Happy 21st Birthday Elder Kuykendall 3/28/2011

Hey Hey Familia,

Muchisimas gracias por los saludos para mi cumpleaños, me fue bien!

I woke up with the usual birthday aches and pains that remind you time and your youth is slipping away haha, no just kidding I am not that old, I am still a kid haha. I told the Elders to not tell anybody because I didn’t want to make it a big deal and they kept it on the DL if you know what I mean, thanks for the gifts and the card game is fun. I like it haha it is like a multi person speed.

The 25th was an okay day that turned out to be a day of drama in the ward because we had a ward activity and we were in charge of the games. It was poorly assisted and well the blame came upon us but oh well, we did our best visiting and inviting menos activos and miembros and investigatos, and well I feel like we did the best we could. This ward has just lost its heartbeat and well Elder Call and I are trying to spark it with the paddles but the is a flat line, so in times of need and difficulty man must fall to his knees and pray to the Almighty, How could I help boost up the excitement and love of the members, how can I help them work harder? Any thoughts?

All in all it was a bit of a tough week and well Elder Call and I kept the old chin up and continued! Lots of doors knocked and few doors opened, but hope is not lost every door that closes mean we are 1 door closer to a chosen and prepared Child of God! This week we are going to get it done and blow this place away! We have got to finish on a great note, it is the last game that is always remembered. We cannot be defeated haha!

Well anyway I am doing good a little sore because we played football on the beach this morning for like 2 hours and I am wiped out. All the people walking by stopped to cheer on the gringos on the beach I felt like i was playing in a pro game they we cheering and stuff haha, its not everyday you get to see a bunch of foreigners play a game you have never seen haha. I am out of shape!!!!!!!! Well that is about all the fun news I have for the week. Yesterday we had lunch at Jose Cisterna´s house our lider misional, because his b-day was yesterday, it was fun and got to share some time with his family and it was a great lunch. Ward conference was yesterday and very disorganized but the words of the Stake President were short but good. What he said was what the ward needed. Clara is doing great and is completing 100% and I am a little worried because she has all the excitement in the world and she is seeing members that carry years in the church and don’t do anything so she is starting to notice the bad examples......but we keep telling her to do what she is doing, she will lead and the rest will follow.

Oh about the donkey Elder Call says he was feeding it but I think he was just abusing the pour thing.....apparently there aren’t animal abuse laws in the south haha. I am, just kidding he was trying to feed it....haha.

I cannot wait for conference this weekend it will be great!!!!!! I know this church is true and my testimony grows everyday more and more as I strive to share my testimony. God has restored His church in these last day and we receive the blessings. I love you all so much take care nos vemos!!!!! Eric

PS my package is in Concepcion!

PSS cambios are next week the 4th, I should be home on the 29 June CHAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Power of Study and Prayer 3/21/2011

Hola Familia,

How are yall doing this fine day? What’s new? Thank you for the birthday wishes and for the letters this week I love to hear about what is going on with you all. Well 2 weeks left in this cambios and found out in interviews this week that I will be getting a new companion this coming cambio, the 4 April are cambios so it will be a good weekend and have a baptism planned for the 3rd, Byron 15. Clara is doing good. She was confirmed yesterday, she was super happy and I was able to do the confirmation. She will be called to the Primary presidency I think this next week, most new converts don’t receive callings like they should which is sad but not much I can do, just insist and hint towards it but she is doing good and is happy to have received the Holy Ghost. Also this past Saturday we had a stake training meet by Pres Humphrey and talked about the new focus of the missionary work in the mission and everybody loved it. Now we have to make sure it gets done which is the hardest thing here the doing part and stepping up to the plate. But I know with the support of the leaders and the work on our part it will work out and we will see miracles here. There are good leaders and great members but all they need is a boost of energy and a bit of a push and we will get this bus moving again. We can do it. This week was good and most of our efforts this week went towards finding people. We did it through contacts and visiting in-actives and of course asking for references haha, I know the Lord is preparing the people and with our diligent work we will find them and they will accept, we have a lot of great people and prospects but the hard thing is now with school and work at full pace it is hard to find people in their house with time to share. It is disappointing but nothing is impossible if the Lord is with us. Patience is a quality of Christ, not of the natural man haha. I have a lot of work to do. Pres and the assistants gave us a boost of energy and it helped because we had been a little down but I know we will strike gold this week and the fruits of our labors will be many. I was able to gain a stronger testimony of the study of the scriptures and prayer this week, talked with a Baptist preacher this week. As we testified of profetas and apostles, he told us it doesn’t say that in the bible....I thought how does it not? I am not good for remembering scriptures but three came to my mind in this instance that spoke about the profetas and apostoles. many people read the Bible or Book of Mormon and don’t understand it, like me, but if we pray and study and look for the answer we will find it, most people are okay with the explanation of their Pastors or Preachers but in the true Church of Christ we teach that every man should search and ask himself, we should always look for the personal conviction of the truth, that is why so many people are lost because they take other people’s word for it. The Church of Jesus Christ teaches us how to be self sufficient and find the answers for ourselves and feel the spirit ourselves, I love the true church! We had a good adventure yesterday hiking up to Alegre from Bella Vista, we found two oxen in the path and couldn’t get around them so we went bush-wacking.......it didn’t work we came out with thorns and scrapes and Elder Call fell off a 3 meter cliff. I had to bust out the scout skills to save him and then a rock came out from under my foot and I rolled my ankle but all is well I have great videos. It was fun haha good old camping days but was even better in shirt and tie. All is good it was funny another mission story. I caught some more pulgas this week haha they like my blood. We have a bug bomb coming this week. I love you all enjoy the pics and the sunset looking out to the bay from Cerro Alegre. I know the church is true and God does love us, we are His children! I love you all take care. Love Eric

Clara is Baptized, Tsunami Warning/Evacuations and Wild Donkeys? 3/14/2011

Hello family,

Well this week was a bit of a strange one with all that has gone on and the worst thing is that as a missionary you never get the correct info so I am more lost than ever haha. I am good and safe no need to worry or anything like that nothing happened here and well that is it. Nothing much to tell. lol no but it was a good week and well the biggest news was that Clara was baptized yesterday!!!!!!!!!! We are so happy for her and she was super happy too, it was a day much waited for and the miracle happened.

