Well, another week under my belt. Actually, I had a little wake up moment the other day. We had divisions, and I was in another ward with my district leader, who has a year and a half. He asked me how much time I have including the MTC, and I realized that in about two and a half weeks I´ll have 6 months. Wow! Crazy! It doesn´t feel like I´ve been here for 6 months, and at the same time it seems like 6 years. But a quarter of my mission is already done. Wow.

Also, with my district leader in divisions, we contacted a 70! Woot! I was pretty excited. Except there´s a catch. He´s not actually from THE QUORUM OF THE 70. My DL explained to me: years ago when they called ward mission leaders, they got called to the office of 70, with that title. But they really were just ward mission leaders. Such is the case with this person. He was a mission leader, but was called to the title of 70. Still pretty cool.

We´re going through kind of a rough time with investigators. We´ve lost a lot of people this week. But we are hoping for 2 baptisms this Sunday. Fernando, who is 11 years old, should be ready. And Maria definitely. She had to stop smoking, but did it in a week. She is progressing great. Her husband Mario a little slower. Where she was smoking one cigarrete a day, he smokes 5, and at first didn´t think he can stop. But I shared 1 Nephi 3:7, and gave a strong testimony and promise that he can do it, he just needs the faith. Then he said "For you Elders, for Nephi, and for the Lord, I´ll make plans and goals, and stop smoking." It´s amazing the changes people can make when the Spirit is there. Mario will probably be baptized one Sunday more, the 18th.

We have a few other people we´re teaching, but they´re all mostly in the beginning stages, and have a long way to go. But they all have great potential, we just need to teach them, and with the Lord´s help, they can be baptized.

Now for the main part of my week: General Conference. We got to watch in English, fortunately, and it was great! I really needed it. When President Monson stood up Saturday morning, I got teary eyed and could have left happy right then. I testify without any doubt that he the prophet, seer, and revalator in our days, and that he is called by the Lord, as well as everyone else who spoke the past two days, and they all spoke the words of the Lord.

We were pretty excited to hear about the new temple in Conception, Chile. The members even more excited. It sounds like most of the temple attenders here are from that area, but it´s hard for them to come. A member told us that it´s easier and cheaper to go to the temple in another country than here in Santiago. But now they will have a temple down south in Conception. I´m sure they´re all pretty happy. I loved Elder Ballard´s talk in Priesthood, and Elder Holland´s Sunday afternoon. Wow! Elder Holland really put it all out on the line! Holy Cow!!! It was a great talk. Elder Bednar and Elder Uchtdorf gave amazing talks too. I´ve decided that this was the best Conference of my whole life. I learned a lot. It was also different, because I was listening and taking notes not just for myself like normal, but for my investigators, as well. I think that with Conference, when we love someone enough, and desire their salvation, we can learn more than if we just want to learn something for ourselves.

I heard that Elder Brice Anderson has an Elder in his district who is a cousin to Elder Barney here in Chile. Funny thing: Elder Barney is my District Leader right now. Wow, what a coincidence.

Well, here in Carrion the work keeps going. I´m learning a lot and growing a ton spiritually (although I think I´m still shrinking physically). I´ve never felt the Spirit and the Lord so near in my life. This definitely is the best time of my life so far. I only hope that I can make the best of it in inviting others to come unto Christ. This really is the Lord´s work, and can only be done when we involve him and do it his way, which is through the Spirit. It´s true what D&C 41:14 says, "If ye receive not the Spirit, ye shall not teach." The Spirit is essencial in the conversion of others, and in all aspects our daily lives. If we search for and live worthy to have the Holy Ghost, our lives will be better, and we will be able to better help other people come unto Christ.

Elder Murdoch

Elders Nicholas and Murdoch on transfer day

Well, things are still pretty interesting here. Some things are looking up, and others down. But no matter what, the mission work still goes on.

