Monday, August 17, 2009
This week was pretty interesting. We had some fun playing soccer on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday most of our appointments fell through. We did have a couple good ones, but not many. Thursday we had divisions, and I went to a different sector, José Miguel Infante, with Elder Huapaya from Lima. He´s a great missionary, and I learned a lot from him that I´m excited to use in Renca 1. Friday morning Elder Nicholas went to the doctor. He had gone the Friday before, and that´s when he found out that about 2 months ago he had Swine Flu. But he´s been feeling pretty bad, and this Friday when he went we found out he has bronchitis. He can´t leave to work, so we´ve only left the house for lunch, church, and today for email and shopping. Saturday I was able to leave for 2 hours with Elder Huapaya, while his companion went to their sector with a member, and a member of our ward stayed in our house with Elder Nicholas. It was good. We were able to find someone to set with a baptismal date. But it´s been boring staying in the house all day. Half-hour nap, study for 2-3 hours, eat, study, chill and talk. Tomorrow he goes to the doctor again, and hopefully we´ll be able to leave soon and actually work.
On Tuesday we were doing contacts in the street, and we started talking with one lady. We told her that we´re missionaries of Jesus Christ and that we have a message that His church is on the earth today...and she interrupted and said "Yeah, me too. I do the same thing as you." She was a missionary for Jehovah´s Witnesses. Hmmmmm, well, we wrapped that contact up quick.
Later that night we contacted a man in the street that was actually kinda weird. He spoke some English, talked about how he´s from the 80´s, and started to break dance for us. But at the end, he pulled out a beanie, pulled off a lapel pin of the flag of Chile, and gave it to me, "un regalo para tu." A gift for you. It´s really nice.
Also Tuesday night, we went to contact a reference we recieved from the office. We got to the house, and there were about 10 people outside the gate, including a carabeñero, or cop, with 15 more people and 2 cops inside the gate. I was thinking, "I´m not sure if we want to be here. We should leave." But Elder Nicholas didn´t seem to notice anything, so we just watched, waiting for I don´t know what. They opened the door to the house, turned on a light, and everyone started yelling and wailing. One lady came running out crying and yelled, "¡Alicia murió!" In English, "Alicia died!" Alicia was the name of our reference. Um, okay. Yeah. Elder, let´s go. We sped walked out of there.
So an interesting week, filled with death, free lapel pins, Jehovah´s Witness missionaries, and a sick companion.
We had a zone training on Wednesday, and learned more great things from President and Sister May and the assistants and our zone leaders. It was really great. During a break, I was able to talk to President for awhile. He asked how the sector is and I explained how it´s been pretty difficult. He was quiet for a couple seconds and then said, "Yo sé que hay personas preparadas por ustedes...sé que van a tener éxito en su sector." "I know that there are people prepared for you...I know that you´re going to have success in your sector." This helped me a lot, and I´ve had more hope since then even though my companion´s sick.
Well, I think that´s about it. Things are great here. The language keeps improving, little by little. And the food´s still great. :) And the weight´s dropping. I´ve lost 2 belt loops since arriving here 2 months ago. I´m really enjoying my time as a missionary.
Well, love you all and hope you have a great week!
Elder Murdoch
Iré, haré, seré.
I will go, I will do, I will be.
On Tuesday we were doing contacts in the street, and we started talking with one lady. We told her that we´re missionaries of Jesus Christ and that we have a message that His church is on the earth today...and she interrupted and said "Yeah, me too. I do the same thing as you." She was a missionary for Jehovah´s Witnesses. Hmmmmm, well, we wrapped that contact up quick.
Later that night we contacted a man in the street that was actually kinda weird. He spoke some English, talked about how he´s from the 80´s, and started to break dance for us. But at the end, he pulled out a beanie, pulled off a lapel pin of the flag of Chile, and gave it to me, "un regalo para tu." A gift for you. It´s really nice.
Also Tuesday night, we went to contact a reference we recieved from the office. We got to the house, and there were about 10 people outside the gate, including a carabeñero, or cop, with 15 more people and 2 cops inside the gate. I was thinking, "I´m not sure if we want to be here. We should leave." But Elder Nicholas didn´t seem to notice anything, so we just watched, waiting for I don´t know what. They opened the door to the house, turned on a light, and everyone started yelling and wailing. One lady came running out crying and yelled, "¡Alicia murió!" In English, "Alicia died!" Alicia was the name of our reference. Um, okay. Yeah. Elder, let´s go. We sped walked out of there.
So an interesting week, filled with death, free lapel pins, Jehovah´s Witness missionaries, and a sick companion.
We had a zone training on Wednesday, and learned more great things from President and Sister May and the assistants and our zone leaders. It was really great. During a break, I was able to talk to President for awhile. He asked how the sector is and I explained how it´s been pretty difficult. He was quiet for a couple seconds and then said, "Yo sé que hay personas preparadas por ustedes...sé que van a tener éxito en su sector." "I know that there are people prepared for you...I know that you´re going to have success in your sector." This helped me a lot, and I´ve had more hope since then even though my companion´s sick.
Well, I think that´s about it. Things are great here. The language keeps improving, little by little. And the food´s still great. :) And the weight´s dropping. I´ve lost 2 belt loops since arriving here 2 months ago. I´m really enjoying my time as a missionary.