Her pareja got paid last Monday and he left that very same night, the next day Tuesday had a mini cambio with the zone leaders and did a follow up interview with her and all is good for her baptism, she was nervous and very excited the whole week she told us it felt like time was passing very slow and she thought Sunday would never get there. During the week we planned out the baptism to do it in the river like she wanted to and told everyone about it, she was so happy and invited all her neighbors and her friends to come and to participate in her baptism, her son Wladimir (6) kept asking when she would be getting baptized because wanted to see it too, well Friday we woke up to a lot of rain and a taste of the winter to come in the next couple months, it rained all day and then talking about the cold weather and stuff on Saturday we decided with Clara, El Obispo and us that it would be better to do the baptism in the pila at the church because of all the mud at the river it would be hard to get to, Clara was a little down but it was the best also didn’t want her and her kids to get sick and to take them out in cold weather would be worst, she was still stoked though and it was a wonderful baptism. I felt honored to be able to baptize her. I had to hold back the tears because it was something she had worked so hard for and Elder call and me too. We found her my first week her in Tomé almost 4 months ago, she and was ready and willing to live and obey the commandments she attended church for 4 months straight, it was the little thing about her pareja that was the problem, but it was fixed with much fasting and prayer.

Clara’s dad came to support her in her baptism and the member stayed too, the sprit was strong and her dad told me he had felt good and could tell the difference. When we first started to share with Clara he hated us and didn’t let us in the house and as he saw the changes in her life he softened his heart and we have formed a good relationship with him. He is a good man who loves his family and it might take year for him to join the church but I know he will. It was a great day. I know the Lord is preparing people and they are waiting for missionaries or a church member to invite them to share and receive blessings. It doesn’t hurt to invite, nobody can get offended by an invitation! We as members or better said missionaries need to invite and that is it.

On Friday we were informed by members and the mission about the terremoto and that night we had to go up to the house of the missionaries in 18 de sept, to sleep. They gave us 2 mattresses and 2 blankets for the 4 of us, it ticked me off because we didn’t sleep all night and froze to death. The next morning found blankets extra in the house....it was worse than snow camping! oh well we woke up to everything normal and went home to shower and to rest a very little and out to work and we were dead that day because we hadn’t slept all night. There was a stake missionary work training Saturday afternoon and got cancelled but we did have 5 of the 15 in English class. Next week will be better because there won’t be a tsunami jaja,

Well I got the start of the trunky emails from the mission asking airport and other info and it is just the start oh well asi es but I am not trunky I wish I could extend but it would be impossible, I love missionary work I am not the best missionary but I sure do love it, it is the best. Time seems to be flying by but I am not trunky I am just focused on one day at a time and that is all that matters.

Oh my gosh so I have to tell you this well I am a fleas bestfriend, I guess my blood is really sweet because pulgas love to suck my blood, anyway in the other missionaries house where we slept Friday night, there was a pulga that was chewing me up all night on my legs an have about 10 bites or more. It must have came home with me and after many hours of trying to catch it, he made a bad jump onto my desk and I caught it and I glued it into my journal I sent you all a pic!!!! I hate pulgas but they love me but I will have to suffer a little more. I use that stuff I brought from the states but it doesn’t help it just make me smell weird. The thing is that in houses and in the street they get in our clothes and we cannot control it. I have tried everything, and it doesn’t work but I will tough it out and continue killing them and saving there bodies as evidence haha, oh well don’t worry I just wanted to tell you my cool story of pulga hunting they are huge here!

I sent pics of me and Elder Call feeding wild donkeys out by the river. They were so cute but he wouldn’t let me mount one and have a John Wayne moment...oh well it was cute but I know it had caulquier desaease I fed it nicely but if you look at Elder Call’s pic he was abusing the poor thing he was beating a defenseless animal with a stick, poor donkey it was just looking for food. If the horses had been closer....maybe I would have ridden one no just kidding haha I wouldn’t do it haha. It was a good week and look forward to another good on this week, have entrevistas this Wed and hope they turn out good haha. I love you all so much and I hope you are all good and hope you have a good week. I love you all and know I am doing the right thing preaching the true gospel of Christ, take care love you all. Love Eric

Japan Earthquake Tsunami Warnings in Chile March 11 &13, 2011

Sunday, March 13, 2011 11:13 Dear Parents, In the end, Chile was not affected much by the Japan's terrible tsunami. It was very interesting that in Easter Island--owned by Chile, which is closer to Japan than Chile,the effects were imperceptible. HOwever, in Dichato, a community that received wide-spread destruction last year, got an almost 6 foot wave wash into town for 2 km. There was not any damage. THere isn't much left to wash away. Ssome boats were tipped over. . THe fact is. THe owner of them, a large one, has been repairing it since last year. By the end of the day, it was arrighted. THere was a lot of mud. The other costal cities in our mission were fine. Elder Fullmer and Elder Wall live in a house way up the hill and 3 km from the sea. They reported hearing an alarm go off at 3AM. Afterwards they were able to go back to sleep. We are grateful. Hermana Fischbeck ************************************************************************************ Friday March 11, 2011 12:15 pm Dear Parents, As a precaution, we are telling our missionaries located in costal cities to be on higher ground until after the wave hits us in Chile and we see what strength it will have. Effective at 5pm Chile time. por Pdte. Humphrey *********************************************************************************** Friday, March 11 2011 7:36 am Dear Parents All is well on the coast of Chile after the big earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Our hearts and prayers go for them in Japon. Hna. Fischbeck

