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