Well, love you all and hope you have a great week!
Elder Murdoch
Iré, haré, seré.
I will go, I will do, I will be.
Monday, August 10, 2009
I think the past week was the fastest in all my mission. It seems like I just started working with Elder Nicholas and already we´ve been together for a week. How time flies! Unfortunately, it was a really tough week. Our numbers were the lowest of my whole mission, and we´re having a hard time with some things.
It´s really difficult to find people to teach. With Elder Rigby I knocked probably 85% or more of the streets here. With Elder Nicholas I´ve knocked maybe 5% more. We don´t have many more to knock. Everybody knows us, and either don´t answer or come out and say no. Actually, they don´t say no. They say something like "I´m Catholic/Evangelist etc." "I don´t have time/I´m busy" "I have visitors" etc. Or they say that they´re alone, but we can see someone in the window. No one wants to listen to us. They other day we knocked and a man opened the door and said "Nadie pasa. ¡Vayan a su país!" Or "No one comes in. Go to your country!" Or sometimes people will be like, "Oh, the Mormons" "The missionaries, dang it!" It´s really hard to find people to teach.
But we are praying, doing our best to be 100% obedient, and doing all we can, and leaving the rest in the Lord´s hands. We´re working a lot with the members, and this will help. We´ve been working with the leaders, with other members, leaving thank you notes after lunch, serving the members, etc, gaining their confidence. And praying a lot. Hopefully this next week can be a little better.
Another trial is that Elder Nicholas is a little sick. He was sick a couple transfers ago, and got better about six weeks ago. But ever since then he still has had phlegm in his chest and throat really bad. He went to the mission doctor while I was in my training Friday, and found out that when he was sick he had swine flu. So now he has some pills he has to take, and for the past few days we had to go home after lunch so he could rest from 3 till 6. So we only had four hours of work. That made it a little hard to get everything done that we needed to. But this week we should be able to work full-time and get more done.
We found Elva and Karla, investigators that we´ve dropped, but we still have problems teaching because her husband doesn´t like that we come in the house. We might have to drop them again. We´re trying to be able to talk to him, teach him, do something to help him feel the Spirit. We feel that if he can feel the Spirit, we can gain his confidence more and he´ll let us teach. But it´s hard, mainly because Elva doesn´t think that anything we do will help. We need her help, but she´s not willing to give it because "he doesn´t like religion and isn´t going to change." We´ll have to see what happens there.
We haven´t been able to teach Fabiola for almost two weeks. Elder Nicholas hasn´t even met her yet. The last visit we taught the Word of Wisdom because she smokes. The Spirit was really strong, we had the testimony of a member who smoked before she was baptized, and I had confidence that Fabiola can stop. But suddenly, we lost contact. Her grandma was sick, then she had work, and it´s looking like we might have to drop her. That would mean we´re starting basically from zero again. But we´ve been doing a lot of work with members and other things, and we think that this week will be better.
The food here is really great. With lunch there´s always a salad, sometimes tomatoes and lettuce on the table that we serve ourselves, or an actual put together salad that the member makes. Then the main course is always either rice or noodles. And there´s always meat, wheter it´s chicken, beef, hot dogs, whatever. Rice or noodles, and meat. And for dessert fruit, at times ice cream. I love the food.
And I´ve lost some weight too. I still haven´t been able to weigh myself, but the other day I was with my companion from the MTC, and he said that he can see in my face that I´ve lost a lot. When I get a chance to see exactly how much, I´ll be sure and let y´all know.
On Friday we had a training in the mission home with the assistants and President and Sister May. It was really great, and I learned a lot. And this Wednesday we have a zone conference with them. I love being able to hear from President and Sister May. They´re great, and I´ve learned a lot from them both.
The language is coming. I can speak really well, although Elder Nicholas still has to correct me a lot. And I´m understanding a little more. But there are still a lot of people that I can`t understand. Especially the teenagers. They talk super fast. But it´s getting better, and hopefully soon I´ll be able to understand more fully.
Well, I think that´s about it from here. I´m enjoying the mission, and trying to work as hard as I can. I definitely feel your prayers for me, and appreciate them greatly. Also, I would encourage all of you to pray for the missionaries in your ward. There´s a quote from President Hinckley that says "It will be a great day when our people not only pray for the missionaries throughout the world, but ask the Lord to help them to assist the missionaries who are laboring in their own ward." I invite you all to pray for this. I know that when members help the missionaries, the missionaries can be more successfull in this work of the Lord. I now have a strong testimony of this, as I have seen it in my mission. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Elder Murdoch
It´s really difficult to find people to teach. With Elder Rigby I knocked probably 85% or more of the streets here. With Elder Nicholas I´ve knocked maybe 5% more. We don´t have many more to knock. Everybody knows us, and either don´t answer or come out and say no. Actually, they don´t say no. They say something like "I´m Catholic/Evangelist etc." "I don´t have time/I´m busy" "I have visitors" etc. Or they say that they´re alone, but we can see someone in the window. No one wants to listen to us. They other day we knocked and a man opened the door and said "Nadie pasa. ¡Vayan a su país!" Or "No one comes in. Go to your country!" Or sometimes people will be like, "Oh, the Mormons" "The missionaries, dang it!" It´s really hard to find people to teach.