Elder Squire has improved so much! He can talk a lot better, teach great, and everything is getting better. It´s been amazing watching him improve so much the past two weeks, realizing that not long ago I was doing the same thing. I know that the Lord is helping him a lot, and I´m grateful for the opportunity to see it happen.

Last Monday we were shopping, and a man came up to us and asked where is our chapel. We told him, and set up a visit to talk with him. When we went, he told us that he feels like he´s lacking on faith, and has been searching for the truth. Jorge has studied a little with Jehovah´s Witnesses, Evangelists, etc. but has never felt anything like he thinks has helped. Then when he saw us in the store he had to stop and talk to us. We´ve since taught him about the Restoration and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He told us that he´s been feeling small changes in his life for the better since we started teaching him. He´s really progressing great and I think that we can change his baptismal date to much sooner that the 25th of October.

One night we were visiting less actives, and while waiting for one door to open, a couple stopped us and asked if we could pass for their house when we had time and gave us their address. Turns out that their searching some family history, and heard something about our church buying an archive from the Catholics, and wanted to see what they need to do to use it. We took them to the church and the talked with the Bishop and found out what they needed. Hopefully they can find the information that they need. Oh, and we also set up an appointment to visit them. They also went to a FHE that the priests were doing, and the opening song was "Families Can Be Together Forever." It was perfect.

We´re teaching an 11 year old who has been ready to be baptized for a few weeks. The problem is that his parents keep saying "Wait one more week." We´re going to teach them and invite them to church, and hopefully they can gain interest and be baptized, or at the least allow Fernando to be baptized.

Well, that´s about it. Things here keep going. We´ve dropped a few investigators, but found a couple more. With a lot of help I´ve basically got the language down. I can more or less say what I can want, and I can understand most of the time. Things are improving, more or less, and I´m learning a whole lot. I´m way excited for Conference this week. We´re gonna have several investigators there, and we´re praying that they can receive the answers that they need there. I´m also excited for the chance to see and hear President Monson and the other leaders. I know that they are called of God and that we will be listening to the word of God.

Elder Murdoch

Wow. This week was definitely a challenge. A lot of problems, prayers, tears, questioning why, growth, learning, etc. I still don´t understand why I´m here in Carrion, on my third transfer, with a companion on his second. I´m basically his second trainer, but I don´t know much more than he. I prayed a lot this week for help with this. It´s been difficult.

On a more happy note, his abilities to speak, do contacts(something that was difficult for him), and teach, have improved immensely in this past week. I know it wasn´t all my teaching, but mostly from the Lord, and I´m grateful for His help. Things are getting better.

On Friday the 18th we celebrated Chile´s Independence Day. Here they prepare for a week, and celebrate for 2-3 days. We went to the Bishop´s house Thursday and ate Empenadas, a Chilean food. Friday we had a barbecue, with hot dogs, sausage, beef, chicken, and potatoes. It was way great. And Thursday night there was a stake party in the stake center. We had permission from President May to go for two hours, with an investigator, but we still had to be in the house at 10, and couldn´t dance or play sports. It was pretty fun. We got to hear some good music and see some of the culture of Chile. I really enjoyed it.

The ward here is really great. The members are willing to help us; the recent converts are really faithful; everything´s great. I love the ward. And the bishop is really amazing. And his family´s great. They actually remind me a lot of the Brady´s, and Kylie and Lauren. I don´t know why, but that´s what I think everytime I see them. They´re really a great family. We had lunch with them yesterday, which was a fun adventure. We ate fish, clam, crab, and lobster. The interesting part was that it was the whole clam. We had to pull the shell open, scoop out the meat, and put the shell in a separate bowl. And the lobster claws, too, which was even harder. But it was pretty fun, even though it really didn´t taste to good, and my hands still smelled like fish all day even after washing like three times. It was a good dinner.


At lunch Saturday with the 2nd counselor in the bishopric, he asked what instruments I play. When I said I play piano, he asked me if I could play in church. So yesterday I played in Sacrament meeting and Priesthood and will probably be the ward pianist now.

