The Saga of Renewing a Visa!

Dearest Family,
Whats up? Whats down? How yal doing today? How did the week go? I hope you are all doing good and are working hard too. Well, to tell you the truth I am dead tired and I think it is due to my adventures this morning. I had to go to start my second visa today because mine is up in a month and I don’t want to get kicked out of Chile, or worse put in jail here so I find it easier to live according to the laws haha. I went to one place and it wasn’t it then I went to the Registro Civil, and well the people there didn’t know anything either so they told me to go to the Policia de Investigacion and so we walked 6 blocks to get there and finally talked to somebody who knew whatt was going on and sent me to the government building 4 bocks away. Well I get there and she starts the paperwork and I find out I am missing a paper so I had to go back to the Policia and get the paper and then return and give the paper to the government well all in all what i am trying to say is people don’t know where anything is here. One of the ladies I asked at the mail office said that a government building didn’t exist in Talca and I had to go to Santiago......ya right. I tell you it was like “milking a snake” if you know what I mean. But whatever it is all good I would just have loved to have known where to go and had all the stuff it would have taken like 5 min but nooooo things have to be so complicated here, oh well over and done case closed.

This week went good but not as good as others. We had conference this week and the conference was really good and the food, it was the best food I have had at a conference in the mission, so good. We talked a lot bout loving the people and doing the work out of love so that the people understand why it is so important and can see us working hard to help them. I got to talk to Elder Thomas and he is doing good in Chillan and I am sure he has one more cambio down there. We are hoping we get put in the same zone together it would be cool. I got to here about some of my converts and sounds like they are doing okay 3 are going strong in the church still and others have fallen and started smoking again and others are just lazy. I sent letters to say hi and hopefully get them to church. I was so happy to get a letter from Nick Gall, it has been a long time since I heard from him. I just want to hear from Donny, I have some pics and a letter to send to him because his b-day was this week I am late but I think he might understand.
We had a mini cambio this week too and it went super good. I went to Panamericana with Elder Dowse and we had a super good day and some great lessons and stuff. We got to go to a huge mansion in the campo to teach a guy and I tell you this house was four times our house this guy is loaded but he is really interested in the church but it will be a huge shock to him all the stuff he will have to give up....he lives a very rich and different life.
This past Friday we went to go visit Margarita and her mom, Jacqueline , with the YW Presidency to get here started on Personal Progress and she was super excited for it and we got to talk and share. I have seen a difference in her mom and her other sister, Leslie. We went back over Saturday to invite them to church and Leslie said she would go and we also gave a blessing to Jacqueline because she is sick. Well I called yesterday morning and Tita and Leslie were getting ready to go to church, I was jazzed about that. Also Daniela quit smoking and so she is moving a lot and getting ready for her baptism on the Oct 17 the problem now is her boyfriend who lives with her. We need to find him a place so he can move and she can get baptized. That is the hard part now but, I know the Lord will provide if we all do our part and do what he wants us to do. Daniela brought her daughter to church with her and so that meant I was on keep Samantha quiet and occupied duty so Daniela could pay attention... well you know 2 yr olds and she is a talker! man I tell you.. She is so cute she kept taking off and putting on my plaque and hiding it in my pocket and climbing on me and man was I tired and then in the class she climbed up on my lap and was playing with my face she is so cute she cracks me up.
We have been trying to share with our neighbors and had 2 appointments this but they had conflicts but the familia Cristi said they have had a lot of questions this week and gave them Books of Mormon too. So, I think the door is beginning to open and now it is a matter of time and patience with the Lord. Well I hope you enjoy the photos I sent to yal from the 18 parties and stuff. I love you all so much and send my love too all. I know the Lord lives and loves us. He is aware of our needs and He is willing to bless us as we do his will. I love you all so much, take care.
Love, Eric

Chilean Indpendence Day Celebration, fun, food, food and more food

Hello gringos what cha name?