But we are praying, doing our best to be 100% obedient, and doing all we can, and leaving the rest in the Lord´s hands. We´re working a lot with the members, and this will help. We´ve been working with the leaders, with other members, leaving thank you notes after lunch, serving the members, etc, gaining their confidence. And praying a lot. Hopefully this next week can be a little better.
Another trial is that Elder Nicholas is a little sick. He was sick a couple transfers ago, and got better about six weeks ago. But ever since then he still has had phlegm in his chest and throat really bad. He went to the mission doctor while I was in my training Friday, and found out that when he was sick he had swine flu. So now he has some pills he has to take, and for the past few days we had to go home after lunch so he could rest from 3 till 6. So we only had four hours of work. That made it a little hard to get everything done that we needed to. But this week we should be able to work full-time and get more done.
We found Elva and Karla, investigators that we´ve dropped, but we still have problems teaching because her husband doesn´t like that we come in the house. We might have to drop them again. We´re trying to be able to talk to him, teach him, do something to help him feel the Spirit. We feel that if he can feel the Spirit, we can gain his confidence more and he´ll let us teach. But it´s hard, mainly because Elva doesn´t think that anything we do will help. We need her help, but she´s not willing to give it because "he doesn´t like religion and isn´t going to change." We´ll have to see what happens there.
We haven´t been able to teach Fabiola for almost two weeks. Elder Nicholas hasn´t even met her yet. The last visit we taught the Word of Wisdom because she smokes. The Spirit was really strong, we had the testimony of a member who smoked before she was baptized, and I had confidence that Fabiola can stop. But suddenly, we lost contact. Her grandma was sick, then she had work, and it´s looking like we might have to drop her. That would mean we´re starting basically from zero again. But we´ve been doing a lot of work with members and other things, and we think that this week will be better.
The food here is really great. With lunch there´s always a salad, sometimes tomatoes and lettuce on the table that we serve ourselves, or an actual put together salad that the member makes. Then the main course is always either rice or noodles. And there´s always meat, wheter it´s chicken, beef, hot dogs, whatever. Rice or noodles, and meat. And for dessert fruit, at times ice cream. I love the food.
And I´ve lost some weight too. I still haven´t been able to weigh myself, but the other day I was with my companion from the MTC, and he said that he can see in my face that I´ve lost a lot. When I get a chance to see exactly how much, I´ll be sure and let y´all know.
On Friday we had a training in the mission home with the assistants and President and Sister May. It was really great, and I learned a lot. And this Wednesday we have a zone conference with them. I love being able to hear from President and Sister May. They´re great, and I´ve learned a lot from them both.
The language is coming. I can speak really well, although Elder Nicholas still has to correct me a lot. And I´m understanding a little more. But there are still a lot of people that I can`t understand. Especially the teenagers. They talk super fast. But it´s getting better, and hopefully soon I´ll be able to understand more fully.
Well, I think that´s about it from here. I´m enjoying the mission, and trying to work as hard as I can. I definitely feel your prayers for me, and appreciate them greatly. Also, I would encourage all of you to pray for the missionaries in your ward. There´s a quote from President Hinckley that says "It will be a great day when our people not only pray for the missionaries throughout the world, but ask the Lord to help them to assist the missionaries who are laboring in their own ward." I invite you all to pray for this. I know that when members help the missionaries, the missionaries can be more successfull in this work of the Lord. I now have a strong testimony of this, as I have seen it in my mission. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Elder Murdoch
Monday, August 3, 2009
Well, the first transfer is done and over. That was quick, but I´ve heard it just gets faster from here. I guess that´s good and bad. Good cause I can´t wait to get home to my family, but bad because I want to work here as long as possible and don´t want it to get over soon. I´m still in Renca 1, the same sector. I was hoping Elder Rigby could stay with me, and he was pretty sure that we both were going to stay. But we got the call last night, and turns out that he left for a totally different zone (although the same one as one of my MTC companions) and I´m staying here with a new Elder. Elder Nicolas is from Texas, and I´m excited to work with him.
This week was mediocre. We dropped some more people, and found some, etc. We only have 2 with a baptismal date now, and one is sure. But I´m learning a lot, and we´ll see how it goes with Elder Nicolas. To be honest, when I first learned that Elder Rigby was leaving and me staying, I thought, "I can´t do this. I´m not ready to be the senior companion, there´s still so many things I need to know." But I know that it is a calling from the Lord, and if he wants me to do it, then he knows I can, and I too know that I can. It will be difficult, but it should help me to learn and grow more.
This week we visited a recent convert/less-active, named Jon Carlos. He is 12 years old and a little shy but very nice. The best thing for me about the visit was when Elder Rigby asked about the missionaries who taught and baptised him. His face lit up like Steven´s at Christmas as he exclaimed "Oh! Elder Moser! And Elder Rich!" He still remembers them. It made me remember something I learned in the MTC: The people I baptized will never forget me. It made me realiz that I´m not just teaching people the gospel; I´m helping them change their lives forever, for the best, and for this they´ll always remember me. It was kind of a stop-and-pause moment for me.