A Week of Ups and Downs 3/7/2011

hola Queridos Fanaticos, how are yall doing? whats new? welll thank you for your letters and thank you for your prayers, DON´T GET TRUNKY! yes i still wear my tie every fast sunday haha hay que hacerlo! it is still looking youngthough i think the tie wants to stay for two sundays more..........it wouldnt be bad......haha i guess we wil find out wont we hhaha, no extentions dont exist anymore, that sucks oh well. think in the present. haha What we do now is important. haha. Well to start of i am good living! Well there was a bit of bad news this week, Called Clara on friday to make sure her pareja got paid andwas ready to leave and well there was nothing but bad news, he didnt get paed and so she wasn´t able to get baptized, he issuposed to leave today and need to call her, she was down about it and i was devestated....it sucked but we are planning for this coming sunday and it willhappen she has come to far to lose it now the lord will provide. to add to the drama she got sick and wasnt able to go to church and we couldnt get ahold of her.....it was panic for us in the church, and to put a car on the already bad week we didnt have any inv in church.....but i know it will get better, it depends de mi and my work and faith. you know i always remember in moments when i want to point a finger something a person of age taught,´´ when we point with one finger, there are 3 that are pointing back at us´´ -(i think you know who i am talking about and if not ASK THE MAN WITH MARBLES IN HIS MOUTH shssssss) yep the only person we can blame is ourselves! What did i do wrong? and , What willi do to change and not do it again¨? thank you you can cal me WISEMAN KUY! haha but in all seriousness its true we are so goodat blame and i nknowi am bad too, but i am a man and i can change....change is part of the plan of salvation!!!!! It was a tough week but elder call and i realized it was bc we had not focused on teaching by the sprit and were teaching to ´´convince´´ not ´´convert´´, we were wrong. but we made so gret metas to help us teach by the spirit and to help convert ppl not convince. that is what makes a difference, the best tachers arent those who know awesome facts and recite scriptures from memory but are those whos have the spirit, teach by it, listen to it, and help others feel it too. the spirit teahcces the truth and testifys of it too. i tell you my misssion was to teach me...haha. we saw the difference in our teaching also i read this week about how every doubt and question about the chruch depends one 2 things, Is joseph Smith a prorhet and is the Book of Mormon true? We Were taeching Elena this week and she had a question about the pope, if we though he was a prophet, i told her that we respect him as a religous leader but that we believe that a man should be called by profecia and by the laying on of hands, we explaineed that the only way to know is by reading and praying about the book of mormon, we shared our testimony and invited her to start reading again and to pray and ask if the book was true, she accepted she said she wasnt just going to read but was going to study the book, i felt the spirit guide me to say that, it took pacience and a quick prayer but he lead me there and it had better results than a different answer i could have given. i hope i can continue in this to be able to help ppl find the true and help them have the desires to know, i know God loves us bc he sends his spirit to testify to us the truth of all things. What better thing could we want, there isn´t anything! Yesterday afternoon did a mini cambio con E Bordolli and did some visits and went to visit Jacqueline , bff of Clara, and i asked ifshe had questions about her reading we left, 2 nefi 31, she said yes and i asked first what did youunderstand.? she said it was about baptism and recieving the spirit, i then told her ask her question and she said ´´What do i need to do to get baptized?´´ good question huh? i thought so too. it was great i asked whyandshe said she wanted to erase her pst and start over again and that she wanted to follow christ, we talked about baptism and the pblessing and i invited her to be baptized on the 27 march she was excitied. it wont be easy bc she has alot to change but she wants to do it and that is the important thing. sooo maybe the numbers werenttoo great this week but i feel that it was a good week and this week will be even better!!!! i donthave any fotos for yall this week but sorry, oh yay had conference on wed in conce and went great i loved it and leraned abunch, i love conference, the hns that got here after me are all going home haha time flies when you re in the mission.i got my bday package.....illtry not to peak......haha i think i can be patient haha. thanks forthe ric of the medlingers good to see them. i love youall so much and love getting your letters. i hope you are all good in ework and keep trecking forward. Hope the baby is good and that everybody is happy!!!!!!!!!!! i love you so much! thanks for the ensign of conference i am about halfway done with it...haha i love readingt the talks bc i can here there voices in my head soo cool......Everything has to do with planes!!!!!! haha I know the gospel is true and that our Heavenly father loves us and sent Jesucristo to save us, i know that this is the only true church on the face of the earth that has the`power of God to bless his children, and i know because i doubted, so i read the Book of Mormon, and i prayed to know if it was true and i felt it in my heart, i felt it and i can never deny what i felt. Jesus Christ lives and has calls prophets in thses days like those of old, He directs His church.It is so simple, ASK AND YE SHALL KNOW. I love the gospel and am thankful for the very same missionaries that sacrificed there lives to brings this marvolous gospel to our family and there is nothing more important in my life than to sacrifice so others can feel the same. Ilove you so much and wish you a greta week take care and READ AND PRAY, it works love you ttyl love Eric I got back an hour on saturday night, I am not looking forward to darker nights I like the sun!!!!!!