How is everyone doing? What is new? What is old? What is something that is old that I don’t know? I hope you all had a good week and that are all happy to be back to work and all that good stuff. Good news I got the package this week and was so happy to see goodies and treats and new stuff, thank you. Bad news well I wanted to see how much I weigh last Monday before the fiestas this weekend and well to my surprise I have gained 10 kg here in Talca......I was so sad going into the fiestas but I ate a bunch. It just means now I got to tighten the old belt down and put the nose to the grinding stone to get myself back to my fit self. I don’t look bigger and it might be muscle but oh well too many Family Night goodies I think haha. Oh man have I gotten lazy to write in my journal I am 10 days behind because at night I just want to sleep....but need to get caught up it is my life story. The water heater thing broke in the house and had 4 days of freezing cold showers. They were short and with ice for awhile there I thought I was in Alaska. The guy came to fix it and works a little better but not that great, oh well.

We had a great start to the week up to Thursday night we had found 7 new investigators but after that point the 4 day holiday began and the work just went to level 2. Thursday night we had to go help set up for the activity and then all day Friday we were at the activity with the members. During the week we learned the nation dance “La Cueca” and we were ready to dance it to get a laugh out of the members and have some fun, but some lame members threatened to call Pres on us if we did, so that was enough to pull the fun out of it all oh well but all in all we had a great time and had a lot of fun. All 4 of us got fried, the curse of white skin. We got a lot of pictures and videos that I will send next week because this computer is junk because it is the only place open today. We tried to go do visit at night Friday but nobody was home. A family in our ward asked if we could feed their dog this weekend because they were going to Chillan so we had to got feed their puppy for three days. She is a 1 yr old German shepherd named Tiara, she is cute and nice but is scared of us oh well. The only hard thing was there house is on the other south side of our sector about a 45 min walk and there are no collectivos or micros oh well but it was fun. Saturday was the big celebrations of 18 de Septiembre and we had a good day. We ate constantly all day. We had a late breakfast at 11 of longaniza and eggs then we munched and played UNO and foosball then had a huge barbeque for lunch late lunch at like 5 and then we watched “Mountain of the Lord” and chilled. We were with the familia Cristy who live across the street from us such an awesome family and are getting ready to go to the temple in November to be sealed

After all that we had a late night snack at 9 of more meat and food and played more cards It was a day of eating and I feel so fat. We had few members in church on Sunday but oh well. last night was a hard night to work too because people were out of town and won’t come back untill tomorrow I think. We got up and played futbol this morning and it was fun but I am dead I just want to rest. We had to look for about 5 hrs to find a cyber open because today is a holiday too and nothing I mean nothing is open the whole country of Chile shuts down for 4 days.....so weird. It would never happen in the states....people would die if stores weren’t open on holidays....what are you going to do if you forget something haha.....oh well. cannot wait to show you all the pictures but like I said this computer sucks. I hope you are all good and hope you can get better and stay better. I love you all so much and you are always in my prayers. Have a great week and I cannot wait to here from you all next week take care love you.
Love Eric

A week of Hard Work and Miracles

Hola,
¿Qué tal? ¿Qué cuentan de bueno? Entonces, estoy bien pero cansado pero me di cuenta que es lo normal y puedo dormir despues la misión jajaja. Esta semana me fue bien y trabajé arto par llevar nuestros invs a la iglesia y tuvimos una, daniela fur a la iglesia por que no trabajó sabádo entonces no tuvo tanto sueño en la mañana pero no me dio pena despertarla temprano......son bendiciones de dios jaja. ahora con 4 gringos en la casa se habla puro Spanglish y nos dio tanta risa otro dia por que cambiamos entre español y ingles y nos entendemos y no nos damos cuenta cuando lo hacemos es bien chistos. Jaja

“How is everything? What count of good? I am well but tired. I realized that is the normal thing and can sleep after the mission jajaja. This week was well and I worked even to take our investigators to church and we had one, Daniela for the church. So that Saturday did not work then I was not as sleepy in the morning and it did not give pain me to wake up it early ...... are God blessings. Now with 4 gringos in the house we speak Spanglish. We had to laugh when we realized we changed between Spanish and English and understood and we do not realize when we do it.”

