April 16, 2012 Lebu

Hey mamma!!!

So this last week not to much happened. But a couple of funny things happened. First off you should know that my ears got clogged and I hate going to the doctor for it but know that I went today... and I can hear!! Yay! 

Oh and the funniest thing happened today. So we are in Concepciòn - me and Elder Clark another Elder that lives in my house and is like one of my best friends. We are here because I had my appointment today and he has one tomorrow in the morning so we came up together. We were talking to president and he saw that my buttons on my sleeves were not done. He, being president, came and started buttoning them up haha and he told us the name of the button hole in Spanish and asked what it was in English. So we told him button hole of course but when he tried to say it back to us he said butt hole instead!!! We were laughing so hard! Oh man, one of the best memories of my mission. 

But to answer your question yes it is getting colder. It is fall right now and we are getting closer to the rainy season. And we live next to the ocean but its most likely that I leave Lebu next cambio. Weird!! leaving Lebu.. crazy. I am excited to get to know more parts of Chile though!! 

I am really starting to love the mission but it was really hard and I am going to work way harder and be way more obedient to become the person and missionary that God wants. Satan is trying to destroy this work and it’s only harder as a missionary. And for that reason we learn faith and trust in God. When we do all we can he will protect us. I am so grateful for that. That he would protect me even though I am a sinner.  

Our investigators are doing really well. We have two baptisms this week. One’s name is Jaime and the other Alejandro. They are both young men who go to seminary now and love church. It is really great and I hope to see them go on missions someday. And then in the beginning of May we have the baptism of Gloria.  

And then El dia de madres!!!!! Mothers day and I get to call home on skype and talk to you guys!!! wooo!! But this last week was another week of work trying to find the people that are ready! Oh and mom tell Alex I already sent her a letter she should be getting it soon. If she doesn’t get it I’ll write another one. But I am really excited to work hard these last weeks in Lebu. It was my first sector to get out all the bugs and now no one will stand in my way to become an instrument in God’s hands!! Thanks for all the prayers and emails they help me keep going strong. I love you all!!

April 9, 2012 Lebu

 Dad!! Dude that play house is legit! Knowing your wonderful granddaughter, she will want to furnish it right? ;) Thanks for writing even though you’re so busy and thanks for working so hard for our family!

That’s good you had someone over for conference. We got to watch all the sessions in the chapel in English so we could get everything out of them. We have three gringos in Lebu and one Elder from Peru. He watched it with the ward. 

I am doing really well here. My new companion is pretty cool. We are seeing some miracles and working hard to become better and it’s pretty fun.  We are trying to establish this plan we set up in Lebu and it is going really good. We are getting more baptisms and more investigators. On Sunday there was an activity that we did as a branch where we gave out papers to write down names that they felt were ready to receive the gospel. We got thirty four references which is really good considering that’s more than we have received my whole mission. We shared the story in the Book of Mormon about Alma and Amulek when Alma tried to preach to the city but they didn’t receive his message even when he was a prophet. But Amulek, a simple member, made the people astonished after he preached. That just goes to show you the power of the members. It was really cool. 

Also we had kind of a miracle. We went to conference and at first none of our investigators showed up but then one did. After conference I went to go say hi to him and noticed a couple that I had not seen before. They looked like normal members from the district but I felt to go talk to them anyway. I talked to them and one was a member that was living in Santiago and his girlfriend who is not a member and a reference. So I told her what we did as missionaries and she said quite frankly and straight up that she wanted to be baptized. Wow! I was kind of shocked but we set an appointment and we taught her the restoration and we challenged her to read and pray to know if it is true or not and she told us she already had prayed and she knows it is true. So we set a date and she will be baptized this month. What a blessing. She told us that she had been searching for years in different religions and we told her that she found it. We recently had a lesson with her and her boyfriend and they were beaming talking about her baptism and their goal to go to the temple. I love them a lot and I will be here in the mission when they are sealed. Sometimes as missionaries we work and work for something and then we are blessed out of the blue by a blessing like Gloria. You work blind not knowing who is ready to be baptized and then the Lord shows you who is. 