Terremoto 1 Year Anniversary February 28, 2011

Hola querida Familia, ¿Que cuetan de la tierra del norte? ¿Cómo están los gentiles por allí? ¿Cómo Se comportan? jaja ¿Cómo están ustedes? Espero que hayan tenido una semana super buena y que tenga una buena esta semana tambien jaja. les quiero tanto! Well this week flew by so fast with the cambios and all at the beginning of the week and them the usual work made the week seem short and here I am again writing you haha. I don’t have much to tell but I will tell it anyway...I tell you my memory is getting really bad have to write everything down and I have gotten lazy about writing in the journal I am a week behind no sé but I am just so dead without deseos to write but need to do it. This week we worked super hard with Clara to get her ready for here baptism date on the 6 March this coming week and she had her entrevista and everything and she is good to go!!!!!!!!!! Wooooooohoooooo! I am so stoked and she wants to get baptized in the river and call to get permission and got it so Sunday afternoon we are going to the river it will be so cool and a lot of members should come to we are tell everybody. I don’t know who will baptize her but it isn’t important what is important is that she will be baptized, they are already talking abut a calling for her. So awesome she is so ready and she is so happy. She is inviting all her friends and family to come too. I cannot wait to tell you all about the baptism this week. Tonight we are having a NDH at the family Alarcon, where I did my phone call, if you remember Kelliee....the little girl that came in during the call haha at their house haha, Clara and her kids are going and also her friend Jacqueline and her kids and also a neighbor Byron so it will be super fun and we are making some goodies to eat, it will be so fun. We received an awesome reference from the office on last Monday made the contact. It is so good, se llama Mirta, she had been praying to find the true church and her work partner sent in the referral she has a lot of deseos to learn but her work schedule is hard but it is a detail no mas haha. We found some good new people to teach and also were able to see some of the menos activa famlies we teach progress also. We met a menos activo, Carlos, he is a man who lived the american dream, he went to the USA at age 17 and studied and worked and became a doctor, joined the church young and worked in a hospital for 30 years and he moved back to Chile but he has problems with the culture he hates it and he said he wants to go back to Mexico or the USA to his old ward. He speaks perfect English and Spanish he is a cool guy and are helping him go back to the ward here because we need members like him here. He has a great life story and told us a little but I would love to hear more he is a cool guy. The new elder that got here is Elder Demann he is a cool guy from Murray Utah, Elder Thomas my MTC companion is from there also. We have had good times in the house and did a deep cleaing this week in the house and the spirit is so strong now haha “cleanliness is next to Godliness” haha, this morning we went and made pan amasado with Hermano Domingo and made it with chicharones! It is fried fat and carnes oh the pan is soooooooooo good and with queso mejor haha I love it. I am going to teach him how to made cinnamon rolls next time haha so good haha. It is chill and hope to have a chill p-day and rest up a bit. Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the terremoto here and well there have been some small ones but nothing to worry about. They did a memorial program here and n Dichato, but time has gone and stuff is better no need to worry if you repent and live the commandments! Well it was a great week and I look forward to another good one this week with a lot of exito!!!! Thanks for sending the package and hope I don’t get fatter........I am up to 96.2 kilos.......not good my clothes fit the save but my stomach is a little bigger and my legs look like tree stumps from climbing the hills here everyday but my companion said he would sacrifice and run with me in the morning three days a week to try to lose weight and I have cut out all snacking because I cannot gain weight, oh well that is the life! I love this work and I feel so blessed everyday to think that the Lord chose me to do it. I am not capable to do it but I know if I seek the Lord and the spirit He will bless me with the strength and knowledge so I can do it. I know this is the true church and I know because I have felt it and I ask frequently to know if I am doing what is right and He always answers yes. The gospel is easy the commandments are too but we make them hard we complicate things and we are the ones who bring the consequences upon ourselves not God we do it. I love the gospel and I love to teach it too. I love this work and love to help others understand it too. I love you so much and hope you have a great week Love Eric

"When you are in the service of your fellow man you are the service of your God" 2/21/2011