Anyway first off I jumped out of my seat to hear Matt got his call that is so awesome, now maybe he can go to the pro bowl next year in Hawaii hahaha . . . . and to hear Nick’s papers got sent that is so awesome so cool. Nick will be the last of our age group that is still active to leave and that is so awesome. I love those guys and Ryan leaves here soon right? I need to try and get a letter to him quick. I have one but need to send it this week to make sure it gets there. Can you say hi to Nick, Matt and Ryan and send my love and congrats,,,,I have been a little busy to write them but I am always thinking about them. That is awesome news Matt will do great in Hawaii and tell Nick I will see him in January in Concepcion when I pick him up to be his trainer....that would be so insane but I have had a couple a dreams about it. It makes me so happy that they are all on the verge of getting out. I realized the other day that all the Hermanas from my district in the MTC go home in December and Arian Black too goes home either in Dec or Jan....crazy how time flies and stuff just wizzes by in a blink of an eye.

Elder Cockrell is the new gringo in the house and he has one cambio less than me so I am the oldest in the house. He and Elder Stephenson are comp equals there is no comp mayor or menor they are the same which is interesting. Elder Piece and I are doing well sometimes get at each other for stupid stuff but I think it is because we are so alike and sarcastic that we push each others buttons. But, we are working great together. We worked our butts off this week and had some good teaching we didn’t see the immediate results but I know the Lord will blesses us as we work harder and put our faith in Him.

We had a great experience on Friday in the afternoon all of our citas fell so we knocked on doors and got nothing for about half hour and we knocked this huge house and nobody answered so we continued on, as we turned the corner a lady yelled to us asking if we had knocked her door. She had a bunch of books in her hand so we went to talk to her because we figured she needed help, and it is not everyday that people are willing to talk to us so you have got to take what you get. Anyway, she asked if we could help her pray for her son who was taking his final law exam, she invited us in and we talked for a little bit and she told us that she had been baptized 8 yrs ago and become inactivó when the elders left. We offered a prayer and right after we said amen her son called and said he said he passed. It was amazing as we talked we got to know her and one of her sons. It is a family of 6 the wife and husband are members and mavbe 4 sons ages 26,21,18,16.....wow! Her son Matias had some great questions for us and we were able to answer them. As we talked she said as soon as she had started to pray to ask God to send help to her son, we knocked the door and she said she didn’t answer because she thought it was a coincidence......but the more she thought she knew it wasn’t....so that is when she called us back. I felt that I should testify that it was a miracle that that day at that time our cita fell through and we felt we should contact that street and that right in the moment when she was asking for help we knocked her door. I felt the spirit so strong and I know those in the room felt it too. It was such a testimony builder for me to follow the prompting of the spirit because miracles do happen and He will put us where we need to be. They invited us back to there house anytime and we will go back, cannot let this family slip away.

Yesterday we did splits with the Zone Leader and I was doing contacts with Elder Pitcher and got into a house and this guy was prepared. We taught a very powerful lesson and he told us how he felt and we were able to testify to him that it was the spirit he had felt and that it was a sign that the things we taught were true, it was awesome. I told Elder Stephenson and he said he had knock that street three times and never saw anyone in that house....God prepares his children to receive the gospel and it is our responsibility, as missionaries to listen to the spirit and teach and find those who are ready. This week has been a week of hard work and miracles, our God is a God of miracles He has always done them and continues to perform miracles today and He will keep doing them according to our faith. It reminds me of the scripture in Ether 12, “if there is no faith among the children of men God cannot perform miracles.” I love the mission, it is hard and at times frustrating but the blessing and the experiences I have had are all worth it. I know you have been blessed for my service and pray that I can work harder to help you out so that you receive more from our Father in Heaven.

