Reflections of a True Millennial

Well, it's that time of year again! I love the Christmas season. Everything just feels merry and bright in my eyes. However, for the next few weeks at least I am here in Utah, where everything seems to also be cold. I guess for most people winter and snow are the best part of Christmas, but I greatly prefer 85 degrees and 100% humidity. Luckily, I'll be able to escape to the tropical weather for a few weeks during winter break. Anyway, it may sound cliché, but I really do love the feeling of this time of year. It's a time where we can do our best to take down the barriers we have and show love to one another. During the last week or so, I have been remembering how things were this time last year on my mission in Chile (as for the weather, it thankfully was at about 85 degrees). It was a very busy time for my companion and I in the mission office as we tried to organize Christmas zone conferences, prepare the mission Christmas video, maintain all our other office responsib...

Yet again, it has been way too long since I have last written. (I'm sure that no one else has noticed, but for me it has been too long). For the past few months I have been back at BYU, and things have been going pretty well here. It certainly has been an adjustment, since I had previously been living a completely different lifestyle for the past two years as a missionary. Additionally, I am not from this part of the country and I have lots of questions regarding life and the future. I think that new situations like this can be overwhelming for most of us. Life does not seem so hard when we have everything figured out, but change and uncertainty often invoke strong emotions. Depending on how we choose to react, we may end up feeling overwhelming eagerness and optimism, or crippling negativity and doubt, or something in between. This spectrum not only applies to monumental occasions of our lives, but also to the many personal anxieties that we might face each day. How can we avo...

It has been a little while since I last wrote, and a lot has happened actually. Currently I am in a transition phase of life between two big milestones. Recently I returned from Chile, where I lived for two years as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For the last two years I worked day in and day out to invite others to come unto Christ. Now that is done, and of course I still plan to invite others to come unto Christ in my daily living, but I also have other important responsibilities that will shape the rest of my life. In just a few weeks I will be returning to my second year at BYU to study and progress in the goals that I have. Of course, as I begin this new journey, I have to change the title of my blog, right? When I first started this blog as a pretentious 14-year old, I titled it "Reflections of a Smart Kid." To be a bit more professional and indicate my assignment as a missionary, I titled it "Reflections of an Elder" for ...

Queridos amigos y familiares, Well, this is it. This will be my last letter from Chile. I can not really believe that the time is already coming to an end. It has been another good week here. Mirovan wont quite make it to be baptised this saturday, but he is still very excited and will definitely be baptised soon. We also have a few other investigators that are progressing very well and some future investigators that we are excited about. It is kind of sad that I wont be here to see what happens with all of these great people, but I am happy that I have been able to do my part to help them. Wow, but what can I say in my last letter? I am so thankful for the experience that I have lived for the last two years. Each and every day I have been able to wear the name of Jesus Christ on my chest and serve Him as one of His representatives. My purpose has been to invite all people to come unto Jesus Christ through His restored Gospel. Many people have accepted us and listened to our me...

Hola hola, Well, we had a great week here! Wednesday wsa a particularly awesome day, despite the fact that it was raining. First off we met up with a young man named Miroban that has been attending church for the last month with his girlfriend. Originally, his girlfriend invited him to go to seminary and then he decided to start going to church also. We had our first lession with him on wednesday and he really enjoys being at the Church and wants to learn more. And he accepted the goal to be baptised on June 10th! That is next Saturday! So we really have a lot of work to do with him if he will be baptised on that day, but I did the baptismal invitation and that date was clear in my mind. I really hope that we can teach him all the lessons and that he can recognize his testimony and make the necessary changes. He is a great kid and really loves going to church. We originally planned to visit him at 6 pm and I called to confirm, but he said "Oh, well I dont know if I can because I h...

Hello, Another week gone by, and this one felt like it passed by very quickly! On Tuesday I was with Elder Olson and Elder Villegas in a trio in my sector and their sector (Alto Jahuel) and we had a great day together. On Friday we had interviews with President Harris, which meant a looooong day in the chapel for my companion and I doing a training. But the meetings went really well. We are trying to focus on having more investigators in Church and something that we dont always do well is teach the doctrine of the sabbath day. God hopes that we keep one day of the week holy, and He gives us that day as a blessing for us. As keep the Sabbath day, we will be more prepared for the week ahead of us. The interview with President Harris went well also. I am really thankful for him and for all the help and guidance he has given to me in the last year. The rest of the work we were just trying to work hard in the sector. I only have two and a half more weeks in Buin, and I am just ...