We have 25 people with a baptismal date right now, which is a lot. More than I´ve seen in all my time in Renca 1. We´re probably gonna end up dropping some. There are a lot that I still don´t know, but also a few that I´m really excited about.
Fernando is about 11 years old, and really wants to be baptized. He´s received all the lessons. He actually was going to be baptized yesterday, but his parents wanted him to wait one more week. So we have to wait until this Sunday. Also, tomorrow we´re going to teach the rest of his family, and hopefully they can follow his example and join the church. Anibel is in his late teens, early 20´s, I´m not sure which. He´s a little shy and quiet, but a good person. He´s been reading the Book of Mormon and praying but still hasn´t received an answer to his prayer about baptism, so we have to help him with that. He was the investigator we took to the party Thursday, and met a few members of J.A.S. (Jovenes Adultos Solteros, or in English, YSA, Young Single Adults) and now has a few friends in the church, which is good.
Maria and Mario are a couple who have received a lot of lessons, and are preparing for their baptism. But they have to stop smoking and drinking coffee, which they said really won´t be too bad. They also were in church yesterday. I´m excited for them.

I learned a lot this week. I guess it´s true that we can learn from our trials. I´m still having a hard time and still learning a ton. But things are getting better and I know the Lord is with us. Romans 5:3, 4 says "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope." I know that this is true, that with tribulation we can acquire patience, and with this, experience and hope. I have gained a lot of these things this past week. I´m grateful for the opportunity to be here and for all the things I am learning. It´s definitely a great experience that will help me throughout all my life.

Elder Murdoch

Well, one more transfer under my belt. That went fast! I´m now in a different sector and not sure how to feel. Elder Nicholas stayed in Renca 1 with another missionary. I´m now in a different sector named Carrión. My new companion, Elder Squire, is from Ohio. He went to BYU-Idaho at the same time as me. He´s really great, and I can already tell that he´s a hard worker and we´re gonna get a lot done. More than that, this is his second transfer. He has one less than me. Kinda hard to believe, huh? I´m a little overwhelmed but also excited to help him learn all the things that I´ve learned recently. The sector´s gonna be great from what I´ve heard. Right now we have twenty-something people with a baptismal date. I´ve heard from him and other missionaries that the sector is great, easy to set people with a date, just have to maintain them, and that the ward is wonderful. Hopefully I can have more success here than in Renca 1.

The language is going great, which will help me be able to help Elder Squire. I can talk really well, basically say what I want to most of the time. And I can understand well too. There are still people who talk way fast that I can´t understand everything. But the majority of people I can understand. I´ve definitely had a lot of help from the Lord.

This last Friday we had a small adventure. It was the 11th, which is an anniversary of some sort of riot in Chile. It sounds like every year on September 11, they cut the lights and have demonstrations. We had to return to the house at 7:00. We planned, ate, hung out, and at about 9:00 the lights and water went out. We went to bed at 10:00. Fortunately nothing dangerous happened and it´s all good now.

This coming Friday is September 18th. It´s basically like our July 4th. They have a big celebration in the church, with lots of food and entertainment. We can go for 2 hours if we bring investigators but can´t participate in dances or sports. I don´t know if we´ll go. We probably will. I´ve heard about some of the food, and I´m excited to try it out.

Yesterday we had Stake Conference. Our chapel is the stake center, so we just went there like normal. It was really great. There were some talks and testimonies from some members including Michael Gonzalaz, who was less active for about a year and a half and now is preparing for a mission with his brother Denny. Then we heard from Sister and President May and the stake president. It was really great. The stake choir was amazing, and the spirit was really strong the whole time.

Well, not much more to say. The language keeps improving; the food´s still great; I´ve lost a bit of weight; and the work keeps going. I´m really excited to work here in this new sector.

Elder Murdoch

Go Cougars!!! Exciting!
The weeks keep going by too fast. We´re already in the last week of this transfer. I don´t know where I´ll be next Monday. I might stay here or go to a different sector. I guess we´ll see.