Margarita is doing great but hasn’t gone to church the last two weeks due to her parents. Last week and this week she was super sick a fever and stuff, Ivonne is sick to but she made it to sac meeting which is awesome. She is cool and is a good example for her family and Margarita is too. She is a reading machine, when we went over on Friday she had just finished with 2 Nephi 9 she is pumping though the Book of Mormon and she understands and remembers it all too. We were talking about faith and obedience and she was like oh ya it was like Nephi said to his brother and she opened up to it and referred to a scripture, so awesome to see her with such desire to learn and follow in the church. Daniela went to church yesterday and also had an interview with Elder Pitcher and she still needs to do somethings to get baptized but it is still possible for this month. We need to help her understand the expiación and arrepentimiento (purification and repentance),,,,,hard talks but I am up for it. She really needs this in her life and I know she can do it.

This week had Family Home Evening at the familia Cristy with Daniela and her daughter, Samantha 2 & 6months. She is so cute, I remember when I got here she was so scared and never talked and now never shuts up. She always asks if we are coming over and she says `` tio Elder`` so cute but she is spoiled. We did the lesson and we made pizza and it was so good, I must say I am not to shabby of a chef , anyway I had bought some UNO cards to play a game with because nobody has games and cards here. They are cool UNO cards they are plastic and child proof they can’t wreck them, anyway Samantha wanted to play so when it was out turn I would tell her a color and she would throw it out for us and everybody was playing serious and I had a 2 yr old playing with me on my lap and guess who won...... Samantha and I did haha oh the rest were so mad haha I was just lucky with the kids haha she is a cute littlel thing haha I will have to snap a picture with her this week.

We helped Hermano Cristy with doing blessing and I gave him my oil vial so I am out again...sorry so next package I will need another one, he needed it more than I did... he has a family to care for. I also told him a couple of talks to reference from General Conference about blessings and priesthood. They are planning on getting sealed in November and it will be so cool to see them do it,,,,but I cannot go to the temple well that is an awesome family.

I hope you all have a great week I love you all so much take care. I know the church is true and we were loved by our Father in Heaven. He will provide for us but we need to put the efforts in and show Him we will follow His will. I love you and take care. I am ready for a week of eating because this weekend is the Independence celebration here so fun I will have lots of fotos to show you all chau!
Love Eric

