World Cup!

So I am thinking that Everyone is wanting to hear about how I am doing with the world cup. Well so I will just start with that then. It stinks down here haha. The thing that stinks is I don't think we'll see a game or anything. But we will see. I haven't spent too much time in the house. I only spent last Friday in the house. I guess the streets get pretty crazy down here when Chile plays. We have to enter the house a half hour before the game starts and then we have to stay in the house for the rest of the day afterward. Which kinda stinks, but we sure hear everyone. When Chile scores a goal, we know! Car horns, fireworks, screams and shouts. It stinks. But that isn't the hardest part, the hardest part is working.

During a World Cup in Chile, everyone watches every game. If they aren't at home, they are watching the World Cup. And if I weren't a missionary, I would love it because I love to watch soccer! But since I am a missionary, I hate it. So we have been walking a little bit more than usual. But it is pretty cool because when we are eating lunch and stuff everyone tells us what is going on in the World Cup! I would relate it to the Super Bowl, but 10 times bigger and every single day for one straight month. So this will be a pretty interesting month here on the mission!

But other than that, we were able to do some good work out here. We have a few people progressing a lot! We are starting to see some really good success here in the ward. We have been teaching Bayron a lot. He is still having a few problems with his mom, but they are getting along alright now. The only think that kind of stinks is that he is moving to another ward in the mission, so maybe I´ll get to go down there. Ya never know! Oscar is really getting better. He is still a little crazy sometimes but that´s about it. The work is still hard, but we keep going!

The first picture I carefully selected is me and my comp! Today for P Day we went and hiked this really big hill in the outskirts of the city and it had a really nice view, if you could see through the smog. I will send a straight smog picture too. The second is not computer editing, that is just straight smog.

The third picture is what we did while we had to be inside Friday during the Chile soccer game. We made a ping pong table!

And the fourth is what I look like when it is time to go out and brave the rain. It stinks haha.

Well we got quite the wake up call this week for this coming winter. We got hit by a pretty big storm this weekend and it got pretty bad. It was huge! Well in my perspective it was huge. But then I got told by everyone that it was really nothing. Hmmmm... It sure felt like a lot to me. Maybe it is just this part of Santiago, but the streets FLOODED! It got pretty bad. The big streets that are really busy were flooded so bad that the water came up to my mid calf. On Friday night we had to cross a really big street and I was wearing my winter boots, and they almost didn't help at all. I poured out water when I got home. So the next morning my comp and I went to get full on rain boots that almost come up to my knee! They are pretty sick, but now I will be able to stay dry!

This week was a pretty good week. We saw a few people that we haven´t seen in a little while. We saw Ivet and Sergio, and they are doing really good. She got a new job that is a little bit more comfortable, so that was good news!

Oscar is doing really good! He is still recuperating from a lot of things that he has left behind, and is still having a few speed bumps, but he is getting really strong in the church.

We found out that one of our investigators is moving next week, and he was progressing really well! Bayron will be moving to another ward in the mission and his mom is getting married, so that´s good. Maybe I will end up getting transferred there too haha.

But that is about it. We have had a few bumps in the road, but nothing to bad or too much to handle. We keep going and that is what is most important. We are only here to invite other people to come unto Christ, but we can´t make them. Which is hard sometimes, but it is what it is.

The first picture there is one of the storm clouds that were coming before the weekend. When you see that here in Chile, you know the next few days are going to be rough haha.

Then the next one is the only good thing about the rain. We get a really nice view whenever it snows!

And then the last one is a picture of me and my comp during weekly planning. The longest 3 hours of the week. But we try to get it done with a little bit of fun.

This week has been pretty good! I am still pretty tired, but that is part of the job. We are still working and still walking haha. The walking a little bit less this week thankfully! It is kind of nice not to be in a white wash in this time of the year because it is starting to get pretty cold! But that is alright. The only problem that we have had so far this year is in the morning and nights. But we had to move both bunk beds into one room just because it was soooooo cold in the mornings, but now we don't have a problem.