This week was interesting. I got my plaque back. I had lost in in the micro(bus) the first day of this transfer, 5 weeks ago. Turns out a teenager found it and this last week gave it to some missionaries in my zone. What are the chances!? I was gonna buy another. Glad I didn´t.

Thursday we left the pension, then had to go back in to get something we forgot. This second time, we left the keys on the desk without realizing it. I asked Elder Nicholas if he had the keys, because I didn´t. Neither did he. Uh-oh. We left to work, and called our district leader, who called the zone leaders, who called the office. Line of authority can be a pain sometimes. By the time we finished our day at 10:00, no one had called us about the keys. And the guardhouse of our apartments doesn´t have a master key or anything. So we went to the house of our District leader while waiting for the office to call. At 11:00 we decided not to wait anymore. We live on the second floor, and the back patio of the first floor has a roof. We borrowed a ladder from the guardhouse and Elder Nicholas climbed on the roof and then into a small hole into the kitchen, then opened the door. Quite the experience. Now we both have an extra key in our backpacks, aside from the main set of keys.

Friday we had divisions, and Elder Frost, our district leader, came here to Renca 1 to work with me. While walking down a street there was a house that had rock music playing. There was a dog outside--I think he was sick--bobbing his head in perfect timing with the music. Elder Frost looked at me and said, "Did I just see what I thought I did?" It was amusing.

Elder Nicholas has been teaching me to juggle, and I´ve been practicing. At first I used mandarines, but after ruining like six or seven we made balls of paper and tape. I´m getting better but still have a ways to go. Saturday when we played soccer it was raining a little, so the court was wet and slick. It´s a type of cement that´s normally slick anyway, so it was interesting. Everyone was sliding and falling a lot. Then it stopped raining and the court dried. Then it started again, then stopped again. There were small puddles, and I ran into one at one point. I was running down the court then stopped to go the other direction. Unfortunately my right foot was in a puddle and kept going the original direction. I twisted the ankle, and had to leave the game for awhile. Hours later in the day it was hurting bad, and I couldn´t walk without limping and even then it hurt. So we had to buy some ice and go back to the pension to ice my ankle. We couldn´t leave at all that day to work. I felt bad, because we had a couple of really important appointments. But yesterday we could leave, and today I feel a lot better, even though my ankle´s still a little sore. I can walk normal, and run a little. So it´s all good.

We´re still working with Bastian, trying to get permission from his mom to baptize him, but it´s hard to find her. We also have a couple other people we´re teaching. Not many, but they´re good. Prisila is a friend of a member and is really good. She wants to be baptized, and we´ve taught her a couple times. The problem is that she´s separated from her husband but not divorced and living with someone else. So she has to get divorced and then married. The good thing is that she wants to do it and is in the middle of the divorce right now. The bad thing is that here in Chile it can take a while to get divorced. We´re hoping that the Lord will bless her for her desire and help speed things up so that she can be baptized.

While working with Permanaced, we found a less active and his wife/girlfriend. They´re not married but living together. They have a similar problem like Prisila. Victor is a member, but Ginette isn´t. She´s a single mother since they´re not married. They´re looking for a new house, and she can receive help from the government, being a single mother. So they´re waiting for this, then to buy the house, then they´re gonna get married so she can be baptized, which she wants to be baptized. We had a lesson with them that we talked about how we have to show faith in the Lord and do our part, and he´ll help us with the things we need. We shared 1 Nephi 3:7, 3 Nephi 13:31-33, and Proverbs 3:5-6, all really good scriptures. Then we challenged them to pray and ask if they should get married before buying a house, and promised that God will help them find a house if they have faith. Hopefully they can have the faith necessary to trust the Lord more than the government.

This last week we had interviews with President May. It was really great. The interviews are in English, and I really struggled. I never thought I´d struggle with English, but I could hardly talk. I made it through the interview, but barely. But it was a great interview. One thing that President May said that really made me happy was he told me that he hasn´t lost any confidence in me. That´s good. It´s great to be able to talk with President May. He´s wonderful.

