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
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
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 ch
urch 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 a
bout 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...s
o 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 ok
ay 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 a
n 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!!!!!!
How are you all doing? What is new? I am glad to here people went to ch
urch 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 a
bout 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...s
o 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 ok
ay 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 a
n 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 d
ays 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 wor
king.
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 hug
e 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
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 d
ays 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 wor
king.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 hug
e 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 m
iracle remedies..... spicey food. sounds good!
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 m
iracle 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 lov
e Eric
Chau lov
e 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. 
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.
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.
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.
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
Monday, January 24, 2011
Chilean Cook 1/24/2011
Hey Familia,
How yal doing? How was the week, ready to start another one? I am, but I am still good and tired from last week but oh well just got to push through and do it and mas encima I am a week behind in my journal I am just getting lazy to write but I have got to do it. It was a goal of mine. I put a lot of photos on this letter. I took a lot this week. There are some of the sun setting and one of Elder Call and I walking in the Cancha at the top of Cerro estanque searching for souls, and the best ones are of me making Pan Amasado!!!!!! Yes I learned how to make homemade bread from scratch this morning and cooked it in a brick oven so fun. Hermano Domingo taught us and was chill it turned out good and ate it right away for breakfast, I am coming back a cocinero (cook), it was good and fun.
This week went good we had a couple disappointments but nothing huge. Eliana was confirmed yesterday and I got to do it, it was a nice experience. She has good friends in the ward and it is good to see the Hermanas helping her out and sharing their experiences with her. She is going to the campo in February and won’t be back till Marzo but we will have contact with her and she has her book to read and stuff. She told us on Friday about an experience she had, she said she was in her garden and she was looking out toward the beach and tried to find the church, she said she said the words “Where is my church?” said that when she said “My church” she was full of happiness and joy and said she had never felt like that before. I was so happy to be able to hear that from her. She was definately ready and it was her time now I just have to hope that her family will come around and will accept it too. It was a good addition to the week, and I am really happy for her because she is happy.
We did a special fast with one of our other investigators, Clara, we did the fast so that her boyfriend would move out so she would be able to get baptized. On this Sunday the 30 th, she was doing great and the fast went great too. She told him to leave and was going to be out of the house yesterday but yet again a problem came up, she has to buy the uniforms for her kids for school and is no money so he wants to stay and work and help pay but if he stays she can’t get baptized...... it was a bit of a let down but she wants to get baptized so bad but it is one thing after the other....and they aren’t big things......maybe it is easy for me to say “ well tell him to leave and get baptized because everything will work out fine the Lord will provide.....”but I am not in the situation.....I know she will get baptized and I know it will work out, but we need more faith, this week we will find a solution so she can get baptized she is so ready and wants to so bad but its little things that keep tripping her up. I know we will see a miracle.
We found a lot of new people last week and planned for them to go to church but they didn’t but it is okay we will get them here this week. Denis and Marcos, live up on the top of Cerro Santo and just had a baby 6 months ago. They are young but are really great we just need to help them get to church and I am sure they will get baptized in Feb. The only yucky part of this time of year in Chile isa the vaccaciones because here the people don’t go away for a day or a couple days but for a month they are gone......it is crazy so a lot of the people we were working with are gone and wont be back till the end of Feb. The attendance at church was below 100 that is low for us.....crazy no? But that is life... it is all good
The weather has been weird and looks like rain but hope it doesn’t, I sure don’t like the rain in the mission especially because I don’t have any rain. Everything I had got left in Talca...Oh ya got the package thanks a lot I missed butterfingers. Hey could you put a small USA flag in my next package it is for somebody here thanks. About the animated Libro de Mormon...I was taking about the movie....like the old animated movie...if you know what I mean......but send the book I know who I want to give it to. I cannot wait to here about my Sobrino(a) (My nephew or niece) next week so make sure I hear the news! Time has gone by once again but I love you all so much and hope you all have great week and cant wait to hear from you all next week.
Sé que dios vive y nos ama, Jesucristo essu hijo y nos salva del pecado, si escuchemos a su voz, amo este evangelio y sé que estoy en la obra del señor y nadie me puede quitar la alegria que siento. les quiero y les amo muchisimo, espero que les vaya bien en la semana y que esén bien. Tengan buena semana les quiero, paz fuera (I know that God lives and loves us, Jesus Christ His son saves and us from the sin, if we listen to His voice and gospel. I know that I am in the work of the Lord because of the joy I feel. I want to teach and be a good example, I hope that I will be able to share the gospel and that they will feel it)
Love Eric
How yal doing? How was the week, ready to start another one? I am, but I am still good and tired from last week but oh well just got to push through and do it and mas encima I am a week behind in my journal I am just getting lazy to write but I have got to do it. It was a goal of mine. I put a lot of photos on this letter. I took a lot this week. There are some of the sun setting and one of Elder Call and I walking in the Cancha at the top of Cerro estanque searching for souls, and the best ones are of me making Pan Amasado!!!!!! Yes I learned how to make homemade bread from scratch this morning and cooked it in a brick oven so fun. Hermano Domingo taught us and was chill it turned out good and ate it right away for breakfast, I am coming back a cocinero (cook), it was good and fun.
