"I love the work down here in Chile."

i just got to say that i love the work down here in chile. the mission is great.

this week our investigator got baptized. we could see the joy that she had last monday. after p-day we went to the church to make sure that everything was set up ok. (we assigned some ward members to set everything up and to fill the font). then we just waited around until 7 o’clock. the service was really good. a lot of her non-member family was there and i could tell that they felt something special. we are going to try to see whats up with them. but i’m telling you the best feeling that i have ever felt in my life is watching the joy that people have when they come out of the water and knowing that you helped them feel that joy.

last week we found some new people to teach and we were able to put a baptismal date with one of the guys. he is a super old farmer dude that is in a wheelchair. he cant hear very well so it is harder to teach him but he said that he wants to be clean from all of his sins. so as long as he is willing we are willing to help with that. we will see what happens to him this week.

You can also see the video by clicking here

i learned a hard lesson this week about listening to the spirit. so we have been praying for a long time to find a family and this week we were blessed to teach a family of 4. we went into the lesson knowing that we were going to teach about the restoration. in the beginning of the lesson they asked a question that had to do with the plan of salvation. we answered the question and i felt the spirit soooo strong telling me to bring the lesson back to the restoration but i didn’t do it. i kept talking about the plan of salvation. it was the worst mistake ever. the lesson went terrible. it was just super awkward. the spirit wasn’t there.  the lesson just didn’t go that well. i felt so bad. we are hoping to teach them again soon so we can fix it all. i know that the spirit is there to guide us but we have to be willing to listen.

so the big new this week is that chile won the copa de américa yesterday against argentina. it is a huge tournament where all of the countries of america play against each other in soccer. yesterday was pretty crazy cause everyone was getting set up to watch the game. when chile won the streets were crazy. we were already in the house.  everyone went into the streets to celebrate. it was crazy but it was cool to watch.

I got the above picture from this news site.  

so the last thing is that tomorrow we get our new mission president. everyone is pretty nervous to see what is going to happen and change. it is sad to see see president warne leave but im excited to learn from a new president. we will see what happens.

i love the mission and i love what im learning. the mission is great. i know that Jesus is the Savior of the world and that the book of mormon is true. just live the gospel and you will be blessed. i know that these things are true.

elder mag

Here is the information about Elder Magnusson's new Mission President that was found on the Church's website:

Reed Juan Harris, 58, and Kathleen Coleman Harris, six children, Twin Falls 24th Ward, Twin Falls Idaho South Stake: Chile Rancagua Mission, succeeding President Thomas R. Warne and Sister Renae K. Warne. Brother Harris is a former stake president, stake presidency counselor, bishop, high councilor, stake Young Men presidency counselor, ward mission leader, and missionary in the Bolivia La Paz Mission. Self-employed cardiologist. Born in Moses Lake, Washington, to Dee Meikle Harris and Betty Jean Kinghorn Harris.

Sister Harris is a former ward Relief Society and Young Women president, ward Relief Society and Primary presidency counselor, Relief Society meeting coordinator, and ward Young Women adviser. Born in Moscow, Idaho, to John R Coleman and Marjory Remington Coleman.

Big News! Baptism today.

this week was a lot crazier than the other week. we didn’t even have time to relax.

the big news is today at 7 our investigator is going to enter into the waters of baptism. (its her birthday so that is why we are doing it on a monday) we are super excited for her. she has made a lot of progress and this last week we were running around trying to finish everything for her. she is such an amazing women with such a good story. we are just hoping that the hot water works here because it is freezing cold here. the good news is her boyfriend is going to do the baptism so we don’t have to get wet. 

things are going better here in lontue. we didn’t really teach a whole lot this week but this week we have a lot of potential to commit people to baptism. we have plans to invite about 5 people this week so we will see how that goes.  

my class went really well this week. i talked about the role of the book of mormon in our lives as missionaries. this week i have plans to talk about the best ways to teach families. it is something that president wants us to talk about. we will see how it goes. 