Well, I think that´s about it for this week. Things are improving slowly. Until next week!

Elder Murdoch

Time keeps passing really fast,and it´s hard to tell if that´s good or bad. But things are going really great here. Elder Nicholas is getting better, so we were able to leave more this week. We had more lessons and a little success. A lot better than the last two weeks.

We had a zone conference that was really great. It is always great to hear from President and Sister May. They´re great. We learned a lot about a new thing we´re starting with less actives. The Presidency of the area of Chile wrote a letter named Permanaced, or Abide/Stay. It talks about the Holy Ghost, the problem of Sin, the solution of the Atonement and Baptism, the apostasy and restauration, and then the importance of Endure to the End. We´re starting to use it with less-actives, and there´s also a way to use it with non-members. It´s really amazing. We´ve already had a couple lessons with it and it works to get less actives to church or to teach non-members. I´m really excited to use it more.

We´ve started playing soccer every Saturday at 6 am. Included are some pictures of my sweet new shoes. This Saturday we were walking to the bus stop to go to the church and a van and car of carabiñeros (police) stopped us and asked where we came from. We said we came from our apartments and are going to play futbol (soccer) in our chapel. They looked at us weird for a minute and then left.

As of right now we don´t have too many people that we´re teaching. We have one person with a baptismal date, but we can only teach him Saturday nights, and when we went this Saturday he was busy and asked if we can do it this next Saturday.

We also have Bastian. I talked about him weeks ago. He´s a friend of a member, and was really great. But then we lost contact with him because he´s always playing soccer, so we dropped him. Then we were talking with the seminary teacher and she told us that he´s always at seminary and that he told her he´s getting baptized soon. Except he can´t cause we haven´t taught him all the lessons. So we made contact again, and taught him the Word of Wisdom. Later we talked to him to see if he still wants to be baptized. He said yes, and he´s pretty sure that his parents will let him. We have to talk to them to make sure, but hopefully that shouldn´t be a problem. He came to church yesterday and liked it, and is going to keep coming. He´s progressing pretty well and should be able to be baptized in 3-4 weeks.

That´s about it, though. We´re still trying to find more people. Basically we´re resurrecting our sector, but it´s slow gaining more life. We did find a less-active and his ¨girlfriend.¨ She´s not a member. The problem with setting her with a date is that they´re not married, and we can´t even set people with a baptismal date if they´re not married. She actually wants to be baptized, though. She has a baby, so is a single mother. They´re searching for a new house, and there´s a thing here in Chile that single mothers get some sort of financial help buying a house. So they´re waiting to find a house, then they´ll get married, then she can be baptized. Kinda lame, but hopefully they can have some help from above.

The language is getting a lot better. I´m starting to talk a little faster. Still having trouble with some things, but it´s coming. And I can understand better a little more each day. Still have a load of trouble with that, but it´s coming too.

Well, I think that´s about it. In closing I have an invitation for you all. Pray for people you know who aren´t members. Friends, family, companions at work, etc. Pray for them that they can receive the gospel and the missionaries. Then try to be in tune with the Spirit so that He can tell you when to visit these persons and invite them to hear more. Don´t be afraid to share the gospel. Remember that Mormon tells us that ¨Perfect love casteth out all fear.¨ And no one can have perfect love more than Jesus. Enough that he suffered all that he did for us. If we feel this love that he has for us and have this love for other people, then we shouldn´t have any worries or troubles sharing the gospel with them. Because we love them we want them to be able to receive their salvation, and the only way is through baptism. I know that this is true, and that God wants us all to be able to live with Him in His kingdom forever. And He will do whatever possible to make this possible. This is His only true church and we have the power and authority of Him to help him with this work. We should all heed to the words of President David O. McKay-"Every member a missionary." If we do, we will be blessed. Read Doctrine and Covenants 18:10;15-16.

Elder Murdoch