Hola ¿Cómo Están?,
¡despertaos! y ¡escuchaos a mis palabras! nojust kidding, well I was so glad to be able to hear a little from everyone of you and I know you all are busy but I sure do love to receive save it be a sentence from you all . Thank You. This week was a good one but it went by fast and slow you could say, time is weird now because Elder Call and I were talking about the cambio and we realized that Eliana was baptized this cambio and it felt like such a long time ago so weird time flies by and for me it goes by too fast to keep track of it all. Thanks to my agenda I at least know what day it is.
Today is the start of a new cambio and I am still here in Tomé and Elder Call and I will be together for at least one more cambio. He is the 3rd companion that I have been with for 3 cambios....weird huh I guess it means I still have a lot to learn from him 6 weeks worth of stuff haha. Elder Huerta is going north to Talca and those are the changes in the house and Elder Deman is coming down from Talca, but I will stay here for 6 weeks more. More time to find the chosen ones here in Tome. So, today will be a chill day and tomorrow is a mission wide cleaning day but is cambios too so it means that Elder Call and I will have to clean solo oh well that is how it goes. I think I will go backwards telling you about my week because yesterday is most fresh in my head I think.....
Yesterday was stake conference and we had a transmission from Salt Lake City; Elder Maynes, Hermana Dalton, Elder Christofferson, and Elder Packer spoke. Elder Christofferson served his mission with Pres Humphrey and speaks Spanish very well and also Elder Maynes spoke in Spanish, Hermana Dalton was translated and Elder packer started his talk in Spanish and ended too....he tried his best, if was a good conference and talked abut missionary work a lot. They broadcasted to about 40 stakes and districts in Chile and told all youth under the age of 25 to prepare to go on a mission because the % of missionaries Chilenos is super low to all those who have the age to go on the mission. It was great and Clara came and she loved it she was in awwww, she said “I cannot believe I just heard 2 apostles talk” it was cool. The other Elders had a baptism last night and Clara came and we were able to share a message with her. She told us that the conference did her good and was what she needed. She set her fecha for the 5 of marzo, she said she was going to do all it took to get baptized that day. She is so awesome and is so ready. I am so thankful for the gospel because it has saved Clara from the pit where she was and even though she hasn’t gotten baptized yet, but will, that she is in a safer place now with friends and help from the members. The members have done their part and more, I have seen them make sacrifices that most others wouldn’t do and why? Because they love our Savior and they love their brother and sisters. Love is the first and greatest commandment because if we love -God we will follow His Son JesuCristo and live his commandments and we will help others to do the same. I have noticed lately and it has humbled me too.
I know that the Lord called me to serve a mission, not to teach, but to be taught! I have learned so much and as I told Elder Call yesterday, “Now that we have learned and know these things and how to be good leaders and how to teach and live the gospel we cannot NOT do it, because we would be liars” and I know that is true the Lord is our master and teacher and He changes us it is part of the plan of happiness, if we don’t leave this earth better than we came we have failed.....I have been applying this in my teaching and my life. If I am not willing to change or think I cannot do it I am saying that the plan of salvation cannot be done...change is the plan, change from bad to perfect and it can be done because JesuCristo did it and He came to show us the way.
Friday night we had another noche de hogar at the church building, Clara and her friend Jackie came and there were a couple members. It went good and was fun, just need to get more members to come because we need there help. That is the point of the noche de hogar but it was fun and well that is all that matters. Thursday was a day of a lot of walking and it was a
good day igual.
Taught Jose and Filomena early in the week and they are very confused with the apostasy and resurrection but the thing they need to do it pray. They are good people but need to pray, I know they will be baptized. They are a great family.
That is all the big news from the week, I forgot all the other stuff. My mind is so horrible I cannot remember what I ate yesterday .
Well I have got to go and cannot wait to hear from you all next week and hope there is big news again good news. I love you so much and I know the church is true and that the Lord loves us. Stay strong and don’t let go. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week.!!!!! Love you Chau Love Eric

Terremotos and the Blessings of Christ Like Love 2/14/2011

Hola Querida familia, 2/14

¿Qué tal? ¿ Qué cuentan de bueno? ¿Cómo les va po?

Well I guess I will start out with the most important thing of the week and the talk of the world and family....yes I am going to talk about ME haha, no I am just kidding. Well I am doing good......very good, exsectacular po! con sueño pero bien, I tell you I could care less if there were earthquakes all day but at night...I tell you it makes it impossible to sleep you know...its like every hour there it is a sure wake up haha, but no its all good actually I tell you it is more fun to feel big ones on the 4th floor I call it the “pasta effect” cause it is more of a wiggly feeling. The so called “Big One” on Friday happened while we were doing contacts and a lady and her son came running out of their house screaming and they were super scared. Elder Call and I looked at each other and took one step back from the cement wall we were standing next too but tranquilo no más......haha everyone ran out of their houses screaming and crying....everybody kept asking us why the gringos are always so calm during terremotos like if we were robots and didn’t feel them and we always say... “porque nosotros tenemos el don del espíritu santo y nos consuela y ustedes pueden tener lo mismo si se bautizan en la iglesia verdadera de jesucrito” it is because we have the gift of the Holy Ghost and he comforts us and you can have the same if you are baptized in the true church of JesuCristo. The usual response is....no soy catolico....oh well actually the family we were talking to during the terremoto invited us back to share because the mom said she felt peace as we calmed her down by talking to her. The Lord works in mysterious ways.... No it is all good and we are good, just chill and tired because of the lack of sleep. I like the temblores they are fun I think at least it “shakes” things up haha!

Enough talk of that but don’t worry I am okay and in good hands....the water will never reach the 4th floor and if it does.....well I will swim for it! Don’t worry I am kidding they gave us the rundown. Today we got up early and we went to Talchauno to go to the mall to go play....bowling and man was it fun. I started off good with a strike and spare and that was all I had in me but it was fun, when we got there I ate my first American donut in over 18 months...it was so good then we ate lunch at KFC MCDONALDS and CHINAKON and finished with ice cream haha healthy right? Don’t worry today was my last splurge day. It was good to have fried chicken oh how I missed it. It was fun then stopped by the office to chat and check mail and then hopped on a bus to Tome to do the rest of the days duties and here I am. I slept on the bus because I am dead tired but sleep it hard to get at night, plus the neighbors have had parties all weekend long. We got hammered with rain on Saturday and it is hot today. . . .weird summer.

This week we contacted 2 references from members and it turned out to be a family of 3 and a family of 4 and they are awesome...they are cool and we cannot wait to help them progress. We visited Jose and Filomena on Saturday in the pouring rain and we taught the restauracion, it went good and struck up a lot of dudas and preguntas about things that they had learned and I tell you I felt the spirit guiding us in that lesson and there ?s were perfect and at the end of the lesson Jose said “entonces ustedes dicen que la iglesia mormona...desculpe...la iglesia de jesucristo tiene un profeta?” it was awesome they said they would pray and have a cita tomorrow with them cannot wait to see them, cool huh? I love teaching people and I am not a good teacher but I love to do it.