This week went good we had a couple disappointments but nothing huge. Eliana was confirmed yesterday and I got to do it, it was a nice experience. She has good friends in the ward and it is good to see the Hermanas helping her out and sharing their experiences with her. She is going to the campo in February and won’t be back till Marzo but we will have contact with her and she has her book to read and stuff. She told us on Friday about an experience she had, she said she was in her garden and she was looking out toward the beach and tried to find the church, she said she said the words “Where is my church?” said that when she said “My church” she was full of happiness and joy and said she had never felt like that before. I was so happy to be able to hear that from her. She was definately ready and it was her time now I just have to hope that her family will come around and will accept it too. It was a good addition to the week, and I am really happy for her because she is happy.
We did a special fast with one of our other investigators, Clara, we did the fast so that her boyfriend would move out so she would be able to get baptized. On this Sunday the 30 th, she was doing great and the fast went great too. She told him to leave and was going to be out of the house yesterday but yet again a problem came up, she has to buy the uniforms for her kids for school and is no money so he wants to stay and work and help pay but if he stays she can’t get baptized...... it was a bit of a let down but she wants to get baptized so bad but it is one thing after the other....and they aren’t big things......maybe it is easy for me to say “ well tell him to leave and get baptized because everything will work out fine the Lord will provide.....”but I am not in the situation.....I know she will get baptized and I know it will work out, but we need more faith, this week we will find a solution so she can get baptized she is so ready and wants to so bad but its little things that keep tripping her up. I know we will see a miracle.
We found a lot of new people last week and planned for them to go to church but they didn’t but it is okay we will get them here this week. Denis and Marcos, live up on the top of Cerro Santo and just had a baby 6 months ago. They are young but are really great we just need to help them get to church and I am sure they will get baptized in Feb. The only yucky part of this time of year in Chile isa the vaccaciones because here the people don’t go away for a day or a couple days but for a month they are gone......it is crazy so a lot of the people we were working with are gone and wont be back till the end of Feb. The attendance at church was below 100 that is low for us.....crazy no? But that is life... it is all good
The weather has been weird and looks like rain but hope it doesn’t, I sure don’t like the rain in the mission especially because I don’t have any rain. Everything I had got left in Talca...Oh ya got the package thanks a lot I missed butterfingers. Hey could you put a small USA flag in my next package it is for somebody here thanks. About the animated Libro de Mormon...I was taking about the movie....like the old animated movie...if you know what I mean......but send the book I know who I want to give it to. I cannot wait to here about my Sobrino(a) (My nephew or niece) next week so make sure I hear the news! Time has gone by once again but I love you all so much and hope you all have great week and cant wait to hear from you all next week.
Sé que dios vive y nos ama, Jesucristo essu hijo y nos salva del pecado, si escuchemos a su voz, amo este evangelio y sé que estoy en la obra del señor y nadie me puede quitar la alegria que siento. les quiero y les amo muchisimo, espero que les vaya bien en la semana y que esén bien. Tengan buena semana les quiero, paz fuera (I know that God lives and loves us, Jesus Christ His son saves and us from the sin, if we listen to His voice and gospel. I know that I am in the work of the Lord because of the joy I feel. I want to teach and be a good example, I hope that I will be able to share the gospel and that they will feel it)
Love Eric
Monday, January 10, 2011
A Test of faith and confirmation of the truthfullness of the Book of Mormon 1/10/2011
Hello Familia,So what is up with all of you? I hope you all had a good week and a good weekend to rest up for the long haul this week. This week went by very slow with the lack of preparation day on Monday and so I was a couple days off all week. The week was full of very strange weather including rain, cold hot and a lot of wind.....enough to rip off roof tiles and make dogs
fly...okay the flying dog thing was a joke but would be cool no? I am good but I think I am getting fat so it is to a strict diet......yep you heard me diet.....no more pan!!!!!!!!!it is hard but must do it and no eating at night.....you all should see my legs, they we big before but now they are bigger, my jeans are super tight of my thighs and loose on the waist. I might have to buy some jeans, I am going to try and tone down we are running in the morning...it is about a 3.5 km run and it is going good it helps wake us up in the morning and making me sweat earlier in the day. I wasn’t built for long distance but I pull my weight and keep with the pace......but its all good. I have got to get into shape. Today is cambios and the big news is nothing....the four of us here in Tome are staying the same for one 
more cambio. Time is flying by but I am not trunky....I have got to much to do here.We had a baptism planned for yesterday but Eliana had to go to the campo and harvest papas so she has a fecha for the 16th this coming week and so I am jazzed! She is super ready and wants to do it she actually felt super bad about this weekend but her husband had planned it and didn’t tell her but it is all good, just hope there aren’t complications this week. One other investigator was in Santiago all week and well she came back and much to our surprise she didn’t come back a lot as we thought she would be.....she talked to her boy friend and was going to leave him t
