"I love you all and thank you for your love and support these last two years."

so i just wrote out a huge email and i erased it on accident..... ooooopppps

so this week is the last week in the mission. it is pretty crazy to think about. and i’m really really sad too. it has been my life for 2 years and with the snap of the fingers it is going to end.

i’m going to work as normal until friday morning where i’m going to travel to rancagua and then to santiago where we will spend the whole afternoon in the temple. then on saturday we will have a special study with pres in the morning and then in the afternoon we will have time to visit members in rancauga. on sunday i’m going to go to the recreo ward and then i’m going to have lunch with some members. then at night we are going to have a training with pres. on monday i have my final interview with pres and then the last lunch in the mission home. then from there we are going to travel up to the airport. crazy to think about.

the mission has been the biggest blessing of my life. i have learned so much but i just want to tell you guys that This Gospel is true and if we want to have true joy in this life all we have to do is relay on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. God loves us and we are his children. the Book of Mormon is true and it has changed my life. i love you all and thank you for your love and support these last two years. i’ll see you all soon.

"I know that...God loves us"

so this week was a s....l...o...w... one. it was semana santa and here in chile it is a pretty big week. they had a long weekend and when ever there are holidays it is sooo hard to get the people to talk to us but in the end it was a good one.

so one of the coolest things that happened to us was we found an guy on monday. he was a guy that was drinking in the streets 3 months ago when the missionaries past by him with a member. he shouted after them and for some reason they stopped and talked to him. ( i honestly have no idea why they did because drunk guys yell at us alllll day everyyyy day literally and we just ignore them cause they usually ask us for money or just cuss us out). but, anyway, the member had pity on him and took him to his house and let him use his shower. yeah lets fast forward  2 and a half months. he went to the members work a completely different guy. he found a house, got a job and stopped drinking all day everyday just because the member helped him out. and he wants to change his life. we met with him and invited him to be baptized. he said that he wants to change his life and accepted the challenge. we left him something to read and he read it and understood it. i was so happy. we just have to work with him to help him stop smoking and drinking. it will be a process but he will be baptized one day.

also we only were able to meet with the family whose baby died once this week and but it was a good lesson. we taught half of the plan of salvation and they opened up to us about a lot of things. he told us that he is doing better but he still struggles. we were able to testify a lot about the Atonement and how through Jesus Christ we can overcome anything. it was a solid lesson.

we are also having a lot of success with less actives. they just put in a new neighborhood in our sector and we have been contacting it like crazy. we found 2 less active families that just moved from santiago and who haven’t gone to church in a year or two. anyway we have been working with them and it turns out that both families came to church yesterday and loved it. i was soo happy.

so this week is going to pass by pretty fast because on wednesday we have to stay in the whole day because they are going to be doing a census and on thursday we have to travel to rancagua to have a zone conference and then on friday i have divs with the zone leaders so i’m not even going to be in my sector this week.

so thanks for everything and i know that this church is true and that God loves us.

elder mag

"I know that The Church is true and that Christ lives."

This picture was sent with no explanation

so to be honest, this week was a pretty low key week.

the biggest things that happened was we found two super sweet families.  the first family is a less active family that just moved from santiago. they have a lot of energy to come back but they realize that they need to make some changes. they said that they are willing to do it though. we have been with them twice and the both times we had amazing visits.

the other family that we found was a non member family. they are reference from a lady in the branch and they are a young couple as well. they really want to listen to us because a couple of years ago their 3 month old baby died. they basically told us that they haven’t had peace in their lives since. we watched the church’s new video, Prince of Peace, and we had a super good visit with them as we introduced the Plan of Salvation. the best part of the lesson was when a friend of theirs (who was also listening) told them that their child died as a punishment. we were then able to testify to them that that wasn’t true. that God would never do that as a punishment and that they would one day have the chance to raise their son. the spirit was so strong in that moment. we have a lesson with them on tuesday and so we are way excited for this week.

