here to get away from the USA after WWII they did some bad stuff there too like torching Chileans and stuff.
It was raining in the morning but got super hot. I forgot to tell you last week what I bought I bought my first thing.....it is a 3 in switch blade made in the USA. I got it cause it was only $8 super good deal. Weapons her are super cheap haha...no I got it cause whenever I need a knife I never have one so now I do. I don’t carry it around with me it stays in the apartment.
Well the grand total of kilos lost is 23. My first week here I was 113kg and now I am 90kg. I think it is about 200lbs if my math is correct. I had to add another notch in the belt. I put my jeans on this morning and they were huge. They were a littl big to begin with but now haha huge. Don’t worry about sending me new clothes I am managing and I am sure I will go up and down in weight in different areas, and plus I am going to get as much wear out my clothes as possible. haha.
I really don’t have much more to say I am rushing, I am short on time because of the activity and travel today, but I think I told you all the big news. It rains about once a week right now but it is so hot some days...I am dying.
I can’t wait to here from all of you next week hope you all have great weeks and send my love to everyone. I love you all so much think about you each day and pray for you everyday too.
tenga buena semanayo sé que jesucristo es mi salvador y su salvador tambien. yo sé que él es la unica manera nosotros podemos recibir un perdon de nuestros pecados y vivir con dios otra vez. él sufrió y murió por nostros para que nosotros podamos arrepentirnos y bautizarnos en su nombre. yo sé que esta vida es super difícil y hay muchas pruebas pero cuando nostros sigamos la manera de dios siempre nos bendecirá. yo sé que dios nos ama y escucha a nuestras oraciónes, tenenmos que ejecer fé en jesucristo y vivir los mandmientos de dios para recibir estas bendiciónes. les amo mucho co toda mi corazon, yo espero que ustedes tengan una semana super buena y tengan el espíritu con ustedes siempre. les amo, les vayan bien, cuidense.
Love, Eric