We found Elva and Karla. We had dropped them because they missed a few appointments. But the other day we stopped by because two other plans had failed. And they were there! They said that they had wanted to get ahold of us but didn´t have our phone number and didn´t know how else to contact us. That night we went to the church with them, and Karla, who is 16, participated in Mutual, and we taught Elva about the Book of Mormon, and gave her a copy. And they committed to church Sunday. But they weren´t there. So we stopped by their house last night. Turns out Saturday night Elva had been with her mom and got home late and in the morning had a huge headache and so couldn´t go. Karla had wanted to but not without her mom. We´re going to teach them tomorrow. There´s been a problem with Elva´s husband because he doesn´t want us to teach them. But we have a movie called Together Forever about eternal families. Last night we stopped by to watch it with them all, including the husband. But Elva didn´t think he would let us, so we gave it to her and she promised to watch it with him. Tomorrow we´re going to see how it went. We´re sure that if he watched it, he will have felt the Spirit and hopefully want to learn more. Or at least let Elva and Karla learn more. We´ll see how that goes.
Things are going great. I´m picking up on the language. I can speak really well, (Elder Nicolas was really surprised, he said he couldn´t speak this well for 3 transfers) and the understanding is getting better as well.
Well, I think that´s about it for this week. And I´m about out of time. Time to go shop for the week. Have a great week! Love you all!
Elder Murdoch
This week was mediocre. We dropped some more people, and found some, etc. We only have 2 with a baptismal date now, and one is sure. But I´m learning a lot, and we´ll see how it goes with Elder Nicolas. To be honest, when I first learned that Elder Rigby was leaving and me staying, I thought, "I can´t do this. I´m not ready to be the senior companion, there´s still so many things I need to know." But I know that it is a calling from the Lord, and if he wants me to do it, then he knows I can, and I too know that I can. It will be difficult, but it should help me to learn and grow more.
This week we visited a recent convert/less-active, named Jon Carlos. He is 12 years old and a little shy but very nice. The best thing for me about the visit was when Elder Rigby asked about the missionaries who taught and baptised him. His face lit up like Steven´s at Christmas as he exclaimed "Oh! Elder Moser! And Elder Rich!" He still remembers them. It made me remember something I learned in the MTC: The people I baptized will never forget me. It made me realiz that I´m not just teaching people the gospel; I´m helping them change their lives forever, for the best, and for this they´ll always remember me. It was kind of a stop-and-pause moment for me.
We found Elva and Karla. We had dropped them because they missed a few appointments. But the other day we stopped by because two other plans had failed. And they were there! They said that they had wanted to get ahold of us but didn´t have our phone number and didn´t know how else to contact us. That night we went to the church with them, and Karla, who is 16, participated in Mutual, and we taught Elva about the Book of Mormon, and gave her a copy. And they committed to church Sunday. But they weren´t there. So we stopped by their house last night. Turns out Saturday night Elva had been with her mom and got home late and in the morning had a huge headache and so couldn´t go. Karla had wanted to but not without her mom. We´re going to teach them tomorrow. There´s been a problem with Elva´s husband because he doesn´t want us to teach them. But we have a movie called Together Forever about eternal families. Last night we stopped by to watch it with them all, including the husband. But Elva didn´t think he would let us, so we gave it to her and she promised to watch it with him. Tomorrow we´re going to see how it went. We´re sure that if he watched it, he will have felt the Spirit and hopefully want to learn more. Or at least let Elva and Karla learn more. We´ll see how that goes.
Things are going great. I´m picking up on the language. I can speak really well, (Elder Nicolas was really surprised, he said he couldn´t speak this well for 3 transfers) and the understanding is getting better as well.
Well, I think that´s about it for this week. And I´m about out of time. Time to go shop for the week. Have a great week! Love you all!
Elder Murdoch
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wow! This is the last week of my first area! Crazy how time flies! But Elder Rigby thinks that we´ll both probably end up staying here in Renca 1 for another transfer. Which will make three for him, I think. I kinda hope I do stay. I´m just barely getting to know the ward, and we have a couple people close to baptism. It would be great to stay. There´s one person here that Elder Rigby was teaching before I got here. The only thing keeping her from baptism is that she´s con vive. This means that she´s living with someone but not married. They want to get married, but had planned on January, which is far away. But we learned the other day that they changed the date to September. Which means I´ll be here for her baptism. And after baptism, they have to wait a year to go to the temple. But I´ll be in Santiago for that, too.
Cristian Burgos is progressing and not progressing at the same time. He has been praying and reading. But he´s had doubts about continuing investigating our church. I think he has some fear of what other people will think. Plus it´s hard sometimes to teach him cause he works till night, sometimes till midnight. Last night we watched The Restoration with him and committed him to church. But he´s not 100% committed to church, only if he can. We might end up dropping him. He just needs some time. But it is good that he´s still reading and praying. We hope he can receive his answer soon.
Ursula and her family went on a trip this week, and tonight we´ll teach them for the first time in a week. We have been calling them every night. Ursula hasn´t been reading much, but Fabiola has been reading and praying every day. She´s progressing great. Tonight we´re gonna set her with a baptismal date.
We had interviews last Wednesday, and I learned something great from President May. In our mission, we have an analogy of a garden. We plant seeds, cultivate, and harvest. In the interview he taught me that if we have 14 seeds, and the wind and cold takes 5, we still have nine. If we lose 4 more, we still have 5 to harvest. But if we have 7, the wind takes 3, we have 4, and we lose 2 more, we only have two to work with. This is like investigators. The wind of course is Satan. He also did this with Elder Rigby, and we´re starting to try and find more people to "plant". Hopefully we can have more success with this.