here but he was persistent and came back so she still cannot get baptized because they are living together and are not married. We are going to do a fast this week to be able to figure out what she can do because she is super ready to get baptized and wants to do it, but cant and it will take a year to be able to do her divorce and to get married....I don’t know what to do......Satanas will not give up on this one, but all we can do it pray and hope it will all work out. Dayanne is doing good and got confirmed yesterday, we found a family of 6 this week but are only sharing with the mom and her boyfriend. We know the law of chasity will be a big important lesson......but they are really great se llaman Raul and Elena, they are cool and Elena knows the bishops wife and also Hermana Sofia the pres of the Relief Society. We are starting to find some people and well just need to get them to progress and tonight we are going to visit a girl of 11 yrs to see if her family will let her get baptized because she has been going to church for a while and she could be baptized within the next two weeks. The work is moving along and I can see that the Lord is blessing us for our efforts and all that we are doing. The Lord keeps His promises. I started to read the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time in my mission, I know it isn’t much but I don’t read to fast haha, but it will be my 2nd time in Spanish and this time I am taking my time to pick the verses apart and pull all out of it that I can and so far I am loving it so much. I am in 1 Nefi 8 but I have learned so much so far. My testimony has grow so much about the Book of Mormon and this week we used it in contacts and it was the first thing we taught to the 8 new people we found and to tell you the truth it worked awesome to tell them exactly the purpose of the book and start right off the bat with it because it is the keystone of our religion and if you don’t believe in it then I don’t know how you could believe in Christ. Because the purpose of the Book of Mormon is to testify of Jesus Christ and His teachings. It is a marvoulus work and no regular man could have written it and I know it was written through inspiration from God. His prophets gave their lives to protect the plates and to do the Lords will and sometime we take it for granted, I love that book and it helps me s
o much.This week on Friday afternoon Elder Call, Hermana Nelda, and I were waiting to take the bus to subir cerro estanque to go do a couple visits and a man came up to me and started to yell and scream and make a scene, he spoke with words of hate and anger, claiming to be a follower of Cristo, smoking a cigarette and yelling swear words and speaking very low about the church its teachings and most of all the truth of Joseph Smith, I tried to talk with him but he was there to fight and to make me mad.....my companion didn’t understand so he was very calm, as I realized he wanted to fight I shut my mouth and prayed in my head, with every false accusation and swear word it was like a dagger to my heart, I felt the spirit leave and I was praying to have the guidance, as angry as I was I kept quiet and as you guys know it is one of my weak points, it was when he touched my name tag that I shouted a little but told him not to touch me and to back off, he continued in his rant and I started that breathing exercise that I always do with mom , he came back to yell some more and proceeded to call us devil worshipers and stuff but it didn’t get to me. Although it was a bad experience I am grateful for it and I will tell you why, after he left and we got on the bus I felt a peace and calmness in my fast beating heart, and I know it was the spirit telling me I was doing the right thing. I tell you I have felt the spirit stronger since I know it was because it was a test, the Lord tested me and my testimony grew its like the scripture in Ether 12:6 says “testimony comes after the test of our faith” I can imagine a little better how Christ and the prophets have felt when they were falsely accused and exploited because of their beliefs I know my experience wasn’t as big but helped me feel a little more what they did. I felt bad for this man because he was lost in the opiniones de hombre and was tied up in hatred and jealousness of Satanas. I know God lives and He loves us, He sent His son Jesucristo to the earth to save us and to fulfill the profesies of the profetas, I know without a doubt Jose Smith was called to restore the church and that today there is a living seer and revelator, he guides us in the these latter days through the power of God and keeps us from trying the bitter taste of sin and disobedience. I know this is the true church and that in it we can find the principles and doctrine Jesus Himself taught. I love being a missionary and teaching this great gospel and it hurts me to see people lost in the storms of this life and it makes me work that much more to find them and pull them a board. I know if we live the commandments we will prosper in the land as the Lord told his people in the Book of Mormon.
I hope you all have great week and that you keep moving forward and helping your testimony grow. I love you all take care, te quiero!
Lo
ve Eric Enjoy the pictures they are mostly picks of the sector like sunset from cerro estanque and looking up cerro estanque and also the oatmeal, platano, miel exfoliant we tried hahahaha You have got to keep care of the skin, love you cuídate chau chau
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