Week 88: Still Pushing

Hey guys!

This week was better than the last one, especially because we didn´t hit the big discouragement wall.  We felt so much better and the Lord blessed us abundantly.  

This week, we did a lot of talking with people in the street.  But, we found 5 new investigators, so we were super excited for that.  

This week, we found out that a member had a miracle while talking about the Book of Mormon with a family on the bus, and the family said they ¨urgently¨ want us to teach them!  

This week, I also received a HUGE blessing from the Lord.  I got to return to my old area, Colonia Bombal again!  This time, it was for an Open House. so I got to see all the members!  It was so amazing, and it was so fun to laugh with them, and yelling and running over to hug them whenever another member walked in.  

Something that I have noticed lately is that Satan tries to make us forget our spiritual and positive experiences.  He has been working really hard on me with that.  I realized this week how important keeping a journal is.  I sat down for a while one night this week, and I got to read all my mission experiences.  I got to read day by day through my areas, and it was a blessing.  As I knelt down to saw my prayers before going to bed, Í just felt so grateful for my mission.  

Funny

We were in church, and there was a little 3 year old kid that was going nuts.  He was grabbing the pew in front of him, and rocking back and forth.  He then slammed his head on the pew (on purpose), and screamed in pain, rubbing his head right after.  Then, he did it again (on purpose again).  Me and my comp could not stop laughing!

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Elder Conover



Mendoza!


Elder Sosa in Plaza Independencia


Waiting for the Train with the Comp


The Vale´s in Colonia Bombal!


Alex From Bombal!


David!


I was trying to explain David that the reason that he is getting
married was me


Emmanuel, my ward mission leader in Bombal!



Corbin!  He speaks perfect English


Principe De Paz!


My comp on the bus


This is what happens when a missionary
doesnt have money for a haircut.  he grows wings


Me and Elder Levander


.Me and President and Hermana Goates


Me and Elder Tyler


Maipú Zone!

Week 87: Ouch

Hey Everyone! 

This week, well, I´m gonna be 100% honest, was a big kick in the teeth.  

We had a good Pday, and got to go to a historical monument, which was awesome, and then we got to relax in the pension.  

For the last 6 weeks, we have had four Elders in our pension, living with us, and it has been awesome since it really is a fun way to wind down at the end of each day.  But, this week the other two Elders left, which has been kinda weird being by ourselves.  

But, like I said, we got metephorically hit by a bus this week.  We basically lost all of the investigators.  Literally all.  We talked to 94 people in the street this week, which we felt way good about, but we found out that they all lied to us, so we don't really have any more contacts.  

Then, to top it all off, our best investigator, who was progressing towards baptism decided to find out who the ¨Mormons¨ are on Youtube, and of course, found Anti-Mormon Matierial, so, she basically dropped us.  Ouch.

  It was a really hard week, and we are really low on enthusiasm, but we have a saying now.  ¨Pateemos a Satanás En La Cara!¨ Or, ¨Let´s Kick Satan In The Face!¨ (Thank you Bishop Fitzpatrick for the quote).  That has given us a lot of energy. 

But, this week, I realized how much I LOVE the Book of Mormon!  It is such a miracle, and I know that anybody that reads it, without being a Chavón, will know that it is true.  It is the foundation of our testimonies and it is True!

Funny

People often ask us if we are policemen.  This week some kids asked us who we were, and I responded, ¨We are spies.¨ They were so stoked.  

I love you all!  Have a great Week!

Elder Conover




Making ¨Choripanes¨


Elder Sosa Was Bothering Me


District Meeting


When Elder Sosa Hit a Year


Thank you Bishop Fitz!


I like studying outside, but it was really cold this week


In honor of Elder Sosa


Because there is no better way to tell your boyfriend that you
are pregnant than graffiti


Bad foto, but my comp sleeps with his eyes open


Elder Sosa Cleaning My Suit

Da Companionship

Planning

Week 86: Pushing Along

Hey guys!

This week was pretty hard, but we did also get to see some really great miracles.  

First off, last week we got to get together as a zone, and we made tacos and played soccer.  During the soccer game, Elder Sosa kicked the ball super hard, and over the wall, so I went with another Elder to go find the ball.  Well, I ran into a tree while going for the ball.  It wasnt that bad, but it just hurt my arm (See Funny Section).

This week there was a huge storm that hit my mission, that I guess broke a bunch of stuff because it was hailing big chunks of ice.  We were in the street that day, and all of the sudden, these clouds came out of no where and it started raining.  We got soaked, but we quickly made it to an investigator´s house.  We taught her, with her son, but then it started hailing really hard.  Like dangerous hard, so the son went out to go take care of their grandma in the house next door, leaving us alone with the investigator.  So, we waited until the hail stopped, and then we went running through the rain to try to make it to the pension.  We got soaked.  And the area got hosed.  The street that we live on literally turned into a river, and pushed a car into the Acequia and everything.  It was nuts.  There are also some good sized dents in some cars.  