Our Enlish class went great this week. We had 6 people, and 5 were new. We had a helper, too. Roxana is the daughter of our the second counselor to the bishop in our ward. She is in a university and has taken English classes. She can speak really great English. She helped us teach, and it went really great. I almost felt like I was learning English, too.
It´s pretty cold here now. During the day it´s not horrible, especially when the sun´s out. But at night and in the morning it´s freezing! That´s winter for ya. Except there´s no snow. When we take off our coats in appointments, and the people see me with a short sleeve shirt, they ask if I´m cold. I tell them that where I´m from it´s really cold, and I´m used to it. But in the night yes, I´m freezing.
The language is coming. Slowly, but coming. When people here me speak, and hear I´ve been here for a month, they´re impressed. I can speak pretty well. My accent needs a little work, but that´s coming too. The problem is understanding. There are some people that I can understand pretty well. But others I can´t. They talk so fast here! But I´m kinda getting used to it, and it´s improving.
Elder Rigby´s really great. I´ve learned a lot from him. He´s a hard worker, obedient in everything, and diligent. I´m grateful to have him for my first companion and my trainer. He´s great.
Well, I´m about out of time, and my hands are freezing. Gotta go warm up by playing some soccer. Yeah! I think that´s about it for this week. Adios!
Elder Murdoch
Cristian Burgos is progressing and not progressing at the same time. He has been praying and reading. But he´s had doubts about continuing investigating our church. I think he has some fear of what other people will think. Plus it´s hard sometimes to teach him cause he works till night, sometimes till midnight. Last night we watched The Restoration with him and committed him to church. But he´s not 100% committed to church, only if he can. We might end up dropping him. He just needs some time. But it is good that he´s still reading and praying. We hope he can receive his answer soon.
Ursula and her family went on a trip this week, and tonight we´ll teach them for the first time in a week. We have been calling them every night. Ursula hasn´t been reading much, but Fabiola has been reading and praying every day. She´s progressing great. Tonight we´re gonna set her with a baptismal date.
We had interviews last Wednesday, and I learned something great from President May. In our mission, we have an analogy of a garden. We plant seeds, cultivate, and harvest. In the interview he taught me that if we have 14 seeds, and the wind and cold takes 5, we still have nine. If we lose 4 more, we still have 5 to harvest. But if we have 7, the wind takes 3, we have 4, and we lose 2 more, we only have two to work with. This is like investigators. The wind of course is Satan. He also did this with Elder Rigby, and we´re starting to try and find more people to "plant". Hopefully we can have more success with this.
Our Enlish class went great this week. We had 6 people, and 5 were new. We had a helper, too. Roxana is the daughter of our the second counselor to the bishop in our ward. She is in a university and has taken English classes. She can speak really great English. She helped us teach, and it went really great. I almost felt like I was learning English, too.
It´s pretty cold here now. During the day it´s not horrible, especially when the sun´s out. But at night and in the morning it´s freezing! That´s winter for ya. Except there´s no snow. When we take off our coats in appointments, and the people see me with a short sleeve shirt, they ask if I´m cold. I tell them that where I´m from it´s really cold, and I´m used to it. But in the night yes, I´m freezing.
The language is coming. Slowly, but coming. When people here me speak, and hear I´ve been here for a month, they´re impressed. I can speak pretty well. My accent needs a little work, but that´s coming too. The problem is understanding. There are some people that I can understand pretty well. But others I can´t. They talk so fast here! But I´m kinda getting used to it, and it´s improving.
Elder Rigby´s really great. I´ve learned a lot from him. He´s a hard worker, obedient in everything, and diligent. I´m grateful to have him for my first companion and my trainer. He´s great.
Well, I´m about out of time, and my hands are freezing. Gotta go warm up by playing some soccer. Yeah! I think that´s about it for this week. Adios!
Elder Murdoch
Monday, July 20, 2009
Well, I am now one month in Chile. And 3 months on the mission in total. Wow how time flies! It´s going so fast! And yet at the same time, it seems to go slow, too. I´m not sure which I want more: fast so I can get home to my family, or slow so I can be here in the work of the Lord for longer. It´s a wonderful work, and coming great.
The language is really coming. I can speak a lot better. Many people are surprised when they hear me talk, and later discover I only have a month here. I can talk, for the most part, really well. As always, understanding is something different. There are still many people that I can´t for the life of me understand no matter how hard I try. But there are many people that I can understand pretty well and answer back. It´s coming, but I still need more time and work.
I got a little sick this last week. At first it was just a little cough, then that got worse. I woke up one night coughing like crazy. I had to take some Dayquil at 2 in the morning. The next day I had a headache all day, worse in the night, and woke up again at 2 shivering and shaking. I couldn´t control it either. The next day I woke up with a migraine. But we had to go to a zone conference, so I took some Ibueprofen and didn´t say anything. It got a little better throughout the day. After that I just had headaches and coughs. And eventually it got better. I hope. I´m taking vitamins and hope it doesn´t come back.