But a quick update, I have been starting to talk in my sleep, but it is a little bit weirder than just that. I am starting to teach and pray during the night, but I am doing it in Spanish.... So that is pretty weird. I will wake up one morning and everyone will joke with me and say "Burt! You were praying in your sleep last night! And your Spanish is better when you are sleeping than when you are awake!" haha, so that is a little weird.

But as for everything else, this week was a really good week. We found a few new less active members to teach and they were pretty open to listen to us. We found out that a few of the less active members that we used to teach are ready to listen to us again, so that is really good. But as for new investigators to teach, we are still having a hard time finding them, so we are working on that.

Bayon is doing well. He is still progressing and stuff. He is still really excited to get baptized and go on a mission, and he has even offered to go out and visit people with us. Ivet and Sergio are doing good, but they weren't able to go to church again, so we are going to try again this week to get them to go, but we will see how it goes!

Well I took pictures this week and they came out pretty good if I do say so myself. 

The first one is me one day when I came in so tired I put on my pjs, prayed and just died on my bed and didnt get back up until the morning!

The second one is the view out of our window. We have a good view of the mountains!

And the last two is me in my favorite teams jersey! We found this place today that sells jerseys really cheap and saw one of Manchester United and I had to! It was pretty awesome!

Hey guys! Its been a pretty good week! Super busy, I almost haven't had any time to think. This week was the first week that I "led the sector." Which really means that it is the first week that I have had to make all the dicisions, because Elder Tafur still doesn't know everyone or anything about the sector. It's a little bit better now, just because he knows people and can help me plan the days and stuff. And I've had a cold all week, so that was pretty interesting. But I'm glad to say that I didn't need to stay in the house at all due to my cold, which was good because now I'm over it.

But it's okay. We had a really good week. For now, Elder Tafur and I haven't had any problems, and we are working really well together. This week we worked like crazy and I'm pretty tired still, but we'll just keep going. But I've got some good reports this week!

I don't remember if I have written at all about Bayron. Bayron is 18, almost 19 and we have been meeting with him for about 2 weeks. Long story short, his mom is an active member and really wants him to join the church. He on the other hand is a lot harder than that and isn't so sure. 2 weeks ago he said he will get baptized when he is ready and not a week earlier. Well, with Pineyro we went to see him the night before he left, and he has been having a really hard time. Especially with his mom. They argue a lot now.

But then last monday with Elder Tafur, his first day, we went to visit him kind of out of nowhere, it wasn't really planned but I thought Elder Tafur should know him. So we go, and he just starts telling us what happened. Sunday night he couldn't sleep. He was up praying and reading and talking to his mom all night. He told us that he has been converted and wants to be baptized and then serve a mission as soon as possible. So we were kind of in shock, and basically every time we have gone back this week, he basically teaches us the lessons. Haha, so that was pretty exciting! And now because of him, and the hapiness he is finding in his life, his uncle is now listening to us too!

Other than that, we saw Ivet and Sergio this week. They are still doing good, but we are trying to get them back to church with us. Oscar keeps progressing. He is starting to leave with us to go teach lessons becuase He wants to help people like him who went inactive and are strugling, SO that's also pretty cool!

And I've also got some bad news, I didn't take any pictures this week. I didn't even think about it until today on my way to the internet cafe and thought, "shoot, mom's going to get maaaad!" So mom, don't get too mad, I'll send more than usually next week! Hahaha

But that was my week, I hope everything is good at home! Love you guys!

Changes

Well, we had changes this past week, and I´m glad to say that I am here to stay in this sector. It was sad when Piñeyro had to leave, but that´s part of the mission. And he is still in my zone, just 2 sectors over, so I´ll still see him every week at least once. 

Now, I am with Elder Tafur, from Colombia. He is super good. I am his Greeny-breaker, so that will be fun! He is a good guy and says he likes to work hard, but I´m just getting to know him, so we´ll see how it goes. From what I know he is a convert from when he was 10 years old, and he seems pretty dedicated to the work, so wish us luck.