I love this work for the chance I get to see people change in every way to become closer to Christ. Anyway we are now working again waiting for the next person that God shows us. I love you and all the family!! ¡Gracias por todo que estas haciendo para nuestro familía! Hasta ver en dos años.Bueno un poco menos pero no mucho:)  (Thank you for everything you're doing for our family! See in two years. Well a little less, but not much.)

 

Hey mom, I sent my big email to dad this week. But I am doing really cool and I have heard a lot about that show (the one about the two brothers) but never have seen it. I am so happy Jess is seeing success after working so hard in school to be good. She deserves it. 

I got the pictures and I have used some. The Chileans think it’s funny to see gringos so they enjoy it a lot haha. It’s funny to get stared at all day and lots of the people like to say hello in really horrible accents and it’s so funny cause I like to speak in Spanish and pretend I have no idea what they are saying. It’s really funny. 

My new companion is really awesome. He is from Colorado and works hard. He is a really funny guy I think Jessie would like him. We are getting along and working hard. I am glad to hear all the good things happening at home. It’s crazy I will be completing five months soon.. Almost six months out of my whole mission. It has been pretty fast but I hear it gets faster.. lame.. oh well I have a great life ahead!!

Love ya Mom. Thanks for all your support!

This is a movie about two brothers growing up.  They follow the brothers for 10 years.  The oldest brother goes on his mission to Concepcion, Chile and is there during the earthquake.  There are lots of interesting clips of the missionaries tracting, teaching, and talking about his feelings being a missionary. It's cool to see it and think that Nate is there now.

http://byutv.org/watch/152c381b-b220-481a-869a-b077b9aa5354 

April 2, 2012 Lebu

That’s cool you got to go on that trip (Branson). And that is funny that David (Archeleta) is coming to Chile hahaha so funny. 

Conference was really, really great!! I loved it. It was the first time I really paid attention to every session and I got so much out of it. My testimony is really strengthened from that. Especially the quote that says, “We do our best and let the Lord do the rest.” On a mission that is something really important. You just try your best and the Lord helps you with everything that you need. Missionary work can be very hard but it’s worth it. I am doing better and trying to find ways to see miracles here in Chile as well in my own life. But I know the church is true. I am slowly learning that God loves me even when I feel like he does not. And I am not alone even when I think I am sometimes.

But the work here is good. Trying to get used to my new companion and find people to baptize. We should have quite a few baptized this month if we work hard and the Lord wants it. There are a lot of good people here that could use the gospel in their lives.  I hope the members start to do better help to now that they have goals and want to work. 

But I am doing pretty good; sad that conference is over but looking forward to the next in sixth months. I am going to try to be a better missionary and person trying harder to focus on others rather than myself. It’s hard but it’s going good and I hope all is well there in good ol Utah.

March 26, 2012 Lebu

Hey mom don’t worry this is not my only email today. Tomorrow I have to travel to Concepcion to drop off Elder Corliss and pick up my new companion. And I am soo sorry but I lost my glasses.. in a bus and someone stole them.. soo I don’t know what to do about that, maybe you could buy some more cheap ones but I don’t know. Sorry for all that. I feel bad. Also I am going to send you letters to Caden and Kayla through email today and you can give it to them. My new companion is Elder Searle. Another gringo!! I have heard he is really nice but never met him so anyway love you and write you later today.

(later today)

A miracle happened and I found my glasses but if you want to still send me a backup pair of the same kind the big square turtle shell kind you can because I left my other back up pair in the mtc. Thanks for all your help mom, really it means so much to me!! I love you!

March 19,2012 Lebu

So this week was pretty good. We are trying to find more investigators and we have been working with getting plans for the ward. There is a huge problem here with members not working with the missionaries and nobody works with anything. They just kind of have their families and not really anyone else. So me and Elder Corliss wrote a plan about how we can work with members more involving numbers and goals for the year. We sent it to President Martinez and we had a big meeting with everyone in the ward and it was amazing. We talked a little bit about it but then the branch took over and started working together and it was really cool to see them start working together making goals and we are going to see changes in the mission. 

We are always trying to find people as missionaries because we don’t get anything from the members but now we are going to work together with the members and change the mission when we do so. The members are what keep converts in the church and I am really excited to work with the members now. It feels like you’re alone when you’re just trying to find the entire time but when you’re working with the members, that’s when the work gets fun. You see people change within the city and the branch and the unity of all the saints comes together. 