Buenas tardes, I hope you are all doing well! This week has been a great one! Of course, one of the highlights was skyping with the family yesterday! It was great to see everyone, and it is a bit strange to think that I will be back with them in less than a month. But thankfully my family wasnt too trunky, so I am still motivated to just keep working hard. This week we were able to be in our sector more which was great. The only special event was on Thursday when we went to Rancagua to do exchanges with the assistants. It was nice to be close to my previous sector, previous companion, and the office for the day. I was with Elder Vasquez for the day. He is a great fun and we have somehow been close by to each other for almost the entire mission. We had a good day in Rancagua. In our own sector, things are going well too. This week we somehow found lots of part-member families, with investigators and less active members. They have great potential to accept the Gospel and follow Jesus Chr...

Estimados, Hello hello. Wow, it is hard to believe that week 1 of my last transfer has passed by. This was a pretty administrative week with transfers and several meetings. On Tuesday we had a slight problem that three missionaries passed Buin and accidentally traveled north to Santiago, out of the mission. Oops... But after we realized that they had surely gotten lost (none of them had phones), I sent a member to the south-bound side of the highway, assuming that they probably went to Santiago and back. Sure enough they were there. Phew.  On Thursday we traveled to Rancagua for Consejo, a council (counsel?) meeting with al the zone leaders and sister leaders of the mission. President Harris focused a lot on working with the members, which is pretty much the key for us to have more success here. That is something I have always kind of struggled with, but we are working on it and starting to see some results. Hopefully we can improve with that.  On Saturday we had ...

Hello hello, So this week turned out pretty much nothing like it was planned to, but it was a good week! First off, my companion, Elder Llavilla, was called as the new Assistant to President, so Presidente Harris came here on Wednesday night to pick him up. That left me without a companion, so I went over to be with some missionaries from Buin, Elder Belayro and Elder Strong. On Friday, Elder Strong and four other missionaries from the zone headed off to Rancagua for their last weekend in Chile before they head home. So the zone was without six missionaries, including one zone leader and a district leader, which left me with a lot of things to do! Especially because this weekend is transfers, so that means a lot of phone calls and planning.  As for the transfers, I will be staying in Los Jardines for my last six weeks and my final companion will be Elder Gutierrez, from Uruguay. I dont know him, but I think we will be able to have a good change together. It is my last, so I want to mak...

Hello hello, Another week gone by. It has been a great one here! Honestly the last two weeks have been a bit slow, especially when it comes to finding new investigators. But the last three days I have felt more energy and certainty that people are waiting for us. Yesterday we found three new investigators as a result! And they were literally placed in our path waiting for us. It was incredible to have those miracles and be able to teach some new people and invite them to come unto Christ. I know that God prepares the path of the people and I know that in this week we have more people who are waiting to hear our message. As for Maria, she is doing well but still struggling with smoking. Any prayers you can offer for her behalf would definitely help. As for Ruben he came to church for the first time with us yesterday! He is kind of hesitant about progessing, but I know he wants to and we are going to be working hard with him. We also have been focusing on visiting members and helping the...

Hello, I never can think of how to start these letters anymore haha. After like 100 weekly letters, you start to run out of things to say.. But anyway, another good week here in Los Jardines. We are kind of struggling in finding new investigators, but I think the next week should be better for that. As for our investigator Maria, she is still trying to stop smoking, and we will probably move her baptismal date another week or so. But we had a really great lesson with her on Friday and explained clearly that she needs to pray to obtain a testimony in order to reach this goal. I have faith that she will be able to do so soon. It was kind of a slow week, but yesterday it finished with a really really great lesson with Ruben. He has always been kind of iffy, and hasnt done much action to show his interest. But yesterday it all kind of clicked and he realized that he needs to repent of the sins in his life, read the scriptures, pray, go to Church, etc. He even said that he will be baptised!...

Queridos amigos, Another week gone by. This week was another busy one with lots and lots to do! Sometimes I feel like I dont even get to work in my own sector, but thats okay, I am enjoying everything. On Tuesday I was on exchanges in Alto Jahuel with Elder Terrazas. We had a pretty good day together there. On Wednesday, my companion and I both went to Rancagua to do exchanges with the assistants. It was weird to be back in the office and back in the same house I lived in. Immediately when I walked in the office everyone started asking me for my help again haha.. Then on Thursday I was in Hospital with Elder Haar. That was a very interesting sector because it is straight-up countryside. Just endless country roads winding around hills and mountains. It was pretty fun, except for Elder Haars flat tire on his bike. And then on Friday President and Hermana Harris came to Buin for interviews with each missionary. During the interviews, we did a training meeting with each district. Basically...

Hello hello, I hope you all had a great week! This week was a busy one. On Tuesday I was in the town of Maipo on exchanges with Elder Rogers. Then Wednesday, we had zone training with all the missionaries and shared about working with members and the missionary schedule. On Thursday, we had exchanges again and I was in Paine with Elder Newell. On Friday I was not feeling too good and we had to stay home (but I am all better, dont worry!). And on Saturday and Sunday we enjoyed watching the General Conference in the district center. Of course General Conference was really great. I noticed lots of messages about who are God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost. God is our loving Heavenly Father. He sent His son Jesus Christ to give us the example and sacrifice himself for us. The Holy Ghost is the messenger through which we can receive protection, warning, comfort, and testimony. I also enjoyed the many talks about being in the world, but not of the world. Christ invites us to come unto Him, but H...