You can also see the video by clicking here

so this week the weather dropped. it got a lot colder. but one of the funniest things about Chile is how dramatic the people are about the weather. like it is cold but its not worth it to wear a sweater because its still hot during the day. so we just suffer a little bit for about an hour at night but its not even that big of a deal. but the people look at  and talk to us like we are crazy. it is honestly the funniest thing ever. its kinda hard to describe over email but if you were here you would get it.


so thanks for the love and support. things are going well and i’m super sad that the mission is ending. but it is what it is. i know that The Church is true and that Christ lives. Thanks for everything and ill see ya’lls soon.

elder mag

Elder Magnusson introduced the Plan of Salvation to the family who's baby died  .

You can also see the video by clicking here

Conference Weekend

Elder Magnusson with the missionaries in the Buin District as they watched General Conference

so this week came and went and here we are on another monday.

so the highlight of the week was conference weekend. we had to travel to Buin to listen to conference in the stake center. because it was so far we weren’t able to bring any investigators which is a bummer because there were soooo many good talks. but it is what it is. the funnest part was the english room. they always dedicate a room to the gringos to watch conference in english.  it was pretty crazy. we were only about 15 gringos in the english room but it was still a party. we all ate ourselves sick. we couldn’t eat during conference but between sessions we stuffed ourselves. good times. 

so this week was kinda a slower week in the Lord´s work. we are still looking for people to teach. we only have about 2 or 3 progressing people and so we just spend a lot of time talking to anyone and everyone. i’m kinda sick of going house to house and so we have been doing more street contacts and we have seen and met some good people. i feel like my contacting skills have really improved over the past 6 months which is a shame since i go home in a month. but i guess that means that i just have to go all out for 30 more days. 

my comp is really cool and i really like being with him. he is an example to me. i look up to his trust in the Lord. i couldn’t have asked for a better companion to end my mission with. 

one thing that i am really learning about in the last part of my mission is about the Atonement. and this weekend it was all hit home to me. i now know that the Atonement is the most important thing to have ever happened in the history of the universe. i may not understand HOW it happened but i do know WHY it happened and that it DID happen. the Spirt testified that to me several times this past weekend and i’m grateful for that. 

so when we were taking a taxi back to Paine last night we were driving on the freeway and i was in the front seat trying to contact the driver. we were driving right into the sunset and we were passing some super pretty fields. it all hit me in that moment. in 30 days all of this is going to be taken away from me. the people and beautiful Chile. what i have loved for 2 years was right in front of me in that moment and it killed me to think about. i guess i just have to make the most of it. 

thanks for the love and support and i’ll be seeing you guys soon.

elder mag 

"This church is true and I know that God loves us."

so this week was a big change. i’m not in centinela anymore. i’m in paine.

paine is a pretty good sector. its  out in the middle of nowhere but it is kinda a big town. our sector is really small because there are 6 missionaries in paine and each sector is tiny but its all good cause it will be big enough for 6 weeks.

my comp is pretty cool. his name is elder newell from Nampa idaho. he has 6 weeks in the mission. he is a really humble guy who really wants to learn so i got pretty lucky with a  good comp. it should be a good change.

and i’m also district leader. i have 4 hermanas latinas in my district plus a senior couple. all 4 of the hermanas have sooooo much energy. it was good to teach with them this week because they are so energetic.  it is going to be a good change with them.

so when i got here we were struggling with people to teach. we only had one investigator. so we spent basically everyday contacting. i have honestly never contacted so much in my mission in one week. but it was good. we found 3 new people and the coolest thing is we contacted someone from haiti. he doesn’t know any spanish, but he speaks perfect english. he said that when he was in haiti he was a tour guide to north americans and there he learned english. anyway he said that his brother got baptized 2 years ago in haiti and just got his mission call to serve in the dominican republic. he said that he didn’t know anything about the church and that he wanted to learn more. we taught him lesson one in english and ended up putting a baptismal date with him. and yesterday he went to church!!!! we are pretty excited. he is progressing well.

this week is general conference and i’m so excited. conference weekend is the best!!

hey, this church is true and i know that God loves us. Thanks for your love and support. talk to you soon.

elder mag

You can also see the video by clicking here

The Church is True

first and foremost happy birthday to janelle and kristine. hope you guys have a good b-day and i love and miss you.