Elder Kuykendall's First Baptism

Well as you can see I have my own newspaper here in Chile now. I guess my good looks cool ties and awesome Spanish has made me quite a celebrity....not just kidding no my head is still normal size, well I can still fit through the door I mean...haha anyway the front page of my paper this week has some bad news on the cover good news also but we will start with the bad...here it is....
BAD NEWS: Elder Kuykendall gets soaking wet on sat. 31 Oct 2009
GOOD NEWS: It’s okay that he got soaking wet because he was performing a BAUTISMO, baptism.
Yes, you heard it right from the mouth of the media, I had my first baptism on Saturday. Originally she asked my comp to do it but when we visited her during the week she changed her mind and wanted me to do it. I said yes of course but she had to try and say my name first and to my surprise she got it right on the first try. Seriously it was so awesome! I was so nervous though and I was going over the words in my head all day and her name and everything I didn’t want to mess up. Only 10 people showed up but it was a great baptismal service. The spirit was so strong and she was so excited too. I got a bunch of pictures I will try and upload I hope it will work.
I was so super nervous though the font took like 3 hours to fill and it took us like 20 minutes to figure out how to do it but now I know. The girl I baptized was, Alejandra del Pilar Muñoz Espinoza, long name right, she is 11 yrs old. It was such an awesome experience took up about 2 pages in my journal. When I started to say the prayer the spirit hit me so hard and I totally forgot her name so I had to start over but it was okay. I said it slow but I got it right and only had to do it once. It was just such cool experience...the prayer in Spanish is a little tricky for a gringo but it was just so cool. I am so thankful I got to do it. She has a super strong testimony and I know she will stay active. So awesome, So that is my big huge cool news for this week.
I have another baptism on Sunday 8 Nov 2009, the girl is the daughter of less active we are reactivating. She has her interview this week. She is super ready and excited. It is good to baptize youth but this branch needs priesthood holders. We only have about 10 active Melchezedik priesthood holders, but the branch is getting better little by little. There are a lot of things that they do that are some of those so called tradition things but it is not apostacy so no need that I but in and tell them what to do. I am just here to make sure they don’t do it wrong. Sometimes they ask me how things are done and with my horrible understanding and okay Spanish I try to explain. There are some awesome members here and others just need to be strengthened and exercise a little more faith, but don’t we all?
My goal is to just drown myself in the work and follow every rule with exactness something we call "Obediencia con Exactitud". I know that is the only way to have the protection of the Lord. I studied Alma 17 this past week and that capítalo, chapter, is missionary work at its best. I love the story of Ammon and that chapter is so important to missionary work. I just hope I can be as good of a missionary as he and the other sons of Mosiah. If we keep the commandments and follow the Lord in faith He will protect us. My goal is to study at least 1 chapter a week in the el libro de mormon...all my studies are in Spanish so it takes me a while but I can see it helping my teaching I only open my English Book of Mormon for clarifying but it is a last resort. I try and study without having to do it and my quad now has a layer of dust. I dust it each week though.
I can’t believe how much I took the Book of Mormon for granted...I would read but I never truly studied it....and there is just so much to learn...I wish I had been better prepared for my mission and already knew this. But I can’t change the past I just need to press forward and continue into the future. It is my favorite book to read and I know it will stay on the top of the list as long as I keep reading. I love my study time and it flies by so fast in the morning. During lunch and free time I am studing. I could take a nap and sometimes I do but there is just so much too learn and I need to work on my Spanish so when I have free time I am usually studying Spanish. My companion thinks I am crazy but it will pay off. I can sleep after my mission.
So I am committing you all to study the scriptures at least once a week and read everyday. Trust me it sure does help the day be that much better. ¿leerán cada día? Will you read everyday? haha.
Well this week was a little better with my companion. I feel that I will be with him for another transfer. I don’t see President Chavez having him train next transfer. I guess for now the Lord wants me to be with Elder Palacio. It is a struggle everyday. When I am on a mini cambio on Tuesday I am going to talk to the zone leaders about what I should do. I am trying my best to be patient with him, but it is so hard. Last night I just had so much anger, we didn’t even plan. He said he was cold and didn’t feel good so I planned by myself. I am trying, I pray for the Lords help and I read the section about patience in pmg a coule times a week.
We have bikes but yesterday it started to rain and we were far from home and had to ride in the rain which got me 3 times more wet. Then my back tire popped so I had to walk my bike back....last night was lousy I hate when it rains because it will be sunny and then we will teach a lesson come out and it will be pouring. Good thing I brought my jacket. Now I know how it feels to live in Washington.
Well Chileans do celebrate Halloween to but it is not as cool as at home.
I have got to wrap this up quick I love you all so much and hope you all have a great week. You are all in my prayers everyday. I love you so much and thank you for everything so much. I know this is the work of the Lord and although I am having trouble with my companion, I know the Lord will bless me if I obey and serve Him with all my heart and strength. I love you all so much. tengan buenas samanas y cuidenseLove, Eric