Hello hello, So it has been a while since my last Pday. Last Sunday was my last one in Recreo and it was sad to say goodbye after 10 months there. I had lots of experiences and came to love the members and the people. In the midst of my time there, Robbie sent me a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 51:17. This was the instruction of the Lord to the saints when they moved to Ohio. They were not sure how much time they would need to stay there, so there was some doubt about whether or not to plant and settle down: And the hour and the day is not given unto them,wherefore let them act upon this land as for years, and this shall turn unto them for their good. When I arrived to Recreo last may (!!) I didnt imagine being there 10 months. But I tried to continue working with patience and diligence for as long as I was called to be there, and I know the Lord blessed our efforts Anyway, now I am in Buin! It has been great to be here. Without all the office responsibilities, I feel like I am u...

Estimados, So it is actually going to happen, I am being transfered! After 7 changes here, I will be heading north to the Los Jardines branch in Buin with Elder Llavilla as a zone leader, most likely to finish the mission there. I was actually already companions with Elder Llavilla before in Las Cabras, so it is a bit surprising that we will be together again. He is a great missionary. I am excited to be a zone leader too. The zone leaders help train the missionaries and direct their efforts in order to have success. The Buin zone is the biggest zone of the mission with 24 missionaries, so hopefully it is not too overwhelming. And strangely enough I started my mission in the southernmost part (Talca) and kept heading north (Curicó, San Fernando, Rancagua) until the northernmost part (Buin). But that probably doesnt mean much if you dont know the geography of the sixth and seventh region of Chile (and surely none of you do). But anyway, I am excited for the change and I hope to serve we...

Hola hola, So this week we hit the road a lot. On Wednesday we had to make an emergency trip to Santiago to bring a sister missionary to the airport to go home. She broke her arm last week in a bike accident, and was going to have an operation in Santiago, but somehow at the last minute all the plans got changed and she ended up going home to have the operation there. So we had to scramble to get a flight. At about 1 pm we were in contact via email with the flight agency, and they responded asking if we could get to the airport at 2:30 so she could make a 5:00 flight. Well, Santiago is 1 and a half hours away, but sure why not? We went for it and then the plans changed like three times again, but we finally got her up there (later than 2:30) without problem. The commissaries dropped us off at the airport with her and then they went to run some errands. From there we got her through customs and took a bus to the city and then the metro to meet up and eat a late lunch. In the office, you...

Hello hello, We had a good week this week. Last week and next week are zone conferences across the mission. On Tuesday we attended the Rancagua zone conference and I really enjoyed the messages from President Harris and the assistants. One of the themes was talking with everyone, which is something we need to do as missionaries to be able to share the Gospel. But sometimes we do other things (buy groceries, ride a taxi, etc) and seem to forget about being missionaries. So we did some practices of various situations like that and had some funny results. Sometimes we are so preoccupied with sharing the gospel with people that we forget they are actually people. As missionaries we need to love everyone as children of God and take a genuine interest in them. When we do that, the Gospel comes off as something natural (which it is) and not a sales pitch. President Harris also spoke about repentance, which is central to the plan that God has for us. He posed an interesting question: Why does ...

Buenas! Another week, another letter. Things are going well here. This week included a few goodbyes. On Monday the Christiansens finished their mission and returned home to Utah. It was sad to see them go! Plus we have more responsibilities now in their absence, but thats okay. Also this week Carina and Camilo, the recent converts here, moved to San Fernando. I think it will be a good change for them, and I hope they maintain strong in the Gospel. The extranjeria here has been suuuper busy lately because there are a lot of immigrants that have come to Chile recently from Haiti, Venezuela, and Colombia. So the extranjeria doubled the amount of people they attend to. Plus two out of the four workers are on vacation, so we spent a good amount of time waiting in lines there.. It has been a bit difficult to get things done with all of that, but we will figure it out. This week I read a good talk called "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary" by Tad R Callister. I liked th...

Hola hola, It has been another very fast week. Usually I sit down to write every week and have to think pretty deeply about what we actually did.. We have had a lot of work to do in the office this week. Nothing too exciting, mostly lots of paperwork, but I am used to it and enjoy our job. Next week we will be doing lots of visa work, and doing a bit of traveling. On Monday, the Christiansens (a senior couple) will be going home, which will be a sad farewell.  In our sector, we have a good investigator named Maria. She met with the missionaries about four years ago and is receptive to hear us again. Something really cool that happened is that we had an appointment with her and when we went there she had a friend over visiting. When most people have visits over they kindly tell the missionaries to come back another day. But, she invited us in and we taught her and her friend, who was also very interested! We invited them to church and both of them were kind of iffy, but the...