Elder Magnusson's sisters were born on the same day, 3 years apart.  

On their birthday this week they will 27 and 30 years old.  

hey so this week was a slower one but we were able to get a lot of good things done.

so our 9 yr. old investigator was baptized and it was soo good to see. i was able to do the baptism and it was really special cause i was able to see the whole progress of the family and i was there to complete it as well. the testimony of the mom was so good.i wish i could have recorded it because she talked a lot about the blessings that the gospel has brought  into their lives in the past 4 months. the only bad part was the water wasn’t super warm. so when she got into the water her face went from calm to fear so i had to talk her into doing it. for a second i thought she wasn’t  going to do it but it was a special moment when she came out of the water.

so we got changes and i’m going to a sector called Paine and it is in the northern most zone called Buin. i’m going to be district leader and i’m going to be finishing a missionaries training. i’m pretty excited. my comp is named elder newell and he is from idaho. i talked to him on the phone for about 5 min yesterday and he seems like a pretty cool kid. so my district is kinda different that usual because there are only hermanas in it. because there are only sisters that means i cant do interchanges with them and that is the best part about being district leader. but its all good. i’m still going to enjoy it. plus in my zone i have a ton of friends so it should be a good last change.

so i started saying goodbye to a bunch of people yesterday. it was sooooo hard. i have been working with them for 6 months and then just like that i had to say goodbye. it is honestly the worst part of the mission. there are days that are hard because  all of the lessons fall through and no one wants to talk to us but you don’t remember those days. but the days that you have to say goodbye are hard and you remember them. i’m going to finish the goodbyes today and then tomorrow i head up north early in the morning...

hey thanks for all of the love and ill see you guys in 6 short weeks. the church is true.

elder mag

Baptism!

so this week was a pretty good one. it was stressful but good.

so the biggest news this is that our investigator got baptized. it was such a good baptismal service. two other people got baptized and because of that there were a ton of people there. we had been teaching him for about 2 months and i saw a huge change in him... he has came a long way. To confirm to me that he was really ready was when he came out of the water he looked at me and with a big smile on his face he asked me "am i really clean?” when i told him yes he said, "oh good cause i feel clean". it was a real honor to baptize him. then on sunday he received the holy ghost by my my comp. it was a really nice blessing.

So our other investigator is going to get baptized this week. she is a 9 year old girl and the daughter of a family from the ward that we have been working with. the family had an interview with the branch president and put goals to go to the temple. we are super excited. anyway she already had her interview and passed so now we just have to finish one more lesson and we are good. one crazy thing about her is that she is super smart. she is the number one student in her school and it is a huge and good school. sometimes i feel like that she knows more about the doctrine of the church than us and that isn’t a joke. she knows so much. i just hope all goes well this week.

So yesterday i realized that it was more than likely my last sunday in centinela because next week we have district conference and then changes on tuesday. as i looked around the chapel i realized how much i have come to love the members. they are so good and they do so much to help us. when i have to say goodbye to them when i go there are going to be some hard goodbyes. when i got set apart to be a missionary and as i bore my testimony i said it was going to be hard to love the people here because i didn’t know them. i realize that was a pretty dumb comment. i have come to truly love the people here.

so next week ill write with the news about changes .  i’m pretty sure that i’m going. i have no idea where but we will see what happens.

i love you all and i will see you all soon.

elder mag

ps i have a ton of pics but i don’t want to send them because the computer place is pretty sketch and i don’t want to get a virus. i’m going to try to back them up on a pin drive and send them next week but no promises.