A Bumpy Week

Hey familia, ¿Cómo están? ¿cómo le fue está semana? Enough of the Spanish back to English!!!!!!!
I will start this email with what happened last Monday night because well not to sugar coat it but I had to do some serious chastising and behavior correction . . .After planning Monday night I told my comp we had to talk about the day we had Basically I told him we both signed a paper saying we would follow every mission rule because those rules are our protection. I told him I am trying to obey with exactness because I know the Lord will bless me. When Pres. Chavez asks am I obeying with exactness I can say truthfully YES. It was hard for me to say this but I knew it had to be done.
It is a bummer that he is senior comp and I only have 4 months in the mission and have to be the grown up. I have heard the he has had trouble before. The week started off bad but it got better. I just get so mad but, my companion has been better. I still have to remind him at times.....maybe this is why I am his companion to help him be obedient.
Well anyway here is some big news to brighten the mood. I have a baptism this Saturday the 31st. I am excited her name is Alejandra, she is 12 years old and passed her interview on Sunday. Elder Palacio is baptizing her which is okay with me. She is super excited and ready. I am happy about that. The work is picking up a little bit here thanks to the assistants. We did a intercambio with them after interviews on Friday and they help boost our excitement and get the work moving along. We found 10 investigators this week and have 12 baptismal dates. I just have to be bolder and speak even if I don’t understand. My speaking is getting really good but understanding is moving slower than molasses on a cold day. Hopefully it will get better soon. I study and read everything Spanish I can get my hands on these days. Pamphlets, scriptures a lot and Preach my Gospel of course. I am surprised to say it but I love to read when it is the only thing you can do in your free time you start to like it a lot. All the missionaries are surprised when I say I only have 4 months in the mission since I speak so well, but then I tell them I can’t understand they just laugh. President Chavez in my interview said he could see the change in confidence and my language skills during my interview....he just said to be patient work hard and have faith. He is a great Mission President, I really admire him and his love for the work...and the fact that he can speak English very well...Hermana Chavez on the other hand thinks she can speak English but cannot.
I really enjoyed my package. I am afraid to eat the candy because I know I will eat them all because they will taste so good. I don’t want to put weight back on, but I will start on them this week. I have a bunch of pictures but can’t upload them from my camera; you all will have to wait a bit longer.
There are only 15 primary kids in my branch. We had the Primary program this Sunday. They all gave talks but only sang one song and none of them knew the words. I can’t remember what song it was though. It is hard enough for me to understand adults when they speak and kids are even harder. There are only 4 active young men and about 5 young women....small branch but our attendance is up to about 65 every Sunday which is good. One of our new converts that was baptized the before I got here, Nick Miguel is 12 years old and is getting the priesthood next Sunday and that is super cool. He is a great kid. Nick and his sister were baptized but their mom and dad cannot because they are not married. They cant get married because they don’t have residency in Chile yet (they are from Peru) so they have to wait 5 years....3 years more, they are basically Mormon already.
Well I am good. It is a battle everyday with my companion but he is my companion for a reason. This is the way the Lord wants it to be. Sometimes there isn’t an answer to all things. We just have to wait it out and look back at the end of the road. Hopefully when we get there we are a better and stronger person.
Time crawls by for me but I am trying to enjoy every long second of it. The more I focus on the work the more I will be blessed. We just have to push pull fight and struggle through stuff in life. It is all for our good.....it wouldn’t be called life if it was easy, but it sure makes it easier when we are doing what is right.
I hope you all are doing absolutely awesome and are nice and busy with your lives and callings. Have fun all work and no play well!.....it just is no fun. Got to work hard, study hard and best of all play hard. I love you all so much and miss you all a bunch too. Not a day goes by I don’t think about you all....even through this bipolar weather we are having hot one day cold the next then 3 days of rain, it cannot make up it’s mind of what season it is. I love you so much you are always in my thoughts and prayers. I pray that you all will have the gift and interpretation of tongues because one day in the far future I will speak and write in Spanish too.
cuidense, les vayan bien, The work of the Lord must go on and so must I.
Love Eric

"Super Chunky Peanut Butter. . . I have never seen anything so fine in my life"

Hey Family, How is everyone doing in the world of winter and snow and rain and all of that good stuff? les gustan mucho ¿no? Well I hope you are all well.
Signs of summer are here in Chile the days are hot and nights are cold but not so far away it will be hot alllll day.

I am becoming red skinned again and it is not the Chile diet it is that I walk about 6-7 miles a day. My clothes are huge and those sweatpants and sweatshirt you sent are even bigger! está bien.

It will keep me warm

I have put three notches in my belts, my suit is huge on me all the members laugh but whatever I am happy with loosing some weigh, I gained a bunch in the MTC.

For starters thank you so much for the package and all the goodies. I am sure to gain all the weight back now. The SUPER CHUNKY PEANUT BUTTER it is a dream come true. I have never seen something so fine in my life. I had some for lunch on Sunday seeing as our lunch appointment fell through. It was revelation Mom thanks so much. I was so happy to get those packages it made my day.

