Hey all
Ok this week was pretty crazy busy. I'm kind of tired but it was really good too! We started out with the usual craziness on Tuesday for the transfer madness. A good number of people from our zone, coronel, and lebu were all leaving for the south so they didn't have room for all there suitcases on the bus so we had to shepard a ton of them and help them switch out their tickets again for later ones etc it was totally crazy and a huge hastle. I got a little cold this week (I dont know why I get sick so often here) and so the whole day just sitting in the super hot bus terminal with a milion missionaries was super exhausting and boring. The crazier part is that a ton of the missionaries from lebu and cañete etc were going to have to take a bus to their sectors that night and then take one back to the same place the very next morning to come to the multizone conference with Elder Bragg so a few asked permission from the office to just stay in san pedro for the night so we had some surprise guests with us for the night which was fun but even more exhausting. We did divisions with them in the afternoon and got some extra work done that way which was nice, but both of them had very large personalities so me and Elder Oxborrow fell into our beds Tuesday night totally dead. The next day was awesome because we shot over pretty early to the San Pedro stake center to set everything up for the zone conference w Elder Bragg (cleaning the chapel and setting up chairs etc). Then at like 9 the other zone leaders from coronel and lebu came too and the hna caps and we had a meeting with Elder Bragg which was super cool. He asked us all where we were from and i said San Clemente CA and then he got really excited and went on about how he had visited the stake and talked a lot about the dinner program and camp pendleton which was a fun connection and a nice slice of home. I'm sure he knows Mom and Dad too from visiting. The rest of the day was really spiritual and we learned a ton together from him and the mission president etc. There was a different kind of spirit there and the whole thing was about doing missionary work with a pure heart and trusting in the spirit and not our own abilities so it was really cool. I need to go over my notes again to remind me about it all. Sister Bragg showed a video I had forgotten about but really liked where Elder Holland talks about how him and his son prayed to know where to go when they got lost and ended up at a dead end. Very cool stuff and all about revelation. I love the mission because we get to recieve really awesome spiritual training and then get to apply it within an hour of hearing it in the field. It's way cool. I think there is more instruction and promise in the scriptures for missionaries than for anyone else. Another cool thing to report is the success of the English class here! We have put up and handed out tons of flyers etc but we need to print out even more. At this point we have about 7 nonmembers coming to every class so that's awesome! We are still working on how to make the shift with some of them from English tutors to missionaries but we will figure it out. I expect to see some super cool results from that. I actually love teaching the class too. It's super fun and a good way to study the language myself too. Some members have gotten excited about it too. There was a family here this week that there daughter had turned 8 recently and got baptized Thursday. We passed by a few days before and shared a video about baptism and invited them to invite their friends and they seemed really appreciated of the concern we showed. We offered some help too and I think they really trust us now. The baptism was awesome too and really spiritual and cool. I'm sure we will get some references there soon too. We did an intercambio with Elder Huerta and Glach from boca sur to do an interview and i stayed in lagonillas with Elder Glach and it was really cool to meet him. He is a convert from Colorado that left on the mission literally the day he completed a year as a member of the church and has such a cool story and testimony. He is such a killer missionary and has such a good edge too from having heard the missionaries teach to him. Being with him really helped my faith grow and helped me know that there are really chosen people in every part of the world. I hope to be able to be with him in the mission more he's a great friend now. Trying to think of what else happened. MC is doing great and is totally the definition of having a broken heart and contrite spirit. She really needs baptism and knows she needs it. The main problem we have is finding the time with her to teach her. She is looking for work and for that has very little time but we are working on it. She technically has a baptismal date for the 31st but we are going to try and put it for the 23rd I think and see what she thinks. I think she will get baptised that day. I'll let you know. It's crazy that the people who really do look for the gospel in their lives always seem to find it. Wow Christmas is coming. The ward here is super amped about Ilumina el Mundo haha and is planning tons of service stuff and really carrying it all out well. We had a priesthood service in an old folks home that was really cool. As far as skyping goes we have a good house to do it in and we might do a test over there soon and make sure. I need you to let me know when you guys all can. I think we can do it pretty much anytime here between 3 and 7 so let me know. I'm not sure how much time I have but we will see. It's been a really good week. I love it here. We had a ton of miracles at the very end of the week and it was crazy. We found a really cool family for one, and we will see where that goes but I have really high hopes for them!!! They are kind of very catholic but anyone can change. I really hope they will be a golden family! We also found some kind of old people and were talking to them and werent to excited about the lesson when their son walked in and straight up asked us "hey so Lehi is a descendant of Joseph of egypt right?" and we were just kind of jaw dropped for a second. We asked a few more questions and it turns out some other missionaries had given him a BoM a while ago and now he is reading in 2 Nephi 14 what. That was exciting and we will see where that goes! Ok so I'm learning a lot about the sabbath day here right now. It was kind of weird because Elder Bragg really stressed sabbath day observence to us on Wednesday and it was kind of strange because as missionaries its kind of hard to break the sabbath day hahaha. It was really weird to me how much he stressed it and promised us that if we keep that commandment that we will have much more success so I studied it out a ton this week and learned a lot. The cool stuff I learned is that like I've mentioned before the main problem we have as missionaries is jsut going through the motions of what is asked of us and not doing it with the correct spirituality or intent. The scriptures mention that we need to "sanctify" the sabbath a lot, and that we need to do it with an attitude of prayer, worship, and service. It also mentions that we should celebrate the Lord's holy day. I learned as well that the Sabbath day observance is what seperates the Lords chosen people, and that that promise still applies to us today. I tried really hard this week to apply what I had learned and I could really tell a difference and I felt very spiritually and even spiritually renewed after. Way cool. Ok I'm doing great and am very excited to talk to you all! ALso cool thing there is an Hno LC in our ward who was baptised in Arauco in 1979 by an Elder Mortenson so I'm assuming it must be the same one we know? pretty random and cool connection. He's old now but still remembers a lot and is very very active. Let me know hahaha Ok love you all! Elder Trevor Smith
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Elder Trevor SmithElder Trevor Smith is a Mormon missionary in the Chile Concepcion Sur mission, the same mission where his dad served. Although this is Trevor's own mission, he grew up hearing about the beautiful land of Chile and the loving people that inhabit it. These are the letters from his experience there. Archives
July 2017
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