This week was a little sad for one main reason. We had to drop Karla and Elva, because they weren´t keeping their commitments or appointments. And Cristian Catalan´s parents don´t want him talking with us. We´ve told him that it´s his decision and if he wants to learn more we could teach him somewhere else. If he really wanted to he could, but we don´t think he´s that dedicated. We dropped Jorge, too. A lot of people dropped. But we´re searching for the chosen and know that the Lord will help us with this.
This week we have found a couple more people. Cristian Borgus is 20-ish and works, I think, in a supermarket. He´s really great. We taught the Restoration and Book of Mormon. He´s prayed several times and has felt peace, which we tell him is the Spirit answering him. He also has read a little in the Book of Mormon. Tonight we´re going to watch a film with him called "By Small and Simple Things" and commit him to church. He has a date for Augost 16. He´s progressing really well. We also found a family. Soñia and her daughters Ursula and Fabiola. Ursula has a 2-year-old named Felipe. We call him Felipe Feliz because Feliz is Spanish for happy, and he is always smiling and laughing and happy. Fabiola has a 12-year-old daughter, Scarlet. Soñia never is interested in our lessons, and Scarlet kinda just listens. But Ursula and Fabiola have prayed and read the Book of Mormon, felt the Spirit, and this Sunday are commited to church. They´re progressing great, too.
I forgot to tell about P-Day two weeks ago. We went to a hill called Santa Lucia. It has some remnants of a castle from back in the days of the Spaniards, complete with towers, canons, and a statue of a founder of Santiago. It´s really cool. I sent some pictures home.
Thursday we had a zone conference with President May. It was really great. I learned a lot from him that I´m trying to apply in my mission and life. We also had lunch there. It was really good. There are a few older women and men, (4 I think) that help President and Sister May with the mission home, and with food and everything. We sang one verse of called to serve for them. One of the women was one of the first missionaries to serve from Chile. That´s way cool.
President and Sister May are wonderful. I love them! They really work hard in this work, and also for us. They´re great!
Our English class was great this Saturday. We started with three people, and about halfway through three more came, so we ended with six. (One, this is her 3rd week, and another this is his 2nd. Another already speaks really good English, just wants to practice.) We taught about presenting ourselves, as usual, a little, but they already knew that. Then we taught about asking and answering questions. They all caught on great. It´s fun hearing people who have lived in Chile their whole life and grown up speaking Spanish, speaking in English. It´s great.
Not much else happened this week. Still trying to find more people to teach and trying to get the language down. But things are going great. We had lasagna the other day, and it was good, but it made me miss mom´s lasagna, which is way better.
Well, I think that´s about it. Take care this week. Love you!
Elder Murdoch
The language is really coming. I can speak a lot better. Many people are surprised when they hear me talk, and later discover I only have a month here. I can talk, for the most part, really well. As always, understanding is something different. There are still many people that I can´t for the life of me understand no matter how hard I try. But there are many people that I can understand pretty well and answer back. It´s coming, but I still need more time and work.
I got a little sick this last week. At first it was just a little cough, then that got worse. I woke up one night coughing like crazy. I had to take some Dayquil at 2 in the morning. The next day I had a headache all day, worse in the night, and woke up again at 2 shivering and shaking. I couldn´t control it either. The next day I woke up with a migraine. But we had to go to a zone conference, so I took some Ibueprofen and didn´t say anything. It got a little better throughout the day. After that I just had headaches and coughs. And eventually it got better. I hope. I´m taking vitamins and hope it doesn´t come back.
This week was a little sad for one main reason. We had to drop Karla and Elva, because they weren´t keeping their commitments or appointments. And Cristian Catalan´s parents don´t want him talking with us. We´ve told him that it´s his decision and if he wants to learn more we could teach him somewhere else. If he really wanted to he could, but we don´t think he´s that dedicated. We dropped Jorge, too. A lot of people dropped. But we´re searching for the chosen and know that the Lord will help us with this.
This week we have found a couple more people. Cristian Borgus is 20-ish and works, I think, in a supermarket. He´s really great. We taught the Restoration and Book of Mormon. He´s prayed several times and has felt peace, which we tell him is the Spirit answering him. He also has read a little in the Book of Mormon. Tonight we´re going to watch a film with him called "By Small and Simple Things" and commit him to church. He has a date for Augost 16. He´s progressing really well. We also found a family. Soñia and her daughters Ursula and Fabiola. Ursula has a 2-year-old named Felipe. We call him Felipe Feliz because Feliz is Spanish for happy, and he is always smiling and laughing and happy. Fabiola has a 12-year-old daughter, Scarlet. Soñia never is interested in our lessons, and Scarlet kinda just listens. But Ursula and Fabiola have prayed and read the Book of Mormon, felt the Spirit, and this Sunday are commited to church. They´re progressing great, too.
I forgot to tell about P-Day two weeks ago. We went to a hill called Santa Lucia. It has some remnants of a castle from back in the days of the Spaniards, complete with towers, canons, and a statue of a founder of Santiago. It´s really cool. I sent some pictures home.
Thursday we had a zone conference with President May. It was really great. I learned a lot from him that I´m trying to apply in my mission and life. We also had lunch there. It was really good. There are a few older women and men, (4 I think) that help President and Sister May with the mission home, and with food and everything. We sang one verse of called to serve for them. One of the women was one of the first missionaries to serve from Chile. That´s way cool.