I wish I could put up some more pictures but this computer doesn’t have a slot for my card so next week. We had a district activity today and we went to the beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have missed the surf and sand so much it was like being at home but not! All the beaches here are black sand so it is cool. We played football...two hand touch...and chilled took photos and stuff it was fun. I got burned even with sunscreen I need to buy some lotion because the spray doesn’t work that well on my face It was a fun day. The bus ride back was stuffed. We were in like a small push like those little ones Emily used to take to West Valley and there were 8 missionaries and about 30 Chileans, like peas in a pod we were.
Hey Mom about the music for my Christmas gift, I would like some holiday music too. Some good appropriate holiday Christmas music. It is going to be weird to have a hot Christmas but hopefully with some songs to remind me of snow and cold will keep me from sweating too much. I am going to have a Gringo Christmas in Chile.
I spoke in sacrament meeting on Sunday about the Atonement...la expiacion....and it was a great talk. All the members were complimenting me on it and how well I speak and don’t have a Gringo accent but I slipped and said an English word and all the members have been laughing about it now, that is twice I have spoken Spanglish in a large group of people in my branch......verg Üensa...shame. I was bearing a very powerful testimony and it popped out but I quickly said the word in Spanish and went on.......so I can speak ok but I understand about 30% at most. I can understand the gist of conversations but if someone talks to me directly I am lost and they don’t understand when I tell them I don’t understand, they assume that because I speak well I can understand. But I am backwards usually missionaries can understand and not speak but I am completely the opposite. I can never do things the easy way huh....I am my fathers son!...love you Pops!
I am still having difficulties with my companion. He stretches the rules and I didn’t come on my mission to break rules. I signed saying I would follow every rule and he is causing that I can’t keep that promise. I put my foot down about money though he asked to borrow some and I said we get the same amount each month if he needs more he can call and ask the financer for more money. He was upset. At the end of the month I usually have a lot of money left over but that is because I spend it wisely and only buy what I need. We have had some head to head collisions, but I guess this is a learning experience.....how I long for the day when I get to choose my companion but it is yet two years away haha.I am doing well just that stupid stuff with my comp. I am living and not starving. I got a letter from Nick Gall and it was so good to see what he is up too. I miss him and Don a lot...and you all too. I sent Don a letter for his birthday I hope he got it. I wanted to send another today but idk if I will have time.
We had zone conference Wednesday in Talca and it was good. I understood a little more than my first one so that is good. President talked a lot about obedience and I was glad to not be uncomfortable because I know I try to follow every rule with complete exactness. A mission is not a time to be disobedient. I use every minute of my study time wisely and study in all my other free time. I figure the more time I put in the more I will get out. I love reading now....its the only thing do. Reading in Spanish is hard but I have a stack of pamphlets and church material in Spanish I am working my way through. I only use my English scriptures and "Preach My Gospel" if I really don’t understand something. I am trying to put all my focus in being more familiar with words I can use in my teaching.......one of my teachers in the MTC taught me this "Learning Spanish doesn’t fulfill my purpose as a missionary, I am learning Spanish so I can fulfill my purpose of bringing people unto Christ"That is always in my mind when I am studying. It is hard to have patience with the language but I know I wouldn’t be here if I couldn’t do it...I need to do all I can do and then the lord will help me. Without our action and willingness the Lord can’t help us. I love you all so much and I hope all is well with you. Until next week, I hope I can put some photos up then.

Love you all so much.
Love, Eric

The Best Day of the Week!

Well today is p-day one of the best days of the week...best day of the week mejor dicho....
It is Columbus Day and all of Chile celebrates it so there was only one internet place open. Chileans find all kinds of excuses to take a day off the whole country is shut down.
The most embarrassing thing happened yesterday....we forgot to change our clocks an hour ahead and so we were 45 minutes late to church. I was so embarrassed and one of our investigators wanted us to help with the baby blessing but we weren’t there. I am so messed up because it is spring here and fall at home, I think we are 5 hours apart now cause you guys fell back and we sprung forward an hour. I am writing this at about noon here so in CA it should be about 7am?
My new companion is Elder Palacio...I think I miss-spelled it last week this is correct though. He is from Argentinean. We have a hard time communicating because his English is bad and my understanding of Spanish is bad. He comes into my sector as senior companion and wants to start changing this whole place around. He hates walking and we do a lot of walking here, he always wants to take taxis and but they are expensive. In lessons he talks a lot and then will look at me at the end and expect me to know what is going on and say something. My teaching skills have gotten worst this week because I haven’t taught much. I will plan a lesson and we will go and then Elder Palacio will teach something different. The members say I don’t talk, I can talk well but when they talk to me I hear words but I have no idea what they are talking about. I don’t get many chances to talk because my companion talks a lot. I am just having a very hard time right now and feeling very alone. I am the only American in my sector. I am just really struggling and my District Leader loves Elder Palacio so it is hard to talk to him about it. I am hoping to get transferred at the end of this transfer. Sorry about complaining I just have been holding it in for this whole week. It is just going to be a tough transfer for me, very tough!
I have not gotten the second package but maybe this week because we have zone conference in Talca on Wednesday. Usually all the mail is there so I am hoping for it then. A bottle of contact solution lasts me I think a month or two . . . I will need more flea collars around Christmas but for now I am good.
Dad, about my apartment....there is a park out back with a basketball and soccer court (two in one) the park and apartment are on the same block. Our apartment is on the corner of Victoria and Arturo Prat. We are on the third floor.
We aren’t teaching very much, we have Kory and Edgar they live in the campo near Porongo. We are teaching a guy, Jorge Vega and a 9 yr old girl who is the daughter of a less active. We have other investigators are not progressing as much as we would like.
About the music...just an inexpensive CD player, some small speakers, and CDs of church music (MoTab, Eclipse, I have two of their CD’s) and some other. Send burnt CDs it would suck if the originals got lost or stolen. With the CD player I need rechargeable batteries and or the adapter power cord, batteries run out quick and are expensive here, It would be so much easier to do this on the phone, other churchy music, Eña, however it is spelled, EFY music. Just good uplifting appropriate music, I don’t need much I just miss music a lot!
I know this is long with my complaining but, really it is super hard and hard to deal with, I feel so alone at times. I love you all so much and hope all is well with you all. I know the Church is true. This work is hard and really frustrating but I am helping people. I love you all hope I answered your questions for this week.
It rained a bunch this weekend again but, I had my rain coat so it wasn’t too wet just my pants. I have lost about 15 KG, I barely recognize myself sometimes, I don’t know how much that is in lbs, had to put 2 notches in my belts. I love you all so much and can t wait to here from you all. Put some more pictures up on my photo bucket too. Talk to you next week, Love you all,
Love, Eric