We are teaching them about the importance of helping their brothers and sisters get on the path to eternal life because in the end like it says in Moses 1:39 our goal is immortality and eternal life. And that is our purpose as members is to make sure we and our families are on the same path and then to help others get on in. So we have been busy trying to help the ward so we can see more success in the mission. 

I can’t believe I almost have a half year of my mission done. I know it is not a whole lot but still one more month and I have 6 months in the mission. It is already flying by and I am a new missionary. But on Sunday I figure out who my new companion is. I can’t stand to think that Elder Corliss is going away. He is such an amazing missionary. He has taught me soo much and has led by example and has shown me not just how to be a missionary but rather to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands. That is my goal and I am working hard to get it. I hope all is well with everyone I love you all and I am soo happy to have your prayers and support!!

March 12, 2012 Lebu

This last week was very hard but I am ok. I am fighting. We had a cool activity on the beach today with my zone. That was really, really fun. There is another elder that lives with me from Oregon named Elder Clark. Me and him have been writing some songs about pioneers and we played them today. We played beach volleyball and did a spiritual activity and with food of course!! 

I am really happy here. It’s crazy that in two weeks I am not a new kid... I mean Elder Corliss is leaving and I am going to get a new companion which actually freaks me out... I am scared about that. But I love him and help him in any way I can. 

I am glad to hear everything is good there. I hope Rachael’s birthday went well. Sorry this is not a long email. This last week was tough but that’s how it is in life. I am still very happy. Some of our investigators have had some really bad things happen recently like spouses cheating and leaving them and it just hurts. It really is a wicked world.

I am really glad that Caleb is going to ALA. He is a really good kid. I really enjoyed being with him and Bob at the lake that one time. It was a great time. And keep up the good work with the kettle bells!! You’re gonna be buff mama!! hahahahahaha sorry, I’m still as weird as I used to be. Hey in two more months I will have been gone from home for half a year!!! ah!!!!!!! weird.

I am going to send pictures one of these days, I promise. I don’t look the same at all. My shirts don’t fit and my pants are getting huge haha. But that’s a good thing. I am going to keep running in the morning to keep up with you! You’re crazy!! Tell Dad and Rachael that I love them a ton. I hope they are doing well. I miss Rachael and her dog... ya I said it her dog too… tell her hi for me and thanks for the Elder Johnson thing (an autograph from the actor who plays Elder Johnson in the movie "The Best Two Years" written to Nate). It’s very cool especially when I make other missionaries jealous!!

March 5, 2012 Lebu

“Hey family! I am doing pretty good but last week was hard!! Sometimes missionary work can really push you to the limit but I have learned to keep going to the last minute because sometimes the Lord has a blessing waiting for you at the last second and you have to work all the way to the end of the night even if you want to just go home.

Yesterday was like that. We were fasting and everything was falling through and we had to keep going. By eight thirty we were done but we kept going anyway and we found a lady named Carolina and she was so receptive and said that she is about to separate from her boyfriend. Recently she almost got baptized in an evangelical church but she decided not to. How cool!! She is very nice and that just shows you that in life the Lord will let you get to the breaking point and we either decide to take that next step and he pours out the blessings or we don’t and we get so close but give up.

Keep going when the times get hard!! It is worth it!! I hope all is well with everyone I miss all of you so much! But that is pretty much all to report!! Love ya all!!”

The next part is Nate answering the letter I sent him. I asked him if he got two cards I sent him – one with a tired looking dog on the front and the other one with a picture of a box on the front and then when you open it up there is a mom popping out of the box.  Inside it says, “I tried to send you a box but they said it was too heavy so I got out and sent this card instead.”

“Hey Mom, I heard about Jessie going to nationals. I am soooo happy she is being blessed for the person she is! She sounds soo happy. I am so glad to hear that!!

And keep flippin those bells!! woooo buff mamma!!! ¡ahi estamos! Tell Dad I love him!!
Oh, I loved the card. Haha that dog is actually how I look some days after a long day of work haha. And the card with the box – hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha - that was the best. Me and my comp were laughing so hard… and we are kind of scared you might show up in the mission office... in a refrigerator box or something.. haha

I’m tired!! And you’re awesome. Thanks for helping me get here. I will be forever thankful to you and Dad and our family!!”