Week 102 - Christmas Week

This week was good.  We had two baptisms.

The baptism with "A" was really hard.  We needed two priesthood holders to act as witnesses in addition to the person who baptizes, so we needed another member.  We looked for a member at his work.  This member was having his best day of the year and really needed the money.  He told us that he didn't want to help us but a memory of us passing by came to his mind. He said the night before he had a dream that we were going to pass by his stand and ask his help. It helps me a lot to know that God is looking out for me and the people I teach and that He is going to make his work move forward.  The baptism went forward and "A" is now a member of the Lord's church.

On Christmas, we went to a house in the middle of nowhere.  We left the house at about 7:00 pm.  We waited for a bus for 30 minutes and I felt we needed to go down to another place were more buses would pass by.  We walked for 30 minutes and found the place where the bus passed by.  When the bus arrived the driver said he was the last bus that was going by there that day and that he wasn't going to go where we had been waiting. If I hadn't felt prompted to walk down we would have been stranded.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Week 101 - Old Friends

This week was alright.

One AWESOME thin that happened this week was that a new member I helped teach was SEALED in the TEMPLE!!!  My last Saturday in the mission will be in Salamanca with Elder Cheney.   This is something most missionaries don't get to do -- return to their first area -- but I will have this great opportunity and will get to see my former investigator!!!

One of our investigators had some setbacks.  There is much going on in their family.  We hope all will go well going forward. 

I saw Elder Cheney, Elder Palilla, and Elder McCallister this week.  It was really fun.  I had an exchange with Elder Larson.  We bought two pizzas that evening.  It was pretty fun.  The day didn't go well for the missionary work, but he's pretty fun and it was awesome to be with him.

The activity today was fun.  We played water balloon volleyball and some other games.

Week 100 - Rejection.

This week has been good.  I get along well with Elder Soliz.  He's a good guy and has a strong testimony.  I'm a little worried he's sad due to all the bad contacts we had this week.  We literally were kicked out of one house.  We started talking with a woman and then her boyfriend got mad and began yelling at us.   He didn't want us there so we tried to set another appointment and he just flipped out.  I don't think Elder Soliz is used to rejection.

We have a baptism towards the end of this week.  "A" is ready for her baptism and we are still teaching a family we hope to help!

Last night we had an activity in a place called La Ligua.  After we finished the activity there wasn't time to return home so we went to the La Ligua missionary home.  We threw the mattresses on the floor and slept there.  It was pretty fun.  I brought the toys you sent for Christmas and we played with the sumo wrestlers.  It was pretty funny.

Today we played soccer in the morning but it was pretty boring.  Then we ran around La Calera trying to find a place to write.  Also, I got to see Elder Ormond and Elder Navarro on Tuesday and will see Elder Padilla this week!

Week 99 - Elder Soliz

This week has been busy.  I said goodbye to Elder Brown which was really hard.  I noticed some of my favorite companions resemble and remind me of good friends from home.

Elder Eyre - Ammon
Elder Palilla - Ethan
Elder Brown - Brenden

It was weird when I realized it.  Then I went down to Viña and picked up my new companion Elder Soliz.  He's from Argentina and he's 24.  He has four siblings and they're all members of the church but his parents are not.

I'm still grateful we are teaching a family.  We are also teaching a girl named "A".  She should be baptized on the 17th.  Her stepdad is a member and his wife is listening to us too.  She is progressing.  Other than that we need to find some more people to teach.

This week I've been trying to write essays for an application to BYU.  Since the only time that I have is about 30 minutes in the morning, I think it will be nearly impossible to finish them anytime soon.  I'll ask my mission president if I can write during language study and try to make some progress.

I'll be traveling to Viña again tomorrow.  I'm going to Viña for a conference with the district leaders. It should be pretty fun.  I should be able to see friends.  Next week we should have an activity where I will see Elder Palilla!  I'm really excited.  It's been along time since I've seen him.  I'm going to see Elder Navarro too.

A random thing that I saw was a wild sea lion from really far away.  It was just a wobbling lump on a rock but I saw some while in Viña.