Buenas tardes! I hope you all had a great week. This week we had transfers, so we were busy busy busy. On Monday night my companion and I drove three sister missionaries to the airport to send them home. Two of them actually had twins serving in Santiago West going home on the same flight, and it was really cool to see them all meet up for the first time in 18 months. From there we went back down to Rancagua and then left Tuesday morning at 4 am to drop off 4 more missionaries at the airport. We always stick around until they get through customs to load and pay their luggage and make sure that they have no visa problems to leave the country. From there we went to the MTC to get a new batch of missionaries. Behind the scenes other office missionaries were running back and forth from Santiago for a few missionaries with odd arrival or departure times. In the end everything went according to plan. Since Tuesday we have been busy getting all the new missionaries into our systems a...

Hola hola, Time really flies between P-days, wow. It was a good week here. We are preparing everything for transfers this week. Of course I am sticking around in Recreo for my 7th transfer here. BUT, this will be my last six weeks here for sure. Even though it has been a long time in the same sector, I am happy to be here and in the office. We are really working hard to change the culture in the office so that we are working as missionaries even with our different assignments. It has been a struggle, but I am excited for the next transfer. The new assistant is Elder Vasquez, who I lived with in San Clemente and we have been in close sectors for most of the mission. He will be a great addition here. As for me, I am sticking with Elder Villegas for this change. This week will be a busy one. We will be going up to the airport on Monday night and Tuesday morning. My companion cant drive, so I will be making the round trip on Monday night. Should be fun. On Tuesday we have a bu...

Estimados, Hello again. This week really flew by, it is hard to believe that it is Saturday again! It was a pretty good week with highs and lows, but I guess that is how most every week in the mission is. On Wednesday we watched a worldwide broadcast for all of the missionaries, and it was really great. They talked a lot about the doctrine of Christ: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. That is what we have to do in our lives, over and over. Sometimes in life we complicate things, when it really does not have to be so complicated. Have faith, correct yourself, and keep moving forward with guidance from God. In the broadcast they also made a big announcement of a change in the missionary schedule. Instead of our time being so strictly structured, they is now a lot more freedom to choose when and where we do the things we need to. Honestly it doesnt affect us too much in the office, because we already pretty much make our own schedule...

Hola, Well it has been a very busy week here. Last Sunday we traveled to San Fernando to present the Open Chapel program to the mission presidency. The senior missionary in charge of that is going home, so the presidency will take over the program. We had zone conference in Rancagua on Tuesday. On Wednesday we traveled to San Fernando to eat lunch at their conference and then to Santa Cruz to present the Open Chapels to their district presidency. They are excited to start the program there. On Thursday we went to Santiago to apply for a replacement ID at the Argentinian Consulate for a sister missionary that lost hers. And yesterday we were able to stick around here in the office. Its been a busy week, and it went by very quickly. Lately I have been thinking about my mission and what it means to be a successful missionary. There really isnt much time left for me in Chile, and I think one of my biggest fears is that I will finish and feel like I didnt do everything I possibly c...

Hola, Wow this week went by fast, it is hard to remember what actually happened.. It was a pretty good week though. Everything is going well in the office and we are actually finding ourselves with some extra free time so we are trying to innovate and make our job easier and simpler. Nothing too exciting, but it should help us out a lot in the long run. I am starting to get a bit tired of being in the same sector for such a long time. I really do like the ward, but I think I am just too used to how things have been here. But I am really thankful for my companion Elder Villegas. He is a really good missionary and is very excited to work with members and find people to teach. We are working hard and trying different methods to find people. We have been revisiting old investigators and are trying to working more with members and less actives, and the results have been promising so far. One of the things I have always seemed to focus on during my mission is finding people ...

Hola, ¡Feliz año nuevo! Hope that you all enjoyed New Year´s and that your year has gotten off to a good start. Things are going well so far over here in 2017. This year will definitely bring a lot of change in my life. Last year I spent the entire year in another continent and tied a tie every day of the year.. In 2017 I will finish the mission and go back to school. Wow. But there is still lots to be done here. We started 2017 well in the office by having our first district class! I taught and we talked about the problems we are facing in our district and made goals and plans (as missionaries always do..). It went really well and I think it was what we needed to learn, even though it wasnt exactly what I had planned to teach. Tomorrow we have class again and I will be talking about conversion and being witnesses of Christ at all times (Mosiah 18:9). I really like teaching, so I am glad to be able to do so again. So I am now in my 6th transfer in Recreo and it is starting to wear down...