November 3rd

hola familia...

I received a package from Cindy and Greg. looks like Mr Greg bought a boat and is now going frogging? If you could relay the message back to them telling them not to worry- that I will get my frogging gear ready for when I get back. Tell Ms Cindy that I am trying to collect some box tops for her to send back and that I will try and send in a couple of weeks.- I have collected a couple and I will see if some of the members have so to send so that I can send them. I also got a letter from Hailey Persons... just a few months late it seems like. I also got a Christmas card from the Hampton family. according to the card, Devin will be turning in his papers in the next week or two.. gotta love the mail system in Santiago!
(editor's note: Elder Devin Hampton has been on his mission since May)

sorry for the short email. It was such a good week. Mainly for yesterday with our investigators coming to church. yes! 

Hermana Salazar also surprised my with a small get together. I had no idea she would be celebrating my b-day, but here is a foto. 

thank you for all of the updates. hope to write a little more next week. love  you !!!

November 10th

time gets shorter and shorter lunes. We were able to have a conference with Elder Nelson this Morning. It was phenomenal! He shared with us a lot of what we need to share as missionaries focusing on the Doctrine. His wife also gave a powerful message. 

As far as the rest of the week went, we had a few issues come up in the ward. Let me just say that it is difficult when not everyone does their part. Comparing it to a beehive- There are thousands of worker bees. If none of the bees collect pollen, there is no honey. Maybe I`m not the best at analogies, but our investigators certainly know when the bees don't work together. That is why I am sending you a photo as my blessing of the week. M____ G____. She is the best missionary I have ever known. there are a thousand more blessings that I

see from week to week. they outweigh the negatives. Thank you for all of the birthday wishes. It was a great day. Love you and Looks like the dolphin fountain ones-up the frog. haha. Love you all.

1 Nephi 1: 11-12, November 18

Wow! I first have to say what an AWESOME experience that was to have Dad´s old Mission President come and visit. So cool, and I am sure y'all had a lot to talk about! Berthelson is definitely not a common last name. 

It sounds like your weeks have been pretty full. Weddings and crafting, etc. Sounds like a lot of fun! 

 

Elder Holland and his wife were able to visit! We arrived at about 5:30 am to get our good 4th row seats and waited for 4 hours until he arrived. There were 4 Missions in this conference which he said is the largest conference that they have had of missionaries. He mentioned something of Elder Perry: that this Moment with all of the Missionaries that are serving right now ranks with the events such as the First Vision, The  restoration of the Book of Mormon, and equal distribution of the Priesthood. One of the coolest stories and best applications that he shared was that of a world famous swimmer that he had known during college. When asked in an interview from the press how he did it, he said "kick when you don´t want to kick and stroke when you don´t want to stroke". Which I have taken in this week, especially with the rising temperatures here in Santiago. A few of these days have been cooler than others, but other days have been incredibly hot. Its also like Phoenix, a very very dry heat haah,, but it was such a wonderful experience to hear Elder Holland Speak.

 

One of the other things that we had this week was called a CVC, like the visitors center they have in Salt Lake. It was for the members to bring friends and invite them so that we could do a tour (the sister missionaries) then we brought them into a room so the Elders could explain baptism and each one of the auxiliaries had displays in different classrooms. It was pretty dead for a couple of hours. The ward members had a hard time bringing people, but it was absolutely incredible with the youth in our ward. They went out and at around 8pm there were about 20 kids who came in to do the tour. It was so cool! From what I hear they invited a birthday party hahah. There was def a spark of missionary work within the ward. A couple of our investigators came too! They were able to socialize with the members and they enjoyed the tour.

 

We have been doing a special fast for some of our investigators- M___ y G____ and E___ and E____. It was great that E____ and E___ were able to come to the CVC that we had. And we also invited M___ y G_____ to be baptized. They are absolutely wonderful, just a little unsure. But we are patiently working with them.

 

I am so glad to hear all of the new that is going on, in the ward, and with family and friends. I hope you (d n k) enjoy your travels to Chicago. People think that all that my parents do is vacation. True dat! ahah but i know you guys are working hard too. 

I will have to tell you about Hermana F______ someday. Kind of like the abuelita that you have. We bought her a "FUTURA MISIONARA" plaque. ......

 

We have been having a lot of lessons about the Book Of Mormon and how important it is. If anyone falls away from the church, the question must be asked if they are reading the Book of Mormon. This book was written for our day. I would hope that you are all continuously reading the Book of Mormon and strengthening  your testimonies about the divinity that come from reading it. Pray, read, go to church. Its the perfect formula. 