Clara came to church yesterday and she was happy to have been able to go and said all week she knew she was struggling in the week because she didn’t go to church last Sunday. It is so awesome to see her tesimonio so strong and to see her desires to get baptized, she really understands it and even better she feels it and reconece que es la verdad. her pareja is leaving when he gets paid at the end of the month and she is waiting and praying for that day so she can get baptized. She has been struggling and can barely afford to put food on the table, and she doesn’t have the money to buy the uniforms for her kids, Elder Call and I were going to give her the money to buy it but yesterday a miracle happened in the church, the Hermanas in the ward donated money and also the Obispo authorized a donation from the bishops storehouse to give to Clara and her kids. They were able to get money to buy the uniformes for the kids and the food from the bishops storehouse....I know as missionaries we get upset at members for not helping us and supporting us but yesterday I could see the love and charity they had and see them support Clara in her struggles, I am so thankful for the gospel because it teaches us to love to love and give, give till it hurts and more, not just the temporal things but of ourselves, talents and time, a Hermana called to say she got the stuff from the bishops storehouse and she said it almost all didn’t fit in her car, I know the Lord is blessing Clara for her decision to live the gospel and her desire to get baptized and I know she will be blessed aun mas after her baptism. She will be a great leader in the church. She was sad when she heard cambios were next week but we told her for her to progress we have to keep moving and that the important thing is to continue moving and she committed to follow strong. She is ready. I love the gospel and I know it is a blessing in our lives as we apply it and LIVE IT and if we share it, it will be a bigger blessing.

It hurts me to see people who have fallen away or those who simply won’t accept....because I know it is true and I know they need to know it too, and sometimes all we can do is be examples and live to help them see the difference and to make them want it too. It’s not easy but it needs to be done. I have been studying capitulo 4 de pme and it is about the spirit and it has helped me try to follow the impressions of the spirit to be able to help the people feel it too, if the don’t feel it they wont follow it.

Wow I cannot believe Garrett Lambert is going out already. I imagine he will be gone before I get home, wow time flies and wow I love this work and know it is true I am learning everyday to be a better example and how I can apply the gospel better in my life and I am doing it. I love you all so much and I hope you have the best week ever! Take care and be safe, look for opportunities to serve and share and be an example. I love you so much have a great week, cuídense, les amo muchisimo!!!!!!!!!!! chau chau paz fuera!
Love Eric

A Visit to Dichato and Spreading the Spirit of Missionary Work 2/7/2011

Helloo que tal? 2/7

How are you all doing? What is new? I am glad to here people went to church even though it was super bowl Sunday. This week was a tough one but a fast one at that.
This morning we all 4 got up early and we headed out to Dichato! Dichato was destroyed during the tsunami and well it still looks horrible. We went and looked around and walked up and down the beach it was super foggy so nobody was there and it was covered in seaweed so nasty and had a strong seaweed smell...walked on a part of the beach we thought was sand but it was a thick bog of seaweed. I was able to move fast enough to not sink it was fun to get to know. I am sure there are some better looking beaches up north! It was a good time and well returned in about 2 hours.
Yesterday the attendance in church was very low and well I know it will be this month....Eliana showed up because she was in town and her husband had to work. It was a good surprise to see her know that she is doing well. We left with Hermano Jorge Cuevas yesterday in the tarde and contacted a referral he gave us and he is a good guy. I know he will progress better because he works with Jorge. The only thing that will be an issue is his work schedule but it will all be good. We also got to meet some menos activos and did some good contacts with him. It was fun and then headed to go visits in carlos mahns to meet with our lider misional Jose and we ended up teaching his tia and it was a very interesting lesson and got into some deep doctrine because she was a member but had her record removed...so it all came down to asking the Lord.......but sometimes people are so prideful.
We are still having a tough time finding people and the people we have either went on vacation or we cannot find them.....so it is getting hard but it is all good the Lord will bless us for our work and obediencia. Clara is still waiting for her pareja to move out and he is supposed to be out by the end of the month, prayers can help! She is good and wants to get baptized. She wasn’t able to go to church but she is okay just tired from work the day before.
We had a surprise change in the schedule this week and had to go to Concepcion on Wednesday to a conf with President and with the Concepcion Zone. It was good and I was able to learn a lot to help us in our sector..it was good but long. We left Tome at 8am and got back at 7:30pm and then out to work, so I was beat but was a good day. This week we have consejo de barrio so we have been getting all of the ideas and stuff we need to talk about read so we can be ready and prepared. I was reading a talk from Pres Hinkley from 2003 and it was about missionary work. It talked about the importance of consejo de barrio and we are going to apply the things he said about part member families and receiving referrals from the members. I hope it goes well. It is hard to get the members excited to go to the meetings but they have never seen the blessing so we are trying to help them see the blessing and how fruitful an organized meeting should be.
I hope it all goes well.
I am happy to hear Nick is finally out and that he did it! I was worried about him but now I know he will be a great missionary he is a great guy and has a good testimony. I always new he did and am glad he is out with us now.
Well time is going fast and well it is time to sign off I hope you all have a great week and that all goes well for you. I love you so much and miss you tons. I know the church is true and that God loves us and I know He has a plan for us and sent His son JesuCristo to save us from sin so that we can return to our Father. The path is simple and the teachings are clear but we are the ones that make it so complicated. I love you so much cuidense!!!!!!
Love Eric
Enjoy the picturess of the beach!!!!!!