President and Sister May are wonderful. I love them! They really work hard in this work, and also for us. They´re great!
Our English class was great this Saturday. We started with three people, and about halfway through three more came, so we ended with six. (One, this is her 3rd week, and another this is his 2nd. Another already speaks really good English, just wants to practice.) We taught about presenting ourselves, as usual, a little, but they already knew that. Then we taught about asking and answering questions. They all caught on great. It´s fun hearing people who have lived in Chile their whole life and grown up speaking Spanish, speaking in English. It´s great.
Not much else happened this week. Still trying to find more people to teach and trying to get the language down. But things are going great. We had lasagna the other day, and it was good, but it made me miss mom´s lasagna, which is way better.
Well, I think that´s about it. Take care this week. Love you!
Elder Murdoch
Monday, July 13, 2009
Wow, it seems like just yesterday I was emailing home! The time really does fly! I´m almost three months into my mission already, including the MTC. And I´m loving it!
I had quite the week this week. Wow! Where to start? Last week I think I talked about Gustavo and Cristian. Great contacts with a baptismal date, but probably gonna be dropped. Gustavo´s daughter has cancer, and he´s living in the hospital with her, so we haven´t seen him since last Sunday. And Cristian´s parents don´t want us teaching him in the house. We can do it somewhere else easily, but he never answers his phone, (we think it´s lost or broken) and when we stop by he´s never home. So I´m not sure what´s gonna happen with him.
But we found more prepared souls this week. On Tuesday we had an appointment to teach the first lesson to some members-something we´ve started doing; afterwards we talk about the importance of sharing the gospel with others and ask for references. We got to the house about 20 minutes early, so we decided to knock another street nearby. The first house we knocked on they let us in. We got to know them a little-Elva is the mom, and her 17 year old daughter is Karla. Karla is studying accounting. Then we said a prayer and taught lesson 3 with a date. And they accepted. We stopped by the next day to just to say hi (we´re supposed to try to make contact with investigators daily), and Elva said she´d read the pamphlet we gave them right after we left the day before. She was waiting right by the door when we got there, she was so anxious. She told us she was alone, though, and we can´t be in the house with a solo female. So we told her we´d try to return with someone else. We asked the wife of the bishop, cause he wasn´t home, but she has little boys and couldn´t come. So we called several people, but no one could help. Then we asked the bishop´s wife if we could bring Elva to her house, but that wouldn´t work either. But in the 7-8 minutes we had been calling people, the bishop had come home, and he came with us. It was a really great lesson. We taught lesson one about the restoration, and the Spirit was really strong. The bishop was converted and baptized at 15, and his testimony is super strong. I decided afterwards that the reason we couldn´t find anyone to help was because he was supposed to be there. He is amazing! Karla appeared out of a back room. She was sad because she had gotten bad grades and her parents harassed her about it a little. The bishop shared a story from when he was 17 and had the same experience. He was able to comfort her a little. She´s doing a lot better now. Elva and Karla both attended church yesterday(only Sacrament Meeting), and tonight we will teach them the Book of Mormon and watch the Restoration movie. They are progressing really well, except they haven´t prayed about Joseph Smith yet. We´re going to hit that really hard tonight about the importance of knowing that he was a prophet and hope the movie helps.
We have a 14 year old boy that we´re teaching as well: Bastian. There´s a member of our ward who is preparing for a mission, Dennis, and he invited Bastian to church and to hear our message. We´ve taught him lesson one and he has a date, too. He has prayed about Joseph Smith and said that he had an answer and believes that it´s true. That´s great! We´re really excited to continue to teach him, too.
Friday I had a training. It was for all the missionaries who arrived with me, in the mission home. It was great to see them all again, especially Elder Andelin and Elder Christensen. Lunch was wonderful, and the training was great. We received a little training from one of the assistants and a lot from President May. It was wonderful!
We´re teaching an English class. The first week we had no one show up, the next week 1, and this past Saturday we had 2. Slowly climbing. It is fun to teach, and at times feels like I´m learning English, too. I have forgotten a lot. We start and end with a prayer in English, and when I gave it I had to think a lot about what´s next, and accidently threw in a couple spanish words. Oops! But I guess that´s a good sign that the language is coming.
Which is true, the language is coming. Elder Rigby says I can speak better now than he could at this time in his mission. And the other day we went on divisions (there are two companionships in our district), and my temporary companion said the first time I spoke he thought I´d had more training that I actually have. I definitely have improved, and I´m able to understand a little better, too. The problem is I´m not speaking Spanish. I´m speaking Chileno Spanish. Elder Valencia, my temporary companion in divisions, is from Ecuador and he said when he first arrived here he had to learn some things all over again because of the accent. It is way different than normal Spanish. But I´m slowly getting better day by day.
Well, yesterday I had my first bad experience with a dog. Actually, they´re all bad. The dogs down here are annoying-always barking, fighting with each other, and really noisy. I´ve decided that after my mission I want a cat, they´re quieter. Or maybe a fish. Anyway, we were at a house waiting for the person to come. Usually dogs in the gate will bark a little, then just sit there, sometimes stick their head out so we can pet them. This dog did that, but when I went to pet him he had tricked me and he bit me. Fortunately I had fast reflexes, and it wasn´t too bad. Took a small chunk of skin out of the knuckle on my middle finger. But it only bled a little and doesn´t hurt. But I´m definitely gonna be more careful with dogs now.
