Week 81 - La Calera

My new area is pretty cool.  It has the feel of a big town because it has all the nice places to go shopping but it also has a nice rural feel outside of the center.  I love that most areas have grass and not dirt.

The house we stay at is pretty nice.  It's spacious.  There's not to much stuff in it so it doesn't look to hard to clean.  The bathroom is not like most mission apartment's bathrooms which are ugly.  It is nice.

The wards pretty interesting.  It's small.  I hear normally 30 people attend church. The bishop has had his calling for nine years.

Our teaching pool has a good number of investigators.  We have two people that have set baptismal dates this week and they both went to church!  We also had a confirmation this week.  "K" has a date for the the 13th and is pretty cool.  She made us a ton of food.  That's always a plus!  "Y" has already been to church three times.  She has a baptismal date set for the 20th.

My companion, Elder Brown, is pretty cool.  He's got a great sense of humor!  He played lacrosse in high school so we talk about lacrosse and sports quite a bit.  He's also really good with starting conversations which is something Elder Cerrón and I really struggle with.  Elder Brown is from Utah.  He's been out for eight months.

This week on Tuesday I went and said goodbye to a lot of people.  Every single one gave me food. By the end of the night I had eaten - pasta, macaroni and cheese, oranges, cake, and pizza. The people are so nice, but I wasn't doing so well by the end.  I started throwing up around midnight.

I woke up the next morning, drank a little bit and ate one piece of bread. I bought a Gatorade then went on a really long bus ride to my new area.  I got here without an appetite.  Ever since I haven't wanted to eat very much but I kind of want to today. It was pretty sad saying goodbye to Elder Cerrón. And it honestly is weirder not being near Elder Palilla after so long. Being district leader I wish I could ask for his advice and help.

It has been pretty interesting being district leader.  It hasn't been easy for me.  I have to communicate a lot and dislike talking over the phone.  People always talk on speaker phone and I can't understand them -- ugh. My first district meeting was kind of a wreck but it will be better next week.

And that's it for my week.

Week 80 - Bittersweet

This week and the one approaching are bittersweet.

First the sweet side.  This week we had several investigators come to church!  The family we are teaching came.  They are progressing rapidly.  We have a few baptismal dates now...

But, the bitter side is I will be moving on.  I'm being reassigned to La Calera and will likely miss the baptisms.  I will miss the people I've come to call friends in this area.  Elder Cerron is a really good missionary.  I feel confident leaving the sector in his hands.  I will miss his help with my Spanish.  He helped me improve a lot.  I feel like I can get around by myself if I had to.

La Calera is in the Quillota zone.  It is in the country between my first area, Salamanca, and the mission home.  I hear it is cold in the winter and hot in the summer.  It's our winter now and I have my warm clothes I used in Salamanca with me.  La Calera is inland and I think there is a lot of farming in the area.  I hear they have really good pastries and look forward to trying some!

I've been told that I'll be serving with an Elder Hunter Brown.  I don't know him, but will meet him soon, if the information on our missions website is correct.  Elder Palilla said that he has heard good things about him.  I'll also be serving as a district leader.  I hear Elder Aguilars will be in the district.  I served with him in Salamanca.  It will be fun to be together again.

My mission is quickly passing.  I have come to realize that my time is growing shorter.  This could be my last area.  I fear I won't accomplish all that I want before my mission finishes.  I don't have a problem with that, but would like to reach all of my goals.  I've grown a lot spiritually.

Week 79 - An Answer To Prayer

After writing you last week we went and ate lunch with a member that made completo's.  A completo is a hot dog with lots of good things on top.  After, we returned home and got ready to go to work. Our only appointment fell through and we just walked for two days straight searching for someone to teach.  I was very disappointed and discouraged.  I prayed silently.  I poured my heart out to our Heavenly Father.  I told Him I was so tired of walking around all the time.  My feet were bruised and I desired to find someone to teach.  I asked Him for help in finding someone.

We knocked on a house where we never found anyone home.  This time a man came out!  His name is "D".  We started to talk to him and his dad soon joined in too.  After that we've taught them almost every day.  The mom unfortunately lost her job but now she has time to listen to us.  It's a FAMILY!!!  The dad is so cool!!!  He reads the pamphlets we leave and he just eats into them trying to understand everything.  As we discuss the gospel, he cites things from the pamphlets.  They didn't go to church this week.  It's a little complicated why.  They live eight houses down from the church and they're progressing rapidly!