Its a Girl and Elder K's Magnetic Personality 1/31/2011

I knew it would be a girl.....I called it, now don’t be leaving me with all the boys because you know I will die with all boys...haha love u tell Tyler hi from me take care Lisa love you

Dearest family,

¿cómo están todos? How are you all doing? Whats new? Whats old? Whats broken? Whats glued? haha Well goooooooooooooooooooooood morning to all who are still sleeping which would be almost all of you be it is all good asi es the time difference. Oh well that’s life.
I am doing well and well tired but what is new? Yesterday I was dead for some reason and it was hot and we got into a house and started teaching and I was falling asleep, I was so dead, it was funny to think about and hear from my comp he said I had this blank stair on my face the whole time, Sundays are hard days. This week flew by so fast and now we are on the last day of January...crazy Icannot believe it is already gone and how fast time is flying I guess in these last days time will speed up. This week was pretty crazy though.
Thursday we all went to Coelemu which is about 1 1/2 hours from Tome out in the country and we went to go help out the Elder there and did some visits and contacts and stuff.....it was flat but was hot!!!! but it was fun but we left at 3:00pm and didn’t get back to Tome until about 8pm lost a lot of time but it was worth it to help out that sector. I sure don’t miss being out in the middle of nowhere I like being in a city that is a bit bigger. On Friday night we had a noche de hogar int the chapel and called Clara to make sure she was going and said she couldn’t because she didn’t have money to take the bus down the hill, so Elder Call and I ran from the top of Carlos Manhs down and then had to run up Cerro Santo the huge one we did it in 15 min and it usually is about a 30 min walk we got to her house and I was soaked even Elder Call was sweating and he never sweats but you got to do it, had a lot of members say they would come but they didn’t and it ended up being like a couple investigators and some other members of the obra misional. It was fun and had a lot of food. We made 2 brownies so much but ate it all haha. It was fun.
Clara will get baptized this month because she talked to her boy friend and he said he will be out of the house before the end of this month so she can get baptized. She is happy and us too, everybody at church asks her every week when she is getting baptized because she has been going every week for 2 months. She is more active then some members. She is awesome and is excited to get baptized. All of our other investigators went away for the whole month to vacation, so we are back to find people again and the process begins again but that is life and cannot complain because it could be much worse, but its all good it keeps me busy and working.
A super funny thing happened this week, Wednesday night we were on our way home from Cerro Alegre and it was about 10:45 and as we were about 2 blocks from home and 2 drunk guys wanted to talk to us, one guy was talking in Chinese or something and so I just started to talk in English because I didn’t understand a thing he was saying. I told him if he stopped drinking I would go visit him and he agreed so we will go by this week, but the funny part is this as we shook there hands to say goodbye he grabbed my hand and kissed it and said ´´te quiero´´ haha it wasso weird and wasn’t the first time it has happened to me but was hilarious, we laughed because all the drunks and crazy people are attracted to me and don’t just talk to me but always try to hug and kiss me....a couple weeks ago a different drunk guy ran up to me and gave me a huge hug, so weird but funny Thats life well I think I have run out of things to say......
Oh yeah well I don’t hear much about the USA here and am now hear how bad of shape CA is in from new missionaries.....but just means there is more work to do. All I know is that the winter is pretty intense there and summer is hot there haha.
I love you all so much and love reading your letter and stuff. sé que dios nos ama y que Jesucristo es el salvador del mundo y que la iglesia es verdadera, estaba pensando el orto dia de todas las cosa que tengo gracias al evangelio y son muchas, les quiero much and les amo tambien cuidese and tenga buena semana paz fuera!!!!!!
Love Eric
If you see Nick tell him love him and good luck and get his email, MTC or mission address so I can write him soon or of the Thanks love you

Bautismo and Eric thinks "Baby Crowther" is a girl 1/17/2011

Whats up with yal?

Well it sounds like a lot has gone on this week and I am happy to hear mom is progressing and Lisa is getting fatter haha just kidding Pisa...sounds like Tyler had a hard job this weekend moving all the muebles( furniture) to make them perfect poor guy! Em and Clay........idk are in their own world , and Ally well idk what is going on I am in the dark......Pops well sounds like you are holding everyone together with you miracle remedies..... spicey food. sounds good!

I will start with the big news this week, yesterday Eliana got baptized, she was so happy but it was sad that nobody in her family went to support her, but she was happy Igual, on Wednesday showed up to the church building crying and it was because she had had a fight with her husband because he wanted to got to the beach on Sunday but she said she was going to church...so she was upset but the Bishop was there and with Hermana Nelda we talked to her to calm her down, we then left with the Bishop to go to her house and talk to her husband but he wasn’t there, I was glad to have had the Bishop there to help us out he is a good guy. Then we visited other investigator and it went super good with the Obispo. In the end she was firm in her decision and got baptized, I know the family will come around with time but it was great and a lot of the Hermanas stayed to support her.

It was sure a busy week and we found a lot of great people to teach this week the only thing that will hold them back is the fact that we are teaching four couples and the thing is that they all are not married and living together.......it is a hard thing to deal with but I know the Lord will work miracles and that we just need to work hard to see them. we did find a young couple this week Leo and Carolina, they are both 20 and have a little 1 yr old we got to share with them yesterday and are super good and I know they will progress the only thing is that she works in Concepcion and she will enter to study in march.....but they are married so that isn’t a problem.

My diet is going good and had a good week of running our time improved to 15 min.....not bad for 3 km. Everyday was harder but I am not a runner I am meant for short distances but I am pushing myself to get slimmer, especially with all these hills because my legs are getting huge it is crazy. I thought I had big legs before but are bigger now. It is funny because the other week I had bought a bunch of junk food to snack on but then decided to cut back but it is okay I am just not eating in the night just water because at night is when you put on lbs.