Well, I think that´s about it for my week. The language is improving, the work´s going great, and I´m enjoying my time here. Elder Rigby is really great, and I´ve learned a lot from him. The mission definitely is the best time of my life so far. I´m learning a ton. It´s a great experience.
Love you all!
Elder Murdoch
I had quite the week this week. Wow! Where to start? Last week I think I talked about Gustavo and Cristian. Great contacts with a baptismal date, but probably gonna be dropped. Gustavo´s daughter has cancer, and he´s living in the hospital with her, so we haven´t seen him since last Sunday. And Cristian´s parents don´t want us teaching him in the house. We can do it somewhere else easily, but he never answers his phone, (we think it´s lost or broken) and when we stop by he´s never home. So I´m not sure what´s gonna happen with him.
But we found more prepared souls this week. On Tuesday we had an appointment to teach the first lesson to some members-something we´ve started doing; afterwards we talk about the importance of sharing the gospel with others and ask for references. We got to the house about 20 minutes early, so we decided to knock another street nearby. The first house we knocked on they let us in. We got to know them a little-Elva is the mom, and her 17 year old daughter is Karla. Karla is studying accounting. Then we said a prayer and taught lesson 3 with a date. And they accepted. We stopped by the next day to just to say hi (we´re supposed to try to make contact with investigators daily), and Elva said she´d read the pamphlet we gave them right after we left the day before. She was waiting right by the door when we got there, she was so anxious. She told us she was alone, though, and we can´t be in the house with a solo female. So we told her we´d try to return with someone else. We asked the wife of the bishop, cause he wasn´t home, but she has little boys and couldn´t come. So we called several people, but no one could help. Then we asked the bishop´s wife if we could bring Elva to her house, but that wouldn´t work either. But in the 7-8 minutes we had been calling people, the bishop had come home, and he came with us. It was a really great lesson. We taught lesson one about the restoration, and the Spirit was really strong. The bishop was converted and baptized at 15, and his testimony is super strong. I decided afterwards that the reason we couldn´t find anyone to help was because he was supposed to be there. He is amazing! Karla appeared out of a back room. She was sad because she had gotten bad grades and her parents harassed her about it a little. The bishop shared a story from when he was 17 and had the same experience. He was able to comfort her a little. She´s doing a lot better now. Elva and Karla both attended church yesterday(only Sacrament Meeting), and tonight we will teach them the Book of Mormon and watch the Restoration movie. They are progressing really well, except they haven´t prayed about Joseph Smith yet. We´re going to hit that really hard tonight about the importance of knowing that he was a prophet and hope the movie helps.
We have a 14 year old boy that we´re teaching as well: Bastian. There´s a member of our ward who is preparing for a mission, Dennis, and he invited Bastian to church and to hear our message. We´ve taught him lesson one and he has a date, too. He has prayed about Joseph Smith and said that he had an answer and believes that it´s true. That´s great! We´re really excited to continue to teach him, too.
Friday I had a training. It was for all the missionaries who arrived with me, in the mission home. It was great to see them all again, especially Elder Andelin and Elder Christensen. Lunch was wonderful, and the training was great. We received a little training from one of the assistants and a lot from President May. It was wonderful!
We´re teaching an English class. The first week we had no one show up, the next week 1, and this past Saturday we had 2. Slowly climbing. It is fun to teach, and at times feels like I´m learning English, too. I have forgotten a lot. We start and end with a prayer in English, and when I gave it I had to think a lot about what´s next, and accidently threw in a couple spanish words. Oops! But I guess that´s a good sign that the language is coming.
Which is true, the language is coming. Elder Rigby says I can speak better now than he could at this time in his mission. And the other day we went on divisions (there are two companionships in our district), and my temporary companion said the first time I spoke he thought I´d had more training that I actually have. I definitely have improved, and I´m able to understand a little better, too. The problem is I´m not speaking Spanish. I´m speaking Chileno Spanish. Elder Valencia, my temporary companion in divisions, is from Ecuador and he said when he first arrived here he had to learn some things all over again because of the accent. It is way different than normal Spanish. But I´m slowly getting better day by day.
Well, yesterday I had my first bad experience with a dog. Actually, they´re all bad. The dogs down here are annoying-always barking, fighting with each other, and really noisy. I´ve decided that after my mission I want a cat, they´re quieter. Or maybe a fish. Anyway, we were at a house waiting for the person to come. Usually dogs in the gate will bark a little, then just sit there, sometimes stick their head out so we can pet them. This dog did that, but when I went to pet him he had tricked me and he bit me. Fortunately I had fast reflexes, and it wasn´t too bad. Took a small chunk of skin out of the knuckle on my middle finger. But it only bled a little and doesn´t hurt. But I´m definitely gonna be more careful with dogs now.
Well, I think that´s about it for my week. The language is improving, the work´s going great, and I´m enjoying my time here. Elder Rigby is really great, and I´ve learned a lot from him. The mission definitely is the best time of my life so far. I´m learning a ton. It´s a great experience.
Love you all!
Elder Murdoch
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