This week was a pretty good week, we were able to teach a lot of lessons and get a lot of work done. This has been one of the best weeks on my mission, speaking of lessons at least. 

Other than teaching lessons, we didn't have too much of an exciting week, but   I've got a recommendation and suggestion for everyone. There is a really good video on youtube that we have been using to teach. It´s called "The Atonement and Missionary Work". It´s super good and it has my recommendation. It is a combination of Elder Eyring and Elder Holland talking about the work and stuff. It talks about how the atonement can guide us in missionary work, but I think it explains a lot about just being a person in the church, or a person at all. 

The first picture is me with my new companion. He seems like a good guy, I like him a lot.

This is me and Piñeyro with Oscar and his brother Andres. Oscar (The one in the back) is almost reactivated, and his brother is starting to listen to us a little bit at a time.

The third is Juan and Asuncion, they are two investigators who we have. They are a bit more difficult, and work on Sundays, but we are working with them.

Have a great week!

So hey everybody. Here's my weekly letter... But not too much happened this week, only the fact that I skyped my family, which was great! I miss everybody a lot, but I've also come to love being down here. I do miss everyone though, and skyping made me miss everyone even more. 

But other than that not too much happened this week, but we did have a few really good things happen. After I finished skyping my family, we went and visited Ivet, Sergio and Mateo. It's funny where they moved because they live in a apartment complex where 3 or 4 members with their age live, so we brought a couple with about their same age to go visit them, just to meet them. It went really good! The hope now is that they will see each other around and say hi to each other and greet each other and stuff, to keep building the relationship and stuff.

We also had a really good Family Home Evening this week. We have them at least once a week in this ward, and they are really called Noche de Hermanamientos, which means something weird in English, so I'll just call it FHE. We all planned it together, and we used the idea we had heard of before to give everyone a candy or something like that, but someone has to do 10 push ups for everyone who takes a candy, and 10 push ups for those who don't take a candy. Basically it explains the Atonement of Jesus Christ, that whether or not we accept him, he paid for our sins. It was really good, and a lot of people were crying because it was so powerful! Super good!

Well, next Monday are changes, and I'm hoping I'm not leaving, but we'll see. Next time you hear from me I'll either be in a new sector or have a new comp. Probably, but we'll see.

So it's actually pretty funny, because the Jehovah's Witnesses came around our street, so we hid and pretended like we weren't home hahahaha.

The second picture is of the familia Meza. They are like our family in this ward, and I skyped at their house this week and just realized that I didn't introduce them to the family.

And then the third is my Pool team for today, which is what we did for P Day, so that was pretty fun. And it was a pretty good picture too!

Have a great week!

Not too much happened this week that was too exciting. We had a really slow week, but we still worked really hard and did a lot of walking.

One of the greatest things that happened was we finally got into Ivet's house. We tried last Monday, and they weren't there. We passed by every day at 7 and then finally on Thursday they were home! We got there and it was just Ivet and Mateus, so we sat at the door and talked to her. Their story is really incredible! When I first met them, they had lost everything. But then when they started talking to us in my last sector, their lives started to really turn around! They both found really good jobs, are now back on their feet and living in their own apartment. After a little bit, Sergio got home from his job and we sat down and talked with them for a while. They are really progressing! They are both reading the Book of Mormon together and praying really hard! We are really excited with their progress and we just started to meet with them! 

Another really awesome thing that happened this week was on Sunday. We have been working really hard with a less active member named Oscar. He comes from a really good family, but got mixed up in some stuff he shouldn't and was inactive for a long time. But when I got here, he really started to turn his life around and is now attending church regularly. He is now done with all that, and only lacks giving up the cigarettes. But on Sunday he got up and bore his testimony about how much we helped him and how much God has been there for him. It was pretty awesome!

That was our week, and I only took one picture, so here it is...

Someone lent us a Janga set... It was pretty awesome!