We had an "open chapel" activity. It went well.  Quite a few people showed up and entered the chapel. We gave them a tour and we have several references now!!!

We also had a guy named "R" come to church.  He has a date for baptism so we are pretty excited.

Our Heavenly father answered my prayer.

"L" didn't go to church this week.  She's really good, but isn't doing the little things.  I don't know if she'll get her answers until she puts in more effort.

Today our zone played basketball.  I started playing with Elder Pace.  They quickly broke us up as we dominated.

We have transfers this next week.  I'm not sure if I'll stay or not.  I'm guessing I will be moved.

Week 78 - Thinking of Grandpa

This week I have been pretty good.  Friday, Grandpa's death set in again. It was weird how thoughts of him came to my mind.  I was putting sea salt on my food and it made me think of aquariums and then I remembered the time I went to the tiny Salt Lake City aquarium with Grandpa. Thoughts of him set in again.  I will miss him but am fine.

This week I finally got my scripture covers!  I'll send a picture.

This week I had an exchange with Elder Navarro.  We watched the Cokeville Miracle as we ate a lot of fries.  It was night and I had a good time.  Elder Palilla asked me that night how my family was and I decided to tell him what happened.  He made me feel better and has been calling and talking to me quite a bit recently. I think tomorrow we should be doing exchanges together so that'll be fun.

This week has been okay when it comes to the mission.  We took "L" to a Family Home Evening with a member.  It was fun.  I don't know if she'll continue to progress. She didn't go to church this week and hasn't read in more than a week.  Her excitement seems to be dwindling.

Other than "L", we don't have anyone else we are teaching at the moment, so we've been walking quite bit.  My new shoe's soles are coming apart in the front.  I'm sure I can make it for awhile.  The shoes are not too bad yet.  The soles are just starting to separate.

Today we played soccer in the morning and a bunch of Latino kids showed up.  They pretty much ran the show.

This week Elder Gould, who is in charge of the housing, came by and gave us an oven!  I bought two brownie mixes to break it in!

Week 77 - The Plan of Salvation

This past week Elder Hammond's grandfather, Reuel McPhie, returned home to our Heavenly Father. He will be missed.  We know he is happy and with loved ones.  

We lived with our Heavenly Father before we came to earth Jeremiah:1.5.  We are his spirit children Romans 8:16-17, Acts 17:27-29, Hebrews 12:9 and as such are all brothers and sisters.  When we die our spirit returns to the spirit world or paradise Ecclesiastes 12:7, Luke 23:43 and our physical body returns to the earth Genesis 3:19.

Our Heavenly Father loves all His children and knew not all would hear the gospel in this world.  In the spirit world, the gospel is taught to those who didn't find it here on earth 1 Peter 4:6.  Someday we will stand before our Savior to be judged 2 Corinthians 5:10.  Because of the Savior, all of us will be resurrected.  Resurrection means our spirit will be reunited with our physical body, but our body will be a perfect, immortal body Acts 24:15, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.  The glory of this immortal body depends on the choices we make in life 1 Corinthians 15:40-42.

We believe families can be eternal -- that we will again be reunited with loved ones.  -- Elder Hammond's Father.

When did Grandpa die?  I wasn't told.  I'm OK.  This would have been much harder if I didn't have the gospel and know where he is.  It hasn't sunk in yet...  I know he's in a better place.

The mission president called me and told me he was sorry for our loss.  He talked about how he knew I would miss going fishing with him.  That hit me pretty hard.

-=-

Other comments from Conner's past week:

I taught "L" with Elder Vaterlaus.  She said that she was indecisive because she wants a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith.  She also went to church which was cool. She wants to bring her mom to an activity.

Then I went to a zone conference.  I ended up playing the violin.  The conference was good.  There were some great talks on the Savior and the prophet Joseph Smith and some of their traits and attributes. We also discussed how we can become more like the Savior.

I had an exchange with Elder Palilla which was fun. We started off by locking ourselves out of the apartment.  After trying to open several windows we decided we would just shatter one of the cracked windows.  We found a stick and shoved it through a window that needed replacing.

We made Oreo truffles that night.  It was a good day.

Yesterday was a huge soccer game between Chile and Germany.  Good thing Elder Cerron and I had studies during that time.  It would have been terrible walking the streets during the game.