This week, we also got some brutal rejection.  The rejection here is not fun, since in this area, about 75% of the people ignore us, wagging their fingers when we try to talk to them.  It isn't that fun when it happens haha.  

But, this week we saw a big miracle.  Last week, we stopped a woman in the street, and we went to her house the same afternoon, and they accepted baptismal dates in the first lesson.  Her name is Gladis.  Well, come to find out, Gladis is good friends with a woman named Graciela, who just got baptized this last week, and I got to do the baptismal interview!  It was amazing!  Gladis was going to go to the baptism of Graciela, but she got REALLY hurt in her back, and it sent her into a crazy amount of physical/emotional of pain. 

So, here come the Elders.  We went over to Gladis´ house to give her a blessing.  We got to give her the blessing, and then we left.  A few minutes after leaving, she told us that she had been healed physically and emotionally, and told us that as we put our hands on her head, she could feel a calming feeling come over her.  It was amazing!

Overall, this week was pretty challenging for us, and I am really just feeling insufficient.  But, I know that God lives, and he loves us, and I am grateful for that!  

Funny

After I ran into the tree, I had a bruise on my arm, which was pretty sore.  Well, Tuesday, we stopped a woman in the street, and she was rejecting us, but she wanted to do it in a loving way, so she grabbed my arm, and then started to pat me (yes, I felt as uncomfortable as you do reading this), and she happened to pat me like 10 times right on the bruise.  That was fun.  

I love you all!

Elder Conover


This is Leandro!  He is a member from my first
area, and he has been in my zone for 3 weeks,
because an elder from our zone went home.
I havent seen this kid for over a year! 


Esteban!


Graciela´s baptism!



I took a mattress and studyied the Book of Mormon on the roof yesterday


Post Storm



Cerro De La Gloria as a district



Elder Douglas and Elder Marin


We found this magazine in front of our house.
haha.  they stole the picture of the church´s
actor for the Savior


This is a touchy subject here



¨The Tired Elders¨


The Maipú Zone


Flooding

Week 85: Crazy Week, and Last Minute Miracles

Hey Everyone!  

This week was a super fun week, and I´m actually sad to have seen it go by, but we are moving forward!  

First off, on Pday, we got to hang out and do a choripan with all of the elders in the Zone, so that was awesome!  

This week, we had something interesting to do every day, or, in other words, we had some other thing like intercambios and meetings, apart from the normal proselyting schedule.  It made it a fun week.  

We got to go to the Mission Leader Counsel on Tuesday, which was amazing, and the mission is putting a big focus on doing 20 street contacts every day per companionship.  It has brought a lot of blessings.   

We also got to do a couple of sets of intercambios this week, and I got to experience a wonderful blessing.  I had the opportunity to return to my old area, Colonia Bombal, which was the hardest area that I have served in.

But, first off, I got to work here in my area this week with Elder Harrison from Utah, and it was amazing.  It was such a great intercambio, and we got along super well, and worked super hard.  We got to talk to a lot of people and teach some awesome lessons.  As the night was ending, we had about 35 minutes until we had to go to the pension, and we had about 13 contacts up until then.  We decided to just put the shoulder to the wheel and we ran around on the busy street in our area looking for people to talk to, and we reached the goal of 20  contacts!  It made us feel so good and so excited!  

This week, like I said, I went to Colonia Bombal, which such a crazy experience.  As we rode around in the area, I could feel the memory of all the hardships there.  I really believe that for me, Colonia Bombal is sacred ground, because there, I came to know the Savior and his Atonement more.  I can only imagine that the Lord feels the same way of Gethsemane and Calvary.  Nobody likes suffering, but everyone is sanctified by it.  

I was able to see a great blessing there that blew me away.  Over a year ago, we had a miracle in Colonia Bombal, when a woman asked us for a ¨prayer,¨ and we gave her a priesthood blessing, and ended up giving her incredible peace from the priesthood.  Then, we started teaching them, and their names were Maria and Augustina, her daughter.  Well, the missionaries found them again, and I GOT TO TEACH AUGUSTINA!  It was so incredible, and she has a baptismal date and has committed to go to church.  I feel so blessed.  

Finally, as we ended the conference last night, we had a little bit of time to go out and work, so I went out with Elder Marin, from San Diego, CA, and we started working.  We found two amazing people in the street, and they seem so excited to talk to us, and said that they think that God has put us in their path.  We are so excited!

I love you all!

Elder Conover


Intercambios with Elder Harrison and Elder Zagal


Leadership Counsel!


the gringo room in conference


Conference Morning