 

I attatched a couple of pics from my bday, a couple of the CVC and my comp Hermana salazar and Hermana ekins waiting for Elder Holland at 5:30. I love you all very much and hope that you are having and will have a wonderful week.- Love you!

1 Nephi 1: 11-12

1Nephi 8:10-12

Hola Familia-

Thank you for all of your emails. It was a great week! Maybe a little slow, but fun none-the-less.for my bday 

We had brownies and Ice cream for breakfast and We also had zone conference on my birthday,, and I got a General Conference Package to open! Thank you for sending my favorite candy! I love me some M&Ms! And it was fun to see the pictures. We had cake at the Bishop´s house too. But that was about it.. the rest of the week was work. I really wish I had more to tell you. A lot of Ups and downs this week as far as investigators go. I dont know if I told you about our investigators E____ and E___. A mother and a daughter. They are awesome... progressing slowly but are doing really well! E____ came with us to church yesterday which was a big step for her. We´ve been trying to get her to come for about a month now. She is so sweet and they love animals! 

I will take a picture of the Giant tortious (sorry I cant spell) they have. I was telling them what we eat in Louisiana, I mentioned alligator, and turtle, and she reaches for the ground and pics up a big the big turtle! and of course I ask to hold it and am playing with it.. and right as she was telling me that it likes to pee on "guests" it goes all over me. Haha.. They also have a cage of about 30 birds. crazy lol 

 

I have been studying Lehi´s dream this week. Picking it a part really. I have come up with some interesting things I hadn´t thought of before. Did you ever notice that it says holding to the end of the rod of iron? We can´t start in the middle and expect to get to the tree. We must start from the beginning. From the basic doctrines of the Gospel starting with Faith. Also The "vapor de tinieblas" will affect everyone who wants to partake of the sweet fruit that the tree has to offer. It´s not always easy to get reach that Love of God, in reality, it will be difficult, but I know that eating of the sweet fruit will be so much sweeter when we endure the difficult journey it takes to reach The tree. It will be worth it when we "hold fast"

 

(for more on the dream that Hermana B is referring to, here are two great talks that discuss in more detail: 

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2011/10/lehis-dream-holding-fast-to-the-rod

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2011/10/lehis-dream-holding-fast-to-the-rod )

 

 

Love you!

Doctrine and Covenants 123:16, November 4th

Doctrine and Covenants 123:16

Absolutely nothing has really happened this week... haha. Chile had another Feriado (holiday)- 4 days of no one working. I thought at first it was because of Halloween, but there is another Evangelico holiday which is also on Oct 31st so all of the Chilenos tienen dias libres 4 days without work makes for a lot of no one in the streets, or no one who wants to receive us, very very very boring. 


 One of the cool experiences that happened this week was with a lady who we contacted a while ago. Her name is E____ and she has a daughter named E____ who is about 23 and both of them are reading the Book of Mormon. I can´t remember if I mentioned them in one of my prior letters but they are both interested in taking lessons. We had an ex-misionaro help us with one of our lessons which really helped them last week, but this past week, we couldn´t get ahold of him and Hermana Salazar and I went by ourselves. When we came, they both told us that they didn´t want to continue to take the lessons. From that point, we didn´t really know how to take it. They both are incredible, they both read, but I guess prayer and faith are what they are lacking at the moment. They are also scared to leave the house to go to church for family problems. But our lesson was powerful and we explained clearly and simply what it meant to have faith. We talked about Alma 32 and shared our testimonies about acting on faith as long as we are dilligent and patient. They have agreed to let us return which is good news! 



I don´t know why I subject my letters in scriptures, but they are just scriptures that I have had on my mind this week. We always share a scripture with the members with whom we eat lunch with- I chose this scripture to share with this family in particular especially on the subject of missionary work. The Mom took it like I would expect in a sense of by small and simple things are great things brought to pass... the dad however told us that a small "timón" couldn´t move a large ship. And that is why I love the scriptures. We can all interperate them differently and our different viewpoints are all right. They are especially meaningful if we act of these things. On the subject of missionary work, they are both right. By our small efforts, we can see blessings of missionary work- but we can´t do it alone. One of the most challenging struggles has been to get the ward involved with Missionary efforts. It´s a tough mission, especially in our area, but I know that I am here in my area "el Parque" for a reason and I have grown to love the area, even though most of the time it doesn´t love me back. But I count my blessings and Hermana Salazar and I are constantly reevaluating to try and find small successes in our every day work as Missionaries, As always I hope you are doing your part en la obra misional.  
Also glad that my impala still has a picture of Christ to give it some character.


Thank you also for the Feliz Cumpleaños as well. I am celebrating by working this year... and my belated birthday gift might be Elder Holland next week. What a privilege it is to hear the Lord´s Servant-