You can also see the video by clicking here.  

i have said this once and ill say it again. it is sooooo hard to understand people that are from the campo that don’t have teeth. it is a pretty bad problem. sometimes we will be talking to some old guy in the street and as he is talking i’m thinking to myself.... wow i only understand about 60% of what this guy is saying. after i’ll voice that to my comp who is from mexico and he will say... ohh yeah don’t worry i only understood about 70% of that. 

speaking of mexico, chile played mexico in soccer. mexico was supposed to kill chile so my comp talked soooooo much trash. well come to find out that chile won 7-0. my comp almost died from all of the jokes he got. it was pretty funny.

i know that this church is true and that Jesus is our Savior. i am grateful for the Atonement and the hope that we get from that. i love being a representative of Jesus Christ. 

thank you all. 

elder mag
  

"Things are going well down south."

hey ya’ll.   it was slower week but i think that this is going to be normal in this sector. it is just a slower chiller sector.

so in a week from today we are going to have a baptism. we are working really hard to finish up all of her lessons. i didn’t find her but it has been cool to see her progress even in the 2 weeks that i have here.  she wants to get baptized on monday because it’s her birthday and it is a representation of a new birth for her. her boyfriend is going to do it and i think we just have to speak at the service. i hope all goes well this week. i know that satan is going to work extra hard on her this week so pray for her.

This video explains why we are baptized through the eyes of children

You can also see the video by clicking here. 

like i said earlier the sector is slower. in recreo it seemed like everything was going really fast because we were literally in the heart of rancagua but here it is just a small farming town and every one is older than 50. we don’t teach a whole lot but it is what it is. we do have 3 people progressing really well but that’s all.

the branch is doing well. it is progressing. we had 32 people in church yesterday and it was the first time that we had more than 30 people in church in a year or so. everyone was really happy about that. i am also the first north american that has been in the sector in over a year so everyone was asking if we could do english classes. it went really well and we had 4 investigators there so it was a success. we are going to keep doing it.

this week as district leader was super chill. i didn’t have to teach cause the zone leaders taught. but this week i have to teach and i think i’m going to talk about the importance of the book of mormon and the members in teaching about it. i still got to plan it but it should go ok. this week i went on divisions 2 times and that went pretty good. nothing too crazy. i got lucky cause i have a chill district. i was blessed.

it is soooooo cold here. it was in the 30s everyday this week when we were in the sector. i need to buy a bigger jacket or something because i’m not going to survive the next couple of months. its even worse because we are out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the country.

this week was good. things are going well down south. thanks for your love and support. i couldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for you guys. the church is true.

elder mag

ps. i will try to take pics this week

pss. we might not have time to write next monday but i will try to write tuesday or something.

Elder Mag on the move

what a week. the first week of every change is always so long.

so i am here down south in a small little sector called lontue. it is straight campo (farming community). they only have one stoplight and i think that they only have it just to say that they have one. the people are a lot different than the people in my last sector. it is a lot more laid back. in my last sector when we contacted the people would talk to us for 25 seconds at the most. but here we have problems of cutting them off cause they talk so much. they are super nice but they really don’t want anything with us. they whole town is either mormon (less active) or evangélico( i don’t know how to say it in english).  it is just a weird change from my other sector.

the branch is really cool. it is super small. we had 25 people in church and that was a lot. normally there is only 20 so we did good yesterday. but the members love the elders. they would do anything for us. it is nice to feel their love.

we don’t live in lontue. we live in the big city and we have to take a 30 minute bus ride everyday to get to lontue. so we have to leave our bikes in the church everyday. basically the church is our second home. we are looking for a new house right now cause we are tired of traveling. we will see how things turn out.

my comp is pretty cool. he is from mexico but he speaks almost perfect english. he learned it in school and then he worked for an american calling company. he is chill and it should be an interesting change.

we are hoping to have 2 baptisms this change. 2 people progressed a lot this week so i hope all goes well with them. i will give you more details next week.

so my class went pretty good on wednesday. i talked about the little things that we have to do as missionaries. there are 6 of us in the district so it isn’t a huge responsibility but it is still good.

it is so weird to change sectors after being in recreo for so long. in recreo i was just going through the motions but now it is a little bit different. it is a good change. i can tell i’m really going to like this sector. i just have to get used to it all. but ohhh mannnnn winter hit me and it hit me hard. yesterday it was in the 30s at 8 oclock at night. and biking around it that weather killed me. i’m going to have to buy gloves today. hopefully i survive this winter. enjoy the heat in the USA.

thanks for everything. you guys are great. i’m loving the mission. everything is going better. i have high hopes for the next couple of months. the church is true.

PS can you guys send me some info in the election. i tired of hearing info from chilenos who have no idea of what they are talking about.

How can anyone sum up this past year about the election as you try to answer Sam's question?