Pictures from Chile

After much technical wrangling, Eric was able to send us some
photos of his apartment,
the Elders and Hermanas in
his district, and of their
P-day trip to the Andes.

A Temple in Concepcion, Chile!

Hola Familia,

Well first off if you were here outside the room we were watching conference in you would have thought we were watching a football game because when President Monson announced the temple in Concepcion we all flew out of our seats and were cheering so loud we missed the one that was announced after. There was high fiving and everything. The sad thing is we were more excited and happy than most members. There were only about 10 at the session that heard it. Conference here means nothing to most of the members. They missed out. But, some of the members we told about had heart attacks they were so happy. It was a good sight to see. Some people just don´t realized how much of a blessing the temple really is....but they will learn, and hopefully not miss out on the blessings there. I think it is awesome! Too bad it won´t be built till after I am gone. But its all good my mission is getting a temple!!!!!! That is pretty much the biggest news of the week for me.

Conference was great wasn´t it. It is sad to say this so late in my life, when you really listen with your heart to the words that are spoken it really hits you. You can receive revelation and answers. I enjoyed every session, they were all amazing. I really liked the priesthood session...they hit the nail on the head for what men need to hear. As I was sitting there I was thinking about the few investigators we have and how the talks we heard could help them and build their faith. We only had 2 attend at least 1 session but they really enjoyed it. I know they spirit bore witness to them, as it did me.I really liked President Eyring’s talk in the Saturday am session where he talked about families and how the choices of every member of the family helps determine the future. I couldn´t help but think about family members who have fallen away, and how possibly we will not be able to live with them for eternity. That is why it is so important that we do not give up on any of our loved ones because we want to see them and live with them in happiness for eternity. We just can´t lose hope that those we love that are lost, will find there way back. We just need to bear testimony of the truthfulness of these things and tell them we love them.

Love seemed to be a big topic along with service. I really enjoyed President Monson’s talk about service. It was just a great conference, it flew by though. Seems like just 10 min ago I was sitting in the chapelo watching the first session. I hope you all enjoyed it to.

Well this week was good...slow but good. I worked a lot this week getting appointments for next we so my new companion and I wouldn´t just be contacting as usual.

The weather was good this week until yesterday. All the sudden the heavens opened and it rained like no mañana.....yeah we both got soaked to the bone within the first 5 min. I had to use my jacket from Mr Mac and well it doesn´t work that well so I got pretty wet and quick. But all is well. I went first thing this morning and bought a rain jacket that is impermeable, so i am good now. My shoes got wet but they dried out pretty good last night. We went to pick up our laundry last night and it was raining even harder so we ran home, good thing it was only about a four block run.