It has been some weird weather this week and with hot and cold and cloudy who knows what the day will be like. On Saturday at about 7 we were doing some visits and all the sudden when we were in a house the clouds rolled in and when we left the skies opened up and we got soaked.......we were in just our short sleeve shirts and got to a members house and they took us home in his truck.....but we were soaked to the bone we got home and changed and I went to bed. I was just happy my triple and camera didn’t get wet...it was insane but good stories for the mission.

I am doing good and super stoked because the work is moving along well here, I am happy to be here and I want to asked President in these next 2 cambios if I can finish my mission here because I know I can do a lot of good things here. I love this work and I know there is no other better thing that I could be doing than to be here and doing the Lords work.

The time is flying by so fast and I cannot believe that it is mid way through enero ya, but it just means that I will have to work harder and more efficient . . . well thanks for sending me another package, hey I want to know if maybe you could see if you could find the cartoon book of Mormon in Spanish for me, I had a copy but it got all scratched and the missionary I got it from went home so if you could look for it . . .and also the Ensign of conference Oct 2010 that is all. I hope you have a great week and I love you all so much. I love the gospel and I know it is true and I love to share it with others. Have a great week and be safe I hope you can recover from being sick and feel better by the end of the week. I love you all and cannot wait to know the results of the ultra sound.......I think it is a girl. Love you
Chau love Eric

Some pictures form the baptism and the sunrise yesterday morning and also looking over Tome from Cerro Santo, looking down at the feria. enjoy

A bus ride to Concepcion and Christmas plans 12/13/2010

Hello Familia,
I went to Concepcion today to go do my visa stuff but found out that the government was on strike.....weird right but whatever so I couldn'tdo it. It was a wasted trip but I got my packages and I am so jazzed. I will resist opening the presents but no guarantees....there are 3 Elders tempting me to open them hahaha.. Thanks for sending stuff for them haha.

Well anyway like I said I went to Concep and got to see the mission office for the first time since being here...its not too cool it is an office with missionaries but It all was fun so I will send pics of that. I miss being in a big city I am so used to calm campo and towns and stuff I feel so lost in Concepcion because I am not used to it. They were laughing at me because it had been so long since I had been in a city like that walking around and stuff. We went to lider and did some shopping and browsing and ate at Doggis, a hot dog joint, it was good I got the Crispy hot dog, w/ bacon and cheese sauce with fried onions soooooo good and then we got some ice cream for the ride back.

This morning the bus was packed and it was like an exploding twinkie when the doors opened because here in Chile they just keep letting people on. Its all about the money so we were like sardines in a very small can. I was just praying it didn't crash because I would be 1st to go through the windshield but its all good. It just sucked to stand for and hour it a smelly micro but the ride back was better and talked to a member about the mission.

This week went very well and Clara and Eliana went to church but Dyane couldn't because she was sick but it is all good they are progressing very good and should have 2 baptisms this month. This coming week on Sunday night there is a devotional in Penco and President is going to speak and Clara and Dyane are going to go with us and so it will be great.

We are planning with the other elders to make cookies or goodies and on Christmas since it is pday we will go around to our investigators and sing and leave some goodies. It is a better use of time then just chilling in a members house but Its all good we will eat too. I should be a great Christmas and cannot wait because there should be a lot of success too. By the way pdays have been changed for the rest of the month...these are my pdays for the rest of the year......20 and 25 Dec, 1 Jan... I don't have the info of calling but it will be on the 25th we have to talk to members and find out what we are doing. I will let you know next week and will tell you the schedule and the time difference is 5 hrs so I hope to not call to early but I do have to call before 6pm.....well you will have to call me. But I will have the info on Monday this week was just a very busy week. The week went very well and have investigators that are progressing well and I am happy, tired but I am happy. I am getting used to the hill and my legs are going everyday but it will be good. I hope I don't gain too much weight. I love working and talking to people. It is a blessing to be here and to give all to the Lord.

I cannot wait to pass the Christmas here. Its my last one In Chile which is sad but I cannot be here forever. I love it here I love the people and love working for the Lord and teaching even though I might not be the best teacher or best speaker I sure do love to do it and has helped me apply the gospel in my life and really see the promises of God completed. I love the gospel and I love being a missionary, it is the best calling in the church and I am proud to be one. I know God loves us and He sent His son to save us all. I love to read the Book of Mormon and I know it is a true book of God and that it testifies of Christ and is evidence that God calls Profetas in these day. I hope you all have a great week and hope to hear great stories and stuff from you all.
We had zone conference this week and it was awesome we had workshops and I learned so much even though they said stuff I had heard it just hit me in a different way and I learned it was awesome.

Oh by the way I don't know if you remember of my convert in Chillan, Alejandra.......well got a letter from her and she is doing great. Her kids Francisco and Ignacia are doing well and she has such a strong testimonio, she said she still misses me and wants to see me but it is hard right now I too want to see her or at least talk to her to say hi and see how she is. she brought tears to my eyes in her letter.....for the first time one of my converts shared their testimony with me, she explained how she knew
God would bless her in her trials and how she knows the Lord has blessed her since she was baptized...it was so awesome to read that, the first time I had heard that and made me happy and gave me a boost because I know that I had a small part in changing her life. It gave me more excitement to work. I think I talked about her for the rest of the day it was so awesome. I have got to go but I love you all so much and cannot wait to talk love you take care.

Chau Love Eric