Companion Changes and continuing in the Lord's Work

Querida Familia, ¿Comó estamos? ¿Qué cuentan de lo bueno? ya po, bien hoy es el principio de un cambio nuevo y por eso tengo noticias...............E Pierce y Yo nos quedamos iguales.....jaja él tiene que sufrir conmigo 6 semanas más y E Stephenson se queda pero su comp E Sarmiento se va a Cúrico y el comp nuevo de E Stephenson viene de Cúrico......noticias noticias....bien asi es todo no tengo más que contar entonces, chau que estén bien jajaja. (What count of the good thing? well today is the principle of a new change and for that reason I have the news ............... Elder Pierce and I remained equal ..... jaja he must undergo another 6 weeks more with me and Elder Stephenson remains but his companion and Elder Vine shoot go away to Cúrico, and Elder Stephenson gets a new companion from Cúrico ...... the news the news….that is everything and I have nothing else to say) No just kidding of course I have more to tell;
How is the old familia doing and how is your great American holiday? I hope you are all enjoying you day and are resting up for the long haul this week. Well just so you know it is not a holiday here and work is the usual, but anyway well I was awakened at 7:30 with a phone call of about cambios, and well there we some interesting cambios but that is how it goes. We all got dressed and decided to get to centro a lil ealier to get some house cleaning done in the afternoon for the new guy. This week went well but it was also a hard week too. I think like half of our investigators are avoiding us and the other half have a billion problems but that is how it is; Satanas is just trying to throw the work off. What he doesn’t know is he cannot because we keep working no matter what. But it is all good it is a new week and a new cambio and so it is shoulder to the wheel and push with all your strength. We have gotten a huge help from the stake and now they are doing training for all the ward mission leaders to try and help them help us more and get them pumped up. They do the trainings twice a month and my mission leader has just gotten pumped up and he is working so hard now I can hardly keep up with him. We put the meta to get 50 baptisms in the ward by the end of the year and to reach that we need to have 6 a month. It is surely possible and it will be achieved if we all work and do our part. It is nice to see the leaders putting concern in the obra misional. It is good we went out and did divisones with two members on Friday. It was my first time doing it in the mission and it went well. We had citas fall through but we both were able to meet with people and got 2 new investigators as well. We set up time to go out again this week. I can see the excitement building and there will be a lot of blessings if we continue like this. We got a great referral from a member and when we contacted her she seemed super interested in the church. I was jazzed about that. It is hard to do contacts but sometimes they pay off. Working with the members is the most effective work. I don’t like doing contacts and I have to push myself to do them but, I know God will bless us if we do it. I think being in Cauquenes and doing contacts everyday for 5 months burnt me out but I just need to do it. I have to do every part of the work. even the parts I don’t like. It was a good week for me to learn and grow and know what I have to do. Now I just need to do it.
Saturday morning we had a barbeque at the familia Cristy´s house. It was a bunch of fun and I ate a lot. I am preparing myself for 4 days of eating next week for the bit holiday. It will be so much fun and I cannot wait. I have a very strict diet and exercise plan this week and next week after the holiday so that I don’t gain too much weight. I think I have put on a little here but we are going to go out and run in the morning because has warmed up a bit.
We did some visits with Hermana Alicia because she is the Young Women President and so we visited some of the new Young Women converts and she talked to the parents and explained the program and activities and stuff. It was awesome and it helped Margaritas mom a lot. We are going by again this week so that she can explain Personal Progress and help us with the mom. She washes our laundry and she is so cool. She cracks me up because she was so scared to cross the highway, we had to almost drag her. It is fun to cross highways and especially in other countries!! Margarita and Ivonne didn’t go to church yesterday but it was due to some family problems. Daniela missed also because she had to work a wedding and got home at 5 am.
We have a lot of desafios with our investigators but we just got to work harder. One good thing is that we found a bunch of new houses and this week. We are going to work there and I think we will have some good success out there.
I made an Apple Crisp last night and it was very good. My experiment worked....hee,hee,hee and they loved it. It would have been better with real brown sugar but that is how it is. Every week I am looking for new stuff to do, so if you have any ideas send them too me. I love to cook it is relaxing and in the end you get to eat what you made. The best thing about last night was that we were in the familia Cristy´s house and the neighbors from across the street were there too so got to share with them we know them really well and always talk in the street but never get to share with them, so it was fun. The people love the brownie I make the only thing is we usually have to eat it hot and it is better cool. We made a brownie and served it with ice cream hot and oh it was so good haha,.I love sweets.
That is about it for the big news for the week and I am so far behind in my journal about 2 wks now because I am just so tired to write at night but today I plan to get caught up.
I love you all so much and hope you are all doing well. Miss you a bunch and the time is escaping me here on the mission, the cambios pass like days and I feel like I am missing so much because time is moving so fast. I love being here, I love being part of the Lord’s work and to be able to share the message with all people. I know that God lives and that He loves us and that He sent His son, JesuCristo, to save us and prepare the way. I know if we are obedient and we follow His example and live according to His commandments we will live with God again. I never realized how much of a blessing the gospel is but I can see it in the lives of others and it really is the healer of all healers. We can find all our answers in the holy scriptures and in the words of the church leaders. I have been putting 15 min of my study everyday to read conference talks and I have learned so much. The Lord’s representatives are on the earth to help us but we have to hear and follow. I know this church is true and the true happiness is found in it. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week. Take care, te amo mucho.
Love Eric