Picture This. . . ."Imagine 2 Mormon Missionaries Greengos, with 2 very large laundry bags and scripture bags....now add lots of rain wind a steep hill, a road that is now the Rio Grande....ready...have that picture in your minds. Imagine one of the missionaries with suit pants big enough that the don´t stay up and had to put 2 notches in his belt and one very seasoned missionary who leaves in 2 days …got it...okay now imagine these 2 running though the rain down a very steep hill with their clean laundry, crossing the Rio Grande....whoooo! but alas they made it home safe and sound,wet but that is okay. The scriptures cameras and clean clothes were dry."It was fun, not!
I love you all and hope all is well. I want to hear what is up with you all. Thanks Em for setting the photo bucket up I hope to upload some pics today but we will see if I have time and if my memory card works. I and going to buy a pen drive to try and speed it up hopefully. We will see I hope I can get some up for you all. My new comp is a ARGENTINAN !!!!!!!!!! his name is Elder Palación, It means palace. I will meet him tomorrow and get to work. This mean English is pretty much out the window. He will probably understand a little bit but not much. Hopefully this will help my Spanish and even more my understanding. I love you all and I know that this is the Lords work. Its not the easiest work I will tell you that but it is the best. At times I get very discouraged, but that is just the lack of my faith...its something I am working on. We must have faith without it even God can´t help us. I love you all so much. Tell everyone hi for me and that I say hola. Love you all so much......you are in my prayers and thoughts, till next week
choa, les vayan bien!!!!!!!

Love Eric

P.S. Congrats Tyler your city is getting a temple exciting no? I am waiting for the announcement of San Jose, California

The Mail Has Arrived!!!

Hey Everyone,

Well I got the package and the letters from you Mom on the Sept 22nd at District Meeting. I might not get the other package and letters till Zone Conference in two more weeks give or take. It all depends on if they get enough to drive up here from Concepcion. I was really happy to get the package and letters it was like going back in time with the letters. Thanks for the package but the bad news is it is the wrong cord. That is the cord to my phone not my camera. But don´t send it I can wait till Christmas.

I think I can just put my memory card into a computer and upload that way for now. It is slower but I want to send some pictures so worries. Check in my camera box I thought it was in there and if not the instructions will tell you the correct cord. Its all good thanks Mom.

I want you to keep the hard copies so when my inbox gets full I can delete stuff and not lose it because you will have them. I can put them in my scrap book you could also save them in a file on the computer too if you want.

You can look up the church building on lds.org on google maps and then just look around at Cauquenses, and my area. My area is huge it would take about 5 hours on foot to walk from one side to the other or more. You can look up Victoria and Arturo Prat that is where our apartment is. There is a Catholic Church on San Alfonso, you can´t miss it it’s huge.

Thats awesome about the baptisms in San Jose South Stake this year. The key is teaching! Congrats on being “trained” pops, haha you scouter. Oh Spanish lesson, it is not correct to say me hijo....say hijo mio. lol or mi hijo love you pops.

Our church building has a satellite so we don´t have to travel which is nice and it will be my first church meeting in English in six weeks. I will understand. We just watch on a TV in a different room in English with the other two elders from Estacion which is like 15 minuets from here.

Well we found out that the Seven-Day Adventist Church, have missionaries in our area. They have name plaques like us so people keep confusing us. Except we have the fullness of the gospel.

Stuff is slow here as usual and we have 2 fechas for October in English and 2 baptismal dates hat is cool, we just need to get them to church. People here know it is true and will follow all commandments except one....going to church they are just lazy. And if they don´t go to church can´t be baptized...oh well I have lot of work to do. The weather has been both hot and cold so it is nice to have that lighter jacket. We didn´t baptize in September but now we look ahead to October. Its a new month with new goals. I am doing well.

I still cannot understand anyone but people say I speak really well. The elders say it is usually the other way around but you know me I have got to do things my own special way. I have been thinking about Christmas stuff and its nothing big but I will tell you next week. Its more stuff I need not want.

Well next week I get a new companion and Elder Farrelly will go home. He has his flight plans

but I am not letting him get trunky.

I want to send some pictures, I am

going to try and just plug in my card

to a computer. I was wondering if you

guys could set up a photo bucket online and then I could just upload them all to there. That would be faster and easier, because emailing them takes a long time and memory. If you could look into that, then you all could download them to your computer. Look into it and tell me it would be great. Don´t worry about the cord its all good just send it at Christmas.

Last week we got some bikes from members and did mountain biking. It was fun I have good picures and videos. I have got to wrap this up. I love you all and if I didn´t answer any questions you have just hold them for next weeks email and I will answer them. It is easier to write and answer questions then to just write whatever off the top of my head. Love you all I am going to try and send some pictures today hopefully.
Love you all, Eric